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SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - Here's a look at three players to watch in the young Canadian men's soccer squad that takes on Denmark in a friendly game Saturday in Tucson, Ariz:
Defender Nana Attakora
The former Toronto FC defender all but disappeared after being traded to San Jose, eventually resurfacing at FC Haka in Finland last summer. Interim Canada coach Colin Miller has played the muscular 23-year-old from Toronto in his first-team backline at camp. "He's had a good week ... He looks full of enthusiasm about the game again," Miller says. Asked if his future includes a return to Finland, Attakora offers only: "We'll see."
What's on his music player: Michael Jackson, Jay-Z and motivational speaker Eric Thomas.
Midfielder Kyle Bekker
The 22-year-old from Oakville, Ont., has been one of the stars in camp, impressing with his vision and passing from central midfield. Toronto FC fans will enjoy watching the rookie playmaker in action if he gets his chance. Miller, who has hung the nickname Boris on Bekker, says the Boston College graduate has all the tools. "You can see the hunger in the way he goes about it. He's got great quality ... I think he's a real bright one for the future."
What's on his music player: "Everything."
Midfielder Russell Teibert
The 20-year-old from Niagara Falls, Ont., has seen limited action with the Vancouver Whitecaps but is getting some love from the national team. Miller calls the pocket-sized midfielder a joy to work with. "He's now at a stage where he needs to play, he needs to play regular. He's got all the tools that you're looking for in a wide-left area or modern left fullback area, once he fills out," says Miller, adding: "He's a good young pro."
What's on his music player: Frank Ocean and "a little bit of everything," thanks to a playlist co-created with fullback Andres Fresenga.


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This downloadable game brings the classic Dreamcast game to the PlayStation 3.
If the last thing you want to do is wake up at the crack of dawn to go freeze your butt off on a lake, all in the hopes of catching some fish, then Sega Bass Fishing just might be what you're looking for.
You'll have everything you need to bring in the big one, like 14 different lures, each with its own purpose and difficulty setting. There are also three different play modes that will challenge your skills and test your determination. The Practice mode acts as a training tool, teaching you everything from choosing the right lure to reeling the rod once you've got a bite. In Arcade mode, you'll hit three different lakes in an effort to bring home enough fish to meet your quota. Original mode it lets you enter a series of tournaments where you can improve your skills and move up the rankings. If you're ready to catch "the big one," then get your hands on Sega Bass Fishing and go for it.
Also known as: Get Bass
Release Region: United States
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Publisher: SEGA
Release Region: United Kingdom
Release Date: October 5, 2011
Publisher: SEGA
Release Region: Australia
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Publisher: SEGA
For more info on these technical requirements and features, please view GameSpy's Specs FAQ.

subset: commoncrawl


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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc shares hit a new record on Tuesday after it reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, fuelled by the growth of higher-margin businesses during the fiercely competitive holiday quarter.
The world's largest Internet retailer said that its cloud computing services, video content sales and its aggressive expansion in e-books helped increase profitability.
In addition, a growing network of warehouses or fulfilment centres closer to customers held down shipping costs as it vied with Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other major retailers for consumer dollars over the holidays.
Chief Executive Jeff Bezos highlighted the Kindle's e-book business, calling it a multi-billion dollar category that grew about 70 percent in 2012. Its traditional physical book business rose about five percent in the same period, he noted.
"We're now seeing the transition we`ve been expecting," Bezos said in the company's results statement.
Profits have shrunk in recent years as the company invested for longer-term growth, building massive fulfilment centres, developing a Kindle Fire tablet hardware business in competition with Apple Inc, and expanding into Internet-based cloud services.
The fourth-quarter profit results suggested that Amazon may be able to generate attractive returns from such spending, analysts said.
"The fourth-quarter operating income was up more than expected," said R.J. Hottovy, an equity analyst at Morningstar. "This supports the bull case that Amazon can monetize its growth over the longer term."
The Seattle-based company said operating income jumped 56 percent to $405 million (£256.9 million) in the fourth quarter, compared with $260 million in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Amazon's stock climbed 11 percent to $288 in after-hours trading. It hit a record of $284.72 on January 25.
The company also said fourth-quarter revenue rose 22 percent to $21.27 billion as it grabbed a big share of online spending during the holidays. But it was the profit that initially caught Wall Street's eye.
"It was a much better-than-expected gross margin, a strong forward indicator to drive margin expansion. What is really important is gross profit dollars and that line is stronger," said Ken Sena at Evercore Partners.
The gross profit margins were 24 percent in the fourth quarter, compared with Wall Street expectations of about 22 percent.
"Incredibly strong margins," said Jordan Rohan, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus. Amazon generated the highest quarterly gross margin in its North America business in more than three years, he noted.
Amazon mainly operates as a retailer, buying products at wholesale prices, storing them and then selling at a slight mark-up to consumers online.
But the company has expanded into other businesses that are potentially more profitable, including cloud computing, digital content and acting as an online marketplace for other merchants.
These newer businesses are growing faster than the company's original retail operations, boosting profitability.
Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Bernard Orr


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{{Main|Con†Stellation Guests}}
{{Main|Con†Stellation Guests}}
We're in the process of inviting guests for 2012. We only post them once confirmed, so check back often for updates.
We're in the process of inviting guests for 2012. We only post them once confirmed, so check back often for updates.
Welcome to the renovated website for Con†Stellation, an annual general interest Science Fiction & Fantasy convention in Huntsville Alabama. Con†Stellation (or Con*Stellation) is a fan-run con sponsored by NASFA—the North Alabama Science Fiction Association. The next convention—Con†Stellation XXXI: Perseus—will be October 12-14, 2012. We're still developing this new website, so please bear with us. This page will (eventually ;-) cover most of the basics, with links to more detailed info on various aspects of the convention.
The final Con†Stellation is over 🙁
😀↪ But, join us for Not-A-Con 2019!! ↩😀
😀↪ Which will be 18–19 October ↩😀
We will be transforming the Con†Stellation pages into a history site
Please bear with us as that transition will take some time
Con†Stellation XXXV: Horologium (The Clock)
13–15 October 2017——Huntsville, Alabama
|GoH: Mary Robinette Kowal
|Artist GoH: David O. Miller
|MC: Toni Weisskopf
Con†Stellation XXXI: Perseus will held at the Holiday Inn Express located near the intersection of University Drive and Jordan Lane:
3808 University Drive
Huntsville, AL, 35816
Please note that the date is approximately a month later than in previous years.
Adult Membership rate:
Child and Young Adult Rates:
Rates for younger ages (though 12) are fixed regardless of when they are purchased.
Children not accompanied by an Adult Member will be charged the Young Adult Membership rate.
Young Adult Memberships (students age 13-21, as of October 14, 2012) are $5 off the corresponding Adult Membership in effect at the time of purchase. We trust you (we really, really do) but reserve the right to request some proof of student status.
We will be posting a PDF Registration Form as soon as we can. In the meanwhile, you can send payment along with information on each member—name, badge name if any, and contact information (address, email, and phone as applicable)—to the convention address below.
We're in the process of inviting guests for 2012. We only post them once confirmed, so check back often for updates.
We're back for our eleventh (!) year at the Holiday Inn Express. The hotel is located near the intersection of University Drive and Jordan Lane in Huntsville, at 3808 University Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35816. Click here for a Google map.
Standard rooms (king or double-double) are $84 (+ taxes), suites are $120 (+ taxes), for 1–4 people per night. For reservations, call 256-721-1000 or toll free 800-345-7720 (which connects directly to this hotel). Mention Con†Stellation to get the convention rate. You must reserve your room by September 12th to be sure of getting the convention rate.
If you're planning a room party please write to or email the general convention address so we can assist in blocking you into the room party area. Mark your request Attention Room Party Coordination. The closer to the convention dates we get the more we love email.
Please check back later for information on the Gaming at Con†Stellation.
Please check back later for information on the Art Show and Auction.
Please check back later for information on the Dealers Room.
Please check back closer to the convention for information on programming at the con.
Use these methods to contact the convention for registration or to ask a question. Note that we don't currently offer web-based registration/payment so you'll eventually need to mail us a check.
Please check back later for a link to our latest flyer.
The immediate precursor to Con†Stellation was ZerCon, a two-day convention in November 1981. While planning and executing ZerCon, we came up with the name "Con†Stellation" (or "Con*Stellation") for a planned ongoing series of three-day-weekend conventions.
The first Con†Stellation was held July 16–18, 1982, under the full name Con†Stellation I: The Pleiades. The time of year varied over the first few conventions, though at least one has been held each year since. After the first few years, the convention made the shift from a spring/summer convention to a fall convention. Each Con†Stellation has been subtitled with an astronomical constellation—usually one of the 88 official modern constellations, though the first one was named after an asterism in Taurus. The convention often uses the constellation as a theme in its advertising and for events at the convention.
Con†Stellation has been held at a number of Huntsville-area hotels over its history. Other than Con†Stellation II.V (2.5), each has been a 3-day (Friday to Sunday) event.
Going forward, the plan is to have each year's Con†Stellaton in October. Stay tuned to this website for more info on 2013 and forward.
Other Fannish Stuff in Huntsville
The sponsor of Con†Stellation is the North Alabama Science Fiction Association, aka NASFA—a general-interest science fiction & fantasy club headquartered in Huntsville Alabama. Besides planning and running Con†Stellation, NASFA has monthly meetings that bring together sf/f/h/etc. fans from Huntsville, Madison, and other surrounding areas. Each meeting features both a noisy lively business meeting (which often digresses forays into a variety of sf/f/h/etc. topics) and a program. That latter may feature a regional author, cover a science topic of interest, display some off-the-beaten-track videos, or address almost any aspect of science fiction, fantasy, and related genres. There's also a social aspect to the club, with an "After-The-Meeting Meeting" each month and occasional other events. To find out how to join this year-round club, or to get in touch with NASFA about any other matter, please visit the NASFA website.
Though not sponsored by NASFA, it's very well worth noting that the Golden Anniversary DeepSouthCon—DSC 50—will be in Huntsville.
Links to Other Conventions, etc.


