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Opioid abuse is a crisis, but is it an emergency?
That's the question gripping Washington after President Trump's Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis recommended that the president declare the epidemic a national emergency.
On Tuesday, before getting a briefing on the commission report, Trump called it "a tremendous problem."
"We're going to get it taken care of," he said.
Later that day, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price backed off from the need for an emergency declaration.
"We believe that, at this point, that the resources that we need, or the focus that we need to bring to bear to the opioid crisis can be addressed without the declaration of an emergency," he said, adding that the option was still on the table.
On Thursday, the president availed himself of that option.
"The opioid crisis is an emergency, and I'm saying officially right now: It is an emergency," Trump said at an impromptu press briefing at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J.
The White House followed up with a press release saying the president "has instructed his Administration to use all appropriate emergency and other authorities to respond to the crisis caused by the opioid epidemic."
So while the president has announced an emergency, he and his administration haven't formally declared one – a process that comes with specific legal authority and brings specific sets of powers and access to money.
You can see a series of formal public health emergency declarations here.
If the president does move ahead and declare the opioid crisis an emergency, here's what could happen.
1. FEMA money could be available to states.
The president could use authority under the Stafford Act to declare an emergency. That would open up resources that are usually reserved for natural disasters like hurricanes or floods, including FEMA's disaster relief fund, which had about $1.5 billion available as of July.
2. Public health workers could be redeployed.
The president could ask HHS Secretary Price to declare an emergency under the Public Health Service Act. Unlike FEMA, HHS doesn't have a standing emergency fund (although during last year's Zika virus scare, many people urged that one be established), but money could be freed up. Right now, public health workers and researchers are working on projects defined by grants from HHS. If Price were to declare an emergency, those workers could be redeployed temporarily, from working on AIDS outreach for example, to work on substance abuse issues.
3. Access to medication-assisted treatment could get a boost.
In a public health emergency, the HHS secretary could make it easier to get medications to counter addiction. For example, Price could allow "standing orders" for the drug naloxone, used to reverse overdoses, which would allow certain populations to get the medication without a prescription. He could also waive the restrictions on doctors who want to administer methadone or buprenorphine to patients with opioid addictions. Those medications currently require a prescribing doctor to have special certification, and there are limits to the number of people doctors can treat.
4. Medicaid could pay for more treatment.
A public health emergency would also allow HHS to waive certain regulations. One major target could be a rule that restricts where Medicaid patients can get inpatient drug treatment. If HHS waived that rule, then Medicaid beneficiaries might find it easier to get treatment.
5. Congress could appropriate money.
Congress doesn't need an emergency declaration to appropriate money for more drug treatment and intervention. But if the Trump administration were to issue such an order, it would put a lot of pressure on Congress to back it up with money. Last year, lawmakers passed a law to address addiction issues but refused to include $1.1 billion that President Barack Obama requested to expand treatment programs.
6. States could request aid.
Six states have already declared opioid emergencies. A federal emergency could open up paths for those states to request federal grants for specific purposes. Maryland, for example, has a tool that tracks overdoses in real time so emergency responders can identify where particularly potent synthetic opioids may be on the streets. Federal money could potentially allow other states to follow suit.
Yesterday before his security briefing in Bedminster, N.J., President Trump made an unexpected announcement.
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: The opioid crisis is an emergency. And I'm saying officially right now it is an emergency.
CHANG: The president said paperwork still needs to be done to make it officially a national emergency. This was a change, of course, from earlier this week when Health Secretary Tom Price held off on making that declaration. We have NPR health policy correspondent Alison Kodjak in the studio now to talk us through all of this. Hi, Alison.
ALISON KODJAK, BYLINE: Hi, Ailsa.
CHANG: OK. So this was a recommendation from a presidential commission studying this issue. And it looked like the White House was not going to accept that recommendation. Now it looks like the president wants opioids declared a national emergency. What is going on?
KODJAK: Well - so what the president's done now is he's said it out loud. He's setting a tone for his administration - the states to follow - that they're going to put this front and center. What would be the next step is to formally declare an emergency, which comes with legal authority and gives the government some emergency powers and money for a limited time. We'll see if that's what he actually - this next step he takes.
CHANG: That's the substantive difference in declaring something - this epidemic - a national emergency, money. Is that the main substantive difference?
KODJAK: Well, there's both. It can unlock money. And it can allow the government to waive regulations and give them additional powers. So for example, they could get money from FEMA if they took that route to give to the states to respond to the crisis. Or, you know, there are state public health workers who right now are working under federal grants on AIDS or diabetes. They can't work on anything else. But if they declared this emergency, the states could redeploy them to respond to substance abuse problems or overdoses.
CHANG: Oh. So there might be more resources for treatment. But President Trump has also talked a lot about law enforcement getting more resources. What bigger role can law enforcement play in all of this?
KODJAK: Well - so here's the issue with this addiction crisis. It often starts with prescription drugs - doctors prescribing opioids for pain or something. But what happens when - people progress to more potent street drugs. So that can be heroin. So there's obviously a role for law enforcement to deal with heroin, you know, dealers, street issues. There's also these new, really potent opioid pills, Fentanyl and...
CHANG: Synthetic opioids.
KODJAK: Synthetic opioids. And one is called carfentanil that law enforcement has been seeing across the country. This is actually an animal - large animal tranquilizer used on things like elephants.
CHANG: Wow.
KODJAK: And these are where the real overdoses are happening - people taking these drugs. And so there's a role of law enforcement in trying to keep these out of the country and finding them on the street and who's dealing them.
CHANG: I understand several states have already gone ahead and declared the opioid problem an emergency. What has that meant for them so far?
KODJAK: So states have some powers when they do this. So in Maryland, for example, they make it easier for people to be able to use and prescribe and get a hold of naloxone, which is the drug that can reverse an overdose. If somebody stopped breathing, this will actually start them breathing again. And they also are able to monitor overdoses in real time. They can see where the problems are day to day and respond to those areas and really can get on the case. What they don't have right now is additional money from the federal government. And so that's what the federal response could be - giving them money for treatment beds, for substance abuse, education, things like that.
CHANG: So the communities that are hit hardest by opioid abuse - are they likely to get all they need even with a declared national emergency?
KODJAK: Well, we're getting some mixed messages on that because right now, what they say they need is more treatment beds, more money to answer - to respond to substance abuse issues. But the president's budget actually cuts the Department of Health and Human Services by quite a lot. So unless this brings additional appropriations for substance abuse treatment and response in those communities, it may not actually give them what they need.
CHANG: OK. NPR health policy correspondent Alison Kodjak. Thank you so much for coming in this morning.
KODJAK: Thank you, Ailsa.
(SOUNDBITE OF ILLA J SONG, "R U LISTENIN'?") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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What It Takes to Win
To the 20,000 cheering fans at a Tampa Bay Lightning pro hockey game last March, Alisa Savoretti was the epitome of a winner as she accepted the team's $50,000 Community Hero Award. What her beaming face didn't reveal is that her path had been far from smooth skating.
After battling breast cancer and having to wait nearly three years for reconstructive surgery because she was uninsured, Alisa founded the nonprofit My Hope Chest in 2003 to help other women like her. But she struggled to keep up financially as desperate pleas poured in asking her organization to pay for surgeries. Alisa refinanced her house three times and ultimately filed for bankruptcy. Yet she refused to throw in the towel. "You can't give up just because the going gets tough," Alisa, 49, says. "You have to have confidence, perseverance, and belief in yourself and your project."
Alisa learned the hard way that winning takes much more than a catchy Charlie Sheen hashtag or Pollyannaish pipe dream. Winning is the result of working your butt off, experts say. Instead of making excuses, winners stick it out in the face of mega-adversity, conquering inner obstacles like fears, doubts, and insecurity to stay laser focused on their purpose.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania call this perseverance and passion in the pursuit of long-term goals "grit" and say it's a key to being a winner. Their studies showed that elite college students with more grit earn higher GPAs, and grittier competitors in the Scripps National Spelling Bee rank above their opponents.
The good news is that you can develop grit, says Timothy Gallwey, the author of the Inner Game series of books and star of a new life-coaching show by the same name airing on PBS in August. "Ask yourself what you really want to win in life and you'll get in touch with your thirst," he says. "Any loser can turn into a winner."
Why We're in It to Win It
The drive to win is in us all, and it goes way back. "Competition has always been a means to figure out status hierarchy, who is going to rise to the top," says Pranjal Mehta, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon. He gives the example of two Stone Age child-toting mamas scoping out the same cave as a refuge for the night. "They may engage in some sort of physical confrontation to determine who gains access to the safe haven," he says. Winning ensures survival plus the confidence, power, and dominance to fight off other potential competitors. Losing means possible injury or even death.
Our impulse toward triumph is strong and self-perpetuating. Scientists like Mehta have repeatedly researched the link between winning and testosterone: People with higher levels of the hormone want to win more, and when they do, they experience a testosterone bump that propels them to — woo-hoo! — win again. The scientists think that spikes in testosterone trigger a chemical reaction in the part of the brain that controls rewards, making you yearn to keep winning. Victory also boosts mood: People report feeling happier and less anxious after a win, research has shown. Conversely, if they lose, testosterone drops, making them less likely to reenter a competition in which they could risk further hurt.
These biological underpinnings are so fierce that we experience physiological changes even when we win vicariously. Researchers can measure hormonal shifts in our saliva when we're rooting for a sports team or presidential candidate and our favorite wins or loses.
