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What Is the Brexit Debate About? In June, British voters will decide in a referendum whether or not the country should remain in the European Union. The so-called "Brexit" has become a divisive issue in the country, and polls show the "for" and "against" groups are nearly equal. Those who want to leave the EU say it would boost the British economy by not having to adhere to economic, labor, and environmental regulations. Proponents of remaining "in," including British Prime Minister David Cameron, say the exact opposite -- that the U.K. would be forced to negotiate trade terms with E.U. member states and its economy would suffer. As explained in this video from Bloomberg, immigration is the other key factor in the debate. Advocates of leaving the E.U. say it would curb the massive influx of migrants into the country, which, they say, are putting a strain on the economy and state services. It's hard to predict what would happen, given such a move has never occurred in the history of the E.U. Top photo: Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron holds a Q&A session on the forthcoming European Union referendum with staff of PricewaterhouseCoopers in Birmingham, Britain. (Reuters / Christopher Furlong)	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
This event is all ages Share This Event No Jumper, “the coolest podcast in the world”, is an online podcast show hosted by Adam 22. Adam, alongside co-hosts Lil House Phone and Robesman, interview everyone from famous rappers such as Lil Yachty and Riff Raff to up-and-coming artists such as XXXTENTACION and Ugly God to influential music industry professionals such as Yes Julz and Andrew Barber from Fake Shore Drive. The podcast was launched in June of 2016, and in less than six months, No Jumper has grown to be acknowledged and respected by music lovers across the globe. Cam Girl was born in South Korea and moved to the United States when she was 4-years-old. In elementary school, she describes herself as nerdy with an interest in reading books and having glasses and braces at the same time. It was not until high school that she started being a trouble maker and ditched school. Despite her absences, Cam Girl maintained good grades throughout high school. In addition, when she was 16, she started going to a number of raves and underground events which would inspire her to become a DJ. [10] Cam Girl graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz which she described as a chill, hippie school. She attended university at the same time as Lena The Plug. After college, she moved back to LA and became part of the scene and would traverse HAM on Everything parties. [10] Cam Girl first met Adam22 when Lil House Phone invited her back for a podcast. She came back for another podcast and started DJing for No Jumper from there. In addition to DJing, she used to handle organizing tours and running the No Jumper online store. [10] Cam Girl is a hip hop DJ and has DJ'd at a number of venues/events as well as toured across Asia . Wanting to go farther in hip hop, Cam Girl is working on new music as a rapper. Additionally, she does A&R work for different labels. [10] Cam Girl has a growing cult following of fans. A growing meme among them is that they are willing to protect her at all costs.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Miguel Gonzalez's MRI results 'better' than Orioles thought, but he still could land on DL Eduardo A. EncinaThe Baltimore Sun ARLINGTON, Texas -- The results of an MRI performed Wednesday on Orioles right-hander Miguel Gonzalez’s right side were better than the club expected, but he could still land on the disabled list if he is unable to start Saturday’s game against the Oakland Athletics. The team initially feared that Gonzalez, who said he woke up Tuesday with sudden pain on his right side, had suffered an oblique strain -- an injury that sideline pitchers for months. Gonzalez was scratched from his scheduled start Thursday against the Texas Rangers. "MRI was better than we thought it might be, so we don't think it's something long-term,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said after Wednesday's game. Showalter said he will decide Friday whether Gonzalez can start Saturday. If he can’t, the team will likely place him on the 15-day disabled list so the injury can be completely resolved. Since Gonzalez last pitched Friday, he would be available to return from the DL on June 15. “With the five days behind us now, and if he can't pitch Saturday, we'd probably try to clear it completely up,” Showalter said. “But from what all indications are, he will probably be able to pitch within the DL period, but you don't know for sure. I think if he can't pitch Saturday, we'll DL him." Gonzalez, who is 3-4 with a 4.17 ERA this season, has four straight quality starts. He has a 2.60 ERA in 27 2/3 innings in that span, which also included a two-inning relief appearance against the Detroit Tigers on May 14. Right-hander Chris Tillman, who initially was scheduled to start Saturday with two extra days’ rest, will now start Thursday’s series finale against the Rangers on regular rest. Tillman took his regular work day between starts, so he won’t have to make any extra adjustments for the switch. “It’s normal rest and everything,” Tillman said. “I went through my routine as if I was starting that day anyway.” If Gonzalez can’t start Saturday’s game against the Athletics at Camden Yards, left-hander T.J. McFarland and Triple-A Norfolk right-hander Kevin Gausman are options to start that game. McFarland pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings in the Orioles’ 6-5 win over Texas on Wednesday. Gausman left his scheduled start at Norfolk on Wednesday after just one inning and 26 pitches.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Browse by 4 (Summer 2003), pp. 1093-1120 Published by: The University of Chicago Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/343132 . Accessed: 17/01/2014 00:37 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . The University of Chicago Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Signs. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 138.26.16.5 on Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Cressida J. Heyes Feminist Solidarity after Queer Theory: The Case of Transgender that feminist politics needs to speak to (and be spoken by) many more subjects than women and men, heterosexual women and lesbians. How—in theory and in practice—should feminism engage bisexuality, intersexuality, transsexuality,1 transgender, and other emergent identities that reconﬁgure both conventional and conventionally feminist understandings of sex, gender, and sexuality?2 For me this question takes its most pressing forms when I think about how effective alliances can be forged in feminist spaces. How should feminists imagine and create communities that take the institutions and practices of sex, gender, and sexuality to be politically relevant to liberation? How might such communities incorporate our manifest and intransigent diversity and build solidarity? In this article I work through these questions with reference to the leitmotiv of transgender. Following Susan Stryker, in this article I use trans as a broad umbrella adjective intended to capture the multiple forms of sex and gender crossing and mixing that are taken by their practitioners to be signiﬁcant life projects. I use transgendered to describe anyone who lives a gender they were not perinatally assigned or that is not publicly recognizable within Western cultures’ binary gender systems, and I use transsexed to describe anyone who undergoes (or hopes to undergo) any t is by now clear I would like to thank audiences at the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, Eastern Society for Women in Philosophy, and the Canadian Philosophical Association for their helpful comments and questions on papers that preceded this one. I thank April Herndon, David Kahane, and two anonymous Signs reviewers for their thoughtful comments on earlier drafts. 1 There is some political debate about whether “transexual” is a spelling preferable to “transsexual.” Some critics have suggested that an integrated rather than a compound noun avoids the problematic implication that transsexuals “cross sexes.” See Wilchins 1997, 15. I will use the more familiar “ss” spelling throughout. 2 The very separability and meaningfulness of the terms sex, gender, and sexuality are called into question by many of these identities. In particular, this article implicitly challenges the distinction between sex (the body as male or female) and gender (the social role of the individual as a man or a woman). Thus I will use the phrase sex-gender identity to avoid the impression that this distinction is being upheld. [Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 2003, vol. 28, no. 4] ᭧ 2003 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved. 0097-9740/2003/2804-0007$10.00 I This content downloaded from 138.26.16.5 on Fri, 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Part of feminism is changing those institutions and creating new history. I will start from the claim that gender is not best understood simply as an attribute of individuals but rather as a set of often hierarchical relations among differently gendered subjects. with their concomitant devaluing of the lesser terms female and feminine. these terms are contested within trans communities: see Prosser 1998. At a more speciﬁc level.16. Leslie Feinberg has introduced the pronouns hir (in place of her/his) and ze (in place of he/she) to describe hirself. for yet another. I will use them throughout this article. I will seek to explain and argue against this division. gender. and Cromwell 1999. However political resistance through transforming gender has been articulated. is my larger interest in the ethics of self-transformation. In this space. With theorists such as Jessica Benjamin (1995).26. and conﬂicting ideological and strategic approaches to politics. Of course. esp. the struggle has been on the disputed terrain where the life of the individual meets its institutional and historical conditions of possibility. Thus any project that takes This usage follows Stryker 1994. however. 2. then. 19–30.1094 ❙ Heyes of a number of physical interventions to bring hir sexed body more closely into line with hir gender identity. have conspired to fracture feminist and queer communities along identity fault lines. but it is also. Although gender is often experienced as a deeply authentic aspect of the individual self. over time. generating a whole new ﬁeld of meaning within which some identities may eventually cease to exist while others are being created. and sexuality. This move has opened up new possibilities for individuals. 251–52. “trans liberation” and “feminism” have often been cast as opposing movements. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . At this very general level. many theorists have persuasively argued that gender identities must be understood as relationally formed. Despite the fact that many transgendered people are daily the victims of the most intense and public attempts to discipline gender in ways feminists have long criticized. without entirely conceding the normative concerns that motivate it. a wide range of gendered subjects stand to gain from challenges to enforced binaries within the nexus of sex. but in the interim feminists must make sense of the scope and limits of our agency within structures of oppression and privilege. Another backdrop to this essay.5 on Fri.3 Feminists of all stripes share the political goal of weakening the grip of oppressive sex and gender dimorphisms in Western cultures. the complexities of oppression and privilege. esp. 200–205. for an alternative reading. ethics meets politics: feminism entails not only organizing for change but also changing oneself. 3 This content downloaded from 138. n. I offer a critical analysis of two very different feminist texts: the 1994 reissue of Janice Raymond’s notorious The Transsexual Empire: The Making of the She-Male (originally published in 1979) and Bernice Hausman’s 1995 book Changing Sex: Transsexualism. Speciﬁcally. Initially.16. epitomized by authors such as Kate Bornstein. I hope. By showing in some detail how these strategies of foreclosure work. however. and Riki Anne Wilchins. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . Leslie Feinberg. A second set of difﬁculties is raised by the genre of popular trans feminist polemic. then. ze does not examine the fact that the expression of one gender may limit the possible meanings or opportunities available to others.26. ﬁrst.5 on Fri. by persistently foreclosing all possibilities for political resistance to a disease model. Adopting the language of individual freedom of expression with regard to gender. they construct trans people as lacking both agency and critical perspective. and the Idea of Gender. Taking Feinberg’s remarks in hir recent book Trans Liberation: Beyond Pink or Blue (1998) as exemplar. will sidestep important ethicopolitical questions that arise from gender relations and the demands of community. to develop the negative case presented by Sandy Stone (1991) that inﬂuential non-trans feminists have orientalized the trans subject and concomitantly failed to investigate their authorial locations as stably gendered subjects. This literature voices the views of trans people with radical gender politics. I will contest hir implication that a feminist politics should tolerate any “gender expression. Technology.” A failure to understand gender as relational (and hierarchical) leads Feinberg to elide certain normative implications of hir account. I will argue that too often this literature falls back onto an implausibly atomistic self that is given normative free rein to assert its gender. Raymond and Hausman’s otherwise theoretically contrasting texts represent the transsexual (qua monolithic representative of all transgender subjectivities) as uniquely mired in pathology. moving beyond the traditional forums of sensationalized autobiography or objectifying psychological studies. Both commentators draw on the classiﬁcation of transsexuality as a mental “disorder” to make their case. These authors properly advocate the right to express and develop a gender identity not determinately linked to birth sex. This reductive characterization of the transsexual as the dupe of gender then permits the conclusion that transgender politics writ large have no feminist potential.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1095 up the ethics of self-transformation will be necessarily linked to the questions about community I want to raise. Rather than understanding transgendered people as working within an ethics of self-transformation with which all feminists must grapple. This content downloaded from 138. Charges of political quietism against transsexuals present one set of challenges to meaningful political alliances between trans and non-trans feminists. Janice Raymond’s text is similarly at pains to show that transsexuals’ attitudes are fundamentally inimical to a particular kind of identity politics. This is perhaps especially important to acknowledge when much of what has been written about trans people by non-trans feminists has not only been hostile but has also taken an explicit dis identiﬁcation with transsexuals’ experiences as its critical standpoint. 7 See Gamson 1998 for analysis of the intense manipulation of representations of trans people in U.26. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . describing it. 3). while being devoid of any critical examination of the author’s location and investments in the identity being defended. Where is the author? I am acutely aware of the pitfalls of writing about trans people from a vantage point as a non-trans woman and someone who is not actively involved with extra-academic trans communities. talk shows.7 However.S. but the most striking analogy with feminist treatments of transgender is perhaps with his claim that “Orientalism can be discussed and analyzed as the corporate institution for dealing with the Orient—dealing with it by making statements about it. Orientalism as a Western style for dominating.6 It also inhibits alliances between trans and non-trans feminists. my personal motivations are. Transsexuality. as always. 6 I am thinking here of “orientalism” in all of the senses invoked by Edward Said.5 This move runs counter to familiar feminist political commitments to respecting what the marginalized say about themselves and seems to ignore the risks of orientalism. There is a remarkable continuity between some of the stereotypes Gamson discusses and those upheld within feminist contexts. deeply intertwined with the structure of my arguments. In fact. the ﬁrst two transsexual people I came to know I have tried to write this article in the spirit of Jacob Hale’s “Suggested Rules for Nontranssexuals Writing about Transsexuals. 5 In his critique of Bernice Hausman.5 on Fri. by teaching it. It must also engage the politics of self-transformation in a broader ﬁeld. Such an ethics should recognize the discursive limits on individual selftransformation without denying agency to gendered subjects. Transsexualism. 4 This content downloaded from 138. based largely on popular (feminist) portrayals. where one’s choices affect others’ identities and possibilities.4 Questions about the location of a non-trans author in an article primarily concerned with trans issues are important. theorists’ inclination to stress deep differences between these groups attenuates the political motivation to investigate shared experiences. settling it. restructuring.1096 ❙ Heyes Thus feminist writing about transgender needs to deﬁne and articulate a middle ground in which an ethics of self-fashioning can be developed. and having authority over the Orient” (1978. authorizing views of it. Jay Prosser argues that Hausman “blocks out” her own gender identity and embodiment in order tacitly to justify her authorial location “outside of ” transsexuality as “the authoritative site from which to speak” (1998. for a long time I sustained a marked feminist suspicion of transsexuality. or Trans—” (1997). ruling over it: in short.16. 132–33). Both heterosexual and lesbian spaces have their own comforts for women. femmes. to consider trans issues in light of these social realities. making oneself over into a more politically appealing subject—even (perhaps especially) if one is well-motivated by political theory to do so—cannot be accomplished by ﬁat. Despite my qualms about the term bisexual. as traitors to a cause certain others share. and aspirations will resist even the most determined attempts at refashioning (1990. recognition. while others use mtf or ftm. one female-to-male [FTM]) disrupted this suspicion: both were feminists. I am not claiming any epistemic authority here. motivation comes from a deep sense of unease Again. and troubling because those very practices too often congeal into political ideologies and group formations that are exclusive or hegemonic. women working in male-dominated occupations. when everywhere else feels worse. my visibility as a bisexual feminist woman. have been. and I have often been excluded from both. For example. and.26. Over several years. and this is certainly not a representative sample—any more than my genetic women colleagues in feminist studies are. this descriptor provides a kind of home for me. bisexual feminists. As I want to argue in this article.5 on Fri. rejecting the capitalization as an acronym that misleadingly signals discrete identities.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1097 socially (one male-to-female [MTF]. however. male feminists. ﬁrst. the terms MTF and FTM are disputed in trans communities. second. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . and stability are essential to human ﬂourishing and political resistance. and both were involved (in very different ways) in queer communities. 8 This content downloaded from 138.8 I have since read. which hit particularly hard for those who live along their fault lines. The two most salient personal aspects of this inquiry.or homosexuality—and I have felt the moments of truth as well as the sometime hypocrisy and complacency of those demands. I have also been told that I needed to change to ﬁt into those spaces—by acceding either to my true hetero. and corresponded with many more trans people in the context of my feminist theoretical work. I have come to see connections among these different people that make me less inclined to separate out transsexuals. and so on. gay men. the alliances and conﬂicts this identiﬁcation has produced. I have also known a lot of other people who have struggled with gender—as butches. or trans people in general. related. Sometimes. some prefer the terms female-to-female or male-to-male to capture the subjective experience of transition rather than its perception by others. pleasures. Non-trans feminists have a responsibility. 45–62). female and male survivors of sexual violence. as Sandra Bartky points out. I think. It is both necessary and troubling to seek out a home as a gendered or sexual being: necessary because community. However. one’s desires. listened to. My second.16. 139–54) argues convincingly that what she labels the axes of dualism and control conspire to create social conditions in Western cultures where mental acuity. gender. One implication that Bordo does not explore is that it is very difﬁcult for fat women to be taken seriously as intellectuals. transgender has been colonized as a feminist theoretical testing ground. This is one of the reasons—for better or worse—that I am gripped by the phenomenology of transgender. it would seem that the experience of one’s body failing to conform to one’s identity. ought to be recognizable to non-trans women. emphasis mine). This content downloaded from 138.5 on Fri. Experiences like mine are at least partially explicable within the insightful feminist frameworks offered by commentators such as Susan Bordo (1993). or the lack of it.26. I am quite clear that I am not a transsexual. represented as the acid test of constructionism. In some ways. I am greatly indebted to April Herndon for her insightful analysis of this topic. I feel quite ridiculously fearless in the face of the physical risks that attaining that body might necessitate. 174. Yet it is the demand for bodily modiﬁcations on the part of transsexed people that has most provoked feminist commentators and been characterized as the most politically regressive and foreign of desires. Feminists construct transsexuality Whether appropriated to bolster queer theoretical claims. Janice Raymond’s oeuvre is part of a tradition of radical feminism that 9 Bordo (1993. Surely an incisive intellectual mind requires an equally lean and skillful body?9 When it comes to the kind of body I most want.16. too female in some respects. For example. in a startlingly dissociative moment Bernice Hausman speculates that “those of us who are not transsexuals may wonder what it is like to feel oneself ‘in the wrong body’” (1995. and the conﬂicted desire to change that body. As subjects who explore what Michel Foucault (1988) called “technologies of the self” in particularly literal forms. is believed to be reﬂected in the body’s form. or attacked for suspect political commitments. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . but I have often wished (including for periods of years at a time) to be in a different body.1098 ❙ Heyes with my own body. transgendered people seem paradigmatic of many of the most pressing feminist anxieties about identity. and personal transformation. I feel as though the body I have is the wrong body: too large. I try to answer the question of why this phenomenological connection has seemed so unavailable to non-trans feminists. especially for women. even though I am well aware of their practical and political perils. In the ﬁrst part of the article. too clumsy. If this is so. 5 on Fri. emphasis in original). Alluding to Raymond’s work. 142–63) also endorses Raymond’s position. 95–109. 67–68.com/.26.g. In a recent Village Voice editorial.. 52. xv). inverting the analysis to portray FTMs as lesbian deserters who mimic the misogynist aspects of gay male culture. early lesbian feminists created a new category of woman-identiﬁed women. that good old-fashioned indubitable ‘I’ so beloved of Descartes. More recent endorsements: Claudia Card describes The Transsexual Empire as “the most powerful treatise on the ethics and politics of maleto-constructed female [sic] transsexualism” (Card 1994. This paradigm is conceptually and politically dependent on the radical separation of women from men. Sheila Jeffreys (1993.g.michfest. in a way reminiscent of Raymond’s sarcastic treatment of Stone (Raymond [1979] 1994. and there I am’” (2001). See Morris 1999. Norah Vincent attributes the legitimacy of transsexuality to the ascendancy of postmodern philosophy. see Daly (1978) 1990. Stressing the realities of violence against women. whose great adage ‘I think.16. n. Kathy Miriam writes that “recent ‘transgender’ militancy is a clear indication that feminist lesbian fears in the 1970’s were not paranoia.. Raymond’s work on transsexuality thus emerges from a paradigm in which dissociation from men and masculinity.. unequal division of domestic labor. economic dependence. Card 1990). the soul. The Transsexual Empire ([1979] 1994) has become the archetypal articulation of radical feminist hostility to transsexuality and has had a persistent inﬂuence on feminist perceptions of transgender. recommending instead that women become “woman-identiﬁed. Other recent recapitulations of aspects of Raymond’s position (and critical responses) can be found in discussions surrounding organizers’ refusal to admit (openly) trans women to the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival (MWMF). and Yudkin 1978. feminists denaturalized heterosexual relationships. and indeed lesbian feminists have continued to emphasize the importance of self-deﬁnition and willful separation in creating feminist communities (e. and an ideology of self-sacriﬁce. Frye 1983.10 Raymond’s early investigation of the 10 For contemporaneous analyses that recapitulate some of Raymond’s theses. 71–72 (and 238 and 287 for notes explicitly endorsing aspects of Raymond’s position). 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . Radicalesbians 1988). are prime political values. Rich 1980). Vincent writes: “[Transsexuality] signiﬁes the death of the self. using understandings of heterosexuality as a compulsory institution to bring relationships between women and men into the political sphere (e. 171–74. but a realistic apprehension of the signiﬁcance of ‘lesbian’ transsexuals as a penetration of woman-only space by men” (Miriam 1993. and messages posted to the festival Web board at http:// www.g. xxii). the letters pages in the alternative magazine Lesbian Connection. 116. therefore I am’ has become an ontological joke on the order of ‘I tinker.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1099 stressed the autonomy of women from men. esp. I am indebted to Mary Gebhart for sharing her invaluable primary research and critical analysis of the rift between trans and lesbian feminists at MWMF (dis- This content downloaded from 138.” In this context. combined with self-deﬁnition and control of women’s identity. resistant to the pull of compulsory heterosexuality and likely to generate liberatory spaces within which women could transform themselves (e. Michigan State University. and I will not sertation in progress. for it lay in our language and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably” (1958. no commentator pays sufﬁciently close attention to the details of her views. See Colapino 1997. as Ludwig Wittgenstein would say. And we could not get outside it. although it has also provided some succor for opponents of damaging cosmetic genital surgeries on intersexed children.5 on Fri. in media expose ´ s of this case. Finally. Raymond’s ad hoc attempts to exclude MTFs while including all genetic women are rather unconvincing. the possibility of alliance between trans and non-trans feminists.12 In her 1994 introduction.16. Money was portrayed as overly casual about the link between sex and gender.26. This content downloaded from 138. dogmatically insisting that early childhood socialization could imprint gender identity.11 However. The child was raised as a girl. Raymondian understandings of MTF identity have been reiterated in debates in Canada around human rights claims brought by transsexuals against their exclusion from positions in feminist organizations reserved for women. demanding medical treatment to restore—insofar as this was possible—a male body. Interestingly enough. 12 Ludwig Wittgenstein says “A picture held us captive.1100 ❙ Heyes medical discourses and institutions that police transsexuality is a signiﬁcant contribution to feminist scholarship. and. 43–68). Raymond again restricts membership in the category “women” to those with a shared female history. while his identical twin brother was raised as a boy. 115). Predictably. 86–108). see Owen 2003. For a detailed account of this Wittgensteinian approach to genealogy as political therapy. American Studies Program). despite a number of critical analyses of Raymond’s overall approach (such as Riddell 1996. which are often defended by theorists who would eschew any overt connection with her approach. where a male infant was surgically altered to have feminized genitals following a botched circumcision. See Michele Landsberg’s commentary in the Toronto Star (2000). and her critical commentary on John Money’s theories of gender identity remains valuable (and topical in light of recent media fascination with the cases he managed) (Raymond [1979] 1994. sec. hence. the case has been taken to make the explicitly antifeminist point that boys and girls are born rather than made. and eventually marrying and adopting children. Feminists writing about transgender are. regardless of biological sex. It is against this background that I take up the “new introduction on transgender” to the 1994 reissue of The Transsexual Empire. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . I suggest that Raymond’s resistance to changing her position is not simply a principled refusal. and Chase 1998. Caliﬁa 1997. explicitly excluding MTF transsexuals. held captive by a picture within which the history of fetishizing trans people combines with a lack of critical attention to the privilege of being stably gendered to erase the possibility of a trans feminist politics. 11 The cause ce ´ le ` bre that recently brought Money and his theories into the public eye is the John/Jean case. In adolescence and young adulthood John rejected his female gender identity and began to live as a man. This picture needs to be made visible as a picture before it can be dispelled. It uses the classiﬁcation “gender identity disorder.26. 14 With its spiraling taxonomies of “mental disorders. age. 15 References to Raymond’s (1979) 1994 “new introduction on transgender” can be identiﬁed by page numbers in roman numerals.13 At the root of her exclusion of transsexuals from the category women (and. This approach precludes the kind of ad hoc boundary defense that ensnares Raymond. from women-only spaces) is a critique of institutions that. however. within this model.15 These conclusions depend on the validity of a number of controversial premises: ﬁrst. 537). 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . including myself.5 on Fri. transsexuals themselves practice misogynist forms of femininity and deny their male privilege. xvi. who have recommended alternative forms of generalization. 13 The essentialist claim that we can think of “women” as a category with necessary and sufﬁcient conditions of membership has been widely challenged by feminists. 34). particularly of the classiﬁcation of “gender identity disorder” as a pathology by the infamous Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders of the American Psychiatric Association (“the DSM”). On her reading. that the identities of all trans people can be captured using a theoretical model avowedly based on a small sample of primarily MTF transsexuals. Raymond argues. among others.14 Raymond renders transsexuality co-causal with its disease classiﬁcation and also suggests that transsexuals are complicitous with some medical experts’ sexist norms ([1979] 1994. Key to this construction is Raymond’s critique of the medicalization of transsexuality. athletes. it still leaves many political questions unresolved. and third. This content downloaded from 138. For example. oppression. I have argued that “women” should be understood as a Wittgensteinian family resemblance concept (Heyes 2000a). and class in particular. the DSM-IV itself is not a document I want to defend. Rather than exploring these analogies. make transsexuality possible.” for which the primary symptoms are “a strong and persistent cross-gender identiﬁcation (not merely a desire for any perceived cultural advantages of being the other sex [sic])” and “persistent discomfort with his or her sex or sense of inappropriateness in the gender role of that sex” (American Psychiatric Association 1994. and cosmetic surgery candidates. This ﬁnal premise is particularly interesting to me because so many non-trans women also undertake to dramatically change their bodies for reasons arguably connected to gender identity: bodybuilders.16. that the desire to change one’s body in order to accommodate one’s identity in this way is conclusive evidence of antifeminist political commitments. Raymond emphasizes disanalogies with other social hierarchies—race. anorectics. dieters. hence. second. MTF transsexuals are artifacts of patriarchal medical practices that appropriate women’s bodies and perpetuate gender essentialism and.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1101 elaborate or rebut them here. that all trans people are dependent on thoroughgoing sex reassignment surgery (SRS) for the successful expression of their identities. hence. of course.” almost invariably described as if they were psychic states entirely separable from cultural and historical context. ” and the cosmetics and cosmetic surgery industries are engaged in constructing discourses that pathologize age. This schema. discourses of transsexuality have an obvious foothold.16. essentially. to the ubiquitous skin-bleaching creams marketed to people of color. Yet her point about “transracial” medical intervention is simply false: cosmetic modiﬁcations that aim to make features of bodies less ethnically or racially marked abound.26. Likewise. while in some moments resistant to any crossing of categories. depending on the relation of sexual object choice to biological sex. And while transsexuality often operates using a much more medicalized and depoliticized discourse than the other examples. “there is no demand for transracial medical intervention precisely because most Blacks recognize that it is their society. dieting has a socioeconomic subtext. To the extent that “sex. Yet even here there are ways of expressing dissatisfaction with one’s class status that. One simply is. and related beauty treatments are expressing a relatively depoliticized “age dissatisfaction. to nose jobs for Jews. not their skin. Most purchasers of antiwrinkle creams. simultaneously creates conditions of possibility for transsexuality understood as a biological or pathological phenomenon. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . Where the disanology with other social groups seems most marked is in the case of socioeconomic class. face-lifts. This content downloaded from 138. for example. and concomitantly heterosexual or homosexual. “Does a Black person who wants to be white suffer from the ‘disease’ of being a ‘transracial’?” and claims. we need both a broader understanding of the history of sexuality and a more careful evaluation of how that history confronts individuals. organized through a binary schema. from hair-straightening treatments for African Americans. that needs changing” ([1979] 1994. to understand why. is that they seem to complicate rather than clarify the point she wants to make. for better or worse.” “gender.1102 ❙ Heyes What is interesting about these appeals. While Raymond’s attempts at disanalogy may fail. An increasingly common psychology in selling these products is to encourage potential consumers to think of themselves as young people trapped in an older person’s body—an uncanny echo of transsexual discourse (Morgan 1998. Raymond asks. xvi). 327).5 on Fri. seek their remedy in changes to the body: to the extent that obesity connotes “trashiness” in North America. either male or female.” and “sexuality” have come to be thought of as core ontological facts about individuals. however. to eyelid surgery for East Asians. dieting is marketed to women in particular using the language of a thin person “just dying to get out” of her fat body. she would be right to point out that these forms of self-fashioning are hardly random expressions of presocial desires and that all take place in larger political contexts. The picture of transsexuality I have been criticizing might seem like a throwback to the headier days of second-wave feminism. This latter humanist position has more of a grip on our thinking about race. dominant racial taxonomies all admit of several racial groups. is a natural category that adheres to bodies rather than history. than it does in the case of gender. then “transracialism” makes no sense. However. In This content downloaded from 138. a (differently racist) discourse understands race as a superﬁcial aspect of identity: “we’re all the same underneath.S. depending how you think). Thus Raymond’s critique of medicalization. This analysis leaves no space for recognition of the discontinuity between the expectations of non-trans medical practitioners and transsexuals themselves. there is more than one permutation. race has an ambivalent relationship to dichotomy: while the politics of race often does operate to reduce racial conﬂict to “black versus white. But part of my argument is that this picture persists into recent interpretations of transgender identities.26. Thus it is less clear what a transracial would cross between. when women were women and generalizations were unqualiﬁed. contexts. and indeed for the very possibility of a feminist transsexual. An even less plausible contention is that transsexuals’ participation in the institution of transsexuality is evidence of their political naı ¨vete ´ and gender bad faith. What do transsexuals of color do on this model. while accurately reﬂecting many of the conservative requirements imposed on transsexual “patients. The category of “race” carries with it a (racist) biological baggage that gives related meaning to medical interventions: race. “all the same” (where “same” is coded “white”). then she would have to concur that the history of race and its negotiation by individuals are signiﬁcantly different. thus changing one’s body can change one’s race (or the perception of one’s race—the same thing.” especially in U.” If we are. while people of color (would) consciously and univocally resist “transracialism” because they are politically savvy to its actual (or potential) role in maintaining racism.” singles out transsexuals as uniquely implicated in politically regressive ideologies. I wonder? Raymond’s transsexual is decisively coded as white. or not. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . precluding the possibility of a “double consciousness” within which these paradoxically divergent understandings of race and gender are potentially available to the transsexual (not just to the nontranssexual critic). Working out the analogies and disanalogies between “transsexualism” and “transracialism” is therefore going to require more than an assertion that the former exists while the latter does not. I would argue.5 on Fri. Furthermore. even when the explicit theoretical paradigm is not lesbian feminist. in one (misguided) part of the popular imagination. in some sense.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1103 If Raymond would agree with this synopsis.16. when this is itself arguable. Ostensibly.5 on Fri. 117). Bernice Hausman offers a Foucauldian genealogy of transsexuality. While we might debate the causal mechanisms she identiﬁes.” a well-known call to arms by and on behalf of radical transsexuals. 14. 110) Although much of her scholarship is based on the history of sexology.16. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . (Hausman 1995. Hausman’s primary thesis is “that the development of certain medical technologies made the advent of transsexualism possible” (1995. while we might hope that a constructionist historical analysis would be less likely to project negative moral qualities onto contemporary subjects without appreciating the complexity of their locations.1104 ❙ Heyes Changing Sex. Hausman explicitly disavows the possibility of trans subjects who challenge the epistemic priority of technological intervention mediated by medical professionals. she ﬁrst takes up Sandy Stone’s “The Empire Strikes Back: A Posttranssexual Manifesto. including This content downloaded from 138. In a chapter devoted to transsexual autobiography. I do not have space here to argue with Hausman’s historical scholarship on the emergence of medicaltechnological discourses. Hausman is also interested in what contemporary transsexuals have to say about this process. I think she does show that the emergence of sexological discourse and. the demand for sex change is an enunciation that designates a desired action and identiﬁes the speaker as the appropriate subject of that action. 7). crucially. who but a suffering individual would voluntarily request such severe physical transformation? Yet it is through this demand that the subject presents him/ herself to the doctor as a transsexual subject. Hausman reaches conclusions quite similar to Raymond’s. She ﬁnds the conditions of possibility for the transsexual subject in a genealogy that grants “to the technology a relative autonomy from what are known as gender ideologies” (1995. like Raymond. However. a supportive technological base for effecting SRS were key conditions of possibility for contemporary transsexual identity as a medicalized phenomenon. The acting subject is subservient to emergent technology in her analysis: By demanding technological intervention to “change sex. the demand for sex change represents the desperation of the transsexual condition: after all. Demanding sex change is therefore part of what constructs the subject as a transsexual: it is the mechanism through which transsexuals come to identify themselves under the sign of transsexualism and construct themselves as its subjects. for example. Hausman endorses most of Stone’s political aspirations.” transsexuals demonstrate that their relationship to technology is a dependent one.26. I read Stone’s allusions to “authentic experience” or “a true. gender. but immediately foreclosed by the author”: “For the reader interested in verifying his or her own gender confusions. What Hausman does with this “Foucauldian model. 296. Stone represents “the power at work—the force that produces transsexual autobiography as singular and monolithic—as entirely repressive and negative.16. without any enabling function” (Hausman 1995. Hausman also introduces a circularity that makes these goals impossible to meet. For a critical reader. Her organizing thesis is that the trans subject must necessarily reiterate central tropes of autobiographical and This content downloaded from 138.” and that.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1105 the desire to destabilize the ofﬁcial history of transsexuality and to offer dissident transsexual autobiographies that resist the allure of essentialism and passing (Hausman 1995. Stone is not suggesting that transsexual narratives have a univocal authenticity that has yet to be articulated but rather that whatever transgressive possibilities transsexuality might afford will not be generated by lying about basic aspects of one’s lived experience (e. this “interpretive foreclosure” is reiterated in the encounter between the would-be transsexual and the clinician (157). on the other hand. 147). This approach would enable us to gauge the ways in which transsexual autobiographies function as enabling—and not merely repressive—narratives” (1995. the ‘truth’ of the transsexual experience. these narratives provide ample opportunity for identiﬁcation and mirroring. is to read a number of popular testimonials as “closed texts” within which “alternate interpretations are at times suggested. especially as the author makes blanket statements concerning sex. emphases in original). 295) as more literal calls to stop participating in the denials that conformity to clinical protocols requires.g. so good. the reading process can be conﬁning. the fact that one was raised as a boy even though one currently lives as a woman). 143–45). For Hausman. Driving a wedge between Stone’s account and her own enables Hausman to make what she presents as a counterargument: “Another way to examine these autobiographies is to use a Foucauldian model to analyze the statements made in transsexual autobiographies and thereby to examine the forms of subjectivity and experience made possible by these statements. She suggests that Stone’s overall goal is to liberate “suppressed stories.” however. However. 146). The purpose of the narratives is to force the reader to comply with the author’s experience” (156).26. in the service of this goal. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . This is a very odd interpretation of a text that professes a commitment to “constituting transsexuals as a genre—a set of embodied texts whose potential for productive disruption of structured sexualities and spectra of desire has yet to be explored” (Stone 1991.5 on Fri. and sexuality.. effective and representational counterdiscourse” (1991. So far. then. in both cases. see also 130). 129. This rhetorical work is accomplished. Both authors anticipate the objection that their emphasis on the surgically (re)constructed transsexual obscures the multiplicity of transgendered lives. transsexuals encouraged a therapeutic response on the part of clinicians. 132). is what Hausman can make of the agency of transsexuals in authoring their own narratives. the transsexual author is an agent only to the extent that she or he works to foreclose interpretations of her/his story as evidence of anything other than authentic “mistaken identity” requiring SRS. indeed. I want now to turn to their strikingly similar feminist analyses of the limitations of the contemporary trans liberation movement. For Hausman. as if one couldn’t be a transsexual and a critic at the same time” (1998. .5 on Fri. Whereas the gender-confused use transsexual autobiography to verify their gender confusion. In this way. Her historical work not only describes the conditions of possibility for a certain articulation of transsexual identity but goes on to tautologically present the class of transsexuals as coterminous with those who uncritically accede to the terms of contemporary technological intervention. then any conceptual space for resistance to the medical-technological complex has also been foreclosed. As Jay Prosser points out (referring to Hausman’s quote from 156 above): “The ‘critical reader’ is set up in opposition to ‘the reader interested in verifying his or her gender confusion’ . and both respond to trans critics articulating new narratives and political strategies. in relatively brief ripostes appended to larger analyses—in Raymond’s case. tautologically. in the “new introduction on transgender” discussed above.1106 ❙ Heyes medical narratives of transsexuality in order to exist. . as the individual who accedes to the terms of the discourse that generated a particular subject position.26. and the demand for medical-technological intervention overdetermines these “conﬁning” personal narratives. in a six-page epilogue This content downloaded from 138. Thus in Hausman’s reduction the transsexual is deﬁned. critical readers (presumably having no gender confusion to verify) apparently get to see through to the internal problematics of these texts: as if transsexuals were not critical thinkers and readers. The question. and in Hausman’s. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . Thus Hausman suggests that transsexuals have agency only in their complicity: “By making their desired treatment absolutely clear. (The same) feminists construct transgender (the same way) Having thus shown how both Raymond’s and Hausman’s analyses conspire to preclude agential resistance on the part of transsexuals. If technology overdetermines the transsexual. transsexuals were actively engaged in deﬁning their position within medical discourses” (1995.16. and straights who exhibit any kind of dress and/or behavior interpreted as ‘transgressing’ gender roles” (Raymond [1979] 1994. and in fact there is only very sketchy and largely anecdotal evidence about the proportions of genetic males and females who might be described as “transgendered. She provides no support for the empirical aspect of this claim.5 on Fri. However..16. rather than transcending. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . it never moves off this continuum to an existence in which gender is truly transcended. This deﬁnition enables Raymond to attack the more ephemeral and often less politicized performances of celebrities such as RuPaul and k.” however deﬁned (partly because these statistics are in rapid ﬂux). Raymond still sees a necessarily misogynist politics: “It is interesting that. drag queens.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1107 to Changing Sex. a more charitable interpretation would have her arguing that popular representations of single acts are a poor substitute for collective action against gender norms. She suggests that “the ideal of transgender is provocative. many trans activists agree and see themselves as part of a political movement working toward new legal. it allows for a continuum of gendered expression. binary gender roles (e. xxv). When it comes to “transgender. One might legitimately retort here that the personal is the political and that Raymond’s point trades on a false dichotomy. d. dismantling and going beyond gender roles. bisexuals.26. institutional. even when the form of transgender in question seems more overtly controversial and transgressive. and cultural norms that do not embody compulsory. xxv). In fact. Raymond is theoretically motivated to emphasize the role of genetic men by her This content downloaded from 138. seek to combine aspects of traditional femininity with traditional masculinity” ([1979] 1994. we see how both authors’ skepticism about the feminist implications of transsexuality is extended to transgender more broadly. On a political level. lang (being “shaved” by Cindy Crawford on the 1993 cover of Vanity Fair). On a personal level. xxxv). like transsexuals.e. covers preoperative and postoperative transsexuals.. Wilchins 1997). Both authors argue that their analyses need not change in the face of trans people who do not appear to ﬁt. i. gays and lesbians. Bornstein 1997.” however. cross dressers.g. Raymond offers a capacious deﬁnition: “The term. the majority of transgenderists are men who. Throughout the main text of The Transsexual Empire. transvestites. Its supposedly iconoclastic rebellion against traditional gender conﬁnement is more style than substance” ([1979] 1994. In these passages. thus dismissing transgender activism as irrelevant to feminist politics.” which she takes to imply speciﬁc ideological commitments to essentialist and antifeminist understandings of gender. however. transgender. Raymond reduces “transsexual” to “seeking total sex reassignment surgery. because Raymond’s brand of feminism requires only one subject: the woman-identiﬁed woman. I suspect the answer to this is no. including some transsexuals.” As she herself asks rhetorically. Raymond famously states that “the problem of transsexualism would best be served by morally mandating it out of existence” ([1979] 1994. as I have shown.’ In fact. “What good is a gender outlaw who is still abiding by the law of gender?” ([1979] 1994. Jess’s transgendered life seems as close as it is possible to get to surviving on a discursive fault line—psychologically and quite literally. The hypothesis that transgender is antifeminist seems unfalsiﬁable. emphases in original). xxxv). Raymond is also disappointed with the inability of transgendered people to “transcend” gender roles and with transgendered practices that only “combine aspects of traditional femininity with traditional masculinity. Indeed.26. 178). Hausman discusses Kate Bornstein’s Gender Outlaw (1995).” but whatever answers are offered to these methodological (and historical) questions need to make both problem and solution explicit (see Halberstam 1998). Jess. Raymond is critical of what she sees as the “politically disappointing” retreat of the protagonist. arguing for the conclusion that “the contradictions that emerge from her arguments . some are criticized for failing to occupy a gender home (even when neither “woman” nor “man” seems welcoming). who have started to publicly repudiate the conservative politics of transsexuality espoused by clinicians and popular media (1995. Hausman’s critique of the trans movement is remarkably similar. xxxii. Her epilogue brieﬂy considers how to make sense of those transgendered people.” Genetic women who might plausibly be described as “trans” are explained within a binary gender system—albeit a critical feminist model.16. demonstrate the extent to which the transgender movement bases its claims within the conventional This content downloaded from 138. 195). Some transgendered people are criticized for mixing still identiﬁably gendered aesthetics or behaviors and thus failing to “transcend” gender. Yet. In answer.1108 ❙ Heyes desire to safeguard the integrity of the category “woman-identiﬁed women. . into “a long-suffering self-surrender to being other—not a woman who is a butch and not a woman who tries to pass as a man with the help of hormones and surgery. Jess’s ﬁnal transformation is from being womanidentiﬁed to being other-identiﬁed” (Raymond [1979] 1994. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . .5 on Fri. but a transgendered individual who identiﬁes as simply ‘other. Even in her critique of Stone Butch Blues (Feinberg 1993). It is clearly a parallel oversimpliﬁcation to insist on including any masculine woman in the category “trans. and one is left wondering if there could be any kind of trans life that would satisfy Raymond with its feminist credentials and contribution to social transformation. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . or to articulate ways of being that exceed the binary logic. which is precisely one goal of the transsexual—to forget or dismiss the technological intervention necessary to maintain his or her chosen sex” (200). Trans liberation? The rhetorical strategies of Raymond and Hausman thus inhibit community building by deﬁning feminist transgender politics as an oxymoron.16. as well as the possibility of unsettling the stability of those who see themselves as ‘normally sexed’” (1995. the object of discussion again slips from the transgendered individual seeking “limited technological intervention” to the transsexual who is ideologically dependent on denying that such intervention has occurred. Feinberg’s Trans Liberation. To support this claim. 