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Could bin Laden have taken up residence in the large, custom-built, high-security, walled compound in Abbottabad — virtually next door to Pakistan's major military academy — without Pakistan's knowledge and permission? "Almost impossible," said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). "Impossible," declared Fox News' Greta Van Susteren. "Inconceivable," stated Obama White House counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger also employed a similar "inconceivable" comment to describe the proposition that Pakistan could have been ignorant of bin Laden's residence in their midst.
"Highly unlikely," said former Pakistani High Commissioner to Britain Dr. Akbar Ahmed. "Not credible," opined former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) says, "Either the Pakistani government is incompetent or in cahoots."
On this issue there appears to be a rare consensus among Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives, internationalists and constitutionalists, and foreign and domestic pundits and analysts.
Pakistan, which has received billions of dollars in military and civilian aid from the United States and which has been billed as our key ally in the "war on terror," is playing a double game. This has been widely recognized for years but the bin Laden compound in Abbattobad makes the duplicity undeniable. Not only is the property much larger and more extensive and expensive than anything else in the vicinity — with 12-16-ft high walls topped with barbed wire — but locals were aware that many of the people coming and going from the facility were foreigners: Arabs, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Afghanis. According to foreigners who work and travel in Pakistan, it is "not possible" to spend much time in the country — especially if one is a foreigner — without being stopped by the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI. The ISI and its ubiquitous informants are ever on the lookout for spies and saboteurs, especially those of its archenemy India. And in a large military cantonment like Abbattobad foreigners would definitely not be able to build and occupy a compound of the size and nature of bin Laden's without notice of the eyes and ears of the ISI.
In a new PBS "Frontline" documentary entitled, "Fighting for Bin Laden," that aired on May 3, Afghan journalist Najibullah Quraishi is filmed making a dangerous trek into Pakistan's rugged back country to interview "Khan," a veteran of the mujahideen battles against the Soviet invaders of Afghanistan in the 1980s. Khan now leads a band of younger al-Qaeda recruits who operate both in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to Khan and others interviewed in the program, the government and military of Pakistan not only are well aware of the activities of these groups in their country, but also provide them considerable support.
Many counterterrorism experts believe it is likely that al-Qaeda's No. 2 chief, Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, is also in Pakistan (if not in one of the "stans" of the former Soviet Union). Ditto for the Taliban's notorious leader Mullah Omar. In January of this year, the Washington Post reported that Mullah Omar "had a heart attack Jan. 7 and was treated for several days in a Karachi hospital with the help of Pakistan's spy agency." The Post, citing a report by private intelligence company, The Eclipse Group, reported:
"The ISI rushed him to a hospital in Karachi, where he was given heparin [an anticoagulant] and operated on," the Eclipse report said. "After 3-4 days of post-operative care in the hospital, he was released to the ISI and ordered to take absolute bed rest when at home for at least several days."
Congressman Mike Rogers, Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, told reporters at a news conference on May 3: "Of the 20 senior leaders in al-Qaeda , at least a dozen of them, we believe to be traveling around Pakistan someplace."
The current exposure of Pakistan's role in assisting al-Qaeda/Taliban provides an opportunity for some of the "experts" to be reminded that this is nothing new; the world's "most wanted" terrorists have been making Pakistan a hideout for many years. The roll-call of terrorists apprehended in Pakistan includes 1993 World Trade Center bomber Ramzi Yousef, 9/11 "mastermind" Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Mir Aimal Kasi, who killed two CIA employees and wounded three others in 1993 outside CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia.
Photo of Pakistani flag: AP Images
Related articles:
Pakistan, Aid Scrutinized After bin Laden Killing
Mumbai Terrorist Was U.S. Agent
Proper Use of the U.S. Military
Karzai Offers Invitation to "Our Taliban Brothers"


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|<< Back
|Blind and Vision-Impaired Readers to Benefit from New Kindle Features in 2010
SEATTLE--December 7, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE)– Kindle, the #1 bestselling product across all of Amazon, has enabled many vision-impaired readers to enjoy books more easily than before, and has also helped dyslexic readers and those with learning disabilities improve their reading skills. Vision impaired customers benefit from Kindle's ability to change the font size – easily making any book a large print edition. Dyslexic readers benefit from being able to listen with Kindle's text-to-speech technology while simultaneously reading along with the synchronized text. Today, Amazon announced that it is working on a new set of features that will make Kindle even better for these readers as well as a meaningful breakthrough device for the blind.
"Kindle is for anyone who loves to read—in fact, we've heard from thousands of vision-impaired customers and customers with learning disabilities over the past two years who have been helped tremendously by Kindle," said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "With some key modifications, we believe Kindle can be a breakthrough device for the blind, and the team is excited about making these enhancements."
Below are examples of emails sent to the Kindle team over the past two years about the significance of these features:
"The other day I took my visually impaired friend to the eye doctor. I just happened to take my Kindle out of my purse to show her the birthday gift I had received. Amazingly, she was able to read on it. How exciting; she had not been able to read books for many years."
"I've always loved to read, but the last year or so vision problems have hampered my reading. Reading small print was extremely difficult and caused eye strain. Fortunately, a dear friend gifted me with my Kindle 2 on my birthday in September. Since that time, my Kindle has not left my side."
"I have an 11 year old daughter with cerebral palsy. She has very poor vision and cannot turn pages in a book, so the kindle text to speech is a blessing for her. She loves books and will listen for hours!"
"I am an ophthalmologist specializing in rehabilitation of the visually impaired. I have found the Kindle DX to be of tremendous value to my patients. A few modifications could increase its effectiveness."
[From teacher of students with learning disabilities] "One of my students brought his mom's Kindle to class this week and gave a little show and tell for two different classes. He is certainly a hard worker, but reading is not an easy skill for him. He reports that the lack of back-lighting, the ability to change font size and the 'read-to' features have been very helpful - already he feels he has made great progress! The Kindle has really grabbed the attention of many of my students who have typically been turned off by reading assignments."
To make Kindle more useful for the blind, the Kindle team is currently working on an audible menuing system so blind and vision-impaired readers can easily navigate to books unassisted, in addition to listening to books as they can already do today with Read To Me. In addition, a new super size font will be added to Kindle, increasing the number of font sizes from six to seven. This seventh font size will be twice the height and width of the current largest font. These new features are scheduled for release by the summer of 2010.
To receive emails from Amazon when new features and updates on this topic are available, please send an email to email@example.com.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN - News), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel; Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial.
Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, and www.amazon.cn.
As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
Kindle devices are sold through Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Amazon Media Hotline:

subset: commoncrawl


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Battlefield 4 to Pack a Hefty Install on Xbox 360
Xbox 360 owners should free up some space on their hard drives if they're looking to install Battlefield 4.
An article on the EA Support site lets us know exactly how much memory you'll need to install Battlefield 4 on your Xbox 360. The game will ship on two discs: one for the single player portion and one for multiplayer.
Upon starting up the game on either disc, you'll need to perform a required installation that takes up 2GB on your hard drive. After the initial 2 GB install, you'll have the option to install additional content to your hard drive from either disc.
According to the article, the Multiplayer Disc will have an additional 6.6 GB of content. The Single Player Disc will pack 5.8 GB of additional content.
EA recommends that you install all of the optional content to make your experience in Battlefield 4 smooth, so be sure you have a spare 14.4 GB of space on your hard drive when you pick up Battlefield 4 on Oct. 29.


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Democrats talk tough on entitlements
Congressional Democrats are starting to draw a much tougher line on entitlements in the increasingly messy fiscal cliff talks, warning Republicans to keep their hands off Social Security and Medicare benefits.
Democrats also say they'll refuse to look at GOP calls to dramatically slash Medicaid. And for them to even entertain any changes to Medicare and Medicaid, they say the price is for Republicans to agree to far higher taxes than they have flirted with so far.
Story Continued Below
On Tuesday, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) went even further with a fresh push for negotiators to keep all entitlement discussions out of the fiscal cliff talks, and instead keep the focus solely on taxes and automatic spending cuts.
For many Democrats, these entitlement programs are part of their core identity — aggressively protecting the social safety net programs created by the New Deal and the Great Society is as much a part of the progressive worldview as tax cuts and smaller government are for conservatives. And if President Barack Obama reaches a bipartisan deal with GOP leaders that cuts entitlements, he can expect a rebellion from his allies on the Hill — that is, unless he wins what they consider major concessions from Republicans on taxes.
"Let them put revenue on the table first," veteran Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) told POLITICO. "I don't want to hear, 'Oh well, we'll close loopholes.' What the hell does that mean? That's nothing."
The tougher line reflects an emboldened group of Democrats on the Hill whose tougher public posturing could complicate efforts by the White House to cut a sweeping deal with the GOP.
But there are some differences in Democratic negotiating strategies, including among some who want a major deal on taxes and entitlements in the lame-duck session. New York Sen. Chuck Schumer recently floated the idea to raise taxes on the top 2 percent and woo the GOP by agreeing to "hundreds of billions of dollars" in cuts out of Medicare to help reduce the inefficiencies in the program. But he, too, has resisted cuts to Medicare benefits.
"I personally believe there are things that we can do with entitlements that don't hurt beneficiaries," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday, noting that he and Obama have insisted that Social Security be off the table. "We hope that they can agree to the tax revenue that we're talking about, and that is rate increases, and as the president's said on a number of occasions, we'll be happy to deal with entitlements."
But there is pressure from off of Capitol Hill to immediately adopt a grand bargain to shave trillions from the debt with a mix of spending cuts and tax revenue. On Wednesday morning, Reid and his leadership team will hear from business leaders behind a national campaign initiative known as "Fix the Debt," officials said.
Republicans are dead set against raising the top income tax rate from 35 percent to 39.6 percent for families who earn more than $250,000, as Obama and his allies on the Hill have repeatedly demanded. But GOP leaders have signaled they'd be open to new revenue from other sources, mainly through closing loopholes and capping deductions, including from high earners, a potential break from their no-new-tax pledge administered by anti-tax activist Grover Norquist.
Still, even with a modest increase in new revenue, Republicans counter that Democrats must agree to significant changes to entitlement programs in order to win GOP support for higher taxes.
"We all know that the most critical steps to be taken are to save the entitlements, which are on an unsustainable path to bankruptcy," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said after a caucus lunch Tuesday. "There's no better time to begin to fix that problem than right now."


