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Q: My family had to cancel the annual vacation this year because of other household expenses. I'm in charge of entertainment but don't really have any ideas because I'm still bummed about our nixed plans. Any tips on finding a backup vacation plan?
A: It's tough when you have a vacation destination all mapped out, your outfits color coordinated, and then the plans get canceled. But that doesn't have to mean that your family is stuck doing nothing this summer.
I've been researching fun venues for an upcoming trip (don't mean to rub it in), and all that digital legwork made me think about interesting destinations right in my own backyard. Sometimes we get so caught up in distant locales that we overlook not-so-hidden hometown treasures. With that in mind, I offer these tips for perking up a summer spent at home.
Take a day trip: Perhaps you can't do the Disney cruise, but that doesn't mean there aren't fun characters hiding a short drive away from home. Pack a lunch and head out to some local neighborhoods for a change of scenery. Make this a group outing by inviting neighbors to join you on the trek.
More From Woman's Day
Be your own travel guide: When visitors come to your hometown, what are the destinations you insist they visit? More often than not, these venues have made a few upgrades since you checked them out. New exhibits and features are a necessity to compete. Whether it's a museum, the zoo or a baseball game, look online for summer or family package deals and plan an outing.
My local zoo offers $5 off each ticket purchased before 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. With the summer heat bearing down, that shouldn't be a problem for many families. The local museum also offers free admission to county residents each month. You'll be amazed at the deals you can find when you visit a site and simply type in "discount" or "free." (Did I mention that "free" is one of my favorite words in the English language? Thought so.)
Scout out the festivals: Your local visitors bureau or city paper should offer a calendar that's chock full of cool festivals around town. For the price of a few funnel cakes and lemonade, the family can burn calories scouring vendor booths and listening to local bands.
Take a culinary tour: The Food Network has entire shows dedicated to the "best" burgers, ice cream or barbecue around the country. Make a short list of family favorites and try a treasure hunt for the best finds in your hometown. I'm down for a tour of gelato spots anytime.
Get the season pass: Several venues like museums or aquariums offer package deals or season passes that greatly reduce the price for a family. If there's an amusement park near you, consider investing in season tickets for entertainment throughout the summer.
Park it: When was the last time your family descended upon the local park for old-fashioned fun at its finest? A few sandwiches, popsicles, some lawn games and a few tunes are all you need for family fun outside — together.
Create an action plan: Ask each person in the family to suggest three activities they always wanted to do in the city. That may include attending a baseball game or taking an evening pottery course at the local community college. Compile a working list and vote as a family on the items you can reasonably tackle in one summer.
Have a block party: Everyone loves a party, especially one that begins and ends in the front yard. Grab all the lawn furniture, call the neighbors, rope off the street and pump up the tunes once a month for a block party. Consider adding a clothing swap before school resumes or do a walking potluck as well. Check out my previous column for more Earth-friendly tips for the summer.
I can just see Mother Nature smiling now!
Related Articles:
How to Plan a Volunteer Vacation
Video: Entertaining Kids On a Rainy Day


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Andrew and Acacia Tweed Ontario
Andy and Acacia found Pics & Tweaks Photography through kijiji last winter. They were from Nova Scotia but were getting married in Tweed to be closer to Acacia's. We had our initial meeting via Skype. Their wedding was simple, yet very organized. Both families were super friendly and the potluck reception had the best food! I think the photos will describe the mood of the day.Read More

subset: commoncrawl


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Red color gorgeous Lace Work Vichitra silk Designer Saree. This Gorgeous saree featuring beautiful Lace Work Designs. Comes along with a contrast unstitched 80 CM blouse and 6.30 Meter Saree
Brand : Indian Women
Occasion : Party Wear Saree|Traditional – Festival Wear
Style : Designer Sarees
Saree Color : Red
Blouse Color : Red
Saree Fabric : Vichitra silk
Blouse Fabric : Satin
Saree Work : Lace Work
Blouse Work : Plain
Saree Length : 5.50 MTR
Blouse Length : 0.80 MTR
Blouse Type : Un-stitched Blouse
Remark : The first wash of the garment should always be Dry-Cleaned.


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Hello readers and followers, this is poem I posted 3 weeks ago, but today I've revised some words and the format. I read this poem to my poetry group on Sunday, and after the usual discussion the group suggested some subtle changes, to give my piece an even more powerful punch….. and after swapping things around a little, this is my revised poem…. with sincere thanks to members of my wonderful poetry group…..below I've attached a photo of the original poem….
The earth is waiting
Sick of humans stalling
And their time wasting
They know it's time
Waiting for their promised cheers
Waiting for less destructive years
Will they give her resolutions
Of better times ahead
Will they finally read
Thor's neon signs
Will they notice
A smoke covered sun
Will they be able to breathe the air
As a united one
The earth cannot watch
Nor wait
While humans
Fill their own greedy plates
Why are they celebrating?
Like blind fools, that are always pretending
As if nothing is going wrong
They can hear the whales crying songs
They can see the polar caps are melting
They can taste the venom of government's lying
In the following video/song, if you could metaphorically place earth and human's between the lyrics, you might understand why I chose this song by Damien Rice..
Ivor Steven (c) Jan 2020


text: The pkgsrc team is proud to announce the availability of the pkgsrc-2013Q2 branch. There are many new packages, and some bug fixes. A start has been made on full cross-compilation across NetBSD architectures, and, while not yet ready for prime-time, it is usable in a fairly large number of packages. Numbers of Packages =================== In pkgsrc, there are: 12389 total packages for NetBSD-current/amd64 11912 binary packages built with gcc for NetBSD-6.1/amd64 11906 binary packages built with clang for NetBSD-current/amd64 10254 binary packages built with gcc for Joyent's SmartOS/i386 318 packages have been added this quarter 41 packages have been renamed this quarter 32 packages have been removed this quarter 1564 packages have been updated this quarter These numbers may not compare exactly to other (binary) packaging systems; some packaging systems split large packages like boost up into multiple packages, while others keep unused and unbuildable packages. Pkgsrc Release Schedule ======================= The pkgsrc developers make a new release every three months. We believe that this is a sweet spot between too many updates, and keeping abreast of issues like security vulnerabilities. Pkgsrc is not tied to any one operating system or architecture, which gives us the ability to decouple the releases from any operating system releases, and to concentrate on the packages themselves. Package Additions ================= Our aspell and ispell dictionaries were overhauled to bring us up to date, and we gained 50+ KDE4 localisations. Also notable were the additions of node.js, a number of kde4 games and multimedia applications were split out into their own releases, and gcc-4.8, opencobol, and our X11 and Mesa packages were also brought up to date. Package Removals ================ Amongst others, we said goodbye to: postgresql-8.3, xulrunner, clutter08, ruby-clutter. Python-3.1 has been replaced by python-3.3, and bind-9.7 has also transferred all its zones into the sunset. Pkgsrc-security =============== One neat feature of pkgsrc is its ability to sort package versions based on the version numbers. It's used in audit-packages, to report on any installed packages which may have security vulnerabilities in them. pkgsrc-security%pkgsrc.org@localhost maintains lists of vulnerable packages, along with reference URLs relating to the exposure. We thank OBATA Akio, Daniel Horecki, Guillaume Lasmayous, and Tim Zingelman for their hard work. Sample output from audit-packages is shown below: % audit-packages Package bash-4.2nb1 has a buffer-overflow vulnerability, see http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2012-3410 % Package of the Quarter ====================== John Nemeth nominated xenkernel42 and xentools42, as a simple way of getting modern support for Xen. My own vote goes to jq as a marvellous way of interpreting and displaying JSON. Getting pkgsrc ============== While more information can be found in http://www.netbsd.org/docs/pkgsrc/getting.html tar files for pkgsrc, along with checksums, can be found at http://ftp.netbsd.org/pub/pkgsrc/pkgsrc-2013Q2/ and anonymous cvs can be used: cvs -z3 -q -d anoncvs%anoncvs.NetBSD.org@localhost:/cvsroot checkout -r pkgsrc-2013Q2 -P pkgsrc About pkgsrc ============ pkgsrc is a cross-platform packaging system. It allows people to download source, and to build and install binary packages on one or more platforms. Building packages from source is useful for a number of reasons: + not only is the provenance of source code checked (by using multiple checksums), with pkgsrc, the version of source code you are working with is the same that other developers and users have. + patches are maintained in a central repository, and, again, are checked at patch application time by using digests. The patches which are applied to the sources being built are the same ones which are known to be used and proved by other pkgsrc users (not necessarily on the same platform.) + by building from source, all doubts about compilers, build practices source code cleanliness, and packaging differences are removed. Digital signatures of binary packages, while useful in themselves, only prove certain aspects of binary package provenance. (pkgsrc has had signed packages since 2001.) + it may be difficult or impossible to find a pre-built package for the operating system or architecture + a pre-built package may have further or conflicting pre-requisites, which are themselves difficult to find or build. By building everything, including pre-requisites, a from-source packaging system can ensure that pre-requisites are present and integrated At the present time, pkgsrc supports 20 platforms: AIX BSDOS Cygwin Darwin/Mac OS X DragonFly FreeBSD FreeMiNT HPUX Haiku IRIX Interix/SFU/SUA Linux Minix3 MirBSD NetBSD OSF1 OpenBSD QNX Solaris/illumos UnixWare Complete dependency and pre-requisite package information is held and used by the package management software - if packages rely on other packages to function properly, that pre-requisite will be built, installed and managed as part of the package installation process. Binary packages can be managed using pkgin. Alistair Crooks On behalf of the pkgsrc developers Mon Jul 1 17:04:44 PDT 2013