197). Certainly every attempt by a self-identiﬁed trans person to unsettle the stability of the normally sexed and gendered. usually involves hormone treatment. In this text I identify an understanding of gender as a property This content downloaded from 138. Non-trans feminists who are convinced by these arguments will not be motivated to explore alliances—indeed. even with limited technological intervention. will risk rejection by Hausman as well as by Raymond. and taking hormones. In this context it is unclear what the “more critical project” Hausman alludes to could be.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1109 parameters of the gender identity paradigm rather than transgressing that paradigm. Hausman attributes to all trans people not just a pragmatic dependence on medical services but also a wholesale adoption of a particular diagnosis and its concomitant politics. they provide justiﬁcations for actively resisting transgender expression and inclusion. 198). ‘Transcending’ gender (Raymond’s words) involves a more critical project. In the passage just quoted.5 on Fri. I now want to take up the second horn of the dilemma I identiﬁed at the beginning of the article and turn to trans feminist writing—speciﬁcally. as it claims to do” (Hausman 1995. To ignore these facts is to discount the signiﬁcance of technological intervention on the body’s tissue and function. because that logic deﬁnes the possibility of the switching in the ﬁrst place. Hausman reiterates her argument that medicotechnological treatment is inseparable from all trans identities: “Transgenderism. even in small doses. This conclusion is supported with the premise that any attempt to proliferate genders (as Bornstein wants to do) will always relate back to the binary: “In Raymond’s argument—and my own—one cannot ‘escape’ gender by switching roles or performances and thereby confuse the binary logic. is risky. Taking hormones in the dosages necessary to maintain the opposite sex’s morphology is not something that should be done without proper medical treatment and supervision. Like Raymond.26. the public trans person was most often manipulated as a talk-show gimmick. cross-dressers. sexual fetish. 5).1110 ❙ Heyes of individuals rather than relations that hampers the development of feminist community in which agents are held morally accountable for the consequences of their gender expression for others. 17 An earlier version of this critique of Feinberg was ﬁrst published in Heyes 2000b. In the emerging genre of popular trans feminist polemic (as in much of popular feminist writing) the rhetorical emphasis is squarely on the right of individuals to express their gender as they choose or to engage in free gender play. and hir extensive connections to 16 Two books that complicate this genre were published too late to be discussed in this essay. and Feinberg (1998). Until very recently. transsexual men and women. to an intersexed activist discussing the emergence of the intersex movement. Feinberg’s work on trans liberation as a political movement “capable of ﬁghting for justice” must be read against this background. and interpreting Gender Outlaw or Read My Lips as the ﬁnal word in trans politics is rather like seeing The Female Eunuch or The Beauty Myth as the epitome of feminism—each text captures particular moments of a political movement. to a gay transman on the signiﬁcance of his native heritage. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . which was written in 2000. This content downloaded from 138. I see gender voluntarism as playing an important rhetorical role for transgendered intellectuals. 1997). to a drag queen recalling New York street life and Stonewall. and our signiﬁcant others” (1998. intersexuals born on the anatomical sweep between female and male.16. but need not deﬁne the scope of critique or remedy. an impressively wide range of queer identities and stories inﬂected by class. These images are still there. Feinberg never hesitates to draw parallels with the oppression of women. Bornstein (1995. philosophically speaking. and. defends particular theses perhaps. and age are represented: from a male transvestite who became a full-time transgendered woman talking with her wife about their relationship. I concur that Bornstein risks eliding a number of concerns about the embeddedness of gendered subjects. See Namaste 2000 and Haynes and McKenna 2001.17 This movement. in the short “portraits” by other contributors. on Feinberg’s account. who use both ﬁrst-person narratives and polemical commentary on gender to motivate more critical understandings of what trans liberation might mean. or tell-all sensationalist. Hausman’s brief critique of Bornstein ﬁnds fault with the “liberal humanist” model of the self such claims imply. However.5 on Fri. race. Wilchins (1997). but there is also now a genre of writing by feminist activists such as Stone (1991). gender-blenders. Stryker (1994). includes “masculine females and feminine males. many other sex and gender-variant people. Indeed.16 This is an emerging genre.26. I avoid judgments about others. and the language of choice appears throughout the book in slogans such as. there are interesting dissonances between Feinberg’s analysis of trans oppression and hir emphasis on freedom of individual self-expression: “Each person’s expression of their gender or genders is their own and equally beautiful. economic marginalization and exploitation. and cultural intolerance and disgust directed against any gender “deviance. In certain contexts Feinberg’s appeal for blanket tolerance of all and any gender expressions is appropriate. The notion of gender freedom ze espouses speaks against both the crushing weight of the dominant culture’s gender discipline and some of feminism’s more doctrinaire moments: “There are no rights or wrongs in the ways people express their own gender style. Hir stated primary goal is to “refocus on defending the [gender] diversity in the world that already exists. as well as all the other hues of the palette”. To refer to anyone’s gender expression as exaggerated is insulting and restricts gender freedom” (1998. with a particular emphasis on rupturing the connection between sexed bodies and gender identities. For example. “gender expression” must surely (on Feinberg’s own account) occupy a normative terrain.26. avoids important normative questions. . and political consciousness. “since I don’t accept negative judgments about my own gender articulation. And. 24). however. In particular. the privilege of white bourgeois male masculinity is implicated in the cultural visibility of minority male masculinities. skirts or suits. People of all sexes have the right to explore femininity.16. This approach. “These ideas of what a ‘real’ woman or man should be straightjacket the freedom of individual self-expression” (4). 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . “every person should have the right to choose between pink or blue tinted gender categories. This freedom is characterized very much as a property of individuals. cultural disdain for femininity.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1111 feminist activism are made explicit throughout hir writing. It is also implicated in politically fraught behaviors. Gender expression is thus not only an aesthetic choice about cosmetics or hairstyle. many feminists have argued that misogynist violence is constitutive of certain kinds of masculinity. No one’s lipstick or ﬂattop is hurting us.5 on Fri. . Despite the book’s many virtues. So even if the aesthetic choices of individuals are not up for moral grabs (as I agree they should not be). and creating room for even more possibilities” (28). . but it is hardly a form of gender This content downloaded from 138. masculinity—and the inﬁnite variations between—without criticism or ridicule” (25). Each person has the right to express their gender in any way that feels most comfortable” (53).” These social structures inform and support normative heterosexuality and white bourgeois patriarchy. But it also sometimes evades hard political questions about who is damaged and privileged by conﬁgurations of gender that themselves need to be transformed. ze says: “All your life you’ve heard such dogma about what it means to be a ‘real’ woman or a ‘real’ man. ze concludes: “I believe that we need to sharpen our view of how repression by the police. It is not so clear that. courts.16. sometimes from within the subject’s own political consciousness. if one is either a woman or a trans person.1112 ❙ Heyes expression that Feinberg can condone. The chances of this are far greater. ending gender oppression will beneﬁt everyone. I once asked Feinberg. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . “What’s good about masculinity?” Ze referred in hir answer to the diversity of masculinities across and within time and place and to the freedom of individuals to express their gender without fear of reprisal. Implicitly addressing hir nontrans readers. Their self-expression may be deeply felt or essential to maintaining a gendered identity. as well as all forms of racism and bigotry. This is an important goal. however.5 on Fri. 11). Such analysis should also include critique of the gender work accomplished by male police ofﬁcers who assault gender-queers.26. Feinberg does not acknowledge that far from “choking. This refusal to pass judgment on others’ choices contributes to the appeal of Feinberg’s rhetoric throughout hir work. When ze discusses hir experience of police brutality against gay drag kings and drag queens. No doubt ze would resist such a demand on the reasonable grounds that trans people have too often been forced to conform to damaging gender norms or been oppressively criticized—as I have This content downloaded from 138. Feinberg thus seems to sidestep the ethical ﬁeld into which one invariably stumbles when talking about the merits of various “gender expressions. but in posing the question I was thinking more of the ethical dilemmas faced by men who want to avoid participating in sexism (Kahane 1998). operates as gears in the machinery of the economic and social system that governs our lives” (1998. And chances are you’ve choked on some of it” (1998. as Feinberg likes to think. To express masculinity (no matter what one’s birth sex) is often to despise femininity.” This elision comes from hir willingness to treat gender as an individual matter rather than as a web of relations in ongoing tension and negotiation. just as to express femininity is often to implicate oneself in one’s own oppression. In other words. 3). Feinberg’s approach here elides a crucial aspect of progressive gender politics: the demand that we change ourselves. With this problem in mind. It is perhaps even more difﬁcult to combine the demands of maintaining a public identity as a transman with a commitment to feminism (Hale 1998).” there are many people who lap up gender ideology precisely because it supports their privilege. and prisons. but it clearly needs to be fought against. in the same way that Raymond’s dogmatism detracts from hers. which would be informed by consideration of how speciﬁc gendered ways of being ﬁt into a web of possibilities and repressions. thoughts. How might non-trans feminists temper critique of trans identities without adopting a laissez-faire account of gender and while recognizing our own parallel struggles with identity? In the context of her critique of transgender politics. so as to transform themselves” (Foucault 1988. we might see SRS as one technology of the self among many others implicated in gender identity and oppression. and the stakes are particularly high for subjects often denied any gender home unless they undertake them. however. In the case of trans identities. Missing from this rhetoric is any rich account of the ethics of self-transformation. 18).26. and way of being.16. It is not clear why the theoretical parameters of this question speciﬁcally limit the critical faculties of transsexuals. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions .S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1113 already shown—for having the “wrong” sort of consciousness. One important characteristic of the middle ground excluded by these positions is a relational. we condemn any trans move as merely another iteration of oppressive norms. We might equally ask: “Are subjects who identify unquestioningly as ‘heterosexual’ in order to accommodate the demands of heteropatriarchy really able to question the This content downloaded from 138. 199). conduct. with Feinberg. “Us and them”: Feminist solidarity and transgender Thus either feminists elide. a certain number of operations on their own bodies and souls. or. Rather than treating transgender as a special case.5 on Fri. I have pointed out that these technologies are unusually literal. Filling in this gap might mitigate some of the legitimate anxieties of non-trans feminists (including Raymond and Hausman) that transgender politics will be inattentive to the relations that hold stigmatized concepts of “woman” in place. with Hausman and Raymond. Hausman asks—supposedly rhetorically—“are subjects who change their sex in order to make their bodies ‘match’ some kind of internal experience of the self deﬁned as gender really able to question the ‘system’ that so clearly demarcates their choices?” (1995. But this response does not allow for important political distinctions between progressive transformations of consciousness initiated from within marginalized communities and disciplining moves that attempt only to reinforce established divisions. the ethical questions that are raised by self-fashioning in the context of gender relations. or with the help of others. historicized model of the self that broadens the scope of Foucauldian analysis to encompass “technologies of the self”—“matrices of practical reason” that “permit individuals to effect by their own means. 142).5 on Fri.” “men.” “gay. urbanization. while it shaped her way of being in the world.” “lesbian.26. Q’s story bears a striking resemblance to the autobiographies of many trans people.18 To make this point more forcefully. As a devotee of Foucauldian feminism. he replied “On this question I have absolutely nothing to say. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . But just as non-trans feminists take seriously the experience of “growing up as a lesbian. as I would like to. This intellectual attitude. and in fact she could continue simply to pass as heterosexual. she ﬁnally decided that she would “come out” and create a life as a lesbian. yet who in autobiographical moments resorts to the language of “I’ve always known I was a lesbian.16. by contrast. she was convinced. 19 Martin 1988. that “lesbian” is in fact a relatively recent category of being. just as there is a standard “coming out” story for gays and lesbians. structuring consciousness and determining possibilities. After years in the closet. imagine Q. Mason-Schrock 1996. as I have discussed.19 These tropes may well inspire post hoc interpretations. The categories “women.1114 ❙ Heyes ‘system’ that so clearly demarcates their choices?” Adopting a radical framework in which choice must be understood through the deep construction of subjects cannot apply only to the construction of transsexuals.” so there is no less of When Foucault was asked whether he had any conviction one way or another on the distinction between innate predisposition to homosexual behavior and social conditioning. 18 This content downloaded from 138. away from the allure of causal pictures. nonetheless coexisted uneasily with her sense that things could not have been otherwise except at the cost of great anguish and selfdeception. Prosser 1998. and many people tried to persuade her that sexuality was quite malleable. there is a set of tropes that deﬁne the genre of (transsexual) autobiography. a lesbian feminist who subscribes enthusiastically to the notion that her life constitutes a resistance to institutionalized heterosexuality. I read Foucault not simply as demurring due to lack of expertise (as if the question had a correct answer that he did not know) but also as shifting the focus of political conversation. created by economic change.” Q recalls a childhood fraught with ambivalence and trauma: she had unrequited crushes on other girls. ‘No comment.’” He goes on to say that this is “not my problem” and “not really the object of my work” (1997. Q was well aware that she lived in a culture where “sexuality” is treated ahistorically and quasi-scientiﬁcally as a core ontological fact about individuals. Phelan 1993. and she agonized over imagining herself the married mother that her culture expected her to become. so.” and “heterosexual” have their own histories that congeal in contemporary individuals. and feminist social movement. This caused her family a great deal of anguish. trying to pass as heterosexual. Of course. she experimented brieﬂy and unsuccessfully with dating boys. shifting kinship relations. but resistance is also motivated by the feminist recognition that the penis does not make the man (Devor 1998. and the apparently conservative gender-boundary-preserving choices (surgical. a girl or a boy or a man or a woman. .5 on Fri.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1115 an onus to respect the testimony of those who describe early lives marked out by gender confusion and distress: As our (modern Western) world is now. 112–17. and behavioral) of many transsexuals have to be read in full appreciation of what the real options are.20 I have certainly seen transsexuals act in ways that I thought showed poor political judgment on matters of oppression and privilege. . but that does not make their experience any less real or deeply felt on an individual level. too. but I have seen lesbians misstep. many MTFs who do not want to engage in penile-vaginal intercourse after SRS resist the 20 Certainly in the literature on passing and on transgender there are numerous allusions to the shock of losing or gaining male privilege that was previously taken for granted or unknown. Many MTF transsexuals are developing their own forms of feminist consciousness and expressing their politics by both refusing certain medical interventions and asserting their rights to transform medical requirements. perhaps even more wounding. as well as the depoliticized queer aestheticism that some feminists ﬁnd objectionable (Bolin 1994. but. 132–33) It may well be the case that a larger institutional history creates those subjects. For example. are taken to be impossible to relate to humanly. failure to conform to the norms of gender is socially stigmatizing to an unbearable extent: To be human just is to be male or female. Caliﬁa 1997. In such a world. Cromwell 1999. 138–40). . and increasingly I have been impressed by the political commitment and sophistication of many trans activists. Raymond recognizes that denial is very deeply built into the structure of privilege and. The cosmetic and functional inadequacy of phalloplastic techniques is undoubtedly a major element of this resistance (and a valid one: who wants a lousy outcome to their surgery?). 221–44. This content downloaded from 138. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions .16. hormonal. especially lower-body surgeries. Those who cannot readily be classiﬁed by everyone they encounter are not only subject to physically violent assaults. boundary blurring carries psychic costs no one can be asked to pay. (Scheman 1997.26. that people read as men are likely to underestimate the signiﬁcance of their male privilege. hence. The politically resistant choices that trans people are making often do challenge the terms of medical practice. 405–13. Feinberg 1998). Many FTMs in particular refuse surgeries. empirically speaking. Yet it is precisely those people who must grapple with the pros and cons—physically as well as politically—of hormone treatments and surgeries who are most aware of the trauma and risks of changing one’s body.16. bloodless.26. . 18). medically managed changes to the body they want to make. These dilemmas. At the very end of her book Hausman claims that “the transgenderist[’s] .1116 ❙ Heyes heterosexist demand to excessively dilate or surgically extend their newly constructed vaginas. 15–19. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . an enforced normative ideal body type. These pros and cons include consideration of how desperately uncomfortable. and be-ing” ([1979] 1994.5 on Fri. transgendered people face a complex set of choices about which. Much more can be said here. In making decisions about hormones. again. 200). In this I am joined by all of the authors This content downloaded from 138. Rather. Raymond states that “medicalized intervention produces harmful effects in the transsexual’s body that negate bodily integrity. . passing. false. crash diets. and acquiescent. tautological and. or participation in other procedures such as plastic surgery. I have shown that Hausman’s and Raymond’s claims that transsexual identity is overdetermined by its medicalization are. Both critics are right that such interventions carry medical risks not yet fully understood. Feminist solidarity after queer theory My feminist utopia deﬁnitely does not include rigid disciplining of dimorphic sex and gender categories. which they may approach with more or less information. trans people—especially if they are feminists—face ethical and political dilemmas. unsafe. a growing political consciousness. and expanded community has caused those trans people who do seek medical services to be increasingly concerned with the limits of SRS as a route to an authentic identity. might be best understood as related to others faced by non-trans feminists. if any. ingestion of hormones. surgery. or bodybuilding are hardly different. or even to have one constructed in the ﬁrst place (Bornstein 1995. it seems as though increased access to critical information about medical procedures. and gender conformity. and one of the frustrations of much philosophy of the body is precisely that it treats ﬂesh as inﬁnitely malleable. but I hope to show only that trans people face complex choices about if and how to modify their bodies. genetic women who ponder the wisdom of breast implants. or psychic need. In general. merit medical attention because of the inherent dangers of reconﬁguring the body’s tissues” (1995. 118–21). In a similar vein. or abjection. conceptually speaking. objectiﬁcation. or unhappy one would be without altering one’s body. political acumen. In this regard. wholeness. If we are all individuals making normatively equal gender choices. if we detach ourselves from each other and our mutual implication in favor of a demand for individual freedom. ———. San Francisco: Cleis. New York: Routledge. Acknowledging this. and Diversity. Washington. As Naomi Scheman puts it. My Gender Workbook: How to Become a Real Man. 447–85. Anne. Benjamin. Gender Outlaw: On Men. Like Subjects. and sharing these goals for me deﬁnes a potential for feminist solidarity. New York: Zone. ed.26. 1997.: Yale University Press. and the political zeitgeist is such that solidarity must. 1997. hopefully. of necessity. and our comfort with our own gender. “Pluralist Lesbian Separatism.16. . 1990. Jeffner Allen. Bartky.: SUNY Press.S I G N S Summer 2003 ❙ 1117 I have discussed in this article. then where is oppression? The answer to this question looks more complicated now. “Transcending and Transgendering: Male-to-Female Transsexuals. Bornstein. Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism.” In Third Sex. ed. Albany. more honest. I have argued.5 on Fri. 152–53). New York: Vintage. Pat. is not who is or is not really whatever.” In Lesbian Philosophies and Cultures. Very different experiences and identities can motivate similar feminist goals. Bolin. Conn.: American Psychiatric Association. and the Body. 1993. Solidarity will founder. Card. Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History. Dichotomy. Department of Philosophy University of Alberta References American Psychiatric Association. New York: Routledge. but. 1995. Femininity and Domination: Studies in the Phenomenology of Oppression. Bordo. Unbearable Weight: Feminism. than they do about the realities of trans communities or political movements. 4th ed. N. Kate. but who can be counted on when they come for any one of us: the solid ground is not identity but loyalty and solidarity” (1997. or Something Else Entirely. leads us toward the recognition of political common ground and thus to the question of how feminist alliances can be formed. This content downloaded from 138. Women. and the Rest of Us. D. Sandra. 1990. the Real You. 1994. start from the deep diversity of agents. Susan. 17 Jan 2014 00:37:23 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions . “The issue . 1995. New Haven. Western Culture. 1994. . Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.Y. however. a Real Woman. Love Objects: Essays on Recognition and Sexual Difference. 125–41. The approaches I have criticized may say more about non-trans feminists’ failure to interrogate our own identities. Jessica. Gilbert Herdt. Berkeley: University of California Press.C. Caliﬁa. Claudia.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
The Keefe Report: A Badge Worth Having According to Scouting magazine, the Rifle Shooting merit badge was number two of the non-required badges earned by all Boy Scouts cross country last year with 43,196 Rifle Shooting merit badges sewn on sashes. Since 2009, again according to Scouting, nearly 350,000 Rifle Shooting merit badges have been earned. That’s a lot of merit badges—and a lot of .22 Long Rifle downrange. There are 11 required merit badges needed to become an Eagle Scout, and it's no surprise that First Aid came in overall as number one. But with 10 of their merit badges on the path to the Eagle Scout rank, Scouts get a choice. And they often take the easy route, which is Fingerprinting (43,743 in 2015)—a badge that can be done in a few hours. But after easy, Scouts select one of the toughest badges—a badge that has been part of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) since the first Boy Scout Handbook in 1910, Rifle Shooting. Think it’s an easy one? Far from it. Check out the requirements. Back in 1910 to earn the “Marksman” Badge of Merit, you had to "Qualify as a marksman in accordance with the requirements of the National Rifle Association." And NRA and the BSA of have had a strong partnership for more than a century, and both organizations remain committed to teaching firearms safety and marksmanship. And that 350,000 number represents just the boys that completed the badge—millions more shot safely through the Scouting program. Today, Scouts can shoot .22s and shotguns (Cub Scouts and Webelos shoot BB guns and air rifles, respectively), but Ventures and Explorers can shoot any firearm legal in the state in which the unit is chartered. And they do so under the watchful eyes of NRA Certified Instructors. A friend of mine, Kevin Dawson, ran a Venturing Crew that shot NRA Highpower Rifle with M1 Garands, M19103s and M1 carbines. Many companies over the years have produced guns specifically for the Boy Scouts. Ruger commemorated the BSA’s 100th anniversary with a limited-edition 10/22. Remington and Beretta have also done special Scout guns. And there is even an Eagle Scout commemorative made by Henry Repeating Arms Co. And I think I wrote the closest thing to a tear-jerker blog I've ever produced regarding one of those guns. As a volunteer with the Goose Creek District for many years, I still regularly sit on Eagle boards of review. And when Mr. Keefe is across the table from you, and the question of what your favorite merit badge was comes up, Rifle Shooting is always the right answer. Top image: Winchester commissioned this painting for .22 Long Rifle ammunition packaging to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Boy Scouts.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Online Liquidation Auctions – Liquidation.com Review. Do NOT use Liquidation.com until you read this Liquidation.com Review. First hand experience – so many people lost their money without knowing these 5 rules!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
£109.0 £60.2Save: 45% off Please Choose: We even included a little notch in the back of the face-framing collar to enhance freedom of movement.Material: 91% Polyester and 9% SpandexAthletic fitHigh contrast space dyeImportedReflective logo at wearer's left hipRuched detail at CF zipperSoft feel knit bodyThumbholes offer added comfort and warmthZippered media pocket Shirring gives this versatile layer a little va-voom. A workout workhorse, we made sure this women's pullover has it all: zip media pocket, thumbhole cuffs and soft, wicking NB Dry fabric.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
In this unusual story, Matsuda plays a child welfare official working at a child consultation center, while Takahashi Katsumi (50) plays a charitable yakuza boss. These two lead completely different lives, but one day, their souls are suddenly switched. As a result, Matsuda begins dispensing odd advice about the “rules of society” and other things. While his colleagues naturally see this as a problem, the children gradually come to rely on him.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Mini Buddha Earrings with Teardrops by AMiRA Regular price$56.00 AMiRA jewelry was founded by Amira Axe, an artist and creator from Connecticut who uses macrame techniques learned while traveling and volunteering in Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Chile and Uruguay to create unique pieces of body adornment. Each piece is a work or art. Due to the handmade nature of this item, actual product may vary slightly from photo. Newsletter Be the first to know about our latest releases, deals, events, and adventures	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Just because I work in food doesn't mean I'm tired of talking about it. Friday, October 24, 2008 Snickerdoodles with the Little Guys Thought I'd share some pics with you from our Little Guys (2 to 4 year olds) Snickerdoodle class we held this past Tuesday. I get a lot of calls from parents who are ready to get their kids cooking while they're still in diapers! Seems a little soon to some, but I love that even kids this young can get in on the action in the kitchen. This is the first one of these that I've held, mostly because everyone's schedule is so crazy, I'm never sure when to put it on our class calendar. I thought it would be best to prepare a really simple recipe for our first outing: Snickerdoodles. It doesn't get much easier than that (butter, sugar, flour, eggs) plus the kids get the extra-added bonus of rolling the dough balls in cinnamon-sugar before baking.Remember, with little kids it all has to be about the action. Children this young have a difficult time sitting still and always want to stir, whisk, and roll, so it helps to measure everything out ahead of time. When you're 3, you have no idea what a fraction is, so measuring 1/4 of a cup will bore you to tears. But holding a whisk (even if you don't really need one), now THAT is exciting stuff! Here we are getting ready to turn on the mixer (watch those fingers!) and get our dough moving. When my own children were younger, we used to give them their own cupboard that they could go in and out of and play with pots, pans, bowls, and large wooden spoons until their heart's content. I think that helped to give them a certain comfort level in the kitchen and it also helped me to learn how to work around them. Not to scare you, but don't forget how dangerous the kitchen can be. As you start including your kids, pick simple recipes that don't use the stove (ovens are ok, as long as you're the one going in and out), have lots of action, and of course, taste yummy! A great resource for working with kids is http://www.familyfun.com/. I've mentioned it before, but it really is good for finding age-appropriate activities. I'm actually working on my own book for teens and tweens, but I'll give you more info on that later. On a side note, please check out our class calendar down at The Kitchen Studio athttp://www.kitchenstudiofrederick.com/. We certainly appreciate your business and would love to plan a class that interests you and your friends. Just let us know what you're looking for class-wise and we'll see what we can come up with. We're even hosting a bachelorette party in a few weeks, so there is a multitude of possibilities! No comments: About Me I own The Kitchen Studio Cooking School (for 14 years now!), and teach recreational cooking classes to kids, teens, and adults. I also write for Chesapeake Family and Eastern Home and Travel magazines. I am all about the food AND the people and love, love, love my job, even though it makes my feet hurt and I smell like food all the time.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
The younger generation is OFF THE HOOK. B. Yung delivers one of the best pieces I've ever heard. This was 2nd runner up in Knicks Poetry Slam 2009 and he is known for HBO's Brave New Voices. Slam Poetry duos don't always work but this one KILLED IT! Up for a little humor? Really good metaphors and other poetic tools to give this poem Michael Lee's personality Religion, politics and other things of that nature are really difficult to write poetry about. All I gotta say to Jefferson Bethke... NAILED IT! I know what y'all are thinking - where's your poetry, Digital Poet?? You can check out The Letter Never Delivered for starters, and I've added a video for Intro. There are some more scattered throughout my site (happy digging!)...or you can check out the videos in these posts: All work on this site is either authored, created and owned by the site owner, or submitted by readers. All rights reserved. If you'd like to use anything, please contact me and use the appropriate attribution. Thanks!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Tomato blight and seed saving "You can't give tomatoes like that to the chickens," I admonished him. "There was barely anything left," my sweet husband explained. "Just a bite for each of us." "No, you don't understand," I said. "I'll cut off bad spots. Any tomato is precious. You see, the blight has struck." I knew that our tomatoes had a high likelihood of contracting the blight this year even though I planted them on the far opposite side of the garden from last year's tomato patch and pruned them heavily to promote air movement. Once the blight is in the air, you tend to see symptoms the next year no matter what you do. The trick is to be proactive and stay ahead of the disease. I could have dusted my tomatoes with copper and prevented the blight, but this "organic" treatment seems too harsh for my garden. Instead, I plan to yank out the worst plants and cut off diseased leaves as soon as we have a day dry enough to make it safe to work in the tomato patch. Meanwhile, I picked a bowlful of ripe fruits to save tomato seeds for next year. What do you do with a bowlful of gutless tomatoes? Make pizza sauce of course! That pizza I've been craving for the last few months really hit the spot. Want to be notified when new comments are posted on this page? Click on the RSS button after you add a comment to subscribe to the comment feed, or simply check the box beside "email replies to me" while writing your comment.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
APAC: Architects Political Action Committee APAC Fund Raising and Political Contributions There are two components to political donations relative to the Government Affairs Committee (GAC) activities: acquiring donations and then making contributions with those funds. AIAMI dues cannot be used for political purposes. Contributions are strictly drawn from the APAC funds, so continued donations by the membership must be sought routinely. The GAC relies heavily on the Board of Directors for fund raising on behalf of the APAC, and also on its Legislative Day events. As the legislative challenges evolve, and the skill of rival forces improve, both maintaining (if not increasing) APAC funding levels and sharpening the focus of our targeted contributions must occur if AIAMI expects to continue to be successful in the legislative arena. The carefully-studied distribution of APAC funds is a critical component of GAC’s strategy for continued success in the legislative arena, and there is no equivalent substitute for it. As usual, planning in connection with political contributions for this coming year is already underway, in consultation with the Lobbyist. To be successful, the contribution strategy must be statewide in scope and non-partisan in nature. The strategy must both recognize the current political reality and also anticipate the future. GAC could not develop an intelligent contribution strategy without professional advice from the Lobbyist. While at times APAC monetary contributions alone can be an effective measure in building a relationship, the importance of constituents and AIAMI leadership attending a fundraiser in person and meeting the legislator cannot be overstated. Connections developed in this manner proved immensely valuable in the past and the same should be true in the future. APAC contributions were made to a long list of legislators, based on the advice and counsel of Kelley-Cawthorne. Beginning in 2012 the approval for political contributions was made by a new and separate Steering Committee which is governed by the APAC Board of Directors.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Meet Delilah Strong as she engages in cock abuse, spitting, gaging, slapping to get off neighbor boy...Delilah strokes the hell outta his cock jerking, and giving a incredible handjob, but he wont cum? Watch what Delilah does next to force this boy to bur	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Tuesday, October 28, 2008 Follow up and also, Spiders give me the creeps My friend holeycow sent me this top 10 website that's kind of funny, and makes a great follow up to Why I hate Simchas Torah.On a completely different topic, I found this article and was getting the "hebbie Jeebies" all day. Spiders really freak me out.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Winter has already arrived to China's northeasternmost provinces, but that doesn't mean you have to stay inside all day. Hit the ski slopes around Harbin for an excellent way to get some fresh air and exercise. All of the ski resorts listed below are either ... Read More>> Due to its location in Northeast China, not to mention the pervasiveness of winter-themed festivals in the area, it's not unrealistic to expect that summer in Harbin should be a cool and enjoyable affair. Unfortunately, this notion is mistaken, as when ... Read More>> Tired of feeling like a hot mess in the city you live in? Then come visit Harbin, China’s most northern provincial capital. Sure, the temperature still averages between 25-32 C in the summer, but between its Snow and Ice Art Museum, whitewater rapids, and ... Read More>>	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website FLORENCE MAE (HASSETT) AABERG born: Jun. 22, 1898 — died: Mar. 30, 1996 Liberty County Times Apr. 3, 1996 Florence Aaberg Fbrence Mae (Hassett) Aaberg was born at Nekoma, North Dakota on June 22nd, 1898. She was one of four children born to David and Mathilda (Ford) Hassett. She grew up in North Dakota and received her formal education at Nekoma. Florence began working in a cook-car for a thrashing crew at age 12. She met her husband- to-be, Carl Aaberg, and they were married at Devils Lake on January 10th, 1917.theyfarmed near Edmore, North Dakota until the early 1930's. The Aaberg's moved to Webster, North Dakota where Florence worked as a high school janitor and also ran a restaurant. During the war years, they spent the winter months in California. In 1945 they came to Chester, Montana where the family operated the Golden West Restaurant & Hotel. Florence also ran a restaurant in Joplin for awhile. Her husband, Carl, died in 1952. She remained in the Chester communityforthe next 20+years. She worked as a cook for a local farmer, Clark McBride, from 1954 -1969. In 1975 Florence moved to Shelby to be near a daughter, she lived at the Crossroads Housing Retirement Complex' until 1989, when she transferred to the Toole County Nursing Home. Florence died at the rest home oq the morning of Saturday (March 3Oth0S96). She was 97 years old. Florence had been a hard worker her entire life. She officially retired at age 80. Because of her good health, she was fortunate to lead an active and independent life in her post- retirement years, during this time she made many solo road trips to California to escape the Montana winters. Florence was a longtime member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester, and did the janitorial work there for many years, she enjoyed vegetable gardening, embroidery, reading, and playing cards (she was especially fond of pinochle and whist). She collected cups and saucers. Her family will always remember her skills as a good cook and homemaker. Florence is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Dave (Coral) Fyall of Kalispell and Mrs. (Gus (Annabelle) Fransen of Shelby; one sister, Gladys Rustan of Williston, North Dakota; one brother, Jim Hassett of Devils Lake, North Dakota; 13 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; 6 great-greatgrandchildren; and numerous nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, twodaughters (Caroline and Dorothy), two sons (Larry and Amos), one brother (Howard), and two grandchildren. Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Wednesday (April 3rd) at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester. Reverend Joe R. Haugestuen of Shelby will officiate. The congregation will sing some of Florence's favorite hymns, including "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Beautiful Savior", and "The King of Love My Shepherd Is". Organ accompaniment will be by Karen Stack. Eulogist will be Blaine Thrasher. Pallbearers will be Blaine Thrasher, Dan Agnew, Steve Aaberg, Ken Solum, Craig Rude and Phil Anderson. A luncheon will be held at the church immediately following the services. Graveside prayers will be 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Mountainview Cemetery in Shelby by Pastor Haugestuen. Funeral arrangements are by Rockman Chapel of Chester. Memorials will be given to the Toole County Nursing Home in Shelby or Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester. Digitized as TIFF files with an Epson 1 of 10000XL Scanner at 300 PPI8 bit grayscale Date Digitized 2010 Transcript FLORENCE MAE (HASSETT) AABERG born: Jun. 22, 1898 — died: Mar. 30, 1996 Liberty County Times Apr. 3, 1996 Florence Aaberg Fbrence Mae (Hassett) Aaberg was born at Nekoma, North Dakota on June 22nd, 1898. She was one of four children born to David and Mathilda (Ford) Hassett. She grew up in North Dakota and received her formal education at Nekoma. Florence began working in a cook-car for a thrashing crew at age 12. She met her husband- to-be, Carl Aaberg, and they were married at Devils Lake on January 10th, 1917.theyfarmed near Edmore, North Dakota until the early 1930's. The Aaberg's moved to Webster, North Dakota where Florence worked as a high school janitor and also ran a restaurant. During the war years, they spent the winter months in California. In 1945 they came to Chester, Montana where the family operated the Golden West Restaurant & Hotel. Florence also ran a restaurant in Joplin for awhile. Her husband, Carl, died in 1952. She remained in the Chester communityforthe next 20+years. She worked as a cook for a local farmer, Clark McBride, from 1954 -1969. In 1975 Florence moved to Shelby to be near a daughter, she lived at the Crossroads Housing Retirement Complex' until 1989, when she transferred to the Toole County Nursing Home. Florence died at the rest home oq the morning of Saturday (March 3Oth0S96). She was 97 years old. Florence had been a hard worker her entire life. She officially retired at age 80. Because of her good health, she was fortunate to lead an active and independent life in her post- retirement years, during this time she made many solo road trips to California to escape the Montana winters. Florence was a longtime member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester, and did the janitorial work there for many years, she enjoyed vegetable gardening, embroidery, reading, and playing cards (she was especially fond of pinochle and whist). She collected cups and saucers. Her family will always remember her skills as a good cook and homemaker. Florence is survived by two daughters, Mrs. Dave (Coral) Fyall of Kalispell and Mrs. (Gus (Annabelle) Fransen of Shelby; one sister, Gladys Rustan of Williston, North Dakota; one brother, Jim Hassett of Devils Lake, North Dakota; 13 grandchildren; 25 great-grandchildren; 6 great-greatgrandchildren; and numerous nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, twodaughters (Caroline and Dorothy), two sons (Larry and Amos), one brother (Howard), and two grandchildren. Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Wednesday (April 3rd) at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester. Reverend Joe R. Haugestuen of Shelby will officiate. The congregation will sing some of Florence's favorite hymns, including "Holy, Holy, Holy", "Beautiful Savior", and "The King of Love My Shepherd Is". Organ accompaniment will be by Karen Stack. Eulogist will be Blaine Thrasher. Pallbearers will be Blaine Thrasher, Dan Agnew, Steve Aaberg, Ken Solum, Craig Rude and Phil Anderson. A luncheon will be held at the church immediately following the services. Graveside prayers will be 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at the Mountainview Cemetery in Shelby by Pastor Haugestuen. Funeral arrangements are by Rockman Chapel of Chester. Memorials will be given to the Toole County Nursing Home in Shelby or Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Chester.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers Blues Rock Fri, Mar 18 9:30pm Jimmy Thackery is an American blues singer and guitarist, who came to fame early in 1972 as a member of the Nighthawks, a Washington, D.C. based blues and roots rock ensemble. Thackery recorded 20 albums with the band before leaving the group in 1986 to tour under his own name and with the Assassins, a six-piece original blues, rock and R&B ensemble which he had previously helped start as a vacation band when The Nighthawks took one of their rare breaks. Originally billed as Jimmy Thackery and The Assassins, the band toured the U.S. Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, and Texas regions. The Assassins released a variety of recordings on the Seymour record label, two on vinyl (No Previous Record and Partners in Crime) and the 1989 CD Cut Me Loose. In the wake of the Assassins 1991 break-up, Theckery has been leading a trio, Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers, whose early recordings were for the San Francisco, California based Blind Pig Records. In 2002 Thackery released, We Got It, his first album on Telarc and in 2006, In the Natural State with Earl and Ernie Cate on Rykodisc. In 2007, he released Solid Ice again with The Drivers. He’s one of the few blues guitarists who learned first hand from the masters of the blues, not off a blues record or DVD. Thackery performs nearly 300 shows a year and absorbed the artistic lessons of life and filtered them into his guitar playing and song writing. It was Thackery’s time on stage with Muddy Waters that is branded deep within his musical soul. “Muddy was one of those guys who was constantly encouraging. He never told you what to do, but he always told you what you were doing wrong. He never minced words about that. “The first time on stage with Muddy, I was in such awe of him that I just kept my eyes and ears open and just picked up on everything he did. It was the dynamics they had that became so ingrained in us. We heard it on the records and then stood on stage and saw how it worked.” These days, Whenever Thackery plays live, a guitar stand props up four guitars and Thackery will announce to the audience, I’m gonna use all of them tonight!” His recordings are no different. In that time, he’s recorded eight discs for Blind Pig. After leaving Blind Pig, Thackery has released and produced two of his own records, We Got It and True Stories, on Telarc and two collaborations on Telarc with Tab Benoit, Whiskey Store and Whiskey Store Live. And there was the critically acclaimed reunion with his old friend David Raitt on Blue Rock It” All this has lead to a new Jimmy Thackery. Because every record is more about originals than covers, Jimmy traveled to Nashville to work out his songs with some of the best. This is not a Jimmy Thackery goes country. This is Jimmy Thackery rocks the blues. “I think True Stories on Telarc is my best song writing to date. For the newest Telarc project I went to Nashville to work with Gary Nicholson. I wanted to go and see how the guys in Nashville go about writing songs. We wrote this from the ground up. I came in with hooks and ideas and lines. I didn’t want to be overly prepared. I wanted to see how they build these songs lyrically. What you do with Gary Nicholson is throw out a hook or line and take off from there and you don’t leave that garage until you’re done with a song.” To make the best record possible, Jimmy hired some of the best musicians Nashville had to offer. It’s no coincidence that many of these names also work with fellow blues rocker, Delbert McClinton. Jimmy notes that even though it has a Delbert feel, it still has all of his integrity. “Maybe because of the way it’s laid out and the common musicians, it will strike a chord with fans who don’t normally buy my records.” To support his newest project, Thackery’s ready to do the road time. “I started thinking that I missed the days when I was just a full blown, kick ass trio. I thought it would be fun to go back to that. I did keep Mark Stutso, my drummer of 15 years. He knows what direction I’m going in before I do.” Between constant road work with his own band, producing the latest record by his Arkansas friends, the Cate Brothers, recording Whiskey Store with Tab Benoit and touring in support and playing various Nighthawks reunions, Thackery’s plate is overflowing, and that’s exactly how Thackery likes life – Overflowing. “Thackery continues to mine the elusive Americana musical genre by blending country, R&B, a bit of surf music and a whole lot of blues; all of which fit seamlessly together within his trademark sound.” -AllAboutJazz.com	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
AdBlocker Detected! We know, advertisements are annoying and slow down the internet. Unfortunately, this is how we pay the bills and our authors. We would love for you to enjoy our content, we've worked hard on providing it. Please whitelist our site in your adblocker, refresh the page, and enjoy! GM Files For Chevrolet App Shop Trademark Sponsored Links Back in October, GM Authority exclusively reported that General Motors was looking into creating an app store for the infotainment systems of its vehicles. Today, we’re learned that on Monday, February 6, 2012, General Motors has filed for trademarks for the words “App Shop” and “Appshop” — further corroborating our earlier intelligence. The GM Authority Take An app store (or shop) for vehicle infotainment systems is an industry-first, as far as we know. And offering users of Chevy’s MyLink system, which is just starting its rollout on the 2012 Equinox (sort of), 2013 Malibu, Volt, Spark, and Sonic, is a natural way of introducing the app store to the masses. Stay tuned to GM Authority — the best source for GM News — as we learn more about this development. What would you like to see from the Chevrolet App Shop? Talk to us in the comments! Sponsored Links GM Authority is looking for professional automotive journalists with at least three years of experience to join our rapidly-growing team. We pay between $60,000 and $80,000 per year. More details here. — Alex Luft GM Authority Founder with a passion for global automotive business strategy. Sponsored Links 9 Comments Seeing that it’s a trademark filing, we don’t know much about the App Shop. But I’m guessing that you’re referring to Chevy MyLink, Buick IntelliLink, or Cadillac CUE… In that case, all three are running a custom software that’s Linux-based. So, no Android. This needs to be a very tightly-controlled platform from the ground up. That, plus Android isn’t/wasn’t meant to be used everywhere, across all devices, applications, and use-case scenarios. It’s a decent mobile platform. But an auto infotainment system needs specific functions that need to be built into Android; and at that point, you might as well make your own — something that you control, own, and know from the ground up 100 percent. Will this program be available for and actually work (once it’s out) on the current 2013 Chevy Cruze with the mylink infotainment system or will this strictly be for chevy vehicles that have the new 2.0 mylink infotainment system like the new 2014 Impala?! So from what you know, will the Pandora and stitcher Apps that the current Cruzes have on the 1.0 Mylink be the only two apps the car will be able to have for the life of the car?! There aren’t any mylink updates or upgrades coming at all for the Cruzes at all that have the current mylink?! If not, why!!! App wise, the Cruze is already played out!! You can’t expect Cruze owners to be happy and content owning a car for 5+ years that only has 2 apps and no ability to add other apps? What is Chevy thinking? Why arent they making sure the current 2013/2014 Cruzes will be able to stay current in the infotainment department? They could at least give 2013/14 1LT Cruze owners a nav based app since they can’t get the mylink based nav like the upper trim cruzes!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
