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David E. Kaplan, MD, MSc FACP FAASLD AGAF
Associate Professor of Medicine at the Veteran's Administration Medical Center
Department: Medicine
Contact information
3400 Civic Center Drive, PCAM 7S GI
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 215-349-8222
Fax: 215-349-5915
Lab: 215-823-5800 x 6729
Fax: 215-349-5915
Lab: 215-823-5800 x 6729
Search PubMed for articles
Penn Medicine Liver Diseases Program
Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center
Search PubMed for articles
Penn Medicine Liver Diseases Program
Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center
Education:Permanent link
B.A. (Political Science)
University of California, San Diego, 1992.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 1997.
M.Sc. (Patient-Oriented Research)
University of Pennsylvania, 2007.
B.A. (Political Science)
University of California, San Diego, 1992.
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, 1997.
M.Sc. (Patient-Oriented Research)
University of Pennsylvania, 2007.
Description of Research ExpertiseHepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma immunopathogenesis
Description of Clinical ExpertiseHepatology, viral and non-viral chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, end-stage liver disease
Selected PublicationsGoldberg DS, French B, Forde KA, Groeneveld PW, Bitterman T, Backus L, Halpern SD, Kaplan DE: Association of distance from a transplant center with access to waitlist placement, receipt of liver transplantation, and survival. JAMA 311(12): 1234-43, Mar 2014.
Darpolor MM, Basu SS, Worth A, Nelson DS, Clarke-Katzenberg RH, Glickson JD, Kaplan DE, Blair IA: Aspartate Metabolism Pathway is Differentiable in Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Transcriptomics and 13C-Isotope based Metabolomics. NMR Biomed 27(4): 381-9, Apr 2014.
Doi H, Tanoue S, Kaplan DE: Peripheral CD27-CD21- B-cells represent an exhausted lymphocyte population in hepatitis C cirrhosis. Clinical Immunology 150(2): 184-191, February 2014.
Bunchorntavakul C, Jones LM, Kikuchi M, Valiga ME, Kaplan DE, Nunes FA, Aytaman A, Reddy KR, Chang KM: Distinct Features in Natural History and Outcomes of Acute Hepatitis C. J Clin Gastroenterol 49(4): e31-e40, Apr 2015.
Adeyemo O, Doi H, Reddy KR, Kaplan DE: Impact of oral silymarin on virus- and non-virus-specific T-cell responses in chronic hepatitis C infection. Journal of Viral Hepatitis 20(7): 453-62, July 2013.
Kluck J, O'Flynn RM, Kaplan DE, Chang KM: Evaluation of the Significance of Pretreatment Liver Biopsy and Baseline Mental Health Disorder Diagnosis on Hepatitis C Treatment Completion Rates at a Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Hepatitis Research and Treatment 2013: 653976, May 2013 Notes: doi:10.1155/2013/653976.
Lo Re III V, Teal V, Localio AR, Amorosa VK, Kaplan DE, Gross R : Adherence to Hepatitis C Virus Therapy in HIV/Hepatitis C-Coinfected Patients. AIDS Behav 17(1): 94-103, Jan 2013 Notes: doi: 10.1007/s10461-012-0288-9.
Darpolor MM, Kaplan DE, Pedersen PL, Glickson JD. : Human Hepatocellular Carcinoma Metabolism: Imaging by Hyperpolarized 13C Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. J Liver: Dis Transplant 1(1), August 2012 Notes: doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4172/jldt.1000101.
Cai X, Zhai J, Kaplan DE, Zhang Y, Zhou L, Chen X, Qian G, Zhao Q, Li Y, Gao L, Cong W, Zhu M, Yan Z, Shi L, Wu D, Wei L, Shen F, Wu M : Background Progenitor Activation is Associated with Recurrence after Hepatectomy of Combined Hepatocellular Cholangiocarcinoma. Hepatology 56(5): 1804-16, Jun 2012 Notes: DOI: 10.1002/hep.25874.
Kaplan DE, Sugimoto K, Valiga M, Newton K, Ikeda F, Aytaman A, Nunes FA, Lucey MR, Vance BA, Vonderheide RH, Reddy KR, McKeating JA, Chang KM. : Discordant role of CD4 T-cell response relative to neutralizing antibody and CD8 T-cell responses in acute hepatitis C. Gastroenterology 132(2): 654-666, February 2007.
Kaplan DE, Sugimoto K, Ikeda F, Stadanlick J, Valiga M, Shetty K, Reddy KR, Chang KM.: T-cell response relative to genotype and ethnicity during antiviral therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Hepatology 41(6): 1365-75, June 2005.
Sugimoto K, Kaplan DE, Ikeda F, Ding J, Schwartz J, Nunes FA, Alter HJ, Chang KM.: Strain-specific T-cell suppression and protective immunity in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection. Journal of Virology 79(11): 6976-83, June 2005.
Kaplan DE, Ikeda F, Li Y, Nakamoto N, Ganesan S, Valiga ME, Nunes FA, Reddy KR, Chang KM.: Peripheral virus-specific T-cell interleukin-10 responses develop early in acute hepatitis C infection and become dominant in chronic hepatitis. J Hepatol 48(6): 903-913, June 2008.
Nakamoto N, Kaplan DE, Coleclough J, Li Y, Valiga ME, Kaminski M, Shaked A, Olthoff K, Gostick E, Price DA, Freeman GJ, Wherry EJ, Chang KM: Functional restoration of HCV-specific CD8 T cells by PD-1 blockade is defined by PD-1 expression and compartmentalization. Gastroenterology 134(7): 1927-37, 1937.e1-2, June 2008.
Xu Y, Li H, Gao RL, Adeyemo O, Itkin M, Kaplan DE.: Expansion of interferon-gamma-producing multifunctional CD4+ T-cells and dysfunctional CD8+ T-cells by glypican-3 peptide library in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Clinical Immunology 139(3): 302-313, June 2011 Notes: doi:10.1016/j.clim.2011.02.014.
Lo Re III V, Teal V, Localio AR, Amorosa VK, Kaplan DE, Gross R.: Relationship between adherence to hepatitis C virus therapy and virologic outcomes: a cohort study. Annals of Internal Medicine 155(6): 353-360, September 2011.
Doi H, Iyer TK, Carpenter EL, Li H, Chang KM, Vonderheide RH, Kaplan DE.: Dysfunctional B-cell activation in cirrhosis due to hepatitis C infection associated with disappearance of CD27+ B-cell population. Hepatology 55(3): 709-719, March 2012.
Li Y, Siegel DL, Scholler N, Kaplan DE.: Validation of glypican-3-specific scFv isolated from paired display/secretory yeast display library. BMC Biotechnology 12(1): 23, May 2012.
Reddy KR, Belle SH, Fried MW, Afdhal N, Navarro VJ, Hawke RL, Wahed AS, Doo E, Meyers CM; SyNCH Study Group: Rationale, challenges, and participants in a Phase II trial of a botanical product for chronic hepatitis C. Clin Trials 9(1): 102-112, Feb 2012.
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Last updated: 11/12/2019
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania
Last updated: 11/12/2019
The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


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The Vision of the Office of Disability Services is to foster and develop an academic environment that is accessible and equitable to all, regardless of disability, race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, gender, age, sexual orientation, or veteran's status. Through the provision of services and programs both in person and online, the Office of Disability Services strives to develop and retain students at Southeast through:
The Mission of Disability Services is to provide resources and assistance to students and to assist them in finding academic and personal success.
Disability Services is the institutionally recognized program designated to provide both federally mandated services as well as proactive services for students with disabilities, by ensuring equal access. By providing leadership, advocacy, resources, mediation, and guidance to students with disabilities, Disability Services assists students with identifying barriers to their success and thus identifying ways to address those barriers.
Phone: 573.651.5927
Fax: 573.986.6031
Crisp Hall 201-202
Office of Disability Services
One University Plaza MS 8220
Cape Girardeau, Missouri 63701


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Use this list to help you plan how to help someone you care about
get treatment for an alcohol use problem. A health professional who has special
training in conducting interventions (intervention specialist) with people who
have alcohol use problems can help you set up your plan.
The plan should include:
List other concerns or questions you have.
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January 18, 2012
Healthwise Staff
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Then he noticed a head bobbing into view from the hole in the warehouse wall, behind Katherine. The gleam of headlights was reflected in a sniper's scope, and he realized that the brigands were inside the warehouse as well, attacking from both ends of the alley.
"Mercy?" roared Phil at the terrified men."You", he pointed to the one that spoke, "stay! The rest - Go - tell them GO NOW or die. Never come here or die!" To emphasize his point, Phil picked up their dead leader and threw him full force at the side of the trailer.Not waiting for a response, he grabbed the one who spoke and dragged him to the others. "You've got some talking to do.."If he resists, Phil will attempt to break one of his arms. If the others don't turn tail, it won't go well for them either.
"Did you manage to get Mary Sue to listen to us yet? I miss her."
"We need to move out soon. I'm sure of it."


