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PITTSBURGH — A man armed with a semiautomatic assault-style rifle stormed the Tree of Life synagogue here Saturday and shot worshipers during Shabbat services, killing 11 and wounding six in the deadliest attack on Jews in the history of the United States.
Law enforcement officials identified the alleged shooter as Robert D. Bowers, 46, a Pittsburgh resident who the FBI said was not previously known to law enforcement. He was charged with 29 counts of federal crimes of violence and firearms offenses, federal prosecutors said late Saturday.
A man with that name had posted anti-Semitic statements on social media before the shooting, expressing anger that a nonprofit Jewish organization in the neighborhood has helped refugees settle in the United States. In what appeared to be his final social media post hours before the attack, the man wrote: "I can't sit by and watch my people get slaughtered. Screw your optics, I'm going in."
Bowers allegedly burst into the synagogue's regular Saturday 9:45 a.m. service with an AR-15-style assault rifle and three handguns, authorities said. Witnesses told police he shouted anti-Semitic statements and began firing. The synagogue, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, did not have armed security guards.
Police received calls about an active shooter at 9:54 a.m. and dispatched officers a minute later. Police said Bowers left the building and encountered the responding officers, shooting one before retreating into the synagogue to hide. More officers responded and, after an exchange of gunfire, Bowers suffered multiple gunshot wounds, was arrested and was taken to a hospital, authorities said.
Four police officers were shot during the response and were in stable condition late Saturday. It was unclear late Saturday whether Bowers was speaking with authorities or had an attorney.
Federal prosecutors filed 29 counts against Bowers, charging him with federal civil rights crimes. Bowers was charged with obstructing exercise of religious beliefs resulting in death, using a firearm to commit murder during a crime of violence, obstructing exercise of religious beliefs resulting in an injury to a public safety officer and using a firearm during a crime of violence.
The charges were announced in a statement released by Scott W. Brady, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and Robert Jones, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh office. Court documents were not immediately available and were expected to be released Sunday morning.
The scene following the deadly Pittsburgh synagogue shooting
The Pittsburgh massacre is yet another example of the homicidal fury and bigotry on the fringes of American society. It weaves together elements of many other active-shooter incidents that have horrified Americans in recent years, and highlighted the unusual frequency of mass casualty events in this country in comparison with almost every other nation in the world.
Once again the suspect was a man armed with a semiautomatic assault-style weapon — as was, for example, the gunman who killed 49 people in Orlando's Pulse nightclub in 2016. Once again the crime scene was a house of worship, a classic "soft target," as was the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Tex., where a disturbed gunman hoping to kill his mother-in-law slaughtered 26 people during a Sunday service last November.
And once again the victims were members of an ethnic or religious minority with a long history of persecution — as were the nine African American worshipers killed three years ago when a white supremacist invaded a Bible study session at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C.
"This was the single most lethal and violent attack on the Jewish community in the history of the country," said Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO and national director of the Anti-Defamation League. "We've never had an attack of such depravity where so many people were killed. . . . When you go into a synagogue, saying 'I want to kill all the Jews,' that's a hate crime."
Political, religious and civic leaders condemned Saturday's massacre and vowed to support the Jewish community.
"We simply cannot accept this violence as a normal part of American life," Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D), said during an afternoon news conference, his voice shaking. "These senseless acts of violence are not who we are as Pennsylvanians, they're not who we are as Americans."
President Trump denounced the massacre and said something needs to be done about such crimes, suggesting a more frequent and speedier use of the death penalty, saying it should be "brought into vogue."
"It's a terrible, terrible thing, what's going on with hate in our country and frankly all over the world," Trump said before boarding Air Force One on Saturday afternoon for a flight to Indianapolis. The president made a full-throated denunciation of anti-Semitism at a rally in Murphysboro, Ill., later in the day: "This evil anti-Semitic attack is an assault on all of us. It's an assault on humanity. It will require all of us working together to extract the hateful poison of anti-Semitism from our world."
He said the massacre could have been prevented if the synagogue had armed security guards. Trump has frequently suggested that more armed people could deter mass shootings, making such comments after shooting rampages in Parkland, Fla., and Orlando in recent years. Armed law enforcement officers were, in fact, present at both of those mass shootings.
Trump ordered flags flown at half-staff at public grounds until sunset Wednesday in "solemn respect" for the victims, the White House said in a statement.
The Anti-Defamation League, founded more than a century ago, has documented numerous murderous attacks on Jews in the United States, such as the assault by a white supremacist on the U.S. Holocaust Museum in 2009 that killed a security guard. The previous deadliest anti-Semitic attack, the ADL said, was actually a case of mistaken religious identity that claimed four lives. It happened in 1985, when a racist attacked Charles Goldmark and his family in Seattle, thinking they were Jewish.
The ADL said Saturday that anti-Semitic incidents rose 57 percent in 2017, with 1,986 documented events, a spike the league attributed to an increase of such incidents in high schools and on college campuses.
Carl Chinn, president of the nonprofit Faith Based Security Network, said Saturday's massacre was the 15th mass murder — defined as four or more fatalities — in a house of worship in U.S. history. The first was the 1963 Birmingham, Ala., bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church that killed four African American girls, he said.
On Saturday, members of the Tree of Life synagogue gathered at a makeshift grief center nearby to learn the fate of loved ones. On social media, synagogue members quickly relayed news of who was safe. But there would be 11 names — all adults — missing from the check-in.
Synagogue member Arnold Freedman, 91, a psychologist, had intended to go to Tree of Life at 10 a.m., but he stayed home because a repairman was working in his basement. He began getting calls from friends as soon as the shooting began.
"Our climate in the country now is really troubled. You see these hate crimes, and anybody on either side of the spectrum, right or left, are going to blame the other. It's terrible," Freedman said. "Unfortunately, there's too many people like that, and they have too much access to guns."
Chuck Diamond, who grew up in Squirrel Hill and was a rabbi at Tree of Life for seven years, said he had always feared a day like this.
"When I was leading the congregation, I always had in the back of my mind that something like this will happen," Diamond said. "It's a terrible thing to feel. When you come into our sanctuary, you want it to be a place that you feel safe in."
As news of the shooting spread, police locked down the nearby Rodef Shalom Congregation. Police also raced to synagogues in Washington, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles to provide additional security.
"It could have just as easily been our congregation," said Rabbi Aaron Bisno of Rodef Shalom. "We don't know what motivated the shooter, but when something like this strikes, the randomness of it terrifies."
The Tree of Life building houses three synagogues and has multiple communities that worship simultaneously, Bisno said, calling it the "center of Jewish life on Shabbat morning."
In recent years, Pittsburgh brought on a former FBI agent to act as a security point person, according to Bisno. His congregation recently went through an active-shooter training. Saturday was the first time there was a community need to put it into practice.
"It's frightening," he said. "It could happen anywhere at any time."
'He felt that somebody was finally talking to him': How the package-bomb suspect found inspiration in Trump
The FBI said Saturday that authorities believe Bowers acted alone. Authorities who entered the crime scene described it as stunning in its savagery.
"This is the most horrific crime scene I've seen in 22 years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation," said Jones, the FBI special agent in charge.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the shooting "reprehensible and utterly repugnant to the values of this nation" and said the Justice Department will file hate crime and other charges "that could lead to the death penalty."
"The actions of Robert Bowers represent the worst of humanity," said Brady, the prosecuting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania. "Justice in this case will be swift and it will be severe."
The Pittsburgh attack came days after the arrest of a Florida man who allegedly sent more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent critics of Trump, and amid feverish midterm-election campaigning rife with attack ads. Several leaders have said the nation's political rhetoric has become too polarizing, perhaps inspiring recent violence.
Gab, a social media platform that has attracted many far-right users, said Saturday that the company had suspended an account that matched the alleged shooter's name, turning the messages over to the FBI. The account included repeated attacks on Jews, references to white supremacist and neo-Nazi symbols, and attacks on the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, known as HIAS, which works with the federal government to resettle refugees in American communities.
Mark Hetfield, president and chief executive of HAIS, said his agency has seen plenty of hate, and actively works to help people who are fleeing such hate.
"But the United States is supposed to be a place of refuge, and a synagogue is supposed to be a place of refuge," Hetfield said.
Tom Malinowski, a Democratic congressional candidate in New Jersey who served as assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor in the Obama administration, posted a statement on his website saying that deranged people have always been around but that the political climate has changed.
"Our highest national leaders are legitimizing rhetoric once confined to the paranoid extremes of our society — railing against 'globalists,' who all happen to be prominent Jews, complaining about 'white genocide,' attacking immigrants for 'threatening our culture,' and spreading crackpot conspiracy theories to advocate imprisoning their political opponents," said Malinowski, who long served as the Washington director for Human Rights Watch. "These words are like sparks to the gasoline of disturbed minds. These words can kill."
The recent spate of mass shootings led Tree of Life Rabbi Jeffrey Myers to write on the synagogue's blog, lamenting the lack of national action to address gun violence in the wake of the Parkland school shooting.
"Unless there is a dramatic turnaround in the midterm elections, I fear that the status quo will remain unchanged, and school shootings will resume," Myers wrote. "I shouldn't have to include in my daily morning prayers that God should watch over my wife and daughter, both teachers, and keep them safe. Where are our leaders?"
Deanna Paul, Amy B Wang, Devlin Barrett, Wesley Lowery, Abby Ohlheiser, Kristine Phillips, Mike Rosenwald and Katie Zezima contributed to this developing story.