The XX Factor
Problem is, hormonal research has focused largely on men. Scientists have only recently started zeroing in on what makes women tick. The more important hormone for women might just turn out to be estrogen, says Steven Stanton, PhD, a research neuroscientist at Duke University. In two studies he conducted, women who had a high estrogen level were more motivated to win. When they did win, their production of estrogen went up; when they lost, it went down.
Other research raises another pointed question: Are women afraid to win? Heck, no — if you're judging based on exhibits (A) Hope Solo, (B) Kerri Walsh, (C) Lolo Jones, and (D) FITNESS readers. Yet studies have shown that women and girls have a tendency not even to put themselves equally in the running. One found that when 9- and 10-year-old kids in gym class ran alone, they traveled at about the same speed. But when pairs with similar initial speeds raced each other, the boys' speed increased; the girls' time stayed the same when they ran against a boy and slowed when they were paired with a girl. "Women don't seem to get the same kick out of competition that men do," says Muriel Niederle, PhD, an associate professor of economics at Stanford who has studied gender differences in competitive situations.
Why? One important factor, research has shown, is that women appear to be less confident in their abilities. "Everyone has doubts; women have more," Niederle says. Use that knowledge not as an excuse, but to motivate yourself. "Don't quit before trying," she advises.
Competitive Strategies for Success
Get in the Game
The road to winning isn't always pretty — it can be downright uncomfortable at times — but staying stagnant in a boring job, a bad relationship, or a workout rut is worse. When you have a nagging feeling telling you it's time for a new challenge, go for it. Use these research-backed strategies to help reach the winner's podium, whether you're aiming to change from microwave zapper to five-star chef or from couch potato to marathon runner.
Determine your gold medal.
Jacqueline Depaul set her sights on modeling — at age 38. "I felt uninspired with my life and needed a creative outlet," says Jacqueline, a salesperson for an engineering company. She read self-help books; volunteered as a model for charity events, photographers, and designers; took runway classes; studied nutrition; and began exercising five to six days a week. "I basically attacked my hobby," she says. At 42, she beat out 5,000 women in a 40-and-over model search to win a contract with the Wilhelmina agency. "When they announced my name as the grand-prize winner, I felt that four years of effort had come to fruition," Jacqueline says. "I had started with just a dream, my North Star."
Your gold medal doesn't have to be awarded in a formal contest. It simply has to fill in the blank: "I want ___."
Trick your brain.
Once you've settled on your goal, figure out ways to break it down. Your brain can't process big goals, because we're not wired that way, says Scott Huettel, PhD, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University. Instead you have to craft a lot of little wins along the way to keep your brain's reward center activated. Work backward from your milestone to map a route filled with smaller, reachable triumphs so you can continually see yourself progressing.
Put in the work.
Don't waste time worrying about whether you have enough talent. "I tell athletes that the next time someone says they're gifted, reply, 'I'm not talented; I work hard,'" says Simon Clements, a performance coach for the sports psychology organization EXACT Sports. The most predictable route to winning, experts say, is frequent, focused practice on what you can improve and what you can't yet do. It typically takes a minimum of 10,000 hours of this kind of practice before athletes, musicians, and other competitors win international competitions; that's four hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year for seven years, according to K. Anders Ericsson, PhD, a professor of psychology at Florida State University. Okay, so maybe you're not aiming to be an acclaimed concert pianist. The point is, expect to get out of your comfort zone and put in some blood, sweat, and tears for the long haul.
Sign on support.
Forget flying solo. You'll most likely need a coach, a mentor, or a community. It could be a coworker, a training group, or even a social network like Fitocracy.com, in which you can compete against friends while tracking your fitness, but you need someone to push you. "When you face failure, disappointment, or pain, a partner can say, 'I hear you, but do it again,'" says Angela Lee Duckworth, PhD, an assistant professor of psychology who studies grit at the University of Pennsylvania. "It's hard to get yourself to do that." Linking up with others can also help you learn some of their winning traits.
Block stress.
The stress hormone cortisol can interfere with the production of testosterone and estrogen. New research by Mehta showed that stock traders who did a two-minute mindfulness meditation exercise decreased their levels of cortisol, increased their levels of testosterone, and boosted their performance. "It's the first time we've shown that meditation can change people's hormones and affect performance in competitive settings," Mehta says. When you need a confidence boost before jockeying for a promotion or running your next 5K, take a few minutes to close your eyes, focus on your breathing, and acknowledge your thoughts without judging them.
Identify yourself.
Clements helps his athletes come up with personal identity statements to stay on point. Dreaming of winning a book contract for the next hot trilogy? Wake up every day saying, "I am a prolific writer and a best-selling author." That becomes the answer to any questions or doubts that pop up in your head. You can also use special cues to inspire yourself. Taylor Swift draws 13, her lucky number, on her hand before going onstage.
Face your fears.
What is the one big thing you're scared of that's getting in your way? Maybe you want to knock surfing off your bucket list, but you're terrified of six-foot swells. Break it down: Identify one component that you can do. Are you afraid of splashing waist-high? If the answer is still yes, go even smaller. Can you do 10 laps in a pool? "Find something that feels manageable to you," Clements says. If doubt creeps in, think back to a moment in the water that felt phenomenal and mentally walk through that experience again. The visualization will give you the boost you need to believe that you are capable of mastering something that once seemed frightening.
Embrace bad days.
People have a tendency to quit on the bad days. Don't! "Make decisions on days where you're in a much better place emotionally," Duckworth says, and use difficult days as tools to move closer to your win. "It's important when you fall down to say, okay, while I'm down here, what can I learn from this?" Gallwey says. "Ask yourself, What am I going to do differently next time?"
Find your balance.
"Some people become obnoxious because they have to win everything, including every argument," says Leon Sloman, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Pick and choose your battles, competing only for things that truly matter to you, and take time to soak up your successes. If you're always looking for the next victory, you never give yourself time to relax and enjoy the glory.
Competitive Tips from Olympian Hope Solo
"How I Keep My Winning Edge"
The Defending Champion: Hope Solo
Goalkeeper Hope Solo, 31, became the face of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team in the 2008 Beijing Olympic finals by shutting out Brazil and bringing home the gold. Now she has her sight set on the top of the podium in London.
Why I do what I do
"As a forward, I tried to win games, and now as a goalkeeper, I try to save them. I thrive under pressure. That's when I really step up."
Bouncing back after a missed save
"I have to channel my anger. I pick up a piece of grass, hold it for a second, throw it up into the air and let it come down. I let everything go with that blade of grass."
Finding inner strength
"One of the toughest years in my life was 2007: First I lost my best friend [who was hit by a car while running] and then my father [who suffered a fatal heart attack], and then I got kicked off the team in the World Cup [for comments to the press about getting replaced during a game]. I hit an all-time low. I didn't leave the house. I was in a complete depression. It took putting one foot in front of the other every single day to get through it to the point where I made it back on the team and won a gold medal in 2008. You're always going to survive the pain of loss. I can live with that confidence inside of me."
Looking to London
"I've learned that winning isn't everything, and it's more about the journey. But at the end of the day, I just want to stand on the podium with the gold medal."
Competitive Tips from Olympian Kerri Walsh
"How I Keep My Winning Edge"
The Repeat Queen: Kerri Walsh
Beach volleyball force Kerri Walsh, 34, says she doesn't know anyone who hates to lose as much as she does. Thankfully she hasn't had to worry about that since teaming up with Misty May-Treanor in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and then again in 2008. The pair brought home consecutive gold medals, winning every single set in Olympic competition. This time around, Walsh has two new fans: her boys, Joey, age 3, and Sundance, 2.
Being competitive
"I own it now. I'm going to crush you even if you're my best friend. Also, I've learned not to compare myself with other people. I want to be the best that I can be, not necessarily better than you. That's pretty liberating."
Finding balance
"Now I can go home whether it was a good day or a bad day [at practice] and have it end great because I'm with my kids. It's like, Chill out, you worked really hard today, you have tomorrow — enjoy."
Playing with a partner
"Misty makes me want to be better so I can make her life on the court as easy as possible. If I'm having a bad day, I'm going to keep working to improve. If she's hurting, I want to step up for her."
Taking a time-out
"Last year my sports psychologist and my coach said I needed to pause. Now I go somewhere quiet and just breathe, which is hard for me to do because I always want to get everything done. God is really present in my life. I talk to Him every single day, and I know everything is going to be okay. I have a lot of faith."
Competitive Tips from Olympian Lolo Jones
"How I Keep My Winning Edge"
The Redemption Seeker: Lolo Jones
Hurdles are what Lolo Jones, 30, knows. Growing up, the U.S. record holder for the 60-meter hurdles went to a different school every year and for a time lived in a church basement as her single mother struggled to pay rent and raise five kids. Jones missed making the 2004 Olympic team. In 2008, she was the favorite to win gold in the 100-meter hurdles in Beijing, but clipped the second to last hurdle, sending her from first to seventh place. This summer, she's looking to redeem herself.
Losing it
"Man, I was so close to that gold, I tasted it. Everywhere I've gone the last four years, people say, 'Oh, you're that girl who messed up.' I no longer want that reputation."
Embracing adversity
"Any time a bad thing happens, when I haven't made a team or I've been injured, I think, There's got to be a reason for this. Adversities make you mad, they make you sad, they literally break you down, but if you fight through them, they make you stronger, sharper, and more motivated."
Finding her strength
"I put so much energy into coming back from spinal cord surgery last summer — learning to walk again — so when I injured my hamstring six months later, my motivation was wiped. Then I started reading a bunch of books, writing down affirmations and goals, and visualizing myself running healthy and superfast. I carry The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale to every race."
