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Sunday, December 18, 2011
Characteristics of smart people who don't go to college
Using GSS data, I created a two-category variable where people with eight through ten out of ten questions correct on a vocabulary quiz but who never went to college are assigned a one, and everyone else is given a zero. Those in the first category make up about 11 percent of the total adult population surveyed over the past 40 years.
Next, I chose eight variables as predictors. Here are the logistic regression coefficients (sample size = 16,215):
Logistic Regression Coefficients
Year -.02
Age .02
Sex .42
Race 1.45
Father's education .03
Church attendance -.04
Political conservatism .01
Number of offspring -.03
All of the predictors are significantly related to the outcome variable except for political conservatism. So what is the profile of someone who is smart but went no further than high school? I'll attempt to list factors from most powerful to least: older, white, being surveyed in earlier years, female, having an educated father, going to church less often, and having fewer children.
I also compared the mean incomes of the two categories. The smart group that didn't go to college made about $1,000 more a year than the average for the other group.
Many of the factors make sense. Older people from earlier cohorts were less likely to go to college, even if they were intelligent. The same for women. Blacks are much less likely to be bright people who fail to attend college. Having a successful father can sometimes open a good career path that requires no higher education. Perhaps irreligiosity indicates unconventionality. Political attitudes appear to have no effect on choosing to avoid college.
27 comments:
I would predict that - if IQ, age cohort effects are controlled - e.g. by looking at only young people - the main predictor would be personality.ReplyDelete
My prediction of predictors of NOT attending college in order of importance:
Low in Conscientiousness
High in Neuroticism
Low in Agreeableness
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Thanks for running the data. I've got a question about your statement:ReplyDelete
"I'll attempt to list factors from most powerful to least"
The order of the variables you list seems to bear little relationship to the magnitude of their coefficients. What factors other than LRC go into rank-ordering variables by "power"?
Political conservatism being at the bottom of the list is surprising. Are we to conclude that higher education has virtually no effect on one's political leanings if one has a high IQ?
BTW: Why go with logistic rather than Pearson correlation?
- Bill7:35 AM
Hmmm, I would have compared smart/no-college to smart/college, rather than smart/no-college to everyone else. The race coefficient would likely be different as a result, for example.ReplyDelete
A couple of presentation nits. "Sex" is a bad variable name. "Male" or "Female" would be much better. Similarly for "Race."
First of all, Ron, thanks so much for responding to my question!ReplyDelete
Logistic regression: he's got a yes-or-no dependent variable, right? Pearson is for correlating quantities.
Well, if I've read this correctly, conservatism has no effect on your likelihood of being a smart person who avoids college. (It might increase your chances of being smart and going to college, or decrease both, and the effects might cancel.)
That said I'd be surprised if college had *no* liberalizing effect on the undecided; I just figure intelligent conservatives go to college, grit their teeth, and ignore their liberal teachers and then go into business. The problem is that people who go to college differ in other ways from people who don't, primarily by SES and IQ. You don't know which way the arrow of causation goes.
What you'd somehow have to do is look at *the same* people's attitudes before and after they entered college; if the GSS doesn't track this, maybe look at everyone who was 15-18 in 1972 and then everyone who was 23-26 in 1980; i.e., try to follow a cohort.
You'd want to focus on racial attitudes, to answer Jim's original question; a lot of people become more right-wing as they start earning money.
Thanks again!
SFG, I suppose I should have asked "What happens if you look at Pearson regression by replacing categorical with continuum variables?"ReplyDelete
While it is certainly worthwhile running a similar test of "political conservatism" in general to see what variables are most predictive (I'd be surprised if Ron hasn't done this before on this blog) the thing that I find particularly intriguing -- even heartening -- is that folks with higher IQ's don't seem affected much by higher education's vicious indoctrination. WOW!
"While it is certainly worthwhile running a similar test of "political conservatism" in general to see what variables are most predictive (I'd be surprised if Ron hasn't done this before on this blog) the thing that I find particularly intriguing -- even heartening -- is that folks with higher IQ's don't seem affected much by higher education's vicious indoctrination. WOW!"ReplyDelete
Oh, not as crazy as it sounds.
First of all, I don't think people actually pay all that much attention to what they hear in class. A lot of people are simply there to party.
Second, these are the same kids who several years ago decided their parents were wrong about music, dress, and all the usual subjects of teenage rebellion. You don't think they'll thumb their noses at college professors, probably the nerdiest people around?
Third, once people get out into the real world, they learn pretty quick what the neighborhoods to avoid are, what the schools to keep your kids out of are, and so on. The Matrix isn't as effective as it seems. The world's quite different than the picture of it you'd get from the PC newspapers/TV/magazines.
The people who get most indoctrinated are humanities majors, but personality traits being what they are, those are likely people who were on the left side of the political spectrum to begin with. How much 'anti-racism' do you think goes on in an Animal Science course, or in Calculus II?
I agree with SFG. It seems to me that the real problem with the 'liberal academia' in the United States is the outsized influence of its members in determining public policy.ReplyDelete
'Brainwashing' of children is an exaggerated phenomenon - the collective hysteria of generations of fathers sending their virginal daughters to a far away college and receiving something not-so-virginal after four years, perhaps.
Going to college makes people more likely to vote Republican. I've quoted this before, however the article is no longer online:ReplyDelete
"Adults 25 and under from Republican homes are, for example, 11 percentage points more likely to vote Republican if they attended college than if they didn't. And young adults from Democratic households are 11 percentage points less likely to vote Democrat if they've gone to college than if not."
Malloy's cited article says: "Does all this mean that our colleges and universities are actually breeding grounds for conservatism? Hardly. What the statistics really show is that higher education by itself doesn't affect political views very much. Rather, in addition to the strong influence of parents, it is higher incomes — which typically reward a college education in America — that push people to the right politically."ReplyDelete
But we see from Ron's data that in the case of the higher IQ population, there is no income advantage to higher education. Perhaps we could say that this is the explanation for there being zero influence from higher education on the conservatism of the higher IQ population.
I'm still dubious about the lack of any leftist ideological impact from higher education. For instance, those who enter the managerial elite are known to be uniformly for increasing the labor supply regardless of the impact on the nation. While this is clearly a neocon position, hence "conservative", there is a sense in which it is left of Trotsky.
I'm still dubious about the lack of any leftist ideological impact from higher education. For instance, those who enter the managerial elite are known to be uniformly for increasing the labor supply regardless of the impact on the nation. While this is clearly a neocon position, hence "conservative", there is a sense in which it is left of Trotsky.ReplyDelete
There's a much simpler explanation for this: business managers want to make money, and they can do that by paying their workers less. Race replacement is a side effect, not the desired effect. It may be the desired effect for other groups of people, but managers just want to decrease costs such as labor.
There's a natural human tendency to think in terms of 'us' and 'them' and assume that 'they' are monolithic, but in fact the elite is made of several power groups--journalists, academics, politicians, bankers, lawyers--which frequently fight with each other over pieces of the pie. Immigration just looks like a conspiracy because both the 'liberal' and 'conservative' arms of the Establishment are in favor of increasing it--the left wants votes and the right wants cheap labor. There are plenty of Old Left union types who hate to see wages driven down, just as Old Righties such as yourself hate to see the ethnic balance change...but neither of you has enough power to do anything about it.
In the end, I think reducing this to a simple left-right construct is of limited value when faced with something this complicated. A neocon or libertarian could say you're not really conservative because you're for big government to bar immigration, and you could say they're not conservative because they're ignoring America's roots. Left and right really refer to coalitions that can be in flux. Politics is about groups fighting for power and resources, and they can and do change sides as it's useful to them.
Personally, if you want to keep America as white as possible (which I do *not* disagree with, BTW, having lived in NYC during the pre-Giuliani years, though I don't mind a little yellow), I'd recommend sticking to the legal arguments against immigration and trying to get any Republican in office. Alabama seems to be making it pretty hot for illegal immigrants, and Romney or Gingrich would likely make suing them much less of a priority than Obama would. Of course their business backers will continue to screw the working man.
Alternatively, you could try to build support for a third party. I do think an anti-libertarian (socially conservative, economically liberal) party could draw together the Old Right and the (white) working class and have some effect.
Oh, there probably is some leftist ideological impact, I'll admit--particularly in cultural areas (and race might be included in those). But I doubt the whole problem results entirely or even in large part from leftist brainwashing in college.ReplyDelete
First of all, racists/race-realists really screwed themselves back in WW2 with the whole Nazi thing. I mean, it's one thing to talk about separate water fountains and underfunded schools, but forget the Holocaust--German racial imperialism got FIFTY MILLION PEOPLE killed in that war, and totally destroyed Europe's dominance in world affairs. And, of course, it scared the Jews, with all the results you now know.
Second, the US wanted to win the cold war, which meant convincing people our way of life was better than Russia's. Racial segregation looked really bad to Europeans--the Communists were always going on about it. So it's natural the elite would want to get rid of it eventually.
Third, segregation never had huge appeal outside of the South. Northerners were pretty happy using money to isolate themselves, and liked cheap labor for the factories anyway. Paleocons often underestimate the Yankee side of the Yankee-Jewish alliance. There are plenty of liberals with blond hair and blue eyes, particularly up in New England. The Southern agrarian is only half of the American tradition--the Puritan dreaming of God's kingdom on earth metamorphosed, ironically, into the liberal social engineer dreaming of utopias.
Regardless of how we got here -- here we are:ReplyDelete
When the definition of genocide was inverted from its Geneva Convention definition to, instead become virtually identical (in an intellectual equivalent of pheromone engineering) with national preservation, it unleashed the darker aspects of human nature in those being groomed for leadership.
