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An overnight fire at a Fort Pierce, Florida, mosque that was attended by the gunman in the deadly Orlando nightclub shooting was intentionally set, police said Monday morning.
In an update on its official Facebook page, St. Lucie County Maj. David Thompson said investigators collected evidence showing a person set fire to the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce on purpose.
"Video tape captured an individual approach the east side of the building," Thompson said. "Immediately after the individual approached, a flash occurred and the individual fled the area."
The surveillance footage was later released by the sheriff's office.
Thompson said the center was unoccupied. He added that the sheriff's office is investigating the incident as an arson.
The center was where Omar Mateen once worshiped while living in the area. Mateen killed 49 people and injured 53 at the Orlando gay club in the early morning hours of June 12. It was the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. Mateen was later killed in a shootout with police.
According to NBC affiliate WPTV-TV, crews responded to fire at the Islamic Center shortly after 12:30 a.m. after 911 calls that the building was on fire. The blaze was quickly extinguished and no one was hurt. The extent of the damage was unclear.
"It is with a very heavy heart that we have to announce that last night around midnight, there was an arson attack on our Mosque," the Islamic center wrote on their Facebook page. "Please keep us in your Du'as and prayers."
Thompson declined to speculate on whether the Sunday anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks played a role in the fire but said given the circumstances it could be a hate crime.
Multiple agencies, including the State Fire Marshal's Office, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the FBI, are investigating. Sheriff's officials said they will be releasing the video and asking for the public's help in identifying the person responsible for the fire.
It's not the first time the mosque has seen trouble since the Orlando attack.
A few weeks after the nightclub shooting, a man was beaten outside the mosque, according to Sheriff Ken J. Mascara. Early on July 2, deputies were called by a man who said someone was trying to burglarize a vehicle. Arriving deputies found a man bleeding from the mouth who told them he was approached by someone who "asked him what he was doing and then punched him several times in the face and head."
The man was stopped by deputies and arrested a short time later.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement that a man in a truck had stopped outside the mosque earlier that day and made slurs, including, "you Muslims need to get back to your country."
Mateen's father is among the roughly 100 members that attend the mosque.
Monday marks the beginning of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.


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Today I am following up on the theme of divisiveness, which has had the online skeptical and atheist communities all abuzz following the announcement of a woman blogger who has gone on indefinite hiatus (story here) as well as the formation of a group called Atheism+, real-life examples of how communities divide, and why, and who draws boundary lines and who gets pushed out, and what happens when small groups of people leave larger groups in order to pursue their own specific goals.
Seemingly large and very vocal groups of atheists and skeptics who do not want to splinter away from the main groups are quite unhappy that the splinter groups have been formed, and are spending a lot of time arguing about it, for a variety of reasons like these:
1. It divides the movement.
2. The new group is off topic.
3. It makes everyone in the old group look bad.
4. It drives away potential new members.
5. What the new group wants is stupid and/or pointless (and they've cut themselves off from criticism).
6. We need to let them know what we think.
Let's briefly address these concerns.

subset: commoncrawl


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Following John Jay College's recent and profound institutional transformation that put the College on an all-baccalaureate footing and established a new academic profile, the moment is right to build the superstructure needed in a few critical areas for the years ahead. The focus now turns to transformational learning and development for our students; "John Jay 2020" is the blueprint for that effort through the end of this decade.
Through the seven goals of the Strategic Plan, John Jay will
- enlarge the opportunities that contribute to life-long student success;
- invest in the faculty who deliver the academic program;
- expand student access through new scholarships;
- create new pathways into health and public health professions;
- build infrastructure and academic programs for online delivery;
- deepen our commitment to diversity by enhancing our identity as an Hispanic-Serving Institution; and
- shape strategically John Jay's global identity.


text: Morning and Night Art Studio Wednesday, November 8, 2017 10:00 AM 2:00 PM 10:00 14:00 Google Calendar ICS Wednesday Morning Portrait Drawing & Painting Studio10am-2pm | 4 days per month | $180 registration, $45 materialsWednesdays, November 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2017Generous morning studio sessions are ideal for artists who have the time and dedication for improving their skills with hard-to-find classical atelier study. Appropriate for beginning and experienced students alike. Sessions are fully instructed, and subjects include cast drawings, still life, and master studies. All drawing materials are provided by the atelier; a periodic materials fee will be charged to keep the studio stocked. Register Today Posted in Atelier Tagged Atelier


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This page from American Indian Design and Decoration by Le Roy H. Appleton shows some interesting design interpretations. Many of them relate to pottery, baskets, rugs and figures/statues. But we do see some carryover into Native American jewelry.
We often see the clouds, rain and lightning stamped on jewelry and inlaid into jewelry and fetishes.
The abstract step like designs are often called blanket patterns or mesas but here the steps are used as part of birds and exit trail of life.
Do you have any of these symbols on your jewelry?
BIRDS – Note they have similar types of heads but one bird's body is comprised of steps.
CORN – A general design that could be used in weaving and beading.
EXIT TRAIL OF LIFE – Note that there is a break in the line above the design. This is the exit. Pottery and other handmade items are thought to be beings so it is with great respect that an exit is always left by the artist for the being. The line around a pot, for example, is never continuous.
CLOUD SERPENTS – Could these be Ancient Aliens?


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Tooltips and dungeon journal reflect ability values for one encounter version. Please refer to "Effect" section on spell pages to see values for all raid sizes and difficulties.
- Finkle Einhorn – Finkle Einhorn, gnome explorer extraordinare, has been captured by Nefarian and cannot be freed from his cage until Chimaeron is slain. A player can talk to Finkle before the fight begins to convince him to activate his Bile-O-Tron, which helps keep the raid alive. Activating the Bile-O-Tron also wakes Chimaeron.
- Bile-O-Tron – When Finkle activates the Bile-O-Tron, it moves about the room and sprays raid members with Finkle's Mixture as long as it is active. Chimaeron periodically knocks the Bile-O-Tron offline.
- Finkle's Mixture – The Bile-O-Tron sprays Finkle's Mixture on the raid while online. Finkle's Mixture prevents players whose health is above 10% from dropping below 1 health.
Chimaeron attacks his current target with Break and Double Attack, while continually spraying Caustic Slime at the raid. He periodically casts Massacre on the raid, and his heads sometimes Feud following a Massacre.
- Caustic Slime – Chimaeron lobs Caustic Slime at two random players. Each Caustic Slime inflicts 231 Nature damage, divided evenly among all players within 6 yards of the target. Caustic Slime also reduces chance to hit by 75% for 2.5 sec.
In 25 player raids Chimaeron lobs Caustic Slime at five random players.
- Massacre – Chimaeron hits all players for massive damage, probably killing anyone not under the effects of Finkle's Mixture.
Massacre sometimes knocks the Bile-O-Tron offline for a short period of time.
- Feud – Whenever Chimaeron knocks the Bile-O-Tron offline, his two heads begin to argue with each other, preventing Chimaeron from perfoming melee attacks for 30 sec.
In Heroic Difficulty Lord Victor Nefarius orders Chimaeron to stop his bickering, ending Feud after only 2 seconds.
- Break – Chimaeron attacks viciously, breaking through his target's defenses and increasing their Physical damage taken by 25% and reducing healing done by 15% for 1 min. This effect stacks.
- Double Attack – Chimaeron strikes twice with his next attack.
Stage Two: A Horrific Creation
At 20% health Chimaeron goes into a rage. This renders him immune to Taunt effects and greatly decreases healing done by players.
- Mortality – Chimaeron goes into a rage, rendering him immune to Taunt effects. In addition, he reduces healing effects done to players by 99%.
In 10 player raids Chimaeron takes 10% increased damage while Mortality is active.
- Double Attack – Chimaeron strikes twice with his next attack.
- Mocking Shadows – Lord Victor Nefarius inflicts 2 Shadow damage every second to all players.
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The Wowhead Client is a little application we use to keep our database up to date, and to provide you with some nifty extra functionality on the website!
It serves 2 main purposes:
- It maintains a WoW addon called the Wowhead Looter, which collects data as you play the game!
- It uploads the collected data to Wowhead in order to keep the database up-to-date!
You can also use it to keep track of your completed quests, recipes, mounts, companion pets, and titles!
So, what are you waiting for? Download the client and get started.


