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Activist Wants D.C.'s 1st Gay Wedding (AP) Craig Dean's first wedding was attended by thousands, and as he recited his vows, gay couples behind him on Constitution Avenue echoed their own. It was 1993, and Dean and boyfriend Patrick Gill headlined what was billed as the largest gay marriage ceremony at the time. Dean, 29, and Gill, 26, were celebrities after suing the city of Washington for denying them a marriage license. They'd been on CNN, were profiled in The Washington Post and sat on Oprah's couch. And though they lost their landmark case, the city last month finally did what it had refused to do back then: Legalize gay marriage. Dean, who now lives in South Carolina and runs a talent agency for gay and lesbian speakers, said he cried when he read the news. "They owe me a marriage license," he said. The law still has to survive a review by Congress, which has final say over the district's laws. Lawmakers appear unlikely to intervene though, so gay couples could be marrying in Washington - legally this time - by March. It would be the sixth place in the country where gay marriages are allowed. And Dean, who carries bittersweet memories of his and Gill's pioneering effort, wants the first spot in line. Dean and Gill were not practiced advocates when they applied for a marriage license in November 1990. Dean had just graduated from Georgetown University's law school. Gill worked in the men's accessories department of Macy's, selling pens and umbrellas. But Dean was "young and brash and ambitious and forthright," said their lawyer, William Eskridge Jr., and Gill, though less publicly confident, was "charming" and a "babe." They made for a model case, Eskridge said. "It was really the first lawsuit of this new era," said Eskridge, a Georgetown law professor at the time who now teaches at Yale University. Just filing for the marriage license made many established gay groups angry. Some thought the pair was asking for too much and feared a backlash. Lambda Legal Defense Fund executive director Tom Stoddard called their challenge "shortsighted." Washington was "probably the worst jurisdiction in the country" to try to legalize same-sex marriage, said Stoddard, an influential advocate who died of AIDS in 1997. Let other places do it first, he urged, then come back to the city. Dean didn't back down, drawing motivation from the time Gill was rushed to the hospital and Dean hurried to the emergency room, only to be told he couldn't see his partner. If they were married, things would be different, Dean thought. So he researched the city's laws and was convinced nothing in the code prevented them from getting married. The lawsuit went on five years. Ultimately, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals ruled against the pair. District laws were never intended to let gay couples marry, wrote Judge John Ferren, who still sits on the court. His colleague, John Terry, also a sitting justice, was more blunt: "They are, of course, free to refer to their relationship by whatever name they wish. But it is not a marriage, and calling it a marriage will not make it one." For Dean, the defeat was personal. For his boyfriend, he believes, it was crippling. Gill had AIDS, and the travel and the pressure of the case affected his health, Dean said. "He was really holding on in the hopes that we would win," Dean said. "After we lost, he sort of let go." Gill died in June 1997, just over two years after the decision. He is buried next to Dean's father in a Long Island cemetery. "Whether it became legal or not, he was my husband," Dean said. "If anything it was a marriage in the way we lived our lives." In Dean's garage sit five boxes with typed briefs, notes and letters from the case. A marriage rights banner he helped carry in marches in San Francisco and Washington is in his attic. His current partner, photographer John Blevins, told him not to cry when the district passed its law last month; he should be proud. Blevins and Dean met several months ago on a blind date, but their romance has moved fast. On Christmas, Blevins put a ring in Dean's stocking and asked, "Would you do the honor of marrying me?" "Yes," Dean said, as long as he gets a real Washington wedding. And he has a message for the marriage bureau: "The first name on the list should be the one who is waiting 20 years." © MMX, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBSNews.com On Digg

2010-12-31 00:00:00

A move towards bilingual secondary education in the Western Isles was frustrated by a change of government in 1979. Gaelic-medium secondary education has developed less satisfactorily. Gaelic-medium streams followed on from primary in Glasgow and Inverness—and there has been some experimentation in the Western Isles—but the sector is hampered by acute teacher shortage, and an inspectorate report of 1994 regards Gaelic-medium secondary education as divisive and inappropriate. Third level provision through Gaelic is provided by Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (literally: "the great barn at Ostaig") a Gaelic medium college based in Sleat, on the Isle of Skye in north west Scotland. It is part of the UHI Millennium Institute, and also has a campus on Islay known as "Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle." In 2004, Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, (who is patron of the College) stated that: The beauty of Gaelic music and song is inescapable. But without the living language, it risks becoming an empty shell. That is why an education system, up to the level represented by the college here in Skye, is so important – to ensure fluency and literacy which will continue to renew the health and creativity of the language. The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 is the first piece of legislation to give formal recognition to the Gaelic language in Scotland. It recognises Gaelic as an official language of Scotland, commanding "equal respect" with English. Education Minister Peter Peacock, who has ministerial responsibility for Gaelic, said: "This is a momentous day for Gaelic as we open a new chapter in the language's history. We have come a long way since the dark days of 1616 when an Act of Parliament ruled that Gaelic should be 'abolishit and removit' from Scotland." ===Cornwall=== utely no cognisance of the differences between individuals, of the differences between localities, of the: differences between urban and rural communities, of the differences springing from a different ancestry, Gaelic or Anglo-Saxon. ===Scotland=== Attempts were made by legislation, in the later medieval and early modern period, to establish English at first among the aristocracy and increasingly amongst all ranks by education acts and parish schools. The Scots Parliament passed some ten such acts between 1494 and 1698. In 1609 nine Gaelic chieftains were abducted and forced to sign the Statutes of Iona, which would seem to have been designed specifically to Anglicize leaders and institutions of Gaelic society, in order to bring it under control of central government. Among the items listed in this agreement was the "planting of the gospell among these rude, barbarous, and uncivill people" by Protestant churches; the outlawing of bards who were traditionally on circuit between the houses of noblemen; the requirement that all men of wealth send their heirs to be educated in Lowland schools where they would be taught to "speik, reid, and wryte Inglische." The then King James VI, followed this by an Act in 1616, which sought to establish schools in every parish in the Highlands so that "the youth be exercised and trayned up in civilitie, godlines, knawledge, and learning, that the vulgar Inglische toung be universallie plantit, and the Irische language, whilk is one of the chief and principall causes of the continewance of barbaritie and incivilitie amongis the inhabitantis of the Ilis and Heylandis, may be abolisheit and removeit." In 1709 the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) was established in order to further funding sources for Highland church schools. All manner of incentives and punishments were used to stop children from speaking Gaelic. The SSPCK had 5 schools by 1711, 25 by 1715, 176 by 1758 and 189 by 1808, by then with 13,000 pupils attending. At first the SSPCK avoided using the Gaelic language with the result that pupils ended up learning by rote without understanding what they were reading. In 1741 the SSPCK introduced a Gaelic-English vocabulary, then in 1766 brought in a New Testament with facing pages of Gaelic and English texts for both languages to be read alongside one another, with more success. After a number of years of unsuccessful attempts at English-only teaching methods, it was realized that literacy in Gaelic was a much more effective means of teaching and a bridge towards fluency in English.

English-medium education

Lock of Napoleon's hair found at Walter Scott's home in the Borders ANTIQUES experts filming a new TV series at Sir Walter Scott's former home have discovered a lock of hair belonging to Napoleon Bonaparte which formed part of the famous's novelist's vast collection of historic artefacts. The "truly breathtaking" find at Abbotsford House in the Scottish Borders was made by chance during the analysis of a blotter book used by the one-time emperor of France. The fragile item is now being treated by conservation specialists, after w hich it will then be put on public display for the first time. The trust, which is raising money for a multi-million pound restoration of Abbotsford, said the unearthing of the item after so many years offered yet more proof of the importance of their preservation project. The trust also expressed confidence that the estate near Melrose still holds secret treasures that are yet to be uncovered. The rediscovery of the hair was made by a team filming a new series of the BBC 2 programme, Antiques Road Trip. Anita Manning, the founder of Great Western Auctions in Glasgow and one of the show's experts, was scrutinising the blotter book along with Jason Dyer, chief executive of The Abbotsford Trust, when they stumbled across the object. Mr Dyer said: "We're obviously delighted by this latest rediscovery which we believe demonstrates further the importance of preserving this wonderful home and its contents for the future." As well as the lock of hair, a pen case once owned by Napoleon, and four flags - one French and three British - which Scott recovered from the Battle of Waterloo, were among items discovered at Abbotsford.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), operates the world's most connected public IP network and uses its industry-leading global-network capabilities to offer large-business and government customers an unmatched combination of security, reliability and speed. The company integrates advanced IP communications and information technology (IT) products and services to deliver leading enterprise solutions including managed services, security, mobility, collaboration and professional services. These solutions power innovation and enable the company's customers to do business better. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com. SOURCE Verizon Business Copyright 2008 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

2008-12-31 00:00:00

The Madonna with Child by Renaissance artist Carlo Crivelli is a Madonna painting dating to 1470. It was painted with tempera on wood, then transferred to canvas. It was a piece of an altar in the Church of the Osservanti in Macerata, Marche, Italy. It is now located in the Pinacoteca de Macerata. ==See also== Roman Catholic Marian art Italian paintings 1470 paintings Paintings of the Madonna and Child Madonna di Macerata

Madonna with Child (Crivelli)

EU members fight transparency - UPI.com BRUSSELS, July 1 (UPI) -- EU member states have launched a legal challenge to a ruling that would open up the proceedings of the Council of Europe to the news media and public. The council is the "upper house" of the European Parliament, representing the member states. While council votes are public, many decisions are made in negotiations long before a vote, the EUobserver reported Thursday. The legal fight began this year when Access Info, a Spanish freedom of information group, sought access to documents on proposed amendments that would have limited access to information. The group got the documents with the names of countries backing the amendments concealed and asked the EU General Court to order the list be made public. A "clear majority" of member states now backs an appeal to the European Court of Justice, EUobserver said it has learned. "The decision-making process as established, the'space to think' must be protected. This is what is at stake," a source said.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

The striped stream frog (Strongylopus fasciatus) is a species of frog in the Ranidae family. It is found in Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Botswana. Its natural [are temperate

Strongylopus fasciatus

Prosecutor: Insanity plea a'manipulation' NASHUA, N.H., March 24 (UPI) -- A 21-year-old man accused of murdering a New Hampshire woman and grievously wounding her daughter was sane and deserves to be put in prison, a prosecutor said. Defendant Christopher Gribble -- who claims he was insane when he killed Kimberly Cates and wounded her 11-year-old daughter, Jaimie -- is using cunning and selfish manipulation, state Assistant Attorney General Peter Hinckley said in an impassioned two-hour closing argument in Hillsborough County Superior Court Thursday. "Being a callous, vicious sociopath is a description. It's not insanity under the law or common sense," Hinckley said. "It's just more manipulation over there," he said, pointing to Gribble, charged with first-degree murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to murder and burglary, and witness tampering following the Oct. 4, 2009, home-invasion attack on a secluded road in the quiet town of Mont Vernon, N.H. Gribble, wearing a tie and green button-down shirt, looked on calmly, appearing to be mildly curious, The Boston Globe reported. He occasionally scribbled notes. "Find him sane, hold him responsible and send this killer to prison," Hinckley said in his final comments to the jury. Gribble lawyer Donna Brown told jurors her client suffered from a personality disorder and a pervasive developmental disorder inhibiting his socialization and communication. Gribble also suffered from depression, she said. She blamed the influence of co-conspirator Steve Spader, the hatred Gribble had toward his mother and an overwhelming sadness from his girlfriend breaking up with him for the attacks, the Globe said. The night Cates was killed, Gribble was consumed by "a perfect storm of tragic events that he couldn't control any longer," Brown said. "Something rose up from inside him to the surface and could not be controlled." If the jury finds Gribble sane, he will automatically be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Spader was convicted of murder and other charges in November. He is serving two life sentences without the possibility of parole.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Manchester United reject Owen Hargreaves claims Manchester United have rejected Owen Hargreaves' claims he was incorrectly given injections to cure long-standing knee problems during his time at Old Trafford. In the aftermath of Wednesday's Carling Cup win for Manchester City against Birmingham, when Hargreaves marked his Blues debut with a goal, the 30-year-old outlined the unhappiness over sections of the treatment he received to combat a tendinitis injury he had before leaving Bayern Munich in 2007. Hargreaves said in the end, he felt like "a guinea pig" such were the revolutionary treatments he was forced to undergo in an effort to solve a problem he felt had been exacerbated by the injections. Sir Alex Ferguson mounted a staunch defence of his medical staff earlier today. Now United have released a full statement, in which they dismiss Hargreaves' claims and state they remain "comfortable" with the treatment the midfielder received. "United does not acknowledge any validity in the comments Owen is alleged to have made," said the statement. The statement continued: "Manchester United is disappointed with Owen's remarks after the game on Wednesday. "The club gave him the best possible care for three years and is as disappointed as anyone he was not able to play a part in the team's success at that time. "It has shared all the medical records with Manchester City and is comfortable with the actions taken by its medical staff at each step of his many attempts at rehabilitation. "Manchester United has some of the best sports medical staff in world sport, who have made a significant contribution to United's on-pitch success in recent seasons." Earlier, Ferguson was adamant any criticism of his back-room team was completely without foundation. "Do you think we would be successful if they were not 100% brilliant? Our doctor and his five physios are fantastic - that is my opinion and that is more important than what anyone else has to say about it," said the Scot. Hargreaves underwent surgery on both knees during the 2008-09 season. Following the operations, Hargreaves played just six minutes of first-team football as he battled to regain fitness and was eventually released by United in the summer. But he has achieved full fitness barely three weeks after joining City on a free transfer and claimed on Wednesday the medical treatment he received at United did more harm than good. "I received some injections but my tendon was never the same," he said. "After the injections, I tried to get back on my feet and they said my tendon was good, but it felt like I was made out of glass. "With my tendon injury, I've had to be a guinea pig for a lot of these treatments. All the people there [at United] are lovely and everybody tries their best, but at times you come to a certain point where you need to make a decision. "I wanted to play. Everyone wanted me to play, so it's not really an option to say,'sit it out and rest for six months'. With hindsight it's a lot easier, but I wish I had not had the injections." Aware of the delicate nature of the matter, City manager Roberto Mancini opted to tiptoe carefully through the row this morning, although he confirmed Hargreaves is now pain free. "There are no problems, apart from a bit of tiredness," Mancini said. "He has been out for two years, which is a long period. He has worked hard for the last six months in Canada. And I hope it has solved all his problems. "I don't think they (United) got it wrong. I just hope he will be lucky in the next two years. "After something like this, it can happen that after one or two games he might have a problem with his ankle or hamstring or something. "But I remember him very well when he played for United and Bayern. He was an incredible midfielder. "United paid £17million for him and he is 30 years old. On top form he is one of the best midfielders in Europe." Hargreaves will not be considered for tomorrow's Premier League encounter with Everton at the Etihad Stadium and is ineligible for Tuesday's Champions League trip to former club Bayern Munich.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Driven Press Goes Out on a Limb Safety in Numbers? Poll-Driven Press Goes Out on a Limb By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Monday, October 20, 2008; C01 The network maps are bathed in blue, the pundits contemplating a landslide, the conservative columnists preparing for the indignities of an Obama administration. With the numbers breaking Barack Obama's way, it's hardly surprising that poll-driven journalists are suggesting, insinuating or flat-out forecasting a Democratic victory. But could they affect the outcome? And what if they turn out to be wrong about John McCain being toast? "One piece of press bias is they don't like losers," says CBS correspondent Jeff Greenfield. "When the whiff of defeat surrounds a campaign, the press picks up on it the way sharks smell blood in the water, and then it becomes a feedback loop." NBC's political map has Obama at 264 electoral votes, just short of the required 270. Political director Chuck Todd told viewers that Obama is "one state away" and says he doesn't see how McCain can catch up. "I think we have to be responsible," says Todd, adding that he won't hesitate to put Obama over 270 if his analysis supports it. "It'd be worse if somehow we were withholding it. That's crazy too. It looks like you're trying to create drama." CNN projected Obama leading in states with 277 electoral votes last week, based on a new poll giving the freshman senator a 10-point lead in Virginia. "This is only a snapshot of where the individual states are," says political director Sam Feist. "We're not suggesting that Barack Obama has won this election." ABC's George Stephanopoulos says Obama would win more than 300 electoral votes if the election were held now. But polls change, as many journalists were reminded when they wrongly predicted that Obama would beat Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. McCain accused the national media last week of having "written us off," as they did so embarrassingly last year. "It's obvious the media have a preferred candidate in the race," says McCain spokesman Michael Goldfarb. "It's obvious the media are eager to seal the fate of John McCain." At the same time, he says, "we know we have some ground to make up. We don't want our people to be demoralized looking at poll numbers that are rather erratic and that we don't think are reliable." Obama, for his part, warned against cockiness last week when "the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked." "I don't think it's particularly helpful," says Obama spokesman Bill Burton. "And the people who are making these pronouncements are ignoring recent history that have shown very close results. This is a closely divided electorate, and we expect that nationally and in battleground states this race is going to go down to the wire." News stories have hung their handicapping on partisans. McCain "failed to allay Republican concerns that the presidential race may be slipping beyond his grasp," says the Los Angeles Times. Republican leaders said "they were worried Mr. McCain was heading for defeat," says the New York Times. "Democratic strategists are now optimistic that the ongoing crisis could lead to a landslide Obama victory," says Politico. And Newsweek has the senator from Illinois on the cover yet again today, with the headline "How a President Obama would govern a center-right country." Not much doubt there. Opinion writers are even bolder in flouting Yogi Berra's dictum that it ain't over till it's over. "The Democrats are on the verge of a strange victory," writes National Review Editor Rich Lowry. "If Obama is elected, they will arguably have won the most left-wing government in American history." Salon's Walter Shapiro sees "McCain's prospects dwindling to a point where even Kansas and Oklahoma may soon be dubbed'swing states.' " And Tucker Carlson wrote on the Daily Beast blog: "It's over. Obama won." If some journalists are excited by the prospect of the first African American president, many are also citing racial attitudes as a reason the polls might be overstating Obama's support. That enables them to hedge their bets a bit. Any analysis, of course, must be grounded in reality. McCain, tied to the most unpopular president in a generation, is being dragged down by a massive financial crisis and record-breaking public sentiment that the country is on the wrong track. His choice of Sarah Palin is proving increasingly controversial. The number of self-identified Democrats now exceeds those who call themselves Republicans. And McCain is defending traditionally red states while Obama is trying to pick off several that voted for President Bush four years ago.

2008-12-31 00:00:00

Lee, of Newton, muttered "Oh my God" when told Defonseca made up her childhood and was not Jewish. She said she always believed the stories the woman told her as they prepared to write the book, and no research she did gave her a reason not to. "She always maintained that this was truth as she recalled it, and I trusted that that was the case," Lee said. "I was just totally bowled over by the news."

2008-12-31 00:00:00

Troops seize weaponsin Iraq BAGHDAD, May 28 (UPI) -- U.S. and Iraqi forces have captured dozens of suspects and found caches of weapons in recent days, officials said. Iraqi authorities discovered a munitions cache Wednesday in southeastern Baghdad, American Forces Press Service reported. Among other things, the Iraqi national police seized bombs designed to pierce armored, rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, sniper rifles, grenades and a rocket sled. "Taking these weapons off the streets of Baghdad is a tremendous step in safeguarding the people of Baghdad," said Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover, a spokesman for Multinational Division Baghdad and 4th Infantry Division. "The national police continue to demonstrate their professionalism in keeping the local populace safe and secure." Troops in Mosul Tuesday detained four suspected terrorists believed to be associated with al-Qaida, while 41 others were detained in Salahuddin province. Authorities also confiscated about 700 rounds of machine-gun ammunition there, the news service reported. Copyright 2008 by United Press International

2008-12-31 00:00:00

is a quasi-national park in the Kantō region of Honshū in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN. ==Geography== Suigō-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park covers an area in southeast Ibaraki Prefecture and northeast Chiba Prefecture. The park was established on March 3, 1953 to protect natural areas and cultural heritage of Lake Kasumigaura in Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, the Tone River basin on the border of Ibaraki Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture, and the areas around Cape Inubō and Byōbugaura in Chiba Prefecture to the south. In 1969 the areas around Mount Tsukuba and Mount Kaba in Ibaraki Prefecture, not adjacent to other areas of the park, were added to Suigō-Tsukuba. ==Administration== Like all quasi-national parks in Japan, the park is managed by the local prefectural governments. Suigō-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park, which spans over two prefectures, is jointly administered by Ibaraki and Chiba prefectures. ==Gallery== ==See also== List of national parks of Japan ==External links== Suigō-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park, World Database on Protected Areas National Parks of Japan 水郷筑波国定公園 == References == National parks of Japan Parks and gardens in Ibaraki Prefecture Parks and gardens in Chiba Prefecture Protected areas established in 1953 水郷筑波国定公園 Quasi-Park Narodowy Suigō-Tsukuba 水鄉筑波國定公園

Suigō-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park

Speed Metal Symphony is the first studio album by band Cacophony, released in 1987 through Shrapnel Records. In a 2009 article by Guitar World magazine, the album was ranked ninth in the all-time top ten list of shred albums. ==Track listing== ==Personnel== Peter Marrino – vocals Marty Friedman – guitar, bass, production Jason Becker – guitar Atma Anur – drums Steve Fontano – engineering Dino Alden – engineering George Horn – mastering Mike Varney – executive production ==References== ==External links== Story Behind The Song - Cacophony's Speed Metal Symphony at martyfriedman.com In Review: Cacophony "Speed Metal Symphony" at Guitar Nine Records Cacophony albums Jason Becker albums Marty Friedman albums 1987 debut albums Shrapnel Records albums Albums produced by Mike Varney Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony Speed Metal Symphony

Speed Metal Symphony

Golf: McAllister sets sights high in first pro event CRAIGIELAW'S Shaun McAllister was expecting to be nervous when he teed off in his first event as a professional today. But, having been boosted by a superb display in the qualifying for the PGA EuroPro Tour, the 20-year-old is still setting his sights high in the opening event of the season at Collingtree Park. "Playing in my first event as a pro won't be easy but I'm looking forward to it," said McAllister, who is proud to be flying the flag for his East Lothian club in the paid ranks. "I'm determined to take things as they come but, if I can achieve my first target of making the cut, then I'll be aiming for a top-ten finish." Since upstaging a whole host of more experienced players in passing the qualifying test, the former Scottish Boys Stroke-Play champion has been working hard with his coach, Craigielaw head pro Jonathan Porteous. He's also been getting some advice from former Craigielaw clubmate Elliot Saltman, who finished in the top 20 on last season's PGA EuroPro Tour. "It was a help to speak to Elliot as he's played on this circuit for a couple of years," admitted McAllister, who has another Craigielaw member, Liam Onions, caddying for him in Northamptonshire this week. Onions is returning the favour after McAllister caddied for him in the Lothians Championship qualifying last weekend. Both Elliot and Zack Saltman are in the field at Collingtree Park, as are two other Lothians players, John Gallagher and Kenny Glen. Sky Bet, who have signed a deal as the official bookmaker of the 2009 EuroPro Tour, had Elliot Saltman as a 40-1 shot to win this week, with his younger brother, McAllister and Gallagher all quoted at 100-1. Glen was a 250-1 shot. The full article contains 308 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

