text:
Quality Policy:
Jergens takes great pride in creating value for its customers by providing service and products which exceed expectations. Consistent quality is paramount to us so we are a registered ISO 9001: 2008 manufacturer and our Center and Side Pull Hoist Rings are CE Certified. If a problem arises with any of our products, please contact our Customer Service Team for assistance.
Engineering Changes:
Jergens is committed to Continuous Improvement so specification and engineering data may change without notice. We recommend that you download the most current drawing from our website www.jergensinc.com or contact a Jergens Customer Service member at 800-537-4367, to verify dimensions and/or specifications of the product you are interested in before you make a purchase.
All quotations are based on Buyer accepting over-run or under-run on each individual item not exceeding 10% of quantities ordered. Where closer control of quantity is required special arrangements must be made. All Special Orders may be over-shipped by not more than 10%.
Small Orders:
In order for us to continue providing the highest quality product at reasonable prices we require a minimum order value of $50.00 net (not including freight and handling charges). Orders less than $50.00 will be processed with a nominal small order charge of $10.00.
Special Order Items:
Jergens is happy to offer modified versions of standard items, or special manufactured items within the following parameters:
Orders may be canceled or deliveries deferred only upon the condition that the Buyer assumes immediate liability and makes payment to the seller for all work completed at the unit price; work in process on the basis of the percentage of completion thereof times the order unit price; raw material, unamortized tooling, engineering and other cancellation charges incurred on the basis of cost to the Seller, plus handling and overhead charges. All cancellation charges to be determined at the time of cancellation or deferment.
Returns / Warranty Issues:
Returns are processed through our Customer Service Team with a Jergens Returned Material Authorization (RMA) form. Contact a Jergens Customer Service member at 800-537-4367 to obtain authorization, as returns will not be accepted without prior submission of the RMA.
The following conditions will apply to all returns:
All items are FOB Shipping Point. In ordering the Buyer should state explicitly the method of shipment preferred, and in the absence of shipping direction, the Seller will use discretion, forwarding by express or parcel post when packages are small and therefore liable to be lost in transit by freight. Parcel post shipment will be insured at Buyer's expense unless otherwise specified.
Payment Terms:
Accounts will be opened only with firms or individuals on approved credit. The Seller reserves the privilege of declining to make deliveries except for cash whenever, for any reason, doubt as to the Buyer's responsibility develops.
If the Buyer claims delivery of material not as ordered he must notify Seller within ten (10) days after receipt of shipment. No returns will be accepted after this period. If such claim is sustained and material furnished is not as ordered, Jergens Inc. shall have option to repair, replace, credit or complete orders within the limitation of No. 5-Quantities. Under no circumstances will the Seller be liable for damages or claims for expense involved in using his product. Seller will not allow claims for defective goods on these parts further processed by the Buyer and resulting in change of either dimensions or the characteristics from parts as ordered. Claims for shortage must be made within ten (10) days from receipt of the goods.
Inspection by the Seller is made on a percentage basis only. If 100% inspection is required it is at Buyer's expense, and only such parts proved not as ordered by Buyer's inspection may be returned with a claim for repair, credit or replacement, as covered by No. 7-Claims and No. 5-Quantities.
It is not the intention of the Seller to manufacture any product which is an infringement of a patented article. Parts are made by the Seller strictly to dimensional specifications furnished by the Buyer. It is agreed that the Buyer will defend and save harmless the Seller from any and all expense involved in any claims for damages from infringements of letters patent by the use of sale of parts made by the Seller, either as such or as parts or units of complete entities. Buyer does not assume responsibility for parts made on equipment violating licenses.
In line with the general practice of the industry, the fact that we find it necessary to charge for tools, dies, fixtures, or gages does not convey ownership or the right to remove them from our factory, unless specifically agreed upon in writing. The delivery date indicated is given in all sincerity and can be met at this time. Of necessity, however, it is subject to prior sale of capacity. The Seller does not assume responsibility for any damages growing out of, or owing to, any delays which are beyond his control. If partial shipments are required special arrangements must be made. All partial shipments will be invoiced and must be paid under our regular terms.


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Signal Hill
OnLive pricing could stunt growth, says analyst
Signal Hill's Todd Greenwald has warned that a small install base and expensive pricing model could stifle Cloud gaming service OnLive's growth.
Signal Hill headlines
Analyst: Xbox 360 Slim "is a question of when, not if"
Analyst David Cole of DFC Intelligence has told Industry Gamers that it won't be long before Microsoft released a slimmer version of Xbox 360. "I think it is a question of when not if," he told the site. "However, the when part is a big uncertainty … rumors have been going on for a long […]
Greenwald "very sceptical" of 360 E3 price adjustment
Signal Hill's Todd Greenwald has issued a damning statement on Microsoft's E3 360 price adjustment today, saying that it's not enough to differentiate the machine from PlayStation 3 in the US. "We remain very sceptical of Microsoft's pricing strategy and competitive positioning versus the PlayStation 3," said the analyst in a research note. "At $349, […]
No price cut for PlayStation 3 "just yet"
Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald has told GameRush that an imminent PS3 price cut is unlikely due to the victory of Blu-ray over HD-DVD and a strong line of exclusive titles, such as GT5 and Metal Gear Solid 4. "We do not expect a price cut on the PS3 just yet," Greenwald said. "Sony appears […]
A price cut isn't enough for 360, says analyst
Speaking in a pre-E3 research note, Signal Hill analyst Todd Greenwald has claimed that dropping 360's price won't be enough to stave off successes of both Wii and PS3. "We think the 360 has lost significant momentum to both the Wii and PS3, especially in Europe, and is in need of both a price cut […]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Color: Silver
Interior: Cloth
Drive Train: 4WD
Transmission: Automatic
Vin: 1GCJTBFE2C8137604
Engine: 3.7L L5 DOHC 20V
Mileage: 127,253
Stock #: 92264
Triple A Motors
Alan Feist
1898 West Third St
I hereby consent to receive text messages from or on behalf of dealer at the mobile phone number I provided above. I understand that I am opting in to receive text messages from dealer or their employees. I include consent to receive phone calls at the mobile phone number I provided. I understand that message and data rates may apply.


text:
Our Vision Statement
To be a value-leader in the supply of electrical products;
to be easy to do business with; and to develop long-term relationships
with quality-conscious customers, employees, & suppliers.
A History of Commitment to Distribution
Since its inception, Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Inc. (CED) has focused on providing all electrical product needs to its Contractor, Industrial and Manufacturer customer base. We do so through one of the nation's largest distribution networks, with over 500 locations. We pride ourselves in giving consistently high levels of service to all customers, regardless of size!


text:
Amidst a backdrop of deepening digital disruption, growing political uncertainty, increasing regulatory complexity, and shifting consumer preferences, one thing is certain — chief financial officers are creating a new agenda for growth.
To effectively lead in this new environment, chief financial officers and finance executives must become "chief growth officers"— the point person who not only controls stability, accountability and risk, but also grows profitability, enterprise wide agility, sustainability, and customer trust. This growth-oriented pivot will be valuable, yet difficult. The chief growth officer must redefine the playbook of finance by embracing disruption, spearheading the development of new business models, and building agility into operations.
This will often mean managing two or more different business models under one roof, freeing up resources to invest in growth initiatives, measuring new key performance indicators, and creating new ecosystems and platforms for rapid value creation.
To help current and future chief financial officers acquire these new capabilities, Accenture Strategy collaborated with the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard and Leadership for a Networked World to convene the 2017 CFO of the Future Summit: Fueling the Growth Agenda.


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Channel 10 is the youngest of Israel's three broadcast channels. Established January 28th, 2002, it is just over 6 years old and still struggling to snatch viewers from the leading Channel 2.
[singlepic id=28 w=300 h=600 float=right]Over the years I have noticed Channel 10 is much too absorbed in finding a magic logo, a magic tagline, a magic bullet to make it grab the big ratings, believing that in substance versus style, the latter wins. The logo in the corner of my television screen kept changing, or in Madison Avenue Newspeak: evolving. Disregarding the use of different colors, on and off shadows and the odd use of 3D, I counted four principle logos in 6 years – that's one logo makeover every two years!
Except for the logos changing, note that in 2005 the channel changed its name from 'Channel 10' to 'Israel 10' – and back to 'Channel 10' in 2006.
In addition, Channel 10 had used five different ad agencies over the years, which translates to the advertising budget changing hands every 15 months:
2002: in house (Eitan Bartal) + Gitam BBDO
2003: Reuveni Pridan
2006: Grey Interactive Israel (Adler Chomski & Warshavsky)
2007: Zarmon Goldman
2008: in house
How many years does Nike use the 'Just do it' tagline? Twenty? Oh, no, Channel 10 will have none of that… I have counted five different taglines the channel used over the years:
2002: The entire country is 10 – (כל המדינה עשר)
2002: That's what TV is for – (בשביל זה יש טלויזיה)
2004: Everyone is already watching 10 – (כולם כבר רואים 10)
2005: TV that speaks to you – (טלויזיה שמדברת אליך)
2006: Changing the picture – (משנה את התמונה)
What? You want more? I feel like I am one bad sweater away from a Mike Levey Amazing Discoveries infomercial… Okay, okay, last one:
In six years, Channel 10 had managed to use three different domains as its main website: israel10.tv, 10.tv and nana10.co.il
6 years, 4 logos, 2 name changes, 5 ad agencies, 5 taglines, 3 websites.
Consistency, thy name is Channel 10.


