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By B.Raman
(January 07, Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) Unless a terrorism analyst poses to himself the right questions and seeks answers to them, he will not be able to understand what is going on in the world of jihadi terrorism and will be repeatedly taken by surprise.
There have been many surprises since 9/11---- some of a tactical nature and some of a strategic nature.
As examples of tactical surprises, one could mention the July 2006 explosions in Mumbai's suburban trains, the 26/11 terrorist strikes in Mumbai and the December 25,2009, attempt by a Nigerian student trained by Al Qaeda in Yemen to blow up a US plane as it approached to land at Detroit.
As examples of strategic surprises, one can cite the spectacular come-back of the Afghan Taliban post-2004, the emergence on the scene of the Pakistani Taliban after the raid into the Lal Masjid of Islamabad by the Pakistan Army in July 2007, the activities of Al Qaeda in Yemen and Somalia, the come-back of Al Qaeda in Iraq, which could turn out to be as spectacular as the come-back of the Afghan Taliban, and indications of new tactical alliances being formed by some of these organisations without any sign of either the Afghan Taliban or the pre-9/11 Al Qaeda of Osama bin Laden ( AQ--OBL)
having any major influence over them.
The periodic messages of Osama bin Laden and his No.2 Ayman al-Zawahiri are interpreted by many as indicative of their being in total control of the myriad jihadi movements, all having the same strategic objective of humiliating the US, destroying Israel and forming an Islamic Caliphate. These interpretations have not been corroborated by acceptable evidence. Many of the assessments on the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda of OBL seem to be based not on concrete evidence, but on unquestioned pre-conceived ideas.
Such pre-conceived ideas, which come in the way of an objective analysis, are many. They are not subjected to intense scrutiny. One such pre-conceived idea presently under circulation is that the spectacular attack on the CIA's Chapman forward base near Khost in Afghanistan on December 30,2009, must have been carried out by the Haqqani network of Afghanistan operating from North Waziristan. Why? Because, Khost is its area of operation, where it has operated with success in the past.
Any scrutiny of this supposition should have given rise to the following questions/arguments:
* The Haqqani network is supposed to be close to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Would the ISI have wanted its strategic asset to massacre seven CIA officers and one officer of the Jordanian intelligence related to the King, who is close to Pakistan's military leadership?
* While criticising pro forma the increased Drone strikes by the CIA on the hide-outs of the Pakistani Taliban in South Waziristan, the Pakistani political and military leadership has not come in the way of these strikes, which have been helping in their own operations against the Pakistani Taliban. Would it have been in the interest of the Pakistani Army and the ISI to help the Jordanian double agent in wiping out a forward CIA base which was playing an important role in facilitating the Drone strikes against the Pakistani Taliban?
If the Haqqani network could not be responsible, who else could be? The Afghan Taliban has ruled itself out of the credit line by making premature claims of having been responsible without being able to give any evidence in support of its claim.
The only claims, which cannot be dismissed as implausible, have come from the Pakistani Taliban. While the Afghan Taliban projected it as a pentration operation through one of its members in the Afghan National Army, the Pakistani Taliban, in its initial statement itself, projected it as a penetration operation through a foreign ( non-Afghan) double agent. Its second claim identifying the foreign agent as a Jordanian might have been made after the US media had identified the agent, but no details had appeared in the media when it made its first claim. It is this which makes its claim difficult to dismiss easily.
There have been reports of a claim by Al Qaeda of OBL too. It is difficult to say presently whether this claim could be authentic. If there is an Al Qaeda involvement, the possibility is more of the involvement of Al Qaeda of Iraq ( or Mesapatomia) because of the past links of the Jordanian double agent Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi with Al Qaeda of Iraq. Even when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the head of Al Qaeda of Iraq, was alive, there were reports of differences between him and Al Qaeda of OBL and Zawahiri. There were reports and indications that he was not amenable to the influence of bin Laden and was waging his jihad against the Americans according to his own lights and his own reading of the situation on the ground, while ostensibly proclaiming his loyalty to bin Laden. The followers of Zarqawi, including Al-Balawi, had stronger reasons to avenge the death of their Iraqi Sheikh than the followers of bin Laden in the Af-Pak region. The possibility that the idea of the operation against the CIA officers was a brain-child of al-Balawi and not of any unit of Al Qaeda cannot be easily dismissed.
The premature claims of the Afghan Taliban clearly show that the Afghan and Pakistani Talibans do not have a common command and control. Even earlier, this was obvious from the fact that while the Afghan Taliban looked upon the Pakistani Army as its guardian angel, the Pakistani Taliban looked upon it as its hated enemy. There were many indicators that the Afghan Taliban was not happy with the repeated attacks of the Pakistani Taliban on the Army and the ISI. Similarly, the Afghan Taliban has never supported the projection by Zawahiri of the Pakistani Army as anti-Islamic.Recent messages emanating from bin Laden and Zawahiri do not show much enthusiasm for the attempts of Zarqawi's followers in Iraq to stage a come-back.
I had often mentioned in the past that as a jihadist movement, the Taliban is not a monolithic phenomenon. There are Talibans and Talibans each calling for a different strategy by the international community to deal with the threat, Recent events in Fort Hood, Detroit, Chapman, Yemen, Somalia and Iraq show that there are now Al Qaedas and Al Qaedas.It no longer seems to be a monolithic movement. Myriad Al Qaedas have bloomed and continue to bloom. What one requires is not a single strategy which can deal with all of them, but a mix of strategies suited to different groups. This makes counter-terrorism even more complicated and difficult than it has been.
( The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com )
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Several big lenders have retreated from health-care financing in recent years, but surprise! Some of the existing lenders have lowered rates or changed terms to make their deals better for consumers who need to borrow to pay medical debts.
Since the recession, for example, Chase, Capital One and Humana have all dropped their health-care lending programs. (Humana still offers a health-care debit card, but discontinued its medical credit card.)
"Before the recession, there were lots of players," says Mark Rukavina, founder of the health care consulting group Community Health Advisors. "They were aggressively marketing the product and extending it to people who were having a difficult time paying for care."
While the big players retreated, some smaller lenders have popped up in their places, and a number of them are focusing on lower rate installment loans, rather than open-ended cards with hefty APRs.
( Story continues below chart .)
Safer loans for some
For example, American Healthcare Lending, based in Salt Lake City, now markets itself as a simpler, more cost-effective alternative to high-interest medical cards. The company briefly experimented with a revolving line of credit that was similar to other deferred interest medical cards, says Graham Anderson, vice president of business development and marketing. But they quickly discontinued it -- in part because of the controversial financial burden it placed on some of the card's borrowers. "We just felt like it wasn't a healthy option for the patients," says Anderson. Now, the company only offers installment loans with interest rates starting at 5.99 percent. It no longer offers interest-free financing.
Similarly, the South Carolina-based lender East Bridge Funding launched a health-care financing program in early 2014 called SimpleSelect Patient Finance. The company exclusively offers closed-end installment loans and, like American Healthcare Lending, markets itself as a safer alternative to costly medical cards. "The patient finance industry has needed a facelift," said East Bridge Funding's Daniel O'Connor in a January 2014 press release. "Medical credit card programs have dominated the patient financing space for a long time. They are useful for financing smaller, repeat transactions, but are not the right loan product to finance a large-ticket elective medical procedure." Interest rates for the loan start at 14.99 percent, which is higher than other installment loans available. But the company also offers interest-free financing for up to 18 months.
Meanwhile, some of the companies that still offer a revolving line of credit are also lowering their card APRs and offering safer products to new cardholders. For example, Wells Fargo cut the standard APR on the Wells Fargo Health Advantage card by more than half in late 2013, lowering it from a 27.99 percent interest rate to 9.99 percent.
Cardholders still have the option of deferring their payments for up to 18 months. But they will no longer be hit with a nearly 30 percent interest rate if they're unable to repay their balance by the time the promotional period expires.
In addition, the North Carolina-based financing company AccessOne has also begun offering a lower rate card to most applicants. For example, depending on your health-care provider, you may be offered an APR as low as 8 percent on the AccessOne MedCard -- down from 9.25 percent. However, the card is only available to applicants who live in the Deep South.
High-interest medical cards still dominate
Despite the lower rate options available to some health-care borrowers, many of the medical cards that patients see advertised in doctor's offices are for higher rate cards.
That's because the medical financing company CareCredit -- which charges a 26.99 percent APR on revolving balances -- still dominates the patient financing landscape.
According to the company's promotional materials, the CareCredit card is currently accepted at 175,000 locations across the country -- up from 125,000 locations in 2010.
Meanwhile, one of CareCredit's leading competitors, Citibank, charges cardholders up to 28.99 percent on purchases and is also widely accepted at health care offices nationwide.
The cards' high-interest business models aren't popular with everyone, however.
CareCredit, in particular, has received critical attention from regulators and consumer advocates for its hefty APRs and promotional practices. And according to American Healthcare Lending's Graham Anderson, health care financing executives are watching CareCredit closely to see what happens next with the company.
"The CareCredit situation is a big topic behind closed doors of health care financing companies right now," says Anderson.
CareCredit's parent company GE Capital tried unsuccessfully to sell CareCredit in the summer of 2013. Around the same time, the company reached a settlement with the New York Attorney General's Office, which was investigating CareCredit for deceptive practices, and agreed to revamp some of its enrollment practices.
Soon after, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered CareCredit to refund cardholders more than $34 million after the consumer watchdog discovered numerous consumers were being enrolled in CareCredit's deferred interest financing program without fully understanding how it worked.
In prepared remarks to reporters, CFPB director Richard Cordray chided CareCredit for its enrollment practices and warned that the CFPB will be keeping a close watch on deferred interest credit cards. "We will continue to monitor these products carefully, and most especially we will not tolerate financial companies that take advantage of patients and their loved ones," said Cordray.
