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Chinese and U.S. opposition to international carbon trading make a regional scheme to place a price on pollution unlikely in the near future, Australia's foreign minister said Monday.
CANBERRA, Australia -- Chinese and U.S. opposition to international carbon trading make a regional scheme to place a price on pollution unlikely in the near future, Australia's foreign minister said Monday.
A weekend newspaper article said Australia was developing a regional carbon emissions trading scheme including China and the United States that could be put to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders' summit in Sydney in September.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said that while climate change "is going to be one of the central, if not the central issue" at the meeting, an agreement on carbon trading was unlikely.
"You need to understand that in terms of an emissions trading scheme, both China -- particularly China -- and the United States -- and I think .... there would be some smaller countries in the region which might share this view -- have been opposed to establishing an emissions trading scheme," Downer told reporters.
"So I think the prospects of setting up an emissions trading scheme in the short term are not very bright," he added.
Australia and the United States are the only industrialized nations to refuse to sign up to the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and to join in carbon trading.
Such schemes place a price on carbon pollution and allow polluters to trade credits that limit amounts of carbon emissions allowed.
Prime Minister John Howard, who will chair the APEC meeting, has recently said that Australia will inevitably become part of an international carbon trading scheme and commissioned an inquiry, which will report next month, into how carbon trading could affect the economy.
The Weekend Australian newspaper reported Saturday that Australia is planning a regional emissions trading scheme based on the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate -- a U.S.-led forum that also comprises Australia, China, Japan, South Korea and India.
The forum seeks to reduce pollution by promoting cleaner technologies but does not set limits on the amounts of global-warming carbon that a member country can produce.
Source: Associated Press
Contact Info:


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Last week we discussed a few basics of setting up and applying styles properly, now let's do it. All instructions below apply specifically to InDesign, and generally to any technology that makes macrotypography possible through styles.
Start fresh, specify as little as possible
In the previous piece on the theory behind setting up styles, I end with the question, "What's the rule, and what's the exception?" Let's start there. If you're designing a novel or textbook, your audience will spend most of its time in the text. That means the text should be your top priority, and everything else should exist to serve the reader while in her role as a consumer and digester of, referrer to, and participant in the text. When making styles, start with the body text as a new paragraph style.
It's here where we specify the font family, size, etc.. Since I had already aligned the text frame to the baseline grid before creating the Body style above, now any paragraph that has this, or dependent styles, applied to it will also align to the baseline grid. Wait. How did I create the style? I left my cursor blinking in the middle of the paragraph, and hit the 'Create new style' button at the bottom of the Paragraph Styles panel, opened the just-created style, typed Body, and hit enter.
The next and subsequent styles you create will be based on this style. Note the 'Based On' in the image below. In the Style Settings below it, you'll see that another style I just created, Body initial, is the same as Body, only without the indent. This I'll use just after a chapter heading, atop a new section, or after a break in the text.
A little typographic system is forming, all based on the most common style, Body. Note especially how I applied the italic as part of the paragraph style Quote. I selected the paragraph, hit Shift+Command+I, (that's Shift+Control+I in Windows), and created a new paragraph. I didn't specify the italic weight in the Basic Character Formats dialog. This means that if I change the font family in Body later, there's no need to also come and specify the new font family's italic here. But—a caveat. This method supposes that the font manufacturer set up their style names properly within a single font family. So check first. If you follow my method of italicization above and nothing happens, you'll know, and have to go the old route of manually specifying. This is also true if specifying fonts across different optical sizes. Even if it's a bit of a hassle to specify it though, assuming I make more styles based on these, it will end up saving time and effort if a change needs to be made. And that's the gist of paragraph styles.
So what are character styles for? Character styles are exceptions to paragraph styles on a per-character basis. Need all keywords in a paragraph to be blue? That's what character styles are built for. And as you make more use of things like nested styles, character styles can be a huge time-saver. Thanks to MVB Verdigris for setting this paragraph by the way. Let's change it to Coranto 2 from yesterday's Great Pair just to see what happens.
Above: All I did was change Body's font family to Coranto 2, and all the other styles automatically changed. Even that italic in the Quote.
Paragraph styles work on the paragraph level, meaning from one hard return to the next. (Soft returns, Shift+Return, bump text to the next line inside a paragraph.) You can set a paragraph style without highlighting anything, just with the cursor inside the boundaries of the paragraph. Character styles require that you highlight the part of the text to which you wish to apply the style. (If you have both a paragraph and character style applied to a paragraph, the character style will take precedence because it's more specifically applied.) CSS-defined styles are applied at the element level, targeted with whatever selector(s) you specify.
Quick Apply
Say you've got your styles set up in a small sample of the document you'll be working on, and now all that's left is to go through the thing and apply the styles. Particularly if, like me, you're averse to clicking around with a mouse when it's unnecessary, I suggest you try Quick Apply. Just leave your cursor in the middle of the paragraph, hit Command+Return and type the name of a paragraph style you've created. A little dialog will come up with suggestions. Arrow to it, hit enter, violà. Same with character styles and certain OpenType features (type 'small caps' for instance), just make sure you've got them highlighted. Enjoy.
And that's all. My hope is that this introduction to interdependent or cascading styles will help you to think in terms of systems when working with type, and save you from hours of going back and fixing things that robots are capable of figuring out on their own. Using Type continues here Thursday.
Oh! I was thinking of doing a brief demonstration on setting up @font-face styles properly, but I'm not sure if there's much demand for that here. If so, let me know and I'll do it. It just seems like it's something nearly everyone gets wrong. My evidence? The widespread presence of faux bolded heads and subheads on the internet.

subset: commoncrawl


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Release Date: 1991 |
I can't believe that no-one commented on this! This album is ESSENTIAL! I'd easily put it in the top ten death metal records of all time. If you like it check out "Indecent and Obscene" too - it's good, just not as good as this one.
Trivia - Nicke Andersson, drummer from Entombed, played all the leads on this album.
5/5, no other possible rating. If anyone gives it less my hatred of their putrescent carcass will be incomprehensibly great :angry:
Yeah, I haven't checked CD Reviews for a long time so excuse the late reply
Album Rating: 4.0Dear God, how long has it been since I last posted in any of these boards? I'm glad I did now, though. This sounds like killer stuff solid enough to satisfy my uncontrollable urges for insane brutal music.
I was about to review this, but I see that it has already been done (well).
Absolute Classic.
Best thing ever to come out of Sweden.This Message Edited On 10.11.06
Album Rating: 4.5Woah.
Not a lot of posts...
Is this definitely worth checking out then?
Album Rating: 4.0I've only heard a couple of tracks off this but In Death's Sleep rules.
This is pretty brutal, sorry i didn't like the review though.This Message Edited On 01.26.08
Album Rating: 4.0Album is sick. The answer to your question, Confessed, is yes.
Album Rating: 5.0Now, i need this also
Digging: Lik - Carnage
Album Rating: 4.0Get it. It's classic.
wow this is seriously kick assThis Message Edited On 09.20.07
And So Is Life cuts the mustard tbh This Message Edited On 02.28.08
Album Rating: 4.5Dismembered does it for me.
Also a great track, I just really love the vocals in Sickening Art, especially in the beginning.
Album Rating: 4.0In Death's Sleep is far superior.
Album Rating: 4.0Well, you're wrong then...
Oh okay then, I'll try to get through that boring intro
Album Rating: 4.0It's like all of 18 seconds.
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