Looking to London
"My focus is not even on a gold medal. It's about me having the best possible race. I want to hold my head high and be able to say I put it all on the line."
Originally published in FITNESS magazine, July/August 2012.

subset: commoncrawl


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On 24 April, during the Host Country live qualification event held at one of Brazil's oldest and most historic stadiums, Estadio das Laranjeiras in Rio de Janeiro, the FIWC made an announcement that will ensure that the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) and FIFA World Cup™ will be closer than ever before.
The FIWC 2014 Grand Final in Brazil will be played on the official EA SPORTS 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ game! The same time, the same city, and now, the same teams! Never before has the virtual world cup come so close to the real thing!
The Brazil qualification event brought Brazil's eight best EA SPORTS™ FIFA 14 players together to compete for the last available seat at the 2014 Grand Final. After a dramatic and emotional day, Rafael Fortes won the right to represent the 2014 FIFA World Cup and FIWC 14 Grand Final host nation at the virtual world cup!
World Cup fever begins now!On 2 and 3 July The FIFA Interactive World Cup 2014 Grand Final will take place at the very heart of the 2014 FIFA World Cup™. In Rio de Janeiro, surrounded by all the World Cup celebration and fever, the world's best FIFA 14 gamers will take to their PlayStations in the hopes of securing international fame, glory and a massive grand prize that includes USD 20,000 and a trip to the FIFA Ballon d'Or.
With 11 countries represented among the 20 finalists, the FIWC 2014 Grand Final is set to have all the international flavour you would expect from an official FIFA tournament. National pride at the virtual world cup is always high, with players fuelled by the hopes of returning home as world champions. FIWC 2014, the first edition to ever take place during a FIFA World Cup, has seen that national pride come to the fore. The chance to win a virtual world cup for their nation, during the pinnacle of international football, has every one of the finalists ready to wear their international colours with pride.
Choosing their teams
The Grand Finalists have until 31 May to submit their two international teams of choice from the FIFA World Cup game (two teams ensures that there will be no matches at the FIWC in which both player select the same country). In the coming weeks will be delving into the tactics, choices and selections made by our Grand Finalists as they try and select a team worthy of being the next world champion!
*The official FIFA World Cup game is in stores now! Get your copy and enjoy the World Cup flavour of everybody's favourite football game. *
* *


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Dinesh D'Souza is scheduled to speak at a crappy little conference called the Conservative Call to Action Issues and Action Forum in Colorado Springs in March. Guess who else will be speaking there, along with a cast of nobodies? Terry Jones, the Quran-burning pastor and weapons-grade moron from Florida. But he's called "Dr" Terry Jones on the press release. Doctor of what? I have no idea.
Also appearing is fringe mediocrity Seth Riggio. In 2012, he endorsed Tom Hoefling for president. Who? Exactly. He was the candidate for America's Party, a 43rd party with a handful of supporters who crave nothing less than theocracy. His endorsement, which surely brought Hoefling several votes, is rather amusing to read:
A few days ago Mitt Romney announced that he supported abortion in cases of rape, incest, and the life and health of the mother.As we all know Barack Obama supports abortion without any hesitation.
What difference is there in these two men?
What Mitt Romney said has been the pro-choice and pro-murder mantra for years.
God will not give Wisdom to a man who supports and condones such an evil.
Mitt Romney is also in favor of Homosexual couples adopting children.
Barack Obama does the same.
What difference is there if these men both agree that placing innocent children in homes where such perversion takes place. This entails that they both support this evil…
We are supporting a man who is willing to allow innocence to be slaughtered.
We are supporting a man who supports an abomination against God (homosexual couples) furthering their insult against the family by pretending to take care of children where the fact is all it does is cause these innocent children confusion and a perverse knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil, normal and perverted.
I am done!
In fact, I am sick of it.
Evil can never be supported.
Satan enjoys it when he can trick us into doing so.
Brilliantly argued, don't you think?


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Burglaries in the UK are on the rise, but some postcodes around the country are at higher risk of of targeting, new data has revealed.
A study by price comparison website MoneySuperMarket calculated a 16 per cent national increase in rates of theft, with Henley-in-Arden (on the outskirts of Birmingham) topping the list as the UK's most popular burglary claims hotspot.
Burglary hotspots
UK burglaries have risen to a rate of 15.57 claims per 1,000 quotes in 2018, up from just 13.42 in 2017, according to MoneySuperMarket.
The company analysed more 2.5 million home insurance quotes from the last two years, identifying the Birmingham postcode district B95 as the area with the most burglary claims, with a rate of 50.46 claims per 1,000 quotes.
Areas of Edinburgh (EH4), Leeds (LS8) and Manchester (M21) also ranked highly, all featuring in the top 10, with more than 43.98 claims per 1,000 quotes.
Woking postcode district GU23 is a new entry into the top 20 this year, sitting in seventh place, while last year's top burglary hotspot, Guilford (GU3), has fallen out of the top rankings and now sits in 171st place.
A second Birmingham postcode district, B94, also features among the top 20, with 45.80 claims per 1,000 quotes.
Despite many areas of Birmingham featuring heavily in the most burgled locations in the UK, only three per cent of residents say they feel unsafe in their homes.
The highest postcode districts for contents claims on home insurance policies
- B95, Henley-in-Arden – 50.46 claims per 1,000 quotes
- CM4, Ingatestone – 49.76 claims per 1,000 quotes
- IG5, Ilford – 47.56 claims per 1,000 quotes
- EH4, Edinburgh – 46.43 claims per 1,000 quotes
- LS8, Leeds – 46.30 claims per 1,000 quotes
- B94, Solihull – 45.80 claims per 1,000 quotes
- GU23, Woking – 45.30 claims per 1,000 quotes
- SK8, Cheadle – 45.29 claims per 1,000 quotes
- EH15, Edinburgh – 43.99 claims per 1,000 quotes
- M21, Manchester – 43.98 claims per 1,000 quotes
- CB5, Cambridge – 43.48 claims per 1,000 quotes
- M20, Manchester – 42.92 claims per 1,000 quotes
- BS7, Bristol – 42.79 claims per 1,000 quotes
- RH8, Oxted – 42.65 claims per 1,000 quotes
- SK8, Stockport – 42.08 claims per 1,000 quotes
- L16, Liverpool – 42.04 claims per 1,000 quotes
- LS17, Leeds – 41.81 claims per 1,000 quotes
- BS9, Bristol – 41.78 claims per 1,000 quotes
- TW11, Teddington – 41.32 claims per 1,000 quotes
- IG9, Buckhurst Hill – 41.28 claims per 1,000 quotes
Low risk areas
The postcode district of Whitehaven, near Carlisle (CA28), was found to have the lowest rate of burglary claims, with just 0.76 per 1,000 quotes.
The region surrounding Carlisle also featured several times among the lowest risk areas, with Cockermouth (CA13) an Mayport (CA15) ranked in third and 15th place respectively.
Other areas successfully keeping burglars at bay include Falmouth in Cornwall (TR11), with a rate of just 0.92 per 1,000 quotes, and Aberystwyth (SY23), at a rate of 1.08 per 1,000.
Precautionary measures
Despite research revealing that one in five (20 per cent) of Brits believe they live in an area where properties are burgled more than the national average, almost half have failed to take any precautionary measures to protect their homes.
Those who have been subject to a burglary in the past five years pay an average of 16.8 per cent more for their contents insurance policy, according to MoneySuperMarket analysis.
"Over the past 12 months, burglars have mostly been targeting suburbs and urban areas, with the safest areas dominated by smaller towns and villages," said Emma Garland, data scientist at MoneySuperMarket.
"It's surprising to see that almost half of people haven't put any additional protection in place for their home, despite one in five believing they live in a burglary hotspot.
"For thieves, it's all about risk versus reward – if the reward looks likely to exceed the risk, they are going to target that home.
"If you take precautions – such as fitting new door and window locks, installing bar windows where necessary and using security cameras – you can reduce both your contents insurance and your anxiety about getting burgled."


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Tags: ScissoringMom
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Rael Jean Isaac Interviews Donna Laframboise, author of The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken for the World's Top Climate Expert, available from Amazon or, a digital edition, from IvyAvenue.com, 2011.
This is a book about the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an outfit few know much about if indeed they have heard of it at all. That's unfortunate because the IPCC is having a huge impact on all our lives. The IPCC has fashioned the so-called "scientific consensus" that man-made global warming threatens the future of the planet. Its periodic weighty Reports (literally, they are in the range of 800 pages and up) are the basis for the efforts by the governments of developed countries to sharply reduce greenhouse gas emissions and in the process make the energy our economy depends on to function, and we depend on to drive our cars, heat our homes and power our appliances, vastly more expensive.
Journalist Donna Laframboise has exposed the full range of deceptive techniques, at times descending into outright fakery, practiced by the IPCC. While her sprightly title may suggest a flippant take on the issues, Laframboise has performed an astonishing feat of investigative journalism. It is all the more impressive given that she had retired from her journalistic career and was working as a solitary blogger, with none of the resources of the literally thousands of journalists worldwide who have covered the IPCC reports with mindless, slavish adoration.
Laframboise contrasts the claims made for its reports by IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri–the claims on which the reports' status as the repository of a vast scientific consensus rests– with the wildly different reality. Pachauri says those chosen to contribute to the reports are "people who are at the top of their profession," "almost four thousand of the world's best specialists." In fact, not only are some of the world's leading experts in fields covered by the reports left out, but many of those who are "in" have no credentials to speak of.
