text:
Award Categories
Microsoft Azure
First year awarded:
Number of MVP Awards:
In the Spotlight
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
English, German, French
Daron Yondem
debugging life...
Daron started his way in the community writing his first ASP.NET AJAX book, an 800 pages long AJAX Bible. He started hosting sessions all around Turkey trying to spread the word about AJAX libraries and ASP.NET's approach to it. He wrote articles on MSDN Magazine, PC World, PC Net Magazine. In addition, he received his first MVP award as an ASP.NET MVP in 2008. The same year, he was given the leadership role in INETA Turkey and served as INETA Turkey Lead for three years. Daron did not stop within Turkey and extended his reach within other countries in the MEA region hosting sessions about Silverlight, HTML5 in Egypt, Lebanon, Dubai, Qatar, Beirut, Jordan, Sophia and South Africa. He spoke at international conferences including TechEd Middle-East, TechEd South Africa, MSDays Bulgaria, DevReach, Microsoft OpenDoor and PDC. In 2009 Daron received "Microsoft Regional Director" title and was given "Gold Global Impact Award" for three consecutive years. In 2010, he was awarded as a Silverlight MVP and kept that competency for another year. Meanwhile, he took the INETA Middle-East and Africa President role in 2011 and managed 144 user groups all around the region. Daron wrote three technical books in English and two books in Turkish about IE and HTML5, including a book published collaboratively by 15 MVPs all around the world from Wrox Publishing. The birth of Windows Azure was just another milestone where Daron could has used his back-end experiences to the community. He hosted Azure Camps in Turkey and has been the only speaker for a Middle-East Azure Roadshow. Following his work with Azure, Daron once again was re-awarded as a Windows Azure in 2012 and his award is renewed for 2013 as well. In 2012 and 2013 Daron received the "Nokia Developer Champion" award by Nokia. His favorite topics nowadays are Windows Azure Mobile Services and Windows Phone. Daron works as a CTO in XOMNI, an omni-channel cloud company providing cloud services in retail and hospitality industries running on Windows Azure.


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If you have found our website, Vet Locator, after doing a search for veterinarian clinics in your local area, you are definitely one lucky pet owner. Vet locator will allow you to search for animal hospital and clinics in Madagascar. We know how important it is for you and your pet to be seen by a top veterinarian in your locality immediately. Our large database of veterinarian clinics will provide you with the information needed to schedule appointments, contact a veterinarian by phone, and a street address so that you will have no problem getting your pet to the clinic, without delay.
Our map provides an aerial view of clinics, within this specific area. The map is very easily manipulated by performing several different actions. When using our site, you can zoom into the map easily by double clicking on the screen. It is possible to perform a precise search of veterinarian clinics in a matter of minutes.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
These fun playful cups are the perfect thing to serve drinks at your child's next party!Pack of 8 paper cups. One cup measures 250ml.
We promise to never spam you, and just use your email address to identify you as a valid customer.
This product hasn't received any reviews yet. Be the first to review this product!
For party ideas and decorations you'll love - welcome to Peach Blossom!
Our aim is to inspire you for your next celebration, whether it's a birthday, wedding, hen do or baby shower we hope you'll find party decorations or product which will not only add some style to your special occasion but will help you create memories you'll treasure forever. From personalised party bunting to stylish birthday balloons and dessert table supplies, you'll discover everything you could need to host the most exciting celebration. We now have a Brighton party shop too! Come and visit us at 16 Church Street, Brighton, BN1 1RB
All prices are in GBP © 2019 Peach Blossom.
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text:
Oral Amphotericin B Info Sheet
Oral amphotericin B (Fungilin) has been approved in most European countries for decades. It's used as a treatment and prophylaxis for a variety of oral and GI fungal infections, including oral thrush. In the United States, only an intravenous (IV) form of amphotericin B is available. The Health Group can help you import the low-dose oral form (in either a liquid or lozenge form) from England.
Why do we help you import this drug?
In the US, fluconazole (Diflucan) and ketaconazole (Nizoral) are the most common antifungal medications. While they are usually highly effective, we have had many requests from physicians for oral ampho B because some PWAs develop resistant strains of thrush (candida) that no longer respond to either of these drugs. The resistant strains can become very nasty--causing mouth pain and extreme difficulty in eating. Amphotericin B, in its IV form is standard therapy for a very serious brain infection called cryptococcal meningitits. Oral ampho cannot be used for cryptococcal meningitis. The oral form does not get absorbed into the body and cannot help fungal infections outside the GI tract. Oral amphotericin B should NOT be used as an alternative for non-GI tract disease.
Although the IV form of ampho B has long been dubbed ampho-terrible by PWAs due to its extreme side effects, the oral form is not toxic. No side effects have been noted at dosages under 3000 mg/day. Taking over 3000 mg/day can cause occasional stomach or intestinal discomfort, including diarrhea.
The standard dose to treat symptoms is 400 mg/day, which may be raised if necessary. If you're taking oral ampho B for oral thrush, continue taking it for 2-3 days after your symptoms disappear. If you're taking it for GI infection, keep taking it for 2-3 weeks after your symptoms disappear.
Liquid Form
The standard therapy is 1 ml four times a day. One ml equals 100 mg. Each bottle has its own pipette, squirt it into your mouth and swish it around well. Coat the insides of your mouth and then swallow it. Swish four times a day. If you cannot swallow, oral ampho B can be administered through a nasal-gastric tube before eating.
Each lozenge is 100 mg. Take one tablet four times a day after eating, for two weeks. The dosage can be raised and/or taken for longer as necessary.
The Brand We Export
We import Fungilin brand oral ampho B made by Squibb in England. The liquid form comes in 12 ml bottles, at a concentration of 100 mg/ml. At the recommended dose, one bottle is a 3 day supply. The lozenges come in a box of 56 tablets of 100 mg each for a thirteen and 1/2 day supply.


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Two blocks from SLIG HQ at the Radisson is the Family History Library, overshadowing our in-class and after-class thoughts. Almost everyone has research work to do at the library, either for themselves, or for paying clients, or both. Our time management revolves around its 8am opening and 9 pm closing (except for Monday, family night, when it closes at 5; and Sunday, when it closes, period). You can categorize SLIG people by the smallest increment of time they consider worth trekking up to the library for. (Half an hour, for me, at least in the mornings.) You can also categorize them by how close to the closing bell they pursue their researches. (Ten minutes for me.)
In Advanced Methodology, we have had two formidable overnight pieces of homework. Wednesday's involved analyzing evidence; Thursday's adds the element of researching as well as analyzing. I was displeased with myself for wrongly weighting evidence and reaching a probably wrong conclusion in the Wednesday exercise. And by 8 pm Thursday, my prospects for success in the Thursday homework were looking bleak. Having been indoors almost the entire past 24 hours, I threw on my coat and headed for the library. What a treat! A snowstorm had blown up and was busy blanketing the sidewalks.
The library didn't help my homework, but I did manage to find an interesting fact that promises more records on a client's problematic ancestor. The snow was still going as the last diehards stepped out into the night at 8:55 pm. I met the ever-cordial Leroy Atkins heading the other way under an umbrella.
I love IGHR at Samford, but you cannot take this kind of break from your studies in the Alabama heat. Back in the hotel room with my laptop and quasi-legible scribbled notes, I kept on like the storm and finally zeroed in on the strange but utterly convincing solution to our last homework puzzle. I'd love to tell you, but then I'd have to kill you.
And suddenly -- tomorrow will be the last day of this "time out of time." The closing banquet is tomorrow night, and I'm trying to figure out if it will finish soon enough to leave us a little library time afterwards.


