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Every day we hear laments about the state of the state or the nation or the world. The twenty-first century seems to be a powder keg rolling downhill. We have already witnessed enough chicanery, bad faith, fecklessness, and desecration to make us wary of the future. Yet we hope. But hope, be it wan or fervent, is not enough. Most Americans are by nature pragmatists. For us, remedies begin in action. What can I do to heal a sick planet? we ask. What can I do to feed the hungry? What can I do to stop wars? What can I do to bring wise leaders to the fore? Very often we are told we can make the most lasting changes, the most powerful statements, the largest contributions to the health and happiness of the state by pondering all the possibilities and exercising our franchise. Participating in free elections is at the same time a duty and a privilege. We have grown complacent about our elections. We like to think that someone is in charge of the orderly ritual of designing, allotting, and counting the ballots. There are officials whose job it is to keep the roll of voters and supervise the count. There are bound to be a few errors and a few lost votes, but on the whole, our elections are well-conducted and honest. In this essay, I hope to convince you that the entire electoral process is in grave danger, has been insidiously subverted, and will continue to erode unless we intervene. We can hope, but hope is not enough. This is a call to action! Who was elected president in 2000, Democrat Al Gore or Republican George W. Bush? For 36 hectic days after the 2000 election, most Americans were distracted by the circus in Florida. While wrangling reporters, politicians, lawyers, and judges argued about counting or not counting punch card ballots, Florida Governor Jeb Bush, George W. Bush's brother, was orchestrating the last act of the radical Republican plan to send the eldest Bush boy to Washington. The first act began after Jeb's election in 1998. Jeb and his cohorts let special interests know that they expected political donations of $2 for every $1 donated to Democrats or defaulters would lose access to the governor and the legislative leadership, and their businesses would tank. As they say in lobbyist circles, "Pay to play." No sooner had he taken the oath of office than Jeb Bush began ferreting out and replacing Democrats throughout Florida state government, his first purge of Democratic voters. According to Lance deHaven-Smith, in his book entitled The Battle for Florida, "Top Republicans used the powers of their offices to inject partisanship and instill fear down through the ranks of the state bureaucracy. In 1998 political operatives working for the Speaker of the house secretly examined voter registration records to learn the party affiliations of specific state employees and to identify agencies with high concentrations of Democrats. After it was determined that the most Democratic agency in the state government was the Florida Department of education, the department was restructured and the positions of many of its employees were eliminated. Florida law forbids any consideration of partisan orientations in state hiring, firing, and contracting, but it fails to contemplate the more sinister possibility that highly partisan elected officials might purge the state bureaucracy indirectly by reorganization and privatization."Lance deHaven-Smith describes how education took another hit in 1999: "Following the lead of state representative John Thrasher, who was the House Speaker that year and the year before, the Legislature eliminated the Florida Board of Regents, which had been responsible for overseeing the State University System. The board was replaced by separate boards of trustees at all ten of the state universities, and the governor was given the power to make all the trustee appointments. This created an enormous source of new patronage and also undermined the political neutrality of the state universities. With the Board of Regents out of the way, Republicans quickly replaced many of the university presidents with political insiders."Jeb ultimately appointed staunch Republicans to control Florida's educational system: state senator Jim Horne as Florida's first Secretary of Education and most of the individual university presidents. With their troops in place and their coffers filling up, the Florida Republican Party systematically began to disenfranchise Democratic voters. Secretary of State Sandra Mortham paid a private company $5700 per annum to purge the voter registry of all ex-felons. Although Florida courts twice ruled that ex-felons whose civil rights had been restored before they came to Florida were entitled to vote, in 1999 newly-elected Secretary of State Katherine Harris and Director of the Division of Elections Clay Roberts ignored the courts and continued the drive to disenfranchise black Democratic voters, felons or not. Harris hired Data Base Technologies (DBT, now a division of Choicepoint) and paid them $4.3 million to compile the most extensive scrub list possible. Race was a big factor in compiling matches for the list. Blacks make up less than 15% of Florida's population and 90% of them vote Democratic, so targeted blacks made up more than 50% of the ex-felon list. After the election, the vice-president of Choicepoint testified before a congressional committee that Florida state officials had ordered DBT to eliminate voters by making incorrect matches. Choicepoint gathered its information from the Internet and did not make a single verifying telephone call. Were the errors minor? No, they were outrageous. Here are two typical examples: Randall Higginbotham, age 41, was scrubbed from the voting roster because he was identified as Sean Higginbotham, age 30; and David Butler, Jr. of Florida was scrubbed from the voting roster because he was misidentified as convict David Butler of Ohio. Five months before the election, Harris circulated the hit list of 57,700 names to all the precincts with instructions to remove those voters from the rolls. On Election Day 2000, rich white Republican voters stood in short lines and used up-to-date equipment, including electronic machines that let them correct their ballots. Things were different in black districts. Some voters were flagged down at a roadblock, where highway patrol officers checked their drivers' licenses. Others waited in long lines for an inadequate number of booths and ancient recording equipment. All too often, innocent citizens whose names appeared on the ex-felons list were informed for the first time that they could not vote when they showed up at the polling place.
Greg Palast, an award-winning American reporter based in England, broke the story of the scrub list and documented its sleazy origins in The Observer, London, November 26, 2000. Updates, as well as each edition of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy have added irrefutable, hard evidence of fraud. (Palast's most recent estimate of all qualified Florida voters barred from casting a ballot in Election 2000 stands at 90,000.)
The story was big in Europe, but the American press ignored it completely. Massive civil rights violations that subverted an election just didn't resonate with the mainstream press. On January 10, 2001, lawyers acting for the NAACP sued and won their case against ChoicePoint's DBT, Secretary of State Katherine Harris (who coincidentally was enthusiastically co-chairing the Bush campaign), and Bush loyalist Clay Roberts, Director of the Division of Elections. In July 2002, to atone for its staggering error rate of 95%, DBT agreed to remove innocent voters from the now infamous list of purported ex-felons. (In 2002, the purge list hadn't been corrected. In 2004, another suspicious list appeared.)
Radical Republicans found other ingenious ways of disenfranchising opposition voters. Two-page ballots with misleading directions were printed in Austin, Texas (the center of the George W. Bush presidential campaign), returned to Florida, and distributed in black districts. Some really strange-looking ballots appeared in other Democratic districts. The most notorious of all was the butterfly ballot, which had punch holes running along the center, flanked by the candidates' names. Palm Beach, election supervisor and lifelong Republican Theresa LePore became a Democrat shortly before the election, when she designed the ballot that confused more than 3,000 Jewish voters into casting presidential ballots for Christian Reform Party candidate Pat Buchanan.
Beginning early on Election Day, Democratic poll watchers phoned complaints to LePore's office about the difficulties voters were having with the ballot. Between noon and one, she responded to the precincts with a memo: "Please remind all voters coming in that they are to vote only for one (1) presidential candidate and that they are to punch the hole next to the arrow next to the number next to the candidate they wish to vote for." LePore registered as an Independent after the election.
Some votes were simply later trashed by ballot handlers. In Duval County, 27,000 ballots were discarded, over half of them from black precincts in Jacksonville. No official challenges were filed within the 72-hour time limit, so thousands of mostly Democratic votes were lost. Sixteen-thousand votes for Gore disappeared overnight from the ongoing Volusia County tally and were reinstated only when an election supervisor questioned the subtraction of already registered votes. No voting machine company representative or election official was able to explain what happened.
Around 8 p.m. on Election Day,a consortium consisting of ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC, and AP consulted their exit polls from Voter News Service and projected a Gore victory. The Bush camp immediately went into action. Jeb Bush telephoned his first cousin John Ellis at the Fox News decision desk for information. Another call came from the Bush campaign in Austin, Texas. Ellis claims he spoke with cousin George W. Bush five times on Election Night without revealing any confidential exit poll information. It's difficult to believe that no campaign strategizing was going on, for Ellis told the New Yorker later, "Me with numbers, one of them a governor, the other the president-elect. Now, that was cool."
Bev Harris, author of Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century, says she uncovered an 87-page CBS news report that contained a shocker: the erroneous subtraction of Gore's votes in Volusia caused the election to be called for Bush. Claiming that the Voter News Service numbers from one Democratic county were flawed, the Bush election team called a press conference at the governor's mansion in Austin. The Bush spokesman declared that the race was too close to call in both Pennsylvania and Florida. Between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m., according to Ellis, Bush pulled ahead. Between 9:00 and 9:30, the other television networks agreed that the race was too close to call. But shortly after midnight, Bush's numbers plunged rapidly by thousands of votes and Gore jumped into the lead. Despite Gore's soaring numbers, at 2:16 a.m. Fox News announced that Texas Governor George W. Bush had won Florida, with its 271 electoral votes. Within minutes, the other television networks repeated Fox's false information.
When Gore heard the fake news of his defeat, he phoned his congratulations to Bush and headed for the Knoxville War Memorial to deliver his concession speech to the nation. Gore's chief deputy in Florida advised him to hold off. After all, there were still 360,000 uncounted votes. It was much too early to concede formally.
Out of 6 million votes cast in Florida, Bush's lead was reported to be a mere 537 votes. The Florida Constitution had no provisions for a statewide recount, so Gore asked for a partial recount in four southern counties where glaring irregularities had shown up. The last thing the Bush team wanted was a fair recount. They complained to the press that Gore was a sore loser, and the press largely agreed.
On December 8, the Florida Supreme Court overturned a circuit court decision and ordered a manual recount. Based on findings in the circuit court trial, Gore was awarded 393 votes, reducing Bush's lead to 154 votes. That's when the Bush camp went ballistic.
