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The Gunther Report
Why sustainability is a team sport
Editor's note: Read earlier reports from the GreenBiz Forum New York Day 1 from GreenBiz Senior Writers Marc Gunther here and Heather Clancy here.
One of the great virtues of market capitalism is that power is widely dispersed -- among consumers, corporate executives, investors and regulators. Lots of people get lots of votes that collectively shape business, and that's good. But decentralization creates a daunting problem for anyone who cares about corporate sustainability: It's terribly hard to get things done.
In conversations today at the GreenBiz Forum in New York, people who could be described as powerful---executives with big titles (vice chairman, vice president, CEO) at big institutions (NASDAQ, McDonald's and Ingram Barge, America's biggest barge company) -- all lamented the limits on their influence over what their companies do, let along how their industries change.
This is why sustainability has to be a team sport. Very few people -- or companies -- can do much on their own.
Take Bob Langert, vice president for corporate responsibility at McDonald's, who is one of the most respected sustainability executives in the U.S. He's got credibility inside Mickey D's and with NGO partners. But to get anything done, he's got to win over thousands of owner-operators of McDonald's stores, as well as a a diverse set of suppliers and, in some instances, the tens of millions of people who eat there every day.
"We are the world's largest small business," Langert said. The overwhelming majority of McDonald's outlets are "owned and operated by independent business people," he said. "They have a lot of power in our system. That means we can't dictate from on high. I challenge people to show me a company that's more democratic than McDonald's."
So Langert functions as a salesman for sustainability insider the McDonald's empire, an inside agitator, if you will. Last year his CEO gave him something valuable -- a full afternoon to make the case for sustainability to the company's top execs. He brought in executives from other companies, including Unilever and Coca-Cola, as well as business-friendly NGOs.
One question they were asked: If you were in charge at McDonald's and could do one thing, what would it be? "Use your size and leverage to make beef more sustainable" emerged as the answer. So the company has begun to dig into its beef supply chain, to better understand its environmental impact, which is itself no easy task.
"We buy beef from people who make patties," Bob explained. "They buy it from the slaughter house. They buy it from the feedlots. They buy it from a broker. They buy it from the calf producers." But that's not an excuse. Dealing with the beef supply chain is "our No. 1 priority," he said.
Skeptics -- and you can count me among them, for now -- will ask: Will McDonald's push hard to reduce the environmental footprint of beef? Can it even be done? [See my story at YaleEnvironment360, Should Environmentalist Just Say No to Eating Beef?]
Bob's track record at McDonald's provides reason to be optimistic. The company has enough buying power to change industries, once it gets its own, er, ducks lined up. As Mark Bittman, who is no fan of the chain, wrote last year:
When, in 1999, McDonald's requested that its suppliers give caged hens 72 square inches of space instead of 48 (72 is still smaller than a piece of 8×10 paper), not a single factory-farmed hen in the country was being raised with 72 inches of space. Yet the entire supply chain was converted in just 18 months, and 72 square inches is now effectively the industry standard.
Last year, McDonald's required its pork suppliers to phase out gestation crates for sows. Long ago, it set animal welfare standards for beef. Even earlier, McDonald's committed to buying all of its fish from fisheries certified by the Marine Stewardship Council.
Now Bob would like to do more to win support from consumers. "We're not going to have a successful sustainability effort unless the consumer is engaged," he said. To that end, McDonald's has just rolled out a Marine Stewardship Council eco-label that it is attaching to its Filet-O-Fish sandwiches. It's the first national restaurant chain to do so, and the hope is that consumers will reward the company by driving up fish sales. We'll see.
In an entirely different industry, Meyer (Sandy) Frucher, vice chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange, affirmed the idea that an institution like the NASDAQ can't get much done without partners. Environmental advocates would like the stock exchanges to require listed companies to report on their environmental footprint. Should NASDAQ to do so, Frucher said, companies might opt to list with competing exchanges, like the New York Stock Exchange, that make fewer demands.
"Their salespeople would be out saying, those guys want to overburden you with regulation," Frucher said. "Unless it's universal, we'll lose listings."
So what needs to be done to bring about universal sustainability metrics? It would help, Frucher said, if the various groups seeking metrics could agree on what metrics matter most.
It would also help, he said, if people voted with their dollars. Like other exchanges, NASDAQ has a sustainability index, but "virtually no one trades these indexes," Frucher said. "I hear a lot of talk. I'd like to see some walk." [One problem there may be the index itself. See Chevron's shocking sustainability news at GreenBiz.]
Earlier, in a conversation with GreenBiz's Joel Makower, Craig Philip, the CEO of Ingram Barge Co., which owns 5,000 barges that transport commodities on the nation's inland waterways, talked about the risks posed by extreme weather to his business. 2011 brought some of the worst floods ever to the Mississippi River system. 2012 brought some of the worst drought.
"Since the hurricanes of Katrina and Rita in 2005, we've seen a significant disruption in every year," he said. "Systemically, these problems are chronic. They are likely to stay chronic."
Farmers, power plants, recreational users, shippers like Ingram -- all of them place demands on the river systems, and depend on its waters. Some have come together with The Nature Conservancy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a collaborative effort called America's Watershed Initiative, to try to sort out the conflicting demands.
Joel's reaction: "The complexities of what you are dealing with are astounded."
As I said, this is why sustainability has to be a team sport.
Image of Thai soccer team provided by Rnoid/Shutterstock


text: Products – category wise Posted on December 26, 2018December 26, 2018 by admin » Category: Interior Design Loading the page... Share Switch View Title & Image Title, Descr. & Image Title, Descr., Long Descr. & Image Title & Descr. Sort By Higher Rank By Higher Gravity Share Find Love with Feng Shui? Share Home Decorating Made Easy Share Most Popular Interior Paint Colors Share Tuscan Home Decorating Guide

subset: commoncrawl


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Have a ball with the Misfits and Osaka Popstar
Less than one week til The Misfits and Osaka Popstar invade Forbidden Planet!
Everyone who attends our Misfits Records event on October 27th will be entered in a raffle to win free tickets to see The Misfits live at Irving Plaza on Tuesday October 28th! And just to let you know… we got mad tickets so there will be a bunch of WINNERS!
Don't forget! If you can't make it to the event you can still pre-order a bunch of SIGNED Misfits and Osaka Popstar goodies by following the link right HERE!
One of the coolest things you can pre-order from us is the Osaka Popstar Glass Xmas ornament with free download card for their new 2014 Xmas single! Now this item is not available anywhere else at the moment, and will only be available autographed through our website, or by coming to the Misfits Records event, so be ahead of the curve and grab your balls now!
See you at Forbidden Planet NYC next Monday!


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Home > Student Life > Student Services > Student Email Accounts
Student Email Accounts
Need help setting up your new Wayland email account?
Printable PDF instructions (troubleshooting tips)
Go to http://email.wbu.edu/ to log in.
Your new email address will usually be your email@example.com. You will need to type your entire email address in as your username. Your temporary password should have already been sent to you from IT. If you have not received your temporary password, and it does not match the pattern described in the printable PDF instructions, please contact the University's IT department by email or by phone at 1-800-203-9048.
For example, suppose you are Brynlee Schumacher, and there are no other Brynlee Schumacher at Wayland. Your email address would be:
After logging in with your temporary password, you will be required to change your password to something else that you can remember.