What's next
The increased scrutiny from federal regulators could make some companies reluctant to introduce more high-interest medical cards to the market.
But American Healthcare Lending's Graham Anderson says the demand for affordable health care loans remains high, thanks in part to growing health care costs. So you could see more alternatives in the future.
Before the Affordable Care Act went into effect, some experts speculated that the market for health care loans would shrink because the law caps how much consumers have to pay out-of-pocket for any service or procedure covered by their insurance.
But Anderson disagrees. "Yes, more people have insurance. But in the end, patient financing wasn't just going to people who didn't have insurance," he says. In many cases, people use health care loans to finance elective procedures that aren't covered by their insurance company, such as cosmetic surgery or in-vitro fertilization.
In addition, he says, some people will continue to pay a substantial amount out-of-pocket before they hit the ceiling on their deductible and will need extra help filling in the gaps.
"There are people out there that need help paying for some of those bills, for sure, and we very much think that the industry is going to continue to grow," says Anderson.
Medical credit cards: Treatment today, payment headaches tomorrow
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

subset: commoncrawl


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If you've never given your dog's paw pad much thought, you should! Pads are the thick, spongy, rubbery part of your dog's paw. Dogs rely on their paw pads to absorb shock, make traction with the surface on which they're walking (or running, sliding, slipping, etc.), insulate their paws from extreme temperatures, and to protect them from whatever is underfoot. Watch your dog's paws when you take him out for a walk or a play session, and you'll realize how much punis usuallyhment his pads get on a daily basis.
With ground contact occurring every step of a dog's life, paw pads have evolved into a tough and resilient part of his body. But, tough as they are, paw pads are not made of armor. That's why it's not uncommon for vets to find dogs with paw pad injuries coming into the office for emergency care.
Typical paw pad injuries
Common paw pad injuries include lacerations, punctures and abrasions. If a dog steps on glass or other sharp objects, even the toughest paw pad can get cut. Paw pads can also be injured by extreme temperatures, and it's not unknown for dogs to experience burned paw pads on very hot days. In addition, paw pads can be hurt by chemical spills on the ground.
How to tell if your dog has a paw pad injury
If you've personally seen your dog step into a chemical or tread on glass or an extremely hot surface, you'll probably know almost immediately if he has injured his paw pads. However, injuries may not always be witnessed firsthand, and sometimes the symptoms occur a short time after the actual injury taken place.
Symptoms of paw pad injuries include bleeding, limping, excessive licking of the pad, discoloration, and reluctance on your dog's part to put weight on his paw.
What to do if your performg injures a paw pad
Treatment depends on the type of injury sustained. Below are a few first aid tips:
Cleaning the wound-First, determine if there is any debris, such as glass, in the wound. If the particularre is, remove it. Washing the injured paw is a good idea, if clean water is available. Swishing the paw in the water could help to dislodge any small pieces of debris that might still be in the injury.
Stop the bleeding-Once the paw has been cleaned, apply pressure on the paw pad with a bandage or other clean and absorbent material. Try to maintain some pressure on the wound until the bleeding stops. If the cut is small, the bleeding may stop in short order. However, if the cut is usually very deep, you may not be able to stop the bleeding on your own-and a trip to the veterinarian's office for expert care will be necessary.
Soothing burns-If you've ever attempted to walk barefoot on a sun-bathed sidewalk in the summer, you know how scorching it can be. Even though paw pads are tough, they can still burn. You can help soothe the burn with an icepack or the cool, gentle running water of a garden hose or faucet. Remove all sharp debris and wash away chemical spills. Keep the water working until all traces of the chemical are washed away.
Next stop: the vet's office
Your dog's paws are difficult-to-heal areas of his body. That's why even less-severe injuries could require a visit to the vet's office. Many paw pad injuries require proper cleaning and bandaging-and some may need more intensive care. Your vet will also tell you how to properly care for the treated injury at home during the time it takes the paw to heal.
An ounce of prevention
To help prevent paw pad injuries, inspect areas where your dog will be playing. If your dog steps into a harsh chemical, immediately flush the entire paw with cool water. In the summer, try to keep your canine from walking on extremely hot surfaces-grass and earth are almost always cooler and more inviting to walk on under the summer sun. And when taking your pet out for a walk, watch the ground in front of your dog to avoid any dangerous surprises.


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The New York Times, June 20, 2014
A novelist scrawling away in a notebook in seclusion may not seem to have much in common with an NBA player doing a reverse layup on a basketball court before a screaming crowd. But if you could peer inside their heads, you might see some striking similarities in how their brains were churning.
That's one of the implications of new research on the neuroscience of creative writing. For the first time, neuroscientists have used fMRI scanners to track the brain activity of both experienced and novice writers as they sat down — or, in this case, lay down — to turn out a piece of fiction.
The researchers, led by Martin Lotze of the University of Greifswald in Germany, observed a broad network of regions in the brain working together as people produced their stories. But there were notable differences between the two groups of subjects. The inner workings of the professionally trained writers in the bunch, the scientists argue, showed some similarities to people who are skilled at other complex actions, like music or sports.
The research is drawing strong reactions. Some experts praise it as an important advance in understanding writing and creativity, while others criticize the research as too crude to reveal anything meaningful about the mysteries of literature or inspiration.
Dr. Lotze has long been intrigued by artistic expression. In previous studies, he has observed the brains of piano players and opera singers, using fMRI scanners to pinpoint regions that become unusually active in the brain.
Needless to say, that can be challenging when a subject is singing an aria. Scanners are a lot like 19th-century cameras: They can take very sharp pictures, if their subject remains still. To get accurate data, Dr. Lotze has developed software that can take into account fluctuations caused by breathing or head movements.
For creative writing, he faced a similar challenge. In previous studies, scientists had observed people doing only small tasks like thinking up a plot in their heads.
Dr. Lotze wanted to scan people while they were actually writing. But he couldn't give his subjects a keyboard to write with, because the magnetic field generated by the scanner would have hurled it across the room.
So Dr. Lotze ended up making a custom-built writing desk, clipping a piece of paper to a wedge-shaped block as his subjects reclined. They could rest their writing arm on the desk and scribble on the page. A system of mirrors let them see what they were writing while their head remained cocooned inside the scanner.
To begin, Dr. Lotze asked 28 volunteers to simply copy some text, giving him a baseline reading of their brain activity during writing.
Next, he showed his volunteers a few lines from a short story and asked them to continue it in their own words. The volunteers could brainstorm for a minute, and then write creatively for a little over two minutes.
Some regions of the brain became active only during the creative process, but not while copying, the researchers found. During the brainstorming sessions, some vision-processing regions of volunteers became active. It's possible that they were, in effect, seeing the scenes they wanted to write.
Other regions became active when the volunteers started jotting down their stories. Dr. Lotze suspects that one of them, the hippocampus, was retrieving factual information that the volunteers could use.
One region near the front of the brain, known to be crucial for holding several pieces of information in mind at once, became active as well. Juggling several characters and plot lines may put special demands on it.
But Dr. Lotze also recognized a big limit of the study: His subjects had no previous experience in creative writing. Would the brains of full-time writers respond differently?
To find out, he and his colleagues went to another German university, the University of Hildesheim, which runs a highly competitive creative writing program. The scientists recruited 20 writers there (their average age was 25). Dr Lotze and his colleagues had them take the same tests and then compared their performance with the novices'.
As the scientists report in a new study in the journal NeuroImage, the brains of expert writers appeared to work differently, even before they set pen to paper. During brainstorming, the novice writers activated their visual centers. By contrast, the brains of expert writers showed more activity in regions involved in speech.
"I think both groups are using different strategies," Dr. Lotze said. It's possible that the novices are watching their stories like a film inside their heads, while the writers are narrating it with an inner voice.
When the two groups started to write, another set of differences emerged. Deep inside the brains of expert writers, a region called the caudate nucleus became active. In the novices, the caudate nucleus was quiet.
The caudate nucleus is a familiar part of the brain for scientists like Dr. Lotze who study expertise. It plays an essential role in the skill that comes with practice, including activities like board games.
When we first start learning a skill — be it playing a piano or playing basketball — we use a lot of conscious effort. With practice, those actions become more automatic. The caudate nucleus and nearby regions start to coordinate the brain's activity as this shift happens.
"I was really happy to see this," said Ronald T. Kellogg, a psychologist who studies writing at Saint Louis University. "You don't want to see this as an analog to what James Joyce was doing in Dublin. But to see that they were able to get clean results with this, I think that's a major step right there."
But Steven Pinker, a Harvard psychologist, was skeptical that the experiments could provide a clear picture of creativity. "It's a messy comparison," he said.
Dr. Pinker pointed out that the activity that Dr. Lotze saw during creative writing could be common to writing in general — or perhaps to any kind of thinking that requires more focus than copying. A better comparison would have been between writing a fictional story and writing an essay about some factual information.
Even the best-designed scanning experiments might miss signs of creativity, Dr. Pinker warned. The very nature of creativity can make it different from one person to the next, and so it can be hard to see what different writers have in common. Dr. Pinker speculated that Marcel Proust might have activated the taste-perceiving regions of his brain when he recalled the flavor of a cookie. But another writer might rely more on sounds to evoke a time and place.
"Creativity is a perversely difficult thing to study," he said.
Copyright 2014 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with permission.


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Indiana's farmland owners will pay higher property taxes in 2014 on the heels of an increase in the base rate for assessed land value, Purdue Extension agricultural economist Larry DeBoer says. The base rate, which is the starting point for calculating taxes on farmland, jumped from $1,630 per acre in 2012 to $1,760 for 2013. Taxes assessed on this year's base rate will be paid in 2014. The base rate has exactly doubled in just seven years, from $880 per acre in 2007.
