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Whether your mission is to improve community relations or streamline evidence collection, police video cameras can play an important role. Our developing portfolio of integrated body-worn cameras and in-car "dash cameras" gives you the flexibility to improve operations for all your officers.
The Si500 Video Speaker Microphone replaces your radio RSM with an integrated speaker-mic, body camera and touchscreen content management device. Lowering the burden on your officers, it also integrates seamlessly with the APX™ series of P25 radios.
The Sr600 In-Car Video Camera gives you total situational awareness, with a full 360-degree view of the inside and outside of the vehicle. It's quickly and easily mounted to your windshield, giving you fast and affordable deployment.
All our cameras are designed to work with the CommandCentral Vault Evidence Management System.
Simplify evidence capture so your officers aren't obstructed by technology, can spend less time on administrative tasks, and engage more meaningfully with the community.
Get A Clearer Picture
Be confident you captured the evidence you need, and keep it that way. The Si500 starts capturing encrypted video prior to pressing the record button—and can even do so automatically in case of emergency.
Wear It Your Way
With an articulating camera, you can wear the Si500 in the way that suits you best, regardless of your size or uniform. Face the 3.2-inch display in or out—either to be discreet, or to deter criminal behavior.
Cut Through The Noise
No matter the situation, lives depend on you being able to hear—and being heard. The Si500 features radio integration and an adaptive audio engine that delivers loud and clear sound in any wearing position.
Be There When It Matters
Spend more time alert and patrolling rather than occupied with your technology. On-device evidence tagging and radio control through the integrated touchscreen saves you time and effort.
Rely On Purpose-Built Design
Don't waste a second searching for the right button or fumbling with a clunky device. With an advanced ergonomic design, the Si500 is so easy to use and designed to withstand the elements and rough treatment.
Protect The Truth
The Si500 is designed to work seamlessly and securely with our CommandCentral Vault digital evidence management software to help you deliver timely, indisputable truth.
Learn more about the Motorola Si500 Body Worn Camera
Get The Picture
Be confident you captured the evidence you need with a camera system that works for you anywhere, anytime. With a high-res camera, low light recording and simple controls, the Si200 captures and secures the video evidence you need. And with up to 2 minutes pre-buffering, the Si200 starts securely capturing video prior to pressing the record button so you won't miss the critical moment.
Protect The Truth
The Si200 works seamlessly with Motorola Solutions CommandCentral Vault Digital Evidence Management software, keeping your video evidence secure from capture, through upload and storage. The Si200 digitally signs all captured content to protect the chain of custody and verifies the authenticity of CommandCentral Vault before transferring the files.
Stay On The Streets
The Si200 will last a full 12 hour shift, ensuring it is ready whenever and wherever it is needed. Use Review for Si200, the secure smartphone application for live viewing, tagging and playback while in the field so that you spend more time patrolling the streets rather than back at the station filing the evidence. With integrated Wi-Fi you can upload evidence from anywhere your organization has a connection that's deemed secure, at the station or in the field.
Rely On Purpose-Built Design
Focus on the mission ahead not on your body-worn camera. The Si200 is compact, rugged, lightweight and ready to go with you into any situation. With an advanced ergonomic design, simplicity of use and multiple wearing options, the Si200 is easy to use and wear. Designed to withstand the elements and tough conditions with an IP67, MIL-STD-810G rating, it will survive all the challenges the job can throw at it.
Know Where It Happened
With on-board GPS, the Si200 embeds the location of any captured video evidence into its metadata. Once uploaded into CommandCentral Vault, the video is correlated with relevant information from your other systems such as Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) or Records Management System (RMS).
Learn more about the Motorola Si200 Body Worn Camera
See The Complete Picture
From a single, dash-mounted 360 degree camera, capture the front, sides and interior of the vehicle at up to 4k resolution.
Install & Activate Effortlessly
Single-cable installation includes triggering from the vehicle and other in-car equipment, and the option to add up to two additional cameras.
Protect The Truth
The Sr600 is designed to work seamlessly and securely with our CommandCentral Vault digital evidence management software to help you deliver timely, indisputable truth.
Learn more about the Motorola Sr600 In-Car Camera
As digital evidence becomes practically a requirement for prosecution, consolidate all of your content and management workflows into a single, end-to-end experience.
Preserve Evidence Confidently
Digital evidence is now table-stakes for successful prosecution, but don't let it's vastness overwhelm you. Easily manage your large quantities of content by storing all of it together in a single, secure place.
Avoid Added Administrative Work
The more time is spent on menial administrative tasks, the less it is spent in the field or investigating. Leverage data from across systems to automatically organize content so people and cases keep moving.
Accelerate Evidence Preparation
Reduce the burden of fulfilling information requests with an integrated workflow to quickly find content, process it and then share it with partners and the community - putting you in control of the narrative.
Learn more about the CommandCentral Vault
Expand your ability to capture law-enforcement-grade digital evidence with the simplicity of a smartphone.
Equip Everyone To Investigate
Rather than risk evidence being lost, capture images, video and audio with a simple to use smartphone application that makes preserving proof in the field as easy as saving a memory of your pet at home.
Stay In The Streets, Not The Station
Keep the burden of management to a minimum with metadata automatically added to evidence and on-device tagging. Content is then uploaded to CommandCentral Vault for easy, immediate use.
Don't Sweat The Security
All evidentiary data is isolated from personal data making it inaccessible for tampering by other apps. Chain of custody is also established at the moment of capture so you never need to subpoena devices.
Learn more about the Capture Mobile Camera App


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Mario Baloteli Training Ground Bustup With Mancini
Roberto Mancini and Mario Balotelli have seemingly been photographed amid a training ground bust-up, putting the striker's future at Manchester City in further doubt.
The photographs, posted on the Daily Mail website, appear to show the Italians confronting one another, with the newspaper reporting the dispute was sparked by an over-zealous challenge from Balotelli on Scott Sinclair.
The incident occurred as City prepare for their FA Cup third round tie against Watford, with the Manchester Evening News also reporting that the clash came about as "Mancini reacted furiously to the challenge and chastised Balotelli".
Balotelli, 22, has regularly been in the spotlight since his transfer to City from Inter Milan for £22 million in 2010, with the forward recently dropping his appeal against a two-week fine imposed upon him by the club.
The Italy international had taken the Premier League champions to a tribunal after they handed him a fine reported to be worth £340,000. His lawyers were set to present their case before an agreement between club and player was met.
Balotelli has scored 20 goals in 53 Premier League matches for City, but his future has been the subject of conjecture, with Mancini claiming he would unlikely play again for the club after he was sent off against Arsenal last season.
But the striker returned to the squad towards the end of the campaign and played a part in City clinching the title as he assisted Sergio Aguero's dramatic winner versus Queens Park Rangers.
Led off: The striker was pulled away from Mancini by a coach
Anger: Mancini was furious after a mistimed tackle from Balotelli
Push and pull: Mancini and Balotelli raged at each other
Tempers: Roberto Mancini was angry after a mis-timed tackle from Mario Balotelli
Bellow: Mancini shouted at his compatriot
Back inside: Mancini stomps off furiously
Getting outta here: Balotelli left in his camouflage car

subset: commoncrawl


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These goggles pack a display that projects info like jump hang-time, vertical gain/loss, and speed. Perfect, I've been looking for a way to tell how much faster that little kid who just shot by was going.
There are even plans to build in resort trail maps, which would make it super easy for me to find the bunny slopes. And let's not forget the greatest feature of all. If I'm watching 6-year-olds rocket past me, knowing that I'm wearing a $450 pair of goggles might save my last ounce of self esteem. Or make me much, much sadder. Either one.
In all seriousness, this is a pretty cool idea. I'm just not good/frequent enough of a skier to justify the cost. For those of you that are, you'll have to wait. They won't be on the market until next year's slope season. Hopefully once they do launch, no one runs into a tree while updating Twitter. [Recon Instruments via Born Rich]


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To unlock all of features of Rams On Demand please take a brief moment to register. Registering is not only quick and easy, it also allows you access to additional features such as live chat, private messaging, and a host of other apps exclusive to Rams On Demand.
Celebration Thread: Rams@Raiders
Discussion in 'RAMS - NFL TALK' started by Prime Time, Sep 11, 2018.
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Who's Got Next? Huge Halloween Commitments, More In the Works…Posted by Josh Paunil on November 2nd, 2011
Who's Got Next? is a weekly column by Josh Paunil, the RTC recruiting guru. We encourage you to check out his website dedicated solely to college basketball recruiting, National Recruiting Spotlight, for more detailed recruiting information. Once a week he will bring you an overview of what's going on in the complex world of recruiting, from who is signing where among the seniors to who the hot prospects are at the lower levels of the sport. If you have any suggestions as to areas we're missing or different things you'd like to see, please let us know at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Lead Story: Arizona Secures Top 2012 Recruiting Class
Tarczewski Takes To Tucson. This is something I'm not used to, this is something you aren't used to, this is something no one on the recruiting circuit is used to. For the first time in four years, a head coach has assembled a downright dirty collection of talent into one recruiting class and his name isn't John Calipari. Arizona head coach Sean Miller has beautifully crafted his 2012 recruiting class so it will resemble North Carolina's group of big men this year when center Kaleb Tarczewski committed to Arizona pm Monday. Not only do the Wildcats have commitments from three of the top nine recruits in the senior class [according to ESPN] in addition to a top shooting guard in Gabe York, but they have two of the top three power forwards between Brandon Ashley and Grant Jerrett and the second best center in Tarczewski. This front court talent is scary considering the versatility and skill level of the players. If Miller doesn't want to sit one of his star recruits, he could possibly slide Ashley to small forward since he's a combo forward who likes playing on the wing as well. All of these big guys can move and get up and down the court and can be game-changers in so many ways. Here's another thing to think about, the Wildcats got two of the top guards in the Class of 2011 with point guard Josiah Turner (#13) and shooting guard Nick Johnson (#28) and both players will definitely be staying longer than one year. I'm not going to go around and start predicting 2013 NCAA tournament Final Four teams, but I wouldn't bet against Arizona.
What They're Saying
- Senior standout Dominic Artis on committing to Oregon: "I really thought it was the best fit style-of-play wise after watching practice and I liked the athletes that are already in the program. [Class of 2011 shooting guard] Jabari [Brown] and I have been together since fourth or fifth grade. Him being there sure didn't hurt. It gave me a nice comfort level and someone I could relate to."


