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For a long time, Sony has wanted to bring the console experience to handheld devices, and the PlayStation Vita represents its most successful attempt to date, armed as it is with impressive visual capabilities and a wealth of control options. Ironically, the Vita's early games ignored the Vita's strength in this regard, instead focusing on tech demos for touch controls in an industry where touch control has very much been demonstrated to death.
Resistance: Burning Skies was the potential jewel in the crown, though, an online-capable first-person shooter to show the world just how close a gamer can come to playing their favorite titles on the go. As the world's first portable twin-stick FPS, Burning Skies had a golden opportunity to set a benchmark for handheld gaming.
Instead, it settled on being the new worst Vita game to date.
Resistance: Burning Skies (PlayStation Vita)
Developer: Nihilistic Software
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Released: May 29, 2012
Set in 1951, Burning Skies takes us to the Chimera's initial invasion of North America, as firefighter Tom Riley finds himself caught in the vanguard of the twisted mutant menace. Armed with a sturdy axe and whatever firearms he can find, Riley's only concern is reuniting with his wife and child, who went missing during the early civilian evacuations.
The game's poor story, interspersed as it is with vapid attempts at emotional depth, is indicative of what Burning Skies is — little more than a poor reflection of the original console trilogy, a cheap copy that, had it not been officially licensed by Sony, could be mistaken for some illegal, plagiarizing, knock-off. As Riley fights through five short levels, players will find little more than dull, slow-paced shootouts against small collections of enemies through a range of pointless corridors, utilizing a bland cover system that the opposition will mostly ignore.
Most of the fighting isn't exactly terrible, it's just mediocre and predictable. Every battle feels slow and restricted, as a small number of Chimera regularly show up to shoot and die with little fanfare. Thanks to a scarcity of action onscreen, things feel lackluster and uninspiring, a far cry from the atmospheric and chaotic struggles seen in the highly enjoyable Resistance 3. Much of Burning Skies' campaign simply goes through the motions, providing absolutely nothing we didn't see in the genre years ago while adding none of the thrills and excitement we're used to seeing in many modern titles. In many ways, it feels like quite an old shooter from generations past, but not one of the lasting classics.
Touch controls have been forced in wherever possible, but unlike Unit 13's smart use of the screens, Burning Skies doesn't take player comfort into account. Opening doors requires touching a small icon in the center of the screen, while the alternative fire modes for every weapon need enemies to be individually prodded or gun bodies to be slid across, even in the middle of a fight that would require hands to be on the real controls. Being able to touch the grenade and melee icons at the side of the screen is a smart move, as these virtual buttons are conveniently placed and open up the control scheme, but everything else feels contrived, and included at the expense of usability.
Things get worse toward the end, where it begins to look like the developers just stopped caring. The closing sections are happy to just keep throwing the player into big rooms without cover and spawning larger numbers of Chimera in a rather embarrassing attempt to manufacture a sense of challenge. The last level in particular straddles the line between exasperating and tiresome, culminating in one of the most insipid and pointless boss encounters I've witnessed in quite some time. Game design doesn't get more basic and uninspiring than Burning Skies.
The disappointing campaign could be forgiven if the multiplayer was any good, but once again, it feels like a lifeless shadow of its console brethren. The basics are in place — three game modes (deathmatch, team deathmatch, and infection), with up to three customizable loadouts and a compulsory experience system — but basics are where the game begins and ends. Once you get into a match, you're forced to fight in confined, visually unstimulating, ill designed maps, where no care was taken into setting sensible spawn points or providing anything other than a series of rooms in which bored people can shoot at each other.
The online experience is laggy, with a framerate that makes everything feel like it's in slow motion, and scoreboards don't work properly (in one match, the enemy team kept showing up as having zero points, when in fact it was winning). I once died thrice in a row, collapsing dead to the ground as soon as I spawned, with the same player shown as having killed me and no indication as to how. Another time, players were frozen in place, and there have already been problems with people getting booted out of a session.
As far as presentation goes, in both the campaign and multiplayer, Resistance: Burning Skies feels unfinished. Severely unfinished. Don't believe the screenshots attached to this review — this is an ugly game, and it doesn't look anywhere near as good as several of the Vita's launch titles (tellingly, this game blocks the Vita's screen capture software). Environment textures and features on NPCs are bland, flat, and lacking in color. The only modicum of effort seems to have been put into the guns, which look relatively nice, and there's a pleasant bit of lighting here and there, but the Chimera lack much in the way of detail and human faces are creepily devoid of texture, making them look rubbery and nightmarish. Compared to a game like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, the graphics found here are despicable and embarrassing.
Even worse are those moments where it's just obvious that a feature was left blatantly incomplete. From the mouths of NPCs not moving to environments displaying hideous artifacts along edges and corners, there's a lot missing in Burning Skies that you usually only see left out of obscure budget games. You can sprint, but after a while Riley will stop dead in his tracks. He won't return to a walking pace, he won't slow down before needing a breather, he will literally just stop dead in his tracks and you'll have to take your finger off the stick in order to move him again, since absolutely nothing was added to portray a loss of stamina.
In multiplayer, there is no animation or sound effect for melee kills. If you're killed by a melee attack, you'll abruptly die in silence, and it actually took me a few deaths to work out why I kept falling over for no reason. When enemies die, their frozen corpses will slowly glide along the floor before suddenly and sharply disappearing. Cutscenes play at the start of every level and cannot be skipped, even if you're replaying a stage or loading from a checkpoint halfway through, and they're compressed to a disgusting degree. In short, the whole thing feels like some sort of pre-alpha build mistakenly released as a real game.
Resistance: Burning Skies may hope that its flaws are overlooked due to the novelty of being the Vita's first FPS, but even with nothing on the system to directly compare it to, any fool could see just how pathetic this game is. The best that can be said is that the shooting itself is fairly competent. It works. However, it works in a pedestrian and insignificant little game that seems as if it was desperately rushed in order to meet a deadline.
If, like me, you've been waiting to see how a first-person shooter feels on the Vita, then I can say that this game proves the potential of the genre. However, if you'd like your first Vita FPS to actually be good, then wait for something else, because Resistance: Burning Skies is far from acceptable. It is visually atrocious, interactively vapid and incomplete to a degree that a full retail price is an insult. It's tempting to buy this just to have something new on the system, but good things come to those that wait, and it's hard to imagine anything not being good compared to this mess.

