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Boost your summer workout motivation with these social media campaigns
If you're among the one in four people who pay for a gym membership but hasn't exercised for six months (go on, own up) or one of the 36 per cent who have recently cancelled their membership, it's time to look beyond the gym for shape-up motivation. And this summer, you can find inspiration at your fingertips from a bounty of new social media fitness campaigns, guaranteed to get you moving. Already a great platform for exchanging workout tips and motivation, social media is now buzzing with more structured fitness campaigns tailored to your goals, whether you want to discover a new sport, up your running mileage or get off the couch and ready for the beach.
'The great thing about online campaigns is that they're here to inspire you whenever you're ready to be inspired,' says Chris Scott of London Sport, an organisation aiming to get one million Londoners more active by 2020, partly using social media campaigns. 'They can be a way to fire you up to do more of what you're already doing but they can also be the trigger to get you moving when you need a little nudge, perhaps while you're crashed out on the sofa. Having a chance to be inspired into activity at those times is a great opportunity to shift you out of that passive mentality and into a process of getting active.'
So if you're ready to be moved – and ready to move – here are the hottest, most inspiring campaigns to check out right now. On your marks, get set, google…
WHAT: #LDNMovesMe is a three-month digital initiative designed to inspire Londoners to celebrate and share the ways they get active, whether it's an early-morning yoga class, a bike ride to the office, an after-work HIIT class or a weekend walk. It's easy to join in and inspire other city-dwellers to get moving – just throw out a picture of your workout on social media and tag it with #LDNMovesMe. Then discover new ideas by checking what others are up to. 'Whatever activity means to you, the #LDNMovesMe campaign is there to motivate you to do more of what you love,' explains freerunning legend François 'Forrest' Mahop. The goal: 'to build a community of Londoners who are healthier, happier, and more inspired to participate,' explains Peter Fitzboydon, Chief Executive of London Sport. NEED TO KNOW: Make it a good post – the best content will be shared on the campaign's microsite: ldnmovesme.com where you can also find more workout ideas.
WHAT: Runners – improve your stride by getting in the pool! This programme from Speedo aims to show you how swapping 5K on your feet for 1K in the water will help you become a fitter and stronger runner by reaping the benefits (improved endurance, core and upper-body strength) of a full-body workout through swimming. Designed by former ITU triathlete and duathlete Annie Emmerson, the MAKE 1K WET programme features 1K swim-training plans, from beginner to advanced, catering for people who are running anything from 5K to marathons. 'Runners are mileage-driven, so it's a great way to showcase that you can achieve as much through swimming as running,' says Emmerson. Download a three-month plan from the Make1KWet hub at speedo.com to your smartphone. As you progress, share your results, tagging your tweets #Make1KWet. NEED TO KNOW: A recent international study of people who swim and run found that more than 85 per cent said swimming helps enhance their running performance.
WHAT: Short on shape-up time? Get fit on your way to work with this campaign designed to inspire you to switch your commute (by train, bus or car) with running or walking to work, helping you keep fit, save money and even get there faster. Enter your start and finish points and mode of transport of your commute on the landing page, which calculates the distance and time of the journey then creates a run/walk. Download the Racefully iphone app beforehand, and you can race against your commute. 'It's a fun and affordable way to add fitness into your life, plus helping the environment and saving money are big motivators,' says Racefully co-founder David Naylor. Share your runs by using #LetsRunIt. NEED TO KNOW: You could also win a lightweight commuter's backpack by iamrunbox worth £134. To be in with a chance, share your run to Facebook or Twitter and tag it #LetsRunIt.
WHAT: Sponsored by Lucozade Sport, this drive to get to get 1 million people moving more by 2020 kicked into action in October 2016 with Made to Move Sessions, a series of streamed workout classes hosted by influential sport and fitness ambassadors including IBF Heavyweight World Champion boxer Anthony Joshua and PT and social media influencer Emily Skye, available here. 'This is a perfect platform to give everyone the access and knowledge they need to be fit and heathy,' says Skye. NEED TO KNOW: Lucozade Sport has launched a Made to Move app as part of the campaign. Users can track their movement across a range of activities and are rewarded with giveaways and prize draws. 'Just 5,000 steps could make you a prize winner,' says Claire Higgins, Senior Brand Manager at Lucozade Sport. So, move more, win more!
WHAT: Sport England's famous campaign to help overcome the fear of judgement that stops many women and girls from doing sport has evolved for 2017. Having encouraged 2.8 million 14- to 40-year-old women to do some or more activity, the advertising campaign features real women participating in their sports. You can look for activities – from archery to Zumba – to try in your area and get advice on getting involved in sport here. NEED TO KNOW: Inspire other women by making your own This Girl Can poster using the app at app.thisgirlcan.co.uk/#register and uploading it to social media. This Girl Can Workplace Tour will be taking yoga yurts to workplaces in the west of England, while other areas will have individual hashtags to help their communities boost participation.


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Laburnam Arch 2021
Taken late one evening at Bodnant Garden, Conwy, North Wales
Llanberis Mountain Goat
A heard of 20 or so mountain goats blocking our path.
Rotten Apples
The apple trees at the Cadnant Hidden Gardens were dipping with fruit. Some like these, well past their best, but being loved by insects.
Box pyramids
These fabulous topiery pyramids at Cadnant Hidden Gardens are the first thing you see
Fungi - Not quite macro
Taken hand-held with a standard Olympus 12-40mm Pro lens as close as I was able.
Hidden falls
Cadnant Hidden gardens near Menai Bridge have many streams and water falls that flow down to Afon Cadnant (River Cadnant)
Autumn Falls
Taken during a family day out at Plas Cadnant, Menai Bridge
Grand Pier
Llandudno Pier looking back to the Grand Hotel and the Great Orme.
Little Orme, Storms are Coming
Looking towards the Little Orme and Gwynt Y Mor Wind Farm located about 10 miles off the Llandudno and Conwy coast.
Llandudno Pier
One of those accidental shots and by no means perfect. I was shooting the promenade when these two lads turned and clinked cups in a cheers greeting.
Gone for a Swim
Prom Lights
Caught in the Act
Ball of Glass
Beach defense
Far Away to Pen Y Gogarth
Pen Y Gogarth (The Great Orme), Llandudno taken from Pen Mon, Ynys Mon (Anglesey)
Ancient tree
One of the many old trees found in the gardens at Portmeirion
Money, Money, Money
Coins embedded into a tree stump. While making for a good photo, it should not be encouraged.
All From My Travels
Photography styles
©2000-2022 Neil A. Stevens, All rights reserved
Site operated by Peak XV Consulting Ltd

subset: commoncrawl


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You know you're supposed to get eight hours of sleep a night, but what's really going on up in your body during that time? Quite a lot, it turns out. Here's a peek inside your nighttime body factory.
1. As you fall asleep, you jerk. Every time.
According to sleep experts, the degree of the jerk is suggestive of how sleepy you are, so the bigger the jerk, the more tired your body.
2. Your body temperature goes way down.
When we're active during the day, we burn more calories, so lowering temperature is a way to reduce the burn rate and save calories. "It's like how bears hibernate," says Dr. Avi Ishaaya, a sleep specialist and assistant clinical professor of medicine at UCLA. "Sleep is a survival mechanism."
3. You do a full toxin cleanse.
This allows the body and brain to rejuvenate. In people who don't sleep well, the filtration isn't as effective, so experts say that may help explain why people who are sleep-deprived can go a little crazy.
4. You forget useless information."We take in all this information all day long, and most of it is luckily forgotten," says sleep specialist Christopher Colwell at UCLA School of Medicine. "If you remembered everything, it would fill up your brain, so a sorting process takes place during sleep."
5. Your body becomes paralyzed, but your brain is its most active.The brain of someone who is dreaming is actually more active than that of a person who is awake, and requires more oxygen. "One theory is that in REM sleep, you're organizing thoughts and learning, filing information, but no one really understands specifically why a sleeping mind is active," says Dr. Alon Y. Avidan, a professor of neurology and director of UCLA's Sleep Disorders Center. Your mind is so active during sleep that it can even make important connections and discoveries, researchers say.
6. All your individual cells — not just your brain cells — are being completely repaired.These restorative processes take care of all the damage that's occurred during the day. When you don't get enough sleep, the effect doesn't just zap your brain — it impacts your whole body. Hence why you feel like you've been beat up after an all-nighter.
Related - 11 Reasons Apple Cider Vinegar Is the Magic Portion You Need In Your Life
7. Your immune system is at an all-time high.One study showed that people who received flu shots and were sleep-deprived the next night did not create the antibodies required to protect against the flu. "As soon as I see the first signs of an upper respiratory infection, I try to sleep for 10 hours," says Dr. Jordan Stern, founder and director of the BlueSleep Center in New York City. "If you're chronically sleep deprived, you're more likely to develop recurring infections."
8. You wake up between five and 15 times per hour.It usually happens when we shift to different stages of sleep, like from dreams to deep sleep, and the awakenings happen so briefly that we don't remember them.
9. You're probably breathing — a fact most of us take for granted during sleep — but up to 30% of people actually stop breathing at night.Up to 90% of people with this disorder, sleep apnea, go undiagnosed, including young women. The life expectancy for someone with untreated sleep apnea is only 58 years, so if you or your partner snores at night, it's time to get checked out, says Dr. Stern.
From: Cosmopolitan
Photo By Shutterstock
Photo By Shutterstock


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Clogau Looking Glass Collection
The beautifully faceted white topaz at the centre of the pieces in this delightful collection represents the magical mirror through which Alice enters a glorious new world. It is one inhabited by the Red Queen, Tweedledee & Tweedledum and the delightful nonsense of the Jabberwocky. Each handcrafted piece contains rare Welsh gold. These pieces are inspired by the magical adventures of Lewis Carroll's Alice. Alice Liddell, the young girl who inspired the author, first visited Llandudno in 1861, staying at the Tudno Villa apartments, now the St. Tudno Hotel. The Liddell family also had a holiday home at Penmorfa on the West Shore.