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$306,605 grant will fund new prosecution unit in States Attorneys Office
ANNAPOLIS (August 9, 2011) - Governor OMalley today announced a $306,605 grant to the States Attorneys Office in Prince Georges County to launch an initiative aimed at criminal offenders who violate the terms of their parole or probation.
The grant will be used to create a new Collateral Offender Unit in the States Attorneys Office, consisting of two prosecutors and two paralegals that will focus on identifying and prosecuting offenders who violate the terms of their probation. This new Unit, the first of its kind in the County, will handle Violation of Probation (VOP) cases exclusively providing additional resources to prosecute VOP cases in a timely manner.
To create jobs and maintain our quality of life, we must continue to make every neighborhood in our state a safer place to live, work and do business, said Governor OMalley. This joint effort between our federal, state and local partners will remove dangerous offenders from the streets of Prince Georges County, creating safer communities for our families and children.
The funds are being awarded to the County by the Governors Office of Crime Control and Prevention (GOCCP) under the federal Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (BJAG) program. Senators Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin have been instrumental in their support of the BJAG program.
This funding is a federal investment in keeping our communities strong and thriving. It will help keep Marylanders safe in their neighborhoods, said Senator Mikulski, who as Chairwoman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science puts money in the federal checkbook for the BJAG program. I will continue to fight to give law enforcement and prosecutors the tools they need to clean up the streets, protect our families, and fight crime.
Marylanders deserve to live and raise their families in safe communities, said Senator Cardin. Thanks to this new collaboration between federal, state and local governments, citizens of Prince Georges County can rest assured that their streets are safer, and those who violate the law will face justice.
The Unit will be collaborative with the US Attorneys Office, the Maryland Division of Parole and Probation, local police, and other law enforcement and criminal justice agencies. Officials and investigators from all levels will share information and expertise to find and prosecute the targeted offenders.
"With this grant, Prince George's County residents are being provided with additional resources of protection from criminals," said Prince George's County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III. "I want to thank Governor O'Malley and Senators Mikulski and Cardin for their unwavering support in keeping Prince George's County communities safe. I am confident that Prince George's County State's Attorney Alsobrooks will fully utilize this grant and exceed its potential as an effective crime fighting tool."
The members of the Collateral Offender Unit will also coordinate their resources with the cases handled by other prosecutors in the States Attorneys Office to ensure just disposition of cases. In addition, they will coordinate cases with the juvenile division when a defendant has either lied about his age or is on probation in both the juvenile and adult system.
"Today's grant award announcement reflects a deep commitment by Governor O'Malley, Senators Milkulski and Cardin, and all our state and federal partners to keep our communities safe. These additional resources will increase the effectiveness of prosecuting repeat violent offenders who violate their parole and probation and will dramatically reduce the number of criminals who continue to choose a life of crime. On behalf of the men and women of law enforcement and the people of Prince George's County - I thank our partners. Creating a collateral unit to prosecute persistent crime threats demonstrates not only a tough-on-crime approach but also a smart-on-crime strategy," said Angela Alsobrooks.
Source: Office of Governor O'Malley


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Liberty News
USA Today publishes article on Liberty's success
USA Today published an article Sept. 14, explaining Liberty University's unprecedented growth and financial strength — what it calls "Jerry Falwell's legacy."
"Most private non-profit colleges have remained cautious with their budgets amid lingering economic uncertainty, but Liberty University is in the midst of a $400 million, four-year spending spree," the article states. "Its endowment this year topped $1 billion. And its business strategy, including competitive tuition and attention to customer service, is earning praise from financial analysts. Moody's this month upgraded Liberty to one of its highest credit ratings."
One of the reasons for Liberty's growth and fiscal stability is its "robust online program."
The article recognized Liberty's massive campus rebuilding project and features an interview with President Jerry Falwell, Jr.
- Read the full article.


