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Under The Microscope
Southern California quarterback Mark Sanchez is coming off the best game of his young career. Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman is coming off one of his worst games in a career that has seemingly lasted forever.
So which team has the edge going into Saturday night's showdown between No. 1 USC and No. 5 Ohio State at the Coliseum (ABC, 8 p.m. ET)?
AP Photo/Jay LaPrete
Todd Boeckman is 13-2 as a starter for Ohio State.
"We'll have to play better than we did this game, that's for sure," Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said after his team narrowly escaped with a 26-14 win over Ohio on Saturday. "I think everyone knows [USC] is a great football team, but the key to the game for us will be us."
The key for the Buckeyes might be Boeckman, especially if All-American running back Chris "Beanie" Wells remains sidelined with a right toe injury. Wells, who ran for 1,609 yards last season, didn't play against Ohio after injuring his toe in a 43-0 win over FCS opponent Youngstown State on Aug. 30.
Wells is expected to return against the Trojans, but his status remained largely uncertain as the Buckeyes began preparations for USC.
Ohio State couldn't have been happy looking in the mirror on Sunday morning. Playing without Wells, the Buckeyes managed only 272 yards of offense against the Bobcats. Ohio State trailed for much of the game, before finally taking a 19-14 lead on Brandon Saine's 2-yard touchdown run one minute into the fourth quarter.
Boeckman, who completed 14 of 19 passes for 187 yards with two touchdowns against Youngstown State, struggled mightily against Ohio. He completed 16 of 26 passes for 110 yards, averaging only 4.2 yards per attempt. Boeckman was under pressure for much of the game, as his offensive line struggled to block the seemingly overmatched Ohio defensive linemen.
But Boeckman delivered when Ohio State needed it most, completing five of six passes during two second-half touchdown drives.
"Offensively, we need to get a lot better," Boeckman said after the Ohio game. "We did some things out there we're not very proud of. We made some mistakes. We've got to go out there play harder, faster, stronger and just do everything a little bit better."
I think everyone knows [USC] is a great football team, but the key to the game for us will be us.
--Ohio State coach Jim Tressel
Boeckman completed 15 of 26 passes for 208 yards with two interceptions against LSU. He was sacked five times, but threw two touchdowns after the Tigers had taken a 31-10 lead.
In his sixth season in Ohio State's program, Boeckman hopes it's finally his time to shine.
"I'm going on six years," Boeckman said. "It's been awhile."
Boeckman has played much of his career in an underdog role. Tressel said Boeckman was given a scholarship only after quarterback Brady Quinn chose Notre Dame over Ohio State in 2003. Boeckman was gray shirted during his freshman season in 2003, joining the Buckeyes for preseason camp and then leaving the team when classes started that fall. He rejoined the Buckeyes in January 2004 and spent the next three seasons behind 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith.
It only seems as if Boeckman has been at Ohio State for a decade, Tressel joked.
"I think Ohio State is very important to him and he's going to lay it out on the line for Ohio State," Tressel said. "He did it when he was 18 and he's doing it when he's 35."
Jamie Sabau/Getty Images
Will Terrelle Pryor be a factor on Saturday against USC?
Pryor threw two incomplete passes and ran five times for 37 yards against the Bobcats. His college debut against Youngstown State was more impressive. He completed four of six passes for 35 yards and ran nine times for 52 yards and one touchdown.
Tressel wanted to test Pryor under fire on Saturday. The coach said he wanted to put Pryor into the Ohio game when the Buckeyes were leading 19-14 with about six minutes to play. But Ray Small returned a punt 69 yards for a touchdown, keeping the Buckeyes' offense off the field.
"I felt like we were going to get the ball near midfield," Tressel said. "I said to [offensive coordinator Jim Bollman], 'Why don't we have Terrelle see if he could take this?' Coach Bolls says, 'You sure you want to put him under pressure like that?' I said, 'When would you like his first pressure to be?'"
Sanchez, a junior from Mission Viejo, Calif., already has faced pressure at USC. He started three times during the 2007 season after senior John David Booty broke a finger. Sanchez beat Arizona 20-13 in his first start, then threw four touchdowns in a 38-0 victory over Notre Dame.
At Oregon on Oct. 27, Sanchez nearly led the Trojans to a come-from-behind victory. But Sanchez threw an interception at the Ducks' 15-yard line with only nine seconds left in a 24-17 loss. Booty returned to the lineup the following week, and Sanchez spent much of the offseason remembering his mistake against the Ducks.
The difference between Mark's ability to run our offense and the other kids is obvious.
--USC coach Pete Carroll on Mark Sanchez
"I felt like I had played very well in the first few days of camp and then my knee goes out," Sanchez said. "Getting injured really made me take a step back and think about what I wanted this season to be."
Sanchez returned to practice 17 days after injuring his knee and had less than a week to prepare for the Aug. 30 opener at Virginia. He played brilliantly against the Cavaliers, completing 26 of 35 passes for 338 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
The Trojans were so impressive they jumped Georgia and Ohio State for the No. 1 ranking in each of college football's major polls.
"It's really a testament to a great running game, and the receivers making some big-time catches, bailing me out on the sideline quite a few times," Sanchez said. "Then, there's the offensive line. When you get that kind of time, you should be able to make the right decisions."
Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE
Mark Sanchez shined in his season debut against Virginia.
The Buckeyes didn't allow a touchdown pass in their first two games this year and rank second in total defense, allowing only 164 yards per game.
USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian said he was encouraged by what he saw from Sanchez in the opener.
"We did a lot of things right," Sarkisian said. "We really wanted to get Mark into a rhythm early in that game and he responded very well. He's got such a great grasp of what we want him to do and he's playing with a lot of confidence."
Sanchez is playing much better than his backups, making his health perhaps the Trojans' biggest concern this season. When Sanchez was sidelined during preseason camp, Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain and freshman Aaron Corp struggled in his absence.
"The difference between Mark's ability to run our offense and the other kids is obvious," Trojans coach Pete Carroll said. "He's just that much farther along and he's so much more experienced in the system. The tempo's so much faster. It makes such a difference. He calls plays impeccably and gets the guys out of the huddle so much faster. It really helps everything, especially the line."
On Saturday, there will be plenty on the line for the quarterbacks of both teams.
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On The Mark: Top offensive performers
1. Donald Brown, RB, Connecticut
The Huskies needed all of Brown's 214 rushing yards at Temple. He scored the winning touchdown in the 12-9 overtime victory.
2. Jahvid Best, RB, California
Is it too soon to call Best a dark-horse candidate for the Heisman Trophy? He ran for an 80-yard touchdown on his first carry in Saturday's 66-3 win at Washington State, then scored on an 86-yard run on his second carry of the second half.
3. David Johnson, QB, Tulsa
The senior threw for six touchdowns and ran for a score in a 56-26 win at North Texas. In two games, Johnson has completed 78.9 percent of his passes with nine touchdowns and no interceptions.
4. Todd Reesing, QB, Kansas
The junior was nearly flawless in a 29-0 victory over Louisiana Tech on Saturday, completing 32 of 38 passes for 412 yards with three touchdowns.
5. Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State
The sophomore had nine catches for 236 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-37 victory over Houston. He also scored on a 71-yard punt return.
Joe Paterno has to feel better about his running game after Royster ran for 141 yards and three touchdowns in a 45-14 rout of Oregon State.
7. Sam Bradford, QB, Oklahoma
The sophomore might be the best quarterback in the Big 12. He threw for 395 yards and five touchdowns on 29-for-38 passing in a 52-26 blowout of Cincinnati.
8. Knowshon Moreno, RB, Georgia
Now the Bulldogs sophomore leaps defenders in a single bound. Moreno ran for 168 yards and three touchdowns in a 56-17 rout of Central Michigan. He has six touchdowns in two games.
9. Juice Williams, QB, Illinois
After nearly beating Missouri with his arm, Williams ran for 174 yards and two touchdowns in a 47-21 victory over Eastern Illinois. It is the highest rushing total in a game by an Illini quarterback.
10. Matt Grothe, QB, South Florida
Grothe completed 23 of 40 passes for 346 yards with three touchdowns, including the game winner in overtime, in a 31-24 victory over Central Florida.
Off The Mark: Struggling players
1. Army
Coach Stan Brock apologized to everyone from the United States Military to the Corps of Cadets after the Black Knights had four turnovers and allowed an 87-yard kickoff return in a 28-10 loss to New Hampshire.
The Gators' running attack still features quarterback Tim Tebow and receiver Percy Harvin and no one else. Tailbacks Chris Rainey, Jeffrey Demps and Kestahn Moore combined to run for 7 yards on nine carries in a 26-3 win over Miami.
3. Pat White, QB, West Virginia
White's Heisman Trophy campaign was derailed in a 24-3 loss at East Carolina. The senior passed for 72 yards, ran for 97 yards and lost a fumble.
4. John Parker Wilson, QB, Alabama
Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban was looking for consistency from his senior quarterback. Wilson completed 11 of 23 passes for 73 yards in a lackluster 20-6 win over Tulane.
5. Tavita Pritchard, QB, Stanford
The hero of last season's upset of USC wasn't effective in a 41-17 loss at Arizona State. He completed 11 of 18 passes for 97 yards and threw two interceptions.
Matt Ryan's replacement completed 18 of 35 passes for 142 yards with two interceptions in a 19-16 loss to Georgia Tech.
7. Sean Glennon, QB, Virginia Tech
Neither Glennon nor Tyrod Taylor was very good in a 24-7 win over FCS opponent Furman. Glennon completed 3 of 8 passes for 42 yards; Taylor completed 4 of 5 passes for 26 yards.
8. Chris Turner, QB, Maryland
Turner started under center because Jordan Steffy is hurt. Turner threw three interceptions in a 24-14 loss at Middle Tennessee State.
9. Washington State defense
The Cougars allowed 505 yards of offense in a 66-3 loss to California, the worst defeat in school history.
10. Notre Dame
The Fighting Irish had to score two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to beat San Diego State 21-13. The Irish rushed for 105 yards against the Aztecs. Cal Poly ran for 263 yards against San Diego State a week earlier.
On The Mark: Hot coaches
1. Skip Holtz, East Carolina
Holtz has guided the Pirates to three consecutive upsets of nationally ranked foes. If East Carolina can navigate its way through a rather soft C-USA schedule, it might crash the BCS party.
2. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
3. Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt
Johnson hasn't won 30 percent of his games in seven seasons at Vanderbilt. But you'd be hard-pressed to find a better-prepared team in the country.
4. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Gundy is again the man in Stillwater. He took over the offensive play calling after Larry Fedora left for Southern Miss. The Cowboys' totals in their first two games: 1,066 yards and 95 points.
5. Tim Brewster, Minnesota
There's reason for hope after last season's 1-11 disaster. The Gophers are 2-0, doubling their win total from 2007, after beating Bowling Green 42-17.
Off The Mark: Struggling coaches
1. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
2. Greg Robinson, Syracuse
It seems to be only a matter of time before Syracuse pulls the plug on this disaster. Robinson's record fell to 7-30 after a 42-28 loss to Akron at the Carrier Dome.
3. Mike Price, UTEP
Can Price continue to hang on? The Miners allowed 42 points for the second consecutive game, losing to Texas 42-17 on Saturday night.
4. Tyrone Willingham, Washington
Willingham can thank Pac-10 officials if he's fired at the end of the season. After losing to Oregon and BYU, the Huskies get No. 3 Oklahoma on Saturday.
5. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
The Head Ball Coach's patience has to be wearing thin in Columbia, S.C., after the Gamecocks lost to Vanderbilt for the second season in a row. Spurrier still has Georgia fans restless this week.