How to score tickets to the 2012 Summer Olympics How to score tickets to the 2012 Summer Olympics - Travel Tips updated 9 minutes ago Travel Tips How to score tickets to the 2012 Summer Olympics Start saving, plan early, and pick your thrills from 39 categories of sports By Sean O'Neill The London Olympic Games don't kick off until July 27th, 2012, but this spring is the time to start your trip planning. Here, we answer the six most frequently asked questions about attending the Games, on everything from purchasing tickets for Olympic events to finding the most convenient and affordable accommodations, booking airfare, and navigating London's public transportation system. The best surprise? Catching all the action in person is a lot more affordable - and a lot less stressful - than you might think. On your marks... Related story: Browse our favorite budget hotels in London Can I afford to go to the Olympics? Let's face it - the Olympics aren't cheap. The Games only occur every four years and demand is high. That said, with some careful planning you can keep costs down. To give you an idea of how much to budget, here are the ticket costs for some sample events at their face-value starting prices. Opening and closing ceremony tickets start at $32 and go all the way up to $3,200. Prices vary widely depending on the event - and, more importantly, on when you go. You can find $32 tickets to all sports during their qualifying or preliminary rounds, but once the events progress to medal rounds, prices start climbing. The cheapest seats to medal-round events run between $48 and $104 each, depending on the sport. Prices for the medal rounds in gymnastics and swimming, for instance, start at $80, while the starting price for medal rounds in tennis are $56 for bronze and $104 for the gold and silver rounds. (Download this PDF for the lowdown on events and prices.) The good news is that spectators will receive free passes to London's public transportation system, including the Tube and all buses, to use on the day of their ticketed Olympic event. As for flight and accommodation costs, airlines don't release plane ticket prices until about a year before the event, so wait until this summer to check for ballpark costs. Hotel rates are easier to predict: A recent study by the market research firm Rubicon predicts that accommodation prices in London "will more than double" during the Games. That news may not sound promising, but it's good to know up front, so you can factor it into your budget. How hard is it, exactly, to get tickets? In a word, it's complicated. There are essentially three different options: You can book them as part of a travel package, enter an official ticket lottery, or buy them from a broker. Read on for details on each option. (1) Book them as part of a hotel package Within the U.S., only one company is authorized to sell hotel packages that include guaranteed tickets: CoSport. Rates for its hospitality packages have not yet been announced, but it's expected that the packages will run between two and six nights and include accommodations, breakfasts, management, and other services. Register online now for detailed information on sample hospitality itineraries and costs. CoSport's packages will go on sale on March 30, 2011 (877/457-4647). (2) Enter a lottery to win individual tickets at face value prices CoSport, again, is the official ticket source for Americans. Tickets sold through the CoSport website include a small handling fee of 20 percent or less, so keep in mind that they will be more expensive than the prices listed on the official London 2012 website. You can enter the ticket-request lottery, which will start on March 15, 2011, through CoSport. Applications close by April 22, 2011. Your chances of receiving tickets are just as strong whether you apply early or late during this period. On your application, you select the sporting events you're interested in attending and designate the specific price you want to pay. If tickets to the price category you select are unavailable, then CoSport will next attempt to give you tickets to a lower-priced category; if tickets in that category are also sold out, CoSport will check for tickets in higher-priced categories and then contact you to gauge your interest in buying them. The lowest-priced tickets for the highest-profile events will be the most sought after, so you can boost your odds of triumphing in the lottery by requesting tickets to a lower-profile event - or by being willing to splurge. The maximum number of tickets you can apply for in each request is 48, though you can submit multiple requests.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Ore. Supreme Court upholds tobacco damages PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The Oregon Supreme Court upheld a $79.5 million award Thursday against Philip Morris for the family of a man who died of lung cancer. The award has been going through the courts since a 1999 trial in Multnomah County, The (Portland) Oregonian reported. The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the verdict twice, sending it back to Oregon. Jesse Williams died in 1997. Two years later, a jury ruled that his family should get $821,485 in compensatory damages and $79.5 million in punitive damages. The U.S. Supreme Court returned the case to the Oregon court in 2003, ordering the justices to consider whether punitive damages should be capped at nine times the amount of compensatory damages. The Oregon court rejected that calculation. In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court once again returned the case to Oregon after ruling on a narrower issue. Copyright 2008 by United Press International

2008-12-31 00:00:00

Traders' fears over German market Mr Longden told BBC News: "It's not right. We are there 52 weeks out of the year and then these people come into the best areas. "Our traders down that end of the town have struggled over the year and then at the time when they should be able to take money at Christmas they bring these markets in an again. It's taken [people] away from our area." Andy Ward, the council's markets general manager, said: "We look in conjunction with city centre management to bring specialist markets into Sheffield throughout the year to enhance the retail offering in Sheffield and bring more people into Sheffield, which benefits everybody." Mr Ward said the German market only had 14 stalls and sold different goods to those available at Castle Market. He said if Castle Market traders were willing to sell goods such as German mulled wines and grilled sausages then they could be considered for a place on any specialist markets in the future.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

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Polytechnic University of the Philippines Bataan

Holy 'Numnah!' Indiana Boy, 13, Wins Bee The Associated Press After watching his sister try three times to win the Scripps Nationals Spelling Bee, Sameer Mishra put himself on a mission. "I told my mom I was going to do the bee," Sameer said. "And if I was going to do it, I was going to win it one day. And I guess it happened." Did it ever. With the sister coaching him, Sameer augmented his spelling talent with a sense of humor that often kept the Grand Hyatt Ballroom audience laughing. The 13-year-old from West Lafayette, Ind., was finally all business when he aced "guerdon" - a word that appropriately means "something that one has earned or gained" - to win the 81st version of the bee Friday night. "I'm not used to people laughing at my jokes - except for my sister," Sameer said. Appearing in the bee for the fourth time and a top 20 finisher the last two years, Sameer clenched both fists and put his hands to his face after spelling the winning word. He won a tense duel over first-time participant Sidharth Chand, 12, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., who finally stumbled on "prosopopoeia," a word describing a type of figure of speech. Sameer was a crowd favorite throughout the tournament. When told one of his words in the semifinals was a dessert, he deadpanned: "That sounds good right now." He rolled his eyes and muttered "wonderful" when told that one of his words had five different language roots. He once asked "Are you sure there are no alternate pronunciations?" In another round, he uttered "That's a relief" after initially mishearing the word "numnah" (a type of sheepskin pad). And what did he have to say while hoisting the heavy trophy? "I'm really, really weak." Sameer, who won more than $40,000 in cash and prizes, likes playing the violin and the video game "Guitar Hero" and hopes one day to be a neurosurgeon. He tried to watch the movie "Ratatouille" during the long wait before the finals but found he "couldn't really relax that much." His sister, Shruti, cried after her brother's victory on a day in which she received her own big news: She was accepted to Princeton. "A big day for the family," said Sameer's father, Krishna Mishra, who moved to the United States from central India and teaches microbiology. Sameer also became the first speller to win the title after misspelling his on-stage word in the preliminary round. He flubbed "sudation," yet managed to remain in the competition on the strength of a high score in the written test. "When I missed that word in the preliminaries, I was really shocked and I was really sad," Sameer said. "I thought my chances were gone." Third place went to Tia Thomas, 13, from Coarsegold, Calif., who was eliminated on "opificer" (a skilled or artistic worker) when she started the word with an "e" instead of an "o." Tia was one of the favorites, appearing in her fifth and final bee after an eighth-place finish a year ago. "It was so frustrating. I was like, 'I know all these other words,'" Tia said. "This year has been awesome, but it's real disappointing." The finals were aired live in prime time on ABC, and it appeared for a while that the broadcast could run late into the night. Twenty-four of the first 25 words were spelled correctly, with the dictionary-familiar competitors breezing through words such as "brankursine," "cryptarithm," and "empyrean" with barely a hitch. Rose Sloan was so familiar with "alcarraza" (a type of jug) that the 13-year-old from River Forest, Ill., couldn't stop laughing in glee when pronouncer Jacques Bailly uttered it. She was later eliminated on "sheitel" (a wig worn by Jewish women). It was somewhat surprising who didn't make the finals. There were no Canadians - and no Matthew Evans. Matthew, also a favorite to win in his fifth and final appearance, was stunningly eliminated during the semifinal round Friday when he misspelled "secernent," a word dealing with secretion and one that somehow eluded him as he studied his personal 30,000-word list. The 13-year-old from Albuquerque, N.M., stayed in the comfort room for more than a half-hour, and his eyes were still red when he emerged.

2008-12-31 00:00:00

Ares I-X: First Flight of a New Era FOXNews.com Slideshows close More Scitech Slideshows Ares I-X: First Flig... 16 images October 20, 2009 Windows 7 Highlights 10 images October 19, 2009 Recent Chupacabra... 7 images October 19, 2009 Meet Richard Heene,... 7 images October 16, 2009 Backyard Builders: D... 7 images October 16, 2009 Tastes Like Swamp Ch... 6 images October 15, 2009 Saturn's Largest... 21 images October 14, 2009 Coming Soon to a Swa... 12 images October 14, 2009 Is Exploration Dead?... 8 images October 12, 2009 The 10 Most Brillian... 10 images October 9, 2009 World's Largest... 7 images October 9, 2009 9 Gadgets Made out o... 9 images October 8, 2009 White House Throws S... 9 images October 8, 2009 Portable Television:... 6 images October 7, 2009 Top 10 Moon Crashes 10 images October 7, 2009 Scientists Find New... 6 images October 5, 2009 Frozen Mammoth Goes... 6 images October 5, 2009 Genius or Goofball?... 10 images October 2, 2009 Messenger Goes to Me... 8 images September 29, 2009 Hot Shots: We Pick N... 10 images September 29, 2009 FOXNews.com Slideshows close More Scitech Slideshows Ares I-X: First Flig... 16 images October 20, 2009 Windows 7 Highlights 10 images October 19, 2009 Recent Chupacabra... 7 images October 19, 2009 Meet Richard Heene,... 7 images October 16, 2009 Backyard Builders: D... 7 images October 16, 2009 Tastes Like Swamp Ch... 6 images October 15, 2009 Saturn's Largest... 21 images October 14, 2009 Coming Soon to a Swa... 12 images October 14, 2009 Is Exploration Dead?... 8 images October 12, 2009 The 10 Most Brillian... 10 images October 9, 2009 World's Largest... 7 images October 9, 2009 9 Gadgets Made out o... 9 images October 8, 2009 White House Throws S... 9 images October 8, 2009 Portable Television:... 6 images October 7, 2009 Top 10 Moon Crashes 10 images October 7, 2009 Scientists Find New... 6 images October 5, 2009 Frozen Mammoth Goes... 6 images October 5, 2009 Genius or Goofball?... 10 images October 2, 2009 Messenger Goes to Me... 8 images September 29, 2009 Hot Shots: We Pick N... 10 images September 29, 2009

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Sir Alex Ferguson's Manchester United boys gave it a go, but it was not nearly enough against brilliant Barcelona Ferguson has long-admitted that Manchester United's record in Europe is not an appropriate reflection of their size and prominence. Too often he has spent the final game of the season watching others spar for continental dominance, on the sidelines as other managers seek to gain a place among the unequivocally great. Three European Cups - fewer than Bayern, Milan, Ajax, Liverpool never mind Madrid - are not enough. This time, he was there, right in the middle of history, if not quite able to affect things directly, then at least with the opportunity to stand on the edge of his technical area, flapping his arms furiously and yelling at Rooney to press on the Barcelona full backs. Ferguson is not a man to draw consolation. He believes a managerial career can only be marked in trophies. But there was pride retained here. Pride in approach and attitude. The manager was asked in the lead up to the final if he had been in touch with his mate Jose Mourinho. Had he sought the Portuguese's advice? Ferguson said he had spoken with the Madrid manager, but not much more was said than a hope for good fortune. And rightly so. Ferguson understood the occasion here, he is a student of football history and appreciates the importance of his role in it. His team selection was progressive and appropriate. No shutting up shop. No parking the bus. No emulating the Mourinho way. Before the match, the United fans held up silver letters spelling out the phrase "Spirit of 68," a reminder of the last time the club was here at Wembley in the European Cup. And Ferguson, wearing a big red rose in his lapel, greeting his opposite number with an avuncular pat on the back, was true to that. He sent his players out with the instruction - forlorn as it turned out - to give it a go. United, as they had in Rome, began well, Ji-Sung Park and Michael Carrick snapping and hounding. But all too soon Barcelona took control. It was ominous. After 20 minutes, Ferguson was on the edge of his technical area, pointing, yelling. It was there he viewed the inevitable, the result of the endless lulling rhythm of Barcelona possession, pushing the United defenders so far back they were in danger of treading on their own goalkeeper's toes, from there unable to stop Pedro, after incisive defence splitting ball from Xavi, scoring. As Barca registered their first, Ferguson sat down, folded his arms and started chewing. This wasn't quite the same as going behind at Blackburn. Yet his teams have for some time been a reflection of his character. They do not give up. Rooney and Ryan Giggs, neither showing any hint of distraction from off-field shenanigans conjured a terrific equaliser with a crisp one-two. Ferguson, shuffling off his seat to celebrate must have thought, for a brief, passing moment, that history might yet oblige. This Barcelona, though, are too strong for that. There was to be no yielding, as so many have, to Ferguson's force of will. Rooney may have been playing the fired-up game of his United career, but Lionel Messi was on another plane, mesmeric, bewitching, too often gifted space in front of United's retreating back line. When David Villa hit the third, Ferguson sank back in his chair, chewing, knowing there could be no football bloody hell moment here. It is thus the United manager's misfortune to find himself the support act to true greatness. Just as he has created a team of resilience, stubbornness and pride to address his European deficit, this Barcelona come along. And at their best, as they were here at Wembley, he can only join the rest of us, sitting back and admiring.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

====Valery Gerasimov==== ... that new Russian Chief of Defence Staff Valery Gerasimov (pictured) has been the commander of a Soviet tank regiment? Created/expanded by Secretlondon (talk), Superzohar (talk). Nominated by Secretlondon (talk) at I've cropped the photo Secretlondon (talk)

Did you know nominations/Valery Gerasimov

Cardiff Blues expect bumper Arms Park crowd

2012-12-31 00:00:00

, formally called, is a Buddhist temple located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu, in Shiga Prefecture. It is only a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of the Tendai Jimon sect, it is something of a sister temple to Enryakuji, at the top of the mountain, and is one of the four largest temples in Japan. Altogether, there are 40 named buildings in the Mii-dera temple complex. Mii-Dera is temple number 14 in the Kansai Kannon Pilgrimage. ==History== ===Founding, and feuds=== Onjō-ji was founded in the early Heian period. The temple was founded in 672 following a dispute over Imperial succession. Emperor Tenji had died, and his son was killed by Tenchi's brother, who was then enthroned as Emperor Temmu. Temmu founded Onjō-ji in honor and memory of his brother. The name "Mii-dera," literally 'Temple of Three Wells,' came about nearly two centuries later. It was given this name by Enchin, one of the earliest abbots of the Tendai Sect. The name comes from the springs at the temple which were used for the ritual bathing of newborns, and in honor of Emperors Emperor Tenji and Emperor Temmu, and Empress Jitō, who contributed to the founding of the temple. Today, the Kondo, or Main Hall, houses a spring of sacred water. Under Enchin's guidance, from 859 to his death in 891, Mii-dera gained power and importance, eventually becoming (along with Tōdai-ji, Kōfuku-ji, and Enryaku-ji) one of the four chief temples charged with the spiritual guidance and protection of the capital. It was during this time also that Enryaku-ji & Mii-dera split away from one another, developing two branches of the Tendai sect, called Jimon and Sammon. For the most part, this was more a geographic rivalry than an ideological schism, but it was an intense one nonetheless, and only grew more severe after Enchin's death. The rivalry turned violent in the second half of the 10th century, over a series of official appointments to other temples, and similar slights. The zasu of Enryaku-ji in 970 formed the first permanent standing army to be recruited by a religious body. Mii-dera can be assumed to have established one very soon afterwards. In 989, a former abbot of Mii-dera by the name of Yokei was to become abbot of Enryaku-ji; but none of the monks of Enryaku-ji would perform services under his direction. He soon resigned. But in 993, the monks of Mii-dera took revenge, destroying a temple where Ennin, founder of Enryaku-ji's Sammon sect, had once lived. The monks from Enryaku-ji retaliated, destroying more than 40 places associated with Enchin. In the end, over 1,000 monks of Enchin's Jimon sect fled permanently to Mii-dera, cementing the split between the two Sects. Over the course of the 10th, 11th and 12th centuries, there continued to be similar incidents, over the appointment of abbots (zasu), involving many sōhei, or warrior monks. Mii-dera was burned to the ground by the sōhei of Enryaku-ji four times in the 11th century alone. There were, however, times that the two united against a common enemy, including an attack on the Kōfuku-ji in Nara in 1081 (avenging the burning of the Mii-dera by Kōfuku-ji monks that same year), and a united attack on Nara once more in 1117. ===The Genpei Wars=== At the end of the 12th century, the attentions of the monks of Mount Hiei were turned towards a greater conflict: the Genpei War. The Taira and Minamoto families supported different claimants to the Chrysanthemum Throne, and in June 1180, the Minamoto brought their claimant, Prince Mochihito, to the Mii-dera, fleeing from Taira samurai. Mii-dera asked for aid from Enryaku-ji, but was denied.

Mii-dera

Armbrust, B.Ed. Let's talkabout my edits? == Logo Weber Maschinenbau == {| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: left; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.2em;" |- ! style="background-color:#ffcece" | This upload request has been declined. Please do not modify it. |- | style="border: solid 1px silver; padding: 8px; background-color: white;" | This request for upload has been reviewed. The reviewer comments appear below the submission text. Description: This is the Logo of the German based company Weber Maschinenbau. URL: http://www.weberweb.com/fileadmin/template/images/weber.gif License: Link To License Information: http://www.weberweb.com (at the bottom of the page) Author/Copyright Holder's Name: Weber Maschinenbau Article To Be Used On/Reason For Upload: Weber Maschinenbau, because there is currently no logo in the article. Open project2012 (talk) File upload request declined. No valid use for this. The English Wikipedia doesn't have an article about Weber Maschinenbau. Armbrust, B.Ed. Let's talkabout my edits? == KKR: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts Logo == {| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: left; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.2em;" |- ! style="background-color:#A0FFA0" | This upload request has been accepted. Please do not modify it. |- | style="border: solid 1px silver; padding: 8px; background-color: white;" | This request for upload has been reviewed. The reviewer comments appear below the submission text. Description: This is a logo for Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. URL: http://www.kkr.com/KKR_Logo.svg License: Fair use: Company logo. Link To License Information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright Author/Copyright Holder's Name: KKR Article To Be Used On/Reason For Upload: Update old logo on this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohlberg_Kravis_Roberts Admsh (talk) KKR Logo.svg - fair use is not needed ("This image only consists of simple geometric shapes and/or text. It does not meet the threshold of originality needed for copyright protection, and is therefore in the public domain. Although it is free of copyright restrictions, this image may still be subject to other restrictions.") Bulwersator (talk) == Gaspard and Lisa TV Series Logo.jpg == {| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: left; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.2em;" |- ! style="background-color:#A0FFA0" | This upload request has been accepted. Please do not modify it. |- | style="border: solid 1px silver; padding: 8px; background-color: white;" | This request for upload has been reviewed. The reviewer comments appear below the submission text. Description: This is a logo owned by Chorion Productions. for Gaspard and Lisa TV series. URL: http://i.imgur.com/4SAi1.jpg License: Fair Use. Because it is a logo there is almost certainly no free equivalent. Link To License Information: Author/Copyright Holder's Name: Chorion Productions Article To Be Used On/Reason For Upload: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard_and_lisa Tdm911 (talk) File uploaded. You can find it at Gaspard and lisa logo.jpg. Thank you for your contribution to Wikipedia! mabdul == Frederick M. Lawrence in 2011 == {| class="navbox collapsible collapsed" style="text-align: left; border: 0px; margin-top: 0.2em;" |- ! style="background-color:#ffcece" | This upload request has been declined. Please do not modify it. |- | style="border: solid 1px silver; padding: 8px; background-color: white;" | This request for upload has been reviewed. The reviewer comments appear below the submission text.

Files for upload/January 2012

Gardener grows Welsh coffee crop Mr Williams, from Anglesey, said he thought it could be the first time coffee would be made from beans grown in Wales. "We've had Welsh whisky," he said. "Why not Welsh coffee - we could even put them together," he added. Mr Williams was given the two plants by an Italian friend and has kept them in controlled growing conditions where the temperature is kept at 25C during the day and 20C at night and in 80% humidity. "I got the plants when they were tiny, in 3in pots and about the same height," he explained. "I stuck them on a bench and forgot about them but they've flourished and I've potted them on until now they're doing very well." Both plants now stand 10ft (3m) tall and one is laden with berries about the size of a cherry. It is russet red in colour and already has two hard, creamy coloured beans. "Before the berries came they had the prettiest little white flowers but now I think they're almost ready to pick so I'll have to find out what to do next so we can have a cup of coffee to celebrate at The Gardening Show," said Mr Williams who is planning to taste the beverage in the summer gardening festival. Roasted and ground He plans to extract the beans from the berry and then ferment them to get rid of their greasy covering. They will then be dried, roasted and ground before being served up at the gardening festival. Stephen Green, director of the event, said: "I'm really looking forward to sampling this coffee which should be a real first for us. "Coffee originated in Ethiopia in Africa in the ninth century and although I'm not exactly sure of the process I'm sure that if some Ethiopian shepherds could turn it into a drink then so can we." The Gardening Show in Llangollen is held on June 7 and 8.