I mean, all you have to do to kill lots of people is, for example, get civil engineers thinking it is "anal retentive" to be concerned about safety factors and such "Naziesque" ideas. The same applies to folks in managerial elites: All you have to do to get them to destroy the societies they manage is to teach them that what is normal prudence is the moral equivalent of evil -- and that self-indulgence is "good".
- Anonymous2:36 PM
There isn't necessarily a sharp divide between the higher education ideological environment and the mainstream ideological environment, unless a young person in a wholly fundamentalist environment is suddenly dropped into a liberal university once they turn 18.ReplyDelete
A young person who follows pop culture, mainstream media, Hollywood, mainstream politics, etc. before college will be "primed" already in many ways into the dominant ideology. Higher education serves to cement what has largely been imprinted already and arms it with more sophisticated rationalizations and justifications. It also ensures some degree of future loyalty by offering conduits to certain lifelong elite or managerial niches whose general cultures have largely enshrined the dominant ideology and fitting in involves conforming to it - at the least not deviating from it or opposing it significantly. At elite universities, interviews for investment banking and other elite jobs include "fit" interviews where they try to determine how well you "fit" into the cultures at the firms. And everyone understands the basic political culture beforehand - they're socially liberal and fiscally or economically "conservative" (i.e. neo-liberal) and globalist, with some acceptable variation in opinion on things like taxes or gov't spending. Those who don't accept the dominant ideology mainly do so privately and outwardly mouth the platitudes or remain silent, and they don't actively oppose the culture.
- Anonymous3:09 PM
big government to bar immigrationReplyDelete
It doesn't require "big government" to stop immigration.
racists/race-realists really screwed themselves back in WW2 with the whole Nazi thing.
The implication here is that "racists/race-realists" anywhere, at any time, in the past, present, and future, are "Nazis". Obviously this isn't true and is prima facie absurd. But there are people who believe this, including you apparently, and these people insist that it is true and act accordingly.
German racial imperialism
Japanese racial imperialism killed millions as well.
And of course communists all over the world killed tens of millions, up to 100 million by some estimates.
Racial segregation looked really bad to Europeans
segregation never had huge appeal outside of the South.
the Puritan dreaming of God's kingdom on earth metamorphosed, ironically, into the liberal social engineer dreaming of utopias.
Segregation is a red herring. The change in racial and ethnic balance has to do with immigration laws.
Invoking "Puritan" here is a way of deflecting blame or attention away from what and who brought about the change into liberal social engineering.
- Anonymous4:01 PM
'Brainwashing' of children is an exaggerated phenomenon - the collective hysteria of generations of fathers sending their virginal daughters to a far away college and receiving something not-so-virginal after four years, perhaps.ReplyDelete
Nobody has used the term "brainwashing" here aside from you and SFG.
The term connotes something extreme and comical. The only point of using such a term is to make anyone here arguing for some amount of ideological influence imparted in universities also seem to be arguing something extreme and comical.
Virginal daughters returning from college not-so-virginal also represents the kind of ideological indoctrination being discussed here. If you take a monogamous society with chastity, especially for women, being the norm, and women largely excluded from higher education, and then start funneling women into a college environment that is conducive to sexual activity, promotes it, and justifies it and says it is ok and good, that reflects ideological indoctrination.
- Anonymous5:16 PM
SFG and IHTG are both Jewish. They can't be expected to be objective about this issue.ReplyDelete
I'm just trying to be logically consistent. Paleos rightly complain that the elite opinions are radically out of step with the masses, in particular with regards to immigration.ReplyDelete
That means that, no, the people aren't being indoctrinated. If they were, they wouldn't be out of step!
Or that the indoctrination isn't working because it runs into reality. ;)ReplyDelete
Communism killed lots of people...sure did, and that's one reason it's not too popular anymore either. Its weak cousin, socialism, was implemented in Nordic countries without killing anyone and therefore has a much better rap. Whether it would work in a diverse country like the US, I'm not sure.
I'm not denying that people I bear some blood relation to are screwing up the country. Believe me, I get into arguments with my more liberal comrades about the immigration issue all the time. (They all seem to claim that Great-Aunt Sarah getting turned away in 1939 means they have to support all immigration of any group forever. It's really stupid.)
I was saying there were a couple other people involved too. For example, the Kennedy immigration bill you cite was partially concocted to let more Irish people into Boston.
And I wouldn't call segregation a red herring. Anyone who's studied NAMs knows that blacks are worse than Hispanics...and that whites used to be able to insulate themselves from NAM crime through segregation. Rich whites still do it by living in expensive neighborhoods.
I didn't say that race-realists at any time in history are Nazis...simply that Nazis gave race-realism a very bad name by dragging eugenics through the mud. I'd like to see a eugenics program to raise the black IQ, but are we ever going to get anywhere with it now?
The Nazis were actually pretty shitty race-realists. They drove out a lot of their best scientists and tried to exterminate lots of Eastern Europeans who would have been happy to get rid of Stalin. You don't think an old Imperial German like Haber would have *loved* to make nasty chemicals for Hitler if he'd given him the chance? What if Fermi hadn't been worried about his wife? You had Italian Jews in the Fascist party, for crying out loud! If Hitler had stuck to gassing Communists he would have won the war.
Back to the original topic...you actually have a really good point about the effects of the media (quite Jewish, BTW). It's more applicable to topics like gay rights...
As for chastity being lost...that's just the birds and the bees. People didn't marry this late historically so it's hard to make them wait.
- Anonymous8:38 PM
I'm just trying to be logically consistent. Paleos rightly complain that the elite opinions are radically out of step with the masses, in particular with regards to immigration.ReplyDelete
That means that, no, the people aren't being indoctrinated. If they were, they wouldn't be out of step!
"The masses" don't go through higher education. Not at the rate or amount or level (i.e. prestige) that the elites do.
"Indoctrination" works by manufacturing the ideological environment and setting the limits of acceptable discourse. The fact that many among the masses don't share the exact position as the elites doesn't mean they aren't being "indoctrinated" - most of them are within the limits of acceptable discourse, they don't consider things like ending any and all immigration, reversing immigration, repatriation, removing certain groups from certain positions, etc.
- Anonymous9:26 PM
For example, the Kennedy immigration bill you cite was partially concocted to let more Irish people into Boston.ReplyDelete
The 1965 Immigration Act reduced Irish immigration. In Kennedy's own words: ""Prior to the '65 act, you had about 30,000 Irish that were coming in. And then we had those reduced to about 20,000."
And I wouldn't call segregation a red herring.
Segregation is a red herring when discussing the change in ethnic balance. The change is due to non-black immigrants and birth rates.
Nazis gave race-realism a very bad name by dragging eugenics through the mud.
The Nazis didn't give it a bad name. I've never met a Nazi that left me with a bad impression of "race-realism" or eugenics. I've never met a Nazi, period. All the people I know have never met Nazis either. They just either "feel" or know that they're supposed to "feel" that "race-realism" and eugenics because that's what's been mediated to them by various channels. They never met a Nazi, nor did they sit down and think it through and arrive at such feelings.
The Japanese were just as "race-realist" and interested in eugenics as the Germans were. Race-realism and eugenics don't have a bad name because of the Japanese, even in those areas most affected by Japanese actions during WWII such as Korea and China.
As for chastity being lost...that's just the birds and the bees. People didn't marry this late historically so it's hard to make them wait.
No, it's not "just the birds and the bees". The birds and the bees have always been around - they didn't change, something else did.
And the population I'm talking about did marry "late" historically:
You haven't met a Nazi recently. There were plenty of them in 1939 and they made a lot of trouble. I'm talking about the persistent effects of WWII which are now beginning to wear off, not a few Von Thronstahl (good band, BTW) fans in Frankfurt.ReplyDelete
Looks like I was wrong about the immigration act as well--though Celler, Hart, and Kennedy (Jew/WASP/Irish) strikes me as pretty much a 'rainbow coalition' for 1965.
Interesting link--I'm surprised anyone would wait to marry until 24(!) in the premodern era. With life being as risky as it was that strikes me as asking for trouble. Nevertheless, I stand corrected.
Hey, I can always convert. There are plenty of denominations that will overlook a Jewish mother. ;) Maybe I could go work for FAIR or something.
- Anonymous4:55 PM
There were plenty of them in 1939 and they made a lot of trouble.ReplyDelete
There were plenty of Japanese in 1939 and they made a lot of trouble.
I'm talking about the persistent effects of WWII
The "persistent effects" are not mystical, disembodied forces that magically cause people to think or feel a certain way. People "feel" or know that they're supposed to "feel" that "race-realism" and eugenics because that's what's been mediated to them by various channels.
Celler, Hart, and Kennedy (Jew/WASP/Irish) strikes me as pretty much a 'rainbow coalition' for 1965.
Except there's much more that goes into major legislative changes than the Congressmen involved, as was indeed the case here. And those three weren't even equally involved, Celler was the most active and aggressive and proposed it. Celler had been trying to liberalize immigration law for decades, even since before the passage of the 1924 Johnson-Reed Act which restricted immigration.
- Anonymous11:16 AM
Celler, Hart, and Kennedy (Jew/WASP/Irish) strikes me as pretty much a 'rainbow coalition' for 1965.ReplyDelete
The 1965 immigration act was passed by overwhelming margins in the House and Senate, and signed into law most enthusiastically by that Southern Scotch-Irishman, Lyndon Baines Johnson.
I realize that it is emotionally satisfying for some people to pretend that Americas historical stock were "stabbed in the back" by the evil furreners, but historically speaking that's a Big Fat Lie.
- Wandrin6:49 PM
Army, Police, FirefighterReplyDelete
- adrenaline junkies
Skilled trades
- a lot of smart people would stay as a skilled tradesman if they were born into it simply for the freedom
Outdoorsy jobs
- just cos
If the list includes people who went to college but dropped out before graduating then as well as those who partly-fitted the above categories and made their mind made up while at college there's
- rebellious
- druggie
- mentally unstable
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Who's smarter--Trump or Hillary voters?
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November 7, 2012
Strategy for Conservatives According to Bill Whittle
Hat tip: Nice Deb "He explains that what happened is a result of a trend that has resulted in a reduction of the fundamental health of the country. The form of government that we love as conservatives and feel slipping away from us, boils down to one thing, he says, and one thing only: the entire premise of limited government must be based on a virtuous people - decent hard working people have internal restraints on their behavior." (Back to Video)