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CBS Cancels CSI: Cyber, Ending the 16-Year Franchise
May 12, 2016 3:25 PM EDT
For the first time in sixteen years, there won't be a single CSI on TV. On Thursday, Deadline reports, CBS canceled CSI: Cyber, the fourth and final installment of the long-running franchise. Oscar winner Patricia Arquette starred in the procedural w… Read more


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Moroccan Lanterns, Moroccan Chandeliers, Moroccan hanging Lantern, Moroccan Patio Lanterns
Thank you for visiting our Moroccan lanterns and Moroccan chandeliers store. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to pick up the phone and call our toll free number at 1800-314-4876.
Providing natural and artificial lighting to a room can be done artistically with the use of lanterns from Morocco. Lighting is one of the most important, yet neglected, aspects in home designing because doing the slightest ant most mundane activities and tasks will not be possible without it. The beauty of a home which has efficient light will receive more appreciation and recognition by the persons living and visiting it more than a house with insufficient lighting. Fluorescent lights and bulbs may work very well to provide lighting to illuminate the home. However, using these Moroccan lighting materials may become dull and ordinary. You can explore on more creative ways to decorate your home with other materials such as chandeliers made of shells or opt for the more classical style.
This is where Moroccan lighitng can come to the picture. Lanterns that are made from galvanized metal, mosaic brass and crystals are guaranteed to last the test of time. They may be old materials but they are proven to be of top class quality and are sturdy. While it is good to maximize the amount of natural light which may enter the home, using artificial means to provide light carry the same importance. Exquisitely designed and hand crafted lanterns can add beauty to any room of your home. Specially designed lanterns can be placed on the patio, foyer, living room and dining room as these areas are only some of the most populated places in the home. A piece of Moroccan lantern can help fuse classical design into a modern home without sacrificing its beauty and uniqueness.
Did you know that you can get one of your Moroccan lighting fixtures to work with an electrical setup instead of with a standard candle? You can do this by ordering an electrical kit to work for your lantern. This kit will be designed to fit into the body of your lantern. You can use this to insert it into your lantern without any additional wiring considerations. The fact that a lantern manufacturer can make this to fit your country?s specific lighting standards will work especially well considering how your standards are probably different from what people use in Morocco and other places in Northern Africa.
This kind of special kit will feature a design where you can get your lantern lit up without any additional wires in the process. You will only have to use the materials that come with the electrical setup. You will have to place them inside the body of the lantern but it will typically involve the need to just open the door to your lantern without having to add anything else to it. It will cost about fifty dollars to get one of these kits in most cases but it should be good enough for most types of Moroccan lamps. This could prove to be very valuable for your needs if you have a lantern that you want to use but you don?t want to risk dealing with candles that might be tough to use and might cover your lantern as they melt after a while.Moroccan Lanterns News
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China has 31 World Heritage sites inscribed on the World Heritage List, and the volume of mass tourism in China has been a major challenge for site management.
This workshop will be the first of a series of training activities for tourism management in China. It will provide a broad overview of sustainable tourism issues and techniques, and will identify management needs and an action plan that sets the stage for future training interventions.
The goal of the workshop is to develop an action plan to establish a training programme of Chinese World Heritage site managers.
Presentations and group discussions will be followed by working sessions to develop site management priorities and necessary future actions. Case studies and practical examples will be used to present different themes, and literature, case studies and other training materials will be supplied. A field trip to Lushan National Park World Heritage property will also take place.


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Our Physicians
Patient Center
Contact Us
Select a location to call.
November 6, 201911:30 AM
Thank you for choosing Dr. John Anastasi for your medical needs.
If you are unable to find a desired time, please contact the office 772-465-8100 and the receptionist will be happy to accommodate you.
To reschedule an appointment, call us directly at 772-465-8100.
In order to expedite your visit, please bring the following items:
· A list of current medications.
· Insurance card(s) and a Photo ID, diagnostic studies.
New Patients, in order to finalize your registration process, please arrive 30 minutes before your scheduled appointment time.
For questions about insurance and billing, call us directly at 772-465-8100.
Thank you again, and we look forward to seeing you!
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Jack David Lauderback
Sept. 22, 1926-Nov. 26, 2011
Pleasanton, California
Jack David Lauderback Sept. 22,1926 - Nov. 26, 2011 Resident of Pleasanton, CA. Born in Portland, Oregon. Grew up in the Gresham area. Graduated from Estacada High School. Attended the University of Oregon at Eugene. Served in the Army and was stationed in the Philippines and Japan. Graduated from the University of Miami in Coral Gables Worked for Pacific Finance in Portland Ore. Married Leslie Rae Lauderback on May 28, 1954 Transferred to California in 1956 while working for Pacific Finance. Later worked for American Saving and Bell Savings. Survived by Leslie, his wife of 57 years. Three children James Robert Lauderback, David William Lauderback, Lynn Metcalf. Grandchildren Jacqualynn Metcalf, Tara Metcalf, Lily Metcalf, and son-in-law Royal Metcalf. Brother Robert Lauderback and sister Judy Lauderback Barrett. Predeceased in death by parents Kenneth and Lillian Lauderback and brothers James and Richard Lauderback. Private services will be held at Graham-Hitch Mortuary in Pleasanton, CA on Sat. Dec. 3 from 2-4pm. The family would like to thank the Veterans Community Living Center in Martinez CA for their loving care. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the V.A. CLC Hospice Unit in Martinez CA. http://www.northerncalifornia.va.gov/giving/ Jack, you will be missed.


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Bridal Terrors
A lot of brides like to give their bakers a photo of their dream wedding cake, in the hopes that they might, in fact, get a cake that looks at least vaguely similar.
However, as you long-time readers know, this can be a lot like asking Francois the painting ferret* to whip you up a quick Mona Lisa. Some of the colors might be right, but in the end it's probably gonna be covered in fur and little poo nuggets. (The painting, that is, not the cake.) (We hope.)
For example:
Amanda C. asked for this, only in white and with a C:
Jei gave this picture to the head "chef" at a "luxury" beach "resort":
Do you think the bride had to spring for those? [chortle]
Candice F. wanted this mushroom cake:
Joanne and Elena wanted this stunner for their wedding:
Thanks to brides Amanda C., Jei, Candice F., Joanne & Elena C., and Christie D. for making me feel better about my $80 Publix wedding cake.
*Note: Not actual duct tape. Duct tape is prettier.
*Update from john: Loyal Wrecky Henchperson Shannon S. sent in this helpful illustration:


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The second stop of the American Pro Surfing Series brought a handful of pro and amateur surfers to compete on the south side of the Huntington Beach pier Friday.
Many agreed that it was the perfect surfing day, with peaky 3-5-foot waves showing through the day under sunny skies.
"It's super fun out there," said Newport Beach surfer Erica Hosseini, who won an APSS event last year. "The waves are pumping, this is probably the best I've seen Huntington in a long time."
The series, sponsored by Shoe City, is a domestic, three-stop tour to give surfers the chance to compete near home. The series allows mid-ranked competitors the chance to showcase their skills in a contest and keep their surfing sharp, as well as keep their names in the public.
There were 32 men and 16 women competing in the one-day event, among them big names such as former World Tour surfers Nate Yeomans, Chris Ward and Kalani Robb, as well as local Huntington surfers such as Chris Waring and Brad Ettinger. The crop of surfers that entered the event were a mix of young surfers, up-and-comers, and legends all combined in a pro setting.
San Clemente surfer Kevin Schulz, 18, was happy to be in the mix.
"It was really fun, there's a ton of waves out there. I was just lucky to get on a couple and get the scores I needed to make the heat," said Schulz, on his way to the quarterfinals.
Schulz said the event gives surfers a chance to compete.
"There are a lot of guys in California who surf so well, but they're not on the level with the professionals – even though they should be," he said.
For female surfers such as Hosseini, who surfs on the Association of Surfing Professionals World Qualifying Series, it keeps her competitive feet wet.
"There's so much down time, especially toward the end of the year when there's not as many events," she said, just after securing a spot in the semi-finals. "It definitely keeps you in contest mode; it's so great for people to be able to come and not have to travel internationally. I love this event."
The Ghetto Juice Magazine Expression Session at the end of the event gave the chance for 16 of the top surfers to let loose – and the chance to win $1,000.
"I think we're really stoked to sponsor the expression session, and just giving the surfers another way to make money is really what it's all about," said co-publisher Skip Snead. "There's not a lot of money in pro surfing."
Snead said he hopes this event evolved past Huntington Beach.
"Right now, it's the only domestic tour that I know of in the United States, and it would be good to see it expand throughout the country," he said.
Results were not available by deadline, go to ocregister.com/beaches for more information.
Contact the writer: email@example.com
Busy beach weekend
Here are some fun activities to check out.
The 2013 Oktoberfest Skimboard Championships will go down at Balboa Pier in Newport Beach Saturday and Sunday, with a world champion crowned at the end of the event.
The event – put on by Exile Skimboards and Main Street Surf Shop – is now in its ninth year, and will bring about 100 amateurs and 40 pro skimboarders to battle it out on the south side of the pier.
It should be an exciting event as Laguna Beach's Sam Stinnett and Austin Keen, originally from Georgia but now living in Dana Point, go up against each other for a tight race for this year's World Title. It's the eighth and final stop on the United Skim Tour.
"It's fantastic, this year could go down as the best contest ever," said event organizer Brian Boyle. "We have the perfect set up with offshore winds expected and 3 – 5 foot swell coming from the south, which is perfect."
The event is free to watch.
Information: exileskimboards.com!/Oktoberfest.
Sandcastle contest
The 52nd annual Sandcastle Contest will be a great way to spend the day on the beach, with competitors making elaborate designs from sand.
The contest starts at 11 a.m., and competitors will be making their creations until about 2:30 p.m. Judging will happen until about 4:30 p.m. before a winner is announced.
This year's theme is "Haunted Castles."
Information: newportbeach.com.
If you want to get a taste of surf culture, head over to the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa for The Boardroom on Saturday and Sunday.
The tradeshow, which is open to the public, is expected to draw about 700,000 people. The Boardroom is a hybrid tradeshow mixed with public events. Legendary shaper Terry Martin, a San Clemente shaper who died last year, will be honored in the "Icons of Foam Tribute to the Master."
The Boardroom "offer shapers a way to reach buying networks as well as find new retail outlets for their craft," according to the website. The consumer surf show focuses on equipment needed to go surfing: surfboards, fins, wax, wetsuits, leashes, bags, board shorts, sunglasses, sunscreen, surf travel agencies and much more.
The event runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. There are about 150 exhibitors. Cost is $10. Address: 88 Fair Drive, Costa Mesa.
Information: boardroomshow.com


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Two men walk into a bar, one wearing a cowboy hat and the other wearing a Yankees cap. The guy in the Yankees cap approaches the bartender and make a bet: "I'll bet you $1,000 that I can put a shot glass at one end of your bar and piss into it from the other end of the bar without spilling a drop."
The bartender laughs and says, "You're crazy, but you're on."
The man positions a shot glass on one end, walks to the other end and unzips his fly. He then pisses everywhere -- all over the walls, over the bar top, all over the bottles of booze, and all over the bartender. The bartender roars with laughter and tells the man to pay up.
The guy in the Yankees cap pays up, laughing and smiling, too.
"What are you smiling at?" asks the bartender. "You just lost $1,000!"
"Well, you see that guy in the cowboy hat over there crying? Before we came in, I bet him $10,000 that I could piss all over your bar, your walls, your liquor AND you, and not only would you not be mad -- you would laugh hysterically about it!"


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As part of the validation process, Applied Biosystems tested the performance of the PrepFiler™ kit against a standard organic Phenol/Chloroform process and 3 other commonly used commercially available chemistries on a variety of simulated forensic casework samples (prepared from 2 ul blood, 50 ul saliva, and 1 ul semen). The extracts were evaluated for DNA concentration, total quantity of DNA isolated, and purity using the Quantifiler Human DNA Quantification Kit. An example of the results is shown above.
In all cases, the PrepFiler™ kit matched or exceeded the concentration and total yield of DNA produced by other methods. For certain sample types, the PrepFiler™ kit yielded greater than 100% more DNA than the other technologies tested.


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Events of the last week have made the Deficit Commission an embarrassment. Co-Chair Alan Simpson is a one-man disaster movie, compulsively offending one key voting bloc after another. Commission member Paul Ryan faced an angry crowd over his anti-Social Security stance, while another Commissioner locked experienced workers out of a nuclear facility rather than provide retirement benefits.
That's right: He's cutting retirement benefits.
But if the political blowback is obvious, here's what isn't: The Commissioners who are determined to cut your Social Security benefits are going to enjoy their own retirements in comfort. Their own pension plans insulate them from the fears that many other Americans face, and they don't have the professional expertise that would help them understand those concerns. In fact, the Commission's only expert on retirement is Rep. Jan Schakowsky, and she apparently opposes benefit cuts. The rest of the Commission is dominated by people who've expressed their desire to cut Social Security, despite their own secure futures. Millions of working Americans who have contributed to Social Security all their lives will lose out if these Commissioners have their way.
Happy Labor Day.
Normally I consider it off-limits to discuss people's personal finances when discussing their political opinions. But these Commissioners' lack of subject matter expertise, along with their lack of empathy, is important. If you don't know much about the topic and are protected from the problem, what makes you credible? Their pre-established prejudices makes the situation even worse, and their own situations underscore the irony of their self-professed willingness to make "brave choices" – choices whose consequences will mean little or nothing to them.
The Commission's Social Security obsession is odd anyway, since the projected Social Security shortfall comes out to only 0.7% of GDP. Nevertheless, these Commissioners have made their benefit-cutting intentions plain, presumably because they want to offer up America's seniors as a sacrifice to the bond markets. So how will these would-be income-slashers for the elderly make out in their own golden years? They'll be golden.
Consider Commissioner Alice Rivlin. Rivlin co-authored a paper that called for raising the retirement age and other benefit cuts, and recently released a specious paper about "Saving Social Security." As a former HEW Undersecretary, CBO Director, White House Budget Director, and Federal Reserve Vice Chair, she will presumably enjoy a comfortable retirement supported by multiple public pensions. Says Rivlin: ""We can't get out of this problem without doing both spending cuts, especially slowing the growth of entitlement, and tax increases."
Experts on Social Security finance (including the long-time Chief Actuary for the program) flatly disagree with Rivlin, pointing out that an adjustment to the payroll tax cap would unquestionably be enough to get the job done. They have the numbers to prove it. So why does Rivlin, who does not have their expertise in this area, disagree? Go ask Alice.
Co-Chair Erskine Bowles brokered a deal with Newt Gingrich to cut Social Security in the 1990s, when he served as Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff. Before that he headed the Small Business Administration, so his government tenure presumably qualifies him for a Federal pension. If not, don't worry: He receives $425,000 per year in his current job running the public universities of North Carolina, and the people of North Carolina are presumably also funding a pension on his behalf. To his credit, Bowles pledged to donate $125,000 of his salary for need-based student funds – but then, he can afford it. As the son of a US Congressman, Bowles had the education and connections needed to make millions as an investment banker. The added income he earns today as a Board member for General Motors and Morgan Stanley will help, too – and his government experience undoubtedly helped him win those positions, too.
Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, an aggressive advocate of Social Security cuts and privatization, will also enjoy his sunset years in comfort, thanks to a publicly-funded pension from his tenure as a Congressman. (He'll presumably earn even more as a result of his employment as an aide to two United States Senators.) Rep. Jeb Hensaerling has served as both a Representative and as an aide to Sen. Phil Gramm, so he should be safe from financial insecurity in his old age too .
The average annual pension payments for former members of Congress ranged from $41,000 to $55,000 in 2002, considerably more than the average $13,836 that Social Security recipients received in 2009. Yet neither Ryan nor Hensaerling have proposed cutting Congressional retirement benefits – nor should they. Sound pension plans like theirs were once available to most working Americans, and more effort should be made to restore them.
Former SEIU President Andrew Stern, who once might have been counted on to defend Social Security, recently sneered at Commission critics as "assassins of change" while saying that "all entitlements should be on the table." Mr. Stern's annual pension is $152,000 – and he retired at the age of 59, not 70. Nevertheless, Stern now publicly muses about "whether defined benefit pensions can really exist in the long run in a globalized economy."
Judd Gregg, who wants to raise the retirement age to 70, will receive a Federal pension for his Senate position. Gregg, like Alan Simpson, is the son of a Governor (self-made men, you might say), which means that public pensions also ensured that neither of them had to worry about supporting their aged parents. Tom Coburn, another would-be Social Security cutter, will receive a Congressional and Senatorial pension too.
David Cote, the CEO of Honeywell, provides some "private enterprise" perspective to the Commission's work. But Cote's wealth comes in part from Honeywell's government contracts, which exceed $4 billion annually. What's more, Cote's "free enterprise" ethic didn't stop him from making sure that Honeywell grabbed a few million in stimulus money from the taxpayers, too. A few billion from the Pentagon here, a few million more from Uncle Sam there – that'll plump up the nest egg a little for Mr. Cote's sunset years.
Cote made the headlines this week when Honeywell locked out the union workers at a nuclear power plant over a labor dispute – even though the workers agreed to stay on the job to protect public safety. Instead, Cote hired replacements and put them through a pared-down training process. The image of Homer Simpson comes to mind, pushing the wrong buttons and spilling beer on the reactor console – which would presumably make Cote Mr. Burns.
But it's no joking matter. Apparently there's real danger, which is why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reportedly stepped in to block Honeywell from distilling uranium with its crew of replacement workers And what are the union and Honeywell arguing about? Honeywell's raising health care costs – and eliminating retiree pension plans for new workers.
That's right. A member of the Commission that's pretending to judge our retirement security with impartiality would rather have hastily-trained amateurs handle nuclear materials than bargain openly with his workers – about their retirement. D'oh!
As for Simpson (Alan, not Bart), to say that he suffers from "political Tourette's syndrome" would be a disservice to Tourette's sufferers. Most of them don't really say socially objectionable things, and those who do (it's called "coprolalia") don't mean what they say. But Simpson does. By attacking senior citizens as "greedy geezers," then offending women with his "milk cow with 100 million tits" comment, and now offending veterans' groups, Simpson has now hit the voting bloc trifecta.
And Cote's outraged labor, a fourth group. But the problem isn't Simpson anymore, or Cote for that matter. It's the Commission itself. The coprolalic curmudgeon Simpson has done a service to the nation. He's drawn attention to the Commission, and to the anti-Social Security biases held by so many of its members – all of whom will retire in comfort, thanks to those whose benefits they would cut. It's the comfortable afflicting the afflicted.
If these Deficit Commission members want their recommendations to have any credibility, they should pledge to live on the same Social Security benefits that they would impose for other Americans. Better yet, they should dedicate themselves to helping provide every American with the kind of retirement security they enjoy. That was part of the social contract this nation embraced during its years of greatest economic growth, the fulfillment of a promise that a lifetime of work should never end with years of deprivation. They should be working to restore that contract, not erode it even further.
One thing is clear: This Commission has no business making recommendations about Social Security.
(Sign a petition asking Congress and the President to protect Social Security from the Deficit Commission. Roger Hickey has more here.)
Additional links:
* Sam Seder and I discussed Social Security this week while co-hosting The Young Turks.
* For further reference on the Commission's members and their biases, see Firedoglake and Talking Points Memo.
* House Democrats are vowing to protect Social Security from any cuts. The polls show why that's a very wise idea.