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Reflux means that stomach acid and juices move back up into your esophagus, the tube that leads from the throat to the stomach. This can cause heartburn, ulcers, and damage to your esophagus. When you have heartburn that bothers you often, it's called gastroesophageal reflux disease, or GERD.
You can treat GERD with lifestyle changes, like quitting smoking and making changes in your diet to avoid foods that make your heartburn worse. Your doctor may also suggest medicines.
Last Revised:
October 9, 2012
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine & Peter J. Kahrilas, MD - Gastroenterology
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
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by Mark Cipolloni
May 4, 2004
Go to
our forums
to discuss this article
calculating genius of Bernie Ecclestone is never one to overlook a good
business deal
A year ago reports were rampant that Bernie
Ecclestone was going to buy into what was then CART. He didn't do it then so
why should he do it now? By now some of you probably think here we go again,
more Bernie Ecclestone buying CART/Champ Car fantasy talk. Perhaps you're
right, but if you bother to read further you will learn that indeed sound business
arguments can be made for why Ecclestone should do this.
Whether by accident or by strategic planning, what
is unfolding before our eyes in the world of open wheel racing could have major
implications for the future of the sport. Amid fears of fan complacency and
Ferrari domination, Champ Car is planning
major changes to its engine and chassis package and the FIA has proposed massive
cost cutting and sporting changes to Formula One.
Meanwhile, Bernie Ecclestone is busy
revamping the F1 motorsports calendar like never before, but although there have
been some rumors about Bernie either moving the USGP to another venue, or adding a
2nd USGP to the already crowded F1 schedule, in reality with NASCAR's monopoly on
the USA market, F1 is going to remain largely obscure unless he does something
significant, significant enough to loosen NASCAR's grip on everything racing in
the USA.
Bernie Ecclestone was looking at buying the Champ
Car Series a year ago but backed away for two key reasons - 1) CART was still a
public company, and stamping his name on the series would have made it difficult
to take private because the stock price would have climbed through the roof.
2) Bernie has a non-compete clause in the current Concorde Agreement which would
have prevented him from buying into another open wheel series.
Since then several key things have occurred that
now make the idea of him buying, or buying into the Champ Car World Series not only possible, but
perhaps the deal of the century.
Argument 1 Faced with too many venues
that want an F1 race, Bernie has a dilemma - the Concorde Agreement only allows
for 17 maximum F1 races a year, and the new agreement currently being negotiated
can perhaps hope for 20 at the very most. With both series owned by
Bernie, he would have 33 races to offer the race promoters/governments around the
world (see hypothetical 2006 schedule below).
Argument 2 Threatened with a breakaway series,
some unhappy
engine manufacturers who feel they are not getting enough for the money they are
spending in F1, and runaway costs, Bernie and Max Mosley must find a way to
bring costs down and deliver more value to the manufacturers. The FIA
(Mosley) recently proposed sweeping changes to the F1 regulations (customer cars,
customer engines, standard electronics, multiple race engines, no entry fee for
new teams, etc.) that would reduce costs to field a competitive 2-car team to
around $30 million per year. If implemented, costs would be reduced
significantly, but how do Bernie and Max deliver them added value? (See
Argument #4.)
Argument 3 Kevin Kalkhoven is a
Venture Capitalist. He and his Venture Capital partners at KPLJ Ventures
don't invest huge amount of capital into a company without a solid plan to make a
reasonable return on their investment within five years. Kalkhoven is new to
racing. Is he all of a sudden willing to lose significant sums of money
because all of a sudden racing is his first love and he's willing to go broke
having the time of his life owning Champ Car? Something doesn't add up.
Kalkhoven has gone on record that they plan to lose
money the first two years (2004 and 2005) but by the third year they will be
making money. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that without
car manufacturer support that isn't going to happen. Car manufacturers have
historically been willing to spend huge amounts of money in racing because selling
cars and showcasing your product on a race track in competition with your
passenger car competitors have a lot of synergies.
So what is the plan? How does OWRS lure
engine manufacturers into the series when they would not be negotiating from a
position of strength, but one of hat in hand begging for their support?
Argument 4 The Champ Car World Series has
many fantastic North American venues, but is in desperate need of engine
manufacturers if it is to survive. For decades Bernie Ecclestone has been
trying to make a big splash in the USA with F1 but has met with mediocre success
in, this, the world's biggest passenger car market.
If Bernie Ecclestone buys into the Champ Car World Series,
renames it F1 West (vs. F1 East for the existing European based
series), and
immediately announces that Champ Car will run to the same car and engine
specifications as proposed by Max Mosley for F1 starting in 2006, several birds
can be killed with one shot.
Champ Car immediately gets the manufacturer
support they need because the new rules would stipulate that each manufacturer
must supply engines to at least one 2-car team in each division at a set maximum
price. The manufacturers get immediate value because for far less money than
they are spending today in F1 they get 13 races in the lucrative North American
market (for most their largest passenger car market) versus just two today
(Montreal and Indy). With 33 total races as proposed below, they still
retain ample worldwide exposure in addition to now having the North American
market well covered with a top-level racing series.
Argument 5 The Champ Car World Series
(F1 West)
would benefit from having all its races broadcast through Bernie's existing TV
outlets around the world and with a total of 33 races, Bernie can offer these
broadcasters an F1 race every weekend from the end of February to the beginning of
November. Part of the success of NASCAR is due in large part to the fact
that its fans know there is a NASCAR Nextel Cup race to watch or to attend nearly
every Sunday afternoon from mid-February to mid-November. There is far more
continuity by having a race every weekend - just like football, soccer,
hockey, basketball, baseball and all the other stick and ball sports. By
having open wheel races two, and sometimes three, weeks apart you lose the
connection with the casual fan and even the hard core fans, with their ever
increasing busy lives, who are hard pressed to remember to tune in.
The proposed schedule below consists of two
divisions, F1 West based in North America (current Champ Car teams) and F1 East
based in Europe
(i.e. current F1 teams). Each division would have 13 regular season races and crown a division champion.
Then like in NASCAR, and every stick and ball sport on this earth, there would be
a playoff series of races to crown the overall World Champion.
In the
hypothetical schedule below I propose 7 joint
races, arguably at some of the best venues to determine the champion. The
top 10 drivers from each division would have the opportunity to compete for the overall
title and will go into the final 7 playoffs in the same order they finished the
regular season based on points scored during the regular season.
Going into the final 7 playoff races, imagine the
rivalry that will be played out in the media on both sides of the Atlantic.
The fans will be riveted by national pride, East against West, the Americans
against the Europeans. The racing world, and perhaps the entire sports
world, would be focused on the fierce fight about to unfold for the World Championship
crown (both drivers and manufacturers). Who is better, the Americans or the
Europeans? We shall decide once and for all.
Each of the
top 10 drivers from the regular season in each division would start with the
following points based on where they finished in the regular season. In this
way the drivers would be rewarded for how high up in the standings they finished
during the regular season, but the 10th place driver would still have an outside
chance to claim the overall crown.
Drivers and manufacturers points would be awarded based on the current F1
system 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for 1st through 8th. With 7 races, there would be a
maximum of 70 points that a driver could accumulate toward the overall
championship. These would be added to the points they would start with as
determined from their regular season finish. The maximum total points
possible would be 100 if a driver were to win the division championship and all 7
playoff races.
Starting points for playoff races based on
regular season standings of top 10 drivers
1st: 30 points
2nd: 26
3rd: 24
4th: 22
5th: 20
6th: 18
7th: 15
8th: 10
9th: 5
10th: 0
Is this entire concept just my fantasy, or does it make sound business sense
because it's a win-win situation for everyone if all the big egos can be
set aside for a moment? Bernie gets more venues to sell and
make money, he delivers the lucrative North American market to the manufacturers
in a major way, Champ Car gets itself the manufacturers and worldwide TV
distribution it needs and the sport of Formula One, and perhaps more importantly
road racing, gets a major boost (fan attention and sponsor/manufacturer value) against the growing threat of the oval track
cartel who is planning to expand worldwide.
You decide. More importantly, Bernie has to decide.
The author can be contacted at
Go to
to discuss this article
Archived Editorials
More than meets the eye with CART's turbo move
It's time for CART to define its own future
Key upgrades at Road America
Back-breaking work
The rebirth of CART
The hidden costs of Indy Car racing
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And the 2002 CART Champion will be….
A wakeup call for CART and the IRL
Chris Pook - making all the right moves
Promoting a race - Adelaide topped them all
AUTOCOURSE is THE CART Yearbook to have
Has anyone noticed?
Should CART race in Adelaide?
Remembering Bob Estes
2002 will be a critical year for CART and for Pook
Tongue-In-Cheek, we take out the crystal ball again
CART & IRL - it's becoming clearer where we're going
What's the holdup on Pook?
Will CART get Shanghaied?
2002 CART season shaping up just fine
CART Franchise Board fails to ratify new engines
Is Ginger just what the doctored ordered for Alex Zanardi?
Vannini plays hardball with Forsythe
Spotlight on Mexico City
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Jim Russell Advanced Racing Course - Learning to race
CART - a stranger in a strange land
German 500 - measuring the media impact
An in-depth interview with Jonathan Vannini
CART N/A Engine/Car Update
Comparing CART and F1
Vannini advocates major overhaul to rescue CART series
Engines - There, that was easy, now let's race
Americans don't realize what they have in CART
A proposed solution to CART's engine dilemma
Ford Cosworth opens its doors
Bullish on CART
A German's first-time CART experience
My thoughts on a variety of CART issues - by Jon Vannini
AutoRacing1 Exclusive - Is Shanghai in CART's future?
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The inevitable globalization of CART
New CART TV deal - don't put the CART before the horse
CART in China - Why Shanghai is the best venue
Rockingham is ready for CART. Is CART ready for Rockingham?
Beating a dead horse.; Where's my fork?
Successful CART Venues - It takes two to tango
Setting the record straight on CART's German 500
Rebuilding CART from the grassroots up!
Could this be the break Gidley has been waiting for?
CART, ALMS or NASCAR extravaganza weekends
A true global vision will serve CART well
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The Triple Crown - a proposal for CART's success
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Movie Review: DRIVEN
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Things are happening at CART
CART' Data Acquisition Systems - there's a new kid on the block.
CART's next moves will be crucial.
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Andretti set to return to Indy
Sam Hornish wins Phoenix, de Ferran punted
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And the 2001 CART Champion will be....
The HANS Device saved my fathers life
Soft walls or soft cars?
Safety- It's going to take more than just magic to fix
Safety - It's going to take more than just magic to fix
CART vs. IRL, Hatfields vs. McCoys
DRIVEN is CART's best chance to become mainstream
Is CART's problem really a lack of American's?
CART vs. NASCAR - TV Coverage
Bubbas' rule auto racing
Book review - Autocourse 2000/2001
Do heroes make a sport, or does a sport make heroes
To-Do-List, for CART's new President
Lawsuits, Will Greg Moore's final legacy to racing be more than one of…….
Tire Warmers, an idea whose time has come
BrandingCART and their race cars
Will CART's next leader be a corporate visionary?
AddressingCART's TV issues
CART, do you know who you are?
Will CART miss this boat too, - Destined to shadow NASCAR?
Why the new Indy Lights cars should meet IRLspecs
SoftWalls - drivers take a stand while you still can
CART Fan Forum - Highlights from CART's very first Fan Forum
Warren Hughes - A name to remember
CART restarts - NASCAR Style
Mario Andretti Tribute - America's Driver of the Century
Shift w/o Lift- How it works
Aerodynamics- CART's chance to make progressive changes
CART's HP dilemma
Soft Walls - Finally, a safer wall system
BuddyRice deserves a shot at Champ Cars
Choices, Choices, we rate possible new CART venues
CART must avoid Detroit's politics
10ways for CART to invest $100million
Montoya and Ganassi do CART proud at Indy
Welcome to AutoRacing1.com
A year of progress shapes Rockingham
A solution for CART's franchise dilemma
Lausitzring nears completion, fighting hard to win CART date
Paul Tracy keeps his Kool, wins LBGP for2nd time
What is an American driver?
Warming-up at Nazareth
172mph in a Champ Car is the ultimate adrenaline rush
Standing Start Rules proposed standing start rules for CART
Standing Starts are they right for CART?
Champ Car's Minardi 2-seater is the ultimate ride
For Alex Figge and PCM it's baptism by fire
A tribute to Alfred J. Cipolloni
Champ Car owners move to silence critics
Establishing a firm foundation for Champ Car
One-on-one with Champ Car President Steve Johnson
J.R. Hildebrand is one American going places in a hurry
What's new for Champ Car for 2007 - Part 1
Champ Car positions itself for international expansion
Paul Stoddart confirms interest in Champ Car
An inside look at Champ Car TV production
Ho-Pin Tung wants to be Champ Car's first Chinese driver
Stephen King explains Justin Wilson's novel Investor's Club
One-on-one with American sensation AJ Allmendinger
Champ Car moving forward without the IRL
One-on-one with Paul Tracy
Bruce Delahorne explains CDW's sponsorship in Champ Car
One-on-one with Justin Wilson
Champ Car bosses won't be bullied
Part 2: NASCAR/ISC get dirty in Phoenix, out to destroy Open Wheel
Part 1: NASCAR/ISC get dirty in Phoenix, out to destroy Open Wheel
The Rahals: Like father, like son
Why and IRL/Champ Car merger will be a big boost for the sport
Headless Open Wheel Racing appears doomed
Richard Lyons looking at Champ Car for his next challenge
We salute the champions of 2005
Is Jay Howard the next Ayrton Senna?
Interview with Grand-Am President Roger Edmondson
Otaru, Japan Champ Car race moving closer to reality
Champ Car's global appeal may ride on mimicking the Team
Australia concept
Champ Car's Surfers Paradise race promoter "gets it"
Champ Car cements another brick in its foundation
Custom built Champ Cars and Indy Cars
Interview with RuSPORT Team President Jeremy Dale
Conspiracy Theory: What Indy was really all about
Why the Champ Car/IRL war must end
How a
Champ Car and IRL merger might work
Will the battle for Long Beach destroy its Grand Prix?
Katherine Legge has her eyes set on Champ Car
Traveling Light Media - Just what the doctor ordered
Car lays out bold 3-year plan
Champ Car's 2005 driver lineup vastly improved
Hunter-Reay anxious to get racing again
with new team
That sucking sound you hear is NASCAR
Feud - The story of the murder of Mickey Thompson
Yes, Blame Tony and the CART defectors too
Interview with ALMS President Scott Atherton
2005 a foundation laying year for Champ
Kalkhoven talks Champ Car with AutoRacing1
Kalkhoven and Forsythe buy Cosworth from Ford
Carl Russo is bullish on Champ Car
Can this be Champ Car's next-generation car
Champ Car poised for major comeback
Champ Car Race Control - the 'Hot Seat Zone'
Open Wheel Racing is in serious need of consolidation
Champ Car South of the Border, An
interview with Joe Heitzler
There is an easy way for Champ Car and the IRL to unify
From airport to race track, a race within a race
The 2-seater Car is one of Champ Car's biggest assets
Why Bernie Ecclestone could, and should, buy Champ Car now
Champ Car rocks the streets of Times Square in Manhattan
Why did Fernández leave Champ Car? Follow the money....
Next Generation Champ Car: A call for F1 tires
Coming to America? Interview with Ralph Firman Jr.
Open Wheel Racing defeats IRL - Champ Car
Series to continue
Open Wheel Racing needs a win by OWRS - Part
The next generation Champ Cars - Part 2
CART next for Villeneuve?
New deal for CART may be better than first thought
The genius of one Bernard Ecclestone
CART Champ Cars, the next generation - Part 1
Details emerging on CART race in Seoul, South Korea
CART hits a Grand Slam in Mexico City. Now What?
Top-10 Challenges facing new CART owners
CART can still race in Europe, but will they?
For CART, time is of the essence
Making sense of CART's situation
Push-to-Pass means no more parades for CART
An interview with CART's David Clare
What did Roger Penske really mean?
CART must differentiate itself - clearly
turbos make for superior street and race engines
For CART, it's now or never
Chicken or the Egg?
War of the worlds
What Bernie brings to CART
CART, Driven to where?
Is it really about CART vs. IRL?
If I were
The Champ Cars and St. Pete
informal survey of the St. Pete race attendees
Artificial Dissemination
CART, F1 coming to grips with doing business in China
Cancel the Funeral
CART and F1 must, and will, share a common V-10 engine
Book Review: Autocourse 2002-2003 F1 yearbook
Does CART need Michael Andretti?
2002 CART TV ratings by the numbers
Now is the time for CART to redefine its ladder system
CART gets a taste of tifosi passion in Mexico
affair in Mexico
Making sense out of Bernie/CART rumors
Changing of the guard?
Mom, apple pie, CART and....Formula1?
Why CART and Bernie make perfect dance partners
Miami should be a CART and ALMS kickoff party
David slays Goliath in Miami
What to make of Gurney's F1 team
Taking it to the streets, why Miami is a war
CART, like the Phoenix, about to rise up from the ashes
There's more
than handwriting on the wall.....and here's the concrete facts
Day weekend 1952...A weekend I'll never forget
owners show support for CART
CART still
may be in cards for Villeneuve
Bryan Herta, USA's next best chance for F1
Is Paul
Ricard in CART's future?
CART's real attendance numbers
Is Brands
Hatch suitable for Champ Cars?
An Unappealing Appeal, George reigns in GEORGE-town
A candid
conversation with Chris Pook
More than meets the eye with CART's turbo move
It's time for CART to define its own future
upgrades at Road America
Back-Breaking work
rebirth of CART
hidden costs of Indy Car racing
CART's road and street circuits are clicking with the fans
Is it sport, or a P.T. Barnum show?
IRL at Fontana - a victim of friendly fire
CART's 2003 race venues #1 in the world
Meet the Gonzalez brothers
ISC is making enemies in Miami
Copyright 1999-2014 AutoRacing1 is an
independent internet online publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed
by the IRL., NASCAR, FIA, Sprint, or any other series sponsor.
This material may not be published, broadcast, or redistributed without
Copyright 1999-2014 AutoRacing1 is an
independent internet online publication and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed
by the IRL., NASCAR, FIA, Sprint, or any other series sponsor.
This material may not be published, broadcast, or redistributed without


