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Nurburgring makes proposal to save German GP
The Nurburgring has tabled an offer in the hope of keeping the German grand prix alive in 2015.
The F1 paddock - and particularly Germany's prominent representatives including Mercedes, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel - has reacted with concern to Bernie Ecclestone's news that it is possible neither the Nurburgring or Hockenheim can afford to host formula one this year.
"It is important not to forget the backbone and history of formula one," former F1 driver David Coulthard insists.
"There are some historic grands prix, like Britain, Italy, Belgium, Monaco and a few others, and Germany is definitely among them," he told Spox.
As things stand, however, television and trackside audiences in Germany have been dwindling, leaving Hockenheim struggling to limit its financial losses.
And the Nurburgring is struggling for mere survival amid an ownership crisis.
But Nurburgring spokesman Carsten Schumacher has revealed that the circuit, which according to the official F1 calendar is due to host the race this July, has made a new proposal to Ecclestone in a bid to end the uncertainty.
"We made an offer to Bernie Ecclestone and we are awaiting his response," he told Motorsport Aktuell.
Explaining the proposal, Schumacher said Ecclestone would "organise the grand prix of Germany and also collect all the profits".
It is unclear if Ecclestone will agree, but Coulthard argues that the sport should be flexible in order to safeguard its 'historic' races.
"There is a strong case that circuits like this should remain part of the world championship," he said.
"Should they be given preferential treatment? I would say yes, but it is also a business decision. Formula one is a business, and at the end of the day, somebody has to run it."


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Mass Spectrometry & Spectroscopy
Related stories
Using UV/VIS Spectroscopy for Different types of Vitamin B12 Analysis
Mar 01 2018 Read 7348 Times
Author: Dr Birgit Schelling on behalf of Mettler-Toledo GmbH Analytical
Vitamin B12 is a common dietary supplement and pharmaceutical ingredient used in the pharma, food and beverage industries. Analysis of vitamin B12 varies from the identification and purity checks of incoming goods to content determination in the final product. Here we describe how UV/VIS spectroscopy can be used in different types of analysis.
Vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin) is an important compound containing the rare chemical element cobalt at its centre. It plays a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and in the formation of red blood cells. It is also involved in the metabolism of fatty acids and amino acids and is required for DNA synthesis.
Natural sources of vitamin B12 are mainly of animal origin; plants contain only very small amounts. Consequently, vegetarians particularly can be prone to vitamin B12 deficiency although people suffering from malabsorption, caused by other factors, can also be deficient. Vitamin B12 is available as a supplement in many forms, for example in tablets, either in single-or multivitamin preparations, or in processed foods or beverages, such as energy drinks.
In the pharmaceutical and food industries, the vitamin B12 derivatives cyanocobalamin or hydroxocobalamin are more commonly used in preference to cobalamin as they provide better stability and incur lower production costs. These derivatives are easily converted into cobalamin in the human body.
Vitamin B12 is ideally suited for UV/VIS analysis, producing three distinct peaks at 278, 361 and 550 nm, respectively (Figure 1). The most intense peak is at 361 nm. The 550 nm peak is responsible for the red colour of the substance.
Qualitative UV/VIS Analysis
For the identification of cyanobalomin, all three peaks must be verified. In addition, the ratio of absorbance at the peaks of 361 and 278 nm, and the ratio at the peaks of 361 and 550 nm are calculated and have to be within a certain range (see Table 1).
Quantitative UV/VIS Analysis
Quantitative UV/VIS analysis can be used to determine the concentration of cyanocobalamin by comparing an unknown sample with a standard of known concentration. Based on a reference measurement, the concentration of the unknown sample can be easily calculated. The absorbance maximum at 361 nm is typically used for concentration determination. If a mixture with interfering substances at 361 nm is analysed, the peak at 550 nm can also be used.