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Youngest helicopter pilots qualified for the 14th FAI World Helicopter Championship
The FAI Rotorcraft Commission (CIG) announces the preliminary results of their worldwide search to find the youngest qualified helicopter pilots.
The youngest male helicopter pilot identified so far is Andrew Gibbs of the United States who was just 17 when he qualified on 7th January 2012.
The youngest female pilot also qualified at the age of 17. She is Marlene Floimair (see photograph - She is on the left hand seat of the helicopter with the headset on).
Together with her crew member Gisela Freund they will be competing for Austria in the 14th FAI World Helicopter Championship in Moscow 2012, possibly the youngest couple yet.
The Commission congratulates these youngsters on their skill and performance wishing them every success in their future careers in the Rotorcraft World.
We will bring you further news as we hear it.


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Unwanted fire alarms are a problem for the fire service and the community. NFPA® estimates that fire departments respond to more than 2 million false fire alarm calls each year. According to NFPA 72®: National Fire Alarm and Signaling Code, an unwanted alarm is any alarm that occurs that is not the result of a potentially hazardous condition. NFPA developed the Fire Service Guide to Reducing Unwanted Fire Alarms to provide the fire service with a free resource that offers guidance in the following areas:
The Guide is an important tool for line firefighters, fire officers, and fire prevention personnel to provide basic knowledge on how fire alarm systems and detection devices operate and assess the cause of alarms where no emergency condition is apparent. The Guide can assist Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJ's) in developing strategies to manage response to unwanted alarms thru practices reflective of risk assessment, resources management, and current Code recommendations. (PDF, 17 pp., 2012)


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About finalRender 3.5 SE
finalRender 3.5 SE for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design is the perfect choice for bigger production houses and advanced users seeking the maximum in quality and flexibility, as well as, mainstream user base.
The product uses the same rock solid Hollywood production-proven rendering core and produce the same rendering results. A complementary copy of finalToon 3.5 is included with a purchase of the version.
finalRender 3.5 SE comes with a vast feature set. To read more about them, click on the Download Features List.
The cebas Non-Photo-Realistic (NPR) renderer for 3ds Max, finalToon 3.5, has also been upgraded with features and functionality. finalToon 3.5 is available as an integral part of finalRender 3.5 SE or as a standalone product.
finalRender 3.5™: Experience The True Power of Rendering!
Alice in (Stereo-) Wonderland
The new finalRender SE Stereo Camera offers the 3ds Max user a sophisticated way to reproduce true 3D stereo camera effects from within 3ds Max. cebas was able to develop this 3ds Max rendering solution that has no issues with live action footage, allows proper compositing of existing footage (created with thinkingParticles R4), and matches rendering setups created in Maya. A true 3D stereo camera model into finalRender, it proved to be an ideal rendering solution for major movie productions.
finalRender R3 SE was the rendering system of choice for Uncharted Territory for the 3D VFX in the blockbuster movie "2012." DomeLight proved to be the key lighting method used to create believable and fast global illumination scenery. It also showed great stability in ultra-complex scenes with thousands of animated objects, possessing millions of polygons. It is now faster, smoother and better than before, accelerating both the animation and QMC rendering modes.
Compatibility 3ds Max 2015 | 3ds Max 2014 | 3ds Max 2013
3ds Max Design 2015 | 3ds Max Design 2014 | 3ds Max Design 2013
Ocean Object and Material Enhancements
User input is very important to cebas. The latest feedback on Ocean Material and Ocean Object has led to more fine-tuning and upgrades in rendering and processing speed.
fR-CarPaint2 Material
As the successor of the fR-CarPaint material, fR-CarPaint2 offers vastly enhanced, real-world lacquer and paint effect simulation as found in actual metal car finishes.
fR Reinhard Tone Mapper Effect
The fR Reinhard tone mapper effect is an all-purpose image tone mapping tool. It is used to strip down HDRI to standard RGB values suitable for display devices such as monitors, TV screens, or for print media.
Full License of pyroCluster 3.5
pyroCluster offers state-of-the-art volume acceleration rendering technologies and is one of the fastest, most flexible 3D smoke/cloud generators for 3ds Max.
fR-3DGradient: 3D Unlimited
fR-3DGradient is an advanced texture map optimized for maximum flexibility and performance. This new procedural texture map brings the power of the 3d dimension to the user's finger tips.
fR-CD: No CD can do without it
The fR-CD shader material manages the interaction of light rays that hit the surface based on true optical effects. A freely adjustable spectral color gradient defines the angle at which a color should be reflected.
fR-Curvature lets you get curvy with its real-time convex and concave shader that takes the curvature of a mesh and maps it with colors, maps, and textures. fR-Curvature is a spectacular tool for masking other maps, as well as creating effects.
fR-DistantFur Structures
fR-DistantFur is a special fur shader for finalRender 3.5 SE that allows the rendering of surfaces with nearly unlimited amounts of "micro-fur", or short hair. This material render effect works for distant objects only.
For rendering landscapes, mountains, and valleys with sand, rocks, or snow, fR-Elevation offers extensive controls for quick-and-easy setup. An unlimited and expandable amount of layers, each with its own material.
fR-MeshDistance's main purpose is to automatically fade the texture map to black based on the distance of the respective object to the surface. Its One or more "exterior" objects may also be chosen to measure the distance between the surface to which the map is applied and the picked object(s).
fR-ReWrapper Material
finalRender offers an advanced method to add more control to Render Elements and their 3ds Max output. With the introduction of the fR-ReWrapper material, Render Elements can be individually attenuated by material. A Refractive object in the beauty pass may appear solid, or with a different color in the Refraction Render Element.
fR-ThinFilm simulates object surfaces coated with an ultra-thin layer of a different material refracting and reflecting light rays based on the viewing angle and light position.With fR-ThinFilm applied, light hitting an object is split into a user defined color rainbow.
Payment & Security
Your payment information is processed securely. We do not store credit card details nor have access to your credit card information.


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Swakopmund is Namibia's holiday mecca, a destination for tourists and locals alike looking to escape the heat of the interior and to have a little adventure.
The city itself resembles a small German town and manages to create a feeling of timelessness with its palm-lined streets, seaside promenades, restaurants, cafes, art galleries and museums. And while there's plenty to do within city limits, the real action happens in the desert surrounding Swakopmund. Quad-biking, sand-boarding, sand-skiing, parasailing and dozens of other guided adrenaline inducing activities are available by reservation from many of the adventure companies operating in the area. At Walvis Bay, visitors can join a dolphin cruise or explore the lagoon on a kayak tour.
Even with all this excitement Swakopmund serves as a good break during a busy vacation. Relax and have fun in a place well suited for both.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Is the relational database now a commodity?
Your thoughts on the past and present
Reg Reader Workshop For those of us who were around in the industry during the mid to late 80s, it is interesting to think back to a time when vendors of relational database management systems (RDBMS) were struggling to be taken seriously.
The line up then was DB2, Ingres, Informix, Oracle and Sybase, and back in those days RDBMS specialists took pride in being able to tune engines and database designs to get the most out of these very special beasts. In expert circles, debates would rage over the relative merits of multi-threaded versus multi-engine servers, row versus page level locking, the efficiency and performance of stored procedures versus the standard nature of raw SQL, and so on.
These were the days when Sybase SQL Server would come pre-configured out of the box with 4MB of cache and many users actually ran with that default. And the largest database size? Well, there was a race in the industry between vendors who could come up with the first reference site with a 1GB database, then Sybase started its "1GB Club", which was made up of some of the largest and most adventurous users.
It is a little sad when us old pioneers hear people talking about the RDBMS now being a commodity, but who are we to argue when you can download and run MySQL - an engine that is much more powerful and versatile than anything we were working with the early days - for zero cost? You can even get a community version of the previously "big iron" DB2 from IBM for free.
There is a counter-argument, however, that while basic RDBMS server functionality to handle structured relational data probably has become commoditised, the world has moved on. From a physical perspective, for example, platform architectures are a lot more sophisticated and varied, and today we have to think about everything from stand alone small footprint servers, through clustering, blade servers, and virtualisation, to full blown grid computing. The type and range of information that needs to be managed is also quite different – XML documents, binary documents, graphics, video, voice and geo-spatial data.
We have then seen the RDBMS assume new roles. While specific analytical servers to support business intelligence are still in demand, for example, more and more organisations are using the analytical features that are now embedded natively in mainstream RDBMSs to build very functional data warehouses (see chart).
Finally, there are the modern-day requirements for openness and interoperability, and the sheer performance, scalability, and resilience characteristics necessary to handle high volume transaction systems, busy 24/7 public facing websites, and highly dynamic data warehouses to quench the ever growing thirst for the latest business performance information among business users.
Against this background, is it really just a case of picking any old RDBMS and running with it for the job at hand? If we had true commoditisation, this would be the case.
So what do you think?
We know you have something to say on how the requirements for database management systems have evolved and what will be important in the future, so give us your thoughts in the discussion areas below. ®