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Action | Adventure | Children | Anime
TV Tokyo (JP)
0/10 from 0 users
The story takes place in the distant future and focuses on Yuma Tsukumo, a youngster who aspire to become the duelist champion, despite his skills are still on amateur level. Something unexpected happens when he challenges Ryoga Kamishiro to a duel to recover a friend's deck that was stolen from him. During the duel, Yuma is being defeated by Ryoga when the mysterious ghost of Astral appears before him, and aids him to make a comeback victory. Astral explains to Yuma that his mission is to search for his lost memories, that were scattered across the world taking the form of 99 Exceed monsters called "Numbers", and to retrieve them, he must defeat the owners of each Number monster in a duel. Yuma agrees to help him, and thus their journey together begins.
TV Show Canceled/Ended.
S1E71 - The Miraculous Kattobing! ZEXAL, Open The Path to the Future!!
Air Date: 10 Sep 2012 05:30 (CDT)
S1E72 - The Impossible Great Clash!! Double King of Wishes VS Double Galaxy-Eyes!!
Air Date: 17 Sep 2012 05:30 (CDT)
S1E73 - Yuma Awakens! The ZEXAL that Exceeds even the Ultimate!!
Air Date: 24 Sep 2012 05:30 (CDT)


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Estes Park School District R-3 lost their athletic director/assistant principal last week, when Jesse Nino resigned to take another position, school superintendent Patrick Hickey said Monday.
Hickey said that, while the new teachers report for orientation on Aug. 12 and 13, he could not say how many there will be, because the district is still accepting applications. The traditional welcoming pancake breakfast will be held Aug. 15.
Nino's position is open and the district is taking applications currently. Hickey said that Nino resigned last week, as athletic director and assistant principal, and was "very good about the whole process." Nino lives in Greeley and will be taking a position there, after he was offered a job closer to home.
Hickey said 20 percent of the Park R-3 district staff commutes to Estes Park. Of 93 teachers, 75 live in Estes Park; 2 in Glen Haven; 1 in Pinewood Springs; 1 in Allenspark; 3 in Loveland; 1 in Boulder; 4 in Longmont; 1 in Fort Collins; 2 in Lyons; 1 in Greeley; 1 in Berthoud; 1 in Frederick; and 1 in Denver.
Of the 55 classified staff, 47 live in Estes Park;1 in Pinewood Springs; 1 in Allenspark; 3 in Loveland; 1 in Longmont; and 2 in Lyons.
Of the 7 Options school personnel, 5 live in Estes Park; 1 in Fort Collins; and 1 in Lyons.
Eight of the 9 members of the administration live in Estes Park, with the remaining official living in Greeley.
Contact Trail-Gazette or Juley Harvey at 970-586-3356 or email@example.com


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Last night's game four of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals featured a pitching performance few fans saw coming.
After the Rangers gave up sixteen runs to the mighty Albert Pujols and friends the game before, it was the 25-year-old kid from Newark, Ohio with an extremely bright future who shut down the Cardinals offense and lifted the darkness of potential Cardinal momentum and domination in what would have been a 3-1 lead in the Series for St. Louis.
Derek Holland delivered a lights out performance Sunday night giving up only two hits in 8 1/3 innings. The stage and what was at risk gave greater weight to an already stellar achievement leaving many to question whether it was the best pitching performance in the history of the franchise.
Talk about saying a lot. You are talking about a franchise that has featured great pitchers as recent as Cliff Lee and as long ago as Nolan Ryan. Clutch victories, no-hitters – in Ryan's case, multiple no-hitters. Sunday night was as much about the past though as it was about the future. Two organizations battling it out, like heavyweights exchanging body blow after body blow. One organization who has never won the title and another who has proudly displayed ten since last winning in 2006.
The outcome of game four would deliver short term and long term implications. If the Rangers were to lose, they would find themselves in the deepest hole one can find themselves in, in a best of seven Series. Down three games to one, with only three left to play. The likelihood of the Cardinals claiming number eleven? Let's just say if they had won game four, someone with an St. L on the office door name plate would have had the local shelvesman on speed dial. If the Rangers were to win, the Series would be even. They would have met the mighty offensive attack from the National League that won 90 games this season blow for blow in a toe-to-toe first four games of a winner take all best of seven.
Thanks to Derek Holland's focus, skill and baseball history bookmark-worthy performance, the Rangers walked away with the latter. Holland gave up only two hits in 8 1/3 innings and walked off to a rousing ovation from the home crowd.
For those who love a high scoring game, Holland wasn't out there to oblige Sunday evening. For fans who enjoy watching the unexpected players in the Series steal headlines away from those we all thought were likely to command the audience's attention, Holland was perfect casting. Rangers fans may be familiar with work of 'The Dutch Oven' as they so affectionately refer to him, however for MLB fans who follow another team, merely watching a Rangers game because it happens to be game four of the World Series, for those fans this was a breakthrough performance for Holland.
He threw two-hit ball with only two walks and seven strike outs over eight and a third, including keeping Mr. Five-hit-three-homers-six-RBI hitless the day after he looked like he may win the Series by himself for the Cardinals (Pujols). The first two thirds of this amazing drama (Holland's 16-5 regular season and then the first eight innings of game four) played the crowd into its hands and had fans on the edge of their seats waiting to see how it was to end. Once Texas' manager, Ron Washington, sent Holland out to finish what he started, they would not have it any other way.
The way Rangers Ballpark sounded as Holland jogged out to the mound to start the top of ninth, it seemed as if each and every one of those fans, had they been Washington, would have done the exact same thing. This was Holland's show now. Not Cruz, Freese, Pujols, Berkman, Young or Hamilton. Holland was the hero of this drama and the audience wanted to see him pull through. A tribal yell of 'Adrienne!' would have felt appropriate at this point. Everyone loves an underdog and Holland was set to play the role to the end. Center of the field. Center stage. All of the attention of millions watching centered on him.
After successfully getting the first of three outs he needed to close it out for himself, Holland gave up just his second walk of the game. Knowing the dramatic difference between going home and sleeping well on a 2-2 Series as opposed to possible pulling a Grady Little and leaving Holland in too long resulting in a blown opportunity and a 3-1 hole, Washington headed to the mound.
This may have been the most nerve-wracking, edge of your seat visit to the mound since Little-Grady in 2003.
While I was watching, I was again blown away by the power of baseball and its drama. I am not a Rangers fan. I am not a Cardinals fan. However, I could not believe how giddy I was about what was taking place. I had nothing on the line yet I knew how much Holland did. While Holland pleaded his case behind his glove, the infield surrounded the mound. They, like us, anxiously anticipating what Washington would decide to do.
The conversation went on for so long, I just kept saying to myself, "He's going to leave him in. He's going to leave him in!" Had Washington allowed Holland to finish what he started and go after that second out of the inning, of his game – the noise from Rangers Ballpark, not the television, would have possibly awaken my one-year old son. Considering it was his birthday yesterday, it would have been an amazing baseball situation to wake up to. The crowd would have gone ballistic. I was feeling more excited about a Rangers pitching performance than I ever had before (which would not have taken much considering I'm a Cubs fan). Watching this drama unfold, the night's climax was starting to feel like when I saw Rocky IV at the theater and the audience around me started going crazy cheering for Rocky against Drago as he fought his way back against his overbearing, overpowering opponent. I am almost embarassed how how excited the crowd in the theater that night was for a fictional charater's victory. In Texas, they were rooting for Holland, a real life baseball player, with the fate of a franchise in his hands. Imagine what that must have felt like in person.
The meeting on the mound seem to take forever. Then, Washington made a move. He started to turn to his right and I would have bet that he was about to jog back to the dugout. It would have been the jog heard around the world.
The cheers came, however not because Holland was allowed to continue the fight. The cheers came because he Washington had punched his time card and Holland put in a day of work like no one else on the field. Rangers Ballpark erupted with appreciation for what the young pitcher had done for their hopes of obtaining a World Series title. No one man could possibly say you're welcome as loudly as those tenths of thousands of people were saying thank you. Holland tipped his cap to the Rangers' faithful, received congratulations from his teammates in the dugout and took his place along the fence to watch Neftali Feliz finish what Holland had started.
In doing so, Holland also took his place along side the greatest Rangers' pitching performances of all-time. Considering what was at stake and the stage he was on, quitely possibly the absolute greatest of all-time.
Rangers fan? No. Cardinals fan? No. However, as a baseball fan, this was a must-see performance. As the day of 'Game 162' at the end of the regular season brought a thrilling day of baseball to millions of MLB fans who didn't even have a team in the mix, so did last night's performance by Holland.
An amazing outing to be sure. One that Rangers fans and baseball fans alike may look back at as the 8 1/3 innings that sparked the Rangers to claim their very first World Series championship. Baseball. What's not to love?