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Cricket: Kevin Pietersen welcomed back into the fold as he signs ECB contract
KEVIN PIETERSEN'S return to the England fold was finalised today, as the star batsman signed a full central contract with the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Pietersen's relations with the board plummeted to an all-time low last year and after being dropped for the final Test of the summer against South Africa, he underwent a process of 'reintegration' before making his comeback in India before Christmas.
Since then he has been working on a short-term deal that expires at the end of the month, but limited-overs coach Ashley Giles today confirmed that Pietersen has penned a full central contract.
That places him on the same terms as the rest of England's senior figures, ending a period of uncertainty, with the current batch of contracts running until September 30.
Team director Andy Flower had given an indication last month that such a development could be expected after Pietersen's successful return in India.
The batsman played an important role in England's historic Test series victory, scoring 338 runs at an average of 48.28 including an innings of 186 in the second Test in Mumbai.
Pietersen's tumultuous 2012 saw him initially retire from 50-over and, reluctantly, Twenty20 internationals.
He soon expressed a desire to play on "in all forms of cricket" but then gave a dramatic press conference on August 6, after scoring 149 against South Africa at Headingley, in which he cast doubt on his Test future and claimed: "It's tough being me playing for England."
He was axed from the Test team before the third Test at Lord's amid the controversy surrounding his "provocative" exchange of phone messages with members of the South Africa team.
He missed the World Twenty20 and was not included in a batch of 10 central contracts handed out in September before also missing out in the initial squad announcement for the India tour on September 18.
He was added to the squad a month later, though, having held "constructive and cordial" talks with the ECB and agreed a return in all formats.
Who is your sportstar of the year?
Vote in the Irish Independent Sport Star Awards and you could win the ultimate sports prize.
Prizes include, tickets to Ireland's against Scotland in the Six Nations, All Ireland football and hurling final tickets and much more.
Simply click here to register your vote


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6 Recessed
Total Recessed Lighting offers the widest selection of 6" recessed lighting fixtures and trims in a variety of styles and colors and accommodates the use of most any light bulb on the market. 6" line voltage recessed lighting is the most flexible of all lighting fixtures and is the industry standard when ceiling down lighting is required. With line voltage, a transformer is not needed, which makes it a more affordable lighting solution. With 6" recessed lighting you're sure to get the exact down light for any application.
To get more detailed information on each product, click on the product and scroll down the page and you will find a product description and additional information.
We also have a series of DIY and tutorial videos for recessed lighting. They say a picture is worth a thousand words: a video is worth a million! Visit our You Tube Channel to see what we have for you.
There are a lot of considerations that need to get weighed in before making a decision on the bulb used for any particular application. Such as, the wattage, lumens, color rendering index (CRI) in conjunction to what is being lit and what fixture is being used. To find out more about what some these considerations are and what it means to you, check out this blog article. If you think a higher wattage means a brighter bulb, then you certainly need to read the article-you will find it helpful.
6" LED recessed lighting IC housing# TLSLD6IC-AT-DIMTR-120$9.51
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6" Recessed lighting IC rated air tight 50watt MR16 electronic low voltage new construction housing# TLSL6IC-50W-MR16-E-120-AT-W$91.12
6" Recessed lighting IC rated air tight housing #1 in the country# TLS6IC-AT-W$9.51
Fire Rated 6" recessed lighting air tight IC housing, 1-Hour L500 P500, 2-Hour L505# FS6IC-AT-W$91.44
6" IC rated air tight remodel recessed housing# TLS6RIC-AT-W$9.51
6" Line voltage recessed new construction white trim kit# TLS6ICAT-630W-WH$15.73


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10 comments - click here to leave your comment:
Jennifer - The Deliberate Mom On 12:15 pm Wrote
Awww, how lovely! Happy anniversary to the two of you.
Eighteen years is wonderful. May the coming years be richly blessed.
Anne in Oxfordshire On 3:49 pm Wrote
Wow Gina. That is one true love story. Congratulations to you and Mr B. Xx
Anonymous On 6:34 pm Wrote
Happy Anniversary Gina and Byron
Wishing you all the best. May the next 18 be as wonderful as the first 18.
Elaine, Ed, Megan and Nyah
Anonymous On 7:10 pm Wrote
Happy Anniversary too an amazing couple, you were made for each other . All our love on your special day Jul & Huw. Xxxxx.
sage and spirit On 4:37 am Wrote
Happy Anniversary to the two of you!
Lizzy Allan On 12:00 am Wrote
Oh, this is so beautiful! What an adventure you have been on together. Happy happy anniversary to both of you.
Wendy McDonagh-Valentine On 10:55 pm Wrote
Your words brought happy tears to my eyes!!! How blessed you both are to have each other and your three beautiful children!!! Happy anniversary to you both!!! May always be madly in love!!! :) xoxo
~ Wendy
mountain girl On 4:10 am Wrote
That is super sweet. Happy anniversary to both of you!!!
So lovely GIna. Congratulations!
Josie On 6:06 pm Wrote
Happy anniversary to a very special couple. Lots of love xxxx


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The 76-foot Norway spruce that will bedazzle the nation when its 45,000 LED lights are switched on during a two-hour holiday celebration next month has been hoisted in Rockefeller Plaza following an overnight journey from Connecticut.
Chopper 4 hovered over the giant tree as it made its way down 49th Street.
For the second time in six years, the city of Shelton sent a tree to Rockefeller Center for the annual holiday display. Workers cut down the tree Thursday and a tractor-trailer took it 70 miles to its new midtown home.
U.S. & World
Crews hoisted the tree off the flatbed truck that hauled it to the plaza and spent hours Friday positioning it, trimming its branches and fortifying its base ahead of the Dec. 4 lighting. The tree will remain on display until Jan. 7.
Excited visitors watched as the tree was erected on Rockefeller Plaza throughout the day.
"It's such a huge tree, it's very spectacular to see," said one woman.
The tree stood in the yard of the Vargoshe family home in Shelton for over 20 years.
"It's very exciting that the people of New York and the world get to see the tree that was in our front yard for so many years," Louise Vargoshe said Friday.
Hundreds of thousands of people pack the streets surrounding the plaza for the tree lighting each year, with many watching the action on giant screens set up on side streets.
The annual event was inspired by construction workers who erected a tree of their own in 1931, decorating it with cranberries, paper garland and tin cans, according to Daniel Okrent's "Great Fortune: The Epic of Rockefeller Center."
First televised in 1951 on NBC, the tree lighting has grown to attract a quarter-million spectators and an audience of millions. With so many eyes on the tree, nothing is left to chance — organizers have backup generators on hand in case of a power outage.
Mayor Mark Lauretti says furnishing Rockefeller Center with a tree is a big deal for Shelton, which calls itself "the best affordable suburb in Connecticut."


text: Tibs 183 Posted December 5, 2010 I didn't expect FFG to have made the AOs available, but I'm appalled that only one guy has uploaded a cell phone pic of the new AOs. I took the liberty of making them in Strange Eons, using the Daoloth picture uploaded to FFG's Arkham Nights 2011 announcement page. And for those of you who never saw my original thread, since Daoloth doesn't have any sinster plots, so I made them: Here's the Oliver Grayson card, for the curious: Personally I think this ability is insanely powerful. But that may be just to counteract the fact that there are no encounter cards available to gain him. Here is the new Hastur, premiered at Arkham Nights 2011: It took me a while to get used to the flat –5 modifier rather than the awesome-on-paper –X. But the rest of the revisions are undeniably better. Here's the Danced of the Damned Mythos card. Looks fun and challenging, and the "starting rumor variant" guarantees both that, unlike Grayson, this card will see play; and that you won't get an early-game rumor card, which usually sucks. Here is the new Yig, premiered at Arkham Nights 2012 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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College of Earth, Ocean, & Environment
Geography provides a unique spatial perspective that seeks to explain patterns of differences and commonality across the human and natural environment. Housed within the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment, the department has nationally and internationally recognized faculty engaged in cutting edge research and offering exciting educational opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students.
The department houses the Office of the State Climatologist of Delaware and the Delaware Environmental Observing System (DEOS). DEOS collects real-time information on all facets of the region's environment for use by everyone from environmental scientists to emergency management professionals to the general public. We also work with the Delaware Geographic Alliance, an organization of teachers and others interested in strengthening geographic learning in Delaware's K-12 classrooms.
Our undergraduate majors include:
Geography Education
Geographic Information Science (GIScience) and Environmental Data Analytics
Meteorology & Climatology
Environmental Science
Environmental Studies
>> Learn more about our undergraduate programs
Our graduate programs include:
Geography (MA, MS, PhD)
Climatology (PhD)
Graduate GIS Certificate
>> Learn more about our graduate programs
Located in Pearson Hall on the Newark campus, the department houses the University's Center for Climate and Land-Surface Change and the Office of the State Climatologist for Delaware.
>> Our Facilities
Switching Cereals
Mapping Data
Seafloor Carbon
Tracking ocean pollution
Stemflow study
Horseshoe Crabs and Artificial Bait
Advancing the understanding, stewardship, and conservation of estuarine, coastal, and ocean environments.
Discovering how geological processes have operated over various time scales to create and influence the planet's surface environments.
Providing a unique spatial perspective that seeks to explain patterns of differences and commonality across the human and natural environment.
College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment • 111 Robinson Hall • Newark, DE 19716 • USA • Phone: 302-831-8062
Geography and Spatial Sciences: 302-831-2294 • Earth Sciences: 302-831-2569 • Marine Science and Policy: 302-645-4212 • E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
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Sunderland luster is a name given to a special type of pink luster made by Leeds, Newcastle, and other English firms during the nineteenth century. The luster glaze is metallic and glossy and appears to have bubbles in it. The most famous wares were made in or near Sunderland. Pink luster is often called Sunderland luster, but it was made by others too . Other pieces of luster are listed in the Luster category.
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Words of Wisdom (Letter to Lee)


