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Washington DC – 16 November 2004 – LAWFUEL – SEC, legal, law news – The Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") today filed civil fraud charges in federal court in the Southern District of Florida against six boiler room operations in connection with their operation of a series of recovery room advance-fee schemes directed primarily at previously victimized investors from a number of countries, including Australia, Belgium, Greece, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A "recovery room advance fee" scheme is a fraud wherein the perpetrators prey on investors who have lost money on particular stocks they purchased in the past. The perpetrators purport to offer these investors valuable assets in exchange for their nonperforming stocks but insist that the investors first pay an "advance fee."
The SEC's complaint alleges that the defendants carried out their fraudulent scheme by setting up companies that, while purporting to be legitimate tax and investment planning companies, in fact functioned as illegal "boiler room" operations. According to the SEC's complaint, to bolster their credibility as established businesses, the defendants created websites for each company with content that was plagiarized practically in toto from the websites of legitimate tax and investment planning companies. The defendants then contacted the investors, all of whom had purchased nonperforming shares of stock from other boiler rooms in the past, and offered them an opportunity to divest themselves of their nonperforming shares.
The SEC's complaint alleges that the defendants lured their victims by two similar fraudulent mechanisms, both of which required an advance fee payment by the targeted investors. Purportedly acting on behalf of a client, the defendants Crescent Financial Group, Inc., Berkshire Tax Consultants Co., Warfield Capital Management Co. and SpencerFerguson Receivables Corp., offered to swap one of their fictitious "client's" shares of a blue chip stock, such as Microsoft Corp. or Phillip Morris USA, for the investor's nonperforming shares. These defendants required an advance fee from their victims purportedly to make up the difference in value between the two securities. The complaint alleges that defendants Thompson & Whitehurst Acquisition Consultants ("Thompson") and McKenzie Goldstein & Associates ("McKenzie"), on the other hand, claimed to be agents for a buyer interested in acquiring a majority stake in the companies that had issued the nonperforming shares. These defendants offered to buy the targeted investors' nonperforming shares for an attractive price otherwise not available on the market, but first required that the investor make an advance payment for a portion of the purchase price of a refundable indemnity bond purportedly underwritten by a well-known insurance company, such as one of the Prudential Financial group members. The ostensible purpose of these indemnity bonds was to guarantee that the nonperforming shares could be re-registered in the names of either Thompson's or McKenzie's "clients."
According to the SEC's complaint, in many cases, to enhance further the appearance of the legitimacy of their schemes, the defendants told the targeted investors that the transactions were subject to monitoring by a federal regulator, either the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") or the SEC. In these instances, once an investor had wired the advance payment into a defendant's bank account, he was told that either the FTC or the SEC required a further payment. According to the SEC's complaint, the defendants then sent the investors fabricated documents purporting to be from either the SEC or FTC that explained the reason for the additional payment. In all cases, after the investors sent their payment (or payments) to the defendants, they received neither the stock they had been promised nor, alternatively, the payment they had been promised. The SEC's complaint alleges that these frauds were very lucrative for the defendants. According to the SEC's complaint, at least sixty (60) investors lost over $650,000 as a result of the frauds perpetrated by Crescent, Warfield and Berkshire alone.
The SEC's complaint alleges that each of the defendants violated the anti-fraud and broker-dealer registration provisions of the federal securities laws contained within Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 and Sections 10(b) and 15(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The Complaint seeks injunctive relief against future violations, disgorgement, prejudgment interest and civil penalties against all of the defendants.
In a related criminal case, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the
Southern District of Florida today announced the arrests of several individuals allegedly connected to the operation of several of the same consecutive recovery room advance-fee schemes alleged in the SEC's complaint. The SEC wishes to acknowledge the cooperation and assistance provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Postal Inspection Service in this matter. The SEC would also like to thank the Financial Services Authority ("FSA") in the United Kingdom for their assistance in this matter. The SEC will continue to work with domestic and foreign law enforcement authorities to combat the proliferation of boiler rooms and advance fee schemes so that these international frauds will not find a safe haven from which to operate.
In order to assist investors, the Commission has released an Investor Alert entitled "Worthless Stock: How to Avoid Doubling Your Losses." The Investor Alert warns that "con artists across the globe have stepped up their efforts to rip off investors, especially non-U.S. residents who have lost money in the U.S. securities markets." The Investor Alert urges investors to be very skeptical of offers to exchange worthless or underperforming stocks for blue chip performers and encourages them to thoroughly investigate any investment opportunity and the person promoting it before parting with their money. It also offers tips on how to spot potential "stock swap" scams and gives investors information on where to turn for help. The Investor Alert is available at http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/worthless.htm.
The SEC's investigation in this matter is continuing.


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Music fills the streets in Austin. (Photo by Meri Simon)
By Michael Mayer
More bands from SXSW that you should check out:
Centro-matic: Denton, Texas is an unlikely spot to be a launching pad for bands, but it's produced a disproportionate number of noteworthy artists over the last decade and a half. Centro-matic, an indie rock outfit led by songwriter Will Johnson, is one of the best. They've made nine full-length albums and have a cultish following but deserve to be widely known. Sometimes compared to Guided by Voices, the band's sound ranges from quiet introspection to powerful and anthemic. Arrangements are strong and drummer Matt Pence is amazing. Behind it all are the solid melodies constructed by Johnson. Their 2006 composition, "Flashes and Cables," is one of the great songs of the last decade.

subset: commoncrawl


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I believe there are certain things you can never have too many of. Good pairs of jeans and shoes. Pocket knives. Friends with pickup trucks. Real Mexican joints. Books. And of course, sports cars from the early 60s that competed at LeMans in your Fantasy Garage. We've already got the two best (the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe and the Ferrari 250 GTO, respectively) so let us now induct the most beautiful; the British/Italian hybrid Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato.
It might surprise some of you that a company with as storied a racing pedigree as Aston Martin would turn to Italy for help with its then-ultimate road car. After all, the "Aston" in Aston Martin comes from the Aston Clinton hillclimb where founder Lionel Martin had so much success. But remember, the decidedly non-Anglo Augustus Cesare Bertelli (aka "Bert") rescued Aston Martin from the Charnwood family's death grip in 1927. Lucky for us, too, as Bertelli was one hell of an engineer. In the mid-20s he built three cars for none other than Wolfe Barnato. Bert actually won the Rudge Whitworth Biennial Cup at LeMans behind the wheel of a "Bertelli Aston."
After the unpleasantness with the Germans, Sir David Brown continued the continental collaboration when he took over Aston. By the mid-50s, Brown had turned to Carrozzeria Touring to coachbuild the DB4. And why not? Carrozzeria had no only pioneered the Superleggera system (lightweight alloy panels stretched over tubular frame) but had build such humdingers as the 8C for Alfa and the 328 Touring Coupe for BMW. While pretty, the DB4 was just not enough.
So, Aston Martin pumped out the DB4 GT. Power from the Tadek Marek designed 3.7-liter DOHC straight-6 was bumped from 240 to 302 hp. The wheelbase was shortened, which meant that the useless to begin with backseat was gone in the GT. The aluminum was thinner (i.e. lighter) and the headlights were cowled, taking a blind-stab at aerodynamics. And while the DB4 GT was a nice improvement over the "standard" car and did reasonably well on the track, it still wasn't enough. Translation: the DB4 GT couldn't compete with Ferrari 250 GTs. So Brown (presumably) picked up the phone and called Zagato.
With a track record studded with such winners as the Fiat 8V, OSCA 4500 Biondetti, Alfa 8C 2900 and Jaguar XK 140 Z, Brown would have been nuts to call anyone else. Zagato was more than happy to rip the DB4 GT apart and rebuild it. Steel pieces were replaced with aluminum ones and the car was made even smaller still than the GT. Perspex was used in place of heavier glass. The bumpers were ripped off, along with everything that wasn't needed in a racing car. The engine even got re-jiggered to the tune of 314 hp, which in 1960 was pretty boss. Especially in a 2,701 pound whip. But the real legacy of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato involves the young designer named Ercole Spada.
Spada, who would go on to design both the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Giulia TZ, crafted what to my eyes is one of the very most beautiful cars ever. We're talking top 10 here, if not top 5. The DB4 GT Zagato was his first gig. Do I need to mention beginner's luck? Gone was the inherent British slab-sidedness and upright grill. In were sumptuous Italian curves and unrealistically killer detailing. While simple at first, repeated gawking reveals Spada's knockout to be quite complex, especially if you change angles. I notice something new and enticing almost every time. Checkout the fishy-faced hood metal bending over the grill in profile. Pretty friggin' nifty, you ask me.
How'd the Aston Zagatos fare on the track? Not so hot. They could compete, even at LeMans, but the DB4 GT Zagatos were never as stiff nor as lean as the winning Ferraris of the time. The handling needed to tackle the most challenging tracks in the world was just never there. And so what? Because you know that little could matter less on an actual road. Still, if you don't win on Sunday... 25 cars were planned, but due to soft demand only 19 were ever built (though during the dark times known as the 80s Aston Martin completed 4 leftover chassis and three "new" replicas from scratch). For 1960 the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato was impressive machine only trumped by the very best sports car in the world. For 2008, the Zagato-bodied Aston is without question one of the world's most desirable. I mean. James Bond is cool, but Josepi Bondolini is righteous. Happy Voting.
The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage, So Far:
RUF RT12 | 1978 Aston Martin V8 Vantage | Honda 1300 Coupe 9 | 1931 Daimler Double Six 50 Corsica Drophead Coupe | Ferrari 288 GTO | Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 | 1970 Buick GSX 455 | First Generation BMW M Coupe | Bugatti Veyron 16.4 | Ford GT | Citroen SM | Porsche 928 | Jensen FF | DeTomaso Vallelunga | Audi Quattro S1 | Buick GNX | Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R | Honorary Fantasy Garager: The LS1 Powered Rotus | Lamborghini LM002 | Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe | Ferrari 250 GTO | Bentley Speed Six | Talbot-Lago T150C SS Figoni et Falaschi Raindrop/Teardrop Coupe | Porsche 917 | Audi RS4 Avant | Lamborghini Miura | Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 | BMW E39 M5 | Jaguar E-type | Mercedes-Benz 300 SL | Dodge Charger/Challenger R/T | Toyota 2000GT | Facel Vega HK500 | Voisin C28 Aerosport | Bugatti Type 41 Royale | McLaren F1 | Maserati Bora | Continental MK II | Tucker 48 | Rolls-Royce Phantom
[The Jalopnik Fantasy Garage appears every Wednesday*. Readers vote the cars in or out. The idea is that we'll have 50 cars in our Fantasy Garage, the world's greatest mechanic and endless wads of cash. Would you like to nominate a car for the Fantasy Garage? Write email@example.com with the subject line "Fantasy."
*Sorry about last week. New Years and all that.]