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Heaven Official's Blessing Lucky Braided Bracelet
Heaven Official's Blessing Lucky Braided Bracelet
- Xie Lian lucky bracelet: The Central Plains has Chinese immortal music, and immortal music has Prince Xie Lian. The bracelet as a whole is designed according to the color of the cartoon Prince Yue Shen. With metal plate engraving Prince Yue Shen's mask, the peach blossom shape pendant atmosphere is elegant, retro, and elegant, and with complete meaning.
- Hua Cheng lucky bracelet: Clothes red than maple, skin white as snow, silver butterfly chasing in the sleeve of the lapel. The bracelet as a whole is designed according to the cartoon ghost king Hwaseong. With metal plaque engraved scimitar doom, copper coin-shaped pendant atmosphere elegant, everything is complete, which means rich and noble.
- Brand name: MiniDoll
Material and size
Materials: Polyester, aluminum alloy, rhinestone.
- Size: The circumference of the knitting part is 26.5 cm/10.4 inches (adjustable).
- Processing time: The estimated delivery time is April 2023.
- Product code: TOY-PLU-864
Customer Reviews
Heaven Official's Blessing Lucky Braided Bracelet
hank you for your feedback on the Heaven Official's Blessing Lucky Braided Bracelet. We appreciate your support and are glad to hear that you're satisfied with your purchase. If you have any more questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out. Happy shopping!
It's a very delicate TGCF bracelet; I sent it to my mother, and she loves it so much. :)
We're delighted to hear that the Heaven Official's Blessing Lucky Braided Bracelet is bringing joy to your mother! It's wonderful to know that she loves it and appreciates its delicate design. Thank you for choosing this bracelet as a gift, and if there's anything else we can assist you with or if you have any more comments, please let us know. We hope your mother continues to enjoy her beautiful bracelet!
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All product prices do not include import duties. To the best of our knowledge, less than 1% of packages are subject to customs duties. However, if you are notified by your local customs office, then you will be required to pay the customs duty.
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We will ship from our warehouse in Beijing, China. In-stock products will be shipped within 24-48 hours of your payment. Pre-order products take approximately 10 days to 3 months - this is stated in the description of each product.
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Due to COVID-19, most packages take 50%-300% more time than normal. Please feel free to contact us with any parcel tracking questions and we will do our best to serve you.
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No problem, you can visit our FAQ page for more detailed information, or you can talk to us via the Chat button, send us a message via the Contact Us page, or send us an email at email@example.com We look forward to hearing from you. :)
Not sure if you want to buy it?
We recommend reading our over 400 customer reviews with real purchase history.


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Cs 1.6 - Fragmovie #1 - Ludacris Get Back, Motherfucker
Рейтинг: 0
Просмотров: 867
Текст оды целиком и бесплатно:
Heads Up Heads Up Here's another one... and a... and a... another one.
(Yeek-Yeek Woop-Woop) Why you all in my ear? Talkin' a whole bunch a shit that I ain't tryin to hear.
Get Back Motherfucker You don't know me like that.
Get back Motherfucker You don't know me like that
(Yeek-Yeek Woop-Woop) I ain't playin' around. Make one false move, I'll take you down.
Get back Motherfucker You don't know me like that.
Get back Motherfucker You don't know me like that
[Verse 1]
So, so, come on, come on. DON'T get swung on, swung on. It's the knick-knack-patty-whack still riding cadillacs. Family off the streets, made my homies put the baggies back. (Whoo) Still stackin' plaques (yep), still action-packed (yep), and dope... I keep it flippin' like acrobats. That's why I pack a mack, that'll crack a back, cause on my waist, there's more heat than the shaq-attack But I ain't speakin' about ballin', jus' thinkin' about brawlin' 'til y'all start ballin'. We all in together now, birds of a feather now, jus' bought a plane so we changin' the weather now. So put your brakes on, cats put your capes on, and knock off your block, get dropped, and have your face blown. Cause I'll prove it, scratch off the music, like hey little stupid, don't make me looose it
[Verse 2]
I came (I came), I saw (I saw), I hit him right dead in the jaw (in the jaw). [x4]
See I caught him with a right hook, caught him with a jab, caught him with an upper cut, kicked him in his ass. Sent him on his way cause I ain't for that talk, and no trips to the county. I ain't for that walk We split like 2 pins at the end of a lane, we'll knock out your spotlight and put end to your fame. Put a DTP pendant at the end of yo' chain, and put
the booty of a swish at the end of a flaamme.
[Verse 3]
Hey, you want WHAT with me?
I'm gonna tell you one time,
don't FUCK with me
Get down
Cause I ain't got nothin' to lose,
and I'm havin a bad day,
don't make me take it out on you
Maann, cause I don't wanna do that. I wanna have a good time and enjoy my Jack sit back and watch the women get drunk as hell, so I can wake up in the morning with a story to tell. I know it's been a little while since I've been out the house, but now I'm here you wanna stand around runnin' yo' mouth? I can't hear nothing you sayin' or spittin', so what's up? Don't you see we in the club? man shut the fuck up
Ah We in the red light district
Ah We in the red light district
Whoo We in the red light district
Ah We in the red light district
Whoo We in the red light district
Whoo The red light district
Whoo The red light district
Ah The red light district


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Crosby, Penguins visit Trump at the White House
U.S. president calls team 'true champions'
After adding to the uproar over NFL players who protest during the national anthem, President Donald Trump mostly stuck to hockey in honouring the Stanley Cup-winning Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday, calling them "true champions and incredible patriots."
Trump welcomed the Penguins into the Oval Office and celebrated their second consecutive championship in the East Room of the White House. He singled out the achievements of playoff MVP Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, among others.
Trump has grabbed a number of sports headlines in recent weeks, including his criticism of NFL players for kneeling during the anthem and his decision to disinvite the NBA champion Golden State Warriors from the White House for the type of championship visit made by the Penguins, the New England Patriots, the Chicago Cubs and the Clemson University football team.
"Everybody wanted to be here today," Trump said of the Penguins. "And I know why."
Hours after tweeting that the tax code should be changed to punish NFL teams over the anthem issue, Trump joked that Penguins co-owner Ron Burkle should help him renegotiate NAFTA but largely avoided any talk about other sports.
Why is the NFL getting massive tax breaks while at the same time disrespecting our Anthem, Flag and Country? Change tax law!—@realDonaldTrump
"It's been an honour to have them all here," Trump said.
Crosby has said on multiple occasions that the team's decision to go to the White House was not politically motivated. Coach Mike Sullivan said the Penguins understand the circumstances of their visit and that he didn't feel like Trump was using them as a political prop.
"We've stated clearly from the get-go that our visit to the White House is not political," Sullivan said. "Nobody's choosing a side. Nobody's taking a stand. We are simply honouring our championship and the accomplishments of this group of players over this season or the last two seasons."
Of the 18 players who won the Cup last season and are still with the Penguins, seven are American: Kessel, Ian Cole, Brian Dumoulin, Jake Guentzel, Bryan Rust, Chad Ruhwedel and Conor Sheary. Crosby and six others are Canadian, two are Swedish, one is Russian and one is Finnish.
'They're world champions'
Trump congratulated the Penguins for being the first back-to-back Cup champions since the Detroit Red Wings in 1997 and 1998, complimented co-owner Mario Lemieux's golf game and drew boos when he referenced Pittsburgh's upcoming game against the rival Washington Capitals. He said he expected the Penguins to be back at the White House next year.
"This is really a truly great group of world champions," Trump said. "That's what they are. They're world champions."
Sullivan, the only member of the team who spoke to reporters after the visit, said "zero" politics came up with Trump behind closed doors.
Tampa Bay Lightning forward J.T. Brown, one of 18 black players in the NHL, became the first hockey player to engage in an anthem protest when he raised his fist while standing on the bench before a game Saturday night. Sullivan said he wouldn't have a problem if one of his players took a knee during the national anthem.
"We're very respectful of anyone's right to protest or demonstrate as they see fit," said Sullivan, who is American. "We're very respectful of it."
Team presents Trump with gift
The Penguins had one black player on their championship team, Trevor Daley, but he signed with Detroit in the offseason and did not travel to Washington because the Red Wings were playing in Dallas. They currently have one black player, Ryan Reaves, but he and others acquired over the summer who didn't win the Cup also did not go to the White House.
Trump has called on NFL owners to fire players who don't stand for the anthem and urged fans to boycott games in a series of tweets. He tweeted that he instructed Vice President Mike Pence to leave a game between the San Francisco 49ers and Indianapolis Colts on Sunday if there were any anthem protests, which Pence did.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman told The Associated Press recently that said he respects players' views on political and social issues and "people are going to have to decide what makes them comfortable." Bettman said social issues "are a matter of individual belief and individual choice."
Sullivan also said the team presented Trump with an undisclosed gift.
With files from CBC Radio