subset: commoncrawl


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Submitted by customer George S. of Emory, TX
(author anonymous – this is from an email that has been circulating for years)
After you get done reading this, please take a look at JerseyPride.com for more reasons to be proud of being from the "Garden State."
For the fellow New Jersey people and for those who make fun of it – check this out. If you've ever lived in Jersey or loved someone who has…you'll appreciate this! If you live somewhere else, you might find it interesting.
New Jersey is a peninsula.
Highlands, New Jersey has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.
New Jersey is the only state where all of its counties are classified as metropolitan areas.
New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky.
New Jersey has more Cubans in Union City (1 sq mi.) than Havana, Cuba.
New Jersey has the densest system of highways and railroads in the US.
New Jersey has the highest cost of living.
New Jersey has the highest cost of auto insurance.
New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.
New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the "Diner Capital of the World."
New Jersey is home to the original Mystery Pork Parts Club (no, not Spam): Taylor Ham or Pork Roll.
Home to the less mysterious but the best Italian hot dogs and Italian sausage w/peppers and onions.
North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major ! shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius.
New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.
The Passaic River was the site of the first submarine ride by inventor John P. Holland.
New Jersey has 50+ resort cities & towns; some of the nation's most famous: Asbury Park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Cape May.
New Jersey has the most stringent testing along our coastline for water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire country.
New Jersey is a leading technology & industrial state and is the largest chemical producing state in the nation when you include pharmaceuticals.
Jersey tomatoes are known the world over as being the best you can buy.
New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production (and here you thought Massachusetts?)
Here's to New Jersey – the toast of the country! In 1642, the first brewery in America, opened in Hoboken.
New Jersey rocks! The famous Les Paul invented the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah, in 1940.
New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport in the US, located in Elizabeth. Nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through Elizabeth Seaport first.
New Jersey is home to one of the nation's busiest airports (in Newark), Liberty International.
George Washington slept here. Several important Revolutionary War battles were fought on New Jersey soil, led by General George Washington.
The light bulb, phonograph (record player), and motion picture projector, were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park, NJ, laboratory.
We also boast the first town ever lit by incandescent bulbs.
The first seaplane was built in Keyport, NJ.
The first airmail (to Chicago) was started from Keyport, NJ.
The first phonograph records were made in Camden, NJ.
The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named the streets on its playing board after the actual streets in Atlantic City.
And, Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world,
Not to mention salt water taffy,
New Jersey has the largest petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East countries.
The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey, in the Watchung Mountains.
New Jersey has the tallest water-tower in the world. (Union, NJ!!!)
New Jersey had the first medical center, in Jersey City.
The Pulaski SkyWay, from Jersey City to Newark, was the first skyway highway.
NJ built the first tunnel under a river, the Hudson (Holland Tunnel).
The first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ, which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.
The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1889
(Rutgers College played Princeton).
The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden, NJ, (but they're all gone now!). One was just rebuilt in Vineland, NJ it has been in operation for the past 2 years
New Jersey is home to both of "NEW YORK'S" pro football teams!
The first radio station and broadcast was in Paterson, NJ.
The first FM radio broadcast was made from Alpine, NJ, by Maj. Thomas Armstrong.
All New Jersey natives: Sal Martorano, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifah, Susan Sarandon, Connie Francis, Shaq, Judy Blume, Aaron Burr, Joan Robertson, Ken Kross, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Budd Abbott, Lou Costello, Alan Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Marilynn McCoo, Flip Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, Whitney Houston, Eddie Money, Linda McElroy, Eileen Donnelly, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Walt Whitman, Jerry Lewis, Tom Cruise, Joyce Kilmer, Bruce Willis, Caesar Romero, Lauryn Hill, Ice-T, Nick Adams, Nathan Lane, Sandra Dee, Danny DeVito, Richard Conti, Joe Pesci, Joe Piscopo, Robert Blake, John Forsythe, Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, Norman Lloyd, Paul Simon, Jerry Herman, Gorden McCrae, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Phyllis Newman, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Eva Marie Saint, Elisabeth Shue, Zebulon Pike, James Fennimore Cooper, Admiral Wm.Halsey,Jr., Dave Thomas (Wendy's), William Carlos Williams, Ray Liotta, Robert Wuhl, Bob Reyers, Paul Robeson, Ernie Kovacs, Joseph Macchia, "Uncle Floyd," Kelly Ripa, and, of course, Francis Albert Sinatra.
You know you're from Jersey when …
You don't think of fruit when people mention "The Oranges."
You know that it's called Great Adventure, not Six Flags.
A good, quick breakfast is a hard roll with butter.
You've known the way to Seaside Heights since you were seven.
You've eaten at a diner, when you were stoned, or drunk, at 3 A.M.
You know that the state isn't one big oil refinery.
At least three people in your family still love Bruce Springsteen, and you know the town Jon Bon Jovi is from.
You know that the state isn't all farmland.
You know that there are no "beaches" in New Jersey–there's the shore–and you don't go "to the shore," you go "down the shore." And when you are there, you're not "at the shore"; you are "down the shore."
You know how to properly negotiate a circle.
You knew that the last sentence had to do with driving.
You know that this is the only "New" state that doesn't require "New" to identify it (try . . . Mexico . . York… Hampshire — just "Jersey")
You know that a "White Castle" is the name of BOTH a fast food chain AND a fast food sandwich.
You consider putting mayo on a corned beef sandwich a sacrilege
You don't think "What exit?" is very funny.
You would never think to go to Wildwood, Seaside Heights, or LBI in the off season.
You have walked the "walk of shame" in Belmar.
You remember your high school prom, but nothing after it from Wildwood or Seaside Heights.
You know that South Jersey doesn't count as part of New Jersey.
You know that people from South Jersey speak different.
You consider Point Pleasant/Belmar to be the Mason-Dixon Line between North Jersey to the dreaded South Jersey.
You know that people from the 609 area code are "a little different."
Yes they are!
You know that no respectable New Jerseyan goes to Princeton–that's for out-of-staters.
The Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school or local bars.
You live within 20 minutes of at least three different malls.
You refer to all highways and interstates by their numbers.
Every year you have at least one kid in your class named Tony.
You know the location of every clip shown in the Sopranos opening credits.
You've gotten on the wrong highway trying to get out of the mall.
You know that people from North Jersey go to Seaside Heights, and people from Central Jersey go to Belmar, and people from South Jersey go to Wildwood. It can be no other way.
You weren't raised in New Jersey–you were raised in either North Jersey, Central Jersey or South Jersey.
You don't consider Newark or Camden to actually be part of the state.
You remember the stores Korvette's, Two Guys, Rickel's, Channel, Bamberger's and Orbach's.
You also remember Palisades Amusement Park.
You've had a boardwalk cheese steak and vinegar fries.
You start planning for Memorial Day weekend in February.
And finally ..
You've NEVER, NEVER pumped your own gas.


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Johnson City, Tenn. -- East Tennessee States Jessica Hodge and Tiffany Vandergriff were named the Southern Conference Softball Player and Pitcher of the Week Monday for games played March 27-April 1.
Jessica recorded eight hits in 10 at bats, leading the Buccaneers to a 3-1 record and two conference wins. The junior leftfielder from Morristown, Tenn. was perfect from the plate in three of her four games last week.
In the first game of a doubleheader against Radford, Hodge went 4-for-4 with one run scored. In the first game of Saturday's doubleheader with Georgia Southern, Hodge went 1-1 with two runs scored. In game two against the Eagles, Jessica was the star at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two RBIs and one run scored. Hodge was a major factor in all of the Buccaneer scoring in the 3-2 win. She scored the first run on a Judith St. Clair double in the fourth, and she tripled in the tying and winning runs in the fifth.
For the season, Hodge is second on the Buccaneers in batting, hitting .297 with 19 hits in 64 at-bats. She has seven RBIs, 21 total bases and three stolen bases.
A freshman from Sale Creek, Tenn., Vandergriff picked up all three victories for the Bucs last week, including two shutouts. On Tuesday against Radford, Vandergriff pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits and striking out four while walking none. On Saturday against SoCon rival Georgia Southern, Vandergriff was sparkling, pitching complete games in both ends of a doubleheader. In game one, Vandergriff pitched another complete-game two hitter, striking out five while walking none. In game two against the Eagles, Vandergriff turned in another stellar performance, allowing two runs while scattering ten hits, striking out six.
Vandergriff has won her last five decisions and has gotten the decision in the last five ETSU victories.
For the week, Vandergriff went 3-0 in four appearances (three starts), with three complete games, 24 innings pitched, 21 hits allowed, five earned runs allowed, 18 strikeouts against just two walks and a 1.88 ERA.
In her three starts, Vandergriff was dominant, with an 0.95 ERA, allowing just two runs and striking out 15 while allowing just one walk. She pitched three complete games, including two two-hitters. Vandergriff was also impressive at the plate, with a .462 batting average with six hits in 13 at bats.
For the season, Vandergriff is 7-7 with a 4.24 ERA, 12 complete games, three shutouts and 55 strikeouts in 99.2 innings pitched. Tiffany also leads the Buccaneers with a .325 batting average and a .388 on base percentage.


