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Person Of Interest: Season 2 DVD
Victim or perpetrator, if your number's up, we'll find you. The Machine identifies another gripping season's worth of potential crimes that must be stopped by billionaire tech genius Harold Finch (Michael Emerson) and ex-CIA operative John Reese (Jim Caviezel). Adversaries from Reese's undercover past and Finch's government work threaten the team's crime-fighting mission and anonymity. Meanwhile, NYPD Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson) and Fusco (Kevin Chapman) face down FBI probes and the dangerous tentacles of the police conspiracy known as "HR." From creator Jonathan Nolan (The Dark Knight) and J.J. Abram's Bad Robot Productions (Fringe, Lost, Revolution) comes the dazzling 6-disc, 22-episode season two.
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- Format: DVD
- Rating: Not Rated
- Number of Discs: 6
- Run Time: 968 Minutes
- Region: 1
- Aspect Ratio: Widescreen
- Studio: Warner Home Video
- DVD Release Date: September 3, 2013
- Cast: Jim Caviezel , Taraji P. Henson , Michael Emerson , Kevin Chapman , Amy Acker , Cotter Smith , Jay Sanders , Boris McGiver , Ken Leung , Robert Mukes , Terry Serpico , Loudon Wainwright , Margo Martindale , Emily Robinson , Mercedes Griffeth , Karolina Kurkova , Brennan Brown , Enrico Colantoni , Annie Parisse , Sarah Shahi , Ebon Moss-Bachrach
- Genre: TV Series
- Release Date: 2012
Availability: In Stock
Ready to ship in 5-7 Business Days
5.05.0(2 reviews)See all 2 reviews
Reviewed by 2 customers
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This is a gift for my husband!
- Engaging Characters
- Entertaining
- Great Cinematography
- High Production Value
- Interesting Plotline
- Lots Of Cool Twists
- Original
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- Adult Viewers
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Comments about this product:
You will not want to stop watching this series! Perfect mix of case-of-the-week/serialization. Excellent writing. On another level than most the other TV shows!


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Allied Mission 10: Point of No Return
At last it's on: the push to Moscow, and the end to the bloodbath in which Stalin has embroiled all the world's mightiest armies. The Allied High Command has devised a double-thrust attack in which the Germans, led by Roland Hellmann, will strike a Southern Soviet base while Lynch moves directly east to smash the Northern Soviet stronghold. But the attack might have come too late: as Anna predicted, the Soviets have completed their research on the Ice Bomb and who knows what other weapons of mass destruction.
It's a lesson you learn all too quickly as the mission opens and you see your tiny base blanketed in a thick sheet of ice from a Winter's Breath bomber — the code name for the modified Soviet Tupolevs that carry the devastating Ice Bomb. All that survives is a Supply Stash and a couple of Anti-Tank Turrets and Anti-Aircraft guns. You've definitely got your work cut out for you on this mission!
Primary Objectives
- Defeat the Northern Soviet Base
- Destroy the Ice Bomber Airfields
- Defend the Radio Station
- Repair the Radio Station
Secondary Objectives
- Destroy the Moving Giant Turret Factories
Key Tactics and Battle Tips
- Use Pillboxes and Halftracks to guard against Partisan attacks at primary base
- Capture the War Factory to the east for cheap Katyusha production
- Push on east to destroy Winter%26rsquo;s Breath Airfields
- Use Force Shield Generators to protect Radio Station and its defenders

subset: commoncrawl


text: im not sure whats going on im not used to this. im getting a stabbing pain under my right breast. im not sure if its gallstones or something that needs to be treated or if it's my body w/d. im scared... really scared. i dont wanna go to the er because they do first and ask later they always dope me up b4 even asking or running tests and i hate that. i dont want to go to the er, them dope me up, find out that its nothing then i have to start the w/d all over. im already on day 3 and before this i was having almost no w/d symptoms so im really confused... wat should i do??


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Cowen, Tyler. An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies. Dutton. Apr. 2012. 384p. ISBN 9780525952664. $26.95. FOOD/ECONOMICS
Get ready for a shock: local food may taste better, but it's not necessarily better for the environment. And food that is cheap is not necessarily bad for you. Probably no one knows this better than Cowen, author of the New York Times bestselling e-book The Great Stagnation, the big economics blog Marginal Revolution (small steps toward a much better world), and the foodie blog Tyler Cowen's Ethnic Dining Guide (all food is ethnic food). Lots of interesting topics, e.g., why packed restaurants serve iffy fare, and who can complain about better-tasting, cheaper, more environmentally friendly food? There's an audience.
Dratch, Rachel. Girl Walks into a Bar: Comedy Calamities, Dating Disasters and a Midlife Miracle. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9781592407118. $26. MEMOIR
Those who like to laugh know Dratch for her work as a Saturday Night Live cast member, her turn with the Second City comedy troupe, and her numerous stage and theater roles. But this is not a celebrity tell-all; it's an account of some personal ups and downs, remedied by an unexpected and untraditional motherhood. For fans and anyone who loves untraditional mothers.
Faber, Urijah with Tim Keown. The Laws of the Ring. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 224p. ISBN 9780062112408. $25.99. MEMOIR/SPORTS
Headliner of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Former featherweight champion of World Extreme Cagefighting. Branded purveyor of a clothing line and numerous sponsorships. In case you didn't know, Faber (aka the California Kid' he's from Sacramento and looks like a surfer) is a mixed martial arts superstar with a 100,000 Twitter followers to his name. This book is part life story, part Zen-like meditation on attaining self-awareness, and part self-help' who knows, maybe Faber's insights will help the rest of us in our out-of-the-ring fights. But probably best directed to MMA fans, who are legion, as the 100,000-copy first printing suggests.
Finland, Glen. Next Stop: A Son with Autism Grows Up. Amy Einhorn: Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399158605. $25.95. PSYCHOLOGY
Finland, a former reporter with an MFA from American University, chronicles her sometimes touching, sometimes funny experiences raising autistic son David and what life is like now that he's grown and still living with her and her husband. So many books address the autistic child, but fewer consider the next stop, so strongly consider this book.
Gumbel, Andrew & Roger Charles. Oklahoma City. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 352p. ISBN 9780061986444. $26.99. lrg. prnt. CURRENT EVENTS
Gumbel has been writing about the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing for over ten years. Charles was a consultant for ABC's 20/20 1996' 97 coverage of the bombing. Both are award-winning investigative journalists, and Charles is also a retired U.S. Marine Corps lieutenant colonel. So we should pay attention when they argue that Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols did not act alone but were part of a disaffected antigovernment militia. To make their case, the authors draw on exclusive material from Nichols, unreleased tapings of neo-Nazi leaders, and confidential informant reports from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. With a 100,000-copy first printing and likely of considerable import; I hope people will listen.
Hampton, Kelle. Bloom Finding Beauty in the Unexpected: A Memoir. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780062045034. $24.99; eISBN 9780062045058. MEMOIR
After giving birth, Hampton realized immediately that little Nella had Down syndrome. But it's a wise parent who knows that you love the child you get, and Hampton overcame her fear and pain to become an advocate for Nella' and for all individuals with Down syndrome. Since 2007, her award-winning blog, Enjoying the Small Things (www.kellehampton.com), has had more than 15.4 million page views and more than 6.8 million unique visitors, attracting visitors from almost 200 countries. Hampton doesn't repeat her blog posts but instead revisits her first year with Nella. There are parents out there who will need this, and other readers who should be interested and moved. With a 75,000-copy first printing; a good purchase.
Humes, Ed. Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash. Avery: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9781583334348. $26. SOCIAL SCIENCE
Humes, a Pulitzer Prize' winning journalist whose 11 nonfiction titles range in coverage from Wal-Mart to juvenile court to the GI Bill, here takes on'Ķgarbage? In fact, there's a whole science to how we get rid of stuff we don't want and a whole bunch of cultish folks fascinated with the process. Sure this could get readers; think of all those Mary Roach fans.
James, Eloisa. Paris in Love. Random. Apr. 2012. 272p. ISBN 9781400069569. $25; eISBN 9780679604440. MEMOIR
By day, James is actually Mary Bly, daughter of poet Robert Bly and associate professor and head of the creative writing department at Fordham University. By night, she's the New York Times best-selling author of 24 exquisitely written historical romances. This memoir, which grew out of a series of tweets (who says Twitter is ephemeral?), discusses the year James spent with her family in Paris after she survived both cancer and the death of her mother. James is a smart and exceptional writer in any genre, Paris is the dream city for escape, and this should be excellent.
Lawson, Jenny. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: (A Mostly True Memoir). Amy Einhorn: Putnam. Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9780399159015. $25.95. MEMOIR/HUMOR
She's famed on the Internet as the Bloggess (like Mother Teresa, only better) and also writes an (I hope) tongue-in-check parenting column and a self-styled satirical sex column that must be sizzly because my office computer denies me access. Here, Lawson revisits her rural Texas childhood' basically like Little House on the Prairie' but with much more cursing. With lots of media attention expected and comparisons to Chelsea Handler and the Sedaris siblings, this book is one to watch. And see if you can get into that column.
Prager, Dennis. Still the Last Best Hope: Why the World Needs American Values To Triumph. Broadside: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780061985126. $25.99; eISBN 9780062097811. CURRENT EVENTS
Heard on 120 stations nationwide, Prager plumps for American values' liberty, natural rights, and the melting-pot ideal of national unity' which he sets against four basic alternatives: Islamic totalitarianism, European-style democratic socialism, state-run capitalism (as in China), and chaos. Those who remember the controversy surrounding Prager's accusations regarding Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison (did he swear an oath on the Qu'ran?) will wonder about this book. With a 75,000-copy first printing.
Roberts, Geoffrey. Stalin's General: The Life of Georgy Zhukov. Random. Apr. 2012. 448p. ISBN 9781400066926. $30; eISBN 9780679645177. BIOGRAPHY
Anyone even faintly acquainted with World War II history knows the names Eisenhower, Patton, and Montgomery, and Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov's name belongs with theirs. In fact, some scholars argue that Zhukov' marshal of the Soviet Union as of 1943 and hence a key player at the battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk, which decisively stopped the German drive forward' effectively won the war for the Allies. Roberts, a history professor at University College Cork who has written extensively about the war in Russia, should deliver a thoroughgoing biography for lay reader and scholar alike.
Rolls, Barbara J. The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet: Smart, Simple, Science-Based Strategies for Losing Weight and Keeping It Off. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 320p. ISBN 9780062060648. $27.50. DIET
The Volumetrics diet cuts down on calories but not on portions, so desperate dieters still feel full. It must work; three previous titles have all been New York Times best sellers, and the diet itself has been ranked among the top programs around by venues as various as Consumer Reports and the Daily Beast. This latest (though how can it be ultimate, as there will be more) offers 105 recipes within 35 food categories so that dieters can personalize their intake. All we need is the motivation; with a 100,000-copy first printing.
Samuels, Allison (text) & Meg Hess (illus.). What Would Michelle Do? A Modern Day Guide to Living with Substance and Style. Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9781592407088. $23. STYLE
When Michelle Obama was at Princeton, and then at Harvard Law School, and then doing her law-firm and city-government work, I wonder if she knew that she would be a fashion and life-style icon to millions. This is an idea book showing how you can make the First Lady's sense of style all your own. Fruitfully read with Mikki Taylor's Commander in Chic: Every Woman's Guide to Managing Her Style Like a First Lady, coming from Atria in November.
Savage, Michael. Trickle Down Tyranny: Crushing Obama's Dreams of a Socialist America. Morrow. Apr. 2012. 256p. ISBN 9780062083975. $26.99. lrg. prnt. CD: HarperAudio. CURRENT EVENTS
Host of the No. 3 radio program in the nation, heard by nearly eight million listeners a week and syndicated across the U.S. in over 300 markets, Savage continues his rant against Barack Lenin. Not a book to make everyone happy, but the 250,000-copy first printing and one-day laydown on April 3 indicates that the audience will be large.
Schonwald, Josh. The Taste of Tomorrow: Dispatches from the Future of Food. HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 288p. ISBN 9780061804212. $24.95. FOOD
From Alice Waters's microfarm to bioengineering and nanotechnology' seen by some as a way to eliminate hunger' Schonwald's book explores how we'll be eating tomorrow. Not one to see bioengineered food as a bad thing, Schonwald might be kicking up a bit of controversy here. Read with Tyler Cowen's An Economist Gets Lunch, this book should give you much, ahem, food for thought.
Schuler, Lou & Alwyn Cosgrove. The New Rules of Lifting For Life: An All New Muscle Building, Fat Blasting Plan for Men and Women Who Want To Ace Their Midlife Exams. Avery: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9781583334133. $28. FITNESS
I flunked my midlife exams, but never mind. The New Rules for Lifting books having been doing nicely, selling in the 80,000-plus range each, and this fourth in the series aims to help aging lifters who will hurt themselves if they work too hard and get all fat and flabby if they don't work hard enough. Wherever you have a population in need.
Ung, Loung. Lulu in the Sky: A Daughter of Cambodia Finds Love, Healing, and Double Happiness. HarperPerennial: HarperCollins. Apr. 2012. 352p. ISBN 9780062091918. pap. $14.99. MEMOIR
Ung concludes the heartrending trilogy begun with First They Killed My Father, a 2001 Asian/Pacific ALA Association Award winner that relates how she lost most of her family to Cambodia's killing fields. Lucky Child continued the story with her experiences as a refugee in Vermont, and this new book captures her college experiences and move into adulthood' and some tentative happiness. Ung has been featured in all the top media, and you'll be hearing more about her; she's contributed her story to 10×10, a documentary film conceived and directed by Academy Award' nominated director Richard E. Robbins that chronicles the lives of ten girls from ten countries. Check out the film and the related social action campaign; LJ book reviewer and Smithsonian BookDragon blogger Terry Hong serves on the advisory board.
Williams, Vanessa & Helen Williams. You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-Nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss (and Each Other). Gotham: Penguin Group (USA). Apr. 2012. NAp. ISBN 9781592407071. $27. MEMOIR
The former Miss America and Desperate Housewives star speaks up about work, love, and life with mom. Refreshingly not a Mommie Dearest; buy for your celeb followers.