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Veli Ring with Sapphire in Gold
$ 2,500.00
Not sure of your ring size? Email us your mailing address to firstname.lastname@example.com and we will send you a ring sizer free of charge.
Focusing on clean and restrained silhouettes, SHW wedding collection is created with the belief that simplicity is timeless. Each ring is made one-at-a-time in New York City, set with ethically sourced and certified diamonds in recycled gold or platinum.
14k white gold set with a 1ct blue-green heated sapphire from Australia.
Band diameter is 1.5mm
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This ring is a size 6.
All SHW wedding rings are one-of-a-kind.
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All domestic SHW wedding ring orders ship via UPS 2-day, signature required. We do not ship diamond solitaire rings internationally at this time.


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The Royal Oak Venue Hire
Perfect for Private Functions and Social Events
"Caters for parties and functions"
See below for details of Mobile Discos, entertainers and party suppliers for events at The Royal Oak, Nantwich
Event FAQs for The Royal Oak
Information provided here is based on enquiries and bookings handled via needadisco.com, so whilst it's a great insight please contact The Royal Oak directly to validate before making any commitments because things can change.
|Is The Royal Oak suitable for a Private Function?
YES! needadisco.com has recently received enquiries for catering, photography, DJs, dancefloors, giant light-up letters and other entertainment services for clients holding birthday parties, anniversaries, engagements etc. at The Royal Oak
Customer Reviews of The Royal Oak
Unfortunately we don't have any current customer reviews for venue hire at The Royal Oak. We hope to get some soon, but in the meantime you may wish to investigate other review sources such as a Facebook page, TripAdvisor entry or Google reviews. Sorry about that.
Mobile Discos / DJs for hire at The Royal Oak
Here are needadisco.com's Top 4 mobile DJs based on our Site Rank formula for weddings, parties and functions taking place at The Royal Oak in Nantwich.
See all DJs covering Nantwich
See specialist WEDDING DJs covering Nantwich
The Specialist Wedding DJ
High Quality Video DJ & Photography Included
4.7 | 79 recent reviews
More mobile disco companies available for events at The Royal Oak
These needadisco.com members are available to hire for weddings and parties in the CW5 area, including Nantwich, Willaston
Party Suppliers for events at The Royal Oak
The following suppliers all cover events in the Nantwich area, including at The Royal Oak
Party Services and Products for events at The Royal Oak
The following event services and products are available for events at The Royal Oak
- AV Production Services
- Amusement Machines
- Backdrops (Unlit)
- Balloon Modelling
- Balloons
- Bands and Groups
- Beer and Wine
- Bingo Callers
- Bouncy Castles and Inflatables
- Buff Butlers
- Burlesque
- Candy Floss
- Caricaturists
- Casinos (real or fun)
- Chair Covers
- Children's Entertainers (Generic)
- Chocolate Fountains
- Classical Music
- Comedy Shows
- Comedy Walkabout
- Comperes
- Costumed Characters and Mascots
- Decorative Lighting
- Disco Equipment Package Hire
- Dry Ice
- Electrical Services
- Event Photography
- Face and Body Painting
- Fencing and Crowd Control
- Flooring
- Funfair Attractions
- Giant Games
- Hen or Stag Parties
- Hog Roast BBQ
- Human Statues
- Ice Cream Van or Bike
- Karaoke (Standalone)
- Kissograms
- LED Curtains and similar
- Laser Shows
- Limo Hire (Classic)
- Limo Hire (Novelty)
- Magicians
- Masters of Ceremonies
- PA Hire
- Party Planners and Event Organizers
- Popcorn
- Projection
- Quiz Events
- Race Nights
- Rodeo Bull and Bucking Bronco
- Security
- Silent Disco
- Singers and Vocalists
- Stage Audio
- Stage Lighting
- Star Cloths
- Stilt Walkers
- Street Entertainers
- Strippers (Female)
- Strippers (Male)
- Studio Photography
- Sumo Suits
- Sweets and Candy Bars
- Table Linen Hire
- Tribute Bands
- Trussing and Gantries
- Venue Dressing
- Videography and Filming
- Vintage Postboxes
- Wedding Cars
Suggested Alternatives to The Royal Oak
The Royal Oak not quite right for you? Here's a selection of other venues for hire in and near Nantwich that might be of interest to you...
Other Pubs, Bars, Clubs & Restaurants
Same Area (CW5 - 18 alternatives)
- Nakatcha, 20-24 Welsh Row
- The Black Lion, Welsh Row
- The Boot and Shoe, 82 Hospital Street
- The Bowling Green, Monks Lane
- The Cheshire Cat, Welsh Row
- The Cotton Arms, Cholmondeley Road, Wrenbury
- The Cronkinsons Farm, Pear Tree Field, Stapeley
- The Dusty Miller, Cholmondeley Road, Wrenbury
- The Farmers Arms, Marsh Lane, Ravensmoor
- The Globe, 100 Audlem Road, Stapeley
- The Lamb, Wistaston Rd, Willaston
- The Nags Head, Wistaston road, Willaston
- The Oddfellows Arms, 97 Welsh Row
- The Red Cow, 51 Beam Street
- The Red Lion, Main Road, Wybunbury
- The Talbot, The Oatmarket
- The White Horse Inn, 22 Pillory St
- The Wickstead Arms, Mill St
Nearby (97 alternatives)
- Bar 7, Crewe CW2
- Crewe Arms Hotel, Crewe CW3
- De Bees, Winsford CW7
- Knights Grange, Winsford CW7
- The Bickerton Poacher, Malpas SY14
- The Black Bear, Whitchurch SY13
- The Boot & Slipper Inn, Winsford CW7
- The Borough Arms, Crewe CW1
- The Brighton Belle, Winsford CW7
- The British Lion (The Pig), Crewe CW2
- The Broughton Arms, Crewe CW2
- The Broughton Arms, Crewe CW1
- The Brunel Arms, Crewe CW1
- The Bull, Malpas SY14
- The Bulls Head, Tarporley CW6
- The Bulls Head, Whitchurch SY13
- The Cabbage Hall, Tarporley CW6
- The Captain Webb, Crewe CW1
- The Carden Arms, Malpas SY14
- The Cheese Hall, Crewe CW1
- The Cheshire Cheese, Crewe CW2
- The Cholmondeley Arms, Malpas SY14
- The Coach & Horses, Crewe CW1
- The Cock O Barton, Malpas SY14
- The Combermere Arms, Whitchurch SY13
- The Coopers Arms, Crewe CW3
- The Crewe Hero, Crewe CW2
- The Delamere Arms, Crewe CW1
- The Duke Of Bridgewater, Crewe CW2
- The Duke of Gloucester, Crewe CW1
- The Dysart Arms, Tarporley CW6
- The Earl Of Chester, Crewe CW2
- The Egerton Arms, Tarporley CW6
- The Eight Farmers, Crewe CW1
- The Elephant, Crewe CW1
- The Elephant, Crewe CW2
- The Express, Crewe CW2
- The Flying Lady, Crewe CW1
- The Foresters, Tarporley CW6
- The Four Eagles, Crewe CW1
- The Fox Inn, Crewe CW1
- The Gate Inn, Winsford CW7
- The George and Dragon, Winsford CW7
- The Golden Lion, Winsford CW7
- The Grand Junction, Crewe CW1
- The Hand & Trumpet, Crewe CW3
- The Hanmer Arms, Whitchurch SY13
- The Hop Pole, Crewe CW2
- The Horse & Jockey, Whitchurch SY13
- The Horse Shoe, Crewe CW1
- The Imperial, Crewe CW2
- The Kings Arms, Crewe CW1
- The Knights Grange, Winsford CW7
- The Little Man Inn, Winsford CW7
- The Merlin, Crewe CW1
- The Morris Dancer (ex Olive Tree), Tarporley CW6
- The Nags Head, Crewe CW1
- The Nags Head , Tarporley CW6
- The Nags Head , Tarporley CW6
- The Offley Arms, Crewe CW3
- The Old Eagles, Whitchurch SY13
- The Old Mill, Whitchurch SY13
- The Old Star, Winsford CW7
- The Old Swan, Crewe CW3
- The Old Town Hall Vaults, Whitchurch SY13
- The Olde Jack Inn, Whitchurch SY13
- The Princes Feathers, Winsford CW7
- The Queens Arms, Winsford CW7
- The Queens Head, Malpas SY14
- The Raven Inn, Crewe CW2
- The Red Cow, Whitchurch SY13
- The Red Lion, Winsford CW7
- The Red Lion Inn, Tarporley CW6
- The Rising Sun, Crewe CW2
- The Rising Sun, Tarporley CW6
- The Rising Sun, Crewe CW1
- The Royal Oak, Tarporley CW6
- The Shady Oak, Tarporley CW6
- The Shrewsbury Arms, Tarporley CW6
- The Shroppie Fly, Crewe CW3
- The Station Pilot, Crewe CW2
- The Swan at Woore, Crewe CW3
- The Swan Inn, Whitchurch SY13
- The Sydney Arms, Crewe CW1
- The Tollemache Arms, Tarporley CW6
- The Top House, Winsford CW7
- The Travellers Rest, Tarporley CW6
- The Watergate, Whitchurch SY13
- The Wharton Park, Winsford CW7
- The White Lion, Crewe CW3
- The White Lion, Crewe CW1
- The White Lion, Crewe CW1
- The White Lion, Whitchurch SY13
- The Woodside, Crewe CW3
- The Woodside, Crewe CW2
- The Yew Tree, Tarporley CW6
- White Lion Inn, Crewe CW2
Sports, Social & Members' Clubs Show / Hide
Same Area (CW5 - 5 options)
- Crewe Vagrants Sports Club, Newcastle Road, Willaston
- Nantwich Cricket Club, Whitehouse Lane
- Nantwich Town Football Club, Weaver Stadium, Water Lode
- Willaston Masonic Hall (Acacia Suite), Wybunbury Rd
- Willaston Social Club, 7 Wistaston Road, Willaston
Nearby (26 options)
- Archibald Worthington Club (AWC), Whitchurch SY13
- Brookfield Golf Club, Crewe CW3
- Camelot Function Suite, Crewe CW2
- Cholmondeley Working Mens Club, Whitchurch SY13
- Coppenhall Working Mens Club, Crewe CW1
- Cosey Social Club, Crewe CW1
- Crewe Golf Club, Crewe CW1
- Crewe Liberal WM Club, Crewe CW1
- Crosville Social Club, Crewe CW1
- Deeside Ramblers Hockey Club, Tarporley CW6
- Haslington Cricket Club (Empire Clubhouse), Crewe CW1
- Madeley Working Mens Club, Crewe CW3
- Malpas and District Sports Club, Malpas SY14
- Meadow Bank Social Club, Winsford CW7
- Nantwich Road Social Club, Crewe CW2
- Oddfellows Social Club (Oddies), Crewe CW2
- Prees Cricket & Recreation Club, Whitchurch SY13
- Royal British Legion Tarporley, Tarporley CW6
- Shavington Social Club, Crewe CW2
- Wharton Con Club (Tin Mission), Winsford CW7
- Whitchurch Cricket Club, Whitchurch SY13
- Whitchurch Rugby & Hockey Club, Whitchurch SY13
- Winsford Constitutional & Conservative Club, Winsford CW7
- Winsford Cricket Club, Winsford CW7