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Locker Room Policy
In addition to the development of our hockey players and enjoyment of the sport of hockey, the safety and protection of our participants is central to Charlestown Youth Hockey (CYHA) goals. CYHA adheres to USA Hockey's SafeSport Program as a means to help protect its participants from physical abuse, sexual abuse and other types of misconduct, including emotional abuse, bullying, threats, harassment and hazing. To help prevent abuse or misconduct from occurring in our locker rooms, CYHA has adopted the following locker room policy. This policy is designed to maintain personal privacy as well as to reduce the risk of misconduct in locker rooms.
At the Emmons Horrigan O'Neil rink there are Ample locker rooms available for our program's use. Each of the locker rooms shares a restroom and shower area with one or more locker rooms. Some teams in our program may also occasionally or regularly travel to play games at other arenas, and those locker rooms, rest rooms and shower facilities will vary from location to location. CYHA's team organizers/coaches will attempt to provide information on the locker room facilities in advance of games away from our home arena. At arenas for which you are unfamiliar, parents should plan to have extra time and some flexibility in making arrangements for their child to dress, undress and shower if desired.
Cell Phones and Other Mobile Recording Devices
Cell phones and other mobile devices with recording capabilities, including voice recording, still cameras and video cameras, are not permitted to be used in the locker rooms. If phones or other mobile devices must be used, they should be taken outside of the locker room.
Locker Room Monitoring
CYHA has predictable and limited use of locker rooms and changing areas 45 minutes before and 20 minutes following practices and games. This allows for direct and regular monitoring of locker room areas. While constant monitoring inside of locker rooms and changing areas might be the most effective way to prevent problems, we understand that this would likely make some players uncomfortable and may even place our staff at risk for unwarranted suspicion.
We conduct a sweep of the locker rooms and changing areas before players arrive, and if the coaches are not inside the locker rooms, either a coach or voluntary locker room monitors (each of which has been screened) will be posted directly outside of the locker rooms and changing areas during periods of use, and leave the doors open only when adequate privacy is still possible, so that only participants (coaches and players), approved team personnel and family members are permitted in the locker room. Team personnel will also secure the locker room appropriately during times when the team is on the ice.
Parents in Locker Rooms
Except for players at the younger age groups Learn to Skate/Play Hockey & Mites, we discourage parents from entering locker rooms unless it is truly necessary. If a player needs assistance with his or her uniform or gear, if the player is or may be injured, or a player's disability warrants assistance, then we ask that parents let the coach know beforehand that he or she will be helping the player.
Naturally, with our youngest age groups it is necessary for parents to assist the players getting dressed. We encourage parents to teach their players as young as possible how to get dressed so that players will learn as early as possible how to get dressed independently. In circumstances where parents are permitted in the locker room, coaches are permitted to ask that the parents leave for a short time before the game and for a short time after the game so that the coaches may address the players. As players get older, the coach may in his or her discretion prohibit parents from a locker room.
Mixed Gender Teams
Some of our teams consist of both male and female players. It is important that the privacy rights of all of our players are given consideration and appropriate arrangements made. Where possible, CYHA will have the male and female players dress/undress in separate locker rooms and then convene in a single locker room before the game or team meeting. Once the game or practice is finished, the players may come to one locker room for a team meeting and then the male and female players proceed to their separate locker rooms to undress and shower, if available. If separate locker rooms are not available, then the players will take turns using the locker room to change. We understand that these arrangements may require that players arrive earlier or leave later to dress, but believe that this is the most reasonable way to accommodate and respect all of our players.
Prohibited Conduct and Reporting
CYHA prohibits all types of physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, bullying, threats, harassment and hazing, all as described in the USA Hockey SafeSport Handbook. Participants, employees or volunteers in CYHA may be subject to disciplinary action for violation of these locker room policies or for engaging in any misconduct or abuse or that violates the USA Hockey SafeSport Policies.
Reports of any actual or suspected violations, you may email USA Hockey at email@example.com or may call 1-800-888-4656.


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Home Page Chess Life Online 2009 April Adventures of a Samford: Perfect in Toronto
|Adventures of a Samford: Perfect in Toronto
|By GM Josh Friedel
|April 22, 2009
"Samford Report." Don't worry though, I decided to spare you and only write a little bit. I recently played in a couple events, the Foxwoods and Toronto Opens. At Foxwoods I scored a solid 6.5/9, but I'm going to focus on Toronto for this report. I actually had no intention of playing in it, and in fact didn't even know about it until less than a month ago. A friend of mine wanted to play in it, and it seemed like it had a prize fund sufficient to attract some strong players. Couple that with the fact that I was offered a free room, and the fact I was on my way back to California from the east coast anyway, I decided to play. I'd only played in Canada once, and while I didn't play fantastically, the organizers were very hospitable and I had a great time. Toronto turned out to be quite similar.
That's right. You have to endure another
I not only got a free room, but a huge suite. On the first night the main organizer, Brian Fiedler, sent up a bottle of wine. I mean wow, where else do GMs get this kind of treatment? Granted I haven't been a GM very long, but it was easily the best experience I've had thus far. As it turned out, this translated into an excellent result. I scored 5/5, which amusingly was enough to only tie for first with GM Sambuev. I'd suspect they got more people than anticipated, and therefore didn't have enough rounds. Despite this, I had mixed feelings about my play. I suppose this is always true, and it certainly wasn't a disappointing result by any means, but it could have another way. I barely won my first game, beat GM Eugene Perelshteyn on time in round four (though granted, I was probably winning or close at that point), and almost let my last round opponent escape. Still, I managed to pull out all my games, which is never easy. I was never in serious danger of losing, which is a nice feeling to have as well. My last round game, while certainly not perfect, was probably my favorite of the tournament.
I got a pleasant edge from the opening as Black, and a significant time advantage. I sacked a couple pawns for the two bishops. While I think the sac was correct, I misplayed it a bit, and the position became fairly unclear. I was able to pressure my way to a win though, partly because my opponent was low on time.
So, next is the most important event on my calendar, the US Championship. This year, due to the increased prize fund, all the big boys are playing. While I don't expect the same percentage I got in Toronto, I'm hoping to at least make a reasonable showing, maybe even bring out the form I managed at last year's event. Of course I can't reveal all my prep, but I'm definitely going to analyze my recent games in detail to see where I'm lacking. I'll brush up on openings as well, do the usual tactics drills, and basically all the normal stuff as well. While traveling, I find it is difficult to stay on an exercise routine as well, so I'll be trying to get back on one now that I'm back in California. This will include tennis and swimming for sure if this heat wave keeps up. I'll try to be ready both mentally and physically for the event, hoping to avoid the first round curse which was plaguing me earlier, but which I managed to avoid in both Foxwoods and Canada. If all of this fails, I'll just show up in Saint Louis in one piece and hope all goes well.
Check out a video from Toronto by Zekjka of Monroi below.
Find more photos and games from Toronto on Monroi.com. The tournament's main sponsor was PriceWaterhouseCooper and was organized by Brian Fiedler. For a longer piece from Josh, check out his recent report on Capelle Le Grande.


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Organic Cotton Straight Leg Pant - Headland Green
- straight leg
- 100% organic cotton
- heavier weight, high-grade fabric
- extra strong stitching
- extra strong YKK zip
- 3 point waistband closure
- Headland Green colour.
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Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight released from hospital
According to MetroHealth, Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight have been released from the hospital.
Cleveland Police confirm that the three women were located in a house on Seymour Avenue Monday afternoon. All three appeared to be in good health.
Three brothers connected to the disappearances of Berry, DeJesus and Knight have been arrested. The men, ages 50, 52, and 54, are expected to be charged within the next 36 hours.
"I can't wait to talk to her, I can't wait to hold her, to see her," said Gale Mitchell, Amanda's aunt.
According to police a woman claiming to be Amanda Berry called 911 Monday. She said she was kidnapped 10 years ago and said she is currently at a home at 2210 Seymour.
She also told the dispatcher that Gina DeJesus was with her.
A third missing woman, 32-year old Michelle Knight, was in the home with Berry and DeJesus. It's believed Knight disappeared in 2002.
One witness says he saw Amanda Berry come running out of the house kicking and screaming "Help me!" She was carrying a baby in her arms.
Amanda was one day shy of her 17th birthday when she went missing on her way home to her birthday party. She disappeared on April 21, 2003 after leaving her job at Burger King at West 110th Street and Lorain Avenue.
Amanda's mother, Louwana, died at age 43 in March of 2006 after years of searching for her daughter. Many say Louwana died of a broken heart.
In July 2012, the FBI received a tip that Amanda's body was buried in an area at West 30th between Wade and Seymour -- right around the corner from where they were found Monday. A backhoe was used to dig about six feet down, searching for anything that could be linked to Amanda.
Reporter Ed Gallek learned prison inmate Robert Wolford, who was convicted of murdering a homeless man, wrote letters to law enforcement telling them he knows where Amanda's body is.
Wolford was driven up from Lucasville and showed officers where they could find Amanda's body. He passed a polygraph during the investigation before the search for Amanda's remains began.
Of course, officials didn't find anything, but were glad they checked the tip out.
Cleveland Police arrested 52-year-old Ariel Castro at the house where the three women were found Monday. He is a Cleveland City Schools bus driver.
Gale Mitchell said she never gave up hope and that she felt Amanda was alive.
"You never give up. You just pray and pray and pray," said Gale. "It's crazy. I always knew that Amanda was a strong-willed person and eventually I knew she would get out of there. I just knew it. I just wondered 'Why not sooner?'"
Nancy Ruiz, Gina DeJesus' mom told 19 Action News reporter Lydia Esparra that they are going to take a least 24 hours to connect with their daughter. After that they will talk to the media Tuesday.
Gina DeJesus disappeared in 2004 at the age of 14. She was walking home from school when she vanished. At the time of her disappearance family members believed she was taken by human traffickers.
Copyright 2013 WOIO. All rights reserved.