Laframboise identifies a number of graduate students (at least one without so much as a Masters degree at the time) who served as coordinating lead authors (the most important role, in charge of the entire chapter) or lead authors (responsible for large segments of text). Half of those "four thousand of the world's best specialists" were chosen on the basis of affirmative action criteria, above all geographic diversity, so that "the developing world" would be fully represented. One of those chosen on this basis said candidly "we were out of our intellectual depth as meaningful contributors to the process." Many of the anointed experts were activists with close ties to environmental lobbies like the World Wildlife Federation, openly wedded to the proposition "It is nearly impossible to overstate the threat of climate change."
Pachauri has boasted that "you can't think of a more transparent process than what we have at the IPCC." In fact, Laframboise shows, it is opaque, with no one outside the inner circle having any idea how key decisions are made.
Pachauri declares "The IPCC studies only peer-reviewed science." Anything else, he says, can just be thrown "in the dustbin." Laframboise reveals that this too is a fairy tale. She focussed on the 2007 IPCC Report which had 18,531 references. These were far too many for a single person to monitor so Laframboise called out the troops, in the form of readers of her blog. She worked out a system where three people, working independently, would examine the references at the end of each chapter to see how many were peer-reviewed. If their findings differed (the IPCC did not always include complete information and it's difficult to tell whether some journals are peer-reviewed or not), the result most favorable to the IPCC would be used. It turned out that 30% of the references were to non peer-reviewed sources, including newspaper and magazine articles, discussion papers, Greenpeace and other activist literature– even press releases!
There is much, much more. Laframboise describes how the IPCC manufactured peer- reviewed literature. She quotes an IPCC insider who reported that when governments wanted questions covered for which there was little peer-reviewed literature, lead authors would try to have material published in peer reviewed journals while they were drafting the chapter so the article could be cited at least as "in press" by the time the final draft was ready. Laframboise notes that journals run by IPCC insiders could be counted on to cooperate.
What Laframboise shows beyond a reasonable doubt is that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was grossly distorting reality when, on the release of the final segment of the 2007 IPCC Report, he said: "Today the world's scientists have spoken, clearly and with one voice." Rather, as Laframboise writes, "a highly politicized body–cloaking itself in the prestige and authority of science–has spoken."
It is a pleasure to interview the author.
Questions for Donna Laframboise: –
Rael Jean Isaac: Has the IPCC or any of those closely associated with it responsed to your book? What response have you had from global warming adherents or have they hoped to minimize your impact by ignoring you? What about critics of man-made global warming? Do you see them making use of the ammunition you have provided?
Donna Laframboise: The IPCC appears to be doing its best to ignore my book. However, a mere 10 days after the Kindle edition appeared – and prior to the publication of the paperback shortly afterward – the World Wildlife Fund's head office in Switzerland issued a press release denouncing it. I find that rather interesting given the close relationship between the IPCC and the WWF which is documented in my book.
The response of climate change partisans to The Delinquent Teenager is perhaps best illustrated by the 17 one-star reviews (versus the 96 five-star reviews, as of this writing) of my book on Amazon.com. One of those reviews is authored by Peter Gleick, a member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He declares (twice) that people "don't need this book" and says it will appeal to those who hate and fear science. Which is rather odd since the book is about a UN organization. Although Gleick accuses me of "lies and misrepresentations" when he was publicly challenged to provide evidence of this (by economist Richard Tol who read early drafts and provided an endorsement), he failed to do so. For its part, the climate skeptic community around the world has been enthusiastically supportive of my book. Readers are eager to see it translated it into other languages, and people in several countries have expressed an interest in getting copies into the hands of their elected representatives.
RJI: You give many examples of the IPCC's malfeasance in your book, including outright fakery. Is there something you would single out as the worst example?
Donna Laframboise: I find it particularly alarming that the IPCC doesn't describe its own personnel, its own reports, or its own procedures accurately. These are basic, minimum standards that anyone who wants to be taken seriously surely has to meet. I mean, if a child care center makes untrue claims about the qualifications of its staff, I'm not going to leave my child there. Period. We've been told that IPCC reports are written by the world's finest scientific minds, but that's simply not the case. Among IPCC lead authors we find graduate students 10 or more years away from completing their doctorates. We find employees of activist groups such as Greenpeace and the WWF. We find unqualified personnel from the developing world who are there for window-dressing so that the IPCC can appear to be internationally diverse. What's astonishing is that even though the IPCC fails this basic test, people still think its conclusions about horrendously complicated matters can be relied on.
RJI: How do you evaluate the outcome of the Durban meetings and the "consensus document" that came out of it?
Donna Laframboise: I didn't pay a great deal of attention to the climate summit in Durban, and haven't looked at the document it produced. But this tiresome UN process – in which thousands of people fly off to exotic places at regular intervals and pretend for the TV cameras that a global emissions treaty is achievable – may finally be running out of steam. Much of the world is currently facing grave economic challenges – which means governments have real problems to deal with (as opposed to hypothetical ones that may or may not emerge over the coming decades). But the biggest obstacle to the sort of emissions treaty the UN has been pursuing is the simple fact that the US Senate voted 95-0 back in 1997 against having anything to do with the Kyoto Protocol. Let me repeat that: the vote was 95-0. It was unanimous. It was bi-partisan. Democrats as well as Republicans made it clear that the world's largest economy would not be party to an agreement of that sort.
According to the UN, climate change is a planetary emergency and time is running out. And yet, rather than abandoning the idea of an emissions treaty and pursing Plan B, UN bureaucrats and green activists have spent the past decade and half pretending that such a treaty is actually attainable. I mean, what have they been smoking? It's difficult not to conclude that UN climate summits are 100% political theatre – and that the only reason they haven't already wound down is because the individuals involved enjoy partying in Bali and frolicking on the beach in Cancun.
RJI: It seems clear that the IPCC's forthcoming 5th Assessment Report will be more of the same. What are the prospects of reform of the IPCC or substitution by a genuinely scientific body rather than a political body disguised as a scientific one?
Donna Laframboise: I think it's unlikely that the IPCC can be redeemed or reformed. But it's also true that many good, smart, sincere people have worked on IPCC reports over the years. Many of them were simply naïve – oblivious to the fact that they were being used by UN officials like pawns in an international chess game. Bureaucracies strive to expand their scope, their budget, and their prestige. It therefore isn't difficult to understand why a grand global emissions treaty is attractive to UN bureaucrats. Such a treaty places those people at the center of the action. Nevertheless, I was genuinely shocked when I discovered that IPCC officials freely admit that the primary purpose of IPCC reports is to make emissions negotiations possible – to achieve "buy in" from all the countries of the world.
First and foremost, therefore, the IPCC serves UN bureaucrats – bureaucrats who decided more than 20 years ago that emissions reduction was required. It's important to understand the sequence of events, to realize that the cart was put before the horse. The UN campaign to regulate greenhouse gas emissions officially launched back in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit. That was long before climate science was anywhere near mature. Because the IPCC was designed by bureaucrats to serve the interests of bureaucrats, I think it's unlikely it can be transformed into a body that serves the public.
RJI: There seems to be a radical disconnect between the public, which is growing more skeptical of global warming claims, thanks partly to the efforts of many bloggers like yourself, and many governments which seem to dig themselves deeper into man-made global warming dogma every day. For example I saw that the new Danish government has just promised to phase out the use of fossil fuels entirely by 2050. How do you see the conflict over climate change playing out in the years ahead?
Donna Laframboise: Rather than thinking for themselves journalists and politicians are prone to following the intellectual fashion of the day. Since at least the first Earth Day in 1970 it has been fashionable to believe that the planet is fragile, that human beings are reckless and rapacious, and that we are on the verge of an eco-apocalypse. Rather than treating these ideas with one-tenth the normal journalistic skepticism, the mass media has endorsed and promoted these ideas for decades. The result is that enormous numbers of educated, affluent people across the world assume/believe that Nature is static, that any change in the natural world must therefore be alarming, and that these changes must somehow be the fault of humanity. When, for example, is the last time anyone was quoted in your local newspaper reminding you that planet Earth has been around for 4.5 billion years, that she was dancing to her own drummer, passing through one perfectly natural phase after another – some cooler, some warmer – billions of years before we humans turned up?
I live in Canada. Twenty-thousand years ago my country was 98% covered with ice. That ice has been melting and retreating all on its own for twenty thousand years. The Egyptians, remember, only came into the picture 5,000 years ago. The Romans ruled 2,000 years ago. So if the ice at the Northern end of the globe has been shrinking for the past 20,000 years why do we suddenly imagine that what's going on at this very moment is our fault? And yet when's the last time you've seen a talking head on the television ask that question? I mean, the level of debate and public discourse on these issues is pathetic. It's beyond lame.
While I am heartened by the growing levels of climate skepticism reflected in opinion polls around the world, I fear that many of us are slow learners. It may take a dreadful number of expensive boondoggles before people wake up to the fact that electric cars and solar panels aren't yet ready for prime time. It may take the grim news that wind turbines have wiped out bat populations (and therefore dramatically disrupted the ecosystems in which those mammals play an important role). It may take blackouts in which operating rooms and intensive care units go dark and people lose their lives, before we abandon our childish fantasies that it's possible, with our current level of technology, to power modern industrial societies with nothing more than intermittent, low-density energy sources such as solar and wind.
The reason those kinds of tragedies may come to pass is because politicians like fighting climate change. It appeals to their egos. It casts them as heroes. It's more gratifying and glamorous to rail against climate change than to spend one's time balancing the budget or fixing the school system. Here, for example, is a quote from a recent newspaper article regarding Florida governor Charlie Crist:
Crist's climate-change crusade got him national attention, with a write-up in Time magazine and an interview on the CBS Early Show. He shared a stage with singer Sheryl Crow and met with Robert Redford. California's then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called him "another great action hero."