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Right now, feral druids are only an okay melee choice but a good tank choice. Their melee DPS is about 70-75% of an equivalently geared rogue given similar buffs, which isn't great but isn't the worst thing ever. Their group buff is very good for raid dps since it tends to already improve the highest dps classes (hunters and rogues), and they do not require an optimal party composition to achieve decent DPS. They also provide very useful generic druid buffs to a party that can make progression fights far easier. For tanking, there are only a few fights that mechanically a feral druid can't main tank, only a small amount where a feral is significantly disadvantaged, and a few where they are the best choice for tanking on progression. They have a niche as the best physical damage tanks in most situations and the best offtanks in most situations that require threat without being hit constantly. The unification of the two in one single spec, able to switch as necessary depending on the encounter's requirements, is also a huge strength and a huge source of the fun of a druid. I have spoken about that before, but it bears (hah) emphasis: a feral druid is both a cat and a bear. You should be able to do one or the other. That is a feral's biggest contribution to a raid: flexibility. Without that, a feral druid only has a few fights that they can tank the best and no fights where they can DPS the best.
It is the versatility that makes a druid a joy to play and makes them valuable to a raid.
The big weaknesses that I see are:
- A lack of itemization, especially in higher tiered content. The best overall tanking weapon is a trash drop from SSC. The best trinket is a random world drop. Most non-tiered armor drops are either more trash, crafted, or gained from pvp/arena. The 'tanking stats' like defense aren't optimal for bears, and no epic leather pieces exist in the game that have defense on them anyway. It's a big mess. For cats, their DPS doesn't scale well with the high-end stats like haste, and their base damage was not that great to begin with. Thus they do not scale as well with the rogue gear that is best for rogues, and the feral gear is loaded with stats that aren't relevant such as int or armor.
- Poor scaling mechanics. Armor is the best stat to stack for a bear, but armor becomes cappable early in raiding. After that there simply isn't much to improve. As a result, bears peak in overall effectiveness in T5. Cats are similar in that the only stat they scale well with is crit, which has very large diminishing returns.
- Lack of choices. Paladins suffer from this as well, but a bear's tanking rotation is set in stone: mangle, lacerate, maul. If you're well-geared and buffed, putting in swipes while maintaining the lacerate stack is an option, but this is still 4 buttons to manage at most, and all are spammable. There's very little else going on, and this rarely changes as you fight different bosses. There's almost no interactivity with the mobs you're facing. For a cat, there's a lot more interaction if you're doing it right thanks to powershifting, but it is still 4 buttons: rip, mangle, shred, shift.
For cats, I would like them to close the gap a bit on being a useful raid slot. Ideally I'd like to see them get more raidwide utility buffs. Leader of the Pack is a good buff, but it scales poorly with some classes, the healing is unreliable and fairly unremarkable, and the synergy with any other class is lacking. I don't want to actually see their DPS go up all that much; it seems okay where it is and that + awesome party buffs would be far too much.
Above all, I'd like to see that the unification of a feral druid remains. The versatility that embodies a druid, the fluidness of forms, the ability to use all of your skills as you need - this is what makes a druid a joy to play.
Still trying to be not bitter.
Blizzard has not finished the feral druid for WotLK, and as such we don't know what the end will give us. We have no idea what the itemization will look like, but chances are it will be rogue leather + some tier pieces/tanking rings/cloaks/amulets/trinkets. That could be okay; I remain skeptical that a mismash of random class gear, dps gear and tanking gear will be reasonably itemized for a druid, but it's possible. And if done right, it gives a lot more freedom in gearing up than previously.
As of now, tanks do not have any more options in terms of their rotation, really. Berserk is a great ohshit button for a tank, but it must be saved as that most of the time and is on a 5-minute cooldown. Mangle's cooldown is being reduced so that it can be spammed more, but that is all. For cats, the addition of savage roar has some potential, as does the improvement of Omen of Clarity, but there is still not a lot of interaction, the scaling for a cat is still not that good with rogue stats (the best stat for DPS scaling is strength, which appears on 0 pieces of leather currently), and the actual dps output looks to be not so great, still.
But what really bothers me is the following:
We're not entirely happy with the way the Feral ended up in BC. The idea was that you could be a decent tank and a decent melee dps class, so Ferals were something you wanted to bring if you weren't the kind of guild that swapped different people out for every boss. But I don't think "convenience factor" is ultimately a great value to bring to a raid.and
and (oops, thanks Brad)
I do think the Feral flexibility will still count for something, as will unique abilities like Innervate. But we'd like the Raid of the Future (tm) to be one where you need various roles filled, but have options for how to fill them. Ferals can fill tank roles or melee roles (or both!) and can also supply the X raid buff. It would be nice if every spec of every class could bring a version of some raid buff.
If you want to do a little tanking and dps, you probably won't be as optimal at either, though you'll probably always be better at switching between the two than other classes. In order to be as good at tanking as the other classes, you might have to give up a few talents that maximize your dps, and vice versa. This is a good thing -- it lets you choose to actually be a main tank.
The stated goal of the dev team is to make ferals consciously choose between being a good tank and an okay dps or a good dps and an okay tank. For me, this is an easy choice: it will be a tank. It'll be a hard choice though, because while I tank a lot, and I'm good at it most of the time, I also like DPSing as a feral. I like the role I have right now. Reading other druid's experiences, I think they do as well. The versatility, not the specific abilities, are what make druids unlike any other class, and this feels like something of a desired nerf on Blizzard's part. I can't even clarify it further than that, and that's really frustrating. It could be only a 5% increase in maul damage vs. a 5% increase in shred damage, something minor, and it would still feel restrictive.
Blizzard believes that ferals want to choose. I think I'd rather be an okay tank who occasionally excels and an okay dps who doesn't embarrass themselves and provides raid utility than a tank all the time or a dps all the time. I'm surprised by this; when I rerolled a druid I did so because I wasn't sure what our guild would need most - a tank or a healer - but as I've played the druid I've found the flexibility is what brings me back to the joy of playing. No other class has that kind of flexibility.
Keep in mind - I can totally buy that this sort of change, this required choice to be a good tank or a good healer - will make a bear more effective as a tank or make a cat do more damage or be more useful in a raid. I'm not denying this at all. It has nothing to do with effectiveness of the class or getting a raid spot; it has to do with the sheer pleasure of playing a druid.
So I ask you all - what is your view of where a feral should go in WotLK? Should they be separated into Feral Cats and Feral Bears? How strong should the separation be? What would you like to see improved? I'm very curious whether my views of ferals - and my joy in playing them - matches up to others.


