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How to Talk to a 'Twilight' Fan
'Breaking Dawn: Part 2,' the 5th, final film has arrived. Here, a guide to all things Edward, Bella and Jacob
En español | You don't need to read the books or see the films (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 2 is the current, fifth and final movie — see the video above) to understand what your Twilight-obsessed daughter, granddaughter, colleague or beloved is talking about. With these basic details, you can join the conversation.
The original novel, Twilight, was released in 2005 with a targeted audience of teenage girls. First-time author Stephenie Meyer says the love story of a 17-year-old human girl and an irresistible teenage vampire came to her in a dream. Three more books — New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn — followed. Each was a No. 1 New York Times best-seller.
The film versions of Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn: Part 1 set box office records and proved a draw for teenagers and their moms. The story's location, rural Forks, Wash., is a real place that's now a tourist destination for fans.
Isabella ("Bella") Swan: teenage human girl. Played in the movie by Kristen Stewart.
Edward Cullen: a 100+-year-old vampire who, as an immortal, is forever 17. Portrayed by British actor Robert Pattinson.
Jacob Black: Bella's childhood friend, a member of the Native American Quileutes tribe and a werewolf, played by Taylor Lautner, inevitably shirtless (see "Werewolves" on the next page).
Edward, who has never had a girlfriend (yes, he's a 100+-year-old virgin) unexpectedly falls in love with Bella, a human girl he wants to both protect and literally devour. As Edward declares to Bella in a scene that sends readers and movie audiences swooning, "The lion fell in love with the lamb." Jacob, who also loves and wants to protect Bella (mainly from vampires), challenges Edward for her affections. Fans take sides, being on either "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob." Bella knows that her two suitors are in essence monsters, but she doesn't care.
Carlisle Cullen: Edward's "dad" leads a family of moral, well-behaved vampires who are related by choice, not blood ... so to speak. Carlisle works as an emergency room doctor.
Esmé Cullen: Edward's "mom." The Cullens are vegetarians, which in the vampire world means they only drink the blood of animals.
Next Page: More vampires and werewolves. >>
Rosalie, Emmett, Alice and Jasper Cullen: Edward's adopted vampire siblings who, despite their advanced ages (Jasper is a Civil War vet), pretend to be high school students. They relocate and matriculate often.
Renesmee Cullen: Bella and Edward's half-human, half-vampire "hybrid" offspring. Yes, spoiler alert to the few who don't know: Edward and Bella marry in Breaking Dawn: Part 1. They get pregnant during their honeymoon. (A big surprise since such interspecies conception was believed impossible.) Bella dies during a horrific delivery but, since she is married to a vampire, she's brought back to life — or, to be precise, eternal life.
The Volturi: These are the bad vampires. The Volturi live in Italy, hunt humans and enforce vampire laws, the main one of which is that vampires can't let humans know that vampires exist.
James, Victoria and Laurent: Three U.S.-based bad vampires. They hunt humans and want to feed on Bella because she smells so tasty. After the Cullens kill James and the wolves (see below) eat Laurent, Victoria builds a vampire army and seeks revenge. (She stars and shatters, literally, in the third book/film Eclipse.) Additional good and evil vampires arrive in Breaking Dawn: Part 2.
The Wolves: Members of the Quileutes tribe transform into massive wolves in order to protect humans from vampires. The Cullens and Quileutes have a decades-long truce that Bella and Edward's relationship threatens to undo.
Vampires: Vampires in the Twilight books are strong, fast, strikingly attractive and have marble-hard bodies. Unlike in most vampire stories, however, Twilight's vampires don't sleep, and they can be in sunlight without harm. Still, they avoid the sun by living in rainy places like Forks, because when sunlight touches their pale skin, they glitter. (Yup, they beautifully shimmer like they're covered in diamonds. Just play along.)
Werewolves: As revealed in New Moon, certain Quileutes can turn themselves into enormous wolves when vampires are near. Because they shred their clothing whenever they "phase" into their wolf forms and are always hot (in that they run a constant 108 degree temperature), the guys in the pack (there's one girl) are usually shirtless.
Special Skills: The wolves can communicate with one another through their thoughts. Edward can read minds (all except Bella's, which is a mystery that frustrates him greatly). Alice, Edward's sister, can see the future; Jasper can control people's emotions. The Volturi have supernatural powers that can inflict pain and reveal lifelong secrets. Even the formerly human Bella and the half-human Renesmee are gifted with special powers.
Are you intrigued? If so, you can start reading the books, or rent the first four films and then catch Breaking Dawn: Part 2 in theaters.
But be warned: For many, Twilight is addictive. If you become smitten, or bitten, you'll want to watch the five movies over and over again and read and re-read the novels and spinoffs — including Meyers' novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner and her unfinished but released draft of Midnight Sun, which is the original Twilight storyline but as told by Edward rather than Bella.
Hope you have free time to spare.
Melissa Stanton is an editor at AARP.org and shameless member of "Team Edward."


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NeXon – Multi-Purpose Creative Template
Two Different Template Design Versions – NeXon – Multi-Purpose Creative Template. NeXon is a modern and clean Adobe Muse template designed for Corporate, Creative, Agency or Multipurpose. Its a Multi-Page Design Version. To edit this template with Adobe Muse is very easy! You can change colors, texts or replace the images in a few minutes. Desktop Tablet and Mobile version are included!
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subset: commoncrawl


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American Physical Society Sites|APS|Journals|Physics Magazine
- American Physical Society Sites
- Publications
- Meetings & Events
- Programs
- Membership
- Policy & Advocacy
- Careers In Physics
- Newsroom
- About APS
- Become a Member
Biographical Summary
Homer A. Neal is the Samuel A. Goudsmit Distinguished Professor of Physics, Interim President Emeritus, and Vice President for Research Emeritus at the University of Michigan. From 1987 to 1993 he was Chair of the University of Michigan Physics Department. He served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at Stony Brook (1981-86) and Dean for Research and Graduate Development at Indiana University (1976-81).
Dr. Neal's research group is currently part of the ATLAS Experiment at CERN. Group members played key roles in the recent discovery of the Higgs boson. Neal also participated in the DZERO collaboration that in 1995 announced the discovery of the top quark and in 2007/2008 announced the discovery of the Xi_b hyperon. Neal was the principal originator of both the DZERO and ATLAS groups at the University of Michigan.
Neal has served as Regent of the Smithsonian Institution. He has served on numerous advisory committees and directorships: Oak Ridge National Laboratory, MIT Visiting Committee on Sponsored Research, Board of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Argonne National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Fermilab, and others. He is currently the PI for the NSF supported Michigan-CERN REU Program allowing U.S. students to spend a summer of research at CERN.
He is a member of the Board of the Ford Motor Company and currently chairs its Committee on Sustainability. He is a Director of the Lounsbery Foundation and is currently a member of the Council for the Smithsonian Museum of African American History on the Mall, and has served as a member of the NRC Board on Physics and Astronomy. He served as a member of the APS's Panel on Public Affairs, and is the recipient of the Society's Bouchet Award.
He co-authored a textbook on national science policy ("Beyond Sputnik") which is being used in courses at several institutions.
While on the National Science Board he chaired the committee that produced the Board's first comprehensive report on undergraduate science education. A result of that study is the Research Experience for Undergraduates Program (REU), and the Research Experience for Teachers Program (RET) now flourishing today. He has also served as Chairman of the Physics Advisory Committee of the National Science Foundation. He has delivered testimony on numerous occasions to Congress, on matters ranging from the funding of national laboratories to the state of science education.
He is a recipient of a Sloan Foundation Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, the Stony Brook Medal, and the Indiana University Distinguished Alumni Service Award. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the AAAS, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds Honorary Doctorates from Indiana University, Notre Dame University and Michigan State University.
As VP for Research, he oversaw the research programs at the University of Michigan, which has been often ranked, in terms of competitive funding, as the nation's top research university.
Dr. Neal received his B.S. degree in Physics, with honors, in 1961 from Indiana University; he received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (1966).
Candidate Statement
I am honored to have been asked by the Nominating Committee to stand for election to the post of APS vice president. The Society has served our field well over the decades and I, if elected, would enthusiastically devote my energies to its continued advancement.
Science faces many challenges today. The public and many individuals in government do not fully understand the importance of supporting science nor the need to recruit new talent even through times of national budget stringency. There is much the APS can do to address this.
Helping achieve and sustain high quality research, of course, must be the hallmark of the Society. I have had the good fortune of being involved in the recent discoveries of the Xi_b hyperon, the top quark and the Higgs boson. I formed the groups at the University of Michigan whose contributions were seminal. in each of these discoveries. The joys of discovery should be broadly shared, and this should be a APS goal.
Universities are the stewards of much of our nation's research. I have had the privilege of overseeing research administration at several of the nation's top institutions in roles as Department Chair ,Vice President for Research, Provost, and Interim President. The APS-University relation should be nurtured.
While on the National Science Board, I chaired the Task Force that resulted in the the REU and RET programs and several related initiatives. For the past ten years I have been the PI for the Michigan-CERN REU program, the only official portal through which U.S. undergraduates can spend a summer of formal NSF supported research and instruction at CERN.
Progress in physics requires intellectual engagement with federal agencies. . I have had the privilege of serving on the National Science Board, being Chair of the NSF Physics Advisory Board, and serving on the Board on Physics and Astronomy of the National Research Council, and on the Advisory Boards of almost all of the major national laboratories. I believe these experiences would be highly relevant.
Industry is a key player in all that we do. As a Director of the Ford Motor Company for over the past decade, I have observed the relationship between universities, industry and the government, and I believe this connection can even be strengthened in the years ahead to the benefit of all sectors.
The APS has a very strong set of ongoing initiatives and those deserve continued robust support. Ongoing discussions should be established at high levels of government about the precarious nature of physics funding today. Aggressive efforts should be made to inform the public about the impact of physics on their lives. Efforts should be enhanced to highlight the role of school teachers. The plight of research scientists needs to be reviewed. Ways should be sought for closer collaboration between physics and other scientific disciplines. Further, programs need to be developed to insure that the diminution of U.S. facilities does not prevent our students from participating in frontier research.