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- 3 Beds
- 2 Full, 1 Half
- 2,191 +/- Sqft
Property TypeResidential – Duplex
SubdivisionANGLER MTN RANCH LAKESIDE TOWNHOMES
Listing Date05/14/19
Year Built2014
Lot Size0.05 Acres
Parking2 Car Garage
Property Description
Extremely Rare Lake Front at Angler Mountain Ranch. This highly desirable location brings an open floor with beautiful finishes and arguably the best views of the Gore Range. This well maintained home offers one of the best floor plans available in AMR, with Main floor master, No Stairs into the property and maintenance free living with an affordable hoa. Property comes with private fishing on stocked lake, clubhouse, and access to everything Summit County has to offer!
Presented By
- In Town
- Lake
- Mountains
- Clubhouse
- Private Fishing Rights
- Deck
- Fireplace - Gas
- Vaulted Ceilings
- Community Center
- Cross Country Trails
- Golf - Public
- Hiking / Pedestrian Trails
- Cable Tv
- City Sewer
- City Water
- Electricity
- Gas
- Phone
- Satellite
- Snow Removal
- Trash Pickup
- Natural Gas
- Radiant
- Dryer
- Washer
Financial Information
About Silverthorne
Silverthorne received its name from Judge Marshal Silverthorn, who staked his gold mining claim in the valley in 1881. The "e" was added to the name in the 1930's because it was considered fashionable and chic. Over 100 years later Silverthorne continues to be "the gateway to Summit County." Officially incorporated in the 1960's, Silverthorne has grown up with the Summit County tourist industry. Silverthorne's proximity to both summer and winter activities, where all four of Summit County's world-class ski resorts within 20 minutes, make the town an ideal place to visit and live. Silverthorne's 62,000 square foot recreation center offers plenty of indoor recreation for both residents and visitors alike. Silverthorne is best known for its shopping, which should not be missed. The Silverthorne Factory Stores, with over 70 brand name shops are widely known for exceptional value, quality, and variety.
Area Market Data
3 Beds 3.5 Baths
4 Beds 3 Baths
4 Beds 3 Baths
4 Beds 3 Baths
4 Beds 3 Baths
We get asked this question a lot. Below is a tool that gives you the ability to see what the market is like in your community. Find out what homes like your own are selling for right in your back yard. Simply enter in your address, choose the proximity of the search and find out market data for other homes that are selling near you.
While we'll provide you with plenty of information, this is a snapshot of your market data and there are real people behind the high-tech and automated tools. If you would like more detailed information or help in understanding the results we are here to help.
Until then, enjoy the tools!
The data relating to the real estate for sale on this website comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange program of the Vail Multi-List Service, Inc.
Copyright © 2019 Vail Multi List, Inc. (VMLS). The information displayed herein was derived from sources believed to be accurate, but has not been verified by VMLS. Buyers are cautioned to verify all information to their own satisfaction. This information is exclusively for viewers' personal, non- commercial use. Any republication or reproduction of the information herein without the express permission of the VMLS is strictly prohibited.
Listing courtesy of Keller Williams Top Of Rockies


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Intro:These shirts are for all of you who "go there" whenever someone mentions something like they are, "anal when it comes to X". Sure they didn't mean it like that, and yes the joke was at their expense, but hey, they set themselves up for that one. Let everyone know to watch what they say and to protect their manhood when you're around because you like to go all in.
Quality:If you spend enough quality time with these shirts you will likely become that much more offensive, but blowjobs and dick jokes aside, these Ts are preshrunk (sorry to hear that dude) 100%* cotton. Gildan Heavy Duty (which is what your mom calls my junk) construction will ensure a proper fit that feels great. Professional screened images and text helps get your fucked up message across even though some may not want to receive it, but when has receiving you ever been a choice?
Selection: We have thousands of shirts to offend the masses, particularly those that offends asses. Sorry, we're creative. Its what we do. With all of these shirts there's one bound for you. Don't be sensitive, get offensive, so when someone knocks and asks "May I come in?" you can reply "Only in my ass because I will get pregnant then."
Policy:We strive for satisfaction (from all orifices, we're not picky). Need an exchange? We'll swap with you, though we'd prefer to swap with your girl. Need a refund? We can handle it because you'll be back (we love the back).
Outro:A good offensive T-Shirt is hard to come by, but luckily for you we've got your back...and your front...and as it turns out your mom as well, problem?


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Freddie Bell of Solid Gold Soul; Empowerment Speaker, Voice Artist, Broadcaster
July 24, 2019 in Uncategorized
Here are today's Words to the Wise. "Forgive your enemies." #freddiebellwisewords
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Is there nobody who can tell Ted Cruz to shut up?
The young senator from Texas has been on the job for about 100 days, but he has already turned the Senate's ancient seniority system upside down and is dominating his senior Republican colleagues. He's speaking for them on immigration, guns and any other topic that tickles his fancy; Republican leaders are seething at being outshone yet are terrified of challenging him.
Consider his news conference this week to promote the Republican alternative to gun control. With Cruz on the stage in the Senate TV studio: the bill's primary author, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, a 32-year Senate veteran and longtime chairman or ranking member of the finance and judiciary committees; Lindsey Graham of South Carolina (10 years in the Senate and eight in the House); and Dan Coats of Indiana (12 years in the Senate and eight in the House).
But Cruz took over the lectern and refused to relinquish it. He spoke 2,924 words for the cameras, more than Grassley (904), Graham (1,376) and Coats (360) — combined. Factoring in his dramatic pauses to convey sincerity and deep thought, Cruz's dominance was even more lopsided. The others shifted uncomfortably and looked awkwardly around the room. At one point, Graham requested a chance to speak. "Can I?" he asked Cruz.
Cruz is 42, the same age Joe McCarthy was when he amassed power in the Senate with his allegations of communist infiltration. Tail-gunner Ted debuted in the Senate this year with the insinuation that Chuck Hagel, now the defense secretary, may have been on the payroll of the North Koreans. Cruz also wrote in Politico that "Hagel's nomination has been publicly celebrated by the Iranian government." He later alleged that Democrats had told the Catholic Church to "change your religious beliefs or we'll use our power in the federal government to shut down your charities and your hospitals."
Now Cruz is turning his incendiary allegations against fellow Republicans. On immigration, he has described as amnesty the compromise that Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and three other Republicans negotiated with Democrats. Cruz said such a plan would make "a chump" of legal immigrants. On guns, he said the background checks Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) negotiated in a bipartisan compromise would lead to a national gun registry — an outcome the doomed proposal explicitly prohibited.
Democrats see a potential bogeyman in Cruz because of his outrageous pronouncements, and reporters love his inflammatory quotes. Republican leaders, however, don't know how to control this monster they created.
GOP lawmakers encouraged the rise of the tea party, which now dominates Republican primaries and threatens the same leaders who nurtured it. Cruz's fellow Texan, John Cornyn, the Senate's No. 2 Republican, could face a primary challenge next year and therefore can't afford to cross Cruz, who beat an establishment Republican in the 2012 primary. Likewise, the Senate GOP leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, is up for reelection and has to keep on the good side of tea party favorites such as Sen. Rand Paul, also of Kentucky, and Cruz.
I've argued before that Cruz is more cunning than ideological. He's Ivy League-educated and a skilled debater who has perfected a look of faux earnestness that suggests his every pronouncement is the most important oration since Gettysburg. Cruz has correctly calculated that the way to power among Senate Republicans is through attention-grabbing accusations.
On immigration, his Latino credentials have helped him undermine Rubio's bipartisanship. When Rubio made the rounds of the Sunday talk shows April 14, he was confronted with Cruz's criticism by both NBC's David Gregory and ABC's Jon Karl.
On guns, Cruz's high profile required Grassley to give the upstart a premium chunk of floor time for his trademark falsehoods. Cruz claimed that his bill was the "result of multiple hearings in the Judiciary Committee." (It was never brought before the panel.) He claimed the opposing legislation would extend "background checks to private transactions between private individuals." (The bill applied to only advertised sales.) Off the floor, he made the patently false claim that the "so-called 'gun show loophole' " doesn't exist.
If Republicans are willing to look the other way when Cruz assaults the facts, they may find it increasingly grating to endure his assaults on their dignity. At their news conference on guns, Grassley was made to stand silently for half an hour while Cruz gave an eight-minute opening statement (more than twice the length of Grassley's) and fielded six questions before yielding to his senior colleague. "I'm just going to say one thing," Grassley said, "and then I'm going to have to go."
Read more from Dana Milbank's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook.
Read more from PostOpinions:
Greg Sargent: Republicans grab the tea-party monster by its tail
Ruth Marcus: Ted Cruz makes quite an entrance to the Senate
Charles Krauthammer: The language of terror
David Ignatius: The limits of intelligence collection
Norman J. Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann: Gridlock is no way to govern


