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Given that the sole criterion to date from the Chancellor is that the savings the banks make from this new scheme must be passed on to the borrower, the chances of the scheme being successful would seem remote. Indeed, the ability of the banks to even calculate the saving is likely to be a painful process requiring protracted negotiation. Perhaps these discount distribution and application vagaries will still be outlined. Nevertheless, as Rathbone points out, adhering to the sole criterion of cost-of-funding savings being passed on to borrowers, may prove more difficult to apply universally than expected. The fact that some banks are already struggling with the mechanics of how to pass on such savings - whether to pass them on as upfront payments, or in some other fashion - speaks of the challenge at hand. Reducing the loan margin would, of course, seem the logical approach, yet for some reason - if what Rathbone says is true - banks don't seem to go for it. Why this is, we don't know. Perhaps it is linked to the complexities posed to banks" hedging, accounting or even curve forecasting, discounting, or cash-flow procedures. Or some other arcane trivialities. Either way, it seems clearer rules and procedures are needed, as perhaps is some consultation from the banks themselves (perhaps that's what's going on right now?). As to the ECTR, it's worth pointing out that the scheme also carries a credit easing criteria since funds are only distributed on the proviso that they are used to bolster lending, something which was never strictly enforced by the ECB in the criteria for its LTRO programme. But as Rathbone states, while this seems a sensible proviso it does increasingly apply a secondary function to the BoE's financial policy committee, by charging it with the objective to support the economic policy of the government. This charge naturally undermines the Bank's independence: It would appear that having been given its independence to set monetary policy by the last Labour government, the Conservatives are looking to take back control by placing regulation and how it should be applied back under political influence. We believe there are also other implications. For one, we wouldn't be surprised if the "you must lend" proviso, would significantly diminish the attractiveness of the programme this Wednesday. Second, assume the main reason banks are not lending is down to them having to hold back larger chunks of liquidity to meet regulatory standards and to guard against the unexpected deterioration of legacy loans, as well as new loans. That's to say, assume banks are not lending (at low rates) because they believe freshly extended loans may deteriorate quicker than they themselves can source the regulatory-required liquidity buffers to support the loans. In short, assume the banks are not lending because they don't believe there are enough credit worthy businesses and people out there to guarantee safe returns. That high rates are therefore a function of the risk of return embedded in new loans. "Forcing" the banks to lend could therefore turn out to be nothing more than a disguised sovereign-sponsored subprime lending programme. Albeit one which lowers subprime rates for borrowers, by passing on the lower costs of the sovereign borrower to the market. Nevertheless, not yet one which takes the absolute risk of non-performance away from the banks and onto the sovereign- hence why banks may still be doubtful about participation. Unless the sovereign underwrites the risk of non-performance directly for all loans (as is now being done in some distressed eurozone countries), and thus forgoes altogether the credit intermediation role provided by banks - which is all about determining and pricing the risk of return - it seems illogical that it can force "independent" banks to lend profitably (or at least in a way that doesn't force banks to dedicate even more capital to liquidity buffers). This is because independent banks have to operate with profits in mind. If they evaluate that high rates are the only way to ensure a return on their investment, it's difficult to have them lower the rates. High rates are now much more a function of how banks view the risk of return, than a function of cost of funding. Thus, having a sovereign synthetically lower the cost of funding - provided it is passed on to the borrower - doesn't change the risk associated with the loans. Hence why some banks might feel it is more logical to pass on such "savings" as upfront payments, and stick to the rates their risk models dictate. After all, if the loans deteriorate in the future it is still the bank that is stumped with having to dedicate more liquid assets to liquidity buffers. In any case, it's no surprise that the banks are confused. The programme in many ways undermines the independence of the banking sector itself, while posing existential questions for banks, as well as their rights to profitability. | 987 | -267,791,054,121,372,350 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
The Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) is a public library system headquartered in Suite 324 in the Fairfax County Government Center at 12000 Government Center Parkway in unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Hennen's American Public Library Ratings (HAPLR) has ranked the system among the top 10 libraries in the United States (for its size of 500,000+ residents) five times in the past 10 years. According to the library's timeline, the first Fairfax County Library opened in 1939.
, there are 23 library branches, eight of which are regional branches, 14 are smaller community branches, and one which assists people with disabilities. The library also oversees the county's Archives and Records Management Branch. The library's service area spans both the county and Fairfax City, serving nearly half a million registered users. The library system is the largest in Virginia in terms of population served (over one million people between Fairfax County and the City of Fairfax). In the library's 2010 fiscal year (through June 2010), nearly 14 million items were borrowed from its collection of nearly three million books, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and other items. Nearly 5.7 million visits were made to the branches, and website visits reached almost 5 million. The library offers a wide variety of services both in the branches and via the Web site. The library has computers for access to the Internet, the catalog, ebooks, downloadable audiobooks, and databases. The library sponsors various programs: national and local author readings and book signings, local musical concerts, and events for the diverse population., the library staff includes the equivalent of over 430 full-time employees, 125 of which hold Master's degrees in library science. Volunteers donated over 153,200 hours in 2010. The Director of the library is Edwin S. Clay III, who has served in his current position for more than twenty-five years. == Branches ==
Burke Centre Library (Burke)
Richard Byrd Library (Springfield)
Centreville Regional Library (Centreville)
Chantilly Regional Library (Chantilly)
City of Fairfax Regional Library (Fairfax) — includes the Virginia Room
Great Falls Library (Great Falls)
Patrick Henry Library (Vienna)
Herndon Fortnightly Library (Herndon)
Thomas Jefferson Library (Falls Church area)
Kings Park Library (Burke)
Kingstowne Library (Kingstowne)
Lorton Library (Lorton)
Dolley Madison Library (McLean)
John Marshall Library (Rose Hill)
George Mason Regional Library (Annandale)
Oakton Library (Oakton)
Pohick Regional Library (Burke)
Reston Regional Library (Reston)
Sherwood Regional Library (Alexandria)
Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library (Tysons Corner, Pimmit Hills)
Martha Washington Library (Alexandria)
Woodrow Wilson Library (Falls Church area)
== References ==
== External links ==
Website
Official Library Blog
Official Library Blog for Teens
Fairfax County, Virginia
Public libraries in Virginia
1939 establishments in the United States | 671 | null | null | 504,229,177 | "2012-07-26T06:16:57" | Fairfax County Public Library | 2,012 |
Cardium Provides Update on Exchange Listing and Related Business Matters SAN DIEGO, Aug. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Cardium Therapeutics (NYSE Amex: CXM) reported that it had submitted a modified compliance plan designed to reestablish compliance with its exchange listing requirements in view of ongoing plans related to the acquisition of a revenue-generating nutraceutical business designed to expand the Company's MedPodium product line. In a related matter, the Company announced the incorporation of MedPodium Health Sciences, Inc., a new wholly-owned subsidiary established to develop the Company's nutraceutical and healthy lifestyle products, and to acquire complementary business assets having existing revenues and channels of distribution. The Company also announced that MedPodium Health Sciences would handle sales and distribution of Cardium's Excellagen™ product candidate pending FDA marketing clearance for its commercialization in the United States. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20051018/CARDIUMLOGO) As reported previously, a communication from the staff of the company's current listing exchange indicated that the company was considered to be noncompliant with one of the exchange's listing requirements based on its quarterly report for the period ended September 30, 2010, and provided that the company should submit a plan that would reestablish compliance with the listing requirement, particularly the requirements of section 1003 (a) (iii) of the NYSE Amex Company Guide with respect to minimum "stockholders' equity" of $6.0 Million by August 26, 2011, which is an accounting standard essentially tracking net paid-in capital and retained earnings less cumulative losses since the Company began its operations and reporting in 2005. Unlike stocks listed on the NASDAQ, the NYSE Amex does not base compliance on stock price. Consistent with the Company's business model, and with the recent expansion of its MedPodium product line, the Company has reviewed a number of potential strategic acquisitions, which would not only build stockholders' equity (in satisfaction of the listing requirement), but would at the same time broaden and accelerate the development of its MedPodium business as a means of enhancing near-term revenues. The Company's modified plan and request for an extension of the compliance period relates to such a proposed strategic acquisition. In the event the modified plan and request were not accepted and the exchange elected instead to initiate the next stage of procedures related to a potential delisting, then the Company would still be provided with an additional period of time in which to appeal any such determination in order to establish compliance. These matters have no current effect on the listing or the trading of the company's shares on the exchange. The Company's stock will continue to trade on the exchange while these matters are considered, and throughout the period of time under which any appeal is under consideration and/or the Company is able to reestablish compliance through the completion of its proposed strategic acquisition or alternative paths for increasing stockholders' equity. Even if the Company did not ultimately reestablish compliance within any established period, and did not successfully appeal any potential future determination regarding a delisting, or if it otherwise elected not to continue listing with its current exchange, then Company's stock would continue to be traded electronically, as it is now, but on the OTC Bulletin Board, a regulated quotation service that provides quotes, sale prices and volume information in over-the-counter equity securities. The company's common stock was traded on the OTC Bulletin Board until July 2007, when the company elected to instead list its shares on the American Stock Exchange. "We look forward to the acquisition of new products and businesses as we expand our MedPodium product line, and we believe these have the potential to bring additional near-term revenues to complement the expected launch of our Excellagen product candidate," stated Christopher J. Reinhard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cardium. About MedPodium MedPodium™ is a portfolio of science-based, easy-to-use Nutra-Apps™ lifestyle supplements designed to promote health and well-being in today's increasingly complex work and social environments. The MedPodium healthy lifestyle brand is being developed to feature improved product formulations including easy-to-use pills and capsules, fast-acting oral drops and sprays, and innovative transdermal delivery systems. Additional information about MedPodium is located at www.medpodium.com. About Cardium | 913 | 920,045,184,052,691,300 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Death toll rises from Indonesia tsunami
Emergency supplies are finally arriving on the remote Indonesian islands slammed by a tsunami that killed at least 272 people. Elsewhere in the archipelago, the toll from the volcanic eruption has risen to 30, including the mountain's spiritual caretaker. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has cut short a state visit to Vietnam to rush home to deal with the dual disasters that struck Indonesia within 24 hours, straining the country's ability to respond. The first aerial surveys of the region hit by the 10ft tsunami revealed huge swaths of land underwater and the crumbled rubble of homes torn apart by the wave. Two days after an undersea earthquake spawned the killer wave, the casualty count was still rising as rescuers landed for the first time on the Mentawai island chain, which was closest to the epicentre and the worst hit. Bad weather had kept them away previously Bookmark with: Stumbled Upon Newsvine Reddit Del.icio.us Digg Twitter Facebook Viadeo © Independent Television News Limited 2010. All rights reserved.
| 228 | 8,791,782,916,963,687,000 | 2010-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Welcome! Hello, and welcome to Wikipedia! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:
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I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian! Please sign your name on talk pages using four tildes (~~~~); this will automatically produce your name and the date. If you have any questions, check out Where to ask a question or ask me on my talk page. Again, welcome!
==Image Tagging RUAnoite.jpg==
Thanks for uploading RUAnoite.jpg. I notice the image page currently doesn't specify who created the image, so the copyright status is therefore unclear. If you have not created the image yourself then you need to argue that we have the right to use the image on Wikipedia (see copyright tagging below). If you have not created the image yourself then you should also specify where you found it, i.e., in most cases link to the website where you got it, and the terms of use for content from that page. If the image also doesn't have a copyright tag then you must also add one. If you created/took the picture then you can use to release it under the GFDL. If you can claim fair use use or. See Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use. If you have uploaded other images, please check that you have specified their source and copyright tagged them, too. You can find a list of image pages you have edited by going to "Your contributions" from your user page and then selecting "Image" from the dropdown box. Note that any unsourced and untagged images will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. Thanks so much. Yes, I am the author of the image RUAnoite.jpg. My English is limited but I would like uploading more free images. It is no clair for me the way system. ==Question==
Hello, Ulises Sarry. I've moved your question from Contributing to Wikipedia, which isn't for asking questions, to the help desk, which is the more appropriate page for asking questions related to Wikipedia and editing. Be sure to check back there for an answer soon! Thanks. Flcelloguy (A note?) ==External links==
Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a mere directory of links nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and links that exist to attract visitors to a web site or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam policies for further explanations of links that are considered appropriate. If you feel the link should be added to the article, then please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. See the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you. -- Solipsist | 700 | null | null | 128,656,883 | "2007-05-06T14:59:53" | Ulises Sarry~enwiki | 2,012 |
== Armament and tactics ==
The adoption of iron armor meant that the traditional naval armament of dozens of light cannon became useless, since their shot would bounce off an armored hull. To penetrate armor, increasingly heavy guns were mounted on ships; nevertheless, the view that ramming was the only way to sink an ironclad became widespread. The increasing size and weight of guns also meant a movement away from the ships mounting many guns broadside, in the manner of a ship-of-the-line, towards a handful of guns in turrets for all-round fire. === Ram craze ===
From the 1860s to the 1880s many naval designers believed that the development of the ironclad meant that the ram was again the most important weapon in naval warfare. With steam power freeing ships from the wind, and armor making them invulnerable to shellfire, the ram seemed to offer the opportunity to strike a decisive blow. The scant damage inflicted by the guns of Monitor and Virginia at Battle of Hampton Roads and the spectacular but lucky success of the Austrian flagship Ferdinand Max sinking the Italian Re d'Italia at Lissa gave strength to the ramming craze. From the early 1870s to early 1880s most British naval officers thought that guns were about to be replaced as the main naval armament by the ram. Those who noted the tiny number of ships that had actually been sunk by ramming struggled to be heard. The revival of ramming had a significant effect on naval tactics. Since the 17th century the predominant tactic of naval warfare had been the line of battle, where a fleet formed a long line to give it the best fire from its broadside guns. This tactic was totally unsuited to ramming, and the ram threw fleet tactics into disarray. The question of how an ironclad fleet should deploy in battle to make best use of the ram was never tested in battle, and if it had been, combat might have shown that rams could only be used against ships which were already stopped dead in the water. The ram finally fell out of favour in the 1880s, as the same effect could be achieved with a torpedo, with less vulnerability to quick-firing guns. === Development of naval guns ===
The armament of ironclads tended to become concentrated in a small number of powerful guns capable of penetrating the armor of enemy ships at range; calibre and weight of guns increased markedly to achieve greater penetration. Throughout the ironclad era navies also grappled with the complexities of rifled versus smoothbore guns and breech-loading versus muzzle-loading. HMS Warrior carried a mixture of 110-pounder 7 inch (180 mm) breech-loading rifles and more traditional 68-pounder smoothbore guns. Warrior highlighted the challenges of picking the right armament; the breech-loaders she carried, designed by Sir William Armstrong, were intended to be the next generation of heavy armament for the Royal Navy, but were shortly withdrawn from service. Breech-loading guns seemed to offer important advantages. A breech-loader could be reloaded without moving the gun, a lengthy process particularly if the gun then needed to be re-aimed. The Warriors Armstrong guns also had the virtue of being lighter than an equivalent smoothbore and, because of their rifling, more accurate. Nonetheless, the design was rejected because of problems which plagued breech-loaders for decades. The weakness of the breech-loader was the obvious problem of sealing the breech. All guns are powered by the explosive conversion of gunpowder into gas. This explosion propels the shot or shell out of the front of the gun, but also imposes great stresses on the gun-barrel. If the breech — which experiences some of the greatest forces in the gun — is not entirely secure, then there is a risk that either gas will discharge through the breech or that the breech will break. This in turn reduces the muzzle velocity of the weapon and can also endanger the gun crew. The Warriors Armstrong guns suffered from both problems; the shells were unable to penetrate the 4.5 in (118 mm) armor of La Gloire, while sometimes the screw which closed the breech flew backwards out of the gun on firing. Similar problems were experienced with the breech-loading guns which became standard in the French and German navies. These problems influenced the British to equip ships with muzzle-loading weapons of increasing power until the 1880s. | 952 | null | null | 528,775,160 | "2012-12-19T09:03:16" | Ironclad warship | 2,012 |
Sacking won't solve anything says Berti Vogts Former Scotland manager Berti Vogts has expressed his sympathy with Craig Levein and warned that a change of manager alone will not cure the country's recent struggles. The German coach, who guided his homeland to the Euro 96 title, held the Scotland job between 2002 and 2004 but endured a fractious relationship with fans and media before resigning. Levein's tenure ended in similarly disappointing fashion when he was dismissed earlier this month and the Scottish Football Association are currently assessing potential successors. But Vogts, currently in charge of Azerbaijan and speaking ahead of his side's World Cup qualifier against Northern Ireland, believes that the problems run deeper than the manager's office. "I heard about Craig Levein only yesterday. I know how he feels," said Vogts. "When you take over Scotland you have to live with certain things, with the Scottish media and a lot of poor players. I understand, yes. "Expectations are too high, always. They do not invest many pounds in youth and you have to do that. "When I took over I brought in over 12 youngsters. I brought in a young Darren Fletcher after I saw him in a youth tournament. He was 17 years of age and the journalists attacked me and said he was too young but he is an excellent player." Asked to pass comment on who might get the job next, he added: "Who will it be? Maybe Joe Jordan or Gordon Strachan. Maybe they should do it together." Despite the negativity that surrounded his reign as Scotland boss, Vogts would not rule out a return to British football at some stage and praised the Scottish players for their work ethic. "Maybe [I will return]," he said. "I have a contract for one year but I had a very good time in Scotland. "The mentality of the players was fantastic. They are very professional, they know exactly what to do to prepare and to teach themselves. "In Azerbaijan, the boys come too late to football at 16 or 17 and you have to teach them. In Great Britain you play right from school."