- Winsford United Football Club (Barton Stadium), Winsford CW7
- Wychwood Park Golf Club, Crewe CW2
Community Halls & Spaces Show / Hide
Same Area (CW5 - 7 options)
- Goodwill Hall, Wrexham Road, Faddiley
- St Margarets Church, Wrenbury
- Stapeley Community Hall, Pear Tree Field
- Stapeley Village Hall, Stapeley
- Worleston Village Hall, Main Rd, Worleston
- Wrenbury Village Hall, Cholmondeley Road, Wrenbury
- Wybunbury Village Hall, Main Road, Wybunbury
Nearby (31 options)
- Ash (Magna) Village Hall, Whitchurch SY13
- Audlem Public Hall, Crewe CW3
- Beechtree Community Centre, Whitchurch SY13
- Bickerton Village Hall, Malpas SY14
- Brittles Sports Hall (Pavilion), Crewe CW2
- Brownlow Community Centre, Whitchurch SY13
- Bunbury Village Hall, Tarporley CW6
- Cholmondeley Coronation Hall, Whitchurch SY13
- Crewe Lyceum Theatre, Crewe CW1
- Darnhall Village Hall, Winsford CW7
- Higher Heath Village Hall, Whitchurch SY13
- Hough Village Hall, Crewe CW2
- Kelsall Village Institute, Tarporley CW6
- Malpas Victoria Jubilee Hall, Malpas SY14
- New Life Community Centre, Crewe CW2
- Onneley Village Hall, Crewe CW3
- Prees Village Hall, Whitchurch SY13
- Shavington Village Hall, Crewe CW2
- St Josephs RC Church, Winsford CW7
- St Judes Church, Tarporley CW6
- Tallarn Green Village Hall, Malpas SY14
- Tarporley Community Centre, Tarporley CW6
- The Georges Community Centre, Crewe CW2
- The Madeley Centre, Crewe CW3
- Tilstock Bradbury Village Hall, Whitchurch SY13
- Tilston War Memorial Hall, Malpas SY14
- Victoria Community Centre & Cumberland Arena, Crewe CW1
- Whixall Social Centre, Whitchurch SY13
- Wistaston Memorial Hall, Crewe CW2
- Wychwood Village Hall, Crewe CW2
- Yoxall Village Hall, Crewe CW1
Civic Buildings Show / Hide
Same Area (CW5 - 1 options)
- Nantwich Civic Hall, Market St
Nearby (2 options)
- Municipal Buildings, Crewe CW1
- Whitchurch Civic Centre, Whitchurch SY13
Hotels Show / Hide
Same Area (CW5 - 4 options)
- Alvaston Hall, Middlewich Rd
- Crown Hotel, High St
- Rookery Hall Hotel, Worleston
- Rowton Hall Hotel, Whitchurch Rd
Nearby (15 options)
- Crewe Arms Hotel, Crewe CW2
- Crewe Hall Hotel, Crewe CW1
- Dodington Lodge Hotel, Whitchurch SY13
- Hill Valley Hotel (Macdonald), Whitchurch SY13
- Hunters Lodge Hotel, Crewe CW1
- Ibis Styles Crewe, Crewe CW1
- Portal Hotel Golf & Country Club (Macdonald), Tarporley CW6
- Ramada Encore Crewe, Crewe CW1
- Sleepers Hotel, Crewe CW1
- Swan Hotel, Tarporley CW6
- The Wheatsheaf Inn, Crewe CW3
- Waverley Hotel, Crewe CW2
- Wild Boar Hotel, Tarporley CW6
- Willington Hall, Tarporley CW6
- Wychwood Park, Crewe CW2
Conference Venues Show / Hide
Same Area (CW5 - 1 options)
- Stapeley Water Gardens, 92 London Rd, Stapeley
Nearby (3 options)
- Buddileigh Farm, Crewe CW3
- Crewe Alexandra Football Club, Crewe CW2
- Dearnford, Whitchurch SY13
Arenas & Theatres Show / Hide
Historic Venues Show / Hide
Same Area (CW5 - 2 options)
- Dorfold Hall, Chester Road
- Wrenbury Hall, Wrenbury
Nearby (6 options)
- Combermere Abbey, Whitchurch SY13
- Grange Barn, Whitchurch SY13
- Haslington Hall, Crewe CW1
- Iscoyd Park, Whitchurch SY13
- Peckforton Castle, Tarporley CW6
- The Glasshouse at Combermere, Whitchurch SY13
Contact Details for The Royal Oak
The Royal Oak is located at 94 Main Road, Worleston, Nantwich, CW5 6DN
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Your privacy is important to us. This Privacy Statement explains what personal data we collect from you, and how we use that data.
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We may change this privacy notice from time to time by updating this page in order to reflect changes in the law and/or our privacy practices. We therefore encourage you to check this privacy notice for changes whenever you visit our website.
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What personal information do we process?
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Where do we source this information?
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A Shining Example of Why Our Tax Code Must be Simplified
I made a mistake. In my article on June 30 on Tips for Sub S Corporations I took a stance that was backed by a faulty analysis. I want to thank all of my colleagues who wrote to clue me in on my error.
Turns out, you cannot mix apples and oranges, after all when it comes to the ability to write off rental losses against Sub S income. If you go to work every day at your Sub S Corporation business, (in other words if you have material participation), putting in more than 100 hours per year, you cannot write off your rental losses (passive losses) against the income (nonpassive) generated from the Sub S Corporation. Essentially, if you work less than 100 hours, you can. In Publication 925 there is an entire column with seven bullet points devoted to defining material participation and I urge individuals to read it for more information because there are factors other than the hours you put in. Material participation Sub S income is not considered passive, even though it is considered passive for other purposes of the code.
In my 29 years of doing taxes, this particular situation had not come up before. I have a few clients with material participation in their Sub S corporations who own real estate rentals that are profitable, so its never been an issue before.
This year during tax season, a long time client of mine--Ill call him Art--made 3X his normal profit from his sole proprietorship and indicated that the earnings would be the norm for the future. He lost the deduction for his rental losses because his income exceeded $150,000. His tax bill was enormous. Hed been paying taxes every year on about $85,000 of income and just when he thought hed pulled ahead and could finance putting his four sons through college, he ends up getting hit with a savage tax bill.
It was time for him to incorporate, Sub S, pay himself a reasonable salary and take the remainder of the profit as income that is not subject to the self-employment tax. When I ran the numbers as a Sub S, the rental losses came back into play as a deduction. Good news! At first it didnt make sense because of his material participation, but a colleague happened to walk by right then (someone with as much tax experience as me) and he concurred with my findings, saying Sub S income is passive. You see that its not subject to self-employment tax, right?
Right! So it made sense. No self-employment tax, it must be passive income. Next I check out code section 469 just to be sure and there it was in black and white Sub S Corporations are an exception. Going back and looking at it now, I see its an exception to the passive activity rules, which means the income cannot be netted against other passive losses. But because I was excited about saving money for my client, I saw only what I wanted to see or expected to see.
Later that week I was in an audit for another client, so I spoke to the auditor about my findings and she agreed. I also called the Tax Law Department of the IRS and spoke to an agent who also agreed! Art went to a tax attorney to set up the Sub S Corporation and the attorney said I was right, that he would enjoy his rental loss deductions as a Sub S owner. A handful of CPAs wrote to me after also agreeing with me after the article hit, but most of the mail I received was from CPAs who disagreed. This set off an alarm: The ones who disagreed with me made a lot of sense.
It was time to reload and check one more time. I did, and found that I was wrong. Of course, there are some exceptions. If you can be classified as a real estate professional, your rental real estate is not considered a passive activity, therefore you can write off your Sub S losses against it. Read IRS Publication 925 for more information on who can be classified as a real estate professional youll be surprised you dont necessarily have to be a licensed realtor.
This situation is scary: Seasoned professionals, even the IRS itself, can become confused about tax law. There are more than 80,000 pages of code, riddled with exceptions, obscure rules and verbiage. One of the most off-putting words found in IRS publications is the word generally. I hate it when I see sentences that start with that--it implies there is an exception somewhere, but it never details what it is.
It is time for serious tax reform. A flat tax, a fair tax, a simplified tax not burdened with cumbersome and complicated rules and regulations and constant change. A tax on everyone: not just on the rich, not just on the poor or on the middle class (who by the way is the group getting squeezed). Any lawmakers out there listening? Im not scared of my business going away because of a simpler tax code; every tax professional has a sideline to take up the slack when tax season is over insurance, financial planning, and accounting to name a few. We can develop our sidelines. In fact, there will still be tax issues payroll taxes, sales tax, the taxes will never end and there will always be a need for tax professionals.
But right now& I better pick up the phone and call Art.
Bonnie Lee is an Enrolled Agent admitted to practice and representing taxpayers in all fifty states at all levels within the Internal Revenue Service. She is the owner of Taxpertise in Sonoma, CA and the author of Entrepreneur Press book, Taxpertise, The Complete Book of Dirty Little Secrets and Hidden Deductions for Small Business that the IRS Doesn't Want You to Know, available at all major booksellers. Follow Bonnie Lee on Twitter at BLTaxpertise and at Facebook.