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Big oil companies don't think much of Iraq's threats. They are lining up for oil prospection in Kurdistan, despite Baghdad's ban on signing contracts with Kurdish authorities. Last week, Total announced it was purchasing 35% of two blocks located in Iraqi Kurdistan, while the Russian oil giant Gazprom Neft bought stakes in two blocks that could potentially contain 3.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent.
These announcements have incurred Baghdad's wrath, with the Iraqi central government faced off against Kurdish authorities on the distribution of oil wealth. "We will punish companies that sign contracts without the central-government and the Oil Ministry's authorization," threated Hussein Chahristani, a spokesperson for the Iraqi vice prime minister in charge of energy, adding that if Total doesn't cancel the contracts, the consequences would be "very dire."
Breaking with Baghdad
Yet Total and Gazprom are only following the crowd. Last July, Chevron also bought majority stakes in two Kurdistan blocks. ExxonMobil was the real precursor in October 2011, when it ignored pressure from Baghdad and signed six prospection contracts in Kurdistan, breaking down a taboo.
Why this sudden interest in the region? It has over 30% of Iraq's 143 billion barrel oil reserves. More importantly, Kurdistan, who gained autonomous status from Iraq in 1970, offers production sharing contracts that are much more lucrative than the one to two dollar service contracts set up by Baghdad.
Up until now, major oil companies stayed away from the area out of fear of irritating Iraqi leaders. ExxonMobil was shut out of Iraq's latest invitation to tender, but the group has kept exploitation rights for the vast Qurna-West oilfield. It would be surprising for Total to lose its 18.75% participation in the Halfaya field. "If the government cancels the participation of oil companies, it loses essential foreign investment and expertise," writes Siddik Makir, a consultant with IHS business information services.
One final advantage is that the Kurdistan contracts enable companies to put pressure on Baghdad to obtain better conditions in the rest of the country. It is a way to change the balance of power.
Geopolitical ramifications
From a logistical standpoint though, the oil companies aren't making a sure bet. "Kurdistan is a very isolated region," says one expert. Oil exports from the region transit via pipelines controlled by Baghdad. To avoid this obstacle, Kurdistan is cooperating with Ankara to build a pipeline to directly export crude to Turkey, which has strained relations between Ankara and Baghdad.
These contracts have an enormous geopolitical impact. By setting up in Kurdistan, the big oil companies are indirectly favoring the region's independence, which could push the Sunni provinces to ask for the same and provoke the country's break-up. Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is close to Tehran and wants to keep Iraq united. Facing him are Kurdish and Sunni opponents, brought together in an alliance supported by Turkey. In this arm wrestling match, oil contracts are key.


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Signed into law in 1935, the Social Security Act launched an integral social safety net program, but is it still sustainable?
Story Transcript
JESSICA DESVARIEUX, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.
Today marks the 78th anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act. In 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the law, establishing a new form of economic security for seniors.
Here to discuss the history of Social Security and its health today is Nicole Woo. Nicole Woo is the director of domestic policy for the Center for Policy and Economic Research in Washington, D.C.
Thanks for joining us, Nicole.
NICOLE WOO, DIRECTOR OF DOMESTIC POLICY, CEPR: Oh, thanks for having me.
DESVARIEUX: So, Nicole, can you just give us a brief history of the Social Security Act? How did it come about, the signing of the act in 1935?
WOO: Well, people might remember that the Great Depression started with the stock market crash in 1929, and in the Great Depression there was poverty across this country. More than half of the elderly in this country were in poverty. And that was causing huge suffering.
So in reaction to people just being poor, starving in the streets, we came up with a number of safety net programs, and one of them is Social Security. It's really more of an insurance program, where workers were able to start putting money into, basically, a pension, but a government-run pension. And this way it's been keeping seniors out of poverty till this day. If we didn't have it, it would be a lot harder for all Americans. For example, we'd have to support our grandparents and parents in their old age.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. And let's talk about Social Security today. What is the current health of the system? Because you hear different views on this. Obviously, people more on the right, they tend to say, oh, we should be raising the retirement age [incompr.] security. You even hear that from President Obama at times. When there are talks about balancing the budget, Social Security is often brought up. What is the real health of Social Security today? And if you could, just provide some numbers for our viewers.
WOO: Oh, sure. So Social Security is often lumped in with other government programs to make it seem really scary. But the fact is that Social Security is facing a small shortfall in the future, but it's really not that serious and it's not unmanageable. For example, right now Social Security is perfectly able to pay 100 percent of benefits, and it's going to be able to do so for the next 20 years. After that, it'll be able to pay about 75 percent, three-quarters of the benefits of that are promised. And, you know, nobody likes to see that sort of shortfall, but it doesn't mean it's going to completely broke. We've been able to fix these sorts of problems in the past with changes in the payroll level, payroll tax levels, or how many people pay into the system.
What we're looking at right now is that Social Security takes up about 5 percent of our GDP, our economy, and these long-term 75-year projections show that it'll go up to about 6 percent. So we're talking about a gap of about 1 percent of our economy, which really isn't that much. And there are many ways that we can fix that gap.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. Can you give us some suggestions of how? What has been done in the past?
WOO: Oh, in the past they've raised the rate of the payroll tax. And they've also added more workers to qualify for the system, for example certain government employees.
One thing that is really important to know is that there is a cap on the amount of income that's taxed for Social Security. Right now the first $113,700 of a person's income are taxed, and then any income that people make above that is tax-free when it's for–in terms of Social Security. So, you know, someone who's making a quarter of a million dollars a year is paying only about half the rate into Social Security as the rest of us. Somebody who's making a million and a half dollars a year is only paying about 10 percent of the rate of the rest of us. So we could fix almost all of that gap that people talk about by simply raising that cap on the wages of Social Security, taking it away completely and taxing everyone, rich and poor, at the same rate and have them contribute the same rate into the Social Security system.
DESVARIEUX: So, Nicole, let's talk a bit about the people that say Social Security is unsustainable. What do you make of the argument that the amount of money that is going in is less than the amount of money that will be going out? And secondly, what do you make of those like CEO of Goldman Sachs Lloyd Blankfein that said that essentially Social Security is going to be unsustainable, we need to change the system entirely? Are you a bit skeptical about their motives?
WOO: Well, there are many parts to your question. The first part is whether or not Social Security is actually paying out more than it's taking in right now. And that's absolutely not true. Actually, in 2013, Social Security is projected to take in $28 billion–that's with a B–$28 billion more in than it pays out to retirees. And that's because back in 1983 a number of changes were made to the Social Security system, and they started to build up a surplus, because they knew the baby boomers were going to retire. Right now we have about $2.8 trillion–with a T–$2.8 trillion saved up in the Social Security Trust Fund.
When people say that Social Security's paying out more than it's taking in, they're not counting the interest that Social Security is making on those over two and a half trillion dollars in savings. And I know that I have to pay taxes on my interest income, you know, when I do my taxes every year. Interest counts. But the people who want to scare us about Social Security just don't count that. And that's really not fair, because, you know, the interest income is significant, and it will build up our payroll taxes that we're paying in, and the interest will continue to accumulate, so that by 2020 we'll have about almost $3 trillion in the trust fund. So that is not an issue. And when you do hear people say that we're in the red, they're simply not counting the interest. And I just don't think that's good accounting.
In terms of folks who say that it's a problem and they want to have it in these deficit and budget discussions, that's another sort of red herring. By law, Social Security cannot contribute a dime to the deficit. The law says that Social Security can only pay out what it has in its trust fund. And that's why I was saying that in about 20 years it'll be able to pay out only 75 percent rather than 100 percent of benefits. So there's no way that Social Security can contribute to the deficit, 'cause the law says that when it, you know, doesn't have enough to pay the full benefits, it simply doesn't. And it's never contributed to the deficit in the past, because that's how the law has always been.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about unemployment and the high unemployment that we're seeing today. How is that going to have an effect on Social Security?
WOO: Well, it reduces the amount of workers who are paying into the Social Security system. So it does exacerbate, you know, the small shortfalls that we will see in the future. If we had more workers working, there'd be more workers contributing into the system, saving up for their retirement. So, certainly, you know, any time we talk about jobs programs and reducing the unemployment rate, that would also help Social Security.
DESVARIEUX: Okay. Thanks so much for joining us, Nicole.
WOO: Thank you.
DESVARIEUX: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy.