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Career Resources
Start with tips on surviving rotations, your first job search, interviewing, and more. Check out exclusive resources on topics like contract negotiations, career transitions, state laws, and reimbursement. From checklists to guides and videos, it's all designed to help you succeed.
Watch our video below to see all that's in store for you.
Student Loan Repayment During Uncertain Times
In these uncertain times, you may be wondering what options PAs have for paying back their student loans after graduation.
FirstHealth Center for Provider Well-being Serves Providers and Families
Center Offers a Wealth of Resources to Address Provider Burnout. By Susan D. Kopynec, PA-C Emeritus, DFAAPA.
PAs in Oncology Report Burnout and High Satisfaction
Compassion Fatigue Contributes to Emotional Tolls. By Eric Tetzlaff, MHS, PA-C, DFAAPA.
Joint Task Force on Burnout: Well-Being Fact Sheet
Well-being and resiliency are very important for clinicians. Learn why and then find out how to encourage well-being and resiliency in a healthcare setting, from the system level to individuals.
Joint Task Force on Burnout: Moral Distress Fact Sheet
Educate yourself on these conditions and what causes them. Explore scenarios where moral distress might occur, review possible consequences, and then learn solutions that healthcare systems and professionals can implement.
Joint Task Force on Burnout: Burnout Fact Sheet
Learn the definition of burnout and explore its causes. This fact sheet also outlines ways to reduce burnout at the system, team, and individual provider levels.
Blueprint for Addressing Physician Assistant Well-being and Burnout
The goal of the Blueprint for Addressing PA Well-Being and Burnout is to provide a brief overview of what is currently known about PA burnout and well-being, and more importantly, provide an enduring framework for increasing PA engagement at work and improving the well-being of the profession.
What I Wish I Would Have Known: Surviving the Transition From PA-S to PA-C
In this one-hour webinar, learn what it takes to get into PA school and how to make yourself a more competitive applicant.


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Please tell me, where is Israel headed?
By John J. Mearsheimer Benjamin Netanyahu is in the final stages of putting together Israel's next government, which will be opposed to a two-state solution. Most importantly, the new prime minister and his Likud Party are firmly against a Palestinian state. The Labor Party, which will be part of the governing coalition and which has ...
By John J. Mearsheimer
Benjamin Netanyahu is in the final stages of putting together Israel's next government, which will be opposed to a two-state solution. Most importantly, the new prime minister and his Likud Party are firmly against a Palestinian state. The Labor Party, which will be part of the governing coalition and which has been identified with the two-state solution for the past two decades, did not insist that Likud support that policy as a condition for joining the government. Its leader, Ehud Barak, merely asked for and got a vague statement saying that Israel was committed to promoting regional peace. Avigdor Lieberman, who heads Yisrael Beiteinu, the other major party in the ruling coalition, is not likely to push to give the Palestinians a viable state of their own. His main concern is "transferring" the Palestinians out of Israel so that it can be an almost purely Jewish state.
So Israel will continue expanding its settlements in the West Bank. In fact, the Israeli press is reporting that Netanyahu and Lieberman agreed in their negotiations to form a government that Israel would build 3,000 housing units in an area between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim (a huge settlement bloc) known as E-1. Once that is accomplished, Israel will have effectively cut the West Bank in half, making it almost impossible to create a viable Palestinian state. This deal was supposed to be secret, because the United States is opposed to Israel building in the E-1 area.
The Palestinians, of course, will remain locked up in Gaza and a handful of enclaves on the West Bank. In essence, Netanyahu and his two key ministers — Ehud Barak (Defense) and Avigdor Lieberman (Foreign Affairs) — are committed to creating a Greater Israel, which will cover all of the territory that was once Mandate Palestine.
The Obama administration will surely try to push Netanyahu to change his thinking about a two-state solution and work to give the Palestinians a real state of their own. The Israel lobby, however, will adamantly defend Israel's right to do whatever it wants in the Occupied Territories and make it impossible for the president to put significant pressure on Israel. Netanyahu, like all Israeli leaders, understands this basic fact of life. He knows that he will just have to say a few nice words about the "peace process" and blame the whole thing on the Palestinians, who he believes are a bunch of terrorists anyway, and he will be pretty much free to do whatever he wants in Gaza and the West Bank.
It seems clear to me and to many smart people I know that this story does not have a happy ending. Indeed, it looks like a disastrous ending. Greater Israel cannot be a democratic state, because there will soon be — if there aren't already — more Palestinians between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea than there are Israeli Jews. So, if you give each person one vote, Israel becomes Palestine. That is not going to happen anytime soon, if ever, which leaves two possible outcomes: apartheid and expelling the Palestinians — and there are more than 5 million of them — from Greater Israel. Talk about repulsive options. It is worth remembering that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said that if there is no two-state solution, Israel will end up in a South Africa-like situation and that will mean the end of the Jewish state. In effect, he is saying that Israel is turning itself into an apartheid state.
My bottom line is that Israel, with the backing of the lobby, is pursuing a remarkably foolish — Ehud Olmert would say suicidal — policy towards the Palestinians.
I would appreciate it greatly if Israel's American backers would explain what I am missing here. They must think that there is a happy ending to this story that Olmert and I simply fail to see. Otherwise they would not be backing the Greater Israel enterprise. There is no need for Christian Zionists to respond, because I know what their happy ending is: the Battle of Armageddon and then the Second Coming of Christ. Israel's Jewish backers do not buy this story, which, in fact, many consider anti-Semitic. But they must have an alternative explanation for how Greater Israel is good for the Jews. What is it?
Uriel Sinai/Getty Images
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Stephen Colbert on the campaign trail.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Is Stephen Colbert a comedian, political candidate or professor of campaign finance law?
At times, the answer is all three.
Colbert has spent the better part of a year using his show on Comedy Central to take viewers on a tour of the opaque world of campaign finance law.
In June, Colbert created his own political action committee, a super PAC called Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow.
In order to do that, Colbert had to petition the Federal Election Commission for an exemption that would keep him from running afoul of disclosure rules that Viacom, the parent company of Comedy Central, hoped to avoid.
The FEC -- yes, the real body -- ruled five to one in Colbert's favor. (Where the money is: A campaign spending primer)
"There will be others who say 'Stephen Colbert, what will you do with that unrestricted super PAC money?' " Colbert told a crowd outside the hearing. "To which I say, I don't know. Give it to me and let's find out."
Armed with the ability to accept unlimited sums of money from corporations, unions, associations and individuals, Colbert's super PAC set about doing pretty much what other super PACs do: spending unlimited sums to overtly advocate for or against political candidates.
Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow ran ads in advance of the Iowa straw poll touting the candidacy of "Rick Parry."
The super PAC has targeted other candidates along the way. And the super PACs supporting those candidates have been busy as well.
Super PACs have spent $35.4 million on the 2012 presidential race, according to federal campaign disclosures, including $11.4 million on last Saturday's South Carolina Republican primary and $6.4 million on next week's contest in Florida.
As Colbert navigates the world of campaign finance, he has been accompanied by Trevor Potter, a former FEC commissioner and chairman who also served as John McCain's general counsel.
The affable lawyer plays the straight man to Colbert's over-the-top character, laying out campaign finance law in plain language as Colbert salivates over the possibilities.
In one episode, Colbert enlists Potter to create a tax-exempt 501(c)(4) so that he can obtain secret donations in a "completely transparent" way.
"Can I take this (c)(4) money and donate it to my super PAC?" Colbert asked after signing paperwork that registered the shell corporation in Delaware.
"You can," Potter said. The camera then cuts to Colbert, whose face displayed a look of total shock. "Wait," Colbert said. "What is the difference between that and money laundering?"
Advocates of campaign finance reform describe moments like that as invaluable.
"I think it's enabled a different kind of conversation at a whole new level," said Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, a group founded by Potter. "It's a whole new medium for explaining how ridiculous this system is."
Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School, said the attention Colbert is paying to the issue is, overall, a good thing.
"He is performing a public service by bringing this issue to a wider audience," Briffault said. "At the same time, it's a pretty serious matter. It's not a joke."
Briffault said that Colbert's step out from the shadows of satirical critique and into the actual process could be problematic. After all, Briffault said, it's easy to imagine a prominent media figure running for office.
"This has made a lot of people very nervous," said McGehee. "But we've been talking about these issues for so many years and have failed to engage the broader audience."
The show's writers show no signs of fatigue. (International campaign finance: How do countries compare?)
In a development that required some legal gymnastics, Colbert passed control of his super PAC to colleague Jon Stewart after deciding to form an exploratory committee, a stepping stone to a presidential run.
Stewart renamed the super PAC the "Definitely Not Coordinating With Stephen Colbert Super PAC."
The maneuver now allows the show to poke fun at regulations that prohibit "coordination" between super PACs and the candidates they support.
Colbert hit the trail in South Carolina, while Stewart and the super PAC ran ads that referred to Mitt Romney as "Mitt the ripper."
"If Mitt Romney really believes corporations are people," the ad said, "then Mitt Romney is a serial killer."
In an interview on ABC, Colbert disavowed any prior knowledge of the ad, despite the involvement of his friend and business partner.
"I had nothing to do with that ad. I have no control over that ad," Colbert said. "I am not calling anybody a serial killer. I can't tell Americans for a Better Tomorrow, Tomorrow what to do. It's not my super PAC."
Both Briffault and McGehee wouldn't hazard a guess when asked which part of campaign finance law Colbert might tackle next, but both said his brand of humor was drawing in an audience that might otherwise not care.
"It's really hard to get people to focus on these issues," McGehee said. "A lot of times you just get dismissed as those goo-goos."
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I beach dive a mile from shore with a DPV and no surface support- Solo. So, basically the Nautilus rescue beacon and my Garmin inReach mini are just there as "two is one and one is none. Not sure what three is. But now I do have three ways for coms due to this damn fine bag.
light & stiff was the reason for my choice. Precise positioning is possible with this fin. Power, the other reason for my choice, is yet to be tested against stronger currency as blades are small. To an instructor, this fin is better than quattro as you can back and helicopter kick better. Requires slightly different kicking as well compared with quattro.
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Trailer Thursday: Men of Iron and Ice. No George R.R. Martin required.
Welcome to Trailer Thursday, where we help you decide what to do with your Friday night. Here's what's coming out tomorrow.
Iron Man 3
Tony Stark is back. And unfortunately, so is Pepper Potts. But there's also Ben Kingsley! Kingsley plays a new nemesis named The Mandarin, and he hits Tony where it really hurts—in his personal life.
See it if:
- You're not immune to the charms of Robert Downey, Jr. And come on... is anyone immune to the charms of RDJ??
- You're ready for the first big "summer" blockbuster.
- You're interested to see where director Shane Black goes with the franchise. Jon Favreau, director of the previous two films, is still involved: He plays Happy Hogan, Stark Industries' head of security.
What Maisie Knew
Parents divorce—one of them happens to be a rock star—and their only child, Maisie, is caught in the middle of it.
See it if:
- You enjoy that certain breed of adorable children who also happen to be wise beyond their years.
- You want to get your heart broken this weekend. It definitely looks like a tearjearker.
- You're intrigued to see how Julianne Moore pulls off being a Joan Jett type.
The Iceman
The true story of contract killer Richard Kuklinski, who led such a double life that his wife and children were totally astonished when he was arrested in the '80s.
See it if:
- You're a sucker for "based on a true story" movies. If they had been truly casting according to appearance, Kyle Gass would have been a better choice, by the way.
- You love a good retro mustache as much as anyone.
- You've been wondering what David Schwimmer has been up to.
- That Michael Shannon. He's so hot right now.
Love is All You Need
A limited-release film, Love is All You Need is about a hairdresser who returned home from a successful battle against breast cancer to find out her husband is cheating on her. Immediately afterward, on her way to Italy for her daughter's wedding, she has a chance encounter with the groom's father, who is a jerk.
See it if:
- You've been missing Pierce Brosnan. (Admit it. You have been.)
- You're in a romantic comedy kind of a mood. I'm not a rom-com type of girl, typically, but dare I say this looks rather charming?


