text:
Great animated short video:
Let's Talk About Soil – English from IASS Vimeo Channel on Vimeo.
Great animated short video:
Let's Talk About Soil – English from IASS Vimeo Channel on Vimeo.
The inspiration for this post came from my just having finished Tobias Buckell's Arctic Rising. I have been a fan of Buckell's work ever since I read Crystal Rain. Arctic Rising is part mystery / thriller, part what Yannick Rumpala has called eco-fiction (as opposed to strict science-fiction, like Crystal Rain), borrowing the term from Christian Chelebourg's Mythologies De La Fin Du Monde. Eco-fiction refers to these stories that refer to a future where environmental collapse has dramatically altered societies, leading to dystopian social formations.
Arctic Rising takes the reader not to a distant future, as his previous novels had, but to a close future where it would still be possible to reverse environmental degradation, but enough damage has already occurred to create ecological damage and transformations (such as warming all the way to the Arctic as well as land loss South due to rising sea levels).
So, new lines of conflicts have opened as new trafficking routes became available (such as the Northwest Passage). New balances of power are being negotiated between declining powers and rising ones (the "Arctic Tigers"). And there are also corporate powers involved as well, in particular, the Gaia Corporation whose name will be familiar to Buckell's regular readers. And there is also a mystery man from Anegada… there has to be one or it wouldn't be a Buckell novel!
The Gaia corporation – which resembles a lot a fictional version of Google (I couldn't help thinking that the name of the founders, gender aside, Ivan Cohen and Paige Greer sounded a lot like Sergey Brin and Larry Paige) with an environmental twist. In the context of generalized legitimation crisis and inability of governments to collaborate to stop the ecological predicted catastrophe, corporate actors decide to flex their muscles, but they are not exactly the good guys.
The atmosphere of the whole novel is that of impending doom as people try to figure out what to do in an increasingly anomic context. That is the backdrop. The main character is Anika Duncan, a Nigerian, bi-sexual, UN pilot (how cool is all this?) whose job is to patrol the new routes opened by the melting of the Arctic to monitor for smuggling. One day, she detects something fishy on a ship, decides to investigate only to have her plane blown out of the sky and her partner killed. She is later herself victim of assassination attempts. All this tells her she has bumped into something big (a super weapon in the form of high-tech terraforming little balls initially designed to stop the warming, it turns out) and soon, she's on the run trying to figure things out.
The story was a bit too much shoot-'em up action and there are some convenient plot points (the Anegadan spy always comes up with the right resources at the right time thanks to mystery contacts that just happen to always be available and always come through at the right time with the right stuff). I really disliked the "torturing the torturer" stuff (especially the "I'm so ashamed of what I have done to other that I need to be tortured to expiate my sins" stuff, I really did not like that, it was both convenient – it allowed the "good guys" to engage in brutal violence with immediate moral exoneration – and contrived).
That being said, I really liked the main character, Anika. How often does one get a black woman, with a fluid and non-problematic sexuality, with intelligence and skills as lead? Close to never. I also really liked the whole social / global / environmental background to the story. I wish there had been more of that. But then, I always wish for more context. Part of the issue for me was that, on balance, it was a bit too much on the thriller side, and not enough on other aspects, such as life in the world-risk society. But again, that is my bias.
Actually, Arctic Rising feels like the original point for all the other novels that Buckell has written (kinda like when Brin wrote Startide Rising before Sundiver). I wonder if his plan is to progressively plug the gaps between these two and finally giving us the full story in-between. I certainly hope so.
So, Buckell's book takes the readers to the turning point, where things still could change but won't because of political inability to act collectively and globally. This is the time before manure really hits the fans, destroys societies, leading to radical social transformations of the dystopian type which seems to be the theme du jour. But the dystopian genre, very present in the young adult literature, usually picks up at a much later time: all the bad stuff has happened. Society as we knew it has disintegrated into chaos and conflict. Some new power rose to reestablish order, but did so in a not-too-pretty fashion: enter The Hunger Games.
By now, the whole background story is well-known. After The Dark Days (initiated by weapons of mass destruction and environmental degradation), the Capitol rose to claim control over Panem, creating its own world-system, with a strict division of labor between 12 districts (D13 having been destroyed, or so denizens of the other districts are told) who produce everything needed for the Capitol denizens to be a well-kept leisure class.
And every year, each districts has to send two teenagers (boy and girl) to fight to the death in the Arena both as entertainment for the Capitol and clear reminder to the districts that they'd better not mess with the Capitol again or try to rise up in rebellion.
See my comparative analysis of the Hunger Games v. Battle Royale (also a product of anomie and social disintegration where generations turn on each other and adults take it out on teenagers perceived as responsible for the persistent chaos).
In HG, one can detect a theme that one finds in other dystopian, young adult, ecofiction: the rise of the youthful hero, incarnating a rejuvenation of humankind, symbolically, politically, and environmentally. The youthful hero (boy or girl) is always "different", not politically aware (often thrown somehow against its will into the politics of his/her world), but questioning of the system at the micro level, and somewhat on the deviant side. This is true for Katniss Everdeen in HG, what with her hunting skills that could get her killed. But this is a theme pursued also in Divergent.
Now, as I mentioned in my review, I never made it past the first book of the as-of-yet incomplete trilogy and Roth does not provide much context for the structure of society but it seems clear that something environmentally catastrophic has happened. And the current social structure, then, is an attempt to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past by avoid them. Hence the different castes, based on which human trait is identified as the one most detrimental to humankind and therefore to be avoided at all costs.
In Divergent, the rise of the youthful hero, always marked for her difference, is clear. The author takes great pains to make her readers understand that Beatrice is special, not fitting in, out of sync with her caste, etc. but bound to have a great destiny.
The theme of the eco-fiction combined with the rise of the youthful here is also what drives Robert Charles Wilson's Julian Comstock. In my review, I wrote the following:
JC's 22nd century America (actually, the Earth) is environmentally devastated. The planet finally has run out of oil which triggered catastrophic conflicts, plagues, mass sterility and death and therefore major population reduction. In this context, human societies have regressed, having to give up most of the oil-related technology. The end of oil has meant major social, economic and political upheavals.
In the United States, political power is divided between the official power structure of the Executive and the Senate, and the unofficial authority of the Dominion, a theocratic organization that rules society and has engaged in tremendous historical revisionism and controls what gets published, and pretty much everything pertaining to culture and religion. Needless to say, it is extremely powerful and fundamentalist and often plays the role of Inquisition, with torture and all against those it defines as deviants.
Julian Comstock, the main character, is the nephew of the current President. Julian's father, the brother of the President, a war hero, had been executed for treason on trumped charges as his brother feared his popularity. For fear for Julian's safety, his mother sent him away under the protection and mentorship of a veteran soldier, Sam Godwin. It is in this exile in what is today Alberta. It is there that Julian meets the narrator of the story, Adam Hazzard. It is this threesome that the story follows.
22nd century America is a highly stratified and conflicted society. At the top are the Aristos, those who had property when society collapsed. Then are the leased people, those who lost everything in the collapse and had to sell their labor to the aristos. At the bottom are the indentured servants. This arrangement has the stamp of approval of the Dominion. It is a caste system based on a highly unequal distribution in an economy of scarcity.
On top of it, America is at war with what is now called Mittleeuropa over control of parts of Canada. Resource wars indeed. Julian, Sam and Adam get caught in their attempt to avoid drafting into the war and end up there anyway. Julian becomes a war hero and therefore a threat to his uncle who then puts him in charge a suicide operation with no reinforcement, hoping he will die. He does not but this last maneuver cost his uncle the loss of military support. He is deposed and Julian is appointed President in his place.
Julian always resented the Dominion for their suppression of the past and of knowledge, scientific or otherwise. As president, he takes it on. All the political maneuvering that is required to handle the different power groups (the Senate, the Dominion, and the military) take a toll on Julian and his presidency, along with his life, are short, having only managed to weaken the Dominion but not destroy it as he had hoped. This is a coming of age and its costs story not just for Julian but for Adam, the narrator as well. And Julian also has another reason to resent the Dominion. He is gay.
In many ways, the rise of the youthful / rejuvenated hero as legitimate ruler on the ashes of a decaying world ruled by illegitimate tyrants is a theme out of the medieval mythology (all the way back to Arthur and the Knights of the Roundtable). Take this scene from John Boorman's Excalibur where, having drunk from the Holy Grail, Arthur, the legitimate king, is back in the saddle and nature recovers as he rides into battle:
I had issues with the war hero theme of the book and the fact that military exploits seemed a bit repetitive to me. But Yannick Rumpala had some stronger issues with the book. His blog is in French so, I'll just summarize his thoughts: the book never really explains how total resource depletion of fossil fuels would lead to such a dramatic technological regression. Basically, it's back to horse and buggies, and old-fashioned trains (like in the old Westerns). Electricity seemed to have completely disappeared from collective conscience of the majority of the population, especially in rural areas. Rumpala asks how it is possible to so completely forget all accumulated knowledge so quickly, even in the context of the dominance of religious fundamentalists. It seemed the past just disappeared, leaving no traces whatsoever, ruins of any kind. Where are all the abandoned cars, planes, etc.? Was nothing recycled?
And then, there was Ship Breaker. As I wrote before, the setting is a dystopian future where climate change has run its course and drowned parts of the Earth and civilization has run out of oil. It is an environmental and social mess of a world with extreme stratification. At the bottom of the social ladder are the ship breakers, who dismantle old oil tankers – remnants of what people call the Accelerated Age, our age – to scrap for whatever is valuable for larger scavenging firms like Lawson & Carlson.
The ship breakers themselves are divided between heavy and light crews (mostly kids small enough to crawl through pipes and small spaces). This is work highly reminiscent of The Devil's Miner. The main characters of the book are kids from one such light crew, mainly Nailer and his friend Pima.
Nailer's world is one that is dangerous for poor kids like him, subjected to violence at the hands of a variety of adults, including his father and his crew employer. The work itself would never lift anyone out of poverty and is highly dangerous. At the same time, to be part of a crew means to have taken a blood oath and involves some mechanical solidarity and Gemeinschaft-type bonds between crew members ("Ship breaking was too dangerous to not have trust." Loc. 634). There are strong sanctions imposed on those who break these loyalty bonds, as one of Nailer's crew learns the hard way after leaving Nailer to die in an oil tank still full of oil.
Geographically, the story takes place mainly in the Gulf Coast. New Orleans has disappeared under water and in its place is a bunch of slums where people eke out a living. This is where Nailer ends after he and Pima rescue a "swank" girl (one of the über-wealthy few that manage to make tons of money through maritime freight using clippers). She and Nailer become crew and he calls her 'lucky girl". She herself is the victim of a corporate conspiracy to overthrow her family's control of a giant shipping corporation. This is what the action in the book revolves around: getting Lucky Girl back to a ship whose crew is still loyal to her father. It does not turn out that way and the adventure begins, as they say.