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==Guest of Honor==
==Guest of Honor==
[[File:Jody_Lynn_Nye 2016.1c.jpg|thumb|175px|left|
Jody Lynn Nye
]]
[[File:Jody_Lynn_Nye 2016.1c.jpg|thumb|175px|left|
Jody Lynn Nye
]]
The final Con†Stellation is over 🙁
😀↪ But, join us for Not-A-Con 2019!! ↩😀
😀↪ Which will be 18–19 October ↩😀
We will be transforming the Con†Stellation pages into a history site
Please bear with us as that transition will take some time
Con†Stellation XXXV: Horologium (The Clock)
13–15 October 2017——Huntsville, Alabama
|GoH: Mary Robinette Kowal
|Artist GoH: David O. Miller
|MC: Toni Weisskopf
This page is currently out of date and contains info on the 2016 Con†Stellation. For information about the current convention, please see the Main Page.
Jody Lynn Nye was born in Chicago. Before breaking away to write full time, she worked as a file clerk, bookkeeper at a small publishing house, freelance journalist and photographer, accounting assistant, and costume maker. For four years, she was on the technical operations staff of a Chicago TV station, serving the last year as Technical Operations Manager. During her time at WFBN, she was part of the engineering team that built the station, acted as Technical Director during live sports broadcasts, and worked to produce in-house spots and public service announcements.
Since 1985 she has published 47 books and 120 short stories. Among the novels are her epic fantasy series, The Dreamland, beginning with Waking In Dreamland; five contemporary humorous fantasies, Mythology 101, Mythology Abroad, Higher Mythology, Advanced Mythology, and The Magic Touch, three medical science fiction novels, Taylor's Ark, Medicine Show, and The Lady and the Tiger; and Strong Arm Tactics, the first in the humorous military science fiction series, The Wolfe Pack. Jody also wrote The Dragonlover's Guide to Pern, a non-fiction-style guide to the world of best-selling author Anne McCaffrey's popular world. She also collaborated with McCaffrey on four science fiction novels, The Death of Sleep, Crisis On Doona, Treaty At Doona, and The Ship Who Won (as well as a solo sequel to Ship entitled The Ship Errant). Jody co-authored the Visual Guide to Xanth with best-selling author Piers Anthony, and edited three anthologies, including a book of humorous stories about mothers in science fiction, fantasy, myth and legend, entitled Don't Forget Your Spacesuit, Dear! Her fantasy duology, An Unexpected Apprentice and A Forthcoming Wizard invoke the Lord of the Rings in tone and style. She wrote eight books with the late Robert Lynn Asprin: License Invoked, a contemporary fantasy set in New Orleans, and seven set in Asprin's Myth Adventures universe. After Asprin's passing, she continued with both his Dragons and Myth-Adventures series, writing Dragons Deal, Dragons Run, and Myth-Quoted.
Her newest series from Baen, the Lord Thomas Kinago books, include View From the Imperium, Fortunes of the Imperium, and Rhythm of the Imperium.
Over the last twenty years, Jody has taught in numerous writing workshops and participated on hundreds of panels covering the subjects of writing and being published at conventions. She has also spoken in schools and libraries, consulted on an animated feature scripts, and runs the two-day writers' workshop at Dragon Con in Atlanta. She and her husband, Bill Fawcett, are the book reviewers for Galaxy's Edge Magazine. You can find out more about her and her work at jodynye.net or follow her on Twitter at @JodyLynnNye.
Howard Tayler is the writer and illustrator behind Schlock Mercenary, the Hugo-nominated science fiction comic strip. His artwork is featured in XDM X-Treme Dungeon Mastery, a role-playing supplement by Tracy and Curtis Hickman, as well as in the board game Schlock Mercenary: Capital Offensive by Kevin Nunn, published by Living World Games.
Howard has written SF horror for the Space Eldritch and Space Eldritch II: The Haunted Stars anthologies, and full-metal fantasy tie-in fiction for Privateer Press under their Skull Island X imprint. He also co-hosts the Hugo and Parsec award-winning "Writing Excuses" podcast, a weekly 'cast for genre-fiction writers. "Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart."
A recovering autodidact, Howard nevertheless remains a firm believer in the power of focused practice, and in the relative irrelevance of talent. He praises artists' skills, rather than saying "you're so talented," because he knows that their years of study and refinement are what we see on the pages they create.
He lives in Orem, Utah with his wife Sandra, their children, and one ungrateful, archetypally imperious cat. You can find out more about his work at www.schlockmercenary.com.
Bill Fawcett has taught, been a game designer, author, and college dean. His entire life has been spent in creative fields and managing other creative individuals. He's one of the founders of Mayfair Games, a board and role playing gaming company. As an author Bill has written or co-authored over a dozen books and dozens of articles and short stories. As a book packager, his company Bill Fawcett & Associates has worked with over 400 titles for virtually every major publisher including a number of best selling SF, mystery, and action novels. He founded, and later sold, what is now the largest hobby shop in Northern Illinois.
Bill's first commercial writing appeared as articles in the early Dragon magazines. At Mayfair Games he edited the "Role Aides" Role Playing Game modules and supplements in the 1980s. During this period he also designed almost a dozen board games such as Empire Builder and Sanctuary. In 1994 Bill joined with a team of programmers to form Catware, with him as producer and designer. Catware released Swords of Xeen as part of the game set, Star General, a strategic game that was one of the 20 best selling games the year of its release, Las Vegas Games, and is now working on an online RPG. Bill produced and designed the computer RPG game Shattered Light for Simon & Schuster.
His novel writing began with the juvenile series, Swordquest for Ace Penguin Putnam Publishing. The Fleet series he created with David Drake has become a classic of military SF. Bill has collaborated on mystery novels such as the authorized Mycroft Holmes novels and the Madame Vernet Investigates series. As an anthologist, Bill has edited or co-edited almost 50 anthologies. Bill is the editor of Hunters and Shooters and The Teams, two oral histories of the SEALs in Vietnam. His most recently published works include It Seemed Like a Good Idea, You Did What, How To Lose A Battle, How To Lose a War, and It Looked Good on Paper: Engineering Disasters Through History. He also wrote Oval Office Oddities, containing thousands of fun facts and strangeness about US Presidents. The recently published 100 Mistakes that Changed History and Trust Me, 100 Leadership Mistakes that Changed History are now available; and 101 Stumbles in the March of History will be released in 2016.
You can find out more about him at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Fawcett_(writer).
Stephanie Osborn, the Interstellar Woman of Mystery, is a veteran of more than 20 years in the civilian space program, with graduate and undergraduate degrees in four sciences: astronomy, physics, chemistry and mathematics. She is also "fluent" in several more, including geology and anatomy. She's authored, co-authored, or contributed to almost 30 books, including the celebrated science-fiction mystery, Burnout: The mystery of Space Shuttle STS-281. She is the co-author of the Cresperian Saga book series, and currently writes the critically acclaimed Displaced Detective series, described as "Sherlock Holmes meets The X-Files," and the exciting Sherlock Holmes: Gentleman Aegis series. In addition to her writing, the Interstellar Woman of Mystery now happily "pays it forward," teaching math and science through numerous media including radio, podcasting, and public speaking, as well as working with SIGMA, the science-fiction think tank.
Stephanie can be contacted from her website, www.stephanie-osborn.com. Her Facebook fan page is www.facebook.com/SFAuthorStephanieOsborn, and you can follow her on Twitter at @WriterSteph.
In addition to our Guests of Honor, Master of Ceremonies, and Science Guest we have a great lineup of other guests that keeps expanding. The list is updated as guests are confirmed.
Bio not currently available. In the meanwhile, you can check out www.baen.com/bookdata/catalog/author/name/jcochrane and authors.simonandschuster.com/Julie-Cochrane.
While David Drake was studying at Duke Law School, the Army changed his immediate career path to a choice between interrogator or grunt. Dave chose interrogator. He was assigned to the 11th Cav, the Blackhorse, and spent much of 1970 riding armored vehicles through jungles instead of slogging on foot.
During his service, Dave learned new skills, saw interesting sights, and met exotic people who hadn't run fast enough to get away. He returned to Duke, completed his law degree, and became Chapel Hill's Assistant Town Attorney while trying to put his life back together through fiction that made sense of his Army experiences.
Dave describes war from where he saw it: the loader's hatch of a tank in Cambodia. His military experience, combined with his formal education in history and Latin, has made him one of the foremost writers of realistic action SF and fantasy. His bestselling Hammer's Slammers series is credited with creating the genre of modern Military SF.
He would rather be a moderately successful lawyer with a less interesting background.
Dave lives with his family in rural North Carolina. You can learn more about him at david-drake.com.
Bio not currently available. In the meanwhile, you can check out her website or follow her on Twitter at @TaylorSHoch.
Les Johnson is a physicist, a science and science fiction author, and a NASA technologist. His most recent book, On to the Asteroid, with co-author Travis Taylor, will be released by Baen in August 2016. Les's previous books include Back to the Moon, Going Interstellar, and Rescue Mode (all for Baen) and Living Off the Land in Space, Solar Sails, Harvesting Space for a Greener Earth, and Sky Alert: When Satellites Fail (Springer Books). He is the Senior Technical Adviser for NASA's Advanced Concepts Office at the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville AL, where he serves as the Principal Investigator for the Near Earth Asteroid Scout solar sail mission that will launch in 2018. Les has numerous peer-reviewed journal publications and was published in Analog. He is a member of the National Space Society, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, The British Interplanetary Society, The World Future Society, and MENSA.
For more information, visit Les's website [http: www.lesjohnsonauthor.com www.lesjohnsonauthor.com] or check in with him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/LesJohnsonAuthor.
Bio not currently available. In the meanwhile, you can check out www.afterdinnermagic.com.
Bio not currently available. In the meanwhile, you can check out en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_S._Taylor, www.baen.com/bookdata/catalog/author/name/tstaylor, and authors.simonandschuster.com/Dr-Travis-S-Taylor.
Toni Weisskopf succeeded Jim Baen as publisher of Baen Books in 2006. She has worked with such authors as David Weber, Mercedes Lackey, David Drake, Lois McMaster Bujold, Eric Flint, Wen Spencer, Larry Correia, Charles E. Gannon, and many others. With Josepha Sherman she compiled and annotated the definitive volume of subversive children's folklore, Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts. Weisskopf is a founding member of NASFA and a graduate of Oberlin College with a degree in anthropology. She is the mother of a delightful daughter, and lives in a hundred-year-old house with three cats, two dogs, and a polearm in every room.