Tom DeLay and the national party sent hordes of out-of-state operatives to intimidate and rampage. They bullied Republican county clerks to amend overvotes in Republican counties, to amend incomplete absentee ballot applications, and to accept late-arriving military ballots lacking signatures. These operatives increased their numbers with real berserkers when the recount began. They charged into the county administration building, threatened violence to the mild county canvassers, and halted the recount of Miami-Dade ballots. (Despite court orders, eighteen counties never even attempted a recount. Secretary of State Katherine Harris certainly wasn't insisting on it.)
The Bush campaign team and lawyers diligently circulated misinformation--misinformation about Florida's election laws, about the reliability of manual recounts (both Jeb and George W. claimed that only machines could count accurately), and about the likelihood of a constitutional crisis.
As for Florida's election laws, they were quite clear. After a series of fierce, close contests, the legislature had carefully laid out legal procedures for contesting elections and conducting recounts. The Florida Constitution specifies that the intent of the voter be paramount during ballot recounting. Because electronic machines had repeatedly failed to read, discern intent, and count ballots accurately, manual recounting is mandated.
As for a constitutional crisis, none was imminent. That inconvenient fact did not stop the Bush camp from flogging the issue, for they wanted the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene and prevent the recount.
Normally the legislature wouldn't have been involved in the election controversy until after December 12, when they could have taken whatever actions were necessary until December 18. Hastily, the Republican leadership called the legislature into special session while the judiciary branch still addressed election issues, an extraordinary move.
Speaker of the House Tom Feeney, Jeb's bosom political buddy, took the podium and, with a little help from his friends on the Bush legal team, criticized the Florida Supreme Court decisions. He warned that if the dispute continued to December 12, Florida's electoral slate would be excluded from the Electoral College vote. Since Florida had submitted its election results as they were certified, the electoral slate was never in danger. Nevertheless, on November 22, Speaker Feeney declaimed, "Yesterday, if the Court had merely enforced firm and clear statutory deadlines, the Florida Supreme Court could have given us a resolution. Indeed, I fear it has given us a potential constitutional crisis." Right on cue, the sheep-like press corps took up the rallying cry, "Constitutional crisis!" If one reporter had telephoned an expert in Florida constitutional law, the "crisis" myth would have died a natural death.
When it looked as though the election would be settled in the courts, Jeb Bush's Florida legal staff warned the state's major law firms not to represent Gore. As with the "pay to play" threats the radical Republicans had used to extract political donations, the risk to law firms aiding the Gore camp was financial--they could be denied access to state contracts and to the governor, dispenser of patronage plums to the party faithful.
In the meantime, Bush family attorney Jim Baker worked the legal front. The Bush legal team, determined to delay or stop the recount, appealed to the U.S. District Court of Appeals, the Florida Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court. The first two courts denied the appeal. Then the U.S. Supreme Court gave them the nod. From that moment, the fix was in.
The justices had no business interfering in the election. The U.S. Constitution authorizes Congress to settle election disputes, not the Supreme Court. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, who had close relatives working with and for Republican organizations, should have recused themselves, but they, along with the three other right-wing judges on the court, issued a complex ruling instructing the Florida courts to find a recount method that would apply "equal standards." The decision came down at 10 p.m. on December 12, 2000, two hours before the deadline to submit voting results. In short, the U.S. Supreme Court ran the clock out on American voters and handed Florida's electoral votes and the presidency to George W. Bush.
Somewhat belatedly, eight major news organizations paid the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center (NORC) almost $900,000 to do a recount of the disputed ballots in Florida. NORC concluded that Gore won the most votes throughout the state, no matter what tabulating method was used. After sitting on the report for nine months, the mainstream media released the results with misleading headlines ("Supreme Court Did Not Decide Outcome") and buried NORC's astounding conclusion on the inside pages almost as an afterthought.
Reviewing the actual results of the statewide examination of 175,010 disputed ballots, on November 12, 2001 Robert Parry, www.consortiumnews.com, cleared away the media fog:
"'Full Review Favors Gore,' the Washington Post said in a box on page 10, showing that under all standards applied to the ballots, Gore came out on top. The New York Times' graphic revealed the same outcome. Earlier, less comprehensive ballot studies by the Miami Herald and USA Today had found that Bush and Gore split the four categories of disputed ballots depending on what standard was applied to assessing the ballots' punched-through chads, hanging chads, etc. Bush won under two standards and Gore under two standards.
"The new, fuller study found that Gore won regardless of which standard was applied and even when varying county judgments were factored in. Counting fully punched chads and limited marks on optical ballots, Gore won by 115 votes. With any dimple or optical mark, Gore won by 107 votes. With one corner of a chad detached or any optical mark, Gore won by 60 votes. Applying the standards set by each county, Gore won by 171 votes.
This core finding of Gore's Florida victory in the unofficial ballot recount might surprise many readers who skimmed only the headlines and the top paragraphs of the articles. The headlines and leads highlighted hypothetical, partial recounts that supposedly favored Bush.
Buried deeper in the stories or referenced in subheads was the fact that the new recount determined that Gore was the winner statewide, even ignoring the 'butterfly ballot' and other irregularities that cost him thousands of ballots.
The news organizations opted for the pro-Bush leads by focusing on two partial recounts that were proposed, but not completed, in the chaotic, often ugly environment of last November and December."
"The articles about the new recount tallies make much of the two hypothetical cases in which Bush supposedly would have prevailed: the limited recounts of the four southern Florida counties by 225 votes and the state Supreme Court's order by 430 votes. Those hypothetical cases dominated the news stories, while Gore's statewide-recount victory was played down."
Parry concludes, "In its coverage of the latest recount numbers, the national news media also showed little regard for the fundamental principle of democracy: that leaders derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, not from legalistic tricks, physical intimidation and public-relations maneuvers. It is that understanding that is most missing in the news accounts of the latest recount figures."
In 2000, the Department of Defense spent $6.2 million on a small Internet voting experiment for a few members of the military. On June 2, 2003, the DoD announced that the Secure Electronic Registration and Voting Experiment, or SERVE, would allow military personnel and Americans overseas to cast their votes over the Internet during the 2004 election.
The Federal Voting Assistance Program, under the umbrella of the DoD, paid Bermuda-based Accenture $22 million to conduct its Internet voting project. Strange to say, Accenture had recently acquired election.com from Osan Ltd., a Saudi investment group that owned 51% of the company.
In February 2004, two weeks after a panel of scientists determined that the Accenture system was extremely vulnerable to tampering and lacked any way for voters to verify that their ballots were cast or counted, the DoD canceled the program. Accenture, surprised by the announcement, first denied that the program had been canceled, but later backed down. Spokeswoman Meg T. McLaughlin said the decision to continue testing SERVE would allow Accenture to study Internet voting further.
When the voting machine companies took a drubbing after the 2000 election, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a high-powered lobbying group, launched a task force that included Accenture, Northop-Grumman, and Lockheed-Martin. Their focus: replacing punch card and lever systems with brand new electronic voting machines. Here we have the Pentagon, offshore companies, and foreign proprietors mucking about in our elections. Quietly, stealthily, the full-scale takeover of our national election process occurred when the voting machine companies entered the mix with money-laundering and bribes operating at the highest levels of government (think Jack Abramoff). In their wake came the orchestrated obfuscation and confusion that has characterized every national election since 2000. In December 2003, ITAA launched a second group, the Election Technology Council. Its membership included Advanced Voting Systems, Diebold, Election Systems and Software (ES&S), Hart InterCivic, Sequoia, and Unilect. These electronic voting machine firms successfully lobbied Congress to pass and fund the Help America Vote Act (HAVA). Congress agreed to funnel $3.9 billion to the states, and hence into the coffers of the voting machine companies to provide touch-screen machines lacking any paper trail or receipt. Although Representative Bob Ney (R) of Ohio and Representative Steny Hoyer (D) of Maryland jointly sponsored (HAVA), its prime mover was Representative Ney who, as House Administration Committee chairman, held hearings on voting irregularities in Ohio. Only one voting rights group testified before his committee: the American Center for Voting Rights. The Brad Blog exposed them as a phony GOP front group founded by two Bush/Cheney operatives shortly before the hearings. The hearings often focused on voting rights for the disabled. Since Diebold contributed one million dollars to the National Federation for the Blind and at least $26,000 to the American Association of People with Disabilities, we should not be surprised that spokesmen for those organizations testified that their members badly needed electronic voting machines without a paper trail. Congressional members made several attempts to amend HAVA so that the voting machines would have a paper trail--voter verified paper ballots--but Ney stalled all of them. Just before the 2002 election, he and the other HAVA co-sponsors sent a letter to their colleagues arguing against amending HAVA to include paper records with touch-screen voting machines lest they disenfranchise the disabled. (Did anyone ask how the disabled voted before the advent of electronic voting machines?) The twisted logic prevailed. HAVA does not mandate electronic voting machines, contrary to popular belief, but HAVA does mandate that a single disabled-accessible device, a paperless, direct recording electronic machine (like Diebold's), be installed in every precinct in the United States. The act also contains some really dandy suggestions for improving our elections. Voter IDs, for example, called an unofficial poll tax in some quarters, and "ineligible voters" lists--think Jeb Bush's purge lists--to ensure that only the right voters do the voting. Unlike the Indian tribes dealing with Jack Abramoff, the voting machine companies got their money's worth. Ney's former employee, DiStefano and his partner Roy C. Coffee received at least $180,000 from Diebold to lobby for HAVA and "election reform." Beginning in 2002, DiStefano and Coffee contributed $20,000 to Ney's campaigns. Diebold paid at least $275,000 lobbying fees to Greenberg Traurig, Jack Abramoff's firm, to influence members of Congress. Super lobbyist Jack Abramoff accommodated Ney with stadium skyboxes, expensive restaurant dinners, and campaign funds, and Ney participated in one of the now notorious Abramoff golfing junkets that jetted to Scotland in 2002. The most succinct account of this can of worms or, better, this bucket of snakes, appears in the April 22, 2005 issue of Executive Intelligence Review. "August 2002 Trip "Abramoff, former DeLay aide Michael Scanlon, religion-manager Ralph Reed, Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio), and U.S. government procurement official David Safavian took a lavish golfing vacation to Scotland. The trip was sponsored by the NCPPR [National Center for Public Policy Research] and