text: I already uploaded some pictures of this concert hall here in Luxembourg, but those were taken at night.. here are some shots I took this afternoon... hope you like them! what do you think of the borders? I'm always having a hard time deciding if I should add a border an when yes which one..maybe someone could help me out here ;-) 1. 2. 3. 4.


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When I was a young science fiction fan in the late '50s and early '60s (yeah, put a "19" before those numbers, it was the last century), I scared the crap out of myself watching Dracula movies and far too many "Twilight Zone" episodes. Also, instead of assigned schoolwork, I read anything that had aliens, rockets, and doom from the stars. Sometime in the mid-'60s I came upon Frank Herbert's science fiction classic "Dune."
As some fans of "Dune" may recall, there was a military force of really, really tough guys – as in the most powerful, feared army in the Universe – think of the Spartans on hypersteroids, like maybe Leonidas and a couple of buddies against the Persians rather than 300 soldiers. Herbert's super shock troops were called the Sardaukar.
And, finally, we arrive at today's destination.
You're travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind; a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, Street Sweeper!
Bradley C. Stark, 37, formerly of Riverside, CA set up a British Virgin Islands corporation for the purported purpose of investing and managing clients' financial assets. From October 2004 thorough early July 2005, Stark operated this business from his residence in Riverside, California.
And the name of the international enterprise? Sardaukar Holdings.
I mean, seriously? This guy names his BVI financial firm (which he's running out of his home) after a fictional army of fanatical warriors?
Oooooooooookay. Now that's something that's gonna get my attention as a potential investor but not necessarily in a good way. Unfortunately, a number of others didn't quite share my concern. Sadly, Stark's investors went through some Sardaukar transporter and emerged transformed as victims of financial fraud. Think of the movie "The Fly."
According to federal prosecutors, Stark fraudulently solicited investors in Sardaukar. Whoa, I didn't see that comin'. Among the misstatements made by Stark and others to potential investors were that he:
On top of the statements about Stark's purported expertise, investors were allegedly told that Sardaukar's investments often yielded in excess of 20 to 30 percent per month. And for only $50,000, investors could purchase an insurance contract through Stark that would insure invested principal against any loss.
Underneath that scifi killer elite army, the exotic BVIcorporate pedigree, the impressive credentials, and the jaw-dropping track record was a more stark reality about Mr. Stark. A background that he hid.


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I have a (OT, I think) Dialga willing to trade. Considering all offers that is over PM only.
I would like a dialga of any level, I have any of the 3 starter pokemon, spiritomb, uxie, the 2 fossil pokemon, eevee. Anyone interested?? Please PM me.
I need an untouched Dialga. PM me immediately to discuss a trade.
Looking for dialga WITH adamant orb attached.Offering any of the starters(pick 2), or Rayquaza, or groundon, or kyogre, or all 3 regis(nicknamed though..)
(I have no shinys at all)
PM if interested.
I have shiny Dialga.
If you want, offer.
tradin a my plt dialga pm me offers
[br]Click here to feed me a fruit![br]Get your own at PokePlushies!
shadow the hedgehog is in my opinion a great character i will support him as well as rights for goombas
some people say i'm a romantic
others say i'm like james from team rocket
hang on aren't they the same thing
james= epic
3ds friend code:0173-1635-4866
acnl dream address: 7500-2189-6004
I'm looking for a Dialga, preferably UT with a neutral, or Mild nature. It must be legit--cloned is fine.
I'm offering the following Legendaries in exchange:
Also, Salamence (lv 78), Tyranitar (lv 78), Armaldo (lv 80), or Flygon (lv 74).
Please PM me if you'd like to negoiate.
i need shiny Dialga
hi ron
מה קורה?
I have 1 shiny Dialga.
רועי מה אתה עושה פה?מה אתה כותב בעברית זה פורום באנגלית..ויש לך באמת דיאלגיה זוהר?כי אני צריך
Yeah.. I have.. I trade with someone..
so yow have or not?
I told you I have..
PM me if you want
I have a LV47 UT Sassy Dialga.
Mainly looking for EV trained level 50-60 pokemon, but will consider some offers.
PM me.
Diamond: 3394 6946 6239
I have a dialga (calm/100) and a dialga (bashful/53) up for trade and I'm looking for a UT shiny timid gastly/haunter (everstone equipped if its a haunter) preferably male.
I've also got every starter as well as a moltres (hardy/60), regirock (jolly/100), groudon (bashful/100), rayquaza (lonely/100), uxie (careful/50), azelf (calm/100), palkia (mild/47), cresselia (lonely/55), and a phione (gentle/1) up for trade. I've also got a wide variety of other pokemon and I can give the pokerus to anything I trade if wanted. PM me if interested!
Last edited by SupremeJudicator; 24th November 2008 at 5:11 AM.
Spoiler:- Eggmove samples; I also do requests (VERY OUT OF DATE, MANY MORE AVAILABLE):
: (Hypnosis, Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb) (Toxic, Sludge Bomb, Shadow Ball, Confuse Ray) (All 3 Elemental Punches)
: Moonlight
: (Crunch, Dragon Claw) (Flare Blitz, Shadow Claw, Flamethrower)
: (Aqua Ring, Ice Beam) (Muddy Water, Refresh, Mirror Coat)
: (Earthquake, Rockslide) (Eruption, Earthquake)
: (Zen Headbutt, Payback)
: (Extrasensory, Flamethrower)
: (Dragon Claw, Iron Tail) (Ice Punch, Crunch)
: (Hypnosis, Energy Ball, Flamethrower)
: (Confuse Ray, Shadow Ball, Toxic)
: (Nasty Plot, Energy Ball)
: (Toxic, Sludge Bomb, Shadow Ball)
3DS Games: Y, Alpha Sapphire, Sun
I have a shiny dialga lvl 100, looking for a Mew or Manaphy untouched and not cloned. Not too picky about the natures, as long as they don't hinder SA or Speed it's fine. Modest or Timid would be greatly preferred though
edit: still looking as of 12/17
Last edited by Deathknight; 18th December 2008 at 2:02 AM.
I have a Dialga lvl 63 nicknamed DRAGON.
PM me with offers if you want to trade.
Click here to feed me a Rare Candy!
Get your own at Pokeplushies!
Click on my dragon eggys!
Looking for a shiny dialga UT(platinuim or not) ether nicknameable or japanese. I have shinys to offer for it.
Im looking for a LEGIT CALM UT Dialga if i like yours then i'll happily trade my shiny modest Dialga for it, Thanks.
I have claimed Tangrowth.
He's all mine now, hands off.
I have a level 51 quirky, Adamant orb dialga. I am looking for any pokemon over level 65 (NEED elite 4 help). Pm me!
i am serching for dialga and i can breed any pokemon i retern
Looking for an UT Platinum Dialga. Will offer big for one.
I have shiny Dialga.