Derivative Analysis
As cyanocobalamin can degrade to hydroxocobalamin, it is often interesting to compare the amount of each derivative present in the same mixture. Composition can usually be determined by the ratio of absorbance at 351 and 361 nm. Although the spectrum of hydroxocobalamin is similar to that of cyanocobalamin, it is pH dependent. Therefore, as an alternative method, the absorbance at 361 nm of a solution of pH 8 is measured against a solution of pH 2, reflecting the spectral shift of hydroxocobalamin with pH [1].
Identification of Cyanacobalamin
We now present the qualitative analysis method for vitamin B12 according to USP 35-NF 30, which is a very simple and economic method of identification.
Sample preparation: approx. 300 mg of cyanocobalamin standard containing 1.07% cyanocobalamin and mannitol are dissolved in 100 mL of purified water. A 1:100 dilution is then prepared by stepwise dilution. An aliquot of the cyanocobalamin solution is transferred into a 1 cm quartz cuvette and the full spectrum from 200 to 700 nm is measured with the Mettler Toledo UV7 spectrophotometer.
A blank cuvette filled with purified water is used as a reference. As test acceptance criteria, the presence of the three maxima at 278±1, 361±1, 550±2 nm are checked (Figure 1). The absorbance ratio A361/278 must be in the range of 1.70-1.90 and the ratio A361/A550 in the range of 3.15-3.40. Table 1 shows the acceptance criteria and the results of a measured Vitamin B12 sample. All criteria were fulfilled, confirming the identity and purity of cyanocobalamin in the sample.
Pre-defined Method
For convenient routine analysis, the UV7 spectrophotometer contains a pre-defined method for the identification of vitamin B12, which includes the spectrum scan and the automatic evaluation of the relevant results. The peaks in the spectrum are identified and their locations are compared to the nominal data, taking into account permitted tolerances.
The absorbance ratios are also automatically calculated and compared to the nominal values so that the final result displays all acceptance criteria for the identification of cyanocobalamin. The method can be edited to suit user requirements.
Using the UV7 Excellence spectrophotometer, cyanocobalamin identification is a simple, fast and efficient method, with automatic evaluation reducing the risk of error.
1. Görög, S. Ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry in pharmaceutical analysis, 1995, CRC Press.
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text: Guest consanguineousconfusion Report post Posted June 11, 2015 So, I've had feelings for my second cousin since I was 12 and she was 11, but I've never told her because her and I already have a fairly close relationship for cousins who are separated by three states, and also because I thought it was sick and wrong and made me weird (until, of course, I found this website, which totally changed my opinion of cousin love, and myself as well) Anyway, I was planning on sharing my feelings with her when I felt the time was right, but then something totally unexpected happened. The other night, her and I were talking via Facebook chat and she totally blindsides me... "Well, I found a boyfriend," she tells me. I was devastated. All the what-ifs started to scroll through my mind: "What if they stay together for a long time?" "What if they get married?" "What if the right time never comes?" And this couldn't have happened at a worse time as I just graduated from school, and moved to a new area and have no job or no other friends to distract me from her anymore (at least not yet), and I feel as if I've got a huge secret that's eating away at me and I'm forced to take it to the grave. Anyway, does anyone here have any suggestions as to what I should say/do? Any insight from fellow cousin-lovers will be much appreciated. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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Princes Street Gardens lies at centre of Edinburgh's World Heritage Site, within New Town and Old Town Outstanding Conservation Areas. It is listed in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscape in Scotland and has geological and botanical scientific interest. The Gardens are set in the valley between the old and new towns with Edinburgh Castle on its rock towering above the western end. The park has been awarded a Green Flag since 2011 and its central location make it a popular choice with residents and visitors.
See More: Visitor Attractions


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Jeff Kepner, the first American to receive a double hand transplant, wishes they could be removed.
In an interview with TIME he reveals that the transplant was unsuccessful and he has never been able to utilise his hands.
"I sit in my chair all day and wear my TV out," he said.
Kepner had his hands amputated in 1999 after his strep throat infection caused sepsis. Before he received the hand transplant in 2009, he used prosthetics which allowed him to not only hold down a job, but even drive a car.