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Sony has released a new version of its PS3 firmware. Turn on your PlayStation 3 console today and you'll be informed that firmware version 2.17 is available for download. Provided you've signed up to the PS Network (for free) obviously.
Sony tends to release new updates as soon as they're ready, leading to regular, small updates. That contrasts with Microsoft, which only updates the Xbox 360 firmware every six months or so.
New features?
So does this new PS3 firmware update add any exciting new features? Or is it just a minor back-end tweak? Well, unfortunately it's the latter.
Sony says that the only real changes in the latest firmware is that the "the operating stability of some online PS3 titles has been improved".
Nothing really to shout about then. But let's face it, what with DivX compatibility, new music visualisations and DVD upscaling options, PS3 owners have been spoiled by the amount of new features in past updates.


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Man gets life in murder of his grandfather
After two days of testimony, a jury deliberated about four hours before finding Duane Lee Washington guilty Thursday, June 13, in the Christmas Day murder of his 93-year-old grandfather almost 10 years ago.
Washington was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Washington was indicted July 19, 2012, in Jefferson County for the murder of Ernest Jackson, Washington's 93-year-old step-grandfather, who family members say helped raise Washington during his troubled childhood.
Police had tried in vain since 2003 to solve the murder until numerous friends and acquaintances in 2012 said Washington at various times admitted to murdering Jackson.
Prosecutors began trying the case Tuesday, June 11, with no murder weapon and mostly circumstantial evidence linking Washington to the crime.
Perhaps the state's most important witness, Corwin Johnson, admitted to police he was with Washington at the time of the murder, saying in a sworn statement in Harris County that Washington shot his grandfather three times in the head.
But when placed on the stand Tuesday, Johnson's memory faded as he stood facing his former best friend. Johnson was asked to read the sworn statement he made to police in the presence of his attorney, but he refused to do so. After Judge John Stevens reminded Johnson he had been subpoenaed and threatened to stick Johnson with a charge of contempt of court if he did not answer questions, Johnson answered most questions with "I don't remember," or outright denied making the sworn statements to police while also refuting their contents.
In the sworn statement, Johnson said he had "struggled" for a long time with the knowledge Washington was the trigger-puller. His statement said he was coming forward "because it was the right thing to do."
According to testimony from then Detective Jesus Tamayo, the lead investigator at the time who took Johnson's sworn statement, Johnson knew intimate details about the murder and the scene of the crime, including Jackson's clothes he was wearing when he died, the type of .38 caliber handgun used to shoot him in the head and another .45 handgun found at the scene — details Tamayo said had not been released to the public at that time.
Johnson told investigators in his statement Washington owned the .38 caliber pistol and threw it in a drainage ditch after killing his grandfather.
Other witnesses included jailhouse cell mates and others Washington met in jail.
Most were currently incarcerated for various crimes but said they were coming forward without receiving deals to decrease their prison time.
Larry Bias and Christopher Thomas were two witnesses who are currently incarcerated. Each told jurors they were appalled when they saw news accounts of an innocent 93-year-old man murdered on Christmas Day, which prompted their eventual testimony. Both said Washington told them he shot his grandfather for molesting his mother, who eventually became a prostitute and contracted HIV/AIDS.
"Do you ever feel bad about that?" Bias said he asked Washington. "And he said 'No. He got what he deserved for molesting my mother.' I was just blown away by that."
Bias and Thomas both testified Washington told them he also planned to murder at least one witness who would eventually testify Tuesday, June 11, at the proceedings.
During closing arguments, Washington's defense attempted to discredit the state's witnesses, saying all but a few were convicted felons trying to get a shorter prison sentence. Washington's attorney also highlighted the fact BPD had numerous suspects over the almost 10 years and were scrambling to solve the case.
The state simply pointed to Washington's own defense, which failed to produce an alibi for Washington, who lived with his grandfather at the time. Prosecutors said jurors shouldn't allow a man back on the streets who threatened to kill those who testified against him.
"He hasn't fooled the Beaumont Police Department. He hasn't fooled the grand jury," the prosecutor said. "Don't be the 12 jurors he fools."
After deliberating for almost four hours Wednesday, June 12, a mostly white jury pronounced Washington, a black man, guilty Thursday morning, June 13.
During the sentencing phase, after a number of outbursts by Washington in Judge Stevens' court, Washington's defense put him on the stand during his sentencing hearing. Washington told jurors he was innocent and had never been convicted of a serious felony. Washington has charges and numerous convictions in Jefferson County for crimes varying from assault to resisting arrest, and admitted to jurors as much while on the stand. But he denied committing the murder, saying he loved his "paw paw."
"We went fishing every day," Washington said.
Prosecutor Bobby Ortego and police disagree and say justice has been done.
"For 10 years, he's gotten away with this," Ortego said.


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Warning: Super Bowl means mega-calorie diet disasters
No one wants to be a spoil sport about the Super Bowl, but boy can the calories add up if you're mindlessly munching while watching the game.
Consider how easy it is to snarf down thousands of calories.
If you eat one slice of cheese pizza, six chicken wings with dressing, several handfuls of tortilla chips with Buffalo dip, two beers and a brownie, you could easily consume 2,000 calories during the game, says Heather Mangieri, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and a sports nutritionist in Pittsburgh.
You could hit 4,000 calories if you really indulge and have three slices of pepperoni pizza, 10 spicy chicken wings with dressing, three beers, several ounces of tortilla chips with dip and two brownies.
"Even if you just take a bit of this and a bit of that, the calories can add up quickly," she says.
And, to make matters worse, it would take hours to burn off those calories with exercise, unless you are a linebacker.
To burn off 2,000 calories, a 180-pound person would have to walk briskly (about 3.5 mph on a level surface) for five hours or more, Mangieri says. Or they could try to burn it off by walking an extra hour a day for a week, she says.
Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago and author of The Flexitarian Diet, offers three foolproof plays to keep calories in check:
• Stick with the one-plate rule. Get one heaping plate of food. Anything you'd like, but don't go back for seconds or graze all during the big game.
• Watch the commercials. Instead of getting up at commercial breaks to snack, sit back and relax. It's what everyone will talk about the next day anyway.
• Huddle strategically. Don't mingle with others right by the food. Placing yourself farther away from the spread will make mindless grazing less likely to happen.
If you follow this advice, it might be "a touchdown" for your waistline, Blatner says.
Mangieri advises people to think about what they're going to eat on Sunday night, then eat it slowly. Really savor your favorite food, and stop eating when you're full.
If you don't overdo it, you'll probably feel better in the morning — even if your favorite team loses.