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SNOW HILL — The official vote is in — property taxes in Worcester County will increase 7 cents per $100 of assessed value next year for the first time in eight years while county employees will receive a 2 percent raise for the first time in three years. The total fiscal year budget came in at $165,904,256.
Though the budget was able to pass relatively unscathed in a 5-2 vote, none of the County Commissioners claimed to be entirely satisfied with the end product and most of them laid the majority of the blame on the state.
"The incompetence we have at the state level, their inability to control spending, has put a burden on every county in the state," said Commission President Bud Church. "The state has shot us in the foot."
Church was referring to a large number of unfunded state mandates that Annapolis has passed down to the county level this year, such as teacher pension costs, a historically state-absorbed expense. The teacher's pensions, along with similar new expenses, were cited by Church and several members of the commission as the main justification behind raising the property tax rate from the current 70 cents to 77 cents.
"We can no longer afford to carry the burden of taking money out of the reserves to pay bills and absorbing the costs the state passes along to us," said Church.
Chief Administrative Officer Gerald Mason agreed that Worcester can't keep up with state demands at the current tax rate. He also pointed out that even at 77 cents the county is still under constant yield, meaning less revenue is coming in from property taxes than last year due to declining real-estate values. Because property across Worcester is worth less, owners are being taxed for less.
To reach constant yield, the rate would need to be increased to 77.23 cents By only going to 77 cents, the commission is sacrificing $1.7 million in revenue from last year. Additionally, Mason noted that property taxes haven't been raised in eight years, and the last time they were adjusted in 2005 they were lowered from 73 cents to the current 70 cents.
However, Commissioner Madison Bunting made it clear that he would have liked to see taxes raised by less than 7 cents approved this week.
"I think we could have actually decreased taxes by a couple of cents," he said.
Bunting pointed out that two budget work sessions had been cancelled this season, two opportunities that he believes could have been used to trim more fat from the end proposal, which would have allowed the commission to raise taxes by only 5 cents per $100 of assessed valuation or 6 cents in his opinion.
Another thorn for Bunting is the 2-percent raise the commission decided to offer to every county employee. Though the actual cost of granting the raise is only $1.5 million, a small portion of the revenue generated by the 7-cent increase, Bunting stressed that every dollar counted, and if raises were skipped again this year, the commission would have had an easier time coming in closer to a 6-cent hike.
"I still don't think this is the proper time to give county and Board of Education employees a raise," he said.
Bunting did admit that it was "a hard situation" but chose to vote against the final budget.
Commissioner Virgil Shockley also voted against the budget. However, his dissatisfaction stemmed from the commission's decision not to include funding in the budget to pursue the bond market for Snow Hill High School renovations this year. It's a move Shockley believes could jeopardize Worcester's chances to capitalize on the low interest rates currently available.
But the rest of the commission remained supportive of the final product, though all of them admitted that arriving at the 7-cent increase was not an easy decision.
"Nobody wants to pay more," said Commissioner Merrill Lockfaw, "whether it's at the pump, in taxes, or at the supermarket." But Lockfaw argued that "if we want to rise, there's a price."
Like Church, he deposited the lion's share of the blame directly on the state and suggested that the many emails and phone calls over the budget aimed at the commissioners would be more effective if they went to state legislators.
Commissioner Louise Gulyas said that she also struggled over the budget but lent her support to it because she felt employees are due for a raise after three years of hard work without complaint. She went on to say that the final budget, though it is only funding the Board of Education (BoE) at a Maintenance of Effort level of funding, $851,433 less than the level funding the board requested, reflected well for the schools, especially since the employee raises originated after the school board's request for a teacher pay increase.
Church predicted that even after raising the property tax Worcester, which previously held the second lowest rate in the state, will probably still be in the bottom two or three.
"We can still be very proud, even with the tax increase, of what we do in Worcester County," he said.


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Education is the key to success and growth for any nation. In today's technology driven world, it is compulsive for any nation to edify its younger generation in order to compete with the rest of the world. Every nation is striving for the excellence and expertise in modern education. When talking about education, universities played an unparalleled role in edifying the masses and satisfy the needs of students. In modern world, universities are considered as the mother of knowledge and well being of students.
In developed countries, universities are granted massive subsidies and incentives on government level in order to achieve the maximum output from them. Students are patronage by universities and government which is seen as a nation's investment for future. In our country there are too few institutes that are serving the cause. However, Preston University is one such institute which is serving the need of providing latest advancement and edifying the thirst of students. The University is being called as Diploma mill by its rivals mainly due to the number of students getting graduated each year. However, this diploma mill tag can be seen as a compliment for Preston University, an institute that is well reputed and honored in the younger generation.


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NASA is gearing up to launch a fusillade of five rockets in five minutes next week on a mission to probe fast-moving winds near the edge of space.
The small suborbital rockets form the core of the Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX), which is scheduled to blast off from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on March 14, according to a mission profile. The mission will gather information about the high-altitude jet stream, which whistles along 60 to 65 miles (97 to 105 kilometers) above our planet's surface.
If all goes as planned, the five ATREX sounding rockets will launch within 320 seconds, releasing chemical tracers into the high-altitude jet stream. The tracers will then form milky white clouds, allowing scientists to track the atmospheric region's winds, which can exceed 300 mph (483 kph).
Skywatchers along the Eastern Seaboard may be able to see the action, too, if they have clear weather and unobstructed views, NASA officials said.
Observers from North Carolina to southern New York should be able to see the five rockets streak toward space. The tracers, meanwhile, may be visible for up to 20 minutes after liftoff from South Carolina through much of New England, officials added.
Earth's high-altitude jet stream blows higher up than the jet stream commonly referred to in weather forecasts. The super-fast winds in this upper jet stream facilitate rapid transport from the mid latitudes to our planet's polar regions. [Infographic: Earth's Atmosphere – Top to Bottom]
The high-altitude jet stream is located in the same atmospheric region where some strong electrical currents occur. This part of the ionosphere therefore has a lot of electrical turbulence, which can disrupt satellite and radio communications, researchers said.
While all five rockets will release chemical tracers at the edge of space, two of them will also carry instruments that measure temperature and atmospheric pressure. The rockets being used for the mission are two Terrier-Improved Malemutes, two Terrier-Improved Orions and one Terrier-Oriole.
The ATREX launch window extends from March 14 through April 3, opening no earlier than 11 p.m. EST (0400 GMT) each night and closing no later than 6:30 a.m. EST (1130 GMT) the following morning. Liftoff won't occur unless skies are clear at three special camera sites in Virginia, North Carolina and New Jersey, NASA officials said.
NASA will host a news conference Wednesday (March 7) to discuss the ATREX mission. NASA will stream the teleconference live at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio
The space agency will also broadcast the five ATREX launches online live, with coverage beginning two hours before the opening of the launch window. The webcast will be available here: http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/webcast
Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.