subset: commoncrawl


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Here is another video from Car and Driver that gives us a look at yet another new BMW available in the United States: the 2013 BMW X1 xDrive28i. We first drove the X1 back in Spring of 2011, followed a few months later by a Canadian launch.
The facelifted X1 SAV came to the U.S. in Fall of 2012 and according to the company the sales have been nothing short of spectacular. The X1 is offered in two variants: 28i and 35i. The BMW X1 xDrive35i runs from 0 to 60 mph in 5.3 seconds. EPA mileage estimates for this model are 18 mpg city/27 mpg highway/21 mpg combined.
The BMW X1 sDrive28i and X1 xDrive28i retail for $31,545 and $33,245 respectively while the X1 xDrive35i starts at $39,345. All prices include $895 Destination and Handling.
Hat tip to Alen!


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I filled our urns with sprigs of cedar and piles of ornaments (non glass, but glass-looking). The glittered ones look so great and sparkly at night.
Our tree, a Frasier Fir, is decked with upholstery strapping and ornaments, as always.
A bay leaf wreath in the kitchen.
Potted paperwhites in the kitchen.
Merry Christmas, Everyone!


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Hi, being new to java have difficulties with one of my projects to do and hope you can help me fix the code and comprehend it.
here is the thing I must do:
write code for a class dog, dog object is to have attributes name, age, address
write code for a class flea, a flea object is to have attributes name, age
give any additional code in the flea and dog classes that is reqired to setuo a bidirectional association between flea object and a dog boject.
a dog object acts as a host for a flea object and the flea acts as a parasite for a dog.
your code does not have to be robust.
modify dog class so that a dog object can act as owner for up to 200 flea objects. as part of this code give a methoid which returns all parasites for a particular dog.
write test program which creates a dog object and several flea objects
make dog the host for flea and each flea a parasite for a dog. ask the dog "who are your parasites " and point the results
dont read in info from the user. instead create all objects in code
eg - employe j = new employe("joe")
and what I have so far:
import java.util.Collection; public class Dog { private String name; private String Address; private int Age; private Collection<Flea> Fleas; public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } public void setAddress(String Address) { this.Address = Address; } public void setAge(int Age) { this.Age = Age; } public String getName(){ return name; } public String getAddress(){ return Address; } public int getAge() { return Age; } public String toString(){ return "Name: "+ name +"\n" + "Address: " + Address +"\n"+ "Age: " +Age ; } public void addfleass(Flea flea) { if (!Fleas.contains(flea)) { Fleas.add(flea); } } public Collection<Flea> getFleas() { return Fleas; }
Dog[] Flealist; public Dog() { Flealist = new Dog[200];}
import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.List; public class DemoAnimals { public static void main(String[] args) { String n; Dog Ralph = new Dog(); Ralph.setName("Ralph"); Ralph.setAddress("Cork"); Ralph.setAge(12); Flea Stuart = new Flea(); Stuart.setName("Stuart"); Stuart.setAge(12); Stuart.setDepartment(Ralph); n= Ralph.toString(); System.out.println(n); } }
public class Flea { private String name; private int Age; private Dog Ddog; public String getName(){ return name; } public void setName(String name){ this.name= name; } public int getAge(){ return Age; } public void setAge(int Age){ this.Age= Age; } public Dog getDog() { return Ddog; } public void setDepartment(Dog Ddog) { this.Ddog = Ddog; } public String toString() { return "Name: " + name + "Age: " + Age; } }


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Apple touted snazzy tech upgrades and splashes of color as it rolled out its latest revamp of the iPhone Tuesday, debuting a premium 5S model featuring a faster processor, upgraded camera and fingerprint sensor, as well as a less expensive, plastic 5C version.
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Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, touted the highly anticipated 5S model as the "most forward-looking phone we have ever created," during the press event, according to a live blog on www.engadget.com, saying its new 64-bit processing chip is twice as fast as the previous model.
U.S. & World
"The iPhone 5S is a huge leap forward in mobile computing performance," Schiller said, according to the blog.
The phone, which will be available in gold, silver and "space grey," also comes with new "TouchID" sensor that "reads your fingerprint at an entirely new level," allowing users to unlock the phone or authenticate a purchase on iTunes with the touch of a finger, and a camera Apple says is designed to take better photos. Prices with a wireless contract will range from $199 for a 16 gigabyte version to $399 for the model with 64 gigabytes of memory.
The 5C, seen as an attempt to counter less expensive smart phones produced by rival companies and broaden Apple's customer base in the U.S. and abroad, was described as "simpler, more essential, more capable and more colorful," according to Engadget's live blog. The plastic phone will be available in blue, white, pink, yellow and green cases, according to the blog. Features include 4-inch retina display, an 8 MP iSight camera and a higher capacity battery, Tech Crunch reported.
The 16 gigabyte version will cost $99, while the the 32 gigabyte model retails for $199 with a two-year contract. Cases cost $29 each.
The company also announced that its new iOs 7 operating system will be available for free download Sept. 18. The system upgrade, which Craig Federighi, head of software at Apple Inc., said "is like getting an all new device," is compatible with the iPhone 4 and later models, as well as the iPad 2.
Both phones, available on all four major wireless carriers in the U.S., will also hit the shelves in Australia, China, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom on Sept. 20. The company is set to hold a second media even in China tomorrow, a move seen as a sign of the growing influence of the Chinese market.
Apple has waited longer than usual to roll out it latest updates to the popular product. The delay for the traditionally annual release fueled speculation ahead of Tuesday about what features the new generation would include and whether the design upgrades would be enough to stave off increased competition from Android and other rival smart phone companies offering new models at a lower price point.
The fanfare about the new features, and the $99 starting price tag, appeared to fall flat with Wall Street investors -- stock prices for Apple were down 2 percent, about $11, at the close of the market Tuesday.