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(Message | Archive | YouTube | Submissions)
Megan Fox: Mom Goals
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Behold an unreleased photo for Armani Beauty Cosmetics! Megan channelin' Elizabeth Taylor, damn. (BTW sorry for the crappy quality.)
Megan Fox photographed by John Russo for the 2015 Harper's Bazaar Arabia Magazine
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Megan Fox for Elle China
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"Allow yourself to be strong and powerful and men will be crawling on their hands and knees."
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Christmas Tree Cake
This cake for a holiday crowd always draws raves . . . particularly after it's cut and partygoers get a peek at the color inside. You can play around with your own color scheme for decorating this cake.
Keep the borders and edges free of any decoration so that the eye is drawn directly to the tree that appears to be standing amidst beautiful, fluffy snow.
Assembling and Decorating the Christmas Tree Cake
Tools: 12-x-18-inch cake pan, bamboo skewer, small rolling pin, #11 icing tip, #100 icing tip, paring knife
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 50 minutes plus 2 hours for cooling
Decoration time: 35 minutes plus 1 hour for refrigeration
Yield: 24 servings
2 batches Red Velvet Cake batter
2 batches Cream Cheese Frosting
Leaf green food coloring gel
Brown food coloring gel
36 large gumdrops in assorted colors
Large yellow gumdrop
After you have baked your red velvet cakes, let them cool in the pan for 10 minutes before inverting onto a cooling rack. When they are completely cool, apply a crumb coat (thin layer) of cream cheese frosting. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Divide and tint the frosting as follows: 2 cups leaf green and 1⁄2 cup brown. Frost the cake with the remaining untinted cream cheese frosting.
With a bamboo skewer, sketch the shape of a Christmas tree on the surface of the cake. The tree trunk should be 3 inches tall.
Outfit a pastry bag with a coupler, #100 tip, and green frosting. Pipe boughs over the tree, overdrawing them for a full, lustrous look if you like. (Make sure to cover up your sketched lines!)
Outfit a pastry bag with a coupler, #11 tip, and brown frosting. Pipe the trunk in straight lines. If desired, smooth out the piping with an icing spatula.
Place the colored gumdrops on the tree, arranging them to look like ornaments.
To create the star, roll out a yellow gumdrop. Either carve out a star shape with a sharp knife, or cut the rolled gumdrop into five triangles and form them into a star. Place the star at the top of the tree.


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If Australia's top Google searches tell us anything, it's that 2017 was a tumultuous year.
The list is diverse, with searches ranging from slime and sport, to cryptocurrency, covfefe and hurricanes.
With that in mind, we've chosen three standout Google searches from this year and answered your questions with the help of experts.
1. How to make slime without borax "How to make slime" was Australia's most popular "How to" Google search in Australia, with slime appearing four times on the list (1st, 3rd, 6th and 9th).
Right now there are over 6 million tags of slime on Instagram, making 2017 the year of the slime.
The question of how to make slime without borax can be answered quite easily - just mix cornstarch with water.
But the real question is, how dangerous is Borax?
Borax is sold as a household cleaning chemical and sometimes used as a pesticide, but it's also the best binding agent for slime when it's mixed with PVA glue.
Parental fear about Borax was spurred by a news piece from America about a young girl who reportedly received chemical burns to her hands from playing with slime that had borax in it.
Genevieve Adamo, a spokeswoman from the NSW Poisons Information Centre, says Borax is most concerning in its raw, powdered state.
"If it's handled correctly and prepared by an adult then the quantities in the slime is unlikely to pose any risk of serious poisonings.
"There have been a couple of cases reported where people have gotten quite bad rashes or a burning sensation after playing with slime but we can't be sure that borax was the cause."
However, she says ingestion of reasonably small amounts of borax powder can cause harm.
The NSW poison hotline advises parents to lock raw borax away from kids along with cleaning chemicals. Mrs Adamo says it's important that any spare Borax solution is disposed of instead of being stored in the fridge, as it could be confused with water.
She says there has been one case of a person accidentally making pancakes out of an old mixture of water and borax.
The number of calls regarding borax to the NSW poison info line has shot up 76 per cent in the past year.
2. What is MSG? MSG appeared twice in the list of Australia's top "what is" Google searches of 2017 (1st and 7th).
This chemical is believed by many to be the cause of so-called Chinese restaurant syndrome (CRS). The syndrome was first described in 1968 by Dr Ho Man Kwok, who wrote in a letter to an American medical journal that he would get a strange numbness in his neck, back and arms, followed by heart palpations, after eating at a Chinese restaurant.
However, Chinese restaurants are not the only places you will find MSG.
MSG is a glutamate, which is a very common amino acid found naturally in foods that contain protein like meats and vegetables. In fact, our bodies produce glutamates in the process of metabolising food.
Glutamates trigger your "umami" taste receptors. Umami is Japanese for "pleasant savoury taste" and although it's lesser known, it's one of the five basic tastes.
But Dr Kwok's research didn't conclusively prove a link between MSG and the symptoms some claim to experience after consuming it.
In 2003, Food Standards Australia New Zealand concluded in a technical report that there was no convincing evidence that MSG had caused any reactions resulting in serious illness or death.
The real takeaway is this: the current scientific consensus is that MSG can temporarily affect a select few when consumed in large quantities on an empty stomach. But for the large majority of people, it's perfectly fine to consume.
However, nutritionist Tracie Connor says MSG is dangerous for a different reason.
"MSG is added to foods to increase the desire to eat the food while increasing our appetite for it," she says.
"This scenario is not what we need in an age where most Australians are overeating."
She says MSG flavour enhancer is typically added to packaged and processed foods like chips and crackers and is displayed in ingredients as flavour enhancer 621.
3. How to use Snapchat map "How to use snapchat map?" was one of the most Googled "how to" questions this year (7th), after the release of the new feature fostered both excitement and confusion.
The Snapchat "Snapmap" allows users to view the location of other users, as long as they have consented to their location being shared, however, many users were unsure how to access the feature.
To get into Snapmaps on the Snapchat app, users simply have to swipe inwards on the photo screen, as though they are zooming out.
The feature offers users the opportunity to view Snaps submitted to a communal Snapchat story from across the world, showing off user-submitted posts at spectacles like sporting events, celebrations, and even breaking news.
If the user wants to keep their location services on but not have people know their location, they have the choice to go into "Ghost Mode".
While many embraced the map as an opportunity for relatable memes, others had serious concerns about security.
Founder and director of Future Human Academy, Dr Kate Raynes-Goldie, says the difficulty with new features like Snapmap is keeping track of the information being shared.
"This app didn't have this feature before, so users constantly have to be vigilant about how the apps that they are using are changing privacy settings," she says.
"We are already so busy so to have all these extra things we have to manage can be very overwhelming, especially for parents."
Dr Raynes-Goldie adds that the app doesn't give clear feedback about what information is being shared.
"The way that the app is laid out is confusing," she says.
"Kids and parents might not even know that [the information sharing] is happening because it's not giving them that feedback."
She says since the advent of Myspace in 2008, the discussion on privacy has shifted away from young people towards the population as a whole, due to the increasing use of social media by all ages.


