text:
Wednesday, 24 October 2007
I'm Paine. I used to be a moderator at OiNK.cd, until, as you know, we were shut down by the BPI and IFPI.
Now, there are far, FAR too many rumours flying around, and I wanted to set some shit straight.
1. There is no official OiNK IRC right now.
EDIT: Defunct. See newest post.
2. OiNK will _NOT_ be up today, or tomorrow.
We're not magic. None of the moderators have access to the current code and databases right now -- in fact, neither does OiNK himself, as his stuff was confiscated (remember the crap you saw in the plastic bags on the news?). People purporting to be TMT and/or OiNK are, to be frank, lying their fucking asses off.
3. There is currently _NO_ "oink legal fund".
DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT give ANY money to ANY of these fake funds you are seeing. They are scams. OiNK will not see a penny of this money, and neither will you.
4. OiNK himself is safe and well.
He's fine and out on bail.
5. There is no "official" OiNK forum right now.
While there may not be an official forum, a lot of our ex-users are flocking to http://www.ohax.com/phpBB2/ -- Some of the users on there are actually staff. However there are also people maliciously using that site to link to scam sites and other various filth.
Anyway, I hope that's settled a lot of shit. If you're in doubt I'm who I say I am, then don't believe me. I encourage you all to exercise extreme caution when people are floating around throwing names about left right and center saying these things. The "TMT" on Dalnet was not our TMT. In fact, nobody has been in contact with him, and I expect it will remain that way for a very long time.
Edit: A few people have asked me if we logged the IP you snatched things from. The answer is no, we did not log snatch IPs.
Edit 2: This is an important one -- Your passwords do NOT need to be changed, they were stored as salted MD5 hashes. All the authorities have is the hashes. The only way they can get the original passwords is via brute force. The chances of that are slim to none if you followed standard good password practice.
95 comments:
- Psylight said...
Thanks for the info, Paine. Keep us updated; I've got this site bookmarked.
- 24 October 2007 at 17:32
hi, paine thanks for the post.
you seem to insinuate that oink may be back in some form at some point in the future... am i suffering from a case of wishful thinking or is this anyway feasible and you ppls' thoughts at all?
- 24 October 2007 at 17:33
- Paine said...
Wishful thinking is all we have right now, we're still trying to get in touch with a few straggling mods who've disappeared. We don't know if it'll be back, although it's fair to say we'd all jump at the chance to do it.
- 24 October 2007 at 17:36
i'd think someone kept at least some backups of something somewhere. (the torrentbits modifications?) but maybe that's just wishful thinking.
- 24 October 2007 at 17:37
- Paine said...
Sure we had backups. We did daily backups and had a 10 minute downtime every day at 8 GMT. That doesn't mean they're easily accessable.
- 24 October 2007 at 17:38
do you know if PM records will be accessible to police? Is that stuff encrypted or is it entirely visible to people who have admin status?
- 24 October 2007 at 17:45
right, i meant backups offsite. :)
well okay, that makes me feel a little better, maybe.
(btw, has anyone been in touch with the EFF or Open Rights Group in the UK about all of this?)
- 24 October 2007 at 17:45
blessings go out fi de staff..may jah guide your ways..
- 24 October 2007 at 18:00
Thanks for this. And if you are in fact who you say you are, you should know that the community meant a great deal to thousands of music lovers. Good luck & let's hope for the best!
- 24 October 2007 at 18:01
I've c&p'd this to a few doubtful people, alot of whom have now realised that everything in the news isn't always accurate ...
- 24 October 2007 at 18:02
Thank you. This was necessary. Very much appreciated.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:03
paine, in case you don't know EFF or ORG, those are groups supporting freedom on the internet and defending p2p in many cases.
i'm friends w/ people at both of them. let me know...
- 24 October 2007 at 18:03
- Paine said...
As far as I'm aware, no-one has been in touch with either of them.
However OiNK has given an interview to The Daily Telegraph.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:13
paine, cool, but they have lawyers, so they could potentially help out. (the EFF defended grokster in the US supreme court.)
is there an accessible IRC channel people are on?
- 24 October 2007 at 18:19
Can oink donators be sued or charged and will users be sued or charged for uploading or downloading? I'm glad I never upped major label releases and am strictly into underground music.
Good luck to all staff.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:25
- Paine said...
The chances of any users being chased up are slim to none.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:29
anonymous, i go to law school, and i seriously doubt that anyone would get sued. there are MAJOR evidentiary issues involved, and it would be especially hard to prove infringement of RIAA material.
even if someone donated, that is not necessarily illegal in and of itself.
so basically, IMO, there's no chance.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:29
Thanks for the update dude, this is very much appreciated. I hope this stops the shit-wave.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:35
Thanks for the reply. I was thinking more for the UK users since that's where it was based.
Can they find out who donated and have access to what was uploaded and downloadedand by whom?
Again, good luck to y'all.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:37
Is the interview with Oink posted anywhere?
- 24 October 2007 at 18:39
anonymous, i admittedly know less about UK law, but i think my claims still stand there. you need to prove that someone actually downloaded something to sue them. as paine said in his post update, oink did not log snatch IPs. as a result, it seems like it would be impossible to prove. (they may be able to associate username with emails with snatches, but that's still extremely difficult to prove that the actual person did it.)
remember, it's not ALL oink material they can sue for, it's only RIAA/IFPI stuff. so being an oink member alone doesn't suffice anyway.
needless to say, i think you can sleep at night without worry.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:44
- Paine said...
Like we said, hardly any (if any at all, which I don't think there are) logs were kept on users.
The interview has not been posted anywhere, although I assume if it gets in the paper/on the internet it'll be all around the net pretty soon. (I'll post a link here when it does come up)
- 24 October 2007 at 18:44
- Seth said...
Thanks Paine. Good to hear from reliable folks.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:47
paine, i'll stop spamming your comments, but online freedom / copyright / p2p is my area of expertise, and i know a lot of people in this field (like the heads of EFF, ORG).
please let me know if there's an irc channel i can find you on, or some other way of getting in contact. i think they can help.
- 24 October 2007 at 18:51
Anyone on here could be anyone else. For all paine knows, your a fed looking for a way to contact him to track him down. The same could be said for me.
In his position, the number of people I would trust with any amount of my personal contact info would be next to zero.
Could you potentially help him? Sure. Could I potentially be jesus christ himself? Probably equally possible. It's the Internet. You just never know...
- 24 October 2007 at 19:16
Atari: fucknet.
- 24 October 2007 at 19:17
I used the password oink gave me, but I assume there's no way anyone can get that from the server or anything?
- 24 October 2007 at 19:27
Very awesome. Thank you sir.
- 24 October 2007 at 19:35
Everyone is really in a panic right now. The best thing you guys can do is take your time and not rush things. Regardless I just hope everyone turns out OK.
My suggestion (if indeed OiNK resumes) is to flat out ban albums posted before their street release date. Those leaks seemed to be the bait, or at least the excuse?
- 24 October 2007 at 19:37
I wonder how many people freaked out and unplugged their modems.
- 24 October 2007 at 19:44
itcouldbeanyone, of course i could be a fed, and so could you.
but there's this thing called the internet, and things like encryption and anonymizing ips (like tor), and they're awesome!
basically, there are ways to communicate on the internet without compromising one's privacy/anonymity.
oh yeah, i'm friends with the tor (tor.eff.org) guys too. they rock! and if only it were faster.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:03
good to hear from u,
my thoughts remains with you.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:03
I said it at the "memorial blog" and I will say it again: we need to keep away from all the trouble of the "OiNK" name right now, but we definitely need to take action. We need to make buttons for website that say "I <3 music", and make people show their support.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:03
- Holland Oats said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:04
oink was the best thing ever for rare and oop shares.
my prediction is that all the press this oinkbust is getting backfires on the haters-that-be when it helps grow the share-base (once they realize they can't sue everybody).
anyway good luck all
- 24 October 2007 at 20:09
What's the word on people's PayPal accounts?
- 24 October 2007 at 20:09
- Lerferz said...
I love you man. I'm praying for the safety of OiNK.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:12
Agreed on all accounts. I meant that, if I were paine, I wouldn't post any sort of contact info on this particular blog, as it's linked to very publicly. A private message. An encrypted email, hell, a netsend would be more secure than that. It was just my two cents.
As to those who want to "get back" at someone for taking down a website- stop. There's no point. Boycotting buying music is not going to hurt the industry that badly. Neither is putting up some sort of button. Choose your battles. Now, when all the cameras are on you and the light is the brightest, is not the time to make some sort of "stealth strike". Deal with it. Wait for this to become old (maybe 2 weeks Internet time?), then look around for a resurrection of our favorite site.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:15
I'd like to thank you Paine for putting up this blog. I was wondering if having had encryption on in uTorrent will make it harder for users to be traced?
- 24 October 2007 at 20:18
Allegedly some ex-OiNKers are being hassled by their ISPs.
See: http://torrentfreak.com/oink-admin-released-from-custody-071023/#comment-194577
At least two have ALLEGEDLY been contacted.
For the sake of other ex-OiNKers I hope this isn't a trend.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:20
Paine, I know you said that almost no logs were taken. But I was just wondering how much of the PayPal information was kept by the servers? Or, was it all handled simply by PayPal (meaning that PayPal has those records)?
- 24 October 2007 at 20:41
Well, thanks for the update. It was a wonderful site while it lasted, and I hope Oink and every user/admin will be safe from prosecution.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:55
- Paine said...
Those are indeed paypal's records.
Turning on encryption basically attempts to disguise the fact it's bittorrent traffic from your ISP. Of course with Comcast's sandvine technology, it's almost completely redundant nowadays.
- 24 October 2007 at 20:59
What's the likelihood of IFPI going after paypal for it or getting into Oink's account?
- 24 October 2007 at 21:00
- muffins said...
Has the site been shutdown permanently as in the fact that you cannot bring it back by law or has it just been taken down temporarily while they investigate?