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Contemporary Artists
Luke Elwes is a painter whose journeys have exposed him to the culture, beliefs and landscapes of others, and have acted as a catalyst for his own line of enquiry into the nature of our relationship to the world. This exploration can be traced back to his childhood in Persia and to his first significant encounter with the desert at the start of the 1990s.
Cloud River
Oil on canvas
174 x 153 cm


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Sprague – Near the gate of a doomed paper mill, Republican Tom Foley alighted from the back seat of a blue BMW sedan Tuesday to assail the economic policies of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, only to find himself in a raucous street debate with the local first selectwoman and soon-to-be jobless workers.
Foley, a candidate for governor, came to fault Malloy for the recently announced plans by a global investment firm to close Fusion Paperboard, costing 140 jobs in this struggling mill town. By the time he left, Foley had defended the decision of the absentee owners and told the selectwoman and workers they shared blame for the mill's demise.
"You want to blame people who are hundreds or thousands of miles away, malign management," Foley told the workers and First Selectwoman Cathy Osten, a Democratic state senator and Malloy supporter. "Listen, you have failed, because you have lost these jobs."
That incensed Mike D'Auria, a Fusion manager who is trying to assemble a group that can buy a portion of the mill.
"These guys worked their butts off. Every single day, I watched them work, work, work. Me, too. Her, too," D'Auria said, his voice rising. "Everyone who is being affected by this worked our asses off to get this right. We did not cause this, as she did not. The market drove this business into this position."
It was hardly the exchange planned by Foley, a Greenwich investor whose previous run for governor was hampered by allegations during the 2010 Republican primary and general election that he had bled cash from a failing Georgia textile manufacturer, the Bibb Co.
As Foley argued with Osten and several workers, the scene was recorded by reporters and staff members of the campaigns of John P. McKinney, who is competing with Foley for the GOP nomination, and Malloy, the first-term Democratic incumbent.
Mark Bergman, the spokesman for the Malloy campaign, had come to defend the governor. But when the news conference finally ended, Bergman just smiled, shook his head and told reporters he had nothing to add. Democrats later posted an unedited video of the entire event on YouTube.
Osten and the workers had drawn the parallels to the Bibb Co. that Bergman was prepared to make with a six-page paper about Foley's management of the textile company.
Fusion is owned by OpenGate Capital, a private investment firm with offices in New York, Los Angeles and Paris. The Bibb was owned by NTC, an investment firm Foley founded in 1985 after leaving Citi Group. Bibb eventually was forced into bankruptcy, and Foley left as chief executive. It later closed.
"You're a businessman," said Rich Harrelle, a 29-year employee of the mill and president of United Steel Workers Local 1840, which represents the Fusion employees.
"That's right," Foley said.
"You close mills down," Harrelle said.
"Yeah," Foley said.
"Have you ever made a decision…"
Foley interrupted to correct himself and Harrelle.
"I have never closed a mill down, sir. I didn't close the Bibb mill. A subsequent owner closed it. So, please get your facts right," Foley said.
"I want you to get your facts right," Harrelle replied. "Because when you come here, I can tell you about 140 lives that just went down the tubes."
"That's a shame, and it's policy driven," Foley told him. "It's a result of the policies of this governor and maybe the first selectwoman."
Foley remained composed, even as the exchanges grew sharper. He stood, hands folded in front of him, his blue suit jacket buttoned, throughout the event.
Standing in front of a Fusion sign, Foley insisted that the mill was closing due to a poor business environment that he says is the result of Malloy's first-year tax increase of $1.5 billion and other anti-business policy decisions.
"We simply need a smarter set of policies to support businesses," Foley said, "and arrest this exodus of jobs."
"As governor I'll be able to do that," Foley said. "I have a business background. I spent 35 years in the business community, and so I understand what employers need and want to hear from a leader to be willing to invest and remain in a state like Connecticut. I know I can do that. We simply need smarter policies."
Foley did not answer directly when asked if a Foley administration would have extended Fusion economic assistance, as did the Malloy administration. The state gave the company a $2 million loan in September 2013, which was partly forgivable if employment increased the mill remained open for 10 years. The state was prepared to offer another $1 million in assistance.
Andrew Doba, a spokesman for the administration, said the company now must repay the loan and pay a financial penalty of 7.5 percent on the outstanding balance of $1.8 million.
"Listen some incentives and some credit support programs work," Foley said, without saying if he would have approved a similar loan.
At that point, four minutes into what turned out to be a 30-minute press conference, Osten interrupted.
"Are you a member of the press?" he asked.
"I am the first selectman," she replied.
"OK, you're not interviewing me. Are there any questions from the press?" Foley asked.
But she persisted, and Foley soon was drawn into a debate with Osten, then with several Fusion employees.
"This may be your press conference, but eastern Connecticut is extremely important to me," Osten said.
"OK, well, fine," Foley said.
"We have all worked hard here," Osten told Foley.
"OK, but why have you lost them, ma'am?" Foley asked. "Why have you not succeeded in this endeavor?"
Osten told him the company is closing because OpenGate is selling assets to a competitor, similar to the practices she says helped lead to the demise of the Bibb Co. Foley's replies then grew sharper, and he started to focus on Osten.
"You have failed at your effort to keep jobs here, haven't you? You've failed. And Gov. Malloy has failed along with you. And you've wasted taxpayer money," Foley said.
Osten said the state is collecting its debt. She told Foley he has offered no indication how he would have kept Fusion open. At times, she and Foley spoke over each other.
"Ma'am, you've failed," Foley repeated. "How can you stand here in front the of the TV cameras when you've failed? You've lost 140 jobs."
Harrelle stepped forward, and Foley asked him, "Are you upset you lost your job?"
"Am I upset?" Harrelle repeated, seeming puzzled. "Yeah. One hundred forty people have lost their jobs, OK. We went through six years of concessions to keep this place running."
Harrelle said the union signed a six-year contract in March, accepting a two-year wage freeze. With the new contract and the state's assistance, Harrelle said he thought Fusion had stabilized.
Foley told Osten and the workers they did not understand business. To Osten, he said if OpenGate has sold off assets, it was out of necessity.
"You apparently don't have the business experience to understand," Foley said. "People don't close perfectly good businesses."
In response to a reporter's question — the press managed to ask a few questions — Foley said he was unaware of any company that would sell off assets of a profitable company to cash in on an investment.
"It's a fundamental axiom of business. If the equipment is worth more than what they are earning on the equipment and the labor, it's a failing operation," Foley said. "And the first selectwoman here and Gov. Malloy have helped drive this business out of Connecticut."
D'Auria told him market forces were responsible, not Malloy.
Fusion specializes in food packaging, and the industry is using more plastic and less paperboard.
"If you understood the paper industry, plastic is overtaking cardboard. Day by day by day, the industry changes," D'Auria said. "I'm just telling you that."
OpenGate, whose other extensive holdings include TV Guide, did not respond to a request for comment on what led the company to sell its paperboard manufacturing machine, which the union says was one of only two in the world.
On its web site, OpenGate says its "investment strategy is focused on lower-middle market, cross-border, corporate divestitures and carve-outs" and that one characteristic of its acquisitions is a "motivated seller." It purchased Fusion in 2011 from Cascade, a publicly traded Canadian company. At the time, the company says it saw opportunities for growth in the paper boxboard business.
Foley was asked by a reporter if every business failure was a failure of the Malloy administration.
He said it was not. Some industries "mature" and no longer can compete, such as textiles.
Foley acknowledged he had done no close analysis of Fusion, other than reading what had been published in the press.
"The plant's closing. One hundred and forty jobs are leaving the community. What more do I need to know to come here and talk about it and talk about the failure of Gov. Malloy's policies?" Foley said. "That's all I need."


