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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Inebriated bees could give researchers better insight into alcohol's effects on human behavior, a new study suggests.
"Alcohol affects bees and humans in similar ways – it impairs motor functioning along with learning and memory processing," said Julie Mustard, a study co-author and a postdoctoral researcher in entomology at Ohio State University.
Researchers gave honey bees various levels of ethanol, the intoxicating agent in liquor, and monitored the ensuing behavioral effects of the drink – specifically how much time the bees spent flying, walking, standing still, grooming and flat on their backs, so drunk they couldn't stand up. The researchers also measured the level of ethanol in the bees' hemolymph – the circulatory fluid of insects that's akin to blood.
Not surprisingly, increasing ethanol consumption meant bees spent less time flying, walking and grooming, and more time upside down. The appearance of inebriation occured sooner for bees that were given a larger dose of ethanol. Also, blood ethanol levels increased with time and the amount of ethanol consumed.
This study is preliminary – the researchers simply wanted to see what effects ethanol had on honey bee behavior. In the future, however, they hope to use honey bees as a model for learning more about how chronic alcohol use affects humans, particularly at the molecular level.
"The honey bee nervous system is similar to that of vertebrates," said Geraldine Wright, a study co-author and a postdoctoral researcher in entomology at Ohio State.
Mustard concurred. "On the molecular level, the brains of honey bees and humans work the same. Knowing how chronic alcohol use affects genes and proteins in the honey bee brain may help us eventually understand how alcoholism affects memory and behavior in humans, as well as the molecular basis of addiction."
The researchers presented their work on October 23 in San Diego at the annual Society for Neuroscience conference.
Honey bees were secured into a small harness made from a piece of drinking straw. The researchers then fed bees solutions of sucrose and ethanol, with several ethanol concentrations ranging from 10 to 100 percent. The 10 percent solution was equivalent to drinking wine, Wright said, while the 100 percent solution, which contained no sucrose, was equivalent to drinking 200-proof grain alcohol. A group of control bees was given sucrose only.
The scientists fed the bees and then observed them for 40 minutes, tracking the insects' behaviors – how much time each bee spent walking, standing still, grooming, flying and upside down on its back.
Blood ethanol concentrations increased with time and with the amount of ethanol each bee had consumed. Behavioral differences between the bees depended on the amount of ethanol ingested.
The bees that had consumed the highest concentrations of ethanol – 50, 75 and 100 percent – spent a majority of the observation period on their backs, unable to stand. This effect happened early on, within the first 10 minutes of the observation period. They also spent almost no time grooming or flying.
"These bees had lost postural control," Mustard said. "They couldn't coordinate their legs well enough to flip themselves back over again."
Except for the control bees, bees that had consumed the least amount of ethanol – 10 percent – spent the least amount of time upside down. Even then, it took about 20 minutes for ethanol's effect to set in and cause this behavior.
The researchers hope to learn how alcohol consumption affects social behavior as well as gain a better understanding of the basic mechanisms that drive alcohol addiction and tolerance.
"Honey bees are very social animals, which makes them a great model for studying the effects of alcohol in a social context," Wright said.
"Many people get aggressive when they drink too much," she continued. "We want to learn if ethanol consumption makes the normally calm, friendly honey bee more aggressive. We may be able to examine how ethanol affects the neural basis of aggression in this insect, and in turn learn how it affects humans."
Mustard and Wright conducted this research with Ohio State colleagues Brian Smith, a professor of entomology, and Ian Maze, an undergraduate student studying microbiology.
This research was funded in part by the Ohio State University Dean's Undergraduate Research Award and the National Institutes of Health.
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The Macworld Video finally returns to its weekly schedule! We kick off the video's rebirth with a short lesson on how to share Keynote presentations over a Messages chat. With a copy of Keynote and Keynote presentation in hand, you'll be sharing in no time.
In this video I'm going to show you how to offer a presentation to a remote user using the Messages application. This is something you'll find helpful for online meetings or instruction. For this to work you'll need a copy of Apple's Keynote application as well as a Keynote presentation. Also, be sure that each participant is using the same service—each one of you is using iCloud or each one is using AIM. You can't share files and presentations if one of you is using an iCloud account and the other is using AIM.
I'll begin by launching Messages and selecting a buddy in my Buddy List with whom I wish to share my presentation.
Then, from the Buddies menu I choose Invite to Video Chat. An invitation will be sent to my buddy, which he or she has to accept in order for this thing to go forward. Once the invitation has been accepted we can move on.
In this case moving on simply means dragging a presentation into the lower portion of the video window. When I do this, Keynote launches on my Mac along with a presentation window that contains the presentation's controls. The image that appears in the controls window is what the person you're presenting to sees, along with your image in the bottom left corner by default. The preview I see is that same presentation as seen on that person's screen as well as the image from their camera.
Just move through the presentation by clicking in the controller window or by using the controller's arrow keys. When you want to stop the presentation, just click on the controller's X to close out the presentation. You'll be taken back to your video chat. To quit that, just click the chat window's red Close button.
And that's all there is to it—an easy way to offer a remote presentation via Messages.

subset: commoncrawl


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Successful treatment for alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) often depends on whether someone is willing to stop drinking alcohol and make changes to their lifestyle.
Stopping drinking alcohol
Treatment for ARLD involves stopping drinking alcohol. This is known as abstinence, which can be vital depending on what stage the condition is at.
If you have fatty liver disease, the damage may be reversed if you abstain from alcohol for a period of time (this could be months or years).
After this point, it's usually safe to start drinking again if you stick to the NHS guidelines on alcohol units. However, it's important to check with your doctor first.
If you have a more serious form of ARLD (alcoholic hepatitis or cirrhosis) lifelong abstinence is recommended.
This is because stopping drinking is the only way to prevent your liver damage getting worse and potentially stop you dying of liver disease.
Stopping drinking is not easy, especially as an estimated 70% of people with ARLD have an alcohol dependency problem.
Nevertheless, if you have alcohol-related cirrhosis or alcoholic hepatitis and do not stop drinking, no medical or surgical treatment can prevent liver failure.
Withdrawal symptoms
If you're abstaining from alcohol, you may suffer withdrawal symptoms.
These will be at their worst for the first 48 hours, but should start to improve as your body adjusts to being without alcohol. This usually takes 3 to 7 days from the time of your last drink.
Many people initially experience disturbed sleep when abstaining from alcohol, but in most cases their sleep pattern returns to normal within a month.
In some cases, you may be advised to reduce your alcohol intake in a gradual and planned way to help avoid withdrawal problems.
You may also be offered a medicine called a benzodiazepine and psychological therapy, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), to help you through the withdrawal process.
Some people need to stay in hospital or a specialist rehabilitation clinic during the initial withdrawal phases so their progress can be closely monitored.
If you're staying at home, you'll regularly see a nurse or another health professional. You might see them at home, your GP surgery or a specialist NHS service.
Preventing relapses
Once you have stopped drinking, you may need further treatment to help ensure you do not start drinking again.
The first treatment usually offered is psychological therapy. This involves seeing a therapist to talk about your thoughts and feelings, and how these affect your behaviour and wellbeing.
If psychological therapy alone is not effective, you may also need medicine to help you abstain from alcohol, such as:
- acamprosate
- disulfiram
- naltrexone
Find out more about treatment for alcohol misuse
Self-help groups
Many people with alcohol dependence find it useful to attend self-help groups to help them stop drinking.
One of the most well-known is Alcoholics Anonymous (see the AA website for details), but there are many other groups that can help.
See alcohol support for more information about the help available.
Diet and nutrition
Malnutrition is common in people with ARLD, so it's important to eat a balanced diet to make sure you get all the nutrients you need.
Avoiding salty foods and not adding salt to foods you eat can reduce your risk of developing swelling in your legs, feet and tummy caused by a build-up of fluid.
Get tips for a lower salt diet
The damage to your liver can also mean it's unable to store glycogen, a carbohydrate that provides short-term energy.
When this happens, the body uses its own muscle tissue to provide energy between meals, which leads to muscle wasting and weakness. This means you may need extra energy and protein in your diet.
Healthy snacking between meals can top up your calories and protein. It may also be helpful to eat 3 or 4 small meals a day, rather than 1 or 2 large meals.
Your GP can advise you on a suitable diet or, in some cases, refer you to a dietitian.
In the most serious cases of malnutrition, nutrients may need to be provided through a feeding tube inserted through the nose and into the stomach.
Medicine for symptoms
The use of medicine to directly treat ARLD is controversial. Many experts have argued there's limited evidence for its effectiveness.
For people with severe alcoholic hepatitis, treatment in hospital may be necessary.
Specific treatment with corticosteroids may be used to reduce inflammation of the liver in some people with this condition.
Nutritional support is also an important part of treatment in these cases.
Liver transplants
In the most serious cases of ARLD, the liver loses its ability to function, leading to liver failure.
A liver transplant is currently the only way to cure irreversible liver failure.
A liver transplant may be considered if:
- you develop progressive liver failure, despite not drinking alcohol
- you're otherwise well enough to survive such an operation
- you commit to not drinking alcohol for the rest of your life
Taking medicines with ARLD
If you have ARLD, it's important to talk to your GP or pharmacist before taking over-the-counter or prescription medicines.
ARLD can affect the way the body processes some medicines.
Page last reviewed: 20 September 2022
Next review due: 20 September 2025