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CHICAGO — This is what it's like to be Jabari Parker, the nation's top high school basketball player.
SEE ALSO: Living Life Like The First Lady
One day he's presenting a project in his Spanish class, turns around and sees Alonzo Mourning. Parker takes a seat and grins. The former Miami Heat star is making a surprise visit to give him the Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year award.
And there are nights like this.
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Parker and his teammates from Simeon Career Academy are holed up in a classroom after beating Whitney Young in the Illinois state playoffs.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and Michigan State's Tom Izzo were in the stands. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his wife were there, too, sitting next to Parker's mom, Lola.
As Simeon holds its postgame meeting, a crowd gathers in the hallway, waiting to get a glimpse of the team and its 17-year-old star. Parker slips out a back entrance, trying to make a quiet exit.
Nice try, but no luck. It's hard to hide when you're 6-foot-8 and 220 pounds.
The young fans see him and run down the street, with one screaming "Jabari!" and begging for an autograph. The thing is, they're not even from Simeon. They're from other schools, but they've seen Parker on YouTube or TV and want a brush with fame, with the latest phenom from the South Side school that produced Derrick Rose.
Parker slumps down in a car as it pulls away. This is one of those occasional nights when he's just not in the mood, when he's weary of the attention and can't make himself face it.
He is, after all, a teen in unusual circumstances. Parker is a prodigy, and that can be dicey in any era.
Before he was Kareem, Lew Alcindor led his Manhattan high school team on a 71-game winning streak and went on to become the leading NBA scorer of all time. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett all made successful jumps from high school to the NBA when the league allowed it. But for every safe landing, there are plenty of players who never became one of the game's best – JaRon Rush and Sebastian Telfair, to name just two.
Parker is determined to follow his own path, keeping all the adulation in perspective. Most nights, he tries to accommodate his young fans. He poses for pictures and signs autographs to show his appreciation.
"I can see myself as a role model," Parker says.
Good thing, too. In a world fueled by social media, where every move is caught on camera or dissected in 140 characters, the lights are shining brighter than ever on sports' youngest stars.
"I used to hear all this stuff about Kareem, Lew Alcindor, all the players having hundreds of letters," says Jabari's father, Sonny Parker, who played six seasons with the Golden State Warriors in the NBA after starring at Chicago's Farragut Career Academy, where Garnett played as a senior. "Now, he can't go to the bathroom without it (being posted) on Twitter."
It wasn't like that during Sonny's NBA career, which ended in 1982. Or even when Rose was finishing high school, just five years ago.
"The media has definitely changed where it's even crazier," Rose says. "I can only imagine."
What it means is that Parker, a soft-spoken young man who likes old "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" reruns and NBA matchups on ESPN Classic, feels a lot of pressure to be perfect.
"You can't really mess up," he says. "There's always going to be a camera on you everywhere you go."
So how does he cope? Answer: faith and family.
A devout Mormon like his mother, Jabari worships at a church near the University of Chicago and the Parker home, a simple brick bungalow in a working-class section of the city's largely African-American South Shore neighborhood.
It is not a flashy place, but it is, like Parker and his family, solid.
"I take for granted having two parents and a good inner circle," he says. "And I know that a lot of people that are superstars in the sports world right now didn't have a lot of the resources that I have."
Few have the talent he has.
Lola Parker could see it when Jabari, the youngest of seven children, was in the second grade and going against fourth and fifth-graders in a league set up by Sonny, who established a foundation to help inner city youth in Chicago after he retired.
Sonny, by the way, isn't the only professional athlete in the family. Lola has four relatives with pro football experience: Kansas City Chiefs tight end Tony Moeaki; Baltimore Ravens nose tackle Haloti Ngata; Philadelphia Eagles fullback Stanley Havili; and, running back Harvey Unga, a 2010 supplemental draft pick by the Chicago Bears.
Jabari might be the best of the bunch.
Scholarship offers started when he was in the sixth grade. Back then, they came from Illinois, Brigham Young, Washington, Purdue and Kansas, the Parkers say. UCLA started showing interest, too, and pretty much everyone was offering one by the time he hit high school.
To get an idea how big Parker is now, go back to an evening in September, when Simeon hosted an open gym. Not even a practice, mind you, but an open gym.
A who's who of coaches jammed the court from baseline to baseline.
Krzyzewski was there. So were Izzo and Roy Williams (North Carolina), Thad Matta (Ohio State) and Bill Self (Kansas). In all, some 40 coaches looked on, and as word spread that this was no ordinary session, that something special was happening, fans started packing the place, too.
"It was like the movie `Blue Chips' – and this was open gym," Sonny says. "The school had been in session a couple days. They closed down the barber shop, they came over to the school. It was packed in the gym. The coaches were coming in limos. It was unbelievable."
It's easier to understand why once you've seen Parker, who played varsity as a freshman – something not even Rose did.
Parker might grab a rebound, bring the ball up the court and try to set up his teammates as he runs the offense. The next possession, he might bury one from the outside. He averaged about 20 points last season and could probably score 35 a game, but he makes a concerted effort to play within his team's system and take over only when needed.
"He knows we have a good team, so he passes the ball," guard Reggie Norris says. "When it's time for him to step up, he scores."
Parker takes pride in getting his teammates chances to shine for college scouts. It's one reason why he's waited to narrow his own list of finalists. You see, he figures that'll keep the scouts coming and give his teammates exposure.
"He's good, a polished player to be so young," says Rose, who gets to keep an eye on Parker while he leads the hometown Chicago Bulls. "Has the will to win, and that's all you need."
Yet, it's about more than honors and accolades, fame and fortune, to the Parkers. It's about the impact, on and off the court.
Lola Parker mentions what happened at the De La Salle game in February, when Jabari led his Wolverines to an easy victory over a talented squad just one night after winning the city championship.
The crowd included Louisville coach Rick Pitino and then-Illinois coach Bruce Weber. Southern California's Kevin O'Neill was there, too, but it was a father sitting in front of Lola with his three young sons that stood out to her. They kept asking Parker for autographs and pictures as he was warming up. When Lola told the dad she was Jabari's mother, and would set up the boys after the game, the man was overcome with gratitude.
He said one of his boys was doing terrible in school. So he collected all the articles he could find on Jabari and made his sons read them, hoping they'd be an inspiration. The child with bad grades had turned things around, Lola recalls.
"He said, `You don't know what impact Jabari has done for my three boys, but it has changed their whole character, their grades, the way they're thinking and their attitudes,'" she recalls.
After last year's state championship win, Jabari gave his medal to the son of a former bishop from his church because the boy's family had traveled all the way from California to see him play.
"That little piece (of metal) doesn't really mean that much to me, but the memory means a lot," he says.
The family's faith is a respite for Jabari, who rises at 5 a.m. three days a week to attend a Bible study at his church before school. On one particular morning, he is the first to arrive, taking the rare moment of quiet to gather his thoughts and pray.
When the others join him, they sing a hymn and hear lessons based on the Old Testament, about avoiding the temptations teens face, valuing parents and giving back. Parker says he would come to this Bible study five days a week if he didn't have to trouble someone that early in the morning for a ride.
"It gives me a better view of life," he says.
On his bedroom door is a reminder to "put the Lord first" along with several sheets of 8-by-10 white paper. One lists the Ten Commandments. The other shows his "Always Remember" list, with his own personal rules: "Don't be quick to judge" and "Think positive things," among them.
Amid all the trophies is a Kobe Bryant Team USA jersey, hanging where Sonny had put Jabari's U.S. team jersey after he returned from the FIBA Americas U16 Championship last summer. Within about 10 minutes the teen had replaced it.
"I don't look up to myself," he told Lola.
He does look up to his older brother Christian, which explains why their old bunk bed – or the remaining bottom half – is still in the room. Jabari had the top part and, well, he grew out of it.
Yet for sentimental reasons, he won't get rid of the bed. He also keeps a drawing and poem Christian, who now lives in Seattle, gave him. In it, big brother praises Jabari's athletic talent – "heart, love for the game, commitment and a future to be the one."
"He's my biggest fan," Parker says.
His father is there, too, to offer sports advice. His mom, who works as a nanny, has found herself playing the role of agent, taking calls from media and helping her son set up visits to prospective schools.
At the start of each week, they sit down and go through their calendars and requests.
Often, it is Jabari who is asking for less – fewer interviews, fewer obligations, more time to rest and focus on his game. His ability to set limits has quickly become a survival skill.
"He tells us, `Mom and dad, don't you guys get caught up into this,'" his dad says. "He tries to keep US grounded from all this."
It's not easy when he's penciled in as an All-American and All-Star, and he wonders: "What if I don't make it one day? What am I going to do with my life?"
For now, he plans to narrow his list of colleges down to five later this spring. A Mormon mission is a possibility for him at some point, too.
Before he does that, he talks about needing to "polish up the little things before I step into the real world."
An ability to express himself more smoothly, even when he's tired, is among the items on his to-do list. Playing to his ability is another.
"I just want to prove to myself every time I'm on the court that I'm able to live up to those expectations," he says.
Whatever happens, though, he and his parents insist that being famous, and even making a lot of money, isn't the focus. They all vow that Jabari will earn a college degree, one way or another, in a world where the starting five for national champion Kentucky all left school just weeks after claiming the title.
It may seem old school. But that's just fine with the Parkers.
"The ultimate for us and our children is being a good example and being a good person, giving back," Lola says. "That's really very dear and precious to Jabari and also to us."
Will Trayvon Swing Florida's Vote?
How Photographing War Can Be Dehumanizing
HS Basketball Star Relies On Mormon Faith, Family To Keep Grounded was originally published on newsone.com


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My question can be read on many levels and so I welcome answers to any reading. The general question is:
What is the computational complexity of verifying a proof?
One way of looking at a computational complexity class (for decision problems) is that is is a set of theories (a theory being a set of theorems) whose theorems can be proven with the resources allotted to the class (any computation of a yes/no by a TM can be viewed as a proof that the answer is yes/no).
Some complexity classes are defined using provability (at least NP), that is, given a proof (a witness or certificate), it can be checked (verified) by some other (strictly smaller) class's machine.
In most proofs of NP-completeness, showing that a problem is actually a member of NP usually is just showing that there is a witness fr any instance that can be verified by a P machine (or, better said, that the verification problem is a member of P).
My question comes from my observation that these verification problems (the one's I remember) seem almost always (I can't remember any others) to be very linear (yes, I'm confounding computational complexity with algorithmic running time).
Are there some verification algorithms that are (provably) polynomial of a higher degree than 1? Or even super-polynomial for EXP, EXP2, etc?
Or in general is the complexity of verification, applied to -any- complexity class, always linear (in P or some smaller class)?
(even though my question is about complexity classes, I am also curious about real life proofs where people may rely on lemmas that involve, for example, proving the existence of a particular intersection of hyperplanes (presumably (!) in some subclass of P)