2008-12-31 00:00:00

UAB defeats Tulane 76-70 NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Robert Vaden scored 17 points and Lawrence Kinnard added 15 points and 12 rebounds as Alabama-Birmingham rallied to beat Tulane 76-70 on Wednesday night. The Blazers (18-8, 8-3 Conference USA), who have won five in a row and eight of their last nine, limited the Green Wave to just three field goals in the last nine minutes. Kevin Sims scored 20 points to reach the 1,000-point plateau for Tulane (10-15, 4-8), which has lost two straight and five of its last six. Tulane led by as many as 11 points in the first half and the game was tied on 10 occasions, the last time at 66 with 4:19 left. UAB then used a 7-0 run to pull ahead for good. Paul Delaney III also scored 15 points for UAB, which outrebounded Tulane 20-8 in the second half and hit 20 of 27 second-half free throws. Robinson Louisme added 17 points and 12 rebounds for the Green Wave. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Man, 19, arrested in Calif. toddler shooting Man, 19, arrested in Calif. toddler shooting - Crime & courts updated 27 minutes ago Crime & courts Man, 19, arrested in Calif. toddler shooting The Associated Press SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. - Police have charged a man suspected in a Southern California shooting that killed a 3-year-old girl and critically wounded a pregnant woman and her 3-year-old daughter. San Bernardino County district attorney Michael Ramos said Thursday that 19-year-old Brandon Taray Barnes of San Bernardino was charged with one count of murder and seven counts of attempted murder. Authorities say he fired at least a dozen bullets at the victim's home. Ramos said Barnes faces 305 years to life in prison if convicted of all the crimes. Barnes has not yet made an initial court appearance and it was unclear if he has obtained an attorney. No attorney was listed for him in the court system. Authorities say Barnes is a gang member. They believe the shooting occurred because the suspect was angry that another resident intervened earlier in the day when the suspect was assaulting a neighborhood woman. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Video coverage Remembering those we lost on 9/11 (06:39) Use of NSAIDs could double risk of miscarriage (02:22) 'Common medications can cause problems' More videos in Crime & courts More from Crime & courts -Judge: Casey Anthony must pay back $100,000 -Cops: No remains yet at Powell search site -Father of 3 missing Mich. boys gets 10-15 years -Police: Mom says she smothered newborn twins -Cops: Teen girl faked cancer, collected donations Search msnbc.com 1 Top stories 2 Business 4 U.S. news 5 World news 6 Politics 7 Tech & science 8 Entertainment 9 Health - Travel - Nightly News - Dateline - Meet the Press - Rachel Maddow - See news breaking? - Podcasts - Local news - News alerts 0 MSN home *Top # Bottom Switch to regular msnbc.com site MSN Privacy / Legal

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Boluran (بلوران, also Romanized as Bolūrān) is a village in Boluran Rural District, Darb-e Gonbad District, Kuhdasht County, Lorestan Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 1,334, in 292 families. == References == Populated places in Kuhdasht County

Boluran

The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame is located at First North Street and Broadway in New Ulm, Minnesota, USA, in the former public library. It has memorabilia of individual musicians and musical groups as well as photographs of all who have been inducted. The museum is open during the summer months and by special request during the winter. Exhibits honor Minnesota music legends like Bob Dylan, Judy Garland, Prince, Eddie Cochran, Bobby Vee, Ervin Wolfe, Whoopee John Wilfahrt, Harold Loeffelmacher, Earl Schmidt and The Andrews Sisters. It also documents local ethnic music like the popularity of polka music in rural Minnesota. Each year new inductees are added at a dinner ceremony in October. ==External links== Minnesota Music Hall of Fame American popular music Ethnic music in the United States Halls of fame in Minnesota State halls of fame in the United States Music halls of fame Music museums in the United States Biographical museums in Minnesota Museums in Brown County, Minnesota

Minnesota Music Hall of Fame

Can a person go up to the government and say, for example, "I want eating bananas in public in the municipality of Kleiner Irgendwodorf to be penalised because they smell bad" or will this be counted as frivolous? On the other hand, can just one single person cause the entire country to vote on, for example, replacing the entire direct democracy with an absolute dictatorship with the proposing person as the sole dictator? JIP | Talk I don't know about Switzerland, but in American states with the voter initiative system, you need to have a certain number of signatures of registered voters for a referendum to go on the ballot (the state legislature may also be able to put a referendum on the ballot). A measure enacted by referendum is subject to the same constitutional restrictions as any other law. For example, in the case Romer v. Evans, the US Supreme Court overturned an anti-gay law that had been enacted via a referendum in Colorado. Unfortunately, the English articles don't cover all of this. If I recall correctly from previous queries and discussions, you are able to read German, JIP, and the German articles on Volksabstimmung (Schweiz), Volksinitiative (Schweiz), as well as Obligatorisches Referendum and Fakultatives Referendum explain quite a bit more. Bottom line: On a national level, it makes sense to distinguish between three types of votes: Popular initiative: This is the one where you potentially could ask for a vote on publically eating bananas in Irgendwodorf, it is the only instrument where the people (an initiative committee of between 7 and 27 citizens with suffrage) can come up with their own text. Before anything else happens, however, the text has to be approved by the Federal Chancellery, who will check the text for ambiguity, potential advertising, differences in translations, etc. Once the committee gets the green light, it has 18 months to collect 100,000 signatures, which again have to be checked and verified by the Chancellery. Popular initiatives can only suggest revisions of the Swiss Federal Constitution. There is no corresponding popular instrument for changing laws on a federal level. For changing federal laws, there is only the reactive instrument of the facultative referendum. Basically, once the Federal Assembly of Switzerland has made a legislative decision, you have 100 days to collect 50,000 signatures asking for a vote on the newly passed law, etc. Alternatively, the wish of eight cantonal governments also suffices to ask for a referendum within the same period of 100 days. Finally, there is the obligatory referendum: Any change to the constitution made by Switzerland legislative body must also be approved by the people in a federal vote. This is done automatically and requires no collection of signatures. The fact that there is no direct instrument to issue a referendum on federal laws has led to a couple of odd and contrived popular initiatives, suggesting amendments to the constitution which don't really fit in a constitution. This is just a very basic overview on the federal level. Cantons and communities have their own individual instruments, with differing thresholds and requirements. Sluzzelin is correct. On a conceptional level, Switzerland is often described as a semi-direct democracy. Whereas in a theoretical direct democracy every question would be decided by a simple majority vote, in a semi-direct system the usual representative organs of the state (legislative and executive) are complemented by direct popular authority exercised in circumscribed ways. In such a system, the people, apart from electing representatives as they do elsewhere, also act as a sui generis additional branch of government that is perhaps best conceived of as an additional chamber of the legislature with the limited but overriding powers (called Volksrechte or people's powers) described above. A similar, but less extensive system (indeed partly based on the Swiss model) has been implemented in California. As Sluzzelin says, at the cantonal and municipal level, the people generally have more authority. For instance, in my canton, the people can directly create or amend cantonal statutes, not only the cantonal constitution, by popular initiative. They can also exercise a form of facultative referendum (called "constructive referendum" or Volksvorschlag, people's proposition) that if adopted does not simply veto a bill passed by Parliament, as on the federal level, but amends it. Finally, all new cantonal state expenditures above two million CHF are also subject to referendum, so the people get to vote on new infrastructure projects and the like.

Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2009 December 20

This page contains the articles that were passed as successful TAFI nominees in September 2012. __TOC__ ==Little Barrier Island== Maybe this is a strange choice? But it comes in as number 14 on the list of Database reports/Most-watched pages, and the article with the highest ranking on that list, with 3900 watchers, and it is currently only at Start-class. If we wanted to get some attention to the collaboration, maybe chooing one of the most watched pages in wikipedia might be a way to go? John Carter (talk) Support John Carter (talk) Interesting for a practical standpoint. I'll comment that of the watchers 177 are active per Equazcion/ActiveWatchers. This could conceivably bring some of those editors to this project. I've found some good highbeam sources related to the Island's use to study Avian Malaria and endangered species being relocated from there. Excellent JSTOR sources abound as well. From the skimming I've done, this seems to be one of the most important bird sanctuaries in the world and the article does little to show that. It also seems like a good candidate when considering the possibility to get a GA or FA end result. Ryan Vesey I'm interested in this one as well. I'll see if I can dig up some sources and discuss them in the comments later this week. I, Jethrobot drop me a line (note: not a bot!) ChrisGualtieri (talk) A good choice. —WFC— Comments ==Sea== Level 3 Vital article.. A very major topic that is rather poorly covered Coin945 (talk) Support Coin945 (talk) Seems a very good candidate. Rich Farmbrough,. Agreed. A lot of 'dummy' material needs to be added, the article is dominated by factual data rather than readable prose. ChrisGualtieri (talk) Comments This seems like a good choice. The topic seems accessible and the article does not have much content except the history. A lot of basic information can be added. My own opinion: Just because everyone is "familiar" with a concept does not mean the article can or should be improved, nor, indeed, does it mean that editors will have an interest in improving it or that they will have the ability to do so. Sincerely, your friend, GeorgeLouis (talk) ==Country== Level 2 Vital article. A very major topic that is rather poorly covered. Coin945 (talk) Support Coin945 (talk) I was surprised by the number of page views this was getting, I think this would be a good candidate for improvement. Ryan Vesey Too short, needs expansion. AutomaticStrikeout Comments ==Physics== A class C, level 2, vital article with 712,883 views in the last 90 days. It was a good article in 2006, but delisted 6 months later. It seems most of what it needs is referencing. Support IRWolfie- (talk) Electric Catfish As a level 2 vital article, this should be one of the early focuses of this project. Ryan Vesey With all the people who use Wikipedia for research, I think this would be an excellent choice to bring up to A-class. Mr. Vernon (talk) Comments The problem is, this is semi-protected. If we put up a TAFI template and tell people that anyone can edit it, what's going to happen when they try and cannot? AutomaticStrikeout Today's article for improvement

Articles for improvement/Archives/Successful Nominations/September 2012

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Women peace advocates speaking for war refugees have built a tent city near the site of this week's G20 summit in Pittsburgh, officials said. "We realized that 80 percent of the victims of the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries are women and children. We thought that our groups were the best to raise public awareness about a global refugee crisis," said Francine Porter, director of Pittsburgh's Code Pink peace chapter. As of Sunday, the tent city in Point State Park had about 50 supporters from Black Voices for Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Reviews reported Monday. Banners reading "peace" in all languages of the Group of 20 nations were strung together with a white cotton peace dove and stretched over the tent city. The G20, which is to convene Thursday, comprises finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 of the world's largest national economies plus the European Union. Officials blame rains, floods for 3 deaths ATLANTA, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- Heavy rainfall hampered search efforts Monday for a man presumed dead after he was swept away by storm water in a culvert, Chattanooga, Tenn., officials said. In Georgia, officials blamed heavy rains and flooded conditions for two deaths in the northern part of the state, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. In Tennessee, emergency crews rescued one of two men who were clinging to a chain link fence to keep from being swept into the culvert after wading into high water near a storm drain, but the other man disappeared, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported. Heavy rainfall in the Chattanooga area resulted in multiple reports of flooded vehicles and stranded motorists. The rain also closed several roads and prompted a few evacuations, police said. Officials in Georgia said the two deaths occurred when cars were swept away by rapidly moving waters. Rains also forced several schools to close, flooded highways and washed away a main line of the Norfolk Southern railroad, the Journal-Constitution said. The National Weather Service said up to 15 inches of rain had fallen in parts of Georgia since Friday. Forecasters issued flood watches and warnings through Tuesday for north and central Georgia. The Interstate 285-Interstate 85 interchange near Atlanta was closed for about 45 minutes during the Monday morning rush hour, the Journal-Constitution said. A mud slide blocked two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane on U.S. 78. Flash flooding and stranded motorists were reported in Indiana and Kentucky as thunderstorms dumped 4 inches of rain in parts of Louisville and nearly 6 inches in parts of southern Indiana, The (Louisville) Courier-Journal reported.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

The north building will open in 2012. Plans for the 18-storey "Tower Grand" were suspended in 2008 due to a slump in the residential homes market. Galleries Shopping Centre houses shops as well as an indoor market. The former Westwood power station site which was transformed recently into the Westwood Park business park and features a large amount of Wigan MBC office space will be further transformed by the creation of a textiles centre in co-operation with the Chinese state owned trading company Chinamex at a cost of £125M. Up to of manufacturing and research space will be created along with an estimated 1,000 jobs. Chinamex, which represents 70% of the Chinese textiles industry and has 6,300 member companies, will in addition offer space in the development to member companies for up to two years at a time to allow the establishment of a British subsidiary before moving on to dedicated premises. The Tote chain of bookmakers has its headquarters in Wigan, providing about 300 jobs in the town. H. J. Heinz are amongst the largest food manufacturers in Europe. Their site in Wigan is the largest food processing facility in Europe. JJB Sports, a nationwide sports clothing retailer, was founded in Wigan as a sports shop by John Jarvis Broughton (later JJ Bradburn) and was bought and expanded by businessman Dave Whelan.Girobank is also based in the town. William Santus & Co. Ltd, confectioner and producer of Uncle Joe's Mint Balls, is based in Wigan. According to the 2001 UK census, the industry of employment of residents aged 16–74 was 22.4% retail and wholesale, 18.8% manufacturing, 10.2% health and social work, 8.6% construction, 8.0% property and business services, 7.4% transport and communications, 6.5% education, 5.2% public administration, 4.1% hotels and restaurants, 2.7% finance, 0.7% energy and water supply, 0.4% agriculture, 0.1% mining, and 4.8% other. Compared to national figures, Wigan had high rates of employment in retail and wholesale (16.9% in England) and manufacturing (14.8% in England), and relatively low levels of employment in agriculture (1.5%). The census recorded the economic activity of residents aged 16–74, 1.9% students were with jobs, 2.9% students without jobs, 5.9% looking after home or family, 10.2% permanently sick or disabled, and 3.2% economically inactive for other reasons. == Landmarks == Wigan's long history is reflected in its 216 listed buildings, of which are 20 Grade II*. As well as being a Grade II* listed structure, Mab's Cross is the only Scheduled Monument in the town out of 12 in the borough. It is a medieval stone cross that probably dates from the 13th century. There is a legend surrounding the cross that Lady Mabel Bradshaw, wife of Sir William Bradshaw, did penance by walking from her home, Haigh Hall, to the cross once a week barefoot for committing bigamy. There is no evidence the legend is true, as there is no record that Lady Mabel was married to anyone other than Sir William Bradshaw, and several facets of the story are incorrect. Haigh Hall was built in 1827–1840 on the site of a medieval manor house of the same name, which was demolished in 1820. The hall is surrounded by a country park, featuring areas of woodland and parkland. The former town hall is a Grade II listed building. Designed by John McClean, Mesnes Park was opened in 1878; McClean was chosen to design the park through a competition. There is a pavilion in the centre and a lake. The Heritage Lottery Fund has donated £1.8M to regenerate the park and Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council added £1.6M to that figure. The pavilion and grandstand will be restored. The Mesnes Park is north-west of Wigan town centre. It receives 2 million visitors a year and used to host the Wigan One World Festival. Wigan's war memorial was unveiled in 1925. Designed by Giles Gilbert Scott and funded through public donations, the monument is now a Grade II* listed building and commemorates the fallen soldiers from the town in the First World War and other conflicts. In 2006, the plaques bearing the names of the dead were stolen; a year later they were replaced through council funding.

Wigan

The brain's food is glucose, which is combusted in its cells through being combined with oxygen. This exchange of nutrients and waste products, and in particular the oxidation of glucose, is the very basis of brain metabolism. When the capillary content of the brain is increased, there is an enlarged area of contact between blood and brain cells, resulting in an enhanced rate of exchange of nutrients and waste products. This is true of any organ. In order to accelerate its function, extra blood is directed to it thereby increasing its capillary volume. Since consciousness is brain metabolism above a certain level, with an acceleration of brain metabolism there is a corresponding expansion of consciousness." "The medium through which metabolism takes place is blood. However, in the central nervous system, the home of the brain, blood is not alone; there are two fluids: blood and brain-water (cerebrospinal fluid or CSF). The water is the fluid in which the brain floats, but from which it derives no nourishment. It is lighter than blood and is produced continuously in the brain itself. Most importantly, the ratio between these two fluid volumes, blood and CSF, can be altered - the volume of one can increase at the expense of the other. Hence, the total volume of blood in the brain capillaries can be increased, but only if a corresponding amount of brain-water is forced out of the cranial cavity. Expelling the brain-water, however, is made difficult by a number of factors. First, as CSF is produced continuously in the brain itself, it has a'squatter's' advantage over blood, which reaches the brain through arteries, passes into capillaries and leaves through veins. Second, capillary walls, despite being exceedingly thin and permeable, actually resist expansion. There is a lack of elasticity in these vessel walls, which means that in order for them to accommodate an increase in blood they have to be 'blown up'. Third and most significantly, since the fluids are of different weights, gravity 'changes sides' depending on the position of the head relative to the heart. In man's position, with the head held high above the heart, gravity favours brain-water as it is the lighter of the two fluids. These difficulties can be overcome, however, by allowing a natural pressure increase to be created in the brain cavity: a pressure which squeezes out a certain amount of brain-water, forcing it out of the cranium via the sheaths of the nerve channels running down either side of the spine. In essence then, the question of enhancing brain metabolism and expanding consciousness is one of creating sufficient intracranial pressure to push out cerebrospinal fluid, thereby increasing capillary volume." "So how is this pressure created in the brain cavity and why describe it as 'natural'? The answer to both questions derives from the same organ: the heart. In order for the blood to gain territory inside the cranium, the pushing power of the heart must be harnessed. The body's blood circulation is driven by the heart, and the variable pressure in this circulatory system can be measured, at different points during the cardiac cycle or heartbeat, as blood pressure readings. The contraction of the heart and point of maximum pressure is called the systole, and is read as systolic pressure; the relaxation of the heart and pressure trough, which lasts much longer, is called the diastole, and is read as diastolic pressure. When the heart contracts, it pumps successive surges of blood into the already filled arterial system. As fluids are incompressible, the artery walls have to expand rhythmically to accommodate the extra blood (and this can be felt as a pulse). The consequent distension travels like a wave along the arteries, becomes a ripple in the small arteries and dies out in the capillaries. The crest of the pulse wave represents the systolic pressure, the low point represents the diastolic pressure. Importantly, the pressure of the pulse expressed in the artery walls creates a similar pressure in the surrounding tissue or organs of the body, which expand momentarily (i.e. pulsate) against the elastic membranes surrounding them. As far as the central nervous system is concerned, the force of this expansion causes the brain tissue to exert a similar force on its membranes, which must then move outwards. The systolic or full pulse pressure created by allowing this force to be freely expressed acts itself out on both the brain capillaries (blowing them up with blood), and the lake of CSF (expelling a quantity of it). A brain registering a pulsation strong enough to make its force felt in the capillaries is therefore one that has more blood to feed off, i.e. more glucose to burn and convert into energy."

Trepanning

==Untitled== 630s births and 632 deaths can't be correct. Henrik Sundbom (talk)

Chilperic of Aquitaine

That would help more than just posting anonymously that they're "pretty old" David80 The oldest attestations come from Muqaiyir according to Dr. Jonathan Taylor of the curator (Cuneiform Collections)The Department of the Middle East The British Museum. He has also said, "There are no clear traces of pre-Sumerian influence on Akkadian." ==Grammar Section== I've added some new information to the grammar section, but it still needs a lot of work. Feel free to clean it up however you see fit. === Standards of Measure=== Rktect 8/9/05 I'm looking for any difference betwen Sumerian and Akkadian standards of measure at Kish, Agade, Sipparta, Ashur, Mari, Ebla for the following periods Early Dynastic I Early Dynastic II Early Dynastic III starting when Sargon alludes to the ships of Melluha, Makkan and Dilmun Docking at the quays of Agade and ending with the Neo Sumerian revival. In particular I'm looking for the differences between the standards of Naram Sin and Gudea. ===Questions from a linguist=== As a linguist who knows nothing about Akkadian, I have a couple questions/ requests for clarification. Under "Writing system", the article says "cuneiform was a syllabary writing system — i.e. a consonant plus vowel comprised one writing unit — frequently inappropriate for a Semitic language made up of triconsonantal roots (i.e. three consonants minus any vowels)." I'm not understanding what the form of roots has to do with writing texts in the language. Sentences are not normally formed with verb roots, but with inflected verbs. As such, a verb would have at least some vowels (well, you can have vowel-less words in languages like Salish or Berber, even occasionally in English, but it's not typical of Semitic languages to have vowel-less conjugated words). So the point about roots being (usually) triconsonantal seems irrelevant. What *might* be relevant (although I'm sure it's hard to tell with an extinct language) is the existence of geminate consonants or consonant clusters in conjugated verbs; but that has nothing to do with the roots, AFAIK. Or am I missing something? Under "Grammar", it says " unique verb conjugations for each first, second, and third person pronoun." I'm not sure what it means to have verb conjugations for *pronouns*, or what it means to have *unique* verb conjugations for each person. Maybe what is meant is that verbs were conjugated for the person of the subject? ("Subject" is relevant here, since there are many languages that also conjugate transitive verbs for the person of the object or other verbal arguments.) Also "Adjectives are declined exactly like nouns." Is there any indication that adjectives differed from nouns in any way (in the syntax maybe)? There are plenty of languages in the world which do not distinguish adjectives as a part of speech distinct from nouns (or distinct from verbs), and for all I know, Akkadian might be one. (Remember, I know nothing about Akkadian!) "There are three tenses: present, preterite and permansive. Present tense indicates incomplete action and preterite tense indicates complete action, while permansive tense expresses a state or condition and usually takes a particle." It sounds to me like Akkadian did not have tense, it had aspect: maybe completive vs. incompletive aspect. I'm not sure what this "permansive" is, but maybe a stative aspect? And I don't understand what it means for the permansive to "take" a particle Mcswell (talk) ==Polyvalence== According to "Extinct Languages" (Friedrich, Johannes - ISBN 0-88029-338-1, 1993 translation of the 1957 German edition), symbols can be an ideogram, a determinative or a phonetic symbol sign. He goes on to say that another form of polyvariance - less common in earlier Akkadian but more frequent in later forms - was "polyphony", where the same sign represented phonetically different syllables. (Thus the sign meaning "kid" could also represent "sab" or "lil".) That's a different kind of variation from the ideogram (also called sumerogram)/determinative/phonetic variation. Polyphony is when a sign has several phonetic values.

