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Asian soybean rust has now reached Tulsa, Okla., the farthest north it has traveled in 2007. The fungal disease isn't through with the Mid-South, however. The second week of August saw six new ASR finds in Louisiana and one in Mississippi, a Pearl River County sentinel plot.
With fresh finds in Jefferson Davis, Allen, Evangeline, Concordia, East Baton Rouge and Bossier parishes, David Lanclos, LSU AgCenter soybean specialist, has "already had calls on what should be done. Most of the questions are late-season concerns and coming from growers who have soybeans approaching R-5, or have just made it to that stage. They're wondering about a fungicide."
At this point, a lot of Louisiana soybeans have been desiccated, are shelling easily in hand and are showing excellent quality.
"I'm not recommending everyone go out and apply a fungicide mix at R-5, but we are seeing some quality differences in beans that had a strobilurin applied."
Some of the new Louisiana discoveries were in sentinel plots, others in production fields. ASR is being found in the tops of plants and usually when that's the case, "the severity is typically at 30 percent to 40 percent, at least."
An interesting piece to the ASR puzzle involves how the disease responds to Mid-South weather. "We've been trying to educate growers and consultants about how heat and ASR interact. You know, 'once it gets above X temperature, the disease really slows down.'
"Definite answers are elusive. If you go back and look at the conditions in 2006, we had nowhere near the moisture levels we've got at the end of this season.
"Obviously, wind patterns are a huge deal in ASR movement. That's obvious in the current situation in Oklahoma. Will ASR move farther north from Tulsa and yet never hit the eastern side of the country? That's something to watch."
How much of Louisiana's soybean crop is mature enough for ASR not to be a bother? "Right now, we're probably 50 to 60 percent out of the woods. Late wheat-beans are the major worry. But a lot of the wheat-beans are approaching R-5."
The cost
Agriculture economist Bob Stark recently checked the costs of fungicide applications. The impetus behind his study was the discovery of ASR in southwest Arkansas (now in Little River, Hempstead, Lafayette and Miller counties).
"The cost of production budgets for this year were developed last fall," says the Arkansas Extension economist and associate professor of agriculture at the University of Arkansas-Monticello. "I was interested in touching base with some suppliers to see where we are with the prices that had been plugged into the budgets last fall."
Caution: the numbers Starks cites are based only on suppliers in southeast Arkansas. Arkansas Extension plant pathologists are recommending that soybeans in southwest Arkansas be sprayed if plants are at R-1 to R-6.
"Spraying should only be from Clark County south to Magnolia, Ark., and west to the Texas/Oklahoma borders. If the fields are R-1 to R-4, they should get a combination of a triazole and a strobilurin. Any beans that are late R-4 to R-6 should receive only a triazole."
Two strobilurins — Quadris and Headline — have been recommended, both at a 6-ounce rate. Starks says an application will run growers about $11 per acre.
"One thing I want to emphasize is these are average costs. Individual producers may be able to find slightly lower or slightly higher costs. It depends on the supplier and other factors."
Among triazoles, there are several recommended, "including Folicur at 4 ounces, Laredo at 5 ounces and Domark at 5 ounces. I'm not endorsing only those three — they're the only ones I could get prices on. There are others that plant pathologists are happy with. Regardless, those three triazoles will cost about $7.50, maybe a bit more."
As for application costs, "I was given quotes based on 5 gallons of water per acre. The average cost was $4.25 per acre for aerial application. If you're using a tank mixture of a strobilurin and a triazole, you're looking at spending somewhere around $23 to $24 per application."
After putting the numbers together, "plant pathologists told me 10 gallons of water per acre is better. That means there may be additional aerial application charges."
On Aug. 9, averaging across markets, "old crop beans were at $8.07 statewide according to NASS. New crop beans were at $8.20.
"So take the $24 for a tank-mix application of fungicides and divide it by $8.20. That means the fungicide application will cost the equivalent of nearly 3 bushels. Farmers should make sure their yields justify that expense. If it does, they should protect their crop."
e-mail: [email protected]


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NH may benefit as Mass. taxes Internet salesBy BILL SMITH
New Hampshire Union Leader
December 11. 2012 11:53PM
Internet sales giant Amazon.com Inc.'s purchase of a Massachusetts company a mere 15-mile jaunt from the New Hampshire border could mean more economic refugees from the Bay State spending their money at tax-free Granite State businesses.
"I think there could be an opportunity for New Hampshire retailers," said Nancy Kyle, executive director of the state Retail Merchants Association.
Amazon's recent purchase of robotics firm Kiva Systems of North Reading, Mass., for a reported $775 million gave the company a physical presence in Massachusetts. Under U.S. Supreme Court rulings, a company must have a physical presence in a state before it can be forced to collect a sales tax on customers from that state.
On Tuesday, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Amazon agreed that Amazon will start assessing the sales tax on purchases made by Massachusetts customers beginning in November 2013. The sales tax in Massachusetts is 6.25 percent of the purchase price.
Some in New Hampshire are concerned that the agreement could give traction to proposed federal legislation that would force Internet businesses here to become tax collectors for states that, unlike the Granite State, impose a state sales tax.
Kyle said the retailers association doesn't take a position on the so-called Main Street Fairness Act because of the implications for businesses with an Internet presence.
"Our New Hampshire-based retailers do not have an infrastructure to collect a state tax," Kyle said. "There would have to be a type of concession for sales-tax-free states," she said.
2011 sales study
A study by a Gloucester, Mass. firm, based on 2011 sales figures, projected that if Massachusetts levied sales tax on all Internet purchases, New Hampshire stores would have captured 10 percent of the business from Bay Staters looking to avoid the tax.
The study was done by Cape Ann Economics for the Massachusetts Main Street Fairness Coalition, which backs imposing that state's sales tax on Internet transactions.
Cape Ann's economists projected if all Internet sales in Massachusetts become subject to the sales tax, retail sales in New Hampshire would have seen a $2 billion spike in 2011, and could increase to $3.8 billion dollars annually by 2020.
Ultimately, the impact of the Amazon agreement in New Hampshire depends on consumer choices in Massachusetts -- whether people looking to avoid that state's sales tax turn to other e-retailers or opt to drive over the border to make their tax-free purchases in person at New Hampshire retailers.
Unfair burden?
Patrick and Amazon called on Congress to enact legislation to allow states to impose their sales taxes on residents who buy from out-of-state online retailers.
Forty-five states, -- as well as a variety of territories, counties and cities -- impose state sales taxes. Kyle said just keeping track of the tax that would have to be charged for individual states would be a complicated undertaking for Granite State companies involved in e-commerce.
Under a 1967 Supreme Court decision, a retailer must have a physical presence in a state to be required to collect that state's sales and use taxes.
Revisiting that decision in 1992, the justices upheld the ruling. But the court has said since its decision was based on the Constitution's due process clause, Congress is "free to decide whether, when, and to what extent the States may burden interstate mail order concerns with a duty to collect" sales taxes in the buyer's state.
In hearings in August, Sen. Kelly Ayotte spoke against passing the bill to let sales tax states charge a sales tax on purchases from out-of-state e-commerce companies.
"For non-sales-tax states like New Hampshire, this is simply an unfair burden for our businesses to bear," she said.
A spokesman for Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan used the occasion to repeat Hassan's opposition to a sales tax in New Hampshire.
"Governor-Elect Hassan believes New Hampshire's lack of an income or sales tax is a competitive advantage for our state's economy," spokesman Mark Goldberg said in an e-mail response.
Massachusetts becomes the ninth state to levy a sales tax on amazon.com purchases, joining California, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington, the company said.
- - - - - - - -
Bill Smith may be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe failed for more than a year to discipline two supervisors who retaliated against whistle-blowers at an Oklahoma field office, the Interior Department's inspector general says in a harshly worded letter that accuses Ashe of damaging the agency's credibility and integrity.
Deputy inspector general Mary Kendall said Ashe and other high-level officials ignored months of "pointed discussions and stern warnings" about the complaints.
Three biologists who reported scientific misconduct had their pay cut and duties transferred, the letter said, while the two supervisors were given what appear to be promotions.
One of the complaints involves a recovery plan for the American burying beetle; another involves data collection on a freshwater mussel. Both are endangered species.
An agency spokesman on Thursday called the allegations "troubling" and said officials were pursuing disciplinary action against the two supervisors. Both supervisors have been transferred from the Tulsa field office, where the complaints were filed, said Chris Tollefson, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service.
Tollefson stressed that the transfers were not punitive, and said disciplinary proceedings are underway to determine an appropriate response.
The agency "takes scientific integrity complaints very seriously," Tollefson said, adding that officials are taking steps "to help ensure that such an occurrence is not repeated and to ensure scientific and management excellence in delivery of our conservation mission."
Kendall called the case "disturbing." Far from being punished, the three biologists should have been "thanked for their passion for good science and for the courage it took for them to report misconduct at a significant risk to their professional and personal well-being," she said.
Kendall urged Interior Secretary Sally Jewell to take immediate action to resolve the whistle-blower complaints, adding that further delay would expose the wildlife agency "to significant and unnecessary risks."
Follow Matthew Daly on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC


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Email full-size image and text
|I discovered this plant 28 years ago on June 21, 1981. I suspect the plant is very old considering the multi-crowned rhizome is almost two feet long. The sterile hybrid between Dryopteris intermedia plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=DRIN5 and Dryopteris marginalis plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=DRMA4 is extremely rare considering how often the parent plants grow in close proximity.
Although Dryopteris marginalis is common in northern Alabama it is rarely seen growing on limestone. I can only think of a few cave entrances where I have observed it. The species is most often observed in sandstone boulder fields and north aspect cliff faces around the plateau top.
Dryopteris intermedia is not overly common in northern Alabama but is encountered in moist sandstone canyons of the Cumberland Plateau. Again it is almost never seen growing in cave entrances. The cave associated with this site blows 56 degree F. air strongly when the surface temperature is warm. This creates an interesting micro-habitat that remains cold all summer.
For more informaiton: www.herbarium.unc.edu/Ferns/maps/Dryopteris_intermedia_X_...
|top to bottom, dryopteris intermedia, dryopteris intermedia X marginalis, dryopteris marginalis, jackson county, alabama 1
|date yyyymmdd hr:mn
|2009:06:20 13:27:08
Click here to send feedback about this page to firstname.lastname@example.com
width=640 x height=480 pixels; size=551571 bytes
Updated: 2018-10-17 10:17:53 gmt


text:
Notice Number: NOT-LM-10-001
Key Dates
Release Date: April 6, 2010
Issued by
National Library of Medicine (NLM) (http://nlm.nih.gov/)
The purpose of this Notice is to clarify the page limits for PAR-08-080 as shown in Section IV.6 – Other Submission Requirements.
All other aspects of this funding opportunity announcement remain unchanged.
Specific questions regarding this Notice may be directed to:
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NLM Extramural Programs
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Telephone: (301) 594-4882
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text:
Missing BitmapData class in code completion – Flex(FP10)
I've setup my Flex Builder for Flex 3.3 SDK and Flash Player 10 as described in this article. I noticed that BitmapData class doesn't show anymore.
Any thoughts on this?
Above Problem Solved. (Updated)
Read the Flex 3.3 SDK
You need to:
1. Download Flex SDK zip file.
2. Uninstall current Flash Player.
3. Install Flash Player from /runtimes/player/10/win/


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awe wow..................um who's Andrew Denton? ......lol......was Jim REALLY smokin that night?........lol
You are here: Home ‹ Board index ‹ Jim Carrey Discussion ‹ Stop The Press!
Comment on Jims 2007 tv appearances here
Comment current news topics here. Including TV appearances by Jim.
Check also the Jim Carrey Schedule (always up-to-date)
Saw him on Conan last night!
He started into the Hair song (actually sounded pretty good) and I wanted
to raise the volume, accidentally I changed the channel instead of the volume and then I went to change the channel back and then I went forward, in this melee of trying to get back to Conan we missed the
song and came back where he ended up behind the couch, or whatever,
liked the Quantum Discussion, quite funny, then at the end I thought
he was going to be sick and bring up green like the Puking Frog but he
popped out a C#23 bingo ball, which was cheesy and ASSanine as they
confessed, pretty good though.
To be honest with you, I didn't see him on Leno! I did see him on Letterman and...pretty much everywhere else but I FREAKING MISSED HIM ON JAY LENO!
I hope someone posts it on YouTube.
P.S. I'm drinking a Dr. Pepper now, with 23 flavors.
In case I don't see you.... good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!
I missed the T shirt
Oh well, that's life!
Next time flash it better so we can see it.
Whoo's going to see this tonight.
I can't, maybe later on.
haha A friend was drinking a D.P. today and I pointed at it and yelled "23!!!!!!!!" They laughed so hard I thought it was gonna start spewing out their nose! They must have saw Conan!!
"No time outs. Only DEATH!"
"I don't like to brag and I won't cuz I don't have to!"
I posted the Andrew Denton interview here. It is old but still sooo cute.
Before Jim came out for an interview on the View, they said that he had been on there four times before and that this was his fifth time. when you go to the JCO page with the news, it says that it was Jim's first time on The View.
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This is what I came up with. The composition is so simple. It's just another excuse to use my latest favortie Hero Arts stamp set Bee HappySome of you know my DD Stephanie (attending U. of Toronto) is doing her summer study in National University of Singapore in Environmental Studies. She is LOVING the experience.. the city sights, the country side...what's not to love!? See how HAPPY Stephanie is in front of that food!?
She embraces food ...just like her Mama :) Here's a food court photo she shared over her Facebook. I just had to show it off here! These are photos she took and put them in collage. YUM!!!!!
Don't go too far... I have a new challenge from Treehouse Stamps and BIG annoucement coming my way. As you can see, I'm keeping very busy with my card-making. I never knew I can be so addicted to blogging....well, you just can't turn the clock back now, can you ? Thank you for coming to say hi.


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Bike Emory was created to reduce the barriers facing cyclists and potential cyclists in the Emory area. Whether you bike to get to school, for fitness, or just for fun, Bike Emory strives to build a great bike culture at Emory by enabling more people to travel on a bike and to do so safely.
Bike Emory also provides maps, suggested routes, and other resources for cyclists.
Medical students are eligible for service, discounts, bike share, bike rental, training and education through the Bike Emory program. Indoor and outdoor bike racks at the School of Medicine and special lockers are reserved for our biking commuters. Showers are also available in the first floor restroom in the School of Medicine building.
Visit Bike Emory for more information on biking alternatives.


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A HOMELESS man who attacked a nurse in A&E has been ordered to get treatment for his alcohol problem.
Shaun Buchan lashed out and punched staff nurse Jennifer Wilkins when he was taken to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital on October 28 last year, Bournemouth magistrates heard, The court was told Buchan, 25, also gestured as if to bite Miss Wilkins, who was forced to call security while he was restrained by a colleague.
Magistrates heard Buchan had been abusive to the paramedics who had transported him to the hospital and had urinated in his clothes when he arrived at the emergency department. He became aggressive when medical staff attempted to remove his clothes to see if he was injured following an earlier incident.
A spokesman for the Royal Bournemouth Hospital trust said staff were encouraged to report all such incidents and added: "The trust does not tolerate any form of violence or aggression, including verbal abuse against its staff, visitors or patients.
"Members of staff receive training on how to deal with aggression and violence based on the likelihood of them experiencing this in their working environment."
Julie Connolly, regional officer for the Royal College of Nursing in the South West region, said: "Even one assault is one too many.
"No one goes to work expecting to be assaulted and it's all the more upsetting that some members of the public attack the very people trying to help them.
"In 2012-13 physical assaults against NHS staff in England has risen by 5.8 per cent. "Figures also showed a 15.9 per cent increase in criminal sanctions following reported assaults.
"We cannot allow nurses to be abused and we would expect the trust to be reassuring staff and reminding patients that abusive behaviour is not tolerated, and dealing swiftly with any problems that do arise."
Buchan admitted the offence and also pleaded guilty to six offences of shoplifting and one of theft.
Items stolen between September and December last year included wine, lager, food, shoes and clothing, the court heard.
Buchan was given a 12-month community order, a six-month alcohol treatment order and was ordered to pay £50 compensation to the nurse.


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Nikkei Outperforms Asia as Yen Slides
Japanese stocks surged on Monday, outpacing gains across Asia, as the dollar once again crept closer to the important ¥100 mark.
The yen weakened sharply on Friday and continued its descent Monday after officials from the Group of 20 signaled their approval of Japan's use of aggressive monetary policy to stimulate its economy.
The move helped...


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"Jack the Giant Slayer" — A big-budget, 3-D retelling of the Jack and the Beanstalk legend may seem like the unlikeliest pairing yet of director Bryan Singer and writer Christopher McQuarrie, but this ends up being smart, thrilling and a whole lot of fun. Singer and McQuarrie's collaborations include, most famously, the twisty crime mystery "The Usual Suspects" and the Hitler assassination drama "Valkyrie," featuring an eye patch-wearing Tom Cruise. They've sort of been all over the place together over the past couple decades — why not reinterpret a classic fairy tale? "Jack the Giant Slayer" is cheeky without being cutesy. While the look is medieval, the vibe seems more current, but it's not so anachronistic as to be subversive along the lines of a "Shrek," for example. It actually ends up being pleasingly old-fashioned. Shot in 3-D — rather than one of those muddled 2-D re-dos — the film looks crisp and clean, much more so than the trailers and ads might suggest. The action sequences are cut in an unobtrusive way as to allow the intricacy of what's happening on screen to shine through. And once it bursts forth from the ground, the beanstalk itself is magnificent. There aren't many surprises here, though; if you know the story, you know what happens. Nicholas Hoult, Eleanor Tomlinson, Stanley Tucci and Bill Nighy star. PG-13 for intense scenes of fantasy action violence, some frightening images and brief language. 117 minutes. Three stars out of four.
— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic
"Stoker" — A spider crawls up the leg of 18-year-old India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) early in Park Chan-wook's English-language debut, and she regards it passively, intrigued. There's a creepy intruder in the Stokers' handsome, isolated estate, but it's India's Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), who arrives following the death of her father (Dermot Mulroney) in a mysterious car accident. An homage to Joseph Cotton's Uncle Charlie in Alfred Hitchcock's "Shadow of a Doubt," he's dashing, cultured and oozing melodramatic evil. He settles in at the house and a lurid triangle forms between him, India and her mother, Evelyn (Nicole Kidman). A heavy Gothic atmosphere with bloody eruptions takes hold, and Park pushes the film to intoxicating macabre outlandishness. India's transition into womanhood comes via incestuous desires and buried corpses. In the first Hollywood movie from the celebrated South Korean filmmaker of stylistic, hyper-violent revenge tales like "Oldboy" and "Lady Vengeance," there isn't even a slight dip in his brilliant, colorful compositions (with his usual cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung), his flesh tearing, or his extreme warping of genre. The film, from the screenplay by actor Wentworth Miller, adds up to something largely because of Wasikowska's deft, coming-of-age performance. The movie is an exquisitely made grotesque that crawls up your leg. R for disturbing violent and sexual content. Running time: 98 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.
— Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer


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When a snowboard gets this iconic, it's understandable that it might develop a split personality. Luckily for the Custom, it's spent the last two decades pushing the standard of what an all-mountain board can do, defying time and picking up legions of supporters and imitators. It was only a matter of time before the demand rose for the same all-terrain prowess in the form of a splitboard. Without a doubt the most versatile board ever built, with the Burton Custom Split you can put two feet forward towards a new world of self-propelled ascents and untracked adventures.
- BEND PurePop Camber
- SHAPE Directional Shape
- FLEX Twin Flex
- CORE FSC™ Certified Super Fly II™ 700G Core, Dualzone™ EGD™
- FIBERGLASS Triax™ Fiberglass
- BASE Recycled Sintered WFO Base
- MOUNTING Split Channel™
- FEATURES Squeezebox, Frostbite Edges, EcoZen® Topsheet, Super Sap® Epoxy, Infinite Ride™
- BURTON WARRANTY 3-Year Warranty


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NETANYA, Israel, Jan. 7, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. (Nasdaq:RADA) announced today that it received in Dec 2012 new orders totaling $5 million from a major customer in Asia. The orders are for digital video recorders, head-up display cameras, and ground debriefing stations.
Deliveries will be made during 2013 and 2014.
Zvika Alon, RADA CEO, commented: "These new orders confirm that our avionics products continue to generate stable income for the Company. In addition to this firm base, we anticipate future growth will come from sales of inertial navigation systems and ground radars."
About RADA
RADA Electronic Industries Ltd. is an Israel-based defense electronics contractor. The Company specializes in the development, production, and sale of Avionics Systems and Upgrades, Inertial Navigation Systems for air and land applications, and Tactical Land Radars for Force and Border Protection.
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such risk uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, changes in general economic conditions, risks in product and technology developments, market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand, level of competition and other factors described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Company Contact: Dubi Sella (CBDO) Tel: +972-9-892-1111 firstname.lastname@example.com:RADA Electronic Industries Ltd.


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Two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that the Flyers and Nashville Predators have NOT had any trade talks since star defenseman Shea Weber signed a 14-year, $110 million offer sheet last Wednesday.
That would seem to suggest that Nashville plans to match the Flyers' offer. Either that, or the Predators are delaying trade talks because they are trying to get the Flyers to call with a sweet proposal.
This is high-stakes poker, folks.
At stake: The direction of two franchises for the next 14 years.
Oh, and $110 million.
Nashville must decide by 11:30 on Wednesday night whether to match the offer for the restricted free agent. If it does, Weber is retained by the Preds.
If Nashville doesn't match, Weber goes to the Flyers for four No. 1 draft picks.
Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren and Nashville GM David Poile have talked once since Weber signed the offer sheet. But as of Tuesday morning, no trade was discussed, two sources confirmed.
One would think if Nashville didn't plan to sign the offer sheet, it would be trying to orchestrate a trade in an attempt to get more than the four No. 1 picks.
Nashville could agree not to sign the offer sheet in exchange for making a deal, one in which it would trade some of the No. 1 selections back to the Flyers for NHL players.
Stay tuned. This game of high-stakes poker is heading toward a fascinating finish.
Follow Sam Carchidi on Twitter @BroadStBull.


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After watching their retirement funds get pummeled by the financial crisis at the same time the cost of college tuition continues to rise, many parents are faced with a difficult choice: contributing towards their children's education or funding their retirement.
Continue Reading Below
According to a recent study conducted by Allianz Life Insurance, one in four people are reducing or cutting off contributions toward their children's college education. The study also reported that 25% of U.S. households are contributing less toward their children's college education or have stopped altogether, while 44% of respondents have not started saving at all. Only 15% have cut back their spending on other things to keep saving/paying for their children's college educations.
Jim Briggs, co-founder of ReducingCollegeCosts.com explains that families saving for college face a different reality than they did before 2008.
"Most families that we deal with are now taking a really hard look at the cost of educating their children and trying to get that down to the lowest common denominator," he says. "But when you get right down to it, given a finite amount of assets and income, it's how do you take what the family has and maximize their return on those for both retirement and education."
So what's more important, parents' retirement or childrens' college? The answer, according to most experts, is retirement.
"In a perfect world, you'd like to move forward on two fronts, and while there are plenty of difficult decisions around investing a limited amount of money, this isn't one of them," says Michael Kiley, CEO of Security Benefit. "When it comes to saving for your child's education or saving for your own retirement, you have to put the kids second."
Experts also advise parents to remember that there are loans available to fund college—that's not the case with retirement.
Jeff Rose, certified financial planner and author of the blog "Good Financial Cents", explains that parents are often willing to sacrifice their future plans to avoid putting the burden of financial responsibility on their kids.
"It's in my belief that eventually it'll all circle back around that they'll have to be dependent on their children, because they didn't have adequate retirement savings," he says.
Involve the whole family in the process. When deciding what schools to apply to, students and parents should make realistic, informed decisions together about what they can afford, says Briggs.
"It's a subject that weighs on the minds of the parents because they don't want to say to their children, 'we can't afford to send you to a certain school,' but they're having to do that through necessity," he says.
Parents may feel uneasy or awkward discussing finances with their children, but it's important that children know that how much in loans they would have to take out to fund their education.
"This new focus on finances and net price forces both the parent and student to really become a lot more thoughtful about where they can go to school, both from a financial standpoint and from a field of study standpoint," Briggs says.
Know how to compare schools. To get a true sense of cost, families should compare the sticker price of a school, the advertised price of attendance, with the net cost, which factors in grants or scholarships.
Although parents may not want to limit their children from applying to their dream schools, Briggs says that cutting the cost of education as a whole can allow parents to help their children with tuition and still be able fund their retirements.
"A lot of families are having to choose the state school [or] are having to start out on the community college level and then take those credits and transfer them to the state school," he says.
Understand student loan options. Briggs say he has seen a decrease in parents' desire to borrow for education.
"They're just uncertain about the future, they're uncertain about their retirement, and they don't want to saddle themselves with these huge student loan obligations," he says.
Families who need financial assistance should seek out all federal student aid opportunities. Rose advises parents guide their kids through the process, but let them do most of the work to make them more prepared when it comes to repayment.
"Make them understand how much it's really going to cost them once they graduate if they have $20,000 of debt, $40,000 of debt, or $80,000 of student loan debt," he says. "It's just as important to help them realize that there are plenty of scholarships and other opportunities available to where they don't have to take on student loan debt."
Although it may not sit well with parents to know their children will spend years paying off the debt, parents have to think about their own long-term goals, says Kiley.
"You or your children can borrow for college--you cannot obtain a loan to pay for retirement."


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'Avatar' is now more than movie — it's a Pandora's box of pop culture
Remember when "Avatar" was just a movie?
There have been breathless reports that "Avatar" is so vivid and so powerful that moviegoers walk out feeling let down by the gray world here on boring old Terra. "Movie-goers feel depressed and even suicidal at not being able to visit utopian alien planet" may sound like a headline from The Onion but, nope, there it was in the Daily Mail of London and, a day earlier, on CNN, which quoted a forum post by someone named Mike who glumly said that the majesty of the movie has left him feeling, um, blue. "I even contemplate suicide thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to Pandora and the everything is the same as in 'Avatar.' "
That's got to be a joke, right? Well, it's hard to say. "Avatar" is becoming something more than a projected popcorn experience as it echoes through the world. Forget entertainment, this is now a topic of debate in religious, political, economic and cultural circles. James Cameron's jungle-moon epic is climbing toward $2 billion in worldwide box office receipts and after a victorious night at the Golden Globes, the film about blue cat-people has to be considered the favorite at the Oscars. How seriously is Hollywood taking the sci-fi film? Well consider the fact that nobody at the Globes banquet laughed out loud when Cameron gave part of his acceptance speech in the nutty alien language spoken by his (literally) tree-hugging aliens.
You thought the movie was big on the IMAX screen? It's become far larger in the marketplace of ideas. Some people see the film as anti-American propaganda from lefty Tinseltown (On Big Hollywood the movie was carpet-bombed: "Think of 'Avatar' as 'Death Wish 5' for leftists … a simplistic, revisionist revenge fantasy") but others view it as white-male fantasy that is in fact the essence of American oppression (Greta Hagen-Richardson fumes in the Daily Iowan that "Avatar" is insidious in its messaging: "Being part of the dominant ideology doesn't automatically give you super powers of intellect, strength and comprehension.")
Intergalactic setting aside, some moviegoers watched the film and felt it hit to close to home; Essence Magazine, for instance, polled its readers on whether they thought the green movie about blue people was in fact anti-black. The Vatican, just so you know, sees a different problem with the film: The fact that it puts Mother Nature ahead of the Heavenly Father. "Nature is no longer a creation to defend, but a divinity to worship," was the encoded message of the movie, according to a frosty review from Vatican Radio.
Some people thought it was demeaning to women, others thought it was demeaning to people who use wheelchairs. And, of course, where there's smoke, there's fire: The Smoke Free Movies campaign says that the screen time given to Sigourney Weaver's cigarette-loving botanist was the equivalent of $50 million in free advertising for the tobacco industry, but who can say if those numbers are puffed up? There were also reports that a 42-year-old Taiwanese man with a history of high-blood pressure and hypertension died after seeing "Avatar," possibly because of a stroke; that chain of events normally would not make the local newspaper but, well, because it was "Avatar" the report zoomed down the information superhighway and hit way too many journalistic potholes; OK Magazine, for instance, went with the headline: "Man's excitement over 'Avatar' may have caused his death," which is true, just like it's true to report that gunshot victims collapse after loud noises.
The latest headline: The decision by the Chinese government to yank "Avatar" from theaters and replace it with a homegrown film, a movie either made for pure business reasons or maybe, just maybe, to prevent possible citizen incitement from all those weird off-world concepts about environmental responsibility. Cameron must be dazed and amused by all these new dimensions added to his 3-D epic. On Oscars night, if he wins the big trophy, let's hope he doesn't repeat his hubris from the "Titanic" triumph ("I'm the king of two worlds!") and instead looks out on all the competing opinions of "Avatar" and acknowledges them with seven words. "I see you … and I hear you."
— Geoff Boucher
Beyond Pandora? Jim Cameron talks about an 'Avatar' sequel
You don't look so good: "Avatar" and the science of queasy
James Cameron on 'Avatar': Like 'Matrix,' it opens doorways
Don't tell Stephen Lang he's the villain in 'Avatar'
LAT REVIEW: 'Avatar' restores a sense of wonder to moviegoing
James Cameron vs. Robert Zemeckis? The inside scoop
Sigourney, queen of sci-fi: 'Outer space has been good to me'
Meet the USC professor who created an entire language for Avatar
'Avatar' designer on Jim Cameron, banshees and 'Delgo' comparisons
Michelle Rodriguez says 'Avatar' was like making 'Star Wars'
'Avatar' star Zoe Saldana says movie will match the hype: 'This is big'
Jim Cameron, cinema prophet? 'Moving a mountain is nothing'
Sam Worthington looks for humanity: 'I don't want to be a cartoon'
Credits: "James Cameron, kind of blue" a portrait by Kevin Lingenfelser, used by permission of the artist. Middle, Sam Worthington and Zoë Saldana from "Avatar" (Fox). Bottom, James Cameron at the Golden Globes (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times)