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Hello from Manitoba, Canada & starter Q
Hi everyone, I'm new and so glad to be here!!
I'm having some starter issues and if you've read as many forums on sourdough starter as I have, you probably don't want to read a book about "it didn't rise, bubbles are few, what's that liquid on top, etc" so I'll state short what I know, then what my problems are. :D Ok here we go:
What I know from reading for hours :p :
The liquid is hooch. The starter is hungry- feed it! Or it's too watery - thicken it!
It won't rise if it's too watery - the mixture won't hold the bubbles, they'll just rise and release! OR your sourdough starter is dormant and needs 1.warmth 2.food 3.more exposure to environment or yeasty flour (rye, whole grain or whatever really)
Organic whole grain or rye is better than all purpose bleached. Basically as natural as you can get - heck, go get some grain and grind it yourself if you can! (not me lol)
Ok, so here's what I DON'T KNOW or can't figure out from my trail and error:
1. I started with all purpose flour and potato water from boiling 5 small yukon golds (it was all I had in the house) and got a rise that filled a half gallon jar and actually bubbled over and I was like "Omg I'm a sourdough master and didn't know it!" and then that was it - I managed to curse myself because since then I've had to all but give it CPR to keep it active. Given I don't use potato water each time I feed, just regular pre-boiled water in my kettle from tea hours before. Is it supposed to consistently double? What's the issue with the bacteria vs the yeast, and when do they finally hash it out, and how long does it usually take for the right ones to take hold and for me to assume the rise isn't just from bacterial growth but from yeast growth?
2. My sourdough starter smelled FUNKY. I'm talking - bad socks you forgot about in your gym bag. But I didn't give up on it.. I discarded half and fed over and over for like 4 days and finally it started smelling like "sourdough bread"… but certainly NOT like beer which is what I hear it's supposed to smell like eventually as the PH drops… so I read about this person mastering a "pineapple juice" technique and so I grabbed a can of pineapple chunks and cracked it open and after checking the ingredients, poured all the contents of "pure pineapple juice" in my starter. Also, I fed it again but this time used whole grain flour. Immediately it smelled like a dark, stout beer! YUM!! Buuttt… it didn't get that way naturally. Did I cheat? Will my starter still develop some kind of character that WOULD Have led to that by itself?
3. What's this I hear about putting fruit rinds/organic apple, orange or grape skins into your starter? Is there a way I can know which fruits have the highest amount of yeast on the skins? Should they be "turning" (spoiling) and developing a "haze" on the skin? Is this just a rumour or does the fruit really help? I know ultimately it will come down to the local yeast… but I live in winnipeg manitoba Canada. It averages -40F* in the winter at night this time of year, and NOTHING is alive outside right now. I can't imagine where yeast would come from unless it was introduced into my house from fruit from the grocery store anyway. Thoughts?
4. I watched TONS of youtube videos and the starter had LARGE bubbles on top… like if you stick a straw in soap-water and blow and you just get tons of layers of bubbles. Should my starter look like that before I use it to make bread, or does it just need to be doubling in size?
5. Can I buy some kind of ceramic stone or something from home depot or a home improvement store that will withstand the heat to cook the bread on without having to purchase a $100 baking stone at my local give-me-your-money baking specialty shop here in town? We live in the middle of nowhere, stuff like that you pay a ton for. Any success using anything else … oh and no I WISH I had a dutch oven. I want one… but we're saving for the one we want from Lodge with the little "feet" on the bottom and they're like almost half a thousand dollars. :(


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United States District Court, S.D. West Virginia, Charleston Division
May 15, 2018
IN RE ETHICON, INC. PELVIC REPAIR SYSTEM PRODUCTS LIABILITY LITIGATIONv.Ethicon, Inc. et al Civil Action No. 215-cv-13901 THIS DOCUMENT RELATES TO Gabriel
before the court is the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss
with Prejudice [ECF No. 10] filed by Ethicon, Inc., Ethicon
LLC, and Johnson & Johnson (collectively, "the
Ethicon defendants"). The plaintiff has not responded,
and the deadline for responding has expired. Thus, this
matter is ripe for my review. For the reasons stated below,
the Motion is DENIED without prejudice.
case resides in one of seven MDLs assigned to me by the
Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation concerning the use
of transvaginal surgical mesh to treat pelvic organ prolapse
and stress urinary incontinence. In the six remaining active
MDLs, there are nearly 20, 000 cases currently pending,
approximately 13, 000 of which are in the Ethicon MDL, MDL
In an
effort to efficiently and effectively manage this MDL, the
court decided to conduct pretrial discovery and motions
practice on an individualized basis so that once a case is
trial-ready (that is, after the court has ruled on all
summary judgment motions, among other things), it can then be
promptly transferred or remanded to the appropriate district
for trial. To this end, the court placed this and other cases
in Ethicon Wave 8. Pretrial Order ("PTO") # 280
[ECF No. 5235], In re Ethicon, Inc. Pelvic Repair Sys.
Prods. Liab. Litig., No. 2:12-md-02327,
multidistrict litigation requires the court to streamline
certain litigation procedures in order to improve efficiency
for the parties and the court. Some of these management
techniques simplify the parties' discovery
responsibilities. PTO # 280, for example, provides that each
plaintiff in Wave 8 must submit a completed Plaintiff Fact
Sheet ("PFS") to defendants by March 19, 2018.
PTO # 280, at 2. The plaintiff, however, did not comply with
PTO # 280 in that she wholly failed to submit a completed
PFS, and on this basis, the Ethicon defendants now seek
dismissal of her case with prejudice.
Legal Standard
Rule of Civil Procedure 37(b)(2) allows a court to sanction a
party for failing to comply with discovery orders.
See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(b)(2) (stating that a court
"may issue further just orders" when a party
"fails to obey an order to provide or permit
discovery"). Before levying a harsh sanction under Rule
37, such as dismissal or default, a court must first consider
the following four factors identified by the Fourth Circuit
Court of Appeals:
(1) Whether the noncomplying party acted in bad faith; (2)
the amount of prejudice his noncompliance caused his
adversary, which necessarily includes an inquiry into the
materiality of the evidence he failed to produce; (3) the
need for deterrence of the particular sort of noncompliance;
and (4) the effectiveness of less drastic sanctions.
Fed. Sav. & Loan Ass'n v. Richards & Assocs.,
Inc., 872 F.2d 88, 92 (4th Cir.1989) (citing Wilson
v. Volkswagen of Am., Inc., 561 F.2d 494, 503-06 (4th
Cir. 1977)).
applying these factors to the case at bar, I must be
particularly cognizant of the realities of multidistrict
litigation and the unique problems an MDL judge faces.
Specifically, when handling seven MDLs, containing thousands
of individual cases in the aggregate, case management becomes
of utmost importance. See In re Phenylpropanolamine
Prods. Liab. Litig., 460 F.3d 1217, 1231 (9th Cir. 2006)
(emphasizing the "enormous" task of an MDL court
in "figur[ing] out a way to move thousands of cases
toward resolution on the merits while at the same time
respecting their individuality"). I must define rules
for discovery and then strictly adhere to those rules, with
the purpose of ensuring that pretrial litigation flows as
smoothly and efficiently as possible. See Id. at
1232 ("[T]he district judge must establish schedules
with firm cutoff dates if the coordinated cases are to move
in a diligent fashion toward resolution by motion,
settlement, or trial."); see also Fed. R. Civ.
P. 1 (stating that the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
"should be construed, administered, and employed by the
court and the parties to secure the just, speedy, and
inexpensive determination of every action and
turn, counsel must collaborate with the court "in
fashioning workable programmatic procedures" and
cooperate with these procedures thereafter. In re
Phenylpropanolamine, 460 F.3d at 1231-32. Pretrial
orders-and the parties' compliance with those orders and
the deadlines set forth therein-"are the engine that
drives disposition on the merits." Id. at
1232. And a "willingness to resort to sanctions"
in the event of noncompliance can ensure that the engine
remains in tune, resulting in better administration of the
vehicle of multidistrict litigation. Id.; see
also Freeman v. Wyeth, 764 F.3d 806, 810 (8th Cir. 2014)
("The MDL judge must be given 'greater
discretion' to create and enforce deadlines in order to
administrate the litigation effectively. This necessarily
includes the power to dismiss cases where litigants do not
follow the court's orders.").
to PTO # 280, each plaintiff in Wave 8 was ordered to
complete and serve a PFS on defendants by March 19, 2018. PTO
# 280, at 2. According to Ethicon, the plaintiff failed to
submit a completed PFS within the court-ordered deadline.
Accordingly, pursuant to PTO # 280, the Ethicon ...
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LRC, Inc. About Us


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I have wondered around for many years, working in most aspects of media production (though mainly design and still photography), but had never quite found the exact area that satisfied me. Then about 14 years ago (at the start of the personal computer revolution), I decided that I wanted to see if the digital field was the area to explore.
I could see the possibilities even in those first small personal computers to explore new directions in my art. But to do this I felt that I needed to fully understand the process that was happening inside the computer -- to fully appreciate the complexity of this evolving field. So, while exploring digital art over the ensuing years, I have also been studying the various technical aspects of computing.
All told:
I also operate my own design firm (bdmc digital) dealing in digital design issues (including web design and management)
The trouble is, that the farther I go into the administration aspect of computing (which in reality covers most of the aspects of computing in general), the less time I seem to have for my art!