Akkadian language

Next to Saint Denis's altar in the northern aisle is the tomb of Emma, Queen of the East Franks (died 876), let into the wall. The high altar dates from 1669. The tower has six bells. === Notable burials in St. Emmeram's === Saint Emmeram Saint Wolfgang Blessed Ramwold Emma, Queen of the East Franks (consort of Louis the German) Blessed Aurelia, anchorite The Blessed Bishops Wolflek, Gaubald and Tuto Arnulf of Carinthia, King of the East Franks and Holy Roman Emperor His son, King Louis the Child Arnulf the Wicked, Duke of Bavaria Relics of Saints Maximianus and Calcidonius Johannes Aventinus, historian of Bavaria == St. Rupert's church == St. Rupert's church was formerly the parish church of the monastery. The church, with two aisles, was constructed in the second half of the 11th century, but was frequently adapted and enlarged. The nave is from the 14th century, the choir from 1405, the high altar with four pillars and a picture of the baptism of Duke Theodo of Bavaria by Saint Rupert from 1690 and the decoration and fittings from the 17th and 18th centuries. The tabernacle on the north side of the choir has figures of Saint Rupert and other saints. The altar of Saint Michael dated from 1713. The nave is decorated with pictures of the miracles of Saint Rupert. == Abbots == === Bishops of Regensburg (abbots ex officio) === Gaubald (739-761) Sigerich (762-768) Sintpert (768-791) Adalwin (792-816) Baturich (817-847) Erchanfrid (c. 847-864) Ambricho (c. 864-891) Aspert (891-894) Tuto (c. 894-930) Isangrim (930-941) Gunther (942) Michael (c. 942-972) Wolfgang (972-975) === Abbots === Blessed Ramwold (975-1001) Wolfram (1001–1006) Richolf (1006–1028) Hartwich (1028–1029) Burkhard (1030–1037) Ulrich I (1037-10420 Erchanbert (1042–1043) Peringer I (1044–1048) Reginward (1048-1060?) Eberhard I (c. 1060-1068) Rupert (1068–1095) Pabo (1095-c. 1106) Reginhard (c. 1106-1129?)

Saint Emmeram's Abbey

Jeremy Laurance: Lansley faces landmark decision over NHS closures There is continuing disquiet over a reduction in patient choice Andrew Lansley is to meet local MPs and the council in Enfield, north London, this week in what is being seen as a test case for hospital closures across the country. The Health Secretary has to decide whether to block plans approved by NHS London to close the A&E unit at Chase Farm Hospital, first proposed 17 years ago, and transfer maternity and children's services to North Middlesex Hospital, six miles away. He announced a moratorium on closures following the election, after Tory MPs opposed re-organisations across the country during the election campaign. There is now a pent-up bulge of at least 25 planned "reconfigurations," and the decision on Chase Farm will signal to the NHS whether it can re-organise services to save cash and improve care. The proposals for Chase Farm are deemed by NHS London to have met the "four tests" laid down by the Government: they are supported by patients and the public; they take account of patient choice; they are approved by local GPs; and they are based on sound clinical evidence. But there is continuing disquiet over a reduction in patient choice. A Department of Health spokesman said: "Any change to NHS services must be to ensure patients get the best care possible, delivered to the highest standards." Mr Lansley is expected to allow the closure to go ahead. If he does not, all bets are off on the capacity of the NHS to survive the coming financial squeeze.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Gwernol Support, he's dipped his hands in many areas of Wikipedia and is worthy of the mop the mop is worthy of him. Sweet, I'm worthy of someone! Master of Puppets That's hot. Strong Support a devoted Wikipedian with diverse interests and contributions, with more than enough experience for the role. Support per above, a good balance of contributions across all facets of WP life, a well rounded editor who will make an efficient admin. Strong Support everything above. Teke Absolutely. Rebecca Oppose - too many damn Aussie admins already oh, all right - support :) Grutness...wha? Support. What can i say? Support. Great editor and a promising potential admin. -Ambuj Saxena (talk) Support =Nichalp «Talk»= Support :) Dlohcierekim Support I look forward to working with admin Blnguyen. michael talk Support edit history looks good, no sign of potential for abuse of admin tools. Support Of course!!!! Nobleeagle (Talk) Sounds like a great candidate Valentinian (talk) Support.Bharatveer Support - a fantastic editor should become a fantastic sysop abakharev Support. Sure, he may be a "silent editor" but I've definitely noticed this editor around. From my experience, Blnguyen is a very solid contributor and would make a great admin. -→Buchanan-Hermit™/!? Return Support GizzaChat © Support. DarthVader Nomination and co-nomination say it all. Blnguyen has both the knowledge and temperament suitable for the mop. Let's give it to him. Kimchi.sg Support, well-rounded and conscientious contributor, will make a fine admin. Support! It was about time, B! :) Phaedriel ♥ tell me - Support, based on my experience with Blnguyen. Strong support and excellent work with the Gastroturfing. Arbusto Strong Support, I have seen him a lot on the project, and my interactions with him have been positive. Great Wikipedian and he will make a fine admin. Support, also based on my experiences with Blnguyen. Strong support - Very mature user and will become a great admin. - Aksi_great (talk) Support. Only positive experience with this user. Support. Looks ready to move up. Mostly Rainy Support 10,000+ editors is a rareity :), serious wiki-addict it appears. Support, of course. Support A great contributor. Support - obviously a brilliant contributor. Will make a fine admin. Support. Punkmorten Strong support, very nice nomination too. You have my full confidence. Support despite two edit conflicts. Strong contributor, good work on AfD. Hadn't noticed the silence, particularly with regard to RfA fishing but seems to be a strong candidate for mop status. MLA Support. Support, definitely. Proto||type Support: Naturally. Kukini Support Support Support - great user. Support Very active. Steveo2 Support Support - Obvious choice. Tangotango Support. Great editor and will be a good admin. Pecher Talk Support. What can I say. enochlau (talk) Support. Absolutely, everyone else has said it already. -Hit bull, win steak(Moo!) Support. On one condition – that he does not revert to the almost indecipherable signature that he was using until very recently. (Users need to be able to read an admin's username.) Zaxem Support Long awaited. Rama's Arrow Support. He is a perfect example to all wikipedians! Prince06 This vote should be discounted. It comes from a proven sockpuppet of Prin Anwar Support On Wheels On Wheels lol you deserve it richly. - CrazyRussian talk/contribs/email Support per above.—G.He Strong Support Trustworthy, polite, patient, kind No worries support. Deizio talk Support Extremely good contributor. With 10,000+ edits he deserves to be an admin. Jordy Support per Jordy.

Requests for adminship/Blnguyen

The discography of Lynn Anderson, an American country artist, consists of 33 studio albums, 17 compilation albums, two live albums, one tribute album, and 66 singles. She signed a recording contract with Chart Records in 1966, after her mother Liz Anderson gained success as a country songwriter and singer. Anderson's debut release was the single "In Person" in 1966, charting her first top 10 hit in 1967 "If I Kiss You (Will You Go Away)", which spawned her debut album Ride, Ride, Ride. Anderson's next single later in the year entitled "Promises, Promises" also reached the Top 5 and an album of the same name peaked at #1 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. Between 1967 and 1969, Anderson released seven singles, including the Top 20 hits "No Another Time", "Big Girls Don't Cry", and "That's a No No", and four more albums such as, With Love, From Lynn and At Home with Lynn. With her success on the Chart label, Anderson was coaxed into signing with the major label Columbia Records, and officially signed in 1970. While releasing two albums and singles with Columbia, Chart continued to release singles, including "Rocky Top", "I'm Alright", and "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels", which all reached the Top 20 on the Billboard country chart in 1970. In late 1970 under Columbia, Anderson released the single "Rose Garden", which became Anderson's biggest-selling single and signature song, reaching number one on the Billboard Hot Country Singles chart, #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on the Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart, and reaching number one in 16 countries around the world. An album of the same name (1971) reached number one of the Top Country Albums chart, #19 on the Billboard 200, and certified platinum in the United States. Following the single's international success, Anderson released the albums You're My Man and How Can I Unlove You in 1971, both of which peaked at #1 and #2 respectively on the Top Country Albums chart. She released seven more albums between 1972 and 1975 that peaked within the Top 20 on the Billboard Top Country Albums list. Eight of her singles between this time reached the Top 10 on the country singles chart, including a cover of Churchill Kohlman's "Cry", "Listen to a Country Song", "Top of the World", and "What a Man My Man Is", the latter reaching #1 on the Billboard country chart. Between 1976 and 1980, Anderson released six more studio albums with Columbia: All the King's Horses (1976), Wrap Your Love All Around Your Man (1977), I Love What Love Is Doing to Me/He Ain't You (1977), From the Inside (1978), Outlaw Is Just a State of Mind (1979), whose single "Isn't It Always Love" became her first Top 20 single in two years, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1980). After a brief retirement, Anderson returned to music in 1983 signing with Permian Records and releasing the album Back, which peaked at #61 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart. The album spawned her final Top 10 single "You're Welcome to Tonight" (1984), a duet with Gary Morris. During the rest of the 1980s, Anderson recorded for MCA Records and Mercury Records, the latter releasing her 1988 album, What She Does Best. Since then, she has released five more studio albums and two live albums, her most recent being the studio album Cowgirl II, released on Showboat Records in March 2010. == Studio albums == === 1960s albums === === 1970s albums === === 1980s albums === === 1990s albums === === 2000s albums === === 2010s albums === == Holiday albums == == Live albums == == Compilation albums == == Singles == === 1960s singles === === 1970s singles === === 1980s singles === === 2000s singles === == Other singles == === Other charted songs === === Collaborative singles === === Guest singles === === B-sides === ==References== Country music discographies Discographies of American artists

Lynn Anderson singles discography

The ultimate question is whether Mr. Romney is a credible voice for change. "There's no question that he comes from outside Washington and brings that sort of outsider's perspective," Mr. Schnur said. "But there may be a residual suspicion that even though he hasn't lived in Washington, D.C., he's essentially been part of a business and political establishment throughout his career."

2008-12-31 00:00:00

First demoted tenancy order given Ms Hanna said her dogs kept escaping from her home but would always return. Judge Harris issued a control order that takes away tenants' rights to buy or exchange and also means the council can re-possess the home at any time if she fails to comply. The borough council said it took her to court after receiving complaints from neighbours and the local primary school who said they feared for their safety as the dogs were allowed to roam the streets. Ms Hanna is the first tenant in Northampton to be handed a Demoted Tenancy Order.

2008-12-31 00:00:00

The second in the series of collaborations between Williams and Elia Kazan, it came six years after their galvanizing Broadway production of "Streetcar Named Desire" and immediately followed "The Rose Tattoo" (1951). But the original production of "Camino Real" had a stolid, naturalistic set that clashed with Williams's hallucinatory lyricism. Audiences were confused, and the play has remained on the outskirts of the canon. Mr. Bieito received free rein from the Williams estate to adapt the play as he saw fit. Working with one of his regular collaborators, the playwright Marc Rosich, he deleted whole scenes and interpolated material including songs and Williams's poetry. At the very end a wrenching passage from Williams's memoirs proposes freedom as the goal of writing, closing with words that could speak for Mr. Bieito's artistry: "If you can't be yourself, what's the point of being at all?"

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Battle Hill Farm Forest Park is a Wellington Regional park located near Paekakariki, New Zealand. It contains the site of the Battle of Battle Hill and is intersected by Transmission Gully. The park contains a working farm near the entrance at Paekakariki Hill Road and extends over the surrounding hills and into a plantation forest. It contains several loop walkways, some suitable for mountain biking and horse riding. ==External links== Greater Wellington Regional Council Parks in the Wellington Region Kapiti Coast

Battle Hill Farm Forest Park

My thinking is that this way, people who read it will see the whole article and be able to comment more fully as to whether it is promotional and lacks notability, that is, that this article deserves to be improved rather than simply deleted. As it stands, so much has been removed that it would be difficult for any editor to read it and think that it is notable. Thoughts? El Dorado Adventurer (talk) == Spam-blacklist == Betacommand asked me on IRC to post this for him. Legoktm (talk) I know keeping up the maintenance of the SBL talk page can be difficult so I wrote a archive script several years ago, I just adapted it for web use: ~betacommand/cgi-bin/sbl_archive.py cheers, have fun. Beta Very nice. Will give it run. Cheers == Articles_for_deletion/Tangiers_International == Hello, I did a WP search on this topic, and noticed that you were involved in a thread on the COI noticeboard regarding this article. So I wanted to bring the AfD to your attention. Logical Cowboy (talk) == Mediterranean Games == I see you've went through all of IP (197.1.169.163)'s edits at the Mediterranean Games articles and reverted his link to the full results (example: Is there a particular reason why? I actually thought they were quite helpful, and needed even.

Hu12

My primary interest is the Chinese language and its history. For a decade now I've been researching the origins of the Chinese script, with an emphasis on the oracle bone period, as well as etymology in general. Oracle bones were once called 龍骨 long2gu3, or 'dragon bones', ergo sum. I have also studied the bronze, clerical and early 楷書 kai3shu1 or standard scripts, both simplified and traditional characters, and both bopomofo and various romanization systems. Based on my reading of major Western and Chinese scholars, I'm rather dissatisfied with the Wiki content on the Chinese language, especially the early scripts, and am just beginning the work on revamping these pages. Popular misconceptions about the nature and origin of the scripts appear to be ubiquitous. If you see anything you disagree with, just contact me via talk pages, my user page or email, and I will happily provide extensive evidence, in English where possible. However, the most authoritative sources are generally in Chinese; I have had the great fortune of finding a mentor in a paleographer at the Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology, Chen Zhaorong, who guides me as to these sources and answers any burning questions I might have on these topics. If you see me committing any errors on Wiki, especially newbee mistakes of editing in the wrong place, failing to use proper conventions or formatting and so on, please do bring them to my attention on my discussion page or via email. I'm still learning, and your help would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!!! Dragonbones

Dragonbones

Alaska's first female governor arrived at the state Capitol in December 2006 on an ethics reform platform after defeating two former governors in the primary and general elections. Her prior political experience consisted of terms as Wasilla's mayor and councilwoman and a stint as head of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Unknown on the national stage until Republican John McCain tapped her as his running mate, Palin infused excitement into the Republican's presidential bid. But she also became the butt of talk-show jokes and Democratic criticism, especially after it was revealed that the Republican Party spent $150,000 or more on a designer wardrobe for Palin. Former state House Speaker John Harris, a Republican with sometimes chilly relations with Palin, said he thinks Palin will run for president in 2012, although he has no inside information. Stapleton said the answer will emerge in the coming weeks. On Monday, "we'll sit down and say, 'OK, here are your options. How do you now want to effect that positive change for Alaska from outside the role as governor?"' Stapleton said. © MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Video and Galleries from Politics

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Coalition Ally Withholds Support for Monti Policy MILAN - The coalition of Prime Minister Mario Monti was abruptly thrown off kilter Thursday when its center-right ally abstained from a confidence vote, to signal its disapproval with the government's economic policies and the prospect of future turbulence for Italy as elections loom early next year. Mr. Monti's technocratic government survived the vote, but the incident sent a strong signal that it would not be immune to political turmoil as parties began jockeying before national elections, planned for next March or April. The turbulence unnerved already jittery markets, and it prompted President Giorgio Napolitano, who holds the authority to dissolve Parliament and call for new elections, to reassure Italians on Thursday evening that he would work to avert a crisis. Acknowledging the growing pre-electoral tensions, "that even outside Italy can be understood without creating alarm," Mr. Napolitano called on lawmakers to ensure "an ordered, nonprecipitous and not convulsive conclusion to the legislature," underscoring that Parliament still had work to do. There are serious bills that still need passage, he said, and "institutional deadlines" for a new budget law, that cannot be put off. The immediate issue that precipitated the day's events was a vote in the Senate on the government's economic stimulus decree, which was passed in the Lower House on Thursday evening. Mr. Monti became prime minister just over a year ago with bipartisan support to push through necessary reforms. But his government has lost popularity as Italians begin to feel the effects of tough economic measures - like raising the pension age and new property taxes - enacted to mollify international investors concerned about Italy's staggering public debt and negligible growth. As elections approach, political parties are jostling to either align or distance themselves from his government, and tensions have grown. "There is a whiff of crisis," said Roberto D'Alimonte, a political science professor at Luiss University in Rome, said on Sky television Thursday. In addition to the government's economic policies, divisions have amplified over several issues, like a contentious new electoral law that would ensure a more stable majority, which Mr. Napolitano hopes will be passed before voting next year. The government on Wednesday passed a series of measures that, if enacted by Parliament, would have an impact on future elections, including one barring individuals who have been convicted in specific cases from running for office. On Wednesday night, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who stepped down a year ago as Italy floundered on the brink of a financial precipice, said he had been "besieged by requests" to run again because the situation in Italy "today is far more serious than a year ago, when I left the government." On Thursday, Angelino Alfano, secretary of Mr. Berlusconi's Peoples of Liberty party confirmed the former prime minister's decision to return to politics "as a protagonist." Mr. Alfano said he would meet with the Italian president on Friday. The continued presence of Mr. Berlusconi on the political playing field has crippled attempts on the part of his party to put forth an electoral program, or choose potential candidates. The party trails in the polls, after the leftist Democratic Party and even after the Five Star Movement, a protest group headed by the Italian comedian Beppe Grillo. Recent local elections have shown that a record number of Italians have been tempted to stay away from the polls altogether, in a sign of impatience with Italy's political class seen as out of touch with the country's tangible problems.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

The Almanac, Celebrity Birthdays, Today in History, October 28 Today is Sunday, Oct. 28, the 302nd day of 2012 with 64 to follow. The moon is waxing. The morning stars are Venus and Jupiter. The evening stars are Mercury, Neptune, Uranus, Mars and Saturn. Those born on this date are under the sign of Scorpio. They include Dutch scholar Desiderius Erasmus in 1466; rifle maker Eliphalet Remington in 1793; Russian writer Ivan Turgenev in 1818; movie costumer Edith Head in 1897; actor Elsa Lanchester in 1902; English novelist Evelyn Waugh in 1903; Dr. Jonas Salk, a developer of the polio vaccine, in 1914; former baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn in 1926; country musician Charlie Daniels in 1936 (age 76); basketball Hall of Fame member Lenny Wilkens in 1937 (age 75); actors Jane Alexander in 1939 (age 73) and Dennis Franz in 1944 (age 68); rock singer Wayne Fontana in 1945 (age 67); singer/actor Telma Hopkins in 1948 (age 64); Olympic decathlon champion-turned-sportscaster Bruce Jenner in 1949 (age 63); Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1955 (age 57); Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 1956 (age 56); actors Annie Potts in 1952 (age 60), Lauren Holly in 1963 (age 49), Jami Gertz in 1965 (age 47), Andy Richter in 1966 (age 46), Julia Roberts in 1967 (age 45) and Joaquin Phoenix in 1974 (age 38). On this date in history: In 312, in a battle that marked the beginning of the Christian era in Europe, Constantine's army, wearing the cross, defeated the forces of Maxentius at Mulvian Bridge in Rome. In 1636, Harvard College, now Harvard University, was founded in Massachusetts. In 1846, the pioneering Donner Party of 90 people set out from Springfield, Ill., for California. In 1886, the Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the United States, was dedicated in New York Harbor by U.S. President Grover Cleveland. In 1919, the U.S. Congress passed the Volstead Act, over President Woodrow Wilson's veto, enforcing the constitutional amendment prohibiting the use of alcoholic beverages. In 1962, Russian chief Nikita Khrushchev announced that all Soviet offensive missiles would be removed from Cuba. In 1985, the leader of the so-called Walker family spy ring, John Walker, pleaded guilty to giving U.S. Navy secrets to the Soviet Union. In 1989 sports, the Oakland A's wrapped up an earthquake-delayed sweep of the World Series over the San Francisco Giants. In 2001, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a third New Jersey postal worker had an anthrax inhalation infection, bringing the number to eight, including three people who died from the most serious form of the disease. In 2002, U.S. diplomat John Foley was killed in Amman, Jordan. An unknown group called the Honest People of Jordan claimed it was a response to U.S. support of Israel and actions in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2004, insurgents executed 11 Iraqi soldiers in what they said was revenge for women and children killed in U.S. strikes on the guerrilla stronghold of Fallujah. In 2005, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, chief of staff and national security adviser to the vice president, resigned after he was indicted on multiple counts in the CIA leak case in which an operative's name was revealed to the media. In 2007, U.S.-led forces killed nearly 80 Taliban fighters during a fierce six-hour air and ground battle in southern Afghanistan. Also in 2007, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner became the first woman to be elected president of Argentina. She succeeded her husband, Nestor Kirchner. In 2009, more than 100 people, most of them women and children, were killed when a car bomb tore through a busy market in Peshawar, Pakistan, on a day U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad for talks with Pakistani leaders. In 2010, officials reported breaking up an alleged plot in which explosives rigged as bombs and hidden in printer cartridges were shipped from Yemen addressed to Chicago synagogues. Also in 2010, China announced it had built what experts said was the world's fastest supercomputer, capable of a sustained performance 40 percent greater than the previous record holder built in Oak Ridge, Tenn. In 2011, unusually heavy monsoon rains that began in the summer and stretched into the fall drenched Thailand producing its worst flooding in half a century with about one-third of the country ultimately under water. Damage to homes, factories and crops was widespread and the death toll topped 400.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Former top suspect in Etan Patz's 1979 disappearance to be freed from prison NEW YORK - While prosecutors weigh what to do about a suspect who surprisingly surfaced this spring in the landmark 1979 disappearance case of Etan Patz, the man who was the prime suspect for years is about to go free after more than two decades in prison for molesting other children. These two threads in the tangled story are set to cross next month, a twist that evokes decades of uncertainties and loose ends in the search for what happened to the sandy-haired 6-year-old last seen walking to his Manhattan school bus stop. The new suspect, Pedro Hernandez, has been charged with Etan's murder after police said he emerged as a suspect and confessed this spring. But there's no public indication that authorities have found anything beyond his admission to implicate him, and his lawyer has said Hernandez is mentally ill. The Pennsylvania inmate, Jose Ramos, was declared responsible for Etan's death in a civil court, but the Manhattan district attorney's office has said there wasn't enough evidence to charge him criminally. After serving 25 years on child molestation convictions in Pennsylvania, he's set to be freed Nov. 7, about a week before prosecutors are due to indicate whether they believe there's evidence enough to keep going after Hernandez. It stands to be a coincidence fraught with anguish for Etan's parents, who brought a successful wrongful death lawsuit against Ramos, and for the former federal prosecutor who went to lengths to pursue him. At the same time, it offers a glimmer of vindication for Ramos, who has denied involvement in the boy's disappearance, though authorities have said he made incriminating remarks about it. In a letter last month to The Associated Press, Ramos said he was declining interviews while in prison but will be available to speak after his release. Etan's disappearance made national news and raised awareness about children's safety, turning him into a symbol for the issue in a now-familiar response: He was among the first vanished youngsters ever pictured on a milk carton. The day of his disappearance, May 25, is now National Missing Children's Day. After years of investigation as far afield as Israel, an arrest was finally made on the eve of this year's anniversary. Hernandez, who worked at a convenience store near Etan's home when the boy disappeared, wasn't a suspect until a tipster contacted police this spring after the case, long quiet, returned to the headlines when officials dug up a neighborhood basement looking for clues. After his arrest, the New York Police Department announced that Hernandez had admitted strangling the boy and leaving his body in a trash bag. There has been no signal that an extensive probe in the months since has turned up further evidence against him. Hernandez's attorney, Harvey Fishbein, raised further doubts about the case, saying Hernandez is schizophrenic and bipolar and has heard voices. During the decades when Hernandez wasn't on investigators' radar, they explored many other leads and possible suspects, including Ramos. The 69-year-old came under suspicion early on because he had a relationship with Etan's former baby sitter, but investigators didn't find anything solid. In the early 1980s, Ramos was arrested, though not convicted, on charges he tried to lure children to a drainage pipe where he was living. Photos of young, blond boys were found in his backpack. Ramos then traveled the country by bus, attending gatherings of the Rainbow Family of Living Light, a loose collection of peace activists who come together around the country. He was accused of luring three boys into his bus and assaulting them at two of the group's gatherings in Pennsylvania in the mid-1980s. "He had thousands of dollars in `Star Wars' toys on his bus. He had videotapes, and he had all kinds of materials he used to lure children inside," Barry Adams, a longtime Rainbow member, recalled this week from his Montana home. "It was a horrendous circumstance from A to Z." Ramos' record got the attention of Stuart GraBois, a Manhattan federal prosecutor assigned to help the investigation into Etan's disappearance. GraBois interviewed Ramos and became convinced he had assaulted and killed Etan -- so convinced that GraBois helped Pennsylvania authorities get one of their convictions against Ramos. He was ultimately sentenced to a maximum of 27 years in the two cases, but got credit for time served and is being released. Over the years, Ramos has made a series of ambiguous admissions and denials about Etan. Two jailhouse snitches claim he confessed to them, and GraBois said Ramos gave him a "90 percent confession." But during sworn questioning in 2003, Ramos said he'd never encountered the vanished boy. "I have nothing to hide," he said, according to a transcript.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

