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Dan Morain
Dan Morain: Cancer stole her voice, but TV ad sent loud anti-smoking message
Debi Austin spoke loudest after surgeons removed her cancerous vocal cords.
Austin was the woman with the hole in her throat who stars in perhaps the most compelling anti-tobacco ad ever made. You don't forget it once you've seen it. You probably forced your kids to watch it, though when it first aired in 1997, a squeamish television station manager placed a warning on the screen against allowing children to see it.
Looking into the camera, Austin tells us she had her first cigarette when she was 13, and tried to quit but couldn't.
"They say nicotine isn't addictive," she says as a cigarette burns in an ashtray. She grasps the cigarette, holds it to the hole in her throat, a stoma, tilts her head back, shuts her eyes and draws deeply. "How can they say that?" she said, as the smoke curls back out of the hole.
Debi Austin died Feb. 22 at age 62 at a San Fernando Valley hospital, after spending decades battling emphysema and cancer and, for the final 17 years of her life, the tobacco industry.
In 1988, when about a fourth of Californians smoked, voters approved an initiative that raised tobacco taxes by 25 cents per pack. California's Department of Public Health tobacco control unit used that money to produce many anti-tobacco ads.
In one, the Marlboro Man confides he has cancer. Others warn young men that smoking causes impotence and tell young women that it wrinkles their skin. Tobacco industry executives are shown lying as they swear to Congress that tobacco is not addictive. Mock tobacco executives chortle about how they trick kids into smoking.
The ad titled "Voicebox" is the most memorable. It almost didn't happen.
In 1996, the ad firm Asher & Associates, hired by the state, contacted cancer survivor organizations trying to find someone willing to appear in a public service spot, and found Austin. She refused. Why would she want to tell the whole world how dumb she had been?
Two days later, she and her sister, Deena White, who shared a Canoga Park home, were getting ready to go out to dinner when White's daughter, Joy, then about 3, drew a dark spot on her throat.
"Now we can be twins," Joy told Aunt Debi, as Deena recalled the other day.
Austin dug through the trash can until she found the ad company phone number, and enlisted in the fight against tobacco – a "brawl," as she said in a video two years ago. Tobacco had ensnared her, but she vowed that she wouldn't let the industry trap her niece.
Christine Steele, who led the ad team that created the spot, was at the filming in 1996, and recalled Austin's belief that she had been duped by an industry that sought to earn profit at the expense of its customers' health.
"It was embarrassing and humiliating for her," Steele told me. "Her way to get back at the tobacco industry was to put herself out there."
Once the ad began airing, Austin would be recognized whenever she went out. Donna Shalala, then U.S. Health and Human Services secretary, singled out the ad as pivotal in the fight against tobacco.
"It stopped people cold in their tracks," Steele said. "By showing viewers how tobacco had caused one woman's ruin, the ad illustrated how addictive smoking is, and how angry its victims become."
Austin was no angel, her sister said. She ran away from home, married young, and like some children of the 1960s migrated to the emerald mountains of southern Humboldt County.
She moved back to the San Fernando Valley after her husband died in 1981 and worked in the telecommunications industry, but wasn't able to quit smoking until after she made "Voicebox." By then, her health had been destroyed. Over the years, she had breast cancer, stomach cancer, cancer of the larynx, and, finally, cancer of her tongue.
As she fought for breath, she made more commercials, and spoke to students. She made more than one school administrator blanch with her salty language. She also left an impression. A young doctor introduced himself during one of her many hospital stays by saying he became inspired to go into medicine after seeing her talk when he was a kid, her sister said.
"The worse I look, the more impact I have on my audience," she told a Contra Costa Times reporter in 2010. "If I walked in with a scarf over my neck, it wouldn't send home nearly the impact than if they saw it."
In 1988, when there were 28 million Californians, residents inhaled 2.5 billion packs of cigarettes a year. Now there are 39 million of us, and consumption has fallen to 970 million packs a year.
Only 12 percent of us smoke, a testament to good sense, the power of the state's social marketing, and angry activists like Debi Austin.
California will spend $45 million on its anti- tobacco effort this year, less than half of the $95 million spent in 1989, the first year after voters approved the tax.
Because of its success, the tobacco control unit is putting itself out of business. As smoking declines, tobacco tax revenue falls. But there's another reason. The tobacco industry is skilled at killing tobacco tax increases.
California's 87- cent per pack tax on cigarettes places it 33rd among the 50 states. Texas, whose governor touts his state's low taxes, charges a $1.41 per pack tax. Arizona charges $2 a pack.
Nevada's tax is lower than California's. But in Nevada, where more than 20 percent of the people smoke, women have the nation's second-highest death rate from lung cancer. California was the only state where lung cancer deaths dropped among women between 2001 and 2005.
In their quest to generate revenue, legislators this year have introduced bills to raise taxes on bullets and soda. In an indication of the tobacco industry's clout, no legislator proposed a tobacco tax hike.
Bullet or soda taxes might have some social benefit. But tobacco taxes clearly lead to improved health. Experts know that smoking declines by 4 percent for every 10 percent increase in prices, which is why tobacco companies work hard to block tax hikes.
Health care advocates talk of trying to win a tobacco tax increase later this year. An extra $1.50 per pack tax would cut smoking significantly, particularly if some money is earmarked for anti-tobacco efforts. However, Republicans and some Democrats find common ground in their aversion to tobacco taxes.
The politics are clear. Since 2000, tobacco companies have spent $125 million on California campaigns. They spent $45 million last year, much of it to defeat an initiative to raise tobacco taxes.
Tobacco industry money gives it clout. But Austin was able to talk back, thanks to the $175,000 that California's tobacco control unit spent to produce "Voicebox."
Austin wanted to stay alive until she had spoken to a million kids. She didn't think she reached that goal, her sister said. She was wrong. Doctors had removed her larynx. But she spoke to many millions. We couldn't stop watching.