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I'm exploring the web to find sites I like
Playa Bonita, Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
"great animation team"
Posted by: ken on Jun 19, 2014
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With over five miles of some of the most stunning beaches in the Dominican Republic just steps away and located right on the pristine beach of Playa Bonita on the westernmost edge of Las Terrenas.
Share your experiences with others. Don't forget to send your review to Debbie by using an easy form.
"great animation team"
Posted by:
ken on Jun 19, 2014 >
1 contribution(s) Canada
Visited on: Jan, 2014 | Leisure | Solo
875 people found this review helpful
This is a charming hotel that is surrounded by nature; it is very good for those people planning to have a great time. It is a simple hotel, nothing special but a shout out to the animation team for making the holiday fun for me. They have a really nice pool that is cool and not salty that makes your eyes red and painful after swimming. This is a good deal, the price is reasonably cheap and to get such hotel with such quality of service that is surrounded by nature is a pretty good deal. The hotel is a nice one with very friendly hotel staff members who all try to make you feel comfortable and also they even try to reach out in case you are not comfortable asking for something from them. They were pretty polite and pleasant so in my opinion, they were the best part of the hotel and if there is only reason I would come back to this hotel, it's because of how nice the staff was to me. I spent 4 nights here when I visited this part of town as part of my vacation trip to DR and I don't regret it as I was on a budget so it panned out well for me. The food here was adequate and delicious, the location of the hotel is also good as I didn't find it difficult to locate. If you are looking for luxury and entertainment, this is not the hotel for you but if you need simple and low budget, this is the place for you.
"A special place"
Posted by: Spunky
on Jan 7, 2012 >
6 contribution(s)
Visited on: Apr, 2011 | Leisure | With Spouse/Partner
1351 people found this review helpful
I'd like to start by saying Cayo Largo isn't for everyone.
Uptight people and those who don't research their vacation resorts should go elsewhere or be subject to ridicule here.
Air Canada Vacations AirBus got us to CL on time, less than 10 minutes by bus to Playa Blanca. Pretty hard to beat that!
Lots of staff addressed us by name even though it'd been a year. Personal service and plenty of handshakes and thumbs-ups. Juan Carlos is great; Leave your bags at the curb and go get something to eat and drink. Don't stand in line and make sure to take photocopies of your passport so you don't need to leave the originals overnight for processing.
We split our time between a suite (302) for 10 days and room (242) next door for 4 days. The suites are big and beautiful with 2 full bathrooms equipped with hand sprayers and temp controls, a big sitting room with couches and chairs, table and TV if you like. 2 floor high windows with roll-up shades and the upstairs bedroom. What a great bedroom with a big rail for drying clothes, huge dressing room, huge bathroom and so much storage and dresser space we didn't need to leave anything in our suitcases. Really nice toothpaste, soaps and mens/womens colognes, shoe and sewing kits and all the rest. Sure didn't feel like a 3* ACV MapleLeaf resort.
We had two great parties with food and drink supplied from the bars and kitchen.
What a great job the staff did. And what a nice "Repeat" dinner with lobster tails too.
The final 4 days were in the room next door. Super cool AC that we had to turn down and a great balcony overlooking the path to the Daiquiri Bar and stage. We had an Ocean View bungalow the previous year but this room was just so handy to everything..
All in all we had a fantastic time, loved the food and service and the pizza and fries and what a wonderful staff!! Used the seawater pools for the first time this year and wandered the beaches. Scootered around to explore the back roads but didn't get to the super beaches because the resort beach was just fine, big or small.
If you go, take some cash or pet food to the Turtle Farm. These people rescue and release several types of endangered turtles back to the sea.
You can release a baby turtle too? Bucket List # 7 for us!
We've never, ever, gone to the same resort twice but we will probably go back to this one for years to come. Why? Balvina, Edduar and Livan. Friendly, unpretentious staff who really care about us, no malls or golf or shoppers, only one Cop for a whole island and fellow travelers who are there to relax and recharge and nothing else. Want naturalist? No problem here or look the other way and forget them. Like all of Cuba, there's some nudity/topless in special reserved areas.
Is it a Marriott dropped on a desert island? No! Just a clean, well run, friendly 3* resort on a 9* desert island with 20 Km of deserted white powder
Room Number:
302 and 242
Room Block:
2nd and center


