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Romney's stance unites base
Social conservatives who doubted Mitt Romney now have a reason to rally around him after President Barack Obama's embrace of gay marriage.
Despite the fact that very conservative and religious voters didn't support Romney in the primary, their fierce opposition to the issue will give the presumptive GOP nominee a way to harness conservative enthusiasm in November.
Story Continued Below
And for Romney, whose position on same-sex marriage has been consistent over the years, conservative activists say Obama's declaration may be a way for Romney to finally prove his bona fides to voters on the right who have always been suspicious that he's not one of them.
( Also on POLITICO: GOP leaders quiet on gay marriage)
"President Obama just 'evolved' himself into a one-term president," said Brian Brown, the president of the National Organization for Marriage. "This is a disaster for the Democratic Party: The reality is that the exact states he needs to win are the states that have overwhelmingly passed legislation defining marriage as between a man and a woman."
"What I'm hearing from folks around the country is: 'Game on, we're in, we will do whatever is necessary to elect Mitt Romney now because Obama has shown where he really stands,'" Brown said.
But it's unclear that Romneyland plans to aggressively use the issue to their advantage — at least among the general public. Reacting to Obama's announcement, Romney was muted, reiterating his opposition to gay marriage and calling it a "very tender and sensitive topic, as are many social issues."
He didn't even take the bait when asked whether Obama had changed positions on the issue, saying that was up to the media to determine.
The reason may be because polling shows increased acceptance of and support for same-sex marriage around the country. But despite that, North Carolina became the 30th state to ban same-sex marriage on Tuesday. And a handful of other states, like Maine, Minnesota, Washington and Maryland, are poised to vote on some form of same-sex marriage measure in November.
And the issue is likely to work to Romney's favor among motivated social conservatives, who will turn out to vote against those ballot measures — and presumably for Romney — in those states.
"I'm stunned and shocked that [Obama] would do this before the election because I can't come up with the calculus where this wouldn't hurt him," said Richard Land, head of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission.
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, agreed.
"Mitt Romney, who has signed a pledge to support a marriage protection amendment to the U.S. Constitution, may have been handed the key to social conservative support by Barack Obama himself," he said in a video released by FRC on Wednesday.
Romney's team does see Obama's move as an opportunity to put to rest the flip-flopper label that Democrats often use against the presumptive GOP presidential nominee as this time, it's Obama who has changed on the issue while it's Romney who has been consistent.
"You don't change your positions to try and win the states or certain subgroups of Americans, you have the positions you have," Romney told Fox News's Neil Cavuto on Thursday afternoon. "And as you know, for a long time, I think from the beginning of my political career, I've made it very clear that I believe marriage should be a relationship between a man and a woman. "


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karenh necesitaba un nuevo diseño de fondo de Twitter y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 24 diseños de 8 diseñadores freelance.
Ruby Plaza (www.rubyplaza.com but is not live yet)
Ruby Plaza Overview
We are a soon-to-be-launched online mall of individually-owned shops offering home décor, collectibles, jewelry, fashion & accessories and handcrafted items. Sellers use our tools to set up an online shop to sell alongside other shops in a 'community' format. We are known for safe and secure online shopping and ease of use. The two main sections of our site are "FOR YOU" and "FOR YOUR HOME". Our tag line is "Making You And Your Home Beautiful."
Important: Please do not confuse Ruby Plaza with our sister site, Ruby Lane which focuses on antiques and collectibles. Ruby Plaza offers a wider array of items (including new items) and we want a cleaner, more modern look and feel.
Target Audience: Late 20's and up including an older demographic as well even up to seniors. Generally more women than men.
Important Characteristics:
-It's acceptable to include sample items pics, but the overall look should be clean and uncluttered
-We need the wallpaper to fit correctly as one large image without having to use the "tile" feature.
-A screen shot of the home page along with the main graphics and some item pics are posted at: http://s1003.photobucket.com/albums…lane_2009/

subset: commoncrawl


text: (Machias, ME) The Clippers traveled to the University of Maine Presque Isle on Sunday afternoon to battle the Owls. The Clippers had 15 shots with 6 of them being on goal. In the 11th minute (JR) MF Kris, Wignes scored a nifty goal assisted by (FR) Franck Zeba to give UMM a 1-0 lead at the half. Just out the gates after halftime (FR) Ruud, Casseus found the back of the net to increase the Clippers lead to 2-0 (assisted again by Franck Zeba). Umpi got a late uncharacteristic goal in the 86th minute, but it wasn't enough as the Clippers go on to an impressive road win. (SO) Luis Herrera played outstanding in net with 4 key saves. The Clippers record now stands at 4-3 for the season while they ride a 3 game win streak outscoring their opponents 17-2 in these 3 games.


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It was so much fun going through my stack of photos looking for swimsuit pictures of my ancestors. While the two photos I found of my ancestors on the beach were not in a bathing suits.....unless bathing suits have changed that dramatically... I found it remarkable seeing the changes over time. Here's my family's bathing suits from 1909 to 2008:
Depicted below is Clarence and Elizabeth Brown (nee Galligan) and child, my great grandma, Ruth Margaret Brown. Ruth was born in 1908, so this picture is taken in 1909, most likely on the beaches of Lake Michigan in Chicago, IL.
Unknown location, circa 1950's
Phoenix, Arizona, 2008
While pictures of my ancestors in bathing suits is limited, I have plenty of myself in bathing suits....I'm sure my future descendants will be proud...lol. So while, I'm younger (26) than most genealogists and people interested in family history, here's a view of swimsuits in the 1980's in Illinois for your viewing pleasure and my personal embarrassment:
Yep, that's me with the squirt gun....also pictured is my mom and two sisters, 1987
Me...climbing the ladder, other three children unknown, 1988
Taking the plunge, 1988
Cheap sprinkler fun in front of the house...me in front, followed by neighborhood friends and my two sisters, 1990.
We made up a game for the sprinkler, sort of like HORSE for basketball or Truth or Dare...whatever the one person in the sprinkler did, the others had to follow....no matter how silly or crazy. Memories...


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Would You Send Back an Overcooked Burger?
After reading about Damon's experience with receiving an overcooked burger at 8 oz. Burger Bar, AHT reader Joshua S. emailed us to ask what our take is on sending a burger back if it is overcooked. "I don't want to seem picky and waste food, but should I not get what I asked for considering I am paying for it?"
I've never sent a burger back to the kitchen for being overcooked, but that's because the thought has never entered my mind, not because I considered sending it back and decided it was easier not to. I've only had one recent experience when I asked for medium rare and got something closed to well done. Instead of asking for a new burger, I ate it and told myself I wouldn't go back. That's what I get for being insanely passive. Because of Josh's question, I'm going to keep the "send it back" option in mind.
If you have the sense that the kitchen has the ability to cook the burger right, I think it's safe to send back the offensive burger and get a new one. What would you do?
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Pronounced geh-vertz-tra-mihner. A grape varietal used in the production of white wine. It is believed that the Gewürztraminer grape varietal originated in the Alto Adige region of Italy, though it is not widely planted there in modern day. It is now grown in Germany, France, the United States (specifically California), Australia, Austria, and Rumania. The varietal grows best in cooler climates and is believed to be a relative of the Muscat varietal. The grape is best known for Alsace, France wines and is a permitted varietal of Grand Crus.
Also known as: Traminer, Traminer Musqué, Traminer Parfumé, Traminer Aromatico, Rotor Traminer, Edel Traube, Rousselet, Savagnin Rosé, Tramini, and Traminac.
Characteristics: German and domestic Gewürztraminer tend to be Sweet while those of Alsace, France tend to be dry. Typically deep in color, full bodied, rich, with moderate acidity. Fragrant with rose and lychee, and flavors of spice, fruit, cinnamon, and honey.
Ageing: Consume young, though some may benefit from 2-4 years of ageing. Rarely age well past 5 years.
Serving temperature: Serve dry Gewürztraminer at a temperature of 50º-55º F, sweeter Gewürztraminer at 45º-50º F.
Food pairings: Curry, spicey Asian foods, and oriental cuisine. At it's best when served with desert.


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Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment
Project DescriptionThe Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) is a NASA-sponsored
satellite mission that will provide state-of-the-art measurements of
incoming x-ray, ultraviolet, visible, near-infared, and total solar
radiation. The measurements provided by SORCE specifically address
long-term climate change, natural variability and enhanced climate
prediction, and atmospheric ozone and UV-B radiation. These
measurements are critical to studies of the Sun; its effect on our
Earth system; and its influence on humankind.
SORCE was successfully launched on January 25, 2003 on a Pegasus XL
launch vehicle to provide NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE) with
precise measurements of solar radiation. It was launched into a 645
km, 40 degree orbit and will be operated by the Laboratory for
Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at the University of Colorado
(CU) in Boulder, Colorado, USA. It will continue the precise
measurements of total solar irradiance (TSI) that began with the ERB
instrument in 1979 and has continued to the present with the ACRIM
series of measurements. SORCE will also provide the measurements of
the solar spectral irradiance from 1nm to 2000nm, accounting for 95%
of the spectral contribution to TSI. SORCE will carry four instruments
including the Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM), Solar Stellar Irradiance
Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE), Spectral Irradiance Monitor (SIM),
and the XUV Photometer System (XPS).
For more information, see:
For more information on the Earth Observing System, see:


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Michael Bay promises loads of new robots in his Transformers 2 sequel, promising us they'll be "really unique." You mean more unique than a Xbox 360, a soda vending machine, and a steering wheel transmorgrifying into lame-o- boticons? Just so you don't forget, this movie franchise has already included "unique" robots that piss on people's heads. [ComicBookMovie]
Michael Bay Writes Like a Five Year Old