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(MATTHIESSEN, Peter). McKIBBEN, Bill
The End of Nature
NY, Random House, (1989). McKibben's landmark book, widely viewed as the first book for a general audience on the subject of global warming. From the library of Peter Matthiessen, and with his underlinings and asterisks in the first 20 pages. Near fine in a near fine dust jacket. [#032417] SOLD
All books are first printings of first editions or first American editions unless otherwise noted.

subset: commoncrawl


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(Crain's) -- An inter-Chicago spat over whether the Windy City ought to host the 2016 Olympic Games is proving to be a cautionary tale of sorts for agency personnel and their out-of-office digital endeavors.
Creator of 2016 spoof site at odds with agency
The story starts with a tongue-in-cheek website critical of the city's bid, which attempts to make the case for Rio de Janeiro to host the games instead of Chicago. Much of the content is humorous -- such as comparing Chicago's South Side beaches to Ipanema -- but the site also contained some fairly biting criticism of what the games could do to the city's already-strapped budget.
The site's cheeky tone and biting statistics drew it some notice, and some published reports even speculated that it was actually planted by the forces behind the Rio bid. But when Ad Age's sibling publication, Crain's Chicago Business, put a digital sleuth on the case, it found the culprit behind the site was local ad exec Kevin Lynch, who is the top creative at local shop Energy BBDO's Proximity unit.
Now, such concerns are by no means out of the mainstream in Chicago -- where a recent Chicago Tribune poll found only 46% of residents in favor of the bid -- but they are far less common in the city's political and business circles. Case in point: The city's aldermen endorsed the bid, 49-0. Support among the business community is nearly as solid, with nearly every major corporation in town backing the bid to some extent.
And that's where things get complicated for Mr. Lynch and BBDO. After all, Energy BBDO's largest client, Wrigley, is a major supporter of the city's bid to host the games. And the shop has a major state account -- creative duties on the Illinois Lottery -- and has competed for other city and state accounts in recent years.
What's more: Both Energy BBDO and its parent company, Omnicom, have been active supporters of the bid. (Omnicom's Downtown Partners has been among the most active creative shops involved in the effort.) And Mr. Lynch himself, before joining Energy BBDO in June, had submitted several creative scripts for the effort, although they don't appear to have been used.
"I want to be clear: The agency is and has been fully behind the Chicago 2016 bid," said Energy BBDO CEO Tonise Paul. "Our clients are aware of our position and understand the situation. The individual acted on his own accord without the agency's knowledge."
Mr. Lynch didn't respond to an e-mail inquiry today, but -- faced with a barrage of local inquiries -- he posted answers to anticipated queries on his blog earlier this week.
On the blog, Mr. Lynch said he turned against the bid after Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley reversed his position on whether city taxpayers would be on the hook for any cost overruns associated with the games. (They will be.) He also said he was turned off by "hyperbole" surrounding the games.
Mr. Lynch wrote: "As the mayor of Atlanta recently said, 'There is no downside to hosting the games.' Come now. There are lots of potential downsides, and if those downsides would've been openly acknowledged and discussed, a lot of people could've maybe been swayed to back the bid.
'They weren't.'"
(This report originally appeared on the Web site for Advertising Age, a sister publication of Crain's Chicago Business.)


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We have quite a number of Dell desktop and laptop systems deployed in our environment.
We use a number of imaging/cloning methods to manage them.
My personal favorite is Microsoft's ImageX software but Clonezilla and Novell's ZEN Imaging are also popular.
When a Dell system leaves the factory, it contains a specialized partition that contains Dell diagnostic tools and utilities. This can be accessed via the boot menu (F12) when booting a system. These can come in handy for the sysadmin or desktop technician when trying to decide if the problem is hardware or software related.
However, if the system has been securely disk-wiped or images restored in some circumstances, that specialized Dell Utility partition can be destroyed. The restored windows partition works just fine, and the Dell diagnostics are still listed in the boot menu but they are no longer actually there.
So what options do you have?
Option One – Rebuild it from Scratch
Recreating the Dell Utility Partition - Not for the feint of heart. Partition Table editing required!
Basically you have to create a new partition, make it active, copy the Dell Diagnostic program to it, add a reboot program, make your config.sys and autoexec.bat files, change the partition type, the set your Windows partition back to be the active partition. Lots of work.
Option Two - Skip It and go with a Dell Utility Boot CD
Dell ships most all its systems with a boot-CD that can be used to bring up the system and then run the same diagnostics package elements from the CD instead. Yes you are not putting it on the system, but for most folks, this will be the easiest solution.
Getting the Dell Diagnostics Utility - Dell.com
If you look up your specific Dell system based on the Service Tag number, you will often find a number of additional downloads that will allow you to not only build your Dell Diagnostics Utility CD, but also packages to update the files on your Dell Utility partition if you so desire.
No software is know to exist in the wild (that I am aware of) to "automagically" create and restore that Dell Utility partition via point-and-click. Option One is the only way I know of to put one back in service once a system has been set up.
Option Three - For ZENWorks Imaging Fans only
Novell Doc: Novell ZENworks 7.2 Linux Management Administration Guide - Using Dell Configuration Bundles - Help for ZENworks fans.
See Also
Dell - Support - Using the Dell™ MediaDirect Repair Utility to Fix a Corrupt Master Boot Record (MBR) in Microsoft Windows XP
Inside the Dell PC Restore Partition - Dan Goodell
What About Microsoft Vista? - Things are a bit different when dealing with Vista Dell systems.
How to Run the Hard Drive Disk Self Test (DST) on a Dell Computer - Dell.com
Special thanks to the D-Man for hunting many of these solutions up for us!
Happy Dell Fixing!