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Arkansas State Parks Calendar of Events
Are you looking for fun activities during your visit to an Arkansas State Park? Our park interpreters routinely schedule fun, family-friendly programs that are designed to help you have a more meaningful park experience and make memories of a lifetime. We offer more than 50,000 activities each year, including guided hikes, lake tours on park boats, birding adventures, kayak tours, living history demonstrations, nature games, historic site tours, bald eagle watches, spring wildflower walks, campfires, outdoor skills workshops, A.D.E.-accredited teacher professional development, and much more — there's something going on all the time.
- Reset Filters
- Grid Events: Park: Daisy State Park
- [X] Daisy State Park
- [X] Daisy State Park
- Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources
- Arkansas Post Museum
- Bull Shoals-White River State Park
- Cane Creek State Park
- Cossatot River State Park-Natural Area
- Crater of Diamonds State Park
- Crowley's Ridge State Park
- Davidsonville Historic State Park
- DeGray Lake Resort State Park
- Delta Heritage Trail State Park
- Devil's Den State Park
- Hampson Archeological Museum State Park
- Historic Washington State Park
- Hobbs State Park-Conservation Area
- Jacksonport State Park
- Lake Catherine State Park
- Lake Charles State Park
- Lake Chicot State Park
- Lake Dardanelle State Park
- Lake Fort Smith State Park
- Lake Frierson State Park
- Lake Ouachita State Park
- Logoly State Park
- Mammoth Spring State Park
- Mississippi River State Park
- Mount Magazine State Park
- Ozark Folk Center State Park
- Parkin Archeological State Park
- Petit Jean State Park
- Pinnacle Mountain State Park
- Plantation Agriculture Museum
- Plum Bayou Mounds Archeological State Park
- Powhatan Historic State Park
- Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park
- Queen Wilhelmina State Park
- Village Creek State Park
- White Oak Lake State Park
- Withrow Springs State Park
The dates, details, and admission prices in this calendar of events were submitted to the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism and are accurate to the best of our knowledge. We recommend that you check with local sponsors before making a trip to any event.
Saturday, October 07, 2023
Join the park staff as we do our part to keep Arkansas beautiful. This date we will be focusing on the Daisy Creek Hiking trail at Daisy State Park. If you have any further…


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CATCHprofiles is an tool for exploring patterns in ChIP profiling data. The CATCH algorithm performs a hierachical clustering of the profile patterns with an exhaustive alignment at each step. The algorithm has a user-friendly graphical interface that makes it easy for you to browse your results.
CATCHprofiles is open source and free to download and use under the General Public License. The CATCH project repository is hosted by bioinformatics.org. If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to the CATCH-users mailing list.
If you use CATCHprofiles for your work, please cite our paper CATCHprofiles: Clustering and Alignment Tool for ChIP Profiles. Thank you.
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Fiona G. Nielsen


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Reactive programming, in which programs react to events, is gathering steam as a mechanism for programming on multicore processors and for Web development. The concept is growing in importance in the Java realm, in particular. Typesafe, which has built its Akka middleware stack around the Scala language and reactive programming, is an advocate, and Netflix has been touting functional, reactive programming with its RxJava library for asynchronous and event-based programs, based on Microsoft's Reactive Extensions project.
InfoWorld Editor at Large Paul Krill met with Typesafe Senior Software Engineer Josh Suereth at the recent JavaOne technical conference in San Francisco to talk about reactive programming. Suereth also commented on the importance of Lambdas in the upcoming Java Standard Edition 8 release.
InfoWorld: What is reactive programming?
Suereth: It's a concept that really has been around for a long time, but it's now becoming viable for Java. The basics of it is essentially instead of writing code that you say, "Do this, do this, do this, do this," you say, "After this event, do something. After that is complete, do something." So it's about reacting when something is done. The main reason this matters is because as we go multicore, if you program in this style, there are new techniques to optimize across CPUs.... I would say [reactive programming is becoming important now] because of the explosion in cores on CPUs. You're no longer able to stick your logic on a single thread and have that be the most efficient path. In the past, it definitely was. And now we're starting to see less CPU utilization, and we need to improve it. This is a mechanism that will let us improve utilization of the CPU and still retain performance.
InfoWorld: New techniques as far as what?
Suereth: Java 7 introduced the fork/join library where if you program in a reactive style the fork/join library can actually retain some really good performance characteristics in that style. Similar to if you were writing just sequential code.
InfoWorld: Is reactive programming intended for Web development?
Suereth: It's really for any development, but I think it really shines when you're doing Web [application] development.
InfoWorld: Why?
Suereth: Just the nature of that style of programming. You get a request, and on that request, you have to perform some work, and that work usually entails making requests to other services that come back later, and you want to try to make sure when you're responding to these requests that you're not passing the data just across the CPUs and threads willy-nilly. You want to keep it local to where it comes in. So this way of partitioning your workflow can help the framework optimize your code.
InfoWorld: Which framework?
Suereth: In this particular case, I think the best example of this style is the Play Web Framework. It started off as a Java-only framework, and now the core is written in Scala; Typesafe is the primary provider. It's actually designed by Zenexity, a consulting company in France.


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Like everyone, sometimes I develop a bad habit of not sitting. I've decided that instead of looking for excuses I am instead going to make a commitment, a vow (to myself and to all beings) to sit every day for one entire year. Rain or shine, healthy or sick, I can sit Zazen for at the very least 10 minutes a day. Thanks to Jundo I even know how to sit in the event I catch the flu!
I'll update every so often so that I might be held accountable by the sangha and of course if anyone wants to take this challenge with me, I'd welcome the company.


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Having fun with some double stops in the key of F Major on this catchy tune "Last Chance" from the playing of Hobart Smith. Grab the free transcription below!
I've got a free pdf tab/notation transcription for all the notes I played in this video right here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pkB...ew?usp=sharing
Be on the look out for a follow up lesson video on the YouTube
Hey folks! Happy Mandolin Mondays! I just launched a new Patreon page and, and decided to celebrate with a little "Wildwood Flower."
You can expect a lot more videos like this to come! Head over to my Patreon page to get the tab/notation transcription of this performance and a bunch more weekly mandolin content: https://www.patreon.com/davidbenedictmandolin


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    Don't be a dotard!
Read these "rules" AND introduce
yourself before your first post
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$1000 to the first to design a headamp using discrete components with better measurements than Magni 3+Dismiss Notice
Schiit Sol Turntable Review - Episodic.
Discussion in 'Vinyl Nutjob World: Turntable and Related Gear' started by purr1n, Sep 10, 2019.
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Page 33 of 33


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Very entertaining last night. Whether you like him or not, he really shows you how boring a typical late night show guest is. They are all so safe and vanilla all the time.
Have you ever seen a guest take all 3 segments? Typically, the big name gets 2 segments but, I have never seen 3 that I can remember. Then again, I dont watch all that often.
Way back when I was just a wee-little SRK . . on the occasions when I would sleep-over at the grandparents, they would allow me to stay up late to watch the Johnny Carson show with them . . . it was fascinating how Bob Hope would sometimes show up unannounced, deliver a few tired-out punch-lines (with the set-up spoon-fed by Carson), maybe give a tiger growl sound effect . . . and then not even stay for a segment (Howard has talked about this at some length).
It was like, OMG, OMG Bob Hope, Bob Hope is here (and the audience would be whooping it up like mad) . . oh Bob, we know you are soooo busy, we'll let you get right back to work . . . it was as if the Pope showed up . . and then after granting a brief audience, Bob would scurry off stage as if he really had some other place to be. That was a big-big deal for the grandparents; really made their late-night if Bob Hope or Dean Martin showed up.
Latenite programming has been a staple of broadcast TV for a long-long time . . . and the format really hasn't changed that much . . . I would bet Don Rickles or Sammy Davis Jr once did 3 segments on Carson - lol.
Last edited by Sirius Roadkill; 02-04-2011 at 09:10 PM.
If Dave and Howard went on each others show once per month they would both dominate. I'm not sure either need each other but, they both have the power to elevate each other. It would be cool if they could setup regular appearances.