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Passion and reason are infrequent bedfellows. You know this, right? It's why the Italians earned the stereotype of building cars that set your hair on fire right before they set themselves on fire. So when friends and family ask for car-buying help, we tend to give bad advice. You've got $30,000 to spend? That's a really nice used Porsche Boxster! You need four doors? Oh, then maybe a nice vintage Mercedes-Benz G-wagen? You're also concerned about fuel economy and want a new-car warranty? It's a good thing we both love cheap beer and crappy action movies, because otherwise, this friendship could never last.
There are a lot of cars you can spend $28,385 on. You might be surprised to learn that a Mazda 3 is one. A basic Mazda 3 sedan starts at $17,740, so the question of how this Mazda can cost $10,645 more asks itself. (Or it would, if autonomous cars were here yet.)
Allocation, Allocation, Allocation
For starters, the Grand Touring model tested here is a five-door hatchback, expanding the sedan's 12.4-cubic-foot trunk to 20.2 cubes and stretching the base price $2000. Another $6600 takes you to the top Mazda 3 s Grand Touring trim level, including plenty of luxury amenities: rain-sensing wipers, a sunroof, heated leather seats, keyless entry and starting, a head-up display, a rearview camera, a Bose surround-sound system, and one of the best (i.e. most intuitive) infotainment screens in the business, controlled by either a knob or via touch screen. Enabling navigation at this level costs only $125, but this car also had the $1750 Appearance package, consisting of an attractive front air dam, rear bumper skirt, hatch spoiler, and side-sill extensions.
But that's all fluff, isn't it? (Hint: Yes.) The Mazda 3's two comparison-test victories and 2014 10Best ranking aren't attributable to add-ons, they're due to its pure dynamic goodness. And that's where this example really earns its keep. The "s" in the model name of our test car denotes the 184-hp, 185 lb-ft four-cylinder, which is accompanied by 18-inch wheels wrapped in 215/45 Dunlops. This 2.5-liter represents a 29-horse gain over the base 2.0-liter. The torque bump—from 150 lb-ft, or 23 percent—is eye opening. This is a very burly engine, and the six-speed manual is an excellent pairing, with short, clean operation and a light but progressive clutch.
This powertrain is such a sweetheart that one editor suggested the appropriate competitor for the 3 is not the Volkswagen Golf, but the 210-horsepower turbocharged GTI. Maybe not in direct performance numbers—the Mazda's 7.3-second 0-to-60-mph time lags behind the GTI's by 1.5 seconds—but there is a similarity in the way that both cars enjoy a pervasive feeling of quality and eagerness. And the GTI we tested bore a nearly identical sticker price. In spite of the way this Mazda 3 goads the driver, we still managed a 29-mpg average, spot on its EPA-combined rating.
The Contented Yes Man
We also logged a 0.84 g on the skidpad. In our last roundup of cars in this class, that figure would have been in the bottom half, but step away from the number, and the 3 has no peer. It boasts an absolutely spectacular balance for an affordable front-drive car. Turn in and tap the brakes, and it rotates right around like none other. It doesn't wear a luxury label or a sport badge, but the Mazda 3 feels like it deserves both.
We often find that, when friends and family seek our advice, it gets less contentious if we start with the question, "Well, what are you considering?" Even at this price, a Mazda 3 would get our full endorsement.
Jared Gall started his career with Car and Driver as an unpaid intern, but has now worked here more than half of his life. He has held numerous positions within C/D's digital and print teams and has driven some 2500 cars. Employee records indicate that he is the only staffer ever to T-bone a school bus with another school bus.


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The award-winning Mercedes-Benz van range is a famous choice for businesses, trusted by many companies and professionals in the UK that seek cost-effective and flexible solutions. We offer both business or personal leasing quotes for this range.
At Planet Leasing, we understand that every client is different, and have the expertise to help you choose the best Mercedes-Benz vehicle for you. If you need any guidance with the Mercedes-Benz van range, feel free to get in touch with one of our experts here at Planet Leasing, and we'd be happy to help.
Small but mighty! Or at least, it is the smallest van in the Mercedes-Benz van range, but don't let that deceive you. With a play on the words "City Titan", you can imagine the Citan offers big promise to those professionals and businesses that need to keep up with city paces. Perfectly formed, internal cabin space is also perhaps much vaster than you'd expect, with cabin stowage cleverly designed in a Tardis-like fashion.
X-Class boasts luxury, but it's not just as simple as that. Aiming to redefine the premium pickup with truly enhanced details and materials for comfort, the van also highlights hardworking performance and outstanding support features. Including a ladder chassis, engine, drivetrain and suspension with solid rear axle, this pickup truck is deserving of the iconic brand stamp. Furthermore, with acoustic packaging to isolate engine noise, this makes travel a refined and smooth journey. The wide range of interior trim options and accessories means there is a variety of options for you available to explore.
Described by Mercedes-Benz as a "toolbox on wheels", the new Mercedes-Benz Sprinter stands out as a game-changer in the van industry, claiming to be the only van in the world to intelligently connect businesses and professionals in real-time. With class-leading cabin and driving support as a standard, the van boldly denotes a unique "Mercedes-Benz User Experience" (MBUX), and its own "sixth sense safety" and security measurements, such as Active Brake Assist. Exclusive Mercedes PRO connect services also make it ideal for businesses that are looking to manage their fleets, with eight fleet management packages available. With an array of new technology and equipment, including high-resolution and intuitive touch controls, this is a van to benchmark against in the business industry.
As a medium spacious van, the Mercedes-Benz Vito appeals to many for its affordability and lower running costs, as it does not compromise on the style it has to offer. Pleasing on the eye, with impressive handling and good steering weight, it's an ideal van for professionals and businesses that may be taking the road on long motorway journeys. The three lengths available also offer cargo solutions parting a decent amount of space, with loading lengths from 2586 to 3061mm.
At Planet Leasing, we offer free UK delivery and will beat any like for like quote on the Mercedes-Benz van range. For more guidance and quotes, feel free to contact one of our friendly van leasing experts for honest and impartial advice on 01702 410 470
I would highly recommend Planet Leasing if you are considering leasing a car. From my first conversations with Elliot who found a higher spec Audi A3 at a lower price than my previous car, to the help and assistance through the ordering and delivery process provided by Kirstie and the administration team, their customer care service was exemplary. Calls were always answered promptly and politely and each member of staff did their upmost to answer any query even if the relevant person was not available – a rare quality these days. Thank you all very much for ensuring my new car arrived on time and I will be sending my daughter hopefully very shortly when she passes her test!
Lisa Williamson, Audi A3
All vehicle images and car descriptions shown on this site are for illustration and reference purposes only as provided by CAP data, and are not necessarily an accurate visual representation of the vehicle on offer. Our platform is optimised to show the best available price for your chosen configuration, if you would like review other prices for similar deals, please contact a member of our sales team on 01702 410470.
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Bob Kravitz changes his mind: Lance Stephenson should start for Indiana Pacers even after Danny Granger returns
There's no place in the columnist's handbook that says a not-so-humble scribe can't change his mind, so here goes:
After weeks of insisting that Danny Granger belongs in the starting lineup and Lance Stephenson belongs on the bench, I've done a 180: Stephenson has earned the right to keep his starting job even after Granger returns from the strained calf injury.
What's that they say? If it ain't broke, don't fix it?
The Pacers are 8-0. The starting group of Stephenson, Roy Hibbert, George Hill, David West and Paul George were one of the two best starting fives in the league last year and continue to be one of the best this year. Stephenson, who dropped a triple-double on the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, has matured into the ultimate complementary player for a team with designs on an NBA championship.
Why mess with success?
Nobody, and I mean nobody, has come further for the Pacers than Stephenson. Early in his career, he was a train wreck on and off the court. He was immature, head-strong, a guy with too much street ball and too little NBA ball in his game. He seemed more interested in making an "And 1" video than he did in making the simple play. Several of his teammates couldn't stand him and his often disrespectful attitude.
"He's come a long way," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "He came in after one year of college. He had a lot to learn about professionalism, how to carry himself, how to work. But the culture here has allowed him to let his talent shine while growing into a pro. He's become a solid basketball player. For the most part, he's playing within himself."
Stephenson is a bundle of exposed nerve endings, a live wire of a player, and he's exactly what the Pacers starting five needs. There are times when the Pacers bog down in the halfcourt, but what Stephenson does best is rebound and push and force the Pacers to play in transition.
Who — besides Larry Bird, who had Stephenson's back the whole time — could have imagined this man-child would grow into this kind of accountable young professional?
I asked Paul George, who was drafted the same year as Stephenson, if he wondered if Stephenson would ever make it in this league.
"I did," he said. "I did. Let's just say he's a strong-minded person. There's not a lot that can persuade him. When he's got his mind set on something, nine times out of 10, that's what he's going to do. But I'm happy he's made the transition. He's really matured a lot and become a pro."
According to Stephenson, the turning point came two playoff seasons ago, when he famously flashed the choke sign at LeBron James and got caught up in extracurricular foolishness with Juwan Howard. That's when he had a talk with veteran Jeff Foster.
The former Pacer, who had a locker next to Stephenson, doesn't specifically recall that conversation, but does remember trying to mentor Stephenson through those rocky early years.
"I think it's well documented he had his rough patches his rookie year," Foster said. "He and I talked about a lot of things, how to be a professional, doing the right things on and off the court, saving his money, mostly just being respectful to his teammates, and making the most of his God-given ability, which he has tons of ...
"What he went through his rookie year, a lot of players wouldn't be able to bounce back from his situation. The way he was perceived by the veterans because of the way he acted, that was a problem. But I'm glad now to see how well he's doing."
Don't misunderstand: Stephenson still does some bonehead stuff and needs to be reined in by coaches and teammates.
During the Memphis game, he stuck the basketball in Tony Allen's face — "I used to see Michael Jordan do that,'' Stephenson said — a silly taunt that resulted in a technical foul.
Later, he fouled Marc Gasol at three-quarters court with less than a second remaining in the half, providing Memphis with a free point.
But the Pacers are willing to take a little bit of the Bad Lance as long as the Good Lance shows up most nights.
"I've really calmed down with the street ball," Stephenson said with a smile. "I still try to do a little bit of tricks during the game, but I'm trying to get the street ball out of me and make the game more simple."
Said George: "He still reverts back to 'Born Ready' at times. But that's a good thing. I don't mind that."
Now, though, Stephenson needs to show he can handle success. It's why nobody in the Pacers' postgame locker room is ready to declare his arrival. It's just been eight games after an up-and-down season last year.
"He's still got to stay grounded and humble," David West said. "We're still going to hold him accountable. Especially on defense. He knows we're counting on him to be where he's supposed to be."
The biggest difference on the floor: He's learned to hit the 3-point shot. The process began two years ago, after exit meetings when the Pacers brain trust told him he needed to improve his perimeter game. He got a shooting coach this past summer.
"He doesn't act surprised now when he gets the ball," George said. "Now he's shot-ready."
Stephenson has grown up. This whole team has grown, and grown together. Built, not bought, as they like to remind people. And as the last undefeated team in the NBA, the sky's the limit.
Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star. Call him at (317) 444-6643 or email email@example.com. Follow Bob on Twitter: @bkravitz.