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It's been a busy and hectic past couple of weeks, but we're still here. Look for things to resume as normal next week. Until then, check out the message from eMINTS Director Monica Beglau in regards to the tragedy in Japan:
With the world's attention focused on the natural disasters occurring in Japan, many teachers may want to take this opportunity to work with their students on disaster planning and to develop a deeper understanding of changes to the earth's surface that may result in catastrophes for human beings. The natural disasters in Japan also highlight how man-made structures such as nuclear energy plants can be affected and create additional hazards. eMINTS has developed a unit/lesson plan and provided many resources for teachers to use in working with these topics in the classroom. While the grade level listed for the unit/lesson plan is "Grade 4," the concepts are also important in middle and high school. Creative teachers will be able to adapt the unit/lesson plan by increasing the difficulty of the task and having older students work with students from other grade levels where possible to develop school-wide plans. See http://www.emints.org/resources/index.shtml for more information.
Special thanks to the Safe America Foundation for the use of their materials in the unit/lesson plan. The Safe America Foundation is dedicated to improving the safety of Americans by making them aware of threats, encouraging them to prepare and through the distribution of safety products. A 501.c.3 nonprofit organization chartered in 1994, Safe America works in partnership with corporate, governmental, public and private sector organizations and other nonprofits to develop programs targeting emerging safety issues or to bring new insight or new technologies to persistent threats – at home, work or play. Learn more at: http://www.safeamerica.org/
Additional Information: Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas and Illinois districts may also wish to participate in the multi-state earthquake preparedness drill on April 28th. For more information on the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut see: http://www.shakeout.org/centralus/
Missouri-specific information is available from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at: http://dese.mo.gov/commissioner/documents/ShakeOut-letter.pdf


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First Look: Reset trailer tantalizes
[media-credit name="Theory Interactive Ltd" align="alignnone" width="495″][/media-credit]
Theory Interactive released the debut trailer for Reset yesterday. Using footage from the in-game engine, it looks absolutely stunning.
The company describes the game as a "single player co-op first person puzzle game with emphasis on story and atmosphere." What does that mean? I'm not sure. Online speculation range from Portal to Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time.
The game is slated to be released for Windows. No date has been set since the game is in pre-alpha stage.
Check out the trailer for yourself after the jump.


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Galatta by vijayakumar Radhakrishnan
by via_web on
June 12, 2012
Filed under App DB, Entertainment, Free Apps, iPad Apps, iPhone Apps
Galatta News, a handy app that is setting new trends, has been designed to provide you with breaking news in Indian cinema. It gives you quick and easy access to the latest updates about your favorite movies and celebrities, press releases and much more.
Developer Website: http://www.dotcominfoway.com/


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Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti either committed political suicide, or just became Mayor For Life. Addressing a rally for the Stanley Cup winners inside the Staples Center, Garcetti noted two rules of politics and then immediately broke both, to raucous applause.
Colorful language is starting to feel like a tradition for the Kings, despite what Luc Robitaille says.
h/t Ryan


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Pepper Pig wrote:There is somebody on Twitter who has the hashtag RobTichener. He was boasting about this being down to him last week.
Pepper Pig wrote:Olwen is played by the wonderful Alison Steadman and I can always recognise her voice.
Pepper Pig wrote:However!! Richard Lock, Rev Alan Franks and Harrison Burns all sound exactly the same to me.
scullion wrote:hmm, yes, richard locke, did make a strange, quick reappearance last year, didn't he? probably refreshing peoples memory for a story to come. will alastair blame him for schula's position
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests


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Cancer Lyrics
Dream, lay next to me.
I felt your body quiver in silence, wrapped in disease.
Well, no one has found such luck, a lion's bite.
The ugly duck lies in the corner, a headache for lovers, a whore to end up on her knees.
Mother, we're sick of this.
Your flowers, your scripture, your ignorant bliss.
Mother, we're sick of these games.
Our father? Is that who's to blame?
Lay next to me, give me a reason to believe we don't belong here.
I'll catch your dreams.
We can do better than this.
Dream, lie once for me. (1,2,3)
I felt your tongue chase demons and bad taste right out of me.
Well, still caught in such bad luck, a nervous voice,
The ugly duck lies in the corner, spreads legs for lovers and watches them choke on disease.
Lover, I'm sick of this.
Your smile, your swallow, your innocent kiss,
Lover, I'm sick of these games,
Your father? Is that who's to blame?
Still, nothing has changed
It's sick and deranged.
Now our smiles bring cancer.


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Talk:South Bohan Safehouse
| This talk page is for discussing the South Bohan Safehouse article.
This includes commenting on the article, questioning whether it is correct, or adding suggestions for improvements
Questions about GTA games, not about the wiki page itself, should be asked at Community:Questions.Remember to always add your signature to the end of your comments/replies using four tildes:
In an effort to link all the safehouses together, I added brackets with links after the name of the mission that they are aquired:
- This is the only safehouse that's avaliable until new safehouses are earned in Algonquin after the missions The Holland Play (Stolen by Niko) and Hostile Negotiation (bought by Roman).
Does anyone have any other (better) ideas about how to do this? Biggest GTA Fan EverTalk 08:58, 3 November 2008 (UTC)
Previous Owner
I was under the impression the previous owner wasn't Mallorie, but her cousin, or friend... or something or rather lol. I'm not sure, so i won't edit.. but just to throw the idea out there. Ess-Tee 11:51, 16 May 2009 (UTC)
- Yeah, the place was one of her cousin's as said by Roman in this video.--Spaceeinstein 13:20, 16 May 2009 (UTC)
- So is all clear to make the edit? Ess-Tee 05:00, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
- I've just watched the video and we can assume that it was one of Mallorie's cousins place, but after he asked that question, she could've said something like "No, but my uncle just died and left me this place" or anything really lol. Maybe we should just write "It is heavily evidenced, but not proven, that this safehouse belonged to one of Mallorie's cousins before it was handed over to Niko and Roman." or something like that. Ess-Tee 05:05, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
- Watch 3:40.--Spaceeinstein 05:15, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
- Ahh yeah I get you now, I skipped the main part of the trip assuming the conversation piece I mentioned just then was the only reference, thanks for that man. Ess-Tee 05:21, 17 May 2009 (UTC)
- If we've decided that it is Mallorie's Cousin's house, can I change the article? --LuisFernandoLopez 20:24, 10 June 2009 (UTC)
M4 Carbine Opportunity
A trick I used here: As soon as you get the South Bohan safehouse, you can exploit the opportunity to get the M4 and max out ammo for it as well. Get up the proper wanted level so the NOOSE guys are coming after you, then run into the stairway. At the base of the stairs leading up to the safehouse, hide behind the wall so you can still get a clear view of the doorway. You can blind fire if you like to reduce the risk of taking damage. After killing enough enemies and their weapons drop on the ground, run up to your room and save the game to shake the wanted level. When you come back down, some weapons should still be lying on the ground, which you can pick up...then run upstairs and save it again with all of your newly acquired ammo and weapons. Exploit it to your hearts content.--Namelesswalaby 04 Jan 2010 2342hrs