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Hi, Welcome to the new Forum for all things related to Art for Basic Fantasy RPG!
This forum is a place to collect artwork and artists that wish to help further the work done in this great forum for the furthering of our beloved hobby. It's also a place to find an artist, make requests or just view the pieces of art being offered up to be used in BFRPG's products.
We will have a few rules for the Forum and want to make sure everyone enjoys their stay.
1. Any rule here is superseded by any rule in the main BFRPG forums.
2. This is a family forum, so keep that in mind, when drawing, or adding a drawing.
3. There will be a thread for Art requests. Please keep that the primary way of asking for art. No thread jacking. Please, before requesting artwork, if you are not a member of the moderation team or the Showcase, contact a moderator for permission. We don't ask artists to do work on things that are not slated for printing; as we don't pay them, the reward they get is their art appearing in print. Asking for art for a work that won't be put into print is basically asking the artist to work truly and entirely for free.
4. Comments and critiques are ALWAYS warranted. Please feel free to let the artist know what you think (but remember that the comments are meant to be constructive, not destructive.)
5. Any artist wishing to post and showcase his/her art, should make a new thread.
6. Any art created and posted into your thread/showcase should have a link to the original info/data you are drawing for. This is so others can see what the work was done for and maybe offer help.
7. Any artwork posted here within the artwork forum is to be used/reused for BFRPG with explicit permission by the posting artist. Work posted for use by BFRPG is still owned by the original artist, but given permission to BFRPG to be used within it's publication. By giving permission for the art to be used, is not a binding contract for payment or reimbursement for the art itself. Essentially, if you post it here for us to use, then you're saying we can keep it and use it and if warranted, we can reuse it elsewhere in another publication.
8. Any art used here for BFRPG will be credited to the originating artist.
9. No open "Will work for paypal cash!" threads. If you wish to advertise your blog/deviant art page/facebook image folder/website, please put it into your signature as a link. If you wish paid for your art, that should be discussed within the PM between you and the client requesting art.
Submission guidelines:
1. Art must be scanned in at 300 dpi minimum.
2. Art should be grayscale, or easily converted to grayscale if colored, for easy formatting.
3. Artwork should be a .jpg, .png or similar file type to be easily opened by those who add it to works.
(Don't be using some weird file extension that people may not have the program available to open it with.
4. Large format images should be a link if hosted off site, do not use the big format to make a {img} so you can preview the piece in the thread. (large format pics will break the forum format and oversize the page)
Link to the original large format pic, then make a small one under 600 pixels wide if you want to post a pic of it in the forums.
5. No stealing of art from other sources to be submitted here. Though, exception for Vintage or Out of Copyright (old) artwork is OK. If you find something really good that works well for BFRPG projects, that is OK. But no clip-art stuff. That stuff is often free for personal use, but often still includes clauses that preclude other forms of re-use.
More to be added as we move along.
BFRPG Art Forum RULES and GUIDELINES {Please Read}
This forum is for requesting, submitting, and discussing artwork for the project.
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The world's largest wind turbine manufacturer, Vestas, will not build a component production facility at the Port of Sheerness in Kent. Until now, Vestas had retained the option of proceeding with plans to build a blade and nacelle factory at Sheerness to support production of its V164-7.0MW offshore turbine.
The news will raise questions both about Vestas' offshore strategy and about whether the UK will succeed in building a domestic manufacturing base for its burgeoning offshore wind sector.
Vestas insists it will maintain a "strong presence" in the UK via upgraded test facilities on the Isle of Wight. It says it will use its Isle of Wight base to construct and test initial components for the V164-7.0, including the turbine's 80 metre blades. The first prototype will be installed in 2014, with no news yet on when series production might begin.
Despite its leading position in turbine manufacturing, Vestas has been in turmoil, with many senior management figures, including the leader of its offshore business, having recently been replaced.
The owner of Port of Sheerness is Peel Ports, which says it will continue with its plan to develop the port as a base for renewable energy manufacturers.
Vestas' decision about Sheerness is not a comment on the attractiveness – or otherwise - of the UK for offshore wind manufacturing, insists chief executive of trade association, RenewableUK, Maria McCaffery: "Naturally we are disappointed with this decision, but as the world-leader in offshore wind, the UK remains an attractive place for manufacturers and members of the supply chain to have a base."
Fears about UK incentive system
That said, McCaffery acknowledged that interest from other manufacturers in locating in the UK, including Areva (Windpower Offshore 19-06-12), is subject to "market certainty" and the UK government's planned electricity market reform. "Investors in both projects and employment are poised to follow through on pledges but delivery on green jobs needs certainty and confidence in the market with clarity on implementation arrangements and timescales," said McCaffery.
The UK government's current system of renewable incentives is based on renewable obligation certificates (ROCs), but these are due to be replaced by a feed-in tariff with contracts for difference (CfD) from 2017. Uncertainty about how CfDs will be agreed risk, making it much harder to achieve financial close on remaining Round 2 offshore projects and early Round 3 wind farms.
Although the UK offshore wind market is expanding rapidly, this growth has yet to result in any new manufacturing facilities for offshore turbine components or foundations. This is in sharp contrast with France, where the energy ministry's approval earlier this year for the development of just four offshore wind farms was accompanied by manufacturer commitments to create thousands of jobs.
Speaking in London last week, Gamesa's head for northern Europe, Dirk Matthys, warned the UK government that its plan to build a factory in Leith, Scotland is not set in stone and that a stable and favourable investment climate for offshore wind must be maintained if the plan is to go ahead.


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At Driscoll Design & Decoration, place matters. When our clients believe this like we do, the results are amazing.
Learn more about our design philosophy and how curated style influences our craft.
Our shop is designed for you—a place to discover unique gifts and decor, new artists, whimsical curiosities, vintage finds and fine furniture. Stop in today and shop around.
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Monday—Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
632 South Perkins Road
Memphis TN 38117 | View Map
Show off your zest for life with Ragland Hill Textiles. Perfect for your next fun project, take a peek and pick your pattern from our designer collection.


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Moderatoren: Markus(PureSteel), steel-prophet, Skullview
Sgt. Kuntz hat geschrieben:this will bring even more attention to this cult band and will make my original copy even more worthy.
Stormspell_Records hat geschrieben:I know, it's my twisted sense of humor, sorry. I should have posted it myself long time ago. It is just that whatever I've posted here recently never got any response, and it is a bit depressing, so I've not been very active recently.
I'm very glad to announce that the cult Swedish underground power Viking horde, also known as DETEST, are currently recording a follow-up to their highly acclaimed THUNDERSTEEL EP. 26 years to the day, the debut album is finally on its way. Better later than never, eh...
More details to follow as they become available. For now we are expecting to unleash it upon the masses sometime in the Summer.
Mitglieder in diesem Forum: 0 Mitglieder und 5 Gäste


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Semper feisty: Jarheads ain't Rambos
U.S. Marines are proud to be known as "jarheads," a reference to the shape given their skulls by their regulation haircuts. It also implies, according to the protagonist of Jarheads, that their heads are empty vessels. (That's not far from the truth. Boot camp/basic training is designed to break down a soldier's will so they'll obey orders without thinking, a second's hesitation potentially making the difference between life and death.)
Back when we were fighting good wars for noble causes– or at least believed we were– the war movie was a Hollywood staple. It followed a bunch of raw recruits through training and into battle, where they kicked the butts of the Krauts, the Nips, or whoever was the enemy du jour. Comedies usually focused on training so they wouldn't have to show people dying.
Probably the last of these was The Green Berets, John Wayne's attempt to sell America on the Vietnam War. Except for the occasional action-adventure (e.g., Rambo) about a rescue mission, it became difficult to apply a good guys/bad guys formula to war movies, even when they were set in an earlier era.
The next step was dark comedy (M*A*S*H, Catch-22) on the way to the modern war movie (Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket) and the post-modern war movie (Three Kings, Tigerland, and now Jarhead).
Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lance Corporal Anthony Swofford, whose memoir was the basis for the screenplay. His father served in Vietnam, and now it's his turn. In 1989, at the age of 20, he trains at Camp Pendleton.
When he gets to his permanent station, Swoff is assigned to Golf Company, which is "full of retards and f***ups." "They greet him by beating him up, duct-taping him to his bunk and pretending to brand him.("You have to earn the real brand.")
Swoff's commanding officer, Staff Sergeant Sykes (Jamie Foxx) assigns him "the best f***in' job in the Marine Corps," that of scout/sniper. It's a team effort, spotter and shooter, and he's partnered with his best buddy, Corporal Alan Troy (Peter Sarsgaard). Sykes trains them: "We've all learned 'Thou shalt not kill,' but... f*** that sh*t." (Sorry if you have a problem with the language, but these guys talk like Marines, not nuns– at least not the way we think of nuns talking.)
The men spend most of their time masturbating and waiting for Dear John letters from their wives and sweethearts back home, until one night on the news they see that Iraq has invaded Kuwait. Troy exclaims, "We're goin' to f***in' war!"
Well, yes and no. They're soon sent over as part of Operation Desert Shield, with the mission of protecting Saudi oil fields, not engaging the enemy until the bureaucrats in Washington get Saddam Hussein in their gunsights.
So they spend more time masturbating and waiting for Dear John letters from their wives and sweethearts back home (although most of them have already gotten the letters by now). Four months pass, and they get drunk on Christmas Eve. Two more months, and they're officially in Operation Desert Storm.
In a precursor to the current war, the men complain of faulty and inadequate equipment. They're forced to sign waivers before they take untried pills that may (or may not) protect them from enemy nerve agents. The enemy's out there, but our guys don't see him, only the "krispy critters" he's left behind. Even in war their worst enemy is boredom. "Are we ever gonna get to kill anyone?" Swoff wonders.
Maybe and maybe not– no spoilers here. But soon the war ends, and the Marines say things that seem ironic in retrospect: "Saddam Hussein is history. We'll never have to see this f***in' place again."
Jarhead has a slender storyline and few if any characters to care about. Gyllenhaal is good, but for all the time we spend with Swofford he feels incomplete. (Where did he learn to speak Arabic?) Sarsgaard acts well, but he seems vaguely out of place. Foxx is terrific at barking orders but rarely gets to show the human being behind the uniform. Dennis Haysbert and Chris Cooper have two scenes each as officers, and very few other enlisted men make enough of an impression to be recognizable in the closing credits.
As the Marines use yelling to build morale, director Sam Mendes uses silence to build tension in certain scenes. He creates some great moments, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts. Certainly Jarhead isn't in a league with his American Beauty and Road to Perdition. It doesn't earn his brand.