In a world in which politicians are popularly regarded as scumbags and pathological liars, fighting climate change casts them as admirable. They aren't going to give that up easily. Politicians who do begin to express more reasoned views on energy matters will need support from ordinary people. The only thing groups such as Greenpeace have to do all day is lobby for their point-of-view. Those groups are capable of making a lot of noise whenever a politician steps out of line, so to speak. Far too often these days, environmentalists behave like bullies, as though their particular point-of-view is the only one worth considering. We need to start standing up to them. We need to point out that they aren't elected by – or accountable – to anyone. Like anyone else they have a right to be heard, but they have no right to choose our path for us.
RJI: The Canadian government has said it is pulling out of Kyoto but signed on to the Durban document. What is the situation in Canada which, given its heavy resource base, has an awful lot to lose in the wholly decarbonized future contemplated by Denmark?
Donna Laframboise: At the national/federal level Canada is now ruled by the Conservative Party, which enjoys a majority of members/votes in Parliament and won't be required to call an election for another four years. The announcement that Canada will withdraw from Kyoto was a welcome one, in my view. But, by and large, this is a government that continues to pay lip-service to the idea that human-induced climate change is a serious threat even though this belief relies on reports written by the scandal-ridden IPCC. Canada is a large country with a small population. Given our harsh winters and the long distances between our communities there is no way Canadians can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to the levels that may be achievable by geographically tiny, high-population density, temperate-climate-zone European countries. Our situation is totally different and it's time everyone admitted this. When all is said and done Canadians are sensible and practical. Yes, we like to think of ourselves as environmentally responsible. But we aren't going to let our children freeze to death in their beds because someone over in Europe thinks our emissions are too high.
RJI: When people hear about the science backing up the warnings of unimaginable disaster if global warming is not halted, most do not realize that the warnings are not based on science, but on computer modeling. Could you expand on this a little?
Donna Laframboise: We all know there are no crystal balls, that the future cannot be predicted. The fact that we currently have access to large, powerful computers doesn't change that. The IPCC is a sneaky organization. On the one hand, it points to the results of computer modeling and says such modeling reveals that horrible things will happen if the greenhouse gas content in the atmosphere climbs marginally higher over the coming decades. Ergo, we should all be alarmed. Ergo, drastic action must be taken now that will fundamentally disrupt our economic and social lives. On the other hand, the IPCC's own climate modelers insist that none of their results should be regarded as "predictions." These results, they caution us, are merely "projections," merely "story lines," merely expressions of possible outcomes.
At the beginning of my book there's a quote from a Y2K skeptic. In mid-1999, when many of his colleagues were predicting dire consequences at the end of the year since computers wouldn't be able to calculate the date correctly, a man named Danny Hillis wrote an opinion piece in Newsweek that contained theses lines: "There are no real experts. Only people who understand their own little pieces of the puzzle. The big picture is a mystery…" In my view, that is how we should think of climate modeling.
RJI: You make what seems to me a very important point in your book: we have been told the "science is settled" and the "debate is over," before there was any debate. The debate is only now getting started. Given the huge importance of this issue for everyone–going forward, will we have abundant energy at an affordable price?–what can our readers do, apart from reading your book so as to be better informed, if they want to be part of the debate and have an impact on it?
Donna Laframboise: We all have busy lives. Most of us don't have time to delve deeply into topics that are in the news. We simply assume the media is reporting on them reasonably accurately. But when it comes to environmental issues, that is not a safe assumption. Far too many journalists cease being hard-nosed reporters and instead behave like PR flaks for green groups. They routinely interview only activists – as if no other perspectives were worth exploring. It's therefore important to be skeptical about any environmental news story, to remember that we've been told a long list of environmental tall tales over the years. Global cooling, over-population, acid rain, the hole in the ozone layer – all of those things were supposed to end in catastrophe unless (according to the activists) we fundamentally changed our lifestyles and adopted a fundamentally different value system. But the catastrophes didn't materialize – nor will you find any activist who will agree that we've already made the lifestyle changes they said were absolutely necessary to save the planet. In other words, some people are drama queens. For them, the glass is always half empty. For them, everything is a crisis rather than a problem to be managed.
I'd encourage people to seek out alternative points-of-view regarding environmental questions. On my own blog, on the right-hand side of the page, I link to a long list of moderate voices. The people who write those blogs represent a diversity of perspectives. They don't all agree with one another – and that is a healthy state of affairs. I think the drama queens need to be challenged. I think each of us needs to ask, quietly and politely during the course of our daily lives, why we should believe the current environmental doom story when so many of the others turned out to be wildly exaggerated.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributor Rael Jean Isaac is co-author (with Erich Isaac) of The Coercive Utopians.
Read more excellent articles from Family Security Matters . http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/


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Joyous Moment
I was drawn to this lovely young lady, and took quite a few shots of her as she was enjoying the late afternoon with her friends.
I don't know this lovely young lady's name, but really had fun shooting her many expressions as she laughed and talked with her friends.
Afternoon Delight
Just another candid shot of this lovely young lady, late in the day as we waited for the sunset. I really liked her delighted expression. Sedona, AZ.
Quiet Moment
This young lady was mostly very animated, and I liked capturing this quiet moment. Nearing sunset, Sedona, AZ.
Father and Son
This cute little boy was sitting on the ground next to his Dad at the Morongo Pow Wow. I couldn't resist taking a few shots of them. This was one of my favorites.
The Happy Woman
This woman with her fancy hat was a pirate's wench at the Tall Ships Festival last year. I liked her happy look.
Lady in White
At the Lavender Festival, everyone wandered out into the fields, enjoying the beautiful color and scent.
In the Lavender Field
This lady in a kimono was at the Lavender Festival--she looked great out there matching with the lavender blooms.
Tea in the Garden
At the Lavender Festival, Cherry Valley, CA.
Adele at Home
I had the opportunity to photograph a lovely lady, Adele, in her home. She is 81 years young, and a very charming woman with a charming home.
Adele in a Quiet Moment
Adele in her home, sitting quietly.
Lunch Date??
When I first photographed this sculptured art piece entitled Lunchbreak, I was disappointed that no one came by to sit on the bench with the worker on his break. I recently realized that I had a possible lunch date for him in the pics I took of my friend Adele the other day. So, Adele made a quick trip to Edmonton, Alberta (via Photoshop), for a one-of-a-kind lunch date.
Judith Sparhawk
Emily by the Bridge
This photograph was taken at the Japanese Garden at Huntington Library Gardens in the Pasadena, CA area. Emily is my sweet granddaughter, on a visit to the gardens at the Chinese New Year celebration this year.
Pirates Three
Three pirates on the ship, from the Pirate Days performance.
Pirates Three II
A variation on the previous image, filtered in Topaz.
Aye Matey! III
Variation on this pirate image.
The Bearded Man II
A sepia version of this costumed pirate.
Pirate and Friend II
A more texturized version of this image seemed appropriate for the gritty pirate type!
Ahoy, Matey II
A textured version of this image.
Pirate Gal On Board
A variation on the Pirate Gal image, giving a stormy feel to the shot.
Pirate Blue
This is a "blue" version of the Pirate Gal image.
Pirate Red Coat
Red Coat Pirate II
Red Coat Pirate
Ahoy Matey!
One of the pirates on the ship, with painterly effects applied.
Pirate and Friend
Pirate Girl
Pirate Gal
I liked the stern stare of this lady pirate in the enactment today.
Aye Matey II
A cropped version of the pirate actor in the show I attended today.
Aye Matey!
One of the pirate characters in the show I attended today.
Yo-Ho-Ho and a Bottle of Rum!
Today I went to a "pirate show" in a nearby town. This one of "guys".
The Bearded Man
This gentleman was costumed in pirate gear at the Tall Ships Festival.
This was one of the colorful characters in costume at the Tall Ships Festival.
Man on Deck
This young man was part of the crew on the Bill of Rights, the ship I went out on at the Tall Ships Festival. He said he was very interested in learning everything about ships, and sang some old traditional sea shanties. It turned out he was only 15 years old.
Hugging Dad
I saw this sweet moment between father and son. I loved his little hands grabbing onto dad.
Solitude in the Garden
I spent yesterday afternoon in the Huntington Library Gardens in the Pasadena, CA area. I was with a group of family and friends, adtive and chatting and enjoying the flowers and each other. I saw this woman, sitting alone on a bench down the path, and liked the stillness and solitude she had found in "her" garden space.
Andrea & Friend
From the model and reptile photoshoot.
Meesha IV
From a recent photoshoot. It was my first experience of shooting in a studio.
Meesha III
From a recent photoshoot.
Meesha was a model at a photoshoot awhile ago. I gave this image a painterly look.
This is one of many photographs I took of model Meesha as a recent photo shoot. You may notice the snake around her neck--it was a model and reptile shoot. This shows her much better than it does the snake--OK by me!
Butterfly Lady
A shot of Andrea, model at a recent photoshoot.
Blooms & Butterflies
Lovely Andrea at a recent photoshoot.


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"I am the leader of Hamas. I tell you and the whole world, we are ready to resort to a peaceful way, without blood and weapons as long as we attain our Palestinian demands: a Palestinian state and the ending of the occupation and the (West Bank separation) wall."-Khaled Mashaal says in an interview with CNN - largely ignored by the Israeli media.