"I needed an outlet for my outrage," said Jane Schneider, 46, who works for the City of Madison. It was a day after the Senate coup and she was explaining the sign she's placed on her friend Amanda Jones' baby carrier. It reads: "Scott Walker and 18 Wis. GOP senators are Big Poopy Pants." Jones, a teacher visiting from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, used to attend graduate school in Madison. On Thursday, she walked around the capitol with her stroller and her friend - while her husband tried to enter the capitol. (The building's rotunda had since been closed to the protesters.) A pair of 75-year-old retired teachers, Marveen and her husband Russell Phelps carried a sign that said "Retired but never too retired to support human rights." "I saw a sign this morning that sums all of us up," Marveen Phelps said: "We Are a Gentle Angry People." (See "As Goes Wisconsin, So Goes the Nation.") Until Wednesday night, the crowds had thinned after the first big outbursts in February. Still, there have been die-hards who have never really left. Dentist Dr. Kathleen Kelly is one of them. She doesn't belong to a union and has seven employees in her office. But every day since Feb. 15, she's taken her daily ritual of walking a mile outside to a circular path around the capitol, marching during her lunch break, repeating it again after her practice closes at 5 p.m. and again on the weekends. "I grew up in Madison," says Kelly, 63. "This is offensive. I have a strong belief in rights of workers, health care for everyone and good schools for our children. These are all the things that he's cutting, so yes I'm a supporter." (Comment on this story.) Gera Bodley, 49, who works in University of Wisconsin's physics department as payroll and benefits employee, has worked in time to protest by supplementing her 30-minute lunch break with an hour from her alloted vacation time. Before the protests began, her lunch break consisted of a peanut butter and honey sandwich at her desk and messages with friends over her Yahoo email account. Now, she takes the No. 3 bus over to the capitol, quickly noshing on her sandwich during the seven minute ride to allow more time to protest during her "extended" hour and half lunch break. It has cost her nearly a week of vacation time. Sporting a long puffy Green Bay Packer Green parka by Land's End, Bodley jokes, politely apologizing for being a "little Wisconsin" in her warm, but less than fashionable gear while holding a sign declaring that "Union Blood is Thicker than Tea." "This is a movement that's not going to stop," said Kelly the dentist. "They are going to keep coming out day after day. They aren't going to give up and the governor can expect recall." See the top 10 union movies. See TIME's Pictures of the Week.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Man charged with killing mom, nieces SAINT ROMAIN, Quebec, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- A man was charged Saturday with killing his 70-year-old mother and two young nieces in a small town in Quebec, police said. Pascal Morin, 35, of St. Romain faces three counts of premeditated murder, Le Soleil newspaper in Quebec said. Investigators identified the victims as Ginette Roy-Morin, 70, and her granddaughters, Laurence Fillion, 11, and Juliette Fillion, 8. Police were called to the house that Morin and his mother shared at 6 p.m. Friday. They found the bodies and took Morin into custody, questioning him for most of the night. St. Romain is a small town in southern Quebec, about 60 miles south of Quebec City and 50 miles northeast of Sherbrooke. Roy-Marin was well known there as a longtime teacher in the elementary school serving St. Romain and neighboring St. Sebastien. The two girls, whose paternal grandfather is mayor of the town, were staying with Roy-Morin while their mother was in Mexico and their father working on the family farm.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Black Pearl was a San-Francisco-based band that existed from the late 1960s to the early 1970s. They released two albums, Black Pearl (1969) and Black Pearl - Live! (1970). == History == Black Pearl was composed of Bernie "B.B" Fieldings (vocals), Bruce Benson (guitar), Oak O'Connor (drums), Geoffrey Morris (guitar), Tom Mulcahy (guitar) and Jerry Causi (bass). Morris, Causi and Benson had been members of the Barbarians, a 60s garage band noted for their extreme long hair for the times and their single, " Are You a Boy or Are You A Girl". The Barbarians were also noted for the band's drummer, Moulty, who had lost one hand in a childhood accident and consequently played drums with a hook. The band was formed after Barbarians' singer and drummer Moulty refused to travel to Boulder, Colorado for a two week engagement. A new drummer, Oak O'Connor, plus Mulcahy and Fieldings, joined with ex-Barbarians Morris, Causi and Benson, all initially based in Boston, to form Black Pearl in 1967. The band relocated from Boston to San Francisco, after a period of time in Colorado. Fieldings, who was white, was a wild showman who modeled his stage presence on that of James Brown. His admiration for James Brown was evident on the group's live album, which contains a twelve minute version of James Brown's "Cold Sweat". As noted by one reviewer, "Black Pearl crank out some hard rockin' psych-rock music with the most ferocious drumbeats you've heard in a while." The band's three guitar lineup was considered to be both unique and powerful, being a format also found in contemporaries Moby Grape and Buffalo Springfield. Black Pearl released two albums, Black Pearl (1969) and Black Pearl - Live! (1970), with the second being less well-received than the first. == Discography == Black Pearl Atlantic 1969; CD reissue Wounded Bird, 2007 Black Pearl - Live! Prophesy, 1970 == References == Rock music groups from California

Black Pearl (American band)

Credo: Antonio Carluccio - Features, Food & Drink - The Independent I believe Carluccio's is not just a commercial thing. It is more than that. It is about belief and passion. People know if you are genuine. I built the [Carluccio's Caffè] brand and then I sold it - it took some time to realise my name was sold as well. I have only one commandment, which is to try not to hurt other people. If everybody would pursue that, we wouldn't have wars. Down-to-earth food can conquer the world - not tarted-up, molecular cooking. No, the future is in cooking something which has been cooked for millennia, with taste, flavour and honesty. Your food has to talk - and talk clearly. Very often, you see so-called celebrity chefs promoting themselves and not the food. I always say that you're only the messenger and not the protagonist of the programme. Success came to Jamie Oliver by chance. After starting at my restaurant, he was seen by a television camera when he was at the River Café, doing bits and pieces: a lovely boy, very quick [around the kitchen]. As for the rest... he's been very clever. When you love your profession, you have to just do it. It's not a question of just money or success - it's something pleasurable. I have various things to divert me from work. I carve wood, play with clay, paint a little bit. I do very primitive art - sort of impressionistic landscapes. You need food to be happy and you need it to sustain the body. Some people say, "I don't care what comes into my stomach." I care! I have become a bit more philosophical in the past few years. You learn more, think more and analyse the things that have happened. Nonetheless, part of my brain remains childish. Family is very important. It is better that family stays together. By eating together, you share thoughts, you share rows, you share love, you laugh - it's good. Retirement would equal death. I'm going to work until the end. 'Antonio Carluccio's Southern Italian Feast' is out on DVD tomorrow

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Asparagus crop hit by roadworks 'Road closed' Although business as usual signs have been put up, and customers for the shop are allowed through, he says many people are simply turning round when they see the road closed signs. In a statement North Yorkshire Council said: "We carry out essential patching and resurfacing works throughout the summer months to take advantage of better weather conditions. "These works are carried out according to a tight timetable, though local issues are taken into account as much as possible. "Following discussions with the farmer at Low Moor Farm, highways officers have been doing everything possible to take account of the farm's asparagus season."

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Andrew "Andy" Rouse (born 2 December 1947, Dymock, Gloucestershire) is an English racing driver, most notably in the British Saloon Car Championship. He won the BSCC in 1975, 1983, 1984 and 1985. Andy Rouse is regarded by many people as one of the most successful drivers ever to appear in the BSCC. His 60 overall wins in the category was the highest total by any driver for many years, until being overhauled by Jason Plato at Brands Hatch in the opening round of the 2011 season. Coming from an engineering background, Rouse was originally an apprentice with an agricultural engineering company. He had been interested in motor sport from an early age and had run self-built autocross specials in his teens and then Formula Ford. In 1971 he funded his racing activities by working for Broadspeed, the race car engineering company set-up by Brummie Ralph Broad. Rouse's combined engineering and driving talent soon became apparent to Broad, who then encouraged his motorsport career by providing him with assistance to race in other championships. His first step into saloon car racing came in 1972, when he entered the Ford Escort Mexico series. He won this one-make championship in his first year, and soon stepped up into the British Saloon Car Championship. Over the following years, Rouse was successful in a number of Broadspeed entered cars (including Ford Escorts, Triumph Dolomite Sprints and Ford Capris) winning his class in 1973, 1974 and taking the title in 1975. In 1976, Broadspeed ran the works Jaguar XJ12C cars, for which Rouse was both driver and race development engineer. Great results were expected from these powerful cars but unfortunately British Leyland stopped the program the following season following a string of poor results. With no works deal for 1978, Ralph Broad sold his stake in the company and Broadspeed soon went into liquidation. In 1981, Rouse set up his own engineering company, Andy Rouse Engineering, taking many of the ex-Broadspeed employees with him. His success on the track continued with Championship wins in 1983 and 1984. He also won the Willhire 24 Hour in 1981 and 1983. Ford then gave him the 'works' contract to build and drive their next generation touring car, the Sierra Cosworth, which was to dominate the BTCC until the end of the decade. Rouse won the championship again in 1985 driving a Sierra XR4Ti, but this was to be his last overall title, although he won Class A again in 1988 and 1989. He was third overall in 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991, before setting up the works Ford Mondeo team for 1993, hiring Paul Radisich to drive alongside himself. He retired from driving at the end of 1994, hiring Kelvin Burt as Paul's team-mate for 1995. He also ran a semi-works Nissan team in 1996, and later built a Super Touring specification Toyota Corolla which failed to find a racing team. Since the demise of his touring car teams, Rouse spent several years trying to promote a rival series to the BTCC; his "Supercar V8" proposal was based around a spaceframe chassis, normally aspirated V8 engine, and bodywork modelled on medium to large saloon cars. This series has not yet materialized. ==Racing record== ===Complete British Saloon / Touring Car Championship results=== (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position – 1973–1990 in class) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap – 1 point awarded?–1989 in class) – Race was stopped due to heavy rain. No points were awarded. † Events with 2 races staged for the different classes. ‡ Endurance driver. ===Complete World Touring Car Championship results=== (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) ==References== 1947 births Living people British Touring Car Championship drivers British Touring Car Championship Champions 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers World Touring Car Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers Andy Rouse Andy Rouse

Andy Rouse

Victor Perera was the first Governor of Northern Province and former Sri Lankan Inspector General of Police. ==Police career== Victor Perera joined the Sri Lanka Police Service in 1974 as an Assistant Superintendent of Police. Serving as the most senior Deputy Inspector General of Police he was promoted as the 30th Inspector General Police on 12 October 2006 and retired from service on 30 June 2008. He was succeeded by the senior Deputy Inspector General of Police Kingsley Wickremaratne. ==Political career== With the division of the North Eastern Province in 2007 Perera was appointed, by President Mahinda Rajapakse, as the first Governor of Northern Province, succeeding acting governor Rear Admiral Mohan Wijewickrema. Perera was the first former head of the police to have been appointed as a Governor to a province. ==See also== Inspector General of Police (Sri Lanka) Sri Lanka Police Service ==References== ==External links== |- |- Governors of Northern Province Sri Lankan Inspectors General of Police

Victor Perera

Julia Roberts designs Armani T-shirt for AIDS fight MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Julia Roberts has returned to work with Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani to raise money for the fight against AIDS in Africa, designing a T-shirt to be sold under the "Red" label. The Academy Award-winning actress has drawn the symbolic tree of life with the words "revolution.evolution.devotion" arching over its foliage. The words are behind the acronym for "Red," the name of a product-branding alliance to raise money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Under the scheme -- the brain-child of U2 rock star Bono and Bobby Shriver, the nephew of former U.S. President John F. Kennedy -- manufacturers channel a portion of the profits from "Red"-branded goods to the fund. Money raised from events and product sales tied to the label have raised more than $110 million since it began in 2006, according to a statement from Giorgio Armani. The T-shirt designed by Roberts will go on sale in September both online and at Emporio Armani stores worldwide, a spokeswoman for the fashion designer said. Available for men and women, the T-shirt will also have her signature inside. It is the second time that Roberts has worked with Armani for the "Red" label. The first time saw her use the same idea of the tree for a leather bracelet. Armani also sells clothing, accessories, eyewear, watches, fragrances and jewellery under the "Red" label, offering 40 percent of the gross profit margin on sales to the fund. (Reporting by Gilles Castonguay; Editing by Matthew Jones)

2008-12-31 00:00:00

{| cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" style="width:100%; border:2px solid silver; background:#f0f0f0; text-align:center; font-family:Georgia, serif;" |- |colspan="2" align="center" style="background:#F8EABA; border-bottom:1.5px dotted silver;" | Welcome to Wikipedia! |- |align="center" colspan="2" style="font-family:Tahoma, sans-serif; padding:15px 2% 5px 2%;" valign="middle"| Welcome! My name is GorillaWarfare, and I'm one of the Online Ambassadors assisting students who are contributing to WikiProject United States Public Policy. We're excited to work with you, and we hope you'll stick around. If you haven't already, take a few minutes and check out the handy links below to start sharing your knowledge with the world. Your class is part of a pilot project for bridging the gap between Wikipedia and the academic world; as you learn how to edit Wikipedia, we'll be learning how to better help newcomers. So it will be a fun learning experience all around! You'll find links below for leaving feedback or getting help. If you need anything further, feel free to contact me at my user talk page. And don't forget: have fun! — GorillaWarfare talk |- | align="center" style="width:50%; padding:15px 2% 5px 2%;" valign="top"| Editing cheatsheet Forgot how that code worked? | align="center" style="width:50%; padding:15px 2% 5px 2%;" valign="top" | Summary of policies and guidelines A quick reference for Wikipedia's "rules" |- | align="center" style="width:50%; padding:5px 2%;" valign="top"| Find the page for your course Forgot the link to your course's page? | align="center" style="width:50%; padding:5px 2%;" valign="top" | Choose a mentor Contact an ambassador to work with |- | align="center" colspan="1" style="padding:5px 2%;" valign="top"| Help with article assessment Help us assess these articles! | align="center" colspan="1" style="padding:5px 2%;" valign="top"| Starting an article Guide to starting your first article |- | align="center" colspan="2" style="padding:10px 2% 3px 2%;"| |- | class="plainlinks" align="center" colspan="2" style="border-top:1px solid #cedff2; padding:0px 2% 3px 2%;" | Chat with us: Ask a question on the Public Policy IRC channel or on the regular help chat Are you on Facebook? Like Wikipedia on Campus for the latest news, photos, videos, and helpful tips |} ==Your recent edits== Hello. In case you didn't know, when you add content to talk pages and Wikipedia pages that have open discussion, you must sign your posts by typing four tildes ( ~~~~ ) at the end of your comment. You may also click on the signature button located above the edit window. This will automatically insert a signature with your username or IP address and the time you posted the comment. This information is useful because other editors will be able to tell who said what, and when. Thank you. ==Mentor== Hello, Claire. Did you want me to act as your mentor or did you want Alpha Quadrant to do it? Here is a good example of an article about a law for you to look at: Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act. One very important tip: Make sure to add full citations to Reliable sources to support all the statements that you make (see CITE, giving author, title, date, publisher/city, page number or url). Please scan through the links in the Welcome message at the top of this page, as they will give you the background you need to get started. Happy editing! OK, good luck with the article! Clairestum I am a bit confused, would you like Ssilvers to mentor you, or would you like me to?

Clairestum

Legal & General gets direct LEGAL & General has a new service for consumers who wish to buy their annuity from them on a direct basis. Annuity Solutions allows customers to buy a conventional non-profit annuity over the phone, via e-mail or by post. Legal & General will continue to recommend that customers seek financial advice when arranging their annuity. However, such advice is not always available, particularly for customers with smaller pension funds. Increasingly customers are choosing to shop around using the Open Market Option in order to obtain a better annuity rate. The Annuity Solutions service accepts pension funds which are from as little as £5,000.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

is a 1983–84 boxing arcade game by Nintendo. It was the first in a series of successful Punch-Out!! games that produced an arcade sequel known as Super Punch-Out!!, a spin-off of the series titled Arm Wrestling, a highly popular version for the NES originally known as Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!!, and Super Punch-Out!! for the SNES. The arcade game introduced recurring video games characters such as Glass Joe, Piston Hurricane, Bald Bull, and Mr. Sandman. ==Gameplay== In the game, the player assumes the role of a green-haired boxer, known by three initials the player chooses when the game begins. During matches, the player's boxer is viewed from behind as a wireframe so the opponents can be seen. The player must time his punches, dodges and blocks in order to defeat the opposing boxer. Hints are given as to the opponents next move by subtle eye changes (the white of the eyes turn from white to yellow), but the player must ultimately predict what moves the opponent will make and react appropriately. Once the player defeats the last opponent, the opponents repeat. On each successive round the opponents are harder and quicker. The player only has one round to land a KO. Technically, there is no TKO element for multiple knockdowns, but the "3 knockdown rule" is utilized nonetheless; no boxer ever gets up from his third knockdown. Additionally, a win by decision is not possible; an automatic loss occurs if time runs out. In the event the player loses, the computer controlled victor will taunt the player and the corner man for the player will try to entice the player to play again ("Come on, stand up and fight!") via the game's distinctive digitized speech. Players are only allowed one continue per play through. Like many games made during the Golden Age of Arcade Games, there is no actual ending and continuously loops until the player loses. The game is a modified upright, and was unusual in that it requires two monitors, one atop the other, for the game's display. The top monitor is used to display statistics while the bottom one is the main game display (similar to Nintendo's Multi-Screen Game & Watch titles and the Nintendo DS). Apart from this, the game is more or a less a standard upright. The game has a joystick and three buttons. Two buttons control left and right punches, one for each arm (denoted by "Left! ", or "Right!" when hitting the head, or "body blow!" when hitting the body with either arm). A large button on the console is pressed to deliver an uppercut or right hook, though the blow can be delivered only if a certain number of normal punches are landed on the opponent, so that the "KO" indicator on the display reads full. When the indicator reads full, it flashes and the corner man's digitized speech encourages the player to either "Put him away! ", or "Knock him out!". ==Development== Genyo Takeda from the Integrated Research & Development Division was the lead developer, and Shigeru Miyamoto designed the characters. It was released in 1983 when Nintendo was making several coin-operated arcade machines. Nintendo had an excessive number of televisions after the success of the Donkey Kong series, basing the purchases on the estimate for the demand for arcade games. They were offered a proposition to make an arcade game that uses two televisions. They chose to make a boxing game, which utilized the ability to zoom in and out of an object. This was a feature more commonly found in games that involve flying such as flight simulators, but chose boxing because they thought it would be a different way to use it. Miyamoto and Takeda discussed an earlier arcade game created by Takeda called EVR RACE, a horse racing game from 1975, which used a video tape. It was a mechanical game, and was hard to maintain after it was released and had many breakdowns. While they were developing Punch-Out!!, people were saying that laserdisc was the next big thing. However, the maintenance would be very big if they released them worldwide. Despite this, domestic sales people wanted something like laserdisc, so they tried to find if it could be done with semiconductors. Miyamoto explained that that's why they were interested in the substrate that could do zooming and show pictures at a similar size as a laserdisc. However, he called it a "rascal of a project", explaining that when he made Donkey Kong, he had to animate each rolling barrel pixel by pixel. When he asked if they could use processing on the hardware side to rotate the image, they said "it's not impossible", changing from "it can't be done."