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BATON ROUGE — As the groundwork continues to be laid for a new water resources bill, it is becoming clear that Louisiana's senators will be seeking substantive operational reforms for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
BATON ROUGE — As the groundwork continues to be laid for a new water resources bill, it is becoming clear that Louisiana's senators will be seeking substantive operational reforms for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will be central in this debate in the coming months as it crafts the latest Water Resources Development Act.
The bill will include projects for everything from transportation and drainage to coastal restoration and hurricane protection.
The last time a water resources bill was passed by Congress was in 2007, and Louisiana benefitted from more more than $3.6 billion in direct funding.
The public works committee conducted a hearing last week entitled "Oversight Hearing on Implementation of Corps of Engineers Water Resources Policies," and Sen. Mary Landrieu submitted a statement for the record urging necessary policy changes and increased funding for the corps.
Landrieu, a Democrat from New Orleans, said the corps fulfills a critical role in the nation's water infrastructure, but its efforts are hamstrung by a backlog of more than $40 billion in projects and consistent underfunding.
"Wise and timely investment in construction and proper maintenance can save lives and resources, and we are simply not currently making the necessary investments," she said.
The corps has a construction budget of about $1.7 billion, "which could easily be spent in Louisiana alone," she said, adding it is not nearly enough to meet the need around the country.
She said current policies regarding required project studies result in endless delays and wasted money.
"The current corps processes are broken," Landrieu said. "The corps spends millions of dollars on project studies that either do not result in construction due to lack of funds or are outdated almost immediately upon completion due to an inefficient and slow process."
Sen. David Vitter, the ranking member on the public works committee, started his own push for reforms for the water resources bill last fall, remarking that the corps "needs to be held accountable for the construction and operation of our waterways, dams, locks, and levees that protect people from disasters like hurricanes Isaac and Sandy."
Vitter, a Republican from Metairie, was also responsible for requesting last week's hearing on water resources and the corps.
He said to ensure the next water resources bill encompasses the "full scope of the challenges facing our nation's water resources infrastructure," the following should be addressed:
- Reforms that expedite and improve the corps' project delivery process.
- Solutions that address the policy and funding challenges facing the Inland Waterway Trust Fund and the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund.
- Oversight of the corps' implementation guidance and internal policies.
- Prioritization of water resource projects.
Vitter, who presided over a large portion of last week's hearing, said the reforms are "long-awaited and much needed," but they must be accomplished in a bipartisan fashion.
"In a time of constrained federal funding and a moratorium on congressionally-directed spending, we must establish a process and criteria to ensure that the corps does not act unilaterally when determining the water resource priorities in our states," Vitter and others wrote in a letter to Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, a California Democrat.
Landrieu said the corps' New Orleans district office has imposed wetlands mitigation requirements that have caused flood protection project costs to skyrocket.
Congress must find a better way to have the corps combine mitigation with restoration and provide more reasonable solutions for flood protection projects, she said.
It is a difficult challenge, she said, considering the corps' construction budget has been drastically reduced over the past five years.
"The most frustrating part about this is that the government is still paying. But instead of investing on the front end, we are chasing storms and spending billions on disaster recovery," Landrieu said. "I can only wonder how many disasters it is going to take for enough of our colleagues to realize that this practice must change. "
Jeremy Alford can be reached at email@example.com.


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Climate change contributed to Sandy
As Hurricane Sandy battered the East Coast last week, meteorologists and climate scientists were repeatedly asked to explain what role climate change played in amplifying the storm.
We did our best to answer: We know that a warming climate puts more energy into storms, including hurricanes, loading them with more rainfall and the stronger winds pushing more of a storm surge. That makes flooding more likely. We also know that storm surge now rides higher on sea levels that have risen over the last century due to global warming, amplifying losses where the surge strikes. On the stretch of the Atlantic Coast that spans from Norfolk to Boston, sea levels have been rising four times faster than the global average.
Story Continued Below
Overall, we know that climate change has stacked the deck so that this kind of event happens more frequently. That answer, however, prompts a deeper, more unsettling question that many want to know: is climate change worsening some recent extreme weather events like super storm Sandy?
The short answer is yes. Climate scientists broadly agree that the extreme weather we've seen over the past few years is exactly what we'd expect to see in a changing climate. And it's not just Sandy; we're on track to have the hottest year in more than a century of record-keeping in the continental United States, the country has suffered one of the most crippling droughts in history, as well as one of the worst wildfire years in history. Last year, when Hurricane Irene hit the United States, meteorologists called it "unprecedented," yet Sandy has already outpaced the damage from Irene.
We'll probably never know the exact point when the weather stopped being entirely natural. But we should consider Sandy—and other recent extreme weather events – an early taste of a climate-changed world, and a grim preview of the even worse to come, particularly if we continue to pump more carbon pollution from smokestacks and tailpipes up into the atmosphere.
Last weekend, millions of Americans prepared for the storm by turning to meteorologists to tell them where the storm would hit. The meteorologists relied on detailed computer models to form an accurate prediction of where it would hit and how strong it would be.


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Mr. Edwards:
As you may know Mr. Edwards was in a biking accident. He is progressing as well as can be expected. If you are interested in tracking his progress and donating to his recovery feel free to visit https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/kevinsroadtorecovery2
Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.


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Now that December is here, you're probably busy finding a tree, setting up the outdoor lights or taking the menorah out of storage. Whatever your holiday traditions, don't forget that keeping your house warm and cozy is your number one objective - especially in the bedrooms. While you're certainly capable of winterizing your own space, make sure your kids are cozy and comfortable in their bedrooms too. If you're looking for a quick checklist of great ideas for keeping a bedroom warm all winter long, consider these fantastic suggestions.
Radiant heat
If there's one term that's synonymous with green heating and eco-friendly energy, it's radiant heat. Unlike central heat and other forced hot air systems, radiant heat offers homeowners excellent air quality standards. Rather than having dusty vents blowing around allergens in gusts of hot air, radiant heat flooring systems are installed under the floor and heats the room from the ground up with all natural convection currents. Even better, radiant heat is compatible with a whole range of flooring types, making installation quick and easy. If you're looking to improve the air quality in your children's rooms while reducing your eco-footprint, keeping them warm and even saving some money on your utilities bill, this is the way to go!
Choose Energy Star certified windows, doors and skylights
But heating your home doesn't do much good if you don't have the right sort of sealant and insulation to keep that heat there. Rather than let warmth slip out through cracks and drafts in your home, consider investing in Energy Star certified residential windows, doors and skylights. According to the federal Energy Star website, these fixtures can help to reduce energy bills by up to 15 percent - plus they offer the environment a huge break, so you're sure to feel guilt-free about the investment.
Carpets and rugs
While radiant floor heating is sure to keep the floor warm, a few carpets or area rugs can go a long way toward amplifying that heat and storing it. Plus they're comfy and cozy on bare feet.
Extra blankets
Don't forget that when there's a little extra chill - as is bound to happen when the temperatures drop and the snow is falling - sometimes a blanket is exactly what you and your loved ones need. Keep spares easily accessible and be sure that your kids know exactly where these are.
We won't share your information and you can unsubscribe at any time with a single click.


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Help:Template substitution
From MeritBadgeDotOrg
Substitution is the automatic conversion of wikitext of a page when the page is saved, in that the wikitext refers to one or more templates, variables, or parser functions.
In the case of template substitution, the template call is replaced by the template content with substitution of the parameters. Thus, the template is used as macro and the page is macro expanded when the page is saved rather than, as usually happens, when the page is viewed.
In other words, when you "subst:" a template... the entire template is not only called, but saved, to the page you are editing, using the specific variables you input.
See also
- Help:Transclusion (the opposite of substitution)


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Product Description
We call it the WhisperFlo pump for good reason. This innovative hydraulic design moves water more efficiently and more quietly than competitive pumps. Under typical operating conditions, the WhisperFlo pump offers the highest water flow of any high performance pump—yet with the lowest electricity consumption. And, the WhisperFlo pump is designed to be a tireless workhorse. Its engineered thermoplastic housing withstands extreme heat and resists corrosion. The commercial grade motor frame has a rustproof, stainless steel motor shaft and sealed bearings that never need lubrication. Engineered to provide optimum performance in any size pool or pool and spa combination, the WhisperFlo pump is built to last a lifetime, and as a result, has become the industry's top seller for years.


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Member? Sign in. Not a member? Register for free.
The Best Short Stories of Mark Twain
iOS Universal Books
Download your book directly over Wi-Fi or cellular network and begin listening as soon as the first track downloads. The Downpour powered app features an attractive interface with traditional audio controls in addition to sleep timer, bookmarking, and variable track scrubbing.
App Features
• Attractive, easy-to-use interface
• Download audio tracks directly over Wi-Fi and cellular networks for offline listening
• Multitasking for background downloads and background audio controls
• Resume playback functionality
• Remember important parts of the book with bookmarks and notes
• Sleep timer: 5, 10, 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 minutes or when the current track ends
• Variable track scrubbing
Questions or comments? Visit Downpour or get in touch on Twitter @downpour_com
What's New
The same great audio with a completely new and improved app experience. Optimized for the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, version 3.1 uses the beautiful and intuitive Downpour audio player.
BOOKMARK NOTES - Write a quick note about the bookmarks you create. Export your saved bookmarks via email.
RATE & REVIEW - Rate and review your books right from the app.
SOCIAL - Use the new share button to post to Facebook, Twitter, or email.
• updated for iOS 8
• optimized for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
• Airplay button
• New book info view
• Improved downloads on slow networks