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The lesson to be learned from recent differences between many American Jews and conservative Christians — on Mel Gibson's film "The Passion of the Christ" and on equal rights for gays — is not to walk away from relationships with evangelicals. It is not to reject evangelical support for Israel. It is not to view the evangelical community in a simplistic way. It is not the lesson Arlene Stein offers in her JTA Op-Ed piece.
It is, rather, to reinforce a dual approach: working for and welcoming conservative Christian support for Israel at a particularly difficult time for the Jewish state and, at the same time, never backing off or toning down our principled positions on social issues about which we vehemently disagree with evangelical approaches.
One of the fascinating manifestations of the turmoil over Gibson's film has been to observe many on the left in the Jewish community saying, "We told you how bad evangelicals are," while many on the Jewish right, in a foolhardy effort to placate the religious right, defend a film with the potential to set back Christian-Jewish relations and to generate anti-Semitism.
There is too much at stake — Israel's security and the well-being of Jewish life in America — to be blinded by narrow ideological approaches.
Israel needs the support of America today more than ever. The threats to the Jewish state from Islamic extremists, the bias of the international community and the poisoning of young people's minds have never been greater.
The role of the United States is critical not only in standing with Israel, but also in influencing others — particularly the Europeans — toward some fairness vis-a-vis Israel.
American support for Israel rests on many pillars. Most importantly, it is bipartisan.
There is no doubt, however, that evangelical activity on behalf of Israel is among the most significant elements in that support, not least because of that community's influence with President Bush. Whether it is in congressional initiatives, administration positions or public-opinion polls, evangelicals matter. It behooves us to act accordingly.
On the other hand, for many of us, conservative Christian perspectives on social issues that are critical to a healthy American society and Jewish life within that society are disturbing.
Whether it is church-state separation — at the heart of the comfort level that Jews enjoy in this country — or opposition to any religious group imposing its views on society — as seen in the struggles to maintain choice on abortion and equal rights for gays — we are deeply concerned about conservative Christian views and policy initiatives.
And we don't pull any punches in our opposition. We engage fully to prevent those religious-right policies from predominating in legislation, in the courts and in executive decision-making.
Moreover, when some evangelical leaders articulate prejudicial views toward any religious group, as several did in anti-Muslim stereotyping, we speak up.
During the current controversy about the Gibson movie, we have been unhappy that more evangelical leaders have not acknowledged Jewish pain, the history of anti-Semitism associated with the deicide charge and the potential for recurring hatred of Jews.
But we shouldn't rush to judgment on the impact of the film on evangelical Christians. We need to be clear where we stand and encourage sensitivity and education about Jews and Jewish history.
The bottom line remains what it has always been: Evangelical Christians have never demanded a quid pro quo from American Jews for their support of Israel.
If they were to say that they would only work on Israel's behalf if American Jews halt their activity in opposition to them on social issues, we, of course, would say, "Sorry, no thanks for your support."
That has not happened.
They stand with Israel for theological reasons and because, as Christian activist Gary Bauer has said, the United States and Israel are on the front line together in the current struggle for freedom and democracy.
That's good enough for us.


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Why Obama can't go there
It's a paradox of Barack Obama's presidency: The first African-American to run the country finds himself in the tensest racial confrontation of his tenure but is constrained from addressing the nation's original sin in anything but the loftiest, most dispassionate terms.
"We've made extraordinary progress" in race relations, Obama said on Monday, addressing the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police shooting of Michael Brown, "but we have not made enough progress."
Story Continued Below
That observation is so obvious as to be anodyne, but Obama has good reason to confine himself to Joe Friday generalities in the face of the discordant street demonstrations, belligerent police tactics and unfinished official investigation in Ferguson.
( Also on POLITICO: Ferguson mayor: No 'racial divide')
Ever since he first judged that the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police had "acted stupidly" in 2009 by arresting Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his own doorway, Obama's most candid comments on race have been just as likely to inflame a significant segment of public opinion as to soothe it.
Last year, when Obama made the indisputable observation that Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black Florida teenager shot in 2012 by a neighborhood watch volunteer "could have been me 35 years ago," many conservatives reacted with outrage (whether real or politically inspired). So there is now little practical percentage for Obama in doing anything but balancing his assertion that "in many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear," as he did Monday with an even-handed warning that giving in to anger "by looting or carrying guns and even attacking the police only serves to raise tension and stir chaos."
In one sense, of course, such language is quintessentially presidential: neutral, measured and above the fray. But as Obama himself has acknowledged more than once, when it comes to the realities of daily life for African-Americans, he can never — and could hardly be expected to — divorce himself from his own experiences, including his realization that his own beloved white grandmother expressed fear of black men.
( Also on POLITICO: Ferguson: A reporter's account)
So it has fallen to an African-American man with a much smaller megaphone — Missouri Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson — to give personal voice to the feelings of so many black parents at the shooting of yet another unarmed black teenager.
"When this is over, I'm going to go in my son's room, my black son — who wears his pants saggy, his hat cocked to the side, he's got tattoos on his arms — but that's my baby," Johnson said Sunday night at a memorial service for Brown. "We need to thank Mike for his life and the change that he's made."
And even Rand Paul, who just four years ago expressed doubt about whether the central provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act — its requirement that most private businesses serve blacks and whites alike — was constitutional, wrote last week in Time, "Anyone who thinks race does not still, even if inadvertently, skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention."
In the worst crisis of his 2008 campaign — the controversy over inflammatory rhetoric from his Chicago pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright — Obama made a stirring and candid speech on the realities of race in America, one that surely helped him win the election. His efforts to address the problem since have been fitful, with more mixed results.
( Also on POLITICO: Ferguson PD to keep arresting media)
The White House takes pains to point out that Obama's more personal remarks in the Martin case were delivered after a jury had acquitted Martin's assailant, George Zimmerman, of the shooting — not while an investigation was still pending (though Obama had earlier said in the aftermath of the shooting that, "If I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon"). And in his second term, Obama has made a practice of speaking more candidly on race, as he did last month at an event for his "My Brother's Keeper" initiative — an effort to focus private philanthropy on the needs of underserved black boys and young men.
"The only difference between me and extraordinarily young men that I see all across the country is I was living in a pretty forgiving environment," Obama said then. "So if I made a mistake, I often had a second chance, or I often had a third chance. And some of the costs of making mistakes, they weren't deadly. I wasn't going to end up shot. I wasn't going to end up in jail."
Obama's dilemma on Ferguson boiled down to whether he should issue a statement that would leave the shooting's passionate critics unsatisfied, or say nothing at all and appear disengaged.
"The circumstances determine the reaction, and it isn't appropriate for the president to speak up emotionally in the midst of an ongoing investigation by the Justice Department," White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett said in a telephone interview. "He wants the attorney general and his team to be able to conduct an independent investigation without any thumb on the scale one way or another. I think the president's goal is to add his voice in a way that is calming, so the violence ends, and to send a message to the government officials on the ground about what his expectations are in terms of freedom to assemble, freedom of speech and freedom of the press — and also to signal to the people who have been looting and shooting that that's not an acceptable way to honor the death of a young man."


text: [ 002 ] The luminary, before whose splendour the night takes wing, had already changed the eighth heaven from azure to the lighter blue, and in the meads the flowerets were beginning to lift their heads, when Emilia, being risen, roused her fair gossips, and, likewise, the young men. And so the queen leading the way at an easy pace, and the rest of the company following, they hied them to a copse at no great distance from the palace. Where, being entered, they saw the goats and stags and other wild creatures, as if witting that in this time of pestilence they had nought to fear from the hunter, stand awaiting them with no more sign of fear than if they had been tamed: [ 003 ] and so, making now towards this, now towards the other of them as if to touch them, they diverted themselves for a while by making them skip and run. But, as soon as the sun was in the ascendant, by common consent they turned back, [ 004 ] and whoso met them, garlanded as they were with oak-leaves, and carrying store of fragrant herbs or flowers in their hands might well have said: " Either shall death not vanquish these, or they will meet it with a light heart. " [ 005 ] So, slowly wended they their way, now singing, now bandying quips and merry jests, to the palace, where they found all things in order meet, and their servants in blithe and merry cheer. [ 006 ] A while they rested, nor went they to table until six ditties, each gayer than that which went before, had been sung by the young men and the ladies; which done, they washed their hands, and all by the queen's command were ranged by the seneschal at the table; and, the viands being served, they cheerily took their meal: wherefrom being risen, they trod some measures to the accompaniment of music; and then, by the queen's command, whoso would betook him to rest. [ 007 ] However, the accustomed hour being come, they all gathered at the wonted spot for their discoursing, and the queen, bending her regard upon Filomena, bade her make a beginning of the day's story-telling, which she with a smile did on this wise:← PreviousNext →


