text:
First, taking a cue from some lesson plans I found online, I introduced the word philanthropy. We talked about how it means to share your time, talent and treasures for the common good. All the kids got a chance to answer the question "I'm going to be a philanthropist because I'm going to …" They did a great job and had some thoughtful answers.
Next, I read them the book Strega Nona's Harvest. One of the characters builds a secret garden and anonymously donates the vegetables he grows to Strega Nona. She doesn't know what to do with all the extra food. When she finds out that everyone else in town had a poor crop yield, she decides to have a feast and feed all her neighbors. The kids like the story.
After that, we made harvest goodie bags. We filled them with candy, stickers, notepads, crayons and small toys. I told the kids that the bags were for kids in our community that didn't have enough food, like the people in the story. And that when these kids and their families go to the local food bank this Thanksgiving, that they'd get our goodie bags as an extra treat. We decided that we'd donate our creations to the 4-star charity, Homeless Solutions.
Before I left, I gave the teacher some handouts to stick in each kid's backpack. I found the activity pages on a site called, Learning to Give. I especially like the "share, save, spend" inspired piggy bank that the kids can make themselves. If I get invited back, then this would be a fun project to do with the kids.
But enough about my experience, how about you? How have you taught young people about giving back?


text:
Mplus Home
Last Day
Last 3 Days
Last Week
Tree View
3-Level GMM CACE with Randomization a...
Mplus Discussion
Multilevel Data/Complex Sample
Sam Vuchinich
posted on Sunday, May 31, 2009 - 4:57 pm
Can Mplus estimate a 3-level growth mixture CACE model for data where the randomization and compliance occurs at level-3? The design in question involves a cluster randomized trial in which several hundred schools are randomized to either an intervention or control condition. Measures of student prosocial behavior are taken at 5 occasions. The research question focuses on whether the trajectory of prosocial development is different in the control and intervention conditions. Compliance with the intervention varied across schools, and was measured. In scouring the cluster randomized trials and growth mixture model publications by Muthen, Jo and colleagues, the Mplus manual, and examples, I could find no growth mixture CACE analysis with randomization and compliance at level-3 (school level). Yet it would seem to be feasible if there were good covariates at the student and school levels, and for compliance, based on Chapter 10 in the Mplus manual. Is such a model not possible in Mplus, or has no one tried it yet?
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Sunday, May 31, 2009 - 5:10 pm
This should be possible. The 3-level modeling would be handled via Type = Mixture Twolevel, where the Within level is time and person and the Between level is school. The latent classes of compliers and noncompliers are then pertaining to a between-level latent class variable which is put on the Between = list. Let me know how it goes.
Sam Vuchinich
posted on Monday, June 01, 2009 - 7:52 pm
Thanks for the hints on the Mplus code.
Sam Vuchinich
posted on Tuesday, June 09, 2009 - 12:32 pm
As I understand it, in that growth mixture CACE/ACE setup, unknown compliance status is handled as missing data. Is it possible for that growth mixture CACE/ACE model to accommodate missing data in either the outcome or the covariates? I noticed that the "auxiliary= (m) " command only works with "Type=General", so that option is out. Would a "Type =Mixture Twolevel Missing" be possible, assuming MAR missingness? Or would one have to do a multiple imputation prior to the mixture model?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, June 10, 2009 - 7:49 am
TYPE-MISSING, the Mplus default since Version 5, can be used with a CACE model with no problem.
Back to top
Add Your Message Here
Posting Information:
This is a private posting area. Only registered users and moderators may post messages here.
Enable HTML code in message
Automatically activate URLs in message
Tree View
Program Credits

subset: commoncrawl


text:
An MSN-TV ComplaintJuly 18, 2003
A concerned reader writes:
Your site: http://www.csszengarden.com/ FAILS to satisfy the MSN-TV Browser! It bleeds off the viewable screen to the right and since the WebTv Browser does not permit side scrolling, your pages are a MESS!
What do you propose to do about this? You can find a link to the MSN Developer site here (a bit down the page): http://davmagic.com/PAGES20.html and from there, Download the MSN-TV Viewer to see how your pages look on a TV Browser!
— Very Truly Yours, Magic Dave
Some days these posts just write themselves.
Dear Magic Dave,
Thanks for your letter, it caused me to think. What did I think about? Well, do you remember that scene in Taxi Driver, where De Niro was looking in the mirror, and he was like, Are you looking at me? Are you looking at me? There's no one else here, so you must be looking at me? Yeah. That was pretty cool.
But anyway, your letter. So here's the deal. I like accessibility. Specifically, I like the power that CSS provides in allowing the user to browse with any anything they happen to have. You've got a Palm? Come on in! You're using a screen reader? Sure, you too. You want to visit my site in Mosaic? Even you!
See, Magic Dave, the great thing about CSS is that if a user agent doesn't support it it doesn't use it. This allows me to go full–out nuts in my style, while keeping the site's content accessible and viewable to everybody. It's a beautiful thing. Except when it doesn't work.
So what's the problem then? Well, as best as I can tell, it's this: MSN-TV seems to want to render 'screen' style sheets, designed for colour computer monitors — a decision I can't support on a device with only 544 pixels of horizontal resolution. If it were to realize that there's a special media type called 'tv' and use that, we'd both be enjoying a beer and watching the sunset right about now. But we're not, are we?
Why won't MSN-TV support my site? I've done everything in my power to make sure the proper user agents render it, and the ones that just can't keep up don't even bother. I'm not a miracle worker. I can't fix MSN-TV.
So the ball's back in your court, Magic Dave. Why do you use a broken browser that makes a mess of my wonderful site? I see you maintain a page chock full of great tips on why MSN-TV is better than a PC, so I have a feeling you won't change your browser of choice to make me happy any time soon.
It's tempting for me to say that you shouldn't have to, that browsers should be better about supporting what they can handle and admitting what they can't — but you were pretty insistent that I do something about it, as if I'm on the hook for this one. Since it turns out it's your choice that causes my site to render improperly, what do you propose to do about it?
Incidentally, have you ever heard of cement canoe racing? A bunch of engineering students get together and race big, clunky canoes, literally made of concrete. It strikes me as a bit odd that they'd start with a material so obviously wrong for speed and finesse, as well as something that by all rights shouldn't work for the purpose they intend. They do it for the challenge, I suppose, and the sense of satisfaction of wrangling a result out of an impossible situation.
Nah, I don't bring it up for any particular reason, but I just had one more question: do you really design web pages on MSN-TV?
Reader Comments
"I did a bit of research, and up until the very latest release (2.8, in April) MSN-TV did not support @import either."
That's April 2002 by the way. I just dug it up on my HD (i forgot that I had it installed) and the copyright says:
MSN TV Viewer 2.8 (Build 20)
Copyright (C) 1997-2002 Microsoft Corporation
Wow, that's crazy. I thought those TV browsers were just for geezers. I used to work at Circuit City, and we sold WebTV. I don't think I ever sold one to someone under 65. Maybe Magic Dave is just a cool geezer who is internet savy. I mean, that's cooler than most geezers. And, mind you, I am among the formost of "youngins" who respect the wisdom of "geezers".
But MSN (ok, point one- top choice for "processed cheese" internet) + TV (This device is not made for the internet, it was invented before computers even exsited)- a bad combo, I agree.
But I feel Magic Dave's pain. It's not your issue, though, Mr. Shea. Magic Dave should be pummling Mr. Gates about this problem. Seriously, MSN-TV only has 544px of horizontal res? That's not even a "real" resolution!
<sarcasm>By the way, what do you think about me making a "themes and lookñalikes" version of the CSS Zen Garden to look like Dave's Magic Site?</sarcasm>
Oh man… now I stepped over the line… (sorry)
I try my best to serve something presentable to various UserAgents, but there is only so much one can do (or should do). I like the "no soup for you" approach to Netscape 4 using @import as the content is still accessible but at the same time it nudges the user to upgrade, but unfortunately there isn't such a clear cut solution for Web-TV.
I can only be concerned about UserAgent quirks when a particular UserAgent has what I deem to be 'significant' marketshare (usually >2%). We use the 'box model hack' because IE 5 has significant marketshare. When IE 5 has the marketshare of Web-TV many won't even bother.
Catering to Web-TV is not the answer. When more and more sites go CSS and start breaking in Web-TV then something will have to be done about its support for standards. Joe Consumer may not frequent CSS Zen Garden, but he probably frequents sites like ESPN. I wish consumers complained more to the companies that built their browser (in the case of Web-TV its something you are paying for too!) than to web designers who are just trying to do the right thing by building standards-based, accessible sites.
Man, where do they come from? I'll be honest, I can't say I really feel for Magic Dave – I mean this is fairly obviously not your problem as a designer. I don't know anyone who designs or even tests for MSN-TV.
If Magic Dave has an issue with the way his browser renders the Garden, and many, many other sites out there I imagine, than he needs to take it to Redmond.
I wish him luck with that. Really.
So I guess Magic Dave should have said:
My browser fails to satisfy your site.
There are so many things to be said about an email like this….good thing you said em and not me.
MikeyC - I did a bit of research, and up until the very latest release (2.8, in April) MSN-TV did not support @import either. Now it does, because Microsoft is working on its CSS. See this brief list — I find it highly interesting that :before and :after are supported.'
Still, for proper CSS-2 support, they'll eventually have to concede it's TV media, and not screen. Until that happens, I completely agree with everything in your last paragraph.
Here's just a thought Dave, but s it poissble to build into the Zen Garden a simple script (probably in the head) that uses something other than @import when @import is not supported?
(I'm not backing up Magic Dave, just thinking if it really is all that difficult to implement. - I guess my question is; if you used - <link href="some.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />, would it render correctly in MSN-TV?)
Just wondering.
"but s it poissble to build into the Zen Garden a simple script (probably in the head) that uses something other than @import when @import is not supported?"
The problem is that MSN-TV does support @import. If it didn't there wouldn't be a problem as it would simply get an unstyled page like Netscape 4.
Gotta love cut and pasted quotes that show how badly you type! (in referal to myself, folks)
"But keep in mind that the @import method is not supported."
That's what it says on the page that Dave refers to.
And that's why I asked "s it poisable" (hehehe… that's supposed to be "is it possible")
Wish my name had a cool adjective.
I have the same problem with the Palm Web Browser 2.0 that shipped with the Tungsten C - it fails to use the CSS media type of "handheld" and instead renders "screen". I mean, granted there is a 'screen' on the Palm TungC but uh… it is most certaintly a handheld device, no?
I was just about to input something to the msnTV developer site about this. But after getting signed up with a .NET password etc., I still could not get into the site to make a post, even when using Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser.
msnTV's browser just does not handle CSS positioning adequately. Now that one cannot hide a style sheet from it without a lot of extra trouble, it will mess up any reasonably complex site formatted with CSS positioning. Any modern site that has good accessibility such as this one nonetheless needs adequate standards support in the browsers that access it. I do not feel Web developers should be forced to support bad implementations of browser technology.
MSNTV does reasonably well with simple style sheets, but to support more complex pages, it forces a developer to devote his resources to a custom version of the page created using client or server side scripting to deliver a custom style for the page just for this one browser. This is a waste of time and resources. The MSNTV browser simply has bungled standards support, and standards support is the holy grail of acessibility.
Microsoft should not have implemented the @import rule for this browser's CSS capability until it also properly supported the HTML/XHTML media attribute for the link element and the @media rule in CSS2.
HTML and XHTML and CSS were created specifically with interoperability and device and browser independence in mind. I do not think Microsoft really wants this. Web sites with resources to create versions for specific browsers, can of couse do custom page versions.
For example, espn.com, although heavy with scripting and graphics and is generally not very accessible, does make a nod to standards and is formatted using CSS in the forward looking way. If you go to that site with a standards non-compliant browser like Netscape 4, they won't let you in. If you go using msnTV, they serve you a page designed for a PDA, which works, but is pretty dull.
Requiring a small site with fewer resources to jump through hoops to support a bad browser implementation goes against the open spirit of the Web, and creates innumberable problems for everyone concerned, and holds back the momentum that is gaining to make the Web accessible to everyone.
One of the goals of the World Wide Web Consortium is single authoring of Web pages, meaning you design a page for universal accessibility, and then provide styling via CSS for multiple devices. This greatly reduces developmental resources required to make a sophisiticated looking site. The device selects the style appropriate for its device. Simple and elegant compared to the method of having to make custom pages, custom scripts, browser detection, just to make a page readable on a specific browser.
Take Opera software - they have a TV set top version of their browser, and they have taken care to implement CSS properly.
MSNTV basically supports the kind of HTML written for Internet Explorer 3.0 and Netscape 3.0 with the addition of some CSS. So it is using a presentation model that is five or six years out of date, and it has not tiered improved support in a way that maximizes backward and forward compatibility.
There are too many different kinds of browsers that need to access the Internet for developers to waste time figuring out how to make custom adjustments to get pages to work with bad software. It is the responsibility of the browser vendors to adopt the necessary compliance with Web standards established by the ISO, the W3C, the ECMA, the IEC and so on.