text:
Christopher G. Greenler
Died Feb 17, 1800
Age 52y2m21d
buried next to his wife Margaret
Contributed on 1/28/08 by Schumaker4
Email This Contributor
Record #: 49376
On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Ohio, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 1/28/08 • Approved: 4/14/08 • Last Updated: 8/13/15 • R49376-G0-S3


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Kansas law enforcement officers are in the middle of delivering a timely reminder that wearing seat belts not only saves lives; it's required by law.
The "Click It Or Ticket" campaign started Monday and will run through June 5. During that time, about 150 Kansas law enforcement agencies plan to step up enforcement of the state's seat-belt laws.
It's been almost a year since the state's new law went into effect making not wearing a seat belt a primary offense, meaning officers now can pull someone over simply for not using a seat belt. When seat-belt violations were only secondary offenses, officers could issue a ticket but only if they had some other reason to stop a motorist in the first place.
Already, the numbers show the new law may be saving lives.
In a report on seat-belt usage supplied by the Kansas Department of Transportation, it appears the new law had an immediate impact. The annual survey of seat-belt usage is taken in June and July. In 2008 and 2009, 77 percent of Kansans reportedly were wearing seat belts; in 2010, that number rose to 82 percent. The new primary seat-belt law went into effect on June 30, 2010, right in the middle of the 2010 count.
Even more important is the decline in the number of traffic deaths. Through May 23, the state had recorded 106 traffic fatalities this year. That number still is too high, but it is well behind the pace of 2010, when the state had a total of 385 traffic deaths.
There is no question that wearing a seat belt reduces the chances of injury or death in case of a traffic accident. Nonetheless, legally requiring Kansans to "click it" provides the added incentive many of us needed to develop the seat-belt habit.
The upcoming three-day Memorial Day weekend will find many Kansans on the road. The increased enforcement that will span that period will provide a good reminder of the state's seat-belt laws — and probably save some lives.
Copyright 2018 The Lawrence Journal-World. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. We strive to uphold our values for every story published.


text:
Bondi Nail Polish Subscription Box Now Available for Purchase!
The Bondi New York Nail Polish subscription is now available for purchase!
The Box: Bondi Nail Polish Box
The Cost: $19.99 a month (or save more with 3-month, 6-month, 12-month subscriptions)
The Products: 3 full size Bondi Nail Polishes ($37.50 value), a deluxe beauty product, and 25% off all regular nail polish purchases.
Ships to: US and International (no additional shipping fees for international customers!!)
FYI – the first box will be the August box, and the colors will be a mystery. After that, you will be able to preview upcoming boxes and skip if you aren't interested in that month.
What do you think of the Bondi Nail Polish Box? I'm thrilled to see that this box is available for everyone worldwide!


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This year will see the SAP HANA database face its biggest test yet, as the entire SuccessFactors customer base moves onto the platform in a series of migrations that have long been planned for the first half of 2017.
The transfer to HANA has been in preparation for a couple of years already. In late 2015 I quizzed then senior VP of product management Dmitri Krakovsky (shortly before he left for a role at Google acquisition Bebop) about the scale of the task. At the time, SuccessFactors had already become HANA's largest user, having implemented analytics and reporting on the database. But the migration of SuccessFactors' large-scale, multi-tenant, transactional applications was going to be a far bigger test, he told me.
Nobody runs HANA in a multi-tenant environment at this scale. That's why we want to be careful, thoughtful — because it's live customers in production environments.
Even then, there were a small number of customers whose core applications had already moved to HANA so that SuccessFactors could finetune and test the implementation. That's continued throughout 2016, along with work to scale out the migration tools so that customers can be moved in tranches rather than individually.
At the company's EMEA customer event in late November, I caught up with Adam Kovalevsky, who as Executive VP of Product Management, Engineering & Operations, has overall responsibility for the success of the project. He brought me up to date with where things stand as the company prepares to roll out the migration in earnest.
A series of migrations
Designing the bulk migration tool has been a critical piece. The company runs "in the order of 30,000 schemas," he says — the blueprints that define the structure of each individual organization's data. Moving them one at a time was fine for development and testing purposes, but that process has had to be automated to permit large-scale migration. That too has been carefully tested with small numbers at first before ramping up the volumes:
It doesn't sound like a super impressive number, but we migrated nine customer environments [in October] with that [tool]. Essentially, we're scheduling the next fifty and then, over the course of 2017, each weekend in each of the ten data centers we'll have a series of migrations that we're running.
Similarly, the early migrations are of less complex implementations. The largest customers will move across to HANA later on in the project, he explains.
Not surprisingly, we choose simpler examples first. The gigantic 300,000-employee company running every possible application … no that's not the first one that we migrate.
They tend to be organizations — 10,000 employees or less with simpler configurations — that we migrate. That's working well. We'll see that accelerate as we go into Q1 and we go through the course of 2017.
Standardizing on HANA has given the company an opportunity to simplify its data center operations from a "hodgepodge of databases" that the SuccessFactors family of applications was originally built on, says Kovalevsky. That has already proven itself in analytics:
Honestly, we don't think that we would be scaling our analytics and EmployeeCentral reporting at the rate that we do today if we were still on SQL Server/Hadoop. We don't think it would have handled the volume that we have today.
Optimizing performance
The developers have been working closely with their HANA colleagues to deal with issues as they arise.
I'm running HANA at a larger scale than anyone else has ever attempted to run HANA before. Obviously we encounter issues, and we work closely with the HANA engineering teams to resolve those issues as we go forward.
With the core transactional applications, there's been a strong focus on ensuring performance remains the same or better on HANA as it has been on Oracle. In some cases, that involves a rewrite of the original function to better optimize it for HANA, as Kovalevsky explains:
At the end of the day we can't migrate customers to HANA for them to have a materially different performance experience.
There's probably 10% of transactions where we see that HANA is significantly more performant than what we had in Oracle. There's probably 85% of transactions where, honestly it's more or less similar. And maybe there's 5-ish percent where it's materially slower on HANA than on Oracle.
Those are the ones where we essentially do a whole rewrite of, how do we optimize for how it can work on HANA? Then does that, in that rewrite, also change our thoughts on how do you approach the problem in the first place?
Moving to public cloud
Once the migration has been completed, a longer-term aim is to supplement SAP's own data centers with public cloud alternatives, building on the partnership with Microsoft Azure that was announced in October. For now, the Azure option is used primarily for internal purposes — sales demos and testing by professional services — before being rolled out to customers. But it is likely to become more strategic in the future, says Kovalevsky:
If I look ten years into the future, I would imagine that our growth will predominately be in public cloud data centers, because however competent we get at buying equipment and standardizing environments, I have to think that there are bigger and larger fish out there that are even doing that at a scale that make us look like a drop in the ocean.
So, we have a partnership with Microsoft that we announced the end of Q3, beginning of Q4. We're frankly very excited about that. It enables us to explore that as a potentially a long-term option for how we grow and scale.
My take
This is a major undertaking by SuccessFactors — which mirrors similar ongoing migrations by other products in the SAP portfolio, including Ariba and Concur. Successful completion will be a major milestone for HANA, but until the migration is complete, customers will be watching carefully for any signs that things aren't going according to plan. So far, all seems to be on track, but we are now heading into the most critical phase of the project. Time to buckle up for the ride.
Image credit - Wildebeest migration, Mara river, Masai Mara © EcoView - Fotolia.com; headshot via SAP
Disclosure - Oracle and SAP are diginomica premier partners. SAP paid most of the author's travel expenses to attend its event in Vienna.


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An Open Sketchbook: Playful, Modern Prints for Kids and Beyond
- Location: Online
- Specialty: Whimsical prints and cards
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Store History
- Founded: 2012
- Founded by: Suzanne and Edgar Cabrera
The artwork and designs of An Open Sketchbook come across as just that — fanciful sketches with a colorful, fresh twist. From delightful scenes to simple, playful illustrations, their prints are lively and inspired — perfect for a kid's room or nursery.
They have a wide range of designs, from cute and cuddly stuffed animals to more modern themes. One series manages to seamlessly blend child and adult — the Mother Goose Concert Tour poster series is a grown-up take on a young classic where traditional, familiar nursery rhymes have been given a hip upgrade as a cool gig poster.
Don't forget to check out their line of stationery as well; kids' birthday party invitations, congrats cards, and more!
(Images: An Open Sketchbook)