| 443 | -3,643,651,355,029,137,400 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Hill is a surname of English origin, meaning "a person who lived on a hill". It is the 30th-most common surname in the United Kingdom. | 34 | null | null | 527,409,548 | "2012-12-10T20:51:20" | Hill (surname) | 2,012 |
Bulls 113, 76ers 99 - Wire Services - NBA - NBCSports.com Bulls 113, 76ers 99
AP Sports Writer Associated Press Sports updated 10:59 p.m. ET April 9, 2009 CHICAGO (AP) -Tyrus Thomas' statement was as big as one of his dunks. The most dangerous team in the East? In his mind, there's no doubt the Chicago Bulls are it. Cleveland, Boston and Orlando might argue, but that debate will be settled soon enough. There's no denying the Bulls have come a long way in recent weeks, though. Thomas and Ben Gordon each scored 24 points, and Chicago closed in on its fourth playoff appearance in five years with a 113-99 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday night. The seventh-place Bulls reduced their magic number to one over Charlotte, which visits Saturday, and moved a half game ahead of Detroit in the Eastern Conference. "We're the most dangerous team going into the playoffs in the Eastern Conference right now," Thomas said. "I wouldn't say anyone is counting us out, but we're the underdog right now. I think we're going to come out and shock a lot of people." Thomas set a season-high for points while converting a career-best 14 of 14 free throws. He scored 10 in the third quarter and Gordon added seven as the Bulls turned a 50-50 halftime tie into an 82-72 lead, before pulling away in the fourth for their 13th home win in 14 games. The loss was the third straight for sixth-place Philadelphia, which is stumbling into the playoffs after a late-season collapse a year ago. Andre Miller scored 20 points - none in the fourth quarter - and Andre Iguodala added 19 for the 76ers, who trail Miami by a game and lead Chicago by just 1 1/2. "They're tough because they're getting into a rhythm at the right time," Miller said. "They're moving the ball, sharing, playing well off each other, taking advantage of their shooters and their fastbreak with a quick point guard (Derrick Rose)." The Sixers were ahead 61-58 before Gordon tied it with a 3-pointer five minutes into the third quarter to start a 20-6 run that put away the Sixers. Both teams shot 52 percent, but the Bulls outscored Philadelphia 63-49 in the second half thanks to their unselfish play. Derrick Rose had 16 points and eight assists, Brad Miller came off the bench to score 15, and the Bulls made all 19 foul shots. "We know we can win games," Rose said. "We just have to come out and be aggressive from the beginning. We have a lot of confidence." Now, they're on the verge of another playoff berth after a 33-49 freefall last year. The Sixers appear to be in the middle of one again. They clinched a playoff spot by beating Detroit on April 4, but have since lost by 29 at New Jersey and by three at Charlotte - and have rekindled memories of last year's collapse, when they dropped the final four regular-season games and got knocked out of the playoffs by the Pistons. They were disjointed and clearly seemed to miss Thaddeus Young, their third-leading scorer, in the previous two games but got off to a promising start against the Bulls. While Young missed his fifth game with a sprained right ankle, the Sixers rediscovered theirs and grabbed a 38-24 lead early in the second quarter. It didn't last, though. Trailing 44-34 midway through the quarter, the Bulls jumped back into it with a 14-2 run in which Gordon hit two 3-pointers and Rose and Miller each scored four points. Gordon sandwiched his 3s around Rose's block on Louis Williams' layup, tying it at 46. And Brad Miller fed Rose for a fastbreak layup after a steal, giving the Bulls a short-lived 48-46 lead with about three minutes left in the half. Two layups by Andre Miller put the Sixers back ahead before Thomas dunked with 20 seconds left to tie it at 50. "Once they got their rhythm and momentum, it was difficult to stop them, especially with the home crowd here," Sixers coach Tony DiLeo said. | 905 | -6,082,055,289,107,247,000 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Editorial: Twelve months that gave us greater confidence and fewer illusions Sometime after the fevered apologies for showing the wrong Korean flag at the football and before the wondrous evening when Jessica Ennis, Greg Rutherford and Mo Farah won gold. Sometime after Britain's "dream team" of cyclists faced up to defeat in the road race, and Bradley Wiggins, already the first British winner of the Tour de France, rode to victory in the time trial. It was the moment when the rain stopped - briefly - the sun came out, and a sceptical country turned its back on the ingrained nostalgia and disappointment of years and embraced the quirky, slightly ironic, but joyously inclusive, national idea, exemplified in Danny Boyle's Olympics opening ceremony. And with that shared experience seemed to come reconciliation with a more modest, down-home sort of success. It was then that the celebrations for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee started to look by way of a prelude. Glorious spectacles from yesteryear rolled across our screens. The Thames was crowded with craft, big and small, for a river pageant that had to be appreciated through sheeting rain and a BBC commentary of alarming condescension. The Duke of Edinburgh fell ill, but the Queen used her balcony call to convey a message of solid continuity: just herself, her son, his wife, the two grandsons and the Duchess of Cambridge. With a royal baby on the way by the year's end and the Queen more popular than at any time in her long reign, this cornerstone of the establishment appeared to have closed the debilitating cracks that opened up after Princess Diana's death. Institutions with reputations tarnished If a marginally modernised monarchy looked more secure than for at least a generation, the same could not be said of several other pillars of national life, as long-standing assumptions were called into question one by one. The reputation of Parliament had already been besmirched by the expenses scandal of 2009. But in 2012, we saw the police (thanks to the new report on the Hillsborough disaster), the intelligence services (through the review of the Finucane case in Northern Ireland and compensation paid to alleged victims of rendition), the BBC (through its simplistic Jubilee coverage and its uncertain response to the posthumous unmasking of Jimmy Savile as a sex predator), sections of the press (thanks to phone hacking and the revelations at the Leveson Inquiry) and - last, but not least - the Church of England (in its inability to overcome its division over women bishops) all, in their own particular way, exhibiting a failure to meet public expectations or face up to the realities of today's world. Farewell to boastful insularity For a country so often seen as locked in the past, however, a clutch of shattered illusions may be no bad thing. Boasting of being best when you are not reflects only insularity. And something similar could be said of the way the country acclimatised to economic austerity. An element of bleakness almost seemed to suit Britain - or so it seemed - more than the showy, and selective, prosperity that preceded it. Could it be that Britons generally are more at home with making do and mending, keeping calm and carrying on, while appreciating genuine success when they see it? If this presages a more generous, tolerant and less celebrity-obsessed society, something may be starting to go right. And the census results, towards the end of the year, which showed a markedly more mixed and open society than before, seemed to provide the statistical confirmation. Britain is still in Europe, despite everything This is not to underestimate the real hardship that the financial crisis and the stubborn lack of growth in the economy have brought to many, and which persisted, largely unrelieved, through the year. Nor the dangers that lurk in the rise of a party such as Ukip, which draws its support not just from those opposed to the country's membership of the European Union, but from those of a broader Little Britain mentality that is completely inimical to the globalised world of today. At the end of 2012, however, Britain's relationship with Europe does not look quite as fraught or as hostile as it looked at the end of 2011, or as fragile as renewed talk of a referendum might suggest. | 882 | -9,100,118,759,658,040,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Trader Joe's Recalls Peanut Butter The grocery store chain Trader Joe's is recalling peanut butter that has been linked to 29 salmonella illnesses in 18 states. The Food and Drug Administration and the federal Centers for Disease Control said Saturday that the store's Creamy Salted Valencia Peanut Butter is the likely source of the outbreak. The agencies are investigating whether any other items sold at the store could be contaminated. More than two-thirds of those who became ill were children under the age of 18. No deaths have been reported.
| 113 | 8,475,431,943,643,587,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
An Honest Look at Illegal Immigration
| 8 | 5,684,523,479,889,267,000 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Eurozone weighs union on bank regulation Arguments that divided the European Union over its fiscal discipline treaty are beginning to be replayed over financial policy, as the eurozone explores forging ahead with its own regime for bank regulation. A senior European Central Bank policymaker last week in effect sketched out a framework for a eurozone banking union - an idea gaining traction in European policy circles and causing anxiety in London, which remains the main financial centre for the euro. More On this story On this topic IN Europe Jörg Asmussen, an ECB executive board member, argued that the 17-nation currency bloc should be ready - if there is no deeper integration across the EU - to establish its own system to monitor financial institutions, including a special fund to handle collapses. Some economists believe that such a step is key to solving the eurozone crisis. "To break the kind of vicious circle between sovereign debt and bank problems that we saw in 2011, many people are thinking there also needs to be some element of a banking union, with common supervision, deposit insurance and resolution regimes," said André Sapir, a senior fellow at the Bruegel think-tank and member of the European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB), the body set up to monitor risks to the continent's financial system. "Some elements of a euro area fiscal union are already there - it is messy and it has lots of problems, but that step is going forward. But this does not resolve the issues for financial stability," Mr Sapir said. The open discussion of a union on financial regulation sharpens a longstanding worry for British ministers: what will happen to the multi-currency EU "single market" when it includes a far more integrated eurozone? When he vetoed the EU fiscal treaty change last December, this danger was the central concern of David Cameron, UK prime minister. His demands for backing a treaty - firmly rejected by other leaders - were intended as legal safeguards to prevent the eurozone from rigging rules to harm the City of London. Yet Mr Cameron also recognises that deeper integration is a pre-requisite to a stable and prosperous eurozone, leaving British policymakers struggling to find the right response to the emergence of a two-speed Europe on financial regulation. "It is a deep and profound choice that the UK will have to make," said one senior European diplomat. "But there is no real alternative to deeper integration. I don't think the City has any future as an offshore financial centre. You don't negotiate the conditions of your departure from the single market." Some European officials think Mr Asmussen's intervention was intended to chivvy all 27 EU member states into supporting principles behind the European Commission's long-delayed plans to handle bank collapses. After all, the ECB realises the benefits of a pan-European solution that includes the City, Europe's biggest financial centre. The Commission, too, is naturally pressing to avoid the fragmentation of the single market for the 27. "Any separation would be utterly foolish," said one EU official. "From the economic view you don't have any advantages. From the institutional point of view it would be a mess. What do you gain?" Yet while Britain vocally backs elements of EU regulation proposals - such as the notion of a "bail-in," where bondholders are forced to take losses when a bank fails or the state steps in - there are always political limits. Contributing billions to EU bank bailout funds or giving up power to pan-European financial supervisors are largely no-go areas for Westminster, giving ammunition to those who argue the eurozone should press on alone. One flashpoint is likely to be the review of the pan-European supervisory authorities - such as the European Banking Authority and ESRB - which begins next year. One option is giving the authorities differentiated responsibility, with more intrusive powers over the eurozone and a co-ordinating role for those outside the currency club. But that raises the question of whether the EBA can remain in London when it is the lead supervisor for the eurozone - a move Mr Cameron foresaw and put on his City wish-list last December. "The whole issue of "what more does the eurozone need to preserve stability?" will be central to the review," said one bank executive watching the regulatory developments. "It will be tough for the UK." Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
| 925 | -7,917,044,839,121,798,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
At least four top members of the powerful Sinaloa and Juarez cartels have been arrested in Mexico City, including the son of Sinaloa cartel boss Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and the son of the now deceased Amado Carrillo Fuentes, founder of the Juarez cartel. La Familia, a newer cartel formed in 2006, began expanding into the suburbs from Michoacan as President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown on the cartel in his home state. Now, they have a presence northeast of the capital, where they run drug, extortion and car theft operations, Castillo said. Still, the major cartels tend to lay low. There is a strong police presence, with 90,000 officers assigned to the 16 boroughs, plus the Mexico state police patrolling areas surrounding the city. The capital is also where the army, navy, and federal police are based, something that may inhibit traffickers from launching the brazen attacks seen in other places. "There is an enormous reactive force concentrated in Mexico City and because of that, drug traffickers have to maintain a low profile," said Martin Barron, a crime expert at the National Institute of Criminal Justice, a government think tank. But tensions and violence among local gangs have flared to new levels. So far the attacks are relatively few in number, but drug-related killings have increased from 135 in 2009 to 191 in 2010, according to the Mexican government. One local gang in Mexico City, the Hand with Eyes, left the decapitated bodies of a man and a woman in the western suburb of Naucalpan in February, along with a note saying, "People of this plaza don't seem to understand it has an owner." Days later, a car with a severed head on the dashboard and the rest of the body in the back seat was abandoned in the same area. The new gang has been beheading local drug dealers who refuse to join its ranks, Castillo said.
Associated Press writer Gloria Perez in Mexico state contributed to this report. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. More from Americas
| 443 | -1,010,056,157,056,001,700 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Train drivers to strike over pay
| 8 | -8,637,285,194,082,979,000 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Table Trac, Inc. Announces First Quarter 2011 Financial Results MINNETONKA, Minn., May 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Table Trac, Inc. (OTCQB: TBTC), a developer and provider of casino information and management systems that automate and monitor the operations of casinos, today announced financial results for its first quarter of 2011. First Quarter Highlights During the first quarter of 2011 the Company was engaged in various stages of installation of four casino systems that were in its backlog. Currently, the Company has five casino systems contracts in our backlog that we anticipate completing in second quarter 2011. In 2010, the Company began offering certain new customers a rental contract. Revenues are billed monthly per game per day basis. There is an option to purchase the system after the rental agreement at a pre-determined residual value. In essence, rental agreements provide a predictable longer term revenue stream which differs from the lump sum recognition that historically results in up and down financial effect from quarter to quarter. Table Trac is undergoing a corporate rebranding in which the focus is on developing technology enhancements to our current system solutions, increasing customer service and client satisfaction, coupled with a more aggressive sales and marketing effort. The company participated in several industry leading trade shows and conferences in the first quarter, including the Caribbean Gaming Show in Dominican Republic and the National Indian Gaming Association's trade show and conference in Phoenix, Arizona. For the second quarter, the company is planning to participate in the Southern Gaming Summit in Biloxi, Mississippi, CasinoFest in Catoosa, Oklahoma and G2E Asia in Macau, where the company will be showcasing its latest table games management system, Table Trac™. The Company is currently working with gaming establishments in eight US states, as well as countries in Central and South America offering new systems and expanded service offerings and products for existing customers. In addition, the company has now hired a very qualified full-time CFO. More on this topic will be outlined in a press release. The following table provides a reconciliation of the numerators and denominators used in calculating basic and diluted earnings per share for the three months ended March 31, 2011 and 2010: Three Months Ended March 31, Basic earnings per share calculation: Net loss to common stockholders Weighted average number of common shares outstanding Basic net loss per share Diluted earnings per share calculation: Net loss Weighted average number of common shares outstanding Common stock equivalents: Stock options Weighted average diluted shares outstanding Diluted net loss per share Stock options outstanding of (1) 70,000 and (2) 337,500 were not included in the calculation as they would have been anti-dilutive. Chad Hoehne, CEO, President & CFO
Table Trac, Inc. SOURCE Table Trac, Inc.
| 610 | 2,288,117,221,827,109,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
It helps that the husband and wife, who bought the house 17 years ago for about $1.8 million, own it outright. "They're very flexible, they just go with the flow of the market," Ahn said. Then again, property values can be a matter of perspective, says Ed Kaminsky, a Manhattan Beach, California-based real estate agent who helps professional athletes relocate. "You've got the new guys with the big contracts that are excited about the $8 million check they just got and they want to spend some, and I'd say rightfully so. Sometimes it's not a smart investment and sometimes it is," he said. "But if you make $8 million a year and you blow $5 million on a house and you sell it for $3 million a few years later, is it really wrong? The primary element driving where a celebrity chooses to live is privacy, said Jordan Cohen of Re/Max, who has represented more than 50 stars and athletes in real estate transactions, including Shaquille O'Neal and Marilyn Manson. He's now selling actress Joely Fisher's house -- a four-bed, seven-bath, mid-century craftsman at the end of a secluded drive with a pool and a screening room -- for $3,295,000, about $1 million less than the asking price when another agent first listed it last summer. He believes a star's property can bring in more money than a regular house. "I know it adds value," said Cohen. "A good analogy would be, shoe companies pay athletes millions of dollars to wear a specific shoe so you'll have young America buy that shoe because a celebrity endorses it. It's the same thing with a house." But Mark David, who follows celebrity real estate on his cheeky blog "The Real Estalker," doesn't think prospective buyers are willing to pay top dollar for houses simply because someone famous has lived in them. "Property values are property values," said David, a 38-year-old graphic designer who writes under the pseudonym "Your Mama." "You've really got to be somebody for it to add cachet. Maybe if it's a major A-list celebrity who's going to go down in Hollywood history, like Jack Nicholson. But does anybody really care about most of these people's houses? Would you pay more for Danny Bonaduce's house? And I'm not trying to bag on him. I can't imagine that people would do it -- then again, there's a lid for every pot." As for McMahon's home, "we've actually gotten a bunch of offers," his real estate agent, Alex Davis of Hilton & Hyland, said recently. "I think we're going to sell it very soon and that it's going to be onward and upward for the McMahons." Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All About Real Estate • Los Angeles • Celebrity News
| 621 | -1,689,770,559,184,198,100 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Downey, Galifianakis hit the road in "Due Date" Downey, Galifianakis hit the road in "Due Date" Downey, Galifianakis hit the road as mismatched travelers in "Due Date" By David Germain The Associated Press updated 9:46 a.m. ET March 25, 2010 LAS VEGAS - Robert Downey Jr. loves the mayhem Zach Galifianakis perpetrates on screen. Galifianakis loves the way Downey responds to his mayhem. Downey, who refreshed his comedy skills with an Academy Award-nominated role in 2008's "Tropic Thunder," and Galifianakis, one of the breakout stars of last year's "The Hangover," hit the road as mismatched traveling companions in this fall's "Due Date." "To me, the funniest part about the movie is Robert's reactions to things," Galifianakis said alongside Downey in an interview at last week's ShoWest convention for theater owners, where distributor Warner Bros. previewed footage of "Due Date." "There's antics that I do, but any time you go to Robert's face, that to me is the real great thing about this." The latest from "The Hangover" director Todd Phillips, "Due Date" casts Downey as a first-time dad forced to hitch a ride with a wannabe actor (Galifianakis) to make it home in time for the birth of his baby. Phillips won ShoWest's award as director of the year, while Galifianakis was named the convention's comedy star of the year - a well-deserved honor, according to Downey. "I've never worked with anyone like ZG, because there's no telling what he might do," Downey said. "Just because you're on set doesn't mean that's where the scene's going to go, which to me is even a step beyond my own managed insanity. But it's not because he's not contained. He's just completely free." "No one is really the straight man in this movie," added Downey, "but I am kind of like this stick that's pounded into the ground, that I think a lot of people can relate to." Before their "Due Date," both actors are back on screen this summer, Downey with his superhero sequel "Iron Man 2," Galifianakis in Steve Carell's comedy "Dinner for Schmucks." Galifianakis said he expects to begin work this fall on the sequel to "The Hangover," while Downey said he aims to suit up for a third "Iron Man" flick. For "Due Date," the actors and their director got to have fun with some parent issues, both on camera and off. "Todd and I, who probably have real father issues, ganged up on Zach," Downey said. "He comes from a relatively healthy family, and by virtue of his relative healthiness, we attacked him." "That's exactly right," Galifianakis agreed. "The way I really would describe it is two alpha males raised by Michael Vick who decided to get into the film business." Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
| 695 | 3,971,852,302,831,540,700 | 2010-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
House prices down amid low demand House prices dropped by 1.1% in April as estate agents struggled to sell just one property a week, figures showed today. The property market failed to benefit from its traditional spring bounce this year as the run of bank holiday weekends hit activity levels, while concerns about the economy and the ongoing problems in the mortgage market also affected demand. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said estate agents sold an average of just 14.7 properties in the three months to the end of May, the equivalent of only one sale a week and the lowest level since the start of the year. They also continued to report falling house prices, as potential buyers stayed away from the market, but more homes were put up for sale. The fragile state of the property market was further highlighted by figures from Communities and Local Government, showing house prices dropped by 1.1% during April. The latest slide left the average UK home costing £204,439, nearly £4,000 down on the start of the year and 0.3% less than 12 months earlier - the first time annual house price inflation has been negative since October 2009. House prices were lower in nine of the UK's 12 regions than they were a year ago, with Northern Ireland continuing to register the steepest falls at 15.2%, followed by the North East at 4% and West Midlands at 3.8%. The southern regions of London, the South East and the East are now the only areas where house prices are higher than they were 12 months earlier. But even here growth is muted, with London posting a 3.6% rise, while prices are 1.1% and 0.8% higher in the South East and East respectively. Meanwhile, the balance of chartered surveyors who reported seeing price falls in May rose to 28%, compared with 21% in April, the highest level since the beginning of the year and the first increase since October 2010. At the same time, 2% more surveyors reported a fall in inquiries from potential buyers than those who saw a rise, with many blaming the bank holidays for the subdued demand. But the number of people putting their homes up for sale continued to rise, with a balance of 15% of surveyors reporting an increase in instructions. Chris Crowe, of Barclays Capital, said: "The May Rics survey showed the UK housing market going into reverse. "The headwinds affecting the UK housing market, including declining household incomes, high indebtedness, less favourable credit conditions and concerns over public sector layoffs, may be starting to exert a real drag on prices and activity." Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The CLG data showing an appreciable dip in house prices in April reinforces our long-held view that house prices will trend lower over the coming months. "We suspect that house prices will end up declining by some 10% overall by mid-2012 from their 2010 highs." Surveyors also remain gloomy about the market's prospects, with 27% more expecting prices to continue falling than those who think property values will recover. But they are slightly more optimistic about sales levels, with a balance of 9% expecting the number of homes changing hands to increase in the coming months. The latest figures on the housing market come as the Council of Mortgage Lenders said mortgage advances to people buying a home jumped by 8% in April but lending levels remained down on a year earlier. At 40,900 loans, levels were also running at around half the level typically seen in April before the credit crunch struck, further highlighting the subdued state of activity in the property market.
