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State Department Notes on Angola
U.S. Department of State Background Note
Angola is located on the South Atlantic Coast of West Africa between Namibia and the Republic of the Congo. It also is bordered by the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north and east and Zambia to the east. The country is divided into an arid coastal strip stretching from Namibia to Luanda; a wet, interior highland; a dry savanna in the interior south and southeast; and rain forest in the north and in Cabinda. The upper reaches of the Zambezi River pass through Angola, and several tributaries of the Congo River have their sources in Angola. The coastal strip is tempered by the cool Benguela current, resulting in a climate similar to coastal Baja California. There is a short rainy season lasting from February to April. Summers are hot and dry, while winters are mild. The interior highlands have a mild climate with a rainy season from November through April followed by a cool dry season from May to October when overnight temperatures can fall to freezing. Elevations generally range from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. The far north and Cabinda enjoy rain throughout much of the year.
Estimates of Angola's population vary widely, as there has been no census since 1970, but it is estimated at no less than 15.5 million. Angola has three main ethnic groups, each speaking a Bantu language: Ovimbundu 37%, Kimbundu 25%, and Bakongo 13%. Other groups include Chokwe, Lunda, Ganguela, Nhaneca-Humbe, Ambo, Herero, and Xindunga. In addition, mixed racial (European and African) people amount to about 2%, with a small (1%) population of whites, mainly ethnically Portuguese. Portuguese make up the largest non-Angolan population, with at least 30,000 (though many native-born Angolans can claim Portuguese nationality under Portuguese law). Portuguese is both the official and predominant language.
In 1482, when the Portuguese first landed in what is now northern Angola, they encountered the Kingdom of the Congo, which stretched from modern Gabon in the north to the Kwanza River in the south. Mbanza Congo, the capital, had a population of 50,000 people. South of this kingdom were various important states, of which the Kingdom of Ndongo, ruled by the ngola (king), was most significant. Modern Angola derives its name from the king of Ndongo. The Portuguese gradually took control of the coastal strip throughout the 16th century by a series of treaties and wars. The Dutch occupied Luanda from 1641-48, providing a boost for anti-Portuguese states. In 1648, Brazilian-based Portuguese forces re-took Luanda and initiated a process of military conquest of the Congo and Ndongo states that ended with Portuguese victory in 1671. Full Portuguese administrative control of the interior did not occur until the beginning of the 20th century.
Portugal's primary interest in Angola quickly turned to slavery. The slaving system began early in the 16th century with the purchase from African chiefs of people to work on sugar plantations in São Tomé, Principé, and Brazil. Many scholars agree that by the 19th century, Angola was the largest source of slaves not only for Brazil, but also for the Americas, including the United States. By the end of the 19th century, a massive forced labor system had replaced formal slavery and would continue until outlawed in 1961. It was this forced labor that provided the basis for development of a plantation economy and, by the mid-20th century, a major mining sector. Forced labor combined with British financing to construct three railroads from the coast to the interior, the most important of which was the transcontinental Benguela railroad that linked the port of Lobito with the copper zones of the Belgian Congo and what is now Zambia, through which it connects to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
Colonial economic development did not translate into social development for native Angolans. The Portuguese regime encouraged white immigration, especially after 1950, which intensified racial antagonisms. As decolonization progressed elsewhere in Africa, Portugal, under the Salazar and Caetano dictatorships, rejected independence and treated its African colonies as overseas provinces. Consequently, three independence movements emerged: the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) led by Agostinho Neto, with a base among Kimbundu and the mixed-race intelligentsia of Luanda, and links to communist parties in Portugal and the East Bloc; the National Front for the Liberation of Angola (FNLA), led by Holden Roberto with an ethnic base in the Bakongo region of the north and links to the United States and the Mobutu regime in Kinshasa; and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), led by Jonas Malheiro Savimbi with an ethnic and regional base in the Ovimbundu heartland in the center of the country and links to the People's Republic of China and apartheid South Africa.
From the early 1960s, elements of these movements fought against the Portuguese. A 1974 coup d'etat in Portugal established a military government that promptly ceased the war and agreed, in the Alvor Accords, to hand over power to a coalition of the three movements. The ideological differences between the three movements eventually led to armed conflict, with FNLA and UNITA forces, encouraged by their respective international supporters, attempting to wrest control of Luanda from the MPLA. The intervention of troops from South Africa on behalf of UNITA and Zaire on behalf of the FNLA in September and October 1975 and the MPLA's importation of Cuban troops in November effectively internationalized the conflict. Retaining control of Luanda, the coastal strip, and increasingly lucrative oil fields in Cabinda, the MPLA declared independence on November 11, 1975, the day the Portuguese abandoned the capital. UNITA and the FNLA formed a rival coalition government based in the interior city of Huambo. Agostinho Neto became the first president of the MPLA government that was recognized by the United Nations in 1976. Upon Neto's death from cancer in 1979, then-Planning Minister José Eduardo dos Santos ascended to the presidency.
The FNLA's military failures led to its increasing marginalization, internal divisions, and abandonment by international supporters. An internationalized conventional civil war between UNITA and the MPLA continued until 1989. For much of this time, UNITA controlled vast swaths of the interior and was backed by U.S. resources and South African troops. Similarly, tens of thousands of Cuban troops remained in support of the MPLA, often fighting South Africans on the front lines. A U.S.-brokered agreement resulted in withdrawal of foreign troops in 1989 and led to the Bicesse Accord in 1991, which spelled out an electoral process for a democratic Angola under the supervision of the United Nations. When UNITA's Jonas Savimbi failed to win the first round of the presidential election in 1992 (he won 40% to dos Santos's 49%, which required a runoff), he called the election fraudulent and returned to war. Another peace accord, known as the Lusaka Protocol, was brokered in Lusaka, Zambia, and signed in 1994. This agreement, too, collapsed into renewed conflict. The UN Security Council voted on August 28, 1997 to impose sanctions on UNITA. The Angolan military launched a massive offensive in 1999, which destroyed UNITA's conventional capacity and recaptured all major cities previously held by Savimbi's forces. Savimbi then declared a return to guerrilla tactics, which continued until his death in combat in February 2002.
On April 4, 2002, the Angolan Government and UNITA signed the Luena Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which formalized the de facto cease-fire that prevailed following Savimbi's death. In accordance with the MOU, UNITA recommitted to the peace framework in the 1994 Lusaka Protocol, returned all remaining territory to Angolan Government control, quartered all military personnel in predetermined locations, and relinquished all arms. In August 2002, UNITA demobilized all military personnel and in September 2002, together with the government, reconstituted the UN-sponsored Joint Commission to resolve all outstanding political issues under the Lusaka Protocol. On November 21, 2002, UNITA and the government declared all outstanding issues resolved and the Lusaka Protocol fully implemented. UN Security Council sanctions on UNITA were lifted on December 9, 2002. UNITA and the MPLA held their first post-war party congresses in June and December 2003, respectively. The UNITA Congress saw the democratic transfer of power from interim leader General Paulo Lukumba "Gato" to former UNITA representative in Paris Isaias Henriqué Samakuva, while the MPLA Congress reaffirmed President dos Santos' leadership of party structures. Samakuva was reelected to a second 4-year term as UNITA party president at a UNITA party congress in July 2007, and will serve as UNITA's leader for the next 4 years.
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Peace and Reconciliation in Cabinda on August 1, 2006, is seen as a step toward ending conflict in Cabinda and in bringing about greater representation for the people of Cabinda. It follows a successful counterinsurgency campaign by the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA), who still maintain a strong troop presence there. The MOU rejects the notion of Cabindan independence, calls for the demobilization and reintegration of former Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda (FLEC) fighters into various governmental positions, and creates a special political and economic status for the province of Cabinda. Many FLEC military combatants have now been integrated into the Angolan Armed Forces, including some command positions. In addition, Cabindans will be given designated numbers of vice ministerial and other positions in the Angolan Government. Some FLEC members, who did not sign onto the peace memorandum, continue their independence efforts through public outreach and infrequent low-level attacks against FAA convoys and outposts.
President--Jose Eduardo dos Santos
Prime Minister--Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos "Nando"
Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs--Aguinaldo Jaime
Minister of External Affairs--João Bernardo de Miranda
Minister of the Interior--Roberto Leal Monteiro Ngongo
Minister of Finance--José Pedro de Morais
Minister of Defense--Kundi Paihama
Minister of Petroleum--Desidério da Graça Veríssimo da Costa
Minister of Planning--Ana Dias Lourenço
Ambassador to the United States--Josefina Perpetua Pitra Diakite
Permanent Representative to the United Nations--Ismael Gaspar Martins
Angola maintains an embassy in the United States at 2100-2108 16th St., NW, Washington, DC 20009 (tel. 202-785-1156; fax 202-822-9049; web: www.angola.org). Angola also maintains consulates in New York City (attached to its Permanent Mission to the United Nations) at 866 UN Plaza, 48th St., Suite 552, New York, NY 10017 (tel. 212-233-3588, ext. 15; fax 212-980-9606; web: http://www2.un.int/public/Angola/) and in Houston at 3040 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 708, Houston, TX 77056 (tel. 713-212-3840; fax 713-212-3841).
Angola has a fast-growing economy largely due to a major oil boom, but it also ranks in the bottom 10% of most socioeconomic indicators. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that Angola's real GDP will increase by 31.4% in 2007, although the Angolan Government in July reduced its own projection for 2007 real GDP growth to 19.8%. Aside from the oil sector and diamonds, Angola is recovering from 27 years of nearly continuous warfare, corruption, and economic mismanagement. Despite abundant natural resources, and rising per capita GDP, it was ranked 161 out of 177 countries on the 2006 UN Development Program's (UNDP) Human Development Index. Subsistence agriculture sustains one-third of the population.
By contrast, the rapidly expanding petroleum industry--now producing approximately 1.7 million barrels per day (bpd), behind only Nigeria in Africa--accounts for 51.7% of GNP, 95% of exports, and 80% of government revenues. Production is expected to reach 1.8 million barrels per day by the end of 2007. Angola also produces 40,000 bpd of locally refined oil. Oil production remains largely offshore and has few linkages with other sectors of the economy, though a local content initiative promulgated by the Angolan Government is pressuring oil companies to source from local businesses.
Block 15, located offshore of the enclave of Cabinda, currently provides 40% of Angola's crude oil production. ExxonMobil, through its subsidiary Esso, is the operator with a 40% share. In 2005, Block 15's second major sub-field, Kizomba B, came online producing at about 250,000 bpd. BP, ENI-Agip, and Statoil are partners in the concession. Chevron operates Block 0, also in offshore Cabinda, which provides one-quarter of Angola's crude oil production. Its partners in Block 0 are Sonangol (the Angolan state oil company), TotalFinaElf, and ENI-Agip. In 2006, Block 0 had a total production of 400,000 bpd, and drilling activity continues at a high level. Chevron also operates Angola's first producing deepwater section, Block 14, which started pumping in January 2000 and produced 105,000 bpd in 2006.
TotalFinaElf brought the first Kwanza Basin deepwater blocks on-line with production from its Block 17 concession that began in February 2002. Inauguration of the Dalia oilfield in December 2006 combined with the Girassol field already in operation brought Block 17's total production to approximately 500,000 bpd as of July 2007. Exploration is ongoing in ultra-deep water concessions and in deepwater and shallow concessions in the Namibe Basin. BP made the first significant ultra-deepwater find in its Block 31 concession in 2002 and had reached nine significant discoveries by the end of 2005. BP expects to ship its first crude from the Plutonio oilfied in Block 18 in September 2007 and expects Plutonio to average 200,000 bpd in full production. Marathon also drilled a successful well in its Block 32 ultra-deep water concession. TotalFinaElf operates Angola's one refinery (in Luanda) as a joint venture with Sonangol; plans for a second refinery in Lobito with projected production of 200,000 bpd are moving forward. There are plans to increase capacity of the Luanda refinery from 40,000 bpd to 100,000 bpd. Chevron, Sonangol, BP, Total, and Eni are developing a $4-5 billion liquefied natural gas plant at Soyo.
Exports to Asian countries have grown rapidly in recent years, particularly China. In late 2004, China's state oil company Sinopec bought into Block 18, securing the deal by offering a $2 billion signing bonus to Sonangol, the national oil company. Sinopec has also formed a partnership with Sonangol to operate Block 3/05 (formerly Block 3/80), whose operation was transferred from Total to Sonangol. Sonangol will seek to expand its operation of onshore and shallow water blocks. This includes the northern block of Cabinda's onshore concessions, which since the reduction in hostilities with separatist forces is now open to exploration. Sonangol and Sinopec will also be eyeing future concession rounds, particularly for 23 blocks in the Kwanza Basin onshore area and the relinquished parts of Blocks 15, 17, and 18, currently operated by Exxon, Total, and BP. During 2006, Angola was the leading source country in terms of dollar value for the crude oil China imported, importing U.S. $10.928 billion, up 16.5% year on year.
Diamonds make up most of Angola's remaining exports, with yearly production at 6 million carats. Diamond sales reached approximately $1.1 billion in 2006. Despite increased corporate ownership of diamond fields, much production is currently in the hands of small-scale prospectors, often operating illegally. Only eight formal sector mines are operating out of a total of 145 concessions. In June 2005, De Beers signed a $10 million prospecting contract with the government's diamond parastatal, ending a 4-year investment dispute between De Beers and the government. The government is making an increased effort to register and license prospectors. Legal sales of rough diamonds may occur only through the government's diamond-buying parastatal, although many producers continue to bypass the system to obtain higher prices. The government has established an export certification scheme consistent with the "Kimberley Process" to identify legitimate production and sales. Other mineral resources, including gold, remain largely undeveloped, though granite and marble quarrying have begun.