Kepner figured if the transplant was unsuccessful, he could simply get them removed and go back to prosthetics. The doctor who oversees Kepner's case, Vijay Gorantla, told TIME that "it's uncertain if Kepner would be able to use prosthetics if the hands were removed, and that rigorous physical therapy would be required".
While his life might improve if they were to partially amputate the transplanted hands, Kepner is tired of the relentless surgeries. "I am not going through all those operations again," he said.
Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, the surgeon who performed the transplant, said that Kepner's case is unusual. "The other three patients have had significant functional return in their hands and have been able to resume completely independent living, including driving, working, and going to school," he explained.
Since Kepner's 2009 transplant has rendered him "zero per cent functional", his wife—who cares for him full-time—has set up a GoFundMe page to cover the years of medical bills. [TIME]


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Thursday, June 9, 2011
Morse Presents Firm Incorporation Outside the U.S. at UC-Hastings
As one tax director told the Senate Finance Committee in 1999, the U.S. tax rules for multinationals with a U.S.-incorporated parent are onerous enough that even a U.S.-based company like Intel might sensibly choose to incorporate its parent outside the U.S, presumably in a tax haven jurisdiction. Is the recent positive trend in the proportion of U.S.-listed initial public offering firms incorporating outside the U.S. enough evidence to suggest that corporations are heeding the substance of that tax director's advice? Our results indicate that it is not. Only 178 firms, or about 2.3% of our sample of 7583 IPO firms from 1980 to 2009, incorporated outside their headquarters jurisdiction, and of these firms only 28 were headquartered in the U.S. While there is a noticeable recent increase in the proportion of issuers conducting U.S.-listed IPOs that incorporated in tax havens, our results indicate that firms headquartered in China and Hong Kong drive this trend. We do not observe a mass exodus of U.S.-headquartered firms incorporating in tax haven jurisdictions. However, we examine the few that do make that decision and describe some of their distinguishing characteristics.
Amanda Rose (Vanderbilt) blogs the workshop on Conglomerate:
Eric and Susie's study suggests that overwhelmingly US companies conducting US-based IPOs do not view the tax benefits of incorporating outside the US to be the worth the costs. Whether that is because these companies perceive the benefits to be low (maybe because they have found other effective ways to minimize their tax burden, or fear that incorporation outside the US may not successfully prevent the long arm of Uncle Sam from reaching them), or because they perceive the costs to be high (for example, losing Delaware corporate law and the institutions that accompany it, or attracting negative media attention), or perhaps both, are intriguing questions that their study calls into focus.
Most IPO companies are not focusing on taxes when they incorporate. In fact, they are a bunch of computer programmers sitting in CA.
In addition, the tax penalty falls primarily on income from foriegn operations. Most IPOs of US companies are focused on the US markets and don't focus on a later stage foriegn expansion.
Any company anticipating substantial foriegn revenue intitially who talks to a tax advisor would incorporate overseas. (How many domestic reinsurers have cropped up in the past 10 years).
Every company which starts having substantial foriegn revenues wants to redomesticate, but the costs and issues are too high.
Posted by: John | Jun 10, 2011 5:13:57 AM


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Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL Bank ATMs in Australia. However, ATM owners may charge a fee, MasterCard International Incorporated
International Travel: ATM Fees in Why the two charges when I'm using a CBA ATM? ? ? fee for completing the withdrawal at an overseas Commonwealth bank ATM.
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Australians and Expats. Australian Commonwealth Bank account using a Commonwealth Bank ATM in Ho Chi Minh City and pay a flat international ATM fee of only 2. 00.
What will you pay when withdrawing funds from an ATM? Australian bank ATM fees and charges, the fee for international ATM a Commonwealth Bank ATM. First Commonwealth Bank helps protect your money with overdraft coverage. Learn about overdraft protection and fees. Avoid the 200 Baht ATM fee during your Thailand travel trip; When (major international currencies) My bank charges 3 on all ATM credit card logo. Check out our tips for using international ATMs. keep in mind that some ATMs abroad, that your bank charges you when using another bank's ATM.