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By David Crane
defrev (at) gmail (dot) com
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June 3, 2012
Last Friday, DefenseReview (DR) received a heads-up email from our good friend Rich Cabral (Richard Cabral) stating that the upcoming issue SWAT Magazine, being released this week, will feature an article on the Short Rifle Stock System SRSS BullDog 762 Gen-4 16" bullpup M14/M1A 7.62mm NATO (7.62x51mm NATO)/.308 Win. battle rifle/carbine by one Chris Adams. As it happens, DR has fired two previous-gen versions of the BullDog762 at the range, published a couple of articles on the BullDog 762 Gen-3, published a piece on the BullDog762 Gen-2, and we shot some impromptu photos of the BulldDog762 Gen-4 with a GRSC CRS-16 M4-62 tactical scope mounted on it at SHOT Show 2012 when we ran into Cabral and FrogLube CEO Larry Lasky walking the floor in one of the exhibition halls.
It's Defense Review's understanding that earlier developmental prototype versions of the BullDog 762 bullpup have received some very positive feedback from Special Operations Forces (SOF) assaulter/operators who have test and evaluated them. One of these earlier versions was the BullDog 762 Gen-2 battle rifle/carbine, which was utilized by a SOF assaulter/operator in Afghanistan a few years back.
DefenseReview looks forward to running the BullDog762 Gen-4 bullpup M14/M1A battle rifle/carbine at the range as soon as possible. In the meantime, enjoy the embedded photos.
The following information comes from the BullDog762 Gen-4 bullpup M14/M1A battle rifle/carbine brochure/data sheet:
The BullDog 762TM Gen-4 faithfully adheres to a simple philosophy: The only good enemy is dead.
Harsh? Not if you're soldiering in harm's way or if the enemy doesn't give a crap about your values and the reasons you're deployed.
Designed and manufactured by warfighters from every branch of the Armed Services – soldiers who understand your challenge and have walked in your boots before – the BullDog 762TM Gen-4 combines firepower and maneuverability in equally lethal portions.
CQB? You bet! Designated Marksman Accuracy? Of course! Fast and simple replacement of any M14 or M1A rifle stock? In a heartbeat!
Best of all: The enemy can't hide!
With patent pending safety features, two-stage trigger feel, an adjustable trigger rod length for the perfect trigger, 15" Picatinny Top Rail, 7" Picatinny Bottom Rail and 4" Picatinny Side Rails, the BullDog 762TM Gen-4 favorably alters the balance of firepower wherever it is deployed. The BullDog 762TM fits Inch or Metric rifles and converts in less than an hour without gunsmithing.
Visit our web site and check out The US Army Future WarFighters commercial featuring the BullDog 762TMGen-4. Or contact us now for more information.
– Close Quarter Battle
– Designated Marksman Accuracy
– Super Compact
– No Gunsmithing
– Approved for Multi-Mission All-Theater Deployment
Size Matters!
From 44" to 30" in Under 30 Minutes
No Gunsmithing
– [BullPup Receiver Configuration]
– One-piece ultra light-weight 15 inch Picatinny rail
– 6 o'clock 7.100" Picatinny rail
– 3 o'clock 3.500" Picatinny rail
– 9 o'clock right side: Picatinny Rail 3.5 inches long (can be moved back one hole giving access to gas valve)
– Trigger curvature designed for the perfect fit, with or without gloves
– Improved trigger guard with increased area for gloves.
– Ambidexterous Safety. Up for SAFE, Forward to FIRE
– Safety Lever with patented Lever
– Easy access to Mag Release
– Improved Bolt Release for easy access (available 2012)
– Radius for improved cheek weld.
– Crinkle coated texture to reduce hot and cold transfer to face
– Thermold 20 round Magazine for the BullDog 762 G4
– New Butt Plate design threaded at 6 o'clock for monopod (available 2012)
– M14 Cheek Panel, also available in M1A with no selector opening
– 10-32 thread for sling swivel attachments
– Bull Frog 762 [also written BullFrog 762 or BullFrog762] accessory package for the left-handed shooters (available 2012)"
SRSS BullDog 762 Gen-4 Bullpup M14/M1A Battle Rifle/Carbine Brochure/Data Sheet
Company Contact Info:
Short Rifle Stock System, Inc. (SRSS)
P.O. Box 3940
Lake Gregory, CA 92325
Phone: 909-338-2577
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.shortrifles.com
© Copyright 2012 DefenseReview.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without receiving permission and providing proper credit and appropriate links.
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The Federal Reserve plans to start slowing its controversial bond-buying program later this year and end it completely in mid-2014, Ben Bernanke told lawmakers Wednesday.
However, that scenario is certainly not set in stone. It depends entirely on how the economy progresses, he said.
"I emphasize that, because our asset purchases depend on economic and financial developments, they are by no means on a preset course," Bernanke said.
The Federal Reserve Chairman testified before the House Committee on Financial Services, and his prepared remarks, which were released early, largely repeated comments he made at a news conference last month.
The economy is growing at a "moderate pace," in spite of "strong headwinds" created by federal budget cuts, Bernanke said. He pointed to recent improvement in the housing sector and labor market, but also stressed that "the jobs situation is far from satisfactory."
Related: Bernanke: Congress still a risk to the economy
Meanwhile, federal budget cuts remain a risk to the economy, he said.
"My suggestion to Congress is to consider possibilities that involve somewhat less restraint in the near term, and more action to ensure we are on a sustainable path in the long run," Bernanke said.
As of June, the unemployment rate was 7.6%, and Fed officials expect it to fall to around 7.25% by the end of the year. Meanwhile, inflation has remained below the Fed's target of 2% per year.
Against that backdrop, Fed officials remain optimistic that the job market will continue to improve gradually. If the economy lives up to their expectations, Bernanke says the Fed will start to reduce its asset-purchase program -- called quantitative easing, or QE3 -- later this year.
Related: Fed dissenter argues for tapering QE3
That policy, which launched last September, entails purchasing $85 billion in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities each month, in an effort to reduce long-term interest rates.
As Bernanke has said previously, the Fed could start to slow QE3 later this year, and end it completely in mid-2014, provided the unemployment rate falls to around 7% and inflation nears 2% over that time frame.
But the plan could change if the economy does not follow that course.
Bernanke even noted that, should the economy weaken, the Fed stands ready to increase QE3 purchases.
"Indeed, if needed, the Committee would be prepared to employ all of its tools, including an increase [in] the pace of purchases for a time, to promote a return to maximum employment in a context of price stability," he said.
Stocks: Bernanke takes center stage
Stocks rose slightly and bond yields fell in the wake of Bernanke's testimony. Overall, financial markets seem to have calmed after a whiplash reaction to Bernanke's last press conference in June.
"I think the markets are beginning to understand our message, and the volatility has obviously moderated,"Bernanke said.


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Super B Turbo to Tow Twins Upgrade Kit
Product Description
Twin Turbo Upgrade KitsBoosting your Cummins 5.9L beyond 450 rwhp and keeping the working exhaust temperatures around the 1200 degrees F and at the same time keeping your truck street friendly can be a challenge. BD's Twin Turbo kits are up for the challenge! For the Dodge truck owner who has his 5.9L diesel pushing between 425hp-575hp and yet wants to use his pick-up for daily driving, full-time RV'ing, weekend adventures or a little fun on the track, plus, keep the EGT's low and economy high, then BD's Super B Twin kits are the perfect fit. The Super B Twin uses a large Borg Warner Air Werks turbo as the primary which feeds the Super B Single we use as the secondary, compounding the air flow to deliver up to and beyond 60psi of superior boost pressure. The secondary turbo comes with BD's own heavy duty waste gate kit and Turnbuckle for consistent pressure without œcreep and ease of adjustment. Included in the Super B Twin Turbo kits are our X-Intake system with a twin turbo air flow matched conical washable Green air filter, casted and machine matched turbine connection, powder coated mandrel formed intake pipes, oil return and supply fittings " some kits even include our pulse tuned exhaust manifold. Most kits allow the stock engine oil cooler to be left in place. For those Dodge owners who already have a Super B Single turbo and have increased their power or are having difficulty keeping the EGT's low, we have upgrade kits to take your single to a twin. Do you have specialized Borg Warner S300 and S400 turbos that you want to try on your truck but are lacking the installation hardware? We have twin piping kits that include everything but the turbos! Does your application call for special attention? Our engineering division has the expertise to guide and supply you what you need. BD's R700, R850 and R1000 turbo kits contain custom Borg Warner S300 and S400 turbochargers that are designed for engines operating above stock engine RPM and more than 700 HP. Please call in with your engine specifics so we can supply the proper combinations for your application. We recommend that applications with twin turbos utilize one of our Cool-It Intercoolers " only BD Charge Air Coolers are designed to handle the flow and boost pressure created with these fueling and turbo combinations. We suggest tuning your fueling program to not exceed 1200 degrees f when working your engine hard with whatever turbo combination you have. Adjusting your waste gate closed for higher boost pressure provides more air and cooler exhaust gas temperatures. Extreme high exhaust gas temperatures will cause head gasket problems among many other problems. Turbos need exhaust temperatures to develop boost but temperatures above 1200 F reflect not enough air for the amount of fuel injected. Stock intake filters will not handle twin turbo air needs. Not for sale to licensed California vehicles.