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Filming skateboarding started like this. A necessity… A need to show how it's done, to document… Whether it would be for commercial purpose, for the sake of progression or just because.
On the simplicity, the fragility of such beginnings professionalism slowly built the strongest foundation. "We can see, in some well known filmmakers out there, the eyes of somebody who filmed skateboarding when he was young", said Ty Evans.
A Film Festival without an Academy composed of some of the best filmmakers and most influential people in the industry would be nonsense. The Academy of Skateboard Filmmakers, Arts & Science was formed as a way to ensure the sanctity of skateboard filmmaking as a pure and authentic form of expression. Part of the Academy members' role will be to nominate the judges and define the criteria of judgment.
Therefore, the Festival has been gathering – and will keep on doing so in the future – the most pertinent and influential personalities in skateboarding who, by their expertise, knowledge of the industry and the way they perceive skateboarding, will keep the Festival on its toes whenever creativity is concerned.
Ultimately, the Academy serves as the foundation for the Festival long-term and global vision.
The Academy is:
- Stacy Peralta : Professional Skateboarder, Co-owner of Powell-Peralta Inc., Writer and Director
- C.R. Stecyk : Photographer, Journalist, Writer, Renowned Artist, Co-founder of Juxtapoz Magazine and Thrasher Magazine
- Grant Brittain: Photographer and Co-founder of The Skateboard Mag
- Fred Mortagne (a.k.a French Fred): Photographer and Director
- Bryce Kanights: Photographer and Co-founder of www.skatedaily.net
- Ed Templeton: Professional Skateboarder, Entrepreneur, Photographer and Artist
- Ricki Bedenbaugh: Director
- Greg Hunt: Director and Photographer
- Mike Manzoori: Director
- Jamie Thomas: Professional Skateboarder, Skateboard Industry Magnate and Owner of Black Box Distribution
- Ty Evans : Director
- Geoff Rowley : Professional Skateboarder, Entrepreneur and Director
- Dave Swift : Director and Editor of The Skateboard Mag
- Jacob Rosenberg : Director, Partner & CTO of Bandito Brothers (Act of Valor, Waiting for Lightning)

subset: commoncrawl


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Emmens Preserve
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Located in Myrtle Beach, SC, the Emmens Preserve community is within walking distance to the shops and dining at Market Common and Myrtle Beach State Park. Community residents are able to enjoy a host of amenities including Emmens Park with two summer kitchens, fire pits, putting green, bocce-ball court, amphitheater, cardio room and resort-style pool. These features are in addition to acres of landscaped and natural beauty, expansive lakes, walking paths, bike trails, and athletic fields. RE/MAX Southern Shores real estate agents can find exactly the kind of property you are looking for at Emmens Preserve. Call RE/MAX Southern Shores today at 843-839-0200 to begin your home ownership search.
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The Market Common is a community where you can experience exceptional living, shopping and dining in a beautifully-designed setting. From celebrated names in retail and dining to a spacious movie theater steps from the beach, The Market Common is a great place to call home! An experienced RE/MAX Southern Shores agent will make buying a home, townhouse, condominium or investment property a reality. You won't be disappointed. Call RE/MAX Southern Shores today at 843-839-0200.
The Market Common is a place where RE/MAX Southern Shores agents can find the exact property YOU are looking for. There are two or three-bedroom, beautifully designed townhomes and single-family homes as well as home-to-work properties with rental and retail opportunities. With so many choices, there's a perfect home to meet your needs. Tucked into the Market Common Area is the comfortable and affordable Emmens Preserve.
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text:
So, the reviews are mixed but mostly bad but don't let them put you off. I went to see Terminator Salvation last night and, maybe because of my low expectations, I enjoyed the movie!
The movie won't strain your brain cells, it's a pure action film with huge robots, explosions, fights and a mostly straight forward story. If you loved Starship Troopers, I think you'll like this film!


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Federal judge Amy Jackson has ruled that President Barack Obama followed proper procedure when blocking Chinese-owned Ralls from building four 10MW wind farms near a US naval base in Oregon.
The majority of the legal challenge was thrown out in February, when Jackson decided that the court did not have the jurisdiction to overrule the president. But Ralls proceeded with the claim, focusing on whether due process had been followed.
Jackson said, however, that the firm had received sufficient process in the run up to Obama's decree and said that Ralls should have sought prior approval before acquiring the projects.
The 2012 decision by the president marked the first time that such a decree had been used to block a foreign business deal in 22 years.
Ralls, an associate company of Chinese manufacturing giant Sany Group, bought the portfolio of projects in February 2012 from Greek developer Terna, but the Committee of Foreign Investment in the United States (CIFIUS) said that the project posed a security risk.
The sites are within or near restricted airspace of the Boardman naval weapons training facility, which, according to its website, is used to test the US military's highly controversial un-manned drones.
Ralls did not notify CFIUS at the time of the purchase. However, the committee found out about the deal after being tipped off by the US defence department, which had seen it reported in Windpower Monthly.
Ralls said it has suffered direct losses of $20 million due to the decision. But CFIUS claimed in a court declaration in September that it advised Ralls not to proceed with construction until its case was considered.
Ralls responded that it "needed to proceed to meet a deadline related to tax credits" and that it would assume the financial risk of this decision.
In light of the decision, Ralls said in 2012 that it would not expand in the US as it had planned. But earlier this month, the company bought a 20MW project in Texas, seemingly reversing this decision.


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Vacaville gas station is target of hate-crime vandalism
Punjabi gas station owner: This type of stuff is a surprise
Punjabi gas station owner: This type of stuff is a surprise
Punjabi gas station owner: This type of stuff is a surprise
Vacaville police are investigating a series of hate crimes at a Punjabi-owned gas station, with the latest incident leaving an employee's vehicle burned with racist graffiti on the side.
Cellphone video shows a white Mercedes engulfed in flames about 9 p.m. Monday outside the Quick Way Gasoline gas station on William Street.
In the video, flames climbed the power pole and burned just a few feet away from the gas pumps. A firefighter carrying a hose enters the frame and works to put the fire out.
Once the fire was put out, first responders saw "KKK" was written on both sides of the vehicle.
The owner of the gas station was surprised to find the hate crime happened at his business.
"Cops pass by here all the time, so we feel pretty safe here usually," Harman Bassi said. "So this type of stuff, like I said, is a surprise."
Bassi and his father own the gas station.
"First they spray paint it, then they set it on fire," Bassi said. "Maybe they're escalating. Maybe they're trying to really send a message. So that kind of worries me."
However, despite frequent police patrols, Bassi said this is the second round of hate-driven graffiti and believes the same person or people could be responsible for a series of Ks spray-painted on the side of his building and on a gas pump.
Vacaville police Lt. Matt Lydon said the public needs to step up.
"For consistency, this is rare. This is rare in Vacaville, and we take these types of crimes very seriously," Lydon said. "So we're asking for the public's help and any information that can be provided to further our investigation."
Lydon said that it could be a random attack or even a targeted event.
"That's what we're really interested in finding out," Lydon said.
As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Lydon said police had no leads or suspects in their investigation.


