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How to use an asthma inhaler
How to use an asthma inhaler
Inhalers of one kind or another are often the mainstay of asthma therapy. I'm Dr. Alan Greene and let's talk about how to actually use an inhaler. When someone is first handed an inhaler, their first instinct is often to put their mouth around the opening and to squeeze. But it turns out when you do it that way you'll often end up with a lot of the medicine inside your mouth, on your tongue, on the roof of the mouth and inside the cheeks. You get less medicine down into the lungs where it's needed. It tastes bad, and if it happens to be one of the preventive kinds of medications, it can actually lead to thrush or yeast in the mouth. So, the way that we usually recommend is to hold it close to your mouth and begin breathing in through your mouth so you get a good airstream going straight in and down into your lungs. And once you got that going, then squeeze like this. And then close your mouth from then to keep it in there.
Now something else that's worth noting. An even better way to use an inhaler is with a spacer. We especially recommend this for kids, but it's better for adults, too. And the way the spacer works - you don't have to be coordinated. You don't have to time it perfectly. You can put the spacer into your mouth and you squirt the medicine into the spacer and just breathe in and out normally for awhile so the medicine keeps coming in. Now whatever you use whether it's a straight inhaler or the spacer there is a recent change that's worth being aware of. For a long time, asthma inhalers were propelled by CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) that caused some problems with global warming and ozone depletion. Those have now been replaced or are being replaced with something called HFA instead. That's great for the environment but it is a little bit clumpier. So it's important, the little place where the medicine comes out of, you may need to clean off on an albuterol kind of inhaler, whether you're using a spacer or doing it directly into your mouth.
Review Date: 2/18/2016
Reviewed By: Laura J. Martin, MD, MPH, ABIM Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Medicine, Atlanta, GA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Isla Ogilvie, PhD, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.


text: Future Force Warrior (FFW) is currently being developed at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Center (NSC). According to the NSC website, "Future Force Warrior (FFW) is the Army's flagship Science and Technology initiative to develop and demonstrate revolutionary capabilities for Future Force soldier systems. An integrated system of systems approach is being employed to support the Army transformation to a …Read More »

subset: commoncrawl


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Black and white
The Holga is capable of producing stunning black & white images. You can also shoot more freely with black & white film on a cloudy day than with color film. Black & white is fantastic for characteristic portraits and moody landscapes.
Cross Processed
The prime choice for outrageous colors. This consists of developing a slide film as if it were a normal color negative film. Merely ask your local lab technician (nicely) to process your slide film in C-41 (normally used for 35mm color negative) and see what you get out of it. By using the "wrong" chemicals, the colors become displaced and your image explodes with brightness, saturation, and contrast.
Flashed and Colorsplashed
The flash on the Holga 120 CFN includes built-in color gels. This way you can tint your shots with color or create weird portraits of people at night. The possibilities and combinations are endless.
Green Eyed Holga
It's hard resist the unique mystique of shots with hints and shades of green. As it is also the color of that hungry beast, envy, we invite you to face the monster and venture in to the green abyss.
Multiple Exposures
The Holga has a separate shutter and advance – meaning that you can shoot as many times as you like on the same frame without advancing. In the right hands and with a bit of luck, multiple exposures can create complex and stunning images and also turn accidental double exposures into photographic miracles.
Natural and Filtered
Sometimes it takes a plain-jane shot to appreciate the a Holga images true majesty - dreamlike, somewhat soft, vignetted at the corners, overflowing with color, and absolutely bursting at the seams with personality. It's easy to see why this plastic machine is so fiercely addictive. To spice things up just a little bit, try putting one of our color or multiple images in front of your lens.
Night Time Holga Adventures
Mandi is our man for special missions. So we needed a new gallery, and wanted to show some nighttime action. You could be sure that Mandi stocked up with a load of films and then roamed around the streets of Vienna to get you some great and interesting shots.
Remember, the Holga allows you to shoot multiple times and advance as little as you like. Merely take a shot, wind a little bit less than a full frame, and take another shot – thereby causing the images to overlap and creating a pseudo-panoramic image. You could actually expose the entire film like this creating a super-long continuous image. You'll probably need a negative scanner to produce the final images, as most labs can't print a huge-ass negative.
Red Eyed Holga
Red-toned Holga shots give off an infectious energy rendering the user powerless against the urge to snap happy!


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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A first-class passenger became so disruptive after drinking five glasses of wine that a flight from New York to Shanghai had to be diverted to Anchorage, according to charging documents.
Stephanie Heizmann Auerbach was charged Tuesday with interference of flight crew and members, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
She was being held at the Hiland Mountain Correctional Center for women on Tuesday. Her Anchorage-based attorney didn't immediately return a call for comment on Wednesday, nor did the state Department of Corrections to verify she was still at the jail.
Auerbach, who owns the Stephanie & Co. fashion company in Shanghai, was a passenger on Delta Airlines flight 181, which was en route from New York to China via Detroit.
Charging documents, which include information from FBI agents' interviews with crew and other passengers, say Auerbach, 47, drank five glasses of wine within the first 90 minutes of the 7,100 mile trip from Detroit to Shanghai. The documents say she began walking up and down the aisle, yelling profanities and climbing on seats. Passengers told the FBI she also sneaked drinks out of the galley when the crew wasn't watching.
A flight attendant asked her to return to her seat, A1, five times and she declined, the charging documents say.
"Auerbach spilled alcohol on passenger A.J. and grabbed A.J.'s wrist to place a bracelet on A.J. (She) declined to wear the bracelet and asked Auerbach to leave her alone," the documents say. "In response, Auerbach swore at A.J. and demanded that a flight attendant give her A.J.'s name. A flight attendant intervened and returned Auerbach to Auerbach's assigned seat. Auerbach alarmed A.J. and it appeared to A.J. that Auerbach was attempting to gain access to the pilot."
Auerbach was issued a written notice notifying her that she had refused an order from the flight crew regarding safety. The documents say she then hit the attendant with the notice, approached the flight attendant and demanded off the flight.
The pilot, who was only identified by the initials W.R., intervened and asked Auerbach if she would follow the crew's instructions. She declined, and the pilot then diverted the flight to Anchorage.der from the flight crew regarding safety. The documents say she then hit the attendant with the notice, approached the flight attendant and demanded off the flight.
"The flight crew is in charge of the safety of the aircraft and the passengers on board, and they did what they thought was necessary in this case," Delta spokeswoman Leslie Scott said.
Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport police had to board the plane and remove Auerbach, and the charges claim she was "physically combative." She was detained and charged.
Two children traveling with Auerbach were allowed to continue to Shanghai on the condition their father would pick them up at the airport.
Without condoning this woman's behavior, one has to wonder why she was served so much alcohol in the first place? Doesn't Delta have a policy in place as to when to cut a drunk passenger off?
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16 Oct Vishay Precision Group Announces Date for Third Quarter Fiscal 2019 Conference Call
MALVERN, Pa.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Vishay Precision Group, Inc. (NYSE: VPG), a leading producer of precision sensors and sensor-based systems, will release financial results for its fiscal 2019 third quarter at approximately 8:00 a.m. ET (7:00 a.m. CT) on November 5, 2019.
Ziv Shoshani, chief executive officer, and Bill Clancy, chief financial officer, will host a conference call on November 5 at 10:00 a.m. ET (9:00 a.m. CT). To access the conference call, interested parties may call 1-888-317-6003 or internationally 1-412-317-6061 and use passcode 6560848, or log on to the investor relations page of the VPG website at www.vpgsensors.com.
A replay will be available approximately one hour after the completion of the call by calling toll-free 1-877-344-7529 or internationally 1-412-317-0088 and by using the passcode 10136035. The replay will also be available on the investor relations page of the VPG website at www.vpgsensors.com for a limited time.
About VPG
Vishay Precision Group, Inc. is an internationally recognized designer, manufacturer and marketer of: components based on its resistive foil technology; sensors; and sensor-based measurements systems specializing in the growing markets of stress, force, weight, pressure, and current measurements. VPG is a market leader of foil technology products, providing ongoing technology innovations in precision foil resistors and foil strain gages, which are the foundation of the company's force sensors products and its weighing and control systems. The product portfolio consists of a variety of well-established brand names recognized for precision and quality in the marketplace. To learn more, visit VPG at www.vpgsensors.com.
For InvestorsICR, Inc.
Michael Callahan, 203-682-8311
[email protected]
For MediaICR, Inc.
Phil Denning, 646-277-1258
[email protected]