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GALLERY: Last wool sales in Newcastle
WHEN Tony Evans caught bronchitis at an early age in the 1950s, a part of the doctor's remedy was an order to don a woollen singlet. ''Back then, wool was very much a basic product and if you wore it you itched,'' recalled Evans, who is now 68 and has chalked up 40 years as a wool broker, 30 of them in Newcastle.
''But today with modern technology and superior breeding, we have magnificent stuff, the softest of cloths – it's almost like wearing silk.''
''You don't know how good it is until you put it on, trouble is the majority of Australians haven't worn a wool suit. They don't even know it exists.''
But Evans and his broking colleagues are facing a bigger problem.
A month ago Melbourne-based Australian Wool Handlers, which provides warehousing services for more than half of the nation's wool producers, announced it was walking away from its lease at the Maryville wool sheds, a 6.6hectare site which the Bradstreet Motor Group is redeveloping as a headquarters for its Newcastle dealerships.
The decision means that the three-day wool sales that begin on Tuesday at the Hannell Street sheds will not only be the last at the site, but the last in the sales' 70-year history in the city.
''I'm not going to jump off anything now,'' joked Evans as he sat in his crisply-ironed, collared shirt with David Cross, his colleague at broker Schute Bell Badgery Lumby, and Harold Manttan and Matt Thomas, brokers for Australian Wool Network and Landmark respectively.
''Every year we have fought and fought and fought to keep this place open because the growers wanted it and the brokers here deemed it a commercial decision.
''But it would have been cheaper not to have been here.''
For Australian Wool Handler's chief executive officer Craig Finlay, the decision to move the operations to Sydney was also a commercial decision.
''There are only four sales a year at Newcastle and the market has been eroded over time,'' he said, citing Australian Wool Exchange figures that reveal the volume of wool sold in the city has fallen from 150,000 bales a decade ago to the 50,000 bales expected this financial year.
''It's sad, but we have to be realistic, we just can't make it pay any more.''
AUSTRALIA literally lived off the sheep's back for 150 years from the 1840s, when the creamy, crimped, greasy and fibrous textile was its number one industry.
Its pungent, lanolin-drenched odour hung around the port of Newcastle as early as settlement, with the Australian Agricultural Company buying property up to the lower New England area to grow it and ship it to London.
Retired wool valuer and manager Bill Freeman said his former employer Dalgety's built a store in the railway yards near Nobby's for the purpose of dumping bales.
Freeman says the earliest records of wool selling in Newcastle date to 1929, when a group of New England and North West wool growers set up the New England & Northern Co-op, known as NENCO.
''The quantity sold in that year was 4670 bales,'' said Freeman, a Wingham resident who maintains a keen interest in all matters wool.
Over the years the wool sales have shifted around town operating in and around Annie Street, Wickham, the Wool Exchange in King Street, in Darby Street, Carrington, and more recently at the Hannell Street site.
During that time, Evans said, the supply and demand market has been volatile in the extreme thanks to natural and man-made pressures.
In 1950 the market was buoyant with the ''a pound for a pound'' – or one pound sterling for a pound of wool – when the Korean War brought a wool boom, but within a year that price had halved and new textiles nylon and polyester brought competition.
In the '60s drought knocked the market about, so too rising labour costs, and by the 1970s wool industry leaders, despite opposition from many growers, convinced the federal government to introduce a reserve or floor price to stabilise the fluctuating market.
The decision would create an over-supply and a stockpile that reached 4.8million bales by the end of the booming '80s market and would take another 15 years to sell.
''We were growing 5million bales a year of which we had a market for about 4million,'' Evans recalled.
''People knew they couldn't lose because they had a guaranteed price, but that price became too high.''
By 1991 the floor price was stopped and the inflated market had collapsed amid multi-million dollar write-offs and hardship in rural communities.
While the wool price has risen and fallen, one thing has remained constant.
''Not only is our superfine wool the best, Australia is really the only source of that best product,'' Evans said proudly of the superfine wool grown in the Northern Tablelands, as well as the premium wools grown in the Upper Hunter and North West slopes.
''There's a little bit in New Zealand and tiny amounts in South America and South Africa, but our merino sheep are the best in the world.''
Taking a break from preparing hundreds of wool samples for the Hannell Street sales floor, Evans and the other brokers rattled off the peaks and troughs in the wool industry, glee and glumness etched on their sun-weathered faces.
Their collective experience in wool surpasses the 70-year Newcastle sales era itself and while quick with a joke, their disappointment is palpable.
''It's quite an emotional thing, really,'' Evans said.
''We all thought we had another year [at Hannell Street]. From what I understand, there was a verbal agreement that the lease here would be extended, but then the car yard plans changed and they wanted to get on with it sooner.''
Gerard Buchanan, Schute Bell Badgery Lumby's Sydney manager, acknowledged that the disappearance of the Newcastle operation is ''disappointing'' but emphasised that the operations in Rutherford, where wool samples are taken and forwarded to Melbourne for testing and bales are stored before consignment, will continue.
''People automatically think everything is changing, and that they are going to have to physically send their wool to Sydney but that is not the case at all,'' he said.
Nonetheless, Evans and the rest of the brokers have each been forced to look for alternate office sites in Newcastle.
Craig Finlay said the Hannell Street sale will shift to Yennora, in Sydney's west, where about 45 sales are held annually, with about the same number again held in Melbourne and Fremantle.
The three sales venues pale in comparison to the 20 venues that peppered the nation three decades ago.
''We have done very well to still be here and I think the reason we have been able to do it is the quality of the wool and the relationship we have with our clients,'' Evans said.
''That's why we've been able to hang on as long as we have.''
THE end of this week's sales – where an estimated 12,500 bales will fetch up to $20million – will also spell a break in tradition that has long fattened the local economy.
While the number of Newcastle sales has plummeted, the mob of woolgrowers and buyers who relish travelling to town to see the collective clip has never wavered, propping up hotels, restaurants and business.
''We are renowned for getting the most woolgrowers to a wool sale out of any sale in Australia because our growers are so committed to the product they produce,'' said Craig Brennan, a broker and auctioneer for Elders, which took over NENCO in 1927 and is the longest-serving brokerage in town.
''Sure, sale numbers have dwindled, but for example in Fremantle I hardly ever get a client to a sale,'' he said.
Brennan, who is also chairman of the Newcastle Wool Brokers Association, said the traditional Newcastle sales have survived tough conditions including drought and the global financial crisis and was now beset by Europe's fiscal woes.
Once the dominant buyer, Italy now accounts for only 5per cent of sales, with China gobbling 80per cent of the stock.
''The Italians have always paid more money but China wants it as cheap as they can get it.
''Their mills have really improved in the past five years and their product is so good that they are exporting cloth to the Italians, who turn it into garments with 'Made In Italy' on it.''
Brennan said the Australian Wool Handlers' decision to move out came as a huge shock.
''We never knew it was coming,'' he said.
''I wouldn't say the dust has settled but after the sales next week it will for sure. A lot of growers are disappointed.''
Among them is Walcha wool grower Peter McNeill, who has been in the wool game for half a century and been a Newcastle sales stalwart.
''It's a shame, it'll be a real loss because lots of people come down and spend a bit of money about town – we buy fuel, stay in a motel and my wife likes to go shopping.
''Lots of people are upset but it's inevitable. If you haven't got enough wool to see you can't hold down an auction.''
McNeill, who averages about 300 bales per year and manages to make a quid, said he'll miss the sales banter with local growers and international buyers.
''I'll come down to say a fond farewell to the place because I won't be back.''
Bill Freeman will also be among the pack, so too Michael Hogg, who worked as a broker for 54 years for Farmers & Graziers (now Landmark) before retiring a decade ago.
''This is it,'' Hogg said, who still lends a hand in the sales and likes to catch up with the cockies.
For Barbara Morley, who has served the wool brokers and growers breakfast, lunch and dinner over the past 27 years, originally at the Cricketers Arms in Cooks Hill and now at Bimet Lodge at The Junction, the end of the sales era is tinged with nostalgia.
''I've been a part of the show, behind the scenes, and I've seen all evil, heard all evil but I will say no evil,'' she said of the ''rowdy'' dinners she's hosted for Japanese, French and Italian buyers and the local wool community.
On Wednesday, she'll don her apron and serve up dinner to 200 of them and enjoy a ''chardy'' with all the familiar faces before they disappear once and for all.
''Country folk are just so unbelievable, real gentlemen and so respectful – I'll miss them.''
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Samsung has acquired smart home startup SmartThings.
Multiple sources told Re/code's Kara Swisher that the deal was, in fact, for $200 million.
We reported last month that SmartThings was in talks with several companies — including Samsung — about a possible acquisition. The price of the deal has not been disclosed, although it was reported at the time it could be around $200 million.
SmartThings' platform allows you to control everyday appliances like lights and garage doors over the internet. You buy a kit that includes a router-like hub that talks to all your devices and lets you control them using an app on your phone.
In a blog post on the SmartThings site, CEO Alex Hawkinson says that SmartThings "will operate as an independent company within Samsung's Open Innovation Center group."
Prior to the acquisition, SmartThings raised more than $15 million, including a $12 million round last fall.
It makes sense for Samsung to throw its hat into the internet of things ring. In January, Google bought smart-home thermostat maker Nest. And in June, Nest bought Dropcam, a company that makes Wi-Fi cameras that can monitor your home.
And the acquisition makes sense for SmartThings, too, which can use the cushion to start expanding.
Read the statement regarding the acquisition below:
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California – August 14, 2014 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire SmartThings, the leading open platform for the smart home and the consumer Internet of Things. SmartThings supports an open and growing ecosystem of developers, who are producing new types of connected devices and unique apps in the cloud that change how everyday objects work. With Samsung's resources and support, SmartThings will be able to expand its platform and become available for even more partners and devices.
The company will continue to operate independently under founder and CEO Alex Hawkinson, and will become part of the Samsung Open Innovation Center (OIC), which is responsible for bringing software and services innovation to Samsung Electronics. SmartThings will move its headquarters from Washington, DC to Palo Alto, California.
Founded in 2012, SmartThings gives people power to monitor, control, and automate their homes from wherever they are through a single mobile app. SmartThings' open platform supports more than 1,000 devices and 8,000 apps created by its community of device makers, inventors, and developers.
"SmartThings has created a remarkable universe of partners and developers and now has the most engagement of any smart home platform in the world," said David Eun, Head of the OIC. "Connected devices have long been strategically important to Samsung and, like Alex and his team, we want to improve the convenience and services in people's lives by giving their devices and appliances a voice so they can interact more easily with them. We are committed to maintaining SmartThings' open platform, fostering more explosive growth, and becoming its newest strategic partner."
"As an open, standards-agnostic platform for the Internet of Things, our vision has always been to innovate, build, and make the world smarter, together," said Alex Hawkinson. "With Samsung behind us, we will be able to attract more device makers and developers to unlock the limitless possibilities of the consumer Internet of Things. We are thrilled to become part of the Samsung family and continue our goal in making every home a smart home."