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Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
By Jamie Crawford
While it was one of 11 missions carried out by U.S. Special forces that night, the head of U.S. Special Operations command said the raid that killed Osama bin Laden will go down as one of the "great intelligence operations in history."
Admiral William McRaven spoke Wednesday before an audience at the Aspen Institute Security Conference on a panel discussion moderated by CNN's Wolf Blitzer. The talk was his first interview about the raid with a journalist.
To watch more of Wolf Blitzer's interview with Admiral William McRaven, tune to "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer" on CNN Thursday 4-7pm ET and Saturday 6-7pm ET.
Presidents will forever study this case. President Obama took politics out of the calculation. He put the troops and the mission first. This amazing team will forever live in the case study of intelligence, military action and leadership. Forever.
Obama nixed the idea of commandos hunkering down to await diplomatic rescue. He worried that the Navy SEALs conducting the mission could end up as hostages of the Pakistanis, and he told McRaven to ensure that the U.S. forces could escape the compound and return to safety, whether or not they encountered Pakistani resistance.
"Don't worry about keeping things calm with Pakistan," Obama said to McRaven. "Worry about getting out."
McRaven added additional forces; a second group of SEALs would be prepared to take on any Pakistani forces that might try to intervene.
The pace of the meetings in the White House—still involving merely a few aides—and at the CIA and JSOC picked up.
I tried to write a book once about some of my experiences in the Navy. I had a retired Army Col. and retired Navy Capt. advise me on what I could and could not talk about. So much had to be removed from the original manuscript that it went from being a Tom Clancy-like novel to a recipe for shepherd's pie. Sure, I could have done what other officers have done and given my stories and information to a writer to do the job for me; but then that would've been treason. Hmm.. I decided to stick to pie recipes. 😉
Sorry folks, you're going to have to wait about 50 years to find out the details of the raid on Bin Laden. I remember years ago what my commander said when I went on my first classified mission: "Details of this operation will remain classified until 100 years after your dead." I knew he was exaggerating just a little...but I got the message.
So, what do you want to know?
Just so you know in advance of your questions.... I'm going to answer that. 😉
I'm sorry... I meant I'm NOT going to answer that.
Idk how you can believe that bin laden died on May 1. We have zero proof of it. We have people inside Pakistan who say bin laden never lived in that compound. We have inside sources from the Bush Administration saying he died a long time ago. It is also very hard to believe we cannot find with our insanely amazing war technology a tall arabian dude in the desert. That's really astonishing isn't it? We also have good evidence of 9/11 being an inside job. We know about the airlift of evil. From what i know, bin Laden was a boogeyman.
You want to post this nonsense on youtube, be my guest. Here, it's not appropriate. I mean, even Fox hasn't gone there on this one. You're wrong. and while I"m at it, 9/11 wasn't an inside job, the Earth is not hollow and the moon is not a spaceship built by aliens to watch their creation: us
Who censored this from the original?
It took 10 years to track down the terrorist madman who took thousands of American lives and cost us 100's of billions of dollars in the meantime. Odds are about equal someone would have bumped into him somewhere in that amount of time. I am glad they finally got him, but to call the effort intelligent is inconsistent with reality. The retired cast of F-Troop could have nailed him quicker.
I know ADM McRraven personally and can truely say he is a great American and a true professional.
Admiral William McRaven interview was one of the best. Honest and Real.
I personally think that you are exposing these men to the enemy.
What's wrong with you? It's the reporter's job to ask questions. If the admiral is not smart enough in answering his questions, then they may get exposed. If he is an admiral, he should be able to handle a reporter's questions or I'll be extremely worried whenever he is given any covert assignments.
What you think is wrong and makes no sense. It's just like the dolts who think giving out info about SOF tactics are giving up classified information. The TTP (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures) used by these SEALS are the same TTP used by all SOF-type units worldwide. Saying we have trained operators who can and do these type operations is in the public domain. Giving out names, photos of the operators, tail numbers of the choppers, noting where they conducted the rehearsals... that would come close to or beyond classified info. We have a history of providing military expertise to Hollywood....it dates back prior to WW2. If you look closely at film credits, you will see the names of soldiers assigned to support movie makers. Some even go on to have acting careers, themselves (e.g., George Kennedy was the military adviser on the SGT Bilko TV series, etc) . Those SEALS provided a professional service on a specific date and time. Nothing more. According to the article, this was only one of 12 operations that night....it just resulted in a great success for the USA and the world! Letting the world know we have folks who can do these things (less the BS Hollywood tends to slip into movies) serves as a reminder to not go there! Obviously, many are not sufficiently smart enough (or too idealistic/stupid) to understand what they are up against. The Iraqis underestimated us because they didn't believe we could traverse the vast expanse of the desert... they didn't really understand our GPS and professional military expertise far surpassed theirs (and most anyone in the world). These SEALS, as fantastic as they are, executed a well-planned, rehearsed operation like all SEALS, SOF, Marines, and other military units do on a daily basis. They got lotsa baxxs, and the expertise to get the job done! Now, if we only had a Congress that could do the same.......! Old Soldier, out!
Bravo Zulu, Old Soldier !
Admiral William McRaven did a fantastic job and training the Navy Seaman to raid kill Osama bin Laden. There thousand of military missions that go wrong in war this one was a win!
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Taylor Swift gif
Three years ago, a 13-year old Taylor Swift set out to be a star and moved from Reading, Pennsylvania, to Nashville. By 14, she had a publishing deal, and by 15, a recording contract. In these days of Bianca Ryan (and before her, Tanya Tucker and LeAnn Rimes), many are called, but few are chosen. Swift, it appears, is one of the chosen ones. Her vocal talent is modest, though sweetly affecting, her style seemingly influenced by the radio hits of early Sheryl Crow and Michelle Branch, and perhaps Cyndi Thomson. And at times, her youthfulness shows–she encoded messages in the lyrics of her CD booklet, starting with the name of the boy who cheated on her from "Should've Said No" (the album's strongest offering). But in writing or co-writing all 11 songs on this debut, Swift demonstrates remarkable maturity, particularly in crafting a hooky, radio-ready chorus. Though she sounds ridiculous looking back from the perspective of an 87-year old woman on "Mary's Song," to her credit she mostly writes about what she knows–unrequited high-school crushes ("Teardrops on My Guitar"), teenage angst ("Tied Together with a Smile"), and complete immersion in starry-eyed romance (her breakout hit "Tim McGraw"). Swift has such wistful charm and tunefulness that only a curmudgeon could dismiss her, and in fact, more than 60,000 fans lined up to grab this CD the first month of release. No wonder Rascal Flatts and George Strait added her to their tours. Look out, Carrie Underwood–there's a new kid in town. –Alanna Nash
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text: Movies, TV-Shows in 2016 12345678910 All the Way SD SD All the Way IMDb 8.3 80 min Lyndon B. Johnson becomes the President of the United States in the chaotic aftermath of JFK's assassination and the documentary is about his early days from the assassination to the battle over the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and his campaign to stay in the White House. Country: United States Genre: History Drama Biography Stars: Anthony Mackie Watch now! Under the Gun HD HD Under the Gun IMDb 6.1 110 min A drastic rise in mass shootings has ripped across the US in recent years. Gun violence continues to haunt America, and director Stephanie Soechtig tries to tackle it with her new documentary. Country: United States Genre: Documentary Stars: Katie Couric Watch now! Team Foxcatcher HD HD Team Foxcatcher IMDb 7.4 90 min Exclusive footage reveals the inner workings of the Foxcatcher wrestling facility and founder John du Pont's descent from philanthropist to murderer and recounts the paranoid downward spiral of John E. du Pont and the murder of Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz. Country: United States Genre: Crime Biography Documentary Stars: Nancy Schultz Watch now! Date with Love HD HD Date with Love IMDb 6.8 100 min The film is about a teenage boy from a small town who creates a viral "promposal" video that scores him a Prom date with his celebrity crush. The dream date becomes a nightmare when his celebrity crush accepts to attend his high-school prom, but sets her sights on someone else. Country: United States Genre: Romance Stars: Larissa Albuquerque Watch now! The Other Side of the Mirror HD HD The Other Side of the Mirror IMDb 3.9 123 min The film tells the story of a teenage girl named Alice, who follows a mysterious man through a rabbit hole and discovers Wonderland; a dark and curious world inhabited by characters from turn-of-the-century America and the Pacific Northwest. Country: United States Genre: History Drama Fantasy Stars: Nathan Hamer Watch now! Hard Sell SD SD Hard Sell IMDb 6.5 120 min The film follows a poor teen struggling to help his suffering mom and their sick dog and a beautiful runaway as they hatch schemes to profit from students at a private school. Country: United States Genre: Comedy Drama Stars: Carson Allsteadt Watch now! Blood Orange HD HD Blood Orange IMDb 6.6 85 min The film tells the story of Bill, an ageing rock star deeply in love with his beautiful and promiscuous young wife Isabelle. But beneath the perfect surface of their lives, dark secrets lurk. Country: United Kingdom Genre: Thriller Stars: Ben Lamb Watch now! Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising HD HD Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising IMDb 6.3 92 min Life is good for Mac Radner and pregnant wife Kelly until the unruly sisters of Kappa Nu move in next door. Things now are even more debaucherous than the fraternity before it, and Mac and Kelly have to ask for help from their former enemy, Teddy. Country: United States Genre: Comedy Drama Family Stars: Seth Rogen Watch now! Sonic Sea HD HD Sonic Sea IMDb 7.3 56 min The documentary is about the devastating impact of industrial and military ocean noise on whales and other marine life. In the darkness of the sea, whales and other marine life depend upon sound to survive, but that is threatened, thanks to humanity! Country: United States Genre: Documentary Stars: Kenneth C. Balcomb III Watch now! Despite the Falling Snow HD HD Despite the Falling Snow IMDb 6.3 93 min During the Cold War, a female spy steals secrets from a politician after falling in love with him. And when he unwittingly closes the net around his own wife, she decides to make the ultimate sacrifice to protect him. Country: United Kingdom Genre: Romance Drama Mystery Stars: Rebecca Ferguson Watch now! The Ghost and the Whale SD SD The Ghost and the Whale IMDb 7 105 min The movie tells the story of Joseph Hawthorne, a bi-polar man who loses his wife at sea, then spirals deep into a world of confusion. His subsequent exoneration creates a divided mystery among the town and moreover her bloodthirsty family. Country: United States Genre: Thriller Drama Mystery Stars: Jonathan Pryce Watch now! Den of Darkness SD SD Den of Darkness IMDb 6.5 91 min A Den Mother becomes blind after an accident. Together with her husband, they move to a new house, but she can't get away with the guilt over the death of a girl scout. When they find a little girl hidden in their house, things start to unravel... Country: United States Genre: Thriller Horror Stars: Monika Tilling Watch now! Back in the Day HD HD Back in the Day IMDb 6.4 121 min The film follows two gangsters (Michael Madsen, Alec Baldwin) and a trainer (Danny Glover) as they help a young man (William DeMeo) realize his dream of becoming a professional boxer. Country: United States Genre: Drama Stars: Alec Baldwin Watch now! X-Men: Apocalypse HD HD X-Men: Apocalypse IMDb 7.8 144 min As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance with the emergence of the world's first mutant, Apocalypse, Professor X must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction. Country: United States Genre: Action Adventure Fantasy Stars: James Mcavoy Watch now! Manhattan Night HD HD Manhattan Night IMDb 7.2 113 min The movie tells the story of Porter Wren, a scuttling tabloid columnist ensnared in an elaborate story of deception, blackmail, murder and sexual duplicity. But his job, his marriage, and his life are all threatened when he accepts to dig in a very nasty case of sexual obsession and blackmail. Country: United States Genre: Crime Drama Mystery Stars: Yvonne Strahovski Watch now! Izzies Way Home SD SD Izzies Way Home IMDb 7.8 70 min A constantly picked-on aquarium fish escapes her yacht home, unaware of the dangers that await her in the open ocean. But it's also where she finds new friends who help her navigate the perils of the deep and to also learn how to be true to herself. Country: United States Genre: Animation Stars: Joey Fatone Watch now! Freshwater HD HD Freshwater IMDb 4.6 90 min The film is a new take on the classic story of a group of twenty-something kids' weekend of terror at the lake house. Will anyone get off the island alive, in one piece? Something more sinister seems to be at play. Country: United States Genre: Thriller Stars: Donnabella Mortel Zoë Bell Tom O'Connell Christopher Biewer Marti Hale Michael St. Michaels Elizabeth Beckwith Derrick Redford Alison Haislip Amy Paffrath Joe Lando Aiden Berry Baden Sanderford Faisal Al-Saja Yulia Klass Sally Montgomery Sherri Eakin Watch now! The Devil Complex SD SD The Devil Complex IMDb 3 79 min In November 2012 Rachel Kusza and her team of film makers travelled to Transylvania to document the Baciu forest, the world's most haunted forest which has a dark history of strange occurrences, ghost sightings and countless cases of missing people. Country: United Kingdom Genre: Horror Thriller Stars: Patrick Sebastian Negrean Marius Dan Munteanu Adrian Carlugeo Bill Hutchens Andreea Gabor Elena Hutchens Olivia Popica Andrei Ionescu Watch now! Cyborg X HD 720p HD 720p Cyborg X IMDb 2.9 90 min After X-Corp, a radical weapons manufacturer, is taken over by a Cyber Virus, which wipes out 99% of the population. In this situation, a group of human survivors desperately fight against this powerful enemy so as to regain control of the world and save humanity on planet earth. Country: United States Genre: Action Horror Stars: Eve Mauro Watch now! Pele Birth of a Legend HD HD Pele Birth of a Legend IMDb 7.8 107 min The film depicts the Brazilian football legend Pelé's meteoric rise from the slums of Sao Paulo to leading to Brazil to its first World Cup victory at the age of 17 under guidance from manager Vicente Feola. Country: United States Genre: Drama Sport Biography Stars: Vincent D'Onofrio Watch now! Tulips in Spring HD HD Tulips in Spring IMDb 6.7 90 min An interior designer must halt her work on a big project in order to return home after she learns her father has broken his leg, and her help is desperately needed at the family tulip farm. Country: International Genre: Drama Stars: Fiona Gubelmann Watch now! Race HD HD Race IMDb 7.1 134 min Young Jesse Owens becomes a track and field sensation while attending the Ohio State University in the early 1930s, where he faces off against Adolf Hitler's vision of Aryan supremacy. Country: France Genre: Drama Sport Biography Stars: Stephan James Watch now! Grease Live HD 720p HD 720p Grease Live IMDb 7.5 180 min After spending a summer in love with each other, high school students Danny and Sandy unexpectedly reunite again when she transfers to Rydell High. There Sandy must contend with cynical Rizzo and the Pink Ladies in attempt to win Danny's heart again. Country: United States Genre: Musical Romance Stars: Julianne Hough Watch now! Fear Is Coming HD HD Fear Is Coming IMDb 6 89 min The legendary story about Thai ghost Chiang Mai attracts many visitors. After coming back from a cinema of the ghost, a group of people starts to experience supernatural events, and one after one dies mysteriously. Country: China Genre: Thriller Horror Stars: Yoyo Watch now! 12345678910