New Logos JV buys Auckland development site April 11, 2020 Logistics developer and investor Logos has bought a 17.2ha infill development site in Auckland from logistics operator Toll Group, as part of a new joint venture with an unnamed institutional investor. The JV will develop 7.6ha of the site into a new rail-serviced freight forwarding facility, as part of a sale-leaseback deal with Toll, Logos said in a statement. 259 James Fletcher Drive, Otahuhu, (image: Logos) Logos will redevelop the remaining 9.6ha into a logistics and intermodal estate, the LOGOS Otohuhu Logistics Estate, which will be worth an estimated NZ$250m on completion. According to IPE Real Assets, the unnamed investor is said to be Singapore sovereign wealth fund, GIC. “Logos first entered New Zealand in 2018 and we’re committed to working with our partners and the local industry to further strengthen the logistics and distribution offering in this market through the development of modern, quality logistics and intermodal facilities,” said Darren Searle, head of Australia and New Zealand at Logos. The development site is located at 259 James Fletcher Drive, Otahuhu, with six freeway entry points within 5km and existing direct access to the Auckland freight railway line. The transaction comes just a week after Logos and real estate investment manager CBRE Global Investors raised RMB 5.5bn (US$786m) in the final closing of their CBRE LOGOS China Logistics Club fund.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Comment by Hyperlynx Comment by Nightelf16 Comment by Gaelwyhn Comment by Gaelwyhn How are Rogues a "bane" on a PVP server? I find myself and other Rogues to be quite useful in may aspects in that case. We can sneak past numerous enemies, and infiltrate places while the warriors force their way in and distract the guards. Comment by TypicalCats I must say - despite our obvious flaws and incredible reliance on simplistic game mechanics, cookie cutter specs for raiding, and of course - death without cooldowns, rogues are my favorite class to play. Sure, holy paladins, resto druids, and any variety of shaman can essentially whoop our asses but other than that... Oh and hunters and warriors... Other than that... Oh, and mages and Death Knights... We can basically kick any classes ass in the game. It's all about the cheap shot, whack whack, kidney shot, whack whack, finisher pray they died or waste a precious cooldown. Comment by sillybuns Comment by woa12 Shankity Shank Shank Comment by demise189 Useful Information:Rogues are no longer required to do an annoyingly long chain quest to use poisons, and they no longer need to learn how to make poisons from the trainer. You can simply buy poison from poison vendors. Comment by eizo55555 Rogue is best PvP but good Pvp is too druid ferral... ferral are ^&!s :D ... my methode. first stealt, second blind, third ambush and continues with multirate and eviscerate :D ... with multirate make 5 or 4 cp and use eviscerate and again :D Comment by mking52 what weapons do the best damage for a rogue? Daggers? Comment by dreadblood depends on spec, I don't play a rogue but I always remember: slow MH fast OH Comment by Hyperlynx Rogue is best PvP but good Pvp is too druid ferral... ferral are ^&!s :D ... my methode. first stealt, second blind, third ambush and continues with multirate and eviscerate :D ... with multirate make 5 or 4 cp and use eviscerate and again :D Why would you Blind as an opener? It breaks stealth so you couldn't use Ambush or Cheap Shot. Save Blind for when you're about to get kited and need time to get back in melee range, granted, as Assassination it's usually going to get broken by Deadly Poison ticks, but the 1 or 2 seconds it'll buy you is often the difference between killing and getting killed. Also, if you're doing Mutilate it is best to use Envenom for both PvE and PvP. The idea of Assassination is that it focuses on nature damage (unmitigated by armor), not physical damage (which is mitigated by armor), and poisons and Envenom do nature damage. If you were using Eviscerate you would have a higher percentage of your damage as physical damage, so more of your damaging abilities are mitigated by armor. Plate armor is common in PvP, and that plate armor will make Envenom shine. Comment by Messuped I use a very useful combo in PvP. You need to be a sub rogue, plus have the talent and glyph that increases your max energy to 130 ( should be 120 but it seems there is a bug but works just fine ). So first you use Preparation on your target. Then you use CS( you all know what CS is ) and then Backstab/Shiv. If he uses his/her trinket/racial, pop KS right after. If not, just pop it when CS finishes. Now, you shouldn't have combo points, so spam Hemorrage on the target till you get 5. Then eviscerate. If target doesnt die, either he has stacked STA, which then requires other strategy, or your gear sucks. In that case, just Vanish and repeat or do Ambush and then go on like you want. Best against: Clothies, Hunters, other nooby roguesPoisons: Any you want on main-hand, crippling on off-hand ( in case you pop Shiv instead of Backstab, which i strongly advice for using less energy and having about almost same dmg ) EDIT: recently discouvered it works fine wit hall casters actually so this combo only doesnt work with plate-wearers because of their massive HP, tho that might change on cata since blizz is giving more hp to all except plate-wearers and they are improving abilities Comment by Wograr Nerf Above class. Comment by Nemasystt Rogues are awesome, especially when you get people QQing about when you stealth in the Gurubashi Arena and let everyone kill themselves.... Comment by holykills I am sick of people thinking rouges are unbeatable here is an easy way to beat a rouges in a level 10-19 BG warsong gulch with a prot pally. Pop Hand of Freedom then you Pop hammer of justice then Judgement of light(note when ever this cooldowns use again) then you use Divine Protection. That rouge has taken a good bit of damage by now and if done right you have took very little if any. Then use hand of freedom, Judgement of light, holy light, and Lay on hand if you have the chance. Use this correctly and that rouge is gonna lose. Enjoy =) (note: only works if you have these spells so lower levels will have a hard time also you and said rouge need to be same level and some rouge that have alot of BoA gear and know how to work a rouge well you may have a hard time and BTW I AM NOT SAYING ROUGES ARE BAD THEY ARE A VERY GOOD CLASS JUST NOT INVECIABLE) Comment by Hyperlynx Also, it is worth noting that rogues are boring, easy, and somewhat underpowered outside of stealth in 10-19. No poisons, no point. Anyway, it's spelled "rogue" and "invincible"... Comment by holykills Well pallies are a noob class, they are OP at any lvl. Noob class hmmmmm and overpowered. This is a statement that has no point every Class has a point where it appears to be unstopable. Pallies are a well rounded class not a "noob class" Refering to something as "noob" is childish at best. All classes are equal if used correctly. Well DK's are not included they are a "Hero class". Feel free to downrate my comments because a speak my opinion i will not do that to you. =) Comment by holykills I understand your comment but i did not mean they should not be equal. I meant they are not classified the same. I think DK's are overpowered and starting at level 55 is also a unfair advantage. I personaly have not a single DK my main character is a hunter level 74. And them starting out in blues is unfair. I actually uprated yours btw. Comment by Hyperlynx Every class has that point where they seem "OP" Death Knight: These guys seem OP when they switch from beating on you in melee to kiting you with Chains and disease damage when you pressure themDruid: They seem OP when they have the skill required to use all of the tools available to them, that's just being well played, not overpoweredPaladin: Well rounded, few direct weaknesses but but no huge strengths... they seem OP when they bubble and heal to full.Hunter: Nasty, well rounded class that can destroy anybody from range. Hugely prone to snares, disarms, and are useless when you manage to close to melee rangeWarrior: Protection warriors can and do stunlock better than rogues, arms have one of the nastiest AoE attacks in the game as well. Warriors hit hard, and are very effective at staying in melee range, they are also very prone to disarms and can be shut down by a wall played casterShaman: They seem overpowered when you're sailing off of a cliff. Nuff saidRogue: Rogues seem pretty overpowered when they're turning the middle third of your screen bright red and making it difficult for you to do anything about it. But rogues without cooldowns are like low-HP warriors with paltry armor and no Charge. For rogues, unlike other classes (like a Warrior), survivability in PvP and damage in PvP are often a trade off - you can't have both.Mage: Quite possibly the class that allows the most control of their environment. Snares, silences, and a plethora of valuable abilities (spellsteal, polymorph, etc.) let them dominate the battlefield... and they can also put out disgusting amounts of damage. Mages seem overpowered when you just can't catch the bastard.Warlock: Very tough to kill as Affliction, extremely dangerous burst as Destro, and really nice CC abilities. A warlock seems overpowered when you die AFTER he does, or when he steals your HP and Mana. A well played and well geared warlock can be ridiculously hard to kill.Priest: Able to make an opponent's life miserable. Decent DoT abilities, and a toolbox full of nasty tricks to round them out.... not to mention the most flexible healing and team support abilities in the game. However they are squishy, and cannot rely on CC to survive, priests are considerably less effective without a friend around. E: This was responding to a since-deleted QQ post about rogues being OP. Comment by Athro I think iv come to my own conclusion that every class can pwn every class it just depends who is behind the keys. Me I get beat up ALOT, but I still have fun doing it! I created my rogue after I used to like to amush people with my hunter using shadowmeld and a kitty i thought looking at that rogue running around there stabing everyones pooper,"i gotta try that". Comment by mixter Paladin: Well rounded, few direct weaknesses but but no huge strengths... they seem OP when they bubble and heal to full. Comment by Dcn78 Comment by kyrierain Comment by teufellhunden Okay. I haven't seriously played Rogue since pre-Wrath.I need to know, what's a good PvE & Raid rotation like? Comment by Messuped Like did you even tried it?I use it everytime so dont say it sucks >:C And my name is supposed to be "messing" with Ally players in pvp jsut stabbin' them all (yea i know all of you hordies like that) Comment by Johnney Stealth in cataclysm?ive been skulking around at the contents and talent points in cata and couldnt find anything that shows rogues getting improved stealth, other than increased stealth movement speed. is this completely removed? or just not yet shown/developed? another question.the talent quickening in assassionation that increases your general run speed by up to 15%. does that also increase your speed further in stealth if you have increased stealth movement already? since its more like a decreased slow effect rather than an increased speed effect imo :P.. just curious Comment by Blackriver The different types of rogues... Assassination: Experts with poisons. The vast majority of their damage, from the poisons, completely ignores armor. They're also proficient at weakening their enemies. Combat: Experts with weapons. Normal attacks from these guys will hit harder and faster than the other two. They're also better at fighting multiple enemies at once. Subtlety: Experts with stealth. They have the most powerful opening and finishing moves, and they can pierce armor. They can also make you bleed a lot. Comment by kreiri rogues may not be the best class when it comes to soloing but they are the most fun! Comment by Gudiwarrior Comment by megakiller312 Comment by MentalFloss The Lvl70 ETC song says it all... Comment by Nameless6969 Sap>Cheap Shot>Kidney Shot>Blind>Vanish. Rinse and Repeat. Comment by kninjamaster agreed! Comment by kninjamaster assassination-Nature damage is painfull. so they ignore most of the armor then plus you should stack those deadlies for the envenom.Combat-very scary due to the blade twisting attacks are painful tooosubtlety-pure combo point unloading and gathering plus you can get away if u cant kill them Comment by sqwah The way i open a fight on a lvl 21 rogue: begin with pickpocket if i can get close enough (for double loot), then go into ambush if i can get behind them (sounds so wrong :P) then wait for energy, then gouge for a 4 second stun, then to backstab = highly effective. Comment by Finshade Comment by Suparockr as if they weren't OP enough, they give them soloing heals and one-shots before level 20 Comment by lynched 1st off rogues now get poisons at level 10 i believe. And at the moment if you want to know OP make a level 15 rogue atleast and spec him assassination. Find anyone, clothie to mail wearer(no one wears plate yet) and sap.... pool til 120 energy(when you spec assassination you get 20 extra energy), on your stealth bar make sure that your ambush and mutilate are in corresponding slot. Double click hitting about 200-400 each depending on level with BoA's on and critting like i always do. Instant poison both daggers as thats only one unlocked. If anyone survives that it will be a 19 twink or a engie with a shield/Priest shield. And don't downrank, not my fault it doesn't look like a rotation, its jsut the rotation is so short due to crits and high out put froom Ambush/Mut combo. Comment by Valerij What is ? Smoke bomb Comment by Tervicz I like how in the Combat tree they made it very viable to swashbuckle (fight without having to rely on stealth all the time). I like this because it makes your fighting style resemble a pirate, you know like improvising with things such as gouge or blind, where you fight dirty but not having to sneak up on them. I even went about and posted a bunch of information on a website called oneextralife.com and pointed out everything you need to know about how to make one. I've already started doing this on a level 38 rogue. And if I had slightly better threat generation i could pretty much tank dungeons my level. Plus in BGs you could really throw a warrior or other class off their game when you just run up and start fighting them not sneak in and use a stealth opener like ambush, sap, or cheapshot Comment by coolcorybro I have a rogue i just got to lvl 70 on, leveled with subtlety and dual spec combat. subtlety - the master solo/pvp spec, and the most fun i've had leveling a character so far. (for reference, i am also leveling a prot pally and an arcane mage) subtlety is designed to kill one target as quickly as possible. you move faster in stealth and do more damage in this spec coming out of stealth. here's the trick for killing that one target, whether it be a boss in a cave, random creep, or PVP: 1. stealth (duh). find a target by itself or sap its neighbor 2. use a macro to instantly use premeditation and shadowstep* - you will boost your damage and instantly appear behind them with 2 combo points ready to go. 3. ambush (60% base crit chance means it almost always crits) gives you 5 total CP at the start of combat 4a. eviscerate - a 5 CP eviscerate will do just as much if not more damage than ambush. almost any one target will be dead or near death after this (squishies especially). you can pull this off on any PVP target that isn't paying attention. I've had a kill ratio of 7:1 doing this in the arathi basin. 4b. if your target is a healer class (paladins in particular) use kidney shot instead of eviscerate. if you're spec'd right a 5CP KS will cost 0 net energy. spam backstab until dead. note - when sneaking up on a mage sometimes they'll blink away before you can finish them off. against mages just use premeditation if you can and sneak behind them. when they blink you can catch up to them with shadowstep (although i can almost guarantee the mage in question will be VERY annoyed and !@#$% about how rogues are op.) once you get shadow dance you can easily rank #1 DPS on any dungeon boss fight: 1. stealth2. premed/shadowstep macro3. ambush4. eviscerate5. wait until you have full energy6. shadow dance7. ambush - ambush - eviscerate - ambush - ambush - eviscerate (you can pull off another ambush if you drink some thistle tea or something)8. see your name at #1 on recount. I haven't tried combat in PVP yet (why would I when subtlety owns all in pvp?). In dungeons combat is your friend because it's the closest thing to AOE you will get. feel free to use larger weapons such as maces here.to get max dps do the following when attacking a mob in a dungeon: 1. stealth2. ambush3. slice n dice4. blade flurry combat is all about melee. adrenaline rush works really well in conjunction with blade flurry as well. although your energy regeneration rate wont be as high with blade flurry on, the attack speed stacks with slice n dice so it still provides for plenty of hits. Comment by guatafu Edit: My bad is not from a ghost, I know I´ve heard that phrase before somewhere but cant seem to remember, will appreciate if anyone reminds me. Comment by humansardead whats the best spec for pvp? Comment by celestica not sure how i missed the removal of anethesthetic poisons. :( Comment by lightnstuff As of late, rogues have become brutally overpowered in low level brackets for PvP. It's clearly a problem when a level 11 rogue can one shot a level 19 rogue. Comment by guatafu Small, greedy and deceptive. Goblin is THE Rogue race. Comment by Drutar Rogues should SO be able to do all that stuff. Then again then they would be a tad op. Just a tad >.> Comment by Johnnyrev Has anyone noticed after cata rogues can not dis arm Hunter traps when they ( Hunter ) go into stealth ( or whatever they call it )and further more...can not attack, sap,etc. target is obscured! even if u are right behind them!...Basically u have to let the hunter see u attack u break ur stealth and fight from there! is this just another Knock back on rogues cause just about everything breaks stealth now! particularly annoying when u have to Try and fight against classes with pets or minions that have as much Hpand armor as their master ( so to Speak ) and can misdirect disorient etc a rogue from primary target faster and more often than u can re-aquire them ( at least in some/most cases ) Today I just ran some tests with a guild hunter while in Camo they only way i can attack them is to kick to break their stealth at same time as mine which does no advantage for rogue as it gives no combo points and element of surprise is lost!...as far as traps they are glitched some times i can dis arm them some times it seems only when they interrupt their camo to lay more traps etc. but is not always the case!...I tried cheap shot, garrote, ambush sap, Blind, gauge while standing in front of him to the side and behind with and with out stealth and the only way to attack is my kick effectively breaking my stealth or out right taking stealth off and auto attack or sin strike all melee attacks and by the description of camo it says makes them hard to hit from ranged attacks? i even tried to disarm them while standing in front with out stealth and the message is always the same "target is obscured"! Comment by DarkAssassin Meaning Of Rogues in WoW: AsReaper Comment by DarkAssassin Meaning Of Rogues in WoW: AsReaper Comment by murdershot21 Everyone is forgetting this is the class played by the idiotic fratboys that claim you have no life and are generally unskilled and a liability. Comment by Spocklee sup peeps, just made my rogue.. goblin of course. I named him Tasselhoff for all you Dragon Lance fans. My second rogue since the game was released. Im hoping for great things from cataclysm. If you guys are curious as to my other toons they are all in my guild Chaotic Method on Stormrage. All toons are mine but a 85 Pally (Healia) and a 12 Druid (Nicatyme) Comment by mariosk97 what talent tree should a rogue at around lvl 23 have and what at medium and last lvls?(both for PvP) Comment by nayrb what talent tree should a rogue at around lvl 23 have and what at medium and last lvls?(both for PvP) PvP rogues are going to continue to debate this question, and each one will have their own valid points. I, personally, leveled Subtlety because I enjoyed one hitting everything with Ambush. Subtlety is the best class to match up against clothies at all levels. Once you learn Shadow Dance, you'll be unstoppable. Assassination seems to be the way most rogues are going (PvP and PvE). Update: Most PvE rogues roll Combat now, but Assassination is still a decent choice. Assassination is great for dropping a plate wearer due to the consistent solid dps. I'm not a huge fan of Assassination for PvP because of limited escape moves and high reliance of poisons. I'm not too familiar with Combat Rogues. As far as I understand, they are able to be engaged in combat for longer periods of time while surviving. Killing Spree is also one of the coolest moves WoW has to offer. This is also the way to go when you would rather dual wield swords, axes, maces, or fist weapons (while the other two are set up for daggers). The problem is that I have never really had a combat rogue ever be a threat to me. I've rolled several other toons, and combat rogues fall short. If you look around at other rogues, you'll very rarely see them spec'd combat. I would only consider Combat if you have epic non-dagger weapons when epic daggers are not available (aka never). To sum it all up, duel spec Assassination and Subtlety. Use Assassination for your PvE, and learn to PvP in both. Comment by mariosk97 you know, i had a lvl 23 ally subtlety rogue and at bgs i did about 500 crit with ambush. that was half of pally,warrior and other classes health. now i started again with a horde one this time that is why i am asking. with my other rogue i just couldn't kill them!so i am thinking of being subtlety until lvl 19 and then assasination. But is 500 crit with ambush good dps at lvl 23?all the players had 600-1200 HP. Comment by BobaFettReturns lol i cant stand a rogue. its horrible in the PvE setting. when the AI's team u ur already @#$%ed. :/ especially b4 level 10. hate rogues to death hunter ftw Comment by gnomesmacker A Rogue will killYour guts will he spillIf you have a dagger he needs,He'll kill you, then on you he will feedFor a copper and some blingHe'll even kill a kingA Rogue is a nasty customer. Comment by FragN8r hey everyone.. I just recently got back into the game, I have a Rouge build that was pretty awesome. Lots of stuns quick attacks mostly combat and assassination and very few stealth moves.I went this way because it seemed the stealth in PvP was useless. So when I log in I get a message stating that my talents have been reset.. Dayum! I can't remember how I had it setup, and when I use all the calculators it seems only one branch can be used. I hope that is not the case here, so when I log back into my Rogue duel welding swords with poison, should I just go combat? will I be able to combat/assassination? Because I really got used to killing spree and all my stun hits/kicks.I seem to be reading that Rogues are given some love now with the latest Cataclysm changes. Comment by dudeofdecay666 i play a rouge and i slay uber l33t hax l33t sp34k Comment by Stalion it's awesome to be a Rogue! my first ever toon and by fat the favourite Comment by XVIII Rogues should have a suicide option just so when you know your gonna get ganked, you just top yourself so no one gets honor.. just for teh lulz. Comment by Azerofth I love rogues, theyre easy to level and are the ultimate pvp class. Although it is kinda repetitive ( Shadowstep,Ambush,Eviscerate=kill) it will easily be one of the funnest class you play. I think they have everything that one playing a paladin is missing. I am only sad that you can be a druid and be a rogue. It seems op to me that a class can be another class. Comment by Azerofth Definitely Subtlety for pvp. Speedy stealth and extreme ambushes, as well as a move to instantly move you into position for an ambush, makes you have the kind of spec that is perfect for picking off healers, pesky rdps, and flag carriers(yes, you WILL make them cry) Comment by Spalatum The rogue is sappin' mah healer! Comment by Jahova i do believe he asked for the best rogue pvp spec that would be subtlety. shadowstep = death Comment by warhamer116 Rogues kill pple in house and garden, but only if you know how to play. Still, for mages (like me) they are bane of my existence. They also have one of game's most irritating and hard technique: Stunlocking. Rogues FTW Comment by Marckus I was just wondering if there is a way to level a rogues lockpicking skill beyond 425 post cataclysm as that is where I am at level 85. It is frustrating as there are lockboxes that take a higher skill. Comment by Wuten I love my rogue, been playing him since patch 2.3, seen both the ups and downs of the rogue class since then. Though, mostly the ups, we're freakin' deadly. >:) My personal favorite talent tree is Combat, simply because now, in Cata with the new revamped talents and buffs, I can essentially act as an off-tank for the last 500k of the boss' health, more or less, if the tank kicks the bucket in 5-man normals and heroics. Screw the Alliance and Horde! Ravenholdt FTW! Comment by guatafu Rouges are overpowdered. Comment by DarkAssassin U jelly? Comment by shadowsneer Yeah baby ,Rogue may do it from behind , but everyone else takes it from behind :P ! Comment by DwarfViking lol, I love how rogues are stereotyped to pwn hunters (or "huntards"). =PJust wing clip and disengage the bastard. xDSerpent sting too to screw up his stealth... ^--------An idiots guide to hunter stuff lawl I like playing a Rogue surprisingly, they are the funnest class to play in PvPi remember sapping some Ally in AB, and they started saying stuff like "Rogue, holy shat!" in common. ^.^ Comment by Samurai4ya The Most Funniest Moment in PvP is when a rouge finds another rouge stealthing along unaware of u, stealthing behind him, and SAP, the End. I Always do the Bag of T on them for the lulz. =P Comment by Nightstrife And now you also don't have to choose another Poison because you have leveled a bit. All posions are buyable from level 10 EDIT: 1: Fixed (30-20=10)2: Why isn't this the reply it was supposed to be? Comment by XxroguexX my main is rogue before rogue was a little weak but when cata came thay maked rogue stronger than before by 2x Comment by XxroguexX you are wrong when you said about hunter guid of killing rouge when hunter use disengage rouge will just use blind and come to him again Comment by XxroguexX lol in pvp when i use sap the alliance like oh no rouge damn! Comment by XxroguexX atlast it was very hard to train ur lockpicking now it is with lvl evrytime i lvl my lockpick gets strongerand open better boxesi was tired of it tring for a weak training my lockpick and its skill is 198 omg Comment by XxroguexX IMMA SAPEN THERE HEALER Comment by XxroguexX no one will sap mah healer or i sap ur healer >:) >:) >:) Comment by XxroguexX i hate when i fight a rogue and i am a rogue it is super hard to find him who finds the one will be truly DESTROYEDeven this stuped guild took my name that i wanna do it ctrl alt DESTROY Comment by XxroguexX rogue are OVERPOWERD! in cataclysmi created a new account 10 day free trail i tryed rogue it is more than a powerful then beforebefore i had lvl 67 roogue Comment by XxroguexX this was awsome i liked it! Comment by XxroguexX it is awsome why isnt that sopposed to be a reply Comment by Azamagon This is how the Rogue talent-tree should've looked like in Cata, among other changes: Comment by Eternial ROGUE -.- Comment by Kevaul goblins make good rogue cuz of there size and there rocket jump to escape :D Comment by Lortharian ...this is a game where you have a freedom of choice. Use that freedom.You are free to use whatever build you like most, instead of constant nagging and asking those same stupid questions:"Oooh, what build should I use? What specc is THE best?", nag nag nag. ...Rogues are very much down to earth class. Its not complicated to play a rogue, its not nuclear physics, it won't make you bad player if you use currently, God forbid, "unpopular" specc.Its about hiding in the shadows, lurking, waiting that right time to strike and as you lay an ambush; to surprise the crap out of your target and to hang his spine on a nearest tree.Its all in that element of surprise. Every specc has that element. Comment by Brrexkl Subtlety Rogues, PvP: I like to Stealth. Find my Target then Premeditation (or is it Preperation? Get those confused, I just know where to click on my bar) for the Combo Point. Then I Shadowstep to end up right behind him with more Combo Points. Then I Ambush for some pretty high Damage and a great WTF! moment. I Kidney Shot to put him down for 6 Seconds (worth so much more than 1 Evisicerate). Also, if he has a Trinket or EMFH then I just forced him to Use It... or die. Now, let's say he doesn't Pop Trinket... I Shadow Dance, Ambush, Ambush, Ambush. Yes, if you time it right with your Energy and button clicks, you can drop 3 Ambushes in that 6 Seconds. If he is somehow still alive (Resi gear, usually) I Eviscerate on a Full 5 Combo. Anything that lives after that is going to be a battle on your hand, especially if he had a Trinket to Pop and didn't. Most, especially Clothies and some Leathers, should already be dead. If he is ALMOST dead I'll Vanish and get behind for what should be one last Ambush. 4 Ambush and 1 5 Combo Eviscerate is pretty tough to deal with, especially if Poisons are Proccing. Adding that 5th Ambush after Vanish shouldn't be neccassary unless you are against a Beast. This is where you now need to be able to use some skill (as what I put above is just some handy button clicking while watching to see if he Pops Trinket). Now you use things like Blind. Also, a smart use of your (Talent) /the one that resets Cloak of Shadows, Vanish, etc... Preperation? Premeditation? One of them./ will allow you to start the string all over again. I always lead with this (Ambush to 5 Combo Kidney Shot) because if they DON'T Trinket, I got a huge advantage. This leaves Lesser things like Blind or using a Vanish to Sap (since Cheap Shot is cooling down with my Kidney Shot) and reset or avoid the target. I think all the DPS (Ambushes in a rush, 5 Combo Eviscerate) are worth the risk of them Popping Trinket. I use Crippling Poison on Main Hand and Instant Poison on Off Hand (Crippling means more to me as it makes it easier for me to stay with the Target if he tries to flee) and I don't want DoTs breaking any of my Stuns (like Blind or Sap). Sometimes I use Deadly Poison and Crippling, and try not to use Blind or Sap (as Crippling would break them) because 5 Stacks of Deadly will auto proc the Crippling. I do this when I'm out-manned by Resi wearers, as it helps me get away if things go bad. By the time 5 Deadly hit I know if I can win it or not... usually not by that time... and he is Crippled so I have a better chance of getting out. Still, Crippling and Instant are the better method. What's your favorite String (Sub or Not) to get that WTF expression on their faces? Comment by Allysucks What's your favorite String (Sub or Not) to get that WTF expression on their faces? Assassinations Rogue; Level 69 My strings isn't complicated at all, just a lot of button clicking like above. If their one of my favorite classes to gank, like clothies or druids, i just burst them down. I'll stealth (obviously) and sneak up to my target. I cheap shot, and with talents, it hopefully gave me an extra combo point. One Mutilate later I'm at 5 CP, so I hit and do an eviscerate. Since its usually about a 4.5k crit, they're gone. Thats my WTF string. Happy roguin'! Comment by Allysucks What's your favorite String (Sub or Not) to get that WTF expression on their faces? Assassinations Rogue; Level 69 My strings isn't complicated at all, just a lot of button clicking like above. If their one of my favorite classes to gank, like clothies or druids, i just burst them down. I'll stealth (obviously) and sneak up to my target. I cheap shot, and with talents, it hopefully gave me an extra combo point. One Mutilate later I'm at 5 CP, so I hit and do an eviscerate. Since its usually about a 4.5k crit, they're gone. Thats my WTF string. Happy roguin'! Comment by Kaestia I'm new to rouges, what is the best dps spec to go? Comment by CJTheInvader "I don't have to tell you things are bad. Everybody knows things are bad. It's a depression. Everyrogue's out of work or scared of losing their job. The gold buys a silvers worth; guild banks are going bust; questgivers keep a epic under the counter; punks are running wild on the mailboxes, and there's nobody anywhere who seems to know what to do, and there's no end to it. We know our dps is unfit to breathe. and our stamina is unfit to eat. And we sit watching our strategy guides while some website tells us that today we had fifteen arena losses and sixty-three losses in battlegrounds, as if that's the way it's supposed to be! We all know things are bad -- worse than bad -- they're crazy. It's like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don't roll rogues anymore. We sit in the indecision, and slowly the world we're living in is getting smaller, and all we say is, 'Please, at least leave us alone in cataclysm. Let me have my stunlocks and my poisons, and my stealthy status, and I won't say anything. Just leave us alone.' Well, I'm not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don't want you to protest. I don't want you to riot. I don't want you to write to your favorite blue, because I wouldn't know what to tell you to write. I don't know what to do about the depression and the nerfs and the death knights and the (Lack of) crime in the street. All I know is that first, you've got to get mad. You've gotta say, 'I'm a rogue, goddammit! My life has value!' So, I want you to get up now. I want all of you to get up out of your nerfs. I want you to get up right now and go to the forums, post a reply, and stick your head out and yell, I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Rogues have been nerfed a little bit each expansion because they were cheap in vanilla, Lets just hope that blizzard gives us a little love, And also, No matter how epic of a speech that is. Please do not rant on the forums, I do not condone such activities. I almost rolled a death knight alt because of the rogues lacking in some parts, Which inspired me to make this. Comment by Roayal Rogue are make for killing those lazy auctioneers in horde/alliance cities =) That´s their work,ya :P Comment by George14 In PvE, Rogues are expected to get their target under 75% health from an opener when using Ambush and others. If not, your gear is bad. Comment by WoWHackingTools Valor Cap Increaser The Valor Cap Increaser edits the amount of valor points you can acquire by exploiting a simple Blizzard bug. Works on 4.2.0 (14480) (Current) Youtube:youtube.com/watch?v=ZEmApwl-fLk Download:mediafire.com/download.php?44e6vwdppzdv6sw Comment by TheAmazingFeedz Guys want to hear a joke? Combat rogues.. Comment by Pottz007 nvm I take it back Comment by FluidDruid3 I need help, or a suggestion. I'm trying to decide between a Troll, Goblin, Blood Elf, or Undead Rogue. (For each of their Racials). Trolls have increased damage against beasts, thrown weapon & bow specialization, stun duration reductions, increased regeneration, and the cool-down on Berserker. As a rogue attack speed periodically is nice, as well as regeneration and thrown/bow damage increase (plus damage done to beasts). Goblins have the nice discount and the permanent but low haste increase. Undead have a "Insignia of the Horde" Racial, Shadow Resistance, & can use a cooldown high power version of Recuperate; also, as of more recent patches, a damage & heal on hit bonus was released. Blood Elf benefits are Arcane Resistance, possible use of the Enchanting increase, & the silence/resource restore cooldown. To summarize it, I am having trouble finding the best race to use as a Rogue. The only other thing I can think of is the upside to goblins is as well as Rogues having stealth, they have small size on their side if PvP enemies click-to-target. Any help & useful information will help. Also consider this as something to mull over if you wish to play a Horde Rogue. Comment by Vrominelli Rogues move like a stinky breeze; by the time you smell it, they're already gone. Comment by Dassy I love my rouge, I take my rouge everywhere I go, if i'm going out i'll take my rouge with me. My rouge makes me look pretty and I always love having my rouge on with me. o.o Comment by Zz0mg Race doesn't make a huge difference. It's mostly all down to how well you play your rogue. When you choose your race, it is almost all about personal preference. Comment by Degnos you are NOT prepared.... Comment by Hipster Combat rogues are one of the highest dps with little to no prior experience played Comment by InDimLight For those who are thinking to play a rogue or wondering if this class is a fun class to play with, allow me to provide you with some tips: Don't play a rogue if you also play/played a hunter. Don't even bother or continue to read. You will never like it! It is like the difference between diamonds and cubic zirconia, instant and filter coffee, Lifeless Stone and Happy Fun Rock... being able to think and being able to think about thinking. Don't play a rogue if you don't value the art of moving in and out of the shadows and swiftly dispatching your enemies before they even know what hit them. Don't play a rogue if you are not willing to submit, obey and pay your allegiance to Lady Sylvanas Windrunner should she select to become the leader of this class. Don't even argue! Don't play a rogue if you think or slightly feel that the Turkey Lurkey achievement is amusing. Don't play a rogue if you can't even spell it properly. ... to be updated. Comment by InDimLight For those who are thinking to play a rogue or wondering if this class is a fun class to play with, allow me to provide you with some tips: Don't play a rogue if you also play/have played a hunter and finds/found it fun. Don't even bother or continue to read. You will never like it! It is like the difference between diamonds and cubic zirconia, instant and filter coffee, Lifeless Stone and Happy Fun Rock... being able to think and being able to think about thinking. Don't play a rogue if you don't like playing with one of the four core pure classes, and fundamentally, the most single specialized class in the game. Don't play a rogue if you don't value the art of moving in and out of the shadows and swiftly dispatching your enemies before they even know what hit them. Don't play a rogue if you are not willing to submit, obey and pay your allegiance to Lady Sylvanas Windrunner should she select to become the leader of this class. Don't hesitate or even argue! ...edit , NO other class will admire her astonishing beauty, respect her sense of trickery and cunning plans more than the Rogue class. Don't play a rogue if you think or slightly feel that the Turkey Lurkey achievement is amusing. Don't play a rogue if you can't even spell it properly. ... to be updated. EDIT: for those who argue about Lady Sylvanas making the decision and becoming the leader of the Rogue class, don't play this class.Lady Sylavanas is known to be 'dark', mistrusted by many of her allies and some of her faction's members are uncertain about her true intentions. Also, during Hallow's End in Cataclysm she says: We paint our faces with the ash, to send a message to new enemies. A declaration, to those who fear and revile us as monsters! To those who would question our place in this world- We are not monsters! We are not the mindless wretches of a ghoul army! NO! We are a force even more terrifying! We are the chill in a coward's spine! We are the instruments of an unyielding ire! For all of this and even more, those attributes fit no class but the Rogue and NO other class will admire her astonishing beauty, respect her sense of trickery and cunning plans more than the Rogue class. I just hope that someday she will realize what she truley is and makes that decision! Comment by GIR9 When i open my spellbook and abilities Mutilate have the message "see your trainer" at level 1, and when i go to my trainer it don´t seem to exist at all. If you have this problem to, please write an answer! :3 Comment by martialennans "What's your favorite String (Sub or Not) to get that WTF expression on their faces?" Comment by Ninjastyle124 As Samuro of the Elite Tauren chieftains says, "Rogues do it from behind!" They infact do. Almost everything you want to do as a rogue is from behind. Of course, though, you probably won't be behind your opponent unless you have a tank with you, or in PvP, but whenever you're doing an instance with a group, or pvping, you should ALWAYS stay behind your target. The rogue has the most freedom out of any class. Why? They can choose their own battles. You can decide who to take in WSG, you can decide who to stun in an instant. Heck, it is always awesome when you sap that dang healer in Warsong Gulch and just stunlock that Flag Carrier, especially when that Flag Carrier just runs ahead, out of healing range. As a rogue, you are more viable in PvP, rather than PvE, because you have little to offer to the raid than raw DPS. Raw DPS is useful in PvP, but in PvE, you don't have much to offer. You have a variety of poisons, each with different effects that can slow, damage, and debuff your opponent. This is also helpful, because you can simply poison your weapons while stealthed! This gives you the time to apply the correct poisons while that crappy caster is sapped. You have a variety of interrupts and stuns that will wreck anybody's day up. If you are skilled enough, some undergeared 85s with 113K health may be able to take down those with 150K health. A rogue in full S11, gems, and enchants are pretty much a death sentence to whoever they are against. Critting 30-40K with ambush, and stunning the enemy for 3/4 of the battle. You are one of the most brutal classes, with the most avoidance. Remember that. But you are also squishy. If you don't have that PvP trinket, and that pally gets a hammer of justice on you, you are pretty much dead. Pretty much, a rogue is good for dealing a ton of damage, no matter which spec, and they have a ton of utility and stunning. They can choose their own battles, and can make quick work with almost everything you see in a BG before they do much damage to you. Comment by Flashadow you dont play rogue to have fun, you play rogue to make sure no one else has any Comment by Chenzil07 I remember you use to be able to have your talent tree mixed up. i always went half assassin and half Sub. i whooped alot of butt back then in pvp. back then rogues were monsters at pvp, im not a fan of that new talent change. I've just created my own blog and it's about rogue tutorials. I am making weekly videos, which the first i upload last night, and it talks about how to move your char properly, which in my opinion is a very critical thing for a melee dps. Comment by Zevali After TBC came out, it genuinely took me a while to figure out exactly why Draenei couldn't be Rogues. Comment by Atreidas Rogues......( -_-) ( -_-)>⌐■-■ (⌐■_■)DO IT FROM BEHIND. Comment by Soldierhobby ima start a rogue :D Comment by Gabraii By Pleasehelpme: Can some one help? im a sub rogue and i dont know if im doing it right :P. i Stealth , shadowstep, sap, ambush, hemorage, evisorate, then i use hermorage alot :P--------------------hordewarrior2000:Well, if you're pveing, then that's fine, but if you're pvping, remember to sometimes open with cheap shot, then hemo 1-2 times, kidney shot and spam hemo. I usually do this on plate wearers, so then they can't really do anything. But keep one-shotting those clothies with ambush =)------------------hordewarrior2000:Also eviscerate after the kidney shot (if they don't die from the hemos) No, you're not doing it right, and hordewarrior2000 is incorrect. (Also, I'd do this as a reply if I knew how to. >_< )I'm going to assume, from what you said, that you're PvP'ing. I'm also going to assume you're PvP'ing at 85. Feel free to respond and correct me if either of those are wrong. Yes, you start in stealth. As a Sub rogue, you should always be in stealth unless you're in combat or flagrunning in a BG (Bad idea unless it's a dire emergency).First, you use on your target. This will give you an extra two combo points that you can use for either Slice and Dice or . As you should have a fair amount of Mastery (You don't need to reforge to Crit rating after about 35-ish percent, which you should get most, if not all, of it from straight Agi thanks to and T11 Ruthless Glad's secondary stats (I'm assuming, again, that you're at least halfway geared)), Slice and Dice is capable of lending a nice little DPS boost in fights (No matter what hordewarrior2000 claims, you're not going to be one-shotting ANYONE unless they're naked, with res sickness, etc. Period.) and also makes poison procs more likely (due to raw attack speed bonus). The is an option because if you have Energetic Recovery (which you should), then your will cause you to regenerate energy, making it less energy-starving to use Backstab, which should be your filler.Second, you use Shadowstep to get close; however, due to the 70% movement speed increase (modified by Nightstalker to give you a grand total of ~187% movement speed for 3 seconds), there's no reason to use Sap. In fact, there are reasons to not use it; first, it costs 35 Energy. That's the cost of a Hemorrhage. So instead of Sap'ing, just Shadowstep and then toss out Ambush. The procs from your Ambush and Backstab should let you keep up with them, especially if you have Minor Speed to boots (+8% movement speed). Second, it makes you lose the element of surprise. Unless your opponent literally just bought their account on Ebay five minutes ago, they know what Sap is and they know it means you're there, so they have their PvP trink ready to pop, and if they're running with friends, they're probably calling them over via Skype, Vent, Mumble, etc.Overall, you're going to use Hemorrhage probably once or twice over the course of an entire encounter, unless you're being kited hard enough that you can't get behind them. A Sub rogue's PvP filler should be Backstab, as it has the highest DER (Damage to Energy Ratio) of any non-stealth ability.The reason why you use Hemorrhage at all is because of two things. and Charred Glyph. This will save you the trouble of trying to maintain Rupture(for ) on a target, which is difficult in most PvP scenarios.Most of the time, the fight ->should<- go something like this:PremeditationRecuperateShadowstepAmbushHemorrhage(need to be behind them now);BackstabBackstabSlice and Dice or Eviscerate, depending on how much HP they have. Only use Evis if it'll kill them. In all honesty, you shouldn't have them nearly dead yet, unless you have people helping you.BackstabBackstabHemorrhageBackstabRecuperateIf they're not close to or below 50% HP at this point, they're probably not killable by you, and you should Vanish and try to get away. "Cheap and cowardly" they say, I know, but an alive 'coward' rogue who can come back and kill them another time is more helpful than a dead one sitting in GY. What a friend and I do is this:We're both Sub rogues. (We also both use T13 PvE 2-set, which every rogue who does this trick needs)We both set the other as focus.Set up the following macro:/cast Tricks of the Trade /cast ShadowdanceAnd then we blow up the same target using Shadowdance and Ambush spam. And for hordewarrior2000's benefit: PvE Sub is more rigorous than PvP Sub if you want to pull even halfway competitive DPS. Try it sometime. As always, feel free to reply to my posts. Questions, comments and concerns are always welcomed, and I'll try to get to them as soon as I notice them. EDIT: Added a link to a the site's talent calculator, with the basic Sub Rogue PvP spec loaded.EDIT #2: Corrected several grammatical errors that occurred due to sleeplessness. Comment by bratboy186 hiding in plain sight since 2004 Comment by ritalinn Rogues: Rogues are played by special need's and/or 13-14 year old kids going at the hard part of puberty. -> They don't fight, they don't help. They just make it more un-fun for other players.-> They don't try. -> 69 out of 70 rogues are idiots. (sn / 14) Examples:A 85 horde undead rogue would kill a level 7 warlock,mage,etc for no reason (they victim would be no threat at all and if anything just trying to have fun and making it more fun for others. The rogue would be like oh look at me I killed a lvl 7 warlock with 1 shot . (same fraction, not dueling,etc.. it would be like in the gaming arena or something..) Rogues are useless,annoying,idiots and overall just plain silly.Not sure why the kids go for rogues. And even tough all special needs (< below 70 IQ) play as a rogue because it requires no skill or knowage or anything for that matter, rogues are not over powered at pve or pvp. Rogues are just annoying and vile. Don't go rogue, its not cool. Comment by Wolfgenerator Shadowmeld is like a low level vanish or extra vanish for night elf rogues. I love it, really helps in PvP when I kill someone and then am overwhelmed <3 Comment by Wolfgenerator If you think rogues are &!@#$%s then roll one yourself, go sub, and try out some bgs. You'll soon change your mind. Comment by monkeysrlegit how can a rouge us a ranged weapon? Comment by imri500 I would like to mention that by far, the best race for a rogue is either a night elf or a dwarf, the dwarf having some advantege. The reason being very simply, a dwarf's racial, Stoneskin, gives extra survivabillity, which is always good, and, the critical abillity to remove bleed effects. Nothing more annoying then having a warrior rend you. As your now stuck out of stealth for the duration and nothing will help you. But Stoneskin will. It allowes you to complete your immunity and get rid of ANY effect. :D Nightelves get Shadowmeld as their racial, which allowes them to enter a stationary state of stealth, lasting untill they move. This used to be amazing since there was a bug that made it so if you were sitting with Shadowmeld on, you would take no damage from DoTs. This has been fixed. but while Shadowmelded you are un-targetable, meaning if you have no DoTs on you, you can easily Shadowmeld into stealth. Do remember that this is just my personal opinion, do not send me strongly worded letters about how your a blood elf rogue and your amazing and im a noob etc. <3 Comment by baneozan Is this somekind of a bug?When i play my Rogue and Gouge or Blind an enemy pet in PvP and then i Vanish,the pet follows me and attacks me even tough i vanished o_OWhy? Comment by andypoop20 That moment when your in a battleground and you see a rogue stealth and walk towards you and you just know that your sooooooo %^&ed Comment by darnauch A rogue? Where? Comment by hurgoffundead Love being a rouge very snecky and all plus i love rocking with them when u face off a boss or an enemy Comment by perculia 5.4 Changes General Ambush damage has been increased by 12%. Evasion now increases dodge chance by 100% (was 50%), cooldown has been reduced to 2 minutes (down from 3 minutes), and duration has been reduced to 10 seconds (down from 15 seconds). Assassination Rogues should no longer be eligible for any other weapon types except daggers in situations where loot is automatically awarded(Raid Finder, Bonus Rolls, Heroic/Normal Scenarios, and the upcoming Flexible Raid difficulty.) New passive ability, Ruthlessness: This passive ability is learned by Combat Rogues at Level 32. The Rogue gains a 20% chance per combo point (100% chance at 5 combo points) to immediately regain 1 combo point while performing a finishing move. Nightstalker now increases damage dealt by abilities while stealthed by 50%, up from 25%. now stuns the target at 4 applications of the poison (down from 5 applications). Shadowstep now has a reduced cooldown of 20 seconds (down from 24 seconds). Glyphs Major Glyphs Glyph of Adrenaline Rush's effect is now baseline and has been replaced with Charred Glyph. Charred Glyph now reduces the cooldown of Redirect by 50 seconds (down from Redirect no longer has a cooldown). Charred Glyph now only removes damage-over-time effects that would cause Blind to break. For Rogues that also have the Dirty Tricks talent, this means Blind will no longer remove the Rogue’s poison or bleed effects. Glyph of Crippling Poison has been replaced with Charred Glyph. Charred Glyph now causes Fan of Knives to also damage the armor of its victims, applying 1 application of the Weakened Armor effect to each target. Fixed an issue where certain conditions can cause Blade Flurry to not deal damage to additional nearby opponents. 5.3 Changes Talents now requires the Rogue to be in Stealth. will not remove the Stealth requirement for . Shuriken Toss now deals 100% more damage in the initial ranged attack, damage is no longer doubled when used on targets farther than 10 yards away, and energy cost has been increased to 40 energy, up from 20. Charred Glyph now increases the duration of Garrote's silence effect by 1 second, down from 1.5 seconds. Combat Blade Flurry's damage to secondary targets should no longer be affected by Resilience or PvP power if the primary target was a player as both had already been factored in for the initial damage calculation. now lasts 24 seconds, up from 18 seconds. Subtlety now bypasses 100% of armor against non-player targets, and bypasses 50% of armor when used against other players (was 70% armor bypass for all targets). Burst of Speed now costs 30 Energy (was 50 Energy), can be used in Stealth, and always grants increased movement speed in addition to breaking snare effects, but no longer breaks root effects.Shuriken Toss now causes the Rogue to throw ranged shurikens coated in Lethal Poison instead of auto-attacking for up to 10 seconds if the enemy is farther than 10 yards away.Deadly Throw can now interrupt spellcasting when used at 3, 4, and 5 combo points, and upon interrupt prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 4, 5 and 6 seconds respectively (was 5 combo points and 6 seconds).Blind now has a cooldown of 2 minutes (was 1.5 minutes). • Cloak of Shadows now has a cooldown of 1 minute (was 2 minutes).Smoke Bomb now reduces damage taken by allies in the area of effect by 20% in addition to current effects.Nerve Strike now reduces the effectiveness of healing provided by the target by 10% (was 25%).Shadow Focus now reduces ability energy costs by 75% while stealthed (was 100%). PvP set bonuses have been changed: Vigor is now the 4 piece set bonus and increases maximum energy by 30 (was 10). Deadly Brew is now the 2 piece set bonus, and its effects remain unchanged. In addition Shadow Blades, each specialization now has a reworked ability that gives the player a chance at generating another combo point: , Seal Fate, . New AoE ability: : Finishing move that consumes combo points on any nearby target to slash at the flesh of all enemies within 8 yards, dealing Physical damage and causing victims to bleed and suffer an additional 30% of the initial damage over 12 sec. This works nicely with Fan of Knives for an AoE rotation, which now generates a combo point when used. New Level 76 ability allowing party to stealth: Shroud of Concealment: Extend a cloak that wraps party and raid members within 20 yards in shadows, concealing them from sight for up to 15 sec. Poison Changes Poisons have been reworked extensively in Mists of Pandaria. You do not buy poisons from vendors anymore and apply one to each weapon. Instead, poisons are a type of spell and have been classified as Lethal (damage dealing) and Non-Lethal (utility). You may have one poison of each type active at the same time. Lethal Poisons: Wound Poison: Each weapon strike has a chance of inflicting additional Nature damage to the victim and reducing all healing effects on them for 15 sec. : Concentrated Paralytic Poison causes instant paralysis of an enemy's lower body, rooting them in place for 4 sec. (##RESPBREAK##)2##DELIM##perculia##DELIM## Comment by Sooba O-M-G-GYou can't see me, meI'm blending in just like a pine treeI am unseen, You can't see me cuzI'm a ninja, nin, ninja, ninja, nin, ninja! /cast stealth Comment by katieleigh422 I love playing my Rogue because most of my play is solo PvE. It makes quick work of almost any quest and I can get in and out of almost anywhere without having to do too much fighting. Collecting objects is easy because I can just Sap the mob, grab the object, then go invisible again, and Fan of Knives makes easy work of even a modest-sized group of mobs. If you're wanting to play solo, Rogue is the way to go. Comment by Elsiaida Comment by Drymiko Comment by gbalkam While rogues cannot tank, abilities such as Combat Readiness, Evasion, and Recuperate make them sturdy for farming and soloing lower-level content. Obviously, whoever wrote this has never played a pve rogue. A rogue will never be a main or even off tank. But, if no druid is in the group, or hunter with a tanking pet, a rogue is going to be the healers first choice of back up tanks, and will be their primary healing target. Why? Very simple. Rogues stack massive amounts of agility. This agility gives a rogue an enormous amount of dodge, usually far in excess of anything an actual tank can spec to. Ask any healer, who, in priority, they will pick as a back up tank, if there are no other plate classes in the group. I bet you will find rogues high in the preference list. I have personally tanked 5 mobs (and as many as 7) after the tank died because he did a bad pull, and also had high enough damage output to keep aggro off a careful healer. The idea is to use your evasive abilities for as long as they last, kill as many mobs as possible while those abilities are active, and then keep on, relying on your stacked dodge and keep at it until you either finish the pull or die, by which time, there should be very few mobs left to kill the healer. more than 5 mobs gets rather tricky, so also relies on the rest of the group, such as a hunter and warlock taking advantage of the rogues cool downs to pull out tanking minions / pets* Comment by SlarkeSSC Anyone else notice that in the proficiencies, it doesn't mention daggers, swords, or maces? Comment by Jarakin They're sayin' ...Yo mama is so fat when a rogue shadowstepped her, he got a loading screen. HaHa :) Comment by Naticutzu Oh hi!Name's Joe!When Joe gets things, Joe is happy.And when Joe is not happy, it's bad, very badBecause Joe'll bash ur gnome m8s heads out of Azeroth and he swers on his mum he'll do so if he does not get the WoD beta-key!U have 24 m8s if not so, Joe will get angry and I tell you again and mind it m8s you don't want this to happen at all costs! With love, Joe Comment by Flubchub I love playing on my Rogue; they're a lot of fun! But, for some reason I can't seem to reach the DPS that I would like with my current gear. On my hunter I can do around 40k – 80k higher DPS with ~10 lower iLvl. I've tried researching various specs, rotation, reforging, etc., and I can't seem to raise my DPS to the level that I should be doing. I guess I'm just bad at playing the beautiful class of Rogue. I disgrace Rogues everywhere Ra'sha's Sacrificial Dagger. Comment by Douglazz16 Well Rogues can be pretty good at their survival too!They got Recuperate Leeching PoisonEvasionCloak of Shadows They can withstand a huge amount of dmg too, nearly as much as a plate bearer! That's even more awesome! Comment by Loupland I like rogues... Thieves and scum is what they are! Thieves and scum. Comment by Punkyfunky thnx a lot Perculia for the fost really helpfull Comment by aziemer09 Okay, so first impression of the Quality of Life improvements for the Rogue. I think they're welcome. No more having to clunk up your rotation by spamming a secondary key, you're combo points are there, ready to be used. Easier to queue up bigger finishers, easier to keep track of what you're doing. I've played off and on since BC, and usually Rogue was what I played. I feel like there's not an impetus to utilize the "mash ALL buttons" playstyle, and I can play the class as I really want to, which is the guy sneaking around, choosing where and how I'll engage and then coming out of stealth into a massive flurry of action. But that's just me, and my opinion. Comment by marrakoosh So my iLvl is still relatively low (608) and I only hit 100 yesterday evening, but I have all the Perks for Assassination and thought I'd put down feelings so far... - Improved Slice and Dice - best perk I think so far - removes the need to activate it, lowering ramp up time for damage and one less timer to worry about. Only have to worry about getting Rupture up ASAP and Envenom up as close to 100% of the time. Maybe simplifies Assassination a little bit down to 3-4 spells, but still, nicer in dungeons and questing. - Enhanced Vendetta - now a really nice way to open vs a boss now - Vendetta, Ambush - guaranteed Ambush crit and with Sealed Fate, 3 combo points straight off the bat, meaning you get Rupture up quicker. - Enhanced Crimson Tempest - really not sure of this. I guess I don't really play Rogue to do a load of AoE damage, but find it difficult to kill even lower groups of enemies (think those mini-packs of quest mobs where you need to collect stuff - red globs of stuff in Talador spring to mind) even with this. Maybe it'll work better against larger groups of trash mobs in raids. So, really, quite a nice way for us to get up on the damage quicker, even in shorter fights, generally happy and now want to try out of some of the other spec perks! Comment by Stizelswik What character, do you think, would make the best rogue? I wanna try one out... Thanks. Comment by stevegoryan What is the slightest, shadiest outfit for a lvl 100 rogue? Maybe dark gray, or black (black and red?) as long as it's tight and shadowy/sneaky. I'll transmog the hell out of what I've got if needed, but I'm kinda tired of these obnoxious hoods and intrusive thorny shoulders. Hell even my foot gear looks like I'm wading through a cow meadow! What ever happened to a stealthy look? Ideas? Set items? Misc similar items? Anything dark and sleek. :-) Comment by Ardensolis This is just my opinion, but: 1. The assassination rogue spec uses the eviscerate icon, but assassination rogues don't use eviscerate, because it gets replaced with envenom (the other two specs do use eviscerate). 