Punch-Out!! (arcade game)

Annual cost of climate change 'will be £190bn' The true global cost of adapting to climate change is likely to be many times greater than official United Nations' estimates: in 2030 alone, the world could be spending more than three times the annual budget of the NHS, a study has found. A team of British experts has discovered that the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has seriously underestimated the expected annual cost of dealing with climate impacts. It suggests that the true cost could be at least two or three-fold greater, and possibly much more if other hidden factors are taken into account. Estimates of how much the world will have to spend annually on adapting to some of the worst impacts of climate change have varied widely, but the UNFCCC has suggested that typically it could be about $70bn or $100bn (£44bn and £63bn) by 2030, the cost of about three Beijing Olympics. But other scientists have now suggested that the true annual cost could easily reach $300bn or more. "Just looking in depth at the sectors the UNFCCC did study, we estimate adaptation costs to be two to three times higher, and when you include sectors the UNFCCC left out, the true cost is probably much greater," said Professor Martin Parry, the lead author of the report, Assessing the Cost of Adaptation to Climate Change. "The amount of money on the table at Copenhagen is one of the key factors that will determine whether we achieve a climate-change agreement. But previous estimates of adaptation costs have substantially misjudged the scale of funds needed," added the professor, a visiting fellow at the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London. Adaptations to climate change include the additional spending needed to improve measures such as building new flood defences and transporting water for agriculture, treating an increase in the range and severity of diseases, and replacing buildings and other infrastructure affected by rising temperatures or water levels. The UNFCCC had commissioned a series of studies to address the estimated costs of several adaptation measures but it was under pressure to produce results in a short time period and the studies were not fully reviewed by outside experts, Professor Parry said. "Many of the previous estimates, it would be fair to say, were based on back-of-the-envelope calculations. In fact, one person said they were written on the back of a metro ticket. We think these numbers are underestimates... they don't stack up," Professor Parry said. The authors of the report said that the costs of adapting to climate change begin to soar aftere other sectors of the economy not dealt with by the UNFCCC are taken into consideration. They includes tourism, energy and manufacturing. The sectors the UNFCCC did deal with were treated in only a partial manner, the report says. One of the biggest underestimates is the additional cost of building new homes, offices, roads and other infrastructure affected by climate change. This cost alone could be many times higher than previous estimates.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Stocks open moderately lower after Merck deal NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks are falling as a $41 billion deal between drugmakers Merck and Schering-Plough does little to jolt investors out of their pessimistic mood. Merck & Co. is offering Schering-Plough shareholders $10.50 in cash and just over half of one Merck share for each of their shares. In better economic times, a big deal tends to galvanize the market. But investors are finding little to give them any optimism. Remarks from billionaire investor Warren Buffett are adding to the gloom. Buffet says the economy has "fallen off a cliff" over the past six months. In the first few minutes of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average is down 38 at 6,588. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 3 at 679, while the Nasdaq composite index is down 4 at 1,289. Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

But the sentence st/abstract.html?res=FB0D15FA3C5A157A93CBA81783D85F418685F9&scp=2&sq=Yavuz&st=p http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F14F939581B7493CBA91789D95F4D8685F9&scp=4&sq=Yavuz&st=p http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F40C15FF345C177A93C6A8178BD95F4D8285F9&scp=13&sq=Goeben&st=p http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00917F73D5B107A93C4A8178BD95F478585F9&scp=8&sq=Yavuz&st=p http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F1081FF83A5D107A93C4A9178FD85F428485F9&scp=19&sq=Yavuz&st=p http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30615FA3F58147B93C1A9178ED85F438485F9&scp=18&sq=Yavuz&st=p http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F60610FD3554107A93CBAB178DD85F448485F9&scp=21&sq=Yavuz&st=p —Ed (talk • majestic titan) I'll try to ping someone on IRC tomorrow (well, technically today...) for this —Ed (talk • majestic titan) Second question: is it "Turkish Government" or "Turkish government"? I thought it was the latter, but the former is used in the article. —Ed (talk • majestic titan) It's the former, I believe, as this is the name of the thing. Nick-D (talk) ==To Parsecboy== Please explain the reasonable reasons about this edits and this. Where did you find sentence A large warship sits motionless in harbor against the backdrop of a large city.? Do you have sources? Or did somebody write only with his/her impression? I cannot think the sentence you tried to defend is so important and encyclopedic.

SMS Goeben

Hurricane Bud churns towards Mexico's Pacific coast By David Alire Garcia MANZANILLO, Mexico (Reuters) - Hurricane Bud lost some strength as it moved closer to Mexico's Pacific coast on Friday and was forecast to hit land south of the popular tourist town of Puerto Vallarta, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. Bud, which weakened overnight to a Category 2 storm, is still expected to dump heavy rains in several states in western Mexico, threatening floods and landslides. At Mexico's largest Pacific port of Manzanillo, skies were overcast and rainy before the forecast landfall later on Friday. The hurricane, the Pacific's first of the 2012 season, had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, the Miami-based center said. Mexico has no significant oil installations on the Pacific coast. "Hurricane conditions are expected to reach the coast within the hurricane warning area this afternoon," the center said in an advisory. Located about 105 miles southwest of Manzanillo, the hurricane was moving north-northeast at around 8 mph and Mexico's government issued a hurricane watch along the coast from Punta San Telmo to Cabo Corrientes. Bud is expected to soak the states of Michoacan, Colima and Jalisco and southern Nayarit with around 6 to 8 inches of rain. In some places, the storm could dump as much as 15 inches of rain. "These rainfall amounts could produce life-threatening flash floods and mudslides," the center said. "Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion." Most of Mexico's oil platforms and exporting ports are in the Gulf of Mexico and affected by storms in the Atlantic, where forecasters are expecting a "near normal" hurricane season this year with up to 15 tropical storms and four to eight hurricanes. (Additional reporting by Michael O'Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Sony BMG Developing Online Music Service Filed at 10:30 a.m. ET BERLIN (AP) -- The CEO of Sony BMG Music Entertainment says that the company is developing an online music subscription service that would give users unlimited access to its music and be compatible with a host of digital music players. Sony BMG's artist roster includes newcomers like Leona Lewis, along with stalwarts like Alicia Keys and Celine Dion, as well as country singer Carrie Underwood among others. In an interview with the newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung published Monday, chief executive Rolf Schmidt-Holtz did not offer a timeline for unveiling the service. As for costs to subscribers, the newspaper quoted him as saying that the "simplest option would be a flat rate" fee per month of around 6 to 8 euros ($9 to $12) for unlimited access to Sony BMG's entire music catalog and that the downloads would be compatible with all players, including Apple's ubiquitous iPod. He said that it was "even possible that clients could keep some songs indefinitely, that they would own them even after the subscription expired." A Bertelsmann spokesman confirmed that the interview was accurate but declined to provide further details. Schmidt-Holtz was quoted as saying the unit was in talks with other major music distributors but did not disclose with whom and added that it was possible mobile phone operators could be brought on board, with the aim of letting users download their songs to their cell phones. Besides the book publisher Random House, Bertelsmann's interests include music business BMG, which is comprised of its 50 percent holding in the Sony BMG Music Entertainment joint venture with Japan's Sony Corp., and radio and television -- including broadcaster RTL, magazines and media services. Bertelsmann is headquartered in Guetersloh, Germany, but most of its 97,000 employees are scattered over its divisions. The company is controlled by the Mohn family, directly and through a foundation. On the Net:

2008-12-31 00:00:00

H1N1 vaccine advised for nursing homes ATLANTA, Jan. 28 (UPI) -- Long-term care facilities, or nursing homes should continue implementing infection control practices to prevent the spread of H1N1, U.S. health officials say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released Thursday says during last October and November, the CDC received reports of several H1N1 flu outbreaks among residents and employees in long-term care facilities in Colorado, Maine and New York. "These outbreaks show that, despite the lower risk of infection with H1N1 flu -- compared with seasonal flu -- among people age 65 and older H1N1 flu outbreaks can still occur in long-term care facilities among the elderly," the report said. About 90 percent of the 36,000 people who die each year of seasonal flu are age 65 and older, but the estimated 16,000 who died of H1N1 were mostly age 50 and under and is considered a "young people's disease." Residents of long-term care facilities should receive seasonal influenza vaccination and also should be vaccinated against H1N1, federal health officials advise.

2010-12-31 00:00:00

::I don't know man, Simon Cowell can be too deep for me sometimes, and Ryan Seacrest is like a well of wisdom with no bottom. Soxwon (talk) If you really are a Marxist, then you know better than anyone that Obama isn't one. Wasted Time R (talk) (OD)Just to sum up what everyone's saying above, if a reliable source exists showing Obama is a Marxist, feel free to bring it up. Otherwise, it's original research. Dayewalker (talk) To several of the previous commenters (before Dayewalker and Wasted Time R) - read back over your replies. Are they helpful in any way? No, of course not. This talk page already has enough problems from folks who come here with wild accusations, conspiracy theories, or irrelevant minutiae about Obama's life. We don't need to add to that problem with snarky replies which waste everyone's time and don't bother to address the question asked. Perhaps the anon user is just pushing a POV, or perhaps they are just making what they see as a legitimate point. It saves time if we just assume the latter and answer the above with something like the following: While it is clear that Obama has come into contact with Marxist or socialist ideas in the past, there is no indication that he ever (now or in the past) self-identified as a Marxist. As most college students who study liberal arts (as Obama did) come into contact with at least some Marxist theories, that fact is not really worth mentioning in Obama's biographical article. Nor is the fact that a minor, outside-the-mainstream political party once endorsed him for office particularly relevant as this is a fairly common occurrence in American politics. And fact that Obama as a youngster knew someone with radical politics is not relevant unless it can be demonstrated that said person decisively influenced Obama's own politics, which it has not. I know the drive-by commenting on the talk page can get frustrating, but when you start talking about Pol Pot, mushrooms, Harry Potter, and Simon Cowell in your replies, it's safe to assume you're not replying in a constructive way. Sorry. I was just getting all caught up in the spirit of the moment. I meant no disrespect to the... er... Marxist. My response was meant in all seriousness. The gulf between actual Marxism and the U.S. Democratic Party (which Obama fits comfortably within) is wider than an ocean. An actual Marxist would know that. Wasted Time R (talk) :My apologies, the first answer did in fact address the question at hand, the second was simly snark. Soxwon (talk) ::My comment was not directed at everyone and probably should have been more specific (I had neither Wasted Time R nor Soxwon's first comment in mind). It's really not a big deal, I just worry that the stressful nature of this page sometimes causes folks to (understandably) bite when certain types of questions are asked. It's the kind of thing we all can (and do) fall prey to at times so I just wanted to draw attention to that. Questions about possible Marxist (in the academic sense) influences on Obama are not completely off the wall, though as I said above it's really not worthy of coverage. And of course there is, lamentably in my view, a large gulf between Marxian ideas and the views of Democrats like Obama as WTR says. :::The initial "question" posed by the anon was not done in a good-faith effort to improve the article or contribute to the encyclopedia. This was a single post by an IP resolving to Nova Southeastern University, hardly a hotbed for Marxist movements, so take that claim with a grain of salt. BITE does not apply to obvious trolls or vandals. This should have been closed up long before reaching this point. Tarc (talk) ::::I agree. "Possible" Marxist? I mean, c'mon, has there ever been any doubt? ;-) Someone can go ahead and collapse/delete/archive this now. == Unexpected == Thanks to the editor for providing a reference, but it confirms that the word "unexpected" is misleading. The Republican challenger imploded with a scandal. The only thing the article says is that he wasn't expected to win going into the race and that the size of his margins weren't expected, but it's not really accurate to say his victory was unexpected without clarifying what is meant by this. No one was shocked when he won. It wasn't a big surprise. It was expected.

Barack Obama/Archive 57

Obituary of Wang Ling, The Australian newspaper, August 25, 1994. Who's Who in the World, 7th edition, 1984–1985, Marquis Who's Who. Entry for Wang, Ling. ==External links== Science and Civilisation in China Powell's Books - Jonathan Spence's Review of The Man Who Loved China Historians of science Sinologists Australian people of Chinese descent Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge National Central University alumni Nanjing University alumni 1917 births 1994 deaths 王铃

Wang Ling (historian)

Queen's Speech: Children and families feature

2012-12-31 00:00:00

This helps prevent certain faults from going unnoticed, which may be difficult for a judge to see from only one area of the arena. For example, the horse's straightness going across the diagonal may be assessed by judges at M and H. Judges in the United States are licensed by the USEF for different levels of competition, depending on the judge's experience and training. The dressage arena also has a centerline (from A to C, going through X in the middle), as well as two quarter-lines (halfway between the centerline and long sides of each arena). == Competition == Dressage competitions consist of a series of individual tests with an increasing level of difficulty. Dressage competitors may begin at small, unrated local competitions with Introductory level tests where riders need only walk and trot or training and first level tests primarily asking for a walk, trot and canter. At rated competitions, horses and riders advance through a graduated series of nationally defined levels, with tests of increasing difficulty at each level. The national level competitions in the United States are sanctioned by The United State Dressage Federation (USDF). Local competitions are offered by USDF Group Member Organizations (GMOs). The most accomplished horse and rider teams perform FEI tests, written by an international committee called the Fédération Équestre Internationale or FEI. The highest level of modern competition is at the Grand Prix level. This is the level test ridden in the prestigious international competitions, such as the Olympic games. Dressage at the international level under the rules of the FEI (Federation Equestre Internationale) consists of the following levels: Prix St. Georges, Intermediare I, Intermediare II and Grand Prix. In addition, there are four to six lower levels, occasionally more, regulated in individual nations. The lower levels ask horses for basic, relatively large circles, and a lower level of collection than the international levels. Lateral movements are not required in the earliest levels, and movements such as the leg yield, shoulder-in, or haunches-in are gradually introduced as the horse progresses. Apart from competition, there is a tradition of classical dressage, in which the tradition of dressage is pursued as an art form. The traditions of the masters who originated Dressage are kept alive by the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria and the Cadre Noir in Saumur, France. This type of schooling is also a part of Portuguese and Spanish bullfighting exhibitions. === Tests === Dressage tests are the formalized sequence of a number of dressage movements used in competition. Although horses and riders are competing against each other, tests are completed by one horse and rider combination at a time, and horses and riders are judged against a common standard, rather than having their performance scored relative to the other competitors. At the upper levels, tests for International competitions, including the Olympics, are issued under the auspices of the Federation Equestre Internationale. At the lower levels, and as part of dressage training each country authorizes its own set of tests. In the USA it is the United States Equestrian Federation and the United States Dressage Federation. Pony Clubs also produce basic walk/trot tests. The British Dressage Federation has similar rules. Each test is segmented into a number of sequential blocks which may contain one or more movements. Each block is generally scored between one and ten on a scale such as the following: 10 Excellent 9 Very good 8 Good 7 Fairly good 6 Satisfactory 5 Sufficient 4 Insufficient 3 Fairly Bad 2 Bad 1 Very bad 0 Not performed Along with each mark a "comment" is given, which can describe things a rider and horse lack during the movement, or what they have. Any of the definitions of each numeric mark can only be used in the comment if the mark corresponds with the definition In addition to marks for the dressage movements, marks are also awarded for more general attributes such as the horse's gaits, submission, impulsion and the rider’s performance. Some segments are given increased weight by the use of a multiplier, or coefficient. Coefficients are typically given a value of 2, which then doubles the marks given for that segment. Movements that are given a coefficient are generally considered to be particularly important to the horse's progression in training, and should be competently executed prior to moving up to the next level of competition. The scores for the general attributes of gait, submission, impulsion, and rider performance mentioned above are scored using a coefficient. === Scribing === Scribing (also known as Penciling) is the writing down of the scores and comments of Judges at dressage events, so that the Judge can concentrate on the performance.

Dressage

Lady Pauline Nicholson - Telegraph Published: 4:51PM GMT 12 Feb 2010 She was born Pauline Anne Ogilvie-Grant on May 26 1944 to the Countess of Seafield, who had caused a scandal of her own by eloping at 26 to make a marriage that broke down after Pauline was born. Lady Seafield was a peer in her own right and was said to have been the richest woman in Scotland after the Queen. Her daughter grew up a shy, stammering girl at Cullen House, near the Banffshire coast, where her main company was a nanny and the chauffeur, whom she called "Pop" - to the distress of her father on the rare occasions they met. As Pauline grew up she attracted a series of young admirers and found her mother's efforts to control her life constricting. After being refused permission to share a flat with another girl, she married her brother-in-law, Jamie Illingworth, at 19. The match collapsed after two years: "All I did was to swap one sort of a prison for another," she recalled. By the time Pauline divorced in 1970, her parents were dead, and she had inherited the twin Revack and Dorback estates, which included 26,900 acres of grouse moor, deer forest, salmon fishing and 15 tenanted farms on Speyside. Her next marriage, in 1972, was to a long-standing boyfriend, the Scottish landowner Sir William Gordon-Cumming of Forres, 6th Bt and Chief of the Clan Cumming. They had been stepping out for some years, and it seemed a natural alliance. But this too failed after four years. Then she married, in 1976, Hugh Sykes, a businessman with whom she had a son, which did not prevent another divorce. By now Pauline's enthusiasm for the state of wedlock was waning. She took up with one of her underkeepers - an affair closely observed by the local newspapers. They reported how he had left his wife and four children to live in the lodge after Lady Pauline had taken to calling at his council house to drink whisky before going out with him to hunt foxes, sometimes until 3am. When this liaison wilted she took up with the head keeper (though an affair was later denied). But this did not stop the first keeper's wife describing her as someone "who picks off gamekeepers like she picks off red deer." Pauline was wounded by the "Lady Chatterley" label, but wistfully replied to criticism by saying that she had no regrets: "I would do it all again. I was always looking for love." One consequence, she admitted, was a rift with her brother, the 13th Earl of Seafield, who no longer spoke to her. "It was a gamekeeper too far," she explained. "We used to be very close." She met her fourth husband, whom she married in 1989, while drinking at his hotel at Nethy Bridge. Unlike his predecessors, Dave Nicholson brought her lasting happiness. A down-to-earth Lancastrian, he left a wife and four children, then energetically set about helping his new spouse to diversify what had been a purely sporting estate at Revack, where the revenues from grouse shooting and deer stalking were declining. They turned the estate into a tourist attraction, with a restaurant and craft shops as well as woodland walks. It attracted 40,000 visitors a year and gave employment to 40 local people, who, like her many friends, held her in great affection. A herd of automated Jurassic Park dinosaurs to roam the property was being considered when Pauline, who had thrown herself into the project with gusto, developed breast cancer. In 1999 she sold both estates, which had an initial price tag of £7 million, sending a personal note to each of her employees. The properties had been in the family for 800 years, and the sale was a heart-wrenching experience for her. In need of warmth, Lady Pauline Nicholson built a four-bedroom house overlooking a golf course in Tobago. As her condition continued to deteriorate she also bought a house in Dorset, from which she would drive up to Scotland, stopping to play golf at courses along the way before reaching Speyside, where (as the former landowner) she was an honorary member of the local club, playing off a handicap of 12.

2010-12-31 00:00:00

Roberto Mancini claims his Manchester City will 'fight United until the end' after Swansea defeat "We shall fight against Manchester United until the end. "We have another 10 games to finish this championship. The season is long and the situation changes every week. "It is important that we stay together. But this result changes nothing. "It is better to stay at the top, of course, but we are now a point behind. It does not change our target. "I don't see it as a critical game. I think this championship will be decided with two games to go." Mancini hauled off Gareth Barry after 36 minutes and said his decision was based on the midfielder being injured, but added, bizarrely, that he did not know the nature of the injury. "Gareth has had a problem for three weeks. "They had a lot of possession for 30 minutes and we needed another striker. "It is not because he played bad. He has had a problem but I don't know where. I know it is not a big injury." Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers said his side could have won by an even bigger margin. "Over the course of the game some of our passing and ball retention and movement was phenomenal. "We got one goal but we also missed a penalty too. "We could have had one or two more and I think the players deserve every credit they get for the tactical and technical ability of their game today. "There have been some wonderful results over many years at this great club but certainly it was a terrific performance. "When you take on a team like Manchester City, with all the resources they have got, and you dominate the game like we did, it fills you with great pride."

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Steven Whittaker and Steven Naismith agree Rangers wage cuts

2012-12-31 00:00:00

US adds 120,000 jobs in March, lower than predicted

2012-12-31 00:00:00

BLOOMBERG TRADEBOOK is a registered trademark of Bloomberg Tradebook Services LLC and its affiliates. Communicated by Bloomberg Tradebook Europe Limited; registered in England & Wales No. 3556095, authorized and regulated by the UK Financial Services Authority No. 187492. SOURCE Bloomberg Tradebook Services LLC

2008-12-31 00:00:00

Crazed butcher jailed after drug-fuelled knife attack on shop manager A CRAZED butcher whose drink and drug fuelled knife attack on a shop manager shocked terrified customers was jailed for four years today. • Rafal Swiderski A court heard that Rafal Swiderski, 21, had come to Scotland in March last year, seeking a new start. But instead he went back to binging on alcohol and amphetamine to such an extent that he suffered from hallucinations. Despite his short stay in Scotland, Swiderski had already served a three month sentence for holding a woman prisoner in her home in Broxburn, West Lothian. Police armed with rubber bullets and a Tazer finally ended the siege after Swiderski barricaded himself and his victim in her bedroom, armed with a knife he had taken from her kitchen. At the High Court today, judge Lord Bannatyne described Swiderski's previous conviction for breach of the peace as "utterly shocking." The judge said that Swiderski should remain on licence for an extra three years after his prison term - to protect the public in the event that the authorities did not report him. Solicitor advocate Ewen (EWEN) Roy, defending, admitted that there were similarities between the siege in May last year and the assault and robbery in Haldanes in East Main Street, Broxburn, on February 19. Then, horrified customers watched vodka-swilling Swiderski torture Danny Quinney, 22, while demanding more drink. The shop manager was dragged round the store stabbed twice and had vodka spat in his face. Swiderski, who had been living in Broxburn, kept yelling "Beer!" Advocate depute Michael Stuart, prosecuting, said a customer saw Swiderski walking in and out of the supermarket's storeroom with an open can of beer in his hand, and called shop staff. He seemed drunk and had blood on his face, hands and clothing, said Mr Stuart. As Mr Quinney approached Swiderski to see if he could help, Swiderski shouted "Beer!." He held a knife towards the shop manager and again aggressively demanded beer. Mr Stuart described how Swiderski grabbed Mr Quinney by the collar of his tee shirt and began to push him round the shop then sat him down on one of the food chillers. Mr Quinney tried to fob him off with a bottle of vodka. "The accused took the bottle and drank from it," said Mr Stuart. "Without warning the accused raised his right hand and then stabbed Mr Quinney in the right thigh." Mr Quinney was dragged to another food chiller by his collar. "The accused drank from the bottle of vodka and spat a mouthful of vodka into Mr Quinney's face," said Mr Stuart. As the shop manager tried to wipe his face on his tee shirt, Swiderski ran his knife along the back of Mr Quinney's neck. "The accused then began to pace across the floor in front of Mr Quinney before walking up to Mr Quinney and again stabbing him in the right thigh." Customers and shop staff called police who came into the shop and drew their batons. Swiderski dropped his knife and was led away in handcuffs. When searched, Swiderski was found to have self-inflicted cuts to both his arms and seemed to be having hallucinations. He needed 19 sutures and tranquillisers to calm him down. Mr Quinney needed a total of five sutures to the wounds in his legs but will be scarred for life, the court heard. Swiderski had stolen a bottle of wine and a can of beer during the incident. Pleading for leniency today, Mr Roy said Swiderski's early life in Poland had been blighted by his father's drinking and beating up his mother. He had no recollection of attacking Mr Quinney but was genuinely sorry for what must have been a terrifying experience for both the shop manager and the customers. Before the robbery Swiderski had stayed up all night drinking and taking amphetamine. The alcohol and drugs had led to hallucinations - just as they had during the earlier siege. His state of mind had been "abnormal" but he accepted he had no-one to blame but himself. Jailing Swiderski, Lord Bannatyne told him: "In my view this was a very nasty offence. It involved a wholly unprovoked attack on the manager of a supermarket in the course of his duties. It involved the use of a weapon." The judge said that if Swiderski had not plead guilty to the assault and robbery charge the jail sentence would have been almost six years

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Cavs offer job to homeless man with golden voice Associated Press January 5, 2011, 8:35 a.m. la-naw-ted-williams-homeless-20110105 The Cleveland Cavaliers have offered a job to a homeless Ohio man with a golden radio voice. Ted Williams, whose deep baritone and plight have made him an online video sensation, was contacted Wednesday by the Cavs. Team spokesman Tad Carper says details are being worked out on the possible position. It could include Williams working in Quicken Loans Arena. The Columbus Dispatch reports that video of Williams posted this week on its website has commanded millions of views. In the clip, Williams stands near a Columbus highway ramp demonstrating his smooth, deep speaking voice. He holds a sign that asks motorists for help and says, "I'm an ex-radio announcer who has fallen on hard times." Williams says he had trouble with drugs and alcohol but is two years sober.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