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Data-furtling execs look to establish cohabiting silos
It's all about contextual relationships
EqualLogic alumni are at it again; running a storage startup to virtually tier data in different silos and extract information simply without complex server analytics software.
Nashua, New Hampshire-based DataGravity is led by Paula Long who co-founded EqualLogic. She and her co-founder John Joseph started up Data Gravity to turn data into information. Joseph was VP Marketing and product management at EqualLogic. Dell bought the company for $1.4 billion in 2008. Joseph served at Dell as VP storage solutions marketing for three years and then quit. Long served as Dell's VP of storage but quit earlier, in 2010. She joined a robotics startup in Boston but left.
Now they are together again, with $12 million initial funding. Long is DataGravity's CEO and Joseph its president. They see several storage silos in existence today; the existing block database data, unstructured data in filers, newer Big Data silos for business intelligence and emerging cloud-based silos for mobile and personal data and for off-site business recovery.
Getting information from the terabytes of data in these silos can need data extraction and processing by complex, server-based analytics software. DataGravity's idea is to form virtual storage tiers with silos co-habiting and being simpler to manage. Secondly it will provide a means to harvest information from this data without the complex, server-based applications needed today.
The company is recruiting for its operating system team and its distributed protocol team. A responsibility of the OS team is to "Develop enhancements, performance optimisations and patches for the Operating System Kernel, including networking, virtual memory, file system, or storage stack in the kernel."
The company reckons "There will be multiple distributed protocols required to complete the DataGravity vision. … In some cases an existing protocol may be the right choice, the Distributed Protocol will be responsible for enhancing these protocols to work with the DataGravity Solution." A responsibility will be to "Design and develop distributed protocols for the DataGravity product. These product will include high speed, low latency data transfer protocols, data access protocols and system management protocols."
A Boston.com report quotes Joseph: "People have been storing bits on disk drives for a long time with very little contextual information about them. We are thinking about the contextual relationship between information, and the solution a person might be looking for."
This suggests much metadata will be stored with the base data, to enable clever filtering and the provision of analytics functions in the DataGravity storage controller. The report then quotes Long; "We'd love not to have to build hardware, but we haven't ruled out creating an accelerator to do analytics on massive amounts of data. We're doing performance studies now to look at that."
Shorthand; think business analytics functionality in a storage array controller unifying data storage across various silos and providing masses of metadata to make the analytics functions simpler and faster. That implies a lot of indexing will be done to generate the metadata. ®
Sponsored: What next after Netezza?


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Marvell Wynne, Rapids defender, takes goals "very personally"
Rapids' defender Marvell Wynne, who has been shifted from right back to center back in the wake of injuries, said this week that the Rapids have reviewed the plays they're getting beat on, and in some cases need to give credit where credit is due.
"I don't think we are a terrible defense, but we are getting scored on quite a bit, so I feel something needs to change," Wynne said.
The Rapids have allowed 15 goals in the last five games, all losses. Wynne has occasionally drifted out of position and missed some key tackles that led to goals during that span.
"As a center back, every single goal that goes in you feel like you could have done something to prevent it," Wynne said. "I take every goal actually very personally. It gets upsetting now."


text: Probably not the right forum but it looks like nobody really uses the housing and home design one anymore. So what works best for you? I'm having a hard time deciding. I like the French door with the freezer on the bottom because the freezer is easy to get to also I can get really close to the fridge to reach stuff in the back. The problem is though I can only use a couple of the shelves since they are all up high. The side by side is alright but I have to open both doors. I don't know I pretty much just decided I like the side by side better lol. What are your thoughts.


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How hard can it be to go back to your old job? Law Yiu Wah (Moses Chan) was a teacher at a dangerous high school before he was forced to resign over a peeping Tom controversy. Wah becomes a police officer but then is asked to go back to his old high school to investigate a triad drug network at the school. Working undercover, Wah meets new teacher Ho Miu Suet (Tavia Yeung) and clashes with Inspector Ching Man Lik (Ron Ng), the liaison officer at the school. Suet tries to boost her students' confidence by bringing in bowling expert Koo Ka Lam (Linda Chung) to teach the kids how to bowl. Knowing Lam's past ties to the triad, Wah takes a special interest in her. Meanwhile, Lik takes a liking to Suet, but she only has eyes for Wah. Can Wah get his job done by keeping his personal feelings in check and without blowing his cover? "Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir!" is a 2011 Hong Kong drama series.
This show does not have any episodes


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Chittagong (chĬt´əgŏng), city (1991 pop. 2,348,428), capital of Chittagong division, SE Bangladesh, on the Karnafuli River near the Bay of Bengal. An important rail terminus and administrative center, it is the chief port of Bangladesh with modern facilities. Jute, tea, and skins and hides are the major exports; imports include cotton and other piece goods, machinery, and construction materials. Offshore oil-receiving installations were set up during the 1960s. Besides an oil refinery and oil-blending plants, the city has large cotton- and jute-processing mills, tea and match factories, chemical and engineering works, an iron and steel mill, and fruit-canning, leather-processing, and shipbuilding industries. Power for Chittagong's industry is supplied by the Karnaphuli hydroelectric project of the inland Hill Tracts District. The city is subject to cyclones (hurricanes); the Nov., 1970, storm was especially deadly and destructive.
The port was known to the civilized world by the early centuries AD and was used by Arakanese, Arab, Persian, Portuguese (who called it Pôrto Grande), and Mughal sailors. Originally part of an ancient Hindu kingdom, Chittagong was conquered (9th cent.) by a Buddhist king of Arakan. It passed (13th cent.) to the Mughal empire, was retaken (16th cent.) by the Arakanese, and again became part of the Mughal empire in the 17th cent. British control began in 1760. The city has notable Hindu temples, Buddhist ruins, several fine examples of Mughal art, a university (founded 1966), and many colleges.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts District, c.5,500 sq mi (14,200 sq km), occupies a narrow inland strip of parallel ranges along the Indian and Myanmarese frontiers. The indigenous inhabitants are members of non-Muslim tribes who are not assimilated with the dominant Bengalis of the lowlands. Valuable timber, bamboo, and cane forests, which cover the upper reaches of the hills, support a paper industry. Cotton, rice, tea, and oilseeds are raised in the valleys between the hills, and hydroelectric stations provide power. The cottage industries of the hill people produce woven cotton goods and bamboo nets and baskets. Since 1973 tribal guerrillas have sought autonomy for the district, as well as the expulsion of of hundreds of thousands of Bangla-speaking settlers.