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NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans ran their way out of a two-game skid with a relentless pace that produced a slew of shots around the rim.
Davis had 31 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots, and New Orleans beat the struggling Charlotte Hornets 119-115 on Tuesday night.
"It was good to get back to that," Davis said of a fast-paced attack that produced 78 points in the paint and 28 points on fast breaks — not to mention a handful of alley-oop dunks by Davis.
"Even when we don't get stops, we're able to get the ball out and run it back down a team's throat and put them on their heels," Davis said.
The Pelicans had scored no fewer than 114 points during their recent 10-game winning streak, but failed to reach 100 in their previous two losses.
Rajon Rondo spearheaded New Orleans' offensive resurgence, handing out 17 assists to go with 12 points. Jrue Holiday highlighted a 25-point, nine-assist performance with 10 points in the final 2:39, starting with a 3 that put the Pelicans in front for good.
Holiday's second 3 in that stretch widened New Orleans' lead to five points with 1:19 to go and he added a driving finger roll that made it 117-110 with 30 seconds left.
"I just decided to be aggressive," Holiday said. "Rondo gave me ball, so that was kind of a sign."
Charlotte gave itself a chance for an unlikely comeback when Nicolas Batum's steal led to Frank Kaminsky's 3 that made it a two-point game with 4.5 seconds left. The result wasn't sealed until Davis' free throws with 2.8 seconds to go.
Hornets coach Steve Clifford sounded resigned to the fact that players like Holiday can take over in the clutch sometimes.
"He's playing at the level he was when he was an All-Star" with Philadelphia in 2013, Clifford said. "This is his best year he's had in while. He's a handful."
New Orleans shot 50 percent (52 of 104), with seven players scoring 11 or more. Davis gave credit for that to Rondo, who set up teammates with everything from no-look, behind-the-back bounce passes to cross-court connections for open 3s.
"He likes to push the ball, so we need everybody else to run with him," Davis said "When you have a guy like that, it's easier for guys to get involved and get it going."
Still, the Pelicans needed every bit of that production in a tense contest with a Hornets team that has lost six of seven.
Dwight Howard had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for Charlotte, while Kemba Walker added 22 points. Kaminsky had 21 on 9-of-13 shooting and Batum scored 20 for the Hornets, who shot 48.4 percent (45 of 93), but went 7 of 26 from 3-point range.
The Pelicans made 9 of 22 3-point attempts.
Both teams shot better than 52 percent in a high-scoring first half during which New Orleans never trailed, but also never led by more than 11.
Davis reached 21 points on a close-range hook shot with 1:37 left in the second quarter. But before the half ended, Walker scored his 20th point on a driving finger roll that made it 72-65.
Charlotte didn't take its first lead until Kaminsky's three-point play on a driving layup while being fouled by Davis with 10:53 left. The Hornets led by as many as six on Kaminsky's 3 with 9:02 to go.
Hornets: Had 42 bench points, led by Kaminsky and Jeremy Lamb, who scored 16 points. ... Shot 18 of 22 from the free-throw line. Howard accounted for three of the four misses, going 4 of 7. ... Clifford said Lamb was limited in the second half by back soreness.
Pelicans: Swept the season series. ... Emeka Okafor and E'Twaun Moore each scored 14 points, while Ian Clark scored 12 and Nikola Mirotic had 11. Okafor also had eight rebounds and three steals.
Okafor and Howard barked at one another after some intense, physical jockeying for position near the basket.
"We go all the way back to 2004. When we are on the floor, it's a lot of trash talking and pushing and shoving, but it is all love," Howard said of the 35-year-old Okafor, who returned this season from a neck injury that sidelined him more than four seasons. "I'm glad to see him back in the NBA and healthy again. That is big for him and he's been playing great."
Even with all their points in the paint, the Pelicans attempted only eight free throws all game and did not shoot a single foul shot from the middle off the second quarter until Davis' clinchers in the final seconds.
Hornets: At Atlanta Thursday.
Pelicans: At San Antonio Thursday.
For more AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball
Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

subset: commoncrawl


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Home & Garden
Play it smart
Selecting just the right play set for your family might be a tad tougher than a cruise down the slide. With so many options to mull and factors to consider – children's ages, yard size, safety hazards, materials and cost – getting the right set to fit your family could take a little time. So ask a lot of questions before investing in equipment family and friends will play on for years. We've done a lot of the homework already.
What's fun and safe for 10-year-olds won't be appropriate for the toddler set, so consider your audience. That said, don't forget that your child will grow. Try to buy a set you can modify over time, possibly by removing part of a tower railing and installing a fireman's slide or a rock-climbing wall.
For kids from 18 months through 2, keep any tower as open as possible with slats instead of solid walls, so adults can watch from the ground. Ideally, towers for this age should be a maximum 5 feet off the ground. But if you want the play set to still be exciting as the kids grow, a 6-foot tower might be better.
Scott Milford, owner of Charlotte Playsets, a Backyard Adventures dealer, and www.kidsmulch.com, sees dozens of kids every week and installs play sets for new neighborhoods, so he knows what kids find fun.
On his must-have list: a two-child back-to-back glider, which kids ride like a horse and can accommodate either one or two kids. Kids use their arm muscles to push themselves back and forth, so they catch on quicker to the motions than with traditional swings. They're good for ages 2 and up, but older children love riding them, Milford says.
For older kids, a rock-climbing wall with colored grips, or rocks, is extra fun, Milford says, because they can play games using patterns of colors as they go up and down.
Not recommended for kids under 4
Tire swings are heavy and could easily knock kids over if they get too close to someone swinging
Trapezes are difficult for the youngest children to master and could pose a dislocation hazard for young kids with loose shoulder joints
Fireman poles require lots of upper-body strength and are usually 18 inches away from the top platform, making it hard for kids with short arms to get on them properly
Rope ladders, which require greater coordination and can easily frustrate younger kids.
Monkey bars, which require lots of upper-body strength and can be dangerous if a young child climbs to the top but can't get down.
If you're buying a wooden swing set, redwood and cedar are generally the hardiest woods, experts say, followed by pine. Some warn against PVC-covered wood because it could rot on the inside but look normal on the outside.
Most commercial play-set manufacturers stopped selling sets made of pressure-treated wood in 2004 after preservatives that were used, chromium, copper and arsenic, were found to be dangerous. Some sets now may be treated with preservatives believed to have low toxicity. If you buy a set made from natural wood with no preservatives, remember that you'll have to clean and stain or paint it periodically.
If you have a choice of colors of plastic equipment, such as slides and swings, choose yellow because it stays cooler in the hot sun.
Be sure to check your play set's weight limits. Some lower-priced sets have fairly low weight restrictions on swings and other parts, and use by adults can damage the set. High-priced play sets often have no weight limits.
Some people lay down a hefty layer of shock-absorbing surface such as wood mulch or rubber mulch at least 6 feet in all directions. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends 9 inches of wood chips, mulch or shredded rubber for equipment up to 7 feet high.
If you have swings, be sure the surfacing extends, both front and back, twice the height of the suspending bar.
Rubber mulch typically costs about twice as much as wood mulch, but it will almost never need to be replaced because it doesn't break down, Milford says. If it's purchased in a color instead of black, it doesn't get as hot in the summer sun.
If buying wood mulch, aim for cypress, Milford says, because it doesn't decay and it repels insects.
Teri Hendy, president of Site Masters Inc., a Cincinnati-based safety and design company, says parents often don't do a good job of making sure their yard is level and big enough for a swing set.
"I drive around and see kids swinging into a fence or into the side of the garage," Hendy says. "Look to see what your kids are going to be swinging under. Can a child reach power lines or tree branches? Kids might get carried away and swing right into a tree limb."
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission offers these tips to make your home playground as safe as possible:
Never attach – or allow children to attach – ropes, clotheslines or pet leashes to play equipment. Children can strangle on these.
Check for hardware, like open "s" hooks or protruding bolt ends, which can be hazardous; Check for sharp points or edges.
Check for spaces that could trap children, such as openings in guardrails or between ladder rungs; these spaces should measure less than 3.5 inches or more than 9 inches.
Make sure that platforms and ramps have guardrails.
Install and maintain a shock-absorbing surface around the play equipment.
Remove tripping hazards, like exposed concrete footings, tree stumps and rocks.
Source: www.cpsc.gov
Classified ads are good ways to buy or sell a swing set in good condition. With a higher-quality set, you'll be able to take it apart and reassemble it without much damage. But if the set is more than 10 years old or isn't high quality, give it a hard look. Some tips:
Find out what type of wood a wooden swing set is made of, and what year it was made. Wooden sets bought before 2004, especially those made from wood other than cedar or redwood, may have been pretreated with the preservatives chromium, copper and arsenic. (Such wood is sometimes referred to as CCA.) The arsenic rubs off on kids' hands and clothes and soaks into the ground when it rains, according to the EPA. Arsenic has been associated with lung and skin cancer.
If the brand is currently on the market, it'll be easier to find parts and accessories.
What they cost
At Lowe's, $1,695 will buy a Heartland Play Systems swing set with a fort, vinyl canopy, slide, rock wall and space for three swings. At Costco, $1,700 will buy a Sunray Playset made from redwood and cedar that includes a raised fort, solid roof, picnic table, swings, slide and tic-tac-toe panel.
At Charlotte Playsets, a Backyard Adventures dealer, sets range from $1,200 to $52,000 but most customers spend between $5,000 and $12,000, says owner Scott Milford. These sets are made from redwood and are easily customized, assembled on-site and come with a lifetime warranty. They have no weight restrictions, so adults can play without worrying they'll break the equipment.
Purchasing special surfacing could add more than $1,000 to the cost.