Australia's# 1 online bank; Our CommBank app; The CommBank Property app; Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards. Fees and charges are payable. Get detailed information on First Commonwealth Bank including a list of bank fees, overall customer rating and most current bank rate deals, for free. Bank ATM Fees: How Much Do Banks Charge and How Can I the company that operates the ATM you use. Charges by the How Much Do Banks Charge and How Can I.
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Personal International Foreign exchange calculator. use our foreign exchange calculator. 2014 Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124 AFSL and. Yet withdrawing foreign currency from an overseas ATM can trigger a barrage of fees and service charges international ATM Commonwealth Bank's no ATM. , Has anyone used an Australian Commonwealth Bank The only exception is the few AEON ATM machines (AEON is not a bank). Commonwealth Bank ATM charges.
Does anyone know international transaction charges from the commonwealth bank when using an ATM to withdraw money in Bali ATMs and Commonwealth bank charges
nonCommonwealth Bank ATMs in Australia. However, ATM owners may charge a MasterCard International Commonwealth Bank into Australian dollar equivalents at a.


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I Don't know if anyone can help me ! my dad was on MTB 490 in the war and i have been trying to find photos of it.
H will be 90 at the end of march and it would be great to find some photos. thanks.
Hi my dad was a gunner on the 490 his name was Fred Warner this is a photo of him , would be great to lean some more about mtb 490 where it went and what they did. thanks sallyHello, recently got my hands on my Dads wartime pictures and there is one of him and some crew of MTB 490, names are Ken Sharp, Frank Meakin (d) Charles Gordon Leach(my father), Keith Campkin, Fred Warner, Randy Langford, Sparks, Shorty Warrender, Gavin ?, George Antil, taken sometime in 1945, there are other pictures taken in Lowestoft of surrendered E boats, of interest to anyone
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You may want to pack some cash along with your camera if you're going to this year's National Cherry Blossom Festival.
You'll have to pay to attend one of the highlights of the two-week event -- the Sakura Matsuri festival.
For the first time in 15 years, there will be an admission fee ($5) to the Japanese culture street fair. reports the Washington Post. That price will get you access to crafts, concerts and lectures. You'll have to pay extra for food and drinks.
The admission fee will help pay for the production of the event, which can top $300,000.
The Sakura Matsuri fair, held at 12th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., is one of the big events associated with the Cherry Blossom Festival. It'll be held April 9.
Children ages 12 and under still get in for free.
Oh, and if you're wondering, viewing the cherry blossoms still won't cost you anything -- except the patience you'll lose while navigating the crowds.
Check Out the Scene: Keep up with what's happening in the D.C. area anytime, anywhere. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Sign up for our e-mail newsletters. Don't forget our iPhone app!


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So I am sitting here watching Xena reruns. Xena and Gabrielle are visiting India and come across a woman about to be thrown into a fire because her husband has died and it is custom that she join him.
"Sati (also called suttee) is the practice among some Hindu communities by which a recently widowed woman either voluntarily or by use of force or coercion commits suicide as a result of her husband's death. The best known form of sati is when a woman burns to death on her husband's funeral pyre."
Just when you think women have come a long way… here comes Trump to remind us that we still belong slim, pretty, and quiet, with easy-to-grab pussies.
Do the words "feminist" and "feminism" raise your hackles, or even worse, make you chuckle or scoff? Have you ever thought about why? Not gonna lie, those words used to piss me the fuck off. I thought I was an anti-feminist because I DO think mothers should be home with their babies. I DO think women should create a happy, warm home for their families. And I believe that humans are more content when traditional gender roles are respected.
But guess what? I AM A FEMINIST! Because I ALSO believe that women should make the same pay as men. Women should be able to walk down a street without being harassed (Catcalls are NOT compliments! They are displays of dominance!). Women should be able to have a couple drinks and wear a short skirt without worrying about being raped, and then blamed for it.