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Click to listen to the Special Goodness' 'It's Only Natural'
Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson has been slowly building a body of work under the name the Special Goodness since the mid-Nineties. His fourth album, Natural, comes out this week and features Wilson's most accomplished solo tunes yet. (You can stream "It's Only Natural," one of disc's best tracks, above.) In a recent conversation with Rolling Stone, Wilson explained why he's never been more confident as a solo artist, his early experience collaborating with Rivers Cuomo in Weezer and why he's reluctant to recapture the magic of Weezer's recent Caribbean cruise.
This is your fourth album with the Special Goodness. What has it been like keeping this project going while being in Weezer full-time?
Weezer's pretty busy and takes up a lot of our energy but, at some point, I just sort of stopped trying to make [the Special Goodness] a band and just said, "I'm not going to be happy unless I do everything myself," which is totally ironic because that's not really my personality. My personality is to want to interact with other people and come up with something fun that maybe neither side would've done on their own. But it's pretty hard to get anyone to even really rehearse these days. It seems like the time we live in is the time of the auteur, really – the one-man show.
That's what I think is really cool about Weezer: it almost seems anachronistic, but our sensibility came from the time when you went in the studio and you all played together and you got it to sound good, you got the right take – and that's where the magic is. I don't really hear a whole lot of that in modern music anymore. I'm sure it'll come back, though.
Weezer also kinda went from being more focused on Rivers' songs to becoming more democratic, with the rest of you writing and singing, too, as you went along.
That's true. I mean, like, in the beginning, I wrote a lot of songs with Rivers. I was pretty fresh to Los Angeles. We were real young and somehow we all hooked up and I wrote a bunch of tunes with Rivers. I got a four-track and I would record all the music, but I didn't know what to sing or how to sing. I wasn't that interested in lyrics. I was kinda geeked out on how the music sounded. It worked good for him because I think he was kind of trying to be more of a songwriter rather than a shredder at the time, and that sort of gave him maybe a little bit of freedom to not think about the music so much and think more about the song. That worked for a while and then we blew up and I think he just decided, "You know what, I'm not really that into collaborating on that level." It was a bummer at the time but I don't really hold that against him.
When did you start feeling more comfortable as a singer?
I'd say two months ago. I kind of feel like the Special Goodness hasn't really been what I wanted it to be, and I feel way better about this record than anything else. I don't know if it's just because you grow up and you figure out what it is you really want, rather than what you think you want. I really am comfortable with it. It used to be that I would play stuff for people and I would get that awful feeling of hearing it through their ears and be like, "Ugh, that's not what I want them to hear."
What did you feel was missing?
I don't know, man. Maybe it's just because it's so stripped down and so direct, and it's just pretty honest. It's not really trying to be anything. It just is what it is, and it feels comfortable to me. And when I play it for other people, it feels the same as when I play it for myself, which is a great feeling.
Is that part of why you named the album Natural?
I guess so. Yeah, I mean, that name just came to me and it is pretty natural. There's no overdubs. It's a guitar and loudspeaker, a synth bass and the drums and the vocal. I would double the vocal and the choruses sometimes but other than that, there's no harmonies or anything. It's just as simple as I know how to make it. "It's Only Natural" came out of a period which was about mid-adulthood, looking around and seeing how the world works. My whole life, I never really felt in sync very much with how to get along in modern life – the things you're supposed to do, the things people expect of you – and I guess that song is basically a complaint that I don't fit into the modern world.
You went out on a Caribbean cruise with Weezer and a lot of other bands not long ago. How was that experience?
It was pretty magical. I've never been on a big boat like that. It was surreal. We're playing, it's like eight o'clock at night, the sun's going down, the boat's leaving Miami, we're playing on the deck of a giant boat and everybody on that boat wants to buy you a beer. I can't even describe it better than that. It was insane.
Will you guys do it again?
I wouldn't mind doing it again. I don't know if we will. When I was in high school, we all went to Daytona for our senior year and it was a magical experience. Then the people who didn't go went the next year and I didn't go, and I knew it was going to suck for them. It totally did. It was a disaster trip. I'd be kind of afraid to try to match the coolness of what we did.


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My TICKLING Session
by: Misty
"Are you sure you can handle this?" Wryel asked me, smiling that *evil grin* of a sadistic tickler's smile, that I have come to adore and fear over recent years.
Wanting to impress him with my courage and spunk, I retorted "Anything you can dish out baby, I can handle", knowing full well that I would regret that remark as soon as it passed through my lips.
He, of course, being a man of great experience and knowledge of tickling, grinned wider and looked into my big wild eyes with his smiling brown ones. That look chilled me to my very core. I knew I was in for the tickling of my life, but I was much too intrigued and turned on to back out at this point. "Well....as long as you're sure, Hon", he said, as he came to me, still standing, as he reached around me, pulling me to him, and he kissed me so gently. He continued this gentle kissing, exploring my mouth with his, as his nimble fingers caressed my back, and held me against his body for several minutes. I began to go weak in the knees when he said "Baby, let's sit down and be comfortable, it's gonna be a long, eventful evening and you are going to need your strength."(Oh god) We sat on the bed.
Already I was burning with desire for this man, as this encounter was a long time coming, and I already knew full well, even at this early stage, that it would be all I had anticipated and more. My body was trembling, shaking, I was so nervous. He was concerned and inquired as to whether I was alright. "Y-Y es...", I said, trying to hide it. It isn't that I was afraid of him. I did not for one second believe he would harm me. It was just a fear brought on by the weeks and weeks of explicit mental images of my feet being tickled by him, culminating in my mind as he had often described them to me in lurid, taunting detail. Tickling was a talent for which he had a gift. He often described them to me over the phone, when I was not alone, telling me exactly what he planned to do to my feet once he was afforded the opportunity, and he held me with his words, not unlike a deer caught in the headlights. I was overwhelmed by the almost unbearable anticipation leading up to this day.
We lay on the bed and continued the kissing, which was growing more and more passionate with each second. His skillful fingers were touching my breasts through my clothing, and unbuttoning the front of my long blue silk dress as he kissed and fondled me from head to toe. He opened the front of the dress slowly, as if he was unveiling some kind of precious objec de Art. He slid it off my shoulders and got up from the bed to see what he had done. I lay there before him in a black lace bra and panties, still tingling from what we were just doing and the kisses he was placing upon my naked soles, and in expectation of sensations to come. He smiled as he reached for his bag of tricks. "You can take that bra off, Baby. You're not going to need it today." I complied, of course. He tied my wrists in an X position, and fastened them to the center of the bedframe behind my head. It was quite immobilizing, and I have never felt so vulnerable in my life. It was absolutely intoxicating, the excitement I felt from relinquishing control to this man, who had held my heart for months now. He tied my feet to the bottom of the bedpost at the ankles, running his fingers sharply across the soles, and holding them like they were fragile and must be handled with extreme care. All the while he was doing this, he was talking to me about the many smartass remarks I had made to him over the past several months, and how those infractions had earned me some extra feet tickling time in his estimation. He was amazing in his ability to recount them all. (Was he keeping score? Did he write them down?) Okay...I admit..they WERE numerous, as I do tend to be a bit of a smartmouth once I get to know a person, if I like them. This verbal taunting of his was really affecting me, and by the time he completed his bondage of my body, I was literally quivering with anticipation and fear. Yes there was some fear. I admit it. But it was ssooooooo exciting, and I was so turned on by him.
He reached into his bag of toys and brought out some peppermint lotion, which I love, and softly rubbed it onto my soles and between my toes. The feeling was electric and I started wiggling my toes and jerking my feet even though he wasn't really tickling me YET. This made him smile really big....the "tickler" smile again.....the one I craved seeing. He said "Hon...we are going to have a blast, so just relax, okay?" and with that he ran his fingernails up my soles from the heels to the toes, making me cry out very loud and gasp uncontrollably. He placed his face, against my feet and rubbed my soles against his soft cheeks, closing his eyes. He told me that Obsession was one of his favorite perfumes, and I was impressed that he knew the scent that I had sprayed on my feet before dressing that morning. Then he put his tongue and sharp fingernails to my wrinkled arches. He came to me then and put his lips next to my ear and whispered " be prepared to scream."
I was squirming inside my own skin, thinking now that I may be in big trouble here, and wondering for a moment if I could talk him into untying me, if I wanted him to, at this point. However, not wanting him to untie me, I remained silent and waited for the tickling onslaught to begin. I did not have to wait long. Out of his tickle bag, he produced a sable paintbrush. He looked at me, smiling, and said "you look so beautifully helpless there Misty, and since I didnít bring a camera to capture this moment for all eternity, I guess I'll just have to paint you." With that he took that soft sable brush and began with my face, tickling my lips and nose and ears with maddening strokes, from which I desperately tried to escape. I don't know how long he did this, but it felt like forever to me, as I cannot stand it on my ears and nose. When he stopped, I was gasping for air and already begging him to please please stop this torment. I could see how pleased he was at this development, and my dire situation was once again made clear to me. "Suz,"he said, "What is the Safeword?"
"I know the word, don't worry,"I replied.
"No, I want to be sure you do, so say it for me Hon, so I know you can stop me if you have to."
"MORE!",I said,is your Safeword.
"Excellent" he said to himself, also giggling. The sable brush began its journey down my neck and shoulders, making me shudder and giggle, as he stopped at special places, tickling back and forth, every once in a while going back to tickle my ear, knowing that my reaction to that was always guaranteed giggling and struggling against the bonds that held me fast. He tickled up the insides of my captive arms, causing me to laugh and laugh, squirming as much as possible in this tightly tied position that my arms were in. He continued on the insides of my arms, the helpless flesh crawling as he touched it so softly with that devilish brush. I was begging him to just scratch that area to relieve the itching that his torturous tickling had caused. He ignored my pleas for relief, and smiled wide, as if the begging pleased him to no end. Straddling my hips now on top of me....he looked into my eyes, bending down and kissing me, as his fingers found their way to my defenseless hairless, armpits and he began wildly tickling them as I squirmed helplessly beneath his 250 pound frame. I tried to hold the laughing back...but just couldn't do it. Those are one of my most ticklish spots, and I just broke into uncontrollable hysterics, and he was laughing almost as hard, just from seeing my reaction to his wicked fingers in my pits. He proceeded to tickle me there for what seemed like 2 hours, but in reality was probably about 10 minutes. When he stopped I was gasping for air and tears were streaming down my silly face. Unable to stop laughing completely...I was still giggling as I was trying to breathe.... And he was still giggling too. I love his laugh. He said, "Oh Lordy, that is wonderful Misty.", and just that statement cracked me up again. I could see he was sporting a whopper of an erection...and I was feeling pretty hungry at this point, myself.
Allowing me to catch my breath....he started in on my helpless unprotected ribs, and my tummy, which is very ticklish. He abandoned the brush for his fingers 10 minutes ago, and now was working over my torso into a ticklish tirade, when he reached up and began touching my breasts, nipple in either hand, rolling them between his fingers and watching my face for a reaction. The sensation was electric, and coursed through my body like hot current, finding its mark between my legs, and making me try to arch my back and buck him off, but I couldnít because he had me pinned down. He alternated between the crazy rib tickling frenzy and the sensuous breast tickling and fondling until I did not know what to do, laugh or moan. He was still giggling when he got off me and told me that I should prepare myself for the next level.
Walking down to the foot of the bed, he was smiling and giggling, and that look on his face was priceless. I knew I was in for it now. He took my bound feet in his hand and began tickling them softly. I let a small giggle escape and thought to myself....oh this won't be too bad. Yeah, right! Wryel held them so gently, I thought he might actually make love to them....(that's another story, LOL). He placed two pillows under them, and ran a piece of rope around them and to each of the posts, effectively holding them in place on the bed. Pulling up a chair to sit comfortably, he began my journey to tickle hell/ecstasy. Running his one nail from the ball of my foot to the heel, it was like I had been struck with a whole new degree of ticklishness. I have always been sensitive on my feet, but this truly was a new level. I gasped aloud. His facial expression told me that this was the desired result, and he began slowly tickling my feet with fervor. Nails up and down the arches, over and over again, as my body jerked and bucked on the bed, and I laughed like a wild banshee in the process. Music to his ears that, he was inspired to begin working on the toes...sucking them and running his tongue in between them, tasting the peppermint and using his beautiful straight teeth to scrape along the bottoms of the big toes, sending signals to my brain that I still cannot even interpret. After my toes were soaked from his mouth expertise, he started scrabbling his fingers sideways on the base of the toes, making me go wild with ticklish insanity as he did so. I was laughing so hard I thought my sides would actually split, and I needed air something fierce. He would hear none of it, because he promised to help me explore my limits today, and since I had not used the safe word, he felt it was safe to continue. He worked my feet over for about 15 minutes, pausing every now and then for a minute, to let me catch my air just enough so he could continue some more without me passing out. Up the soles...tickling the arches, nails up the sides, tickling my ankles, sucking toes, and then running the silk stockings in between my toes, like toe floss, a sensation that was more erotic than any other toe torture. I thought I might just cum from this, but he stopped just as I reached the edge. I was stunned. "Hey...don't stop!" I whined...."I wanted to cum Baby".
"Not just yet Sweetheart, I have another plan for that." he replied. (He always has a plan and a goal. LOL). With that he cut the ties that held my ankles together and the one that held them to the bed posts. I thought he was going to release me. NOT!!!! He spread my legs wide and tied each ankle to the outside of the bed posts, so that my legs were spread so wide he would have complete access to every part of me. Into his bag of tricks he went, and he brought out two big blue feathers, with wispy tips. Running a feather up the inside of each leg, from the foot all the way up to the upper thigh, he made me moan and giggle the whole time. I could not move a muscle, tied so tightly. All I could do was endure this exquisite torture. He brought the feathers up to the inner thighs and tickled me there for a long time, watching me try to move my hips up and down in spasmodic hopes of making the wicked plumes touch my pussy. I was growing desperate for release, when he took two pencil tips and began tickling me on my zones, both at once, occasionally running one over my aching clit, which now was peeking out slightly from the lips, begging for his attention. He selected a tiny white feather from the bag... positioned himself between my widely spread legs, and proceeded to tickle my clit with the tip of that feather very slowly, stopping after three or four swipes with the feather, as I moaned and giggled and moaned some more, begging him for just another touch, just one more, please!!! I was so wet at this point I began to feel disoriented from the sexual frustration he was putting me through. Sensing I was about to lose it, he buried his mouth in my pussy, licking me only three or four times before I exploded with an orgasm, the intensity of which I can't even put into words. He continued his mouth pleasure, making me cum numerous times again, wave after wave.
Finally, Wryel released my ankles, tying them together again quickly with his belt. Bending them at the knee, he brought them up and placed them against his chest. He positioned his rock hard cock against my pussy, into which it slipped with enthusiasm. He began to slowly move inside me, and I was moaning and enjoying this immensely, when he started tickling my slippery feet again as he made love to me. He pumped me harder and harder with his hard cock and strong body, tickling my feet all the while, until the two of us came together in a brain blasting, cock rocking orgasm that left me unable to utter a sound, and left him giggling incoherently as he lay on top of my body with his head on my breasts. And do you know....that this man...was still tickling me? LOL !!!