But as Rumpala asks on his blog, does the post-oil age doom us to dystopian futures? Is there no collective, ecological imaginary where everything does not collapse miserably? For Rumpala, there is a literary, imaginary space to be occupied that would envision a more positive, non-dystopian future where sustainability would have won the day. Why does it matter? Rumpala argues that the science-fiction or eco-fiction of today can shape the technological imaginary of tomorrow and related concrete technological developments. After all, the dystopian terrain has been pretty well covered by now.
I would argue, though, that a less-dystopian future is not necessarily a matter of technology, but of political legitimacy as well. In these dystopian futures, the issues are not predominantly technological (technology still exists but is restricted in HG and Divergent). They are social and related to concentration of power in few illegitimate hands. And I also think that there is still territory to cover on the dystopian side especially as the reality of climate change and peak oil sets in, where world risk society meets legitimation crisis and economic stagnation for the masses.
And I also think there is a lot to investigate on the Planet of Slums theme, as was done in Metatropolis, in the urban-fiction genre.
Via the New York Examiner (also here), when people tell you that we have to keep an oil-based economy because there are no alternatives, show them this:
As the article notes,
"The production tax credit (PTC) for wind energy is set to expire at the end of the year, and Congress doesn't look likely to extend it anytime soon. This precarious situation is already causing some layoffs in the industry, as the New York Times reports today. A studycited by the American Wind Energy Association predicts that as many as 37,000 jobs in the industry could be lost in the first quarter of 2013 alone if the PTC is not extended.
Of course, there's a healthy debate about how much and for how long we should subsidize any energy source. But wind power is still a relative newcomer to the energy scene, and subsidies that expand its use also help meet other national goals like reducing emissions and reliance on fossil fuels. Moreover, the US has provided billions of dollars in subsidies to the coal, oil, and gas industries for decades. Wind power has barely had a chance to catch up since the PTC was first enacted in 1992."
So, the National Geographic regularly publishes the Greendex (Green Index) with 19 countries, ranking them in terms of low Greendex (the "bad" countries) or high Greendex (the "good" countries):
"This is the fourth year National Geographic has partnered with GlobeScan to develop an international research approach to measure and monitor consumer progress toward environmentally sustainable consumption. The key objectives of this unique consumer tracking survey are to provide regular quantitative measures of consumer behavior and to promote sustainable consumption.
Why? We want to inspire action both among the millions that the National Geographic brand touches worldwide and among others who will hear about this study. A chief component of this effort is giving people a better idea of how consumers in different countries are doing in taking action to preserve our planet by tracking, reporting, and promoting environmentally sustainable consumption and citizen behavior.
This quantitative consumer study of 17,000 consumers in a total of 17 countries (14 in 2008) asked about such behavior as energy use and conservation, transportation choices, food sources, the relative use of green products versus conventional products, attitudes toward the environment and sustainability, and knowledge of environmental issues. A group of international experts helped us determine the behaviors that were most critical to investigate."
The results?
Obviously, the main issue is the number of countries not surveyed, especially in Africa and the Middle East. These are two big regions to be ignored.
At the same time, it is not surprising to find that core countries rank lower on the Greendex. Our consumption practices are certainly far from green.
Equally interesting though is this:
And on this the article notes a twisted little logic at work:
"The study also demonstrates the perverse logic of sustainable thinking: "People in countries that were the least likely to make sustainable choices … were also more likely to feel like they could have a postive [sic] impact on the environment. People in developing countries, while more likely to report practicing sustainable behaviors, also said that they didn't feel like individuals could do much to affect the environment""
And how big it really is (here):
Now, really, and it has a pretty large ecological footprint:
This is a pretty good representation of oil production since the 60s (I forgot who I got it from, so, can't H/T), click "play" and watch the fun:
2000, watch the declining areas:
(Via) It is impossible not to find these photographs haunting:
See also Peter Hugo's Permanent Error on what happens to our discarded electronics.
Via the excellent Cartoon Movement (are you following them yet?):
A very smart video narrated by Richard Heinberg:
Why the comparison to the original Thirty Years War?
"From 1618 to 1648, Europe was engulfed in a series of intensely brutal conflicts known collectively as the Thirty Years' War. It was, in part, a struggle between an imperial system of governance and the emerging nation-state. Indeed, many historians believe that the modern international system of nation-states was crystallized in the Treaty of Westphalia of 1648, which finally ended the fighting.
Think of us today as embarking on a new Thirty Years' War. It may not result in as much bloodshed as that of the 1600s, though bloodshed there will be, but it will prove no less momentous for the future of the planet. Over the coming decades, we will be embroiled at a global level in a succeed-or-perish contest among the major forms of energy, the corporations which supply them, and the countries that run on them. The question will be: Which will dominate the world's energy supply in the second half of the twenty-first century? The winners will determine how — and how badly — we live, work, and play in those not-so-distant decades, and will profit enormously as a result. The losers will be cast aside and dismembered.
Why 30 years? Because that's how long it will take for experimental energy systems like hydrogen power, cellulosic ethanol, wave power, algae fuel, and advanced nuclear reactors to make it from the laboratory to full-scale industrial development. Some of these systems (as well, undoubtedly, as others not yet on our radar screens) will survive the winnowing process. Some will not. And there is little way to predict how it will go at this stage in the game. At the same time, the use of existing fuels like oil and coal, which spew carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, is likely to plummet, thanks both to diminished supplies and rising concerns over the growing dangers of carbon emissions.
This will be a war because the future profitability, or even survival, of many of the world's most powerful and wealthy corporations will be at risk, and because every nation has a potentially life-or-death stake in the contest."
Is there no other path?
"When these three decades are over, as with the Treaty of Westphalia, the planet is likely to have in place the foundations of a new system for organizing itself — this time around energy needs. In the meantime, the struggle for energy resources is guaranteed to grow ever more intense for a simple reason: there is no way the existing energy system can satisfy the world's future requirements. It must be replaced or supplemented in a major way by a renewable alternative system or, forget Westphalia, the planet will be subject to environmental disaster of a sort hard to imagine today.
To appreciate the nature of our predicament, begin with a quick look at the world's existing energy portfolio. According to BP, the world consumed 13.2 billion tons of oil-equivalent from all sources in 2010: 33.6% from oil, 29.6% from coal, 23.8% from natural gas, 6.5% from hydroelectricity, 5.2% from nuclear energy, and a mere 1.3% percent from all renewable forms of energy. Together, fossil fuels — oil, coal, and gas — supplied 10.4 billion tons, or 87% of the total.
Even attempting to preserve this level of energy output in 30 years' time, using the same proportion of fuels, would be a near-hopeless feat. Achieving a 40% increase in energy output, as most analysts believe will be needed to satisfy the existing requirements of older industrial powers and rising demand in China and other rapidly developing nations, is simply impossible."
And two facts are unavoidable: we are running out of oil (and certainly the era of "cheap" and easily accessible oil is over) and global climate change.
And this also means that we will see an over-militarization of the states in order to access these diminishing resources, if it bankrupts them in the process (as with the US, for instance).
And yes, there are already existing alternatives and research done to find more, but nothing will be really usable on a larger scale within the next thirty years.
How will it end?
"Thirty years from now, for better or worse, the world will be a far different place: hotter, stormier, and with less land (given the loss of shoreline and low-lying areas to rising sea levels). Strict limitations on carbon emissions will certainly be universally enforced and the consumption of fossil fuels, except under controlled circumstances, actively discouraged. Oil will still be available to those who can afford it, but will no longer be the world's paramount fuel. New powers, corporate and otherwise, in new combinations will have risen with a new energy universe. No one can know, of course, what our version of the Treaty of Westphalia will look like or who will be the winners and losers on this planet. In the intervening 30 years, however, that much violence and suffering will have ensued goes without question. Nor can anyone say today which of the contending forms of energy will prove dominant in 2041 and beyond.
Whichever countries move most swiftly to embrace these or similar energy possibilities will be the likeliest to emerge in 2041 with vibrant economies — and given the state of the planet, if luck holds, just in the nick of time."
My guess is it won't be the US as it is still in denial about peak oil and global climate change.
Bolivia: Fighting the climate wars
An interesting interactive infographic on how much CO2 common items generate. Go play with it:
Via DJ Academe, another great animated short video from Annie Leonard and the makers of The Story of Stuff, this time, The Story of Electronics:
Devastating, literally:
"The monsoon rains are not due for a month or so, but the "dry" season for people in West Kalimantan province in Indonesian Borneo has been marked by three months of unrelenting floods. The sky is clear and blue and the stilted long houses and huts are reflected in mirror image on the water: it is a strangely scenic backdrop to one of the largest unfolding disasters on the planet – the stripping of the Borneo rainforest.
Indonesia has one of the world's largest areas of remaining forest but also one of the highest deforestation rates, ranking only behind Brazil. The vast green rainforest carpet has become a patchwork with more than half of Borneo's tree cover and peat swamps – which absorb much of the planet's carbon excesses – already gone after a decade's "goldrush" of uncontrolled timber logging that was at last partially curtailed in 2006.
But now the rest is being pillaged by palm oil and pulpwood plantations and networks of illegal loggers – the "timber mafias" – in an onslaught that is endangering not only the wildlife and the people but also contributing to global climate change on a scale far out of proportion to the island's size on the map. Indonesia's carbon emissions as a result of its deforestation and land use changes put it in third place of the world's worst offenders, behind only the US and China.
The timber from its rare 100- to 200- year-old diptocarp trees, each one the home of hundreds of insects, is eagerly snapped up, keeping consumers and the construction industry in the UK and elsewhere in tables, patio chairs, trinket boxes, doors and plywood. When consumers buy paper, furniture or even charcoal on the British high street there is an estimated more than 80% chance they are buying into this destruction.
Only four of the 300 timber concessions currently logging in West Kalimantan have written sustainability into their methods and only 16% of the world's timber goes through members of the WWF Global Forest & Trade Network, companies who commit to choosing sustainable wood where they can. Meanwhile, where the trees once stood and acted as a natural barrier, the floods rage."
The article then details the social consequences of what is un-regulated export-based development in terms of community destruction, livelihood devastation and the not surprising combination of interpersonal and structural violence that necessarily follows.
And then, there is the global demand, so, let's have some more comparative advantage:
"The illegal wildlife trade is booming. In the street markets of Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, which sits directly on the Equator, the trade is brazenly open, although stallkeepers say the confiscation by the authorities of a baby orangutan on sale here last week has frightened a few dealers away.
But still, in one short stretch of just a few hundred metres, it is possible to count seven species of birds and fish for sale in small cages and overstuffed tanks which are on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species endangered species list. From the rare red arowana river fish to the black hornbill and spotted doves, the conditions mean they die quickly, keeping the demand high.
The "mist nets" for catching birds in the forest are also openly on sale. One man tells the Observer he has a waiting list for the endangered hill mynah, a bird prized for its ability to talk and which has been found on sale in the US for $1,000. Along with local demand, China, Malaysia and Singapore are big importers of the Kalimantan forest creatures."
As they say, go read the whole thing.