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Writer Profile
Books & Essays
The Woods Stretched for Miles: New Nature Writing from the South
Date Published:
University of Georgia Press 1999
The Woods Stretched for Miles gathers essays about southern landscape and nature from nineteen writers with geographic or ancestral ties to the region. Harry Middleton's chapter is entitled "Bagpipes on Hazel Creek."
From the savannas of south Florida through the hardwood uplands of Mississippi to the coastal rivers of the Carolinas and the high mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee, the range in geography covered is equally broad. With insight and eloquence, these diverse talents take up similar themes: environmental restoration, the interplay between individual and community, the definition of wildness in an area transformed by human activity, and the meaning of our reactions to the natural world.
Readers will treasure the passionate and intelligent honorings of land and nature offered by this rich anthology. With the publication of The Woods Stretched for Miles, southern voices establish their abiding place in the ever-popular nature writing genre.
Book Review #1:
"This is an important book?the first of its kind exclusively on the Southeast. It should appeal to general readers who wish to read about the genre in the Southeast, about the long and complex relationship between American culture and nature, and also about controversial environmental issues in the region."
?John Murray, editor of American Nature Writing
Book Review #2:
"I am delighted with the very concept of this anthology of Southern nature writing. There are dozens and dozens of recent scholarly books on environmental literature and anthologies of nonfiction nature writing, nature poetry, and environmental writing in general, including a number of regionally oriented collections. But, so far, other than Molly Westling's ecocritical studies of Southern fiction, few of these recent publications are explicitly devoted to Southern environmental literature. For this reason, there is a significant void that the The Woods Stretched for Miles is intended to fill?and I think it fills the void quite well."
?Scott Slovic, author of Being in the World: An Environmental Reader for Writers
The Earth is Enough
Date Published:
Pruett Publishing Company 1995