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Budget- Policy Issues; Ag Economy; EPA- Biofuels; and, Immigration
Budget- Policy Issues
DTN Ag Policy Editor Chris Clayton reported yesterday (link requires subscription) that, "If members of Congress don't like how USDA has to implement budget cuts under the sequester, then they should stop writing the U.S. agriculture secretary letters and instead write a new bill.
"That was U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's advice Wednesday as he talked to reporters about sequester cuts during the USDA Outlook Forum just outside of Washington.
"'It's a bad, bad policy and I think when it was passed the assumption was it was so bad that folks would be reasonable and reach a consensus on an alternative,' Vilsack said. 'And that's what they should do … Rather than write letters and ask me to do things I can't do, how about writing a bill and getting it passed?'"
The DTN article noted that, "'I'm very confident about the future of agriculture,' Vilsack said. 'I think there are manmade risks that we need to resolve — a five-year bill, an answer to the sequester issue, a budget and immigration reform.'"
Mr. Clayton explained that, "Members of Congress and people in the meat industry have cited the 1990s government shutdowns to reflect that meat inspectors were essential employees who were not furloughed during those events in 1995-96. Vilsack said people are 'using an old lens that doesn't fit' when making the comparison with today. Under a budget shutdown event, the executive branch has some authority to keep essential workers on payroll because there is an understanding that eventually the dispute will be settled and money spent will be reimbursed. Under the sequester, it's an actual cut to the budget dollars left for the remainder of the year…[T]he solution, Vilsack said, is for Congress to either provide USDA flexibility to move money around the department or end the sequester with an actual budget agreement."
Reuters writer Charles Abbott reported yesterday that, "Although federal budget cuts are scheduled for March 1, it could be months before a threatened shutdown of U.S. meat plants would occur because of a furlough of meat inspectors, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said on Thursday.
"Vilsack said work rules vary for USDA employees, who get from 30 to as many as 120 days, or four months, notice of impending layoffs."
Mr. Abbott pointed out that, "During a speech to the USDA conference, Vilsack said the meat inspector furlough was 'a risk we now face.'
"'This is a direct prescription from Congress to reduce every line item,' said Vilsack. Afterward, he told reporters that he could not shift money to cover the cost of inspectors nor could he exempt the meat inspection agency from cuts."
In related news, Kelsey Gee reported yesterday at The Wall Street Journal Online that, "Chicken producer Sanderson Farms Inc. said Thursday that its business would face significant disruptions if federal meat inspectors are furloughed because of government spending cuts.
"Sanderson would have to shut down plants if U.S. Department of Agriculture inspectors can't be on hand to supervise operations, the company said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. Federal law requires U.S. meat inspectors to be on site when poultry plants are operating."
In addition, David Kesmodel reported yesterday at The Wall Street Journal Online that, "CME Group Inc. warned its customers Thursday that federal spending cuts set to start March 1 may affect the physical delivery and cash settlements for some livestock and dairy futures contracts."
More broadly on the sequester issue, Reuters writer Mark Felsenthal reported yesterday that, "After weeks without talks on the U.S. budget crisis, President Barack Obama called Republican leaders on Thursday to discuss the harsh 'sequestration' cuts to government spending due to begin in just over a week.
"In what might be just the start of long negotiations to prevent the $85 billion in cuts, Obama spoke to House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The conversations were 'good,' White House spokesman Jay Carney said, but he declined to provide details."
The Reuters article added that, "Republicans want to replace the across-the-board sequester cuts by finding other more-targeted spending reductions.
"But congressional Democrats have put forward a $110 billion plan that includes not only spending cuts but also tax increases, which are opposed by Republicans."
Niels Lesniewski reported yesterday at Roll Call Online that, "The vice chairman of the Republican Conference [Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.,] told a St. Louis radio program that President Barack Obama should embrace the idea of more discretion in implementing the spending cuts required to take effect March 1 under current law.
"'The compromise is to give the president authority that he should be willing to use as the leader of the country to target the cuts rather than to take the cuts on every line item,' Blunt told KMOX. 'These spending cuts are going to occur, and they should occur, and they should be done in the right way instead of the wrong way.'"
Meanwhile, in other developments, a news release earlier this week from Rep. Stephen Fincher (R., Tenn.) stated that, "[Rep. Fincher] announced that he has been placed back on the House Committee on Agriculture. Fincher served on the committee in the previous Congress, and returns to the committee next week.
"'I am pleased to welcome back Stephen to the House Agriculture Committee. He hails from a strong, agricultural district in Tennessee and is a farmer by trade. I'm sure he'll put that experience to good use as we work on issues that are important to production agriculture and rural communities,' said Chairman Frank Lucas."
In Farm Bill related news, Megan R. Wilson reported yesterday at The Hill's RegWatch Blog that, "The Obama administration is taking additional steps to crack down on cash payments for food stamps.
"The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Thursday announced it would take action against the 'bad actors' who abuse the program by extending the legal definition of 'trafficking' to include indirect ways of receiving cash for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits."
In other nutrition related news, Sabrina Tavernise reported in yesterday's New York Times that, "American children consumed fewer calories in 2010 than they did a decade before, a new federal analysis shows. Health experts said the findings offered an encouraging sign that the epidemic of obesity might be easing, but cautioned that the magnitude of the decline was too small to move the needle much."
While Bloomberg writer Stephanie Armour reported earlier this week that, "Adults consumed an average of 11.3 percent of their daily calories from fast food in 2007-2010, a drop from 12.8 percent in 2003-2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said in a report today. The largest proportion of fast food calories consumed was among obese people, the survey shows."
In food safety developments, AP writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Kate Brumback reported yesterday that, "Four former peanut company employees have been charged with scheming to manufacture and ship salmonella-tainted peanuts that killed nine, sickened hundreds and prompted one of the largest recalls in history."
The AP article stated that, "The 76-count indictment was unsealed late Wednesday in federal court in Albany, Ga. It accuses Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell, his brother Michael Parnell and Georgia plant manager Samuel Lightsey with conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and the introduction of adulterated and misbranded food into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead. Michael Parnell was a food broker who worked with the company."
And an update yesterday from National Crop Insurance Services pointed out that, "As the claims come in from one of the worst droughts in decades, farmers and ranchers across the country are receiving indemnity payments for the losses they have incurred. As of February 18, 2013, more than $14.7 billion has been sent to farmers. Farmers will invest more than $4.1 billion to purchase more than 1.2 million crop insurance policies."
Agricultural Economy
Gregory Meyer reported yesterday at The Financial Times Online that, "The US government has painted a bearish outlook [text presentation by USDA Chief Economist Joe Glauber, slide presentation here] for the prices of corn, wheat and soyabean, [related slide] projecting that the country's farm production [related slide] in 2013 will bounce back sharply from the devastation of last year's drought, bringing relief to consumers worldwide.
"Similarly optimistic forecasts a year ago by Joseph Glauber, chief economist at the US Department of Agriculture, were dashed by droughts that led to stunted harvests and record prices by summertime.
"Mr Glauber said in Thursday's crop outlook for 2013 that corn prices could fall a third from the average prices of the current season, while soya could decline more than a quarter, if a return to milder weather allows higher yields."
The FT article noted that, "Analysts worry that the current bearish forecast could be premature as more than half the US mainland remains in drought.
"The drought has moved westward from the central corn belt to plains states such as Kansas, threatening the winter wheat crop.
"However, Mr Glauber said its persistence did not necessarily presage damaging conditions this summer. He estimated this year's corn crop at a record 14.53bn bushels, up 35 per cent from last year. Soyabean production would rebound 13 per cent to 3.41bn bushels."
Reuters writer Charles Abbott reported today that, "The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday projected a rebound in U.S. corn and soybean yields in 2013 that, along with high planted acreage [related slide], opens the door to record-large crops and for prices to tumble from 2012/13 levels."
The Reuters article noted that, "Another year of drought would drive some livestock producers out of business, said Glauber. 'Historical odds favor a rebound in crop yields, however, which should bring significantly lower prices in 2013.'"
Bloomberg writer Alan Bjerga reported yesterday that, "U.S. food inflation may ease later this year as larger crop inventories lessen cost pressures, assuming the worst drought since the 1930s ebbs further, the Agriculture Department's top food economist said.
"The drought led to record corn and soybean prices last year. Cattle futures reached the highest ever and the country's herd dropped to the smallest since 1961 as ranchers culled animals to lower feed costs. Those effects will ease as this year's grain harvests replenish supplies and agribusinesses worry less about shortages, economist Richard Volpe said today at a USDA conference in Arlington, Virginia."
In a closer look at weather variables, Neela Banerjee reported yesterday at the Los Angeles Times Online that, "More than two-thirds of the country is under abnormally dry to exceptional drought conditions [related graph], 'which, although serious, is a slight improvement since fall 2012,' said the National Drought Early Warning Outlook.
"While the report said the drought was over in most of the nation east of the Mississippi River, the portion of the country still facing drought — most of the West and Florida — should expect it 'to persist or intensify'" [related graph].
Also, Reuters writer Carey Gillam reported yesterday that, "The heavy winter snowstorm sweeping across the U.S. midsection was a welcomed event for U.S. winter wheat farmers worried that their drought-stricken fields were too parched to produce a healthy crop this year.
"Nearly a foot or more of snow fell across key growing areas in Oklahoma and Kansas in the last 24 hours, and more was coming."
But the article noted that, "Still, [Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the University of Nebraska Drought Mitigation Center] and wheat agronomy experts said that the ongoing drought has been so pervasive that soil moisture deficits will not be replenished without several large storm systems.
"'This is not going to put a big dent in the drought,' said Fuchs. 'The moisture is welcomed, but is it a drought-buster? No it is not. We need several more storms like this to really start turning the tide.'"
In trade news, yesterday USDA released its "Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade" report, which stated in part that, "Fiscal 2013 agricultural exports are forecast at a record $142 billion, down $3.0 billion from the November forecast, but $6.2 billion above final fiscal 2012 exports…U.S. agricultural imports are forecast at a record $112.5 billion, $2.5 billion lower than the November forecast, but $9.1 billion higher than in fiscal 2012."
On the issue of an EU-US trade deal, Marcel Fratzscher noted in an opinion column yesterday at The Financial Times Online that, "There is a lot of hype about the prospects of an EU-US free trade agreement, especially in the wake of Barack Obama's State of the Union address last week. Supporters point to the benefits such an agreement could bring to both economies. Yet the costs are likely to outweigh the benefits. Most importantly, a transatlantic deal will undermine multilateralism, in particular the long-overdue completion of the Doha round, and weaken multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organisation.
"An FTA will of course bring some benefits to the EU and the US via enhanced trade. The removal of trade barriers might raise the gross domestic product of the EU by €190bn and of the US by €100bn, according to estimates by the German Marshall Fund."
The column pointed out that, "Even these modest estimates are based on the hope that a comprehensive abolition of trade barriers can be achieved. This is more than doubtful, in particular as some of the largest trade barriers erected by the EU are on agricultural products, while the US is a major exporter of agricultural products."
EPA, and, Biofuels
Zack Colman reported yesterday at The Hill's Energy Blog that, "The front-runner to fill the vacancy atop the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pledged to push ahead with actions to confront climate change during a wide-ranging speech Thursday.
"'As President Obama said, climate change is a priority — and we are going to take action,' Gina McCarthy, the EPA Assistant Administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation, told attendees at the Georgetown Climate Center Workshop in Washington, D.C."
Also yesterday, a news release from the American Petroleum Institute (API) stated that, "API and other groups have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court a D.C. Circuit Court decision rejecting a challenge to EPA's grant of partial waivers for use of the ethanol-gasoline blend, E15, API's group director for downstream and industry operations Bob Greco told reporters this morning:
"'We've filed this petition because the D.C. Circuit incorrectly concluded that none of the 17 petitioners had standing to challenge the E15 partial waivers – not the engine manufacturers whose products will run on this new fuel blend, not the petroleum industry who must undertake massive infrastructure changes to accommodate the blend and meet the renewable fuel mandate, and not the food producers who now face significantly greater competition in the commodities market for corn, the conventional feedstock for ethanol.'"
In response, an update yesterday at the Renewable Fuels Association Online noted that, "Commenting on the decision by API and GMA to appeal the E15 case to the Supreme Court, Bob Dinneen, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association, said:
"'Good luck with that. We now know why gas prices keep going up and up – to fund unnecessary Big Oil lawsuits to protect their monopoly on the fuel market. I wonder if food prices will spike as well to cover the cost of this Supreme Court challenge?'"
Meanwhile, AP writer Ryan J. Foley reported earlier this week that, "Regent Bruce Rastetter intervened on behalf of ethanol industry leaders who were upset with a prominent University of Iowa researcher for warning that water-intensive ethanol production was threatening Iowa's water supply, records show."
Laura Meckler reported in today's Wall Street Journal that, "Leading business and union groups announced agreement Thursday on principles to guide talks on immigration legislation, but they failed to resolve some of their most contentious disputes.
"The groups had hoped to negotiate a united position on rules governing the future entry into the U.S. of low-skilled workers—one of many issues that lawmakers and outside groups are trying to work through as Congress considers a broad overhaul of immigration laws.
"The lack of agreement between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO means that senators attempting to write an immigration bill will have to find a compromise on their own on the flow of foreign workers into the country. The lawmakers had hoped for a unified recommendation from the chamber and the labor organization."
Keith Good