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Snowden, Germany may discuss claims of U.S. espionage
BERLIN — Germany may open a discussion with accused spy Edward Snowden to find out what he can tell them about U.S. espionage on German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich told Germany's Die Zeit newspaper Friday that "we will find a way, if Mr. Snowden is willing to talk." His spokesman Jens Teschke confirmed the comments, saying, "We want clarification, and we want further information," adding that he assumed such a meeting would be in Russia.
The minister's statement comes a day after leftist parliament member Hans-Christian Stroebele of the opposition Green Party met with Snowden in Moscow, where Snowden has been granted temporary asylum from a U.S international extradition warrant.
Stroebele presented to the news media a letter from Snowden, who indicated that he will not speak with German officials until the USA agrees to drop its prosecution of him and others who reveal state secrets.
"Though the outcome of my efforts has been demonstrably positive, my government continues to treat dissent as defection and seeks to criminalize political speech with felony charges that provide no defense," he wrote. "I look forward to speaking with you in your country when the situation is resolved, and thank you for your efforts in upholding the international laws that protect us all."
Snowden was a contractor for a company that did work for the National Security Agency, a U.S. agency that conducts surveillance overseas aimed at stopping terrorism. Snowden had a security clearance to access secret programs that collected phone transactions routed through the USA in case the records were needed to track down the calls of terrorists.
He stole documents, in violation of the law and his security clearance, and fled to Hong Kong, where he turned some of the material over to a reporter for a British publication in what is a criminal act of espionage, the United States charges. An extradition request has been lodged with Russia for his return to the USA, but Russia has refused to abide by it.
Analysts said it was unlikely that a meeting between German officials and Snowden would occur on German soil.
"I think it would be quite naive if parliamentarians invited him over only to see him being extradited under a legal process," said Anand Menon, a security specialist at London-based think tank Chatham House. "And I think it would be quite naive of him to go."
Since the U.S. and Germany have an extradition treaty in place, Menon said, it would be the German legal system, not its parliament, which would control Snowden's fate, making it much less likely for him to successfully stave off extradition.
Allegations that the NSA tapped Merkel's cellphone came from German magazine Der Speigel, which did not give its source for the claim but has in the past published stories based on documents provided by Snowden.
The reports outraged some in Germany. Merkel telephoned President Obama over the matter, and he said he was unaware of such surveillance. The White House later said that such surveillance was not happening but did not say whether it had happened in the past.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that some of the NSA's spying has gone too far and will be stopped. Kerry said in London that because of modern technology, some of the NSA's activities have been happening on "automatic pilot" without the knowledge of Obama administration officials.
"The president and I have learned of some things that have been happening in many ways on an automatic pilot, because the technology is there," he said. "In some cases, some of these actions have reached too far, and we are going to try to make sure it doesn't happen in the future."
Germany's parliament is expected to discuss the NSA's alleged activities Nov. 18, and lawmakers say they would like to ask Snowden for more information about the NSA's spying activities as part of that inquiry. Menon said that he was skeptical that questioning Snowden would generate new information and that talks of a meeting were a way for lawmakers to keep the issue in the news.
"This is a bunch of politicians doing what politicians do, which is trying to seize the limelight for themselves because they happen to have a genuine interest in an issue that is sort of headline news at the moment," he said.
Stroebele, who acted on his own in visiting Snowden, has opposed intelligence operations against terrorists and U.S. military endeavors worldwide. A lawyer, he defended the members of the German communist terrorist group Red Army Brigade.
The German television network ARD, which accompanied Stroebele, said the Germans were taken to the meeting by "security officials" under "strict secrecy."
Snowden's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, told the Interfax news agency that Snowden would not violate the conditions of his asylum if he talked to the Germans in the wiretapping case. But Stroebele said Snowden had "significant reservations" about that idea, fearing that speaking to foreign officials on Russian soil could cause him problems.


text: Hey everyone, I have to write a compare method that takes two parameters. I would like to know if I can compare one object with another by comparing if it is greater or less than the other one. I know its possible to test if two objects are equal so I assume it could be done!


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Entrance Music Recommendations
When Chicago White Sox closer Addison Reed visited the MLB Fan Cave in 2012, he asked fans to help him choose a new walkout song to amp him up when he entered in the ninth inning to shut the door.
The #CloserMusic challenge never came to fruition, as Kid Rock's "Bawitdaba" continued to blare through the speakers at U.S. Cellular Field until the end of the season.
When he entered in the ninth to close out Chris Sale's gem on Monday, it still hadn't changed.
We'll work on Addison if he comes back for a visit when the Sox come to town in May. Until then, fellow Cave Dweller Marcus Hall (@_MHa11) and I came up with some suggestions for walkout music for other players around the league.
Travis' picks:
Wade Miley – "The Climb" by Miley Cyrus
Ricky Romero – "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley
Carlos Santana – "Smooth" by Santana (feat. Rob Thomas)
Dillon Gee – "OMG" by Usher
Michael Young – "Young Forever" by Jay-Z
Marcus' Picks:
BJ and Justin Upton – "Party Up (Up In Here)" by DMX
David Price – "The Price is Right" theme song
Adam Jones – "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows
Jered Weaver – "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright
Matt Holliday – "Holiday" by Madonna
What entrance music would you like your favorite player to walk out to? Tweet @MLBFanCave using the hashtag #MLBFC.


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photo by 摩根
WE ARE TIME POOR, to borrow the words of Rolf Potts. Or rather, in all seriousness, we can call ourselves time anorexic. As a generation, we starve our activities and endeavours of the attention they deserve. This leaves us tired, creatively drained. The irony is that the more we try to shove into the seconds the sooner they evaporate.
This idea commonly circulates in discussions about the value of slow travel; the reasoning behind not trying to cram ten countries into two weeks is easy enough to understand. But the heart of that philosophy seems to fizz out once we edge back into home routines. The digital age further enables the work-addicted, and our fragmented mind lessens the quality of our experiences.
I noticed this in my own life during my recent trip to Chicago. Though I had barely 36 hours in the city, I filled a backpack with a laptop, dress clothes, etc., anticipating all the work I would accomplish. The reality of the time frame checked me, however, after a mostly sleepless night drained both my inspiration and my ambition. I was left pedaling around a cold city with a ridiculously heavy bag, annoyed that it hadn't been the productive trip I'd hoped for.
Even in the day-to-day, it seems the more hurried I feel the less I get done.
As a journalist, I've learned that the story can't (and shouldn't) be forced. Deadlines aside, we need to make sure we understand what's really going on. We ought to allow the same kind of time to understand ourselves and to evaluate what we're working towards in life.
In the past, if I was out on my bike and had some spare minutes, I would just float around the city streets. During the last few months I've done none of that, and I'd lost something because of it — a simple enjoyment, a sense of life's randomness. But as the spring sun becomes warm, I'm beginning to get back to the art of cruising.


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Rose Mandarin china is similar to Rose Canton and Rose Medallion. If the panels in the design picture only people and not birds, it is called Rose Mandarin. It is one of the three famille Rose patterns seen most often.
Enter your email below to receive Kovels Komments for the latest antiques & collectibles news, answers to readers questions, marks and tips. In your inbox every Wednesday.
Current & Past Issues
Buyer's Price Guide
Words of Wisdom (Letter to Lee)


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text:
Welcome to Pannett Park
As part of the regeneration of Pannett Park this website has been developed containing all the information you need to know about Pannett Park. Please take a few minutes to look around the site - we're regularly adding new photos and information. If you have any comments or questions about the site please feel free to contact us.
Why is Pannett Park such a Fantastic Place?
Thanks to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund Parks for
People Programme the regeneration of Pannett Park is creating a fun,
family friendly environment for everybody to enjoy. Just a stone's throw
from the centre of Whitby, Pannett Park offers a haven of peace and
quiet with an exciting new play park for children and beautifully kept
gardens, lawns and wooded areas for the whole family to enjoy.
The park is home to Pannett Art Gallery with regularly changing displays, and Whitby Museum which houses a stunning variety of collections and artefacts. Visitors can also enjoy panoramic views of the town and Whitby Abbey from the museum terrace.
Regular events and activities are held in the park throughout the year and The Friends of Pannett Park are committed to keeping it a safe and interesting place, encouraging community engagement and providing opportunities to learn new skills through their wide range of activities.
Photos of the Month
Here is a selection of our photos of the month.
Pannett Park Videos
Click Here to view Pannett Park Videos.
Find Pannett Park
Click Here to view a Google Map of Pannett Park's location.