text:
Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) provide a way to build dynamic user interfaces that simplify the process of accessing and displaying data to end users. Microsoft's Silverlight 2 product adds many new features that let .NET developers more easily build RIAs without facing the large learning curve normally associated with new technologies. The learning curve is still there, of course, but by leveraging your existing VB.NET or C# skills you can minimize the slope and begin building applications more quickly.
In this article I introduce new features available in Silverlight 2 and discuss why they're important. Many advancements have been made since the release of Silverlight 1 that are key especially if your applications target a variety of browsers and end users. In future articles, I will drill-down into new features and provide additional details on how they can be used to build RIAs using Silverlight 2.
Do I Still Have to Use JavaScript?
One of the most important advancements available in Silverlight 2 is the inclusion of a mini Common Language Runtime (CLR) that can run on multiple operating systems including Windows and Macintosh (with Linux support coming through the Moonlight project. Version 2 lets you write VB.NET or C# code that will run in Internet Explorer, FireFox, and Safari which means you don't have to use JavaScript any longer as with Silverlight 1. As a result, you can leverage your existing programming skills to build Silverlight 2 applications without having to learn a new language or object model. Several of the namespaces and classes available in the full version of the .NET Framework are also available to use in Silverlight 2.
Listing One presents an example of handling a Button control's Click event using C#. Looking through the code, you'll see that it looks a lot like standard ASP.NET event handler code aside from the RoutedEventArgs parameter that is passed.
private void btnSearch_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e) { HtmlPage.Window.Alert("Button Clicked!"); }
Where are the Controls?
Silverlight 1 provides a solid framework for building RIAs using XML Application Markup Language (XAML) and JavaScript. Using XAML elements available in version 1 along with some JavaScript code you can animate objects in creative ways, skew and resize objects and interact with data dynamically using AJAX technologies and Web Services. However, many developers coming from an ASP.NET or Windows Forms background wondered (aloud at times) where all of the controls were for capturing user input and displaying collections of items. Aside from the TextBlock control, the MediaElement control and shape controls such as Rectangle and Ellipse, no user input or data display controls were available in version 1 and laying out data on a page wasn't as straightforward as it should be. I've heard more than more developer ask, "Where are the controls?"
The good news is that Silverlight 2 provides more than 25 controls that can be used to layout other controls as well as capture and display data. All of the controls can be defined in XAML or created dynamically through VB.NET or C# code. Each control exposes properties, methods and events typically found in ASP.NET and Windows Forms controls, and can even be customized through styles (see www.corrina_b.members.winisp.net/skins/rough/Testpage.html for an example). Figure 1 shows what the Silverlight 2 project Toolbox looks like in Visual Studio 2008.
Silverlight 2 controls can generally be classified into several categories including layout controls, user input controls, media controls, shape controls, and a few miscellaneous controls.
Let's take quick look at new layout, user input, and media controls.


text:
Fishmoth Control in Kwamagxaki
We gladly welcome you to our fish moth control page here in Kwamagxaki
Thanks for visiting our fish moth Pest Control website, everything you want to know you will find here. Our Pest Control specialists in Kwamagxaki have all the right equipment and chemicals to ensure that you have a safe home and fish moth free. The chemicals are not harmful to humans or pets.
We use only the best Pest Control chemicals available on the SA market, all our service staff are friendly and approachable you can ask them any questions regarding our service or services that we provide. They will even guide you every step of the way while they are busy doing their job. Our Pest Control experts are specialised in doing everything possible to prevent your house by being infested by pests. Prevention is better that cure!!
Information on Fish moths:
Silverfish or Fish Moths as they are commonly referred to herein Kwamagxaki are a cosmopolitan species, found in Africa, America, Europe, Australia , Asia and other parts of the pacific. They inhabit moist areas, requiring a relative humidity between 75% and 95%. In urban areas, they can be found in basements, bathrooms, garages, closets, beds, pillows, and attic.
The reproduction of silverfish is preceded by a ritual involving three phases, which may last over half an hour. In the first phase, the male and female stand face to face, their trembling antennae touching, then repeatedly back off and return to this position. In the second phase the male runs away and the female chases him. The third phase the male and female stand side by side and head-to-tail, with the male vibrating his tail against the female.
Feel free to give us a call anytime any time for all your Pest Control and silverfish or fish month queries, our staff are trained and friendly. We can organise quotes, arrange for pest control service or even just give general advice.


text:
Bobbi's Kozy Kitchen on facebook and her amazing blog Bobbi just started a linky party and oh, you have to see her Sammie while there! Manic Monday
Joan's Chocolate, Chocolate and More on facebook and the sweetest blog Her Zucchini Bites look absolutely amazing!
The most viewed recipes of last week were The Better Baker's
Deep Dish Gooey Cookie Pie
Inside BruCrew Life
Love each and every one of the recipes shared with us last week. Please feel free to share as many as you like. <3
Rules..Yeah, you know they are here.
Follow each blog, facebook and pinterest so you can stay up to date.
Share the party..I know your friends will love it, too!
Link back to your original recipe, not your blog.
Visit others..they love company as much as we do.
Leave a comment when you visit, that's the neighborly thing to do.
Please return each week, I love your smiling faces, treasures recipes and precious memories that sometimes accompany them.
Have a beautiful week, be good to yourselves and others! <3 and hugs!


text:
These were taken where Borj Hamoud meets the coastal highway just as you leave Beirut heading north. It's a Christian area. A trail of battered Persian rugs makes for some kind of entrance to the cluster of low buildings, small enough to walk around in a few minutes.
Most are partly destroyed houses, with walls and roofs replaced by aluminium sheets or tarpaulin. Red question marks are painted on the walls. Elsewhere there are black crosses. I don't know the history of this slum and why or how these people ended up here.
The washing lines are full of kids clothes and there's a large paddling pool in a clearing which looks like a communal area.
A splash of colour in all the concrete.
The living space of these homes will be drastically reduced when the rains come. Pegged up sheets won't cut it and few of the roofs look even remotely watertight.
This looks like the main bartering yard for the neighbourhood. In an alley a man and a women were carefully sorting through a plastic bowl of lighters and other small finds from the dump. Necessity is the mother of recycling.