"Just grab her by the pussy." Words that I keep seeing people defend as "just words," "locker room talk," "not any different from 50 Shades of Grey." Let's pretend they were just words and not bragging about actions that actually happen (Because Trump supporters seem to hate that whole "reality" thing). You want the leader of your country to talk like that? You want your children to look up to, and admire him? You want your little boys to grow up and say, "Look at that at pig. That other one is pretty hot, though. I'll just grab her by the pussy and let her know what's up?" You want your little girls to grow up and say, "Well, I mean, he's super rich. Maybe if I let him grab me by the pussy, I can be rich too!!??"
Is that what you really want? I want my son to love, respect, cherish, and defend women from pricks who go around grabbing pussies and calling women bitches and pigs. And I want my daughter to be able to go out there and make her own damn money. I want her to walk around her city without fear. I want her to go to parties without bringing her own special cup with a lid to avoid being roofied from the locker-room-talk guys.
I'm happy that if my husband dies, I won't get thrown into a fire. But I'd be even happier


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Rihanna hit the town again last night looking absolutely gorgeous with her hair slicked back into a low chignon and minimal makeup. She, like everyone else, seems to be obsessed with Gucci's Spring/Summer 2016 collection. Earlier this year she pulled off the green track suit from the collection and last night she opted for another green ensemble.The Barbadian entertainer selected the green v-neck lace dress that opened the show. This dress has a ruffled neckline and cuffs, a striped waistband, and a front zip fastening. It comes with a nude slip that Rihanna chose not to wear. Get it here for $3,500. She paired it with the brand's Finnlay boots ($1,990). The green, white and black boots feature Gucci's signature stripes, fixed laces, a side zip closure and a gold bow at the front. The face of Dior, who just became the first of their brand ambassadors to design for the French fashion house, carried their Summer 2016 Diorever tote. The handbag is made of crinkled silver lambskin, has a reversible flap that changes the appearance of the bag, white top handles and a detachable shoulder strap. Rihanna also donned one of the brand's My Dior bracelets that is designed in their signature Cannage pattern. The 18k yellow gold bracelet is studded with white diamonds.
Jacquie Aiche's main muse sported two of the designer's custom cameo rings. Each one features a carved cameo set in a pavé diamond and gold band. Because Rih's dress has no lining we got to see her "bra". She's previously worn Aiche's S&H diamond halter bra but this one has a lot more going on. It boasts gold chains in a crisscross pattern and a mixture of diamond studs and shaker diamonds. Aiche informed me that this one Rih wore last night is unreleased so she's the first person to get one. You can order the simpler diamond bra here for $4,690.Her jewellery also included a stack of Chopard's Happy Hearts bracelets. Each one features a large coloured heart at one end and a smaller heart with a moving diamond inside at the other end. Purchase them from the links below. She once again rocked three diamond bracelets from Hearts On Fire – a Lorelei ribbon bracelet and two of the three-prong Temptation bracelets.
Update: Rih wore one of Jennifer Fisher's Fall 2016 orb chain necklaces in silver. You can pre-order the gold-tone version here for $295.
- Gucci v-neck floral lace dress ($3,500)
- Gucci Finnlay leather high boot ($1,990)
- Chopard mother of pearl and rose gold Happy Hearts bracelet ($3,050)
- Chopard onyx and and rose gold Happy Hearts bracelet ($3,050)
images via ultimate rihanna


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Ten year old Elissa Lyon is the only finalist from a Church of England school in this year's election of the Leeds Children's Mayor - and today (Friday) at noon is the closing date for voting
Elissa, from Cookridge Holy Trinity CE Primary School (and who is the daughter of Narinder Lyon, Safeguarding Advisor for the Ripon Episcopal Area), is one of 12 finalists out of 49 schools who entered.
Over 100 children from Year 5 wrote manifestos and the 12 finalists were chosen by a panel of children and young people.