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Welcome Guest
We're continuously considering publishing quality content from members of our community. This is why we flexibly accept the submission of relevant articles from guest authors on our website.
We're quite selective with our content and hate it when we get given crappy spun content that either holds no relevance to the readership of WindowsQnA or is just a poor piece of writing that's only focus is to getting links back onto the author's website/blog. If you're thinking about sending something like that to us then think again – we will just pay no attention to your email.
What we look for in guest posts is good quality content with images optimized that are relevant to the readers of this site. That can range from tips on How to Use Windows, the latest Windows news, and Windows Tutorial, through to Guides and Tips & Tricks. Just be sure to check through the blog to see if your suggested blog topic hasn't already been covered on the blog before you get in touch.
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To enquire about writing on WindowsQnA or If you're interested in being an established writer at WindowsQnA simply email [email protected] with the subject as "Guest Blogging". We look forward to hearing from you soon!


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New University of British Columbia research shows that – contrary to popular opinion – hedge funds have a positive influence when investing in U.S. companies filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The study, co-authored by Sauder School of Business finance Prof. Kai Li, reveals that when a hedge fund invests in a distressed company, other creditors in the transaction fare better and there is a greater chance a company will emerge from bankruptcy.
"It's a common view in the media and popular opinion that hedge funds are 'vulture investors' who dismantle companies to maximize profits in the shortest time-frame possible," says Li, who co-wrote the study for the April edition of the Journal of Finance with professors from Columbia and Queens Universities.
"We found the opposite is true. Our data show that hedge funds strategically invest in troubled companies with the intention of becoming major shareholders after they emerge from bankruptcy. They are motivated to strengthen firms, not tear them apart."
Unlike mutual funds and pension funds, which have very stringent requirements on the types of companies they invest in, hedge funds are free to take on the risk of investing in companies in Chapter 11.
Li and her co-authors conclude that this flexibility allows them to make strategic investments in failing companies that exhibit the potential for recovery. They also argue that hedge funds are much more likely to wait while companies successfully restructure under new management than other private investors.
The researchers analyzed 474 Chapter 11 filings in the United States between 1996 and 2007. Looking at firms with assets worth more than $100 million, the researchers examined bankruptcy filings from a wide variety of angles, including the presence of hedge fund investment, CEO turnover, key employee retention, asset liquidation, debt recovery and emergence.
They found that 87 per cent of these bankruptcies had observable hedge fund involvement. The data shows such companies had improved chances of surviving the bankruptcy process. The results also reveal that the presence of hedge funds increased the likelihood of failed CEOs being fired and reduced the liquidation pressure from other stakeholders clamouring for a payout.
"We find that hedge funds are more like mediators than predators," says Li. "They use the power of a controlling stake to negotiate between the desires of top executives fighting to preserve their high salaries, and the company's lenders who may want to cut their losses by dismantling the company and selling off the pieces."
The researchers also found that the presence of hedge funds as the largest unsecured creditors had a favourable effect on stock price, and positive influence on the overall debt recovery for other lenders. Finally, where hedge funds were involved, companies had a reduction in leveraged debt one year after emergence from bankruptcy.
"Until now, hedge funds have been wrongly classified," says Li. "Instead of vultures, circling overhead above a dying prey, it is better to see them as guardian angels of distressed companies, overseeing their transition into healthier entities."


text: These seven learning activities, which focus on 'open-ended tasks' using a variety of tools (software) and devices (hardware), illustrate the ways in which content, pedagogy and technology can be successfully and effectively integrated in order to promote learning. In the activities, teachers use investigations in order to stimulate a range of positive mathematical behaviours. Students are provided with opportunities to engage in open-ended investigations in order to develop higher-level thinking and deeper understanding of mathematics concepts.


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Closed Head Injury
Any injury you receive to your head, that does not go through the skull, is a closed head injury. Closed head injuries can range from minor injuries to devastating, life-threatening major injuries. Count on our experts to help you when you need it the most.
Closed head injury can cause broken bones to the skull or face, as well as significant damage to the brain. The damage to the brain can be in the form of bruising of the brain, or a concussion, or can cause bleeding in or around the brain, a intracranial hemorrhage.
Causes of closed head injury / concussion
The most common causes of a closed head injury are:
- Falls, from height or from standing can cause significant injuries
- Sports injuries, commonly from contact sports such as boxing, wrestling, football, hockey
- Car or motorcycle accidents
- Bike accidents
Symptoms of a closed head injury / concussion
Symptoms depend on the type of injury a person has and how severe it is. People with a mild closed head injury, such as a bump on the head, might not have any symptoms. Symptoms include:
- A headache, could be at the area of impact or over the entire head
- Nausea or vomiting
- Vision or hearing problems
- Swelling, bleeding, or bruising on the scalp or around the face or eyes
- Blood or clear fluid draining from inside the ears or the nose: this could be a sign of fractured skull
- Dizziness or feeling lightheaded
- Confusion or memory problems: some people can have trouble remembering the accident, and in more severe cases they may have difficulty remembering things from before the accident
- Difficulty concentrating on tasks or difficulty paying attention
- Feeling tired
- Mood or behavior changes, or feeling easily irritated
- Difficulty walking, or difficulty keeping their balance
- Difficulty speaking
- Seizures – Seizures are waves of abnormal electrical activity in the brain. They can make you pass out, or move or behave strangely.
- Passing out or losing consciousness
- Being overly sensitive to bright lights or noises
Symptoms can start right after a closed head injury, or a few hours or days later. Some people have symptoms that last a short time only. Other people have symptoms that cause long-lasting problems, lasting for weeks or months.
In cases of severe head injury, a person can be in a coma and may need mechanical life support.
If you have had a head injury and have any of the symptoms listed, seek immediate medical attention.
Testing for closed head injury
If you have significant head injury, or your doctor suspects you have any fractures, he or she will want to do testing to check for serious injuries. He or she will do an examination and ask questions to test your thinking and memory.
If we have concerns that you have a serious injury, we will order imaging test of your brain, such as a CT or MRI scan. These tests create pictures of your skull and brain. These images allow us to check for bleeding in or around your brain or broken bones associated with a head injury.
With a concussion, your imaging can be normal, but you still have significant symptoms.
Treatment for closed head injury
Treatment depends on your injury and how serious it is.
Hospital treatment
If you have a more significant injury, such as bleeding around the brain or skull or facial bone fractures, we treat you in the hospital. This allows us to closely observe you for conditions that may be worsening. If there is bleeding around the brain, this can continue to enlarge. With a brain injury, it may swell, like any other part of the body. But because your hard skull surrounds your brain, there is not space for enlargement. When you have excess fluids in the skull, it can cause extreme pressure on your brain. This can cause permanent brain damage. Injury to the brain can also cause seizures, which in turn can cause more damage to the brain. The length of your hospital stay depends on the severity of your injury, as well as your age, other injuries and severity of symptoms.
Treatment often includes:
- Brain rest with minimal brain stimulation
- Medications to prevent seizure
- Medications to help with the headaches
- Physical and occupational therapy to assist with walking and balance
- Speech therapy to help regain cognitive brain function or higher level thinking skills, assist in regaining memory, speech, concentration, etc.
If we need to treat you in our Intensive Care Unit (ICU), it is becuase you have a significant injury or more serious symptoms.
In some of the worst cases of severe bleeding, we may do surgery to open your skull and remove the blood around the brain. This is meant to prevent further brain injury.
Home treatment
Most of the time, your symptoms go away after a short time and you can leave the hospital after a few hours. Mild closed head injuries do not need treatment. Your doctor will tell you what medications you can take, and those to avoid, to help treat the symptoms. Your doctor will also recommend someone be with you at home for 24 hours to make sure your symptoms don't worsen.
You should seek medical attention immediately if you have any of the following:
- Your headache gets worse or you have any vision changes.
- You are vomiting.
- Your thinking or behavior changes, if you are becoming more confused.
- You can't walk or speak normally.
- You have a seizure.
Plus, the person watching you should call the doctor or nurse if he or she can't wake you up. This could be a sign that a more serious injury is developing.
If you fall asleep, he or she needs to wake you up every few hours to make sure that you can wake up. If your symptoms get worse, you need them to bring you to an Emergency Room immediately.
Help your brain heal
To help your brain heal after a concussion, you can:
- Rest your body – Make sure to get plenty of sleep. When you are awake, you should avoid heavy exercise or too much physical activity.
- Rest your brain – Avoid doing activities that need concentration or a lot of attention.
- Not drink alcohol after the injury until your symptoms have resolved.
- Take a pain-relieving medicine, if you have a headache – You can choose one with acetaminophen (sample brand name: Tylenol®) or ibuprofen (sample brand names: Advil®, Motrin®).
Recovery after closed head injury / concussion
The severity of symptoms of a closed head injury or concussion can vary with each patient. Some people have mild symptoms with a headache and others have more significant symptoms. Your symptoms will resolve with time, but exactly how long that will take is different for everyone. It could be days to weeks or it could take months to resolve. Some of the symptoms may never go away entirely.
You will need clearance from your doctor before participating in any contact sports or activities where you risk falling. The timing of this depends on your symptoms and the severity of the injury.
It is very important to prevent head injuries in the future. After you have had a concussion, your brain is more sensitive, and a new head injuries can cause more significant damage. The damage to the brain from head injuries is additive or worse than the one before it.
To prevent future head injuries you should wear a helmet when participating in any sport where a helmet is available. These include football, hockey, skiing and snowboarding, horse-back riding, riding bicycle or motorcycle. Also, always wear a seat-belt when riding in a vehicle.
Learn more about traumatic brain injuries