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Host David Gregory complained about Occupy Wall Street protestors "demonizing banks" and wondered, "Is this not a reverse tea party tactic?"
Gregory is right. In many respects Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is indeed a mirror image of the Tea Party. To the Tea Party government is the enemy. To OWS the huge corporation is the enemy. OWS wants to raise taxes on billionaires. The Tea Party wants to considerably reduce them. OWS wants to rebuild and strengthen the safety net. The Tea Party wants to weaken it.
Both OWS and the Tea Party are mass movements but their attitude toward the masses couldn't be more different. OWS and the other #Occupy protests lack leaders and a formal platform, but their demands clearly emerge from the thousands of individual grievances expressed in homemade signs and letters. Mike Konczal at Rortybomb.org did a statistical analysis of 1000 personal statements posted at We are the 99% TUMBLR and found them far less ideological than practical. Their demands effectively boil down to these. "(F)ree us from the bondage of our debts and give us a basic ability to survive."
From his analysis, Konczal sees the outlines of a program, "Upon reflection, it is very obvious where the problems are. There's no universal health care to handle the randomness of poor health. There's no free higher education to allow people to develop their skills outside the logic and relations of indentured servitude. Our bankruptcy code has been rewritten by the top 1% when instead, it needs to be a defense against their need to shove inequality-driven debt at populations. And finally, there's no basic income guaranteed to each citizen to keep poverty and poor circumstances at bay."
As one would expect, given its longevity and political impact, the Tea Party does have leaders and a relatively clear program. Probably the best expression of that program occurred when Houston-based attorney Ryan Hecker created a website and invited people to propose ideas for a platform patterned on the Contract for America the Republicans effectively used in 1994 to gain control of the House of Representatives. Some 1,000 ideas were submitted. Ultimately 450,000 people voted online for the final 10 that became the Contract from America.
All parts of this new Contract are intended to shrink government. "Identify the constitutionality of every new law." "Audit federal agencies for constitutionality." Demand a federal balanced budget amendment. Reduce taxes.
Starkly absent is any mention of the dangers associated with concentrated private wealth and power.
Faux Populism vs. True Populism
Both OWS and the Tea Party might be described as populist but their definitions of populism wildly diverge. That divergence has been clear from their founding. Occupy Wall Street began on September 7, 2011 with hundreds converging on Wall Street. The Tea Party began on February 19, 2009 with a rant from the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. CNBC Business News editor Rick Santelli loudly condemned the government's plan to help people stay in their homes. "(D)o we really want to subsidize the losers' mortgages"? he asked. Santelli suggested holding a tea party for traders to dump derivatives into the Chicago River. Floor traders around him cheered his proposal. The video went viral after the Drudge Report publicized it. Within days, Fox News was discussing the appearance of a new "Tea Party". A week later coordinated protests under the Tea Party banner took place in over 40 cities.
Santelli's insistence that those who lose their homes are "losers" who have only themselves to blame is a sentiment widely shared among Tea Party Republicans and most recently expressed by Republican Presidential candidate front runner Herman Cain. When asked about Wall Street protestors Cain, former CEO of Godfather's Pizza declared, "Don't blame Wall Street. Don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and you're not rich, blame yourself."
During a recent CNN televised Republican presidential debate held in front of a Tea Party audience, the moderator asked Representative Ron Paul what he would do if a healthy 30 year old man decided not to buy health insurance and then had an injury or disease that required hospitalization and surgery. Who would pay for that? Ron Paul said the man was responsible for his actions. He had taken a risk and would have to suffer the consequences. The moderator asked, "Should society just let him die?". While the Congressman pondered the question, audience members vocally expressed their approval.
This lack of empathy for what OWS would call the 99% is palpable wherever Tea Party Republicans come to power,
In Michigan conservative Republicans gained control last November. The state is home to nearly 2 million people, about 20 percent of the state's population, who depend on food stamps. Until last month, eligibility was based on income. But this year, even while the state remains mired in the worst recession since the 1930s the Republicans made it much more difficult to qualify for food assistance. Eligibility is now based on assets. Those with assets of more than $5,000 in the bank or who own a vehicle worth more than $15,000 will no longer be eligible.
For Michigan Republicans it is not enough to be poor and needy to qualify for food assistance. You must be destitute.
In the Tea Party era, policy makers in three dozen states have proposed drug testing for people receiving benefits like welfare, unemployment assistance, job training and food stamps.
In 2011, Florida succeeded in passing legislation requiring the drug testing of welfare applicants at the urging of its Governor Rick Scott, who rode to office on a wave of Tea Party support. The roughly 113,000 Florida welfare recipients must pay for their own drug test. People who fail the test become ineligible for a year. A second failed test makes them ineligible for three years. The Economist magazine's headlines conveyed the elation Tea Party members must have felt with their legislative victory. Drug testing in Florida: their tea-cup runneth over.
Despite Governor Scott's rhetoric, the poor are not drug addicts. Only about 2 percent of Florida's welfare applicants are failing the test, according to Florida's Department of Children and Families. After adding up the savings derived from not paying welfare to this 2 percent and subtracting the cost of testing 100 percent of the applicants the Tampa Tribune concluded that Florida may save "up to $40,800 to $60,000 for a program that state analysts have predicted will cost $178 million this fiscal year.
But in Florida or Michigan or a dozen other states, it's not about saving money. It's about punishing those who teeter on the economic edge. It's about making clear that we are not our brothers' keeper.
OWS does demonize powerful banks. The Tea Party demonizes the poorest and weakest of us all.
For OWS unfairness means taxing billionaires at half the rate their secretaries pay and allowing the top 1% of the population to "earn" as much, collectively, as the bottom 60 percent. For Tea Party Republicans taxes themselves are unfair and inequality is desirable. Indeed, they want to give the 1% even a greater share of the nation's wealth.
All Republican presidential candidates promise to lower taxes on the rich. Herman Cain has captured the popular conservative imagination with his 9-9-9 plan, a flat tax of 9 percent on the rich and corporations and the imposition of a 9 percent national sales tax on everyone. This would result in a 50-75 percent cut in taxes paid by the richest 1% while imposing a hefty new tax on the 99%. The Citizens for Tax Justice estimates that under Cain's plan, the bottom 60 percent of taxpayers will pay about $2,000 more in taxes while the richest 1% will pay about $210,000 less.
The Tea Party vision of a future America may have been best expressed by the budget introduced last spring by Tea Party darling Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI) last spring and passed enthusiastically by the Republican House. "This is not a budget," Ryan declared at the time. "This is a cause."
Indeed it was, and is. Ryan's plan would cut about $4.3 trillion from programs that primarily benefit the 99% while cutting taxes by about and equal amount, $4.2 trillion, cuts that would overwhelmingly benefit the 1%. According to Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Ryan's plan "would produce the largest redistribution of income from the bottom to the top in modern U.S. history, while increasing poverty and inequality more than any measure in recent times and possibly in the nation's history."
Even when they agree that federal spending is profligate, OWS and the Tea Party violently disagree on what should be cut. Signs and speeches at #Occupy events often target the exorbitant military spending and foreign wars. But despite the fact that the Pentagon is the poster child for government waste and incompetence, not to mention corruption, it is also the only part of the government the Tea Party considers all but off limits.
As soon as Republicans took over the House of Representatives in November 2010, they changed the rules so that military spending does not have to be offset by reduced spending somewhere else, unlike any other kind of government spending. It is the only activity of government Republicans believe does not have to be paid for. The Tea Party's ascendance has only strengthened the Republicans' resolve that the Pentagon's budget is untouchable. An analysis by the Heritage Foundation of Republican votes on defense spending found that Tea Party freshmen were even more likely than their Republican elders to vote against cutting any part of the military budget.
The Use and Abuse of Government
The Tea Party hates the very idea of government, embracing Ronald Reagan's famous dictum, "Government is the problem." OWS also sees government as an enemy when democracy has been corrupted by money and government has been captured by corporations. The Declaration of Principles adopted by the general assembly of Occupy Wall Street in its first days makes this clear, "…no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments."
As Nobel laureate economist Joseph Stiglitz observes government increasingly is the 1%.
Virtually all U.S. senators, and most of the representatives in the House, are members of the top 1 percent when they arrive, are kept in office by money from the top 1 percent, and know that if they serve the top 1 percent well they will be rewarded by the top 1 percent when they leave office….When pharmaceutical companies receive a trillion-dollar gift—through legislation prohibiting the government, the largest buyer of drugs, from bargaining over price—it should not come as cause for wonder. It should not make jaws drop that a tax bill cannot emerge from Congress unless big tax cuts are put in place for the wealthy. Given the power of the top 1 percent, this is the way you wouldexpect the system to work.
But OWS also knows that government is the only vehicle through which the majority can fashion rules that increase personal security and restrain unbridled greed and private power. If we give up on government we give up on our ability to collectively influence our future.
Which is why high on the list of demands by OWS protestors is to minimize the impact of money on politics and increase the number of people voting.
Tea Partiers again take the opposite position. They defend the right of global corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections and they advocate policies that suppress voter turnout.
"Since Republicans won control of many statehouses last November, more than a dozen states have passed laws requiring voters to show photo identification at polls, cutting back early voting periods or imposing new restrictions on voter registration drives," the New York Times reported a few weeks back.
A recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law analyzed 19 laws that passed and 2 executive orders that were issued in 14 states this year. The report concludes that these policy changes "could make it significantly harder for more than five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012."
Today the Tea Party has the upper hand. With the backing of some of the world's richest men and most powerful corporations, it has successfully converted the justifiable anger at Wall Street and government inaction into an unprecedented and ahistorical form of populism: a mass uprising against the masses. The Occupy Wall Street movement proposes a populism more compatible with other mass protests, one that doesn't turn its back on neighbors, one that fights against massive inequality and concentrated private power, and that urges reforms that can once again allow us to have a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
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By Ezra Stead
Directed by Orson Welles
Scarface, USA, 1932
Directed by Howard Hawks
Beauty and the Beast, France, 1946
Written and Directed by Jean Cocteau
Never before or since has any director made such an impressive feature film debut as Orson Welles did, at the astonishing age of 25, with Citizen Kane (1941). Despite having no prior experience in filmmaking, Welles was given carte blanche on the film, and he delivered the most original, innovative and provocative film of its time. Even today it is considered one of the greatest films ever made, and it is a standard by which all other films are judged. According to the great critic Andrew Sarris, as quoted in his 1967 book Interviews with Film Directors, "Citizen Kane is still the work which influenced the cinema more profoundly than any American film since Birth of a Nation." Read More


