text:
It takes more than lower prices to succeed in business today in the world of socially connected consumers – especially when it comes to the travel and leisure industry. It takes understanding and managing the power of ratings, reviews and recommendations.
Kelly McGuire, Executive Director of the Hospitality and Travel Global Practice for SAS, discusses findings in report she co-authored called "Pricing in a Social World: The Influence of Non-price Information on Hotel Choices." There are plenty takeaways for anyone who's business depends on reviews and ratings being left on sites like TripAdvisor, Yelp, and many others.
* * * * *
Small Business Trends: Before we jump into the research you've done, give us a little bit of your personal background.
Kelly McGuire: Sure. I run our Hospitality and Travel Global Practice here at SAS. I really think of myself as an analytic evangelist for the Hospitality and Travel industry. I speak to the market and to our customers about how analytics can really help them survive, thrive and gain competitive advantage. I also work to make sure our solutions meet the needs of the hospitality and travel markets.
I have a Ph.D. in revenue management from the Hotel School at Cornell, so I have a background in hospitality operations and hospitality technology.
Small Business Trends: Now talk a bit about why you teamed up with Penn State to put out this paper, "Pricing in a Social World."
Kelly McGuire: I come in more from the pricing perspective in the hotel industry; what we're challenged with in hospitality is, we've got a limited number of rooms for sale every night and if we don't sell them that night, we lose the chance to sell them.
What we realized is it used to be we'd put a price out in the market and worry about what that price was and what our competitors were charging. But lately, there's now more information in the marketplace about hotels (and that really is all user-generated content ratings/reviews) the consumers have access to when thinking about purchasing a hotel room.
So we were really interested to find out how the consumer's using that information along with price when thinking about making a purchase.
Small Business Trends: It looks like one of the things that really became apparent in the study was this line around hotels must proactively manage their online reputation.
Kelly McGuire: What we found was while consumers care about price, users generating content have a significant influence on choice. We did a choice modeling experiment where we ran people through a series of scenarios and asked them to pick a hotel out of three. What became clear from the results is that those negative reviews would remove a hotel from the choice set period.
Small Business Trends: It mentions here that consumers only notice high ratings and rankings.
Kelly McGuire: Yes. Using choice modeling, we had the advantage of understanding the importance of the value consumers put on all those different attributes. The most important were the reviews we just talked about. Price was the next most important.
But there were other elements that mattered to consumers in certain ways. And the ratings were one. They didn't give any value to the ratings unless they were comparing a medium mid-range rated hotel to a high-range rated hotel.
Small Business Trends: People pay more attention to reviews than the actual ratings?
Kelly McGuire: That was overwhelmingly clear in the study.
Small Business Trends: So if you have a strong online reputation, that should help you build the brand – but if you're already a hotel that people don't know about but then they only see you showing up in kind of a negative connotation in some reviews, you don't have a chance.
Kelly McGuire: We did test brands. And brand was only marginally significant as a factor in choice. So what that says to me is: your brand is not going to get you that much mileage anymore.
Small Business Trends: Do you see the trends for recommendations and reviews changing at all?
Kelly McGuire: Folks really are recognizing the importance of the fact that we're managing reputation, keeping an eye on it, making sure they're responding to the comments, encouraging folks to write reviews when they've had a good experience. But I think what we'll see as the next step in this industry is the hotels really taking advantage of all that data more broadly than just in the reputation context.
Small Business Trends: Where can people learn more about your research and the things you're doing in this phase?
Kelly McGuire: I have a blog – the Analytic Hospitality Executive.
This is part of the One-on-One Interview series with thought leaders. The transcript has been edited for publication. If it's an audio or video interview, click on the embedded player above, or subscribe via iTunes or via Stitcher.