2. The eviscerate ability picture depicts a knife, dagger, or otherwise bladed weapon about to stab into a male's neck. However, a dictionary tells us that eviscerate is defined as follows: Evisceration does deal as well with the deprivation of a vital part of a person; however, in a general sense, evisceration is a term reserved mainly for disembowelment. 3. The combat rogue spec uses the 'backstab' icon as the specialization icon. Combat rogues are the only rogues that do not have either of the two abilities that also use this icon (Assassination has Dispatch; Subtlety has Backstab). "A swashbuckler who uses agility and guile to stand toe-to-toe with enemies." Killing Spree's tool tip describes the ability's effect as: "Step through the shadows to a visible enemy attacking 7 times ." Stepping through the shadows for multiple assaults sounds a lot like an assassination rogue's theme, or especially a subtlety rogue's theme (Subtlety rogues were originally the only spec to have the Shadowstep ability). 5. Subtlety uses the stealth icon as the specialization icon. Subtlety is fine. My simple suggestions: 1. Since assassination deals mainly with poisons and dagger attacks, assassination's specialization icon could be changed to the venomous wounds icon, the vendetta icon, the mutilate icon, or even the envenom icon. This would better reflect the end-game usage of spells, and correctly fit the specialization's theme. 2. Because evisceration is a focused on high damage, and the name suggests it fatally damages the opponent's intestinal tract, eviscerate's icon could more appropriately depict a bladed weapon (dagger/sword/etc) about to stab into a person's side, or stomach region (depending on artistic skill). Another possibility would be to rename the ability Decapitate or Throat Slit (or anything else that deals with damage to a person's neck and/or spinal cord) and to leave the current icon as it is. 3. Since combat rogues are described as agile pirates that use guile to face-down their opponents, combat's specialization icon could be changed to that of Adrenaline Rush (possibly also having an eye-patch), that of Blade Flurry, or any other major combat specialization themed ability (other than Killing Spree, which will be discussed next). 4. Killing Spree. This ability is a lot like a more-time-consuming, damaging shadowstep, on a longer cooldown. This ability would fit nicely as an optional talent, probably in the same tier as shadowstep as a better version of the current Cloak and Dagger talent, with a few adjustments for balance, of course (imagine how this might balance out the widely used Burst of Speed). Another talent tier it might do well in would be to replace the disappointment that is Shuriken Toss. Balanced accordingly, of course; perhaps incorporating Shuriken Toss' ranged auto attack bonus in after Killing Spree is finished, or instead generating 5 free combo points when Killing Spree finishes. But what would combat get instead of their own personal Killing Spree? Perhaps giving Adrenaline Rush a shorter cooldown, or improving another damage cooldown/ability for the spec. ~~~~Thank you for reading! Remember, these are just ideas. I do not main a rogue, I just really enjoy the idea of having a set theme and sticking to it (the reason why a warlock uses shadow spells, and a paladin uses holy spells). Constructive feedback is appreciated. Comment by Kataclysia My Thoughts on Rogues: When I began playing WoW years ago I disliked Rogues and really did not understand them but over the years as I learned more about them and how to play them I have come to love Rogues. It is now my favorite class and I personally prefer subtlety to the other two specs. Rogues have so many advantages and even though they can be tricky to play at times, it is well worth the time to learn how to play this class. I have come to love Rogues so much that as I return to WoW my new main character is a Rogue. I have tried all three specs but as I said I prefer the play of subtlety over the other two. Comment by Destruct Rogues are the funnest class, hands down! :-) Comment by RosedaTheHunter Here are a few quick tips on rogues First of all work on your professions as they will come very useful.Rogues can't heal so do first aid. Make sure to use all available abilities.Once you hit lvl 34 sprint and vanish as it will come very useful in pvp and pve Comment by gbalkam Ok so I haven't seen anyone say it, so I will. Subtlety rogues are just plain broken in PVP. First of all, Sub is not a PVE spec. Never was in the past, so boosting sub specs for raiding is just plain wrong. If you want to raid, spec combat or assassination which have better sustained dps. If you want to burst hard on a single target (such as a random patrol that is attacking the healer in pve) or recover a flag, you need sub. It isn't rocket science, even a retarded monkey could learn this, so why haven't blizzard developers? I mean good god.. look at the set bonus on Conquest gear for rogues.... Primal Gladiator's Leather Tunic. 1 Real rogues don't 'feint'. I've never used feint, no reason to. AoE in pvp does very little damage. Why would i bother being worried about that? I'm more concerned with 40k obliterates coming off a dk than I am a 300 point aoe dot. Now this is for sub remember.. the set bonus for the other 2 specs is fine. Would be great for sub.. but the devs just said no SUB! I don't know what those clowns had in mind, if it was damage in raids wearing pvp gear or whatever... but it sure was a failed design idea. I am sure I can speak for every subtly rogue every played... if we wanted sustained dmg we would have gone combat or assassination. Most rogues probably did as a 2nd spec. But for a main spec, sub is all about the burst and blizzard developers let us all down badly. Now with reforging gone, it's like blizzard is saying.. we only want one spec with different names to make you think you have a choice. Multistrike? REALLY? Im sub.. i don't plan on standing there out of stealth long enough to proc multistrikes. Maybe if it was a guaranteed proc on openers, then yeah, ok.. fine. but it isn't. Sub rogues are a Hit n Git class. But now with the crap stats on pvp gear, the useless set bonus, the nerf to our burst abilities, we get stuck in the open like sitting ducks. At least if we could reforge, we would have some options other than blizzards saying... "This is how WE want you to play" Seriously.. I can play that game on Xbox and not have to pay a monthly fee for it! As I see it, a major buff to our melee damage is owed to us, to compensate for the nerfing to our finishers. This would balance the dps loss from ambush and eviscerate, but also allow other classes to not get instantly 3 shotted by our openers. Everyone who never played a rogue, says we are OP. The apparently don't look closely at death knights, mages, hunters, pallys, warriors, etc. I bet, if they brought our escape cool downs down to be in line with a mages blink and hunters disengage, non rogues would pitch a royal FIT! Imagine a rogue with a 20 second vanish! OH MY GOD! To be quite honest, if they did that, and lowered the cd on CoS to 30 seconds, sub would be fixed. It would give us better survivability and the bursty feel we rolled sub for in the first place. Lastly... I know many players play 2 specs. That is fine for them. They want to play 2 specs. Personally, my spec has always been sub. I don't see any reason that i should be forced to respec into another playstyle. I pay my monthly fee just like every other player. If they thing rogues are op.. then THEY can respec. But.. my best advice to non rogues.. the ones in all the forums saying how OP we are and how we need to be nerfed more, is this.. LEARN TO PLAY YOUR CLASS and LEARN YOUR COUNTERS! Like.. priests.. Oh rogues are op.. my answer.. Yeah, if you let us ambush you 4 times, we are. If you use fear use a DOT! DUH! If you can't figure that out.. delete your character or dont play PVP!(##RESPBREAK##)16##DELIM##hatman555##DELIM## Comment by Ryawy Comment by Eido Comment by newks1711 I am totally new to Wowhead, have just created an account. At first perusal the sight looks very professional and absolutely full of good advice which I know will assist me in my time in WOW. My favourite toon is the Rogue which I will shortly have 3 of, thank you for your help so far. Mark Comment by Boxofbeer Each class in Legion has a long class hall quest chain — campaign. During that chain you'll raise your power and power of your class hall. Rogue class hall campaign quests is under the spoiler. Rogue Rogues are a leather-clad melee class capable of dealing large amounts of damage to their enemies with a flurry of very fast attacks. They are masters of stealth and assassination, passing by enemies unseen and striking from the shadows, then escaping from combat in the blink of an eye. Rogues have a powerful arsenal of melee skills, many of which are strengthened by their ability to stealth and to incapacitate (i.e. "stunlock") their victims with abilities like Cheap Shot. They are also capable of using poisons for both dps boosts and utility. ]Rogues can use a wide variety of melee weapons, such as daggers, fist weapons, one-handed maces, one-handed swords and one-handed axes. Different trees and talents play to various weapon strengths. This database page provides an overview of Rogue spells, organized by type and spec. Navigate the tabs below to browse all the abilities. We have a series of detailed guides on how to play each Rogue specialization:	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
November 9, 2012 Giving the Gift of Good News Almost everyday, even at 4am when I'm changing a diaper and wet clothes, I am reminded of how blessed we are. The blessings God has given us are endless, but the one that overwhelms me with thankfulness the most is the life we've been able to give Owen. He is healthy and happy. We have great health care for him. He has both his parents and a warm home. We live in a great community. We can raise him with an awareness of how much God loves him. The list goes on and on... But there are children who do not have all these things, and this makes my heart ache. There are children who have no relationship with God and don't know he has a plan for them. And it is good. Last year when I was still teaching my kindergarten class, with the help of one very generous and thoughtful mother, donated four shoe boxes full of fun toys and useful items to children in need. Operation Christmas Child is run by Samaritan's Purse. The organization aides those who do not have the necessities and luxuries we enjoy on a daily basis and also spreads the Good News. I want to raise Owen with a spirit of thankfulness and giving, so we began a tradition I plan on continuing with him through his childhood. We (really me) picked out some things for a child his age, a boy. I was sure that young girls were usually the demographic that receives the most donations. But to be sure I wrote them an email. I was surprised to see the reply late that afternoon in my mailbox. I couldn't believe they responded to me so promptly. The email said as follows... Dear Colleen, Thank you for contacting Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Christmas Child. Because of caring people like you, our distribution partners overseas have been able to hand out over 94 million shoe box gifts to children around the world since 1993. Our mission is to provide local Christians around the world with shoe box gifts as a means of reaching out to children in their own communities with the Good News of Jesus Christ. Over the years, we have found that we receive more than 50 percent of shoe box gifts for children ages five to nine. The areas of greatest need are gift boxes designated for children in the other age categories of two to four and ten to fourteen. In all age categories, we receive more boxes for girls than boys. Thank you for taking the time to write. It is our prayer that the Lord would continue to grow your love and passion for Operation Christmas Child. Because of people like you, children all over the world are having the opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ, many for the first time. We are eternally grateful for your support, and mostly your prayers, as we partner together to touch the lives of children all over the world. Sincerely, Houston V. Sloan Jr. Operation Christmas Child Representative – Operation Christmas Child I know it's late notice, but if you have the time and have not thought of doing so already, think about putting together a box for a child and dropping it off at a collection location. It can be as easy as making a quick run to Target to fill your box before dropping it off. It could all be done in less than an hour and could make all the difference in what Christmas is like for a child this year. I still need to write a little note and include a photo in our box before dropping it off at the collection site. There is a way through the website to track your package, and I've heard that if you include and address you will sometimes get a reply from the child who receives your box.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
I have just now made the switch to the beta Carbonite from the release version. This was after a delete of the Interface and WTF folder to refresh all my mod. I noticed there is a fundamental difference between both version for one of the option I enjoyed a lot in the old version. I think there is nothing wrong with the new behavior but I would like both options to be present. This is related to the option: Auto Turn In Self-Completion Quest that is under the Quest Options tab of the Quest Options Module. I do not remember the exact wording of the option in the old version but my guess is that it was: Auto Trigger Self-Completion Quest. As you can guess, as soon as I would complete a Self-Completion Quest, the turn in window would open automatically for me to read the flavor text and accept the next step of the quest chain. Currently, the option that is available in the Beta turns in the quest and accept next step as soon as I complete the quest taking away my ability to read the flavor text. Is it possible to add the old option to the list as they are both useful feature but fundamentally different. This would accommodate both people who play for the lore and people who want to complete quest ASAP.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
The Commission, comprised of 13 scientists, ethicists and public policy experts, including Penn Law Professor Anita Allen, said that the very newness of the science, which involves the design and construction of human-made biological parts, gives regulators, ethicists and others time to identify problems early on, and craft solutions that can harness the technology for the public good. Gutmann presented the Commission’s recommendations to John Holdren, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and other senior White House officials on Dec. 14. “We comprehensively reviewed the developing field of synthetic biology to understand both its rewards and risks,” Gutmann says. “We chose an approach to regulation that maximizes public benefits while also safeguarding against risks. This approach recognizes the great potential of synthetic biology, including lifesaving medicines, and the still-distant risks posed by the field.” The Commission encouraged federal oversight that will facilitate scientific progress. During the group’s three hearings, held over the past five months in Washington, Philadelphia and Atlanta, the Commission heard from more than 35 ethicists, scientists and others close to the issue and considered a range of possible actions the government could take to mitigate current and future risks. Invited experts explained potential benefits from synthetic biology, including the development of vaccines and new drugs and the production of biofuels that could someday reduce the need for fossil fuels. The experts included three Penn faculty members: Arthur Caplan, the Emmanuel and Robert Hart Professor of Bioethics and director of the Center for Bioethics; Jonathan Moreno, the David and Lyn Silfen University Professor of Ethics and Professor of Medical Ethics and of History and Sociology of Science; and David Weiner, associate professor of Pathology and Lab Medicine. The Commission’s deliberations, which were open to the public, considered the risks posed by the technology, including the inadvertent release of a human-constructed organism into nature and the potential adverse effects on ecosystems. To reduce any possible threat, some scientists and ethicists advised careful monitoring and review of the research. President Obama asked the Commission to study the implications of synthetic biology following the May 20 announcement by the J. Craig Venter Institute that it had inserted a human-constructed genome into a bacterial cell, creating an organism not found in nature. Penn Current Express Quoted Recently “It’s a very confusing time. … This legislation has happened before we have a medical consensus about what to tell women.” — Emily Conant, a professor of radiology at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, on laws in 21 states that require doctors to tell women they have dense breast tissue, which can raise their risk for cancer and hide abnormalities. New breast-imaging technologies promise to detect more cancers in women, but can bring more false alarms as well. (The Wall Street Journal, Feb. 23, 2015)	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Family of code-free FOC sensorless BLDC fan drivers launched Allegro MicroSystems Europe has announced the launch of the company’s QuietMotion family. This family consists of the first-to-market Field Oriented Control (FOC) brushless DC (BLDC) electric motor controllers that are customer code-free. The devices are designed to provide reliable and efficient low audible noise performance while reducing design cycle time. Whereas most FOC BLDC drivers require software developers to code the algorithm in a microprocessor, QuietMotion devices integrate Allegro’s innovative FOC algorithms. These advanced algorithms allow for smooth, quiet motion while eliminating the need to write software. This significantly lowers R&D expenses and reduces time to market. With only five external components, these devices also minimise bill of materials (BOM) cost, improve reliability and reduce design complexity. The result is a quiet, easy to implement, and efficient outcome. “This is the way of the future for motor drivers,” explained Vijay Mangtani, Vice President of Allegro’s Power IC Business Unit. “Our QuietMotion devices are incredibly efficient and easy to use. Flexible user interface and development boards allow customers to tune and evaluate various motors effortlessly, reduce development time and implement product designs with very few external components.” The first code-free devicesThe first member of Allegro’s QuietMotion family is the AMT49406, which is an ideal solution for applications that demand high efficiency and low acoustic noise- such as pole and ceiling fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, air purifiers and exhaust fans. With its embedded proprietary windowless sinusoidal algorithm and soft-on-soft-start algorithms, the AMT49406 provides reliable, industry-leading audible noise performance. The A89301 is also part of the QuietMotion family. This device offers ultra-quiet operation, as well as additional flexibility and programmable features for premium appliances, such as high end appliance fans, high end ceiling fans and air purifiers. The A89301 is specifically targeted at systems with low speed requirements. “We’re passionate about innovation,” explained Mangtani. “We are continuously working to develop intelligent solutions that give our customers a competitive edge, and we’re excited to bring this new QuietMotion family to market.” The AMT49406 and the A89301 have a 5.5 to 50 input voltage rating with an operating range of -40° to 105°C. They are available in a 24-contact 4x4 mm QFN with exposed thermal pad (suffix ES), and a 24-lead TSSOP with exposed thermal pad (suffix LP). These packages are lead (Pb) free, with 100% matt-tin leadframe plating. World's Largest Selection of Electronic Components Available for Immediate Dispatch!™ Electronic Specifier Ltd is not responsible for the content of external sites This site uses cookies to enhance your visitor experience. Continuing to use this website gives consent to cookies being used. For more information on how to disable cookies see our Privacy & Data Protection Policy	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Transatlantic Race 2015 Now in the History Books If the Transatlantic Race 2015 were easy, to borrow a popular expression, it wouldn’t be nearly as worthwhile an experience. So the energy level was high last Friday, July 24, as competitors, race officials and dignitaries gathered at the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Castle, in Cowes, England, to honor the winners, recount a few sea stories and celebrate the shared experience of racing across one of the planet’s least hospitable bodies of water. A nearly 50 percent increase in entries from 2011, the last time this race was run, shows that interest in long-distance blue-water racing remains high. The six starters that failed to finish due to a variety of technical issues are an equally strong indication that despite modern materials, construction techniques and communication technology, racing from Newport, R.I. to The Lizard off the southwestern tip of England isn’t getting any easier. Start 1 of the Transatlantic Race 2015 (photo credits Daniel Forster “The weather was the dominant feature of the race,” said Event Co-Chair George David, of the New York Yacht Club, who also raced in the event onboard his Rambler 88. “For the [Start 2] starters, they had great wind the whole way across, in some cases more wind than people wanted.” Bryon Ehrhart’s Reichel/Pugh 63 Lucky had the boat speed and crew to take best advantage of the favorable conditions afforded the 20 boats in the second of three starts, a feature of this race designed to group the finishers a little more closely together. Blasting away from Newport in a stiff southwesterly breeze, Ehrhart and his team rarely strayed too far from the rhumb line. The 100-year-old schooner Mariette of 1915 and the 100-foot super maxi Nomad IV were both contenders to be the first boat across the finish line, but Lucky held them off, putting down a time that, once corrected for handicap, would prove impossible to beat. Start 2 of the Transatlantic Race 2015 (photo credits Daniel Forster) “The whole crew worked so well together,” said Ehrhart, a Chicagoan who previously had success with a 52-foot boat of the same name. “I grew up as a golfer. This is, in my view, one that we prepared a lifetime for; this is like the Masters. It’s humbling to have such a great crew perform as high as they did to get to this spot.” Overall elapsed time honors went to Lloyd Thornburg’s 70-foot trimaran Phaedo3 (7d:2h:4m:5s) and Jim Clark and Kristy Hinze-Clark’s Comanche (7d:11h:35m:11s), which was skippered by Ken Read during the race. Early in the race, a full day of fighting through drifting conditions put any hopes of a course record out of reach. But when the breeze did fill in, the four boats that comprised the final start reveled in the conditions. Comanche set a new record by sailing 618.01 miles in a 24-hour period, becoming the first monohull to break the 600-mile barrier. Start 3 of the Transatlantic Race 2015 (photo credits Daniel Forster) “This was the 100-foot boat that Jim Clark wanted: The fastest monohull in the world,” said skipper Ken Read. “Our top speeds were into the mid-30s a bunch of times. It is not like you are surfing down a wave, you just go…fast. You sail it heeled over, and it feels like you are right on the edge, but when you grab the wheel you are in control. The boat is a phenomenal piece of machinery.” The final two finishers were Dizzy, a 48-year-old yawl that started with the first group and completed the longest crossing in the race at just more than 20 days, and Persevere, a four-year-old sloop that started with the second group, but turned around for a repair not long after the start and missed a crucial weather window. Both boats, however, finished in high spirits and, not coincidentally, in time for the final party. Among the crew on Persevere were 14-year-old Breana Rath, the race’s youngest participant, and Wasabi, the family cat. Transatlantic Race 2015 (photo credit Rick Tomlinson) The next running of the Transatlantic Race is scheduled for the early summer of 2019. While the transatlantic course was one of the first offshore courses to be contested—the first race starting from New York in December of 1866—it never settled a regular schedule or a consistent group of organizing clubs until very recently. “The committee likes the idea of this four-year sequence,” said David. “It seems about the right cadence to get enough boats interested and wishing to do it. The preferred format is to run this race collectively by the Royal Yacht Squadron, the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club. It is a good format with four great clubs, and it seems like we have run a good race and everything works pretty well. I expect we’ll see that back in 2019.”	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
House / 1 bedrooms / sleeps 4 Located in the heart of Wiveliscombe, this single storey holiday cottage is adjacent to the owner's home and offers a peaceful retreat set in a ⅓ acre of garden. The property has a woodburner making this an ideal base for all year round holidays and short breaks. Conveniently located within walking distance of all amenities including an award winning butcher, delicatessen and grocery shop. Wiveliscombe was the first town in Somerset to achieve "Walkers Are Welcome” status with various routes around the town being well mapped and explained in detail in a booklet called Wiveliscombe Circular Walks. It lists eleven walks including the 23 mile Wivey Way and three short town walks. There is a wealth of other great walks on the Quantocks, Exmoor and the Devon and Somerset legs of the South West Coastal Path. Beautiful walking around Wimbleball Lake, Exmoor and the Quantocks. In addition there is the West Somerset Steam Railway nearby. Shop pub and restaurant 100 yards. Features and Facilities The Somerset region Watchet Guest reviewsPowered by TripAdvisor Guest reviews no reviews Guest reviews Powered by TripAdvisor Help other travellers decide where to stay This holiday home hasn’t got any reviews yet. The average rating on Holiday Lettings is four out of five. This place could be newly added or perhaps it’s a well kept secret. Either way, it’s time to reveal all. This advert is created and maintained by the advertiser; we can only publish adverts in good faith as we don't own, manage or inspect any of the properties. We advise you to familiarise yourself with our terms of use.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Rustic Wood Desk Top Walking right into a furniture store, you'll find tons of of furniture to choose. It might seem to be an easy activity to get new furniture for your home, however you could have tons of things that can have an effect on your choice. After all your alternative of Rustic Wood Desk Top can be associated to your interior design. Furniture makes essential a part of your interior design. It can only break your home if your furniture doesn’t match with the inside design. Some individuals take pleasure in looking for new furniture, but it can be burdensome for the others. It's possible you'll really feel overwhelmed with the choices. Moreover you continue to want to ensure your new furniture goes effectively along with your interior design. Then, you must already know what style that you simply use in your house. When you have picked trendy minimalist design for your home, then you will have to look at selections of Rustic Wood Desk Top that fits for this design. It will be higher if your furniture is in the same style as your house. Although you can still combine completely different styles in your home, it'll escalate the issue in decorating your house. When you could have fixed on certain style, it'll limit furniture selections that it's essential to check. It can save your time and energy. Although the furniture is in the same style, it might probably have completely different design. So, it's essential to discover the ones that you simply love the most. Other than the design, you also have to check on the quality. Furniture can cost you some huge cash, so you can take into account it as long run investment. You actually don’t need to waste your money on something that only lasts for a few years. Find reviews and suggestions on good quality furniture that can lead you to the very best selections in stores.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
This Saturday 2 of Cable's biggest nights go head-to-head to see who reigns supreme in the battle of the Drum and Bass heavyweights, as We Fear Silence faces off against Idiosynphonic. The main room reads a who's who of DnB legends and rising stars, with the one and only Goldie headlining alongside veteran, Fabio. Joining them will be Bristol boy DJ Die and a rare performance from liquid don, Commix. The main room is completed by Shogun Audio's very own Technimatic, with rising stars Koncept and Tomek N in the mix as well. Ahead of their performance headlining Room 2 alongside Katie’s Ambition, Mr A and more, Dubstep duo Baratone have put together this exclusive mix to get you in the mood. We Fear Silence vs Idiosynphonic with Goldie, Fabio & Commix Saturday 30th March at Cable, London Boddika truly is one of the busiest and most in-demand DJs in the world right now. The deeper, darker side of House & Techno has risen once again, with Berlin and London at the very heart of the scene, from the sweaty, bare concrete warehouse raves in East London, to the legendary giant power stations at the backbone of the Berlin underground. Boddika's sound fits this mold perfectly; raw and stripped back, drawing influences from both Acid and Electro, harsh in places, but still with some sort of soul. His own imprint, Nonplus Records, personifies the scene perfectly at the moment, with artists such as Endian, Skudge and Kassem Mosse calling it home, and their much anticipated latest release, Think and Change, featuring the likes of Joy Orbison, Pearson Sound and Four Tet. Ahead of his headlining performance this Saturday for the We Fear Silence 4th Birthday bash alongside Dexter, BNJMN, Roman Lindau and Braiden, Boddika has put together his own 7 Ways to Fear Silence. 4 Years of We Fear Silence with Boddika & more Saturday 23rd March at Cable, London Loose Synths – the blog that blends a cross section of some of the finest underground promoters in dance music, started their label as a means to promote the best in contemporary. Starting with their regular night at The Alibi, the group has expanded tenfold. And on Saturday 23rd March – they join a line-up of house heavyweights that include the like of Boddika, BNJMN, Dexter and Roman Lindau – as they take over Room 2, at Cable. In celebration, Loose Synths comrade, Shooting Horses has put together a mix for the crew at Pulse Radio, which debuted today. Their latest single, ‘Think Of You’, is out through the label April 1st. 4 Years of We Fear Silence with Boddika, BNJMN, Dexter in Room 1. Loose Synths host Room 2. Saturday 23rd March at Cable, London Our friends over at Idiosynphonic returned to Cable on Friday 1st March, bringing with them a selection of Drum and Bass' finest. Heading up the bill was a true pioneer of the scene and one of the most revered and respected producers from day one, the one and only, Dillinja. Joining him was the multi-award winning Playaz head honcho, Hazard, as well as Ram Records boy Culture Shock joining in on the fun with a host of others. Check out this exclusive recording from our main room of the man himself, Dillinja...enjoy! Next Idiosynphonic: We Fear Silence vs Idiosynphonic with Goldie, Fabio & Commix Saturday 30th March at Cable, London Last week, Twitter announced plans for it’s very own music streaming service. After buying the Australian music discovery program, We Are Hunted, last year, twitter have reported using the program to track data, in an attempt to build their own standalone music app. The app, which will reportedly be called Twitter Music, tracks social media, bit torrent and other streaming services to build a pseudo-chart of online music. It is said that it will offer personalised artist and song recommendations, with suggestions pegged to SoundCloud – allowing artists to make suggestions using a network of hashtags. And seeing as everyone loves a good suggestion – just look at the musical discovery that youtube has allowed – this development sounds like an exciting one.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
The damage multiplier granted by energy to Unstable Magma has been reduced by 50%. Alysrazor Health and damage have been reduced by 25% on normal difficulty. Health and damage have been reduced by 15% on Heroic difficulty. Alysrazor now drops 1 additional feather in 10-player mode and 2 additional feathers in 25-player mode in all cycles. The Wings of Flame buff duration on Alysrazor is now uniformly 30 seconds. Alysrazor’s Fiery Tornados now move slower. Baleroc Health and damage have been reduced by 25% on normal difficulty. Health and damage have been reduced by 15% on Heroic difficulty. Baleroc now swings 25% slower while Decimation Blade is active. The duration of Tormented has been reduced on normal difficulty. Beth'tilac Beth'tilac's health and damage have been reduced by 15% on both normal and Heroic difficulty. Lord Rhyolith Health and damage have been reduced by 15% on both normal and Heroic difficulty. The health and damage of additional enemies in this encounter have been reduced by 15% on both normal and Heroic difficulty. Majordomo Fandral Staghelm Health and damage have been reduced by 25% on normal difficulty. Health and damage has been reduced by 15% on Heroic difficulty. Druid of the Flame have had their health reduced by 15%, and Sunfire damage reduced by 25% on both difficulties. The health and melee damage of Spirit of the Flame have been reduced by 25% on normal difficulty, and reduced by 15% on Heroic difficulty. Ragnaros Ragnaros' health and damage have been reduced by 25% on normal difficulty. Ragnaros' damage has been reduced by 15% on Heroic difficulty. Magma Trap damage has been reduced on all difficulties. The health and damage of additional enemies in this encounter have been reduced by 25% on normal difficulty and 15% on Heroic difficulty. Wrath of Ragnaros now knocks targets up, but not back, on normal difficulty. Shannox Health and damage have been reduced by 15% on both normal and Heroic difficulty. Riplimb's health has been reduced by 15%. Rageface's health has been reduced by 15%. Magma Flare damage and Hurl Spear damage have been reduced by 15% on both difficulties. So here it goes: Nat and Caly thanks for reading. I agree with you both. @LM I appreciate you responding and reading the blog, I don't think you read this post fully. If you did, maybe you missed some of my points. When T12 (FL) hit, VP was not available from the T11 instances. They placed a hot fix later to receive VP. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2795074028?page=4#69 That wasn't really an opinion, it was fact that has been updated and exact quote was: Removing VP from T11 raids when FL hit. alluding to the fact that it is NOW there. Sorry if that was perceived wrong in my type. The next issue you addressed is ilvl, I was NOT saying was the highest ilvl in game. I made a mistake, 378 is from normals and 391 is from heroics. I made a horrible mistake and I'm sorry. Point of that whole paragraph is the guilds that have killed Rags on normal is very low. Lastly is the nerf to FL being in steps, at the time of the post all the info I had was it would be done: "by around the same percentage we brought difficulty down for the original Cataclysm raids when Rage of the Firelands (patch 4.2) was released."	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Play Dora Pony Adventure Game on Horse-Games.org Online Horse Games Dora and her best friend Boots are on the most adorable adventure, in which they have to groom a pony and participate in a great horse show. Help them solve their task and enjoy the adventure too. Pinto, Bella, Lightning and Buttercup are the four cute ponies which are at your disposal. Roll over the mouse and click left mouse button to choose one of them. This is a great way to find out the needs of a pony before it can go on a horse show. Clean and feed your pony, give it water to drink and then put the saddle on the pony. All this will be done simply by using your mouse and following the instructions through the game. When the pony is ready you can go on the horse show, where you have to ride your pony and collect horseshoes for a ribbon and apples for burst of speed. Press up and down arrow keys to run to the left and right; right arrow to run faster; and Space Bar to jump over fences and obstacles. Just when you want to reward your pony with apples after the horse show, a sneaky fox will come and grab your basket. Now you’ll have to find all the hidden apples and click on them. When you finally find them all, you can give your pony the energy snack and continue the horse show. Go and win the blue ribbon!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
A StarNewsOnline Blog We watch TV so you don't have to. But you should. You really should. As a voting member of the Television Critics Association, I’m thrilled to announce that despite no (!!!) nomination in the best drama series at the Emmys, CBS’ “The Good Wife” won Outstanding Achievement in Drama at this year’s TCA Awards. The full list of winners are after the jump:… Read More »	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Game 7s in NBA Finals are a rare treat By JON KRAWCZYNSKI , Associated Press Jun. 20, 20132:43 PM ET MIAMI (AP) — It all comes down to this. Peter Southwick FILE - In this June 13, 1984 file photo, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, left, passes around Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers, right, during Boston's victory in the Game 7 of the NBA Finals in Boston. The rareness of the 7th game, winner-take-all scenario is what makes it so special. (AP Photo/Peter Southwick, File) FILE - In this June 13, 1984 file photo, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, left, passes around Kareem Abdul-Jabbar of the Los Angeles Lakers, right, during Boston's victory in the Game 7 of the NBA Finals in Boston. The rareness of the 7th game, winner-take-all scenario is what makes it so special. (AP Photo/Peter Southwick, File) FILE - In this June 21, 1988 file photo, Los Angeles Lakers coach Pat Riley, left, smiles as he gets a hug from Wes Matthews after the Lakers won Game 7 of the NBA Finals against the Detroit Pistons in Inglewood, Calif. The rareness of the 7th game, winner-take-all scenario is what makes it so special. (AP Photo/Bob Galbraith, File) FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant reacts as the ball bounces away for the final second of Game 7 of the NBA basketball finals against the Boston Celtics in Los Angeles. The rareness of the 7th game, winner-take-all scenario is what makes it so special. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) FILE - In this June 22, 1994 file photo, a dejected John Starks (3) of the New York Knicks heads for a timeout in the closing seconds of Game 7 against the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals in Houston, Tex. The rareness of the 7th game, winner-take-all scenario is what makes it so special. (AP Photo/David Phillip, File) NBA commissioner David Stern speaks at a news conference before the start of Game 1 of the NBA Finals basketball game between the San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat, Thursday, June 6, 2013 in Miami. Stern is retiring February 1, 2014. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee) Heroes are made, legacies are forged and hearts are broken in Game 7s of the NBA Finals. It's a shame they don't come around more often. David Stern has spent 30 years as NBA commissioner, and he's only been able to see the league's ultimate event five times. The rareness of the one game, winner-take-all scenario is what makes it special. That certainly isn't lost on Stern, who plans to retire in February and is watching his last finals as commissioner. The San Antonio Spurs and Miami Heat took this year's series to a Game 7 — the third one in the last nine years, a pattern that basketball enthusiasts hope will continue. "To have two well-constructed and each, in their own way, fabled teams with playoff MVPs, with finals MVPs, certain Hall of Famers, seven championships among them, having had a great season," Stern said Thursday afternoon, "it's as good as it gets." Rare are the occasions where the season definitively comes down to its very last day. Senses are heightened. Stomachs are churning. "You go through a long season and you're not thinking today's the last day," said ESPN analyst Kurt Rambis, who played in two Game 7s with the Lakers in 1984 and '88. "That one, it is a real defining moment. There are a lot of emotions that you go through thinking about the what-ifs of you winning and what-ifs of you losing. You start thinking about everything you went through to get to that point. It's clear that it's over with after today." It's as close as the NBA can get to the drama and stakes of the Super Bowl, and Stern has witnessed the celebration and the heartbreak up close. "Each one of them is so terribly exhilarating," Stern said. "In addition to the exhilaration of the winning team, the despair of the loser is palpable. It's sports at its best. It's the essence of competition." Stern said it would be hard for this series to top Game 6, when LeBron James rallied the Heat from five down with 21 seconds remaining to win it in overtime. It kept Miami's hopes of defending its title alive against Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, the veteran core of the Spurs. "I just think everyone, including the spectators, are on edge and that's wonderful," Stern said. "Every possession gets magnified. Every move, every coaching change, every adjustment, it becomes a clinic about the beauty of our game." Here's a look at some of the most recent finals Game 7s: ___ 2010: Lakers 83, Celtics 79. Kobe Bryant had tried to pretend the Celtics were just another opponent, but he could finally admit otherwise after the Lakers pulled off a fourth-quarter rally to avenge a loss to their biggest rival two years earlier. It wasn't a pretty performance for Bryant, who shot just 6 of 24 for his 23 points, but he got help from Pau Gasol (19 points, 18 rebounds) and a surprising 20 points from Ron Artest, before he was Metta World Peace. The Lakers needed a big comeback after the Celtics led by 13 in the second half. Boston's old guys ran out of gas, with Paul Pierce shooting just 5 of 15, Ray Allen 3 of 14 and Rasheed Wallace wearing down after being forced to play 36 minutes because starting center Kendrick Perkins injured his knee in Game 6. With their second straight championship and 16th overall, the Lakers pulled within one of the Celtics for the most in NBA history. ___ 2005: Spurs 81, Pistons 74. Tied at 57 going into the final quarter, the final game of the 2005 season was anything but an offensive masterpiece. But the Spurs found more than enough scoring down the stretch to capture their third title in six years, with Duncan finishing with 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Ginobili adding 23 more. Duncan opened the fourth-quarter scoring with a dunk, and the Spurs never trailed in the final 12 minutes. Robert Horry, Bruce Bowen and Ginobili all came up with big 3-pointers for the Spurs in the final quarter, with Ginobili's basically serving as the backbreaker for Detroit, putting the Pistons in a 72-65 hole with 2:57 left. The Pistons never got within four again. Five players scored in double-figures for Detroit, with Richard Hamilton leading the way with a hard-fought 15 points on 6 for 18 shooting. ___ 1994: Rockets 90, Knicks 84. Hakeem Olajuwon scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading the Houston Rockets past the New York Knicks and officially ending the Chicago Bulls' reign atop the NBA world. It's not Olajuwon's stats that people remember most about Game 7. That distinction goes to John Starks, the Knicks guard who kept shooting and shooting ... and missing and missing. Starks finished 2 for 18 from the floor, scoring just eight points for New York. And the Knicks still had a great chance, being down just three points with under 3 minutes remaining. But a basket by Olajuwon and a 3-pointer by Vernon Maxwell all but sealed the title for Houston. Maxwell finished with 21 for the Rockets. For the Knicks, Derek Harper scored 23 points and Patrick Ewing finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds. As for Starks, his 0 for 11 from 3-point range has only been matched once in the two decades since, by Antoine Walker in 2001. ___ 1988: Lakers 108, Pistons 105. Pat Riley famously said that his Los Angeles Lakers would defend their 1987 title. He was correct, but his club was taken to the absolute limit by Detroit. The Pistons played down the stretch without their floor leader, as Isiah Thomas succumbed to the sprained ankle he was trying to play through. But they gave the Lakers all they wanted, cutting a 15-point deficit all the way to one on Bill Laimbeer's 3-pointer. The Pistons would not score again, the Lakers got a layup to clinch the title and with that Riley's team survived its third Game 7 of that year's playoffs. James Worthy was magnificent, finishing with 36 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for Los Angeles, which went 4-0 in games where it was facing postseason elimination. Joe Dumars scored 25 for the Pistons, who led the series 3-2 before the 2-3-2 series returned to Los Angeles. ___ 1984: Celtics 111, Lakers 102. Round 1 goes to Larry Legend. In the first finals meeting between Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, the Celtics and Lakers traded punches in a tense first six games. Back at the Boston Garden for Game 7, Bird put up 20 points and 12 rebounds to get the better of his rival from Los Angeles. The Lakers cut a 14-point deficit to three with just over a minute remaining, but Cedric Maxwell forced a key steal on a pass from Johnson to Worthy and Dennis Johnson hit two free throws to seal the victory. Maxwell led the way with 24 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Dennis Johnson scored 22 points for the Celtics. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 29 points, Worthy had 21 and Magic Johnson had 16 points and 15 assists for the Lakers. Magic would get his revenge over Bird in two more finals clashes, but he made just 5 of 14 shots in this one. ___ 1978: Bullets 105, SuperSonics 99. One of the most unlikely matchups — Seattle came out of the West as a No. 4 seed and Washington was the third seed in the East — provided one of the more memorable games in finals history. The Bullets led by 11 points before Seattle surged back into the game, cutting the deficit to 101-99 in the final 90 seconds. Sonics big man Paul Silas intentionally fouled Bullets forward Wes Unseld, who was a 63 percent foul shooter for his career. But Unseld made both free throws and Bobby Dandridge dunked home the last of his 19 points to seal Washington's only basketball title. Dennis Johnson was 0 for 14 from the floor, but Marvin "The Human Eraser" Webster scored 27 points and Jack Sikma chipped in 21 for the Sonics. Charles Johnson scored 19 points and Unseld added 15 points for Washington, which the last team to win a Game 7 on the road.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Silas Webster Robbins was the son of Jacob and Eunice (Webster) Robbins. After his admission to the bar, he moved to Winchester, KY. His first wife, who died in 1836, was the youngest daughter of the Hon. Uriah Tracy, who also attended the Litchfield Law School. Three of the Robbins' daughters attended the Litchfield Female Academy. Due to his wife's death and because he felt there was a great hostility in Kentucky towards Northerners, Robbins left the state in 1838. He then settled in Springfield, IL, where he had a highly lucrative practice and became one of the leaders of the bar. Robbins was active in politics and benevolent movements and was also a member of the 2nd Presbyterian Church. He retired from legal practice in 1855 and then moved to a farm four miles northwest of Springfield in 1858. He later died there at the age of eighty-six. The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation. Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff. Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School (Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany, and Company, 1849), 7. Secondary Sources: Webster, William Holcomb and Rev. Melville Rueben Webster. History and Genealogy of the Gov. John Webster Family of Connecticut. Rochester, NY: E.R. Andrews Printing Co., 1915. Contact Us Do you have more information for the Ledger? If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Sprint Laying Off More Than 800 Employees In Kansas City Area Sprint Corp. is laying off more than 800 employees at its Overland Park headquarters. The telecommunications company filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act, or WARN, notice with the state of Kansas late Friday. The firm said it's letting go a total of 829 workers. Sprint spokesperson Michelle Boyd says the layoffs are part of the company's $2.5 billion plan to cut operating costs over the next three months. "Unfortunately, as we've said over the past several months, the effort to reduce our costs would impact all areas of our business, including jobs," Boyd said in a statement. "We value and support our employees and are committed to assisting them through this transition." Sprint already parted ways with 195 employees in 2015, according to the Kansas City Business Journal. The 829 employees affected by the layoffs will receive full severance packages. If Sprint lets more employees go after Jan. 30, they will only receive half the current severance benefits.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Another Hockey Season For The Hagens! Here we go again! Another hockey season has begun in the Hagen household. Ryan’s team began dry land training this week and hit the ice for their first skating session together this morning! Ryan is once again playing for the Cheektowaga Warriors AA 2000 team at the PeeWee Major level. (Basically, that means he’s playing travel hockey with kids born in the year 2000 and they will play against similar teams.) About two-thirds of the team returned from last year, with a few new additions. The boys started training this past week with a team-building session and a good physical workout. They hit the ice together this morning for another good workout. Youth hockey is a lot of hard work, but with the right group of people it can also be a lot of fun! Hockey is great exercise for Ryan and also great for his coordination, teaches discipline and builds confidence. It’s also taught Ryan to work harder to achieve his goals. So when does the fun come in? We’ve made some great friends, in some cases, lifelong friends. We travel together for tournaments, experience new places together, and of course all cheer for our boys together! Winning is bonus fun, but not mandatory to have a really good time! Welcome back to VIP Club It appears that you already have an account created within our VIP network of sites on . To keep your personal information safe, we need to verify that it's really you. To activate your account, please confirm your password. When you have confirmed your password, you will be able to log in through Facebook on both sites. *Please note that your prizes and activities will not be shared between programs within our VIP network. Welcome back to VIP Club It appears that you already have an account on this site associated with . To connect your existing account just click on the account activation button below. You will maintain your existing VIP profile. After you do this, you will be able to always log in to http://mix96buffalo.com using your original account information.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Contact Info I work in the Your Lab at XYZ University. I learned about OpenWetWare from My course instructor Dr. Karmella Haynes., and I've joined because My name is Sai Adoni. I am a freshman enrolled in the BME 100 course. I need to join OpenWetWare in order to complete the required collaborative lab reports for the class..	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Other Community Blogs 02 December, 2006 It's a bit ironic that National Day comes with rain across the country--hardly typical UAE fare. How many times have you heard (or thought today) it's like Sri Lanka, India, the Philippines... in my case Louisiana? It is nice for a change, unless you're on the road. The two or three times a year that it rains are plenty enough for me. I'm sure residents of New Dubai recall the rains of last February with crossed fingers, hoping that it doesn't happen again! Anyone with photos of today's spectacle? Or a rain report from where you are? 150 km west of Abu Dhabi city on the great Habshan/Bab gas reservoir it has been intermittent rain all day, some heavy showers. Post a Comment NOTE: By making a post/comment on this blog you agree that you are solely responsible for its content and that you are up to date on the laws of the country you are posting from and that your post/comment abides by them. Subscribe To All content (posts & comments) are the responsibility of their respective contributors. It is the individual contributors responsibility to maintain knowledge and to abide by the laws and regulations from the country they are posting from.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