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Babaker said that his country's forces "will not be able to completely take over the security file by the year 2020 and will need U.S. support until then," adding, "Now things are still going well despite the troop withdrawal because the US army is still present. Problems will start to surface after 2011. Politicians need to find other means to fill the vacuum after that date. If asked, I would tell politicians that the U.S. army should stay until the Iraqi army is ready."
His comments came just days before the end of the US combat mission at the end of August and at a time when violent attacks have been on the increase across the country.
The comments contain implicit criticism of Nouri al-Maliki, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, as well as of his ruling coalition. Officials and deputies close to him are keen to refute the allegations.
"Security forces, by the end of next year, will be able to confront armed and violent groups and protect the internal security. There is no need for permanent US military bases," claimed the optimistic Ali al-Dabbagh, the government spokesman and leader of al-Maliki's coalition.
Similarly, Jawad al-Boulani, the Interior Minister, stressed that his Ministry's forces have become capable of assuming security responsibilities across the country. On the sidelines of a ceremony organised by his ministry to celebrate the graduation of high school students, Bulani said:
"We have a message which we want to relay to the whole world: Iraq has become a safe country and its forces are capable of protecting its security."
The Prime Minister himself defended Iraq's readiness to respond during a speech at the Second Leadership Conference of the Army Command, held at the Ministry of Defence last week.
"Iraq's power lies not in its arms but in its democracy, unity and in the awareness of its armed forces sons." He stressed that with "faith and high morals, the Iraqi soldiers can handle all situations."
The Defence Minister, Abdul-Qader al-Obeidi, remained silent and did not make any statement regarding the Iraqi troops' readiness to assume the security responsibilities but the military's media spokesman, sat alongside the Defence Minister and the premier, claimed that statements made by the army chief "were misunderstood and misinterpreted."
The statements of those defending the reputation of Iraq's forces are refuted by the escalation of violence in Baghdad and elsewhere over the last four months. Many question marks are being raised over police and army performance.
"Iraqi troops are incapable of protecting themselves. All the security breaches we have seen in last month confirm that the army is not ready. The Police and the military are being attacked everyday by insurgents in the different areas of the country leaving many of them dead," said Thaer al-Sudan, a former colonel in the Iraqi Air Force.
In al-Anbar, Baghdad, Babil and Wasit provinces violence has escalated since 10 May. Well-coordinated bombings, assassinations and armed attacks have left at least 650 people dead, 250 in Basra alone, according to Iraqi security and health sources.
In the first week of August, a series of bombings in Basra killed about 50 people and injured 185. These were followed by other attacks in Baghdad where the death toll reached more than 60.
According to statistics issued by the Ministries of Health, Defence and Interior, July was the deadliest month in Iraq in the past two years. 535 people were killed including 396 civilians and 139 security personnel. More than thousand people were injured.
Observers and military officials warn against a deterioration in security under stalled negotiations over the formation of a new Iraqi government, especially as with US troops about to withdraw.
Only 50,000 will remain by September, with their tasks limited to training and support. Washington has stressed that by 2011 its troop numbers will not exceed a few hundred soldiers who will serve as advisers.
The Iraqi army, meanwhile, numbers 260,000 troops. The Ministry of Defence hope to increase that number to 300,000 and equip them with the best, most modern weaponry.
A military source within the Ministry of Defence claimed that "powerful political parties" were trying to resist the strengthening of the army, to prevent their use in any future internal conflicts.
MP Abdul Karim al-Samaraei, Vice President of the Security Committee in the former parliament, confirmed these claims. Samaraei, an Iraqiya deputy said certain internal and external forces have objections to military increases, with some vetoing further arming of the military.
"Obstacles are placed in our way to hinder the arming of our forces and the purchase of weapons," he claimed.
Samaraei refered to the Kurdish position over a recent order for F16 fighters from the US. He also said he believed that neighbouring countries "fear our troops will become as strong as they were before," implicitly suggesting Kuwait and Iran stood in opposition.
The building of the forces that is going ahead has come in for much criticism. Nepotism, favouritism, partisan affiliations and other forms of corruptions have "become and inherent part of the process," says former deputy Ammar Tohme, a member of the parliament's security committee and major critic of the army.
"The army's lack of readiness is not just about a lack of arms, skill or training," he revealed.
"There is also administrative and financial corruption, bribery, thefts and factional and partisan affiliations plaguing the military establishment and the ministries of defence and interior."
The most visible manifestation of this are the bribes paid by soldiers to their officers to avoid work and escape military duty, especially when units are facing an increased threat of violence.
Many observers lay the blame for the army's problems with Paul Bremer, who was the US civil administrator of Iraq after the fall of Saddam in 2003. He ordered the complete recreation and restructuring of the Iraqi army and many believe that this was done too hastily.


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COVID-19: We are taking orders but please note our delivery timelines and way of working.
Your wheelbarrow is currently empty.
Otherwise known as greenfly and blackfly these sap-sucking insect pests feed on all foliage and flowers and are particularly partial to ornamental plants, fruit, vegetables and houseplants.
There are over 500 species of Aphid in Britain and they range in size from 1-7mm (1/16 - 1/4in) long.
Aphids cause distorted growth and excrete a sticky substance which attracts a growth of sooty mould.
They can be carried for hundreds of miles by wind or air currents and can transfer viruses to other plants notably
Strawberries, Raspberries, Tomatoes, Dahlias and Sweet peas.
How to Spot Aphids
You should be able to see them without a magnifying glass. Look out for their pear-shaped bodies and
thin spindly legs and pipes called 'cornicles' at the bottom of their abdomen. If you notice distorted
new growth on your plants, this is likely to be the work of aphids.
Be on the lookout for them from spring to late summer and all year round indoors. They are
commonly found on roses and can build up into big colonies if you let them.
How To Treat
You can also squash small infestations with your fingers or blast with a jet of water.
If the infection is limited to a few plants you can use horticultural soft soap or a
very diluted solution of washing up liquid to wash off aphids from leaves and buds. If
the infection is major this can be tedious and can cause leaf damage.
Encourage natural predators such as Ladybirds, Hoverfly and Lacewing into your garden by planting
nectar-rich flowering plants such as Wallflowers, Sweet Williams and African Marigolds.
Nettles are also good to plant as they attract the nettle aphid which is a good source of
food for lots of aphid eating insects. Nettle aphids also appear early in the year so they
attract the predators early on in the season and won't attack your precious plants as they
only feed on nettles.
Another solution is to try a biological control such as Ladybird Larvae or Lacewing Larvae
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The last two governments and their finance ministers persistently refused to address tax bracket creep, which is seen as tax increases by stealth – as inflation increases incomes it pushes more income into higher tax brackets.
The incoming Labour led government actually did something, but that was negative – they scrapped catch up tax cuts put in place by National.
Today Simon Bridges announced that a future National government led by him would legislate to raise tax brackets in line with inflation every three years.
National would introduce rolling tax relief
A National Government would link income tax brackets to inflation, ensuring income taxes are adjusted every three years in line with the cost of living and allowing New Zealanders to keep more of what they earn, National Leader Simon Bridges says.
"New Zealanders' incomes are struggling to keep up with the rising cost of living because this Government is imposing more red tape and taxes," Mr Bridges said in his State of the Nation speech in Christchurch today.
"Over the next four years, New Zealanders will be paying almost $10,000 more per household in tax than they would have been under National. The Government is taking more than it needs, only to waste billions on bad spending.
"On top of that, by 2022 New Zealanders on the average wage will move into the top tax bracket. That's not right or fair. So in our first term National will fix that by indexing tax thresholds to inflation.
"We will amend the Income Tax Act so tax thresholds are adjusted every three years in line with the cost of living. That will mean that within a year after every election, Treasury will advise the Government on how much the thresholds should be adjusted for inflation.
"This would prevent New Zealanders from moving into higher tax brackets even when their income isn't keeping up with the rising cost of living. It would ensure New Zealanders keep more of what they earn to stay on top of rising costs of living such as higher prices for necessities like petrol, rent and electricity.
"We will include a veto clause so the Government of the day can withhold the changes in the rare circumstances there is good reason to. But it will have to explain that decision to New Zealanders.
"The changes would make a real difference. Assuming inflation of 2 per cent, someone on the average wage would be $430 a year better off after the first adjustment, $900 after the second and $1,400 after the third.
"We will also do more on tax – but add no new taxes – and I'll continue talking about our plans between now and next year's election.
"National is committed to helping New Zealanders get ahead. This step means that as well as cancelling new taxes this Government has piled on, we won't allow future governments to use inflation as an annual tax increase by stealth."
In response Minister of Finance trotted out the overused and irrelevant 'they didn't do it in their nine years in office'.
But this is a smart move by National. Not only does it allow them to campaign on not raising taxes or allowing taxes to rise 'by stealth', they can compare this with what is predicted to be some sort of capital gains tax that will tax inflation affected increases in value of assets.
Of course Labour can come up with a competing policy, but that could be some time away as they ponder the Tax Working Group recommendations.
This looks a bit corny though:


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Sprint has announced a new bundle for its customers, which includes a Samsung phone, tablet and wireless service for $0 down and $100 a month (without taxes or surcharges). The bundle is available to those with approved credit, and taking this package can save you up to $300 over 24 months
Currently the phone on offer is the Samsung Galaxy S5, but it will soon be replaced by the newer Samsung Galaxy S6 when it comes available. It is important to note that the newer model doesn't offer the water and dust resistance offered by the Galaxy S5.
Customers can also opt for the Sprint exclusive Samsung Galaxy S5 Sport, which offers the same hardware as the Galaxy S5, but comes with rubber grips and physical buttons. No matter which of the two phones you select, it will come with unlimited talk, text and high-speed data.
The tablet on offer is the Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 7.0, which features a 7 inch screen, 8GB of internal storage which can be expanded through microSD, a 3MP rear camera, a 1.3MP front camera and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Marvell processor with 1.5GB of RAM. You will get 2GB of data a month with your tablet.
|Breakdown of Sprint's $100 bundle deal
source - Sprint


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A soothing and challenging take on the Simon concept.
Follow My Lead is a minimalist but polished version of the Simple Simon style of game. The buttons flash in sequence and you must repeat it back without making a mistake. Unlike Simon however it doesn't just add one new button to the end of the sequence each time, instead giving you a new set to follow (which progressively gets harder the better you get). It's a subtle but nice twist and makes it almost more of a rhythm game.
Y8 Games is a proud sponsor of Phaser. As well as offering thousands of fun games to play, they also have a great revenue-sharing scheme for developers who implement their ads.