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[ Footnote * ] Together with No. 76-1416, Califano, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare v. Mandley et al., also on certiorari to the same court.
This litigation originated as a challenge to the validity of Illinois' Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EA) program under Title IV-A of the Social Security Act (SSA). The Court of Appeals, reversing the District Court, first held that the program was invalid because it limited eligibility for such assistance more narrowly than 406 (e) (1) of the SSA, which makes federal matching funds available under a state EA program for emergency aid to intact families with children if threatened with destitution, regardless of the cause of the need. In a later appeal involving the validity of a proposed alternative to the EA program, the Court of Appeals held that 403 (a) (5) of the SSA, which authorizes federal funding of a state EA program, is the exclusive source of federal funds for a state program of emergency assistance and that therefore a new "special needs" program that Illinois proposed to operate under its Title IV-A Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, funded under 403 (a) (1) of the SSA, in place of its withdrawn EA program, must, as a de facto EA program, extend aid to all persons eligible under 406 (e) (1). Held:
STEWART, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which all other Members joined except BLACKMUN, J., who took no part in the consideration or decision of the cases.
George W. Lindberg, First Assistant Attorney General of Illinois, argued the cause for petitioners in No. 76-1159. With him on the briefs were William J. Scott, Attorney General, and Paul J. Bargiel and Paul V. Esposito, Assistant Attorneys General. Deputy Solicitor General Jones argued the cause for petitioner in No. 76-1416. With him on the brief were Solicitor General McCree, Assistant Attorney General Babcock, Marion L. Jetton, William Kanter, and Harry R. Silver.
Michael F. Lefkow argued the cause for respondents in both cases. With him on the brief was Stephen G. Seliger.Fn
Fn [436 U.S. 725, 726] William F. Hyland, Attorney General, Stephen Skillman, Assistant Attorney General, and, Richard M. Hluchan, Deputy Attorney General, filed a brief for the State of New Jersey as amicus curiae urging reversal.
Theodore C. Diller and Deborah C. Franczek filed a brief for the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago et al. as amici curiae urging affirmance.
Francis X. Bellotti, Attorney General, and S. Stephen Rosenfeld and Garrick F. Cole, Assistant Attorneys General, filed a brief for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as amicus curiae.
MR. JUSTICE STEWART delivered the opinion of the Court.
These cases require examination of the interplay between state option and federal mandate within the system of cooperative federalism created by the public assistance programs of Title IV-A of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. 601 et seq. The ultimate question to be decided is whether a [436 U.S. 725, 727] State may ever receive federal matching funds for a program of emergency assistance to needy families, either under the general program of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) 1 or under the specific provisions for Emergency Assistance to Needy Families with Children (EA), 2 if it limits [436 U.S. 725, 728] eligibility for such aid more narrowly than the federal EA statute.
Title IV-A of the Social Security Act establishes several different public aid programs under the general rubric of "Grants to States for Aid and Services to Needy Families with Children." In order to receive federal funds under any of the Title IV-A programs a State must adopt a "state plan for aid and services to needy families with children" that is approved by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) as meeting the requirements set forth in 402 of the Act.
AFDC is the core of the Title IV-A system. As the Court observed in one of its earliest forays into Title IV, AFDC is a categorical aid program, and "the category singled out for welfare assistance . . . is the `dependent child,' who is defined in 406 of the Act . . . as an age-qualified `needy child . . . who has been deprived of parental support or care by reason of the death, continued absence from the home, or physical or mental incapacity of a parent, and who is living with' any one of several listed relatives." King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309, 313 . A State's expenditures for AFDC, under an approved 402 state plan, are reimbursed by the Federal Government according to the formula set forth in 403 (a) (1).
The federal EA program was added to Title IV as part of the omnibus Social Security Amendments of 1967. Pub. L. 90-248, 206, 81 Stat. 893. It was described in the Senate Finance Committee report as "a new program optional with the States [to] authorize dollar-for-dollar Federal matching to provide temporary, assistance to meet the great variety of situations faced by needy children in families with emergencies." S. Rep. No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., 4 (1967). [436 U.S. 725, 729] To participate in the program a State must include a provision for EA in its 402 state plan, and funding at a flat rate of 50% of program expenses is authorized by 403 (a) (5).
Unlike AFDC, eligibility for EA is not limited to "dependent children." Instead, the term "emergency assistance to needy families with children" is broadly defined in 406 (e) to include money payments and other kinds of aid provided on a temporary basis "to avoid destitution . . . or to provide living arrangements" for a "needy child under the age of 21 who is . . . without available resources." 42 U.S.C. 606 (e) (1). Thus under the EA statute, federal matching funds are available for emergency aid to intact families with children if threatened with destitution, regardless of the cause of their need.
The State of Illinois, however, elected to adopt an EA program of much narrower scope. It provided only for (1) aid to AFDC families who were without shelter as a result of either damage to their homes or court-ordered eviction for reasons other than nonpayment of rent; and (2) aid to applicants determined to be presumptively eligible for AFDC who were in immediate need of clothing or household furnishings.
In 1973 the respondents instituted a class action against state and federal officials on behalf of all "AFDC recipients, applicants for AFDC, and other families with needy children" in Illinois seeking a declaratory judgment that the Illinois EA program violated federal law by defining eligibility more narrowly than 406 (e) (1), and an injunction restraining the defendants from administering the allegedly unlawful program. 3 The United States District Court for the Northern [436 U.S. 725, 730] District of Illinois held in an unreported opinion that the State's program was not inconsistent with federal law. The Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed this judgment, ruling that "Illinois may no longer conduct an emergency assistance program under [ 406 (e)] in which some of the families with needy children described in [ 406 (e)] are given aid and some are not." Mandley v. Trainor, 523 F.2d 415, 423 (Mandley I).
After the Court of Appeals' mandate was returned to the District Court, the plaintiffs submitted a proposed final order requiring the State to conform its EA program to the provisions of 406 (e) and further requiring the federal defendants to promulgate regulations consistent with the Court of Appeals' interpretation of the statute. The state and federal defendants not only opposed the substantive terms of the proposed order, but also filed motions to dismiss the complaint altogether on the ground that the case had been rendered moot by the State's decision to withdraw entirely from the EA program. In support of its motion the State filed an affidavit from the Chief Fiscal Officer of its Department of Public Aid stating that "the Department would immediately cease all activities and requests for federal reimbursement pursuant to the `Emergency Assistance' program of 406 (e) of the Social Security Act" and that "no additional 406 (e) [436 U.S. 725, 731] federal funds [would] be drawn for the balance . . . of the current fiscal year."
In opposing the motions to dismiss, the plaintiffs argued that even though the State would no longer request federal reimbursement for emergency aid under 406 (e) and 403 (a) (5), it intended nonetheless to operate virtually the identical program as an AFDC "special needs" program and to seek federal reimbursement under 403 (a) (1). They contended that such a course of conduct would be equally unlawful. The District Court took the position that the validity of any proposed program under the AFDC provisions presented a new question that had not been raised in the original lawsuit, and that the plaintiffs' challenge to the 406 (e) program had indeed been rendered moot by the State's decision to withdraw altogether from the EA program. When the plaintiffs declined to amend their complaint to allege that the new program would also be in violation of 403 (a) (1), the District Court entered an order dismissing the cause "for lack of case or controversy."
The Court of Appeals again reversed. Mandley v. Trainor, 545 F.2d 1062 (Mandley II). Noting that the defendants "admit[ted] that they [were] conducting the same program under the label `special assistance' that they formerly conducted under the label of emergency assistance," Id., at 1068, the Court of Appeals held that the change in funding arrangements did not raise issues beyond the scope of the plaintiffs' pleadings, and did not render the case moot. As the appellate court viewed the situation, the plaintiffs were still claiming, as they always had, that any federally funded program for emergency assistance must conform with the eligibility standards of 406 (e) (1), and that the defendants were still violating the federal law by using federal funds to operate an emergency assistance program that defined eligibility more narrowly than 406 (e) (1). On the merits the Court of Appeals agreed with the plaintiffs that 403 (a) (5) [436 U.S. 725, 732] is the exclusive source of federal funds for a program of emergency assistance, and therefore held that Illinois' proposed new program, as a de facto EA program, must extend aid to all persons eligible under 406 (e) (1).
Because of the lengthy and, in its view, wrongful delay in the implementation of its Mandley I mandate, the Court of Appeals then considered sua sponte the defendants' objections to the terms of the final order that had been proposed by the plaintiffs after the first remand, and directed the District Court on remand to enter the proposed order with minor modifications. As to the state defendants this order would provide:
As the Court of Appeals readily conceded, its holding in Mandley I that federal eligibility standards are mandatory upon States that adopt the optional EA program in no way obligates a State to continue that program. The federal definition of eligibility in 406 (e), like the other provisions of Title IV of the Social Security Act, simply governs the dispensation of federal funds. See Townsend v. Swank, 404 U.S. 282, 292 (BURGER, C. J., concurring in result). And while Congress may attach strings to its offer of federal funding, it does not require the States to accept any federal funds at all.
The Court of Appeals also acknowledged that 406 (e) [436 U.S. 725, 735] does not by its own terms attach any eligibility "strings" to a program funded under the AFDC provisions. If Illinois' plan to meet the emergency needs of AFDC recipients by means of AFDC "special needs payments" was proper under 403 (a) (1), the broader EA eligibility definition would have no application. The Court of Appeals believed, however, that the requirements of 406 (e) would be "totally eviscerated" if States could evade them simply by resorting to the AFDC provisions. This effect, in its view, compels the conclusion that 403 (a) (5) is the exclusive source of federal funds for emergency needs, and therefore that emergency payments of the kind contemplated by the Illinois plan 8 cannot be reimbursed under 403 (a) (1) as AFDC "special needs."
Even assuming the Court of Appeals' premise that 406 (e) does impose mandatory standards of eligibility for EA, its conclusion simply does not follow. If a State adopts a program that is, for whatever reason, not a proper EA program, it is no "evasion" of the requirements of 406 (e) to seek alternative funding. It is merely an election not to operate an EA program, but to do something quite different instead. Since the statute clearly offers the States an option whether or not to adopt an EA program, it is in no sense "eviscerated" when a State chooses to forgo the offer.
The legislative history does not indicate a contrary intent. The Court of Appeals found highly significant the description [436 U.S. 725, 736] of EA as an altogether "new" program that would provide federal matching for emergency assistance "[f]or the first time," 113 Cong. Rec. 36319 (1967) (remarks of Sen. Curtis). But, as we have already observed, a critical distinction between EA and AFDC is that eligibility for the former does not depend on the absence of a parent from the home. Thus the enactment of EA extended aid to an entirely new class of families that had not previously been eligible for any form of federal assistance. 9 In this context, the fact that EA was described as a "new" program hardly implies an understanding that the emergency needs of persons who were eligible for AFDC could not be met under the existing program. 10 Indeed the contrary understanding is revealed in the observation that emergency assistance to AFDC applicants was "frequently . . . unavailable under State programs today." S. Rep. No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., 165 (1967). (Emphasis supplied.)
There is nothing, therefore, in the policies or history of the EA statute to indicate that Illinois' proposed AFDC special-needs program should not be judged solely under the requirements for an AFDC program funded under 403 (a) (1), without regard to the EA requirements of 406 (e) and 403 (a) (5). Accordingly, we must consider whether the special-needs program proposed by Illinois is permissible as part of an AFDC program alone. [436 U.S. 725, 737]
Illinois' proposed program would recognize specified emergency needs as "special needs items" within its AFDC "standard of need." The standard of need is a dollar figure set by each State reflecting the amount deemed necessary to provide for essential needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter. 11 See Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U.S. 397, 408 . It is the "yardstick" for measuring financial eligibility for assistance, but the level of benefits actually paid is not necessarily a function of the standard of need. Ibid. At least as early as 1966 federal regulations recognized that States could properly include special-needs items in their standards of need for AFDC. 12 These "are usually defined as those needs that are recognized by the State as essential for some persons but not for all, and that must therefore be determined on an individual basis." U.S. Dept. of HEW, Social and Rehabilitation Service, Assistance Payments Administration, Characteristics of State Plans for Aid to Families with Dependent Children xiii (1974) (AFDC Survey). Whenever the special need is found to exist, it is budgeted in the total standard of need. Ibid.
Frequently the special need is a regular or recurring expense, such as medication or a medically indicated diet, but this is not always the case. On the contrary, the 1974 AFDC Survey, supra, reveals that HEW has approved state plans that cover a wide variety of needs under the rubric of "special circumstance items," including one-time emergency needs like [436 U.S. 725, 738] replacing major appliances, 13 home repair, 14 and catastrophic loss. 15 Similarly, the loss of shelter because of damage or eviction is a particular, nonrecurring event that befalls some, but not all, AFDC recipients, which may be reflected in an adjustment in the standard of need whenever that event occurs.
By approving state plans that cover nonrecurring emergencies as special needs HEW has expressed its view that such items are properly included in the AFDC standard of need for reimbursement under 403 (a) (1). The interpretation of the agency charged with administration of the statute is, of course, entitled to substantial deference. New York Dept. of Social Services v. Dublino, 413 U.S. 405, 421 . Moreover, this view is entirely consistent with the well-established principle that the States have "undisputed power to set the level of benefits and the standard of need" for their AFDC programs. King v. Smith, 392 U.S., at 334 ; Dandridge v. Williams, 397 U.S. 471, 478 ; Rosado v. Wyman, supra, at 408; Jefferson v. Hackney, 406 U.S. 535, 541 . See n. 11, supra.
Since Illinois has not in fact submitted a proposed special-needs program for approval, see n. 8, supra, there is no way of knowing whether such a plan would comply in all other respects with the requirements for an AFDC program. But it is clear that a plan to meet certain emergency needs of AFDC recipients - specifically actual or threatened loss of shelter due to damage or eviction - is not necessarily improper as an AFDC special-needs program simply because it addresses a [436 U.S. 725, 739] nonrecurring need that could alternatively be provided for under an EA program.
Although the Court of Appeals' opinion in Mandley II focused on the proposed special-needs program, the injunction it ordered to be entered on remand would prohibit not only the operation of such a program under AFDC, but any program of emergency assistance that defines eligibility more narrowly than 406 (e). In substance, therefore, the injunction would enforce Mandley I's holding that 406 (e) imposes mandatory eligibility standards on States participating in the EA program. Since there is still a live controversy over this issue, see n. 7, supra, it is to that question that we now turn.
Section 406 (e) defines EA in terms of four distinct considerations. First, unlike AFDC, it specifies a time limitation: EA may be provided only for a period not to exceed 30 days in any 12-month period. Second, it describes the persons on whose behalf aid may be furnished: needy children under the age of 21 who are living with specified relatives. Third, it defines the circumstances under which aid may be provided: where the child is without resources, and aid is necessary to "avoid destitution . . . or to provide living arrangements" for the child. Finally, it describes the method by which aid may be provided: not only cash payments and medical or remedial care, as under AFDC, but also payments in kind and "such services as may be specified by the Secretary." In summary, under EA any family with children that is for any reason threatened with destitution is eligible for emergency aid at least once in a 12-month period, and that aid may be provided by almost any means.
In declaring that Illinois is prohibited from narrowing these broad standards in any way, 16 the Court of Appeals relied on [436 U.S. 725, 740] a long line of this Court's cases mapping out the mandatory reach of the AFDC eligibility provisions. As to AFDC, the law is indeed clear. Each State is entirely free to set its own monetary standard of need and level of benefits. King v. Smith, supra, at 334; Dandridge v. Williams, supra, at 478; Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U.S., at 408 ; Jefferson v. Hackney, supra, at 541. 17 But the States are not free to narrow the federal standards that define the categories of people eligible for aid. Beginning with King v. Smith, supra, this Court has consistently held that States participating in the AFDC program must make assistance available to all persons who meet the criteria of 406 (a) of the Act. Carleson v. Remillard, 406 U.S. 598 ; Townsend v. Swank, 404 U.S. 282 . See also Lewis v. Martin, 397 U.S. 552 . The statutory foundation for this conclusion is 402 (a) (10), which requires that a State's "plan for aid and services to needy families with children" must provide that "aid to families with dependent children shall be furnished with reasonable promptness to all eligible individuals." 42 U.S.C. 602 (a) (10). [436 U.S. 725, 741]