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Table of contents
Bob's mess
As the University of Virginia entered its third week of crisis, and with a convincing explanation of the Board of Visitors' decision to oust President Teresa Sullivan still MIA, the heat is on Governor Bob McDonnell who some have accused of delaying action and playing politics.
UVA faculty, staff, alums, students, legislators– just about every possible constituent group has come out in support of Teresa Sullivan, and the BOV hasn't been able to justify its decision to practically anyone's satisfaction. Could it be that their reasons were more visceral than factual? A growing faction, including a prominent UVA psychiatrist, thinks so.
Food on Fifth
For those living on the south side of Charlottesville, grocery shopping has long meant a tortuous, traffic-heavy slog across town to 29 North. Not for much longer, as a popular northern grocery store chain commits to anchoring the long-awaited Fifth Street Station development.
Water wars
When the Rivanna Water and Sewer Authority decided to add chloramines to the public water supply back in 2011, few may have realized that the chemical– a combination of chlorine and ammonia– had wreaked health havoc in other communities. Now, with evidence that it caused elevated lead levels in Washington, D.C. children, the debate over chloramines in our local water supply is heating up.
Cover of this 40-page issue:
Bob McDonnell, Helen Dragas, Teresa Sullivan, and Sullivan's supporters.
–photos by Tom Daly, Jen Fariello, Ophelia Lenz, Hawes Spencer, and UVA News
1 comment
As a physician I am appalled at the consideration of the use of chloramines in our water treatment plan. This is no proper way forward as use of this chemical is shown to cause respiratory symptoms as well as skin irritation in persons. Secondly, it reacts with many other chemicals resulting in dangerous byproducts.
My understanding is that it is being considered over Granular Activated Carbon Filtration, an absolutely safe and effective method of treating our water, as it will cost .91cents more per person, per household a month. Frankly I am happy to pay for the trade-off of health. But that said, this is really a false number, as Chloramines are known to cause pitting in copper piping. For those households with copper piping, they can expect a FAR larger bill to replace failing infrastructure. Hardly a win-win for consumers.
Lastly, it causes leaching of Lead from piping. This is utterly unacceptable. The impact from lead exposure and pregnant women and babies/children is well researched and documented. To knowing add a chemical that will increase lead exposure and thus the potential to cause brain damage, is frankly criminal.
There is a SAFE, healthy alternative in Granular Activated Carbon Filtration. I suggest we use our common sense and ethical compass and take that route.
Family Practice


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As Chinese President Hu Jintao visits Brazil on Thursday, he is seeking to expand an already growing economic relationship that is important to both emerging giants.
Trade between Brazil and China rose from $6.7 billion in 2003 to $36.1 billion last year, according to Brazilian government figures. Last year China even dislodged the US as Brazil's top trading partner.
While some regional analysts have criticized China's growing presence in the region and questioned its motives, most believe the Asian giant is simply acting in its own economic interest. In the last several years, the relationship between China and Latin America has deepened, especially since Hu made a regional visit in 2004 that ignited a steady climb in China's consumption of South American commodities.
On Thursday, Mr. Hu decided to cut short his visit and depart after his meetings so he could get home and help deal with the aftermath of an earthquake in Qinghai province that killed at least 618 people.
Complex ties
Trade between China and the region is often seen as a simple exchange of Latin American commodities like copper for Chinese manufactured goods like televisions or radios. In the case of Brazil last year, 76.8 percent of exports to China were basic products and 98.1 percent of Chinese imports were manufactured goods.
But Rodrigo Maciel, the executive secretary of the Brazil-China Business Council, says many Brazilian companies are now raising capital from Chinese firms and bringing in Chinese managerial and technical expertise.
"China is becoming a big investor in Brazil. It invested more than $2 billion in the mining industry in the first three months of the year. That is a lot of money, and it is very important. Those investments will elevate the relationship and make it more serious," says Mr. Maciel, who just returned from a 35-day trip to China where he was helping to broker business deals.
Maciel also helped organize two summits for this week where 75 Chinese companies are meeting with almost 300 Brazilian business leaders to discuss future opportunities. "Many business people understand that China is a potentially massive investor and they are going there to look for partners."
According to O Estado de São Paulo, a leading Brazilian newspaper, Chinese companies may invest in Brazil's vast oil industry and get involved in the construction of a multi-billion dollar high-speed train between Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Campinas.
Growing economic relationship
Between 1995 and 2000, Brazil's exports to China were stable at around $1 billion per year. They rose quickly in 2001 and shot up by about 60 percent a year until 2003. Although the rate has slowed, Brazilian exports to China continued to rise through the economic downturn.
"There is one reasonable advantage we have in dealing with China," says Paulo Ferracioli, a coordinator at the recently inaugurated BRIC Centre for Study and Research in Rio de Janeiro. "They need commodities and we need manufactured goods. They produce what we need and we given them what they need. There is no doubt that our exports to China have been very important during the crisis in which Brazil coped very well."
The Brazilian government is clearly eager for more. "In spite of the extraordinary growth in Brazil/China commerce, it must be recognized that a lot can still be done considering that Brazil represents just 1 percent of China's global purchases," Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Trade wrote in a report recently.
And many see a new phase on the horizon. The Chinese are now selling aircraft to Venezuela and Ecuador, and investing $10 billion in Brazil's state-controlled Petrobras to guarantee an oil supply. Maciel says China Bank has opened a branch in Brazil and that the Commercial Bank of China is looking to do the same.
Missed opportunity for the US?
Some have worried about China's political intent. Evan Ellis, a national security professor at the National Defense University, says it's a mistake for the US to be overly suspicious of China's regional economic expansion but that it's likely expanding trade ties will lead to greater Chinese political influence in a region where the US long held sway.
China's rising economic clout will give it "influence over governments to pressure them in certain ways to push the global economic agenda, in ways that might not be beneficial to the US," said Mr. Ellis. There could be the "temptation to become involved politically to defend their economic interests in the region."
Most analysts, however, see pure pragmatism at play. Whatever the motivations, it underscores a missed economic benefit for the US, argues Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas.
"The [Chinese] see Latin America broadly as very large potential trade partners," Mr. Farnsworth said. "The US has become much more inward-looking economically. … People in the region understand that, and say, 'we in Latin America have to expand our links with the rest of world.'"


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Though many trail runners have shifted focus away from "traditional" trail models in favor of lighter, more flexible options, there remains a place for more rugged trail shoes with plenty of cushioning. Mizuno's Wave Ascend is one such shoe. With few changes coming to its 8th version, the Wave Ascend remains a solid option for trail runners wanting a beefier and more protective shoe.
What to Watch For
- New Upper Design: Mizuno expands the Active-X traction theme of the outsole to the upper, with X shaped overlays to provide lateral control and support.
- Improved Fit: An asymmetrical lacing design better contours the shape of the foot for increased comfort.
- Carryover Sole Unit: The AP+ midsole from the Mizuno Wave Ascend 7 offers a responsive and resilient ride, while X shaped outsole lugs are suitable on the road and a variety of trail types.
Launch Date
July 2013
Men's Color
Anthracite/Bolt/Victory Blue Mizuno Wave Ascend 8
Women's Color
Diva Blue/Beetroot/Anthracite Mizuno Wave Ascend 8


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Oklahoma eGov News
Jason Murphey -- 2014 Government Technology Top 25 Winner
Jason Murphey admits the state's Government Modernization Committee was viewed as "kind of gimmicky" when it was created in 2009. But that's not the case anymore. As chairman, he's turned the body — better known as the Gov Mod Committee — into a magnet for innovative young lawmakers and a forum for IT-powered government reforms.
Murphey, a 36-year-old software developer, has shepherded a number of IT-related bills through the legislative process, including measures to create a cabinet-level CIO and consolidate state computer systems. Those moves were set to save more than $120 million by late 2013, according to the state. The committee also has tackled measures to improve state software purchasing, promote electronic payments, and simplify business licensing and permitting.
U.S. Ranks 8th in Citizen Satisfaction With Digital Government
The United States ranks eighth out of 10 countries surveyed about citizens' satisfaction with digital government services, according to a study released on Wednesday by the consulting firm Accenture.
The ranking trails the top-rated United Arab Emirates as well as Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Norway, the United Kingdom, India and Germany.
The U.S. topped the list, however, in the maturity of its digital services and in researchers' experience using those services.
Americans' low satisfaction levels may be partly due to a sense that digital government services are aimed more at cutting costs than on providing better services for citizens, the researchers speculate.
Data breaches a hot topic on the Hill
Committees in both houses of Congress are holding hearings this week on the recent spate of consumer data breaches, and legislative proposals being discussed would bring more business data under the jurisdiction of federal rules.
The scope of the breaches, with as many as 110 million Target customer records and more than 1 million credit card files at Nieman Marcus, is generating significant activity among legislators and regulators. But it remains to be seen how much appetite exists in Congress to increase the scope of the federal rules governing data containing personally identifiable information.
The Senate Judiciary Committee and the Cybersecurity Subcommittee of the House Homeland Security Committee are hosting nearly identical panels of witnesses at hearings on Feb. 5 and Feb. 6, respectively, with representatives of Target and Nieman Marcus, law enforcement agencies, regulators and private-sector security experts set to testify.
The breaches under discussion are squarely in the private sector. Data-breach notification has heretofore not been a federal responsibility, with most states having their own rules. California's is generally considered the strictest, and was recently updated to require reporting of breaches that include disclosure of usernames and passwords, in addition to Social Security numbers and financial information.
Congress has grappled with the issue in the past, but efforts to pass legislation have foundered on whether to give the federal government authority to require companies to comply with data-protection standards.
Online Services & Websites
Upcoming State Holidays
Monday, May 26th
Friday, July 4th
Upcoming Events
Municipal Day at the Capitol
GIS Day at the Capitol
Share Your eGov Story
Have an Oklahoma eGovernment story to tell? Want to give us feedback?
Let us know
About OK.gov
OK.gov is the official website of the state of Oklahoma and a collaborative effort between the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES) and Oklahoma Interactive, LLC to help Oklahoma government entities Web-enable their information services. OMES is responsible for OK.gov. Oklahoma Interactive operates, maintains, and markets OK.gov and is part of eGovernment firm NIC's (NASDAQ: EGOV) family of companies.
Learn more about Oklahoma's eGov News Report and view past issues


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Read More
Big bowls of noodles make me happy. If I had to guess, I would say that you would agree.
You know what else makes me happy? Easy recipes. I have a feeling that makes you happy too.
Now that we have determined that we have two things in common, I have something I want to share with you. It's a easy recipe for a big, delicious bowl of noodles. Enjoy :)


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On all orders we offer FREE Postage & Packaging in the UK and will Despatch on the same day for all orders placed before 3pm.
Orders are despatched via Royal Mail with the standard delivery being Royal Mail 48 (Second Class). You can select to have you items dispatched 1st Class or via Registered Next Day Guaranteed Delivery subject to an additional charge.
SportySwim deliver Worldwide. Working with our partners at Royal Mail, items will be delivered via the National Post Office of the recipient country. Worldwide Delivery prices start from £6.00 for swimwear plus £2.50 for each additional item. Larger/Heavier deliveries will attract higher charges, which are calculated in the checkout but please feel free to contact us for any queries or individual quotations.