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by Kelley on May 7, 2012
You're spinning? Isn't it just too much fun? Once you are confident with your skills, I know you are going to be happy for years as you feel all sorts of fibers slip through your fingers. But, handspinning isn't just a tactile experience. Color is a whole other world of spinning. I think it is even more fun because it is a way for you to add your own color preferences to spinning. Color in Spinning by Deb Menz is a large book but Deb's lessons make working with color completely approachable. The page sizes and quality paper provide a excellent canvas for the large, colorful, detailed photos.
Category Archives: spinning
by Knit Picks Staff on April 27, 2012
Why, three bags full in fact! Actually, I have so much more than that! But I did get those at the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival last weekend! I can't really pass up a deal like that - it's scraps and seconds, but $6 for 8 oz of fiber is just too good. Unfortunately I must come across deals like that too often, because I have so, so, so much spinning fiber that I'm quickly running out of places to put it. So, obviously knitting is not my only pastime. Spinning is certainly one of them, and although I wouldn't consider myself to be a great spinner, I love the process of watching a big ball of fluff turn into something wonderful and useable.
by Stacey on April 24, 2012
We had a taste of summer weather this weekend so Kerin, Jenny K., Hannah and I all went for a scenic drive - which, of course, ended at the Columbia Gorge Fiber Festival. None of us can resist pretty yarn & fiber! Photo of the Upstream Alpaca booth
by Jenny K on April 17, 2012
At the beginning of the new year, instead of setting resolutions for myself that I knew would be lost after a month or two - I instead tried to come up with a list of crafting goals for myself in 2012. And wouldn't you know it, I have been slowly been tackling new projects and checking off my goals! One of the things I knew I really wanted to try this year was spinning. And aside from the fact that you get to make your own yarn, I just loved the zen-like calm that spinners have about them as they sit at their spinning wheel. Combined with the fact that I had a wealth of information all around me since so many others here at the KP office know how to spin, I finally faced with the fact that it might be time to learn. I had a good chunk of Wool of the Andes Roving in Tidepool Heather that I started on with a drop spindle, and that is where my spinning adventure started! L: Full Circle Roving, R: Full Circle and Wool of the Andes Roving
by Jenny K on April 3, 2012
During the very first sock summit (which was almost three years ago, back in 2009!), I got overtaken by all of the fiber fumes and came home with a drop spindle. I hadn't the faintest clue as to what I was going to do with said drop spindle, but I knew I needed one everytime I walked past someone drop spindling as they were standing around, waiting in line, or just hanging out. After I recovered from the fiber festivities, I tucked my drop spindle away in one of my craft containers. Finally a year or so later, I dusted off my drop spindle after a visit to an alpaca farm where I couldn't resist buying some fiber. From then on out, every few weeks I would break out my spindle to spin up a bit of fiber. It took a while to get the feel for drafting, but every time it got easier and more natural. If you have ever been intrigued by making your own yarn or spinning with a drop spindle, we have an entire 6-part series video class to help you get started! Kelley's Drop Spindling Class covers everything from terminology to drafting, finishing, and even plying your yarn. It really is so much fun and a great way to play with fiber!
by Alison on March 5, 2012
This project has been a long time in the making! I dyed my fiber last year using Greener Shades dyes, then spun it into four different 250g skeins of bulky weight 2-ply, and now I've finally transformed it all into a finished object. When I'm stash busting or using up unlabeled yarn, I tend to create my own patterns that are a) extremely basic and b) allow me to change plans mid-stream in order to work around yarn shortages. For this project, I decided to do a basic crochet ripple afghan - I wanted something soothing that let me really enjoy the texture and colors of my handspun without concentrating on a difficult stitch pattern. I also planned on creating stripes of varying widths so that I had more options for using up the majority of my yarn.
by Alison on February 23, 2012
When I first started knitting with my handspun yarn, I can't tell you how many times I've wished for a magical label marked with yarn weight, recommended needle size, yardage, and washing instructions. Over time, I've gotten better about documenting my handspun as I create it; when I don't take notes, though, I have to just wing it! For a recent cross-country trip I decided to give myself a little challenge - I packed nothing but 4 skeins of handspun yarn and an assortment of needle tips and cables. The four skeins I chose were finished more recently, so I hadn't had time to measure the yardage, weigh them, or even match them up with other yarn for projects.
by Hannah on January 12, 2012
Birch Bay is back! Last time, I had just spun the roving into a (roughly) fingering weight single and was just getting ready to ply the ends together on my wheel at home. Now it's all spun up and ready to knit!
by Hannah on January 11, 2012
Over the past few weeks Birch Bay evolved from an unspun batt, to spun singles and then to a two-ply yarn. Today, I finally finished knitting it into a delightful slouchy hat (a bit slouchier than I intended, but more on that later). I know that I was imagining a red and black hat last time, but I decided to start at the opposite end of the ball and wound up with an (almost) entirely vivid blue hat instead! I love that the colors shift into the dark magentas towards the crown and the shiny strands of sparkle really pop too.
by Alison on January 10, 2012
I had a little bit of relaxation time during the holiday season, and it was nice to be able to sink my teeth into some fiber projects (both new and old). I did start a bunch of knitting projects, but I also had time to take my spinning wheel for a, um, spin.


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Christians-Christ= Pharisees
I think this topic has been percolating inside of me for quite a while. It's a bothersome topic, I must admit. It buzzes around inside of my head like a hungry mosquito, so I figure that I need to do what I know I need to do.
When did Christians become so Pharisee-like? It's so sad to me to see religion on full display. So many times, we walk around bound in the chains of a legalistic view of God. We wear our "Sunday Best", sing our hymns, and nod our heads in the "Holy" way. We regard others with only middling interest at best. We take in the world, and see Christ through eyes that are trained only on what we regard are the rules, and pathway for getting into heaven. The "reward" of heaven is our ultimate goal. This makes me think so much about the Pharisees, and it has been irking me all week. Why can't we just get out of our own way and make Christianity the heart issue that Jesus meant for it to be?
We can't serve God with our brains. We think too much about the wrong things. We can't serve God with our emotions. They are all over the place, and are not to be trusted when it comes to the things of God. Our intellect? It can't truly perceive God because our knowledge is imperfect. The only way that we can really, and I mean REALLY know God is through our hearts and minds being transformed by the knowledge of the truth. This is knowledge that supersedes everything that we think we know, and every thing that we think that we are. It is a transformation from sinful to righteous that does not make sense, that we are not worthy of, and that we do not have to understand in order to walk in it.
The Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, and those guys were pieces of work. They were the guys who prayed out loud in the square. They were the bible thumpers. They were the soapbox preachers. They were the judges, juries, and executioners of all things "godly". At every turn, Jesus was slapping these guys around with a truth that they could not connect with. Even Paul, in Galatians 1, said that he spent 3 years in the desert. He had been so indoctrinated with the poison of religion that God literally had to isolate him and give him one on one tutorial in Kingdom Knowledge 101, before releasing him into the ministry that had been prepared for Him via the Holy Spirit. Yet, we do the same things. We worship a formless God with tightened lips and stiff hands, not realizing that the chains around our hands ad feet are real. We think that there is safety in being bound to the rules, that knowing the 10 Commandments and the Lord's Prayer are good signs of living a good Christian life. I would submit to you all this morning that we have it all wrong.
Most of you know this. I know that there are so many churches out there who teach that relationship outweighs religion in the eyes of God. so, most of you out there get this, but it's the ones who have not been liberated that I worry about. Often times, it is these brothers and sisters in Christ who others see and equate Christianity with. Who wants to be a Christian after observing these ways of life? It's our job to show them our God in all of His beauty, honor, and love. By living legalistic lives, and lives that use rules and chains to define who God is, we instead give them over to all of the reasons why we should not even try to approach God, because we are not worthy in our own right. This is wrong.
Christ came to establish a Kingdom of Love. Love is His very nature. By this Love, we are known as Christians. By this Love, we can relate to Christ. This Love pushes us to become uncomfortable around others, to welcome those who may not "have it all together". This love arrests us and forces us to live lives of vulnerability, to take chances and risks designed to mature us, and welcome others into the fold. I am convinced that our ultimate goal as Christians is not to make it to heaven. Heaven is just the cream and cherry on top of an uber tasty sundae. Our ultimate reward is witnessing the transformation of lives who have been changed by God's love, just as ours are.
I could get off into other tangents, but that would not be the point. We simply must remember that without Christ, our "Christianity" is merely a form of godliness without the power thereof. We are no better than the Pharisees is we refuse to live lives of love, and walk free from the chains of rules. Christ's love calls us to a way of life that is even higher than the rules we support and believe in. His righteousness is a higher definition of living. We can't forget Christ. We can't forget love. We can't become Pharisees. People don' t need those people. People need Jesus.
until next time, be blessed.