In the last decade of the colonial period, Angola was a major African agricultural exporter. Because of severe wartime conditions, including extensive laying of landmines throughout the countryside, agricultural activities were brought to a near standstill, and the country now imports about half of its food. Small-scale agricultural production has increased dramatically over the last 3 years as internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning to the land. Some efforts at commercial agricultural recovery have gone forward, notably in fisheries and tropical fruits, but most of the country's vast potential remains untapped. Coffee production, though a fraction of its pre-1975 level, is sufficient for domestic needs and some exports. Recently passed land reform laws will attempt to reconcile overlapping traditional land use rights, colonial-era land claims, and recent land grants to facilitate significant commercial agricultural development.
An economic reform effort launched in 1998 was only marginally successful in addressing persistent fiscal mismanagement and corruption. In April 2000, Angola started an IMF staff-monitored program (SMP). The program lapsed in June 2001 over IMF concerns about lack of adequate Angolan progress. Under the program, the Government of Angola did succeed in unifying exchange rates and moving fuel, electricity, and water prices closer to market rates. In March 2007, the government announced it was not interested in a formally-structured IMF program, but would continue to participate in Article IV consultations and other technical assistance on an ad hoc basis.
In December 2002 President dos Santos named a new economic team to oversee homegrown reform efforts. The new team succeeded in decreasing overall government spending, rationalizing the Kwanza exchange rate, closing regulatory loopholes allowing off-budget expenditures, and capturing all revenues in the state budget. New procedures were implemented to track the flow of funds between the Treasury, Banco Nacional de Angola (the central bank), and the state-owned Banco de Poupanca e Credito, which operates the budget. The Angolan Government adopted a new investment code. Concerns remain about quasi-fiscal operations by the state oil company Sonangol, continued oil-backed commercial borrowing by the Angolan Government, and inadequate transparency and oversight in the management of public accounts. The Angolan commercial code, financial sector law, and telecommunications law all require substantial revision.
Angola is the second-largest trading partner of the United States in sub-Saharan Africa, largely because of its petroleum exports. U.S. exports to Angola primarily consist of industrial goods and services--such as oilfield equipment, mining equipment, chemicals, aircraft, and food. On December 30, 2003, President Bush approved the designation of Angola as eligible for tariff preferences under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
The Angolan Armed Forces, known by its Portuguese acronym FAA, are headed by a chief of staff who reports to the civilian minister of defense. There are three services--the army, navy, and air force. Total manpower is about 140,000. The army is by far the largest of the services with about 130,000 personnel. The navy numbers about 3,000 and operates several small patrol craft and barges. Air force personnel total about 7,000; its equipment includes Russian-manufactured fighters and transport planes, Bell helicopters, and Italian trainers. The "Casa Militar," or presidential guard, answers directly to the Office of the President and is separate from FAA command and control structures.
From 1975 to 1989, Angola was aligned with the Soviet Union and Cuba. Since then, it has focused on improving relationships with Western countries, cultivating links with other Portuguese-speaking countries, and asserting its own national interests in Central Africa through military and diplomatic intervention. In 1993, it established formal diplomatic relations with the United States. It has entered the Southern African Development Community as a vehicle for improving ties with its largely anglophone neighbors to the south. In 1997, Zimbabwe and Namibia joined Angola in its military intervention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where Angolan troops fought in support of the Laurent and Joseph Kabila governments. It also has intervened in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville) in support of President Sassou-Nguesso. Angola has also engaged in a more robust economic relationship with the People's Republic of China. The P.R.C. has extended a U.S. $2 billion credit line to Angola.
Multilaterally, Angola has promoted the revival of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) as a forum for cultural exchange and a means of expanding ties with Portugal and Brazil. During the peace process, the government fully cooperated with the UN Mission in Angola (UNMA), which concluded its mandate in mid-February 2003. Angola concluded a 2-year term on the UN Security Council in December 2004. In June 2007, it began a 3-year term on the Human Rights Council.
The United States established formal diplomatic relations with the Government of Angola in 1993. Before 1989, U.S.-Angolan relations were defined by the Cold War. The United States initially supported Holden Roberto's FNLA and later Jonas Savimbi's UNITA against the pro-Soviet and pro-Cuban MPLA government in Luanda. Since 1992, the bilateral relationship has steadily improved. In May 2004, President dos Santos met with President Bush during an official visit to Washington.
The U.S. Mission in Angola consists of four agencies--the Department of State, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of Defense, and the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (HHS/CDC). In addition, a variety of federal agencies maintain relationships with the Angolan Government through ongoing projects, including the Federal Aviation Administration, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Commerce, and the Department of Energy. In FY 2005, U.S. Government assistance amounted to roughly $62.8 million.
In FY 2006, USAID's Food for Peace office provided $3.5 million in food inputs that were made available to the World Food Program for nutrition support to populations in the most food insecure and vulnerable provinces, and for returning refugees. This level of support continued a phased reduction, which as recently as FY 2005 amounted to $30.7 million, consistent with Angola's rapidly improving ability to produce its own food through improved access to land and markets as well as the settlement of formerly displaced people. Food for Peace assistance will be discontinued in FY 2007.
USAID's development program in Angola in FY 2007 is consistent with the country's status as a developing country at a pivotal juncture in its development and reconstruction. In FY 2006, the program budget was $25.5 million and focused on: civil society strengthening, improved governance, and democratization; market-oriented economic analysis and economic reform policy; agricultural sector productivity; maternal and child health; HIV/AIDS prevention, education and voluntary counseling'; and workforce development. Angola also launched a major program to fight malaria through the President's Malaria Initiative (PMI). The Governing Justly and Democratically objective strengthens constituencies and institutions required for democratic governance by strengthening civil society organizations and promoting local government decentralization; fostering an independent media, government transparency, accountability, and capability, and improved dialogue between citizens and government; and laying the groundwork for free and fair elections. The Investing in People objective aims to improve maternal and child health and prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases by helping communities and institutions to provide necessary health services and to conduct HIV/AIDS prevention programs. The PMI is the largest health program and expands efforts to scale up proven preventive and treatment interventions toward achievement of 85% coverage among vulnerable groups and 50% reduction in morbidity due to malaria. The Economic Growth objective fosters economic policy and financial sector reform; credit access for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises; and expanded trade and investment.
Emergency support from HHS/CDC was provided to address the 2005 Marburg virus outbreak in northern Angola, with assistance from the USAID Mission. CDC personnel joined with the World Health Organization (WHO) as part of the international response to assist with epidemiologic investigation, infection control, and laboratory diagnosis. CDC personnel in Atlanta provided laboratory and scientific support to Angola's Ministry of Health and to countries bordering Angola, establishing a field laboratory in Luanda, Angola to provide prompt laboratory confirmation of suspect Marburg cases in Angola and neighboring countries. Additional HIV/AIDS funding for the country of just over $2 million from HHS/CDC is also available, and helped expand surveillance, information systems, laboratory, and blood bank quality control.
On February 19, 2006, the Provincial Government of Luanda declared a cholera outbreak, in coordination with the WHO. What began as a localized outbreak of cholera in Luanda rapidly spread around Angola, with cases detected in seven provinces and mortality rates as high as 15% in certain areas. Causes of this rapid expansion included poor sanitation and a lack of potable water (70% of the country was without access), which were compounded by a series of heavy rains in March 2006 and April 2006. Limited stocks of available medical supplies were rapidly depleted, and the UN stressed the need for immediate, widespread assistance. The U.S. Ambassador determined April 19, 2006 that an adequate response was beyond the capacity of the Angolan Government, and through this disaster declaration requested U.S. Government assistance to support the international response and contain the spread of the outbreak. USAID's response was to provide $50,000 for immediate relief needs. As of January 23, 2007, a total number of 70,396 cumulative cases and 2,799 deaths were reported in 16 out of the 18 provinces, since the beginning of the outbreak. Following torrential rains in January 2007, the Chief of Mission, in response to an emergency declared by the Government of Angola, determined that U.S. Government assistance was needed to support the government and efforts of international agencies to mitigate the effects of flooding in the capital, Luanda. As a result, USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance released $70,000 to provide emergency relief for families displaced by the floods.
To assist with economic reform, in FY 2007 the State Department provided $2.2 million to work on land tenure, economic policy, and the financial sector. An additional $143,000 in grants was provided to community development projects and non-governmental organization (NGO)-sponsored democracy and human rights projects. $152,000 in International Military Education and Training (IMET) funds was provided for English language training to the Angolan Armed Forces. Professional training for law enforcement personnel at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) in Gaborone, Botswana continued. The Safe Skies for Africa program provided around $800,000 in equipment and training to the Angolan civil aviation authority. As part of its public diplomacy program, the Embassy provided nearly $434,000 in English language training, educational exchanges and fellowships, and information resource services. The State Department provided $6 million for ongoing landmine, small arms, and munitions destruction projects throughout the country. These projects have played a major role in clearing agricultural land and opening critical road networks and increasing access in those areas of the country most impacted by landmines.
At the same time, the energy-based U.S. trading relationship continues to expand and spark other ties. One offshoot has been the development of a Sister City relationship between Lafayette, Louisiana and Cabinda and between Houston, Texas and Luanda. The Catholic University of Luanda has close links with a number of American institutions and has received support from the Angola Educational Assistance Fund, a U.S. non-profit organization organized by Citizens Energy of Boston. Sonangol has a longstanding program of educating its professionals in U.S. universities, complementing Chevron's policy of U.S. training for its own growing pool of Angolan professionals. Long before oil was discovered, American missionary efforts from the early 19th century established several Protestant churches in the interior, which also provided much of the schooling that was available in rural colonial Angola; those historical links now are being revived with exchanges in both directions.
Principal U.S. Officials
Chargé d'Affaires--Francisco Fernandez
Deputy Chief of Mission--Francisco Fernandez
USAID Director--Susan Brems
Defense Attaché--LTC Chris Grieg
The U.S. Embassy is located at Rua Houari Boumedienne No. 32, Miramar, Luanda, Angola. International mail: Caixa Postal 6484, Luanda, Angola; Pouch: Department of State, 2550 Luanda Place, Washington, DC 20521-2550; telephone: (244) (222) 64-1000; fax: (244) (222) 64-1232.
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For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Caution, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Consular Affairs Publications, which contain information on obtaining passports and planning a safe trip abroad, are also available at http://www.travel.state.gov. For additional information on international travel, see http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Travel/International.shtml.
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The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) is the U.S. Department of State's single, centralized public contact center for U.S. passport information. Telephone: 1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778). Customer service representatives and operators for TDD/TTY are available Monday-Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time, excluding federal holidays.
Travelers can check the latest health information with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. A hotline at 877-FYI-TRIP (877-394-8747) and a web site at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/index.htm give the most recent health advisories, immunization recommendations or requirements, and advice on food and drinking water safety for regions and countries. A booklet entitled "Health Information for International Travel" (HHS publication number CDC-95-8280) is available from the U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402, tel. (202) 512-1800.
Further Electronic Information
Department of State Web Site. Available on the Internet at http://www.state.gov, the Department of State web site provides timely, global access to official U.S. foreign policy information, including Background Notes and daily press briefings along with the directory of key officers of Foreign Service posts and more. The Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC) provides security information and regional news that impact U.S. companies working abroad through its website http://www.osac.gov
Export.gov provides a portal to all export-related assistance and market information offered by the federal government and provides trade leads, free export counseling, help with the export process, and more.STAT-USA/Internet, a service of the U.S. Department of Commerce, provides authoritative economic, business, and international trade information from the Federal government. The site includes current and historical trade-related releases, international market research, trade opportunities, and country analysis and provides access to the National Trade Data Bank.
Revised: Oct. 2007


