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IMAGE: Advertisement for Mass Effect 3 (Bioware)
The unprecedented fan backlash that emerged following the release of Mass Effect 3 early last year had a number of unforeseen consequences in the world of videogame journalism. Most immediately it revealed a stark and needlessly hostile division between the gaming press and a subsection of their readership; but it further exposed some rather complicated interrelations between those critics and the publishers they are tasked with reviewing.
In the wake of the negative fan response to Mass Effect 3, many in the press condemned those unhappy with the ending presented by Bioware as 'entitled whiners', describing them as indulged consumers who, in their opinion, threatened to irreparably damage the legitimacy of videogames as an artistic medium. In the opinion rant offered by Colin Moriarty (Playstation editor for IGN), his ferocious, infantile attack even refused any fan even the basic right to express their dissatisfaction once their purchase had been made. You either admit you liked it (as he did), or shut the hell up.
Frequently, these arguments boiled down to a variation of one rhetorical plea: how can games be considered Art if the audience dares to question the absolutism of its creator's vision? It is a premise that embraced a reductive, narrow illogic that fundamentally misunderstood the whole history of art; but more than that, it revealed a self-righteous indignation at the heart of the gaming press itself.
After all, it was they in the press themselves who had spent years hyperbolically parroting the promises of Bioware's publicity machine, ensuring player's that, yes indeed, their choices would matter, that they would help shape the ending that they chose. Indeed, in an extraordinary amount of cases, it was they themselves that had repeated these very sentiments in their reviews of the game (your choices matter; you define your ending; you decide your fate), and yet they immediately sought to discredit the fans who wanted to question those statements after making their purchase and finding it a distinctly different experience from the one promised.
But as many in the games media shook their collective heads in disappointment, lamenting that their audience was failing to live up to their expectations, the heightened scrutiny that this controversy stirred soon revealed some rather glaring omissions and conflicts of interest – few of which had been previously disclosed – all of which left the moral high ground from which they clucked their tongues a little unstable beneath their feet.
After all, Jessica Chobot, one of the principle representatives of gaming site IGN (one of Bioware's most vocal supporters throughout), actually appeared as a character in Mass Effect 3, muddying the journalistic distance one might hope for in a publication's criticism or review. Indeed, it was a decision that made the ferocious screed Moriarty spewed at disgruntled fans appear a little personal. (At the very least it threw a glaring suspicion over his ugly, and weirdly wounded vitriol.)
Similarly, the majority of reviewers of Mass Effect 3 were sent copies that could not import decisions from previous save games (here) meaning that they had no way of speaking to what is arguably the central conceit of the game experience (a fact many did not disclose in their copy), with consequentially few (if any) speaking of the face import issues that spoiled the experience for a great number of players.
And amongst innumerable other such examples, the publication Game Informer was happy to publish pre-release quotes such as Case Hudson's promises of no 'A, B, or C ending' in expansive, gushing advertorial articles (here), while going on to not only fail to question the hypocrisies in such promises in their 10/10 review, but actively dismiss fans who questioned such contradiction after the fact.*
Sadly, however, incidents such as these have proved to be merely the tip of the iceberg in an industry that appears to lack the necessary objectivity that a word like 'journalism' necessitates. As even a cursory exploration of the medium's press reveals, in just the past several months a startling amount of evidence has surfaced that suggests that the relationship between publisher and reviewer has become, at times, uncomfortably cosy, with the average reader left unable to disentangle what is unsolicited analysis, and what is coerced, encouraged, or influenced by the very publishers who are supposedly being critiqued.**
* Jeff Gerstmann gave a negative review to Kane & Lynch and was summarily fired by Gamespot who caved to Sony's threats to pull their advertising and exclusives. The reasoning offered for his termination was that he 'couldn't be trusted' to be an Editorial Director (here).
* At the most recent GMAs, gaming journalists were offered the chance to win a Playstation 3 console if they Tweeted advertising for the upcoming Tomb Raider game. When a Eurogamer's Robert Florence questioned whether or not such a practice was above board considering that they were meant to be the critics, not the cheerleaders of these products, he was fired (here).
* Publishers routinely send swag to reviewers as 'gifts' to accompany the review copies of their games – things like pens, clothing, crazy expensive chess sets (here), and offer expenses-paid 'preview' excursions to hotels and events.
* Activision blackballed Gameplanet, refusing them interviews with the makers of their games, because they wrote (extraordinarily briefly) about one such junket in which Activision invited a bunch of gaming journalists to an exclusive all-expenses paid hotel event, questioning the legitimacy of such an advertising technique (here).
* Sony felt comfortable threatening Kotaku with blackballing when they tried to report on an upcoming Sony service, even emailing them some borderline extortion menace that included the lines:
'I am very disappointed that after trying to work with you as closely as possible and provide you and your team with access and information, you chose to report on this rumor…. I can't defend outlets that can't work cooperatively with us. / So, it is for this reason, that we will be canceling all further interviews for Kotaku staff at GDC and will be dis-inviting you to our media event next Tuesday. Until we can find a way to work better together, information provided to your site will only be that found in the public forum.' (here)
* Electronic Arts seemingly sought to manipulate reviews of Battlefield 3 in Norway by withholding review copies to reviewers that gave bad reviews to previous installments, and forcing reviewers to fill out questionnaires about what they might score it (here).
So to summarise: confirmed cases of obscuration, extortion, enticement, coercion, all in a systemised ongoing blur between advertising and criticism…
Many in the games industry claim that such actions are uncharacteristic and minor aberrations in an otherwise ethically sound field. They would argue that it is unjust to look upon such incidents as anything more than the misbehaviour of a misguided few who stepped way over the line and were swiftly corrected; but to me, dismissing them as isolated events completely at odds with the standard practice of this field is highly disingenuous. Rather, these events are evidence of an ongoing systemic pattern of behaviour that has shown no signs of cessation or legitimate regulation.
The firing of Robert Florence happened only months ago – and that decision has not been reversed. Sony's and Activision's bully tactics appear to be ongoing – or at least have adapted over time. Game publishers continue to send swag to reviewers along with copies of their game; still preview their games in exclusive expenses-paid junkets; and utilise their marketing divisions to determine which outlet will be provided what level of access and which exclusives.
While I agree that people need to exercise reason and personal assessment in their purchasing, to pretend that the division between PR and critique in this industry has not been inextricably blurred, to dismiss the reality that there are few (if any) places to seek out analysis that has not been clouded by the uncomfortably close relationship of publishers and reviewers, is wilfully naive.
While it is not (and is never) as simple an arrangement as 'I will give you this ludicrous, expensive chess set and you will give me a great score for my game…' it is instead a system of comingled marketing and analysis has become so engrained – indeed, so expected – that the discerning consumer looking on is now incapable of reasonably drawing a line between what is unsolicited, honest review, and what has been swayed by an undisclosed familiarity with the publisher.
There are innumerable means of influence and persuasion – and yes, they are a part of every business that employs advertising to survive – but when it is common industry practice to ply games journalists with merchandise to invite them to linger longer upon, or think better of a game***, and then those very same people are later tasked with the analysis of that finished product, a line has been crossed that I believe must be considered with reservation. (And again: the recent game-journalists-tweeting-publicity-to-win-a- PS3 scenario is a worrying product of a system that currently appears to be functioning without strict regulation.)
Indeed, the fact that the 'reviewers' of games are thought of as potential advertising opportunities in such a manner – potential billboards that can be won over and utilised to spread product awareness – is precisely the issue that makes trusting any opinion offered by these figures suspect. Roger Ebert may get free tickets to the films he reviews, but he is not pictured wearing a Spiderman 6: Rise of the Arbitrary Sequel hoodie at the time; he won't be denied access to interviews with directors and programmers if he slags off a movie (because publicity is not part of his purview); and the advertising that keeps his job afloat comes from a more diverse field of companies than merely the makers of those film themselves.
When I disagree with Roger Ebert – and I frequently do (the man loved Speed 2) – I do so because it is his personal perspective that I conflict with, not the entire perpetuation of the publicity/critique system that he works within. At present those divisions have not yet been established firmly enough in this medium – and until they are, until such gratis gifts and payed, wooing previews are the exception rather than the rule, such scepticism will, by necessity, always persist.
So no, this is not a field swimming in fraud and dishonesty, but it is hardly a paragon of incorruptible principle, either – and when onlookers of the whole Mass Effect saga see two facts: '75 perfect scores', alongside a player Metacritic score of 1.5, I think a little more scepticism on both sides is healthy.
* And Game Informer (a publication owned by GameStop) announced that Mass Effect 3 was their Game of the Year for 2012 on the very same page that they advertised the release date and details of the 'New Wii-U edition!'
** And an article like this one by Erik Kain at Forbes is an extraordinary (and rather disheartening) place to start (http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/10/26/all-the-pretty-doritos-how-video-game-journalism-went-off-the-rails/)
*** Ninja Stan, a moderator on the Bioware forum who has previously worked for Bioware (and with whom I had the original discussion that evolved into this rant), confirmed that Bioware, like innumerable other publishers, has routinely employed techniques such as supplying free beer to games journalists at events like PAX in order to entice them to linger longer at their booths and think more favourably of their games.