text:
About Us
CutePDF Editor - FREE!
With CutePDF
online PDF Editor, it takes no time at all to edit your PDF files easily - for
No Installation. No Download. No Sign-up. On Demand!
Just a Web Browser with Flash Enabled. Verified and Secured!
Start to Edit Your PDF File Now - FREE!
Features Highlight
Add Passwords and Set Security Options to Protect Your Valuable Documents
Set information on PDF document with Initial View options
Combine Multiple PDF Documents into one PDF File
Add Headers & Footers with Data, Time, Page Numbers, Bates Number
Extract, Reorder and Duplicate pages
Split PDF File
Rotate, Delete, Crop Pages
Resize Pages to any Paper Size
Insert Blank Pages into a PDF Document
Convert scanned Image Files into PDF Document
Learn More ... ...
Looking for Creating PDFs?
Try our free PDF converter
CutePDF Writer
Copyright © 2019 Acro Software Inc.
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy


text:
TMZ has learned a judge granted Portia's name change petition today in L.A. County Superior Court. She and Ellen DeGeneres got married in 2008.
We know "Lee" was Portia's original middle name, but "James" seems to be an added name. Hey, if you're already filing the paperwork ... why not?
More Today in TMZ History


text:
Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County should stay out of the business of business. —Royce Van Tassell
SALT LAKE CITY — This week's USANA International Convention and the most recent visit of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market rekindled the debate over whether downtown Salt Lake City should build a large hotel adjacent to the Salt Palace Convention Center.
The USANA event brought in an estimated 8,500 attendees and is expected to generate nearly $7.5 million in total visitor spending to Salt Lake and the state of Utah. The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, the state's largest annual convention, attracted 1,200 vendors, nearly 27,000 attendees and generated almost $25 million in visitor spending.
Total visitor spending figures are based on surveys of convention delegates conducted by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research. Surveys conducted by the research group over the past five years indicate the average delegate spends $923 while attending a convention in Salt Lake.
Supporters say a 1,000-room "headquarter hotel" would put Utah's capital city on equal footing with other similarly sized metros such as Denver, Nashville, Phoenix or San Antonio. However, critics argue that building a major new property should only occur if the project is undertaken by private investors with no public or government involvement.
"The concern is that there would be too much government help and public subsidization to make that new hotel work," said Clint Ensign, senior vice president, government relations for the Sinclair Companies — which owns and operates the Grand America and Little America Hotels. "Public subsidy required for a 1,000-room hotel could range from $80 million to $120 million."
Ensign said that the total estimated cost for such a project would be in the $300 million range. He said providing such significant financial support for a convention center hotel would be unfair to other hoteliers that built and upgraded their properties with no public funding.
He said subsidization could take various forms including property tax abatements, bonding or tax increment financing. Either way, such assistance would give the new property an unfair advantage.
"A $300 million convention center hotel would require a room rate of around $300 a night to make that project (financially viable)," Ensign said. The hotel would have to charge a room rate of $200 or less to be competitive in the market, he added.
"It's that public subsidization that (would) make up the difference," Ensign said. "If that subsidization is far more than what has been done for existing hotels, you create a tremendous competitive inequity downtown."
The Salt Palace underwent a massive overhaul in the early 1990s, resulting in a facility that now houses more than 675,000 square feet of convention and meeting space — a 46 percent increase in total space. Supporters of a "headquarter hotel" claim that despite the major remodel, the building still lacks the proximity and ease of use to guest accommodations that many convention planners seek.
A 2008 study by Piper Jaffrey Hospitality Group stated that the Salt Palace ranked fourth out of 11 competitors in square footage of exhibit space. But among comparable competitors, the Salt Palace was the only center that did not offer a headquarters hotel.
From 1997 to 2008, 16 hotels with 700-plus rooms opened in the U.S. in non-gaming or non-resort areas. Only three were privately financed without public subsidies — two in New York City, along with the Grand America in Salt Lake City. All of the hotels financed after 2002 were completed with tax-exempt bonds and/or public subsidies, the study noted.
Preliminary forecasting from the Piper Jaffrey study for a four-star convention-oriented hotel estimated a total development cost of $325 million. The report estimated a 73 percent occupancy rate two years after hotel opening with a room rate charge of approximately $176 per night, less then that predicted by Ensign.
The study also stated that the lack of a sizable, adjacent headquarters hotel caused planners of major events to take their business to other cities.
Scott Beck, president and chief executive officer of Visit Salt Lake, said Salt Lake City's lack of a large convention center hotel property has cost the city many conventions.
Beck said that when a large convention like the Outdoor Retailer trade show comes to town, organizers have to contract with 34 hotels to get the needed number of rooms for their group. But in cities with a "headquarter hotel" — a same-sized group is able to contract with just 15 hotels because the overall setup is more conducive to their needs.
"If we don't continue to improve our product (the Salt Lake market), then we will lose market share," he said. "There are so many things that make us one of the best second-tier convention destinations in the country, (but) we may lose out on the increased opportunity to maximize the convention center."
Beck said that while some critics worry that existing hotels would be hurt by the development of a convention center property, he said other hotels would benefit by "compression."
"When the convention center is full, the hotels around the convention center fill first," he said. "They 'compress' the demand out into the community — pushing the business out into those other hotels."
He also cited a 2011 University of Denver study that he said indicated, "Every market with a convention center hotel over the last 10 years has outperformed the national average."
He estimated that the local market loses $90 million to $100 million of convention delegate spending annually due to the lack of a convention center hotel.
Some local business leaders have also expressed conditional support for a new hotel.
In a June opinion letter on the issue, Lane Beattie, president and CEO of the Salt Lake Chamber, along with Downtown Alliance executive director Jason Mathis said a new hotel would enhance Utah's tourism industry.
"Many of our competing cities have one — Denver, Phoenix, San Antonio — and Salt Lake City should consider one as well," they wrote. "A large, 1,000-room hotel adjacent to the Salt Palace will generate more local and state taxes from out-of-town delegates and bring more business to Utah restaurants, entertainment venues, transportation companies and retail stores. More citywide conventions filling the Salt Palace will ultimately also mean more guests spilling over to other hotels."
The letter, however, opposed the use of government or local tax dollars to finance the project. They instead pushed for "privately led" development after diligent review of possible financing options for such a project by the Salt Lake County Council.
Meanwhile, opponents of government assistance said there is no room for outside intervention when it comes to a getting the project built.
"Salt Lake City and Salt Lake County should stay out of the business of business," said Royce Van Tassell, vice president of the Utah Taxpayers Association. "If demand for a 1,000-room convention center hotel exists, private investors will be more than happy to build it."
The Utah Restaurant Association and Utah Hotel and Lodging Association are on the same page as the Utah Taxpayers Association.
"Salt Lake City has been rising for several years, and we did not see any of the major hotels in Salt Lake City add additional rooms to their facilities," said URA president and CEO Melva Sine.
"Many have made improvements, but none have added additional sleeping rooms. When a 1,000-room hotel is needed and can be successful financially, the private sector will build it and that's the type of development we need in all sectors of our economy."
"UH&LA does not oppose a privately funded convention center hotel, but it opposes taxpayer funding to support competition for our member hotels," executive director Jordan Garn said. "We welcome competition in the market place. We just want to make sure the playing field is level."
E-mail: email@example.com
Twitter: JasenLee1


text:
Judge orders release of Sandy Hook 911 recordings
Superior Court Judge Eliot D. Prescott ruled Tuesday that audio recordings of 911 calls from the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting must be released by Dec. 4 unless the state obtains a stay from a higher court.
Prescott issued a 31-page decision denying a motion for a stay by Danbury State's Attorney Stephen J. Sedensky III, who had appealed the state Freedom of Information Commission's ruling that the 911 tapes should be turned over to The Associated Press.
The AP has been attempting to obtain the recordings since Dec. 14, 2012, when 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot his way into the Newtown school and killed 20 children and six adults. The AP's initial requests to the Newtown Police Department were ignored, and the state's attorney intervened after the news organization filed a Freedom of Information complaint.
Sedensky issued a statement through the Division of Criminal Justice communications office saying he is reviewing the judge's decision and will determine what action he will take.
Prescott wrote that he reluctantly listened to the recordings and analyzed all of the arguments against releasing them. He decided all of the state's attorney's claims, including one that the recordings were exempt from disclosure because the Sandy Hook schoolchildren were victims of child abuse, were without merit.
"Although the callers describe, in a harrowing and disturbing manner, an emergent criminal event that is taking place in a school location where there are obviously many children, the callers do not describe any particular acts of child abuse," said the decision. "No children are identified by name in the recordings and no caller indicated he or she could see whether any child has been injured. The only injury described is that of a teacher who has been shot in the foot."
Prescott wrote that Sedensky's claim that the recordings are protected by a law exempting from disclosure the signed statements of witnesses "borders on the frivolous." He rejected the claim that the tapes were exempt from disclosure because of a prospective law enforcement action, noting Sedensky failed to identify anyone who could be subject to criminal prosecution. Also, he noted, the state Freedom of Information Act does not require that a criminal investigation be closed before disclosure is required.
The judge also rejected the state's attorney's argument that the relevance and prejudicial effect of the tapes may not be known until later in the investigation.
"Indeed, this argument, which at its heart is an assertion that the records are exempt because 'I say so,' would eliminate the well-established rule that the burden to prove the applicability of an exemption rests on the agency asserting it," Prescott wrote in the decision.
He also wrote that it would not be in the public interest for him to grant a stay, since further court proceedings could take years.
"As a news organization, the AP will continue to be hamstrung on its ability to inform the public regarding one of the most significant, albeit tragic, events in Connecticut history," Prescott wrote. "Given the weakness of the plaintiff's claims on the merits, such a decision is difficult to justify."
The judge wrote that releasing the recordings will assist the public in gauging the appropriateness of law enforcement's response and to consider and weigh what improvements may be made.
"The public has weighty interest in addressing these questions now, not possibly two or three years from now when this case may have finally concluded," wrote Prescott. "Delaying the release of the audio recordings, particularly where the legal justification to keep them confidential is lacking, only serves to fuel speculation about and undermine confidence in our law enforcement officials."
Mitchell W. Pearlman, executive director emeritus of the state Freedom of Information Commission and a member of the Connecticut Council on Freedom of Information, said it is highly unusual for a judge to deny a stay of an administrative decision, since it takes away the opportunity for the person who is appealing to have his day in court.
"The fact that it's one of those highly unusual cases strongly suggests that there is no merit and the person isn't entitled to a day in court," Pearlman said.
The argument that it was a case of child abuse, as described specifically by the state law, borders on the ridiculous, Pearlman said, as did claims that there might be further law enforcement action.
On Monday, Sedensky released a report that said Sandy Hook shooter Adam Lanza, who committed suicide after killing his mother, 20 students and six school staff members, had acted alone, and there would be no criminal prosecutions.
"We understand the sympathy toward the people of Newtown, but to have a public official let that overwhelm the requirements of the law and the facts in the case to arrive at a decision brings his judgment into question in all points of criminal prosecutions," Pearlman said.
State budget relies on $180M in tax receipts beyond projections
Police: Stabbing leaves person with minor injuries in Stonington domestic disturbance
Report: Minority drivers in Conn. stopped at disproportionate rates
Trump suggests other countries pay US for protecting tankers
U.S. Rep. Himes becomes first in Conn. delegation to back impeachment inquiry