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It would be grossly unfair to say that cooperative databases are not meeting mailers' expectations. Still, one would be hiding his head in the sand not to recognize issues – such as rising costs and dropping response rates – that affect many, if not all, of the current databases.
Co-op databases have delivered good prospect names and helped with customer reactivation, so they are useful, even crucial, to our industry. It does not mean that they are perfect. Some practices of the co-op databases may even be harmful. In other cases, they may be less than optimal.
For those less familiar with co-ops, let me briefly describe the concept: Mailers contribute their most valuable asset – their house file (in most cases it includes their transactional data) – to the cooperative. In exchange, they are entitled to withdraw prospect names from the database at favorable pricing and from a "modeled" environment that promises a lift in response.
Co-ops have grown to play a significant role in many mailers' circulation plans, often making up as much as 25 percent to 50 percent of their prospecting efforts.
There are six major cooperative databases focused on the catalog/Internet retailing industry. The Abacus Alliance is the largest, and Experian's Z-24, I-Behavior, Prefer Network and NextAction are all factors in the industry. Wiland Direct is the most recent, and it appears engineered to solve many of the recent problems that mailers have experienced with the traditional co-ops. Time will tell, but I must admit that chairman/founder Phil Wiland has a unique perspective on the business coming from the mailer side.
I think it's time that catalogers, direct retailers, list brokers, list managers and service bureaus join in an effort to strengthen the industry and make co-op databases all they can be. Together we can improve profits across the industry by adopting the right policies and practices. For too long, co-ops have sought to minimize the involvement of traditional list brokers, hoping to control the entire process to their advantage, often at the mailer's expense. I believe appropriate reform can add basis points to the bottom line of many direct merchants.
As the scope and penetration of co-ops continue to increase, it is progressively more important that direct marketers be familiar with key issues involving co-ops. Mailers must understand and influence the manner in which the databases use contributed data. This article aims to raise a number of issues (sadly, not all), briefly discuss pros and cons and stimulate industry discussion of co-op databases and how they should evolve.
Such discussion should begin with one fact: Co-ops are here to stay because they make so much fundamental sense. The databases use more information than is available on vertical lists. As a result, they identify otherwise invisible list universes that work. Thus, it isn't a question of whether we should have co-ops or how many such databases we need. The question is how co-ops should operate to the industry's advantage.
"Industry advantage" is easy to endorse in concept, but tough when one gets down to the details. For example, is it advantageous for co-ops to serve both traditional direct retailers and companies that are mainly brick-and-mortar retailers? The answer may seem to be an obvious "yes," but what if the retailer has few direct response buyers to contribute yet wants to mail in huge volume to hotline catalog buyers, including those of catalogs that sell similar merchandise? Clearly, the database is well served (it has more revenue). The retailer is well served (it gets access to great names). But are the catalogers well served?
Important questions such as this are answered frequently by the co-ops, sometimes with little disclosure to contributors. Here are several questions that need to be answered to industry advantage:
Should there be a limit on how many prospect names a mailer can use from a co-op database?
Pro: Yes, and it should be based on the number of 12-month direct response buyer names supplied. Without a limit, small catalogs can benefit unfairly by using an unlimited number of names contributed by larger companies. Furthermore, with no limit, it's possible for a very large company with a huge budget to mail large numbers of names, even if its direct retailing business is very small. No limit is unfair.
Con: No, all the names are available on some list, anyway. And the huge mailers are not really competitive with the smaller, niche catalogs.
Should co-ops rent catalog/Internet names only to other catalog/Internet retailers rather than being allowed to rent buyer names to companies that are not direct retailers?
Pro: It makes no sense for co-ops to make money renting buyer names to insurance companies, banks and others whose data are likely of little or no value to catalogers. If they do rent outside the catalog/Internet retailing community, there should be a revenue share.
Con: It doesn't hurt anything for the names to be used in this way. Insurance companies, banks and others will get the names somewhere. And if they provide any data, even if of marginal value, that's good for the retailers whose buyer files are used in this way.
Should catalog/e-tailers be precluded from participation unless they contribute their transaction dates and dollar amounts?
Pro: Giving participants access to recency and dollar amount info when they don't contribute such data themselves simply isn't fair. We need a level playing field.
Con: If they think having just names and addresses will enrich the database, it's fine for such contributors to have full access to the data provided by others. Knowing that someone once purchased is enough information.
Should promotion history information be contributed to the co-ops?
Pro: We need the databases to bring contact frequency strategy down to the individual level so that best customers and prospects can be promoted frequently while marginal prospects and customers are promoted less often. Done right, this can make marginal names profitable and put money on the bottom line. Relative to prospect promotion history, permission from list owners is obviously required. The industry should cooperate to facilitate such permission.
Con: So many lists are on the market that the names will get mailed anyway. It isn't worth the time and effort to keep track of promo history. Also, obtaining list owner permission is too difficult.
Should co-ops grant a net name arrangement?
Pro: The industry needs competition among numerous co-ops. Competition fosters better value and technological innovation. But it also means that duplication is inevitable, so a fair net name arrangement is fully appropriate.
Con: The price is low to begin with. Besides, you can use balance models to reduce duplication by having your merge/purge net file sent to your favorite co-op.
Should a model score from a co-op database be available as an enhancement to other lists, including non-merchandise lists, for purposes such as outside list optimization?
Pro: It's fully appropriate for a co-op to ship names with a model score (no participant data) to a merge/purge company for inclusion in the merge/purge process to enhance/optimize other lists. If this can help marginal vertical lists perform well, it makes sense. But data beyond model score should not be used to enhance other lists. Furthermore, such usage should be restricted to participants, not available to just anyone.
Con: List enhancement is not an appropriate use of co-op database information, even if it is just a model score.
Should co-ops cooperate actively with a participant's list brokers and list managers?
Pro: Optimizing circulation strategy is the main objective. The marketing staff of the direct retailers, list brokers, list managers and co-ops should work as a team to deliver optimum results for the direct marketer. To have them at odds with each other is illogical and counterproductive.
Con: The co-ops don't need input from list brokers or list managers. Brokers and managers should stick to vertical lists.
Should databases disclose specific information about what factors are important in a model?
Pro: The black box mentality should end. The DMers own the data. No information specific to a participant should be disclosed, but categorical and general factors should be included in each model report. Participants and their list advisers should be able to glean useful marketing intelligence from every model built.
Con: Their techniques and findings are proprietary, and they should not be expected to disclose them.
Should participants contribute SKU-level data to co-ops?
Pro: This is a valuable way to find segments of names that will work that can't be found any other way. Provision of such information should not be required. Participants who don't provide it should not have access to product level data supplied by others.
Con: If a co-op contains hundreds of lists, SKU-level information will add little or no predictive value.
Should participants contribute their data, and co-ops track data, in a manner that optimizes understanding of marketing and order channels?
Pro: It's crucial that legacy systems be abandoned in favor of new systems built to shed maximum light on our multichannel marketing environment. Co-op participants need to revise their systems for providing data in a manner that segregates orders by marketing channel (what produced the order) and order channel (how the customer ordered). Co-ops need to provide low-cost match-back services to help marketers make better segment decisions. They also need to optimize their modeling techniques to address multichannel issues.
Con: A good customer is a good customer, no matter whether they order online, by phone, by mail or buy at a store.
If you answered "pro" to most of these questions, then you likely agree that the co-operative database world needs reform because some companies are operating closer to "con." It's probably impossible to be certain how the profits and growth of a catalog/Internet retailer are affected by differing approaches by co-ops, but the differences unquestionably are significant.
Some of my clients get good results from several co-ops. Others have experienced falloff in results from some of the cooperatives. Personally, I think the newer entries to the field may have better technology and operating practices. At the least, the new players recognize the need to bring greater value to the cooperative proposition. A good-for-the-industry approach is what we need from all the databases.
Here's my bottom line: Join every co-op with policies that you think operate to the industry's advantage. Give each database you join several mail cycles to achieve good performance. If a database does not produce good results after adequate testing, withdraw. If your results are weak, or bouncing up and down, with a co-op that you have used for a long time, get out and try the new ones.

