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By Lisa Desai for CNN
LONDON, England (CNN) -- If you work in an office, watch out -- your boss or the person sitting next to you could be a psychopath.
But not every psychopath is a budding Hannibal Lecter or Patrick Bateman, the Harvard Business School-educated Wall Street banker with a sadistic murderous streak who is the anti-hero of Brett Easton Ellis' brutal novel "American Psycho".
They may not be violent, the New Scientist magazine warns, but their character traits are identifiable as psychopathic and they're helping them climb the corporate ladder.
According to Professor Robert Hare, an expert in psychopathy at the University of British Columbia, Canada, "corporate psychopaths" are ruthless, manipulative, superficially charming and impulsive -- the very traits that are landing them high-powered managerial roles.
"Psychopaths are social predators and like all predators they are looking for feeding grounds," he said. "Wherever you get power, prestige and money you will find them."
The key characteristics shared by all psychopaths -- Professor Hare estimates that as much as one percent of the population of Britain and North America are clinically psychopathic -- are their lack of compassion and inability to empathize with others.
And while they may thrive in high pressure environments, they can also harm the companies they work for and make life a misery for their co-workers, throwing fits of rage, blaming others when things go wrong, and taking credit for other people's work.
To combat this Professor Hare has teamed up with corporate psychologist Dr. Paul Babiak to design a test that allows companies to detect corporate psychopaths before they can do serious damage in the workplace.
The "Business Scan 360" test is used to assess managers who may carry psychopathic traits yet come across as ideal corporate leaders.
Professor Hare is also examining economic crime in the U.S., such as the Enron and WorldCom scandals, to see how corporate psychopaths operate.
"The psychopath is the kind of individual that can give you the right impression, has a charming facade, can look and sound like the ideal leader, but behind this mask has a dark side," Dr. Babiak told the Vancouver Sun.
"It's this dark side of the personality that lies, is deceitful, is manipulative, that bullies other people, that promotes fraud in the organization and steals the company's money."
Hare believes that individual employees who suspect they are working with a psychopath should also take steps to avoid becoming their next "victim."
"The most important thing is to be aware," he says. "Once you take that position you are in a better position to deal with them."
Paul Farmer, from the mental health charity Rethink, agrees that "corporate psychopaths" pose a major threat to harmonious workplace relations.
"The danger is that they build up a power base and turn everyone in the organization paranoid, everyone becomes afraid of everyone else and the work culture begins to reflect the personality of the leader," said Farmer.
"The workplace is often the most stressful place a person finds themselves in, employees and managers need to keep an eye out for signs of deteriorating mental health in fellow colleagues."


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June 26, 2006 — -- A perfect storm of drenching rain, irony, political rancor, public fear and -- at the last minute like a fierce stroke of lightning -- word from the highest court in the land, descended on the nation's capital today.
This storm -- pulling in many parts of the global warming emergency -- also broke through the White House perimeters and helped bring down a century-old elm tree, laying it across the driveway.
Even President Bush was drawn into the storm this morning, talking about climate change in a way he may find difficult to explain.
The brewing battles of and about global warming are now being joined.
The massive downpours this morning shorting out government buildings with flooded basements, seizing up legislative communications, snarling traffic access to white columned buildings, fit exactly the pattern predicted decades ago as a consequence of global warming.
It's a simple fourth grade science lesson: the warmer the air, the more moisture it can hold.
Winds suck up more water vapor from oceans and farmlands -- leaving more agricultural drought behind -- and when they finally do dump that moisture out as rain, the downpours are much heavier.
Not just in the United States. Worldwide, such downpours have been increasing markedly over recent decades -- exactly as predicted by scientists.
In the 1980's, leading American climatologists stood in front of Congress, trying to get across the reality of this planetary threat.
One of the world's most resepected climatologists, NASA's James Hansen, even used a dice metaphor to make it clear.
If you paint one side of the die red, you'll roll red about one in six times. Paint four red, and you'll roll red on average four in six times.
Manmade greenhouse gas emissions, Hansen explained, were loading the dice so that we'd have such extreme weather far more frequently. And, exactly as predicted, we and the world have -- well above what the frequency of any natural weather cycles can explain.
Amidst this morning's capital chaos -- including that White House elm bowled over and uprooted in the storm-drenched ground -- the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in.
The nation's highest court announced that it will indeed hear the case brought against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the grounds that it should have regulated carbon dioxide emissions in order to combat global warming.
The case is brought by a dozen states from New York and Massachusetts in the East (as well as Washington, D.C.) to California and Oregon in the West, along with a number of cities, plus some environmental groups.
Whatever the Supreme Court finally decides, their agreement to hear the case will only amplify news and discussion about what so many now -- including all credible scientists -- recognize as a grave planetary emergency.
And the president amid this morning's wind and rain?
In the White House, only hours after that old elm had fallen, Bush was addressed by a reporter, thus: "I know that you are not planning to see Al Gore's new movie, but do you agree with the premise that global warming is a real and significant threat to the planet?"
"I have said consistently," answered Bush, "that global warming is a serious problem. There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused. We ought to get beyond that debate and start implementing the technologies necessary ... to be good stewards of the environment, become less dependent on foreign sources of oil..."
The President -- as far as the extensive and repeated researches of this and many other professional journalists, as well as all scientists credible on this subject, can find -- is wrong on one crucial and no doubt explosive issue. When he said -- as he also did a few weeks ago -- that "There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused" ... well, there really is no such debate.
At least none above what is proverbially called "the flat earth society level."
Not one scientist of any credibility on this subject has presented any evidence for some years now that counters the massive and repeated evidence -- gathered over decades and come at in dozens of ways by all kinds of professional scientists around the world -- that the burning of fossil fuels is raising the world's average temperature.
Or that counters the findings that the burning of these fuels is doing so in a way that is very dangerous for mankind, that will almost certainly bring increasingly devastating effects in the coming decades.
One small group of special interest businesses leaders -- those of some fossil fuel companies -- have been well documented by journalist Ross Gelbspan and others to have been fighting a PR campaign for 15 years to keep the American public confused about the wide and deep scientific consensus on this.
They've aimed, as Gelbspan explains, to keep us thinking that (to borrow the president's words this morning) "There's a debate over whether it's manmade or naturally caused" -- though no open and thorough journalism this reporter knows of can find any such thing.
Drenching waters, president's words, high judges' scrutiny, worried voters, journalists scrambling to get their arms around this enormous story, oil executives looking at spread sheets while they explore for more oil in Canada and the Arctic, and one elm down ... so far.
Meteorologists predict more heavy rain this week along the mid-Atlantic seaboard.
Climatologists predict much the same for the coming decades.

subset: commoncrawl


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April 10 is the last day for Massachusetts residents to register to vote in the April 30 primaries for U.S. Senate, according to a reminder issued Wednesday by Secretary of State William Galvin.
April 10 is also the last day that a voter can change party enrollment — while unenrolled voters may vote in either party primary voters who are registered Democrat or Republican may only vote in that party's primary.
With multiple candidates trying to round up 10,000 signatures that are due a week from today, on Feb. 27, it's possible that Democrats and Republicans will have contested primaries in the race to succeed former Sen. John Kerry.
Nomination signatures are due with local registrars of voters on Feb. 27 for certification. Certified signatures must be filed by March 6 with Galvin's elections division.
The special election is Tuesday, June 25. U.S. Reps. Stephen Lynch and Edward Markey are gathering nomination signatures to run as Democrats and Cohasset businessman Gabriel Gomez, former U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan and state Rep. Dan Winslow are trying to qualify for the ballot as Republicans.