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BOSTON, Mass. – For a second straight week the MIT women's tennis team has swept the weekly New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference awards the league announced today. Freshman Krystal Lai (Irvine, Calif.) who also earned doubles honors last week, was named the Singles Player of the Week, while the Engineers' doubles team of sophomore Victoria Tam (Rolling Hills Estates, Calif.) and freshman Elysa Kohrs (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) earned Doubles Team of the Week accolades.
Lai was victorious in both of her singles matches last week without surrendering a game in either while helping MIT to a 2-0 week and a clinch of the regular season NEWMAC title. Playing at No. 1 against Clark, she took a 6-0, 6-0 win against Sarah Sachs before dropping down to No. 4 against Wheaton where she won her match against Sarah Crom by the same 6-0, 6-0 score.
Tam and Kohrs, MIT's No. 2 doubles team, ran their season record to 7-1 overall and remained undefeated in NEWMAC play with a pair of impressive victories. Against Clark the duo defeated Kravetz/Snyder, 8-0, and then downed Wheaton's Brazell/Crom by an 8-1 score.


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'People who love their country can change it'
President Barack Obama was right: It wasn't as good.
But, standing in the same spot at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial where Martin Luther King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech 50 years ago to the day, Obama defied the low expectations he set for himself and delivered a powerful oration underscoring the meaning of King's vision for all Americans, regardless of race, and the nation's next generation. King's work, and that of other fallen civil rights heroes, is not done, Obama said.
Story Continued Below
"They did not die in vain. Their victory was great," he said. "But we would dishonor those heroes, as well, to suggest that the work of this nation is somehow complete. The arc of the moral universe may bend towards justice, but it doesn't bend on its own."
Obama acted as the connective tissue joining a civil rights campaign that reached its apex in his childhood to the modern issues of voting rights and stand-your-ground laws that confront him as president. Starting slowly, he slipped into the familiar cadence and upward inflection of a preacher and movement leader that characterized his 2008 campaign speeches rather than his more staid presidential addresses.
( WATCH: Obama's full remarks at 50th anniversary of March on Washington)
On Wednesday, the crowd remained flat for much of the speech, though it began to roar as Obama's pitch intensified midway through the 28-minute address.
But the president never quite reached for, or attained, the impossible-to-match righteous indignation that animated King's most famous oratory.
"No one can match King's brilliance," Obama said, a bit self-consciously.
Instead, Obama went to his political comfort zone, describing the universality of King's vision for equality of opportunity in America in the post-racial terms that informed his first run for the presidency.
"Dr. King explained that the goals of African-Americans were identical to working people of all races: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health and welfare measures — conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community," Obama said. "What King was describing has been the dream of every American."
( PHOTOS: 50th anniversary of MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech)
He quoted both King and scripture, drawing on the Book of Psalms to describe the foot soldiers of the civil rights movement as "people who could have given up and given in, but kept on keeping on, knowing that weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
Earlier Wednesday morning, Obama had tried to set realistic expectations for his own speech — which, at roughly 3,000 words, nearly doubled the length of King's address.
"Let me just say for the record right now, it won't be as good," Obama told radio host Tom Joyner. "Because when you're talking about Dr. King's speech at the March on Washington, you're talking about one of the maybe five greatest speeches in American history. And the words that he spoke at the particular moment, with so much at stake, and the way in which he captured the hopes and dreams of an entire generation, I think is unmatched."
Obama's 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, nodded to a different historical standard, sending a Wednesday tweet recalling the president's convention speech in Denver that year.
"Historic moment 5 yrs ago made more so by falling on anniversary of the March," Plouffe Tweeted with a link to video of Obama's acceptance.
( Also on POLITICO: Bill Clinton calls for action in speech)
Obama capped a daylong tribute that contrasted sharply in form, if not in basic message, with the 1963 March on Washington — and not just for the symbolic image of white park police holding umbrellas to keep black speakers dry in a light rain that fell intermittently during the ceremony.
It was generally presidents and performers, not preachers, who took center stage at Wednesday's commemoration. Fifty years ago, a relative handful of civil rights leaders — King, A. Philip Randolph, Whitney Young, John Lewis and others — stepped to the microphones between Lincoln's statue and the National Mall's reflecting pool.
One notable exception to that rule was John Lewis, the Georgia congressman who got his start at the juncture of civil rights and politics as chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and was one of only a handful of featured speakers at the 1963 march.