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This article is more than 1 year old
Microsoft re-jigs Xbox 360 range
Pricier Arcade, cheaper Elite, no Pro
Updated Rumours of changes to the Xbox 360 line-up were true. Microsoft has confirmed it will increase the Arcade model's price, phase out the Pro and slash the Elite's price.
From tomorrow, the Xbox 360 Arcade's price will rise by £30 to £160 - it's staying at $199 in the US – but you won't get any more for your money.
Conversely, the Elite will represent better value for money, according to Microsoft, because its price will drop by £50/$100 to £200/$300. It comes with a 120GB hard drive - the Arcade comes with a 256MB memory card. The Elite also has an HDMI port.
It has been claimed that the Elite will no longer ship with an HDMI cable, it's worth noting, though Microsoft has confirmed this.
Microsoft hasn't explained why it has decided to drop the Pro, which comes with a 60GB detachable HDD. It's not known for how much longer UK consumers will still be able to buy the machine.
Microsoft has since said that the Arcade's price increase is designed to "offset exchange rate fluctuations and changes in local market conditions". ®


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Nicola Spring 4 x 4 3D Shadow Box Photo Frame Craft Display Picture Frame with 2 x 2 Mount Glass Aperture White Ivory - DIDZ7PP2
Availability: In Stock
Give cherished memories and beloved friends and family members the showcase they deserve with this 4 x 4 White Box Picture Frame from Nicola Spring.
When it comes to interior design, it's the walls and how you decide to decorate them that brings out the true character of your home. Our Nicola Spring 3D Box Frames are ideal for anybody looking to make a statement, with bold lines and a dynamic floating effect that demands to be the centre of attention.
Each frame in our collection has been crafted from acrylic for the optimum blend of lightness and durability. Multiple hanging points on the reverse allow for seamless display in either portrait or landscape, while a neat folding strut offers that same flexibility for standing on a table, shelf or mantlepiece.
What truly sets these frames apart from the competition, however, is the cover; a sheet of genuine glass that bathes the photography or artwork behind it in a luxurious shine.
For a final piéce de resistance, these frames come with a removable 'spacer frame' that gives you the choice of three display positions. Combine all three across multiple frames for a striking multi-dimensional effect!
Nicola Spring 4 x 4 3D Shadow Box Photo Frame Craft Display Picture Frame with 2 x 2 Mount Glass Aperture White Ivory - DIDZ7PP2


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|Top of Notices (163) December 31, 2013
|Print This Notice 1397 CNOG 665
|Benefit Claims, Priority, Electronic Exchange of Documents
|Referenced Items (162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175)
(163) Electronic Exchange of Non-Participating Office Priority Documents Between the Japan Patent Office and the United States Patent and Trademark Office Requests by the USPTO for non-JPO priority documents from the JPO under 37 CFR 1.55(d)(2). Since April 20, 2009, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has had the ability to electronically retrieve non-participating office priority documents from the Japan Patent Office (JPO) as requested by an applicant under 37 CFR 1.55(d)(2) when applicant has also filed a corresponding application with the JPO and that corresponding application contains a non-participating office priority document. For example, if an applicant files a U.S. application under 35 U.S.C. 111(a) claiming priority to an application previously filed with a non-participating office (e.g., an Australia national application filed with the Australian Patent Office) and the applicant desires the USPTO to electronically obtain that priority document through the Priority Document Exchange (PDX) system from a corresponding JPO application file, the applicant is still required to file a request to retrieve the electronic priority document. The applicant must file the request to retrieve in a separate document (e.g., form PTO/SB/38) under 37 CFR 1.55(d)(1)(i), identifying both the JPO application number and the application number of the Australia priority application. This is the same procedure that went into effect between the USPTO and the European Patent Office (EPO) on January 16, 2007. See "Changes to Implement Priority Document Exchange Between Intellectual Property Offices," published in the Federal Register at 72 FR 1664 (January 16, 2007) and "Simplification of the Electronic Exchange of Priority Documents," published in the Off. Gaz. Patent Office at 1319 OG 150 (June 26, 2007). The JPO will provide the USPTO access to priority documents issued by a non-participating office and filed with the JPO, unless the non-participating office has expressly requested the JPO do otherwise. Applicants continue to bear the ultimate responsibility for ensuring that the priority document is filed by the time of patent grant as required under 37 CFR 1.55(a). Accordingly, applicants are encouraged to check Private PAIR as necessary to confirm receipt of appropriate documents. Priority documents retrieved from the JPO will bear the IFW document title of "Priority documents electronically retrieved by USPTO from a participating IP Office." Access by the JPO to U.S. applications containing non-USPTO priority documents. Since April 1, 2009, the JPO has had the ability to electronically retrieve non-USPTO priority documents contained in a U.S. application from the USPTO. However, the USPTO will release copies of non-USPTO priority applications to the JPO only if the U.S. application containing the non-USPTO priority application has received a foreign filing license in accordance with 37 CFR 5.11, and (1) the applicant of the U.S. application has provided an appropriate written authority to permit access to the application by participating offices (e.g., form PTO/SB/39 or form PTO/SB/01) under 37 CFR 1.14 and 35 U.S.C. 122 (if the U.S. application has not yet been published); or (2) the U.S. application has been published or patented. Written authority under 37 CFR 1.14 and 35 U.S.C. 122 may be provided by filing in a U.S. provisional or nonprovisional application either a properly signed (1) "Authorization to Permit Access to Application by Participating Offices" (form PTO/SB/39); or (2) "Declaration for Utility or Design Application" (form PTO/SB/01) in which the "Authorization to Permit Access by Participating Offices" has been checked. Form PTO/SB/39 is available from the USPTO Internet Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0039.pdf. Form PTO/SB/01 is also available from the USPTO Internet Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0001.pdf. Note that the USPTO cannot
|Top of Notices (163) December 31, 2013
currently transmit a non-USPTO priority document contained in design applications or PCT international applications through the PDX system. Similarly, design applications cannot be transmitted through the PDX system. Applicants are, however, advised that if the applicant files an Authorization to Permit Access to Application by Participating Offices (e.g., using either form PTO/SB/39 or PTO/SB/01), there is no procedure in place to promptly revoke the authorization so as to prevent access by a participating office. Accordingly, if an applicant does not wish a participating office to have access to the applicant's application, the applicant should not file the Authorization to Permit Access to Application by Participating Offices. Instead the applicant should use the traditional procedure of obtaining and directly providing a certified copy of the non-USPTO priority document to any participating office in which the applicant files a patent application claiming priority to the non-USPTO priority document. Additional information concerning access to non-USPTO priority documents contained with a U.S. application. Applicants are strongly encouraged to file written authority in accordance with 37 CFR 1.14 and 35 U.S.C. 122 for any U.S. application containing a non-USPTO priority document in which there is any chance that they will file a subsequent counterpart application in the JPO (or EPO) so that the JPO (or EPO) may timely and successfully retrieve the non-USPTO priority document from the U.S. application containing the non-USPTO priority document at no charge to applicant. Applicants are advised that JPO (and EPO) regulations require a copy of a priority document to be filed with the corresponding JPO (or EPO) application no later than 16 months from the priority date. Because U.S. applications are ordinarily published by the USPTO at 18 months from the earliest effective filing date, most U.S. applications that contain the non-USPTO priority document that is the basis for a foreign priority claim in a JPO (or EPO) application will not be published by the time the applicant is required to provide a copy of the non-participating office application to the JPO (or EPO). Therefore, in most cases it will be necessary to provide the USPTO with appropriate written authorization (under 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14) for the JPO (or EPO) to obtain a copy of the non-USPTO priority document from the USPTO, e.g., by submitting a properly signed form PTO/SB/39. Neither the USPTO nor the JPO or the EPO charge a fee to either the applicant or the other office for this service. The Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) does not allow non-participating office priority documents to be retrieved by the USPTO. Similarly, the KIPO does not retrieve non-participating office priority documents from the USPTO. For further information please contact one of the individuals identified below: Don Levin OR Tamara Graysay OR Mark Polutta TDA Project Manager Special Program Examiner Senior Legal Advisor United States Patent United States Patent United States Patent and Trademark Office and Trademark Office and Trademark Office 571-272-3785 571-272-6728 571-272-7709 email@example.com email@example.com email@example.com June 3, 2009 JOHN J. DOLL Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office [1343 OG 348]