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Health outcomes such as life expectancy continue to improve in the UK thanks to improved social, medical and health care conditions. However these improvements mask a widening gap between the health outcomes of the wealthiest and the most deprived communities.
The RCN is committed to diminishing health inequalities and therefore fully endorses the six key policy objectives cited in Fair Society, Health Lives, which are:
The current health reforms in England must ensure that local Health and Wellbeing Boards, Clinical Commissioning Group and Public Health England are held accountable for closing the inequality gap.
If you have any comments or wish to contribute further, please email firstname.lastname@example.com
Page last updated - 23/03/2017

subset: commoncrawl


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The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $26.34 billion for the month of April 2014, an increase of 11.5 percent from the April 2013 total of $23.62 billion and a slight uptick of 0.7 percent compared to last month's total of $26.15 billion. Sales in the Americas increased 14.7 percent year-over-year in April, leading all regions. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average. Additionally, a new WSTS industry forecast projects continued growth for 2014 and 2015.
"The global semiconductor market maintained its strong momentum in April, with year-over-year sales increasing across every region and product category," said Brian Toohey, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. "The market remains well ahead of the pace set in 2013, which was a record year for semiconductor revenues. April marked the twelfth consecutive month that year-over-year sales have increased, and we expect that trend to continue during the remainder of 2014 and into 2015."
Regionally, sequential monthly sales increased in Asia Pacific (1.7 percent) and Japan (1.1 percent), but decreased in Europe (-0.6 percent) and the Americas (-1.6 percent). Compared to April 2013, sales increased in the Americas (14.7 percent), Asia Pacific (12.5 percent), Europe (8.2 percent), and Japan (4.4 percent – the region's largest increase in more than three years).
Additionally, SIA today endorsed the WSTS Spring 2014 global semiconductor sales forecast, which projects the industry's worldwide sales will reach $325.4 billion in 2014, a 6.5 percent increase from the 2013 sales total. This reflects a revision up from the WSTS Fall 2013 forecast, which projected 4.1 percent growth in 2014. WSTS now predicts year-over-year increases for 2014 in Asia Pacific (9.3 percent), Europe (7.9 percent), and the Americas (2.1 percent), with a slight decline projected for Japan (-1.3 percent).
Beyond 2014, the industry is expected to grow steadily and moderately across all regions, according to the WSTS forecast. WSTS predicts 3.3 percent growth globally for 2015 ($336.1 billion in total sales) and 4.3 percent growth for 2016 ($350.5 billion). WSTS tabulates its semi-annual industry forecast by convening an extensive group of global semiconductor companies that provide accurate and timely indicators of semiconductor trends.
To find out how to purchase the WSTS Subscription Package, which includes comprehensive monthly semiconductor sales data and detailed WSTS Forecasts, please visit http://www.semiconductors.org/industry_statistics/wsts_subscription_package/.


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On The Shagging Club, you'll find plenty of local members, all verified by our 24 hour moderation team, so finding naughty encounters and discreet hook-ups has never been easier. Whether you're looking for a flirtacious fling, a raunchy rendezvous or a lust-fueled liasion, at The Shagging Club, we have something for you!
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Of course, there are many more inside.


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Roger Craig Smith
STARmeterSEE RANK
Down 526 this week
"You've heard Roger Craig Smith. Maybe you've not heard of him, but you've definitely heard this former stand-up comedian's voice in countless TV shows, video games, films and commercials. Roger Craig Smith is a man of a thousand voices. In just one production alone, Roger has voiced more than 170 characters for the Emmy award-winning Cartoon ... See full bio »
Born:in Orange County, California, USA
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Sign up for free in 3 minutes. Best prospects: 90% of the members of one2like find a partner to chat and flirt with us and go on dates.
Seriousness and efficiency for modern and successful dating. Each new single registration is checked for plausibility and level.
Our matching algorithm helps you find your partner. Find the right partner for life among more than 3 million singles who use one2like.
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Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy describes what information Store Supply Warehouse, LLC ("Store Supply Warehouse," "we," "us," or "our") collects through our websites at www.storesupply.com, www.sswdealersupply.com, and www.sswgoodwill.com (individually and collectively, the "Website"), how we handle personal information, and the choices available to you regarding collection, use, access, and updating of your personal information.
By accessing or using any of our sites and/or our services or otherwise providing us with any information, you consent to the handling of your information as described in this Policy.
Collection of Your Personal Information
Information you provide to us
We (and our third party service providers) may collect data, including personal information, about you as you use our Website and interact with us, such as when you conduct transactions online, subscribe to receive information or email offers, participate in surveys, participate in a promotion, enter contests or sweepstakes, contact us, or interact with special event or program offers. "Personal information" is any information that can be used to identify an individual, and may include name, address, email address, phone number, login information (account number, password), marketing preferences, social media account information, or payment card number.
We also collect personal information from third-party sources.
Information we collect through these interactions may include, but is not limited to:
- Contact information (such as name, address, city, state and ZIP code, email address and telephone number), which we may for example link to an IP address
- Demographic information (such as age range, marital status and household composition)
- Payment information (such as credit or debit card information)
- Purchase information
- User and activity data from our Website
- Survey responses
- Photographs (such as those that you may submit for contests or sweepstakes)
Information we collect automatically
We and our third party service providers may automatically collect information about your use of the Website through cookies, web beacons, log files and other technologies. This information may include, but is not limited to:
- Domain name
- Browser type and operating system
- IP address
- Web pages you view
- Links you click
- Length of time of your visit
- Your activities on our Websites including your movement through our Websites
- Referring URL or webpage that led you to our Websites
We and our third party service providers may combine this information with information that we (or they) already have collected about you.
Information we collect from third parties
We may collect information about you from third parties, including personal, demographic and aggregate information. For example, we may also obtain information about you from our marketing service providers, advertisers and other third parties.
Information related to employment applications
Potential future employees of Store Supply Warehouse may choose to submit an employment application on the Website. The pages listing employment opportunities and the "Careers" pages are operated by a third party vendor and information those third parties collect on their own website is subject to the terms and conditions and privacy policy of that site.
Your application information, once delivered to us, is used only to process your employment request, which includes corresponding with you to make arrangements for your association with us or to notify you of the results of our review of your application.
Privacy of Children
Our Website is not intended for individuals under the age of 13. We do not intentionally collect personally identifiable information from users of this site who are under the age of 13.
If you believe that we may have collected personal information from someone under the applicable age of consent and without proper consent, please notify us using the methods described in the "Contact Us" section so we can investigate and address the matter.
If we become aware that a user of our Website is under the age of 13 and has provided personally identifiable information to us via our Website, we will remove that child's personal information from our files.
Uses of Your Information
We use your personal information and other information principally to provide our services to you and to fulfill your requests. We may combine, link, or aggregate your information with other information that we have about you, that is publicly available and/or that we have obtained from third parties (either individually or in the aggregate). We also may use your information for the following purposes:
- To improve your user experience, including by customizing information for you.
- For our operational needs and to facilitate providing services.
- For marketing and advertising, including by combining your information with information we get from third parties for email, direct mail, telephone, web or other electronic advertising and to communicate with you about offers from us or third parties that might be of interest to you. We may also use your information to determine appropriate advertising channels and venues and to place ads on such channels and venues, including placing advertising on social networking sites.
- For surveys and promotions.
- To improve and maintain our Websites and our services, including for other research and analytical purposes.
- For security purposes, to protect our rights and interests and the rights and interests of other users of our services.
Third parties providing services to us or on our behalf may use your information for all of the purposes described above in order to provide such services.
Disclosing Your Information
Store Supply Warehouse may disclose your personal information to:
- Third party service providers that assist us and perform functions for us (including technical support, website hosting, marketing support, research, analytics, service/order fulfillment, customer service and credit card processing). In some cases third-party service providers, such as information technology and data processing vendors, data storage services, etc., may be located outside the United States and your personal information may be processed or stored in other countries. We also use third parties to assist us in determining and placing relevant advertising.
- Marketing partners with whom we are collaborating on joint promotions or marketing.
- Our subsidiary and affiliated entities.
- Law enforcement or other third parties to protect the rights or property of Store Supply Warehouse, our customers, our Website or Website users, or to comply with other laws or legal requirements (including subpoenas).
- Third parties involved in business transactions involving us or our affiliates, such as a sale of any portion of our business, or obtaining financing, or as part of a bankruptcy proceeding.
Use of Cookies, Web Beacons and Other Similar Technologies
Store Supply Warehouse and our third party service providers collect information by using technologies and methodologies, such as "cookies", tags, web beacons or other similar technologies that enable tracking as you browse our Website. These technologies authenticate you as a user, remember your preferences for using the site, present offers that may be of interest, and facilitate transactions. We and our third party service providers also use these tools to analyze use of our Website and services, and may use this information in the aggregate or combine it with information that we have already collected about you.
Cookie. "Cookies" are small bits of information that are stored on your computer by your web browser. Cookies and other technologies described in this Privacy Policy allow us to recognize your preference information, to track your transactions and to facilitate effective website administration.
Cookies help establish a user session and allow our server to provide site users with tailored information, advertisements and services. We also use cookies to authenticate your authority to access the Website, to track the usage of our Website, and to improve the Website.
If you do not want your information to be collected through cookies, you may be able to change the preferences in your particular Internet browser. Some Website functionality may not work properly if your browser does not accept cookies. Please consult your chosen Internet browser for instructions on how to change your cookie settings.
Local storage objects. We may use Flash Local Storage Objects ("Flash LSOs") to store your preferences and to personalize your visit. Flash LSOs are different from browser cookies because of the amount and type of data stored. Typically, you cannot control, delete or disable the acceptance of Flash LSOs through your web browser. For more information on Flash LSOs or to learn how to manage your settings for Flash LSOs, go to the Adobe Flash Player Help Page, choose "Global Storage Settings Panel" and follow the instructions. To see the Flash LSOs currently on your computer, choose "Website Storage Settings Panel" and follow the instructions to review and, if you want, to delete any specific Flash LSO.
Clear GIFs, pixel tags and other technologies. These technologies allow us to recognize your preference information, keep track of your transactions and facilitate effective website administration. Clear GIFs are tiny graphics with a unique identifier, similar in function to cookies. In contrast to cookies, which are stored on your computer's hard drive, clear GIFs are embedded invisibly on web pages. We and our third-party service providers may use clear GIFs (also known as web beacons, web bugs or pixel tags), in connection with our sites and services to, among other things, track the activities of visitors, help us manage content and compile statistics about usage. We and our third party service providers may also use clear GIFs in HTML emails sent to you to help us track email response rates, identify when our emails are viewed and track whether our emails are forwarded.
Other Monitoring Software. This Website is being monitored by one or more third-party monitoring software(s), and may capture information about you and your visit that will help us contact you and/or improve the quality of our service and website. You may be able to control the data being collected by such software from your visit through a universal consumer options page located at https://smart-pixl.com/Unsub/unsub.html
Internet Based Advertising and Internet Protocol (IP) Address Targeting
We may work with data providers to serve advertising to you through display media, in printed form, or through other methods or media. These providers may use personal information and other information that we have collected or that you have provided to locate you online, such as when you visit or log in to websites or mobile applications. This information may be linked to online identifiers or IP addresses assigned to you, and to demographic or interest-based data, in order to deliver ads that are customized to what these companies believe are most likely to be relevant and of interest to you (including about our products or services).
To learn more about or opt out of this and other interest-based advertising, please visit the industry opt-out pages operated by the Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) at http://www.aboutads.info and the by the Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) at http://networkadvertising.org. Opting out of one or more NAI or DAI members means that only those particular members will no longer deliver targeted content or ads to you. It does not mean you will no longer receive any targeted content or ads on our websites, on other non-Store Supply Warehouse Websites or otherwise. In addition, opting out in this way (or through our opt-out cookie) is browser-specific, so if you change your browser, update it, use a different computer, or clear your cookie cache, you will need to opt out again.
In addition, some third party advertising technology Store Supply Warehouse uses to deliver advertisements may utilize separate cookies and other tracking technologies. This technology may be delivered through visits to our Website, email messages, apps or otherwise. Web beacons on some pages of our Website, in conjunction with these advertising cookies and our other cookies, enable the third-party advertising technology to better understand onsite activity in the aggregate, to recognize a browser's cookie when a browser visits this Website, other websites or apps, and to learn which advertisements bring users to our site or our apps or lead them to otherwise take action.
Third-Party Analytics
Store Supply Warehouse may implement Google Analytics as a tool to help us understand customer visits to our Website and to facilitate advertising features for the Website. As a part of Google Analytics, Google, as a third-party vendor, makes use of certain cookies and anonymous identifiers to serve ads on the Website and to provide certain behavioral, demographic and interest data to third parties. Google's use of these cookies enables it to serve ads to users based on their visit to the Website and other sites on the Internet.
You may be able to stop the collection of information we do using Google Analytics by disabling Google Analytics in your browser's Add-on settings. You may be able to opt out of Google Analytics by performing changes to your browser's add-on settings by downloading and installing the Google Analytics opt-out add-on found on Google's Opt-out page (https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en). If you opt out of Google Analytics this may also disable Google Analytics for other websites, but you may be able to re-enable Google Analytics again by resetting the add-on in the browser.
Your Access to Your Information
You can create, view or update information in your Store Supply Warehouse account by accessing it through the "Edit Account" section on www.storesupply.com or by calling 1-800-823-8887. We rely on you to keep your information current and accurate.
To protect your privacy, you should not share any of your personal or other information, such as any account number or password, with any unauthorized individuals or third-party information aggregators that would allow them access to your sensitive account information with us.
Protecting Your Information
In spite of security precautions we and our service providers take, the internet cannot be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We cannot and do not ensure or warrant the security of any personal or other information you provide to us.
Opting Out
You may opt out of receiving marketing or promotion-related emails or direct mail from us by accessing your account profile information on the Website and changing your profile to indicate that you want to be excluded. Alternatively, you may contact us by phone, email, or in writing and request a profile change. In addition, emails that we send to you will contain a message and link on how to opt out of that type of communication in the future. Regardless of your opt-out preferences, we reserve the right to send you emails or other communications for administrative purposes.
Your California Privacy Rights
Under California Civil Code § 1798.83, Store Supply Warehouse customers who are residents of California may request certain information about our disclosure of personal information during the prior calendar year to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please contact us at the following address:
Store Supply Warehouse
12955 Enterprise Way
Bridgeton, MO 63044
Attention: California Privacy
Or, you may send us an email at: firstname.lastname@example.com and put "California Privacy" in the subject line of your email.
Linked Websites
We may provide links to other third-party websites and services that are outside our control and not covered by this Privacy Policy. Store Supply Warehouse bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of the external site or for that of subsequent links. You should review the privacy statements and other terms and conditions of use posted on those websites you visit.
Contact Us
If you have comments or questions about this Privacy Policy, please submit your inquiry to us at the following address:
Store Supply Warehouse
12955 Enterprise Way
Bridgeton, MO 63044
Attention: President & CEO
Or, you may send us an email at: email@example.com; or contact us by phone at: 1-800-823-8887.
Legal Effect and Changes to the Policy
This Privacy Policy reflects guidelines for Store Supply Warehouse's intended business practices. By accessing or using any Website and/or by providing any information to us online or offline, you consent to the collection and use of such information by Store Supply Warehouse, its affiliates, contractors, service providers, permitted agents and others described in this Policy and consistent with applicable laws.
Store Supply Warehouse, in its discretion, may amend, interpret, modify or withdraw any portion of this Privacy Policy and related business practices at any time by posting updated text on this Website. Your continued access to or use of our Website constitutes your consent to those changes. If you do not consent to the terms of this Privacy Policy, as it may be in effect from time to time, do not access or use this Website. Please check this Privacy Policy each time you access or use the Website to be aware of its current terms.
This Privacy Policy was last updated on February 08, 2019. This Privacy Policy supersedes previous privacy policies posted on this Website.