text:
This guest editorial is a rebuttal to my editorial last month, in which I argued that fine-grained parallelism will never become a standard part of programming skills. –Ed.
When Herb Sutter told us in 2005 that our free lunch was gone, he helped spur a rash of predictions that parallelism would take over and serial programming heretics would soon be burned at the stake. Backed by the evidence of multicore processors becoming ubiquitous, the air of truth in urgent calls to action for parallelism led to me being quoted saying "Parallel or Perish." (It made for a very popular t-shirt.)
Seven years later, it is not unreasonable to ask whether parallel code will ever be embraced as Dr. Dobb's editor Andrew Binstock did last month. Since it seems like little has changed, we might even suggest that the earlier pronouncements were all a case of irrational exuberance. This suggestion then degenerates to the conclusion that parallelism on a universal scale is a failure and never meant to be.
Hogwash. Such seven-year-itch predictions have all the accuracy of the original sky-is-falling urgent calls to action for parallelism. It's an evolution, not a revolution. It's silently creeping over everything, and resistance is indeed futile. Relax! Let's enjoy the ride. The benefits of parallelism are everywhere, and the ability to harness it have become commonplace.
Multicore Was the Frontal Attack; the Flank Attack Was the Cloud. Battle Won.
Parallel programming is using the multiple capabilities in a computing system in harmony to get a result faster or better than if we were limited to a single computing resource. You can also keep a multicore or many-core system busy with concurrency. The hardware does not care if the threads know each other or not; concurrency versus parallel program matters not.
Multicore processors are a localized parallel computing system. The vision of connecting the whole world via the Internet gave rise to "cloud" computing. What about "grid" computing? It lost the contest for which "hyped" word will dominate, and there isn't enough difference between "grid" and "cloud" for the world to need two names. They are both forms of parallel computing. Every cloud programmer contributes to providing parallel work for hungry cores, whether through their own parallel program or concurrency.
Hold On There, Please Define "Parallel Programmer"
Parallel programming orchestrates the actions of multiple processing devices to solve a problem collectively. Compared to having one "do-it-all" processing device to solve a whole problem, several challenges emerge: sharing, decomposition, and coordination more specifically, data sharing, problem (algorithm/program) decomposition/refactoring, and coordination (synchronization) around the sharing of data and the program.
Parallel programming means dealing with communication and computation. In recalling the "good old days" of sequential programming, our memories only recall worrying about computation. It seems that parallel programming requires communication be part of the job of programming now, and that additional work must mean it is harder.
Cloud programmers worry about communication a lot, but it is often so obvious we do not talk about it. Imagine the difference in the following pseudo-code queries to see what Apple II computers are on eBay this week:
Version 1 (c. 1996)
Display_EBay_ForSale( "Apple II" ) => { all_items = download( EBay ); my_items = match( "Apple II", all_items ); display my_items; }
Version 2 (c. 2004)
Display_EBay_ForSale( "Apple II" ) => { my_items = match_on_server("Apple II", EBay ); display my_items; }
Version 1 downloads all listings and then scans them locally; Version 2 asks the server to do the scan and only return matches. Version 2 therefore both reduces communication and offloads the work to the more powerful (and almost certainly multicore processor based systems) in the "cloud." Parallel computing is here twice: once in using the cloud, and again within the cloud in a highly parallel eBay system full of clever parallel programming ready to do the parallel computing for our two line program.
Is this client side parallelism or server side? The server operates in parallel, and the client benefits from that. It was the client programmer who chose Version 2 over Version 1. Therefore, the client programmer is a parallel programmer. Such programmers are better when they understand parallelism enough to make good choices to produce effective programs.
Is That Really Parallel Programming?
It is parallel programming because parallel programming is just about using multiple compute devices intelligently. "Intelligently" means putting the right work at the right place and not doing anything overwhelmingly stupid with the data (such as copying the entire Library of Congress to your desktop in order to locate and print out a single sentence).
In this sense, we all need to be parallel programmers. Here is why writing that makes you a parallel programmer and makes that parallel code: Parallel programming means thinking different. "Think Parallel." The most important topics are program decomposition and data location/sharing decisions (often simply lumped together as "communication"). As soon as you decide "Display_EBay_ForSale" needs to do the query in the cloud and it needs to move only the answer to the local machine, you have made critical parallel programming decisions. Call yourself a parallel programmer with all the rights and privileges that accompany this honor.
Multicore Parallelism Accessed in Many Ways
All this talk of clouds was not meant to discount multicore parallelism. It does suggest that we need to look for more than OpenMP directives or Threading Building Block (TBB) calls to detect parallelism in our code. We need to look for decisions being made by programmers on code and data placement in a parallel world. This includes scaling up versus scaling out decisions, too.
We all become parallel programmers because, if we do not, we have a blind spot to one of the most important aspects of modern computing. We should already all be data structure programmers, and numerical programmers, and database programmers, GUI programmers, and Internet programmers. While we are likely to be experts in a narrower field, very few programmers should be able to say, "I know nothing at all about GUIs or the Internet." Would you hire a programmer today who knew nothing about the Internet? A decade ago, that was not a universal expectation, and a decade before that, the Internet was unimportant to almost all programming jobs. Likewise, text-only displays are hardly the expectation of most programmers today. Parallel programming will have this status within the decade, and already does for many developers today.
I have a love for deep, detailed parallel programming, especially the very precise wring-all-the-performance world of HPC (high-performance computing, also known as supercomputing). That makes me a pretty serious parallel programmer. Most programmers will never devote as much of their life to parallel programming. I know programmers who enjoy graphics at least as much as I enjoy parallel programming. Others feel the same about database programming, and others about writing compilers. Each is a specialty. All of us need to know enough to get what we need of these specialties.
College Students: Get Your Money's Worth
These days, if you study programming and never do a parallel program during your time in college, you need to demand you money back. Seriously.
Core concepts need to be part of every programming curriculum. Not to create deep HPC programmers out of all of us, but definitely to avoid people writing Version 1 of Display_EBay_ForSale and thinking they did their programming well.
All of us need to know this. And every program needs to be written by someone who understands these aspects, even if the decision is that a sequential program is just fine. Every once in a while, a text-based program will do. It's just much less common than twenty years ago. Similarly, parallel programs will gradually take over, but perhaps the same way GUIs did…sometimes as a wrapper and other times through a rethinking and rewrite.
Scale up or scale out, it is better when we know enough about the key concepts of parallel programming to make a decision. Relax and enjoy the ride.
Yes, I agree with Andrew's editorial…fine-grained parallel programming is a specialty, most programmers should have enough parallel/concurrency knowledge to program coarse-grained parallelism well. No one escapes entirely, but most will escape being fine-grained parallelism code jocks.
James Reinders is Intel's leading spokesperson on tools for parallelism, and author of the O'Reilly Nutshell book on Intel Threading Building Blocks.


text:
It has been well documented here that Nokia's N95 brings zero gravity to your pocket—a certain feeling of weightlessless as you realize that your wallet is lighter by 750 notes.
Well, paranoid (and rich) types can launch their wallets into even deeper space by blowing $4,520 on the same phone but with one special add-on: spooky-ooky technology that seems perfect for Russian oligarchs, cuckolded billionaires, Jason Bourne and James Bond.
London shop Spymaster has modified the N95 so that it allows you to listen to room and phone conversations from anywhere in the world. This snitchy little cellphone will also pass on all text messages it sends and receives to your own mobile (assuming you've given it to Svetlana as she spends a week on your second yacht, bending and unbending in the company of her yoga yogi Rubber Dave).
Lastly, it will send you an SMS if Svetlana smells a rat and changes the SIM card in her Spy Phone. What it won't do is cut Rubber Dave's gonads off for you before feeding them to the sharks in your private aquarium, or broker Svetlana's divorce settlement.
Product Page [Spycatcher via Mad4Mobiles]


text:
Beetles are the most diverse group of organisms in the world. In fact, approximately one of every four species of plant, animal, bacterium, or fungus that has been described is a type of beetle. As might be expected in such a large group, beetles are quite diverse in color, shape, and ecological role.
Thus far, most of the Xerces Society's conservation work on beetles has focused on tiger beetles. Tiger beetles are speedy, often colorful, and voracious predators. Many live in the sandy soils of stream banks and are highly susceptible to changes in their environment. These insects can be excellent indicators of the overall health of an ecosystem, as they may be one of the first animals to decline with habitat changes. According to NatureServe, tiger beetles are one of the most endangered groups of insects – second only to stoneflies – approximately 19% of all tiger beetles are either vulnerable to extinction, imperiled, or extinct.


text:
NLCS Game 4: Cardinals Defeat Giants 8 – 3
Adam Wainwright threw seven innings of four-hit ball and the St. Louis Cardinals roughed up Tim Lincecum and the San Francisco Giants in an 8-3 rout Thursday night that gave them a 3-1 lead in the NL championship series.
Matt Holliday, Jon Jay and Yadier Molina had two RBIs apiece to lead a 12-hit outburst by a team that batted just .198 through the first three games of the series.
The defending champion Cardinals can wrap up their second straight trip to the World Series as a wild card with a victory at home Friday night in Game 5. Lance Lynn faces Giants lefty Barry Zito.
Lincecum was a bust in his first postseason start since the World Series clincher over Texas in 2010, giving up four runs in 4 2-3 innings.