text: NCAA Merchandise > Ohio State Buckeyes Merchandise Ohio State University Tear Drop Banner Kit View All Ohio State Buckeyes Merchandise ITEMS Quantity $109.95 Out of Stock Add to Cart IN STOCK Standard & Express Shipping Available Order by 2pm CST (M-F) — Ships Same Day Item ID#: SSP-Teardrop-KIT-OSUB Tweet Wish Our Ohio State University Tear Drop Banner Kit includes a 9' x 3' tear drop banner, a 3 piece 13' pole, and the recommended metal indoor or outdoor flag stand. This banner kit has a large height of 10' tall when fully assembled!The tear drop banner is made of thick, weather resistant, 300D three-layer polyester and the Ohio State University logos are screen printed two-sided so they are viewable correctly on both sides. The 3 piece pole is made of flexible fiberglass and will freely spin the banner based on the wind direction when placed in the flag stand. Also, our powder coated silver metal flag stand collapses for easy transport and storage.For more recommended accessories, see our Tear Drop Banner Accessories.To setup your banner kit, start by connecting the 3 piece pole. Second, slide the pole through the sleeve of the banner starting at the bottom and carefully sliding the pole through the sleeve until the tip reaches the top of the banner sleeve. Thirdly, while keeping the tension on the top of the sleeve, pull the remaining banner material down the pole and attach a tied loop from the banner to the pole fastener at the bottom (grab a friend to make this easier, if needed). Finally, place the assembled pole into your metal banner stand. Customers Also Bought... Flag & Pennant Accessories Tear Drop Banner Ground Stake $39.95 Out of Stock Add To Cart Banner Stand Water Bag Weight $10.95 Out of Stock Add To Cart Tear Drop Banner Kit Carry Bag $19.95 Out of Stock Add To Cart


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Local Histories
This collection will become more complete as other local history books are digitized. In the collection books can be searched by both the current and former municipality names, since several municipalities amalgamated in 2015 and the majority of the collection is about the former municipalities, not the current ones. To donate books to the collection, please contact email@example.com


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The Lady Bisons put an exclamation point on the day one performances at the Atlantic Sun Indoor Track & Field Championships in Johnson City with a thrilling Distance Medley Relay victory by one-one-hundredth of a second over defending champion and favorite Jacksonville.
Amanda Twigg (SO – Cumberland, Md.) led the relay off with a 1200m leg of 3:40.8. She handed off in second, just behind Jacksonville, as those two teams separated themselves from the rest of the field. Sara Stephens (SO – Dickson, Tenn.) split 57.8 for the 400m leg, handing off to Katie Bunker (FR – Cedarville, Ohio) in a close second. Katie took over the lead and built a few seconds of cushion in the last lap of her 800m leg, running a split of 2:14.0. Dani Walker, a freshman from Wichita, Kans., then ran a perfect mile, going out with a lead strong and settling in for the long haul.
About 500 meters later Jacksonville's standout, Joane Pierre, caught Dani. The two ran side by side for the next 800 meters. With about 250m to go, Dani put in a surge. Pierre immediately matched it, passed and pulled slightly ahead. Dani stuck right to her though, setting up a big finish kick off the final corner.
The two sprinted as hard as they could off the final corner, side-by-side all the way to the finish line. In a photo finish, Lipscomb emerged as conference champion with a time of 11:52.93; just .01 ahead of Jacksonville's 11:52.94. That time took more than 9 seconds off the A-Sun record, and more than 24 seconds off the Lipscomb school record. Dani's mile time was 5:00.0.
"Wow, it was one of the best races I have ever seen!" said Lipscomb coach Bill Taylor. "Last year's men's race was one of the best I had ever seen, and this topped it.
"It was just awesome how our women worked together, poured it all out there for each other, and fought with everything they had. When the race finished I just thought, it doesn't matter if we won or not, that was so incredible and I'm so proud of them. It was a bonus that we won too.
"I think this was a statement race for our program too. We are capable of anything. We are going to be absolutely incredible. This is still just the beginning of where we are headed. But it was a message that we are united and committed to doing it all."
Taylor categorized the race as perfect.
"It truly was," Taylor said. "It was the perfect race, and those are rare. I know they really enjoyed it. I hope they continue to enjoy it. But we do have more races to be ready for tomorrow.
In other day one action, 10 personal bests were set, and three other school records were broken.
Tessa Hoefle (FR – Winnebago, Ill.) ran a new personal best and broke her own school record (set last week) in the 3000m with a time of 10:14.81, good enough for fifth place. Catherine Beals (JR – Glasgow, Ky.) finished 11th overall in 10:30.16, Shelby Marvel (SO – Ashland, Tenn.) was 12th in 10:30.40, Emily Longden (SO – Jacksonville, Fla.) ran an all-time PR of 10:34.46 for 13th and Ashley Lehman (JR – Harrisburg, Va.) ran 10:34.48 for 14th.
Tim Muller (SO – Denver, Colo.) led the men's distance with a new PR of 8:37.06 in the 3000m, placing 5th overall. Geoff Musick (SO – Nashville, Tenn.) also ran a new PR, finishing 12th in 8:54.98. Benton Reed (JR – Scottsboro, Ala.), Trace Carlson (JR – Oregon, Ill.) and Ben Wright (SO – Vincinnes, Ind.) ran times of 9:11.74, 9:24.85 and 9:41.84 respectively. Tucker Peabody (FR – Memphis, Tenn.) continued his excellent freshman sprinting campaign, running a PR of 7.00 in the 60m Dash, qualifying in the fifth positions for Saturday's finals.
Dillon Seigenthaller (SO – Franklin, Tenn.) sits in fourth in the men's heptathlon. He will finish the event with the 60m hurdles, pole vault and 1000m run Saturday morning.
Natalie Stewart (FR – Nashville, Tenn.) finished her first ever pentathlon, finishing 11th with new PR's in the 60m Hurdles, Long Jump and High Jump. Her high jump was also a new school record.
Taylor Mason (SO – Inman, S.C.) posted a new PR and took down the final school record of the day with a 10.56m throw in the shot put.
Alex Jerkins (JR – Nashville, Tenn.) finished sixth in the men's shot put in 14.61.
Logan Ray (SO – Louisville, Ky.) just missed a PR in the long jump, with a leap of 20-5, good enough for 11th.
In the women's 60m Hurdles, Sadie Stone (FR – Louisville, Ky.) finished 14th in 9.95, Julia Shrewsbury (FR – Lake Placid, Fla.) finished 16h in 10:39 and Natalie Stewart finished 19th in 10:98.
The men's distance medley relay of Isaiah Greer (SO – Johnson City, Tenn.), Bobby Bassett (SO – League City, Texas), Andrew Jones (JR - Mt. Juliet, Tenn.) and Ashton Fisher (SO – Ellsworth, Mich.) finished fourth in the Distance Medley Relay in 10:28.48, the final event of the day.