- Gaza cleric calls violation of Israel truce sinful - New fatwa issued by leading Gaza Muslim cleric says honoring truce 'duty of each and every one of us.' (Agencies, Ynet)
- Hamas to probe 'unlawful executions' of alleged collaborators - Group announces creation of committee to examine executions of Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel during Gaza op. (Ynet)
- IDF chief: Situation along Gaza border seems 'positive,' but only time will tell - Speaking to army recruits following visit to the border, chief of staff refuses to comment on report alleging Israel is monitoring an Iranian ship with arms meant for Gaza. (Haaretz+)
- Lapid says offered Livni to be his No. 2 - Lapid follows Labor's Yachimovich in calling on former Kadima chairwoman to join his party. (Ynet)
- (E.) Jerusalem resident charged with spying for Hezbollah - Indictment suggests Asam Mashara met with Hezbollah officials in Lebanon, received instructions on how to transfer encrypted information. (Ynet)
- Lieberman defends Gaza ceasefire - In special interview with Jewish News One in Jerusalem, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman discusses recent Gaza conflict, addresses debate over whether ceasefire agreement has won tangible security gains for Israeli public. (Ynet VIDEO)
For the full News from Israel.


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PS4 vs Xbox One: Sony's launch line-up is populous but whimsical
PS4 and Xbox One are just a few weeks away; if you haven't already made up your mind, now's the time. We kick off a close look at both consoles' software line-up with Sony's multitude of exclusives.
PS4: launch line up works with PlayStation's strengths
Below you'll find a list of titles known to be available for PlayStation 4 when it launches in North America on November 15 and in Europe on November 29. Over the next few days, we'll take a look at the Xbox One's line-up, as well as a hefty group of big-hitters shared by both platforms.
Going purely by numbers, Sony clearly has the advantage, but enough of its line up is composed of indies and ports of existing games that the extra titles may not carry as much weight with the core, early-adopter audience. On the other hand, those after a bit of diversity will be well-rewarded by the PS4, and the Xbox One lacks a really strong first-party exclusive like Halo to remind fans why Microsoft's box has reigned supreme in North America this generation.
PlayStation has become something of an indie darling over the past year and its launch line-up reflects this. As such, it's heavy on digital releases and whimsical experiences – but Sony has played it safe and packed in some hefty exclusives, too. This list does not include titles announced for Japanese PS4 launch but as yet unconfirmed for the west such as Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends and Yakuza Ishin.
Basement Crawl – PlayStation favourite Bloober Team – whom we still have a soft spot for, since it's the remains of Sadness developer Nibris – is back with another digital-only title. Basement Crawl is a maze-based multiplayer action game with a dark childhood aesthetic and gameplay inspired by Spy vs Spy and Bomberman.
Blacklight: Retribution – Zombie Studios is bringing its free-to-play shooter to PS4 after garnering reasonable success on PC. The multiplayer only sequel to Blacklight: Tango Down is looking pretty tasty on the new hardware.
Contrast – An indie also coming to PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, Contrast is an action-adventure platformer with bold aesthetic direction. It stars not one but two females, one of whom is a little girl, and its plot concerns a shattered marriage and imaginary friends. It has a stunning swing soundtrack and looks altogether glorious, actually.
Counterspy – One of three Sony-published indies announced before E3 this year, Counterspy is a Cold War-inspired sidescrolling spy action game also coming to PS3 and Vita. The PlayStation Blog had an early look at it but it's gone fairly quiet since the PS4 reveal.
DC Universe Online – Sony Online Entertainment's free-to-play licensed superhero MMO is, of course, already available on PC and PS3, but the publisher is keen to further capitalise on its console success. And it has been a success, make no mistake; the PS3 version of DCUO is SOE's fastest-growing business segment.
Divekick – A bit of an odd one, Divekick is both a parody and distillation of the fighter genre. It has just one move – the titular divekick – so instead of focusing on knowing combos battles boil down to the real skill of head-to-head fighting, namely anticipating and reacting to your opponent's actions. It's already out on PS3 and Vita and was recently passed through Steam Greenlight, but if you haven't checked it out yet it's really worth a look.
Doki-Doki Universe – The second entry in our indie trilogy, Doki-Doki Universe is a strange beast indeed. From the mind that created Toejam & Earl, and in the works since at least April 2012, it will have a free-to-play component with messaging and personality quizzes, plus premium DLC providing an "RPG/Simulation/Interactive Story" game in a "huge simulated living universe". It's also coming to PS3 and Vita, and you should probably check out its trailer, which is packed with adorable robots.
Driveclub – What needs to be said about Sony's very sensible decision to include a racing game in a hardware launch? The frequently embarrassing Ridge Racer has thankfully gone into hiding, and Sony has instead mustered Evolution Studios for a new kind of racer – massively social and partially free-to-play. Racers do best on new consoles, since they're mainly sold on graphics, and Driveclub looks incredibly shiny.
Flower – Yes, it's a re-release, but a PlayStation home console without a single compatible thatgamejourney title should be a crime. Flower was the company's break-out hit after the under-the-radar success of flOw, and presaged the long, troubled development of its incredible opus Journey. You play the wind. It's pretty rad, and it'll be interesting to see how much more lovely the PS4 version looks in comparison to the PS3 release.
Hohokum – The final member of the indie triumvirate hails from Honeyslug, the developer of Frobisher Says currently incubating inside SCE Santa Monica, just as thatgamecompany did. Hohokum is also coming to PS3 and Vita, and gets its colour from a collaboration with artist Richard Hogg. It aims to avoid gaming tropes like missions and failure, but does contain secrets and trophies. We've been waiting for this one for a while, as it's been floating about the festival circuit for ages.
Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition – Warner Bros. and Sony are clearly having a bit of a mutual lovefest at the moment, as NetherRealm's DC-licensed fighter is coming to both PS4 and Vita – and not Xbox One. We're yet to see the next-gen version in action, unfortunately.
Killzone: Shadow Fall – Another stupidly obvious launch inclusion. Although Battlefield and Call of Duty provide plenty of shooty-shoot this November, that Sony managed to get a first-party shooter in time for new hardware but Microsoft didn't is a puzzle. It's a win for Guerrilla, though; Killzone: Shadow Fall may not quite have the chops to stand up to Halo 4 or Gears of War 4 but it's a solid property from a great team, and a heck of a lot better choice than another Resistance.
Knack – The man who led the hardware design of the PS4 has also made a game for it. Mark Cerny has been open about his admiration for games like Crash Bandicoot, which were simple but challenging, and hopes Knack will help address the lack of character action games in recent generations. That said, he wants it to be a launch title for the whole family, and to be easy enough to be someone's first game, possibly thanks to local co-op.
Minecraft – Mojang's sandbox finally makes the jump to PlayStation after years of waiting. Detractors may claim that everybody is over Minecraft, but they said the same thing when it came to Xbox 360, where it proceeded to sell gangbusters regardless. Sony's growing acceptance of frequent updates and developer ownership may end up making the Sony version better. Minecraft is also coming to PS3 and Vita.
N++ – This one almost got lost in the noise of Sony's sudden explosion of indie announcements. N++ represents the culmination of ten years of effort from developer Metanet Software, which has never quite felt satisfied with its platformer despite repeat iterations.
The Pinball Arcade – This Farsight Studios game is available on or on its way to practically everything except the Xbox One. We don't know much about The Pinball Arcade, actually, but I'm going out on a limb to suggest it's probably about Pinball. Gosh.
Planetside 2 – As mentioned above, Sony Online Entertainment is enjoying considerable success with its free-to-play console MMO adventures, and Planetside 2 is a bit of a no-brainer for PS4 since by all accounts it's pretty splendid. It won't have cross-play, unfortunately, but there is some possibility of character transfers and the UGC tools will come to the console.
Res0gun – Finnish developer Housemarque revived an Amiga classic for the PS3 with Super Stardust HD and thereby uncovered a lack in our lives we hadn't even realised was there. Here's hoping it does it again with Res0gun, a side scrolling shooter and spiritual successor to the Stardust series. It's going to be free with PlayStation Plus on launch day.
Super Motherload – A procedurally-generated digging game, Super Motherload has been described by press as addictive and rewarding. It's also coming to PS3, Mac and PC, and recently passed through Steam Greenlight.
Tiny Brains – A co-op puzzler from former Assassin's Creed team members, Tiny Brains is also coming to PC and Xbox 360. All versions arrive simultaneously for North American PS4 launch.
War Thunder – Yet another free-to-play offering, War Thunder is a warplanes MMO from Gaijin Entertainment (not to be confused with Gaijin Games of Bit.Trip fame). The PC version is currently in beta with 3 million users, and the PS4 release will have cross-play from the get go. In fact, it's not coming to Xbox One because Microsoft wouldn't allow cross-play.
Warframe – The Darkness 2 developer Digital Extremes describes Warframe as a space ninja action game. It's a free-to-play, third-person co-op shooter with procedurally generated environments, unique classes and lots of different customisations to unlock. It has an interesting sci-fi story and a sleek, organic aesthetic.
Tune in tomorrow and Friday for a look at the competition as well as games headed to both consoles. Launch line up shouldn't be your only consideration when choosing a console, of course; both systems have loads of exclusives and third-party titles coming during their launch windows and beyond.


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JAMES D. BRYSON, Appellant,
BRANCH BANKING AND TRUST COMPANY, Appellee.
Case No. 2D10-3360.