God forbid any of you ever have to live through something of this nature. I hope you never have to answer the phone and hear your inconsolably weeping wife on the other end of the line as she mutters the only words she is able to muster "they cant find a heartbeat". Anyone who does the "welcome to fark" meme can DIAF. This is Quinn's remains. He sits atop my piano. He was KILLED by vaccinations that the government forced on us. If it weren't for Obama and his healthcare reform, NONE of this would have happened. tboucher:You can go fark yourself for blaming Obama for this though, that's idiotic. Vaccines have been required by law for over 40 years, as I have them and I'm over 40 years old and to go to school in the 70s I had to have them. nixon was in office, he's a republican. It's his fault. For those of you who are new to the "Quinn on the piano" meme, here's the original thread. Here's a google list of some of the copypastas of the original thread. I think Quinn has so far been killed by lawn darts, drunk drivers, black feet, BBQ Gas tank explosion, and Kim Jong Il. This is the first time that I am aware of that Quinn has died as a result of Obama mandated vaccination, tboucher:You can go fark yourself for blaming Obama for this though, that's idiotic. Vaccines have been required by law for over 40 years, as I have them and I'm over 40 years old and to go to school in the 70s I had to have them. nixon was in office, he's a republican. It's his fault. The point it that most of those deaths are pretty easily preventable. Sure, the flu might only cause 0.0001%* deaths in the US, but with a very small amount of effort that number could be 0.000000001%. So, why the fck aren't people putting forth that effort? /*Yes, those numbers are pulled out of my ass. The point still stands. ChipNASA:There are few times when Farkers embarrass me. This is one of them. God forbid any of you ever have to live through something of this nature. I hope you never have to answer the phone and hear your inconsolably weeping wife on the other end of the line as she mutters the only words she is able to muster "they cant find a heartbeat". Anyone who does the "welcome to fark" meme can DIAF. [img214.imageshack.us image 648x484] This is Quinn's remains. He sits atop my piano. He was KILLED by vaccinations that the government forced on us. If it weren't for Obama and his healthcare reform, NONE of this would have happened. freewill:jonas opines: WHY are people opposed to vaccines? And by "people" I'm not really asking about the sheepers who see something a celebrity said on the internet or a politician lies about during a speech and just fire up without actually fact-checking. Seriously though, I have heard the argument put forth that because vaccines have all but stamped out certain diseases, the risk of side effects is supposedly higher than the risk of not being vaccinated, so it's safer for the child to avoid the vaccine than to get it, despite the fact that not getting it increases the risk of actually needing it. / Yeah, I know. It sounds dumb when you just spell it out like that. It needs to be coming from an emotional, overprotective suburban mother who insists that you, as a childless man, just can't understand. Really, it's just misunderstandings and idiocy? Can you, for my sanity's sake, pretend there's some explicit special-interest or something behind it? Somebody, somewhere, should be getting something out of this. . . . Cholesterol is essential for neuroactive steroid production, growth of myelin membranes, and normal embryonic and fetal development. It also modulates the oxytocin receptor, ligand activity and G-protein coupling of the serotonin-1A receptor. A deficit of cholesterol may perturb these biological mechanisms and thereby contribute to autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), as observed in Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS) and some subjects with ASDs in the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE). ChipNASA:There are few times when Farkers embarrass me. This is one of them. God forbid any of you ever have to live through something of this nature. I hope you never have to answer the phone and hear your inconsolably weeping wife on the other end of the line as she mutters the only words she is able to muster "they cant find a heartbeat". Anyone who does the "welcome to fark" meme can DIAF. [img214.imageshack.us image 648x484] This is Quinn's remains. He sits atop my piano. He was KILLED by vaccinations that the government forced on us. If it weren't for Obama and his healthcare reform, NONE of this would have happened. CrazyCracka420:ChipNASA: There are few times when Farkers embarrass me. This is one of them. God forbid any of you ever have to live through something of this nature. I hope you never have to answer the phone and hear your inconsolably weeping wife on the other end of the line as she mutters the only words she is able to muster "they cant find a heartbeat". Anyone who does the "welcome to fark" meme can DIAF. [img214.imageshack.us image 648x484] This is Quinn's remains. He sits atop my piano. He was KILLED by vaccinations that the government forced on us. If it weren't for Obama and his healthcare reform, NONE of this would have happened. ChipNASA:There are few times when Farkers embarrass me. This is one of them. God forbid any of you ever have to live through something of this nature. I hope you never have to answer the phone and hear your inconsolably weeping wife on the other end of the line as she mutters the only words she is able to muster "they cant find a heartbeat". Anyone who does the "welcome to fark" meme can DIAF. [img214.imageshack.us image 648x484] This is Quinn's remains. He sits atop my piano. He was KILLED by vaccinations that the government forced on us. If it weren't for Obama and his healthcare reform, NONE of this would have happened. ChipNASA:There are few times when Farkers embarrass me. This is one of them. God forbid any of you ever have to live through something of this nature. I hope you never have to answer the phone and hear your inconsolably weeping wife on the other end of the line as she mutters the only words she is able to muster "they cant find a heartbeat". Anyone who does the "welcome to fark" meme can DIAF. [img214.imageshack.us image 648x484] This is Quinn's remains. He sits atop my piano. He was KILLED by vaccinations that the government forced on us. If it weren't for Obama and his healthcare reform, NONE of this would have happened. First off, sorry for your loss. shiat happens and it's never good. My little Quinn is alive and well (and female, guess the name is multi gender) and vaccinated and while I dread the chance of an allergic reaction with each of my children I would do it again each time. They work, Allergic reactions / adverse reactions happen, and when they give you the odds they sound great until it's yours. So it sucks. However, I'd take that odd with any of my child if it kept the much more larger odds of them dying by the things they protect against. They aren't million to one odds when you get some of the ones you're being vaccinated against, or the others. You can go fark yourself for blaming Obama for this though, that's idiotic. Vaccines have been required by law for over 40 years, as I have them and I'm over 40 years old and to go to school in the 70s I had to have them. nixon was in office, he's a republican. It's his fault.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
We have mentioned in this Qur'an various words of wisdom[109] for people in different ways. Even then most people are adamant on denying. They have said: "We will not believe in you unless you make a spring gush from the earth or an orchard of dates or grapes is produced for you; then you not make many canals run through it. Or unless, as you say, you make the sky fall upon us in pieces or unless you bring God and His angels to stand before us, or you not have a house of gold or you not climb to the sky [right before our eyes]. And We will not even believe in your climbing unless you reveal a book to us [from there] that we can read" – Tell them: "Exalted is my Lord.[110] Am I someone else besides a human being whom the Almighty has sent as a messenger?"[111] (89-93) When guidance[112] came to these people, the only thing that stopped them from accepting faith was that they said: "Has God sent a human being as a messenger?" Tell them: "Had there been angels on earth walking about calmly,[113] We would have sent down from the heavens an angel as a messenger."[114] Say: "Sufficient is God between you and me as a witness."[115] Surely, He knows His servants; He sees them. In reality, he whom God guides [according to His law] only he will be guided and he whom He misleads, then for such misled you will not find any helper except Him.[116] On the Day of Judgement, We will gather them by dragging them by their faces.[117] The blind, the dumb and the deaf – their abode is Hell. Whenever its fire diminishes, We will ignite it further on them. This is their reward because they denied Our revelations and said: "When we become bones and reduced to dust, would we be raised again?" Have they not thought that the God Who has created the heavens and the earth has the power to create their likes again? And in reality He has appointed a time for them of which there is no doubt. Even then, these unjust are adamant in their denial.[118] (94-99) [They are wonder struck on the favour God has blessed you with.] Tell them: "If the treasures of my Lord's mercy were in your possession, you would have definitely withheld them for fear of being consumed." Surely, human beings are very miserly.[119] (100) [You ask for signs.] We had given Moses nine clear signs.[120] Then ask[121] the Israelites that when Moses came to them, the Pharaoh had said to him: "Moses! I think that you are under a magical spell."[122] Moses replied: "You very well know that these signs have been sent forth by the Lord of the heavens and the earth to open [your] eyes. And I think that O Pharaoh! You are [now] a person doomed." After this, the Pharaoh planned to totally uproot the Israelites from the land. So, We drowned him as well as those with him all and after this said to the Israelites: "Dwell in the land [without fear]." Then when the promise of the Hereafter arrives, We all bring forth all of you and assemble you.[123] (101-104) We have revealed this Qur'an with the truth and it is revealed with the truth[124] and [O Prophet!] We have sent you only to give glad tidings [to those who believe] and to warn [those who do not believe]. And We have revealed this Qur'an in parts so that you can gradually recite it to people and [for this purpose] We have revealed it in a very elaborate way.[125] Tell them: "Whether you believe in it or not, when it is recited before those who are given precisely this knowledge [from their Lord] before this, they fall on their chins in prostration and call out: 'Exalted is our Lord; [this was His promise and] the promise of Our Lord had to be fulfilled come what may.' [Hearing it,] they fall on their chins weeping and this only increases their humility."[126] (105-109) [They object that why do you call Allah as Rahman.[127]] Tell them: "Whether you call Him by Allah or by Rahman, all good names are His."[128] And [O Prophet! Earlier, the special prayer you were directed to offer] do not offer that prayer of yours very loudly nor in a very low tone. In fact, adopt a middle way between the two.[129] [Continue to show diligence in the prayer in this beautiful manner] and proclaim: "Gratitude is for God Who neither has children nor is anyone His partner in His kingdom, neither does He need any helper[130] in times of helplessness," and declare His exaltedness the way it is befitting. (110-111) Kuala Lumpur 20 Nov 2012 (Translated from Al-Bayan by Dr Shehzad Saleem) [109]. The words مثل and أمثال are used in Arabic to connote words of knowledge and wisdom as well. Concomitant factors show there here it is used in precisely this meaning. [110]. Ie., He is exalted from giving such authority to some human being and make him His partner in His kingdom. [111]. This is a brief sentence but so eloquent that it is beyond praise. The implication is that the Prophet(sws) has never claimed to be God. He has never said that he has power over everything. He has never asserted that the heavens and the earth are under his control so that he can do whatever he likes with them. From the very first day, the only thing he has said is that he is a human being who has been sent by God as a messenger. So, what has this claim got to do with their demands? All these are tasks of God and he has never declared that he can accomplish these tasks. [113]. Ie., walking calmly the way human beings calmly frequent the earth. This has been stated because though angels do come intermittently on earth to implement the directives of God yet they are not its permanent inhabitants. [114]. So that the barrier which is essential for trial remains. Otherwise if for angels, human beings had descended from the heavens and vice versa and communicated the message of God, what would have been left to test? Moreover, only the same species can be an example and ideal for each other. [115]. Ie., sufficient as witness to whether they are deliberately denying out of stubbornness and obduracy or in fact the truth is not evident to them. [116]. This is a statement of the established practice of God regarding guidance. The words mentioned ahead in the verse refer to the fact that they will go astray for these reasons and ultimately become the fuel of Hell because they remained blind, dumb and deaf in this world. [117]. The actual words are: نَحْشُرُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ عَلَی وُجُوهِهِمْ. In them, the meaning to which عَلَی is pointing has been expressed in the translation. [118]. Ie., instead of preparing for it, they are making lame excuses such as asking about its time of arrival and the reason for its delay. [119]. The implication is that if they are miserly, why do they similarly think about God? In the words of Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi, God bestowed them with the pebbles they were worthy of and the pearls the Prophet (sws ) deserved even if this was detested by them and by the Israelites. This is His favour and why would He follow their biases with regard to His favours? If all this had been in their control, they would have definitely gathered it all for themselves and not let is pass into the hands of others. [120]. Earlier in Surah al-A'raf, these signs have been mentioned. Ie., the staff becoming a serpent, the hand shining like the sun as soon as it was withdrawn from the arm pit, defeat of the magicians in public, drought in the whole country, then the calamities of storms, locusts, lice, frogs and blood which descended one after the other. [121]. There is a subtle insinuation in this: the Qur'an has brought forth those people as witnesses at whose behest the Quraysh were demanding these miracles. [122]. Precisely the same words were used for the Prophet (sws) by these people. Thus the implication is that they will not believe even if according to their demand they are shown miracles. The truth is that even if they are shown these miracles, they will still deny the way earlier nations did by making lame excuses. [123]. Here the Qur'an, in accordance with its style, has also reminded people of the Hereafter: the joy of acquiring success at this time should not make them forget the Hereafter, because real success is success in the Hereafter. [124]. Ie., it has been revealed in such a way that there is no adulteration of any evil either from the front or from behind. Everything it has said is a certain reality and it has come with true knowledge. [125]. The disbelievers had raised the objection that since God did not need any preparation why was the Qur'an being revealed in parts. They contended that this meant that the Prophet (sws) contemplated on the situation and then recited whatever he was able to prepare. Here this objection is answered. It is said that this gradual revelation is in deference to his power of comprehension and so that it can be gradually made a part of his knowledge and deeds. Moreover, this too must be understood that the purpose of warning people and purifying their souls for which it has been revealed can only be achieved if it is revealed piecemeal and instructed in parts. It cannot be achieved if it is revealed to him in one instalment. [126]. This is a mention of the righteous among the People of the Book who were aware of the prophecies of their prophets and scriptures and were thus awaiting a promised messenger and book. Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes: ... It is a reference to this blessed group. The Prophet (sws) was directed that he was to declare to the disbelievers among the Quraysh and the Israelites that whether they accepted faith or not it was sufficient for his own satisfaction that there existed a group among the People of the Book that prostrated as soon as it heard the Qur'an and when it saw that God had fulfilled His promise, tears of both gatitude and humility trickled down from its eyes. Tears of gratitude are understandable. As far as tears of humility are concerned, they are because this reminds afresh the promise of the Hereafter that the Lord Who has fulfilled this promise will surely fulfil His promise of the Hereafter. (Amin Ahsan Islahi,Tadabbur-i Qur'an, vol. 4, 546) [127]. Why was this objection raised? The reason was that though the Arabs used both names Allah and Rahman for God, the name Rahman was more used by the People of the Book. This instigated them to say that the Prophet (sws) was trying to impose the religion and traditions of the People of the Book over their religion and traditions and that the People of the Book were actually secretly helping him in this matter. [128]. Ie., not just Rahman, He has several names. It is mere foolishness on their part that one of His names be made a hurdle to accepting faith. The righteous do not have a bias to merely a name. Hence whether God is called Allah or Rahman, He can be called with all names that befit His majesty. [129]. Ie., in the tahajjud prayer, of which the specific directive for the Prophet (sws) has been mentioned earlier. The word occurs in the verse precisely for this reason. It does not relate to other prayers. For them, reading aloud or in the heart was already well known. It is evident from various narratives (eg. Abu Da'ud, 1329; Tirmidhi, 447) that those among the companions diligently offered the prayer were also given this directive by the Prophet (sws). Deliberation shows that this method is very appropriate for the prayer of tahajjud. [130]. This is the same style which Imru' al-Qays has adopted in لا يهتدى بمناره. Ie., God is never afflicted with humiliation or subjugation so that He may need some helper to save Himself from it. Welcome, Guest! Why Al-Mawrid Account? An Al-Mawrid Account gives our members unfettered access to resources and content on more Al-Mawrid sites. The ability to bookmark and annotate content, created custom collections and participate in discussion forums is provided to members only. We are constantly adding more sites to our network	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
COURT GIVES FINAL APPROVAL TO $47 MILLION SETTLEMENT IN SEX DISCRIMINATION SUITS AGAINST RENT-A-CENTER BY EEOC AND PRIVATE PLAINTIFFS Thousands of Women to Receive Money and Jobs, New Human Resources Department to be Created ST. LOUIS - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced that Judge David Herndon of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois granted final approval to a $47,000,000 landmark agreement reached by attorneys for a class of over 5,000 women, the EEOC, and Rent-A-Center (RAC) to settle two major lawsuits alleging class-wide sex discrimination. The parties estimate that under the terms of the settlement, RAC will offer jobs to more than 1,100 women who had claimed sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Rent-A-Center, based in Plano, Texas, is the nation's largest rent to own company with over 2,200 stores. Since the parties reached their historic agreement in principle last spring, they have been negotiating over the specifics of changes necessary to stop the conduct that gave rise to the two lawsuits (Wilfong et al. and EEOC v. Rent-A-Center and EEOC v. Rent-A-Center). The parties' agreement, reached in June 2002, is intended to institutionalize systems including creating a new human resources department where none existed before that will help Rent-A-Center prevent future sex discrimination in employment. "Rent-A-Center is to be commended for taking the first steps on the path toward equal opportunity for all female employees and applicants," said EEOC Chair Cari M. Dominguez. "This historic reshaping of a business with the shared goals of access, inclusion, and opportunity for women is the result of intense and cooperative negotiations. The message for employers is clear: All individuals deserve the freedom to compete and advance in the workplace on a level playing field without discriminatory barriers." Rent-A-Center has until December 5, 2002, to transfer $47,000,000 in settlement funds that will be disbursed to women who claimed they were fired or forced out after the company was acquired by Renter's Choice in 1998. Payments will also be made to women who claimed they were denied promotions or were demoted, and to women who made claims of sexual harassment on the job. Over 4,600 women who made such claims will receive monetary benefits. Since the settlement received preliminary approval by Judge Herndon, 26,728 claim forms were sent to women who are current or former employees, and to women who were known to have applied for work but been rejected for hire. In addition to significant monetary relief, the settlement provides for: Measures to regularly educate the company workforce, including managers, on the prevention of employment discrimination; Penalties for managers who discriminate against women; Creation of a hotline to report violations of company policy; New policies that will attempt to undo some of the damage done in the early years after Renter's Choice took over Rent-A-Center; and Videotaped messages from the company's President and CEO acknowledging the serious allegations of sex discrimination made against the company, setting a new course for RAC that includes welcoming women into the workforce, and warning of penalties for future sex discrimination by managers and employees. The EEOC noted that even before the court gave final approval to the settlement, RAC began implementing the agreed changes. Among other things, RAC hired Jennifer Wisdom as its new Vice- President to oversee human resources. Ms. Wisdom is a member of The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), a national organization based in Alexandria, Virginia, that represents HR managers, executives, and professionals. The plaintiffs in Wilfong are represented by the law firms of Sedey & Ray and Schlichter, Bogard & Denton of St. Louis. Mary Anne Sedey of Sedey & Ray said: "This settlement is a genuine win for everyone. Rent-A-Center will benefit from the contributions that thousands of talented women employees will make, and from the new policies and programs mandated by the Consent Decree. Women employees and applicants will have the opportunity to work in well paid positions in an environment that welcomes their contributions." In addition to enforcing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, the EEOC enforces the Age Discrimination in Employment Act; the Equal Pay Act; Titles I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the private sector and state and local governments; prohibitions against discrimination affecting individuals with disabilities in the federal sector; and sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency's Web site at www.eeoc.gov.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Dodge Ram BOGO Sale – Auto Industry in Serious Trouble Buy One Dodge Ram, Get One Free, that’s what the ad reads running in Rob Lambdin’s University Dodge. And this deal is legit. You can really walk onto this lot and purchase one Dodge Ram and get the second completely free of charge. The industry is in SERIOUS trouble. Just yesterday the Automotive Industry big wigs flew in to Washington on their private jets to ask the government for a bail out. That’s like pulling up to my mom’s in a Lexus and asking for a 20-spot. Are you for real? But honestly, this is going to mean serious hard times for many Americans. Here are the opinions of one NPR listener: For years they have not developed cars to be more efficient and less dependent on oil products. The CEO’s are out of touch with their private plane travel and big bonuses. The union workers see that all of that and want their unrealistic share as well. It is time to downsize, go bankrupt, renegotiate with the unions and retirees,get rid of the greed CEO’s and boards and prevent new CEO’s and boards from duplicating this again. No way should any money be given to an industry who can not tell you what they would spend the money on. I understand Wall Street and the banks needed to be bailed out or the financial aspect of the US would be gone. Why do we need to bail out an industry who obviously can’t change? Who will be next to ask for a bail out? Another listener stated this: While I believe that many mistakes were made over the years in the auto industry, there seems to be a lack of fairness in the treatment of the industry. Why are there tax breaks for the oil industry in order to help the energy situation, yet the auto industry has to meet increased CAFE standards on its own? In Michigan we are told that for years our state has been a net tax donor. Now that we need help, where’s the love? Mr. Paulson wants things like limits on executive pay, and other controls tied to aid to the auto industry, yet this wasn’t required for the financial industry. This double standard is hard to swallow. So, is this unfair treatment? Was the financial industry the oldest sibling whom it’s government body parents bailed out and learned their lesson to not repeat again? Either way, it looks as if the US government has made it’s final decision to no bail out the automotive industry. But hey, at least we can get a free truck out of the deal before we feel the real impact to our economy and people. I pray that our leaders are making the right decision, and I would urge you to pray for all of those that will be affected by this turn of events.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
sundaymorningstaple wrote:Frankly, you are not going to like this one bit. But, if you will think back, I've already alluded to this policy by the Gahmen as well as a means to control immigration of certain minorities which are currently higher than the accepted norm here. I didn't want to go there, but you narrowed it down .. A company, sponsoring the whole family, could find themselves stuck with a massive repatriation bill if the shinola turns to S**t. That what sponsorship means. Which is what not many understand and go on the offensive for the company refusing to put a 'bloody simple stamp and a letter' .. Well, if it was so, let me quote this friend of mine, who was strapped with a 10,000 $ fine, for 'just lending his IC to extend a girl's visa, and she is a honest and sincere girl .. ' etc. etc. the only problem was, nobody told my friend that lending an IC for the visa extension makes the person as a sponsor, and if the girl disappears/get caught in the wrong place, the sponsor gets hauled to court ... The girl just didn't tell him that she moonlighted in a KTV, and was caught .. Well, now I don't bother trying to explain when some guys insist they are doing the right thing, by extending the visa girls they met here there and everywhere .. and sometimes for guys they meet in the church .. Let them learn the lesson, instead of me being the bad guy for pointing out the possible outcome ... revhappy wrote:Thanks SMS and Ecureilx, I get the point now. I didnt know the company becomes liable for the persons they sponsor visa for. Now it makes sense. Cheers! Cool, so there is one more enlightened soul, who will not be loose with his / her IC, in giving sponsor letters and endorsements For that matter, to think now, I also know one restaurant owner lady, who decided to extend the visa of a regular customer in her restaurant, and the restaurant owner lady spent 2 weeks in jail, and her husband divorced her and all drama, because the beneficiary who got the visa extended was caught in PP complex in China town in some police op ...	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
AOL Mail LoginVideo demonstration and instructions on the way to utilize AOL Mail Login: Tutorials to using the AOL Mail Login page:1. Bunch the AOL Mail login URL directly by goign to: http://mail.aol.com2. Type your Username or Email in the first text field.3. Type your password strength in to the Password text box.4. It's advised to not hceck the Remember Me checkbox if you utilize a shared computer, or will likely be leaving your pc unattended, as it saves your credentials and allows other people who are employing your laptop or computer to login back without re-entering the password, we strongly recommend leaving it unchecked.5. Select the big blue Logon button to proceed, this would enable you to get logged in. AOL Mail LoginUnable to login? Reset passwords:Should you be experiencing difficulty logging into the account and want your password reset, abide by these steps:1. Click the blue text labeled 'Forgot password?' within the password text box from the AOL Mail login screen.2. Enter your username or email inside the first text field around the password reset page.3. Enter the captcha lock characters the thing is to confirm you're not a robot.4. Continue with the next page on-screen verification options and look for a verification method.5. Submit verification solution to complete the password reset. Contact information:If do you think you're unable to do either of the above steps or are nevertheless having issues you will need to contact AOL to make it arranged, listed here are the contact details you will want: Email SupportORCall Phone Support at: 800-872-6364 Book returning to this site to determine if you can find any updates or important notices that might affect you, we will work healthy maintain thus far information relevant to anyone with a AOL Mail login procedure including any system downtime, outages, or bugs and errors on the website that you could encounter.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
"Hermana Smith habla Elder Coffman. We have some special changes for you! Don't faint ok?" "Digame elder." [Tell me, Elder] "Mañana you are leaving Tanlum and moving to the lovely little pueblecito [town] de Ticúl!" THAT short of notice!! So we had to go home and pack everything and wait for president to show up at our house with the assistentes and I was not exactly super excited cause we were SO CLOSE to baptizing Marcelo and Wendy and now I'm gone and I didn't get to say goodbye to any of the ward or anything!! Que triste. [How sad] BUT now I'm in Ticul and it's pretty fun. Its a tiny little city like 2 hours from Merida and I'm with Hermana De Leon and Hermana Winn. HWinn came here with me- she's from my same generation. They're pretty sweet. We have a baptism this Saturday with this kid named Carlos so yehah. But I don't know Carlos. I know Marcelo. And now I'll never see his baptism. Ok ok sorry I'm done being bitter. But the big news is that Presidente told me yesterday when we were at his house that I'm going to be the senior companion here and that's why I had to come 2 weeks early. SO I have 2 weeks to learn the area and meet everyone and understand their Spanish and all that good jazz. I'm not too worried about being senior comp cause I feel like I spent the last 4 weeks doing everything so I'm used to it, but I DON'T KNOW THIS AREA. So that frightens me a bit. But cool stuff happened this week. We had this ocho principios capacitación thing for 2 days in centro, so martes and miercoles [Tuesday and Wednesday] we went to centro for the whole day to learn how to be better missionaries. And we were with zona centro- Hermana Willams zone so that was way fun!! I'll try to send a pic of that. We put another date for baptism with Wendy and we have a ton of hope for this one 'cause she's supposed to already have her papers that she needs to get married so if all goes well she can be baptized march 29th! The LAST DAY before cambios. Not that I'll be able to be there for her... but oh well. So after getting all pumped up to be super good missionaries for 2 days, we had our super awesome activity on Jueves [Thursday]- have I told you about that yet? Elier (coolest missionary leader anyone could ever ask for) totally planned this whole cool "trip to Hawaii" thing and it was an open house in the capilla [chapel] for investigators- put on by the members depicting the plan of salvation. They did like a little show pretending to be in an airplane crash and die, and the missionaries came in and we were like "What happens after we die?" and we took them in little groups to different rooms that represent the different kingdoms of glory and it was sooo successful!!! AH I have to tell you more about it but I have to go now...:(	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Chris Rainey signs his 4 yr deal with the Steelers Tweeted out this afternoon that Steelers 5th round pick, 159 overall, RB Chris Rainey signed his 4 yr deal with the team. SteelersDigest & Steelers.com gave us the lowdown about the news. Rainey (5-8, 178), who was the 159th overall pick, played collegiately at the University of Florida. He started 19-of-52 games for the Gators, six as a slot receiver and 13 at tailback. He finished his career ranked ninth in school history with 2,464 yards rushing on 396 carries (6.2 avg.). Rainey scored 21 touchdowns multiple ways: 13 rushing, six receiving and two on punt returns. He set the Southeastern Conference career-record with six blocked punts. Rainey became the first Florida player to record a rushing, receiving and return touchdown in the same game, accomplishing the feat versus Florida Atlantic in the 2011 season opener. I don't usually get overly excited about 5th round draft picks but I like this kids speed and pass catching out of the backfield. It's good that he's got the deal done and out of the way. It should be a good battle between him and Baron Batch. Nice to see the early signing. After all the vets that retired and were cut the young depth at the bottom of the roster looks to be real fun to watch this year. No more "old and slow" comments. And funny of all, no more NFLN commentary from the guy who said "old and slow". I don't usually get overly excited about 5th round draft picks but I like this kids speed and pass catching out of the backfield. It's good that he's got the deal done and out of the way. It should be a good battle between him and Baron Batch. Yes, I agree to a point. I would like to see Batch do very well. I am thinking Rainey may primarily be used on kick-offs and punt returns. Are we going to see a 5' 8", 178 lb. RB? I don't usually get overly excited about 5th round draft picks but I like this kids speed and pass catching out of the backfield. It's good that he's got the deal done and out of the way. It should be a good battle between him and Baron Batch.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
International Bazar - Mexican Stand (Luxexpo) (Luxembourg) The Mexican Community in Luxembourg is very happy to share with you the amazing experience of this interna’onal charity event. We will offer tradi’onal Mexican dishes, drinks, desserts, gourmet chocolate, and a nice variety of handcraHs, toys, fun and much more.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Summer Comment Challenge-August 2016 8:17 PM The Comment Challenge What: A way to connect with other bloggers and challenge yourself to comment on other people's blogs.Who: This was created by Lonna @FLYLēFand Alicia @A Kernel of Nonsensebut anyone is encouraged to sign up and participate!When: Every month during the summer. August is the last month (and my first time participating) so be sure to sign up soon!Why: Reading people's comments on my blog and interacting with other bloggers is one of my favorite parts of blogging. Why not spread the joy?How: Once you sign up, you will be paired with another blogger and be encouraged to comment on each other's blog posts. The Nuts and Bolts This is the final month to sign up for this challenge for the summer. Bloggers will be paired up and are required to comment on each other’s blog posts. To allow a bit of freedom, you will be able to choose how often you would like to comment on your partner’s blog (options include 5-10 or 11-20 posts). Social Media Option: If you’d like to give your partner further encouragement through social media, we will do our best to connect you with bloggers who are active on the same platforms. Giveaway: at the end of August, we will be giving away two bookish prizes. Please note: this giveaway will only be open to participants Sign Up: Starting today through the 21st, you can sign up for this challenge for August. Just answer a few questions on the Google Doc on one of the hosts' blogs. We will be emailing you a couple of days before August 1st to inform you of your partner. Create a Sign-up Post: We will be posting a link-up on the 15th for participants to share their posts. What you should include: Announce your intention to participate and what you’re looking forward to for this challenge Let us know how often you intend to comment on your partner’s blog Tell us if you participated in June or July and what your experience was like Share This Story You Might Also Like 3 comments Hi Leah! I'm not much of a hot cocoa person, but there is this one Mexican mocha at out local coffee shop that is ridiculously good! Ha ha. Well, welcome to the Challenge! I hope you and Book Room Reviews will have a great experience. See ya around! Hi Lonna! Thanks for setting up the comment challenge. I'm excited to participate. I'm not much of a coffee drinker (I really only like the sugary drinks where you can barely taste the coffee in them), so hot chocolate is my go to hot beverage. I have a bit of a sweet tooth:) About me Welcome to my blog! I'm Leah - I'm a teacher, writer, and hot chocolate lover living in the US. I'm passionate about reading, writing, and traveling. This blog is a place where I want to share my love of the written word with all of you!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Honda Insight Takes Its Final Curtain Call The Honda Insight Reaches the End of the Road The tough life of the Honda Insight will come to a close. Bloomberg reports that Honda told dealers back in November to not place any more orders for the model as production would come to a close at the end of the February. This news comes a week after Honda announced sales of the Insight and CR-Z would end Europe. The Insight was the first hybrid vehicle to be sold in the U.S. just before the start of the millennium and paved the way for many more vehicles down the road. Honda ended production of the first-generation model in 2006. Three years later, Honda introduced the second-generation Insight. However the new model wasn't able to keep up with the Toyota Prius, which would become the best selling hybrid vehicle ever. At the moment in the U.S., Honda dealers are currently sitting on a 237 day supply of Insights. It isn't clear whether or not Honda will replace the Insight or not at this current time.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Thursday, July 30, 2015 First off, let me say that I have no strong feelings about p-values, and some positive feelings towards Bayes Factors. There are personal reasons for this: During my PhD, p-values set me off on a wild goose chase (see my previous blog post). A few months before my thesis submission, Bayes Factors saved the day by informing me that there was mostly no evidence for the effect I was chasing in the first place. This would justify strong negative feelings towards p-values on my part, but then again, in situations of personal conflict is it always worth taking a step back to consider what went wrong, whether the blame lies at least in part with myself, and what I can learn from the experience for personal growth. This blog post is my attempt to make peace with p-values: my conclusion, so far, is that perhaps they are not to blame for everything, and that there is a lot to learn from my mistakes. P-values seem to elicit a lot of strong feelings with a lot of people. They have received a great deal of negative publicity lately, and they have been blamed for the replicability crisis in psychology (e.g., Cumming, 2014; Halsey, Curran-Everett, Vowler, & Drummond, 2015). The replicability crisis refers to the outcry that most research findings published in scientific journals are false. Basically, what seems to be happening is that journals prefer to publish papers which report sensational, unexpected effects, that are likely to receive a lot of attention from the general public. In contrast, journals prefer to not publish studies that replicate an experiment, especially if these report a null-result. The consequences of such an incentive system are clear: the literature gets filled with sensational papers that report type-I errors (i.e., the presence of an effect, when in reality the null hypothesis is true). Given this explanation, the problem leading to the replication crisis is not with p-values per se, but rather with the way they are used and interpreted. As the main argument of the current blog post, I propose that it is a grave mistake to draw conclusions based on a single p-value (i.e., a single published study). P-values are a frequentist statistic, where the outcome of a single experiment can only be considered in relation to a hypothetical infinite chain of events (or, in practice, a large number of events). Taking the classical coin example, that most psychology majors will remember from their introductory statistics course: if you want to determine whether a coin is fair or not, you toss it 10 000 times to check whether around 50% of the outcomes are heads. Now imagine that you want to determine whether the coin is fair or not, but you only toss it once. What can you conclude about the fairness of the coin? Nothing. You toss it twice, and get a head and a tail. Still, you cannot conclude anything. If you toss it three times and get heads each time, you might raise an eyebrow. The same holds true for an experiment: If the null hypothesis of a given effect is true, and we run hundreds of experiments to test for the presence of this effect, we would expect, by definition, that around 5% of all p-values will be significant at the 5% level (p < 0.05). If we run a single experiment, and get a p-value (i.e., probability of obtaining the data if the null hypothesis were true) of 0.03, we can conclude nothing. If we replicate this experiment and get a p-value of 0.3, we still cannot conclude anything. However, if we run a series of experiments and get low p-values in a majority of them, we may raise an eyebrow and consider the possibility that the effect is actually real. Thus, p-values can be interpreted within a chain of events, but it is theoretically impossible to draw conclusions from a single observation. Some related caveats about p-values are explained very nicely by Schmidt (1992). In set of experiments, due to sampling error, the observed effect size will vary as a normal distribution around the true population effect size. If a population effect is real (δ > 0), it is nevertheless possible to obtain an observed effect size of exactly zero (d = 0). Conversely, if the null hypothesis is true, it is possible to obtain a significant p-value and a reasonably-sized observed effect. Therefore, obtaining one significant (p < 0.05) and one non-significant (p > 0.05) result in two experiments tells us very little about whether the effect may be real or not. Even more detrimental is the conclusion that the two p-values are intrinsically different and must come from different populations. Such a result is often interpreted to mean that there must be some unknown moderator determining whether the effect is present or not, when it is likely that both observations simply reflect sampling noise around a single true population parameter value (which may or may not be zero). So much for p-values (and other frequentist statistics, such as confidence intervals or power calculations): they are only meaningful when numerous studies are available, and if we can be sure that the studies that are available are truly random repeated samples. Given the current publication system, as described above, neither of the two conditions is met: (1) Regardless of whether replications yield significant p-values or not, their publication is discouraged. Therefore, for some effects, there is only one p-value available in the literature. (2) Replications are especially difficult to publish if they yield a non-significant result. This means that positive-result replications are over-represented in the literature. In the worst-case scenario, a “consistent effect” in the literature simply represents the 5% false positives (Rosenthal, 1979). In the defence of p-values, then: their distribution can tell us a lot. It can give us information about the presence or absence of an effect, and even about questionable research practices for a given research area (Simonsohn, Nelson, & Simmons, 2014a; 2014b). However, this becomes difficult or impossible in a system where a large proportion of experiment outcomes are never reported because they do not meet an arbitrary criterion, and where conclusions are generally drawn from a single p-value. But are Bayes Factors better, and if so, how? Unlike frequentist theorists, Bayesians do not start off with the assumption of a hypothetical infinite chain of events. Instead, one starts off with a prior belief about what kind of effect one might expect. If research on this question is already available, one can use that to guide the expected effect size; otherwise, an educated guess will do, with an adjustment in the prior distribution to reflect a high degree of uncertainty. After the data is collected, the prior belief is combined with the data to yield a posterior distribution. Thus, a Bayesian analysis allows one to update one’s a priori beliefs in light of incoming data. More comprehensive explanations of the Bayesian framework are available in Dienes (2011) and van de Schoot et al. (2014). Back to the coin example: if a Bayesian wants to check whether a coin is fair, she starts off with an a priori belief. If there is no reason to believe that the coin is rigged, the belief would be that in a coin toss, heads and tails are equally likely outcomes. Say the first two coin tosses provide two heads. While this is not overly strong evidence against this prior belief, she might be somewhat inclined to consider the possibility that the coin biased towards heads. If the third coin toss provides tails, the degree of belief shifts back towards the “unbiased”-hypothesis. Thus, each consecutive coin toss allows the Bayesian to update her belief about the coin. The more data is available, the more confident the Bayesian will be that her belief is correct. If a large amount of unbiased data is available, a frequentist and a Bayesian studying the same question would probably always converge in their conclusions. This is a big “if”, though, that does not seem to be met in the available published literature. As such, a Bayesian approach might be more suited to drawing conclusions based on a small amount of available data: even though it would be optimal to have as much data as possible within any theoretical framework, a Bayesian, but not a frequentist approach allows for conclusions based on few studies. It is important to bear in mind that, in a Bayesian framework, there is a large degree of uncertainty in one’s beliefs if the data on which it is based is sparse. Furthermore, Bayesian analyses are not immune to publication bias: if one considers only papers that report type-I errors, one is less likely to arrive at the conclusion that the null-hypothesis is true, even if this were evident from a set of experiments using truly random samples. In conclusion, it seems that the main problem with p-values is not intrinsic to p-values per se, but rather in the data that is available in the literature, and the common practice of drawing conclusions based on a single study. The former may be a consequence of the latter: if researchers believe that the p-value of a single study can provide a convincing answer to the question "Is there an effect?", there seems indeed very little use in publishing replications. However, we know that this is not true. Furthermore, regardless of the theoretical framework that one adopts for statistical inference, it is always necessary to have multiple studies in order to be confident about the conclusions that we draw. Friday, July 17, 2015 I grew up in a house of mathematicians. Among other things, this means that throughout my childhood, I heard a lot of jokes about physicists (the mathematicians’ equivalent of blondes jokes). As a child, I used to find those jokes mildly amusing. When I started learning about research methods in psychology, I started finding them really funny, but sad at the same time – after all, if a hard science like physics is a laughing stock because of their dodgy scientific practices, what does this mean for a soft science like psychology? Here’s an example of a physicist joke: A physicist is doing a talk at a conference. He is holding up a graph, and is explaining what the data on it means. After half an hour, a graduate student timidly raises her hand and politely notes that the graph is held upside down. The physicist stops, looks at the graph, turns it the right way up, and says: “Why, you’re right! Well, in this case the data is even easier to explain!” The moral of the story is that, for a reasonably intelligent and creative person, it is almost always possible to come up with a plausible-sounding explanation for any set of results. This, of course, is already well-known: for this reason, the scientific method entails explicitly stating a hypothesis before the data is collected and analysed. However, in psychological research this principle is not straight forward, for a simple reason: it is very rare for the data to behave in the way that was anticipated. Like probably everyone else in the field, I learnt this the hard way during my PhD. I conducted a study to look an effect in three conditions (let’s call the size of the effect in the three conditions A, B, and C, respectively). Two theories (let’s call them X and Y) made opposing predictions: If X is true, A < B < C. If Y is true, A > B > C. The result? B = 0 < A = C. I think this scenario is familiar to anyone who has ever done an experiment in the so-called soft sciences, and it’s a PhD student’s worst nightmare. What does one do with a set of results like these? One of my advisors said I can do one of the following: (1) Figure out why we got this unexpected set of results, (2) write up a paper with our initial predictions in the introduction, our results, and conclude that ‘more research is needed’ to understand this unexpected set of results, or (3) forget about the whole thing. In retrospect, I should have done (3), but due to my stubbornness I went for (1) instead. I had numerous meetings with my advisors to discuss how any theory could account for the obtained results – but in this case, we could not even come up with a reasonable-sounding explanation. Then I decided to collect some more data. I conducted four more studies with larger samples, and eventually performed a meta-analysis of all the data on this effect that I could get my hands on (which, aside from the data that I had collected, was not much). Thus having maximised the power to obtain a potentially true effect, I found that A = B = 0, and C is only slightly larger than zero. On the bright side, this finally allowed me to conclude that the data is more compatible with Theory X than Theory Y, but at this stage I had wasted hours of my advisors’ time and most of my PhD trying to understand the results of the first experiment, which were basically just random noise. This is where Hyman’s Maxim comes in. I came across it in this blogpost by chance, after I had already submitted my PhD thesis. The maxim says: “Do not try to explain something until you are sure there is something to be explained.” Ray Hyman started off as a magician, but later became a skeptic and a psychologist. Aside from the blogpost, I have not found any publications on Hyman’s Maxim, but in my opinion, this is the most important principle in psychological science, and possibly any science that involves drawing inferences from data. As a scientist’s main job is to obtain data that can support or refute theories, it is easy to get carried away with drawing the link between data and theory, and to forget how important it is to ensure that the data actually tells you what you think it tells you. In psychology, with generally small effects and noisy data, the non-zero probability that a statistically significant effect reflects random noise is often forgotten. Consequently, any statistically significant result is in the danger of being interpreted as ‘meaningful’: if the a priori theory did not predict it, we must be missing something, there must be some explanation, or moderating factor, which should explain this unexpected result. In conclusion, unless we have ensured that an unexpected result is replicable, drawing inferences from a single study with a statistically significant result that was not predicted a priori is a lot like telling someone’s future from the stars or their tea leaves. In fact, if the null hypothesis happens to be true, it is literally like telling someone’s future from the stars or their tea leaves. On some level, everyone knows this already, but perhaps it is easy to forget this point. My proposed solution to this problem: Create motivational posters starring Hyman’s Maxim. Put them up in every psychological scientist’s office and bathroom.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Multiple Teams· Oct 29 Setting the Season with Victory: Windjammer By Devin McAlister Mayfair’s girls volleyball team set the bar high for themselves in preseason pay, which they finished with a 6-2 record. That was only step one in their three-step ladder to success. Step two, which is currently in progress, is winning a Suburban league championship. “We wanted a successful preseason and we got that,” Coach Margaret Bos said. “So now we’re working towards a league victory.” The team’s most recent victory was in a Valley Christian tournament held on Sept. 17. “If [the season] were a rollercoaster, it would be at its peak,” said senior middle blocker Skyler Williams.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Imagine Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho stranded together on a desert island with a lone palm tree filled with coconuts. The Brazilian set the spring, starting a fight with an Arsenal defender, Koscielny, prompting his teammate, Gabriel, to jump into the conflict, taking the Costa bait. Notoriously, Costa is known to provoke his opponents with elbows and nudges, slaps and niggles, and language so bad his grandma would faint. West Ham United, based out in London’s East End, under the coaching maverick, the Croatian, Slaven Bilic. Both would have bumps on their heads by dusk and share the same dream — how to get rid of one another, as soon as possible. Knocking Arsenal off the block was Diego Costa (pictured), Chelsea’s lone hunter, fully armed with a trap. Gabriel kicked him right in front of the ref, ever so slightly, right after both had just been booked for squaring up. Away from home this season, count Liverpool, Arsenal and now Manchester City as beaten by the Hammers. Each season, a challenger to the Big Four – Man Utd, Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal – emerges. Costa, the villain, remained on the field; Gabriel the fool, departed the pitch and Arsenal were down to ten men.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Hop on! Wild rabbits surf on sheep to flee New Zealand flood WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — It was a woolly ride, but three wild rabbits managed to escape rising floodwaters in New Zealand by clambering aboard sheep and surfing to safety on their backs. Ferg Horne, 64, says he’s been farming since he left school at age 15 and has never seen anything quite like it. He was trudging through pelting rain to rescue a neighbor’s 40 sheep from the floodwaters on Saturday at their South Island farm near Dunedin when he spotted some dark shapes from a distance. He was puzzled because he knew his neighbor, who was away in Russia attending a nephew’s wedding, didn’t have any black-faced sheep. As he got closer, he thought it might be debris from the storm, which had drenched the area and forced Horne to evacuate his home. Then he saw the bedraggled rabbits hitching a ride — two on one sheep and a third on another sheep. “I couldn’t believe it for a start,” he said. Nobody else would believe him either without proof, he thought, so he got out his phone to take a photo, an image he figured his grandchildren would enjoy. In fact, he inadvertently shot a short video. “It’s a Samsung or a smartphone or whatever you call it. I swear at it every day,” he said. “I’m absolutely useless with technology.” Nevertheless, Horne managed to capture the moment. He said the sheep were huddled together on a high spot on the farm, standing in about 8 centimeters (3 inches) of water. He said the rabbits looked like they’d gotten wet but seemed quite comfortable and relaxed atop their mounts. Rabbits are considered a pest to farmers in New Zealand, and Horne said that typically when he sees one, he shoots it. “But they’d showed so much initiative, I thought they deserved to live, those rabbits,” he said. Horne herded the sheep to a patch of dry ground on the farm about 50 meters (164 feet) away. The sheep didn’t like it. “As they jumped through the water, the rabbits had a jolly good try at staying on,” Horne said. He said the rabbits appeared to cling onto the wool with their paws. As they approached the higher ground, the rabbits fell off but managed to climb a hedge to safety. Horne returned later that afternoon. The floodwaters were receding, the sheep were all safe and the rabbits were long gone. Horne said his home had also remained dry. He then sent his video to his son, who sent images to the local newspaper and posted them on Facebook, as Horne doesn’t have his own page.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