If that was badly worded try this:
Will OiNK ever see the chance to get all the files off the servers if he wanted to bring it back or will the police keep it indefinitely?
- 24 October 2007 at 21:19
Thanks for enlightening us, paine. It came as a hell of a shock to me.. but can you tell me: do they really have anything against OiNK? I mean, I'm sure he's not stupid (of course not.. <3 we love him) and doesn't participate in spreading scene releases, as that would be an obvious risk. So do they have any strong leverage in court? It's just a tracker.. and those "super early pre release holy shit we are soo losing money, so we can't afford to cover our pools with gold" claims can be easily debunked in court.
OiNK wouldn't probably be running trackers anytime soon anyway?
I thought you mods/admins might join up, spread the love and buy a server at PRQ. Plus, PRQ/TPB are strong fighters against IFPI and bitches likewise (see: ifpi.com). You can verify old users. Yes, wishful thinking.. but that's my dream for now.
- 24 October 2007 at 21:20
- Paine said...
I *don't know* if we'll get the stuff back, it's as simple as that. It's been taken down for investigations as far as I know.
I'm not a lawyer, so I'm not sure how what they think they've got, though I am however pretty confident.
- 24 October 2007 at 21:25
Good stuff, please keep up posted, I'm taking this as the official word now.
- 24 October 2007 at 21:31
Hey Paine,
What do you make of these claims that people are receiving messages threatening to cancel service when starting up their browsers?
- 24 October 2007 at 21:32
Why not send some flames to:
Internet Anti-Piracy Unit
Jeremy Banks- Vice-President, Internet Anti-Piracy
IFPI Secretariat
10 Piccadilly
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 7900
Fax: +44 (0)20 7878 7950
E-mail: email@example.com
or to
Riverside Building
County Hall
Westminster Bridge Road
London SE1 7JA
E: firstname.lastname@example.com / email@example.com
61 Oct 23, 2007 at 19:16 by h33t
- 24 October 2007 at 21:59
@Why not send some flames to:
and that would help how?
- 24 October 2007 at 22:07
- Joris said...
thnx for the info
& thnx to everyone involved in the site
Oink was a lot of fun.I'm gonna miss it =>
really a lot...
- 24 October 2007 at 22:15
How much trouble would someone in the UK who had uploaded and downloaded about 2gb be in, lawsuit-wise, would you say?
- 24 October 2007 at 22:17
- The Mac Family said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- 24 October 2007 at 22:18
@How much trouble would someone in the UK who had uploaded and downloaded about 2gb be in, lawsuit-wise, would you say?:
um, nobody really knows. but, just to be safe, move to nigeria.
- 24 October 2007 at 22:20
- 24 October 2007 at 22:27
- 24 October 2007 at 22:28
So would they have access to any paypal account of those who donated in the past? You say no logs were kept on users, which of course is good news for users. Also, they would need to essentially guess a users password to see their account?
- 24 October 2007 at 22:28
I would've thought it would depend on how much uploaded was on the BPI/RIAA radar.
The people who leaked the scene releases I am sure will be who they're after to stop them doing it elsewhere.
I know a lot of people who have quit torrenting because of this.
- 24 October 2007 at 22:32
- Paine said...
People claiming to have cease and desist letters in their browsers are probably just trying to cause hysteria. Their ISPs wouldn't just do it for one page view, and they would have no way to post comments about not being able to get online ;)
They wouldn't need to guess a user's password, I was merely pointing out that users passwords are safe.
- 24 October 2007 at 22:40
Thanks Paine. Definitely appreciate the official word. Not usually given to prayer (being an atheist and all) but if there is a god, hopefully he'll see fit to return OiNk to something approaching it's former glory.
- 24 October 2007 at 22:50
Paine, thanks for everything! I have a question, I've heard that the tracker is still running, why do you think this is?
- 24 October 2007 at 22:52
Presumably so they can log the IPs of anyone using a torrent program who doesn't know about the site being taken down?
- 24 October 2007 at 22:58
so how much trouble are donors in? if they subpoena paypal, they could sink everybody who donated, in theory, one assumes. how many users would that represent?
- 24 October 2007 at 23:07
Is it illegal to have donated though? I can't see it. anyone been in touch with a UK lawyer?
- 24 October 2007 at 23:12
- Paine said...
The tracker's not running.
They won't be after donors -- they're after people who they think are selling copyrighted material. The reason they went after oinky is because they thought he was making money.
- 24 October 2007 at 23:15
- 24 October 2007 at 23:16
What information, if any, do they have on the users right now that could be used potentially in future civil lawsuits if they decide to go that route?
- 24 October 2007 at 23:21
Wow, thanks for your illuminating commentary "anonymous" of 15:16. Any other words of wisdom you'd like to impart? Maybe "fart"? "Poop"?
- 24 October 2007 at 23:21
"According to the article, a source has stated that the OiNK membership list was not only encrypted, but also equipped with a 'self-destruct' type mechanism which relied on a regular signal to continue in 'OFF' mode."
Taken from: http://torrentfreak.com/oink-down-norwegian-bittorrent-trackers-next-071024/
paine - any chance of this being true, or just more misinformation?
And it's been said 1000 times, but thanks :)
- 24 October 2007 at 23:22
i've got to think that oink wasn't making money, although i don't know for sure, of course. it seems that donations would merely have paid for or partially paid for the server uptime.
- 24 October 2007 at 23:22
After an apparent 2 year investigation, they still believed he was making money and charging users? These people are pathetic.
- 24 October 2007 at 23:23
- Brandon said...
after a 2 year investigation they still believe that a) people were subscribing to the service and b) you had to prove you could upload your own stuff before being gained entry. obviously they didn't do a good job which is why this whole thing is bs.
for a journalist who didn't just copy the press release, read this. at least someone is on our side.
and i know you've heard it a lot paine, but thanks for keeping us updated.
- 24 October 2007 at 23:43
let me join anonymous in anonymously re-asking:
"What information, if any, do they have on the users right now that could be used potentially in future civil lawsuits if they decide to go that route?"
- 24 October 2007 at 23:49
Paine, or whoever,
So you say that you didn't log IP's? Out of curiosity, does this mean that you weren't actively logging IP's on your forum and/or other installed software? Or do you mean to say that you disabled system logs, network logs, router logs, etc...?
There's a hell of a lot of logging going on in the average server box...
Is it your assertion that you had several hundred thousand users transferring gigs of data across unencrypted, public networks, but magically left no identifiable trace of those users not only in your logs, but any logs?
- 25 October 2007 at 00:07
"What information, if any, do they have on the users right now that could be used potentially in future civil lawsuits if they decide to go that route?"
- 25 October 2007 at 00:12
- 25 October 2007 at 00:20
"What information, if any, do they have on the users right now that could be used potentially in future civil lawsuits if they decide to go that route?"
Jesus how presumptuous to keep asking this. What makes you think Paine knows? Further, what makes you think it's his responsibility to tell you anyway? It's not his job to ease your worries or calm your fears. And do you really expect that? Have you been in an OiNK forum? Are the mods known for their loving, warm, gentle touch?
You knew what you were getting into when you downloaded your first torrent. You scared? I don't blame you. I am too, but the fact is that Paine more than likely doesn't know. He's not the one who's house was raided. He's not the one out on bail. I'm sure OiNK himself can't divulge all the details of what went on, so even though Paine has an inside lane to the info, it doesn't mean it's the info that's gonna make you sleep better tonight.
- 25 October 2007 at 00:23
Whilst no IPs were recorded in the snatch list, The users last IP was recorded in the users table. And the userid is in the snatched table. So with a simple sql join you have snatch list with IPs.
- 25 October 2007 at 00:52
"users last IP was recorded in the users table. And the userid is in the snatched table. So with a simple sql join you have snatch list with IPs."
Interesting. What I remember from OInk though was that only recent snatches would show in the profile. Am I remembering wrong?
Also, it would be presumptive and not solid to make the case that a snatch occurred at that ip. all that shows is that the user logged on at that ip. you'd have to presume the snatch occurred there -- it could've happened anywhere.
- 25 October 2007 at 01:00
- Foss said...
Oh well, guess you will just have to buy your music and movies now. Can't deal with it? Make your own music and movies and put them up on a server with creative commons license.
- 25 October 2007 at 01:50
your kind of worthless
- 25 October 2007 at 02:01
Any word on Becky? :(
- 25 October 2007 at 03:18
Gut Reaction, should I hold on to my torrent files just in case, or do you think the server will need to get new ones if/when the site goes back up?
- 25 October 2007 at 03:26
Should I be concerned if I had my torrent client running for 12 hours or so after the takedown? Can they tell what I was seeding?
(And thanks for providing answers to all the panicking users like myself.)
- 25 October 2007 at 03:50
I'm worried about the mods, not to mention TMT. I miss Becky and Nimenard.
- 25 October 2007 at 03:52
i miss you all dearly
- 25 October 2007 at 06:01
i'd love to know how oink had managed to mask the ip in the peers table.
They usually pull the plug on the server in order to not tamper with evidence.
- 25 October 2007 at 07:01
heyo! thanks for answering all our questions
just curious why you dont think you'll hear from TMT for a long time?
- 25 October 2007 at 08:45
telegraph article
- 25 October 2007 at 08:46
Thanks for the word, paine. We'll all be seeing each other again soon in some form or another, I'm sure. May take some time. We'll make it.
- 25 October 2007 at 08:49
From that Telegraph article
"Detectives are thought to be analysing the databases for details of the invitation system and members' downloads.
A spokesman for Cleveland Police, responsible the Middlesbrough inquiries, said: "It is too early to tell if we will go after individuals, it all depends on what we find."
- 25 October 2007 at 12:28
Oh no way, those quotes are from that article?! No way!
- 25 October 2007 at 15:05
- m3unit07 said...
paine, i am offering t-shirts/sweatshirts for a lower price than cafe press
I have all the information on my blog, so if you want to post it or whatever
- 29 October 2007 at 00:28
Just sent this email to a client. I've no idea whether they've even heard of Oink but... anyway...I'm going to send something similar to all my clients. From now on, if they want, they'll get a free song of my choice. Swamp the world:
Thing attached here.