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To the delight of both liberal and conservative pundits, news outlets reported in recent weeks that the Obama administration has decided to go on the offensive against what it perceives to be "biased" news coverage by the Fox News network, (see, for example, here and here.) Administration officials argue that Fox has crossed the line from reporting the news into advocacy, and they have decided to push back by, among other tactics, excluding Fox from some news events and boycotting the Fox Sunday news show.
What are we to make of the decision by the White House to engage in a media war with Fox News? I'm going to devote at least two posts to what is a somewhat complicated topic. But to anticipate the punchline: Obama and his senior aides are making a classic rookie mistake.
To see why, we need to address two main points. First, is it the case that Fox News is "biased" and, second, should the Obama administration engage in a tactic of singling out a news network for what it believes to be biased coverage.
Let me address the issue of press "bias" first. I can't possibly do justice to this topic in a single post, but let me at least get the discussion started. To begin, we should note that the Obama administration's claim of unfair coverage is nothing new among presidential administrations. In one form or another, it is a charge that has been raised by every presidential administration, Democrat or Republican, going back to at least the Nixon presidency (and probably before – I just don't have much data going back before the 1970's). To be sure, the charge of news bias has been more frequently leveled by Republican administrations against what they perceive to be a liberal bias in the news. But if the ideological battle lines have changed, the belief by a president that elements of the media are out to get him has not.
In assessing the accuracy of these charges, we need to be careful to clarify two issues. What do we mean by the news media? And how do we measure bias?
Let me first take up the second point – how do we measure bias? If, by bias, we mean do members of the national news media hold political views that are not representative of the broader public, the indisputable fact is that they are biased: journalists working for the major news dailies, magazines and major television networks hold views to the left of the public's across a range of issues. Similarly, members of the news media are much more favorably disposed to the Democrat party than is the general public and are more likely to support Democrat candidates. The evidence on this point is overwhelming, and it has held true dating back to the 1970's when political scientists first began systematically measuring the media's policy views. (Whenever I present this claim to working journalists, their response is invariably some version of, "Oh yeah? How do you explain Britt Hume?!") (If readers are interested, I can devote a separate post documenting how pervasive and enduring this left-leaning personal perspective among working journalists is.)
However, why should we care what journalists think? What we really want to know is what they report. Is there evidence that their left-leaning personal views influence how journalists report the news? The short answer is no, at least not consistently across the range of national news stories on television and in the print media. Most efforts to uncover evidence of ideological bias center on journalists' coverage of elections, and here there is not much evidence for a consistent left-ward tilt in reporting. Indeed, if there is any bias in campaign coverage at all, it is toward an increasing emphasis on negative news coverage – stories about controversy, personality disputes and candidate strategy, at the expense of simply reporting what candidates do or say. And rather than favoring the liberal candidate, news coverage instead tends to adopt an anti-incumbent bias; journalists generally treat challengers in presidential elections, regardless of party, more favorably than incumbents or the better known candidate. A version of this seemed to be at play in the 2008 Democratic primary, when Barack Obama initially received much more favorable coverage than the better known Hillary Clinton. Once Obama's candidacy gained momentum, however, he began to receive more negative coverage. In the end, as the table below indicates, Clinton and Obama received about equally positive coverage (see a discussion here.)
Looking at the general election, one might again argue there was a liberal bias. As the table below from the Pew Center summarizes, Obama received more favorable coverage than John McCain at least through mid-October (for a discussion, see here.)
Note that the variation in coverage did not necessarily follow some underlying real world change in the relative position of the two candidates; as the chart below indicates, the tone of Obama's news coverage did not seem to track his actual support in the polls so much as it varied according to events (Lehman brothers crash, the debates) deemed newsworthy by the press.
It is possible, then, to argue that Obama's generally favorable news coverage reflects the ideological biases of a left-leaning press. But it is equally plausible that what we are seeing is a structural bias in which news coverage is slanted toward what is new and therefore newsworthy. In this case, Obama was by far the more newsworthy candidate – he was young, had "upset" Clinton in the primaries, was an African-American who seemed to have rallied heretofore underrepresented voters to the campaign. McCain, in contrast, was old news.
By structural bias, I mean to suggest that news coverage is driven primarily by the nature of the news business – the need to attract an audience and sell advertising in an increasingly competitive and financially sketchy news environment. In this environment reporters are increasingly driven to define newsworthy stories as those that involve controversy or disagreement, to emphasize the negative and to view elections in terms of the horse race narrative. Issues tend to get personalized (see "Obamacare"). But they also latch onto stories that are deemed newsworthy for other reasons – in this case, the first viable run for the presidency by an African-American.
Of course, this data refers to election coverage. What about news coverage of Obama's presidency? Does it reflect an ideological bias? At least initially, it was generally favorable, when compared to the coverage received by Clinton or Bush.
But this data covers the period before the health care debate, the Town Hall meetings, and the inexorable slide in Obama's popularity. My guess is that the percent of favorable stories on Obama has decreased since his first two months in office.
It may seem somewhat incongruous, given this data, for Obama's aides to be charging the news media with bias. Of course, they aren't targeting the entire media –they are accusing Fox News of biased coverage. In making this claim they aren't necessarily accusing Fox of slanting the content of a news story in a particular direction. Instead they are criticizing Fox's agenda-setting role. Fox was particularly aggressive in covering the Town Hall health care meetings, the past statements and affiliations of the White House "green" adviser Van Jones, and the allegations of corruption within the Acorn community activist group. Apparently what most concerned the Obama administration were reports that editors at other news outlets, such as the NY Times, were admitting that they were slower than Fox to cover some of these stories.
But there is a second component to the charge of media bias, and that's identifying what we mean by "the media". Part of the Obama administration's problem, I think, is their inability to separate the Fox network's news commentary from its news coverage division – a problem that extends to left-leaning pundits and bloggers more generally. Major Garrett reports the news; Glenn Beck is paid to comment on the news. They serve different functions – a distinction often lost on Fox News' critics. In defense of the Obama administration, however, it has become more difficult to separate the news reporting from news editorializing during the last two decades. There has been an increased tendency, for example, for newspapers to include columns titled "news interpretation" or "news analysis" which blur the line between reporting and editorializing. (Long time readers will recall that much of my election year blogging was spent dissecting the many mistakes in data interpretation contained in these election year news "analyses"). And cable news outlets are increasingly divvying up the potential news market in an effort to establish a niche audience. In this hot-house media environment of 24-7 news coverage, amid a backdrop of dwindling revenues and declining audiences, it is not surprising that news organizations are increasingly intent on developing a specific news brand.
Given these structural, as opposed to ideological, biases that drive media coverage, it is little wonder that most presidential administrations sooner or later believe the media is out to get them. In this respect, the Obama administration fears are no different from that of previous administrations'. This year the target is Fox News cable network. Under previous presidents, during a different news era when the traditional news outlets dominated coverage, the target was the New York Times, the Washington Post, or CBS broadcast news.
What is different, however, is the speed and openness with which the Obama administration has leveled these charges. All presidential administrations believe portions of the media are biased. Few, if any, since Nixon's presidency have taken the offensive so publicly. Obama and his aides may have calculated that in this new media environment, they have more to gain by going on the offensive and targeting that spectrum of the news media that they believe to be politically out of step. If so, I think they are making a mistake, one that reflects the relative inexperience of the president combined with the prominent role played in his senior White House staff by former campaign strategists such as communications director Anita Dunn. They are making the common error of conflating campaigning with governing. I believe this will likely erode Obama's public standing, increase unfavorable press coverage, and ultimately undercut his efforts to pass his legislative program and to create a more bipartisan tone in Washington, DC. I develop these points more fully in the next post.