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The bicycle, arguably one of the world's most brilliant inventions, has many advantages: it's a great form of exercise, it's economical, it's environmentally friendly, and it feels phenomenal to fly downhill on one. Possibly one of the only disadvantages is the material used to make it.
Light bicycles are made of aluminum, one of the most resource-demanding materials in existence. Flavio Deslandes, a Brazilian industrial designer at the PUC-Rio University, has designed a bicycle made, essentially, of grass specifically, bamboo.
Deslandes is not the first to use bamboo as a material for the bicycle. Starting with English patent No.8274 on April 26, 1894, the first bamboo bicycles were shown at the London Stanley Show of 1894 and caused a sensation. A company of the same name based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and producing a 'Bamboo' model in 1898 may have been connected.
Bamboo has recently exploded onto the design scene, in everything from flooring to accent pieces, even a fun ceiling cover on home makeover programs. Any bamboo aficionado could reel off several reasons that this material is so versatile:
See also our article on E-Bikes
Deslandes admits that there is still steel in his bamboo bicycles. However, he makes sure that the steel serves the bamboo, as opposed to the other way around. He uses bamboo in its natural form in constructing the bicycle, and is quick to point out that bending, drilling, or using nails or screws to hold the pieces together will only weaken the structure. Instead, he fits the parts together precisely, using glue to secure them.
Though he is already a master of his craft, Deslandes continues to research ways to find even more replacements for the metal parts. His wheels are 100% bamboo, the rims are made with laminated bamboo and the spokes are straight bamboo sticks. His next project is converting the pedals and pedal arms from steel and metal to all bamboo.
Building these bicycles is art. Deslandes' words summarize the bamboo bicycle perfectly. Each bicycle is different. Every piece of bamboo must be carefully chosen and fitted into the bike frame according to size and quality. The secret, Deslandes doesn't hesitate in revealing, lies in treating and handling the materials in exactly the right way. Learning the right way takes a lot of time and a lot of patience. The maintenance, too, is very time-consuming, but worth it in the long run. By riding a bicycle made of material that can be stronger than steel, that emits more oxygen than its equivalent in wood pulp (thereby improving our very atmosphere), how could you go wrong?
Before you get online to find your perfect model, you should be warned that, as might be expected, this is one expensive bike. If you do have a bike fund balance of around $2500 to $3000, then go for it. Until then, we can all continue to marvel at the infinite possibilities of eco-friendly materials. It's almost as exhilarating as flying downhill on a bike.
See our article on E-Bikes
Photo from http://www.americanbamboo.org/GeneralInfoPages/BambooBicycle.html