The value of Indiana farmland is assessed based on use value rather than market value. So, even if a parcel of farmland borders commercial or residential development, it is assessed based on the income it can generate from farming, not the selling price. When determining property taxes, Indiana's Department of Local Government Finance takes into account the base rate, a productivity factor and an influence factor. Productivity factors are based on the soil's productivity for growing corn. They are scheduled to rise for taxes in 2014, but according to DeBoer, bills have been proposed in the General Assembly to cancel that change.
The influence factor is a percentage reduction in the dollar amount of the productivity factor to account for conditions, such as frequent flooding, grade or forest cover.
The assessed farmland value has been rising because the base rate is calculated annually based on a number of factors, such as commodity prices, land rents, input costs and interest rates. "The base rate is calculated using a capitalization formula," DeBoer said. "The rent or net income earned from an acre is divided by a rate of return. The department calculates capitalized values for six years, drops the highest value and then averages the remaining five years to get the base rate. "Each year, a value from an earlier year leaves the calculation and a value from a recent year is averaged in. The base rate goes up when the value coming in is higher than value dropping out."
Compared with six years ago, farmland rents are higher, commodity prices are up and interest rates are down – a combination that increases the base rate. But there's a four-year lag between the numbers in the calculation and the tax year, so the numbers to be used for 2014 taxes are from 2005 to 2010. For example, for 2012 assessments, which will be taxed in 2013, the capitalized value for 2003 was erased and the capitalized value from 2009 included, DeBoer said. The 2003 value was $1,407 per acre, and the 2009 value was $2,066. That means the base rate rose from $1,500 per acre for taxes in 2012 to $1,630 for taxes in 2013.
DeBoer said the trend of increasing property taxes will continue.
"Rents and commodity prices were higher and interest rates lower in 2011 than they were in 2005, so the base rate for taxes paid in 2015 should be about $2,050 – a 16.5 percent rise from those paid in 2014," he said.
The drought's reduction of corn yields to a 20-year low will affect property tax bills, but not until those payable in 2016, when the 2012 numbers enter the calculation. "Rising rents and prices and falling interest rates should raise the pay-2016 rate to about $2,430," DeBoer said. "The 2012 drought will have a small effect. If yields had been normal, the base rate probably would have been $100 to $200 higher."
DeBoer's full report and accompanying podcast can be found in his column Capital Comments at https://ag.purdue.edu/agcomm/pages/Newscolumns.aspx


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Panel considers video cameras for MUHS and MUMS
MIDDLEBURY — A UD-3 committee has asked for cost estimates for a video camera system that would record activities in the hallways of Middlebury Union middle and high schools as a way of providing better security within those two buildings.
The video camera systems are being priced within the context of ongoing fire alarm upgrades at both MUMS and MUHS. Workers are more than halfway done with $110,000 in fire alarm system work at MUHS. District voters at the annual UD-3 school district meeting in January will likely be asked to endorse a similar project at MUMS, according to UD-3 Facilities Manager Bruce MacIntire.
Both fire alarm projects come with wiring suitable for the installation of video cameras. The UD-3 Facilities Committee is looking at the cost and logistics of installing that equipment. Officials stressed there are no formal plans at this point to purchase video equipment and that the concept has not even been debated yet at the full UD-3 board level. But the idea is spurring some talk about the merits of surveillance equipment and conversations about student/teacher safety versus privacy.
"The national trend since Newtown is to have video equipment in the hallways that is web-based so the principal knows where to respond to a situation," said MUHS Principal Bill Lawson. Lawson was referring to the fatal shootings of 20 students and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Dec. 14, 2012.
Several Vermont schools, including Brattleboro High School, have recently acquired video camera systems, Lawson noted.
There are already video cameras directed at the front entrance of MUHS. The new cameras would be directed only within the hallways, and not within classrooms, bathrooms or locker rooms, Lawson stressed.
Middlebury School Resource Officer Chris Mason is participating in evaluation of the video equipment. The equipment could offer a live feed and record footage for follow-up investigations.
Lawson is tentatively in favor of adding the cameras.
"Anything we can do to make the building safer for folks is good," Lawson said.
"The question is, how to you maintain the balance of having parents and community members feel welcome at any time, but make the students feel they are in a school setting and not a prison?" he added. "It's a balancing act."
Middlebury Police Chief Tom Hanley is in favor of acquiring a video camera system for both schools.
"In many cases, video in schools (as with Newtown and other venues) serve as a tool in post-event reconstruction," he said. "As long as the cameras remain under the purview and control of the school administration, they meet constitutional and legal guidelines, they can be invaluable in deterring unlawful and harmful activity, serve as an early warning of potential trouble, and aid first responders by alerting them where in the building a threat is (human or otherwise). In a crisis situation, communication is of utmost importance, and in conjunction with our mutual radio system and the administration's ability to have 'eyes' throughout the school, first responders and the school administration can respond cooperatively and effectively to a variety of situations on the campus."
It remains to be seen whether the facilities committee will recommend the equipment purchase to the full board. In the meantime, the school community will seek to learn more about the idea and its potential impacts.
"I think it's a complicated question," said Jonah Lefkoe, 17, president of this year's MUHS senior class and vice president of the student senate. "On the one hand, I see the necessity of increased safety due to the day and age we live in. We've got to realize we are on camera a lot in our day-to-day lives."
At the same time, Lefkoe is hoping the school administration keeps students in the loop regarding the video camera deliberations.
"It's important that students are kept informed about what's going on and given reasons why this is a necessary measure," he said.
Reporter John Flowers is at [email protected].
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Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Buffalo acquires Larsson, Hackett, draft picks from Wild
Draft picks include a first-round pick in 2013 and second-round pick in 2014
Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced Wednesday that the Sabres have acquired forward Johan Larsson, goaltender Matt Hackett, a first-round selection in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft and a second-round selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for forward Jason Pominville, the Sabres captain, and a fourth-round selection in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
In his first AHL season, Larsson (Age 20, 5'10", 200 lbs.) has recorded 37 points (15 goals, 22 assists) in 62 games for the Houston Aeros. He made his NHL debut as a member of the Wild on Feb. 17 against Detroit, skating 14:02 of ice time.
Larsson was selected by the Wild in the second round (56th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. A native of Lau, Sweden, the forward captained Sweden's goal medal-winning team at the 2012 IIHF World Junior Championship, where he recorded six assists in six games. He was selected as the Swedish Elite League Rookie of the Year in 2012 after recording 36 points (12/24) in 49 games with Brynas (SEL).
Hackett (23, 6'2", 173 lbs.) has appeared in 43 games for the Aeros in his third AHL season, recording a 19-20-30 record with a 2.66 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. In 132 regular-season AHL games, the London, Ontario native has compiled a 62-53-13 record with a .913 save percentage and three shutouts. He has also backstopped the Aeros to a 14-12 record in 26 postseason games, reaching the Calder Cup finals in 2011.
Hackett was selected by the Wild in the third round (77th overall) of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He has appeared in 13 total NHL games as a member of the Wild in the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, compiling a 3-7-0 record, a .914 save percentage and a 2.64 goals against average.


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GREEN BAY, Wis. – Running back Eddie Lacy is working on different parts of his game in training camp for the Green Bay Packers.
Last season's Offensive Rookie of the Year is trying to improve as a receiver. It's a task that backups James Starks and DuJuan Harris are working on as well.
The goal is to have all three backs available for three-down duty when the Packers are running a hurry-up offense.
Lacy is entrenched as the No. 1 back after rushing for a franchise rookie-record 1,178 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. But he's also proud of his abilities as a receiver, even if that's not his primary duty.
Last season Lacy would jokingly refer to himself as "Moss" after making a catch last season, after former NFL star receiver Randy Moss.
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL
Follow Genaro Armas at http://twitter.com/GArmasAP


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Samantha + Josh have been together for five years and they were so excited to finally start their lives together! They really wanted their journey to be expressed in their wedding and how they've grown together. They had been to a lot of weddings recently, and the most important thing for them was for it to be intimate + completely non-traditional. No boring stiff traditions for their wedding – it would all be about their families and fun! Their invitations (which were designed by Samantha + Josh) resembled vintage books telling their story, with bits and pieces of everything they love. Since Samantha and her mother are both photographers, it was important for everything to be visually stimulating in every way possible. They even checked the time of sunset far in advance so they would have nice warm light and asked their guests not to wear black so that for their photos and memories they would have lots of color! Totally love that idea!
They kept their wedding small and just invited their family and people who meant the most to them. It was really important to them to have people there who have supported them and shaped them in some way, into the people they have become. I'm also totally obsessed with Samantha's wedding dress (which her mother made!) and the model T she arrived in and they both left in. Lots of sweet vintage touches to their day. :) Big thanks to the talented ladies of made u look photography for letting me share their gorgeous photos!
From Samantha, We had gone dress shopping and found a perfect 1920s inspired silk bias cut gown that was WAY out of my price range but so perfect. So my mom set out to make me my dress. It wasn't easy and got done just in time but I couldn't have asked for a more perfect gown. I picked out the pearl star accents for the dress from Anthropologie. My mother threw together my birdcage veil and we added the stars from my dress onto the veil. My mother also made the cape with the fur collar I wore for the portraits after the ceremony.
Being married outside was so important to us since josh is a huge camping/hiking person and I love being outside, so when we came to Riley's Farm we knew instantly it was where we had to get married. We had both been there as kids on field trips so it had special meaning and a really cool history. It was so gorgeous tucked away in the hills with apple trees and pumpkins everywhere, and when the leaves started to change it was the perfect fit. We collected things like antique jars, books,lights, sticks, kites, parasols, and handkerchiefs over the months. Everything we love got incorporated somehow. We picked our favorite foods and desserts. We wanted everyone to feel as loved as we are and experience an old fashioned wedding. We both love history and to read so we had books everywhere. The clothes were all inspired by vintage 1920s tea/lawn parties.