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- " [Harry] thought his voice might soon vanish from lack of use. He bent a little lower over Advanced Potion-Making and continued to make notes on Everlasting Elixirs, occasionally pausing to decipher the prince's useful additions to Libatius Borage's text."
- —Harry tries desperately to ignore Hermione's ranting about Ron while doing his homework[src]
Everlasting Elixirs are a type of potion with the effect to either never run out of potion or to work forever.
Harry Potter studied Everlasting Elixirs in sixth-year Potions class, taking notes on them in the Hogwarts Library from his copy of Advanced Potion-Making, which the Half-Blood Prince had annotated.[1]
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 15 (The Unbreakable Vow)
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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In late night session, photo captures Reps. Rhonda Fields and Jeanne Labuda catching some zzzZZZ's on House floor
Photos of lawmakers sleeping at their desks — no matter the late night hour — are never a good look.
And in an era where everyone has a camera, either on their smart phone or tablet, photos can easily be taken — just look at Democratic Reps. Rhonda Fields of Aurora and Jeanne Labuda of Denver.
An image snapped of the two on Friday night as lawmakers debated bills into Saturday morning shows them slumped in their chairs on the House floor with their eyes closed.
But taking photos of lawmakers sleeping is nothing new.
Then Republican Rep. Randy Baumgardner was caught sleeping in a photo last session, which was used against him in a election mailer during his primary against Sen. Jean White.
The picture of Fields and Labuda has floated around since the weekend and was posted Monday by conservative bloggers at Colorado Peak Politics.
As for potential mailers used against them in a future House race, Labuda is term limited and Fields is in a safe Democratic district in Aurora.
Follow Kurtis on Twitter: @kurtisalee