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Ontario's climate plan remains off track
Published on Friday November 23, 2012 By Tyler Hamilton Energy and Technology Columnist
After reading it, it's no surprise that Ontario's environment ministry drew zero attention to its latest annual greenhouse-gas report, which was made available on the ministry's website on Nov. 13.
To put is generously, the report is uninspiring. It says nothing new. It shows little progress over the past 12 to 24 months, which you can bet Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller will highlight when he releases his own assessment of the province's climate strategy on Dec. 4.
The report does describe climate change as "the defining issue of our times," and goes into great detail to show how rising average temperature, shorter winters, and increased frequency of extreme weather will negatively affect our health, water supply, agriculture, electricity system, infrastructure, personal property, and ecosystems.
It's a message, by the way, being repeated around the world. Federal Environment Minister Peter Kent called climate change a "real and present" danger just this week. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said after Hurricane Sandy that the risks of climate change should "compel all elected leaders to take immediate action."
A report this week from the World Bank said the anticipated impacts of climate change "will pose unprecedented challenges to humanity" and "must not be allowed to occur." Surely, we'll be hearing similar high-level warnings as we approach the start of the Doha Climate Change Conference in Qatar on Nov. 26.
Despite all this talk, not enough is being done to adequately address the problem. Not Kent. Not President Obama, the man who Bloomberg endorsed in the recent U.S. election. Not the World Bank, which continues to finance the construction of coal-fired power plants in the developing world.
Closer to home, the McGuinty government's climate strategy continues to disappoint, and there are too few initiatives in the pipeline to meet stated targets.
The province's commitment is to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions to six per cent below 1990 levels by 2014, and to 15 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.
The report estimates – quite optimistically, many would say – that we're likely to meet 91 per cent of our 2014 target and only 60 per cent of our 2020 target, and that's based on the assumption that initiatives in place today will meet their mark.
Most of the heavy lifting so far has come from the electricity sector, explained by the transition from coal-fired power generation to natural gas, renewables and increased nuclear output. Since 1990, emissions here have dropped 21 per cent, with most of the reductions happening since 2007.
Industry, representing roughly a quarter of the province's emissions – more than twice as much as the electricity sector – saw a 30 per cent drop in emissions as Ontario continued its transition from energy-intensive manufacturing to a service-based economy and absorbed the impact of an economic downturn.
Unfortunately, emissions from the transportation sector – representing a whopping 35 per cent of the provincial total – grew by 31 per cent since 1990, and there's little evidence that planned transit projects are going to make the dent required. The strategy here seems to be hope, wait and see.
Emissions from buildings, including residential homes, commercial office towers, and institutional buildings, also grew by 11 per cent. It's a clear sign the province has dropped the ball on energy conservation, and paid too little attention to the amount of emissions resulting from natural gas heating.
Natural gas, it should be noted, will also emerge as an issue in the electricity sector. Burning less coal and more natural gas makes sense right now, but after 2014 and as the province's nuclear fleet goes through a cycle of refurbishments and decommissioning, rising dependence on (and emissions from) natural gas will be a reminder that the coal phase-out alone isn't enough.
The government's apparent lack of commitment to the feed-in tariff program is also concerning. It has been on hold for more than a year, without explanation – an embarrassing situation that is going to drive away foreign investment, threaten recently created and future jobs, and leave the promises of renewable energy unfulfilled.
To be fair, Ontario's emissions have fallen substantially on a per-capita and GDP basis. An average Ontarian contributes 24 per cent fewer emissions today than in 1990. For every dollar of GDP, emissions have dropped by 38 per cent. Quebec is the only province with a lower emissions intensity.
But there's so much more we can and should be doing, and in a way that will strengthen – not weaken – our economy.
I asked Gord Miller what he planned to say when releasing his own report on Dec. 4, but understandably the environmental commissioner didn't want to scoop himself.
He did say, however, that he will continue to push for a price on carbon and that the time to reconsider it might be right. California, for example, just completed a cap-and-trade auction as part of its membership in the Western Climate Initiative.
"There is a tremendous global shift in attitude about pricing carbon that we must re-align with," he said by e-mail. "A carbon tax seems to be the more workable and successful system, but I won't object to a well-constructed cap-and-trade system. Anything would be nice."
Cap-and-trade used to be in play in Ontario, but the political will to implement it has weakened.
Hopefully that will soon change, as a price on carbon could certainly fill many holes in the Liberal government's current plan, assuming it believes actions must match up with words.
Tyler Hamilton, author of Mad Like Tesla, writes weekly about green energy and clean technologies


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Zoe Kazan — Crush of the Day
Today's Crush, the lovely Zoe Kazan, joins the quirky, sexy Manic Pixie Dream Girl sorority with her leading role in the new indie film 'Ruby Sparks.'
Kazan also wrote 'Ruby Sparks,' in which she stars as a girl seemingly willed into existence by a struggling writer. While the movie is billed of something as a fantasy, there is a little truth behind the magic: If we had the ability to create the girl of our dreams, she'd probably be smart, talented and gorgeous just like Kazan.
Talent runs in Kazan's family. The Los Angeles native is the daughter of Hollywood screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord. 'Ruby Sparks' is Kazan's first script to be turned into a major film, but she's been acting for almost ten years.
Kazan's film debut was in the 2003 drama 'Swordswallowers and Thin Men.' She also appeared in indie flicks 'The Savages,' 'Me and Orson Welles,' 'Revolutionary Road,' and 'The Exploding Girl.'
The 28-year-old actress has also acted on the stage off-Broadway, and she made her Broadway debut in 2008.
Comedy fans may also remember Kazan as Nina, Jason Schwartzman's love interest on HBO's 'Bored to Death.'


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Silloge Park Golf Club
Latest News
Pat Behan
Hole in One John Fogarty
John Fogarty
Silloge Park Golf Club
Silloge Park is an 18-Hole Championship Public Golf Course that first opened for business in 1984. The public golf course is one of only four 18-Hole public golf courses in Dublin and offers golfers the opportunity to play at exceptional value for money.
In the twenty plus years since the public golf course opened, it has matured beautifully. The golf course boasts many tree lined fairways with small tricky greens that provide golfers of all levels with a fair and enjoyable test of golf in a wonderful parkland setting.
In March of 2010, a new golf club was established. The new Silloge Park Golf Club was affiliated to the GUI and ILGU and for the first time Silloge Park had its very own golf club. This membership offers golfers an excellent opportunity to join a club in Dublin and get an official handicap at a very affordable price.
Silloge Park Public Golf Course is located within 5 minutes from Dublin Airport just off the M50 Motorway. The course is easily accessible and offers possibly the best value parkland golf in the country.


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Donors List (39)
Sponsorships Section
Molham Volunteering Team is a nonprofit, charitable organization founded in 2012 in Jordan, by a group of then university students. It aims at providing aid to internally displaced and refugee Syrians in northern Syria and neighbouring countries. The organization is registered in several countries around the world, including: Germany, Canada and Sweden.
+49 15213655451 (Germany)
[email protected]


text: Artist: DMX Album: Flesh of my Flesh, Blood of my Blood Song: Ain't No Way Typed by: firstname.lastname@example.com Uhh Swizz beats (Uhh uhh) Nigga, ryde or die (uhh uhh uhh) DMX what what (uhh uhh uhh) [Chorus - DMX] Ain't no way you're gonna stop my flow Ain't no way ya niggaz you just don't know But niggaz is about to go oh no oh no Ain't no way you're gonna stop my shine Ain't no way you niggaz wanna stop mine Ya niggaz must be out yo mind, I don't know why What the fuck is you niggaz pressin me for I saw more ass than a ho and you stressin the raw If I was testin your jaw, maybe then you would respect me But you can't respect me cuz you dont even know me Nigga check me (come on) I'm that motherfucker that'll put you to sleep, while you sleepin WRONG: Then die from a hundred feet, you just knew you was creepin RIGHT: Red dot from a hundred feet, you just knew you was creepin Bad decisions lead to last decisions Fast collision, now yo ass is missin (what) Take it over there now you bring it back to the streets Have you forgotten what it means when a dog shows his teeth? Let me break it down for you he's about to attack you Still standin here faggot? You must want me to smack you You ain't been there or done that, fuck is y'all niggaz tellin me I'm the only nigga, walkin the streets with four felonies But peep this, I see shit is hard, niggaz is strugglin Leave rap alone for a little while, go back to hustlin [Chorus] Give it to niggaz just how they give it to, me Hit em in a rhyme because I'm a MC Been a lot of places most niggaz won't, see That's why I'm at a level that y'all niggaz won't, be Let your man hold somethin now he want, more You ain't no fuckin killer what was the front, for It was a time when the world was at your front, door Now they change places niggaz want, raw Niggaz laugh at me and was mad at me Cuz the way life was goin had to be a, tragedy But after me, it's over, I'ma take the whole verse I'm tryin to keep it real that's why I let y'all niggaz go first But you looked a gift horse right in the mouth Didn't appreciate what you got when you got it so if I see it, I'ma dot it, where to hide it you gotta car better drive it the fuck up outta here and hope and pray I don't pull up alongside it COME ON [Chorus] Niggaz don't know so I gotta flip It seem they've forgotten how dark it could get Barks like a pit scratch when I hit We both know you pussy but you stay talkin shit What I'ma have to do dog, run up in yo mess Catch you while you comfortable put one up in yo chest One up in yo vest, of course they the hollows You goin' away today, you just lost tomorrow I'ma go platinum (nah) you gots to be kiddin WHY Make it double platinum, no bullshittin And I'ma stay flippin flows, rippin shows Strippin ho's, gettin dough let me go And nigaz know, who the best is The dog, DMX is the rest is or might as well be helpless I wreck this cuz when I wreck shit I might snatch a niggaz necklace Then go from like midnight to breakfast COME ON [Chorus]