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Original Trinity Hymnal, #71
Great God of wonders! all thy ways
Are worthy of thyself divine;
And the bright glories of thy grace
Among thine other wonders shine:
Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
Pardon from an offended God!
Pardon for sins of deepest dye!
Pardon bestowed through Jesus' blood!
Pardon that brings the rebel nigh!
O may this glorious, matchless love,
This God-like miracle of grace,
Teach mortal tongues, like those above,
To raise this song of lofty praise:
Page number: Blue 71, Right-Click Here to Download MIDI File
|© 2019 The Orthodox Presbyterian Church
Chaplains and Military Personnel


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Wineries and restaurants in the Yakima area have been informed by the Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB) that they can no longer permit same day purchases at local wineries to be consumed 'corkage free' at local restaurants. The 'corkage free zone,' which had been in effect in Yakima for a little over a year, had been widely reported and had been embraced by businesses and consumers alike.
The corkage free idea originally came about from restaurant owner Jar Arcand of Yakima's Santiago's. "One day a light came on. It's a no brainer," Arcand says. "I realized I'm not losing any money on the deal because I'm not buying any wine. The idea was to make it more fun for the consumers."
Arcand started a pilot program, then, after seeing success, approached downtown Yakima restaurants and wineries about the idea. While there was initially some resistance, the 'corkage free zone' was ultimately embraced by numerous wineries, tasting rooms, and restaurants alike.
However, when other areas of the state looked to emulate Yakima's success, the LCB took notice. In a letter dated November 30th, Captain Jennifer Dzubay of the LCB wrote, "As great as a marketing tool that this is, I regret to inform you that this is illegal and I must advise you to cease the program immediately."
According to the letter, the LCB believes several laws are at issue. Specifically:
WAC 314-12-140(1) states that, "no industry member or retailer shall enter into any agreement which causes undue influence over another retailer or industry member."
RCW 66.28.010 and WAC 314-12-140(2) "prohibits money or money's worth between the Tiers. A winery cannot negotiate with retailers to waive a corkage fee. Retailers cannot waive corkage fee for particular wineries to entice their customers to purchase wine from a winery."
While the LCB's concern involves interaction between the tiers and "undue influence," Katherine Goodson of Yakima's Kana Winery says, "This is solely about the community. There was no money that was going back and forth between the restaurants and wineries. It was kind of a thank you for coming in to Yakima and for spending your dollars here."
Arcand and others hope state legislators will take up the issue. According to the Yakima Valley Business Times, the Washington Wine Institute has shown an interest in the matter.
Arcand, who would like to see the corkage free idea adopted statewide, laments the decision saying, "In today's economy, you cannot afford to be squashing a business like this."
Washington State Liquor Control Board clamps down on Yakima's 'corkage free zone'
Wineries and restaurants in the Yakima area have been informed by the Washington State Liquor Control Board (LCB) that they can no longer permit same day purchases at local wineries to be consumed 'corkage free' at local restaurants. The 'corkage free zone,' which had been in effect in Yakima for a little over a year, had been widely reported and had been embraced by businesses and consumers alike.
10 comments
Solution: 5c corkage fee for all wineries for same day purchases.
You could drive up from from CA if you wanted to, or fly in from Australia. All wineries in the world would be permitted. In reality, consumers would almost always be in Yakima and spending money at local wineries, but the promotion would not be waiving corkage fees at all, OR reducing the corkage fee for any particular winery.
I second that.
Are constitutional issues raised by limiting the ability of a restaurant to waive a corkage fee to Washington wines?
Sounds to me that a lot of wholesale distributors stamped their feet and went tattling to the WSLB. They are often another tier in the line from production to consumer and with a non-corkage free zone, it totally removes them.
Sean P. Sullivan Says:
I think there are a couple things at issue here from my reading of the applicable laws and from additional information from the LCB (more on this in a subsequent post).
The first is a 'discrimination' against other wineries that are not participating in the program. These wineries (not sure if it matters if they are WA or not) are at a disadvantage. This would be fixed by making a 5 cent corkage fee for any wine *purchased that same day directly from any winery.* However, the second issue is *restaurants* that are not participating in the program being at a disadvantage. This is a more difficult one to address. The third, and I believe most serious issue, is the issue of "money's worth" which prohibits any types of gifts etc across the tiers.
Ultimately I believe resuming the corkage free zone will most likely require legislation.
Justin Says:
Oy. Talk about overregulation. They've been out for blood lately.
Ky Says:
And to think that the two liquor initiatives were defeated. Passage may not have resolved or prevented this situation. I'm just saying.
Isn't an alternative to have a minimal corkage fee and just open it up to all wineries? The restaurants could place flyers at the wineries (like they do now) simply advertising reduced corkage. They could selectively place those flyers at wineries who "particiapte" in the, now illegal, program.
Lastly, why the heck does the WSLCB have a "Captain"? Captain of what? Is this becuase they have some quasi-enforcement role?
Chris Says:
Lesislation smegislation. I vote for succession from Olymipia. Return the land north of I-90 to Canada, give the land South back the Yakama Nation. We'll all live better.
Marty Johnson Says:
Just wondering: If I regularly go to a restaurant and spend a couple hundred dollars on dinner for four, yet bring in my own bottle of wine, doesn't the restaurant have the right to waive corkage?
Sean P. Sullivan Says:
Marty, don't think waiving a corkage fee would present any issue as it does not involve any interaction between the tiers. It would only be a problem if they were doing it for a specific winery or a winery was doing it for a specific restaurant.
Ky, I think some type of solution like that is what will probably happen, hopefully.
Chris, now THERE'S an initiative I could get behind! ;)


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Presenters and Exhibitors Proposals being accepted for 2012 Environmental Education Symposium – DEADLINE IN ONE WEEK!
Join us for the 2012 Environmental Education Symposium in Lafayette, Louisiana on March 9-10, 2012! Registration deadline is January 10, 2012!
Exhibitors: If your organization offers environmental resources for educators, this symposium would provide an excellent opportunity for you to display and distribute these materials to the individuals who can best utilize them – teachers and informal educators! Our educators would greatly appreciate your resources and the opportunity to speak to you, the experts!
Presenters: Do you have a new, dynamic lesson, activity, or program that you would like to share with fellow formal and informal environmental educators? Consider presenting at the 2012 EE Symposium!
Classroom teachers are encouraged to submit proposals! Your counterparts are anxious to see what you are doing in the classroom so do them a favor and share your knowledge!
All Symposium registration, exhibitor, and presenter forms and related information can be found on our website at www.wlf.louisiana.gov/eec. For more information: Venise Ortego, EE Coordinator, 337-948-0255, firstname.lastname@example.com, www.wlf.louisiana.gov/eec
Bayou Lafourche Cleanup – March 31
BTNEP is preparing for the Bayou Lafourche Cleanup on March 31, 2012 and is in need of 22-25 bayou site captains to help with this HUGE event. The captains would be in charge of organizing the cleanup on a 5 mile section of the Bayou! BTNEP will supply all gloves, bags, t-shirts, drinks, snacks, publicity, trash bins, etc. They need willing volunteers to be on the ground coordinating the action! Contact Alma Robichauxat (985)855-8255 or firstname.lastname@example.com for more information.
The Hurricanes: Science and Society Webinar Series
Hurricanes: Science and Society (www.hurricanescience.org) will be hosting a five-part webinar series in the spring of 2012. The webinar series will provide participants with an opportunity to "meet" some of the country's top hurricane scientists and introduce a range of hurricane topics from the basics of hurricane science to advances in forecasting hurricanes to preparing for an approaching hurricane. Each of the five one hour webinars will have leading members of the hurricane research and forecasting fields discussing their research and answering questions from the "audience." Target audiences include instructors of high school and undergraduate level courses and informal science educators. However, citizens of all ages are welcome to tune in. The 2012 Hurricanes: Science and Society Webinar Series is presented by the University of Rhode Island, Graduate School of Oceanography in partnership with the American Meteorological Society (AMS), the Centers for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE), and the National Hurricane Center (NHC).
The Hurricanes: Science and Society Webinar Series Topics
Basic Hurricane Science - Tuesday, February 28, 2012 at 7 PM ET
Hurricane Observation and Forecasting - Tuesday, March 13, 2012 at 7 PM ET
Hurricane Hazards and Impacts - Tuesday, April 24, 2012 at 7 PM ET
Hurricane History, Climate Change and Hurricanes - Tuesday, May 1, 2012 at 7 PM ET
Hurricane Preparedness - Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 7 PM ET
Registration opens January 5, 2012. A full list of webinar topics, speakers, registration, and additional information can be found at: www.hurricanescience.org/resources/webinar2012/
For further information, contact Holly Morin at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Wildlife Conservation Youth Engagement Grant (Deadline: February 1)
Whether you're in a city, rural area or a suburb, wildlife is all around you. Are you a high school student with a creative idea for conserving and protecting wildlife and its habitat in your community? Planet Connect is offering high school students grants of $1,000 to implement their problem-solving projects and participate in a local internship focused on wildlife conservation. Funds: $1,000.00
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Five Star Restoration Grant Program (Deadline: February 15)
The Five Star Restoration Grant Program, an initiative of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, supports community-based wetland, riparian, and coastal habitat restoration projects throughout the United States. One-year grants from $10,000 to $25,000 and two-year grants from $10,000 to $40,000 are provided for projects that build diverse partnerships and foster natural resource stewardship through environmental education, outreach, and restoration. Partnerships should include at least five organizations (nonprofit organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, businesses, etc.) that contribute to project success through funding, land, and/or other in-kind services. The application deadline is February 15, 2012. Visit the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Five Star Restoration Grant Program website to download the 2012 Request for Proposals.
Annie's Homegrown Garden Grant (no deadline)
Annie's Homegrown offers funding for community gardens, school gardens, and other educational programs that connect children directly to gardening. Funds may be used to buy gardening tools, seeds, or other needed supplies. Eligible applicants include K-12 schools and nonprofits. Funds: $250.00
Do Something Seed & Growth Grants (no deadline)
Do Something Seed Grant provides funding for to start a community action project or program. These grants can be used to jump-start your program or to realize your ideas for the first time. These are grants are for all types of community action projects around causes that you care about and are important in your community. Funds: $500.00
Operation Green Plant
Sponsored by the America the Beautiful Fund, the Operation Green Plant Program helps grow food for the hungry and beautify roadways, parks, and neighborhoods in 20,000 communities across the country. The program is now inviting applicants to request vegetable seeds, flower seeds, and/or herb seeds to help beautify their own communities. Applicants must write a short letter describing their project and fill out the application form.
New Lab Safety Video
The US Chemical Safety Board has released a lab safety video, "Experimenting with Danger". The 24-minute video examines three lab accidents. The first is the explosion at Texas Tech that injured a fifth year graduate student. The second is the fire at UCLA that killed a graduate student. The third is the chemical exposure at Dartmouth College that resulted in the death of a chemistry professor. The video is available online at www.csb.gov on the home page. CSB is now investigating accidents at schools, colleges, and universities.
Article: Mardi Gras Goes Green if Resident Has Her Way
Find out about wetland outreach activities including symposiums, conferences, meetings, educational opportunities, volunteer opportunities, and related support material at the Louisiana Unified Coastal Community Calendar at http://lacoast.gov/calendar/
Venise Ortego, Environmental Education Coordinator, 337-948-0255, firstname.lastname@example.com
Juliet Raffray, Environmental Education Assistant Coordinator, 225-765-0124, firstname.lastname@example.com
Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries – www.wlf.louisiana.gov/eec