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What is this hideous Junk over our house?
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text:
ESI background paper, 10 December 2008
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Environment is one of the areas which posed the biggest challenges for the East European accession countries in the run-up to their accession. The environmental legacies of most post-communist countries, with their focus on heavy industry, were appalling. By the late 1980s, large areas of Eastern and South Eastern Europe suffered from excessive air pollution, water pollution and land degradation.[1]
Institutionally, the challenge consisted of incorporating over 200 EU directives, regulations and decisions into national legislation, making Environment the third most comprehensive chapter of the acquis after agriculture and the free movement of goods. This required a complete overhaul of existing legislation and the creation of many new laws and policies.
But meeting the environmental acquis also required the implementation of many huge – and extremely expensive – investment projects, particularly in the sewage and waste sectors. The EC estimated in 2001 that the implementation costs for the environmental acquis in all 10 East European former communist accession countries would total between € 78 and 109 billion (of which € 8.6 billion in Bulgaria).[2]
It was clear that these wide-reaching changes could not be made overnight. All new members negotiated transitional periods under the environment chapter, expiring in 2017 at the latest. So the task is not accomplished yet.
Nevertheless, this very challenging sector is one of the areas where one can best observe the difference that the accession process makes in key policy areas. In this background paper we look at the transformation that took place in this sector in the decade leading up to Bulgaria's accession in 2007.
The challenge
In 1997, Bulgaria's environmental situation was a disaster. Communism left Bulgaria with a legacy of inefficient use of energy and raw materials, as well as outdated and highly polluting technologies. In 1992, an environmental strategy was drawn up with help of the World Bank, and some basic legislation was put in place, but as an OECD study noted in 1996:
implementation of environmental policy and investments for environmental improvement have not followed. Development of the regulatory framework has been delayed by a slow legislative process. Mobilising resources from enterprises, government and households is proving difficult in view of economic constraints. Pollution loads to air and water have been reduced, but mainly because of declines in production; a resumption of economic growth could increase pressures on the environment.[3]
The EC's avis on Bulgaria from 1997 stated:
Local air quality poses significant risks to human health. Waste is an area of major concern: waste management practices are elementary, especially for disposal activities, and incineration is not regulated. Soil pollution and erosion are also serious.[4]
In certain areas, there was no legislation at all. In the chemicals production sector, for example, there were some standards on safety and working conditions, but no environmental standards.[5] In other areas, "a key challenge [was] to reform a system of very strict but un-enforced standards, dating from previous decades, into realistic standards (…) Enforcement mechanisms [were] weak, largely limited to low fines on air, water and soil pollution."[6] There was no coherent system for licensing big industrial plants with regard to environmental standards. 39 percent of Bulgaria's waste water was discharged untreated.[7]
Moreover, with a few exceptions, none of Bulgaria's landfills met EU criteria, designed to prevent leaks and the pollution of soil, water and air.[8] At the end of the 1990s, "the present levels of environmental expenditures [did] not cover all waste management costs in order to guarantee protection of the human health and the environment (…) The efficiency of the control structures, information gathering and planning capacities are insufficient, especially at municipal level."[9]
Around 77% of the total amount of treated hazardous waste is disposed of in own landfills on site of the enterprises. These landfills have exhausted their capacity and do not comply with the requirements of the present national legislation.[10]
Two actors were in charge of environmental policies in 1997; the Ministry of Environment and Water, which included a "National Environment Protection Fund", and the municipalities.[11] Their capacity to address the huge challenges was extremely low -combined spending by the ministry and the fund on environmental investment projects in 1997 amounted to not more than € 4.5 million.[12]
Imagine the task in 1997. To be able to move from the situation described above to compliance with EU rules seemed impossible. The EU environmental acquis comprises over 200 legal acts, covering horizontal legislation, water and air pollution, management of waste and chemicals, biotechnology, nature protection, industrial pollution and risk management, noise and radiation protection.[13] But the transposition of EU legislation would only be a first step. Entirely new institutions needed to be created and existing ones considerably strengthened in order to be able to implement new laws and policies. Hundreds of staff would need to be trained. Co-ordination between the institutions involved would need to be enhanced. The relationship between the government and the public, in particular companies and NGOs, would need to change considerably. The government would have to earmark huge amounts of money for investments necessary to meet EU standards. In 1997, the European Commission estimated the total financial costs for the implementation of the environmental acquis in Bulgaria at € 15 billion, a figure lowered to € 8.6 billion in 2001.[14]
Spending such an amount was a huge challenge for a number of reasons; firstly, because of the sheer size of the investments. How can a ministry develop the capacity to plan projects for hundreds of millions, even billions, of euros when in 1997 – together with the National Environment Protection Fund – it spent no more than € 4.5 million? Secondly, as of 2000, any EU-supported environmental project implemented in Bulgaria had to comply with strict EU standards. Each had to include a feasibility study, an environmental impact assessment, involve public consultation and follow EU tender, contracting and accounting rules.
Meeting environmental standards and spending money according to EU rules required hundreds of new experts who still needed to be trained. It directly affected thousands of people in ministries, governmental agencies, regional and municipal bodies, NGOs and companies.
Even assuming determined political will, this was still a tremendous challenge.
EU assistance
The EU offered significant assistance.
First, it provided intensive guidance on how Bulgaria's legislation needed to change to meet EU standards and on the kind of institutions needed for implementation. In an exercise called "screening", EC and Bulgarian experts looked at Bulgarian environmental legislation and institutions, analysing what was compatible with EU legislation and what was not. This took place for the first time in 1998/99, after Bulgaria became a candidate, and again in the run-up to the opening of negotiations on the environment chapter (on 27 July 2001). The exercise was a sort of x-ray of the situation in Bulgaria and showed what the EU expected to change in this area.
Two other key documents provided overall guidance. In 1998, the first Accession Partnership with Bulgaria was signed. This document, prepared and regularly up-dated by the EU, "would be the key feature of the enhanced pre-accession strategy."[15] It set out the priority areas for further work as identified by the European Commission, from the political and economic criteria to specific areas such as agriculture, internal market, energy, economic and social cohesion, and environment. It also outlined the areas on which EU assistance would focus.
The second document, prepared by the accession countries, was the National Programme for the Adoption of the Aquis (NPAA). Essentially, it consisted of a huge excel sheet, placing every piece of EU legislation side-by-side with the respective Bulgarian law through which it would be implemented, giving a defined time-frame, identifying resources and citing the government institutions responsible.
In addition to these general documents, there was substantive guidance from the EU's side with regard to the environmental sector. At the end of 1999, a draft version of the Handbook on the Implementation of EC Environment Legislation was made available to the accession countries. This huge 742-page document provided overviews of all important sectors such as air quality, waste management, water protection, industrial pollution control and risk management, followed by detailed sections ("fiches") on all relevant directives and regulations. Separate sections were provided for 61 directives, 14 regulations and 3 decisions.[16]
In May 2000 an informal EC working document appeared, entitled Main administrative structures required for implementing the acquis, followed later by up-dated versions. It was very concise (some 90 pages), explaining the institutional setting required for the implementation of EU legislation in each chapter. It remained unofficial, reflecting the Commission's reluctance to define specific administrative models in areas where member states administrations were so diverse.[17]
Clear and ambitious commitments were necessary to advance in the negotiations and eventually close the chapter. This set a very ambitious reform agenda.
Second, the EU provided technical assistance to help build up required institutional capacity. A total of 22 projects (or sub-projects) were put into place between 1998 and 2005, ranging from general support (development of strategies, plans, transposition of legislation) and the strengthening of individual parts of the administration to implementing specific directives and to the training of officials at regional and local levels.
Most of these projects included "twinnings", where the Bulgarian authorities would engage EU member state governmental institutions to provide long-term assistance on a specific task of institutional reform. Twinning involved the permanent presence of a "resident twinning adviser" in the Bulgarian beneficiary institution for the whole project period, usually between 12 and 24 months. In addition, short- and mid-term experts would be brought in. It is important to note that although the projects were financed through Phare (the institution-building programme of the EU for accession countries), it was the Bulgarian authorities who had the final say in choosing the EU partner agencies after an open tender procedure where EU member state government institutions could apply. Twinning programmes were often accompanied by some Phare investment funds for necessary equipment.
Table: Phare projects in the environment sector 1998-2006
|Institution Building
|Environm. protection measures
|Total PHARE
|Domestic Cofinancing
Third, and most important, was the EU's assistance budget for investments in the environmental area. This was central to the capacity building effort. While huge sums were put on the table, they could only be spent as institutional capacity developed.
Starting from 2000, the accession countries benefited from the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession (ISPA), a specially developed programme oriented at the EU structural funds. ISPA was made available for environment and transport sector projects in the accession countries.
In the year 2000, ISPA funds for the environment in Bulgaria amounted to € 52 million. In the same year, funds from the national budget and the National Environment Protection Fund amounted to € 32.5 million. Municipalities contributed € 4.2 million.[18] Compared to 1997, considerably more national funds were spent on environment, triggered by the requirement for domestic co-financing of EU projects and the need to improve infrastructure in order to meet EU requirements.
In order to spend these funds, a number of preconditions had to be met. Every environment investment project which involved any ISPA funding had to comply with very strict standards. A national environmental strategy, providing an analysis of the situation and defining priorities, had to be developed before funds were made available. This strategy also had to be co-ordinated with other planning documents such as the Accession Partnership and the National Development Plan.
Project applications usually consisted of a file that was 10-15 cm high, including the completed application form, a description of the project, a feasibility study, a cost-benefit analysis, a timetable, a preliminary environmental impact assessment, a financial plan, and annexes with mostly technical data, all in English.
An "EU Funds for Environment" directorate was set up in the ministry. By 2005 it had grown to 35 people, many of them engineers in charge of the preparation and implementation of ISPA projects (in addition, some projects were implemented by the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works).
Given that project costs were never below € 10 million and could sometimes exceed € 40 million, preparation took from several months to up to two years, depending on the size of the project. Capacity to deal with such projects had to be built up; in numerous instances the EC demanded improvements in the applications if they did not meet required standards. Once the EC approved a project, an equally comprehensive tender documentation had to be prepared before actual construction could begin. To follow and oversee this process, a set of monitoring and evaluation bodies had to be established; these also needed to make information publicly accessible.
It often took three to four years from a project's inception before construction began. Although most acceding countries were more efficient than Bulgaria, all had problems with ISPA due to the programme's cumbersome and time-consuming procedures. Particularly for countries starting from a low level of administrative capacity like Bulgaria, it was a crucial learning process, and helped a lot in building up necessary capacity.
Throughout the whole seven-year period from 2000 to 2006, the EU invested more in the environmental sector than all Bulgarian institutions put together. In total, 22 environmental projects with a total value € 643 million were accepted by the Commission. Of the total project funds, ISPA would cover € 411 million, slightly less than two thirds of the total costs. The remainder would be financed by Bulgaria (€ 170 million) and IFIs (€ 62 million).[19]
Due to the complicated and demanding processes of preparing tender procedures according to EU standards, contracting and payment took time. Of the total amount of € 643 million, € 344 million or 54 percent have been contracted and € 159 million or 25 percent spent by November 2008.[20] While spending has been even slower than in other accession countries, the € 159 million still represents double the amount that had been paid out by August 2007 (€ 80 million), which means that spending is accelerating.
Guidance for legislative changes, support for building up new institutions and strengthening existing ones, and funding for the environment sector were crucial in bringing about intrinsic transformation – defying the argument that institutional capacities have to be built up before the accession process can begin in earnest. Capacity building, in other words, is a key feature of member state building, but not a precondition. In order to produce the impressive results that Bulgaria has achieved, all three components – guidance, capacity building and funding – are needed at the same time.
Monitoring & mobilisation of the public sector and society
While the accession process starts in earnest with an assessment of what a country has to do to comply with the acquis (screening), progress assessments remain crucial throughout the whole process, making a country's track record transparent and accessible to the public and thereby keeping the pressure on the government.
Starting in 1998, annual reports examined the extent to which the legislative and institutional situation had improved in the accession countries. The 2005 Comprehensive Monitoring report for Bulgaria, for example, notes in one section:
As regards waste management, legislation is basically in place and is in line with the acquis, except for the acquis on polychlorinated biphenyls, polychlorinated terphenyls and waste oils. Draft legislation has been prepared but not yet adopted. Concerning batteries, the legal basis for transposing the acquis has been adopted recently. Administrative capacities are in place. However, substantial attention still needs to be paid to recruiting additional specially trained human resources (…).[21]
The report's chapter on environment deals with all major areas, from horizontal legislation (for example, how environmental impact assessments have to be done) to specific legislation on air quality, water quality, nature protection, industrial pollution, chemicals, genetically modified organisms, noise and nuclear safety and radiation protection.
It is misleading to think of this process as involving only a handful of EU and Bulgarian officials. From the outset, hundreds of people – later on, thousands – were involved. These included the regional inspectorates of the environment ministry, as well as many other administrative bodies such as the veterinary service, laboratories, and 262 municipalities. In addition, it affected the staff of the 49 modern water supply and sewage companies (of which 29 cover more than one municipality), 67 waste water treatment plants, the remaining waste companies and landfills, as well as the power plants.[22] Thousands of companies were also affected by the new legislation. Aside from the big companies who needed permits in accordance with the "Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control" directive, many smaller companies had to meet requirements for industrial waste, packaging waste and recycling.
What has been achieved after one decade?
Bulgaria has transposed virtually the whole acquis in the environment sector with very few exceptions (mainly related to very recent directives and regulations). The acquis has been transposed through a series of new framework laws, most notably the environmental protection act, the water act, the waste management act and the clean air act. At least another 9 laws were considerably modified, and at least 31 new regulations and 20 ordinances adopted.[23]
Bulgaria's institutions in this sector have been dramatically transformed. According to Eulina Milova, head of the European Integration department of the Ministry of Environment and Water in 2006, "the environment sector was completely restructured due to the accession process; due to the obligations undertaken in order to meet the EU criteria, a completely new legislative framework had to be adopted and virtually nothing stayed the same."[24] Eulina Milova belongs to the army of young people in their 20s and 30s who have dramatically changed the Bulgarian administration on its way to the EU. The number of ministry staff has doubled since 2002, to more than 2,000 people in 2006, on the eve of accession. The adoption and implementation of the EU's directives and regulations has had an impact on virtually all directorates and departments, who have had to build up the capacity to implement the respective policies. While administrative structures need further strengthening, the accession process – since 1997 – has changed the structure and work of the ministry beyond recognition.
Although improvements in the environmental sector take time, some results are already visible. Due to the construction and modernisation of waste water treatment plants, the share of treated waste water of total waste water rose from 62 percent in 2000 to 79 percent in 2004.[25] Of 5,135 illegal waste dumps still existing in 2002, 3,554 were closed by the end of 2004. The share of the population covered by municipal waste collection increased in four years from 78 percent to 84 percent in 2004. At the same time, the amount of municipal waste collected annually decreased from 518 to 472 kilograms per capita, considerably below the EU-15 average of 580 kilograms.[26]
While in 1997 virtually none of the Bulgarian landfills met EU criteria, Bulgaria committed itself to establish a system of 54 regional landfills by 16 July 2009. This requires reconstruction of the existing regional landfills and construction of new ones for the disposal of all the municipal waste generated in the country. Gradually, all existing landfills for municipal waste that do not meet the new technical standards will have to be closed. By the end of 2004, 20 of the envisaged regional landfills for municipal waste were constructed and put into operation, 12 were under construction, and the remainder were at different stages of preparation.[27]
According to the "Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control" (IPPC) directive of the EU, all larger factories and other industrial installations had to obtain integrated authorisation permits by end of October 2007 (this deadline applied to all member states).
The "integrated approach" means that "the permits must take into account the whole environmental performance of the plant, covering e.g. emissions to air, water and land, generation of waste, use of raw materials, energy efficiency, noise, prevention of accidents, and restoration of the site upon closure. The purpose of the Directive is to ensure a high level of protection of the environment taken as a whole."[28] The directive covers about 52,000 installations in the whole EU. By April 2008 only five of the 27 member states have issued permits for all companies falling under the directive. Bulgaria (though having negotiated a transition period for 41 companies), had by then issued 70 percent of the necessary permits, clearly ahead of Portugal (56%), Slovenia (40%) and Greece (35%).[29]
Bulgaria's environmental transformation has not yet come to an end, however. The sheer size of the challenge in the environmental sector makes it clear that the process needs more time. In a number of areas, transitional periods have been negotiated to allow more time to implement the changes, in particular for covering Bulgaria with EU-standard landfills and waste water treatment plants (until 2014), but also to meet recycling requirements originating from the EU directive on packaging (until 2011) and to bring some of the heavy polluters in line with EU air-emission standards (until 2014).
Imagine Bulgaria in 2014. No stone in the environment sector will have been left unturned. All transitional periods will have come to an end. Even then, in some areas there will be still considerable concerns, but Bulgaria will not be recognisable in terms of its environment protection measures. The Bulgarian Operational Programme "Environment 2007-2013″ foresees total investments of € 1.8 billion in the environment sector, most of which will go into waste water treatment and waste treatment. €1.47 billion will be provided through the EU's Structural and Cohesion Funds.[30]
This money will be well invested. A comprehensive study on the environmental, economic and social benefits of alignment with the environmental acquis in acceding countries estimates potential annual benefits for Bulgaria (after full compliance) at between € 290 million and € 2.2 billion.[31] Such benefits include better public health, less damage to natural resources, increased tourist numbers, increased economic efficiency and higher productivity as a result of modern technology use, lower consumption of primary materials, and support for employment.
The style of government is also expected to change, enhancing more democratic practices and engaging large segments of society. EU provisions provide for a strong focus on public participation. On chemicals production, for example, the EC requires
that the competent authority has taken steps to consult stakeholders, and has prepared and publishes guidance notes for them. The stakeholders include environmental agencies working on behalf of central government (e.g. regulatory authority, national standards laboratory, veterinary service), regional and local government, municipalities, chemical industry (dangerous substances, manufacture of products including asbestos), construction industry, the public and research institutions (e.g. universities).[32]
Member state building in the area of environment has had a revolutionary impact on the public sector – not only on laws, but also on institutions. It has revolutionised relations between the public sector and the public through its insistence on vastly improved and transparent information. It required an unprecedented level of co-ordination between public institutions and national investments to co-finance EU funded measures. This in turn required various governmental actors to coordinate multi-annual planning, as to ensure that the necessary national funding will be accordingly provided.
Bulgaria is now equipped with the tools and skills to address the challenges of meeting all (or at least most) European environmental standards within several years. This is an extraordinary change from 1997 and would not have been possible without the combination of incentives, mechanisms and assistance provided by the accession process.
[1] Petr Pavlinek and John Pickles, "Environmental Pasts/Environmental Futures in Post-Socialist Europe", in: JoAnn Carmin and Stacy D. VanDeveer (eds.), EU Enlargement and the Environment. Institutional Change and Environmental Policy in Central and Eastern Europe, Routledge, 2005, pp. 237-265, p. 239.
[2] EC, Communication from the Commission: The Challenge of Environmental Financing in the Candidate Countries, 2001, quoted in ECOTEC, The benefits of compliance with the environmental acquis for the candidate countries, July 2001, p. 15.
[3] OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews – Bulgaria, OECD, 1996, conclusions and recommendations.
[4] EC, Commission Opinion on Bulgaria's Application for Membership of the European Union, 15 July 1997, p. 94.
[5] ESI interview with Eulina Milova, head of the European Integration Department in the Ministry for Environment and Water, 20 October 2006.
[6] OECD, Environmental Performance Reviews – Bulgaria, OECD, 1996, conclusions and recommendations.
[7] Ministry of Environment and Water, National Strategy – Environment Sector, October 2000, p. 9.
[8] Ministry of Environment and Water, ibid., p. 24.
[9] Ministry of Environment and Water, ibid., pp. 25-6.
[10] Ministry of Environment and Water, ibid., p. 25.
[11] Ministry of Environment and Water, ibid., pp. 13-15.
[12] Ministry of Environment and Water, ibid., p. 26.
[13] EC, Bulgaria – 2005 Comprehensive Monitoring Report, 25 October 2005, p. 59.
[14] Source for both figures: EC, Communication from the Commission: The Challenge of Environmental Financing in the Candidate Countries, 2001, quoted in: ECOTEC, The benefits of compliance with the environmental acquis for the candidate countries, July 2001, p. 15.
[15] Accession Partnership with Bulgaria, 1999, p. 2.
[16] EC, Handbook for Implementation of EU Environmental Legislation, Draft November 1999, Introduction, p. 3.
[17] See Heather Grabbe, The EU's Transformative Power. Europeanization Through Conditionality in Central and Eastern Europe, Palgrave, 2006, p. 79.
[18] Ministry of Environment and Water, National Strategy – Environment Sector, October 2000, p. 28.
[19] Ministry of Finance of Bulgaria, Financial Implementation of ISPA, National Funds Directorate, 30 November 2008. The remainder of allocated ISPA funds, totalling EUR 880 million is spent on transport infrastructure projects and technical assistance.
[20] Source: Bulgarian Ministry of Finance, Financial Implementation of ISPA, various dates, own calculation.
[21] EC, Bulgaria – 2005 Comprehensive Monitoring Report, 25 October 2005, pp.59-60.
[22] Government of Bulgaria, Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013, Sofia, draft May 2006, p. 11.
[23] See website of the Bulgarian Ministry of Environment and Water, section EU integration – harmonisation.
[24] ESI interview with Eulina Milova, head of the European Integration Department in the Ministry for Environment and Water, 20 October 2006.
[25] Ministry of Environment and Water, Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013, 2007, p. 16.
[26] Ministry of Environment and Water, Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013, 2007, pp. 29, 22, 21.
[27] Ministry of Environment and Water, Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013, 2007, p. 25.
[28] EC, DG Environment, http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pollutants/stationary/ippc/summary.htm.
[29] EC, DG Environment, "IPPC permitting situation in the Member States by 30 April 2008″, see: http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/pollutants/stationary/ippc/pdf/grids2.pdf.
[30] Ministry of Environment and Water, Operational Programme Environment 2007-2013, 2007, p. 79.
[31] ECOTEC, The Benefits of Compliance with the Environmental Acquis for the Candidate Countries, July 2001, p. 54. The report notes that no single figures can be given, but the range given should be seen as an indicator of prospective benefits.
[32] EC, Main administrative structures required for implementing the acquis, Informal Working Document, May 2000 (update 7 June 2004), p. 73.
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SOLVANG'S GOT THIS: If you're up to facing facts of the most festive sort, this one should be pretty easy to handle: Whatever your area or neighborhood or district or city does to prepare for the holidays, Solvang may go a couple of yards further. But we know this; after all, Time magazine named it one of the most Christmassy towns in all of American a couple of years back. Heck, the place looks like it might be celebrating the yuletide when it is 99 degrees in July. So, yeah, Solvang's got this, in December, with the mega merry sweet song-filled celebrations. There's a word for it, too: Julefest.
WINE COUNTRY WINSOME: Julefest comes in several parts. Ohhhh no, it is not just a single Saturday, or one weekend, then over and out. Solvang residents sign on at the start of December for serious conviviality. Things get going on the first of the month -- that's a cinch to remember -- with 100 Trees of Julefest. The official grand tree-lighting is on Friday, Dec. 6, which happens to be the very weekend of Solvang on Ice. A Christmas parade is scheduled for Dec. 7 and the Holiday Wine Walk strolls on the following weekend (Dec. 14 and 15). December 14 also happens to be S'moresFest! Yep, it has an exclamation point, as anything to do with s'mores should, and, yep, it is year one, but don't let that lull you into thinking this thing won't be well-attended. Who doesn't like sticky-marshmallow-graham-y goodness? Nobody, is the answer. Nobody does not like that.
THAT'S ALSO THE SAME DAY... as the traditional Nativity Pageant. If you can't get up/down to Julefest for one of the big events, though, the 100 Trees will be up through December. And then, come Jan. 10? That's the Christmas Tree Burn, which indeed is on the Julefest schedule, too. It's a big one, for a small village, is what we're saying. But, as we said before: Solvang's got this.