text:
SHELBYVILLE, IN (October 5, 2013) – Power Broker powered through the lane to give Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert a record third win in the $500,000-added Indiana Derby (G2) on Saturday at Indiana Downs, and Pure Fun spoiled the party for prohibitive favorite Fiftyshadesofhay in the $200,000-added Indiana Oaks .
Gary and Mary West's Power Broker, the 8-5 favorite in the field of 12 3-year-old colts, rated behind the early pace dictated by Ruler of Love and Bradester as they set fractions of :24.03, 47.06, 1:10.42 and 1:35.48. When they hit the top of the lane, Power Broker had moved up to second but had to be steadied when a tiring Bradester drifted out into his path in the stretch.
Under Martin Garcia, he then rallied down the middle of the track and kicked clear on a sloppy surface to cross under the wire in 1:41.95 for the 1 1/6 miles to finish 1 ¾ lengths in front of Bradester. Holy Lute also closed willingly to be third, another ½ length back.
"Once he (Garcia) got him out there and got him going, he just kept on going. He was starting to draw off. We're very proud of him," said Barnes.
Bradester's connections were also proud of his effort. Lightly raced with only four starts and making his first try in stakes company, he relished the off going under Brian Hernandez, Jr.
"I think he ran a huge race and we think he has a promising future." said Dorie Smith, assistant to Eddie Kenneally:
Micromanage, Uncaptured, Fordubai, Mr. Palmer, Ruler of Love, Edge of Reality, Bad Hombre, Miraculousmo, and Skilltopaythebills completed the order of finish.
Power Broker, who was bred in Kentucky by Jamm Ltd and was a Grade 1 winner as a juvenile, won his second graded stakes race and improved his record to 4-1-1 in 10 starts. With the $286,812 winner's share of the purse, he upped his bankroll to $864,812.
While Power Broker rewarded the backers in the Derby Day crowd of 5,855 who made him the favorite, 2-5 favorite Fiftyshadesofhay, who is also trained by Baffert and was ridden by Garcia, could fare no better than third in the field of seven 3-year-old fillies.
Pure Fun, ridden by Victor Lebron and trained by Ken McPeek for Magdalena Racing, got a perfect trip in the slop as she rated behind fast fractions of :23.61, 1:10.78 and 1:36.98 which the favorite got caught up in. From her stalking position, she was able to put away Fiftyshadesofhay in the stretch while Oscar Party got up for second, 1 ¾ lengths behind. Fiftyshadesofhay finished third, another ¾ lengths behind.
The Oaks was the first victory for Pure Fun since the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 3, when she suffered an ankle injury.
"Coming off the pace, that's her style," said Lebron, her regular rider. "Our game plan was to take her back and make that big run she always makes. I know how much kick she can give me. I used it to my advantage when the others were running out of horse."
The rest of the order of finish was Plenty O'Toole, Seaneen Girl, Wild About Irene, and Run Forestry Run.
Bred by Royal Oak Farm LLC in Kentucky, Pure Fun is by Pure Prize out of the Key to the Mint mare Chelsea Green. The win was her second in graded stakes company and fourth overall in 12 starts and her earnings are now $482,652.
The 19th edition of the Derby and the 18th running of the Oaks were held at Indiana Downs on the one-mile oval for the first time as all previous runnings were at Hoosier Park on the seven-eighths mile surface. An enthusiastic crowd of 5,855 was on hand Saturday.
"We are excited to have the Indiana Derby here for the first time and to have all of these big name horses and their connections in attendance," said Jonathan Schuster, vice president and general manager of racing for Indiana Grand Racing & Casino. "A day like today really puts on display the idea behind one breed, one track and everything Centaur Gaming, in partnership with the breed organizations, has done to continue to take horse racing in this state to the next level."


text:
Website Critiques forum discussing your website. Get recommendations on areas of improvement by design and development experts. Discover your site's weak spots. You must be a member for at least 30 days and have at least 30 posts to list your site.
There are currently 1 users browsing this forum. (0 members & 1 guests)


text:
People like to say that you should look at a Mercedes-Benz S-Class to figure out what sort of things are going to be on mainstream cars within a decade. Stuff like ABS and airbags showed up on the big Merc long before they did on, say, a Golf.
But what you really should do is look at the cars featured in James Bond films. Stuff like front and rear cameras, in-car phones and (to a certain extent) revolving license plates have all been brought to market and in some cases are commonplace on cars you can buy today.
The problem is, not everything from the 50 years of Bond films had made it to production — even though some of it should have.
There are still some unrealized car gadgets that would be useful in everyday situations. Here are some that I've decided manufacturers need to pursue after spending lots of time studying the films, even if they only make sense after a few martinis:
How's the red light camera going to catch you now? Turning your car invisible is not such a bad idea and would be really popular among teens who drive up 2 or 3 hours past curfew. Bond found it useful in Die Another Day in an Aston Martin Vanquish while trying to flee a villain in a Jag XKR.
The invisibility system works by using cameras to project the background on either side of the car, so you see trees instead of the side of your Aston. Shame to hide a beautiful car, but it beats getting busted when your parents see the lights on your Escort GT pulling up the driveway at 3 a.m.
The amphibious car is nothing new, but a submarine is cooler. If you have an Esprit, it can be done. Although as shown in The Spy Who Loved Me, '70s car submarining technology still left room for fish to mysteriously enter the car. Many cars are as slippery as an Esprit these days, so that shouldn't pose a problem. But with all of the concern over the state of our bridges in this country, shouldn't we be looking at ways to get cars off of these structures? Shouldn't we make sure people use the submarining feature on their Honda Odyssey instead of trying to lug that two-ton thing full of people and stuff over a dilapidated bridge? Think about it.
Passenger ejector seat
The holy grail of Bond car gadgets. I think it works well in conjunction with today's popular sliding panoramic roofs. Every parent of a teenage texter singing Taylor Swift songs over and over will want this instead of losing his or her mind on the way to or from school drop-off.
Conversely, teens learning to drive with one of their parents in the passenger seat might also find a use for the feature. Wire it to the front passenger seat in the family Ford Edge and out they go through the big hole in the roof. Alternatively, the mob market will enjoy that it can also be wired to the new glass-roofed Lincoln MKZ.
All-wheel drive can be complicated stuff, and for what, getting around on icy surfaces? Get some skis on your car, like the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante used in The Living Daylights. Timothy Dalton's Aston also had a rocket system, which depending on how many horses your standard car has could come in handy.
Portable defibrillator
I don't know why this doesn't come standard on every Ford Taurus or Toyota Avalon, because heart attacks are no joke. Why was Daniel Craig's DBS fitted with one in Casino Royale? It never hurts to be safe. That car was a mobile CDC, with poison antidotes and stuff like that. We should get all world leaders DBS fitted this way.
What Bond Car gadgets would you want on your car?
Photos credit Famous Cars, Reemul, Vadakkus.com, IMCDB.org


text:
A story from the historic Indian-Pioneer Papers tells us the origin of the Church Bell at Park Hill Presbyterian Church.
At the turn of the century, the Cherokees lost thousands upon thousands of acres through the Curtis Act and the Dawes Commission. This land had been deeded to the Cherokee Nation with the promise that no state or territory would ever impose jurisdiction.
This department is under the direct supervision of a medical superintendent, who, since the last treaty, is appointed by the Department of Education. He is assisted in his work by a matron in charge of the sick.
In training our students for the active duties of life mentally and physically we do not forget the spiritual side of their natures. The students are required to attend the church of their choice each Sunday morning.
This building is a magnificent structure. Being one of the finest in the southwest, and affords ample accommodations for one hundred and seventy five girls, all the members of the Faculty and the Steward's family.
A history of the Female Seminary would be incomplete without a mention of its "brother" institution.
Composition, one recitation per week. Classics, three recitations per week. Lowell - Vision of Sir Laufal, Eliot - Silas Marner, Coleridge - Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Addison - Sir Roger de Coverley Papers. Outside reading, oral and written report
Cherokee Nation has a wealth of historical sites and buildings within its jurisdictional boundaries. Looking at the histories and l ifestyles associated with these sites, we can get a good idea of the cultural lifestyle of our past as compared with
On October 28, 1876, the Cherokee Advocate reported, "Our jail or penitentiary has one inmate - one Charles Clar, who was found guilty of resisting an officer while attempting to arrest Taylor Parris. The sentence is for five years."
U.S. Interior Department Agent reports in Indian Territory noted that "there are 43 men of the Indian police force of the agency distributed throughout the agency." An equal division of the territory to be protected would give about 712 square mi
The council act said the agreement entered into by and between the U.S. and Cherokee Commission of January 14, 1899 provided in Sec. 78 that immediately upon ratification of the agreement, the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation had the authori
Town sites in the Eastern Homelands.
The Cherokee National Prison was authorized in 1873 by an act of the Cherokee National Council. Proceeds from the sale of the Cherokee Outlet were designated in the amount of $6,000 for the construction of the prison on the Cherokee Nation capital square
A historic article of the possibility of moving the capitol from Tahlequah to Fort Gibson, which had been originally called Keetowah (after the old Cherokee mother town, Kituwah.)
The historic Indian-Pioneer Papers gives us a look at traveling in the Cherokee Nation.
Excerpt from the Indian Chieftain Vinita, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory December 29, 1887