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Cisco 4Q11 Global Threat Report
The Cisco 4Q11 Global Threat Report has been released. The report covers the period from 1 October 2011 through 31 December 2011 and features data from across Cisco Security Intelligence Operations. This quarter's contributors were Cisco Intrusion Prevention System (IPS), Cisco IronPort, Cisco Security Research and Operations (SR&O), and Cisco ScanSafe.
Key highlights from the Cisco 4Q11 Global Threat Report include:
- Enterprise users experienced an average of 339 Web malware encounters per month in 4Q11
- An overall average of 362 Web malware encounters per month occurred throughout 2011
- The highest rate of encounters occurred during September and October 2011 at 698 and 697 on average per enterprise, respectively
- An average of 20,141 unique Web malware hosts were encountered per month in 2011, compared to a monthly average of 14,217 in 2010
- During 4Q11, 33 percent of Web malware encountered was zero-day malware not detectable by traditional signature-based methodologies at the time of encounter
- The rate of SQL injection signature events remained fairly steady throughout 4Q11, with a slight decrease observed as the quarter progressed
- Denial-of-service events increased slightly over the course of 4Q11
- Global spam volumes continued to decline throughout 2011
New this quarter, the Cisco Global Threat Reports, as well as previous publications, including the Cisco Annual Security Reports, are now located on the Cisco Security Intelligence Operations (SIO) portal. The Cisco SIO portal provides early-warning intelligence, threat and vulnerability analysis, and proven Cisco mitigation solutions to help protect your network.
Download a copy of the Cisco 4Q11 Global Threat Report.
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.
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Chief Automotive Technologies® was founded in 1972 in Grand Island, Nebraska, USA. Chief® was the first U.S. structural repair equipment manufacturer to attain the distinction of
9001 Certification! ISO 9001 is a standard that designates quality assurance in product design, production, installation and service after the sale. Six locations around the world, and representation in 48 countries on five continents. We understands that success depends upon constant focus on product quality, innovation and exceptional customer service. We align our people and financial resources, and develop metrics to attain our objectives on a daily basis. Chief will continue to strive to understand our markets and adapt to them, but our core philosophy – to serve our customers and shareholders – will not be compromised.
Elektron & Chief Automotive offer collision repair shops a total repair solution. We supply equipment to diagnose and identify collision damage, repair the damage through pulling the frame, replacing parts or welding, and document that the vehicle was returned to the original manufacturer's specifications. The level of sophistication Elektron welders offer goes beyond just melting two metals together. Data reporting on weld strength, automatic tool recognition and similar technologies provides repair technicians with more time to repair and less worry about ever-changing demands on the collision industry. You'll be happier that vehicles are being repaired faster with better results and in turn, making your shop more profitable.
Quite simply, it means more choices. Now you can get Chief quality in a wide selection of product configurations for all sized jobs and shops. Plus you can customize your selection to fit your current needs while leaving the door open to enhance your product as your business grows.
Competitive Pricing. Added Value
More Choices. Higher Quality. Value Pricing. These reasons alone have prompted thousands of body shop professionals to make Chief their sole source of collision-repair equipment. And when you look at the "big picture" in terms of what Chief provides before, during and after the sale, the differences will astound you.
Chief Automotive Technologies
996 Industrial Drive
Madison, IN 47250
Phone: 800-445-9262
Fax: 866-275-0173
Customer Support
Phone: 800-445-9262 Option 2
Fax: 866-275-0173
Tech Support
Phone: 800-445-9262 Option 1
Chief acts as a virtual partner with OEM's
Chief Automotive Technologies® was the first
Chief offers the most extensive line of pulling, measuring, anchoring and vehicle specification products in the industry, but we realize that different shops have different needs.
As a result, Chief continues to aggressively develop and launch innovative products that enable shops of all shapes and sizes to become more productive and successful.
Ready to step up? To find out more, contact your
Chief representative
today at (800)-445-9262.
Chief Automotive Technologies, a Vehicle Service Group (VSG) brand, is one of the world's largest manufacturers of high-quality collision repair products and services, including frame-pulling equipment, vehicle anchoring systems, computerized measuring systems, and vehicle frame specifications. Chief is also a leading provider of comprehensive training on structural analysis, repair and collision theory.
Chief® and/or Elektron® partners with OEM's and major collision repair providers worldwide, and is proud to be their preferred equipment supplier for collision-repair products and services. Chief® and/or Elektron® is proud to partner with OEM's worldwide to aid in their success through ongoing collision-repair training, vehicle frame specification development and new innovative repair techniques.
Chief® and/or Elektron® acts as a virtual partner with OEM's, working directly with their Technology Centers on the design and development of current – and future – vehicle collision repair and component replacement processes, including:
Chief® and/or Elektron® has special cooperative programs with many of these OEM Account. If your dealership has or is thinking about opening a body shop, contact Chief Automotive® or Elektron® for information on any available special OEM program service and/or pricing.
*Note: Not all product classifications are approved by all OEM's. Please contact Chief directly for specific approvals.
Have 5 or more shops and want to gain the strategic account benefits these companies have?
Call Richard Perry at 419-779-7895 to find out more information today!
Chief Automotive Technologies® was the first U.S. structural repair equipment manufacturer to attain the distinction of ISO 9001 Certification! ISO 9001 is a standard that designates quality assurance in product design, production, installation and service after the sale. This is proof that Chief Automotive is a world-class manufacturer and that Chief customers can be assured that the quality of Chief products will be consistent and uncompromised.


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Markets keep inching toward 2011 highs, as the drum beat of jobs data builds. The IPO surge continues, bankers meet with AG's... and just who's living in Gaddafi's house? Here's what we're watching:
IPO-mania: The busy chorus of public offerings sees private equity firm Apollo Global Management and Chinese internet heavyweight Qihoo 360 Technology. Apollo priced at the top of its range at $19 a share, implying a valuation around $7 billion. But, the biggest buzz surrounded Qihoo, which priced at $14,50, well above its already raised range. Plenty more to come, with GNC Holdings expected to price after the market close Thursday. And, oh, by the way, AIG could bring its Re-IPO to market in May.
Countdown to Jobs Friday: The market climbed higher yet again Tuesday, the Dow finishing up 0.66 percent and the S&P up 0.70 percent. The focus now turns to the jobs landscape, with the 7:30am Challenger Job Cuts data and the 8:15a ET March ADP Employment report setting the tone for trading Wednesday. Consensus forecast for ADP is a +205,000 number that will give us something of a barometer before Friday's essential Labor Department jobs report.
The Great Market Melt-Up: It's been quite a quarter: Egypt, Libya, Japan. But, following the pullback driven by compounding global events, major indices have gotten back near the highest levels of 2011. Energy and industrials have led the way… and "led the way" doesn't tell the full story. Incredibly, 60 percent of the S&P 500's gains this quarter have come from a mere two sectors. In fact, the S&P 500 Energy sector is up 16 percent quarter-to-date – more than double the gains of the second-best sector in the index (Industrials up 7 percent). Heading into Wednesday's session, the Dow is just 112 points off a multi-year high.
Foreclosure Face-Off: Officials from five major banks -- Bank of America , JP Morgan Chase , Wells Fargo, Citi and Ally Financial -- will meet for the first time with state Attorneys General and three U.S. agencies to discuss efforts to get banks to cut the amounts owed by some borrowers facing foreclosure. This will be the first time all five banks and the Attorneys General have sat down together to discuss this matter, though further details of the meeting are super-secretive. We wouldn't call them the five families, but the meeting could settle all family business, as it were.
Chez Gaddafi: A remarkable subtext of the wave of revolution has been the string of revelations about the trail of money surrounding the likes of ousted Egyptian Leader Hosni Mubarak and embattled Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. We'll take an in-depth look Wednesday and where the funds are… and how they've been used to buy mansions, yachts and planes from Paris to LA.
...and one more story we can't forget: the FDA chemist charged Tuesday with insider trading. There are serious lessons and punchlines galore, but our focus is simple. If you're gonna commit a crime, at least try to be subtle about it. 27 times, really? On your work computer?


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helpburner necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 159 diseños de 57 diseñadores freelance.
We're a startup software company and we're launching a new online software tool that creates help, user guides, e-learning / tutorials etc in significantly quicker times that other tools. We call this type of content "visual help".
It is unique in that it greatly simplifies the creation of the content but allows anyone in the organization to contribute in about1/4 of the time that it used to take and without the need for technical writers. The content created can be published to any medium with a few clicks including: blogs, PDF, web pages, support forums (such as ZenDesk),...
Because HelpBurner content is so quick and easy to create and publish, companies are providing much more fresh content for their customers, which means customers are loving this new type of help and actually using it (as opposed to old school user guides and manuals, which no one uses). This is all leading to higher customer satisfaction.
We are targeting online businesses do any of the following:-
- Create and publish e-learning materials.
- Create manuals or user guides for products.
- Provide online support in forums such as ZenDesk.
- Provide tutorials online for products or services.
Specific market niches we are targeting are:-
- Software companies.
- E-learning and universities.
- Online companies who provide support / tutorials via the web to their customers (technically competent companies).
We are looking for a logo represent our new software product - HelpBurner.
The logo needs to be modern and appeal to technical user but at the same time be cool and progressive since this is an online tool mainly. We love bright colors and arty effects could be applied if you think it's a good idea to do so e.g. paint splatter)?? One simple page we like (not the logo the page) is:
The logo should communicate what the product does - creates visual help if possible but we are open to your creating ideas too.
The logo needs to look good on a white background (in color) and also look good in blank and white. The logo should be clear on-screen and at different sizes because this is where it will be mainly used.
A really clever logo would be great (e.g. one that used fonts and typography cleverly) but is not absolutely required.
Please feel free to experiment with colors!
The files we will require are:
Print file format - .ai (CMYK)
Web file format - .png and layered .psd (RGB)
Please do not use any stock images or clip art in the logo
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Perspectives - From research to policy action
One of European Schoolnet's key aims is to broker educational research findings and other evidence to our key stakeholders: ministries of education, schools, teachers, and industry partners.
The European Schoolnet Perspectives series is one way through which we achieve this. Two issues are published annually. Each issue aims to:
- Summarize research evidence from key studies on innovation in education
- Translate this evidence into concrete ideas for policy action
- Conclude with the implications of the evidence for using technology in teaching and learning
The "second digital divide" in Europe: what do we know about gender, migrant and socio-economic gaps?
The integration of Computational Thinking (CT) across school curricula in Europe
Information and Communications Technology in Initial Teacher Education
Integrating Collaborative Learning in Classrooms Across Europe