Stop being so apologetic about making changes. You're being way too empathetic for your new role.
Would it be be practical if I sent you a song with every email? I think that's something I should be doing with everyone right now. Just because.
- 30 October 2007 at 21:42


text:
Eight educators from Polk County were awarded up to $500 each to carry out arts-related projects in the 2013-14 school year by the Tryon Fine Arts Center.
Eight educators from Polk County were awarded up to $500 each to carry out arts-related projects in the 2013-14 school year by the Tryon Fine Arts Center.
The TFAC mini-grant program, named the "Be Inspired Grant Program," financially supports teachers who want to inspire creativity in the classroom.
Grants went to the following teachers:
--Denise Kennedy
Polk County Middle
Project: "Project Drums"
Grant amount: $499.86
Drums will be purchased to afford students with disabilities the opportunity to be exposed to the art of drumming.
--Jeanne Burgin
Polk County Middle
Project: "Shakespeare in the Classroom"
Grant amount: $490.57
Classes will have a professional actor work with students on interpreting and performing "Hamlet."
--Langlee Garrett
Polk County Middle
Project: "Leaving Your Mark"
Grant amount: $500
Students will create unique mosaic tiles that will be permanently displayed at the school.
--Sherrie Ford
Polk Central School
Project: "Poetry Cafe"
Grant amount: $290.99
Poetry Cafe will showcase original student poetry, recitation of famous poetry that enhances public speaking skills and confidence of third-grade students.
--Andrea Walter
Polk Central School
Project: "Poetry Books"
Grant amount: $278.75
Fifth-graders will each publish a book of original poetry and drawings in a variety of poetic forms and hold a writers' celebration with light refreshments to celebrate the completed books.
--Leisa Penrod
Polk Central School
Project: "Paper to Literacy"
Grant amount: $496.77
Supplies and machinery will be purchased to allow current and future fifth-grade students to make and design their own paper.
--Ginger Rackley
Saluda Elementary
Project: "Mini-Masterpieces"
Grant amount: $284.70
Students will create index card art, illustrating through drawing their knowledge and understanding of a core concept.
--Monica Barber
Sunny View Elementary
Project: "Clay Creations"
Grant amount: $461.20
Students will have a hands-on experience of working and creating with clay, while learning the history of pottery.
TFAC is a nonprofit organization that operates a 300-seat performance venue and a 150-seat amphitheater for music, theater, dance and lectures in Tryon. In addition to presenting programming for a wide variety of audiences, TFAC also makes the arts accessible to local students through education and outreach programs.
"Education through the arts not only benefits students' creativity and imagination, it also builds tools for success such as perseverance and problem solving," among other skills, said Marianne Carruth, TFAC's director of marketing and arts in education.
Reach Tanker at 828-694-7871 or firstname.lastname@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|MLBPA Press Release
Administered by the Major League Baseball Players Trust and Volunteers of America, the Action Team program encourages young people throughout the United States to volunteer in their communities. To date, Action Teams of high school students and Major Leaguers have inspired more than 26,000 high school students across the country to help over 111,000 people in need by volunteering in their communities. An award-winning Action Team service-learning curriculum created by the Players Trust in partnership with The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition teaches valuable community service skills to 1 million high school students in more than 5,000 classrooms across the country. The Association of Educational Publishers presented this innovative service-learning program with a 2009 Distinguished Achievement Award.
Receiving signed certificates of achievement from the players tonight are Action Team captains from North Dallas High School and Skyline High School in Dallas and YES Prep North Central and Mayde Creek High School in Houston. Also, Mariela Castillo and Ofelia Olivares from North Dallas High School and Victor Mauricio from Mayde Creek High School will each receive a $1,500 college scholarship from the Major League Baseball Players Trust in recognition of their commitment to community service.
Action Teams are at work in 163 high schools across the country and Puerto Rico. Each month during the school year, Action Team captains participate in a conference call hosted by legendary broadcaster George Grande, where a Major Leaguer and a featured Action Team of the Month discuss the importance of community service and share volunteering tips and ideas. High schools interested in joining the Action Team can receive applications and additional information by visiting http://www.ActionTeam.org or by sending an email request to email@example.com.
Through the Players Trust, Major Leaguers contribute their time, money and celebrity to call attention to important causes affecting the needy and to help encourage others to get involved in their own communities. For more information on the Major League Baseball Players Trust, please visit www.MLBPLAYERS.com and visit the Players Trust Channel on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/mlbplayerstrust.


text:
I don't feel like getting far into a discussion about Chrisitanity, but consider the actual text.Alex123 wrote: Who care about short lasting results (which might not even be achieved) in this short life if afterwards one will eternally burn in hell? Maybe the results (if they even exist) are from the devil (or God) to tempt us away from Christianity.
Matthew 7:15-23 wrote: By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.


text:
Dell Asset Utility
By downloading, you accept the terms of the Dell Software License Agreement.
This driver has been tested by both the independent software vendor (ISV) and Dell on the operating systems, graphics cards, and application supported by your device to ensure maximum compatibility and performance. Details
Dell recommends the customer review specifics about the update to determine if it applies to your system. The update contains changes that impact only certain configurations, or provides new features that may/may not apply to your environment.


text:
Some useful ideas, but I'm concerned that the layout of the formal letter is incorrect - the date should be underneath the address on the top right of the page, and a letter beginning Dear Sir/Madam should end in Yours faithfully, not Yours sincerely! Sorry for pointing it out, but I hope it helps!
An Introduction to Letter Writing
Letter writing can be fun, help children learn to compose written text, and provide handwriting practice — and letters are valuable keepsakes. This guide was written for England's "Write a Letter Week" and contains activities to help children ages 5–9 put pen to paper and make someone's day with a handwritten letter.
Because the activities below were developed for students in the U.K., it uses some language specific to their school system. For example, KS1 refers to Key State 1, corresponding to children ages 5 to 7; KS2 corresponds to children ages 7 to 9. QCA stands for Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which is the regulatory body for public school examinations. PSHE refers to personal, social and health education, a topic in the national curriculum.
Letter writing is an essential skill. Despite the prevalence of emails and text messages, everyone has to write letters at some point. Letters of complaint, job applications, thank you letters, letters requesting changes or making suggestions — the list goes on and on. Encouraging children to write letters from an early age will improve their communication, social and handwriting skills, and teach them what they need to know about writing and structuring letters.
Within the KS2 National Literacy Strategy, letter writing is a required element. In many schools this takes place during Year 3, Term 3 and relates to QCA units T16, 20, 21 Reading and Writing Letters. Children are expected to learn how to write letters, notes and messages. They have to be aware of different styles of writing, the use of formal and informal letters, and to select style and vocabulary appropriate to the intended reader.
Handwriting too is an essential element. In the Standard Assessment Tests Level 2 handwriting is required:
- To be legible
- Have a consistent size and spacing of letters
- Show flow and movement
- Show a confident personal style
- Thus letter writing exercises can fulfil two elements of the curriculum
What's so special about receiving a handwritten letter?
Quite apart from curriculum requirements, being asked to write letters is a task that will appeal to children. The sheer fun of sending and receiving letters appeals to every child. There is something special about putting letters into the post box and then having letters delivered by the postman… the brightly coloured stamps, seeing your name on the envelope and knowing that inside is a long awaited letter from a friend or member of the family. It shows someone cares and has taken the time to sit down and think about you.
Handwritten letters have a charm of their own. You can take time to think about what you want to say. You can keep letters to read again and again. You can admire the handwriting; share dreams and thoughts. Responding by letter is very different to the immediacy of a text message or an email.
Activity 1: Warming up to letter writting
Use the above themes to encourage the children to discuss letter-writing. Ask the children to put their hands up if they have ever received a personal letter. Ask for one or more volunteers to talk about how they felt to receive the letter. Here are some initial questions that may help:
- What was in your mind as you read the letter?
- Did you keep the letter to read again?
- Did you share your letter with anyone?
- Did you write back?
And some questions for whole class or group discussions:
- Can the class describe any differences between the handwritten letter and an email?
- Do the children think there is ever a time when only a handwritten letter will do?
Ask the class to interview each other to find out each individual's experiences of writing and sending letters. This can be recorded in a chart.
Activity 2a: Introducing letter writing
Collect a supply of different types of letters — both formal and informal. Ask the children to sort them out into two groups. Which were written to friends? Which are formal letters from businesses? Which features or characteristics distinguish formal from informal?
Having done that ask the children to look for differences between the two groups. This allows a discussion to take place about the different types of letter. Draw up a chart for each group covering:
- Address — business or private?
- Greeting — formal or informal?
- Style of letter — friendly or business?
- What is the message?
- How does the letter end?
This will allow the children to find out for themselves the differences between formal and informal letters.
This could be followed by a discussion of the type of letters the children or their families write. How many occasions can they think of which would deserve a letter to be written? For example:
- Letters of congratulation
- Exchanging news
- Writing to friends
- Letters saying sorry for doing something wrong
- Making appointments
- Asking for information
- Dealing with banks or stores
- Letters to family members who live some way away
- Letters to Santa Claus
- Thank you letters
- Letters showing how much you appreciate someone
- Letters responding to someone who has had bad news — showing how much you care by trying to share their sadness
- Letters of complaint
- Letters to newspapers and magazines
In each case the children should decide what type of letter would be most appropriate in each case — formal or informal? Draw up a chart for each group.
Activity 2b: Formal letters
These are sometimes known as business letters. They are written in a strictly formal style. Such letters are always written on an A4 (8" x 11" sheet of paper. They can be folded three times so that the address to which the letter is being sent can appear in the window of a business envelope. The layout is always the same.