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It's been seven years and millions of dollars in the making, but the colossal report on Britain's role in the Iraq war will finally be published Wednesday, according to NBC News.
The wait for the results of the Iraq Inquiry have left former Prime Minister Tony Blair in the hot seat amid longstanding allegations he lied in making the case for the U.S.-led 2003 invasion.
How hard the "Chilcot" Report — named for the inquiry's chair, Sir John Chilcot — comes down on Blair will be closely watched in a country grappling with anti-establishment anger and political uncertainty.
But even for the most avid bookworm, reading the whole report will present something of a challenge. The 12-volume report will run for a staggering 2.6 million words — around 33 times longer than the first "Harry Potter" novel and almost 4 ½ times longer than Leo Tolstoy's Russian epic "War and Peace."


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A Ray of Light (cont'd)
My previous post suggested that maybe the media was finally beginning to get it. And then again, maybe they'll never get it…
Blowing Off DUI Test May Lead to Jail
Tallahassee, FL The Miami Herald - It's the not-so-secret way to avoid a DUI record: Refuse to submit to a breath test. You'll lose your license for a year but won't face criminal charges.
The state Legislature looks poised to change that with a bill that would make it a crime — punishable by one year in jail — for drunken-driving suspects to refuse a breath, blood or urine test.
''The word is around: If you're drinking, refuse to blow,'' state Rep. Irv Slosberg, a Boca Raton Democrat, said Tuesday at the House Justice Council, a group of lawmakers that deals with criminal justice issues. "The problem is too many people are refusing to blow, and more and more DUI offenders are on the streets.''
The bill, which has been met with unanimous approval from four House committees, is sponsored by Rep. Ari Porth, a Coral Springs Democrat and Broward prosecutor.
Under existing law, drivers who refuse to submit to a DUI test on their first offense can lose their license for a year, but they aren't charged criminally in the absence of breath test results….
As usual, the MADD-dominated media has absolutely no idea what they're talking about when it comes to DUI issues…The "not-so-secret way to avoid a DUI record"? Refuse the breath test and you "won't face criminal charges?" "Under existing law, drivers who refuse to submit to a DUI test…aren't charged criminally"?
This is the kind of ignorance and hysteria that prevails in addressing DUI issues. If the reporter — or the politicians — bothered to read Florida's DUI laws, they would discover that there exists a single crime of "Driving Under the Influence". This crime can be proved in either of two different ways: evidence of impairment or evidence of a blood- or breath-alcohol level of .08%. Either way, the penalty is the same.
In other words, as in all other states, the suspect who refuses chemical testing will simply be prosecuted based upon the officer's opinion and the evidence of driving symptoms, personal appearance, statements, field sobriety tests, witnesses, etc.
Compounding ignorance with arrogance, Forida's legislators intend to make refusing to incriminate yourself in a DUI case a crime — punishable by a year in jail. How far we have come….
Most Americans today still harbor the belief that they have a Fifth Amendment right to refuse to incriminate themselves. Sadly, our Supreme Court has ruled that in a DUI case you do not (see my earlier post "Believing You Have Constitutional Rights in a DUI Case Can be Dangerous"). Not only do they not have the right, but this proposed law — unanimously approved by four House committees — sends them to jail for one year for believing they have the right.