text: Welcome. Our latest findings. In our lab we investigate a number of different issues related? to behavioural neuroscience. Many, but not all, of the studies take a developmental perspective. For example, some studies examine whether the behavioural and neural processes involved in the expression or the inhibition of learned fear differ across age. Other studies explore the effects of early life stress on the maturation of the circuits involved in the expression and/or inhibition of learned fear. Yet other studies explore potential pharmacological adjuncts for enhancing the loss of fear. In all of these studies, our overarching aims are to gain a better understanding of learning and memory processes, and to do this in a way that might have potential translational value for understanding anxiety disorders in humans. Professor Rick Richardson BA, MA, PhD, Kent State University, USA School of Psychology, UNSW email@example.com เงินฟรี เว็บ บอล ออนไลน์ w88 ดี ไหม Meet our people The Latest Congratulations to Nathalie Elliott who submitted her PhD thesis on 26 March 2019! Congratulations to Sarah Bae who submitted her PhD thesis on 30 January 2019! Congratulations to Gabe who was selected for the Paxinos Prize for 2018!! Caitlin selected for the Outstanding PhD prize by the International Society for Developmental Psychobiology!! Anthea gets a Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research ($1000USD)!! June 2018 Diana Submits! 27 March Gabe Submits! 22 Feb 2018 Caitlin selected for an Award for Excellent PhD Thesis in Psychology from the Australian Psychological Society!!! Maddy gets a 2nd prize in Faculty of Science 1 Minute Thesis Comp! August 2017 Janice Submits! 28.03.17 Caitlin submits 28.2.2017


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Josh Steele, better known as the U.K.dubstep songwriter and producer Flux Pavilion who has been championed by Kanye West andJay-Z, started out as an aspiring rock star. Guitars and drums were his preferred mode of expression in a handful of U.K. bands. But while working in his bedroom on songs, he began tinkering with samplers, keyboards and drum machines and his new musical future became apparent.
"Electronic music was a way for me to pretend I was making full band music in my bedroom," the 23-year-old multiple-threat songwriter says. "Then things got out of my hand."
Dubstep has been around for more than a decade, an offshoot of electronic music that began in the South of London with deep, sinister bass lines, skittering drums and a distinctly underground vibe. It has since morphed into heavier, harder territory, especially in North America, where it has made deep commercial impact, mostly as heard on tracks by pop stars such as Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj.
Steele heard dubstep as not just club music, but a songwriting vehicle. "I heard it during my first week at university, and everything changed," he says. "There were a whole bunch of ideas in one genre, like nothing I've ever heard before."
He cofounded his own label, Circus Records, and his song-oriented approach to dubstep attracted the attention of West and Jay-Z, who sampled the Flux Pavilion track "I Can't Stop" on their 2011 "Watch the Throne" album.
"How did it feel? Pretty damn good," Steele says with a laugh. "I've always respected the music Kanye samples, and I also liked the way they used the sample. They didn't just rap over the original track, they sampled my composition, my ideas, and then treated them in a new way, putting new beats to my notes. They were a lot more creative than most people when they borrow from someone else."
For dubstep to thrive, Steele believes, it will need to keep growing as a songwriting outlet. In wedding melodies with cutting-edge textures and beats, Steele says he strives to create "emotional dance epics – I want to make people dance and cry at the same time."
"It's not easy to pin down. It's like trying to define what is emotion, or explain to me what love is in an easy sentence. It's a feeling. You can get it from a cowbell – a particularly emotional cowbell."
His next move is a full-length album, a dubstep project that he'll record with a band.
"I want to take a different view of what dubstep can be," he says. "Even though I work within electronic music, I also write songs on a guitar. I'm not doing it much with Flux Pavilion, but I'm trying to make an album like that, with all those ideas. It's not just about dancefloor bangers. People like Nero and Skrillex are moving on to that. We're not really defining ourselves as DJs or producers. We're musicians who happen to use computers as an instrument. There used to be a gap: A DJ is a DJ, a guitarist is a musician, and you couldn't be both. Now you have the in-between, you can play guitar and work with a computer. The genre, the movement is quite a free thing -- it's a free-for-all, with no rules, and the big hits are always a surprise because people are only now starting to become conscious that the mainstream cares about what we do."
So what exactly is dubstep? The dirty little secret is that there is no longer one way to describe it. It depends on whom you ask. For Steele "it's more of a platform, an opportunity for creative people to do whatever they want. It was a genre that turned into movement. It's electronic music that has become a culture. Anyone, anywhere in the world can make a tune in their bedroom and get it to thousands of people right away."
Steele's description sounds a lot like the opportunities thrown open by punk and hip-hop when those art forms first emerged from the streets: a type of post-modern, urban folk music that is low-budget, accessible and extremely democratic.
"I wasn't alive back when those movements started, but, yeah, I can see the connection," he says. "Punk and hip-hop are massive movements, historical musical things. Dubstep is something I'm a part of, and it's hard for me to imagine myself as part of a big historical movement just yet. I still have to wash my socks every day."
Flux Pavilion at the Spring Awakening Festival, noon Saturday-Sunday at Soldier Field, $119.99 for two-day pass; clubix.com.
Saturday: Skrillex, Benny Benassi, A-Trak, Ferry Corsten, Markus Schulz, Dillon Francis, Garbriel & Dresden, Morgan Page, Claude Vonstroke, Kill the Noise, Joachim Gerraud, Designer Drugs, Bart Bmore, Downlink, Midnight Conspiracy, Nathan Scott, Krewella, Zebo, Nobody Beats the Drum, Tommie Sunshine, Stratus, Lobounce, Willy Joy, Porn N Chicken
Sunday: Afrojack, Moby, Flux Pavilion, Carl Cox, Laidback Luke, Wolfgang Gartner, Diplo, Datsik, Hardwell, Arty, R3Hab, Green Velvet, Felix Cartal, Derrick Carter, Nervo, Sandro Silva, Oliver Twizt, Destructo, Lance Herbstrong, Quintino, Sharmanology, Team Bayside High, Thibault, Robots on the Run, NORdjs, David S.


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It had to happen sooner or later. I have, I think, managed to write an avowedly Liberal Democrat blog for some six months now without once mentioning Land Value Tax, but the day has finally dawned.
Naturally, I don't intend to discuss LVT in any detail. I certainly approve the principle of taxing wealth rather than income, plus lots of awfully jolly clever people I know are in favour of LVT, so we in the People's Republic of Mortimer are content to give holding support to LVT until such time as we understand what it is. No, my interest today lies in the psychology surrounding it.
It's a running joke in the Lib Dem blogosphere (O! how we laughed!), that race to be the first one to say "Of course, if we had LVT it wouldn't be a problem…" in response to any sort of tax-based discussion or comment whatsoever. Only the other day Our Vince guested on Lib Dem Voice for a well-deserved blast at Darling, darling!, who has belatedly been informed by his gap year intern that the Labour policy of slapping a flat levy of thirty grand on non-domiciles for keeping their privileged tax status is in fact a "bloody stupid idea", as the People's Republic amongst many, many others could have told him at the time.
The first – and for some time, only – response to Vince's piece was from the LVT eggs, and was in much the usual vein. It's like watching someone trying to smell through their ears when LVT eggs get onto tax threads. The mismatch between subject matter and chosen instrument of perception is so total that the discussion is over before it has begun. Essentially, if you believe as passionately as some do that LVT is the only viable liberal tax system and refuse to discuss all lesser proposals on their own terms, what you have is a non-debate. I have mixed feelings on this. On the one hand if you are one of the passionate LVT eggs, nursing continual frustration in your hopelessly well-read bosom that the party doesn't wuv it just as much as you do, I can see how you want to take any opportunity to hammer home your point. You may end up coming on like Cato the Elder on the subject of Carthage* but hey, you're a political activist, you bought into being boring a loooong time ago – at least an idealist's issue is kept alive, and the blogs are one of the few places in the party where that is continuously true. Top banana to you.
On the other hand, this is tax policy. Tax policy tends, by its nature, to be highly practical and potent stuff. Elections are won and lost on the fine detail of it in a way that isn't true for other areas of policy. So when a particular aspect of the government and opposition's tax policy is so obviously flawed, and ours so obviously superior, don't the actual circumstances of the case merit a mention? Doesn't Our Vince merit a(nother) pat on the back for keeping it real? Doesn't Martin Land on the LDV thread have a point, albeit an unwelcome one, when he says, "If only we could find a way of combining LVT, PR and opposition to Trident into one single policy we could truly bore the electorate to death"?
I'm not convinced that non-domiciles are a particularly good advert for LVT anyway.
"What about non-doms who don't own property in the UK?" says I, "LVT will only trouble non-doms who have decided to settle and live in the UK to the exclusion of everywhere else. This by definition is likely to be non-doms of modest means. Rich non-doms will simply redistribute their landed assets in the most tax-efficient way. Anecdotally, plenty of internationalist non-dom bankers live in luxury rentals in Kensington and Chelsea and earn vast tax-free salaries in the city." Yes, I said all that.
"Pah!" says they, "LVT will be passed on to the tenant in the form of higher rents."
This is true as far as it goes, but it passes over my central point (which wasn't that well expressed): LVT is based on ownership and stakeholding in the UK. Non-doms occupy a very peculiar position – they come here to make money from employment, not investment. They choose London (generally) as their place of employment for a reason – it is the financial capital of Europe, it is the commercial setting their career cannot thrive without. The UK's financial industry is a resource used by many wealthy non-doms to make money – a resource that essentially belongs to the host country and its taxpayers. It is impossible, under LVT, to tax wealthy non-doms specifically on the use of that resource. Looked at that way, non-doms are possibly one of the few groups for which it is possible to make an argument for taxing income and not wealth.
After the LVT eggs and I had partied on for a bit, Diversity made a far more effective comment which I shall, if I may (ha, like you have a choice) quote in full:
In practice no tax is perfect; not even green taxes and LVT. Vince Cable's point is that the Government's and the Tories proposals for taxing nondoms are downright bad. Seven years and then normal tax is, as always, not perfect. However it is far less damaging than the other parties' proposals. Once again, Vince is the competent economic manager in the House.
* Oh, look it up. The world needs more classics nerds.