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Óscar Fernández-Capetillo (born in Bilbao in 1974) obtained his PhD from the Universidad del País Vasco working on the role of E2F transcription factors on the development of the immune system with A. Zubiaga. He then joined the laboratory of A. Nussenzweig at the National Cancer Institute, USA, where he started to work on the cellular response to DNA damage (DDR), focusing particularly on the role of the histone variant H2AX and other chromatin-related aspects.
After three years at the NCI he joined the CNIO to lead the Genomic Instability Group where his work has continued to focus on chromatin but now mainly concentrates on developing cellular and animal tools for studying the role of the ATR/Chk1 signalling cascade in the protection against cancer and ageing.
His work has been recognised through several national and international awards/honours including the Eppendorf Award for Young Investigators (2009), elected EMBO Young Investigator (2008), an ERC Starting Grant (2007), the membership to the EPIGENOME Network of Excellence (2006), and the Swiss Bridge Award (2005).


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Say hello to Tevan & Tyler…our first Aberdeen wedding since the move to South Dakota, and my goodness, the best possible couple to start with! It's not very often we can walk away from a wedding and not actually want to leave! From the gorgeous florals to the stunning bridal dress, from the moving ceremony to the crazy wild dance, this day was EPIC! Tevan actually looked out during her reception meal to locate me to ensure I had found a place to sit and eat. I mean seriously, who does that?! LOVE! Thank you so much to the newlyweds for choosing ASP to document your wedding day!
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Wow! Those are amazing photos as always , your photography is so breath taking.
What a beautiful wedding, some of the best wedding photos I've seen.
Congrats to the bride & groom. Looks like you had a gorgeous wedding and lots of fun.
So excited to share one of our winter bridal sessions was featured on SD Wedding Style Magazine's website. Thanks to model JaCee for her fine skills, and to all our fabulous vendors for contributing. Click HERE to see the full blog post!
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You asked, and we're kindly accepting the invitation! ASP will be back in Worthington, MN the weekend of May 11th and 12th and is hosting a mini-session portrait event. Only, unlike events in the past, we are using a fabulous farm with scenes, props, and potential like no other. Your children will be exploring, moving, and playing in a whole variety of locations during their shoot. I can ensure you: your photos will not look different and unique from the others who book sessions for this event. And for those of you wondering, "How many photos can she get in 20 minutes?" LOTS! Your disc will have lots of variety, facial expressions, poses, and playful movement.
Bring a cowboy hat, a pretty lace dress, a colorful plaid shirt. With many props and backdrops to choose from, you simply cannot wear the wrong thing. Need more tips on how to style your kids? Click HERE.
To reserve your spot: we are requiring a $50 non-refundable deposit. We figure this is your way of committing to the session, since we have only a limited amount of room, and want to fill them all. This will ensure you a place in our lineup! Thanks for your cooperation and understanding.
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Early morning rain threatened a beautiful outdoor MN wedding, but when the heavens opened at 10:00 a.m. with warm sunshine, there was no raining on this parade! I've known Alissa forever. We grew up in the same church, same Sunday school class, and I have to say what a JOY it is to see someone again later in life so vibrant, successful, and happy! Richard & Alissa are certainly among the most stunning and loving of all the couples I've had the chance to photograph. Surrounded by a host of adoring family and friends, they were married in her parents backyard with the still waters of Lake Okabena alongside. I personally loved their casual and kind energy surrounding the entire day. Both were so go-with-the-flow, giddy, and remarkably generous among all their guests! Thanks to the lovely couple for the honor of documenting such a memorable day! Many blessings!
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I think this wedding is a beautiful wedding. I am a photographer, and I was just trying to get into doing weddings myself, I was wondering how do you tell a client that this will be the first wedding for you to shoot? How did you tell your client on your first wedding?
you did a wonderful job!!!