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Please Note: This event has expired.
Hallie Long
Born and raised in South Alabama, Hallie Long seemed to find her niche quickly. She began singing at age 4 and soon developed a love for making her own music. As those around her watched carefully, she began to flourish into writing songs about her life circumstances, and sometimes using those around her as inspiration. She asked for her first guitar around age 12, and to her own surprise, that is exactly what she had been needing all along. She began playing for family and friends and discovered that she loved helping others, get through their hard days with a little musical reminders , that we all have flaws and failures, but we all have each other. As she grew, so did her love for expressing things, in a the most would shy away from, she continued to "Honestly" speaking her mind. In time, the Alabama Girl packed up her home, her dreams, and at the age of 19, fearlessly headed to Music City, TN. Now she plays all over the the southern states, resting her head in Nashville. As a writer, she is now in a place where she can showcase her music after years of hard work and dedication, While continuing in her pursuit to living our her simple dreams.
Hallie is currently recording her debut album while still writing and making memories in Nashville.
Source: Puckett's
Free Admission | Tips Appreciated | Call or Use Ticket Link For Reservations
Contact: (615) 790-2309
94 East Main Street, Franklin, TN 37064(Neighborhood: Downtown)


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The NY Times has published a neat article about NYU's new urban "Big Data" center. Â The gist of the article is that urban quality of life can be improved by the quants crunching the data on things such as the spatial and temporal distribution of 311 Noise calls in NYC.
"The initiative at N.Y.U. is part of a broader trend: the global drive to apply modern sensor, computing and data-sifting technologies to urban environments, in what has become known as "smart city†technology. The goals are big gains in efficiency and quality of life by using digital technology to better manage traffic and curb the consumption of water and electricity, for example. By some estimates, water and electricity use can be cut by 30 to 50 percent over the course of a decade."
This last sentence is false. Â "Big data" is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for conservation and better use of urban scarce resources. Â I am a 100% fan of having better outcome variables (i.e Y from basic statistics) such as local air pollution, household energy consumption, and noise levels at a given street on a given day but such information alone does not establish cause and effect. Â Big data needs to be supplemented with field experiments to have random interventions such as introducing time of day electricity pricing to raise the price of a KWh at peak use times to protect the grid from overload. Â Big Data allows for better measurement but the social scientists can only establish cause and effect if specific interventions are known to have been implemented (i.e a ban on traffic near the UN when Castro is in town).
I have been working on this issue in my work using electric utility data by household/month. Â We can only make progress establishing cause and effect if we know something about the households. Â Â In the typical "Big Data" electric utility data set, the only thing the researcher knows is the zip code where the household lives and the year and month when the electricy consumption took place. Â Is such "big data" (there are millions of these records) sufficient to establish how to increase conservation? Â No!!
To achieve 30 to 50% reductions in water and electricity will require introducing serious economic incentives for conservation. Â The article does not mention the word incentive anywhere in the article, instead it focuses on sociological nudges. Â That's a good start but such social "keeping up with the Jones" incentives are not sufficient to achieve the aggressive 30% reduction. Â Engineers need to play nice with the economists and vice-versa. Â There are gains to trade here!


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\nName: Tim Arpin
Age: 30
Location: Savannah
Job: Real-estate investor
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
In the words of his friend who nominated him: "Tim's passion for adventure is inspiring."
Meet Tim: "I'm humble, optimistic, and easygoing."
Celeb crush: "Natalie Portman"
Hottest sext a woman could send: "Something that alludes to a bedroom encounter we'll be having very soon."
Top turn-off: "I don't like having to babysit a woman who consistently drinks too much while we are out."
Girls going commando: sexy or skanky? "Skanky"
Do you manscape? "Yes, once a month."
What women need to know: "You can make a man really happy by truly appreciating him and showing your affection."
To vote for Cosmo's Bachelor of the Year, click here
Find out the one thing Tim Arpin will never do in a relationship...
Watch as Tim Arpin tries to prove to you why he'd make a great boyfriend—in just five words...


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Russia's bid for three straight titles falls short
COLOGNE – In dramatic fashion, the Czechs have returned to the top of the hockey world. On Sunday night, they ended a 27-game Russian win streak at the IIHF World Championship, holding on for a 2-1 gold medal victory, and claimed the crown for the first time in five years.Few imagined this could happen earlier in the tournament, after the Czechs lost to nations like Norway and Switzerland in round-robin play. But now it's golden reality for head coach Vladimir Ruzicka and his crew of unheralded skaters.Meanwhile, Russian coach Vyacheslav Bykov's hopes of winning a third straight world title have turned to dust. Ditto for his eight returnees who played on both the '08 and '09 Russian squads."We expected more, but unfortunately today was not our day," Bykov said.Jakub Klepis and Tomas Rolinek scored a goal apiece for the Czechs in the first and second periods. Pavel Datsyuk replied late in the third period."I think we played well, but it wasn't enough," said Datsyuk. "We're very disappointed. We wanted to win gold for a third year."Czech goalie Tomas Vokoun posted his second career win in a gold medal game, prevailing over Russia's Semyon Varlamov, as Russia outshot the Czechs 36-25. Vokoun was also in net when the Czechs blanked Canada 3-0 for gold in 2005."Vokoun is the best goalkeeper not only in this World Championship, but in the whole world," said Ruzicka.The atmosphere was frenetic and boisterous, with chanting, flag-brandishing Russian fans outnumbering their Czech counterparts in the sold-out Lanxess Arena, with a World Championship record attendance for an indoor game in a hockey arena (19,132).On the ice, though, the Czechs gained the advantage with smart, disciplined, vintage Czech counterattacking hockey. It was a case of a team with just two "name players" in Vokoun and Jaromir Jagr defeating some of the NHL's most famous and high-priced Russian talent."This was probably the biggest surprise in hockey history," Jagr said. "They had stars and we had guys who play in the Czech Republic, but this shows that talent doesn't matter--you have to work hard."The Russians, who finished a disappointing sixth in February's Vancouver Olympics, were desperate to win gold in Germany as a sort of redemption, and their stacked roster included 14 Olympians. Ilya Kovalchuk took the tournament scoring title with 12 points. But that wasn't the title the Russians wanted."It's one game, not a seven-game series," said Kovalchuk. "Anything can happen. Their goalie played well, and we hit a couple of posts.""I think we did a good job trying in the end, but it's disappointing, every time you lose the final," said Sergei Gonchar. "I think we deserved to take the game into overtime."Despite the low score, this turned out to be an intense, exciting battle between the two traditional rivals. When the Russians and Czechs clash, it's no longer politically charged as it was during the tense Communist years of the late 1960s and early 1970s. But the passion is still definitely there anytime there's a rematch of the 1998 Olympic final, which the Czechs won 1-0 in Nagano.This might have been the final appearance in international competition for two great old warhorses, Russia's Sergei Fedorov and the Czech Republic's Jaromir Jagr, and if so, both acquitted themselves with honour. At 40, Fedorov sacrificed his body and put everything into his shots, while the 38-year-old Jagr controlled the puck effectively along the boards and made plays with his usual aplomb."I hope it wasn't my last game [with the national team]," Jagr said. "I love the game, and want to play as long as possible."A Russian defensive gaffe led to the Czechs scoring the opening goal just 20 seconds in. Jagr grabbed the puck behind the net and, with Varlamov paddle down and focused on the Czech legend, fed the puck in front to an unguarded Jakub Klepis, who hammered it into the unguarded cage. Defenders slid everywhere in vain.The Russians came back with tremendous pressure, and Maxim Afinogenov got into the clear, but was stopped by Vokoun on the backhand deke. Seconds later, Fedorov put one off the post.Afinogenov almost got another breakaway, but was hauled down by Petr Caslava, affording Russia its first power play of the night. There were chances at both ends: a Czech shorthanded 2-on-1 that a sprawling Alexander Ovechkin broke up, a dangerous stickhandling foray by Evgeni Malkin that Vokoun got down to block.As the period wound down, Afinogenov continued to be Russia's most dangerous forward, but couldn't fool Vokoun on his dazzling solo forays.The Russians thought they'd tied the game when Datsyuk lifted a loose puck over Vokoun from a tight angle at the horn, but it was ruled no goal since time had expired. Just like against Germany in the semi-finals, Russia went to the dressing room down 1-0 after one.The Czechs got the first good chance of the second period when Petr Koukal raced away shorthanded on a partial breakaway, but couldn't deke past Varlamov. Although the Russians continued to dominate play, opportunities popped up in both zones.Halfway through the game, Alexei Tereshchenko high-sticked Jakub Klepis, and the Czechs finally went to the man advantage. They managed to bottle the Russians up for most of the minor, but couldn't capitalize on the pressure despite excellent puck movement.With Russia continuing to outshoot the Czechs, how much longer could this game stay stuck at 1-0? The answer was, not much longer. But it wasn't in Russia's favour.Seconds after Ovechkin totalled Fedorov in the Czech zone, the Czechs went up 2-0 on a lucky play with 1:47 left in the second. Rolinek went hard to the net and a centering pass from Karel Rachunek deflected high off his skate into the net past Varlamov. The play was video-reviewed and deemed good, sans kicking motion."When they made it 2-0, it was very tough," said Datsyuk.The Russians desperately tried to get on the board in the third period, but couldn't generate much. Vokoun stopped Ovechkin on a promising right wing rush near the midpoint, coming out to challenge and giving no rebound.Next, the Russians got into trouble with physical play. Petr Koukal, not carrying the puck, was shaken up in a neutral-zone collision with Alexei Tereshchenko and was slow to get up, looking like he'd taken a blow to the head. Moments later, Jagr went head-over-heels in a collision along the boards with Alexei Emelin, who was ejected from the game with a five-minute major for clipping at 9:50.This killed off Russia's chances of coming back, even though the Czechs didn't generate a plethora of chances. When the Russians had a chance to do something, they opted for individualistic rushes that failed. And, to make things worse, just before the major was set to expire, Russia's Viktor Kozlov took a hooking minor with 5:14 left.After surviving the Czech power play, the Russians pulled Varlamov for the extra attacker with under three minutes remaining. The Czechs took two back-to-back minors, enabling Russia to get a rare 6-on-3 man advantage. It turned into a 5-on-3 when Malkin took a roughing penalty. The Russians got another push with Datsyuk setting up Ovechkin in front, the "Great 8" banging away futilely at the Czech goalie. With under a minute left, Vokoun stoned Ovechkin again on a faceoff one-timer.With 35 seconds left, Datsyuk cut the deficit to 2-1 with a perfect one-timer, set up by Kovalchuk, along the ice from the other faceoff circle.The Russians managed one last electrifying rush, but Vokoun held his ground. After a final faceoff in the Czech end, it was over. The Czechs jubilantly mobbed their netminder."We were huge underdogs coming into the tournament, and we almost didn't even make it to the playoff stage," Vokoun said. "You always read about those great stories, and now it's happened to me."Russia's dream had ended in bitterness and darkness, while the sun had finally risen again for the Czech Republic."We played like a team, even though we don't have many stars," said Petr Caslava. "We played with heart."Will this victory herald a new golden era for the Czechs like the period of 1998 to 2001? Or is it, more likely, just a happy blip? Only time will tell.The last time the Czechs earned a medal at the World Championship, they settled for silver versus Sweden in the 2006 final in Latvia. After that, they fell four straight times in the quarterfinals of the Worlds and Olympics -- until this tournament.No new Triple Gold Club members emerged from this game. Triple Gold Club status is awarded to players who have won the Olympics, World Championships, and Stanley Cup.The Czechs will open defence of their world crown next April at the 2011 IIHF World Championship in neighbouring Slovakia (Bratislava and Kosice).LUCAS AYKROYD