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As the downward pressure on e-book prices continues to increase, publishers should pause long enough to realize that there is no need to have a race to the bottom, to the free e-book. Publishers themselves really are the ones to blame for the emerging pricing situation, as they continue to treat e-books like digital replicas of print books, doing quick text-to-digital conversions, which typically don't even offer the same capabilities as the print versions—try sharing your latest great e-book with a friend. It's no wonder the consumer value perception of e-books is in question.
Publishers will likely be stuck in this low-price world until they wake up and start leveraging the medium on which the content is delivered, increasing the real value as well as the value perception for readers. This means providing richer content but not adding content for content's sake: the additional elements need to be well thought out and enhance the reader's experience in a logical way. The work done to create The Elements app illustrates this point nicely. In a 2010 interview with the blog "O'Reilly's Radar," Theodore Gray, author of The Elements, said: "Just adding something that rattles around on the page does not mean you have enhanced the reading experience or added to the user's understanding of the subject. The interactivity in The Elements is very minimalist, and this is one of its strengths. There were a whole lot of ideas for interactivity that we didn't put in because they didn't pass the test of actually making the book better."
Some industry members believe the free e-book is inevitable, but even if this comes to pass, it doesn't mean it should be the entire pricing model. Those who argue, for instance, that books can be free if we offset costs with in–e-book advertising haven't been paying attention to other media experiences. One need look no further than the newspaper industry to see how well a business model based on practically giving away a product funded by advertising revenue is working out. And in many cases, newspapers' online content actually is free. As advertising revenues continue to dry up, newspapers are having to backpedal and try to sell this content readers have become accustomed to getting for free. There's an important lesson here: people are already accustomed to paying for books. It has to be easier to keep customers paying than to convince them to pay for something they expect to get for free, especially if the content delivers quality. Amazon already is testing the advertising revenue model on its Kindle devices, and it likely won't be long before it ventures into ad-subsidized e-books in order to offer consumers cheaper, or $0, pricing on e-books. But in the long term, this sort of model isn't likely to be sustainable.
One of the most crucial elements to the future of e-book pricing is the consumer value perception, in which publishers need to realize they have a hand. The loss-leader model might be a good way to get a consumer in the door, but it's not an intuitive or sustainable model for books, which are often one-off purchases. More importantly, what does using a loss-leader model do to the worth of books? O'Reilly general manager and publisher Joe Wikert recently took a look at a related topic and noted the big-picture issue: "Think of the premium products you've bought or admired. Oftentimes their prices are higher than most of the competition's. What would happen if those prices were suddenly significantly reduced? Would those products retain the full value of their premium brand? Highly unlikely." Dropping e-book prices to zero tells consumers the value of those products is exactly that.
The e-book pricing conundrum comes down to what consumers will pay for, and the psychology behind consumer shopping decisions may be instructive in the struggle to establish a sustainable e-book retail arena.
In 2008, behavioral economist Dan Ariely presented a pricing example from an Economist subscription offer to illustrate the principle of irrational buying behavior. The offer included three choices: a one-year Economist online subscription for $59, a one-year print subscription for $125, and a combined one-year print and online subscription for $125. Ariely presented the offer to 100 MIT students: 84% wanted the combo deal, 16% wanted online only, and no one wanted print only. He then prepared another version of the offer without the print-only option—removing the option nobody wanted—and presented it to another 100 MIT students. Now 32% chose the combo deal and 68% chose the online-only option. Ariely explained: "What was happening is the option that was useless in the sense that nobody wanted it, but it wasn't useless in the sense that it helped people figure out what they wanted. In fact, relative to the print-only option, the print plus Web option looked like a fantastic deal, and as a consequence, people chose it."
Similarly, Derek Thompson at the Atlantic recently took a look at consumer buying behavior and, citing an example from a new study, presented this scenario: "You walk into a Starbucks and see two deals for a cup of coffee. The first deal offers 33% extra coffee. The second takes 33% off the regular price. What's the better deal?" The majority of respondents in the study decided the offers were about equal. Thompson broke it down, highlighting the psychology behind the phenomenon: "The deals appear to be equivalent, but in fact, a 33% discount is the same as 50% increase in quantity. Math time: let's say the standard coffee is $1 for 3 quarts ($0.33 per quart). The first deal gets you 4 quarts for $1 ($0.25 per quart), and the second gets you 3 quarts for 66 cents ($0.22 per quart). The upshot: getting something extra 'for free' feels better than getting the same for less."
The lesson here for publishers? If offering options nobody wants can succeed in making the up-sell look like a great deal, and consumers psychologically prefer to get extras "for free" as opposed to a straight discount or a cheaper price, maybe the solution to the e-book pricing dilemma is to leverage the concept of "premium." Kevin Kelly, senior maverick at Wired magazine, talked about this at TOC 2011 in his keynote address, "Better than Free: How Value Is Generated in a Free Copy World." In his talk, Kelly argued: "In a world where everything is moving to the free, we have to have a different attitude.... The only things that become valuable are the things that cannot be copied ... Let me give you one example: immediacy.... So, you're not paying for the copy, you're paying for immediacy—if you can eventually get anything you want for free if you wait long enough, but if you want it as soon as the creator has created it, the artist has made it, you're willing to pay for the immediacy of it."
So, readers will pay for the experience, the intangible "extras" that create value: the speed of delivery, enhanced content "extras," personalization, quality of the brand and of the customer service, for example. For the goal of controlling and maximizing the quality of the consumer experience, it becomes more important than ever for publishers to consider direct sales channels as well. Forbes contributor Nick Morgan recently made some predictions about the future of publishing, and his second point hit the nail on the head: "Traditional publishers have one chance left: form a relationship with readers." If anyone doubts the importance of establishing this relationship, just take a look at Amazon's personalized consumer strategies and how they're working out.
As the industry navigates the new digital terrain, there are many e-book pricing models and new publishing business models emerging—selling content subscriptions, selling content in chunks, and even crowdsourcing content revenue, just to name a few. And more models, perhaps along the lines of what Kevin Kelly predicts, are sure to come. The important thing is not to rush into a model that may appear appealing to consumers in the short term, but is actually unsustainable and detrimental to consumer perception of the value of the products we make.
Jenn Webb is the TOC/O'Reilly Radar editor.


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Editorial Maze Cartoon - JFK vs Obama on NASA
Editoral Cartoon Maze in Larger and Printable Format
Can't solve the maze? Click here for the maze solution
Editorial Cartoon Maze contrasting JFK to Obama on the issue of travelling to the moon and NASA.
For more mazes and cartoons by Yonatan Frimer check out:
Team Of Monkeys - Maze Cartoons
Ink Blot Mazes - Maze Art
Fine Art America - Yonatan Frimer Mazes
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
JFK vs Obama: Editorial Cartoon maze by Yonatan Frimer
Editorial Maze Cartoon - JFK vs Obama on NASA
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Facebook lets users report friends who post suicidal content
Sign of the times
Facebook has introduced a service that allows users to report friends who have posted suicidal content on their account pages.
The Report Suicidal Content form, asks for the URL where the comments were made, the user's full name and other information. From there, "A Facebook administrator will review your report and take any available action from our end," although the social network doesn't say exactly what that means.
Given the explosive growth of Facebook, it was probably inevitable that the site rolled out a service like this one. On Sunday, authorities in Washington state recovered the body of a 12-year-old girl who hadn't been seen since mentioning on Facebook that she planned to kill herself.
In December, Brighton, UK-based Simone Back told 1,048 Facebook friends that she had taken an overdose, according to The Guardian. A a message she posted on Facebook Christmas night read: "Took all my pills, be dead soon, bye bye everyone."
Some of Back's Facebook friends responded with taunts and flame wars among themselves, but no one called the police until the following day, the Guardian said.
Facebook has also joined forces with the Samaritans group to raise awareness. ®