The question to be decided is whether these interpretive principles are to be applied to the EA program as well.
The short answer is that, since 402 (a) (10) on its face applies only to "aid to families with dependent children" and not to the separately designated program of "emergency aid to needy families with children," it cannot be the basis for making the 406 (e) eligibility requirements mandatory on the States.
The Court of Appeals recognized that 402 (a) (10) was limited by its language to AFDC, but nevertheless concluded that Congress intended to treat EA "in the same way" because it is "part of the same statutory scheme," and rooted in the "same Congressional concern with [the] deprivation of children that brought forth the AFDC program . . . ." Mandley I, 523 F.2d, at 422. But Congress' choice of precise language in this complex statute cannot be glossed over with such generalities.
The 402 "state plan for aid and services to needy families with children" is the central, organizing element of the Title IV-A program. A State's plan establishes both its funding relationship with the Federal Government and the substantive terms of all Title IV-A programs in which it has elected to participate. Thus, the plan reflects not only the basic AFDC program of cash assistance defined in 406 (b), but also Title XX social services, see 402 (a) (15) and 42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq. (1970 ed., Supp. V), and, if the State chooses to adopt them, the optional programs of EA, defined in 406 (e), and AFDC-Unemployed Fathers (AFDC-UF), established by 407.
Section 402 (a) lists some 20 specific requirements for which a state plan "must provide." Some clearly apply to the plan as a whole. These generally concern program administration. E. g., 402 (a) (1) ("provide that it shall be in effect in all [436 U.S. 725, 742] political subdivisions of the State"); 402 (a) (5) ("provide . . . such methods of administration . . . as are found by the Secretary to be necessary [and] proper . . ."); 402 (a) (9) ("provide safeguards which restrict the use or disclosure of information concerning applicants or recipients . . ."). Others, like 402 (a) (10), refer specifically to "aid to families with dependent children." E. g., 402 (a) (7) ("provide that the State agency shall, in determining need, take into consideration any other income and resources of any child or relative claiming aid to families with dependent children"); 402 (a) (11) ("provide for prompt notice . . . to the State child support collection agency . . . of the furnishing of aid to families with dependent children with respect to a child who has been deserted or abandoned . . .").
The term "aid to families with dependent children" is given a very specific meaning in 406 (b) - and "emergency assistance to needy families with children" as defined in 406 (e) means, as we have observed, something quite different. It is true that both the EA and AFDC programs must be reflected in a State's 402 plan, and both will be governed by those parts of 402 that apply to the plan as a whole. But there is no basis for assuming that, when 402 refers specifically to AFDC, those references are either meaningless or inadvertent. On the contrary, there is every reason to suppose that the exclusion of EA from specific substantive requirements of 402, in particular 402 (a) (10)'s imposition of mandatory eligibility standards, was deliberate, since the absence of mandatory eligibility standards is wholly consistent with the nature and purpose of the EA program.
The EA program was adopted by means of an amendment to 406 defining the new term "emergency assistance to needy families with children." Pub. L. 90-248, 206 (b), 81 Stat. 893. But nowhere in the EA statute is there a [436 U.S. 725, 743] precise definition of eligibility comparable to the terms that have been held mandatory in AFDC. As to the latter, the term "aid to families with dependent children" is defined in 406 (b) as "money payments . . . in behalf of [a] dependent child . . . ." The term "dependent child" is separately defined in 406 (a) as a needy child who has been deprived of parental support, is living with specified relatives, and is either under the age of 18 or under the age of 21 and regularly attending school. It is this very specific definition of "dependent child" in 406 (a) that has been held to be mandatory upon the States in King v. Smith, 392 U.S. 309 ("deprived of parental support"), Carleson v. Remillard, 406 U.S. 598 ("continued absence from the home"), and Townsend v. Swank, 404 U.S. 282 ("regularly attending a school").
On the other hand, the term "emergency assistance to needy families with children" is defined in 406 (e) as payments and services furnished "in the case of a needy child" who meets certain requirements and is facing destitution. The structure of this statutory provision thus parallels 406 (b) - i. e., while it describes eligible persons, it is in terms a definition of the program for which federal funding is available. But in the EA program there is no separate provision, parallel to 406 (a), that defines the terms used to describe eligible persons. 18 There is no statutory language, therefore, that can reasonably be understood as imposing uniform standards of eligibility on every state EA program. 19 [436 U.S. 725, 744]
The conclusion that Congress in fact intended to treat EA and AFDC quite differently is fully consistent with its purposes in enacting the EA program. Unlike the basic AFDC program and the optional AFDC-UF extension, EA is not a comprehensive system of income maintenance, but rather a program designed to allow quick, ad hoc responses to immediate needs. Indeed one of the primary purposes of making EA available to persons not receiving or eligible for AFDC was to "encourag[e] the States to move quickly in family crises, supplying the family promptly with appropriate services," in the hope that this "would in many cases preclude the necessity for the family having to go on [AFDC] assistance on a more or less permanent basis." 113 Cong. Rec. 23054 (1967) (remarks of Cong. Mills). This purpose reflects not only an awareness of the distinct difference between AFDC and EA, but also an understanding that EA would not be surrounded with all of the trappings that 402 requires of the ongoing AFDC cash-payments program. In short, EA was designed "to assure needed care for children, to focus maximum effort on self-support by families, and to provide more flexible and appropriate tools to accomplish these objectives." S. Rep. No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., 165 (1967). (Emphasis supplied.) [436 U.S. 725, 745]
As a matter of historical fact, Congress has always left the States broad discretion in shaping the programs that, like EA, authorize assistance to persons not eligible for AFDC in the hope of preventing lasting welfare dependency. Under the former 406 (d) family services program 20 the States had "considerable latitude in providing services to nonwelfare recipients on the grounds that they [were] `former or potential' recipients." S. Rep. No. 93-1356, p. 9 (1974). And the declared purpose of the new Title XX social services program enacted in 1975, 42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq. (1970 ed., Supp. V), was to "encourag[e] each State, as far as practicable under the conditions in that State, to furnish services directed at the goal of . . . achieving or maintaining economic self-support to prevent, reduce, or eliminate dependency. . . ." 42 U.S.C. 1397 (1970 ed., Supp. V). (Emphasis supplied.) The legislative history of that statutory program reflects Congress' awareness that the very magnitude of its purpose would require that "the States . . . have the ultimate decision-making authority in fashioning their own social service programs within the limits of funding established by Congress." S. Rep. No. 93-1356, supra, at 6. 21
By the same token, the very breadth of the potential reach of EA - to virtually any family with needy children of a [436 U.S. 725, 746] certain age that faces a risk of destitution - argues against the inference that Congress intended to require participating States to extend aid to all who were potentially eligible under 406 (e). A literal application of all of the 406 (e) standards, as required by the Court of Appeals' proposed order, would create an entirely open-ended program, not susceptible of meaningful fiscal or programmatic control by the States.
The Court of Appeals believed that under its interpretation of the Act Illinois would retain "substantial control" of its program through its ability to limit the amount of assistance actually paid:
For the foregoing reasons the judgment of the Court of Appeals is reversed, and the cases are remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. 22
[ Footnote 2 ] Section 406 (e) of the Act, as set forth in 42 U.S.C. 606 (e), provides in pertinent part:
[ Footnote 3 ] The complaint also alleged that the Illinois program violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Illinois Public Aid Code.
While none of the defendants questioned the District Court's subject-matter jurisdiction, the Court of Appeals properly considered the [436 U.S. 725, 730] question sua sponte. It held that the District Court had jurisdiction of claims against the state defendants under 28 U.S.C. 1343 and 42 U.S.C. 1983 since the plaintiffs' constitutional claims were not insubstantial. Mandley v. Trainor, 523 F.2d 415, 419 n. 2 (Mandley I).
It found the question of jurisdiction over the federal defendants more troublesome, ibid. We express no view as to the Court of Appeals' theory of jurisdiction in light of the intervening amendment of 28 U.S.C. 1331, which, by eliminating the requirement of $10,000 in controversy in any action "against the United States, any agency thereof, or any officer or employee thereof in his official capacity," 28 U.S.C. 1331 (a) (1976 ed.), clearly confers jurisdiction over the federal defendants in these cases. Andrus v. Charlestone Stone Products Co., ante, at 607-608, n. 6.
[ Footnote 4 ] As stated in the order, any child:
[ Footnote 5 ] The order would further require HEW to "file with the court proposed regulations governing emergency assistance, which proposed regulations shall be in accord with the opinion of the Court of Appeals, with this order and with 45 CFR 233.10 (a) (1) (ii) (A)."
The plaintiffs' originally proposed order would have specifically required that the regulations "include, inter alia, definitions of such terms as `necessary to avoid destitution' and `lack of available resources' which are compatible with providing emergency assistance when a needy child is approaching destitution." While the Court of Appeals thought "it would be salutary to include such definitions in the new regulation," it declined to "order HEW specifically to include any items in its new regulation." 545 F.2d, at 1073.
[ Footnote 6 ] The petitioners have not raised in this Court the claim that the validity of the proposed AFDC special-needs program was beyond the scope of the pleadings in this case.
[ Footnote 7 ] We agree with the Court of Appeals that the cases were not rendered moot by Illinois' decision to withdraw from the 406 (e) program. For even if the proposed arrangement is entirely legal under 402 and 403 (a) (1), the State's decision to withdraw voluntarily from the 406 (e) program in no way mooted the Court of Appeals' prior determination that that program was being operated in violation of federal law. See United States v. W. T. Grant Co., 345 U.S. 629 .
By granting the defendant's motions to dismiss, as it was bound to do if the case was indeed moot, the District Court rendered the entire proceeding a nullity. There was no longer any judgment binding on the defendants to prevent them from returning to the old program. And, while the defendants' good-faith representation that they had no intention [436 U.S. 725, 734] of doing so might properly have led the District Court to deny injunctive relief, see Hecht Co. v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 321 , it could not operate to deprive the successful plaintiffs, and indeed the public, of a final and binding determination of the legality of the old practice. United States v. W. T. Grant Co., supra, at 632.
Since the Court of Appeals correctly concluded that the District Court had erred in dismissing the case as moot, the controversy was still alive as to the legality of both the old EA program and the proposed AFDC special-needs program. We note that, in a status report to the Illinois Advisory Committee on Public Aid, the State's Director of the Department of Public Aid stated that he intended to request that "HEW clarify its [ 406 (e)] Emergency Assistance Program [since] there are aspects of a [ 406 (e)] program that we feel superior to a special need program and we would prefer, if so allowed, to maintain the [ 406 (e)] Emergency Assistance Program of the present scope." (This status report was filed in the District Court as Exhibit 1 to Plaintiffs' Answer to Defendants' Motions to Dismiss.) Thus while the Court of Appeals had already passed on the legality of the Illinois EA program in Mandley I, there was no jurisdictional bar to its directing entry of a judgment on remand from Mandley II resolving the entire dispute by enjoining the operation of both programs.
[ Footnote 8 ] The record does not contain an actual proposal for the contemplated special-needs program, since Illinois had not at the time of the Court of Appeals' decision drafted or submitted such a plan to HEW for approval. The court assumed, and the parties agreed, that the program would parallel the old EA program: i. e., it would cover emergencies in AFDC families arising out of the actual or threatened loss of shelter due to damage or eviction and the immediate needs of presumptively eligible AFDC applicants.
[ Footnote 9 ] "For the first time, the Federal Government will match money for emergency assistance. This has not been in the law before. For a period of 30 days, emergency assistance can be paid in cases where they cannot meet other qualifications." 113 Cong. Rec. 36319 (1967) (remarks of Sen. Curtis). (Emphasis supplied.) See also S. Rep. No. 744, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., 166 (1967).
[ Footnote 10 ] Even if their import were clearer, as an expression of Congress' understanding as to the scope of the pre-existing AFDC statute, such post hoc observations by a single member of Congress carry little if any weight. See Los Angeles Dept. of Water & Power v. Manhart, 435 U.S. 702, 714 .
[ Footnote 11 ] The States have a "great deal of discretion" in setting the standard of need, and "some States include in their `standard of need' items that others do not take into account." Rosado v. Wyman, 397 U.S. 397, 408 .
[ Footnote 12 ] U.S. Dept. of HEW, Handbook of Public Assistance Administration, Part IV, 3131 (3) (1966). Current regulations provide that "[i]f the State agency includes special need items in its standard [the state plan must] (a) describe those that will be recognized, and the circumstances under which they will be included, and (b) provide that they will be considered in the need determination for all applicants and recipients requiring them." 45 CFR 233.20 (a) (2) (v) (1977).
[ Footnote 13 ] Illinois and Minnesota. AFDC Survey 59, 100.
[ Footnote 14 ] Arizona, Connecticut, Guam, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and South Dakota. Id., at 11, 27, 46, 69, 73, 100, 125, 179.
[ Footnote 15 ] California's plan provided for "replacement of clothing and certain household items because of sudden or unusual circumstances beyond [the] control of [the] family." Id., at 19. Connecticut, North Dakota, and Rhode Island covered needs arising out of "catastrophic" events as special-circumstance items. Id., at 27, 147, 171.
[ Footnote 16 ] The original plan actually invalidated in Mandley I narrowed EA eligibility by limiting it to persons also eligible (or presumptively eligible) for AFDC, and by recognizing as circumstances of emergency need [436 U.S. 725, 740] only an AFDC recipient's loss of shelter due to damage or eviction, and an AFDC applicant's immediate need for household effects. Other States, however, have imposed different kinds of restrictions on EA eligibility. Some, for example, exclude AFDC recipients if the emergency need is one theoretically covered by the basic assistance grant, reasoning that the State should not pay double benefits when recipients have failed to budget their resources properly. See generally Note, Meeting Short-Term Needs of Poor Families: Emergency Assistance for Needy Families with Children, 60 Cornell L. Rev. 879, 888-892 (1975).
The injunction ordered by the Court of Appeals in Mandley II apparently reaches all such limitations. It requires Illinois, so long as it receives any funds under Title IV-A and operates an emergency aid program, to provide assistance to all persons who fit the federal description of eligible individuals, and it prohibits HEW from "approving state plans for emergency assistance which limit eligibility more narrowly than 406 (e)."
[ Footnote 17 ] By controlling these two elements, which determine actual payments under the program, every State retains the ability to control its total AFDC expenditures. Cf. Jefferson v. Hackney, 406 U.S., at 539 -541.
[ Footnote 18 ] By contrast, the other optional Title IV-A program, AFDC-UF, is defined by reference to the key statutory term "dependent child." 407 (a), 42 U.S.C. 607 (a). This indicates that when Congress intended that a separate program should be treated "in the same way" as AFDC, it was able to express that intent clearly by actually incorporating the identical terms.
[ Footnote 19 ] The Court of Appeals thought that "the problem of setting workable definitions for the somewhat amorphous eligibility criteria in [ 406 (e) could] be addressed by HEW rule-making," Mandley I, 523 F.2d, at 422-423, and indeed required such rulemaking in its Mandley II order. See [436 U.S. 725, 744] n. 5, supra. The statute does not, however, require the Secretary to promulgate implementing regulations to clarify the scope of 406 (e). Compare 406 (e) with 407 (a) (AFDC-UF). Cf. Batterton v. Francis, 432 U.S. 416 . And the regulations in fact adopted by the Secretary interpret the statute as leaving the States with broad discretion as to EA eligibility requirements. 45 CFR 233.120 (1977). The Secretary's contemporaneous interpretation of the statute is entitled to considerable deference. New York Dept. of Social Services v. Dublino, 413 U.S. 405, 421 . In the absence of an express delegation of authority to the Secretary, there is simply no basis for assuming that Congress intended that he, rather than the States, must make definite - and mandatory - the generalized standards of eligibility it wrote into the EA statute. Cf. n. 21, infra.
[ Footnote 20 ] Section 406 (d) of the Act, as set forth in 42 U.S.C. 606 (d), defined "family services" as "services to a family or any member thereof for the purpose of preserving, rehabilitating, reuniting, or strengthening the family, and such other services as will assist members of a family to attain or retain capability for the maximum self-support and personal independence." Section 406 (d) has been repealed and replaced by the new Title XX Social Services program. Pub. L. 93-647, 2, 3 (a) (5), 88 Stat. 2337, 2348. See 42 U.S.C. 1397 et seq. (1970 ed., Supp. V).
[ Footnote 21 ] This conclusion was based on the "lengthy history of legislative and regulatory action in the social service area [which] made it clear . . . that the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare can neither mandate meaningful programs nor impose effective controls upon the States." S. Rep. No. 93-1356, at 6.
[ Footnote 22 ] The Court of Appeals did not reach the respondents' constitutional and state-law claims, see n. 3, supra. They remain open for consideration on remand. [436 U.S. 725, 748]