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Chinese e-commerce behemoth Alibaba filed an initial public offering prospectus Tuesday, inching closer to what could be the biggest technology IPO in history.
Alibaba Group handles 80 percent of all online commerce in China; it processed some US$250 billion worth of transactions for 231 million users in 2013. The company's market value has been estimated as high as $200 billion.
The company's outlandish size has prompted speculation that its IPO could top Facebook's record-setting $16 billion IPO back in 2012. Whether or not it does, Alibaba will become the largest Chinese corporation to list in the U.S.
[Sources: Reuters]
Russia Clamps Down on Bloggers
In a move that figures to make it much easier for authorities to track what gets said online — and by whom — Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new law requiring popular online personalities to register with the government.
Dubbed the "bloggers law," Russia's new measure decrees that any site with more than 3,000 daily visitors will be considered a media outlet, and accordingly will be responsible for the accuracy of the information posted. The law also stipulates that bloggers no longer can go about their business anonymously, and that organizations providing platforms for bloggers must maintain records of everything posted over the past six months.
Russia has been making all sorts of Internet noise lately. Last month, the founder of Russia's most popular social media site, VKontakte, was ousted from his post. Shortly thereafter, Russia passed a law requiring social media sites to keep servers in Russia; that was just before Putin opined that the Internet was a "CIA project."
[Source: The New York Times]
Norwegian Army Creates Virtual Reality Headset
The Norwegian army is using the commercially available Oculus Rift headset to help soldiers drive tanks.
The contraption works by mounting cameras to the outside of a tank. Images are then fed into the headset, helping to create a 360-degree view for the driver.
The device is much cheaper than conventional military camera systems, which presumably is useful even in a country as rich as Norway.
Facebook purchased Oculus VR, the company that makes the headset, for $2 billion in March.
[Source: BBC]
North Korea Travel App Launched
A new app, available on iOS and Android, offers what is presumed to be the world's preeminent guide to North Korea.
A tag-team effort between British travel technology startup Uniquely.Travel and Russian-based software outfit Magora Systems, the aptly named North Korea Travel App contains engaging images and in-depth write-ups of tourist sites. The app also contains mapping information and tools to build a travel itinerary, including a built-in tour-booking feature.
Typical citizens in North Korea do not have access to the Internet, or at least what most of the world knows as the Internet.
[Source: The Washington Post]


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Westboro Baptist Church Plans to Picket Sandy Hook Elementary School, Incurs Wrath of Anonymous
After prominent Westboro Baptist Church member/professional troll/mother of illegitimate son Shirley Phelps-Roper announced her group's intention to picket Sandy Hook Elementary School "to sing praise to God for the glory of his work in executing his judgment," the wrath came quickly.
An anonymous offshoot promptly launched #OpWestboro with the intention of "destroying" the church and its members.
Within hours the group began posting personal contact info and credit card numbers of WBC congregants, and hacking the church's various online properties.
A coup de grâce of sort came with the takeover of Phelps-Roper's personal twitter account. The hack is attributed to notorious teen hacker Cosmo the God who appears to have violated the terms of his newly minted parole in order to take part in the operation.
Meanwhile, others are attempting a less tech-savvy method of bringing down the church: Convincing the government to label WBC a hate group. A We the People petition to do just that has already amassed nearly 100,000 signatures in less than three days.
[photo via AP]


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Monday is traditionally the day at Cannes when people start making qualified assessments of the year's overall strength or weakness—usually finding it wanting compared to previous years that were themselves considered hugely disappointing at the time. It's all a bit silly, as we're only at roughly the midpoint, with plenty of potential riches ahead; at this time last year, Holy Motors, the runaway favorite of much of the press corps, hadn't yet screened. Still, I confess to feeling a bit discouraged that there's been no U.F.O. so far, by which I mean a film so audacious and unexpected that it seems to hit the reset button on what the medium can do. The Past is a terrific movie, sure to rank high on my year-end best-of list (it was just picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, who'll likely give it the same late-December release that A Separation had), but it's very much in keeping with what Asghar Farhadi has done before—a wonder, but not a surprise. Likewise, even those who think Inside Llewyn Davis is one of the Coens' best films would have to allow that it's reminiscent of everything from Barton Fink to O Brother, Where Art Thou? to A Serious Man. This year's equivalent of Dogville's chalk-outline Brechtian set or Tropical Malady's mid-film rupture has yet to surface. Blindside me, somebody.
To be fair, nobody was prepared for the onslaught of unapologetic schlock that is Takashi Miike's improbable Competition entry Shield Of Straw. That's not meant as an insult—schlock is fine by me, so long as it's reasonably skillful and inventive, and it'd be hard to go too far astray with a premise as deliriously high-concept as this one. Opening with a news report about the rape and murder of a 7-year-old girl, the film speedily sets up its essential conflict: the murderer vs. every single person in Japan, with the populace attempting to collect a $1 billion yen bounty (about $10 million) offered by the dead girl's obscenely wealthy, terminally ill grandfather. The details of Grandpa's offer, which he disseminates on a website located in Colombia ("It can't be shut down!"), don't entirely make sense—one condition states that the killer's death must be sanctioned by the Japanese government, which isn't something your average citizen could effect no matter how desperate they may be for the cash—but it doesn't much matter. The result is still what you'd expect: Everybody, including most of the cops assigned to protect the suspect (who quickly turns himself in), wants to kill the guy, leaving only a handful of honor-bound Tokyo police officers standing between due process and vigilante justice.
Sounds like a Hollywood action movie, doesn't it? And for a while, Miike treats it like one—applause broke out at the end of the first big setpiece, in which someone attempts to drive a truck loaded with nitroglycerin into the convoy escorting the prisoner from Fukuoka to Tokyo. (Distance: 550 miles.) That sequence apparently ate up most of the budget, however, as the film subsequently downshifts into a more intimate register, with fewer unhinged assaults and more emphasis on the question of which team member is secretly feeding information about their whereabouts to the rogue website, which tracks their movements practically in real time. Toward the end, it becomes clear why Cannes honcho Thierry Fremaux felt Shield Of Straw belongs in the Competition lineup, as the film attempts to pose serious questions about what price society should be willing to pay to protect the rights of known scumbags like this killer, who's not merely unrepentant but actively, gratuitously evil. (See also: Dirty Harry.) Philosophical speculation isn't really its strong suit, alas, and the third act gets bogged down in anguished self-doubt, prompting nostalgia for the fleet efficiency Miike demonstrated early on. There's a nifty, preposterously entertaining 90-minute thriller buried in this two-hour-plus behemoth, and I suspect that we'll see that film, in English, somewhere down the road. In the meantime, though, enough of it is discernible in the original version to provide an exhausting good time. Grade: B+
An American remake of Johnnie To's Blind Detective, a midnight selection (out of Competition), seems altogether unlikely. For one thing, it does virtually nothing with what would seem a high-concept premise—its titular detective (Andy Lau) may be blind, but only occasionally does that factor into his deductive genius, which mostly involves Sherlock Holmes-style bursts of insight that a sighted person could equally achieve. (He does sniff out evidence now and then, notably when on the trail of a perp who's been attacking people with sulfuric acid.) For another, it's fundamentally a comedy, and if you have any experience with Hong Kong comedy, you know that it's often broad enough to make Adam Sandler look like Oscar Wilde. Here, Lau teams up with a female cop (Sammi Cheng) to solve a number of cases that had been abandoned years earlier, and their methodology is more Laurel and Hardy than Crockett and Tubbs; there's so much head-bonking and stair-tumbling that Cheng spends much of the movie either wearing a helmet or with padding stuffed beneath her clothes. Like Shield Of Straw, Blind Detective runs far longer than necessary (129 minutes), and a little of Lau's mugging goes a long way; after initially being put off, though, I eventually adjusted to the film's antic rhythm (a world away from stoic To flicks like PTU, Exiled, and Election), enjoying the two leads' go-for-broke enthusiasm and the convoluted plot's nutty digressions. It's dispiriting, though, that even in a movie about a blind man, women are deemed utterly without value unless they're smoking hot. The scene in which Lau touches the unconscious Cheng's face and realizes she's not the mannish butterface he'd assumed, then instantly decides he's in love, made me want to gouge my own eyes out. I mean, come on. Grade: B-
Tomorrow: Michael Douglas plays Liberace, with Matt Damon as his much younger lover, in Steven Soderbergh's final feature film (for now, anyway), Behind The Candelabra. Also, the latest insanity from Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino, back working with Toni Servillo after a detour with Sean Penn.