- The senders address is put at the top right hand side
- Include telephone number and email if available
- The address of the person receiving the letter goes on the left hand side below the sender's address
- The date
- Greeting — Dear Sir or Madam. You can use the titles Miss, Mrs. or Mr. if you know the name of the person to whom you are writing
- The message
- Complimentary close — Yours faithfully or Yours sincerely
- Signature
- Write name in block letters (this is to ensure that the person receiving the letter knows exactly who has sent it. Signatures may not be very clear)
Activity 2c: Informal letters
These are letters to friends and relations, or people you know well. Structure:
- The sender's address should always appear on the top right hand corner of the page.
- Include telephone number and email if available
- Greeting — There are several variations that can be used depending on how well you know the person: Dear Mary, Hi Mary, Greetings
- Complimentary close — short comment, for example Love, Lots of love, With thanks, See you soon
Tips for writing good letters
- Make sure that they are well written. It can be very annoying for someone to have to struggle to read handwriting. Always use your best and clearest handwriting.
- Make sure all your contact details are clearly written down at the top of the letter. If they are not, then you might not get a reply. The correct address is essential.
- Think about what you want to say. If necessary make some notes on a separate sheet of paper first. This will ensure that you do not forget anything.
- Think about to whom you are writing the letter. Use the right style of writing and language — formal or informal, business like or friendly.
- Lay out your letter using paragraphs. This makes it easier for the reader.
Activity 3: Letter of enquiry and letters providing information
These are formal letters and messages need to be precise and detailed, covering all the required information. Two types of letters can be undertaken — a letter requesting information; and a reply providing it.
Out in the Milky Way, there is an alien curious about Earth. He writes a letter asking for information about liquids and gases. These do not exist on his planet and he finds it hard to understand what they are.
Write a letter explaining what liquids and gases are. How do they work? What examples could be included? What would be confusing about them? This would link into the KS2 science curriculum and could act as a revision exercise giving an opportunity for a discussion about gases and liquids.
The following day, give the children a thank you letter from the alien!
You could link up with another class in the school. One class could write letters of enquiry. These would be delivered to the second class for answering.
Activity 4: Thanks you letters
Thank you letters are very important and can be used in lots of ways: thanking organisations for helping, thanking people for helping you, thanking someone for a lovely time. They make a good follow up exercise after receiving presents or going on a visit.
Your class has just been out on a school visit to a farm. Write a thank you letter to the farmer. You will need to say thank you and how much you enjoyed the visit. Give some examples of what you enjoyed best about the day? Was it feeding the lambs? Pond dipping? Seeing the young animals?
Activity 5: Letters of invitation
Everyone likes receiving invitations. Receiving a hand written letter asking you to a party or a special event makes you feel very special.
Discuss what type of event might create a need to write letters of invitation. There are plenty of examples — birthday parties, Christmas parties, a visit to a beach with friends; going out to a farm or to the cinema, a wedding or when a new baby is christened; or simply inviting a friend to stay overnight at your house.
Choose a special event and write a letter inviting a friend. What do you need to include in the letter so that they have all the necessary information? You need to be clear on the date and the time, as well as the location. Your friend would be very upset if he or she went to the wrong place. Does he or she need to bring anything with them? Does he or she need to be collected at a set time? Will outdoor clothing be needed if the weather is bad? How will your friend reach the location of the event? Should a parent bring them or will you provide transport?
Remember to ask them to reply saying yes or no. Give a date by which you must have their reply. This is important if food and drink are being provided, or if you need to know exactly how many people are coming.
Activity 6: Letters of complaint
When might a letter of complaint be sent? It might be when someone has done something wrong. Sometimes people write letters to organisations or the newspapers to complain about litter or poor service.
Just imagine what Mr. Bear must have been thinking at the end of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. A naughty girl had broken into his home, eaten his porridge; broken a chair and then gone to sleep on his child's bed. Then she had run away without even saying sorry when the bears came back.
Write a letter of complaint from Mr. Bear to the parents of Goldilocks. What would he say? He would need to get his complaint across very strongly. There would be a list of Goldilocks' misdeeds. He would ask for an apology. Would he ask for payment for the broken chair? Would he ask for action to be taken against Goldilocks? Discuss the various possibilities with the children. What might he ask? Would it be a formal or informal letter?
Activity 7: Letters to Santa
Every year children write letters to Santa Claus, asking for special toys at Christmas time. But how many children think about Santa Claus himself? What is his life like? What are the problems of living amid all that snow and ice?
This is an exercise that could involve two classes within a school. Both classes should prepare for the task by listening to some unusual letters. J R Tolkein wrote a lovely book entitled Letters from Father Christmas. Every December a letter would appear telling wonderful tales of life at the North Pole — how the reindeer got loose and scattered presents all over the place; how the accident-prone Polar Bear climbed the North Pole and fell through the roof of Santa Claus's house.
Children in the younger class should write letters to Santa. They should ask about life at the North Pole. What do they think it is like? What sort of characters live there? How does Santa Claus occupy his time for the rest of the year? Consider how they would feel living in a land of snow and ice all year round? Would they want a holiday somewhere warmer?
Once the letters are written, gather them up and take them to an older group of children. Give each child a letter and ask them to write a reply. This would give them the opportunity to use their imagination and create imaginative responses, possibly little stories about life at the North Pole. They could also add in their own ideas. But care should be taken to make sure that all the questions in the original letters are answered.
Finally, take the answers back to the original class for reading and discussing.
Activity 8: Letters to newspapers and magazines
These are letters that aim to pass on an opinion or a message. Examples can be easily obtained from local newspapers or from children's magazines such as DK Find Out or Aquila. They are written slightly differently to normal letters and are always addressed Dear Sir, or Dear — (name of magazine).
These are letters that are directed at a wide audience — anyone who happens to read it. The sender never gets a direct letter back through the post. Sometimes people are so interested in a letter, which has appeared in a magazine that they want to express their opinions. So they then write a letter to the magazine giving their comments.
So what might go into a letter to a newspaper or magazine? It might be a request — could you provide more stories about skate boarding, or nature? It might be a way of thanking people for providing help. Sometimes letters to local newspapers are used to thank people who helped find a lost dog or help after an accident; but who did not leave their names. By writing to the paper, the sender hopes that the message will reach the people concerned. Sometimes such letters are used to express opinions such as on climate change, treatment of animals, poor services, not enough buses, and human rights.
Letters of this kind need to be very precise. Arguments should be clearly made. Requests for action should be clearly indicated. From reading the letter, everyone should know exactly what the sender is asking.
A major issue is recycling and energy conservation. Everyone is trying to reduce the amount of energy we use. Look at all the reasons why energy conservation is so important. Then, write a letter to a paper or magazine saying why you believe we should avoid wasting energy. Give examples of how energy can be saved? What measures should we take in our homes or schools? Could anything more be done?
My Child magazine. (2007). Letter Writing Resource Pack. London, U.K. Author. Retrieved February 26, 2008, from http://www.mychild.co.uk/docs/walw/Letter_writing_Resource_Pack.pdf.
this is really helpful. thanks
I love how in the "Typical layout of a formal letter" example, the second sentence is a question, but it ends with a period.
I think it needs more information in Detail!!! it isn't that informative!!
I need more introductions
good job,well done,cute,gang
goood job
goood job
It is very helpful for our students, but I think we need more examples and also how could these letters be evaluated in class.
i was expecting letter writing topics.
nice i agree ^^ !!!!
hmmmm......nice!!!! it helped anyway...i would rate it 5/10
really wonderful activities are suggested to improve letter writing.
I'm teaching my 7 year old daughter the art of personal letter writing. I found this information very useful! Thank You!!
I don't think you should write your name in the top right hand corner of the letter regardless of whether it is formal or informal. You should only write your address and the date there but not your name. Am I wrong?
Thanks for this. It would have been useful if the letters had been copiable...
very useful.please put more examples
very useful site
I thought that this website was quite useful though I couldn't find what I wanted
Thank you.
This is quite useful but needs more examples
Thank you this was very helpful! Teaching this to my third graders tomorrow!
A great read as I am looking for various language to use in writing thank-you notes to parents for Christmas gifts. Our whole sharing month in December revolved around distinguishing between a need and a want. The thank-you with a purpose will be awesome as an example of an informal thank-you letter. As a follow up, we will write a formal thank-you to our parent council for their efforts in generating funds for our school. (Christmas raffel baskets with a theme)
I really found these helpful for my lesson but, I personally think this is not appropriate for children.
This is not a complete guide for children. They need more guidance as they are beginners. Try to make up some more stuff for kids like Games, quizzes etc. That might keep them stick to this. :)Thank you.
it's okay but i was expecting games for my child on this website!!!
it is good but those examples are not enough
quite helpful
These came in handy as I prepare mu pupils to write letters. Thanks a million for this information.
I had my ELLs create an invitation using your lesson. After choosing the event, we brainstormed together, using a concept map, what would need to be included. Then I made like a story map for them to fill in with the required info. For my lower ELLs, I used frames: Please come to my ____ on ____ at ____. They referenced the vocabulary we brainstormed and that I had written on a chart. After drafting, we did peer edits, from a specific check list, and revised and edited for specific errors based on peer edit. It went really well and studets enjoyed decorating their invitations as well!
i love to write letters and read letters from friends.
Two books for children i have found very useful are Dear Greenpeace ( Walker Books) and The Jolly Postman or other peoples letters ( Puffin Books) there amazing for this topic for ks1
this is quite helpful for students..
I LOVE the letters to santa lesson! I am student teaching and third grade right now and trying to figure out how to pull this off. For example, should they write the letters to Santa or should they answer the letters. I am pretty sure a lot of them believe in Santa still...Anyway, love this idea and will use it in the future if not this year!
i am looking for a decent and friendly handwriting scheme/style to use from Reception through to Year 6. Currently we have Berol and it doesn't seem to be favoured by many. desperate for some feedback and guidance
Thank you for the awesome resource..
it didnt really help me but I found good examples of letter writing.
teaching this unit tomorrow, this was helpful
letters are important, a skill sadly lacking these days
What about 'grading' a thank you letter?