Elissa's manifesto is "to encourage families to walk to school by setting up treasure hunts". Read it in full here
Narinder Lyon says "I'm very proud of her achievement so far and we hope as many children aged 18 and under will vote for her over the summer".
Voting remains open until 12pm on Friday 15 September. The winner will be announced on 27 September.
You can read all the manifestos and vote here. (You can also vote in pop-up voting booths in every Leeds City Council library, museum & gallery as well as at summer Breeze events around the city.)
Leeds Children's Mayor is an annual citizenship project for schools that engages children in the process of democracy and promotes a better understanding of rights and responsibilities.
The 12 finalists are:
Maisy Micklethwaite - Adel Primary School
Evie Greenhough - Calverley Parkside Primary School
Elissa Lyon - Cookridge Holy Trinity CofE Primary School
Isla Bentley - Gildersome Primary School
Attia Hayee - Hillcrest Academy
Arran Carter - Kerr Mackie Primary School
Ibrahim Miah - Moor Allerton Hall Primary School
Abhinav Kandimalla - Morley Victoria Primary School
Aadil Zaheer - New Bewerley Community School
Weronika Stasiak - Queensway Primary School
Celeste Abbott-Brown - Rosebank Primary School
Aadi Attari - The Grammar School at Leeds
The finalist with the most points when voting closes on 15 September will be elected as the new Children's Mayor of Leeds
Follow on Twitter @LSChildrenMayor to keep up to date.


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Poll: Economic Fears Eclipse Other Problems
A weak economy makes every other problem small.
Ask Americans at the end of the 1990s about their worry list, and child-rearing ranked at the top. More than a decade later, with the scars of a recession still fresh, economic woes have shot up and surpassed anxiety about parental involvement in children's lives
In a new Wall Street Journal/NBC poll, more than two-thirds of Americans (68%) cited pressure to make ends meet as a "very serious" problem facing families. That was up from 50% the last time the question was posed in 1999 and made it the single biggest concern of any considered by poll participants. It was the only such problem that people perceived to have worsened over time. The scars of a recession still fresh, everything else had diminished in significance. Divorce and violence on TV dropped in importance, to the point where fewer than half of respondents listed either as a very serious problem.


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At Permutive, we believe companies should be able to make big data actionable by anyone. We make this easy with a single edge computing platform that's used by the largest publishers in the world. Our API lets our customers programmatically collect, store, filter and react to any user event in real time; by providing a powerful query layer that means they can personalise every user experience on the fly.
We also believe that we can only be successful by hiring the best people, giving them interesting, impactful work to do and trusting them to excel at it.
We recently raised a Series A off the back of strong revenue growth and platform adoption, and are backed by Octopus Ventures, Y Combinator, EF and EQT.


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Affiliate links included at no cost to you. All thoughts are my own, as always.
Allow me to introduce you to my guilty pleasure: Starbucks Bottled Frappuccino. I'm also going to show you how I make my little habit more affordable by finding Starbucks frappuccino coupons and stores that offer good prices!
I absolutely love drinking these. They are so convenient, they taste fresh, and of course, they are super yummy (especially if you have a sweet tooth like me). I can't afford to go to Starbucks every day for a treat, so it is nice to have these waiting for me in my fridge.
Love Doesn't Come Cheap: Starbucks Frappuccino Prices
I have to be honest with you, though; these aren't all that cheap, either, and drinking them daily can still really sting at the end of the month. I was able to snag a 12 pack at Costco for $13.99, which comes to roughly $1.16 each. I still find that to be expensive for something that I don't really NEED, though. Here's one way I keep my daily treat costs down: what I typically do is only drink these on weekdays, and I'll drink 1/2 of the frappuccino each day, stretching one drink out for 2 days. A case from Costco will last me most of the month! I typically just leave the drink in the fridge and every time I go to the kitchen (usually hunting some sort of snack) I have a little sip! It gives me a little pick me up, makes me feel special (that's Starbucks marketing hard at work on me, people), and doesn't break the bank. Plus, I don't have to hassle with making coffee each morning. I think of this product as making parenting easier for all of those reasons!