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|By Business Wire
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|January 18, 2013 07:12 PM EST
Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc., announced today that Greenway PrimeSUITE 2014 (17.0) is compliant with the ONC 2014 Edition criteria and was certified as an EHR Module on Jan. 15, 2013 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ACB, in accordance with the applicable eligible provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. The ONC 2014 Edition criteria support both Stage 1 and 2 meaningful use measures required to qualify eligible providers and hospitals for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
"We believe this certification puts Greenway at the forefront of EHR companies helping providers achieve Meaningful Use Stage 2," said Tee Green, Greenway® president and chief executive officer. "Just as Stage 1 helped drive innovation, Stage 2 incentives will spur even greater EHR adoption and support for the growing initiatives of coordinated care, consumerism and the evolution towards true value-based medicine in the United States. Greenway plans to achieve Complete EHR certification as soon as possible."
The ONC HIT Certification Program certifies that Complete EHRs meet all of the 2014 Edition criteria and EHR Modules meet one or more — but not all — of the criteria approved by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for either eligible provider or hospital technology. Companies offering ONC HIT certified EHR modules may return to test additional ONC 2014 Edition criteria and certify their products as Complete EHRs later. ONC HIT certification updates will be available at http://www.cchit.org as they occur.
"CCHIT congratulates companies successfully achieving EHR technology certification," said Alisa Ray, executive director, CCHIT. "These companies are now able to make their products available to providers wishing to adopt health IT to demonstrate meaningful use and earn federal incentives."
Greenways PrimeSUITE 2014's certification number is CC-2014-699072-1. ONC HIT certification conferred by CCHIT does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Greenway PrimeSUITE 2014 meets the following certification criteria:
- 170.314(g)(3) Safety-enhanced design
- 170.314(g)(4) Quality management system
About Greenway and PrimeSUITE
Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: GWAY) delivers smarter solutions for smarter healthcare™. PrimeSUITE® — Greenway's certified and fully integrated electronic health record, practice management and interoperability solution — helps improve care coordination, quality and cost-efficiency as part of a smarter, sustainable healthcare system. Customers implementing PrimeSUITE to achieve meaningful use may incur additional costs for any interface, integration, or transactional requirement of customer. Thousands of ambulatory care providers across more than 30 specialties and sub-specialties use cloud-based, remote-hosted or on-premise Greenway® solutions in healthcare enterprises, physician practices and clinics nationwide. For details, see greenwaymedical.com, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube.
About CCHIT
The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) is an independent, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with the public mission of accelerating the adoption of robust, interoperable health information technology. The Commission has been certifying electronic health record technology since 2006 and is authorized by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as a certification body (ONC-ACB). CCHIT is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as a certification body for the ONC HIT Certification Program for electronic health record (EHR) technology and accredited by the National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program (NVLAP) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as an Accredited Testing Laboratory (ATL) to test EHRS. More information on CCHIT and its programs is available at http://cchit.org.
About the ONC HIT Certification Program
The ONC HIT Certification Program, provided by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®) as an Office of the National Coordinator – Authorized Certification Body (ONC-ACB), evaluates EHR technology that has been tested against criteria and standards adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). This certification qualifies EHRs as capable of supporting achievement of meaningful use for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). ONC HIT certification conferred by the Certification Commission does not represent an endorsement of the certified EHR technology by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
"CCHIT®" and "CCHIT Certified®" are registered trademarks of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology.
Forward-Looking Statements
In addition to historical information, this press release may include certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include both implied and express statements regarding the Company's financial condition, growth strategy, business development efforts, service offerings, and service delivery models. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to differ materially from the historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Risks that could affect the Company's future performance include, but are not limited to, our ability to adapt to evolving technology and industry standards; our ability to implement our growth strategy; our ability to retain management and other qualified personnel; failure to prevent disruptions in service or damage to our third-party providers' data centers; failure to avoid liability for the use of content we provide; regulation of the healthcare information technology industry; our ability to ensure our solutions meet industry and government standards; failure to maintain adequate security measures for our customers' confidential information and personal identifiable information and their patients' protected health information; our ability to obtain new provider clients; failure of the HITECH Act and other incentive programs to be fully implemented or funded by the government; our ability to implement our strategic relationships as currently intended; failure to establish, protect or enforce our intellectual property; restrictions in our credit facility and future indebtedness. Further information concerning these and other factors is included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2012. The Company disclaims any obligation or duty to update or modify these forward-looking statements.
Greenway, the Greenway logo and PrimeSUITE are registered trademarks and the phrase "smarter solutions for smarter healthcare" is a trademark of Greenway Medical Technologies, Inc. Other product or company names are the property of their respective owners.
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Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 4, by Edward Gibbon, [1788], at sacred-texts.com
Rebellions Of Africa. - Restoration Of The Gothic Kingdom By Totila. - Loss And Recovery Of Rome. - Final Conquest Of Italy By Narses. - Extinction Of The Ostrogoths. - Defeat Of The Franks And Alemanni. - Last Victory, Disgrace, And Death Of Belisarius. - Death And Character Of Justinian. - Comet, Earthquakes, And Plague.
The review of the nations from the Danube to the Nile has exposed, on every side, the weakness of the Romans; and our wonder is reasonably excited that they should presume to enlarge an empire whose ancient limits they were incapable of defending. But the wars, the conquests, and the triumphs of Justinian, are the feeble and pernicious efforts of old age, which exhaust the remains of strength, and accelerate the decay of the powers of life. He exulted in the glorious act of restoring Africa and Italy to the republic; but the calamities which followed the departure of Belisarius betrayed the impotence of the conqueror, and accomplished the ruin of those unfortunate countries.
From his new acquisitions, Justinian expected that his avarice, as well as pride, should be richly gratified. A rapacious minister of the finances closely pursued the footsteps of Belisarius; and as the old registers of tribute had been burnt by the Vandals, he indulged his fancy in a liberal calculation and arbitrary assessment of the wealth of Africa. 1 The increase of taxes, which were drawn away by a distant sovereign, and a general resumption of the patrimony or crown lands, soon dispelled the intoxication of the public joy: but the emperor was insensible to the modest complaints of the people, till he was awakened and alarmed by the clamors of military discontent. Many of the Roman soldiers had married the widows and daughters of the Vandals. As their own, by the double right of conquest and inheritance, they claimed the estates which Genseric had assigned to his victorious troops. They heard with disdain the cold and selfish representations of their officers, that the liberality of Justinian had raised them from a savage or servile condition; that they were already enriched by the spoils of Africa, the treasure, the slaves, and the movables of the vanquished Barbarians; and that the ancient and lawful patrimony of the emperors would be applied only to the support of that government on which their own safety and reward must ultimately depend. The mutiny was secretly inflamed by a thousand soldiers, for the most part Heruli, who had imbibed the doctrines, and were instigated by the clergy, of the Arian sect; and the cause of perjury and rebellion was sanctified by the dispensing powers of fanaticism. The Arians deplored the ruin of their church, triumphant above a century in Africa; and they were justly provoked by the laws of the conqueror, which interdicted the baptism of their children, and the exercise of all religious worship. Of the Vandals chosen by Belisarius, the far greater part, in the honors of the Eastern service, forgot their country and religion. But a generous band of four hundred obliged the mariners, when they were in sight of the Isle of Lesbos, to alter their course: they touched on Peloponnesus, ran ashore on a desert coast of Africa, and boldly erected, on Mount Aurasius, the standard of independence and revolt. While the troops of the provinces disclaimed the commands of their superiors, a conspiracy was formed at Carthage against the life of Solomon, who filled with honor the place of Belisarius; and the Arians had piously resolved to sacrifice the tyrant at the foot of the altar, during the awful mysteries of the festival of Easter. Fear or remorse restrained the daggers of the assassins, but the patience of Solomon emboldened their discontent; and, at the end of ten days, a furious sedition was kindled in the Circus, which desolated Africa above ten years. The pillage of the city, and the indiscriminate slaughter of its inhabitants, were suspended only by darkness, sleep, and intoxication: the governor, with seven companions, among whom was the historian Procopius, escaped to Sicily: two thirds of the army were involved in the guilt of treason; and eight thousand insurgents, assembling in the field of Bulla, elected Stoza for their chief, a private soldier, who possessed in a superior degree the virtues of a rebel. Under the mask of freedom, his eloquence could lead, or at least impel, the passions of his equals. He raised himself to a level with Belisarius, and the nephew of the emperor, by daring to encounter them in the field; and the victorious generals were compelled to acknowledge that Stoza deserved a purer cause, and a more legitimate command. Vanquished in battle, he dexterously employed the arts of negotiation; a Roman army was seduced from their allegiance, and the chiefs who had trusted to his faithless promise were murdered by his order in a church of Numidia. When every resource, either of force or perfidy, was exhausted, Stoza, with some desperate Vandals, retired to the wilds of Mauritania, obtained the daughter of a Barbarian prince, and eluded the pursuit of his enemies, by the report of his death. The personal weight of Belisarius, the rank, the spirit, and the temper, of Germanus, the emperor's nephew, and the vigor and success of the second administration of the eunuch Solomon, restored the modesty of the camp, and maintained for a while the tranquillity of Africa. But the vices of the Byzantine court were felt in that distant province; the troops complained that they were neither paid nor relieved, and as soon as the public disorders were sufficiently mature, Stoza was again alive, in arms, and at the gates of Carthage. He fell in a single combat, but he smiled in the agonies of death, when he was informed that his own javelin had reached the heart of his antagonist. *_0034 The example of Stoza, and the assurance that a fortunate soldier had been the first king, encouraged the ambition of Gontharis, and he promised, by a private treaty, to divide Africa with the Moors, if, with their dangerous aid, he should ascend the throne of Carthage. The feeble Areobindus, unskilled in the affairs of peace and war, was raised, by his marriage with the niece of Justinian, to the office of exarch. He was suddenly oppressed by a sedition of the guards, and his abject supplications, which provoked the contempt, could not move the pity, of the inexorable tyrant. After a reign of thirty days, Gontharis himself was stabbed at a banquet by the hand of Artaban; **_0034 and it is singular enough, that an Armenian prince, of the royal family of Arsaces, should reestablish at Carthage the authority of the Roman empire. In the conspiracy which unsheathed the dagger of Brutus against the life of Caesar, every circumstance is curious and important to the eyes of posterity; but the guilt or merit of these loyal or rebellious assassins could interest only the contemporaries of Procopius, who, by their hopes and fears, their friendship or resentment, were personally engaged in the revolutions of Africa. 2
That country was rapidly sinking into the state of barbarism from whence it had been raised by the Phoenician colonies and Roman laws; and every step of intestine discord was marked by some deplorable victory of savage man over civilized society. The Moors, 3 though ignorant of justice, were impatient of oppression: their vagrant life and boundless wilderness disappointed the arms, and eluded the chains, of a conqueror; and experience had shown, that neither oaths nor obligations could secure the fidelity of their attachment. The victory of Mount Auras had awed them into momentary submission; but if they respected the character of Solomon, they hated and despised the pride and luxury of his two nephews, Cyrus and Sergius, on whom their uncle had imprudently bestowed the provincial governments of Tripoli and Pentapolis. A Moorish tribe encamped under the walls of Leptis, to renew their alliance, and receive from the governor the customary gifts. Fourscore of their deputies were introduced as friends into the city; but on the dark suspicion of a conspiracy, they were massacred at the table of Sergius, and the clamor of arms and revenge was reechoed through the valleys of Mount Atlas from both the Syrtes to the Atlantic Ocean. A personal injury, the unjust execution or murder of his brother, rendered Antalas the enemy of the Romans. The defeat of the Vandals had formerly signalized his valor; the rudiments of justice and prudence were still more conspicuous in a Moor; and while he laid Adrumetum in ashes, he calmly admonished the emperor that the peace of Africa might be secured by the recall of Solomon and his unworthy nephews. The exarch led forth his troops from Carthage: but, at the distance of six days' journey, in the neighborhood of Tebeste, 4 he was astonished by the superior numbers and fierce aspect of the Barbarians. He proposed a treaty; solicited a reconciliation; and offered to bind himself by the most solemn oaths. "By what oaths can he bind himself?" interrupted the indignant Moors. "Will he swear by the Gospels, the divine books of the Christians? It was on those books that the faith of his nephew Sergius was pledged to eighty of our innocent and unfortunate brethren. Before we trust them a second time, let us try their efficacy in the chastisement of perjury and the vindication of their own honor." Their honor was vindicated in the field of Tebeste, by the death of Solomon, and the total loss of his army. *_0035 The arrival of fresh troops and more skilful commanders soon checked the insolence of the Moors: seventeen of their princes were slain in the same battle; and the doubtful and transient submission of their tribes was celebrated with lavish applause by the people of Constantinople. Successive inroads had reduced the province of Africa to one third of the measure of Italy; yet the Roman emperors continued to reign above a century over Carthage and the fruitful coast of the Mediterranean. But the victories and the losses of Justinian were alike pernicious to mankind; and such was the desolation of Africa, that in many parts a stranger might wander whole days without meeting the face either of a friend or an enemy. The nation of the Vandals had disappeared: they once amounted to a hundred and sixty thousand warriors, without including the children, the women, or the slaves. Their numbers were infinitely surpassed by the number of the Moorish families extirpated in a relentless war; and the same destruction was retaliated on the Romans and their allies, who perished by the climate, their mutual quarrels, and the rage of the Barbarians. When Procopius first landed, he admired the populousness of the cities and country, strenuously exercised in the labors of commerce and agriculture. In less than twenty years, that busy scene was converted into a silent solitude; the wealthy citizens escaped to Sicily and Constantinople; and the secret historian has confidently affirmed, that five millions of Africans were consumed by the wars and government of the emperor Justinian. 5
The jealousy of the Byzantine court had not permitted Belisarius to achieve the conquest of Italy; and his abrupt departure revived the courage of the Goths, 6 who respected his genius, his virtue, and even the laudable motive which had urged the servant of Justinian to deceive and reject them. They had lost their king, (an inconsiderable loss,) their capital, their treasures, the provinces from Sicily to the Alps, and the military force of two hundred thousand Barbarians, magnificently equipped with horses and arms. Yet all was not lost, as long as Pavia was defended by one thousand Goths, inspired by a sense of honor, the love of freedom, and the memory of their past greatness. The supreme command was unanimously offered to the brave Uraias; and it was in his eyes alone that the disgrace of his uncle Vitiges could appear as a reason of exclusion. His voice inclined the election in favor of Hildibald, whose personal merit was recommended by the vain hope that his kinsman Theudes, the Spanish monarch, would support the common interest of the Gothic nation. The success of his arms in Liguria and Venetia seemed to justify their choice; but he soon declared to the world that he was incapable of forgiving or commanding his benefactor. The consort of Hildibald was deeply wounded by the beauty, the riches, and the pride, of the wife of Uraias; and the death of that virtuous patriot excited the indignation of a free people. A bold assassin executed their sentence by striking off the head of Hildibald in the midst of a banquet; the Rugians, a foreign tribe, assumed the privilege of election: and Totila, *_0036 the nephew of the late king, was tempted, by revenge, to deliver himself and the garrison of Trevigo into the hands of the Romans. But the gallant and accomplished youth was easily persuaded to prefer the Gothic throne before the service of Justinian; and as soon as the palace of Pavia had been purified from the Rugian usurper, he reviewed the national force of five thousand soldiers, and generously undertook the restoration of the kingdom of Italy.
The successors of Belisarius, eleven generals of equal rank, neglected to crush the feeble and disunited Goths, till they were roused to action by the progress of Totila and the reproaches of Justinian. The gates of Verona were secretly opened to Artabazus, at the head of one hundred Persians in the service of the empire. The Goths fled from the city. At the distance of sixty furlongs the Roman generals halted to regulate the division of the spoil. While they disputed, the enemy discovered the real number of the victors: the Persians were instantly overpowered, and it was by leaping from the wall that Artabazus preserved a life which he lost in a few days by the lance of a Barbarian, who had defied him to single combat. Twenty thousand Romans encountered the forces of Totila, near Faenza, and on the hills of Mugello, of the Florentine territory. The ardor of freedmen, who fought to regain their country, was opposed to the languid temper of mercenary troops, who were even destitute of the merits of strong and well-disciplined servitude. On the first attack, they abandoned their ensigns, threw down their arms, and dispersed on all sides with an active speed, which abated the loss, whilst it aggravated the shame, of their defeat. The king of the Goths, who blushed for the baseness of his enemies, pursued with rapid steps the path of honor and victory. Totila passed the Po, *_0037 traversed the Apennine, suspended the important conquest of Ravenna, Florence, and Rome, and marched through the heart of Italy, to form the siege or rather the blockade, of Naples. The Roman chiefs, imprisoned in their respective cities, and accusing each other of the common disgrace, did not presume to disturb his enterprise. But the emperor, alarmed by the distress and danger of his Italian conquests, despatched to the relief of Naples a fleet of galleys and a body of Thracian and Armenian soldiers. They landed in Sicily, which yielded its copious stores of provisions; but the delays of the new commander, an unwarlike magistrate, protracted the sufferings of the besieged; and the succors, which he dropped with a timid and tardy hand, were successively intercepted by the armed vessels stationed by Totila in the Bay of Naples. The principal officer of the Romans was dragged, with a rope round his neck, to the foot of the wall, from whence, with a trembling voice, he exhorted the citizens to implore, like himself, the mercy of the conqueror. They requested a truce, with a promise of surrendering the city, if no effectual relief should appear at the end of thirty days. Instead of one month, the audacious Barbarian granted them three, in the just confidence that famine would anticipate the term of their capitulation. After the reduction of Naples and Cumae, the provinces of Lucania, Apulia, and Calabria, submitted to the king of the Goths. Totila led his army to the gates of Rome, pitched his camp at Tibur, or Tivoli, within twenty miles of the capital, and calmly exhorted the senate and people to compare the tyranny of the Greeks with the blessings of the Gothic reign.
The rapid success of Totila may be partly ascribed to the revolution which three years' experience had produced in the sentiments of the Italians. At the command, or at least in the name, of a Catholic emperor, the pope, 7 their spiritual father, had been torn from the Roman church, and either starved or murdered on a desolate island. 8 The virtues of Belisarius were replaced by the various or uniform vices of eleven chiefs, at Rome, Ravenna, Florence, Perugia, Spoleto, &c., who abused their authority for the indulgence of lust or avarice. The improvement of the revenue was committed to Alexander, a subtle scribe, long practised in the fraud and oppression of the Byzantine schools, and whose name of Psalliction, the scissors, 9 was drawn from the dexterous artifice with which he reduced the size without defacing the figure, of the gold coin. Instead of expecting the restoration of peace and industry, he imposed a heavy assessment on the fortunes of the Italians. Yet his present or future demands were less odious than a prosecution of arbitrary rigor against the persons and property of all those who, under the Gothic kings, had been concerned in the receipt and expenditure of the public money. The subjects of Justinian, who escaped these partial vexations, were oppressed by the irregular maintenance of the soldiers, whom Alexander defrauded and despised; and their hasty sallies in quest of wealth, or subsistence, provoked the inhabitants of the country to await or implore their deliverance from the virtues of a Barbarian. Totila 10 was chaste and temperate; and none were deceived, either friends or enemies, who depended on his faith or his clemency. To the husbandmen of Italy the Gothic king issued a welcome proclamation, enjoining them to pursue their important labors, and to rest assured, that, on the payment of the ordinary taxes, they should be defended by his valor and discipline from the injuries of war. The strong towns he successively attacked; and as soon as they had yielded to his arms, he demolished the fortifications, to save the people from the calamities of a future siege, to deprive the Romans of the arts of defence, and to decide the tedious quarrel of the two nations, by an equal and honorable conflict in the field of battle. The Roman captives and deserters were tempted to enlist in the service of a liberal and courteous adversary; the slaves were attracted by the firm and faithful promise, that they should never be delivered to their masters; and from the thousand warriors of Pavia, a new people, under the same appellation of Goths, was insensibly formed in the camp of Totila. He sincerely accomplished the articles of capitulation, without seeking or accepting any sinister advantage from ambiguous expressions or unforeseen events: the garrison of Naples had stipulated that they should be transported by sea; the obstinacy of the winds prevented their voyage, but they were generously supplied with horses, provisions, and a safe-conduct to the gates of Rome. The wives of the senators, who had been surprised in the villas of Campania, were restored, without a ransom, to their husbands; the violation of female chastity was inexorably chastised with death; and in the salutary regulation of the edict of the famished Neapolitans, the conqueror assumed the office of a humane and attentive physician. The virtues of Totila are equally laudable, whether they proceeded from true policy, religious principle, or the instinct of humanity: he often harangued his troops; and it was his constant theme, that national vice and ruin are inseparably connected; that victory is the fruit of moral as well as military virtue; and that the prince, and even the people, are responsible for the crimes which they neglect to punish.
The return of Belisarius to save the country which he had subdued, was pressed with equal vehemence by his friends and enemies; and the Gothic war was imposed as a trust or an exile on the veteran commander. A hero on the banks of the Euphrates, a slave in the palace of Constantinople, he accepted with reluctance the painful task of supporting his own reputation, and retrieving the faults of his successors. The sea was open to the Romans: the ships and soldiers were assembled at Salona, near the palace of Diocletian: he refreshed and reviewed his troops at Pola in Istria, coasted round the head of the Adriatic, entered the port of Ravenna, and despatched orders rather than supplies to the subordinate cities. His first public oration was addressed to the Goths and Romans, in the name of the emperor, who had suspended for a while the conquest of Persia, and listened to the prayers of his Italian subjects. He gently touched on the causes and the authors of the recent disasters; striving to remove the fear of punishment for the past, and the hope of impunity for the future, and laboring, with more zeal than success, to unite all the members of his government in a firm league of affection and obedience. Justinian, his gracious master, was inclined to pardon and reward; and it was their interest, as well as duty, to reclaim their deluded brethren, who had been seduced by the arts of the usurper. Not a man was tempted to desert the standard of the Gothic king. Belisarius soon discovered, that he was sent to remain the idle and impotent spectator of the glory of a young Barbarian; and his own epistle exhibits a genuine and lively picture of the distress of a noble mind. "Most excellent prince, we are arrived in Italy, destitute of all the necessary implements of war, men, horses, arms, and money. In our late circuit through the villages of Thrace and Illyricum, we have collected, with extreme difficulty, about four thousand recruits, naked, and unskilled in the use of weapons and the exercises of the camp. The soldiers already stationed in the province are discontented, fearful, and dismayed; at the sound of an enemy, they dismiss their horses, and cast their arms on the ground. No taxes can be raised, since Italy is in the hands of the Barbarians; the failure of payment has deprived us of the right of command, or even of admonition. Be assured, dread Sir, that the greater part of your troops have already deserted to the Goths. If the war could be achieved by the presence of Belisarius alone, your wishes are satisfied; Belisarius is in the midst of Italy. But if you desire to conquer, far other preparations are requisite: without a military force, the title of general is an empty name. It would be expedient to restore to my service my own veteran and domestic guards. Before I can take the field, I must receive an adequate supply of light and heavy armed troops; and it is only with ready money that you can procure the indispensable aid of a powerful body of the cavalry of the Huns." 11 An officer in whom Belisarius confided was sent from Ravenna to hasten and conduct the succors; but the message was neglected, and the messenger was detained at Constantinople by an advantageous marriage. After his patience had been exhausted by delay and disappointment, the Roman general repassed the Adriatic, and expected at Dyrrachium the arrival of the troops, which were slowly assembled among the subjects and allies of the empire. His powers were still inadequate to the deliverance of Rome, which was closely besieged by the Gothic king. The Appian way, a march of forty days, was covered by the Barbarians; and as the prudence of Belisarius declined a battle, he preferred the safe and speedy navigation of five days from the coast of Epirus to the mouth of the Tyber.
After reducing, by force, or treaty, the towns of inferior note in the midland provinces of Italy, Totila proceeded, not to assault, but to encompass and starve, the ancient capital. Rome was afflicted by the avarice, and guarded by the valor, of Bessas, a veteran chief of Gothic extraction, who filled, with a garrison of three thousand soldiers, the spacious circle of her venerable walls. From the distress of the people he extracted a profitable trade, and secretly rejoiced in the continuance of the siege. It was for his use that the granaries had been replenished: the charity of Pope Vigilius had purchased and embarked an ample supply of Sicilian corn; but the vessels which escaped the Barbarians were seized by a rapacious governor, who imparted a scanty sustenance to the soldiers, and sold the remainder to the wealthy Romans. The medimnus, or fifth part of the quarter of wheat, was exchanged for seven pieces of gold; fifty pieces were given for an ox, a rare and accidental prize; the progress of famine enhanced this exorbitant value, and the mercenaries were tempted to deprive themselves of the allowance which was scarcely sufficient for the support of life. A tasteless and unwholesome mixture, in which the bran thrice exceeded the quantity of flour, appeased the hunger of the poor; they were gradually reduced to feed on dead horses, dogs, cats, and mice, and eagerly to snatch the grass, and even the nettles, which grew among the ruins of the city. A crowd of spectres, pale and emaciated, their bodies oppressed with disease, and their minds with despair, surrounded the palace of the governor, urged, with unavailing truth, that it was the duty of a master to maintain his slaves, and humbly requested that he would provide for their subsistence, to permit their flight, or command their immediate execution. Bessas replied, with unfeeling tranquillity, that it was impossible to feed, unsafe to dismiss, and unlawful to kill, the subjects of the emperor. Yet the example of a private citizen might have shown his countrymen that a tyrant cannot withhold the privilege of death. Pierced by the cries of five children, who vainly called on their father for bread, he ordered them to follow his steps, advanced with calm and silent despair to one of the bridges of the Tyber, and, covering his face, threw himself headlong into the stream, in the presence of his family and the Roman people. To the rich and pusillammous, Bessas 12 sold the permission of departure; but the greatest part of the fugitives expired on the public highways, or were intercepted by the flying parties of Barbarians. In the mean while, the artful governor soothed the discontent, and revived the hopes of the Romans, by the vague reports of the fleets and armies which were hastening to their relief from the extremities of the East. They derived more rational comfort from the assurance that Belisarius had landed at the port; and, without numbering his forces, they firmly relied on the humanity, the courage, and the skill of their great deliverer.
1 For the troubles of Africa, I neither have nor desire another guide than Procopius, whose eye contemplated the image, and whose ear collected the reports, of the memorable events of his own times. In the second book of the Vandalic war he relates the revolt of Stoza, (c. 14 - 24,) the return of Belisarius, (c. 15,) the victory of Germanus, (c. 16, 17, 18,) the second administration of Solomon, (c. 19, 20, 21,) the government of Sergius, (c. 22, 23,) of Areobindus, (c. 24,) the tyranny and death of Gontharis, (c. 25, 26, 27, 28;) nor can I discern any symptoms of flattery or malevolence in his various portraits.
*_0034 Corippus gives a different account of the death of Stoza; he was transfixed by an arrow from the hand of John, (not the hero of his poem) who broke desperately through the victorious troops of the enemy. Stoza repented, says the poet, of his treasonous rebellion, and anticipated - another Cataline - eternal torments as his punishment.
Reddam, improba, poenas Quas merui. Furiis socius Catilina cruentis Exagitatus adest. Video jam Tartara, fundo Flammarumque globos, et clara incendia volvi.
Johannidos, book iv. line 211.
All the other authorities confirm Gibbon's account of the death of John by the hand of Stoza. This poem of Corippus, unknown to Gibbon, was first published by Mazzuchelli during the present century, and is reprinted in the new edition of the Byzantine writers. - M
**_0034 This murder was prompted to the Armenian (according to Corippus) by Athanasius, (then praefect of Africa.)
Hunc placidus cana gravitate coegit Inumitera mactare virum. - Corripus, vol. iv. p. 237 - M.
2 Yet I must not refuse him the merit of painting, in lively colors, the murder of Gontharis. One of the assassins uttered a sentiment not unworthy of a Roman patriot: "If I fail," said Artasires, "in the first stroke, kill me on the spot, lest the rack should extort a discovery of my accomplices."
3 The Moorish wars are occasionally introduced into the narrative of Procopius, (Vandal. l. ii. c. 19 - 23, 25, 27, 28. Gothic. l. iv. c. 17;) and Theophanes adds some prosperous and adverse events in the last years of Justinian.
4 Now Tibesh, in the kingdom of Algiers. It is watered by a river, the Sujerass, which falls into the Mejerda, (Bagradas.) Tibesh is still remarkable for its walls of large stones, (like the Coliseum of Rome,) a fountain, and a grove of walnut-trees: the country is fruitful, and the neighboring Bereberes are warlike. It appears from an inscription, that, under the reign of Adrian, the road from Carthage to Tebeste was constructed by the third legion, (Marmol, Description de l'Afrique, tom. ii. p. 442, 443. Shaw's Travels, p. 64, 65, 66.)
*_0035 Corripus (Johannidos lib. iii. 417 - 441) describes the defeat and death of Solomon. - M.
5 Procopius, Anecdot. c. 18. The series of the African history at tests this melancholy truth.
6 In the second (c. 30) and third books, (c. 1 - 40,) Procopius continues the history of the Gothic war from the fifth to the fifteenth year of Justinian. As the events are less interesting than in the former period, he allots only half the space to double the time. Jornandes, and the Chronicle of Marcellinus, afford some collateral hints Sigonius, Pagi, Muratori, Mascou, and De Buat, are useful, and have been used.
*_0036 His real name, as appears by medals, was Baduilla, or Badiula. Totila signifies immortal: tod (in German) is death. Todilas, deathless. Compare St Martin, vol. ix. p. 37. - M.
*_0037 This is not quite correct: he had crossed the Po before the battle of Faenza. - M.
7 Sylverius, bishop of Rome, was first transported to Patara, in Lycia, and at length starved (sub eorum custodia inedia confectus) in the Isle of Palmaria, A.D. 538, June 20, (Liberat. in Breviar. c. 22. Anastasius, in Sylverio. Baronius, A.D. 540, No. 2, 3. Pagi, in Vit. Pont. tom. i. p. 285, 286.) Procopius (Anecdot. c. 1) accuses only the empress and Antonina.
8 Palmaria, a small island, opposite to Terracina and the coast of the Volsci, (Cluver. Ital. Antiq. l. iii. c. 7, p. 1014.)
9 As the Logothete Alexander, and most of his civil and military colleagues, were either disgraced or despised, the ink of the Anecdotes (c. 4, 5, 18) is scarcely blacker than that of the Gothic History (l. iii. c. 1, 3, 4, 9, 20, 21, &c.)
10 Procopius (l. iii. c. 2, 8, &c.,) does ample and willing justice to the merit of Totila. The Roman historians, from Sallust and Tacitus were happy to forget the vices of their countrymen in the contemplation of Barbaric virtue.
11 Procopius, l. iii. c. 12. The soul of a hero is deeply impressed on the letter; nor can we confound such genuine and original acts with the elaborate and often empty speeches of the Byzantine historians
12 The avarice of Bessas is not dissembled by Procopius, (l. iii. c. 17, 20.) He expiated the loss of Rome by the glorious conquest of Petraea, (Goth. l. iv. c. 12;) but the same vices followed him from the Tyber to the Phasis, (c. 13;) and the historian is equally true to the merits and defects of his character. The chastisement which the author of the romance of Belisaire has inflicted on the oppressor of Rome is more agreeable to justice than to history.