subset: commoncrawl


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Walmart is the biggest retailer in the world. It boasts of having 1.2 million Americans on their payroll. Its reported annual profits are around $13 billion. So it's safe to say since it is so big – and so ubiquitous – and so obviously successful – the government can now stop subsidizing it.
Let me explain: I was covering the first stop for the Progressive Caucus' "Speak Out for Good Jobs Now" listening tour held in Minneapolis attended by Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) among others. The first audience member to speak was one Girsheila Green, a young mother from Compton, California, who has worked at Walmart for three years. Ms. Green told the crowded church how in her tenure with Walmart, she's received two raises and is now a manager. She makes nine dollars an hour (one dollar above the laughably-low California minimum wage). She pulled from her pocket three cards she claimed most Walmart employees at her store have: a 10 percent Walmart employee discount card, her employee ID and her EBT card (what used to be called food stamps).
She relayed that 80 percent of her store is on food stamps. I'd argue one is too many.
It's true, Girsheila doesn't have to work at Walmart if she feels she's not being paid enough. She can go work somewhere else. She's not being forced to work for a wage that won't feed her family. The same argument can be made for child labor, dangerous working conditions and other labor issues settled in the 20th century by workers standing up for their rights.
Girsheila's individual choice is not the issue at all. Since Walmart, the largest private employer in the country, generally doesn't pay its "associates" or "Walmart family members" enough to live on – the giant multi-national corporation is relying on the U.S. government to feed its employees. We, as taxpayers, pay for Walmart's cost-cutting tactics. Profit? Privatized. Nutrition? Socialized.
Think of how many employees use their food stamp cards to buy groceries at the store where they WORK. It's like a nurse having to file bankruptcy due to medical bills.
It would be different if Walmart were a struggling little start-up where loyal employees believed in the company's vision, so being temporarily paid less than an intern is understandable.
But since Walmart is by all measurements a success – it's no longer okay for them to benefit from government handouts. They need to pay people who work for them like people who work for them and not like disposable volunteers in blue vests.
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, testified in 2005 to the Minnesota Senate. She stated if we eliminated the (laughably low) minimum wage, we could wipe out unemployment. Yes, instead of paying one person eight dollars an hour which makes him eligible for food stamps and (in some cases) Medicaid – let's pay eight people one dollar an hour and they can be eligible for food stamps, Medicaid AND General Assistance. Basically, allow the government to take care of the work force so private industry can have the profit. This is corporate welfare. This is also corporate socialism. The government covers what Walmart gets away with not covering.
To those who enjoy Walmart's ample profits - it's welfare check money laundering. To those who tout "free market" principles, that's not one of them.
Bachmann, who hopped on the tea party bandwagon when it first rolled out on socialized roads, has decried the government even though her family farm and husband's clinic have received government money. Bachmann denied this money has benefited her personally; her financial disclosure forms completely contradict that statement.
Bachmann and the tea party are like a 30-year-old who lives comfortably in the family home while railing against parental tyranny and bemoaning the mediocrity of the meals his mother cooks.
In the real world, taxpayers should stop subsidizing Walmart's low wages. Let them pay their employees a living wage. Better yet, let them live up to their own rhetoric when they hire their legions of working poor – let them be treated like "family."
Cross posted from TinaDupuy.com