Abramoff's private charity, the Capital Athletic Foundation, with money taken from Indian tribes. "Abramoff and his lobbying partner Scanlon are currently under investigation on allegations of looting over $60 million in fees and contributions from Indian tribes who owned gambling casinos. Representative Ney, the House Administration Committee chairman, was at the time of the trip working on a bold scheme by Abramoff. The Texas Tigua tribe's El Paso casino was closed down by state government action, because of an 'anti-gambling' crusade secretly organized by Abramoff, and paid for by rival casinos and run publicly through Reed and his Christian Coalition networks. Then Abramoff arranged for the Tiguas to pay him and Scanlon millions to campaign to reopen the casino." After the Scotland junket, Ney met with the Tiguas and promised to amend his national election-reform bill to override the closing of their Texas casino. Abramoff had the Tiguas contribute $32,000 to Ney's campaign committee and a political action committee. But the tribe got stiffed, as was often the case when they dealt with or through Abramoff. Ney unsuccessfully attempted to insert their amendment into his national "election- reform" bill, and the Texas casino remains closed. Ney cozied up closer to Abramoff when Abramoff and his partner-in-crime Adam Kidan were bullying Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis into selling them the SunCruz fleet of casino boats Although Ney represents a rural Ohio district and had no business getting involved with the Florida negotiations, he inserted derogatory comments about Boulis into the Congressional Record, calling him "a bad apple." After the sale, Ney inserted a statement in the Record, lauding Kidan as "a solid individual and a respected member of the community" and as someone "who has a renowned reputation for honesty and integrity." After Boulis was gunned down in Fort Lauderdale on February 6, 2001, two associates of Kidan and one Gambino mob henchman were charged with the murder.
At present, there are two different criminal prosecutions against Jack Abramoff, one in Florida and one in the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney's office in Florida charged Jack Abramoff and partner Adam Kidan of defrauding investors when they purchased the SunCruz fleet. Abramoff pled guilty January 4, 2006 to two counts: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Wire Fraud. Adam Kidan pled guilty December 15, 2005 to two counts: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States and Wire Fraud. The Justice Department is conducting the second prosecution against Abramoff and Michael Scanlon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. They are charged with bribing public officials and defrauding Abramoff's Indian clients. Abramoff pled guilty January 3, 2006 to three counts: Conspiracy to Defraud the United States, Mail Fraud, and Tax Evasion. Scanlon pled guilty November 21, 2005 to Conspiracy to Defraud the United States. Representative Ney is under investigation for accepting bribes from Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon. He was named as a coconspirator (Representative #1) in Abramoff's plea and (Legislator #1) in Scanlon's plea. Now we come to Representative Tom Feeney (R-Fla.). Remember him? After inventing a "constitutional crisis" in 2000 when he was Speaker of the House in Florida, Feeney moved up to the U.S. congress. In 2003, Abramoff's NCPPR paid for Feeney's Scottish golfing jaunt with Ralph Reed, who would be chairman of the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign for the southeastern United States. Feeney strongly supported touch-screen voting installations in time for the 2004 election, perhaps relying on his expertise as an attorney and lobbyist for Yang Enterprises, Inc. (YEI), a position he occupied throughout his tenure as a Florida legislator. Brad Friedman was way ahead of the pack in exposing Feeney's questionable entanglement as general counsel and registered lobbyist with client YEI: "Curtis, a life-long Republican up until then, had been a programmer at YEI, which had several top-secret clearance contracts with the state, NASA and other government agencies. Curtis' understanding at the time was that the prototype he was being asked to create (built to the very precise specifications of Feeney) was to address Feeney's concerns that the Democrats might attempt to electronically rig the election and Feeney wanted to know what to look out for in that event. After informing YEI CEO Mrs. Li-Woan Yang that he would not be able to hide the vote-flipping routines in the software source-code as Feeney had requested, Curtis testified that Mrs. Yang informed him that the program was needed to 'rig the vote in South Florida.'"
"The story also concerns Curtis' long-standing and now-verified claims that YEI was employing a now-convicted Chinese spy and was also engaged in massively overcharging on contracts such as the one it had with the Florida Department of Transportation. As well, there is the startling tale of the untimely, and unexplained demise of the Florida Inspector General, Raymond Lemme, who had been investigating Curtis' charges against YEI and Feeney. Curtis has since passed a polygraph test concerning these charges." Feeney has been more than casual and less than forthcoming about his extensive pre-paid traveling at home and abroad. He was "misled" about his Scottish golf trip sponsored by Abramoff. He first reported that his $2000 trip to West Palm Beach in 2003 was sponsored by a lobbyist. When reporters pointed out that he had violated House rules, a year passed before he "updated" the identity of the sponsor as a conservative foundation. A charity registered as a foreign agent sponsored an Asian trip in 2003, a clear violation of House rules. The Korea-U.S. Exchange apologized for "their" mistake. Feeney received $4000 from felon Abramoff and three of his clients, $5000 from felon "Duke" Cunningham, and is a key supporter of indicted Tom Delay. With friends like these, he doesn't need enemies to take him down. Unclean machines
Defense contractor SAIC has been charged with fraud and has a history of security breaches in its systems, but it still gets big contracts from the Pentagon and the CIA, where some of its executives have previously served. It is moving up fast in the field of electronic vote-counting. Cleveland-based Diebold took a lot of heat for the antics of then CEO Wally O'Dell, a major fund-raiser for George W. Bush. O'Dell's widely publicized letter promising to deliver Ohio's votes to Bush seemed a bit over the top. After firing O'Dell, Diebold announced that it was withdrawing from its contract with North Carolina. A barrage of complaints and lawsuits forced the firm to reorganize. You'll agree that they had a lot of reorganizing to do after you read Ann Ryder's account of Diebold's latest acquisition, Global Election Systems, which counted much of the vote in the Florida 2000 presidential election. Ryder's story, entitled, "Voting Machine Dirt and Then Some," appeared in North Carolina Conservative.com "In 2002, Diebold bought Global Election Systems, which then became Diebold Election System. Global was founded by three men, one of whom spent a year in prison for fraud against the Canadian government and was part of the collapse of the Vancouver stock exchange. He was first convicted in 1974 for political corruption. Another of the founders was jailed for stock fraud, tax evasion, and money laundering. The last of the trio defrauded Chinese immigrants and sold the real estate that had been posted as bond to bail out one of the jailed partners. One or two bad apples? Well, no. There are more. Daniel Hopsicker of MadCowMorningNews investigated the sorry background of the major vote machine companies and found evidence in the public record that Sequoia Pacific, a company counting one in three American votes, "has been run, perhaps for decades, as a Continuing Criminal Enterprise specializing in blatant and widespread bribery of public officials, with numerous felony convictions, Mob ties, and a history replete with stories of threats, coercion, and even murder." Sequoia Pacific's transgressions, he says, are typical of all three major election services. In 2000, Louisiana newspapers bruited the story of Commissioner of elections Jerry Fowler, "convicted of taking as much as ten million dollars over a period of a decade from Sequoia's Southeast Representative, a man named Pasquale 'Rocco' Ricci, from Marlton, New Jersey." Fowler was sentenced to five years in prison. Court documents from the case revealed that Sequoia Pacific and ES&S colluded to buy and sell voting machines to each other until they reached the figure they would ask the state of Louisiana to pay. Hopsicker also discovered that Sequoia Pacific operates through a number of dummy front companies. Uni-lect, International Voting Machines, Garden State Elections, and Elec-tec were some of Sequoia Pacific's aliases. When it wasn't colluding with a competitor, it was colluding with itself. But in the voting machine business, shell companies and shell games are commonplace. How are some of the smaller companies? Not so good. Voting Fraud in the USA: A Tale of Two Brothers By Angry Girl, November 3, 2004 "Last year, two of Diebold's top executives, Howard Van Pelt and Larry Ensminger, moved over to Advanced Voting Solutions, which is the new name of the scandal-ridden voting company Shoup Voting Solutions. "In 1971 Shoup Voting Machine Co. had been indicted for bribing politicians in Florida. In 1979 Ransom Shoup was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice during an FBI inquiry into a Philadelphia election. Shoup got a mere three-year suspended sentence. "In the meantime, Philadelphia bought new voting machines from a new voting machine company, Danaher-Guardian. But this company only sells voting machines formerly known as the 'Shouptronic.'" It's enough to make Luddites of us all. But before we rush the polling booths armed with sledgehammers, let's demand that Congress REPEAL HAVA and return to paper ballots. If you believe in miracles, you will accept the results of the 2002 midterm elections as accurate. If you believe in extraordinary coincidences, you'll say it's a coincidence that all the election upsets occurred where there were electronic vote machines. We've already mentioned that in 1994, Chuck Hagel, former CEO of ES&S, was the first Republican in 24 years to win a Senate seat in Nebraska. He ran again in 2000 and, according to his Web site, "was re-elected to his second term in the United States Senate on November 5, 2002 with 83% of the vote. That represents the biggest political victory in the history of Nebraska." The top purveyor of computerized voting systems in the U.S. is ES&S, which counts 80% of Nebraska's vote. It's probably a mere coincidence that Hagel was formerly chief executive officer of ES&S and owns a substantial share of the company.
There were the usual problems in Florida. The sleazy "felons list" was still in circulation. Some voters were annoyed on seeing the touch-screen register for Jeb Bush instead of their preferred choice. One candidate sued to have the machines examined, but the judge ruled that the machine's innards were a trade secret. Doesn't that give "secret elections" a new meaning? After the election, supervisors in one county discovered 103,000 uncounted ballots. Oops. They're just a little slow to get organized in Florida, that's all.
In Minnesota, after unbeatable Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash days before the election, popular Democrat Walter Mondale replaced him on the ballot and led in the polls, Then a miracle happened. In the last seconds of machine vote-counting, a huge shift to the Republican candidate took place, and Norman Coleman unexpectedly defeated Mondale. How often does that happen? Probably a coincidence. In Georgia, popular Democratic senator and Vietnam veteran Max Cleland, who lost three limbs in a grenade explosion, was defeated by Saxby Chambliss. During the election, Diebold applied uncertified patches for malfunctioning machines, and, purely by coincidence, 60% of the electorate by county switched their party allegiance between the primaries and the general election. That's 60% . Probably a coincidence. (Applying uncertified patches is business-as-usual for Diebold, but they admit it only when caught red-handed.) There were other curious results in Texas, Missouri, and Alabama, but surely the strange counts were mere happenstance, accidents, coincidence.
Part 2 of this essay deals with the GAO report, exit polls, and the US elections from 2004-2016.