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Linspire has signed an intellectual-property agreement with Microsoft that shields the Linux company's customers from patent claims.
Microsoft Corp. has claimed Linux and related open source software violate 235 of its patents, but the company has not provided information to back its claims, including offering a list of its patents allegedly infringed upon. But that hasn't stopped Linux companies, such as Novell and Xandros, from signing interoperability deals with Microsoft that guarantee protection for their customers from future patent claims.
As part of the agreement between Linspire and Microsoft, the companies have agreed to cooperate in several areas.
Linspire will work with Novell and Microsoft to develop open source "translators" that allow OpenOffice and Microsoft Office users to share documents more easily. The company has also licensed Microsoft's RT audio codec to make its Pidgin IM client interoperable with Windows Live Messenger and other Microsoft products.
As part of the deal, Linspire also pledged to add support for Windows Media 10 in future releases of its Linux OS distribution. The company also agreed to make Windows Live Search the default search engine in Linspire 5.0.
Financial terms of the agreement between Linspire and Microsoft were not disclosed.


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Our Sponsors
Milledgeville Fireworks
Adults and kids of all ages came out to the Milledgeville fireworks celebration to take part in live music, face painting, food and shopping. The live music consisted of many bands providing something for everyone's musical taste. The fireworks kicked off as soon as it got dark and allowed for a fun experience for all who attended.Read More


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You glimpse a light in the night sky -- not a star, not an airplane, but something radically different. It moves with baffling speed, pulsates with radiance beyond anything you've witnessed. Three letters immediately enter your mind: U-F-O.
Technically an unidentified flying object can be anything when you get right down to it, but the term has become synonymous with extraterrestrial spacecraft. Alleged sightings began popping up in the 1950s and continue to this day throughout the world. Exact descriptions of alien spacecraft vary with each telling, but witnesses often describe a lighted object capable of hovering silently and zigzagging in midair.
The technology for such a craft and the ability for a living passenger to survive its g-forces are well beyond humanity's modern technology [source: Kaku]. Additionally, given the massive distance between habitable star systems, such craft would have to travel at impossible speeds or with patience that staggers the imagination.
What else does science have to say on the matter? Not much. From a scientific standpoint, there's insufficient evidence to make a case for alien visitation. Most UFO sightings depend on fallible human accounts, imperfect footage and conspiracy theory. All of this tends to crumble under the scrutiny of scientific method, humanity's best sieve for separating reality from fantasy.
After all, scientific inquiry hinges on something called the null hypothesis, which means the burden of proof is on anyone making a positive claim. A dog ate your homework? Great, where's the testable evidence? You saw an alien spacecraft? Excellent, let's test and validate the story.
In other words, it's up to so-called ufologists to convince the scientific world that UFOs are alien spacecraft, not for scientists to prove them wrong. Along the same lines, the scientific world doesn't go on the defensive every time someone sees a ghost. Even in the presence of testable evidence, perfectly terrestrial claims demand rigorous testing and a high degree of certainty in the results [source: Shermer].
Although the scientific world remains unconvinced, countless individuals continue to witness unexplainable things in the sky, sights that haunt or inspire them until their dying days. In rare cases, whole crowds glimpse such phenomena. What are we to make of such claims?


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A Connecticut utility has reimbursed a woman almost $10,500 after acknowledging it billed her for 25 years for the electricity used to power streetlights near her home.
Grace Edwards tells the Hartford Courant she discovered the billing error after a prospective buyer for the house in Cheshire asked for a history of utility charges.
Connecticut Light & Power says a developer who previously owned the home had agreed to pay for the lights.
The company initially refused to reimburse Edwards but relented when the state's Office of Consumer Counsel got involved.
The overcharges amounted to about $35 each month.
CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross says the utility has apologized to Edwards for the error and inconvenience.
It's interesting that the apology only comes after the state's Office of Consumer Counsel got involved.