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I appreciate your patience and understanding as we attempt to fix this problem as fast as we can.
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One year ago today, Larry Page took over for Eric Schmidt as CEO of Google. Page co-founded Google along with Sergey Brin back in 1998 and served as CEO through 2001. While Page has always been in the thick of Google's product development and strategic direction, much of Google's next decade was characterized by an odd triumvirate: Seasoned exec Eric Schmidt (formerly of Novell and Sun) acted as the titular CEO and the "adult" in the room, while Brin and Page had more-or-less equal weight in corporate decisions. With Page's re-ascension to the CEO chair and Schmidt's transition to a more nebulous executive chairman role, Google has attempted to pare itself down, sacrificing projects, bolstering its core businesses, and above all trying to reorient the entire company behind a comprehensive social strategy. Page has proven himself to be one of those "vision" execs, who focuses on long-term success rather than the next quarterly statement.
What is Page's vision for Google, and how have his moves over the last year helped — and hindered —that strategy?
Social, social, social
Eric Schmidt hadn't even had time to get new business cards printed before Larry Page launched a crusade to re-orient Google's business around social networking. Google had been dipping its toes in social media for years, but even Schmidt admitted the strategy hadn't worked — and he took responsibility for it.
In part, Page's immediate focus on social media is a response to the seemingly unstoppable popularity of Facebook: With nearly a billion members (and an astonishing amount of personal information about each of them), Facebook is turning into an advertiser's dream, since it can target promotions, ads, and offers very closely to its users interests, friends, and lifestyles.
Facebook's deep knowledge of its users is a problem for Google, since Google derives the vast majority of its revenue from advertising. Last year, Google sold some $36.5 billion worth of advertisements — that's more than ten times the revenue Facebook generated from advertising in the same period. But Page sees the writing on the wall: Facebook represents a major threat to Google's core advertising business.
Google had played at social networking before — and stumbled badly. Anyone remember the location-aware social service Dodgeball Google bought in 2005? (The founders left Google in frustration a few years later; one went to co-found Foursquare. Bits of Dodgeball live on in Google Latitude.) What about Google Wave, which was intended to be a socially-enabled collaboration system? And of course there was Google Buzz, the quickly-killed social service Google tried to build on top of Gmail — and which earned Google
So, Page's first move as CEO was to focus the company on social networking. To maintain its leadership in online advertising — and all the tasty, tasty revenue that comes with it — Google needs to know as much or more about Internet users as Facebook. Page packed up Google's executive offices and moved them close to the group working on Google+ — no pressure there, right? He also laid down another dictum: A portion of all employee bonuses would be tied to the success of Google+. In other words, the success of Google's social efforts was suddenly everyone's job. To be sure, Google+ was in development long before Page took the CEO chair, but the platform only took center stage under Page's leadership.
But his strategy doesn't stop at just launching a Facebook competitor that he hopes, one day, will at least be a significant force in the social networking world. Page moved to bring social media into all of Google's major product offerings — including the crown jewel, Web search. When users are logged in to Google, Google brings search results and related hits from Google+ circles and contacts and puts them right at the top of search results. Google says the move makes Web search more relevant and customized to users' lives and interests; critics immediately called foul, saying Google was abusing its dominance of Web search to promote Google+ at the expense of more-popular services like Twitter and Facebook. Google's response has been to shrug and say it doesn't really have access to that data.
Page also moved to focus Google, trimming nearly two dozen of company's projects to, in his words, put "more wood behind fewer arrows." Perhaps the highest profile victim of Page's streamlining was Google Labs, the company's freeform testbed where it tried out new product ideas and experimented. Google Labs may be best known to everyday Google users for the Gmail add-ons it produced, but Google Labs also gave rise to Google Reader, Google Docs, and Google Maps — all of which have become major Google properties in their own rights. The move was greeted with skepticism, since companies that cut their R&D spending historically see similar reductions in their innovation.
Other Google services that got the axe: the little-loved Google Buzz, social gaming group Slide (which Google paid almost $200 million for back in 2010), Google PowerMeter, and Google Health, Google's high-stakes effort at portable, privacy-protected digital health records. (Microsoft killed its own HealthVault, too — it seems consumers and the health care industry just aren't ready for digital medical records and all the privacy and discrimination nightmares they could involve.) [Correction: Microsoft announced in 2010 that it was dropping efforts to generate revenue from HealthVault; the service remains operational. Microsoft is focusing its commercial healthcare efforts on Amalga, which is intended to help hospitals move health data across different systems.-gd]
For folks who have been keeping count, reducing Google's project count by 20 or so barely reduces the number of arrows the company has in its quiver. Google still operates more than 100 other projects, from Gmail to iGoogle to Orkut (yup, it's still going!), Picasa, Sketchup, Google Earth, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Panoramio, Picnik, Google Sites, Blogger, innumerable aspects of its ad business (AdWords, AdSense, AdMob, DoubleClick), the entire Google Play empire (including music, books, movies, and the former Android Market), Google Checkout, Google News, Google Scholar, Google TV, and this little thing called YouTube. And that's leaving aside Google's many developer initiatives, publishing tools, analytical tools (like Trendalyzer and Google Analytics), and let's not forget Google makes two operating systems Chrome and Android.
And Google keeps adding more projects: Google is rolling out an experimental fiber network in Kansas City (which might be a precursor to a pay TV service), and we'd be remiss not to mention Google's dalliance with self-driving cars.
It's understandable that a company the size of Google has many irons in the fire. But it does seem a bit odd to trim off expensive buys like Glide and shut down Google Labs (which, despite many duds, has historically been critical to the company) while continuing to pursue some pie-in-the-sky projects. Vision, optimism, and a willingness to experiment have long been hallmarks of Google, but it's not clear how those can easily be reconciled with a need to focus a maturing company.
Defend Google's online advertising business from Facebook means compiling detailed dossiers on Google users — and using that information to offer highly relevant and personalized services, as well as targeted advertising. For Google, that strategy has become more important as consumers have shifted to mobile technology. Users are willing to sift through plenty of results on a 24-inch monitor, but people trying to type with one thumb without spilling their coffee while waiting for a train don't have that kind of patience. Being able to surface personally-tailored results on the first try in a tiny amount of screen space becomes critical to Google's business.
As a result, Google unified its privacy policies across all its services — anything a Google service used to know about you in one place is now known to all Google services everywhere. If you blog about fashion, guess what? That's going to inform Google's assessment of search results you want to see. A Google+ friend is really into death metal? Guess what? That'll inform what Google serves up when you search for concert listings, or Google thinks you might need some music recommendations.
Google defends the move, saying it's not collecting any new information, just using it differently to do a better job for its users. The more information it has, the more likely it can make that first, tiny screen of information immediately useful. However, Google is also drawing strong scrutiny from U.S. and European regulators, who argue users didn't opt in to having their information shared across previously disparate services. EU regulators are looking into whether the changes are illegal. And Google's move to aggressively move social media technologies into every aspect of its business has resulted in some blunders, including bypassing Safari security settings in an apparent effort to get its "+1" buttons working in as many places as possible.
Google has made another potentially game-changing move under Larry Page's leadership: It's in the final stages of acquiring Motorola Mobility for some $12.5 billion. The deal has been approved by EU and U.S. regulators; Google is essentially waiting on Chinese approval now.
Google insists that buying a handset maker won't put it in the phone business, but it's hard to see Google, as the developer of the world's top-selling mobile platform, buying a mobile hardware maker and just letting it operate on its own, pretending everything is business as usual. Google's interest in Motorola is partly related to patents — Google is facing high-stakes battles with Oracle and Apple over Android — but Google will almost certainly leverage Motorola Mobility's massive employee base and expertise. Right now, Google employes about 32,000 people. Buying Motorola Mobility will add about 20,000 more to that total. One way or another, the acquisition is going to have a major impact on Google's culture, and — despite rumors Google will launch its own tablet products — the company has been extremely tight-lipped about its plans.
What the future may hold
Google faces a major challenge with its social initiative: Facebook already dominates the business. Although Google has been able to get an estimated 100 million people to create accounts on Google+ (bolstered in part by the broadening success of Android), so far Google+ doesn't seem to be getting much traction. To be sure, the service has enthusiastic adopters, but market research is showing that, on average, users are spend just minutes a month on Google+ compared to several hours a month on Facebook. Even the 144-character-limited Twitter saw users spending more minutes per month.
Google is certainly playing a long-term game with Google+, but if users don't become engaged with the service, Google is going to have a hard time collecting information for the detailed user dossiers it needs to drive targeted advertising sales. Google can learn a great deal about people from their searches, email, and locations, so it's not like the company's ad business is dead in the water without Google+. But expect Google to push Google+ signups and engagements in every way it can: During the next year, Google+ may become essentially unavoidable to users of any Google services.
However, Google's most important future moves will center around identity. Google wants your online identity to start at Google, and doesn't want Facebook to assume that role. Identity is an extremely important concept to Google's overall business strategy. That's why, at launch, Google+ disallowed anonymous accounts and pseudonyms. (Google says it will eventually support "other forms of identity," but so far there's been zero public motion on that front.) For Google, identity is absolutely critical to not only customizing services for users, but for creating a trustworthy platform. Both consumers and businesses want to know that the people they're talking to are really who they say they are. That kind of trust is critical not only to personal relationships, but to business's and developer's willingness to build on Google's platforms and infrastructure. Google faces a number of challenges on that front — including figuring out how to weed charlatans out of its freewheeling Android app marketplace. Expect Google to make more of its services identity-centric, and even identity-mandatory. Google's business is reaching a point where, if they don't know who you are, you won't be worth their time.