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Recording Studio
Recording Studio Users' Guide
Studio access
The CCRMA recording studio is available for course-related work only. Users are expected to have taken Music 192A/B in order to learn the details of studio operation in this facility. Use for other CCRMA courses is permitted with staff assistance. The studio may not be used for commercial recording - you may not charge for your services if you record others. Recording studio users are expected to know and follow the information below - access may be revoked for users who fail to adhere to these rules and thereby inconvenience other users.
Studio Equipment
The recording studio consists of a control room and an adjoining recording studio. Equipment available currently includes:
- A Tascam DA-78 8-track digital recorder
- an Otari MX-80 2" 24-track recorder
- an Ampex ATR-800 analog 1/4" stereo recorder
- a ProTools HD|2 system w/Mac Pro 8-core Macintosh computer & Universal Audio UAD-1e card
- a Yamaha DM2000VCM mixing console
- an API 3124+ microphone preamp
- an Apogee Big Ben word clock system
- a Universal Audio 2-610 mic preamp
- a Waves L2 Ultramaximizer digital limiter
- a Panasonic SV-3800 DAT recorder
- a Tascam CD-RW700 CD-R/RW recorder
- a Tascam 122 mk III cassette recorder
- a Lexicon 224XL digital reverberator
- an Eventide Orville effects processor
- Westlake BBSM-10 and JBL 4208 monitors
- ADAM 5.1 surround featuring 2 A77x and 3 A7x speakers
and outboard gear including:
- equalizers (Furman PQ-6 parametric, Rane GE-30 graphic)
- compressors (Teletronix LA-2A, Universal Audio 1176, dbx 166 and Ashly CL50)
- Line6 POD X3 Pro
A color flow-chart of studio connections is available near the mixing console.
All digital recorders and the mixer are synchronized to world clock from the Big Ben. All analog equipment in the control room is connected through a patch bay, and all connections are to be made through the patchbay: NEVER DISCONNECT ANY AUDIO CONNECTIONS IN THE RECORDING STUDIO. In addition to a Mac Pro, a Linux PC-based computer system is available in the control room.
Microphones available in the recording studio include:
- one Neumann U87ai
- one Neumann TLM-193
- two AKG C414 XLS
- one Audio-Technica AT4049
- two Shure KSM-141
- two Josephson C42
- one Beyer M-500
- one Sennheiser MD-421
- two Sennheiser E-604s
- two Electrovoice RE-20s
- one Electrovoice N/D868
- one Shure SM-7b
- one Shure SM-57
Microphones are stored in the file cabinet in the control room closet; condensor mics in the top drawer and dynamics in the second drawer. Microphone adapters and mic stands use quick-disconnects for easy mounting and these should not be removed. Please keep the stand adapters with the microphones.
If you plan to use the CCRMA microphones, be sure to read the specific manuals.
There is a Yamaha DC7 Disklavier MIDI grand piano in the studio.
Two snakes connect microphone inputs from the studio to the control room: one connects directly to the first 16 DM2000 mic inputs and the first four inputs of the smaller second snake feed the API 312 second is currently unused but will be connected soon to something cool. Returns 17/18 of the larger snake sends headphone signals to the Furman HA-6AB studio headphone amplifier for monitoring. Returns 19/20 connect to the stereo output of the mixer for potential monitoring via speakers.
A loudspeaker talkback system operates between the control room and the recording studio, located on a panel in the patchbay rack. The talk switch is off in the center position and on in either the locking (up) or momentary (down) positions.
The studios are available 24 hours a day, but ONLY to registered CCRMA students (who are taking or have completed Music 192, Theory and Practice of Audio Recording), faculty, and staff. Priority is given to students currently enrolled in 192. During the school year, users are limited to 8 hours of studio time per week. Occasionally, larger projects may be undertaken with prior permission, but these must be planned well in advance. User sign-up is handled through the CCRMA room booking system. If you need greater access, please talk with Jay Kadis. Do not use the studio without booking it on-line!
Some Studio Etiquette
When using the studios, it is necessary to adhere to the CCRMA security procedures, especially those regarding building access: NO DOORS ARE TO BE LEFT OPEN UNATTENDED. Equipment may be brought in for recording, but it CANNOT BE STORED here. CCRMA is not responsible for loss or damage to any equipment left here. Cables for studio use are stored on the wall inside the studio. These cables are for temporary use in the studio only: if you need cables for use outside the studio, see staff. The cables should be stored on the wall, either wrapped up with no ends hanging free (longer cables) or draped over the hooks (shorter cables). Please see that the cables you use are not tangled hopelessly when you return them. (Extra credit if you use the over-under wrapping technique correctly.)
NEVER disconnect any audio connections in the studio (Exception: you may connect microphones to the mixing console directly to the mic inputs.) Be sure to return the snake fan-out connections when you are done.
Food and drinks are not allowed in the studio control room. This is necessary to prevent accidents from damaging the equipment. There are kitchen facilities upstairs and you should use that area for eating, as long as you clean up after yourselves.
If you sign up for time, you are expected to use it. If you cannot make use of a booking, you should delete it from the signup program and notify local-users@ccrma. If you bring non-CCRMA people into the studio, you are responsible for their adherence to the CCRMA rules. Please be respectful of others working at CCRMA and limit disruption: keep the studio door closed to keep sound from disturbing others. Try to minimize the impact of your project on the general CCRMA community.
Recording Software
The Mac Pro runs Pro Tools 9 HD, Logic Pro 8, Reaper and Harrison Mixbus. The Linux machine runs Ardour, Mixbus and Audacity.
The Mixer
For a detailed description of the Yamaha DM2000, read the DM2000 Users' Guide. A familiarity with the mixer's operation is essential as the connections are all programmable and may be changed from user to user. The main Stereo L-R output is connected to the Tascam CD-RW700 CR burner through the Waves L2 Ultramaximizer digital limiter. This AES/EBU connection allows the limiter to be applied to the stereo output recorded to the DAT without patching. If you do not wish to use the limiter, set it to bypass. To employ the limiter, take it out of bypass mode and adjust the threshold control. The lower you set the threshold, the more limiting you will get and the louder the output will be. You can set the maximum level to 0 dBFS or lower. Try the ARC automatic release function before you play with release times. Clocking should be set to Digital and the input must be set to AES/EBU. If you record to DAT or CD, you should use the L2 16-bit dither setting. (The L2 limiter is currently out of service.)
The DM2000 stores many user I/O presets. The CCRMA Default (#7) preset is the usual setup for recording and playing back via the mac Pro using either Pro Tool or Logic. Both use the Digidesign 192D interface that connects to the mixer via lightpipe connections. There are 16 channels in and out available. For recording and playback using Ardour or the Tascam DTRS recorders, separate presets are available. The presets may be accessed from the Scene Memory section of the mixer.
Help! How do I get some light?
Lighting in the recording studio and control room is controlled by a pair of rotary switches, one for on and one for off. To turn on lights, push in and turn the ON switch. To turn off the lights, push in and turn the OFF switch. Each switch has numbers that correspond to the banks of lights, so each bank can be switched on and off independently. A map next to the switches details the location of the various banks. (This confusing system allows dimming the light level without using conventional dimmers, which contribute lots of electrical noise.)
Help! How do I get some sound?
So what's the simplest way to get some sound into the console? Line level signals are fed via the patch bay into insert returns or from digital tape machines into the digital tape returns. Microphone signals from the studio are directly connected to the first 16 mic inputs through a snake (multichannel cable), so that mic channel 1 goes to input channel 1 and so on up to channel 16. Mic inputs from the second snake go nowhere until further notice. You must adjust the DM2000 preamp trim controls to get mic signals into mic/line inputs 1-24. The Universal Audio 2-610 dual microphone preamp connects to a 2-channel floor box in the control room. It can be used in the control room or connected to channels from the snake that normally feed the DM-2000. The outputs connect to the mixer through the patch bay. (If you move these connection, be sure to put them back when you're done!) Mixer connections from the patchbay use the Inserts rather than line inputs, so any patchbay signals need the appropriate input channels to be set to Insert, rendering the trim controls inactive.
The API 3124+ four channel mic preamp is connected to a floor box in the control room, which is connected to a floor box in the recording studio via a snake. If you want to put signals into the API from the control room, you may plug into the floor box behind the DM2000 but be sure to restore any connections you break before leaving. The API outputs are normalled to mixer inserts 13 - 16 but these connections can be changed on the patchbay. (You need to engage the Insert button on these channels to activate the API inputs.)
There is also an Eventide Orville effects processor connected through the AES/EBU digital connection. Connections to the Lexicon 224XL reverb are made through the analog patchbay. The Otari 24 track recorder is partially normalled to the inserts of the DM2000: the first 12 and last 4 (channels 21-24) line inputs are normalled to the Otari outputs while line inputs 13-20 are normalled to the patchbay from external microphone preamps (to be added soon). These outputs from the Otari need to be patched to the line inputs on the patchbay. All inputs to the Otari must be manually patched through the patchbay. The control room monitoring system is controlled by the Monitor section of the DM2000. The four inputs to the Eventide Orville processor are sent via slot 6 (AES/EBU) from Aux sends 9-12. Returns are sent to inputs 45-48 (Pro Tools layer) labelled FXR1-FXR4.
The eight source selection buttons for the control room monitor system can be mixed by pushing multiple buttons. If you monitor the mix and the tape return from the DAT or CD burner simultaneously, you will hear phasing. This is due to the time delay created by the digital machine. Simply select one or the other. Sources available currently include DAT playback on 2TR D2, CD playback on 2TR D3, analog cassette playback on 2 TR A1. Selecting "Stereo" plays the stereo mix to the monitor speakers. "Small" will select the JBL 4208 monitors, otherwise the selected source will play through the Westlakes.
Studio talkback is available through headphones connected to the headphones return to the studio with the talkback button on the DM2000. Another talkback system is located on the patchbay panel, which uses a speaker in the studio. This system is turned on by a switch which is momentary in one direction and locks on in the other. Be sure to turn it off when you're not using it or everyone in the studio will hear you. For more complete information, see the DM2000 manual in the control room.
Connected to the main stereo output (through the L2 Limiter) is a Tascam CD-RW700 CD-R/RW recorder. To use the CD-R recorder as a stand-alone recorder, set its input to Coaxial, which is connected to the S/PDIF output of the Waves L2 limiter. The CD-RW700 can record track-at-once or disk-at-once in automatic or manual modes. See the manual for more detailed information. The simplest method is manual mode, controlling start and stop manually. To duplicate DAT tapes, the input of the CD-R recorder is set to Optical and the DAT machine must then be switched to optical S/PDIF output. This may be accomplished by placing the SV-3800 DAT machine into its menu mode by holding the mode and reset buttons while depressing the Pause button. The first menu item is the digital mode and it is toggled between AES and S/PDIF (IEC-O and IEC-C) by pushing the >>| (skip ahead) button to advance the selection. IEC-O is the optical S/PDIF mode to use. Be sure to return the CD-RW700 input mode to coaxial when you are done.
Monitoring presets
There are three speaker monitoring presets on the DM-2000:
7 - Westlakes stereo - stereo output goes directly to BBSM-10s and to headphones
8 - ADAMs 5.1 - busses 1-5 feed the 5 ADAM speakers in 5.1 configuration
9 - ADAMs stereo - bus 1&2 feed ADAM A77x stereo.
For headphone output on ADAM presets, desired channels must be sent to "Stereo" as well as busses 1&2. Their level will be set by the Stereo fader - the speakers can be turned off with the monitor rotary control.
Connecting Laptops
Laptops can be connected to the DM-2000 through the Rapco Iti-100 laptop interface. The 1/8" TRS jack plugs into the headphone/line output and connects to channels 23 and 24 line inputs on the DM-2000.
Synthesizer connections
The Yamaha SY-77 is connected to the MIDI interface for MIDI input to Pro Tools. The stereo audio outputs are also connected to line inputs 21&22 on the DM-2000.
Help! How do I use ProTools?
To log into the ProTools Mac Pro, you can use you CCRMA system login. All sound files must be stored on the ProTools drives (ProTools 1, 2 and 3) and not on the system drive. (Pro Tools cannot record to your desktop, which lives on the CCRMA server and must be accessed over the network.) You can use your own external FireWire drive, but note that ProTools sessions may not span internal and FireWire drives in the same session. ProTools output is connected to inputs 25-40 of the DM2000 via AES/EBU connections to the Digital 192 interface (There is no direct analog input to ProTools.)
In order to start using ProTools, the first time you create a session you must set the hardware setup correctly: Both channels 1-8 and 9-16 must be set to AES/EBU (the default is AES/EBU) and the clock must be set to External. Subsequent sessions will remember your settings. The sample rate set by Big Ben and the session sample rate must agree. Sample rates up to and including 96 kHz are possible, though the Eventide Orville cannot run some of its presets at that sample rate. Pro Tools is gullible and will use whatever sample rate you tell it, regardless of what is actually being fed to the external clock input. It is up to the user to verify that the session and clock sample rates are the same.
All systems are clocked externally from the Big Ben and all recorders and mixers should be left in external word clock mode at all times. To monitor ProTools, you bring up channels 25-41 (25&26 are the default stereo output from the ProTools mixer.) Users are responsible for backing up their ProTools files, and files may only be left on the ProTools disks while they are in current use. Disk space is limited and abandoned files may be deleted by staff when space becomes necessary. Be sure to back up any files you cannot afford to lose!!! The Mac Pro has a CD/DVD burner.
Calibrated Listening Levels
Optimal listening levels are generally considered to be about 85 dB SPL, as the equal loudness curves are flattest at that intensity. The mixer is calibrated so that -12 dB FS on the Stereo meters corresponds to 85 dB SPL on the Westlakes with the volume knob a "4" (it ranges from 0-10.) Pro Tools -12 dB gives the calibrated level when the input channels are set to - 3 dB. If 85 dB SPL proves to be too loud for prolonged work, the volume knob can be set to "3", which is about 80 dB SPL. The ADAMs are also calibrated when Bus 1/2 are set to -10 dB on the Master fader page.
In practice, 85 dB SPL is too loud for prolonged mixing and should be used mainly to check nearly-finished mixes for tonal balance.