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Ten students at Pleasant View Elementary were given a critical task last Friday: find a NASA spaceship lost somewhere in the outer planets, rescue its crew and bring them safely back to base. They did it all without leaving the classroom.
The simulation was facilitated by the Challenger Learning Center of Colorado, a nonprofit. A "mission commander" in Colorado Springs, Heather, communicated with the students over Skype and gave out clues to get them started.
The third, fourth and fifth graders watched the film Apollo 13 as background and came to class dressed in astronaut attire: shirt and tie, pocket protectors, brainy glasses. They were headquartered on "Mars" in the year 2080 - teacher Jim Stoeckl said they covered with windows with red and black construction paper to create a backdrop - and divided into three teams.
Each team used math concepts learned in class to help solve the puzzle. Navigation plotted coordinates with ordered pairs. Transmission decoded encrypted symbols into messages. And, once the missing ship was found, the cargo team calculated how much food, water and oxygen was needed to retrieve the stranded astronauts, given the distance. The entire mission - which was successful - took two hours.
Astronomy has been a prominent subject studied this year. Stoeckl's class has learned about the size, order and atmospheric conditions of planets, what a light year is, and built a scale model of the solar system, suspended from the ceiling. The interactive mission was the perfect conclusion, he said.


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Starting with a clean install of ArcoLinuxD we install the AWESOME desktop on top of it and install all our applications on it. This desktop can be yours.
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3 results
Like Sketchup's native Top View but has the same relation to the previous view as Top View has to Front View. Useful to set plan views that are aligned to a building or other content instead of having north up.
Photorealistic rendering for SketchUp
Cross Convert all Major 3D CAD, DCC & VisSim 3D File Formats for SketchUp


text:
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values (DV) are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Servings and Times
Cups of Fruits and Vegetables Per Person: 2.0
Ingredients and Preparation
- In a large saucepan over medium heat, bring stock to a boil.
- Stir in vinegar, sugar, cayenne, and ginger.
- Add shrimp and cook until shrimp turn pink and curl, about 3-4 minutes.
- Turn off heat, stir in radishes, spinach, and green onions.
- Cover and let stand 2-3 minutes before serving.


text: Personalities Keith Mark Anyone who knows Keith Mark will agree that his love of hunting is what best defines him. Keith comes from generations of hunters, so it comes as no surprise that this fifty-one year old outdoorsman has been hunting all his life, having been introduced to the family legacy by his father, Robert Mark. Although skilled in all hunting disciplines, Keith has specialized in bow hunting for more than thirty-three years and is fast becoming one of the most recognized hunters in the sport today. Add to that the considerable success Keith has had with his muzzleloader and rifle over the past several years and it would be difficult to find a more enthusiastic big game hunter. Keith's love for and dedication to the outdoors makes every hunt a true adventure and his passion for hunting is obvious. Keith has personally taken many trophy animals and has successfully hunted virtually every North American big game species, including moose, antelope, caribou, turkey, whitetail, elk, mule deer, mountain lion, wild boar and bear. Keith's imprint on the sport, however, is not limited to his personal hunts and outdoor experiences. Keith also owns and operates MacMillan River Adventures Outfitters in the Yukon Territory, Canada. MacMillan River Adventures is world-renowned for providing its clients with some of the greatest trophy moose hunting known, and also offers some of the finest mountain caribou, grizzly bear, black bear, and Stone sheep hunting in the world. Keith and his wife Jeanne have been married for twenty-five years and have three wonderful children: Zachary, 23, Jacob, 21, and Anna, 19. All three have learned to enjoy hunting along with their dad. The eldest, Zachary, is fast becoming an accomplished hunter in his own right, with successes that include whitetail, black bear, wild boar, turkey and that Great Plains monarch, the bison. Viewers of the MacMillan River Adventures television show not only have enjoyed watching Zach on these exciting hunts, but also have had the opportunity to hear Zach's guitar playing skills, as he is the man behind the television show's hard hitting music. Keith Mark is quickly gaining popularity for his straightforward and down to earth approach to hunting. Keith's passion for the hunting lifestyle and willingness to tackle some of the hunting industry's most controversial issues has gained him quite a following within the industry. Now that he has partnered with WWE legend Shawn Michaels, we can certainly look forward to more fun and entertaining hunts as we watch the new MacMillan River Adventures. Related Shows Shawn Michaels' MacMillan River Adventures Related Best BBQ Venison Recipes from Outdoor Channel Stars


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NOTE: Before I begin, I should note that everything that I mention regarding the new Teenage Mutant Ninjs Turtles Nickelodeon show is, at the moment, a MUTATION IN PROGRESS. Nothing yet is set in stone. Storylines and Voices can still be changed and replaced. Mutation In Progress, keep that in mind!
About a month ago, a representative for Nickelodeon contacted me regarding attending a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles preview event in Burbank, California. Now, I get a lot of emails, but this one was pretty far out there. And lets not forget, most of my emails pitch T-Shirts, not mutant turtles. Needless to say, I was curious and so I replied back (the email said I needed to reply within the day in order to be considered). The next day, I was informed that the following week I would be contacted by some Nickelodeon representatives to discuss the Turtles. Neat.
Turns out, Nickelodeon was recruiting TMNT fans throughout the country, to attend a fan preview event at their studios in Burbank, California. I figured, I wouldn't be chosen considering that I've only just blogged about the turtles a few times on this blog and each time it was in regards to TMNT themed T-Shirts. In retrospect, though, and looking back at those videos and TMNT posts, I spoke pretty passionately about the turtles and growing up with them. Despite this, I thought I had no shot … I mean there must be tons of other more uber mega super Turtle fans out there. Like, serious, serious fans. I certainly would not be chosen.
I was chosen. The madness begins.
About a week before I was scheduled to fly out to Burbank for the even, I received the official invite to the event. Can you guess how they delivered it? As a pizza! That's right, someone dropped off pizza to my home in a custom TMNT pizza box. It was a pretty good cheese pizza too! At this point, I'm pretty excited because they are obviously going all out for this event.
The day of my departure arrives. I had an early flight, and I'm out of Honolulu at 8am on March 29th. I arrived at LAX at around 4pm and I have a personal driver (arranged by Nickelodeon) waiting for me at baggage claim to drive me to my hotel. Nice.
I arrive in my room and lo and behold, what's there waiting for me? Ninja Turtle stuff! It was more like a big, circular gift box (made to look like a manhole/sewer) filled with goodies to keep me occupied throughout the night. Inside were some pretty dope snacks, as well as a TMNT T-Shirt and a VISA Gift Card. Awesome!
The big day arrives. I really didn't know what to expect. Should I wear a TMNT shirt or not? I came prepared with three. I am a T-Shirt blogger after all. I decided to go with Heroes In An Art Shell by John Hillier from Threadless. 8:30pm rolls along and all of the people that flew in for the event meet up in the lobby of the Hotel Amarano. We are then driven to the Nickelodeon Animation Studios.
After waiting in the transportation van for a bit, we are finally allowed to enter the NICK lot. I should note, that they really know how to build up the tension. As we were all waiting in the van, each and every one of us was boiling with excitement. We didn't know what to expect!
We were then finally let in and are told that we needed to give up our cell phones and any recording devices during the event. Meaning, I unfortunately could not take any pictures whatsoever. This sucked. Plus, I kept reaching for my imaginary iPhone in my pants pocket throughout the day! Those imaginary phones can be such a distraction. Once we turned in our goods, we were treated to a pretty good breakfast spread of baked goods. All the while, we mingled with our fellow TMNT brothers and sisters. Now during this time, we were unknowingly being treated to some music that they were considering for the show. This included music from Handsome Boy Modeling School and DJ Shadow. Pretty good vibe so far.
We were then officially led inside the studios (breakfast was in the front courtyard) and brought into the official NICK gym. Of course, they converted the gym into something more like a TMNT fanboy's dream man den. It was seriously cool. Imagine lot of green uplighting and barrel's of oooze and TMNT paraphanilia. The room itself elicited a bunch of ooohhs and ahhhhs from many of us.
Once inside, we each took a seat. We were then introduced to the president of Nickelodeon Animation, Brown Johnson, who welcomed us to the studio. We were then each asked to introduce ourselves to the group. One-by-one uber turtle mega fan after another introduced themselves. It was pretty crazy. There were people there known for being Sexy April in the cosplay world to the current Guiness record holder for largest gathering of people dressed as Ninja Turtles. We had people there with Ninja Turtle Tattoos, large Turtle toy collection, and webmasters of the most popular TMNT fansites and forums. It was pretty insane that they were able to put together such a group of TMNT fans. I guess, thank you to Google and their amazing search engine?
After the introductions, we were then given a tour of the NICK Animation Studios by Rich Magallanes, Vice President Current Animation Series Production at Nickelodeon. We first stopped in on a live voice recording for Fanboy and Chum Chum. We then passed by the areas dedicated to shows such as Avatar and Sponge Bob Square Pants. All the while, passing by all of the awesome artwork that hang in the hallways. Speaking of the hallways, many of the walls are made of whiteboard to encourage people to doodle when they feel inspired. Neat!
Afte the tour, we were then treated to a little snack session. And by little, I mean they went all out. They were handing out smoothies and milkshakes for crying out loud.
Post snack session, we returned to the gym turned makeshift Turtle den. Now came the good stuff. We were now treated to a sneak peak of the pilot episode in animatic format. Think moving storyboard with the voices. This wasn't the CGI stuff that they are promising for the actual show and again, they emphasized that this was a "Mutation In Progress", meaning that what we were seeing, may not even make it to the final version of the show. Makes sense, if they had made up their mind then why would we be there in the first place. I watched the animatic intently, it was about 25 minutes long. I can tell you that the rendered images of the Turtles looked great. Again, the characters looked great and each were well defined.
Following the animatic presentation of the pilot, Playmates gave a short presentation of the new Turtles toy line that will be released in conjunction with the new TMNT series.
Following the Playmates presentation, we were then treated to yet another surprise. Up to this point, we had no idea who the voice actors were going to be. And we had no idea that we would be treated to a script reading by the actual cast. This was fucking awesome. I was excited. We were all stoked. One by one, they introduced some of the producers, writers and then voices for the show. Of note were Jason Biggs as Leonardo, and Ron Paulsen as Raphael. Meeting Jason Biggs was exciting, but meeting Ron Paulsen was epic (he was the voice of the original Raphael voice and even the voice of Pinky from Pinky and the Brain). Trust me when I say that during the script reading, we all had big smiles on our faces – we were all so excited to be there. I should note, however, that the voices have not yet been finalized. An official announcement of the TMNT voices should be coming from Nickelodeon shortly.
Lunch time. As expected, there was pizza and pasta, as well as some throwback snacks from our childhood … can you say dirt pudding cups with gummy worms. Seriously, we were all in 1980's heaven at this point. What's even better is that the voice actors hung around for lunch. Jason Biggs even stopped by my small table to chat, as did Ron Paulsen. They were both super cool, Ron even did a few of his vintage voices! I had lunch with Pinky from Pinky and the Brain! Crazy insane.
After lunch, the real work began. For the focus groups, we broke up into small groups of four. I'm not going to go into detail about what we specifically talked about, but I will say that we discussed both positives and negatives of the new series.
We ended the day with a nice Q&A session with the writers and developers of the show. These were all questions that we had handed back to them after seeing the animatic and prior to lunch.
And that was the day! After the Q&A, we were given a poster and thumb driver with some key art for the show. Following a group picture, I was then driven straight to LAX, and I was back in Hawaii at 8pm on March 3oth. This was one 24 hour trip that I will never forget.
So quickly, some things about the new show:
- The animation is top notch.
- The action sequences looked great.
- Not a big fan of the changes they made to April Oneil's character. She's 15/16ish and emo!
- No mention of the origin story, they made it a point not to tell us this.
- The renderings of Shredder looked badass (though he wasn't in the trailer).
- Loved the dark tone.
- The city landscape look great, it just feels like New York.
- Splinter is big, agile and not crippled. He can fight!
- It was funny without being campy like the 1987 series.
- Didn't hear cowabunga or turtle power once.
- Each of the turtles look slightly different (height and weight differed).
And that's my roundup of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Preview Event at the Nickelodeon Animation Studios. It was seriously a great time, and I am so happy that I actually checked my email the day they initially sent me the invite (thanks to Philip Ross of the Pitch Agency for finding me)!
Here are some sites you should check out that are run by some of the TMNT preview event guests:


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If the opinions of those who posted in this thread on this site's message boards in 2004 are anything to go by, it was pretty surprising that Art Brut ever managed to actually make a full album in the first place. Now that they are embarking on their fourth full-lengther, I can't even begin to imagine the depths of amazement currently being experienced by those who doubted the band's longevity. Not that I was any different, mind you. As enjoyable as their earliest pop thrills were, I'd be lying if I suggested that I expected them to still be around in 2011.
Yet here they remain, and ientirely on merit, because they've continued to knock out album after album of the same kind of effortless, sardonic guitar pop that caused all that kerfuffle in the first place. In a lot of ways, Brilliant! Tragic! is fairly typical Art Brut fare. 'Clever Clever Jazz' and 'Martin Kemp Welch Five-a-Side' for instance, could sit pretty easily on any of their previous records, while 'Bad Comedian's hipster-baiting pay-offs "He dresses like he came free with the NME" and "I bet he signs his name in Comic Sans" are straight out of The Bumper Book of Eddie Argos One Liners.
But although the record is still unmistakably Art Brut, there's also much more progression and experimentation than we've seen from the band before. The biggest and most obvious difference is in Eddie's delivery, because, apparently with the aid of producer Black Francis, he has learned to sing (kind of). It's unclear why a man who once so proudly and defiantly announced his singing voice to us has decided, four albums in, to change his style so fundamentally, and it doesn't always pay off, but when it does, it produces some of his most memorable moments yet. The album's ambitious six minute centre-point 'Is Dog Eared' illustrates this pretty neatly within the one song, with the weird, half-whisper, half-growl of the the early choruses falling a little flat, but the howls with which Eddie hauls the song to its conclusion recalling PiL-era John Lydon.
Schooling Eddie in the art of singing isn't the only way in which Black Francis' finger prints are evident on Brilliant! Tragic! The album is characterised by meatier-than-usual riffs, including some particularly filthy sounds on 'Axl Rose', which you would imagine have to have at least something to do with its producer. The whole record, in fact, is strong in that regard, with near enough every song exhilarating in its melodic noisiness. I'd say that's also one of the reasons why Art Brut haven't ever really gone stale, because with or without Black Francis, they've always been pretty natty with a pop tune.
Nobody is suggesting that Brilliant! Tragic! isn't a flawed album, but it is also one which delivers some of the richest, fullest thrills of Art Brut's career. The leaps of faith the band have taken have been roundly vindicated, and (although they most certainly don't need to), go some way to justify their continued existence. Although it is always likely to be their fate to be defined (unfairly) by 'Formed a Band' and the Top of the Pops obsession of yore, it now feels like they're finally beginning to be able to move on from their history a little. Given that absolutely nobody ever expected them to outlive TOTP, I reckon they've definitely earned that right.
7Paul Brown's Score


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Drive-Thru Difference
Drive-Thru Difference is a simple way for you to make a small difference in someone's life. As you're grabbing your morning coffee, a quick lunch, or dinner for the road, pay for the order of the person behind you. It's a simple act of kindness that can go a long way!
It's easy! Just print this form and hand it to the cashier to give to the person in the car behind you. The note is a great way to tell them that you care, and introduce them to The New Shine.FM!
We want to hear your Drive-Thru Difference stories! Call the studio line at 877-987-4463 or share your story on our Facebook page!
You can print this form to use at any time, but we wanted to pick one day a week to show Chicagoland love with the Drive-Thru Difference. Join us the first Friday of every month!


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The Verdon Canyon (Gorges du Verdon in French) offers a stunning scenery.
The road following it is sometime just next to the 500m high cliff.
It can be scary at times but it is always breath taking.
Situated at the extreme south of the french Alps, I highly recommend the detour for people visiting the South of France (Provence and Cote d'Azur) or the Southern Alps.
France is affectionately referred to as "the Hexagon" for its overall shape.French history goes back to the Gauls, a Celtic tribe which inhabited the area circa 300BC until being conquered by Julius Caesar.The Franks were the first tribe to adopt Catholic Christianity after the Roman Empire collapsed. France became an independent location in the Treaty of Verdun in (843 AD), which divided up Charlemagne's Carolingian Empire into several portions.The French monarchy reached its zenith during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, who stood for seventy-two years as the Monarch of all Monarchs. His palace of Versailles and its Hall of Mirrors are a splendid treasure-trove of Baroque art.The French Revolution ended the rule of the monarchy with the motto "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity!" On July 14th, 1789 angry mobs stormed La Bastille prison and began the Revolution in which Louis XVI, his wife Marie-Antoinette and thousands of others met the guillotine.One decade after the revolution, Napolean Bonaparte seized control of the Republic and named himself Emperor. His armies conquered most of Europe and his Napoleonic Code became a lasting legal foundation for concepts of personal status and property.During the period of colonization France controlled the largest empire in the world, second only to Britain.France is one of the founding members of the European Union and the United Nations, as well as one of the nuclear armed nations of the world.Text by Steve Smith.