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Issues Library—State & Local
Compulsory Attendance
More Issues
Charter Schools
Daytime Curfew
Early Childhood Education
IDEA & Disability Policy
Jury Duty
Sports & Public School Classes
Work Permits
What are Compulsory Attendance Laws?
Compulsory attendance laws are crafted by each state to require school attendance for children of certain ages. Five states require students to begin school at age 5, 32 mandate school attendance at age 6, and a small number allow children to wait until reaching 8 years old. All children must continue education through high school, with 26 states setting the benchmark at 16, and others at 17 or 18. Various exceptions may apply on a state-by-state basis.1
Most states also require students to study for a certain number of instructional days. The majority of states (30) set the number at 180 days, two mandate 181 or more days, and 11 range from 179 to under 170 days. Some states require fewer instructional days for homeschools and private schools, and in a few states, homeschools are completely exempt from such regulations.2 These laws are enforced by local attendance officers, law enforcement officers, and courts. Parents are held legally responsible for their children's school attendance, and can face penalties such as fines or jail sentences if their children fail to meet minimum requirements.
Were These Laws Always Part of the American Education System?
State-mandated attendance has not been the historical norm. America's early education laws were few and scattered. In 1642, the Massachusetts Bay Colony stipulated that parents provide religious instruction for their children. For the next 200 years, most education laws were minimal and focused on family-centered education, giving children the tools to read the Bible, helping them understand what it meant to be virtuous citizens, or allowing them to learn a trade through apprenticeship.
By 1900, however, the courts were rife with child labor disputes. Compulsory education laws were quickly enacted in the name of protecting children's welfare. By 1918, every state had a compulsory attendance law on the books. These laws became progressively stricter until the Supreme Court's Pierce v. Society of Sisters decision in 1925.3 In this case, the court held unconstitutional an Oregon compulsory attendance law that made it illegal to attend any academic institution besides public school. Later, Wisconsin v. Yoder affirmed the traditional interest of parents to opt out of compulsory attendance for religious reasons.4
Do Compulsory Attendance Laws Work?
Compulsory attendance legislation remains the subject of fierce debate. Proponents credit such legislation with reducing instances of teenage pregnancy (by 0.008 percent),5 possibly decreasing the likelihood that children will become involved in crime, and positively impacting earnings (by keeping 25 percent of drop-outs in school).6
Critics answer that the benefits of compulsory attendance laws are negligible at best. A historical overview of compulsory attendance laws by the National Center for Policy Analysis observed that, "Evidence suggests that the purpose of compulsory school attendance may not be improving education, but social engineering, including protecting children from the bad choices of parents."7 In the 1970s, a federal report urged that formal school hours be cut down to four hours a day because of the detrimental effect of the public school classroom on children's development. Studies cite the example of Japan, where high school attendance is not compulsory.8 Because high school is seen as a privilege and is attended only by students who are serious about their education, violence and delinquency are almost completely absent from their school system. It seems that compulsory attendance laws actually decrease the quality of a child's education and their enthusiasm about learning.
Where Does HSLDA Stand?
HSLDA is dedicated to protecting the educational relationship between parents and their children. We are recapturing a broader historical perspective on school attendance. In America's formative years, the responsibility for education was centered on the family, a method of learning that produced well-rounded children with literacy rates and reading comprehension higher than today.9 Ultimately, a formulaic and compulsory approach to education fails to instill in children a love of learning or a quality education. HSLDA has consistently protected homeschool families from the deleterious effects of compulsory attendance education in their states, reinforcing the parental right to choose the method of education most fitting to the individual needs and gifts of their children.
1. Digest of Education Statistics (2008). "Table 165." Age range for compulsory school attendance and special education services, and policies on year-round schools and kindergarten programs, by state: Selected years, 1997 through 2008. The US Department of Education Institution of Education Sciences' National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_165.asp; Also see the HSLDA state law map.
2. Tomlinson, Jeffrey (2004). "Number of Instructional Days/Hours in the School Year." Education Commission of the States. Retrieved from http://www.ecs.org/clearinghouse/55/26/5526.pdf.
3. Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 268 U.S. 510 (1925). Retrieved from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=268&invol=510.
4. Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972). Retrieved from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=406&invol=205.
5. Daily Policy Digest: Education Issues (2005, August 30). "The Effects of Compulsory Schooling Laws on Teenage Births." The National Center for Policy Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=2183.
6. Angrist, Joshua D. and Krueger, Allan B. (November 1991). "Does Compulsory School Attendance Affect Schooling and Earnings?" The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. 106 (No. 4). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/ 2937954.
7. Daily Policy Digest: Education Issues (1996, January 10). "Compulsory Attendance Laws Not Needed." The National Center for Policy Analysis. Retrieved from http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=15797.
9. Peterson, Robert A. (September 1983). "Education in Colonial America." The Foundation for Economic Education's Freeman Publication, Vol. 33 (No. 9), http://www.thefreemanonline.org/columns/education-in-colonial-america/#.