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Tigers begin to evaluate how best to achieve goal
BOSTON -- Four more wins, the Tigers proclaimed as they headed to Spring Training. They weren't talking about the regular season, or even the American League Championship Series. They were talking World Series.
They fell two wins shy of getting the chance. In the end, they received one big reminder why nothing in baseball is guaranteed.View Full Game Coverage
BOSTON -- Four more wins, the Tigers proclaimed as they headed to Spring Training. They weren't talking about the regular season, or even the American League Championship Series. They were talking World Series.
They fell two wins shy of getting the chance. In the end, they received one big reminder why nothing in baseball is guaranteed.View Full Game Coverage
As they head into an offseason with a handful of free agents, a series of questions about where they fell short and a general discussion about whether this team is best suited to win it all, the uncertainty is about to extend into the offseason.
Just the uncertainty over how to describe this season shows what kind of a task building off of it is going to be.
"When you get to this point in the year, the expectations are always high," said Justin Verlander. "The expectations were high coming into Spring Training, about as high as they could possibly be. But once you get to the playoffs, it's a grind, and you can't say, 'OK, we're going to make it to the World Series.' You don't just say that and end up there. You have to play the games."
Verlander is a certainty, one season into a contract guaranteed through 2019. Prince Fielder and Anibal Sanchez are in the early years of long-term contracts. Most of the roster after that is either approaching free agency or arbitration.
That's what happens when teams are good for a while, and it's a big reason why great teams are tough to keep together. Starting next week, the Tigers have some decisions to make on how much they can keep together, and how much they need or want to change.
The first decision will be manager Jim Leyland, who's year-to-year contract is up again. Every indication from team president/general manager Dave Dombrowski has been that Leyland will manage this team if he wants to return, and he said as much during the AL Division Series. Leyland has said at different points this year that he wants to keep managing. Most likely, that should come together early next week.
That should be the quickest part of the offseason. Once the World Series ends comes the real challenge on the player side.
As soon as the final out of the Fall Classic is made, a half-dozen Tigers are eligible to file for free agency. Closer Joaquin Benoit, second baseman Omar Infante and shortstop-turned-outfielder Jhonny Peralta top the list.
Benoit talked about next season like he's a part of it, but he knows it's not that simple.
"I feel really proud of all the guys here, he said. "I think everybody did their best. Hopefully, next year we continue to get better."
As a 36-year-old proven setup man that now has closing experience on his resume, he has the potential to be in demand as a short-term fix. On the flip side, as the point man for a bullpen that became a glaring weakness in the postseason, he has the potential to find his spot taken if the Tigers change course and bring in a high-profile closer.
"I don't want to think about it right now," Benoit said. "I want to digest this and see what's going to happen later on."
Infante's change of agents with a month to go in the season made his status clear. His past year and a half in Detroit re-established the 31-year-old's standing among the better second basemen in the game, and gave him a chance to draw heavy interest around the Majors.
With the ALCS loss still fresh, he was thinking only about a return to Detroit.
"I want to be back," Infante said. "I love this team. This organization has a lot of good players, Miguel [Cabrera], Victor Martinez, Prince, too, Torii Hunter. Great team. That's why I want to come back. But it's business. I have to wait, and we'll see what happens."
Peralta could become one of baseball's most fascinating free-agent cases this winter, a player whose stellar postseason re-established his market coming out of his 50-game suspension in August and September. The Tigers don't need him at shortstop with Jose Iglesias around, but they arguably need the bat.
Backup catcher Brayan Pena is also a free agent, his one-year contract having expired.
"I want to be back here," he said. "Money's not an issue. I feel like I want to be here."
To that end, Pena said he wants to lose weight and prove he can handle the spot. Whether the Tigers opt to bring back the switch-hitter or go with young Bryan Holaday in the role, as they originally planned going into last offseason, remains to be seen.
Utility infielder Ramon Santiago is also up for free agency, which could end the 34-year-old's reign as the longest-tenured Tiger if Detroit opts to stay in-house with prospect Hernan Perez or Triple-A stalwart Danny Worth for the role.
Keeping even Benoit and Infante might not be easy. It's simple, however, compared to the challenge of Tigers nearing free agency who need to be considered for extensions.
Cy Young Award favorite Max Scherzer's breakout season came with free agency only a year away, putting him in line to hit next winter's market as the prize of the class. If the Tigers want him long term, they'd have to find a way to fit another max-contract player into the team's current payroll structure. If they can't make it work, they have to decide whether to go all-in for next season and keep him, knowing they could lose him next winter with only a Draft pick as compensation, or shop him on the trade market to fill other holes.
The Tigers will most likely explore a new contract to some extent. But a trade, as CBSSports.com reported earlier this month, isn't that far-fetched.
Scherzer isn't thinking about it for now.
"That stuff works itself out," he said. "There's really not much for me to say about it."
Among the players with two years left before free agency are three-time batting champion Cabrera, starters Rick Porcello and Doug Fister, center fielder Austin Jackson and catcher Alex Avila.
The Tigers won't re-sign them all. They won't even necessarily decide on them all. They could push for long-term deals for some. They'll almost certainly try to extend Cabrera. The question is how much that will require.
Add it all up, and six more wins might be the easiest math the Tigers face this winter.
"I know Dave Dombrowski will do what he has to do to make things better," Hunter said. "And I do think we have areas where we can make ourselves better, and next year we'll come ready to play. We still have the team intact, we still have a good ballclub, and I expect to be right back in this position next year."
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. Read Beck's Blog and follow him on Twitter @beckjason.


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It was the last all-American men's final in a Grand Slam tournament; the last match between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi; and though this was not clear at the time, the last match of Sampras's career.
It was the 2002 United States Open final, 10 years ago already.
"Obviously with the Open on right now, I think about it," Sampras said in a telephone interview last week. "And I think a lot about where I was a couple of months before I won the Open."
That was at Wimbledon, his signature tournament, where he lost in five sets on Court 2 in the second round to a Swiss player named George Bastl who had little in common with a certain Swiss player who has since supplanted Sampras as the most prolific men's majors champion of all time.
Quite unlike Roger Federer, Bastl never won a tour event. His world ranking peaked at 71 in 2000, and he made it into the Wimbledon draw that year only as a "lucky loser." He ran out of luck in the round after shocking Sampras, who during a changeover sought inspiration to no avail by reading a letter from his wife of two years, Bridgette.
"One of the biggest low points I've had in my career," Sampras said. "I just felt lost, no confidence. My coaching situation was a mess, and I just felt really sad with where my tennis was."
Sampras, with his whip of a running forehand and his smooth but deadly serve, had won a record 13 major singles titles, including four United States Opens, by making attacking tennis look easy. But the gears were grinding at that stage, and Sampras — though secure financially and in legacy — was not yet at peace with the idea of calling it a career with his 31st birthday approaching in August 2002.Continue reading the main story
He made his third coaching change in a year, contacting his former coach of six years, Paul Annacone, who was working for the United States Tennis Association. Annacone's goal was not to tinker with Sampras's strokes or his fitness regime; it was to tinker with his head by reminding him of his achievements and muting some of the negative background noise that had been generated by Sampras's going more than a year without winning a title.
"It was all about believing in myself and my game, and Paul reminding me who I am and what I've done in the game," Sampras said. "The belief that as much as everyone wrote me off that I didn't write myself off; that I could still play at a high level and get myself going at the right time.
"There was no reason why not. I didn't win 13 majors by bluffing it."
So he would remind everyone at Flushing Meadows, including Greg Rusedski, the huge-serving Briton who lost in five sets to Sampras in the third round and then volunteered that Sampras was a step and a half slower coming to the net than at his peak.
"It was what everybody was thinking, that he was a step and a half slow," Rusedski said in the Open players lounge last week. "But that gave him a little extra motivation, and he went through and proved us all wrong, and that's why he's a great champion."
Sampras, seeded 17th, was still fast enough to defeat Tommy Haas of Germany in four sets in the fourth round; still fast enough to beat the rising 20-year-old American Andy Roddick in straight sets in the quarterfinals and to beat the unorthodox Sjeng Schalken of the Netherlands in straight sets in the semifinals.
"The Roddick match was a big match because I could save my body a little bit," Sampras said. "It was a pretty comfortable match, and it helped me have a little bit left in the final."
The lack of a day of rest between Super Saturday and the Sunday final at the Open has long been tough on older players because of the recovery factor. But Sampras, then 31, was actually the younger man. Agassi, 32, had played the second, tougher semifinal on Saturday against Lleyton Hewitt, winning in four sets.
"I couldn't be more thrilled about it," Agassi said of the final with Sampras to come. "You always question if it will ever happen again. You have a career that you spend playing your best tennis against one of the greats of all time, and you're never guaranteed, even with the best of careers, to have that sort of rivalry and that sort of opposite that brings out the best in you over the years.
"To me, this feels less about what we pull out of each other tomorrow; more about a nice toast to the past. Because it's going to be a great day."
In the end, it was much more fulfilling for Sampras who won, 6-3, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, in the same tournament, if not on the same court, where he had beaten Agassi in straight sets to win his first Grand Slam title in 1990 as a skinny 19-year-old.
Now Sampras was a married man, and he climbed into the stands to embrace Bridgette, pregnant with their first child. It was a gesture that reflected vindication, because what had rankled Sampras much more than comments about his decline were suggestions that it might be linked to matrimony.
"I think she had to hear some things that weren't fair," Sampras said. "I always say, 'You can criticize me all you want, but don't touch my family.' That was hard on us. It was hard on her, and it wasn't fair. I just met her at a time where I'd achieved everything and I didn't have that hunger anymore. It wasn't her. It was me."
Sampras won 20 of his 34 matches with Agassi, and four of their five Grand Slam finals. But Agassi, then and now the more emotionally expressive of the two stars, does not sound bitter about the outcome in 2002.
"Honestly, I've never been a player that thought to myself, 'More is better,' " Agassi said last week in a telephone interview. "So losing the opportunity of winning another U.S. Open, I never felt the weight of that. It always had to do with my own internal sort of battles. My loss in the finals to Pete was offset by his perseverance and our years together. There is just something right about his career being punctuated in that way. Pete was over all a better player than me on the biggest occasions."
Agassi and Sampras have had their awkward exchanges in retirement, sniping at each other and avoiding each other in exhibitions. But a certain calm appears to have been restored, and the regret Agassi expresses about 2002 is not that he lost but that Sampras stopped so long before Agassi himself retired with a bad back and a moving farewell speech after losing in the third round of the 2006 Open.
"I was disappointed with Pete not continuing to play, because you kind of want to leave the dance with the person you came with, and I didn't get that luxury," Agassi said. "I was pretty lonely out there for four more years, but I've got to say that everybody goes out on their own terms, and somehow Pete going out a winner was the right thing for him, and I think it was the right thing period."
Sampras did not play another professional tournament, though he did not announce his retirement for nearly a year and felt certain it was the right thing only after Wimbledon came and went in 2003 without his feeling the pull. He insisted that he has not felt the pull yet.
"No regrets, no, no, no," Sampras said. "I mean not one. I play to win, and once that feeling went away and I wasn't willing to do the work for a goal, that's when I knew I had to face facts. It wasn't because I couldn't play anymore. It was because emotionally I was done. It wasn't the plan: to win a major and end it. It just sort of happened that way, but most importantly it ended on my terms. And to look back on it, it's a cool way to go out, to win your last one."Continue reading the main story