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With each passing year, the crow's-feet framing your eyes and the creases lining your forehead grow deeper. And those pits and craters, constant reminders of junior high acne, just won't disappear. Cosmetic and dermatological companies have many potential fixes for your dermal woes—fillers to minimize the appearance of wrinkles, laser treatments to smooth imperfections, even injections of bacterial proteins (Botox) that paralyze your face muscles to prevent skin stretching.* And at least one company is searching for the fountain of youth in baby foreskins—yes, we're talking about that flap of skin sliced away during male circumcision.
About 150 patients in the U.K. have already received injections of Vavelta, a foreskin-derived skin treatment aimed at rejuvenating and smoothing skin withered with age or damaged by scarring from acne, burns and surgical incisions, according to a spokesperson for Intercytex, PLC, the Cambridge, England-based company that makes the product. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved Vavelta, nor have any other federal agencies outside the U.K., where it was introduced in June 2007.
Each vial of Vavelta (enough for treating about four square centimeters of skin, roughly the size of a U.S. postal stamp) consists of about 20 million live fibroblasts—cells that produce a skin-firming protein called collagen, which becomes increasingly scarce with age. Fibroblasts also make elastin, a protein that allows the skin to snap back to its original shape after being pulled or stretched like a rubber band, as well as hyaluronic acid, which locks moisture in the skin, keeping it supple and plump.
The fibroblasts in Vavelta are isolated from the foreskins taken from baby boys, given several months to grow and multiply in the lab, and then packaged into treatment vials that are shipped to a select group of U.K. physicians. Each vial costs approximately 750 pounds, or $1,000], according to the company spokesperson.
Once delivered into the skin, the fibroblasts begin producing collagen, hyaluronic acid and elastin (which build and reinforce it) orthey make enzymes called metalloproteinases to break down excessive amounts of proteins that accumulate in scar tissue, according to Paul Kemp, Intercytex's chief scientific officer.
The results? "I was treated on one side of my face last year [and] the treated side feels smoother and plumper," Kemp says. "However, the visible difference is quite subtle. In patients who have been treated for acne scarring, there has been a visible improvement in the texture and surface contour of the skin. Similarly, in patients with scar tissue the result has been a softening of the scar and, in some cases, a dramatic increase in flexibility."
Jeffrey Orringer, director of the Cosmetic Dermatology and Laser Center at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, says that the concept is "intriguing," but warns that a number of questions must be answered before the product goes mainstream. Among them: How long will the fibroblasts survive and function normally once they are injected into the skin? And will they produce enough collagen to produce noticeable results, or perhaps too much, causing unsightly thickening of the skin?
Ron Moy, a dermatologist at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, says that foreskin cells could potentially carry viruses. And although the company screens all the fibroblasts for contamination, he cautions there is "no test that's perfect."
The idea of using fibroblasts—including those swiped from baby foreskins—to repair skin is not new. Companies such as Organogenesis, Inc., in Canton, Mass., and Forticell Bioscience, Inc., in New York City already market such FDA-approved products to promote wound healing. But treating wrinkles with baby foreskins? The jury is still out.
*Note (2/14/09): This sentence has been modified to correct an error.


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The title of the question is also the title of a talk by Vladimir Voevodsky, available here.
Had this kind of opinion been expressed before?
EDIT. Thanks to all answerers, commentators, voters, and viewers! --- Here are three more links:
Question arising from Voevodsky's talk on inconsistency by John Stillwell,
Nelson's program to show inconsistency of ZF, by Andreas Thom,
Pierre Colmez, La logique c'est pas logique !
EDIT. Here the link to the FOM list discussing these themes.


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What you're looking at is a carbon fiber drive shaft and a steel drive shaft being twisted with force until they break. As you can see in this torque test between the two, the carbon fiber shaft doesn't budge (that's not a still image, folks) while the steel shaft cork screws itself and becomes deformed under the same amount of twisting pressure. Gnarly.
Vizio's Latest TVs Go All Quantum
The steel shaft gave out at around 1376 newton meters while the carbon fiber shaft held until 4728 newton meters. That's a huge chunk of difference. Strands of expensive fiber dominates metal more than three times over. Cool


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Linda Hunt, CEO, St. Joseph's Hospital And Medical Center
CEO Series: Linda Hunt
Title: President
Company: CHW Arizona/St. Joseph's Hospital & Medical Center
How is St. Joseph's preparing itself to meet the changes being brought on by national health care reform and the state's budget crisis?
We've been on the ground from the very beginning. Catholic Healthcare West, our parent company, has really been involved with the Obama Administration in looking at different ways to provide health care, and we know that health care has to change. The most important thing for us has been quality — providing the high quality access. We have a lot of people without care or without access to care. So when you look at how do we do that and how do we lower our cost of delivering care, those things have been driving forces for St. Joseph's and CHW to be intimately involved in what needs to occur.
It's a tremendous strain if we have the (state) budget cuts that are proposed. About 44 percent of our patients are AHCCCS (Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System ) patients, and this will be anywhere between $25 million to $31 million for just our organization alone that we will see decreased.
We also are part owners of Mercy Care Plan, so for us it's a real concern. Mercy Care Plan has 386,000 lives, and about 60,000 of those lives (coverage) will be eliminated if the state budget crises and the state waiver go through.
The mass shooting that took place in Tucson really put attention on the work of Level I trauma centers, such as the one at St. Joseph's. What message has that sent to Legislators and the community?
Tucson was a great example of why Level I trauma centers are needed. It truly is the life-saving component of life care. If we would not have had the hospital in Tucson, if we would not have had the trauma surgeons, the neurosurgeons right there ready, a number of those people would not have survived. I think Gabby Giffords can really say one day, "I owe my life to these people and to the quick response that they had." We have very limited funding. As you know, it's not about money coming in from the federal government or the state government for Level I. It's really thanks to a number of our patients who have insurance and the variety of people who give to us to make sure we can continue to have the resources available to provide that kind of care.
How has St. Joseph's evolution mirrored that of the state's health care industry?
When the (Sisters of Mercy) got here in the 1890s, they found a very small community of people who were working here, but also many other people who had come here because they were ill. (The sisters) came here to teach, and all of a sudden they looked around and said, "My gosh, it's not about teaching. We have to provide health care for these people. They're dying in the streets."
So, I feel we are the beginning of health care in this community and have continued for almost 116 years. When you look at the number of firsts that were done at St. Joseph's, many times we brought health care and progressive health care to this community. When you look at the first residency, the first pharmacy in-house, the first NICU, the first MRI, the first CAT scan … it truly is a jewel to be treasured in this community.
Is health care a cooperative effort in the Valley?
I think we all compete. We are businesses. But I think it's a camaraderie because we're all about taking care of people in this community. When you look back, there are a lot of great friendships that you have with the other CEOs. And we do share. We share resources. When we get in trouble as a Level I trauma center, when we're overwhelmed, everyone pitches in and we fan out patients. We do a number of things together. If we need equipment, we lend it to each other. So in a way we compete, but we are all here to serve this community and I think that is very important.
How does St. Joseph's work with rural communities?
Look at Children's Rehabilitative Services, which we have been a partner of the state with in caring for children. We have clinics all over the state. We work with the Indian communities; we work with Flagstaff, Prescott; Yuma and Tucson work together with us. So right there is a perfect example of that collaboration. We have outreach clinics throughout the state, especially in the rural areas. We train residents and new physicians, which we think is a very important part of training the next generation of caregivers. We are training a lot of the physicians that will be practicing in rural Arizona and other rural areas of this country.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix has stripped St. Joseph's of its Catholic standing. how does that affect the average patient?
If you came into our hospital in early December and you came in today, we would look no different. The one thing we cannot do is Mass in the chapel. We still have worship services, they're just not Catholic worship services. But we do have rosaries, we have spiritual hours, we have people who are there to allow you to pray and to provide that spiritual comfort, just as we did in the past. … We acknowledge that (Bishop Thomas J. Olmstead) has the authority to no longer designate us a Catholic hospital. We're all very sad about that. … But we will always take care of people who are here and do what we can do to make sure they are safe, and that they receive the care that they deserve. … it came down to we had to save the life we could and we did.
[stextbox id="grey"]
Vital Stats: Linda Hunt
- Service Area President, Catholic Healthcare West
- President, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing from William Carey College in Mississippi
- Master of Science in Nursing Administration from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
- Graduated from the Johnson & Johnson Fellows Program in Management at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
- Was on the faculty at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Regis University in Denver
- Active in Greater Phoenix Leadership and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council


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You may recall back in August that we published a story about the imminent demise of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The tip came from an interview with Queer Eye's self-proclaimed "Cultural Vulture" Jai Rodriguez himself. Bravo very quickly denied the show's demise and said that a decision wouldn't be made until the end of the year. Well, it appears Rodriguez was correct and the series' goose is now officially cooked.
Queer Eye began airing on July 15, 2003 and quickly became a breakout hit for Bravo. The show stars five openly gay men as they help culturally transform a male "victim;" providing makeover for his wardrobe, appearance, home and overall style. The "Fab Five" experts are comprised of Rodriguez, Carson Kressley, Kyan Douglas, Ted Allen and Thom Filicia. (Incidentally, though it may seem like they've been together for all 90 episodes, only Kressley and Allen have been part of the show since the pilot episode.)
The show has been so popular that it's inspired versions in various foreign countries and languages. In addition, a Los Angeles-based spin-off series, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl, debuted in 2005 and was cancelled after one season. Now the original has been put to rest as well.
Bravo has announced that the 10 episodes of Queer Eye: The Final Season will begin airing this summer. A special episode will commemorate the finale, perhaps reuniting the five — since the last episodes were shot last summer when the cast supposedly had no idea about the cancellation. Interestingly enough, Bravo has also announced plans for a similar makeover show starring Project Runway judge Tim Gunn.
But you don't have to worry about missing the "Fab Five." They're all very active in other projects and shows. Filicia, for one, just announced that he is hosting a home makeover show for Bravo competitor the Style Network.
NBC Universal has also been pushing reruns of Queer Eye. The distributor is pushing suggesting affiliates use the show to fill the slot left by the recently cancelled Megan Mullally Show. Chances are you'll see the Queer Eye guys popping up on daily NBC daytime schedules by the beginning of February.