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The Volkswagen XL1 is a sleek, futuristic-looking design that happens to boast a really efficient diesel-electric powertrain. It's awesome, but it's super expensive. That's why VW has decided to put the XL1's setup in a cheaper car, the very cool Up!, in addition to the gas and electric-onlyversions of the funky little VW we don't get.
Being shown at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Twin-Up is VW's way of showing off a crazy concept car. It makes a lot of sense, though, since Up! is one of the least-expensive cars the company offers.
Automotive News reports the XL1's two-cylinder turbodiesel and electric motor sit up front with the Twin-Up's rear full of lithium ion battery pack. The result, obviously, isn't as fuel efficient as the carbon fiber and wind-cheating XL1, but it's still an impressive 214 mpg. The sprint to 62, however, is pegged at 15.7 seconds.
No word on if the Twin-Up will go on sale, but it's further proof that the brilliance of the XL1 is slated for mainstream cars of the near-future. Now we just need the Up! in the U.S., even if it's sort of here.
Photo: Volkswagen


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WASHINGTON — Americans are feeling markedly better about the country's future and about Barack Obama's job performance, but the president's re-election race against Republican Mitt Romney remains a neck-and-neck proposition as Election Day creeps ever closer, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.
Buoyed by good mojo coming out of last month's national political conventions, Obama's approval rating is back above 50 percent for the first time since May, and the share of Americans who think the country is moving in the right direction is at its highest level since just after the death of Osama bin Laden in May 2011.
Romney, his campaign knocked off-stride in recent weeks, has lost his pre-convention edge on the top issue of the campaign — the economy.
The poll results vividly underscore the importance that turnout will play in determining the victor in Campaign 2012: Among all adults, Obama has a commanding lead, favored by 52 percent of Americans to just 37 percent for Romney. Yet among those most likely to vote, the race is drum tight.
Obama is supported by 47 percent of likely voters and Romney by 46 percent, promising an all-out fight to the finish by the two campaigns to gin up enthusiasm among core supporters and dominate get-out-the-vote operations. That's an area where Obama claimed a strong advantage in 2008 and Republicans reigned four years earlier.
Americans have been increasingly focused on the presidential race since the two candidates barreled out of their summer conventions into the fall campaign: Nearly three-fourths of adults say they're paying close attention now, up modestly from earlier in the summer. And with early voting scheduled to be under way in two dozen states by week's end, just 17 percent of likely voters remain undecided or say that they might change their minds.
Count Sandra Townsend, a 57-year-old retiree from Brookings, Ore., among the 84 percent of likely voters who say their decision in this campaign has been an easy one.
"I like what Obama does," she said flatly.
Townsend, a Democrat, said she'll watch the upcoming presidential debates closely but adds, "No, I'm not going to change my mind."
Sixty-eight-year-old Vicki Deakins, a Republican sizing up the race from Garland, Texas, is equally certain in her choice of Romney. But she exudes more enthusiasm for GOP running mate Paul Ryan than for Romney himself.
"I don't know that Romney knows how to state emphatically, with fire and passion and guts and all that other stuff, what he wants to do," she says. "I don't think he'll be a great orator. But I do think he'll get the job done."
Among those voters still making up their minds or open to changing their positions — the coveted bloc of "persuadable" voters — 56 percent see their choice this year as a hard decision.
Twenty-three-year-old Devin Vinson of Starksville, Mass., says he's waiting to hear more about the candidates' positions on education, foreign policy and more.
Vinson, a Republican, is leaning toward Obama but says the close race has him weighing his decision this time more carefully than four years ago, when his family persuaded him to back Republican John McCain.
"That was my first time voting and I just didn't really care about it back then," he admits.
The poll shows most Americans say they have a good idea of what each candidate would do if elected, and 59 percent who know a good deal about both men think Obama will win a second term.
For all of the recent positive signs for Obama, the public still holds some sour opinions on the economy. Sixty-one percent of likely voters describe the economy as poor. Just over half think the economic outlook has gotten worse over the last four years. And 57 percent think unemployment will get worse or stay the same over the next four years.
But Obama has made some gains on economic expectations, with growing numbers of voters anticipating things will get better in the coming year. Forty-eight percent of registered voters think things will get better, up from 41 percent before the conventions.
L'Tonya Ford, a 42-year-old Democrat from Detroit, said that progress on the economy has been slower than she'd like but that all signs point to Romney making things worse.
Obama's "trying to do something," she says. "Give him four more years and let him do what he's doing."
Romney lost his pre-convention edge on the economy as his campaign was distracted by criticism of his hasty response to the Obama administration's handling of the eruption of violence in Egypt and Libya last week and his failure to mention the war in Afghanistan or thank the troops in his prime-time convention speech. The two candidates run about even in the poll on who would best handle the economy or the federal budget deficit, but Obama has narrow advantages on protecting the country, social issues and health care.
Just this week, after the poll was conducted, Romney has been getting flak for his caught-on-tape statement that he doesn't worry about the 47 percent of the country that pays no income taxes and describes them as believing they are victims and dependent on government. Romney advisers say the remarks may dominate news coverage for a time but they dispute the notion that the comments will fundamentally change the election.
"This has not been the best three weeks in the history of American politics for the Romney campaign," allows GOP consultant Rich Galen. But he said the most significant trend is that the economy remains "a great weight around the ankles of Obama."
The deciding factor may well be turnout.
"If turnout reverts to normal presidential patterns, then Obama's likely to be in pretty big trouble," Galen said. "If he can catch lightning in a bottle again, then he should be OK."
Democratic consultant Chris Lehane, meanwhile, zeroes in on the significance of Obama's job approval rating edging back up above 50 percent. Fifty-two percent of likely voters approved of how Obama's handling his job, as did 56 percent of all adults. Further, 42 percent of Americans think the country is heading in the right direction, up from figures in the low- to mid-30s over the summer.
"If you were buying a stock and you were looking at the underlying trends, you would be putting your futures on Obama," Lehane said.
William Galston, a former Clinton administration official now at the Brookings Institution, said Obama's rising job approval figure "has to be regarded as a good leading indicator."
"If that holds up, then his chances are better than they were a month ago, when his approval was stuck around 47 percent," Galston said.
The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted Sept. 13-17, 2012, by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,512 adults nationwide, including 1,282 registered voters and 807 likely voters. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points, for registered voters it is 3.4 percentage points and likely voters it is 4.3 percentage points.
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Disembark your ship and enjoy seamless travel as you board a plane to Cairns. Tour the rainforest village of Kuranda before a one-way Skyrail journey for aerial views of Baron Falls. Overnight Pullman Cairns.
Jan 11, 2024
Today''s activities are among the most exciting. Unwind aboard a reef cruise to the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world''s most phenomenal UNESCO World Heritage Sites! Dive or snorkel among the colorful corals and unusual fish beneath the water''s surface, and don''t worry about breakfast or lunch, we''ll make sure you get fed! Overnight Pullman Cairns. (B,L)
Jan 12, 2024
Wave goodbye to Cairns as you soar into the clouds and fly to iconic Uluru in the Outback. This evening you''ll be introduced to the culture and 40,000-year history of Australia''s Aboriginal people on an enlightening cultural tour. Walk along the base of Uluru and watch the colors on the rock shift at sunset. Overnight Desert Gardens Hotel. (B)
Jan 13, 2024
Rise early and travel to the Uluru sunrise viewing area to watch the first rays of the sun rise over the desert landscape. Be mesmerized by the changing colors of Uluru at first light and experience the wonder of the Australian Outback as the dawn emerges. Visit the cultural center in the National Park where you can learn more about the indigenous history and culture, and see traditional arts and crafts on display. After a tour of Kata Tjuta (The Olga''s), the rest of the afternoon is at your leisure to do as you please. Perhaps enjoy a guided garden walk at the hotel, watch the Wakagetti Cultural Dancers perform in the town square or wander the Indigenous Art Markets. Overnight Desert Gardens Hotel. (B)
Jan 14, 2024
Enjoy a delicious breakfast before your flight back to Sydney for 2-nights in this wonderful city. The remainder of the afternoon and evening are yours to explore the city. Overnight Hyatt Regency Sydney. (B)
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Your tour ends in Sydney today, but you''ll take with you memories of your journey that last a lifetime! (B)
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Over this past weekend, Ambulance 43-1 was dispatched to a cardiac arrest. Upon their arrival, they found the patient to be beyond help. According to the neighbors, the patient had been out mowing the lawn in the extreme heat. The crew noticed that part of the yard had not been … [Read more...]
Tower 43 was invited to participate at the East Lampeter Live Burn on 4/29/17. Thanks to the East lampeter companies for the invite. It is always a pleasure to train alongside you guys. Photo Credit to Nozzle Nut Photography. Video Credit to Jacob Lapp … [Read more...]
Tower Ladders 63 (Layfayette) and 43 make the arch way at the funeral service of Bud Shirk, who proudly served the Bird-In-Hand Fire Company and community for many years. Rest Easy Our Friend! … [Read more...]
Tonight 32 members joined for training. The EMS training consisted of Bloodborne Pathogens, Medication Administration, Cardiac Arrest Drills, Respiratory Scenarios, and Protocol Review. Thanks to Wellspan ALS for sending your providers to teach our volunteers. … [Read more...]
Photography Credits: Photo5 Imagery Two people on a motorcycle were seriously injured Monday morning when their motorcycle collided with a pickup truck at the intersection of Rt. 896 & White Oak Rd in Paradise Township. EMS 43 responded to this incident along with LEMSA, … [Read more...]
[imagebrowser id=6] Photography Credits: Photo 5 Imagery A fire caused significant damage to the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant at the Rockvale Square Mall in East Lampeter Township Monday evening. Firefighters arrived and found heavy smoke banked down inside the restaurant. … [Read more...]
See Video Here At 09:56 hours this morning, Tanker 43 was dispatched to the 2200 Block of Hampshire Ave. in East Lampeter Township as part of the 2nd alarm dispatch for a dwelling fire. Chief 62 arrived at 09:50 hours to find a fully involved garage with the fire growing rapidly … [Read more...]
[imagebrowser id=4] PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Kirk Neidermyer 3rd Alarm Photography Monday morning, August 15th at Approx 00:20 hrs, Tanker 43 was dispatched as part of the building assignment assisting Station 45 (Kinzers) on the commercial building. Station 45 units arrived … [Read more...]
Photography credit: Leo Photography Gordonville Fire and EMS, had great turnout for a combined training on Silo Rescue- Basic Ropes at the Gideon Fisher farm. Thanks to Gideon Fisher and family for the use of the silo etc. and thanks to Dan Brooks and Stefan Kuenzli of … [Read more...]
At approx. 2200 hours Tanker 43 was dispatched to assist Intercourse Station 44 on an outbuilding fire on Centerville Rd. Tanker 43 arrived on scene and pumped into Engine 39-2. Engine 39-2 was the primary suppression piece. Additional Companies dispatched were stations 41 and … [Read more...]
Around 6am today, Company 63 along with 62 (Witmer), 48 (Ronks), 41 (Bird-In-Hand), 43 (Gordonville), 204 (Eden) were sent to the 2100 Block of Lincoln Hwy East for a hotel fire. Units arrived to find smoke on the 2nd and 3rd levels. After further investigation the smoke was … [Read more...]