text:
Browsing Ph.D. theses by Author "Berg, Petter"
Now showing items 1-1 of 1
Berg, Petter (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: During the last ten years there has been a rigorous debate on how to improve anti-cartel enforcement in Europe. Introducing private enforcements systems, like in the US, was early in the process regarded as one of the most important steps for significant improvements. In contrast to public enforcement, private enforcement relies on adequate compensation to customers harmed by a cartel. But cartel damages are hard to calculate and the European Commission has therefore presented a draft guideline on how to quantify harm to assist courts and claimants. The focus in the guidance is on price effects, but cartels are also likely to cause other types of damage, such as efficiency effects. For example, a Swedish committee investigating cartels in the 1950's stated that "A monopolist or a cartel can charge too high prices in relation to its costs. A cartel determines prices after the least efficient firm in the cartel, and hence protects it" (SOU 1951:27). This statement reflects an early awareness that pricing and efficiency effects from cartels are deeply related, and jointly determines the harm for consumers. This thesis aims at re-joining the discussion of cartel prices and efficiencies for the purpose of determining cartel damages. It will focus on the issue outlined above, i.e. cartel behaviour and the harm caused by cartels when a cartel consists of members that are not symmetric in costs. Cost asymmetries can be both exogenous and endogenous to cartel formation, but rather than discussing why asymmetries arise, I will in the four chapters focus on the effect the asymmetries have on cartel prices and hence consumer harm. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8407
Files in this item: 1Petter_Berg.pdf (1.385Mb)
Now showing items 1-1 of 1


text:
[A]t least in Paris (in my opinion), women of all shapes and sizes and importantly, of all ages, seem to understand their beauty and valor, their unique beauty and their unique valor. They walk with pride (and so I, too, walk with pride). As if they know they're being watched, admired, respected. For what they bring to the table.Read the whole thing to get the hang of the argument, which is made impressionistically, with pictures interspersed. I especially like this one:
You don't normally see faces all lined up nicely like that in real life. In movie posters you see it. To great excess. But try actually getting a candid shot of strangers lined up in an interesting environment. Not easy!