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ZEISS Medical Technology Nominated for Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2020
Improving medicine through robotics and multi-layered augmentation
Jena, Germany | 09 September 2020 | Carl Zeiss Meditec AG
ZEISS experts Dr.-Ing. Michelangelo Masini and Frank Seitzinger represent the ZEISS team and, together with Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Raabe from the Swiss Inselspital (University Hospital of Bern), have been nominated for the Deutscher Zukunftspreis 2020 (The Federal President's Award for Innovation and Technology). Their project: The Robotic Visualization System® – aka the KINEVO® 900 from ZEISS – which improves the efficiency and effectiveness of surgical procedures. With this award, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier honors those scientists and their innovations that unlock scientific potential and create jobs.
An innovation ready for the future
ZEISS KINEVO 900 is a future-ready platform that is constantly being optimized and expanded. First technologies are already available today. Sharing images via streaming technologies and using AI algorithms to recognize patterns are just a few of the features that were recently made available. "The continuous search for value-adding innovations is an important part of the ZEISS DNA," says Dirk Brunner, Head of the Microsurgery strategic business unit.
Winners to be chosen on 25 November 2020
"We are delighted that a Carl Zeiss Meditec project has been nominated for this prestigious award," says Dr. Ludwin Monz, President and CEO of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG and Member of the Board at Carl Zeiss AG. "This underscores our aspiration to create market-shaping innovations that improve patients' quality of life and help shape medical progress." ZEISS is the first-ever company to have two candidates nominated for the Deutscher Zukunftspreis since the accolade was first bestowed back in 1997. Alongside Carl Zeiss Meditec, a team from the ZEISS Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology segment has also made the shortlist.
The nomination of Prof. Dr. med. Andreas Raabe, Dr. Michelangelo Masini and Frank Seitzinger was officially announced today 20 at the German Museum in Munich. The path to the nomination required passing a multi-stage selection process and selection by a distinguished jury. On 25 November 2020, the jury of the Federal President's Award for Innovation and Technology will decide which of the three nominated teams will take home the award.
Carl Zeiss Meditec's nominated project addresses demographic megatrends
We live in an aging society, which means ever more people will require medical treatment. Meanwhile, the population continues to grow – and an increasing number of people are gaining access to medical care. Healthcare systems across the world can only address this growing need if they become more efficient and more effective. Modern technologies like digitalization and artificial intelligence support healthcare providers as they administer these treatments. As does the ZEISS KINEVO 900, which is used in spinal and neurosurgery.
Comprising of more than 100 innovations and 180 patents, the system marries robotics, digital visualization and modern assistance solutions. The development team worked with global clinical partners to define and develop a 3-in-1 system that unifies microscopic, exoscopic and endoscopic components. Many institutions have recognized the benefits of the Robotic Visualization System to make surgical treatment more effective and more efficient. Since the ZEISS KINEVO 900 was launched in early 2017, it has been granted regulatory approval in more than 100 countries. It is used in over 300,000 surgical procedures every year.
Brief Profile
Carl Zeiss Meditec AG (ISIN: DE 0005313704), which is listed on the MDAX and TecDAX of the German stock exchange, is one of the world's leading medical technology companies. The Company supplies innovative technologies and application-oriented solutions designed to help doctors improve the quality of life of their patients. The Company offers complete solutions, including implants and consumables, to diagnose and treat eye diseases. The Company creates innovative visualization solutions in the field of microsurgery. With 3,232 employees (as of 30 September 2019) worldwide, the Group generated revenue of €1,459.3m in fiscal year 2018/19 (as of 30 September).
The Group's head office is located in Jena, Germany, and it has subsidiaries in Germany and abroad; more than 50 percent of its employees are based in the USA, Japan, Spain and France. The Center for Application and Research (CARIn) in Bangalore, India and the Carl Zeiss Innovations Center for Research and Development in Shanghai, China, strengthen the Company's presence in these rapidly developing economies. Around 41 percent of Carl Zeiss Meditec AG's shares are in free float. The remaining approx. 59 percent are held by Carl Zeiss AG, one of the world's leading groups in the optical and optoelectronic industries.
For further information visit: www.zeiss.com/med


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Looking for VBT Walking Vacations? All VBT Walking Vacations have moved to our sister company, Country Walkers. The same tours you know and love, plus exciting new itineraries, are available to book through their website.
Ken and Helen B. are avid active travelers hailing from the Midwest of the US. Although bicycling is their main passion, they said they've been getting into hiking a lot more recently. After 5 memorable biking vacations with VBT they decided to go on our Peru: Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley walking tour last March. "We have enjoyed all of our biking vacations with VBT so much that we wanted to see how VBT handled a walking tour and we've always wanted to see Machu Picchu". The couple enjoys taking vacations on their own in the summer months so the fact that a warm winter vacation with VBT allowed them to escape the cold of a Michigan winter while not breaking the bank appealed to them.
They were able to reserve pass for the Inca trail which made the approach to Machu Picchu a hike they would never forget. Helen also recalled the beautiful flora—particularly the renowned area orchids—as well as how interesting the locals' relationship with their animals were. "The alpacas used as pack animals—which we knew—were given offerings and decorated," Helen said. "We saw one local farmer turn his alpaca into an 'alpha alpaca' by giving it their homemade beer and then dressing hit's ear with red ribbons."
Besides Machu Picchu, what really resonated with Helen was the walk through the village of Cuyuni. "Being able to witness some of the ceremonial processions—the ceremonies thank Mother Earth— where they would offer items that would be burned, buried or floated down a stream was really a great experience that I won't forget," Helen recalled. She was also introduced to a local woman who was also a nurse and they had a lively conversation comparing nursing in Peru vs back in the US where Helen is a nurse herself.
Helen and Ken finished their vacation with the VBT post-trip extension to the Peruvian Amazon where Helen conquered a fear of heights on a canopy walk in the jungle. She added, "at first I thought to myself 'why did we decide to go to the jungle' after being at Machu Picchu, but in the end I wished we had more time there to do more great adventures with the rangers!" .
Their recent adventure to Peru was just the tip of the iceberg with the couple's travels. Helen and Ken first began organized group trips with a Bike Riders tour almost 12 years ago. After a couple of tours they wanted to check out some other companies to see what different destinations and experiences they could find. It turns out that a simple internet search lead them to VBT and back in 2006 the couple took our Ireland: Galway & Connemara Coast vacation. Helen said the pricing was the first thing that caught her eye—as well as how easy the flight and travel arrangements were—but it's been the attention to detail and the amazing Trip Leaders that have brought them back to VBT year after year.
Since their first trip, they have also biked with VBT in Holland, Acadia, The Czech Republic, Germany & Austria and Croatia. As avid cyclists they are more inclined to seek out a more challenging rated trip. Helen mentioned Croatia was somewhat hilly but it was a "fun challenge". She only wished the early May departures left her more time to prepare back at home. "We only got about 3 rides in before that vacation," Helen recalled. "Ken was able to do all the rides but I stuck to some of the flatter seaside rides in the last few days of the tour."
Helen and Ken are off to Italy for the first time on our Sicily: Biking the Southern Coastal Villages for 2014 as they wanted to visit Italy and chose Sicily due to its price and moderate rating. Looking forward they said they planned to stick to biking but want to "sprinkle in" some walking vacations. "We want to go to Hawaii, National Parks and Vietnam in the future" Ken said, "During this time of year we're really like the idea of another warm winter escape!"


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Waterfront living in Kaneohe Bay
Whether or not you're into ocean activities, this property on Kaneohe Bay is a great find. On one hand, your boat dock is just steps away, so you can easily get to the water. On the other, the 14,462-square-foot CPR lot has expansive green lawns, so you can enjoy the ocean views while staying planted on terra firma.
The boat ramp and legally-permitted boat dock sits on a secluded cove and gives you quick access to cruising Chinaman's Hat, the Sandbar, or Coconut Island. (Click here for more information and photos of the fish they've caught.)
The current owners built the custom four-bedroom, 3.5 bathroom home, which includes a two-bedroom, one-bath guest suite with private entrance, kitchenette, separate laundry and private deck—ideal for multi-family living, guests, or as a rental unit. The residence is a spacious 3,066 square feet.
The main home features high ceilings, an open kitchen with granite countertops, workshop, built-ins, and—my favorite—ample storage. There are ocean views from almost every room, and many decks around the exterior to further enjoy the panorama.
The master suite upstairs is a large living area in itself, with a huge master bathroom, walk-in closet, and laundry chute (leading to the second laundry room).
Despite being private and secluded, this listing is very convenient, as H-3 access is right across the street.
Money talk: $1,888,000 fee simple
Contact: Contact: Cindy Nash, Choi International, 808-222-3291, email@example.com