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Critical access hospital in Oregon cuts down on unnecessary space
ZGF Architects has designed a new 103,000-sf critical access hospital to replace an aging 220,000-sf facility in Pendleton, Ore. The new hospital will feature 25 inpatient beds, a 10-bed emergency department, and a helipad. Plans for the new hospital will eliminate nearly half the space of the current design, reducing nonessential spaces to improve efficiency and patient-centered care. The project is scheduled for completion in September 2013. Members of the Building Team include Sellen Construction (contractor), Coughlin Porter Lundeen (civil & structural engineer), and Affiliated Engineers (MEP engineer).
Foster + Partners wins competition to design 650,000-sf office tower on Manhattan's Park Avenue
After a six-month international competition, London-based Foster + Partners, led by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Norman Foster, was selected by L&L Holding Co. and Lehman Brothers Holdings to design a 650,000-sf office tower at 425 Park Avenue in the Plaza District of Manhattan. The building will be the first full-block office development in the area in nearly a half-century, and will be situated along Park Avenue's doublewide boulevard. L&L Holding anticipates construction will begin in 2015.
$180 million facelift under wayat san marcos high school
The $180 million modernization and reconstruction of San Marcos High School is one of the largest high school construction projects under way in California. Designed by the San Diego office of LPA Inc., plans for the new high school double the classroom space by 50%, resulting in a three-story, 412,000-sf facility with a central quad. A library reading center, career center, and student store will be located on the ground floor, while academic spaces are to be housed on the floors above. The project is being delivered through a lease-leaseback arrangement with Luscardi Construction.
Diocese of Orlando to incorporate green features for new church
Designed by SchenkelShultz Architecture and being constructed by Verde Construction Managers, the new $2.4 million, 14,000-sf Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Orlando, Fla., will incorporate green features such as a high-reflective roof membrane, high-efficiency mechanical systems, low-flow water fixtures, and increased building insulation. With a seating capacity of 900 and the flexibility to expand to 1,200, the church will complement an existing 50-year-old church, located at 5900 Oleander Drive, which will also undergo renovations. The new church is scheduled for completion in the spring.
Satellite treatment centers to enhance care for wounded soldiers
Funded by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and conceptually based on the original National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE) in Bethesda, Md., two new $11 million, 25,000-sf centers under way at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Camp Lejeune, N.C., will treat wounded American military service members for traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress. By locating the satellite centers in close proximity to existing military bases and medical centers, medical staff will be able to provide care for service members without having to separate them from their units or families. SmithGroupJJR, which designed the original NICoE, is serving as architect for the project. "These facilities will enhance the already exceptional care provided at NICoE," said Phil Tobey, FAIA, FACHA, Senior Vice President of SmithGroupJJR and an Editorial Advisor to BD+C. "Every element of the building's designs will be acutely attuned to the needs of TBI patients."
Plans for student engagement center part of strategic plan for UMass Lowell
Cambridge-based firm HMFH Architects is working with the University of Massachusetts at Lowell to undertake the first phase of a new student engagement center on the school's North Campus. Plans call for the transformation of underutilized spaces in the campus's Alumni Hall and integrating it with the nearby Lydon Library to create a commons area. The new center will feature seating and study areas, a café, and a lounge where educators and students can comfortably work and interact. The project is part of the university's strategic plan for the year 2020, including the reorganization and renewal of facilities on the North Campus. +


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Liberty News
Graphic design graduate wins gold at national ADDYs
Jacob Siner, a recent graduate of the Liberty University Department of Studio and Digital Arts, won gold for his "Minimal Movies of 2012" posters at the 2013 National Student ADDY Awards. Winners were announced during the 2013 ADDY Awards Show, part of "ADMERICA!" June 5-8 in Phoenix, Ariz.
The ADDYs are hosted by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and is the industry's largest and most representative competition worldwide, drawing over 60,000 entries annually. The competition includes local, district, and national judging.
Siner, who majored in graphic design, claimed a silver award for his posters at the AAF District 3 ADDY Awards March 24 in Raleigh, N.C., and won two gold awards at the local ADDY competition in Roanoke on Feb. 23. (Liberty brought home 11 gold and 17 silver awards at the local level, topping nearly all schools in the region and garnering four times as many awards as it did in 2012.)
"It's an honor, it gives me a little bit of confidence," he said, especially as he interviews for jobs. He hopes to work for a design firm.
"The main thing, going into it, was that I wanted to see where I was; I wanted to know where I would be coming out. It was cool to submit my work and see how it compares."
Siner said he is grateful to Liberty for helping him develop as an artist.
"I was doing all the right things to prepare (for a career). The biggest thing was the professors; I got to spend time with them and really interact with them. They gave me honest critique," he said. "That is what really grew me. It's really the staff who makes this program."
Dr. Norman Mintle, dean of the School of Communication & Creative Arts, said communication faculty embody Liberty's mission of Training Champions for Christ.
"The heart of the faculty in the School of Communication & Creative Arts is to both prepare our artists to make meaningful contributions in their field, but also to truly nurture the God-given talent in each of these transmedia storytellers."
- The Liberty University Department of Studio and Digital Arts is part of the School of Communication & Creative Arts and offers majors in Graphic Design, Studio Art, and Studio Art with Teacher Licensure, as well as minors in Graphic Design, Studio Art, and Photography. Since the SADA program launched in its current form in 2006, it has expanded from about 150 to more than 500 declared majors.


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Looks great price a bit to high
Reviewed By kevin b (SAN ANTONIO, TX) Reviewed for a 2004 Chevy Silverado —3/28/2018 8:08 PM
The only problem I had this the double sided tape that was on product did not stick. I had to go over all the tape that was on the product with new 3m double sided tape to get it to stick to dash. That was a pain to do!!!


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Before the season began, it wouldn't have been too hard to imagine this afternoon's matchup between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers as a preview of the NBA Finals. The Clippers are and up-and-coming team led by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin (when he's not pretending to be hurt), and the Celtics were a win away from the final themselves last year.
Before the season began, it wouldn't have been too hard to imagine this afternoon's matchup between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers as a preview of the NBA Finals. The Clippers are and up-and-coming team led by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin (when he's not pretending to be hurt), and the Celtics were a win away from the final themselves last year.
But that was before the Celtics struggled to a .500 start, and it was before Rajon Rondo tore his ACL, ending his season and putting his start to 2013-14 in question.
It's a special kick to the gut to lose the best player on a team that, if everything were to come together, could compete for a championship. Rondo has already been a key cog on a title winner and, since then, has ascended to heights arguably beyond his Hall-of-Fame-bound teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, that rare point guard who can rebound as well as he can pass with a developing shot to boot.
Rondo is unique in this current league, and perhaps throughout its history. He rebounded with a consistency not seen in a point guard since Oscar Robertson. He racked up assist after assist. And now he's out, and the rest of the Celtics are left to fend for themselves.
Fortunately, the Celtics weren't just about their best player. Danny Ainge may well change the team up a bit, especially given the dire news on rookie Jared Sullinger's health, but even as they stand now, Boston has a chance to adapt and win games, by moving the ball, spreading responsibility and strengthening the makeup of the team.
It's this cast of characters that have taken Garnett and Pierce's personality, one that Rondo complemented so well in his complicated, brilliant way. It's an "us and them" mindset that isn't affected but born from true camaraderie within, and resentment for the rest of the league. And that mindset runs on will.
That will has allowed them to take the first steps in their non-Rondo season. It allowed for Courtney Lee to step into Rondo's starting slot, for Jason Terry and Leandro Barbosa to take their most promising steps in fitting into the Celtics' rotation, and for Pierce to find room in the middle of all this, creating his own shot and opportunities for the rest.
The idea that they could be better without Rondo is ludicrous. But, even without Rondo, this team can be exciting. And this team will make the playoffs.
If nothing else, this group is resilient, a common trait of the teams led by Doc Rivers. That much was apparent when they played Miami to double overtime and a win when they thought they were just missing Rondo for a night, and it revealed itself again when they battled the Sacramento Kings at home on Wednesday, mixing and matching point guards and point forwards, Terry and Lee and Pierce taking turns directing the offense.
This team will not likely win a championship this year. With everything else equal, talent will win out when effort is maximized on both sides, and that much becomes apparent by the time of the conference finals. There has yet to be a lazy champion; the 2004 Lakers found that out the hard way against the Detroit Pistons who were, on paper, not nearly as talented.
But those Pistons played together. They worked well as a unit, they were well coached by Larry Brown in his last burst of creativity, and they were prepared for the rigors of dealing with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal when he was still near his prime.
The Celtics likely won't have as happy an ending this year as Detroit did in '04. But if they keep that effort up, they'll surprise a lot of teams in the league and make it farther than expectations currently allow. They'll have no choice. It's how they're built.
Nick Tavares' column appears Sunday in The Standard-Times and at SouthCoastToday.com. He can be reached at email@example.com