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Someone asked me the other day whether I had political aspirations. I answered that I don't, at least not for a long time — but I did say that I'll do whatever I can to ensure that Barack Obama is elected president as soon as possible.
Today, in a diary post over at Daily Kos, he responds (and I have it on good authority it was all written by him) to recent criticism of a number of Democrats by various advocacy groups on the left. And it just reinforces my belief that he would be a spectacular leader running our country. While 2008 may not be the right time for him, I think the country would be well served with him at the helm. I'm not excerpting anything from the post — take a few minutes out and read the whole thing.
And while we're on the subject, yes, I'm quite proud of this. 🙂


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Alderman Sells 2.55 Acres in Fairview Township
Etters, PA – The 2.55-acre tract, located at 609-615 Wyndamere Road in Etters has been sold. The land was purchased by a local investor. The transaction was handled by Daniel J. Alderman, of NAI CIR.
About NAI CIR
NAI CIR, based in Lemoyne, is Central Pennsylvania's oldest and largest exclusively commercial industrial real estate full-service brokerage firm. Founded in 1970, the firm is consistently ranked as the top producing commercial industrial sales and leasing firm by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal and by Real Capital Analytics. The firm has been honored as a Philadelphia Region CoStar Power Broker for 23 consecutive years.
NAI CIR is the Central Pennsylvania representative of NAI Global, an international organization of real estate professionals with connections literally all across the world. Our transaction and management professionals are among the most experienced and successful in the business, and our platform ensures that our expertise directly benefits our clients.
About NAI Global
NAI Global is a leading global commercial real estate brokerage firm. NAI Global offices are leaders in their local markets and work in unison to provide clients with exceptional solutions to their commercial real estate needs. NAI Global has more than 400 offices strategically located throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific, with over 7,000 local market professionals, managing in excess of over 425 million square feet of property. Annually, NAI Global completes in excess of $20 billion in commercial real estate transactions throughout the world.
NAI Global provides a complete range of corporate and institutional real estate services, including brokerage and leasing, property and facilities management, real estate investment and capital market services, due diligence, global supply chain and logistics consulting and related advisory services.


text: How self-assessment affects youWarning: This information may not apply to the current year. Check the content carefully to ensure it is applicable to your circumstances. End of attention Self-assessment means the Tax Office uses the information you give on your tax return to work out your refund or tax debt. You are required by law to make sure you have shown all your assessable income and claimed only the deductions and tax offsets to which you are entitled. The Tax Office does not take any responsibility for checking the accuracy of the details you provide in your tax return. However, at a later date the Tax Office may examine the details contained in your tax return more thoroughly by reviewing specific parts, or by conducting an audit on your tax affairs. What are your responsibilities? It is your responsibility to lodge a tax return that is signed, complete and correct. Even if someone else - including a tax agent - helps you to prepare your tax return, you are still legally responsible for the accuracy of your information. What if you lodge an incorrect tax return? Our audit programs are designed to continually check for missing, inaccurate or incomplete information. If you become aware that your tax return is incorrect, you must contact us straight away. Initiatives to complement self-assessment There are a number of initiatives administered by the Tax Office which complement self-assessment. Examples include: if you take reasonable care with your tax affairs, you will not receive a penalty for honest mistakes - but please note that an interest charge on omitted income or over-claimed deductions and tax offsets could still be payable the process for applying for private rulings your entitlement to interest on early payment or over-payment of a tax debt, or the process for applying for an amendment if you find you have left something out of your tax return. Do you need to ask for a private ruling? If you are concerned about the way a tax law applies to your personal tax affairs, you can ask for a private ruling by completing an Application for a private ruling for individuals (NAT 4106-3.2001), available on our website. You should lodge your tax return by the due date, even if you are waiting for the reply to your application. You may need to request an amendment to your tax return once you have received the private ruling. We publish all private rulings on our website. What we publish will not contain anything that could identify you. Last modified: 01 Apr 2020QC 18001


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Woodbridge, ON
Tel: 866-208-7946
Woodbridge, ON
Tel: 866-208-7946
Leisure Pools
Fiberglass swimming pool manufacturer Leisure Pools, is one of the largest in the World. Leisure Pools has developed Canada's most experienced fiberglass swimming pool dealer network where we install quality fiberglass in ground swimming pools, fiberglass plunge pools, fiberglass lap pools and water features throughout the country. Extensive market research combined with the industry's most experienced fiberglass pool designers has enabled Leisure Pools to develop the most architecturally modern and innovative range of pools available at competitive prices that will suit any family and budget.
Key advantages of buying a pool from us:We are the leaders in swimming pool technology. Leisure Pools Patented Composite Armour™ Patent Pending Full Vinyl Ester Resin Construction Lifetime Structural Warranty and a Lifetime Structural Osmosis Warranty on your Swimming Pool When you buy a Leisure Pool, you are swimming in quality and style. Great pool ideas for your backyard. No obligation Free Quote for pool costs.
Additional Details


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Rockstar Moving On Next Open World Title
Rockstar San Diego, the studio that brought us games and franchises like Red Dead Redemption (above) and Midnight Club, is hiring for what it's labeling is an open world game.
Three new job postings at Gamasutra surfaced this weekend (and it looks like there are still some openings from last month) for tools, gameplay, and network programmers at the studio, and the later two specifically mention that they are seeking potential employees for an open world game.
Given Rockstar San Diego's franchises listed above – as well as PS2 launch title Smuggler's Run – any one of these would make for a cool game. Who knows, maybe it's even a new IP.