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The husband of a New York City woman found dead in Turkey says he's struggling to come to grips with the reality of spending the rest of his life without the woman he's loved for more than 15 years.
Steven Sierra told the New York Daily News his wife, Sarai Sierra, was an amazing and caring person and a loving mother to their sons, 9 and 11, whom he has yet to tell she is gone.
"You have so many plans, so many dreams with the person you deeply love. You look forward to many years together and there are so many things you haven't fulfilled with that person, and now those won't be fulfilled," Steven Sierra told the News. "I'm heartbroken."
An avid amateur photographer, the 33-year-old Sarai Sierra traveled to Istanbul alone, her first trip out of the United States, to capture the beauty of the ancient city, from its bridges to its ruins to its graffiti scene. She disappeared on Jan. 21, the day she was scheduled to return home.
Her body was found 12 days later near the remnants of the city's ancient walls. Police say she had suffered a fatal blow to the head.
Her husband traveled to Istanbul last week to help in the search. Steven Sierra told the News he had planned to tell his children their mother was missing on Saturday, but when he learned she was found dead, he said he wanted to wait to tell the kids in person upon his return home.
Steven Sierra intends to accompany his wife's body back to New York.
Prosecutors in Istanbul got a court order Monday for authorities to take blood and DNA samples from 21 people already questioned in Sarai Sierra's death as Turkish police continued to scour the area where her body was found in search of additional evidence.
Authorities have said Sarai Sierra was still wearing a gold necklace, ring and bracelet, but the iPhone and iPad she had taken with her were gone.
Steven Sierra told the News the lack of information about what happened compounds his grief.
"I don't know yet what went wrong, and that's the battle I'm going through right now," the husband said. "What happened? Who attacked my wife? She's a little lady, only 5-foot-2, and very petite. Who did this to her and why? ... I don't have answers right now, and maybe I never will."


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All Americans have a stake in an effective response to violent bigotry. Hate crimes demand a priority response because of their special emotional and psychological impact on the victim and the victim's community. The damage done by hate crimes cannot be measured solely in terms of physical injury or dollars and cents. Hate crimes may effectively intimidate other members of the victim's community, leaving them feeling isolated, vulnerable and unprotected by the law. By making members of minority communities fearful, angry and suspicious of other groups — and of the power structure that is supposed to protect them — these incidents can damage the fabric of our society and fragment communities.
ADL has long been in the forefront of national and state efforts to deter and counteract hate-motivated criminal activity. Hate crime statutes are necessary because the failure to recognize and effectively address this unique type of crime could cause an isolated incident to explode into widespread community tension.
In June 1993, the United States Supreme Court upheld a Wisconsin hate crime statute that was based on model legislation originally drafted by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in 1981. (Wisconsin v. Mitchell, 508 U.S. 476 (1993)).
The following year, ADL published a detailed report on hate crimes laws, Hate Crimes Laws: A Comprehensive Guide, which functions as a reference on hate crimes legislation nationwide. This update is meant to complement the 1994 report and encompasses changes that have occurred since that time, including the League's recent addition of gender to its model hate crimes legislation, and the passage of additional Federal legislation, as well as a description of a number of Federal training and education initiatives to confront hate violence.


text:
I know this is mainly a Stats related site, however I'm running out of resources for finding the answer to this question on other websites. I'm trying to figure out how to set the server config for instant player respawn time. I've managed to get it down to 6 seconds and have tried these settings and different variations of them -
levelVars.set all respawnDelay 1
SetInstantSpawnEnabled true
Server.InstantSpawn true
I've also tried setting it through Procon and that didn't work either. There are a number of servers out there with instant player spawn time, so I know it's possible. Can anyone provide and help? I'd greatly appreciate it! Thanks!


text:
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text:
Zayn Malik and Perrie Edwards have basically got a relationship straight outta a Disney movie, don't they? Zayn's like the tall, dark, and handsome prince who wears leather jackets and has a flawless mane, and Perrie's like the beautiful blonde princess who can pull off purple lipstick like no other, sings like a fairy, and we're pretty sure little songbirds come and do her hair in the morning.
The Zerrie engagement is the stuff of fairytales, and it turns out that the proposal was just as perfect too. At One Direction's Q&A sesh during a soundcheck in Sydney last week, Zayn revealed exactly how he popped the question.
Asked by a fan if he wouldn't mind spilling the story and letting us all in on their special moment, Zayn was more than happy to reveal all the details about his proposal, and he sounds so happy and shy when he retellsit, that it's making our hearts do a fireworks display.
Zayn revealed a few of the details to the Directioners in the audience: "We were watching a film in the back garden and her mum was there, my mum was there... Erm, my two best mates were there which was quite sick... And that's it, and she said yeah which is quite sick!"
Yep, okay, we're about to pass out from cuteness. How adorable is that?! An intimate and old-school family proposal. Okay, so it was like a Disney film!
Listen to Zayn spill all the details about his proposal to Perrie in the vid below, and be prepared for a cuteness overload:
What do you think of Zayn's proposal?! Are you excited for the Zerrie wedding? Sound off in the comments!
Originally posted on Sugarscape.com
From: Sugarscape