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Last December, the Accountability Review Board report on the happenings surrounding the terror attack in Benghazi concluded that "systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels" (but still below then-Secretary Hillary Clinton) and "inadequate" security measures were to blame for the lack of preparedness, the muddled response, and the deaths of four Americans — and ever since, Clinton and other administration officials have regularly referred lingering questions on the attack to the board's report. Just yesterday, Jay Carney insisted that "the Accountability Review Board which investigated this matter — and I think in no one's estimation sugarcoated what happened there or pulled any punches when it came to holding accountable individuals that they felt had not successfully executed their responsibilities — heard from everyone and invited everyone. So there was a clear indication there that everyone who had something to say was welcome to provide information to the Accountability Review Board."
Now, however, Congress is getting ready for more hearings on Benghazi with self-proclaimed whistleblowers, which House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa has suggested will "expose new facts" that the Obama administration has deliberately "tried to suppress." So… does that mean that the ARB panel perhaps conspicuously neglected to interview some of those key witnesses? The State Department's Office of Inspector General is investigating just that, reports Fox News:
The IG's office is said by well-placed sources to be seeking to determine whether the Accountability Review Board, or ARB — led by former U.N. Ambassador Thomas Pickering and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen — failed to interview key witnesses who had asked to provide their accounts of the Benghazi attacks to the panel.
The IG's office notified the department of the "special review" on March 28, according to Doug Welty, the congressional and public affairs officer of the IG's office.
This disclosure marks a significant turn in the ongoing Benghazi case, as it calls into question the reliability of the blue-ribbon panel that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton convened to review the entire matter. Until the report was concluded, she and all other senior Obama administration officials regularly refused to answer questions about what happened in Benghazi.
For months, the administration's constant refrain was that "this is an ongoing investigation" and that they had to wait for the results, and then they switched gears and directed everyone's attention to the conclusions of a report that might itself turn out to be — how shall I put this delicately — incomplete? Faulty? Intentionally half-assed?
But, meh, whatever — Benghazi happened "a long time ago," after all. What difference, at this point, does it make?
Update: To answer my own/Clinton's question about what difference, at this point, the administration's handling in the run-up to and fallout from the Benghazi terror attack makes: Kind of a big one. CNN is reporting that several Yemeni men belonging to AQ took part in, and were possibly sent in to instigate, the attack, according to several sources:
One senior U.S. law enforcement official told CNN that "three or four members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula," or AQAP, took part in the attack.
Another source briefed on the Benghazi investigation said Western intelligence services suspect the men may have been sent by the group specifically to carry out the attack. But it's not been ruled out that they were already in the city and participated as the opportunity arose.
The attack on the compound and subsequently on a "safe-house" to which Americans had been evacuated left four U.S. citizens dead, including the ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens.
If the AQAP members were dispatched to Benghazi, it would be further evidence of a new level of co-operation among jihadist groups throughout the Middle East and North Africa, counterterrorism analysts say.


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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A northwest Montana town where asbestos contamination has killed more than 200 people will get more than $130 million in cleanup and medical assistance from the Obama administration, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday.
Libby, Montana, will get new help dealing with asbestos contamination.
The declaration is the first issued by the agency, which has grappled with the "toxic legacy" of a mine outside Libby, Montana, since 1999, Administrator Lisa Jackson said.
The town was heavily contaminated with asbestos-laced dust that federal prosecutors said resulted in more than 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses.
"For decades, the disease and death rate from asbestosis in the Libby area was staggeringly high -- much higher than the national average," Jackson told reporters.
Not only did dust from the mine spread all over Libby and the neighboring town of Troy for decades, but tailings from the facility also were used as fill for driveways, gardens and playgrounds, she said.
"Literally no matter where these residents turned, they were being exposed yet again," Jackson said. She said the declaration "should be a reminder of the serious consequences of mismanaging hazardous material."
EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said $6 million from the Department of Health and Human Services will go to local health care providers to screen, diagnose and treat asbestos-related illnesses, while $125 million will go toward cleaning up contaminated areas. The new commitment brings the total amount the EPA has designated for the Libby area to $333 million, she said.
The agency still needs to conduct "significant research" into the health effects of the type of asbestos that has been spread around town since the 1920s, she said, and does not yet know how many properties will need to be cleaned up.
During Jackson's confirmation hearing in January, Montana Sen. Max Baucus said the valley's 12,000 residents had been "hung out to dry" and pressed Jackson to review the issue. Wednesday, Baucus presented Jackson and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius with a photo of one of his constituents, former miner Les Skramstad.
"He died, and others in Libby have died," said Baucus, a Democrat. "But the decision is the beginning of what needed to be done. It's the first time in American history that we've had this declaration, and I cannot think of a more fitting time and place for it than Libby, Montana."
Baucus is the former chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and now leads the Finance Committee. He is a key architect of a still-being-drafted health care bill the Obama administration has said it wants to see pass this year.
The Libby operation began producing vermiculite -- a mineral often used in insulation -- in 1919. Dust from the plant covered patches of grass, dusted the tops of cars and drifted through the air in a hazy smoke that became a part of residents' daily lives.
But the product was contaminated with tremolite asbestos, a particularly toxic substance that has been linked to mesothelioma, a cancer that can attack the lining of the lungs, abdomen, or heart.
In May, a federal jury acquitted mine operator W.R. Grace and three of its former executives of criminal charges related to the contamination. Grace operated the facility from 1963 until it closed in 1990, and prosecutors argued that its executives knowingly released the substance and tried to hide the danger from the community.
Baucus said that despite the verdict, he still believes the company "knew it was contaminating the town."
"Regrettably, the trial did not conclude the way I thought that it should," he said.
There was no immediate response from the company to the senator's remarks. During the three-month trial, Grace did not deny that the asbestos came from its mine, but it said it acted responsibly to clean up the contamination. It also paid millions in medical bills for area residents, and agreed in 2008 to pay $250 million to reimburse the EPA for its cleanup efforts.
All About U.S. Environmental Protection Agency • Montana • W.R. Grace & Company


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pyramid_jqm is a package which provides "starter" scaffolding for creating a jQuery Mobile Pyramid application.
Obtain the source code from the git repository:
$ git clone git://github.com/Pylons/pyramid_jqm.git
Use the "setup.py develop" command of your Python interpreter (or better yet, a virtualenv) to install the software:
$ cd pyramid_jqm
$ /path/to/python setup.py develop
The primary job of pyramid_jqm is to provide a scaffold which allows you to easily generate a Pyramid application that has jQuery Mobile integration. After pyramid_jqm is installed, generate an application. The way this is done differs slightly if you're using Pyramid 1.1, 1.2, or 1.3.
On Pyramid 1.1 or 1.2:
$ $myvenv/pcreate -t pyramid_jqm_starter MyApp
On Pyramid 1.3:
$ $myvenv/bin/pcreate -s pyramid_jqm_starter MyApp
This will create a MyApp distribution, in which will live a myapp Python package. The distribution represents a redistributable Pyramid application. The code which drives the application lives within the package. You need to install that package as well:
$ cd MyApp
$ /path/to/python setup.py develop
To run the generated application, use pserve against the development.ini file that lives within the distribution directory
$ pserve MyApp/development.ini
If you get an exception while doing the above that relates to not being able to find a "server runner" for egg:pyramid#wsgiref, upgrade to Pyramid 1.0.2, 1.1.3, 1.2.5, or 1.3a2+ or any later release in any of those minor versions.
A server will be listening on port 6543. When you visit it, you will see something like the following image:
The generated application is optimized for mobile devices, but is usable via a normal web browser too. It contains a variety of demonstration applications. You can use it as a template to change and being building your own Pyramid/jQuery Mobile application.
The available demonstration patterns in the application are as follows:
This page displays some text with links in the JQM content area. It also fills some dynamic divs with version information using an AJAX request to the Pyramid server.
See the index.html source for the div with the id about to see the HTML. See the pyramid.js source about_pageshow function to see how the version data is retrieved and populated into the DOM.
This page displays a single Google Map centered on the device location.
See the index.html source for the div with the id map to see the HTML. See the pyramid.js source map_pageshow and map_pagecreate functions to see how the map data is retrieved and shown on the page.
This page displays a form. The form is submittable, and the changes made to the form data persist on the server for the duration of the Pyramid process. It uses a JSON query to the Pyramid server at page show time to retrieve the form data. It uses a separate JSON query (a POST) to send data to the server when the form submit button is pressed.
See the index.html source for the div with the id form to see the HTML. See the pyramid.js source form_pagecreate and form_pageshow functions to see how the form data is retrieved and changed.
This page displays a dynamically-generated list of languages, using the same data used to generate the "frameworks" multi-select in the form demo. Each list item links to a URL of a page generated via a server-side view: when clicked, the jquery.mobile AJAX link support is triggered, which causes any page not already loaded to be fetched and then added to the DOM of the application.
See the index.html source for the div with the id dynpages to see the HTML for the list of langages. See the pyramid.js source dynpages_pagecreate to see how the JSON data is used to generate the dynamic links.
Each XHR query used by the application uses the same generic error handler (jqxhr_error). This error handler tries to figure out whether the request failed due to the device being offline, the server being down, or the server returning an error. It uses the jquery.toastmessage library to notify the user about failures.
The demo application makes use of jQuery "deferred" objects to form a callchain. Each deferred object is resolved at a particular time, permitting the functions which depend on it to execute successfully. Deferreds are resolved via a .resolve call to the deferred. Functions use the .done method of a deferred to wait until the deferred is resolved to obtain required data.
Each server-side Pyramid view uses a JSON renderer, and each is configured with caching parameters that will prevent the mobile application from attempting to retrieve data needlessly. See the views.py file in the generated package to see how it works.
Visit http://github.com/Pylons/pyramid_jqm to download development or tagged versions.
Visit http://github.com/Pylons/pyramid_jqm/issues to report bugs.