| 756 | -8,340,328,246,208,456,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Pitcairngreen is a small village in Perth and Kinross situated to the north of Almondbank which some people consider it to be part of. It lies around 4 miles northwest of Perth. The Village's layout was designed in 1786 to have a green at the centre of it by James Stobie factor to John Murray, the 4th Duke of Atholl.The presence of a village green is unusual for a Scottish village as these are more commonly associated with traditional English villages. Stobie designed Pitcairngreen to be an industrial textile manufacturing village for Thomas Graham, a textile manufacturer. Its rivalry with the Manchester textile factories is set out in the poem "The Scottish Village, or Pitcairngreen" by Hannah Cowley which starts with the lines:
::"Go Manchester and weep thy slighted loom
::its arts are cherished now in Pitcairne Green." ==Amenities==
The village has a pub called the Pitcairngreen Inn, a village hall and a park or green which the village is built around. ==External links==
[http://www.pitcairngreeninn.co.uk
==References==
Villages in Perth and Kinross | 261 | null | null | 530,627,630 | "2012-12-31T16:23:16" | Pitcairngreen | 2,012 |
Tennis: Andy Murray pulls out of Paris match Andy Murray is expected to be fit for the French Open despite pulling out of a scheduled exhibition match in Paris yesterday. The world No 4, who was due to play Michael Llodra in the Guinot Mary Cohr Masters at Paris Country Club, sustained a slight problem in training in the morning and withdrew as a precaution. Murray, the fourth seed for the second grand slam of the year, will have treatment at his hotel this evening and his place in today's draw is not understood to be in any doubt. Despite the minor nature of the problem, it is a setback Murray could clearly have done without ahead of what has so far been his least successful major. The 24-year-old, who missed both the French Open and Wimbledon in 2007 because of a wrist problem, has been in decent form on the clay this season, reaching the semi-finals at the Masters events in Monte Carlo and Rome. After taking Rafael Nadal to a deciding set in the former, Murray came as close as anyone to ending Novak Djokovic's unbeaten start to the season in the Italian capital before losing out in a deciding tie-break. A statement from tournament organisers read: "Andy has withdrawn from the Masters Guinot Mary Cohr as a precaution after sustaining a minor injury whilst training this morning. Andy would like to apologise to the fans and sponsors, but hopes to play in the Masters Guinot Mary Cohr once again next year." While Murray is expected to be fit for the Roland Garros tournament, Andy Roddick and former champion Juan Carlos Ferrero both pulled out last night due to shoulder injuries. World No 11 Roddick had skipped this week's lead-up event in Nice to try to recover in time but organisers announced the American, who has never made it past the fourth round in Paris, would miss the event along with 2003 champion Ferrero. Meanwhile, Heather Watson celebrated her 19th birthday by moving to within one victory of qualifying for the main draw of a grand slam for the first time at the French Open. The British No 3 beat Australia's Sally Peers 6-3, 7-5 to set up a third-round meeting with either Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland or Japan's Misaki Doi at Roland Garros. l Top-seeded Marion Bartoli beat Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-3 to set up a semi-final against three-time former champion Anabel Medina Garrigues at the Strasbourg International. The seventh-seeded Medina Garrigues beat Mirjana Lucic of Croatia 6-4, 6-4. Sixth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova also advanced after beating fourth-seeded Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-2. Hantuchova next faces either second-seeded Andrea Petkovic or fifth-seeded Maria Kirilenko.
| 617 | -1,124,334,888,681,584,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
For example, I am working on the Eragon (video game) article, and the two different projects give it two different ratings and classifications. I think the reason behind this is that the members of a wikiproject specific to that topic probably know about it more than a random 1.0 member. ::::::Okay, sounds alright. Do we just rate articles, or is it by nomination? I mean, one person might say a certain article is GA, while another might say B-class. How do we keep tabs on that? I'll look into the CVG project (and it's incredibly complicated banner) later. Perhaps you'r already familiar with this though? · AO Talk
:::::::Ratings are basically opinions based on this by the user that asseses it. GAs and FAs go through the process, and A's are usually failed FACs, but the rest is done by the project member. BTW, I looked into the syntax of the cvgproj banner and it is fun. ::::::::Fun? Right... I'll probably have time to review it today. · AO Talk
:::::::::The link was the important part of that thread. ::::::::::Yes, I saw the link. Anyways, I'll (try to) look into the template now, or maybe tomorrow morning. · AO Talk
:::::::::::Okay, I've "filtered" it. I passed it to AndonicO/SGames template, since I doubt it is ready. Feel free to test it there; we'll probably have red links galore, so get ready to create subpages. · AO Talk
::::::::::::I added what I think is the final version to Civilizations at War to use as an example (because it only works in article-space). If you think it's fine, I'd say we change the old template for this one. If not, tell me, and I'll fix the problem. (P.S. THAT WAS HARD!!! )· AO Talk
Looks really good (you are a better man than I). Can there be two adjustments made? of the Age of Empires series games. · AO Talk
:Okay right now it is. When is the next choice picked? ::I'd say another three or four days. Few people have responded to the message; hopefully more will come by. · AO Talk
:::Well quite a few users are inactive, and a few never were active in the first place. ::::Yes, but we have three nominations with 2 votes; we need more people to vote. Let's wait a little longer shall we? · AO Talk
:::::Hey I have an idea. Do you want to make another subheading that says finalists, then send out another message asking for people to vote for one of the finalists? ::::::Sure, that could work well. Do you want to do it, or I? · AO Talk
:::::::Well I'd be happy to do it, but since I did the first one, you can do this one if you want. ::::::::Alright then, I'll do it. · AO Talk
===Vote (add more nominations if you'd like)===
Rise of Legends
Stronghold
Rise of Nations
Age of Empires series game (please specify which)
Age of Empires, because it's a classic game, former GA, and it failed a GA nomination recently. · AO Talk
Age of Empires II Captain panda In vino veritas
Age of Empires III (Some more work and this article becomes an FA!) TomasBat (@)(Contribs)(Sign!) Age of Empires-Apple
Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings and The Conquerors Wiki Raja
Lux
Nintendo Wars
Game Boy Wars - expansion needed. Quoridor
The article is pretty small, and I can help since I own the game. RyGuy
== List of Advance Wars COs ==
Shouldn't this also been in the scope of this WikiProject? The Advance Wars series is... Anyway, I think it needs cleanup. Who says it isn't? The talk page has our banner. · AO Talk
Advance Wars has but this page doesn't. Then just add "" to it's talk page. · AO Talk
:Done...btw, I feel that it would be more uniform with the other WikiProjects if wee made it so that the template has a proj at the end: sgameproj or something like that. | 1,015 | null | null | 411,722,191 | "2011-02-03T04:49:13" | WikiProject Video games/Strategy/Archive 1 | 2,012 |
Bomb at UN building in Nigerian capital Abuja
| 11 | -489,263,774,984,844,160 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
World Diabetes Day: Education drive targets Asian community
| 11 | -687,642,705,940,056,400 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
==Change in status==
She was made Crown Princess and on 1 January 1980 by the change made in 1979 to the Act of Succession of 1810 (Successionsordningen). This constitutional reform meant that the throne would be inherited by the monarch's eldest child without regard to sex. This not only made Victoria the first heiress apparent to the Swedish throne, but also made her the first female in the line of succession. The retroactive constitutional change was apparently not supported by her father, who favoured his son as heir apparent because he was born as such, a view that has been commented on in the media. When she became heiress, she also was made titular Duchess of Västergötland, which is one of the historical provinces of Sweden. Prior to this constitutional change, the heir apparent to the throne was her younger brother, the then-Crown Prince Carl Philip, Duke of Värmland. He is now third in line to the throne, behind the Crown Princess's daughter. She also has a younger sister, Princess Madeleine, Duchess of Hälsingland and Gästrikland. ==Declaration of majority==
Victoria's declaration of majority took place in the Hall of State at the Royal Palace of Stockholm on 14 July 1995. As of the day she turned 18, she is allowed to act as Head of State when her father is not in the country. Victoria made her first public speech on this occasion. Located on its usual dais in the background was the same silver throne that her father used at his enthronement, still in symbolic use since 1650. Later, the Royal Family took part in the annual public celebration on Öland of her birthday, called Victoria Day. ==Royal duties==
As heir apparent to the throne, Victoria is a working member of the Swedish Royal Family with her own agenda of official engagements, and she holds a significant supportive role to her father. Victoria attends the regular Advisory Council on Foreign Affairs and the information councils with Government ministers headed by the King, and steps in as a temporary regent (Riksföreståndare) when needed. Victoria also takes part in the regular official dinners hosted by the King and Queen, state visits to Sweden, high level and official visits from foreign dignitaries, the opening of the Riksdag (Parliament), celebrations of the Swedish National Day and the annual Nobel Prize festivities. Victoria has made many official trips abroad as a representative of Sweden. Her first major official visit on her own was to Japan in 2001, where she promoted Swedish tourism, design, music, gastronomy and environmental sustainability during the "Swedish Style" event. That same year, Victoria also travelled to the West Coast of the United States, where she participated in the celebrations of the Nobel centenary. In 2002, she paid official visits to Kosovo where she visited Camp Victoria, the United States, Spain, Uganda and Ethiopia. In 2003, she made official visits to Egypt and the United States. In early 2004, she paid an official visit to Saudi Arabia, as a part of a large official business delegation from Sweden, and in October 2004, she travelled to Hungary. In January 2005, Victoria made a long official visit to Australia, promoting Swedish Style and businesses, and in April she visited Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to follow aid work and become informed about the work in the aftermath of the tsunami. In April 2005, Victoria made an official visit to Japan where she visited the Expo 2005 in Aichi, laid the foundation for a new IKEA store in Yokohama together with Princess Takamado and met with Emperor Akihito, Empress Michiko, Crown Prince Naruhito and Sayako Kuroda. In June 2005, Victoria travelled to Turkey on an official visit where she participated in the Swedish Business Seminar and Sweden Day celebrations in Ankara during a historic visit, which was organised by the Swedish Embassy in Ankara and Swedish Trade Council in Istanbul. Victoria also visited the historic sights such as the Blue Mosque, Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia. This was the first official Royal visit from Sweden to Turkey since 1934. In September 2005, she made an official visit to China. In March 2006, Victoria made an official visit to Brazil where she followed the Volvo Ocean Race and visited projects supported by the World Childhood Foundation, such as the Abrigo Rainha Sílvia. In December, she paid a four-day official visit to Paris where she attended a French-Swedish soirée arranged by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce, the Swedish Trade Council and the Swedish Embassy, during which she also awarded the Prix d’Excellence 2006. | 986 | null | null | 529,754,491 | "2012-12-25T21:29:12" | Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden | 2,012 |
John Thomas Harris (May 8, 1823 – October 14, 1899) was a nineteenth century politician, lawyer and judge from Virginia. He was the first cousin of John Hill. Born in Browns Gap, Virginia, Harris completed academic studies, studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1845, commencing practice in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He was the commonwealth attorney for Rockingham County, Virginia from 1852 to 1859 and was elected an Independent Democrat to the United States House of Representatives in 1858, serving from 1859 to 1861. He ran for reelection, but the seat was terminated from Congress due to Virginia's secession from the Union on April 17, 1861. Harris was a member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1863 to 1865 and judge of the twelfth judicial circuit of Virginia from 1866 to 1869. On the readmission of Virginia to the Union in 1869, Harris ran for the House of Representatives at a special election held in July, 1869, but was unsuccessful. He was later elected back to the House as a Democrat in 1870, serving from 1871 to 1881. There, he served as chairman of the Committee on Elections from 1875 to 1879 and chairman of the Committee on Revision of Laws from 1879 to 1881. Harris declined a unanimous renomination in 1880. He served as chairman of the Virginia Democratic Convention in 1884 and was a commissioner to the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. He died in Harrisonburg, Virginia on October 14, 1899 and was interred there in Woodbine Cemetery. ==External links==
John T. Harris at Find A Grave
1823 births
1899 deaths
Members of the Virginia House of Delegates
Members of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia
Virginia lawyers
Virginia state court judges
People from Harrisonburg, Virginia
People of Virginia in the American Civil War
Virginia Democrats
John T. Harris | 410 | null | null | 519,167,523 | "2012-10-22T08:42:18" | John T. Harris | 2,012 |
Iran halts oil shipments to Britain, France Associated Press February 19, 2012, 6:04 a.m.
Iran has halted oil shipments to Britain and France, the Oil Ministry said Sunday, in an apparent pre-emptive blow against the European Union after the bloc imposed sanctions on Iran's crucial fuel exports. A statement posted on the ministry's shana.ir website gave no other details, but it follows a flurry of contradictory signals by Iran about backlash against the EU for imposing a boycott on Iranian oil beginning in July. The 27-nation EU accounts for about 18 percent of Iran's oil exports. Ministry spokesman Ali Reza Nikzad-Rahbar said the suspension posed no problems for Iran. "We have our own customers and replaced British and French companies with other firms," he was quoted as saying by the IRNA state news agency. Last week, state media said Iran was planning to cut off oil exports to six EU nations, including France, but later reports said the nations were only told that Iran has no problem finding replacement customers for the European shipments. The EU sanctions, imposed last month, were part of Western efforts to target Iran's critical oil sector in attempts to rein in Tehran's nuclear program.
| 257 | 1,860,609,598,886,740,700 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Joel Stein Visits the Set of 'The Muppets' Andrew Macpherson / The Muppets Studio I'm not sure whether the vibe is coming from the Muppets or from Jason Segel, but everyone is really happy on this set. Actually, I'm not sure there's much of a difference between the Muppets and Segel, the 31-year-old star and co-writer of the new Muppets movie. Between takes, Segel out-Muppets the actual Muppets, his grin still Kermit-wide long after the real Kermit the Frog closes his mouth and collapses around puppeteer Steve Whitmire's hand. In the right opera balcony above the stage - which looks a lot like the original Muppet Show set - crusty Muppet critics Statler and Waldorf shake their heads disapprovingly at Segel's enthusiasm. In the left opera balcony, the movie's producers shake their heads too. "If you could peel away Jason's skin," says producer Todd Lieberman, "there might be felt underneath." Segel took a lot of meetings with studios after the success of the Judd Apatow-produced comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which Segel starred in and wrote. He played a frustrated puppet-musical playwright who, in the movie's most famous scene, gets dumped by his girlfriend while he's full-frontally naked. When Segel got to Disney, he pitched his idea for a movie with the Muppets, who had lost their way in the decades following the 1990 death at age 53 of Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets and the original voice of Kermit. They hadn't had a theatrical release since the less-than-blockbuster Muppets from Space in 1999. "I had come off of all these R-rated Judd Apatow movies," says Segel, who also appeared in Apatow's Knocked Up. "They kind of chuckled. I think they thought I was kidding." But when Segel said he wanted to make a Muppet movie, he meant it. The script for The Muppets is sweet, old-fashioned and smart, much like the beloved first three Muppet movies. Segel plays Gary, a superpositive, supernaive guy from a Pleasantville-type town who goes to Los Angeles with his girlfriend (Amy Adams) to meet the Muppets, only to find they have disbanded. Miss Piggy is in Paris, where she is the plus-size editor of French Vogue. Gonzo runs a plumbing company in upstate New York, Animal is in rehab for anger management, Fozzie is in Vegas in a Muppets cover band called the Moopets, and Kermit is in Howard Hughes-esque exile in his Bel Air mansion. (MORE: The 25 All-TIME Best Animated Films) "They're all pretty lonely and miss their friends," says Nicholas Stoller, who directed Forgetting Sarah Marshall and co-wrote The Muppets with Segel. "If this were real life, it wouldn't work. It would be weird Facebook friend requests from people you went to junior high with." But these being the Muppets - and this being Segel's lifelong fantasy - they get back together to put on a show and save their old studio from Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), an evil baron who wants the oil underneath it. On the set today, Cooper yells at Kermit with such ferocity and stomps so convincingly around the stage off camera that some mistakenly think he's spending the entire shoot in character as the villain. There are moments when you get the feeling someone is going to walk in and tell everyone the Muppets aren't real and a lot of people are going to cry. Under the Influence For a large group of comedians who grew up in the 1970s and "80s, "the Muppets were the gateway drug to comedy," Stoller says. "You'd try it, and you'd want more of it, so you'd try Monty Python and Saturday Night Live. Then you'd fall down the rabbit hole. They're so self-aware, and there are jokes flying everywhere. They're like The Simpsons without cynicism."