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U.S. now an international laughing stock
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Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 5837
Location: The eye of the universe, Cen. Cal. coast
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:37 pm
Post subject: U.S. now an international laughing stock
Thanks administration, you're awesome!
Edward Snowden gives countries a chance to thumb nose at US
The US has long emphasized the importance it gives to the human rights of the citizens of the nations it is dealing with. Now, countries aiding Edward Snowden as he tries to evade US justice can turn the tables on the US.
By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / June 24, 2013
The carefully planned journey of Edward Snowden from Hong Kong to Russia then to Cuba possibly, before ending up in Ecuador to seek political asylum? underscores just how many countries, big and small, are happy to have an occasion to stick it in the eye of the United States.
The US and the Obama administration in particular are quick to emphasize the importance they give to the human rights of the citizens of the countries they are dealing with. Needless to say, however, those countries dont always take well to American lesson-giving.
With the case of Mr. Snowden a former National Security Agency contractor who leaked details of top-secret American and British surveillance programs and who is now sought by the US on espionage charges those countries have a chance to turn the tables on the US.
In a conference call with reporters Monday, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said, I simply do not see the irony that countries whose human rights records are deeply questioned by international rights groups, as well as by the US, seem to be the ones most willing to aid Snowden in his flight from US justice.
China is accused of broadly limiting personal freedoms and targeting dissidents, Russia received an international black eye last year for the high-profile prosecution of members of the Pussy Riot feminist punk-rock group, and Ecuador is under fire from rights groups for a succession of laws limiting personal freedoms including one this month that prohibits news organizations from publishing classified or confidential government documents.
As Secretary of State John Kerry quipped as he was questioned Monday about the countries on Snowdens seeming itinerary, "I wonder if Snowden chose Russia or China for assistance because they are such bastions of Internet freedom.
But those countries human rights records are another matter, according to Mr. Assange, the noted leaker of sensitive US diplomatic cables who has himself been living at the Ecuadorean Embassy in London for more than a year to avoid extradition to Sweden.
Assange did say that no one is suggesting that Ecuador is engaging in the kinds of abuses the US is committing on a large scale internationally which he said range from the Obama administrations program to hack and spy on everyone across the entire world to President Obamas assassination program in other countries.
The US is trying to bully Russia and other states into turning over a legitimate asylum seeker, Assange said, adding, No self-respecting country would submit to ... the bullying by the US in this matter.
Assange said Snowden is en route to Ecuador, where he expects to apply for asylum, but he declined to offer any details of Snowdens route, other than what was already known Monday morning that Snowden on Sunday had flown from Hong Kong to Moscow, where he was said to have remained in the airports transit areas.
Snowden had been expected to take a Moscow-to-Havana flight Monday, but he was not on the plane when it departed, according to numerous reports.
Snowden is still expected to make his way from Moscow to Quito, Ecuador, via Cuba and Venezuela, according to other sources two other countries with antagonistic relations with the US that in the past have jumped at the chance to make problems for Washington.
Perhaps more surprising was Russia and Chinas willingness, as some US officials saw it, to cooperate with Snowdens efforts to evade US justice.
Speaking on CBSs Face the Nation Sunday, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) California, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that mainland China clearly had a role in the Hong Kong authorities decision to allow Snowden to leave. I dont think this was just Hong Kong without Chinese acquiescence, she said.
US officials insisted Monday that the US had done everything required under international law for foreign authorities to honor the US request for Snowdens arrest.
White House spokesman Jay Carney on Monday rejected the claims of Hong Kong authorities that the US extradition request for Snowden was incomplete. Instead, he said, authorities of the semiautonomous Chinese territory made a deliberate choice ... to release a fugitive despite a valid arrest warrant.
Many international legal experts note that political and diplomatic considerations almost always weigh in deliberations on extradition requests and foreign arrest requests.
And how countries treat such requests also has political and diplomatic ramifications, as Secretary Kerry noted in his remarks Monday.
Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi with Indias foreign minister, Kerry said there would be, without any question, some effect and impact on the relationship [with China or Russia] and consequences if either or both countries are found to have aided Snowden in evading US authorities.
The US remained in dialogue with Russian officials about Snowden on Monday, Kerry said.
Mr. Carney was more blunt, saying the decision to allow Snowden to depart Hong Kong unquestionably has a negative impact on the US-China relationship. He said, The Chinese have emphasized the importance of building mutual trust, adding, We think that they have dealt that effort a serious setback.
Concerning Russia, Carney noted the intensified cooperation with Russia after the Boston Marathon bombings and our history of working with Russia on law enforcement matters, including returning numerous high-level criminals back to Russia at the request of the Russian government. Given that recent cooperation, he said, We do expect the Russian government to look at all the options available to [it] to expel Mr. Snowden back to the United States.
In comments made after Carney spoke with journalists, Mr. Obama said Monday that the US is "following all the appropriate legal channels" to bring Snowden back to the US from Russia. US officials, he said, are working with a list of other unspecified countries to press for international application of "the rule of law" in the Snowden case.
Snowden took an Aeroflot flight from Hong Kong to Moscow something international experts say is quite unlikely to have occurred without the knowledge of Russian authorities.
Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin had been evasive when questioned recently about what Russia would do if Snowden sought transit through or even refuge in Russia.
But Russian officials including Mr. Putin, who has come under growing criticism for perceived authoritarian tendencies from various US and international sources may have sensed a certain satisfaction in an occasion to tweak the US for what organizations like WikiLeaks consider the persecution of a heroic whistle-blower.
And then there is China.
Chinese leaders were not thrilled last year when then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton took the side of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng during a visit to Beijing. The US believes "that all governments have to answer our citizens' aspirations for dignity and the rule of law and that no nation can or should deny those rights," Ms. Clinton told her Chinese counterparts.
Mr. Chen was later allowed to leave China for study in the US.
Now might it be that China, and the other countries apparently ready to step up and assist Snowden, are seizing the opportunity for a satisfying tit for tat?
And there is this~
Yea, we got clout.
The fact of the matter is that China, Russia, and others see us as what we have now become, a paper tiger. BHO can go in front of the cameras and spew any kind of threat he wants, and he just gets laughed at now.
Many people in this country consider Snowden as a modern day Paul Revere, haven't seen any polls on that yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a pretty large %'age.
If it was a GOP prez in the WH now, the press would be considering Snowden a hero, and demanding an impeachment.
And I make no apologies for GOP members like Lindsey Graham, calling him a traitor, the GOP does have it's idiots also.
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Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 5837
Location: The eye of the universe, Cen. Cal. coast
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:11 pm
Post subject:
So the question remains, is he a hero or a traitor?
I'm not sure yet, so far I think he's a bit of both, but that can change depending on how this plays out.
One thing is for sure, he pulled down the pants of this current approach.
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Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Posts: 3598
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:44 pm
Post subject:
Fox News would be calling for an impeachment if it was a GOP pres.?
You do recall that this program originated under Bush and O allowed it to continue its natural evolution.
I have seen polls where the majority of Americans are OK with this, in the name of national security.
My crowd has always thought they were doing this since at least the 80s so we regard this news as a big yawn.
The biggest surprise to us is that it started so recently.
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Joined: 11 Nov 1993
Posts: 8490
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 12:38 am
Post subject:
I believe the man is a hero. There has been a vast amount of national treasure and blood spent on wars and intelligence while the rest of the world scoffs at us.
The disdain for Obama by Putin, China, Israel and others around the world is palpable. Putin reacts as if Obama is a fool. This is a pity. Why don't we just get back to the business of small business job creation and innovation. Beware of the Military Industrial complex.
I know my friends on the left will scoff at me for saying this, but Obama is ill-prepared to be the leader of the free world. It seems that with tens of thousands of new laws every decade, surveilance, the IRS, Fast and Furious, among other things, that we are no longer free. Except in the pleasures of sex and drugs...
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Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Posts: 3598
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 5:13 am
Post subject:
Perhaps that is less of a problem than it might seem.
I have never spoken to a non American who thinks the the American President is the leader of the free world. Maybe there was a time that was true.
Many folks think America is the self appointed police force of the world.
Some are glad for it, like some folks in Panama. Others take it for arrogance..
Many others are afraid of what we might do.
This seems consistent with many Americans view of cops in general, so perhaps that reaction to our policing efforts is just human nature.
I think we should reduce our role on this area. It clearly encourages terrorist responses in some groups who have had loved ones killed by accident in American police actions. If the US begins to fire drones at the Mafia, while killing dozens or hundreds of innocent Americans, there will be similar terrorist groups rising up in the US taking revenge on other Americans they hold responsible.
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Joined: 10 Jul 2005
Posts: 3598
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 5:25 am
Post subject:
You may be right about those new laws Bard but I have trouble understanding how there can be tens of thousands. At the federal level only Congress can write new laws. They have written new legislation at the slowest rate during O administration in my lifetime.
One source online says he has signed 89 bills so far, a record low for a modern prez because Congress rarely sends him any new laws to sign.
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Joined: 11 Nov 1993
Posts: 8490
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 10:28 am
Post subject:
I should have said laws and regulations. Regulations are being churned out by the thousands. EPA charges $37,500 per day in the case of the smallest infraction.
How Many Felonies Did You Commit Today?
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Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 19216
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 11:44 am
Post subject:
Traitor, IMO. Just as it's not Bard's right to decide for the country whether war is justified, it's not Snowdens's right to decide what programs should be classified or unclassified; ultimately, only the President has that authority. Reinventing our classification protocols and processes through anarchy will ultimately destroy it, to our enemies' powerful advantage. This could have been almost catastrophic if it hadn't already been leaked by some U.S. media under Bush.
That this program is subject to abuse for political or personal goals is another matter altogether.
The honorable way for Snowden to pursue his premeditated (by his own admission) goal would have been to try first to improve or cancel the program through his chain of command, then when that failed go over its head, then when
failed blow some whistles, but all from his office, not to and from China. That's how I and others, after much deliberation decades ago, fought certain peers' and commanders' corruption and mismanagement, and I've seen no reason to change that sequence.
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Joined: 19 May 1998
Posts: 3321
Location: Leo
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 11:55 am
Post subject:
Absolutely a traitor. The man has done a disservice to his country and should be apprehended and prosecuted.
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Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 12822
Location: Berkeley, California
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 12:17 pm
Post subject:
Too early to tell whether he is a hero or a traitor. I consider Daniel Ellsberg a hero for publishing the Pentagon Papers, but he would have been prosecuted successfully if the Department of Justice hadn't made so many mistakes that he was eventually acquitted:
Daniel Ellsberg and colleague Anthony Russo were charged with theft and unauthorized possession of classified documents under the Espionage Act in 1971, but were eventually acquitted. The revelation that a special investigations unit created by President Nixon had burglarized the offices of Ellsberg's psychoanalyst was a major factor leading to the president's resignation in 1974.
There were clearly lies in the US run-up to Vietnam--as there were in the run-up to Iraq. Exposing lies that lead to the loss of human lives is a very brave thing to do, and Ellsberg knew he faced jail. It is not yet clear whether Snowden stands on any moral high ground at all--in part because of the secrecy allowed by Congress. It is not clear to be whether the programs exposed by Snowden go beyond those authorized in the revisions to the National Security Act.
But I am disgusted by the hysteria of many on the right who raised no objections while this happened under Bush, but are now eager to have a cudgel to try to pummel Obama with. The United States military remains the strongest in the world, and the lessons of history--which have been repeated since Vietnam--are that military force has limited capacity to solve political dilemmas. That's a fact, not a statement of weakness.
While Obama has had his share of failures in diplomacy, Bush didn't even know what the word meant.
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Sleeping Giant: Total Solution
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Do you dream of having a strong and vibrant men's community that drives the mission and vision of your church? Watch a message from Pastor Kenny Luck
This dream rarely becomes a reality because there is no compelling vision for men articulated or visible. Or there is no meaningful process that both transforms the man and also trains him to lead in the church context.
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When a man commits to pursuing and deepening his male friendships in a safe group context, he will sustain momentum to grow spiritually and achieve personal changes faster than he ever could on his own.
Men need to go after core health in their own character and relationships. Through open discussion where men share who they are and what is really happening in their lives. If the most real and relevant issues remain unaddressed and untouched, the rest of what a man may learn or accomplish through his connection with other men will be short-lived in both his life and church contexts.
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Healthy, strong, trained men are deployed to serve the church and their mission in the world to aggressively share the Gospel. A church that empowers transformation of men helps itself by winning the loyalty, energy, and expression of its men toward the larger needs, mission, and vision of the church. The Bible requires of a man core health and strong leadership, as described in the first two stages of the pathway, prior to selection for church leadership. The spiritual pathway must be supported at each step with the right connective funnels, the right tools and resources, and the right relationships to be successful. When implemented in conjunction with these other elements, a solid leadership engine can be built in any church that will accelerate the mission and vision for the senior or lead pastor.