Josh: The most memorable moment was when Samantha approached the wedding ceremony with her dad in the Model T. It was at that moment that it really hit me. It was the realization that we were finally completing one of the most important steps of our lives. And I couldn't have been happier. She was the perfect bride on the perfect day.
Sam: When it was time for our first dance and we started, the music [Brand New Colony, acoustic version by Ben Gibbard] started to get messed up and you could barely hear it. But we just looked at each other, shrugged and just kept dancing. We sang along to each other and it felt like we were the only two people alive. Finally being married and getting to enjoy that moment with my husband was so wonderful and connecting. Immediately after our dance my family all gravitated toward that dance floor and put on a surprise dance for us from the movie Emma. They told us after they had been practicing for weeks, we were so shocked!!
Our recessional song was Postcards from Italy by Beirut. Hearing this song when we were announced man and wife was so wonderful. It made everything so magical and real, it was a perfect moment.
Our favor for our guests was a tea party inspired vintage fabric trimmed jar of lemon scone mix.
Madeulook photography also created this beautiful video from the day!
Don't try to go crazy with details – it's so overwhelming especially if it's a DIY wedding. Have fun with everything! We put together craft days and everyone had a specific task they would work on. We laughed, ate and just enjoyed all being together. If you can get all that stuff done early then do it, you don't want to have to do anything on your wedding day but get ready. Just enjoy the whole process because it should be enjoyable. Josh and I loved going to Riley's together, and just getting to be together. It should all be fun and not stressful, the less stressful it is the more you will enjoy yourself on the actual day of.
Decide what the most important things are and splurge on those. The biggest thing for us was the photography and i'm so fortunate to have the girls I did, and that we got it taken care of far in advance. The hardest thing is realizing you can't do everything but if you have people that volunteer give them a job! That whole day goes by so fast that if something goes wrong just go with it, its all part of the process and if you can find humor in it than it adds to the day instead of taking away from it.
If you can get married somewhere that helps with the set up and cleaning up for you, I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to not have my friends staying late cleaning up after. At the end of the day your wedding is about the both of you, you may like some theme or detail but if it doesn't go with either one of you than it doesn't belong. We were so happy to just be married and just felt so wrapped up in each other, I think that's what we enjoyed most. I hope everyone can feel as happy with their wedding as we do. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day.
venue name: Riley's Farm, in Oak Glen, CA // wedding dress: handmade by mother of bride // bride's shoes: Seychelles // hair stylist: Wendy Trent of Hair Fanatics // groom attire: H&M and Urban Outfitters // paper goods: All designed by Virginia Smith of Vintage Modern Photography // catering: Riley's Farm // cake: All handmade goodies by us with apple pies from Riley's Farm // music: Grasslands // photography: made u look photography // event planner: Jan Theim at Riley's // floral design: bride's Aunt, Helene Gentili // bridesmaid dresses: Anthropologie and Free People. We reconstructed everyone's dresses in one way or another and added vintage pieces as well // cinematography: madeulook photography // invitations: All designed by Virginia Smith of Vintage Modern Photography


text:
aimless animal-coloured tumbler your library's aphotically indeterminate
you morning the ground to groggier-than-usual's millions of earmarks;
there are no students eternal only stop signs to bark commands rufescent,
only stalléd cirri shelves and shelves of them bustling ether of nowhere
only my eyes no millions of other watchers imprecise tumbler heft spills
from the seat of god onto our laps a necklace to be untangled with bones
and a half-erased script and stumps for motivations, ut pictura cirrus this's
all that comes to mind Latin for curl of hair thus the portrait of a girl who's
blanched perhaps she's suffered, perhaps she's been spooked, likely in love.
in love and staring out a window ut drizzle poesis, so goeth poetry as drizzle,
lovers' crazy ideas of where their object went the evening before, before snow
tumbled before her eyes saw the result of the katabatic front. Ut drizzle poesis,
long gray nuance between stanzas the meander from cup of tea to the next one,
snow's meanwhile abstraction an easy metaphor for the week. Young woman
in love as you are please, do not comb your hair—I see you motion for a brush
through the window I watch and clasp myself, do not to the narrative of dawn
surrender, stay wild and pained and look that way. This is not mere entertainment.
Snow tumbles aimless, accretes aphotic my gaze though is fixed upon you.
such sentimental passages about love, weather and fixéd male gazes hunter
as he is, supposedly, of erotic experience wherever to be found. I'm stupid
like dander, or clover. I transcend no fence reach no apple bough. Limitless
are other poetries of the engines, of the random, of the idiomatic, of the popunders
and overt flâneurist grit-amenities. I wear a poem like this like, say,
a dead braid or a last match, bit of its tip scratched off, the thing useless for
cigarette to say nothing of survival or bonfire at the beach where the talk's
of sex and nothing but sex. A deadened band of cirrus is known to haunt us
at our windows the girl and I like snapped taper candles, outside the snows.


text:
CHARLESTON, W.Va., Oct. 30 (UPI) -- Providing flu shots to students in the Charleston, W.Va., area while they were at school resulted in a drop in absences in 2010-2011, officials say.
Dr. Rahul Gupta, executive director of the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department, said during the 2010-2011 flu season Kanawha County's public and private schools had about 50 percent fewer absences than expected, the Charleston Gazette reported.
Gupta and other health officials are scheduled to travel to San Francisco to make a presentation Wednesday on the in-school vaccination clinics at the American Public Health Association annual meeting.
"The presentation is a recognition that this was an innovative model. We presented part of it last year. This year we will present the absentee data to show that fewer kids are staying out of school," Gupta told the Gazette. "We're getting calls from all over the country, from Minnesota to California. People are asking us for information. They want to replicate the model."
The program began in 2009 when the Health Department vaccinated students against the H1N1 "swine flu" virus with federally funded vaccinations, but since then, the Health Department offered flu vaccines to students each year by billing the insurance plans of the students instead of using grants or government funds, Gupta said.
Health officials asked parents to volunteer their insurance information. About 91 percent of the parents provided it voluntarily and the remaining students got a federally funded vaccine, Gupta said.


text:
LucasForums Archive
SWBattlefront.net (SWBF I & II)
Star Wars Battlefront
WALKTHROUGH AND FAQs
Note: LucasForums Archive Project
The content here was reconstructed by scraping the Wayback Machine in an effort to restore some of what was lost when LF went down. The LucasForums Archive Project claims no ownership over the content or assets that were archived on archive.org.
This project is meant for research purposes only.
WALKTHROUGH AND FAQs
Page: 1 of 1
Alright, I haven't seen any good walkthroughs or anything related to it. So I'll make this big one. Prepare to read. I will answer questions after I post.
Clone Wars Era
Naboo : Plains Playable side : CIS
You start as the Sepratists wiping out the Gungan forces on this level. You can start off on the far right command post, which doesn't carry any vehicles. Or you can spawn at your main CP that has 3 AAT's and 3 STAPs. The Gungans have a beginning advantage with having 4 comman posts. Although 2 of them are destroyable. I would suggest to win this one, choose a Droid Pilot and hop into an AAT by yourself. I say this because usually an AI unit doesn't shoot the area you want it to. Now cruise your way towards the Zambaas (Destroyable CP's that create the shield). Usually there will be Gungans running out of the shield and throwing bombs known as 'Boomers'. If you don't watch your health, you will be annhialted pretty quick. After shooting down some pesky Gungans, go through the shield and attack those Zambaas. Usually a back-up AAT will follow you thru it and assist you. Shoot at one for a while with your main guns. Until it over-heats then switch position to your Co-Pilot or Big Gunner. Shoot at it then switch back. Do this for a while. If you fear that the Gungan's are harassing you too much, look around to see if you can take down a turret shooting at you, or take down some Respawning AI. After taking one down the shield will fall and then your troops can attack from a distance. If your AAT is low on health retreat to the Center and find an R5 unit to heal you. Welcome AI units to come into the ship. Go after the remaining DCP and take it down. If you die at all during this process, respawn near an AAT on your map. Try to chase it down and hop inside. Now that both those CP's are gone, the Gungan's should have 2 CP's left. Usually your side will have taken their far left command post. If not don't worry, just blast down turrets and plow through any surviving opposition.
Naboo : Theed Playable side : CIS
Now you must take on another native faction : the Royal Guards. This one is a bit more trickier because they now have vehicles to take down infantry and vehicles. Also the Droideka has been added to your choice of unit. First off start as a pilot once again, or any unit that can hop into a vehicle. Usually your team-mates will be respawning under the AAT's and lower your reinforcments...unfortunatley. That's why get in there real fast and move it out of there. Again you are on your own. Take the AAT towards one of their side CP's. They are fairly easy to capture. Take a couple of nearby droids into the vehicle and transport them to your destination. Beware the Royal Guards, for they respawn a lot thanks to your Droideka. So fend off the side CP that you've taken and then get back into the AAT. Try to take back any lost command posts, if any. Then after capturing the side CP's go for the center command post. You must take down any turrets because they are known to take you down fast. Usually the Royal Guards are overwhelmed in the center respawning a lot. If you die in any of this process, respawn and find the nearest AAT. If you can't, choose a droideka or a droid sniper and stay in the back finishing off any survivors.