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lokalnetz.com has been retired temporary.
I am no longer ( temporary ) accepting new clients for development or systems work. Current and former clients can feel free to contact me via the usual means but I cannot guarantee availability going forward.
Other interested parties can find me on G+ Twitter Github Xing Mixcloud.


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Estimate your required minimum distributions in retirement
Once you reach age 70½, you must consider how required minimum distributions (RMDs) fit into your retirement withdrawal strategy. That's because, upon reaching this age, the IRS requires you to withdraw at least a minimum amount each year from all your IRAs and retirement plans—except Roth IRAs—and pay ordinary income taxes on the taxable portion of your withdrawal.
If you don't take withdrawals, or you take less than you should, you'll owe a 50% federal penalty tax on the difference between the amount you withdrew and the amount you should have withdrawn. And you'll still have to withdraw the required amount and pay any income tax due on the taxable amount. To determine how much of your RMD will be taxable, complete Form 8606, available on the IRS website.
The following interactive example can help you estimate your annual RMDs and the remaining balance in your retirement savings over time. Simply enter some basic information about your situation and click Calculate. When you're finished, continue reading about RMDs or learn about our complimentary RMD service.
Estimating your RMDs in retirement
RMDs simply ensure that the government collects its tax revenue on your retirement savings. You actually have several choices around what to do with your RMD. You can withdraw the RMD amount and spend all of it, withdraw the RMD amount and reinvest some or all of it in a taxable account, or withdraw more than the RMD amount and spend or reinvest it. What you do should be based on your own individual needs—as long as you take at least the minimum withdrawal each year.
How RMDs work
Generally, your RMD for a given year must be withdrawn by December 31 of that year, either in a lump sum or in installments. However, if you're taking an RMD for the first time, you may delay withdrawing the RMD until April 1 of the year after the year you turn age 70½ (or, in some cases, until after the year you retire). If you decide to delay taking your first RMD until the next year, you'll have to take two minimum distributions during that calendar year. This can put you in a higher tax bracket for that year, significantly increasing the tax you owe.
Your RMD amount is determined by applying a life expectancy factor set by the IRS to your account balance at the end of the previous year. To calculate your RMD:
- Find your age in the IRS Uniform Lifetime Table (below).
- Locate the corresponding life expectancy factor.
- Divide your retirement account balance as of December 31 of the prior year by your life expectancy factor.
Note: If your spouse is more than ten years younger than you and is the sole primary beneficiary, you must use the Joint Life and Last Survivor Expectancy Table. You can find this table in IRS Publication 590, which is available on the IRS website.
|IRS Uniform Lifetime Table
|Your Age
|Life Expectancy Factor
|Your Age
|Life Expectancy Factor
Calculating RMDs for multiple retirement plans
If you have more than one retirement plan, you'll need to calculate the RMD of each plan separately. However, you may add the RMD amounts of all IRAs (including traditional, rollover, SIMPLE, and SEP-IRAs) and withdraw the total amount from any one or more of your IRAs. The same rules apply to 403(b) accounts.
For example, assume that you have three IRAs. Your RMDs are $2,000 from the first IRA; $1,000 from the second IRA; and $1,000 from the third IRA. If you wish, you can take $4,000 from any one or more of your IRAs to satisfy your RMD for the year.
If you have accounts in several 401(k) or other employer-sponsored plans, the IRS generally requires you to calculate a separate RMD for each retirement plan in which you participate and withdraw the appropriate distribution from each plan.
RMDs for IRA beneficiaries
Upon your death, your beneficiaries will have to take their own RMDs based, in most cases, on their own life expectancies under different IRS tables. Under certain circumstances, if a trust is your beneficiary, RMDs may be based on the life expectancy of the oldest trust beneficiary. Charities and estates don't get the benefit of life expectancy distributions. Be aware that beneficiaries of Roth IRAs, in most instances, are required to take RMDs.
For IRAs, if your spouse is the sole primary beneficiary, he or she also has the option of treating the IRA as his or her own and will be able to name new beneficiaries and take RMDs based on the favorable Uniform Lifetime Table. Even if your spouse chooses to remain as the beneficiary of the IRA, rather than becoming the owner, your spouse is eligible for certain benefits not available to other beneficiaries, such as delaying distributions until the year the original owner would have turned 70½.
Get help with your RMDs
Since calculating your RMDs can be complicated, many financial institutions offer to do it for you. If you have retirement accounts with Vanguard, you can take advantage of our complimentary RMD service.
If you have retirement assets at several financial institutions, you can streamline the RMD process by consolidating your assets at one company. This way, you won't have to worry about forgetting to take an RMD from one of your accounts and facing a stiff federal penalty tax. Learn how to transfer your IRA or roll over your 401(k) to Vanguard.


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Warren wins Mass. Senate race
BOSTON — Liberal icon Elizabeth Warren defeated Republican Sen. Scott Brown on Tuesday, overcoming early campaign stumbles to put the Massachusetts Senate seat that the late Sen. Ted Kennedy occupied for more than four decades back in Democratic hands.
Warren, who will become the state's first female senator, was ahead 53 percent to 47 percent with almost half of precincts reporting, clinching the win. Her victory in the marquee Senate race of the election cycle further elevates Warren's status as a leader of the progressive movement and could add her name to the list of Democrats' potential presidential prospects.
Story Continued Below
In a passionate victory speech shortly before 11 p.m., Warren vowed to be a senator in the mold of Kennedy, fighting for a "level playing field" for working-class families.
"To everyone who shared your hopes and dreams with me and put your faith in my ability to fight for you, I want you to know this," Warren said. "I will never forget, I will always carry your stories with me in my heart."
"I won't just be your senator," she added. "I will be your champion."
Warren's supporters, jammed into a crowded and raucous ballroom in downtown Boston, roared when the networks called the race for the Democrat. As Brown's concession speech was aired here, Warren's fans began chanting her name, twice drowning Brown out.
"She has received the high honor of holding the people's seat," Brown said, who said he offered Warren his "sincerest congratulations."
Deadlocked for most of the summer, the race settled in Warren's favor in the final weeks, according to polls.
The Brown-Warren battle royale was undoubtedly the most high-profile Senate election in the nation. Both candidates were adept at raising cash, making this race the most expensive election in Massachusetts history, according to The Associated Press.
Yet the contest was unique in that both candidates stuck to a pledge aimed at banning super PACs from the campaign. In a Senate cycle marked by millions in spending from influential outside organizations, Brown and Warren agreed to donate cash to charity if a third-party group intervened on their behalf.
Warren, the mastermind behind the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau who is beloved by liberals, stumbled earlier this year when her past claims of her Native American heritage surfaced. Warren struggled to give a clear answer to voters on why she had been listed as a minority professor.