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Deputies: Man charged in road-rage assault
An Upstate man is charged with assault and battery after a road-rage incident, according to an incident report.
A Spartanburg County deputy was called to Reidville Road and Anderson Mill Road for a disturbance call.
When the deputy arrived, he was told by the victim that he was driving his family to Shoguns restaurant when he passed a gray car while trying to get off the exit.
The victim said when he passed the car, the driver followed him with his lights flashing and flicking him off with his finger.
The victim, Mark Gilbert, told News4's Mike McCormick that the driver eventually got next to him and threw something into the car, hitting him in the face.
"It was like a little battery pack remote control. It had two double-A batteries in it," Gilbert said.
Gilbert still has a scrape on his face where the object hit him.
According to the report, Gilbert followed the car and got its license plate number.
Gilbert told deputies both cars stopped at a trailer park, and the other man jumped out of his car with a tire iron, the report said.
The victim called 911.
Deputies said they were able to track the driver down, and Gilbert identified him.
Walter Richard Barnette is charged with assault and battery.
"If we didn't report him, the next time he might cause someone to really wreck, and all of them get killed. We could've easily went off the side of the bridge after he hit me, but luckily I can take a punch," Gilbert said.


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Drawing on the recent success of the Artisan trumpet collection, Vincent Bach is proud to announce the launch of a completely new line of trumpet, cornet, and trombone mouthpieces. These Artisan mouthpieces are a tribute to the success of the legendary craftsman with design elements reminiscent of the 1920's era models built in New York City.
From humble beginnings, Vincent Bach created a legacy building trumpet mouthpieces in New York City after a repair technician damaged his personal mouthpiece. In 1918, he invested $300 in a foot operated lathe to begin the business of producing mouthpieces. These mouthpieces quickly became some of the most popular in their time and the success would eventually lead Vincent to begin crafting trumpets and trombones. As his business grew, ownership was eventually transferred to the Selmer Company (now Conn-Selmer, Incorporated). Since that time, a complete selection of mouthpieces hand-picked by Mr. Bach have been closely guarded and maintained inside the factory located in Elkhart, Indiana.


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Find out how to unblock and block people on Facebook: This article works in two ways, first is how to block someone on Facebook and the second aspect is how to unblock those blocked users. Read and be blessed.
How to Unblock A Blocked Facebook User On Android Phone
When you unblock someone, that person will be able to see your posts on Facebook that you share with the public. The person won't automatically become your friend on Facebook. If you want to become friends with a person who you've unblocked, you'll need to send them a friend request.
What is blocking and how do I block annoying Facebook Friend?
When you block a Facebook friend or an external stalker they will no longer be able to do things such as tag you or see things you post on your Timeline. If you're friends, blocking them will also unfriend them.
How to block friends or people who are bothering you on Facebook
- Click at the top right of any Facebook page.
- Click Privacy Shortcuts
- Click How do I stop someone from bothering me?
- Enter the name of the person you want to block and click Block
- Select the specific person you want to block from the list that appears and click Block again
- Please Note that Facebook friends will not be notified when you block them.
If you can't find someone using this method, try going to the person's profile and selecting Block from the menu on their cover photo.
How To unblock someone Through Your PC
How To unblock someone Through Your PC
- Click in the top right of any Facebook page
- Click Privacy Shortcuts
- Click How do I stop someone from bothering me?
- Click View All Blocked Users.
- Click Unblock next to the name of the person you want to unblock.