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Cushman & Wakefield, a global real estate services firm, was appointed manager of Galeria Orkana in Lublin in August 2016. The shopping centre is owned by real estate group CPI Property Group.
Galeria Orkana is a two-level shopping centre located in Lublin at the junction of Władysława Orkana and Zwycięska streets. It offers building area of 17,000 sq m of floorspace for about 50 retail stores, restaurants and service outlets of top brands, including Reserved, Orsay, W. Kruk, Vistula, Sinsay, Jysk, CCC, Rossmann, and the Cukiernia Sowa cake shop, the first in the Lubelskie province. It also provides 220 underground and surface parking spaces. Galeria Orkana has become a social point for many Lubliners for its regular social and cultural events such as free medical examinations for seniors and 4D ultrasound scanning for pregnant women. Constructed in 2006, Galeria Orkana has been managed by Cushman & Wakefield since August 2016.
CPI Property Group is a leading real estate manager in Central and Eastern Europe and in Germany, focusing on long-term investments, real estate leasing and asset management. Its diversified portfolio valued at more than EUR 4 bn comprises a wide range of properties in Germany, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. With more than 633,000 sqm CPI Property Group is the largest retail space owner in the Czech Republic, concentrating on the development of midsize stores, retail parks and supermarkets, as well as managing hotels and office buildings.


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Lawsuit Funding Prevents Financial Setback
Insurance companies are famous for low-balling accident victims. Don't let that happen to you. Understanding lawsuit funding can be the case-saver you need, to get the compensation you deserve.
Anyone involved in a lawsuit knows the litigation process can takes months, even years. Personal injury claims and a lengthy litigation process can drain a plaintiff's financial resources quickly especially for those forced to take time off work and who need medical care. Defendants know this and will drag out a case hoping to force plaintiffs to settle for less than they deserve simply because they need immediate cash. Even if a plaintiff has proven their case, settlement payments can take a considerable amount of time to be processed.
With the financial assistance of lawsuit funding, plaintiffs can live comfortably until the settlement check arrives in the mail. From mortgage payments and car notes to utility bills and living expenses, a lawsuit cash advance can provide peace of mind while the case is being actively disputed. The best part of a lawsuit cash advance is that there is absolutely no risk to the plaintiff. If the plaintiff does not win the case, repayment of the cash advance is completely waived.
If a personal injury has set you back financially, Lawsuit Financial may be able to improve your financial situation by providing immediate cash to withstand the litigation process. The process to obtain lawsuit funding is quick and easy; just visit us online to complete our one-page application. Employment is not necessary and we do not need to perform a credit check. The only factor to obtain funding from Lawsuit Financial is a case with merit. Once a case is approved for funding, cash can be available in less than 48 hours. Contact us today to learn more or to apply.


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- Details
- Specs
- Reviews
- What's Included
Enjoying your favorite movies and television shows just got easier with these gold plated component video cables with machined connectors. This product provides a maximum analog video signal at a great price and works with your cable box, DVR, DVD player, audio video (AV) receiver or HDTV.
This cable is 2 meters, it also comes in 4 Meters, 8 Meters and 10 Meters (each sold separately).
Length: 2 Meters: 6.5 Feet
- 3 Meter Audio Cables
- 3 Meter Audio Cables


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| 19.7°C Dublin
Haiti marks the first anniversary of its disastrous earthquake on Wednesday with voodoo ceremonies and open air masses amid a barrage of warnings that its corrupt political power struggle was destroying recovery efforts.
Rene Preval, the outgoing president, was last night under mounting pressure to reverse an apparent attempt to rig the election of his successor.
The Organisation of American States (OAS), the regional grouping, demanded that Jude Celestin, the ruling party candidate, be removed from a run-off for the post.
Widespread bribery, intimidation and ballot fraud in the first round of the election produced a discredited result that has pitched the island into dangerous political uncertainty.
Mr Celestin emerged as runner-up in the November vote to Mirlande Manigat, a former first lady, ahead of the popular cult singer, Michel Martelly.
Diplomats said Mr Preval would not withstand pressure to postpone the poll – already delayed from January 16 – after the OAS declaration.
But the prospect of a power struggle amid the ruins of Haiti's devastated capital Port au Prince dismayed international donors already disillusioned by the failure to rebuild the Western hemisphere's poorest state.
Catherine Ashton, the EU foreign policy representative, warned that instability in the political elite was preventing aid from reaching people who needed it.
"We are extremely concerned by the political situation," she said. "Current instability prevents EU humanitarian aid reaching the people in need and makes the reconstruction process slower and more complex."
A 7.0 earthquake on the Richter scale left 227,750 people dead and 2.3 million without homes on January 12 last year. Twelve months on, more than one million are still homeless and up to 8,000 a month are seeking life-saving treatment for cholera.
Temporary camps built on golf courses, shopping centres and unstable hillsides, are plagued with crime – hundreds of women have suffered rape – disease and a shortage of amenities.
Mr Preval's government all but collapsed after the disaster, which destroyed the presidential palace and killed one third of government employees.
Only a US-military led intervention halted a death spiral, reopening the airport and distributing food and supplies to cut-off areas.
Myriad government failures harmed rebuilding efforts. Cafod, the Catholic aid agency, warning millions could not be rehoused until a new property code was adopted.
Ordinary Haitians could only express despair. "We have been abandoned to our fate," said one resident of Port-au-Prince's Corail Camp. "The government has forgotten us."
Bill Clinton, the former US president and special envoy for Haitian reconstruction, who will spearhead the two-day commemorations, arrived in Port-au-Prince last night. Events will be capped by an open air Roman Catholic mass for the victims in the ruins of the city's cathedral, which was destroyed in the quake.
The official schedule includes the symbolic laying of the first stone for a housing project in the centre of Port-au-Prince.


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Bar Bar Black Sheep Slot Machine
Bar Bar Black Sheep was once a 3-reel classic slot from Microgaming. Well, it still is, if we're being totally honest. However, since those days, aMicrogaming have transformed the slot into a 5-reel video slot, too. This extended version of the game has more bonuses, and better graphics than its predecessor, whilst maintaining the fruit machine/nursery rhyme feel of the original. Bar Bar Black Sheep contains just 15 paylines spread over its 5 reels, and players can opt to wager anything from a floor of 15p up to £15 in total. The non-progressive jackpot is way off target, but Bar Bar Black Sheep is still well worth a look.
Special features
Players should look out for the Bar Bar Black Sheep logo. This is a wild symbol, and as a wild, it can substitute for all other symbols in the game, except for the scatter symbols.
Those scatter symbols appear in the form of a sack of corn. Unlike wild symbols, scatter icons are easy to spot since they have "free spin" written on them. Players who land 3 or more of the free spin symbols anywhere on the reels during a single spin will trigger a free spins bonus round.
Players should also note that landing 2 bar symbols on the reels of the slot in a straight line, following by a black sheep symbols will trigger a random multiplier against your total line bet. You could win as much as 999x your total bet with this feature, which is only available in the base game.
Bonus features
If the player lands 3, 4 or 5 such free spin symbols on the reels of the slot, they will begin the free spins bonus round with 10, 15 or 20 free spins in all. During the free spins bonus game, all winnings a player encounters will be tripled by the game. Additional free spins can be won by landing more scatters on the reels of the slot.
Far more complex than its 3-reel predecessor, this nursery rhyme themed slot is certainly capable of competing with any other developers' top fairy tale themed slots and is certainly worth trying your hand at.