subset: commoncrawl


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With over 20 years of experience covering the Steelers for the Observer-Reporter, Dale Lolley will let you know the insider scoop. Dale can also be heard on the Steelers radio network pre-game show on WDVE-FM game days and Tuesday nights from 6 to 8 p.m. on ESPN 970-AM and WDVE during the season as a host of the Antonio Brown Show. Follow him on Twitter at @dlolleyor
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Steelers finalizing draft boards
A lot can change in the draft process in two weeks, but rest assured, attaining at least two offensive linemen will be a priority. So will acquiring a cornerback, wide receiver and defensive linemen.
In fact, about the only position the Steelers won't be picking from will be quarterback and tight end.
With a healthy portion of the team's starting lineup heading into the final season of their contracts, just about anything could happen in this draft.
Of course the waiting will be the hardest part. That first day is going to drag on while we wait for the 32nd pick to finally come around.
24 comments:
Are they waiting until they finish the draft to determine which of next year's free agents (Heath, Clark, Keisel, etc.) they negotiate extensions with in case they draft potential replacements...or is it just a coincidence that they're waiting until May to begin discussions with anyone beyond Harrison and maybe Starks? - 7:23 AM
"A lot can change in the draft process in two weeks, but rest assured, attaining at least two offensive linemen will be a priority. So will acquiring a cornerback, wide receiver and defensive linemen."
BUT WHAT ABOUT LINEBACKERS? WE NEED MORE LINEBACKERS!!!!!! right Patrick?
just kidding - 8:30 AM
Shady McCoy would look good in our wildcat formation whether the media lets out the secret or not. Heck, Wannstadt practically told the other team he was running it.
Linebacker and Runningback are our deepest positions. Spending an early pick there would not be wise (especially for some Pitt loser)
I would love to see McCoy as a Steeler but with Parker, Mendenhall, and Moore...I doubt it.
- Chris Hein said...
Why not TE, Dale? Heath's coming up on his contract and Spaeth is nothing short of a horrible blocker and an average pass-catcher. With how much BA loves 2-3 TE sets shouldn't we try to upgrade that position as well?
Do you do any draft projections for the Steelers? Do you do a mock or anything? - 10:44 AM
Most mock drafts have the Steelers taking an O-lineman (Mack in most)
I would be happy with drafting Mack
1 guy who isn't getting mentioned much whom I think the Steelers might draft in round 1 is CB/S Sean Smith from Utah. He is big and athletic (6'4" 200+ lbs). He could start out as a nickelback and eventually take over for Ryan Clark - 11:40 AM
- Joey Porter's Pit Bulls said...
Sean Smith would be outstanding, hopefully, but I suspect he'll be gone. I'd be okay with Kevin Mack, too. Not bad.
- Patrick said...
my point about the ILB is if a really good one fell, I wouldn't be opposed to it. I say this because I really think that unless the Steelers trade up, the quality of lineman won't be there (Mack or a top tackle), the top CB's won't be, and I don't think the Steelers will reach for someone on the Oline. At that point its BPA and it might be an ILB.
Also, in two years, Foote is gone and if Farrior all the sudden shows his age, ILB is a need. And let me repeat it, learning Lebeau's 3-4 is something that takes time, especially at that position. Are you confident with Timmons and a rookie or random FA as your ILB's? or Timmons and Fox?
I just don't agree it as deep as you see it. But it is not a glaring need, no. But it wasn't when they took Timmons at 14 either. - 12:08 PM
again with the Linebackers!!!!!
what about Defensive Line????? Older and less depth - 1:02 PM
- Dale Lolley said...
They are waiting until after the draft to get really serious with the extensions. And one will be Heath Miller. They won't let him walk and he doesn't want to go anywhere.
They like Fox as a possible replacement for Foote/Farrior. Remember, it's not like he doesn't have a pedigree. He was, after all, a third-round draft pick.
Yes, I do mocks. In fact, I'll post some different scenarios in the coming weeks. - 1:15 PM
- drinkyourmilkshake said...
Are you saying the Steelers won't draft a TE at all in the draft or just in the first round?
They are bringing in a TE for a visit... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09098/961392-100.stm - 1:55 PM
From Dale....
Yes, I do mocks. In fact, I'll post some different scenarios in the coming weeks.
Hey Dale, I think the draft is IN the coming weeks. Don't you want to post your thoughts before the draft? - 1:57 PM
- Patrick said...
since my draft post was in the comment before this, I'll just repeat it.
I think they'll move up for Mack in the 1st, using the 3rd. 2nd will be Fili Moala or the best CB left, the rest will be a project olineman, a KR/WR somewhere and Frank Summers in the 4th or 5th
All I'm saying about the ILB is one falls, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Steelers take him at 32 since the other positions of need will probably be a reach at that point. Thats all - 2:07 PM
I don't see them trading up in rd 1for Mack. If they trade up in the 1st it will be for a tackle. If Mack is gone by pick #32, they can draft a center later in the draft (Wood in the 2nd for example)
- Dale Lolley said...
I don't think Wood will last until their pick in the second. If they want him, they'd better take him in the first.
It wouldn't be a reach. In every draft, there are tiers of players.
You have your first tier of 10 to 15 players - sometimes more, sometimes less - who are obvious first rounders.
You can then throw a net over the next 30 to 40, with teams rating them differently based on little things or need.
As for my mocks, I usually like to wait until the days after the draft to do it. I get more picks right that way - just kidding. - 4:20 PM
you are right Dale.....i meant trade up in the 2nd for Wood.
Trading up in the 1st for a center just doesn't seem right (I doubt it has ever happened in the history of the NFL) - 4:25 PM
- datruth4life said...
If it came down to DE Jarron Gilbert, C/G Eric Woods, CB Alphonso Smith, CB Vontae Davis, which one would you have the Steelers taking at no. 32?
I think the decision for the Steelers would be between Davis and Gilbert. I really like Gilbert's upside as far as giving John Mitchell a gem with upside to work with. However, I can see the DB coach in Tomlin not letting Davis get away. If anyone can get that guy to play to his potential, I think it would be Tomlin.
Too bad the Steelers have to consider CB at pick no. 32. Signing B. McFadden would have had our secondary looking good for the future.
Thoughts? - 6:56 PM
- Patrick said...
someone posted on the Steelers MB about Gilbert's workout numbers almost being too high. I tend to agree with this. The guy is built just about where a 3-4 end should be and has crazy athleticism. Its not something you see every day and that makes me a little hesitant. Too many guys have the workout stuff and not the on field talent.
(there is also an amazing Youtube video of him jumping out of a pool)
But I am speaking from an uninformed mind because I only know what I've read. If the guy turns it on on gameday, then maybe hes worth the pick. I just don't see the the Steelers taking a 3-4 DE with their 1st round. They usually try to find them in the later rounds.
And in my opinion Vontae Davus won't be there, I'm lukewarm on a CB like Smith at 32 and I think Wood will still be around at 40. But that of course doesn't mean he can't be had at 32 by us. I'm just ok on that idea too.
I think I'm jumping on the Mack bandwagon - 7:45 PM
If Jarron Gilbert is there I'd really want the Steelers to grab him unless one of the top players fell (especially at OT). If you search YouTube you'll find Gilbert's senior highlight film. He played a lower level of competition at San Jose St. & some of his highlights can easily be dismissed because of that, but they also played some solid competition & Gilbert played really well in those games. The tape is really amazing - Gilbert was absolutely a man among boys and has a first step that is lightning quick.
IIRC one of his best games of the year was against Boise St. who finished the year ranked #11 in one poll & #13 in another. Against Boise St. (who was ranked #13 at the time they played), Gilbert's stats were:
-- 5 Solo Tackles, 4 Assists, 9 Total Tackles
-- 4 Tackles for Loss (30 yards lost)
-- 1 Forced Fumble
-- 2 Sacks (20 yards lost)
-- 2 Quarterback Hits
So while the kid's workout #s are awesome, I don't think he's just a workout warrior. I see him as the #2 DE prospect for a 3-4, possibly the #3 guy if you think Ziggy Hood is better. And like someone else mentioned, the drop off between Mack and guys like Eric Wood and Antoine Caldwell is less than the drop off from guys like Tyson Jackson, Gilbert and Hood to the #4 DE prospect. - 12:36 AM
- datruth4life said...
I totally agree with you. I think Jarron Gilbert is someone that you grab at no. 32 because he's not going to be there at no. 64 (In fact, I don't think he's going to make it to 32).
The reason that I like him is that he is probably the best athlete at the 3-4 DE position in this draft and plays a position of need for this team. He doesn't have to start this year, but you have to feel good giving DL coach John Mitchell this type of talent to work with while having someone like Aaron Smith and Brett Keisel showing him the ropes.
Also, he can play DT in our nickle and dime defenses and rush the passer. I believe that you can get a center or guard later on in the draft. And like you mentioned, this isn't a particularly deep draft for 3-4 DE's and you have more teams running 3-4 defenses. Get one while you can.
I think Wood will be there in the second round if the Steelers want to trade up, or they could sit tight and take Jamon Meredith from South Carolina, who is a G/T.
Two players I also think could be Steelers are CB Sherrod Martin from Troy and WR/KR/PR Mike Wallace from Missippi. Martin is 6'1'', 198-lbs and can play CB or S. Kevin Colbert spent a lot of time talking to him at the combine. Mike Wallace, the fastest receiver at the combine at 4.30, is 6'0'', 200 lbs. and could fill the team's need as a returner as well as take over Nate Washington's role as someone to stretch the field.
So here is my mock for the Steelers:
1) DE Jarron Gilbert - San Jose State
2) CB Sherrod Martin - Troy
3) WR Mike Wallace - Missippi
4) LT Joel Bell - Furman
5) C A.Q. Shipley - Penn State
5) FB/RB Frank "The Tank" Summers
6) NT/DT Sammie Lee Hill - Stillman
7) DE Zach Potter - Nebraska
7) OLB - Philip Hunt - Houston
Thoughts? - 10:36 AM
since when do we need some super athlete at 3-4 DE???
What we need at DE is someone who cant be pushed around in the trenches. - 1:14 PM
- Patrick said...
agree with anonymous here, our DE's never are world class ahtletes, but gritty big guys who don't get pushed around
though I will say, the one posted makes a good point about Gilbert playing in 3rd and long situations as a pash rush tackle. Steelers haven't had that.......ever - 1:26 PM