"Watching The Muppet Show shaped what I find funny," says Muppets director James Bobin, a co-creator of HBO's Flight of the Conchords, a show about two goofy New Zealand rock singers. (One of those singers, Bret McKenzie, wrote most of the songs in the movie.) Bobin grew up in the U.K., where The Muppet Show was shot and is thought of as an honorary member of the British canon, inflected with a Monty Python-like absurdity. "There has to be a time when stupid jokes and warmth and puns come back," Bobin says. "It's a change of direction." | 1,018 | -8,753,517,188,247,631,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Japan struggles to control spiralling nuclear crisis "This is a slow-moving nightmare." The words of one expert hint at a growing sense of desperation as Japan battles to pull its earthquake-hit nuclear plant back from the brink of disaster. The state of a pool holding spent nuclear fuel at the stricken Fukushima facility in the northeast is causing serious concern. Reactor No. 4 caught fire, a day after an explosion blew a hole in the building, housing spent fuel rods Helicopter efforts to dump water on the complex had to be abandoned because of fears over radiation levels. The European Union's energy chief Guenther Oettinger said Japanese authorities appeared to have lost control of the situation. Despite increasing signs that the entire six-reactor complex is now at risk of overheating, the head of the UN's atomic watchdog does not share that view. But Yukiya Amano described developments as "very serious." Just outside the 30-kilometre exclusion zone, in the city of Koriyama, locals fearing radiation exposure have been lining up for tests. "Today one person was decontaminated by using water," said a city fire department spokesman. Observers continue to note the calm and dignity of the Japanese people. But more are now expressing anger at a lack of information about what may well be remembered as one of the world's worst industrial disasters. Copyright © 2011 euronews Tags: Japan, Nuclear accidents, Nuclear Energy JavaScript is required in order to view this article's accompanying video
| 320 | -5,307,649,839,104,545,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
The Czechoslovakian International (also known as International Championships of the ČSSR) in badminton was an international open held in Czechoslovakia since 1972 until 1992. The tournament succeeded by Czech Open. Czechoslovak National Badminton Championships were already established in 1961. ==Winners==
==External links==
http://www.badmintoneurope.com/file_download.aspx?id=4466
Badminton tournaments
Badminton in Czechoslovakia
Sports competitions in Czechoslovakia
1972 establishments in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakian International | 129 | null | null | 475,973,676 | "2012-02-09T17:01:33" | Czechoslovakian International | 2,012 |
New dog licence set to cost £50 The minister responsible, Michelle Gildernew, said Northern Ireland has a dog control problem and that new legislation was needed to prevent children being at risk of life-threatening injuries. Official figures paint a picture of neglect and irresponsible owners. More than a third of all stray dogs in the United Kingdom are in Northern Ireland where 7,400 animals were recovered by wardens last year. The aim of the new legislation is to protect people and pets from aggressive dogs and to make the owners of such animals responsible for the actions of their animals. Dog licensing and the microchipping of pets are seen as key to tackling the dog control issue. The new legislation would be in addition to the dangerous dog laws which name specific breeds like the pit bull. Dog wardens say that many types of dog have the potential to be aggressive. Fifteen successful prosecutions were brought last year resulting from dog attacks on people. The insistence on dogs being kept on leads in public places though may prove controversial. Currently most public parks have by-laws and large signs telling owners that dogs must be kept on a lead. Many owners though simply ignore the warning and allow their animals to roam free. Other park users though see the need for tighter control and point to situations they have witnessed where children or cyclists have been attacked. The main thrust of the new legalisation will be to get owners to behave responsibly by registering their pets and preventing them from straying. The new legislation would also allow for the introduction of dog ASBOs where wardens could insist, for example, on animals being muzzled and perhaps sent for training to eradicate nasty behaviour. The microchipping would allow councils to home in on dogs which are persistent offenders and owners who do not care. Dog wardens report that many people still just open the door and let the dog out for the day. The fine for straying is currently just £10. Some people just decide they have had enough and dump their dog. In Belfast alone up to 1,000 dogs are picked up by wardens every year. Sadly not all are suitable for re-homing and and as many as 350 dogs are destroyed annually Dog fouling is also still an issue in many areas. The fine may be £50 but often owners simply ignore wardens or give a spurious name and address. The new legislation will go out to public consultation next month with June 2010 the target date for the new laws to come into force.
| 521 | -5,673,416,001,630,164,000 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Abbas attacks settlement growth before Olmert talks By Mohammed Assadi RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said before meeting Israel's prime minister on Monday that settlement expansion, including newly announced building, was the main hurdle to a statehood deal. Israel disclosed plans on Sunday to construct nearly 900 new homes in areas of the occupied West Bank that the Israeli government considers part of Jerusalem, despite U.S. and Palestinian calls to halt all settlement expansion. "If Israel does not halt these activities, it will be difficult to reach the political settlement," Abbas said at a news conference with visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Abbas will meet later in the day with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who could be forced to step down in a growing corruption scandal. Olmert has denied any wrongdoing but says he will resign if indicted. Olmert will leave later on Monday for Washington for a three-day visit where he will meet U.S. President George W. Bush.
Olmert's political troubles could lead to an early election and the disruption of peace talks launched at a conference hosted by Bush in November. Israeli officials said Olmert's plight may have spurred his backing of the new tenders for an additional 763 housing units in Pisgat Zeev and 121 housing units in Har Homa, an area Palestinians refer to as Jabal Abu Ghneim. The 2003 peace "road map" requires a halt to all settlement activity on occupied land where Palestinians seek statehood. The new building could help Olmert shore up support from the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, a key member of his coalition government opposed to major concessions to the Palestinians on Jerusalem, the officials said. Abbas said of the building announcement: "We believe that these measures will be the biggest hurdle in the path of the peace process." Olmert has said the United States and the Palestinians have long been aware of Israel's intention to hold on to several large settlement blocs, around Jerusalem and elsewhere in the West Bank, in any final peace agreement. (Reporting by Mohammed Assadi and Adam Entous; Writing by Adam Entous; Editing by Peter Millership)
| 465 | 6,217,325,162,403,239,000 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
These guests included Anuradha Sharma (Siddharth's mother), Sachin Shroff (Juhi's husband), Madhu Bhatia (Akashdeep's sister), Hetal Upadhyay (Amar's wife) and Shiraz Chukkraborty (Shonali's boyfriend). On 31 December (Semi-Finals), Bollywood Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh and Bollywood Actress Sonam Kapoor made an appearance on Aapka Farmaan to promote their movie Players. On 7 January (Grand Finale), Bollywood Actor Imran Khan and Producer/Director Karan Johar made an appearance on the finale to promote their upcoming movie Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu. The finale also featured solo dance performances from Malaika Arora Khan, Rakhi Sawant, Pooja Misrra, Sunny Leone and Shakti Kapoor. ==Weekly tasks==
| align="center" bgcolor="#7fff00" colspan="2"| Passed
|-
! 9
| style="text-align:center;"| 30 November 2011(Day 58)
| Vodafone 1 2 3 The task involves housemates to play various roles such as astrologer, match-making, chef, sports commentator and spicy gossip reporter by dialling 123 on the Vodafone Applet stored inside the house. (100% bet of weekly luxury budget)
| align="center" bgcolor="#7fff00" colspan="2"| Passed
|-
| style="background:silver;" colspan="3"|
! style="width: 7%;" | Jailors
! style="width: 7%;" | Convicts
|-
! 10
| style="text-align:center;"| 7 December 2011(Day 65)
|Jailor Ki Jay Jay Kaydi Ki Haye Haye Bigg Boss has turned the house into a jail. All the contestants have been provided appropriate costumes for the task. The criminals are supposed to sleep in the new jail created in the garden area. One of the jailers has to awake and keep an eye on the prisoners. The prisoners have been asked to steal an envelope from jailer's cupboard, and the jailers are supposed to stop them. | style="text-align:center; background:#7fff00;"| Passed
| style="text-align:center; background:#f66;"| Failed
|-
! 11
| style="text-align:center;"| 12 December 2011(Day 72)
| Hookumat-e-Symonds As a part of their weekly task, housemates have to please and fulfill Andrew Symonds's wishes. Bigg Boss rewarded 1600 points to the housemates. (100% of the weekly luxury budget)
| align="center" bgcolor="#7fff00" colspan="2"| Passed
|-
! 12
| style="text-align:center;"| 20 December 2011(Day 79)
| Dhinchak Dhinchak Dhinchak Dhin Housemates were told to dance on solo and group on songs on a round platform in front of the pool facing the camera. Each housemate was given a specific song according to the theme which changed daily. | align="center" bgcolor="#7fff00" colspan="2"| Passed
|-
! 13
| style="text-align:center;"| 27 December 2011(Day 86)
| Paatshaala Ka Bol Baala The House was turned into a school and housemates students. Desks and a blackboard were placed in the garden area. Uniforms were provided and Juhi was made the headmistress. Other housemates were to take turns in acting as teachers for the subjects allocated. Occasionally Quiz competitions took place as a part of the class. | align="center" bgcolor="#7FFF00" colspan="2"| Passed
|-
!rowspan=2| 14
| style="text-align:center;"| 3 January 2012(Day 93)
| Kamaal Kursi Ka Housemates were provided a Royal Chair which was placed in the garden area near the pool. The housemate who sits on the chair is made the King/Queen of the house and all other inmates his/her servants. If for any particular reason the housemate leaves the chair, anyone else can claim possession of it and the rule of the latter will begin with the rule of the preceder coming to an end. The housemate with the most favorable rule is awarded by the Bigg Boss. | 1,007 | null | null | 529,847,852 | "2012-12-26T16:49:47" | Bigg Boss (Hindi season 5) | 2,012 |
Azarenka survives upset scare - UPI.com INDIAN WELLS, Calif., March 10 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Victoria Azarenka rallied in the third set to beat Mona Barthel win a wild match Friday and reach the third round of the BNP Paribas Open. Azarenka remained unbeaten in 18 matches this season, having won all three tournaments in which she has competed. One of those victories came at the Australian Open, the first major tournament of the season. Her winning streak appeared likely to end against Barthel when Azarenka suffered an early service break in the third set after having seemingly been in control of the match. Azarenka wound up winning 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6). She owned a 4-1 lead in the second set before faltering. Friday was the first day of action for any of the seeded player in this tournament. All 32 seeds received a bye past the opening round. No. 12 seed Jelena Jankovic did not make it to the third round, falling to Jamie Hampton 6-4, 6-3. No. 22 seed Yanina Wickmayer was also an upset victim, losing to Jarmila Gajdosova 2-6, 6-2, 6-4. No. 9 Vera Zvonareva was a 6-3, 6-4 winner over Kimiko Date-Krumm and No. 14 Julia Goerges defeated Elena Baltacha 6-3, 6-2. Agnieszka Radwanska, the fifth seed, ousted Sorana Cirstea 6-2, 6-4.
| 357 | 3,446,016,246,901,185,500 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
I am Anna, a translator, interpreter and philologist. | 13 | null | null | 327,506,096 | "2009-11-23T17:50:47" | Kelhara | 2,012 |
More Kate Middleton Topless Photos Published An Italian magazine owned by the country's former premier has published more topless photos of Kate Middleton's sunbathing despite legal action by the royal family to block publication. Under the headline, "Court Scandal: The Queen is Nude," Chi magazine hit newsstands today with a 26-page photo spread of the Duchess of Cambridge, 30, reportedly sunbathing on the terrace of a secluded chateau in the south of France before beginning a tour of the Far East and South Pacific to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee. READ MORE: Prince William and Kate Prepare for Far East Tour The photos, which were first published in the French magazine Closer and later ran in the Irish Daily Star, include at least one shot of the duchess applying sunscreen to herself that did not appear in previous publications. Chi, like Closer, is published under the Mondadori publishing house owned by former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Chi is also the same magazine that, in 1997, published photos of Princess Diana's dying in a tunnel in Paris after a high-speed car chase with paparazzi that ended in her death at age 36. The palace has invoked the memory of Diana, the mother of Prince William, in taking swift legal action against the photographs, which St. James's Palace called a grotesque and totally unjustifiable" invasion of the young couple's privacy. "The incident is reminiscent of the worst excesses of the press and paparazzi during the life of Diana, Princess of Wales, and all the more upsetting to The Duke and Duchess for being so," the palace said in a statement Friday. PHOTOS: The Life and Times of Kate Middleton Lawyers for the royal family were scheduled to appear today in court in France, where they planned to ask a judge for an injunction to prevent further publications from printing the photos. There are as many as 200 photos of Middleton sunbathing alongside Prince William, according to TMZ.com. In addition to seeking damages from Mondadori, St. James's Palace said Sunday, the couple's lawyers would also file a criminal complaint against the photographer or photographers who took the photos, leaving it up to French prosecutors to pursue a criminal case for either breach of privacy or trespassing. "There can be no motivation for this action other than greed," a St. James's Palace spokesperson told the BBC this weekend in regard to the Irish publication, while also commenting that the magazines' decisions to publish the photos "will lead to a longer court case where damages will be sought." Northern and Shell, the owners of the Irish Daily Star, said they disagreed with the newspaper's decision to publish the photographs of the Duchess of Cambridge and "very much regret the distress it has caused," The Associated Press reported. The editor of Chi stood behind his decision to publish the photos, telling the AP that he did not fear legal action and writing on Twitter that "not even a direct call from the Queen" could stop him from publishing the photos. Despite the swirl of legal action around them, Middleton and Prince William have kept up appearances throughout their week-long tour of Asia. The pair strapped into harnesses to view the rainforest in Borneo this weekend and then traveled to the Solomon Islands where they were treated to a ceremonial welcome and canoe ride. They are scheduled to end their trip with some downtime, staying at a luxurious private estate in the island nation of Tuvalu. The scandal blew up Friday, a day after Middleton marked an important first as a royal, delivering her first official speech overseas. The well-received speech was delivered to staff and patients at the Hospis Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur and focused on the importance of specialized medical care for seriously ill children. Middleton is a Royal Patron of East Anglia's Children's Hospices in England. READ MORE: Kate Middleton's First Overseas Speech The royal couple were reportedly told about the photos as they ate breakfast Friday before visiting a mosque in Malaysia. A palace source told ABC News that the couple were, at first, simply saddened. But as the day wore on, the sadness turned to shock and anger and, ultimately, resulted in a decision to take legal action against the magazine. Closer, which featured the photos under the headline, "Oh My God!" defended the decision to publish the photos, saying in a statement on its website that the photos would only appear in the French, not the British edition, and were not degrading. The prince had expressed his concerns after they were engaged about the paparazzi and said he had given Middleton the chance to get out of the relationship if she thought the attention would overwhelm her. | 979 | -9,176,433,105,391,563,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Finland
Music venues in Finland
Entertainment in Finland
Discotecas da Finlândia | 24 | null | null | 486,523,221 | "2012-04-09T23:23:19" | Nightclubs in Finland | 2,012 |
Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the media's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section. ====Kirk Hammett Sao Paulo.JPG====
The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the media below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the media's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section. The result of the discussion was: Delete; deleted by A file with this name on Commons is now visible. AnomieBOT⚡ Archived files for deletion discussions
Kirk Hammett Sao Paulo.JPG ( | talk | | links | ) – uploaded by sepguilherme ( | contribs | uploads). File is orphan. Sepguilherme (talk)
Looks fine, and there's an article on the subject. Move to Commons. —innotata
Keep (or move to commons). Free, high-quality, and potentially useful. Thparkth (talk)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the media's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section. ====DSC00646.JPG====
The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the media below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the media's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section. The result of the discussion was: Delete; deleted by AnomieBOT⚡ Archived files for deletion discussions
DSC00646.JPG ( | talk | | links | ) – uploaded by Chidambaram.sathish ( | contribs | uploads). Orphaned, unencyclopedic Acather96 (talk)
Delete useless without context. Thparkth (talk)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the media's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section. ====Cunningham skink448 edit.jpg====
The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the media below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the media's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section. The result of the discussion was: Delete; deleted by AnomieBOT⚡ Archived files for deletion discussions
Cunningham skink448 edit.jpg ( | talk | | links | ) – uploaded by Fir0002 ( | contribs | uploads). Said to be a temporary file for a featured pictures discussion, and looks like the only change from the original is the addition of red circles around points of interest. No longer in use, so presumably should be deleted. —innotata
Delete obviously only useful in the context of a discussion taking place at the time, and since it is no longer linked to even from a talk page, completely useless now. Thparkth (talk)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the media's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section. | 821 | null | null | 420,537,438 | "2011-03-24T19:13:19" | Files for deletion/2011 March 17 | 2,012 |
Last-Minute Shopping: How to Find a Good Gift Andreas Kuehn / Getty Images With just days remaining before Christmas, the panic-shopping season is upon us. This is a dangerous time of year when desperate consumers bust the budget on silly gifts like a cheeseburger telephone or wasabi lip balm. Forget re-gifting; such items will be in the trash by New Year's Day. That won't stop the bill from coming a couple weeks later. Three quarters of adults say they have not finished shopping, according to a new survey from Visa. They expect to spend $304, on average, in the final days leading to Christmas. These numbers are in line with previous years, suggesting that procrastination and wasteful spending is an annual rite. The numbers are fairly consistent across regions, with those in the south and Midwest having the fewest procrastinators (69%) and those in the west (79%) and northeast (78%) having the most last-minute shoppers. Men (72%) and women (74%) procrastinate at about the same rate. (MORE: Why the Fiscal Cliff May Cost You $6,000 in 2013) But men plan to spend another $399, on average, while women plan to spend an average of just another $218. Clearly, a lot of men haven't yet gone to Jared. Last-minute shoppers over 65 plan to spend the most this week: an average of $402. Somewhat alarming is that young adults aged 18-24 plan to spend another $241, a potentially significant amount of money for an indebted college student or recent graduate in a tough labor market. "When it comes to reaching the Christmas panic shopping cliff, teens are particularly vulnerable because they are the least likely to make a holiday gift budget," says Jason Alderman, senior director of global financial education at Visa. "Many teens will make the mistake of overspending in order to get a gift, any gift, in time for Christmas. But the people you're giving gifts to don't want you to overspend or go in debt, no matter how perfect the present." A California Institute of Technology study suggests that customers are willing to pay 50% more for impulse items they see in a store as opposed to items they have researched online. Alderman advises that you spend no more than 1.5% of annual income on total holiday expenses. To avoid wasteful last-minute purchases, consider one of dozens of alternative gifts like homemade cookies or show tickets, or a personal coupon book where friends and family can "redeem" favors like walking the dog or picking up coffee, or a gift that will help others from the World Vision gift catalog. Here are few more ideas to help you avoid busting your budget while panic shopping (MORE: Pro Tricks to Save Money on Holiday Parties) Buy something useful. Your money won't be wasted if the gift is needed, like maybe an exercise outfit or set of tools. Have a micro budget. Know how much you want to spend on each person on your list, not just an overall limit. Pay with cash. This is a time-tested way to keep within your budget. Give gift cards. An estimated $2 billion in gift cards went unredeemed this year. So it's best to stick with cards that can be used anywhere as opposed to at a specific store or restaurant. For the fifth consecutive year, gift cards were named the top gift that people want to receive. Give to charity. Get others on your gift list to join you in pooling your money for a charity instead of spending on each other.