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Kilroy, 26 Feb 2008 @ 12:44pm
not to mention thatAnyone who does not download and chooses to buy their music in a retail environment (like ... oh maybe me) is going to get taxed on something that they never use. Hmmmm, maybe the governments of the world would go for an idea like that .... I need to patent that " a tax on what you didn't buy" I smell a huge win-fall!
Corey, 26 Feb 2008 @ 12:52pm
Dumb analogiesI agree that the tax is bad idea, although unlike you I don't think everything digital should be free - there's nothing wrong with people be paid for the product they actually produce by the consumers who use the product.
The reason for my post is that those might be the dumbest analogies you have ever used. Every one on them is about something on the internet that competes with another product by offering a similar service or information. But in the music case, we're talking about people having to compete with their very own product which is being given away for free.
Do you really think the newspapers to google/craigslist is at all the same thing? You might have a point if Craigslist was copying the complete content from newspapers and putting it on their site.
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 12:53pm
Re: Dumb analogiesSorry, i meant to make that a new post - its obviously in response to Mike, not Kilroy.
matt, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:10pm
Re: Dumb analogiesYou make no sense here, buddy.
What he's saying is people don't deserve compensation for some proposed form of theft (That really isn't) or else that definition will get perverted by law and lawyers alike. You really want to have a tax on XYZ item added because its supposedly stolen in some instances, even if it's not?
I've got a great idea. Let's take it even further, and add a "religion charge", because anyone who's not in one person's selected religion should be charged extra to go back to the "victim religion" for "stealing its members".
Sound good? No? You don't say.
emmalin dautovic, 28 May 2008 @ 11:01am
Re: Re: Dumb analogiesi think that you all are dumb. I download music all the time. Between getting arrested and making a big commotion about downloading is just stupid.
im only 15 by thw way and i have a very strong oppinion.
LOVE EMMALIN MUTHA f*****G dAUTOVIC
Re: Dumb analogiesEvery one on them is about something on the internet that competes with another product by offering a similar service or information.
Oh really? Every one of those examples was based on actual complaints.
Newspapers have insisted that Google is "stealing" from them and have said that Google should pay.
Knitting companies have been filing lawsuits against those posting patterns online.
Automechanics have been filing lawsuits against DIY info online.
So... why are they different?
You say they're legitimate alternatives... but there's always an industry that feels slighted.
In fact, I'd argue that in the music situation you'd say it's a legitimate alternative if you only shifted your perspective slightly. You just need to recognize that the "alternative" that's showing up here is the *distribution* mechanism.
Corey, 26 Feb 2008 @ 6:05pm
Re: Re: Dumb analogiesThe alternative is not simply a distribution mechanism. If the sites where music is being "shared" had a deal with the record companies where they were compensated, then you'd have a point - but the owners of these file sharing sites can keep all the profits for themselves while "distributing" someone else's product.
If you can't see the difference between that and your analogies, I can't help you.
James, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:17pm
Completely rediculousSo those who don't download music would still pay?? You know the recording industry might find that if it actually offered a competing product with proper value that most music lovers would jump all over it.
My guess is an all you can download/share non-restricted, high-quality music format available for a fixed (affordable) fee per month would sell to so many people that they wouldn't know what to do with all of the money.
Mark, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:28pm
Dumb analogies pt. 2I have to agree with Corey. The analogies in the blog post are kinda weak because all of the examples are legal alternatives. The tax is to compensate SAC members (or whoever they deem worthy) for their work being used (downloaded, uploaded, whatever) illegally. With the examples cited there is no illegal activity.
Not that this makes the tax just in my opinion...
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:33pm
Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2NO, you are absolutely wrong, the analogy does not matter. People are going to be taxed on the fact that some people will do something illegal with their internet connection.
That sounds like being guilty without a trial and free money to the artists for having to do nothing.
krsd, 26 Feb 2008 @ 3:23pm
Re: Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2As I recall there is already a similar tax in the US for blank CD media. This being on the basis that people will use blank cd's to copy and pirate music. Myself I use blank CD's (or DVD's these days) for one of two things. To back up data, or to make copies of the CD's I have bought so that I won't scratch the originals or have them get melted in my car in the summer (which is common in AZ). Still regardless of what you use it for you pay the tax, and in most cases never know it.
We have enough of these sorts of things, and need less.
Mark, 27 Feb 2008 @ 4:28am
Re: Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2I'm sorry, but you are absolutely retarded if you missed the meaning of my post.
emmalin dautovic, 28 May 2008 @ 11:04am
Re: Re: Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2no no no no no...what is wrong with america these days. Dont you pigs have anything better to worry about other than yourselves and what you believe is right. What you all need to do is go to church. Get saved. CUZ God knows you need his help!
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:59pm
Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2The analogies are fine. Distribution of digital content creates infinite goods which would in a fair economy tend towards being free; therefore Big Content need to come up with different ways of monetising as discussed ad infinitum on TechDirt. Comparing this industry which has to change it's business model to others which already have seems apt to me.
Mark, 27 Feb 2008 @ 4:34am
Re: Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2Yeah, in a "fair economy", which apparently isn't what the US is? Yeah, massive distribution of your work, without your permission, illegally, is fair for someone who makes his living on said model? You can hem and haw about how they should focus on adapting their business model, but *legally* they are within their rights. Until copyright law changes then a download tax wouldn't make sense.
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2008 @ 7:14am
Re: Re: Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2A download tax (which would be placed on every internet connection) doesn't make sense because people like me would be paying out because *other* people are stealing. In the most generous case, this is a presumption of guilt and summary judgment. More to the point, it's making the innocent pay for the crimes of the guilty simply because it's too much work for you to find the guilty.
Until copyright law changes, civil suits make sense. A download tax never makes sense.
Mark, 27 Feb 2008 @ 10:00pm
Re: Re: Re: Re: Dumb analogies pt. 2Ok, listen.... I'm not saying that the download tax makes sense.. I'm commenting on the analogy. FFS, people have a reading problem on here..
Phillip, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:35pm
License to PirateAnother reason its dumb is if I'm paying 5.00/month for downloading music I might as well use the service I'm paying for.
Since I'm paying this money and have no choices or anything I would feel I'm allowed to download music from then on since I'm already paying for in a mandatory fee.
Luke, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:35pmI love it when my lawmakers tell me that the Free School Lunch Program is actually free, and they don't tell me how much it COSTS.
I love it when they think I was born yesterday, I just didn't know they could tell.
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:36pmSo, everybody has to pay a music fee on their internet access bill, whether they use it or not? Yeah, that's intelligent.
A couple visits a hotel. When they prepare to leave and go to settle up the bill, there's a $50 charge for the swimming pool listed. They demanded to speak with the manager.
Man: Why is this charge on my bill? We never used the swimming pool.
Manager : Well, it was available.
Man: Well I'm going to give you a bill of $500 for sleeping with my wife.
Manager: I never slept with your wife!
Man: No, but she was available.
I think the punchline applies to this stupid tax idea as well. You cannot fairly tax people for something that they never use or receive any benefit from. Things like fuel taxes for road maintenance make sense, because everybody who uses fuel uses the roads. A music tax does not make sense, because there are bound to be lots of people who never download music.
On a related note, there are people like farmers and construction workers who use diesel fuel in offroad machinery that is rarely, if ever, on the roads. They are exempt from the tax, and the diesel they buy for their equipment is dyed red. If the red diesel is found in trucks on the road, whoever is caught with it is in serious trouble. You could say the red dye is a watermark for determining whether the fuel is legal or not.
The watermarking idea for non-DRM music files creates a win-win situation for all. Consumers can freely play their music anywhere they like under fair use terms, and agencies that enforce copyright laws can police file sharing networks looking for people sharing watermarked music files, which will enable them to track down and stop illegal file sharing in a sensible manner. Trying to implement a stupid tax will not solve any problems, but rather put more of the consumers' money in the wrong pockets, and the pirating problem will still exist.
4-80-sicks, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:58pm
Re: hotels and diesel fuelThe watermarking idea for non-DRM music files creates a win-win situation for all.
Interesting idea--how can this be done? You can't take dye out of gasoline, but it's quite simple to change the tags on an MP3 file. Does anybody have any ideas?
Iron Chef, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:08pm
Re: Re: hotels and diesel fuelMicrosoft has been researching that tech for years. I remember coming across an article that stated the watermark could be extracted from a song, even in the presence of other music.
But like anything that people say "can't be broken", well, it attracts a lot of attention, and usually is broken.
Again, just a temporary solution. This is a social problem that will only be answered with a social solution. Tech is only going to aggrivate the problem.
Check out Darylxxx's suggestion from last week- http://tinyurl.com/26buuc
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:18pm
Re: Re: hotels and diesel fuelThe watermark is not just a simple tag, like the artist or song title. It would be a tiny datastream encoded throughout the whole file, which would make it very difficult to filter out. Could it be done? Probably. The key to good security is not to try to make something 100% foolproof, because that's impossible. The key is to make it hard enough to crack that most people won't bother trying, unless they're serious about pirating in the first place. The idea here is to eliminate casual file-sharing, not stomp out real pirates who profit from mass-producing and selling illegal music.
I think the fact that watermarking can allow the consumer to use his music however he chooses while still providing law enforcement with a tracking method is a great idea, not because it can't be cracked, but because most consumers won't have to bother cracking it because they can use their music the way they want. If you can freely listen to music you purchase on any device you own, you have absolutely no reason to crack the watermark protection unless you are intentionally trying to pirate the music without getting caught.
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2008 @ 7:19am
Re: Re: Re: hotels and diesel fuelThis fails, though, because ONE successful crack spoils the whole pot: the un-marked file gets out on the network and multiplies to infinity. Now what?
John (profile), 26 Feb 2008 @ 4:35pm
Re: hotel taxActually, a story about this was done on 20/20 a few weeks ago: yes, hotels commonly add on a "resort tax", even for features you don't use.
The 20/20 story was about hotels who offer low room-rates, but then add in "resort fees", for such things as massages, pool towel usage, and more.
If you complain (and that's a big IF), they might give you your money back. But how many people will complain?
However, back to this story- I agree with the other posters than a "tax" like this will just open the doors for anyone else who wants to get subsidies from the government.
Today, it's the musicians/ RIAA relief tax. Then it's the actors/ MPAA relief tax. Next it's the AAA/ map-makers tax. Before long, you'll be paying twice as much for internet service simply because of these "relief taxes"... which we've all come to realize simply pay for supporting an obsolete business model.
But, hey, why innovate when you can get the government to charge taxes on your behalf?
Re:The watermarking idea for non-DRM music files creates a win-win situation for all.
Ugh, no it does not. There are lots of problems with watermarks:
They degrade the quality. They can be removed. You'll get in trouble if you accidentally lose you music collection. It *discourages* the active promotion of music. It's hardly a win-win. It's yet another artificial limitation.
Corey, 26 Feb 2008 @ 6:09pm
Re: Re:How on earth does it discourage active promotion of music? If you're selling music downloads, don't you need to promote that so people hear about your music?
Ben Robinson, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:37pm
Why not license insteadI can understand why people might not like a compulsory tax, a good example would be my parents, i don't think they have ever downloaded a song in their lives and I'm not sure they would know what to do with it if they did.
Instead why not have an optional licence. Pay an annual fee, download whatever you want from wherever you want and it's all legal and the money gets distributed to the copyright holders. Of course this would mean some kind of tracking but public performance royalties get distributed in this manner and it would be much easier to track downloads than it is to track performances in every bar, club, venue and radio station round the world.
If the recording industry realised they are no longer in the business of distribution, and are in the business of producing and promoting content then it all seems wonderfully simple. It could set up a global database of music, issue licenses to consumers and say to online service providers give our music away for free so long as you make sure that the consumer has a licence and tell us what they download. It would change the fortunes of the music industry over night. Many online services would pop up delivering music to consumers using whatever business model they could think of to make their money, this would drive demand for the music and thus the licenses.
You wouldn't eliminate piracy because there is always going to be the hardcore pirate bay/bit torrent crowd, but the plain fact is that all content industries have for years lived with the 80/20 model where so long as 80% of the content is purchased they can cope with the 20% that is pirated.
Of course this is not going to happen any time soon. The recording industry is desperately trying to cling to an outdated business model that is centred around controlling distribution and extracting a per copy royalty. The idea that they should throw this out of the window for digital downloads and concentrate on what they are good at making and promoting music terrifies them, but I firmly believe if they do not embrace this then they will surely die.
Technology moved on 10 years ago, come on recording industry, at least try and catch up.
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2008 @ 7:26am
A nice idea, but I wonder:How do you know who pays the fee? Once I get the song, is it MINE? If I give it to my buddy who hasn't paid the fee, have I committed a crime? How will you know? How will you enforce it? If I stop paying the fee, do I need to give back/delete all my music?
Ken, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:47pm
Why A Music Download Tax Is A Bad IdeaAlso if I am paying a tax to support the music industry why would I pay an online service. I am no longer stealing music if I have paid for it through a tax. The courts have agreed with this logic.
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 1:54pmYeeeah! Government Subsidies for a failing industry!
Man we fooled them good! Let's break out the Champaign, Cigars, and Streamers!
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:06pmMy grandfather made buggy whips. All cars should be taxed to compensate my family for loss of business.
John, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:13pm
DistributionRemember that in addition to people who dont download, who buy their music from other channels, who pay for content from other providers (which one would think would incur a tax soon thereafter)... The distribution costs to them are nothing and the people paying (for their outdated business model) would also be the people potentially providing the service they get paid for.
I dont download music illegally, but whats odd is that when i do buy songs online, theyre .99. I dont average 5 a month (riaa cant keep up with that anyway producing Good music). But i could see the value in freeing the (existing and new) content so they stop their whining.
Does that tax then make it legal to download or 'make available' contents from their members, or will they continue to double dip and suit a potential down/uploader for $700,000 ?
Rose M. Welch, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:21pm
I propose a tax......on all jewelry sales everywhere because sometimes jewelry is stolen, sold to jewelers, and resold to the public, and that hurts the victims of the thefts.
There are very clear laws that concern theft. It starts with the victim filing a civil suit against the thief, and is handled in that court thereafter. I am so, so tired of these music companies trying to buck the system and make the public pay for thier legal fees in the way of taxes and shitty guidelines and so on.
I buy all kinds of music on-line at Amazon.com, because it's sheap, it's easy, and it's DRM-free. However, I find myself unable to buy all the music I want because lots of companies won't sell it without that shitful DRM. So in those cases I buy or borrow a used CD, which nets the company zero in revenue, and I make copies until my hearts content.
It's a lose-lose situation for those companies, esp. those who are trying to create laws that force the public to stick with thier outdated business models, when the public is very obviously past that.
Amazon.com got over one hundred bucks from e last month... But I havn't purchased a new CD in years, and I will never step foot in an over-priced CD store again in this lifetime. How about y'all?
Evil Mike, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:27pmItemized $5 ISP2Other Businesses Compensatory Tax (I2OBCT):
$2.00 RIAA Administrative Overhead
$0.50 Delivery Surcharge
$1.55 I2OBCT Correctness Propaganda Program
$0.90 Wired Transaction Surcharge
$0.05 Musicians "Relief" Fund
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:34pm
Re:You forgot the $2.00 CD Destruction Fee.
I don't know what it does, but it sounds official, no?
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:47pm
Re: Re:That's the fund that the music industry started in late 1987 when the Soundblaster was invented. Coffers are 1/8th full.
"CD Destruction Fee": When they get on the bandwagon, and realize this internet thing isn't going away, the Recording Industry will sent men in suits to your house to destroy your CD collection. The CD Destruction Fee will cover the labor costs involved for this effort.
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 2:41pmDont forget the ISP tax: for all those other ISPs that you go to because they give a better deal online.
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 3:14pmWhy collect taxes? Bring the GTA/Sims expansion pack based on the RIAA story. Instant hit.
John, 26 Feb 2008 @ 4:03pm
Microsoft TaxYes we the richest corporation in the world would like to impose a M$Tax on our OS which may or may not be misappropriated, so therefore we demand $5 too especially if you use mac, unix, or linux.
meoip, 26 Feb 2008 @ 4:11pm
Built inDon't several places including Itunes collect tax already?
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2008 @ 7:32am
Re: Built inIf you're stealing music, you aren't using iTunes.
If you're stealing music, you ARE using an internet connection.
We have to make sure we punish the thieves, no matter how much it hurts our legitimate customers.
Anonymous Coward, 27 Feb 2008 @ 10:08am
Re: Re: Built inHow does stealing music imply you're using an internet connection? Last time I checked stealing only takes place when physical goods go missing.
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 5:56pm
Hmm....I don't like the implications and assumptions made by such a law.
1) The obvious, which is that it essentially treats every internet user as a criminal with no evidence. If I buy a car, I don't have to pay a $200 tax in case it's used in a bank robbery get away. This is the most morally offensive idea behind it, to me.
2) It kinda proves that the whole "crusade against piracy" thing is purely about the money. This has absolutely nothing to do with stopping piracy, it's just a scheme to grab as much money as possible. And I also doubt that they'll stop suing people they find with illegal downloads, either, so they'll make lots of cash.
3) They're essentially admitting that they can't find and/or stop the majority of illegal music sharers, so they're just punishing everyone in an attempt to recoup losses. It's as if there has been a riot in a town that has caused property damage, the police couldn't catch any of the rioters, so every town member is fined $100 to pay for it.
It also points to them not being confidant at all in any DRM pursuits, so the fact that they continue to insist that DRM is useful etc... is even more annoying.
All in all, this entire thing is annoying. The fact that someone thought it was a good idea in the first place is actually offensive. That other people agreed with it and support it is even worse. It actually offends my common sense.
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 5:58pm
Goose and Golden EggDon't kill it ...
Anonymous Coward, 26 Feb 2008 @ 6:23pm
Dumb analogiesAs the above poster said, this article is terribly written and contains bad analogies. How is Google News in any way illegal? They link directly to the sites of articles and contain no advertising on their own site. How is AAA any way related to Google Maps/Earth? Google bought the GIS companies that ran surveys and digitized features. Google did not take AAA maps and put them on the Internet. Do mechanics own the intellectual rights to knowing how to fix a car? Stop confusing a company outcompeting your product to the lose of revenue to piracy and illegal distribution of illegal property. The music tax is a really stupid idea especially since you would be charging every user for a crime they did not commit, but don't go around making a completely ridiculous argument.
Overcast, 26 Feb 2008 @ 6:50pmKinda just like the other million reasons the government taxes the hell out of us.
So basically we are just adding 'Recording Industry Welfare' into the mix now.
Overcast, 26 Feb 2008 @ 6:54pmMy grandfather made buggy whips. All cars should be taxed to compensate my family for loss of business.
Yeah, really - you know.. Phonograph makers, instrument makers, and the like need to sue the RIAA for the same reasons.
Kevin, 26 Feb 2008 @ 8:27pm
Like the author said....... as soon as a taxation like that is passed and enforced, other types of business will jump on the bandwagon and claim they need special recognition/tax because of the alternative ways to acquire information/data/materials.
MasterOod, 27 Feb 2008 @ 6:53am
Verizon Rejects Hollywood's Call to Aid Piracy FThere's an interesting article at NyTimes regarding Verizon's stance against assisting hollywood.
Three cheers for Verizon, but I really, really hope it isn't just lip service to the people who want the bandwidth.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/05/verizon-rejects-hollywoods-call-to-aid-piracy -fight/
another mike, 27 Feb 2008 @ 2:42pm
subsidyWhere do I send the form to be paid from this subsidy? Oh, I don't make music. I'll need help paying for the SAN I'll need to store all this music I'm now licensed to download.
Niggerguy, 22 Jun 2008 @ 5:02pm
Keep paying for shitty music you silly fuckers.EPIC LOL
Avi (Israel), 17 Feb 2009 @ 8:51am
I am speechlessReally stupid!
Why try saving the fat ass dinosaurs from the music industry? How will they split the money among the artists?
I bet artists will see tiny bits of it.
This is a prescription for perpetual corruption.
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Residence Enchancment (1991-1999) was an American television sitcom series, airing on ABC, about an accident prone host of a Detroit, Michigan television program about instruments, who raises his dysfunctional family. In 2001, Smith ran away from residence at the age of 17 and began a collection of authorized battles against his mother and father to achieve control of his $1.5 million trust fund, based on People To further complicate matters, that very same yr, Smith questionably wed vegan chef Heidi Van Pelt who, at age 33, was 16 years older than Smith.
And whereas some latent JTT love might have carried the show into the new millennium, after Thomas made a aware choice to retreat from public view, Residence Enchancment misplaced its declare on that the majority fruitful source of nostalgia—teenage horniness—which might excuse even the corniest of material.
Nonetheless, in 1995, Anderson would make headlines after an intimate video she made with then-husband Tommy Lee was leaked onto the internet after the couple allegedly turned a nightmare client for a contractor renovating their Malibu mansion, based on Rolling Stone.
Although the present stopped airing within the UK on account of ABC1 ceasing transmission on September 26, on July 28, 2008 it restarted from the pilot episode on Virgin 1 However, it was announced that Virgin 1 (now Channel One) would shut on January 31, 2011, and no announcement has been made relating to which channel the show might be moved to.
It is not rocket science, what I am doing ," Allen stated just before Final Man Standing's premiere in 2012, openly acknowledging that his newest role—a sporting items salesman whose masculinity places him at odds with the world, a concept he developed with Residence Enchancment producer/director John Pasquin—barely qualifies as an idea.