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Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, July 20, 2012, 12:00 AM
Town Square
Smoking gun
Original post made on Jul 21, 2012
Read the full story here Web Link posted Friday, July 20, 2012, 12:00 AM
Comments (9)
a resident of Stanford
on Jul 21, 2012 at 11:09 am
Very well written news article. Enjoyed reading it and shared it with friends.
a resident of Crescent Park
on Jul 21, 2012 at 11:48 am
There is also the story about how all our furniture and clothing has flame retardant in it. The tobacco companies were putting chemicals into cigarettes to keep them burning, and of course sell more cigarettes too.
Since there were so many fires from people falling asleep and their cigarettes that used to just fixxle out would catch their beds, clothes or furniture on fire, Ralph Nader demanded that cigarette companies remove the chemicals from cigarettes that keep them burning.
The cigarette company's answer was to put flame retardant in clothes, pajamas, mattresses, instead of removing the chemicals. Now thanks for these murdering sleaze bags we all have sleep in bedding and mattresses that have carsinogenic chemicals in them out gassing into our lungs all night.
American capitalism is sick, it is sick because the people who got an inordinate amount of money from things like cigarettes can now take their capital with the help of financial experts and send it overseas to undermine our country, they can buy up all the regular businesses - simply because they got money, capital, from what are virtually crimes in the past, and now the money looks clean and productive, but it is managed by the same defective people who now have grown to the level where they threaten everyone, not just smokers or people around smokers.
Even raising taxes on these people is not going to bring about justice or restore democracy to our nation, we need to make sure that defective immoral criminals cannot amass amounts of money that will corrupt our system - or in our case do "something" retroactively to remove these people and confiscate their ill gotten gains.
a resident of another community
on Jul 21, 2012 at 4:09 pm
May I recommend an older movie, great summer fun - "Thank you for smoking.."
We can only blame ourselves. Writings are always on the walls.
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 21, 2012 at 5:13 pm
400,000 + Americans die premature and painful deaths from smoking related diseases every year-the rate of smoking is going down fast
-@ Stanford it is less than 2%.
In Palo Alto smokers are pariahs-rightly so
The problem is not nicotine-it is the delivery system-smoking.
In Sweden they have the lowest rate of smoking and smoking related deaths in Europe-because nicotine addict use snus-
-which does not cause cancer etc and is now legal in the US.
If you want to use nicotine use a safe delivery system.
300,500 Americans die premature and painful deaths from obesity and the rates of morbid obesity have increased dramatically over the last 15 years.
Smokers die young, fast and cheap-their is no cure for lung cancer.
The obese linger on with expensive chronic diseases like diabetes
They progressively lose their limbs, sight and mind-
-at huge expense for health care.
The obesity epidemic will soon bankrupt the US health care system
Smoking in the US is declining rapidly and nicotine addicts can use snus-patches etc
Obesity in the US is increasing rapidly but fat people do not curb their eating nor exercise--the cure is simple-eat less and exercise-
- they will not do it
Obesity is the major health cost issue in the US moving forward-
-and it is getting worse
a resident of Crescent Park
on Jul 21, 2012 at 5:33 pm
As I said earlier, it is not necessarily smoking, it is the greed and immorality of business people who sell cigarettes, who put chemicals in cigarettes, who force us to surround ourselves with carcinogenic flame retardant clothes and furniture … then when faced with regulation they took their untold tens or hundreds of billions and bought Kraft food and are doing the same thing with junk food.
You know what Altria is?
Anyway, a lot of these companies study how to take advantage and manipulate human behavior which causes addictive behavior, stress, cancer and obesity as well. But, we gotta be free to kill ourselves and bankrupt the country in American.
a resident of another community
on Jul 21, 2012 at 5:38 pm
According to the National Institutes of Health (Web Link tobacco (snus) causes oral cancer, esophageal cancer, and pancreatic cancer.
It may also cause heart disease, gum disease, and oral lesions other than cancer, such as leukoplakia (precancerous white patches in the mouth) It is addictive. There's no safe tobacco.
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 21, 2012 at 6:26 pm
@ Truth--it is dead fake link-typical
Extensive longitudinal research in Sweden shows that Snus is not a significant health risk.
Nicotine is not the health problem-smoking tobacco to get it is the health problem.
Sweden keeps much better public health statistics than we do
Snus Web Link
Is a safe delivery system for nicotine-like patches and lozenges-but much cheaper-
Is now legal in the US-but not in Europe or Israel-
-people in Israel and Germany, Greece- etc smoke like chimneys and die like flies from lung cancer-it is a horrible and very painful way to die.
Obesity is a major health risk factor for breast, bowel and prostate cancer, diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer disease, dementia etc-etc
Clearly people should not smoke and they should not allow themselves to get fat by overeating.
a resident of another community
on Jul 22, 2012 at 2:18 am
Anon- greed and immortality is not "reserved" only to corporate America executives. Those symptoms can be found also in the public service, affecting those who make big $ and impacting our health (and our kids health). Power, you know.
a resident of Midtown
on Jul 23, 2012 at 5:47 pm
We suppose the author using the term " holocaust" fits as in the last 10 years almost 5 million Americans have died premature and very painful deaths from smoking related illnesses
Moving forward many more will die in similar fashion from obesity related illness-
-which will soon bankrupt the US health care system
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MTV has always been at least a bit more in touch with the video game scene than most major cable TV stations. I mean heck, our EIC Stephen wrote for their video gaming site for a time!
One of the most enjoyable/bizarre things the network ever did was Video Mods, an EA-sponsored series devoted to using video game machinima to make music videos for popular songs.
I didn't watch the show regularly at the time, but I've been spending the week going through the videos from the show, and they are amazing. Not only because of how cheesy some of them are, but because of how perfectly "2003" the music is.
Here are some favorites:
"Stacy's Mom" in The Sims 2
Seriously. Is there any song that screams "2003" more than Fountains of Wayne's "Stacy's Mom"? I'm not sure if there is. Oh wait, yes there is. It's…
"This Photograph Is Proof" in Silent Hill 4
I don't really think that Taking Back Sunday is all that scary, so this one's go some cognitive dissonance going on. The triumphant chorus playing while the terrifying bunny-head monster freaks out is particularly discordant.
"Mr Brightside" in Lineage 2
This is probably the funniest one, if only because the grey, drab game characters don't match with The Killers' colorful vibe at all. Fun fact about this song: It's like three notes, and most of the song is just one note. And yet it might be The Killers' best song. Huh.
"Let's Get It Started" in SSX 3, The Sims 2 and Tribes Vengeance
Of course it took three games to handle my favorite of all of these—"Let's Get It Started" (AKA "Let's Get Retarded") by the one and only Black Eyed Peas. This was riiiight around the point where the Black Eyed Peas officially became terrible. At least we'll always have "Latin Girls."
As silly as these videos are, if they were made with current video game tech they would be amazing. We already see a lot of this kind of stuff on YouTube, but it'd be really cool if someone organized it into a series again.
Here's hoping we get to see video game characters perform "Call Me Maybe."