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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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A ringtone or ring tone is the sound made by a telephone to indicate an incoming call. The term, however, is most often used to refer to the customizable sounds available on mobile phones. This facility was originally provided so that people would be able to determine when their phone was ringing when in the company of other mobile phone owners.
A phone only rings when a special "ringing signal" is sent to it. For regular telephones, the ringing signal is a 90-volt, 20-hertz, AC wave generated by the switch to which the telephone is connected. For mobile phones, the ringing signal is a specific, radio-frequency signal.
A telephone ring is the sound generated when an incoming telephone call is received. The term originated from the fact that telephones notified the household of an incoming call by repeatedly striking a bell or bells, producing a ringing sound.
This "Magneto" bell system is still in widespread use; newer telephones use electronic sounders to produce other noises, but the term "ring" is still used. The ringing signal sent to a customer's telephone is AC at around 90 volts (at 20 hertz in North America, because of the use of 60 Hz mains; other regions with 50 Hz mains use 25 Hz); modern telephones electronically produce a warbling or chirping sound. The signal is sent for every ring and allows phone operators to provide several services with different kinds of rings (for example, rings with a shorter interval between them might be used to signal a call from a given number). When a home phone rings, it may carry Caller ID information and present it on a screen.
The ringing cadence differs between telephone administrations: the UK and many countries of the British Commonwealth use "brr-brr" at 2s intervals; north America and much of continental Europe use "brr" with a variety of intervals.
[ringtone] History
The first commercial mobile ring tones were created and delivered in Finland in 1998 when a Finnish mobile operator Radiolinja (today Elisa) started their downloadable mobile ring tone service called Harmonium invented by Vesa-Matti Paananen.[1] The Harmonium contained both tools for general public to create monophonic ring tones and a mechanism to deliver them over-the-air (OTA) via SMS to a mobile handset and to bill customer on their phone bill. The service concept spread quickly in Europe and Asia and developed to be a multi billion industry globally.[2] A ring tone service was one of the very first successful m-commerce services and contained also social media aspects like composing, sharing and rating ring tones. The Harmonium also created quickly a need for high quality professional ring tones and commercial ring tone libraries.
The rise of video games has also contributed to the popularity of ring tones.[3] On August 5, 2006, the BBC reported that "free ringtones" was the eighth most likely search term to return links to malware.[4]
By 2005, ring tones generating more than $2 billion in annual worldwide revenues.[5] Real tones, which are often excerpts from pop songs, have become popular as ringtones. A recent innovation is the singtone, whereby the user's voice is recorded to a popular track and then "tuned-up" automatically to sound good. This can then be downloaded as a ringtone or sent to another user's mobile phone.
[ringtone] Ringing signal
A ringing signal is an electronic telephony signal that causes a telephone to alert the user to an incoming call.
On a POTS telephone system, this is created by sending an alternating current signal of about 100 volts into the line. Today this signal is transmitted digitally for most of the journey, converted into an alternating current only if the line is not digital end-to-end.
On old, rotary phones, this voltage was used to trigger a high-impedance electromagnet to ring a bell on the phone. Modern Fixed phones detect this AC voltage and trigger a ring tone electronically. Mobile phones are fully digital, hence are signalled to ring as part of the protocol they use to communicate with the cell base stations.
In fixed POTS phones,ringing is said to be "tripped" when the impedance of the line reduces to about 600 ohms when the telephone handset is lifted off the switch-hook. This causes the telephone call to be answered, and the telephone exchange immediately removes the ringing signal from the line and connects the call. This is the source of the name of the problem called "ring-trip", which occurs when the ringing signal on the line causes a low-resistance short between the conductors, which trips the ring out before the subscriber's actual telephone has a chance to ring (for more than a very short time); this is common with wet weather and improperly installed lines.
Early research showed that people would wait until the phone stopped ringing before picking it up. Breaks were introduced into the signal to avoid this problem, resulting in the common ring-pause-ring pattern used today. In early party line systems this pattern was a Morse code letter indicating who should pick up the phone, but today, with individual lines, the only surviving patterns are a single ring (in the USA) and double-ring (in the UK), originally Morse code letters T and M respectively.
The ringing pattern is known as ring cadence. This only applies to POTS fixed phones, where the high voltage ring signal is switched on and off to create the ringing pattern. In North America, the standard ring cadence is "2-4", or two seconds of ringing followed by four seconds of silence. In the UK, the standard ring cadence is 400 ms on, 200 ms off, 400 ms on, 2000 ms off. These patterns may vary from region to region, and other patterns are used in different countries around the world.
A service akin to party line ringing is making a comeback in some small office and home office situations allowing facsimile machines and telephones to share the same line but have different telephone numbers; this CLASS feature is usually called distinctive ringing generically, though carriers assign it trademarked names such as "Smart Ring". This feature is also used for a second phone number assigned to the same physical line for roommates or teenagers, in which case it is sometimes marketed under the name teen line.
Caller ID signals are sent during the silent interval between the first and second bursts of the ringing signals.
The interrupted ring signal was designed to attract attention and studies showed that an intermittent two tone ring was the easiest to hear. This had nothing to do with the coded ringing that was used on party line.
[ringtone] Features
Whereas older telephones simply used a pair of bells for the ringer, modern ring tones have become extremely diverse, leading to phone personalization and customization.
Newer mobile phones allow the users to associate different ring tones for different phone book entries. Taking advantage of these features, a new Ringtone Maker trend has emerged. For example, websites like Mobilephoria, Phonezoo, Phone Sherpa, and Dopetone let users make ringtones from the music they already own (MP3, CD etc.) and upload directly to their mobile phone with no limit on the number of songs uploaded. In addition to the cost benefits, a key feature is the music ringtoneor that lets the user easily pick the part of the song they wish to set as a ringtone. Such services automatically detect the phone settings to ensure the best file type and format. There are however providers who have already ringtoneed and trimmed the song for you.
Others also allow users to create their own music tones, either with a "melody composer" or a sample/loop arranger (such as the MusicDJ in many Sony Ericsson phones). However, these use native formats only available to one particular phone model or brand. Although other formats, such as MIDI or MP3, are often supported; they must be downloaded to the phone before they can be used as a normal ring tone. Commercial ring tones take advantage of this functionality, which has led to the success of the mobile music industry. Southern rapper Chamillionaire was the first to have a ring tone go 3x platinum for the hit single "Ridin." He now has his own category on certain phones.[citation needed]
The latest innovation is the sing tone, a type of karaoke ring tone where a user's voice recording is adjusted to be both in time and in tune then mixed with a backing track to make a user-created ring tone.
An alternative to a ring tone for mobile phones is a vibrating alert. It may be useful:
- In noisy environments
- In places where ring tone noise would be disturbing
- For those with a hearing loss
[ringtone] Types of Ringtones
A Monophonic ringtone is a ringtone that can play only one type of musical tone at a time.
A Polyphonic ringtone is a ringtone that can play several types of tones at a time (up to 72 in recent phones). The first polyphonic ringtones used sequenced recording methods such as MIDI. Such recordings specify what instrument should play a note at a given time, but the actual instrument sound is dependent upon the playback device.
A Truetone is a Ring tone which has been encoded with a high fidelity format such MP3, AAC, or WMV format, and represents the latest evolution of the ringtone. It is often also referred to as a Mastertone, a Realtone or a Superphonic Ringtone. Real tones, which are often excerpts from pop songs, have become popular as ringtones. A recent innovation is the singtone, whereby the user's voice is recorded to a popular track and then "tuned-up" automatically to sound in key. This can then be downloaded as a ringtone or sent to another user's mobile phone.
[ringtone] Ringtone formats
- eMelody - Older Ericsson format.
- iMelody - Most new phones that don't do Nokia's Smart Messaging are using this format.
- KWS - Kyocera's ringer format.
- MID / MIDI - Popular sound format.
- Morse code - Text files with a .MORSE extension get converted into morse code songs
- MOT - An older ringer format for Motorola phones.
- MP3 - Some phones support ringtones that are mp3 format.
- Nokia / SCKL / OTT - Nokia Smart Messaging format. Nokia phones can receive ringtones as a text message. Ringtone tools can create these text messages. This allows anyone with a compatible phone to load their own ringtones in without a data cable. There are other phones besides Nokia that use this.
- PDB - Palm database. This is the format used to load ringtones on PDA phones such as the Kyocera 6035 and the Handspring Treo
- QCP - File format generated by Qualcomm PureVoice software.
- RTTTL - A popular text format for ringtones.
- RTX - Similar to rtttl with some advanced features. Also the octaves are different on rtx.
- Samsung1 & Samsung2 - Samsung keypress format.
- Siemens Keypress - Can create and read in a Siemens text file format.
- Siemens SEO - Siemens SEO binary format.
- SMAF - Yamaha music format that combines MIDI with instrument sound data (ala Module files). Filenames have the extension "MMF."
- AAC - Some phones like the Sony Ericsson W810i support ring tones in ".m4a" AAC format.
[ringtone] Ringtone maker
A ringtone maker allows a user to take a song from their music collection, pick the part that they like and send the file to their mobile phone.
Users should beware of "free" ringtone makers, as they often use fine print to sign the user up for text alerts or a subscription that charges the users phone bill and is hard to cancel. In many cases, ringtone maker companies offer "sharing" which can be a violation of copyright laws unless the artist has specifically licensed their music to be shared.
[ringtone] Criticism
Ring tone advertising campaigns have become hugely popular, though they have also attracted a great deal of criticism. For example, in May 2005 Jamster! bought 73,716 spots across all TV channels for the Crazy Frog advertisements.
In April 2005, the law firm of Callahan, McCune and Willis filed a class action lawsuit against Jamster! on behalf of a San Diego father and his 10-year-old daughter.[6] The lawsuit alleges that Jamster! scammed cellular telephone customers through the use of fraudulent and deceptive advertisements. The ads in question offered one free ring tone to cell phone customers who responded to the ad via text message, but failed to inform users that they would be subscribed to a monthly service.[7] The lawsuit is pending as of March 2007.
On July 20, 2005, the Utility Consumers' Action Network (UCAN), a non-profit California consumer advocacy organization, filed a complaint with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) against Cingular Wireless for the unauthorized billing of non-communications related charges, such as ring tones.[8] UCAN claimed that Cingular billed its customers for Jamster! and other similar ring tone services without providing customers with the notice, opt-in, and proof of authorization requirements necessary for such charges.[9] UCAN further charged Cingular with violating numerous CPUC requirements by consistently telling customers with questions about non-communications service charges on their wireless phone bill that Cingular has no responsibility and cannot assist customers with their inquiries.[10] UCAN and Cingular reached a settlement on October 19, 2006, which resulted in stronger notification and authorization requirements for Cingular regarding non-communications charges and also required Cingular to institute a ready means to address billing issues and cancel wireless content services, such as ring tones.[11]
[ringtone] See also
[ringtone] External links
- Wired.com:Creating your own ring tone
- How Stuff Works - Ringtones
- Ringtone FAQ - Consumer guide to ring tone billing and authorization, the complaint process, and ring tone scams
- MOBILE GUIDE to Ringtone Short Codes
[ringtone] References
- ^ Time Magazine Europe: The Sweet Sound Of Success
- ^ The New Yorker: Ring My Bell
- ^ Console Watcher: The Rise of Video Game Music
- ^ BBC News: Warning on search engine safety
- ^ Mehta, Stephanie N. (December 12, 2005) Fortune Wagner's ring? Way too long. Musicians composing original works for cellphones strive for greatness in 20 seconds or less. Volume 152; Section: FirstNo. 12; Page 40.
- ^ Jamster slammed for mobile selling practices, InfoWorld April 31, 2005 Retrieved March 15, 2007
- ^ Summary of FORD V. VERISIGN, INC., JAMSTER!, et al., Callahan, McCune and Willis Retrieved March 15, 2007
- ^ Sprint and Cingular Named in Complaints, The New York Times July 21, 2005 Retrieved March 16, 2007
- ^ Utility Consumers' Action Network v. Cingular Wireless-Complaint and Request for Cease and Desist Order, California Public Utilities Commission July 20, 2005 Retrieved March 16, 2007
- ^ Ibid
- ^ Utility Consumers' Action Network v. Cingular Wireless-Opinion Approving Settlement, California Public Utilities Commission October 19, 2006 Retrieved March 16, 2007
|Telephony signals
|Dial | Ringing / Ringback | Busy | Congestion / Reorder | Special information | Off-hook | Ring | DTMF | 2600 Hz


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Genealogy Highlights of 2010
December 31, 2010 by © Joan Miller - Luxegen Genealogy.
Filed under genealogy
As 2011 fast approaches it is time to reflect on the genealogy highlights of the past year. As I look back it has been a rewarding year of discovery and new friends. 1. In January we were in Mesa at the Family Histories Expo where I served as a Blogger of Honor and met many [...]