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WASHINGTON -- The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a key Affordable Care Act (ACA) rule Wednesday that outlines the core package of benefits health insurers must provide to customers.
The final rule outlined the minimum coverage -- called "essential health benefits" (EHB) -- plans must provide in 10 broad categories such as hospitalization, prescription drugs, and maternity and newborn care.
The standards will start to apply in 2014 to individual and small-group plans inside and outside the ACA's health insurance exchanges as well as in Medicaid. The requirements don't apply to self-insured plans -- the type usually implemented by large employers.
The rule included mental health and substance-use disorder benefits as part of the coverage insurers must provide. HHS said nearly 20% of individuals don't have access to mental health services, and a third have no coverage for substance abuse treatment.
The department said finalizing this rule will expand mental health and substance-abuse treatment benefits to 62 million additional Americans. HHS explained that the rule expands coverage by applying federal parity protections for those benefits in the individual and small-group markets.
"Furthermore, the departments intend to work with those plans that make a good-faith effort to apply an authorized definition of EHB to ensure there are no annual or lifetime dollar limits on EHB," the final rule stated.
Plans must provide coverage in the following categories as well as those above:
- Ambulatory patient services
- Emergency services
- Rehabilitative and habilitative services and devices
- Laboratory services
- Preventive and wellness services and chronic disease management
- Pediatric services, including oral and vision care
The final rule retains originally proposed requirements that plans offer at least one drug per therapeutic category or the same number as the state's benchmark plans. Some stakeholders called for a greater number of options.
The final rule gives states some flexibility by establishing a benchmark-based approach, HHS said.
A total of 26 states using this benchmark-based option can select a plan from options offered in their state's market as its standard. Options include one of the three largest small-group plans, any of the largest three state employee health benefit plan options, and any of the largest three national Federal Employees Health Benefits Program plans.
The largest small-group plan in each state will be the benchmark for those not choosing a more flexible option. Benchmark plans already are established for 2014.
Wednesday's rule also finalizes actuarial value (AV) levels in the individual and small-group markets.
Beginning in 2014, plans must display "metal levels" representing the percentage costs they cover for the EHBs -- in other words, the plan's actuarial value. For example, a bronze plan covers 60% of costs, a silver plan covers 70%, a gold plan covers 80%, and a platinum plan covers 90%.
The aim is to provide consumers a better idea of the value of health plans they select.
"Taken together, EHB and AV will significantly increase consumers' ability to compare and make an informed choice about health plans," Wednesday's rule stated.
The final rule doesn't differ significantly from the proposed rule offered in November, despite HHS' receiving nearly 6,000 comments in response to its EHB proposal. In fact, many complained HHS's 30-day comment period was too short.
The department said it tried to elicit feedback from a variety of stakeholders including providers, patient groups, states, and insurers throughout 2011 and 2012 before issuing its rule in November.
HHS has yet to finalize its proposed rules on employee wellness programs and how insurers can vary premiums for certain classes of people. The department released those proposed rules on the same November day as its EHB and AV proposals.


text:
Intel is open to bringing Microsoft's Windows Phone OS to smartphones based on its x86 chips, but only if it is commercially viable, the company said on Tuesday.
Windows Phone's share of the smartphone market is underwhelming at the moment, but the OS is worth watching, said Hermann Eul, president of Intel's Mobile Communications Group, during an interview with the IDG News Service at the Computex trade show in Taiwan. Intel will consider putting Windows Phone OS on x86 depending on how the OS does in the market in the future.
"We would be [interested] when we see that this market has a good chance to return our money that we have invested into this," Eul said. "Our roadmap has devices that can support Windows also on phones. So we can do that. The hooks for doing that [are] there."
Intel is just getting started in the smartphone market. The first smartphones with Intel processors came out earlier this year, with Lava International releasing the Xolo X900 smartphone in India, followed by Orange releasing the San Diego in the U.K and Lenovo launching the LePhone K800 in China. Other smartphones with Intel chips will come from Motorola later this year, while ZTE is also scheduled to release an Intel-based handset. The smartphones use single-core Atom processors code-named Medfield.
A majority of the smartphones based on Intel chips currently run Google's Android OS, and the chips also support the Linux-based Tizen OS. Intel merged its previous Meego OS into Tizen, which is also backed by Samsung.
"The current trend of statistics is pretty clear, Android is gaining the largest share of the market so that is where the money is," Eul said. "We support Tizen as well, we haven't announced any product on this, but being in the Tizen alliance it's clear we are also engaged there."
Intel's main smartphone competitor is ARM, whose processors go into most handsets. There were questions on whether Intel would match ARM on power consumption, but Eul said the response to Intel's smartphones has exceeded expectations.
"We see substantial interest in our platforms in particular after customers really see the devices in the market and see Intel is really there. With that all the badmouthing on power consumption, and cannot do it, and so on is put to rest," Eul said.
Later this year, Intel will release a dual-core Atom Z2580 processor with 3G, 4G and LTE capabilities as a follow up to the first Z2460 smartphone chip. Next year Intel will release a low-power Atom chip code-named Merrifield with a new processor design and graphics core for high-performance smartphones. The chip will be made using the 22-nanometer process.
For low-end smartphones, next year Intel will release an integrated chip made using the 22nm production process. The chip will succeed the current Atom Z2000 processor, which runs at 1GHz but is not yet being used in smartphones. By 2014, Intel will release chips made using the 14nm process, though Intel officials declined to share further chip details.
Agam Shah covers PCs, tablets, servers, chips and semiconductors for IDG News Service. Follow Agam on Twitter at @agamsh. Agam's e-mail address is email@example.com


text:
Are you sitting down? You might want to sit down. In an interview with Emma Watson, J.K. Rowling has admitted that she regrets pairing Hermione with Ron instead of Harry, chalking the Hermione/Ron marriage up to "a form of wish fulfillment."
The interview is slated to appear in a forthcoming issue of Wonderland magazine, for which Watson served as guest-editor. Rowling's comments were obtained by The Sunday Times, which tweeted a preview of tomorrow's front page just hours ago. You can read it for yourself below (click the image to enlarge, and note the headline on the left), but here's the gist:
[Rowling] said: "I wrote the Hermione/Ron relationship as a form of wish fulfillment. That's how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione ended up with Ron."
She added: "I know, I'm sorry, I can hear the rage and fury it might cause some fans, but if I'm absolutely honest, distance has given me perspective on that. It was a choice I made for very personal reasons, not for reasons of credibility. Am I breaking people's hearts by saying this? I hope not."
Watson, for her part, seemed to agree with Rowling, commenting that she thinks "there are fans out there who know that too and who wonder whether Ron would have really been able to make her happy." The comments obtained by The Sunday Times also seem to indicate that Rowling thinks Ron and Hermione "would have ended up needing relationship counseling." Oy.
We can't help but notice that the Sunday Times article continues on page 7 of the paper, so it's possible that there's more to this story than meets the eye. Is this some sort of joke? A plot to drum up buzz over Watson's guest-editorship at Wonderland? Or has Rowling really, truly decided to rekindle the HP ship-wars into a category five wildfire? While we're waiting for the other shoe to drop, talk amongst yourselves – I'm betting some of you out there are feeling pretty vindicated right about now.
[The Sunday Times via Hypable]
ht Kat!


text:
Lyrics: Bob Dylan
Music: Bob Dylan
Sung by Neil Young with the Grateful Dead on 3 November 1991 at the memorial concert for Bill Graham. Also played regularly by the Jerry Garcia Band from the mid 1980s, and from 2005 by Phil Lesh and Friends.
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every one
May you stay
Forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be true
May you stay
Forever young
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay
Forever young
|Jerry Garcia Recordings
|Recorded By
|29 Aug 1987
|Electric On The Eel
|Jerry Garcia Band
|28 Oct 1987
|On Broadway: Act One
|Jerry Garcia Band
|30 Oct 1987
|Pure Jerry: Lunt-Fontanne: Best Of The Rest
|Jerry Garcia Band
|4 Mar 1988
|Jerry Garcia Plays Dylan
|Jerry Garcia Band
|2 Sep 1989
|Pure Jerry: Merriweather Post Pavilion
|Jerry Garcia Band
|5 Sep 1989
|Fall 1989: The Long Island Sound
|Jerry Garcia Band
|20 May 1990
|Garcia Live Volume 10
|Jerry Garcia Band
|5 Aug 1990
|Garcia Live Volume 2
|Jerry Garcia Band
|Neil Young/Grateful Dead Recordings
|Under The Covers
|Neil Young (with the Grateful Dead in 1991) (note 1)