text:
With the Oct. 1 rollout of a major facet of the Affordable Care Act on the horizon, you'll be hearing a lot about the glitches, loopholes and shortcomings of this most important restructuring of America's healthcare system in our lifetimes. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind:
First, the vast majority of these issues result from one crucial compromise made in the drafting of the 2010 law, ostensibly to ease its passage through Congress. That was to leave the system in the hands of private health insurance companies.
Second, there's an obvious way to correct this flaw: The country should progress on to a single-payer system.
The idea that the ACA is a logical precursor to single-payer, in which the government would be the source of all medical reimbursement, has been gaining traction as key thresholds for healthcare reform approach. The biggest milestone is the Oct. 1 launch of open enrollment for the health insurance exchanges that will offer individual insurance starting Jan. 1.
Last month, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made that point in a Nevada news broadcast, calling the ACA "a step in the right direction" but adding that the U.S. would have to "work our way past" private insurance-based healthcare. "We're far from having something that's going to work forever," he said.
"There isn't a popular groundswell yet" for a single-payer plan "because most people haven't seen the ACA at work in detail yet," says David Himmelstein, a professor of public health at the City University of New York and co-founder of Physicians for a National Health Program, the leading advocacy group for single-payer healthcare. But he anticipates that discontent will start in October "and accelerate through the winter."
Among the law's shortcomings, he says, are the lack of effective provisions to control healthcare costs and insurance premiums. Premium regulation remains in the hands of the states, and many don't have strong regulatory oversight of health insurance. In California, health insurance premiums are exempt from prior approval by the insurance commissioner, unlike home and auto insurance. (An initiative to remove the exemption will appear on the November 2014 ballot.)
That's not to say that the ACA won't make health insurance more affordable and accessible to millions of Americans now excluded from the market. Published exchange premiums in 18 states have generally come in below expectations, and the federal subsidies available to most buyers will make them cheaper still.
In some cases the premiums may be higher than those of plans on the market now. But because of exclusions for preexisting conditions — which will no longer be legal — they're actually unavailable at any price to people who will have no trouble qualifying for the exchange plans.
The ACA's critics observe that a plurality of Americans still view the ACA unfavorably (43%, according to an opinion poll released in June by the Kaiser Family Foundation). They rarely acknowledge, however, that nearly 1 in 5 of those critics think the law doesn't go far enough — that is, further toward single-payer.
In its earliest incarnation, the Affordable Care Act included a prototype government single-payer provision — the "public option," a government-sponsored plan to compete with commercial insurers in the exchanges. The public option was deleted at the insurance industry's insistence.
But the U.S. does offer a healthcare program that resembles single-payer. It's Medicare, the broadly popular health plan that covers all Americans over 65. Medicare's administrative costs are only about 2%, and its size gives it the clout to extract large discounts from doctors and hospitals. That's why one oft-proposed version of single-payer is "Medicare for all" — simply expand its coverage beyond the 65-plus.
Canada's single-payer system is another model. It's popular and efficient and costs about one-third of America's system to administer. Don't believe the myths purveyed about Canada's healthcare by the U.S. insurance industry's minions.
As health economist Aaron Carroll has documented, Canadian patients and doctors are satisfied with the program. As for the contention that it "rations" care, he points out that care in the U.S. is rationed by cost: one-third of adult Americans surveyed by the Commonwealth Fund in 2010 said they had put off important treatment because of the cost. In Canada, the figure was 15%.
There's little question that taking private insurers out of the American healthcare system would save hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Dozens of studies of federal and state single-payer proposals have found that single-payer plans could provide universal coverage — not even the ACA does that — and still save money.
Estimates of the administrative costs of commercial health insurers exceed 10%. That doesn't include the costs to doctors and hospitals of maintaining billing staffs to deal with insurers and keep all their rules and peculiarities straight, or the time lost to individuals and their employers of navigating this unnecessarily byzantine system.
Add those, and the overall administrative costs embedded in the U.S. healthcare system come to 31% of all spending, according to a 2003 article co-written by Himmelstein for the New England Journal of Medicine. Administrative and clerical workers accounted for nearly 44% of all employees in doctors' offices, they calculated.
What do Americans receive in return for all this overhead? Practically nothing. The insurance industry says its role is to hold down costs by negotiating for preferential fees from doctors and hospitals and trolling for abuses, but the truth is they're totally ineffective at cost control.
Just last year I reported on an admission by Aetna and United Healthcare, two of our biggest insurers, that they had been snookered to the tune of $60 million by one chain of small surgical clinics in Northern California. That happened because the insurers didn't hire enough staff to give the claims from those clinics decent scrutiny — in other words, their administrative costs, high as they were, didn't buy adequate oversight.
The result, to cite just one example, was that United paid the chain more than $97,000 for a kidney stone operation that it usually covers for $6,851.
"Private insurance is a parasite in the system," says Arnold S. Relman, the former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine and an advocate of healthcare reform. "It adds nothing of value commensurate with its cost."
Relman believes that fixing the healthcare system will require more than single-payer. The delivery of care needs to be reorganized by promoting the formation of more "accountable care organizations" — medium- and large-scale group practices with hospital affiliates whose physicians would be salaried to discourage the overuse fostered by the fee-for-service system.
What's really needed is political will. It would help if big companies, which grouse incessantly about the rising costs of covering their employees, would throw their weight behind a system that would relieve them of that burden.
The forces of opposition won't lie down; the insurance industry won't give up its central role in the healthcare system without a costly and bruising fight, as it showed in Congress and in numerous states, including California, where single-payer plans were on the table.
"It's going to be a slow and painful process," Relman says. "But sooner or later we'll have to turn to single-payer. It's the only logical solution."
Michael Hiltzik's column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. Reach him at firstname.lastname@example.com, read past columns at latimes.com/hiltzik, check out facebook.com/hiltzik and follow @hiltzikm on Twitter.


text:
The Hottest Entertainment on the planet!
Games2U takes you where no games have gone before with unique, interactive mobile entertainment like our mind-blowing Video Game Theaters and 4D Ride Experiences; high-tech Laser Tag; giant-sized, kid-driven U-Bots; life-size Hamster Balls and so much more. With exciting activities for every age, we can bring out the kid in just about everyone.
Experience the thrills enjoyed by thousands of Games2U satisfied customers when you book your event today. Whether you're planning a birthday party, company party, school fundraiser, or just about any other kind of event, Games2U can bring you an on-site, mobile experience that you'll never forget. We're so sure you'll love what we do that we offer our Promise2U: Your event will be a hit... Guaranteed!


text:
#32 wrote:BY wrote:I will say this, J-Rich is more deserving than BD.
Why? A lot of people are making this argument... but I don't understand it. Baron Davis has put up more consistent, all-around, superstar numbers than JRich... is it because Jason scores a couple points more per game with a better %...?
I totally think JR aces out Ray Allen for an All-Star spot, but I also think Baron's better than either of them. Can somebody please draw out a reason for me...?
As much as I like Rich, Allen has pretty much the same averages. One difference is he's done it year after year for nearly a decade. J-Rich is a rising star, but people recognize the players they've seen over and over. Jason will get his due soon.
J-Rich has done more for this team than BD has. Richardson has taken it personal when he hasn't performed well or when the team is down, BD on the other hand seems to disappear at times if things are already bleak. I'm not ragging on BD, but to me J-Rich has more of the killer instinct and attitude. If he had a horrible first half you can almost expect a 20 point second half to make up for it. He is scoring more, with a higher percentage. At times I'd almost rather have BD sit instead of his constant dribbling and propensity to keep the ball to himself a bit.


text:
Ask a Question
Please complete this question form so we can get back to you!
Thank you.
If you have questions for items that are in our store we will try our best to answer you that same day. Sorry, we do not do appraisals or identifications. My Antique Books do not show every single item out there and a great deal of research is needed to determine most prices. You can try looking through the books at your local Library or Book Store. I don't normally buy stuff on line for my store...I prefer "hands on" shopping! :-)
Kim Anderson's Love Never Ends Figurine by Enesco
$ 15.00
This Kim Andersons Pretty as a Picture by Enesco, Love Never Ends, porcelain bisque figurine is marked: Love Never Ends / 1999 NBM Bahner Studios AG / Licensed by Alaska Momma, Inc. / Licensee Enesco Corporation / #630012 / Made in China / Heart Mark.Enesco (Enesco, LLC) is an American company...
Any Questions?
Your Name
Thank you
Store Home
About Us
FAQ / Policies
TIAS home
· Calendar of Events ·
· Site Map ·
Tell a Friend!
· Join
our Mailing List ·
A Time Remembered
Contact us!
133-18 220th.StreetLaurelton, NY 11413United States
Updated Thursday, June 20 2019Product descriptions copyright© 2019 A Time RememberedAll else copyright© 1995-2019 TIAS.com All rights reserved.