text: The first measurements of salinity of the deep water in the open Baltic Sea were made in the last decades of the 1800s. At a Scandinavian science meeting in Copenhagen in 1892, Professor Otto Pettersson from Sweden suggested that regular measurements of hydrographic parameters should be carried out at some important deep stations in the Baltic Sea. His suggestion was adopted and since that time we have rather complete hydrographical data from the Bornholm Deep, the Gotland Deep, and the Landsort Deep and from some stations in the Gulf of Bothnia. The measurements were interrupted in the Baltic Proper during the two World Wars. At the beginning only salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen were measured and one or two expeditions were carried out annually, mostly in summer. In the 1920s also alkalinity and pH were occasionally measured and total carbonate was calculated. A few nutrient measurements were also carried out. After World War 11 we find results from four or more expeditions every year and intercalibration of methods was arranged. Results of temperature, salinity and dissolved oxygen measurements from the Bornholm. Deep, the Gotland Deep, the Landsort Deep and salinity measurements from three stations in the Gulf of Bothnia, covering the whole 20th century are presented and discussed. The salinity distribution and the variations between oxygen and hydrogen sulphide periods in the deep water of the Gotland Deep and the Landsort Deep are demonstrated. Series of phosphate and nitrate distribution in the Gotland Deep are shown from the 1950s to the present and the effects of the stagnant conditions are briefly discussed. Two large inflows of highly saline water, the first during the First World War and the second in 195 1, are demonstrated. The 20th century minimum salinity of the bottom water in the Baltic Proper in 1992 is discussed. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.