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Search For Properties In Boca Bay Colony
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Boca Raton Real Estate
Boca Bay Colony Real Estate
Boca Bay Colony offers direct yachting access to the Boca Raton Inlet and Atlantic Ocean without the obstruction of fixed bridges. Beautiful Boca Bay Colony real estate showcases architectural designs in the classic Mediterranean and Key West styles. Some of the most sought-after Boca Bay Colony luxury homes for sale are located within the intimate gated enclave of Walker's Cay in the northern reaches of the community, closest to Delray Beach.
Boca Bay Colony luxury real estate also features expansive point properties commanding magnificent views of the Intracoastal Waterway and stretching around to the side canal.
Boca Bay Colony Lifestyle
Perfect for the yachter enthusiast, Boca Bay Colony resides in a tranquil setting on the western shore of the Intracoastal Waterway, close to the southern boundary of Delray Beach. Here, tropically landscaped properties feature private docks, many of which can accommodate a large vessel.
Boca Bay Colony homes for sale are situated just minutes away from exquisite Gold Coast beaches. Fine shopping and dining are also close by, both in Boca Raton, where Mizner Park is the downtown's world-class centerpiece, and in vibrant downtown Delray Beach, centered on charming Atlantic Avenue.


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The ink is still drying on the health care overhaul bill signed into law Tuesday by President Barack Obama, but attorneys general from 13 states have filed a lawsuit to challenge the legislation.
The lawsuit — which names the U.S. departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor — was filed immediately after the president's signing ceremony Tuesday. Attorneys general from Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, Alabama, South Dakota, Louisiana, Idaho, Washington and Colorado are joining in. Other GOP attorneys general may join the lawsuit later or sue separately.
The issue at the heart of the lawsuit is the constitutionality of the so-called "individual mandate," which requires most Americans to have an insurance plan or else pay a federal penalty.
The Constitution gives Congress the authority "to regulate commerce." In other words, once someone engages in commerce, the government has the power to regulate that activity.
But opponents say that the "commerce clause" does not give the government power to require an individual to buy something — especially insurance for the health of one's own body.
Some legal experts agree.
"Never in this nation's history has the commerce power been used to require a person who does nothing, to engage in economic activity," said Professor Randy Barnett of Georgetown University Law Center.
Mandating that all Americans purchase health insurance is akin to "requir[ing] every American to buy a new Chevy Impala every year," to help the automobile industry, Barnett said.
Other law scholars argue that Congress does have the power to regulate activities that have a cumulative effect on the economy.
"When uninsured people get sick, they rely on their families for financial support, go to emergency room [often passing on costs to others], or purchase over-the-counter remedies," said Professor Jack Balkin of Yale Law School. "All these effects are economic."
Because Congress believes national health care reform won't succeed unless the uninsured are brought into national risk pools, it can constitutionally regulate their activities, Balkin said.
Another legal issue being debated involves the government's taxing authority.
Supporters of the insurance requirement say that it constitutes a tax, not a personal mandate, and that the Constitution gives Congress broad power to tax.
"Challenges to tax laws succeed only when taxes directly or indirectly burden the exercise of fundamental rights, and there is no fundamental right to be uninsured," says Professor Mark Hall of Wake Forest University.
But Barnett and other opponents of the individual mandate say the tax is actually a penalty for not having insurance. It's a fine, they say, not a tax.
"On this theory any fine can be called a 'tax' and Congress can regulate anything at all," Barnett said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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The United States on Tuesday, April 17, lauded Turkey's new economic reform plan, calling it "strong" and saying it contained "important steps" to rescue the country from its ailing financial state.
In addition, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher praised Turkish authorities for their professionalism during furious protests against Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's embattled government and its handling of the economy.
The new economic program "contains important steps to stabilize Turkey's economy and establish sustainable public finances," Boucher said, referring to the plans announced Saturday in Ankara.
"We welcome the announcement (and) we look forward to the implementation of these and other necessary measures," he told reporters, noting that the US Treasury Department and the International Monetary Fund had indicated support for the program.
Turkish Economy Minister Kemal Dervis announced plans to cut public spending by nine percent, decrease the state's debt burden, restructure its weak banking system and speed up privatization.
The country's private sector on Monday hailed the program, with the Istanbul stock exchange's index rising by 438 points or 4.9 percent.
A financial crisis in February forced the government to redraw its economic plan after dropping a currency peg between the lira and dollar that underpinned an anti-inflation drive backed by the IMF.
The lira has now fallen by 41.3 percent against the dollar, rebounding from a low of 47 percent last week. — (AFP, Washington)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)


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Seattle Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks sign former University of Washington wide receiver Kevin Smith
The Seattle Seahawks signed former University of Washington wide receiver Kevin Smith on Wednesday.
The Seahawks are looking at Smith as a special teams player. He returned kicks and was on kick coverage units at Washington. In addition, he returned two punts during his four seasons with the Huskies.
Smith's 25.9-yard average on kick returns in 2011 ranks seventh-best in Washington's history for single-season kickoff return average.
After going unchosen in the NFL Draft in early May, Smith signed with the Arizona Cardinals, but he was waived June 4. The Jacksonville Jaguars claimed Smith off waivers, then released him June 19.
The 5-foot-11, 214-pound Smith is considered to have good speed, and he impressed at Washington's Pro Day, which was heavily attended by Seahawks personnel.
Signing Smith pushes the Seahawks' roster to the 90-player offseason limit.