Its better to include more examples of types of letters.
I teach English Lnguage Learners and they will love this unit. A good (and funny) book to use with this unit is "I Wanna Iguana" by Karen Kaufman Orloff. Thanks!


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We've all been holding our breaths the past few months waiting for older devices running Windows Phone 7.5 to get the modest update to 7.8. Great news for those of you with a Nokia Lumia handset like the 710 or 900 – starting today, the Windows Phone 7.8 update is rolling out to all of you.
It's been a long time coming, but your Nokia Lumia 510, 610, 710, 800, and 900 have been a little bummed out about missing the double wide Live Tile action newer phones have been getting. Not anymore, you can now look forward to multiple tile sizes, lockscreens, and more theme colors.
When you get the notification on your device to upgrade is of course determined by a few factors, the biggest obstacle of course being the carriers:
"The Windows Phone 7.8 update is now rolling out for Nokia Lumia smartphones through February. Delivery of the update is operator dependent, meaning you will receive a notification in the coming weeks if you have an unlocked phone or if your operator has approved the update. If you don't receive the update notification within the next three weeks, please contact your operator for more information."
No word yet for other handsets from OEM's like HTC or Samsung could it still be a couple hours or something different(although don't get your hopes up HD7 users)? In the meantime, check our hands on with Windows Phone 7.8 on a Lumia 900 to see what you can expect and look forward to.
Source: Nokia Conversations


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|MLBPA Press Release
In an exciting new relationship, VYou and the MLBPA will bring some of the biggest names in baseball front and center on the groundbreaking social media platform. Through this relationship, the MLBPA continues to assert itself as an early adopter of new technology in the social media field. Leading off the MLBPA's The Players Clubhouse channel on VYou are Boston slugger David Ortiz, San Francisco closer Brian Wilson, Los Angeles outfielder Torii Hunter and 2010 Players Choice Award winner for AL Outstanding Player, Texas outfielder Josh Hamilton.
"Profile discovery is one of VYou's key focuses, and we believe channels will serve as a great tool to find curated collections of people," said Steve Spurgat founder of VYou. "We could not have asked for a better partner to launch this feature with than the Major League Baseball Players Association; their progressive thinking has allowed us to launch with some of the best personalities and talent in the league."
"We're excited to be a part of the launch of this new technology," Richard White, MLBPA genereal manager of licensing, added. "VYou provides another way in which players can uniquely connect with the fans of the game."
VYou allows people to broadcast video structured as conversations, offering the most personal form of social interaction on the web. VYou lets you get advice from experts, interact with your favorite celebrity or organization, or communicate with friends and family using a social presence that persists even when you are away. As a simple application it can be embedded and posted anywhere on the web giving you tremendous power and creative control.
To check out the players visit VYou.com/channel/theplayersclubhouse. For any press or interview requests, please contact Lindsey Green at email@example.com.
The Major League Baseball Players Association (www.MLBPLAYERS.com) is the collective bargaining representative for all professional baseball players of the 30 Major League Baseball teams and serves as the exclusive group licensing agent for commercial and licensing activities involving active Major League baseball players. On behalf of its members, it operates the Players Choice licensing program and Players Choice Awards, which benefit the needy through the Major League Baseball Players Trust, a charitable foundation established and run entirely by Major League baseball players.


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Communities remember P-W eighth grader at boys basketball game
The Pewamo-Westphalia boys basketball team improved to 10-0 in Central Michigan Athletic Conference play with its 65-26 win over Portland St. Patrick.
Although fans of both schools cheered on their teams on the court, on Friday night, the outcome of the game was secondary to players, coaches and spectators.
The communities came together and filled the gym at Portland Middle School to remember P-W eighth grader Trent Bengel, who passed away two weeks ago after a three-year battle with brain cancer.
With so many family members and friends coming together, Bengel's parents, Randy and Terri Bengel said they really appreciate the outpouring of love and support they have received.
"It's just overwhelming," Randy said. "We just want to give thanks to the communities for their support and love.
Almost everybody in the stands were donned in green and white, honoring Trent by wearing the colors of his favorite college team, Michigan State. There was also a teddy bear toss at half time where fans threw new stuffed animals onto the court. All toys will be donated to Grand Rapids Hospice and Helen Devos Children's Hospital.
Before and after the halftime event, both the P-W and St. Pats student sections began chants of "pray for the Bengels" and "We love Trent."
St. Pats Principal Randy Hodge said they received over 700 stuffed animals from the toss.
As for the game itself, the Pirates took control early, using a 16-0 run to take a 22-2 first-quarter lead.
P-W held the Shamrocks without a field goal for almost 15 minutes until St. Pats senior Collin Lay drained a shot with 1:20 left in the second quarter.
At the half, the Pirates held a 37-10 advantage.
"Our kids did a great job on defense and really set the tone early," P-W coach Luke Pohl said. "Nick Spitzley really got off to a quick start for us, scoring 21 points in the first half.
Spitzley led P-W with 27 points and nine assists, while teammate Lane Simon finished with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Lay led the Shamrocks with 19 points.
"(P-W) is athletic, long and so skilled they can be hard to compete with," St. Pats coach Mark Scheurer said. "I am proud of our guys effort tonight, especially with a couple of players out due to injury and illness."
P-W (11-1, 10-0 in CMAC) will play host to Saginaw Nouvel Catholic on Wednesday in a non-conference match up.
St. Pats (5-8, 3-7 in CMAC) will be take on CMAC rival Fowler on Wednesday night at home.


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Taft limits Bakersfield Christian to three points in the fourth quarter
The Taft varsity girls basketball team found the perfect way to end the first half of the league season Friday night with a 52-29 victory over the Bakersfield Christian Eagles in Bakersfield.
Kennedy Kunce got the Wildcat offense going by scoring four straight points in the first minute of the opening quarter. The Lady Eagles would cut the lead in half at 4-2 and again at 6-3. However, Bakersfield Christian Eagles were held to a jumper and two free throws in the final 4:01 of the quarter.
In the meantime, Taft erupted for eight additional points to lead 14-7 heading into the second quarter.
Taft carried the run into the second quarter by scoring three unanswered points on a free throw and a putback. Bakersfield Christian narrowed the score to 17-10. The Lady Wildcats followed with four unanswered points to increase the lead to nine.
Bakersfield Christian cut the deficit to seven but was held to two points the rest of the half while Taft scored six points.
Taft pulled away in the third quarter by scoring 19 points while the Lady Eagles were held to 10. The difference gave the Lady Wildcats a 42-26 lead going into the final quarter.
Even though scoring trailed off in the final quarter, Taft outscored the Lady Eagles 6-3 to seal the victory.
Taft returns to action Monday when they face Arvin in Arvin. The game begins at 6:45 p.m.
To read the full story from Friday's game, pick up Tuesday's Driller.


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Harry Potter Dark Art 1000 Piece Puzzle: There can be no good without evil. The villains from the Harry Potter series are featured in this dark puzzle that is sure to send chills down your back. This 1000 piece puzzle measures 19 5/8" x 29 1/2" when complete and is intended for ages 12 and up. Exclusively available for purchase online here at Go! Games and Puzzles. UPC: 400069333338


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Measured Response
This story of snap judgment takes place in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, in a tiny valley.
One night I was jolted out of sleep by the sound of gun fire. I came out to the front room to see what was going on, to find my mom on the phone to the state police. Someone was shooting at our house! Mom motioned me to get back in the hallway and continued talking to the police. Let me correct one thing that is running in your brain cinema, Mom wasn't frantically talking to the dispatcher or clutching the phone to her. The dispatcher was telling her the cops wouldn't be coming and Mom wasn't particularly disappointed . While this was going on I was standing in the hall listening to the bullets hit things in the yard. Mom told me to get out the back door, get behind the big cedar tree and wait for her. Standing behind the huge tree I could hear what was happening. Someone was not just shooting at our house, they were shooting DOWN at our house from the railroad tracks that formed one side of our valley. A nearly straight up and down forty foot tall massive dirt wall covered in blackberries with railroad tracks along the top. It's dark, red-necks are shooting at our house and the cops aren't coming..this is not the scary part of the night.
The scary part was seeing the light on in front of mom's closet. Inside that closet were neatly pressed womens suits, perfectly shined womens shoes, oh and behind that, a small arsenal. Mom had hanguns and rifles aplenty. When predators or prowlers showed up she would reach into that closet with the same smiling calm you would see when other moms reached into a spice cupboard. Mom was cookin' now, now it was scary. Those jackasses were playing around and might accidentally kill somebody, Mom wouldn't do it accidentally. Mom was a Vietnam era Army Drill Instructor. If you picture a busty blonde possessed by the ghost of Lee Marvin, you begin to get the idea.
So as I'm behind the tree just wanting these idiots to call it a night before it gets out of hand, my mom appears out of the night beside me. I can see something slung over her shoulder and I'm thinking , "The rifle, Ok... now it is out of hand."
"Where are they?"
"They are edging to the left. I think they are by the dead tree." Why was I taking part in this? From a young age Mom made it clear to me that in emergencies I wasn't so much her daughter, as I was her loyal sherpa.You didn't disappoint Mom, you did your job and stayed out of her way. She pushed some things at me to hold for her, that's when I realized what was on her shoulder was NOT the rifle. It was something that usually only came out for holidays.
What I was holding were leather pouches. Leather pouches that held everything you need for the care and feeding of Mom's favorite. The moon glinted off of the barrell of.....the muzzle-loader. The night was still full of the sounds of a .22 rifle and red-necks laughing. Mom wasn't making a sound, just calmly working the tamping rod. Oh God, that's more powder than I've ever seen her use before!! This is going to happen, right now, right here.
Mom listens, gets her bearings and steps out from behind the tree. She raises that huge muzzle-loader and fires with certainty. A huge tongue of fire lashes out from the end of the barrel, and a boom rips through the little valley. All smooth and calm, Mom's reloading for another. Through my ringing ears I can hear guys screaming and cussing. I just watched my Mom........Oh God.