text:
Former Juneau resident Doris T. DiCostanzo, 78, died April 28, 2003, in Kent, Wash.
She resided in Juneau from 1956-1982. She worked as an accountant for the State of Alaska until she retired in 1980.
She is preceded in death by her husband, Charles, two brothers and a sister.
She is survived by her daughter, Cherina Byrne of Kent; sons, Carmine DiCostanzo and Mario DiCostanzo of Juneau; brothers, Archie Fournier of Webster, Mass., and Mike Fournier of Ladylake, Fla.; sisters, Marie Ferraro of Worcester, Mass. and Eva Reed of Uncasville, Conn.; and six grandchildren.
No services are planned at this time.
© 2018. All Rights Reserved. | Contact Us


text:
Glass Votive Holder - Om
A golden OM symbol has been deeply etched and painted onto this frosted votive candle holder. Allow the soft light to enhance your meditations or simply beautify your altar, home or sacred space.
The OM symbol is one of the most powerful mantras. It serves as a reminder of our oneness with the Divine and all creation.
- Height: 2.5 inches
Code: 01141
233 available for immediate delivery
Quantity in Basket: None
Red items are required
Price: $4.25


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Wikiomics:Pathway analysis
From OpenWetWare
After determining a list of genes involved in a given biological process the next step is to map these genes to known pathways/Gene Ontology terms and determine i.e. which pathways are overrepresented in a given set of genes.
Recent review: Nam, Dougu, and Seon-Young Kim. "Gene-set approach for expression pattern analysis." Brief Bioinform (17, 2008): bbn001. HTML
- g:Profiler a web-based toolset for functional profiling of gene lists from large-scale experiments. Easy to use web server
- KOBAS server used for i.e. elucidating pathways in addicion
Li, Chuan-Yun, Xizeng Mao, and Liping Wei. "Genes and (Common) Pathways Underlying Drug Addiction." PLoS Computational Biology 4, no. 1 (1, 2008) HTML
objections (Damian D, Gorfine M. Statistical concerns about the GSEA procedure): http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36/n7/full/ng0704-663a.html and reply: http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v36/n7/full/ng0704-663b.html
Other tools to check
- GEPAT Genome Expression Pathway Analysis Tool. Performs standard microarray analyzes plus "Ensembl database and provides information about gene names, chromosomal location, GO categories and enzymatic activity for each probe on the chip.". Complex installation of java jars/MySQL etc.
- ErmineJ Java stand-alone program "designed to be used by biologists with little or no informatics background" + command line for expert
- PAGE Parametric Analysis of Gene Set Enrichment
- CPath database and software suite for storing, visualizing, and analyzing biological pathways demo page
- EASE (old?) http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid=14519205


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James O'Connor in line to start at fly-half against the British and Irish Lions
Australia coach Robbie Deans has hinted that James O'Connor is set to be handed the No 10 shirt against the Lions.
Last Updated: 20/05/13 4:23pm
With Quade Cooper omitted from the initial 25-strong squad revealed by Deans - and Kurtley Beale currently having taken a break from the game for personal issues - O'Connor is the favourite to fill the playmaker role.
Christian Lealiifano and Berrick Barnes are other possible contenders for the fly-half role, while Deans could still call up Cooper when he adds six more players to his squad on June 11.
However Deans is likely to give O'Connor, who has played across the backline since making his Test debut as an 18-year-old against Italy.
"We believe he caters for our need," said Deans.
"The last time he played for us, and obviously he wasn't available at any stage last year, he played at No 10 against Wales at the end of 2011 and did a very good job.
"In the outings he's had he's got the components we are looking for.
"He's clearly a bloke who traumatises defences, he keeps the attack very square, which provides opportunities for the channels (runners) around him."
O'Connor has started just one Test at fly-half - against Wales back in December 2011 - however he is ready to lead from the front if needed.
"Nothing's set in stone - it's still six weeks until the first Lions game," he said.
"But I've played No 10 all my life so I'm pretty comfortable there if I get given the opportunity.
"If I can put on that gold jersey again, it's going to be massive.
"I missed last year through injury and there are a lot of good players playing this year who are in flying form.
"But if the opportunity comes, I'm going to take it with both hands."
Watch the every Lions game live and exclusive only on Sky Sports. To sign up or upgrade click here


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4 FGCU teams land in NCAA's Top 100
FORT MYERS - The FGCU Softball, Baseball, Women's Basketball, and Volleyball programs, finished the 2008-09 season in the top 100 of the NCAA Division I RPI rankings. The rankings take into account several factors, including strength of schedule, success on the road, success against teams ranked higher in the RPI, and conference finish.
FGCU softball had the highest RPI of any of FGCU's programs as they finished 26th in the adjusted RPI rankings out of 284 Division I teams.
"I'm ecstatic," said head softball coach Dave Deiros. "I am very proud of our players, coaching staff, athletics program, and of Florida Gulf Coast University. We have come a long way in a very, very short time. I feel we're off to a great two-year start at Division I, and this accomplishment speaks volumes about how well our players can compete with and be measured alongside the nation's elite softball programs."
FGCU concluded the year at 47-9 overall, including a 15-5 A-Sun record. The Eagles finished ahead of such nationally prominent programs as Texas (Big 12), Baylor (Big 12), Iowa (Big Ten), Auburn (SEC), and Oklahoma State (Big 12).
FGCU Baseball finished 43rd in the adjusted RPI rankings out of 302 Division I teams.
FGCU baseball finished the year with a 36-18 overall record and won their second consecutive A-Sun Regular Season Championship, after finishing 23-7 in conference.
FGCU Women's Basketball finished 64th in the rankings out of 340 Division I teams.
The Eagles finished the year with a 26-5 overall record and won their first A-Sun Regular Season Championship, after finishing 17-3 in conference. FGCU's 17 conference wins were an A-Sun record.
The FGCU Volleyball team finished 84th out of 329 Division I teams in the adjusted RPI rankings.
Coach Nichols and the Eagles finished the year with a 20-8 overall record and won their second consecutive A-Sun Regular Season Championship, after finishing 18-2 in conference play.
"I am extremely pleased to have our program in the top 100 RPI rankings and we all look forward to continuing our pursuit for national recognition," said Nichols. "That being said, what I am most proud of are the back-to-back Atlantic Sun Conference championships we have worked so hard for and earned."
"We will continue to put together a competitive schedule allowing the Eagles to play the best teams across the country and prepare our program for greater success in the NCAA Tournament," he said. "The RPI factorization is a combination of winning and the quality of opponents on your schedule, so I will do my job and continue to up the level of competition and the Eagles will do their job in continuing our winning tradition."