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Four hundred miles from Sandy Hook Elementary, a superintendent named Mike Strutt left a morning meeting on Dec. 14 and decided to place his schools on "threat alert." He was concerned about a copycat attack on the day of the Connecticut shootings. But, as he read reports of the massacre, he started to worry more about something else.
For 20 years, he had specialized in school safety, filling three binders with security plans and lockdown drills — all of which felt suddenly inadequate. In the case of an attack, would a "threat alert" do him any good?
He looked out his office window at the snow-covered trees of western Pennsylvania and imagined a gunman approaching one of Butler County's 14 schools, allowing the attack to unfold in his mind. In came the gunman, past the unarmed guards Strutt had hired after Columbine; past the metal detectors he had installed after Virginia Tech; past the intercom and surveillance system he had updated after Aurora.
Strutt stood from his desk and called the president of the Butler County School Board, Don Pringle.
"This could happen here," Strutt said. "Armed guards are the one thing that give us a fighting chance. Don't we want that one thing?"
That question has preoccupied schools across the country since 27 people were killed in Newtown, Conn., last month, and the emerging solutions reflect the nation's views on gun control. In a divided America, guns are either the problem or the solution, with little consensus in between. A dozen states have proposed legislation to put armed guards in schools; five others have drafted plans to officially disallow them.
Groups in Utah are training teachers to carry guns, Tennessee is hiring armed "security specialists" for $11.50 an hour and the National Rifle Association is working on a plan to arm school volunteers even as teachers gather in protest outside the group's headquarters.
At stake in the debate are basic questions about the future of gun control in the United States. Do guns in schools assuage fears or fuel them? Do they keep students safe or put them at risk?
Here in Butler, a shale-mining town in the woodsy hills north of Pittsburgh, Strutt and the school board decided their reaction to Newtown could allow for neither hesitation nor ambiguity. No local school had ever experienced a gun-related threat, but neither had Sandy Hook Elementary. The district had a $7 million deficit, but some priorities demanded spending.
The school board worked out details with a solicitor, who submitted a proposal to a judge, who came into work on a Sunday to sign an emergency order. Before the first funeral began in Newtown, Butler's head of school security began calling retired state troopers to ask two questions with major implications for the future of public education:
Did they own a personal firearm?
Would they be willing to carry it into an elementary school?
Frank Cichra owned a gun that he was willing to carry, so he arrived early last week at a shooting range in the mountains outside Butler, hoping to qualify as an armed school policeman. He wore snow boots, a heavy jacket and earmuffs that doubled as ear protection from the cracking sound of gunfire. He slipped on gloves and cut the black fabric away from his right index finger.
"Won't hit the target unless I can feel the trigger," he said.
He loaded the magazine of his .40-caliber Beretta as half a dozen other men arrived at the range. Like Cichra, they all were retired Pennsylvania state troopers who had been recruited as guards.
Butler County had cut 75 teaching and administrative positions in the past five years because of a shrinking budget, but now the district of 7,500 students couldn't hire armed guards fast enough. It had added a new insurance policy and $230,000 to the annual security budget in order to arm and employ at least 22 former state troopers — enough to station at least one guard at each school and every after-school event. In a town where hunting guns hang on the wall of the prosecutor's office and the rifle team has won championships, the decision to arm guards had elicited a single protest. One family boycotted school for a day before returning the next.
The district's hiring requirements for guards were at once simple and absolute: only retired state troopers with 20 years of experience who owned a gun and could pass a 60-round shooting test.
Cichra, 46, paced in the snow to keep warm and watched the first few troopers begin the test. He had been retired for exactly seven months on the day of the shooting in Newtown and that had felt like long enough. He couldn't stand watching TV. Home improvement bored him. He had spent four years in the Army and 21 more on patrol — a career built on the hard reality of "good guys versus bad," he said, and Newtown offered him another mission. He had three kids, ages 5, 14 and 17, attending schools near Butler.
"We might not like it, but the modern reality is our kids are vulnerable, and they need our help," he said. "Nobody's doing this job for money."
In front of him on the range was a trooper who had retired four days earlier because he thought the school district needed him and another who had just spent $600 to buy his first personal weapon, a Glock, so he would have a gun with which to qualify. Smoke rose from the targets and the smell of burnt powder filled the air.
The first group of shooters rotated out, and Cichra holstered his Beretta and took his position on the range. The instructor explained that the test was meant to simulate a firefight — "a worst-case scenario," he said. Cichra would be asked to shoot with one hand and then with two; while kneeling and while standing; while walking backward and while moving toward the target. "Listen to me and focus on the threat," the instructor said. "Imagine you are closing in on the shooter."
Cichra took aim at a silhouette target from 25 yards.
"Fire!" the instructor yelled, as gunshots echoed off the mountains.
Fifteen yards.
"Hit his chest," the instructor shouted.
Seven yards.
"Kill shot."
Two yards.
"He's wearing a vest. Aim for the head!"
Cichra fired his last round and holstered his weapon. The instructor studied the mangled target and counted his score. Cichra had been shooting for most of his life: hunting rifles as a kid; an automatic M-16 in the Army; a revolver, a Glock and the Beretta as a state trooper. He put on a gun in the morning like he put on his glasses or his watch. He needed to score a 226 out of 300 on the test to qualify as an armed school guard. The instructor came back with a score sheet.
Sixty shots fired. Fifty-nine to the chest and one to the head.
"A real marksman," the instructor said.
He had scored a perfect 300.
That qualified him to carry his Beretta to work the next morning at Summit Elementary, a school of about 200 students located amid the shale mines and snowfields on the edge of town. Cichra arrived early and turned on a metal detector at the front entrance. He loaded one bullet into the chamber so he could fire instantaneously in case of an attack and 11 more into a magazine. He sat at a desk facing the glass doors, his eyes scanning the parking lot. A sergeant had told him once that a good state trooper operated like a traffic light on yellow, always on edge, anticipating whatever might come.
In came a boy, 8, tripping over his untied shoelaces. "You're going to fall and hurt yourself, son," Cichra said.
In came a boy, 6, with crayons spilling out of his pocket. "Let me get those for you," Cichra said, bending over to collect them.
In came a girl, 10, carrying her backpack through the metal detector, which set off the alarm. "I'm sorry," she said. She handed Cichra her pink binder and her lunch bag. He opened it and sifted through the contents inside. String cheese. Goldfish crackers. Chocolate milk. "Looks good," he said, handing the bag back to the girl. "Looks tasty."
He had decided the best way to carry a gun in an elementary school was to act nothing at all like a person carrying a gun. A few of the other school guards in Butler wore old police vests and displayed guns on their hips, but Cichra dressed in reading glasses, khaki pants, a collared shirt and a sweater that covered up his Beretta. He sat by the entrance, reading a newspaper and studying attendance lists so he could memorize students' names. Whenever one walked by, Cichra stretched out his right hand to give a high-five. "Hit me," he said, until his palm turned red and a teacher stopped by to offer hand sanitizer.
"We usually think of germs as our number one threat," the teacher said.
Every few hours, Cichra made coffee in the faculty lounge and then patrolled the school's two long hallways, stopping along the way to admire the first-graders' cardboard gingerbread men that decorated the walls. Summit Elementary had been built when administrators feared a fire more than anything else, and it had five sets of doors to allow for easy exit. Now those doors were possible entrances for an attack, and Cichra double-checked the locks and shook the handles.
Every once in awhile, a student approached him to ask a question. Did he carry a gun? Did he have any secret weapons like Batman? Did he have an extra badge to give out?
One student, a fifth-grader, wanted to know if Cichra had ever needed to pull his weapon. He thought for a minute about his decade on midnight patrol in the lonely outreaches of Butler County — the heroin addicts, the car crashes, the trips to notify families of dead, the drunk who had charged at him with a knife and forced Cichra to pull his Beretta, the closest he had ever come to firing a weapon in the line of duty. None of the stories felt appropriate here.
"Nothing big," he said. "Just for some police work."
He went back to the desk at the front of the school and watched the door for $14.71 an hour. He wondered: Was he protecting kids' environment or changing it?
"It's a fine line," he said.
He had brought along a book called "American Sniper," a soldier's memoir that showed a picture of an automatic rifle on the book's cover. Now he removed the cover and hid it inside the drawer of his desk. "The kids don't need to be seeing that," he said.
He sat by the door and read the book with its cover off, feeling now and again, out of habit, for the Beretta on his hip.


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Color: White
Interior: Cloth
Drive Train: 2WD
Transmission: Automatic
Vin: 1FTSW20R58EC95046
Engine: 6.4L V8 F DIESEL
Mileage: 139,243
Stock #: 8EC95046
Lara's Trucks
Laras Trucks
4420 Buford Hwy. NE
In a year in which the big news - both literally and figuratively - was presumably focused on Toyota's launch of its new Tundra, Ford arguably trumps Toyota's thunder with its debut of an all-new Super Duty. Constituting some 40 percent of Ford's F-Series sales, the Super Duty is intended to secure the most profitable segment of the pickup market. Ford stakes its claim to "best in class" with improved platforms, upgraded drivetrains and dramatically enhanced capability, particularly with the availability of the new F-450.
Whether you're into commercial construction, agriculture or recreational towing, if you use a truck as a truck you'll benefit from the Super Duty's enhanced capability, refinement and convenience. And while the custom-spec car may have died a long time ago, the variety of permutations available from Ford's Louisville truck plant gives the Super Duty customer a chance at real customization, seemingly with more content variables than the U.S. tax code.
If you're looking for a pickup (especially in Crew Cab configuration) as a substitute for your SUV, you'll quickly realize the Super Duty's principal mission: Hauling things and people - not just people. To be sure, both Extended and Crew Cabs accommodate passengers quite comfortably, but if you're not regularly hooking up to a 10,000-pound trailer or loading an eight-foot bed with more than a couple of two-by-fours, you've overbought what Ford has overbuilt.
Ford may throw its "Bold Moves" tagline at everything in its lineup above the Focus, but few things are more deserving of the description than Ford's new Super Duty. From its enlarged grille to the tailgate, everything on the new Super Duty has been redesigned or aggressively tweaked. Despite a familial resemblance to its predecessor, this is more than just a "freshening." Rather, it's a full-scale attempt to retain market leadership with a slew of class-exclusive features both inside (Quiet Steel dash panel) and out (power telescoping and folding trailer tow mirrors).
In most recent redesigns much is made of a "stiffer structure." Ford's design team complies, with higher-strength front-end structures, fully-boxed front frame rails, thick C-channel frame rails and crossmembers secured by, according to Ford, a "method that optimizes frame capability." The end result, enjoyed over some two hundred miles of south Texas roadway, is a truck offering the maximum in capability while still providing a full measure of comfort and control. This is a big truck but, from steering, to braking, to ride motion - enhanced by lengthened rear leaf springs - to interior quiet, the Super Duty impresses as one highly refined tool, and not merely a "truck."
King Ranch Trim In an era of $70,000 Cadillac Escalades, a $50,000 pickup shouldn't be cause for alarm. A King Ranch-equipped Super Duty, however, will raise eyebrows not with its window sticker but, rather, its level of refined "tough" luxury. Constituting both interior (Chaparral leather) and exterior (PowerScope mirrors) upgrades, the King Ranch enhances over-the-road comfort with material, workmanship and appointment upgrades, adding immeasurably to the Super Duty's attractiveness. And, unlike some luxury pickups, there's no intention of appealing - overtly - to the Country Club set; this remains a work truck and not a work-in-progress. Power Stroke Diesel With its 6.0-liter predecessor, the clattering came from both under the hood and consumer websites. But now Ford has created a diesel offering more power (350 horsepower) and torque (650 pound-feet), along with a cleaner burn, quieter operation and better throttle response (via dual sequential turbos). Add a five-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty for peace of mind and you've got a segment-leading package.
With the debut of the current F-Series, Ford established a benchmark for pickup interiors. In the new Super Duty the benchmark is moved upward in available choices, functionality and appointment. The XL interior provides feet-on-the-dash utility, XLT and Lariat trim levels give the customer more expressive design and the King Ranch package coddles you in highly refined Chaparral leather. All trims benefit from new materials, surfaces and accents. Lariat and King Ranch owners will enjoy dual-zone climate control. All audio systems are MP3-capable, so download your Toby Keith collection.
A walk-around with Ford's head of truck design, Pat Schiavone, begins with the grille. The Super Duty's corporate three-bar opening is flanked by expansive vertical inlets and topped by "SUPER DUTY" in big capital letters. The expansive grille is for more than simply show - it fronts a confluence of cooling capability for engine, transmission and the intercooler that serves the diesel's two sequential turbochargers. Better cooling means, of course, bigger towing. Beyond the imposing edifice are new fender-mounted vents, available telescoping mirrors and optional 20-inch forged aluminum wheels. When compared to the previous Super Duty, the grille and hood blister provide the main visual differentiation.
We'll start at the front, where Ford has located a front step bumper - under-the-hood checks are made easier when the step-stool is built-in and not something you need to carry with you. In back Ford includes a hitch receiver - matched to each model's capabilities - on every Super Duty, along with seven-pin and four-pin connectors. Given the importance of towing capability to the Super Duty mission, the receiver is a standard feature any owner can appreciate.
As noted, the Super Duty order form provides a wealth of choices for virtually any commercial or recreational use. Those intending to tow with their Super Duty trucks will appreciate Ford's factory-installed TowCommand System. The system fully integrates the trailer brakes, anti-lock brakes (ABS), TorqShift automatic trans and tow/haul mode into one safe, capable towing platform. Functional enhancements include a foldable bed extender, which improves load utility when in place and stays out of the way when not needed. Accessing the bed is made easier - and safer - by the why-didn't-they-think-of-this-before tailgate step option. And for those venturing off into the Great Unknown, an optional navigation system should get you there and - hopefully - back again.
Ford offers three engine choices for work, play or any combination of the two. Base powerplant is a 5.4-liter Triton V8 offering 300 horsepower and 365 pound-feet of torque. For those seeking more from the gasoline side of the Ford family, the 6.8-liter Triton V10 should satisfy, putting 362-horsepower and 457 pound-feet of torque under your right foot. Finally, there's the aforementioned 6.4-liter Power Stroke diesel, infusing the Super Duty with both "tow" and "go." 5.4-liter V8 300 horsepower @ 5000 rpm 365 pound-feet of torque @ 3750 rpm EPA city/highway fuel economy: NA 6.8-liter V10 362 horsepower @ 4750 rpm 457 pound-feet of torque @ 3250 rpm EPA city/highway fuel economy: NA 6.4-liter V8 Turbo Diesel 350 horsepower @ 3000 rpm 650 pound-feet of torque @ 2000 rpm EPA city/highway fuel economy: NA
Regardless of budget, Ford builds a Super Duty model to fit it. At a base price of $23,305 (the diesel is a $6,895 add) the two-wheel-drive F-250 Regular Cab will serve most fleet and commercial needs, while the diesel-powered Crew Cab F-450 in the XL trim level has a base of $40,130 and, depending upon trim and options, can top out at well over $50,000. The pricing of an early-release 2008 Ford Super Duty is fully competitive with what Chevrolet and Dodge are marketing for the 2007 model year. Chevrolet prices its regular cab at a $24,575 base; the diesel is an additional $7,195. Dodge has a base of $26,805, while offering $3,000 immediately off the top; the diesel is an additional $5,605. And while 48-month residuals of Ford and Chevrolet (49 percent and 47 percent, respectively) are similar, Dodge is pegged at only 42 percent, reflecting that it's nearing the end of this particular product cycle.
I hereby consent to receive text messages from or on behalf of dealer at the mobile phone number I provided above. I understand that I am opting in to receive text messages from dealer or their employees. I include consent to receive phone calls at the mobile phone number I provided. I understand that message and data rates may apply.