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Meet Conan the Bacterium
Space Science News home
"The Accidental (Space) Tourist"
Right: D. radiodurans growing on a nutrient agar plate. The red color is due to carotenoid pigment. Links to
And in true Hollywood fashion, the star of this epic had humble beginnings, living in cow patties and elephant dung, and coming to the attention of scientists when it refused to die in food sterilization tests.
You need a microscope to see this miniature future hero listed as Deinococcus radiodurans and known to its fans as Conan the Bacterium.
December 29: The Warp and Woof of a Geomagnetic Storm
December 28: Y2K Meteor Burst
December 24: Interplanetary Christmas
December 22: Astronomers get a special star for their Christmas tree
Humble origins
Richmond and his colleagues see D. radiodurans as playing the part of possible Martian microbes in simulations to help direct the search for life on Mars. Next, it could be genetically altered to produce medicines for astronauts in the short-term, rather than hauling an entire pharmacy along on the trip, and restructuring Mars for human habitation in the long-term.
With R. Sridhar of Howard University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and Dr. Michael J. Daly of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Services in Bethesda, Md., Richmond presented a paper at the 1999 SPIE Conference in Denver on the "Physico-Chemical Survival Pattern for the Radiophile D. radiodurans: A Polyextremophile Model for Life on Mars."
Daly and his co-workers, in a recent article in Science magazine, announced that they had completed sequencing the genome of D. radiodurans. This opens the way for exploitation of its ability to integrate external genes selected to express products useful to explorers on Mars or other such places.
"Radiodurans' beginnings are thought to be from early Earth," Richmond said, and paralleled a time when the environment may have also approximated that existing on Mars for a few hundred million years. Given the presumed sharing of debris generated from meteorite impacts amongst the early planets, origins of D. radiodurans might even be accidentally common between Mars and Earth. "By nature, it is selected to survive radiation damage very well," D. radiodurans can withstand without loss of viability a dosage that is 3,000 times greater than what would kill a human. "The fact that you can genetically engineer these things is the key to the utility of this bug."
It's heady stuff for a primitive organism.
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Extremophiles have been known to scientists for decades but often were regarded a laboratory oddity. The discovery of what appears to be nanobacteria (or nanobes, smaller than microbes) in a meteorite from Mars (Alan Hills 84001, or ALH84001) catapulted extremophiles into the spotlight as a model for possible lifeforms on Mars.
The debate over whether the ALH84001 forms ever were nanobes (or just non-living imitations) led to recent discoveries of probable nanobes living in such odd places as human kidney stones and in limestone 4 kilometers under the surface of the Earth.
A common link?
"We have a new door opening on the possibilities of lifeforms," Richmond said, "not just new species but whole new life forms that could connect to the origins of life on Earth and could be a common link to the possible beginnings of life on Mars."
Most extremophiles have optimized themselves for one or two extreme conditions and settled into wonderful ecological niches like the hot springs of Yosemite. Radiodurans has been dubbed a polyextremophile because it can endure many extremes, including the most dangerous space hazard, radiation.
"Radiation-induced DNA damage is an oxidizing type of damage," Richmond said. It happens when radiation energizes an atom enough to break a chemical bond and then act like an atom of oxygen and bind with another atom. Such free radicals have been implicated in a range of cancers and genetic mutations.
D. radiodurans, though, is hypothesized by Daly to resist such damage by virtue of repair specialized to utilize its redundant strands of DNA. This also means that it should resist damage from the chemistry of Mars, which chemical experiments done by the labs aboard the two Viking landers indicate may be highly oxidative.
D. radiodurans was discovered in the 1950s. Scientists experimenting with radiation to kill bacteria and preserve food for long periods found that something kept growing back after treatment.
|Web Links
|Meet the Superbug. A Science News article (Dec. 12, 1998) describing D. radiodurans role in bioremediation.
The world's toughest bacterium. Web story at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Abstract for Dr. M.J. Daly's grant to develop D. radiodurans for bioremediation.
Already, Daly and his colleagues have devised D. radiodurans variants that can clean up mercury, a deadly heavy metal, and toluene, a dangerous solvent. This work was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy.
The capability to insert genes also makes D. radiodurans a candidate for Mars pharmacists and to become "the plow that broke the plains" on Mars.
Left: The 200-meter-wide (660 ft) Nanedi Valles is one of several sites on Mars that show evidence that the planet once had running water. Recent images from the Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter, though, indicate that Mars never had a large ocean or sea, as scientists had hoped. Still, the presence of running water substantially increases the chances that life may have started and gotten a toehold. Credit: NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
But first, it may help search for life on Mars as a stand-in for Martian microbes in simulated Mars environments.
The changing face of Mars
Mars has gone through radical changes in our perception as a haven for life. After Sir Percival Lowell and a number of science fiction stories popularized Mars as a dying planet, U.S. space probes in the 1960s and 1970s rewrote the book to show Mars as long dead, perhaps never alive.
Then came the discoveries hidden inside ALH84001. Soon thereafter, images and data from the Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Pathfinder, and Sojourner Rover spacecraft showed Mars indeed has significant quantities of water, and once had running water.
While Mars has become more tantalizing, it is far from Eden. So the question is, if life was there, or is there, what are the best places to find it? Spacecraft surveying the planet to determine where water might survive beneath the surface, or where it once may have existed, are addressing this.
Even within those regions, you have to figure out which spots are best since a lander will have limited time and resources compared to the open wilds of Mars. One approach is to culture D. radiodurans in Mars simulations on Earth.
"We are restricted in the search for life right now to Earth-based microbes," Richmond explained. "We have to ask, What are the restraints on life that those microbes will have to surmount in order to plausibly exist on other planets?"
Extremophile habitats on Earth cover a range of conditions: temperatures near boiling or below freezing; a nearly total lack of water, or water that ranges from alkaline to acidic or salty; non-carbon foods; and a lack of oxygen. One of the tricks that less durable lifeforms use to survive such tough times is to hibernate as spores.
"The restraints become temporal, too," Richmond explained. "Dormancy has to carry on for thousands or millions of years" if a life form is to last until conditions on Mars become hospitable for growth, somewhat like the floral seeds waiting in the desert for the rare fall of rain.
And that's where radiation resistance comes in handy. While radiation issues are usually associated with nuclear power or exposure to the space environment, it is not commonly recognized as being inescapable. We are exposed through our entire lives to potassium-40, radon, carbon-14 and other radioactive sources. Living in the mountains or flying also increases exposure slightly.
Surviving a long winter's nap
But the total dosage from these is small during our lifespans, so the impact normally is insignificant. However, for an organism in hibernation for a million years or so, the cumulative exposure can be like sitting inside a reactor for several minutes.
That's why crawling under a rock to escape solar ultraviolet light on Mars is not a perfect strategy. The rock itself emits trace quantities of radiation over time.
"Within responsible imagination, no long-dormant lifeform can be expected on the surface of Mars due to combined build up of damage over time caused by both incoming space radiation plus the background radiation," Richmond said. The best hope is that life got started some billions of years ago when conditions were more hospitable, and that a few microbes adapted to extreme conditions or learned how to hibernate below the surface.
"But if they wake up too late, they run into the ultimate restriction, too much radiation damage that has accumulated if it's not repaired," Richmond said. "At that point, the population is dead."
Above: "Water, water, everywhere, and not a drop to drink." Mars Pathfinder landed in what was once a flood plain, as geologists deduce from the way rocks are arranged. Whatever water is left on Mars, though, is in polar ice caps and subsurface ice. Credit: NASA and Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
So even if something like D. radiodurans evolved on early Mars, it's possible that winter has lasted too long for any survivors to reawaken in the artificial spring of a petri dish.
Even so, D. radiodurans may yet travel to Mars as a Pharmacist's Mate First Class.
"Because of genetic engineering, you might do a lot with this bug to enhance the survivability of man in extraterrestrial environments," Richmond said. Altering the human genome to take on survival characteristics like D. radiodurans is far too complex a task (the human genome hasn't been completely sequenced, nor all of its 100,000+ genes decoded). But D. radiodurans could be altered to serve man.
"The interesting things about drugs we use is that about two-thirds are natural products or derived from natural products," Richmond said. "Anything that is a natural product ultimately comes down to a gene and can be genetically managed, in theory."
Richmond, Sridhar, and Daly suggest that D. radiodurans can be genetically manipulated to produce various drugs that humans might need while exploring Mars, then put on ice during the mission. If someone became ill, treatment would start with drugs in from a small supply kept on hand, while the appropriate bugs were awakened to produce a regular supply. (This need was presaged this summer by the need to airdrop tamoxifen, a breast cancer chemotherapy agent, at the South Pole for a medical doctor who had diagnosed herself with breast cancer.) With such an approach, the issues of shelf life for drugs could also be circumvented. This would also reduce the weight that a spaceship would have to haul to Mars and back.
Right: With a little help from the tiniest of organisms, humans one day may explore and then colonize Mars. Credit: NASA/Johnson Space Center.
Radiodurans next might be drafted as a Seabee (Navy Construction Battalion, or C.B.) as humans set up camps and even homesteads on Mars. Other engineered versions of D. radiodurans could recycle wastes - producing clean water and oxygen - and perhaps even food supplements. "Its own food stock might even be Mars," Richmond suggested, giving new meaning to "living off the land." Again, the bug's genetic design might help ensure a renewable grocery store for explorers.
Mars, too, is considered to be an extreme environment. But with a little help from D. radiodurans, it may be made more accessible and, eventually, attractive. After all, a Seabee's motto is, "The difficult we do now. The impossible takes a little longer."
More Space Science Headlines - NASA research on the web
NASA's Office of Space Science press releases and other news related to NASA and astrophysics
|For more information, please contact:
Dr. John M. Horack , Director of Science Communications
|Author: Dave Dooling
Curator: Linda Porter
NASA Official: M. Frank Rose


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High ride with Maxus-8
(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA's Maxus-8 sounding rocket was launched last week from Kiruna in northern Sweden carrying four microgravity research modules on a hectic 12-minute space voyage. The ultimate results may include improved turbine blades for aircraft engines.
At 14:43 CET, March 26, Maxus-8 took off from the launch pad at the Esrange Space Centre watched by Jean-Jacques Dordain, Director General of ESA, Simonetta Di Pippo, ESA Director of Human Spaceflight, Olle Norberg, Director General of the Swedish National Space Board, and Lars Persson, Director of the Swedish Space Corporation.
Witnessing the launch, they paid tribute to the importance of microgravity research in Europe and to the international European cooperation that makes this research possible.
"I am very happy to be back at Esrange to take part of a sounding rocket campaign again," said Mr Dordain. "The campaign team has done a tremendous job and the researchers are pleased with the results so far. I must say I'm impressed by this extraordinary launch site and proud of having such a facility in Europe. It is a unique complement to International Space Station utilisation for the scientific community".
"With the Maxus-8 mission, ESA continues its leading role in maintaining autonomous European microgravity platforms able to offer the user community with frequent flight opportunities to nurture the community which will also be using the ISS until 2020 and beyond," said Mrs Di Pippo.
"Sounding rockets from Esrange are a key platform for research providing a cost-effective and independent means for Europe, with a relatively quick turnaround of results. They allow critical experiments with stringent handling needs, particularly in biology," said Martin Zell, Head of ISS Utilisation at ESA.
"They also provide precursor testing of new science protocols and research equipment which later could be used for long-term experiments on the ISS."
Small sounding rockets are used for microgravity research around the world, but Maxus weighs more than 12 tonnes and measures up to 17 m long. The solid-propellant motor can lift a load of 800 kg to space. The maximum altitude of the rocket is about 750 km, about twice the height of the Station.
This eighth Maxus campaign was designed to supply a wealth of data covering material science and biology. The experiments will help, for example, with the production of new lightweight aero-engine turbines and new catalysts for chemical reactors and hydrogen fuel cells.
"Having gone through a series of standard preparations and fine-tuning of the experiments the launch campaign was very smooth and we faced no significant problems," said ESA manager Antonio Verga from Kiruna.
"According to data received, we achieved the desired altitude and an excellent microgravity level. That is good news for the scientific teams. The 6.5 m-long experiment section landed with a parachute about 80 km from here and helicopters have been sent out to retrieve it."
The Maxus programme is funded by ESA through the European Programme for Life and Physical Science in Space (ELIPS), with the sounding rocket and launch services provided to ESA by an industrial joint venture between EADS Astrium and the Swedish Space Corporation.
Everyday benefits from the experiments
Three of the experiments involved material science. One studied new titanium-aluminium alloys, another looked at nickel particles created from nickel vapour, and the third studied liquid diffusion in metallic alloys using X-rays.
The biology experiment mapped the cyto-skeletal forces that underlie the gravity-sensing mechanisms in the roots of plants and fungi.
The first two experiments stem from a 5-year multi-million-euro integrated project from the European Commission (EC), which ESA has been leading with 40 project partners and which is co-funded by the EC within its Sixth Framework Programme.
This IMPRESS (Inter-Metallic Process in Relation to Earth and Space Solidification) project aims to understand the links between the solidification process of 'intermetallic' alloys, the structure of the material at the micro- and nano-scales, and the final mechanical, chemical and physical properties of the resulting alloys.
The end products from these studies may range from lightweight turbine blades for aero-engines and power generation turbines made from novel titanium-aluminium alloys with half the density of conventional nickel alloys, to improved catalytic devices, such as sponge nickel catalysts for chemical reactors and electrodes for hydrogen fuel cells.
Maxus-8 also carried a technology demonstrator: the SHARK Sounding Hypersonic Atmospheric Reentry Kapsule was released during ascent, at an altitude of about 150 km. It is fully autonomous and aimed to prove the feasibility of dropping a 'blackbox' from outside the atmosphere.
This will help in designing future spacecraft and understanding the physics of atmospheric reentry. Italy's CIRA (Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali) produce this test version.
Provided by European Space Agency