| 750 | 6,254,814,270,860,744,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Emmys 2012: Mad Men star Christina Hendricks We know her best as the unflappable Joan Harris, centre of gravity in the office as the advertising executives around her lose their heads in TV drama Mad Men. But in the aftermath of her third Emmy nomination, actress Christina Hendricks has admitted she would rather swap her sixties beehive for a Dowager Countess updo. "I'd love to do a guest spot on 'Downton Abbey,' she said. "I'm absolutely in love with 'Homeland.' I think it's amazing. I would do anything they asked me." Her endorsement comes after the ITV1 series was nominated in sixteen categories at the American television awards. Mad Men collected an equally impressive seventeen for its fifth series. Homeland, the drama about a Marine returning from Iraq and arousing the suspicion of the FBI, stars Claire Danes and Damian Lewis and picked up nine nominations.
| 192 | 7,503,980,465,949,974,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Tesco denies copying Next's clothes lines By Jonathan Russell
Published: 9:27PM BST 19 Sep 2009 In legal papers seen by The Sunday Telegraph, Next claims its larger rival Tesco has illegally copied up to five separate clothing lines, including shorts, trousers, sandals and shoes, and lifted two design motifs created by Next for use on its own clothing lines. In a sign of the growing animosity between the two parties, Tesco, which denies all the charges, has filed a counterclaim alleging Next sent it "unjustified" threatening letters on four occasions late last year and early this year. The dispute between the two companies centres on the design and sale of Tesco's line of Cherokee shoes, which Next claims is based on its own Trekker sandals. It also claims Tesco copied its Strike Babes trainers, Crocodile shorts, a hooded cardigan, combat jeans and two clothing motifs, based on a tractor and a car. Although the writ does not detail the level of damages Next is seeking, it would be a major setback if Tesco were found to have infringed any design or copyrights. As The Sunday Telegraph revealed last month, Next is not alone in resorting to the High Court to settle intellectual copyright disputes. Diageo, the world's biggest drinks company, is suing supermarket chain J Sainsbury over alleged copyright infringement of its Pimm's brand.
| 294 | 3,290,089,202,086,810,000 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
==Fair use rationale==
== Licensing ==
Television logos | 15 | null | null | 518,415,109 | "2012-10-17T23:59:48" | Halogen TV Logo.png | 2,012 |
Transom may refer to:
Transom (architectural), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window
Transom (nautical), one of the beams running athwart the ship's hull at the fashion timbers or the surface that forms the flat back panel of a stern of a vessel
Operation Transom, a major bombing raid
Transom knot, a simple lashing knot
Tug Transom, a British daily comic strip | 97 | null | null | 433,324,486 | "2011-06-09T02:59:21" | Transom | 2,012 |
Jill Buckley of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said she was concerned with another option that would allow outright unlimited sales of horses, as opposed to adoptions where owners are screened and pledge to keep the animals for a year. While slaughtering horses is banned in the United States, Buckley fears many would be taken to Mexico or Canada where it is legal. "We don't want to see that happen," she said. Neda DeMayo, founder of Return to Freedom, a wild horse sanctuary in Lompoc, Calif., also questioned who would determine which animals are left on the range and which are removed "So far, there been no conservation oversight," she said, to ensure a "genetically healthy viable herd structures."
| 158 | 5,933,568,159,473,218,000 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Russian-American Adoptions to End: Vladimir Putin to Prohibit Future Adoptions We're going to turn now to that explosive issue tonight, and right in the middle of it all, children who thought they were coming to america. And the american parents who thought they were adopting them. All suddenly shot. Russian president vladimir putin stepping in to stop it all. Kirit radia reporting in from moscow. Reporter: When russia bans adoptions to the united states, this is who gets caught in the middle. An american mother and a 5 1/2-year-old orphan with spina bifida named paulina. The little girl who is already learning to count in english. And tells her mommy that she loves her. I love you. I love you, too. Reporter: Kendra and her husband last saw paulina just a few days ago on a visit to her orphanage outside moscow. Now, with the love only a mother could feel, she worries what will happen to her daughter. I can't help her, I can't tell her that I love her. So -- it's really hard. Reporter: Americans have adopted over 60,000 russian children since the fall of the soviet union. But russian officials have pointed to the cases of 19 children who died after being adopted by americans. And in 2010, russia erupted in fury after a 7-year-old boy named artem was sent back to russia alone by his american adoptive mother, carrying a note saying he'd become too difficult to handle. But children's rights advocates say this new ban is playing politics with the lives of children. Now, with no way of contacting her, she wishes she could send her daughter a simple message. I would tell her that we love her and to be strong and that we're going to do everything we can to come back and get her. Reporter: But at the end of their last visit, it was paulina trying to comfort her mother. I was crying and telling her good-bye and she said, don't cry, mommy, be strong. Reporter: And david, this is a scene that's playing out in literally hundreds of moments across america tonight. Families that thought they would be welcoming home a child but are now wondering if they will ever get to see that child again. David?
| 492 | -6,238,389,460,974,000,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
IBM may raise full-year software demand forecast (Reuters) - IBM Corp (IBM.N) reports earnings after the bell on Tuesday and investors are hoping strong software demand will make for a repeat of last year's first-quarter performance, when the company raised its full year forecast. After Oracle Corp's (ORCL.O) strong first-quarter software sales and outsourcing firm Accenture Plc's (ACN.N) positive outlook on IT spending, there is a chance that IBM - which competes with both companies - may raise its full year outlook. Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu wrote in a recent note that there was a "fair likelihood" IBM would "modestly raise" its outlook. Software represents IBM's most important division and biggest growth driver and includes everything from data analytics that help forecast and fight crime to software that manages infrastructure. IBM, which dumped its PC business in 2004 to concentrate on consulting and services, has squarely focused on software as a means to provide the foundation for its growth strategy. The company proved that once again on Monday, with the Nikkei business daily reporting it sold its point-of-sale (POS) terminal business, which includes cash registers and related devices, to Toshiba Corp (6502.T) for 70 billion yen ($870.86 million). IBM declined to comment. IBM's software business generated 44 percent of its pre-tax profit last year and the company has said it will contribute 50 percent to its segment profit by 2015. IBM has said it expects to reach an operating EPS of at least $14.85 this year compared with analysts' forecasts of $14.94, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. In the first quarter, analysts expect IBM to post an operating EPS of $2.65 and sales of $24.8 billion. The thinking behind IBM's strategy is that specialized software is of higher value and will result in higher margins, keeping IBM firmly on track to reach its earnings per share goal of $20 by 2015. Sterne Agee's Wu agrees, saying IBM's strategy of marrying IT with software and services "has given it strategic and structural advantages." Improving demand for branded middleware - a software that facilitates integration of applications or end devices and servers - and continued momentum in analytics could make software the stand-out division this quarter and this year for IBM, according to Goldman Sachs. IBM competes with business software makers Oracle Corp and SAP AG (SAPG.DE) as well as Hewlett Packard Co (HPQ.N). IBM's services business, its second-largest unit, is expected to be stable given rival Accenture's strong quarter and optimistic outlook. That is good news for investors considering that outsourcing competitors Infosys Ltd (INFY.NS) and Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp (CTSH.O) had warned that customers were spending less. The services unit incorporates PriceWaterhouseCoopers consulting business, which IBM bought in 2002. It generated 42 percent of the company's pre-tax profit in 2011. IBM's smallest division, its mainframe business, is expected to continue to show declining revenue in the first half of 2012. But rising demand for storage should boost the business near-term, Goldman Sachs said. "We believe a new mainframe cycle and remarkably easy comparisons could produce healthy revenue and profit growth in the second half," Goldman Sachs said. Stifel Nicolaus' David Grossman said IBM may even be taking server business away from HP and Oracle. "In hardware, HP and Oracle posted weak January and February quarters, respectively, which we believe at least partially reflects competitive displacements by IBM," Grossman said, adding that IBM would likely benefit from an ongoing infrastructure build-out in emerging markets. IBM trades at 13.2 times estimated 12 month forward earnings, according to StarMine, which gives more weight to timelier forecasts and those from the historically most accurate analysts. By comparison, Oracle and HP are valued at 10.9 and 5.8, respectively. As it has done historically, IBM's Chief Financial Officer Mark Loughridge will run the company's earnings call and not new Chief Executive Virginia Rometty, who made headlines last week for attending the Masters golf tournament, hosted by the Augusta National Golf Club - a men's only club. IBM is one of the sponsors of the tournament and its CEOs have traditionally been granted membership to the exclusive club, but so far Augusta chairman Billy Payne has refused to say whether it would change its policy for Rometty. (Reporting By Nicola Leske; editing by Peter Lauria and Andre Grenon)
| 972 | 3,434,700,786,814,300,700 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Why not check them and see which facts they prove, and footnote and/or add those facts to the article to make it even better-referenced?MatthewVanitas (talk)
== Namibia Heros Jakop Marenga and many others==
My name is Petrus Naftali Indongo, I am the other so publish these wonderful materials for the benefit of cultural exchange and international relations. lery? Not just passing mentions on a list, but some more substantive coverage. MatthewVanitas (talk)
Great, thanks for reviewing! I'll definitely look into these and dig up some better sources. Chelseagallerygirl (talk)
I fixed your first footnote; check out the format I used and copy that for all your footnotes (plus publisher and publication date if applicable). Also your EL should be displayed just as "Official site" with the link itself hotlinked into that term; it's a given that it's the subject's site, so "Official site" is the WP standard label. MatthewVanitas (talk)
== Anthony Lolli ==
Short article about a rising NY real estate mogul. Needs more sources? Blplatt (talk)
I've tagged it for speedy deletion. There's no assertion of notability here, and precious little material to work with. == Hewins/Songs And Rituals In Real Time ==
I have created a new page for an album by Time Berne. Please let me know what you think. Dan Hewins (talk)
== Grandmadge/Romel Wallen ==
Are my references and categories now ok to go live? Grandmadge (talk)
Your footnote formatting is slighting off. I fixed the first footnote for you, so hit Edit and look at how I typed the coding, so that the link is hidden in the title and makes it clickable. That way you have the link, you have a full citation (both for ease of verification and also in case the original link ever moves), yet the bare URL is tucked neatly into the title so you don't see a long string of "http://www..." all over the place. Suggest you apply that fix to the rest of your footnotes. Same thing for your "External links", tuck the link up into the title. Also, your categories are way too broad; he is not a "football" not a "university". Try Jamaican footballers. Also, you have several of what appear to be good references just chucked into "External links", newspaper articles and the like. Why not check them and see which facts they prove, and footnote and/or add those facts to the article to make it even better-referenced?MatthewVanitas (talk)
== Namibia Heros Jakop Marenga and many others==
My name is Petrus Naftali Indongo, I am the other so publish these wonderful materials for the benefit of cultural exchange and international relations. ery? Not just passing mentions on a list, but some more substantive coverage. MatthewVanitas (talk)
Great, thanks for reviewing! I'll definitely look into these and dig up some better sources. Chelseagallerygirl (talk)
I fixed your first footnote; check out the format I used and copy that for all your footnotes (plus publisher and publication date if applicable). Also your EL should be displayed just as "Official site" with the link itself hotlinked into that term; it's a given that it's the subject's site, so "Official site" is the WP standard label. MatthewVanitas (talk)
== Anthony Lolli ==
Short article about a rising NY real estate mogul. Needs more sources? Blplatt (talk)
I've tagged it for speedy deletion. There's no assertion of notability here, and precious little material to work with. == Hewins/Songs And Rituals In Real Time ==
I have created a new page for an album by Time Berne. Please let me know what you think. Dan Hewins (talk)
== Grandmadge/Romel Wallen ==
Are my references and categories now ok to go live? Grandmadge (talk)
Your footnote formatting is slighting off. I fixed the first footnote for you, so hit Edit and look at how I typed the coding, so that the link is hidden in the title and makes it clickable. That way you have the link, you have a full citation (both for ease of verification and also in case the original link ever moves), yet the bare URL is tucked neatly into the title so you don't see a long string of "http://www..." all over the place. | 1,018 | null | null | 425,392,126 | "2011-04-22T20:04:20" | Requests for feedback/2011 April 19 | 2,012 |
Oilseed processing results were slightly lower in the quarter, as higher margins were more than offset by lower volumes. Softseed processing results in Europe and Canada were strong in the quarter, whereas demand for soybean products weakened. Slow farmer selling in the U.S. and Brazil due in part to volatility of commodity and currency prices, as well as harvest delays in the U.S., contributed to lower results in grain origination. Lower distribution results reflected margins that returned to more normal levels from the higher margins experienced in the third quarter of last year. Risk management strategies continued to work well during a volatile period. Foreign exchange losses of $192 million, primarily in our Brazilian subsidiary, from U.S. dollar-denominated financing of working capital were offset by the positive impact of foreign exchange on valuations of commodity inventories included in gross profit. In the third quarter, the Brazilian real devalued 17% against the U.S. dollar. Third quarter EBIT included a $60 million credit resulting from a favorable ruling related to certain transactional taxes in Brazil that were accrued and paid in past years. Fertilizer Volumes were down in the quarter primarily due to soybean and corn farmers accelerating purchases in the first half of the year and a tight credit environment for farmers. Higher margins were more than offset by $215 million of foreign exchange losses resulting from the devaluation of the Brazilian real on U.S. dollar-denominated financing of working capital. Unlike in agribusiness where inventories are marked to market, the offsetting gain on fertilizer inventories is expected to occur in future quarters when the inventories are sold. Minority interest increased in the quarter due to higher results at Fosfertil. Edible Oil Products Volumes increased in the quarter. Results declined primarily due to high raw material costs in Europe as a result of crude oil inventories purchased prior to the recent price declines. Milling Products Higher margins in wheat milling were offset by lower volumes in corn milling. Financial Costs Interest expense decreased in the quarter due to lower average debt levels, mostly resulting from the drop in prices of agricultural commodity inventories which led to lower average working capital needs. Income Taxes The effective tax rate for the nine months ended September 30, 2008 was 24% compared to 26% for the same period in 2007. The decrease in the effective tax rate was primarily due to a higher percentage of earnings in lower tax jurisdictions. Cash Flow Cash provided by operating activities in the third quarter of 2008 was $2,210 million compared to cash provided by operating activities of $134 million in the same period last year. For the nine months ended September 30, 2008, cash provided by operating activities was $1,727 million compared to cash used for operating activities in the same period last year of $642 million. The $2.4 billion year-over-year improvement reflects the drop in commodity prices during the quarter, as well as higher earnings and actions taken to increase the efficiency of working capital management. -- Outlook Jacqualyn Fouse, Chief Financial Officer, stated, "We expect a solid finish to the year. Agribusiness should benefit from large harvests in the northern hemisphere. Fertilizer margins should remain strong, though volumes will likely be moderated due to the level of forward purchasing which occurred in the first half of the year and current tight farmer credit conditions. Foods results should improve due to lower raw material costs. 2008 will be a record year for earnings and cash flow, and reinforces the importance of viewing our business on a full-year basis. "In consideration of this outlook, we are maintaining our 2008 full-year earnings guidance of $11.60 to $11.90 per share. This guidance assumes an effective tax rate range of 24% to 28%. This fully diluted per share guidance is based on an estimated weighted average of 138 million shares outstanding, which includes assumed dilution relating to our convertible preference shares." Conference Call and Webcast Details Bunge Limited's management will host a conference call at 10:00 a.m. EDT on Thursday, October 23, 2008, to discuss the company's results. Additionally, a slide presentation to accompany the discussion of the third quarter financial results can be found in the 'Investor Information' section of our Web site, www.Bunge.com, under 'Investor Presentations'. To listen to the conference call, please dial (877) 719-9791. If you are located outside of the United States or Canada, dial (719) 325-4762. Please dial in five to 10 minutes before the scheduled start time. When prompted, enter confirmation code 3968460. The conference call will also be available live on the company's Web site at www.Bunge.com. | 995 | 671,587,896,416,351,700 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Orhan Pamuk - By the Book - NYTimes.com The author of "The Innocence of Objects" and "Silent House" believes all American presidents should read "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance." What book is on your night stand now? Ferdowsi's "Shahnameh" - subtitled "The Persian Book of Kings," a great translation and compilation by Dick Davis - is a Penguin Classics edition. Like Rumi's "Masnavi," or "Arabian Nights," "Shahnameh" is a great ocean of stories that I browse from time to time in various Turkish and English translations to be inspired by or to adapt an ancient story as I did in "My Name Is Red" and "The Black Book." At the heart of this epic lies the great warrior Sohrab's search for his father, Rostam, who without knowing that Sohrab is his son, kills him in a fight. The place of this great tragic story in the Persian-Ottoman-Mughal literary canon is very similar to the place of the legend of Oedipus in the Western canon, but the story still awaits its inventive Freud to address the similarities and radical differences. Comparative literature can teach us more about East-West than the rhetoric of the "clash of civilizations." What's the last truly great book you read? The truly great books are always novels: "Anna Karenina," "The Brothers Karamazov," "The Magic Mountain..".. Just as with "Shahnameh," I browse these books from time to time to remember how a great book works on us, or to teach my students at Columbia University. And what's the worst book you've ever read? The worst books are also bad novels. Just as good books give me the joys of being alive, bad novels depress me and as I notice this sentiment coming from the pages, I stop. I also do not hesitate to walk out of a movie house if the film is bad. Life is short, and we should respect every moment of it. Any guilty reading pleasures - book, periodical, online? For a long time I naïvely believed that thrillers and detective novels were a waste of time. And I thought that was why I felt guilty enjoying the novels of Patricia Highsmith. Later I realized that the guilt comes not from reading thrillers but from her ingenious method of making the reader identify with the murderer. She is a great Dostoyevskian crime writer. I also wish I had read more of John Le Carré. I feel guilty if I read too much book-chat on the Internet. The last book that made you laugh? Oscar Wilde always makes me smile - with respect and admiration. His short stories prove that it is possible to be both sarcastic, even cynical, but deeply compassionate. Just seeing the cover of one of Wilde's books in a bookshop makes me smile. Julian Barnes has some of his cruel and humane humor. I liked Barnes's "The Sense of an Ending" very much. The last book that made you furious? Adam Hochschild's "King Leopold's Ghost" is about the atrocities committed by the army and people of King Leopold II of Belgium, between 1885 and 1908, with the pretext of "fighting against slavery" but actually simply to make money in the Congo. Leopold's men killed more or less 10 million people in Africa. We all know too well that the rhetoric of "civilization, modernization" is a good excuse to kill, but this great book was too infuriating for anyone - especially someone like me who believes in the idea of Europe too much. If you could recommend one book to the American president, what would it be? To the prime minister of Turkey? Many years before he was elected president, I knew Obama as the author of "Dreams From My Father," a very good book. To him or to any American president, I would like to recommend a book that I sometimes give as a gift to friends, hoping they read it and ask me, "Why this book, Orhan?" "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values" is a great American book based on the vastness of America and the individual search for values and meaning in life. This highly romantic book is not a novel, but does something every serious novel should do, and does it better than many great novels: making philosophy out of the little details of daily life. | 938 | 1,463,679,067,319,649,800 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Nearly one in three people with HIV do not know: EU Almost one in three people infected with the virus that causes AIDS do not know they have the disease, increasing the risk of infection, the European Commission warned Monday. In a document on combatting AIDS more than a quarter century after it surfaced, the EU's executive arm said now was not the time for Europe to drop its guard, noting that the figure was up to double in some neighbour nations. And while efficient treatments exist to slow the evolution of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), no vaccine or cure has been found. "We need to continue the political momentum in the fight against HIV/AIDS," EU Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said in a statement. "We need to encourage people to take responsibility for themselves and their partners by talking about and practicing safe sex and going for HIV testing," she said. According to commission figures, the number of people living with HIV or AIDS in the 27 EU countries and its neighbours rose from 1.5 million in 2001 to 2.2 million in 2007, around 730,000 of whom live in the bloc. Some 50,000 new cases of HIV were diagnosed in the EU and its neighbours in 2007. The percentage of adults, ranging in age from 15 to 49, infected with HIV vary widely, from less than 0.1 percent in some countries to more than 1.0 percent in others. France, Italy, Spain and Portugal have relatively high infection rates -- ranging from 0.4 percent to 0.5 percent -- but the number roughly triples in Estonia, which has a rate of 1.3 percent. In Russia, around 1.1 percent of the population is HIV positive, while the figure climbs to 1.6 percent in Ukraine. cm-loc/lth