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Chillers and heaters are used to keep water temperatures constant in a hydroponic system. Keeping a consistent temperature can make all the difference for plant success and having the right tools to control spikes in temperatures is essential.
Oxygen and Hydroponic Water Temperature
Water temperature is directly related to how much dissolved oxygen a hydroponic system can support. As temperatures rise, less and less oxygen can stay in solution. In a deep water culture type hydroponic system the amount of dissolved oxygen is directly related to plant growth potential and the ability for the plants to absorb nutrition.
There is a roughly 3 mg/L drop in oxygen for every 18°F (10°C) degree rise in temperature of the water. This means that warmer water will carry less oxygen to your plants.
Oxygen isn't the only concern for hydroponic gardens. Warmer water also has the added side effect of being a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus that are harmful to plants.
Conversely, too cold of water will cause plants to start to shut down and not intake as many nutrients as they normally would.
The ideal hydroponic temperature range is somewhere between 65°F (18°C) and 68°F (20°C) for truly optimal plant growth.
Find the right hydroponic heaters and chillers for all your growing needs.
Hydroponic Water Chillers
Chillers are rated in horsepower (HP) and flow rate, usually in gallons per hour (GPH) or liter per hour (L/hr). It is important to chose a chiller that is rated for the size of hydroponic system you are using.
Too small of a chiller will over work it and not produce the results you need in a timely manner, Likewise, too large of a chiller will not be as efficient for your system.
How large Of A Chiller Do You Need?
The formula is pretty simple. Simply cool your hydroponic system down to your desired temperature. This is best accomplished with bagged ice or other methods that will not add water volume to the system.
Once at your desired temperature, remove the ice and allow your system to run for one hour with all lights and other sources of heat active in order to know how much energy the system has to compensate for.
At the end of the hour measure the water temperature. Subtract your desired temperature from this reading. This is your temperature differential. The size of water chiller needed will be:
Number of gallons in your hydroponic system X 8.33 (specific weight of water at 68°F (20°C) X temperature differential = BTU's required.
You should give yourself a safety net and add 25% to this number.
Lets say you have a 100 gallon hydroponic system. You want the ideal temperature to be 65°F. You cool your system down to 65°F through ice bags or any other method that doesn't effect the water volume.
Once the system is cool, turn on your grow lights, humidifier, and any other devices that might run on a day to day basis that might add to the heat of the system and run it all for an hour.
At the end of the hour, measure the water temperature. For our example lets say its at 70°F. This gives you a temperature differential of 5 degrees. Now we multiply:
100 gallons X 8.33 X 5 degrees = 4,165 BTU/hr.
If we add the additional 25% (4165 X 1.25) we get 5206.25 BTU/hr.
You can convert BTU/hr to tons of refrigerant or HP by dividing by 12,000. For example 5,206.25 / 12,000 BTU/hr = .43 tons or almost 1/2 HP. Table 1 shows common BTU/hr to tons of refrigeration or HP ratios.
Most chiller units function over a range of reservoir sizes and cooling ranges. An example would be a given unit can cool 10 gallons of water 10-12°F, 20 gallons 6-8°F, and 40 gallons 3-4°F so knowing how much water you need to cool and by how much is the key.
Ambient temperature will also effect how well a chiller can perform. Chillers in 90°F ambient air cannot chill as effectively as chillers in 70°F ambient air.
For this reason it can be advantageous to locate your chiller unit outside of your grow tent or grow room in order to take advantage of cooler air temperatures.
If you have never put one of these together, check out our full guide on how to install a hydroponic water chiller!
Don't Forget The Pump
Not all chiller units come with an internal pump. Some need an external pump to work correctly. It is important to size your pump to meet your needs and provide sufficient flow of water through the system.
Make sure you consult your water chiller manual or product page in order to make sure you match your pump's throughput to your chiller's needs. Pumps can either be an inline pump, where water is moved from one location to the next or a sump pump where they sit at the bottom of your reservoir and pump water out.
Consult your product overview to find out if a pump is needed or call our experts at 888-815-9763 or email firstname.lastname@example.com for all the details you need to know about specific systems.
Water Heaters
Most water heaters are submersible and reside in side your reservoir tank. They heat the water to a desired temperature and then shut off until the temperature drops.
Water heaters are rated in watts and it is important to find one that will correctly heat the volume of water of your system. It is also important to place water heaters near the flow of water in order to circulate the water that they heat.
Table 2 shows heating differential temperatures vs system volumes and the required water heater wattage to make this change.
If your ambient room temperature is 50°F and you want to raise the water temperature of 50 gallons of water to 68°F (temperature change of 18°F) then you need a 200 watt water heater.
It's always best to add a small percentage (25% to be safe) to this in order to account for temperature changes and to make sure your heater doesn't have to run all the time. In that case a 250 watt heater may be optimal.


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Among the freaks and fetishists out there, there are people, who love to be dominated. For such people, dominatrixes have been around for awhile. But, times changed and demands changed along with them. Today, there is such thing as, the techno dominatrix; a person, who dominates over remote access. Meet the techno dominatrix mistress Harley.
Mistress Harley works from home. Her day begins at whenever she wakes up. She reads the mail and makes sure, that her "slaves" transferred money. A few years ago, she was a regular dominatrix, who provided her service on skype. However, soon the customers began to ask her to dominate their computer remotely: to enter their computer, to install the parental control, keyloggers.
For mistress Harley, all these sounded boring, since she has a technical background and used to work in the gaming industry. But, she took it a little further: she made her servants install cameras in the house, keyloggers, read mail, copied financial documents, personal files, resumes. The more mistress Harley knew about the client, the more they were afraid of her. And they liked it so much, that hey were willing to pay constantly.


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How Harmful is Securitylog.systems
Securitylog.systems doesn't do much by itself. The annoying hyperlinks and pop-ups that it "powers" are just gateways for the real problems. If you make a mistake and download something, or even if you don't, then you PC may be infected. The easiest thing to remember is to NOT update programs after the ads start appearing. Malware is usually disguised as a program that want to update. Once you give the permission, a new virus gets downloaded. If that happens you're stuck, and the only thing you can do is remove Securitylog.systems and then every other suspicious program.[/text_block_nav][text_block_nav title="How it works"]
How Securitylog.systems Works
Securitylog.systems is a pop-up adware that you should remove before it does any permanent damage. To be fair, this virus isn't exactly the most threatening in the arsenal of the people who make these – but as most of its kind, it serves one purpose, and that is to fill your PC with the kind of crap you'd never want. The longer Securitylog.systems remains, the harder it will be to get rid of all the malware it will sneak aboard. At any rate, just to be clear about this, even if it seems a useful extension at first (since it supposedly gives you coupon prices on products you like), all the problems it will cause, easily negate potential benefits. You should do yourself a favor and remove it completely at once!
[/text_block_nav][text_block_nav title="How I got Infected?"]
How Securitylog.systems Entered My Computer
Securitylog.systems does what adware typically does – nothing else innovative. Yet you should nevertheless be aware of it. By far the most common way such viruses employ to enter your system, is the thing called a bundle. If you downloaded recently a free program from one of those distributor sites who always tout their free products as useful, then look no further how you contracted the virus.
The deal with these things is that third parties make Securitylog.systems and so on, so that the advertisements can promote their affiliate websites. Of course, that's a matter of debate and there's isn't exactly anyone who can prove it. Yet for all this, adware are created either for what I described, or to generate pay per click revenue.
Overall benefits you can receive from freeware are always inferior to the problems caused by these extensions. My recommendation is that you either stop downloading free programs, or you be always careful with the setup process. Choose to Custom Install the program (the express ALWAYS installs unnecessary software like Securitylog.systems) and look at each step to avoid this trap.
How To Remove Securitylog.systems
What follows is a several step guide on how to easily remove Securitylog.systems first from your PC, then from your browsers.
STEP 1: Removing Securitylog.systems From Windows
Substep 1.
For Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 Users:
First, click the Start button (the windows key) —–>Control Panel —–> Programs and Features or (for Windows XP) Add/Remove Programs.
Proceed to Substep 2.
For Windows 8 users:First, right click down on the left side of your screen. The Quick Access Menu should appear —–> Control Panel —–> Uninstall a Program. Proceed to Substep 2.
For Mac (OS X) Users:
Click Go at the top left —–> Applications.
Proceed to Substep 2.
Substep 2.
For all Windows Users:
Look for a program called "Securitylog.systems" and click Uninstall.
Sometimes the virus will operate under a different name. If you can not find it as "Securitylog.systems", click on the column titled Installed On. This will arrange programs by their installation date. Look for all recently added programs that seem suspicious and click Uninstall on them.
You are not done, however. Proceed to STEP 2.
For Mac (OS X) Users:
Find a program called Securitylog.systems, then right click on it and select Move to Trash.
If you can not find such a program, click the Date Modified column, and look for recent additions of programs you don't know about. Right click on each of them—–> Move to Trash.
Proceed to STEP 2.
STEP 2: Removing Securitylog.systems from your browser(s)
CHECK HERE FIRST! For All Users:
For Internet Explorer Users:
Open the browser, then click on the small Gear icon on the top right —–> Manage Add-ons.
Once there, you should look for Securitylog.systems or any other extension or plugin you feel may be unsafe. Click Disable on it/them.
If for some reason. you Home Page was changed from the one you prefer (viruses, especially adware, tend to do that) click on the Gear icon —–> Internet Options. From there you just edit the URL box, dispose of the unwanted link, and put in what you like, then click Apply.
Proceed to STEP 3.
For Mozilla Firefox Users:
Open the browser, click on the Menu icon on the top right (three lines) —–> Add-ons.
Then you just click Extensions.
Here you should find Securitylog.systems or anything you think may be a virus, then click Remove.
Proceed to STEP 3.
For Google Chrome Users:
Enter the browser. At the top right click on the Menu icon —–>Tools —–> Extensions.
Once in Extensions, find " Securitylog.systems" and anything you believe may be dangerous, and click the little Trash icon on the right.
You are almost done! Now click on the Menu icon on top for a second time, and go to Settings. In Settings, find the Search section (the fourth one from top),then click Manage Search Engines. In there you should remove any search sites you do not use.
Proceed to STEP 3.
For Safari Users:
Open Safari, and click the Safari button on the top left —–>Preferences —–> Extensions
Find "Securitylog.systems" and/or other possible virus extensions, then click Uninstall.
Proceed to STEP 3 .
STEP 3: Checking For Securitylog.systems Leftovers
Right Click on the Time at the bottom right of your screen, then click Start Task Manager. From there click Processes on the band above, and try to find any of the following processes:
- Securitylog.systems-nova.exe
- Securitylog.systems-bg.exe
- Securitylog.systems.exe
If none of those are present in your task manager, then you are in the clear. If one or all of them are present, you need to go back to STEP 1 and see what you missed there.
Securitylog.systems Warning! There is a step 4, but you should proceed with it ONLY IF your efforts up until now failed to remove Securitylog.systems.
- Otherwise, if we were helpful, please consider following us on our channels on Google+, Twitter and Facebook. It will be immensely appreciated, because it will help us grow and in turn – that way we will help more people.
STEP 4: Reset Your Browser (OPTIONAL)
In this step, you will reset your browser to its original state. Home pages, toolbars, history and cookies will all be lost, so you should do this ONLY if everything else failed.
For Internet Explorer Users:
Click on the Gear icon at the top right —–> Internet Options. There you click on Advanced on the right side of the band, then Reset. On the pop-up that will appear, tick Delete Personal Settings, then Reset and finally hit Close. This should remove Securitylog.systems and all other unwanted extensions from your browser.
For Mozilla Firefox Users:
Click the Menu button —–> Help. On the right, click Troubleshooting Information, and then Reset Firefox, again on the right. Finalize everything by hitting Reset Firefox in the pop-up that will appear, then Finish.
For Google Chrome Users:
Click on the Menu button at the top right —–> Settings —–> Reset Browser Settings. There click Reset on the pop-up to confirm and that should remove Securitylog.systems.
For Safari Users:
Open Safari —–> Safari —–> Reset Safari. A window with several checkboxes should appear. All of them need to be ticked, then click Reset to finalize the removal process of Securitylog.systems.