text:
Virtual Telescope introduces new, amazing instruments for observing the Cosmos live through the Int
11 January 2011
After four years since it was officially launched in 2006, the Virtual Telescope project (www.virtualtelescope.eu) introduces a new important telescope, accessible via the Internet by professional and amateur astronomers from all around the world. Initially equipped with a 280mm-aperture, remote telescope, later the Virtual Telescope hosted a Celestron 356mm-large scope, installed on a Paramount ME robotic mount and completed with a SBIG SBIG ST8-XME, class 1 CCD camera, plus filters.
This setup has shown incredible capabilities, thanks to its advanced specifications and to the excellent seeing conditions at the observing site (Ceccano, Italy), with an average seeing of 1.7 arcseconds and peaks of just 1 arcseconds. The instrument, accessible through the web interface of the Virtual Telescope project, has shown the sky for free to about 800.000 individuals from 192 different Countries, almost reaching the totality of the worldwide community. Over the last two years, about 100 international, free events where planned. These numbers make the Virtual Telescope the most active, remote astronomical facility on the planet.
These outstanding results pushed the Virtual Telescope staff to evaluate the acquisition of another system, able to enhance further both the public and research activities. A glorious telescope was finally acquired, based on a PlaneWave 17", corrected Dall-Kirkham optical tube assembly, with a high luminosity and wide corrected field. This optics was installed on another Paramount ME robotic mount and equipped with a SBIG STL-6303E, large format CCD camera and filters. This is the only instrument of this kind installed in Italy and one of the first ones in the world: it sports outstanding optical, mechanical and electronic features.
Both the robotic telescopes now part of the Virtual Telescope project are independently and remotely accessible and they are connected to the Internet with two independent, broadband connections, for the highest real-time control performances. The whole system is served by a network of four computers, controlling the telescopes, the environmental and weather conditions, the observatory facilities and doing the image/data reduction.
"We are very happy with the amazing, growing international success we experienced since we started sharing the Cosmos", says Gianluca Masi, astrophysicist, owner and scientific director of the Virtual Telescope project: "The new instruments will give a great boost to all our activities, confirming the leadership of this project, which has staked a lot on quality and professionalism of our services and contents.
To celebrate these recent improvements, the Virtual Telescope will host, on the next 25 Jan. 2011 at 20:00 Universal Time, a special online, free event, when our instruments will show in real-time some of the most beautiful cosmic jewels, with the live comment of our scientific team. To join, a computer connected to the Internet is all what is needed, to enter our website (www.virtualtelescope.eu) at the given date and time. Participants will have a chance to win a prize consisting in two hours of free observing time, using our new system!
Dr. Gianluca Masi, PhD
Email: email@example.com
Mobile.: +39 334 9236690
Fax: +39 07751800105
Search IYA2009 Updates
National Nodes: 148
Organisational Nodes: 40
Organisational Associates:33
National Websites: 111
Cornerstone Projects: 12
Special Task Groups: 11
Special Projects:16
Official Products:8
Media Partners:22


text:
Liberty Mutual Auto InsuranceClaimed
Recommendation score measures the loyalty between a provider and a consumer. It's at +100 if everybody recommends the provider, and at -100 when no one recommends.
Strongly recommended
Would you recommend Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance to your friends?
Thanks for your vote!
You voted: May or may not recommend
|Community Rating
|Strongly recommended
|Financial Strength Rating
|Number of Reviews
Liberty Mutual Auto Insurance Review
Liberty Mutual is a car insurance carrier based in Boston, MA. The insurance company was founded in 1912 and offers car insurance in 50 states (and Washington, DC).
If you're considering whether Liberty Mutual car insurance is a good option for you, read on.
Liberty Mutual car insurance Pros & Cons
Liberty Mutual car insurance FAQ
What types of car insurance coverage options does Liberty Mutual car insurance offer?
Although we often talk about car insurance in the singular, it really includes several types of coverage options. Liberty Mutual car insurance offers the following types of car insurance coverage options:
- Bodily Injury Coverage: This insurance pays for your legal defense and for the costs associated with injuries to other people involved in an accident.
- Property Damage Coverage: Usually, this insurance will look after the property damage you cause to another vehicle or property when at fault in an accident.
- Uninsured Motorist Coverage: The uninsured motorist rider covers the damages caused by a negligent driver who doesn't have an insurance policy.
- Underinsured Motorist Coverage: This covers the damages caused by a driver who is at-fault but whose liability limits don't cover all the property damages and medical expenses of the accident.
- Collision Coverage: Collision coverage is an optional policy that pays for the cost of repairing or replacing your vehicle after an accident. If you have an auto lease, the lender may require you buy collision insurance.
- Comprehensive Coverage:If your vehicle is damaged in an event other than a collision, comprehensive coverage will pay for the cost of the repair. Covered events include storms, floods, fire, vandalism, and theft.
- Medical Payments Coverage: Medical payments insurance covers for the medical costs caused by an accident regardless of who is at fault. Most insurance policies will also cover funeral expenses.
- Personal Injury Protection: Personal injury protection, also known as PIP, typically covers medical expenses, loss of essential services, funeral services, and loss of income. It is similar to medical payments coverage, or MedPay for short. The difference is that MedPay will only cover for reasonable medical expenses.
Liberty Mutual car insurance customers can also add the following riders or endorsements to their insurance policies:
- Accident Forgiveness: Liberty Mutual offers accident forgiveness, which excuses your first accident. This means no insurance rate increase, even if it's your fault.
- Transportation Network Company or ride-sharing coverage: Standard car insurance policies don't provide coverage the moment you log into a TNC or a ridesharing app like Uber or Lyft. This endorsement covers this gap.
- Modified Vehicle Insurance: This coverage, also known as customized parts and equipment coverage, can help repair or replace alterations and upgrades you make to your vehicle. Notice that most car insurance policies will only cover original equipment so you may want to consider this policy if you've invested a lot of money on aftermarket parts and upgrades.
- Rental Car Coverage: Rental car coverage, also known as rental car reimbursement, pays for the cost of a car rental if you can't drive your vehicle because of a covered loss, such as a car accident, theft, or vandalism.
- Loan / Lease / GAP Coverage: GAP coverage covers the difference between what you owe on your vehicle and its current cash value in the event of a total loss.
- Emergency Roadside Service: Coverage varies by carrier but it typically includes jump starts for dead batteries, labor to change a flat tire, towing, and lockout services.
- Mechanical Breakdown Coverage: If your vehicle is protected by mechanical breakdown insurance the costs of repairs (not including maintenance or normal wear and tear) are covered by your policy. However, you will need to obtain authorization from your insurance company first.
Does Liberty Mutual car insurance have roadside assistance?Emergency Roadside Service available. Yes, Liberty Mutual offers roadside assistance to policyholders. Coverage varies by carrier but it typically includes jump starts for dead batteries, labor to change a flat tire, towing, and lockout services.
Does Liberty Mutual car insurance offer ridesharing insurance?Ridesharing coverage available. : Yes, Liberty Mutual car insurance offers ridesharing insurance to policyholders as a rider or endorsement. Standard car insurance policies don't provide coverage the moment you log into a TNC or a ridesharing app like Uber or Lyft.
What benefits does Liberty Mutual car insurance offer?
Liberty Mutual car insurance offers the following benefits to its customers:
- 24/7 Phone Availability: Customer service is staffed around the clock.
- Local Agents: Perfect for people who prefer the personal touch of a local insurance agent.
- Digital Claims Reporting: Never fax or mail a document again.
- Mechanical / Auto Body Repair Network: Enjoy the competitive prices and peace of mind of having access to a network of service and repair shops.
What insurance discounts does Liberty Mutual car insurance offer?When you ask for an insurance quote with Liberty Mutual car insurance, make sure you ask for all the insurance discounts you qualify for. These are the insurance discounts currently available that are specific to car insurance.
- Alternative Fuel / Hybrid: For some reason, possibly because they drive fewer miles, people who own hybrids or alternative fuel vehicles pose a lower insurance risk. If your car is green, make sure you earn the rewards.
- Anti-Lock Brake System: ABS technology reduces uncontrolled skids and insurance premiums. Most cars have them but it's an insurance discount people often forget to ask for.
- Internal Safety Features: Liberty Mutual car insurance offers additional savings if you have seatbelts, airbags, and similar safety features. Ask what other safety features on your car will trigger an inurance discount.
- New Vehicle: If you buy a current year or previous year model, you will qualify for an insurance discount on your premium.
- Telematics Device (Usage-Based Insurance): You can qualify for an insurance discount if you agree to install a sensor that records your driving habits.
Want more insurance discounts? Check the insurance discounts tab for a full list of general policy insurance discounts you can qualify for with Liberty Mutual car insurance.
Ways to pay my Liberty Mutual car insuranceLiberty Mutual allows policyholders to pay their premiums using the following method:
- Automatic Payments
How does Liberty Mutual calculate insurance rates?
Car insurance companies guard their risk-assessment algorithms as a trade secret, and Liberty Mutual is no exception. However, you can be confident that Liberty Mutual car insurance will take into consideration your driving record, age, gender, marital status, and address.
Other factors it will take into consideration are your vehicle (make and model), insurance history, and how you use your car.
Does Liberty Mutual car insurance use your credit score?
It is safe to assume that, when legal, a car insurance company will use your credit score as a rating factor. There are two exceptions.
- If you live in California, Hawaii, or Massachusetts, a car insurance company is not allowed to use your credit report as a rating factor.
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text:
Last offseason the M's almost acquired Justin Upton. Almost. The Mariners would have sent Taijuan Walker, Nick Franklin, Charlie Furbush and Stephen Pryor.
Drink it all in.
That's Seattle's second baseman of the future, their two best bullpen arms, plus a potential ace.
Does that sound like the haul to give up for a player like Upton?
Justin Upton is not the player he was in 2009 or 2011. At least statistically he isn't. He probably isn't a threat to hit .300, but he will turn in close to a .270 batting average. He may hit a lot of home runs, somewhere around 25 or 30, but that's it. Also, he has never reached the 100 RBI plateau, an interesting fact considering the supposed stature of Upton as a hitter.
So, does a hitter with a .270 batting average, 20-30 homerun potential and less than 100 RBIs a year (last season he drove in 67 in 150 games) sound like the guy to trade for a future ace, second baseman, and two dominant bullpen arms?
The answer is a resounding, "No."
I'm not disparaging Justin Upton's talent as a player, I just think his market value at the time was overblown.
Put it this way, not only did the Mariners keep nearly a fifth of their future roster, they also found a suitable mish-mash of players to replace, and out produce Upton.
Meet Kendrys Morales, Raul Ibanez, Michael Morse and the since-departed Jason Bay. Plans B, C, D, E, in no particular order. The M's brought this group in to provide the same kinds of things Justin Upton would provide, a middle of the order presence. The team might have gone a different direction in filling out the rest of their lineup with Upton seeing as these four players are… four players, and Upton is just one. But at the end of the day, they play the same role.
And the M's combination has done it better.
Justin Upton's 2013 WAR with his new team, the Atlanta Braves, 1.9.
Kendrys Morales' 2013 WAR, 2.9.
Raul Ibanez' 2013 WAR, 0.8.
Jason Bay's 2013 WAR, 0.5.
Michael Morse's 2013 WAR, -0.6.
Collectively that spits out a WAR of 3.6. And while that may be four players' output versus a singular player's output, the different ways the M's got that output is key. The price for Upton would have been two ace relievers, an actual ace and a second baseman. The price for the current M's was a backup catcher, who was blocking the path of Mike Zunino, and a starting pitcher on an expiring contract who likely didn't factor in the team's long term plans.
It's a good thing that Justin Upton vetoed a trade to Seattle. Yes, he would have brought star-power to the team, but since the veto, the M's have found a much better solution for their lineup, statically and monetarily. Not to mention they keep the team intact for the long haul.