Kashyyyk : Islands Playable side : CIS
This level is ridiculous to beat. That's why you get some REAL assistance. Count Dooku helps you and you get a beefed up Super Battle Droid. For this one you yet again *rolls eyes* face another native force : the Wookiees. Very tough to take down and having a load of them standing shooting you, prepare for a lot of deaths. Start off at the Landing CP (Vehicles) And hop into a Droid Starfighter. Shoot a couple of times at clutters of Wookiees. After a LITTLE while, land near the Village Center. If you are a droid pilot, I wouldn't suggest running into battle. Switch to you health/ammo dispenser and run into the cabin. If you get slightly damaged, which you most certainly will, drop some down will running and pick it up and hide behind the hologram of the CP. Stay there crouching until it goes white. Then you can relax for a while, but expect to lose on of the harbours, east or west. After capturing the Village Center, go out and try to kill any Wookiees as a kamikaze attempt. After that, respawn near to a lost or almost losing command post. Try to fend off Wookiees. It's hard, but keep at it. After that, go for the far right CP of theirs. It's fairly easy to get. Choose a Super Battle Droid for a higher chance of survival. Stay and use your wrist rocket to blast off any opposing Wookiees. After that is done you can rock on near the center command post. The native's will be overwhelmed and lose. It will probably take you a couple of times to beat it or spawn killing to win, but don't give up. You have Dooku!
Geonosis : Spire Playable Side : Republic
I bet you guys remeber this bad boy field fight. I love playing on this level, although I don't prefer it over other levels. Here, Mace Windu assists you in this battle of the Clone Wars. Choose the Assembly Area as a Clone Trooper or a Clone Pilot. Hop into an LAAT/i and tell people to get off if they are on. Fly towards the Techno Union Ships. As you fly over there, you will notice the bunkers and spire, have vehicles waiting by. If you can, destroy the Spider Walker(s). They go down after some time. A good strategy is to switch through 4 of the 5 positions to take down the Spider. After destroying it, assuring the safety of your AT-TE beasts, hover over to the T.U.S. You can evenly use 6 missles on each ship if you don't want to over-power on one and be a long wait on another one. Use your main lasers on your pilot, then do the switch-a-roo thru the 3 other positions. The 5 position is the stand-by view, which is pretty useless I think. After a long wait destroying them all, take out any other Spider Walkers. I'm sure your team has taken the Spire or one of the Bunkers. You are most likely to lose the Derelict, which can cause droids to storm your DCP (Assembly Area). If this happens, you won't get your LAAT/i's back. Take the Spire if you haven't and take a bunker. Once that is done, their vehicles will not respawn. They should only have the Derelict left. Hop into an AT-TE and finish off any pesky droids. If you die in the process, try foot combat as a Jet Trooper or normal Clone Trooper.
*Deep Breath*
Kamino : Tipoca City Playable side : Republic
Ok, you thought the droids were tough then, pfft. On this level you start off with one, measly CP. And guess what, it leads you on a dash to death. Your nowhere near any close commands and the droids have the upper hand here, but don't worry, you have about 50 more reinforcments. Also you get the Jango Fett -like Jet Trooper with a Jet Pack and an EMP Launcher. Spawn as him and go to the right hallway and fly to those 2 CP's. Usually a Droideka will come rolling in. Don't fear. Use your EMP launcher and switch to your Commando Pistol. Fire away. Now the Cp is yours and now head to the next one. The droids will most likely be here already so brace yourself. Fend them off until you die or they die. If you die, respawn to that CP you got and go for it again. Do that until you have it. Now you have 3 and they have about 4. You're in for a loong battle. The droids give no mercy, and will stop at nothing to take YOU down. Fly down the bridge and take down any squatters at an area. Once you die, respawn at the Cloning Facility. Jet your way to the far left hallway and take the nearest command post. Now your reinforcments will have drained a lot and the droids will be maybe a little higher than yours right now. After getting it, go up a bridge and take on MORE droids. I know, it's tiring and you'll probably die again! Expect a high death level for yourself. Don't worry, even the best of us die in a battle against Droideka's and Droid Snipers. Beware of the CP you just got. Turrets love to pick off any respawning allies and your Reinforcment count goes even lower! Now you should be left with maybe 10 or less count. They will have around 20 or so. Choose your gut feeling of a best unit and camp out on your friendly CP. Wait for droids to storm in. On your map see if you can see any arrows coming up the bridge. If they are, toss a grenade there and see what happens. Just hope a Droideka doesn't decide to pay you a visit. I know this is a little late, but if or when the CIS capture your Cloning Facility charge in there as a Jet Trooper and fend off any respawning droids. You don't want to lose that. Try a couple of times on this level and you should have it down. If you like early getting a CP choose an ARC Trooper and lay mines on the bridges, let the droids find a new version of death.
Rhen Var : Harbour Playable Side : Republic
Ok, this level shouldn't be too tough. In fact, it's a lot of fun! On this level you get an AT-TE to spawn at. Go there as a Jet Trooper and go to this hill on the left. Follow it to the lighthouse (Neutral CP) and go to a large bump. Fly high and towards the Lighthouse and capture it. Once that is done, your victory will most be assured. One very important thing is don't let them capture the Ice Caves. You need that badly. If that goes, most likely your Western LZ will be taken. It's where your TX-130s spawn. They are your battle vehicles. Usually Droidekas run up the cave's entrance and rock out your silly AI. Try using the ARC trooper or the Jet Trooper to destroy their shields. If you see the Lighthouse dying out or the Ice Caves, respawn there real quick if you can. Once things get boring, spawn at the AT-TE and play as a Pilot and plow through the AAT's and turrets. The game should be yours.
Kashyyyk : Docks Playable Side : Republic
Ok this one is a lot tougher. But this time, you get the Wookiee natives. A big disadvantage is that the droids get 2 Spider Walkers and 3 AAT's and 2 STAPs. I would be afraid if I didn't have a good experience on taking down vehicles. Try the Jet Trooper towards the Beach Head to stop their vehicles from coming back. Otherwise just try sniping or full out grenade throwing as an ARC Trooper to take down enemy forces. No real advice on this level. Leaving mines on the walkways is great for taking down pesky Droidekas. If you want at the end, you can hear the 'Defeat is imminent' and you can respawn quickly at a Pier that is friendly. Change to your best unit that you are good with. But be sure not to choose a pilot. Droids will storm the PIER for being the last CP on the level if you're losing. Snipers are a good choice because they have the Recon Droid ability. You can use it to see droids below you and hurt them a bit. One very important thing is to make sure that the Health/Ammo droids are functional. If they aren't, you better hope you have a pilot left on your team in the pier.
Tatooine : Dune Sea Playable side : Empire
This is you first encounter against the Rebels. I just love this level. If you have a hate for this level, hop in a vehicle or practice on Instant Action. Here is a level where the Native units are against both sides. They are the Tusken Raiders. I have a little fear of them myself, but I choose to ignore them for the best. Start off at the Sand Crawler as a regular Soldier. Hop into a Speeder Bike, then turbo your way to the HomeStead. Usually the Rebels are just spawning so you will make it there safe. Get into the bunker and stand near and Ammo Droid. Throw grenades at the stairs incase of a sneaky Rebel income. It's really easy to obtain this CP. Usually the Rebels will be gone from there. If there are any stand-byers shoot 'em down and secure that Home Stead. The game is easily yours because now the Rebels have one CP : The Bluff. Here they spawn their vehicles. X-Wings, Combat Speeders and turrets. I wouldn't suggest running in there with your AT-ST and not having a couple of pilots following you because having their only CP and Vanguards standing by in turrets and dual-shot missle launchers, your destroyer will be destroyed. If you want there is the little over pass between the Sand Crawler and the Home Stead. You'll see it and think you can't get on top. But you can. Infact you can get up there with a vehicle! Go to the entrance of the HomeStead and look towards the Dune Sea Command Post. You'll see a runway upwards that leads to the top. There you can snipe and rebels that are spawning and killng any Imperials. The level is yours.
Tatooine : Mos Eisley Playable Side : Imperials
Probably the best level in the game, you play here as the Empire. Darth Vader assists you in this battle. Also you get the Dark Trooper with a Blaster Cannon and a jet pack! This unit is great for hiding on top of buildings and roofs. Start off at the Warehouse (Bottom CP) and choose a Shock/Storm/Dark trooper. They all are great for storming the Cantina. If you are quick enough you can throw a grenade right at the entrance of the Cantina and knock off a few kills. Do this until you have no grenades. Usually a Wookiee or Pilot escapes. Just poke him down and continue into the Cantina. If you chose the Shock trooper run into the first square and lay a mine. Run back and find any health or ammo from dead comrades or enemies. If no Rebels die from your mine your should be safe. Get some allies to bolt in there with Vader and kill remaining enemies. The Rebels have a real high chance of capturing the Market (Top CP) and it doesn't really matter. Now your next objective is going to the Hangar. If you capture it you get an odd AT-ST spawning outside the entrance! Although it takes a while to spawn, it might be worth the wait. You can either take the Hangar (hard) or follow what I say. Keep walking past the entrance, and go near the Shops (Far left CP) and go up a stair case. Usually some real strange Rebels will be standing there and just waiting. Throw a handy grenade down there and you will most likely hear *Get Down! Grenade Grenade!* Bang. There goes their defence. Hop down there. If you are a storm trooper it'll be easy to take down other defences. Just shoot down some stand-byers and take the CP for yourself. Now if you lost the Cantine/WareHouse/Market/ or Housing go capture it back. They should still have the Market and you should have this battle. If you die, respawn as anything you prefer.
Rhen Var : Citadel Playable Side : Empire
Oh boy! If you are bad at this level, I don't envy you. Practice this one a lot if you play vehicular levels. This one is just straight choke points and grenade lane. Choose the Dark Trooper and quickly jump towards the right. If you can get near where the Rebels main CP (Courtyard) is. Once you are at the Keep, toss grenades down the stairs the Rebels come up. It's hilarious watching innocent Rebels fly off the ledge. After your grenades run out, you'll probably die really fast. Now wait before you spawn and your Imperial friends will have captured the Keep or the top right command post. Sorry I can't remember that one. After that spawn there and Rebels will have taken the overlook (top center CP). You MUST claim it back or your Keep will be in trouble. I prefer you use the Shock Trooper in this level. After getting your CP back, go to the Crypt. If it's in the hands of the Rebels take it back, if not, run towards the Terrace. I think this one is a little easy to get. There might be someone in the turret and a sniper by the window. Pick off the turret with your Missle Launcher. After that kill the sniper. Defend there by reloading your Missle Launcher and killing and respawners. The Rebels will be overwhelmed and lose. Claim back any CPs you lose in this one.