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Started this discussion. Last reply by Danielle Maynard Oct 9, 2010. 1 Reply 0 Likes
Ok ladies, I need help! I need all of you fabulous bloggers to tell me what I am doing wrong with my site. I've been blogging for a year or so, and have had my blog monetized with Add Sence and…Continue
Started this discussion. Last reply by Marci White Sep 17, 2010. 7 Replies 0 Likes
I'm a new mommy blogger trying desperately to gain followers to my blog! If you follow mine, I will gladly follow yours! I welcome any advise or comments from you veteran bloggers out there! Please…Continue


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Author: Simos Xenitellis
If you want to make the most out of your Java-enabled handheld device, you can write Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) applications (also called midlets) on Linux and run them on your mobile platform. Here's how easy it is to get started; we'll write a HelloWorld application you can run on your cell phone.
Most cell phones allow you to install and run Java applications; to verify if your phone is supported, consult your documentation or search for the specs at the GSMArena Web site.
To get started, you need to have the Java Development Kit (JDK) and the Sun Java Wireless Toolkit (WTK) installed on your system. For example purposes we'll use a Ubuntu Linux system; the instructions for other distributions should be similar.
Installing the JDK is straightforward, as it has been open source for several months, and should be already available in your distribution's repository. For Ubuntu, the package is sun-java6-jdk. If you are running a 64-bit version of Linux, there is a small complication — the current WTK has been compiled for a 32-bit version of Linux, so you'll want to download and install the 32-bit (i586) JDK as provided at the Sun Java Standard Edition (SE) Downloads page. You can install the JDK manually under /usr/java/. If you're not sure whehter you are actually running a 64-bit version of Linux, type uname -m and look for 64.
Follow the Web site's instructions to install the WTK, which contains the necessary files to compile applications for the J2ME platform, and also has an emulator so that you can test your programs without having to install them repeatedly on your cell phone. For this article we'll install the WTK in /usr/local/WTK2.5.2/. At the end of the installation, the installer shows the full path to the project management tool of WTK, called ktoolbar. This tool has a graphical user interface (GUI) to help create projects, configure settings, and compile and create packages for distribution.
Contrary to what the name may suggest, ktoolbar is a Java application. The WTK installer does not place an entry in the Applications menu of your distribution; to do so, right-click on Applications, then click on Edit Menu…. Find the Programming submenu and add a new menu item in it. Use Sun Java Wireless Toolkit for the name and specify the full path for the ktoolbar command the installer reported. You can also pick a custom icon, such as /usr/local/WTK2.5.2/wtklib/images/Midlets.png.
You can test the installation of WTK by running one of the demos inside the emulator. Click to open an existing project in WTK and select the Games sample. Click Build, then Run. The phone emulator should appear, and you can run the application in the virtual phone.
When opening one of the existing sample projects, the WTK copies the project files into your home directory under the ~/j2mewtk/2.5.2/apps/ subdirectory. That is your workspace, and the WTK assumes that you will be using your own text editor or environment to edit the source code. The WTK does not provide a development environment; it provides a building environment.
Writing HelloWorld
Start the WTK and create a new project. For both Project Name and MIDlet Class Name type HelloWorld, and click to create the project. In the next dialog, choose the target platform. The default option, MSA, defines the profile MIDP 2.1, which is common to very recent phones only. If your phone does not support MIDP 2.1, it will not be able to run such a midlet, so you should select Custom for the target platform and choose a profile that your phone supports. I checked the specification page for my cell phone at GSMArena, and therefore chose the MIDP 2.0 profile. It is important to get this right, because quite often, if you get it wrong, the phone simply reports the midlet is invalid without further explanation. Keep the default settings for the rest of the options.
WTK creates the project skeleton in ~/j2mewtk/2.5.2/apps/HelloWorld/. To build the project, you need to put the source code file in the src/ subdirectory. Create the file src/HelloWorld.java with the following code:
// Sample adapted from http://developers.sun.com/mobility/midp/articles/wtoolkit/ import javax.microedition.lcdui.*; import javax.microedition.midlet.*; public class HelloWorld extends MIDlet implements CommandListener { private Form mMainForm; public HelloWorld() { mMainForm = new Form("HelloWorld"); mMainForm.append(new StringItem(null, "Hello, World!")); mMainForm.addCommand(new Command("Exit", Command.EXIT, 0)); mMainForm.setCommandListener(this); } public void startApp() { Display.getDisplay(this).setCurrent(mMainForm); } public void pauseApp() {} public void destroyApp(boolean unconditional) {} public void commandAction(Command c, Displayable s) { notifyDestroyed(); } }
Return to the WTK, click Build, and then Run. In the emulator, click on the button to launch the midlet. You should see the string Hello, World! on the cell phone emulator's screen.
Adding polish
To assign a program icon to your midlet when you view it on your cell phone, you do not need to modify the code. In the Project settings, select the Midlets tab and edit the entry. Change the Icon path from the default HelloWorld.png to /images/HelloWorld.png. Use the GIMP to create a PNG image (indexed, 256 colors, 12×12 pixels should be OK) and save it as res/images/HelloWorld.png. If you rebuild and rerun the midlet, the icon should appear before the midlet name.
Before you upload the mildet to the phone, you must put it in a package. Click on Project -> Package -> Create Package. WTK creates the files bin/HelloWorld.jar and bin/HelloWorld.jad, which you can give to people to upload to their devices.
If both your computer and phone support Bluetooth, you can upload the midlet through Bluetooth. In Ubuntu, the package gnome-vfs-obexftp provides Bluetooth integration with Nautilus, so you can view your phone filesystem in Nautilus. Right-click on the Bluetooth icon on the panel and select Browse Device… to open a Nautilus window showing the filesystem of your phone. You can copy the .jar file to the application folder, then run the midlet from your phone. You may need to associate your phone with your computer first so that a tranfer can take place; see your phone documentation for more.
If you can't install the midlet directly to your phone (because it lacks Bluetooth, or you have no USB cable for direct connection), you can place the relevant files on your Web site and use your phone's browser to download and install from the Internet. You need to put both files (.jar and .jad) on your Web server, and use the URL to the .jad file from your phone in order to install the application. For example, you can download this application from http://simos.info/j2me/HelloWorld.jad.
Further work
This tutorial should get you through the basic hurdles of creating and installing midlets on Linux handheld devices. Once you mastered the basics, you can develop more applications, such as midlets that communicate with other Bluetooth devices or connect to Web sites to retrieve information. An example of such an interesting program is BluePad, an application that makes your Bluetooth phone act as a remote control with which you can control your Linux desktop wirelessly.
Further reading
- Programming
- Java
- Handheld Devices