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We are in the final stretch of school and have been draggin' butt with grades, tests, and long writing assignments. I decided that we need a little pick-me-up to get us through the final days of school.
Check out what the kids saw on Tuesday morning as they walked into our class...
Their eyes nearly popped out and nobody could close their mouth. It was hilarious to watch everyone round the corner and stop halfway in the door.
I have 22 balloons hanging from the ceiling for each child in my class. Each balloon has a small strip of paper with a quick but very fun activity for the kids to do that day. We count down the days by popping one balloon a day and doing the activity inside. The balloon is popped by the child whose name is written on the crepe paper streamer taped to the balloon. Some of the activities I have are "Play hot potato" or "Shaving cream creations". They all take less than 15 minutes but the kids get super excited each day to see what they get to do. It's a blast!
This week was also Teacher Appreciation week. My kids and parents were amazing! I feel so spoiled and very much appreciated. I don't think I could have dreamed up a better group of kids to have during this time in my life. They are so special and loving which is a good thing because this momma is starting to really look forward to relaxing by the pool all summer!
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Saturday, May 11, 2013
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Moltres (Wizards Promo 21)
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Moltres (Japanese: ファイヤー Fire) is a Fire-type Basic Pokémon card. It was first released as one of the Wizards Black Star Promos.
Card text
Wizards Black Star Promo print
Pokédex data (Wizards Black Star Promo print)
Moltres - Flame Pokémon | ||
No. | Height | Weight |
146 | 6'7" (2 m) | 132 lbs. (60 kg) |
Pokédex entry | ||
The flames on this legendary Pokémon's wings burn so brightly that they can make night seem like day. | ||
夜空さえも赤くするほど、はげしく燃え上がるつばさではばたく、伝説のポケモン。 |
Supreme Victors print
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Pokédex data (Supreme Victors print)
Moltres - Flame Pokémon | ||
No. | Height | Weight |
146 | 6'07" (2.0 m) | 132.3 lbs. (60.0 kg) |
Pokédex entry | ||
The flames on this legendary Pokémon's wings burn so brightly that they can make night seem like day. | ||
よぞらさえも あかくするほど、 はげしく もえあがる つばさで はばたく、 でんせつの ポケモン。 |
Release information
In Japan, this card was released as a promotional card by All Nippon Airlines throughout August and September in 1999, with artwork by Toshinao Aoki. Passengers flying in conjunction with the "Pokémon Getaways" campaign could redeem their boarding passes for a two-card set that included Moltres and Zapdos. The English version was one of the Wizards Black Star Promos given away in the first few weeks of the theatrical release of The Power of One, with then English-exclusive artwork by Naoyo Kimura. This artwork was used on a Japanese reprint released in Pokémon Web. The original Japanese artwork was eventually featured on English cards when reprinted in Supreme Victors as a retro card, having previously been reprinted in Japan in the Beat of the Frontier expansion.
- The initial print of the Wizards promo erroneously credited Toshinao Aoki as the illustrator, who illustrated the Japanese promo. Wizards rectified the error, with subsequent prints correctly crediting Naoyo Kimura as the illustrator. However, the change was brought about close to or after the release of the film, so it is likely that fewer people received the correct version later into the campaign compared to those who received the misprint earlier.
- This card's Japanese artwork is part of a larger image, which also includes Articuno and Zapdos.
This card's Pokédex entry comes from Pokémon Yellow, though it is reworded.
This article is part of Project TCG, a Bulbapedia project that aims to report on every aspect of the Pokémon Trading Card Game. |


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This section contains 3,268 words (approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page) |
Dictionary of Literary Biography on Susan Glaspell
Susan Glaspell was a Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatist and best-selling author who wrote fourteen plays, nine novels, and over fifty short stories, essays, and articles. Her life parallels the intellectual and cultural patterns that were developing in America between the end of the Civil War and the middle of the twentieth century. She was born in 1876, the descendant of pioneer settlers, in Davenport , Iowa, and was raised in the nineteenth-century tradition that idealized patriotism, piety, competition, progress, and respectability. Like many young Americans who became adults as the new century began, she rebelled against these values and the conventions of midwestern culture with which they were associated, seeking the freedom to experiment with new ways of living and writing in Chicago, Greenwich Village, and Europe. During the 1920s she enjoyed critical acclaim and popularity, both in her own country and abroad, but after the triumph of winning the Pulitzer...
This section contains 3,268 words (approx. 11 pages at 300 words per page) |


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I always get asked this question: How do you know when something is "done?" From a cinnamon scone to chocolate lava cake to a classic chocolate chip cookie, it will take practice to know when a baked good is finished baking and ready to be consume. Read more to find out my helpful tips:
1) TIME: The average small baked good (think: cookies, scones, biscuits, etc) take only 10-20 minutes in the oven. Smaller items = less baking times versus large items. Like how a turkey breast takes quicker to cook versus a whole turkey, a cookie takes less time in the oven versus a large pan of brownies.
2) TEMP: The average temperature of the oven should be 325-350 degrees F. Remember my "know your oven!" blog? Well, make sure you truly KNOW your oven. The newer the oven, the hotter will be, thus a 325 degrees oven will be around 350 degrees F. The older the oven is, the cooler it will be, thus a 325 degree oven will be around 300 degrees F.
3) TOUCH: Touch your baked good AFTER it is baked. It should feel soft to the touch. Touching your baked good DURING baking can lead to a mishaped baked good, esp. with cakes.
What do you baked your goodies on?
Use a flat sheet pan (also called "jelly roll" pans or "cookie" pans) lined with parchment paper. The parchment paper helps the baked good from sticking to the pan and makes for an easy clean up! When you bake a goodie directly on the sheet pan, with bottom will brown too fast. The parchment paper acts like a barrier between the bottom of the baked good and sheet pan.
When baking cakes and brownies, I like to cut the parchment paper to fit the pan and spray with non-stick spray (like PAM).
TIP: When baking a cake "lightened" with egg whites (like angel food cake or "chiffon" type cakes) DO NOT spray your pan! If you spray it, the cake will not "grow" into its proper shape.
Do I cool the baked goods on the sheet pan itself or a wire cooling rack?
See when you leave the baked goods on the sheet pan to cool, they will SLIGHTLY continue to cook (like how a turkey "keeps on cooking" once you take it from the oven). I like to under bake my goodies, by one minute, and leave it to cool on the sheet pan. Why? People like a softer cookie versus a harder cookie. Plus, putting the cookie on a wire rack takes up much needed space in the kitchen! And it is another thing to clean up.
My recipe says to insert a toothpick to test the doneness with my cakes, why?
Yes, please do this! It is difficult to "see" if a cake is done, esp. with large cakes. Carefully, insert the toothpick in the middle (because it is the "thickest" part) of the cake and remove. Comes out clean? It is done! Comes out with batter on it? Not finished! If you do not have any toothpicks, you can use a small knife.
How do you truly know once something is done?
PRACTICE! Yes, you will over bake and under bake items. Practice and knowledge is key. Make sure you read and understand your recipe and what you're baking. Ask questions. Read baking books. Check baking blogs.
Baking should be fun and exciting! Yes, you may get discourage when something does not turn out perfect, but that is part of the learn process. Baking knowledge = baking success!
Greetings! My name is Kimm, 2 m's. After graduating from culinary and pastry school, and working in professional kitchens and bakeries, I created Sweetness In Seattle Blog and write about anything baking or cooking-related, food events, cookware information, or fun food facts. After multiple years on the planet, I have come to the conclusion: I am a dedicated food lover, cookware geek, yogi, and napper. Ask me about any: email@example.com
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Datasheet | Reviews | Related Products | Protocols |
The pGEM-T is 3kb in length, and contains the amplicin resistance gene, conferring selection of the plasmid in E. coli, and the ori site which is the bacterial origin of replication. The plasmid has multiple cloning sites as shown below. The coding sequence was inserted by TA cloning. Many E. coli strains are suitable for the propagation of this vector including JM109, DH5α and TOP10.
The coding sequence can be easily obtained by digesting the vector with proper restriction enzyme(s). The coding sequence can also be amplified by PCR with M13 primers, or primer pair SP6 and T7.
Learn more about expression Vectors |
Product name | Product name |
Cluster of Differentiation 112 (CD112), also known as poliovirus receptor related protein 2 (PVRL2 or PRR2), is a single-pass type I transmembrane glycoprotein belonging to the Immunoglobulin superfamily. CD112 protein also serves as an entry for certain mutant strains of herpes simplex virus and pseudorabies virus, and thus is involved in cell to cell spreading of these viruses. CD112 protein has been identified as the ligand for DNAM-1 (CD226), and the interaction of CD226/CD112 protein can induce NK cell- and CD8+ T cell-mediated cytotoxicity and cytokine secretion. CD112 has been regarded as a critical component in allergic reactions, and accordingly may function as a novel target for anti-allergic therapy.
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Tico is a native of upstate New York and started learning to climb in the Gunks in the mid-90's. Highlights of his career include helping to lead the first disabled Nose-in-a-Day and putting up new rock and alpine routes on multiple continents. Tico has earned a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and splits his time between family in Texas and work in the Pacific Northwest.
- AMGA Certified Alpine Guide
- AMGA Certified Rock Guide
- Completed American Mountain Guides Association Courses:
- AMGA Advanced Ski Guide/Aspirant Exam
- IFMGA/AMGA Aspirant Mountain Guide
- Completed American Institute for Avalanche Research Education Courses:
- Leave No Trace Trainer
- Wilderness First Responder