A painter and printmaker born in Poland in 1928, Julian Stanczak lost the use of his right arm during World War II in a Siberian concentration camp. After he emigrated to the United States in 1950, his early work prompted critics to coin the term "Op Art" for works that use optical illusions.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
The Phlebotomy Technician Program provides instruction and preparation for an entry-level healthcare career. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a HS diploma or equivalency. Students will learn how to draw blood properly from patients, the order of draw, and other laboratory skills and techniques. Clinical externship is part of the phlebotomy technician program and students must successfully complete 100 hours and 100 patient sticks in order to pass the program. Typically, clinical will take place during the daytime hours, so students need to make arrangements in the beginning of the course with their personal schedule to accommodate clinical time. Students are expected to utilize the Canvas Online Learning Management System, as well as meet one night a week with the instructor. Students will sit for the ASCP certification exam at the completion of the course and clinical time. Students must successfully pass a criminal background check and random urine drug screen. Tuition includes: Background check Random Urine Drug Screen 1 Set Red Embroidered Scrubs Photo ID badge All textbook/workbooks All lab/online fees One attempt at the certification exam HCRA There is no refund to the student unless CWD Allied Health cancels the program. If the student withdrawals prior to the start of the program, a fee of $250 will be charged.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Second Case of West Nile Virus The Illinois Department of Health confirmed Thursday a second human case of the West Nile virus. State public health director, Dr John Lumpkin, says a 57-year-old Madison County man became critically ill with encephalitis. He remains hospitalized, but has been moved from the intensive care unit. The fear of new west Nile cases pushed officials to spray for mosquitoes at the Springfield Fair grounds just before the big event. Boone County Fair officials did spray for mosquitoes before the fair kicked off earlier this week and it seems like it's had a positive effect. While fair organizers expressed concern about West Nile, they spray for mosquitoes each year. The spray cool temperatures and a dry summer have helped combat the pesky insect. The only thing that seems to be buzzing and biting at the Boone County Fairgrounds this week is business. West Nile has showed up in 53 Illinois counties. Officials say your best weapon is using a mosquito repellant if you choose to head outdoors. The Boone County Fair wraps up on Sunday. wifr.com Extended Web Coverage West Nile in Illinois In Illinois, West Nile virus was first identified in September 2001 when laboratory tests confirmed its presence in two dead crows found in the Chicago metropolitan area. Since then, more than 100 birds, mosquitoes and horses in seven counties -- six in the Chicago area and Crawford County in central Illinois -- have tested positive for the virus. One human case of West Nile encephalitis has been reported in Illinois. The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) has had a sophisticated disease surveillance system in place since 2000 to monitor animals and insects that can potentially carry the virus: wild birds; dead crows, blue jays and raptors; and mosquitoes. Over the past two years, the virus, which can be transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito, has quickly spread throughout the northeastern states and to states south and west of New York. In 2001, West Nile virus was also identified in other Midwestern states, including Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin. Online Public Information File Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or [email protected].	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
As Founder & CEO of Vesternet, I personally guarantee your 100% satisfaction on any purchase. I’d never want you to be unhappy with something you buy from us, so here’s my promise - you can return any unused products within 365 days. If you have problems with a new purchase, our support team will work with you to resolve. And if you still can’t get it working then you can return it within 14 days for replacement or refund. For full information take a look at our full returns policy. Plugin A Plugin is a piece of software that acts as an add-on containing a group of functions that you can "plug in" to another software – hence the name "Plugin". Sometimes referred to as "extensions", "add-ins" or "add-ons" they help make the base software do something that it doesn’t normally do by itself. In a Home Automation system Plugins can extend functionality or add new features to your controller, making it easier for you to add new technologies to your system without the hassle of writing your own software code. We regularly add new guides and would appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have, email us at [email protected]	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
"When you talk about love 24/7, it's not really normal. It kind of makes you a little bit nervous. I started thinking of this as one big therapy session, and I kind of broke down. That's how I look at it. I got a lot out." So said New York-based blogger, 27, and self-described "Over-Analyst" Jenna Burke in her conference call with the media this morning, effectively explaining why she became so overemotional during almost every moment we saw her on The Bachelor these past two weeks. Jenna's time spent locked in the bathroom and curled up in the fetal position (not to mention her traumatic exit) ought to prove it: The Bachelor is not therapy for its contestants. For the strong ones, The Bachelor is the ultimate test of their stability and stamina. And for the weak, with all its competition and confrontation, The Bachelor is more therapy-inducing than anything else. Now, months after the experience, watching herself sob and shudder on television is an admittedly uncomfortable experience for Burke, but "I look back at those moments and laugh," she says. And she understands now that, "This is a very intense show, and you need to be at a strong point in your life." Why wasn't Jenna at a strong point in her life? Why did she break down not once, but twice, at both the Bachelor cocktail parties she attended? Does she still have beef with Monica? And what does she think of all the internet mockery that's come her way since The Bachelor began? Read on for highlights from Jenna's surprisingly candid and self-effacing interview. The Over-Analyst may have lived up to her name and completely botched the main performance, but at least she stuck the landing. Not all titles featured on BuddyTV are available through Amazon Prime. On why she got so overemotional:When you're fighting for one person's attention, you wanna say so much. When I tried to say something, it all came out like, "Blah." I look back at those moments and laugh. You don't realize how you're going to react until you experience it. You can't help your emotions. On getting intimidated by not just the cameras, but the other girls: As you watch everyone, that's sort of where you start to lose your confidence. You see the more aggressive ones, and it seems like Ben likes that kind of person. That's how you really get the time, and I'm just not like that. It caught me off guard, Monica's comment about how she didn't like Ben because she didn't know him. We all knew who The Bachelor was. Me and Monica made up, she's a great girl. It was just a rocky start. A lot of people react differently. I think we all have our own insecurities. I apparently cry, and other girls come across as more aggressive. They know what they want and they won't stop until they get it. That's how they play the game. Everyone talks about strategy, and I had no strategy. I was like, "Am I supposed to have one?" I thought this was about finding a connection. The timing was off for me. On why she fought with Monica the first night: I didn't understand her personality, and I thought I would have great friendships formed from this experience. Even in real life, not everyone is going to love you, and that was a life lesson I learned right there. Something rubbed me the wrong way that night. I overheard her saying things and I wanted to confront her and it was a very awkward, awkward moment. The next day, I didn't want to feel any more uncomfortable than I already did, so I approached her and she was like a totally different person. It was like the real Jenna got to know the real Monica. We ended up being in the same group for the play we put on, and we had a blast that day. She's a great girl. It was just bad first impressions. On what the audience wasn't shown that might explain her behavior: I don't think anyone can anticipate what kind of experience this is going to be until you get there. I've never been through anything like this in my life. People sign up because they're ready to find love. Unfortunately, there was a lot going on in my life at the time. I was changing my career, I was getting over a breakup and wanted to move forward, all of my things were in storage -- I was ready for a life change. As I got there, it was more intense than I ever anticipated, and I really went there with the mentality that, "If Ben dumps me, at least I'll make great friends." I've watched every season, I'm a big fan of The Bachelor, and I've seen great friendships come from this. I think to succeed on this show, you have to fight for Ben's attention. I'm fine approaching men, but in this kind of circumstance, it was very difficult for me. When you take all your distractions away and are kind of alone, you start to feel in a very odd situation. I wasn't really at a strong point. On whether, if she were cast on a later season, if she might have been in a better place emotionally: Absolutely! Everything had to do with ... it was a pretty bad breakup on my part, and it was hard. I just think you need to be at the right spot. This is a very intense show, and you need to be at a strong point in your life. That's the only way to succeed. If you have any feeling of being scared, you don't have that confidence. I usually have confidence. On how she feels about Ben sending her home: I would've sent myself home, to be honest. I have to admit, going on the group date, you kinda wonder, "Are these the women he puts together that he's unsure about?" That's kind of how I felt. Only two girls got the one-on-one dates. It doesn't really make you feel that good, and you don't really get a lot of time to talk to him. I knew my last conversation with him was the make or break. I'm not the kind of girl to say, "Excuse me, can I snatch Ben away from you?" If he wants to talk to me, he will. You can't help but feel rejected. I'm human and I have feelings. I want him to like me and get to know me. Unfortunately, men do not like drama and I showed that side of me. It was a lot of pressure. I wanted to say so much, but it came out so awkward. It wasn't even what I wanted to say. It was too much pressure. On what she thinks of this week's biggest troublemakers, Courtney and Blakeley: Alright, so I'll start with Blakeley. I have known girls like Blakeley, and I had a lot of time with her. My first impression was aggressive and she doesn't wanna be friends with anyone but Monica. I didn't like how they were together and didn't talk to anyone else. In the house, they realized that they need to break up a little. They were being pinpointed in the wrong way. I got to know her more and she does have a heart. I think we all have our insecurities and the way Blakeley deals with hers is she's more aggressive. I can tell why girls are not fond of that. She can only stay strong for so long, and it actually got to her. She comes off very strong but there's another side to her. Courtney ... I only had probably one conversation with her, and I just know she's a model from Santa Monica and she plays with her hair a lot. After watching the show, I think there's a serious case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. On what she thinks of Ben: I think Ben is a great guy. It's tough to be in that situation with all these women vying for your attention. He maintained his sanity and went with the flow. On whether she read what people were writing about her online: I'm not on Twitter at the moment, but I am pretty internet savvy. After the first episode, you're curious about what people say ... I didn't know I was going to be a hashtag. At first I cringed, but now I'm totally fine. I had to imagine, on the other side, how I look, and I'd say the exact same thing. After it sunk in, it was like, "You know, that's not me. I have to have fun with it." I can look back and laugh at the experience. I'm owning it.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
I have installed both AICP and C-ROM and I have not yet hit LTE even once. I pretty much always get 3G. My wife is sitting right next to me on her Galaxy S4 and is on LTE. Am I missing a setting? I've only had my G2 for a week so I'm new to some of the differences. I have had the Vibrant, S2 Skyrocket, and the S4 as my last 3 devices. Help! I miss my speed! XDA Developers was founded by developers, for developers. It is now a valuable resource for people who want to make the most of their mobile devices, from customizing the look and feel to adding new functionality.Are you a developer?	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Blogs Monday, April 27, 2009 What Not To Do During Sefirah - The Real Story There seems to be a never ending stream of overly finessed minutiae as to what is or is not permitted during Sefirah. Let’s elucidate: The Tur (OC 493) cites three things that were customarily refrained from during Sefirah: 1) getting married 2) getting a haircut 3) women abstaining from work after sundown The Magen Avraham adds dancing to the list for a non mitzvah purpose. The Aruch Hashulchan writes that musical instruments are by nature more joy inducing than dancing and thus would be included in the Magen Avraham’s addition. Although one can argue that the above would apply only to live music, the Poskim (Rav Moshe Feinstien, the Tzitz Eliezer, and Rav Ovadia Yosef) all extend the prohibition to recorded music as well. The reasoning seems to be as follows: The Halacha is that music is always prohibited as it serves as a Zecher LeChurban, in mourning for the Beis Hamikdash. (There are some exceptions; I’ll save it for a future post). Although there are certain leniencies employed, such as recorded music, during times of national mourning such as Sefirah those leniencies are suspended and we prohibit all music. Being as the prohibition is a relatively recent one, and only a minhag, there are some leniencies considered by the contemporary halachic authorities: • Inadvertent listening (in a store, doctor office, elevator, etc.) • Rhythm inducing exercise music • Cantorial singing with musical accompaniment • Children’s tapes, toys and mobiles (for the child’s benefit) • If one is studying to play an instrument as a paid professional (according to some even if one is studying to play for his own pleasure). A Capella music has become the latest Sefira fad, there is intense exhaustive discussion on the matter to be found here. The upshot is that if the human voice was modified to the extent that it sounds like music then it shouldn’t be listened to. The overarching theme is that the goal we are trying to accomplish is a spiritual/emotional one – to reduce joy. So a work around is self defeating. Women not doing work doesn’t seem to have caught on. (Perhaps because the men were traditionally the ones who studied the Law ) The Mishna Berura says it would apply to men as well, at least until after they count Sefirah. The later Poskim discuss it and seem to concede that it’s not the Minhag and that that’s ok. There are those who don’t make Shecheyanu or wear new clothes during Sefirah. This seems to be an idea that was borrowed (perhaps inadvertently) from the three weeks and has no solid Halachic basis. Subscribe to this blog Meet Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber is sought after by all who know him for his Halachic and practical advice. His keen ability to put complicated matters into a digestible perspective coupled with his ability to get the facts, make him the perfect blogger to help us all “Do It Right”. A native of Buffalo, NY, Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch Haber spent his childhood globetrotting with his family. His pioneering spirit first surfaced in Melbourne, Australia, where he was excited to be a member of the opening class of Mesivta Bnei Torah. From Australia the Haber family settled down in Monsey, NY. Ever the maverick, Tzvi promptly left home to study in Yeshiva Ohr Hameir in Peekskill, where he became a mainstay of the Yeshiva, and inspired his younger brothers as well as several friends from the Mesivta in Melbourne to follow him. He then joined his chaburah in Jerusalem, first at the Mir Yeshiva and then at the Bais Medrash of Rav Dovid Soloveitchik, a senior scion of the famed Brisk dynasty. As his globetrotting family returned to Jerusalem, Tzvi returned to the US, to freeze in the famed, yet comparatively chilled Beth Medrash Govoha of Lakewood. In 2004 he met his wife, Suzanne Schor, a native of the warmer Los Angeles climate, and the couple settled in Lakewood, where he focused his pioneering and independent strengths on the study of Halacha, or Jewish law. His innovative spirit and innate ability to help others seeking to clarify the finer points of Judaism and integrate them into their daily lives inspired his decision to commute daily from Lakewood to the Lower East Side of Manhattan in order to bask in the day to day exposure to the world renowned Posek, HaRav David Feinstein. The daily commute was more than compensated for when he received Semicha from Rav Feinstien and the Kollel L’Torah U’lhorah (a division of Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem) in Tamuz 5768, June 2008. In August 2009, the Habers moved west, heading toward Los Angeles where Rabbi Haber joined the LINK-LA Kollel. After being an active member of the Kollel for several years, he joined the business world, however he is still actively involved in teaching and learning in LA. Actively involved in all aspects of TorahLab, Tzvi has taken upon himself a quasi-role as administrator of quality control and has effectively improved and upgraded many of the smaller yet vital details involved in our site. His advice is eagerly sought and gracefully given. Rabbi Haber is now living in the La Brea section of Los Angeles with his wonderful family. He can be contacted at [email protected] Incorporating 25 years of experience and research in the field of adult Jewish education, TorahLab provides lay leaders, professional educators, and students with state-of-the-art Jewish learning tools. Our products are designed to engage those searching for Jewish knowledge and stimulate the desire for further study.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Sorry, you must be registered and logged in to add a video to this file. Log in now! broken verts down the entire face and chest.. and that's just lookn at the images, a crying shame that so many have pirated Max yet don't know how to use it ..materials look proper tho, Doomer and Good are doin a bang up job @KotsChopShop Correction that issue comes from UVW Unwrap not being applied right on the texture which I didn't do because I didn't rip it from the game I just rigged it but it's being fixed now and I will reupload v2 once I'm done.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Bible Rewritten to Comply With Homosexual Agenda No sacrilege is off limits when it comes to chopping or stretching all aspects of Western Civilization to fit the Procrustean bed of political correctness — not even rewriting the Bible so that it does not conflict with the liberal agenda by condemning homosexuality (as the real Bible does repeatedly in the strongest possible terms): The King James version of the Bible has been hijacked by gay activists who want to rewrite history. Anonymous editors have published a Bible “friendly to gays,” and have edited eight major verses to fit their narrative. The “Queen James Bible” is available on Amazon and is described as, “A Gay Bible. The Queen James Bible is based on The King James Bible, edited to prevent homophobic misinterpretation.” You’re probably asking, “Is nothing sacred?” The answer is yes; in a world run by liberals, sodomy is sacred.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton took time to stroll through one of Dublin’s most iconic streets on Sunday, accompanied by Ambassador and Mrs. Rooney. Dublin shoppers along the pedestrian corridor of Grafton Street were surprised to see Secretary Clinton arrive fresh from her meetings with Taoiseach Brian Cowen and President Mary McAleese. The Secretary posed for pictures with families and some fellow Americans who were visiting Dublin. “We’re from New Jersey!” one couple shouted before the Secretary smiled and gave them enthusiastic thumbs up. The crowd moved with the Secretary towards Bewley’s Café where she ordered a coffee to go. The cafe buzzed with delighted customers who had just settled in for an uneventful cup of coffee before heading off into the crisp evening. The second story window seats at Bewley’s proved to be the ideal spot for people watching when the Secretary and her entourage gathered below. Customers old and young pressed their faces to the glass, and seemed unsure whether to run downstairs and join the crowd or stay seated upstairs for the birds eye view. Young mothers held their children above the crowds outside of McDaid’s and one told her son to “look for the lady in the yellow scarf!” The crowd shifted back to South Anne Street where Secretary Clinton warmly thanked Ambassador and Mrs. Rooney. Onlookers continued to cheer and snap pictures on their cell phones as the lady in the yellow scarf, Secretary Clinton, departed for Dublin Airport and concluded her first official visit as Secretary of State to Ireland. Dear Meghan: What a lovely review of Secretary Clinton's visit to Ireland. It sounds as if she was properly welcomed -- no surprise that the Irish people would provide such enthusiasm. Thank you for sharing! Amy \| Michigan, USA October 19, 2009 Amy in Michigan writes: Dear Meghan: This is a great write-up of Secretary Clinton's visit to Dublin. I wish I had been there!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
CPA Advertising on Mobile [Below was part of a post I had written for VisionMobile, a great group of awesome mobile analysts!] Many point to Apple’s 2000M+ cached credit cards as being their most valuable asset. Why is it valuable, you may ask? Well, cached credit cards means one-click purchasing which is fantastic for all sorts of commerce (eg purchasing apps, physical goods and so forth). One less obvious benefit for cached CCs is how it enables CPA (Cost per action) advertising – let me explain. CPA ads typically require the user to complete some sort of form (eg completing a web form to trial some new product).The typical workflow requires providing billing and other details meaning numerous steps and clicks. However, if your billing details are cached, than the CPA workflow could be reduced to a few clicks! Let’s walk thru an example of subscribing to Netflix. First, the user would click a text or banner ad for a Netflix trial subscription and is then taken to a landing page with specific product information about the service. The landing page is basically the sell page where you are going to make or break (convert) the CPA. Assuming you do a good job convincing your potential customer to sign-up for the trial, the user will complete a web form with his personal details (eg name, address etc) and billing information. The CPA has converted and the publisher serving the Netflix CPA ad just made his $25 bounty! The challenge with the traditional CPA workflow on a mobile device is that your teaser page needs to be very concise given the limited real estate of a mobile screen. In addition the web application form needs to be easy to complete; we all know how difficult it is to type via a mobile keyboard. One potential solution is the mobile wallet. If your billing details are cached, the web form could be auto-completed along with personal details resulting in almost a one-click CPA process and thus demonstrating the value of cached credit cards. In the interim, clever stop-gap solutions have emerged. Instead of making the user complete a complex web form resulting in a poor CPA conversion, the user clicks-to-call a phone number from the teaser page. The call leads to a rep employed by the ad network who completes the web form for you (presumably at their PC). Companies like Moolah Media have demonstrated this workflow at great success and thus one solution enabling CPA advertising on mobile! Update: I talked about a number of things we may see in the coming year at SXSW. Mike Merrill detailed some of my talk at his blog – thx Mike!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho defended his decision to bring on Kaa in the draw against Everton this afternoon. United were leading 1:0 until the 85th minute when Jose Mourinho decided to make a defensive substitution, replacing the mercurial Henrikh Mkhitaryan with the long-bodied Kaa. Related Articles “When you have a player like Kaa on the bench it is a really beautiful thing,” contested Mourinho after the game, “a really, really beautiful thing.”“You see, everyone say Everton is this passing side: pass, pass, pass. This not true; they park the bus and then hit the ball long. The Everton play direct: attack direct, midfield direct, defender direct, goalkeeper direct, sports direct, Ramiro Funes Mori direct, everything direct, evasiveness direct. Kaa, in this moment, is the best thing for us. He has big long body with no arms so he cannot handball when they hoof it long.” Kaa was given a yellow card for tripping Idrissa Gueye with an Outstretched Tail in the penalty box; he was not given a red card because Baloo was the last man. Mourinho commented: “We see Kaa in reserves last week against the Bandar-log reserves: he did same thing, no foul; referee in reserve game says forward ran into tail, but Michael Oliver today says outstretched tail. Where the consistency? I get in trouble for this, but it is true, and I – like Socrates—have truth on my side. They make me martyr for truth, but what can I say?” Pressed on the issue of the outstretched tail, Mourinho continued: “When you have on the bench a player with five metres [in tail length] you play the player in front of the defensive line to help the team to win the match.” Mourinho is adamant he will not reconsider playing Kaa so deeply in front of Baloo in future. “Long players can be long in the tail but not long in the tooth. They say in England: ‘once bitten, twice shy.’ But I don’t get shy; I’m not a shy guy, so I keep Kaa where he plays best.”	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Welcome to the Vaca Azul restaurant. Come and discover an exceptional setting, just in front of the sea in the El Cotillo old fishing port. Enjoy our specialities of fresh fish and seafood menus, a wide range of soups, salads, meats, rice dishes and home-made desserts. Our reputed chef offers a refined cuisine, with typical local dishes as its base and a touch of French cuisine. Our sea front terrace is also an idyllic place to have a drink and share some tapas whilst admiring one of the most beautiful sunsets of Fuerteventura.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
8.8.80 8 artists. 8 prints. 80 editions. We’re excited to launch our inaugural Print Programme. An alternative to the usual exhibition-as-display, 8.8.80 focuses on new print commissions from both notable and emerging artists: each month, we feature new print works from an artist, with each set of works in a limited edition of 80 prints. 8.8.80 is shown both in an online gallery and in a set of pull-out trays located in our gallery. As a hands-on, horizontal viewing experience, visitors can pull the trays out themselves to examine works up close. In the first year, we throw the spotlight on artists based in Singapore. These artists, many of whom do not work exclusively with prints, take their commissions in bold directions; these new works employ a range of techniques, including photography, copper etching, silkscreen, as well as adventurous blends. At the end of eight months, the full set can be collected or presented as a carefully curated print portfolio. We are opening the series with Jovian Lim’s After the Fall, a collection of photographic prints taking from the genre of vanitas painting and still-life photography, a form of art that contemplate notions of transience, decay and death. Lim’s prints call to mind the passing of time, the illusion of its persistence, and the fragility of that illusion.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Mike Zimmer’s preparation for his first NFL training camp as a head coach didn’t end, even when he fell asleep. “It seems like every night I dream about football, even when I’m off,” the new Vikings coach said. The Vikings report to Minnesota State University Mankato on Thursday to start camp. Since being named coach in January, Zimmer has spent pretty much every waking second — and apparently a lot of sleeping seconds — thinking about reviving a team that went 5-10-1 last season. Zimmer talked last week about variety of topics, including top draft pick Anthony Barr, second-year speedster Cordarrelle Patterson, what excites him about these Vikings and, yes, that three-way competition at quarterback. Here’s the Q & A with Zimmer. Q This is your first training camp as an NFL head coach. What needs to happen for you to consider this successful? Video (03:02): Vensel: Who's Vikings' most 'Norv Turner' QB? A I have an idea of how we want to improve each day, and to be successful, really, there are three areas: We need to make sure we find the right starters, [find out] who the substituted guys are and continue to build depth. Obviously, we want to be disciplined and tough coming out of training camp. But there’s a fine line, and we need to make sure we get out of there healthy, too. Q How much of your focus will be teaching and how much of it will be player evaluation and installing your schemes? A All three will be the same. We’ll continue to teach every day. There are some things in the systems that we will have to continue to build on from where we were, just to get them introduced in case we decide to use them during the regular season. The other part is perfecting the things that we are doing. Q You have trumpeted that there will be competition at pretty much every position. Are there any camp battles you are particularly looking forward to? A I’m interested in seeing some of the guys that I didn’t see in the spring. At the safety position, [Andrew] Sendejo and [Jamarca] Sanford, I really don’t know much about them. That will be interesting, just to see where they are at and where they compare to other guys. And it will be interesting to see the young guys that we drafted and how they progress when we get the pads on. Football is a different game when you start playing with the pads instead of shorts. Some guys show up more, so the physicality part of the game will show up a lot, I believe, in the training camp part. Q In the spring workouts the media was allowed to watch, Matt Cassel and Teddy Bridgewater got the majority of the reps at quarterback. Does Christian Ponder have a real chance to start? And what are you looking to see from whoever wins the job? A Actually, I think Christian has done a very good job in the time that we’ve had him and how much he has improved in that amount of time. We’re going to try to give everyone a fair shot, and preseason games will help determine it. We want someone who is going to take care of the football, lead the team in the right direction and when called upon be able to win football games. To me, the starting quarterback also comes down to what kind of team we have — the defense, how good we are there, and the offensive line. Those things are all important to understanding who the quarterback may be, as well. Q When making that decision, how much does what they have done so far weigh into it, how much does what they do in camp weigh into it and how much does how they perform in the preseason games? A I think all three. We’re not going to forget what they did in the spring. But we’re going to continue to evaluate them each day as we get going. The preseason games will probably be a little bit more of a judge, when we’re going against other people. Q When would you like to have a starter in place? A I have an idea in mind, but I’m going to keep that to myself right now. Q Do you think Cordarrelle Patterson is ready to take a big step forward as a downfield receiver? What is the challenge of balancing an expanded role for him on offense with what he does as a returner? A We want our best players to get their hands on the ball as much as possible. We’re not going to keep him from returning kicks because he is such a dangerous weapon there. He’s been a very hard worker, he has improved his route running since we’ve been here and things are going to change for these guys in training camp when we are able to start playing bump-and-run. For him to take the next step, we’re going to have to see how he gets off a jam and the things that people will try to do to take him away. A They’ve both had good springs. Again, I think it’s going to come down to how they look in pads and how they perform in those situations and what kind of stamina they have, how many plays they can play during a game. And a lot of the time when you’re dealing with young guys, how do they have process information during the course of a game? Sharrif has a lot of ability. Right now, he’s trying so hard to be perfect on every single snap. He just needs to relax and let it free-flow a little bit more. Q How much are you looking forward to seeing what first-round pick Anthony Barr is ready to do? He wasn’t around in the spring very much due to NFL rules. BRIAN PETERSON • [email protected] Mike Zimmer got a taste of coaching the Vikings during organized team activities and minicamp, but now the real work begins with training camp. A Yeah, obviously a lot because we only had him for four or five days. So that part, how much he can progress within the system, how much he can handle without us overloading him mentally? But it should be exciting to watch him, and [David] Yankey and [Scott] Crichton also. Q Is Chad Greenway a realistic option to start at middle linebacker? A It’s a possibility. We keep working him in there. We’re just trying to find the best 11 players we can and then figure out where the rest of the guys are going to fit. It’s not out of the question, but time will tell a little bit more on that. Q What about the battles for the third cornerback spot and, as you mentioned, the other safety spot alongside Harrison Smith? What do you covet most in the secondary? A Consistency. They’re going to have to be mentally tough. They’re going to have to contest balls; we’re going to have to be closer in coverage than we have been. And then we’ve got to tackle. Typically, the worst defensive teams are the ones that tackle the worst. So we’re going to have to be good tacklers on the back end. I don’t think we’ll make a lot of mistakes mentally because we’re fairly simple in what we try to get accomplished, so I don’t worry much about that. But they do have to be in the right position, be able to tackle and contest balls. Q What excites you most about this year’s team? A I think that maybe everyone is underestimating us. I love to prove people wrong, and hopefully our team will want to be the same way. It’s easy to sell the guys on proving people wrong. Saying that, we can’t talk about it. We’ve got to go out there and do it. Q What makes you think this team can get back to the playoffs this season or that you can at least get these guys heading in that direction? A They work hard. I think they’re hungry. I think they’re paying attention. They’ve been intent on trying to do things right, in meeting rooms and at [Organized Team Activities]. They’ve been trying to please with everything we’ve asked them to do. That’s exciting for a new coach. It’s also easy for players when things change to want to try this or try that. I’m sure there will be some rocky times, but we’re going to work through it. Q Is the team still actively looking at avenues to improve the roster — whether it is through a trade or free agency — before Week 1 rolls around? A Every day. Every day. There is not a day when we don’t try to improve the roster. And [General Manager] Rick Spielman does a great job of that. He’s on top of it all the time, and we talk frequently. But we’ve had discussions about that already going into training camp. Q How much are you looking forward to getting your first season as an NFL head coach officially underway? A It seems like every night I dream about football, even when I’m off. It will be fun to get going again and try to figure out how to win with the team that we have and what strengths we have and how we can accentuate them. I’m excited about our coaching staff. I think they did a great job in the spring. And we’ll continue to coach our rear ends off to try to get better every day. And I think the players are excited, too. The Austrian soccer federation says Brazil will play its final warmup game for the World Cup against Austria on June 10, a week before the five-time world champions take on Switzerland in their Group E opener.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
San Francisco Comic Con (California) June 8, 2018 - June 10, 2018 San Francisco Comic Con is held in Oakland, California. It features pop culture interests including comic books, magazines, toys, games, anime, manga, cosplay, and artwork. Admission is free for children, making it a very family-friendly comic convention.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Experts: No 'Death Panel' In Health Care Plan Receive the latest politics updates in your inbox President Obama's health-care plan includes nothing like a 'death panel,' experts said in response to Sarah Palin's accusations. Sarah Palin's claims that President Obama's health care plan was "downright evil" and would lead to a so-called "death panel" were flat-out wrong, according to experts who say Palin exaggerated and misunderstood the intent of Obama's plan. The health care plan proposed by the Obama administration would not encourage assisted suicide or euthanasia practices -- rather, it would provide more funding for end-of-life counseling and give families aid when dealing with crises, experts on the Obama plan said. "There has been a lot of misinformation about the advance care planning provisions in the bill," MSNBC reported American Medical Association President Dr. James Rohack said. "It's plain, old-fashioned medical care." Other sources on aging said the bill could help deal with end-of-life issues -- and make life easier for ailing hospital patients and their families. Just Your Average Joe-Bama "We have to make decisions that are deliberative about our health care at every moment," said Monsignor Charles Fahey, 76, a Catholic priest who is chairman of the board of the National Council on Aging. "What I have said is that if I cannot say another prayer, if I cannot give or get another hug, and if I cannot have another martini — then let me go," he said.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
from MARIA MACHARIA in Nairobi, KenyaNAIROBI, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI reached the highest level of its global market share in the first quarter of 2019: its sales volumes have increased by half in the first months of 2019, knocking Apple out once again from its position as the second biggest smartphone seller in the world. By all accounts, the Shenzen-based telecom giant should have been on its way to the top, increasing its sales and presence all over the world but a recent turn of events has apparently hampered its dreams of domination. A few days ago, the US government has declared a national emergency on cybersecurity, banning Huawei and its affiliates from purchasing technology from the US – both hardware and software. As a result, Google, Intel, Qualcomm, and many other companies have already announced that they are cutting their ties with the Chinese smartphone manufacturer. Google Globally, Huawei has a 17% market share. In Nigeria, less than 2% of all smartphone users have a Huawei device, according to StatCounter. If you are one of them, don’t worry. You’ll be able to <a href=”https://www.betway.co.za/Betgames” title=”play betgames at Betway on your mobile” target=”_blank”>play betgames at Betway on your mobile</a> and benefit of Google services like the Play Store and Google Play Protect: the ban affects the handsets that are not yet in use. You might run into issues like delayed updates and patches in the near future. While the millions of Huawei owners around the world will not be seriously affected by this ban, the company itself will be hit hard by it – and so will its suppliers. “Washington’s decision to force U.S. companies to stop doing business with tech giant Huawei creates losers on both sides,” Huawei’s official Twitter profile read on Saturday. For one, Huawei won’t be able to maintain the equipment it already sold to US customers – telecom companies in US states relying on the Shenzen-based telecom giant for running their wireless and internet infrastructure. At the same time, Huawei has let the world know that it was prepared for such a situation: it has backup solutions to fall back to, including its own Kirin chips, it has its own app marketplace, and is reportedly working on its in-house mobile operating system as well. But this doesn’t help the companies that built their livelihood on supplying the Chinese telecom giant, though – and there are many of these, both in Asia and in the US. At the same time, Huawei sees this issue as a temporary setback at worst. “We have already been preparing for this,” said Huawei CEO Ren Zhengfei. “It is expected that Huawei’s growth may slow, but only slightly. Policies that threaten trading partners one after another rob companies of risk-taking attitudes and the U.S. will lose credibility.” Africa and some of the world’s foremost innovators in technology and finance will converge in Cape Town, South Africa next week at the SingularityU Conference by MTHULISI SIBANDAJOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – SOME of the world’s foremost innovators in technology and finance will converge in South Africa next week as part of efforts to future-proof the continent into the fourth industrial revolution. They will meet under the aegis of the inaugural Exponential Finance Summit, organised by SingularityU South Africa, in collaboration with partners Development Bank of Southern Africa, Deloitte and MTN. SingularityU South Africa has announced more speakers to the programme for the inaugural summit, which will take place at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on May 29 and 30. “As part of our journey in future-proofing Africa, we are thrilled to have added more incredible speakers to the lineup for our Exponential Finance Summit. We feel a great sense of pride to be bringing these world class experts and thinking to our South African shores,” said Shayne Mann, co-Chief Executive Officer of SingularityU South Africa. Co-CEO of SingularityU South Africa, Mic Mann, said through the Exponential Finance Summit, they hoped to facilitate meaningful networking connections on a global scale, encourage ideas that could change the financial world, stimulate the South African economy and kickstart a strong venture capital ecosystem. “Impact is the currency of the future and these new speakers promise to add exactly that,” Mann said. Glynn is the co-founder and General Counsel of MobileCoin, a company that provides private, mobile and digital cash payment systems. His talk will address privacy in the world of exponential data. Kallner, currently the CEO for Discovery Life, and overseeing the group’s Marketing and Distribution, will address the convergence between banking and insurance. Wierzycka is known for her strong anti-corruption corporate activism in South Africa. She is in high demand domestically and internationally as a speaker on the topic of ethical corporate leadership. Malinga, who recently returned from Silicon Valley, is part of the Singularity University South Africa faculty with a focus on Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data. Managing Director of SqwidNet, Malinga is responsible for building an IoT connectivity business in South Africa in partnership with International IoT giant SIGFOX. In addition to his CEO role, he oversees the solutions division for SqwidNet, a fully-owned subsidiary of Dark Fibre Africa. As a member of the South African Singularity University faculty, Rosman specializes in machine learning, artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. He is a principal researcher in the Mobile Intelligent Autonomous Systems group at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa. Rob Nail, CEO and associate founder of Singularity University, said, “We expect that these two days will incite and inspire action that will lead to breakthroughs in Africa’s economy. – CAJ News ]]>http://cajnewsafrica.com/2019/05/24/inaugural-summit-readies-africa-for-industry-4-0/feed/0‘Business as usual for Huawei in South Africa’http://cajnewsafrica.com/2019/05/24/business-as-usual-for-huawei-in-south-africa/ http://cajnewsafrica.com/2019/05/24/business-as-usual-for-huawei-in-south-africa/#commentsFri, 24 May 2019 03:55:39 +0000http://cajnewsafrica.com/?p=30680 Huawei Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ren Zhengfei by SAVIOUS KWINIKAJOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI, which is contending with a ban from the United States (US), said it had for some time been working to mitigate the impact of the ban on its clients in South Africa. In a statement, the technology company and smartphone maker, said in South Africa, it would “continue to serve all our customers and partners with the same focus and dedication as before, and contribute to the ICT sector with vigour, as the fourth industrial revolution is a key economic focus for growth and social development.” It pledged to continue providing security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that had been sold and that were still in stock globally. “We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.” In an interview with a local media house on Wednesday, Huawei Vice President of Corporate Communications, Glenn Schloss, said their devices were “completely unaffected” by restrictions in the US. “For owners of Huawei handsets in South Africa it will be business as usual,” Schloss said. He said the company remained positive and preparing for various eventualities. “We are stockpiling components and have been working with our supply-chain partners for some time,” Schloss assured. In an interview with Chinese media this week, Huawei Founder and CEO, Ren Zhengfei, was also bold. “We will certainly be able to continue serving our customers. Our production capacity is huge, and adding Huawei to the Entity List won’t have a huge impact on us. We are making progress in bidding worldwide,” Zhengfei said. Zhengfei highlighted in the first quarter of this year, Huawei’s revenue grew 39 percent over the same period last year. “This rate decreased to 25 percent in April, and may continue decreasing towards the end of this year. But the US ban will not lead to negative growth or harm the development of our industry,” he said. Avon Justine Group Vice President Turkey, Middle East and Africa, Mafahle Mareletse by MTHULISI SIBANDAJOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – AVON Justine, the beauty company, has restated its commitment to championing the empowerment of women by aligning its digital platforms. It is also celebrating the milestones achieved by so many of its independent representatives across its operations in Southern Africa. According to the 130-year old company that pioneered the direct-selling model in the beauty industry, the direct selling model gives expression to its drive to foster women empowerment and financial independence. Women are the primary drivers of the beauty industry and Avon Justine believes they should be given an opportunity to reap the benefits of the growth of the beauty and cosmetics industry. According to the Direct Selling Association’s latest report, the industry consists of 79 percent women and in the last financial year, they were part of the 1,3 million sales representatives in the industry who earned over R4 billion. “We share the conviction that no country truly ever flourishes if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of 51 percent of its citizens,” said Mafahle Mareletse, Group Vice President Turkey, Middle East and Africa (TMEA). Mareletse said this was more apt in the countries of Southern Africa where the company operates, which are battling the scourge of domestic abuse and gender-based violence. “We believe that financial independence is one of the most potent tools to combat patriarchy, stimulate economic growth and empower women,” Mareletse added. Nishani Singh, Commercial Transformation