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Charged with holding a woman and her then-6-year-old daughter hostage at his Blakeslee home in July and precipitating a several-hour standoff with police, a man was acquitted Friday on all felony counts except one and convicted on all misdemeanor counts except one.
Charged with holding a woman and her then-6-year-old daughter hostage at his Blakeslee home in July and precipitating a several-hour standoff with police, a man was acquitted Friday on all felony counts except one and convicted on all misdemeanor counts except one.
After a two-day trial and three-hour jury deliberation, Edward Terantino, 62, was acquitted on felony counts of kidnapping and false imprisonment and a misdemeanor count of simple assault.
Terantino was convicted on a felony count of endangering a child's welfare and misdemeanor counts of false imprisonment, unlawful restraint, terroristic threats, possessing an instrument of a crime, simple assault, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest.
The woman who said she and her daughter were held hostage is the same woman Terantino is charged with sexually abusing in 1998, when she was 14 and he was living with her and her family.
She did not report this alleged sexual offense until after Terantino was charged in the standoff case. He's scheduled to be tried in that separate case at a future date. He will be sentenced on his convictions in the standoff case likely after the sex offense trial.
The woman testified Thursday that Terantino held her and her daughter hostage at gunpoint because he was jealous of her dating a co-worker.
At times breaking down in tears, Terantino testified Friday that the woman and her children, two girls with whom he was close, were living with him at the time of the standoff.
He said he had a troubled relationship with the woman. He said she had sometimes been physically violent toward him prior to the standoff.
He said they had been arguing about her dating her co-worker and that he was concerned she would get caught, lose her job since dating a co-worker was against company rules and possibly lose her children, which he feared because he was so close with them. He said she had threatened to leave with the children.
The woman said that, on the morning of July 10, she and Terantino were arguing after her younger daughter had been dropped off at preschool. She said she took a shower and then came out to find Terantino holding a gun.
Terantino said he had the gun because he was planning to return it to where he had bought it. He wanted his money back so he could buy a surprise cake to celebrate the woman's recent job promotion.
He said he was going to tell her when she came out of the shower that he was returning the gun, but not about the surprise he was planning.
He said he told her when she came out that he wanted to talk to her, but that she just pushed past him. He said that's when she saw he was holding the gun and "misconstrued" his reason for holding it.
Terantino said the woman grabbed her older daughter and ran toward the front door while calling 911 on her cellphone.
She said he pinned her in the doorway to keep her from leaving, pointed the gun at her and threatened to pull the trigger. Claiming he was distraught over her possible attempt to leave with the children then and there, Terantino said he never pinned her in the doorway and that he was pointing the gun at his own head when threatening to pull the trigger.
Terantino said he was merely trying to hold the door closed to keep her from leaving when she fell backward and dropped her phone, which went sliding across the floor.
The woman said she and her daughter ran into a bedroom when Terantino refused to let them leave. Terantino said they could have left any time they wanted, but that she instead chose to stay and continue arguing with him.
He said she let her daughter leave the house after police arrived. He said that, when police asked him to release the woman, he told them he merely wanted to continue talking to her and gave them no indication he was holding her against her will.
Terantino said the woman finally left the house with nothing resolved and that he, distraught at the idea of possibly never seeing the children again, felt his life was over and wanted to commit "suicide by cops."
He said that's when he loaded the gun and exited the house, but with the gun pointing downward and not at anyone. He eventually surrendered and was taken into custody.


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Here at LaurenConrad.com we've got one very important thing on our mind lately: Coachella–or more importantly, festival fashion!
Between the warm weather, awesome tunes and (most importantly) the style spotting, we're counting down the days until we get to drive our spray-tanned selves out to the desert for Coachella.
Whether you're attending Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo or Mile High Music Fest, here are six stylish essentials that will keep you chic and happy this festival season:
- The floppy hat. Wrinkles don't look good on anyone. Protect your beautiful skin and keep it chic with a floppy hat like this yellow trimmed option.
- Stylish sunnies. One of the biggest perks of daytime parties? Wearing your favorite sunglasses! These round-frame glasses by The Row have a subdued, retro vibe that we love.
- Haute headbands. Unfortunately, high temps mean there's a high chance you'll be sweating (we prefer the term "glistening"). Combat excess glimmer by keeping your hair off your face with a cute headband like this coral flower headband by Dorothy Perkins.
- H2O. It's important to hit the (water) bottle as much as possible when you're hanging in the sun all day. This cute Bobble bottle is the perfect way to stay hydrated in style.
- Booties. We're not ones to advocate practicality that often, but comfortable footwear at festivals is seriously necessary. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Keep the sludge off your toes with booties, like this versatile pair.
- Crossbody bag. You'll need full dancing abilities so don't even think about lugging a cumbersome shoulder bag around the festival grounds. A crossbody bag or backpack is a must. If you ask us, we like this coral crossbody from Topshop.
What's your number one festival (or spring) must-have?
Are you going to any music festivals in the near future?
XO Team LaurenConrad.com
You might also like…
Tuesday Ten: Old Trends Die Hard
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CANTON, Ohio -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is a busy man, especially here at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where everyone wants a moment with the game's high king. Goodell will be on hand Sunday night to watch the New Orleans Saints take on the Arizona Cardinals in our first look at on-field action since Super Bowl XLVI.
When Around the League spoke with Goodell on Saturday night, he sounded primed for the campaign to get underway:
It's been an interesting offseason for you. How do you feel about being here at the Hall of Fame, focusing on something closer to football?
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Goodell: It's great, because, you know, this weekend is a chance to celebrate the great players that helped make the game and also (celebrate) the game itself. ... It's back to football time. We have our first game tomorrow night and that's a great thing.
Speaking of that, with everything that's surrounded the Saints, is there some relief for you in having this team play Sunday? Doing something on the field for a change?
Goodell: Sure, I think it's always good. I think they want to move on and get back to focusing on football and moving forward. I understand that, we all do. We all want to get back to playing football.
Throughout this episode with the Saints, have you been heard? Do you feel at all misrepresented by the accusations from some of the Saints players?
Goodell: Listen, the facts are clear. There was a bounty system in place. They've admitted it, even in court, that they were paying players when they were carted off the field. That's not what football's all about. We don't reward players for hurting people or taking them off the field, and that's a bounty. And there are accusations even beyond that. So, it's clear this was in place, and we're not going to tolerate it. That's not good for the health of the players or the game itself.
The St. Louis Rams haven't named a defensive coordinator and some speculate they're waiting for Gregg Williams to be reinstated, perhaps next season. Is he going to get another chance?
Goodell: Well, we suspended coach Williams indefinitely, and we'll make those decisions sometime over the next six or seven months.