If you aren't a Costco member, you might also want to try Walmart.com. I've been pleased with the Starbucks frappuccino price there (currently $5.44 for a 4-pack). You can pick up at the store or have them delivered to you. Usually if you spend at least $50 delivery is free, so it may be worth buying a bunch at one time and saving yourself a trip. And of course, be sure to use Ebates if you shop on Walmart.com, as the price doesn't increase for you at all, and you'll save an additional percentage back on your purchase (it's low for Walmart, 1 or 2%, but hey…every penny counts!).
You can also find Starbucks bottled frappuccino on Amazon, though I have not yet found them to be the best price there. However, Amazon is known for changing prices frequently, and they do not like to be undersold, so it's always worth a look before making your final purchasing decision.
And finally, it's always good to check on coupons.com for any Starbucks frappiccino coupons that might be current. They aren't a regular occurrence, but you can find them on occasion.


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QUARRYVILLE, Pa. — The gunman who killed five girls in an Amish schoolroom confided to his wife during the siege that he molested two female relatives 20 years ago when he was boy and was tormented by dreams of doing it again, authorities said Tuesday.
Investigators also said that Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, plotted his takeover of the school for nearly a week and that the items he brought — including flexible plastic ties, eyebolts and lubricating jelly — suggest he may have been planning to sexually assault the Amish girls before police closed in.
"It's very possible that he intended to victimize these children in many ways prior to executing them and killing himself," State Police Commissioner Jeffrey Miller said.
Holding up a copy of the gunman's suicide note at a packed news conference, Miller also suggested that Roberts was haunted by the death of his prematurely born daughter in 1997. The baby, Elise, died 20 minutes after being delivered, Miller said.
Elise's death "changed my life forever," the milk truck driver and father of three wrote to his wife. "I haven't been the same since it affected me in a way I never felt possible. I am filled with so much hate, hate toward myself hate towards God and unimaginable emptyness it seems like everytime we do something fun I think about how Elise wasn't here to share it with us and I go right back to anger."
The state police commissioner identified the demons in Roberts' head a day after the shooting rampage shattered the sense of calm in Lancaster County's bucolic Pennsylvania Dutch Country, where the Amish live a peaceful, turn-the-other-cheek existence in an 18th-century world with no automobiles and no electrical appliances.
"He certainly was very troubled psychologically deep down and was dealing with things that nobody else knew he was dealing with," Miller said.
The death toll rose to six Tuesday — including the gunman — when two girls died of their wounds.
Relatives to be interviewed
During the standoff, Roberts told his wife in a cell phone call from the one-room schoolhouse that he molested two female relatives when they were 3 to 5 years old, Miller said. Roberts would have been around 11 or 12 at the time. Also, in a suicide note left for his family, he said he "had dreams about doing what he did 20 years ago again," Miller said.
Police could not immediately confirm Roberts' claim that he molested two relatives. Family members knew nothing of molestation in his past, Miller said. Police located the two relatives and were hoping to interview them.
Roberts had planned the attack for nearly a week, buying plastic ties from a hardware store on Sept. 26 and several other items less than an hour before entering the school, Miller said.
The crime bore some resemblance to an attack on a high school in Bailey, Colo., where a 53-year-old man took six girls hostage and sexually assaulted them before fatally shooting one girl and killing himself. That attack occurred last Wednesday, the day after Roberts began buying materials for his siege.
Using a checklist that was later found in his pickup truck, Roberts brought to the school three guns, a stun gun, two knives, a pile of wood for barricading the doors, and a bag with 600 rounds of ammunition, police said. He also had a change of clothing, indicating he had planned a long siege, police said.
He sent the boys and several adults away and bound the girls together in a line at the blackboard. Miller on Tuesday revealed that one of the girls was able to escape with the boys.