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First! Sorry for my bad english, im a German and its my schoolenglish
On my Site, http://www.unser-kleiner-zoo.eu is the Mainsite not so optimal.
I have packed the Pictures in a Table, that locks terrible, what can i do?
I havve tried to pack the Pictures one below the other, but thats not so good
Too long and many Place betwenn the Widgets...
Have anyone an Idea?
Another Problem:
I would link the Header Pictures gladly to my Fotogalery, its http://unser-kleiner-zoo.eu/fotos/, but not to the Home of Wordpress?
What can i do?


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Aliens: Colonial Marines is a trainwreck. There's no other way to describe it; the PC version is an outdated, buggy mess. The game makes a decent first impression, starting off with a bang as you board the now-abandoned U.S.S. Sulaco in search of survivors, but it doesn't take long to realize that all you're really doing is running from switch to switch, occasionally shooting an enemy or two. And trust me, there are a whole lot of switches.
Between those switches you're likely to run afoul of an inexcusably unrelenting mess of technical bugs, and if that isn't enough to deter you from plowing through waves of bland xenomorph enemies, the unreliable checkpoint system that forces you into a repetitive dance with the latter five or ten minutes of every fight certainly will be. Checkpoints feel more like a bullet point crossed off the developer to-do list rather than anything that's actually useful to the player. You'll have plenty of time to groan over them while you're sent backwards in time over and over again until you can finally figure out how to play nice with the game's broken and unbalanced rules.
Despite the rest of the game, the story can't be that bad, right? Wrong. At no point does the story in Aliens: Colonial Marines feel connected to its namesake in any way, even when referencing direct events from the films. This game captures none of the tension or dread that permeates Cameron's Aliens, which is doubly disappointing in light of how fiercely the Aliens franchise was brandished as a marketing ploy prior to release.
There's even a point where a character from the film appears, but it feels shallow and self-serving, a blatant reminder to the player that the stories are somehow connected. The game's finale doesn't do the story any favors either, as it builds up to a "climactic" battle that essentially won by hitting a series of switches until a cutscene can take over. It's perfect, a terribly apropos ending to a game which boils down to a series of switch hunts.
This offense is only multiplied if you pay attention to the dialogue between characters, with lines like, "S**t's blowing up and s**t" and, "We had a thing….a sex thing." Frankly, it doesn't get any better than that. The entire story is an attempt to get you to care about characters that just aren't very likable from start to finish.
None of this can compare to the travesty that is the prerendered cutscenes. They're overly serious and fail to match the rest of the game tonally or visually;whereas the lion's share of Aliens: Colonial Marines looks as colorful as an alien colony can be, the cutscenes are dark, grey, and generally muddy. It's almost as if they were created separately from the actual game, written to fill in the story. It's visually jarring to look at them, even if they only capstone missions and are a few minutes long at most.
The AI performance is simiarly lacking, which is doubly disappointing in a game that relies heavily on having your computer-controlled squadmates by your side. They'll barrel straight to the checkpoint every single time, even if you aren't exactly sure where to go or what to do. One mission in particular comes to mind; I had to drop everything while fighting off a swarm of enemies to rescue a trapped marine. Meanwhile, my squadmates that typically follow me around like lost puppies were just standing at the door leading to the next checkpoint, waiting for me to finish up the mission and meet them. It's injurious, and the fact that they need their shooting hands held on lower difficulties is an added insult, even when the enemies are just two feet from their face. Don't worry though, they're indestructible and can take as much damage as they need to figure that whole scenario out.
Frustrating AI isn't limited to just human marines. Xenomorphs seem to face walls more often than they do their enemies. They walk into corners, get caught on geometry, and generally have no clue what they're supposed to do until they can find a way to charge you in a straight line.
Of course they'll still manage to kill you, thanks to their ability to clip and attack through almost every surface. Take, for instance, the enraged (and therefore larger) xenomorph that charged after me as I sealed doors to block his path. Without fail, instead of smashing into the sealed barrier he walked right through the wall and killed me.
A game like this can't be scary. The closest you'll get are jump-inducing scares that you can see coming from a mile away, across a cargo hangar. Worse, it's all too easy to stumble upon a pitch-black room that serves no purpose outside of spawning endless enemies. You can't even enter these rooms; they're blocked by one of the game's biggest recurring issues: invisible walls. They kill any illusion that the environments are vast and expansive and reminds players that they're playing a game that doesn't want them to explore. This is amplified by the game's inability to keep up with the player. Later in the game there's a sequence where giant boulders fall and block your path, but if you get there too quickly and the animation hasn't triggered, you'll see right through a giant hole in the bottom of the level. Blank space.
As usual, playing with friends makes anything better, even Aliens: Colonial Marines. Cooperative play is pretty seamless since you always have squadmates with you, but once you swap computer-controlled squadmates for real players, the game doesn't scale accordingly, making it all too easy to roll through an entire mission without any serious danger.
This also applies to the multiplayer modes, which seem heavily focused toward Marine-dominated play as maps are often packed with health and armor packs. You have four different multiplayer modes (Team Deathmatch, Extermination, Escape, and Survivor), and while each has a unique goal in mind, it all boils down to the same thing: Xenos vs Marines. Varying the player count in Survivor and Escape modes makes things interesting, but it's clear that a solo xenomorph is fairly powerless. You need a pack of them to do real damage, but its usually only 4v4 or 5v5, and that often doesn't work when it requires an entire team of xenomorphs to kill one marine. Team Deathmatch is more competitive than the other modes because it's fair to both sides: there isn't a ton of armor or health lying around, and without team objectives the game plays much more quickly. Unfortunately, it just can't save the rest of the game.
Aliens: Colonial Marines is a broken, visually unsettling game that spent too long in development and yet somehow feels half-baked. It took me four or five hours to complete, yet still managed to overstay its welcome. For a game hyped as the first foray into videogames as canonical sequels to films, Aliens: Colonial Marines sets the bar dangerously low.


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To get 100% you have to complete the following:
* Complete all Main Missions.
* Complete all 10 Drug Deliveries.
* Complete all 10 Races.
* Complete all 10 Assassination missions.
* Complete all 30 car thefts.
* Collect all 10 cars for the Exotic Exports mission.
* Unlock all five friend's special abilities and complete the activities with Little Jacob, Brucie and Packie.
* Beat the computer or an online friend in all activities.
* Find all Random Characters and complete their missions (except for Jeff, Cherise, Clarence & Ivan).
* Complete all 30 Most Wanted Missions.
* Complete all 20 Vigilante Missions.
* Kill all 200 Pigeons.
* Complete all 50 Unique Jumps.
In-Game Maps:
If you go to an Internet caf� and enters the URL www.whattheydonotwantyoutoknow.com you will get to a page with maps of all weapon pickups, health, armor, vehicle locations, unique jumps and pigeon locations.
Call 911:
If you call 911 on your phone you can select if you need an ambulance, police car or a fire truck. Make your selection and wait for them to arrive so you can steal the vehicle. If you get into the ambulance you will get a small health boost and if you get into the police car you will get 5 shotgun shells.
Get Claude's outfit:
If you choose the kill Playboy X you will take over his safehouse. If you change clothes in that safehouse you can choose to wear the outfit Claude (the main character in GTA III) was wearing. Black jacket, green pants and black/white shoes.
Hidden Shirt:
Get to Happiness Island. Run up to the base of the statue to find a shirt on the ground. Walk over it to put it on. It has a picture of the statue and the text Happiness is... on the front and the text ...land on the back.
The heart of the Statue:
Get a helicopter and fly to Happiness Island. Jump out of the helicopter at the top of the statue's base so you'll land by it's feet. You can not take the stairs this high. Look at the sign next to the door. It says No Hidden Content Here. Enter the door and climb the ladder inside the statue. You will find a big, red, beating heart held in place by chains.
Purple Dildo:
Head inside the old, abandoned Casino where the last mission takes place, at the north end of Alderney. Look at one of the trash piles on the ground to find a purple dildo sticking out.
GTA Graffitti:
Across the road from Bank of Liberty you can find a house covered in graffitti. Some of the artwork is from old GTA titles.
GTA portraits:
Across the street from the museum in Algonquin you can find a portrait painter. The portraits are of old GTA characters.
Old GTA character's names graffitti:
Go inside one of the pink houses near Manny's community center. Go to the back of the inside and look at the wall. You will find graffitti with names from a lot of old GTA characters, like Claude, Tommy, Toni, etc.
OG Loc CD:
In your Bohan safehouse you can find a CD by OG Loc from San Andreas on the floor.
Golf Course Land Marks:
At the mini-golf course at Firefly Island you can find a small version of the giant chicken from San Andreas, the lighthouse from the GTA III version of Liberty City, the Watts Towers from Los Santos and the Ocean View Hotel from GTA: Vice City.