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Chapter XLIII - Results
The rest of our story is soon told. George Shelby, interested, as any other young man might be, by the romance of the incident, no less than by feelings of humanity, was at the pains to send to Cassy the bill of sale of Eliza; whose date and name all corresponded with her own knowledge of facts, and felt no doubt upon her mind as to the identity of her child. It remained now only for her to trace out the path of the fugitives.
Madame de Thoux and she, thus drawn together by the singular coincidence of their fortunes, proceeded immediately to Canada, and began a tour of inquiry among the stations, where the numerous fugitives from slavery are located. At Amherstberg they found the missionary with whom George and Eliza had taken shelter, on their first arrival in Canada; and through him were enabled to trace the family to Montreal.
George and Eliza had now been five years free. George had found constant occupation in the shop of a worthy machinist, where he had been earning a competent support for his family, which, in the mean time, had been increased by the addition of another daughter.
Little Harry--a fine bright boy--had been put to a good school, and was making rapid proficiency in knowledge.
The worthy pastor of the station, in Amherstberg, where George had first landed, was so much interested in the statements of Madame de Thoux and Cassy, that he yielded to the solicitations of the former, to accompany them to Montreal, in their search,--she bearing all the expense of the expedition.
The scene now changes to a small, neat tenement, in the outskirts of Montreal; the time, evening. A cheerful fire blazes on the hearth; a tea-table, covered with a snowy cloth, stands prepared for the evening meal. In one corner of the room was a table covered with a green cloth, where was an open writing-desk, pens, paper, and over it a shelf of well-selected books.
This was George's study. The same zeal for self-improvement, which led him to steal the much coveted arts of reading and writing, amid all the toil and discouragements of his early life, still led him to devote all his leisure time to self-cultivation.
At this present time, he is seated at the table, making notes from a volume of the family library he has been reading.
"Come, George," says Eliza, "you've been gone all day. Do put down that book, and let's talk, while I'm getting tea,--do."
And little Eliza seconds the effort, by toddling up to her father, and trying to pull the book out of his hand, and install herself on his knee as a substitute.
"O, you little witch!" says George, yielding, as, in such circumstances, man always must.
"That's right," says Eliza, as she begins to cut a loaf of bread. A little older she looks; her form a little fuller; her air more matronly than of yore; but evidently contented and happy as woman need be.
"Harry, my boy, how did you come on in that sum, today?" says George, as he laid his land on his son's head.
Harry has lost his long curls; but he can never lose those eyes and eyelashes, and that fine, bold brow, that flushes with triumph, as he answers, "I did it, every bit of it, myself, father; and nobody helped me!"
"That's right," says his father; "depend on yourself, my son. You have a better chance than ever your poor father had."
At this moment, there is a rap at the door; and Eliza goes and opens it. The delighted--"Why! this you?"--calls up her husband; and the good pastor of Amherstberg is welcomed. There are two more women with him, and Eliza asks them to sit down.
Now, if the truth must be told, the honest pastor had arranged a little programme, according to which this affair was to develop itself; and, on the way up, all had very cautiously and prudently exhorted each other not to let things out, except according to previous arrangement.
What was the good man's consternation, therefore, just as he had motioned to the ladies to be seated, and was taking out his pocket-handkerchief to wipe his mouth, so as to proceed to his introductory speech in good order, when Madame de Thoux upset the whole plan, by throwing her arms around George's neck, and letting all out at once, by saying, "O, George! don't you know me? I'm your sister Emily."
Cassy had seated herself more composedly, and would have carried on her part very well, had not little Eliza suddenly appeared before her in exact shape and form, every outline and curl, just as her daughter was when she saw her last. The little thing peered up in her face; and Cassy caught her up in her arms, pressed her to her bosom, saying, what, at the moment she really believed, "Darling, I'm your mother!"
In fact, it was a troublesome matter to do up exactly in proper order; but the good pastor, at last, succeeded in getting everybody quiet, and delivering the speech with which he had intended to open the exercises; and in which, at last, he succeeded so well, that his whole audience were sobbing about him in a manner that ought to satisfy any orator, ancient or modern.
They knelt together, and the good man prayed,--for there are some feelings so agitated and tumultuous, that they can find rest only by being poured into the bosom of Almighty love,--and then, rising up, the new-found family embraced each other, with a holy trust in Him, who from such peril and dangers, and by such unknown ways, had brought them together.
The note-book of a missionary, among the Canadian fugitives, contains truth stranger than fiction. How can it be otherwise, when a system prevails which whirls families and scatters their members, as the wind whirls and scatters the leaves of autumn? These shores of refuge, like the eternal shore, often unite again, in glad communion, hearts that for long years have mourned each other as lost. And affecting beyond expression is the earnestness with which every new arrival among them is met, if, perchance, it may bring tidings of mother, sister, child or wife, still lost to view in the shadows of slavery.
Deeds of heroism are wrought here more than those of romance, when defying torture, and braving death itself, the fugitive voluntarily threads his way back to the terrors and perils of that dark land, that he may bring out his sister, or mother, or wife.
One young man, of whom a missionary has told us, twice re-captured, and suffering shameful stripes for his heroism, had escaped again; and, in a letter which we heard read, tells his friends that he is going back a third time, that he may, at last, bring away his sister. My good sir, is this man a hero, or a criminal? Would not you do as much for your sister? And can you blame him?
But, to return to our friends, whom we left wiping their eyes, and recovering themselves from too great and sudden a joy. They are now seated around the social board, and are getting decidedly companionable; only that Cassy, who keeps little Eliza on her lap, occasionally squeezes the little thing, in a manner that rather astonishes her, and obstinately refuses to have her mouth stuffed with cake to the extent the little one desires,--alleging, what the child rather wonders at, that she has got something better than cake, and doesn't want it.
And, indeed, in two or three days, such a change has passed over Cassy, that our readers would scarcely know her. The despairing, haggard expression of her face had given way to one of gentle trust. She seemed to sink, at once, into the bosom of the family, and take the little ones into her heart, as something for which it long had waited. Indeed, her love seemed to flow more naturally to the little Eliza than to her own daughter; for she was the exact image and body of the child whom she had lost. The little one was a flowery bond between mother and daughter, through whom grew up acquaintanceship and affection. Eliza's steady, consistent piety, regulated by the constant reading of the sacred word, made her a proper guide for the shattered and wearied mind of her mother. Cassy yielded at once, and with her whole soul, to every good influence, and became a devout and tender Christian.
After a day or two, Madame de Thoux told her brother more particularly of her affairs. The death of her husband had left her an ample fortune, which she generously offered to share with the family. When she asked George what way she could best apply it for him, he answered, "Give me an education, Emily; that has always been my heart's desire. Then, I can do all the rest."
On mature deliberation, it was decided that the whole family should go, for some years, to France; whither they sailed, carrying Emmeline with them.
The good looks of the latter won the affection of the first mate of the vessel; and, shortly after entering the port, she became his wife.
George remained four years at a French university, and, applying himself with an unintermitted zeal, obtained a very thorough education.
Political troubles in France, at last, led the family again to seek an asylum in this country.
George's feelings and views, as an educated man, may be best expressed in a letter to one of his friends.
"I feel somewhat at a loss, as to my future course. True, as you have said to me, I might mingle in the circles of the whites, in this country, my shade of color is so slight, and that of my wife and family scarce perceptible. Well, perhaps, on sufferance, I might. But, to tell you the truth, I have no wish to.
"My sympathies are not for my father's race, but for my mother's. To him I was no more than a fine dog or horse: to my poor heart-broken mother I was a child; and, though I never saw her, after the cruel sale that separated us, till she died, yet I know she always loved me dearly. I know it by my own heart. When I think of all she suffered, of my own early sufferings, of the distresses and struggles of my heroic wife, of my sister, sold in the New Orleans slave-market,--though I hope to have no unchristian sentiments, yet I may be excused for saying, I have no wish to pass for an American, or to identify myself with them.
"It is with the oppressed, enslaved African race that I cast in my lot; and, if I wished anything, I would wish myself two shades darker, rather than one lighter.
"The desire and yearning of my soul is for an African nationality. I want a people that shall have a tangible, separate existence of its own; and where am I to look for it? Not in Hayti; for in Hayti they had nothing to start with. A stream cannot rise above its fountain. The race that formed the character of the Haytiens was a worn-out, effeminate one; and, of course, the subject race will be centuries in rising to anything.
"Where, then, shall I look? On the shores of Africa I see a republic,--a republic formed of picked men, who, by energy and self-educating force, have, in many cases, individually, raised themselves above a condition of slavery. Having gone through a preparatory stage of feebleness, this republic has, at last, become an acknowledged nation on the face of the earth,--acknowledged by both France and England. There it is my wish to go, and find myself a people.
"I am aware, now, that I shall have you all against me; but, before you strike, hear me. During my stay in France, I have followed up, with intense interest, the history of my people in America. I have noted the struggle between abolitionist and colonizationist, and have received some impressions, as a distant spectator, which could never have occurred to me as a participator.
"I grant that this Liberia may have subserved all sorts of purposes, by being played off, in the hands of our oppressors, against us. Doubtless the scheme may have been used, in unjustifiable ways, as a means of retarding our emancipation. But the question to me is, Is there not a God above all man's schemes? May He not have over-ruled their designs, and founded for us a nation by them?
"In these days, a nation is born in a day. A nation starts, now, with all the great problems of republican life and civilization wrought out to its hand;--it has not to discover, but only to apply. Let us, then, all take hold together, with all our might, and see what we can do with this new enterprise, and the whole splendid continent of Africa opens before us and our children. Our nation shall roll the tide of civilization and Christianity along its shores, and plant there mighty republics, that, growing with the rapidity of tropical vegetation, shall be for all coming ages.
"Do you say that I am deserting my enslaved brethren? I think not. If I forget them one hour, one moment of my life, so may God forget me! But, what can I do for them, here? Can I break their chains? No, not as an individual; but, let me go and form part of a nation, which shall have a voice in the councils of nations, and then we can speak. A nation has a right to argue, remonstrate, implore, and present the cause of its race,--which an individual has not.
"If Europe ever becomes a grand council of free nations,--as I trust in God it will,--if, there, serfdom, and all unjust and oppressive social inequalities, are done away; and if they, as France and England have done, acknowledge our position,--then, in the great congress of nations, we will make our appeal, and present the cause of our enslaved and suffering race; and it cannot be that free, enlightened America will not then desire to wipe from her escutcheon that bar sinister which disgraces her among nations, and is as truly a curse to her as to the enslaved.
"But, you will tell me, our race have equal rights to mingle in the American republic as the Irishman, the German, the Swede. Granted, they have. We ought to be free to meet and mingle,--to rise by our individual worth, without any consideration of caste or color; and they who deny us this right are false to their own professed principles of human equality. We ought, in particular, to be allowed here. We have more than the rights of common men;--we have the claim of an injured race for reparation. But, then, I do not want it; I want a country, a nation, of my own. I think that the African race has peculiarities, yet to be unfolded in the light of civilization and Christianity, which, if not the same with those of the Anglo-Saxon, may prove to be, morally, of even a higher type.
"To the Anglo-Saxon race has been intrusted the destinies of the world, during its pioneer period of struggle and conflict. To that mission its stern, inflexible, energetic elements, were well adapted; but, as a Christian, I look for another era to arise. On its borders I trust we stand; and the throes that now convulse the nations are, to my hope, but the birth-pangs of an hour of universal peace and brotherhood.
"I trust that the development of Africa is to be essentially a Christian one. If not a dominant and commanding race, they are, at least, an affectionate, magnanimous, and forgiving one. Having been called in the furnace of injustice and oppression, they have need to bind closer to their hearts that sublime doctrine of love and forgiveness, through which alone they are to conquer, which it is to be their mission to spread over the continent of Africa.
"In myself, I confess, I am feeble for this,--full half the blood in my veins is the hot and hasty Saxon; but I have an eloquent preacher of the Gospel ever by my side, in the person of my beautiful wife. When I wander, her gentler spirit ever restores me, and keeps before my eyes the Christian calling and mission of our race. As a Christian patriot, as a teacher of Christianity, I go to my country,--my chosen, my glorious Africa!--and to her, in my heart, I sometimes apply those splendid words of prophecy: `Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee; I will make thee an eternal excellence, a joy of many generations!'
"You will call me an enthusiast: you will tell me that I have not well considered what I am undertaking. But I have considered, and counted the cost. I go to Liberia, not as an Elysium of romance, but as to a field of work. I expect to work with both hands,--to work hard; to work against all sorts of difficulties and discouragements; and to work till I die. This is what I go for; and in this I am quite sure I shall not be disappointed.
"Whatever you may think of my determination, do not divorce
me from your confidence; and think that, in whatever I do,
I act with a heart wholly given to my people.
Of our other characters we have nothing very particular to write, except a word relating to Miss Ophelia and Topsy, and a farewell chapter, which we shall dedicate to George Shelby.
Miss Ophelia took Topsy home to Vermont with her, much to the surprise of the grave deliberative body whom a New Englander recognizes under the term "Our folks." "Our folks," at first, thought it an odd and unnecessary addition to their well-trained domestic establishment; but, so thoroughly efficient was Miss Ophelia in her conscientious endeavor to do her duty by her eleve, that the child rapidly grew in grace and in favor with the family and neighborhood. At the age of womanhood, she was, by her own request, baptized, and became a member of the Christian church in the place; and showed so much intelligence, activity and zeal, and desire to do good in the world, that she was at last recommended, and approved as a missionary to one of the stations in Africa; and we have heard that the same activity and ingenuity which, when a child, made her so multiform and restless in her developments, is now employed, in a safer and wholesomer manner, in teaching the children of her own country.
P.S.--It will be a satisfaction to some mother, also, to state, that some inquiries, which were set on foot by Madame de Thoux, have resulted recently in the discovery of Cassy's son. Being a young man of energy, he had escaped, some years before his mother, and been received and educated by friends of the oppressed in the north. He will soon follow his family to Africa.
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You love wine. We love wine. And what's better than drinking wine while on holiday? Drinking wine while on holiday at an actual winery. Imagine sampling a fine red vintage, or sipping a delicate white so fresh you can swear there's still bits of grape in it. You might even get to help make your own wine! How? By booking winery accommodation in Hobart.
Perks of holidaying at a winery
When you stay at wineries with accommodation in Hobart you are in for the holiday of a lifetime. Wake up and watch the sun rise over rows upon rows of grapevines before making yourself the VIP at every tasting they've got on the schedule. Some wineries offer treats like:
Some Hobart wineries accommodation even offer wine pairing classes, so you can take all your classy new knowledge home with you. Impress your friends by recommending what varietal goes best with roast beef or a zesty herb salad—you can thank us later.
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Starbucks is launching a political campaign this week it hopes will get the attention of Washington policymakers who have been unable to reach a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.
In a letter to Starbucks employees made public on Wednesday, Chief Executive Howard Schultz asked employees at its approximately 120 D.C.-area stores to write "Come Together" on coffee cups when serving customers on Thursday and Friday.
"Rather than be bystanders, you and your customers have an opportunity — and I believe we all have a responsibility — to send our elected officials a respectful but potent message, urging them to come together to find common ground," Schultz wrote.
Last week, Congress and President Obama broke for the Christmas holiday still far apart on a plan to address widespread tax increases and automatic government spending cuts starting next week. Both sides are due back by Thursday and have vowed to make a final attempt.
Schultz told CNN earlier this month that he believed the failure to reach a deal has created uncertainty among consumers and businesses and risks hurting the economy. "This single issue has a seismic effect on the rest of the world," he said.
The Congressional Budget Office has said the fiscal cliff could lead to another U.S. recession. And policymakers and investors around the world have raised concerns about its impact on the global economy.
Starbucks plans to buy ads in the Washington Post and New York Times later in the week as part of its "Come Together" campaign.
In his letter to Starbucks employees, Schultz cites the Fix the Debt group, which has been lobbying for a deal that would avoid the fiscal cliff and put the country on a path toward a sustainable federal budget.
Fix the Debt, which has drawn the vocal participation of some high-profile CEOs, has been criticized by some on the left who say it overstates the risks of the fiscal cliff.
Schultz has not formally signed on to Fix the Debt but supports the group's efforts, according to a Starbucks spokesman.
The spokesman added that Schultz's request to write "Come Together" on coffee cups is voluntary and that employees are not required to participate if it makes them "uncomfortable."
This is not the first time Schultz has called out Washington over political gridlock. Last year, after the debt ceiling fiasco led to the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating, he said he would stop giving political donations and called on other CEOs to join him.