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Tourette's disorder (TD) is a condition in which a person has
spasms, also called tics, that typically include blinking, frowning, jerking
the head, and raising or jerking the arms or shoulders. A person may also shout
words (sometimes obscenities) or make unusual sounds, such as grunting or
Symptoms of TD first develop during childhood and become most
severe at about age 12. In most children, tics become less severe or go away
completely in the teen years. But tics can continue into adulthood.
Treatment for TD focuses on managing tics. Most cases of TD are
mild and will not require medical treatment. If the tics are severe,
medicine or habit reversal is considered. The tics can be reduced, but
there is no cure for TD at this time.
Tourette's disorder is also known as Tourette's syndrome. It is more common in boys than in girls.
Last Revised:
July 26, 2011
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
John Pope, MD - Pediatrics & Karin M. Lindholm, DO - Neurology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2012 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


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Use the Empire Breckenridge Premium Ventless Louvered Firebox to finish out your hearth area, accent your living area or customize a full fireplace! This firebox will create a whole new look to your home. Available in multiple sizes, many hood and firebox décor options you are sure to have a unique firebox. Complete the look with optional louvers, doors, frames or a mantel - we give you all the options to create a whole new fireplace.
- Zero-Clearance Certified
- Made in the USA
- ANSI Certified and UL Listed
- Accepts any certified Ventless burner and/or log set (sold separately)
This Select firebox features a tall, deep stage for a log set, yet has compact outer dimension and a low-profile top and bottom creating a fuller view of the interior of the firebox. Built with hem-bent seams to provide a better seal while eliminating dozens of screws and fasteners. The result is a lighter, more rigid box that's easier to install.
Turn this firebox into a completely designed fireplace if you wish. With more than 200 easily decorative accessories you can tailor this firebox to your decor. The brick liners give the firebox a real masonry look or choose black or stainless steel for a more contemporary feel. Add decorative louvers or a door, which are available in multiple finishes, or keep a clean face look with a trim kit. This firebox will accept and work with any certified Ventless burner and log set and is zero-clearance certified!
The Empire Breckenridge Premium Ventless Louvered Firebox is part of the Empire White Mountain Hearth Series and has been manufactured safely providing reliable heating. This series combines proven technologies with exceptional artistry and craftsmanship to add beauty and warmth to any home!


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SKF to showcase wind energy innovations at EWEA 2015 Annual Event
2015 November 09, 10:00 CEST
SKF will be demonstrating a range of its solutions for the wind energy sector at this year's EWEA Annual Event.
Gothenburg, Sweden, 09 November, 2015: SKF, the knowledge engineering company, will be demonstrating a range of innovative products that improve the performance and efficiency of assets in the wind energy sector at the EWEA 2015 Annual Event in Paris. The solutions on show enable the global wind energy industry to optimise asset reliability, minimise downtime and cut maintenance costs for both new and existing wind turbines to meet the ever growing demand for wind power.
Visitors to EWEA will see on show SKF's HRS range of main shaft seals, which have been specifically developed to meet the often complex challenges of the wind energy industry. This new generation of machined polyurethane seals provides the first line of defence between the external environment and the critical main bearings mechanisms by protecting against contamination, while stopping lubricants escaping into the environment.
The HRS seals are manufactured from ozone, UV and hydrolysis resistant G-ECOPUR polyurethane to provide exceptional wear resistance when compared with common rubber materials to ensure a long service life with minimal chance of premature failure. Indeed, they are proven to be five times more abrasion resistant than the next best performing elastomer material.
The range includes three different designs and they can be made to meet specific customer requirements to suit various applications. The seals enable equipment manufacturers to maximise space utilisation and minimise the weight of turbine nacelles as they weigh less and are smaller than labyrinth seal designs. Each design is available in solid and split versions for easy installation during manufacture where operators can access the end of the shaft or for up-tower replacement and manufacturing applications where there is no access to the end of the shaft.
The stiff material and design of the seals means installation can be carried out particularly easy without special tools, helping to save up to four working hours per seal by comparison with alternative fabric designs. Installation is made simpler still thanks to the smooth outer diameter of the HRS seals, while the carefully optimised seal geometry minimises the risk of inverting the seal or losing the stainless steel garter spring during assembly.
Also on show will be SKF's WindCon with @ptitude Observer Software remote condition monitoring system for wind turbines. This powerful tool allows operators to take a proactive approach to maintenance to consistently ensure reliable performance and improved reliability. It has been developed to enable wind farms to extend turbine maintenance intervals, manage resources more effectively and prevent costly downtime, while cutting operating costs.
The comprehensive system is already helping hundreds of turbine operators around the world to improve performance and eliminate failures. WindCon features vibration sensors mounted on a turbine's main shaft bearings, drive train gearbox and generator to collect operating data and provide analysis and diagnostics through the @ptitude software. This integrated approach to condition monitoring allows for the fast and reliable gathering of large amounts of complex plant information to identify faults before they become a problem.
Equally, the system makes the information accessible throughout an entire organisation, allowing for straightforward post treatment analysis and investigation into faults to enable the introduction of preventative measures. Recent developments in the @ptitude software now mean it only monitors turbines during meaningful periods, eliminating false alarms, while improvements to the graphical display allow for the quick comparison between machine behaviours to increase diagnostic capabilities. The interface is also designed according to IEC61400-25, enabling the exchange of information with different wind power plants, enhancing still further the diagnostic possibilities.
EWEA 2015 takes place on 17-20 November 2015 at the Paris Expo – Porte de Versailles, Pavilion 1, in Paris. Visitors to the event will find SKF in Hall 1 at Booth N07.
Aktiebolaget SKF
For further information, please contact:
Press Relations: Nia Kihlström, +46 31-337 2897; +46 706 67 28 97; email@example.com is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 15,000 distributor locations worldwide. Annual sales in 2014 were SEK 70,975 million ($8.5 billion) and the number of employees was 48,593. www.skf.com® SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group.
Download press kit
- Press image - HRS close2 (476 KB) preview


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Politics & Government
More on earmarks: Obama's chief of staff has some in bill
WASHINGTON — Even though President Barack Obama has repeatedly pledged to ban congressional earmarks, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has 16 such projects, worth about $8.5 million, in the bill the Senate is scheduled to begin debating Tuesday.
The earmarks include funds for a Chicago planetarium and a Chicago suburb. Obama has been relentless in criticizing the use of earmarks; in his address to a joint session of Congress last week, he boasted how the economic stimulus package was "free of earmarks."
By the end of this week, however, he's likely to sign a separate $410 billion spending plan that keeps most domestic programs funded through Sept. 30, the end of this fiscal year. It's a plan that now contains about 9,000 earmarks.
Emanuel, who until Jan. 2 was a congressman from Chicago, Sunday dismissed the bill as "last year's business." Most the measure was written in 2008. It stalled when the Democratic-led Congress and former President George W. Bush disagreed on spending levels.
Emanuel's name remains on the bill, and senior adviser Sarah Feinberg explained, "He has no control over it." House Appropriations Committee spokeswoman Kirstin Brost, when asked why Emanuel, like other former members of Congress, still has his name on earmarks, said, "Why not?"
Among the projects with Emanuel's name attached are $900,000 for equipment at Chicago's Adler Planetarium and Astronomy Museum; $95,000 for "educational expenses" at the Kohl Children's Museum in Glenview, Ill.; and $950,000 for "street rehabilitation" in the village of Franklin Park, Ill.
Feinberg explained the projects should not be viewed as Emanuel's earmarks, but "funding that belongs to the people of the Fifth District of Illinois." He represented the district for six years.
Feinberg maintained that "most" of Emanuel's earmarks were co-sponsored by other Illinois members of Congress.
"So while I realize you can technically report that he has some earmarks that were included in the omnibus (spending bill)," she said in an e-mail, "those projects for his district were supported by other members of the delegation as well."
Emanuel had partners on some earmarks. He joined members from several states on a $404,000 earmark for Great Lakes Basin program for soil erosion and sediment control. Reps. Jesse Jackson Jr. and Danny Davis, both Illinois Democrats, also sought the planetarium funds, and Emanuel teamed with another Illinois Democrat, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, for the Kohl money.
Davis also joined Emanuel on a $294,772 earmark for job training and placement money for low and moderate income people, and other delegation members teamed with Emanuel on an earmark with unspecified funds for the Union Pacific Northwest rail line and $300,000 for a criminal justice grant to help curb violence in Chicago.
He was alone on other projects, including $1 million to Northwestern University for Great Lakes restoration, a $1.2 million juvenile justice grant to Chicago public schools; $190,000 to the Children's Memorial Research Center in Chicago; $190,000 for a homeless facility in Palatine, Ill., and local road projects.
The overall spending bill would provide an 8 percent increase in spending, and while the earmarks represent less than 1 percent of the cost, they've become political fodder for budget critics.
"The president campaigned against wasteful spending, and he ought to veto this bill," said House Minority Leader John Boehner of Ohio.
Curbing earmarks can be difficult, however. About 40 percent of the projects were inserted in the bill by Republicans. And even some of Obama's staunchest congressional allies insist that they can be useful.
"We are a separate branch of government and since we've been a country, we have had the obligation as a Congress to help direct spending," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. "We cannot let spending be done by a bunch of nameless, faceless bureaucrats buried in this town someplace to take care of the needs of the state of Nevada, Washington and New York."
Defenders of the system, as well as Emanuel, maintain that they haven't abused the practice. Earmarks have come under fire because at times, they're favors for lobbyists and special interests and are inserted into legislation at the last minute. Identifying the sponsor or the favored interest can be very difficult.
Feinberg, however, noted that Emanuel always listed on his House Web site earmarks he requests and how the funding would be used. So did many other members.
Emanuel, for instance, wrote to appropriations committee leaders March 16, 2008, how the Kohl children's museum money "would be used for increasing the number of qualified early childhood educators."
The federal funds will help the museum support about 20 early childhood teachers-in-training. The teachers will work at the museum while taking college courses and getting practical experience.
In separate letters, Emanuel explained other projects, usually in one-sentence paragraphs. No one responded to requests for comment at the Adler planetarium and the Village of Franklin Park.
Earmark requests are reviewed by one of the appropriations subcommittees — each specializes in a different subject area — and then must be approved by the entire committee before going into the bill.
Kohl children's museum Web site
Village of Franklin Park, Ill., Web site
The biggest obstacle in Obama's path: Congress (who else?)
Earmark reform: 2009 spending bill contains 9,000 of them
GOP hates earmarks, except the ones its members sponsor
Americans write their president — here's what happens next