BB&T filed a complaint on July 16, 2008, seeking foreclosure, alleging that Bryson had not made any payments on his mortgage since February 1, 2008. Thereafter, BB&T filed a motion for summary judgment. Bryson answered the complaint and admitted that he had executed the mortgage in question and that he had missed at least one payment. However, he asserted as an affirmative defense that BB&T had not provided a notice to cure as required by section 22 of the mortgage. Paragraph 22 of the mortgage, which was attached to the complaint, required BB&T to give notice to Bryson prior to accelerating the debt:
Acceleration, Remedies[.] Lender shall give notice to Borrower prior to acceleration following Borrower's breach of any covenant or agreement in this Security Instrument (but not prior to acceleration under Section 18 unless Applicable Law provides otherwise)[.] The notice shall specify (a) the default, (b) the action required to cure the default, (c) a date, not less than 30 days from the date the notice is given to Borrower, by which the default must be cured, and (d) that failure to cure the default on or before the date specified in the notice may result in acceleration of the sums secured by this Security Instrument, foreclosure by judicial proceeding and sale of the Property. The notice shall further inform Borrower of the right to reinstate after acceleration and the right to assert in the foreclosure proceeding the non existence of a default or any other defense of Borrower to acceleration and foreclosure[.] If the default is not cured on or before the date specified in the notice, Lender at its option may require immediate payment in full of all sums secured by this Security Instrument without further demand and may foreclose this Security Agreement by judicial proceeding[.] Lender shall be entitled to collect all expenses incurred in pursuing the remedies provided in this Section 22, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of title evidence[.]
On April 27, 2009, BB&T filed a copy of two default letters purportedly sent to Bryson on April 28, 2008, at two different addresses. However, the letters were not attached to an affidavit or authenticated in any way. BB&T then filed a revised summary judgment motion.
At a hearing held on the summary judgment motion, Bryson argued that BB&T had not refuted the affirmative defenses related to paragraph 22 of the mortgage and that the two default notice letters were not authenticated and could not be considered for summary judgment purposes. BB&T responded that the letters were "self-authenticating" because they were created by the bank. The court granted summary judgment. This appeal followed.
"A movant is entitled to summary judgment `if the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, admissions, affidavits, and other materials as would be admissible in evidence on file show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law.'" Estate of Githens ex rel. Seaman v. Bon Secours-Maria Manor Nursing Care Ctr., Inc., 928 So. 2d 1272, 1274 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (quoting Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510(c)). The party moving for summary judgment bears the burden of establishing irrefutably that the nonmoving party cannot prevail. See Hervey v. Alfonso, 650 So. 2d 644, 645-46 (Fla. 2d DCA 1995). "[I]t is only after the moving party has met this heavy burden that the nonmoving party is called upon to show the existence of genuine issues of material fact." Id. at 646; see also Holl v. Talcott, 191 So. 2d 40, 43 (Fla. 1966) ("Until it is determined that the movant has successfully met this burden, the opposing party is under no obligation to show that issues do remain to be tried."); Deutsch v. Global Fin. Servs., LLC, 976 So. 2d 680, 682 (Fla. 2d DCA 2008) ("The burden of proving the existence of genuine issues of material fact does not shift to the opposing party until the moving party has met its burden of proof."); Berenson v. S. Baptist Hosp. of Fla., Inc., 646 So. 2d 809, 810 (Fla. 1st DCA 1994) (noting that "the nonmoving party need make no showing in support of his claim until the moving party has, by affidavit or otherwise, completely negated all allegations and inferences raised by the nonmoving party").
On summary judgment, the trial court's function "is solely to determine whether the record conclusively shows that the moving party proved a negative, that is, `the nonexistence of a genuine issue of a material fact.'" Winston Park, Ltd. v. City of Coconut Creek, 872 So. 2d 415, 418 (Fla. 4th DCA 2004) (quoting Besco USA Int'l Corp. v. Home Sav. of Am. FSB, 675 So. 2d 687, 688 (Fla. 5th DCA 1996)). Where a defendant pleads affirmative defenses, the plaintiff moving for summary judgment must either factually refute the affirmative defenses by affidavit or establish their legal insufficiency. See Frost v. Regions Bank, 15 So. 3d 905, 906 (Fla. 4th DCA 2009); Newton v. Overseas Private Inv. Corp., 544 So. 2d 224, 225 (Fla. 3d DCA 1989).
In numerous foreclosure cases summary judgment has been reversed because the defendant has pleaded lack of notice and opportunity to cure as an affirmative defense and nothing in the bank's complaint, motion for summary judgment, or affidavits established that the bank gave the homeowners the notice and opportunity to cure required by the mortgage. See, e.g., Laurencio v. Deutsche Bank Nat'l Trust Co., 65 So. 3d 1190, 1192 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011); Konsulian v. Busey Bank, N.A., 61 So. 3d 1283, 1285 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011) ("[N]othing in Busey's complaint, motion for summary judgment, or affidavits indicates that Busey gave Konsulian the notice which the mortgage required. . . . Further, Busey did not refute Konsulian's defenses nor did it establish that [they] were legally insufficient."); Frost, 15 So. 3d at 906. We reach the same conclusion in this case.
The unauthenticated copies of default letters purportedly sent to Bryson by BB&T were insufficient for summary judgment purposes because only competent evidence may be considered in ruling on a motion for summary judgment. Daeda v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Fla., Inc., 698 So. 2d 617, 618 (Fla. 2d DCA 1997); Tunnell v. Hicks, 574 So. 2d 264, 266 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (explaining that court could not consider certain documents in its summary judgment decision because "Tunnell failed to attach either document to affidavits that presumably would have ensured their admissibility").
At the summary judgment hearing, BB&T took the position that the letters were self-authenticating because they were the bank's own letters. Self-authentication is a concept that, due to a document's very nature of being notarized or certified in some fashion, eliminates hearsay and other extrinsic objections to admissibility. However, a document bereft of genuineness, such as a purported copy, cannot be said to be self-authenticating because extrinsic evidence to establish its truthfulness is still required. With this in mind, BB&T's letters are clearly not self-authenticated. Hence, we reject BB&T's argument in this regard. See, e.g., Bifulco v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 693 So. 2d 707, 709 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) ("Merely attaching documents which are not `sworn to or certified' to a motion for summary judgment does not, without more, satisfy the procedural strictures inherent in Fla. R. Civ. P. 1.510(e)."); Morrison v. U.S. Bank, N.A., 66 So. 3d 387, 387 (Fla. 5th DCA 2011) (reversing summary judgment of foreclosure where defendant asserted she had not received a notice of default as required by the mortgage and the bank had simply filed an unauthenticated notice letter). In this case, the letters at issue were not admitted by the pleadings, nor were they accompanied by an affidavit of a record custodian or other proper person attesting to their authenticity or correctness. See id.
Finally, BB&T argues that it was entitled to summary judgment because "Bryson did not file any affidavits in opposition or tender sufficient evidence to demonstrate to the court that a genuine issue of material fact existed." BB&T has misunderstood the summary judgment standard. If the defendant pleads affirmative defenses, the plaintiff moving for summary judgment must either factually refute the affirmative defenses by affidavit or establish their legal insufficiency. Frost, 15 So. 3d at 906; Newton, 544 So. 2d at 225. "The burden of proving the existence of genuine issues of material fact does not shift to the opposing party until the moving party has met its burden of proof." Deutsch, 976 So. 2d at 682. Because BB&T did not tender any competent evidence on the issue of Bryson's notice of the default, it did not meet its burden of proof on summary judgment.
Reversed and remanded.
ALTENBERND and KHOUZAM, JJ., Concur.
[ipaper docId=74853116 access_key=key-16p6zod69a0l71iv1vrg height=600 width=600 /]


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Hewlett-Packard has announced that it will begin selling a $169 tablet computer in April.
The tablet will have an 7-inch screen, which is the same size as Google's well-reviewed Nexus 7 and Amazon's Kindle Fire. This screen is about 1-inch smaller than the screen on Apple's latest tablet, the iPad Mini.
HP's tablet, the Slate7, will run Google's Android operating system, which is a big blow to Microsoft, HP's long-time operating system partner. Microsoft just introduced a fancy new operating system designed specifically for tablets, so the fact that a major PC maker is giving it the heave-ho is bad news for the Windows giant.
More importantly, the tablet will set a new low mark in the tablet pricing wars, one that will undercut almost every tablet in the market, especially Apple's iPad Mini.
Apple's Mini is priced at $329.
This means that HP's new tablet will cost only half as much.
Apple fans will quickly argue that the iPad Mini is "much better" than HP's tablet (they'll argue this regardless of how good HP's tablet actually is--we don't need to see HP's tablet to know that). And Apple's Mini will probably, in fact, be better than HP's tablet.
But that's not the point.
The point is that HP has now established a new low mark in tablet pricing, one that will continue to put pressure on tablet prices across the board.
This is great news for consumers.
Sub-$200 pricing makes buying a tablet almost a no-never-mind, and it will accelerate the day in which most households have several of them just lying around--for use by whoever is within reach. Or the day in which everyone has a tablet that they carry around everywhere.
But this is not great news for Apple, which generates a mind-boggling profit margin on hardware sales.
HP makes its money from hardware sales, too, but HP is correctly realizing that if it isn't hyper-aggressive on tablet pricing, it will have almost no chance of clawing its way back into the tablet (and, eventually, presumably, smartphone) markets.
So HP is likely selling its new tablet at or below cost, just to get itself into the game.
Will all prospective Apple iPad Mini buyers decide to save half their money and buy an HP, Google, or Amazon tablet instead?
No way.
As we've already seen, many Apple fans are dedicated enough to the company--or locked in enough to the company's content and software ecosystem--that spending $329 on a small tablet is worth it. And, for many buyers, it will continue to be worth it.