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Filed under: Music
Filed under: Paparazzi Video
Last night co-stars and lovers Hayden Christensen and Rachel Bilson premiered their new movie Jumper in NYC. Rachel began her morning requesting to "jump" back into bed so hopefully she got a nap in before the big event. She sure looks well rested and glows in her one shoulder gold dress, which must have been hard to stay warm in. Luckily she had Anakin Skywalker there to keep her warm. The film reunites the Star Wars actors but according to Samuel L Jackson he gets his revenge this time around. As for Rachel, she's adorable as ever and admits she's been "lucky in the leading man area" so she can't complain. Did we ever mention we love Rachel Bilson?
For lots more pictures including Samuel L, Jesse McCartney, Doug Liman, and more just
read more
Filed under: Paparazzi Photo
Filed under: Celebrity Justice


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Full time associate veterinarian needed for our 100% small animal practice located in a northern suburb of Tampa. We are a rapidly expanding practice, soon to relocate to a 9600s.f. free standing building. Fiscal year 2017 revenues of $1.17M in this non-corporate, family owned business were achieved with 1.2 veterinarians. The part time associate has moved away, and we are replacing her with a full time associate.
The position is open to veterinarians with minimal experience, and the compensation package will be tailored to the experience and skillset of the new hire. Expect a high level of mentoring and one-on-one oversight from the owner/head of medicine and surgery. The new vet should be receptive to all fields of instruction, including medicine and surgery, especially as it pertains to diagnoses. Mentoring will also include attention to customer needs, marketing, organizational behavior, proper business practices, and all aspects of business management. That said, ours is a practice in which associates will never be held to certain goals or guidelines in terms of production. We are a non-corporate practice.
Ours is a very busy practice, with a high surgical caseload. We perform minimal spays and neuters, as there is a local spay-neuter clinic that attends to that. Our surgeries range from standard lump removals to advanced orthopedic surgeries, including ACL, FHO, and complicated fracture repair, as well as soft tissue surgeries that include PU's, subtotal colectomy, GDV, intestinal anastomosis, etc. While no previous advanced surgical experience is required, the new associate should have an interest in expanding her surgical skills and performing most of these surgeries. However, an exceptional candidate without surgical proclivities will still be considered.
Besides a high level of mentoring, the new associate should look forward to working with the most advanced equipment available to the general practitioner. This includes a complete Idexx Catalyst/Lasercyte facility, including clinical UA and SnapshotDX, a Nikon E200 cytology microscope, SonoScape S6 Ultrasound, Rayence digital x-ray, K-laser Cube 4 cold therapy laser, Tono-Pen AviaVet digital tonopen, and much more. Advanced equipment requests beyond these are always considered.
Ours is an extremely friendly and low-stress work environment, and the successful candidate will be one who is people oriented, enjoys working with others, and expects to bring a smile to work every day. We stress making sure all employees have maximum time off, and emphasizing that all team members have a fulfilling family life is as important to our management team as is any aspect of productivity or customer satisfaction.
Interested candidates should apply with resume and cover letter, and we'll be happy to discuss more details in person.
Small animal surgery, medicine, dentistry
AAVMCp: 202.371.9195
f: 202.842.0773
VMCASp: 617.612.2884
f: 617.612.2051


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Explanations: No. 14705 – Friday, 17 February 2012
Please feel free to leave a comment below. If you have a question about today's puzzle you can include it in a comment and hopefully your question will be answered!
How did you fare with this crossword?
1 Piano tune for a weak hand? (4)
Piano (P) tune (AIR) for = PAIR: a weak (poker) hand.
4 A good deal there maybe quick catching the morning boat (4,6)
Quick (FLE-ET) catching "the morning" "boat" (AM-ARK) = FLEA MARKET: a good deal there maybe.
9 Gypsy choir selection for a film (6)
"gy-PSY CHO-ir" selection, for = PSYCHO: a film.
10 Certainly not a small business concern in fossil fuel (8)
In "fossil fuel" (CO-AL) business concern (LOSS) = COLOSSAL: certainly not a small.
11 He has cause being more tasteless around South Africa (8)
More tasteless (CRU-DER) around "South Africa" (SA) being = CRUSADER: he has cause.
12 Fashionable street to record where there's an arch (6)
Fashionable (IN) street (ST) to "record" (EP) = INSTEP: where there's an arch.
13 Stop working for others (4)
Stop working (REST) for "others" (REST).
15 US capital outlaw about to bet in roulette (5,5)
Outlaw, 'ban', about "to" [BA(TO)N] bet in roulette (ROUGE) = BATON ROUGE: US capital.
17 Way out West for an American drama teacher (10)
Drama teacher (STAGE COACH) for = STAGECOACH: way out West for an American.
19 Uses rollers and parts of matches (4)
Uses rollers (SETS) and "parts of (tennis) matches" (SETS).
20 Strengths instead of a setback (6)
Instead of (FOR) a "set" back (TES) = FORTES: strengths.
22 It's illuminating that Diane is not quite finished in the competition (8)
In "the competition" (RA-CE) "Dian-e" is not quite finished (DIAN) = RADIANCE: it's illuminating, that.
25 Not serious about a letter from Greece for that old Greek character! (8)
Not serious (MINO-R) about "a letter from Greece" (TAU) for = MINOTAUR: that old Greek character.
26 Green light after the motorway for Cork town (6)
After "the motorway" (M) green light (ALLOW) for = MALLOW: Cork town.
27 Maybe Lawrence's Mellors was willing to furtively look back at 'er? (10)
Willing (GAME) to furtively look, 'peek', back (KEEP) at "'er" (ER) was = GAMEKEEPER: maybe D. H. Lawrence's "Mellors" in "Lady Chatterley's Lover".
28 Most recent is from the northeast and this direction (4)
The northeast (NE) and this direction (WEST) is from = NEWEST: most recent.
2 Good at picking up they're crunched or crooked (9)
They're crunched (ABS) or (OR) crooked (BENT) = ABSORBENT: good at picking up.
3 Makes music like the Stones? (5)
The stones (ROCKS) makes music like the Stones (ROCKS).
4 You'll see one from Oslo or Ardee following a loud little woman (5)
A loud (F) Little Woman (JO) followed by "Ar-dee" (RD) or = FJORD: you'll see one from Oslo.
5 Maybe a sound bite not including Romeo on the radio inside (7)
Not including (EXCE-PT) "Romeo on the radio" inside (R) = EXCERPT: maybe a sound bite.
6 A tiny bit sick, one interrupted part of the year (9)
Part of the year (M-ONTH) interrupted by "sick" "one" (ILL-I) = MILLIONTH: a tiny bit.
7 Rocky rises and rocky hills, they stem the current (9)
Rocky "rises" (RESIS) and rocky hills (TORS) = RESISTORS: they stem the current.
8 Take marks off for the time around Wexford initially (5)
The time (ERA) around Wexford, 'the South East', initially (SE) = ERASE: take marks off.
14 Drunk one might skip this narrow kind of crossing (9)
Drunk (TIGHT) one might skip this (ROPE) = TIGHTROPE: narrow kind of crossing.
15 Wait there before going on the return journey? (9)
The return journey (BACK STAGE) = BACKSTAGE: wait there before going on.
16 Convey for instance back tax (3,6)
For instance, 'eg', back (GE) t-a-x (T-A-CROSS) = GET ACROSS: convey.
18 Show on telly with a small amount of help from on high (3-4)
Show on telly (AIR) with "a small amount" of (DROP) = AIR-DROP: help from on high.
21 Kind of board getting positive responses from two different Europeans (5)
Positive response from a European (OUI) and another (JA) = OUIJA: kind of board.
23 Object for a medic taking in an Aussie runner (5)
A medic (D-R) taking in "an Aussie runner" (EMU) for = DEMUR: object.
24 Everything that's painful is OK (5)
Everything (ALL) that's painful (OW) is = ALLOW: OK.


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HTC Merge becomes available for pre-order starting on March 28th via Alltel.
The device features a 3.8-inch display, Android 2.2 Froyo, an 800MHz processor, a QWERTY keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera with 720p HD video recording, HTC Sense, GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and supports both CDMA and GSM networks.
It will be available for $124.99 with a new, two-year agreement and mail-in-rebate.
Add comment


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Sorry, no etymologies found.
And with good reason: Virtuosity onstage Thursday could be assumed as much as admired, whether from banjoists Sammy Shelor, Kirk Sutphin and Steve Barr; flatpicking ace Josh Pickett; or Eddie Bond, who could seemingly handle every stringed instrument they could make room for on the touring bus.
In concert: Music from the Crooked Road: Mountain Music of Virginia at Reston Center Stage
The seminal guitarist - whose flatpicking style influenced nearly everyone on the bill, whether or not they realized it - held court with standards such as "Shady Grove '' and" Anytime. ''
I've always loved the interesting anecdote that Doc developed his now legendary flatpicking style while playing a Les Paul (electric solid body guitar) while he was playing in a Rockabilly band in the 1950's.
WN.com - Articles related to Watson To Present at Bank Of America/Merrill Lynch 2010 Healthcare Conference
Great for bluegrass flatpicking, but may sound too bright to someone who has mainly played recent Martins or Gibsons with mohogany bodies.
Add to that the brand's dominance in such genres as bluegrass (flatpicking in particular), and you have both classic mojo and continued demand.
And, not surprisingly, the lanky tenor with the signature flatpicking guitar style has created one humdinger of a debut.
Lots of flatpicking fiddle tunes on guitar and a few mandolin tunes thrown in for good measure.
I pulled most of my bass runs out of a Steve Kaufman flatpicking guitar book.
It's much easier to hybrid pick notes on strings that are relatively far away from each other, instead of moving your hand up and down all the time like you would if you were strictly flatpicking!
All you need to know is that hybrid picking is a technique that uses both flatpicking and fingerpicking styles, which makes it a perfect technique for very speedy passages with lots of string skips.