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The mythical tie between abortions and breast cancer was definitively debunked more than 20 years ago.. and again 15 years ago... and again 10 years ago. So why are legislators still passing laws requiring doctors to lie to women about the post-abortion cancer risk?
The obvious answer is "because they're assholes who will brush aside inconvenient facts in favor of a backward agenda," a conclusion that becomes even more frustrating when you understand the history behind the myth, and it's endless, dishonest resurrection.
According to a piece by Elaine Schattner over at Slate, doctors first surmised that there must be a link between abortion and breast cancer when cases of the big C skyrocketed in the decade after Roe v. Wade. As anyone who has had a conversation with a pedant who has taken a statistics class knows, correlation does not equal causation, and soon the tenuous link was debunked and by the 90's scientists had more or less concluded that there was no tie between abortion and breast cancer. But then people who want to outlaw abortion under the guise that they care about women decided that what was best for women was to perpetuate the lie that abortion would give them cancer, even though it morally, ethically, spiritually, physically, positively, absolutely, undeniably, and reliably will not. So, in 1997, scientists sighed, put on their science hats, analyzed data of 1.5 million women in Denmark and found no link between pregnancy termination and breast cancer. Nonetheless, the myth persisted, and in 2002, after a public bicker battle, the National Cancer Institute convened a group that involved "geneticists, epidemiologists, oncologists, and other experts" to determine thrice and for all, if abortion and breast cancer were linked. Once again, no link.
That hasn't stopped anti-abortion rights legislators from pushing laws requiring that women be told the God Will Strike You Down By The Tits, You Murderous Harridan lie before having abortions. The legislature in Kansas just passed a law requiring doctors to inform them that abortion will give them breast cancer, even though it won't. New Hampshire's House passed a similar measure, and a law to that effect is already in force in Texas. As Schattner notes, many of these mandatory lie laws are hidden behind the guise of being for women's benefit, for their empowerment. They're called the Women's Right to Know Act, labeled as Informed Consent laws, touted as another way that the state can Protect Women. But they're really enforcing scare tactics and faleshood.
Oh, irony. It's mildly irritating when hipsters intentionally overdo it, and downright maddening when legislators unintentionally do it. Lying to women isn't "protecting them," it's, uh, lying to them. Deliberately obscuring facts and not trusting people to make decisions for themselves isn't informing or empowering, it's paternalistically condescending. It's like that scene in Lost when The Others convince Sawyer that they've implanted him with a chip that will cause his chest cavity to explode if his heart beats too fast. That's the sort of love women have gotten from anti-abortion rights legislators. The sort of care and protection that involves lying.


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(CNN) – As Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes her exit from Foggy Bottom, there's a super PAC already waiting in the wings to support her in a potential 2016 presidential run.
While the group, "Ready for Hillary," won't go live with its website for another two or three weeks, its founders filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Friday.
Before Hillary Clinton steps down as Secretary of State, her exit interview takes place in The Situation Room! Watch it today at 5 p.m. ET on CNN.
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"We want to be ready to help Hillary when Hillary is ready to run," explained Allida Black, the group's chair.
Black said the endeavor was started by seven Clinton supporters with an "extensive network" for fundraising and building grassroots support. While they want to be a "significant fundraising vehicle" at some point, Black said that's not their main focus now as they build the infrastructure of the organization.
The group's Twitter account, created a little more than two months ago, has nearly 50,000 followers. "And we haven't really done anything yet," Black said, sounding surprised at the turnout.
While Black and other founders have volunteered for Clinton, she stressed that she is in no way part of Clinton's close pack of advisers. "This is not a coordinated overture from 'Hillaryland.'"
For now the goal is to lay groundwork and generate grassroots support, but she didn't rule out spending money on favorable ad time for Clinton—even before the former senator and first lady makes her decision. "We'd love to do that," she said, though adding it depends on how much money the group takes in.
To say Black is an avid Clinton supporter would be an understatement. She said during Clinton's 2008 campaign she traveled to 14 states, knocked on 5,000 doors, made 15,000 phone calls, and went to 500 house parties. Black, who served as a Virginia delegate whip at the Democratic convention, made headlines when she helped lead efforts to push for a floor vote on the nomination.
She also helped create WomenCount PAC, a pro-Clinton group that raised more than $443,000 during the 2008 campaign, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
A human rights historian who worked with George Washington University for 20 years, Black said she's been following Clinton's career for three decades. Or as she put it, Hillary was the reason she first voted for Bill in 1992.
From health care to rural poverty to education, Black said Clinton has long advocated causes that are "near and dear" to her heart.
"I marched with Dr. King, but Hillary Clinton really is the leader of my lifetime," Black said.
Clinton has repeatedly brushed off the idea of running for office again, but she didn't totally nix the concept during her joint interview with President Obama that aired Sunday night.
"The president and I care deeply about what's going to happen for our country in the future, and I don't think, you know, either he or I can make predictions about what's going to happen tomorrow or... or the next year," she said in the "60 Minutes" interview on CBS.
For Black, she said she believes "public service is in (Clinton's) DNA" and it would be "biologically impossible" for her to say no.
But if she decides to pass on a second presidential bid, Black said she'll continue to support Clinton in whatever she does.
"I'll be bitterly disappointed, but I trust her judgment," Black said.
"Was it because of a protest, or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference – at this point – does it make?"
we are waiting in the wings to support Hillary in a potential 2016 presidential run.go for the gold.we need you
Hillary ...... Go away! Retire from public life if you can!
Hi. I am a head-injured surviver. Despite my head-injury I can make unique furniture. I discovered that JESUS worked with wood ... so I went to CHURCH. Going to CHURCH has helped Me figured out how it is possible to travel in time. Can I meet and talk with Hillory Clinton? David
Rest up for a while Hillary and then Run Hillary, Run!! She will demolish anyone the crazy republicans try to put out there and that includes the big boy. Not that he has a chance in he!! of being nominated. Like they said, Willard lost because he wasn't conservative enough. I say they're right, please put forth another RWNJ like maybe Rand Paul or Rick Santorum!!
Thats all the country needs is another lying Clinton.....
Run Hill Run!!!!!!
And if she doesn't run? Where does the money go?
I'm surprised. So unexpected. Not.
As always, the best government special interest money can buy.
Clinton 2016 & 2020!
There is no way that Obama will turn over this mighty fundraising and electoral apparatus he's built to anyone but Hillary. And there is absolutely no way that anyone will defeat Hillary/Bill/Obama and this Democratic machine in the next two presidential cycles. GOP had better get used to having an opponent in the White House, and focus on winning Congress.
So once again, after eschewing super PACs as a tool of the devil the liberals embrace the propaganda machine. Do I care? No, but I wish they wouldn't be so hypocritical. They are the propaganda masters after all, as the continued media love fest shows. Hillary better than Obama? probably, despite a dismal performance as Secretary of State. Liberal agenda best for the country? Rarely, if ever, as demonstrated by our fiscal state and history.
Looks more like CNN gearing up for Hillary Clinton
Needs to be a fully disclosed health assessment before the left is numb enough to nominate her
Her foreign policy experience would come in handy when the country goes bankrupt after the current debt run-up and loans from China need to be renegotiated.
It is terribly frightening that many of you commenting in these Hillary articles are so incredibly blind as to what is happening in this country. The failed policies of the last four years will lead to well over 21 trillion in debt and complete economic ruin from every industry to mowing lawns to power generation in the next four. Voting for Hillary to prove a point is extremely disheartening and should sadden every American. Voting for another Santa Claus should not be your idea of "change" or "forward" and all that other garbage. Another note – why does it seem that 90% of the comments on these pages are written by completely uneducated bottom feeders? Another fact that terrifies me is that you have the right to vote and vote often.
CNN and the other govt controlled networks are alreadt campaigning for her. what ajoke.
So everybody is supposed just forget all the mistakes she made. The four people who died under her watch. She said that she doesn't care why they died, they are dead, time to move on. After all, she IS a progressive.
Unfortunately for her, most of her fellow Americans DO care about how and why four Americans died. And she said that she was responsible for that incident. So YES we DO hold her responsible, and one of the consequences of her being responsible is that she does NOT qualify to be president. God only knows what would happen if she were to become president.
Is it me or is CNN becoming just like MSNBC? No news on their site at all just liberal propaganda and lies.