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Top Frog Games
50 Most Played Games
Video Poker (18854)
100 Quickshot Fun (18676)
Video poker game in Flash
100 targets will appear on screen. Can you shoot them all down? Play with mouse or wiimote. Features leaderboard.
10 Paheliyan (17966)
Clear the field! Combine cards untill you reach 13!
10 Gnomes 12 (17319)
Game based on Indian Elections 2009
Flash Roulette (17299)
You have 10 minutes to find 10 gnomes hidden in the pictures. Find clickable areas to navigate through the location.
Powerpool 2 (16352)
Amazing Online Roulette Game in Flash
Straight Poker (14785)
Mini-Pool with powerups and three different tables
Poker Machine (14405)
Funny video poker game. There is no bad time to play online casino games. You can play at home on your desktop computer, or travel the Australian countryside and play casino games for real money through the mobile casino.
Dartmaster9in1 (13968)
Poker slot machine
Fruit Machine (13771)
Cool DARTS game for 1 or 2 players, 9 different games, 3 difficulties and 27 leaderboards!
Burger Time (13758)
Pull the lever on this slot machine and win some big money
Spongebob Slots (13680)
Pick up the ingredients to make your burger.
Bratz's Fashion Christmas (13230)
Spongebob Slots is a bright and colorful 3 reel casino style slot machine game featuring a Spongebob Squarepants theme colors and characters.
10 Gnomes 11 (12888)
Christmas is coming and bratz wants to get a happy and fashion holiday like you too.Please help her choosing a cool fashionable dress up.
Fruite Slots (12650)
find 10 gnomes within 10 minutes
Froggy (12351)
Fruite Slots is a fun and addicting fruit themed slot machine game with 3 modes of play. This game features high scores in all game modes! Game modes include Time Trial Mode where you must win as much money as you can in 60 seconds starting with 3 credits. 3 Spins Mode where you only have 3 spins to win as much money as you can and Freeplay Mode where you can play as long as you like starting with 3 credits.
Bumper Cars Championship (12078)
Why did the frog cross the road?
Prevent froggy from becoming another sad case in the world of spiralling road kill statistics.
Guide him from one side of the highway to the other, then over the river. Avoid the hungry alligators, and use the turtles and logs as stepping stones!
Get him and his friends all to the other side to become a frog saving hero! But more importantly to earn points!
15 Puzzle (11960)
Bump the opponents and knock them out in this interesting competition, and try to survive till the end.
110m Hurdles (11658)
Classic 15-puzzle sliding tiles game
1 Starship (11281)
Race in this 110M Hurdles track and field event
Mahjong Beauty (11269)
Very Cool top down shooter. use the mouse to more your ship around and the button to fire.
Sonic Boom Town (11258)
Traditional mahjong game, play with mouse click. You play with 3 girls, and win the round by creating a standard mahjong hand which consists of a certain number of melds, namely four for 13-tile variations and five for 16-tile variations, and a pair. Win the game and save your score. You can learn how to play Mahjong games at Win Mahjong.
Drag Racer v2 (11257)
Drive around the city in your car and blast your music to destroy buildings.
Über Battle (11086)
Shift into gear and floor the pedal as you dragrace against the computer tune up your car modify eng
100 Snowballs (10889)
Power up attack, swing your massive sword,use magic, potions and buy stronger weaponry.
Hulk Smashup (10657)
Winter Fun for Kids - 100 Snowballs!!! What can you make?
Children love to play in the snow! 100 Snowballs gives children the opportunity to simply have fun by clicking and dragging snowballs around a wintry scene. They can create anything they imagine - as long as it only uses 100 snowballs! Similar to legos. Great fun in the computer lab!
The Simpliest Snowboarding (10607)
Destroy everything in sight. Climb up buildings and topple them with your might.
Cave Flyer 2 (10531)
The simpliest but cool snowboarding flash-game
101 Dalmatians Jigsaw 2 (10487)
Compete with other players worldwide for the title of grand master cave flying champion. In this sequel to the 'smash hit' cave flyer, your ship now leaves a sparkly trail, and makes a fiery explosion when it smashes into a cave wall. And it's slightly harder! Do you have what it takes to cave-fly your way to glory?
0 Gelert TV v1.0 (10462)
Classic jigsaw puzzle fun with 101 Dalmatians - 49 pieces. Drag and drop the pieces to fit them together.
101 Dalmatians (10462)
archery from the film GELERT
101 Dalmatians Jigsaw 3 (10316)
Classic jigsaw fun with 101 Dalmatians in 49 pieces. Drag and drop the pieces to fit them together.
Snow Storm (10281)
High quality jigsaw puzzle with 101 Dalmatians in 49 pieces. Drag and drop the pieces to fit them together.
1493 Battle over Pacific (10251)
There has just been a snow storm! Your job is to clear the snow from the parking lots using your sno
10++ (10242)
WW2 Vertical shooter - Fly with your P38 Lighting and beat the enemies
Spy Hunter (10156)
Addictive brain teaser with neat and stylish graphics.
1-i (10108)
Rave down the highway in your equipped car blasting through enemies and avoiding danger.
TGFG Racing (9926)
Catch the green blobs
10 Trolls (9826)
Race around the track smashing into your opponents to knock them off and picking up turbo so you can
Ace Racer (9794)
Find all 10 of the cute little creatures that have gotten lost!
ClickDragType (9784)
Ride on your skidoo water boat over the waves, jump over dolphins and pull tricks by flying off ramp
1945 Tower Defense (9631)
The only instructions for this game is to click, drag, and type your way to the next puzzle.
Cone Crazy (9561)
1945 Tower defense is based from th peral habour attack with many attacks from planes.
defend you land with turret from the japanese planes
10 Gnomes 5 (9558)
Knock over as many cones as you can in the given time limit. Red cones are worth 10 points and the y
10 Gnomes 8 (9423)
find 10 Gnomes in 10 minutes.
10 Gnomes 9 (9404)
find 10 gnomes within 10 minutes. Part 8.
10 gnomes 6 (9351)
find 10 gnomes within 10 minutes. Part 9.
10 Gnomes 10 (9307)
find 10 gnomes within 10 minutes
10 Gnomes 3 (9293)
find 10 gnomes within 10 minutes. Part 10. find 10gnomes in 10 minutes
- Total Games: 15,000
- Total Plays: 13,061,611


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Rick Reilly | ESPN.com
I guess it was Tuesday when the madness began at The Super Bowl That Never Was.
It was media day. Somebody asked Brian Bosworth whether he really was crazy and Boz responded by biting the head off a chicken right there in the middle of Soldier Field and that pretty much kicked it off.
Well, who wasn't geeked up for this game? Every single player, coach and owner in it had never been to a Super Bowl, and that included some great players. Gale Sayers. Tony Gonzalez. Adrian Peterson. Everybody was amazed that the league made it happen — in partnership with the official deity of the NFL, God — and to come back at their peaks? Whoa.
You should've seen Earl Campbell. He was so delighted to be up and off his walker that he knocked over The Bean just to hit something.
Nobody was more excited than O.J. Simpson, though. He hadn't even been out of jail in six years, much less out on the town in Chicago. He kept running wide sweeps in practice just because he could.
"Love these gloves!" he kept saying.
He got taken down a peg, though, Tuesday night at a local steak house.
O.J.: Hey, my secretary called and asked you to make a reservation for me tonight. You did it, right?
Maitre d': I'm not saying whether I did it or not. But if I did do it, it would've been for the table over there in the corner.
Wednesday got even crazier. Conrad Dobler leg-whipped about seven of Bosworth's PETA protesters, then Dan Dierdorf punched him and Deacon Jones broke it up by picking them both up and throwing them into the Chicago River.
The biggest crowd of media around any player had to be for Jim Thorpe, who had them spellbound. But then everybody had to rip up their stories and start over when Sammy Baugh got caught by the cops behind the wheel after too many refreshments. "I didn't sideswipe them parked cars," Sammy yelled. "They sideswiped me!"
Thursday, AFC coach Marty Schottenheimer just kept going around asking people, "You sure Elway's not in this game?"
Then Dandy Don Meredith got in a fight with some columnist who'd told him "Howard Cosell was one of the worst people to ever live." Meredith swole up his eye for him and said, "One of?"
On Friday, Honorary Commissioner George Halas said the helmet-to-helmet problem could be solved by everybody wearing leather helmets again, which caused Dick Butkus to pick up Doug Flutie and throw him at the podium, but he was intercepted by Darrelle Revis.
Saturday morning, they announced the starting lineups.
The NFC was loaded at running back with Sayers, Peterson, Red Grange, Eric Dickerson and Billy Sims. But the AFC had the best quarterbacks — Dan Fouts, Warren Moon and Philip Rivers.
The NFC was stacked on defense with Jones, his old Fearsome Foursome mate Merlin Olsen and the bookend Vikings guys: Chris Doleman and John Randle, not to mention Sam Huff, which nobody did.
Frank Gifford, as usual, would play both ways and look better than anybody else in uniform.
In the locker room before the game, the NFC's Tim Rossovich ate an entire four-pack of light bulbs and was a scratch — inside and out.
Barry Sanders retired Sunday morning, just before the kickoff, which Billy (White Shoes) Johnson returned 103 yards for a touchdown, then climbed up on the cross bar of the goal posts and Riverdanced. "Been working on that for 26 years," he said.
The game had to be stopped in the first quarter when Michael Vick accidentally ran into Bronko Nagurski in the backfield, breaking two femurs and a collarbone.
After that, it was mostly just Jim Brown crushing people going one way for the AFC and Peterson crushing people the other for the NFC, which meant it was tied 21-21 after two quarters.
At halftime, the Beatles put on a great show, which caused Calvin Johnson to say, "Wait. Paul McCartney was in a band before Wings?"
Burma Shave put on the funniest ad. The AFC suspended Adam (Pacman) Jones, just out of habit.
It looked as if the NFC and coach Paul Brown were going to pull away in the second half with Tony Romo throwing over and over to Brandon Marshall . But then LaDainian Tomlinson got hot for the AFC, scoring two touchdowns by himself.
Finally, with the AFC down 42-36 with 3 seconds left, AFC offensive coordinator Don (Air) Coryell dialed up the Quadruple San Diego Special — Fouts handing off to Kellen Winslow Sr. who pitched to Charlie Joiner who pitched to Steve Largent, who stopped and threw to Lance Alworth for the tying TD.
Sebastian Janikowski kicked the PAT — the last one in NFL history — and The Super Bowl That Never Was was over.
Afterward, the team let Antonio Cromartie do the "I'm going to Disney World" spot because he had the most kids to take.
Why Tim Tebow was there nobody could really say at first. Then we found out. He left with God.
- 11-time National Sportswriter of the Year
- Author of "Sports from Hell: My Two-Year Search for the World's Dumbest Competition"
- Finalist 2011 Thurber Prize for Humor


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I am now a permanent resident and registered alien after 10 years of struggle. The alien part notwithstanding, to a poet like me, this is like saying, a bird authorized to sing, a dog authorized to bark, and a mother to suckle her young.
Andrei Guruianu, a Romanian immigrant poet, said this about his poem, "Alien Authorized To Work":
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Reblog: Explanation of Korzybsky's Structural Differential
Someone posted a link to the good (IMO) explanation of Korzybski's tool "structural differential".
Yet, when I see the example given at the end of the page, I can't help but find it a bit short (though right): I think it could have been improved by noting that what Emily Observed (O) and Described (D) may not be (and probably isn't) what the driver that cut her off Observed, Described and inferred. We can hypothesize that:
- he didn't consciously noticed him cutting her,
- or inferred that she could live with the cut off because his hurry was Inferred as more important than her Inferred driving conditions,
- or inferred that the space between Emily and the car in front was enough for him and that moving in wasn't really a cut off from his own past driving experience
- etc.