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DAVIE, Fla. - Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chad Johnson, formerly known as Ochocinco, faced a judge Sunday morning after Davie police said he head-butted his wife of less than two months.
Johnson's bond was set at $2,500 and the judge ruled that he is not allowed to contact his wife, Evelyn Lozada
Davie police told Local 10 that the alleged incident took place Saturday night. Police say Johnson's wife became angry when she found a receipt for a box of condoms in their car. A fight ensued and escalated when they got to their Davie home. Once in the driveway, Lozada said Johnson head-butted her. Johnson told police she leaned forward and they hit heads accidentally, police said.
Johnson spent Saturday night in the Broward County Jail.
Local 10 spoke to the Miami Dolphins Saturday and the team said they are aware of the situation and are in the process of gathering all the relevant information.
Johnson married Lozada, a cast member on the VH1 reality TV series, "Basketball Wives" on July 4.
Many people know about Johnson's big personality on and off the field-- he has been a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars," starred in his own VH1 dating reality show called "Ultimate Catch," and has appeared clad in nothing but a strategically placed football in a PETA ad. However, Johnson has never had any trouble with the law.
In the Dolphins' first preseason game Friday night, Johnson dropped the only pass thrown to him, but he did start the game.
Local 10 will update this story as more information is confirmed.
Copyright 2012 by Post Newsweek. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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PorterVision necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 99 diseños de 21 diseñadores freelance.
Satori Weight Loss Centers
We are a brand new medically-supervised weight loss program that takes an alternative mind/body approach. We feature fast success--many patients take off a pound or more a day--along with lasting results. We help our patients not only take off pounds and inches quickly and safely, but also overcome the conditioned overeating habits that got them in trouble in the first place. No other diet or weight loss system offers this combined approach for rapid and lasting results. We consider ourselves THE SOLUTION to America's obesity epidemic.
We are primarily targeting baby boomers. Our average patient is 30 to 64 years old and can be either female or male--although we have more female patients. We are looking to reach the middle-American who has tried everything else to lose weight and is now searching for a genuine solution.
We are looking for a design that is upscale and classy. It must be easy to read and must stand out even when printed small. We want our primary name, Satori, to be dominant. Any images should complement, but not overpower, the name. The word Satori comes from Zen philosophy. The word means "understanding," or "a flash of sudden awareness." We would love to have a Zen feel to our new logo. This program is a mind/body system which includes a medicinal breakthrough for burning fat and decreasing appetite along with deep relaxation, mental reconditioning, life mastery training, and nutritional education. We don't have our hearts set on any color scheme at this point, so this is where you can get creative. The logo must include all the words: Satori Weight Loss Centers
The word Satori should dominate.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Instrument finder
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Ernst Heinrich Roth, 1922: Powerful master violin after Guarnerius
This wonderful Guarnerius replica from the Markneukirchen atelier of Ernst Heinrich Roth is warmly recommended for soloists and concertmasters. Its clear, dominant, resonant sound combines brilliance and maturity — outstanding tonal qualities that complement the delicate aesthetic of this sought-after early 20th century Ernst Heinrich Roth instrument, which was crafted beforer the relocation from Markneukirchen to Bubenreuth which took place in 1955 with the finest artisanry. Premium maple with deep flames was chosen for the two-piece back and ribs. The antiqued varnish puts the finishing touch on the interesting grain of the spruce top and gives it a beautiful appearance. The origin of this fine Roth violin is confirmed by its original label. At our violin making studio, the crackfree violin was meticulously set up and worked over and is now - like all instruments from us - ready to play. It has no cracks and a professionally executed repair to the top seam under the fingerboard may be called the only flaw, which is considered in the price. Its ideally balanced, powerful voice and precise playing characteristics will open up broad horizons of nuanced musical interpretations.
Order a certificate of appraisal with this violin, the certificate option is available in the shopping cart.


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Everybody's talking about button bloat. Lissanna's doing it. Vidyala's doing it. Celestalon was the one who started it.
While I sit here, waiting for my lunch, tell me… What ability do you have that you're afraid we'll cut due to button bloat, but love?
— Celestalon (@Celestalon) January 26, 2014
So I'm going to talk about it too. First, to answer the question – there's no ability I love that I fear will be cut. I am fearless in that regard. Would I want something like Rejuvenation to go away? Obviously not, but I'm also quite positive it's not on the chopping block.
Second, I think removing some abilities is an excellent idea. How many abilities is too many? More than I can comfortably bind. On my Druid I use VuhDo bindings and bind all my common heals to a combination of SHIFT, CTRL, ALT (or no modifier) plus one of 4 buttons on my mouse. That gives me 16 possible bindings. Actually, 15, since unmodified left click is used to target.
Currently, my breakdown of resto Druid spells in PVE looks like this:
- Spells I want the fastest access to that need to be bound: Healing Touch, Lifebloom, Nature's Cure, Nature's Swiftness, Regrowth, Rejuvenation, Swiftmend, Wild Growth, Wild Mushroom, WM: Bloom, Innervate, Ironbark, Barkskin (13 spells)
- Spells which I feel should be bound, but in reality almost never get used: Nourish, Genesis (2 spells)
- Spells which are used regularly but have a long enough cooldown that I don't mind not having them bound: Rebirth, Tranquility, Incarnation, Nature's Vigil/HotW, whatever I get from Symbiosis (5 spells)
- Utility spells that I use frequently: Dash, Displacer Beast, Stampeding Roar (3 spells)
- Situational utility spells: Typhoon, Soothe, Ursol's Vortex, Cat form, Bear form, Might of Ursoc, Growl (7 spells, give or take)
- DPS spells that I like to use when I'm bored or the boss is at 1% and is berserking: Moonfire, Wrath (2 spells)
Adding those up, I have a total of 32 abilities which I will want access to at some point or another in raids. If I take away the highly situational spells that I don't use on most encounters, I'm still left with 23.
I think 23 abilities is too many to use on a regular basis. So what can we cut? Looking at my breakdown of spells, two things stick out. Nourish and Genesis.
Nourish is a spell I haven't had bound since about a week into Mists. With all the other healing spells available to us, it just doesn't pack enough of a punch. It's cheap mana-wise, but it's also slow and barely puts a dent in health bars. It seems like an obvious choice for removal.
Genesis is a spell I was excited about when it was first announced, thinking that it would give Druid healing some much-needed extra burst. However, it didn't really work out that way. Rejuvenation just has too short a duration to make Genesis really work. At most you're going to have 5 up that you can speed up, and the first couple applied will barely benefit from the Genesis cast. Plus, using Genesis mean you lose all your applied Rejuvs very quickly when most of the time it's more beneficial to leave them up, ticking slowly. The only real use people have gotten out of Genesis is quickly charging Wild Mushrooms, but I don't think giving us a faster way to overheal was what the devs had in mind when they made this spell. Cut it.
These two were obvious ones, but now it gets a little murkier. Healing Touch or Regrowth could also be candidates for removal, depending on how/if the healing model changes in Warlords. If we continue down the road of AoE/smartheal/cooldown all the things, we really don't need 2 cast-time direct heals in our kit. I think that Healing Touch could be removed without too much impact. For most of this expansion I only used it in combination with Nature's Swiftness (or if there was not enough to heal and I could just chain cast it on a tank to refresh LB/Harmony/give me something to do). The 4T16 bonus means people are using it more now, but unless this effect gets baked in as a passive ability, this will change in Tier 17. I find that Regrowth and Healing Touch are in the same niche, but Regrowth fills it better. If the healing model gets changed so that single target heals are something we actually want to be casting, I think there is room for both of these spells. However, I think they would need to be changed a little to differentiate them. I'd like to see the HoT portion of Regrowth be more substantial, as it once was. Alternatively, Healing Touch could be cheaper and bigger to compensate for the slow cast time.
The last spell that I think could be removed is Innervate. Of course it's nice to have a mana return, but I think it would be just as easy to balance healers around not having an ability like this instead. Druids' mana return is a little more interesting than something like Divine Plea or Mana Tea in that we can choose to cast it on someone else but, really, how often does that happen? Generally Innervate just amounts to another 3-minute cooldown to watch and use as soon as it's available. It's not really adding anything.
I'm trying to find more candidates for removal, but everything else has a real purpose, even if it doesn't get used on every fight. I really like having so many utility spells and I can't think of one I'd want to remove to reduce button bloat.
What do you think? Are there any abilities you wouldn't miss if they were removed?
Speaking of Resto Druids (since I don't speak about them all that much any more), if you're an avid tree lover, you should check out Team Waffle's most recent Resto Roundtable and Final Boss's podcast on Restos for some great discussion. I'm kind of sad that not maining a Druid means I don't get invited to these things anymore 🙁 But they're both great things to listen to.


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Coralee (Age 20)
Ashland, AL
About CORALEE :
"i am just gonna go ahead and say upfront why I'm here… I have been watching porn lately because my sex life is not really that fulfilling.. A thing i have always hated catched my attention and for the first time it looked really hot, i have been experimenting with masturbation.. Bought a small dildo for… yes you probably guessed it by now; anal play.
I have come to the conclusion that I must try this at least once in my life.. unfortunately my bf wont even go near my ass, he is way to clean and tidy for that.. But after watching really sexy anal porn i have decided to try it and want to find a guy who can be discrete, who is a pro at it and has his own place, no question asked.."
Tomeka (Age 19)
Paint Rock, AL
About TOMEKA :
"At this moment? I 'm so loving the single life!! Occupation goes nicely, buddies and family also, and a guy? Ah, if I need 1, I usually order 1… Sadly it's constantly the same and we became good pals and now we do nothing but dinner and seeing TV together. Well its time for a change!
What am I looking for? I do like a nice guy with tats;) aren't such a supporter of piercings, particularly I hate those huge ear piercings But it's simply the external.. I enjoy a fine sort, he should undoubtedly have an excellent sense of humor. Everyone wants just a little laugh: p"
Altha (Age 28)
Bay Minette, AL
About ALTHA :
"Married but like to have fun with the ladies too. I share my hubby if he is in town but we don't see much of each other. So if your up for some fun and i'm in your town let's hook up and see what can happen. I travel all over the us and may be in your town right now. And for you who like it I squirt when i cum. I have closeups in my profile."
Sherice (Age 18)
Samantha, AL
About SHERICE :
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Dianna (Age 23)
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About DIANNA :
"Hello all ……. you recognize those moments when you're bored and then start to do everything that is forbidden? First fight at school and then getting grounded ….. so today I have heeps of time for this kind of jokes: P. …… who wants to flirt with me because I am bored as hell. I'm still single (lie) ???? I do not care who you are as long as I dont get bored …. as long as you are not too old before you know it youre one of my father's friends hahahaha LOL.That would be weird. I like alternative guys with small beards and tatoos xxXXxx Y."
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About NIA :
"YA im always in for something naughty..
often like straight forward,kinky, experimental sex. Some of my favorite positions are. Missionary, doggy style,and 69 I prefer one-on-one sex, but I don't mind it with another (man/girl).All in all, I'm searching for a open minded partner who's ready to get to know me as a person first then sex will cum."