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ChronoZoom challenge: visualize history and win
November 6, 2013 | By Microsoft blog editor
I love my job! Why? Because, as manager of Games for Learning and Digital Humanities at Microsoft Research Connections, I get to explore four of my favorite things: games, art, technology, and education.
This week is especially exciting for me, because yesterday, we launched the Microsoft ChronoZoom Visualizing Challenge, which unites all four of these passions. Even better, it offers you the opportunity to participate—and maybe win a great prize (see disclaimer). Microsoft is sponsoring a challenge to create visualizations that (1) use ChronoZoom datasets and (2) provide new functions that have been requested by educators and students in our pilot programs. Read the Official Rules and register to enter the challenge.
So, how does this competition bring my four favorite things together? Allow me to explain:
A challenge is defined as a game of skill. There is no chance involved. We will provide all contestants with the same dataset and the same basic information. You can use a wide variety of tools to create either a static or a dynamic visualization of the challenge data.
The challenge is all about creating beautiful visualizations. In this regard, I would suggest that beautiful should be defined as "elegant, refined, and functional." The visualizations should be simple enough for middle school students to use and understand, but powerful enough to enable these students to draw deep insights.
ChronoZoom's robust, innovative technology is the result of three years of collaboration between Microsoft Research, the University of California at Berkeley, Moscow State University, the University of Washington, and researchers and historians around the world. ChronoZoom is a free, open source, community-owned project designed to run on any modern browser.
ChronoZoom was originally intended as an tool for teaching Big History, which is to say the history of life, humanity, the Earth, the cosmos—everything that's happened during the last 13.8 billion years. Recently, we've shifted the focus to general history education, adapting ChronoZoom to empower teachers at middle schools and high schools, giving them a powerful tool for explaining complex concepts of causality and ambiguity in historical thinking. We are following a standards-aligned curriculum we've developed in partnership with the National Council for Social Studies, the American Historical Association, the University of North Carolina, and a group of talented curriculum developers and subject matter experts.
Challenge criteria
You can enter by yourself or in a team of up to five people. If you work at a design firm and want to enter, please be sure you (or your company) meet our eligibility guidelines with respect to the public sector (see disclaimer).
An independent third-party organization, visualizing.org, will assemble a panel of expert judges to evaluate the entries according to the following criteria:
- Utility and flexibility: How easy is it to use and understand the visualization? Can it be adapted to other datasets?
- Creativity and beauty: Does the visualization demonstrate a novel approach to the problem? Is the solution presented in an elegant, polished way?
- Accessibility and openness: Is the entry open source? Does it work on all browsers?
In addition, there will be two special prizes: a Student Prize and an Infographic Prize. The Student Prize will be awarded to the best entry made by a student or an all-student team. The Infographic Prize will go to the best non-interactive entry. This can just be a beautiful image that illuminates the data by using the creative tools of your choice.
Entries will be eligible to win the following prizes:
- First Place: US$5,000 and a trip to Moscow (the one in Russia, not Idaho!) to meet with a ChronoZoom designer/coder/programmer
- Second Place: US$2,750
- Third Place: US$1,500
- Student Prize: US$300. If a student team wins, each student will receive $300, up to $1,500 maximum (for a team of five).
- Infographic Prize: US$1,000
You can probably tell that I am thrilled to have the opportunity to invite you to take part in this challenge. It will be lots of fun and, best of all, the visualizations that are developed will be available for educators and student around the world to better understand history and concepts of historical thinking. If you are a developer, enter the challenge! If not, stick around and we will share all the entries with you once the challenge is over! The challenge runs from 11:01 A.M. Eastern Time (ET) on November 5, 2013, and ends at 11:59 P.M. ET on January 8, 2014. Register now!
—Donald Brinkman, Manager, Games for Learning and Digital Humanities, Microsoft Research Connections
Learn more
- Register to enter the ChronoZoom Visualizing Challenge
- ChronoZoom Visualizing Challenge Official Rules
- ChronoZoom beta
- Become a Time Traveler with ChronoZoom (video)
- ChronoZoom Tutorial (video)
- Presenting the History of Everything (blog)
- ChronoZoom Quick Reference Guide (PDF)
- ChronoZoom User Guide and Lesson Plan (PDF)
- Prophets of Zoom (The Economist)
- ChronoZoom project page
- ChronoZoom Named Top Educational Resource at 2013 SXSW Interactive (blog)
- South by Software—Microsoft's Excellent Austin Adventure (blog)
- Education and Scholarly Communication at Microsoft Research Connections
Disclaimer: Open only to individuals 18 years of age or older who are currently enrolled as students at an accredited educational institution that grants college/university degrees (a "University"), or individuals 18 and older who are employed at an accredited educational institution that grants college/university degrees and who do not make procurement decisions in their employment, or individuals 18 and older who are employed at a private sector company and who do not engage in procurement or regulatory activities in their employment. Individuals may enter individually or in teams of up to five (5). Private sector companies that do not engage in procurement or regulatory activities with any public sector agency may also enter as well. Challenge ends at 11:59 P.M. ET on January 8, 2014. Read the Official Rules" target="_blank">Read the Official Rules.


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DEAR BENNY: We built a vacation home in 1989. We recently discovered that the contractor made some serious errors in construction.
Evidently he used poor flashing and waterproofing techniques. We hired another contractor recently to assess the situation. The result was that we had to tear down and rebuild a significant part of the home at great cost.
We contacted the original contractor, who has told us that he has no liability and that the statute of limitations will prevent us from recovering any of our costs from him. Our insurance company says that because the damage was due to contractor error and is long-term damage, it has no responsibility either.
Is the original contractor correct in that he is protected from any action we might take against him? Any other suggestions you might have would be much appreciated.
If I have no way to recover some of the cost from the contractor or the insurance company, do you know if I can at least claim this as a casualty loss when I file my tax returns this year? — Joe
DEAR JOE: Every state has adopted what is known as a "statute of limitations." This means that after a certain number of years, you lose your right to file suit.
The time limitations may differ on the type of claim. For example, suing for libel may be only one year, while suing for breach of contract may be three years.
There is a public policy involved here: If you wait too long before you file suit, it will be difficult to recreate or even remember the facts. In other words, "Use it or lose it." You have to talk to your attorney about the limitations period in your state.
But there is a significant exception, called the "discovery rule." If you suddenly discover a problem that you could not have learned before the statute of limitations expired, you may still be able to file suit. Again, since state laws differ, your attorney should be able to advise you whether you still have the right to file.
Can you claim a casualty loss on your tax returns? Probably not. In order to have such a loss, the event must be sudden, unexpected or unintended. And although your loss may have been unexpected, I doubt that the IRS would accept your claim.
DEAR BENNY: Regarding the repeal of the "stepped-up basis" referred to in your recent column (regarding beneficiaries of inherited homes), would the repeal also apply to a home where the deceased had a life-estate interest in the home? — George
DEAR GEORGE: As you know, this year there is no stepped-up basis.
Prior to this year, if the decedent owned a life interest in the property, his life interest expired when he died and there would be nothing to step up. The remainder beneficiaries would not receive any step up based on the death of the life tenant. They received the property with a basis that is the value of the property when the original owner from whom they inherited the property died.
This year (and no one knows what Congress will do about this issue) "step-up" is replaced by "carry-over basis" rules. Oversimplified, this means the basis of inherited property remains the same as it was for the deceased owner.
In other words, the basis is the lesser of market value on date of death or the deceased owner's basis. However, heirs can increase that basis up to $1.3 million (or up to $3 million for property passing to a surviving spouse) but in no event more than the appraised value on the date of death.
Benny Kass is a practicing attorney in Washington, D.C., and Maryland. No legal relationship is created by this column. Questions for this column can be submitted to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Shooting on location comes with advantages and disadvantages. North Carolina offers generous tax credits, and Charlotte is a city with a sizable downtown, one that can sometimes pass for Washington, D.C. (Shooting in downtown D.C. is a logistical and financial challenge.)
Because production in Charlotte is rare, locals are eager to have the cast and crew there and willing to go to some lengths to accommodate them. During Damian Lewis' driving scene, nearly a half-dozen police cars were dispatched as escorts around the city. At one point, the scene required blocking two lanes of freeway during rush hour; a look back from the production van showed a curving line of traffic as far as the eye could see.
But Charlotte also has a downside — namely, producers fear they're burning through locations. The city is not that big, and there are only so many ways to shoot a place so it looks like Dupont Circle or Farragut Square.
PHOTOS: Hollywood backlot moments
The production has also moved to Mooresville, a throwback small town with a quaint Main Street about a half-hour north of here, for a variety of less urban locations. Fans will recognize it from, among others, the Gettysburg tailor-shop scene in season one--the site is actually a long-running clothing store where the elderly bowtied owner will eagerly greet drop-ins with all the information on tuxedo rentals and tie varieties a man could ever want.