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November 15, 2019South Africa
Recent attacks that appeared to target immigrants have underscored South Africa's struggle to combat violence and limit tensions with the rest of the region.
October 4, 2019Japan
The United States and Japan have agreed to a trade deal, but critics say the deal isn't as good as what it replaced.
September 9, 2019Afghanistan
President Trump's announcement to halt peace talks in Afghanistan gives U.S. negotiators a chance to correct three critical mistakes.
July 18, 2019United States
If the Trump administration succeeds in securing citizenship data, the 2020 census could transform the way in which political power is distributed in the United States.
May 14, 2019South Africa
The African National Congress, which has governed since the end of apartheid, won again in May's national election. But a growing opposition will watch to see whether it can revive the economy and cu…
June 13, 2019Democratic Republic of Congo
An outbreak in the DRC has spread to neighboring Uganda, and conflict and mistrust of health workers is impeding international efforts to contain the disease.
February 8, 2019Nigeria
The Giant of Africa's next president will have to contend with daunting security and economic challenges.
February 14, 2019Russia
Congress is considering a bill that could punish countries for artificially boosting oil prices. What could that mean for warming ties between Russia and Saudi Arabia?
December 20, 2018Democratic Republic of Congo
A long-awaited election in the Democratic Republic of Congo offers hope for the country's first democratic transition, but a contested result could incite turmoil.
November 29, 2018Russia
The United States and Russia are at odds on so many issues that the upcoming summit could convince their two presidents to give up on better relations and accept estrangement.


text:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The MIT women's tennis team got back into action on Saturday afternoon and does not seem to have lost a step. The Engineers swept the New York University Violets 9-0 at JB Carr Tennis Bubble.
NEWMAC player of the year Lauren Quisenberry beat Elizabeth Stachtiari 6-1, 6-4 at first singles and won over Stachtiaris and Ariel Sultan 8-2 at first doubles, where she now is paired with Candace Wu.
Sultan was defeated by Julia Hsu 6-4, 6-2 at third singles, while Wu won her second singles match by a pair of 6-2 sets. Hsu and Bianca Dumitrascu beat Liz Feldman and Lisa Mijovic 8-4 at second doubles, while the pair of Melissa Diskin and Katie O'Neal had no trouble winning their third doubles match by a clean 8-0 sweep.
Dumitrascu also beat Mijovic in the fourth singles slot (6-3, 6-4). O'Neal and Diskin also beat their doubles opponents in singles play. O'Neal beat Ramya Pokala 7-6, 6-4 at fifth singles, while Diskin took care of Sara Joo 6-0, 6-4.
MIT improved their record to 7-4 on the season. They will play March 12th at Colby College before preparing for a spring break trip to Los Angeles, California. The Violets drop to 0-3 on the season and will return to action on March 25th at The College of New Jersey.
Parts of Release Courtesy of NYU Sports Information Department
Massachusetts Inst. Technology 9, New York University 0
Mar 04, 2011 at Cambridge, Mass. (JB Carr Tennis Bubble)
Singles competition
1. Lauren Quisenberry (MIT) def. Elizabeth Stachtiari (NYUW) 6-1, 6-4
2. Candace Wu (MIT) def. Liz Feldman (NYUW) 6-2, 6-2
3. Julia Hsu (MIT) def. Ariel Sultan (NYUW) 6-4, 6-2
4. Bianca Dumitrascu (MIT) def. Lisa Mijovic (NYUW) 6-3, 6-4
5. Katie O'Neal (MIT) def. Ramya Pokala (NYUW) 7-6, 6-4
6. Melissa Diskin (MIT) def. Sara Joo (NYUW) 6-0, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. Lauren Quisenberry/Candace Wu (MIT) def. Elizabeth Stachtiari/Ariel Sultan (NYUW) 8-2
2. Julia Hsu/Bianca Dumitrascu (MIT) def. Liz Feldman/Lisa Mijovic (NYUW) 8-4
3. Melissa Diskin/Katie O'Neal (MIT) def. Ramya Pokala/Sara Joo (NYUW) 8-0