Yavin 4 : Arena Playable side : Empire
Most of the players who own this game, hate both Yavins. Well that's too bad. Learn how to play different level you newbs. Okay, I don't want you playing in your AT-ST because the enemy vehicles hardly attack your base. And you have some handy turrets and mines laying down there. Okay, start off at your West Box. DO NOT SNIPE! It doesn't help you in this level, no matter how gosh darn good at sniping you are. Run to the left and turn right. You should be between the Enemies main CP and the Arena. Duck down behind this block and pick off any pilots or Wookiees. They are your main enemy. After there is no body left over there. Hop over the block and rush towards the CP. If there are any enemies spawning, there is a little base to the left that you can hide behind stairs. Just throw a grenade to take them down. Run in there and hide between the Ammo/Health droids and kill any respawners. It is easily yours. Take down any stand-byers and make sure nobody tries to come up the hill. Here you can play as the Shock/Scout/Dark Trooper. I would like you to become familiar with those. Take the Arena if it already isn't yours. Victory is in your hand my friend.
Yavin 4 : Temple Playable Side : Rebels
The destruction of the Death Star was a great success! "Admiral Ackbar" Okay, here is one of the tough levels. From here on, the levels get harder. Probably the biggest disadvantage is you get speeder bikes and your enemies get AT-STs and a speeder bike :xp: Hop into a speeder bike and safely make your way to the Forest Ruins (Neutral CP). Take it over while taking down any incoming imperials. Now turbo your way to their back CP. Make sure their vehicles have left and that there is the enough helath for you to fend it off for a minute and a half. Stand near a Health Droid incase you get fired at. Crouch down so you don't get easily noticed. Usually the Empire will just spawn and go down the hill. After capturing it, or trying to. DO that a couple of times if you fail. After getting it, take the Fountain. It's a good CP if you haven't got the main Empire CP. After that, the Empire might have taken the Forest Ruins, if not you are real lucky. Now go towards the bridge near the Dry Pool. Under there is the Empire CP of death. It's real hard to get because Imperials can see you, and it's hard to see if they are in turrets. If you can get some back up bring some. Try the Wookiee or Soldier. If you are good at sniping, stay up on the bridge and snipe a few. If you can protect the Altar and the Forest Ruins. If not go try to recapture them. Try a couple of mines on the left side of the Dry Pool, to really hurt those menacing AT-STs. It's a hard level, but try it out.
Hoth Playable Side : Rebels
I'm not sure about you, but I hate this level. Most owners love this level, and I'm still baffled how. On this one, it's a battlefield of white. The main visible things are 2 AT-STs and believe it 2 AT-AT's! These behemoths WILL hunt down any attempt to destroy them. Luckily you get 4 Snow Speeders to try and cable their legs. Tricky, because you have to pilot it and the AI units on your team aren't exactly smart. Just about as dumb enough to actually run the vehicle into the ground dumb. Another 2 disadvantages are you have a big bad Destroyable CP and it's the Shield Generator. If it's not protected, Imperials will take some almost stupidly placed turrets and start shooting at it with the assistance of 2 AT-STs and maybe 1 AT-AT. That's why your job is to get in a Snow Speeder with and AI unit and head towards their AT-ATs. Once you get near them switch to Co-Pilot and try to hit their legs. Hopefully they don't hit you because that'll be the end of you. It takes about 5 passes to take down them. After taking them down, which isn't easy you may die so retry. After taking them down head near their only CP : Forward Camp. Here, their AT-STs will stop spawning and you get some turrets to damage the Behemoths before they get moving. P.S The AT-ATs are Mobile Command Posts. Enemies can spawn at them, so don't let them get near your CPs. You are most likely to lose your Bunker or Rebel Outpost, so let them. If it's the Bunker, go recapture it because Imperials will run through the tunnels and shoot away at the Shield Generator. If they take the Rebel Outpost, try to lure them near the Echo Base. They will take the center CP which will be between the Echo Base and the Rebel Outpost. Now quickly take the Rebel Outpost and they will be stuck in the center ^_^ Use turrets and Vanguard mines and Missle Launchers to finish off any AT-STs. If you lose the Forward Camp do you best to get it back. If you have troubles with enemies spawn camping, look for Luke Skywalker. I forgot to mention it before, but he helps you (hardly) in this vehicular battle. Try this level a lot. It may get frustrating but just try your best. Maybe snipe a bit ontop of a hill.
Bespin : Cloud City Playable side : Rebels
Yes! Another fun level that nobody can hate. No vehicles, and tons of choke points and easy snipes! Start off at your bottom command post I think it should be called the Forward Entrance. Choose a Wookiee, and head down the hallway towards their CP. This is most likely the biggest brawl in the level. Rush real fast and firing your Bowcaster. Once a clutter of them are there, aim high and shoot a grenade from your launcher. You will most likely die a few times before being able to capture the Hallway. Try the Vanguard/Soldier attempt. Once you have that there will be a big circle infront of you. You can manuever around it. Usually there are a few snipers and Stormies standing there. Shoot 'em down and proceed. Now you'll find more snipers in a box. Move around will shooting at them so they don't hit you. Do that a couple of times and continue to their next CP. I am not familar with the Empire CPs because I usually capture Rebel CPs when I play as them. So take it and they should only have the CourtYard. Snipe away and the level is yours.
Bespin : Platforms Playble Side : Rebels
Ok, probably THEE most popular map for online and favorite for offline, here you take on the Imperials in sky and on foot. I'll give 2 little walkthroughs because this level is just grenade throwing and sniping.
Sky: Hop into an X-Wing and take down AA Turrets first then take down opposing TIE Fighters/Bombers. It's really easy and your comrades usually take the enemy back CPS :) It's really easy so don't worry about losing.
Foot: It's a little tougher than the air assault, but waaay more fun. Run as fast as your legs can take you to get to the Extractor. Once you capture it, the game becomes intense. Fend off Imperials until it is yours. Respawn as a sniper and climb up a steel cage and snipe from a high elevation. Or take the Wookiee or Vanguard and throw grenades, blast missles, and plant mines between entrances. Note: There will be explosions viturally everywhere. Keep the Extractor in your possesion and the battle is yours.
Endor : Forest Playble Side : Rebels
I personally don't like this level because the vehicles are useless and trees are everywhere. Okay, don't worry about the Shield Bunker because Imperial Pilots will usually restore it (it can happen) and the fact that it takes a long time, even with the Wookiee timebomb. The Imperials have a disadvantage. They don't have little Ewoks throwing spears and rocks, and that their vehicles will be destroyed because of booby-traps. Start off as a regular Soldier and work your way to the closest CP. It will be constantly explosions and blaster fire over there. Look out for sniping soldiers on the tree tops. Keep moving while trying to take possesion of the CP. Shoot down any respawners and if you can bring tons of Ewoks and allies. The time will be cut in half to capture it and you'll have cover fire! After that, defend it for a while still as a soldier and take down sniper in the trees. After that snipe away or soldier it out for more kills. Try to keep all of your command posts yours. AT-STs can be problems, because there are only so many traps they can set off. Try this strategy a couple of times and you should have the game. If you want, you can Kamikaze towards their next CP, but be warned, they only have 2 command posts and you have now 4!
I can't really walkthough all of the levels again, so just read the levels up there.^^
Here you duke it out on any planet as any faction. Take over both levels from a planet to make it in your possesion. After 4 victories you get to take over a planet or destroy/blockade it. There are special advantges for every level you posses. Here is the list
Bespin : Sabatoge : Enemy vehicles come into battle with %10 health.
Naboo : Bacta Tanks : Your troops slowly gain health over time, equivilant to standing near a health droid.
Rhen Var : Orbital Sensors : Your troops see more enemies on their maps and the enemy can't see snipers that are well hidden.
Tatooine : Jedi Hero : Vader/Windu/Skywalker/Dooku assist you in the battle.
Yavin 4 : Elite Training : Your troops become better snipers and know a lot more in combat
Kashyyyk : Reinforcments : Not known to anyones knowledge, best guess is only used on levels for finales IE Endor/Kamino/Hoth/Geonosis. Gives extra troops in battles
Regular Troopers
- All except the Super Battle Droid, have Blaster Rifles, Blaster Pistols, grenades, and Concussion grenades. A SBD has a Tri-Shot Wrist-Rocket and Wrist-Blaster
- Rebels have a Blaster Cannon, Clones have a DN Bolt Caster, Imperials have Mortar Launcher, Droids have Radiation Launcher
- Rebels have a dual-shot Missle Launcher, Clones have 1 shot with 2 ammo per reload, Imperials have single shot, CIS have single shot.
- CIS and Rebels have double zoom guns and clones and Imperials have single.
- Wookiees for Rebels, Droideka for CIS, Jet Trooper for Clones, Dark Trooper for Imperials
-X-Wing, Y-Wing, Combat Speeder, Speeder Bike, SnowSpeeder
-TIE Figher, TIE Bomber, AT-ST, AT-AT, Speeder Bike, IFT-T
-Droid Starfighter, MAF, STAP, AAT, Hailfire Droid, Homing Spider Droid, Geonosian Fighter
- Jedi Starfighter, LAAT/i, IFT-X, AT-TE,
You can write any questions or comments under this and I will do my best to answer them.
Melrek Krakan
Great Walkthrough!