subset: commoncrawl


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Comforting the grieving parents of Newtown
Published 4:51 pm, Friday, December 21, 2012
Seven years ago, we lost our beautiful, innocent 5-year-old-son Christopher to vicious and sudden illness. Although his death was not the result of a heinous and senseless act of violence, such as what happened last Friday in Newtown, we were thrust into the same nightmare scenario every one of the Sandy Hook victims' families are now facing. As our experience mainly allows us to better help readers understand what the parents of the victims are going through, we also must acknowledge the horrible pain and grief that spouses, brothers, sisters, other relatives and friends are feeling. From a parent's perspective one cliché certainly held true for my wife and myself: "There is no greater loss one can suffer than the loss of a child."
So many of us are wondering right now, especially relatives and close friends of those directly affected, "what can one say or do to help comfort the parents and families of these victims?" As my wife and I can attest to from our own experience, there is only so much one can do, and not much at all that can be said. For most of the population, the death of a child is something we are not normally confronted with. It's something that happens rarely and to "someone else's family." We may have heard of people, or have had acquaintances who have lost a child, but (thankfully) most people haven't experienced this traumatic event firsthand. Because of this, many tend to rely on cliché phrases and actions to provide comfort to those affected. So, to give a few of our thoughts as to what we feel is appropriate, I have put forth a few "do's" and "don'ts."
DO: Be there for them. Hold them. Hug them. Be with them. This is by far the best healing therapy for grieving families. This is not to say that you have to pack your bags and move in, but "distraction" in the form of friend and family visits is key to coping. For instance, following Chris' death, my wife's cousin and her husband would come over and have dinner with us every Friday evening. It became a ritual that went on for two years and it was a welcome respite from the pain of grief, which is often amplified in solitude. If you cannot physically be there, send them a message just to let them know you're thinking of them.
DO: Mention their child in conversation. Many people feel that bringing up their child's name in conversation will only cause more grief and pain for the parents. Actually, the opposite is true. It is very important to grieving parents that the child "lives on" in their memories as well as the memories of others. When the child is spoken about, especially in connection with a fond memory or special occasion, it acknowledges to the parents that the memories, thus the child, live on in the hearts and minds of all who knew them. One thoughtful relative went a step further, giving us a journal in which we asked friends and relatives to write in an anecdote or memory of Chris. A couple groups of friends and parents compiled wonderful scrapbooks with photos of specific events and occasions Christopher attended with their children.
DO: Be a good listener. There will be lots of tears. Allow them to come. Do not feel the need to offer up answers or give advice. Just simply be there to listen. Depression often follows tragedies of this sort. Grief counselors, psychiatrists and support groups such as Compassionate Friends and the Center for Hope can be helpful in the healing process. But not everyone will react the same to every therapy, so allow the individual to seek out what is best for him or her. There are also many books on the topic of grief as it relates specifically to the loss of a child. I have read many, found comfort in some, and none in others.
DON'T: Try to ease the pain with worn out clichés. The one I hated most was, "He's is in a better place, now." It may be a "better place" for someone who has lived a long and fulfilling life, but for a young child there is no better place than in the loving arms of his parents and alongside his siblings. Another one that was thrust upon me was, "You just need to buck up and turn your attention to caring for your family." The truth is, my attention has always been, and will always be, caring for my family. Chris was a big part of that family and now he's gone and you just cannot ignore that by falsely shifting focus away from it, nor would I want to. If you don't know what to say, a simple embrace or hug will go a long way in letting them know you are there for them.
DON'T: Dictate the grieving process. Grief has to take its natural course. You can't hurry it, or run away from it, or pack it in a closet. We were offered suggestions (all well-meaning) ranging from why we should move out of our home and out of town to how and when we should go about cleaning out Christopher's belongings from his room. Allow the parents time to figure out when and how they want to go about delicate matters such as these, then offer to help if they want or need your help. Some parents will want to keep as many photos of their child around as possible. For others, it may be too painful. Parents may want to keep the child's room and belongings intact, at least for the immediate future. This is not at all unusual since it's a way of feeling the child's presence. Christopher's younger brother moved into his room soon after our daughter was born. We still keep a small stash of Chris' favorite toys and prized possessions like his baseball glove in a couple of decorative boxes neatly tucked in the corner.
The main thing to remember is that traumatic events such as what just took place in Newtown create very deep emotional and psychological wounds that will take years to heal. And just as with real wounds during the healing process, these wounds are likely to "re-open" from time to time. For the families, this usually occurs on anniversary dates like birthdays, holidays and the date of the passing. It also happened for my wife and our family last year when we heard the news of Madonna Badger losing her three children and her parents in the tragic fire in Stamford. Our wounds were opened again last Friday, upon hearing the news of so many other families and parents losing their loved ones and young children only miles away in Newtown. Our heart aches for them. Our thoughts and prayers are with them. And I hope that those of you who are relatives and friends of these families will understand that simply by listening to them, letting them cry, hugging them and being there for them you will be doing much of what you need to do to help them in their long and difficult healing process.
Bruce Miller and his wife Maria live in Stamford and are the loving parents of James, Juliana and Christopher, "their angel in Heaven," who is forever in their thoughts.


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Bone graft for spine fusion
Some forms of spinal fusion surgery use a bone graft to restore stability to damaged areas of the spine. Typically, a spine will become unstable due to a deteriorated disc in between a set of two vertebrae. The purpose of a disc is to properly space and support the vertebrae of the spine to allow cushion during movement and enough space in between the vertebrae so there is no hindered bending or twisting. If a disc becomes damaged, a bone graft is sometimes inserted around the disc to fuse the two surrounding vertebrae together to offer immediate stabilization of the spine. The bone graft may be implanted on the front, the back or inside the body of the vertebra, usually with the aid of metal cages, screws, rods or plates.
The difficulty with bone grafts during traditional open back fusion is the risk that the fusion will fail. Traditional open back surgery requires a large initial incision in the back that cuts through the muscles and soft tissue in order to access the spine. As this incision heals, excessive scar tissue can form beneath the skin and prevent the fusion from being able to properly hold on both vertebrae.
Types of bone graft for spinal fusion surgery include:
- Autograft — Bone matter that is taken from another region in the patient's body, often from the pelvis; this is also called autologous bone
- Allograft — Bone tissue from a cadaver that is stored in "bone banks"
- Bone substitutes — Used as bone graft "extenders," usually in conjunction with allograft
- Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) — Used to stimulate bone growth, BMPs have shown promise in reducing or eliminating the need for harvesting bone from the patient's body
If you have been diagnosed with a spine condition that has caused significant damage and instability to your spine, we recommend that you research the different types of spinal fusion available to you before moving forward with back surgery.
Laser Spine Institute offers a safer and effective approach to spinal fusion with our minimally invasive stabilization procedures. During this surgery, a small incision is made in the spine, sparing the surrounding muscles, and the damaged disc is replaced with an implant disc to stabilize the spine. Due to the minimally invasive nature of the procedure, our patients experience a shorter recovery time^ than patients who choose to undergo traditional open back fusion.
For more information about spinal fusion and the benefits of our minimally invasive stabilization surgery, contact our Care Team at Laser Spine Institute today.


text: If your childhood was awesome, like mine was, you remember The Legend of Prince Valiant. It aired in the early 1990s and it was about a gallant young hero and some mates of his who train to join the Knights of the Round Table. However, what I remember most about it is the theme song! It's one of those songs that just stays in your head. Back in the 1990s, you could not just hop onto Google to find out who sang it, but when you remember it in 2015, you…Read More