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What's New...
Founded in 1980, the Redwood Empire DX Association is an Amateur Radio Club dedicated to DX (contacting other radio amateurs over long distances) and contests (on the air events where radio amateurs attempt to contact as many other hams over a fixed time period). Membership interests range from 160 meter DXing to VHF/UHF contesting. REDXA membership is open to all licensed Radio Amateurs. However, visitors are cordially invited to attend our meetings.


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A Law Firm Concentrating in Personal Injury Law
Experienced Indiana Personal Injury Attorneys
The Law Offices of David W. Holub, P.C., strive to represent each client aggressively and to obtain prompt and favorable results. We not only aggressively pursue our client's best interests, but we remain accessible and attentive to our client's needs.
About the Firm
The Law Offices of David W. Holub is a personal injury law firm located in Merrillville, Indiana, focused on providing efficient and effective client-centered representation. Our mission is to provide top quality legal representation, which includes an uncompromising pursuit of our client's legal interests, while being accessible and attentive to our clients during times of personal challenge.
The firm concentrates in personal injury cases of all types, medical malpractice, and wrongful death litigation. We work tirelessly to serve each client aggressively and with empathy, to communicate regularly and clearly, and to obtain prompt and favorable results, while adhering to the highest standards of excellence and integrity. Our team considers it a high honor to be called upon to serve our clients whom we often come to regard as our friends.
Serving Our Clients
Most of our clients come from the local communities in Lake County, Porter County, LaPorte County, Newton County, Starke County and Jasper County. In Lake County, we have clients who live in Crown Point, East Chicago, Gary, Hammond, Hobart, Lake Station, Whiting, Cedar Lake, Dyer, Griffith, Highland, Hobart, Lowell, Merrillville, Munster, New Chicago, Schererville, Schneider, St. John, and Winfield. From Porter County we have clients who live in Portage, Valparaiso, Chesterton, Beverly Shores, Burns Harbor, Dune Acres, Hebron, Kouts, and Ogden Dunes.
From LaPorte County we have clients living in La Porte, Michigan City, Kingsbury, Kingsford Heights, LaCrosse, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Wanatah, and Westville.
We also have represented clients from the Indiana communities of Rensselaer, Kentland, Knox, Winamac, Elkhart, South Bend, and Lafayette.
Additionally, we do have attorneys admitted to the state and federal courts in Illinois and consequently handle a small number of cases in Northeast Illinois.


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Cute seed bead choker with tiny coin pendants!


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Canon Rebel T2i / 550D receives plaudit-heavy reviews
Vlad Savov|March 31, 2010 10:13 AM
plenty of the headline 1080p / 30fps video mode on the Rebel T2i, but what's been missing till now are the equally comprehensive reviews of this new 18 megapixel shooter's other talents. Starting off with image quality -- still the bread and butter of any DSLR -- Camera Labs informs us that "the EOS 550D / T2i delivered images which were essentially the same as those from the EOS 7D," describing them as highly detailed and exhibiting no greater noise than can be found on Nikon's 12 megapixel competitors. An impressive feat, you will agree. Further appreciation is meted out for the newly improved LCD screen on the back, whose 3:2 ratio matches the sensor's dimensions, but there's also warning that the 7D retains a significant advantage in terms of ergonomics, weatherproofing, continuous burst mode, and autofocus. Even so, both reviews were happy to pin their "highly recommended" badges on the T2i, and you can discover the more nuanced reasons for doing so at the source links below.


text: # [![Build Status](https://travis-ci.com/mojolicious/mojo.svg?branch=master)](https://travis-ci.com/mojoliocus/mojo) [![Windows build status](https://ci.appveyor.com/api/projects/status/b748ehchfsd4edac?svg=true)](https://ci.appveyor.com/project/kraih73737/mojo) Back in the early days of the web, many people learned Perl because of a wonderful Perl library called [CGI](https://metacpan.org/module/CGI). It was simple enough to get started without knowing much about the language and powerful enough to keep you going, learning by doing was much fun. While most of the techniques used are outdated now, the idea behind it is not. Mojolicious is a new endeavor to implement this idea using bleeding edge technologies. ## Features * An amazing **real-time web framework**, allowing you to easily grow single file prototypes into well-structured MVC web applications. * Powerful out of the box with RESTful routes, plugins, commands, Perl-ish templates, content negotiation, session management, form validation, testing framework, static file server, CGI/[PSGI](http://plackperl.org) detection, first class Unicode support and much more for you to discover. * A powerful **web development toolkit**, that you can use for all kinds of applications, independently of the web framework. * Full stack HTTP and WebSocket client/server implementation with IPv6, TLS, SNI, IDNA, HTTP/SOCKS5 proxy, UNIX domain socket, Comet (long polling), Promises/A+, keep-alive, connection pooling, timeout, cookie, multipart, and gzip compression support. * Built-in non-blocking I/O web server, supporting multiple event loops as well as optional pre-forking and hot deployment, perfect for building highly scalable web services. * JSON and HTML/XML parser with CSS selector support. * Very clean, portable and object-oriented pure-Perl API with no hidden magic and no requirements besides Perl 5.26.0 (versions as old as 5.10.1 can be used too, but may require additional CPAN modules to be installed) * Fresh code based upon years of experience developing [Catalyst](http://www.catalystframework.org), free and open source. * Hundreds of 3rd party [extensions](https://metacpan.org/requires/distribution/Mojolicious) and high quality spin-off projects like the [Minion](https://metacpan.org/pod/Minion) job queue. ## Installation All you need is a one-liner, it takes less than a minute. $ curl -L https://cpanmin.us | perl - -M https://cpan.metacpan.org -n Mojolicious We recommend the use of a [Perlbrew](http://perlbrew.pl) environment. ## Getting Started These three lines are a whole web application. ```perl use Mojolicious::Lite; get '/' => {text => 'I ♥ Mojolicious!'}; app->start; ``` To run this example with the built-in development web server just put the code into a file and start it with `morbo`. $ morbo hello.pl Server available at http://127.0.0.1:3000 $ curl http://127.0.0.1:3000/ I ♥ Mojolicious! ## Duct tape for the HTML5 web Use all the latest Perl and HTML features in beautiful single file prototypes like this one, and [grow](https://mojolicious.org/perldoc/Mojolicious/Guides/Growing#Differences) them easily into well-structured **Model-View-Controller** web applications. ```perl use Mojolicious::Lite -signatures; # Render template "index.html.ep" from the DATA section get '/' => sub ($c) { $c->render(template => 'index'); }; # WebSocket service used by the template to extract the title from a website websocket '/title' => sub ($c) { $c->on(message => sub ($c, $msg) { my $title = $c->ua->get($msg)->result->dom->at('title')->text; $c->send($title); }); }; app->start; __DATA__ @@ index.html.ep % my $url = url_for 'title'; ``` ## Want to know more? Take a look at our excellent [documentation](https://mojolicious.org/perldoc)!


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Coverage you can rely on, north and south
The acquisition of U.S. specialty insurer OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd. gives us the ability to offer a cross border solution with best-in-class service, to Canadian business clients with U.S. exposure. Coverage is available nationally, and is handled by a local Canadian cross border team that provides seamless, efficient service featuring products with coverage that address cross-border gaps and limits with the Canadian policy.
Talk to a broker about the options available to help you protect your business. With a network of more than 6,000 broker offices across Canada, we'll help you find a trusted advisor who understands your needs, so you'll always get the right solution for your business.
Click here for more information about OneBeacon
Certain conditions, limitations and exclusions apply. Insurance products provided by Intact Insurance Company in Canada and by Atlantic Specialty Insurance Company in the U.S. This material is provided for information purposes only, the insurance contracts prevail at all times. Coverages and availability vary by product and by province or state. Please consult the insurance contracts for complete descriptions of coverage and exclusions. ®OneBeacon is a registered trademark of OneBeacon Insurance Group, LLC used under license. All other trademarks are the property of Intact Financial Corporation used under license. ©2017 Intact Insurance Company. All rights reserved.