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Solar Panel Removal and Reinstallation for Roof Repair in Charlotte, NC
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Ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer plans NYC comptroller run
ALBANY (AP) -- Former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who stepped down in 2008 amid a prostitution scandal, says he is planning a political comeback with a run for New York City comptroller.
Spitzer, a Democrat, has spoken in the past about the potential for the comptroller's job to look into corporate misdeeds. That would be similar to what he did as the state's attorney general, when he was known as the "sheriff of Wall Street."
Candidates for citywide offices like comptroller have to have 3,750 signatures from registered voters in their party by Thursday.
Spitzer, a father of three who resigned five years ago amid allegations of a rendezvous with a prostitute, has returned to public life as a commentator, with shows on CNN, Current TV and NY1.
He said he hoped city voters would give him a chance.
"I'm hopeful there will be forgiveness, I am asking for it," he told The New York Times, which first reported his run on Sunday.
Current Comptroller John Liu is running for mayor.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has been the most prominent among the contenders to become New York City's next fiscal chief. He's raised more than $3.5 million and spent about $566,000, city campaign finance records show, while his opponents have yet to report any fundraising or spending.
They include Republican John Burnett, who has worked on Wall Street in various finance capacities and just recently declared his candidacy; Green Party candidate Julia Willebrand, a former teacher; and former madam Kristin Davis. Davis once ran three escort services and claims to have provided hookers to Spitzer, which hasn't been proven.
Spitzer is not the only politician who's looking for a second chance.
Former Rep. Anthony Weiner is running for mayor. The former Democratic congressman left office two years ago amid a scandal over his tweets.


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The answer to the headline is "never," right?
As we said in a previous blog, if you can't afford to follow your passion, then don't quit your day job. Even just a few minutes a day immersed in doing what you love is good for you for many reasons, until you are in a better position to pursue your passion full-time.
But what if you really want to pursue your passion full-time, right now — as a new business venture, a new career or a new way of life? How do you know if it's the right time to pursue it? When will it ever be the right time? How much money (time, resources, investors, etc.) do you have to have before you're ready to go out and just do it?
Everyone will have a different answer to this question, because everyone has a different level of risk that they're comfortable with.
But let us give you a rule of thumb: Before you do anything, determine your Acceptable Loss.
You need to know how much you're willing to lose before you even start thinking about starting something new. And you need to do everything possible to make sure you don't exceed that figure. It's a variation on risk management, of course: If you're going to play in a game with uncertain outcomes, 1.) don't pay/bet more than what you can expect as a return, and 2.) don't pay/bet more than you can afford to lose.
Both of those ideas can be summed up with the phrase "Acceptable Loss," a concept where you consider the potential downside of whatever risk you are about to take — such as starting a new company or some other venture that is going to consume a lot of your time, capital, or other assets — and put on the line no more than you would find acceptable to lose should things not turn out the way you want.
As you can see, employing the concept of Acceptable Loss keeps any failures small. By definition, you never lose more than you are willing to lose. What you're willing to risk is clearly defined.
But, it also gets you to think about other potential costs and losses too — not just the financial ones. In fact, there are at least five classes of assets at your disposal and at risk.
1. Money. This is the most obvious, of course.
2. Time. You want to guard your time just as much as you guard your money. And just as you have a dollar figure that you think would be "acceptable" to lose, you want to have a time limit as well. "I am willing to give this idea up to six months to see if it will work."
3. Professional Reputation. We all have one, although when you are first starting out, it may be extremely slight. There is nothing wrong with failing if the idea you tried was worthy and you were sufficiently committed to it. You gave it your best shot. It didn't work. On to the next. But if you are seen as someone who doesn't anticipate obvious problems, or who can't conserve resources and use them properly, that failure can seriously hurt you in whatever you do next. You may find it far harder to raise money or even to get another opportunity. Damage to your professional reputation can be a huge loss.
4. Personal Reputation. People may hate the question "what do you do for a living?" arguing (correctly) that they are more than their job. Still, how people see you is, in part, shaped by how you earn your income. You don't want your new venture to be an embarrassment, which could affect your self-esteem, or fail to represent who you truly are. This kind of loss is similar to a loss of professional reputation, but it literally hits much closer to home. Losing your standing with those near and dear to you can be devastating.
5. Missed Opportunities. If you are working to start venture X, you cannot be working on venture Y at exactly the same moment, and Y, potentially, could be a far better idea. In business, this is known as an "opportunity cost" — the cost of not pursuing other opportunities. You want to be mindful of what you are choosing not to do, and you also want to recognize another form of opportunity cost: the price to be paid for not acting right away — someone else might conceive and implement your idea. And the price to be paid for inaction — you might spend the rest of your life in a job you hate, or miss a great opportunity to make an once-in-a-lifetime contribution.
Acceptable Loss does not depend on the venture, but the individual. It varies from person to person, and across the course of someone's lifetime. (For example, you may be willing to risk more when you're young, knowing that you'll have decades to recover should things go wrong; less when your kids are approaching college age and you need to save every dollar you can for those upcoming tuition bills; and then more later on once those bills are behind you.)
When it comes to determining how much you can personally risk in following your passion or starting a new venture — i.e., your own Acceptable Loss — ask yourself these questions:
• What are my assets?
• What can I afford to lose?
• What am I willing to lose in the worst case scenario?
When you become convinced that you can't succeed for technical, market, or personal reasons such as exceeding your Acceptable Loss, then it's probably not the right time to quit your day job. But, by using the concept of Acceptable Loss, you may be able to eventually come closer to your dream than you think, by keeping your risk at a manageable level.


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Agroecology is the science behind sustainable agriculture, from the ground up. It encourages democratic, decentralized decision-making by farmers and incorporates practical, low cost and ecology-based technologies for productive farming.
Not only do agroecological farming methods strengthen ecological and economic resilience in the face of today's climate, water and energy crises, they offer a path forward for growing food to feed us all.


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HTC disappointed a lot of people when it announced that the Desire HD would not get an Ice Cream Sandwich update. Some people just couldn't let go, and have created their own version of Android 4.0 for the handset.
The folks over at the XDA Developer forums decided to take matters into their own hands, with a group of users calling themselves Team Blackout now released a fully functional Android 4.0.4 ROM for all.
The ROM is based on the official Ice Cream Sandwich build released for the HTC Incredible S, and even ports over HTC's Sense 3.6 user interface for good measure.
As a bonus, Team Blackout has included a kernel for overclocking the device to get enhanced performance.
HTC may desire these developer skills
HTC opted to skip the Desire HD for an ICS update due to how the device's memory is partitioned, claiming that Android 4.0's size would require memory re-distribution resulting in lost user data.
The Team Blackout update, on the other hand, manages to provide Android 4.0.4 with 60MB of data to spare in the operating system partition.
So far there have been no reported issues with the update, which is a good sign coming from a community that is typically quick to spot that sort of thing.
However, as is the case with any unofficial software update, running the Team Blackout ICS update on your device can be a risk, and users may lose access to some carrier-specific features.
Via: XDA Developers


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You are here
very dry to atopic sensitive skin
Your skin pulls constantly. Dull and rough, it has lost its suppleness and softness. This dryness may result from natural skin ageing, medicines or external agents (dry cold, wind, sudden climate variations, cosmetics that are harsh or dry out the skin, frequent cleansing, etc.).