text:
"The true name of Satan, the Kabalists say, is that of Yahveh reversed; for Satan is not a black God, but the negation of God. The Devil is the personification of Atheism or Idolatry. For the Initiates, this is not a person, but a force, created for good, but which may serve for evil. It is the instrument of Liberty or free will. They represent this Force, which presides over the physical generation, under the mythologic and horned form of the God Pan; thence the he-goat of the Sabbat, brother of the Ancient Serpent, and the light bearer or Phosphor, of which the poets have made the false Lucifer of the legend."
Albert Pike Morals and Dogma, Ancient and Accepted Rite of Free Masonry written and published in 1871. Plagiarized from History of Magic published in 1860 written by Eliphas Levi, born Alphonse Louis Constant. Here is his version of the paragraph:
"According to the Kabalists, the true name of Satan is that of Yahveh reversed, for Satan is not a black god but the negation of Deity. He is the personification of Atheism and Idolatry. The devil is not a personality for initiates but a force created with a good object, though it can be applied to evil: it is really the instrument of liberty. They represented this force, which presides over physical generation, under the mythological figure of the horned god Pan, and hence comes the goat of the Sabbath, brother of the old Serpent, the light-bearer or phosphorus, converted by poets into the false Lucifer of the legend."
"Science is the highest form of Satanism."Rev. Michael S. Margolin
"Hate those that earn it, as you would love those that earn it. As Above, so below."
"When the world is viewed with no set reality, the lies of society are revealed and the bonds of slavery, broken."
"93, a Satanist by definition, which admittedly is a term that varies widely, is a rebellious soul in defiance of everything that he or she opposes that restricts them. The only sin of a Thelemite is 'restriction' which is why I've always argued that we are in a sense a satanic breed. So, in my thinking, 'Thelema' and 'Satanism' are kindred souls, both questing for the same thing, i.e. Freedom from slave gods. So it would be redundant to use both terms together, no? However, if you define "Thelemic Satanist" as a person who thinks the modern Thelemic movement has sold itself out and gone wishy-washy-white-Light on us, then by all means use both terms to imply your defiance to those Thelemites who act more like closet Christians than soldiers of Freedom. In other words, "Thelemic Satanist" could then imply a rebellious Thelemite fighting against those who use the name (i.e. Thelemite) but act more like the slave gods imposing restriction on our Creed. The bottom line, to use the phrase or not – there is no law but do what thou wilt! 93 93/93."Jerry Edward Cornelius, current head of the A:.A:. – Astrum Argentum Grady Louis McMurtry Lineage.
"Judge not, that ye not be judged".Matthew 7:1 Jesus Christ
Our Manifesto
If Satanism is based on freedom, then to codify it would be ludicrous.
The Sinagogue of Satan was founded on 1-29-99. A religion based on the Ancient and Accepted Rite of Free Masonry's definition of Satanism, as described in the above paragraph taken from Albert Pike's work Morals and Dogma. This paragraph was plagiarized from Eliphas Levi's History of Magic published in 1860. Please note that Lucifer is mentioned as a falsehood, so this paragraph has nothing to do with the Taxil Scandal and Leo Taxil was six years old when it was written. Also notice this sentence: "For the Initiates, this is not a person, but a force, created for good, but which may serve for evil". For the "Initiates", more than apparently people were initiated into this belief system and now continue to do so through the Sinagogue of Satan. This religion is not based on any other works except for Aleister Crowley's. His connection with the Freemasons and the fact we took our name from a short story in his book "Konx om Pax", called "Thien Tao; or, The Synagogue of Satan" cannot be denied. Nor can we deny being a by-product of Thelema. Sinagogue, spelled Sin as opposed to Syn is intentional, we are Sinners, not Jews, although some of our members may be both. The Sinagogue possesses its own "Holy Book" but its members are not required to read or accept it. The only members that are required to read and accept it are members interested in the priesthood and/or ambassador positions.
As a member, you have the right to believe in whatever you like as long as you don't push your beliefs on others. "To you be your Way, and to me mine." Sura 109 #6 of the Holy Koran. The aim of this religion is the ultimate destruction of religions through the advancement of individual freedom, social responsibility, and education. With freedom comes the responsibility of other people's freedom. One man's freedom must never become another man's slavery. Without mutual respect and cooperation, we will only continue to kill ourselves in the name of God, country, and greed. The philosophy of SoS undermines all existing religions including our own. Thus the SoS Philosophy is based on a paradox, much like the Tao. It is self-canceling and cannot become the new bully on the block. And, when society respects each individual's rights, no matter how diverse, the Sinagogue of Satan's job will be complete. We all have the right not to be victimized in any way, shape or form for any reason and remember children are people too, even your own. The Singogue of Satan exists to educate the masses away from old world thinking and to illuminate and educate them so they happily accept a new world order, ideally one of, "Self Rule" and mutual cooperation.
Now for the method; by not having any set reality or belief you are not trapped by their rules, and are free to start making your own interpretations of what reality is or isn't. This is freedom, the breaking away from the status quo, to see things from a more personal perspective. Much like when Satan broke ranks from god and became the first revolutionist. It's funny how governments promote god worship when most modern governments owe their existence to Freemasonry and revolution, the dream of freedom, the spirit of Satan. Governments and religions, actively partake in propaganda against Satanism for they truly fear being overthrown. As for America, Satanism is Americanism, for America supports freedom of religion in the same Masonic context that SoS does. Although certain religions in America attempt to combat this, our wonderful constitution, (written by Freemasons) prevents them from achieving their goals. Yes, SoS reaches far past the United States borders. And no, unlike my government, I'm not trying to spread the American culture to other countries. But I am trying to spread the light of phosphor, the light of freedom throughout the world.
I obtained legal recognition for this mass manipulation scheme from the State of California and The Federal government of the United States of America, by utilizing my authority as an Ordained Minister of Universal Life Church Ministries (U.L.C.M).
I learned a little bit from religions and religious groups and used it to turn the tide in Satan's favor. Rather in your favor as consumers of prepackaged mail-order religions/realities. You can see although we are predominately Satanic/Thelemic/Masonic in nature, SoS accepts all religions, beliefs, non-beliefs, races, cultures, ideologies, nationalities, sexualities. As long as those that wish to join accept the premise that each individual has the undeniable right to his or her choice of reality no matter what your personal religion or choice dictates. We do not try to sway you into accepting Atheism, Freemasonry, Satanism, or Thelemism, for that is not our aim or goal. Our aim and goal is freedom, as it always will be.
We offer an environment to surf realities/beliefs, as you will, without being engulfed, submersed, suppressed, or subservient to any of them including ours. We are a "free" church in all the possible definitions of the word. And freedom is only found in the mind, for the physical world and its systems, such as society, bind us. Please remember that with freedom comes a great responsibility to our neighbors in this society, their freedoms.
Although we view reality/beliefs as the unalienable right of everyone, I do support your full-blown assaults on those that would infringe upon your rights, as long as you execute your attacks in a legal and productive manner. We do not turn the other cheek unless it's to buy time to smite with discretion. Hopefully, by your mannerisms, diplomacy, and actions, more people will see that freedom is not evil and people can be socially responsible without a threat of Hell or any other religious afterlife accounting. Remember it is their right to live and die in their belief just as it is your right to live and die in yours. Besides, tolerance is not acceptance; you don't have to like someone or something to tolerate them or it. This does not deny you your favorite bigotry and hatreds. It merely keeps you from violating the rights of those you hate. It really is that simple folks. You can hate each other all you want, just don't act upon it.
Now, one last thing, we ask you to abide by the laws of your countries and local governments as they pertain to you and to take an active role in changing them as you feel is needed. We are not slaves to society, we are cooperative opportunists within it.
"Tune in, Turn on, Take over!" {Revised Timothy Leary saying}
- "Tune in". Learn about your community, environment and its social/political systems.
- "Turn on". Learn to use the system so well it becomes an extension of yourself.
- "Take over". Manipulate and change the system as needed for social advancement and freedom.
SoS has ambassador and priesthood positions
These are reserved for SoS members that accept the SoS religion along with their own personal belief system. Members of other beliefs are not allowed this privilege, for they can obtain such status through other groups. Ambassadors and priest/priestess positions exist to serve the members, not to be served by them. For more information on these positions see: "Structure / Goals and more".
SoS exists to give people of subcultures and minority religions, a legal connection to their beliefs that can be used in a court of law if the need arises. Such as housing, job discrimination, and harassment. And ensuring religious rights while in the military services. SoS is also known as "The Hermit Path". We exist for all the people in this world that enjoy their independence in all aspects of life. Until now, this vast number of individuals lacked a legal connection to their religious rights. Governments and societies ignore the needs of the individual and cater only to mainstream groups they find acceptable for society. By creating this religion I have forged a path that all may tread, thus giving the once voiceless a voice and the once weak, strength in numbers. SoS is not affiliated with any other satanic groups and is not bound by any other group's authority. We do however have a close relationship with the E.G.C. within Ordo Templi Orientis, They were kind enough to grant us the right to use and adapt E.G.C. rituals for SoS needs and for this I'm eternally grateful, for we are the only satanic group to have a connection with an order of antiquity and Freemasonry. Yes, I am an inactive O.T.O. member and they still have my love, respect, and support, but my view of the world cannot be restricted by anyone's system, therefore I am a hermit.
SoS is for free thinking independent people. If you prefer a more closed-minded, stringent reality than SoS, our religion is probably not for you and I ask you to please refrain from joining. SoS makes no claims as far as the "True Satanic path" or any "True Way". I created this religion for people to think and grow for themselves and at their own pace. We make no claims of superiority nor do we war with other groups, unless it's a case of defense. Never in the history of man has there ever been an organized religion set up in this manner. All our predecessors have bound their members in some way or another. "The word of sin is restriction", Liber al vel Legis 1:41 Aleister Crowley. Therefore we do not demand our members uphold any system or belief. And yes, we use a much broader definition of the word sin than Crowley's book of the law. Historically the word Sinagogue was used in the middle ages, as you can see we are, "(c) a group of sinful people; ~ of satan(as."
In the Members section, you will find the SoS holy book, "Book Of The Goat". This work is not mandatory to accept unless you apply for ambassador or priesthood status in the SoS. It is merely offered to our members as an alternative holy book and is owned by SoS and no others. We are not trying to create a church of unity; we merely support the rights of the individual to achieve freedom and pursue happiness.
SoS is not a utopian movement in any way, shape or form. I cannot stress this point enough. But we do believe however that through education, respect and mutual cooperation we can make the heaven other religions promised here and now.
SoS also contains a very broad and diverse resource link section. Although many organizations are on our link list, we affiliate with none of them. We are autonomous and show no loyalty to anyone but ourselves. We do support and accept all religions right to exist but we do not entangle our freedom in the politics, ethics, and actions of other groups. SoS has many features such as message boards, online store, member's area and a chat room. Our members are worldwide so our chat room attendance varies due to time zones. I try to visit and give people my time and classes. I'm usually on from 5-10 PM Pacific Standard Time. Sinagogue of Satan Chat Room
We have no central temple or lodge. Our priests/priestesses and ambassadors often hold meetings and classes in their homes and online. Please be respectful guests for none of us accept money for our time and services. This is also new as far as religions go. Our work and attendance is a "Labor Of Love" not monetary advancement. Since our birth on 1-29-99, we have received many attacks from other groups but we do not retaliate too much and when we do it's usually with Satanic humor. We understand that our system is a threat to all current systems of beliefs. We do not wish to threaten any other belief but we do wish to finally have in our possession a "Free Church For A Change!"
Following this brief introduction is a list of commonly asked questions I have answered. If you have any questions please feel free to write me at
Your High Priest,
Rev. Michael S. Margolin
The Mad Poet Acbhb
Frater Inferior
Baphomet Rex 666
Questions and Answers
Statement: "Hey man, you spelled Synagogue wrong."
Reply: We spell it Sinagogue because we wanted to capture the word sin. Call it poetic license if you will. To top it off, it's not offensive to the Jewish population or my grandparents.
Question: "What do you mean you formed this church out of necessity?"
Answer: I have joined a lot of religious groups that preached freedom of individuality. But, after I met my new friends, I found something quite familiar.
- The usual group ego that either absorbs, destroys or expels those strong in their will.
- Ego food for some narcissist or megalomaniac.
- Money scam, the higher you get to the top the more it costs you, or just the outright give us your property.
- The control freak scenario of anti-cult propaganda, which by the way is the exact opposite of what those groups claimed they were about. The writings of the creators of the beliefs were quite different from those in practice. So, after becoming disgusted with my pursuit of a religion that promotes freedom of the individual, I became a legal minister and created one.
Statement: "You're stupid! You should use the tax-exempt status and live off these idiots!"
Reply: That's what all religions have been doing since the dawn of history. I wanted to make a new religion, not another old one. A religion by the members, for the members and each and every member, a respected individual and participant with the unalienable right to their personal reality and belief.
Question: "Why Satanist?"
Answer: Satan was the first revolutionist. Therefore, Satan as defined in "Morals and Dogma", is the perfect figurehead for a revolutionary religion. His act of rebellion was the first and most famous allegory of freedom. So we use his image as the symbolic representation of our aims and goals.
Statement: "Anton LaVey created and defined Satanism in the 60's. Satanism did not exist before then."
Reply: Satanism did exist before then, OK not Anton's Satanism but another far older form as you will see now.
In Jules Bois' "La Satanisme et la Magie" published in 1895, Bois declares that there are three Satans: the Satan of the poor dispossessed who turn to him for consolation; the Satan worshiped for perverse pleasure by depraved and rich people; and finally, the Satan of the dilettantes who are drawn away from true religion by an intellectual interest in mysticism. He defines Satanism as anything that departs from the worship of One God. [this was taken from Chapter 18 "Satanists and Anti-Satanists" Eliphas Levi and the French Occult Revival. And let's not forget that wonderful little paragraph at the top of this manifesto, it too shows Satanism existed long before the1960's. Thus, the whole "Satanism did not exist" until LaVey invented it is merely the propaganda engine of a philosophy based on an objective reality that wants your $200.00.