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AN INVESTIGATION by the city's ethics board has resulted in allegations of wrongdoing by the District's top administrative judge and another official. The charges — which include contract steering, preferential treatment and use of public office for private gain — are serious. But even more troubling is how these matters were glossed over in an earlier investigation by the Office of the Inspector General, which has shown an inability to grapple with these issues in a serious way.
The Board of Ethics and Government Accountability accused Mary Oates Walker, chief judge of the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings, and Kiyo Oden Tyson, the agency's general counsel, of numerous violations of the city's code of conduct. The case centers on allegations that Ms. Walker, in charge of the office that handles appeals of decisions by the D.C. government, improperly hired Ms. Tyson, with whom she had a private business partnership, and steered a city contract to the company owned by Ms. Tyson's husband.
Lawyers for both officials have denied the allegations and promised a vigorous challenge when the case is tried before the independent ethics panel. Nonetheless, Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) has moved to fire Ms. Walker based on the preliminary findings of ethics officials. Their detailed 27-page report is a stark contrast to the three-page letter from Inspector General Charles J. Willoughby last May that closed the book on his office's handling of the case.
"The preferred action may have been for [Ms. Walker] to disclose her knowledge of the relationship . . . for transparency purposes and in the exercise of sound judgment," the letter concluded, but investigators "found an insufficient basis to conclude the existence of misconduct on her part under the circumstances."
The language calls to mind how the actions of D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) relating to a Metro land deal and the D.C. lottery contract were downplayed by the inspector general. "While the councilmember's action . . . may give the appearance that he lost complete independence or impartiality, and may have affected adversely the confidence of the public in the integrity of government, the OIG did not find sufficient evidence to support or conclude that the councilmember had acted improperly." Subsequent investigations by two other agencies, including the city ethics board, concluded otherwise.
Ethics officials have far fewer resources than the inspector general yet have demonstrated a vigor and muscle that is strangely lacking in the work of the inspector general. They seem to have interviewed more people than the inspector general in investigating the Office of Administrative Hearings and obtained more information. The inspector general's office declined comment except to say through a spokeswoman that it stands behind its investigations.
Mr. Willoughby's term expires in May; we hope the mayor and council take that opportunity to give the office a good hard look and give the public the watchdog it needs.


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If you haven't already nominated your own stocker program -- or a peer's -- for BEEF's National Stocker Award (NSA), look for the details at www.beef-mag.com and consider doing so.
Three finalists will be chosen from the following categories: Summer stocker operation (forage-based),
Fall/winter stocker operation (forage-based), and
Backgrounding/dry lot stocker (feed-based). Of these, one will be selected to receive the National Stocker Award and a $10,000 cash prize. The winner also receives a trip to the 2007 Cattle Industry Annual Convention for special recognition. BEEF will announce the winner and publish stories about the three finalists in the October issue.
Selection will be based on information provided in the NSA nomination form (available at www.beef-mag.com) and follow-up phone interviews by the selection committee. The main eligibility requirement is that the nominee derives the majority of cattle income from the stocker/backgrounding business.
The deadline for nominations is April 30, 2006. The selection committee includes representatives from private industry, university Extension and BEEF magazine.
Besides recognizing the best of the best stockers and backgrounders, the program will give peers a chance to find out how the winners excel. This is in keeping with BEEF's philosophy of helping producers learn from one another.


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I prefer female protagonists and this series of posts is homage to some of the most formidable female main characters in science fiction novels or series. This weeks formidable females contains some new favorites like Mearana, Briar, Caitlin and some old.
- Mearana – The Harper (Michael Flynn)
- Sparta – Venus Prime (Paul Preuss)
- Briar Wilkes – Persistent Mother (Cherie Priest)
- Caitlin Decter – Best Friend of the Web (Robert J. Sawyer)
- Ilia Volyova – Triumvir Ultra (Alastair Reynolds)
Mearana – The Harper
Books: The January Dancer (2008), Up John River (2010)
Series: The January Dancer
Universe: Firestar
Author: Michael Flynn
Genre: Gaelic Space Opera
Publisher: Tor | Tantor Media
My reviews: The January Dancer | Up Jim River
In the beginning of the January Dancer a beautiful redheaded Harper walks into a bar in search for histories to sing. She approach the Scarred man that tells her the story of The January Dancer. In Up Jim River she and the scarred man goes looking for her disappeared mother. It reads like an epic gaelic saga with beautiful prose. I can recommend the audio version of The January Dancer it is just awesome, it blew my mind.
Sparta – Venus Prime
Books: Breaking Strain (1987), Maelstrom (1988), Hide & Seek (1989), The Medusa Encounter (1990), The Diamond Moon (1990), The Shining Ones (1991)
Series: Arthur's C. Clark's Venus Prime
Author: Paul Preuss
Genre: YA | Science Fiction
Publisher: Avon | Pan | iBooks
I remember these books from my youth. Sparta is a beautiful and mysterious woman with advanced abilities due to her bioengineering. But she don't remember the last three years and tries to recover her past and save her future. Beautiful description and adventures on the planets of the solar system based on short stories by Aurthur C. Clark.
Briar Wilkes – Persistent Mother
Books: Boneshaker (2009)
Series: Clockwork Century
Author: Cherie Priest
Genre: Steampunk
Publisher: Tor
Briar Wilkes name used to be Briar Blue before her husband poisoned downtown Seattle with a gas that turned humans into Zombies with his infernal digging machine – The Boneshaker. Now her son is lost inside the walls erected to keep the gas out and she would do anything to save him. Much steampunk fun with airships and zombies.
A second book, Dreadnought in the same universe will be out in September 2010, but it has a different protagonist.
Caitlin Decter – Best Friend of the Web
Title: Wake (2009), Watch (2010), Wonder (2011)
Series: WWW
Author: Robert J. Sawyer
Genre: Science Fiction | First Contact | Emerging AI
Publisher: ACE | Gollancz
Caitlin Decter is a feisty young blind girl that is quite ordinary besides being a mathematical genius and after an experimental treatment to make her see again she starts to see the world wide web. Out there in the web she encounters an emerging intelligence and befriends it.
Ilia Volyova – Triumvir Ultra
Books: Revelation Space (2000), Redemption Ark (2002)
Universe: Revalation Space
Author: Alastair Reynolds
Genre: Space Opera
Publisher: Gollancz | ACE | Tantor Media
Triumvir Ilia Volyova of Nostalgia for Infinity is an implant-free Ultra, and a major character in both Revelation Space and Redemption Ark. At the beginning of Revelation Space, Volyova is the keeper of the Cache Weapons. It is during her search for a means to control these weapons that she enlists Ana Khouri (who was planted in the role by the Mademoiselle), thus setting off a chain of events that continues throughout the novels. She maintains a long friendship with Captain Brannigan, a man melded with with his ship. When I am reading this I realize I have read these books a long time ago, it makes me want to go back and reread them.
Read part 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | index | afterword


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Wabash College's student newspaper The Bachelor has published a special Patrick White Inauguration Issue.
The student journalists began planning in November for the special issue which was inserted into the regular Jan. 25 edition. Additionally, the students continued the partnership with the Crawfordsville Journal Review which began in the fall with a Back to Campus issue. The Journal Review inserted the special section into its entire circulation Thursday morning.
Senior Adam Hawkins, Bachelor news editor, headed up the special section with Bachelor reporters, including a big group of freshman writers.
You can see the entire Inaugural issue in PDF format by clicking here.