That's when I realized the pouch with the shot in it was still closed. I heard the guys screaming and I start laughing, watching Mom listening to their progress down the embankment. Mom had packed an extra big charge with no bullet, she was treating them to the scare they wanted to give us. It was all just theatrics. Those guys crashing and sliding down through the dirt, boulders and thorns would never know how lucky they were. Mom smiled, "Want to see it again?" Again, the gun ripped through the night.


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Westword, Denvers free alternative weekly newspaper, has named Ska Brewing Co.s Mole Stout one of the 10 best beers to be released in 2012.
The list was limited to beers that were packaged in cans or bottles and readily available in the Denver area.
The author of the list, Jonathan Shikes, ranked Mole Stout the eighth best new beer in the state, writing that Ska experimented for more than a year on different stout recipes to come up with the series of seasonals that it debuted in cans last fall.
The first of these was the Autumnal Mole Stout, a rich, chocolatey stout layered over with enough spice to give it a bite without burning your lips.
First place went to Uncle Jacobs Stout, brewed by Boulders Avery Brewing Co., which, at $12 per 12-ounce bottle, is apparently worth the money because it evokes vanilla, oak, molasses, butter, bourbon, figs. And thats just for starters, Shikes wrote.
Herald Staff


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Netherlands Population: 17,016,967463 VISITORS FROM HERE!
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|The Dutch United Provinces declared their independence from Spain in 1579; during the 17th century, they became a leading seafaring and commercial power, with settlements and colonies around the world. After a 20-year French occupation, a Kingdom of the Netherlands was formed in 1815. In 1830, Belgium seceded and formed a separate kingdom. The Netherlands remained neutral in World War I, but suffered German invasion and occupation in World War II. A modern, industrialized nation, the Netherlands is also a large exporter of agricultural products. The country was a founding member of NATO and the EEC (now the EU) and participated in the introduction of the euro in 1999. In October 2010, the former Netherlands Antilles was dissolved and the three smallest islands - Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba - became special municipalities in the Netherlands administrative structure. The larger islands of Sint Maarten and Curacao joined the Netherlands and Aruba as constituent countries forming the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, and Schelde)
|Western Europe, bordering the North Sea, between Belgium and Germany
|Geographic coordinates:
| total: 41,543 sq km
land: 33,893 sq km
water: 7,650 sq km
Size comparison: slightly less than twice the size of New Jersey
|Land Boundaries:
|total: 1,053 km border countries (2): Belgium 478 km, Germany 575 km
|451 km
|Maritime claims:
| territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 24 nm exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
|temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters
|mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast
|Elevation extremes:
|Natural resources:
|natural gas, petroleum, peat, limestone, salt, sand and gravel, arable land
|Land use:
| agricultural land: 55.1% arable land 29.8%; permanent crops 1.1%; permanent pasture 24.2% forest: 10.8%
other: 34.1% (2011 est.)
|Irrigated land:
|4,860 sq km (2012)
|Natural hazards:
|Current Environment Issues:
|water pollution in the form of heavy metals, organic compounds, and nutrients such as nitrates and phosphates; air pollution from vehicles and refining activities; acid rain
|International Environment Agreements:
| party to: Air Pollution, Air Pollution-Nitrogen Oxides, Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants, Air Pollution-Sulfur 85, Air Pollution-Sulfur 94, Air Pollution-Volatile Organic Compounds, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
|^Back to Top
| noun: Dutchman(men), Dutchwoman(women)
adjective: Dutch
|Ethnic groups:
|Dutch 78.6%, EU 5.8%, Turkish 2.4%, Indonesian 2.2%, Moroccan 2.2%, Surinamese 2.1%, Bonairian, Saba Islander, Sint Eustatian 0.8%, other 5.9% (2014 est.)
|Dutch (official) note: Frisian is an official language in Fryslan province; Frisian, Low Saxon, Limburgish, Romani, and Yiddish have protected status under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages; Dutch is the official language of the three special municipalities of the Caribbean Netherlands, while English is a recognized regional language on Sint Eustatius and Saba and Papiamento is a recognized regional language on Bonaire
|Roman Catholic 28%, Protestant 19% (includes Dutch Reformed 9%, Protestant Church of The Netherlands, 7%, Calvinist 3%), other 11% (includes about 5% Muslim and fewer numbers of Hindu, Buddhist, Jehovah's Witness, and Orthodox), none 42% (2009 est.)
|17,016,967 (July 2016 est.)
|Age structure:
| 0-14 years: 16.56% (male 1,442,059/female 1,375,479)
15-24 years: 12.11% (male 1,050,889/female 1,010,596)
25-54 years: 39.83% (male 3,400,998/female 3,377,311)
55-64 years: 13.14% (male 1,113,587/female 1,123,165)
65 years and over: 18.35% (male 1,411,830/female 1,711,053) (2016 est.)
|Dependency ratios:
| total dependency ratio: 53.3%
youth dependency ratio: 25.3%
elderly dependency ratio: 27.9%
potential support ratio: 3.6% (2015 est.)
|Median age:
| total: 42.5 years
male: 41.4 years
female: 43.4 years (2016 est.)
|Population growth rate:
|0.4% (2016 est.)
|Birth rate:
|10.9 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
|Death rate:
|8.8 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
|Net migration rate:
|1.9 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
| urban population: 90.5% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 1.05% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
|Major urban areas - population:
|AMSTERDAM (capital) 1.091 million; Rotterdam 993,000; The Hague (seat of government) 650,000 (2015)
|Sex ratio:
| at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.82 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
|Mother's mean age at first birth:
|29.4 (2011 est.)
|Maternal mortality rate:
|7 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
|Infant mortality rate:
| total: 3.6 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.9 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.3 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
|Life expectancy at birth:
| total population: 81.3 years male: 79.2 years
female: 83.6 years (2016 est.)
|Total fertility rate:
|1.78 children born/woman (2016 est.)
|Contraceptive prevalence rate:
|69% note: percent of women aged 18-45 (2008)
|Health expenditures:
|10.9% of GDP (2014)
|Hospital bed density:
|4.7 beds/1,000 population (2009)
|Drinking water source:
| improved:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2015 est.)
|Sanitation facility access:
| improved:
urban: 97.5% of population
rural: 99.9% of population
total: 97.7% of population
urban: 2.5% of population
rural: 0.1% of population
total: 2.3% of population (2015 est.)
|HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
|HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
|HIV/AIDS - deaths:
|Obesity - adult prevalence rate:
|21.9% (2014)
|Education expenditures:
|5.6% of GDP (2013)
|School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
| total: 18 years male: 18 years
female: 18 years (2012)
|Unemployment, youth ages 15-24:
| total: 10.5% male: 9.7%
female: 11.3% (2014 est.)
|^Back to Top
|Country name:
| conventional long form: Kingdom of the Netherlands
conventional short form: Netherlands
local long form: Koninkrijk der Nederlanden
local short form: Nederland
etymology: the country name literally means "the lowlands" and refers to the geographic features of the land being both flat and down river from higher areas (i.e., at the estuaries of the Scheldt, Meuse, and Rhine Rivers; only about half of the Netherlands is more than 1 meter above sea level)
|Government type:
|parliamentary constitutional monarchy; part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
| name: Amsterdam; note - The Hague is the seat of government
geographic coordinates: 52 21 N, 4 55 E
time difference: UTC+1 (6 hours ahead of Washington, DC, during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins last Sunday in March; ends last Sunday in October
note: time descriptions apply to the continental Netherlands only, not to the Caribbean components
|Administrative divisions:
|12 provinces (provincies, singular - provincie); Drenthe, Flevoland, Fryslan (Friesland), Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Noord-Brabant (North Brabant), Noord-Holland (North Holland), Overijssel, Utrecht, Zeeland (Zealand), Zuid-Holland (South Holland) note 1: the Netherlands is one of four constituent parts (countries) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; the other three parts, Aruba, Curacao, and Sint Maarten, are all islands in the Caribbean; while all four parts are considered equal partners, in practice, most of the Kingdom's affairs are administered by the Netherlands, which makes up about 98% of the Kingdom's total land area and population note 2: three other Caribbean islands, Bonaire, Saint Eustatius, and Saba, are considered to be special municipalities of the Netherlands proper
|Dependent areas:
|Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten
|23 January 1579 (the northern provinces of the Low Countries conclude the Union of Utrecht breaking with Spain; on 26 July 1581 they formally declared their independence with an Act of Abjuration; however, it was not until 30 January 1648 and the Peace of Westphalia that Spain recognized this independence)
|National holiday:
|King's Day (the King's birthday of 27 April (1967); celebrated on 26 April if 27 April is a Sunday)
|history: previous 1597, 1798; latest adopted 24 August 1815 (substantially revised in 1848) amendments: proposed as an "Act of Parliament" by or on behalf of the king or by the Second Chamber of the States General; the Second Chamber is dissolved after its first reading of the "Act"; passage requires a second reading by both the First Chamber and newly elected Second Chamber, followed by at least two-thirds majority vote of both chambers, and ratification by the king; amended many times, last in 2010 (2016)
|Legal system:
|civil law system based on the French system; constitution does not permit judicial review of acts of the States General
|18 years of age; universal
|Executive branch:
| chief of state: King WILLEM-ALEXANDER (since 30 April 2013); Heir Apparent Princess Catharina-Amalia (since 30 April 2013)
head of government: Prime Minister Mark RUTTE (since 14 October 2010); Deputy Prime Minister Lodewijk ASSCHER (since 5 November 2012); note - Mark RUTTE heads his second cabinet since 5 November 2012
cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the monarch; note -there is also a Council of State composed of the monarch, heir apparent, and councilors that provides advice to the cabinet on legislative and administrative policy elections/appointments: the monarchy is hereditary; following Second Chamber elections, the leader of the majority party or majority coalition usually appointed prime minister by the monarch; deputy prime ministers appointed by the monarch
|Legislative branch:
| description: bicameral States General or Staten Generaal consists of the First Chamber or Eerste Kamer (75 seats; members indirectly elected by the country's 12 provincial council members by proportional representation vote; members serve 4-year terms) and the Second Chamber or Tweede Kamer (150 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by proportional representation vote to serve up to 4-year terms)
elections: First Chamber - last held on 26 May 2015 (next to be held in May 2019); Second Chamber - last held on 12 September 2012 (next to be held no later than 15 March 2017)
election results: First Chamber - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - VVD 13, CDA 12, D66 10, PVV 9, SP 9, PvdA 8, GL 4, CU 3, other 7; Second Chamber - percent of vote by party - VVD 26.6%, PvdA 24.8%, PVV, 10.1%, SP 9.7%, CDA 8.5%, D66 8.0%, CU 3.1%, GL 2.3%, other 6.9%; seats by party - VVD 41, PvdA 38, PVV 15, SP 15, CDA 13, D66 12, CU 5, GL 4, other 7
|Judicial branch:
| highest court(s): Supreme Court or Hoge Raad (consists of 41 judges: the president, 6 vice-presidents, 31 justices or raadsheren, and 3 justices in exceptional service, referred to as buitengewone dienst); the court is divided into criminal, civil, tax, and ombuds chambers judge selection and term of office: justices appointed by the monarch from a list provided by the Second Chamber of the States General; justices appointed for life or until mandatory retirement at age 70
subordinate courts: courts of appeal; district courts, each with up to 5 subdistrict courts
|Political parties and leaders:
|Christian Democratic Appeal or CDA [Sybrand VAN HAERSMA BUMA] Christian Union or CU [Gert-Jan SEGERS] Democrats 66 or D66 [Alexander PECHTOLD] 50 Plus [Jan NAGEL] Green Left or GL [Jesse KLAVER] Labor Party or PvdA [Diederik SAMSOM] Party for Freedom or PVV [Geert WILDERS] Party for the Animals or PvdD [Marianne THIEME] People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD [Mark RUTTE] Reformed Political Party or SGP [Kees VAN DER STAAIJ] Socialist Party or SP [Emile ROEMER] plus a few minor parties
|Political pressure groups and leaders:
|Christian Trade Union Federation or CNV [Maurice LIMMEN] Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers or VNO-NCW [Hans DE BOER] Federation for Small and Medium-sized Businesses or MKB [Michael VAN STRAALEN] Netherlands Trade Union Federation or FNV [Ton HEERTS] Social Economic Council or SER [Mariette HAMER] Trade Union Federation of Middle and High Personnel or MHP [Reginald VISSER]
|International organization participation:
|ADB (nonregional member), AfDB (nonregional member), Arctic Council (observer), Australia Group, Benelux, BIS, CBSS (observer), CD, CE, CERN, EAPC, EBRD, ECB, EIB, EITI (implementing country), EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, FATF, G-10, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (national committees), ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD (partners), IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), MIGA, MINUSMA, NATO, NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Pacific Alliance (observer), Paris Club, PCA, Schengen Convention, SELEC (observer), UN, UNCTAD, UNDOF, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMISS, UNRWA, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC
|National symbol(s):
|lion, tulip; national color: orange
|National anthem:
| name: "Het Wilhelmus" (The William)
lyrics/music: Philips VAN MARNIX van Sint Aldegonde (presumed)/unknown
note: adopted 1932, in use since the 17th century, making it the oldest national anthem in the world; also known as "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe" (William of Nassau), it is in the form of an acrostic, where the first letter of each stanza spells the name of the leader of the Dutch Revolt
|Diplomatic representation in the US:
| chief of mission: Ambassador Hendrik SCHUWER (since 17 September 2015)
chancery: 4200 Linnean Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 244-5300, [1] 877-388-2443
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco
|Diplomatic representation from the US:
| chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Adam H. STERLING (since 12 February 2016)
embassy: Lange Voorhout 102, 2514 EJ, The Hague
mailing address: PSC 71, Box 1000, APO AE 09715
telephone: [31] (70) 310-2209
consulate(s) general: Amsterdam
|^Back to Top
The Netherlands, the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, plays an important role as a European transportation hub, with a persistently high trade surplus, stable industrial relations, and moderate unemployment. Industry focuses on food processing, chemicals, petroleum refining, and electrical machinery. A highly mechanized agricultural sector employs only 2% of the labor force but provides large surpluses for food-processing and underpins the country's status as the world's second largest agricultural exporter. The Netherlands is part of the euro zone, and as such, its monetary policy is controlled by the European Central Bank. The Dutch financial sector is highly concentrated, with four commercial banks possessing over 90% of banking assets. The sector suffered as a result of the global financial crisis and required billions of dollars of government support, but the European Banking Authority completed stringent reviews in 2014 and deemed Dutch banks to be well-capitalized. To address the 2009 and 2010 economic downturns, the government sought to stimulate the domestic economy by accelerating infrastructure programs, offering corporate tax breaks for employers to retain workers, and expanding export credits. The stimulus programs and bank bailouts, however, resulted in a government budget deficit of 5.3% of GDP in 2010 that contrasted sharply with a surplus of 0.7% in 2008. The government of Prime Minister Mark RUTTE has since implemented significant austerity measures to improve public finances and has instituted broad structural reforms in key policy areas, including the labor market, the housing sector, the energy market, and the pension system. As a result, the government budget deficit at the end of 2015 dropped to 2% of GDP. Following a protracted recession during which unemployment doubled to 7.4% and household consumption contracted for nearly three consecutive years, 2014 saw fragile GDP growth of 1% and a rise in most economic indicators. Growth picked up in 2015 as households boosted purchases through reduced saving. Drivers of growth included increased exports and business investments, as well as newly invigorated household consumption.
|GDP (purchasing power parity):
| GDP (purchasing power parity): $865.9 billion (2016 est.) $851.5 billion (2015 est.) $835.2 billion (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
|GDP (official exchange rate):
|GDP (official exchange rate): $769.9 billion (2015 est.)
|GDP - real growth rate:
|1.7% (2016 est.) 2% (2015 est.) 1.4% (2014 est.)
|GDP - per capita (PPP):
| GDP - per capita (PPP): $50,800 (2016 est.) $50,300 (2015 est.) $49,500 (2014 est.)
note: data are in 2016 dollars
|Gross national saving:
|28.6% of GDP (2016 est.) 27.9% of GDP (2015 est.) 27.3% of GDP (2014 est.)
|GDP - composition, by end use:
| household consumption: 44.4%
government consumption: 24.9%
investment in fixed capital: 20.3%
investment in inventories: -0.2%
exports of goods and services: 81.6%
imports of goods and services: -71% (2016 est.)
|GDP - composition, by sector of origin:
| household consumption: 44.4%
government consumption: 24.9%
investment in fixed capital: 20.3%
investment in inventories: -0.2%
exports of goods and services: 81.6%
imports of goods and services: -71% (2016 est.)
|Agriculture - products:
|grains, potatoes, sugar beets, fruits, vegetables; livestock
|agroindustries, metal and engineering products, electrical machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum, construction, microelectronics, fishing
|Industrial production growth rate:
|1.1% (2016 est.)
|Labor force:
|7.919 million (2016 est.)
|Labor force - by occupation:
| agriculture: 1.8%
industry: 17%
services: 81.2% (2013 est.)
|Unemployment rate:
|6.2% (2016 est.) 6.9% (2015 est.)
|Population below poverty line:
|9.1% (2013 est.)
|Household income or consumption by percentage share:
| lowest 10%: 2.1%
highest 10%: 24.5% (2012 est.)
|Distribution of family income - Gini index:
|25.1 (2013 est.) 32.6 (1994 est.)
| revenues: $322.6 billion
expenditures: $333.5 billion (2016 est.)
|Taxes and other revenues:
|41.9% of GDP (2016 est.)
|Public debt:
| 63.7% of GDP (2016 est.) 65.3% of GDP (2015 est.)
note: data cover general government debt, and includes debt instruments issued (or owned) by government entities other than the treasury; the data include treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities, as well as i
|Fiscal year:
|calendar year
|Inflation rate (consumer prices):
|Inflation rate (consumer prices): 0.2% (2016 est.) 0.2% (2015 est.)
|Current account balance:
|$69.82 billion (2016 est.) $64.42 billion (2015 est.)
|$460.1 billion (2016 est.) $476.5 billion (2015 est.)
|Exports - commodities:
|machinery and equipment, chemicals, fuels; foodstuffs
|Exports - partners:
|Germany 24.5%, Belgium 11.1%, UK 9.3%, France 8.4%, Italy 4.2% (2015)
|$376.3 billion (2016 est.) $389.6 billion (2015 est.)
|Imports - commodities:
|machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, fuels, foodstuffs, clothing
|Imports - partners:
|Germany 14.7%, China 14.5%, Belgium 8.2%, US 8.1%, UK 5.1% (2015)
|Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
|$38.21 billion (31 December 2015 est.) $42.92 billion (31 December 2014 est.)
|Debt - external:
|$4.284 trillion (31 March 2016 est.) $4.02 trillion (31 March 2015 est.)
|Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
|$844 billion (31 December 2016 est.) $739.9 billion (31 December 2015 est.)
|Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
|$1.207 trillion (31 December 2016 est.) $1.102 trillion (31 December 2015 est.)
|Market value of publicly traded shares:
|$728.5 billion (31 December 2015 est.) $786.6 billion (31 December 2014 est.) $817.8 billion (31 December 2013 est.)
|Exchange rates:
|euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.9214 (2016 est.) 0.885 (2015 est.) 0.885 (2014 est.) 0.7634 (2013 est.) 0.78 (2012 est.)
|^Back to Top
|Electricity - production:
|98 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - consumption:
|108 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - exports:
|18 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - imports:
|33 billion kWh (2014 est.)