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Last week, on July 29, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan announced an expanded list of 43 in-demand occupations for two of its most popular immigration categories. Slightly more than half of these occupations require professional licensure on the part of the applicant, a process that may seem daunting. However, in many cases this process can be done from outside Canada in conjunction with one of the relevant organizations designated by the government of Saskatchewan.
A range of occupations are included in the new list, including occupations in IT, engineering, social work, medicine, marketing, agriculture, skilled trades, and more besides.
The new in-demand occupations list applies to two sub-categories of the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program (SINP):
- SINP International Skilled Worker – Express Entry
- This 'enhanced' sub-category is aligned with the federal Express Entry
- No job offer is required.
- Applications are received on a first-come, first-served basis from eligible candidates in the Express Entry pool.
- Successful applicants obtain an additional 600 points under the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS).
- This sub-category has opened four times so far in 2017, most recently on July 27.
- SINP International Skilled Worker – Occupations In-Demand
- Applications to this 'base' sub-category are received on a first-come, first-served basis and are processed entirely outside Express Entry.
- No job offer is required.
- This sub-category has opened twice so far in 2017, most recently on June 12.
Intake periods for these sub-categories are often short, in some cases only lasting days, or even hours.
Of the 43 occupations on the new list, 20 do not require any professional licensure. An eligible individual with work experience in one of these occupations may apply to the SINP and receive a nomination certificate without ever applying for or obtaining any professional licensure.
No licensure required
|Advertising, marketing and public relations managers
|Managers in social, community and correctional services
|Financial and investment analysts
|Managers in Professional occupations in business management consulting
|Professional occupations in advertising, marketing and public relations
|Chemical technologists and technicians
|Biologists and related scientists
|Agricultural representatives, consultants and specialists
|Landscape and horticulture technicians and specialists
|Civil engineering technologists and technicians
|Electrical and electronics engineering technologists and technicians
|Electronic service technicians (household and business equipment)
|Industrial instrument technicians and mechanics
|Drafting technologists and technicians
|Facility operation and maintenance managers
|Managers in natural resources production and fishing
|Managers in agriculture
|Manufacturing managers
|Utilities managers
Professional licensure and the SINP
For potential applicants whose occupation is on the list below, the SINP requires applicants to have obtained the proper professional licensure in order for the application to be processed to completion. However, it may be noted that an application (submitted by an applicant whose occupation requires licensure) that does not include the relevant proof of licensure may be held for processing until such proof is provided. All other required documents must be submitted, otherwise the file will be returned and the CAD $300 government processing fee may not be refunded.
The exact process of obtaining licensure depends on the occupation in question, as well as other factors, such as the applicant's professional and/or academic background. CICNews has contacted each organization designated by Saskatchewan for the purposes of licensure, and in the vast majority of cases it is possible for an applicant to complete the licensure process from outside Canada.
The processing times listed below for certain occupations refer to best case scenario outcomes; these were either listed on the websites of the organizations, or confirmed by the organizations when speaking to CICNews. These processing times assume that the application is complete. Delays may occur if the organization has to wait for a third party, such an educational institution, to forward additional required documentation, such as transcripts.
"The requirements for some occupations in Saskatchewan's updated in-demand list may seem convoluted or confusing on first glance, but when you scratch beneath the surface, the route becomes clearer," says Attorney David Cohen.
"Saskatchewan wants newcomers in certain occupations to be fully licensed from a Canadian perspective because Saskatchewan wants these individuals to be able to enter the labour market relatively seamlessly. By beginning this process from abroad before landing in Canada, these workers will have a head start on the competition. This is likely a process that workers would have had to complete at some stage anyway, so why not start from abroad and prepare in advance of future intake period for either the base sub-category or the enhanced category aligned with Express Entry? Not only would this increase one's chances of finding a pathway to Canada, but it would also improve career prospects in Canada, both upon initial landing and over the long term."
To find out if you are eligible to enter the Express Entry pool, the first step to immigrating to Canada through the SINP International Skilled Worker – Express Entry sub-category, please fill out a free online assessment today.
If you have a valid Express Entry profile and work experience in an opportunity occupation listed above, please contact firstname.lastname@example.com to learn more about the next steps.
© 2017 CICnews All Rights Reserved