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The full-size Oru Kayak folds up for easy portability.
By Anton Willis, Special to CNN
To me, boats are about great adventures. Being out on the water -- even near a city -- has a freedom and magic that's hard to describe.
But when I first started work on the Oru Kayak, I had no idea how big of an adventure it would be.
Four years ago, I moved into a small San Francisco apartment, and had to put my kayak in storage. At the same time, I read a magazine article on new advances in the art and science of origami. This led to a question that soon became an obsession: what if a boat could fold up like a piece of paper? What if it could go wherever you wanted it to go?
I started folding paper models, and soon switched to full-scale plastic prototypes that I tested in the Bay and elsewhere. I built over twenty versions -- first in a friend's garage, then at Tech Shop in San Francisco. Tech Shop was a revelation: Its tools allowed me to build far better and faster, and the community got me thinking about the future of the Oru Kayak.
I met entrepreneurs who had turned obsessions into livelihoods, and encouraged me to think more about getting the Oru Kayak out into the world.
With the help of a small but committed team, the Oru Kayak launched on Kickstarter late last year. It exceeded our wildest expectations. We raised enough money to launch the business, but even more exciting was learning more about our customers, including kayak commuters in New York, scientists in Alaska, explorers in the Amazon and many other people we'd love to join on a paddling trip.
We're now about to go into full production. We're manufacturing Oru Kayaks not in Asia but here in California -- something that we're very proud of. We're motivated by a shared vision of making the outdoors more accessible and connecting people to nature, even in urban areas.
Scaling up to build more than 500 kayaks in a few months certainly has its share of challenges. But it's enormously exciting when a weekend passion becomes a grand adventure and takes you in directions you couldn't have imagined.
My advice: Nurture your passions and let them turn into obsessions. Find a way to work on them that's tangible and gives you joy, even if you don't know where it's all headed. And don't be shy about sharing your story as you go along. You'll find help and encouragement all over the place, and you may even find a new community, as I did with Tech Shop.
I'm now doing this with kayakers all over the globe. I've always been into making things, but building a community of enthusiastic supporters has been even more exciting than building a cool product.
Please Follow us, Like us, and check out our photos!


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INDIO >> Temperatures will be back up on the last day of Stagecoach Country Music Festival with a high of 83 degrees and a low of 62, according to the National Weather Service.
There is still a wind advisory in effect, which means winds gusts could reach up to 50 mph. Festival-goers should keep bandanas close-by to cover their mouth and nose as dust will be blowing.
Officials encourage festival-goers to hydrate and dress appropriately for the weather.


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Lawsuit claims religious leader promised to marry young woman after wife dies
(Warning: This story contains explicit descriptions of alleged sexual conduct described in a lawsuit and may be offensive to some readers.)
The former leader of a popular Christian ministry – who resigned from his position after confessing to an "inappropriate" relationship – is now the subject of a lawsuit that claims he "methodically groomed" and made unwanted sexual contact with a young woman after serving as an authority figure in her life for more than a decade.
Doug Phillips, a husband and father of eight children, had been a popular and controversial figure in the homeschooling movement and a leading advocate of "biblical patriarchy" before his resignation from Vision Forum Ministries and Boerne Christian Assembly, a Baptist church outside San Antonio, Texas, at which he had served as an elder and preached hundreds of sermons.
Phillips was also founder of the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival and of the National Center for Family-Integrated Churches.
According to the teachings of the patriarchy movement, also known as the stay-at-home daughters or quiverfull movement, young women remain at home under the protection of their fathers. They're generally expected not to work outside their home or go to college, and they're taught to abide by strict gender roles in which men have authority over women.
'A personal sex object'
In the complaint filed in Kendall County District Court in Texas Tuesday morning, Phillips is accused of using a woman named Lourdes Torres, now 29, as "a personal sex object" over a period of five years.
Asked if she ever believed she loved Phillips, Torres, who was over the age of 21 at the time of the sexual contact, told WND, "Oh, yes, definitely."
Torres said she met Phillips and his wife, Beall, at a homeschooling conference in November 1999 when Torres was 15 years old. Torres spent many hours in the Phillips home, cared for their children and helped run the family farm. She was invited on trips with the family to Hawaii, Virginia, Mexico, Florida and other states.
By 2007, according to the complaint, Phillips began "to pay special attention" to Torres, complementing her beauty and devotion to his family, giving her money, touching her, asking her personal questions about her thoughts and life plans and telling her he would take care of her.
By October of that year, the lawsuit states, Phillips invited Torres' family to live with him as they were moving into a new home: "Phillips entered [Torres'] bedroom and without her consent began touching her breasts, stomach, back, neck, and waist." Torres alleges she began to cry and ask Phillips to stop as he rubbed his genitals on her and "masturbated and ejaculated on her." She claims the behavior continued, and Phillips told her he loved her and intended to marry her and "blatantly disregarded her requests" that he stop.
"Douglas Phillips, on the evenings he visited Ms. Torres, persuaded her that he was not doing anything wrong, that he intended to marry Ms. Torres, and that his wife would die shortly and enable him to marry Ms. Torres," the complaint states. "He further repeatedly told Ms. Torres that he loved her, that he would take care of her, and that what they were doing was not wrong. He also stated that if it was wrong, it was completely her fault."
Attorney Jason Jakob, who represents Phillips and Vision Forum, Inc., issued a statement to WND on behalf of his client, claiming, "To date, a media campaign has been architected to destroy and demoralize Doug Phillips, his family and his message, without justification and instead with conjecture and disinformation."
He said Torres' allegations are "false, defamatory and made with malicious intent to destroy Doug Phillips, his family and his ministry." Concerning the relationship between Torres and Phillips, he wrote:
"While it may be true that Mr. Phillips had an intermittent relationship with Mrs. Lourdes Torres-Manteufel, they never had the physical intimacy of touching and/or the exposure of genitalia, nor did the intermittent relationship escalate to sexual intercourse. Furthermore, the evidence demonstrates the relationship was consensual and often initiated, encouraged, and aggressively perpetuated by Mrs. Torres-Manteufel. It was welcomed, consensual and one in which Mrs. Torres-Manteufel repeatedly requested money, trips, jewelry, and numerous special favors from Doug Phillips. This relationship occurred well after Mrs. Lourdes Torres-Manteufel reached the age of majority, as has been confirmed by Mrs. Torres-Manteufel to have begun at the close of 2007."
In the following video, Doug Phillips can be seen in the Dulles airport in Virginia with his family and others as they wait for their flight to Rome. Torres appears at the 4:10 mark:
By the beginning of 2008, Torres said she was no longer invited to the Phillips' home to help with the children and household chores. She said he continued to contact her, asking her to help him with his business, take photographs at Vision Forum events, visit his home to work on a radio drama series and judge movie competitions.
"He also began texting, calling, and emailing her about his daily activities, his hopes and dreams, and often including in his communication his love for [Torres] and his intent to marry her," the filing states. "[Torres] – not wanting to disappoint the man that controlled every facet of her life – was manipulated to serve Defendant Doug Phillips in his business endeavors between years of 2008-2012."
Torres alleges the unwanted sexual contact began again, and she said she repeatedly asked him to stop.
"Ms. Torres did not tell anyone about [Phillips'] conduct because he manipulated her into believing that it would ruin his reputation, destroy his ministry and get her in trouble with the church," according to the lawsuit.
Torres' attorney, David Gibbs, told WND, "Because of Doug's position of trust, Lourdes had no ability to consent. When you look at the absolute control that that man had in her life, he was her pastor, he was her teacher, he was her employer, he was her patriarchal head of the home. In a sense, he was her counselor. Doug established the system where obedience to God required Lourdes to obey him and fully submit to whatever he wanted to do."
But Phillips' attorney responded, "In no way did Mr. Doug Phillips use his position to 'manipulate, brainwash and [or] coerce' her as alleged by Mrs. Torres-Manteufel. Mr. Phillips was an elder in the church she attended, but he was not her personal pastor, counselor, or ever her landlord. It is now evident that Mrs. Torres-Manteufel's intent is to seek financial benefit and/or personal gain."
Jakob questioned "her credibility and motives for bringing forth these claims in the media rather than the courts," claiming she has offered "conflicting and contradictory accounts to many individuals in her community."
He said, "What has been confirmed is that her initial claims were wildly exaggerated and have often changed to such an extent as to raise great question to her credibility and motives for making the initial claims from the onset."
A consensual relationship between adults?
Gibbs said this was not a sexual affair between two consenting adults.
"This is someone who took all of those positions, all that trust, and in an abusive manner, irreparably injured my client," he said. "Lourdes is an intelligent woman, but she was being perpetually promised things that Doug never intended to do, or at least, if he did intend to do it, he didn't do.
"In that patriarchal quiverfull culture, the ultimate and the highest ideal is then becoming married. What Doug did as the leader of the movement was take the ultimate ideal and perpetually promise that fraudulently to Lourdes to manipulate and control her to do things that she would otherwise not have done."
By the end of 2012, Torres stopped working with Phillips and attending his church. She told her parents and a friend about the relationship.
Though Phillips resigned from his position as an elder of Boerne Christian Assembly in January 2013, claiming he wished to devote more time to his family, it would be nearly nine months before Phillips would resign from Vision Forum Ministries.
Torres said she had received threatening emails around August 2013 from Phillips' wife, Beall, saying she "had better keep her mouth shut" about the interactions. When asked about the email, Phillips' attorney didn't respond to the allegation.
In his Oct. 30, 2013, resignation statement posted on Vision Forum's website, Phillips said, "There has been serious sin in my life for which God has graciously brought me to repentance. I have confessed my sin to my wife and family, my local church, and the board of Vision Forum Ministries. I engaged in a lengthy, inappropriate relationship with a woman. While we did not 'know' each other in a Biblical sense, it was nevertheless inappropriately romantic and affectionate."
Three days later, Phillips added a clarification to his statement, which included the following: "Some reading the words of my resignation have questioned if there was an inappropriate physical component with an unmarried woman. There was, and it was intermittent over a period of years."
Upon reading Phillips' resignation statement, Torres said, "I had no doubt or question that he would never own up to anything that he has done. He never had before. He was actually backed into a corner to do that because I had opened my mouth in the first place to the right people."
Phillips' attorney, Jakob, said, "Mr. Phillips resigned voluntarily out of personal choice – after much prayer and counsel. His silence should not be misconstrued as an admission of any kind but instead as a desire for privacy. Mr. Phillips' resignation letter was made as a servant of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to preserve the integrity of his family and that of the Message of Christ which was received by and through his ministry."
Torres says she still has anxiety that Phillips will contact her and that she's been forced to leave her home and many friends behind. She is now being counseled through her trauma.
Asked if she believes the same abuse could happen to another young lady in the patriarchy movement, Torres, responded, "Yes, definitely without question."
Phillips had headed up the nonprofit ministry, which generated about $3.3 million in revenue in 2011 and paid Phillips a salary of $44,000 a year. In 2011, the nonprofit ministry also gave $193,176 for "labor and services" to the for-profit company Phillips founded 15 years ago, Vision Forum Inc., which sold books, toys and teaching resources. Vision Forum Inc. no longer sells products on its website, but Phillips retains control of the company. Both the nonprofit ministry and the for-profit company are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit claims Vision Forum Ministries' board was made aware of Phillips' behavior in January or February of 2013, but continued to keep Phillips in the highest position of leadership until "it was apparent that Phillips' behavior toward Ms. Torres could no longer remain confidential." Also, it states that the board strategized "how it could bring Phillips to a place where he could make a 'comeback' and regain public leadership of the ministry."
'Tenets of Biblical Patriarchy'
In its posting titled, "The Tenets of Biblical Patriarchy," which has since been removed since Phillips' 2013 resignation, the Vision Forum Ministries website explained, "Since the woman was created as a helper to her husband, as the bearer of children, and as a 'keeper at home,' the God-ordained and proper sphere of dominion for a wife is the household and that which is connected with the home, although her domestic calling, as a representative of and helper to her husband, may well involve activity in the marketplace and larger community. …
"While unmarried women may have more flexibility in applying the principle that women were created for a domestic calling, it is not the ordinary and fitting role of women to work alongside men as their functional equals in public spheres of dominion (industry, commerce, civil government, the military, etc.). The exceptional circumstance (singleness) ought not redefine the ordinary, God-ordained social roles of men and women as created."
Phillips has called "the problem of women in the military" "an abomination" and condemned the "breakdown of moral discipline and the rampant problem of promiscuity and adultery between American male and female soldiers stationed together overseas."
He spoke at Torres' graduation and posted the following entry on the Vision Forum website, speaking highly of Torres' character and rejoicing in her "journey of mature Christian womanhood":
Torres made an appearance in the 2007 film, "The Return of the Daughters," which focuses on how a woman spends her "in between years" from the time she is in the home until she gets married.
It explores the lives of "unique young women who are rejecting the unloving demands of modern culture" and emphasizes "drawing close to family members, living productive lives in their father's home until marriage." The movement, according to the film, seeks to prepare women to be "helpmeets" for their husbands, "submit to a man" and be a man's "Proverbs 31 woman."
As the film explains, "Lourdes and her family have earned a widespread reputation in the San Antonio area as invaluable assets to the community. Many unmarried girls like Lourdes have been able to make the same kind of investments in their communities and are becoming known nationwide as the secret weapon of the church. In addition to missions work with her family, Lourdes cares for the sick, visits the needy, helps young mothers, encourages the elderly and disciples younger girls."
Torres, then around 23 years old, tells viewers, "I want to encourage the young ladies in our church, in the spirit of Titus 2, I want to encourage them to obey their parents. I want to exhort them in the various things that they as daughters need to be doing in their home and with their family and their siblings."
She continues, "Even though I'm not married, I would not call myself single because I'm part of a family unit. I'm so grateful for my father because he finds things for me to do to serve the Lord and to work for him. And I always feel like my life is full of purpose and I'm not sitting around, waiting. I'm an unmarried young lady, but I'm serving God and my father. Then that will transition one day if God wills. I'm very grateful and satisfied with that.
"I realize that my lifestyle is counter-cultural, and I don't care because God's word is my standard, and that's what drives me, not the culture around me."
Homeschool movement and Christian ministry
Before Phillips founded Vision Forum, he spent six years as an attorney for the Home School Legal Defense Association, or HSLDA, a nonprofit advocacy organization that defends the right of American families to homeschool their children.
HSLDA Chairman Michael Farris told WND, "The reason Doug left HSLDA is because [President] Mike Smith and I, who were his bosses, were growing more and more uncomfortable as he started developing his patriarchy theory. We started limiting his ability to speak on those things while traveling on our behalf. We basically made it clear that he could not pursue those things with his HSLDA hat on. So he eventually chose to leave us so he could do those things because we were not comfortable with where he was headed."
As for the patriarchy movement, Farris said the teachings are not widely accepted in the broader homeschool community.
"It's a minority of homeschoolers that believe in it," he said. "But unfortunately, until very recently, they were getting a lot of visibility in certain places. We have sought to avoid inviting any patriarchy speakers to speak at our national conference."
While state homeschool organizations run their own events and may choose to have such speakers, Farris said HSLDA has never promoted them.
"Doug has never been invited to speak at our national conference since he left," Farris said. "We have tried, by example, to keep this stuff outside the mainstream of the homeschooling movement."
He added, "Frankly, we think it's time for us to stand up and publicly say this is just wrong."
Farris, who said he has known Phillips for two decades, expressed concern that Phillips could re-emerge in the homeschooling movement and as a leader in a Christian ministry.
"I think it would be one of the greatest tragedies for the homeschooling movement if Doug Phillips was allowed to be rehabilitated and go right back into leadership," he said. "This kind of behavior is so bizarre – no matter which version of the story you believe, even if you take Doug's own version of the story – it's so bizarre and inappropriate that he needs to get his life in order and not be thinking about how quickly he can come back into leadership."
Farris added, "Knowing Doug for 20 years, I'm confident he's going to try to come back quickly. I'm also confident that would be an absolutely horrible outcome if he does."
WND asked Phillips' attorney, "Does Mr. Phillips ever plan to return to serve the Vision Forum Ministries nonprofit or further the patriarchal movement through his company, Vision Forum Inc., in the future?" However, WND wasn't given a response to that specific question.
Others who knew him continue to wonder if Phillips will return to his previous work.
While Gibbs said he's unsure of Phillips plans today, he added, "From our vantage point, there's no question that the original plan was to let Doug take a little time off and then go back into being the leader of [the Vision Forum Ministries'] movement and continue moving forward in public ministry."
Asked for her thoughts on whether Phillips might come back, Torres told WND, "I don't even want to think about it."
Starting a new life
Even after everything she says she's endured, Torres told WND her faith hasn't been shaken.
"I am so humbled by how God has really just directed my every step because I feel like I've been walking on water," she said. "I've had to make choices and decisions like an adult. I realized I needed to get a job and make sure that I can provide basic needs and bills. God has totally provided for that and given me opportunities."
Gibbs said when he met Torres, she was afraid to leave her church because she feared retribution and was concerned for her own safety.
"I have watched her have to make some very difficult decisions because coming out of that culture – where they did not want her to speak, to be educated, to make decisions, to be self-reliant – leaving the church was a huge step," he said. "She has broken away from the religious ideology. But I would add that she continues in some pretty intensive counseling and also is learning a lot about herself. You don't live in this culture for 10 to 15 years and escape unscathed."
On April 11 of this year, Torres married Nolan Manteufel, a man who had also left the church and who is supporting her through difficult times.
"Even now, I'm currently looking for a different job and praying about what else is in the future because I might be willing to do a lot more, like maybe even going to school," Torres said. "But we'll see. I'm excited about having a new life. I just got married. There are possibilities, and it's exciting."
As for the lawsuit, Jakob indicated Phillips intends to sort out the matter in court.
He wrote, "In the absence of any serious interest from Mrs. Torres-Manteufel for Christian conciliation, and rather than trying the case through the media we intend to rely on justice through the courts for our clients' vindication."
Concerning the lawsuit, Torres told WND, "I just know it's what the Lord wants, and I'm ready to move forward with it."
In telling her story, Torres hopes to inspire any girl, wife or family in similar situations to find the courage to escape and discover freedom, rather than continuing to suffer at the hands of an abuser.
"Lourdes had the choice to either retreat quietly and kind of disappear and recover, or she could make the decision to go public and try to help others," Gibbs said of Torres' decision to tell her story.
"I really admire her decision to step forward – not trying to hide her identity – but to step forward and tell her story and let people know there is hope, and they don't have to live under that oppressive type of abuse."