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The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Early Childhood Family Education/Special Education addition to Lincoln Junior High was held last week. Participating in the ceremony were members of the chamber of commerce, school district and ECFE/SE program.
Noah Brinkmann, 16-month-old son of Tom and Jennifer Brinkmann of Glencoe, tried to get up close to several baby pigs at Thursday's Glencoe Dairy Day activities at Oak Leaf Park. Local 4-Hers also showed calves as well.
Copyright 2012-2016 McLeod Publishing, Inc. | 716 East 10th Street | P.O. Box 188 | Glencoe, Minnesota 55336 | (320) 864-5518


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President Robert Mugabe has long been able to count on African leaders to sympathize with his goals of ridding Zimbabwe of the vestiges of white colonial rule.
But with his brutal tactics in what's widely seen as a sham runoff presidential election Friday, Mr. Mugabe may have squandered his last shred of credibility even in Africa.
Monday, at a meeting of African leaders in Egypt, Mugabe faces a critical personal test. Will the African Union join the international community in pushing for new sanctions, even military intervention, in Zimbabwe?
"We are saying we want the African Union to send troops to Zimbabwe," Kenya's Prime Minster Raila Odinga said on Saturday. "The time has come for the African continent to stand firm in unity to end dictatorship."
This call is echoed by retired South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, while East African nations are calling on Mugabe and his opponents to negotiate a peaceful power-sharing deal.
Mugabe, who lost the first round of elections on March 29 against the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, 47 percent to 43 percent, ran unopposed on Friday after Mr. Tsvangirai pulled out of the runoff last week. Tsvangirai says that Mugabe's supporters, including the Army, the police, and private militias, have killed some 80 of his supporters, injured or tortured thousands more, and displaced at least 20,000 in the lead-up to the election.
Some observers say Friday's electoral exercise – complete with voters trucked in to polls and forced to vote under the watchful eyes of Mugabe's police or Army supporters – was merely an effort in crowd control, a warning to opposition leaders that whatever Mugabe's legitimacy on the global stage, he still has control of the Army, the police, and all the levers of government.
"Since liberation, [Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party] has seen elections as a ritual that has to be gone through to give them legitimacy in the eyes of the region, the continent, and the international community," says Ozias Tungwarara, a senior analyst for the Open Society Institute in Johannesburg. "If you give the people even 20 percent of a chance to express themselves, there is no way the Mugabe regime would survive a vote."
Mugabe's regime uses violence to seal off any chance of legitimate political expression, but that level of repression carries its own dangers, says Mr. Tungwarara. "What we are facing now is that most of the methods of expressing oneself are closed out, and in this very repressed environment, it makes a very volatile and dangerous situation," he says.
University of Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masunungure says Mugabe's win spells doom for the country.
"Obviously, this means more problems for the country because he will not be accepted as the leader of Zimbabwe, neither locally nor internationally," says Mr. Masunungure. "There should be talks to break the impasse between Mugabe and [Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change]."
Reconciliation coming?
Patrick Chinamasa, head of the ZANU-PF media committee on elections, said his party is geared to reconcile with the MDC, but will only seek political accommodation that does not undermine the gains of the liberation struggle.
"Our president has made it clear that ZANU-PF is open to negotiations on the future of the country and the possible cooperation between us and those in opposition," Mr. Chinamasa said. "ZANU-PF is fully conscious of its historic duty to unite the people of Zimbabwe around common goals. We are committed to taking measures that reconcile our population, put behind the divisions of the past."
But MDC spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said the MDC will not engage with a rogue president who was not elected by the people of Zimbabwe. He said the "presidential question" remains unsolved and that Mugabe has imposed himself as the leader of the country.
"We need to hold presidential elections in a free and fair environment," Mr. Chamisa says. "You cannot have a pope without the endorsement of the Catholics. Mugabe has just gone berserk."
Electoral observers from the Pan-African Parliament announced on Saturday that the "elections were not free and fair." Members of the Southern African Development Community also expressed dismay about the manner in which the elections were conducted – and they sent a rather stinging signal to their appointed mediator on the Zimbabwe issue, South African President Thabo Mbeki, by not inviting him to a conference this week in Swaziland to discuss the Zimbabwe issue – but they stopped short of the harsh criticism used by Britain and the US, in favor for a call for more dialogue.
"There's quite a substantial shift in Africa on the subject [of Zimbabwe]," says Steven Friedman, a senior analyst at the Institute for Democracy in Southern Africa in Tshwane, formerly known as Pretoria. "I would expect pressure to build up, and isolation to build up."
Across the country on Friday, voters turned out in low numbers, if at all. In the opposition stronghold of Matabeleland in the south and west, voter turnout was estimated to be around 14 percent by the independent civil society group, Bulawayo Agenda. In the towns of Gweru, for instance, polling stations opened at 7 a.m., with not a voter in sight. During the first round on March 29, voters in Gweru had queued up for hours before the polling stations opened.
Voters deliberately spoiling ballots
In other regions, voters dipped their fingers in indelible ink and then spoiled their ballots deliberately once inside the polling stations.
In Harare, members of the ruling ZANU-PF youth militia and war veterans moved from house to house, ordering people to go and vote for Mugabe.
In most parts of the country, those who would have voted were required to go to "a ZANU-PF base" and submit their names and the serial number from ballot paper.
"The youth militia were saying if I don't submit my serial number and identification number I will be in big trouble, so I did as they wanted," a young voter who resides in the Highfield neighborhood of Harare told the Monitor. "This is persecution, it should not be allowed to happen in a civilized country like Zimbabwe."
Outside the Mhiza polling station in Highfield, people could be heard urging each other to spoil their ballots, voting for both Mugabe and Tsvangirai, in order to render the ballot paper unusable.
"What I wanted is to dip my finger into the ink so that when the militia come they will not beat me because I would have voted," said one voter who did not want to be named for fear of violence from Mugabe's loyalists.
However, despite the widespread intimidation, some people, especially in Harare's high density suburbs, did not vote saying they did not want to waste their time participating in any election whose outcome is predetermined. Many stayed home. Even Harare's central business district was deserted.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the US and Britain would present a resolution to the UN Security Council calling for tougher action against Mugabe and his supporters. "Its time for the international community to act," she said. "It's hard to imagine that anybody could fail to act given what we're all watching on the ground in Zimbabwe."
Yet South Africa, which has a seat on the Security Council, vowed to block the resolution, and Zimbabwe's neighbors said they believed a less confrontational approach was more likely to bear fruit.
• Reporters who could not be named for security reasons contributed from Harare, Bulawayo, Mashvingo, and Mutare, Zimbabwe.


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Great Mexican food in an engaging atmosphere is what Ceja's is all about. We opened our doors in the summer of 2009 with a vision to serve our guests the best Mexican food in an unique quick-service way, using only high-quality fresh ingredients and original recipes.
We welcome all our guest with a complimentary basket of Tortilla Chips prepared fresh daily and served hot from our special warmer. Our Chef makes all of our soups and salsas from scratch right here on the premises.
Small in size but big in flavor we are 100% committed to our costumer's satisfaction. Stop by our restaurant and give us the chance to serve you. You'll see why our guests keep coming back for more!


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Kia Cochrane eBooks
eBooks found: 1
A Rugged Ranchin' Dad
Kia Cochrane
Mills & Boon Sweet Romance, July 2012
Format: ePub
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This unique medical practice located in downtown Arcata, is focused on integrating acupuncture, Chinese Medicine, herbal therapy and holistic living.
Using acupuncture and herbal medicine, as well as dietary and lifestyle recommendations my goal is to help people achieve their best health and improve their quality of life. Treatments are focused on restoring balance, and maintaining health which is attained by treating the root cause of the illness to help recover one's own healing capability.
In this calm and welcoming space you can receive treatment for various medical conditions, as well as general wellness and preventative care. I provide gentle, individualized treatments, and strive to integrate the best medical knowledge of both eastern and western medicine to meet the treatment and prevention needs of patients. By applying traditional Chinese medicine principles to modern lifestyles, I help patients understand their health and encourage them to take an active part in their healing process.