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Fresh off the historic success of Jaws and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, 32-year-old wunderkind Steven Spielberg decided his next movie would be a comedy when he ran across a script by a pair of USC film brats about the comic hysteria that ensues when Los Angeles becomes convinced it's being attacked by the Japanese in the early days of World War II. The screenwriters were Robert Zemekis and Bob Gale, the story was very, very loosely inspired by actual events and the ensuing film would become 1941, which at the time ranked as the most expensive comedy of all time and would go on to become an unmitigated disaster.
The result feels like a glorified Three Stooges skit blown up to epic size, a comedy full of sound and fury, signifying nothing. 1941 suggests a joyless Mad Magazine parody of itself, a clattering, headache-inducing contraption that exerts enormous energy and effort to little discernible effect. The egregious mismatch of straight-arrow Spielberg with the kind of lowbrow, smartass comedy identified with Saturday Night Live, meanwhile, calls to mind the geeky chess club president sitting down at the lunch table with the goofball stoners for the first time and trying, and failing, to find common ground.
Spielberg stacked the cast with comic ringers from the aforementioned Saturday Night Live (Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi), SCTV (John Candy and Joe Flaherty), and National Lampoon's Animal House (Belushi and Tim Matheson). 1941 embodies the macho, gearhead comedy of Belushi and Aykroyd. As the first season of SNL confirms Aykroyd never looks happier than when spouting endless torrents of technical jargon at a machine-gun auctioneer clip. I'm surprised he's never released a comedy album of choice selections from his favorite instruction manuals. Aykroyd accordingly spends much of 1941 indulging his bottomless affection for technical mumbo-jumbo but his tongue-twisting virtuosity, like Spielberg's technical mastery, is largely wasted.
1941 is a lovely film with a few standout sequences but it is has one big drawback: it's just not funny. In fact it's brutally, brutally unfunny and after a while its size and ear-splitting volume become assaultive and dispiriting. It's telling that the end credits feature nearly the entire cast screaming with the notable exception of Robert Stack, who steals the film as an oasis of dignity and calm in a sea of unrestrained chaos. Stack's serene General Stillwell comes off like the sole reasonable adult in a city full of hysterical children, a sensation that will feel familiar to any mature grown-up who spends time in Los Angeles. In 1941's best scenes Stack tears up during the "Baby Mine" sequence in Dumbo in a sacred cathedral of a movie theater while the city flamboyantly goes to hell all around him, and later experiences surges of child-like joy and wonder during when the crows sing "When I See An Elephant Fly." But even that scene backfires: watching Stack revert back to childhood in the safety and solitude of the movie theater made me wish I was watching Dumbo alongside him instead of 1941.
A bravura set-piece where a jitterbug contest devolves into a full-on riot provides a welcome reminder of Spielberg's stylistic genius and there's a nice inter-generational meeting of the crazies where Belushi's wacko pilot connects with Warren Oates' insane officer but otherwise 1941 is a near-total disaster. Spielberg's folly is the cinematic version of the Spruce Goose. It's grotesquely bloated, humungous, criminally expensive and barely operational.
Failure, Fiasco or Secret Success?: Fiasco