A two-by-four piece of lumber found in the school had 10 large eyebolts spaced about 10 inches apart, suggesting that Roberts may have planned to truss up the girls and sexually assault them, Miller said. "It's important to note that we had 10 victims at that time that were in the school," he said.
The girls left in the room were shot at close range shortly after police arrived, Miller said.
"We're quite certain, based on what we know, that he had no intention of coming out of there alive," Miller said.
Wife was at prayer group
At the time Roberts' wife received the phone call, she was attending a meeting of a prayer group she led that prayed for the community's schoolchildren.
The victims were identified as Naomi Rose Ebersole, 7; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; Marian Fisher, 13; Mary Liz Miller, 8; and her sister Lena Miller, 7. Stoltzfus' sister was among the wounded.
Three other girls were in critical condition and two were in serious condition. They ranged in age from 6 to 13.
Church members visited with the victims' families Tuesday, preparing meals and doing household chores, while Amish elders planned the funerals. An Amish woman who helped comfort family members said they were being sustained by prayer.
"It's a tragedy we've never seen before," said the woman, whose father was a church bishop. Like many Amish, she declined to give her name. "They said it was a happy school," she said. "The children were happy, the teachers were happy."
Roberts, from the nearby town of Bart, was not Amish and did not appear to have anything against the Amish, Miller said. He said Roberts was bent on killing girls and apparently figured he could succeed at the serene schoolhouse.
'They honestly have forgiven'
Rita Rhoads, a local nurse and midwife who delivered several children in the Amish community, told NBC's Ann Curry that the mother of a 13-year-old girl who died has forgiven Roberts.
"She holds no ill will toward the shooter. She's very forgiving. Christ forgave us, and we in turn forgive, and they honestly have forgiven," she said. "Even last night, there was no anger toward the shooter."
Rhoads described the teenage girl, who she did not identify, as "just beginning to blossom; she was very sweet."
The victims were members of the Old Order Amish. Lancaster County is home to some 20,000 Old Order Amish, who eschew automobiles, electricity, computers, fancy clothes and most other modern conveniences, live among their own people, and typically speak a German dialect known as Pennsylvania Dutch.
Dwight LeFever, a Roberts family spokesman, spoke at a community prayer service Tuesday evening and said he was at the home of Roberts' father when an Amish neighbor came to comfort the family.
"He stood there for an hour, and he held that man in his arms, and he said, 'We will forgive you,"' LeFever said. "He extended the hope of forgiveness that we all need these days."
Sam Stoltzfus, 63, an Amish woodworker who lives a few miles away from the shooting scene, said his grandchildren were full of questions when they came home from another Amish school.
"They were terrified," said Stoltzfus, whose son took the grandchildren to school Tuesday morning so they wouldn't have to walk by themselves. "They wanted to know: What was wrong with him? Why was he doing that?"
Stoltzfus said the victims' families will be sustained by their faith.
"We think it was God's plan and we're going to have to pick up the pieces and keep going," he said. "A funeral to us is a much more important thing than the day of birth because we believe in the hereafter. The children are better off than their survivors."
Looking at Columbine
The Pennsylvania attack was the deadliest school shooting since a teenager went on a rampage last year on an Indian reservation in Red Lake, Minn., killing 10 people in all, including five students, a teacher, a security guard and himself.
The Bush administration on Monday called for a school violence summit to be held next week with education and law enforcement officials to discuss possible federal action to help communities prevent violence and deal with its aftermath.
Nationwide, the 1999 Columbine High School massacre near Littleton, Colo., remains the deadliest school shooting, with 15 dead, including the two teenage gunmen.
In Pennsylvania's insular Amish country, the outer world has rarely intruded. In 1999, two Amish men were sent to jail for buying cocaine from a motorcycle gang and selling it to young people in their community.
There were four murders in Lancaster County in 2005, including the killing of a non-Amish couple who was shot to death in their Lititz home in November by their daughter's 18-year-old boyfriend.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.