text:
Hiding Latency: Complex Cores vs. Hardware Threads
One of the major reasons today's modern CPU cores are so big and complex, to make single-threaded applications run faster, is that the complexity is used to hide the latency of accessing glacially slow RAM -- the "memory wall."
In general, how do you hide latency? Briefly, by adding concurrency: Pipelining, out-of-order execution, and most of the other tricks used inside complex CPUs inject various forms of concurrency within the chip itself, and that lets the CPU keep the pipeline to memory full and well-utilized and hide much of the latency of waiting for RAM. (That's a very brief summary. For more, see my machine architecture talk, available on Google video. [2])
So every chip needs to have a certain amount of concurrency available inside it to hide the memory wall. In 2006, the memory wall was higher than in 1997; so naturally, 2006 cores of any variety needed to contain more total concurrency than in 1997, in whatever form, just to avoid spending most of their time waiting for memory. If we just brought the 1997 core as-is into the 2006 world, running at 2006 clock speeds, we would find that it would spend most of its time doing something fairly unmotivating: just idling, waiting for memory.
But that doesn't mean a simpler 1997-style core can't make sense today. You just have to provide enough internal hardware concurrency to hide the memory wall. The squeezing-the-toothpaste-tube metaphor applies directly: When you squeeze to make one end smaller, some other part of the tube has to get bigger. If we take away some of a modern core's concurrency-providing complexity, such as removing out-of-order execution or some or all pipeline stages, we need to provide the missing concurrency in some other way.
But how? A popular answer is: Through hardware threads. (Don't stop reading if you've been burned by hardware threads in the past. See the sidebar "Hardware Threads Are Important, But Only For Simpler Cores.")
Hardware Threads Are Important, But Only For Simpler Cores
Hardware threads have acquired a tarnished reputation. Historically, for example, Pentium hyperthreading has been a mixed blessing in practice; it made some applications run something like 20% faster by hiding some remaining memory latency not already covered in other ways, but made other applications actually run slower because of increased cache contention and other effects. (For one example, see [3].)
But that's only because hardware threads are for hiding latency, and so they're not nearly as useful on our familiar big, complex cores that already contain lots of other latency-hiding concurrency. If you've had mixed or negative results with hardware threads, you were probably just using them on complex chips where they don't matter as much.
Don't let that turn you off the idea of hardware threading. Although hardware threads are a mixed bag on complex cores where there isn't much remaining memory latency left to hide, they are absolutely essential on simpler cores that aren't hiding nearly enough memory latency in other ways, such as simpler in-order CPUs like Niagara and Larrabee. Modern GPUs take the extreme end of this design range, making each core very simple (typically not even a general-purpose core) and relying on lots of hardware threads to keep the core doing useful work even in the face of memory latency.
Toward Simpler, Threaded Cores
What are hardware threads all about? Here's the idea: Each core still has just one basic processing unit (arithmetic unit, floating-point unit, etc.) but can keep multiple threads of execution "hot" and ready to switch to quickly as others stall waiting for memory. The switching cost is just a few cycles; it's nothing remotely similar to the cost of an operating system-level context switch. For example, a core with four hardware threads can run the first thread until it encounters a memory operation that forces it to wait, and then keep doing useful work by immediately switching to the second thread and executing that until it also has to wait, and then switching to the third until it also waits, and then the fourth until it also waits -- and by then hopefully the first or second is ready to run again and the core can stay busy. For more details, see [4].
The next question is, How many hardware threads should there be per core? The answer is: As many as you need to hide the latency no longer hidden by other means. In practice, popular answers are four and eight hardware threads per core. For example, Sun's Niagara 1 and Niagara 2 processors are based on simpler cores, and provide four and eight hardware threads per core, respectively. The UltraSPARC T2 boasts 8 cores of 8 threads each, or 64 hardware threads, as well as other functions including networking and I/O that make it a "system on a chip." [5] Intel's new line of Larrabee chips is expected to range from 8 to 80 (eighty) x86-compatible cores, each with four or more hardware threads, for a total of 32 to 320 or more hardware threads per CPU chip. [6] [7]
Figure 3 shows a simplified view of possible CPU directions. The large cores are big, modern, complex cores with gobs of out-of-order execution, branch prediction, and so on.
The left side of Figure 3 shows one possible future: We could just use Moore's transistor generosity to ship more of the same -- complex modern cores as we're used to in the mainstream today. Following that route gives us the projection we already saw in Figure 2.
But that's only one possible future, because there's more to the story. The right side of Figure 3 illustrates how chip vendors could swing the pendulum partway back and make moderately simpler chips, along the lines that Sun's Niagara and Intel's Larrabee processors are doing.
In this simple example for illustrative purposes only, the smaller cores are simpler cores that consume just one-quarter the number of transistors, so that four times as many can fit in the same area. However, they're simpler because they're missing some of the machinery used to hide memory latency; to make up the deficit, the small cores also have to provide four hardware threads per core. If CPU vendors were to switch to this model, for example, we would see a one-time jump of 16 times the hardware concurrency -- four times the number of cores, and at the same time four times as many hardware threads per core -- on top of the Moore's Law-based growth in Figure 2.
What makes smaller cores so appealing? In short, it turns out you can design a small-core device such that:
- 4x cores = 4x FP performance: Each small, simple core can perform just as many floating-point operations per second as a big, complex core. After all, we're not changing the core execution logic (ALU, FPU, etc.); we're only changing the supporting machinery around it that hides the memory latency, to replace OoO and predictors and pipelines with some hardware threading.
- Less total power: Each small, simple core occupies one-quarter of the transistors, but uses less than one-quarter the total power.
Who wouldn't want a CPU that has four times the total floating-point processing throughput and consumes less total power? If that's possible, why not just ship it tomorrow?
You might already have noticed the fly in the ointment. The key question is: Where does the CPU get the work to assign to those multiple hardware threads? The answer is, from the same place it gets the work for multiple cores: From you. Your application has to provide the software threads or other parallel work to run on those hardware threads. If it doesn't, then the core will be idle most of the time. So this plan only works if the software is scalably parallel.
Imagine for a moment that we live in a different world, one that contains several major scalably parallel "killer" applications -- applications that a lot of mainstream consumers want to use and that run better on highly parallel hardware. If we have such scalable parallel software, then the right-hand side of Figure 3 is incredibly attractive and a boon for everyone, including for end users who get much more processing clout as well as a smaller electricity bill.
In the medium term, it's quite possible that the future will hold something in be-tween, as shown in the middle of Figure 3: heterogeneous chips that contain both large and small cores. Even these will only be viable if there are scalable parallel ap-plications, but they offer a nice migration path from today's applications. The larger cores can run today's applications at full speed, with ongoing incremental improve-ments to sequential performance, while the smaller cores can run tomorrow's applica-tions with a reenabled "free lunch" of exponential improvements to CPU-bound per-formance (until the program becomes bound by some other factor, such as memory or network I/O). The larger cores can also be useful for faster execution of any unavoidably sequential parts of new parallel applications. [8]


text:
Welcome back to Lake Eden… the small American town where crime is deadly but the cakes are scrumptious!
Fans of Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mysteries will need no introduction to the crime-busting Minnesota confectioner whose culinary skills are matched only by her super sleuthing.
The delicious Hannah can whip up the perfect chocolate fudge brownie as fast as she can track down a ruthless killer, and her eighteenth case is packed with the same winning blend of intrigue and tasty recipes, with a liberal sprinkling of romance.b
For her army of fans, each outing with Hannah, her mother, sisters and friends is like enjoying a family reunion, catching up with the latest gossip and sharing the challenges and surprises of a visit to Lake Eden.
Hannah's café and bakery, The Cookie Jar, is ticking over nicely and making enough money for her to live comfortably. But she is thrilled to be heading to Las Vegas for her mother Dolores' surprise wedding to the lovely Doc Knight.
What she doesn't expect is a reunion with her old college flame and now successful film director Ross Barton, a man who still causes her heart to beat much faster than normal, particularly when he tells her that he will soon be heading to Lake Eden for a local TV interview.
But Hannah is getting nervous about her return home. She is to face trial for vehicular manslaughter after being involved in a tragic accident during a storm in which a man was killed.
She is eager to clear her name once and for all but when she is ordered to an interview with Judge Colfax before the start of the trial, Hannah hears a horrible thump while sitting in the anteroom and finds him bludgeoned to death with his own gavel.
Before long, Hannah finds herself the number one suspect and when she sets out in search of the real culprit, she discovers that the judge had made more than a few enemies during his career.
With time running out and Ross soon to arrive in Lake Eden, Hannah will have to turn to her cleverest recipe yet to find an elusive and dangerous killer...
Fluke serves up another tasty concoction of murder and mouth-watering food in a tale that see Hannah's simmering and complicated love life finally burst into what may just be a final and passionate resolution.
And with over twenty of Hannah's exciting recipes to try out for yourself, there could be no better time to head off to Lake Eden and see just what's cooking in both the kitchen and the courtroom.
(Headline, paperback, £8.99)


text:
So you're having a barbecue and you want to keep it at least a little healthy.
You've got the lean chicken breasts marinating and ready for the grill. You've got a colorful tossed salad filled with the season's bounty. You've got corn on the cob for grilling and fresh watermelon and strawberries for nibbling. That's a good start.
But you also know that no American summer barbecue is complete without a creamy and rich potato salad. Except you also know just how unhealthy a potato salad smothered in mayonnaise can be. The good news is that you can enjoy a great potato salad without sacrificing your commitment to healthy eating.
Here are our tips for making that happen.
First, make sure you leave the skins on the potatoes. Potato skins contain much of the potatoes' fiber, as well heaps of vitamins and minerals, including a crazy amount of potassium (even more than bananas).
Second, replace the commonly added hard-boiled egg. While eggs do add plenty of protein, if you're barbecuing it's unlikely that protein deprivation is your problem. And egg yolks also add plenty of unnecessary fat. So we replaced the egg with chopped canned artichoke hearts, which have a similar texture and a wonderfully subtle flavor that complements the potatoes.
Third, and possibly most important, you need to overhaul the mayonnaise dressing. Adding just ½ cup of regular mayonnaise can add 800 calories and 90 grams of fat to the salad. And really, who stops at just ½ cup? You certainly could dress a potato salad in a light vinaigrette, but we wanted to stick to the traditional creamy salad for this recipe.
So we reached for one of our favorite no-fat creamy dairy products, Greek yogurt. It is a versatile, healthy ingredient that adds significant creamy flavor and texture.
We finished with a handful of fresh herbs and some tangy vinegar to punch up the flavor, then we had a potato salad we could be proud of setting out on our (healthy!) barbecue table.
Nutrition information per serving (values are rounded to the nearest whole number): 190 calories; 10 calories from fat (5 percent of total calories); 1 g fat (0.5 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 5 mg cholesterol; 38 g carbohydrate; 7 g protein; 7 g fiber; 670 mg sodium.


text:
You see the following error message on your Xbox 360 console:
System Error: Contact Xbox Customer Support
Error E87
This means there may be a problem with your console.
Try the steps in our Flashing Lights Solution. Choose one flashing light as the problem and follow the steps in the solution.
If these steps don't resolve the problem, you'll need to request a repair. Learn how to request a repair.
Repair or warranty questions? See Xbox 360 repair: Frequently asked questions.
Thanks for your feedback!
Provide feedback for this topic
Would you like to contact Support regarding the "You see an E87 error when you use your Xbox 360 console" issue you were reading about or a different issue?