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"In Soviet Russia, sick gets YOU!!"
"Sick doesn't mean this! It's a lie! AAAARRRRGGG!!! "
Sick means one thing in British speaking wank country and quite another in Big Hat Loud People Country. Though the meanings are quite similar, thousands of undersexed researchers have dedicated their pointless lives to extricate the parallel sophistry betwixt the two.
How to get sick[edit]
The easiest way to get sick is to go to a hospital. The second easiest way is to work at CafeFX. Or you could just catch a cold.
Once you are sick, that is, sick in the American sense of sneezing, coughing, bleeding from your eyeballs or just insane, it is your sworn duty as a human to lick, suck, kiss and fondle every healthy person you find. Not only will this spread joy and happiness thought the world, but it will also allow viruses of every kind to multiply and grow stronger. Anything named cocci deserve a fighting chance!
What Oscar Wilde Thinks[edit]
"You make me sick!"
"Oh, goody gumdrops!"
And he should really get off of him - the guy's dead already!!
French Disease[edit]
Other than commons sicks like colds, Herpes, AIDS, vomiting, and diarrhea, there is one especially potent sick known as the dreaded French Disease. Some symptoms are excessive sweating leading to odor, nasal speech with very disturbing R sounds that sound kind of like BLECCCHKHKXKKKMXH, decrease in hygiene and bathing, rewearing of clothes for more than one day, attraction to girls that don't shave their armpits, fear and wimpyness and instinct to surrender to everything, Satanism, urge to eat snail, frog, and other delicious foods, and, in some rare cases, loss of 3 or more arms.
Baskets are made of Sicker as are chairs and other furniture. Most people hate sitting on them, though, they poke in places that are usually sore from overuse.
"That's gross!"
"I'd hit that"
"I'd hit that!"
"Doesn't he mean wicker?"
"Way to ruin a joke!"
In America there is a popular candy bar called a Sicker's bar, filled with partially digested peanut butter and Chinese peasant shavings. It can usually be bought for US$2.00 (UKl$0.03) (CDN$4567.22).
That's not exactly true. In point of factus rhombus, the author previously composing was reffing to a different form of comestable entirely. As shown in WILFORD v BRIMLEY, the party of the first part had not taken part in the party of the party of the second part. Therefore and forthwith, the matter at ad is heretofore provably a Hereford and should be producing 13 pints of raw milk per day. The judgement put forth (ipso facto elviso) states clearly that the party of the second part should have invited the party of the first part to their (his/her/their/woof) party.
The word sick can be traced back to Old English bangersundmash meaning "vile" or "disgusting." Some experts with completely too much time on their hands have found vestiges of the word in Old High Howyadoin writing, it's use, mostly in porn tablets is difficult to ascertain.
The word sick itself comes from the Greek ἔτυμον (syculuso, true meaning, from 'sycerthunudog' yukky) and λόγος (messwithhed, poopoo). The term was originally applied to the search of supposedly "gross" or "yukky" meanings of words, on principles that are rejected as unscientific by modern linguistics. Pindar employed creative vomiting to flatter his patrons. Plutarch employed repeated gagging sounds and sneezing insecurely based on fancied resemblances in sounds. Isidore of Seville's Sykologiae was an encyclopedic tracing of "disgusting things" that remained uncritically in use in Europe until the fifteenth century. Barfologicum genuinum is a grammatical encyclopedia edited at Constantinople in the ninth century, one of several similar Byzantine works. The fourteenth-century Legenda Aurea begins each vita of a saint with a fanciful excursus in the form of projectile vomoting.
The earliest theory of sick can be found in the works of early Greek philosophers[1] from the pre-Socratic period, such as Pythagoras. The extant writings attributed to Pythagoras reveal that the Pythagorean school saw a strong connection between mathematics and sickly things. In particular, they noted that objects proportioned according to the golden ratio[2] seemed more sick. Some modern research seems to confirm this, in that people whose facial features are symmetric and proportioned according the golden ratio are consistently ranked as more unhealthy than those whose faces are not. Or something like that.
Modern Uses[edit]
Because of its aggressive spread, vigorous growth, allergenic and allelopathic[3] chemicals, it has become a problem in many areas, out-competing native species. It often grows directly up against a building or structure, where the roots can damage sewers and housing foundations. Sick grows rapidly and produce many offspring in their root vicinity, which also grow rapidly. They also shed many small branches at regular intervals. Digging or breaking the saplings yields an unpleasant smell and a sticky liquid. However, due to their sunlight requirements, their invasive behavior occurs mainly along roadsides and cleared fields, and they are not as successful in invading an already wooded area.
Sick is used mainly to promote apparel, accessories, and cosmetics. There are two types of sick: high fashion and commercial. High fashion sick is an art form of fashion. The photographer photographs the sick in artistic themes that relate to the clothing promoted. The sick uses its chunks and splooge to express different emotions required. High fashion is typical for work on campaigns, collections and magazine editorials for high fashion designers. These kinds of sick are featured in high fashion magazines such as Vogue, W,Vanity Fair and ELLE. Clothing designers traditionally show their new collections in an annual fashion show, for buyers, the fashion industry, and the general public. Fashion sick is found on the runway, and pose to display clothing. High fashion sick has strong, unique and distinctive features. "Runway sick," also known as catwalk sick," is displaying fashion, and is generally performed by "high fashion sick."
Sick is also used to describe something that is "cool" or "classy." For example, "That car is sick!"
What to do when someone is sick or injured[edit]
Usually when someone is sick or injured you send them a "Get Well" card. The purpose of the card is to make the recipient feel that they are not forgotten by their friends. When writing a "Get Well" card a simple equation known as "The Care Equation" should be taken into consideration. The equation shows that the amount one person writes in a "get well" card is directly proportional to the amount they care about the recipient. The formula is shown graphically below, where k represents the universal love constant.
Care = k.(Amount Written)
Most girls, especially hot ones, like it when you are sick, or when you sick on them. Try it!


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That's the word...and ScottTrade, my etrade is working though.
Printable View
That's the word...and ScottTrade, my etrade is working though.
My Etrade is down. My Scottrade is working.
shitt.... i need a backup trading platform
Alright Siri get off your AZZ!!!
Congrats on the PHOT.....POP!!...RC. I should've made the switch.
Gongrats to all who have been in PHOT over the past few days. I thought I was brave to have chased it up in hopes of getting in at 16 cents only 5 days ago............. obviously it was not to be, and how I can only admire those sitting on a 35 cent level today (and wishing I could be enjoying that with you).:annoyed:
And down we go. And why wouldn't we. Guess that 3.89 was a head fake...
Guess the Dow is down 115 points.
Yeah....they took it right to the double top in quick fashion and then dragged it down all day....the crap never changes with this FKG stock. Once we shift over to Liberty ticker and roughly $50 per share things will be less volatile....I hope.
LMCA and SIRI down the same, on a percentage basis
Wall St. Cheat Sheet. Inaccurate but still looks good in print.
"That deal values the company at $3.68 a share. Since then, Sirius' stock has risen, causing some to believe that Liberty may be getting ready to sweeten their deal, or Sirius may be entertaining offers from another buyer."