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For those interested in attending the Citizens Academy you may sign up by email
by providing your full name, mailing address, phone number, race, sex, and
date of birth for purpose of criminal history check.
This information should be emailed to Register Here
You will be notified by US Mail if your application has been accepted and are included
in the upcoming class (limited to 70).
The Manatee County Sheriff's Office hosts a Citizens Law Enforcement Academy class
twice yearly. The Academy courses are designed to give participants a working knowledge
of the Manatee County Sheriff's Office and the criminal justice system. The series
of 11 classes on various law enforcement topics encourage discussion. Classes are
held on a designated evening, typically from 6:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. Most are
held at the Manatee Technical College (MTC)-East Campus located at 5520 Lakewood Ranch Boulevard, Bradenton.
Other location may be announced in class. Enrollment is free.
The classes will provide an in-depth view into various areas of law enforcement.
It is an educational and informative program that allows citizens the opportunity
to learn about the issues that effect law enforcement efforts in Manatee County.
Academy classes are taught by Sheriff's Office and Police executives, as well as
veteran officers. Students will have the opportunity to meet with Sheriff Wells
and they are encouraged to ask questions and express their concerns. The Manatee
County Sheriff's Office hopes there will be a greater awareness and understanding
of law enforcement's role in the community through the education provided by the
Law Enforcement Academy. An added benefit is that participants learn the importance
of developing partnerships with the Sheriff's and Police Departments. The goal is
that participants, upon completion of the course, will attain a better understanding
of what the Sheriff's Office does and why, and experience improved communication
and partnership between themselves and our agency.
Graduates may choose to join the Manatee County Sheriff's Office - Volunteer Program.
Being a volunteer provides an opportunity for continued education in the field of
law enforcement and allows a more interpersonal association with the Sheriff's Office.
Topics include, but are not limited to:
For more information on the Citizens Law Enforcement Academy Contact:
Deputy Bruce Meade
941- 747- 3011Ext 2459


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As U.S. Gas Prices Soar, Islanders Go to the Pump and Still Pay Much More
By JIM HICKEY
With gasoline prices at an all-time high across the country, the Vineyard stands in the top ranks for prices paid at the pump, as the cost of premium gas climbed above the four dollar mark at most Island stations this week and regular trailed not far behind.
Data gathered from the American Automobile Association and Massachusetts Department of Energy Web sites shows that motorists in Dukes County are paying more for gas than most drivers in California, the state historically with the highest fuel costs.
A sampling of prices at gas stations around the Island yesterday showed an average of $4.03 for premium, $3.93 for mid-grade, and $3.83 for regular - well above the national average of $3.30 for premium, $3.19 for mid-grade and $3.00 for regular listed on the AAA web site.
There are nine gas stations on the Vineyard.
On Wednesday this week premium gas at Airport Mobil and Menemsha Texaco was selling for $3.98 a gallon. Premium grade was selling for $4.09 at Edgartown Mobil, $4.07 at Jim's Package Store & Island Market in Oak Bluffs, and $3.99 at Tisbury Shell in Vineyard Haven. Prices at Up Island Automotive in West Tisbury were lowest: $3.87 for premium and $3.67 for regular.
Earlier in the week Santo Iconnetti, a 36-year-old summer worker from Rhode Island, stared in disbelief at the meter on Tuesday as he filled the tank of his 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee at an Island station.
Like a stockbroker watching the Dow Jones index plummet or a poker player watching his opponent draw to an inside straight, Mr. Iconnetti's jaw clenched as the meter eclipsed the $40 mark - then the $50 mark - before stopping at the sum of $54.53.
And while Mr. Iconnetti, who is working two jobs this summer to save enough to move to New York city in the fall, knows it costs more to gas up his larger sports utility vehicle, he said it has never cost more than $40 to fill his tank - never mind $55.
"That's more than it costs to buy groceries for the week - that's almost more than I spend a week on beer! I can remember when it cost like $20 to fill the tank. Now I have to stay home at night just so I can drive around," Mr. Iconnetti said.
Prices for regular grade gasoline were generally 20 cents cheaper a gallon than premium grade.
But even the cost of regular grade gas, the preferred fuel for most people, was cause for alarm this past week.
"It just sucks. There's no other way to put it," said 27-year-old Gerard Senkal, after putting $40 worth of gas into his 2005 Nissan Pathfinder that did not even fill the tank, adding: "I've thought about trading [the sports utility vehicle] in for something better on gas, but I haven't even made a dent in the payments."
Vineyarders are accustomed to paying extra for everything from groceries to shoes, and higher prices are generally attributed to the higher cost of running a business on the Island. Rents are higher, employees are harder to retain, and it costs money to bring over merchandise on the ferry.
But rising gas prices are an especially sore subject for some drivers. When gas prices crossed the three-dollar-a-gallon mark here last summer, motorists cried highway robbery. One year later, the price of premium gas has increased by a full dollar, up 30 per cent from this time last year.
A story in the August 23, 2002 edition of the Gazette reported that the price of premium gas price was approaching the two dollar mark. In the space of four years, the price of premium gas on the Island - at least during the summer months - has doubled.
Elza Minor, a taxi driver for Adam Cab who has worked on the Island for several years, said the soaring price of gas is taking money out of the pockets of many drivers, because they pay for their own gas.
"These things eat up a lot of gas," he said, motioning toward the large taxi van, adding: "It really hurts when you have to put between $60 to $80 worth of gas into the tank each shift."
Mr. Minor is from California, the state known for its highest gas prices, but he noted that Massachusetts isn't that far behind.
"Paying $4 a gallon is way too high for a working man. It hurts," he said.
The cost of gas here and elsewhere is based on the cost of crude oil, a commodity with wide price swings in times of shortage or oversupply. The cost of oil can change due to a variety of factors, including turmoil in the Middle East and capacity in this country for refining oil. Gasoline prices skyrocketed late last summer after Hurricane Katrina crippled the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico.
Still, the price gap between the Island and the mainland cannot be fully explained. A random sampling of gas stations in Falmouth put the average cost of premium gas cost at $3.44 a gallon - a difference of 60 cents just to cross the Sound.
Michael Rotondo, owner of Airport Mobil, said the higher prices can be pegged to taxes, transportation and the higher cost of living. Mr. Rotondo said he actually makes less money when gas prices increase because he has to pay more each gallon, and more people charge gas to their credit cards. The station pays the credit card company a clearing cost of between 1.5 to 3.2 per cent for every transaction.
But Mr. Rotondo said the cost of bringing the fuel to the Island is the main reason for the higher prices. His delivery truck leaves Rhode Island at 3 a.m., he said, to catch an early ferry. It then waits in line, takes the boat, delivers the gas, and gets back on the boat on the way back to Rhode Island.
He said it costs him around $90 an hour for the truck and around $45 an hour for the driver.
"It takes the same time to deliver to the Vineyard that it would take the same truck to deliver to two or three stations on the mainland," he said.
Mr. Rotondo said he understands why people get frustrated with the cost of gas. He said he frequently runs specials to show his appreciation for his customers. He has offered senior citizen discounts in the past, as well as car wash discounts for a fill-up.
And despite rising gas prices, Mr. Rotondo said he sees no signs that gas consumption will slow anytime soon.
"These people will look at the price of gas and they'll gasp, and then they'll talk about how much it costs to fill the tank of their brand new Range Rover. But when you ask them why they bought it in the first place, they'll say: 'I got a really good deal on it,' " he said.
Ralph Packer, owner of R.M. Packer Co., which supplies the Island Shell stations, said the petroleum industry has always worked on a system of profit margins, as opposed to retailers who keep to a fixed profit percentage, regardless of base price increases. In the petroleum industry, Mr. Packer said, gas stations earn a certain number of cents per gallon, regardless of the price. Even if the price of gas goes up, the percentage stays the same, he said.
Mr. Packer's 30-year-old company is headquartered in Vineyard Haven, and is both a wholesaler and retailer of gasoline. Mr. Packer operates a operates a marine transport facility for petroleum products. The company ships some four to five millions gallons of gasoline to the Vineyard every year.
Mr. Packer said his company's operating costs are built into the price of gas. He noted that the company has spent $200,000 in recent years to bring the terminal into compliance with Homeland Security. The company recently purchased a new truck for $100,000, and pays an average electrical bill of $5,000 a month, he said.
"Nothing is cheap here on the Island. That's just a fact of life. If we could sell gas for less, we would," Mr. Packer said.