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Pentax K2000 First Thoughts
The Pentax K2000 was invented for me. Well, to be perfectly clear, the K2000 was invented for photographers like me. What I mean by that is I shoot with several Pentax DSLRs and lenses but I still happen to use an old Pentax *ist DL camera (the smallest and lightest DSLR Pentax ever produced) when I'm traveling. Although cameras like the K10D, K100D, K20D, and K200D each proved to be exceptional digital cameras, many Pentax shooters held onto the old *ist DL simply because it was so small and light. This is where the all new Pentax K2000 comes in.
Pentax has been missing something from their DSLR lineup since the introduction of the K20D and the K200D at the beginning of 2008. That "something" was a small and light entry-level DSLR. The K200D, while affordable, was too large and heavy to compete side-by-side with cameras like the Canon Rebel XSi and Olympus E-420. The new K2000 not only proves to be smaller and lighter than the K200D, it even manages to offer a few new features…like ISO 3200 and faster continuous shooting than its larger sibling.
For those who just want to read the basics about this camera, the K2000 is a 10.2 megapixel DSLR using sensor technology borrowed from the company's previous-generation advanced cameras. Packaged as a kit with Pentax's redesigned 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DA L lens and AF-200FG external flash, the K2000 – with its AA power and SD memory – is aimed at entry-level shooters looking for compact, easy-to-use, low-priced interchangeable-lens camera. Custom color modes, a multi-point AF system, in-body image stabilization and dust removal, and impressive battery life numbers summarize the main reasons the K2000 might end up on your shopping list.
Using a variant of the maker's classic K mount, the K2000 is designed for "legacy" lens support, handling nearly any Pentax K-mount lens (as well as many screw-mount and medium-format lens) with comparatively little hassle or fuss. And with in-camera IS, every lens is a stabilized lens. While you won't get the huge lens selection – and particularly, the range of fast zooms and longer telephotos – offered by Canon and Nikon, if you like shooting primes, Pentax makes currently makes some of the best, most interesting ones on the market. In fact, our staff is so impressed with the Pentax Limited series of prime lenses that we were sad to see that Pentax didn't offer the K2000 with the Pentax DA 40mm f/2.8 Limited prime lens. As you can see from the image below, the K2000 and the DA 40mm make one impressive compact camera.
As someone who has used Pentax cameras for many years, I immediately felt right at home with the K2000's controls. Still, using the K2000 took some getting used to since Pentax removed the status display from the top of the camera (a decision made to keep the camera as small and light as possible). Now if you want to see things like exposure compensation, aperture, or shutter speed, you have to look at the LCD on the back of the camera or look through the viewfinder. This isn't much of a problem since every camera company now does this with entry-level DSLRs, but it does take some time to get used to.
In terms of size, the K2000 is the smallest and lightest DSLR Pentax has produced since the *ist DL back in 2005. What this means for Pentax users is that we finally have a nice travel camera that doesn't weigh almost as much as the top-of-the-line Pentax.
As an additional weight-saving measure, Pentax decided to make the new 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DAL lens lighter by replacing the metal lens mount with a plastic mount. This shaves an ounce or two off the lens, and no doubt makes the kit lens much cheaper to produce, but it certainly gives the kit lens a cheaper, lower-quality feel. Image quality from the new kit lens seems to be in line with the original 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DA lens and initial tests suggest it lacks the edge sharpness of the new 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 DA II lens. We'll have more in-depth analysis and sample images in the full review.
Although the K2000 body is clearly a plastic composite construction this camera feels like a precision photographic tool. Unlike some of the compact entry-level DSLRs that feel hollow from other manufactures, the K2000 feels dense, as if Pentax engineers used every square millimeter of space to pack as much technology inside this camera as possible. In fact, the K2000 might be the smallest and lightest DSLR with built-in image stabilization (at the time of this writing).
The K2000 carries over much of the same technology from the K200D (which inherited much of its technology from the K10D) to create a no-nonsense, high-performance camera for amateur DSLR users. The specs sheet, with a burst speed of 3.5 fps (5 JPEG, 4 RAW), the K10D's sensor, in-body image stabilization, and a 5-point AF system makes the K2000 a solid choice in the entry-level pack. While from a functional standpoint there's essentially no new technology, the fact that the K2000 crams a sizeable chunk of features from a semi-pro DSLR into a smaller, more budget-friendly package has our attention.
There may not be a lot that's earth-shattering here (about the only things worth calling out besides the size and weight are the ISO 3200 setting and faster burst shooting than the K200D), but if you don't mind the K2000's slight lack of live view compared to its competition, this camera has a lot going for it for shooters looking to develop skills and buy a camera with a great lineup of lenses.
In terms of the image quality: I've tested the K2000 with the kit lens as well as several other Pentax lenses (most notably the DA 40mm Limited) and I've been pleasantly surprised by the camera's ability to produce excellent out-of-camera JPEGs that look as good as any RAW-to-JPEG conversion from my K10D. The K2000 has the standard complement of metering options (multi-segment, center-weighted, and spot), and while I tend to prefer controlling the process a little more, the camera's multi-segment metering seemed to do just fine preserving both shadows and highlights – particularly with the new extended dynamic range setting.
The K2000's default Bright image tone puts the Pentax's saturation and overall color rendering a little more in line with the bottom rung of DSLRs from other makers, producing images that are more readily printable straight from the camera. Changing the color mode to Natural dials the saturation back nicely for those who prefer a slightly smoother response. There are also options for Portrait, Landscape, Vibrant, and Monochrome (Black and White) color modes as well so that you can get exactly the look that you want. Personally, I enjoy shooting in Landscape color mode because it boosts the contrast and sharpness straight out of the camera so I don't have to increase those when post processing.
One minor annoyance with the K2000 kit is the inclusion of the AF-200FG flash. While on the surface it seems like a great idea to include an external flash with a DSLR, the AF-200FG lacks either a bounce or swivel flash head…meaning you have no more control over the direction of your light than you do with the camera's built-in flash. If the AF-200FG had a bounce head, or if Pentax included an off-camera shoe cord with the kit, then photographers who purchase the K2000 kit would be able to enjoy bounce flash rather than direct flash.
What's wrong with direct flash? Well, basically it's three things: hot spots/blow highlights, hard shadows, and red eye. Bounce flash provides more natural lighting that gives your images a more pleasing look. Below are two perfect examples of the difference between direct flash and bounce flash.
If there is one area where I'm a little disappointed in the K2000 it's the fact that Pentax seems to have crippled several functions/features for little or no reason. First, The K2000 lacks a DOF preview button. Yes, 90 percent (or more) of photographers don't use the DOF preview function, but the ones who do really care about it. Next, Pentax removed the wired cable release from the side of the K2000. Why? I seriously doubt the plug for a cable release would have added that much weight or cost. Lastly, although I am glad to see faster burst performance in the K2000, why are we limited to 5 JPEG or 4 RAW? Pentax could have easily made this camera capable of unlimited (or nearly unlimited) continuous shooting at 3.5fps in JPEG mode.
Some initial frustrations and quirks not withstanding, the K2000 is a great entry-level DSLR and travel camera. As someone who still uses an old *ist DL when I'm on vacation, this camera will very likely become my new travel camera of choice. At the moment, I simply need more time with this tiny titan to see whether it will become my personal travel companion. At the MSRP of $699.95 ($599.95 street price) for the camera, lens, and flash, the K2000 seems like a great deal.
Detailed analysis of the K2000's performance and many, many more sample images will be coming later in our full review, so be sure to check back in for that.


text: Endlessly talented and celebrity driven, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) is one of the most important artists of the twentieth century and Pop Art movement. From his Silver Factory in New York City, Warhol produced works of art that bridged the gap between high and low culture. In collaboration with The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, discover an extensive collection of iconic Warhol posters and special editions.