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The Open-PC Project Announced at GCDS 09
During the Gran Canaria Desktop Summit Frank Karlitschek announced the open-pc initiative. The aim of this ambitious project is to cooperatively design a Free Software based computer by and for the community. Read on for more information about this initiative from the team.
The project was initiated in response to the lack of quality in the Free Software-based hardware solutions currently on the market. As many reviewers and end-users have stated, the pre-installed software used by hardware vendors generated a bad image for Free Software with potentially interested end-users. Much of the software was buggy and not widely tested and device drivers were often unstable, non-free or not available at all.
Not delivering a complete Free Desktop experience also led to dissatisfaction inside the community. Many vendors developed a custom set of desktop components without community input or support. The result was often not only a re-inventing of many wheels and little advancement for Free Software but also had severe limitations and unsatisfactory performance, consistency and stability.
We are sure that we, as a community, can pool our resources and creativity and avoid these common mistakes. The goal of the open-pc project is to develop a powerful, high quality Free Software based PC in an open fashion. We believe that opening up the development of a personal computer, setting our own goals and boundaries and expanding on the knowledge of thousands will result in a superior product. Everyone is invited to take part in the preparations: currently there is an online poll at open-pc.com for the first product's hardware details (What form factors? Netbook or nettop? Optical drives?) and software additions (e.g. which preinstalled browser?).
A final price of $300 to $400 is our current goal, assembly and international shipment included. As an unbeatable advantage we promise to deliver compatible hard- and software, a preinstalled AppStore client and integrated online services for community support.
A large hardware vendor has already signaled its cooperation and more corporate partners are welcome. We can be contacted through the official web site open-pc.com. First computer deliveries are planed for autumn 2009.
The online poll can be found here and the open-pc presentation here.
dead links
2 dead links: instead of open-pc.com is open-pc-com.
By Regenwald at Sun, 2009/07/12 - 9:21am
Thanks for spotting, fixed now.
By Richard Moore at Sun, 2009/07/12 - 11:39am
not quite fixed yet, the link
not quite fixed yet, the link is now open-pc.om
By Julien at Sun, 2009/07/12 - 1:32pm
fixed now :) thanks
fixed now :)
By Lydia Pintscher at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 9:13am
Won't be a success
Getting a PC that is 100% FOSS compatible PC is very easy these days: Just get an Intel-based one and you're done.
By KAMiKAZOW at Sun, 2009/07/12 - 3:15pm
Not true anymore
Your statement is no longer true. Check out the new GMA 500 from Intel http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_GMA
This is really bad news. From several blogs, I have taken the information that it is from a branch of Intel that doesn't really know about Linux yet.
By kayonuk at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 6:46pm
Great initiative!
I applaud for this initiative! I feel this could really improve the Free Software image, and make room for more innovation/posibilities to bring the Free Desktop to the masses.
Looking forward to the release :)
By vdboor at Sun, 2009/07/12 - 3:59pm
Oh no!
Help! >.
By madman at Sun, 2009/07/12 - 6:19pm
Took the survey
... and felt almost ridiculed. It might be only there to distract from the empty state of things otherwise. I mean, why would it matter to ask software questions like these.
I would suppose it was a given that the machine should work with either desktop, otherwise it doesn't give the user the freedom, simple as that.
By kayonuk at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 6:53pm
Don't underestimate the power
Don't underestimate the power of first impressions ;)
By madman at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 9:46pm
Re: Took the survey
Surely the OpenPC will not deny you to choose another DE, but it needs to define some default. End users are puzzled when they're presented Linux for the first time and are asked to choose between KDE and Gnome, and XFCE, and LXDE, and ... you get the message?
By majewsky at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 10:18pm
Oh, and Fluxbox. Don't forget
Oh, and Fluxbox. Don't forget about Fluxbox. XD
By madman at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 10:33pm
If you do this please
If you do this please encourage FOSS. 100% FOSS like the YEELOONG http://www.lemote.com/english/index.html.
Intel is no solution. Their new graphics chips only work with closed source drivers and they suck.
By kragil at Sun, 2009/07/12 - 7:42pm
I find firefox a bit on the heavy side, and I'd prefer a KDE desktop therefore a KDE or at least Qt browser would integrate better. But then again both Arora and Rekonq still have a long way to go. So I did answer Rekonq to stress the desire for a KDE browser to be deployed with it, but I very much that it will be consumer ready for an initial stage, which is supposed to start in a couple of months.
By Jorge Adriano at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 9:32am
CoreBoot most definitely.
I think this is the most important part. I think anyone can get a Linux compatible PC, but last time I tried to get with CoreBoot (formerly LinuxBIOS), I had a lot of trouble (though I admit it's been a while). CoreBoot would move the openPC automatically to the front of the line for consideration of my next PC purchase.
By aidosl at Thu, 2009/07/16 - 7:27pm
OK, so I finished. Yeah, I
OK, so I finished. Yeah, I put Arora as the default browser, because I'm probably the only one here that still enjoys using Konqueror. :p
By madman at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 2:53pm
I don't see the connection
By Jorge Adriano at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 7:07pm
Well, I chose KDE as the
Well, I chose KDE as the desktop, but Konqueror still experiences some crashes left, right and centre, so I chose the faster, more web-standard-compatible and more integrated look-'n'-feel wise Arora instead of Firefox.
By madman at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 9:58pm
Re: OK, so I finished. Yeah, I
"I'm probably the only one here that still enjoys using Konqueror. :p"
I do, too. (Still I get your argument.)
By majewsky at Mon, 2009/07/13 - 10:19pm
Suggestion for OpenPC (OPC)
This suggestion should have been posted on OpenPC, unfortunately the cite is not ready for posting yet.
I read the postings under this thread, it seems like most of them are preferences and sound bites that don't help much. I am not involved with OpenPC, but I suggest that most people submit their own suggestions detailing what they thought would be a guideline the OpenPC group can benefit from to create their own complete guideline unifying best ideas. Here is mine.
OK, I always knew that OEMs will not support FOSS as long as MS, in one way or another, has them under its control. This control gets even more vicious as a result of MS having great influence on PC hardware manufacturers.
Two years ago, I suggested and argued on multiple cites that, in order to get OEMs to support FOSS based computer, we have to solve the chicken and the egg problem by breaking the cycle of, OEMs wouldn't offer FOSS based computers unless there is demand, and demand for FOSS based computers can't be created unless OEMs start supporting & advertising.
There have been many commercial & non-commercial efforts to accomplish that, but, for one reason or another, some failed and others barely made a noticeable progress. Commercial efforts had pretty good start, but MS was able to persuade those who started their business with Linux (eg. Asus, etc.) to switch to supporting Windows instead. Companies whose business model is dependent on Windows, MS leveraged its monopoly power to stop or slow down their efforts to a point where such efforts became in-effective (wishy-washy eg. HP & Dell), and consequently forcing them to concentrate on Windows. Efforts from companies with business model independent from MS, like Zareason, have been making good progress but not flourishing like they should.
OpenPC (OPC) is a great idea project, but what could we learn from previous experiences to make this endeavor successful? Here are a few guidelines that I thought would a good start.
That is a decent state of the art computer with good resources for roughly about $300US . The only issue is convincing the consumer that a computer doesn't have to be physically large to be powerful. The enclosure has the capacity for a 2nd 2.5" internal drive. An external DVD–RW USB based can be purchased if needed.
By Abe at Tue, 2009/07/14 - 7:41pm


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Speed District @ Buttonwillow Raceway
Speed District
Friday, November 30, 2018
Buttonwillow Raceway, Buttonwillow, CA
Speed District is hosting a Open Track Day, All cars welcome. Three different skill-set defined groups. Free Photography CD. Free Timing Transponder Rental and over THREE HOURS of ON TRACK driving time. Extremely Low Car counts. Private Group - Mostly under 70 cars a day, three different run groups. You drive every 40 minutes! More information on our website, www.speeddistrict.com


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No matter what we do, we'll always have weeds. They are in the air, soil, everywhere, from rainforest to desert. All we can do is labor to keep them under control.
No matter what we do, we'll always have weeds. They are in the air, soil, everywhere, from rainforest to desert. All we can do is labor to keep them under control.
I've been getting a number of emergency calls on weeds. Indeed, they love this weather and respond by providing tough competition for our worthwhile plants.
Weeding goes far beyond the esoteric. These guys steal nutrients and moisture from the soil. They harbor harmful diseases and insects. At worst, they kill the good guys by smothering them.
Plan A is to never allow them to bloom. Soon after, they will form seeds. I've noticed weed seeds always have a self-perpetuation feature, such as blowing on the wind. One plant can produce and self-plant hundreds. Then they spend the cold months preparing for their blast of growth come spring and summer.
You think you've eliminated them and, darn it, here they come again.
Get busy pulling now to avoid the flowering. It's the single most effective long-term weed prevention.
Some weeds propagate underground via roots, rhizomes or stolons (runners). These include all grasses such as couchgrass and quackgrass and oxalis. The latter is a special pest. It spreads from roots, rhizomes and seeds. The seeds appear in pods that explode them out into the wind.
Root propagators present special problems. To stop them, you must pull all of the roots. If you break a rhizome, two weeds quickly will form.
This gets crazy when you will use a tiller on weeds. It's easy, but you're planting a lot of seeds and stimulating a lot of rhizomes. It's going to be a weed mess after a few rains.
Many of us have wild areas usually at the back of our lots where we just let everything go natural. These areas are nice and desirable except for one thing. They are weed factories. It's a good idea to clean them out, especially of weeds.
Mulching does a good job on seeded weeds. Many of them lack the vigor to break through 3-4 inches of heavy mulch. The rhizomes are something else. They'll eventually have to be pulled.
You can use perennial plants to your advantage. The groundcovers including sedum, creeping jenny and English ivy turn the table on weeds and force them out. If you have areas that always have weeds, these are an alternative. You may have to pull a few, but they will be sparse and easy to remove.
Adding soil organics such as compost will boost plant growth and health, enabling them to withstand weed attacks. The weeding will be a lot easier as organics create light and fluffy soil.
Of course, the best weeding tool is as close as our fingers. Spending a few hands-on minutes a day in your garden is the best weed fighter.
Contact Jim Hillibish at email@example.com