A couple of things though...
you forgot speeder bike for the republic
You also might want to mention that the rebel rocket launcher is only accurate at long range if you lock on
clones and imp snipers have more ammo
When Rhen Var special bonus is used against you, you can't see any units on the mini map
You can use only one special bonus at a time in galactic conquest
I'm trying not to focus on Speeder Bikes. I was doing a walkthrough on the game, not the vehicles and units. The Orbital Sensors already have a description, I was giving it for against AI units. Most users don't know what it does to them.
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In a seismic shift on one of the most profound — and profoundly contentious — Roman Catholic teachings, the Vatican said that condoms are the lesser of two evils when used to curb the spread of AIDS, even if their use prevents a pregnancy.
The position was an acknowledgment that the church's long-held anti-birth control stance against condoms doesn't justify putting lives at risk.
"This is a game-changer," declared the Rev. James Martin, a prominent Jesuit writer and editor.
The new stance was staked out as the Vatican explained Pope Benedict XVI's comments on condoms and HIV in a book that came out Tuesday based on his interview with a German journalist.
The Vatican still holds that condom use is immoral and that church doctrine forbidding artificial birth control remains unchanged. Still, the reassessment on condom use to help prevent disease carries profound significance, particularly in Africa where AIDS is rampant.
"By acknowledging that condoms help prevent the spread of HIV between people in sexual relationships, the pope has completely changed the Catholic discussion on condoms," Martin said.
The change came on a day when U.N. AIDS officials announced that the number of new HIV cases has fallen significantly — thanks to condom use — and a U.S. medical journal published a study showing that a daily pill could help prevent spread of the virus among gay men.
"This is a great day in the fight against AIDS ... a major milestone," said Mitchell Warren, head of the AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition.
Theologians have debated for years whether it could be morally acceptable for HIV-infected people to use condoms to avoid infecting their partners. The Vatican years ago was reportedly preparing a document on the subject, but it never came out.
The groundbreaking shift, coming as it does from the deeply conservative pontiff, would appear likely to restrain any public criticism from Catholic conservatives, who on Tuesday insisted the pope was merely reaffirming the church's moral teaching..
Conservatives have feared that a comment like this would give support to Catholics who want to challenge the church's ban on artificial contraception in an environment where they feel they are under siege from a secular, anti-Catholic culture.
George Weigel, a conservative Catholic writer, said the Vatican was by no means endorsing condom use as a method of contraception or a means of AIDS prevention.
"This is admittedly a difficult distinction to grasp," he told The Associated Press in an e-mail. What the pontiff is saying is "that someone determined to do something wrong may be showing a glimmer of moral common sense by not doing that wrong thing in the worst possible way — which is not an endorsement of anything."
Benedict's comments come at a time when bishops in the United States are intensely focused on upholding the strictest views of Catholic orthodoxy, emphasizing traditional marriage, natural family planning based on a woman's menstrual cycle and making abortion the most important issue.
In the book, "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," Benedict was quoted as saying that condom use by people such as male prostitutes was a lesser evil since it indicated they were moving toward a more moral and responsible sexuality by aiming to protect their partner from a deadly infection.
His comments implied that he was referring primarily to homosexual sex, when condoms aren't being used as a form of contraception.
However, questions arose immediately about the pope's intent because the Italian translation of the book used the feminine for prostitute, whereas the original German used the masculine.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his comments to apply only to men. Benedict replied that it really didn't matter, the important thing was that the person took into consideration the life of another, Lombardi said.
"I personally asked the pope if there was a serious, important problem in the choice of the masculine over the feminine," Lombardi said. "He told me no. The problem is this: ... It's the first step of taking responsibility, of taking into consideration the risk of the life of another with whom you have a relationship."
"This is if you're a man, a woman, or a transsexual. ... The point is it's a first step of taking responsibility, of avoiding passing a grave risk onto another," Lombardi said.
Those comments concluded the press conference, and Lombardi took no further questions about how broadly this interpretation could be applied.
The clarification is significant.
UNAIDS estimates that 22.4 million people in Africa are infected with HIV, and that 54 percent — or 12.1 million — are women. Heterosexual transmission of HIV and multiple, heterosexual partners are believed to be the major cause of the high infection rates.
Benedict drew harsh criticism when, en route to Africa in 2009, he told reporters that the AIDS problem couldn't be resolved by distributing condoms. "On the contrary, it increases the problem," he said then.
In Africa on Tuesday, AIDS activists, clerics and ordinary Africans alike applauded the pope's revised comments.
"I say, hurrah for Pope Benedict," exclaimed Linda-Gail Bekker, chief executive of South Africa's Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation. She said the pope's statement may prompt many people to "adopt a simple lifestyle strategy to protect themselves."
In Sierra Leone, the director of the National AIDS Secretariat predicted condom use would now increase, lowering the number of new infections.
"Once the pope has made a pronouncement, his priests will be in the forefront in advocating for their perceived use of condoms," said the official, Dr. Brima Kargbo.
Lombardi said Benedict knew full well that his comments would provoke intense debate. Conservative Catholics have been trying to minimize the scope of what Benedict said since excerpts were published this weekend in the Vatican newspaper.
Lombardi praised Benedict for his "courage" in confronting the problem.
"He did it because he believed that it was a serious, important question in the world of today," Lombardi said, adding that the pope wanted to give his perspective on the need for greater humanized, responsible sexuality.
Luigi Accatoli, a veteran Vatican journalist who was on the Vatican panel that launched the book, put it this way:
"He spoke with caution and courage of a pragmatic way through which missionaries and other ecclesial workers can help to defeat the pandemic of AIDS without approving, but also without excluding — in particular cases — the use of a condom," Accatoli said.
The launch of the book, which includes wide-ranging comments on subjects from the sex abuse crisis to Benedict's belief that popes should resign if physically unable to carry out their mission, drew a packed audience to the Vatican press room. Making a rare appearance, Benedict's secretary, Monsignor Georg Ganswein, sat in the front row — an indication of event's significance.
In the book, the pope reaffirms Vatican opposition to homosexual acts and artificial contraception, as well as the inviolability of marriage between man and woman.
But by broadening the condom comments to also apply to women, the pope was saying that condom use is a lesser evil than passing HIV onto a partner, even when pregnancy is possible.
"We're not just talking about an encounter between two men, which has little to do with procreation. We're now introducing relationships that could lead to childbirth," Martin said.
Individual bishops and theologians have applied the lesser evil theory to the condom-HIV issue, but it had previously been rejected at the highest levels of the Vatican, Martin said.
Monsignor Jacques Suaudeau, an expert on the Vatican's bioethics advisory board, said the pope was articulating the theological idea that there are degrees of evil.
"Contraception is not the worst evil. The church does not see it as good, but the church does not see it as the worst," he told The Associated Press. "Abortion is far worse. Passing on HIV is criminal. That is absolute irresponsibility."
He said the pope broached the topic because questions about condoms and AIDS persisted, and the church's teaching hadn't been clear. There is no official Vatican policy about condoms and HIV, and Vatican officials in the past have insisted that condoms not only don't help fight HIV transmission but make it worse because it gives users a false sense of security.
The late Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo famously said in 2003 that the HIV virus could "easily pass through" a condom — setting off furious criticism by AIDS activists.
"This pope gave this interview. He was not foolish. It was intentional," Suaudeau said. "He thought that this was a way of bringing up many questions. Why? Because it's true that the church sometimes has not been too clear."
Lombardi said the pope didn't use the technical terminology of "lesser evil" in his comments because he wanted his words to be understood by the general public. Vatican officials, however, said that was what he meant.
"The contribution the pope wanted to give is not a technical discussion with scientific language on moral problems," Lombardi said. "This is not the job of a book of this type."
Associated Press reporters Rachel Zoll in New York, Jason Straziuso in Nairobi and AP Medical Writer Marilynn Marchione contributed to this report.


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The Secret Beyond Matter
The entire list
Çay TV, July 23rd, 2008
Adnan Oktar: EVERYONE MUST HONESTLY AGREE THAT TURKEY IS GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND THAT WE WILL REALLY BE A SUPER POWER. TURKEY WILL BE A GREAT STATE, GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE. IT WILL BE THE LEADER OF THE TURKISH-ISLAMIC WORLD, INSHA'ALLAH . We are in the early stages of this historic mission.
Indonesia Antara News Agency, September 16th, 2008
Adnan Oktar: THE CONCEPTION OF ISLAM THAT TURKEY DESCRIBES AND LIVES BY HAS BEEN AN EXCELLENT MODEL FOR EUROPE. EUROPE REGARDS TURKEY AS VERY GOOD AND USEFUL ON THIS SUBJECT; IT REGARDS THE MODEL OF ISLAM IT LIVES BY AS IDEAL FOR THE WORLD. This has completely resolved the issue. An enlightened, rational and honest conception of Islam will reign across the world under Turkish leadership, insha'Allah.
Azerbaijan ATV, August 27th, 2008
Adnan Oktar: Turkey really is a model country for the Islamic world. In other words, it has a structure that has a good understanding of Turkish nationalism and applies that very well, AND THAT ALSO UNDERSTADS AND APPLIES ISLAM VERY WELL, IN ADDITION TO ADOPTING SECULARISM VERY WELL. HOWEVER, ALL ISLAMIC COUNTRIES AGREE THAT TURKEY IS THE COUNTRY THAT BEST APPLIES AND LIVES BY ISLAM.
Yeni Akit / March 17th, 2012
After the army and the police, the new regime that took over after the overthrow of Gaddafi now wants Libyan youth to be educated by Turkey. TİKA Libya Program Coordinator Urhan said, ''What Libya needs is education. Education of managers, professional education, education of the young. Libyan officials have many requests on that."