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TRANEBJERG, Samso, Denmark—It can seem as if the icy, cutting wind off the North Sea never stops blowing on this Danish island in winter, bending back the grass, whipping straight the flags, and setting mammoth wind turbines to their stately spinning. That's good news for Samso's 4,000 or so inhabitants, seeing as they own shares in 20 of the 21 turbines that either tower over the island or rise from the offshore waters of the Kattegat Strait, which connects the Baltic and North seas.
Some people see wind turbines as eyesores or complain about the sound of their whirring blades, but Soren Hermansen, chief proselytizer for the island's renewable energy experiment and director of the Samso Energy Academy, disagrees. "If you own a share in a wind turbine it looks better, it sounds better," he says. "It sounds like money in the bank."
The land-based turbines are 50 meters tall with blades that stretch some 27 meters from end to end. The sea-based turbines are even more massive—63 meters high (not including the spike pounded into the seafloor beneath the waves) with 40-meter blades. A single such turbine can generate roughly eight million kilowatt-hours of electricity a year at a cost of $3 million per turbine (the onshore variety are cheaper, at just over $1 million).
Drawing on a Danish co-operative tradition that stretches back 150 years to raise the cash needed to build and run slaughterhouses and other community facilities, around one in 10 "Samsingers" owns at least a share in one of the turbines, which generates an annual check based on its output and the price of electricity. The turbines also have allowed all 4,000 residents to produce more energy from renewable resources than they consume, thereby eliminating, on balance, their emissions of carbon dioxide.
View Slide Show of Samso, the Renewable Energy Island
After all, a massive three-megawatt wind turbine "pays back" the carbon dioxide emitted in its making—mining iron, smelting steel, trucking blades, among other things—in roughly seven months of operation by displacing emissions from fossil fuel–fired power plants, according to Michael Zarin, director of government relations at the Denmark-based wind turbine–maker Vestas Wind Systems. Wind power is now responsible for 100 percent of Samso's electricity needs, 20 percent of all of Denmark's, and has become the largest single type of new electricity generation installed in the U.S. "There's nothing alternative about wind anymore," Zarin notes.
But Samso—an island of some 22 villages that is twice the size of Manhattan—does present an alternative view of the future. "It sounds like we did something extraordinary on this island," Hermansen says of the island's inhabitants who effectively remove more CO2 from the atmosphere than they contribute to it. (An average Dane adds some 10 metric tons of CO2 per year.) "We are just normal people—maybe a little naive, maybe a little egoistic, maybe boring—but this is about how we are going to make our normal life work."
History lesson
The Samso experiment started in 1997 when an enterprising consultant, Ole Johnsson from Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city, convinced Samso's mayor (and only the mayor) to enter a national competition to become a renewable energy island. "He thought he would go to Copenhagen with a wheelbarrow and come back with money like a Viking," Hermansen says. And although the Danish government did invest nearly $90 million over the next decade, it came with some requirements: energy self-sufficiency employing readily available technology produced in Denmark, plus the need for local matching funds. "From then on, we knew it was a very uphill project," says Hermansen, a failed farmer who became the project's first employee.
The decision to even have such an island stemmed from a little bit of Danish history; in 1985 Denmark essentially abandoned long-running plans to build nuclear power plants and instead chose to focus on developing renewable energy sources, particularly wind power, along with maintaining its fleet of fossil fuel–fired power plants. The country then committed in the 1990s as part of the Kyoto Protocol to cutting emissions to 21 percent below 1990 levels.
As a result of these decisions, three things happened: Vestas, Bonus and Danish wind turbine–makers came to lead their industry globally; a high fossil-fuel tax created generous government subsidies for renewable development; and Samso became sustainable—producing more energy than it consumed for the first time in 2005 and every year since. "[The] fossil-fuel consumer is actually paying for the green development," Hermansen notes.
That's a more remarkable achievement given that Samsingers began the process, heating their houses with oil, importing electricity from coal-burning via an undersea transmission line as part of the Jutland grid, and generally leading the CO2-intensive lifestyle we all know and love—with no interest in change.
It was Hermansen's job to change that attitude, which he did via a public discussion fueled by free coffee, apple juice and, perhaps most importantly, free beer. He also used trickery, including shaming blacksmiths to attend sustainable heating installation training by telling each one in turn that the other blacksmiths on the island had already agreed to attend. "That was not true," he admits. But the blacksmith is "the wise guy. He is going to install it and he is going to maintain. If he is recommending that you don't buy it, you won't."
At first, the island's residents, mostly farmers, weren't buying it—just 50 people showed up for the first meeting. After all, Samso is nearly surrounded by coal-fired power plants in three compass directions (east, west and south) producing cheap electricity. But the closure of a slaughterhouse that put 100 Samsingers out of work, paired with the economic angle—renewable projects on the island have resulted in an average of 30 new jobs annually for the past 10 years—finally convinced enough people to sign the contracts and get the project underway.
Just four years later there were 10 2.3-megawatt Bonus wind turbines offshore, part of a test installation for a larger project of 120 sea-based turbines elsewhere in the country. Fossil-fuel use had been cut in half, thanks to the addition of insulation made from newspapers in most of the island's houses and the replacement of old oil boilers with efficient wood stoves, solar hot water and other devices. A few years later, once all 21 turbines were online, the island produced the 26 million kilowatt-hours its residents used yearly and began exporting some 80 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually (enabling them to make the 100 percent renewable power claim as well as derive more than $8 million in revenue per annum thanks to a bonus payment for renewable energy supplies and to 10-year contracts utilities are required by law to sign with wind power producers.) One farmer alone, Jorgen Tranberg, who owns one turbine outright, makes as much as $4,000 a day.
Now microturbines for individual households poke the sky across the island, including at least a dozen peaking above narrow town streets or standing next to farmhouses on the islands' rolling hillsides, where everything from potatoes and strawberries to pumpkins and Christmas trees are grown. Farmers have embraced the change because of the extra revenue, and Erik Kock Andersen has gone even further, actually growing canola for oil, processing it into biodiesel, and using it to fuel his own car and tractor—the leftovers feed his cows. "He's his own oil sheikh out there," Hermansen says.
The retired school principal, Christian Hovmand, has installed 16 solar panels on his roof, inspired by a solar-powered pocket calculator he once received. "If he is consuming more than he is producing, he runs around unplugging things while his poor wife is sitting in the dark," Hermansen says. "It's like a game for him."
In fact, it's a renewable energy craze on the vacation island of Denmark—some 500,000 Danish and European families visit Samso each summer. "They are, of course, included in total energy consumption," Hermansen says. Plus, 1,100 have invested in one of the offshore turbines, making it the "one of the most clear tourist traps we have created," Hermansen notes. Weekly boat trips to offshore turbine number 7 cost roughly $30 per ticket.
Throughout the island it can feel like some industrious and obsequious servant of the future is following you around, turning lights on and off as you pass, delivering hot water and heat from renewable resources. In fact, Samso itself is literally rising from the sea a few millimeters per year, rebounding from the Ice Age, just as it appears to be leading the rise of an alternative to the Oil Age.
Realistic view
Of course, the wind on Samso doesn't always blow, although it felt that way from atop one of the 50-meter wind turbines. A six-story ladder inside the turbine's stem takes one to the turbine room where the press of a button opens the hatch roof, allowing one to spy, in the ocean, the offshore turbines as well as, across the strait, the billowing steam of a DONG Energy coal-fired power plant—the same facility that helps keep the lights on in Samso when the turbines are not producing. Sometimes that happens because the wind dies down and sometimes it is because the 21 turbines, each in their turn, face maintenance problems, such as overheated gearboxes from the 1,500 revolutions a minute they undergo. In fact, it was just such a malfunction that stopped this turbine spinning and allowed it to be climbed; replacing a single gearbox costs roughly $150,000.
But Samso also has another resource in abundance: straw from wheat or rye. The residents have used it as bedding for their cows, goats and even shaggy horses for centuries but now also burn it for heat and hot water as part of district heating schemes that have replaced the old oil boilers. Barn cats play near the half-ton bales in the Ballen–Brundby plant—each bale represents the heating equivalent of roughly one barrel of oil, helping boil water and pipe it underground to 260 houses in the vicinity.
There are four such plant-burning heating units on the island, including one in the far north that employs wood chips and solar panels to keep a picturesque village of "traditional" thatched-roof Danish houses heated and with hot water, including the tourists each summer who can take as many as three showers a day.
And Tranberg, the farmer/wind turbine magnate, has gone one further, installing a heat pump to literally harvest the warmth of his cow's milk and use it to heat his bathroom shower.
Despite all this, that one coal-fired power plant across the Kattegat emits the equivalent CO2 in less than a month that is saved by all of Samso in a year. A less efficient plant in the U.S. or China does so even faster—and there are 476 coal-fired power plants in the U.S. alone.
The island has also had some false starts, including electric cars and a biodigester that was supposed to have turned animal waste lagoons into fuel. Hermansen still trundles about the island in a blue and white electric Citroen with cadmium–lead batteries. "I might drive in a clean way but the product is not so good," he notes, adding that the cars spend a lot of time with the mechanic.
Plus, despite Samso's best efforts to keep all its technology nationally based, its turbine-maker Bonus is now part of German industrial giant Siemens—and the island's population continues to dwindle, dropping from 4,500 a decade ago to just 4,000 today. "My son, who is 16 years old, thinks it is dead here and lives in Copenhagen," Hermansen says. "For the survival of the island we need more jobs and a better local economy."
Hermansen and other Samsingers now dream of a carbon-neutral hotel on the island with a fleet of electric cars. In the empty field where the hotel might stand, just across the road from the beach, efforts are underway to test whether converting electricity generated by the local wind turbines at night—when rates are low—might be efficiently converted to hydrogen via electrolysis and then back into electricity for sale when rates are higher during the day. A test electrolyzer sits in a converted shed, busily converting electricity from the smallest wind turbine on the island into the universe's lightest element.
Without electric cars or Andersen's biodiesel, Samsingers have found no way to replace the fossil fuels consumed by the island's ferry, trucks, tractors and cars—the ferry alone consumes 9,000 liters of diesel fuel daily and is the island's only transportation to the mainland—or the flights to Shanghai and other locales that Hermansen undertakes each year to spread the renewable gospel. "I own shares in a wind turbine, have a wood-burning furnace and solar panels on my roof, so I'm doing pretty good," he says. But it's "not enough to offset his travel and be carbon neutral."
In fact, the best Samsingers could do was to install the 10 offshore wind turbines to offset the continuing CO2 emissions from their transportation. "This shows how difficult it is to decarbonize the transportation sector," says Ko Sakamoto, a senior economics and policy consultant at the U.K.'s Transport Research Library. "Behavioral change is more difficult to create than the technology change."
Of course, even a transition to electric cars in the future would have one major impact: increased electricity consumption. That's one area where Samsingers are not changing their behavior—consumption has remained the same over the course of the experiment despite conservation efforts, thanks, perhaps, to electric heaters, computers and the enormous, flat-screen panel TVs visible in nearly every window. During the Christmas season, decorative lights wrapped homes and trees. As the Samsingers wrote in the 10-year summary of their project, electricity consumption "is unchanged during the period 1997 to 2005. The reason is, despite savings and better practices in energy use, homes have more domestic equipment."
Even with years of traveling from meeting to meeting and household to household, electricity consumption remains the same, and Hermansen seems resigned to that prospect, given the profusion of gadgets. Plus, it took all that travel—as well as a strong cultural tradition of participatory democracy and communal assets—to convince just 4,000 Danes to commit to renewable energy. An investment of $90 million didn't hurt either. "We have a high investment per capita," Hermansen says.
The ongoing meetings remind Hermansen of the Copenhagen climate conference. There, a mere 40,000 people representing some 6.7 billion humans on the planet tried in December to hammer out a deal on both how much greenhouse gases must be restrained and who should pay for that change. Perhaps predictably, that process has delivered mixed results compared with the meetings on Samso. "We can sit down and talk with a few people and gain more common ground than we can in big meetings," Hermansen argues. "It's very complicated and difficult for the climate meeting in Copenhagen to come up with something useful because they don't know each other…It's only gone downhill since we started these COP [conference of the parties] meetings."
Nevertheless, this year the world will use more than 400 quadrillion British thermal units of energy from fossil fuels, adding to the bulk of human emissions of carbon dioxide that now total roughly 30 billion metric tons per year. Energy consumption is growing by roughly 2 percent a year, although the great recession has changed that outlook. "You've bought yourself some savings by having a recession," says Richard Jones, deputy executive director of the International Energy Agency. "But recessions are not a good way to solve climate change."
As a result of all this growth, atmospheric concentrations of CO2 are rising by roughly 2 parts per million per year, reaching 387 ppm and still climbing. Samso no longer adds as much of that. The renewable energy island's example may not be all of the solution, but it is certainly far less of the problem.