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Why we are privileged to have protection of parliament
The Nama hearings this week didn't just unleash a wave of claim, counter-claim and predictions that the skies over Stormont could soon be thick with writs.
It also provoked interest in the legal protections that surround the ability of people to speak out in parliament, and also of the media to report on these comments.
The mechanism is a legal protection called "privilege" which provides a kind of legal immunity to members of parliaments, and particularly in countries that were in the sphere of the former British empire or which adopted Westminster-style government.
The concept of privilege is hard-wired into the various pieces of defamation legislation in the UK. Indeed, it even appears in the Bill of Rights as far back in 1689 and beyond.
There are two main types of privilege: "absolute" and "qualified". With absolute privilege, MPs and MLAs are granted protection against liability for statements made in the course of their legislative duties.
Specifically, an MLA cannot be sued for libel because of what he or she says in parliament. Legislation also covers "the making of a statement in proceedings of the Assembly".
The proceedings of the Assembly don't just mean what's said in the main chamber: committee hearings, Assembly papers, reports and more are all "privileged".
So when people give evidence to committees - whether they be an MLA like Martin McGuinness or a member of the public like Jamie Bryson - they can't be sued for what they say.
Absolute privilege is a complete defence against an action for defamation, and it doesn't matter what the speaker's motive was, even if they acted with malice or if knew what they were saying was untrue or if they acted with the sole aim of damaging the reputation of another person.
For the rest of us, particularly the media, "qualified privilege" applies. This means that reports of proceedings in parliament are protected, but only under certain conditions.
These are fairly straightforward: mostly, it means that fair, accurate reports made without malice are protected against libel writs.
It should be noted that privilege applies to other arenas too, for example, courts, councils, official documents and so on.
Parliamentary privilege is not uncontroversial.
This is due to the potential for abuse. MPs could, for example, maliciously make allegations about other people they would not make ordinarily for fear of being sued.
Or leak national security or diplomatic secrets.
On several occasions during the Troubles people were identified as leading IRA members by MPs shielded by the cloak of parliamentary immunity.
So why allow people to get away with saying pretty much what they like, not matter what the controversy or even damage caused? It's because of the overwhelming benefits that democracy, openness and the free flow of ideas brings to states.
Transgressions are in fact few and far between. MPs and MLAs are generally a responsible lot. Members of the public who give evidence to parliaments regard it as both an honourable and serious matter.
It's no coincidence that the most prosperous and successful nations are also advanced liberal democracies - and the concept of 'privilege' plays a key part in this.
Belfast Telegraph


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That's question posed in today's story.
As one longtime progressive activist put it:
"It's not all of a sudden that yesterday we beat the great big monster. Despite the fact that great big monster has been gone for 20 years or more, the progressives were never able to do anything with the vacuum."
Agree? Disagree? Discuss.


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10 Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program - #5 Communication and Training
Across the Board-Episode 17, Marsha Ershaghi Hames on Board Accountability
Compliance into the Weeds-Episode 75, SEC Enforcement Action Against Holmes
Videocast: Interval funds: A brief introduction
Innovation in Compliance-Digital Transformations in Compliance with Vince Walden
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 375, Steve Durham on Impact of Digital Realty Trust
This Week in FCPA-Episode 94, the March Madness edition
12 O'Clock High-Episode 82, Leadership Lessons from Henry Worsley and Ernest Shackleton
Compliance into the Weeds-Episode 74, Continued Fallout from Somers
10 Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program - #4 Risk Assessments
Entrepreneur Minute: What Venture Capitalists Really Want to Know
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 374, John Davis on Miller & Chevalier's FCPA Winter Review 2017
This Week in FCPA-Episode 93 - the Hell Hath No Fury edition
Podcast - Credit Funds: Make-Wholes and Cramdowns: Understanding the Recent Second Circuit Momentive Decision
Across the Board-Episode 16, Boards of Directors and Compliance
Countdown to GDPR-Episode 3, Policies and Procedures
The Importance of Knowing Your Industry and Business Leadership
10 Hallmarks of an Effective Compliance Program - #3 CCO Authority & Compliance Function Resources
FCPA Compliance Report-Episode 373, John Hanson on 1 year at the helm of the IAICM
Across the Board-Episode 14, Joel Solomon on the Clean Money Revolution
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Marblehead, Massachusetts, USA July 15, 2004 - Marblehead resident and RIBCRAFT customer, Jim Bryant, rescued a drowning woman out of Marblehead harbor on a late July night using his own RIBCRAFT 7.8 Mitigator.
Sitting on his porch overlooking Marblehead harbor late one night, RIBCRAFT customer Jim Bryant heard what sounded like a cat's cry coming from the darkness. Faint at first, the sound grew louder and more frequent until it became distinct enough that Bryant thought he heard a word. He immediately sprung up, told his wife to call the police and ran to his dock where his customized RIBCRAFT Mitigator was moored.
Even before starting the Honda 225 outboard engine, Bryant illuminated the harbor with the Mitigator's high powered remote spot light that is mounted above all on board on the A Frame, which also supports the craft's communications and navigation antennas, deck and navigation lights, as well as integrated towing bollards. As he pulled away from the dock with his spot light effectively scanning the water and his underwater magnifying lights illuminated, he quickly located two hands barely clinging to a trawler's swim platform. As he came along side the boat, the woman appeared to be suffering from the affects of Hypothermia. After a few moments, Bryant finally convinced her to let go of the swim platform and so he could her lift her over the tubes and into the RIBCRAFT. As he tried to maintain a conversation with the victim in order to prevent her from loosing consciousness, he coordinated with the rescue professionals on land as to where to bring the victim and advised them on her physical status using the onboard communications system that integrates VHF, cell phone and satellite communications into a single easy to use interface. When he reached the dock, the paramedics and police were waiting with a stretcher ready to treat a woman suffering from the affects of Hypothermia. They quickly rushed her off to the hospital where she was treated and eventually released.
Fortunately for the woman, who was making her way back to her boat from a night out with friends in town when she fell off her dinghy, there was a Good Samaritan with easy access to a reliable rescue craft such as the RIBCRAFT Mitigator he owned.
The Mitigator line offered by RIBCRAFT is the first of its kind ever to be made available to recreational boaters. Launched in the fall of 2003, this highly customized 25' rigid inflatable boat integrates multiple technologies, such as shock mitigating seats, an ergonomically designed console, and advanced integrated communication and navigation systems all of which were designed for combat and rescue operations, to improve the safety and effectiveness of those on board. Long a requirement for military and coast guard agencies around the world, RIBCRAFT now offers this same level of comfort, safety and performance to recreational boaters.
About RIBCRAFT
RIBCRAFT designs and builds technologically advanced RIBs for the most demanding military, commercial and rescue operations. Offering RIBs starting at 15', RIBCRAFT's commitment to operator safety and comfort is found in every craft built here in the United States. Focusing on the customer, RIBCRAFT enables them to customize the boat to the mission. www.ribcraftusa.com
Matthew Velluto, RIBCRAFT USA
781.639.9065 firstname.lastname@example.com
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Event Website
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February 10 - 18
Boston, MA
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March 22 - 25
West Palm Beach, FL
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April 7 - 8
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May 18 - 20
Harrisburg, PA
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July 17 - 19
Baltimore, MD
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The Joba Chronicles: A Conversation Of FateMay 24, 2008
One of the hottest topics to permeate the world of baseball this season has been the transformation of New York Yankees' pitcher Joba Chamberlain from a reliever to a starter.
While many believe that Joba's abilities will translate better to the rotation in the long run, others believe that Joba is the prototype of what a closer should be, and is the heir to the great Mariano Rivera once he retires. However, what many fans may not realize is that Joba's fate was actually sealed in a conversation that took place with Joe Girardi just a few days ago.
At the beginning of spring training, Joe Girardi told Joba something that would forever change his baseball career. Joe said that, at some point during the season, he was going to ask Joba what he wanted to be, a starter or reliever. This question would not be based on the needs of the team, the rants made by Hank Steinbrenner, or the opinions of the fans, analysts, or even his own coaches, but rather this question would be answered entirely based upon what Joba wants for himself.
However, Joe told Joba not to answer that question then, to think about it and that, when the time comes, Joe would ask him once again.
That day came on this Tuesday, when Joe Girardi called Joba to meet him privately in the team's training room. No one else was around, no players, no fellow coaches, and certainly no media. This conversation was going to take place entirely between Joe Girardi and Joba Chamberlain.
Joe asked Joba, do you want to be a starter or reliever. Joba replied, with little hesitation, that he wanted to be a starter. Upon hearing this, Joe informed Joba that if that was he wish, that he wanted Joba to start the process today. Without hesitation, Joba responded "Let's do it".
With this in mind, it is now clear that ultimately, the decision to make Joba Chamberlain a starter was not Joe Girardi's or Hank Steinbrenner's, but rather it came from within himself. For this reason, I as a Yankee fan feel much more comfortable now with the Yankees' decision.
While the contents of this conversation were originally kept secret, the Yankees' broadcast announcers discussed this eventful conversation on air during their game against the Mariners today on Saturday, May 24, 2008.
On this day, Joba also threw 40 pitches in relief, a climb that was meant to stretch Joba out in increments as a starter. It now appears that Joba will be summoned upon to pitch once every fifth day in relief, and each day his pitch count will be increased.
Once his pitch count can reach near the 100 pitch mark, Joba will likely be called upon to make his first start in the Major Leagues.
I for one can't wait.