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Contact information
Telephone numbersReservation: 0800 977 5533* Customer service: 0800 977 5533* Special assistance: 0800 977 5533*
* Additional charges may apply [More info]
** International number
Facilities at Heathrow
Which terminal?
This airline operates from Terminal 4
Airline lounges are invitation-only – please check entry rules with your airline. The following information is provided as a service to passengers and may be subject to change.
Terminal 4
Skyteam Lounge
Departures, after security
Opposite Gate 10, at ground levelFind Skyteam Lounge on a map
Flight information
Flight numbers begin with IATA code AM.
Alliance membership
This airline is a member of the SkyTeam alliance.
Destinations served from Heathrow
Heathrow Rewards
Collect points on airport shopping, parking, Heathrow Express and more ... then choose your reward.


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As a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association ("NCAA"), Florida A&M University must abide by NCAA rules and regulations as they relate to all aspects of its athletic program. In addition to ensuring that all of its coaches, administrators, University faculty and staff, and student-athletes are aware of and following NCAA rules, FAMU is also responsible for the actions of any individual who is a "representative of athletic interests." Compliance with NCAA rules requires the effort of everyone associated with an institution's athletic program – institutional staff, faculty, students, student-athletes and representatives of athletic interests. In order to act within NCAA rules, it is important to understand not only the rules themselves, but also why the NCAA rules exist and why schools must monitor compliance with the rules. The information contained in this site was developed to provide you with a general overview of key Division I NCAA rules and regulations. If you have any additional questions about NCAA rules and regulations, you should contact the NCAA directly or visit the NCAA website at www.ncaa.org.
Boosters/Representative of Athletics Interest
Florida A&M University is responsible for ensuring that its various constituencies (e.g. staff, faculty, coaches, student-athletes, boosters, alumni and friends) abide by NCAA rules and regulations.
Who is a "representative of athletic interests"?
A "representative of the institution's athletic interest" (a.k.a. "booster") is an individual, independent agency, corporate entity (e.g. apparel or equipment manufacturer) or other organization that is known (or should have been known) by a member of FAMU executive or athletics administration to:
- Have participated in or to be a member of an agency or organization promoting FAMU' intercollegiate athletics program;
- Have made financial contributions to the athletics department or to an athletics booster organization of FAMU;
- Be assisting or to have been requested (by the athletics department staff) to assist in the recruitment of prospects;
- Be assisting or to have assisted in providing benefits to enrolled student-athletes or their families; or
- Have been involved otherwise in promoting FAMU athletics program.
Note: Once an individual, agency, corporation or other organization is identified as a "representative of athletics interest", that person/entity retains that identity indefinitely.
Involvement in Recruiting
Only authorized university staff members are permitted to participate in recruitment activities on behalf of an institution.
What constitutes a recruiting contact?
Any face-to-face encounter between a prospect or the prospect's parent(s), relative(s) or legal guardian(s) and a FAMU University staff member or representative of athletic interests during which any dialogue occurs in excess of an exchange of a greeting. Any such face-to-face encounter that is prearranged (e.g., positions himself/herself in a location where a contact is possible) or that takes place on the grounds of the prospect's educational institution or at the site of organized competition or practice involving the prospect or the prospect's high-school, preparatory school, two-year college or all-star team shall be considered a contact, regardless of whether any conversation occurs.
Permissible Activities for Boosters in Recruitment
The following list provides examples of permissible actions by boosters:
- A booster may attend high school, prep school and two-year college athletic events at his/her own discretion (i.e., not at the direction of a university staff member), but may not have any contact with a prospect or his/her parents, relatives or legal guardians.
- An athletic representative can assist FAMU Athletics by notifying the appropriate coaching staff of any student-athlete you think would be an asset to the athletic program (e.g., via newspaper clippings, telephone calls to coaching staff members, etc.) so that the coach can then make the appropriate contact with the prospect.
- An athletic representative can continue established friendships with families who have prospective or enrolled student-athletes but cannot encourage a prospect's participation in FAMU athletics or provide benefits to a student-athlete (except as expressly permitted by NCAA rules).
- During an encounter with a prospect, if the prospect or his/her parent, relative or legal guardian asks a booster a question about FAMU athletics program, simply direct their questions to the appropriate coach at FAMU.
Prohibited Activities for Boosters in Recruitment
Boosters are prohibited from engaging the following activities. This list is not all-inclusive.
- Direct or indirect involvement in making arrangements for a prospect, the prospect's relatives or friends to receive money or financial aid of any kind.
- Providing free tickets or tickets at a reduced cost to any FAMU home or away events for prospects, their relatives or friends. (Only the Athletic Department can provide complimentary admissions to prospective student-athletes at home athletic events.)
- Providing any transportation of any sort to prospects (or their parents/guardians/relatives/friends) including transportation to campus to attend athletic events.
- Paying or offering to pay registration fees for summer sports camps for a prospect.
- Contacting a prospect's coach, principal or counselor for the purpose of recruiting the prospect (e.g., meeting with the counselor, picking up a videotape of the prospect, etc.)
- Providing cash or loans in any amount, or signing or co-signing for a loan.
- Providing gifts of any kind, including birthday cards and holiday gifts.
- Providing special discounts for goods and services (e.g., movie tickets, car repairs, clothing, haircut, meals, legal services).
- Providing the use of any transportation (e.g., car, moped, motorcycle, etc.)
- Providing free or reduced-cost rent/housing.
- Entertaining prospective student-athletes, their friends or relatives.
Employment of Prospective and Enrolled Student-Athletes
Boosters are permitted to employ prospective and enrolled student-athletes within certain parameters:
- You may employ or arrange for the employment of a prospective student-athlete, but you must first obtain the approval of the Office of Compliance. Prospective student-athletes may not begin employment with a booster until they have completed their senior year in high school or withdrawn from their two-year college/completed their two-year college graduation requirements.
- You may employ or arrange for the employment of an enrolled student-athlete (during the summer or the academic year), but you must first obtain the approval of the Office of Compliance.
- You may not provide transportation for prospects or enrolled student-athletes that you employ (unless it is the company's established policy to transport all employees to the job site).
- NCAA rules require that compensation may be paid to a prospective or enrolled student-athlete only for work actually performed and at a rate commensurate with the going rate in that locality for similar services. Such compensation may not include any remuneration for the value or utility that the individual may have for the employer because of publicity, reputation, fame or personal following that he/she has obtained because of athletic ability.
Questions Frequently Asked By Boosters
Q. I donated a small amount of money to the Rattlers ten (10) years ago but I have not donated anything else since then, am I still a booster?
A. Yes. Once you become a booster, you never lose that identity.
Q. What if a prospective student is not an athlete, do the recruiting rules apply?
A. Yes. A prospect is any student who has started classes for the ninth grade.
Q. What if I am a booster and my neighbor is the quarterback on his high school team; can I talk to him?
A. Yes. There are limited exceptions to the prohibition on boosters contacting prospects:
(1) You may have contact with a prospect who is an established family friend or neighbor as long as the contact is not for the purpose of recruiting the prospect.
- You may have "unavoidable" or "incidental" contact with a prospect (e.g., running into the prospect at the store) provided the contact is not prearranged by anyone; the contact does not take place on the grounds of the prospect's educational institution or at a prospect's practice or competition; the contact is not made for the purpose of recruiting the prospect; and the contact only involves normal civility.
- You may have contact with a prospect who has signed a National Letter of Intent with FAMU for the purpose of discussing possible summer employment only.
Q. Is it permissible for a booster to telephone a prospective student-athlete or send a letter of congratulations to a prospective student-athlete AFTER the student-athlete signed a National Letter of Intent?
A. No. A prospect remains a prospect until he/she enrolls in school, therefore telephoning or writing a prospect is not permissible. The only permissible contact with a prospect is for employment purposes but only after speaking with a member of the Office of Compliance.
Q. Is it permissible for a booster group to place an advertisement that is targeted at local prospective student-athletes in a newspaper or other publication?
A. No. It is not permissible to place such an advertisement even if the advertisement does not specifically mention FAMU.
Q. Is it permissible for a booster to make a donation to a high school?
A. Yes, provided the high school is in the booster's local community, the booster acts independently of the university, the funds are appropriately distributed through channels established by the high school (or organization conducting the fund-raising activity) and the funds are not earmarked for a specific prospect.