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I've never been a Disney fan. Of course I saw all the classic movies as a kid, and I once dressed as Cinderella for Halloween sometime in the late 1970s. But I wasn't one of those people who got caught up — and stayed caught up — in the magic of Disney. Quite the opposite: I was baffled by childless adults who wanted to spend their vacations with Mickey Mouse. I mocked people who dreamed of getting married at Cinderella Castle. I vowed to keep all those princesses out of my daughter's life as long as humanly possible. I can admit it now: I was a Disney snob. And (cue confessional whisper) I had never even been to Disney World.
So when my husband, Adam, suggested that we go there last March, I thought he was crazy. Our daughter, Rose, then barely 2, was much too young to appreciate it, and I certainly wasn't excited by the idea of fighting crowds to ride Dumbo the Flying Elephant.
But Adam and I were both desperate for a vacation. It had been a long and terrible winter: I was laid off from my job, a casualty of the Great Recession. My mother-in-law passed away after a nine-year battle with cancer, and our whole family was rubbed raw with grief. Rose and I spent the better part of a month flattened by sinus infections, and our apartment was falling down around us. (Literally — a chunk of the bathroom ceiling tumbled onto my head while I was taking a shower one morning.) Disney World wasn't my first choice for a getaway, but at least it was sunny and kid-friendly. So we cashed in a few years' worth of credit card points and booked a long weekend in Florida.
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I prepared for the trip with the grim determination of someone planning a military operation. To be honest, I did not expect to enjoy myself. The most I hoped for was a respite from the gaping hole in my bathroom ceiling, and a couple of hours by the pool.
After weeks of anticipation (Rose's) and dread (mine), we finally boarded the ferry that would take us to the Magic Kingdom. And when I saw the awe in my daughter's face as Cinderella Castle came into view, my curmudgeon's heart grew about a million sizes. Rose wasn't too young to enjoy the park — she loved every minute of it. I found myself actually having a good time, not just for Rose's sake, but for my own. We all loved seeing hippos and lions and giraffes up close at Animal Kingdom. I shed my cynicism and cheered at the glitzy spectacle of Finding Nemo: The Musical. And I defy anyone not to ooh and aah at the incredible evening fireworks at Magic Kingdom.
It wasn't a flawless vacation by any means. I could have done without the crowds and the lines, and I've gotta say that I will always find animatronic characters corny at best, creepy at worst (I'm looking at you, "It's a Small World"). But at a time when life wasn't exactly wonderful, there was something incredibly healing in letting myself bask in the promise of Disney: that everyone can be happy, magic is real, and dreams really do come true.
Within days of our return, I was already plotting our next trip back. (With Rose pleading every day, "Let's go back to Disney World!" how could I not?) So somehow, I went from an anti-Disney grump to the crazy lady who took a 2-year-old to Disney World twice in one year. What we learned from our repeat visit can help you make yours more magical:
Have a plan. There are tons of books (I like The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World) and websites (see "Plan Your Adventure Online," right) that can help you map out each day you spend at the parks, practically down to the minute. Because Adam is more of a seat-of-the-pants guy, that level of detailed planning doesn't work well for our family. On the first trip we tried just winging it, but we spent too much time standing in line and arguing over the map.
The second time around, we decided before we even set foot in the parks that we absolutely had to ride the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Cinderella's Golden Carrousel; another must was the Kilimanjaro Safari Tour at Animal Kingdom. Adam wanted to ride the major roller coasters, and I wanted to buy a Christmas ornament. Knowing all that (and having a few reservations at sit-down restaurants along the way) helped us structure our days: We hit the most popular attractions at each park first, before the lines got too long, and skipped the ones that weren't really to our taste (but that we might have accidently wandered into if we hadn't known any better).
Go early and go late. We like to sleep late. No, we loooove to sleep late. On our first trip, we never made it to the parks before 11. But this time around, we dragged ourselves out of our hotel room to get to Magic Kingdom soon after it opened at 9. (True diehards get to the front gates half an hour or more before opening.) We were rewarded by thinner crowds and shorter lines. Another day, we didn't arrive at Magic Kingdom until after 7 p.m. We walked on to every ride and had plenty of energy left to stay up for the fireworks, which go on sometime after 8 p.m. On that note...
Ditch bedtime. Yes, we kept Rose up hours past her bedtime so we could see the evening parade and fireworks. Twice. Three times if you count our first trip. I know some kids really don't deal well with disruptions to their routine, and a lot of moms will disagree with me big time on this one. But for us, it was worth it to mess with Rose's sleep schedule a little, because no matter how many times we go to Disney World, the fireworks will always be one of our must-sees. And for Rose, seeing Tinkerbell fly out of Cinderella Castle (a highlight of the show) was even more memorable than meeting her in person. We just made sure to schedule an extra-long nap on the days we wanted to be up late, and planned for sleeping in and taking it easier the day after. Tip: Since Rose had never seen fireworks before, we prepped her by watching other people's home videos of the show online on YouTube.
Don't try to do it all. The first time around, we hit three parks (Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot) in two days. It was way too much. This time, we did just two parks (Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom) in four days. Even with all that time, we covered only about half of each park, but it was more important to us to take lots of breaks and really savor the things we did than to try to see everything. And hey, we had to save something for next time, right?
Go on a date! On our second trip, we were lucky enough to have my sister-in-law traveling with us, and one night she babysat while Adam and I escaped for a rare date — dinner at Citricos, an upscale restaurant at Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa with a view of the fireworks, and drinks afterward. It was a treat to get some special couple time in the middle of a very family-oriented vacation. P.S. If you don't have an awesome sister-in-law handy, you can arrange in-room babysitting with a service called Kid's Nite Out through your hotel.
Savor the little moments. As much as we all loved the big attractions, some of my favorite memories were the tiny moments you just can't plan: the three of us sharing a giant smoked turkey leg, feeding bits of it to the birds (and yes, I know that feeding turkey to birds is all kinds of wrong). Boogying with Cinderella's stepsisters at a little dance pavilion set up for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Hanging out at the dinosaur-themed playground in Animal Kingdom and watching Rose go down the slides over and over and over. Even in the rush to see all our favorite attractions, we made sure to slow down enough to leave space and time for those magic moments to happen.
But no matter how much you slow down and take it easy, a Disney vacation is exhausting. So when we got back home, we vowed that we wouldn't return for five years. Then, days later, Adam discovered a documentary about the building of Disney World. We all sat watching it, caught up in the behind-the-scenes story of this place we'd just started to get to know. "I kind of want to go back," Adam said. "Me too!" I replied with a smile. And Rose, of course, squealed "Yay! Let's go to Disney!" I wonder how long it will take us to save up for our next trip...
Plan your adventure online
I'm no Disney expert, so I relied on the experience of others to help plot out our trips. Whether you're going to Disney World for the first time or the 21st time, these sites — all created by longtime Disney fans — will give you the real scoop on how best to capture the magic.
TouringPlans.com The companion site to the indispensable book The Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. With a free subscription, you can create your own custom park-touring plan, use the online trip planner to keep track of all your travel details, and get access to Lines (m.touringplans.com), a mobile site with up-to-the-minute wait times for all the Disney attractions.
AllEars.net Can't decide where to make hotel or dinner reservations? This site has literally thousands of reviews, photos of nearly every inch of every hotel, and menus for all Disney restaurants.
MouseSavers.com Tons of money-saving tips for all things Disney, including how to get the lowest price on park admission at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, discounts on hotels and Disney Cruises, special deals on shows like Disney on Ice, and more.
Everything Walt Disney World (everythingwdw.blogspot.com) The Disney-loving mom who writes this blog mixes news for hard-core fans and helpful information for newbies, along with funny posts on the dirtiest bathroom in Disney World and the phenomenon of "Disnesia" (which causes you to forget all the bad experiences of your Disney vacation and remember only the magical parts).
The Disney Food Blog (disneyfoodblog.com) You don't have to settle for a turkey leg or a burger on the run. Almost every kind of food imaginable is available somewhere at Disney, and this blog covers it all.
Take the Monorail (takethemonorail.com) With info organized by age ranges, this blog is packed with great tips for a family vacation to Disney, from what to pack to special extra experiences that even some Disney vets don't know about. (One we considered but didn't try: "Waking up Tinkerbell," a ceremony that allows the first morning visitors to the Tinkerbell's Treasures shop to wake up the fairy.)


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This digital painting was created by the artist Markus Kanzler
Every shape represents different emotions. The brightest star in the night sky with its magical shape and magical attachments.
3D digital art
Limited edition prints:
- Limited edition of 19 copies printed on acrylic glass
- Received with a certificate of authenticity
- Printed on acrylic glass 4mm
- Weight between 3.5kg- 6.5kg / 7.7Ib- 14.3Ib
* All the artworks are easy and simple installation: Small and thin aluminum frame on the back of the artwork.
* Highest quality possible, vivid colors and full resolution
Shipping Info:
- The artworks are shipped in a box.
- Free Shipping (to most locations worldwide)
- Due to Corona Days free Shipping within 21 business days.


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Beckholmen Bucket Hat | Black
An all-weather bucket hat in a unique rubberized cotton fabric.
The Beckholmen hat is unisex.
The height is 9 cm.
XS – 57,5 cm
S – 59 cm
M – 60,5 cm
L – 62 cm
Rubberized coating in 100% PVC on a cotton/poly membrane (52% Cotton and 48% Polyester).
Designed in Stockholm, made by hand in Europe.
We recommend that our customers strictly follow our care instructions to ensure product quality.
If the garment is dirty or has stains first try using a wet cloth and soap. If stains don't come out, the garment may be machine washed at maximum 30 degrees, only on the setting for delicate items.
Use only liquid laundry soap.
Do not use softener of bleach.
Do not tumble dry, only air dry.