"American Idol" Recap: Phillip Phillips, Joshua Ledet and Jessica Sanchez Sing the Judges" Choices "American Idol""s final three contestants - Phillip Phillips, Joshua Ledet and Jessica Sanchez - faced off against each other Wednesday night in an epic battle that saw them each perform three numbers: one they chose themselves, one chosen by the judges and one chosen by mentor Jimmy Iovine. Viewers were also treated to footage of all three contestants visiting their respective hometowns this past weekend. As far as the performances went, there was mostly praise all around, but there was also a near prediction from Steven Tyler as to who would take home the crown. Here's how it went down. First Round: Judges" Choice Randy Jackson chosen Etta James" "I'd Rather Go Blind" - which he incorrectly called "I'd Rather Be Blind" - for Joshua Ledet. Joshua turned in his usual gritty, soulful performance and earned a standing ovation from all three judges. "After 70,000 people, there's only one American Idol," said Steven Tyler. "You sang like that one tonight." Jennifer Lopez said he brought down the house again, while Randy called it "amazing." Jennifer chose Mariah Carey's "My All" for Jessica Sanchez, who was wearing a floor-length blue gown, to perform. The teen seemed to have a bit of trouble with the low notes, but the judges didn't notice. Noting that it was a hard song to sing, J-Lo said that Jessica still managed to "do it so beautifully." Randy, who never misses a chance to remind people that he's worked with Mariah, called it the best rendition of one of her songs ever performed on TV. Steven, though, couldn't contain his enthusiasm. "When you sing, you make people hang on your every note... You'll be the last one standing here, I believe," he said. When Ryan Seacrest asked him if he'd just made a prediction that Jessica would win, Steven quipped, "Don't I always?" Steven chose "Beggin,"" by Madcon, for Phillip, he said, just to see if he'd sing the original melody. The Georgia singer started the song out acoustically, but then the band kicked in and things picked up. However, he changed the melody yet again. Jennifer called it great, but teased him, saying, "You just gotta change the melody!" Steven said he hoped that Phillip would go on to write his own songs, because he could be the "New Age Boss, the new Springsteen." Second Round: Contestants" Choice Joshua chose John Lennon's "Imagine," which he said he'd randomly heard on the radio in the past week and connected with. All the judges praised Joshua for his connection to the lyrics, his vulnerable performance, and the fact that he reined in his voice a bit. "Beautiful... Another "thank you God" moment," said Steven, while Randy called it "stellar." Jessica tempted fate by singing Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing." In the past, Steven Tyler has been hard on contestants who attempted to sing one of his own hits, but he was full of praise for Jessica, saying, "You took a great song and made it greater." Phillip performed an acoustic version of Matchbox Twenty's hit "Disease," and none of the judges liked it very much. While they said he sang well, Randy said it was too "subdued," while Jennifer said it wasn't the "wow performance" that's needed at this point in the competition. Third Round: Jimmy Iovine's Choice Jimmy chose Mary J. Blige's "No More Drama" for Joshua to sing, and the Louisiana native really took it to church, earning raves from the judges. Steven said he saw "the last 40 years of the music business" in Josh's performance, while Jennifer praised him for knowing exactly what he's doing onstage at all times, but still being able to completely let go emotionally. Randy said people should "stand up and vote for" Josh because of everything he's done up to this point in the competition. For Jessica, Jimmy chose The Jackson 5′s version of "I'll Be There" - Mariah Carey, of course, also had a hit with it. The song allowed Jessica to show off her entire range, both high and low. Jennifer thought it was a good choice, but Randy said he didn't love it - it was "just OK, it wasn't like "Ohmigod."" Thanks to Jimmy, Phillip sang Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight," and though he looked incredibly awkward without his guitar - he kept on rubbing his hand against his leg - he actually sang the melody, and the judges gave him a standing ovation.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Sharapova, Ivanovic say women's tennis game is clean Tennis stars Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic insisted here Tuesday the women's game is clean as the world's elite players gear up for the first Grand Slam of the year in Australia. Rumours of match-fixing and concerns over unusual betting patterns and betting by players have dogged the sport for some time. On Monday, tennis legend Martina Navratilova backed efforts to rid tennis of corruption but conceded that match-fixing was hard to prove. Her comments followed moves by Australian Open officials aimed at preventing any illegal gambling or match fixing, including possibly pursuing criminal charges against players. But world number four Ivanovic and fifth-ranked Sharapova, in Hong Kong for the star-studded JB Group Classic starting Wednesday, said the women's tour was clean. Twenty-year-old Ivanovic, a French Open finalist last year, said she had not heard of any foul play in women's tennis, adding: "I really hope it will stay that way." "I think it's important to... keep it clean and keep it pure and it's all about competition and the challenge and I think that's the way it should be and it should stay that way." Two-time Grand Slam winner Sharapova, 20, who lost to American Serena Williams in the final of last year's Australian Open, also said the WTA tour was in good shape. "I think it's in the best interests of players and the tour to keep the sport as clean as possible," the Russian added. "It's unfortunate that you do hear those things. Whether they're true you're not sure because sometimes it's just a bunch of rumours so unless you get a factsheet or facts they will remain rumours." Six of the world's top 11 women players face off this week in the Hong Kong tournament, including sixth-ranked Anna Chakvetadze and world number eight Venus Williams. Sharapova, aiming to recapture the world number one slot, said playing the Hong Kong tournament was good preparation for the Australian Open because it guaranteed match-ups against top players. Serbia's Ivanovic said she was aiming to reach number one in 2008. Asked whether it could be her breakthrough year, she said: "I really look forward to that. I think it could be." The issue of corruption has swirled around tennis for months. Russian world number four Nikolay Davydenko is the subject of an investigation after suspicious betting patterns emerged in a match he played in Poland in August. He has denied any involvement in the affair. The ATP recently banned Italian tennis players Potito Starace and Daniele Bracciali for betting on matches, ruling them both out of this month's Australian Open. Announcing the punishments, the ATP, the governing body for the men's game, warned that players and support staff would be disciplined if evidence of betting on matches was discovered. Copyright AFP 2007, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

2008-12-31 00:00:00

== March 2010 == Welcome to Wikipedia. Everyone is welcome to contribute constructively to the encyclopedia. However, please do not add promotional material to articles or other Wikipedia pages, as you did to Abdominal distension. Advertising and using Wikipedia as a "soapbox" is against Wikipedia policy and not permitted. Take a look at the welcome page to learn more about Wikipedia. Thank you. noisy jinx huh?

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Mar Power stations in Maryland

Oil-fired power stations in Maryland

Iceland GeoSurvey (ÍSOR) is a consulting and research institute providing specialist services to the Icelandic power industry, the Icelandic government and foreign companies, in particular in the field of geothermal sciences and utilisation. It also aims to advance geoscientific knowledge of the Iceland landmass and its continental shelf by means of systematic surveying, monitoring and research. The headquarters are in Reykjavík with an affiliate in Akureyri, North Iceland. Iceland GeoSurvey is a self-financed, non-profit governmental institution which operates on project and contract basis. It was established in 2003 and took over all responsibilities of the former GeoScience Division of the National Energy Authority of Iceland (Orkustofnun). Research on Iceland’s indigenous energy resources goes back to the 18th century. Systematic energy research by Icelandic government institutes started in 1944 and has been carried out continuously ever since. Iceland GeoSurvey and its predecessor have from the start played a key role in this work. This research and the activities of the Icelandic power industry have resulted in that over 50% of the primary energy use in Iceland at present has its source in geothermal energy. == Services == Iceland GeoSurvey provides a wide variety of energy research, exploration and development services on contract in Iceland and abroad. The main services provided are: Geothermal and hydropower resources: Exploration and research on geothermal resources. Consulting services related to exploration, earth sciences, drilling and production. Services related to geothermal system management, operation and exploitation. Geothermal system modelling. Technical and economic feasibility studies related to utilisation options. Supervision and training of geothermal scientists. Geodetic surveying. Geological mapping. Exploration and evaluation of groundwater resources. Environment: Environmental impact assessment of energy development and chemical pollution. Geological and chemical investigations. Basic data collection and appraisal of undeveloped energy resources. Monitoring of environmental impact of energy production. Other research: Marine geosciences including oil and gas prospecting. Processing and interpretation of seismic surveys. Freshwater studies. Geotechnical studies for tunnels and constructions. ==See also== Renewable energy in Iceland Geothermal power in Iceland Geology organizations Geological surveys Íslenskar orkurannsóknir

Iceland GeoSurvey

Education Minister Peter Peacock, who has ministerial responsibility for Gaelic, said: "This is a momentous day for Gaelic as we open a new chapter in the language's history. We have come a long way since the dark days of 1616 when an Act of Parliament ruled that Gaelic should be 'abolishit and removit' from Scotland." ===Cornwall=== on of those children who spoke Irish only. According to the official opinion of later Commissioners, expressed in a formal reply to the Chief Secretary in 1884, " the anxiety of the promoters of the National Scheme was to encourage the cultivation of the English language. The Irish patriot P.H. Pearse published a series of studies of the English-medium education system in Ireland. His article entitled The Murder Machine embodies an article which appeared in the Irish Review for February 1913. Pearse wrote in his pamphlet the following: And English education in Ireland has seemed: to some like the bed of Procustes, the bed on which all men that passed that way must lie, be it never so big for them, be it never so small for them: the traveller for whom it was too large had his limbs stretched until he filled it; the traveller for whom it was too small had his limbs chopped off until he fitted into it—comfortably. It was a grim jest to play upon travellers. The English have done it to Irish children not by way of jest, but with a purpose. Our English-Irish systems took, and take, absolutely no cognisance of the differences between individuals, of the differences between localities, of the: differences between urban and rural communities, of the differences springing from a different ancestry, Gaelic or Anglo-Saxon. ===Scotland=== Attempts were made by legislation, in the later medieval and early modern period, to establish English at first among the aristocracy and increasingly amongst all ranks by education acts and parish schools. The Scots Parliament passed some ten such acts between 1494 and 1698. In 1609 nine Gaelic chieftains were abducted and forced to sign the Statutes of Iona, which would seem to have been designed specifically to Anglicize leaders and institutions of Gaelic society, in order to bring it under control of central government. Among the items listed in this agreement was the "planting of the gospell among these rude, barbarous, and uncivill people" by Protestant churches; the outlawing of bards who were traditionally on circuit between the houses of noblemen; the requirement that all men of wealth send their heirs to be educated in Lowland schools where they would be taught to "speik, reid, and wryte Inglische." The then King James VI, followed this by an Act in 1616, which sought to establish schools in every parish in the Highlands so that "the youth be exercised and trayned up in civilitie, godlines, knawledge, and learning, that the vulgar Inglische toung be universallie plantit, and the Irische language, whilk is one of the chief and principall causes of the continewance of barbaritie and incivilitie amongis the inhabitantis of the Ilis and Heylandis, may be abolisheit and removeit." In 1709 the Society in Scotland for Propagating Christian Knowledge (SSPCK) was established in order to further funding sources for Highland church schools. All manner of incentives and punishments were used to stop children from speaking Gaelic. The SSPCK had 5 schools by 1711, 25 by 1715, 176 by 1758 and 189 by 1808, by then with 13,000 pupils attending. At first the SSPCK avoided using the Gaelic language with the result that pupils ended up learning by rote without understanding what they were reading. In 1741 the SSPCK introduced a Gaelic-English vocabulary, then in 1766 brought in a New Testament with facing pages of Gaelic and English texts for both languages to be read alongside one another, with more success. After a number of years of unsuccessful attempts at English-only teaching methods, it was realized that literacy in Gaelic was a much more effective means of teaching and a bridge towards fluency in English. Since 1918 education acts have provided for teaching Gaelic in Gaelic-speaking areas, but development was very slow until Gaelic became an initial teaching medium in the Gaelic areas of Inverness-shire and Ross-shire from 1958. In 1975 the newly-created Western Isles education authority introduced bilingual primary education shortly followed by Highland Region in Skye. Gaelic-medium primary education commenced with two schools in 1985, growing to 42 units by 1993/94.

English-medium education

Can Small Soda Tax Nip Obesity? Fat Chance (AP) Small taxes on soda do little to reduce soft drink consumption or prevent childhood obesity, but larger levies probably would, according to new research. The study is being released as a recent wave of proposals would raise soda taxes or create new ones on sugared beverages. But they'll have to be a lot steeper than current taxes, which are generally 4 percent or less, said Roland Sturm, lead author of the new research. "Small taxes will not prevent obesity," said Sturm, a senior economist at the Rand Corp. in Santa Monica, Calif. Sturm and his colleagues used information from a 2004 national survey of about 7,300 fifth-graders. The researchers looked at how the children's height and weight had changed over the previous two years and how often the kids said they drank soda and sports drinks. The researchers also reviewed taxes on carbonated drinks that were in effect in 2004. Roughly two-thirds of the children lived in states that had a tax on soda greater than on other food items. The highest was 7 cents tax on each dollar's worth of soda. The average was about 4 cents. They found the taxes made no real difference on overall soda consumption or on obesity for kids overall. They did have a small effect on certain children - especially those from families with an annual income of $25,000 or less. Those kids - who drank about seven cans of soda a week, on average - drank one less can because of the taxes, Sturm said. However, if the taxes were more like 18 cents on the dollar, Sturm calculated it would make a significant difference. The research is being published online Thursday in the journal Health Affairs. The Rand study was funded by the federal government and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Most states exempt grocery food from sales taxes. But in recent years, candy and soft drinks have been increasingly targeted, either through a tax or removal of an existing sales tax exemption. The children in the study were from 40 states, 20 of which had soda taxes when the study was done. More than 30 states have some form of soda tax today, averaging about 5 cents per dollar of soda. In the last month, Colorado removed a 3 percent sales tax exemption for candy and soda. Philadelphia's mayor proposed a 2 cents-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, which would add 24 cents to the price of a can of Coke. Most of the taxes tend to be enough to bring in some extra money for struggling state budgets, but small enough not to rile soda manufacturers or significantly change buying habits, said Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. "Taxes have to be large enough to affect consumption," said Brownell, who has called for a tax as high as 12 percent. But most people don't want their soda taxed, according to the American Beverage Association, which represents soda manufacturers. Association officials noted that Maine voters last fall rejected a soda tax. And in a press release last week, the organization pointed to a recent survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by Rasmussen Reports that found 56 percent of Americans are against taxes on candy and soda. The beverage association did not pay for the telephone survey, said Debra Falk, a spokeswomen for the polling firm. The Rand study confirms that small taxes on soda don't reduce obesity, and offers no evidence that larger taxes would do any better, said Christopher Gindlesperger, spokesman for beverage association. "Taxes don't work. What does work is balancing the diet and exercise," he said. © MMX, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. CBSNews.com On Digg

2010-12-31 00:00:00

Lanvin, Paul Smith Give a Strong Menswear Finale The final day of spring-summer 2013 menswear shows saw the return of legendary designer Pierre Cardin. Sixty-five years after he first burst onto the fashion scene, on Sunday guests were treated to a rare celebration of the designer credited with inventing Paris menswear in the first place. Cardin is the last survivor of the post-War Parisian couturiers, which include the likes of Christian Dior, Elsa Schiaparelli and Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. To see the veteran take to the stage was a rare event: He turns 90 next week and this may well be one of his last shows. In other collections, bold design was back. Paul Smith used color with masculine confidence. The British designer championed a vivid palette with a new carrot shape silhouette in trousers. In the strongest show of the day French house, Lanvin defiantly bucked the trend for spring-summer and went monochrome. The house moved in a new, contrasting direction, trumpeting a techno black and white early-1980s silhouette that harked back to the end of Glam Rock. Waists were high and belted Sunday, baggy shirts with rolled short sleeves sported retro V-necks, and some models wore Elton John shades. Where was the color, ubiquitous in most other menswear shows this season? "I didn't try to create anything to set a trend," Lanvin's creative director Alber Elbaz said backstage. French fashion designer Pierre Cardin appears at the end of his Men's Spring-Summer 2013 collection, for the Paris Fashion Week, in Paris, France, Sunday, July 1, 2012. (AP Photo/Francois Mori) Close Here the brightness came in glam rock metallic sheen, reaching its most flashy in a traffic-stopping single breasted silver suit. It signaled a different, confident voice in this season's fashion conversation. Adam Ant could well have been sitting in the front row. "It's about contradictions, contrasts," said Elbaz. These certainly abounded - though they never detracted from the overall unity of the show. Tensions were created by black on white, matte on sheen, and even some 1960s fitted suits that varied the Roxy Music silhouette. The models all strutted on a plaftormed catwalk, influenced, Elbaz explained, by a desire "to elevate fashion." With this forward moving show, in that goal he was successful. Paul Smith's went through the rainbow for a bold spring summer menswear collection for 2013. Peach, forest green, rose pale blue, vermilion and lemon yellow filed past on models like successive tones on a color wheel. The statement was: This season's man is happy, confident, and proud of it. There was some clear study done on finding the ideal palette: one ensemble in yellow ochre, terracotta, mint green and pale blue simply blossomed. Strong shouldered-fitted suits with skinny pants hit the trend button, but also featured alongside a new carrot silhouette in the pant, with billowing pockets. Print also featured strongly in fabrics splattered with dissected rose images. But did the show's brightness lack a manly edge? There's no need to worry. "If my customers come into my showroom, they'll still find the navy blues, the rent payers," said Smith backstage. "These bright colors are for a show of 12 minutes of impact, just a statement." Smith - a designer with a strong business mind - clearly understands how to design for men: softly, softly is the key. "With (menswear) clothes for me it's about nudging not shoving." It was a long-awaited comeback.

2012-12-31 00:00:00

Think California's Prisons are a Problem? Look at Mexico's Over the last year, Mexico has suffered from a seemingly never-ending list of escapes, riots and murders in its prisons. In October 2008, prison inmates hurled grenades and sprayed Kalashnikov rounds at each other in a penitentiary in the Pacific state of Sinaloa. A month earlier, federal police stormed a rioting jail in the border city of Tijuana, resulting in the death of 23 prisoners. Just this past May, in the mining town of Zacatecas, 53 inmates simply walked out of a jail, leaving in a 17-car convoy backed by a helicopter. The country's penitentiary system has been flooded by new inmates locked up in President Felipe Calderon's war on drug cartels. Calderon boasts his military offensive has netted more than 45,000 cartel operatives from smugglers to gun-toting hitmen to diamond-clad capos. But, now, where does he put them all? A few dozen of the top dogs have been extradited to the United States and some other ranking members have been put in a specially built 800-prisoner capacity top security penitentiary in Mexico State. But tens of thousands of more convicts are shunted into state and city jails across the country, causing record overcrowding and overwhelming ill-equipped local guards. (See pictures from Mexico's drug wars.) "The problem affects basic things like just not having enough water for all the inmates," says Deputy Warden Jose Luis Herrera, who let TIME inside one of the wings of Mexico City's Eastern Prison - the most populous jail in all of Latin America. "Then we have visiting hours when tens of thousands of family members can show up." Opened in 1976, the prison in the capital's rough Eastside was built for 4,700 prisoners. It currently has 12,500 inmates. In face of the challenge, U.S. officials have earmarked $4 million to help bolster Mexican prisons, part of an aid package to support the fight against the drug armies. Calderon has also promised to build more pens to cope with the burgeoning numbers. But some working in the prison system say the difficulties in the controlling the inmates will not be solved by raising more jail houses; the crisis, they say, also stems from profound problems in Mexico's justice apparatus. More than 41% of the nation's total prison population of 220,000 has not even been convicted and sentenced even though many of the prisoners have already spent several years behind bars. "There should be less focus on trying to put more people in prison and more on trying to get the right people in," Deputy Warden Herrera says. (Watch TIME's video "Inside Mexico's Overcrowded Prisons.") Mexico also struggles with corruption among prison officials, some of whom are susceptible to the influence of their prisoners - especially the traffickers from the multi-billion dollar narcotics industry. For example, the escape of the 53 prisoners at Zacatecas was clearly an inside job: a closed circuit video showed guards sitting and watching as the escapees marched out of the cells into the waiting convoy. The warden and several guards have since been arrested, though they have yet to be charged. Many of the escapees were members of the Zetas, a feared drug paramilitary based over the border from Texas. The gang is alleged to organize inmates inside several penitentiaries especially in northern Mexico. A fight between alleged Zeta prisoners and a rival gang left 21 dead in a deadly fight in October in a prison in Reynosa, across the bridge from McAllen, Texas. Criminals still run their operations from behind bars. They communicate with their colleagues by way of visiting family members and lawyers; but the crooks have often been found with cell phones smuggled passed the barbed wire fences and watch towers. Phone calls have even been traced to attempts to extort ransoms from terrified victims on the outside. The Eastern Prison is currently installing a new security device to block cell phone signals inside the prison walls. (See pictures of crime-fighting in Mexico City.) Drug gangs also peddle their narcotics to the bored and frustrated inmates, many of whom were already addicted on the outside. Convicted car thief Jair Lopez says crack cocaine is easily available in the Eastern Prison helping him fuel his addiction. "It is tough in here any way. But when you're walking round high on drugs it just gets you in more trouble," Lopez says, resting in a sun scorched prison yard after doing chin ups on a rusty metal bar. A stocky 29-year old, Lopez recently volunteered to go to a special rehab wing with hundreds of other inmates trying to stay clean. To keep their minds off the rocks and powders, they submit to a rigorous exercise therapy, including running round the yard shouting marine-like chants. Officials say the program has helped reduce prison violence.