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Gov. Tom Corbett hasn't closed the door on accepting a state expansion of federal Medicaid, part of President Barack Obama's federal health care overall, a state budget officer said Wednesday.
Gov. Tom Corbett hasn't closed the door on accepting a state expansion of federal Medicaid, part of President Barack Obama's federal health care overall, a state budget officer said Wednesday.
The governor initially declined to expand Medicaid to cover all Pennsylvanians making less than 165 percent of the poverty level, despite federal promises to cover all costs in the first year. Corbett is worried about escalating state costs in future years.
"The door is not shut," state Budget Office Deputy Secretary Pete Tartline said Wednesday. "The governor is awaiting some answers."
The governor wants to know if rules for the Medicaid expansion would entitle Pennsylvania to a long-term 90 percent federal reimbursement, or just a 50 percent match, Tartline said.
The Corbett Administration also wants to know if some of the new Medicaid recipients could be moved into the health insurance exchanges being created by the health reform act. Arkansas has received such permission, and Pennsylvania wants similar flexibility, to see if it reduces costs, Tartline said.
Corbett will meet April 2 with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to discuss the Medicaid issue.
Tartline attended a United Way forum in Shawnee Inn on Wednesday to present the governor's $28.4 billion spending proposal to local social service agencies.
Corbett's proposed sale of Pennsylvania's liquor stores to private operators will provide about $1 billion in one-time state revenues for public education, Tartline said. Also proposed are increased funding for senior citizens, the disabled and public safety. Business tax reforms are aimed at sparking additional private-sector high-paying jobs.
Less generous state employee pension payments and the reduction of 900 jobs also are sought.
The state gas tax for motorists would drop from 12 cents to 10 cents under Corbett's proposal, with another penny drop in 2014-15.
The state is expected to finish the fiscal year, at the end of June, with a $500 million surplus, the first time the state has finished in the black since 2007-08, Tartline said.