text:
Rifts®: Megaversal Highway™
Theodore "Teddy" Olson
Age 5
"Copyright © 1990, 2005 and 2013 Palladium Books Inc. & Kevin Siembieda; all rights reserved world wide. No part of this work may be sold, distributed or reproduced in part or whole, in any form or by any means, without written permission from the publisher. All incidents, situations, institutions, governments and people are fictional and any similarity to characters or persons living or dead is strictly coincidental."


text:
Influential Editor Tanenhaus: Nixon, Reagan, and Bush 'Committed Impeachable Offenses Probably'
Did Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush "probably" commit "impeachable offenses"? That's what influential Times editor Sam Tanenhaus thinks.
On Wednesday night, the influential editor of both the "New York Times Book Review" and the "Weekend Review" sections again appeared on Charlie Rose's late night PBS chat show to discuss his no-longer-new book "The Death of Conservatism."
Times Watch found Tanenhaus's slim essay of a book intellectually dishonest, not so much declaring the movement dead as trying to define it out of existence by blurring the meaning of "conservatism" to mean the preserving of liberal government interventions.
Tanenhaus made his assertion three minutes into the interview while discussing limits on presidential power:
Another great conservative philosopher I write about is James Burnham, another mentor to Buckley. And he was one of the first strong critics of what he saw as, called it "Caesarism," the presidency that grows so overweening in its power that it violates the strength of the other branches. It was conservatives who first made that criticism. But then once their own politicians got in office, they reversed course. With Nixon, with Reagan, and with George W. Bush - decided there should be no constraints on the presidency at all. And we had three presidents in those three instances - Nixon, Reagan, and Bush - who committed impeachable offenses probably. And we had Democratic presidents who seemed to understand the limitations of power, and we had moderate Republicans who understood that - Gerald Ford, Dwight Eisenhower, the elder Bush.
Tanenhaus skipped a Democratic president who actually was impeached: Bill Clinton.


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BEVERLY, Mass. (RNS) For Alcoholics Anonymous to continue helping addicts find freedom in sobriety, the 75-year-old organization has to reclaim its spiritual roots.
That's the message coming from reformers who say the group has drifted from core principles and is failing addicts who can't save themselves. But what constitutes the heart of AA spirituality is a matter of spirited debate.
Has AA become too God-focused and rigid? Or have groups watered down beliefs and methods so much that they're now ineffective?
"Some think AA is not strict enough," said Lee Ann Kaskutas, senior scientist at the Public Health Institute's Alcohol Research Group in Emeryville, Calif. "Others think it's too strict, so they want to change AA and make it get with the times."
With more than 100,000 local meetings and an estimated two million members worldwide, AA is grappling with how much diversity it can handle. Over the past two years, umbrella organizations in Indianapolis and Toronto have delisted groups that replaced AA's 12 steps to recovery with secular alternatives. More than 90 unofficial, self-described "agnostic AA" groups now meet regularly in the United States.
Faith language in AA goes back to the group's founders, Bill Wilson and Robert Holbrook Smith. Six of the 12 steps, as prescribed in the original 1939 "Big Book," refer to God either explicitly or implicitly. Step three, for example, cites "a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him."
Now some worry the founders' efforts to be as inclusive as possible are being undermined by attempts to ensure, as one Indianapolis AA newsletter put it, that "AA remains undiluted."
"In the past, there was a great deal of elasticity and tolerance in terms of different views," said Roger C., a Toronto agnostic whose book "The Little Book: A Collection of Alternative 12 Steps" came out in January, and who doesn't use his last name to protect his privacy. "But there's been an increasingly rigidity from those who say, 'It's got to be this way and only this way.' That has alienated a great number of people."
But others argue that AA seldom offers the tough love that alcoholics need. Too many meetings ignore the 12 steps posted on their walls, said Charles Peabody, a 35-year-old former alcoholic and drug addict whose 2012 memoir, "The Privileged Addict," has an entire chapter on "Watered Down AA."
For Peabody and many addicts he's sponsored, the key to becoming "a free man" has been rigorous and urgent application of the 12 steps, from taking fearless moral inventory to making painful amends. Yet mainstream AA meetings routinely do a "disservice," he argues, by leading attendees to believe that meetings and sponsors – rather than God and concrete action steps – are what they need most in recovery.
"In mainstream AA, you hear either the war stories or the sob stories," said Peabody, who lives in Beverly, Mass. "This is the solution? I just keep coming, drinking crappy coffee and listening to people bitch and moan? I knew that wasn't going to work."
Research suggests other factors can be more important than vigorous application of the 12 steps. Kaskutas says the strongest predictors of sustained sobriety through AA are whether a person has a sponsor, has a social network that consists of non-drinkers and is committed to service.
Spiritual practices aren't always necessary for recovery, research suggests, but they can help.
"Prayer and meditation increase as a function of AA participation," said John Kelly, associate director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. "That does lead to better outcomes for some."
Men who've beaten addictions with Peabody's guidance trace their healing to character reform via the original 12 steps. Twenty-three-year-old Pat Smith of Wakefield, Mass. battled heroin and crack cocaine in his teenage years, but nothing worked until he enrolled in a residential, intensive 12-step program. For addicts, he says, surrender to God is an indispensable step.
"People [at AA meetings] are like, 'We don't need God in here, leave God out of it,'" Smith said. "But the truth is, AA is a religious program… It's Christian principles, the whole book. So it's like, if you guys want to go to meetings and leave God out of it, then go ahead. But don't call it AA because it's not."
Roger C. brings a different concern. Those who insist on doing the original 12 steps, he says, are apt to alienate nonbelievers, who might never get the help they need.
Some get turned off "when someone comes up to you as a new member of AA and tells you, 'if you don't find God, you're going to die a drunk,'" Roger C says. "That rigidity is very religious, very intolerant and very hurtful to a number of recovering alcoholics who are looking for an avenue to get sober."
Offering multiple pathways to recovery bodes well for alcoholics, Kaskutas says, because what works for one person doesn't always work for someone else.
"Because there's this ethic of take what you need and leave the rest, it puts the attendee in a position of being able to form a program that is palatable to them," Kaskutas says. "AA is doing just fine."