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In academia, the h-index is a measure of how much of an impact a researcher has. It's defined as follows:
You have an h-index of k if you have published at least k papers that each have k or more citations.
The reason I bring this up is that it might be interesting to adapt this to work for upvotes for questions and answers. For example, we could say that your h-index for questions is k if you've asked k questions that all have at least k upvotes, and similarly for answers. This might be nice because it would help identify users who were consistently doing a good job answering or asking questions, as the metric is robust to outliers.
This also addresses the issue of being in the top user leagues due to posts going viral on reddit/HN. For a recent example, Eric Lippert is a highly respected user on StackOverflow and consistent contributor to c#. Although, he might be equally proficient in c++, more than 90% of his 2k upvotes in C++ come from a single answer and he has answered only 22 questions in the tag. If the post hadn't been locked, it would've well gone on to garner more upvotes and eventually place him in the top user list. Another example is the question on randomness
The h-index would let you more precisely dissect reputations to see if the reputation comes from a few really good questions/answers or from a solid body of work. It might be nice to have this in the "top askers" or "top answerers" lists for tags, since right now you can be at the top of a tag if you just ask or answer one really good question, even if it's the only question/answer you've given in that tag.
This request is not to suggest that users who get high upvotes on a single question be displaced from the top user page. Rather, it's a request to display an additional column with consistent contributors rated by the h-index. It could also be simply displayed next to their name, along with total upvotes and total answers provided.
Does this seem reasonable? Unreasonable? Any thoughts?


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Twenty-six cyclists began a 400-mile journey from Newtown, Conn. to Washington D.C on Saturday morning to push for tougher gun control laws.
"There's just so much at risk and the 30,000 gun deaths a year is unacceptable," said Monte Frank.
Frank is a Sandy Hook father who began this movement following the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
"What happened down the road from me forced me to take action," he said.
Last year, Team 26 made the same journey to our nation's capital.
A expanded background check bill was brought to the floor of the U.S. Senate but didn't get enough votes to move forward.
"We don't know how long it's going to take but we do know our cause is just, it is right, and it will happen," said Rep. Elizabeth Esty, whose district includes Newtown.
Gun rights supporters say new gun laws won't make a difference and only punish law abiding citizens.
Rep. Esty said expanding background checks makes common sense.
"I think it's going to take persistence and we're seeing that in the riders who are riding 400 miles," she said.
That 400-mile journey began Saturday at 8 a.m. in Newtown, Conn. with a rally. Riders planned to stop in Ridgefield; Greenwich; Harlem, N.Y.; Morristown, N.J.; Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
Frank acknowledged that a background check bill may take years to become law but he's willing to keep at it.
"I'm just not willing to sit idly by and allow this tragedy to define me, define my town and to define my community," he said.


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Pakistan panel calls doctor's help finding bin Laden 'treason'
ISLAMABAD — A Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA track Osama bin Laden before U.S. special forces killed the terrorist leader should be charged with treason, the official Pakistani inquiry into bin Laden's presence in the country recommended Thursday.
The inquiry's judgment on Shakeel Afridi probably will infuriate U.S. officials, who consider him a hero. If he's convicted, Afridi could be sentenced to death.
Earlier this year, McClatchy revealed that Afridi had been secretly recruited by the CIA to help verify that bin Laden was living in a walled compound in the city of Abbottabad, a two-hour drive north of the capital, Islamabad. Afridi organized an elaborate sham immunization campaign that sent health workers to the compound in hopes of taking DNA samples.
The effort apparently failed to gather any evidence that proved bin Laden's presence, and the CIA was never certain that the al Qaida leader was there, even when President Barack Obama decided to mount the raid.
Agents of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate spy agency arrested Afridi, a senior health official working for an arm of the Pakistani government, three weeks after the May 2 Abbottabad raid. He's been in custody ever since amid allegations that he's been severely tortured.
Washington has been pressing Islamabad to release him so that he and his family can be resettled in the U.S., but Thursday's recommendation appears to make that highly unlikely.
The Pakistani inquiry also called for bin Laden's wives and children to be sent back to their home countries. The U.S. special forces raid that found and killed the al Qaida chief left behind three wives and several children who lived with him.
Islamabad and Washington are already in a tense diplomatic standoff, centered on U.S. allegations that Pakistan is supporting insurgent groups in Afghanistan, while Pakistan is angry about the unilateral American operation to get bin Laden.
Obama said Thursday at a news conference in Washington that Pakistan was in touch with "unsavory characters" in Afghanistan, a reference to the Taliban and their allies. Some also accuse Pakistan of hiding bin Laden, though U.S. officials have said repeatedly that there's no evidence of that.
Pakistan's military was humiliated by American forces finding and killing bin Laden just half a mile from the country's most prestigious military academy. The government set up the five-person commission of inquiry, headed by a Supreme Court judge, "to ascertain the full facts regarding the presence of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan."
The commission has questioned Afridi, as well as bin Laden's wives and daughters.
"In view of the record and evidence placed before the commission in relation to Dr. Shakeel Afridi; the commission is of the view that prima facie, a case of conspiracy against the State of Pakistan and high treason is made out against him," the inquiry said in a statement.
The commission doesn't have the legal authority to institute charges against Afridi but its recommendations are likely to be followed. Pakistani officials have said that Afridi was working for a foreign intelligence agency, which is a serious crime in most countries, including the United States.
This week the inquiry, which meets behind closed doors, also carried out what it called an "exhaustive" interview of ISI chief Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who reportedly denied that his agency knew that bin Laden was in Abbottabad. It's uncertain whether the commission's findings will be made public.
Oddly, for a man in hiding, bin Laden lived in Abbottabad with three of his wives and several children. With him was his youngest wife, Amal, 29, a Yemeni citizen, and Khairiah, 62, and Siham, 54, both Saudis.
How many of the dozen-plus children found at the Abbottabad compound were bin Laden's is still unknown. One, a girl named Safiya, was born to Amal around the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States. During the raid, U.S. special forces killed one son, Khalid, who was Siham's oldest child, aged around 22.
Amal previously had told Pakistani intelligence officials that they'd lived in Abbottabad for five years.
(Shah is a McClatchy special correspondent.)
Pakistan holds doctor who tried to collect bin Laden DNA
Pakistan detained, then released, many after bin Laden raid
Bin Laden's family lived a life of isolation at Pakistan home
Follow McClatchy on Twitter.


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It's not unpleasant to be rich and powerful. It's especially not unpleasant to be rich, powerful, famous and retired.
So what's the best perk that Steve Ballmer, who is all of those things, enjoys these days?
During his first public appearance since he left Microsoft a month ago he was asked that question. He was speaking on stage with the dean of Oxford University's School of Business
He laughingly admitted:
I can play just about any golf course I want on the planet. If I can get there someone will take me out to play. I'm a lousy player but I love it.
You thought it would be something bigger and more cosmic? Noooo!
Ballmer, who is 57, also said he's pretty sure he won't spend the rest of his life playing golf "all day, every day."
He's currently "rebooting," and looking around for something new to jump into.
We'll have to wait and see if that means he'll join another company, join his friend Bill Gates in saving the world or do something else altogether, like become a really good golfer.