text:
Tallahassee, Florida (Reuters) - The resignation of Florida's lieutenant governor, Jennifer Carroll, and the arrests of 57 people charged with money laundering and racketeering has sparked a stampede in the state legislature to shut down hundreds of "internet cafes," whose online gambling operations have been allowed to skirt the law for several years.
While they try to distance themselves from the storefront sweepstakes, political leaders are also trying to scrub their campaign-finance reports of any contributions from companies associated with Allied Veterans of the World, the non-profit operation at the center of a massive fraud investigation.
Carroll's public relations company worked with Allied Veterans when she was a House member in 2009-10. She resigned Tuesday after being questioned by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, though she has not been charged.
Internet cafes sell phone cards or internet access that customers can use on-premises, often to gamble online, playing electronic slot machines or poker, among other games. Winnings and losses are recorded on an access card, which can be cashed out when a player leaves an establishment.
Many city and county governments, including sheriffs, have called them "storefront casinos," but pleas for statewide regulation have gone unheeded.
That changed on Wednesday when Republican leaders, including Senate President Don Gaetz and House Speaker Will Weatherford, rushed to add internet cafe bills to the top of committee agendas.
Law enforcement officials alleged that Allied Veterans earned about $300 million over a four-year period while it served as a front for illegal gambling. The Oklahoma-based organization spent around $2 million on political donations over the same period.
Police shuttered 49 cafes in the sweep of arrests on Tuesday.
Republican Senator John Thrasher has already proposed a bill that would have stopped licensing of any more internet cafes. It is set for a hearing on Monday in the Senate Gaming Committee and is expected to be amended before then to outlaw the cafes.
"Even the internet cafes that are operating with the best of intentions are operating within a gray area of the law," said Adam Putnam, commissioner of agriculture and consumer services. "That should be resolved and, given the widespread nature of the corruption, I think it's best for the state of Florida to err on the side of a total elimination."
After announcing Carroll's resignation Wednesday, Governor Rick Scott ordered a thorough inspection of his own campaign-finance records to see if he has received any contributions from companies associated with Allied Veterans. Such funds will be donated to charity, he said.
On Thursday, Republican Party of Florida Chairman Lenny Curry of Jacksonville took the same action.
"In light of recent developments, RPOF is examining financial contributions that may be connected to any entities affiliated with the investigation and we are reviewing the most appropriate options," he said.
At least nine lobbyists and legislative advisers withdrew from representing International Internet Technologies, an internet cafe company investigators said provided technology to Allied Veterans to run the online games.
Tallahassee public relations woman Sarah Bascom said IIT was part of the Coalition of Florida's Internet Cafes, which her firm represented. She said the internet cafe lobbying "team" felt misled by the company.
"We had no knowledge of any of this until Tuesday, when the media reports started coming out (about arrests), and we terminated our representation of them immediately," she said.
Editing by David Adams