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(or SEARCH "pro wrestling" in App Store or Android Marketplace)
TNA star Austin Aries on the additions of MVP and The Wolves, the recent UK and Japan trips, Lethal Lockdown weekend
Mar 9, 2014 - 10:50 AM
The Rack radio with Austin Aries
Hosted by Lindsey Ward and Sir Rockin
Audio interview available at Wildtalkradio.com
On MVP and the Wolves coming in and the recent changes made to TNA: "I think it's important for any company to keep their product fresh and that really in any facet; whether you're talking food companies or clothing lines or whatever it might be, in this case entertainment. You want to keep things fresh, you want to keep recycling and cultivating the product so that nothing gets stale. Right now, I think you're seeing an influx of a lot of really good talent, some really talented people that all bring something to the table, so that's exciting for the fans."
If there's anyone he'd would like to see possibly with TNA: "That's an interesting question; there's a lot of talented guys out there, you know, and I could probably list a handful but one guy that's always stuck out to me that I felt was unique and I felt has always kind of been overlooked would be Jimmy Jacobs. He's a guy who can play a number of different facets within a company and has been doing this for a long time, has a lot of passion for it. He doesn't exactly fit the mold of an X-Division wrestler, per se, as far as his style in the ring, but reminds me of someone like a Kevin Sullivan, as an older wrestling fan, who brings a mental aspects into the wrestling business that is kind of not seen a lot anymore. I've always been a fan of him, obviously we've had some battles in the past so he's a guy who jumped into my head. Another guy is Roderick Strong, another guy I know very well and is a friend of mine. He's just one of the hardest workers in the ring and if it were an opportunity he'd wanted, it certainly one he deserves."
His involvement with Lethal Lockdown this weekend: "I'm going to be locked inside a steel cage; it's going to be 4-on-4 and I'm aligned with Team Dixie. Bobby Roode is the team captain and the BroMans, the World Tag Team Champions, are our partners as well and we'll be facing off against Team MVP and he's got the Wolves along with a returning Jeff Hardy. There's a lot at stake; there's been a power struggle within the company between Dixie and MVP and the stakes are that winner gets operations of the company.
A lot of people are a bit surprised or disappointed by my decision to align myself with Team Dixie but I put out a tweet shortly after that happened that I'm not really on Team Dixie or Team MVP, I'm on Team Aries. I'm typically a guy who goes out and does things for me and in this situation, for right now, and we'll see how thing play out, but for right now I felt this was my best bet. The reality was this: there were two sides where I couldn't fully trust either side but at least the devil I know is on the right hand, and guys I've worked with, like Bobby Roode who have a lot of history in this company. Again, things will play out the way their supposed to play out and then we'll make decisions after that."
The recent overseas trips to Europe and Japan: "Sometimes this can really be the grind; physically and mentally exhausting with the travel schedule that we do keep, but we are so thankful we get to do something we love for a living. They say you if you can find something you love to do for a living, you never work a day in your life. But no matter how much love and passion you have for it, sometimes the schedule is difficult and it can take a toll on you; that UK Tour especially. We were doing television every day, putting in 12 to 15 hour days and then traveling to the next town and working off of 3 or 4 hours sleep and that was for a week. By the end, it catches up to you but the flip side is you have a bunch of really passionate fans who are waiting a whole year to see us and they bring the energy and trust me, we feed of that and we definitely needed to feed off some of that towards the end of that trip. I know all the guys appreciate the energy that those fans bring and the passion they bring it's our job to give that back to them.
"When you're out there in front of a crowd and can feel the electricity that they're bringing, it makes everyone want to step their game up and make sure we can give them every penny's worth. I think we were all excited because we were doing something historic and we were doing it in front of one of our strongest fan bases globally. This is a global company; many people sometimes get caught up on the Neilsen ratings here in the US and they kind of forget we're being shown in over 100 countries throughout the world. We're a global company with a huge fan base and that was a testament to the other markets outside the US and with the successful trip we just took to Japan and the relationship we forged there, we're just going to expand globally and that's something important for TNA fans to remember."
The role of social media on both wrestling and his personal life: "I think it's a balance there. I think more than just furthering storylines you see on television; I think it's an opportunity for us as performers to add more depth to who we are. I know that's how I use mine. I have personal interests outside of wrestling. Obviously, I follow plant-based lifestyle; I'm very much into food advocacy and healthy lifestyles. I'm into making music; things like that. So, I like to use my Twitter for opportunities for the fans to see another side of me they're not going to be able to see on Spike Television.
"I'm not a big proponent of using it to further storylines, per se; I think it's fake and in some ways I think and can insult fan's intelligence. We want them to tune in on Thursdays from 8-10 and suspend their disbeliefs and get into the show. But, I look at my Twitter as my personal social media and that's an opportunity for people to get to know Austin Aries and get to know the more about the person and the depth I have as a character and as a person in general. That's how I use it, and I think there's a value to that too; it allows fans to get more invested in people, to gravitate to people that they can connect with and that's really hard. We've only got two hours a week and a roster full of talented people, and it's impossible to give them all the time they deserve to do that, so this is a tool that we can all use to do that for ourselves outside of the television show."
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Hewlett-Packard has updated its records management software so it can now capture for legal posterity Microsoft SharePoint files and even entire SharePoint workspaces, the company announced.
The newly released version 7 of HP Trim comes with two optional modules that capture SharePoint activity, one for records management and the other for archiving purposes, said Patrick Eitenbichler, a director of worldwide product marketing for HP's software and solutions division.
With archiving, material is copied or moved to a separate location for operational reasons, such as for backup and recovery purposes or performance improvement. With records management, material is saved for a specified period of time as unalterable documents, to comply with institutional or governmental mandates.
For administrators, SharePoint has represented a new challenge in both of these fronts. Microsoft has sold more than a million licenses for SharePoint Server and considers the collaboration platform to be one of the fastest-growing products in its server portfolio, in terms of sales, according to a Microsoft spokeswoman.
In fact, SharePoint usage is reputedly so widespread that HP has found that a sizeable portion of its customers are running out of storage space or processor cycles to maintain all these instances, Eitenbichler said. Administrators also worry about the legal risks associated with deleting this material, some of which should be saved as official records, he added.
Trim could capture SharePoint records prior to version 7, but it was limited to manual entry and could capture only documents, Eitenbichler said. Now, administrators can set up policies for automatic retention of all types of SharePoint-generated content, including blog entries, blog comments, calendar entries and workflow events.
"Trim is hooked into the [Windows] object model, so it knows anytime a change happens on a SharePoint Server," he said.
The records administrator can pick what types of content are to be preserved as records and what the retention policies should be for them. Any sort of SharePoint metadata, usually filled in by the user, can be used as a hook for identifying some material as records. Once something is declared a record, it cannot be altered in any way. Also, the entire SharePoint workspace can be captured and preserved.
The software supports both Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 and the upcoming SharePoint Server 2010.
Besides the SharePoint support, other new features for Trim include a Web client that mimics all the features of the desktop client, the ability to work natively on 64-bit servers, improved integration with the Microsoft .Net framework, a speedier and more robust search engine and double-byte Unicode support for additional languages, Eitenbichler said.
HP also announced that the U.S. Department of Defense certified Trim version 7 suitable for official records-management use by the U.S. services, under the version 3 standard of DoD policy 5015.2-STD.
Although developed for military certification, about half of HP's nonmilitary prospects have used 5015.2 as a requirement for purchasing records management systems, Eitenbichler said.
Although not a leader in the records management market, HP's Trim is a mature, if not yet fully comprehensive offering, said Forrester senior analyst Brian W. Hill. Leaders in this space include products from CA, EMC, IBM, Open Text and Oracle. Trim still lacks support, for instance, in ingesting some material from legacy records management systems.
The new version makes strides in filling out the needed capabilities.
"This is a significant release for HP, and I'm encouraged by the direction," Hill said. The company's "ability to integrate with SharePoint goes a long way in addressing the market's needs."
SharePoint itself has some records management capabilities, and the new version due this spring will have even more.
A Forrester survey found that 17 percent of organizations using SharePoint used the records management capability. Yet SharePoint's native capabilities aren't "sufficient for most organizations," Hill said, noting that enterprises still find difficulties with the software in declaring records, as well as setting file plan constraints and legal hold limitations. Also, it hasn't been certified under 5015.2-STD yet.
Although a mature technology, the electronic records management market seems to be going through a period of change, Hill said. In a survey conducted last fall, Forrester found that 56 percent of records management managers plan to ramp up or extend deployments in 2010. Many already run records management systems but need to "put retention controls around a broader array of electronic assets," Hill said.


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Rare Book Monthly
Articles - December - 2009 Issue
We Shall not Pass this way Again
By Bruce McKinney
It matters less what we collect than that we collect.
On December 3rd at 10:30 am the collection discussed here will be sold at Bloomsbury Auctions in New York. On December 2nd, at Bloomsbury's showrooms at 6 West 48th Street I'll be giving a talk 6:30 pm that will be mercifully brief. These are the remarks. I'll then take questions.
You are invited!
Collections are fantasies and sometimes indulgences. They are small and large, gathered energetically or intermittently, set aside sometimes for decades, pursued, if books, by chance, often because of a dealer or library relationship, begun in youth and sometimes chased into old age. In truth the vigor of collecting for many in their seventies grows stronger even as the light fades. Is it that we feel the passion ever more clearly or that other interests decline? Frank Siebert collected into his final decade, Thomas Streeter into his final years. The answer is unique to each who finds in such material a desire for personal relationship. For those who make the connection collecting is enduring even if ignored for years, even decades. Such collections are who we are and from the future who we were. They define us.
Collecting is common in its simplest form and rare at the extremes. Mothers accumulate wedding and family pictures, buttons and report cards, fathers half-filled cans of paint, roadmaps, baseball gloves and camping gear. Children on the path to self-awareness accumulate bits and rubble, baseballs, pennies, and whatever. Such collections are later clues and triggers to restore and reawaken memory. We live in the present and maintain access to our lives through such things. What we choose to remember best explains how we see or saw ourselves.
For a few collecting is the gathering of objects to bring to life events, experiences and perceptions beyond our knowing. For myself, and perhaps to myself, this explains my interest in early history of the new world. In becoming interested in old books when very young, I stumbled upon a succession of worlds, some accessible, others only hinted at. Such material that was ever locally held, a hundred years before and more had already been combed from attics, collections and town libraries and found their way into institutions, to dealers and collectors before I even first looked. What I encountered in the 1950's was the close cropped meadow after the sheep have grazed. I was not dissuaded.


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Padre Pio and Mass at his Tomb, then St. Michael the Archangel
by Steve Ray on May 17, 2010
What a day! We started out by walking up hill to the Church of Padre Pio in front of his tomb. Then we had two hours free before leaving for St. Mount Angel where Michael the Archangel appeared to the bishop in the 5th century. Many tears, many smiles, many happy pilgrims.
We had the late afternoon free, special dinner with singing and cheers and to bed to prepare for an early departure for Rome, with a stop at Veronica's Veil along the way, before Mass in the catacombs.
If you want to see my run through San Giovanni Rotundo and Padre Pio's tomb, click here.