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HAMPTON — Much as Boo Williams enjoyed coaching his elite summer basketball teams in recent years, he grew weary of relying on jump shots and pace and opposing big men feasting inside.
The result is a team that's bigger, longer and far more capable around the basket, which makes life easier for everyone, the head coach included.
"We defend the rim, get second shots, rebound," Boo said Friday night after his 17-and-under team's first Nike Elite Youth Basketball League game of the weekend at the Boo Williams Sportsplex.
"The perimeter doesn't have to do as much," Boo said. "The past three years, the perimeter had to do a lot more. That's probably the biggest difference between now and the past. And the kids play hard."
Boo has front-line options that many college coaches would love, with 6-foot-8 Dwayne Foreman, 6-9 Rokas Gustys, 6-10 Trey Porter and the most intriguing prospect of all: 7-foot Thon Maker, a freshman from Australia who prepped last season at the Carlisle School in Martinsville.
Boo's team was balanced in a 58-45 win against the Canada-based CIA Bounce program. Guard Robert Johnson from Benedictine in Richmond led with 15 points, as Boo's team built a double-figure lead midway through the first half and maintained.
Foreman, a smooth and versatile left-hander from Woodbridge, scored 14 points. Gustys, a 245-pound Lithuanian who preps at national power Oak Hill Academy, added 10 points. He plays with his head up, finds teammates and finishes around the basket with both hands.
Maker had a difficult shooting night (2 for 10), but moves fluidly and showed several spin moves and a nice jump hook. He challenges shots and doesn't shy away from contact. He will improve with age and strength, and one college assistant coach referred to him as a pro.
"Teams on the (EYBL) circuit are going to have plenty of quality 'bigs,' " guard Marcus Evans said. "We like to get out and run, but having those bigs inside to rebound and throw it down to them and let them work out, it makes it a lot easier for us guards to score.
"It opens up the whole floor, when we can throw it down to them and we have 'bigs' that can score on their own. We don't have to do anything for them."
Boo's recent teams were led by his nephew Troy Williams, Anthony "Cat" Barber, Rodney Bullock, Charlotte import Al Freeman and current U.Va. freshman Justin Anderson. All were highly rated perimeter players.
Foreman is the only player on this particular team presently rated — No. 135 on Rivals.com's top 150 juniors.
"On any night, anyone can be the leader, so it's balanced," Foreman said. "Whoever has the hot hand or whoever has the mismatch will usually get the ball. We're not selfish. We don't really have a star player. Our coaches tell us, go to the person with the mismatch."
"They're coming in with no expectations," Boo said. "They're not big-name kids, high-ranking kids, McDonald's All-Americans. There's no expectations, so they're going to play hard. The only problem with that is, big-name players can make big-name plays, so we have to do it as a group."
Evans, a 6-1 junior from Chesapeake, was an all-state player last season for Great Bridge who comes off the bench for Boo's team.
"We've got a bunch of guys that are willing to work hard," Evans said. "We've got a bunch of talent on this team, there's a lot of talent on the circuit, but I think more than anything, this team is willing to dive on the floor for loose balls and really get after it in every game. I think that's going to help us in the long run."
Boo has depth on the front line and perimeter, and can mix and match lineups and combinations. His biggest challenge might be getting minutes for everyone. He preaches patience to the players, telling them that their time might come in any game.
After losing its EYBL opener last week in Los Angeles, Boo's team has won its past four games in part of Nike's summer-long circuit. The team plays four more games this weekend — two Saturday (12:30 and 6:30 p.m.) and two Sunday (9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.).
"Everybody knows what we're here for," Evans said. "They know we're here to win a championship. There's no way to do it if everybody's out here trying to score like they were in high school. We know if we want to get to where we want to reach, everybody has to take a step back and everybody has to make some sacrifices."


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Hi all
I have just drawn up in Paint Shop Pro a Class 221 Voyager in Virgin Livery.
Just needs more work on it as I had to raise the bed of the shell up in order to have better working running boggies
Now ned a new under nose skirting to complete and extras.
Will have a 5 car unit once i get the 23m motor chassis up and running with the new livery on them.
hope you enjoy.