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- Item model number: 1183
- Feature: Deep V neck / Mesh design
- Pattern: Solid color
- Waist Type: High Cut
- Material:82% nylon & 18% spandex
- Lining:93% polyester & 7% spandex.Soft
- Package Contents :1 x Swimwear
Orders leave our warehouse within 1-2 business days. Business days are Monday-Friday, excluding public holidays.
Delivery Time = Warehouse Processing Time + Shipping.
Available shipping area: worldwide
Depending on the mailbox in different regions, the shipping time may be different
For Countries:
The United States/Singapore/Japan/Thailand/South Korea/Malaysia/ Austria/Germany/ Italy/France/United Kingdom/Spain/ Canada/ Mexico/ Iceland/ Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
For the Rest of the World:
Standard Shipping
Parcel Shipping : ( AVG 5-12 business days )
Free For Orders $49+
$5.99 For Orders $0 - $49
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$32.99 For Orders $49-$100
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Your shipping confirmation will be received only when your items are fulfilled. Please fill in your both account email and order number in order to monitor the order status.
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A) We are doing our best to make the promised time, please understand our warehouse is working only on business days, so please remember to enjoy the sunshine even if there's a day or two difference in the ETA, and by the way, we will inform you proactively if something is wrong. If customs duties are involved, the bearer is the recipient.
B) Phone number is required for delivery. Leave the correct email address in your order to send order confirmation and shipping confirmation.
C) Your order can be tracked in detail once it is fulfilled. Thanks for your patience. Should you have any questions, please reach out to our service center: email@example.com
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Orders can be cancelled and refunded prior to shipping; orders cannot be cancelled more than 24 hours after they are placedProducts participating in the event cannot be returned unless there
is a quality problem, and the relevant shipping fee will be deducted for
returns.Return & exchanges must be initiated within 14 days of delivery;Customers will only be charged once at most for shipping costs.Before you return, email us to get the return address to ship the products back;Items must be in original condition or in the same condition as that
you receive. Damaged or missing products for reasons not due to our
error cannot be refunded.We do not offer Freight To Collect (FTC) service so the returns will be made at your own cost.If you ordered a bikini sets from us and want the top or bottom to
be replaced, you need to return both items to our return address and we
will deliver the new sets.You will be responsible for paying the shipping costs for returning your item. Shipping costs are non-refundable.Refunds will be reimbursed back to your original account – Paypal or
credit card. Paypal refunds will be issued immediately while credit
cards make take 5-7 business days to process.If there are reasons such as sending the wrong size/color or damaged
products, you can contact us and send us photos for verification and we
will resend the correct products. You do not need to return the
Can I still return items if they are worn, damaged, or the tags are removed?
Items must be in original condition or at
the same condition as that you receive. Damaged,non-original tags or
missing products for reasons not due to our error cannot be refunded.
Can I still return items If there are reasons such as sending the wrong size/color or damaged products?
You can contact us and send us photos for verification and we
will resend the correct products. You do not need to return the
Step 1. Initial Your Return
Email us (email@example.com) with your order number and detailed exchange or refund request. Please provide a picture of the problem if possible.
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Once we receive your return request, we will check it and send the return address so that you can send the items back.
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Once we receive your return item, we will give it a quick check and
if the items is as its original condition, we will deliver the
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Take your refund/exchange when the package is received.
Refunds will be reimbursed back to your original account – Paypal or
credit card. Paypal refunds will be issued immediately while credit
cards make take 5-7 business days to process.
Hand-wash warm. Tumble dry low. This product has been washed at the factory after sewing to minimize fabric shrinkage.


text:
20090220 Salsa Social
090220 Ms. E & Company Presents: Salsa Social "In The Tradition of Mardi Gras." Wear your masks! Classic Salsa; Merengue; Cha-Cha; Bachata. Friday, Feburary 20, 2009 @ 9:00pm – 1:30am in Wyckoff Manor located at 1022 Wyckoff Avenue, Ridgewood, NY 11385. $15 at the door; dress casual but neat. Ms. E: 347-693-6440 or Email: email@example.com. (Aeome Images ~ Marcus Calliste)Read More


text:
East Hartford, Ct 2nd alarm
East Hartford firefighters worked at this 2nd alarm fire on 9/2/09 at 1615 hrs. Fire was located at 55 Bidwell Ave. On arrival the Deputy Chief reported smoke from the chimney. While waiting for the companies to arrive the D/C checked the basement from the hatchway, saw a alot of fire rolling across the basement ceiling and gave the working fire. With some extension into floor #1 the second alarm was requested. One cat was rescued from the attic. Pictures 50-53 show the bricks that were found between the studs on floor #1.Read More
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PHOTOS: Thundersnow! strikes Chicago
Most parts of Chicago and the suburbs saw three to six inches of accumulation Monday, with up to eight inches in some isolated areas. Thundersnow was reported as the heaviest bands moved though Chicago and the suburbs.
The storm hit just as many were leaving downtown Chicago.
"It's like being in a water slide. You're all over the place. Traction as you get into another lane is a little crazy," said Ben Robertson, motorist.
At the Circle Interchange, a jackknifed semi created another mess Monday. Travel times on some expressways ballooned past three hours with IDOT unable to clear pavement.
"When you're dealing with rush hour traffic, those trucks have nowhere to go. They're stuck in traffic just like the motorists are," said Jae Miller, IDOT spokesperson.
For residents, the snowblowing, shoveling and scraping have been endless this winter. Here's a not-so-fun fact: It has snowed on 30 of the 48 days since January 1.
"I've jumped my car at least six times this winter. Taking these walks with the dog were cathartic in December and January but it's getting really old in February," said Jeff Hunt, Hinsdale resident.
IDOT says conditions have improved in some areas since the evening rush, and they plan to have hundreds of trucks deployed through the early morning hours on Tuesday.
Air, road travel impacted by snow
More than 1,100 Illinois Department of Transportation snow removal trucks are out across the state. IDOT officials are warning drivers to be especially careful on slick bridges.
The Illinois Tollway deployed its full fleet of 183 snowplows ahead of the storm. They are spreading salt and plowing the 286-mile Tollway system. The trucks often work in tandem, and drivers should move over and slow down for snow removal crews.
Indiana State Police say that despite near white-out conditions in northwest Indiana, no major accidents were reported as of 6 p.m. Monday.
Flights were canceled ahead of the storm at both of Chicago's airports, including 270 flights at Midway and 770 flights at O'Hare. According to the FAA, average arrival delays at one point Monday night topped two hours at O'Hare.
Amanda Gray was among the many stranded at O'Hare. "
With the weather they canceled my flight. Said they had a couple other flights later on in the evening that I had a chance to catch, but those were also canceled," said Gray.
City works to clear main routes
The Department of Streets and Sanitation said Monday its full snow plow fleet of 287 snow plows and salt spreaders were working to clear main routes and Lake Shore Drive. Mayor Rahm Emanuel thanked city plow drivers for their hard work on Monday.
As the snow began to fall, Streets and Sanitation plows began to move. As always, the trucks hit the main streets first, and when all goes as planned, the trucks move on to side streets as soon as they can. When it comes to snow removal, Chicagoans have high expectations.
Chicago residents have learned to expect their streets to be clean ever since the blizzard of 1979. That is when politics dictated snow removal after Michael Bilandic lost a mayoral election over it. No mayor will lighten up on the issue, even if it means going millions of dollars over budget and leaving streets full of pot holes.
"I can see it being tough on the budget but a lot of people can't make it to work," said Williams.
Other cities must function too, but their snow removal is not as aggressive as Chicago. Minneapolis plows side streets, but doesn't salt them. Pittsburgh uses thier full fleet of snow plows when it snows over 10 inches, and St. Louis never plowed side streets until this year. With 3,000 miles worth of city side streets to plow, some have suggested that Chicago could scale back to save money.
Salt supplies dwindling in many communities
In Homewood, the department of public works is stretching their diminishing salt with sand as the pile runs low.
"We're still able to hit the main sections. We're hitting all our hills, curves, under our viaducts. Wherever it's going to be a precarious situation we'll get that salted," Chris Dewall, Homewood Department of Public Works, said.
In Naperville, city employees are waiting on a salt delivery.
"We've used 18,000 tons of salt this year so that is a very large amount but we're feeling good that we're able to last through the rest of this winter with the salt supplies we have on hand," Linda LaCloche, City of Napervile, said. "We're actually getting some deliveries, they're supposed to come today as well."
Temperatures are expected to rise above zero across Illinois by the week's end. That means melting snow and the potential for another hazard - flooding.


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CONSTANTA (REUTERS) - Armed with an iPad and a letter of support from an Oscar-winning film director, Remus Cernea is pushing a cause that he acknowledges few of his fellow Romanian lawmakers care about: giving dolphins the same rights as humans.
The 39-year-old activist politician introduced a Bill in parliament last week that would recognise the marine mammals as"non-human persons", on account of their highly developed intelligence, personalities and behaviour patterns.
The Bill, which will be debated in the Romanian upper house in the coming weeks, would make humans and dolphins equal before the law. Dolphin killers would be given the same sentences as murderers of human beings. The bill would also ban the use of dolphins in live entertainment shows.
The aim of the Bill is to help protect Romania's indigenous dolphins in the Black Sea, Mr Cernea said. It would also add the country's voice to a global movement against dolphin killings.
To back his cause, Mr Cernea has received a letter of support from American filmmaker Louie Psihoyos, famed for a 2009 documentary, The Cove, about dolphin hunting in Japan.
But gathering domestic support may be tough in a year when Romania goes to the polls twice, first in the European elections in May and later to vote for a new president. Animal rights will have to find space alongside issues such as corruption and raising living standards and public services in the European Union's second poorest country.
"At this moment, I have no support," Mr Cernea told Reuters during a visit to the city of Constanta on the Black Sea coast. This law asks you to make a huge step, philosophically speaking, to understand and to accept that somehow there is another species which is quite similar as we are," he added.
Mr Cernea, who sports a pony tail and beard and wore a dolphin t-shirt during an interview on Friday, split from Romania's Green Party to be an independent MP last year.
His constituency, Constanta, is on a strip of coastline where dolphins get entangled in fishing nets and are found dead in their dozens. The city is also home to the only two dolphins in Romania kept in captivity, both bought from China in 2010.
On Friday at Constanta's dolphinarium, to the sound of blaring music, the dolphins practised tricks in a green indoor pool, such as balancing balls on their noses and prodding them through hoops. Each trick was rewarded with fish from a bucket.
Mr Cernea likened the pool to a prison - a view that brought a sharp rebuke from the dolphinarium's scientific director, Nicolae Papadopol, during a discussion with Reuters.
Romania had good enough laws to protects its dolphins without Mr Cernea's Bill, Mr Papadopol said, adding that the dolphin trick shows had been a source of Romanian pride.
"Romanians have something good (here), and you are coming with this initiative to destroy it," Mr Papadopol said.