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Denver pollen counts to remain high until at least Sunday, irritating spring allergies
Aaaaaah-ah-ah-chew. The outdoors beckon, yet the budding dogwoods, aspens and cedars will continue to say no, no, no to allergy sufferers for at least the next few days.
The culprits are the dry winter and early spring temperatures that have been about 20 degrees warmer than average lately. Denver doesn't normally reach today's high temperature, 75 degrees at 3:55 p.m., until May 25. The average 34-hour temperature in Denver this month has been 47.7 degrees, nearly 8 degrees warmer than the 30-year average. Breezy weather doesn't help, spreading the wealth of pollen to the masses.
But trade-off for the mild March has been a horrendous run of high pollen days, giver of the unwanted seasonal gift called hay fever. Ask your friend with the watery eyes and grumpy disposition. At its worst, hay fever can cause a condition called anaphylaxis, a full-body emergency that demands a 9-1-1 call.
With the highest pollen count level considered anything between 9.7 and 12, today's reading in Denver was 11.2, and the daily readings are expected to remain there until at least Sunday. Pollen counts are a value based on the number of times grains of pollen turn up in a cubic meter of an sample.
In Denver, it's easy to keep track of it with help from the best respiratory hospital in the country, National Jewish Health in Denver.


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Germany took their place on the New Zealand 2008 podium with a comfortable 3-0 victory over England in a one-sided third-place play-off.
Bitterly disappointed to have missed out on the final, Ralf Peter's side took their frustration out on a Lionesses side who, despite their best efforts, rarely threatened the German goal. This all-European showdown rarely had the pulse racing but it did get to a bright start, with Inka Wesely ghosting in unmarked to head home a Dzsenifer Marozsan corner after just 11 minutes.
Germany were firmly in control at this stage and would have doubled their lead six minutes from the break but for an excellent save from Lauren Davey to deny Marozsan at point-blank range. England's best effort came in the shape of a late, long-range Jordan Nobbs effort that crashed back off the bar, but generally it was one-way traffic, with the European champions deservedly doubling their lead after 74 minutes.
Again, England failed to cope contain Wesely at a corner, and the big defender was able to knock down for Turid Knaak to sweep the ball into the net from all of four yards. There was even time for Germany to increase their advantage in the dying minutes, Lynn Mester scoring at the second attempt following some terrific approach play from Carolin Simon.


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Brits can't tell their heart from their elbow
Grey anatomy
A good proportion of Brits have almost no idea where their major organs are located, with just 50 per cent able to identify where eight key internal body parts lie.
That's according to research by a King's College London team which quizzed 722 people from the out-patient departments of Guy's, King's and St Thomas's hospitals and "an opportunistic sample obtained primarily from users of a south London public library".
The purpose of the test was twofold: To see if public performance had improved since the last such survey back in 1970; and to see if those suffering a particular illness, for example of the liver, were any the wiser as a result of their ailment.
The subjects were given diagrams showing four possible locations of the organ in question (see pic). While 94 per cent of the general public knew just where the intestines are, just 45.9 per cent could spot the liver and a mere 27.1 per cent pinpointed the lungs and kidneys.
While the results were pretty much the same for males and females (45.4 per cent and 50.9 per cent overall, respectively), women were "significantly better at identifying organs on female body outlines". Forty-three per cent of them successfully marked the ovaries, but a disappointing 31.7 per cent of chaps managed the same.
Two specific groups did manage to score well above average. Those among the out-patient sample suffering from liver disease scored 75.3 per cent in spying the liver and those with diabetes clocked up 75.3 per cent nailing down the pancreas (just 30.8 per cent of the general public).
In the case of gastro-intestinal complaints, though, 46.3 per cent of sufferers located the stomach, not much different from the 48.1 per cent of the general public who managed the same.
Overall, the results hardly differed from those in 1970, with a current mean total of 52.5 per cent, compared to 51.4 per cent.
The researchers conclude: "Many patients and general public do not know the location of key body organs, even those in which their medical problem is located, which could have important consequences for doctor-patient communication.
"These results indicate that healthcare professionals still need to take care in providing organ specific information to patients and should not assume that patients have this information, even for those organs in which their medical problem is located."
The findings are published in journal BMC Family Practice. There's a pdf of the results here. ®


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2015 Toyota Corolla LE Groupe Amélioré - Toit + Mags
- Sedan
- 4
- 5
- Gasoline
- Grey
- Grey
- Front Wheel Drive
- 6025
Chassé Certified
160 points inspection
1st oil change on us!
Delivered with a full tank of gas
All our vehicles are carefully inspected by a certified Toyota technician. The difference between us at Chassé Toyota and other dealers, is that we make sure everything is done properly on the car, so you can drive stress free. Several dealers invest the bare minimum to save money, what is not the case with Chassé Toyota. We have invoices and condition report as proof during your visit.
Full invenory at www.chassetoyota.com
- Fully Equipped
- Sun Roof
- Cruise Control
- Remote Keyless Entry
- Air Conditioning
- Heated Front Seats
- 6 Speakers
- Onboard Computer
- Rearview Camera
- Alloy Wheels
- Fog Lights
- Driver Air Bag
- Passenger Air Bag
- Front Side Air Bag
- Front Head Air Bag
- Rear Head Air Bag
- AM/FM Stereo
- CD Player
- Rear Defrost
- Child Safety Locks
- Floor Mats
- Daytime Running Lights
- Power Door Locks
- Heated Mirrors
- Power Mirror(s)
- Pass-Through Rear Seat
- Bucket Seats
- Power Steering
- Adjustable Steering Wheel
- Temporary Spare Tire
- Traction Control
- Power Windows
- Intermittent Wipers
- MP3 Player
- Steering Wheel Audio Controls
- Engine Immobilizer
- Driver Vanity Mirror
- Passenger Vanity Mirror
- Remote Trunk Release
- Trip Computer
- Bluetooth Connection
- Stability Control
- Brake Assist
- Auxiliary Audio Input
- Rear Bench Seat
- Passenger Air Bag Sensor
- Knee Air Bag
Warranty description
Class C : 1 month or 1,700 km.
In virtue of sections 159 and 160 of the consumer protection act, (1978, c.9) this vehicle is classed as follows and carries with it a warranty that it will remain in good working order for the period of time or the kilometers stated above, whichever occurs first.
- Previous Use :
- Passenger car
- Previous Owner :
- Privately Owned
Want to try the 2015 Toyota Corolla LE Groupe Amélioré - Toit + Mags ?Book Your Test Drive
Payment is based on the information you entered and is for only. Payment includes estimated tax but does not include license, doc, emissions, or other possible fees. All figures are subject to the approval of credit from an independent lending source. Down payment and resulting payments may vary depending on the type and use of vehicles, regional requirements, and the strength of your credit. Check with your dealer for exact payment.
* Information concerning the vehicle is provided as is and is without warranty or express statement or implied as to its accuracy."


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Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC) forest management certification strengthens your position in the marketplace - guaranteeing your customers that products from your forestry operations meet the world's most stringent environmental, economic, and social standards for responsible forest management.
SCS offers FSC certification to all types and sizes of forest operations including private companies, government forestry agencies, timberland investment management organizations, and community forests, as well as individual and groups of small landowners.
Forest Management for single-site or multi-site: A forest management entity with one or several sites operating under a single forest management plan.
Small and Low Intensity Managed Forests (SLIMF): Streamlined certification protocols for small operators or groups of operators with low harvest levels or under a regionally-specified size limit.
Group Certification: Certification protocols for multiple landowners or forest managers seeking certification under one certificate, under the direction of a group manager.
Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP): Certification protocols for operations that harvest non-timber forest products, such as ornamentals and consumables.
Information is available on the FSC website about our certified clients and entities currently undergoing evaluation.
In addition to FSC Forest Management Certification, SCS provides certification to the FSC Chain of Custody standard, timber legality verification, carbon footprint, and forest carbon offset verification. Contact us to find out which certification best suits your organization.
Apply for CertificationRepresentatives of your forest management operation fill out an application.
Audit Proposal
SCS evaluates the application and prepares an audit plan and proposal, including the costs and a timeline for the evaluation process. The applicant then authorizes a work order and the certification process begins.
Stakeholder Consultation
The SCS assessment team, consisting of experts in the relevant fields of forestry, social science, and economics, conducts stakeholder consultations to acquire outside input regarding the applicant's management performance in relation to the FSC Principles and Criteria.
On-Site Audit
The assessment team conducts an on-site audit to determine if the applicant's management system is being implemented in conformance with the FSC standards. Forest conditions are also assessed. A report is produced that details the results of the evaluation.
Peer Review
First, the assessment report is reviewed by the applicant for factual accuracy. For a majority of operations, the assessment report is then submitted to independent peer review to validate the appropriateness of the team's analytical methodology and conclusions.
Certification Decision
The SCS certification committee reviews the assessment report and decides whether or not to approve certification. If granted, a certificate is issued for a five-year period, subject to annual surveillance audits.
FSC certification can give you new or strengthened access to supply chains that require certified wood and can help you demonstrate your commitment to responsible forestry. Companies, governments, and other institutions are increasingly developing purchasing policies that prefer or require FSC certified materials and products to demonstrate their commitment to environmentally and socially responsible forest practices.
Costs vary depending on the location, size, and complexity of your forestry operation. Please contact us for a custom quote and to determine if certification is right for you.
FSC certificates are valid for five years, subject to annual surveillance audits.
FSC Certification is the gold standard for the practice of responsible forest management. A preliminary assessment conducted by SCS is the best way to determine whether you are ready for a full certification evaluation.