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Short-handed Swedes beat Swiss 1-0
SOCHI, Russia (AP) — Sweden isn't looking for sympathy.
The short-handed Swedes beat Switzerland 1-0 on Friday, hours after they announced Henrik Zetterberg will miss the rest of the Sochi Olympics.
The win came on Daniel Alfredsson's goal with 7:21 left and Henrik Lundqvist's 26-save shutout.
"We are among those teams who can win this tournament anyway," Sweden coach Par Marts said.
The Swedes (2-0) moved into a favorable position to earn a spot in the quarterfinals as the only undefeated team in Group C. With a victory over winless Latvia on Saturday, they would be among the final eight in the 12-nation tournament.
OUT:Zetterberg withdraws from Olympics
Zetterberg will miss the rest of the tournament because of a herniated disk, taking a third key player off their roster.
"We all know what he goes through on a daily basis to be able to play, and for him to sit out, you know, it's pretty bad," said Olympic and Detroit Red Wings teammate Niklas Kronwall. "In saying that, we can't feel sorry for ourselves."
The Swedes were medal favorites a month ago, but since then the 2006 Olympic champions have lost three of their best forwards because of injuries: Zetterberg, Henrik Sedin and Johan Franzen.
Lundqvist, their three-time Olympian goaltender, still gives them a chance to win any game.
"We all know if we're going anywhere, we need our goalie to be the best goalie in the tournament," Kronwall said.
And having five-time Olympian Alfredsson on the ice helps Sweden as well.
MORE:USA announces starting goalie vs. Russia
The 41-year-old forward skated hard down the ice on the game-winning goal to put himself in the right position to score easily off a rebound created by Erik Karlsson's shot.
"I just tried to bust my own rear end as much as I could to get to the neutral zone and I think I was able to lose my guy and get open," Alfredsson said. "It's a fortunate bounce, but I'm happy the goalie didn't see it before me and swipe it out, and I was able to tap it in."
Swiss forward Roman Wick didn't appear to aggressively backcheck to keep Alfredsson away from the front of the net after defenseman Raphael Diaz pushed forward Alexander Steen off to the right side.
Switzerland coach Sean Simpson insisted it was not Wick's responsibility to get back to defend Alfredsson, but wouldn't reveal who made the costly mistake.
"I'm not going to rip my guys," Simpson said.
The Swiss (1-1) might have to win in the qualification round to reach the quarterfinals even if they beat the Jaromir Jagr-led Czechs on Saturday to finish second in their group.
Swiss goalie Reto Berra stopped 30 shots, starting in place of Jonas Hiller.
Simpson said Hiller will face the Czechs in both team's final preliminary-round matchup, adding he'll make his choice in net on a game-by-game basis.
In the second game for both teams, the Swiss got off to a strong start. They outshot Sweden 13-5 in the first and didn't have anything to show for it after the scoreless period.
Sweden bounced back with a better second period with almost twice as many shots as the Swiss in the period, but it was still scoreless. In the end, the Swedes made the saves and skated hard.
Marts said Alfredsson's game-winning goal showed why he's on the roster even though he's one of the oldest athletes in Sochi.
"He's one of the most-skilled players I've ever seen," Marts said. "He's so smart and his hands are still really good."


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"I'm Still Here"
First-time director Casey Affleck chronicles Joaquin Phoenix attempt to transition from actor to rap star in this documentary.
We don't waste our time on anything not worth your time. We celebrate the best of what's coming on film and TV. We cheer when our expectations are met and criticize when we're let down.


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10 Things We Learned at Country Jam 2014
Country's hottest stars played Country Jam Colorado over the weekend, and each was kind enough to chat offstage with Taste of Country. We learned some fascinating things about artists like Thomas Rhett and Lady Antebellum. Brantley Gilbert told one amazing story, while one of country's hottest newcomers showed off his tattoo -- the one on the inside of his lip.
Our camera and video crew also wandered around the crowd the campground and backstage, where two of country's hottest men were seen without shirts on, while one artist proved to be much more of a romantic than anyone believed previously. The strange, the brilliant and the amazing -- here are 10 things we learned at Country Jam Colorado.
American Young's Jon Stone Has "Beer" Tattooed on His Inner Lip
Stone explained that it happened when he was much younger, and he doesn't have many memories of it. Yep, it was that kind of night. In addition, he and Lee Brice got a tattoo of the date their hit 'Crazy Girl' went No. 1. However, Google gave them the wrong date. You can see a picture of that ink oopsie here.
Thomas Rhett Is a Bee Gees Fan
Rhett says his new song 'Make Me Wanna' is Bee Gees-esque, and he should know. Growing up, his grandmother would play him all sorts of '50s and '60s rock, soul and disco. The 'It Goes Like This' singer isn't afraid to get down with it, either. He danced to 'Staying Alive' for fans at Country Jam. See that video here.
Eric Church Makes People Feel Frisky
Front row seats are overrated at an Eric Church concert. We walked to the very last row of fans at Saturday night's show and got an eyeful. We counted a dozen different couples making out on blankets, the lawn or standing up before we shielded our virgin eyes and repented. This was early in the set, shorty after Church sang 'The Outsiders' and 'Talledega.'
Brett Eldredge Plays Corn Hole Shirtless
Brett Eldredge doesn't mind posing for a pic with no shirt on -- just check out his Instagram page for evidence. Backstage at Country Jam, he was hosing himself down with sunblock before tossing a few bags with friends and crew.
Charles Kelley of Lady A Does Shirtless Pre-Show Wind Sprints
Charles Kelley also prefers to exercise in little more than sneakers and a pair of gym shorts. He was spotted doing wind sprints with a crew member before his Friday night set. Sorry, we have no pictures of either man bare-chested, but these pics might serve your intrigue well.
Dave Haywood's Wife Kelli Is Due in August
Kelli is seven months pregnant, and Haywood is preparing by spending time with Hillary Scott's little girl, Eisele. One thing he's not going to practice before his baby boy arrives: diaper changing. The Lady Antebellum guitarist says he's never changed a diaper and doesn't plan to start until he has to.
Thomas Rhett Is Going to Be a Superstar
Aside from the headliners, Rhett drew the biggest crowds for both his interview in the Roper Country Club and his live set. Fans piled in to see him late Friday afternoon and loved every moment of his hour-long performance. Covers of Luke Bryan and Lee Brice further endeared him to those unfamiliar with his music. The Georgia native set a high bar for Lady Antebellum to pass over.
If Jerrod Niemann Came With a Warning Label, It'd Read "Don't Eat!"
Fans provided some of the best questions during pre-show interviews with artists. One in particular wanted to know what Jerrod Niemann's warning label would say, and the 'Donkey' singer was quick to respond. Watch to get the latest on his upcoming wedding, plus working with rapper Pitbull.
Brantley Gilbert Sold His '68 Mercury Cougar to Get His Band to Texas
Gilbert says he sold it to a guy who told him he could get it back for the same price whenever he wanted. Finally, he saved the $4,000 to bring it home, and the guy had upped his price ... to $25,000! This was during Gilbert's drinking years, and he admits he considered stealing it or having a "talk" with the man. Ultimately, Jana Kramer helped him buy it back.
Tim McGraw Will Play Country Jam Colorado 2015
It's true. The first headliner was announced on Saturday night. Tim McGraw will bring his catalog of hits to Grand Junction, Colo. in 2015. More artists will be announced in the weeks and months to come. Be sure to follow Country Jam on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news.


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(Phoenix, Ariz. – Jan. 6, 2009) Attorney General Terry Goddard today announced the indictment and arrest of a third person accused of being part of a fraud ring that stole $198,000 from Friendly House, Inc., a community organization in Phoenix that provides social work, youth education, senior services, employment and training.
Rosalie Magana, 60, of Phoenix, was arrested Monday after being indicted last week on one count of fraudulent schemes and artifices and three counts of theft, all felonies.
Julie Ann Perez, 47, of Phoenix, and Virginia Ilsa Kathleen Tudor, 22, of Phoenix, were indicted in connection with this scheme in July 2007. Perez pleaded guilty to one felony count of solicitation to commit fraudulent schemes and artifices, and Tudor pleaded guilty to one felony count of theft in September 2008. Perez was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison in November 2008, and Tudor was sentenced to three years probation at a hearing held in December 2008.
According to court documents, between in December 2006 and January 2007, Magana, an employee of Friendly House, systematically stole checks made out to Friendly House from the Arizona Department of Economic Security. She allegedly passed those checks to Perez and Tudor, who deposited them in fraudulent bank accounts set up as part of the scheme and intended to resemble accounts held by Friendly House.
The indictments are a result of a joint investigation by the Attorney General's Office and U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant Attorney General Andrei Cherny is prosecuting this case in Maricopa County Superior Court.
Samples of the stolen checks are attached and available on the Attorney General's Web site. For additional information, contact Anne Hilby at (602) 542-8019.