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2004 Chevrolet SSR Review
A Class Act In A Class By Itself
After our extensive review of an early production SSR for our Sport Truck of the Year competition, we said that if we scored charisma, Chevy's Super Sport Roadster would blow away the competition. After driving this mid-year production model equipped with a few extras, we haven't changed our opinion. It has such style and class that it always draws a crowd wherever you drive it. So if you decide to buy one, be ready to share it with the neighborhood.
But that's OK because there's much to share about the SSR, the classiest, friendliest sport truck on the market.
For example, the SSR shares the Trailblazer chassis, but the body-on-frame construction is reinforced with several additional crossmembers as well as its upper all-steel unibody shell. The combination gives the SSR a fairly stout chassis for a convertible pickup with minimal cowl shake and very good road-holding power on moderately rough road surfaces. In other words, it's blast to drive on twisty mountain roads, on the freeway, or just cruisin' the local spot.
The SSR has its quirks, which add or detract to its charm depending on your disposition. The nose rolls away, so it takes some driving time to get to know where the front edges are. The rear box flares also take some getting used to; you have to remember they're there when maneuvering in tight spaces.
This truck is all about style, but for the most part, the form and function blend wonderfully in this machine. But, of course, there are a few exceptions. For example, the placement of controls on the flat dash put a few of the controls just out of reach, and the trip odometer, angled as it is below the instrument cluster, is virtually impossible to read from a comfortable driving position. The powered seat controls, located on the side of each bucket seat, are difficult to manipulate unless you open the doors. We also found that the armrest positioning in the sculpted door panel was a bit low for our comfort. But we have to admit, the Super Sport interior atmosphere outweighed all our minor complaints.
On the upside, the design of the cockpit of the SSR flows effortlessly out of the truck's exterior styling. Its sweeping dash with satin-finished bright-aluminum crossbar carries the body color into the interior. The gauges are large and easy to read, with a distinctly American feel from the graphics on the gauge faces. Our SSR tester came equipped with the electric-heated seats. If you're going to have a convertible, spring for this option. The heated seats extend your ability to enjoy top-down motoring as well as getting you up to temperature quicker on frosty winter mornings. Also, the myriad stylish details, such as the delicate spot lighting on the center of the dash and console, make being in and around the machine an automotive pleasure.
As cool as all the styling and brilliant design details of the SSR are, the heartbeat of any hot rod/sport truck is its engine and driveline. The SSR is motivated by a 300hp all-aluminum Vortec V-8 powerplant that puts power to the rear wheels through a 4L60-E electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission. It pushes the SSR through the quarter-mile in 15.36 seconds at 91.35 mph and reaches 60 mph in just less than 7.5 seconds. For most people, this level of performance is adequate. But for those not satisfied with the stock performance, check out our performance test on the new SSR MagnaCharger Radix supercharger kit.
LikesStar power
Beautiful styling and packaging of the aluminum V-8; rear-wheel-drive power
One of the best factory exhaust growls we've heard
DislikesEmphasis in the interior of form over function
The stance of the SSR needs to be lower and with less rake
The need for crowd control when driving or parking
Year/Make/Model: '04 Chevrolet SSR
Base price: $41,370 (tax, license, delivery charges excluded)
Price as tested: $43,910
Vehicle type: midsize two-seat convertible pickup
Construction: steel unibody on hydroformed frame; rear drive
Engine: Vortec 5300 V-8: sequentially fuel-injected, OHV pushrod, 2 valve/cyl., aluminum block and heads, 325ci/5.3L, 9.5:1 comp. ratio
Horsepower: 300 @ 5,200 rpm
Torque: 331 @ 4,000 rpm
Fuel: 87 octane unleaded
Transmission: Hydra-Matic 4L60-E 4-speed automatic w/ Overdrive
Suspension: F: double A-arm R: five-link solid axle
Wheel: F: 19x8-inch aluminum; R: 20x10-inch aluminum
Tire: F: P255/45R19 Goodyear; R: P295/40R20 Goodyear
Brakes: power-assisted four-wheel vented disc with 4-wheel antilock braking system; front rotor: 12x1.14 in; rear rotor: 12.8x0.78 in
Wheelbase (in): 116
Length/Width/Height (in): 191.4/78.6/64.2
Track (in): F: 64.1; R: 64.9
Turning circle (curb to curb): 38.1 ft
Curb weight (lbs): 4,670
Tow rating (lbs): 2,500
EPA city/hwy/combined mpg: 15/19/17
Fuel-tank capacity/range: 25 gal/475 mi
Acceleration 0-60: 7.49 sec
Quarter-mile elapsed time: 15.36 @ 91.35 mph
Braking 60-0: 144.9 ft
Brake fade 60-0: 140.3 ft
600-ft slalom: 60.93 mph
MagnaCharger Radix Intercooled Supercharger Kit Puts SSR in Striking Distance of Ford Lighting
The stock SSR's performance is a good beginning for hot-rod-type sport truck enthusiasts. For the enthusiast driver, Magnuson's new supercharger kit gives the 5.3L V-8 a double shot of espresso. We took the MagnaCharger crew's offer to drive the company's test mule SSR and put it to the test.
The first thing you notice about the supercharged SSR is that the polished MagnaCharger Radix supercharger is totally appropriate; a turbocharged SSR wouldn't be nearly as classy. The MagnaCharger integrates perfectly with the character and spirit of the SSR. In our opinion, you just can't get a better upgrade that equals the combination of power and style for this truck.
Functionally, it drives like a sport truck should. The only exception to this is you have to let it warm up on cold mornings before driving it hard; otherwise, it goes into limp-home mode and you have to restart it. It's not that big of a deal and we're sure the folks at Magnuson are working on a programming fix right now. Even if they're not, we'd still recommend the system to SSR owners; it adds that much punch to the machine.
The system's power increase is significant and noticeable in seat-of-the-pants driving. Most of the increase comes in the low and mid range - just where you want it in a street-driven sport truck.
The MagnaCharger Radix supercharger brings the SSR's performance more in line with what it should be. It's not as quick as a Ford Lightning, but it's not that far off, either. The SSR's engine isn't built with a supercharger in mind: i.e. it has a 9.5:1 motor versus the Lightning's 8.4:1 compression ratio. You can stuff a lot more fuel and air into the Lightning's cylinders than you can the SSR's, so it's limited in that regard. It also seemed limited in the high-rpm power. We're betting it's either in the exhaust or in the engine management. (Many OE engine management computers reduce torque output to protect the transmission.) The Magnuson crew also suspects opening the exhaust would let it free up some horsepower.
That speculation seemed to be borne out on the dragstrip. Our best e.t. at Los Angeles County Raceway corrected to sea level was 14.13 at 95 mph. That's an impressive improvement compared with the stock 15.36 at 91.35 mph. Given the weight of the vehicle with driver, the 95-mph trap speed puts around 343 hp at the wheels, or assuming a 15 percent drivetrain loss, 394 hp at the flywheel.
When we tested an '03/'04 Lightning (rated at 380hp SAE at flywheel) we got 14.07 at 101 mph (corrected to sea level) e.t.'s. We were not testing on a dragstrip, so the e.t.'s are slightly higher than what you'd see there, but the mph is a good indicator of the actual horsepower, which in this case is way underrated by the factory. Taking into account the difference in track surfaces will put the Lighting in the high 13s. So it edges out the supercharged SSR, but only ever so slightly.
We think that's not a bad showing for the 5.3L SSR with an aftermarket bolt-on supercharger kit running pump gas. The e.t. suggests that the average power output is especially high, as does our seat-of-the-pants driving experience. Remember that you drive the torque, and this baby's got plenty of it. We never got a hint of ping, even when pulling very steep hills, part or full throttle, thanks to the intercooler that provides rock-steady intake temperatures of 150 degrees F as measured on our scanner.
If you're impressed with the factory supercharged sport truck, you should be nearly as impressed with the performance of the kit as-is. Once the exhaust if loosened up, you should be equally impressed with the MagnaCharged SSR's performance. Besides, the SSR certainly beats it on style, and given the combination of style and performance, we're sure Magnuson has a ready-made market with SSR buyers for this combination.
Quick Spec Check:
Quarter-mile elapsed time: 14.13 @ 95.005 mph * Improvement over stock: 1.23 secs, 3.65 mph
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October 12th, 2013
How King David predicted modern Judaism
Opinion by Joel Baden, special to CNN
(CNN) - Most American Jews consider Judaism to be mainly a matter of culture and ancestry, according to a recent poll. An even higher percentage describe themselves as emotionally attached to Israel. For this we have one person to thank: King David.
The Israel we know today is a nation that David created virtually out of thin air. Before David, there were two territories, Israel to the north, and Judah to the south.
By sheer force of personality—and, to be fair, substantial military strength—David combined these two lands under a single crown (his). Not only had this never happened before; no one had ever thought of it before.
Although the Bible makes it sound as if everyone loved David, and were desperate to follow him, this wasn't really the case. David took power by force.
The people of Israel and Judah became part of David's kingdom because he conquered them—they had no choice in the matter. Their only option was to abandon the land that they had held for centuries. And in a tight real estate market—every family believed that they had eternal rights to their property—moving was pretty much out of the question.
We tend to think of Israel in biblical terms: the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the land of the 12 tribes. These concepts were created in the wake of David's reign.
Everywhere that the Bible speaks of Judah and Israel together—the stories of the patriarchs, the Exodus, the conquest—we encounter the ramifications of David's actions.
The borders of the modern state of Israel today are, roughly, David's borders, or at least those attributed to him by the biblical authors. (For the record: the West Bank was part of David's kingdom; the Gaza Strip was not.)
And at the center of Israel, both ancient and modern, is the holy city of Jerusalem. This, too, is David's doing. Before David, Jerusalem was a long-standing independent city-state, belonging to a long-lost people called the Jebusites.
MORE ON CNN: Why everyone fights over Jerusalem
Recognizing that its central location would be perfect for the capital of his newly united state—the ancient equivalent of Washington—David conquered it and wiped out its former inhabitants.
Because David is credited with founding the Temple in Jerusalem—although Solomon built the actual structure, David chose the site, set up an altar, and laid the conceptual groundwork—it's natural enough to assume that there was some religious motivation at work.
But, in fact, David's aim in inaugurating a site of worship in his capital was more economical than spiritual. Temples were sites of commerce—Jesus knew this—and having a culturally significant relic, in the form of the Ark of the Covenant, was sure to draw the people in.
Every lamb sacrificed in Jerusalem meant profit for the sanctuary, and for the king who controlled it. Every pilgrim meant a night's stay in a local bed and breakfast (all fully taxable, of course).
David used belief as a lure to draw in the masses. But he didn't care much what his people believed. The creation of the unified kingdom of Israel wasn't based on shared religion.
The inhabitants of the north had very different practices from those in the south. And none of them was following Jewish law—the laws hadn't been written yet, and wouldn't be for centuries.
What united the people of David's kingdom was, quite simply, that they lived there. It was a political state, not a religious one.
Israel then, like today, was primarily a political entity, and only secondarily a religious one. Those who considered themselves attached to Israel believed and practiced a whole range of things, or not; just like those who are attached to Israel today.
A Pew poll released earlier this month demonstrates the continuing pull of David's Israel. Millions of American Jews financially support the modern state of Israel, either through donations or through tourism.
MORE ON CNN: Study: American Jews losing their religion
We feel the pull of the land, the sanctity of the ancient streets of Jerusalem. We fly El Al, we stay at the hotels, we eat at the restaurants, we pay to enter various sites.
That is: We're still doing just what David wanted us to do. We are precisely the Jews who David envisioned—believing whatever we want, just so long as we spend our money in Israel.
Joel S. Baden is the author of "The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero," and an associate professor of Old Testament at Yale Divinity School. The views expressed in this column belong to Baden.
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About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.