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Indictment in Auburn YouTube pot bustBy JAMES A. KIMBLE
Union Leader Correspondent
April 12. 2013 1:04AM
An Auburn man who allegedly decided to show off his marijuana grow operation on YouTube has been indicted on felony drug charges that he intended to sell his $16,000 worth of plants, according to prosecutors.
Kyle Berry, 40, now faces up to 7 1/2 to 15 years on a pair of felony drug charges alleging he intended to sell the marijuana he was growing in his Auburn apartment in January.
Berry, who is free on bail, will be arraigned on the charges later this month in Rockingham County Superior Court.
A grand jury indicted him on felony counts of possession of a controlled drug with intent to sell, manufacture of a controlled drug and a misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled drug.
The Rockingham County Sheriff's Department began watching Berry's YouTube account after receiving a tip from a confidential informant around Dec. 20.
Berry had posted a total of 35 videos featuring him speaking about the progress of his growing operation, preferred soils and the variety of marijuana plants sprouting up under heat lamps and fans.
Deputies began collecting information about him, including his home address, a booking photo from a November 2010 jail stint, and a driver's license photo.
He was arrested shortly after one video showed a reflection of his on a foil-covered wall.
Berry, who used the YouTube handle "beginnergrowerktb1," said in a posting a few days after his arrest that his aunt was recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
"I'm not a drug dealer," Berry wrote in the comments section of one of his videos. "All I wanted to do is help my aunt. I'm not a bad person. All I wanted to do is give my aunt a chance, and if not, at least make her comfortable."
In one video, Berry brags about how his U.K.-based seed supplier, Herbies seeds, "packages things stealthily to avoid detection" by mislabeling the contents, Deputy Sgt. Jay Murphy said in an affidavit.
"As you can see, it's very secretly stealth," Berry allegedly says on the Oct. 17 video. "They have it down as a video game. Awesome, right?"
But the video also shows the package has Berry's name on it, followed by the narrator opening it to reveal packages of marijuana seeds inside.
Deputies executed a search warrant at Berry's home finding the marijuana plants, a pound of loose marijuana and a variety of unknown chemicals that are being tested by the state, court records say.
Investigators with the state forensic laboratory and the Drug Enforcement Administration's Clandestine Laboratory Enforcement Team assisted with the search.
During an interview with investigators, Berry admitted to buying his grow equipment at a store in Manchester and ordering marijuana seeds from Herbies Seeds in the United Kingdom, Murphy said in the affidavit.
He told investigators he had been growing marijuana for about eight months.
Crime, law and justice Human Interest Technology Auburn Top Section Stories


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The low-end market is the red-headed stepchild of the CRM world. Routinely overshadowed by the high-end's blinding dollar signs and the mid-market's shiny potential, the low-end- -which in 1998 accounted for just 5 percent of the total CRM market- -is synonymous with small profits, unsophisticated contact managers and back-wall booths at DCI.
However, this unflattering perception may be changing. The ability to provide millions of small businesses with sales and marketing automation solutions via the Web at rock-bottom prices has sparked new interest in the low end. Several companies are now aggressively staking out this market with Web-hosted, basic function offerings designed specifically for the needs of small companies with small budgets. In doing so, they are laying the groundwork for what some suggest could be a CRM Cinderella story.
"There is huge potential in the small market," says Jim Dickie, a CRM consultant and partner with CSO Forum in Colorado. "Smaller organizations have the same needs as big ones. They have no IT departments, but they want the same CRM tools that bigger companies are using. Hosted applications are a great way to get some of these tools at a really good price."
Be My Guest
Web hosting deserves credit for any new interest in the low end. This technology makes it possible to deliver CRM applications to small companies via secured Web sites. With Web hosting, there is no need for an IT department; just a modem, a browser and you are good to go- -for a fraction of the cost of running the applications in-house.
Most agree that Web hosting holds the key for unlocking the vast potential of the low-end market, but just how huge this potential is remains anybody's guess. In the past the small-business market has proven so unglamorous and unpromising that the CRM chattering classes at many of the major consulting groups haven't bothered to numerically speculate on its promise.
But that hasn't stopped certain vendors from making their own predictions. One such company is The Great Elk, a New Zealand-based CRM solutions provider that boasts such customers as 3M, Fuji, Xerox and Eli Lilly. The Great Elk believes so strongly in the potential of the low-end market that it has gone so far as to establish a Web-based subscription service called Splash-Net, which will provide CRM solutions via the Web for $49.95 per user, per month.
According to Warren Tobin, The Great Elk's chief operating officer, the low-end market's potential is huge. "All of this research is purely ours," he says, "but we think it could be worth $10 billion in five years. There are over 23 million small businesses in the United states with fewer than 100 employees. They are responsible for nearly half the GDP. Multiply that by a $50 subscription rate, and you understand why we started Splash-Net."
Win, Show or Place?
Despite a general lack of interest in the low-end market by many vendors, Splash-Net will face competition from both new and established vendors in this space. The small market is typically defined as companies with less than $30 million in annual revenues and fewer than 100 employees. Traditionally, these companies have turned to basic contact-management programs like Microsoft Outlook or SalesLogix ACT! to meet their CRM needs. The theory is that with hosted CRM applications, low-end customers can upgrade to slightly more sophisticated CRM systems, but still stay within their budgets. Another entrant, Upshot.com, has partnered with Intuit to offer just such an application for $1 per day, a price even lower than Splash-Net's.
At this point, no one can say with any certainty that small businesses with small sales forces actually need or want anything more sophisticated than ACT!. Keenly aware of this risk, both Splash-Net and Upshot.com are offering bare-bones solutions that can be enhanced later for more money. "We have kept it very simple, but still deliver the things with maximum benefit," says Tobin. "The first stage is to get them a database, and we also have an e-commerce piece that costs a few more dollars a month. When they want to move to a bigger system they can. However, our gut feeling is that 20 percent will rise up and need something different. The other 80 percent will remain small businesses."
David and Goliath
Another wild card in the rush for low-end market is the role of established middle- and high-end vendors. While Web-hosting may seem tailor-made for small market providers and their customers, it's potential has not escaped the notice of some of the biggest players in the industry. Siebel now offers its applications through USInternetworking. And in a branding exercise earlier this year, the company actually gave away a stripped down version of Siebel Sales to anyone who wanted it. "The big threat is Siebel," says Judy Hodges, product manager at International Data Corporation. "They made it very easy for everyone to use their product."
In the middle market, IBM hosts SalesLogix's solutions. Lurking in the lower half of the middle market is GoldMine, which already provides highly respected, affordable CRM applications for businesses of all sizes. While these companies offer products designed for larger enterprises, with their experience and deep pockets, they could theoretically make short work of both Upshot.com and Splash-Net if the small market does actually reach Tobin's predicted $10 billion level.
Tobin seems confident that the future of CRM in this market lies with companies like his, which offer applications designed specifically for small businesses, at low prices. But with so many factors at play, it remains to be seen if the rush for the low-end market will become a Cinderella story or a cautionary tale.
All do agree on one thing: the low-end's big potential. Says Hodges, "That market has robust opportunities. Hosted applications give small businesses a way to gain a better understanding of their customer via traditional technologies. And it is affordable- -these businesses are very cost-conscious."