My co-founder and I wanted to make a new religion, not another old one, and as you can see, we have achieved our goal.
Please feel free to use the message boards, not only for discussions but to post your websites and any updates, events, occult items, music, advertisements and information you think others may enjoy. Keep in mind no one enjoys spam or harassment.
Satan's blessings to you all!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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Rated R
Copyright 2001 Killer Films
Reviewed by
Andrew Borntreger
on 4 April 2009
The Characters:
Hedwig - An East German glam rocker whose botched sex change operation left her quite angry, hence the "Angry Inch." I am not certain that Hedwig ever decides if he (born a he) is a she or a he, or what. Not that it matters, because what Hedwig needs is contentment. Gender? Who cares?
Yitzhak - She makes a really good man.
The Angry Inch - Hedwig's band. I guess that the movie's title is something of a double entendre.
Phyllis Stein - She does her best, but there is only so much that an agent can do for an angry spurned rocker from East Germany.
Sergeant Luther Robinson - He obviously goes through life looking for men that he thinks would make attractive women, and then convinces them to get sex change operations. Maybe he should just love people for who they are, along with dumping those sickly-sweet Americanized gummi bears for some real German candy.
Tommy Gnosis - He broke Hedwig's heart and stole her songs so that he could become a freako rock star. Great, just what the world needs: yet another D&D fanatic singing about why he loves his rats and hates his parents.
The Plot:
This movie dumps you right into the story, introducing Hedwig and her band (and their unorthodox rock 'n' roll) as the group blindsides the unsuspecting patrons of a Bilgewater's. You do not know what a Bilgewater's is? It is a diner, like a Denny's or Bickford's. I bet that they even serve breakfast anytime during the day. Not that anyone wants to eat breakfast when an angry neutered musician is screaming at them about the Berlin Wall.
The film's protagonist, Hedwig, is shadowing Tommy Gnosis' world tour, playing at local Bilgewater's restaurants in a futile attempt to prove that she wrote Tommy's hit songs. Repeatedly traumatizing innocent diners who just want to scarf down ten dollars worth of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and sausage for dinner might seem like a strange way to convince people that a pseudo-goth stole your music, but Hedwig is not the sort of person who listens to the voice of reason.
Unless you consider Iggy Pop to be the voice of reason, in which case I think you are insane.
Bilgewater's older customers are the ones most aghast at Hedwig's performances; the teenage patrons are more than happy to don fake foam wigs and rock right along with the Angry Inch. Young people love doing anything that makes the geezers disapprove, which explains the popularity of quite a lot of music that would otherwise be ignored by not just everybody but anybody.
However, Hedwig's songs are not the sort of music that you ignore, even if you served in the armed forces during World War II, came home with shrapnel in your leg, raised four children in a house half the size of the McMansions being built these days (by numskulls who can't afford them), and now survive on a pension and social security that barely covers the cost of the medication your wife of forty years must take on a regular basis. Hedwig's songs are stories; they are glimpses into her life's many travails and achievements.
"The Origin of Love" is easily my favorite song in the movie. It creates a whole mythology about love, and explains why relationships are so infuriating without a generous application of duct tape. The film knows that it is the best song on the soundtrack. We hear it a number of times, and the song is accompanied by an animated story that makes your head spin.
How did Hedwig get to where she is in her life? The trouble started when she was a boy, named Hansel, in East Germany. His father was an American who might have sexually abused his son. The movie is a bit unclear on that point. All I know is that Hedwig's mom runs his father out of the house screaming about him being disgusting and perverted. When Germans and sex are in the mix, I often have a hard time deciding what the heck disgusting and perverted means "auf Deutsch." Pooping on each other is apparently normal bedroom behavior in Germany. At least that's what I've learned from some of their movies.
So, Hedwig grew up in a little house in East Germany with a crazy mother. He spent quite a few nights playing in the oven while he listened to American Forces Radio. The experience makes the young boy hunger for more David Bowie, Johnny Rotten, and Patti Smith. Into this picture waltzes Luther, an Army sergeant with a sweet tooth. The American sugar daddy promises to take Hedwig away to the land of the free and the home of Lou Reed. There is just one hitch: they have to get hitched. To escape from East Germany, Hedwig has to become a woman, or at least a reasonable facsimile. That is where the trouble starts. Hedwig's sex change operation does not go very well. Instead of becoming a woman, he becomes just not a man. I guess that the one inch bump confused the doctor enough to say, "Yah, you are zertainly nicht ein mann. You must be a fräulein."
I understand the doctor's conundrum. Something that constantly befuddles me is that I consider Hedwig to be a male name. Should you run across a misplaced gender pronoun somewhere in this review, well, mea culpa.
The real problem with sugar daddies is that they are hardly permanent. Not long after buying a trailer under some power lines in the Midwest, Luther leaves Hedwig for another, sweeter (newer is more like it) sex-changing trollop. See, that is what you get for letting an Army chump sodomize you.
Truth be told, you shouldn't let anyone sodomize you, or change who you are, or do a host of other unnatural things to you.
Following her sudden abandonment, Hedwig returns to music with a vengeance, which is where she meets Tommy. The young man gravitates toward the talented artist, and she teaches him everything he needs to know about rock 'n' roll. Hedwig gives him everything she has learned from countless nights in the oven. She even creates his image. During this, Tommy falls in love with Hedwig. Unfortunately, the young man does not realize that his soulmate used to be a he, but never quite made the transition to becoming completely a she, meaning that he is not really ready for a relationship with her, because she is still enough of a he to make him uncomfortable when they are together. Faced with the angry inch (and I don't mean the band), Tommy takes all of the songs and leaves town to become the rock star Tommy Gnosis.
Quite shallow of Tommy, if you ask me. Of course, to make things work with a woman, what Hedwig needs is a (physically) shallow partner.
Bada-bing! That was an inch joke, in case you missed it.
All of this is why Hedwig is so unhappy. Nobody has ever appreciated her for who she is, and changing to meet their expectations has never been successful. Worst of all has been the lack of acknowledgement of her talent, of her worth. The band, her family, is being ripped apart by the anguish. Without the Angry Inch, Hedwig is lost. Unless she can recover what Tommy stole, and it was a lot more than just songs, Hedwig's journey does not have a happy ending.
Thank the gods (Osiris, Thor, Zeus, etc.) that celebrities always go cruising for transvestite hookers. When Hedwig finally runs out of money, she takes to the streets to make a little cash on the side (well, more likely her knees). Of all the people in the world to pull up in a limousine, who should Hedwig meet other than the high and mighty Tommy Gnosis. They take a ride together. Once again Tommy's shallowness annoys the protagonist, except this time Hedwig can do something. She can irrevocably wreck Tommy's career, and perhaps recover herself in the process.
What I am saying is that Murphy (you know Murphy; he wrote a law that everyone is familiar with by the time they are ten years old) loves it when famous people pick up transvestite hookers "just to give them a ride."
Things I Learned From This Movie:
A crossdresser kissing a transvestite might not be gay, but it is still likely to upset most seniors.
In the old days, everybody was a Siamese twin.
Love is a simple matter of adding fractions.
Women wear makeup because they want to look like chaos moths.
Hitler and Jesus have one thing in common.
"Little bishop wearing a turtleneck" is a euphemism.
Never take candy from strange men wearing Army uniforms.
Barbie used to be a guy.
La-Z-Boy furniture is made from recycled radial tires.
People with skeletons in their closets should not give rides to transvestite hookers.
Stuff To Watch For:
2 mins - That is not a very lady-like pose.
6 mins - Hedwig must spend the day before a gig just unpacking her wigs.
9 mins - "I'm here for half the week. Try the bacon!"
25 mins - Ack, NAKED MAN A**! Wait, does this count? Hedwig still has male bits at this point. I say that it counts.
35 mins - Good hang time (now I've got you wondering what I mean).
42 mins - Why isn't this song ever played at karaoke bars? Not that I would ever go to one of those, but the bouncing wig made me think about karaoke.
49 mins - "Look, ma. No hands!"
65 mins - Dude, you need a refresher class on anatomy.
68 mins - What is up with the soccer mom haircut?
72 mins - She looks more
Beverly Switzler
than Pat Benatar.
79 mins - This is suddenly straying dangerously close to David DeCoteau territory.
Audio clips in wav format
Starving actors speak out
Hedwig: "Thank you. My name is Hedwig. Please welcome those ambassadors of Eastern Bloc rock, the Angry Inch! Here they are, ladies and gentlemen."
Hedwig: "I suddenly recognized the flavor in my mouth: it's the taste of power."
Luther: "Damn, Hansel, I can't believe you're not a girl. You're so fine. He he he he..."
Hedwig sings about her angry inch. Six inches forward and five inches back indeed.
Hedwig: "You are such a sissy! What are you afraid of, huh? What are you afraid of? What?"
Tommy: "I love you!"
Hedwig: "Then love the front of me, hunnie!"
Tommy: **Running footsteps**
Theme Song
Listen to a clip from the soundtrack.
Click for a larger image
Scenes from the movie
Watch a scene
MPEG video files
- 5.2m
Hedwig meets her wig. It makes her happy, but the wig is still just a costume that she wears. That's the Angry Inch singing to her, and the black-bearded chef/rocker is indeed Miriam Shor.
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Lesson Learned:
Osmosis: os·mo·sis (oz-mo'sis, os-) n., 1. When a bird eats something.
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BERLIN (AP) - Appealing for a new citizen activism in the free world, President Barack Obama renewed his call on Wednesday to reduce US and Russian nuclear stockpiles and to confront climate change, a danger he called "the global threat of our time".
In a wide-ranging speech that enumerated a litany of challenges facing the world, Mr Obama said he wanted to reignite the spirit that Berlin displayed when it fought to reunite itself during the Cold War.
"Today's threats are not as stark as they were half a century ago, but the struggle for freedom and security and human dignity, that struggle goes on," Mr Obama said at the city's historic Brandenburg Gate under a bright, hot sun. "And I come here to this city of hope because the test of our time demands the same fighting spirit that defined Berlin a half-century ago."
The president called for a one-third reduction of US and Russian nuclear stockpiles, saying it is possible to ensure American security and a strong deterrent while also limiting nuclear weapons.
Mr Obama's address comes nearly 50 years after John F. Kennedy's famous Cold War speech in this once-divided city. Shedding his jacket and at times wiping away beads of sweat, the president stood behind a bullet-proof pane and read his remarks from text before a crowd of about 6,000.
It was a stark contrast to the speech he delivered in the city in 2008, when he summoned a crowd of 200,000 to embrace his vision for American leadership.
Whereas that speech soared with his ambition, this time Mr Obama came to caution his audience not to fall into self-satisfaction.
"Complacency is not the character of great nations," Mr Obama insisted.
"Today," he said, "people often come together in places like this to remember history, not to make it. Today we face no concrete walls or barbed wire."
The speech came just one week shy of the anniversary of Kennedy's famous Cold War speech in which he denounced communism with his declaration "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner). Mr Obama, clearly aware that he was in Kennedy's historic shadow, asked his audience to heed the former president's message.
"If we lift our eyes as President Kennedy calls us to do, then we'll recognise that our work is not yet done," he said. "So we are not only citizens of America or Germany, we are also citizens of the world."
Mr Obama spoke repeatedly of seeking "peace with justice" around the world by confronting intolerance, poverty, Middle East conflicts and economic inequality.
But even before his speech, White House aides were drawing attention to his call for nuclear reductions, casting it as the centerpiece of his address.
"Peace with justice means pursuing the security of a world without nuclear weapons, no matter how distant that dream may be," Mr Obama said.
"We can ensure the security of America and our allies and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one-third," he said.
Signaling a new effort to pick up his delayed environmental agenda, Mr Obama also issued a call to tackle climate change, an issue he has promised to make a priority since his 2008 presidential campaign.
"Peace with justice means refusing to condemn our children to a harsher, less hospitable planet," he said.
He said the US has expanded renewable energy from clean sources and is doubling automobile fuel efficiency. But he said that without more action by all countries, the world faces what he called a grim alternative of more severe storms, famine, floods, vanishing coastlines and displaced refugees.
"This is the future we must avert," he said. "This is the global threat of our time."
Among those in the audience, Doro Zinke, president of the Berlin-Brandenburg trade union federation, said she heard nothing unexpected in Mr Obama's speech.
"I think he's really got to deliver now," she said.
But others gave him credit for just coming to Berlin, five years into his presidency.
"The most important message here was that he came to Berlin and spoke to us and the world," said Catharina Haensch, a Berliner born in the communist east of the city who now works for the Fulbright Commission. "Even If it looks like he isn't able to fulfill all of his promises, you've got to keep on hoping."
Mr Obama said he intends to seek negotiated nuclear arsenal cuts with Russia, thus steering away from any unilateral US reductions. Moreover, Mr Obama said he would work with Nato allies to seek "bold reductions" in US and Russian tactical weapons in Europe.
Mr Obama could face objections among Nato countries where many strongly oppose removing US nuclear weapons because they worry that the Russians have a far greater number of tactical nuclear weapons within range of their territory.
In Moscow, Russian foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov said that plans for any further arms reduction would have to involve countries beyond Russia and the United States.
"The situation is now far from what it was in the '60s and '70s, when only the USA and the Soviet Union discussed arms reduction," Mr Ushakov said.
Mr Obama's calls for cooperation with Moscow come at a time of tension between the US and Russia, which are supporting opposite sides in Syria's civil war. Russia also remains wary of US missile defense plans in Europe, despite US assurances that the shield is not aimed at Moscow.
Germany's foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, is a strong advocate of nuclear disarmament and has long called for the removal of the last US nuclear weapons from German territory, a legacy of the Cold War. The Buechel Air Base in western Germany is one of a few remaining sites in Europe where they are based.
Under an agreement drawn up when they formed a coalition government in 2009, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and Westerwelle's Free Democratic Party agreed to press Nato and Washington for the nuclear weapons to be withdrawn, but did not set any timeframe.
Nuclear stockpile numbers are closely guarded secrets in most nations that possess them, but private nuclear policy experts say no countries other than the US and Russia are thought to have more than 300.
The Federation of American Scientists estimates that France has about 300, China about 240, Britain about 225, and Israel, India and Pakistan roughly 100 each.