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IMF Survey : Gabon's Priority: Use Resources to Become Emerging Economy
March 8, 2013
- Buoyed by large public investment plan, economic activity has been robust
- Low fiscal savings make fiscal position vulnerable to oil price volatility
- Better business climate, public investment key for inclusive growth
Gabon's government has launched an ambitious public investment and reform program to transform the central African country into a diversified emerging market economy by 2025.
The key, the IMF said in its regular review of Gabon's economy, lies in the efficient implementation of the program while managing downside risks.
While current economic conditions are supportive and Gabon has the fourth highest level of income per capita in sub-Saharan Africa, poverty and unemployment remain widespread. In this context, a critical issue for Gabon is how to use oil and mineral resources efficiently and in a transparent manner to support inclusive growth.
The IMF staff also noted that Gabon's economy remains heavily dependent on oil, which makes it vulnerable to volatile oil prices.
Partly driven by a large scaling up of public investment since 2009, the non-oil economy has performed well, in particular mining, wood processing and construction, helping to boost real GDP growth to 7 percent in 2010–11 (see Chart 1).
Risks to emerging market goal
As a member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community's currency union, fiscal policy is the main tool in the Gabonese authorities' hands to ensure macroeconomic stability. However, anchoring fiscal policy is particularly challenging for Gabon because of the country's heavy reliance on highly volatile oil revenue and its large development needs.
Moreover, despite decades of oil production, fiscal savings remain low. For the "Emerging Gabon" plan to be successful and to avoid disruptive procyclicality of spending, fiscal policy should be set in a medium-term sustainable framework that takes into account the volatility of oil receipts and allows the buildup of adequate fiscal buffers through better containment of nonproductive expenditure such as wages and subsidies.
The IMF report said a scaling up of public investment is necessary to improve currently weak infrastructure services. To maximize the returns of the recent massive and rapid increase in public investment and mitigate risks of waste, implementation of projects will need to be enhanced.
Work is being undertaken with the assistance of international experts to strengthen the selection, preparation, and execution of investment projects, including a reform of the public procurement code, stricter requirements for technical studies underpinning specific investment projects, and better controls of work completion before payments are made. However, progress to address past weaknesses in investment execution capacity is likely to be gradual and slow.
Better business climate
Beyond the investment scaling up to fill the infrastructure gap, comprehensive policies are needed to support diversified and more inclusive economic growth that is rich in employment opportunities. The role of the non-oil private sector will be all the more important given the prospective decline in oil production and the inability of this capital intensive sector to create many jobs.
First, the business climate will need to be improved. The private sector in Gabon remains relatively narrow and fragmented, especially at the level of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Many constraints still weigh on the business climate, including cumbersome procedures for establishing businesses and getting land titles, overall poor quality of the labor force, and low access to bank credit. Efforts currently under way to address these contraints will be critical to facilitate private investment and sustain high growth in the medium term (see Chart 2).
Durable job opportunities
Second, employment policy measures will be necessary for better matching labor supply and demand. The education system needs reforming to reduce the current skills mistmatch, and vocational training programs should be developped to address the shortage in technically skilled workers.
Given the high level of wages in Gabon, making the supply of labor more competitive will require enhancing its productivity. These measures taken in combination will help the numerous young Gabonese entering the labor market over the next decade to access durable employment opportunities.
Third, financial intermediation and market depth need to be expanded to allow the sector to play its role in the financing of development. Despite recently strong credit growth, financial intermediation remains weak and very few small and medium-sized enterprises have access to bank financing for investment.
Building on recent efforts aimed at improving the institutional environment for credit will help highly liquid banks in better evaluating credit risks for small and medium-sized enterprises and in expanding investment financing. Enhancing access to mortgage credit and microfinance will also contribute to financial sector deepening.


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International Education Week
|November 11-15, 2013
|Baylor Campus
|IEW is an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide. This joint initiative of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education is part of an effort to promote programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn, and exchange experiences in the United States. At Baylor, we have planned several events around campus to celebrate and promote international education. See our website for event details.
Follow us on Twitter for all IEW 2013 Events!
|More Information
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Foodservice businesses work tirelessly to acquire new customers and retain loyal diners. However, poor food safety management can undo years' worth of hard work in a moment.
Poor hygiene within an establishment and improper ingredient preparation can lead to foodborne illnesses, resulting in reputation damage, fines, or even suspension of operations. With strict government regulations in place to protect the health of consumers and businesses, restaurant owners need to be vigilant of their compliance and follow the recommended Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles.
This, however, is easier said than done. With so many tasks involved in preventing food-related risks, manually tracking compliance through checklists and spreadsheets can lead to more confusion and frustration for management. Today, the most accurate and speedy way to manage health and safety compliance is through industry-leading software solutions like Zip HACCP.
Compliance and safety are two aspects of business management that cannot be compromised. With Zip HACCP's cloud-based task management and integrated temperature solutions, Zaxby's Franchising Inc. can keep their customers and staff members safe with ease.
How Poor HACCP Plan Management is Hurting Zaxby's Franchising Inc.
Zaxby's Franchising Inc. has created a loyal clientele and maintained a positive reputation as a leader within the foodservice industry. However, inefficiencies in the front and back of house operations are still limiting Zaxby's Franchising Inc. from reaching their optimal performance levels.
The following are some of the long term consequences caused by inefficient task management:
High Labor Costs
Relying on inadequate systems to meet HACCP standards can significantly raise restaurant operating costs. When management level staff members spend hours in the back office tracking daily food safety and hygiene-related tasks, businesses lose time and money.
Penalties for Non-Compliance
Penalties for non-compliance can range from paying compensation and rectifying reputation damage to fines and fees related to re-inspection. In addition to serving safe food and passing inspection, all foodservice organizations need to ensure that their vendors are Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) compliant.
Poor Restaurant Hygiene Management
Regardless of the quality of the meal and customer service, customers will be deterred from returning to a restaurant if the establishment operates under unsanitary conditions. Owners need to ensure that all cleaning procedures for front and back of house areas and restrooms are completed before opening and regularly throughout the day.
Poor Staff and Inventory Management
Business owners need to regularly monitor inventory and employee productivity throughout the day. When organizations are unable to verify that all tasks have been completed and approved and inventory items are properly stored and accounted for, variances and regulatory violations can unexpectedly occur.
What Can Zip HACCP Do For Zaxby's Franchising Inc.?
With Zip HACCP's sophisticated features, Zaxby's Franchising Inc. can enjoy the following benefits from day one.
Ensure Consistent Quality
Consistency is especially important when managing multiple store locations throughout different geographical locations. With Zip HACCP's task management tools, Zaxby's Franchising Inc. can standardize all training materials and operational procedures across every location.
Additionally, the system's bluetooth temperature monitor allows cooks to check the temperature of every meat-containing dish. This will allow staff to guarantee consistent quality and HACCP food regulation-compliant meals to all diners.
Cloud-Based Task Management
Zip HACCP allows business owners track their digital task checklists from anywhere, at any time. If food safety procedures are violated at any point, management will receive instant alerts on their mobile devices.
Furthermore, management can require staff members to attach photos or videos through Zip HACCP's cloud-based file uploader after each task is completed to ensure all employees are following the standard operating procedures.
Portable Inventory Management
Business owners can also remotely monitor inventory usage per location to see if key ingredients are running low and in need of replenishment. This feature makes franchise management easier as executives can stay in the loop and instantly view task completion and inventory usage through a simple interface.
This increased visibility into inventory management will allow owners to always ensure they are serving up dishes crafted from Food Safety Modernization Act compliant ingredients.
Improve Reputation
By proactively monitoring food-related hazards and risks, businesses can improve the cleanliness and compliance of their organization. This allows management to protect the brand's reputation and eliminate occurrences of foodborne illnesses.
Food handlers and staff members will be held accountable through rapid temperature checks so the establishment doesn't serve undercooked dishes or skip critical tasks.
Prioritize Customer and Staff Safety
Zip HACCP makes it simple for business owners to priotize the safety and well-being of their staff members and customers. Management can always stay in control by gaining real-time food safety insight and efficiently addressing any violations or variances as they occur.
Users can create customized food safety audit checklists so all mandatory procedures are followed and quality standards are met.
Compliance with HACCP practices and the Food Safety Modernization Act should be a priority for all foodservice businesses. In order to effectively and effortlessly eliminate foodborne illnesses and costly fines, Zaxby's Franchising Inc. can turn to Zip HACCP's advanced capabilities.