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Robotic surgery seems to be all the rage. Years ago, the only option for surgery was an "open" method – the patient has a large incision through which the operation takes place. This was recently replaced with laparoscopic surgery, where several tiny incisions are made, and a small camera and instruments are inserted through them to complete the operation. The latest technology has brought us robotic surgery, similar to laparoscopy but the surgical instruments are hooked up to a machine. The surgeon sits in a corner of the operating room at the console of the robot, and controls it remotely. One assistant usually stays scrubbed in at the operating table, while the main surgeon works on the patient from several feet away.
Robotic surgery is becoming increasingly popular, and in fact counts for the majority of this country's prostatectomies and hysterectomies (removal of the prostate and uterus respectively; usually for cancer). When compared to traditional laparoscopic surgery, the robot allows for greater dexterity since laparoscopic instruments have limited mobility, and for better visualization in three dimensions rather than two.
There is evidence that traditional laparoscopic surgery leads to better outcomes than an open case; for example, there is a quicker recovery time and fewer infections after surgery with smaller incisions. However, despite the surge in the popularity of robotic surgery, there have been no studies that have concluded definitively that it is superior to regular laparoscopic surgery. In addition, there is no standardized training for robotic surgery in residency programs, and different surgeons have different levels of experience with the robot.
The legislation regulating medical technology must be strict enough to protect patient safety, but lax enough to allow for innovation. Therefore, new technology in medicine is not rigorously researched in the same way that new medications are. There were no phase I, II, and III clinical trials for robotic surgery. Instead, it was FDA approved because it was deemed to be similar enough to an established surgical method – laparoscopy.
Whether robotic surgery is just a trend in medicine, or whether it becomes the next proven best surgical method remains to be seen. If you are considering robotic surgery over traditional laparoscopy, you might consider asking your surgeon about his or her experience with it versus laparoscopic surgery. Since I'll be doing lots of robotic and laparoscopic surgery as an OB/GYN resident, I'd love to hear your thoughts. Would you have robotic surgery, despite the lack of evidence it is the better method?


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UN Warns Israel of 'Fatal Blow' to Peace
Israeli settlement plans in a strategically sensitive area of occupied land near East Jerusalem would deal "an almost fatal blow" to peace hopes, UN head Ban Ki-moon has warned.
Palestinians in East Jerusalem could be completely cut off from the rest of the West Bank, he said.
Israel authorised 3,000 additional housing units a day after the UN voted to upgrade Palestinian status.
The UN General Assembly backed a proposal on Thursday by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to change the Palestinians' status at the UN to that of non-member observer state.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue with the building plans.
In a statement on Sunday, Ban expressed "grave concern and disappointment" over the 3,000 newly authorised Israeli settlement units in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
But he was most adamant that any plans to build in the so-called E1 area - between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Maaleh Adumim - should be rescinded. An Israeli official has described the proposals in the E1 zone as "preliminary zoning and planning work".
"It would represent an almost fatal blow to remaining chances of securing a two-state solution," Ban said.
The US said earlier the expansion plan was counter-productive and would make it harder to resume peace talks, and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was "extremely worried" by prospects of large-scale construction.
Mahmoud Abbas has called for an end to settlement building and a return to peace talks.
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...or like the winner with :
"The winner takes it all
The loser standing small".....Salute, Netanyahu. But are You really the winner, Benjamin?
Once again, Israel behaves like a 3 year old child throwing a tantrum.


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Founded in 2160 by the human mercenaries Zaeed Massani and Vido Santiago, the Blue Suns were initially a Skyllian Verge protection racket. As they expanded in numbers and influence, the two co-founders disagreed vehemently on many issues. Finally, after arguing about whether to recruit the slave-trading batarians into their ranks, Vido ambushed Zaeed and shot him in the head.
Believing Zaeed dead, Vido took full control of the Blue Suns and hired whatever batarians he pleased. Soon, he had crowned one named Solem Dal'serah as titular head of operations. It was a move designed to placate his batarian investors and draw fire from would-be assassins. It worked on both counts, and the partnership has lasted to this day.
Over the decades, the Suns grew into a fearsome combat force spanning dozens of planets in Citadel space, the Verge, and the Terminus Systems. Knowing that a good logistical team is key to fielding an army, Vido diversified the Suns, selling arms, training, and supplies as often as taking contracts to crack skulls. Even when the Suns suffered heavy losses, Vido's entrepreneurial expertise ensured new recruits could replace the old. All that was lost was the truth - today, only a handful of trusted mercs even know who Vido Santiago is, let alone his old partner Zaeed.


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AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty
Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal on Thursday, the latest move towards ending a split that has splintered Palestinian leadership for a decade.
Negotiations between the two groups began Tuesday in talks lead by Egypt. This has been considered the most serious effort to date to bring the two factions following a bloody near-civil war in 2007.
Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the US, which has complicated efforts by the Palestinians to bring the groups together.
While details about the deal are still scarce, it appears that Fatah — the ruling party in the West Bank — will have more control over Gaza, which has been run by Hamas since the split. Specifically, Fatah will reportedly have joint control over a key Gaza border crossing, and will in return lift some puntative sanctions.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the deal a "final agreement to end the division," while speaking with the AFP. The Fatah leader will reportedly visit Gaza within a month, the first time he has been there since 2007.
A unity government will reportedly take control of Gaza by December 1.
Ahmed Yousef, an adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniya, told The New York Times that Fatah and Hamas had yet to discuss several key points — such as Hamas' military wing and an Israel strategy.
Before talks began, Abbas said he would not accept "the reproduction of the Hezbollah experience in Lebanon." Hezbollah, a recognized terrorist group, is part of the Lebanese government, but maintains its own army.
Hamas has remained staunchly opposed to even discussing demilitarization.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also made demilitarization one of his criteria for entering any talks with the Palestinians.
REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski
Given Netanyahu's current stance, a Fatah-Hamas reconciliation could doom negotiations, Daniel Kurtzer, a former US Ambassador to Israel and Egypt, told Business Insider before the new deal was announced.
"Netanyahu can do what he wants to do, and thus far he appears irreconcilably opposed to PLO-Hamas reconciliation," Kurtzer said in an email. "If the Palestinians do reconcile on a reasonable basis and if Netanyahu's attitude doesn't change, it will be impossible to reach negotiations now."
Mohammad Dahlan, a controversial Palestinian leader who is one of the main players in the Fatah-Hamas talks, seemed to acknowledge favoring reconciliation over possible Israeli peace talks in a recent interview with Reuters.
"The internal Palestinian situation is more sacred, is more important, and is more useful now than the so-called negotiation," Dahlan said.
More talks have been scheduled for late November.
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: Tom Price resigns after controversy over private flights — here are the casualties of the Trump administration so farRead Full Article
See Also:
- Trump reportedly didn't know about the loophole in the 25th Amendment that lets 14 people remove a sitting president from office
- A psychology professor reviewed decades of research about having kids and came to a depressing conclusion about marriage
- 'Here we go again': Israel and Palestine may doom Trump's Middle East peace push before it even starts
SEE ALSO: 'Here we go again': Israel and Palestine may doom Trump's Middle East peace push before it even starts


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Here is a video clip from last week's final of The Montalts Got Talent that took place at The Montalt Arms in Mablethorpe last Wednesday (February 26).
The 12 finalists that got through to the final out of a start list of 30 were: Tom Russell, Rob Bingham, Jack Forknall, Charlotte Tedford, Gareth Wright, Aaron Maltby, Daryl McGarry, Christopher Tedford, Tara Fisher, Paul Douglas, Tom Holt and Marie Woolley.
Each of these 12 finalists are featured in this video clip, that was filmed by Trevor Bradford.
All of the finalists sung one song of their choice trying to impress the judges who then had to knock it down to the final six which included Charlotte Tedford, Gareth Wright, Tom Russell, Jack Forknall, Rob Bingham and Paul Douglas who then sung one final song each in the hope of becoming the winner.
But the winner of The Montalts Got talent winning the £250 prize money was Jack Forknall.
The full story about the final is featured in this week's Mablethorpe Leader, out now and the full interview with winner Jack Forknall will appear in next week's Mablethorpe Leader (out Wednesday, March 12).
But if you weren't able to make The Montalts Got Talent final or you want to re-live some of the performance excitement, you can watch it again now.


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This blog post is part of the OSC Five Core Leader Functions series that will feature several guest bloggers.
by Rob Gerardi, Instructional Designer/Outreach Speaker, Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control
The best command I ever served aboard was the USS HIGGINS (DDG-76). After the 9/11 attacks the OPTEMPO and requirements for all ships increased immensely and ours was no exception. We experienced our share of operational stress and observed its affects. However, our Sailors persevered and the HIGGINS earned multiple major awards.
The secret to our success was truly no secret–unit cohesion and quality leadership. The ship's tight knit atmosphere encouraged us to know each other on professional and personal levels so we could be aware of and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses. As a result, when there were signs of distress, or changes in behavior or functioning, timely interventions prevented small problems from becoming big ones.
Equally important to our success was our senior leadership's monitoring of our command's stress level. While we pushed ourselves to achieve mission, we also identified the stress zones in which individuals were operating moment to moment – and watched for the stressors that presented the greatest challenges. Keeping an eye on both our workloads and our shipmates allowed us to anticipate when the wear and tear would become too much.
However, it's not enough to identify when someone is having trouble navigating stress, we have to act. Don't let stigma be a barrier to admitting to your own or someone else's stress problems. On HIGGINS, we continually looked out for each other and ensured that everyone who needed help got it. Still today, many of us commonly engage each other and reminisce on how great that command was.
So, know the stress continuum, identify when you or your shipmates are in the yellow "reacting" zone, before you or they become "injured." Then have the courage to ask for help, or engage and help out a Shipmate. At the end of the day the most important thing you have is the pride of your mission and the respect and admiration for the Sailors and Marines serving by your side.
YouTube video – Navy OSC – Identify
About the Blogger:
Retired Master Chief Petty Officer Gerardi enlisted in the United States Navy on September 16, 1985. He has served as an Independent Duty Corpsman; Program Director, Independent Duty Corpsman School; Command Master Chief for the Naval School Health Sciences; and as the Commander Naval Surface Forces, Force Medical Master Chief. He retired January 2009, and works for the Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control, promoting the psychological health of Sailors, Marines and their families.
Related posts:
Conversations with a Cruiser CO – Practical Ways to Mitigate Stress
OSC's Five Core Leader Functions
Now I Have OSC – What Do I Do With It?