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Job Report: U.S. Added 204,000 Jobs in October, Despite Shutdown
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — What shutdown? Job growth unexpectedly surged in October, even as the federal government closed its doors for 16 days.
The U.S. economy added 204,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That was well above economists' expectations. There was more good news about hiring during the late summer. Revisions showed an extra 60,000 jobs were created in August and September.
Economists were expecting weak job growth, due to uncertainties created by the budget battles in Washington. But the Labor Department noted "there were no discernible impacts of the partial federal government shutdown on the estimates."
The jobs report also showed the unemployment rate rose slightly to 7.3%, up from 7.2% in September, but economists expect this to be a passing blip. Furloughed federal workers may have been counted as being on temporary layoff, and the next jobs report, due on December 6, will probably show these people were back at work in November.
Still the picture isn't completely rosy. About 11.3 million Americans remained unemployed in October — 4 million of whom have been out of work for at least six months.
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Greetings All;
The Canine2 Iron Dog Competition is back again. Hopefully all you old competitors can still complete the course. After a two year lay off we have constantly been questioned on when were we going to do it again. The competition will take place in October. tentatively the 23 and 24th October. Please mark your calendars for this fun, exciting and grueling event. All proceeds will be doted to the FOSCIK Orphaned Children's Shelter. I miss you all and can't wait to see you again. More information coming soon.
so... I asked what it was like and got this response:
Hi Michelle,
Sarge's Iron Dog competition is more of a "walk in the park" for the dogs, but it kicks our human butts (and least us old, out of shape ones!)
It's held near Chicago at the State Forest Preserve. You wait your turn, as they send someone every 2 minutes or so. You have to run down a hill to cross a "stream", or raging river depending on much rain has fallen recently. We've been when it was ankle deep, as well as armpit deep on me, and I'm tall, so it was probably over Cheryl's head. Once you cross the stream, you have to climb this steep f***ing hill. When you are all wet and not the first one through the couse, it gets very slippery and slimy. Go down the other side and yes....you have to cross the stream two more times. This time there are no banks to speak of, so you claw at roots after you have lifted your dog on to dry land, to try and get your fat butt out. You finally get a breather as you jog down a paved path and then back into the woods. When you come out of the woods there is a shooting station, where you need to hold onto your dog and shoot two shots with a paintball gun at a target and hit it. Then on to the "carry". You have the choice of either carrying your dog a hellish long way or a 20# sack of potatoes. (One lady that would have gotten blown away in a strong wind carried her 150# great dane!) Then there is an a-frame that you both need to climb over, and an agility dog walk. Then comes the smelly tarp. They have it bungied down to the ground so tight, you have no choice but to crawl on your belly. Again, if you are not near the front of the pack, then it gets pretty smelly and slimey. On to a tire course, where you know, you have to pick your feel up and put them down in each tire. Done a few face plants here. Then you go back into the woods and come out in a clearing where you get your one and only sleeve bite on the course. Back on to the trail until you come up to 2 or three jumps. Jump your dog over these, slog through a swamp and then to the home stretch where your lungs are screaming, your calves are cramping and you have to get down one more time and crawl through a low-to-the-ground cage with your dog. You stagger up and throw yourself across the finish line. Oxygen tanks and water are handed to you as well as several pats on the backs and lots of cheers.
I believe it is around 2 miles total and is an awesome bonding experience with your dog. Maybe Carole Field can post some pictures of previous Iron Dog. I remeber one of Cheryl crawling through the last cage wearing her "chemo cap". Of course, we were all in tears that year when she finished the course.
I might have missed a station or two, but that is the best of my recollection and Paul and I have done it 3 or 4 times. We proudly have our "Turtle Awards" to show for it!!
So... who wants to go play?