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Search terms
Feel safe, drive safe
Our Signaling lamps are the choice of major car manufacturers. They offer best in class quality at competitive price. See all benefits
For 100 years, Philips has been at the forefront of the automotive lighting industry, introducing technological innovations that have become standard on modern automobiles. Today, one in two cars in Europe and one in three worldwide is equipped with Philips lighting
We are dedicated to producing best-in-class Philips automotive products and services in the aftermarket. Our products are manufactured from high-quality materials and tested to the highest specifications to maximise the safety and driving comfort of our customers. Our entire production is meticulously tested, controlled and certified (ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and QSO 9000).
Which 12-V lamp for which application? Philips' Automotive offering includes all car-specific functions: numberplate lights, rear position/parking light, glove box lights, interior signalling, front parking lights.
It is highly recommended that you change them in pairs for symmetrical light performance.


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The city of Somerset has recently installed Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling capabilities. Currently CNG prices range from $1.50 to $2.00 gasoline gallon equivalent. This will result in considerable cost savings for the city. The facility is located at the city's refueling station on Chapel Dairy Road. The University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research's Eastern Kentucky regional representative, Greg Copley, was on hand to observe a CNG powered Freightliner dump truck being refueled.
The dedicated fuel truck was in route from South Carolina to a truck show in Peoria, Illinois when the driver determined he needed to fuel up before making it to Louisville. He contacted the Somerset facility manager who agreed to sell enough CNG for the truck to get to Louisville.
One noticeable attribute of this type of vehicle is the lack of noise from the engine as it started and drove down the road. According to the driver, the truck has an automatic transmission and the truck seemed to handle hills well. Since this was the driver's first experience driving this vehicle, its performance is still unknown at this point. There are four CNG tanks that can be operated separately or together to run the vehicle.
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Ramseur police chief injured in hit-and-run
Suspect turns himself in
Ramseur police chief injured in hit-and-run
Suspect turns himself in
Authorities said Ramseur Police Chief Larry Lewallen is recovering after being hit by a car Saturday afternoon.
Lewallen tried to arrest a suspect at 1516 Main St., according to authorities, when he was dragged by a vehicle between 15 to 20 feet. Police said the vehicle also ran over his foot.
The Randolph County Sheriff's Office said Lewallen was taken to Randolph Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and was released.
Officials said Michael Smith was driving the vehicle and that he turned himself in after they issued a broadcast for his Chevrolet Tahoe.
Authorities arrested Smith and charged him with felony assault on a government official, felony assault with a deadly weapon with the intent to kill and a 50-B violation.


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Jeanne Rodriguez Schiller, a teacher in the Lakeland School District, died at her Mohegan Lake home on Wednesday, March 1, after a long illness. She was 48.
Schiller had been teaching sixth-graders at the Copper Beech Middle School in Shrub Oak since 2001.
Prior to that, she had been a special education teacher at Greenburgh-Graham Union Free School District in Hastings-on-Hudson.
Born in Manhattan, she moved with her parents, Albert and Mary (McGowan) Rodriguez, to Garnerville in Rockland County.
She is a graduate of Albertus Magnus High School in Bardonia and of SUNY Albany, where, in 1990, she received a bachelor's degree in sociology.
In 1992, she graduated summa cum laude and a with a degree in early childhood education from Colby-Sawyer College in New Hampshire. She did her teaching internship in New Hampshire as well.
Schiller earned her master's degree in special education at City College of New York
While teaching in Hastings-on-Hudson, she met her future husband, Paul. The couple volunteered at Camp Viva in Rhinebeck. The program serves Westchester and New York City children with HIV and their families.
Schiller's family said she loved being a teacher and was always looking for ways to make learning interesting and exciting for her students, especially those with special needs.
She was admired by school administrators and beloved by her colleagues, her family said.
Schiller is survived by her husband, Paul; two sons, Jack and Brian, father, Albert; step-mother, Cheryl; sisters Patricia (Chris) Confrey and Cheryl Ann (Paul) Butler; brothers Al (Catie) Rodriguez and John (Marie) Rodriguez; and nieces and nephews, Lauren, Maggie, Christopher, Dylan, Madison, Alessia, Kane, Nohla, and Maisie.
She was predeceased by her mother, Mary Rodriguez Russell, and step-father, Ray Russell.
Visiting hours are 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 7, at the Yorktown Funeral Home, 945 East Main St., Shrub Oak.
A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, March 8, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 1377 East Main St., Shrub Oak.
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simon72 needed a new print or packaging design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 50 designs submitted by 17 freelance designers.
simon dale
I live in London. I have a Masters in Creative Writing. I have completed a novel for teenagers, a magical, gothic tale that involves a wicked old man, a spooky mansion in the middle of a forest, and a magical oak tree. I want a cover that reflects the tone of the novel.
This is my own, private project - I'm getting some copies done for my family, though I may go on to sell the novel online and will be seeking to get an agent.
You can google gothic houses and I'm sure you have an idea of the kind of thing I have in mind. The bottom image in this link gives you an idea.
This is a link where you can see some more details about the subject matter of the book:
If you read the first few pages you get a very clear idea of the house as I envisage it.
Elements that must be included:
the house must have a tower
a light must be shining from the tower
Elements that may be included
near the house, a massive, gnarled old oak tree
Here's a small excerpt that gives some idea as to the look and feel of the house...
"Jake lifted the lion's head knocker and brought it down against the oak door. Thud. He waited, listened, then knocked again.
Up close it was evident from the crumbling brickwork and rotten window casements that the once imposing house had fallen into disrepair.
He shivered and stamped the snow from his boots. He felt the unnerving, skin-crawling sensation of being watched. Instinctively, he looked up; just in time to glimpse a pale face framed by a halo of white hair retreating from the window high in the tower that rose out of the roof as if striving for the sky.
It wasn't the first time he'd felt the weight of a watcher's gaze. Everywhere he went in recent days he sensed that he was being followed. He saw shapes in the shadows and heard whispered warnings on the wind. He'd taken to hurrying between places and looking over his shoulder.
In the fading light he stepped back and surveyed the house that was to be his home for the next five days.
Three storeys high, it reared up out of the gloom like a dark face in the fog. The Oakhouse. The once great hall under whose roof generations of Jake's family had grown old.
A solitary light shone from the tower room. His gaze travelled across the snow-softened angles of the roof and down the ivy clad walls to the thick timbered front door.


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The Bike Shed
Vintage Motorcycle Club of Western Australia – Dedicated to the ownership, use and preservation of motorcycles more than 25 years of age. This is the public website. There is a lot more on the club website but you need to be a member to view it all.


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Sapphire Pure PC-AM2RX780 Review
There are so many chipsets available on the market no matter what processor you choose these days. Figuring out the system you want to build is where you need to start with what motherboard you need. Do you need to run single or dual graphics cards? How many SATA ports do you require? What type of processor will you be running? Lastly, and most importantly, what will the computer's purpose be? Answering these questions can be a task in itself but with a variety of platforms available you have more hardware at your fingertips to make your selection the best one. One chipset that is out that you may have heard little about is the AMD 770 chipset. The AMD 770 chipset, which uses the same architecture as the 790 chipset, combines an AMD 770 Northbridge and a SB600 Southbridge for a powerful combination without a lot of overhead. Don't let this chipset fool you though. The AMD 770 supports AM2/AM2+ processors with HyperTransport 3.0 technology. It also supports CrossFireX with its dual PCI Express 2.0 x16 slots and all this with power saving features to top it off. Today we are going to take a look at Sapphire's offering of the AMD 770/SB600 chipset the Sapphire Pure PC-AM2RX780 motherboard. This board takes Sapphire's proven design technology and combines it with this latest chipset to provide you with a fast platform for your computing needs.
Closer Look:
The outside of the packaging is the green colored motif that Sapphire includes on its Pure motherboards packaging. On the front of the box are some limited specs for the PC-AM2RX780 motherboard along with the logos of the supported hardware. The back of the packaging expands on the supported hardware and the features of the 770 chipset. There is also a picture of the motherboard so you can see what it looks like prior to purchase.
Opening the box lets you get a view of what is included with the Sapphire 770 board. Sapphire has given you just enough to get started with your board while keeping the costs down. This is nice because you don't end up paying for stuff that you will never use. Included is the PC-AM2RX780 motherboard, the manual, the driver CD, one SATA cable, one IDE cable, the I/O shield plate with a color coded cover, and a PCI Express Switch Card which is used to enable full x16 speeds for a single graphics card solution.
Now that everything is un-boxed, let's move on over and take a look at the board more closely.


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Clint Bowyer Wins the Bank of America 500 [VIDEO]
Clint Bowyer ran out of fuel Saturday night, but not until after he crossed the finish line to win the Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway and was in the middle of his victory burnout.
This was Bowyer's first win at Charlotte, his third win of the season, and the eighth of his Sprint Cup career. This victory moves Bowyer to the fourth postition in the chase, only 28 points behind chase leader Brad Keselowski.
Next week it is the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway Sunday October 21, 2012. This is the first race at Kansas since the track was repaved. Television coverage begins at noon on ESPN.
Here are the current Chase for the Sprint Cup point standings...


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It's a bit boggling to imagine so much broadband technology could be woven into the far reaches of Alaska's vast wilderness, but on August 25th it became a reality. Representatives of the organizations and people of Southwest Alaska who are benefitting from this important project, including a variety of local, state and federal officials, met in Dillingham to mark progress on the TERRA-SW project.
When complete, TERRA-SW will make broadband available to more than 9,000 rural Alaskan households and nearly 750 businesses in the covered communities. The project will also serve numerous public, non-profit, private community institutions and entities such as regional healthcare providers, school districts and other regional and Alaska Native organizations. TERRA-SW will provide middle-mile terrestrial broadband service to 65 remote, rural communities in Bristol Bay and the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta (Y-K Delta), including Bethel, Dillingham and King Salmon.
Read the full blog entry.