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Right, left gripe over cliff deal
A rare bipartisan consensus is forming on Capitol Hill over the fiscal cliff deal: Nobody really likes it.
( PHOTOS: Fiscal cliff's key players)
Liberals are chafing at the thought of letting more wealthy earners escape higher rates. Conservatives are aghast at letting any tax hike take effect. Moderates in both parties say they can live with it but emphasize they're not fans, either.
Distaste for the tentative agreement, of course, doesn't mean it's destined for failure. Other major deals, such as the Budget Control Act, didn't win rave reviews from either party, but passed nonetheless.
"I'll probably be a 'yes' vote, even though I don't like it," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told reporters after details of the tentative agreement began to go public. "I don't like the idea of raising tax rates, I don't think it's good for the economy, but it's better than going over the cliff."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced midday that he and Vice President Joe Biden had reached a tentative agreement on the tax issues — and pointed out that it was "not easy to get to." The two men with a history of last-minute deal-making had closed in on an agreement that would raise the marginal income tax rates to 39.6 percent on individual income more than $400,000 and households that earn more than $450,000.
In the final hours of 2012, negotiators reached a deal to avert the fiscal cliff that had sign-off from Democratic leaders in both chambers. Vice President Joe Biden was dispatched to Capitol Hill to sell wavering Democrats on the agreement.
"There are many, many reasons people dislike portions of this bill, but there's close to unanimity that it's better than going over the cliff so you're going to get a very strong vote here," predicted New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the third-ranking Senate Democrat, after the 90-minute meeting with Biden and Senate Democrats.
But as details emerged throughout the day, objections flew. Liberal Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who's been highly critical of other tax and budget agreements, called the emerging compromise "grossly unfair" and a "tough pill to swallow."
"No deal is better than a bad deal," he said, "and this looks like a very bad deal."
Fellow liberal Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse told reporters that upping the threshold for tax hikes to $450,000 for households was "not a great sign."
"Obviously it takes a lot of revenue off the table that will lead to more cuts in other things," the Rhode Island Democrat said.
From the other side of political divide, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) railed against the notion of any tax hike to resolve the fiscal cliff.
"You will take money from the productive sector, which is the private sector, and put it into the nonproductive sector, which is Washington," Paul said in a floor speech. "So if you want ditches to be dug and filled up again, send more money to Washington."
Rubbing salt in the GOP wound was President Barack Obama's suggestion Monday afternoon to use revenues from any agreement to turn off the $109 billion in automatic spending cuts. Negotiators ultimately agreed to stave off the sequester by two months with new spending reductions and government revenue, but Obama's initial comments at the White House had riled up Republicans who saw his remarks as unhelpful.
"We did the sequester to meet the goal of $2.1 trillion in cuts," Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said after Obama's speech. "To reduce those cuts would only dramatically make our problem worse rather than better. So I don't agree with the president."
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Obama's 2008 rival, said the president's proposal on the so-called sequester could run into major resistance from Republicans on Capitol Hill.
"It's just going to be very difficult for many of us and also for people in the House of Representatives," McCain said. "Why the president chose to basically act in a more confrontational fashion while these negotiations are not only going on, but the result has to be voted on, is something that bewilders me."
But other lawmakers – particularly moderates — said they were prepared to sign off on a deal that would prevent a steep plunge off the fiscal cliff. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a key moderate voice among Senate Republicans, called the $450,000 threshold a "reasonable" compromise as long as those revenues were dedicated to debt reduction.
"It's not my first choice," added Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) of the $450,000 mark. "I think [$250,000] is a better standard. But if that's what it takes to get an agreement to avoid the cliff, I'll support it."
Others simply sounded relieved by any sign of progress.
"Anything," said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), "is better than where we were two days ago."
Said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas): "No one is going to say this is wonderful. The Democrats won't, and the Republicans won't. But did our negotiators do a really strong job … ? I think they did."
Steven Sloan contributed to this report.


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Global production of bio-fuels increased 17% in 2010 to reach an all-time high of 105 billion liters, up from 90 billion liters in 2009.
High oil prices, a global economic rebound and new laws and mandates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China and the US, among other countries, are all factors behind the surge in production, according to research conducted by the Worldwatch Institute's climate and energy program for the website Vital Signs Online.
The US and Brazil remain the two largest producers of ethanol. In 2010, the US generated 49 billion liters, or 57% of global output, and Brazil produced 28 billion liters, – 33% of the total. Corn is the primary feedstock for US ethanol, and sugarcane is the dominant source of ethanol in Brazil.
In the US, the record production of bio-fuels is attributed in part to high oil prices, which encouraged several large fuel companies, including Sunoco, Valero, Flint Hills and Murphy Oil, to enter the ethanol industry says Alexander Ochs, director of Worldwatch's climate and energy program.
High oil prices were also a factor in Brazil, where every third car-owner drives a flex-fuel vehicle that can run on either fossil or bio-based fuels. Many Brazilian drivers have switched to sugarcane ethanol because it is cheaper than gasoline.
Although the US and Brazil are the world leaders in ethanol, the largest producer of bio-diesel is the European Union, which generated 53% of all bio-diesel in 2010, says Ochs.
However, we may see some European countries switch from bio-diesel to ethanol because a recent report from the European Commission states that ethanol crops have a higher energy content than bio-diesel crops, making them more efficient sources of fuel.
Vital Signs authors Sam Shrank, a Worldwatch MAP Sustainable Energy fellow, and Farhad Farahmand, a climate and energy research intern, also explored how new mandates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada and China have altered the bio-fuel industries in these countries.
In Argentina, the biodiesel industry grew not only because of favorable conditions for growing soybeans, but also in response to a new B7 blending mandate, which requires the fuel to be 7% bio-diesel and 93% diesel. Accordingly, bio-diesel producers in Argentina are investing heavily in facilities to increase production.
In the United States, however, the Environment and Protection Agency (EPA) made the decision to dramatically lower the country's production target for cellulose ethanol, a bio-fuel that is made from woody plants or crop waste and that can be converted to ethanol much more efficiently than conventional ethanol, resulting in lower associated greenhouse gas emissions.
The EPA's target reduction reflects the technical challenges and high costs of commercializing so-called second generation bio-fuels says Shrank. Instead of the 950 million liters required initially under the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, the final target will be as much as 25 million liters smaller.
Proposed legislation in the US Senate would cut current ethanol production subsidies while maintaining tax credits for related infrastructure such as refilling stations. If supports like subsidies and tariffs are removed in the United States, sugarcane ethanol from Brazil will likely become more prevalent. Although sugarcane ethanol has the benefit of being cheaper and more efficient to produce, there are concerns that increased production will speed deforestation in Brazil as more land is cleared for feedstock cultivation.
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Daily Kitten virtual cat pet 2.9.1 Apk Mod Casual Game for Android
- Current Version: 2.9.1
- File size: 37 MB
- Memorize: www.ReXdl.com
Daily Kitten virtual cat pet 2.9.1 Apk Mod Casual Game for Android
Daily Kitten offers you your own cat; it's just for you. It can do anything as long you take care of it. Caress it, feed it, teach it to stay clean, play with it, put it to sleep … you can accompany it in its dreams, dress it up the way you like and make it purr when you stroke it. To make a long story short, it's your new companion and you help it grow and have a lot of fun.
- Play over 10 mini-games while playing with your animal pet. You can earn gold and emerald to buy him stuff.
- You can interact with your cat by taping on the screen, he will came to you to receive some petting… so cute !
- Take care of an adorable pet !
- The game is cut in 10 days. Each day your kitten grows up and can use new toys and stuffs !
- You can take pictures of your adorable cat to share it with your friends !
- Give food to your own kitten, play ball of wool, play with a lasersight, help him to scratch his nails in cat tree, like a true kitten !
- This kitten is really realistic, you can watch him live in your house, he will move around and play with everything
- Show at your friends how your kitten is beautiful !
- Make fun with your little animal and take care of it ! You can deguise him with a lot of stuff !
- There is different mission during the game. would you be able to finish everything?
Take care of your cat simulator !
Daily Kitten is available in french, english, spanish, german, chinese, japanese, turkish and russian.