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- Type: Bass
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- Description: This is a 1976 4001. It was completely reworked & refinished in sonic blue by Pat Wilkins in L.A. Custom made pick guard and TRC by Thomas Ryan.
- Vintage Guitar? Yes
Rickenbacher 4001
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It was the famous clinical psychologist and celebrity researcher Jim Houran who once said that "powerful people tend to gravitate toward other powerful people." When it comes to celebrity couples, one plus one equals millions – $283 million, to be precise, the estimated combined sum earned by The World's Highest-Paid Celebrity Couples between May 2010 and May 2011, according to data from the latest Celebrity 100 list.
Coming first on our ranking is the powerful duo formed by supermodel Gisele Bundchen and NFL superstar Tom Brady. Thanks to a monster year filled with fashion and endorsement deals, not to mention a few business ventures that could put her on the road to becoming the world's first billionaire supermodel, Bundchen pocketed a massive $45 million over the 12-month period. Not to be overshadowed by his more famous wife, Brady – who signed a four-year, $72 million contract extension in September with the New England Patriots, NFL's richest deal on an annual basis – brought home another $31 million, putting the couple's combined annual earnings at $76 million.
Music's most powerful couple, Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z hauled in some $72 million over the past year, making them No. 2 on our list. The Houston-born R&B diva pulled in $35 million, thanks mostly to business-focused deals such as a clothing line with Dereon and endorsement deals with L'Oreal, DirecTV, General Mills and others. As for Jay-Z, his earnings come from the 10-year $150 million Live Nation deal that he signed in 2008 and the cash he collects as a shareholder in New Jersey Nets, 40/40 Club chain and ad firm Translation.
Hollywood royalty Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt came in third place on our list, with a combined $50 million annual income. The highest-paid actress in the world is the only woman making bank for playing action heroes in Tinseltown these days: Salt, which was originally written for Tom Cruise, earned $300 million at the box office. Her other movie from last year, The Tourist, made another $280 million worldwide. As a result, Jolie folded about $30 million last year, while her husband, Brad Pitt, cashed in some $20 million. With his Plan B production company, Pitt has become as active a producer as he is an actor. But don't write him off the big screen just yet, as his latest movie appearance (on Terrence Malick's The Tree Of Life) is already generating Oscar buzz.
Apart from the fact that he is yet to popularize soccer in America, David Beckham, along with his former Spice Girl wife Victoria, are the world's fourth Highest-Paid Celebrity couple, with combined earnings of $45 million between May 2010 and May 2011. Beckham's pitch prowess has declined in recent years as the 36-year-old's career winds down, but he still collects big endorsement checks from companies like Adidas and, more recently, Samsung, for which he will be the global brand ambassador during the 2012 Olympic Games in London. His pay check last year: $40 million. Victoria, which is better known on this side of the Atlantic by her nickname Posh, responds for the other $5 million from the couple's annual income, thanks to the percentage of sales that she collects from her fashion lines of wool dresses and $3,000 purses.
Coming last, but not least, is Twilight's Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, who have both earned $20 million last year thanks to the franchise's global success, making their combined annual salary $40 million. With the end of the Twilight franchise in sight, they both are preparing for a post-vampire career. Pattinson has taken the lead in more "serious" projects, like Remember Me, which earned $56 million on a budget of $16 million. In the meantime, Stewart's non-Twilight career hasn't been as promising as her co-star and real-life boyfriend's so far. Her 2010 film The Runaways grossed only $4.6 million at the box office. But there's still hope for Stewart: next year she will be seen in cinemas playing the leading role in the film Snow White and the Huntsman.