| 379 | -7,582,274,066,063,806,000 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Economic Jitters Hitting Treasury Market
July 16, 2008 - A stumbling economy and a potential federal bailout of home mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appear to have prompted some traders to question even one of the most stable investments: U.S. Treasury bonds. As first reported by the Wall Street Journal, certain types of derivatives trades that profit from the perception of instability in the bond market have increased. Last week, the price of protection against a government default on a 10-year Treasury note doubled. "There are some cracks in the confidence in the United States and the financial markets," said T.J. Marta, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. But, analysts and financial advisors told ABC News that Treasury bonds remain a safe, stable investment. The price of the benchmark 10-year bond note rose on Tuesday in the wake of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's grim assessment of the state of the economy, sending the bond yield down to 3.83 percent. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. The price rise fits with the typical trend in a down economy: as consumers become nervous about equity markets, they tend to move toward low-risk investments such as treasury bonds, which are backed by the federal government. "When the sky is falling, people still run to treasuries," said Gary Schatsky, a financial advisor and head of ObjectiveAdvice.com. The potential to profit from the perception that the U.S. could default on its bond stems from concern that the government may take on trillions of dollars of debt from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the struggling mortgage giants. The Treasury department has offered to buy equity in the two companies, if necessary. The plan also includes a proposal to have the Federal Reserve help regulate Fannie and Freddie. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson stressed in Congressional testimony Tuesday that the Treasury Department had no immediate plans to lend money to or buy equity in Fannie and Freddie. Stocks in the two companies, which were originally set up by the government to buy mortgages, have been hammered with each losing 80 percent of their value. Whatever jitters the Treasury plan may have caused among institutional investors apparently have not trickled down to individual investors. Financial planners said that while investors are worried about the state of the economy generally, they have not voiced concerns from clients about treasury bonds. "People are saying, Oh God, the market is supposed to fall apart. They say they want to get out of stocks and go into cash or money market," said Joel Naroff of Naroff Economic Advisors. "The average investor isn't separating money market funds from bond funds, they're just looking to get out of stocks." Nor are planners and analysts advising clients to get out of treasury bonds. Analysts also expect bond yields to rise by the end of the year. "Treasuries are still an outstanding investment," said Bruce Tucker, a principal at Sterling Financial Planning in Sparta, New Jersey. "They're not getting paid right now at the same level as they used to, but really what we have is a lot of people not knowing what to do. We've been telling our clients to stay the course." "I'm confident in the creditworthiness of the U.S. government," Schatsky said. "If I have to draw a line in the sand, I'm going to draw it there."
| 703 | 4,324,011,057,287,901,700 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Computer games are put to the test The performance of the class was compared with another which was taught normally and, given the common prejudice that computer games are a mindless waste of time, the results were surprising. Teachers reported improved maths scores, better pupil behaviour and cooperation and a greater focus on the work at hand. Was this a small educational miracle - or simply too good to be true? Derek Robertson of LTS was behind the Dundee pilot. He has no doubts about the power of the consoles to capture young minds. He said: "We need to look at the educational experience of learners who are coming from a digital age, who have a cultural value of technology, of games. "It's important that school reflects this as well and that teachers can use this innovatively and effectively to engage those who may be disaffected." Whatever the cultural power of computer games - and their ability to amuse and stimulate our minds - others remain unconvinced of their educational value. Robert Logie, professor of cognitive neuroscience at Edinburgh University, is among the sceptics. He said: "I think that they're just games. "They can be fun to play, but I think focusing too much on this as a sort of catch-all cure for what people see as a lack of mental ability is misleading." There are several possible reasons why the brain training consoles apparently lifted pupil performance at St Columba's. The "practice effect" may be at work - the children got better at the tasks simply because they repeated them regularly. Wider study Perhaps the games boosted their confidence. Or it could be that big brand names like Nintendo and Sony do carry greater power in the classroom than a teacher at a chalkboard. That is why Her Majesty's Inspectors of Education are backing LTS in conducting a wider study. In 16 primary schools across Scotland - in Dundee, the Western Isles, Aberdeenshire and East Ayrshire - classes will spend 15 to 20 minutes a day playing the consoles. Other classes will be taught normally, acting as control groups against which the results will be measured. It is thought to be the first time a government-backed, scientifically controlled study of this kind has been staged. It will be trying to see if the results of the pilot study can be reproduced. If so, the next question to be answered would be why they were having an effect. In the end, we may learn it was the power of the brand that made the difference - or the St Columba's results may have been a fluke. But it could just be that Scottish education has found a new way to win young minds for learning.
| 556 | 2,669,001,789,496,771,000 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Clijsters' comeback keeps rolling MASON, Ohio (AP) - Playing her second competitive match in more than two years, Kim Clijsters reached the third round of the Cincinnati Open with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Patty Schnyder on Wednesday. Clijsters who retired in May 2007 and gave birth to a daughter in February 2008, knocked out 12th-seeded Marion Bartoli in straight sets on Monday. The 2005 U.S. Open champion followed up by never losing her serve against the 20th-ranked Schnyder. "Does it look easy?" Clijsters said. "I started off playing well. It's a really good feeling. I'm moving well. I'm very happy with the way I'm starting. It helps your confidence to get into a rhythm." The 26-year-old Clijsters is scheduled to meet sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the next round, with a possible quarterfinal match looming against top-seeded Dinara Safina. Clijsters has won six of her seven matches against Kuznetsova. "I knew coming in that this was a big tournament," Clijsters said. "I knew it was going to be tough from the start, and I'm glad I'm still going. Patty's a good player. We've had a lot of tough matches, a lot of three-setters, so I'm glad I got out in two." Second-seeded Serena Williams had 14 aces, nine in the second set, on her way to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Kateryna Bondarenko. "I've been working really hard on it," said Williams, who's won the Australian Open and Wimbledon this year. "I'm glad it's coming through. I hope I can keep it up for the rest of the tournament and the (U.S.) Open." Unseeded Melinda Czink and Sybille Bammer turned in the day's only upsets. Czink knocked off 11th-seeded and former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic 7-6 (6), 7-5, and Bammer eliminated 13th-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska 6-0, 7-5. Fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva also advanced with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Yanna Wickmayer as seeded players swept almost all of Tuesday's other second-round matches at the $2 million Western and Southern Financial Group event. Only No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva and eighth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki dropped sets. Zvonareva beat Alisa Kleybanova 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, and Wozniacki came from behind to pull out a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 win over Aleksandra Wozniak. Ninth-seeded Victoria Azarenka moved on with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Anna Chakvetzade, and 14th-seeded Flavia Pennetta scored a 6-2, 6-4 win over Agnes Szavay. Also advancing were Daniela Hantuchova with a 7-5, 1-6, 6-4 win over Alona Bondarenko, Peng Shuai with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 win over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, and Sorana Cirstea by knocking off Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-3, 6-2. Fifth-seeded Jelena Jankovic, playing her first match after first-round bye, advanced with a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Maria Kirilenko. "First match for me, it's never easy," Jankovic said. "It takes time to get used to the conditions - to playing matches again."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
| 853 | 3,432,976,032,705,872,000 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Kate Nash to take her rock lessons for girls to the masses The platinum-selling singer Kate Nash is expanding her own network of after-school music clubs, having already established six in the secondary schools of Yeovil, Liverpool and Bournemouth. The Brit Award winner was inspired, or rather horrified, by the lack of female singer-songwriters in the UK, and has spent a large part of 2011 trying to do something about it. As the official figures show, only 14 per cent of the 75,000 members of the Performing Rights Society, which collects and pays songwriting royalties in Britain, is female. Despite the success of artists such as Adele and Florence Welch and even her own experience, Nash was worried enough about the dire under-representation of women making their own music that she took matters into her own hands. The free Rock'n'Roll for Girls After-School Music Club was born and the star has been taking it to schools across the country. "It's been hard work but I'm really enjoying it," the London-born Nash, 24, told The Independent. "I was nervous at first but I've built a good relationship with all the kids. It's very casual. We start with a chat about what's going on with me and what's happening in the girls' lives. Then we do a music writing exercise." Nash fears the situation for young girls is made worse by the huge influence of The X Factor, which restricts contestants to cover versions and dismisses aspirants with the harshest of judgments. Another common theme has been the negative impact that the aggressively sexual image portrayed by stars such as Rihanna has on teenagers. "It's about encouraging the girls to write in a secure environment without feeling judged about what they are saying or the way they look," Nash explains. "Those images upset girls," she continues. "They want to be musicians but they say they don't have the right look. But you can be a musician without being part of the celebrity culture. "We project YouTube clips on to projector screens and I show them different kinds of female artists that aren't 'pop', like [all-girl US group] Warpaint, Santigold and [US riot grrrl punk band] Bratmobile. It's good to see different artists." She has taken the club to six secondary schools across the UK. "There was one girl in Liverpool. She said she wanted to write songs but didn't know how. So she started writing about her brother, her friendships with other girls and studying for exams. What she wrote was really funny. "I want to get their imaginations going. We do an exercise where they have to write for three minutes without putting the pen down." Nash's classes are being held against a backdrop of vastly reduced funding for music tuition from the Department for Education. The money allocated by local authorities will drop from £77.5m to £58m in 2015. The singer, who studied theatre at the Brits school in Croydon, called on the Government to overhaul the school music syllabus. "An academic musical education is quite old hat. Yes, it might help you get grades and become a professional, classical musician. But it doesn't help someone who wants to work in different musical fields. I think the GCSE needs to be much broader."
| 695 | -7,993,750,063,882,569,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Matthews went on to launch his show on WPLX, which was billed as a mostly blues music program.
| 25 | -7,176,460,912,018,340,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Euro, pound down ahead of rate decision BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- The euro and pound edged down against the U.S. dollar on Thursday as markets awaited interest rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. The 15-nation euro bought $1.4619 in morning European trading, a little below its level of $1.4628 in New York late Wednesday. The pound declined to $1.9570 from $1.9601. The ECB was widely expected to keep its benchmark interest rate at 4 percent later in the day, while economists predicted that the Bank of England would make a quarter-point cut to 5.25 percent. "There's little reason to believe that that the central banks would look to surprise the markets with anything other than this, but there will still be some sense of relief once the announcements are made," said James Hughes, a market analyst at CMC Markets. E-mail to a friend Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. All About Bank of England • Financial Markets • Economic Indicators • European Markets • Business • United Kingdom • European Central Bank
| 250 | -4,722,492,834,952,977,000 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
After tragedy, Ariz. lawmakers eye more gun rights After tragedy, Ariz. lawmakers eye more gun rights Jan 17 10:48 AM US/Eastern Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) - The shooting rampage in Tucson that wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is not slowing down Arizona legislators who want more rights for gun owners. Arizona has become a champion in the gun rights movement, with state lawmakers passing bill after bill to protect the people's right to bear arms nearly anywhere, at anytime. The Legislature's session began two days after the Jan. 8 shooting, and gun rights legislation has already been proposed. One bill would allowing college and university faculty members to carry concealed weapons on campus. Giffords is a former state legislator. The Democrat was critically wounded when she was shot in the head. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
| 200 | -7,840,403,319,803,067,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Celtic: Forster, Matthews, Ambrose, Wilson, Mulgrew, Ledley, Kayal, Wanyama, Nouioui, Watt, Hooper. Attendance: 6,008
| 47 | -1,108,529,671,606,452,900 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
FOXNews.com - Hostile Men More Likely to Pack on the Pounds - Men's Health Monday, March 02, 2009
Hostile men may pack on more pounds over time than their less hostile, more laid-back peers, new research shows. The more hostile a man's personality, the more his body mass index (BMI) increased over the following two decades, Dr. Hermann Nabi of Hopital Paul Brousse in Villejuif, France and his colleagues found. BMI is the ratio of height to weight, used to determine if someone is within a normal weight range or is underweight, overweight or obese. The researchers looked at data on 6,484 men and women participating in a UK study of socioeconomic status and health. Study participants ranged in age from 35 to 55 at the study's outset. They completed a standard scale measuring hostility at the beginning of the study, while their BMI was determined at four points over 19 years. At the beginning of the study, the researchers found, both men and women with higher hostility levels also had higher BMIs. BMIs rose over time. While the relationship between BMI and hostility remained constant for women, hostility seemed to accelerate weight gain over time in the men. Hostility could affect BMI in many ways, Nabi and his colleagues note in a report of the study appearing in the American Journal of Epidemiology. For example, hostile people may be less likely to follow health guidelines on diet and exercise, or be more likely to be depressed. Prior studies have linked hostility to heart disease, high blood pressure, and a greater overall mortality risk, the researchers also note.
| 341 | -603,686,915,465,611,000 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Multilingual Education typically refers to "first-language-first" education, that is, schooling which begins in the mother tongue and transitions to additional languages. Typically MLE programs are situated in developing countries where speakers of minority languages tend to be disadvantaged in the mainstream education system. == Components of Multilingual Education (MLE) ==
"Strong Foundation" - Research shows that children whose early education is in the language of their home tend to do better in the later years of their education (Thomas and Collier, 1997). For more information about the effect of "Language of Instruction", see Bilingual education. "Strong Bridge" - an essential difference between MLE programs and rural "mother tongue education" programs is the inclusion of a guided transition from learning through the mother tongue to learning through another tongue. Related to the emphasis on a child's mother tongue is the implicit validation of her cultural or ethnic identity by taking languages which were previously considered "non-standard" and making active use of them in the classroom. Multilingual Education in that sense underscores the importance of the child's worldview in shaping his or her learning. == Stages of an MLE Program ==
A widespread understanding of MLE programs (UNESCO, 2003, 2005) suggests that instruction take place in the following stages:
Stage I - learning takes place entirely in the child's home language
Stage II - building fluency in the mother tongue. Introduction of oral L2. Stage III - building oral fluency in L2. Introduction of literacy in L2. Stage IV - using both L1 and L2 for life long learning. MLE proponents stress that the second language acquisition component is seen as a "two-way" bridge, such that learners gain the ability to move back and forth between their mother tongue and the other tongue(s), rather than simply a transitional literacy program where reading through the mother tongue is abandoned at some stage in the education. Based on the theories of Multilingual Education that are spelled out here, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa have adopted a thematic approach to multilingual education. Using a seasonal calendar within a relevant cultural context has provided a space to the tribal children of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh to rediscover their culture through their language.The Multilingual Education in this approach emphasizes first language first in the child taking the socio- cultural curriculum in to classroom culture and then bridge to second language. In addition to the basic theory of Paulo Freire on critical pedagogy, Gramscian theory on education, Lev Vigostky's scaffolding and Piaget's theory of cognition is applied in the Multilingual Education. The unique thing in this approach is to involve the community in creating their own curriculum and minimise the theoretical hegemony, thereby creating a new set of people who believe in the ethics of creating and sharing knowledge for the society than to limit it to the theoreticians. The key resource persons for Andhra and Orissa are the practitioners of Multilingual Education having substantial practical and theoretical knowledge on developing a community based curriculum within the community. Their approach is to empower the community, and involve the tribal teachers as the maker of own knowledge system. While Andhra Pradesh has taken 8 tribal languages, Orissa has taken 11 tribal languages in this project. International MLE Consultants and practitioners like Pamela Mackienzie, Steve Simpson and Vicky Simpson have taken three years to concretize the programme in the SSA, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. Dr. DP Pattanayak, Dr. Khageswar Mahapatra and Dr. Ajit Mohanty were the state resource persons in Orissa while Dr. Ramesh and Dr. Upender Reddy were the State resource persons for Andhra Pradesh. ==See also==
Language education
Multilingualism
Bilingual education
Multilingual Education Programs (SIL)
Mother Tongue / Biliteracy Programs (UNESCO)
== References ==
For further information, please refer to the MLE Manual of Susan Malone, and Denis Malone published by UNESCO, Bangkok
id21 insights. Available online at Jasone. 2009. Towards Multilingual Education. Bristol: Multilingual Matters [http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?isb=9781847691927
NMRC - National Multilingual Education Resource Center (JNU, India) 2003. Education in a multilingual world. | 1,001 | null | null | 523,714,255 | "2012-11-18T19:18:14" | Multilingual education | 2,012 |
Was there was ever better evidence that education in the UK has slumped to an all-time low, if this collection of total retards is anything to go by.