2009-12-31 00:00:00

Djokovic happy to store up his energy Novak Djokovic is hoping a routine first week at the Australian Open will have conserved his energy levels as he looks to retain his title in Melbourne. The Serbian has dropped just 10 games in advancing through to the fourth round with his latest victory an embarrassingly one-sided 6-0 6-1 6-1 victory over Nicolas Mahut. Mahut, on his 30th birthday, may have been struggling with knee and hamstring injuries which clearly impaired his movement, but the straightforward manner in which the world number one has won his opening three matches lends little weight to the argument there is great depth in the men's game. Not that Djokovic was complaining. With high temperatures set to return to Melbourne next week, the 24-year-old was delighted to have kept plenty in the tank. He said: "The positive out of this first week is obviously my performance has been great. "Also another advantage is that I haven't spent that much energy so I'm fresh going into the second week. "Right now I just want to take one match at a time, focus on the next one, and use this physical freshness that I have." Asked if there were any disadvantages to having such an easy run, he added: "I don't think so. "I've had a lot of practice and I'm physically fit." Andy Murray also progressed with ease after dismissing Michael Llodra in three entertaining sets. The Frenchman tried to throw Murray off course with his net-rushing style but it simply gave the world number four a target which he frequently beat with some wonderful passing shots. Llodra tried everything to get back into the contest with numerous through the legs shots but Murray was not to be denied as he cruised through 6-4 6-2 6-0. Next up for the Scot is Mikhail Kukushkin, who prevailed in an extraordinary match against Gael Monfils. At a set and two breaks down, Monfils looked as though he was going to quit due to a lower back injury sustained early on. But he battled on and after dropping the second set hit back to take it to a decider. It reached 5-6 30-15 with Monfils serving when a point was disrupted by a spectator throwing a ball on to the court in what turned out to be a pivotal moment as the 14th seed's concentration deserted him, coughing up two double faults including one on match point. Earlier, sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga continued his smooth progress through the draw at the expense of Frederico Gil. Gil was making history as the first Portuguese man to make the third round at a grand slam event but he never looked like going any further with Tsonga displaying too much power and guile to complete a routine 6-2 6-2 6-2 victory in one hour and 31 minutes. The Frenchman broke twice in all three sets to set up a last-16 clash with Kei Nishikori, who beat Julien Benneteau 4-6 7-6 (7/3) 7-6 (7/4) 6-3. "Today I played well and felt good on court," said Tsonga. "Match after match I play better here and I hope it will continue and I go far in the tournament." Richard Gasquet powered into the last 16 with a straight-sets defeat of ninth seed Janko Tipsarevic. The Frenchman was at his stylish best to see off the Serbian 6-3 6-3 6-1. The 17th seed will play David Ferrer next following the Spaniard's 7-5 6-2 6-1 victory over veteran Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela. Lleyton Hewitt rolled back the years to set up a fourth-round clash with Djokovic by beating rising star Milos Raonic in four sets. The home favourite and former world number one had to come from a set down but eventually prevailed 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7/5) 6-3. On his meeting with the Serbian, Hewitt said: "He's the best player in the world at the moment. What he did last year was amazing and it took a great effort from Roger Federer to beat him in the semis at Roland Garros otherwise he could have won the grand slam."

2012-12-31 00:00:00

63 Years At UPS - CBS News Video August 31, 2009 4:09 PM For seven decades, 87-year-old Marty Peters has worked for UPS and now holds the record for the longest-working employee at the company. Dean Reynolds reports from Detroit. 0 Comments on this video Add a comment

2009-12-31 00:00:00

83.250.231.9 (talk) = December 21 = == Changing an article title == The title for the entry on Chretien de Troyes's Yvain, ou Le Chevalier au Lion mistranslates the romance's title as "The Knight OF the Lion." Some translations, like Burton Raffel's, referenced in the article's footnotes, make this same mistake, but it IS a mistake. It should be "The Knight WITH the Lion." It's an important distinction, not only grammatically but also for the interpretation of the allegory of the lion. However, I can't change that title according to the FAQ about editing an article's title, which says: You move the article using the "move" button (to the right of the "edit this page" button). But in order to do this you must have an account that has reached autoconfirmed status, meaning it must be at least four days old and have made at least ten edits. If you are not an autoconfirmed user, or the move is controversial, or the page you wish to rename is move protected, visit Wikipedia:Requested moves. You may also request to have an admin grant you confirmed status. I have only just created an account and haven't made any edits yet. I'm not sure how "ten edits" are counted. Does that mean I have to edit 10 articles? Or make edits ten different times, even for a single article? In any case, I hate for an error like this to stand, just because I'm not yet authorized to make such a change. Alanbaragona (talk) I'm afraid I have removed your addition to the article. One of Wikipedia's core policies is that it does not publish original research. Articles must stick to facts and opinions that have already been published in reliable sources. Your paragraph on the mistranslation of the name may well be true, but, until you can show that the ideas have been published in scholarly works, they should not be mentioned in the article. For the same reason I don't think you should change the article title. To answer your question, though, the ten edits can be to anything at all - even your post here counts towards the total. == changing picture? == How do you change the picture on the wiki page? 98.149.35.240 (talk) If you have a picture that you think would improve a Wikipedia page, there are four steps to think about: Copyright - is this a picture that you took yourself? If not, things get complicated very quickly, as the copyright-holder would need to provide evidence that they were willing to release their copyright (see Donating copyright materials for this). But if it is a picture you took yourself, we can go on to step two. Create an account - only logged-in users can upload images. See this page. Upload the file to Wikimedia Commons using this link. Choose a good descriptive name for the file, and try to fill in as many of the other fields as you can. For "licensing", either choose the "recommended" option from the list, or place the image entirely in the public domain. Edit the article to use your image instead of the old one. Click the "Edit" label at the top of the article, and look for something like or WP:AUTOCONFIRMED|autoconfirmed]]. To become autoconfirmed your account must be at least 4 days old and have made at least 10 edits. Your account is over 4 days old but you have only made 3 edits. Even if your account was autoconfirmed your article is not ready to be moved to the main space. You need to add some reliable sources to the article. I would suggest you red FIRST. It provides food information about writing your first article. ~~ GB fan ~~ Presumably you are referring to Ceiron Jones/Enter your new article name here? If so, you should spend some more time working on it before moving. I am not convinced that any of the references demonstrate the notability of the company as discussed in CORP. Notabilty requires significant coverage in reliable sources - none of those sources appear to be reliable for the purposes of establishing notability. – ukexpat (talk) == Editing help == When I add a section to a page a warning comes up that says "If you want to add text to the article, please move it up to an appropriate place in the article". How do I move the section up in the article instead of adding it at the end?

New contributors' help page/Archive/2010/December

Fares to rocket and jobs to be cut in the great train shake-up Network Rail may be broken up as leaked review outlines drastic measures to cut £5bn subsidy Millions of rail passengers face misery under dramatic plans to allow fares to rocket while closing ticket offices and firing on-board staff, The Independent on Sunday has learnt. Leaked documents reveal that a government rail review will suggest that ticket pricing is too complex, too subsidised, over-regulated and inadequate at managing rush-hour demand. It sets out plans to slash staff numbers while proposing the decentralisation of Network Rail and its possible break-up. Ministers risk angering the public and facing a stand-off with unions if they press ahead with the proposals, being drawn up by Sir Roy McNulty, the former chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority, who has warned that annual state funding for the industry of £5bn is unsustainable. In a detailed presentation of his Rail Value for Money review, seen by The IoS, Sir Roy paints a bleak picture for passengers if the railway's finances are to be reformed. It warns that industry costs are a "major problem" and need to be reduced by up to 35 per cent to match competitor countries in Europe. The industry has to give a "better deal" to both passengers and taxpayers. In a workshop last month with senior industry figures, Sir Roy set out the early findings of his study, to be published next month. He told the seminar that "staffing on trains and in ticket offices can be significantly reduced," while "changing terms and conditions, especially for drivers, will reduce costs." The report will recommend that ministers launch a comprehensive fares review, with the aim of "removing or allowing more flexibility in relation to caps on fares." "Some fares are much lower than the market could/should bear," Sir Roy's presentation said. Walk-on fares on peak services could be banned. Only those with season tickets or booked seats are able to travel on the very busiest services. A Rail Delivery Group will be set up by the industry to focus on cutting costs and making best use of existing capacity. It will call for longer franchises for train-operating companies of up to 15 years and "more freedom to set fares." Sir Roy also advocates "deregulation of ticket office opening hours balanced by the introduction of modern technology," raising the prospect of more barriers and card machines at stations. A similar plan for the London Underground by Mayor Boris Johnson provoked a wave of strikes on the Tube. Bob Crow, general-secretary of the RMT rail union, vowed to "fight this attack on jobs, safety and service quality every step of the way." The study identifies barriers to efficiency, including "unproductive relationships" with the unions, the structure of Network Rail and too much government interference. Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, insisted that the Government recognises that there is an issue with over-crowding at peak periods and is investing in a new high-speed network to triple capacity between London and Birmingham. "We're very clear that the whole purpose of the McNulty review over the medium term is to get a better deal for taxpayers and fare-payers by reducing the cost of our railways." Maria Eagle, the shadow transport secretary, warned: "It's clear that the Tory-led government plans to embark on a dangerous experiment by breaking up Britain's railway infrastructure. Yet more fragmentation isn't the answer; neither should passengers be expected to take on yet more of the cost when they are already seeing household budgets squeezed by the eye-watering fare rises ordered by ministers."

2011-12-31 00:00:00

86.166.70.84 (talk) Yes I agree that the James Bowman Lindsay article also needs to be updated, but because it is a much-less watched page, I wanted these very important changes to be vetted by a wider group first. Didn't want to sneak anything in the back door. ;) I will make sure to add sources that verify his device was used for lighting (reading/writing) and that he did enclose it in glass and discuss it burning without air. When you say that "Many experimenters applied a battery to a piece of iron...", as if it were nothing, we only care here about the first to do that and enclose it in glass for the purpose of lighting. Reliable sources say the Lindsay did that in 1835. No reliable source says that anyone else did it earlier. The independant verification that he invented it is 1) his word printed by public news before anyone else invented or even described it (timing is the main proof, his word is second), and 2) independant published account that the lectures did actually take place where he showed the invention, including dates, times, & location. 3)Many secondary sources establishing he had a light bulb in 1835. The fact that it burned dimly (or any other quality issue) is irrelevant to the question of who first invented the light bulb, except in this case to prove that Lindsay's was not an arc light. Many of the secondary sources give credit to Warren De la Rue in 1820 for inventing the light bulb, following a huge error in Ency Britt. Even our Warren De la Rue page said he did, I just fixed it; you might want to review my edit there. They failed to notice that he would have been only 5 yrs old at the time, lol! I'll try to get these changes done within the week. :The archive of this talk page has a considerable amount of references regarding early experimenters who made wires glow with electricity. Priestley wrote about it in the 1770's, back when a series of Leyden jars charged from a static machine was the strongest current source. Many experimenters after 1800 built Voltaic batteries and used them to heat wires to incandescence. "De la Rue" and De la Rive" both have been credited with making wires glow in glass cylinders. It is hard to pin down what publication or experiment the various later writers on the history of incandescent lighting were thinking of when they attribute early experiments to one of the two names. Lindsay's1835 letter to the newspaper is not really a reliable source. Reports by other reliable observers are needed. Making a wire glow dimly for a short while in 1835 is not a breakthrough or innovation. Edison (talk) ::In the archives of this talkpage, please see Incandescent light bulb/Archive 2#Humphry Davy + incandescent light where I cited "The Engineering Magazine," McGraw-Hill publishing company, inc.,New York, Volume VII, April to September 1894, "Development of the incandescent electric light, by John W. Howell, pages 70-77 " which says (p71) that Davy in 1808 experimented with his large battery and "Metallic wires and pieces of carbon were heated to incandescence in the open air, and in globes which were exhausted, or filled with different gases at different pressures." In "American electrical directory" (1886) p94 and following, Dr Otto Moses in a meeting of the National Electric Light Association says that Davy "was really the discoverer of the incandescent light, and that early experiments of Star, Swan and others "were not much in advance of what Sir Humphrey Davy had done fifty years before." The book says Thomas Edison and assistants then took up incandescent lighting and "in a couple of years brought it to a state of great development and perfection," while Swan resumed his abandoned work of the 1860's. Was Moses a credible source? The journal Electrical Review in 1910 wrote favorably about that particular talk. From this and other works discussing the history of the development of incandescent lights in the 19th century, it appears that Lindsay (1835) merely replicated Davy (1808) and should not be credited with "inventing the incandescent light bulb" or much of anything else. Edison (talk) :::says of Thomas de la Rue, father of Warren de la Rue, that "In 1829 he had made the first known attempt to produce an incandescent light bulb. Although an effective design, his use of platinum for the filament made it commercially unviable."

Incandescent light bulb

The Party for Democracy and Progress (Parti pour la Démocratie et le Progrès, PDP) was a political party in Burkina Faso (former Upper Volta. It was founded in April 1994 after a split in the National Convention of Progressive Patriots / Social Democratic Party in May 1993. It merged in February 1996 with the Union of the Democratic Left and the Party of Social Progress. After merger with the Burkinabè Socialist Party the PDP became the Party for Democracy and Progress / Socialist Party. At the legislative elections in 1997 the party won 10.1% of the popular vote and 6 out of 111 seats. Political parties in Burkina Faso Social democratic parties Socialist International Partit per la Democràcia i el Progrés

Party for Democracy and Progress (Burkina Faso)

Launched in 2001 by Mark Cuban and General Manager Philip Garvin, the HDNet networks are available on AT&T U-verse, Charter, Comcast, DIRECTV, DISH Network, Insight, and Verizon FiOS. The HDNet networks can be followed via Facebook at facebook.com/HDNet, facebook.com/HDNetFights and facebook.com/HDNetMovies and via Twitter at twitter.com/hdnet, twitter.com/hdnetfights and twitter.com/hdnetmovies.

2010-12-31 00:00:00

White Township - $1,051 Bally - $973 Berks County - $11,319 Bernville - $2,087 Brecknock Township - $2,694 Exeter Township - $131,268 Fleetwood - $55 Hamburg - $17,028 Leesport - $842 Lenhartsville - $46 Lower Heidelberg Township - $3,816 Mohnton - $7,550 Mount Penn - $2,287 Robeson Township - $3,534 Robesonia - $906 Shoemakersville - $1,027 Sinking Spring - $1,477 St. Lawrence - $1,788 Washington Township - $960 Wernersville - $1,040 Womelsdorf - $3,489 Blair County - $86,250 Canton - $5,335 Northern Tier Solid Waste Authority - $23,885 Towanda - $2,716 Troy - $1,529 Bedminster Township - $7,937 Chalfont - $7,276 Durham Township - $673 East Rockhill Township - $29,872 Haycock Township - $3,898 New Hope - $4,309 Newtown - $3,789 Nockamixon Township - $1,540 Penndel - $5,109 Yardley - $3,492 Center Township - $4,895 Clay Township - $336 Clinton Township - $142 Franklin Township - $596 Mercer Township - $94 Farmington Township - $3,716 Cambria County Solid Waste Authority - $23,896 Cresson - $79 Southmont - $7 Bowmanstown - $1,242 East Penn Township - $920 Jim Thorpe - $2,431 Lansford - $1,836 Centre County Solid Waste Authority - $322,896 Atglen - $282 Avondale - $3,349 Birmingham Township - $11,476 Caln Township - $24,282 Charlestown Township - $55,869 Coatesville City - $23,509 East Bradford Township - $15,018 East Brandywine Township - $36,669 London Britain Township - $2,279 Londonderry Township - $1,055 Lower Oxford Township - $3,637 Malvern - $4,957 New London Township - $5,754 Oxford - $10,581 Parkesburg - $2,881 Pennsbury Township - $6,191 Pocopson Township - $3,227 Sadsbury Township - $389 Spring City - $2,021 Upper Oxford Township - $3,207 Upper Uwchlan Township - $37,913 West Brandywine Township - $10,062 West Goshen Township - $66,801 West Vincent Township - $3,777 Clearfield County - $27,706 Bloomsburg Township - $93,910 Catawissa - $319 Dickinson Township - $3,506 Hampden Township - $82,270 Middlesex Township - $20,726 Mount Holly Springs - $1,982 North Middleton Township - $17,014 Shippensburg - $23,402 Shiremanstown - $2,364 Silver Spring Township - $40,363 Wormleysburg - $2,311 Dauphin County - $7,255 Derry Township - $235,746 East Hanover Township - $9,476 Hummelstown - $10,917 Lower Swatara Township - $27,647 Paxtang - $3,294 Penbrook - $1,762 South Hanover Township - $7,132 Aldan - $4,827 Chadds Ford Township - $3,472 Chester Heights - $1,183 Lansdowne - $10,049 Marcus Hook - $3,796 Parkside - $344 Rose Valley - $971 Rutledge - $8,962 Upland - $4,655 Erie - $226,624 Erie County - $6,782 Girard - $1,922 Girard Township - $4,593 Greene Township - $1,724

2008-12-31 00:00:00

Paul Luther (28 January 1533 – 8 March 1593) was a German physician, medical chemist and alchemist. He was the third son of the Protestant reformer Martin Luther and was successively physician to John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony; Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg; Augustus, Elector of Saxony and his successor Christian I. He taught alchemy to Anne of Denmark. ==Early life== Born at Wittenberg, the third son of Martin Luther by his marriage to Katharina von Bora, Luther was named after Saint Paul the Apostle and proved such an energetic child that his father said of him, "He is destined to fight against the Turks." The boy's education began with the study of Greek and Latin under Philip Melanchthon and Veit Winsheim. In 1546, when Luther was nine, his father died, leaving the family in straitened circumstances, without Luther's salaries. At the outbreak of the Schmalkaldic War, they fled to Magdeburg and in 1547 to Brunswick. In July, at the end of the war, it was possible to return to Wittenberg, although in relative poverty. On the advice of Melanchthon, Luther attended the University of Wittenberg to study medicine. In September 1552, an outbreak of the Bubonic plague forced the Luther family to leave their home once again. They fled to Torgau, travelling in a cart which overturned near the city gates, seriously injuring Luther's mother. She died there on 20 December 1552. While in Torgau, on 5 February 1553, at the age of twenty, Luther married Anna, daughter of the translator Veit Warbeck (c. 1490–1534). ==Career== Returning to Wittenburg, Luther completed his medical studies and on 29 July 1557 gained the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He turned down an offer to teach at the University of Jena because of his objections to the theology of Victorinus Strigel, a leading academic there. In religion, Luther was an enthusiastic Lutheran and zealously defended his father's teachings. Luther took up a career as a physician. He became the personal physician of John Frederick II, Duke of Saxony, remaining at Gotha until the surrender of the city on 13 April 1567. He was then in practice at the court of Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg until his death on 3 January 1571, and was subsequently physician to Augustus, Elector of Saxony, and his successor, Christian I, at Dresden. In 1590 he retired and took up residence at Leipzig. Luther was also distinguished as a chemist and developed several drugs, such as Unguentum ex nitro, Magistrum perlarum, Magistrum collorum, and Aurum potabile, which were produced by the pharmacies of Saxony. He was interested in alchemy, the ultimate goal of which was the production of gold, and has been claimed as the most significant instructor of the amateur alchemist Anne of Denmark, Electress of Saxony. Luther died at Leipzig on 8 March 1593. His funeral oration was given by his friend Matthias Dresser. ==Family== While still a medical student at Wittenberg, Luther had married Anna Warbeck. They were married for thirty-three years, until Anna's death at Dresden on 15 May 1586. From this marriage there were six children: Paul Luther, died 1558 Johannes Ernst Luther, who became canon of Zeitz. Through him, the male line of the Luther family continued until 1759. Johannes Joachim Luther, died young Johannes Friedrich Luther, died young Margarethe Luther, who married Georg von Kunheim Anna Luther, who married in Oberschaar Nicolaus Freiherr Marschall von Bieberstein ==Publications== Oratio de arte medica et cura tuendae valetudinis (published posthumously at Breslau, 1598) ==Further reading== 'Luther, Paul', in Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, vol. 19 (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1884), pp.

Paul Luther

Questions for Oscar B. Goodman, Mayor of Las Vegas After nearly 12 years as the mayor of Las Vegas, you hardly need to be reminded that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. That is, except for families. Nevada has the highest home-foreclosure rate in the country, and the median home price in the Las Vegas area has fallen to $138,000, from $317,000 in 2006. I'm the kind of guy who makes lemonade out of lemons, and I think it's a terrific opportunity. I'm not sure what you can get for that amount, but you can certainly get a beautiful home with a swimming pool in a gated community for under $200,000. Just last month, the Las Vegas City Hall was sold to a developer that plans to lease the property to Zappos.com, the online shoe and clothing retailer. It wasn't a matter of money with me. Zappos is a subsidiary of Amazon.com. They are a work force of what Richard Florida would refer to as "the creative class." It's not as if Zappos designs the shoes. Don't worry about that. It's 1,000 employees now, but they're talking about in 10 years having 7,000 employees working there. You're also trying to revitalize downtown with the all-new "mob museum," which opens later this year at the site of a former U.S. Post Office building and federal courthouse. We paid a dollar for the building with the understanding that we would preserve its original condition in addition to using it for museum purposes. Even though I love watercolors and porcelain, I didn't think that that would bring people downtown. So we decided that we were going to have a mob museum. Your decision to honor the city's founding fathers, like the gangster Bugsy Siegel, is not without controversy. The Italian-American group was very upset. I appeared in front of them, and it became so hostile at one point that I told them I didn't say "mob museum." I said I am going to have a "mop museum." Fortunately they gave me the opportunity to escape. You're a lawyer whose clients once included Tony (the Ant) Spilotro, and who played himself in the crime film "Casino." Is it fair to describe you as a former mob attorney? I never referred to myself as a mob attorney, but when people ask me that, I say, "I hope so, because they pay pretty good." The dream of turning Las Vegas into an art capital seems to have all but ended in 2008, when the Guggenheim Museum closed its space in the Venetian Hotel. Well, we have so many attractions here that when folks are on vacation, the variety of things that they like to do are perhaps more enticing than visiting a museum, which they ordinarily can do in their hometown. Why do you always travel around with showgirls? Basically I have one showgirl who's virtually with me at all appearances and then a second one who's almost always there. Are they in any actual shows? One is in a show, but that's not why we refer to her as the "mayor's showgirl." What is a showgirl if she's not in a show? They're usually very bright, very statuesque, wearing plumage and a very skimpy, shall I say, outfit. They take my arm; they hold my gin. Don't you think it's dated to treat a woman as a trophy? I hope my wife believes I'm a trophy. During your time as mayor, you have spoken of your desire to create a public dialogue about legalizing prostitution. Why is that? Anybody who is smart can see the pluses of legalizing it, such as the monetary benefit, as far as tax revenue is concerned. There's also the safety factor and the health factor. I don't think you realize the tremendous toll that prostitution takes on women. There's a viable argument as far as the toll that it takes upon women and their families and the moral aspects of it - these are legitimate concerns. But nobody ever gets hurt talking. I think the people who are afraid to discuss something should be living on a desert island by themselves. I could say you're living on a desert island. Or at least in the desert. But I'm not by myself. I've got adoring constituents.

2011-12-31 00:00:00

Pensioner killed in fuel tanker collision A 70-year-old woman has died after her car and a petrol tanker were in collision in Wimborne, Dorset. The woman, from Bournemouth, died at the scene of the crash in Mill Street on the A31. The 44-year-old male tanker driver, from South Wales, was travelling to Bere Regis when the collision happened at 7.50pm on Thursday. The road was closed for several hours while police investigated. Officers are appealing for witnesses. Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2009, All Rights Reserved.

2009-12-31 00:00:00