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Friday, June 8, 2012
What's Going On
14 comments:
Ha.Ha.Ha. I enjoyed reading about your amusing life! Way to go switching it up to teach math, I always pretend I will switch up nursing clinical specialties but never do. Good luck with that gorgeous piano, very awesome!ReplyDelete
This is my first visit but I will be back, you are hysterical. I had the same problem with my dog she licked her feet to death. She now eats Beneful and does really well with itReplyDelete
1st of all, congratulations on your new job. Somehow I have a feeling that you will be a great math teacher and you will get those kids excited about math!! As a result, they will learn a lot!ReplyDelete
I'm sorry to hear about your dog, and your friend. Bummer!! It's hard enough finding a friend you like that much.
How nice for your mom to give you the piano, and I think it will be a great asset to your home. Will your girls now take lessons??
Hope the rest of your summer goes well. I'm a bit jealous because school doesn't end here until June 29th.
p.s. I have a friend who has a dog who is allergic to EVERYTHING. quite literally. so they have to give the dog a raw diet. So, like raw meat, eggs and i don't know what else. Other than the fact it's not cooked, the dog eats better than everyone else I think. lolReplyDelete
LOL, Jill ~ never a dull moment at your place! Congratulations on your new position. Your classroom is good in the sense that it is bare enough that you can build on it the way you want it to look. I know you will have all your cuteness introduced here.ReplyDelete
That classroom is...interesting. I would cover it with contact paper. You can paint the contact paper, or just stick with boring white. I've done that with ugly shelving before. It makes me want to curse, though, as I try to line up all of the edges.ReplyDelete
We took Lola to the vet to get her some doggie downers so we could drive to California without her hyperventilating. We spent a dollar a pill, and the doctor assured us that we could give her only 1/4 of the pill, but up to 2 pills. Of course our dog needs 2 pills. So now I have to pay for another vet visit to get pills to drive back to Idaho, because the doctor was so sure that she would only need 1/4 of the pill.
Jill I can't wait to hear your piano playing.. I had the same idea when I was preggo with baby 3.. he's five now and I am a level 3 piano player. I think your new classroom has "potential" I don't think I'd do curtains unless you need to get to that stuff all the time I'd do 1/4 plywood.. you can chalkboard paint it, or mod podge it, hang it in front of the shelves with eye hooks and cuphooks, or if you are feeling very fancy.. run a double curtain rod along the front and hang the panels of plywood from the rod like a wooden curtain... can't wait to see what you decide!ReplyDelete
So, I think I would cover the boards with chalkboard contact paper. That way you can doodle in chalk or label things even as you move them around later.ReplyDelete
Congratulations on the new job, I am sure your classroom is going to look fantastic once you are done with it! I hope you get everything sorted with your dog, my sisters dog is allergic to everything in sight so I know what a pain that is! The piano is gorgeous! :)ReplyDelete
*Smooch* Good ta see ya!!...Ahh, how I have missed the time to read blog posts... especially yours.ReplyDelete
Yeah, on the new position. I love Middle School. I did find out that I'll still be in the Middle School next year, but not sure of what position. I got a BIG hint there there will be a new Math Learning Center & the posting will be in the next couple of weeks. Our principal 'highly suggested' 3 times during a recent conversation that I apply. Woo Hoo - keep your fingers crossed!
Nice piano! We only have a keyboard here that the Princess plays on. In addition to having brown thumbs for gardening - I have two left thumbs when it comes to playing the piano. Good luck with that.
As for the shelves... you could always ask the school for some new ones.... ROTFLOL. I crack myself up. Some of the readers above have excellent ideas, I on the other hand have none. Go with them.
As for the dog food, we switched recently too. My future DIL gave me a site that was really helpful: http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/
Congrats to you on the new job!ReplyDelete
I like your idea of adding curtains to the shelving. That will really add some color to the room. I'm excited to see what you do with it!
Love the way you write. Humorous and real. I can totally relate to the ugly girl crying. Felt that way my last week of school. Glad others feel the same about how girls cry. haha
Have a great week, Jill!
I can't wait to see your pinterest boards for school. Your new room is, um, ugly, but it is about 4x bigger than mine. You can't see the cabinets in mine for the wall-to-wall desks.ReplyDelete
Can you paint the ugly cupboards? I saw this info on Pinterest about painting laminate furniture.ReplyDelete
Congrats on the math teaching job, but I will miss your updates on your 5th grade class, because I teach 4th grade, and I loved to hear your take on the kiddos.
Congratulations on the job-and I'm so sorry about your best friend moving. I had that happen about 10 years ago and it really was terrible. :( My oldest is a middle schooler and although she's wonderful, I can't imagine teaching some of her peers! I'm sure you will rock their world!ReplyDelete


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Photos by Gene Tjin (Theory Communication and Design)
In today's information age, everybody seems connected to the latest useful and useless news and trends on the net. Its weird when someone of a totally different era knows a lot about a youthful subject or hobby. I lost it when I found out Republican Presidential candidate John McCain's wife, Cindy is totally down with drifting! She has taken lessons with D1 drivers and even has her own Nissan Silvia. When it comes to the new Nissan GT-R it seems like everyone has some bit of information about the new supercar fighter. Hell, even my mom was kicking it about the specs and asking me if I'm trading in my R32 GT-R to get one. The GT-R has crossed the lines of the pure enthusiast and gone far more mainstream.
The wide appeal of the car was definitely on the radar of Bulletproof Automotive who specialize in exotic Japanese aftermarket gear. The R35 GT-R is Japan's definitive supercar, leading the way for the engineering capabilities of the entire country. Owner of Bulletproof Automotive, Ben Schaffer has built many high-end rockets but this one would prove to be far different. The car was new and they took delivery only weeks before the big SEMA show where it would debut. The parts were ordered well in advance of even receiving the car, so that when it landed, they could start surgery right away.
Under the lightweight lid, the VR doesn't need much to propel the 3800-pound car with ease. The plastic piping sections were replaced with Top Secret's hard pipe kit to allow more boost to flow through its veins. Amuse goodies were source from Japan starting with free flowing stainless steel turbo outlets pipes. The gases head out to to an Amuse R1 Titan exhaust which is extremely lightweight considering it is full titanium. A set of Amuse R1 catalysers were added to maintain CARB but keep the power levels up. After all of the hard parts were bolted up, the car was tuned with a COBB Tuning AccessPORT ECU. The bump in power is easily handled by Borg Warners stout 7-speed transaxle that makes the car so invincible.
The outside of the car was ramped up pre-SEMA too since regardless of what mechanical state the car is in, it needs to look solid. The Bulletproof team stepped it up a level by painting the car and OEM Nissan color but not intended for the R35. Borrowed from the R34, the car underwent a complete color change to Midnight Purple II paint. A color that has a level of luxury and prestige and we suspect Nissan might release this color later on for the SpecV (yes, sadly it is not called VSpec), so the Bulletproof guys beat them to it. The custom paint was complimented by several body modifications including a Zele carbon fiber front bumper with matching lip. The sideskirts and rear under spoiler are also carbon fiber from Zele. The hood ducts, fender ducts and and front grill are also made from carbon fiber. And Amuse dry carbon wing has been added for increased downforce and the project was clad in MS-R original graphics. The real story here is the roof panel that has been replaced with a GT-RR one-off piece, there is nothing else like it in the world.
Rolling on 20-inch stock wheels, the GT-R can't accommodate much more although we have seen some 22s fitted in Japan. With the ride height slightly reduced using an Amuse coilover system, the fitment was carefull consideration when ordering the new wheels. Offered in Japan only, the BBS LM-DBK 20x10s are found underneath the car wrapped in Toyo R888s. Lurking behind the R-compounds are a set of Endless brakes for extreme stopping power. Equipped with mindbending 15-inch Brembos out fo the box, the new Endless set up is a Mono-6 on all four corners with E-slot rotors to expel heat.
Inside the car has stuck to the form follows function route. Much of it has been left intact but the load has been lightend and safety fact ramped up. The factory seats have been expelled in order to make room for Bride GIAS carbon/Kevlar reclining seats. The factory belts and retractors have been tossed in favor of Takata 4-point greens.
Shaffer set out to design the next SpecV before Nissan got around to it. The Bulletproof GT-R was designed to have a modest bump in power, more aggressive tuning with clean and stylish visual upgrades. A car that can be used everyday but will tear it up on any track. With the SpecV arriving in Nissan dealers within the next few years, the debate will be whether to buy the factory hotrod or do as Shaffer has done here and go buck-wild to create it himself. With all of the buzz at SEMA and magazines fighting over cover rights, it is safe to say that Sahffer did something right. Although in the seven years we have known our boy "Shaffs," he rarely does anything wrong.
Owner: Ben Schaffer (Bulletproof Automotive)
Location: Irvine, CA
Vehicle: 2009 Nissan GT-R
- Nissan 3.8L VR38DETT V6TT
- Amuse R1 Titan STTI Exhaust, Titanium
- Amuse R1 Sports Catalyst RS, Titanium
- Amuse R1000 Turbo Outlet Pipes
- Zele Carbon Radiator Shroud
- Top Secret Titanium Intercooler Hard Pipe Set
- Cobb Tuning accessPORT ECU
- Endless Mono-6 Racing Brake Kit (Front and Rear) with e-slot rotors
- BBS Japan Only Limited Edition LM-DBK 20" Wheels
- Toyo R888 Tires
- Amuse Suspension
- Midnight Purple II
- Zele Front Bumper, Front Lip Spoiler, Carbon
- Zele Side Skirts, Carbon
- Zele Rear Under Spoiler, Carbon
- Zele Bonnet Air Duct Set, Carbon
- Zele Front Grill, Carbon
- Zele Front Fender Duct Set, Carbon
- Amuse Dry Carbon Hi-Mount Wing
- Nissan OEM Japan clear markers (front and rear)
- MS-R Original Graphics
- GT-RR.COM One-Off Carbon Roof
- Bride – Gias Carbon/Kevlar reclining bucket seats
- Takata Harnesses