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Hands up if you're stuck at home for the Easter holidays because you can't afford to take the family away. I reckon there's a fair proportion of us - which isn't really surprising, because the sound of the last school bell is music to the ears of most flight and tour operators. They take it as a signal to inflate their prices - sometimes they'll even double them - leaving most of us with no choice but to spend a week in front of the telly instead of getting out there and having fun.
It can be hard to find good deals at peak periods. I've just wasted hours on the internet searching for flights to Crete for the May half-term. Easy if you want to pay an arm and a leg - they cost up to £600 per person at the moment - but I still need my limbs. One airline I called politely told me that my "problem" was that I had "chosen" the half-term week - if I went a week earlier or later, she explained helpfully, I could go for nearly a quarter of the price. But I'm too old to get into trouble with the teachers - and I don't want to be fined. Even worse, I can't face the wrath of my kids, who don't want to miss school. (Yes, I know it's weird, but I'm sure it's just a phase.) So it's a trip to see my bank manager or no holiday at all.
Or is it? I'm pleased to report that there are still some good guys around, who are doing their best to make sure that parents aren't penalised by "choosing" to go away during the school holidays. Some of the most child-friendly operators are also parent-friendly: they keep their prices relatively stable even during peak season.
Take the Adventure Company (0845 4505316; adventurecompany.co.uk), for example, which goes out of its way to avoid applying high-season tariffs. I've just been looking at its Active Croatia holiday, where prices throughout the year never vary by more than £100. Bushbaby Travel (0870 850 9103; bushbabytravel.com), a specialist in family holidays in South Africa, promises it won't use school holidays as an excuse to mark up prices.
It does advise early booking, as holidays go quickly at popular times.
Of course, booking early is one of the best ways to keep your costs down. Irritating though it may be to have to plan your life months in advance, it can save you quite a bit. At the moment, many package operators, including Cosmos (0871 622 4317; cosmosholidays.co.uk) and Crystal Families (0870 402 0293; crystalfamilies. co.uk) is still offering free children's places during July and August. Alternatively, you can make savings by cutting out the tour operators altogether and making your own arrangements. For city breaks, book your accommodation with Citadines Apart'Hotels (citadines.com), for example, and you'll find that prices won't fluctuate according to school term times. The Apartment Service (020-8944 1444; apartmentservice.com), too, is another company worth checking out.
I think that's enough homework for this week. Trawling around for the best deals can take up a lot of energy. But look on the bright side: at least it's given you something to do over the Easter break.
Katy's top tip
Interesting things are happening in New York with a tourist board initiative to encourage us to explore without breaking the bank. New "open book" times (nycopenbook.com) mean that on selected dates, hotels, restaurants and cultural venues offer special packages with major discounts at peak times.


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Invaluable cannot guarantee the accuracy of translations through Google Translate and disclaims any responsibility for inaccurate translations.
Lot 133: ROULEAU VASE WITH SHANSHUI
Fine Asian Art
by Galerie Zacke Vienna
November 19, 2016
Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Live Auction
Porcelain. China, presumably 1st half 20th cent.
Exceptionally good and fine painting in classical Shanshui style: Steep rocky landscape, water, pavilions etc., romantic, beautiful landscape, in which the "Literati" used to seclude themselves, as this painting also presents. Written on the bottom, finest blue, retrospective Four Character Mark Qianlong yu zhi 乾 隆 御 製, yu zhi here meaning "made for the emperor(imperial court)". Flawless condition.
From the Dutch collection Raymond Burleson
Burleson worked in the early 80´s in the editorial office of an art magazine in Den Haag, when his growing interest in art also flourished. Subsequently active in international art trade, he specialized in early European art beginning with 15th cent., painting of 17th-19th cent., as well as occasionally also in Asian art. He was active in Europe, as also in America and Asia.
Over the years, he became increasingly interested in Chinese porcelain and started to create a collection from 1980 to 1990 with objects of the 19th and 20th centuries, also snuffbottles, little bottles for snuff tobacco. He acquired at a time when one could still affordably buy and choose from the greatest selection. His collection offers today the possibility of learning to appreciate the quality of best latest porcelain designed in the tradition of past periods (often carrying the corrresponding period terms such as Kangxi, Qianlong etc.), as their actual and often astounding quality was truly equitable. Burleson built up a collection over the years of several hundred of the most beautiful porcelain pieces, which now due to his age are gradually being sold.
來自阿姆斯特丹的 Raymond Burleson 先生舊藏
Raymond Burleson 先生曾在 20 世紀 80 年代初在海牙市當編輯,工作在一家藝術史方面的雜誌。在這裏對藝術產生了興趣,後來當了藝術買賣專家。其專業為15世紀歐洲藝術,17至19世紀歐洲繪畫以及亞洲美術。他曾也在歐洲,亞洲,美國等地區到處旅遊。
百忙之中Burleson 先生也越來越集中於收藏中國瓷器。20 世紀 80 和 90 年代曾建立主要藏 19 和 20 世紀的瓷器美術品的珍品收藏,另外還集中收藏各種各樣的鼻煙壺。在其時代很幸運得還是有很寬闊的選擇機會,並且價格常常極為佳。其收藏如今提供拿到晚期瓷器的最為精選的作品的機會。很多瓷器物品是按照過去某些時代的風格而製造,有些還存在著模仿當年號(如康熙,乾隆等)的標誌。這個收藏剛好證明了比較新的瓷器也得為其特有的質量而保護下來,正如收藏家根據他罕見的眼力收集了數幾百件最為精美的瓷器收藏。值得注意的是,這個收藏此次全部而出售,然而跟一般情況一件一件出售的方法有很大的不同。


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Ford Ranger for Sale
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1969 Ford Ranger
Batesville, MS
A two owner, all original 1/2 Ton, short, wide bed, full size pickup. The truck was restored recently with new base/clear paint and upholstery.... More
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Houston, TX
Up for sale in our Houston showroom is this 1978 Ford F-250 Ranger XLT. The Ford F line of pickup trucks have been the... More


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You spend time each morning carefully crafting your lunch sandwich just the way you like it, then you wrap it in waxed paper or a plastic zipper bag and put it in your lunchbag. When lunchtime comes, you pull out your lunch only to discover your sandwich has fallen apart into a mess, with condiments on the outside of your bread and everything else stuck to the wrapper. If you had a Compleat FoodSkin from Unikia, your sandwiches would arrive to lunch looking just as you assembled them. Unikia says the FoodSkin "has a highly elastic silicone skin that holds your sandwich together. It has a perfect fit for any food, and is completely flat when empty." Unikia is a Norwegian company, but they ship globally. The Compleat FoodSkin is available in blue, mint, or purple for €24.95 ($34.10 US).
January 14, 2014, 7:18 pm
$34 – for a lunch box!!!
January 14, 2014, 10:46 pm
Well, if you pay $12 for lunch, you break even after less than a week.
January 15, 2014, 3:30 pm
But you get free coffee refills for you $12 lunch!
You have to also add the cost of the larger lunchbox/cooler you will put your fruit and veggies and drinks into along side your $34 "lunch box". Let's just call it a "sandwich box"
And you have to add the time it takes to clean out the sandwich box. I mean suppose you make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or meatball sandwiches with lots of tomato sauce. You'll a real mess on you hands when you go to pack the next days sandwich. I mean … YUK!
You know, I was all over the idea of a silicon "sandwich" box till you got to the $34 price tag!
Think I'll stick with sandwich wrap and add a couple of rubber bands to keep things in place … maybe put everything into a metal, "Super Woman" lunch box (with a matching thermos). Just like times long past.
Or … maybe I'll go out to lunch with my fellow workers in a sit down restaurant that serves cafe lattes.
…. decisions …
January 15, 2014, 4:13 pm
One thing about a pricey lunch box is that it guilt you into making your own lunch: you can't justify paying $34 for it and let it sit at home.
So in a sense, a $34 lunch box may end up saving you more money than a $10 one. Plus, if it's well made and last longer than a $10 lunch box, it's more satisfying to own and use.
January 16, 2014, 1:33 pm
What about my potatoe chips? For my lunch, this is an impractical solution 🙂
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The Seidio Spring Clip Holster holds most Apple iPhone securely in place, and then lifts for quick access.
Both the felt liner and the face-in design protect your screen from scratches and exposure to outside elements, and Seidio's signature soft touch coating provides a better feel and added grip.
This holster can be worn in any one of the seven different positions, ranging between horizontal and vertical.
Please Note: Product images, including color, may differ from actual product appearance.
Shop with Confidence
Expert advice available weekdays 8am-5.30pm ET at (866) 757-7752
"My experience with you on this order has been excellent. My items have or are arriving as I type and the communication has been detailed and timely. Thank you!" - Kevin, CA


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Thursday, July 24
So do you think...
...instead of like this...
That those wacky EU liberals will stop making with teh funny like this?
I hope not.
5 comments:
The only way McCain could get 200,000 people to show up anywhere to hear him speak is if they announce that the first 200,000 people get a free tank of gas. I'm disappointed in Obama with respect to, well, the "running to the center" (i.e., the right) and his disgraceful FISA position and vote, but as between the two of them I'd rather see someone who isn't despised by the rest of the world. Just wish we could get a real progressive in office. I know.
By the way, Blue Gal, I saw a scooter parked on my block and on the front fender there was a black outline in the shape of Hello Kitty. I thought of you.
I really look forward to hearing what you have to say. I do moderate comments, but non-spam comments will take less than 24 hours to appear... Thanks!