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Banzai Plummet Falls Adventure Slide Water Park Giveaway (Ends 6/5/13)
Welcome to the Summer Adventure Event featuring Banzai Plummet Falls Adventure Slide Water Park Giveaway!
organized by: Mom to Bed by 8
Special thank you to our co-hosts: Celebrate Woman Today, Capri's Coupons, Jack of all trades, Master of Mom and The Nurse Mommy.
The Plummet Falls water slide/pool allows kids to plummet down the Banzai waterslide, refresh in the splash pool and get drenched in the falls, all without leaving the backyard. This water slide park comes with everything you need for hours of summertime fun.
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Honda Power Equipment EU2200i Companion
Item Location
Maple Bay Marine
Brutus, MI, 49716
(231) 529-6155
Stock No: N0010
Our Price: Call For Price
|EU2200i Companion
|Floor Length:
|1' 8" or 20.00"
|0' 11" or 11.00"
|1' 5" or 17.00"
|46 lbs
Request More Info
Honda Power Equipment EU2200i Companion
Please enter your contact information and one of our representatives will get back to you with more information.
Get a Quote
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Key Features
2200 watts, 18.3A, 120V
Built in 30A outlet for easy parallel capability with another EU2200i
Ideal for TV, DVD, satellite, fridge, coffee pot, and more
Great for RV applications
Super quiet - like a conversation
Inverter - stable power for computers & sensitive equipment
More power. Same legendary quality: The all new EU2200i Companion delivers 10% more power than the EU2000 Companion - enabling you to power more of what you need, in the same lightweight, compact package. Whether it's an extra refrigerator at home, a larger saw on your construction site, a larger TV at your tailgate party, the EU2200i Companion gives you the power to get more done.
Built in 30A outlet for RV use and easy parallel capability with another EU2000i: The EU2200i Companion offers one 30A receptacle for RV applications (requires optional adaptor) and one 20A receptacle. The 30A receptacle allows 2 EU2200i models to be run in parallel by way of a simple parallel cord and not an external parallel kit.
Double your power with parallel capability: Need more power? Connect the EU2200i Companion with a regular EU2200i for up to 4400 watts of power. The EU2200i Companion will also parallel with EU2000iK1/T1 models. Find a complete serial number list at the link below.
Honda GXR120 Engine - Commercial grade reliability: The EU2200i Companion is powered by the Honda GXR120 Commercial Series engine. The GXR120 delivers exceptionally quiet, smooth, fuel-efficient performance in a small, lightweight package. The size of a generator's engine directly correlates to how much power it can produce. At 121cc, the GXR120 is at the top of its class - ensuring the EU2200 Companion always produces the power you need to get the job done. Originally developed for heavy duty construction equipment, the GXR120 also delivers superb durability and reliability.
Power for microwave, refrigerators, hair dryer, small AC units, and much more: The EU2200i Companion can operate a wide variety of appliances, making it perfect for portable use at home, camping, on the jobsite, or much more. Take a look at the applications tab for more examples.
Super quiet - less noise than normal conversation: So quiet, your neighbors will thank you. The EU2000i Companion operates at 48 to 57 dBA, which is less noise than a normal conversation. This makes it ideal for camping, supplemental RV power and any other activity that requires quiet operation.
Easy starting, every time: The EU2200i Companion is designed for quick and easy starting. Honda's automatic mechanical decompressor system significantly reduces the amount of force needed to start the engine. Operational contact points are color-coded in gray to quickly guide the user through the starting operation.
Lightweight and compact: Weighing less than 47 pounds, the EU2000i Companion is incredibly lightweight and portable, thanks to Honda's inverter technology.
Fuel efficient - runs up to 8.1 hrs on less than a gallon of fuel: Thanks to our exclusive Eco Throttle System, the EU2200i Companion offers great fuel efficiency. Runs 3.2 to 8.1 hours on a single tank, depending on the load. This makes it great for overnight power.
Advanced inverter technology - reliable power for computers and other sensitive equipment: Honda's inverter technology means stable, clean power in a smaller, lighter package. The precision of Honda's inverter technology ensures our inverter generators produce power that is as reliable as the power you get from your outlets at home.
Easier oil changes: A bigger oil filler opening, longer spout, and larger oil drain gutter make for easier and cleaner oil changes.
Fuel shutoff ("Fuel Off" position): The "Fuel Off" position allows the engine to continue to run until the majority of the fuel in the carburetor is consumed and the engine shuts off. This helps prevent stale fuel issues and is useful when storing the generator.
Better overall durability: It's the little things that show a product's quality and durability. Like the stamped metal recoil rope insert on the EU2200i - reducing potential damage to the body of the generator. Or the increased ventilation area, resulting in improved cooling of key components. Or the improved stator/rotor configuration, using some of the highest quality and most powerful magnets available.
Protected by Oil Alert(r): Protects the generator by shutting the engine off when low oil is detected.
USDA-qualified spark arrestor/muffler: Meets USDA standards for areas where spark arrestors are required for operation.
Electronic Circuit Breaker: Protects the generator from an overload condition.
3 year residential and commercial warranty: You can rest easy, knowing your generator is covered from top to bottom for 3 full years.
Full model name: EU2200ITA1
Engine: Honda GXR120
Displacement: 121cc
AC Output: 120V 2200W max. (18.3A), 1800W rated (15A)
Receptacles: 30A 125V Locking Plug, 20A 125 V receptacle
DC Output: NA
Starting System: Recoil
Fuel Tank Capacity: .95 gal.
Run Time per Tankful: 3.2hr @ rated load 8.1 hrs @ 1/4 load
Dimensions (L x W x H): 20.0 in. x 11.4 in. x 16.7 in.
Noise Level: 57 dB(A) @ rated load 48 dB(A) @ 1/4 load
Dry Weight: 46.5 lb.
Residential Warranty: 3 Years
Commercial Warranty: 3 Years
Storage Cover
Parallel Cables
Anti-theft bracket
Item Location
Maple Bay Marine
Brutus, MI, 49716
(231) 529-6155
Stock No: N0010
Our Price: Call For Price
|EU2200i Companion
|Floor Length:
|1' 8" or 20.00"
|0' 11" or 11.00"
|1' 5" or 17.00"
|46 lbs
Request More Info
Honda Power Equipment EU2200i Companion
Please enter your contact information and one of our representatives will get back to you with more information.
Get a Quote
Please enter your contact information and one of our representatives will get back to you with more information.
Payment Calculator
Other Recommendations
Honda Power Equipment EU2200i Companion View Details
Honda Power Equipment EU7000iS View Details
Honda Power Equipment EU3000iS View Details


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Report by Heritage: On February 4, 2010, pushing for passage of her pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) legislation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) saidon the House floor: "When I became Speaker of the House, the very first day we passed legislation that made PAYGO the rule of the House. Today we will make it the law of the land. … So the time is long overdue for this to be taken for granted. The federal government will pay as it goes." That was the promise. But here is the reality: in the three years that Speaker Pelosi has enforced her PAYGO rule, the House has violated it by nearly $1 trillion.
And now with the U.S. Debt Clock officially passing the $13 trillion milestone Wednesday, the House is set to violate their own PAYGO law yet again, this time to the tune of around $150 billion. The legislation clocks-in at almost one-fifth the size of President Barack Obama's original $862 billion failed economic stimulus, and the leftist majority in Congress has titled it "The American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act." And it is a tax-hiking, spending-exploding, job-killing, deficit-hiking wonder.
The Tax Hikes: The entire purpose of this bill was originally to extend some popular and well-established tax cuts that have been around for years but have to be reapproved every year. But being the big government lovers that they are, the left has crafted a bill that actually increases tax revenues by $57 billion over ten years. The biggest items are a job-killing tax on American corporations that compete overseas, a job-killing tax on innovation-creating venture capital partnerships, and a four-fold increase in the tax on oil production that ostensibly is supposed to go to the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, but isinstead being siphoned off to help pay for completely unrelated new domestic spending.
The Spending: The bill originally clocked-in at almost $200 billion, and Democrats have since cut the spending to just under $150 billion, $95 billion of which will go straight onto our children's credit card bill in flagrant violation of Congress' own PAYGO rules. Goodies include $26 billion for infrastructure, more than $40 billion for yet another unemployment insurance extension, another $24 billion bailout of state Medicaid programs, $8 billion in needlessly expensive health insurance subsidies, and $2.5 billion for states to increase their welfare rolls. Even some Democrats are beginning to question the endless UI extensions, with Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper (D-PA) telling The Washington Post that businesses back home complain that they want to start hiring but are getting few applicants because Congress has repeatedly extended unemployment benefits.
And then there is what was originally the largest-ticket item in the bill: $65 billion over three and a half years for increasing physician Medicare reimbursements, aka the "doc fix." This one item alone proves that all of President Barack Obama's claims that his health care law reduces the deficit are 100% false. The CBO report this month estimated that $276 billion would be required to shore up the "doc fix" over the next decade. Adding that spending to Obamacare's already $940 billion total would easily push it into the red. That is why Congress did not address the problem in Obamacare. Brandeis University professor Stuart Altman calls the "doc fix" charade "one of the worst pieces of legislation I've ever seen." The House has cut this version of the "doc fix" down to $21.8 billion just through December 2011.
Across the country, millions of American families are struggling to make family budgets and keep to them. Not Congress. For the first time in the history of the budget process, the House of Representatives has failed to plan how they will spend your tax dollars. Instead they will recklessly continue to flagrantly violate their own PAYGO rules as they add billions and billions worth of debt onto your children. This Congress has no shame.
The front page of USA TODAY asks "Is oil spill becoming Obama's Katrina?" and cites a new Gallup poll finding that 53% of adults say President Obama is doing a "poor" or "very poor" job of handling the spill.
Democrats Majority Whip Dick Durbin (IL) and Gov. Ed Rendell (PA) called on Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) to detail his claim that the White House offered him a job in exchange for dropping out of the PA Senate primary, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) said if Sestak's allegations are true, it is an impeachable offense.
Judicial Watch filed suit against the Obama Justice Department yesterday seeking documents relating tothe Obama administration's decision to abandon a default judgment against the New Black Panther Partyfor voter intimidation.
The Obama Justice Department has drafted a legal challengeasserting that Arizona's immigration enforcement law is unconstitutional because it impinges on the federal government's authority to police the nation's borders.
The facts on Elena Kagan, Harvard, and the military.


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Long Beach, California (AP) — A communications satellite built for France-based Eutelsat has arrived in California to be prepared for liftoff from Sea Launch AG's oceangoing rocket pad.
The companies said Wednesday that the Eutelsat 3B spacecraft built by Airbus Defense and Space was flown from Toulouse to Long Beach Airport. It was then transported to a payload processing facility at the home port of the Sea Launch system's two vessels.
The self-propelled launch platform and command ship will sail from Long Beach to the equatorial Pacific for a mid-April liftoff.
The satellite is designed to last more than 15 years in orbit.
Sea Launch, now based in Switzerland, has been lofting heavy satellites into orbit since 1999.
Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)