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Feature Articles
NIEHS Launches New Collaboration with the World Health Organization
By: Paula Whitacre
On February 20, 2014, NIEHS and the World Health Organization (WHO) will begin a new chapter in their decades-long partnership. The day will mark the official launch of the NIEHS-WHO Collaborating Center for Environmental Health Science. The launch will take place in conjunction with the winter meeting of the National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council.
"By joining forces, NIEHS and WHO will help to ensure that cutting edge environmental health science will be translated into effective public health interventions to improve health around the world," said NIEHS Director Linda Birnbaum, Ph.D.
Building Bridges
As a WHO Collaborating Center, NIEHS joins a network of academic and scientific institutions around the world designed to facilitate information exchange and technical cooperation.
"Even as the global health community shifts its focus from infectious to non-communicable diseases, the critical role of environmental exposures in adding to the global chronic disease burden is not well appreciated. The Collaborating Center provides a new and unique platform for NIEHS to address this gap in awareness," said John Balbus, M.D., NIEHS senior advisor for global health, who will head the new center.
NIEHS Focus
The focus of the Collaborating Center at NIEHS reflects five priority areas of research and research translation: children's environmental health, climate change and human health, developmental origins of health and disease, e-waste, and indoor air pollution. "Increased dialogue and understanding is a benefit to being a Collaborating Center," said Claudia Thompson, Ph.D., a member of the NIEHS Global Environmental Health Program Steering Committee. "The designation also will increase integration across common themes within the Institute."
For example, NIEHS seeks to better understand the link between indoor air pollution and premature deaths, such as through support of intervention studies to investigate realistic alternatives to biomass-burning cookstoves in developing countries. "Having the weight of being a Collaborating Center, we can see who else has activities in this area around the globe, which should help in coordination and more quickly getting data," Thompson said. "That will help increase dialogue and accelerate findings."
The Collaboration
The Collaborating Center designation culminates three productive decades of partnership, beginning with a cooperative agreement in the early 1980s facilitated by William Suk, Ph.D., director of the NIEHS Center for Risk & Integrated Sciences and the Superfund Research Fund.
As detailed in a 2011 WHO publication, cooperation between the two agencies helped further the International Programme on Chemical Safety and the Environmental Criteria series, an influential series of more than 200, peer-reviewed publications that provide information on a range of environmental health topics to governments.
As a Collaborating Center, the two organizations will continue to work together on developing training programs, and supporting and hosting conferences and workshops related to the five focus areas of the Center. Some past activities include:
A side event - Health Adaptation in the US and Around the World - at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties in Poland in November 2013.
A working meeting on e-waste and child health at WHO headquarters in Geneva in June 2013 that led to The Geneva Declaration on E-Waste and Children's Health, 2013 .
A side event at the third International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM3) in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 16, 2012 as part of joint activities on Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals.
A side event to the Prenatal Programming and Toxicology III Workshop in Paris, France, in July 2012 to explore ways to incorporate prenatal and early life preventive measures to reduce environmental contributions to NCDs.


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Emma Stone breaks down Gwen Stacy, The Amazing Spider-Man's love interest. The gritty Paradise Lost movie hits a snag. Robert Kirkman promises more death on The Walking Dead. Plus Andy Serkis talks the next Planet of the Apes movie!
Spoilers from here on out!
The Dark Knight Rises
Christopher Nolan talks about how he came to choose Bane as the villain, and why Tom Hardy was perfect to play him:
"I didn't know him very well. David Goyer got me a bunch of stuff on him and we looked into him. I only knew him by name, I wasn't familiar with his back story. He's a very cool character. And getting an actor like Tom to take it on, you know you're going to get something very special. Tom is somebody who really knows how to put character into every gesture, every aspect of his physicality in the way that great actors can. He's a very, very physical actor. He transforms himself and it's there in every movement. He's not afraid to look at a character from the outside as well as the inside so there's a deep psychological branch to the character but also a very, very specific awareness of how he's going to use his body and his appearance to express that character too. Christian [Bale] is like that too, very much."
He also explains why Bane is like a character out of an old school monster movie:
"With Bane, the physicality is the thing. With a good villain you need an archetype, you know, you need the extreme of some type of villainy. The Joker is obviously a particular archetype of diabolical, chaotic anarchy and has a devilish sense of humor. Bane, to me, is something we haven't dealt with in the films. We wanted to do something very different in this film. He's a primarily physical villain, he's a classic movie monster in a way — but with a terrific brain. I think he's a fascinating character. I think people are going to get a kick out of what we've done with him."
This is about as general as spoilers get, but in a brief piece on how Christopher Nolan felt emotional about completing all the characters' stories, it was mentioned that the movie's story was meant to be something "that would deliver a true finale and close the trilogy in a powerful and definitive way." So... expect a big ending, I guess. [UKPA]
The Amazing Spider-Man
Emma Stone explains how Gwen Stacy is different from Mary-Jane Watson:
"(Gwen) grew up on the Upper East Side (of New York), had a very stable family - a daddy's girl. Her father was the police chief. . . . She's the oldest in her family (and) she has younger brothers. She is very responsible and very protective of her family and she loves science; she is a valedictorian. She has her whole life planned out for her and then she gets to know Peter. . . . They teach each other so much, because they're from two so totally different backgrounds and experiences. . . . He's never really known sit-down family dinners with siblings and parents, and what it's like to grow up in one house your whole life, and be under the thumb of your father...And [Peter and Gwen are] first loves. So that alone will give you so much as a person."
Stone also explains why this movie has gone back to the early days of Spider-Man:
"One of the major reasons they wanted to tell this version of the story (is) to kind of get up close and personal with Peter and into the really intimate details of how he grew, not just into becoming Spider-Man, but how he grew to become the Peter Parker we see today — what his experience was as a child and what his relationship was with his father . . . and the story of Gwen Stacy, which we've never seen before cinematically. There are just a lot of elements that are really grounded and earthbound. They just happen to take place in this world where an ordinary boy becomes super-human. . . . That was definitely the draw for me wanting to be part of it. It felt like us sitting here talking, and you forget, in a minute, (he's) going to swing away. He just happens to be Spider-Man and things proceed from there that are extraordinary, but his actual outlook, his reasoning, his relationships, are right here on Earth with us."
The bit about "the story of Gwen Stacy" might imply this is a fairly concrete adaptation of her comic book arc - which, to put it mildly, did not end well for her. [Vancouver Sun]
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Here's a poster. [First Showing]
Rise of the Planet of the Apes Sequel
When asked whether James Franco and Frieda Pinto's characters would survive the virus and make it to the planned sequel, Andy Serkis offered this cryptic answer:
"As yet, who knows? No one really knows the nature of the sequel for sure. It's all being evolved as we speak. I don't even think there's a script at this point. But I'm deeply excited to see where it all goes. We all are. Obviously at the end of Apes, it's perfectly set up for the ascendancy of the species. Where we go from there should be rather extraordinary."
Regarding the fate of the lost Icarus mission, a callback to the original Charlton Heston movie which represented a tiny subplot in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Serkis would only say this:
"All I know is that I'm in it, which is good. But I'm not exactly sure the avenues they will pursue. But that is one element they made an effort to include."
Paradise Lost
Calling into question my long-held contention that kids love the John Milton, Legendary Pictures has reportedly postponed the Alex Proyas directed, Bradley-Cooper-starring-as-Lucifer adaptation of the classic poem, supposedly because the thing had ballooned far past its completely reasonable $120 million budget to an utterly ludicrous $140 million. The producers will reportedly allow filming resume once they restore a little fiscal sanity — "a little" being the operative phrase there. [The AV Club]
Riddick 3
Vin Diesel has revealed another piece of concept art for a creature that will appear in the third film. [Comic Book Movie]
Producer Allison Abate discusses Tim Burton's process in adapting his 1982 short to the big screen:
"Tim always wanted to make it into a feature and into an animated feature. We had to open the story up a little bit. Pretty much, the whole first act is like the short. We meet Victor and his beloved dog, Sparky. There's a terrible car accident tragedy and the dog gets killed. Of course Victor, being a clever guy, figures out how to reincarnate him. Where the story diverges is that Victor is now desperate to keep his dog a secret. He doesn't really know if what he's done is a great thing. He doesn't tell his parents and he doesn't tell his school friends... Of course, the other kids at school get wind of it and kind of want in. It's been fun making these kids. What would Boris Karloff in 'The Mummy' actually be like at 11 years old? What is Igor like as a 12 year old kid?"
And art director Tim Browning discusses the movie's setting, the town of New Holland:
"[Our setting] is a California suburb sometime between 1965 and 1975. There's no real specific date but, from a design point of view, you approach it much the same as any other period drama. You do the research and try to find all the details of the architecture. Of course, on a project like this we have the luxury of making everything and having complete control. In live action, you have to rely very heavily on locations, purchased props and hired props. Here, you make every single thing."
There's more at the link. [ShockTillYouDrop]
Indiana Jones 5
While Steven Spielberg has suggested they have already found the movie's MacGuffin along the lines of the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, the crystal skulls, and whatever the hell was supposed to be important in Temple of Doom. (Some stones, I think?) Anyway, when asked for an update, George Lucas suggested they weren't quite so far along, and had instead simply decided on a general setting:
"I mean, I know what it's about, but I just have to find a MacGuffin that fits into the arena we're working in."
Untitled Angelina Jolie Sci-Fi Movie
Angelina Jolie is reportecly close to signing on for a new movie by Luc Besson, described as a "large-scale dramatic thriller" that is "rooted in true scientific elements", and which recalls Besson's earlier efforts like The Fifth Element and The Professional. [Deadline]
Underworld: Awakening
Here's a new promo image. [SpoilerTV]
Doctor Who
Here's another trailer for the Christmas special, "The Doctor, the Widow, and the Wardrobe." [Life, Doctor Who, and Combom]
The Walking Dead
Robert Kirkman talks about how they built in the midseason break into the overall structure of the second season, as well as what to expect after the hiatus:
I will say that it's kind of fun. We knew that the break was coming in this season, so we wrote to it. So the first half of this season that everybody has seen does kind of fit as an arc. Everything was deliberate and it was kind of cool to end with the Sophia reveal. (I hope I'm not spoiling anything for people who are behind.) Coming into the second half of the season I think that we kind of hit the ground running, and there's a lot of stuff going on. I actually just watched episodes 11, 12 and 13 to review them, and it's just non-stop all kinds of cool stuff. I can't reveal much, but I will say that when we come back in February the first episode back has the best ending that I've thus seen. I was just super-thrilled when I got to that. It's just gonna be really cool stuff. We're gonna be introducing some new elements and some new characters, and some big things that you may not be expecting. It's gonna be pretty awesome.
He also discusses the rumors of an upcoming major character death, basically saying that it's inevitable on a show like this:
You know, it's The Walking Dead. I'm not gonna guarantee it, but I'm gonna say that it's safe to… People are gonna die. Whether they're gonna be main characters I can't really say. I don't know what people consider to be a main character, but there are human characters on the show that will be not surviving. By the end of this season… We start with a cast on our second season, and we will end with a somewhat different cast. That's kind of what The Walking Dead is. So we'll see.
Game of Thrones
Peter Dinklage gives the second season the official Peter Dinklage Seal of Approval™, which is pretty much all I need:
"It's a great season. I was opposed to doing TV for a long time because I thought the quality of writing wasn't very strong, as opposed to film, but there's been a shift in term of the quality of scripts. HBO has attracted a tremendous amount of great writing talent."
True Blood
The fifth season will reportedly feature a flashback to San Francisco in the 1950s. [E! Online]
Terra Nova
Here's the first promo for the two-part finale, "Occupation" and "Resistance." [Terra Nova TV]
Here are two sneak peeks for this Friday's episode, "Chuck vs. the Curse."
And here are interviews with stars Zachary Levi and Ryan MacPartlin along with guest star Rebecca Romijn.
And here's the synopsis for the episode:
CHUCK VERSUS THE CURSE (TV-PG) A CASE OF MISTAKEN IDENTITY GIVES ELLIE AND AWESOME A DATE NIGHT THEY WILL NEVER FORGET - REBECCA ROMIJN GUEST STARS – Chuck (Zachary Levi) and Sarah (Yvonne Strahovski) race against time to take down a dangerous computer virus, pitting them against Robyn Cunnings (guest star Rebecca Romijn), a ruthless spy who will stop at nothing to get what she needs. Meanwhile, Ellie (Sarah Lancaster) and Awesome's (Ryan McPartlin) date night takes a dangerous turn and Morgan (Joshua Gomez) is sent on a special mission to recover Chuck's P.A.N.T.S. Adam Baldwin also stars.
Once Upon a Time
Sheriff Graham is definitely dead and gone, although actor Jamie Dornan could return to the show as his fairy tale alter ego, the Huntsman. In the meantime, Jennifer Morrison tweeted that "It will be hard for [Emma] to ever open her heart again" after the Sheriff's death. Instead, Emma will find herself competing for the open position of sheriff against Giancarlo Esposito's newspaper editor Sydney. [E! Online]
The show is looking to cast "a beautiful and tempting fire dancer named Ariel, who is a Daemonfeuer", which is a dragon-like beast. [E! Online]
The show is reportedly casting a character called Nora, "a well-meaning and hardworking Wiccan who's a little bewildered by the darker side of evil." Another casting notice is "a troubled postal worker who has something in common with...more to him than meets the eye." [E! Online]
Here are some set photos. [SpoilerTV]
American Horror Story
An upcoming episode will feature Tate trying to prove his love for Violet in "a very traditional way." [E! Online]
All the ghosts will try to attend the birth of the Harmon babies, and the weird redhead twins will also return to wreak havoc in the house. For a bunch more tidbits about tonight's episode, check out the link. [TV Guide]
Additional reporting by Natalie Baaklini and Charlie Jane Anders.