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Photoshop Tutorial : Create a Vibrant Flaming Abstract Space Artwork
In this free Photoshop tutorial, Paul from ForCG.com will show you how to create a vibrant and colorful abstract space artwork using Photoshop, Illustrator, and stock images. Thank you Paul! You'll learn techniques on blending modes, the use of the pen tool in Illustrator, and how to combine elements and more May 30, 2013


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HOF Privacy Policy
HOF is committed to respecting the privacy rights of our Web Site visitors. The following Privacy Policy describes how we collect, protect, and use information we receive from visitors to our Web Site.
Types of Information Collected
At HOF, the confidentiality of your information is very important to us. We employ a number of measures to keep the data you voluntarily supply safe. By default you visit our Web Site anonymously. When visiting our Web Site, we do collect technical information about your visit such as the type of browser (e.g., Internet Explorer, Firefox), the length of visit, as well as the pages viewed and a host of other similar information.
There are functions on our site or social media sites where personally identifiable information such as your e-mail or postal address is requested with your explicit consent (e.g., when you request a brochure or enter a sweepstakes). While this information is retained by us, it is not sold to third parties and only used by HOF and its related companies. We use e-mail addresses to communicate with you regarding transactions between us or your customer relationship with us. We may also use your e-mail to share information about HOF products and services that may be of interest to you. You may opt-out of receiving such promotional messages from us at any time. Please refer to the "How can you opt-out, remove, or modify information you have provided to us?" section below. We do employ third parties who act on our behalf to help us manage and analyze this data but they are required to keep this data confidential. They also can only use the information for the specific services we ask them to perform and they must inform us of any theft of it.
We also receive and store click-stream data and other information about visits to our Web Sites which may be combined with personal information you have provided. This information is used to analyze and improve the website experience. For more information, see the "Do we use 'cookies'?" section below.
Like many websites, we use "cookies" to enhance your experience and gather information about visitors and visits made to our websites. Please refer to the "Do we use 'cookies'?" section below for more information about "cookies" and how we use them.
How do we use your information?
We may use the information we collect from you when you register, enter a contest or promotion, respond to a survey or marketing communication, provide information on a social media site, surf the website, or use certain other site features in the following ways:
If you have opted-in to receive e-mail from HOF, we may send you periodic e-mails. If you would no longer like to receive e-mail from HOF, please refer to the "How can you opt-out, remove, or modify information you have provided to us?" section below.
If you have opted-in to receive direct mail, we may send you periodic direct mail, such as catalogues. If you would no longer like to receive direct mail, please refer to the "How can you opt-out, remove, or modify information you have provided to us?" section below.
How do we protect visitor information?
We implement a variety of security measures to maintain the safety of your personal information. Your personal information is contained behind secured networks and is only accessible by a limited number of persons who have special access rights to such systems, and are required to keep the information confidential.
Do we use "cookies"?
Yes. "Cookies" are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. For instance, we use "cookies" to help us understand your preferences based on previous or current site activity, which enables us to provide you with improved services. We also use "cookies" to help us compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future.
We may contract with third-party service providers to assist us in better understanding our site visitor. These service providers are not permitted to sell the information collected on our behalf except to help HOF conduct and improve its business. The companies use "cookies" to gather anonymous data about our visitors on behalf of HOF. They do not collect personally identifiable information like e-mail, credit card number, phone number, or name.
You can choose to have your computer warn you each time a "cookie" is being sent, or you can choose to turn off all cookies. You do this through your browser (like Internet Explorer or Mozilla) settings. Each browser is a little different, so look at your browser's Help Menu to learn the correct way to modify your "cookie" settings. If you turn off "cookies," you won't have access to many features that make your site experience more efficient and some of our services will not function properly.
Do we disclose the information we collect to outside parties?
We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information, except as described in the Privacy Policy. The term "outside parties" does not include HOF wholly-owned companies. It also does not include Web Site hosting partners or other parties who assist us in operating our Web Site, conducting HOF 's business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential. We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our Web Site policies, or protect ours or others' rights, property, or safety. However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to outside parties for marketing, advertising, or other uses.
How can you opt-out, remove, or modify information you have provided to us?
You can opt out of receiving e-mails by clicking on the "safe unsubscribe" link at the bottom of our e-mails. Alternatively, to modify or delete entirely the information you have provided during registration, including your e-mail subscriptions, please contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com. Be sure to include your first and last name and e-mail address in the message box.
Please note, if you have opted-out to receive e-mail, due to production schedules you may receive communications already in progress. Also, if you request your registration information be deleted or you opt-out of other communications, we may maintain information about an individual service inquiry for future service and record keeping purposes.
Children's Online Privacy
HOF does not collect information on any person under 13 years. We ask that children under the age of 13 years do not submit information to us without the consent of a parent or guardian.
Online Policy Only
This online Privacy Policy applies only to information collected through our Web Site and not to information collected offline.