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There are no proven health effects of this system. We care about our customers and the communities we serve; we live in our service area too. The radio waves emitted by these devices are a tiny fraction of what we already experience in the ambient environment from our cell phones, laptops, microwaves, etc.
These devices are "asleep" up to 99% of the time, "waking" only to transmit a data point and then turning off again.
Show All Answers
Providing exceptional service at a great value is essential to WaterOne's mission to serve you. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is a multi-year project to upgrade WaterOne's meter reading technology. Instead of "walk-by" manual meter reading, new technology will automatically relay readings to WaterOne.
Beginning in 2019, a small wireless relay device known as a "SmartPoint" will be connected to the existing water meter in the meter pit located in your front yard.
As a result of AMI, customers will soon have access to their own daily water consumption data, monitor usage online, and set up personal alerts which can help prevent leaks or avoid surprise high bills. It will also give WaterOne employees better data to help troubleshoot customer concerns. We will follow up with further information when that aspect of the project is ready.
This upgrade will not affect water bills or charges - it simply allows the existing meter to be read remotely instead of manually.
No further action is needed from you at this time. The installation takes approximately 15 minutes and will not interrupt water service. All work should be done in the meter pit in your front yard, which is located in the public easement.
There is no need to enter the home for most installations. If you are among the handful of customers who still have an indoor-mounted meter, WaterOne and its contractor Utiliuse will reach out to you to set up an appointment to upgrade your meter as well as install the wireless reading technology on it.
This project does not change the way water is consumed or metered. Only the way we read meters is changing - for the better.
WaterOne is changing the way it reads meters from a manual, labor-intensive process to a remote network that communicates to and from the customer meter. WaterOne will be installing an add-on device to each meter that securely transmits meter readings back to WaterOne. Once the project is fully implemented, customers will be able to access their own daily water consumption. You can monitor your usage online and set alerts which may help you avoid large leaks or surprise high bills.
In addition, WaterOne can better operate its system and provide services to customers at greater convenience and value such as confirmation readings, move-out readings, and finding stuck meters.
Customer devices will be installed between 2019 and 2021, depending on your location. At a designated time after we have completed your installation, you will receive a postcard in the mail inviting you to log-on to enhanced online customer tools.
Once the project is fully implemented from 2019 to 2021, we will begin contacting customers and inviting them to log on to their new consumption portal online. You will have access to detailed water consumption information through your secure online account. You will also be able to monitor usage online and set alerts which may help you identify leaks more quickly and prevent unintentional high water consumption.
We too will be better equipped to help you understand your consumption when you contact us with questions, resulting in a better customer service experience for you.
The driver of this project is to keep up with customer expectations about access to their consumption data and communication about their usage. We also want to operate more efficiently and have more opportunities to serve our customers better. WaterOne is taking this opportunity to invest in advanced meter reading for all customers so that our infrastructure stays current and we provide all customers with the same level of service.
Most residential WaterOne customers are still on "walk-by" meter readings. A WaterOne meter reader walks by customers' meters and collects the meter reading by touching a handheld device to the meter pit lid. All commercial and industrial WaterOne customers are read by remote meter reading technology and the reading devices that support that kind of meter reading are reaching the end of their useful life. This opportunity is driving the timing of this project.
WaterOne has selected a Sensus advanced metering system and UtiliUse, a Sensus partner, to perform the installations of the reading devices. This decision was made following an open, competitive RFP process voted upon by the WaterOne Board in February 2018.
Water meters are primarily housed in sunken self-contained pits in the front yard of residential customers' property. (Commercial customers' meter pits location vary.) Unless the water meter is already due to be changed out for its age or performance, the meter will not be changed-out. In most cases, we are simply adding a transmitting device to it to be securely read by our new system.
A small number of WaterOne water meters are still located inside homes, typically in the basement near an outer wall. We will coordinate with the homeowner to gain access to make the installation on the water meter.
For the vast majority of customers, the installation will be nearly invisible to them as the installers will quickly come and go without noticeable changes. For device-only installations, there will be no interruption of water service.
There are a small set of customers who still have their water meter installed inside their house connected to a touchpad on the exterior foundation. For these customers, our installation contractor (UtiliUse) will get in touch with you to schedule an appointment time for updating the equipment and installing the reading device.
No, AMI project is not funded through additional rate increases or fees. This project is a "net neutral" cost to customers across its 20-year life span. The cost of the project is offset by operational savings from the new technology.
Also, we are not doing a large-scale meter change-out as a part of this project. New meters are more accurate than older meters, so when a new meter is installed customers may see their bill go "up" because the new meter is now measuring all the water flowing through it. However, in general new meters are not a part of this project unless they have been identified for upgrade due to age or performance. If you have a question about your bill, call Customer Care at 913-895-1800 during business hours.
Our installation contractor will work within typical business hours, early morning to early evening. During hot weather, they may start and stop earlier in the day to work more safely in the heat. They will work most Saturdays and some holidays. Their work will not interrupt your water service, if you are receiving just the reporting device addition to your existing water meter. Utiliuse will provide notification to any customer who will receive a new meter and have service interrupted, generally for about 15 minutes. For the vast majority of customers, this change-over will be invisible.
WaterOne fully vets and carefully selects contractors who represent the best value, quality, and service to WaterOne and its customers. We monitor and manage contractor services to ensure all deliverables are being met to the standard required.
All work should be done in the meter pit in your front yard which is located in the public easement. There is no need to enter the home unless your meter is one that is still installed inside of the home (usually an outer basement wall) in which case a prearranged appointment will be coordinated. Our installation contractors will be happy to show you identifying information and credentials.
If a customer has a question or concern regarding a contractor's activity related to the AMI project, they should contact WaterOne at 913-895-1800.
This project is not invasive and should not create property damage. If you believe your property has been damaged, contact WaterOne at 913-895-5500 during business hours and ask to speak with our claims coordinator.
Whether consumption is collected manually or electronically by WaterOne, it is not considered to be a high value asset. All data collected, transmitted, and stored by WaterOne's metering system is consumption data only - how much water was consumed at what location. It is used for billing and as aggregated data to help us operate our system better. Now, you - the customer - will have secure access to your information too.
No. The AMI reading devices allows for remote readings on consumption but has no ability to control consumption.
No. No personally identifiable information (PII) is transmitted with the data signal. And although this data is not considered to be a high-value target, the data signal is encrypted and split into separate data packets that can only be reconfigured by a protected proprietary digital key. WaterOne does not share or sell customer consumption or financial data.
Remember, consumption data has been collected, transmitted, stored, and analyzed since the origin of WaterOne as a utility provider in 1957 and prior to its establishment as a public utility when it was a small private water company. What this project changes is the way the data is collected and the frequency at which it is collected so that we can provide better services to you, our customer.
This technology automates meter reading, so WaterOne will be phasing out manual meter reading between now and 2021. WaterOne is committed to being an employer of choice and retaining good talent, so we have involved affected staff in the progress of this project and are proactively working with them to identify and prepare for other opportunities at WaterOne, should they wish to stay with us. Our goal is to transition each employee into other positions within our organization and we are working with them now to identify opportunities and training to make them competitive for a job change.
We strongly discourage it. By refusing the meter reading enhancement, we will have to manually read your meter which will be subject to an additional monthly charge to you.
If you are considering opting out of this change, let's talk. Contact Customer Care during business hours at 913-895-5500 and ask to speak with the AMI Project Manager.
Contact Customer Care at 913-895-1800 during business hours.


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Apple Inc. will launch a smaller "worldmode" iPhone next year that will be ready for Verizon Wireless to sell in the third quarter of 2010, according to an analyst report citing unnamed handset maker sources in Taiwan.
The new iPhone will use a hybrid chip from Qualcomm Inc. making it compatible with GSM/UMTS 3G networks (including AT&T, exclusive iPhone carrier in the U.S.), as well as CDMA2000 networks, such as Verizon's in the U.S. , according to a report from OTR Global, which is quoted by Apple Insider .
OTR's unnamed sources said that Asustek subsidiary Pegatron will build the devices for Apple, instead of Hon Hai, the current iPhone device maker.
An official at OTR reached today said he could not comment on the OTR report saying it was "proprietary for clients." Apple could not be reached immediately for comment and a Verizon spokeswoman said the company doesn't comment on rumor or speculation.
The global iPhone would also have a 2.8-inch diagonal screen, smaller than the current iPhone's 3.5-inch display, according to the report.
While many iPhone users have expressed interest in moving to Verizon's network instead of facing network problems with AT&T, the technology has so far not enabled it.
Verizon on Friday released its Droid smartphone by Motorola Inc., as one of its premiere smartphones going forward. It also released the BlackBerry Storm 2 last month.
The OTR report says that Verizon and Apple have hammered out an agreement to sell the new iPhone model next year, according to Apple Insider.
Some analysts had said that Verizon would not offer an iPhone until another faster network technology, LTE, was put firmly in place. LTE rollouts will begin next year on Verizon, but will not be fully in place until 2012.
An analyst at Broadpoint AmTech, among others, recently said Apple will probably drop its AT&T exclusivity deal next year.
The worldmode hybrid, using Qualcomm technology, will allow Apple to sell iPhones to AT&T and Verizon in the U.S., as well as other carriers globally, according to the Apple Insider report.
Gartner Inc. analyst Ken Dulaney said if the report about a worldmode iPhone turns out to be true, "then it's a smart move for both Verizon and Apple." Gartner has commented previously that "there is no better way for Apple to make a lot of money in a short of time than to sell an iPhone at Verizon."


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Microsoft challenging licensing of OnLive's Windows 7 virtualization for iPad
OnLive, which started by offering PC gamers subscription based access to a virtualized session hosted in the cloud (allowing them to play games with graphics rendered by more powerful hardware than they had locally), first brought its technology to the iPhone in late 2009.
In January, OnLive began offering a Desktop app "delivering an instant-response Windows desktop and full-featured Microsoft Office apps to your iPad," followed by a $4.99 per month Plus service that added support for accelerated Adobe Flash, all of which are rendered 'in the cloud' and delivered to a user's iPad over WiFi or fast mobile networks.
The company also said it plans to offer Pro and Enterprise versions with more cloud storage and customized environments and collaborative services, and added an Android client similar to its iPad app.
Interest in OnLive has captured the notice of Microsoft, which posted a blog notice from Joe Matz, the company's Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Licensing and Pricing.
Without ever referencing Apple's iPad by name, Microsoft stated "Some inquiries about these [licensing] scenarios have been raised as a result of recent media coverage related to OnLiveâs Desktop and Desktop Plus services." Matz said Microsoft is now "actively engaged with OnLive with the hope of bringing them into a properly licensed scenario, and we are committed to seeing this issue is resolved."
Licensing terms oriented toward conventional PCs
The violation Matz alluded to in general terms states that "customers that want to work with partners to have them host Windows 7 in a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure solution on their behalf, can do so when the customer provides the partner licenses through the customerâs own agreements with Microsoft," and that "the hosting hardware must be dedicated to, and for the benefit of the customer, and may not be shared by or with any other customers of that partner."
OnLive's business would appear to only make sense if it were sharing its server hosting services across all of its free or $5 per month subscribers, and iPad users are not suppling their own licenses for Windows 7 to use the service.
Additionally, Matz wrote, "Microsoft partners who host under the Services Provider License Agreement ('SPLA') may bring some desktop-like functionality as a service by using Windows Server and Remote Desktop Services.
"Under this solution, the partner is free to offer this service to any customer they choose, whether or not they have a direct licensing agreement with Microsoft. However, it is important to note that SPLA does not support delivery of Windows 7 as a hosted client or provide the ability to access Office as a service through Windows 7. Office may only be provided as a service if it is hosted on Windows Server and Remote Desktop Services."
Post PC Licensing
Commenting on Matz' blog posting, reader Simon Bramfitt noted, "You have to acknowledge that it is long past time for Microsoft to address the shortcomings within its current licensing policy with regard to VDI.
"The increasing adoption of mobile technologies coupled with the consumerization of IT and bring your own device programs is increasingly blurring the boundaries between corporate devices and personal devices. Microsoft's licensing policies in this regard have failed to keep up with these trends and needs to be addressed promptly."
Andrew Fidel echoed the same opinion, writing "How about fixing it so that SPLA partners can offer a proper VDI environment? You can offer almost any other piece of Microsoft software through SPLA including stripping down a 2008R2 RDS session to be nearly identical to Windows 7 but for some reason Microsoft is being stubborn on offering what their end customers and partners actually want."
Microsoft is rumored to have developed a version of Office for iPad, but appears to be hesitant to release it, directing interest toward its own Windows 8 tablet plans instead, perhaps hoping to see if its Office software could be leveraged as a differentiating factor to push sales of Windows 8 tablets when the begin to appear at the end of this year or in early 2013.