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|Atlas Experiment :Tile Calorimeter Barrel
The commissioning of the ATLAS detector with physics data started more than three years ago with cosmic rays. This has enabled us to put in place the full operation chain, from the trigger and data acquisition up to the analysis all over the world. Thanks to this intense commissioning campaign, ATLAS was ready to collect data already during the first day of LHC single beam operations on the 10th of September in 2008. Commissioning of the ATLAS detector with cosmic rays and first LHC beams
There is no doubt that I would move fast forward to the culmination of everything that is a part of the atlas experiment to have said the final result is what is to be gained by measure. The Calorimeter view just seemed natural as the going on of Glast, now called Fermi would have shown it's own construction as a necessary element of that measure in calorimeter design. So of course jumping ahead one needed to carry certain assumptions, and for me this was about the cosmic particle events that lay at the foundation of the universe in it's informative style as reductionist in nature.
|"Black Hole" event superimposed over a classic image of the ATLAS detector.
There is a little confusion on my part here about the simultaneous view that what is in the pipeline has a strong correlation to what we seek of, in cosmic particle collisions. The energies involved, as decay products. So as I looked at this article and the phenomenological correspondence necessary I needed to understand that effects of such operations, current in the cosmos could have somehow contaminated the results they were seeking through controlled processes. So how was this done is the issue here and how such data cannot be influenced by what is currently happening in the cosmos.
|Neutrino Events-A compilation of some cool and unique neutrino events captured by the IceCube Neutrino Observatory.
As a layman it was of interest that my developing perspective about the cosmos at this scale sought some kind of revelation in the way research would have been done experimentally. So this was a challenge to me that I could see the scale at which the cosmos picture was developing microscopically on a large scale could have been part and parcel exemplified in this research as the cosmological view. It just seemed natural to me the effect of what was happening on earth was somehow translated in how the earth itself sat in the cosmos as a participant bathed in the cosmos glory.
|webcast of seminar with ATLAS and CMS latest results from ICHEP
In a sense I have felt belittled by the idea that my seeking of the workings of the cosmos would have fell to such materialistic views. Of course I want to know how it all works. But truly this is the way I am sure that would lead to the understanding of something very important about the way in which we can view the universe. At some point, there is an exchange taking pace about how such matters form, and there is no other way in which to derive this but to further dissect the nature of particulate expression but by energy disposition?
|COSMOS:AIRES Cosmic Ray Showers
Throughout the course of my research there has been a connecting thread that has brought me to certain conclusions about matter states as they exist in the cosmos, but by identifying the particulates of the realty in which we live. So in a way it is necessary to observe that nature we are seeing as so obvious in our observation on a fundamental level, can go much deeper as we implored the the use and need of the spectrum in this wider view of the cosmos. The backdrops necessary in determining what the energy is saying as we record the events in the calorimetry design, how ever this is constructed.
In this same way as cosmic particle collisions are derivative of the events in the cosmos, for Atlas research, CMS serves to support Atlas, and vice versa?? 🙂
See Also:


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Rodrigo de Oliveira Andrade
Latin America correspondent, SciDev.Net
The Second Global Conference on Agriculture Research for Development (GCARD2) is officially over. As I have previously said, the meeting has produced a lot of recommendations, but nobody knows how and who will put them into practice over the next two years. The conference's closing session was chaired by Raj Pandora, from the GCARD Organising Committee, and had the presence of Rachel Kyte, World Bank vice-president.
But the most anticipated speech came from the Uruguay's minister of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, Tabaré Aguerre.
In his talk, he exalted the importance of the meeting, saying that GCARD has created a huge forum for sharing experiences and ideas, and has given Uruguay international visibility.
"Our country has been committed to agricultural development focused on sustainability and farmers' quality of life for years. And I believe that key to continuous improvement of this system is governance. It's only through governance that we will have an efficient and sustainable national agricultural innovation system," he said.
Aguerre also highlighted that the GCARD has contributed with these actions and that the private-private and private-public partnerships must be coordinated by public policies well structured, given that many countries have experienced a growth of their development rates by using the natural resources in an exaggerated way.
"Different examples of productive systems have been showed during the GCARD meeting. The world needs a more efficient and competitive agricultural system through the improvement of the smallholder farmers' life from the food security and sustainability of production process. We won't achieve our goals while exists poor farmers seen as secondary actors in the elaboration of public policies to the field. The measures need to be fair and compassionated and it won't come from markets, but from the public sectors," emphasised.
Myriam Pérez Diaz, one of GCARD2's social reporters, questioned whether the meeting was really able to address smallholders' real problems, given that in the eyes of some participants GCARD2 is a very 'big' conference, which hampers inserting the smallholders' interests on the meeting agenda discussion.
"Global trading and price volatility, developed countries dumping under-priced products in poorer countries, land access and land grabbing and private companies buying arable land on developing countries. These are the real barriers to lifting smallholders out of poverty," she wrote in one of her reports.
"I really don't understand the reason why nobody is addressing these concerns, which are precisely linked to the main agricultural issues to be overcome through this meeting," she told SciDev.Net.
Marcio Adriano, from Caritas Internacionalis, told SciDev.Net that he was disappointed with the sort of debates established during the conference and said that the GCARD appears to be distant from the smallholder farmers' reality.
"They are still trying to put the small farmers into the logic of the big agribusiness, which is indeed in the middle of the discussions. It seems that they still believe that increasing food productions is the solution against hunger in the world. They don't seem to take into account the problem of the inequality of its distribution," he said.
Adriano concluded by saying that the academic knowledge still prevailed instead of the dialogue with the smallholder farmers' local knowledge. Align these knowledge in a same direction is one of the main challenges postponed to the next GCARD meeting, which takes place in 2014.
This blog post is part of our coverage of GCARD 2012, which takes place on 29 October–1 November 2012 in Punta del Este, Uruguay. To read news and analysis on agricultural research please visit our website.