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At 8:15 on the morning of 23 January 1960, Jacques Piccard and Lieutenant Don Walsh, US Navy, climbed into the pressure sphere of the bathyscaphe Trieste, and sealed the hatch. Less than ten minutes later, they were descending towards the floor of the Pacific Ocean, towards the floor of the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean: Challenger Deep.
Challenger Deep is 35,994 feet (10,971 metres) deep. If you put Mount Everest in it, there would still be a mile of water above the mountain's peak. It is a slot-shaped depression, about one mile wide by four miles long, in the floor of the Mariana Trench. There have been only three descents to Challenger Deep. The Trieste's was the first, and the only one to carry human beings. Two remotely operated vehicles have also been there: Kaikō in 1995 and Nereus in 2009. Given conditions on the floor of the Mariana Trench, this is hardly surprising. Down there in the hadal zone, the pressure is close to seven tons per square inch, the temperature is around two degrees Centigrade, and light itself cannot reach. Yet there are creatures living there.
Seven Miles Down by Jacques Piccard and Robert S Dietz is the only book written specifically about the Trieste and its descent into Challenger Deep. The Trieste was invented by Piccard's father, Swiss professor Auguste Piccard, who was apparently the inspiration for Hergé's Professor Calculus. Piccard senior was one of those scientist-inventors who no longer seem to exist. In the 1930s, he built a balloon with a pressurised gondola, and ascended into the stratosphere, the first person to ever do so. A decade later, he turned his attention in the opposite direction, and invented the bathyscaphe, or "deep boat", in order to study the depths of the ocean. It operates much as a balloon does, although using gasoline, which is lighter than water, rather than air. His first such vessel was the FNRS-2, named for the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, which financed its construction and early operations. It was later sold to the French Navy, who upgraded it to the FNRS-3. The Trieste, however, was privately funded.
I forget where I stumbled across mention of the Trieste's descent to Challenger Deep. I was aware of it, of course; but knew little beyond the fact that it had happened. I certainly didn't know that this year was its fiftieth anniversary. I remember watching the BBC submersible drama series The Deep, which featured a drilling rig on the floor of an ocean trench some 20,000 feet below the sea-surface. While The Deep wasn't very good (nuclear reactors do not explode), I thought a crewed facility on the floor of the deepest part of the ocean might make a good location for a short story. So it might well have been that which inspired me to look up the Trieste…
… at which point I discovered that there'd been very little written about the descent. Last year was the fortieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landings and a number of books were published to celebrate it. This year was the fiftieth anniversary of the Trieste's descent and there's been… nothing. In fact, the only things I could find proved to be contemporary with it: an article from Life magazine written by Walsh (see here), and Seven Miles Down by Jacques Piccard and Robert S Dietz. And the latter has apparently never been reprinted since.
The book is actually more a history of the Trieste, and Piccard's involvement with it, than it is a blow-by-blow account of the descent to Challenger Deep. The opening chapters cover the FNRS-2 and -3, the difficult time Piccard senior making his dream of a bathyscaphe reality, and the early dives. There is mention of Otis Barton and William Beebe, who invented the bathysphere and pioneered direct study of the deep ocean using a submersible. About halfway through the book, Dietz joins the story. An oceanographer attached to the US Navy's Office of Navy Research and based in London, he helped persuade the US Navy to buy the Trieste and put Jacques Piccard under contract. During the second half of the 1950s, the Trieste made some thirty-five descents, piloted by Piccard and carrying scientists as observers. These were initially in the Mediterranean, and later off the coast of California. It was not until 1959 that a request was made of the Chief of Naval Operations to authorise "bathyscaphe (Trieste) operations (Project NEKTON) in the Mariana Trench, between November 1959 and February 1960". Permission was given, a new and stronger pressure sphere was ordered from Krupps of Germany, and once that was fitted the Trieste was shipped from her base of operations in San Diego to Guam. She made six descents to various depths in the South Pacific before Piccard and Walsh made their record-breaking dive to Challenger Deep.
Much of Seven Miles Down is written from Jacques Piccard's point of view, although he does hand over the narrative at various points to Dietz. The prose is workmanlike but readable. Piccard maintains a nice balance between technical detail and his own impressions and experiences. It makes for an interesting read, although the prose doesn't really come alive until the chapter on the descent to Challenger Deep. The technology involved is perhaps not as fascinating, and nowhere near as complex, as that in the Apollo programme, but the descents were every bit as dangerous – in Challenger Deep, there were 200,000 tons of water pressing on the Trieste's pressure sphere, for example. If Piccard had miscalculated the amount of gasoline needed in the float, or iron shot used as ballast, the bathyscaphe might never have returned to the surface. In fact, they were very lucky: during the descent, Piccard and Walsh heard something explode but could not work out what it was (on previous dives lights, a camera, and stanchions had all imploded). It was only during the ascent that Walsh spotted that the window at the rear of the antechamber had cracked. If it gave way, they could not clear the water from the antechamber and entrance tunnel and so would be unable to exit the sphere. They'd have to remain inside it for the five-day journey back to Guam and dry dock. Fortunately, the window didn't break.
An appendix gives the technical specifications of the Trieste, and lists all sixty-five dives made by the bathyscaphe between 1953 and 1960. After the descent to Challenger Deep, the Trieste returned to San Diego but did not dive again. In 1963, she was modified and then used to search for the missing submarine, USS Thresher. She underwent numerous modifications and upgrades over the years before eventually being retired in 1980. She now resides at the National Museum of the US Navy in Washington DC.
Here's an excellent video by Rolex about the Challenger Deep dive:
Finally, this year the X Prize Foundation announced a $10 million prize for the first privately-funded submersible to make two crewed descents to Challenger Deep. And yes, I did write a science fiction story set in a crewed base in Challenger Deep. It just needs a little more work before I start submitting it…


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2019 is going to be full of big plans.
We'll be moving to a new city, hopefully permanently, and getting new jobs, hopefully permanent, and settling into an actual routine that resembles something of a normality for the first time ever – hopefully permanently!
While I think I lived my 20's right, it was far from perfect; my 20's can be split fairly evenly down the middle, separated by "shop" and "after shop" (or "pre-travel" and "travel"!). You see, at 20 years old I found myself with keys in my hand and a lease in my name for a freaking business. An actual brick-and-mortar high street shop. There is naturally a long story behind this, but this crazy life-changing event was the catalyst for many things in my life, both very good and very bad.
Even crazier – the shop was literally the other end of the UK to where I grew up.
At 25, I sold the business on, and resumed my life that I had been planning for years. It meant I went backpacking 5 years later than I meant to; but it also meant I went backpacking with more purpose and a lot less naivety. I feel like this can only be a good thing. Since then, I've lived and worked in Australia and Canada, and travelled around at least 12 of the (almost) 30 countries I've visited.
A very small dip in the ocean, but when you consider two of those were very long-term, it's not too bad. The thing is, I'm glad I did working holidays while I could. I still have time to get a work visa for New Zealand should I find myself wanting one, but at this point I am sort of sick of arriving in a new country, figuring out bank accounts and tax, getting another temporary job (which I've been doing each time I return to the UK, too), and then worst of all, saying goodbye to the hundreds of people I've met and worked with.
No, I am ready for routine – because if there's anything that merges the two stages of my 20's together, it's that I haven't had ANY.
So that is my main plan.
Settle down in Edinburgh, and begin my 30's broke.
But I have lots of other plans too, and most of them obviously involve travel.
In an attempt to make up for the fact I haven't travelled to more than two or three countries per year since 2016, I will be aiming to hit up at least five new countries this year, and more than that altogether.
It's hard to plan anything exactly, because we don't know where we'll be financially in three months, let alone six.
But here are some that are on my very scribbled agenda:
I can't remember the first time I saw a photo of Kotor Bay, but I have pined for Montenegro ever since. Every single photo draws me in and I breathe in every word I read about it. I worry about how popular it's becoming, because I definitely saw that photo of Kotor Bay, umm… "before it was cool", and I worry that I've missed my chance to see it for what it is. But realistically, lots of places are suffering from overtourism, and I don't think Montenegro is high up on that list. I think it's definitely still got an explore factor left in it.
While Montenegro has been top of my Europe list for quite a while now, it makes sense to incorporate a whole trip of the Balkans. And that means Croatia is next on my list, because while it's been growing uncontrollably in popularity in recent years, I still firmly believe it's worth visiting.
Possibly in the same trip as above, or possibly not, Ljubljana and Lake Bled have been on my list for quite a while too. The fairytale photos of Lake Bled is probably one of my favourite views of Europe, and I've never heard a bad word about the capital. So it's about time I went and checked it out!
Can you believe that I have STILL NEVER BEEN TO IRELAND?!? I was actually supposed to go back in November, and even though I managed to get back to the UK in time, it just didn't work out. So, Ireland is a must for this year! If I get to nowhere else, I WILL get to Ireland!
I really have no idea if Japan is just a pipe dream for 2019, because the reason it's been stuck at the top of my bucket list for so many years while I haven't even tried to plan to visit it, is because it's a country I want to get RIGHT. It's a country I want to spend money on. It's a country I don't want to pass through because it's convenient; I want to make sure I have quality time there doing all the things on my list, rather than say "oh we can come back another time to do that" (because inevitably even if I make a huge list and cross everything off, the list will double in the time we spend there, so we'll definitely be saying that anyway; we don't need EXTRA things, for heaven's sake!).
But I know it's an expensive country, and that's why I put it off for so long. And I fully expected us to be settled into full-time-job life by now, and kind of hoped we might finally make it there this year. So the fact we're not makes this a questionable goal – but you never know!
That said, I have a lot of plans closer to home, too.
Living in Edinburgh will make the rest of Scotland infinitely more accessible than it was from Orkney. Hey, remember when I said that 2017 was going to be all about exploring Scotland, and then I worked a summer job that barely allowed me time off, so I… didn't? We spent five days road tripping through Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Loch Ness, we dipped into Stirling Castle and Dunblane for a day, and… well, that was it. I DID explore a lot of Orkney though, so it wasn't all a waste. (Before I had my quarter life crisis and went to volunteer in a hostel in Portugal. And go on a romantic break to Venice with my mum. Sometimes I think my life is a little strange.)
So this year, I plan to do EVERYTHING I've been meaning to do for years – including lots that most visitors to Scotland do on their first visit! (Isn't that always the way?)
Here are just a few:
- Isle Of Skye (I KNOW RIGHT?!?!?)
- Eilean Donan Castle
- Climb Conic Hill, Loch Lomond
- Visit St Andrews
- Climb Ben Nevis (yep – pulling out the big guns, but I firmly believe I can do it!)
- Drive the rest of the North Coast 500 (being from Orkney, I have driven the John O' Groats to Inverness route a hundred times – but I've never actually done the west coast! For shame!)
- Visit 10 castles
- Visit a new island in Orkney
I'm sure I will find lots to explore in and around Edinburgh, and I'm also looking forward to visiting Glasgow as a "tourist" rather than just to visit friends. Something tells me I'm going to have a LOT of busy weekends this year!
So, 2019 – BRING IT ON! Because I have no idea what to expect.
Except that it sure is going to be an adventure!