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Jimquisition: You Should Be Mad at Diablo III's Always Online DRM
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Jim could have emphasized more how D3 is NOT an MMO.
No world PVP and party sizes of 4 players means that if only players could host games themselves, they wouldn't have to rely on Blizzard's overworkerd servers for their single or multiplayer.
But Blizzard doesn't do that, because they will make money on the virtual item auctions. That and DRM reasons.
I realize that it's a design decision, that the online is so integrated into the 'single player' that there's nothing that can be done now; the problem is that it's a bad design decision from a consumers stand point. The arguement isn't that they should remove online only, it would be way too difficult a thing to do I would imagine; the arguement is that online only should never have been included from the get go, that the game should not have been designed around it. It's exploitative towards the consumer and transfers Blizzard's burdens onto the consumer.
I do not agree with JS.
Just because the whole world wanted to play D3 in the first 5 minutes after the server being online, it does not mean that the service Blizzard offers is generally of poor quality.
The EU servers are already stable. Five days after release. For a game you can "waste" weeks of playtime in.
And for all people who throw up a hissy fit for server generated and stored loot tables: Remeber how much fun D2 was? With all that boted and cheated junk on the ladders? And the skrippted looters who ninja'd all of the group's stuff?
For the real auction money house: Blizzard wants to get money from that, that's fine for me. And to do so, they ensure a fair and cheat-free economy. Win-win if you ask me.
And please dont mistake patient for fanboism.
Really funny intro and outro bits this week. I agree with the argument, but I'm not a PC player. Shouldn't whine on their behalf. We'll talk when it comes to the xbox.
It's not my job to solve Blizzards security problems nor should it be my burden to shoulder them. You are missing the point here, there was no need for a real money auction house in the first place.
But that's my point ... We knew about this design decision for a year!
I'm really ticked off how this was not a topic in meantime, especially since Jim is not one of gaming journo airheads. He made points about voting with wallet, but that can only be done up ahead.
Sadly, he missed his chance while that was still relevant.
There are two issues at play here.
One is the DRM issue, should you be forced to be always online or not? This is mostly a matter of opinion, but I have to wonder if you're going to force always-online, why do you even have a single player option? If it's not a 100% multiplayer game, then it shouldn't be always-on DRM.
The second issue is the mass incompetence of Blizzard, this being almost irrefutable. It's incomprehensible to me how anyone can defend this always-online nonsense when mass server issues clearly prove it's a terrible concept.
It's interesting isn't it, that people blame consumers because Blizzard wasn't ready on launch day to support always online (that they forced into the game).
Sure, people shouldn't have bought it to protest the DRM but that's not the issue here, the issue is that they did buy it and it was unplayable. Not surprised though, people who bought Skyrim on the PS3 and found it unplayable on launch day got a similar attitude about how it was their own fault for not buying it on PC and how Bethesda can't be expected to make a game that large work well.
I don't agree with it one bit, but if people are used to playing WoW online all the time, they could just be putting up with what they're used to. They should really be protesting. If EA pulled this shit they would be attacked. Why do Blizzard get a free ride?
I saw it coming and that's why I didn't buy it. Even though I love Diablo and like Diablo II.
Yes it is, and if you're arguing otherwise, you're delusional.
The giant dollar signs in Blizzards eyes disagree. They absolutely need a real money auction house, and they absolutely need to take a percentage of each transaction.
I think the easy solution would be to allow players to have offline characters that cannot be used online and who can't place their items on the auction house.
But I don't know, that would be the clever thing to do and Blizzard seems to be getting thicker by the minute.
Skyrim is a single player game because it can have at most one player. D3 is a multiplayer game because it can have more than one player. This is what it means to be single player and multiplayer.
Exactly! I am boggled by how many can't grasp this simple concept.
If I buy a cake, I'm entitled to eat it whenever I want!
If Diablo 3 isn't a single-player game, then why does it have a single-player option?
Note: Playing a single-player game is NOT the same as doing things solo in a MMO. (Figured I'd cover this before someone tries to counter with it.)
Fuck Blizzard.
I've gone through two acts of D3 now, but Act 3 is just downright unplayable for me. I can't play for more than 2-3 minutes without being lagged to death at every turn. It's frustrating as hell, seeing as I play SINGLE PLAYER because dickholes like to click through all the dialog and I actually care about what's going on.
I knew about the always online requirement, and I shrugged it off. I've played WoW, I play D2, I use my nets for XBL, w/e. That's not a problem for me.
But the service is so atrocious that it makes the fucking game completely unplayable, which makes me needing to be online to play a problem. A BIG problem, since I spent 60 bucks that I could've bought the Game of Thrones game with instead.
So, as of right now, I'm out $60, and can't even enjoy my purchase. Noted, Blizzard.
T-T i would have, but they where out ....
not that i've had server issues past launch day (and i haven't) i have had a bit of noticeable 'rubber banding' while solo. it's rare though, and over all the only time i see any kinda log in error it when i type my pass word to fast.
that said .... yeah .... I'd like the single player to be off line now, what little lag i do get, gets on my nerves. and the AH, yeah -.- that's not even gonna be worth it now that i've had a good look at it
It doesn't have a single player option. There is never a time when you click "Start Single-player Mode". Every time you start a quest it is a multiplayer game. You can choose to open it up to the public or invite some friends.
Also, no one is claiming its an MMORPG. Just an MORPG. The word massively is the difference between the two types of games.
That is very unlikely to happen, they would have to give you a server emulator. Think WoW private servers ... That's only solution for offline.
It is not only a business limitation, it is also quite a technical one.
I think what people are getting at is that with the first two games, people weren't forced into going online if they wanted to play a game solo. You're right in the sense that the game was designed so that more than one player can progress, but the game also makes it possible so that just one player can do so as well. Sure, a "single-player" game should have no more than one player at a time, but what people were expecting was an offline-mode in the event that such things happened.
I could see this becoming a battle of semantics, and that would go nowhere fast.
I liked Diablo 3, I think that it's a good game with shit add ons, pay to win with the auction house, single player with server lag, and why would I want to group up, all the loot for me, which the game is about, getting good loot and becoming god mode so you can farm for the best loot to sell for money to pay for the op to fix your hand.
I disagree. Complaining that an online game is online is not constructive.
Complaining that an online game's servers are not online is constructive.
The difference is that Blizzard can realistically do something to fix the second complaint.
The advertisement played before the video is about Diablo III. How silly. lol
The problem and biggest difference between D3 and WoW, is that WoW is an MMO, D3 isn't and shouldn't be, therefore, it is DRM in every single sense of the word and absolutely on the same level of horrendousness that UbiSoft usually does.
The only difference?, it's fucking Blizzard, people will still buy every single thing they make, that's why they, unfortunately, can get away with it.
EDIT: Just as a side note... Why isn't anyone complaining about Blizzard making the same fucking game but with better graphics and everyone just seems to complain about Nintendo making quality games about old franchises that, in most cases, are certainly better than most games that come out on the bigger consoles and people still whine and complain about Nintendo making clones of their own games and calling fanboys those who even dare to say otherwise. And don't get me started about those yearly military shooters that seem to make a shitton of money every single year by copying and pasting. [/rant off]
I love the smell of irony in the morning.
Nah, I don't remember any of that. Mostly because I played Single player only and had a grand old time.
Once again Jim gives the answers that should be painfully obvious from the word go. I cannot fathom how people defend this DRM shit.
It pretty much is... As far as I'm aware (but correct me if I'm wrong as I am not a WoW player) you can't zone into a dungeon without phoning home to Blizzard to tell them that *You have a legitimate copy of the game, *You have a WoW account & subscription. If there is any scope to do anything solo within WoW (which there, I would imagine, is), and you're required to connect anyway, then the only purpose of that connection is for Blizzard to make sure that you're still subscribed.
If you think about it, any always-on connection requirement is a method of the publisher Managing your Rights with regards to a Digital product. Or, to rearrange that, Digital Rights Management. Which is DRM.
Almost needless to say, though, what it's called is immaterial. Call the system whatever the hell you like, it's still a rising problem in the PC gaming industry. I'm not a Diablo player either so I have no particular personal stock in this scenario, but it's worrying that this kind of rubbish seems to be a rising trend.
Side-note: A thought. Surely if the auction house had anything to do with it at all, they could have just made it so that items earned whilst not connected to the server were unable to be sold. As in, it'd have to be verified on the server on drop for it to be available to sell, but give the option such that people who didn't have any interest in the auction house didn't have to be connected...
I think that it's the perfect marriage for Blizzard. I think they needed a reason to impose MMO-type DRM (they are spoiled from WOW) and the Real Money Auction House gave them that reason and alot of extra money to boot.
The difference is the always-on connection in D3/WoW is not about managing your digital rights. It's here to do things like calculate the damage of frost nova or determine what item is dropped from BBEG. Maybe the friend you're playing with moved to start gathering an iron ore node.
Just because some DRMs have an online component doesn't mean all online games are inherently DRM. You're conflating the two.
EDIT: Trying to make my quotes work. Hopefully it will.
Yep, it was lots of fun, still is.
Nope, you see I have friends so I play D2 with my friends, and that is how I would play D3, so for me always on DRM has no benefit. D3 would have been much better if it had an online only mode and an offline/TCP/IP only mode, this would have been a win-win.
You know, I agree with everything that was said here. Which, to be honest, I didn't think I was going to do, but I think I know why:
Complaining about a feature of a game on the internet means you're either glad you didn't buy it or regret the fact you did. Even if that's not what you're going for, that's what people read. Did you buy Mass Effect 3, then complain about the ending? Did you also like the game, but didn't mention that? Then, for all intents and purposes, you hated Mass Effect 3 and, if you could go back in time and redact your decision to purchase it, you would.
See, I bought Diablo III and I've liked what I could play so far. I just don't like that this was limited. I have no regrets having purchased this game, and would recommend it to anyone who likes the genre or lore. I just hate the fact that I can't recommend it to anyone with spotty internet (I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who hates playing with other people, because I usually recommend these kinds of games to people I want to play with at some point) and the fact that I had to wait to play because they were implementing a feature that could have been actually tested before it was implemented.
So, yes, if you liked the fact that you weren't able to play Diablo III when it came out, there is probably something wrong with you. But I do think it's a good game worth playing. I just wish complaining about a problem to the developers actually mattered.
Anytime people say "entitlement" to shit on a person's arguments I write them off.
Entitlement is silly in a capitalist society, Businesses are insanely entitled, most lawsuits and demands are reeking of entitlement.
Yet it only counts when its a person.
But yeah they could have just had an unranked offline mode, not rocket science, dungeon defenders does it.
So, everyone else is trying to tell you that you're wrong because "Diablo isn't an MMO". However, they are wrong. You are right. Diablo and WoW have the same amount of DRM.
Which doesn't mean they don't have DRM. It means BOTH have DRM - always online, forced server login DRM.
The primary difference is how they are sold. WoW is sold as a service - subscribe to our service, get our servers. Diablo, however, is being sold as a product - buy our game, then you can play it.
Using service-based models to drive the product-based game of Diablo is a bad business practice, even if you accept Blizzard's right to have logins for their service-based business.
Just because Diablo and WoW have the same DRM scheme (which is not a non-existent DRM scheme: WoW absolutely has DRM) does not mean that the scheme is equally valid to both games.
(This doesn't even touch the argument on whether WoW should necessarily be a service only, nor on how Blizzard disingenuously sells it as both product and service with the large up-front purchase cost, which is not how software-as-a-service should (nor how it does in most actual professional implementations) work.)
Dungeon Defenders is an indie game, it has a ranked mode (where you get achievements and I recall there being other shit) and an unranked mode (Where you can mod and do whatever the fuck you want). If Trendy Entertainment could get that kind of system going than I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that Blizzard can't.
This is just wrong. By this logic no one should ever eat sushi, or a steak that isn't cooked well.
Truth be told you have no idea how many consumers 'knew' that diablo 3 would have always online requirements. Sure they could have seen said requirements, but technically that requirement was fulfilled by the same people complaining. Their internet didn't go down. Blizzard simply couldn't handle the volume.
The more excuses we make for these large corporations when they drop the ball, the more often they'll drop it.
There was a lot of gay imagery in this video. It made me happy.
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Do you feel like Phuket today?
Glorious beaches, colourful traditinal longboats and bustling vibrant night markets - these are probably what you already know about Phuket. What you might not know about this Pearl of the South is that this popular sandy destination once made its name in tin-mining way back in the 16th century. History aside, no trip to Phuket is complete without a trip to the famous Patong for its unique night life, or the favourite island-hopping to nearby islands such as the beautiful Phi Phi - filming location of the movie "The Beach". ZUJI travel tip to Phuket: Phuket is blessed with warm climate all year round but if you prefer a less humid weather, Nov - March will be your best bet.
Download a Phuket Travel Guide today. Read up on must-do activities in Phuket, best dining experiences, check up on the weather and transport options, and be at the right corner of the street to find the best shopping bargains. Outside the travel guide, just have lots of fun and tell your own Phuket story. Get started on a memorable Phuket trip with ZUJI.


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The Dating Game was a game show which first aired on ABC in 1965, produced by Chuck Barris. Begining in 1973, the show entered syndication, and repeats continue to air today.
Celebrities occasionally appeared on the show, including Groucho Marx, and many then unknowns appeared as well, including Burt Reynolds and Farrah Fawcett. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass provided many of the musical cues for the show,
The show was spoofed as "Muppet Match-up" on episode 101 of Muppets Tonight. Hosted by Kermit the Frog in "1975", Michelle Pfeiffer was a guest on the show, being known as "Michelle Pfieffer Manowitz, choosing between three bachelors - Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, and Animal. It was also the first clip shown on episode 209.
In Dating Game style, Pfeiffer says she loves a man with a good sense of humor, and proceeds to ask each bachelor in turn for their idea of a fun date. Bunsen suggests a scientific date at his lab. Beaker meeps something unintelligible, which Michelle thinks is sick, not funny. When Animal is asked for his idea of a fun date, he gets to his feet, and runs towards Pfeiffer yelling, "Michelle! Michelle!", causing Pfeiffer to flee, screaming.
After showing the clip Michelle explains to Clifford that she ended up dating Animal, but she hasn't seen him in years, and wonders if he's changed. He hasn't. At that moment, he appears on stage, and chases Pfeiffer off, screaming her name.