text:
Out of stock
18/36" Silver Oval Link Convertible Toggle Chain
Wear your Chain long OR short! Our Silver Oval Link 18"/36" Convertible Toggle Chain pairs perfectly with any of our Silver Living Lockets®. This 2-in-1 Chain features an airy and open oval-link design and offers two great lengths to wear your favorite Lockets and Dangles, adding incredible versatility to match your unique style! Watch the how-to Video!
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i am currently working on a project using zend mvc. i have a product detail page. below is my route config of product detail page
Code: Select all
resources.router.routes.product-display.route =/detail/:productname
resources.router.routes.product-display.defaults.module = default
resources.router.routes.product-display.defaults.controller =product
resources.router.routes.product-display.defaults.action = display
here you can clearly see that i have productname parameter, this is because i want the product name to display in url. but in my database i have primary key on productid.
Is there any option that i keep displaying productname in url but on back end i have productid to use in where clause of select statement.


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The place for all Computer needs
Please make your requests for mixed media here
A mass of Movie/TV shares and requests
A significant offering of Music needs.
Grouping of games for popular gaming platforms.
Bundle of Books / Audiobooks / Magazines to share and request.
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Spectrum for all Windows Resources Requests.
Applications, shares, requests and resources for mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Android, Galaxy, Blackberry etc.)
Anything goes. A free for all in regards to requests and shares that don't match any other part of the board.


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Friday, October 05, 2007
Timing is everything
18 comments:
- TinkingBell said...
Nice nice - love the heels and toes - happy birthday to Husby!
- 05 October, 2007
- Bells said...
looking fabulous! Love them! I'm the same - nearly always bus knitting, but this week with working on a sock at home, I've flown through it!
- 05 October, 2007
- kim said...
They look great. I love the red toe. I got that book as a Christmas gift, and I think the patterns are great.
Happy Birthday to your husband!
- 05 October, 2007
- michele said...
hey, done done done. they look great. hope he has a happy birthday. how could he not with those new socks.
- 05 October, 2007
- Snoozen said...
Hey RR they look great and looked even better in real life last Saturday. I was in awe at your ability to knit with those tiny needles. Lucky H, pass on our birthday wishes to that lovely H of yours.
- 05 October, 2007
- kgirl said...
lucky husby - happy birthday to him!
hey, that's one pair down for SSS, too, isn't it?
Are you the first?
- 05 October, 2007
- amy said...
You've talked about that book so often I got it out of the library, and quickly realized I need my own copy. I want to knit at least half the book!
I wish I lived anywhere near you, I'd help you over the ribbing/moss stitch issue. Are you switching hands to knit and purl? I knit continental, but my purling was awkward, and at some point I sat myself down and worked on it, and now I just fly through the knit/purl combinations. (I've had lots of practice lately, too, with certain projects; that helps.) The yarn always stays in the my left hand.
Maybe we could exchange photos? Probably flying to Australia would be extreme on my part....
- 05 October, 2007
- Queen of the froggers said...
They are fab socks, happy birthday to husband!
- 05 October, 2007
- Alwen said...
Happy birthday to your husband!
(Mine is today, but if I want socks for my birthday I better go knit on them!)
I love those red toes!
- 06 October, 2007
Send some sock mojo as my hubby's birthday is later this month & I know he's going to be looking for something knitted!
Your socks are lovely, just lovely. Hubby is very lucky!
- 06 October, 2007
- catsmum said...
Happy berfday to the Hubby!
I needs me a closer up pic of the braid thingy.
- 06 October, 2007
- Nora said...
They look great - love the red toe. Happy birthday to Mr RR. :)
- 06 October, 2007
- MadMad said...
Wow! They cam out fabulous! I love how the stipes/colors even match up all the way through! Happy, happy bday to the big guy!
- 07 October, 2007
- Corrie said...
ohhhhhhh nice I think the red is so cute...I mean manly very manly!
- 07 October, 2007
- Donna Lee said...
I have a pattern from Knitpicks for Lily of the Valley socks that has one of those sideways looking braids between the ribbing and the cuff. I like the way is separates one from the other. Great socks!
- 07 October, 2007
- Michelle said...
I love them! Absolutely love them!
- 07 October, 2007
- Em said...
They look wonderful and very manly, especially in the camo. I love the red toes, it's such a cool idea. I may well have to steal a modified version of it. If I didn't think Momolla would beat me unto death, I would probably burn her copy of Knitting on the Road, but I'm just bitter about the casting on thing.
- 08 October, 2007
- Jejune said...
Wonderful socks!! Love the red toes and the 'vikkel braid' - woo hoo! Something new to learn about :D
Happy belated birthday to your hubby :)
- 08 October, 2007


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Waggit: Wearable Health Tech for Man's Best Friend
Dogs can't tell us when they aren't feeling like themselves. That's why there is Waggit, a collar that tracks your dog's vitals, activity, location and more.
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Risks and challenges
We've been lucky to work with some great people to bring Waggit to life. But there are a lot of moving parts and we've been met with our fair share of challenges.
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Funding period
- (51 days)