All in their thirties and early forties, they are products of the 'golden age' of education, starting with the creation of the 'comprehensive'.
Ministers? - there isn't one of them that has the wit they were born with...
Posted by Gil Harding on June 6, 2008 6:27 PM
Report this comment No mention of targets yet. I suggest 30 lengths a week for everyone living in England. Those in Scotland will be heavily subsidised and will only have to swim five.
Posted by Ian on June 6, 2008 6:17 PM
Report this comment Telegraph View should have the author named. Why hide behind the anonymity of a team?
Posted by John Latuskie on June 6, 2008 5:50 PM
Report this comment Why should runners subsidise swimmers?
Posted by Bill Young on June 6, 2008 5:32 PM
Report this comment My wife pointed something out to me... the political tactics used in the UK have echos of Zimbabwe - the way we are coerced, brided and enforced government dependancy that tries to keep the ruling party in power... I think she's right.
Posted by Craig on June 6, 2008 5:20 PM
Report this comment Steve. Norfolk 2.27pm. Hi Steve, When the prices of 4x4's drop enough I'm going to buy one. I can't afford one right now but with the money saved I don't mind buying the tax and petrol for it. They didn't think this through very well did they? They will just swop hands. Talking of pollution,- I wouldn't use a public pool if Andy Burn'em paid me to buy a 4X4 at last years prices!
Posted by Eileen on June 6, 2008 5:17 PM
Report this comment Andy Burnham is a lightweight, no-brain.nobody from nowhere. Nulabour has made the word'minister'a term of abuse and contempt. Nothing but the muddled,micro-management of people's lives -who do these Nulabour jerks think they are?
They're trying to make the whole country as dumb as they are and so dependent that they will need a labour 'Minister' to help then cross the road -but why not? New Ministry in the offing -pay and perks details to follow.
Posted by david on June 6, 2008 5:01 PM
Report this comment Free swimming pools but no treatment for a lady who died of cancer on the NHS - which was supposedly 'free' for the people of Britain. I hate Labour, and I hate each and every little pip squeak that calls itself a Labour Minister. Not one of them have come from backgrounds where work means work.
Wake up and smell the coffee burning folks, stop voting for these useless idiots who have no real brain cells and are out to dicate and control eadch every person living in Britain.
Posted by Karen on June 6, 2008 4:25 PM
Report this comment This is not free - many of us will have to pay for it through our taxes. A large number of pools are massively expensive to run and not enough people use them so they are already HEAVILY subsidised by local tax payers.
It is quite obvious that Bruin's advisors have trawled through rank and file Labour MPs to find someone remotely photogenic to distract from the bad press - what dirty tricks can we expect for Monday?
Posted by Nibbles on June 6, 2008 4:23 PM
Report this comment School playing fields being sold to pay for this?
Every gimmick this cheap and nasty government pulls is hypocritical and stinks
Posted by Ib on June 6, 2008 4:14 PM
Report this comment "the Governments Walking into Health plan wants "a third of England walking at least 1,000 more steps daily by 2012, an extra 15 billion steps a year.""
That's easy, just tax cars off the roads.
Posted by Neil Jones on June 6, 2008 4:12 PM
Report this comment Report this comment My pool can barely cope with the numbers of people that use it already. The people who work all day and need a swim to de-stress will find they still have to pay and the pools are even busier, resulting in more stress
Posted by Scott on June 6, 2008 4:01 PM
Report this comment | 956 | -1,793,393,015,637,171,700 | 2008-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Jaime Winstone on True Romance True Romance totally captures what I can only describe as a Nineties, American couture trailer-trash style: Hawaiian shirts and printed leggings with little crop tops and crazy glasses. When I first saw it, Alabama [played by Patricia Arquette] became my fashion icon. Everything about the film is so stylised. It's filled with colour - really bright turquoises. It's beautiful. Tarantino didn't direct the movie - he wrote it, and the writing stands out. In many of his films he gives us stories we already know - here it's the Romeo and Juliet story - and completely twists them. He puts his crazy imagination into a tale of real people and magnifies it and makes it explode. He makes you cry and bleed for it and then satisfies you at the end. The film has a great cast - Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman - some of my favourite actors. Tarantino's lead characters are always very likeable and that's the case particularly for Arquette's character. Clarence [Slater] and Alabama's love is so pure, even though they are in this really dark situation. That is a classic Tarantino combination - it's this softened love among bloody, hardcore stakes. I'll never forget the scene between Hopper and Walken where Walken talks about being Sicilian. There's a moment where you know what's going to happen. Tarantino managed to make you feel the environment and how tense it is. His characters always have so much to them - they are never one-dimensional. I think he's a real actor's writer. Tarantino has a reputation as someone who has a lot of violence in his films, but in True Romance it isn't an issue for me. When you have a film that's so much about love it makes sense - love usually does bring pain or suffering and it's actually tastefully done. Even when you're watching the violent scenes you hope for these characters - that they are going to be together at the end. Elfie Hopkins is out in cinemas today
| 440 | 8,337,648,219,794,218,000 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Zeamer and Sarnoski received the Medal of Honor, and the rest of the crew received the Distinguished Service Cross. ===Sally B===
Sally B is the only B-17 flying in the United Kingdom and thus serves as a memorial of the U.S. 8th Air Force which fought from England in World War II and the American airmen who fought and died during that conflict. Built as a Boeing B-17G-105-VE c/n 8693, the future Sally B was one of the last to be constructed by the Lockheed-Vega plant at Burbank, California. Accepted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) as 44-85784 on 19 June 1945 it was too late to see war service, and was flown to Nashville for modifications. Converted for training purposes and re-designated TB-17G it was based at Wright Field (now Wright-Patterson AFB), Ohio from November that year. Continuing in the care of 2750th Air Base Group (ABG), 44-85784 was selected for use as a research vehicle and in 1949 allocated EB-17G status. As such the B-17 was used in a variety of research roles, one of the most bizarre being the addition of a man-carrying pod on the starboard wingtip. Also fitted at the time was an infra-red tracking device in place of the Perspex nose. These trials continued for some years in a variety of guises and it was not until 1954 that ‘784 was returned to standard configuration, less armaments, at Hill AFB in Utah. No details have emerged of the trials which this aircraft was involved in. In 1990, Sally B was redressed to depict Memphis Belle in the feature film of the same name, directed by Michael Caton-Jones. After the film shooting was over, she reverted back to show her "Sally B" titles on the starboard side, but has since retained the "Memphis Belle" logo on the port side. Sally B continues to be flown at displays as a memorial to the 79,000 U.S. airmen who died fighting in the skies over Europe between 1942 and 1945. ===Texas Raiders===
The Commemorative Air Force Gulf Coast Wing maintains and flies the B-17G Flying Fortress named "Texas Raiders", based at William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) Houston, Texas. Built in 1944, it was one of the last 20 B-17s built by Douglas Aircraft Corporation at the Long Beach, California plant. she was delivered to the U.S. Army Air Corps as B-17G-95-DL 44-83872, and transferred to the United States Navy to serve as PB-1W Patrol Bomber. 44-83872 was assigned the U.S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics Number 77235. The Navy used PB-1Ws as the original Airborne Warning and Command System or AWACS aircraft, as well as for electronic countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and. The Navy sealed up the bomb bay doors, installed 300 gallon wing-mounted drop tanks and the AN/APS-20 Seasearch Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) equipment in a bulbous housing below the former bomb bay. Radio direction finder (RDF), instrument landing system (ILS), and long range navigation (LORAN) were also installed. She was not painted, but waxed to prevent corrosion, and kept her original Browning M2 machine guns. Texas Raiders tours the North American air show circuit and both commemorates and wears the markings of the U.S. Army Air Corps 8th Air Force, 1st Air Division, 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy), 533rd Bombardment Squadron's aircraft "hull number" X. The aircraft is currently on its third and most thorough restoration at the Commemorative Air Force's Gulf Coast Wing, at the William P. Hobby airport, in Houston, Texas, with the intention of returning it to airworthy status. ==Noted B-17 pilots and crew members==
===Medal of Honor awards===
Many B-17 crew members received military honors and 17 received the Medal of Honor, the highest military decoration awarded by the United States:
Brig. Gen. Frederick Castle
2d Lt. Robert Femoyer
1st Lt. Donald Gott
2d Lt. David Kingsley
1st Lt. William R. Lawley, Jr.
Sgt. | 957 | null | null | 528,497,941 | "2012-12-17T17:24:36" | Rlandmann/B-17 Flying Fortress | 2,012 |
Cheers. thanks for your help guys, if you need anything from me, my email address is email address removed. == How do I contact the editor who deleted my link? ==
Hi, can you please tell me how to contact the editor who deleted my link? I don't see a way to do so but it seems only fair that I should be able to explain myself in hopes that the editor agrees. Arbitrarily deleting links is not in the best interests of this site and I have been a reader and editor of wiki for many years now. Thank you! —Preceding unsigned comment added by Boaznb (talk • contribs)
Boaznb appears to have made contact via the editor's talk page. JohnInDC (talk)
== Help with Cygnus Business Media page ==
I would like some third party assistance, please. Over the past several months, I have been trying to provide facts on Wikipedia's Cygnus Business Media page. One former employee - Rich Handley - continues to add commentary and misrepresent facts. There is also a person called "The Truth Please" that you'll note has ONLY edited the Cygnus Business Media page and consistently adds editorial. In this:
This was a private sale and ONLY the principals know the exact price. I edited out the amount and now it continues to show up. It is not fact and I wrote that in the comment section. This is misrepresented and is inflammatory:
Paul and Rich did not leave because of the Standard and Poor's report which looks at debt and other things when it makes its reports. It has nothing to do with operations. Other problems:
Companies reorganize all the time, I'm sure Bob and Paul would not like to be used in this way, quotes should be take n away from "brand directors"
Again, estimated. This is just another way for our former employees and competitors to paint us in a bad light. The bloggers all remained anonymous so it is unfair to state this. This memo below was done as "tongue and cheek"
—Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.56.32.213 (talk)
The passages above are cited, with the exception of the sale amount, but I found and added a citation for that. You've obviously admitted a COI here; while that editor may indeed be a disgruntled employee, they're only echoing what's already been published in other sources. I did remove the last part, as the source didn't mention any kind of backlash. JeremyMcCracken (talk) (contribs)
== Artichoker keeps deleting and undoing my contribution to a article ==
I have tried to contribute to the Kanto (Pokémon) article over and over. Artichoker keep undoing my contribution calling it speculation and non notable when I have provided proof on the matter. The dispute is over a small easter egg or feature in the Pokémon Games where in Vermilion City has a Truck located in the port. Though it has had many false rumors about the truck, the truck is real and is one of the only vehicles I know of in the Pokemon games except for the moving van in Sapphire, Rubby, and Emerald. The user has continued to say the information is speculation despite the many references i have posted, even putting a picture of the truck up h to believe that he has been on for 3 or more years when actually he hasn't been on for 1. I'm sick and tired of Vertigo315 that I just wish that editing wasn't allowed on this website any longer due to the fact that Vertigo has started 3 of the 5 edit wars this week alone. Vertigo315 game me outdated sources and I gave him up to date references which he simply ignored. (Planecrash111 (talk) )
I don't want to see Vertigo get blocked, but I would want him to show more respect, use good faith, don't use my age as a personal attack, and just go on with his life. (Planecrash111 (talk) )
Okay, having taken a good look at the article and both of the user talk pages (and past contributions), I am arriving at pretty much the same advice I was going to offer at the beginning. I feel kinda goofy giving it because I am not always that good at following it myself. I will offer them point by point, so that if you decide I and my advice totally sucks, you can rip into me number by number:
#. Calm down - You guys need to calm the heck down. Wikipedia is supposed to be fun. | 989 | null | null | 390,567,494 | "2010-10-13T20:28:31" | Editor assistance/Requests/Archive 26 | 2,012 |
Singer recalls her attack ordeal Jenkins, whose repertoire features arias, hymns and classical crossover tracks, said she had been walking across a bridge in Paddington when she was attacked. "As I crossed this sort of gangway which went down to the station I felt suddenly someone too close to me and he, within seconds, was in front of me trying to drag me down this gangway and the police believe that he was trying to rape me," she told Morgan. " I just thought 'Right, he is actually going to try and rape me' so if I can get in a ball on the floor... then he won't be able to do it "
Katherine Jenkins "I remember my purse was there, so I knew he wasn't just trying to mug me 'cos he could have just snatched my purse." She then ran across a road but was punched by the attacker and slammed into a wooden wall. "I just thought 'Right, he is actually going to try and rape me' so if I can get in a ball on the floor... then he won't be able to do it," she said. "So I did that and he kicked me a few times and tried to get me to open up, and that didn't work... and then eventually he just looked at me and I just said 'What do you want?' "And he said 'Well, just give me your purse then,' so I gave him my purse, which didn't have much money in it because I was a student, and he ran to the end of the road and then stopped and looked back at me and laughed." Jenkins said he was never caught and she "still looks over my shoulder even now." She also broke down on the show when talking about the death when she was 15 of her father Selwyn, who had lung cancer. Her new album Believe will be released on Monday. The interview is on Piers Morgan's Life Stories: Katherine Jenkins on ITV1 on Saturday at 2200 BST.
| 424 | 3,160,256,716,832,877,600 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Grass roots action: Creating a romantic, poppy-filled 'wild' meadow isn't as simple as it looks Personally, I blame Botticelli. Flowery meads are all very well in pictures where the grass never grows. Managing them on the ground is another matter. Driven by a kind of cosmic guilt, we wallow in visions of red poppies fluttering among feathery grass heads in our own back yards. It seems beguilingly simple. We have only to broadcast a few packets of seed, then put away the mower for ever. But there is a double misunderstanding at work here. Poppies will leap up brightly in the first year if they are sown on a freshly prepared bare plot, but they are annuals, lasting only one year and favouring newly disturbed ground. This is why they like cornfields, where after a neck-and-neck race with the corn, they seed themselves, ready to bob up after the next round of ploughing. Where grass is permanently established, as it will be after the first year of a newly sown flowery mead, poppies die out. End of vision. Roadworks are the best places for poppies now. There are often searing displays when new by-passes are made. The second misconception is that a flowering meadow is a labour-free way of gardening. Those who have them often find them the most difficult patches of all. Fertility is the chief problem. Wild flowers are opportunists, programmed to make the most of a wide range of less than ideal growing conditions. Most garden soil is too good for them. Weeds grow rampageously and squeeze them out. In spring, a truce exists and primroses and wild violets followed by bluebells and moon daisies make the most of it. In late June and July, grass growth becomes rank. If there is rain, the whole waving spectacle collapses in a confusion of matted stems. Cultivated flowering meadows are lovely in spring, but so are the wild hedgerows, bursting with may and elder, with bluebells, red and white campion and billows of cow parsley. The general instructions for making a flowering meadow seem simple enough. You must kill off existing grass (especially couch) together with bullies such as dock, stinging nettle and dandelion. You must then leave the plot fallow for a year, leaping on any weeds that reappear. The patch can finally be sown in late summer of the following year, with a mixture of grass seed laced with wild flowers. The first spring the patch might be everything you had hoped for: poppies, moon daisies, ladies smock, clovers, meadow cranesbill, lady's bedstraw, with small unthreatening grasses waving about underneath. You will patiently wait until October before mowing the area and raking off the grass. You will wonder why people like me keep warning about the difficulties of meadow gardening. Confidently, you will expect a similar display the second year. It is unlikely to happen. In the second season, the proportion of wild flowers to grass will decrease dramatically. The nettles and docks and hogweeds you thought you had got rid of will start creeping back. By the third season, you may find you have got the wrong sort of grass and only bullies such as moon daisies can compete with it. To the uninitiated, grass is grass as long as it is green, but there are more than 150 kinds listed in Francis Rose's definitive Guide to Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Ferns (Viking £35). If you are seeding a meadow garden from scratch, avoid rye grasses and other vigorous species such as cock's foot, tall fescue and Yorkshire fog (Holcus lanatus). Look out for the bents, Agrostis canina and Agrostis tenuis, crested dog's tail, quaking grass, sheep's fescue, meadow foxtail, wavy hair grass and meadow grasses such as Poa trivialis and Poa pratensis. In most pre-packaged meadow mixes, the dominant grasses are likely to be crested dog's tail, chewings fescue and red fescue, with grasses making up 80 per cent of the total. In the remaining 20 per cent, you may find seed of meadow buttercup, musk mallow, ox-eye daisy, red and white campion, self heal and yarrow. Birdsfoot trefoil, cowslip, field scabious, lady's bedstraw, knapweed and yarrow may also be in the mix. | 988 | 2,341,657,056,627,585,500 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Beijing Better-Off Year After Olympics? This story was filed by CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton in Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) One year ago, Beijing was full to the brim. Athletes from all over the world filled the airport, tourists clutching maps crowded the subways and, of course, Chinese police watched over the capital from every street corner. Rumors about the opening ceremony swirled around office water coolers and down onto the city's traditional alleyways ("There will be fireworks in the shape of dragons!"). The 2008 Summer Olympics was about to start, though no one knew whether the Chinese government would be able to pull it off. 365 days later, few can argue the Olympics weren't a huge success for China's organizational mavens. The two-week event broke television ratings records. Dire warnings of heavy pollution failed to come true as the city basked in blue skies, allowing athletes like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt to break records of their own. But how is life for those still living in Beijing, a city that was radically overhauled for the Games? "The air quality is much better now than before. Heavy industry factories moved away and there are still limits on the number of cars allowed on the streets," says Li Lihua, 46, who lives near Beijing's Olympic volleyball grounds. Air quality experts from the Chinese government argue that in the past six months, Beijing enjoyed the most "blue sky days" it's seen in nine years. Others aren't so sure: the U.S. Embassy in Beijing has installed its own air quality monitor. Hourly reports consistently rate the air "hazardous" or, on a better day, "very unhealthy." Air purifier salesmen continue to do brisk business. The prices of many things, from restaurant meals to real estate, went up before the Games and, in many cases, haven't returned to Earth. "High housing prices are a big problem for average people," complains a bus ticket collector. "Getting an apartment for my kid will definitely be a headache." But 83-year-old Li Zhang says he's seen a permanent positive change in the city, at least for people in his age group. "Old [people] don't need to pay for transportation or park tickets since the Olympics," he grins. "And more people offer seats to us now." The 2008 Games solidified Beijing's reputation as a major player, one that deserves to compete on the world stage and, perhaps, even though the party is over, that intangible sense of city pride was worth every moment of uncertainty.