Director at Avon Justine, outlined the company’s digital transformation journey and shared the milestones achieved thus far to align the company to the digital age. Direct Deliveries is a digital store feature for customers. It was introduced earlier this year. “The journey is just the beginning. We will continue to pilot and launch new functionalities and innovations to help support our beauty entrepreneurs to unlock their full earnings potential,” Singh said. Avon Justine on Thursday unveiled the inaugural rewards programme, where six top performing sales representatives in the past quarter from across sub-Saharan Africa, drove away with a luxury car, each worth over R170 000. “Our sales representatives are the engine of our growth, and it is only fitting that we incentivize and reward them for the hard work they are doing in growing Avon Justine products and making it the preferred beauty and cosmetics brand in South Africa,” said Mikey Bicknell, Sales Director for Avon Justine. from OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, NigeriaLAGOS, (CAJ News) – TRANSFORMATIONAL technologies have been identified as the solution to traffic and waste management as well as land-related issues in Nigeria. These are among a number of challenges bedeviling Africa’s most populous country and biggest economy. Adebayo Sanni, Managing Director of Oracle Nigeria, said the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Blockchain represent an unprecedented opportunity for enterprises in the public as well as private sectors to solve the aforementioned problems. He said for example, in Nigeria, the potential to combine real-time data from IoT devices from intelligent trash bins with historical waste-level of each trash bin could help waste management become smarter; especially for a city like Lagos that generates about 13 000 metric tonnes on a daily basis. “The entire waste management system can become smarter overtime, learning from the data collected,” Sanni said. He said such a solution would help an organisation like Lagos Waste Management Authority to make better data-driven decisions for a cleaner city. This application can be replicated to address traffic management. The current traffic lights can be IoT enabled to ensure an efficient flow of traffic. The roads can also have sensors and information about road conditions, combined with data coming from road users to provide drivers with real-time traffic information. With such a system, drivers can be alerted to take alternative roads in case of an accident. Sanni said a blockchain solution could bring transparency to all stakeholders in the property business for examples. Government can use such a system to track and ensure the right taxes have been paid to the government for every transaction; buyers can also have peace of mind as all the documents for the transactions can be verified real-time. “These transformational technologies will bring change – in our professional lives, our personal lives and country as a whole,” Sanni said. The executive said the question was not when, but how to bring the future forward and empower African governments and businesses to take advantage of the transformative impact of IoT, AI, and blockchain. The answers, he said, are in the Cloud. “A technologically enabled future has arrived. It is time to carve your niche in it,” Sanni concluded. by SAVIOUS KWINIKAJOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – HUAWEI has assured of its commitment to a safe software system, following reports Google has suspended business with the company. It was reported on Monday that Alphabet Inc’s Google had suspended business that requires the transfer of hardware and software products, except those covered by open source licenses. In a statement on Monday, the Chinese firm said it had made substantial contributions to the development and growth of Android around the world. “As one of Android’s key global partners, we have worked closely with their open-source platform to develop an ecosystem that has benefitted both users and the industry,” the company stated. It added it would continue providing security updates and after-sales services to all existing Huawei and Honor smartphone and tablet products, covering those that had been sold and that are still in stock globally. “We will continue to build a safe and sustainable software ecosystem, in order to provide the best experience for all users globally.” In a statement, Google said it was complying with United States government orders and reviewing the implications. It stated for users of our services, Google Play and the security protections from Google Play Protect would continue to function on existing Huawei devices. Following the US ban, Glen Schloss, Huawei Vice President of Corporate Communications, on Friday said Huawei was reviewing the implications of the US action for its customers. Schloss said Huawei had been developing its own operating system (OS) and while they preferred to continue using Android, which its consumers loved, they had been working on contingencies. “We have diversified our global supply chain in anticipation of the ban,” he was quoted saying. – CAJ News ]]>http://cajnewsafrica.com/2019/05/20/huawei-reacts-to-android-suspension-reports/feed/0No research on water despite persistent droughthttp://cajnewsafrica.com/2019/05/17/no-research-on-water-despite-persistent-drought/ http://cajnewsafrica.com/2019/05/17/no-research-on-water-despite-persistent-drought/#commentsFri, 17 May 2019 06:45:23 +0000http://cajnewsafrica.com/?p=30616 The concern raised at the African Utility Week and POWERGEN Africa conference and exhibition held in South Africa. South Africa is a water scarce country, yet expenditure on research and development for water security does not reflect this picture. Dr Hlamulo Makelane, research fellow at the Nelson Mandela University, said funding for water research declined over the last five years, which she said was highly problematic. “Funding for research and development declined by 45 percent in the last five years. This is scary because as we speak the country (South Africa) has a water road map and I hope we will be putting up more money,” she said. According to her, research and development have a direct impact on water resource management and promotes training and capacity building in the sector. “It can lead to creative solutions and help influence how people and society behave,” Makelane said. Makelane also stressed the need for intersectoral funding between government and the private sector for more progress towards water security. Makelane reminded delegates South Africa is a water scarce country thus needs to improve demand management, storage and protect water sources more effectively. “This all starts with investing in research because this is how we will know how to plan and decide what dams and reservoirs to build where,” she added. There are reportedly more than 2 billion people worldwide in countries facing severe water constraints. Africa is no exception. Gift Sageme, Chief Executive Officer of Malawi’s Central Region Water Board, also underscored the importance of water security being integral to all facets of society. He expressed surprise that governments tend to put the water sector behind other sectors like energy, roads, agriculture and health. “What they (governments) don’t realise, however, is that without water no sector can survive,” Sageme said. from OKORO CHINEDU in Lagos, AKANI CHAUKE in JohannesburgLAGOS, (CAJ News) – ANALYSTS are keenly awaiting the listing of MTN on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday morning. Reports indicate that the deal by Nigeria’s largest non-oil company by revenue is valued at around U$6 billion. “Given the market is down ytd (year-to-date) because investors have ignored most positive catalysts, we think MTN is likely to test the market’s lethargy given its strong growth story,” said Tunde Abidoye, Equity Researcher at FBNQuest Capital. The market expert said the listing looks “decent” assuming it is lists at N90 (US$0,25) /per share, and that 20 billion shares are listed, while the implied current price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) multiple is 9,1 times. This is given MTN’s earnings growth outlook is likely to remain in the double-digit territory in the near term. It will be in the market to seek additional debt finance of N200 billion in 2019. Management disclosed that the company will be making a final payment of N55 billion of its N330 billion regulatory fine by the end of May. MTN Nigeria’s growth in voice revenue continues to be driven by strong y/y growth in the number of subscribers, which were up by around 15 percent y/y in 2018. Presently, MTN accounts for about 39 percent of total number of mobile phone subscribers in Nigeria. Globacom, Airtel and 9mobile have market shares of 26,2 percent, 25,6 percent and 9,2 percent respectively. On Wednesday, May 15, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed parent company said the listing of MTN Nigeria deepened the equity capital markets base of the country, which made it possible to broaden the shareholding base of the Nigerian entity. It disclosed the listing by introduction means that the existing shares of MTN Group (78,8 percent), the Nigerian investors (19,4 percent) and other investors (1,8 percent) will be listed without an additional public sale of shares. “From this point, all MTN Nigeria shareholders will be free to trade their shares on the NSE,” the MTN Group stated. They have met in Shenzhen, China for the 2019 International Smart City Forum with International Friendship Cities. It ran under the theme, “Ushering in a Bright Future for Smart Cities.” Guo Ping, Rotating Chairman of Huawei, said the company was dedicated to building a smart city digital foundation that enabled integrating, exploring, analyzing, and sharing data, by using ubiquitous connectivity, a digital platform, and pervasive intelligence. “More importantly, we develop a digital brain for cities in hand with application partners, building a common ecosystem with mutual advantages,” he said in his presentation titled, “Building a Maslow Model for Smart Cities.” “This brain will provide advanced ways to help cities make informed development decisions and will allow e-government, transportation, and policing domains to go digital. In doing so, we hope to build smart cities featuring smart administration, more benefits for residents, and prosperous industry development.” In addition, Huawei has built 12 OpenLabs around the globe to conduct customer-oriented joint innovation with partners. As a co-organizer, Huawei is a global leading Smart City and Safe City solution provider. Huawei Smart City and Safe City solutions have served more than 700 cities in over 100 countries. Yan Lida, President of Huawei Enterprise Business Group, said building a smart city was a long and constantly evolving process. “Based on Huawei’s digital platform, cities will be like organic life. New applications will emerge and grow through iteration, and eventually achieve overall prosperity,” Lida continued. Ugo Valenti, CEO of Smart City Expo World Congress, in his presentation titled, “A New World of Smart Cities”, said innovative technologies, including 5G, internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud, were disruptively renovating how cities are governed and managed. “By nurturing Public-Private-People Partnerships, a co-creation model among government, corporations, and citizens, smart cities will facilitate a more open decision-making process, and bring a people-centric new world,” Valenti said. The event coincided with the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, and 40 years since the establishment of Shenzhen city. The forum also aligned with the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, which include sustainable cities and communities. Atsushi Koresawa, Director for UN-Habitat Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, said international cooperation was significant. “We see a very good platform here today for cities to share experience,” Koresawa said. by MTHULISI SIBANDAJOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE South African mining industry is undergoing an extensive transformation amid the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) taking root in what is among the major sectors of the continent’s most advanced economy. Mining forms the backbone of the South African economy and is responsible for a third of the country’s commodity exports. It is indirectly responsible for employment in associated industries, through its vast supply chain. “The industry that everybody currently knows will be unrecognizable in five to seven years,” said Tony O’Neill, Technical Director at Anglo American. He was speaking ahead of the first 4IR in Mining Seminar in South Africa. The event is scheduled for the Gauteng Province on May 31. Baletsema Mining Services, in partnership with BotsZa, are organising the conference. “We look forward to welcoming powerful industry minds to our panel as well as significant stakeholders in the mining value chain, to not only drive a conversation at the seminar, but allow the audience to leave the room with some knowledge of what the future of mining looks like and action points that can be taken to ensure that the 4IR transition in the industry is as smooth as possible,” said Bokang Kelepa, Baletsema Mining Services Managing Director. Officially opening the Invest in African Mining Indaba in February, Mineral Resources Minister, Gwede Mantashe, spoke about the Mining Charter III and its requirement for locally produced mining goods and services. “This requirement provides South African mining technology companies with the opportunity to contribute immensely to the integration of the fourth industrial revolution in mining and will hopefully boost entrepreneurship in this regard,” Mantashe said. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address (SoNa) highlighted the importance of South Africa adapting to change and embracing 4IR. He mentioned the appointment of a Presidential Commission on the 4IR, whose 30 members were announced earlier this month. “As government plays its role in creating an environment in which mining thrives for the benefit of all our people, we urge the industry to take advantage of the technological advances underpinning the fourth industrial revolution,” Ramaphosa said.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
My first anthology of short stories—SEX, DEATH & MOIST TOWELETTES—will be available late May 2012. Do you think the title is too subtle? There will be a mix of stories in this eBOOK ONLY offering, from crime fiction noir to paranormal, with my brand of dark humor. Here are the short story titles and descriptions: On Her Special Day—The poignant story of a father's love for his daughter on her wedding day. Dark Kiss—A dark trio of beautiful women are conjured by a troubled runaway boy and his Ouija board—#carefulwhatyouwishfor. (Adult Content) Her Raven—A mysterious Raven becomes a harbinger of love with an unforgettable message. Lifeless in Seattle—A unique bed & breakfast called "The Crypt" caters to one woman's special needs. (Adult Content) For the Love of Moist Towelettes—A fastidious young man will do anything for his 15-minutes of fame. "Sex, Death and Moist Towelettes by Jordan Dane is a collection of short stories ranging from contemporary to paranormal about interesting characters dying on the pages. If you have ever read any of Jordan Dane's other books, these stories contain her signature style; fascinating characters, suspenseful scenes and dark humor. All the individual stories were great but when you finish them, you always want to know more...each one packs a big punch." FOUR STARS! —Jessie, Night Owl Reviews (read the full review) DARK KISS As a teaser for anyone not familiar with my adult paranormal writing, I'm releasing DARK KISS as a single short story from the e-book anthology for a discounted price. This book has adult content.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
In HOSTEL Sequel #1: Please Be Careful Out There, Lisa Marie – Hybrid Version, a new project developed especially for transmediale, Stefan Panhans and Andrea Winkler combine film, installation, and staccato stage reading. With everyday racism, celebrity worship, stereotypes, and the dominating power of the economic all on the rise, precariously and flexibly traveling cultural workers of different origins deliver a sort of spoken word battle about their experiences and dreams. They constantly switch roles and, at the same time, form a choir that clashes with the rapped reports of everyday life. As in a collaborative gymnastic exercise—surrounded by scenery made up of set pieces from outfits of airports, hostels, and courier services, from self-optimization tools and game show displays—they fight for a voice and to be heard, building new alliances along the way.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Dirty Masseur – Zoe Clark – Friend Zone Bone Justin has always had the hots for his best friend Zoe Clark. He’s been trying to get out of the friend zone forever. The trouble is, Zoe’s about to leave for a date with another douchebag. So Justin stalls her by offering her a massage, hoping it might turn into something more…	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
From what would appear to be our Kent Pro40 correspondent, Lemon Bella: I forgot that this match started an hour earlier than usual, so I didn’t have time to get lunch ready. This meant I arrived at the ground armed only with some dried apricots and a bottle of water. I sat in a different seat than usual. Generally I fear change, because it only ever ends badly, but this time it just ended with a squeaky chair and me looking at everything from a slightly different angle. I might attempt more change next season. In the interval I ate my apricots and a Jaffa Cake my friend gave me. Ryan McLaren ate a piece of melon. I didn’t have any coffee because I didn’t remember about it until I’d sat back in my seat. There was a cross-looking couple sitting on the end of the row and I was a bit scared to ask them to move again. They had coffee. It was in a flask and they’d brought their own special mugs.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Category Archives: Bill of Rights The Cliven Bundy standoff has apparently ended. The Bureau of Land Management has withdrawn all of its helicopters, vehicles and hit men. At least for now. If the BLM comes after Bundy again, they’ll do a blitzkrieg and come so fast there won’t be time for the public to rally around Bundy. The BLM will probably start by cutting off the surrounding cellphone towers so no one will be able to call for help or broadcast live images of the raid and government brutality. If the government kills anyone or burns their home to the ground, cutting off those cellphone towers (or otherwise seizing or disabling cell phones) will be evidence of government’s intent to commit murder–1st degree, cold-blooded, premeditated murder–without leaving any telltale digital evidence of their crime. Nevertheless, for now, it’s time for the Bundys and all of their supporters to celebrate–and pray. It’s not just a “radical” poster. Obama, in particular, and government, in general ,routinely violate the Constitution (the People’s law). As such, Obama and government are “enemies” of the American people.[courtesy Google Images] The principle enemy of the people of The United States of America is the government of the United States. A lot of people would probably dismiss that opinion as crazy talk from the lunatic fringe. But the adversarial relationship that exists between the American people and the American government is not the least bit unusual. The primary enemy of the people of every nation is their own government. Government seeks to convince that it’s “here to help us,” but it’s here to rule and exploit us. Did Rome really fall to the barbarians? Or did Rome fall to the Roman government’s excesses? Was Italy ruined by the Allies in WWII? Or was Italy actually destroyed by Mussolini and the Fascist Government? How many Germans died in WWII? Who reduced the nation of Germany to rubble–the Americans? The Russians? Or the Nazis? Germany was destroyed by its own government. Who destroyed the former Soviet Union? The United States–or was it the Soviet Union’s government and its idiotic enforcement of the philosophy of communism? Similarly, who’s responsible for bringing the USA to the edge of economic collapse changing the Land of the Free into a police state? Who’s responsible for the loss of our liberty, standard of living and the American Dream? The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution (Photo credit: Wikipedia) If I were to construct an argument to justify my right to “keep and bear arms” (including alleged “assault rifles”) under the 2nd Amendment, that argument might consist of several of the following parts: 1) Founders’ Purpose for 2nd Amendment As I explained in The Purpose of the 2nd Amendment, we can learn the Founders’ intended purpose for the 2nd Amendment by reading the “Preamble to the Bill of Rights”. According to that Preamble, the purpose for the 2nd Amendment is not to empower Americans to hunt deer or ducks, or defend against an attack by Indians or even an invasion by Great Britain. We retain the right to “keep and bear arms” so that we can shoot officers, officials, judges, bureaucrats and employees of the federal government who “abuse or misconstrue” their powers under The Constitution of the United States. In other words, the 2nd Amendment is intended to guarantee that we have the necessary “equipment” to shoot those members of our own federal government who attempt to subject this nation to despotism (tyranny). This is a high-resolution image of the United States Declaration of Independence (Photo credit: Wikipedia) I seem to deal with this problem every 6 to 12 months. Someone reads what we’ve come to call the “Declaration of Independence” and sees that its proper name is “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America” and leaps to the conclusion the proper name for this country must be the “united States of America”. Back in the 1990s, when I first saw the proper name for our “Declaration of Independence,” I leaped to the very same conclusion. I thought, “Damn! The proper name for this country must be ‘united States of America’!!! No wonder we’re having so much trouble in court! We don’t even understand the proper name of our own country!!! But over time, I realized that my conclusion (the proper name for this country is the “united States of America”) was mistaken. That conclusion is a “rookie” mistake and I suppose that all of us who study our country’s political and legal foundation have already made it or are destined to make it at some point in the future. • For example, here’s a recent comment on my blog: “I am surprised you did not pick up on or comment on the uncapitalized “u” in the word “united” in the original document and correctly reproduced in the early printings of the Declaration. Given that I’ve addressed this issue in the past on radio shows, or in my former magazine (“AntiShyster”), and probably on this blog, I was a little bit surprised that I felt “compelled” to write a reply. Today, it’s generally forgotten that when the “Bill of Rights” was ratified in A.D. 1791, that it included a “preamble” from Congress that explained fundamental purposes for those first ten Amendments. Understanding these fundamental purposes is important since those purposes constitute evidence of the intent of the Amendments/law. The law is the legislators’ intent. In the case of the Constitution and Amendments, the “legislators” are We the People. The preamble to the “Bill of Rights” explains the People’s/sovereign’s intent behind the Bill of Rights and thus explains the fundamental “law” of those Amendments. For example, once you understand this “preamble,” you’ll see that the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms was intended to protect the people of the several States of the Union—but not against invasion by foreign enemies—but rather, from despotism imposed by our own federal government.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
A special leadership position (55 per cent of domestic market) in specialist eating and ventilation systems for computer rooms, laboratories, and otherbuildings housing sensitive equipment requiring ahigh degree of dust and temperature control (currently 15 per cent of sales) split in the ratio 2 domestic to 1 export. An established position in European export markets (10 per cent of sales). Strong technical management. Weaknesses: 85 per cent of sales related to general building activity, and consequently subject to fluctuations in volume and profits. 40 per cent of profit emanates from the 15 per cent turnover in the specialist control area. One in every five general contracts is undertaken at breakeven, in order to secure the business. All business in France (50 per cent of export sales) has been undertaken at a loss due to overestimation of the competitors’ prices. The company, with its two UK plants, has double its required capacity without allowing for overtime working. Marketing management is generally poor. Management information is rudimentary. Lack of data is a contributory reason for several bad decisions taken in the company. The company has reached a point when it must make many changes. Its profitability from current operations must be improved, and new activities must be started, both to bring profitable growth and to reduce the effect of profit fluctuations. If the company does nothing new and merely continues to operate as at present its turnover will increase to ￡25m by the last year of the plan. Profit, at its best estimate, will have declined to ￡200,000 – or much less if the general building industry does not develop at the rate expected. This gives a ‘gap’ of ￡550,000 between the profit objective and the current forecast, as well as indicating a worsening position and a declining return on investment. The company has also to think beyond the five-year period, and must commit research and development resources to produce a new generation of environmental control equipment to meet the needs of the future. Many decisions have to be taken, and a new pattern of risks accepted. The company is fortunate in being in a position from which it can make the necessary changes to assure its future.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
For those who know Ibrahim Nasrallah by his epic novel of the Palestinian Nakba Time of White Horses (2007), the style and content of his IPAF-winning text will come as a shock—at first. Where Horses, set during the late period of Ottoman reform and then the British Mandate, was largely pastoral, full of heroes and martyrs (hailed as the Palestinian epic, it was his first novel shortlisted for the award in 2009), Dog War II takes place in a world where water and oxygen are commodities, where pollution suffocates its characters, daylight is scarce, and profiteering is the order of the day. Even Nasrallah admitted its gloom, telling readers “I felt darkness engulf me as I wrote.” Dog War II was announced as the winner of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction on Tuesday night in Dubai. The win has gotten relatively wide coverage in the English press—certainly more than most IPAF winners hitherto—largely because its keywords hit so many hot-topic buttons, with ‘dystopia,’ ‘sci-fi,’ ‘extremism,’ and ‘Arab world’ emerging as the most popular thus far. Of course all of these headings need to be qualified. Just as pressing, however, is the wider context from which the book emerges. So, five things you need to know about Nasrallah’s award winning novel: 1) It’s not a dystopia A dystopia is meant to be the inverse of an imagined utopia. In Dog War II, the horrible world portrayed in the novel and the hideous things that happen within it are not imagined—they have already happened. Events are largely extrapolated from the real-life history of the Middle East. Leaving the reader in little doubt, the novel draws on specific incidences and links them directly to the outbreak of the first ‘Dog War.’ The chain of logic that leads from past to future is the inverse of nothing; rather it a continuation of a present that is really (really) bad. 2) It’s not exactly sci-fi either Yes there are some fancy bits of technology available to characters in the text, but like the question of dystopia, most of these things already exist. Nasrallah does say that the purpose of the future-setting is because “We must imagine the future in order to understand what is happening now”—a typical conclusion for sci-fi writing. Giving a reading from the novel in London in 2017 Nasrallah explained: “social media and Facebook are already here, and had to feature in the text [so that it could] imagine processes that are already in place.” However, ‘science’ in the unnamed city opens no new possibilities for humanity, and we are never exactly exploring the limits of technology—rather the constant focus is the limits of ‘man.’ 3) Extremists – of our own making Rather than acting as a placeholder for someone who has clearly left the norms of humanity and gone to an outer ‘extreme,’ the protagonist of Dog War II is in the process of transformation—from an opponent of a repressive government to a corrupt money-maker profiting from the despair of others. He is neither inherently good nor bad. This reflects a Nasrallah’s position that “the conditions of man determine his actions”—protagonist Rashid is the product of his own society. His sensitive and even humorous portrayal shows the ‘line’ between regime opponent and extremist (though he is more of a corrupt businessman than an ‘extremist’ as the news uses the word today) is quite blurred. “We have everything within us,” Nasrallah insists. “This is something we explore in literature.” 4) A wake-up call The text has been called deeply pessimistic, and comments from Nasrallah about the writing process and his observations of the world as he wrote Dog War II seem at first to back this up. “We are surrounded by terror,” he said in London during his 2017 book launch. “The novel is a scream,” a plea to see things as they are, and to recognize the presence of future destruction in all the things we do and are. “We carry our destructive impulses in us wherever we go,” the author warned his audience. The key here, and what the novel explores, is the dichotomy whereby: “Individuals create hope, [but] collectives create despair.” It is what we do as societies, the structures we live in and normalize that create the dark future Nasrallah imagines. What the novel shows is the delicate relationship between the individual and society, and it asks its readers to look critically at how, “In a herd, man loses his mind.” 5) Part of a series – novels about structures Totally unmentioned in media coverage of the win has been that Dog War II is fifth in a series, called “Balconies,” that continues to grow. Just like Dog War II, each of the earlier works (the last, Balcony of the Abyss was longlisted for the 2014 IPAF) takes place in an unnamed Arab city. Each traces the intersection of its characters with different social and particularly governmental structures. Balcony of Delirium (2005) follows a government information officer as he grapples with things made wilfully invisible (it’s just a job, but where does personal responsibility begin?); Balcony of the Snow Man (2009) follows a newspaperman and a novelist as both almost literally butcher their characters in life as in writing. The book questions the complicity of the writer in the perpetuation of forms unable to adequately express their subjects. Balcony of Disgrace (2010) follows a young woman caught in the fallacy of social ‘protection’ both on the part of the government and her family, when she stands accused of ‘dishonouring’ her relatives following her rape. She is imprisoned by the government, abused while incarcerated, and hunted on her release—even when systems mean to act well they do violence. Balcony of the Abyss (2014) follows the triangle of a lawyer, corrupt minister, and professor as adultery and politics pull them “into the abyss.” In Dog War II, the series continues to evolve as war and business intersect with complex characters; this time, placing the action in an open and empty future. More optimistic than it seems As for the differences between Dog War II and Horses (which, also often overlooked, is sixth—or seventh, depending on how you count—in a separate but parallel series the ‘Palestine Comedies’); Dog War II may just be the more optimistic. After all, the heroes of the Nakba story—inevitably—failed to save Palestine. Speaking at an earlier book launch for Horses, Nasrallah recalled how—as he neared the end of the writing project—he did not want to finish. To finish the text was to see Palestine lost, and indeed, in the final pages of the work, the villagers of Hadiyeh sit by the side of the road, their village destroyed, waiting for the Red Cross trucks. A dystopia of another sort, perhaps. For Dog War II, despite its cruel characters, its acute portrayals of violence, and the dark world it inhabits, at least there is an open future within which we might be able to imagine something different. Nora Parr is an OWRI Postdoctoral Researcher at SOAS, University of London with the AHRC-funded project Creative Multilingualism. She teaches on Arabic and Comparative Literature and in Palestine Studies, and she is currently at work on a monograph titled Nation Constellation, which uses Palestinian literature—in particular the works of Ibrahim Nasrallah and his ‘Palestine Comedies’ and ‘Balconies’ series—to offer an alternative model for the imagined national community. Her recent publications include “Cannibalistic memory,” from Under the Midmorning Sun by Nasrallah.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
A Side-View Mirror without a Blind Spot June 15, 2012 A Side-View Mirror without a Blind Spot Disco balls inspired a mathematics professor’s design. A professor of mathematics at Drexel University has designed a side-view mirror that could eliminate the “blind spot.” The only problem? Regulations would prevent it from being directly integrated in the production of cars sold in the United States. The mirror was invented by Andrew Hicks, and awarded a patent last month. The mirror strikes an optimal middle ground between flat mirrors (the ones on the driver’s side) that don’t distort objects, and curved mirrors, which present a wider field of view but cause distortion. Hick’s mirror gives something of the best of both worlds: a wider field of view with little distortion. (It remains true, though, that objects in Hicks’s mirror are closer than they appear.) Bizarrely, the trick to designing such a mirror is similar to the principle of a disco ball. “Imagine that the mirror’s surface is made of many smaller mirrors turned to different angles, like a disco ball,” Hicks said. “The algorithm is a set of calculations to manipulate the direction of each face of the metaphorical disco ball so that each ray of light bouncing off the mirror shows the driver a wide, but not-too-distorted, picture of the scene behind him.” For the optically and mathematically inclined, see this paper from 2008 describing just how the technique works. A Philadelphia Inquirer story from 2009 reveals how it has actually been an eleven-year journey to this patent. It all started when a colleague came in complaining about a rear-view bicycle mirror. Hicks had a prototype ready by ’09, and had developed other novel mirrors as well, including a panoramic mirror, mirrors especially designed for security cameras, and “mirrors with odd, undulating surfaces that are fashioned with a computer-guided milling machine.” It’s intriguing how highly computerized the process is, per the Inquirer: “…armed with a computer, Hicks can customize his creations with exquisite precision. He achieves the desired effect first by characterizing the problem with sophisticated equations. He then programs a computer to spit out the coordinates for tens of thousands of points on the mirror’s surface - each one tilted differently to reflect light in just the right way.” It’s a good thing Hicks is producing a portfolio of mirrors, because if he intends to make a business of his designs, he may have better luck in a funhouse than with the giants of car manufacturing. There’s a law against curved mirrors on the driver’s side of a car. Overseas markets might prove a better fit. “I’m not naturally an entrepreneur,” Hicks told the Inquirer. He might want to team up with someone who is. It’s clear his innovative technique has potential, in some product, in some market, somewhere. Whether his mirrors belong on the side of cars or elsewhere, someone with “the vision thing” will have to determine.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
UK rate setters unanimous in maintaining policy MEERA SELVA, Associated Press The British government's plan to reduce its borrowings appeared to be on track in November, official figures showed Wednesday, even as the country's economy remains threatened from the debt crisis in Europe, rising unemployment and weak domestic growth. The Bank of England's rate-setting body said it expects to see some economic recovery in late 2012, but warned that volatility in the 17-nation eurozone could dent Britain's growth. Minutes of the last meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee showed that all nine members voted to keep the benchmark interest rate at the all-time low of 0.5 percent and to maintain the monetary stimulus at 275 billion pounds ($433 billion). The rate-setters, who are tasked with keeping inflation around the 2 percent level, said they expected price pressures to ease quite dramatically next year from 5 percent in October, largely because the factors that drove prices higher in 2011, including higher sales taxes and energy prices, drop out of the annual comparison. They also said high unemployment would keep a lid on domestically generated inflation by weighing on wage demands. "It seemed likely that a contraction in activity was underway in the euro area, although the United States was still experiencing moderate growth," the rate-setters said, according to the minutes. "Looking through the near-term outlook of weak demand, the committee's central view remained there would be some recovery in the latter part of 2012." Meanwhile, the Office for National Statistics, revealed that the U.K.'s public sector net borrowing excluding financial interventions - a broad gauge of the state of the country's public finances - fell to 18.1 billion pounds ($28.5billion) in November from 20.4 billion pounds a year earlier. The fall was largely driven by higher tax receipts from the new levy on banks and an increase in the sales tax to 20 percent. Analysts said the British government is on track to hit its full year borrowing targets of 127 billion pounds. Britain's government has staked its reputation on a strategy of cutting costs and jobs in the public sector while trying to boost private sector growth. Britain's unemployment rate is now 8.3 percent, up 0.4 percent on the quarter and at its highest level since 1996. Influential credit ratings agency Moody's warned Tuesday night that the U.K.'s cherished triple A credit rating is at risk from both a weak domestic economy and the financial crisis in the eurozone. It warned that the country's deficit "has eroded its ability to absorb further macroeconomic or fiscal shocks without rating implications." Any cut in Britain's credit ratings would make it more expensive to pay down the country's debts. Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, said the public finances are improving, but high unemployment and a lack of economic growth may derail the plans of finance minister George Osborne. "While the November public finance data will be largely well received by the government, there is still a very real danger that the Chancellor will before long face the difficult decision of accepting further slippage in his fiscal targets or imposing more fiscal tightening on a struggling economy," Archer said. While the government has been tightening fiscal policy, the Bank of England has kept monetary policy extremely loose and the minutes to the last meeting showed that some rate-setters indicated that more asset purchases "may be warranted in due course" in light of the problems afflicting the eurozone, Britain's main trading partner. Fears were raised that the worst risks in the eurozone "had not so far crystallized" and that the possibility remained that banks would find it difficult to secure funding alongside volatile financial markets.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Sweet setup. Wish the "Green Glow" fixtures were still in production. I'll bet that that fixture was used on most, if not all of the 60-P setups throughout the entire "Nature Aquarium World" series. Good stuff. You score that from Jeff? Just a small update for right now, as I'm enjoying the Mini M. Without sounding too cliche, it has a 'zen' relaxation for me at the end of a long day. I added some Amano's which I ordered about 400 of that came straight from Japan. They're the ideal small size and are vigorously eating algae. I have about 300 extra after dispersing them into various tanks. If you need some Amano's I can let em go for $2.25 / ea or 10 for $20 + shipping. Send me a PM, since this isn't a sales thread. Sweet setup. Wish the "Green Glow" fixtures were still in production. I'll bet that that fixture was used on most, if not all of the 60-P setups throughout the entire "Nature Aquarium World" series. Good stuff. You score that from Jeff? The whole system was a gift from my great friend, Luis Navarro. He was downsizing his aquariums at home. The old Green Glow / NA style 60-P is something I've wanted for a long time for it's sentimental value. While technology has moved on, this particular setup was the quintessential ADA system until the Solar I replaced the Green Glow, and was the foundation for what we have today. So here's the parameters:You decide what the plants will be.You decide what the limitations on equipment will be.You decide how much I can spend within reasoning. The only thing I'll start with is a nano Rimless aquarium (since this has nothing to do with how the 'scape' turns out and the plants grow) and $50 maximum budget allowed to use at my discretion.The direct objective is to create a "low-tech," tank which is set by current standards and show the effectiveness of The Method. Plants: Java Ferns, Mosses, Anubias, Crypts Equipment: HoB Filters (or one of the following Canisters: 2211/13, Zoomed, Toms Rapid), Lighting Fixture under $80, No Pressurized Co2 - Only Flourish/Excel (Liquid Co2), No other additives (unless it is part of your discretionary funds). Eco-Complete, Akadama, AquaSoil, or Fluval Stratums Pricing: Maximum of $300 I think that will make a very nice low tech tank... thats how I run my tanks and I love them... lets see what you can do with that... Just a small update for right now, as I'm enjoying the Mini M. Without sounding too cliche, it has a 'zen' relaxation for me at the end of a long day. I added some Amano's which I ordered about 400 of that came straight from Japan. They're the ideal small size and are vigorously eating algae. I have about 300 extra after dispersing them into various tanks. If you need some Amano's I can let em go for $2.25 / ea or 10 for $20 + shipping. Send me a PM, since this isn't a sales thread. The whole system was a gift from my great friend, Luis Navarro. He was downsizing his aquariums at home. The old Green Glow / NA style 60-P is something I've wanted for a long time for it's sentimental value. While technology has moved on, this particular setup was the quintessential ADA system until the Solar I replaced the Green Glow, and was the foundation for what we have today. Do the Amanos from Japan stay smaller than the one that you can typically get from a lfs? Just a comment on the relaxing effect of aquariums. I absolutely love this aspect. There is nothing better than coming home to a beautful aquascape. Especially one in the nature aquarium style. Even in my "low tech" Or non-co2 tanks I try to achieve as much of a balance as possible and try to envoke a natural environment. This is very important to me. It's especially important to undertstand some of the philosophy. I'll be honest. I was a bit frustrated with how the true "willow" moss is growing in. It just doesn't have the growing patterns that I'm looking for. In a word, I need something that will accrue mass rather than spread like it's Marsilea Minuta for the effect I want. So, I took to the task of tying new moss (peacock moss from Dollface) to stones and replacing the willow moss. A little surprised at the growth rate there. New full tank shot You can really see how much brighter the layout got with the new moss replacement. Admittedly, I did keep some of the other willow moss in the back to keep a barrier for the hair grass. Do the Amanos from Japan stay smaller than the one that you can typically get from a lfs? Just a comment on the relaxing effect of aquariums. I absolutely love this aspect. There is nothing better than coming home to a beautful aquascape. Especially one in the nature aquarium style. Even in my "low tech" Or non-co2 tanks I try to achieve as much of a balance as possible and try to envoke a natural environment. This is very important to me. It's especially important to undertstand some of the philosophy. They will eventually get larger. But getting them while they're smaller size is primo since they'll eat more algae than the larger / older guys. Of course the females are always huge and the males stay smaller. A side note: all that hc and riccia was looser plant growth from dead or dying particles still in the substrate. Amano's act as a sort of trimming force for weaker plants too. I was far too lazy to remove those from the filter last night. On this day, April 12, 1992, Aqua Design Amano was officially incorporated in Japan. Of course, Aqua Design Amano was originally founded in 1980 by Takashi Amano when he was only 26 years old! Until 1992 it was a privately held small firm, when, upon release of Nature Aquarium World, the company went incorporated and began it's global expansion. Since that time, it's been a hell of a ride for the hobby - it's seen many things come and go. The advent of the internet has spread it farther than any other singular means before, and with it, the message of the planted aquarium. I'd like to share with you the following story: A story of Takashi Amano's childhood: In the post-war days in Japan there were no refrigerators, so people who lived in the interior couldn't eat fresh seafood. As children, we often caught carp for our families, especially in my home town where we had large expanses of wetlands. Our fishing method was a primitive one: we would scoop the water along the banks with a net that was tied to a bamboo pole! Of course, there was always the more dangerous approach, where we would dam up the ends of a big submerged pipe, empty out the water with buckets and then climb in to get fish, hishi, lotus and other plants. What we brought home to our families from these trips was an important source of protein back in those days. The catch was always evenly divided, using a fair method of rock-paper-scissors. However, if we had the fortune of coming across a colorful tanago (bitterling) or goby, one of us would always enthusiastically give up our entire share of the catch for the privilege of bringing home this living beauty. The lucky boy would lovingly carry the fish home in one of the rubber shoes we all wore in those days. The shoe would be filled with water for the fish, for the two kilometer (1.25 miles) walk home. The road was so stony that it would leave bloody blisters on the boy's feet. The feet would make it, bloody as they were, but the fish, due to heat and lack of oxygen never made it home alive. I was scolded many times for coming home empty-handed this way. There were many plants in the wetlands that resembled the two-temple and Hygrophila that I use today in my aqua scapes. The abundant plants (sasabanohiromo, mizuoobako (ottelia) Matsumo, and mizuwarabi) were a beautiful sight in the water. When I finally broke some of these plants off and stuffed them into my shoes, the fish, amazingly, survived the trip home! Many of my layouts come from childhood memories like this one. In honor of the 20th anniversary, and due to people asking me, I have a limited quantity of open substrate additives (Bacter 100, Clear Super, Tourmaline BC, Penac P and W), which I can portion together in mixed bags for uses on 5-20 gallon tanks for $25 ($32 shipped) while my supply lasts. You can pm me for details if you'd like to try them. Equipment: HoB Filters (or one of the following Canisters: 2211/13, Zoomed, Toms Rapid), Lighting Fixture under $80, No Pressurized Co2 - Only Flourish/Excel (Liquid Co2), No other additives (unless it is part of your discretionary funds). Eco-Complete, Akadama, AquaSoil, or Fluval Stratums Pricing: Maximum of $300 I think that will make a very nice low tech tank... thats how I run my tanks and I love them... lets see what you can do with that... ill join in too, if youll have me. i always see bettas kept in barebottom jars, or in unscaped tanks with just some anubias and hornwort thrown in. im sick of it. i will build not just a betta tank, but a low-light divided betta barracks, from a 5.5 gal. and by god, im going to scape the little 4x8 plots, and make them look good (or eat my words ). Great Marko! The important lesson isn't so much to focus on being low-tech, as it is an exercise in methodology. Whether it is "high-tech," or "low-tech," (as we discussed, this only applies to describing equipment, not plants or method) the exact same patterns, scaping and growing methods are the same. The only difference is a few small details (relative to the larger picture). Register Now In order to be able to post messages on the The Planted Tank Forum forums, you must first register. Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below. User Name: Password Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive. Password: Confirm Password: Email Address Please enter a valid email address for yourself. Email Address: OR Log-in User Name Password Remember Me? Human Verification In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Events 8 June 2013 - Ben Nevis Challenge It was lovely to see you at Ben Nevis on Saturday. It was great to hear about the amazing charity you represent and the wonderful things you do for children that come to you. Good luck on the rest of your challenge from one charity fundraiser to another. We are uniting the children's charities across the UK working together to share ideas networking to find out what we can do to maximise our efforts to the better good of the kids. By uniting the charities in a massive event taking kirstysKids "wee" bike to the summit of Ben Nevis we are showing the Nation we can work together as a team. Hard work and fun fundraising while sharing ideas.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