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- [Techpowerup.com] (PR) Razer Announces Updated Blade Gaming Laptop
Razer, the world leader in high-performance gaming hardware, unveiled the next generation of the world's first true gaming laptop, the Razer Blade. The Razer Blade raised the bar on portable gaming laptops, pushing performance limits without compromising on its ultra-thin form factor. The new Razer… - [Techreport.com] Friday night topic: Pet edition!
Yeah, that's right, we're shamelessly going to post a FNT asking you to link to pictures of your pets. Feel free to tell us why you chose this particular type of animal, breed, or individual and whether you'd recommend it to others.Also, for those who don't have any pets, I'll start off the…
- [Expreview.com] Kingston Unleashes HyperX Red Memory
Kingston recently unleashes HyperX Red memory, which is for entry-level gamers, system builders, PC modders and mainstream consumers. HyperX red is Intel XMP ready and is available in 8GB kits and 4GB single modules at 1600MHz and 1333MHz, in both 1.65V and 1.5V, additionally the latency is… - [Techreport.com] New Borderlands 2 trailer is all you need to watch
We're just 18 days away from the release of Borderlands 2. The game has already made headlines, not least of all because Nvidia decided to bundle it (http://techreport.com/articles.x/23419) with the new GeForce GTX 660 Ti. Gearbox has now posted a fresh trailer that conveniently recaps everything… - [Anandtech.com] Samsung Reveals Additional Details on Series 5 and 7 Slates and Ultrabooks
Image: http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6223/small_MG_1536-p-W_575px.jpg (http://i4memory.com/show/6223/samsung-reveals-additional-details-on-series-5-and-7-slates-and-ultrabooks)Along with their ATIV, Smartphone, and Series 9 coverage…
- [Anandtech.com] Fall Budget System Buyer's Guide
Most of the systems I build for friends and clients are destined to spend their days performing basic computing tasks like checking email and Facebook accounts, shopping for shoes and such, word processing, household finance spreadsheet analysis, Skyping, and so on. Computer hardware capabilities… - [Anandtech.com] Sony Xperia Tablet S: A Tablet and Universal Remote Rolled Into One
Image: http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6226/Xperia_Tablet_S_13_withCoverwithKeyboard1_575px.jpg (http://i4memory.com/show/6226/sony-xperia-tablet-s-a-tablet-and-universal-remote-rolled-into-one)The Android tablet market is getting decidedly crowded, with dozens of different offerings from…
- [Techreport.com] Friday Shortbread
*_Eight is Enough_*
1. Wired: How Apple killed the Linux desktop (http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/08/osx-killed-linux/) and why that doesn't matter
2. Reuters has an exclusive (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/30/us-google-apple-idUSBRE87T15H20120830): Google, Apple CEOs in secret… - [Anandtech.com] Razer Introduces Blade R2: Faster, Less Expensive
*Image: http://images.anandtech.com/doci/6224/RZR_Blade(R2)_V11b_RGB_WBG_575px.jpg (http://i4memory.com/show/6224/razer-introduces-blade-r2-faster-less-expensive-)**Earlier this year, I took a look at Razer's first foray into gaming systems, the Blade notebook. I came away pretty impressed…
- [Techreport.com] Deal of the week: Game bundles and uber-cheap SSDs
It's been a while since we kicked off one of our deal posts with a gaming bonanza. Let's rectify that, starting with a couple of downloadable game bundles currently on sale at Amazon.The e-tailer offers the WTF Pack, which includes Borderlands GOTY Edition , Duke Nukem Forever , and The…
- [Techreport.com] 40 casual, indie Xbox games ready for Win8 launch
When it comes out on October 26, Windows 8 should be able to run all of the same triple-A blockbuster games as Windows 7 (barring any compatibility kinks, of course). Microsoft isn't going to stop there, however. The company has rounded up 40 titles… - [Legitreviews.com] Building an AMD A8-3870K Llano APU System For Under $300
Image: http://www.legitreviews.com/images/reviews/2019/icon.jpg (http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2019/1/) Are you looking to build a budget PC, but have a limited budget to work with? When we started to look into low cost Do-It-Yourself (DIY) systems we found that you could easily build an… - [Techpowerup.com] (PR) Spire Announces the Versis PC Chassis
Introducing the Spire Versis PC chassis series. The Spire Versis is an completely inverted chassis design, meaning that the mainboard is mounted on the left side of the case. For those who are looking for something different from the standard PC case, the Versis series are a great choice! Featuring… - [Techpowerup.com] (PR) LucidLogix and ORIGIN PC are Exclusive Launch Partners of VIRTU MVP Mobile for EON
LucidLogix and ORIGIN PC today jointly launched Virtu MVP Mobile GPU virtualization software, available now with the award-winning ORIGIN EON laptops. With Virtu MVP Mobile, gamers can enjoy increased system performance, better responsiveness, tear-free gaming and reduced power utilization; unlike… - [Techpowerup.com] (PR) HSA Foundation Announces Six New Members
Today the Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) Foundation announced six new members. The HSA Foundation is pleased to welcome Apical, Arteris Inc., MulticoreWare Inc., Sonics, Symbio and Vivante Corporation to the membership roster. Each company adds expertise to the HSA ecosystem by assisting…
Posted in: News
: September 1, 2012


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Institutional Real Estate Newsline
November 12, 2012: Volume 20, Number 44
Buy For $65.00 Add to Cart-
Westbrook Holds $1.6 Billion Final Close
New York City–based private equity real estate firm Westbrook Partners' latest fund, Westbrook Real Estate Fund IX, has held a final close with approximately $1.59 billion raised in equity commitments, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Walton Street Holds $710 Million First Close
Chicago-based Walton Street Capital has held a $710 million initial close for its seventh commingled real estate fund, Walton Street Real Estate Fund VII.
Alaska Permanent Approves Follow-on $200 Million to Residential Real Estate
The $42.3 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. has made an additional commitment of $200 million to California-based company American Homes 4 Rent.
Paladin Makes First Investment in Uruguay
Paladin Realty Partners, which is active throughout Latin America, has made its first investment in Uruguay through a home-building joint venture platform called Pali-Altius.
Hines promotes Todd Adams and hires Chris Keber
Hines promotes Todd Adams and hires Chris Keber.
Park Madison promotes Robert Kohn
Robert Kohn has been promoted partner at Park Madison Partners.
McGann and Mays join City National Bank
Charlie McGann and Deven Mays have joined City National Bank's real estate team in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Carolyn Sider joins Cassidy Turley
Carolyn Sider has joined Cassidy Turley as the new senior managing director of market development.


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Join Chad Davis and Jasmine Adams for this week's news broadcast. Local community members come together to promote sustainability, the latest edition of Filmcast airs and stay tuned for a special episode of Dog Pound. You don't want to miss this!
dog pound, filmcast, newscast, sustainability fair, TMN Television, tv show


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Create 2 windows based applications
This project received 12 bids from talented freelancers with an average bid price of $368 USD.
Get free quotes for a project like thisProject Budget
$50 - $400 USDTotal Bids
12Project Description
Please read the entire post before bidding:
We need a reliable group/personnel or company of programmers who will take charge from the beginning to the end to create 2 small, handy software that can be used on windows operation system.
These software must supports window xp, vista, 7 to latest windows operating system. There should not need additional supporting software or requirements like .net framework or so on... to run these software on windows.
The 2 software we need are video downloader plus converter from multiple sites and multiple compressed file extractor.
I will give you requirements/description pertaining to these software to selected bidders in PM, then communicate and award it to one.
Please note that 50% of total project bid amount will be set milestone at the beginning of the project. This milestone will be release upon delivery of two completed applications. I will test the applications again on various windows OS. You may need to repair or modify the apps if any problem aries during the tests. Once the tests passed, You'll deliver the source code and all associated files. I'll send the rest 50% to you directly. You need to create all necessary graphics for these apps. No copycatted material will be accepted.
You'll need to work on the same software from time to time to update them. I'll create new projects for those updates. Please do not bid if you think that you can not work on the next updates.
You should bid the total cost, do not place bid just for discussion.
Thank you.
Skills Required
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- Set your budget and the timeframe
- Outline your proposal
- Get paid for your work
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Work on projects like this and make money from home!
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Everybody's Got One: The Home of Tim Grierson
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
'Magic Mike' Review
For the first hour of
Magic Mike
, I was convinced I was watching one of the best films of the year. Sadly, this male-stripper comedy-drama runs out of gas a bit in its second half, but it's still a sight to see. My review is up at
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ATP Indian Wells: Novak Djokovic Vs Juan Martin Del Potro SF Preview
Reads: 2,472, Comments: 1
Reads: 2,472, Comments: 1
Not many would have expected a semi-final show down between Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro in the upper half of the draw. But as we can see Djokovic lived up to his seeding whereas Scot Andy Murray couldn't! It is all because of the Argentine who overwhelmed the World No.3 in the quarters to set up an eleventh meeting between him and the Serb.
Keeping his unbeaten streak in 2013 alive, Novak Djokovic has been playing some flawless tennis and is looking to replicate his 2011 run. After successfully defending his Australian Open title in January, Djokovic went on to win the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships last month and would be gunning to lift this title for a third time.
After a slow start to this tournament, Djokovic has not looked back and has made real quick work of his opponents in the previous three rounds. His running forehand and a formidable backhand are a tough nut to crack from the back with the Serb possessing the ability to finish points from both flanks. The Serb is very swift and agile at the same time, making him one of the fiercest competitors to face deep into a tournament. The World No.1 lost at this very stage last year and would be focusing on extending his lead for the No.1 ranking too.
On the other side, 2009 US Open Champion Del Potro is looking to reignite the spark that helped him fetch Grand Slam glory. One of the strongest forehands on tour, the Argentine has brushed aside any challenge put in front of him here and would be looking to win his first ever ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event. Having won a tournament this year, the Argentine seems to be very confident about his abilities and is getting rewarded handsomely for it.
Beating Djokovic is not going to be an easy job for him as he the only way to beat Djokovic is by making the first move, something Del Potro does very well. Coming into this tournament with an 11-3 win-loss record, Del Potro would be gunning to crack the elusive Top-5 by the end of this year.
The two have faced 10 times before with Djokovic leading the way with an 8-2 head-to-head lead. The two met very recently in Dubai last month with Djokovic winning that match in two tight sets.
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