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Monday morning, planned settlement expansion began execution.
Posts Tagged 'Middle East peace process'
Report: Bulldozers Do Work in West Bank Hours After 'Settlement Freeze' ExpiresPosted: 27 September 2010 by Sayyid in Palestine-Israel
Tags: arms trading, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hillary Clinton, Israel, Likudniks, Mahmoud Abbas, Middle East, Middle East peace process, military industrial complex, Obama Administration, settlement expansion, West Bank, Yesha Council, Zionism
Daily Briefing—21st Sept 2010Posted: 21 September 2010 by Editors in Daily Briefing
Tags: Abdu Rahman, ACLU, Af-Pak War, airstrikes, Andy Worthington, antiwar activism, arms trading, Brazil, C.J. Chivers, Carol Rosenberg, China, Chris Hedges, Dahr Jamail, Death Penalty, domestic surveillance, domestic terrorism, drones, electoral politics, Eric Garris, false flag operation, FBI, Federal Reserve, fiat money, FOREX, Glenn Greenwald, gold, Great Recesseion, Guantanamo Bay, Iran, Israel, Jason Ditz, Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, Kyrgyzstan, Lockheed MArtin, Middle East, Middle East peace process, military industrial complex, NAM, Noah Shachtman, Obama Administration, Omar Khadr, Pakistan, Paul O'Mahoney, Peace Now, Pittsburgh G-20 Summit, privacy rights, racism, Saudi Arabia, Scott Horton, settlement expansion, Sheldon Richman, Somalia, Stephen Walt, Sweden, Tom Engelhardt, UAE, Wall Street, war games, Warfare and Conflict, West Bank, William Fisher
Daily Briefing—15th-16th Sept 2010Posted: 16 September 2010 by Editors in Daily Briefing
Tags: Af-Pak War, Afghanistan, airstrikes, al-Qaeda, Amnesty International, Andy Worthington, Anwar al-Awlaki, AQAP, Ayman al-Zawahiri, bailout, Blackwater, Boeing, BP, copyright, drones, drug war, extrajudicial assassination, Gareth Porter, GE, general strike, global economic crisis, GOP, Greece, Gulf oil spill, India, intellectual property, Iraq, Iraq War, Israel, JSOC, Kashmir, Kevin Carson, Khmer Rouge, Lehman Brothers, Matthew Cassel, Middle East peace process, military industrial complex, Myanmar, national debt, night raids, Pervez Musharraf, TARP, Warfare and Conflict, Wikileaks, WTO, Xe, Yemen
Daily Briefing—2nd-3rd Sept 2010Posted: 3 September 2010 by Editors in Daily Briefing
Tags: Af-Pak War, Afghanistan, airstrikes, bailouts, Barack Obama, BP, BRIC, Cash for Clunkers, China, Colombia, Daphne Eviatar, DR Congo, drones, economic crisis, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Guantanamo Bay, Gulf oil spill, hedge funds, immigration, India, international law, Israel, Kabul Bank, Kashmir, KBR, Middle East peace process, military industrial complex, Mozambique, NATO, Omar Khadr, Pakistan, Quetta, South Africa, Spencer Ackerman, suicide bombing, Top Secret America, unemployment, USDCNY, wage slavery, war crimes, War on Terror, Warfare and Conflict, Yemen
Two-State Illusion: NATO'ization of PalestinePosted: 22 May 2010 by Editors in Palestine-Israel, Political Science
Tags: Alan Dershowitz, apartheid, Arab League, European Union, fascism, France, Israel, Israel lobby, John Mearsheimer, Middle East, Middle East peace process, NATO, Newspeak, Nicolas Sarkozy, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Palestine, Palestine-Israel, Saeb Erekat, settlements, two-state solution, US, West Bank, Zionism
The proposed end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank is a NATO occupation of 40,000 troops.
'Threat' of 'Non-Violent Resistance' Means 'Deporting Gandhi From Palestine' (Video)Posted: 17 April 2010 by Sayyid in Palestine-Israel, Political Science
Tags: antiwar movement, apartheid wall, Bil'In, fascism, Gandhi, Gaza, human rights, international solidarity movement, Israel, Jamal Dajani, libertarian, LinkTV, Middle East, Middle East peace process, MIR, Mosaic, Netanyahu, Newspeak, Order No. 1650, Palestine-Israel, Palestinians, peace activists, protests, Sheikh Jarrah, War, West Bank, Zionism
An amendment to Israeli military Order #1650 on "preventing infiltration" is riddled with "vague language will allow army officers to exploit it arbitrarily to carry out mass expulsions, in accordance with military orders which were issued under unclear circumstances. The first candidates for expulsion will be people whose I.D. cards bear addresses in the Gaza Strip, including children born in the West Bank and Palestinians living in the West Bank who have lost their residency status for various reasons", Ha'aretz recently reported.
The government's fear is of "non-violent resistance", which—according to journalist Jamal Dajani—"could be" the "biggest threat to Israel's ability to justify its continued military aggression and occupation of Palestinian lands" (6:02):
Finkelstein on the Gaza Massacre's Impact on Israeli Geopolitics (Video)Posted: 31 March 2010 by Editors in International Affairs, Palestine-Israel, Political Science
Tags: Amnesty International, anarchism, anti-Statism, blockade, Breaking the Silence, Bush Administration, ceasefire, Egypt, fascism, Gaza, Gaza Massacre, Goldstone Report, Hamas, human rights, IDF, international law, Iraq War, Middle East, Middle East peace process, Mossad, Norman Finkelstein, Obama Administration, Oslo Accords, Qassam rockets, Sderot, Service Employees International Union, terrorism, two-state solution, UN, US, War, war crimes, West Bank, Zionism
Yesterday on Al Jazeera English's "The Riz Khan Show": Libertarian socialist Professor Norman Finkelstein discussed the '08-'09 unlawful Gaza Massacre as a deliberate effort by Israel to "humiliate and terrorize" the Gazan population, its consequences for Israel on the domestic and international stage and the 'two-state solution' in light of his latest book on last year's offensive, This Time We Went Too Far. He also describes why it is incorrect to call Israel's offensive of over a year ago, a 'war', but a "premeditated slaughter, a massacre". He also takes live callers with questions (22:26):


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Greetings from a humble new member of your forum! (bow) I'm attempting to create a reasonable 2-channel system for music only (music style: everything). No movies. But first a little background... I was a pro musician in the 1980's and spent lots of time in recording studios with the best sounding audio systems, but I'd always had an appreciation for high quality sound. Like many others, I made compromises when "home theater" hit. My existing audio gear went in the closet to make room for HT gear, because the popular position was and is that quality 2-channel music listening is far less important than hearing BOOM! when big bad T-Rex is coming. (Is there anyone who didn't hear a demo or two of Jurrasic Park?) Anyway, my internal audiophile is back, and the old gear with it. (But WOW! The landscape is so different.) It's time to figure out what old stuff goes and what new elements need to be added that might substantially boost performance without breaking the fargin' bank. My proposed system is detailed below in order of process. Component I already own are indicated with "***" but I'll replace anything your collective wisdom so requires. Your experience is what I'm needin' so here we go: 1. ***FLAC files 2. ***Internal Hard Drive (WD 2TB Sata hdd installed in below computer) 3. Homebrew computer – tentatively comprised of the following (incl. Newegg's part#): -Bare bones computer kitwhich includes small case, 200w Power Supply, 1155 Sandy Bridge motherboard, USB 3 (model: Shuttle SH61R4 - NeweggItem #: N82E16856101124) -Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit (Item #: N82E16832116986) -Intel Processor (Celeron G530 Sandy Bridge BX80623G530 Item #: N82E16819116409) -Ram (4 Gigs of G.SKILL NS F3-10600CL9D-4GBNS Item #: N82E16820231394) -Optical Bluray Drive/Player/DVD & CD Player/Writer (ASUS Black Blu-ray Drive SATA Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS Item #: N82E16827135247) -Wireless Adapter for occasional Pandora streaming (BUFFALO USB WLI-UC-GNHP Item #: N82E16833162032) -20" Monitor (Acer G205HVbd Item #: N82E16824009314) -Wireless Keyboard with Laser Trackball(IOGEAR GKM561R Item #: N82E16823176018) -Sound Card with optical out (PCIe ASUS Xonar DGX Item #: N82E16829132052) 4. Software Music Player (I'm open to suggestions. Winamp, iTunes, MediaMonkey, etc) 5. Unknown optical interconnect from optical out on sound card to optical in on DAC 6. DAC - Schiit Bitfrost 7. Unknown RCA interconnect from DAC analog out to receiver RCA preamp in 8. ***Preamp/Amp: Denon DRA-1025R 2-channel receiver (Class-A amplification and Denon's top-of-the-line model when I bought it new in the late 1980's at Federated's going-out-of-business sale.) 9. Unknown LONG RCA interconnect from Denon's "Main Out" to RCA "line in" on sub woofer 10. ***Sub Woofer: Velodyne F1200 (circa 1995, 12" woofer, 20-85hz +/- 3db, internal amp produces 100 watts RMS, bass management which I plan on using [adjusted to 80hz]) 11. Unknown LONG RCA interconnect from "line out" to "Main In" on Denon receiver 12. Unknown speaker wire (or gauge) from Denon to speakers 13. ***Speakers: stand-mounted Canton Karat 920 DC bookshelf speakers (circa 1996, 7" woofer + tweeter, none bi-amp) 14. ***My 52 year old ears Thanks. Gary


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Corey Duffel and Dakota Sevold on Berrics Skate TalkYea they were there. Last night. From 8-8:30 live. Bob Had a Black Josh Beagle deck on the wall there. Hair pick included. Sweet! Should we do a new version with Corey? I think so. I'm looking for the Black Beagle art as we speak...I mean type.
Is that Bob?
Posted February 16th, 2011 by swankzine


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(CNN) -- Don Pardo, the announcer whose baritone voice introduced "Saturday Night Live" hosts on NBC for decades, has died at age 96, the network announced.
In a tweet, "NBC Nightly News" described Pardo as legendary.
Though best known as the voice of the weekly sketch comedy program, Pardo previously had a role in a very serious story. "As the NBC staff announcer on Nov. 22, 1963, he was among the first to tell the nation about the assassination attempt on President John F. Kennedy," according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Mourning the loss Tuesday, NBC's Al Roker described Pardo on Twitter as "a classic."
Seth Myers, who spent years on "SNL" before recently beginning his own late-night talk program, wrote, "RIP Don Pardo. A voice that meant so much."
Ron Simon, curator of television and radio at the Paley Center for Media, said Pardo celebrated his 70th anniversary with NBC in June, having started in 1944 as an announcer.


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"For relaxing times, make it Suntory time."
Like Bill Murray playing the character Bob Harris in the movie "Lost in Translation," I found myself sitting alone at a hotel bar in Tokyo tonight listening to the cacophony of foreign voices having unintelligible conversations. Chipper tones and drawn out vowels danced like bird song at an aviary. Indecipherable words fell like silk curtains separating me from the people around me. The ghostlike haze of jetlag further distanced me from my surroundings. I've been gone for a week and I miss Beautiful Wife, my darling kidlets, my friends and the comforts of home. I could completely relate to Bob feeling adrift in a distant land. If you haven't seen the movie, go get it.
What's a man to do? Visit a dear old friend: whisky. I couldn't get a Suntory, the whisky Bob pitched in the movie, so I ordered a 14 year old Oban Single Malt Scotch Whisky. Ah, there you are. Oban is a good friend with that familiar lilting hello breaking through the fog of strangers' meaningless conversations. She's a gentle reminder that I'm not completely alone despite being 6,500 miles from home and 14 hours ahead in the day.
Oban a west highland whisky distillery, now owned by mega company Diageo, was founded in 1794 and is situated on the western coast of Scotland. The town of Oban grew up around the distillery and is also known as the "Gateway to the Isles". Diageo started a movement to designate "Classic Malts" in 1985, and Oban represents the West Coast in that designation. Oban is easily one of the most famous of the western highlands and is known for its easy drinking style.
|Amber as intriguing as it is dangerous to the tiny insect.
|Smoked honeyed oranges with sea salt and spice.
|Alcoholic flirt with a rose petal, carameled pear at the front followed by smoky peat with a long, sweet oak finish.
|1,900 ¥ per glass or about $22
Even if you aren't sitting alone in a hotel bar in a foreign country, Oban Single Malt Scotch Whisky makes a good friend.
Bob: "You want more mysterious? I'll just try and think, 'Where the hell's the whiskey?'"