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A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of American International Group, Inc. and Its U.S. Property Casualty Subsi
A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of American International Group, Inc. and Its U.S. Property Casualty Subsidiaries
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the issuer credit rating (ICR) of "bbb" of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) (New York, NY (NYS: AIG) . Concurrently, A.M. Best has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of A (Excellent) and the ICRs of "a" of the members of the Chartis U.S. Insurance Group (Chartis US) and the members of the Lexington Insurance Pool (Lexington) (both headquartered in Boston, MA). At the same time, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the ICR of "a" of American International Reinsurance Company Ltd. (AIRCO), a Bermuda-domiciled reinsurer. The outlook for the ratings above is stable.
In addition, A.M. Best has affirmed the FSR of A (Excellent) and the ICR of "a" of AIU Insurance Company (AIUI) (New York, NY). The outlook for these ratings is negative. (See below for a detailed listing of the companies and ratings.)
The ratings for the members of Chartis US reflect its supportive level of risk-adjusted capitalization, generally solid operating earnings and its leadership position in the global commercial lines insurance market. Offsetting rating factors include the effect of soft market conditions on the group's recent underwriting and operating results, A.M. Best's expectation of continued adverse development of prior years' loss reserves and the group's exposure to natural and man-made catastrophe losses. Chartis US has historically demonstrated an ability to produce favorable operating results despite variability in its underwriting performance; however, this ability has been challenged in recent years. The stable outlook reflects AIG's position in the U.S. commercial market; its ability to lead, attract and retain clients by leveraging its significant global capacity, extensive product offerings and innovation; as well as its greater emphasis on technical pricing and predictive modeling. While reserve development remains a concern, the stable outlook suggests that any future reserve development will be within a level acceptable to A.M. Best. A.M. Best also expects that the group will continue to maintain a supportive level of risk-adjusted capitalization through favorable net earnings while providing shareholder dividends to its parent in accordance with historical norms.
Chartis US' risk-adjusted capitalization declined slightly in 2012, primarily as a result of losses related to Superstorm Sandy. These losses were partially offset by a $1 billion capital contribution and lower net written premiums and loss reserves. The resulting level of risk-adjusted capitalization is well-supportive of the ratings.
The group has remained a leading provider of global commercial lines insurance products, with an operating scope that remains a key differentiator in its ability to provide products and services that meet the needs of global and local insurers. Net written premiums continued to decline in 2012, primarily as a result of underwriting actions. Premium and customer retentions improved and favorable pricing actions begun in 2011 continued at an accelerated pace. Further increases in rate levels are expected in 2013, although rate changes may be of a lesser magnitude. However, despite these actions, underwriting results remain under pressure, primarily as a result of losses due to catastrophe and weather events.
Loss reserve movements have been more modest in recent years, following a $5.2 billion increase in loss reserves recorded in 2010. The transfer of Chartis US' outstanding asbestos reserves to National Indemnity Company (Omaha, NE) in 2011 has further stabilized reserves. A.M. Best's estimated deficiency of the group's reserves has declined as a result of these actions, but it is A.M. Best's expectation that reserves will continue to develop adversely over the near-to-mid term.
The ratings for the members of Lexington (the pool) recognize its supportive level of risk-adjusted capitalization, favorable development of prior years' loss reserves over a number of years, consistent generation of positive pre-tax operating and net income (even in years with significant catastrophe losses) and its position as the largest excess and surplus writer in the U.S. market. Offsetting factors include the effects of soft market conditions and catastrophe and weather-related events on recent underwriting results and the long-tailed nature of its excess casualty writings. The stable outlook is based on A.M. Best's expectation that favorable operating results will continue to drive supportive levels of risk-adjusted capitalization despite variability of underwriting results.
While the pool's continued actions to reduce its exposure to natural and man-made catastrophes have benefited its risk-adjusted capital level, underwriting results in 2011 and 2012 reflect the effects of events that are within management's risk tolerance. Further reduction of the net impact of catastrophe and significant weather events—which may be achieved through further underwriting actions, rate increases and changes in the pool's reinsurance program—is expected during 2013. The generally favorable development of prior years' loss reserves also has contributed to the pool's supportive risk-adjusted capital position. Although the level of favorable development is likely to decline in future years, A.M. Best anticipates that Lexington will continue to benefit from even modest positive changes in reserves in the future.
Lexington remains the largest provider of excess and surplus lines insurance in the United States, with direct written premiums more than three times that of its next largest domestic competitor. The pool has historically maintained a significant expense advantage over its peers in the surplus lines composite, which has offset its historically above-average level of loss and loss adjustment expenses. Consistent generation of pre-tax operating and net income has resulted in steady organic capital generation, although substantial stockholder dividend payments in recent years have reduced the resulting benefit to surplus. In more recent years, the gap in expenses between Lexington and the industry as a whole has narrowed as it retains more risk and receives less benefit of ceding commissions. It is A.M. Best's expectation that Lexington will continue to enjoy at least a several point advantage on its expense ratio relative to the industry.
Lexington continues to maintain significant gross and net exposure to natural and man-made catastrophes in the United States, although it has implemented a series of underwriting actions to reduce that exposure through achievement of higher rate levels, limits on aggregate exposures and reduced new business in catastrophe-exposed areas. Historically, the pool experienced higher-than-average loss and loss adjustment expenses than is typical for surplus lines insurers as a result of these exposures. Concerns related to this exposure continue to be tempered by Lexington's ability to withstand catastrophes as measured by A.M. Best's catastrophe stress test and were further enhanced by the minimal impact of losses from Superstorm Sandy on risk-adjusted capitalization. As noted above, the effect of events that are within Lexington's risk tolerances have had a significant impact on underwriting and operating results in 2011 and 2012.
AIRCO's ratings acknowledge its supportive level of risk-adjusted capitalization, the historical profitability of the business it assumes from its affiliates and its role as the primary Bermuda presence for AIG. Offsetting these factors are AIRCO's historically limited direct business profile, substantial gross exposure to a closed block of U.K. deferred and payout annuities and the variability in reserves assumed from a U.K. affiliate. The outlook reflects A.M. Best's expectation that the company's business will continue to generate favorable results and that risk-adjusted capitalization will be maintained at a level that is supportive of the ratings.
The ratings of AIUI reflect its adequate level of risk-adjusted capitalization, historically favorable operating performance, restored focus on core businesses and its long-standing presence in the Japanese insurance market. Offsetting these rating factors are the variation in surplus and premium revenue in recent years (related in part to its former quota share agreement with a U.K. affiliate, which was novated in the fourth quarter of 2010), poor underwriting and operating results in 2011 and 2012 related to the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and the future role of AIUI within the AIG enterprise. The outlook reflects these offsetting factors.
Historically, A.M. Best has considered parental support and financial flexibility when evaluating AIG's property/casualty subsidiaries. While there is no specific consideration of those factors in the current ratings of the companies, AIG has continued to strengthen its balance sheet through the sale of non-core businesses, has negotiated improved terms for its syndicated bank credit facilities and its financial flexibility has been improved by the sale of the U.S. Treasury's common equity position in the company.
The FSR of A (Excellent) and ICRs of "a" have been affirmed for the following companies, which are collectively referred to as the Chartis U.S. Insurance Group:
- National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pennsylvania
- The American Home Assurance Company
- Commerce and Industry Insurance Company
- Chartis Property Casualty Company
- Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania
- New Hampshire Insurance Company
- Chartis Insurance Company - Puerto Rico
- Chartis Insurance Company of Canada
- Chartis Casualty Company
- Granite State Insurance Company
- Illinois National Insurance Company
The FSR of A (Excellent) and ICRs of "a" have been affirmed for the following companies, which are collectively referred to as the Lexington Insurance Pool:
- Lexington Insurance Company
- Chartis Specialty Insurance Company
- Chartis Excess Limited
The methodology used in determining these ratings is Best's Credit Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. Best's rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Key criteria utilized include: "Risk Management and the Rating Process for Insurance Companies"; "Catastrophe Analysis in A.M. Best Ratings"; "Rating Members of Insurance Groups"; "The Treatment of Terrorism Risk in the Rating Evaluation"; "Rating Natural Catastrophe Bonds"; "Understanding BCAR for Property/Casualty Insurers"; and "Rating New Company Formations." Best's Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.
Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is the world's oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visitwww.ambest.com.
Copyright © 2013 by A.M. Best Company, Inc.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
A.M. Best Co.
Jennifer Marshall, 908-439-2200, ext. 5327
Managing Senior Financial Analyst
Andrew Colannino, 908-439-2200, ext. 5327
Vice President
Rachelle Morrow, 908-439-2200, ext. 5378
Senior Manager, Public Relations
Jim Peavy,908-439-2200, ext. 5644
Assistant Vice President, Public Relations
KEYWORDS: United States Europe North America New Jersey
The article A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of American International Group, Inc. and Its U.S. Property Casualty Subsidiaries originally appeared on Fool.com.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Mike.barrett necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 162 diseños de 42 diseñadores freelance.
Joined Up Media Platform (JUMP)
Compound Media is a specialist consultancy helping magazine publishers create on-line content propositions for their brands.
We have worked with some of the largest brands including Boots, BT, Fujitsu, Royal Mail and NSPCC.
Take a look at our website for more details on what we do: -
We are launching an innovative new product that will dramatically reduce the time and cost for print publishers to make the move on-line.
We work mainly with custom publishers who create magazines for large, blue chip clients.
With this product, we are aiming at the "Tier 2" publishers who don't have in-house digital expertise. Our key contact is usually the MD/Owner/New business director.
For more information on the custom publishing industry, see: -
Although our main focus is on the custom publishing sector, any publisher with a magazine and no web presence is a potential client.
We are looking for a logo for our new product, the "Joined Up Media Platform" or "JUMP". It's a fully hosted solution for publishers that allows them to get a magazine companion site up and running quickly.
The product also allows the publishers to add video, email subscriptions, mobile site, social media integration - the "joined up" approach.
The logo needs to sit well with our existing branding (see attached) as the main use will be on-line. To that end we would like the basis to utilise the existing colours on a white background: -
Purple #4E006B
Yellow #CB8509
Red #810D0D
Please feel free to experiment with complimentary colours though if appropriate.
We'd like to see if we could utilise the existing molecular idea to represent the different elements with the web at the centre. We're not sure how well that would scale so we're not wedded to that idea if it doesn't work.
It must include at least "JUMP" as text as well as that's the brand name and potentially include the word Suite after it.
The files we require are layered PSD and JPEG with the highest resolution as we need them to be as multi-purpose as possible.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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George Custer born
December 5, 2018 in History
On this day in 1839, Union General George Armstrong Custer is born in Harrison County, Ohio. Although he is best known for his demise at the hands of the Lakota and Cheyenne Indians at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Montana,in 1876, Custer built a reputation as a dashing and effective cavalry leader during the Civil War.
Custer entered West Point in 1857, where he earned low grades and numerous demerits for his mischievous behavior. He graduated last in the class of 1861. Despite his poor academic showing, Custer did not have to wait long to see military action. Less than two months after leaving West Point, Custer fought in the First Battle of Bull Run, Virginia,in July 1861.
Custer served the entire war in the Army of the Potomac. He was present for nearly all of the army's major battles, and became, at age 23, the youngest general in the Union army in June 1863. He led the Michigan cavalry brigade in General Judson Kilpatrick's 3rd Cavalry Division. Shortly after his promotion, Custer and his "Wolverines" played a key role in stopping Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart's cavalry attack, which helped preserve the Union victory at the Battle of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. As a leader, Custer earned the respect of his men because he personally led every charge in battle. Wrote one observer of Custer's command, "So brave a man I never saw and as competent as brave. Under him a man is ashamed to be cowardly. Under him our men can achieve wonders."
He achieved his greatest battlefield success in the campaigns of 1864. At the Battle of Yellow Tavern, Virginia, on May 11, 1864, Custer led the charge that resulted in the death of Stuart. One month later at Trevilian Station, Virginia, Custer's command attacked a supply train before being surrounded by Confederate cavalry. His men formed a triangle and bravely held off the Rebels until help arrived. In October, Custer's men scored a decisive victory over the Confederate cavalry at Tom's Brook in the Shenandoah Valley, the most one-sided Yankee cavalry victory of the war in the East.
Custer was demoted to lieutenant colonel in the downsizing that took place after the Civil War ended. He was much less effective in his postwar assignments fighting Native Americans, and his reckless assault on the camp at Little Big Horn …read more
Source: HISTORY


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Marriage Trends and Women's Benefits: Differences by Race-Ethnicity and NativityFebruary 2014
Women's potential eligibility for spousal and survivor benefits based on their marital history varies significantly by race and ethnicity 1
For example, in 2009, 34 percent of black women aged 50–59 had marital histories that made them ineligible for spousal or survivor benefits, compared with 14 percent of non-Hispanic white women and 17 percent of Hispanic women of the same age.
The proportion of women aged 40 to 59 without qualifying marriages for spousal and survivor benefits increased between 1990 and 2009, particularly among black women
For example, 41 percent of black women age 40 to 49 lacked a qualifying marriage in 2009, compared to 20 percent of white women, a difference of 21 percentage points. In 1990, the difference was about 13 percentage points (24 percent black and 11 percent white). 2 This widening gap is driven, in large part, by a higher proportion of black women who never marry among more recent cohorts. 1, 2
Among Hispanic women, potential eligibility for spouse and survivor benefits based on marital history varies substantially by nativity
In 2009, more US-born Hispanic women lacked a qualifying marriage (21 percent for ages 50–59 and 28 percent ages 40–49) than foreign-born (14 percent for ages 50–59 and 13 percent ages 40–49). The composition of the Hispanic population is heterogeneous and has changed greatly from 1990 to 2009 with recent waves of immigration. 1
- Social Security provides benefits to spouses or widow(er)s of insured workers. Eligibility depends on a person's marital history and his or her lifetime earnings relative to a current or previous spouse.
- Under the marital history requirement, a person must be currently married, widowed, or divorced from a marriage of at least 10 years.
- The Social Security program treats persons with identical earnings or marital histories the same, but differences in marital patterns by race/ethnicity and nativity can result in differences in eligibility for marriage-based Social Security benefits by these characteristics.
1 Iams, Howard M. and Christopher R. Tamborini. 2012. "The Implications of Marital History Change on Women's Eligibility for Social Security Wife and Widow Benefits, 1990–2009." Social Security Bulletin 72(2): 23–38. See also Tamborini, Christopher R., Howard M. Iams, and Kevin Whitman. 2009. "Marital History, Race, and Social Security Spouse and Widow Benefit Eligibility in the United States." Research on Aging 31(5): 577–605.
2 These relationships hold controlling for key socioeconomic and demographic characteristics in regression analysis.
NOTES: All content is simplified for presentation. Please see source material for full details and caveats.
The findings and conclusions presented in this summary are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the agency.


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Hi guys, I'm a new user to the site and a huge star wars/vintage figure fan.
I recently stumbled across this website featuring art from a Joe Simpson, who is inspired by nostalgia and the memories evoked by childhood imagery.
He creates these amazing Figurine Paintings – the collection is, in his own words 'a love letter to the action figures of the 1970s, 80s & 90s.' These artworks are sure to stir up any memories in fans of a certain age, as well as prove interesting to Star Wars aficionados in general.
He's made paintings of the Yoda, Luke, Leia and Wampa figures from the Palitoy range.
Hope you guys enjoy!
https://www.culturelabel.com/collection ... spired-art