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Dave White Profile
Dave White
Your Movies.com Man at the Multiplex
Dave White's first movie review was of the animated feature Snoopy Come Home. He was seven years old...Read full profile
Your Movies.com Man at the Multiplex
Dave White's first movie review was of the animated feature Snoopy Come Home. He was seven years old...Read full profile
2003 is calling. Will you answer? Read full review
Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.
out of 100
Metascore®Mixed or average reviewsbased on a weighted average of allcritic review scores.
The revenge in Oldboy is neither sweet nor sour; it's just drab.
Read Full Review
Graphically gruesome when it means to be a provocative look at vengeance.
While Lee leaves some of Park's more memorable outrages behind, he and screenwriter Mark Protosevich find one or two ways to up the taboo-testing ante, small surprises that retain the tale's edge without pushing into the realm of exploitation.
It's generally a respectful homage that has every bit as much stylishness and visual flair.
In the end, the most impressive performance may be Spike Lee's. He uses skill without gimmickry, flash without fuss, to tap the mesmerizing soul of this pulp.
See all Oldboy reviews at Metacritic.com
Not for kids
Spike Lee's solid, literal remake is extremely violent.
What Parents Need to Know
Parents need to know that Oldboy is Spike Lee's remake of the extremely violent Korean movie of 2003. This retains the violence and deals with dark, subversive ideas as part of their plots. The character becomes a fighter, and beats up several people (sometimes using a hammer as a weapon). He's stabbed in the back. Characters are tortured, shot, and killed, and commit suicide, and there's an attempted rape. There's a graphic sex scene with female toplessness and male and female backsides shown, plus some other unsavory sexual elements central to the movie's story. Language is also strong, with many uses of "f--k" and "s--t." The main character begins the story as a hardcore alcoholic, though he recovers. Many savvy teens will already be aware of the original film, a much loved cult classic, and the new one does not change much of the basic plot. But many curious teens will want to see this new version, especially if they don't care for subtitles.
Messages: The movie is essentially a cruel revenge tale, with bad behavior met by more bad behavior.
Role models: The main character is single-minded and bent on revenge, inflicting great violence on anyone that gets in his way. He does perform one noble deed at the end, but only after it's too late. None of the characters is worth emulating in any way.
Violence: The character is abducted and imprisoned for 20 years. He bashes his head against the wall and tries to kill himself. Upon his release he beats up dozens of men, including some innocent bystanders. He bashes people in the head with a hammer, and gets a knife stuck in his back. Characters are tied down and tortured. In a flashback, a father kills his entire family, and himself, with a shotgun. Lots of blood is shown. We also see a bloody suicide. There's an attempted rape.
Sex: There's a graphic sex scene with female toplessness and male and female backsides shown. The scene takes on a greater, and more disturbing resonance after the big reveal at the end. Another sex scene is in the dark, but you can hear sounds. The character is shown masturbating under a pillow while watching a workout show on TV. Incest is part of the plot. In an early scene, the character attempts and fails to seduce a woman during a business meeting.
Language: Language includes several uses of "f--k," "s--t," "bulls--t," "bitch," "dick," and "piss," plus "Jesus H. Christ" and "Goddamn."
Consumerism: Apple iPhones are shown. Google searches are important to the plot.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: The main character starts the movie as a hardcore alcoholic, pouring vodka in a paper cup to make it look like he's drinking soda. He's shown raging drunk one night, screaming on the streets and searching for more booze. (He's also shown smoking a cigarette.) During his imprisonment, he's given a bottle of vodka a day, which he guzzles down greedily. Eventually he stops drinking through hard work and persistence. An old friend of his is also a strong drinker, seen with a glass of whisky at all times. Another character is said to be a former drug user, but recovered.
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© Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
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BOULDER, Colo. (AP) Askia Booker scored a career-high 20 points as Colorado took advantage of California's poor first half to win 81-71 on Sunday.
Xavier Johnson had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Colorado (14-6, 4-4 Pac-12). Spencer Dinwiddie added 16 points and Andre Roberson 15 for the Buffaloes, winners of three straight.
Colorado improved to 9-1 at home despite turning the ball over 20 times.
Justin Cobbs led California (11-8, 3-4) with 22 points. Allen Crabbe, the Pac-12's leading scorer, had 21 points, but only four at halftime.
The Bears scored just 18 points in the first half, their lowest total of the season, while shooting 21 percent before the break. They improved to 61 percent in the second half and finished at 42 percent.