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Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D-Baltimore)
Martin O'Malley – Fmr. Gov. of MD (D)
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
Tom Brokaw
April Ryan
Kim Strassel
Wes Moore
D. Watkins
Todd: oh my there is calm is Baltimore
after a week of unrest
Todd: but it's deeply divided city
Todd: 96% of people believe
this will be a summer of riots
Todd: six cops were charged with
crimes after snapping the spine
of a guy they illegally arrested
Todd: all the cops have been released on bail
Police Union: they did nothing wrong!
Todd: will you ever lift the curfew
in this the most free country in the world?
Rawlings-Blake: maybe we'll see
Todd: what about liberty?
Rawlings-Blake: you don't just
let go of a curfew – it's very useful
for preventing protesting
Todd: so you're keeping it for now?
Rawlings-Blake: well things
are getting better so why end it now?
Todd: do you regret using
the phrase 'space to destroy'?
Blake: that was taken out of context
Todd: oh I see
Rawlings-Blake: I would
never condone rioting
Todd: well good for you
Rawlings-Blake: thanks Chuck
Todd: do you regret using that phrase?
Rawlings-Blake: certainly I
used the wrong phrase
Todd: all right then
Rawlings-Blake: I will prosecute looters!
Todd: how will you do that?
Rawlings-Blake: we will go troll through
videotapes to find and arrest looters
Todd: wow
Rawlings-Blake: we will even use
facial recognition technology
and flying robot drones if we have to!
Todd: jesus we get it Mayor
Blake: we will bring justice
to victims of looters!
Todd: okay okay
Rawlings-Blake: I don't condone violence!
Todd: righty-o
Todd: one protester said if the
CVS hadn't been burned there
wouldn't have been criminal
charges brought against cops
Rawlings-Blake: that's not true
Todd: no?
Rawlings-Blake: no burning
a CVS is senseless –
people need those to get medicine
and diapers and late night munchies
Todd: even your pastor
thinks you're a crappy Mayor
Rawlings-Blake: he's entitled to his opinion
Todd: well his opinion is that you suck
Rawlings-Blake: I know how to lead
our city through tough times
Todd: all evidence to the contrary
Rawlings-Blake: that's mean Charles
Todd: how should you be judged?
Rawlings-Blake: how should I know?
Todd: gee I don't know
Rawlings-Blake: we need to fix our problems
Todd: yeah no shit – how will you do that?
Rawlings-Blake: I asked the
Department of Justice to come
in and fix our police department
Todd: you're really hands-on aren't you?
Rawlings-Blake: I do try Ted
Todd: thanks for coming Mayor
Rawlings-Blake: you too Ed
[ break ]
Todd: we decided to talk to
real citizens of Baltimore
about what they want
Citizen: we need to focus on education
Citizen: economic development!
Citizen: fix the police
Citizen: no one cares about us
[ break ]
Todd: welcome Marty
O'Malley: nice to be here Chucky
Todd: what's wrong with Baltimore?
O'Malley: our modern economy
leaves whole parts of America left behind
Todd: true enough
O'Malley: extreme poverty
leads to extreme violence
Todd: but you once said crime
causes poverty which is politically incorrect
O'Malley: well it's true
Todd: looking back what are
all the things your did wrong as Mayor?
O'Malley: I was a very good Mayor Todd
Todd: that settles that
O'Malley: I was elected with 90% of the vote
Todd: those are North Korea numbers
O'Malley: I rock Todd
Todd: Republicans and Democrats
now agree we arrest too many
non-violent criminals
O'Malley: Believe me I know all about this
– I started out as a prosecutor of
low-level drug offenders
Todd: good for you
O'Malley: but we reduced crime
and incarceration at the same time
Todd: impressive
O'Malley: I even decriminalized drugs
– doesn't that give me liberal street cred?!?
Todd: Speaker Boehner says
all the problems are liberals' fault
O'Malley: that's fucking stupid
Todd: but we spend $100 million
to fix Baltimore and it's still broken
proving liberals are wrong
O'Malley: what a fucking lie –
national politicians abandoned Baltimore!
Todd: whoa call down Martin
O'Malley: fuck Speaker Boehner –
that's a spit in the bucket
Todd: can you still run for President
when it's clear all Baltimore problems
are your fault?
O'Malley: damn fucking right
I can – this should be a wake-up
call for all America!
Todd: will this be central to your campaign?
O'Malley: absolutely it will
Todd: will you announce in Baltimore?
O'Malley: not anywhere else!
[ break ]
Todd: 1965 Pat Moynihan warned
us black people were in trouble
Todd: inequality is worse
than it was in the 1960s
Todd: unemployment for African-Americans
was twice the national average and
it still is fifty years later
Todd: poverty is down but still
worse for blacks than whites
Todd: Tom Brokaw talk about blacks to me
Brokaw: Moynihan was attacked
from the left for criticizing inner city
blacks but he was right
Todd: so true Tom
Brokaw: Black leaders should
have stood up and said Pat Moynihan is right
Todd: preach it Tom
Brokaw: we need a Marshall Plan for ghettos!
Ryan: okay fine white dudes but
we need to do more than just point fingers
Todd: maybe
Ryan: black people just want
opportunity to succeed
Todd: Moynihan said the American
Negro had a pathology – gosh he was smart
Moore: how nice for him Chuck
Todd: you differ Wes?
Moore: it's not just about
single parents – it's about relatives
and mentors and neighbors and
pastors so kids know people care about them
Todd: what should rich people
do about black pathology?
Strassel: we tried liberals' central
planning and we still have high crime
Todd: well put
Strassel: we have to break
the teachers union!
Todd: if we don't crush the
unions CVS may never rebuild!
Watkins: Baltimore cops are out of control
Watkins: cops don't speak to
black people as people but as animals
Watkins: I've never had a good
encounter with a Baltimore cop – ever
Watkins: some cops are from
the suburbs and never meet a
black person until they get a license to kill them
Watkins: peaceful protests don't
work but violence doesn't either
Todd: Wes it sounds like D. Watkins
is rationalizing riots
Moore: his frustration is real
– for black people across America
Todd: I suppose so
Moore: cops need reforms
just to keep them safe
Todd: interesting point
Moore: the Army needs intelligence
and so do cops which means garnering
trust from locals in Afghanistan and
Iraq and Baltimore
Strassel: high crime is vicious circle
Todd: Obama didn't go to Ferguson
– is this all his fault?
Ryan: Obama says his presence
would be a distraction
Todd: oh I disagree
Ryan: but he should go to Baltimore
– this is part of his legacy
Todd: right
Ryan: but Obama is involved with
My Brother's Keeper and the media ignores it
Todd: talk Obama to me Brokaw
Brokaw: Obama is too involved
in the middle east and not the inner city
Todd: exactly!
Brokaw: we need a blue ribbon
commission with Wes Moore and
someone from the University of Texas
Todd: and John Boehner!
Brokaw: I'd like to say "inner city"
five more times
Todd: please do Tom
Brokaw: inner city!
[ break ]
Todd: lets' look at our latest poll –
Democrats think the most important
things are jobs and climate change
GOP voters think the most important
things are terrorism and the debt
Todd: I got to talk to John Boehner!
Todd: welcome Speaker
Boehner: nice to see you Chuck
Todd: how do we save Baltimore?
Boehner: tax cuts for the rich!
Todd: anything else?
Boehner: privatize education!
Todd: problem solved
Boehner: 50 years of liberals
policies have failed in Baltimore
Todd: what else?
Boehner: education!
Todd: that will take money
Boehner: we need to spend less money!
Todd: the police keep
killing unarmed black people
Boehner: yeah you have to scratch your head
Todd: that's one response
Boehner: if the cops are criminal
it's outrageous and unacceptable
Todd: what about body
cameras for cops?
Boehner: body cameras
are okay I guess
Todd: do you have plan if the
Supreme Court overturns Obamacare?
Boehner: no we don't
Todd: you said Obamacare
would be a disaster and it's succeeding
Boehner: Obamacare caused unemployment
Todd: since Obamacare was
enacted we've added jobs
Boehner: no we didn't
Todd: yes we did - 3 million actually
Boehner: giving people Medicaid
is like giving them nothing because it sucks
Todd: so we should get rid of Medicaid?
Boehner: it's an insult
Todd: what about free trade?
Boehner: Hillary's Clinton loves
trade with Asians – she just wont admit it
Todd: do you need Hillary's help?
Boehner: Democrat leaders
oppose Obama and I'm helping him!
Todd: you think Clinton should get invovled
Boehner: darn right
Todd: are there too many
lobbyists in Washington?
Boehner: not at all –
we need more lobbyists!
Todd: really?
Boehner: the worst are those
environmentalists getting rich by
saving rainforests and studying pack ice
Todd: the whole house is gerrymandered
Boehner: stealing elections is perfectly fair
Todd: do you really believe that?
Boehner: sure why not?
Todd: is there too much money in politics?
Boehner: no because we
spend more on antacids
Todd: are you serious?
Boehner: everyone is Congress
are wonderful honest decent people
Todd: you support Jeb Bush
but you won't endorse him!
Boehner: no because
Jon Kasich owes me money
Todd: What about Hillary?
Boehner: she scares me
Todd: Scott Walker
Boehner: who?
Todd: Ted Cruz?
Boehner: ha ha don't
make me say what I think Todd
[ break ]
Todd: who does best - Carly Fiorina or Ben Carson or Mike Huckabee
Strassel: all these crazy-ass
GOP candidates were formed in
reaction in their sheer hatred of Obama
Brokaw: stick a fork in Christie
because he is in a toaster
Todd: well put
Brokaw: Christie was a career prosecutor
Todd: no he never was –he just
bundled a fortune for Bush in 2000
Brokaw: I wish you all could have
been with me when I spent the
weekend at Monticello and it was
a wonderful honest discussion of
slavery with no finger-pointing
Todd: is O'Malley going to become
more relevant or less relevant?
Moore: yes but also no
Todd: the entire Democratic party
is backing away from being 'tough on crime'
Strassel: Republicans love Elizabeth Warren!
Todd: Ed Millband actually unveiled
a platform etched in limestone –
and I thought our politicians were nuts
Brokaw: watch out for him –
he took down his own brother!
Todd: if Cameron loses is
that bad for the Republican party?
Strassel: no because he's a socialist
Todd: Wes you know all
about European elections
Moore: well I know they
spend less money than we do
Todd: but our two-year long
elections is how NBC makes millions
Brokaw: ha so true
Todd: and that's another
episode of Meet The Press