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The food you take in along with the polluted oxygen you take in, create lots of acidic waste materials within your body. Including the tap water which comes to your residence is not really safe since it features numerous chlorine, fluorine, other and pollutants nutrients on it. Having alkaline water gains your wellbeing and elevates your immunity process. water ionizer reviews
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PH worth of and
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Alkaline drinking water rewards the body to combat growing older and various degenerative illnesses. It reduces the build up of acidic waste in your body and makes it less susceptible to degenerative diseases including gout, osteoporosis, cancer and diabetes high blood pressure as well as heart disease, as alkaline water is more easily absorbed into your body-cells. The high pH standard water makes the abdomen to create additional hydrochloric acidity that produces much more bicarbonate to go into your blood. With getting older, the bicarbonate and as a result the alkalinity within the blood stream lessens and the entire body is unable to counteract acids. The rise in acid solution amount triggers cholesterol, uric acidity, kidney gemstones, etcetera. Alkaline ionized standard water also refills the deficit of calcium supplements, prevents bone decrease, plus stops renal disorders. Therefore, the alkaline standard water rewards your disease fighting capability in several ways. alkaline
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soul's world
Posts Tagged Schönefeld
Flying from Berlin Schönefeld (SXF) with easyJet|Abflug von Berlin Schönefeld (SXF) mit easyJet
Posted by soulwarrior in Blog on September 14, 2015
If you've never been flying from Berlin Schönefeld (or as I like to call it: Berlin's Disgrace) with easyJet, you'll learn quite a lot reading this article. If you have, you'll most likely share my pain. If not, I am honestly surprised and I would like to encourage you to play the lottery every week and become a professional roulette player.
Part 1: Prelude
On my way to Madrid this past Friday, I ended up receiving the standard easyJet treatment. I'm rather convinced if only one member of the board of this company would ever fly with easyJet departing in Berlin Schönefeld, they would
- either immediately leave the company or
- do everything in their power to rectify the wrong that has been done to so many people
When you're flying with easyJet out of Berlin SXF, you don't leave the place the same person. EasyJet paired with SXF changes you.
Thinking about it, there's possibly a third option I haven't considered before; the easyJet executive might also charge an extra fee for the adventurous experience that is trying to fly out of Berlin Schönefeld…
Part 2: Bag Drop
Anyway, I arrived reasonably early at the airport (~ 65 minutes before departure), only to enroll in a queue that stretched through pretty much the entire Terminal B (I think that's what it's called; it's the one on the left that is exclusively operating easyJet flights). The queue was moving at it's usual pace, that is, 3 people were getting out of it per minute despite the fact that roughly 6 counters were open and there were about 120 people in front of me. Also, I should probably stress once again that there's nothing super out of the ordinary about this situation; this happens ALL THE TIME at this airport.
Doing the maths, I should have been at the top of the line after around 40 minutes. I considered getting the speedy Boarding option that would allow me to enroll in a special queue that was a lot shorter, but the helpful easyJet staff person that was trying her best to do some "crowd control" (judge lingo) pointed out that there's always the chance that speedy Boarding is no longer available for my particular flight.
Thinking about it, this sounds like a gigantic and steaming pile of shit; few people ever go for this option, so it should always be available. Additionally, their sales training could probably need a little make-over.
Since I was sufficiently familiar with the process, I decided to instead try and enjoy the ride rather than breaking my head about it. Meanwhile, my friend Riley, who went with the smart option of not checking in any bags, lost patience. Since I didn't want to feel all too responsible for him having a heart attack, we agreed to meet at the gate instead of him watching my painfully slow progress and worrying non-stop.
I stood in line for roughly 25 minutes (and I was almost halfway there, so some of my estimates are definitely off; since I don't think that there were a lot more than 120 people queueing up in front of me, they probably only managed to "process" 2 people per minute with their 6 counters), only for them to then announce that everyone still standing in line to check in bags for Madrid (and one other destination) should now leave the existing queue and instead line up in front of counters 28 and 29 (the speedy Boarding counters).
Had I still been in the room after booking the speedy Boarding option and hearing this announcement, I would have deeply regretted making that decision. A lot.
Never. Pay. For. Bullshit.
Speedy Boarding is bullshit.
Also, let me emphasize again that there are few surprises here. This is what always happens at Schönefeld…
Part 3: Security
With all of that out of the way, on to the happy ending part of my story. I ended up dropping my bags 30 minutes before departure (which happens to be the same time when boarding is supposed to start) and then it was on to security.
The person responsible for the daunting task of scanning boarding passes was rather busy waving her scanner back and forth in repetitive motions. It appeared like a very weird real life version of Space Invaders. Apparently the last level of real life Space Invaders is scanning QR codes on smartphones.
A little sidenote: If you're busy playing real life Space Invaders on the job, you won't find time looking at passports.
Normally, at this exact point in the process of creeping through SXF, the security staff will point out that you "should have arrived at the airport a lot earlier." They then follow it up with some worst case scenarios like
- "what if one of the body scanners won't work anymore?" or
- "what if someone is a threat to the security of the airport and we won't process any more people here?"
(Yeah, right… security finds someone carrying a bomb and they will NOT shut down the airport completely, but instead only stop processing people in security and all flights will leave as scheduled…)
Part 4: Epilogue
I ended up making it through security, overtaking Riley in the process. Surprisingly enough, he didn't seem to be all too annoyed about that; apparently he had reached the stage of accepting that you're in for a hellish ride (rather than one hell of a ride) when you're flying out of SXF with easyJet.
I was expecting the usual "last call for all passengers to Madrid with easyJet flight EZY1234," right after we made it through security, but for the second time that day, we missed out on the regular treatment that normally makes the SXF experience so unique and unforgettable. We made it to the gate, expecting to see a lot of stranded passengers who would then sit around for at least 10 more minutes (despite the last call), but surprisingly enough, the gate was completely empty. All other passengers were on their way to the plane already.
Since I am now familiar enough with the way easyJet operates, this made total sense. They are obviously in the business of trolling people, so they only announce a last call when it is completely pointless. If a last call would actually make sense, however, they will not announce that you should rush to the gate.
P.S.: I would like to point out that I do not think that easyJet is completely hopeless. Just a few days ago, we flew with easyJet from Glasgow to Berlin and everything went fine. Also, my flight with easyJet from Madrid to Berlin was alright (up until I arrived in Berlin since … Schönefeld).
It's just that easyJet flying out of Berlin Schönefeld doesn't match; the airport is simply a piece of shit and in no way is the way easyJet operates efficient enough to process the many flights that are leaving Berlin for various cities in Europe.


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St. Norbert Captures First Midwest Conference Men's Golf Championship
From Sports Information Director, May 4, 2013 | Men's Golf
by Dan Lukes, firstname.lastname@example.com, (920) 403-4077
ROCKFORD, Ill. - St. Norbert College made history by winning its first Midwest Conference championship in men's golf with a five-stroke win at the 2013 MWC Championship held at Aldeen Golf Club.
The Green Knights, who finished in a tie for second place last season, improved on their three-stroke lead on Monmouth College by topping the Scots by two strokes in the final round. St. Norbert finished the 45-hole tournament (play was limited to nine holes on day two) with a 311-159-313--783. Monmouth finished with a 314-159-315--788. Carroll University, the two-time defending MWC champion, made a late Saturday charge but finished eight shots off the pace at 322-163-306--791.
St. Norbert advances to the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship, which will be held May 14-17 at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort in Destin, Fla.
St. Norbert junior Nic Vrubley also made history, becoming the first Green Knight to win an individual conference championship. Vrubley carded rounds of 77-36-75--188 to finish 8-over par. Vrubley finished three strokes ahead of Carroll's Blaine Lynch, who totaled 76-42-73--191. Vrubley's third-round total of 75 was tied for the second-best mark of the round behind Lynch's 73.
Jacob Hebbard also captured All-Midwest Conference honors by finishing in a tie for fifth place. Hebbard totaled a 79-43-75--197 to finish 17-over par.
Nick Roelse finished in a tie for 11th place with a 78-40-82--200. Brandon Gries was tied for 15th with a 78-41-83--202. Nick Mueller was tied for 19th place with a 78-42-86--206, while Evan Mass was 21st with an 83-43-81--207.
The complete field for the NCAA Division III Championship will be announced Monday, May 6.


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For those of you that are fans of the Shugo Chara series this lesson is for you all. Today I will show you "how to draw Dia" and she is Amu's last Guardian character. She is a very pretty chibi like figure that wears a yellow plaid dress, with a yellow headband that has two diamond shapes attached. Her long curled pigtails make her more adorable then ever. I had a lot of fun recreating Dia, and I think you will too. If no one requested her, I wouldn't have drawn her in the first place. Thanks for joining me with another lesson on another great character from the Shugo Chara series.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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text: "Critics are by no means the end of the law. Do not think all is over with you because you articles are rejected. It may be that the editor has his drawer full, or that he does not know enough to appreciate you, or you have not gained a reputation, or he is not in a mood to be pleased. A critic's judgment is like that of any intelligent person. If he has experience, he is capable of judging whether a book will sell. That is all. (Junior editor, Harper's Bazaar, 1866)"