text:
Every year around this time I am looking for a new cake recipe for Aswin's birthday. This time I came across this recipe which doesn't use any sugar or butter. I was intrigued and decided to try it out.
I was not going to do this post because I thought the cake had not turned out exactly as I expected it. But everyone who tasted it said it was unique and delicious. So even though it didn't rise as much as I had expected, the flavor shone through. So here I am writing about it.
I took the recipe from Cookthink and then tweaked it to our taste. I used whole wheat, omitted out the cinnamon and used fresh ginger which gave it a spiciness. I also made a syrup of fresh lemon juice, honey and powdered sugar which I added on top.
Here is how I made it
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3 tspoons baking powder
1/4 tspoon salt
2 tspoons fresh ginger
zest of 1 large lemon
2 large eggs
1 cup good honey
1 cup whole milk, warmed (but not boiling)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tspoon vanilla
For glaze:
juice of 1 lemon
2 tbspoon honey
2 tbspoon powdered sugar
Preheat the oven to 350F, grease an 8-inch cake pan generously with oil spray, and set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, salt, ginger and zest together to blend. In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs a large bowl, then add the oil and mix it together. Then add the honey until well-blended.
Next add the warm milk to the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream. Add vanilla and and whisk again.
Add the flour slowly to the mix, stirring constantly till everything is mixed well. The batter was quite runny.
Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 35-45 minutes. Keep checking though as mine was done in 38 minutes.
Transfer it to a plate. For making the glaze, mix all the ingredients together, warm it and then pour it over the cake.
For the dinner, I served it with some chocolate pudding and fresh raspberries.
Orange and Almond cake
Spiced Applesauce cake
Black Forest cake
Chocolate cake with Whipped Cream


text:
Andy Van Kleunen is Executive Director of the National Skills Coalition, which he founded in 1998 as The Workforce Alliance in collaboration with leaders from the workforce development and philanthropic communities. Van Kleunen has led the NSC to become a nationally-recognized voice on behalf of a diverse array of stakeholders, building upon his experience as a community organizer, a policy analyst, and a practitioner-advocate with roots in the workforce field. He oversees all aspects of the NSC's efforts, including building alliances with new partners as well as advising state and federal policy initiatives.
There has been another surge in press about whether a "skills gap†really exists in today's lagging economy.  This most recent bump comes courtesy of disappointing May and June job numbers and the coincident release of a new book by University of Pennsylvania economist Peter Capelli which Time Magazine covered in an article entitled, "The Skills Gap Myth.â€
Let's acknowledge up front that this is a worthy debate to have, and that there are valid arguments on both sides. But if you're running a Career and Technical Education (CTE) program with a waiting list of students trying to get in and a group of employers at the other end anxious to hire your graduates, this debate about a skills gap may seem a bit surreal. For you, it's not a question of whether recovering industries like manufacturing or healthcare are ready to hire; it's a question of whether our CTE programs have enough capacity to meet that demand. We know there is a skills gap and we know that CTE programs can help fill it.
But skeptical journalists—including those who care enough to read economists like Capelli—have a hard time believing there isn't something else at play when you have millions of people out of work and 3.5 million jobs going unfilled. Employers may say they can't find workers with the right skills, but that seems to fly in the face of the immutable powers of the market, where labor supply and demand automatically match up once there's been a necessary adjustment in price (i.e., wages) to attract more candidates. If employers want welders, pay enough and they will come.
Of course, this assumes there are qualified welders (or CNC machinists, or nurses, or ACE-certified auto mechanics, or rad-techs) sitting on the sidelines of the labor market, fully credentialed but not working because they're waiting for a better offer. The fact you would be hard pressed to find an unemployed welder isn't acknowledged by these models; employers are snatching them up as quickly as they can find them.  Nor do they acknowledge that there are many unemployed workers who would be happy to command a welder's starting wage, but that there aren't enough funded CTE program slots out there to train all of them.
Capelli would add that, in addition to being stingy, employers are being overly selective. During my recent appearance on a radio show, the host claimed employers aren't satisfied unless applicants have the "whole package,†the job market equivalent of baseball's five-tool player: literacy and numeracy, technical competencies, communications skills, the ability to work in teams, prior experience in the field.
Employers are no doubt being more cautious in their hiring right now, for a variety of reasons (some better than others). But it's hard to ignore that some industries have changed substantially over the past decade, requiring candidates with broader skills than may have been expected for the same position 10 years ago. So is this an argument against further investments in workforce skills? Instead, shouldn't we be thinking about expanding opportunities for people to enroll in the kind of industry-informed, applied education and training that our best CTE programs are providing for their students in the classroom, through internships and even through on-the-job training? Such programs aren't cheap, but we know they can be effective. Just ask the employers who hire from them.
So bring on the debate about the skills gap. But let's make sure we include the experiences of the CTE community and their partners in the discussion.
How Can You Get Involved?
The Friends of CTE Guest Blog Series provides advocates – from business and industry, to researchers and organizations – an opportunity to articulate their support for Career Technical Education. The monthly series features a guest blogger who provides their perspective on and experience with CTE as it relates to policy, the economy and education.
Are you interested in being a guest blogger and expressing your support for CTE? Contact Erin Uy, Communications and Marketing Manager, at firstname.lastname@example.com.
Tags: Andy Van Kleunen, National Skills Coalition, skills gap, skills traiining


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The pace of American politics is much faster today than ever before. Politicians began declaring their candidacies for 2014 just days after the November 2012 election. Potential 2016 presidential candidates are already jockeying for position. If Republicans want to succeed in 2014 or 2016, they have precious little time for internal wrangling. They must quickly develop a strong brand. Words alone, however, will not develop that brand – we need action now.
Along with the faster pace of politics, voters have become more demanding. They have come to expect too much from government because government is doing too much. Regardless of the cause, voters want answers, not rhetoric, to some very real problems they face – many of them created by government.
Of course, at the federal level, Republicans only control the House of Representatives, which limits their ability to influence policy. Even so, there are concrete things Republicans can do that will benefit Americans and make Republicans competitive in 2014 and 2016.
On the issue of the deficit and taxes, the Republicans' control of the House leaves them in a unique position to influence public debate and policy on those issues. Republicans succeed when the issue is government waste and reform. By contrast, Republicans and the nation lose when the debate is about how to raise taxes.
House Republicans should seize the moment and pass a series of reform bills. Each bill should suggest savings and improvements to existing government programs. Once or twice a month, Republicans should hold a press conference on the U.S. Capitol steps explaining their most recent reform, how much it saves future generations, and how it will make government more responsive.
Republicans must then publicly challenge Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the Democrats and President Obama to pass those reforms. They must do so not only from the steps of the Capitol, but also at major rallies in each state. They cannot reform Washington from Washington alone – they must, as Maggie Thatcher would say, win the debate before they can win the votes. Simply stated, the voters are not in D.C., they are in the individual states.
If Harry Reid and the president adopt the reforms, everyone wins. If they reject the reforms, then Republicans can at least look Americans straight in the eye and say: "We want to reform government and save you money. The president is only interested in taxing you."
If Republicans follow that program over the next 40 months, they will have developed a strong fiscal brand based on actions – not just words.
Beyond that, Republicans must win the debate on prosperity. Today, too many Americans are dependent on government and too many believe that government spending is the answer. Our governments spend one out every three dollars spent each year in the U.S. If government spending could restore prosperity, let alone create it, we all would be fabulously rich by now.
Republicans know that lower tax rates and regulations produce a more vibrant economy. A more vibrant economy means more jobs. More jobs means more tax revenues than any tax rate increase could ever produce.
Republicans must be able to explain that to voters much better than they did in the last election – but explanations alone are not enough. Voters want action. Fortunately, in a number of states around the country – such as Louisiana, Texas, North Dakota and Nebraska – Republican leaders are implementing good policies that are leading to more jobs.
Congressional Republicans should champion those state efforts by passing similar reforms and sending them to Harry Reid and the Senate. They should also pass bills that will help states achieve even more economic reforms by loosening the grip of Washington D.C. on the state economies.
Once again, after Republicans pass those bills, they should go around the country and win the reform argument with voters. The president may not take notice at first, but if Republicans drive the debate, they can win the debate.
No one should pay his or her fair share of government waste. Our country shouldn't accept real unemployment at these historic highs. Bad government policies got us here; good policies can lead to prosperity. It will take action, however, not words. It is a question of will, not of a way.