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America is at a crossroads. We can continue to support a president who embraces a government-driven, economic redistribution strategy. Or, we can make a change to a citizen-driven, economic opportunity strategy. History shows that an opportunity economy with an appropriate safety net is better for Americans. And, Mitt Romney is the right leader with the right policies to reignite economic growth and strengthen our country.
In government, people, priorities and policies all impact results.
While President Obama faced tough challenges as a new president, his priorities and policies failed to meet even his own goals and produced the worst economic recovery since World War II. In 2009, President Obama and his team defined economic success as cutting the annual budget deficit to below $230 billion, bringing unemployment below six percent and significantly increasing average household incomes. But, the results are four straight $1 trillion plus deficits, unemployment over 8 percent for over 3 ½ years (the longest stretch on record) and average household incomes declining over $4,000 the past four years.
What caused such failed results?
Opposing Viewpoint by Ed Lazowska: Why Barack Obama should get your vote for president
Obama's first major priority was a $787 billion "fiscal stimulus" program that was predicted to help lower unemployment below 5.6 percent by 2012. The money was spent, deficits ballooned and unemployment remains above 8 percent. Obama followed-up by prioritizing a nationalized health care entitlement program, Obamacare, insisting it was not a tax and would reduce health care costs. This year the Supreme Court confirmed that Obamacare creates new taxes and the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office updated their estimates to over $1 trillion of increased federal deficits caused by Obamacare.
Then, the President created the Simpson-Bowles Commission on Fiscal Responsibility that produced thoughtful, bi-partisan ideas on a balanced budget. But, President Obama ignored the commission's ideas and continues to run and propose $1 trillion plus deficits.
President Obama said in 2009 that if he did not turn around the economy in three years his Presidency would be a "one-term proposition." His policies and his leadership have produced a dismal 6.7 percent GDP growth the past 3 years compared to Reagan's 18.5 percent in the first three years of the Reagan recovery (and an average 15.2 percent GDP growth for the first three years of all post World War II recoveries).
If Obama faced such a tough hand, you would have thought that his post recession recovery would be among the very best. But, as the Wall Street Journal recently put it, "every President who has inherited a recession in modern times has done better." So, President Obama, who got to push his policies through a Democratic controlled Congress and then fell well short of his own goals, makes the case himself for why he should not be re-elected.
Mitt Romney is a proven leader who understands how the economy works and has been successful in the private, non-profit and public sector. He helped build and turned around several companies, he saved and made profitable the Salt Lake City Olympics and he improved government policies and results as Governor of Massachusetts. His core philosophy is to create an equal opportunity economy where investors, entrepreneurs and job seekers pursue their dreams and deliver economic growth from the ground up. He anticipates that his policies will produce 12 million new jobs in America over the next four years.
Specifically, Mitt would flatten tax rates for individuals and businesses by reducing the top tax rate for both to 25 percent and closing loopholes so that the changes are initially revenue neutral. He would embrace much of the Simpson-Bowles' proposals as part of a major deficit reduction effort. He will continue to tell Americans the truth about our broken entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare and propose entitlement reforms that preserve these legacy programs for current beneficiaries while fixing them for the long-term. And, he would return most health care innovation and control back to the states while improving select elements nationally.
I could discuss other Romney policy proposals and priorities about education, sequenced immigration reform, affordable energy and streamlined regulation at length. And, on foreign policy we are once again seeing the risks and problems associated with the strategy of "leading from behind" that is prominent in the Obama administration. The key point though is that Romney has succeeded at every major leadership challenge he has faced and Obama has failed at his first one – being President.
Over the past eighteen months, I had several opportunities to meet with Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and their campaign's leadership. The Romney-Ryan team is genuinely concerned for America's future and for improving opportunities for every American to earn success and happiness in life.
I facilitated innovation roundtables for Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan and Lanhee Chen (campaign policy director) with technology industry leaders. The Romney team's understanding of the national issues and mastery at speaking to policy solutions were extremely compelling. For many innovation economy leaders, who often came from modest beginnings to build successful companies, the Romney-Ryan strategy and economic policies strongly resonate.
Americans cannot afford four more years of a well-intentioned but unsuccessful leader. Obama is a gifted speaker and campaigner, but America needs a gifted leader and executive.
All Americans deserve opportunities to learn, innovate and succeed in life. Americans deserve the economic prosperity and resources that provide an opportunity economy for everyone and a strong safety net for those in need. And, Americans deserve far better than broken promises and the worst economic recovery in modern times.
The American people and our great country, founded on the principles of freedom and opportunity, need and deserve Mitt Romney as our next President!
Matt McIlwain is managing director at Madrona Venture Group, a Seattle venture capital firm. He's also the co-chair of the Washington state finance committee for Mitt Romney.
Editor's Note: With the first 2012 U.S. Presidential Debate taking place tonight, GeekWire asked two veterans of the Seattle tech community, on different sides of the political spectrum, to weigh in with a debate of their own about the candidates. Making the case for Barack Obama is Ed Lazowska, a longtime University of Washington computer science professor, and making the case for Mitt Romney is Madrona Venture Group's Matt McIlwain.


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Last week, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong chose to tell a company-wide conference call that two AOL employees had "distressed babies" requiring health care expenditures of around $1 million each — which was one of the reasons he had to make 401(k) benefits less generous.
Here's one aspect of the AOL story we thought people might want a clearer explanation of: Why did Armstrong know so much about his employees' health care usage in the first place? Weren't those high costs a matter between AOL's employees and AOL's health insurer?
In fact, like most large companies, AOL is its own health insurer.
A source close to AOL senior management confirmed to Business Insider that the company self-insures for health coverage. Employees carry cards with the name of an outside insurer on them (Cigna, in AOL's case) but that company is just acting as an administrator; it sends a bill to AOL for whatever claims get paid out.
Since AOL is paying the bills, it needs to know something about what kind of medical care its employees are getting. This information informs the company's decisions about changes to the health plan in future years; depending on what functions it's contracting out, it may also need to make decisions about what claims to pay and appeal.
In general, reports about high-cost claimants that get up to the CEO level should have identifying employee information stripped out. "You're not going to know who the employees are," said Paul Fronstin of the Employee Benefits Research Institute.
That is, whatever report Armstrong saw that described the medical costs related to these two births, it likely wouldn't have named Huffington Post editor Peter Goodman as the employee making the claims. (Goodman's wife, Deanna Fei, wrote a piece for Slate over the weekend responding to Armstrong's singling out of her baby, who was born four months premature but has since recovered well.)
Except, in some cases, a high-cost employee's identity might be pretty easy to figure out. Managers could deduce the employee's identity through workplace gossip or claims for related benefits, like short-term disability and family leave.
"Even at large companies this kind of anecdotal evidence can get connected to claims reports – gossip travels fast," Kyle Healy, Vice President at benefits consulting firm Lenox Advisers, told Business Insider in an email. But, Healy added, legal protections exist to protect employees from being punished for incurring high costs.
While it may be uncomfortable to think about your employer knowing about the details of your medical needs, it's important to note AOL and other firms can't just react to an employee's high costs by cutting off payment. Benefits consultants contacted by Business Insider were consistent in saying that health benefits are contractual — each year, the company agrees to a set of health plan terms, and if claims meet plan criteria, the company has to pay them.
"There is really no wiggle room here at all," said Cheryl Swirnow, co-founder of Sherpaa, which advises firms on health benefits.
"They would not have discretion over claims as they are occurring or have the power to reach out to an administrator and have that administrator stop benefits or limit benefits on an individual basis with no medical justification," said Healy.
Firms like AOL can use these cost reports to inform changes to future years' health benefits, in an effort to prevent similarly high costs from arising again. But because the Affordable Care Act prohibits annual or lifetime benefit limits, employers are limited in their ability to cut off claimants for simply being too expensive. (And even before the ACA, it was "highly unusual" for large employers like AOL to impose such limits, said Fronstin.)
Firms might react by imposing other cost-control measures, such as excluding high-cost medical providers from their networks or raising out-of-pocket cost sharing, but the savings from such measures would come from reduced costs for claimants broadly, not just from those with extraordinarily high costs.
The necessity of continuing to pay for high-cost health events — as Fei pointed out in Slate, a key purpose of health insurance is to cover unpredictably high medical expenses like hers and her child's — may be why Armstrong thought it made sense to say AOL was cutting its 401(k) benefit because of the need to care for premature babies.
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 prohibits employers from disclosing certain personally-identifying health information about their employees. "Since he didn't use the women's names, and presumably there were many pregnancies at AOL last year, it would be tough to say he violated HIPAA," said Swirnow.
Still, Swirnow adds that it was an ethical violation, even if it wasn't a legal one. Hopefully, the negative press Armstrong has drawn to AOL will remind self-insuring employers about the importance of safeguarding employees' private health information, given that they have it.