| 543 | 1,979,203,830,769,870,300 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Avtandil Tchrikishvili (born March 18, 1991 in Gardabani) is a Georgian judoka. He competed in the men's 81 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Tomislav Marijanović in the second round, he was eliminated by Travis Stevens in the third round. ==References==
1991 births
Living people
Judoka from Georgia (country)
Olympic judoka of Georgia (country)
Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Avtandil Tchrikishvili | 118 | null | null | 530,635,045 | "2012-12-31T17:23:30" | Avtandili Tchrikishvili | 2,012 |
Worcester City star Lee Smith fined for abusive tweet
| 13 | -3,583,509,442,311,378,400 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Baidu sees stronger-than-expected Q2 revenue
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Baidu Inc more than doubled its profit in the first quarter and forecast stronger-than-expected revenue for the second quarter, betting on strong online advertising demand among China's businesses. Shares of Baidu, which are up more than 50 percent since the start of the year, were down slightly at $150.65 in after-hours trade after closing Wednesday's regular session at$151.11. Baidu, the No. 1 Internet search engine in China, said it expects second-quarter revenue of $493.3 million to $503.9 million, above analysts' forecasts of $484.2 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. For the first quarter, Baidu reported net income of $163.5 million, or 47 cents per American Depository Share. This compared with $70.4 million, or $2.10 per share, a year ago, before a 10-for-1 stock split. The average analyst expectation called for earnings per ADS of 45 cents. Baidu Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Li said in a statement that the company would continue to support long-term growth by focusing significant investment on research and development, marketing and network infrastructure, among other things, in the coming quarters. China, with more than 450 million users, is the world's largest Internet market. Yet with Internet penetration hovering around 30 percent and lack of sophisticated users outside the big cities, the potential for growth is huge. Baidu, which increased its focus on e-commerce and online video, surged in dominance in China's search market after Google Inc curtailed its operations following a high-profile fallout with Beijing over censorship last year. But analysts see an increasingly competitive landscape in China's search market in the next few years, as competitors such as Sohu.com, Alibaba Group and Tencent Holdings wrestle for market share. Baidu's total revenue for the first quarter was $372 million, above its own forecast of $360.6 million to $371.2 million and up roughly 88 percent from a year ago. Analysts estimates called for revenue of $367.3 million. (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Anshuman Daga, Carol Bishopric and Steve Orlofsky)
| 498 | -2,992,619,020,262,566,400 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
This is a list of windmills in Canada. Windmills feature uniquely in the history of New France particularly, where they were used as strong points in fortifications. ==Windmills in Ontario, Alberta, and Manitoba==
==External links==
Windmill World: Canada
Canada
Windmills in Canada
Windmills
Kanada'daki yel değirmenleri listesi | 89 | null | null | 526,026,246 | "2012-12-02T15:35:14" | List of windmills in Canada | 2,012 |
Bagel Bunchkins: Dunkin Donuts Applies For Bagel Hole Trademark
(Image credit: Getty Images) Dunkin" Donuts popular Munchkins might be getting a new cousin: the Bagel Bunchkin. The company recently applied for a trademark for "Bagel Bunchkin" but declined to say if and when the new bagel bites would be released. "We have many trademarks and cannot speculate on future plans related to our trademark filings," the company's trademark team responded. The popular restaurant chain currently serves bagel twists and 13 different-flavored bagels. "It's important for us to offer a range of items to satisfy our busy, on-the-go guests throughout the day. As a result, we do have a number of mini and bite-sized items on our U.S. menu, including hash browns and Munchkins donut hole treats," said Justin Drake, Public Relations Manager for the Dunkin" Brands Group. Earlier this year, the company launched sausage pancake bites for a limited time. In 2009, Thomas" sold their own version of bagel bites, called "Bagel Holes," which are no longer listed on their website. The product was offered in three flavors and received mixed reviews. SHOWS: Good Morning America
| 279 | 2,754,256,832,712,648,700 | 2012-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
BBC News - Footballers back anti-gang video
| 12 | 9,039,370,214,010,103,000 | 2011-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Leppard's original management, MSB, a local duo consisting of Pete Martin and Frank Stuart-Brown, were fired after Martin and Joe Elliott got into a fist fight over an incident on the road. The band approached Peter Mensch of Leber-Krebs management, who had booked them on a tour of the UK supporting AC/DC. Mensch, who admitted that he had had his eye on the band, became their manager. === Rise to fame (1980–1983) ===
Def Leppard's debut album, On Through the Night, was released on 14 March 1980. Although the album hit the Top 15 in the UK, many early fans were turned off by the perception that the band was trying too hard to appeal to American audiences by recording songs like "Hello America" and touring more in the US (supporting Pat Travers, AC/DC, and Ted Nugent). A performance at the Reading Festival in August was marred when audience members expressed their displeasure by pelting the band with beer cans and bottles filled with urine. This incident was partially blamed on a cover story in Sounds music newspaper by the journalist Geoff Barton entitled "Has the Leppard changed its spots?" accusing the band of selling out to the American market. In a documentary on the band recorded for BBC 2, Barton recalls feelings of guilt over the story and having a "stand-up row" with the band's manager, Mensch, backstage at the show. The band had by then caught the attention of AC/DC producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who agreed to work on their second album, High 'n' Dry, released on 11 July 1981. Lange's meticulous approach in the studio helped them begin to define their sound. Despite the album's unimpressive sales figures, the band's video for "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first metal videos played on MTV in 1982, bringing the band increased visibility in the U.S. After the album's release, a European tour followed. The band opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Blackfoot. Phil Collen, former guitarist with the glam band Girl, on 12 July 1982 replaced Pete Willis, who had been fired the previous day because of excessive alcohol consumption on the job. (Willis would later resurface with the bands Gogmagog and Roadhouse.) This personnel change took place during the recording of their third album, Pyromania, which was released on 20 January 1983 and also produced by Lange. The lead single, "Photograph", turned Def Leppard into a household name, supplanting Michael Jackson's "Beat It" as the most requested video clip on MTV and becoming a staple of rock radio (dominating the US Album Rock Charts for six weeks), and sparked a headline tour across the U.S.
Fueled by "Photograph" and subsequent singles "Rock of Ages" and "Foolin'", Pyromania went on to sell six million copies in 1983 (more than 100,000 copies every week in that year) and was held off the top of the US album charts only by Michael Jackson's Thriller. With the album's massive success, Pyromania was the catalyst for the 1980s pop-metal movement. In 2004, Pyromania was certified Diamond having sold over 10 million copies in the US. Def Leppard's US tour in support of Pyromania began opening for Billy Squier in March and ended with a headlining performance before an audience of 55,000 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California in September. As a testament to the band's popularity at the time, a US Gallup poll in 1984 saw Def Leppard voted as favourite rock band over peers such as The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey. However, this popularity was not matched in their native England where Duran Duran secured the number one spot, a fact that greatly bothered them. === Hysteria era (1984–1989) ===
Following their breakthrough, the band moved to Dublin in February 1984 for tax purposes to begin writing the follow-up to Pyromania. Mutt Lange initially joined in on the songwriting sessions but then suddenly declined to return as producer due to exhaustion. Instead, Jim Steinman (of Meat Loaf's Bat out of Hell fame) was brought in. On 31 December 1984, drummer Rick Allen lost his left arm in a car crash on the A57 in the hills outside the band's home city Sheffield, when his Corvette swerved off the road on a sharp bend and went through a drystone wall. Despite the severity of the accident, Allen was committed to continuing his role as Def Leppard's drummer, and realised that he could use his legs to do some of the drumming work previously done with his arms. He then worked with Simmons to design a custom electronic drum kit. | 1,017 | null | null | 530,456,937 | "2012-12-30T14:41:10" | Def Leppard | 2,012 |
Second teenager held over pensioners' fire deaths A second teenager was arrested in connection with the deaths of an elderly couple after a blaze at their home in Warwickshire. Kath and Albert Adams, both 77, died after suffering smoke inhalation on February 27. A mobility scooter parked outside the front door of their sheltered accommodation in Harold Cox Place, Rugby, was set alight and the flames spread to their house. A second fire was also started at the complex two days later on March 1, but nobody was hurt. A 15-year-old boy from Rugby appeared in court charged with two counts of manslaughter, two counts of arson with intent to endanger life and two counts of arson being reckless as to whether life would be endangered. The youth, who cannot be named, appeared at Warwick Crown Court where he was remanded into secure accommodation until a plea and case management hearing at the same court on May 28, police said. Warwickshire Police said they also arrested an 18-year-old, from Rugby, on suspicion of manslaughter and arson with intent in connection with the two fires. He is in custody awaiting questioning by officers, a spokeswoman said. Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2010, All Rights Reserved.
| 261 | 3,821,424,327,230,674,400 | 2010-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
US suspends Kenya school funding The US has been pushing for reform in Kenya since deadly violence swept the country after an election in 2007. Although the violence was primarily political and ethnic, US officials have highlighted underlying causes such as corruption and weak institutions. Future 'in the balance' Mr Ranneberger demanded an independent audit of the free-schools programme. "Those culpable for the fraud should not only be sacked - they need to be prosecuted and put behind bars," he said. "The US shares the deep concern of Kenya's development partners and the Kenyan people regarding the continuous revelations of large-scale corruption." He reiterated demands for wider changes in the country, saying "the reform agenda and the future of this country hangs in the balance." Kenya introduced free primary education in 2003 - and schools were quickly swamped as more than one million children were enrolled who had never been to school before. Unicef says the primary school population jumped from 5.9 million in 2002 to 7.6 million in 2005. Most of the funding for primary education comes from government coffers.
| 228 | 1,819,814,554,632,658,400 | 2010-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Pakistan army takes control of al-Qaeda cave network on Afghan border Pakistani forces have taken control of a warren of caves that served until recently as the nerve centre of the Taleban and al-Qaeda and sheltered Ayman al-Zawahiri, the second-in-command to Osama bin Laden. "It was the main hub of militancy where al-Qaeda operatives had moved freely," Major-General Tariq Khan, the Pakistan regional commander, said as he gave journalists a tour of Damadola yesterday. The village, nestling among snow-capped peaks in the Bajaur region along the Afghan border, has been fought over for 16 months. It is the first time that the Pakistani Army has set foot in the village, which had long been dominated by the insurgents operating on the both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. "Al-Qaeda was there. They had occupied the ridges. There were 156 caves designed as a defensive complex," said General Khan, head of the Frontier Corps responsible for Pakistan's counter-insurgency campaign in the region. He said that his forces had killed 75 foreign and local militants and cleared a zone up to the Afghan border, and that the campaign against the insurgents was in its final stage. The army began operations in Bajaur in August 2008 and claimed victory in February last year, only for the insurgents to seep back when the Government's focus switched to Pakistani Taleban fighters in the Swat Valley and South Waziristan. Journalists were shown caves strewn with blankets and pillows, left in haste as the army approached in January. The village has been largely destroyed by the fighting. A large mud compound on a hilltop was once believed to be the hideout of al-Zawahiri, one of the world's most wanted terrorists, who was the subject of a $25 million (£18 million) bounty. "He has been spotted here by the local residents in the past," said Colonel Nauman Saeed, an army commander. Al-Zawahiri, an Egyptian doctor, narrowly escaped when missiles fired by a CIA drone struck a house in Damadola in January 2006. According to officials he and some other al-Qaeda operatives had been attending a dinner but left just before the attack. The ruins of the house hit by the missiles were still present. Pakistani officials and local residents said that al-Zawahiri had even married a local girl. "He would regularly travel between Bajaur and the Afghan province of Kunar," Colonel Saeed said. While the military has been showing off its gains many Taleban fighters and their leaders - including the main regional commander, Faqir Mohammad, have escaped the sweep and may try to return as they have done before. "I would give you a rough estimate that about 25 per cent must have gone across the border; another 10 or 15 per cent might have melted back into the areas of Swat, where they had come from," General Khan said. "A substantial amount of them have been killed, but that is just an estimate."
| 643 | 8,455,304,783,992,315,000 | 2010-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
Groups redirect health-care ads to cheer and jeer Democrats Groups redirect health-care ads to cheer and jeer Democrats
House lawmakers' votes are turned into ammunition By Aaron C. Davis and Ben Pershing
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 The House's passage Saturday of a sweeping health-care bill has pushed the advertising battle over reform into a new phase, as competing groups have taken to the airwaves to thank or punish Democrats for their votes. The liberal group MoveOn.org launched a $500,000 television campaign Monday targeting lawmakers who voted no, including first-termers such as Rep. Glenn Nye (Va.). Meanwhile, Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio and more than 20 other House Democrats in vulnerable seats who voted for the bill enjoyed a far warmer reception from the liberal group Health Care for America Now and one of the nation's largest public employee unions. Those groups bankrolled a series of "thank you" commercials to laud freshmen in battleground districts in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and elsewhere for "standing up to the insurance companies and fighting for us." The battle of the airwaves has already seen more than $150 million spent this year on television ads related to the health-care debate, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group. As of Friday, about $63 million had been spent on ads favoring Democrats' reform plans and $52 million on ads opposed, according to the analysis group. The House's passage of a reform bill, however, immediately pushed those ad dollars in new directions. Monday's thank-yous and thanks-for-nothings appeared aimed at corralling House Democrats in advance of the Senate's debate and a final vote, should both chambers reconcile differences in their bills. The ads also provided opening shots at framing lawmakers' health-care votes for the 2010 election. "I think you're going to see a healthy dose of groups going to prop up and backslap Democrats who voted for this bill," said Evan Tracey, the analysis group's chief operating officer. "And conversely, you're going to see those opposed try to go and shine a light on them in their districts." Justin Ruben, MoveOn.org's executive director, said in a statement that the health-care vote had provided a historic opportunity and the organization would make sure that lawmakers "who did the right thing know they can count on the support of their base." Kilroy, who on Monday returned to a central Ohio district that had been held by Republicans for more than 40 years before she eked out a victory there last year, announced more than a day before Saturday's vote that she would support the bill. Like other lawmakers in traditionally conservative Districts, Kilroy had weathered withering criticism during the summer in more than 20 town-hall meetings and at other health-care events. Randy Borntrager, Kilroy's chief of staff, said her vote for the bill fulfilled a campaign promise for more affordable health care for her constituents. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003, Kilroy campaigned for provisions of the bill that would end insurance companies' right to reject applicants based on preexisting conditions. It was premature, Borntrager said Monday, to consider the effect of thank-you ads or counter-campaigns by her opponents next year. "We can't really predict," Borntrager said. "When it comes down to it, she chose to stand up for the people of central Ohio." The ads financed by Health Care for America Now and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees were previewed online Monday and will begin airing Tuesday in 20 House districts. Those targeted in the ads weren't the only ones feeling the effect of their votes Monday. In Rep. Tom Perriello's conservative district in southwestern Virginia, nearly 100 people traveled from Martinsville to Danville and Farmville to protest the Democrat's yes vote for the bill at every one of his district offices. A handful of supporters also gathered at each location. Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (Md.), who was one of 39 Democrats on the other side of Saturday's vote, was spared in initial ads and protests. But he said that he expects criticism for his no vote to carry into the 2010 election. "Some on the Democratic side think I should have blindly voted for it because it was a priority of the leadership, and some on the other side say don't vote for it regardless of what's in it," Kratovil said in an interview Monday, noting that his vote on the final legislation could still be in play. | 961 | 4,598,768,642,215,394,300 | 2009-12-31 00:00:00 | null | null | null | null |
End of preview. Expand
in Dataset Viewer.
The following dataset is constructed using entirely historical data up to the cutoff date "31-12-2012". The data comes from the WMT News dataset (https://data.statmt.org/news-crawl/en/) and Wikipedia. This dataset is the training dataset for a GPT-2-small-based model, and is available on Huggingface at the following location: "TiMa/TiMaGPT2-2012".
The dataset uses the same license as the WMT News dataset (https://data.statmt.org/news-crawl/README) as this is the less permissive license of the datasets that create this training dataset, further details are outlined in the paper.
Please refer to and cite the following paper when using this dataset in any downstream applications:
@inproceedings{drinkall-tima-2024, title = "Time Machine GPT", author = "Drinkall, Felix and Zohren, Stefan and Pierrehumbert, Janet", booktitle = "Findings of the Association for Computational Linguistics: NAACL 2024", month = june, year = "2024", publisher = "Association for Computational Linguistics" }
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