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Innocent Man Spends Four Months In Jail After Rochester, NY Police Officers Lie Under OathBy Davy V., CopBlock
Jul. 30, 2012
'Anti-Racist' Tech CEO 'Beaten to Death by Black Male Career Criminal Who Was Released Early From Prison by Soros-Funded D.A. on Good-Time Credits'
Report: 94% of 323,094 New Jobs Among S&P 100 Went to Non-Whites in Year After BLM Protests
WATCH: Jack-In-The-Box Employee Shoots at Family Angry Over Botched Drive-Thru Order
British Telecom CEO Firing Whites, Hiring Non-Whites to 'Hit Diversity Targets' and 'Pocket Ł220K Bonus'
Jewish Leaders Sign Letter Labeling Elon Musk an 'Antisemite' and a 'Danger' to Jews, Call for Ad Boycott and End to Govt Contracts
Imagine for a moment, driving in your car, down the street, and coming to a stop sign. Then, as you proceed, you are pulled over by police officers.
When you ask them why they stopped you, they reply that you failed to come to a complete stop.
But you did.
You know you did.
And you know they are lying.
That's exactly what happened to Rochester, NY resident Jeramie Barideaux in July of 2011, on the corner of Conkey Avenue and Avenue D, after he came to a complete stop.
Rochester, NY Police officers Rob Osipovitch and Ryan Hartley, falsely accused Mr. Barideaux of failing to come to a complete stop in order to have a reason to pull him over.
But thanks to the power of video, Osipovitch and Hartley never stopped to think that City of Rochester traffic cameras were recording the whole incident.
And that the video recorded their lie.
After the illegal stop and search of Mr. Barideaux's vehicle, the Rochester Police Department claims that the officers found drugs and a weapon.
After spending four months in jail, Monroe County Court Judge Daniel Doyle dismissed all charges against Barideaux.
In his decision to dismiss the charges, Judge Doyle said "it was an unreasonable stop… based on the review of the video, there's no ambiguity at all that a car being operated by Jeramie Barideaux did come to a complete stop before the police stopped the vehicle."
On Thursday July 19, 2012 a lawsuit was filed in the Monroe County Clerk's office.
The lawsuit names the City of Rochester,NY, the Rochester, NY Police Department and officer Rob Osipovitch and officer Ryan Hartley as defendants.
The lawsuit says Rochester Police officers Osipovitch and Hartley "lied in their sworn police reports" and "upon belief, the Defendant police officers committed perjury concerning the stop of Plaintiff's vehicle in front of a Monroe County Grand Jury."
This is yet another black eye on the face of the Rochester, NY Police Department and their long history of misconduct and corruption.
A police department which just recently, in a clear act of desperation to buy the trust and respect of the community, launched a billboard campaign with the slogans "We have Your Back" and "On The Same Team."
The billboards, which were specifically targeted at minorities, featured actual Latino and African-American Rochester Police officers.
Ironically, the Rochester, NY Police Department has a long history of betraying, abusing, harassing, racially profiling and in some cases even killing innocent African-Americans and Latinos.
Recently, the Rochester, NY Police Department came under heavy criticism when 7 RPD officers executed 20 year old Israel "Izzy" Andino, a mentally-ill young man.
And just a couple of weeks ago, Rochester Police Chief James Sheppard along with Rochester Mayor Thomas Richards announced project "Cool Down" in which Sheppard stated that his officers will pull over citizens for not having a bell or a light on their bicycles!
Which is why I am not surprised that Rochester Police officers Rob Osipovitch and Ryan Hartley lied in order to pull over Mr. Barideaux.
This happens in Rochester, NY on a daily basis.
The only difference is that this time, a video camera high up on that intersection, recorded everything.
And now, thanks to the power of video, video recorded on a City of Rochester camera, the City of Rochester will have to pay Mr. Barideaux for each day he spent in jail, as a result of two lying Rochester Police officers.
As for Rochester Police officers Rob Osipovitch and Ryan Hartley? They're still patrolling Rochester streets.
I wonder how many times they have lied, framed and set up innocent people.
Davy V. is a Cuban-American Filmmaker, Video Producer, Photographer and Freelance Writer, best known for using the power of video and film to expose Police Brutality, Corruption and Misconduct. Davy V.'s work has been featured in publications such as THE SOURCE Hip Hop Magazine, URBAN AMERICA Magazine, The Ave. Magazine, Insider Magazine, La Voz Newspaper, Minority Reporter Newspaper, CNY LATINO Newspaper, DOWN Magazine, as well as on television news stations, and programs such as CNN and Inside Edition. In addition to his freelance writing, Davy V. also writes a monthly Op/Ed Column for LA VOZ Magazine and Minority Reporter Newspaper.


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June 15, 2013
Source: http://rt.com/news/jordan-multinational-military-exercises-459/
Secondary source: http://www.prisonplanet.com/jordan-wargames-patriot-batteries-f-16s-and-4500-us-troops-near-syrian-border.html
Multinational military exercise 'Eager Lion' has been launched in Jordan amid condemnation from neighboring Syria and its ally Russia. The US brings Patriot missile batteries to the Syrian border, which could remain deployed afterwards.
The exercises will last for 12 days, bringing together about 8,000 personnel from 19 countries, mostly Arabic, but also including the US and Europe. The maneuvers will also involve some 3,000 Jordanian and 500 British troops.
'Eager Lion' – which is being conducted only 120km from the Jordan-Syria border – is aimed at training personnel for the possibility of the Syrian civil war spilling into neighboring countries.
Russia has raised concerns over the deployment of US Patriot missile batteries and F-16 fighter jets to Jordan: "We have more than once stated our opinion on this – foreign weapons are being pumped into an explosive region," Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich said last week.
"This is happening very close to Syria, where for more than two years the flames of a devastating conflict are burning that Russia and its American partners are trying to stop by proposing to hold an international peace conference as soon as possible," Lukashevich said.
The organizers of 'Eager Lion' say that the troops involved will also train for the possibility of a chemical attack, as Syria's neighbors fear that Damascus may lose control of its chemical weapons arsenal, which could then fall into the wrong hands.
"We all have chemical training from any activity, so we continue to build those objectives into any exercise that we do," said US Major General Robert Catalanotti, the Director of Exercises and Training.
Last week the US military revealed it may indefinitely leave behind the Patriot batteries and F-16s deployed in Jordan due to the threat of the violence in Syria crossing into Jordanian territory.
Jordanian Army Major General Awni el-Edwan, Operation Chief of Staff, told reporters on Sunday that no US troops, Patriot missile complexes or F-16s would remain in Jordan after the exercises conclude:"The drills have nothing to do with any objective related to what is happening in Syria."
"No forces will stay after the exercise unless there is a request by the Jordanian government to keep the Patriots and F-16 jets, this is a political decision," General el-Edwan said, adding that Amman has no intention to "attack anybody."
US Major General Robert Catalanotti echoed el-Edwan's remarks, saying that "If the government of Jordan decides to make that request that would have go back through Washington, DC, for decision, and they would have to plan the numbers to support that."
"But as of right now, in the exercise, I am not working that issue at all, I'm simply using those instruments here for our objectives in the exercise," Catalanotti said.
General el-Edwan also stressed that the Syrian opposition will not participate in the exercise: "We are dealing with countries, we are a neutral country."
The Syrian army is continuing its push to retake control of rebel-held regions in the country. Forces loyal to President Bashar Assad recently forced rebel militants to withdraw from the strategic western Syrian town of Qusair.
Related posts:
- U.S. Moves to Impose "Buffer Zone" Inside Syria Near Jordan Border
- West training Syrian rebels in Jordan
- IDF and Syrian rebel officers meet clandestinely in Jordan
- Large US Marine force lands in Aqaba to deploy on Jordanian-Syrian border
- Russian Military Experts Say The US Patriot Missiles On The Syrian Border Are Actually Pointed At Iran


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Reflection questions on William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116.
Spirituality Action Plan
It is important for us to take stock of where we are in life and put plans in place to achieve our goals. It is important to do that in our spiritual life as well. We are all spiritual people. …
The Wonders of God's Creation
For the next twenty-four hours, pay attention to experiences and details of your day. The following list suggests phenomena for you to observe, and you may think of other subjects for observation. Create an observation journal on a separate sheet …
Lord, This Is for You
Reflection on the First Commandment.
A Preassessment
Answer each question by writing what you know for sure, what you think you know but are unsure about, and things related to the topic that you would like to explore.
What Do I Know about the Catholic Faith
In the time allotted for this exercise, answer each question to the best of your knowledge. Each set of questions corresponds to the units you will study in this course and represents content you will cover in more detail in …
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A preassessment for students about their knowledge of terms associated with consecrated life.
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A worksheet where students are asked to read and reflect on the Gospel of Luke's powerful image of how Christ is present in the celebration of the Eucharist through the story of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.
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Several questions about yourself and relationships to consider before entering into the permanent covenant of marriage.
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Atılgan, Canan and Demirel, Güven and Atılgan, Ali Rana (2007) Collective behavior of El Farol attendees. (Accepted/In Press)
Download (183kB)
Official URL: http://www.worldscinet.com/acs/acs.shtml
Arthur's paradigm of the El Farol bar for modeling bounded rationality and inductive behavior is undertaken. The memory horizon available to the agents and the selection criteria they utilize for the prediction algorithm are the two essential variables identified to represent the heterogeneity of agent strategies. The latter is enriched by including various rewarding schemes during decision making. Though the external input of comfort level is not explicitly coded in the algorithm pool, it contributes to each agent's decision process. Playing with the essential variables, one can maneuver the overall outcome between the comfort level and the endogenously identified limiting state. The distribution of algorithm clusters significantly varies for shorter agent memories. This in turn affects the long-term aggregated dynamics of attendances. We observe that a transition occurs in the attendance distribution at the critical memory horizon where the correlations of the attendance deviations take longer time to decay to zero. A larger part of the crowd becomes more comfortable while the rest of the bar-goers still feel the congestion for long memories. Agents' confidence on their algorithms and the delayed feedback of attendance data increase the overall collectivity of the system behavior.
|Item Type:
|Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
|Depositing User:
|Canan Atılgan
|Date Deposited:
|07 Nov 2008 16:07
|Last Modified:
|26 Apr 2022 08:24
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Collective behavior of El Farol attendees. (deposited 25 Oct 2007 10:49)
- Collective behavior of El Farol attendees. (deposited 07 Nov 2008 16:07) [Currently Displayed]


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As one of the oil & gas nation in South East Asia, the Polis Di-Raja Malaysia (PDRM) in Malaysia only owns the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X as their top and fastest highway patrol cars.
Inversely, the Qatar's police in Middle East have a fleet of Porsche Panamera and Porsche Cayenne SUV. The fleet are physically 'show off' during the Arab state's National Day parade on December 18.
After watching the YouTube video, we are now envy and wouldn't mind being a police officer in Qatar. What about you?