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I've now got the results of the poll I set up recently and they are very interesting – and in some ways reassuring for Linden Lab. But they also highlight what are people's serious concerns. I print the full data at the bottom of this post, below my thoughts on this.
I had 246 responses, which isn't bad for a representative selection – the average UK opinion poll is about 1,500 surveyed for 67 million, so we're doing rather well. However, balanced against that we have to take into consideration that this was a self-selected poll, in that people had to be sufficiently interested in Second Life to be reading this blog or another that recommended the survey – which suggests a relatively high level of engagement. There's also the possibility that individuals could have 'gamed' the poll by multiple submissions – however, this does not seem to be the case from the pattern of data I received.
Perceptions of the land market in Second Life
We asked a series of questions (1 – 3) about people's perceptions of the land market, and these were perhaps the most interesting.
When asked what people thought are the major factors causing the decline of private landholding in Second Life (i.e. the 11% drop in the number of private islands identified by Tyce Shepherd), three main factors were identified (and, as people were allowed to select more than one response here, percentages come out totalling more than 100%). The overwhelming factor identified was the high cost of tier (84%). However, 66% also identified the economic situation in the real world. The third factor identified (41%) was the dominance of the marketplace making holding land less viable. This is something I've discussed on this blog before – and it's interesting to see that this is a widely held perception. Interestingly, although only 16% perceived that a cause for decline was a move to other forms of social gaming, some opf the 'other' answers indicated a move to other grids as a possible reason for decline. 27% thought a sense that Second Life is outdated could be a reason for the decline but, interestingly, this is not supported by later questions about Linden Lab innovations on the grid.
The question as to what single factor would make people more inclined to buy or rent land in Second Life was the most unambiguous of all. 70% said that lower tier would make them more inclined to buy or rent land. In addition, of the other 30%, a full 29% cited lowered tier as a significant factor in inclining them to buy or rent land.
In other words, 99% of respondents said that lower tier was a significant or the most significant factor in inclining them to buy or rent land in Second Life.
I have to admit, that level of unanimity rather startled me.
The other leading factors that people thought would make a significant factor in their decision to buy or rent land were improvements to the grid (47%), greater communication with the Lab (31%), and support for educational or non-profit enterprises (24%). The introduction of new features such as Pathfinding tools seemed to excite little enthusiasm.
Land ownership: Current, past and types of land
One thing that is clear (and perhaps not surprising, given the points made above) is that a high proportion of people responding are land owners/renters. 87% either own, rent or both own and rent currently. Even that high figure, however, hows a decline from the past where 94% either owned, rented or both owned and rented. That small decline is more interesting when we examine how each category has changed. In the past, 45% owned and rented land. That figure has now declined to 20%. However, there has been an increase in people who own land from 23% to 32%, while the rental market has shown a similar increase from 26% to 35%.
When it comes to types of land held, the highest proportion was parcels on private estates (42%), followed by owned parcels on mainland (33% – which would, of course, include the free land or Linden home that comes with premium membership). Larger land parcels seemed less popular – only 19% owned or rented a homestead; 23% owned or rented a full region (which would include commercial regions that house stores) and 14% owned or rented more than one full region. This question allowed people to specify all their types of land, so the percentages can to more than 100% – I myself have a Linden Home and rent several parcels on private estates, for example.
Land owning intentions: the future
The question about land holdings for those with larger holdings is slightly problematic. Question 9 was, in fact, aimed at land barons and others who own or rent more than one region. Although only 25 people had indicated this type of land holding in Question 8, a total of 136 answered the question. This may well be held to invalidate this question. However, its findings were in line with other questions about land holding intentions: 31% expected to be holding about the same amount of land; 19% expected their holdings to be smaller and only 4% expected them to be larger. This is a pattern of muted stability tending towards slow decline – it's what Tyce Shepherd's figures have been suggesting.
Looking at people's expectations overall, in Question 7, the trend still seems to be stability – with 35% expecting to hold their current land by the end of 2013. However, there is a sizeable body of people who expect to have less land or no land – 22%. In addition, a full 30% are not sure (with 17% of those expecting to still hold some land – although not necessarily their current holdings). Only 6% expect to probably hold more land. This again reflects the pattern of what I'm calling muted stability, tending towards slow decline.
Future intentions of patterns of land ownership are also interesting. A full 57% either have no intention or are not sure about buying or renting in the next year. Of those that do intend to acquire land, the largest number (24%) intend to rent – which suggests that there is still potential for a land market.
Here are the full figures. Feel free to add your own thoughts and comments.
|1) What do you think are the major factors causing the decline of private landholding in Second Life?
People could select more than one checkbox on this question, so percentages add up to more than 100%.
|2) What single factor would make you more inclined to buy or rent land in Second Life?
|3) In addition to your previous answer, what OTHER factors would make you more inclined to buy or rent land in Second Life?
People could select more than one checkbox on this question, so percentages add up to more than 100%.
|4) Do you currently own or rent land in Second Life?
|5) Have you owned or rented in the past?
|6) Do you plan to buy or rent land in the next year?
|7) If you buy or rent land, do you expect to still hold land (not necessarily your current land) at the end of 2013?
|8) If you have land, what sort of land do you have?
People could select more than one checkbox on this question, so percentages add up to more than 100%.
|9) If you own or rent more than one region, do you expect your landholdings to be larger or smaller by the end of 2013?


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(CNN) - President Barack Obama's re-election campaign and supporting committees brought in more than $114 million last month – the first time the incumbent has outraised his opponent, Gov. Mitt Romney, since April.
Obama's Campaign Manager Jim Messina announced the figure for August late Sunday night.
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Romney's campaign brought in $111 million last month.
But for three months in a row – June, July, August – Romney's camp brought in more than $100 million, with $106 million in June and $101 million in July.
"No celebrating, because they're going to have an even bigger September. But now we know we can match them, doing this our way," tweeted the Obama campaign.
August's fundraising statistics mark a drastic improvement for the Obama campaign.
Team Obama and the Democratic National Committee only managed to bring in $75 million in July and even less in June: only $71 million.
Of the 1,170,000 people who donated in August, 317,954 of them were new donors who had yet to contribute to this election cycle, the Obama campaign said.
Since April 2011, 3,142,457 people have offered their dollars to the president's re-election efforts.
The campaign also said 98% of contributions last month were $250 or less, with the average donation totaling $58.
"That is a critical down payment on the organization we are building across the country – the largest grassroots campaign in history," Messina said.
All of this money that was donated to him could be going to something actually worthwhile; we all know everything that is said in these campaign is complete b.s. anyway.
Gee, maybe it's because Romney and Ryan have chosen to run such an ugly campaign and people are getting tired of it!! They have the audacity to accuse the Democrats of running a nasty campaign, yet when I consider the speeches I have listened to and the ads I have watched (on both sides) Romney, Ryan, and their band of super pacs win the award for "Most Foul Campaign"!
its amazing how so many "poor" people can give so much money to politians for election.. Why dont they use that money for the buget cuts ?


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Police: College student disarmed Seattle gunman
One person killed; three others wounded
SEATTLE — A lone gunman armed with a shotgun opened fire Thursday in a building at a small Seattle university, killing one person before he was subdued by a student as he tried to reload, police said.
Police say the student building monitor at Seattle Pacific University disarmed the gunman and several other students held him until police arrived at the Otto Miller building.
A man in his 20s died and a critically injured 20-year-old woman was taken to surgery, Harborview Medical Center spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.
A 24-year-old man and a 22-year-old man were in satisfactory condition. None of the victims was immediately identified.
About 4,270 students attend the private Christian university, which was founded in 1891 by the Free Methodist Church of North America. Its 40-acre campus is in a residential neighborhood about 10 minutes from downtown Seattle.
Jillian Smith was taking a math test on the second-floor of Otto Miller Hall when a lockdown was ordered.
She heard police yelling and banging on doors in the hallway. The professor locked the classroom door, and the 20 or so students sat on the ground, lining up at the front of the classroom.
"We were pretty much freaking out," said Smith, 20, a sophomore. "People were texting family and friends, making sure everyone was OK."
Smith said they sat in the classroom for about 45 minutes, before police came and escorted them out of the building. On the way, they passed the lobby where she saw bullet casings and what appeared to be blood in the lobby carpet and splatter on the wall.
"Seeing blood made it real," Smith said. "I didn't think something like this would happen at our school," she added.
The incident follows a spate of recent shootings on or near college campuses.
Last month, according to police, Elliot Rodger killed six people and injured seven before turning his gun on himself in a rampage in Isla Vista, California, near two universities.
Seven people were killed and three injured when a 43-year-old former student opened fire at a tiny Christian school, Oikos University, in Oakland, California, in 2012. A gunman killed five people and injured 18 when he opened fire in a Northern Illinois University lecture hall in 2008.
In 2007, 32 people were fatally shot in a dorm and classroom at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia before the gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, killed himself.


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Let's say that I have 80Gb of data to transfer from one computer to another. What's the fastest method to transfer that files?
- Network transfer?
- DVD Recording?
- Copying in a pen drive?
- Removing one HD and placing as secondary in the another PC and copy and paste the files?
- [another suggestion?]


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McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate
DAYTON, Ohio — Senator John McCain astonished the political world on Friday by naming Sarah Palin, a little-known governor of Alaska and self-described "hockey mom" with almost no foreign policy experience, as his running mate on the Republican presidential ticket.
Ms. Palin, 44, a social conservative, former union member and mother of five who has been governor for two years, was on none of the widely discussed McCain campaign short lists for vice president. In selecting her, Mr. McCain reached far outside the Washington Beltway in an election year in which the Democratic presidential candidate, Senator Barack Obama, is running on a platform of change.
"She's not from these parts, and she's not from Washington, but when you get to know her, you're going to be as impressed as I am," Mr. McCain told a midday rally of 15,000 people in a basketball arena here shortly before Ms. Palin, with her husband and four of her children, strode out onto the stage.
Within moments, Ms. Palin made an explicit appeal to the disappointed supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by praising not only Mrs. Clinton but also the only other woman in American history who has been on a presidential ticket, Geraldine A. Ferraro, Walter F. Mondale's Democratic running mate in 1984.
"Hillary left 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America, but it turns out the women of America aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all," Ms. Palin said to huge applause.
Ms. Palin and Mr. McCain then embarked on a bus tour across Ohio and north into western Pennsylvania to Pittsburgh, a route that took in a wide swath of the central battleground in this year's presidential campaign.
Mr. McCain's pick, Ms. Palin, who opposes abortion, played especially well among evangelicals and other social conservatives, who have always viewed Mr. McCain warily and who have been jittery in recent weeks because of reports that Mr. McCain was considering naming a running mate who favors abortion rights.
The McCain campaign sees Ms. Palin as a kindred spirit to Mr. McCain, particularly in her history of taking heat from fellow Republicans for bucking them on issues and spotlighting their ethical failings. Like Mr. McCain's, her political profile is built in part on her opposition to questionable government spending projects.
But they differ on a number of policies. Ms. Palin opposed Mr. McCain on one of the most prominent Alaskan issues: She supports drilling for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and Mr. McCain opposes it, much to the consternation of some Republicans. Mr. McCain's environmental policy accepts that global warming is driven by pollution; Ms. Palin has said she is not convinced. A spokeswoman for Ms. Palin, Maria Comella, said, "Governor Palin not only stands with John McCain in his belief that global warming is a critical issue that must be addressed, but she has been a leader in addressing climate change."
Ms. Palin, a former mayor of the small town of Wasilla, an Anchorage suburb, rose to prominence as a whistle-blower uncovering ethical misconduct in state government. Her selection amounted to a gamble that an infusion of new leadership — and the novelty of the Republican Party's first female candidate for vice president — would more than compensate for the risk that Ms. Palin could undercut one of the McCain campaign's central arguments, that Mr. Obama is too inexperienced to be president.
Democrats and at least some shocked Republicans questioned the judgment of Mr. McCain, who has said repeatedly on the campaign trail that his running mate should have the qualifications to immediately step into the role of commander in chief.
Mr. McCain's words on the matter have had more than usual resonance this year because of his age — he turned 72 on Friday, and hopes to be the oldest person ever elected to a first term — and his history with skin cancer.
Ms. Palin appears to have traveled very little outside the United States. In July 2007, she had to get a passport before she visited members of the Alaska National Guard stationed in Kuwait, according to her deputy communications director, Sharon Leighow. She also visited wounded troops in Germany during that trip.
Mr. McCain's announcement of Ms. Palin came in the immediate afterglow that Democrats were enjoying from their nomination of Mr. Obama, and for one news cycle at least, as Republicans intended, Ms. Palin effectively muffled the news coverage of Mr. Obama's acceptance speech to 80,000 people at the Democratic National Convention in Denver on Thursday night.
Mr. Obama wished her well in a call from his campaign bus.
"He also wished her good luck, but not too much luck," said Robert Gibbs, a senior strategist to Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama's fellow Democrats were considerably less welcoming, and most said they were flabbergasted by what they characterized as a desperate, cynical or dangerous choice, given Ms. Palin's lack of any experience in national security.
"On his 72nd birthday, this is the guy's judgment of who he wants one heartbeat from the presidency?" said Representative Rahm Emanuel of Illinois, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, who said the selection smacked of political panic. "Please."
Mr. McCain's advisers said Friday that Mr. McCain was well aware that Ms. Palin would be criticized for her lack of foreign policy experience, but that he viewed her as exceptionally talented and intelligent and that he felt she would be able to be educated quickly.
"She's going to learn national security at the foot of the master for the next four years, and most doctors think that he'll be around at least that long," said Charlie Black, one of Mr. McCain's top advisers, making light of concerns about Mr. McCain's health, which Mr. McCain's doctors reported as excellent in May.
Many conservatives said that the choice would energize them, giving Mr. McCain the support of a highly active group of voters and volunteers whose support was crucial to both of President Bush's victories.
"They're beyond ecstatic," said Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition.
Ms. Palin is known to conservatives for opting not to have an abortion after learning that the child she was carrying, her youngest, had Down syndrome. "It is almost impossible to exaggerate how important that is to the conservative faith community," Mr. Reed said.
The choice of Ms. Palin was reminiscent of former President George Bush's selection of Dan Quayle, then a barely known senator from Indiana as his running mate in 1988.
It was far from clear Friday whether adding a woman to the ticket would persuade Clinton supporters to come over to the Republicans, given Ms. Palin's differences with Mrs. Clinton on issues from abortion rights to her positions on health care and climate change. Some women said that the pick could be seen as patronizing, a suggestion that women would vote based on a candidate's sex rather than on positions. But others saw the choice of Ms. Palin as a welcome step.
"I think it's absolutely fantastic," said Kimberly Myers, a retired transit worker in Pittsburgh who had originally supported Mrs. Clinton but who said that Mr. McCain's choice would win him her vote. "She's actually broken the glass ceiling."
As they began gathering in Minneapolis-St. Paul for the start of their convention on Monday, some Republican delegates said they were concerned that Ms. Palin did not have the experience in foreign policy or national security to be commander in chief.
"We're in a global war, we're in a global economy, so it's less than honest if someone says that this woman is qualified to lead America right now," said Todd Burkhalter, a Republican delegate from Mobile, Ala..
Her selection was kept secret until Friday morning, after the two men who had been rumored to be on Mr. McCain's short list, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, let it be known they were out of the running.
The McCain campaign said that Mr. McCain first met Ms. Palin in February this year at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington and came away "extraordinarily impressed." But Mr. McCain apparently has spent little time with her.
Ms. Palin flew to Flagstaff, Ariz., on Wednesday evening to meet with two of Mr. McCain's senior campaign aides, Steve Schmidt and Mark Salter, said Jill Hazelbaker, a campaign spokeswoman. The group met at the Flagstaff home of Bob Delgado, the chief executive officer of the Hensley Corporation, the family business of Cindy McCain, Mr. McCain's wife.
After meeting with Mrs. McCain there the next morning, Ms. Palin was taken to the McCain vacation compound near Sedona, where Mr. McCain offered her a spot on the ticket at 11 a.m.
She flew to Ohio later that day with Mr. Schmidt and Mr. Salter, and checked into a hotel as the Upton family. Ms. Palin's children, who had been told they were going to Ohio to celebrate their parents' 20th wedding anniversary on Friday, were informed there that their mother would be the Republican vice-presidential nominee.
Thursday evening she had a final meeting with Mr. McCain. One adviser suggested that although Mr. McCain was sure about his choice, he wanted to sit down with Ms. Palin one last time before he made what he knew would be an astonishing announcement the next morning.
As recently as last month, Ms. Palin appeared to dismiss the importance of the vice presidency in an interview with Larry Kudlow of CNBC, who asked her about her prospects for the job.
"I still can't answer that question until somebody answers for me, what is it exactly that the V.P. does every day?" Ms. Palin told Mr. Kudlow. "I'm used to being very productive and working real hard."