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Liwu Li, associate professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech, has revealed a common connection between the cellular innate immunity network and human chronic inflammatory diseases, including atherosclerosis, Type 2 Diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases.
The finding presents a viable cellular and molecular target for the diagnosis and treatment of serious human inflammatory diseases, according to Li.
"Researchers and physicians have long recognized that there is an association between these conditions. For example, obesity increases the risk of heart attack or stroke, Type 2 Diabetes or insulin resistance, and Alzheimer's Disease," said Li, who is the founding director of the Inflammation Center at Virginia Tech.
"Inflammation is the common mechanism," he said. "Inflammation is a double-edged sword. Proper inflammation is necessary to fend off infection and abnormal cell growth. On the other hand, excessive inflammation contributes to diverse chronic diseases, including atherosclerosis, diabetes, and lupus." However, the complex cellular and molecular networks controlling inflammation are still poorly understood, he said. "The lack of understanding impedes our progress in treating serious chronic inflammatory diseases."
In a series of studies published throughout the last decade, Li's group has defined several critical signaling networks essential for the modulation of inflammation. In particular, a key cellular protein kinase named interlukin-1 receptor associated kinase 1 (IRAK-1) was shown to be critical for processing diverse inflammatory signals, including microbial products, cytokines, and insulin. Li's group discovered that excessive IRAK-1 activation is linked with the risk of atherosclerosis and diabetes. Using transgenic mice without the IRAK-1 gene, Li's group demonstrated that IRAK-1 deficient mice are protected from developing atherosclerosis and insulin resistance.
At the molecular level, Li's laboratory discovered that IRAK-1 prefers to phosphorylate transcription factors harboring the Serine-Proline motif including STAT-3 and NFAT. Subsequently, STAT-3 and NFAT are involved in modulating the expression of distinct inflammatory mediators responsible for the excessive activation of specialized macrophages and T cells. These cells eventually contribute to diverse inflammatory symptoms including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, Alzheimer's diseases, and lupus. "Chemical compounds targeting this molecule will have enormous therapeutic potential," Li said.
"There is still a long way to go for finding the actual cure for these diseases," he said. "That is why we are combining expertise from various disciplines, including experimental biology and computational simulation. The Inflammation Center integrates faculties with expertise in experimental molecular biology, cutting edge imaging of inflamed cells and tissues, computational simulation of cellular signaling networks, human and animal studies, and nano-technologies designing novel intervention."
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties Inc. (VTIP) filed a patent application for Li's discovery and its use as a diagnostic tool and treatment strategy. "This technology will still take some time before there is a product," said Li.
Li's research is funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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Materials provided by Virginia Tech. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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Take an OpenGL matrix:
float m [ 16 ] ;Consider this as a 4x4 array with it's elements laid out into four columns like this:
m[0] m[4] m[ 8] m[12] m[1] m[5] m[ 9] m[13] m[2] m[6] m[10] m[14] m[3] m[7] m[11] m[15]WARNING: Mathematicians like to see their matrices laid out on paper this way (with the array indices increasing down the columns instead of across the rows as a programmer would usually write them). Look CAREFULLY at the order of the matrix elements in the layout above!
...but we are OpenGL programmers - not mathematicians - right?! The reason OpenGL arrays are laid out in what some people would consider to be the opposite direction to mathematical convention is somewhat lost in the mists of time. However, it turns out to be a happy accident as we will see later.
If you are dealing with a matrix which only deals with rigid bodies (ie no scale, shear, squash, etc) then the last row (array elements 3,7,11 and 15) are always 0,0,0 and 1 respectively and so long as they always maintain those values, we can safely forget about them for now.
The first three elements of the rightmost column of the matrix is just the overall translation. If you imagine some kind of neat little compact object (like a teapot), then array elements 12,13 and 14 tell you where it is in the world. It doesn't matter what combinations of rotations and translations it took to produce the matrix, the rightmost column tells you where the object basically is. It is often fortunate that the OpenGL matrix array is laid out the way it is because it results in those three elements being consecutive in memory.
OK, so now we are down to only nine random-looking numbers. These are the top three elements of each of the first three columns - and collectively they represent the rotation of the object.
The easy way to decode those numbers is to imagine what happens to four points near to the origin after they are transformed by the matrix:
(0,1,0) | /(0,0,1) | / |/___(1,0,0) (0,0,0)These are four vertices on a 1x1x1 cube that has one corner at the origin.
After the matrix has transformed this cube, where does it end up?
Well, if we neglect the translation part (the bottom row), then the pure rotation part simply describes the new location of the points on the cube:
(1,0,0) ---> ( m[0], m[1], m[2] ) (0,1,0) ---> ( m[4], m[5], m[6] ) (0,0,1) ---> ( m[8], m[9], m[10]) (0,0,0) ---> ( 0, 0, 0 )After that, you just add the translation onto each point so that:
(1,0,0) ---> ( m[0], m[1], m[2] ) + ( m[12], m[13], m[14] ) (0,1,0) ---> ( m[4], m[5], m[6] ) + ( m[12], m[13], m[14] ) (0,0,1) ---> ( m[8], m[9], m[10]) + ( m[12], m[13], m[14] ) (0,0,0) ---> ( 0, 0, 0 ) + ( m[12], m[13], m[14] )Once you know this, it becomes quite easy to use matrices to position objects exactly where you need them without messing around with multiple calls to glRotate.
Just imagine a little cube at the origin - pretend it's firmly attached to your model. Think about where the cube ends up as the model moves - write down where it's vertices would end up and there is your matrix.
So, if I gave you this matrix:
0.707, -0.707, 0, 10 0.707, 0.707, 0, 10 0 , 0 , 1, 0 0 , 0 , 0, 1...you could easily see that the X axis of that little cube is now pointing somewhere between the X and Y axes, the Y axis is pointing somewhere between Y and negative X and the Z axis is unchanged. The entire cube has been moved 10 units off in X and Y. This is a 45 degree rotation about Z and a 10,10,0 translation! You didn't need any hard math - just a mental picture of what the little cube did - and no concerns about the order of operations or anything hard like that. What would have happened to something out at 100,100,0? Well, just imagine it was glued to the cube (on the end of a long stick)...as the cube rotated, the thing at 100,100 would have moved quite a bit too - in fact, you can see that the rotation would put it onto the Y axis and the translation would have moved it 10 units up and to the right.
With practice, you can figure out what that last row of numbers does to the little cube too.
So, would you like to know how to use a matrix to squash, stretch, shear, etc? Just think about where the axes of that little cube end up - write them down and you are done. What does a cube of jello look like when there is a strong wind blowing from X=-infinity?
1, 0.3, 0, 0 0, 0.9, 0, 0 0, 0 , 1, 0 0, 0 , 0, 1Look - the Y axis is leaning a third of a unit to the right and the cube got a bit shorter.
Suppose your cartoon character is going to jump vertically, and you want to do a bit of pre-squash before the jump... and post-stretch during the jump. Just gradually vary the matrix from:
1 , 0 , 0, 0 1 , 0 , 0, 0 0 , 0.8, 0, 0 0 , 1.2, 0, 0 0 , 0 , 1, 0 ===> 0 , 0 , 1, 0 0 , 0 , 0, 1 0 , 0 , 0, 1Not bad - he got shorter then longer - how about getting a bit fatter too (conservation of cartoon volume) ?
1.2, 0 , 0 , 0 0.9,0 , 0 , 0 0 , 0.8, 0 , 0 0 ,1.2, 0 , 0 0 , 0 , 1.2, 0 ===> 0 ,0 ,0.9, 0 0 , 0 , 0 , 1 0 ,0 , 0 , 1Now the cube got smaller in Y and bigger in X and Z then got bigger in Y and smaller in X/Z...easy!
Not only is it easier to think transforms out this way, but it's invariably more efficient too. By seeing the entire transformation as one whole operation on a unit cube, you save a long sequence of glRotate/glTranslate/glScale commands - which each imply a complicated set of multiply/add steps to concatenate the new transform with whatever is on the top of the stack.
Finally, there is one matrix that we all need to know - the "Identity" matrix:
1, 0, 0, 0 0, 1, 0, 0 0, 0, 1, 0 0, 0, 0, 1As you can see, this matrix leaves all the axes completely alone and performs no translation. This is a "do nothing" matrix.
Matrices are really easy - it's just a matter of looking at them pictorially.