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You know how some jokes make you laugh because they feel like they're hitting on some essential truth? That's how Mad Magazine's skewering of Siri and Apple's recent labor woes comes across in these fake ads from the comedy institution's upcoming issue.
The Foxconn scandals degraded some of Apple's vaunted invulnerability and these faux advertisements chart the low points of the manufacturing fiasco into a cutting little micro-fable. If you want to see what else sucks about America, you can pick up Mad Magazine #515 on April 24th.


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FreeNAS State of the Union & Free(NAS) Training!
Hello FreeNAS users!
For the first time (but hopefully not the last), Jordan Hubbard, the head of FreeNAS engineering gives a status report on the current state of the FreeNAS project and what's in store for the future. Take a look:
The FreeNAS Team
Free Intro to FreeNAS & ZFS Class
You read that right — we'll start offering a free, condensed version of the original "Intro to FreeNAS" classes soon. Linda Kateley will still cover the same topics as the full-length class including web UI, setup, volumes, and datasets but the sessions will be much shorter. Each class will be limited to 45 attendees but we expect those spots to fill up fast, so be sure to sign up early when it's available.
We're making a couple of changes to fit the new format. The ability to give verbal feedback will be removed due to the increased number of participants but attendees will be able to ask questions via e-mail. We will also offer paid, advanced FreeNAS classes for more in-depth instruction about the following topics:
- System Administration
- FreeNAS Sharing
- FreeNAS Systems Design and Architecture
A beta of the system administration class will also be available soon with priority access for people who attended the full-length intro classes.
FreeNAS 18.104.22.168-BETA is Available
FreeNAS 18.104.22.168-BETA can be downloaded here. The full list of bugs fixed in 184.108.40.206 can be found here.
Some noteworthy changes include:
- Samba is updated to 4.1.8
- Netatalk is updated to 3.1.2
- Several fixes related to the System Dataset
- A new VirtualBox jail template
- Several fixes related to ZFS replication
- A new mpr driver, officially sanctioned by LSI, for the LSI 12 Gbps SAS HBA
- An experimental in-kernel iSCSI target
- A .usb file which can be imaged to a USB key. This can be used for installing FreeNAS from a USB key.
For the full list of changes, see the Release Notes. Please provide feedback on this BETA. If no major problems are found, 126.96.36.199-RELEASE will be available in approximately 14 days.
New FreeNAS Tutorial Videos
We posted a few more tutorials on our official YouTube channel this past month. The first video focuses on the basics of setting up volumes and snapshots and also covers different volume layouts including stripes, mirrors, RAIDZ, and more. By popular request, the second video demonstrates how to set up shares for Apple (AFP), Unix (NFS), Windows (CIFS), and Time Machine on FreeNAS 220.127.116.11.
Be sure to check out these videos and the rest of the channel if you need help setting up your FreeNAS. After all, who knows more about setting up FreeNAS than the people who wrote it?
New Job Position: QA Testers Wanted
Speaking of testing, iXsystems has a new job position open. We are looking for individuals who are highly self-driven and able to work closely with our engineers in assessing the most appropriate priorities for testing, the creation of automated test frameworks, and driving the overall testing process to higher levels of quality and automation.
Skills in any of the following areas are a plus but not strictly mandatory – we are willing to train the right candidates. Enthusiasm and willingness to work hard count for at least as much as experience!
- Network Attached Storage technologies (FreeNAS experience a huge plus)
- Familiarity with Unix Operating systems (any flavor)
- Python, Perl, Ruby or Unix shell scripting
- Experience with testing frameworks and testing automation.
- A basic understanding of the software life-cycle
The full job description can be found on the careers section of the iX site.
EconoNAS 2014 by Brian Moses
You may remember Brian from his various FreeNAS DIY articles over the years. Well, Brian recently updated his EconoNAS build for 2014. The new build is slightly more expensive than the previous version but the extra cost allows Brian to increase the storage capacity by 25% and RAM by 100%.
This is the first time he's gone through the entire build and setup process, so he's doing something special with the system — he's giving it away! Make sure you check out his blog to see his hardware recommendations and find out how you can enter to win his giveaway.
FreeNAS Plugin Overview
This article from OpenLogic takes a look at using the FreeNAS plugins system to increase your system's functionality. After an overview of several of the more popular plugins including Plex, CrashPlan, and ownCloud, the article runs through the process of plugin installation and configuration with screenshots to help readers understand what to do. Most notably, the article also includes a troubleshooting section at the end to address some of the common issues people run into when working with plugins.
FreeNAS in the Wild – BSDCan
We had a small table with freebies at BSDCan in Ottawa this year. Several of our developers attended the conference and Dev Summit including Dru, John, and Craig who all wrote recaps about their experience at the show and the work they did there. Check out the photos on our Facebook and Google+, courtesy of Ollivier Robert.
If you missed us, keep reading to find out which shows the FreeNAS team will be going to next.
Upcoming Live Events
We'll be at the following conferences. If you're in the area, drop by and say "hi"!
June 13-14 – Texas Linuxfest in Austin, TX
June 20-22 – Southeast Linuxfest in Charlotte, NC
July 20-24 – OSCON in Portland, OR
Tech Tip #7
FreeNAS benefits greatly from ECC RAM, which prevents data corruption before writing to disk and while reading from it. However, if it's a budgetary choice between ECC RAM and a better-protected RAID array due to one more disk, go with the disk every time.
Links of the Month
PC-BSD on an Old Vaio Laptop via Larry the Free Software Guy (aka, Jordan's neighbor)
Commit This Bit via BSD Now
DIY Vintage Raspberry Pi Internet-Radio/Spotify Device via Imgur
Need a Job? We need people!
If you've been reading about all the great things we've been up to and thought to yourself, "Hmm, I wish I could be a part of that", well…now you can be!
iXsystems, the company that sponsors FreeNAS, is looking for a few good developers and QA testers to join our team. We offer competitive salaries, health benefits, stock options, 401k, and access to a fancy-schmancy coffee maker as some of the benefits. We're a very prominent company in the world of FreeBSD; in fact, we employ more FreeBSD developers per capita than anyone else you can think of.
Interested? The full job descriptions can be found here. If this sounds like your cup of double-shot espresso, email Jordan Hubbard at firstname.lastname@example.com with your resume. Cover letters appreciated but not required.
Send Us Your Content
Got a FreeNAS hardware build you're proud of? Come up with a tech tip while tinkering around in the GUI? Have a link or picture you think we should see? As long as it's not something you wouldn't send to your boss, we'd love to hear from you. Drop us a line at email@example.com. We're always on the lookout for FreeNAS and storage related content to feature in the newsletter and on our social media channels.
Connect with Us
If you need help with your FreeNAS setup or would like to show off your configuration, share your plugins, or just talk with like-minded people, join the conversation on our community forums. For video tutorials, check out our YouTube channel.
Want real-time updates as they happen? Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or add us to your Google+ circle!