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Cisco will deploy VoIP to over 14,000 British Airways staff, which will use 8,500 Cisco IP phones at its U.K. offices and airports. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Cisco in a statement noted that it was a "multi-million-pound IP telephony system."
The Cisco IP phones will be routed over a Cisco Ethernet network and will include Cisco's MeetingPlace conferencing applications, as well as the Cisco CallManager call-processing software. Employee self service applications, including Web-based employee services, will also be available on the Cisco IP phones.
"We needed to replace our legacy phone system in Terminal 4 at Heathrow and this new IP telephony systems gives us the flexibility and functionality to run a busy airport terminal at significantly lower costs base than the old legacy system," said Paul Coby, CIO of British Airways, in a statement.
According to Cisco spokeswoman JoAnne Hughes, Cisco first started discussions with British Airways to replace their legacy telephone network with Cisco IP telephony solutions approximately two years ago.
Cisco said it expects the system to pay for itself within two years by reducing costs and improving productivity through the integration of all voice and data communications onto a single network. The deployment is expected to be completed by March 2006.
Transportation has been a key sector for Cisco, with airlines, airports and the aerospace industry all being featured in major customer announcements.
In early April, Vancouver International Airport announced that it would use Cisco IP Communications solutions. In March, Cisco announced that Athens airport would be using Cisco IP Telephony. And in July, Cisco signed a major deal with Boeing to roll out Cisco IP Telephony across Boeing's converged voice, video and data network.
Yesterday, Cisco reported its quarterly results, which beat expectations. The company's "very solid quarter" was driven by strong-order growth of carrier-class and IP telephony sales.
In other VoIP pact news, British Telecom (BT) today announced it it will use Nortel equipment when it switches its U.K. and Indian call centers to VoIP.
This article appears courtesy of Internetnews.com.


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(I'd posted this on my homepage a while back but figured I'd bring it into blog-land)
Here's a time-lapse I took in summer 2006 while wandering around the Northern part of Iceland. Other than the glitch halfway through (apparently a known bug in Canon's TC80N3 timer, which is otherwise quite cool) it's a rather nice example of how the sun never sets this time of year. This was shot starting at about 11:30pm and goes through about 2am.
For a much higher quality version of this, check out the quicktime movie(it's 20MB so it'll take a while… but it's much nicer than crappy youtube video.)
And for lots more Iceland photos, go here (and see for yourself what a photographer's paradise this place is, particularly when you're able to take photos at about 1am and get stuff like this).


text: All week, Serena Williams played down the prospect of returning to No. 1, but when it happened, she couldn't stop the tears from flowing The 15-time Grand Slam winner replaced top ranked Victoria Azarenka Friday after coming from a set down to beat former Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open. It ended of an emotional two-and-half year journey for Williams marked by a string of injuries and doubts about whether she could dominate the women's game again. After clinching victory with an ace, Williams held up one finger and wiped away the tears flowing down her cheeks as she addressed the cheering crowd. "I never thought I would be here again," Williams said. "Oh my gosh, I've been through so much. I never thought I would be here. Thank you Jehovah [she is a Jehovah Witness] for giving me another chance." At 31, Williams becomes the oldest player to attain the top spot. Chris Evert held the No. 1 ranking in 1985 just shy of her 31st birthday. No. 1 was not a priority two years ago for Williams. Just returning the court was a challenge. Shortly after winning Wimbledon in 2010, she cut her feet on broken glass while on her way out of a restaurant in Germany. That led to two operations on her right foot. Later, she got clots in her lungs and needed to inject herself with a blood thinner. Those shots led to a pool of blood gathering under her stomach's skin, requiring another hospital procedure. Williams lost the top spot to Caroline Wozniacki in 2010 and tumbled down the rankings. But she made a comeback worthy of a No. 1 last year, winning Wimbledon, the Olympic gold medal, the US Open and the season-ending WTA championships. She lost only one match last year after her first-round exit at the French Open. "There were often times that I never thought I'd play again. Then I thought I'd never be able to win tournaments or Grand Slams," Williams said. "No. 1 was so far off. It was always a dream, but I was No. 1 when tragedy struck, and it was just an awful thing to happen. So I'm happy that I'm back." Among those to pay tribute to Williams becoming No. 1 was Maria Sharapova, the American's next opponent, who said it proved the staying power of the game's older players. "It just shows you how the generations have shifted a bit," Sharapova said. "Maybe five, 10 years ago you saw a lot of the younger players achieving much more success and winning Grand Slams. And now you see Li Na and Serena doing so well ... It just shows you how if you stay healthy and you're able to keep working hard, the things that you're able to achieve in tennis at that age." Kvitova, who has never beaten Williams, called her a deserving No. 1. "She played so well last season. She won almost everything," she said. "That just took some time to be No. 1 for her and she is right now, and she deserves it." It wasn't a dominating performance on Friday from the 15-time Grand Slam winner. Erratic at times and appearing to favour her right ankle that she injured at the Australian Open, Williams committed 31 unforced errors throughout the match and hit eight double faults. She also struggled early on with the Czech's serve and forehand in the first set. But her own serve saved her, especially in the second set when she went on to win 13 of the final 14 points - pumping her fist several times and screaming, the first signs of emotion to be seen so far in the tournament. Down 4-1 in the decider, Williams broke Kvitova when she double faulted to make it 4-3. Though it seemed the match would go to a tiebreaker, Williams broke with a wicked crosscourt backhand to make 6-5 and won it with one of her 14 aces "I stuck in there, and I just never gave up. I always felt like if I can just keep fighting and I can just try to do it," Williams said. "I definitely did not play great. With that being said, Petra played unbelievable, and she was just hitting shots I had no chance to get; I don't think anyone on this tour could have gotten." Azarenka, meanwhile, stayed on course to retain her Qatar Open title after dispatching Sara Errani 6-2, 6-2 to also reach the semis. She was joined by Sharapova, who advanced by beating 2011 US Open champion Sam Stosur 6-2, 6-4. Agnieszka Radwanska beat Caroline Wozniacki 6-2, 7-5 to set up a meeting with Azarenka. Azarenka won all 14 net points in the match to make it 12 straight victories this year, including winning a second consecutive Australian Open title. "The score never tells the whole story, really. We had a lot of really long rallies. I was expecting that. She's a very good fighter," Azarenka said. "I really felt like I took big advantage of the important moments, stayed aggressive, and really dictated my game." The third-ranked Sharapova, looking for her third title in Qatar, broke Stosur twice to lead 4-1 in the first set. She took a 3-0 lead in the second before Stosur staged a brief comeback, but she missed a chance to level at 4-4. The Russian closed it out when her backhand clipped the net and dropped over. "I really started playing well when I had to and being aggressive at the right times," Sharapova said. "On the important points when I had to, I came up with really great first serves."


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Is There Such Thing as a Free Train?Sunday, July 11th, 2004
This may be counter-intuitive, but did you realize that instituting limited periods during which all passengers can ride on a train system for free is a measure that can actually pay for itself, and even turn a profit, from the increased numbers of paying passengers who will be attracted to ride the trains during the free period and beyond?
At least there is the strong suggestion that this is true in Denmark. In January train travel was made free for trains running in the region of Svendborg, located on the south part of the big Danish island of Fyn – the one lying between the Jutland mainland to the west and the island of Sjaelland (where Copenhagen is located) to the east. A subsequent study undertaken together by the Danish traffic ministry and the Danish State Railways (DSB) – and reported at length by journalist Rasmus Lindboe in the Danish opinion newspaper Information (Analysis: The State Can Make a Profit on Free Trains) – shows that ridership increased by 25% as a result of this initiative, even after January was over. What's more, one third of the 150,000 new riders attracted to the trains would have ordinarily gotten where they needed to go using their cars. The DSB gained back the money it originally lost by not charging fares within three months from the resulting increased ridership. (more…)


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|Our train was very late, so we were late getting to the walk.
Daniel didn't mind the wait—there were plenty of
buttons to press at the train stop!
|We could see the 5K runners on their way from our seats on the train.
|It was a little loud for Daniel.
(But at least he had all his green gear!)
|He was a little sleepy, too.
|(Obligatory tourist-y shot of the Portland, Oregon sign)
|In the home stretch! I love how everyone dresses up.
We went out for chicken wings together afterward. It was a fun time! I will definitely continue to participate in these events in years to come.


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Oral history interview with Dean P. Stout, 1974 [CCOH]
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UPDATED: Watch now – DietsInReview.com interview with Michelle Aguilar at the Biggset Loser Season 6 Finale.
Apparently it pays to think pink at the Biggest Loser ranch. It pays $250,000 in fact. Tonight, Michelle Aguilar stepped on the daunting scale one final time and walked off a winner. She lost a total of 110 pounds, beating out rivals Ed and Vicky. She became the second female Biggest Loser, and the second winner in a row to sport the pink tee. Michelle said she wore black longer though, and that's why she appeared at the finale wearing trainer Jillian's color.
Congratulations to Michelle on such a hard-earned accomplishment. We wish you much success in your journey.
Listen to our Interview with Bernie Salazar interviewing Michelle Aguilar Biggest Loser Season 6 Winner below: