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Europeanization and European Intégration. From Incremental to Structural Change
The scope and extent of Europeanization among the member states of the European Union is all too often exaggerated by scholars of European integration. It has long been assumed that the mere existence of mechanisms designed to promote commonality between countries in the EU and to encourage a collective European identity has given credence to the idea of Europeanization and how effectively it has infiltrated EU member states. In stark contrast to the assumed success of these mechanisms in promoting Europeanization, recent studies have shown that, in the main, both domestic socio-economic as well as normative structures have proved resilient to this process. Through a compelling exploration of the relationship between European integration and Europeanization, this collection provides important insights into the disconnect between efforts to promote commonality and collective European identity and the ambivalent results of Europeanization at the socio-economic and normative structures of member states.
Authors :
Luca Tomini

subset: commoncrawl


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EDGEWOOD, Md. (AP) — The Army says it has put a civilian researcher in Edgewood on paid administrative leave while it investigates a watchdog group's assertion that he is a "white nationalist."
The Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center said Friday that it put mechanical engineer John Stortstrom on leave May 28 due to an article published online by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Stortstrom didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Stortstrom is vice president of the Joppa-based Route 40 Republican Club. Club President Fred Mullis says Stortstrom is not a white supremacist.
Mullis acknowledged that Stortstrom arranged in May for the founder of the White Student Union group at Towson University to speak to the club. Mullis says getting speakers is one of the vice president's duties.
(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)


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In the following breathtaking video, "Australia Great Barrier Reef", you get a glimpse into the magnitude of the thousands of species that inhabit Australia's surrounding ocean ~ Uploaded by mojorisr on Oct 3, 2009; Music: Tiesto-A Tear in the Open, Chilling Crew-For Better Moments, Tribal Trance-Orance Leopard Moon. Quote from YouTube video information: "My intentions were to make a quality trip video. We took a 4 day liveaboard with Mike Ball Dive expeditions ending up at the amazing Osprey Reef. The diving was incredible."
This is a truly spectacular video and a must see in FULL SCREEN. I am so envious of the divers who experience this thrill of a lifetime!
Some interesting data about the species that inhabit the waters of Australia's ocean and the Great Barrier Reef ~
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. It consists of more than 2,900 coral reefs, 600 continental islands, 300 coral cays and thousands of species making it one of the world's most complex and diverse ecosystems. The animals of the Great Barrier Reef include some 1500 species of marine fish, 360 species of hard corals, between 5000 and 8000 species of mollusks, 600 species of echinoderms, 17 species of sea snakes, 1500 species of sponges, 30 species of whales and dolphins, 6 species of marine turtles, 22 species of seabirds and 32 species of shorebirds which breed on the reef's many small islands.
Marine Fish of the Great Barrier Reef
There are more than 1500 species of fish that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef. They range in size from the tiny gobies, some of which weigh less than one gram, to the larger bony fishes such as the tuskfish and potato cod, to the massive cartilaginous fishes such as manta rays, tiger sharks and whale sharks. Damselfish, wrasses and tuskfish are among the most abundant fishes on the reef. Other fish of the Great Barrier Reef include blennies, butterfly fish, triggerfish, cowfish, pufferfish, angelfish, anemone fish, coral trout, seahorses, sea perch, sole, scorpion fish, hawkfish and surgeonfish.
Hard Corals of the Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is home to about 360 species of hard corals including bottlebrush coral, bubble coral, brain coral, mushroom coral, staghorn coral, tabletop coral and needle coral. Hard corals, also known as stony corals, are a group of marine animals that live in shallow tropical waters and are responsible for building the structure of a coral reef. Colonies of hard corals grow in various shapes and sizes such as mounds, plates and branches. As previous coral colonies die, new ones grow on top of the limestone skeletons of their predecessors. Over time, this growth creates the three-dimensional architecture of a coral reef. Colonies of hard corals consist of thousands of small individual invertebrates referred to as coral polyps. Each polyp is radially symmetrical with a tube-like body that has a tentacle-rimmed mouth at the tip that it uses to feed.
Sponges and Echinoderms of the Great Barrier Reef
Over 600 species of echinoderms and more than 1500 species of sponges inhabit the Great Barrier Reef.
Echinoderms are bottom-dwelling marine invertebrates. They exhibit a type of radial symmetry called pentamerous symmetry in which their body can be divided into five equal parts around a central axis. The echinoderms of the Great Barrier Reef include sea urchins, sea cucumbers, sea stars, feather stars and brittle stars.
Sponges of the Great Barrier Reef include the yellow burrowing sponge, tubular sponge, thick yellow fan sponge.
Marine Reptiles of the Great Barrier Reef
There are 23 species of marine reptiles that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef including 6 species of sea turtles and 17 species of sea snakes. Occasionally, the saltwater crocodile also ventures out to forage on the reef, although such visits are quite rare.
The sea turtles that inhabit the Great Barrier Reef include the green turtle, loggerhead turtle, hawksbill turtle, flatback turtle, leatherback turtle and the Pacific ridley turtle. Some sea turtle species, such as the green turtle, loggerhead turtle and hawksbill turtle, nest on coral cays. The flatback turtle nests on continental islands and the green and leatherback turtles nest on mainland Australia. When not nesting, these sea turtle species use the waters of the Great Barrier Reef as foraging grounds.
Among the sea snakes of the Great Barrier Reef are the olive sea snake, the turtle-headed sea snake and the sea krait. All sea snakes are venomous.
Marine Mammals of the Great Barrier Reef
About 30 species of whales and dolphins frequent the waters of the Great Barrier Reef including humpback whales, Irrawaddy river dolphins, minke whales and spinner dolphins. Dugongs also inhabit the reef, feeding on the sea grasses that grow in the shallow inshore waters.
Not all of these marine mammals are permanent residents of the Great Barrier Reef. Minke whales and humpback whales visit the reef in winter. Other rorqual whales such as blue whales, fin whales and sei whales also migrate through the Great Barrier Reef region but do not stay for extended periods of time.
Mollusks of the Great Barrier Reef
In this video, "Australia to create marine haven", Australia's Environment Minister, Tony Burke, unveils plans for the world's largest network of protective marine parks. Published on Jun 14, 2012 by dawndotcom
VIDEO ~ "Australia to build biggest marine reserve", posted to YouTube by Al Jazeera's Andrew Thomas from Sydney, Australia on Jun 15, 2012 ~ The Australian government has announced the creation of the world's biggest network of marine parks (3.3 million square metres), covering an overall area the size of "India"
This video, "Marine Life off Perth, Western Australia", just released by the Ocean's Institute, University of Western Australia, showing a sequence of video footage captured off Perth, Western Australia. The marine life shown in this sequence now has a brighter future thanks to the plan for marine sanctuaries off Australia's South West. Published on Jul 4, 2012 by SaveourmarinelifeWA


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Blake Lively is on the cover of Vogue for the third time. In the accompanying interview, we learn a lot about her burgeoning lifestyle brand ("Preserve"), as filtered through the lens of the magazine's sense of smug and slightly inscrutable fashion-whimsy.
Dear reader, there is a lot going on in this piece. Blake Lively speaks in a riddles and references to Martha Stewart. And contributing Vogue editor Jonathan Van Meter, who penned this masterpiece, utilizes words the way that silken neck kerchiefs and printed blankets were deployed in the accompanying photo spread: in both cases, the guiding principle seems to be "just drape enough of these upon Blake Lively, no matter how mismatched, and the end result will be a Vogue magazine feature, all right."
I have taken the liberty of ranking several of the most stunning sentences in this piece, on a scale of "Huh." to "What, please, God, no!!!!!!" Here you are:
Sentences That Appeared in Blake Lively's Third Vogue Magazine Cover Story, Ranked:
7. "Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is one of those startling American places where 'purple mountain majesties' becomes gloriously real, no longer a patriotic abstraction from a song learned in grade school."
This is how the piece opens, splendidly setting the tone for the rest of what follows. (I'm interested in learning about the other startling American places where "purple mountain majesties" are removed from the realm of patriotic abstraction. The T.G.I. Fridays endless appetizer bar? An Iron Throne made out of 4th of July edition Budweiser cans? Sarah Palin's house?)
6. "[W]hen we find ourselves in a windowless dining room with a handful of older couples quietly eating lamb chops, our hearts sink. She stares at me with a look that says, Really? It came highly recommended, I say. 'By whom,' she asks, 'someone who hates us?' It takes a second for me to get that she's kidding (I think). A waiter approaches us to ask if we'd like to start with something to drink. 'Can I have the French onion soup to drink?' says Lively."
The French onion soup thing was also a joke. But probably Blake Lively's worst enemy would attempt to force her to eat lamb chops around old people, so that's not really a laughing matter.
5. "How this girl keeps her curves in the right places is a mystery to be solved by another writer."
FREE PITCH IDEA FOR ANOTHER WRITER: How Does Blake Lively Keep Her Curves From Going to the Wrong Places? Sub hed: This guy from Vogue saw her eat eggs once.
4. "I said to Ryan [Reynolds, Mr. Blake Lively], 'Darling, I made a new friend.' And he's like, 'You only make friends with senior citizens!' "
This is from a story about meeting Jane Fonda.
3. "Perhaps because of the scorn that has been heaped on Gwyneth Paltrow and her Web site, Goop, Lively is quick to point out that she is 'not trying to show you the perfect life or the aspirational life. It's real life. It's the thing that blindsides you on an idle Tuesday that's tragic but that also makes you who you are.'"
Blake Lively's new online venture is the lifestyle curatorial equivalent of suddenly being hit by a car while crossing the street? Is that what this means? Help.
2. "'I am really excited about [her lifestyle blog]," says Ivanka Trump, another willowy workaholic who knows a thing or two about brand extension."
In hell, Satan reads you this sentence over and over again.
1. "Not many women can wear denim overalls, strappy Louboutin stilettos, and a Navajo-blanket poncho and get away with it, but Blake Lively can. "
Goodnight world.
Image via Vogue.


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One woman in Liberty lives in a beat-up blue Audi — with garbage bags covering the broken windows to keep out the cold.
One woman in Liberty lives in a beat-up blue Audi — with garbage bags covering the broken windows to keep out the cold.
One man in Monticello lives in an abandoned, unheated bungalow — with only a sleeping bag and kerosene heater to ward off the icy winds.
Then, there's the family with five children, ages 10 months to 11 years old. After they were evicted from their Orange County apartment, they landed in a brown-walled room in a homeless shelter, where one little girl thinks she's on a sleepover.
These are among the more than 1,300 homeless people in the mid-Hudson counted during one 24-hour period in the last week in January for a federally mandated program — the Point in Time count. Those who try to help the homeless agree that number provides a tiny window into a problem that is so widespread, at least one of every 120 people in Orange County alone will be homeless at some point during the year.
A more accurate count, say local officials, is about 1 percent of the population. That would mean at least 6,000 people in our region are homeless.
"At least 3,000 people in Orange County alone spend at least one night during the year using our services," says John Harper, director of Middletown's Emergency Housing Group.
Even though the Great Recession officially is over, our region has yet to get a handle on the problem that is still "so huge," says John Van Etten, the homeless management information system coordinator of Sullivan County. Sullivan had a count of 80 more homeless people than Orange — despite a population that's about one-fifth the size.
While the official counts might be lower than last year in Orange and Sullivan, they're still higher than the numbers for 2011.
Although the numbers for 2013 in Ulster are not yet available, officials are expecting an "uptick" from the 2012 count of 355, says Kathy Germain, director of housing services for the Rural Ulster Preservation Company.
Plus, this year's homeless number doesn't even include dozens of Sullivan's migrant workers, since monetary cuts for BOCES meant there were fewer resources for the count.
As troubling as the numbers are, what's even more disturbing is this: an increase in the homeless who are most vulnerable, children and families.
"The reality of the situation is there's just not enough affordable housing," says Michael Berg, executive director of Family of Woodstock, which helps the homeless of Ulster.
Plus, many of those families remain homeless year after year — particularly in Sullivan, where the number of "repeat homeless" has quadrupled, from 12 to 48, since last year, Van Etten says.
That's partly because treatment centers for social and medical problems, such as drug addiction, are among Sullivan's top industries.
"So you bring people here for treatment," says Van Etten, "and they leave and they have no place to go."


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I'm back! Turns out that Arno has a broken ankle and will need about 6 weeks to heal. Fun while it lasted, it's a very difficult and disappointing way to end the trip. The window for doing the trip as planned has passed for the year, as far as I'm concerned, and I'm not planning on attempting it again.
Thanks to all who supported the effort, and especially Davos who kept this site going. If you are not aware, Davos has announced that he is stopping his updates on Chris Martenson's site at the end of this month. And, since I'm back he will also stop the updates on this site at that time. He plans on working on some projects and spending more time with his family. It's difficult to put never ending work into a blog, and he deserves a well earned break and all our thanks for his help in spreading around some reality.
Equity futures are up this morning, here's the overnight action on the /ES and /YM (S&P and DOW):
The dollar is up slightly, oil is flat, gold is up a couple dollars but still stuck below the $1,000 mark.
No economic news out today, that's good as it gives me some time to get caught up on things. That's going to take a few days, so please be patient with me and I'll get back to writing full force again as soon as I can, but I'm going to have to work into it as I get settled again. Later in the week we have consumer confidence, another Q2 GDP trumped up revision, Chicago PMI and a host of the other usual highly questionable statistics! The next large event that everyone is looking forward to is the employment situation that comes out next week on the 2nd of October.
Below is a 6 month chart of the S&P 500. You can see that the rising wedge is still in play. According to McHugh, this latest down move should be followed by one more up move to finish off his wave count for the large wave B up, that puts C down to follow. Looking at the stochastics, the daily has a way to go before it's oversold, but the 60 minute is on a fresh buy and the shorter term oscillators are mixed. I do see a very short term positive divergence but the negative divergence is still there, and quite large, on the longer time frames. My guess is that we may tap the bottom of that wedge sometime soon and then we'll rise back to the top and possible make a new high. Wave 5's, however, are tricky as they can either extend and rise above the top of the wedge, or they can truncate. This next wave up, when it begins, will likely be the bulls' very last chance to escape with their pants on.
Numbers to watch? October 13th, and SPX 1133 in honor of Seth? What happened to him anyway? I'll have to write him and find out… prison is not ruled out, lol. The pivot points to watch are support at 1,041 (next lower at 1,018), and resistance is at 1,061.
Speaking of bulls, even Jim Grant has turned bullish? That's a great indication that the psychology for a major top is in place. During the Great Depression, there were also some very famous investors who turned bullish only to be wiped out later. Their thesis correct, it simply takes longer than you would think to draw in all the idiots, err… dumb money, which the world seems to flooded with. Insider selling? Still at record highs. Price to Earnings? Off the charts by historic norms. The math of debt? Even more unworkable than before. Banks? Still insolvent, but hiding via accounting tricks and supported by the government that is complicit in the deception.
No, those things have not changed one iota in the two weeks I was gone, and as you can see, neither has my outlook. The fleecing is ongoing, it's going to get real ugly in the next round.
Not my favorite tune, but hey… I'm back in the saddle again!
Aerosmith - Back In The Saddle


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Atoma A5 Tab Pages
General Information
In our quest to guarantee you the best possible reliability and functionality in products, at times there is the need to be inventive: our team develops tailor-made solutions in-house or recommends product upgrades corresponding to our guiding principles to associated manufacturers.
Manufactum's ATOMA. A notebook and organizing system in parts and as a kit.
The 60-year-old Belgian ATOMA notebook system consists entirely of runaway rings and flighty pages, whereby the rings prevent the pages from flying off and the pages prevent the rings from running away – at any rate, thanks to a patented special perforation the pages can always be easily separated from each other. So you can add, rearrange or combine the various forms from your own notebooks any time you want to, – with forms, calendar or addresses you can generate with your PC on the blank forms and then perforate them with the ATOMA hole puncher.
The Paper. Real writing paper.
Almost all commercial "stationery" today is optimized for smooth operation in offset or office printers at the expense of those who write by hand with fountain pens, ballpoints or pencils. Our paper favors the convenience of the hand writers: quills glide cleanly over it, fountain pen and ballpoint ink leave behind clean contours without running, and pencil lead creates unambiguous lettering and symbols. (For more information about this paper, which we also produce for our own line of note notepads, a blotter and stationery, see these products).
The rulings.
The kit.
This is how you put together your notebook:
– the rings (Ø 17 or 24 mm) – eleven for an A4- and eight for an A5 notebook; – a 0.8 mm thick Texon cover we provide in A4 and A5 and extra wide for the A4 and A5 tabs; – specially perforated inserts (90 g/ m²) in A4 and A5; and – inscribable tabs with a 6-fold index extra wide for A4 and A5. Assembly is easy: first you insert the rings in the rear cover, then slip the inserts (approx. 8 sheets each) on the rings (about 8 sheets per insert) and then the front cover. We also offer all blank varieties as ready-made notebooks.
Product Information
Article Number 82632
For A5 notebooks with extra wide covers.
250 g/m². 21 x 17.7 cm.
Contact Us
For advice, spare parts or special requests – our customer centre will take care of your questions and concerns, personally and competently.
You can reach us from Monday to Friday at 0800 0960937 or anytime at email@example.com
Gift Certificates
It's good for everything: With our PDF gift certificates you can choose from the entire Manufactum selection. Pick a motif which you can send by email or print out and present personally, immediately after submitting your order.Order Now


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Deadline chatter: Soriano on verge of NY return
White Sox trade chip Peavy impressive against Tigers; reliever Crain has setback
We're under a week to go until the non-waiver Trade Deadline, and activity is picking up. More and more teams are getting clearer ideas of whether they're buyers or sellers -- and at what price in either case -- all while also trying to, you know, win ballgames.
From now until the July 31 Deadline, we'll be checking in on the trade news around baseball, with help from MLB.com's reporters. The countdown is under way.
Homecoming for Soriano: It appears the next phase of the Cubs' makeover is in full swing, while the Yankees are still very much playing for 2013. Those interests intersected in the person of Alfonso Soriano.
Once a top prospect and hot young star in the Yankees' organization, Soriano, now 37, is evidently on his way back to the Bronx. According to MLB.com's Carrie Muskat, the deal is "99 percent" done, but it still needs to be reviewed by Major League Baseball.
Soriano has agreed to waive his no-trade protection in order to return to New York, where he will provide an upgrade for a team starved for offense. He would most likely take at-bats from Vernon Wells, who has fallen into an abysmal slump since starting the year on a hot streak.
Mixed day for Sox pitchers: On the other side of Chicago, it was a good news/bad news sort of day. White Sox righty Jake Peavy, who has become one of the most coveted arms on the market, pitched seven solid innings in a win against the Tigers. But reliever Jesse Crain, who also has drawn a great deal of interest, experienced a setback in his recovery from a shoulder injury.
Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reported Thursday that Crain didn't feel good while playing catch, two days after his first mound session since suffering the injury. Crain would be arguably the top reliever on the market if healthy, but there will likely be little or no interest if not. It does not appear he will be able to pitch in a game before the Deadline.
As for Peavy, MLB.com's Scott Merkin reports that approximately 10 teams were in attendance as he pitched Thursday, though some could also have been looking at Alex Rios. The Red Sox, Rangers and Braves were among the teams represented at U.S. Cellular Field.
Long odds by the Bay: Giants general manager Brian Sabean does not sound like a man with any designs on buying before the deadline. Sabean spoke in candid, stark terms on Thursday when he discussed his team's situation.
According to MLB.com's Chris Haft, Sabean told KNBR radio that "the math is horrific against us, and we're almost ready to turn the page on this season." He made it clear that there's very little likelihood of the Giants adding players for the stretch run, considering their position in the standings.
In fact, it could be the opposite. Sabean sounded as though the Giants might even be a seller. Outfielder Hunter Pence and reliever Javier Lopez are among the Giants who could be free agents this winter and who might interest contenders.
Braves still sorting things out: The starting rotation was already a complicated situation for the Braves, even before Tim Hudson suffered a grisly ankle injury on Wednesday.
Alex Wood is in, but he wasn't especially sharp in his first start on Thursday against the Mets. Brandon Beachy is on the way back from injury, set to make his season debut within a week or so. Kris Medlen is still in after looking like he was on the way out, and Paul Maholm is injured but perhaps not out for long.
All of which is to say that even the Braves' brass may not know just yet whether they'll seek to add a starter. Relief help had been Atlanta's priority up until the Hudson injury. It will be interesting to watch in the coming days and see whether the focus shifts to starting pitching.
Utley not going anywhere: It's not as though the Phillies have given any indication of being sellers. But if they were, it's starting to look like one of their biggest potential chips isn't going anywhere.
According to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, an extension for five-time All-Star Chase Utley "seems more likely to happen than not." It's not entirely clear what the Phillies could have received had they decided to shop Utley, but it appears that is a moot point.
General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has talked more like a buyer than a seller in recent weeks, but that stance is getting harder to maintain. Thursday's loss to the Cardinals dropped Philadelphia to four games below .500, and kept the Phils eight full games behind the Braves in the National League East. They are tied for the third-worst run differential in the league, further arguing against any rentals.
Reds quiet, but not idle: MLB.com's Mark Sheldon reported Thursday that the Reds haven't had "much in the way of rumblings" as the Deadline approaches. General manager Walt Jocketty told Sheldon that "there have been a lot of conversations but nothing of substance."
That is to say, just because nothing is getting out to the public, it doesn't mean they're not trying. Even so, Cincinnati doesn't need much. The Reds could use a right-handed bat, but they may get just that when Ryan Ludwick returns from injury.


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Directory Of TruthFinder People Search
People Search Frequently Asked Questions
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A people search, also called a people finder, is an online tool designed to help you find someone fast.
Have you ever tried to find someone on Google? If they have a common name, it can be difficult to track down the exact person you're trying to find. And if this person doesn't have social media profiles or a personal website, it can feel almost impossible to find any information at all. But even the most reclusive person hasn't dropped off the face of the earth — you might just need to use a people search engine instead!
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For more than 60 years, PAE has tackled the world's toughest challenges to deliver agile and steadfast solutions to the U.S. government and its allies. With more than 20,000 employees on all seven continents and in more than 70 countries, PAE delivers a broad range of operational support services to meet the critical needs of our clients. Our headquarters is in Falls Church, Virginia. Find us online at pae.com.
Our vision as a global leader of government services and support is to perform with excellence and integrity.
At PAE, our guiding principles are a commitment to excellence and integrity. We are a global leader providing services and support to the U.S government, its allied partners and international organizations.
Our more than 20,000 employees work in over 70 countries on all seven continents.
PAE is built on a foundation of integrity, respect and the highest ethical standards. From the top down, we exemplify our core values in all that we do.


text:
A Full List of Raffles for the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 White
We're back with yet another full raffle guide to give you the best chance of securing the Yeezy Boost 350 V2 White. It's not going to be an easy cop, all the more reason to get entering the raffles shown below.
Both the adult and infant style are scheduled to launch on Saturday, 29th April via adidas UK as well as a select few retailers.
With so much hype for the most refined and summer-ready 'SPLY-350' V2 yet, you'll be battling it out against thousands of other sneakerheads, not to mention those with bots! Avoid the painful L by staying glued to our social media pages on the morning of release. We'll be posting all available stockists along with exclusive info on how to cop @thesolesupplier.
Otherwise, bookmark this page as more raffles are constantly being added on the run up to launch.
Good luck Yeezyheads!
Online raffles
Sneakersnstuff Coming soon
In-store only raffles
Allike Hamburg
Brown Thomas Ireland
Boutique Roma Switzerland
Baskets Stores Amsterdam
Caliroots Stockholm
End Clothing Newcastle & Glasgow
Eraldo Store Italy
First BTQ Cyprus
Foot Locker Europe
Foot Shop Prague
Foot Patrol London
Hervia Manchester
Harvey Nichols Manchester, Birmingham & London
Hanon Aberdeen
JD Sports London
Offspring London
Par 5 Milano Milan
Panther Store Brussels
Phat Sole Greece
Rezet Store Denmark
Smets_store Brussels
Solebox Amsterdam, Munich, Vienna & Berlin
Snipes Shop Germany
Storm Adult Denmark
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Snipes Germany
The Hip Store Leeds
Triads Middlesborough
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Titolo Switzerland
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Instagram raffles
US & Canada Only


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Setting the Bar Higher for Teachers
With a couple of changes, a teachers' union's proposal for rigorous testing for prospective teachers could have a big impact on public education.
There's a lot to like in an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) proposal to create a rigorous professional exam that would be the K-12 teacher equivalent of the bar exam or board certification for doctors. With a few tweaks, the proposal could go from good to great.
Under the plan, which was developed by a task force of teachers and education experts convened by the AFT, prospective teachers would have to demonstrate knowledge of their academic subjects and spend a year in "clinical practice" as student teachers before sitting for the exam.
It calls for universities to raise their standards for education students by requiring a minimum 3.0 grade point average both to enroll and to graduate. With research making it clear that teacher quality affects student learning more than any other school-based variable (issues like income and parental education levels are external), the focus on raising education-school academic standards is a welcome one.
According to 2010 College Board data that breaks down SAT scores by intended major, students intending to pursue undergraduate education degrees ranked 25th out of 29 majors generally associated with four-year degree programs. Only "Agriculture," "Family and Consumer Sciences," "Parks, Recreation, Leisure and Fitness Studies" and, sadly, "Public Administration and Social Services Professions" ranked lower.
It doesn't get any better in graduate education programs. Scores are low, and they're even lower among applicants who were undergraduate education majors.
But there is evidence that an academic content-based teacher test can have a positive impact on teacher-preparation programs. It was a shocker when the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL) were first administered in 1998 and 59 percent of teacher candidates failed. But that changed in just a few years as state teacher preparation programs adapted to the higher standards.
MTEL, which is far more rigorous than the most often used teacher test, PRAXIS, was an important part of a comprehensive state reform effort that has paid handsome dividends. By 2005, Massachusetts became the first state whose students finished first in all four categories on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as "the nation's report card." Since then, Bay State students have repeated the feat each time the tests have been administered.
Massachusetts students also proved themselves to be among the best in the world in both the 2007 and 2011 Trends in International Math and Science Study. Bay State eighth graders tied for the highest eighth-grade science scores in 2007.
A couple of important changes would make the professional-exam proposal even better. First, AFT proposes that the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) develop the test. But NBPTS certification requirements are not very rigorous and are based largely on inputs. Certification should be based on a teacher's record of improving student performance as demonstrated by test scores, among other measures.
And rather than a single national test, students would be better served by state-based professional exams, as is the case with the bar exam. K-12 public education in the United States is largely a local endeavor; state and local taxpayer shoulder 90 percent of the funding burden, and they should control its content.
School districts across the country are beefing up teacher evaluations as a means of weeding out bad teachers. That's a good idea. But improving the quality and rigor of teacher preparation so that bad teachers never get to the classroom in the first place is an even better one.
The AFT undoubtedly expects that implementation of a prestigious exam would ultimately result in higher teacher pay. Done correctly, that additional investment would be a bargain for taxpayers.


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Qtopia / Qt Extended on FreeRunner
From Openmoko
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This page provides instructions on how to install Qtopia (proper, not the ASU or QtopiaOnX11 efforts) on the GTA02 (FreeRunner) phone. It is similar to the Qtopia on Neo1973 page.
Current status
On 3 October 2008, Trolltech released the qtextended-4.4.1-gta02-rootfs-release-10022309.jffs2 Qtopia ROM flash image containing the footfs for the FIC Neo FreeRunner (gta02) containing the Qtopia 4.4.1 release (GPL version). This runs on the uImage-gta02-g291a9d50_mwester-stable.bin mwebster ROM flash image containing the kernel.
This image can successfully make and receive calls and text messages. It can read all contacts from the SIM card (which the updated 2007.2 does not appear to be able to do). It contains apps that appear to be more stable than the ones found in the 2007.2 image. It has multiple input methods that appear to be more mature. It does not, however, have a web browser or a GPS application. There are however at least two third-party GPS applications available:
On 2nd of September 2008 Trolltech also released a 4.3.3-snapshot which fixes a number issues (sms messages not retrieved after resume; Qtopia getting confused between two calls; Make default call volume down and mic up; Added echo fix.)
You can find all the Qtopia images here (including Qtextended/Qtopia 4.4 for FreeRunner and Neo1973!)
What to expect in the next release (Qtopia 4.4)?
Qtopia 4.4 has been released with the name of QtExtended 4.4. The FreeRunner image will be ready in 3 days (3 okt).
- a browser based on webkit
- screen rotation in the settings application (so no automatic rotation)
- noise reduction
- GPS api
- usb net/storage switching
- Gtalk support
- better support for non-english languages in the keyboard
Option 1: Flashing Qtopia to FreeRunner
Download the image mentioned above and follow the instructions here: Flashing the Neo FreeRunner
Option 2: Dual-Booting between Qtopia and 2007.2 (Qtopia boots from MicroSD card)
Installation Requirements:
- SSH shell access to 2007.2 based image of the FreeRunner through USB interface or WLAN.
- A Desktop Linux distro (to unpack the .jffs2 image, I ran Ubuntu under VMWare)
Preparing the SD card
See the Preparing the SD Card section of the Booting from SD page for partitioning and formatting instructions. After you complete the "Formatting the SD Card" steps, return here and execute the following:
mount /dev/mmcblk0p1 /media/card mkdir /media/card/boot
mkdir /media/mmcblk0p2 mount /dev/mmcblk0p2 /media/mmcblk0p2
This will set you up properly for the installation of the root filesystem and the kernel in the steps below.
Installing Qtopia
Unpacking the Qtopia Root Filesystem Image
Download the Qtopia FLASH image from Latest Images#Qtopia images to your Linux box and extract its contents:
tar xzf qtopia-4.3.2-gta02-flash-*.tgz
You should now have two files:
- uImage-2.6.24+git18+9c058ff0d2641df3c36fc3300acb72078d2c41d4-r0-om-gta02.bin
- qtopia-4.3.2-gta02-rootfs-07172049.jffs2
Now, mount the root file system from the jffs2 using the commands found here. However, in the mount command, substitute the image filename for "/dev/mtdblock0".
Creating a compressed tarball
Next, tar up the root filesystem:
- tar czf qtopia-4.3.2-gta02-rootfs-07172049.tar.gz -C <mountpoint> .
Where <mountpoint> is the location where the jff2 filesystem was mounted. Note the space and the period after the mountpoint.
Installing Root Filesystem
Transfer this compressed tarball to the second partition of the MicroSD that is mounted on the FreeRunner:
scp qtopia-4.3.2-gta02-rootfs-07172049.tar.gz firstname.lastname@example.com:/media/mmcblk0p2/
Log in to your FreeRunner and unpack the root filesystem:
cd /media/mmcblk0p2 tar xzf qtopia-4.3.2-gta02-rootfs-07172049.tar.gz rm qtopia-4.3.2-gta02-rootfs-07172049.tar.gz rm -f /media/mmcblk0p2/boot/*
Note: the last step removes the kernel image from the second partition. For some reason, U-Boot cannot find the uImage.bin file in the first partition if a kernel image exists in the second partition boot/ directory.
Installing Kernel
From your Linux box, rename uImage-2.6.24+git18+9c058ff0d2641df3c36fc3300acb72078d2c41d4-r0-om-gta02.bin to uImage.bin and copy it to the boot directory on the first partition of the MicroSD card. Depending on the version of U-Boot you have installed, this may not work. To prevent any possible issues, copy it to the /media/card directory as well. There is plenty of room on the first partition to have uImage.bin in both locations.
mv uImage-2.6.24+git18+9c058ff0d2641df3c36fc3300acb72078d2c41d4-r0-om-gta02.bin uImage.bin scp uImage.bin firstname.lastname@example.com:/media/card/boot/ scp uImage.bin email@example.com:/media/card/
Pointing Qtopia to the SD Card
Lorn Potter on the mailing lists pointed this out:
Qtopia was designed to be run from the root partition on a flash chip, not from a removable sd card.
You would have to edit the etc/default/Trolltech/Storage.conf file to make it forget about the sd /dev node, to be able to run it this way"
Another user's solution to this is the following:
Edit this file: " /opt/Qtopia/etc/default/Trolltech/Storage.conf And change the [MountPoint0] section so it resembles this:
-[ [MountPoint0] Name[] = SD Card Path=/dev/mmcblk0p1 Removable = 0 Applications = 0 Documents = 0 ContentDatabase = 0
Option 3: updating from source
|NOTE: This will upgrade only opt/Qtopia directory, you should use opkg update/upgrade for the rest
Original Qtopia images (the distribution released by Trolltech, not ASU) are rarely released as a rootfs image, but the source code is often updated. If you want to reflash your OM with the latest version of Qtopia you might build it from sources. This has been explained in this thread of the community mailing list. Summing up:
- get the latest toolchain released by trolltech: http://www.qtopia.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=38 and unzip it on your PC (as root)
cd / wget http://qtopia.net/downloads/neo/arm920t-eabi-ficgta01-toolchain.tgz tar xvzf arm920t-eabi-ficgta01-toolchain.tgz
- get the latest snapshot from trolltech: ftp://ftp.trolltech.com/qtopia/snapshots/
- once dowloaded untar it
tar xvzf qtopia-opensource-src-4.3.2-snapshot-20080806.tar.gz
- make a "build" dir
mkdir build cd build
- configure and make:
../qtopia-opensource-src-4.3.2-snapshot-20080806/configure -device ficgta01 make This will take some time (couple hours). Note that the option "-device ficgta01" should work for both neo and freerunner. Then:
make install
will make a root directory into the build directory. There you can find an image that directory should be copied to /opt/Qtopia of your phone with scp. once done restart qpe or whole phone.
Booting into Qtopia
Now shutdown the FreeRunner
shutdown -h now
Log into U-Boot in the NAND Flash to boot from the MicroSD card: (instructions from Booting the Neo FreeRunner)
- Press and hold Power button
- Then while still pressing the Power button, press and hold AUX button for 5 to 8 seconds.
- A boot menu will appear.
- Press the AUX button to select "Boot from MicroSD" and then press the Power button to execute.
Qtopia should now boot.
Note: you may get a kernel panic which says that "optional features not supported". If this is the case, boot back into 2007.2 and run
umount /dev/mmcblk0p2 fsck.ext3.e2fsprogs /dev/mmcblk0p2
This will clean up the file system and clear recovery flags in ext3 that ext2 does not support, then try booting from the MicroSD again.
Qtopia comes with support for German and American English, and users from other countries will find that Qtopia's predictive keyboard makes writing in another language near impossible. One way to disable the predictive keyboard is to simply replace /opt/Qtopia/etc/dict/en_US/common.dawg and words.dawg with empty files (after backing them up). Qtopia normally looks in these files for words to suggest, and if it doesn't find any words that fit, it simply shows what you actually wrote.
Adding characters to the keyboard requires modifications to the source code, as described here.
Suspend /Resume
It seems that suspend/resume only works when the FreeRunner has been connected to a powersource (only a few seconds if sufficient). If you boot from battery, it will never suspend until you have plugged it in at least for a couple of seconds.
See Trolltech's tracker (Qtopia Tracker).
Bug reports should be sent to firstname.lastname@example.com or by web form at http://trolltech.com/bugreport-form.
Bugs in 4.4.1
- Boot and Shutdown Splash will not work because splash-write was not compiled into Busybox
- Timezone & time on latest Qt 4.4.1
- The first item in a list is missing the top half


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Compare cheap flights to Shanghai
When is the cheapest time to fly to Shanghai?
What to do in Shanghai
Shanghai is China's biggest and most modern city. With stunning architecture, heaps of attractions, and great shopping destinations, the locals are truly proud of their city.
In fact, they call Shanghai "Modu" which means "Magic City". And many travellers would agree with the nickname because visiting Shanghai is like exploring an entirely different country from the rest of China.
Start your Shanghai trip and visit the city's top tourist attractions like the beautiful Yuyuan Garden. Culture vultures will love spending hours at the Shanghai Museum. And for a spiritual twist, just head to the Jade Buddha Temple.
Feast your eyes on the city's amazing architecture. For the classic style, check out the ancient buildings at the Bund and the French Concession. The Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, and Shanghai World Financial Center embody Shanghai's modern architecture.
Take as many photos as you want of the city because you'll find many spots to take the best pictures of Shanghai. You can go to the Bund waterfront for a great view of the Huangpu River, and for a small fee you can go above the clouds at the Oriental Pearl Tower and the observation deck of Shanghai's World Financial Center.
If you've got some Yuan left, experience Shanghai shopping and stroll through the popular Nanjing Road and the Yuyuan Bazaar, or save your pocket money for tasty treats at the Wujiang Road snack street.
Experience the incredible city of Shanghai! Start searching for cheap Shanghai flights on Skiddoo now and pack your bags for China!
When to visit Shanghai
The best time to visit Shanghai is autumn, from the second week of October to November, for pleasant weather and fewer crowds. Save more on direct flights and airfare when you book flights for March and May travel dates because they're the cheapest times to fly to Shanghai.
Shanghai has many dialects like Shanghainese, but Mandarin is mostly used. Locals speak English in top hotels and major tourist attractions, but it's best you bring a Mandarin phrase book or a good language app to help you.
Before book China flights and visit Shanghai, make sure you secure a visa because Australians need it when traveling to China. Find out which travel visa you need and check out the Embassy of The People's Republic of China in Australia and Smartraveller for more info.
Travelling to and around Shanghai
International flights from Australia land at these two Shanghai airports:
- Shanghai Pudong International Airport – options for travel/transfer from Pudong Airport to city centre:
- Airport Shuttle Bus
- Subway
- Maglev Train
- Taxi
- Car rental
- Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport – options for travel/transfer from Hongqiao Aiport to city centre:
- Airport Shuttle Bus
- Subway
- Subway + Maglev Train
- Taxi
Journey time from airport to Shanghai central is around 60-90 minutes depending on traffic, your next destination, and choice of transport.
Once there, travel around Shanghai by bus, subway, train, taxi, and ferry. But we recommend you take the subway since it's the easiest and most efficient way to travel for its english subway map.
See the lights and the sights that make this city magical and book your Shanghai flights with Skiddoo today.
Best Hotels in Shanghai
Book cheap tickets to Shanghai on Skiddoo for a grand trip to China! Book your accomodation at one of these top Shanghai hotels!
3-star hotels in Shanghai. Click to book now!
4-star hotels in Shanghai. Click to book now!
- Four Seasons Hotel Shanghai at Pudong
- Holiday Inn Shanghai Jinxiu
- Courtyard by Marriott Shanghai Central
- Central Hotel Shanghai
Airlines that Fly to Shanghai
Airlines that offer cheap flights to Shanghai from Australia include:
- Air China
- Shanghai Air
- China Eastern Airlines
- China Southern Airlines
- Sichuan Airlines
- Qantas
For more on Shanghai holidays check out our Flight Deals or view our range of best times to fly.
Today's currency rate
24 Milllion
Temperature average in December
Rainfall average in December
43.9 mm
Cheapest time to fly to Shanghai (PVG)
All prices refer to return flights to Shanghai and include taxes and charges.
Our experiences customer support team is there to help you every step of the way.
With the Skiddoo Price Promise, if you find a cheaper price online we'll match it!


text:
There are hundreds of possibilities for spicing up your wardrobe with ShopHQ's online selection of fashion clothing and accessories, which includes tops, bottoms, dresses, handbags, wallets, eyewear, footwear, intimates and body shapers, outerwear and more. Our range of colors, patterns and brands offers designs perfect for different ages and styles. Whether you're searching for sexy shapewear, casual weekend wear or business professional attire, you'll find a plethora of unique and affordable women's fashion options.
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International Conference on "Control of Self-Organizing Nonlinear Systems"
The conference addresses fundamental developments in the theoretical understanding of control of complex and self-organizing systems, as well as state-of-the-art applications in various scientific disciplines. In particular, it focuses on nonlinear dynamical systems and networks with time delay and noise, and on applications of control to quantum systems and lasers, soft and active matter, cardiac dynamics and neuroscience.
The conference was orignally planned for
August 30th - September 3rd, 2020
(see the old poster on the right).
Due to the Corona situation,
it is postponed to August 2021.
Instead, there will be an internal workshop this year.
Sabine Klapp (Chair)
Andreas Knorr (Co-Chair)
Henning Reinken (Conference Secretary)
Liza Oemler (Secretary)
Invited Speakers
Philip Bittihn (Göttingen)
Stefano Boccaletti (Firenze)
Luca Brandt (Stockholm)
Evelyn Buckwar (Linz)
Gianmaria Falasco (Luxembourg)
Yann Le Gorrec (Besançon)
Roman Grigoriev (Georgia Tech)
Susana Huelga (Ulm)
Stephen Hughes (Kingston)
Eric Lutz (Stuttgart)
Jesper Moerk (Lyngby)
Arkady Pikovsky (Potsdam)
Xavier Porte (Besançon)
Edgar Roldan (Trieste)
Jens Starke (Rostock)
Victor Steinberg (Weizmann Institute)
Christiane Stephan-Scherb (Berlin)
Evelyn Tang (Göttingen)
Hannes Uecker (Oldenburg)
Serhiy Yanchuk (Berlin)
... to be continued.
Program Committee
Markus Bär (PTB Berlin)
Alexander Carmele (TU Berlin)
Sabine Klapp (TU Berlin)
Andreas Knorr (TU Berlin)
Kathy Lüdge (TU Berlin)
Volker Mehrmann (TU Berlin)
Alexander Mielke (WIAS Berlin)
Isabelle Schneider (FU Berlin)
Holger Stark (TU Berlin)
Anna Zakharova (TU Berlin)
- More information will follow soon.
In case of any questions, please contact:


text:
« Chiefs Press NEA, AFT Leaders on Common-Core Policy | Main | Black Students Less Likely to Be Taught By Certified Teachers, Ed. Dept. Data Show »
Report: As Teacher Demographics Change, Districts Must Prioritize Retention
By guest blogger Alyssa Morones
It's been recently documented that the K-12 teacher workforce is greener than ever: In 2007-08, the amount of experience that the most teachers reported having was just one year.
Now, a new report takes a look at what that phenomenon means for the teaching profession as a whole. In sum, districts and programs that prepare teachers will need to seriously rethink how they retain and cultivate these new teachers, concludes the report, issued today by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Although much of the research in the report isn't new, it is knit together to provide an important look at the current state of teacher attrition and retention.
According to the report, the high rate of teacher turnover is responsible for a saturation of beginner teachers in the field. Between 1988 and 2008, annual teacher attrition increased 41 percent.
Nearly one third of teachers exit the field within the first three years—a fraction that's even larger in urban school systems, where more than two thirds of teachers in those schools leave within 5 years. The attrition rate in high poverty schools is 50 percent greater than it is in other schools. Teachers of color leave at much higher rates than white teachers, a problem that's notable in light of schools' struggles to recruit more minority teachers.
Such turnover is costly. According to one study from the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future cited in the report, teacher attrition costs school districts more than $7 billion to recruit and induct new teachers. Finally, because lower-income urban schools have a particularly hard time with teacher retention, their students on average receive weaker instruction because beginner teachers tend to be less effective than experienced ones.
These demographic changes are coupled with what appear to be a shift in teachers' thoughts on teaching as a long-term profession.
A national survey of teachers found that over half planned to leave the profession; new teachers who entered the profession through non-traditional routes, including Teach For America, were even more likely to express this outlook.
This isn't the only shift taking place: New teachers also aren't entering into the same teaching climate as their predecessors. It's now "one of stricter accountability, a related focus on standardized testing and, in the wake of the recent recession, severe budget cuts," the report notes.
So what does all this mean for the places in which teachers work? For one, it stands to have profound effects on the culture of the workplace, given the steep learning curve of beginning teachers. The high rate of turnover "erodes collegiality, along with trust among teachers," reads the report, "and cuts into valuable institutional knowledge about procedures, curriculum, and culture."
The report points to a lack of administrative and professional support as a main reason for the high rate of turnover in the teaching profession.
"The biggest reason teachers leave is because they are working in a dysfunctional structure," Jesse Solomon, executive director of the non-profit BPE, told the report's author.
Districts should keep their teacher turnover in-check, according to the report, and strategize ways to keep teachers. The report emphasizes that schools should recognize new teachers' unique needs and provide them with targeted support and training, especially because new teachers have such a steep learning curve. "Comprehensive induction," as the report refers to it, includes quality mentoring, common planning time, and standards-based evaluation.
Another tool to managing turnover is to make careful hiring decisions—to put the right people in the right schools. Late hiring is one barrier to this, especially in low-income districts that have uncertain budgets and student enrollment. Other reasons for late hiring include poor data systems and bureaucratic barriers.
The report includes case studies of schools working to train and retain their teachers. Though a costly endeavor, it's usually one that pays off because districts save on replacement costs and spend less on remediation, the report concludes


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METS: Nationals score in bottom of 9th to sink N.Y.
WASHINGTON -- Rick Ankiel scored on Ian Desmond's chopper up the middle in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday, giving the Washington Nationals a 3-2 win over the New York Mets on a scorcher of a summer afternoon.
With runners on second and third and the infield in, Desmond bounced the ball over pitcher Bobby Parnell, who deflected it with his glove. Second baseman Willie Harris' throw was too late to get Ankiel.
Amid the annual anxiety of trade deadline day, the Nationals quieted the Mets' bats again to take two games in the three-game series. As it turned out, all those eyeing the clock were waiting for naught -- neither team announced a deal as of the 4 p.m. deadline, leaving them instead to persevere through a day when the first-pitch temperature was 96 degrees.
Scott Hairston hit two home runs, including a tying shot that just cleared the left-field fence with two outs in the ninth, to account for the only runs for the Mets, who were shut out 3-0 on Saturday and finished 6-4 on their road trip.
Jesus Flores opened the bottom of the ninth with a single to right off Parnell (3-3), New York's fifth pitcher. Parnell then hit Ankiel with a pitch to put runners on first and second with none out. Brian Bixler attempted to sacrifice, but first baseman Daniel Murphy pounced on the bunt and threw to third to force out Flores.
Ankiel and Bixler advanced on a wild pitch, forcing the Mets to bring the infield in for Desmond.
Drew Storen (6-2) got the win after blowing the save, having allowed Hairston's second homer. Storen, the subject of trade speculation throughout the day, was greeted with rousing cheers as he jogged in from the bullpen -- still in a Nationals uniform.
Desmond, Ryan Zimmerman and Michael Morse doubled in a two-run sixth off New York starter Jonathon Niese to break a scoreless tie, with Morse's opposite-field stroke kissing the chalk down the right-field line for his second two-bagger of the game. Zimmerman is batting .436 during a nine-game hitting streak.
Washington starter Jordan Zimmermann righted himself after giving up six earned runs in each of his previous two starts. He pitched six scoreless innings, allowed seven hits, walked only one and struck out six -- including the last two batters he faced to work out of a second-and-third, one-out jam.
Sean Burnett entered in the seventh and immediately allowed Hairston's third pinch-hit homer of the season, a solo shot to left field. Hairston remained in the game and struck again in the ninth, putting Storen's 1-0 pitch into the visitors' bullpen.
The Mets had their chances early. They loaded the bases with a walk to the pitcher and a pair of singles in the third, but David Wright hit into a 9-3-4 double play when Murphy strayed too far off first on a flyout to right field.
New York then had Murphy and Wright on base with one out in the sixth. Zimmermann balked, allowing both to advance, but he composed himself to strike out Angel Pagan and Jason Bay.
Notes: Wright has hits in all 10 games since returning from the disabled list. However, his streak of seven straight multihit games came to an end. ... Zimmerman, who has been adjusting to a new arm motion since returning from abdominal surgery in June, made yet another throwing error, this time on a grounder by Murphy in the first inning. Zimmerman has seven errors in 41 games since the injury. ... The Nationals optioned RHP Yunesky Maya to Triple-A Syracuse and recalled LHP Atahualpa Severino from Syracuse. Severino's first appearance with the Nationals will mark his major league debut. ... Washington LF Jonny Gomes singled twice, his first two hits after an 0-for-6 start since being acquired in a trade from Cincinnati last week.


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BOSTON -- The Boston Red Sox have placed reliever Andrew Bailey on the 15-day disabled list because of strained right biceps.
Boston activated lefty reliever Craig Breslow from the DL on Monday.
The 28-year-old Bailey started the season as the setup man, but was elevated to the closer's role when Joel Hanrahan went on the DL in April with a strained right hamstring.
Bailey was 1-0 with a 1.46 ERA and five saves in 13 games before going on the disabled list.
Bailey missed most of last season after having surgery on his right thumb during spring training. The right-hander also missed a large portion of the 2011 and 2010 seasons when he was with Oakland because of injuries.
Breslow started the season on the DL with shoulder tendinitis.


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I'd had a post planned for this morning, but I got derailed on the way to it. I made the mistake of scrolling through my Facebook news feed, you see, and, well, things are kinda ugly out there. I have a lot of friends, on Facebook and otherwise, who don't take kindly to racism and ableism and homophobia, and well, the list is long so let's just go with "institutionalized bigotry," shall we? And so they point it out when they see it, for which I am grateful, because we need to know where it is, especially when it's hidden in the most insidious of places, in order to combat it. But it also makes for some tough reading at 5 o'clock in the morning.
So I clicked on my personal messages. Figured it had to be safe in there. Alas, it was a friend responding to the note I'd sent her, sharing my own outrage and sadness the other night at a baffling exchange on Diary's Facebook page. I'd posted the following:
Since the girls are on vacation this week, we let Katie go out to dinner with a friend tonight. While Luau and I started to talk about what the rest of us would have for dinner, Brooke got agitated. "Wait! Wait!" she shouted, "We can't do Grace without Katie."
Editor's note: Brooke also asked Luau to be the "dinner helper," the words that she had available for "waiter," which we were able to discern when she told him that dinner helpers stand while the rest of us eat. I may or may not have laughed my arse off.
{Image is a very smoldery photo of Gerard Butler, which technically has nothing to do with this post, but when I googled "waiter" to find a picture to use and didn't find what I had in mind, I tried "butler" and this is what came up and then I stopped caring about finding a picture of a waiter. You're welcome.}
On which someone inexplicably commented:
Wow, it's not just Xmas, you say "grace" too. You sure turned yourself from a Jew to a Goy 100%!! Good for you Jess!! A true Jesus/Christian fan!! Be proud of turning your childrens' back on your people, heritage, and family history. Not shameful at all – LOL. You can X me out now just like you did to your true self. Bye!!!
And to which I'd responded:
Wow, you seem to have decided that you know my story, which, based on your comment it's clear that you don't. I don't feel the need to justify my family's traditions, inclusive as they are of both my husband's (Christian and Buddhist) and my (non-religious Jewish) heritages, nor to explain that our Grace is a beautiful and sacred moment in which our family says, at every meal, "Thank you for the food we are about to receive and the precious gift of each other." I also don't feel the need to tell you that grace is not only to be found at our table but in our hearts. In the way that we treat one another with compassion and charity, cherish each other, and respect one another and God. Last I checked, those also happened to be the tenets of Judaism, a religion that takes a lot more than righteous indignation online to practice. Incidentally, as soon as I hit enter on this comment, I will be banning you from the page due to a clear violation of my comment policy. God bless and may you find some grace of your own.
Clearly, it was time to bid Facebook adieu for a while so I came back here and scrolled through the comments and pingbacks awaiting approval. Turns out that wasn't the best place to hide. I deleted one comment conflating homosexuality with pedophilia and bestiality (what is it with religious fanatics and this obsession with sex with kids and animals? Seriously, guys, you might want to ask yourself what's going on there.) I took a deep breath and then moved on down the list.
Next was a comment on Blind asked if perhaps I wasn't violating my own policy of No Tolerance For Intolerance by referring to the Westboro "Church" folks as $&!holes in the post.
This is what I wrote in response …
While the point is well taken, I have my limits. I try not to call people names or belittle others for their belief system. However, when your "belief system" leads you to harass military family members by picketing the funerals of their fallen soldiers and to parade around the country showing up where people are grieving their unthinkable losses with signs that say "God hates fags", well, yeah, I'm going to call you an asshole.
Ed note: I was going to insert a photo of the Westboroers and their signs here, but when I googled them and came up with young children holding signs alongside their parents reading, "Thank God for Dead Soldiers" and "Fag Love = 911," well, I just didn't have it in me.
So I kept going. And I came upon a pingback that looked a little odd. (A pingback is notification that someone out there in Internet Land linked to my blog. It's always fascinating to see the various contexts, perspectives, even languages, and well, it's just interesting to see how people are using my stories and relating them to what they write.) So I clicked on the link. And this is what I found:
According to the Dig Dug kill screen, Freshly Riffed is where I make fun of the titles of Freshly Pressed blog posts. Also, oh god this game is existential hell.
Each title will be linked to the original author, and remember; All mockery is for mockery's sake only.
And there was my post, Waiting Out the Demons, being mocked among the rest. There was my story of holding my little girl through the hell of anxiety and fear and sadness and the toxic soup of hormones and autism and trying desperately to protect her, to help her, to love her through it all as she wailed, wordless … and there it was … being mocked (for mockery's sake only).
Yeah, little known fact: Demons actually have ADHD, you just have to wait till they get distracted. "And soon, we will descend upon the hapless mortal and swallow his soul- OOOH LOOK A SQUIRREL."
My post, trembling as it was with emotion and helplessness and fear, was a joke. And not even a funny one.
The truth is, I'm tired. I try hard to don my rhino skin every day, but sometimes it all gets through and it's just too damned much. Not sure where to wrap this up, but I've got to get my butt to work, so I'll end with a graphic that I made yesterday. The one that got me through the day and will get my through another and another still as we fight for compassion in a world that sometimes feels like its lost its way completely.
{text of graphic reads "Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that. MLK Jr.}


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@Qumulus Yo Q, its Tobes, I am trying to contact you but wasn't sure of your details, not using FB so that isn't an… https://t.co/7DnxEFOqwu
Vibration Therapy VR003
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Hi good people of Go Top 100.
Spent the last few days building my topsite and must say - Thank you for your excellent code and good guidelines within the site building areas - did a bit of crashing and dashing but overall very happy with the outcome.
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Garry J. Smith


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CdM's Amies earns All-American honor
Corona del Mar High senior kicker Griff Amies has earned first-team MaxPreps All-American Football honors after he converted 22 field goals, tying the California single-season record for field goals made.
Amies played a key role in CdM winning a second straight CIF Southern Section Southern Division championship and claiming the school's first undefeated league championship. The Sea Kings finished 12-2, 5-0 in Pacific Coast League play.
Amies, a left-footed kicker, made 73.3% of his field-goal attempts, including nine from at least 40 yards out. His longest successful field goal was a 52-yarder. He recorded 45 extra-point kicks and 26 touchbacks.
Amies received Daily Pilot Newport-Mesa Dream Team and first-team All-Orange County honors by the Orange County Register, as well as the All-Pacific Coast League Kicker of the Year award.
— From staff reports
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The latest Beatles News Briefs, Beatles rumors and Beatles and Sixties Rock and Roll
information all Across the Beatles Blogiverse from the editors of BeatlesNews.com
If you have something we could report here on the blog, please
send it to us!
Related Posts: Liverpool 2008(Click here to read all the blog posts)
The Beatles have had a bigger impact on Liverpool than any other band has had on a city, except for perhaps Graceland, which, come to think of it, isn't a city.Of course you'll come across the Beatles, individually and together, especially as you walk down Mathew Street where they got their start at the Cavern Club. But you'll see images of them on places you least expect to find them and the effect becomes surreal. One great example is finding all four Beatles from the "Beatles For Sale" album blown up along the sides of some city buses.
Beatles historian Paul Du Noyer meets the Beatles fans[Posted by Katie Hickox on Tuesday, 06/03/08 8:20 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
Journalist and author Paul Du Noyer spoke Sunday afternoon to a group of Beatles fans at the Liverpool Beatles Story Starbucks about his newly republished "We All Shine On: the Stories Behind Every John Lennon Song 1970-1980," and his work with Paul McCartney. Born and raised in Liverpool, Paul has been writing about music for over twenty years. He was assistant editor of the NME, editor of Q and founding editor of MOJO, and he currently writes for The Word.
Denny Laine gives private concert for fans in Liverpool[Posted by Katie Hickox on Monday, 06/02/08 6:59 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
Denny Laine played tonight at Liverpool's CavernClub before our private Beatles tour group. Denny played an acoustic set and played many of his own excellent songs he had written.
Following in the Beatles' footsteps in Wirral[Posted by Katie Hickox on Monday, 06/02/08 4:32 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
The ladies of Barneston WI Hall kindly greeted our tour group with tea and biscuits this afternoon on our vist to the Margaret Milner Hall in Cheshire, Wirral where the Beatles played 46 years ago on March 24th, 1962, wearing their newly tailored collarless suits that Brian had recently purchased for them. The visit for tea/coffee and biscuits by the gracious ladies of the Barneston WI Hall was amongst the highlights of the 6 day VIP Paul McCartney tour apart from last night's Paul McCartney concert at Anfield stadium.
Paul wows Liverpool crowd for an emotional 2 hours[Posted by Katie Hickox on Sunday, 06/01/08 6:44 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
All in all, Paul wowed his hometown audience with nearly 2 hours nonstop music, mostly Beatle songs, along with a few of his solo songs sprinkled in.Paul played 26 songs, starting with Hippie Hippie Shake, Jet, Drive My Car, Flaming Pie, Got To Get You Into My Life, Let Me Roll It, My Love, C'Moon, The Long And Winding Road, Blackbird, Calico Sky, I'll Follow The Sun, Eleanor Rigby, Something, Penny Lane, Band On The Run, joined by Dave Grohl of Nirvana on guitar, and Back In The USSR.
Sir Paul makes the clouds part in Liverpool[Posted by Katie Hickox on Sunday, 06/01/08 1:56 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
This is it! Comedian Peter Kaye introduces Paul McCartney to the crowd in Liverpool. Paul opens the concert with song he hasn't performed in concert before, Hippie Hippie Shake.
Kaiser Chiefs on stage now at Liverpool Sound[Posted by Katie Hickox on Sunday, 06/01/08 12:32 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
My second report live from Liverpool Sound as it happens at Anfield Stadium! They have laid down a special ground covering to protect the grass for soccer. It's unusual, there is no space between my knees and the seat in front of me, so if I need to get up, everyone has to get up too to let me pass.Zutons have finished. It's 7:40 and now the Kaiser Chiefs have started to perform.
Zutons open Liverpool Sound concert[Posted by Katie Hickox on Sunday, 06/01/08 11:52 am] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
Woohoo!We got great seats on the side, not too far away. Better than standing for 5 hours in the center where more than 10,000 people are standing.
Fans brave rain to experience the Beatles Story[Posted by Katie Hickox on Sunday, 06/01/08 9:43 am] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
One more stop in Liverpool today before the big concert tonight!Visitors to Liverpool's Beatles Story exhibition queued up in record numbers today despite having to wait outside in the rain for an hour.
Celebrites attend UK premiere screening of Concert For George[Posted by Katie Hickox on Saturday, 05/31/08 8:19 pm] [Permalink] [Full Blog] [Tweet] [Facebook]
Our third night in Liverpool! Wow, what an incredible UK Premiere screening of tonight's "Concert for George" at FACT Theatre!Olivia Harrison, along with the filmmakers and singer Joe Brown, gave a brief introduction to "Concert For George". Sir George Martin attended along with his son Giles. Other celebrities included Yoko Ono, the Lord and Lady Mayor of Liverpool and the president of Apple and EMI.
» Beatles News Blog
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Ten years ago, Postmedia News reporter Douglas Quan was living in New York City when two hijacked airliners crashed into the World Trade Center towers. He spent the next several months filing reports on the city's recovery. As the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, Quan revisited some of the New Yorkers he interviewed and found others who experienced the attack first-hand to talk about their recollections of that day and how it changed their lives.
NEW YORK — Life, finally, has returned to "The Hole."
After lying dormant for years, the 16-acre World Trade Center site is teeming with cranes, earth movers and 3,000 construction workers daily.
Their job? To transform the site into a place that simultaneously memorializes and revitalizes — where people can come to quietly reflect and where capitalism can flourish.
Architect Nick Zigomanis, whose Toronto-based firm Adamson Associates has played a role in shepherding major parts of the complex project, says he's confident the right balance has been struck.
"We had to decide what is the new way we're going to live after all this? Are we going to solidify all this into a gravesite and memorial and stop moving? Or are we going to live?" he said.
"For me there is absolutely nothing wrong in saying this is a place to live and shop and make money and bring the business here. That's why we're all here. New York wouldn't be New York."
In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, Zigomanis worried whether anyone ever wanted to build a skyscraper again.
Today, all he has to do is look out his office's windows at the World Trade Center site to get his answer.
Or rather, look up.
On the northwest corner of the site sits the partially constructed One World Trade Center tower which, when completed, will be the tallest building in the United States — a symbol of American resilience, some might say defiance.
In addition to the 1,776-foot-tall signature tower, the plans also call for three more office towers, retail stores and a major transportation hub.
Equally important, the site will provide space for people to get away from the hustle and bustle.
The centrepiece of the site is a memorial plaza filled with a forest of oak trees. The original footprints of the Twin Towers have been transformed into pools; water gently cascades down their walls, the names of each 9/11 victim inscribed in bronze around their borders.
There will also be an underground 9/11 museum and an above-ground pavilion, containing architectural elements from the original towers.
Arriving at this balance between rebirth and remembrance did not come easily.
During early phases in the solicitation of ideas, some designers were adamant there should be no commercial development anywhere on the site.
Others took the opposite view. Don't just rebuild, but rebuild bigger and stronger, they said.
Contributing to the problem were the numerous parties who had a say in the redevelopment. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey owns the site, developer Silverstein Properties is the major leaseholder, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is a joint state-city corporation co-ordinating the effort.
Even after architect Daniel Libeskind's master site plan was chosen in 2003 following a worldwide competition, the reconstruction project faced further delays because of disagreements over the specific designs of each element of the site, which were parcelled out to several different architects.
A New York Times article in 2005 referred to the project as "one of the most muddled developments in the city's recent memory."
"It was very depressing to go by the site and read on a daily basis the incompetence of the powers involved. Everybody was fighting everybody else. Nothing was getting done," recalled Andrew Dolkart, director of the historic preservation program at Columbia University.
But now that the construction is well underway, it has helped to give a psychological boost to those who live and work in the area, he said. A site that was a "barren wasteland" for years is now slowly being "knitted back into the city."
The redevelopment also sends a clear message that New York is a "city that remembers but a city that goes on into the future."
New York City architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and architect David Childs took the lead role in designing One World Trade Center.
From its cubic base, the 105-storey tower rises in the form of eight isosceles-triangle glass walls, and tapers at the top.
"A skyscraper of that height has to be an icon. One of the things that was important to us in the beginning was to create an icon, a building that's recognizable only by its shape," said Montreal native Donald Marmen, an associate director at the firm.
As for the detailing, the firm chose a type of glass that is very specular and that would reflect light. As the sun moves through the sky, the tower's surfaces shimmer like a kaleidoscope.
The other three towers, located along the site's eastern edge in descending height, each boast their own identities as well.
Designs for each were finalized over an intense period in the summer of 2006 with Zigomanis' firm, Adamson Associates, helping to oversee the process.
- Tower 2, designed by London-based firm Foster & Partners, comprises four mini-towers whose diamond-shaped tops are cut off at an angle, as if to point back at the memorial plaza below.
- Tower 3, designed by London-based Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners, emphasizes transparency — showing the mechanical "guts" of the building.
- Tower 4, designed by Maki and Associates in Japan, takes on a minimalist approach with a cooler feel.
Sept. 11 really caused architects to think the "unthinkable" when incorporating safety features into their designs, Zigomanis said.
To that end, each tower was designed with additional options for getting out of the building, features to avoid a progressive collapse, better fireproofing and more emergency backup lighting.
A billboard next to the site says the future has "never been brighter."
But traces of 9/11's dark days are never far. Street vendors peddle $5 booklets with graphic images of the planes barrelling into the Twin Towers.
A memorial wall outside a firehouse next to the site pays homage to the 343 firefighters killed that day. The pews at nearby St. Paul's Chapel still bear scuff marks from when 9/11 firefighters came to rest or pray.
A big question, however, remains: will people want to work here again? Dolkart, the Columbia University expert, admits he would not want an office in One World Trade Center.
"If there's any building in the world that's a target, that's it," he said.
"It has symbolic meaning for people who are troublesome. What more obvious target would there be than that?"
But there are some promising signs. In May, a news release announced publishing company Conde Nast would occupy one-third of the One World Trade Center tower, using the building as its headquarters and home for its magazines and websites.
Zigomanis says he gets his confidence from an encounter he had with a stranger a few years ago.
He and other project planners were heading to a meeting with technical drawings tucked underneath their arms.
They passed a group of tourists trying to sneak a peek through the perimeter fencing. A woman in the group, recognizing they were probably involved in the redevelopment, stopped them.
"Whatever you do, make sure this doesn't become a graveyard," she said.
"This is a place to live."


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Festool Guide Rail 2400mm (2.4m) FS 2400/2
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Keeping it straight
Length 2400 mm


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For most of us, reading and writing are as natural as breathing. But nearly 800 million adults worldwide lack the literacy skills needed to complete a job application, understand a child's report card, or read a prescription.
Rotary knows that literacy is an essential ingredient for reducing poverty, improving health, encouraging community and economic development, and promoting peace. Since 2002, Rotarians have provided resources and skills to advance literacy in communities worldwide by
Whether through volunteering your time and expertise, providing financial support, or building awareness, you can empower people and communities through literacy.


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If turning the plight of illegal immigrants risking their lives to sneak into the U.S. into a goofy iPhone racing game didn't amuse critics of Smuggle Truck: Operation Immigration, maybe the game's legal immigration mode will.
That special mode makes you wait 19 years to win.
Let's not judge Smuggle Truck in the abstract. Let's see how offensive Smuggle Truck is, shall we?
I shot this video of Smuggle Truck in action on an iPad at PAX East in Boston, not far from where the developers at Owlchemy Labs made the game. We looked at the game's main illegal immigration modes and its boring legal immigration mode.
The illegal immigration mode of Smuggle Truck has you driving a truck full of immigrants on comically bouncy roads as you race for the border. (The legal immigration mode is just a black screen with a timer). The game's creators at Owlchemy Labs say their game is satire, inspired by a friend's struggle to get a visa to work in the U.S. and the product, initially, of an immigration-game contest that inspired everyone else to make serious immigration games. They wanted to poke some fun via the format of a single-player racing game, which, no, isn't one of the more widely appropriated or proven forms of social commentary.
Smuggle Truck ticked off some immigration experts who told reporters earlier this year that it is "disgraceful" and in poor taste.
Offensive? Funny? Watch the game and judge for yourself.
Smuggle Truck will be available for iPhone, iPad, PC and Mac in early April.