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About this Event
How do Art Classes help Children improve?
Art education is just as important as math or science, and it improves critical thinking, encourages innovation, and strengthens your connection with the community.What do I learn from Art Classes?
This free painting class is open to all ages. You're welcome to this class as a beginner. We'll be painting on natural beauty and learning how to blend colors, and I will be walking you through a few techniques to make blending easier. I have different versions of the same painting, which suit all ages.List of Art Materials for Art Class:
- Pencil
- Eraser
- Sharpener
- Paper (Thick paper if possible)
- Watercolors or acrylic colors
- Brushes
- Rough cloth or bounty (to clean brushes).
Order Art Materials from AmazonWho is the Artist?
My name is Palak Dhorajiya, and I am obsessed with creating imaginative Art. Growing up in India, I always had a passion for Art. At the time, I would make time within my busy schedule as a full-time student to attend workshops and art classes.
However, as time passed, education became my major priority. I relocated to Calgary, Canada, to pursue a career in Interior design. My art journey was a sacrifice, and I almost let it slip. But passionate dreams leave you restless, as I soon discovered. Because during the pandemic, I suddenly had lots of free time to pursue my passion. And I did this by learning a new form of Art called "Alcohol inks."
Feel free to join the class with whatever materials you have handy, and you can still learn a few bits.
Check out my website Palak StudioInk for more detailed information on Art Classes I provide.
See you all in the class!
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Palak StudioInk, Online Art Classes, Auckland, New Zealand


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- Model Number:CV-ML
- Brand Name:JINPENG
- Place of Origin:CHINA
- Range per Power:50KM/CHARGE
- Max Speed:20KM/H
- Foldable:NO
- Frame Material:STEEL
- Voltage:60V
- Power:3500W
- Certification:ccc
- weight:1040.000kg
- Condition:New
- Moving Type:Wheel
- Vehicle size(mm) :3400×1940×2420
- Battery::60V100Ah
Jiangsu Jinpeng Vehicle Co., Ltd is the largest manufacturer of electric tricycles in the world, who is specialized in design, production and sales of various EV. Found in 2004, our head office locates in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. Up to now, there are 10 production branches locate in Jiangsu, Hebei, Henan, Sichuan, Hubei, Tianjin and Guangdong. The total area of these factories is more than 133200 ㎡ with the production ability of 3 million vehicles per year.Our products include electric and hybrid power vehicles such as tricycles for passenger and cargo, mobility scooters, four wheelers, garbage collection carts, forklift and customized ones.
Jinpeng owns provincial level R&D and test centers and gets more than 200 patent certificates. Jinpeng is also the first company which introduces the following facilities and technologies into this industry, such as cathode electrophoresis coating line, no-dust high temperature painting line, welding robots, intelligent chips, vector power, ergonomics and animal bionics design. Since then, the intelligent production and the manufacturing level have been promoted significantly in the whole e-trike field.In China, brand "Jin Peng" has been approved as top brand in electric tricycle industry and earns high reputation from customers. Our sales network consists of more than 20000 distributors in China, America, Germany, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, South Africa and other areas. Especially in China, you can find "Jin Peng" in every cities and towns. The sale volume in domestic market is always NO.1 since 2008. There are more than 6 million of Jinpeng vehicles being used in the world. Meanwhile Kingbon is the only one in this industry that sells over 1 million units of EV per year.
We will strive for our mission to be the leading supplier of light eco-friendly vehicles all over the world.
Our Mission:
Exceed customers' expectation; Achieve employee's happiness, Earn Society's respect.
Our Vision:
To be the leading brand of light eco-friendly vehicles in the world.
Our Core Value:
Customer first, open mind, innovation, practicality, responsibility, cooperation and win-win.
Add: Xuzhou Avenue, Xuzhou Industrial Park, Jiawang District, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province


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Cars are built stronger and safer every day, but you just can't cure stupid. Jalopnik readers know what we mean. They've seen other drivers doing some recklessly dumb stuff behind the wheel.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
The government can mandate more airbags and car companies can give their products thicker steel crash structures, but if drivers are actively choosing to be this stupid, there's not much you can do for them. Honestly, if this list isn't a categorical support for driverless cars, we don't know what is.
Photo Credit: pinetrail/YouTube
10.) Flossing with plucked beard hair
Suggested By: Gowanus-saur
Why it's awful: Hipsters — they're an unexpected menace to Brooklyn drivers, now that we've seen one pluck a hair out of his beard and then floss with it.
Photo Credit: ChrisGoldNY
9.) Drinking
Suggested By: saabstory900
Why it's awful: Chances are he or she is pre-gaming, too. Think about the drive home.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
8.) Playing guitar
Suggested By: heltoupee
Why it's awful: Guitars are not one-handed instruments, nor are they small as reader heltoupee recognized on one highway drive.
Coming home from college one weekend, I was passing by Farmer City on I74 when I made to overtake a red 80's Chevy pickup. I thought it strange that the driver's left hand was sticking out the driver's window, apparently holding a large wooden object. As I came up next to him, I realized that this gentleman was driving his truck down the interstate, steering with his knees while playing a guitar. Obviously, there wasn't enough room in the cab, or the ergonomics were not correct to keep the entire guitar inside the vehicle, so he held the neck of the guitar out of the window as he fingered the chords.
Photo Credit: anymanjazz65
7.) Playing on your iPad
Suggested By: Malforus
Why it's awful: As computers get smaller and tablets get smarter, people stay as dumb as ever. Nobody really needs an iPad ever, let alone in the middle of a 70mph commute.
Photo Credit: Joe Shoe
6.) Putting on makeup
Suggested By: Kiwi_Commander
Why it's awful: Just because you do something every morning doesn't make it any less moronic. Using up your concentration to put makeup on right around your eyes (those things you use to see danger ahead) is unwise.
Photo Credit: NYCArthur
5.) Sticking your left leg out the window
Suggested By: OMG, TTA!
Why it's awful: There is no way you can react to something up ahead and avoid an accident with your left leg out of the window. Then, when the airbag goes off, you will be in a world of hurt.
Photo Credit: lilducky1357/YouTube
4.) Eating
Suggested By: frizzle
Why it's awful: It's one thing to eat a burger, or fries, or chips in a car. Those are one-handed foods. We've seen people drinking soup with a spoon. We have seen people pull out a knife and fork and start eating salad. One even crashed into one of our readers.
Photo Credit: three_pedals
3.) Reading
Suggested By: stuffelse
Why it's awful: Here's a great way to spice up your morning commute: when you're on the highway, just look away from the road. Stare down and don't even glance at what's coming up ahead. This is what you're doing when you read and drive. And reading is supposed to make you smarter.
Photo Credit: ssmmaa66/YouTube
2.) Masturbating
Suggested By: jbcustom
Why it's awful: Even before the advent of in-car DVD screens and smart phones, people were pulling out nudie mags and jerkin' it on the highway. File this under very distracted driving.
Photo Credit: kazamatsuri
1.) Having sex
Suggested By: Vacabck, minardi
Why it's awful: Normally we don't have anything against people getting creative when it comes to getting' down, but we do not approve of this kind of exhibitionism. Be careful who you watch, though; you never know who will tail you and pull a gun on you.
Have you seen anything worse on the highway than this? Tell your story in Kinja below.
Photo Credit: YouTube (NSFW)


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Android Games – Action and Adventure
BuriedTown« Games - Arcade & Action « Downloads
|January 1, 1970
|108 times
|Games - Arcade & Action
A modern game featuring survival on an isolated island. Easy to understand graphics and texts and immersive music provide a smooth gaming experience that will bring out all of your internal anxieties. Challenge the most terrifying nightmares and conquer your inner demons to achieve victory!
Getting lost in a remote corner of town, looking for other survivors using an old radio, enjoying a rare moment's respite with music, experiencing life surviving on a knife's edge. Scenes you may have never imagined occur seemingly every day in this world. In this game, danger is always lurking nearby and you will need all of your courage and wits to survive!
Your adventure starts in Buried Town, a small town in the south. When you disembark from a wrecked canoe, you find there are zombies everywhere. You completely lose touch with the outside world and there are no traces of civilization nearby. While facing starvation, diseases and zombies, how many days can you survive?
Gather supplies.
Build shelters.
Work together and trade with NPCs.
Use the "Old Radio" to communicate with other players.
About the Developers:
The development team consists of three enthusiastic gaming fans. If you like the game, please introduce it to your friends.


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In conjunction with April National Child Abuse Prevention Month and the National Week of the Young Child, April 22-28, the Child Development Center community is reaching out to the children in crisis served by Project Baby Bottoms, a local project dedicated to providing low-income areas and families with diapers and wipes.
The center will accept donations of new disposable diapers (all sizes) and diaper wipes Monday through Friday, April 23-27.
Locations of cribs designated for donations:
- Campus Way in Anderson Student Center, near the Dean of Students Office
- Child Development Center front reception area (Grand and Finn avenues)
The generosity of the campus community in previous years has helped designated organizations in their efforts to supply needy families with these materials. The CDC staff thanks the campus community for its continued support.


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Should You Shell Out Cash for a Celebrity Endorsement?
In a 24-hour media cycle -- ever-focused on celebrity life -- shelling out cash to have a star hawk your merchandise or show up at a store opening is tempting. But, how much would it take to get a Kardashian to come to your grand opening, or wear your clothes? Is it worth it for your business to take a risk on a celebrity, without a tangible return on investment?
Dorothy Cascerceri, senior editor at In Touch Weekly, said celebs are being paid higher and higher fees for little more than showing up to events. It can sometimes be worth it for a small business to shell out the cash, which is often at least $50,000, but a business owner would have to work hard in order to make the investment worth its while.
"Having a celebrity show up will not be what drives sales," Cascerceri said. "It will be securing news outlets and media spots that pertain to the demographic the store or brand is targeting. It's a multi-step process. If it's targeted toward the right kind of people, you can have a much higher bottom line."
In the past, celebrities would often put the time in when attending a small business opening or event, she said. However, as more value is placed on celebrity and pop culture, the less they have to work for the money.
"A lot of times, a $50,000 paycheck will be handed over for something as short as a 10-minute appearance at the store," she said. "They may walk the red carpet, take a photo with the designer or key brand person and that's about it. It's harder to get brands to really have celebrities translate into some kind of revenue unless it's a brand with tons of money to spend."
Cliff Courtney, EVP and chief strategy officer at Zimmerman Advertising, said celebrity endorsements and appearances can often feel like a shortcut to fame, especially for a small company. However, Courtney has a different take on the fame game.
"Make yourself famous," he said. "Cheap labor is available and easy to control. Look at someone like Jim Perdue—it's about creating characters. This is a more effective way to go in terms of ROI."
Using social media and viral video, attaining "celebrity status" as an Average Joe is easier than ever before, and costs little to nothing to give it a whirl, he said.
If you do go the route of hiring a celebrity, be sure that they make sense for your actual brand or product.
"No one believed Tiger Woods actually ever drove a Buick," he said."Just because you can afford a celebrity, it can do more damage to your brand if you're not careful."
Cascerceri, who is also the co-owner of bittle-D, a line of organic t-shirts, said celebrities sometimes do a brand a favor by wearing their clothes or swinging by a store opening for free. Or, they may genuinely like the item or clothing and wear it with no strings attached.
"If a celebrity wears something like a shirt, hat or bag, and gets photographed, that will drive sales," she said. "Some celebrities are paid to wear things, but others genuinely love what they wear. It can sometimes just be dumb luck."
Courtney said small gestures can sometimes go a long way with a celebrity. If you think of ways your brand can enhance their brand, or can consider equity or trade with that celebrity, that may be the better route to take.
"That means you don't have to hand them the cash and hurt your financial stability," he said.
In the end, having something new and fresh is often the better way to go for a business or brand. A famous face isn't what will bring in customers and cash at the end of the day.
"Ideas always trump celebrity," he said. "The second you hire a celebrity, you have run out of ideas."


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This superb 16-day self-drive tour explores the premier attractions along South Africa's southern coast, beginning in the vibrant cafe culture of Cape Town, and the gourmet capital of the Cape Winelands, Franschhoek. Your tour continues along the postcard-perfect coastline of the Garden Route and finishes with malaria-free Big 5 game viewing in a private reserve.
Your adventure starts with a 4-night stay at the Cape Grace, a hotel set in Cape Town's V&A Waterfront - the perfect base from which to explore the city. There is so much to see and do here, from taking a trip up Table Mountain to visiting the endangered African penguins at Boulders Beach and sipping cocktails on Camps Bay's sunset strip.
Your next stop is the charming country town of Franschhoek, the gourmet capital of the Cape Winelands. Spend three nights at Le Quartier Francais, home to the internationally acclaimed The Tasting Room restaurant. Spend three sun-drenched days wine tasting and fine feasting.
Your tour shifts to a restful gear when you head up the wonderfully scenic Garden Route, home to indigenous forests, world-class polo and some of the world's best shore- and boat-based whale watching (July to October). After indulging in The Plettenberg Hotel's restoring spa treatments, you continue to your final destination: Kwandwe Private Reserve in the Eastern Cape. This rugged Big 5 reserve makes a perfect, grand finale to a sensational self-drive vacation.


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Honeybee Studio Shot II
Originally uploaded by Dalantech.
When I press the shutter release on my camera the flash sends out a short burst of light that the camera's metering system uses to determine how long the main flash pulse is going to fire. If the subject fills the frame, or there is something close behind the subject for the light to bounce off of, then odds are the light meter in the camera will be able to correctly determine how long to turn on the flash to give me a properly exposed image. But if the subject doesn't fill the frame, and there isn't anything close in the background for the flash to bounce off of, then the light meter is going to turn on the flash so long that I'll probably get an over exposed image. That's how Evaluative–Through The Lens (E-TTL) flash metering works. To get the most consistent results with E-TTL I need to get as much of the metering flash burst back into the lens as possible, and that's what I've done with this field studio:
The trick is to initially bate the flowers that the bees are feeding on. Once the girls get into the habit of looking for the corn syrup (believe it or not it will take them a while) simply cut a piece of the flower petal, place it in a convenient spot close to where the bees are feeding, and set up a back drop (in this case a leaf). You'll get better E-TTL metering since there's a backdrop to reflect the metering pulse back into the lens, and you'll have more time to concentrate on framing and composition because the camera is taking care of the exposure.
You can do a similar trick with dormant subjects –just cut the perch that they are using and hold it up in front of a leaf (or anything that will reflect light back into the camera and give you a pleasing background):
Footnote: The light meter in most cameras samples the frame at the same areas as the auto focus system. So a camera with more auto focus points will typically have a more accurate light meter.
Until next time, happy shooting :)


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Decade-long Review: Le Creuset/Screwpull Foil Cutter
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Unfortunately it recently broke. The plastic just just snapped at the apex while I was using it and that was the end of it. I went a few weeks without replacing it because I wasn't sure whether it was a necessary accessory.
If you're not familiar with what a foil cutter is useful for, it's for cleanly severing the foil capsule that covers the top of a corked bottle of wine.
If you don't have a foil cutter, your options are to either peel away the foil capsule altogether, cut it away with the knife that's sometimes built into a corkscrew (which is a little more difficult than using a foil cutter and sometimes results in jagged edges on the remaining foil), or (if the capsule is a little loose) you can just slide it off. Keeping the majority of the capsule on the bottle is purely an aesthetic preference. There's absolutely nothing wrong with tearing the capsule off. I just like the way a bottle looks with the foil cut around the opening.
After a while I started to miss having a foil cutter. I was perfectly happy with my Screwpull so I looked for them on Amazon and found them for around $10 shipped. I noticed some of the reviews saying they "didn't make them like they used to" so I was wondering if I should buy another Screwpull.
Looking a little further I noticed that Screwpull and Le Creuset are the same company and evidently always have been. It looks like Le Creuset is branding more of their wine accessories as their own and the Le Creuset foil cutter gets good reviews on Amazon so I went for the Le Creuset.
It arrived a couple weeks ago and I've been using it since. It feels every bit as good as the last Screwpull that lasted a decade. The Le Creuset may even be a little sturdier.
I'd recommend adding a foil cutter to your collection of wine accessories. They're small and provide a fast and easy way to nicely open, present, and enjoy a bottle of wine.
I'd give this one a full 5 out of 5 stars.
Here's a link to the one I bought off Amazon:
Update: Read this post for some further commentary on where precisely a foil should be cut.