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Dissent in 2013: Subversively Reviewing Predator Drones on Amazon.com
When the cultural history of the War on Terrorism is written, scholars may be surprised by the dearth of attention paid to President Obama's drone war in the national press and liberal opinion journals. A tool likely to forever change warfare is scarcely subject to open democratic debate.
But if cultural historians look beyond the mainstream press, additional signs of early dissent will be evident. An obscure example they ought not miss is the Amazon.com page for the online merchant Tailwinds, which sells a number of miniature aircraft, including scale models of F-35s, WWII-era P-38 fighters, and Jayhawk helicopters used by the Coast Guard. For most models, there are no more than three or four customer reviews. Yet nearly 200 people posted noteworthy reviews of one model: the Predator drone.
Raini Pachak loved the product:
This is the best toy ever. Finally, I can pretend that I'm a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize! It's like I'm sitting right there in the White House with my very own kill list!
Defenestrate was unhappy with it:
I thought if I bought this, I could kill random people without facing justice. It doesn't work! It won't kill people, not even brown ones.
Rambone gave a parent's perspective:
My son is very interested in joining the Imperial forces when he grows up. He says he's not sure if he wants to help police the homeland or if he wants to invade foreign countries. So I thought a new Predator drone toy would be a nice gift for him. These drones are used both domestically and internationally, to spy on people and assassinate them at the Emperor's discretion.
He just loves flying his drone around our house, dropping Hellfire missiles on Scruffy, our dog. He kept saying that Scruffy was a terror suspect and needed to be taken out. I asked him if Scruffy should get a trial first, and he quoted Lindsay Graham, Imperial Senator: "Shut up Scruffy, you don't get a trial!" I was so proud. I think I'll buy him some video games that promote martial law for Christmas.
Vanessa Carlisle has a son too (links added):
I bought this for my son and he spent countless, blissful hours simulating massacres of weddings, funerals, and other family gatherings of brown skinned foreigners! He even realized that if he circled the drone back around on the first responders, his effective kill rate soared! Neat-o!
Here's Jerseydeval:
I only wish this toy came with small appendages to scatter about the back yard to make it more life like. Im even thinking about going to a Halloween store and picking up lots of fake blood to scatter around the yard.
But Mohammed Abdul wouldn't buy one for his son:
My son asked for this toy, and I sadly explained that Muslim children, especially brown-skinned boys, were not allowed to have this type of toy. When he asked why, I said this toy is the Great Satan's vengeance on Muslims. My son is very smart for his age, so he replied that he would only play with the toy when his brothers and sisters were home and show them how the Great Satan will kill them if they attend weddings or funerals or plant their gardens in the spring.
Milton says it's been great for his law practice:
I'm an attorney and have found that the law and the constitution just seem to be always getting in the way. I was looking for a solution to help my clients and I thought to myself, "President Obama is a lawyer! He uses drones to get around silly laws and the constitution! Duh! I'll do what he does!" So I got me one of these drones and it does the trick. I simply lure my client's nemesis over to my office for a "settlement conference." As soon as the evil-doer plops down in one of my comfortable chairs, the drone makes its appearance and zaps my client's problem - dead!
My clients couldn't be happier. And that makes me happy. And since I don't have to worry about laws and the constitution anymore, I've canceled my subscriptions to Westlaw and Nexis and those other parasitic services. These drones do the trick. No more water-boarding, no more long hours in the library and putting together cases. One punch of a button! Cool!
Says J.D. Blain:
I really wish they would include at least SOME of the mutilated, burned, shredded bodies of the 147 children that were murdered using this wonderful tool of our benevolent overlords. I know that Obama secretly cries over them JUST as hard as he did for the children killed at Sandy Hook, even though all the drone bombings are by executive order (he didn't really MEAN it, right?).
Nicklause W. Steele uses his drone domestically:
This drone has helped to teach my son how important it is to keep and eye on those neighbors with the Ron Paul stickers on their cars. It's not just goat herders on the other side of the globe we need to keep Big Brothers boot on. Also get the FBI's warrantless magnetic under car tracking device and the water boarding kit. I dare my wife to spout off about the 4th Amendment one more damn time.
Michael Liszewski interpreted the instructions:
This model is a 100% accurate scale model, and you will likely be thrilled that the "for ages 3 and up" disclaimer only applies to those remotely flying the Predator, not its potential victims.
And Hassan suggests it has international appeal:
My uncle bought this toy for me as a Ramadan gift. Amazon was able to ship it to Yemen just in time for Ramadan. I love it a lot! It's a very nice toy to have. I like to play with it before bedtime because it reminds me of the soothing sound of drones flying overhead. Every time I play with it I remember the brave men and women fighting for my freedom! Once my house is rebuilt I want to invite my cousin Jamil over to play drone attack with me.
Interesting, isn't it? Sarcasm-filled rants in the customer review section of an e-commerce site might be the most quintessentially American anti-war protest ever held. Thank goodness it's happening somewhere.


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David Schiefelbein: The ideal Fourth of July
Back when I was 11 or 12, I lived the American Fourth of July dream in Illinois.
I rode my bike with the rest of my baseball team in the annual Fourth of July parade in the northern Chicago suburb where I lived. Although I had ridden in the parade before on the Jaycees float when my dad was president, this was the first time I got to be in the parade on my own.
Nearly four decades later, I can't remember if I saw my mom and dad and brothers from the parade, but I probably did. What I do remember is people – lots of people – lining the parade route, block after block after block.
I was used to riding the couple miles into town to play in baseball games in the town park, so riding in the parade wasn't difficult. But I don't ever remember riding my bike that slowly for that long.
After the parade, all the baseball teams gathered in the city park for an afternoon of games. That day's game has faded to dust in the memory bins in my mind, but if went like most games, I probably struck out at least once, twice if the opposing pitcher was really good, or I might have gotten a single or double if he wasn't.
What I do recall is not remembering where in town my mom told me to meet her after the game. I can remember riding that bike all over town looking for my family, for what seemed like h-o-u-r-s-o-n-e-n-d.
I remember thinking I didn't know Northbrook was that big. I did eventually wander across them and joined the picnic in progress. Those big Fourth of July picnics in town were just what you did back then.
I've missed those living here in Missouri.
Back when I coached Little League baseball and softball in the mid-90s, I was always disappointed the games didn't continue through the Fourth of July. It's a shame the league wanted to get the games over with before the big holiday. I would have liked my kids to experience playing ball on July Fourth.
But that goes along with living in an area geared toward service. There aren't many Fourth of July events besides the fireworks sponsored by commercial enterprises for their guests.
I've spent a few Fourth evenings watching the displays from somewhere along a road or in a vacant lot, but it's not the same as a town's celebration.
To get that here, you have to get away from the lake.
During one of my first summers here, I was dispatched to photograph the holiday festivities out in Climax Springs, where townsfolk were gathered in the park.
I remember the mayor greeting me with the phrase: "You're not the one they usually send." That was back in the days when small newspapers had staff photographers.
"Nope," I responded, "but I'm here. Where's fun stuff?"
The park was on top of a ridge. The fun stopped when a storm rolled in and lightning struck a tree on the next ridge over. It was time to go, for me anyway.
If you long for what's come to be termed "An old-fashioned Fourth of July," head up to Eldon, Mo. But you'll have to go July 3, 'cause that's when the parade is … ah, progress.