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odds & ends & weekly wrap
On Thanksgiving, it snowed. Graham had a busy weekend of play dates: I had a super awesome trainer party (note: much easier to tolerate 2 hours on the trainer with friends): And last night, we hung ornaments on our tree: And I seem to have overcome my Monday-afternoon-swims-suck problem by swimming at 8am yesterday. But, boy, is it tough to jump in the water first thing Monday morning! Monday: 45 minutes lifting (legs), another swim failure: 40 minutes/2000 yards swim Tuesday: 30 minutes lifting (a/c/b), 50 minutes/5.1 miles walk/run Wednesday: Rest Thursday: 10 minutes/1 mile jog with Graham Friday: Rest Saturday: 55 minutes lifting (legs), 1:02/6.26 miles walk/run Sunday: 40 minutes lifting (a/c/b), 2:00/28.3 miles cycling (trainer) Thank you - everyone - for all of the support yesterday. I can't tell you all how much it helps and means to me.


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Catalyzing New International Collaborations Archived
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For all of you job seekers, you know that there are plenty of things that you must do in order to snag a job. You might be jobless, but that doesn't mean you have to be bored. If you think that all you have to do is keep an updated resume and search online for a couple of hours a day, you might want to think again. If finding a job is really important to you, listed below are five things you can do to help:
Keep Busy, But Stay Focused
If you are unemployed, searching for a full-time job should be your full-time job. When you are not spending time perfecting your resume and applying for jobs, you should be participating in activities that will enhance your resume. This jobless time can be well spent taking extra classes or just generally boosting your job skills. When it comes time to explain employment gaps to a prospective employer, you want to have a good answer.
Don't Neglect Your Social Media Accounts
Just because you don't have a job doesn't mean you can't keep up on your industry news. You never know when employers are going to take a look at your accounts, so keep up an active online presence. Post links to the latest news or make an effort to join and participate in online industry groups. You may not have a job in the field, but you can show that you are still very much in the know.
Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
If you aren't open to job possibilities outside of your community, it's likely that you will have a harder time finding success. Limiting your search to a small area will produce fewer results. Expand your search — and you might just find the perfect job. Taking a job outside of your comfort bubble will be hard in the short-term, but making this choice can make for greater long-term career success.
Attend Offline Networking Events
To gain contacts and establish relationships with other professionals in your desired field, you should be exploring local opportunities. Do a little online research to find local professional groups specific to your industry. If you join one of these niche groups, your new contacts should be able to direct you to valuable job fairs and conferences in your town. For those of you that don't have access to a local professional group, look up an event calendar for the nearest college or university. Many schools hold open lectures and networking events that attract all kinds of professionals available for advice.
Stay Positive
You must not lose hope. You will experience a lot of competition in the job market, but success will come with hard work and a lot of determination.
For those unemployed, what are some other things that you do to positively use your time?
Mona Abdel-Halim is the co-founder of Resunate.com, the world's only search engine optimizing resume builder. You can find Mona and Resunate on Facebook and Twitter
Read more posts on Come Recommended »


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The Secret Beyond Matter
The fly is a marvel of Creation; its wings beat 500 times per second and, as a result, it has a glorious flying ability. Even more amazing are its eyes, each one of which has thousands of extraordinarily complex lenses. A fly has compound eyes on both sides of its head, each of which is divided into 4,000 sections, each of which, in turn, has a lens that perceives an image from a slightly different angle. When a fly looks at a flower, the full image appears separately in each of its 8,000 lenses. When these images reach the brain, they combine together like the components of a jigsaw puzzle. As a result, an image that is highly significant for the fly emerges.
It is extraordinary that such a small creature should have thousands of lenses in its eyes and a cerebral system capable of interpreting what it sees. We can only acquire this information by studying the animal. Yet all flies have had this perfect structure since they were first created, for, like all the other living things, they are miracles created by Allah, matchless marvels of Creation that amaze one the more one researches and studies them.
Scientists lack the knowledge and technology to install 8,000 lenses into an area just a few millimeters in size and to enable each one to see. None of them can produce a nervous system that will permit these lenses to perceive light and then make that perception visible in such a perfect way.
Only Almighty Allah, Who sees and observes all entities at all times, creates all beings with their perfect details, equips a tiny fly with such miraculous abilities, and bestows reason and conscience on human beings so that they can comprehend and reflect on these matters, can create in such a manner:
O humanity, an example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Surat al-Hajj, 73)


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Brooklyn, MI – Joey Logano will start on the pole for the 400-mile Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway after setting a new track record in Friday's qualifying.
Logano, who is in his first season as driver of the No. 22 Ford for Penske Racing, posted a lap at 203.949 mph for his first pole of the season and the sixth of his Sprint Cup career. Logano's run was the ninth-fastest pole- winning lap in the history of NASCAR's premier series.
With four races to go before the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins, Logano sits 16th in the point standings and seventh in the wild card rankings. He has yet to win a race this season.
"This car is really fast and really good in race trim," Logano said. "I'm looking forward to the race. Obviously here at Michigan, this is a big race for Penske Racing and Ford. So far, we're on track. We just want to win this thing."
Kurt Busch will share the front row with Logano after turning a lap at 203.695 mph. Jimmie Johnson's lap at 203.470 mph earned him the third starting spot.
The top-three drivers in qualifying surpassed the previous track record of 203.241 mph, set by Marcos Ambrose in June 2012. This is the 13th time a qualifying record at a track has been broken this season with the new Sprint Cup race car, the Gen-6.
Mark Martin qualified fourth, followed by Jeff Burton and Juan Pablo Montoya. Dale Earnhardt Jr., Denny Hamlin, Brad Keselowski, the defending series champion, and Kyle Busch, who won last Sunday's race at Watkins Glen, completed the top-10.
Earlier in the day, Montoya confirmed that he is not returning to Earnhardt Ganassi Racing for the 2014 season.
"Well to be honest with you, I think I knew from quite a while ago, Montoya said. "They had an option earlier in the year, and they didn't take it, so I kind of knew it was going to be something different next year, and that's it. They confirmed it this week and that was it."
Austin Dillon, who is the replacement driver for the injured Tony Stewart in the No. 14 Chevrolet this week, qualified 27th, one spot ahead of his Stewart- Haas Racing teammate, Danica Patrick.
Greg Biffle will start 16th in his attempt to win a third consecutive race at Michigan.
Scott Riggs was the only driver who failed to qualify for Sunday's event at Michigan, which is scheduled to start shortly after 1 p.m. ET.


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Oh my God, with this, Ethan Hawke. Are you serious?
Elaine loves to taunt Michelle and me about our teenage love for him. I have to admit, it feels embarrassing in retrospect. Not because he wasn't cute then, or appealing to our young selves, but because there's that sanctimonious thing that is so exhausting – that guy who first burst your bubble about sweatshops when you thought your clothes were cute, or who pointed out how everyone gets lonelier as they get older and life's a bitch and your children leave you and it's pointless.
Okay. Yes. Some things have down sides, for sure. And – news flash – no awards, not even the Pulitzer or Nobel prizes – are completely exhaustive in recognizing all the great work in a given period, and they are necessarily subjective. Oh and Ethan Hawke has been nominated for these subjective awards, by the way.
So we should get rid of them all, never celebrate anything?
One thing the Oscars have been good at doing in recent years is celebrating movies – and TV – in ways they never would have in years past. It's not just about the nominated films, but about the moviemakers as a community. Stewie Griffin will undoubtedly be a part of this year's telecast. Go ahead and be all "do they really need that much celebrating?" but you think at the Architect's Association of America* awards there's not someone bellyaching that they got totally shut out for the ninth year in a row?
Do you know what's happening at Hollywood and Highland right now? There are literally tens of thousands of people who are here to work on this show, the biggest of its kind. Either they work on it all year or it's a highlight of their years. A lot of people work to get it right, and to make it a program that is beamed into literally hundreds of countries. It's a big deal, and sh*tting on it in a New York magazine for New Yorkers doesn't make it less so. Does that mean it's worthy of being vaunted as the Only Right Voice on cinema? Of course not. But is the polar opposite true, then? Celebrate nothing, get excited about nothing?
I'm not suggesting we have to be drones who get all excited about Government Mandated Famous Peoples and squeal with delight at every tiny move they make. But who, over the age of 13, thinks that the Academy (which is a GROUP of people, by the way) gets it right every time and that anything they shun should be shunned? Nobody. It's a sampling, a selection. I'm willing to bet many eligible voters enjoyed Pitch Perfect just as much as I did, even though it's never making it to the Dolby Theatre stage.
But to be all "they are pointless and mean nothing to anyone with sense or taste"? We get it, Scrooge, but even though there's commercialism and money and focus on the trivial, there are still people who get some magic out of it, too. The worst part is that your pouting doesn't dissuade any of them at all – even the ones who know better. What good is a rant if the strongest word you can use to describe it is "boring"?
Attached -- Ethan Hawke at the Oscars in 2002 and 2005. (Lainey: OMG I forgot about Scarjo's hair that year.)