text:
What did you wear to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee this weekend?
My Jubilee party dress is from Whistles. I'd admired it last summer, adoring its pleated body, dainty polka dots and sexy front splits (very Angelina's Right - and Left - Leg!). Then, in the depths of winter, I snapped up this elegant silk dress for £45 in the sale, reduced from £175. What a steal!
I've been waiting to wear it all year as I love its vintage-y look. So, right now, I'm pretending that orange, cream and navy is a chic interpretation of red, white and blue!
Check out the What ELLE Wears Jubilee Special blog at ELLEuk.com to see what the rest of Team ELLE chose for the festivities.
I've teamed my Whistles dress with Kurt Geiger sandals, a vintage bag from eBay, Boden sunglasses and Alex Monroe's crown necklace below.
Don't forget you can win this Alex Monroe crown necklace, from his new Best of British collection. (Don't worry, not this one! A spanking brand-new one will wing its way from Alex Monroe HQ to one lucky winner.) For details on how to enter my competition, see last week's blog post or visit my Facebook page.


text:
When Conservative Talker Ben Ferguson turns up the heat on this CNN panel, pointing out the double-standard, that if a Republican had done a fraction of what Hillary Clinton did with her server, they would have been indicted.
Don Lemon calls it water under the bridge, he starts to interrupt and hurries to a commercial after cutting him off. Great job by Ben Ferguson


text:
Film & Television
THE BATMAN: Script Is Ready; Ben Affleck and Warner Bros. Happy With It
Just yesterday, we told you that the future of the DCEU seemed to be up in the air, with Ben Affleck's vacating the director's chair on "The Batman" just the latest snag in a long line of setbacks for DC films.
Today, however, we're learning some positive news: a script for the film has reportedly been completed, and both WB brass and Affleck himself are said to be "very happy" with it.
This development, first reported by Variety's Justin Kroll, is certainly a turn in the right direction for WB and DC. Perhaps now, we'll soon hear that a new director has been hired, and have a shooting schedule and tentative release date announced soon after.
Per the tweet (thanks to Batman-News):
No, several sources already saying new script came in this month and everyone including Emmerich and Ben very happy with it
— Justin Kroll (@krolljvar) February 9, 2017
This disputes an earlier report from Forbes that said the following:
"How extensive the process will be — I'm hearing anything from "major rewrites" to "a completely new script," including starting from scratch on the story if that's what it takes — is unclear, not just to us but probably to those involved as well, since the new filmmaker might look at the story and script and decide there's plenty to salvage that appeals to them. Once the director is in place, more will become clear, but for now Warner Bros. is suffering far more negative perceptions than they need to, simply because of the attempt to slow and control the spread of information."
One can only hope that the new director will be one as talented as Affleck, whose multiple Oscar nominations speak for themselves. Many names have been tossed around as possibilities, including DCEU alum Zack Snyder, and Dark Knight trilogy director Christopher Nolan.
Source: Batman-News
Are you happy to finally hear some positive news from the DC front? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!


text:
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anyone using vonage overseas (Germany, Australia, England)
Goto page
Vonage® VoIP Forum - Vonage News, Reviews And Discussion
Vonage Forum Archive
New Forum Member
Joined: Nov 21, 2003
Posts: 2
Thu Nov 20, 2003 8:12 pm
Post subject: anyone using vonage overseas (Germany, Australia, England)
I am curious to hear any feedback from anyone using
while they are out of the country. If anyone has any experience with this please let me know. I am concerned about latency, packet loss, and quality over these distances to get the call back to the United States.
Fri Nov 21, 2003 12:34 am
Post subject: I'm going to try the Philippines
I am interested in trying the service myself in the
, I will sending my adapter to a friend there for testing. So it would be interesting to hear the experience of others.
Mon Nov 24, 2003 9:39 am
Post subject:
I am interested in having a N.Y.C. area virtual # that I can use while I live in Lima, Peru. I would also be interested in current customer expierience.
Thu Nov 27, 2003 4:55 am
Post subject: overseas
I'm using
in Poland with no problems at my current connection. But I have had problems at other locations. It seems that ISPs in a lot of European countries don't really focus on the quality of connection, only on speed. I've seen internet connections reach 1mb/sec but with packet loss like you wouldn't believe.
There are really three things that affect
. One is speed, should be at least 128Kb/sec, second is packet loss, shouldn't be more than 4-5% accross hops (this causes dropped sound) and latency (shouldn't be more than 150ms between hops, this causes dropped calls and delay).
A quick and easy way to check if
will work in any country, or connection, is to download and run ping plotter software and check the results. This will give you an idea if the quality of the internet connection is good enough to support
Here are the instructions from
Download and install application using this link:
Download the shareware via HTTP. This is a 30 day trial
Once the application is up and running, follow these steps to set the
PingPlotter up to run a thorough test:
1- Right click on where it says "DNSname", in the top center of the
screen. One by one, place a check mark by all the different options on
the top of this menu. This will tell the test to give you all the
detailed data during the test.
2- On the lower left hand side of the screen, ensure these are the
settings: "# of times to trace" = Unlimited (should be this way by
default), "trace interval" = 2.5 seconds (click the down arrow),
and "samples to include" = ALL (click the down arrow).
3- On the top left hand side of the screen, click on "Edit",
the "Advanced Options", then "Packet Options". The forth option down
says "Packet Size in Bytes, default 56"; change this to 1400, then
hit OK. The MTU (Maximum Transmission Size) of the data in an
Ethernet packet is 1518 bytes. Some routers across the Internet may
restrict packets of this size, so if the results look very, very poor,
you can try to set the packet size to 1200 bytes.
4- Now that the application is set up to begin the test, we need to
enter the appropriate IP address or domain name to trace to at the top
left hand of the screen.
If you are east of the Mississippi trace to this IP address
188.8.131.52 (except NJ then use 18.104.22.168)
If you are west of the Mississippi, trace to this IP address
22.214.171.124 (except CA then use 126.96.36.199)
5- Now hit the big "Trace" button on the lower left hand side of the
screen and let the test the run for about two minutes. Your test should
look something like this:
6- You can leave the test running. Now that we have the results, we
have to see if there is a problem across this route. The first hop is
your location; the last hop is where you are testing to. We are mainly
concerned with two columns on this test. The third column, which is the
PL% (packet loss percentage), and the sixth column, Ave (Average
Latency at that hop, measured in milliseconds). Since the
service is a "real-time" streaming audio service, any packet loss is a
bad thing, as this will cause choppy audio. As far as latency, we worry
about our service when the average latency reaches around 150ms or
higher across the hops. If either of these results is excessive, this
may cause a call to drop, or the link from your ATA to our servers to
Vonage Forum Associate
Joined: Oct 29, 2003
Posts: 14
Thu Nov 27, 2003 10:40 am
Post subject:
Thanks for the great instructions!
Vonage Forum Associate
Joined: Oct 29, 2003
Posts: 14
Thu Nov 27, 2003 12:45 pm
Post subject:
Any ideas why I would have 25% PL on my first hop and then between 92% and 60% all the rest of the way -- never lower than 60%? Seems off the chart bad compared to what you suggest. But my service isn't terrible. Not great, but not unusable. Any thoughts?
Fri Nov 28, 2003 4:56 am
Post subject:
This is usually the case when your router (or your ISPs) is set up to transfer packet sizes that are too small. The larger packet sizes required by
, 1200-1400, are not getting through. Check your router, or ask your ISP. Send them a screenshot of your ping plotter results and see if they can fix the issue.
Vonage Forum Associate
Joined: Oct 29, 2003
Posts: 14
Fri Nov 28, 2003 11:00 am
Post subject:
Thanks very much for the advice. I'm fairly familiar with the set-up of my Linksys router and could not find anywhere that allow me to set any parameters for packet size. I've emailed my ISP (Adelphia Powerlink), but it seems hard to imagine that they could change such a setting just for my account or that my request would get them to change a setting that affects the entire neighborhood. Do you -- or anyone else -- have some experience with ISPs in this regard?
Also, do you mind if I post this conversation to the
newsgroup as I'm sure others would find it helpful?
Thanks again.
Vonage Forum Junior
Joined: Dec 02, 2003
Posts: 37
Sat Dec 06, 2003 12:40 am
Post subject:
I have tried it from Taiwan and it worked well. The worst thing is people calling me in the middle of the night not knowing I was in
Mon Dec 29, 2003 8:06 pm
Post subject: Anyone had any experience using the service from Australia ?
The latency on my (Optus) cable connection seems to be 200ms-250ms and is steady. The utility on the
site indicates the kbps are acceptable. Have not yet run pingplotter but will do so
Anyone had any practical experience from Oz ?
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text: Designed by some of the region's most renowned architects, the Golf Villas have been conceived to be visually stunning both inside and out. Each of the one-, two- and three-bedroom villas are built and finished to the highest standards, with spacious interior layouts and some of the stunning views of golf course, sea and mountains. Undoubtedly some of the best homes available in Oman.