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An open ended metal zip, 22″ inches long. Choose from 4 colours. Perfect for the Chloe Coat!
We do our best to get the images as accurate as possible but due to varying monitor screens colours may differ slightly to the original product. If you are in any doubt about the colours, weight or scale you can use our Request A Swatch service.


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BOULDER, Colo., July 7 (UPI) -- Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III has married girlfriend Rebecca Liddicoat in Boulder, Colo., the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.
The newspaper said 23-year-old NFL rookie of the year and former Heisman Trophy winner tied the knot with his college sweetheart Saturday in her Colorado hometown.
The wedding ceremony was "lavish," the report said, with both bride and groom wearing all white while the groomsmen were dressed in black and the bridesmaids in red.
The Times said most of its information about the wedding was gleaned from social media.


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If you spend a lot of time reading about the auto industry, you've probably already heard that Volkswagen Group of America chief executive Jonathan Browning is out. Gone. Kaput. Split. Sayonara. (I should mention at this point that I merely mean he has left the company. He has not been killed. He would've been killed if Volkswagen was Russian, but the Germans are far more passive-aggressive. They probably disconnected his Blackberry.)
Officially, Browning is leaving for personal reasons, though he neglected to elaborate on what those might be. My guess is he's leaving "to spend more time with his family," which has been an excellent Official Reason For Leaving ever since Richard Nixon hired those men to break into an office building, then recorded himself talking about it, then attempted to cover it up, then resigned to spend more time with his family.
But as an auto industry observer, you get the sense that there may be a little more to Browning's departure than "personal reasons." You get the sense – and I am reading between the lines here, so forgive me if I'm totally off-base – that he was (DUN DUN DUNNN…) forced to resign.
Now, for those of you who aren't up on the latest industry news and events, you might be wondering why Volkswagen would force a chief executive to quit. In fact, you might be thinking: How could they fire him? He's been so successful! I'm sure of this because I now see dozens of Volkswagens every day, and not just at my local junkyard!
But unfortunately, it's this kind of small-minded thinking that got Jonathan Browning in trouble. You see, you're not supposed to see dozens of Volkswagens. You're supposed to see millions of Volkswagens. Under Volkswagen's latest volume targets, which they created by simply adding zeroes to earlier volume targets, you're supposed to be driving a Volkswagen. I'm supposed to be driving a Volkswagen. Richard Nixon was supposed to be spending more time with his family in a well-equipped Routan.
But there's just one problem with Volkswagen's volume goals: they're absolutely and totally unachievable. And now I, a noted industry veteran who once crashed a Porsche 911 into a tree, am going to tell you why.
Reason Number One: They've Alienated Loyal Volkswagen People
I don't know about you, but I know a lot of people who really like Volkswagen. You see these people at Cars and Coffee. They run in packs. They take normal, traditional commuter cars, like those early-2000s Jettas that were always driven by hot sorority girls, and they modify them. Lowered suspensions. Rims. "Illest" stickers on the rear windows.
To this day, I've never been able to explain this portion of the car culture. You know, and I know, that Volkswagens from this era are generally awful cars. They cost more than a Corolla to buy, they cost more than a Corolla to own, and they were built in a Mexican factory where "quality control" generally consisted of making sure your average lineworker didn't leave his sandwich in the glovebox when the car got loaded on a truck. And yet, for some unknown reason, this crowd loves these cars.
By going mainstream, Volkswagen is turning its back on these Volkswagen loyalists. Do you really think the "illest" crowd is going to embrace the current Jetta, which looks like the designer was tasked with averaging out the lines on every other sedan sold in the last decade? Do you really think they'll fall in love with the roomy, family-oriented Passat, which drives like every other roomy, family-oriented sedan created in the last decade, regardless of what Motor Trend says?
Hell no they won't! They'll probably go back to tuning Hondas. Which wouldn't be such a problem if Volkswagen could get regular, mainstream folks to like their cars. But, unfortunately...
Reason Number Two: Normal People Think Volkswagens Are Crap
By taking its designs mainstream, Volkswagen's primary goal is to appeal to the kind of people who have a Toyota, or a Honda, or a Nissan. But here's the problem: those people won't buy a Volkswagen!
Allow me to illustrate my point with an example. Let's consider the case of Donald, a 58-year-old accountant from Delaware who I just made up. Donald drives a Camry. Donald has always driven a Camry. Donald once considered an Accord, but then his wife thought better of it. "Donald, are you crazy?!" she asked. It was an emotional day for Donald; nearly as exciting as the time he almost wore a purple shirt to work.
So Volkswagen comes out with a new Passat, which they say is way better than the last one. There's a fuel-efficient diesel. There's a powerful V6. There's more interior room. There's mainstream pricing. There are softer, more traditional lines.
So what does Donald do? Does Donald buy the new Passat?
Hell no! Donald buys another Camry, because he has a dentist friend who once owned a 2004 Touareg, the very same Touareg whose automatic headlights turned off whenever an oncoming vehicle approached with its headlights on, because the Touareg thought those headlights were the sun. Donald doesn't want anything to do with this piece of crap car brand.
Now, I should say that there is a formula for changing a perception of poor quality. I call it the "Hyundai Doctrine," and it involves offering a new-car warranty that's longer than the average American marriage. This, and only this, will help people get over that inkling feeling that your product may, at any time as you drive down the highway, begin shooting flames out the wheel wells.
Unfortunately, Volkswagen hasn't done this. Not that it would matter anyway, because…
Reason Number Three: They Don't Have An SUV
I've decided to approach my third and final reason why Volkswagen's volume goals are unreachable with a few facts. They are:
1. Last year, American consumers purchased approximately 6.4 billion SUVs and crossovers.
2. Most automakers offer a wide variety of SUVs at various price points and different sizes.
3. Volkswagen only offers the Tiguan and Touareg, which were priced using the brand's age-old theory: Check out the competition's pricing, then make ours much higher.
4. The result is that Volkswagen's market share is approximately 0.004 percent, or zero if you take out company cars.
Yes, it's true: while the Toyota Highlander, Ford Edge, and Honda Pilot start at or below $30,000, the Touareg starts at $44,000. And that's for a base model with no sunroof, no reversing camera, and leatherette. The result is that no one purchases the Touareg, especially when the Audi Q7 – which has a third-row seat – is just three grand more. (If you're waiting for the punchline to this paragraph, there isn't one. I feel the Touareg's pricing strategy is humorous enough.)
This sort of pricing is definitely unusual, but one could argue that it's also completely understandable. After all: how could Volkswagen have time to create a competitively priced midsize SUV when it's busy developing other highly successful, highly profitable volume-sellers, such as the Eos?
So Volkswagen has some issues. They need a high-volume SUV. They've alienated their loyal following. And they haven't replaced those followers with a new breed of Volkswagen loyalists. Considering all of these problems, is it possible that Volkswagen might still hit its volume targets? Maybe. But if I were to bet on it, I think there's a different scenario that's far more likely: Volkswagen's next CEO, whoever that may be, will soon be spending a lot more time with his family.
@DougDeMuro is the author of Plays With Cars. He operates PlaysWithCars.com. He owned an E63 AMG wagon and once tried to evade police at the Tail of the Dragon using a pontoon boat. (It didn't work.) He worked as a manager for Porsche Cars North America before quitting to become a writer, largely because it meant he no longer had to wear pants. Also, he wrote this entire bio himself in the third person.


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We take a rare excursion away from sports today, as this screencap is simply too good not to post. The Vice President delivered a rousing acceptance speech for his re-nomination last night in Charlotte, though it's unclear exactly why he felt it necessary to do the Joker routine.
As for a college football playoff, ol' Joe's already got one of those; as a Delaware fan, he's experienced the Blue Hens' trip through the FCS playoffs numerous times, and even brings along Dr. Jill Biden to watch the games in person from time to time. (He's been known to drop by the broadcast booth, too.) The Veep's a non-drinker these days, but we imagine he wouldn't mind if we knocked back a few and enjoyed his company for a ballgame.