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Events for 18th Sep 2018
Showing 1 to 1 of 1 events.
Open Mic @ The Pump House
- Date: 23rd May 2017 - 17th December 2019
- Every week
- Location: Pump House Theatre & Arts Centre, Local Board Road, Watford, WD17 2JP
- Time: 19:30
- Cost: -
Every Tuesday at The Pump House you will find the Watford Open Mic team...Open to all musicians, players, songwriters and performers, we offer 15 minute sets with a full set up of mic's, amps etc. just turn up and put your name down and play....
We are a friendly team who have been running this event for 5 years now. All styles are welcomed and we have a varied and diverse mix of performers. As we are not in a pub we can offer a more attentive listening audience and have become known for our sound quality. We are very lucky to have some talented regulars too, so come on down to enjoy a great evening of musical entertainment, no two weeks are ever the same...
Find us Facebook group pages: Open Mic Watford or Watford Open Mic (apply to join)


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« Back to Rooftop Restaurants In Lebanon
Maillon Café – Zalka
Classy Café and Restaurant in Zalka
Food:International, Lebanese
Price:Between 17$ and 35$
Review by Souad
Maillon Café opened its doors in Zalka on July 2011. It has the same spirit as the neighborhood restaurants: huge hall and terrace, International menu, Arguileh… However, what distinguishes Maillon Café is its classy touch whether through design, food or service.
The restaurant's stone exterior mixed with baroque decoration catches the eye. The Maillon terrace is comfortably set with white and green furniture, while the inside is a mix between modern baroque and vivid colors. A wall with artistic portraits adds an original touch to the design.
The menu we ordered was very good. The service was professional and attentive.
I definitely recommend Maillon Café if you like this style of restaurants and of course if you don't mind the crowds.Write a Review
Appetizers with original fusion varieties, Lebanese menu, grills and main dishes menu going from Escalope to Taouk, Italian menu with pizza and pasta, burgers with traditional and original ones in addition to a light menu.
Suitable for vegetarians. Serves alcohol.
Good to know
Has a terrace. Recommended for large groups and friends.
Amaret Chalhoub, near Nahr el Mot. If you're coming from Beirut by the highway, take the first exit after Nahr el Mot's pedestrian bride. Once arrived to the main street, you will find Republic and Square Café in front of you. Take the road going up between the two restaurants, and you'll find Le Maillon at your left.
13 Reviews
Oct 13, 2012 at 18:29Very good restaurant. Very good food. Big variety. Good service. I went there several times, and food consistently good. Would recommend
Jun 28, 2014 at 01:48I had a HORRIBLE experience at Le Maillon Cafe! We ordered sushi (at 12:08am)... At 12:30 we asked them where the sushi was... the waitress seemed surprised and went inside! After 5 minutes she came with another waitress and they both said, with laughter and giggles, that the sushi kitchen closes at 12:00 but they didn't pay attention to the time! We ordered an avocado cocktail instead! 1) they charged the cocktail in full 2) NO ONE from the 3 managers came to our table 3) no complimentary drinks or dessert were served! WORSE YET... I talked to one of the managers as I was leaving and he said he didn't understand why I was upset and that these things happen once a year, and that he yelled at the girl who was serving us! When I told him that it would've been nice of him to come to my table and at least clarify things out, he insisted that I was making a big deal out of nothing, that I had nothing to be upset about, and that they had nothing to apologize about!
Mar 22, 2014 at 08:59We used to go there often for the good food and good prices. Then the food became bad.
Aug 19, 2011 at 10:47So much classier than its neighbors! I hope they will honor the name they have and keep a high range clientele.
Nov 22, 2011 at 11:37Everything I eat has been proved by some doctor or other to be a deadly poison, and everything I don't eat has been proved to be indispensable for life. But I go marching on maillon Cafe
May 16, 2014 at 11:47This is the best cafe in lebanon, it has the best ambience, best arguileh and best food... I recommend it strongly!
Feb 8, 2012 at 19:05That's strange! I can only see bad comments or dislikes on the good ones. Does it mean people who visited had very bad experience? And where can we see the menu Kindly share your feedbacks!
Feb 12, 2012 at 18:50Amazing restaurant!!! value to price was terrific, great staff and service and the taste was incredible, the only complaint is that they served the appetizers right with the main dish and the salad came afterward :/ but overall fantastic restaurant :)
Sep 1, 2011 at 23:54Best restaurant, good services and great Arguileh.
Oct 31, 2011 at 14:08Best restaurant, good services and great Arguileh
Feb 8, 2012 at 10:16Not at all what it's hyped up to be. We got a live snail slithering in our salad, and the replacement salad contained a hair. What's most head-turning is that neither manager nor waiter approached to apologize, and we were charged for the dish, too! Don't follow the crowd there unless you fancy a (literally) "garden-fresh" salad, or a new pet.
Nov 23, 2011 at 10:06Wonderful place... Should be visited for the food variety, taste and cleanliness. One of the leading cafes in town! must try it.
Sep 20, 2011 at 09:40Fantastic food and service, unseen in Beirut in the last 6 years,outstanding quality over price, keep it up guys!
Call them
Phone Number: 71 755 444
Website: http://www.mailloncafe.com/
Get there
Amaret Chalhoub, near Nahr el Mot. If you're coming from Beirut by the highway, take the first exit after Nahr el Mot's pedestrian bride. Once arrived to the main street, you will find Republic and Square Café in front of you. Take the road going up between the two restaurants, and you'll find Le Maillon at your left.
See Also
Souccaria - Dbayeh(21 votes)
Sugar, spice and everything nice
Square Café(41 votes)
Arguileh Lovers Destination
Ahwet El Set - Antelias(6 votes)
Tribute to Famous Ladies
Republic(98 votes)
Huge restaurant with a grandiose style
Coffee Club - Antelias(7 votes)
Casual Café Restaurant on Jal el Dib Main Street
Dado's Café - Jal el Dib(2 votes)
Huge Screen with Outdoor Seating