text:
Say cheese!
So, yesterday was National French Fry Day and now today is National Mac And Cheese Day!
It seems like Twitter is trying to fatten us up! But we're talking about cheese here. CHEESE!
Are you a classic baked person? Maybe you'd rather replace your mac and cheese cheddar with Fontina to turn it into a delicious Italian mac. Do you like to mix other foods in your mac, let's say lobster? Some even like to spruce it up with mozzarella and pulled pork! Yum! Is it dinner time yet?
Suzanne Pardue on Twitter
All I want... is mac and cheese." - Kurt Cobain #NationalMacandCheeseDay
Have you ever met someone who just flat out hates mac and cheese? Probably not. Because it's hard to hate cheese. With thousands of types, surely there's got to be at least one that tickles everyone's taste buds. C'mon, even celebs got to have their mac too!
In celebration of National Mac and Cheese Day, go whip you up a bowl and enjoy while you read some of these cheesy quotes, taken from AZ Quotes, by some of the world's notorious.
I'm a carb queen. I'll always order macaroni and cheese, but I don't want it to be fancy. I want it to be as close to Kraft Services as it can possibly get!
~Drew Barrymore
I am not one to turn down macaroni and cheese, even late at night. I love Italian food. I love pasta... A refrigerator full of water and Gatorade? Honey, that's just not gonna happen.
~Queen Latifah
I don't do much cooking, but one of my favorite dishes to eat is my wife's macaroni and cheese.
~Ice Cube
For our first date, I made Ryan Hamburger Helper, which is basically what I grew up on. I make my own version of it now, with macaroni and cheese and hamburger meat. And the kids - it's their favorite dinner.
~Reese Witherspoon
Fettucini alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults.
~Mitch Hedberg
One of Beethoven's favorite dishes was macaroni and cheese. The girl I marry must be able to make good macaroni and cheese..." "How did Beethoven feel about cold cereal?
~Charles M. Schulz
First We Feast on Twitter
So sultry. #NationalMacandCheeseDay https://t.co/1MGznK6nrF
Source Point Press on Twitter
It's #NationalMacandCheeseDay Get it on... https://t.co/yOoeWHQw6P
Sarah Francis is a half-Palestinian journalism junkie, a proud Charlotte, NC native with an oversized sweet tooth, and an active world traveler. Ask her where she's headed next. (@Sarah_Francis25)


text:
Shepperton Studios,
Housed within The Leadenhall Building - London�s newest iconic skyscraper - the venue offers spectacular views of the river and many of London�s read more
Are you attending the The London Vet Show? and still need to sort your accommodation? The Solutions Company? are the Offical accommodation providers for the 2013 read more
Hello Friends, Just to let you know the new TSC Production Industry newsletter is out with great offers and nice competition prize to boot. Take read more


text:
Free Medical Alert scam aimed at Medicare recipients
Important press release from Texas SMP and The Better Business Bureau Education Foundation:
Seniors all over Texas are receiving phone calls from individuals who want to make an appointment to come to your home and deliver a new Medical Alert that is all paid for by
Medicare. But the truth is, Medicare does not pay for medical alert systems and this item is not free! This is merely a trick for you to give out personal information over the phone to strangers.
Once these scammers get your Medicare number, which is also your Social Security number, they will bill Medicare for items and services you never receive. Protect yourself from potential identity theft and protect the Medicare system from crooks stealing taxpayer dollars by hanging up! You should never give out your Medicare number to anyone who calls on the telephone. No one from Medicare or Social Security will ever call you on the phone to verify personal information such as a bank account or your Social Security Number. And never give out your Medicare number in exchange for free items. If you are get a phone call or an offer for "free" items or services paid for by Medicare, get the name and number of the company then hang up. Then call the Texas Senior Medicare Patrol and report the information. Protect, detect and report Medicare fraud to 1-888-341-6187.


text:
Latest News
Syrian opposition leader Moaz al Khatib calls on Nusra to renounce al Qaida
The leader of the primary U.S.-backed Syrian opposition group, who criticized the United States last year for designating the rebel Nusra Front a terrorist organization linked to al Qaida, now is urging Nusra's fighters to break ties with al Qaida.
In a speech before opponents of the Bashar Assad regime in Turkey earlier this week, Moaz al Khatib, the head of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, also called on Nusra leaders to stop trying to impose religious law in areas of Syria that they control.
"You are welcome to call people to Allah with wisdom and a good example, but be sure not to involve yourself, and people around you, in minor things that have no priority," he said. "For example, one group has banned smoking. Honestly, I believe smoking is un-Islamic, but is this any priority now?"
He also warned against forcing women to cover themselves, calling that "a matter connected to people's own personal convictions."
Khatib's speech, at a gathering Monday called the Islam and Transitional Justice Conference held among Syrian opposition leaders in Istanbul, was his first public statement openly criticizing Nusra since that group announced last week that it had sworn fealty to Ayman al Zawahiri, the Egyptian physician who replaced the late Osama bin Laden as al Qaida's leader. A copy of the speech was distributed by his office.
For months, Nusra's role as the most militarily successful anti-Assad rebel faction has raised questions about whether weapons and other assistance provided to the rebels by the United States and other nations would fall into the hands of Nusra or its parent organization, the Islamic State of Iraq, an al Qaida affiliate that fought the U.S. Army and continues to fight the Iraqi government and military.
Khatib appeared to be trying to show with his speech that he was taking on the issue of Islamist extremism within the rebel movement, from which Nusra and other radical factions are drawing a growing number of recruits.
In December, shortly after the U.S. announced that it considered Nusra another name for the group al Qaida in Iraq, Khatib seemed to endorse the group. "The logic under which we consider one of the parts that fights against the Assad regime as a terrorist organization is a logic one must reconsider," Khatib said in Marrakesh, Morocco, after more than 100 nations agreed to recognize the Syrian Opposition Coalition as the "legitimate representative" of the Syrian people.
On Monday, he took a decidedly different course.
"I hereby announce clearly that we reject all outsider ideologies that come from unknown sources and, specifically, we reject the ideology of al Qaida," he said. "We have always been, in Syria, the source of moderate Islam."
He called on members of Nusra to "change your current name, al Nusra" and select "clear leaders . . . that are affiliated with our known Syrian references."
Whether Khatib's speech will have an impact in Syria is unknown. While the United States has pledged $60 million to the Syrian Opposition Coalition, the group has yet to show that it has much influence with rebel fighters in the country. Nusra fighters, meanwhile, have led many of the rebels' most recent military successes in Syria.
The growth of Nusra and its effort to impose its view of Islam in the parts of Syria it controls has sparked dissent. Some rebels from other armed groups in Syria's north and east speak of the need for a "Sahwa movement," a reference to the Sunni Muslim tribes in Iraq who took up arms against al Qaida in Iraq, with U.S. military backing.
Nusra's leaders have said repeatedly that they oppose holding elections if Assad falls, a position that's increased tensions with rebel groups that favor a democratic system of government.
Louay Meqdad, a spokesman for the Supreme Military Command, which is affiliated with Khatib's opposition coalition and which oversees the operations of moderate rebels who call themselves the Free Syrian Army, claimed that his battalions would fight Nusra.
"As the FSA, our aim is to have a democratic country, and we don't want Nusra or any other group to impose its ideas," Meqdad said. "We as the FSA are only interested in protecting the revolution and the people, and our aim is to protect this and let the people live. And anyone who tries to impose anything on the Syrian people by force . . . the FSA today, and the national army after the fall of Assad, will be obligated to defend those goals that they are fighting for now, and by all means necessary."
McClatchy Special correspondent Nabih Boulos contributed to this report.


text:
Quotes I Like*
Give Satan an inch & he'll be a ruler.
*Your mileage may vary. Some quotes are puns, or require historical or technical literacy to appreciate. If you miss the humor, please re-read the Internet and then try again.
More About This Website
Dr. George's Science Web is 100% kid-safe, pro-Christian and pro-Free Software. Read more about DGSW here.
The pump handle creaks and groans under the insistent pressure of your hand. At last, you hear a gurgling sound - and brackish sludge spatters into the sink, its odor almost choking you. You back away quickly, just as a small black snake slithers from the mouth of the pump and gracefully follows the sludge down the sink. Involuntarily, you shudder.
Wait here until morning and hope nothing happens...
Try to pump water into the sink.
Pass through the east door into the dining room.
Pass through the door to the left of the heater.


text:
I visited my family in Charlotte, North Carolina over Thanksgiving. Pleasantly, my brother Adrian was able to come too— in the past few years, Adrian had been living in Cape Town and hadn't been able to make it to Thanksgiving.
I really debated which lens to shoot, whether my 50mm f/1.4 or my 17–55 f/2.8 IS. Theoretically, the 50mm could let in heaps more light (and potentially allow for sharper shots), but on the other hand, the image stabilization of my 17‐55 does quite well toward reducing camera shake too.
In the end, I went with my 50mm, although I'm not sure that was my best option. Sure, the 50mm f/1.4 could theoretically let in four times as much light (2 stops) as the 17–55mm f/2.8, but as I was processing the photos later, I came to realize that IS often provided more than two stops of stabilization. So, for example, shooting at f/1.4 at 1/30sec on my 50mm often resulted in blurry shots, but if one takes the equivalent exposure of f/2.8 at 1/6sec, I know my image stabilization would be able to handle at least some of those.
At this point, you might be thinking, "f/1.4 at 1/30sec? That sounds like a ton of light." And with a more modern camera it probably would be. But with my 4-year-old Canon 40D, I can't really go above about ISO 400 without running into serious noise issues. So while you 5D Mark II shooters probably don't give a second thought to shooting at ISO 800 or even ISO 1600, those options are pretty much out of bounds for me.
All told, I did enjoy the freedom—as it were—of not having to worry about zooming my lens to compose a shot (since one can't with that lens) and the 50mm is also considerably lighter as well. So perhaps I might lean toward my 17–55mm the next time I shoot that type of scene.
Camera fiddly bits aside, I believe we had fourteen people for Thanksgiving (including my family), which is a pretty good number, but not altogether as many people as we had last year. Because some of our relatives were driving in from out of town and we weren't quite sure if they might run into traffic along the way, we asked guests to come over around 4:30/5:00.
As we've done in past years, we cooked our turkey on the grill over the course of several hours—like usual, my dad put the bird on around 2:30 or 3:00. On some of our previous Thanksgivings, we asked guests to come over nearabouts that time, which allowed for a couple hours of chatting and nomming hors d'oeuvres while the bird cooked. With guests coming over a bit later this year, we had slightly less gabbing time before the turkey was ready.
What I came to realize later is that the hour or two of pre-turkey chit-chat is when I would ordinarily take most of the day's photos. And with this year's shortened carousing time, maybe I should have been quicker on the draw to get a few more photos in. But mentally I was still on the timeline of previous years and so I kinda dropped the ball on some of my picture taking.
Picture stuff aside, I still had a great Thanksgiving—everyone was super nice, we were all in good spirits, and hardly anyone talked about politics. (Thanksgiving sans political banter? Mon Dieu!) Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday, but this was one of the best I've had in a long time.