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1. Means of Entry: FACEBOOK ON Great Day TB page
2. No Purchase Necessary
3. Weekdays, Oct 24-28, 2016
4. Prizes and Prize values (ARV)
Five (5) Winners will each receive Four (4) tickets to the Thursday, November 17, 2016, 7:30p.m. (E.T.) performance by Mannheim Steamroller at the Lakeland Center, 701 W. Lime Street, Lakeland, Florida 33815. (ARV: $180)
5. Means of selection: Random selection from all eligible entries
6. Eligibility restrictions: FL resident age 21+
7. Where to access full rules: wtsp.com
Great Day Mannheim Sweepstakes
2. Eligibility. Subject to the additional restrictions below, the "Great Day Mannheim" (the "Sweepstakes") is open to legal U.S. residents (excluding Puerto Rico) of the State of Florida who are 21 years or older at the time of entry. Employees and contractors of WTSP ("Sponsor"), TEGNA Inc., the Straz Center and each of their respective affiliated companies, and advertising and promotional agencies, and the immediate family members of, and any persons domiciled with, any such employees or contractors, are not eligible to enter or to win.
3. How To Enter. The Sweepstakes will begin at 9:00 a.m.(E.T.) on Monday, October 31, 2016 and ends at 10:00 a.m. (E.T.) on Friday, November 4, 2016 (the "Sweepstakes Period"). At random times on weekdays (Monday – Friday) during WTSP's "Great Day Tampa Bay" program airing from 9:00am (E.T.) to 9:30am (E.T.) (the "Show Times"), Sponsor will announce a specified telephone number for viewers to call to be entered into the sweepstakes for a chance to win either one of the Second Prizes or the Grand Prize. Sponsors will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, or misdirected entries or for failure to receive entries or other electronic communications due to transmission failures or technical failures of any kind, including, without limitation, malfunctioning of any network, hardware or software, whether originating with sender or Sponsor.
Sponsor will not be responsible for incomplete, lost, late, misdirected or illegible entries. By entering, you agree to the terms of these Official Rules and to receive e-mails from Sponsor or those directed by Sponsor. You can opt-out of the receipt of such e-mails by following the directions in any email received from Sponsor.
4. Winner Selection. Each time during the Sweepstakes Period that the telephone number is announced, the 10th caller during "Great Day Tampa Bay" will become a winner, subject to verification of eligibility. The number will be announced a total of Five (5) times. Please note: WTSP Sweepstakes are limited to One (1) winner per household, every thirty (30) days.
5. Prizes and Odds. Five (5) Winners will each receive Four (4) tickets to the Thursday, November 17, 2016, 7:30p.m. (E.T.) performance by Mannheim Steamroller at the Lakeland Center, 701 W. Lime Street, Lakeland, Florida 33815. (ARV: $180)
Odds of winning depend on the number of eligible entries received.
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Maharana Pratap 30th June 2015 Written Episode Update
Maharana Pratap 30th June 2015 Written Episode, Written Update on TellyUpdates.com
A soldier informs Pratap that US and the royal family has safely reached Udaipur. They had divided themselves in different groups so Mughals don't reach them.
Khetu is practising her skills so she can help Pratap or Chittor in some way in future. Chakrapani comes there just then. He tells them that they have to leave for Chittor asap. Khetu brings something from her hut.
Pratap greets Khetu and her father. Pratap tells them about what Akbar is up to. I want you both to help me in safeguarding the fort. He tells them about the sapaat's and the sand mountain.
Akbar tells his soldiers to put a heavy amount of gunpowder (3k ser) around the boundaries of the fort. He appoints his different commanders at the sapaat's.
Pratap telsl Khetu that if this gunpowder explodes
Ajabde notices wedding dress in Khetu's hands. Khetu says Baba got it for me. He saved every penny to get it. He wanted to see me in this dress once but his dream will be finished today. I thought to wear it once before drying. I can imagine myself as a new bride. It will make me and Baba happy. Ajabde goes to bring her jewels. I will help you in getting ready. Ajabde helps Khetu in getting ready. Khetu calls Ajabde lucky. You get to take care of / serve Pratap every day. I got a chance today to serve him. Ajabde knows that she loves him. Vermilion box drops from her hand as she is taken aback. People don't get love and vermilion together in their lives.
Isa Kaka tells the soldiers to get ready. We will run towards the fort as soon as we hear the sound of the blast. We will get hold of whatever we get (food sacks, arms, etc.).
Ajabde brings Khetu outside. Pratap looks at Khetu. Ajabde observes them. She tells him about Khetu's father's wish. She came to take your wishes before heading for her mission. Pratap wishes her luck. Mewar's success lies in your success. Khetu nods tearfully. She touches Pratap's feet. I have to say something to you once I return. He says I will wait for you. Be successful! Ajabde is about to tell Pratap about Khetu's love for him but Pratap says she loves Mewar! He insists upon the word Mewar.
Khetu's father hugs her. He is moved to tears. Every father sends his daughter to her husband's home. I am such an unfortunate father. I am sending you towards death. She tells him to be proud of her as she is going to save Mewar. She gives him a few instructions. You don't have to worry about me. Pratap will take very good care of you. She seeks his blessings. She closes the door of the secret passage behind her. Her father cries at the door.
Khetu reaches Mughal camp base. She kills a soldier. Isa Kaka tells the soldiers to hurry up. We have to finish this by tonight! Khetu is there dressed as a Mughal soldier. She overhears his plan. They must be thinking of entering from this side only. It is tough for them to break the main door. Khetu recalls her meeting with Isa Kaka last time. She crosses past him. Isa Kaka turns and stops in his tracks but then heads further. Khetu thinks that this much gunpowder is enough to blast this sapaat and these soldier. Akbar has come to check the progress. Isa kaka says our soldiers are doing our best. We will get only one chance so we have to be very careful. There will be a blast on the wall real soon. Akbar wants this to happen tonight itself. Khetu looks at them. There will not be a better chance to kill this Mughal. Pratap and his team looks on from the fort.
Precap: Isa Kaka orders his soldiers to catch Khetu. She sets fire to the gunpowder and runs away. There is a very big blast at that sapaat. Khetu is alive. She is heading back towards Chittor.
Update Credit to: Pooja


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State awards $375,000 for work on two Putnam dams
The NY Works initiative is providing a total of about $375,000 to improve two dams in Kent and address flooding concerns. The money is part of $905,000 Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today for eight dams around the state. These are the amounts and descriptions of the projects in Putnam: —… Read More →