text:
Fall 2012 Speaker Series
Follow the links to access more information and the video recording for each talk.
Thursday, September 13 at 4:30: Mary Gentile, Giving Voice to Values
Friday, September 21 at 12:30: Katharine Wolf '02, Starting Social Enterprises
Monday, September 24 at 12:15: Southern Nature in Robert A. Jones House.
Friday, September 28 at 12:30: Assistant Professor of Dance at Middlebury College Christal Brown, Project: BECOMING
Friday, October 5 at 12:30: Visiting Scholar in Residence at Middlebury College Randy Kritkausky
Friday, October 12: The Dalai Lama visits Middlebury College.
Friday October 19 at 8:30 pm: Homecoming Panel on Sport for Development
Moderated by Alex Wolff, Sports Illustrated, Dave Campbell '09, Lacrosse the Nations and Giving Something, Alexandra Boillot '12, CitySquash, and Kennedy Mugo Mutothori '12.5, Rugby and Kenya Library Project
Friday, October 26 at 12:15: Visiting Assistant Professor of English & American Literature & Education Claudia Cooper and Eric Hoest '08, Betasab
Thursday, November 1: MCSE Summer Grant Recipient Presentations.
Friday, November 2 at 12:30: Chris Lloyd '83, Director of Public Policy and Corporate Responsibility for Verizon Communications
and 2:00 MiddCORE seminar on Activating Empathy by Professor Jon Isham (Faculty Director of the MCSE).
Friday, November 9 at 12:30: Kenya Library Project, A Davis Project for Peace Recipient
Friday, November 16 at 12:30: Lindsey Franklin '07, Fail, Learn, Iterate: Building a Market for Social Change
Friday, November 30: Colleen Bramhall '00, Coffee Community Outreach Manager at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters
Friday, December 7: John McKinley '04, Acumen Fund in Axinn 219.


text:
Managed Wi-Fi solutions and analytics for restaurant chains.
Since 1998, Datavalet has been providing large-scale managed Wi-Fi solutions, services and analytic applications to North American multi-site organizations. It serves a number of prestigious clients and well-known global brands in several sectors such as quick service restaurants, retail, financial services, healthcare and transport to name a few. Datavalet also benefits from long-term partnerships with major telecommunications operators and leading wireless equipment vendors. Focused on innovation and irreproachable services, Datavalet ensures seamless, reliable, and secure wireless connections between people, sites and networks.


text:
Onyeabo Obi, widely regarded as among the three most effective senators in the Second Republic of 1979 to 1983—the others being Abraham Adesanya and Emeka Echeruo—made a soul-stirring statement to the Igbo recently. Senator Obi, according to Donac Pilot, a publication of the Anglican Diocese of Nnewi in Anambra State, has strongly advised Ndigbo against putting all their eggs in one basket as regards the 2019 general elections. His message couldn't get to many Igbo because, as the aphorism goes, the medium is the message. The newspaper is not well known.
The senator, scion of the great Chief Z.C. Obi, the legendary president of the Igbo State Union, stated unequivocally: "We have to learn the politics of Nigeria. No tribe puts all her eggs in one basket. Imagine that your choice goes wrong. Then you are in enmity {with the victor} in the next four years. The Yoruba have learnt that lesson. So have the Hausa and other tribes. It is time we grew up and not put all our eggs in one basket".
It is, of course, only poor thinking and an awful strategy that could lead any persons to attempt to get Ndigbo, highly reputed across the globe for republicanism, to embrace in the 21st century what social scientists call groupthink. Groupthink may just be defined as social conformity, which is the enemy of innovation, creativity and rapid progress. Asian countries and territories have been making fantastic progress since they began to question and abandon old cultural values like groupthink. Propagandists, mind menders and autocrats love groupthink because the victims cannot challenge them.
Against this backdrop, it is curious that the leadership of Ohaneze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural organization of the Igbo, could still indulge in the old and risky practice of endorsing a presidential candidate in every general election and ordering all Igbo to comply. As Senator Obi has adumbrated above, African leaders are vengeful. In the inimitable language of the late Professor Ali Mazrui, the most published African scholar, African leaders have a long memory of hate. They reward those who voted for them and severely punish those who didn't.
Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State deserves praise for calling the attention of the Ohaneze leadership to the dangerous enterprise of endorsement of a particular candidate during an election. At the meeting of Ohaneze's inner caucus, known as Ime Obi, on Friday, January 24, Governor Obiano had planned to counsel participants not to adopt any of the candidates in the February 16 vote because it is not in the strategic interest of the Igbo for their apex socio-cultural organization to publicly back a particular candidate.
In the introduction to the second edition of his great novel, Arrows of God, Professor Chinua Achebe resists the temptation to name this novel his favourite, even though, according to him, he could be caught rereading it more than any other work of his. Prof Achebe notes that no wise parent proclaims any of his or her children the favourite in public without consequences. No wonder, once the Ohaneze president announced the adoption of a candidate, leading Ohaneze members like the secretary general rose against the action which is now threatening the organisation's unity. Obiano foresaw this crisis and appropriately advised against such an endorsement.
It is painful, therefore, that the Anambra delegation sent by Governor Obiano to canvass the state's position of neutrality couldn't because the meeting in Enugu had ended long before the time it was announced it would hold. Indeed, both the processes leading to the Ime Obi meeting and the outcome are what the former British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, would describe as a conundrum wrapped in mystery. They are truly baffling.
Historians may never understand why the Ohaneze leadership would uncompromisingly insist on holding the Ime Obi meeting on January 24, the very day Nigeria's president was leading the nation to commission a mausoleum built in Onitsha, Anambra State, in memory of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who led Nigeria to independence in 1960 and had served as the country first indigenous Governor General and the first Senate President and was to become the first President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on October 1, 1963. What was so sacrosanct about January 24 that the Ohaneze leadership couldn't shift the meeting by two or three days?
It is befuddling that the determination to erase the Great Zik of Africa in history is masterminded by Chief John Nnia Nwodo, the Ohaneze president whose father was made a minister in the Eastern Region by Zik, becoming the first person from Nsukka to be a minister. It is difficult to imagine any person from Nsukka other than Nnia Nwodo who could enthusiastically do what Nnia did on January 24. Nnia nwodo's action may be likened to murder in the cathedral. Zik built the famous University of Nigeria at Nsukka. Zik relocated to Nsukka with his entire family at the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970 and lived there until he died in 1996 at 92. How else could he have demonstrated deep affection for this beautiful town and its fine people? Is what Nnia Nwodo has done the best way to immortalize the Great Zik? William Shakespeare writes most movingly: "I hate ingratitude in a man more than lying, vainness, blabbing, drunkenness, or any taint of vice whose strong corruption inhabits our frail blood".
If the Federal Government was honouring Zik in Lagos where he grew up and Afenifere chose the same day to hold a meeting that could deny statutory members of its inner caucus an opportunity to attend and refused all entreaties to postpone it, Nwodo's Ohaneze would have loudly and dramatically condemned it as "a calculated attempt to humiliate the Igbo nation". If Nigeria was honouring Zik at Zungeru in Niger State where he was born and the Arewa Consultative Assembly elected to hold a crucial meeting the same time which could prevent key people from participating, Nwodo's Ohaneze would have denounced it sensationally as part "of the grand design to marginalize Ndigbo in the national scheme of things". But it is now Igbo elements like Nwodo dancing so joyously on the grave of the greatest Nigerian ever.
Good a thing that there are thoughtful and farsighted Igbo leaders like Senator Onyeabo Obi and Governor Obiano who can say no to sacrilege and courageously chart a new direction for Ndigbo. Obiano, for one, has declared November 16 a work-free day in Anambra and has been campaigning for the Federal Government to make Zik's birthday a national holiday, as Ghanaians have done in memory of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's first president who was tutored and mentored by Zik. As the Great Zik wrote in 1983, history will vindicate the just.
Ezekwueme is chairman, Civil Liberties Organisation, Anambra State.