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Happy Easter From Ryan Gosling
A Twitter account purporting to be Ryan Gosling is responsible for hiding 200 Gosling-themed eggs around New York City. Although it's doubtful that this is actually the actor's doing — he's never been that big on Twitter himself — it still feels like a delightful Easter miracle. Besides, if he's saving people from speeding cars, who's to say he's not helping everyone get in the holiday spirit with a citywide Easter egg hunt?
At the time of this article's publication, @GoslingEaster has just over 50 followers. Each egg has a link to the Twitter account, though, so that number is likely to grow throughout the day. And while these eggs may never have been touched by Ryan Gosling himself, they do include charming messages and holiday greetings.
But really, can't we just pretend it's Gosling? He's at least as believable as the Easter Bunny.


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Sheer Shades
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Practising scales isn't always the most glamorous part of being a musician, but improving your scales is absolutely crucial to developing as a musician and taking your technical fluency to the next level!
With this in mind, we asked the question 'how can I make my scales practice more fun?' to some of the best musicians we know: our audience on social media! And you didn't let us down – read on to learn some top tips on making scale practice more engaging for you and your students.
Some people identified the need to change up the way you play scales, whether that's by using different rhythms, articulation, or even a whole new style of music to inject some variety.
"Play along with a drum track and try using different rhythms for fun."
"Different rhythms. Descending then ascending. At the same time as someone else (particularly silly if you're going in opposite directions or playing different scales or both). Or any combination of the above."
"Do variations. Staccato, legato. Ascending, descending. With contrary motion mixed in. And scales repeated at different speeds. Becomes like a game and is fun and challenging."
"I use backing tracks and change style and tempo every time. Go from cha cha to swing to waltz …"
"Dotted rhythms. Mess around with patterns and include triplets, so that a run of 8 quavers becomes 'tiddly pom, tiddly pom'. Then reverse the pattern, 'pom tiddly, pom tiddly'. Also reverse the dotted rhythm from 'long short long short' to the opposite, 'short long short long'. Use a metronome to keep it going."
You can also leave which scales you play next to chance…
"Pot with slips of paper with them written on. Lucky dip!"
"This is a great question! Writing the different scales on pieces of paper, folding them up and picking them out of a hat to make a random scales generator game?"
Wycliffe Music
…or think of an entertaining narrative to say entertained!
"I used to play them as revenge on the family when they made me mad. As a hormonal teen it was not infrequent. But two hours of solid scales each time, in an angry tone, did mean I only lost a mark on them that year. "
"When my 4 year old daughter practised scales, she told me the first note is a hospital and the last note has a very sick patient which an ambulance form the hospital needs to pick up and send him/her back to hospital. While she is playing she keeps saying "nee ngaw, nee ngaw, nee ngaw" all the way go and back."
One thing everyone agreed on was rewarding yourself for your efforts practising!
"Reward yourself with a biscuit after playing the scale 3 times in a row perfectly!"
"Sweets and chocolate after doing them well always helped me."
If you need further help when practising your scales then be sure to check out our Scale Trainer apps, currently available for piano and violin!


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God's love can sometimes show up in a shoebox
Published 12:00 am Saturday, September 21, 2013
Can a plastic snow globe plucked out of a shoebox change a person's life?
Izabella McMillon would say yes.
Izabella spoke Thursday night at High Rock Church's Salisbury West campus to kick off the Operation Christmas Child season and motivate volunteers to donate the shoebox gifts that are the cornerstone of the popular ministry. Operation Christmas Child is part of Samaritan's Purse, a non-denominational evangelical Christian humanitarian organization founded by Franklin Graham.
Begun in 1993, Operation Christmas Child has distributed close to 100 million shoebox gifts to children in more than 130 countries around the world.
Izabella grew up in Romania but now lives in Durham, where she teaches at a small school. As the grateful recipient of one of the earliest Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes when she was a child in a revolution-torn country, Izabella has spearheaded annual shoebox efforts at Gorman Christian Academy, which last year donated 1,856 shoeboxes — an astounding number for a school with only 100 students.
As a very young child growing up in Communist Romania, Izabella had no exposure to religion. Being a Christian in Romania was a dangerous proposition, so when Izabella and her brother stumbled upon a Bible that had been hidden under the floor and began reading it by flashlight at night, their parents warned them to put it back. They continued to read secretly. Later, Izabella begged to go to an underground church where she had been invited to attend, and her parents eventually gave in.
When she was around 13, her pastor taught her how to pray, she says. So she began to pray for her heart's desire: snow. But several cold gray months went by without snow. When no white Christmas came, Izabella decided that prayer didn't work. She didn't forget, however, that her pastor had assured her that God would answer her prayers, but not necessarily in a way she could imagine.
A few days later, she and her brother noticed a big commotion in the streets and shouts about trucks coming. They ran to follow the crowd and got there in time to see the doors of a truck opening to reveal beautiful boxes inside. A woman who spoke Izabella's language invited her to take one. Wondering what the catch was, Izabella took a box. "What can I pray with you for?" the woman asked.
Snow, Izabella said, and the woman joined her in a prayer for snow. A few minutes later, the woman was gone and Izabella opened up her box.
Inside was a plastic snow globe.
At this point in her story, Izabella showed the snow globe to her High Rock Church audience, the glittery flakes easily visible as she shook it.
The gift was a profound revelation for Izabella and the pivotal moment in her faith journey. "God knew me, my desires, my needs," she said. At that moment, she said, "head knowledge" about God turned into heart knowledge.
"You know not to put these snow globes in a shoebox anymore," she warned the audience, laughing, referring to the rule against liquids, which can spill and ruin shoeboxes. "I'm so thankful the rules were different 20 years ago."
She emphasized that with God's help, the right shoebox, packed in the right spirit, will reach the right child at the right time.
Locally, Operation Christmas Child has been a popular project for churches and other organizations. Last year, Rowan, Cabarrus and Iredell counties packed 26,368 shoeboxes, said Jennifer Davis, Carolinas Regional Manager for Operation Christmas Child. A total of 724,300 boxes were packed in the Carolinas last year.
The goal of Operation Christmas Child is twofold: to demonstrate God's love in a tangible way to needy children and to share the gospel of Christ with them. The boxes are sometimes referred to as "gospel opportunities" because they contain a booklet about Christianity and are usually distributed by a local church.
High Rock Church lead pastor Chris Shelton, who traveled to Uganda in his previous job with Operation Christmas Child, announced that High Rock Church had set a goal of 3,000 shoeboxes this year.
The process goes like this: An individual packs a shoebox (or box of similar size) with toys, hygiene items, school supplies and clothing, destined for a boy or girl between the ages of 2 and 14 (each box is packed by age group and gender). After being collected by churches and civic organizations, shoeboxes are then delivered to a local relay center — in Salisbury, Catawba College and St. John's Lutheran Church serve as relay centers. Boxes are then delivered to a collection center in Kannapolis, where they are loaded on trucks and delivered to a processing center in Charlotte. From Charlotte, they travel to Charleston, S.C., where they begin the voyage overseas. Then, various teams work to distribute the boxes, which may arrive to recipients in quite extraordinary ways — by elephant, donkey or canoe.
National Collection Week for Operation Christmas Child is Nov. 18-25. Visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ for more information.


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Spoiler alert! If you're going to play Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned and find digitally rendered flaccid penises offensive, you may want to avert your sensitive eyes during one in-game cinematic.
Rockstar Games, no stranger to controversy as marketing tool, will likely come under fire for its inclusion of completely uncensored, full frontal male nudity in The Lost and Damned, giving us our very first glimpse of digital dick on the Xbox 360. To say it was a surprise would be an understatement, as the scene in question is expert at providing flirtatious glimpses of one character's fleshy business, only to give Congressman Thomas Stubbs' junk plenty of screen time.
Allow us to set the scene...
Stubbs, in his first meeting with lead character Johnny Klebbitz, is receiving a massage at the private gentleman's club Jousters when we meet him. The Congressman, dressed in nothing but a towel, quickly becomes pretty comfortable with his new biker friend, choosing to deliver his monologue in the buff.
While Rockstar's cinematics director teases the player with mere glimpses of Mr. Stubbs' junk, during the final moments of the cinematic, we get to see everything: a very poorly groomed, uncut and unabashed set of man tools.
We've opted not to include a shot of the scene, instead choosing to show the next encounter between Messrs. Klebitz and Stubbs, which also happens to be mostly clothing free.
The ESRB rating for the game—which is "M" for Mature—does make mention of the gratuitous digital dick on display, noting that the game has "Nudity" in its content. The original Grand Theft Auto IV is listed as having only "Partial nudity."
There is no lack of homosexual innuendo in the expansion, as the Lost bikers regularly question one another's sexuality and gush about the love of brotherhood throughout the game, but it certainly was surprising to see Rockstar go there.