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Model Type
21 Combined MPG (18 city / 26 hwy)
EPA estimated
New Car Resources
Used Car Resources
Car Articles & Advice
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What's a good price on a used 2010 Chrysler Sebring ?
Save up to $0 on one of 17 used 2010 Chrysler Sebrings for sale at dealerships within 25 miles of Ashburn, Virginia with prices as low as $2700 as of Mar 24, 2018, based on data from 16 dealers and 2 consumer-driven dealer ratings ranging from 2.5 to 2.5 out of 5 stars.
Price comparisons for used 2010 Chrysler Sebring trim styles:
The used 2010 Chrysler Sebring Touring is priced around $5688 with average odometer reading of 109786 miles.
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Shop with Edmunds for perks and special offers on used cars, trucks, and SUVs near Ashburn, Virginia. Doing so could save you hundreds or thousands of dollars. Edmunds also provides consumer-driven dealership sales and service reviews to help you make informed decisions about what cars to buy and where to buy them.
What options are available on the 2010 Chrysler Sebring?
Available Chrysler Sebring 2010 Submodel Types: Sedan, Convertible, Coupe
Available Chrysler Sebring 2010 Trims: LX, Touring, LXi, Base, Limited, JX, JXi
Exterior Colors: Silver Steel Metallic Clearcoat, Brilliant Black Crystal Pearlcoat, Bright Silver Metallic Clearcoat, Marathon Blue Pearlcoat , Steel Blue Pearlcoat, Clearwater Blue Pearlcoat, Graphite Metallic Clearcoat, Linen Gold Metallic Pearlcoat, Modern Blue Pearlcoat, Satin Jade Pearlcoat, Deep Sapphire Blue Pearlcoat, Deep Water Blue Pearlcoat, Indy Red Clearcoat, Inferno Red Crystal Pearlcoat, Inferno Red Tinted Pearlcoat, Light Almond Pearl Metallic Clearcoat, Light Blue Pearlcoat, Light Sandstone Metallic Clearcoat, Magnesium Pearlcoat, Midnight Blue Pearlcoat, Steel Blue Pearl Coat, Stone White Clearcoat, White Gold Crystal Pearlcoat
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used 2010 Chrysler Sebring Overview
The used 2010 Chrysler Sebring is offered in the following submodels: Sedan, Convertible. Available styles include Touring 4dr Sedan (2.4L 4cyl 4A), Touring 2dr Convertible (2.7L 6cyl 4A), and Limited 2dr Convertible (3.5L 6cyl 6A). Pre-owned Sebring models are available with a 0-liter gas engine or a 0-liter flex-fuel (FFV) engine, with output up to 0 hp, depending on engine type. The used 2010 Sebring comes with front wheel drive. Available transmissions include: 4-speed automatic, 6-speed shiftable automatic.
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text: Attention all Star Wars fans! Come to the Main Library in downtown Olathe this Saturday, October 5 and celebrate Star Wars Reads Day! Drop by the library between 12:00 - 4:00 p.m. and enjoy a variety of Star Wars themed activities. There will be crafts, displays, books, games, and prize drawings! Lucasfilm fan artist Darryl Woods will be here in person between 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. No registration required. Everyone is welcome. Costumes are encouraged!! Celebrate literacy and all things Star Wars this Saturday. Don't miss it, and may the force be with you.


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Then Art Nerds Unite is the guild for you
Here is a guild created by artist like you and maintained by people like you. Donations to the guild found here go into a special "pot"; from which winnings are taken from. There will be multiple artists awarded each contest. Contests shall be once a month starting on the first and ending on the last day of the month. Winnings shall be announced the 7th of the following month!
Please check out our art shop where you can support local artists and your guild
Please read rules and terms&conditions before joining this guild, you shalln't be refunded your entry fee!
If you feel you are being scammed out of money, please contact me via PM and we can discuss your problem.
Gold collected by entry fees and donation on this page are only for maintaining our beautiful guild these can not be added to the pot! Please see above for how to find the mule account for this guild


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The Municipality of Nicosia presented a video of the city at the 29th MIPIM in Cannes.
Nicosia Your Gateway to the FutureΔιαβάστε περισσότερα
New 2 bedroom apartment within a contemporary gated complex with the swimming pool, situated in a prime location of Larnaca, 100 meters from the beach, close to all kinds of amenities, including shops, supermarkets, restaurants, cafes etc.
The complex consists of 2 six-storey buildings with 27 one, two and 3 bedroom apartments, swimming pools and landscaped gardens, private parking space and storage for each apartment, gated controlled entrance.
Specifications of the apartment:
Price is subject to VAT.
Delivery date: March 2019.


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- News
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- Browse
Diablo III Collector's PC hordes No. 1 post release date
By News Division On March 19, 2012 · In News, PC, Retail
Pre-order sales for Activision Blizzard Inc.'s Diablo III Collector's Edition for the PC ranked sold out at Amazon.com Inc. due to strong advanced demand for the sequel.
This week, the Diablo III Collector's Edition held a sold out status at Amazon's Video Games division.
The Diablo III Collector's Edition will include the Diablo III PC / Mac SKU, Collector's Edition Soundtrack, Two-Disc Behind the Scenes DVD / Blu-ray Combo, Diablo Skull and 4GB USB Soulstone, The Art of Diable III Book, Diablo Skull Statuette, and Bonus In-Game Content at $99.99.
The standard SKU held an in-stock status at the same period.
Diablo III, to be sold May 15, is an action role-playing sequel that will include single-player an drop-in, drop-out co-op via the Battle.net service.
The final game is said to include five character classes, static and randomly generated levels, and skill-modifiers.
Follow us on Twitter @PunchJump, @WeLoveHotDeals, @PreOrderBonus, @Punchissimo, and visit us at Facebook and Google+.
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|Olevia 747i LCD HDTV
|Home Theater Flat Panel HDTVs LCD HDTVs
|Written by AVRev.com
|Tuesday, 08 April 2008
The 7 Series is one of the higher-end series in Olevia's LCD lineup. This 47-inch, 1080p model has an 8ms response time and employs Silicon Optix's Realta HQV chip to handle its video-processing duties.
The 747i has a healthy connection panel, with two HDMI inputs that accept 1080p/60 and 1080p/24, two component video inputs, one PC input and two RF inputs to access the internal tuners. There's also an RS-232 port for integration into an advanced control system, plus a USB port that allows you to load firmware updates obtained from the company's website.
Instead of using common picture presets like vivid, natural and movie, the 747i's picture modes are set up based on the type of sources you connect, such as progressive DVD, high-def TV, or gaming console. The menu includes a limited three-step adjustable backlight and direct access to advanced white-balance controls. PIP and split-screen viewing options are available, and there are six aspect-ratio options, including a mode to view 1080i/1080p signals with zero overscan.
The 747i is very heavy for a 47-inch LCD, due in part to its larger speakers, which also make the all-black cabinet look bulky. Out of the box, the speakers are attached to the TV's bottom panel; however, you can move them to the side panels or take them off entirely. The TV's back panel includes a subwoofer output to send bass to an outboard subwoofer. The audio menu offers eight preset sound modes, as well as a lip-sync function.
The Upside:
The 747i is extremely bright, so it's a good fit for a sunlit room. Accuracy, natural color, good processing and outstanding detail combine to produce a very attractive HD image. The TV also does a solid job of up-converting SD content.
The Downside:
It lacks 120Hz technology and some motion blur is evident with fast-moving content. This LCD's black level is only average, so the image doesn't look as rich and deep in a dark room as it does on some higher-end LCDs. The viewing angle is average and the onscreen menu system is frustrating to navigate.
The 747i has been on the market for some time now, and its price has dropped about 50 percent, as Olevia prepares to release 2008 models. That makes it a great deal for a 47-inch 1080p TV. Performance-wise, this TV is a good choice for the person who watches a lot of HD content, especially in a brighter viewing environment.


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What does MRNI mean in Psychology?
This page is about the meanings of the acronym/abbreviation/shorthand MRNI in the Academic & Science field in general and in the Psychology terminology in particular.
Male Role Norms Inventory
Find a translation for MRNI in other languages:
Select another language:
Discuss this MRNI abbreviation with the community:
Use the citation below to add this abbreviation to your bibliography:
"MRNI." Abbreviations.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2018. Web. 17 Mar. 2018. <https://www.abbreviations.com/term/578835>.