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©2019 Alaska Multiple Listing Service, Inc. All rights reserved. The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site comes in part from the Alaska Listing Exchange (ALE) Program of Alaska Multiple Listing Service, Inc. (AKMLS). Information provided is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Real estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Jack White Real Estate are marked with either the listing firm's logo or ALE logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing brokerage. All properties are subject to prior sale, change or withdrawal. The information being provided is for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.


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Saturday's bluegrass prize pool swells
A $500 donation from Friends of Marion County Lake will increase the prize pool for this week's open stage contest at Bluegrass at the Lake.
Instead of $100, the best performance will earn $300. Second place will net $200; third, $100. The group hopes increased prizes will attract more musicians to the open stage from 4 to 6 p.m. Saturday.
The annual event will be at the beach area at Marion County Park and Lake.
The Kansas Bluegrass Association Treblemakers will perform from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and the Alfred Packer Memorial String Band will play from 8 to 10 p.m. An open stage without prizes will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Friday.


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Mullins Victorious at Sandlapper National Enduro
Salley, SC – Factory FMF/KTM rider Charlie Mullins earned his second victory of the season at the second round of the AMA National Enduro Series after winning 5 of the 6 special tests.
Mullins arrived at the location full of confidence as he was fresh off a win from the opening round. Mullins tied for the win in the first special test and went on to win the next four in a row after that. Heading into the final test he had a 1 minute and nearly 30 second lead over the rest of the field.
"I was definitely feeling confident today and my KTM 350 XC-F has been working perfectly so far this season," remarked Mullins. "Unfortunately, I suffered two small crashes in the final test that kept me from earning a solid time in that section. After the crashes, I told myself to just relax and ride in safe so I could take home the win."
Mullins did make it back safely to earn his second win of the season. He now leads the overall point standings by 19 points heading to the third round of the series.
Next Event: Blackwell, TX – March 24, 2013
Overall Results –
- Charlie Mullins – KTM
- Mike Lafferty
- Thad Duvall
- Russell Bobbitt
- Nick Fahringer
- Grant Baylor – KTM
- Andrew Delong
- Brad Bakken
- Kyle McDonal
- Ian Blythe – KTM
Overall Point Standings –
- Charlie Mullins – 60
- Mike Lafferty – 41
- Nick Fahringer – 41


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Robert Pattinson Goes Shirtless & Serious In 'Rover' Trailer — Watch
'The Rover' trailer is finally here! On Jan. 29, director David Michod definitely transformed Robert Pattinson into sexy vamp to serious bad boy — watch the new trailer here!
Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce are about to blow up the big screen! The official trailer for The Rover is officially out, and we can see loud and clear that Rob has come a long way since his days as Edward Cullen. We can't wait to see the new movie, coming out in summer 2014.
'The Rover' Full Trailer
In the trailer, we see Rob looking sexier than ever playing a bad boy. We can definitely see why director David Michod was positive Rob was right for the role.
"I knew that I wanted to see him," David told the Sydney Morning Herald. "And we looked at quite a few people and a number of, you know, quite big names, and sure enough Rob came in and just straight away was my favorite."
In the trailer, Guy is telling his story of a dangerous, lonely journey through the Australian desert. Rob is shown shirtless, bloody and ready to fight.
Rob's Risky 'Rover' Role
According to the film's website, Rob plays Rey, who was a gang member! It's definitely a far stretch from the vampire role he's known for, but it's not a surprise since he's been working hard to get out of that light.
Here's the full synopsis:
The Australian desert in a dangerous and damaged near future. Eric (Guy Pearce) has left everything, everyone and every semblance of human kindness behind him. And then he has his last possession stolen by a gang of dangerous criminals. Eric sets off on a ruthless mission to track them down, forced along the way to enlist the help of Rey (Robert Pattinson), the naïve and injured junior member of the gang, who was left behind in the bloody chaos of the gang's most recent robbery.
Are you excited for the new movie? Let us know!
— Emily Longeretta


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Getting around Lagos can be a thrilling and unpredictable experience. Walking can be risky unless a traveller can convincingly blend in with the local populace as tourists are often targeted by criminals. The best bet is to hire a private car and driver. Drivers are available outside most hotels and concierges should be able to recommend a reliable one. Taxis are reasonably safe, reliable and affordable. Cabs are often painted yellow with a blue stripe running down the side.
Local time is GMT +1
Electrical current is 240 volts, 50Hz. Round and square three-pin plugs are used.
Nigerian currency is the Naira (NGN), which is divided into 100 kobo. Approved exchange facilities include the major hotels and the airport, but official rates are very high. It is illegal to change money on the street. Credit card fraud is a problem and visitors are advised to exercise caution when using credit cards. Credit card facilities are also limited outside of the major cities. Prior to travel, visitors should ensure they have a variety of currency options available to them (Pounds, US Dollars or Euros) in cash. Travellers should be aware of the prevalence of commercial fraud in, and emanating from, Nigeria.
The country code for Nigeria is +234. Full international direct dialling is available. There are good GSM 900 and 1800 mobile phone networks covering Lagos, Abuja and some other major towns. Internet cafes can be found in major cities.
Emergencies in Lagos: 112. Emergency numbers do vary region to region.
Everything about travel documents
Larger hotels have a shuttle bus meeting all international flights. Otherwise, taxis are the safest and most efficient way to travel to and from the airport.
Car rental companies at Murtala Muhammed International Airport include Avis, Europcar and Sixt. Note that driving oneself around Nigeria is strongly cautioned against, as the roads can be confusing and chaotic, and there is a risk of car-jacking.
Yellow taxis are available outside the terminal. It is wise to negotiate a fee before departure. Aim to get into Lagos for around NGN 5000.
The terminals are within easy walking distance of each other.
Airport facilities include ATMs and currency exchange, Executive and VIP lounges, a meet and greet lounge, prayer rooms, disabled facilities, and a tourist information desk in the arrival hall. Shopping is limited to a few retail stores selling electronics, mobile accessories, jewellery and health care products. International and African foods are served by vendors in the airport's food court.
Parking spaces are available.