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Eric Zuesse, originally posted at strategic-culture.org
Syria's peace-talks are about settling a horrific six-year-long war, but this is more of an international war that's being waged on the battlefields of Syria, than it is a civil war within Syria itself. This fact is often ignored by the press, but the peace-talks are really more between the foreign powers than between their proxies who are killing each other (and Syria's civilians) within Syria. These peace-talks are international because the principals in this war are international. And, because the principals are international, the principles that are being fought over are, too — they are so basic that the end-result from these talks will be not only some sort of new peace, but some sort of new Constitution for Syria: really a new nation of Syria.
The main issues which are being negotiated at the Syrian Peace Talks that resumed on February 23rd in Geneva, are constitutional in nature: whether Syria is to be governed under Sharia (or Quran-based) law, or whether instead it is to be a multi-ethnic democracy. The Sharia-law side is supported by the United States, Turkey, and the Arabic royal families, who own Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman, all of which royal families are fundamentalist Sunnis. The multi-ethnic democracy side is supported by Bashar al-Assad (Syria's current leader), Russia, and Iran.
Some proponents of the Sharia-law side are advocating that Syria be broken up into at least three separate ethnically-defined nations, which then would be Kurdish, Sunni, and Shiite, each of which would be ruled only by its majority ethnicity, just as Israel is ruled by its majority ethnicity, which in Israel's case is Jewish. (Another prominent recent example was apartheid South Africa, except that in that particular case, it was the White minority who ruled over the Black majority. Of course, those racial laws ended when Blacks there became allowed to vote.)
In essence, the contested polarity is between whether the future of Syria will be as a religious-ethnic dictatorship, versus as a multi-ethnic (including multi-religious) democracy.
All polling of the Syrian people, even during the current war and even performed by Western polling firms, shows a strong preference by the Syrians for a multi-ethnic, entirely non-sectarian, democracy. Moreover, when questioned as to whether they believe this still to be possible for Syria, solid majorities of the Syrian people respond in the affirmative. Generally speaking, they blame, above all, the United States government, as being behind the influx of tens of thousands of jihadists from around the world into Syria to overthrow and replace the Assad government. (Perhaps they don't so much blame America's Islamist allies for this invasion by jihadists, because the Sauds etc. are Muslims and mainly Arabs, as Syrians themselves are.)
(In recent years, those findings by the main polling-firm, WIN/Gallup, can be seen here:
2014: http://www.orb-international.com/perch/resources/syriadatatablesjuly2014.pdf
2015: https://www.orb-international.com/perch/resources/syriadata.pdf
2016: https://www.orb-international.com/perch/resources/2016-syria-tabs-weighted.pdf.)
Syrians are the most secular nation in the entire Middle East. The effort by the U.S. and its allies to impose a jihadist government there is not popular with the Syrian people.
In preparation for the current round of U.N.-sponsored Syrian Peace Talks, there was a preliminary peace conference in Astana Kazakhstan, in which the participants were Russia, Iran, Turkey, and Syria; and it produced a strong statement in favor of a multi-ethic, multi-religious, democracy in Syria. Russia also produced there, for future consideration by the Syrian people, a draft Constitution of that type, to be discussed and ultimately voted on by the Syrians.
Agence France Presse reported, on February 12th, that (boldfaces and links here are by me):
The delegation will be headed by Nasr al-Hariri , a member of the National Coalition, replacing Assad al-Zoabi, who led the opposition at several previous rounds of talks in Geneva last year.
The delegation's chief negotiator was named as Mohamed Sabra, a lawyer who was part of the opposition's technical team during negotiations in Geneva in 2014.
He replaces Mohamad Alloush, a rebel from the powerful Army of Islam faction.
Alloush served as negotiator during three rounds of peace talks in Geneva as well as negotiations in the Kazakh capital Astana in January organised by Turkey and Russia.
Neither Alloush nor the Army of Islam were listed as members of the delegation to Geneva, though it was unclear if the group was boycotting the talks or would be represented by other delegates.
No reason was given for the decision to replace either Zoabi or Alloush.
Alloush had been selected by the Saud family, and so was rejected by Russia, Iran and Syria, at the Astana conference. Turkey at that conference proposed and the others accepted Sabra, who heads the Syrian Republican Party, which was created in 2008 simply to criticize Assad, and didn't even become active until it received major funding from Turkey and became publicly "founded" in Istanbul in 2014, by members of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party. So: now, instead of Assad negotiating with an agent of the Saud family (Alloush), as had been the case when the U.S. ran the preparations for the peace-process (the process that U.S. President Barack Obama sabotaged on 17 September 2016 and thus brought to an end), Assad is negotiating this time with an agent of the Erdogan family (Sabra), and Russia instead of the U.S. has been running the preparations for the peace-process, which is currently under way at the U.N. in Geneva.
The National Coalition was created on 12 November 2012 by the Saud family and their Gulf Cooperation Council of all of Arabia's royal families, who own (other than the Sauds' Saudi Arabia), Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. Nasr al-Hariri, who thus represents those families, heads the delegation of 'Syrian opposition groups' that Turkey's Mohamed Sabra will be negotiating on behalf of. So, actually, Assad will be negotiating against representatives of, and who are negotiating on behalf of, all of the Middle East's leaders of Sunni-run nations.
Furthermore, "Nasr al-Hariri selected 21 opposition delegates during a meeting of the Syrian opposition in Riyadh in preparation for the talks," and so the entire selection-process for those 'Syrian opposition' members was done under the Sauds' watchful eyes (and money).
Magnanimously, a representative of the National Coalition, who spoke about Russia's allowing 'the Syrian opposition groups' to be selected by Turkey, the Sauds, and the other Middle-Eastern Sunni powers, "called it a 'sacrifice' that Russia, which backs the Syrian regime, has offered to Turkey in the hope that in return it would win concessions to make room for the so-called Moscow platform, named after the Syrian parties that are under the political influence of the Kremlin." (Those are generally the strongest supporters of a secular democratic unified Syria.)
However, on February 24th it was reported that, "Hariri repeated in his news conference that the opposition's priority was to begin negotiations on a political transition with a transitional governing body, suggesting it would not back down on its demands that Syrian regime leader Bashar al-Assad step down." The U.S.-Saudi alliance refused for the person whom all polls showed to be overwhelmingly the top choice by Syrians to lead their country — the only person who was wanted by over 50% of the Syrian public to be Syria's leader — Bashar al-Assad, to be allowed onto the electoral ballot for Syria's Presidency; they refused to allow democracy in Syria. So, the Sunni powers (which also includes the U.S. as their core military arm) are as steadfast as always, about overthrowing and replacing Syria's non-sectarian government. And they all blame the main Shiite nation, Iran, for all problems: "'Iran is the main obstacle to any kind of political deal,' Hariri said." To them, this is really a war to conquer Iran; it's like Christianity's 30 Years' War had been in Europe, back in the 1600s. But, of course, it is also what RFK Jr. has appropriately called it — "Syria: Another Pipeline War." It's rooted both in religion and in economics.
On January 24th, at the close of the preparatory talks, in Astana, for the current peace talks in Geneva to end Syria's war, was issued a "Joint Statement by Iran, Russia, Turkey" asserting that they all:
Reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic as a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, non-sectarian and democratic State, as confirmed by the UN Security Council.
Russia was the only one of those three nations that also proposed then a specific draft Constitution for postwar Syria. Perhaps that's because Russia is the only one of these three whose own government and Constitution is entirely secular. Thus, too, Turkey's key agent at the current Geneva talks, Mohamed Sabra, was reported, back on 17 November 2016 (two months after the U.S. had ended its participation in Syria's peace process) to have — as Egypt's Al-Ahram put it — especially criticized Russia's proposals for "trying to isolate Islamic groups that disagree with the principles of a democratic and secular state, and thus exclude them from the political process. 'This will lead to a realignment of forces, change the essence of the military conflict in Syria, and sow the seeds of civil war in the country,' Sabra remarked." Assuming that Egypt's main newspaper was accurately paraphrasing and translating what the chief negotiator for the U.S.-and-Sunni alliance actually said, Russia was being criticized there for insisting that what follows after Syria's war must be controlled entirely by the people of Syria, and not by anyone outside the country — Sabra, the chief negotiator for the U.S.-Sunni alliance, actually was speaking publicly there, against commitment to "the principles of a democratic and secular state." It's actually fitting: twice in one day, the Secretary General of the U.N. had criticized the U.S. position for its opposition to democracy in Syria.
Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of They're Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010, and of CHRIST'S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity.
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Buffalo Trace Distillery is set to release the latest installments in their Experimental Collection. These two new bourbons, Fine Grain Oak and Coarse Grain Oak, test the effect of different wood grains on aging. Specifically, do barrels made of fast growth oak trees have a different effect on flavor than slower growth trees with finer grain? The new Buffalo Trace experiments were left in the barrels for 14 years and 9 months. Suggested retail price is $46.35 each. Each experiment is rare and very limited. There will be 300 bottles (375 ml) of each experiment released.
1. FINE GRAIN OAK: The bourbon is rich and exceedingly sweet with an almost syrupy character. It also has a nice balance of flavors and complexity.
2. COARSE GRAIN OAK: This whiskey is dry with a balance of smokiness and wood with herbal qualities. The finish is quick and woody and it is slightly heavy with a powerful complexity.
"We continue to learn new and interesting information from these experiments. We never know how they are going to turn out," said Harlen Wheatley, master distiller. "It's also great to see the excitement that surrounds these releases. The customer feedback is great."
Chuck Cowdery has more details about the Buffalo Trace Experimental Collection at his site. Thanks to BBQandbourbon.com for their coverage of this story.


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At Ambit Energy, we think it should be easy to pay your bill. That's why we give you so many options. And we let you pay from wherever you are, and from any device.
Pay your bill and so much more. View details of your previous bills, manage your paperless billing, update your profile and more. Plus it works on all mobile devices, e-readers, tablets, computers and web-enabled TVs.
Never miss a payment with Ambit's Automatic Payment program. Sign up with your credit card or bank account and your bill will be paid automatically every month. No worries, no late fees.
You can also pay using our 24/7 automated phone system by calling (877) 282-6248, or by speaking to a Customer Care agent between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. CT, Monday - Sunday. Fees applicable, for more information, refer to TOS.
If you would like to pay in cash, we accept payments at the following locations. Be sure to have your account number with you when making payments.
For payment locations, please click on the links provided above and search by zip code.
For the cost to make a payment or time for payment application, please contact Customer Care at 877-282-6248 during normal business hours.
Prefer to pay by mail with a check or money order? That's fine, too. If you've misplaced your payment slip, please write your account number on your form of payment. Our payment address is:
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Not a Texas Customer? Please contact your utility for payment options.