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I totally agree! Jacob is totally like your favourite food!Lacuna Scion wrote:Jacob.
It's hard because I love Edward, but he really starts to get on my nerves as the saga progresses. I understand how he's perfect for Bella. I wouldn't be as patient as Bella. I wouldn't respond well to his protectiveness or his mood swings. We would be the ultimate dysfunctional couple; we'd be all in love and happy and then I'd be screaming at him and we wouldn't talk for two weeks before we got back together again. I know you know the type .
For me, Jacob was always just right. He's obviously protective but he's not ridiculous about it and despite the wolfy tendencies he's very normal. I enjoy that Jacob says and does really stupid things, on occasion. I would develop a major complex if I was always the only one messing things up. I have a compulsive need to help people and there isn't much I could ever do for Edward. I would feel it was all take and no give.
I like a little adventure in my life too and Jacob seems to be able to embrace that without getting hurt (minus the fantasy creature fights). And I'm always so darn cold so his heat would be really nice. I'm also very sarcastic and quite blunt, Jacob shares the same tendency.
Jacob just feels more natural to me. Edward would be like a drug addiction, but Jake's more your favorite food - not something that'll scare you or come back to bite you (no pun intended). I feel like I could be away from him for a while without it causing any major rifts in my life. The power that Edward wields over Bella (totally not his fault, she's just crazy in love ) scares me and I'd always feel on edge.


text: Thursday, July 28, 2011 APTA Statement on Challenges in SNFs Recent publications from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other federal agencies about the provision of therapy (physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology) in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) have prompted discussions regarding the potential overutilization of therapy services. In an official statement posted today, APTA highlights the results of several federal reports that led to extensive changes in the SNF Resource Utilization Groups (RUG) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 and have influenced proposed changes to the SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) for FY 2012 in an effort to mitigate abusive behaviors, ensure a more accurate assignment of RUG therapy levels, and lower the costs associated with therapy services under the SNF PPS. "As these reports continue to be discussed and regulations are promulgated, APTA will continue communications with CMS, the Office of Inspector General, and Congress to ensure that they have a clear understanding of the role of physical therapy in the SNF setting so they can make informed decisions regarding changes to Medicare payment policy for these services," the association says. Also included in the statement is information on the resources available to members, such as podcasts on changes to the MDS 3.0, summaries of federal rulemaking, FAQs, and defensible documentation guidelines. Of particular importance, APTA will hold a 2-day seminar October 28-29 in Atlanta that will specifically focus on physical therapists who practice in the SNF setting. To read the statement, click here and scroll down to APTA Comments. Comments Therapists bring this on themselves by gaming the system to max. income especially in the corporate nursing home setting. Our professional reputation is deminished every time therapists put corporate profit ahead of patient care. We did the same thing with the 10 visit home health rule then again with the 6 visit rule. We have become everyones mindless cash cow. Posted by Gary Fite on 7/30/2011 8:43 AM This is exactly why I have been saying for years. When higher ups stress "being creative" to maintain a caseload or to keep numbers high, you see therapists pick up residents that are really not appropriate for skilled services. Instead of standing up to them most caved. Now there will be tighter restrictions and less money. In the end the patients and therapists lose. Good job! Posted by seth on 7/30/2011 1:20 PM What a mess we have made for ourselves. And I agree, we deserve it. Therapists have become an easy way of making money for a company. How many SNFs have almost no equipment, crammed gyms, strong resistance to buy anything but want max productivity at all costs. How I miss the old days!! Helping people who have true acute conditions, true rehab potential and who really need me! Posted by Linda Coetzee on 7/31/2011 7:56 PM Linda, Unfortunatley you hit the nail on the head and it hurts. Posted by Carolyn Dixon on 8/2/2011 4:04 PM


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Cool moment in the TMZ offices when Boosie Badazz met Metta World Peace — and bro'd out right on the "TMZ Sports" TV show.
Turns out, the Louisiana rap legend is a HUGE Lakers fan — and told Metta he remembers watching him hit that famous 3 pointer in Game 7 of the '10 NBA Finals while he was locked up in prison.
At the time, Boosie was locked up in the Louisiana State Penitentiary on drug charges … and says Metta's shot was a bright spot during his incarceration.
Metta was equally stoked to meet Boosie … saying the Lakers are always bumping his music in the locker room. Metta also told Boosie he was a "champion" for turning his life around after prison.
There's A LOT more on the "TMZ Sports" show Tuesday night on FS1 — including Metta's take on the new George Karl video, Lamar Odom's possible coaching move and Mike Tyson's diss track.
Check out "TMZ Sports" weeknights on FS1.


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HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwean police have increased threats against civic groups a week away from a referendum on a new constitution and before crucial elections to end the nation's shaky coalition later in the year, rights organizations said Saturday.
An alliance of 15 human rights, pro-democracy and labor groups said police mounted "a sustained and escalating assault" on activists to discredit their organizations ahead of polling. The state Electoral Commission announced Friday that groups under police investigation or leaders facing any charges will not be allowed to observe the referendum vote on March 16.
At least four main groups, including the independent Zimbabwe Election Support Network, have had police raids on their offices this year.
The alliance said its member groups have reported growing political tensions across the country, even though the referendum vote is not being contested. All the main political parties have called for a 'Yes' vote from their supporters.
Most civic groups are facing "vague and generalized search warrants, arrests, persecution and prosecution," said the alliance.
Police on Friday said they will charge Jestina Mukoko, head of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, a group that monitors political intimidation and violence, for running an organization not legally registered as a private voluntary body. They also allege she smuggled into Zimbabwe cheap radio receivers capable of tuning in to stations other than those of the state broadcasting monopoly controlled by loyalists of President Robert Mugabe and mobile phones with the Global Positioning System (GPS) for "suspicious and unauthorized use" during elections across the country.
Lawyers acting for her group deny any of its activities were illegal and say it is properly registered under a deed of trust with the Zimbabwe High Court, like most other human rights groups in the country.
Amnesty International on Saturday criticized state television for airing a police wanted notice claiming Mukoko was on the run and gave telephone numbers for callers to report on her whereabouts. Mukuko was at home at the time and voluntarily handed herself over to police the next morning for questioning.
"The use of state media to publicly portray Mukoko as some kind of fugitive is a regrettable new low for the government," said Noel Kututwa, Amnesty's southern Africa director.
"It is appalling that at this critical time when Zimbabwe is in the process of adopting a new constitution which provides a stronger bill of human rights, human rights defenders are coming under systematic attack," he said.
As well as Mukuko's group, the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association, the election support network and another smaller organization in the second city of Bulawayo have been raided by police who seized documents, voter education materials and the solar-powered and hand cranked radio receivers destined for impoverished communities without traditional sources of information surrounding elections.
The alliance of rights groups said Saturday the continuing threats by police commanders who have openly voiced their allegiance to Mugabe were intended to portray civic groups as unpatriotic and serving the interests of Mugabe's opponents and their alleged Western backers and funders in Britain, the former colonial power, and the United States.
"Accusing them of unfounded misdemeanors is to suggest to the public the existence of a wider-ranging conspiracy against the stability of the country and to paint civil society organizations as a danger to state security," the alliance said.
Riot police on Tuesday dispersed a meeting in Harare to be addressed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader in the coalition with Mugabe formed after the last violent and disputed elections in 2008, saying it had not be authorized under sweeping security laws.
Tsvangirai's party officials said the incident recalled partisan police conduct in previous poll campaigning routinely marred by violence and it was feared to be a foretaste of Mugabe loyalists' tactics ahead of parliamentary and presidential polls, slated around July.
Tsvangirai himself tweeted that police actions to stop that meeting "show that the leopard has not changed its colors."


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Style # 216551
Striped paneling at sides and lightweight, figure-enhancing fit make this bebe bodycon dress a total head-turner. Balance out its hot hue with a nude or black heel and a pair of statement earrings.
The "Caribbean Sea" hue is available exclusively online.
- 92% nylon, 8% spandex
- Center back to hem: 32" (81 cm)
- Lightweight fabric
- Machine wash according to care label
- Made in USA with imported materials
- Model is 5'9" and is wearing a US size S
Emily Colorblock Bodycon Dress is rated out of 5 by 3.
Rated 2 out of 5 by Faith from Item was not as discribed The dress is more like a size smaller then the average size. The material of the item is stretch but I would expect it to be a lot better based on the price.
Date published: 2013-06-18
Rated 5 out of 5 by Cruella from Love it I had this dress in my shopping cart for weeks unsure if I really liked it, then i saw it in the store and fell in love...I purchased the green the color is great and the fit is very flattering.I got a lot of compliments.
Date published: 2013-06-02
Rated 5 out of 5 by SimpleBeauty from Flattering This dress is really a simple but hot number. I tried the deep green color in the store but I didn't like it... it was too drab for me, but the fit was amazing. I'm 135lbs 34-27-42 and the S/M fits perfectly. The bold lines makes it very flattering on even as curvy as I am, especially the vertical lines along the side, makes your waist look smaller. I also liked that the material wasn't too thin or too thick making it very comfy on. The length was about mid thigh which added some class factor to it (I'm 5'4" though). I didn't get the green because it didn't work for me and it's all they had in the store so I ordered the Caribbean sea blue. I feel this dress would work on any body type that's how flattering it is.
Date published: 2013-04-24