|Electricity - installed generating capacity:
|32 million kW (2014 est.)
|Electricity - from fossil fuels:
|83.7% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Electricity - from nuclear fuels:
|1.6% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Electricity - from hydroelectric plants:
|0.1% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Electricity - from other renewable sources:
|14.5% of total installed capacity (2012 est.)
|Crude oil - production:
|27,300 bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Crude oil - exports:
|13,530 bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Crude oil - imports:
|1.255 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Crude oil - proved reserves:
|144.7 million bbl (1 January 2016 es)
|Refined petroleum products - production:
|1.278 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - consumption:
|945,500 bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - exports:
|2.257 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Refined petroleum products - imports:
|1.883 million bbl/day (2015 est.)
|Natural gas - production:
|70.28 billion cu m note: the Netherlands has curbed gas production due to seismic activity in the province of Groningen, largest source of gas reserves (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - consumption:
|40.26 billion cu m (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - exports:
|58.75 billion cu m (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - imports:
|29.12 billion cu m (2014 est.)
|Natural gas - proved reserves:
|760.9 billion cu m (1 January 2016 es)
|Carbon dioxide emissions from consumption of energy:
|233 million Mt (2013 est.)
|^Back to Top
|Cellular Phones in use:
|total: 20.809 million subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 123 (July 2015 est.)
|Telephone system:
| general assessment: highly developed and well maintained
domestic: extensive fixed-line, fiber-optic network; large cellular telephone system with 5 major operators utilizing the third generation of the Global System for Mobile Communications technology; one in five households now use Voice over the Internet Protocol ser
international: country code - 31; submarine cables provide links to the US and Europe; satellite earth stations - 5 (3 Intelsat - 1 Indian Ocean and 2 Atlantic Ocean, 1 Eutelsat, and 1 Inmarsat (2011)
|Broadcast media:
|more than 90% of households are connected to cable or satellite TV systems that provide a wide range of domestic and foreign channels; public service broadcast system includes multiple broadcasters, 3 with a national reach and the remainder operating in r (2008)
|Internet country code:
|Internet users:
|total: 15.778 million percent of population: 93.1% (July 2015 est.)
|^Back to Top
|29 (2013)
|Airports (paved runways):
| total 23
over 3,047 m: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 11
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 6
under 914 m: 2 (2013)
|Airports (unpaved runways):
| total 6
914 to 1,523 m: 4
under 914 m: 2 (2013)
|1 (2013)
|condensate 81 km; gas 8,531 km; oil 578 km; refined products 716 km (2013)
| total 3,223 km
standard gauge: 3,223 km 1.435-m gauge (2,321 km electrified) (2014)
| total 138,641 km
(includes 3,530 km of expressways) (2014)
|6,237 km (navigable by ships up to 50 tons) (2012)
|Merchant marine:
| total 744
by type: bulk carrier 4, cargo 514, carrier 15, chemical tanker 56, container 67, liquefied gas 21, passenger 17, passenger/cargo 14, petroleum tanker 4, refrigerated cargo 10, roll on/roll off 19, specialized tanker 3
foreign-owned: 196 (Australia 1, Bermuda 1, Denmark 27, Finland 13, France 2, Germany 86, Ireland 8, Italy 6, Japan 1, Norway 19, Sweden 12, UAE 4, US 16)
registered in other countries: 233 (Antigua and Barbuda 17, Bahamas 23, Belize 1, Canada 1, Curacao 43, Cyprus 23, Germany 1, Gibraltar 34, Italy 2, Liberia 31, Luxembourg 3, Malta 3, Marshall Islands 21, Panama 6, Paraguay 1, Philippines 17, Russia 2, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, S (2010)
|Ports and terminals:
| major seaport(s): IJmuiden, Vlissingen
river port(s): Amsterdam (Nordsee Kanaal); Moerdijk (Hollands Diep River); Rotterdam (Rhine River); Terneuzen (Western Scheldt River) container port(s) (TEUs): Rotterdam (11,876,920) LNG terminal(s) (import): Rotterdam
|^Back to Top
|Military branches:
|Royal Netherlands Army, Royal Netherlands Navy (includes Naval Air Service and Marine Corps), Royal Netherlands Air Force (Koninklijke Luchtmacht, KLu), Royal Marechaussee (Military Police) (2015)
|Military service age and obligation:
|17 years of age for an all-volunteer force (2014)
|Military expenditures:
|1.17% of GDP (2016) 1.16% of GDP (2015) 1.15% of GDP (2014) 1.16% of GDP (2013) 1.23% of GDP (2012)
|^Back to Top
|Transnational Issues
|Disputes - International:
|Refugees and internally displaced persons:
| refugees (country of origin): 17,444 (Somalia); 16,184 (Syria); 12,397 (Iraq); 10,870 (Eritrea); 5,803 (Afghanistan) (2015)
stateless persons: 1,951 (2015)
|Illicit drugs:
|major European producer of synthetic drugs, including ecstasy, and cannabis cultivator; important gateway for cocaine, heroin, and hashish entering Europe; major source of US-bound ecstasy and a significant consumer of ecstasy; a large financial sector vulnerable to money laundering
|^Back to Top
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Source: CIA - The World Factbook


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|Move over Cracker Barrel copycats - this is my ultra ultra cheesy hash brown casserole and it started as an accident!
Ultra Cheesy Hash Brown CasseroleThis Ultra Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole was born from a mistake, but in the end it proved to be a good mistake. I had been trying to cook through my pantry and freezer to sort of spring clean out the old, so I can bring in the new. One thing that was taking up space and constantly falling out on me when I opened the freezer, was a one pound bag of frozen hash brown potatoes, so I decided to make a hash brown casserole as a side dish for supper one evening.
Since I didn't want to make a full 9 x 13 inch pan just for us, and I only had the one pound of hash brown potatoes anyway, my original intent was to cut the casserole in half from the holiday recipe. I went about putting everything together and then realized I had used some of the original measurements of ingredients, and not halved them, including the full two cups of the original amounts of cheese!
The result was a keeper. Rich, decadent, and just heavenly, and while you may not want to eat this side dish on a daily basis, it sure turned out mighty good and, in my opinion, worthy of the holidays and so, it's own spot here. Go ahead and double it for the holidays. It'll be completely decadent and delightful.
Recipe: Ultra Cheesy Hash Brown Casserole©From the Kitchen of Deep South Dish
Prep time: 10 min |Cook time: 45 min | Yield: About 4 to 6 servings
- 1/4 cup of butter
- 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 can of Campbell's condensed cream of chicken soup
- 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 1 teaspoon of kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning (like Slap Ya Mama), or to taste, optional
- 1 pound bag of frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, slightly thawed
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 9 x 9 inch glass baking dish with butter or non-stick spray.
Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat, and saute the onion until soft, but not browned. Turn heat to low and stir in the soup, cheese, sour cream, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning, until well blended. Remove skillet from heat and add the shredded potatoes; mix well. Taste and adjust seasonings; turn out into prepared baking dish.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Double this for the holidays for a 9 x 13 inch casserole.
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Latest media releases
UBS appoints Chi-Won Yoon as Chairman & CEO, Asia Pacific
UBS today announced the appointment of Chi-Won Yoon as Chairman & CEO of Asia Pacific and as member of UBS's Group Executive Board, with immediate effect. Yoon succeeds Rory Tapner who, after 25 years, is leaving UBS.
"Chi-Won becomes the leader of a business that, under Rory's stewardship over the last five years, has developed into a formidable franchise. Chi-Won's indisputable track-record of commercial success and proven leadership skills will ensure that the firm maintains its focus and continues to enjoy the support of its clients. I would like to thank Rory sincerely for his invaluable contribution to UBS since he joined the firm in 1983", said Oswald J Grübel, Group Chief Executive Officer.
UBS has more than 9,500 employees in Asia Pacific. The Firm has the largest1 and leading wealth management business in the region, as repeatedly acknowledged in industry polls2 . UBS's equities business has sustained an unparalleled period of industry leadership in the Asia Pacific3 , while its investment banking department has generated more fees than any other market participant since 2006 (1/1/06 - 2009 YTD) 4 .
Yoon joined UBS in 1997 as Head of Equity Derivatives, becoming Head of Asia Equities in 2004, Head of Asia Pacific Equities in 2008, and Head of Equities and Head of FICC for Asia Pacific in 2009.
"Chi-Won brings with him 23 years of experience in leading and building profitable and client-driven businesses. He has been a tremendous colleague over the past six years and I am delighted that he has accepted this exciting and challenging role. He is an exceptional individual and I am confident that UBS will thrive under his leadership. Chi-Won's appointment ensures that UBS is well positioned to face the next stages of the firm's development and growth in Asia Pacific", said Tapner.
"The chance to lead UBS in Asia Pacific with its strength and depth across the region in investment banking, and wealth and asset management is exciting and I look forward to following in Rory's very successful footsteps. Despite the challenges that the industry faces in the near term, Rory leaves a business with impeccable credentials and a stability and client base that is the envy of many", said Yoon.
1 SOURCE: Reuters and Calamander Group
2 SOURCE: Best Private Bank in Asia: Asiamoney 2005-2009, Euromoney 2004-2008
3 SOURCE: Extel-Thomson Reuters, IRESS, Institutional Investor
4 SOURCE: Dealogic


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A & C Black, 2007 - Economics - 128 pages
The Little Book of Big Ideas: Economics contains the profiles and theories of 50 of the world's most eminent economists. From mercantilists through Keynesians to modern economic thought, this book gets behind 50 of the greatest minds and 10 core theories. Covering Hume, Smith and Marx, succinct biographies provide an insight into economists' personalities and reveal the outstanding contribution that each has made to this pervasive discipline. Essential concepts and themes have been expertly selected and complex issues are explained in their social, political and cultural context.
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Great read for perhaps a highschooler or college student interested in the field of economics. Gives a quick snapshot of many economists including their backgrounds and specialties within the field ... Read full review
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