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Awhile back, we published a short article on the Spec-Ops 1911 pistol by CQB Products, Inc., titled "New Spec-Ops 1911 by CQB Products." CQB products, Inc. asserts, in their company literature on their website, that "the Spec-Ops 1911 is without a doubt the toughest, most reliable 1911 ever built." Well, CQB Products, Inc. has introduced a concealed-carry (CCW) version of …Read More »
Tag Archives: spec ops 1911
New Spec-Ops 1911 by CQB Products.
This one looks kind of interesting. It's called the Spec-Ops 1911, and it's brought to you by the same people who bring you the very high-tech, ultra-modern DSR-1 sniper rifle. Click on "Read More", below, for the rest of the story. Claudio Salassa(of Briley Manufacturing) is building all the guns. Let me just say right here that these guns had …Read More »


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The year 2009 has been important for Portuguese permafrost research and contributed to the consolidation of research, funding and critical mass. Activities focused on three main subjects: i) Antarctic permafrost and active layer dynamics, led by the Centre for Geographical Studies, University of Lisbon (CEG-UL); ii) Chemistry of Arctic permafrost by IPIMAR; iii) Earth-Mars analogues by CERENA - Instituto Superior Técnico, UTL.
The CEG-UL is leading the FCT-funded project PERMANTAR in Livingston (LI) and Deception (DI) Islands (Antarctic Peninsula region), which also involves the Centre of Geophysics of the University of Lisbon and Centre of Geophysics of Évora. The project includes also the universities of Alcalá (Spain) and Buenos Aires (Argentina), and the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute. PERMANTAR collaborates closely with the Spanish project PERMAMODEL-IPY. Main activities focused in the the installation and upgrading of permafrost and periglacial processes monitoring sites: i) a new 8 m borehole in LI, ii) three new 4-5m boreholes (collaboration Russian Academy of Sciences) in DI, iii) new CALM-S sites in DI and LI, iv) a meteorological station in LI, v) solifluction, thermokarst and rockglaciers monitoring sites, vi) time-lapse cameras, vii) year-round monitoring with resistivimeter with datalogger in DI, viii) electrical resistivity tomography surveying in LI, and ix) n-factor monitoring sites in DI. Master theses on Antarctic permafrost have been presented by A. Trindade and R. Melo (http://www.antecc.org). Education and outreach activities have been organized, including talks in schools, public lectures and a permafrost film "Permafrost! Polar science at 62ºS" for classroom activities. It will be freely available in DVD to schools and open-access in the Internet. The CEG-UL team continued the scientific coordination of the grant program New Generation of Polar Scientists funded by Caixa Carbono Zero (CGD). This program involves full-time funding of two students on permafrost research in a total of six grants in polar science.
IPIMAR's research on permafrost was conducted in Umuijaq, Northen Québec. The main objectives are studying carbon and contaminant chemistry in thermokarst lakes and their hydrological impact in rivers, sea and snow pack. Measurements of biogas fluxes and sampling of water, ice, snow and sediments for analysis were conducted. Umuijaq is an area of carbon-poor permafrost which contrasts with the results obtained in 2008 in a carbon-rich permafrost area. This study contributes to a better understanding of the impacts of permafrost thaw in the carbon and trace element contaminants cycles.
CERENA continued researching automated mapping and characterization of polygonal networks on Mars. Research focused on the detailed analysis of the NASA Phoenix landing region (around 68º N), which are extensive plains largely occupied by small-scale polygonal terrains. These were difficult to perceive in previous imagery but are now unveiled by the HiRISE camera onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (30 cm/pixel). The huge number of small polygons (diameter around 4 m) demonstrates the necessity of using automated approaches allowing for a detailed mapping of these extensive networks. This will contribute to gather data to help probe into the most widely accepted genetical models, namely thermal contraction of permafrost.


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In today's news, Bethenny Frankel continues
to get richer expand her Skinnygirl line!
Just months after selling her Skinnygirl drink line for a reported $100 million, the Bethenny Ever After star has now announced her plans to launch a Skinnygirl skincare line… in addition to the Skinnygirl Cleanses, Skinnygirl Shapewear and Skinnygirl Books.
Bethenny, 40, announced the launch of Skinnygirl Face & Body Solutions and Skinnygirl Mommy on Friday. She joins forces with the beauty firm Lotta Luv for a 30-product body and skincare line called Honesty by Bethenny.
The reason for the name? Well it's because Bethenny is not one for the gimmicks! "A $150 eye cream is ridiculous and absurd," she told WWD. "[Promises like] 'you're going to look like Heidi Klum in two days' or 'like you had a face-lift' have always bothered me."
The products will range from lip glosses to body cream! The Honesty by Bethenny line is set to debut in select Wal-Mart stores in November 2011 and will retail for $15 and under. Not bad. Some of the products will reportedly feature spirit-inspired scents.
And in a recent interview with CNN, Bethenny makes it clear she isn't just putting out these product lines to make money. "Any product that I add to the Skinnygirl line has to be innovative, solve a problem for women, and help them to live healthier, better lives," she said. "My line is straightforward, honest, and doesn't make false promises. I've turned down a multitude of product ideas from headbands to diet pills."
She adds, "If I wouldn't use a product myself, it doesn't become part of the Skinnygirl brand."
In other Bethenny news, she also continues to make it crystal clear that her reality TV days are numbered! "I'm getting tired of reality TV, of every moment being documented," said Bethenny who has a talk show in the works. "But a talk show, where I could have longer conversations than on Facebook or Twitter – would be great. There are many things I want to talk to women about. While the other housewives were off getting drunk, I was doing business."


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Lightless Moor sign with WORMHOLEDEATH/Aural MusicGroup
Italian gothic metal band Lightless Moor has signed a deal with Wormholedeath/Aural
Music Group.
Wormholedeath will release their debut album titled "Crying My Grief to a Feeble Dawn"
world-wide through Aural Music Group. The album was recorded and mixed at Realsound Studio in Parma (Italy) with producer Wahoomi Corvi (Crysalys, The Way Of Purity, Haterial), and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finvox Studios (Finland).
Release date is due during 2013 still to be scheduled.
The whole band together stated :
"We are extremely proud to announce the beginning of the journey with Wormholedeath!
It is one of the main Italian label, and in addition to the excellent established friendship, we
are assured of a great professional work!"
A&R "Worm" stated: "Lightless Moor is a band that we kept under our radar for a long
time … They evolved so much during the last year that we decided to offer them a deal. The album is just great and produced by our favourite studio ever, the guys are really honest and nice so they really deserve attention from the scene. We'll do everything possible to make people turn their heads toward this amazing band. I would love to thank the musicians involved in this project for their trust. Cry your grief, Lightless Moor are ready!"


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Boost Your Business Knowledge
Learn how to evaluate stakeholder corporate social responsibility initiatives, assess sustainable technologies, and discover financial trade-offs and opportunities related to social responsibility strategies. You will also examine the role of sustainable systems in protecting the natural environment. Courses in this program count toward the Business Leadership degree. This proficiency certificate will enhanced your degree and give you a competitive advantage for opportunities in businesses, non-profit organizations and government agencies.


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Fidel Castro: War would make Obama 'most sinister figure'
HAVANA — Retired Cuban leader Fidel Castro published his first column in nearly nine months on Friday, urging both friends and foes to use restraint amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
In the brief piece published in Communist Party daily Granma and other official media, Castro warned of the impact that nuclear war could unleash in Asia and beyond. He said Havana has always been and will continue to be an ally to North Korea, but gently admonished it to consider the well-being of humankind.
"Now that you have demonstrated your technical and scientific advances, we remind you of your duty to the countries that have been your great friends, and it would not be fair to forget that such a war would affect ... more than 70 percent of the planet's population," he said.
Castro used stronger language in addressing Washington, saying that if fighting breaks out, President Barack Obama's government "would be buried by a flood of images that would present him as the most sinister figure in U.S. history. The duty to avoid (war) also belongs to him and the people of the United States."
North Korea has issued a series of escalating threats in recent weeks as the United States and South Korea have conducted joint military exercises beginning March, and expressed anger over U.N. sanctions imposed after it held a nuclear test in February. Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons for self-defense, and on Tuesday it announced it would restart a plutonium reactor that was shut down in 2007
Analysts say the elevated rhetoric is probably calculated to push for concessions from South Korea, prod Washington into talks and bolster the image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
But Castro called the situation "incredible and absurd," and said war would cause terrible harm to the people of both Koreas and benefit no one.
"This is one of the gravest risks of nuclear war since the October Crisis in 1962 involving Cuba, 50 years ago," he wrote, a reference to what is known in English as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Castro last published one of his columns known as "Reflections" on June 19, 2012. In October, amid the latest round of rumors of his purportedly dire health, he said he had stopped writing them not due to illness but because they were occupying space in official newspapers and state TV news broadcasts that was needed for other uses.
Letters signed by him have been released periodically, however, including a message of condolences last month following the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a close friend and ally.
He also appeared in person in February at a voting station, bantering for more than an hour with poll workers, island reporters and children.
Castro has been out of office since 2006, when a near-fatal intestinal ailment forced him to hand power to his younger brother Raul.