But as the gap between Apple pricing and Android-based tablet pricing widens, more and more buyers will begin to step back and say, "Wait--why am I shelling out all this money again? What am I really getting?" And for a lot of them, the answer will be, "Not enough to spend twice as much on an Apple product."
Those who think Apple will be able to maintain its high prices need to realize how significantly the market has changed from a few years ago.
A few years ago, Apple was both the quality leader and the price leader in the tablet market.
Apple's first iPad and iPad 2 were both considerably better than the competition, and they also cost considerably less.
That was an extremely unusual and powerful position for Apple to be in.
That was the position that Apple held in the smartphone market for several years, and this positioning enabled Apple's iPhone to become the most profitable product in the world.
This position, importantly, was very different than the position that Apple held back in the late 1980s and 1990s, when it lost its leadership and nearly went bankrupt. In those days, Apple was not the price leader. It was the quality leader, at least in some observers' eyes, but its products cost considerably more than the alternative. And, eventually, as the PC market grew beyond early adopter fanatics, Apple's high prices doomed it to becoming a niche player.
Importantly, this is exactly the position that Apple now finds itself in in the tablet market.
The company has sacrificed its price leadership in an attempt to maintain its staggering profit margin.
This decision has given competitors like Amazon, Google, and now HP an opportunity to radically undercut Apple on price, and thus eat away its market share.
If the tablet market were merely a "gadget" market, market share would not be so critical.
But the tablet market, like the PC market of the 1980s and 1990s, has become a "platform market"--third-party companies are building products and services on top of smartphones and tablets. In a platform market, market share is critical: Developers want to reach as many potential customers as possible, so they eventually prefer to build for the platform with the greatest market share. This dynamic helps the platform market leader--in this case, Android--further increase its market share, while putting pressure on smaller players.
Apple still has a huge advantage in the tablet and smartphone markets: Apple's installed base of customers have now built large app and content libraries within iTunes and iOS.
Apple users will be loathe to write off those investments, so there's a barrier to switching platforms.
This advantage, combined with the quality of Apple's products and Apple's amazing store distribution system, is enabling Apple to continue to sell a lot of tablets, even though there are now many cheaper, high-quality options.
But as tablet prices continue to fall, Apple's premium prices will seem increasingly unjustifiable.
And if Apple doesn't respond by cutting those prices, perhaps radically, more and more smartphone and tablet buyers will likely conclude that they'll get better value over the long haul by cutting the Apple cord.
SEE ALSO: HP To Launch New $169 Tablet In April


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Buddy's porn tees shows he's no role model: breaches AFL's Respect and Responsibility policy
AFL footballer Lance 'Buddy' Franklin has released 'The Buddy Ball' football for kids. But what else is he selling?
We've posted about AFL Hawthorn player Lance "Buddy" Franklin before. We've written about his sexist clothing brand Nena and Pasadena, of which he is Co-director. Take a look at some of his designs below.
The women on Nena and Pasadena t-shirts are frequently topless and sexually objectified, positioned in weak and vulnerable poses. What message does this clothing send N&P's target market of young men about women? What does it say about men and women when clothed men wear t-shirts of naked women?
Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth said, "Cross-culturally, unequal nakedness almost always expresses power relations."
Gail Dines, sociologist and author of Pornland said, "It's no accident that in prisons the first thing a prisoner has to do is strip naked, because to be naked in the presence of somebody clothed is to be in a vulnerable situation."
Young fans look up to their favourite footy players. Children as young as five who sign up for 'Auskick' receive a bag full of AFL branded paraphernalia, including trading cards with the players pictures, and a height chart with the heights of famous players already marked. From a very young age, children can consider how they literally measure up to their role models. Unfortunately, some players are not worthy of this honour.
The AFL has the Respect and Responsibility policy in place to cultivate a safe environment for women. Has Buddy heard of it?
The Respect and Responsibility Policy represents the Australian Football League's commitment to addressing violence against women and to work towards creating safe, supportive and inclusive environments for women and girls across the football industry as well as the broader community.
The Respect and Responsibility Policy is about shifting attitudes – ensuring that people throughout the Australian Football industry are aware, and have structures in place, that recognise that violence against women and behaviour that harms or degrades women, is never acceptable.
Despite this, the AFL has refused to even acknowledge Franklin's blatant disregard for the policy, leaving many to question its effectiveness. (Read Melinda Tankard Reist's piece on ABC's The Drum "Showing respect for women the AFL way" ).
Nena and Pasadena's facebook page has become a forum for sexism and misogynistic comments. N&P habitually post pictures of semi-clothed women, inviting fans to rank them, as well as photos of young women kissing, while offering prizes to fans who share the best strategies for getting women into bed. Here are a few examples:
"Drop a roofie"
"I like to call it 'the fight and struggle'"
"the skull drag to the bushes and then duck tape the mouth move"
"I hope to God they can't run faster than me down that alleyway"
Nena and Pasadena's response? "Keep em coming guys- this is very entertaining!"
Buddy's new Campaign video is under investigation by the Advertising Standards Bureau. Make a complaint here.
Tobacco Control have also confirmed N&P are once again under investigation for allegedly breaching anti-smoking laws, already having had two t-shirts banned.
Franklin uses his high profile as an AFL player to promote his business on N&P's website and Facebook page, as well as in generating media attention for his brand. From N&P's Facebook page info:
"Nena & Pasadena was birthed, after AFL superstar Lance "Buddy" Franklin joined forces with one of Australia's leading menswear labels, to create a fun, outgoing and vibrant street wear label that captured the attention of thousands!"
Share this post widely so others can make informed decisions about what they choose to spend their money on.
Contact the AFL
Some points you might like to make are:
– Buddy Franklin uses his high profile with the AFL to promote sexism
-Buddy Franklin continually disregards the AFL's Respect and Responsibility policy
-Buddy Franklin is the public face of a company renowned for degrading and objectifying women in their products, advertising and conduct
-Ask the AFL what action they intend to take
Feedback form (Select 'Contact AFL', then 'General') or Facebook or Twitter
Contact these retailers and ask them not to endorse Buddy Franklin products.
Rebel Sport
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com or Facebook or Twitter
Feedback Form or Facebook or Twitter
Feedback Form or Facebook or Twitter
Big W
Feedback form or Facebook or Twitter
Toys R Us
More on Lance 'Buddy' Franklin's business venture:
Buddy's Chapel Street Fashion goal
And what Buddy Franklin does while he's not selling over priced footballs to children
Hookers Ball gets kick out of Buddy
Retailers urged to cease the sale and distribution of 'porn t-shirts'
Mixed Messages: AFL talks respect for women but stays silent on Buddy's sexist tees
Nena and Pasadena: Objectification on a shirt
Reprinted from Collective Shout


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University of Dayton 2019-20
Whether you're wondering what classes are offered in your degree program or how many credits you need to graduate, you'll find the answers in the catalog.
While new issues are released annually, the issue published in the academic year of your enrollment governs your academic program. The provisions of the various issues of the catalog are to be considered directive in character and not as an irrevocable contract between the student and the University. The University reserves the right to make any changes in the contents of the catalog or in the documented courses of study that it deems necessary or desirable.


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If you're in need of a new gaming laptop (yeah okay, get the giggles out now) you might be able to grab one for free thanks to Qualcomm, the parent company of Killer Technology, hosting a giveaway of a new Dell XPS 15 gaming laptop that comes equipped with Qualcomm's high-speed network card.
The Dell XPS 15 comes with Windows 7 in full 64-bit support so you can make use of the laptop's entire 4GB of RAM. This is further complimented with an Intel i5 2.4ghz quad-core processor and 500 gigabytes of hard drive storage. What's more is that Nvidia's GeForce GT 420M will be powering the graphics with up to 1GB of VRAM to help ensure that you'll get to experience all those HD textures the way they were meant to be seen.
You can enter to win Qualcomm's Dell XPS 15 giveaway by visiting the Qualcomm Atheros Facebook page and following three simple steps. After that, you're good to go and you could be the proud owner of a free Dell XPS 15 gaming laptop with a high-speed Qualcomm network card. Good luck, and don't spam too hard!


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Joey Bell and Stacy Beucler were united in marriage Sept. 26, 2009, at Christ Community Church in Ridgeville, Ohio. Pastor Don Barnett performed the ceremony.
Chrissy Bell, niece of the groom, of Morenci, served as maid of honor. Bridesmaids were Sam Bigger, friend of the bride, of Wauseon, Ohio, and sisters of the bride, Abbey Beucler of Stryker, Ohio, and Shelly Schrock of Archbold, Ohio. Kearsten Roehl, friend of the bride and groom, of Wauseon, served as flower girl.
Lonnie Lehman, friend of the groom, of Paulding, Ohio, served as best man. Groomsmen were Josh Zuver, friend of the groom, of Wauseon; Jim Bell, brother of the groom, of Morenci; and Justin Bell, nephew of the groom, also of Morenci. Matt Schrock, brother-in-law of the bride, of Archbold, was an usher and Jordan Bell, son of the groom, was ring bearer.
Special music was performed by Arminda Whitlock. Cortney Bell, niece of the groom, was guest book attendant.
A reception followed the ceremony at the Kissell Building in West Unity, Ohio.
Joey is the son of Fran and Jerry Bell of Morenci. He graduated from Morenci Area High School in 1994 and is employed at Johns Manville.
Stacy is the daughter of Lee and Annette Beucler of Stryker, Ohio. She graduated from Living Word Christian School in 2001 and is employed at Lightning Quick Gas-N-Go.
After a honeymoon trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., the couple has made their home in Morenci.