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Robert Ashley, a restlessly innovative American composer, died at his home in New York March 3 from complications of cirrhosis of the liver. NPR confirmed the composer's death through his wife and manager Mimi Johnson. Ashley was 83.
Although not a household name, Ashley blazed an individual path in opera throughout his career, which spanned five decades. Far from resembling any traditional form of opera, Ashley's works are constructed of intricate speech-song recitations on a vast array of topics — from Renaissance consciousness to The Wall Street Journal. He composed his operas not for the stage, but for television — a foreshadowing, of sorts, of MTV.
"I put my pieces in television format because I believe that's really the only possibility for music," the composer told author Kyle Gann in his recent biography of Ashley. The American tradition, Ashley said, is not tied to the great opera houses of Europe: "La Scala's architecture doesn't mean anything to us. We don't go there. We stay at home and watch television."
Among Ashley's more notable operatic experiments were The Park and The Backyard, episodes from his first TV opera Perfect Lives (1977-80), itself a panel in a large trilogy tracing the consciousness movement in America and commissioned by the Kitchen in New York. His evocative and enigmatic lines, in deadpan recitation over electronic drones and Indian tabla drums, gave the music a timeless and improvisatory feel. The recording became something of a cult hit among Ashley insiders and at some more adventuresome college radio stations. A sample from almost any moment in the two 20-minute works includes seemingly odd but ultimately memorable lines such as, "Fourteen dollars and twenty-eight cents is more attractive than fourteen dollars because of the twenty-eight. No one likes or dislikes zeros." (In my days as a radio producer in Ann Arbor, Mich. in the early 1980s, Robert Ashley fans identified themselves by reciting one of his colorful lines like "The feeling of the idea of silk scarves in the air" then waiting for an equally esoteric response.)
Ashley was born March 28, 1930 in Ann Arbor and graduated with a degree in music theory from the University of Michigan. He worked at the University's Speech Research Laboratories before organizing the ONCE festival of contemporary performing arts in the early 1960s and the resulting music theater ensemble called the ONCE Group. In 1969, Ashley was named as the director of the Center for Contemporary Music at Mills College where he created the first public access music and media facility. For ten years, beginning in the mid-1960s, Ashley toured with the experimental Sonic Arts Union, which included composers Alvin Lucier and Gordon Mumma. In 1984, the BBC televised Ashley's complete Perfect Lives in seven half-hour episodes. It's since been seen in Austria, Germany, Spain and the U.S.
Along with some 17 operas, Ashley wrote film scores, chamber music of all stripes, works for tape, for solo piano and free-thinking pieces like Night Sport, for "improvising voice and various distractions." Although his music was performed around the world, Ashley always seemed to be a composer on the fringe, one rarely recognized for his brilliance and humor, and often either misunderstood or outright ignored.
"And let it be set down, Bob was one of the most amazing composers of the 20th century, and the greatest genius of 20th-century opera," Gann writes on his blog. "I don't know how long it's going to take the world to recognize that. And it hardly matters. He knew it. That the world was too stupid to keep up was not his problem."
The world premiere of Ashley's final opera, Crash, will be performed along with two of the composer's other works at the 2014 Whitney Biennial in New York April 10-13.
Does this sound like opera to you?
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Segue to a firm voice that says: That was cuckoo. (Unintelligible) for thought. This little incident at the radio...
CORNISH: This is music from Robert Ashley, who died earlier this week. He came up with a new recipe for opera that mixed technology and theater in ways no one had tried before. Joining us now is NPR Music's Tom Huizenga. He's written about Ashley on our classical music blog, Deceptive Cadence. Hey, there, Tom.
TOM HUIZENGA, BYLINE: Hey, Audie.
CORNISH: So, first, help us understand: Who was Robert Ashley?
HUIZENGA: Well, until the late 1970s, when he kind of reinvented opera, he was a run-of-the-mill avant-gardist. I mean, he was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1930. He studied at the university there, and a little bit in Manhattan, did a stint in the Army.
His first little laboratory was a speech research institute at the university. He got interested in electronic music. He was a teacher at Mills College. And then, in 1977, kind of the operatic light bulb went off for him, and it was a huge turning point for him, and for opera.
CORNISH: Now, what did he do that was so new? And why was it such a big deal?
HUIZENGA: Well, none of his operas sound anything like Puccini or Mozart. I mean, the basic sound, there are no singers singing arias. Instead, the singers kind of half-sing, half-speak a kind of recitation. And there's no real conventional, linear narrative that's discernable, at least right away. But it's there.
And then the weird thing is that he geared these operas not for the stage, but for television. He said that as Americans, we don't have this European opera tradition where we go to La Scala, we go to Covent Garden. Our tradition is sitting on the couch, watching television. And he geared these operas to people on a couch, with a drink and some snacks. And that's really, in a way, kind of the opposite of the kind of elitist, hoity-toity attitude we have about opera.
CORNISH: OK. I have to hear some of this. We're going to do some TV on the radio, right? You brought an example.
HUIZENGA: This music is really what started it all, an album from 1977 with the first version of scenes from opera "Perfect Lives," which itself is one in a trilogy of operas based on American consciousness.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: This is a record. I am sitting on a bench next to myself. Inside of me, the words form: Come down out the tree and fight like a man, two cheese and eggs. This is not a record. This is a story.
CORNISH: Tom, I have to imagine there was a backlash to this.
HUIZENGA: Oh, yeah. I think you either get Robert Ashley, or you don't. And I think that the haters out there are, frankly, just too lazy to actually unravel and unwind all of the multi-layers in his stories. And there is a lot of text being thrown at you. It's like Russian nesting dolls. You open one box, and there's another box to open, and another box to open. But the stories are there, and the ideas are intricately worked out.
CORNISH: So, what is his legacy?
HUIZENGA: It's an overused label, but I think of him as one of our American mavericks. I mean, he was a guy who did what he wanted to do, and he went out on a limb by himself. I think he was a little overshadowed by the rise of the minimalist movement and composers like Philip Glass. But I think any free-thinking artist today who is interested in marrying technology and theater - I'm thinking of, like, MIT's experimental composer Tod Machover, who casts robots in his operas these days. I mean, Robert Ashley left a fascinating and dense catalogue of work - still unappreciated, but there's plenty there to keep his fans busy for decades. And hopefully, there will be a few new listeners along the way.
CORNISH: That's NPR Music's Tom Huizenga, talking to us about composer Robert Ashley. Ashley died this week at the age of 83. Tom, thanks so much.
HUIZENGA: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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ABS baby certificate to help celebrate 20,000,000 Australians, Dec 2003
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ABS baby certificate to help celebrate 20,000,000 Australians
As part of its celebration for the 4 December milestone of Australia's population reaching 20,000,000, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is to offer certificates to babies born around that time.
The offer is for any baby born in Australia from 12:00midnight 3 December to 12:00midnight of 5 December, 2003.
This period has been so defined because it contains the time when the Australian population is estimated to reach the 20 000 000. The ABS web site will also display the 20,000,000 number within that period.
The Head of the Census, Demography and Geography Branch at the bureau, Mr Paul Williams, said the certificates were a gesture of goodwill to mark the occasion.
"Our best estimate is that the 20,000,000 will occur on 4 December, but in the spirit of the event we are also covering 5 December as our web site will display the 20,000,000 number on both 4 and 5 December," he said.
"We estimate that about 1400 babies throughout Australia will be eligible for the certificates."
Parents may apply on behalf of their new borns by sending a photocopy of the child's birth certificate showing the child's full name and date of birth, and return address details to:
"20,000,000 Certificate"
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Locked Bag 10
Requests for certificates can be made up until 30 June, 2004.
Australian population clock
Document Selection
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intro: You're doing everything right, paying your bills on time, earning a good living, and you're applying for a mortgage -- with second thoughts. Maybe you're trying to buy a new home, and something's just not right, perhaps the payment is too high. Whatever the case, paying attention to the signs means the difference between making a potential mistake worth thousands of dollars or choosing the path that makes better financial sense.
Upon applying for a mortgage loan, a lender conducts a thorough analysis of your credit history, credit score, income, employment status, job history, as well as your ability to make payments on your debt. You can rest assured, if the numbers don't make sense, and home affordability is problematic for you, it will absolutely be apparent to the lender as well.
Here are the five times you should consider waiting to apply for a mortgage.
quicklist: title: Your Debt Is Too High. text: If more than 10% of your monthly income goes to liability payments (car loans, credit cards, other debts), not only will these liabilities hurt your ability to qualify, they limit how much house you qualify for.
Remember, liabilities (debt) erode borrowing power to a ratio of 2:1. In other words, a minimum payment on a credit card at $100 per month needs $200 per month in income to offset that liability payment. You should also consider how much more manageable that mortgage payment would be without those liability payments. It may make more sense to pay off those limiting debts for a future benefit.
How Soon Can I Get a Mortgage After Credit Problems?
quicklist: title: Your Income Is Too Low. text:
Perhaps your debt payments are too high, and your income needs to be higher to compensate for that -- or you need to simply pay off your debt -- in order to qualify. Maybe your income is just not high enough to support a house payment for the price range you desire. This differs in many markets, but generally speaking, you need to have enough income to support a house payment of at least $1,500 per month when buying a home. How much income are we talking about? At a minimum, just shy of $40,000 per year or 55% of a $1,500 mortgage payment.
The First Thing to Do Before Buying a Home
quicklist: title: You Don't Have a Down Payment & Closing Costs. text:
You'll need at least 3.5% of the purchase price for a down payment. This can be your money or it can be gifted money. On a $300,000 house, for example, that's $10,500 down. Gone are the days of attaining seller credits for closing costs. Typical closing costs are approximately 3% of the purchase price, so that same house for $300,000 translates to an additional $9,000 in closing costs, for a grand total of $19,500 to make the purchase.
Will Mortgage Interest Rates Dip Again?
quicklist: title: Your Employment Is Not Stable. text:
Possible change of careers? How about a job gap? These situations not only can hurt your potential ability to qualify for the loan, but it raises the question of whether or not you can support a house payment. This includes changing job status, for example going from being a W2-wager to self-employed and vice-versa, as lenders will look at the income you can show on paper. Whatever the situation, if you're in a transitional state with your employer, and your income is potentially in question, buying a house can be a recipe for disaster.
quicklist: title: Your Credit Is Less Than Stellar. text:
Do you have derogatory items on your credit, like a bankruptcy or short sale, or even a foreclosure? It's an automatic 2- to 3-year wait to re-enter the market. This is a prime opportunity to save for a down payment and closing costs, and to clean up your credit history to prepare to purchase a home later on. You can pull your credit report for free once annually from each of the three major credit reporting agencies at AnnualCreditReport.com or you can monitor your credit on a monthly basis using the free Credit Report Card.
Remember, while you might still qualify for the mortgage now, that does not necessarily mean you should accept the obligation. The long-term prospectus of what that obligation means over time is paramount. Consider the effects the new mortgage payment will have on long-term savings ability, household cash flow and lifestyle. The last thing anyone wants is to be tied to a mortgage payment that they can't adequately support.
This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.


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The influence of belief in evolution upon the early developing psychoanalysis movement cannot be overemphasized.
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Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.