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[Ya'an, China, March 9. Image via Getty.]
Tai Shan, a giant panda born in the United States, looks out from his cage in the Ya'an Bifeng Gorge Breeding Base of the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center, on March 9, 2010 in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The 4-year-old male giant panda, which was born in July 2005 and raised at the National Zoo of Washington D.C., concluded its one-month quarantine after arriving in February.


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There already is a "WebDatabase" API which is SQL based. That sounds way to close to "WebDB" for my comfort. Maybe WebDatabase should be WebSQLDatabase or WebSQLDB And WebSimpleDB should be WebTreeDatabase or WebTreeDB? On Tue, Sep 29, 2009 at 5:09 PM, Simon Raboczi <email@example.com> wrote: > Please don't call your web database API "simple". It's a meaningless noise > word unless there's some other non-simple web database API to compare it to. > It doesn't even serve to produce a pronounceable acronym like SAX or SOAP. > "WebDB API" would be fine. > >Received on Wednesday, 30 September 2009 00:28:12 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Friday, 27 October 2017 07:26:19 UTC


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When will we as a country give people the option of assisted suicide without being at death's door? I am now 64 years old and in good health and have a good life. However, I did watch my mother-in-law exist in a nursing home in a situation she never would have wanted. I watched the toll it took on her daughter, who loved her very much and went daily to check on her. In visiting her in that nursing home, I saw countless people just sitting tied to wheelchairs with no hope of ever getting better. While there are very nice retirement homes being constructed, many will be too expensive for many senior citizens, whose social security may well decrease because of the need to cover an increasing number of people. Will future generations be willing to spend their money on care for senior citizens, or will those who can't care for themselves just be "warehoused" as cheaply as possible?
It isn't right for everybody, but for those for whom it is right, why can't the law be changed so that I can give (in my case, my daughter; for others, a trusted person) the authority to end my life. Many years ago, I had a boss who said, "There is a thing called quality of life." I've talked with my daughter about it, and she understands how I feel. When I reach the point that I have no quality of life, I would like for her to be able to request my life be ended rather than have to spend her money at an overpriced nursing home. I think the God that I believe in will understand. How can we get the dialogue started?
DEAR READER: Because you express your position in such an articulate manner, I am publishing your letter in its entirety. People — especially family caregivers — must address end-of-life issues when their patients are still able to appreciate quality of life, as opposed to merely quantity of life.
Since I addressed this issue — and then signed off on it a year or two ago — I have received dozens of letters from both sides of the aisle. So, here I am again, folks, ready to address these problems, which most of us will have to face sooner or later. This is your chance to vent, whatever your beliefs.
This is a topic that we need to address because it has religious, legal, political and medical components.


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Piano Music of Ginastera & Villa-Lobos
- Artist: Fred Sturm
- Genre: Classical Artists
- Release Date: 6/14/2005
Piano music of Ginastera and Villa-Lobos Fred Sturm, piano Heitor Villa-Lobos (Brazil, 1887-1959) and Alberto Ginastera (Argentina, 1916 -1983) are without any doubt the giants of Latin American classical music. In fact, in my opinion they were two of the most exciting composers ever, from any part of the world. Both were extraordinarily creative, and each evolved a style that has it's basis in the cultural heritage of his native country. Sometimes this involved the use of folk materials in a self-conscious effort to create a 'national' music, as many composers were doing during the same period. But in the case of these two, it was not mere artifice: that 'national character' simply became a part of their being. Villa Lobos liked to say, 'I am Brazilian Folk Music.' Lenda do Caboclo (Villa Lobos, 1920) is one of Villa Lobos' most popular short works. Very Brazilian in character, it features a syncopated melody over a lightly swinging, triple/duple base. (Lenda is roughly equivalent to 'ballad,' while caboclo means a native person - aboriginal or of mixed race). Doce Preludios Americanos (Ginastera, opus 12, 1944) was commissioned by publisher Carl Fischer as part of a series of contemporary works by composers of the Americas. These short character pieces range from simple two part lyricism to frenzied, percussive exuberance, and include homages to several composers, among them Aaron Copland and Villa Lobos. A Prole do Bebê, Suite 1 (Villa Lobos, 1918). This was one of the works that Villa Lobos took with him to Paris in 1923, a trip which transformed him overnight from an obscure regional composer to an international sensation. The legendary piano virtuoso Artur Rubenstein was very taken by this work when he visited Rio de Janeiro in 1920, and he performed it regularly throughout his career. The seventh movement, O Policinelo, became one of Rubenstein's favorite encores and was, in fact, the last encore of his very last public concert. While on a superficial level this remarkable suite owes a great deal to the compositional techniques of Debussy, it is at the same time one of the earliest works that is authentically Villa Lobos. Villa Lobos was adamant in saying that his music should not be played like Debussy, but rather like Villa Lobos. Each movement depicts a different member of 'the baby's family' of dolls (a second suite depicts ten animals). They are (1) The White Porcelain Doll, (2) The Brown-haired Papier-maché Doll, (3) The Clay Indian Doll, (4) The Rubber Mulatta Doll, (5) The Black Wooden Doll, (6) The Poor Little Rag Doll, (7) The Clown (Polchinello), and (8) The Cloth Witch. Danzas Argentinas (Ginastera, opus 2, 1937). These dances evoke three very different characters. (1) 'The Old Ox-drover' is rather stiff, but very precise and full of rhythmic subtlety. (2) 'The Graceful Maiden' is suave and debonaire, but a well of passion lurks just below the surface. (3) 'The Outlaw Cowboy' is wild and violent, dances with complete abandon, and loves to show off his incredible strength and dexterity. Piezas Infantiles (Ginastera, 1934). Three brief gems based on children's songs, filled with wit and good humor. Bachianas Brasileiras no. 4 (Villa Lobos, 1930-41). This, the fourth in a well-known series, was originally written for solo piano, though it is more often heard in it's later, orchestrated version. Like the other 'Bachianas,' this takes it's inspiration from the music of J. S. Bach, but adds a Brazilian twist. Each movement has a 'Bachian' title followed by a Brazilian one. (The third and fourth movements were first published in 1935 and 1930, respectively, and later joined with the first two movements to form the completed work). Prelude (Introduction) is, like many of Bach's preludes, based almost entirely on a single melodic/rhythmic motive, but this is given a harmonic and dynamic treatment much more exotic than any Bach would have used. In Chorale (Song in the Jungle), a simple, chorale-like melody is surrounded by the sounds of the jungle, including the raucous caw of the Araponga (a bird seldom seen, but always heard). Aria (Song) is in the form of a da capo aria, but with a middle section based on a popular Brazilian song that has a samba-like character. Dance (Miudinho) is in the spirit of a Bach Gigue, full of rhythmic vitality. Suite de Danzas Criollas (Ginastera, opus 15, 1946). The word criollo in Latin American Spanish is quite similar to the Brazilian Portuguese word caboclo. Both imply a person who was born in a particular place, a native, often of mixed race, and of a simple, earthy character. The five movements of this suite range from a delicate, deceptively simple melody over rich cluster chords, to the rhythmic drive and stunning climax of the last movement's coda. Fred Sturm makes his home in the Land of Enchantment, which some people refer to as the 'State of New Mexico.' For those of greater understanding, it is more of a 'state of mind,' or 'spiritual state,' perhaps best described by the Dine (Navajo) as 'to walk in beauty.' 'Für ihn waren Kunst und Künstlerschaft wertlos, wenn sie nicht brannten wie Sonne und Gewalt hatten wie Stürme . . . wenn sie nur Behagen brachten, nur Angehmes, nur kleines Gluck.' (For him, art and artistry were worthless, if they did not burn like the sun or possess the power of storms. . . if they merely brought ease, pleasure, a little happiness.) Hermann Hesse, Narziss und Goldmund Este disco ê dedicado, com muito carinho, ao meu pai. Recorded in Keller Hall, University of New Mexico, June - September, 2003. Recorded, edited and mastered by Manny Rettinger, Ubik Sound, LLC, Albuquerque, NM Copyright 2003, Fred S. Sturm Cover design: Paul Akmajian Photos: Terri Reck Program notes: Fred Sturm Produced with Sturm und Drang, 315 Nara Visa Rd NW, Albuquerque, NM email@example.com.
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