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Since Brian's story earlier about the tragic death of former Nintendo great Gunpei Yokoi, I figured today would be a good time to take a look at the last thing he ever worked on: the WonderSwan handheld gaming device.
While Yokoi will always be remembered as the man who created the Game & Watch, the Game Boy and the ill-fated Virtual Boy, there's always been something uniquely interesting about the WonderSwan, which unlike any of the things above was never so incredibly awesome or such an incredible failure.
Yokoi left Nintendo in 1996 after the Virtual Boy, a 3D gaming device he championed, crashed and burned, making it Nintendo's only major and significant failure in the home video game market. In the same year he founded Koto Laboratory, a new company with which he partnered with Nintendo rival Bandai and set about creating yet another new video game handheld.
This device was to be called the WonderSwan, which would eventually be released in 1999, two years after Yokoi's tragic passing in 1997. While this means his involvement in the project was more limited than it was with, say, the Game Boy, Yokoi still had a hand in its development, and in many ways you can see not just his experience with Nintendo handhelds shining through, but also some unique ideas for the future of handheld gaming.
The WonderSwan ended up a quirky little thing, a handheld that was never truly a success like his works with Nintendo but which had enough unique features to earn it a significant - and lasting - following. First released on March 4, 1999, the most immediate thing you notice about the WonderSwan is its strange button layout.
Because the device had been designed to be able to play games either vertically or horizontally, the WonderSwan included ten identical buttons that also doubled as d-pad inputs. The original model shipped with a monochrome screen, and in a move aimed squarely at competing head-on with Nintendo, was priced cheap, at only ¥6800 (USD$80).
It also included a neat feature that you only usually saw on home consoles at the time: the presence of a settings menu, where you could not only adjust system settings but also enter personal information.
Yet despite being available in a ton of colours right off the bat and featuring a decent library of games, including - crucially - updated re-releases of old Final Fantasy titles (including some snazzy bundles), the WonderSwan's release came only a few short months after Nintendo dropped the Game Boy Color on the market, which suddenly made Bandai's handheld (and fellow struggler the Neo Geo Pocket) look decidedly last-gen.
In December 2000, then, Koto and Bandai released the WonderSwan Color, which not only boasted a bigger, colour screen, but which also looked more like a gaming console and less like a cheap children's calculator.
By now, the WonderSwan was doing OK! It wasn't battling for market dominance with Nintendo, but it was approaching a 10% stake in the Japanese handheld market, which for a newcomer from two relatively small companies was an impressive feat!
And then, only three months after the release of the WonderSwan Color, Nintendo dropped the Game Boy Advance. The increased horsepower, vibrant screen and enormous game library of Nintendo's new handheld effectively killed off all competition in Japan, including the WonderSwan, and ensured a near monopoly in the market until Sony's PSP would be released.
As a last-ditch effort, a third WonderSwan was released in 2002. Called the SwanCrystal, it was essentially the same device under the hood as the last two models, only this time it had a fancy LCD screen. Against the might of the GBA, it could do little, and it would be the last WonderSwan the world would ever see (though it remains a favourite of collectors and handheld fans to this day).
All three models of the WonderSwan were only ever released officially in Japan.
It's a shame that Yokoi did not live to see the WonderSwan duke it out with Nintendo. Because while it ended up - like so many other handhelds - crushed beneath the feet of the industry giant, it tried some pretty unique and interesting things, and put up a much sterner fight than most other handhelds ever managed.
Total Recall is a look back at the history of video games through their characters, franchises, developers and trends.


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LENR News Index
Lewan Investigates and Observes Rossi Device
Ny Teknik journalist measures historic levels of excess heat in LENR device
by Steven B. Krivit
May 2, 2011
(Italian version here )
(Link to Rossi Portal)
The Experiments
Journalist Mats Lewan of the Swedish technology magazine Ny Teknik helped to validate experiments that appear to generate energy from a new type of nuclear process that does not emit deadly radiation or produce radioactive waste.
The experiments took place April 19 and 28 in Bologna, Italy. The device at the heart of the experiment is the invention of Andrea Rossi, and it runs on a desktop, at room temperature, using hydrogen and nickel for fuel.
All evidence suggests that Rossi's invention, which he calls the Energy Catalyzer (E-Cat), signals a landmark change in low-energy nuclear reaction research and may eventually have broader implications for the wider field of nuclear energy, as well. In the past, LENR researchers have typically observed milliwatts of excess heat, but Rossi is measuring kilowatts.
Lewan, who has a master's degree in engineering physics from the Royal Institute of Technology, in Stockholm, Sweden, reported the results of the two confirmatory tests in an article titled "Ny Teknik Tested the Energy Catalyzer." His independence, data reporting, and very clear video presentation lend credibility to Rossi's claim.
According to data Lewan reported, the first test ran for 2 hours and 10 minutes, produced 20 megajoules of net energy and produced an average net heating power of 2.6 kilowatts.
The second test ran for 2 hours and 58 minutes, produced 25 megajoules of net energy and produced an average net heating power of 2.3 kilowatts. These data are similar to data from other recent demonstrations of the Rossi device.
Lewan did not set up his own tests or operate the devices at Rossi's Bologna laboratory, but he was not a mere observer. On the advice of Swedish physicists, he made three improvements in the instrumentation, as he explained in his article.
Lewan discussed his role in the tests and some additional thoughts with New Energy Times today.
"I personally did measurements: weighing water and hydrogen, measuring current and voltage, checking water flow at output, checking vapor flow," Lewan said.
"I also discussed the set-up before the test and, among other things, arranged that we keep the outlet hose visible at all times," he said, "and not put it into the hole in the sink, as was done in previous tests.
"I'm still disappointed that I forgot one very simple check: I only measured the input current on one cable, the 'zero,' or 'cold' line. Obviously, this leaves open the possibility of deception if there is a large current on the phase, or 'hot,' line and it is distributed in part (1.6A) on the 'zero' ('cold') line and in part over the ground line (about 10A to achieve 2.5 kW).
"However, I discussed this with [Giuseppe] Levi and Rossi, and I regard it as highly improbable for several reasons, among them that Levi, in his 18-hour test, measured the input power with a watt meter controlling all the three cables."
Disruptive Technology, Disruptive Science
For 22 years, people who have been following low-energy nuclear reaction research have suspected that this type of research might become disruptive. As the Rossi device gains credibility through broader demonstrations, the disruptions likely will be significant. The existing researchers in the LENR field will be the first and, in fact, probably are beginning to feel the impact.
However, should broad recognition come for the Rossi device, it will not bring full redemption for the researchers who failed to distinguish between the reality of LENR and the mythology of cold fusion. It is not a simple matter of semantics.
For some of the most fervent cold fusion believers, it may bring no redemption at all because for two decades they have dismissed their colleagues' nickel-hydrogen work.
Even Rossi denies that his device is based on "cold fusion." Instead, he says that it is based on weak interactions.
Rossi's disruption of the idea of cold fusion follows on the heels of a theoretical disruption five years ago. In 2006, Lewis Larsen and Allan Widom published a groundbreaking theory that explains LENR not as fusion but as fundamentally the result of weak interactions.
When New Energy Times gave attention to the Widom-Larsen "not-fusion theory," cold fusion believers like Scott Chubb and Andrew Meulenberg responded venomously, accusing Widom and Larsen of baseless, unsubstantiated "ethical" violations and deception.
"It looks like a snow job," Meulenberg wrote.
Together, the Widom-Larsen theory and the Rossi experiment (assuming it continues to gain credibility) deliver a one-two punch.
Peter Gluck, a longtime observer of the field, saw the potential disruption that the Rossi work could bring to the prevailing "cold fusion" research and the motivation for "cold fusion" researchers to discredit Rossi or at least delay his progress:
If cheap and abundant nickel works with omnipresent hydrogen, NOBODY (sponsor, or organization etc.) will be so "generous," that is, idiotic, to pay for rare and precious palladium and costly deuterium, finita la commedia! No more funding. ... No more playing, no more useless theories. So for CMNS, it is vital that the Rossi demo should disappear.
A month later, in February 2011, as Gluck predicted, many participants in the 16th International Conference on Condensed Matter Nuclear Science in Chennai, India, were openly cynical about Rossi and his claims.
Michael Melich, who trained as a theoretical physicist - and is a leading member of the cold fusion subgroup - rose at the end of a colleague's presentation and launched into a 10-minute impromptu polemic about Rossi and his experiment.
Researchers Kenneth Grabowski and David Knies from the Naval Research Laboratory gave a presentation that did not mention the Rossi device by name but that clearly was written about the Rossi development. The point of this paper was that NRL claimed to have the skills and capacity to validate the Rossi device.
"Before such devices can transition into the market place," Grabowski and Knies wrote, "independent and reliable validations are required. Such validation testing is a prerequisite to the sale of existing or evolved prototypes, acquisition of any rights to intellectual property, or investment in the further development of technology embodied in the existing prototypes."
Rossi has already licensed rights to his intellectual property.
Another ICCF-16 participant, cold fusion theorist Vasudev Godbole, wrote to New Energy Times today revealing the bitterness, jealousy and envy that exists among some "cold fusion" advocates.
"Rossi has never said anything in favor of the W-L theory. All this secrecy-mongering by Rossi spells bad times for us," Godbole wrote. "Patents, business deals etc. are proving to be the lecherous part of 'science.' Actually, they are not a part of science. Rossi is setting or following an unfortunate or evil trend. Selflessness, that old abandoned ridiculed virtue, is what our civilization needs urgently. Rossi disappoints me. Where is an Einstein, and where is this Rossi?"
Godbole's comments and others' like his, focusing on "selflessness," are unprofessional. Most LENR theorists and researchers who have ever had a novel idea have tried to patent it for personal and societal gain through commercial development.
Apparently, a scientific competitor becomes "lecherous" and "evil" among peers only when he or she makes great strides in attempts to patent and develop products. No wonder Widom, Larsen and Rossi have chosen not to seek the approval of the "cold fusion" community by presenting at its conferences.
[May 3, 2011- Note: This article has been updated to clarify the comments from Scott Chubb and Andrew Meulenberg regarding Widom and Larsen.]