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End over end the ball will tumble into the arms of a young man. He moves swifter and in directions I cannot fathom but with his movements marks the beginning of the collegiate season. Eight months of your team on a near weekly basis has returned (c'mon, hoops counts). I think there's a word for it: AWESOME. Conjecture and projections are a thing of yester-broadcast (yeah right).
Mark Helfrich now has to be the lead man. Kevin Hogan has to play a full season. Someone has to carry the ball in Johnathan Franklin's stead. Will Sutton's gotta pop somebody. RichRod has to start someone. Kiff, too. Mike MacIntyre has to re-instill a fear of Ralphie. Sark has to…well I think Sark's gotta win more? Kiff, too. The OSU secondary has to pick somebody off. Il Pirata and his Cougs must try again to outrush Ka'Deem Carey. Brian Johnson (Utah OC) has to coach up Travis Wilson to do something no QB has done in SLC since…Brian Johnson (lead the Utes in passing in back-to-back years). Sonny's Air Raid has got to get bearish.
Johnny Manziel must play 21.5 halves of football.
It's game time, game day and yet to bid your Saturdays adieu is inappropriate.
Hello. Shalom. ¡Hola! 你好. Hallo. привет. Hujambo. העלא. Bonjour. Sup? This is the beginning you've eagerly awaited since the last buzzer sounded in a hoops arena and you emerged to a steroids ridden baseball season.
And at this point you've received the alumni Facebook invite to join your fellow [insert mascot here] at [insert opportunistic bar with drink specials for anyone adorning that school's attire but in reality it's just one dollar off a bucket of still overpriced C-minuses]. You'll experience the highs and lows of the season inside that bar and that T-shirt the student section passed out when you were a touch younger. Arrived is the familiarity of fandom and the unknown promise of a season ahead. Your squad might pull the big Thursday night upset. You might hook up with a recent grad. Your 2014 could start Rosy.
So much promise awaits.
End over end the ball will tumble into the arms of a young man. He could go left. He could go right. But he'll be going.
Get up.


text:
Black Bogeymen
No more bullshit about how the most extreme critics of B. Obama aren't, at heart, racists.
Yes, yes, yes, you can criticize the Prez all you want because that is our nation's pastime no matter who occupies the Oval Office, be he a dope who lied to get us into a war or a Nazi/commie who just happens to have dark skin.
But criticizing the president does not mean the Congress must obstruct every single thing he wants done. To wit: Wednesday's Senate rejection of Obama's nominee to head the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division. See, Debo Adegbile, in his former position as counsel for the NAACP's Legal Defense and Educational Fund, once wrote a couple of amicus briefs on behalf of convicted Philadelphia cop killer Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Mumia has been a cause-célèbre since his conviction in 1982. He pretty much was railroaded through the PA state courts, although, I must admit, a careful reading of the evidence against him reveals that, sure, he killed that cop. Nevertheless, Pennsylvania prosecutors had such a tumescence to fry him that they neglected a few of the fair trial niceties the US Constitution calls for. Thus, civil liberty advocates cried whoa and called for a new trial. Thusly, Adegbile got involved.
Now, ergo, acc'd'g to the conservative loon-ocracy, Adegbile is four-square in favor of every black man killing a cop just for the hell of it. And remember, he's black, with a really scary black name, so it has to be true.
Indiana's very own Senator Joe Donnelly, nominally a Democrat, joined the disloyal opposition in quashing Adegbile's nomination.
So Adegbile has been denied a Justice Dept. post because he did what lawyers are supposed to do: That is, defend people. Apparently, though, defending a scary black man disqualified him.
Post-racial America my foot.
Soul Man
Speaking of hard-core conservatives in this holy land, I'm getting the feeling a lot of them secretly dig Vlad Putin, aren't you?
He's macho. He's full of strutting braggadocio. He hunts. He hates gays. He's tough. George W. Bush gazed into his eyes and concluded they were kindred souls. And he does whatever the fk he wants with a gun in his hand (and, by extension, so does his Russian military).
Kiddies, the truth is Putin would be a perfecto Tea Party choice for Prez of these U. States.
Leaders Of The Pack
Speaking of potential presidential candidates, isn't NY Senator Kirsten Gillibrand looking more and more viable by the day?
And wouldn't the Dems take a needed first step in repositioning themselves if they selected as a 2016 ticket Hillary Clinton and KG? You might say it'd be suicide to put two women on the same ticket but wags said something similar when Bill Clinton tabbed Al Gore to be his running mate in 1992. No way, they said, can you have two southern boys from smallish states running together. But they won.
That's The Ticket
I wonder if the Clinton/Gillibrand pair would win. It'd sure be fun to find out.
[BTW: Google's Related Searches feature that pops up when one types in the NY Sen.'s name has "Kirsten Gillibrand weight loss" as its number one category. The number two most popular KG search is "Kirsten Gillibrand Vogue." Apparently, she was profiled in that mag in 2010. "Kirsten Gillibrand on the issues" does not show up until number five. Sigh.]


text:
With Marvel Comics promising a new Heroic Age, and DC teasing a post-Blackest Night universe less full of death, will 2010 be the year that superheroes learn to smile again? And, if so, is that a good thing?
We've been promised this kind of "lighter" superhero universe before, only for it to turn out to be more of the same, of course; both DC's 2005 Infinite Crisis and 2008 Final Crisis were supposed to result in less grim and gritty worlds for Superman et al, but in both cases, it was just months before limbs were being torn off and supervillains were revealed to be rapists and necrophiles all over again. You'll always need bad guys, you see, and the more bad the better.
Throughout the last decade, though, supervillains seem to have specialized in getting worse and worse; Marvel's uber-storyline from 2006's Civil War through the upcoming Siege has cultivated an eagerness to indulge in "naughty" behavior under the pretense of making some unclear point about an immoral status quo; unlike superhero tales of old, it's not just that supervillains don't get defeated and, presumably, punished at the end of the story, but that they have become the establishment and therefore escape judgment altogether. Likewise, DC's Identity Crisis retconned their own innocent history with memory-wipings, rape and murder, bringing a sensationalized "true crime" feel to a universe full of aliens, Amazons and people who can fly. All of this seems to have come from a desire on the part of creators to up the stakes, not only for the superheroes - How much can they stand? What if the entire world is against them? What if their loved ones are getting raped by their nemeses? Oh noes what next? - but for the comics themselves: Now they're not just men in tights hitting each other anymore! Now they have greater depth, because there's emotional weight and stuff!
(Some have argued that adding this new cynicism and darkness adds "reality" and moves superheroes past simple male power fantasies, but it doesn't; it just shifts the power fantasies into more oblique terms, and more depressing readings: "The world hates me and I can't protect the woman I love," and so on.)
But now, apparently, we're really really coming to an end to all that; Captain America has been unkilled, Iron Man will get his mind back, Thor will choose to forgive them both and everything will magically be all better again. Green Lantern and his new Rainbow Corps will prove that death and entropy aren't the natural order of things. The skies will be blue and birds will sing, and no towns will ever be blown up as conspiratorial power grabs ever again, right...?
...Here's the thing: I don't think it'll work, for multiple reasons. It's not that I don't want it to work, because I do; I miss simpler times when superheroes really did stop supervillains from robbing banks as well as raping their dead mothers, for one thing, and for another, I just like the idea of my escapism actually feeling less oppressive than my real life again. But I also think that the particular hopelessness and extremity created by the last few years of superhero books is like the atomic bomb: It can't be undone. Now that we've seen such immoral, unfeeling supervillains, won't everything else feel lesser in comparison? To move away from the current darkness is to risk losing your audience by making your stories seem less dangerous (or even important) for their heroes, because we all know that they're survived much worse, after all.
Tonally, too, it feels too late. Last year was the year of Hope and Yes We Can, and those political promises and new beginnings have already become tarnished by reality; our 2010 selves are back to feeling cynical and uncertain again after the unexpected burst of optimism (To be fair, Marvel's year-long Dark Reign storyline took up the entirety of 2009, and suggested at the time that their planning was a year behind the times; DC, if anything, are known for being even slower to react to these kinds of things). Want to appeal to our sense of hope, our childhood eagerness to believe in heroes, again? You really should've done it twelve months ago.
Most worryingly, most depressingly, removing "real" threats - Maiming, rape, genocide, you know, the things that could actually happen to you - in order to attempt to lighten the tone of your line is an admirable goal, but only works if you have the imagination to come up with something to replace it, and... Well, I'm not sure that all of today's writers do (Some, definitely, have enough imagination to come up with alternatives and then some, don't get me wrong). It's not that today's mainstream superhero comics are badly written - Just the opposite, as a look at either DC or Marvel's lines should make clear - but that they're written by writers who (may) lack the mad invention and lack of shame and selfconsciousness necessary to create an alternative to post-human thuggery around every corner.
I hope I'm wrong, honest. I hope that I've underestimated the writers, editors and audience, and that the new era of happy superheroes will be another Silver Age in terms of inventiveness and wonder and new ideas... But I still expect to see widescale death, disappointment and destruction making a not-so-long-awaited comeback by summer, buoyed by "proof" that it's the only thing that works.


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2018 Florida Statutes
Crash report forms.
Crash report forms.
316.068 Crash report forms.—
(1) The department shall prepare and, upon request, supply to police departments, sheriffs, and other appropriate agencies or individuals forms for crash reports as required in this chapter, suitable with respect to the persons required to make such reports and the purposes to be served. The form must call for sufficiently detailed information to disclose, with reference to a vehicle crash, the cause and conditions then existing and the persons and vehicles involved. Every crash report form must call for the policy numbers of liability insurance and the names of carriers covering any vehicle involved in a crash required to be reported by this chapter.
(2) Every crash report required to be made in writing must be made on the appropriate form approved by the department and must contain all the information required therein, including:
(a) The date, time, and location of the crash;
(b) A description of the vehicles involved;
(c) The names and addresses of the parties involved;
(d) The names and addresses of all drivers and passengers in the vehicles involved;
(e) The names and addresses of witnesses;
(f) The name, badge number, and law enforcement agency of the officer investigating the crash; and
(g) The names of the insurance companies for the respective parties involved in the crash,
unless not available. The absence of information in such written crash reports regarding the existence of passengers in the vehicles involved in the crash constitutes a rebuttable presumption that no such passengers were involved in the reported crash. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this section, a crash report produced electronically by a law enforcement officer must, at a minimum, contain the same information as is called for on those forms approved by the department.
History.—s. 1, ch. 71-135; s. 2, ch. 74-201; s. 1, ch. 77-174; s. 11, ch. 96-350; s. 90, ch. 99-248; s. 1, ch. 2006-305.