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Turn humble pasta and beans gourmet by adding roasted vegetables, fresh mint and tangy, salty aged goat cheese. When making a pasta dish with beans, you can use some of the bean-cooking liquid to give the sauce silky body and help it cling to the pasta. If you're using canned beans, use some of the pasta-cooking liquid or just water.
Ready In


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Swimming Pool Blog
by Rob Cox, June 11, 2012
Swimming Pool Safety Scan
Summer is here and it's time to do a pool safety scan!
A "Pool Safety Scan" is not one of those trademarked terms, just a method for evaluating the Layers of Protection around your swimming pool.
Layers of Protection refers to the various barriers to or alarms for - unauthorized use of the pool. These Layers are like concentric rings around the pool, starting with pool alarms at the pool's edge, to the pool perimeter fence and beyond.
These layers don't have to be barriers to entry, but can be rescue equipment, phone lines, and safety lines dividing the shallow from the deep end.
Layers of protection can be as granular as a life vest or a safety turtle wristband that the young non-swimmer wears while enjoying the backyard sunshine.
So, think about the Layers of Protection around your pool that will prevent access, improve visibility, alert others or make rescue easier.
5 Step Pool Safety Scan
1. Fences and Gates
Pool Fence Inspection: Walk around your complete fence perimeter. Check for loose boards, or gaps where even a small animal could skinny through. Give a sharp eye to any unintentional "ladders" around the pool fence. Trees, woodpiles, old cars, whatever - anything that would make it easier for someone to hop over your pool fence.
Pool Gate Inspection: All gates leading to the pool should be Self-Closing and Self-Latching. If there are gates that you don't frequently use, put a padlock on these gates. Some gates are really easy for a small person to jiggle loose. Give yours a good shake and rattle to see if you can pop it loose. Some are so loose that a stiff breeze will blow them open! Make sure that your gates shut and latch by themselves. Small adjustments are usually needed every few years to keep the pool gate in balance and latching properly behind you.
2. Internal Pool Barriers
Internal Pool Fences make a great additional layer of protection. These barriers don't have to be fences, they can be kitchen units, hedges, patio furniture sets. As long as it doesn't block the visibility from the house, a good internal pool barrier will help direct traffic flow to a secondary, internal pool fence. A good designer uses levels, hedges, small hidden fences and outdoor living spaces to create a traffic flow that is smart and safe.
3. Pool Trip & Slip Hazards
- Slabs of concrete that are not aligned, or a pool that sits higher than the deck.
- Low spots in the concrete, where standing water puddles, will create slick algae blooms.
- Mis-placed planters or patio furniture.
- Hoses or cords running across the deck area.
- Poorly marked or slippery steps .
- Slippery pool decks or slippery steps into the pool.
- Loose coping stones on edge of inground pools.
4. Diving & Sliding Pool Equipment
If you have a diving board, know the demographic of your problem divers. Males, age 18-44, who have had too much to drink. If you hear "Hey, watch this!" at your next pool party, it may be time to close the board. Diving too "large" on a residential diving board has put many young men in hospitals and wheel chairs. Consider removing your diving board, but if not, make sure that the bolts are tight, and that the surface has no cracks and it hasn't lost it's non-skid surface.
If you have a sliding board, the safety concerns are less, but if you have rowdy guests like those mentioned above, close the slide. Otherwise, during a pool safety scan, check the mountings on the slide legs and the ladder. Look for cracks in the surface - and to prevent red rump, check the water delivery system, the hoses and water jets that deliver a bit of water to the slide deck.
5. Other Layers of Protection
- Automatic pool covers, with an automatic cover pump
- Poolside pool alarms
- Door alarms for doors leading to the backyard.
- Pet or critter pool escape ramps
- Safety Pool Covers
- Safety Pool Fences
- Rescue equipment
- 911 emergency phone
- Pool Signage
- LED pool lighting
- Safe Drain covers
So, give your pool a Layers of Protection Inspection this week. See if you can spot any potential hazards, and then make the smart correction.


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PonyCountdown API - Sample Source Code
The PonyCountdown provides users with the times and dates of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (MLP:FIM) episodes, including countdowns to upcoming episodes. The PonyCountdown API allows developers to retrieve all MLP:FIM episodes, all episodes for a given season, information on a given episode, information on the next episode to air, and the amount of time until the next episode airs. This API uses REST calls issued in JSON and JSONP.


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What do you need help on? Cancel X
Take control of a fighter space craft and shoot down the invading aliens. Watch out for the swooping motherships, which will try to steal your fighter. Rescue captured fighters to double your firepower. Earn Perfect Bonuses as you battle your way through wave after wave in different challenging stages.


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ICD-9 code 352.0 for Disorders of olfactory (1st) nerve is a medical classification as listed by WHO under the range -DISORDERS OF THE PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM (350-359).
This week the Pacific Northwest welcomed hundreds of healthcare professionals — medical coders, billers, clinical documentation improvement and compliance specialists, auditors, and revenue cycle... [ Read More ]
The government is keeping a close eye on how you are coding claims. Are you? The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is updating its Work Plan this month with new watch items that pertain to Medicare... [ Read More ]
It is the time of year where the National Advisory Board (NAB) members meet in person with representatives of AAPC to brainstorm a variety of issues. Looking back at the list of projects developed ... [ Read More ]
Former owner of a chain of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in South Florida faces a 20-year sentence after being found guilty of a decades-long scam of paying bribes and receiving ki... [ Read More ]
CMS moves to empower patients to be more active participants in the discharge planning process. A final rule revises and implements discharge planning requirements that hospitals, critical access h... [ Read More ]


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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California and many of its cities will soon be paying more for public pensions after the state's giant retirement system voted on Tuesday to change the way it calculates contributions.
The move by the board of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) - the world's biggest public pension fund with assets of $277 billion - was welcomed by the state's Democratic governor, Jerry Brown, who had been pushing for Calpers to act more aggressively in how it funded the provision of pensions for city and state workers.
But higher pension contributions are bound to be met with angst by some California cities, which say they are already struggling to meet Calpers's rate demands.
Pension contributions to Calpers are usually the biggest expense for California cities that pay into the system. Two cities in the state, San Bernardino and Stockton, are in bankruptcy. Pension costs were a significant factor in their budget crises.
The Calpers board on Tuesday voted to change funding assumptions to reflect longer life expectancies for workers - two years for men and 18 months for women. That will lead to higher rates as the pension system seeks to absorb the costs of retired workers living longer.
The board agreed to a request by Brown to hasten to this summer an increase in the state's contribution to the fund, for the pensions of state employees.
The rate hike will hit the California state treasury from July 1 and will be phased in over three years, ultimately costing an extra $1.2 billion a year and bringing California's annual contribution to Calpers to about $5 billion.
Apparently recognizing the politically treacherous path of hiking rates for cities immediately, Calpers voted to not change contributions for cities, counties and other municipal entities until mid-2016.
Rising pension costs - also a significant factor in the bankruptcy of Detroit, Michigan - have become a lightning rod for some lawmakers and fiscal hawks. They argue that lavish pension deals for public workers, many of which were agreed to by states and cities before the 2008 financial crash, are unsustainable.
Michael Sweet, a municipal bankruptcy attorney in San Francisco, said higher pension costs will mean less money for cities to spend on other public services, such as police and roads.
"Cities seem to be asked to pay what is necessary to make sure Calpers has the funds available to cover the pensions these cities promised their workers," Sweet said.
Brown had argued that delaying state contributions, which was proposed by some Calpers board members, was a false economy and would ultimately cost California more in the long run.
"The Board today took important and responsible action to strengthen California's pension system," Brown said in a statement.
After the vote, Calpers, in a statement, said: "While today's action will result in higher pension costs for the State and...contracting employers, it helps to stabilize pension costs over time and puts Calpers on a path to meet the pension obligations promised to current and future public employees."
Reporting by Tim Reid; Editing by Clarence Fernandez


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Earth : Europe : Turkey : Aegean Turkey : Southern Aegean : Pamukkale
Pamukkale is in Aegean Turkey.
The travertine features have their origins in the shifting of a fault in the valley of the Menderes river (between here and Denizli). As the fault shifted, very hot springs with a very high mineral content (notably chalk) arose at this location. Apart from the slightly radioactive minerals, the calcium and hydrogen carbonate react to create calcium carbonate (also known as travertine) and limestone. This is what gives Pamukkale it's whiteness and created the pools.
Get in
By plane
By train
There are trains to/from Izmir, Ankara and Istanbul. (The Pamukkale Express has been cancelled in Summer 2008 due to track repairs. No train between Denizli and Istanbul this means!) As on 05 October 2009, the service still suspended.
By bus
Bus to Pamukkale/Denizli can be found from almost all the cities of Turkey. There are virtually no bus companies that take you directly to Pamukkale despite what the ticket sellers tell you. The bus will drop you in Denizli and then you have to catch the local dolmus to Pamukkale (about 20 km away).
It cost 48 YTL per trip to Denizl, and bus services includes water, hot drinks and snack.
By dolmuş
From Denizli bus station, take a dolmuş, a type of cheap communal taxi that usually seats about 10 (but it's possible they'll squeeze in more), from nearby Denizli. Frequent mini-buses serve the village of Pamukkale in a 20 minute ride. It cost 2 YTL per trip.
Get around
Even when you're way on the edge of the village, you can reach everything (the village center and the travertine pools) on foot in about ten to fifteen minutes.
The Pamukkale/Denizli area is famous for its cotton and the homewares. These are becoming sought after world wide (Arnold Schwartzenegger decked out his house in curtains and furnishings specially made in Denizli - so the story goes!) and the best place to go is the town of Buldan, about 30 minutes drive from Pamukkale. Many of the other souvenirs and traditional Turkish wares that you can find in other parts of Turkey are cheaper around Denizli/Pamukkale because they are produced there.
The best and freshest food is to be found in the small family run pensions, but for a great open air restaurant where you can eat 'borek' the Turkish pancakes and gaze across the valley, try Alis on the main highway just before you come into the town.
There are small family-run pensions at the village south of the travertines. Most have swimming-pools filled with the warm greenish milky water from the travertines. They also offer very delicious Turkish food.
Get Out