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Grafton Records is proud to present the official version of 'Moniegram' by Mr 2kay featuring Timaya.
Mr 2kay - 'Moniegram' ft Timaya
The track talks about being focused and about the business of making money.
Recommended articles
This highly anticipated track has been released, based on the widespread industry support by top Nigerian celebrities in the likes of Don Jazzy and others on the slogan created by Mr 2kay ''I No Come Lagos Come Joke" – a phrase/lyric from the new song.
Mr 2kay, who is still riding high in the industry with his last single "Who No Like Better Thing" ft. Jonsers, recently won the award for 'Best Collabo' in New York at the just concluded NEA 2015 and has also been nominated in two categories 'Best Collaboration' and 'Best Dancehall' at the forthcoming Headies 2015 for his hit song "Bad Girl Special Remix" ft. Cynthia Morgan and Seyi Shay.
"Moniegram" was produced by Orbeat and assisted by Ayzed. The track talks about being focused and about the business of making money. Mr 2Kay and Timaya joined forces on this one to get us thinking and dancing.
Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com


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This piece is based on a pop rock sound of guitars, drums, bass and a synth elements that were used in the eighties. Track sounds played live in arena. There are many combinations for arranging cause i included intro, ending and five different loops. So you can edit many combinations depending of what you need.
Corporate And Alive (3:10)
Intro (0:16)
Fade Out End (0:46)
Loop 1 (0:16)
Loop 2 (0:16)
Loop 3 (0:16)
Loop 4 (0:16
Loop 5 (0:16)


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"The Holiday" Has Suprising Depth for a Chick Flick
- Christa Banister Contributing Writer
- 2006 12 Dec
DVD Release Date: March 13, 2007
Theatrical Release Date: December 8, 2006
Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, some rough language )
Genre: Romantic comedy
Run Time: 138 min.
Director: Nancy Meyers
Actors: Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law, Jack Black, Eli Wallach, Edward Burns, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, John Krasinski
Much to the chagrin of the chick-flick faithful, the holiday season is usually reserved for movies of the more serious variety (think Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto" or the upcoming "The Good Shepherd") or those with wide-range family appeal (like "Happy Feet" and "Charlotte's Web"). But nestled somewhere in between, sometimes there's a feel-good movie that's all about the ups and downs of falling in love.
Cue "The Holiday."
Unlike warm and fuzzy holiday fare like "While You Were Sleeping" or "Maid in Manhattan," this movie actually delivers far more depth than one might expect. For the currently unattached or those who've been there before, "The Holiday" is heartwarming, relatable and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny – even if the premise itself requires a little suspension of disbelief and includes a strong worldly view of sexuality.
In true Nancy Meyers ("What Women Want," "Something's Gotta Give") fashion, complete with easy-on-the-eyes actors and even more breathtaking scenery, we're introduced to Iris (Kate Winslet), a lonely newspaper writer in London who is "head over heels" for the newly engaged Jasper (Rufus Sewell). But despite the fact that he's about to be married, Jasper still calls her incessantly, which wrecks havoc on her already frail heart.
Then across the pond, there's workaholic Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who's having a few relationship troubles of her own. As the successful owner of a business that edits movie trailers, Amanda doesn't have much time for love and eventually gets her live-in boyfriend Ethan (Edward Burns) to admit he's cheating on her.
Realizing that she needs a break from her life's frantic pace, Amanda searches online for the perfect, quiet vacation destination for the upcoming holiday. And low and behold, with a few clicks of her mouse, she locates a home-exchange service and eventually gets in touch with Iris, the owner of the quaint English cottage she spotted in cyberspace. Later, after a few minutes of friendly instant messaging, the girls decide to swap houses, cars – the works. And before you know it, Amanda's in London, and Iris makes her way to L.A. for Christmas.
As they get settled in, which provides for some hilarious fish-out-of-water moments, they both experience the joys of unexpected relationships – Amanda with Iris' gorgeous but heavy-drinking brother Graham (Jude Law) and Iris with an elderly neighbor (Eli Wallach) and eventually, with Miles (Jack Black) a movie soundtrack composer.
But instead of running the predictable, down-and-out-girl-gets-the-guy course that anyone can spot from a mile away, Meyers takes her time with the storytelling, allowing the audience to really get to know the characters. While I'd argue that the movie ultimately runs about a half hour too long, the attention to detail, not to mention the clever twists and turns of the plot are certainly a welcome change from the romantic comedy norm.
What's not surprising, however, is the very Hollywood approach to pre-marital sex that's prevalent throughout. Rather than take the time to get to know each other and take the abstinence route, Amanda and Graham sleep together right after they meet. Of course, the next morning, they act completely normal around each other, as if it wasn't a big deal (which I'm sure happens all the time when people don't subscribe to a Christian worldview). But despite her confidence in hopping into bed with a complete stranger, Amanda sees the emptiness of a relationship purely based on sex and admittedly lacks the emotional ability to commit to a lasting relationship – something she only learns as she and Graham get vulnerable and really begin to communicate, which is always an important lesson.
It's ultimately through the evolution of their relationship – not to mention an important detail that I won't ruin for you about Graham – that one really begins rooting for the couple to stay together for the long haul.
Equally, if not more captivating, is seeing Iris bloom from her previously frumpy and emotionally drained self. While it's hard to believe that Winslet could pull off the role of a dowdy writer, she does so with aplomb, proving her varied skills as an actress. Also surprising is Law's charming turn as a sensitive (rather than smarmy) book editor and Black's subdued performance that's a far cry from over-the-top characters like Nacho in "Nacho Libre" and J.B. in "Tenacious D: The Pick of Destiny." As for Diaz, well, she seems like she's just being herself, which doesn't make her job too difficult.
Ultimately, it's the great casting, not to mention an engaging storyline that makes "The Holiday" a step above most chick flicks. And even though Hollywood equates love with sex once again, there are still some relationship dynamics lessons that can be learned here.
AUDIENCE: Older teens and up (parents should consider the casual view of pre-marital sex before taking teens).
- Alcohol/Drugs: Characters are shown consuming alcohol throughout the course of the movie. Graham has a propensity for getting drunk to mask his troubles.
- Language/Profanity: A few mild expletives here and there and one "F" word used for comic effect. Several instances of the Lord's name taken in vain.
- Sex/Nudity: Pre-marital sex is definitely the norm – in conversation and practice – for these characters as Iris discusses past sexual encounters with Jasper. Amanda and Graham sleep together before even having a first date. Later on, there's a scene where Amanda and Graham are in bed (nothing explicit is shown) although Graham is bare chested and Amanda is shown in her bra and panties.
- Violence: None.


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A new report shows that as the cost of fighting forest fires has rapidly increased over the last 20 years, the budgets for other forest programs, including those that can help prevent and mitigate fire damage, have substantially shrunk. The Forest Service's firefighting appropriation has rapidly risen as a proportion of the Forest Service's overall budget, increasing from 16 percent in 1995 to 42 percent today, forcing cuts in other budget areas.
"Climate change, drought, fuel buildup and insects and disease are increasing the severity of catastrophic wildfire in America's forests," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. "In order to protect the public, the portion of the Forest Service budget dedicated to combating fire has drastically increased from what it was 20 years ago. This has led to substantial cuts in other areas of the Forest Service budget, including efforts to keep forests healthy, reduce fire risk, and strengthen local economies."
Vilsack noted that on top of the budget reductions outlined in the new report, the Forest Service's non-fire program budgets are affected by "fire borrowing." Funds spent on fire suppression have exceeded the allocated amount in all but four years since 2000. In these cases, the shortfall is covered through transferring, or "borrowing" additional funds from Forest Service programs that have already been cut over the last 20 years. Secretary Vilsack renewed his request to Congress to allow an existing disaster fund to provide resources to fight catastrophic fires in years when Forest Service and Department of Interior fire costs exceed the amount Congress has budgeted, rather than forcing borrowing from non-fire programs.
"Bipartisan proposals to fund catastrophic fire like other natural disasters could help ensure that efforts to make forests more healthy and resilient and support local tourism economies aren't impacted as significantly as they have been in recent years," Vilsack said. "These proposals don't increase the deficit, they just budget smarter by allowing existing natural disaster funding to be used in cases of catastrophic wildfire."
The report shows the extent to which many Forest Service program budgets have been cut even before borrowing occurs to accommodate for the rapid rise in firefighting costs in the past 20 years. For example:
• Funding for the Vegetation and Watershed Management Program - a cornerstone for forest, rangeland, soil and water restoration and enhancement activities, and a key factor in post-fire restoration - has been cut by 22 percent since 2001. This has reduced the Forest Service's ability to prevent and limit the spread of invasive species, which can weaken forest health and make forests more susceptible to fire.
• Maintenance and capital improvements on approximately 21,600 recreation sites and 23,100 research and other administrative buildings has been reduced by two-thirds since 2001.
• Support for recreation, heritage and wilderness activities that connect the public with our natural lands and support tourism and thousands of jobs (visitors to national forests contributed more than $13 billion to America's economy each year) has been cut by 13 percent.
• Wildlife and fisheries habitat management has been reduced by 17 percent, limiting recovery efforts for threatened and endangered species.
• Research funding has declined by over $36 million in the ten year period ending in 2013.
While fire staffing has increased 110 percent since 1998, staffing for those dedicated to managing National Forest Service lands has decreased 35 percent over the same period.
Vilsack said the average number of fires on Federal lands has more than doubled since 1980, and the total area burned annually has tripled. He said that climate change, population growth near forests, brush and fuel buildup have drastically increased wildfire severity and the cost of fighting them.
Vilsack's request to change the way catastrophic fire costs are funded is included in the Obama Administration's proposed budget and is supported by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The change means that in years when the cost of fighting wildfires exceeds the firefighting budget provided to the Forest Service by Congress, additional resources would be provided from an existing fund already in place to help provide emergency funding for natural disasters, rather than forcing the Forest Service to take money from other programs designed to protect forest health.
To read the full report, go to: http://www.fs.fed.us/sites/default/files/media/2014/34/nr-firecostimpact-082014.pdf