The French press has been covering the emergence of those creepy and very adult-styled photographs of 10-year-old child model Thylane Loubry. And Thylane's mother, the entertainment reporter-turned-reality show contestant-turned-fashion designer, has spoken out angrily about what she says is an unfair focus on her… The mother of Thylane Loubry Blondeau, the 10-year-old fashion model whose depiction in fashion spreads has raised concerns about the sexualization of young models, has spoken publicly about the controversy. Veronika Loubry blames a "bad personn in usa [sic]" for drawing attention to her daughter.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Post by Keith on Aug 18, 2019 7:29:50 GMT -6 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. (Revelation 13:1) And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. (Revelation 13:7) And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:16-17) Post by Keith on Aug 21, 2019 6:36:52 GMT -6 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday his administration was in “meaningful” talks with Democrats about gun legislation after the latest mass shootings, but congressional aides downplayed the discussions as low-level and not very productive. Democrats have accused Trump of reversing course after he initially voiced support for tougher background checks following the latest shootings to rock the United States, so that “sick people don’t get guns.” He also suggested the National Rifle Association lobby group might ease its strong opposition to gun restrictions.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Similar Products: Related Categories: Adidas Hyperfast Print Review: Reviews: My 7 year old loves these shoes! He says they are very comfortable. It's a struggle to get him to wear a different pair of shoes. They are still looking clean after a couple if months of wear which is surprising since they are a bright green that is on the lighter side.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Havent been on for a while. Lots going on! I hope everyone has been doing well and having LP! So this is more of a how do you feel/what do you do question. The other day I heard about this women who buys gifts for her pain management doctor and the nurses. She also has lunches sent to the office. To me, I almost see it as bribery if your not doing that for all your other doctors or even the receptionist who checks you in and out and makes your appointments. Dont the drug reps do this same thing to butter up the Doctors? They claim its because of how much a pain doctor risks to prescribe medication, but if I was the doctor I'm not so sure I would see it as only apprciation. Maybe I'm just jaded. I have thought about sending a christmas/haunaka(sp?) card to the office, but actually buying gifts seems different. Hi, Freya,Nice to hear from you again! I actually read about a woman doing this, and I think it's a personal decision. Yes, the drug reps do it, and that's been criticized even in the medical journals of late, but I don't see our doing some of those things as patients in the same light.; the drug companies have way more power than we do - and anything that helps us get a little power in the health care system I think it ok! We're generally at the bottom of the list when it comes to power with doctors. I would see it more as a token of appreciation. Kind of like when you get a thank you note from someone - you tend to remember that person in a good light in the future. I just wrote my physical therapist a thank you note/card because he and his staff were wonderful to me; he saw me at no charge for several weeks when my insurance had run out. If I had the money, I'd have sent something like a fruit basket. Sometimes I don't think this is such a bad idea, but it would have to be authentic, I think, to work. Maybe goes under the heading you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar? So in some situations it may help, but maybe it's not everyone's cup of tea. I agree with PAlady, it's not a bad idea to give a small token at Christmas time, Last year I gave my PM and PT a small fruit basket. Your supposed to tip the hairdresser and garbage men at Christmas time too. But, I do not give a doctor something after each appointment. I see this as a token of appreciation too.************************ * Asthma * Allergies * Osteoarthritis * Spinal Stenosis * Mild DDD * Enlarged Pituitary Gland * Fibromyalgia *************************Patient: "I always see spots with my eyes"Doctor: "Didn't the new glasses help?"Patient "Yes, now I see the spots clearer" I am one of those patients who bring "gifts" to my PM's office. It is only coffee, but I go once a month, and have been a patient there since January of 2006, so I am not a new patient, but an established one. I do it only because I know that by 1 or 2 in the afternoon, everyone is getting a little tired and been running most of the day there, so if I happen to have an appointment, I will call and ask if they would like a cup of coffee.....if they say yes, I will pick it up and bring it.....There is no reason for me doing it, other than I like a cup in the afternoon too and I know that most of the employees there do as well.....SandiPLIF/TLIF Fusion w/Instrumentation L4-5 Spondololysthesis L4-5.Laminectomies L4-5, foraminal stenosis L3-4, L4-5, L5-S1, herniations L3-4, L4-5, L5-S1, central canal stenosis L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1 POST OP CES 3/30-06 Neurogenic Bladder and Bowel, bilateral numbness legs and feet Revision for failed Back surgery, pseudoarthrosis L4-5, hemilaminectomies L3-4, L4-5, L5-S1, bmp added to revision fusion, replaced two bent screws that were reversing out of vertebrae - August 2, 2007 On going back pain and neuropathic pain, failed back surgery, consult for scs, decided not to do that at this point. I'm talking about expensive gifts. Things that you would pay alot of money for...Maybe I didnt make that clear enough.I dont see anything wrong with small gestures of appriciation. LBut to me spending hundreds on gifts is something different.I see lunches that way because of the reps that use it to butter up the DR and thats how we have been taught to see it.Its just my opinion. I would be uncomfortable, but other people arent. I think those gifts by patients are much more appreciated than those by the drug company reps. The patients are paying out of their pocket. The drug reps have the company pay for it, so there is a difference there. I think doctor's offices appreciate anything that comes their way. I know I did when I was in the health care field. I was an administrator of a large home care company and at Christmas I would receive gifts and food from reps and my employees. I always felt so grateful and honored, especially by the employees. Just a thought. Have a nice day! LindalooModerator Chronic Pain Believe in yourself. Be kind to fellow humans and animals. Take time to smell the flowers and the coffee. And by all means, when you are down, ask me for help. I will be there. Freya,I would agree when it comes to expensive gifts. That would seem a little more like a bribe. But then it may be relative to one's income. Someone who's in a high income bracket may not see a "lunch" as expensive. Someone like me - well, I can't even afford the fruit basket, and so wish I could! But I think repeated lavish gifts probably are rare, at least they were for me in health care. The two gifts I really cherished from clients were both hand made, so to speak, and one I still use as it's a Christmas ornament. The other was a beautiful orchid grown by the woman. But I do think things like coffee or even a batch of cookies during the middle of a busy workday can be appreciated by health care professionals. We used to have it back in the lunch room to snack on all day, and we usually knew if some patient had brought it in, and that was viewed differently than the regular lunches from drug reps. And, by the way, I appreciated those even though I rarely got to sit down to eat it. It saved me valuable time and lunch money, as i could duck in and grab something to take back to my office to do more work! I guess its all just different opinions, feelings and levels of comfortability.My husband swears its because were New Yorkers. I dont really know if I buy that. The fact that my docs arent very personable could be the reason I fee the way I do about certain gifts. But I've defenitly never felt uncomfortable with the thought of a holiday card, hand made gift, coffee or something like a fruit basket or anything else for the whole office. I guess to me things that are small gestures seem more sincere to me than large gifts for each seperate person. But I certainly make not judgements but just wanted to get other peoples view. I probably should have explained it more in depth in my initial post as to what I was talking about. I think everyone appriciates nice gestures and certainly after considering that some docs may be much more personable to what I'm used to, can more understand certain choices. But still for me I would feel uncomfortable giving expensive gifts. But this is all just my own feeling, nothing ment to offend anyone so I hope no one got that sort of idea as it defenity wasnt intended to do that.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
When I moved to India about two years ago, I arrived with my own expectations regarding emerging markets. One of them was that the lack of legacy IT applications and infrastructure would make these markets an ideal place for new technologies and delivery models like as-a-service to thrive. In other words, organizations in emerging markets would “leapfrog” to new technologies without going through some of the prior technology investments witnessed in developed markets. Unfortunately, the reality is not that simple. One of the key takeaways of my recent reports (Australia, China, India Set The Pace For Asian IT Services and The Changing Face Of ASEAN IT Services — to be published in January 2012) is that most of the growth in emerging countries will come from traditional IT services such as ERP implementation, infrastructure deployment, and system integration. Against common belief, emerging services — including cloud and mobility — will represent less than 20% the total annual growth in emerging markets in 2015. I see several reasons for this: Lack of governance and planning. An IT department’s role is merely one of provider of applications and infrastructure, whose main objective is to react to business needs. Lack of internal skills. Client organizations do not have the adequate skills internally to take on complex transformational projects involving new technologies such as virtualization, business analytics, and mobile enterprise application integration platforms. Lack of IT services culture. Most client organizations in emerging markets leverage external skills to help them with basic tasks such as hardware maintenance and software deployment. A few days ago, CSC announced its new Celeriti banking platform, which consists of five products: Celeriti Customer, Celeriti Deposits, Celeriti Loans, Celeriti Cards, and Celeriti Merchant. The solution includes, for example, a strong business process focus, business intelligence, and the so-called Web Portal User Interface. The platform has been built around IBM application infrastructure, runs on multiple operating systems such as z/OS, z/Linux, Linux, and Windows, and has been validated for use with the IBM Banking Industry framework. Here is my initial reaction to Celeriti. So you need to formulate an application modernization decision -- what to do with a given application -- how do you begin that decision making process? In the past, modernization decisions were often simply declared -- "We are moving to this technology" -- for a number of reasons, such as, it: Fast-forward to today -- you could simply go with your gut -- declare a solution based on what you currently know (or think you know) about the application in question. But it's a new day baby -- a proposal like that, without proper justification, is likely to be met with one of two responses from management:	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Hop On - Hop Off Bus Tour 24 H. Hop On - Hop Off Boat Tour 24 H. City Sightseeing Amsterdam City Sightseeing Amsterdam offers the most convenient way to get around the city. Make use of the Hop On – Hop Off buses and boats to see all the best the city has to offer at your own pace. To make sure City Sightseeing Amsterdam fits your schedule you can choose between a 24- or a 48-hour ticket. See all the best highlights in Amsterdam Ticket valid for 24/48 h. GPS Audio Guide in 18 languages Panoramic roof for the best view Free WiFi available on all buses and boats Free Mobile app available Free City map included Discount tickets for museums and attractions available WHY USE CITY SIGHTSEEING AMSTERDAM? City Sightseeing Amsterdam will save you time and money during your stay in Amsterdam. Choose between a 24- or a 48 hour ticket and see all the best highlights in Amsterdam. You can hop on and off the buses and boats at every stop. The GPS audio guide on board is available in 18 languages and free Wi-Fi is included on all buses and boats. Download the free app and get a live view of what the routes of the buses and boats are, so you can reduce waiting times to a minimum. Get your tickets now and enjoy your holidays in Amsterdam to the fullest! Please note: the busses and boats don't depart on April 27th due to King's Day About City Sightseeing Amsterdam is the company behind the distinctive red buses and boats that you can see around throughout city. We offer you the complete sightseeing experience in Amsterdam. Don’t miss any attractions and museums in Amsterdam with this convenient way to travel. Book your City Sightseeing Amsterdam tickets online!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Much ado about Joss Whedon After completing five months of principal photography on The Avengers, Joss Whedon flew back to Los Angeles and threw himself a welcome-home party. As the guests circled his pool, he asked friends like Firefly's Nathan Fillion, Angel's Amy Acker, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Alexis Denisof if they were busy the following week. "I was stalking everybody," says Whedon. "Nobody knew why." Whedon wasn't busy — he was contractually forced to take a break before launching headlong into seven more months of Avengers post-production. But instead of taking his wife on a 20th anniversary vacation, he decided to spend his 12 days off shooting this year's summer film: a microbudget, modernized, black-and-white version of Much Ado About Nothing, filmed in his own Malibu backyard (and kitchen and living room). "That's how he decompresses," says Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Entertainment. "He decompresses from making a movie by making another movie. Which is pretty sad." Whedon himself doesn't see much of a leap from adapting Stan Lee to William Shakespeare. "Marvel comics are so influenced by Shakespeare," Whedon protests on a recent morning in a courtyard outside his second home, his office in Santa Monica. His arguments: Both Marvel and the bard cranked out stories about heroes, betrayals, and passionate, implausible romances. And as the director, Whedon's job is the same for both films. Bringing the Incredible Hulk to life is just like resurrecting Hamlet: Fans already know the character — they want to see a personal twist. "That's the fun of taking a sacred text — do I have anything to offer? I'm here trying to figure out why Ursula is in this scene the same way I'm trying to figure out why Hawkeye is in this fight — you want everybody to shine," says Whedon. "That's sort of what all of my stuff is about: Every character gets to stand up and say, 'I'm here, I exist, I matter, here's why.'" Spun that way, the challenges — if not the costs — of his two movies are parallel. Like the adventures of Captain America and Iron Man, Much Ado is an ensemble piece with grandiose ideas of duty, brotherhood, and honor. Can the wicked Don John (Sean Maher) convince Claudio (Fran Kranz) that his fiancée, Hero (Jillian Morgese, an Avengers extra Whedon cast from a Skype audition), is unfaithful? Will Benedick (Denisof) duel his best friend at the behest of his lady love, Beatrice (Acker)? And why should virginity be a woman's greatest virtue? Though Much Ado is seen as one of Shakespeare's fluffier rom-coms — it does, after all, end in a double wedding — when Whedon re-read it with a director's eye, he was struck by its twisted potential. "It's like I'd never read it before," he says. "'Oh! This is dark and weird and manipulative and kind of uncool — I love it!'" Capitalizing on its unusual-for-1599 erotic frankness, Whedon decided to open the film with a furtive one-night stand ("They have always happened throughout the history of men and women, and sometimes men and men") and recast the male role of Don John's comrade Conrade with Garfunkel and Oates comedian Riki Lindhome. "It made for more sex," jokes Whedon. "Villain sex, which is nice and twisted." Both Whedon and Shakespeare have been notable in their times for writing well-rounded female characters. (Which, depressingly, implies that in 400 years of fiction, well-rounded female characters are still a novelty.) Whedon insists that he adapted Much Ado because it was "less pressure" than Hamlet. But this supposedly lesser comedy also contains Shakespeare's harshest attack on sexism. "Much Ado's the one where he just laid it on the line," explains Whedon. Not only is the sharp-tongued but sympathetic Beatrice smarter than every man in the play, she gives a wrenching speech in which she laments that gender prevents her from exacting vengeance on the men who slandered her cousin. "O God, that I were a man! I would eat his heart in the marketplace," growls Acker's Beatrice, and her beau has no choice but to pledge to do the violence that she cannot. "That fucking scene!" grins Whedon. "It's just so bold and ballsy!" Whedon isn't the first Marvel director to straddle superheroes and Shakespeare. Before he shot Thor, Kenneth Branagh made Henry V, Hamlet, and even, yes, his own version of Much Ado About Nothing. In Thor, you can hear it. When star Chris Hemsworth cries, "This mortal form has grown weak," he could be wielding a hammer or a copy of Coriolanus. "Basically, Branagh was doing Shakespearean drama with Loki," says Whedon, "and then I got to make fun of it by having Tony Stark call it 'Shakespeare in the Park.'" Yet Whedon's Much Ado remains unique, if for no other reason than his timing. Who else would go from making the top-grossing movie of 2012 — over $1.5 billion and counting — to shooting an entire feature for less than The Avengers' catering budget? Unlike Branagh, Whedon is no actor. His sole Shakespearean stage experience was in college, where he performed both parts in a scene between Othello's Rodrigo and Iago. (He was supposed to have a partner, but claims he was too young and shy to make friends.) Later, Whedon hosted casual readings at his house, so when he called up his old buddies after his homecoming party and asked if they'd come by for a bit of Much Ado, a few didn't realize they'd agreed to a movie until they arrived. As for the friends he didn't call, a few called him. "They were like, 'What up?' and I was like, 'Well, the leads were already cast, and you're too big to play Second Watchman.'" Alas, they missed an extended party that won't stop until Much Ado is released on June 7. The film was shot with mostly natural lighting, so when the sun set, Whedon called wrap. The cast would pour drinks, jump in the pool, and even start dancing if the morning's call time wasn't too crazy. His home became a Hollywood summer camp. Some nights, he'd sit down to a quiet dinner with his wife and two kids, and a camera operator would walk through the room. "We had no idea they were still in the house," he shrugs. When Much Ado got accepted to South by Southwest, Whedon kept the good times going. Some of the cast couldn't afford a plane ticket to Austin, so he rented a tour bus, christened it "Bus Ado About Nothing," and invited everyone to pile in for the 20-hour drive. They spent it mooning cars, watching Cabin in the Woods, and shooting six-second Vines of themselves dancing the Harlem Shake-speare. "It was a lot more fun than doing press for Avengers," says Whedon. So why not rent a tour bus to take the superstars of Avengers 2 on their 2015 publicity tour? "They're lovely people," he laughs, "but I don't think that's going to fly." Like a man suddenly remembering what's paying for the mortgage on his Much Ado set — rumor has it his next Marvel payday is $100 million, which he denies — Whedon doubles back with a smile. "Right now, I've got my secret passion project, and it's Avengers. Well, it's a secret that it's my passion project," he insists. "People go, 'But what are you really interested in?' like that's my day job. But they don't understand that I have the world's greatest day job." Whedon comes off as frank about his success. He's a third-generation Hollywood writer — his father wrote for The Golden Girls, and his grandfather for The Donna Reed Show. A creative career was as natural as taking over the family grocery store. Still, for humility's sake, he laments that he "feels like a failure" because he can't play an instrument, throw a ball, or draw. (He also won't take the bait when asked if his Much Ado can make Shakespeare "cool." "Yeah, yeah, and can you make Beethoven melodic, you arrogant prick?") Year by year, Whedon is reclaiming one of art's dirtiest words: populism. "I find it personally interesting that all of my favorite artists, almost without exception, were popular in their lifetimes: Shakespeare, Dickens, John Sergeant, Sondheim," says Whedon. If Shakespeare were writing today, he wouldn't be suffering off-off-off-Broadway — he'd be on HBO. "He'd be making something sexy and strange," speculates Whedon, "and he'd be seeing it through." In turn, Whedon hopes his own work will live on as Shakespeare's has. Not that he fantasizes about an auteur in 2413 discovering new subtexts in Firefly. He'd be happy being one voice among many declaring their dreams for mankind. "To have created something that may not be remembered, but pushed the boulder of human decency forward just a tiny bit," beams Whedon, "that would mean more to me than somebody on a rocket ship circling Saturn staging episode three of Buffy."	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
News from Freud PR, Bell Pottinger, and Burson-Marsteller’s Sunil John Branson and Virgin Products Face Backlash with Help from Freud’s Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin Group is pushing to keep Britain in the EU – fighting against Brexit by offering to pay for a campaign to accomplish that goal. But the many of the public in the U.K. are not happy about his plans. An email was leaked that showed Branson has already offered at least £25,000, though people working with Branson say no money has been paid so far. Former Cabinet ministers from Tony Blair’s administration seem to also back the “secret” Brexit block, and as the news was leaked, Freud PR group is advising them for the social media and crisis communications issues. Of course, calls to boycott the Branson brands flooded social media almost immediately. The good news for Freud’s and those wanting to block Brexit is that they already have more than £1 million in pledged donations for the cause. Alan Milburn, ex-health secretary, and Blair supporter said: “We have been beavering away over the last few months to get a Europe campaign up and running. I’m pleased to say that substantial progress has been made. Further Evidence Found in Mayor de Blasio’s Emails of his Extensive Use of Outside “Agents” Mayor Bill de Blasio released a statement just before Thanksgiving regarding yet another (the third) batch of over 1500 emails between his office and outside advisers that he’s called “agents of the city.” The emails were obtained in response to a request using the Freedom of Information laws and the correspondence covers between early 2014 up to April 2015. If these outside PR experts were working pro bono, or there wasn’t already an extensive staff for PR work employed by the City, it might not be such a bit issue. But the emails show that high-priced outside PR firms were consulted on even the most mundane matters such as getting a better backdrop for a Harlem event by removing a fence, or how to make the city look good by discrediting other cities in their efforts to become the host city for the Democratic National Convention. Jonathan Rosen, co-founder and principal at Berlin Rosen, said: “A little worried that he will unintentionally go off message. He is somewhat constitutionally unable not to screw up that kind of thing.” Rosen was speaking about the Democratic NY State Assembly Speaker, Sheldon Silver. That’s just a sampling of the services being paid for with taxpayer dollars. Stephen Grootes Tells How Ajay Gupta Duped him in a Video Interview It’s not really a good idea to “lie” or manipulate a journalist. By their nature, journalists love to chase down information, so telling them something that isn’t true and expecting them to just trust it’s true … Well, not so likely to happen. That’s the real story behind the recent report from Stephen Grootes’, a journalist and radio presenter, interview earlier in the year with Ajay Gupta. During the interview, Gupta said he hardly knew David Des van Rooyen, who served as finance minister. The truth is that Des van Royen, Mosebenzi Zwane, minerals minister, and the Gupta family repeatedly flew to Switzerland while negotiating the acquisition of the Optimum coal mine with the CEO of Glencore, Ivan Glasenberg. Then the research found that Bell Pottinger’s PR team set up Grootes. Bell Pottinger is renowned for their take no prisoners approach to PR, as well as their over-the-top fees for the services they provide. Well, Gupta got his money’s worth, but were the results worth it? Probably not, since Grootes is equally well-known for his brutal honesty in his journalistic approach. Let’s just say, the two sides don’t play so well together. ASDA’A Burson-Marsteller’s CEO Sunil John Honored with The Chairman’s Award The individual honor presented at the Middle East PR Awards 2016, one of the biggest PR events in the region, was given to Sunil John. The presenter was MEPRA’s Chairman, Brian Lott. John is the CEO and founder of the ASDA’A B/M office and was recognized in November at the Awards ceremony held at JW Marriott Marquis Dubai. The award is presented for the overall contribution to the profession in the Middle East to an individual. Everything-PR News is a leading Public Relations news website founded in 2009. Everything-PR features the latest PR News, industry happenings, crisis communications strategies, RFP’s, PR Firm insights and much more for PR and marketing professionals around the world.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
S&M: Trolls needs to STFU about Terry Richardson A #trending topic across my Facebook and Twitter feeds has been about the alleged messages between model Emma Appleton and photographer Terry Richardson, in which he allegedly offered her a Vogue spread for…well, her legs spread. While these conversations are an apparent hoax (with Facebook confirming that Richardson has not sent the messages), what’s getting me quite rattled are the conversations between uneducated keyboard warriors clogging my social media channels thinking their opinions are far more valid than any legal teams. Really, their opinions are about as important as Lindsay Lohan. Social media trolls are reading about the Facebook message thread and googling “Terry Richardson”, then forming ill-informed opinions based solely on face value. They don’t know the subtext of his photos nor can they identify the clear differentiation between his editorial work and his art pieces. Calling him a sexual predator and saying he is “sick, perverted and psychotic” because he uses full frontal nudity in his work seems utterly absurd and completely closed-minded. What is the difference between Terry-world and Madonna’s Erotica or Andy Warhol’s Blowjob? I have followed Richardson’s work for several years. I admire his way of taking high-profile celebrities and placing them in really pedestrian situations. He explores sex and sexuality in a very confronting and realistic manner, with his pieces both raw and thought-provoking, while overlaid with a voyeuristic cheekiness. His work has not only been admired but his fragrance campaigns are iconic. To be perfectly clear, I don’t ever believe that a tit for tat (pun intended) ultimatum is ever ok. But let me remind everyone – it is 2014. We live in a sexually-revolutionised world where people can express themselves freely and if a picture of two consenting adults engaging in a sexual act comes your way and you don’t like it… One Comment; Support for Richardson? Coming from a man…what a surprise! Richardson doesn’t do art, he does commercials…And free speech? Yes it’s about context and nuance, but Richardson doesn’t seem to be particularly good at either. But hey, it’s sexy! We’ll worry about the victims later.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
The difference between Reporting and Analytics A necessary disambiguation between two valuable — and very different — forms of business intelligence. Annie Musgrove Share article In a lot of business content you read these days, “reporting” and “analytics” are two words used interchangeably to describe the general application and use of data — to track the ongoing health of the company and to inform decision making. To me, “analytics” is a fancier word, with a sophisticated edge that implies applying more intellect and reaping more insight. Perhaps that’s why many people in the industry have started using it when actually they’re referring to, or are describing, plain old (but still fundamental and important!) reporting. The fact is that each term corresponds to two very different functions, which provide different value to your business. And to confuse the terms is to lose the crucial distinction between measuring your performance and investigating your performance. Definitions Reporting is “the process of organizing data into informational summaries in order to monitor how different areas of a business are performing.” Measuring core metrics and presenting them — whether in an email, a slidedeck, or online dashboard — falls under this category. Analytics is “the process of exploring data and reports in order to extract meaningful insights, which can be used to better understand and improve business performance.” Differences in value What’s so special about analytics? Analytics explains the “why?” and the “so what?” How? Because it’s dynamic — on more than just a scale of time or interval. You should be able to contort the data to whatever you need. If what you see is a set of standard metrics, then it isn’t truly an analytic assessment (or an analytics product). From this dynamic investigation into the data, you can derive real-life recommendations about your business. What should you change about your practices to improve your core metrics? In this way, analytics is also special because it’s extremely actionable. In fact, it must be acted upon. The value of analytics is only truly delivered upon your own follow up, only if you come up with those recommended next steps and execute them. More on that below. How are each presented visually? Let’s use Monthly Recurring Revenue as an example. Reporting: Here is how MRR is typically reported. This chart shows the MRR for the last year, marked monthly. If you want to analyze your MRR, you can play with the parameters and drill into different nooks and crannies of the data. Analytics: Here is MRR spliced by marketing channel, over the same twelve months as above. Or you can get even more pointed. Here is MRR split by four sales representatives, limited to the last 90 days and marked weekly. This would come in handy not only for routine management but also for quarterly performance evaluations. Specific forms of analytics Analytics can be ad-hoc sessions or routine deep-dives. Cohort analysis Cohort analysis is a practice of analyzing data by groups of customers, where all customers in the group share a certain attribute. In SaaS this attribute is almost always the time period when users signed up for the service — so there is a January 2016 cohort containing customers who signed up that month, February 2016 and so on. From there you can see how various cohorts behave over time. If the February 2016 cohort’s behavior is remarkably different from the average pattern — let’s say the ongoing retention is much better — then you can dig into the data further to understand the enhanced performance. Were there any different customer acquisition strategies for the month of February? Perhaps a new marketing channel attracted more qualified leads? Did sales try out a new pitch that set more reasonable customer expectations? MRR Churn in the last 12 months. This is the most common visualization of a Cohort Analysis in SaaS, but there are other ways, too. Cohort analysis is a common and routine practice, which often brings it into the fold of reporting. While it’s helpful in any event with any metric, it’s an especially vital part of any analysis of churn because it reveals when, during the customer lifecycle, a customer is most likely to cancel. Customer success teams can use these insights to work proactively and preempt churn. Segmentation Segmentation is the practice of splicing your data, distinguishing groups based on different attributes. For example, you can segment your customer data by industry vertical, to see how customer behavior differs based on what kind of business they are. Or you can segment your revenue data by region, to identify what areas of the world are most lucrative and hold the most opportunity for your business. Segmentation is, one the one hand, a very basic concept — and then very complex on the other. That’s because you can do so much with it. For an example of how dynamic and flexible segmentation can be, check out one of our feature updates, where we try to explain all the ways you can splice and dice your data. The follow-up to analytics Investing the time, tools, and personnel in analytics is only worth it if you, well, do something about it. The real meat of analytics lies in using the findings to inform practical and tactical elements of your business. Improving best practices so that metrics improve — this is the value add. Quick rundown of a follow-up process: Assemble the results of the analysis as well as likely explanations for those results. Communicate findings to key players. This can include employees at any level. When it comes to numbers and performance, transparency is the best policy. It fosters understanding of the metrics and of one’s impact, buy-in and enthusiasm for new goals and tactics, and ultimately the foundation for a data-driven culture. Conclusion The bottom line is that both reporting and analytics are necessary, and both are very valuable. But they are not the same thing. Buzzwords often pick up in the tech world, and all the sudden everyone is using word ‘X’ to describe thing ‘Y.’ Words shift meaning based on how they’re branded. I think that’s what’s at risk with “reporting” and “analytics.” Great analytic efforts are misrepresented as reporting, and standard KPI displays are hyped as analytics. In anything, losing vigilance with language costs us clarity. In business, if we confuse terms like this then we don’t clearly see the function we’re actually performing (or paying for). As a result of that we might also miss the opportunities the function reveals. If this seems like a dramatic take on the issue, that’s just because at ChartMogul our whole mission is around helping our customers build a better subscription business. We provide a reporting and analytics platform, and we want our product to not only inform but also empower our users. Everyone knows the value of KPI reporting, but it can be difficult to demonstrate the power that’s possible in analytics — even harder if someone has a curtailed or diluted idea of what “analytics” is. So I hope this disambiguation has been helpful! Please now go forth, seize your data, and engage in both reporting and analytics to strengthen your team and grow your business.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
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Will the Six-Star brand put its third pedal to bed? In a bid to make its cars safer, Subaru will look to double down on its high-tech Eyesight suite of features. Unfortunately, that could mean the death of its manual transmission offering, which so far is not compatible with Eyesight. Read More: The Full Story “There are certainly no rumors we’ve heard that manual will continue, or Eyesight will be [offered] with manual,” said Subaru U.K. managing Director Chris Graham. As automakers race to offer consumers the latest and greatest safety tech items, it looks like enthusiasts might get left behind, as Subaru could be the newest make to leave its row-your-own fans out in the cold. According to a recent report from Auto Express, Subaru’s third pedal could end up on the chopping block in order to make room for the automaker’s Eyesight safety systems, which are expected to trickle down to the entirety of its lineup over the course of the next few years. Breaking the gloomy news was Subaru U.K. managing Director Chris Graham, who recently spoke with Auto Express at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show. “My gut tells me it will be Eyesight with Lineartronic ongoing and long term,” Graham continued. “They want to steal the mantle of the safest car in the world. I think if they do that, then they say ‘here’s a manual without Eyesight’, they’ll just ruin that [message].” Subaru has been big on the message of safety for years now, highlighting its grippy symmetrical AWD system and boxer engines as evidence of the focus. Of course, beyond the oily bits, digital systems like Eyesight are the next logical step in auto safety evolution. “All these things are reinforcing the safety message. The safety message is the thing Subaru will want to take forward,” Graham added. Eyesight will also presumably lead Subaru’s charge towards autonomous vehicles. Unfortunately, all of that doesn’t play nice with a stick shift. Eyesight utilizes an array of sensors to enable features like automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, cruise control, and more. Eyesight will also presumably lead Subaru’s charge towards autonomous vehicles. Unfortunately, all of that doesn’t play nice with a stick shift. Enthusiasts will no doubt be dismayed at the prospect of not getting a manual gearbox with their new Subaru, especially when considering such icons as the WRX and WRX STI, both of which are considerably less fun with an auto box onboard. The next-gen Subaru WRX STI is expected to arrive in the next few years, and when it does, the transmission options will tell the tale. Speaking of which, Graham added fuel to the fire as far as rumors surrounding the WRX STI are concerned, saying that hybrid performance was a definite possibility. “For me an STI has to be a manual in the guise it is today, however if you look at [auto-only] M-Series BMWs, I don’t think this is the end and I’d be very excited if they had a hybrid petrol STI,” he said. “That would be phenomenal in terms of acceleration.” In addition to the WRX and WRX STI, Subaru currently offers manual transmissions on the Crosstrek, Forester, and Impreza. We doubt few people would complain about an all-auto lineup for those last three, but a slush box for the WRX and WRX STI? No thanks.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Monday, 18 November 2013 Rules for the tales of Shedwood A momentous occasion ! Earlier this week I decided that I had to finish all the civilians for Robin Hood, Tales of Shedwood. With over Sixty miniatures to paint I set myself the daunting task of painting these by the weekend. I have been procrastinating over this task for some weeks and it doesn’t matter how hard you look at them they just don’t paint themselves. There are a number of reasons why I wanted to get these done, chief amongst these is that I want to get the test games started. This coming Monday - Tonight !) we’ll be playtesting the rules. Front Cover of the Rules In time I’ll publish these but here is a flavour. Each player takes the role of one of the main protagonists eg Robin Hood, Guy of Gisbourne etc in a particular scenario – more on this in a bit. The Leaders have a number of units at their disposal ranging from Knights, Men At Arms, Outlaws, Trained bands and Peasants. These units each have characteristics ranging from combat ability (number of attacks per figure ) , Armour (saves in combat, movement) and Morale (From Fanatic to Panic !).A unit will be typically sized from six to 12 men, all of whom will be of a similar class but can be bolstered with the presence of either a Leader or Knight. Combat is very straightforward everybody needs a 5 to hit (d6) modified by things such as cover, mounted etc – with the defender saving hits according to their armour (+morale/calibre modifiers). Mounted troops get to move faster and inflict more hits...afterall they are the tanks of the medieval battlefield. The phases of play is where this game differs from others. At the beginning of each turn each player gets a number of command tokens based on how many units they are commanding. The commander then places these tokens on a Command Board that grids actions versus units. The Actions a unit can take are Move, Defend, Shoot, Reload, Vigilance, Rally. A maximum of two tokens can be stacked in each unit column (ie a unit can perform two actions in a turn but this means something else will not have the option of doing anything). Once all the players have laid out their best plans they take it in turn to activate units. Each leader will also have a set of leadership tokens (different colour) these can be used as order tokens (thereby generating more orders) or for the cost of two tokens they may add an action in the middle of play (eg a unit is about to be charged and cannot react). These leadership tokens are removed from play once used – ie they are finite. However more leadership tokens can be won for valourous/dastardly deeds. In addition each leader has a treacherous deeds or luck score. The luck points can be used to reroll failed dice throws, treacherous deeds work in the opposite way ! If a unit suffers damage in combat/or has a stressful situation (eg levy about to be charged by mounted knights) Morale checks will be taken. Units start on a Morale grade at the beginning of the game according to their calibre, position (eg in a castle), and presence of Leaders. Again the presence of a knight will bolster morale. Morale tests are simple. The number of figures in the unit denotes the number of dice rolled) – the dice rolled are compared with the current unit status – any number that equals the morale of the unit is discarded. Those that better the morale are subtracted from those that fail and the balancing number is added to the current status. This does mean that fresh units can run in the presence of danger or actually harden their attitudes. Why am I excited - well we get to playtest these tonight...in the adventure of St Oswald's Tongue. The Small Monastery of St Oswald lies on the edge of Sherwood Forest, a days ride from Nottingham. It is a famous pilgrimage in this part of the country for it claims the that it is the resting place of the old martyr known as St Oswald. Oswald was beatified when he single handedly talked a marauding Viking war party to turn back from its evil ways and embrace the spirit of God. Immortalised in tales and legend his tongue has now become a powerful relic (if rather wizened) and is said to inspire leadership and oratory. It has long been known that the Sheriff of Nottingham covets this relic and wishes to add this to his collection. After all pilgrims are prepared to pay to see such treasures. He has instructed his henchmen, Sir Guy de Guisbourne and Black Hugo to recover the relic and bring back to Nottingham. Fortunately for the Monks of St Oswald the Sheriff's intentions have not gone unnoticed and a message has been sent to the outlaw and hero Robin Hood. Said Robin has decided such a theft should not take place and has such determined to thwart the Sheriffs plans.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Last week I talked about my worst spinning habit, the thing that drives me crazy about my spinning self. This week let’s talk about the good. Cart of samples. My best spinning habit is experimenting, sampling, playing. I could spend all of my spinning time following the ‘what ifs’ that pop up in my head. I have piles and boxes and baskets of samples, some of them becomes articles for Knittyspin, PLY or Spin Off, some become classes, some just stay little piles of fun. That picture above? Each box, bag and basket is crammed with samples. The picture below? That’s one box full of plying experiments with variegated yarn. These experiments are a big reason why I need to break my worst habit of not labeling things, ” exactly what are these four tiny skeins and swatches?”. I love figuring out the things fiber and yarn can do, that even the smallest variation can make a big change. I hope I never get sick of experimenting! What’s your best spinning habit? Variegated plying samples. My friend Carla of cjkoho Designs started a Kickstarter to build a bigger studio, to dye and to teach. I have used her fiber and yarn for years and she does beautiful work. Take a look and contribute if you are interested, and if not, help spread the word. We need more beautiful fiber and yarn! I know I can safely speak on behalf of the entire Knitty team in saying that we’re tired of winter. It’s been a cold and snowy one, and we’re all getting a bit grumpy. To cheer myself up, I went cruising through our back issues to look for a spring-themed projects. It might be a while before I can wear them, but I can at least start the knitting… Because I’m tired of my scarves at this point, I think a glamorous new shawl would be wonderful. Cold Mountain is big enough to wear now for warmth, and yet still lacy and light enough to wear on early summer days over a dress. Make it in a really cheerful springy color! And because even when the snow goes, there will still be cold winds… perhaps a new pair of fingerless mitts? These Queen City ones are chic and interesting to knit, but will go quickly. A change is as good as rest. You might still need to wear mittens, but these are at least fresh and new! There’s the Carnaby skirt, which I think would be a fantastic transitional piece… still warm, but with hints of springy flirtiness and fun. Heavy tights now; lighter tights or even bare legs later! In hopes that I might get to expose my arms again at some point, there’s the Petrie Shell So chic. And how could you not feel summery making a gorgeous Elenka dress for a little girl in your life? So great! And remember what Denny says: no knitting with grey or brown in February and March. Knit the colors that are missing from your life in this dull and muddy time of year: choose greens and reds and pinks and purples and oranges. Cheer yourself up! As a recovering proofreader and editor (20 years in the advertising business), the hairs on the back of my neck go way up when I see something like the news headline at left that I spotted this morning. No, Doctor Who didn’t survive Ebola. He didn’t get it. Keep reading. But our internet-trained brains scan text for key phrases, and when we see “hero” a few words later, it only serves to extend the period of confusion. It’s actually a simple news story. But a little more attention to the headline probably was warranted. When services like Grammarly claim to be “automated proofreaders”, I want to wave my hands in the air and flail about like a deranged muppet. There is no such thing. We all know how fallible spellcheck is without a human to watch over it and choose which changes to allow. Nothing yet invented can replicate the skill of a properly trained (and caffeinated) proofreader or copy editor. See, Grammarly recently published a scathing (ha) critique of the lame writing in that 50 Shades novel based on the “errors” its service found. I’m sure you’ve seen it all over the place. Except what they wrote is wrong. This thoughtful rebuttal by a mystery writer explains why. If you can’t trust the article, not sure how you can trust the service. Proofreaders and Copy Editors are often first against the wall when the revolution comes. (They’re the first to be laid off when the budget is cut or money suddenly becomes tight because so many companies see them as a luxury.) It’s a crime against language. If we don’t defend our words, who will? Note: I don’t claim that Knitty is error free. We do our best, but we don’t have a dedicated proofreader. That’s why I’m so glad we’re online…we can fix typos after a launch without requiring new film, a new press run and a huge loss of revenue. 20 years of stress over typos that went to print was enough for me. We do our best, and we fix the rest. I love this time of year in the fashion world… all the fashion shows for Fall and Winter provide some excitement and inspiration for cold-weather dressing, just as I’m starting to get tired of my own winter clothes. We all have one, a spinning habit that we wish we didn’t have. Something that is deeply ingrained or in my case a stupid arrogance. Every time I realize I’ve done it again, I want to kick myself. I shake my head and say never again. But I always find myself in the same confused boat. My worst spinning habit? I don’t label my skeins or samples! I am so sure I’ll remember, because I’ll get right back to this project or experiment. Yeah, right. The photo up there is a big basket full of skeins, swatches and experimental yards of yarn. I have no idea how, what, why, where or when about these yarns. And I bet they are at the most important, for something very specific or at the least important, things that would save me extra spinning recreating the yarn for an article or class. I am getting a little better, but it is still my worst most maddening spinning habit. When I went from short and flippy hair to past my chin and wavy, I started to need surf spray to make the hairstyle work. Stuff costs $20 a bottle and is MAGIC. You know how your hair is after you come out of the ocean? (Not a lake…has to be salt water.) This stuff does that, but is better for your hair and cheaper than airfare. Enough ingredients to make countless bottles of Surf Spray and Body Oil Mist Guess what? All the ingredients to make many, many, MANY bottles of this stuff costs about the same as one bottle of the name-brand stuff. I’ve made and used up several batches and it always works. Spritz it into damp hair, scrunch and when it’s dry, finger combing gives me the wavy hair I always wanted. I started out with some of the recipes on this page, and tweaked. This is about what I do now. Amy’s magic hair scrunch spray: 1/2 cup warmed distilled water 1 tablespoon Epsom salts 1 teaspoon hair gel ½ tablespoon leave-in hair conditioner 4-5 drops of coconut oil or Argan oil Warm water helps dissolve the rest of the ingredients. I use less water than other recipes recommend, because the water is just there to carry the rest. It just slows down the drying time of your hair so why add more than you need? Choose your conditioner carefully — it seems to be most fragranced of everything and if you’re fussy about smells, that’s where you can control it best. Next up, winter skin crawlies. All body oil mists I found had some kind of fragrance and they all have preservatives I didn’t want. Plus $$$. So now I make my own based on this recipe, and it’s amazing. It has no scent by choice — check out the recipe link above if you want to fragrance it. Unscented body oil mist: ¼ cup distilled or filtered water 1 ½ teaspoons pure vegetable glycerine 1 teaspoon grapeseed oil 4-5 drops Vitamin E oil I spray this on my arms, back and legs after every shower and I no longer want to rip my skin off. I got most of the supplies at my local drugstore. You don’t need to buy huge amounts. It lasts a long time, and takes up just a little space in my closet until it’s time to make a new batch. Knitting as an aid to breastfeeding. Really. Knitters from the Isle of Lewis in Scotland have come together to knit 250 yarny ‘models’ for use in a government-funded breastfeeding campaign. The slightly silly nature of the models eases nervousness and aids the discussion… “Popular with midwives and health visitors, they are used to show the best way to get a baby to latch on properly and how to mould or hold your breast to get the nipple in the right position for the baby’s mouth. They’re also used to teach how to express milk and how to deal with problems like blocked ducts. Almost every spinner has a stash that they will never spin in their spinning lifetime. In that stash a certain percentage is special, the fiber that doesn’t get spun because of some attachment. For me it’s multicolored braids. I love them and so many have special memories, or the dyer isn’t dyeing anymore or the dyer isn’t dyeing that colorway or I dyed it as part of a dyeing party or it was gift or 1,000 rationales to keep the fiber from becoming yarn. I noticed on a recent stash dive that, my specials are creeping up to be 25% of my stash. Sentimental is one thing, foolish is another. That is gorgeous fiber I am letting go to waste. Today I decided, no more. I went to the basement and picked three. Super special no more! I just reached in and grabbed. OK, I’ll confess to skipping over the fibers of dyers no longer dyeing, but other than that it was random grabbing. I have a deadline coming up and needed fiber to spin for samples. Why not spin fiber I really love? Have you seen the wonderful Twisted Circles shawl we published as the last issue’s Surprise? The designer, Janelle has a way with texture, and I love how she has taken a cable pattern and used it to create an undulating fabric. Her initial conception was a cowl, Different and yet closely related. but the idea for a shawl variation soon followed, and this is the one that the Knitty team fell in love with. Janelle is a smart knitter, and when working on this shawl version, she noticed an interesting technical challenge with the fabric. Not one to shy away from such things – in fact, I know she enjoys them – she used some clever short-rows to solve the problem.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Ok guys we have a very similar format to last years 12.5. It is an ascending ladder by 3’s with clean and jerks and toes to bar. It’s only 7 minutes, so at fundamentals we will talk about strategy and good work:rest management. The main movement we will focus on is toes to bar, getting you guys efficient at the movement along with chaining reps together. Remember guys, this is a free class for members and non-members. So, if you know any of your friends that have wanted to get in a crossfit gym drag them in for a breakdown of 13.4 and a good workout!! See you guys at 6:30pm Thursday night!	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Learning Chinese Online With LingWorld you can now start learning Chinese through face to face interaction with a personal, native speaking, Chinese teacher, wherever you are! Register today, there is no joining fee! Learning Chinese language online is flexible, effective & fun allowing you to have your classes from the comfort of your home, during your office lunch break, or from your hotel room when you are on a business trip. You can find your Chinese teachers according to their academic background, teaching qualifications, feedback from their other students, availability, and many other criteria. The secret of learning any new language is to practice and speak it. This can only be achieved by one to one lessons, as opposed to group language class where you hardly have a chance to speak. Learning Chinese online with LingWorld will be an easy and comfortable way to gain confidence, learn new vocabulary & become fluent by speaking Chinese in an interactive environment with a Chinese language teacher who will be devote all his/her attention to you. Learning to speak Chinese online with a personal Chinese teacher will give you all the support and motivation you need to study this new and promising language. Sign Up, It's Free! Find your Teacher Attend your class You like? Recommend us! New Students & Teachers 李立李 Chinese (Mandarin) Teacher China diana 林 English Student China qian wang Chinese (Mandarin) Teacher China sandy sha Chinese (Mandarin) Teacher China Sonia Hernandez Spanish Teacher Spain Testimonials Sue Wright (N. Orleans, US) Learning Chinese language online was surprisingly efficient! I am still a beginner but what I learnt made my trip to China so much more enjoyable... Brian Scott (Boulder, US) It is so good to have a real language teacher on the other side of the webcam; I tried all these free interactive programs but you really need someone to Misuki Asano (Osaka, Japan) I can practice my English with my conversation partner here. I still take my English class in Japan, but I get extra hours on Lingworld and much cheaper.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }
Thursday, January 14: Genesis 4- Life in our sin riddled world. You cannot open an internet news site, listen to TV or radio news, or pick up a paper/news magazine without being assaulted by crime, violence, and killing. Mass shootings in the US are way too common. I confess that I am becoming numb to violent deaths. I wonder, what is our world coming to??? Then I open my Bible and the first story after the fall –the introduction of sin into the fabric of human life –and what do I read? Cain killing his brother Abel. And then before the chapter closes Lamech, Cain’s great grandson, boasts to his wives: “Adah and Zillah, listen to me; wives of Lamech, hear my words. I have killed a man for wounding me, a young man for injuring me. If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times” (23-24 bold mine). Violence is escalating. Plus Lamech has two wives… while not expressly forbidden it seems to be against the blessing of marriage God gave in Genesis 2:24. Life, viewed through one lens, is the story of sin, which can be understood as disregarding God’s best for life here on earth. The violence I see in the news might be more violent than I see in Genesis 4, but Genesis 4 is only the beginning… and the seed of sinfulness is just germinating. Thinking about the news and reading these Biblical accounts makes me realize how much I (we) need a change of heart. Somehow the selfish madness that would kill others or rob others to advance ourselves has to be bleached from us. And in the millennia since Cain killed Abel only God, giving us a new heart through faith in Jesus, can provide the bleaching we need. And this side of eternity even the new heart God gives the converted can and does lapse into deep dark sin… This last thought makes me realize how much I need God for my continued life reconstruction with much forgiveness along the way. O, Jesus, I am so sorry when I let You down, when I hurt others through my own selfish sin. Forgive me and change me so that I truly grow more like You! In Your name Jesus, I pray Amen. No comments: Post a Comment Welcome As you follow this blog you will be 'reading over my shoulder' as I live my personal Bible reading and daily devotions. Each day I read and reflect on one chapter of the Bible. If you continue with me, we will read through the entire Bible and parts of it more than once. I will post one reading a day Monday through Saturday, leaving Sunday's for worship with our local churches. Please feel free to add a comment or ask a question. As time permits I will attempt to answer any questions that appear. Lastly, this blog is not meant to be a Bible study or a commentary on the Bible, instead it is a portion of my daily interaction with Jesus as I start my day with scripture and talk with Jesus my Lord. If you prefer to have the same devotionals emailed to you weekly on Sunday simply email my Admin Lisa and ask to be placed on the Reading the Bible with Bill email list.	{ "pile_set_name": "Pile-CC" }

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