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Many years ago, my friend gave Margot a book called Let's Go Home. It is one of our favorites and, tonight, it was Ruby's bedtime choice. I read
There are many kinds of houses in the world, from little cottages to big mansions, from farmhouses to bungalows. But no matter the kind of house, it is the living inside that makes it wonderful, what happens to each room that makes it marvelous. It is what the house means to those who live there.
It is so right on. Since our recent move, I've been talking with my kids a lot about what home means, where it is. We visited our 'old' home last weekend. Knocked on the door for the first time ever. We chatted with the new family, expecting their first baby next month. We sat on their furniture in their home. Ruby had a hard time with it, saying "No. My special home." Followed by a tearful "Go home, mama? Milky?" Sister was bummed and confused. I get it.
Chris gave my domain back.
Can you believe it? I can.
I felt wronged when my url – my business that supports my family – was snagged and littered with scandalous ads. I know many found me, but many didn't and clicked into that domain only to pay into Chris's pocket. Every click generated revenue for him. It was frustrating, not because of my address, but because it was so wrong. And that is why I pursued the issue. It isn't fair or right. I am a peacemaker. And I do speak up for what is fair and right. I am nice and optimistic; I am firm and driven. I was fired up.
I didn't once feel like a victim. That was a wonderful surprise; I settled, calmly even, right into it. I felt motivated. To pursue what was legally mine, protected under trademark law. Problem is, people like me can't afford to advocate for themselves. There are legal and arbitration fees. The language and process is overwhelming. I waited, wondered how it would shake out. I focused on what I wanted: something positive and productive, I didn't know what it looked like.
I think people want to do good. I think people are good. And the more I lean into this, the more I am reminded of it.
I got an email from a reader, Sieglinde, whose husband is an attorney. He generously offered his legal services. Kyle. Kyle who is kind and smart and so generous I find myself continually brainstorming things I can make him for the rest of his life to express my gratitude.
Kyle wrote Chris. There was some back and forth. And then, Chris, the guy who wanted 4800 effing dollars, gave me my domain back. FOR FREE. I am not naive, I don't think Chris has a crisis of conscience and is suddenly looking for new work as a yogi (although wouldn't that be amazing?). But I do know something to be true, the thing Margot sang to me the morning this all went down, that little prophet: If you believe in kindness you'll be free.
What is a home?
Margot's birthday, December 2007
Home isn't an address, a domain, a place. Rather, home is here.
ps Both domains will redirect to the same place! No need to change bookmarks or anything. It'll take a day or so. Phew.
pps A happy nod to the inspiration for the title of this post, This Must Be The Place by Talking Heads. "Home is where I want be but I guess I'm already there…" Sing it.


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"Think of the latest idea of collecting space junk as something akin to a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey. Aerospace Corporation says its Brane Craft will wrap itself around debris orbiting Earth and drag it back down through the atmosphere, causing it to burn up and never again threaten satellites or astronauts.
The project recently received a second round of funding from the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts program, which funds far-out ideas that remain years away from launch — if they get there at all.
The Brane Craft is a yard across, flexible, and less than half the thickness of a human hair. This makes it difficult to protect the spacecraft's electronics from radiation, or even micrometeorites." space.com
And now for a break from lefty bashing and war analysis.
I am a space freak born a few hundred years too early. This device looks promising to me. The orbital trash problem is becoming severe. This would be worth the money to NASA. pl


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All the Extra Wickenburg news you need to know !
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's
Top Safety PickS 2009
ARLINGTON, VA — Seventy-two vehicles earn the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick award for 2009. This is more than double the number of 2008 recipients and more than 3 times the number of 2007 winners.
Top Safety Pick recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, and rear crashes based on good ratings in Institute tests. Winners also have to have electronic stability control (ESC), which research shows significantly reduces crash risk.
For the first time ever, winners represent every class of vehicle the Institute tests except microcars.
Most car, minivan, and SUV models, midsize convertibles, and small and large pickups are eligible. Ford and its subsidiary Volvo have 16 winners, including the Ford F-150 large pickup. Thirteen winners are from Honda and its Acura division. The Honda Fit with optional ESC is the first minicar to earn Top Safety Pick.
Honda, Acura, and Subaru, which picked up 4 awards, are standouts for 2009 because they have at least 1 Top Safety Pick in every vehicle class in which they compete.
"Consumers are the biggest winners," says Institute president Adrian Lund. "No matter what kind of vehicle buyers may be considering, now they can walk into just about any dealership and find one that affords the best overall protection in serious crashes."
Front and side impacts are the most common kinds of fatal crashes, killing about three-quarters of the 28,896 passenger vehicle occupants who died in 2007. Rear-end crashes usually aren't fatal, but they result in a large proportion of crash injuries. Neck sprain or strain is the most commonly reported injury in two thirds of insurance claims for injuries in all kinds of crashes.
Automakers improve protection: Top Safety Pick provides an incentive for manufacturers to offer safer vehicle designs that go far beyond basic federal standards.
"In order to win, automakers have beefed up the side structures of vehicles and added side airbags to do a better job of protecting people in serious side crashes," Lund says. "They're rapidly adding ESC to prevent crashes, and they're designing seats and head restraints that do a better job of protecting against whiplash."
The changes are evident in the safety equipment that is increasingly standard. For the 2009 model year, 84 percent of passenger cars, 99 percent of SUVs, and 23 percent of pickups have standard side airbags with head protection. The same is true for ESC. It's standard on 74 percent of passenger cars, 99 percent of SUVs, and 37 percent of pickups.
Crash avoidance is required: The Institute began the Top Safety Pick program in 2006, initially giving out 2 tiers of awards. Gold winners scored good ratings for front, side, and rear crash protection. Silver winners had good ratings in front and side tests and acceptable ratings in rear evaluations.
For 2007, the Institute raised the bar to win by requiring good rear impact results and ESC as either standard or optional equipment. ESC helps drivers maintain control of their vehicles in the worst situation — loss of control at high speed — by engaging automatically when it senses vehicle instability and helping to bring a vehicle back in the intended line of travel. ESC lowers the risk of a fatal single-vehicle crash by about half, and it lowers the risk of a fatal rollover crash by as much as 70 percent.
Rear, side performance still lags: Crash tests have driven major improvements in the designs of all kinds and sizes of passenger vehicles. The Institute began conducting frontal tests for consumer information in 1995. Side tests were added in 2003 and rear tests in 2004. Most vehicles earn good ratings based on the frontal crash test, but significant differences remain among vehicles' performance in side and rear tests.
Twenty-six models fall short of earning Top Safety Pick because of inadequate head restraint designs. The Smart Fortwo, the only microcar in the US market, missed because of its head restraints. The same goes for Toyota's hybrid Prius, which performed well in the Institute's front and side crash tests but came up short for rear crash protection.
Chrysler is the only major automaker lacking a single Top Safety Pick. It could have picked up 5 awards if the head restraints were better in the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring, the Sebring convertible, and the Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country.
A 2008 Institute analysis of insurance claims found that, all other factors being the same, drivers of vehicles with seat/head restraint combinations rated good in Institute evaluations were 15 percent less likely to sustain neck injuries in rear-end crashes than drivers of vehicles with poor head restraints.
Eleven vehicles missed the mark because they didn't earn a good rating for occupant protection in side crashes. Many of these vehicles are smaller cars whose size puts them at a disadvantage in the challenging test compared with larger, heavier vehicles.
"Still, the sheer number of this year's winners indicates that automakers have made huge strides to improve crash protection to achieve Top Safety Pick designation," Lund says. "For years Toyota had more also-rans than winners. For 2009 this automaker has come on strong by updating seats and head restraints in the Avalon, Corolla, FJ Cruiser, and RAV4 to earn good ratings. Volkswagen has done the same with the Eos, Jetta, Passat, and Rabbit."
Winners include 8 large cars, 13 midsize cars, 6 small cars, 1 minicar, 3 midsize convertibles, and 3 minivans. Among SUVs, 19 are midsize, 10 are small, and 5 are large. The 2008 Toyota Tundra was the first large pickup to earn Top Safety Pick. For 2009, the Tundra is joined by the Ford F-150 and the Honda Ridgeline. The Toyota Tacoma is the only small pickup winner.
Each year the Institute offers to test Top Safety Pick candidates early in the model year. The policy is for manufacturers to reimburse the Institute for the cost of vehicles if the tests aren't part of the group's regular schedule. Top Safety Pick is presented by vehicle size because size and weight are closely related, and both influence how well occupants will be protected in serious crashes. Larger, heavier vehicles generally afford better protection in crashes than smaller, lighter ones.
"Just because small cars are Top Safety Picks doesn't make them as crashworthy as larger vehicles," Lund says. "Rather, it's all the more important to choose a small car that rates highly for safety because you give up the protection of size and weight."
How vehicles are evaluated: The Institute's frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a Hybrid III dummy in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.
Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on two instrumented SID-IIs dummies, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact.
Rear crash protection is rated according to a two-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry — the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man. Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph. Seats without good or acceptable geometry are rated poor overall because they can't be positioned to protect many people.
These 26 vehicles earn good ratings in front and side crash tests. They have ESC, standard or optional. They would be 2009 Top Safety Pick winners if their seat/head restraints also earn good ratings:
Chevrolet Malibu
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