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KIGALI (Reuters) - Rwanda's national carrier plans to more than double its aircraft fleet in the next five years, and to list on the country's stock exchange once it turns profitable, a senior company executive said.
At present Rwandair has a fleet of seven aircraft. It plans to increase this to 17 planes over the next five years, which would allow the airline to expand its route network to Europe, China and India, Chief Executive Officer John Mirenge told Reuters in an interview late on Friday.
The carrier - which is loss-making and 99 percent government-owned - recently added a new 75-seater Bombardier CRJ-900 plane which it bought from the Canadian company. The second is due to arrive on Monday.
"We have plans that after 2015 - after we have consolidated as a regional carrier - we will start operating out of the continent into Europe and also China," Mirenge said.
"We are already talking to Boeing about their 787s that can reach Europe and China with some good cargo holds that will carry the excess baggage that are required."
He said the new CRJ-900s will join Rwandair's fleet of two Boeing 737-800s, bought last year from Boeing, two Boeing 737-500s that have been operating since 2010 and a Bombardier Dash-8 turboprop that operates on domestic routes.
The seven-strong fleet is a mixture of owned and leased planes. The projected fleet of 17 would also include both owned and leased aircrafts.
"We are not looking at ourselves going into a buying spree because that burdens your balance sheet and it's not a good mix. So if the demand on a market requires it there are always planes to lease, as long as they can pay for their own survival," he said.
Mirenge, who joined Rwandair as CEO November 2010, said the company hopes to become profitable by 2015-16 and would ideally become a publicly listed company sometime around 2018-2020.
"But the government, I think, plans to start progressively divesting much earlier than that, as soon as the company is viable and starts breaking even," he added.
He said the company was also expanding its destinations and will be flying to Juba, South Sudan soon, with other possible routes including Cameroon, Zambia, Ivory Coast and Zanzibar.
Mirenge said the biggest challenges for the airline included high fuel costs, outsourcing of maintenance and the relocation fees of its team of 60 largely expatriate pilots.
Rwandair is a relatively small airline when compared with other larger carriers on the continent like Kenya Airways , South African Airways and Ethiopian Airlines.
Editing by George Obulutsa and Sanjeev Miglani


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Ayurvedic treatment is an alternative way of restoring health. Its treatment is based on the patient's complete history of diseases, symptoms, mood, lifestyle, and eating styles. Ayurvedic treatment has been highly helpful in treating diseases from decades. You should consult an ayurvedic doctor if you are suffering from diseases like arthritis, asthma, migraine, depression or allergies. You can book an online appointment with the best ayurvedic doctor at doctoriduniya.com.
Kshara Sutra Therapy is one of the safest and cost-effective ayurvedic parasurgical procedures for diseases like fistula, hemorrhoids, piles, pilonidal sinus, rectal or anal polyps, warts etc. In this therapy, a minimally invasive procedure is performed for treating the anorectal disorder.
Yes, hypertension can be highly managed and treated with the use of ayurvedic medicine. Hypertension is one of the most common conditions and if not managed effectively can cause life-threatening diseases such as stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, etc. In ayurvedic treatment, different types of herbs are used in treating the causative factor causing hypertension.
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At doctoriduniya, you can access a list of best Ayurveda doctor, book online appointment and consult with them. In any medical emergency feel free to visit www.doctoriduniya.com.


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Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds arrived in New Orleans on Sunday where he'll be shooting a new movie called Selfless. The significance of New Orleans? Well, that's where they shot Green Lantern…when he was still married to Scarlett Johansson.
The relationship did not develop until after he and Scarjo were over but Blake was into it, totally. She invited him to come with her for cooking lessons. They learned how to make fried green tomatoes together. And I heard, despite her protestations otherwise, that it was enough to make Scarlett pay attention. They allegedly had a tense conversation, the two women. Basically…back off.
In the end, Blake got what she wanted.
The wrap party for Gossip Girl, the end forever, happened a year ago this week. Blake hasn't worked since though she claims she's starting a new movie soon and that she'll also be launching a new "lifestyle" business that no one has ever thought of before. "There's nothing like it out there - it's without a genre." What could Blake Lively possibly think of that no one else has been able to think of until now?


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Posted | 8 Comments
My Ancestor Approved Award
I am honoured and delighted to have been nominated for the Ancestor Approved Award by both Kerrie Farmer and Judy Webster.
The Award was created by Leslie Ann Ballou to acknowledge genealogy blogs that are 'full of tips and tricks as well as funny and heartwarming stories'. Recipients are asked to list ten surprising, humbling or enlightening aspects of their research, and to pass on the award to ten other researchers. Here are my lists.
Aspects of My Research
1. Given that I first started doing my family history in 1977 I am surprised that I am still doing it in 2011!
2. Over the last 30 plus years I have made many genealogy friends and have learnt lots of wonderful things from them and I thank all of them
3. I also have discovered many long lost family members on all of my family lines and it has been fun sharing and exchanging information.
4. My research has also meant that I now know a lot more about the history of Australia, England, Scotland, Ireland, Norway, Canada and the USA. You can't do genealogy without also looking at the historical times in which our ancestors lived.
5. Genealogy has also taught me how small a world it is – my partner's family comes from the same village in Staffordshire that my mother's family comes from – what are the chances of that 150 odd years down the track?
6. None of my families were wealthy or famous but they led interesting lives and I have been fortunate to find them documented in various government records – it's just lucky I went looking for them in asylums and prisons otherwise I might have missed all the good stuff!
7. Embracing the new social media of Facebook, Twitter, Blogs, Nings and so on has meant even more genealogy friends to share information with and long lost family members are finding me through my website and other media. It is truly a great time for family history.
8. I am humbled that so many people follow me and read my blogs and provide comments and other feedback – often when you are writing, you wonder if anyone ever reads it so thanks to everyone who have encouraged me in this brave new world.
9. I have been fortunate in that for most of my working life, I was able to advance genealogy through my work in various libraries and archives throughout Australia – there aren't that many people that truly love their work.
10 I have left my favourite aspect to last – Serendipity – where would we be without it? How many of us have found our ancestors in the most unlikely of places? It is why you should look for them everywhere and probably why I still haven't finished doing my family history yet.
My Nominated Blogs
Many of my favourite blogs have already received an Ancestor Approved Award so I have tried not to duplicate and to list some lesser known blogs that should be more widely read. I have also kept the list to Australasia.
1. Archives Outside: A meeting place for people who manage archival collections (State Records New South Wales)
2. Carole's Canvas (great blogs with photos!)
3. Gould Genealogy & History News (for all the latest news)
4. Hunting Ancestors (across the Tasman)
5. Inside History Magazine (great new genealogy & history magazine)
6. PattenProject.com genealogy(always interesting blogs)
7. Ancestors Within (a little bit different)
8. Unlock the Past (Poll & Brickwall blogs in particular)
9. Irish Wattle: Exploring Australia's Irish Ancestry
10. History From The Heart (personal stories)
Shauna, I totally agree with your comment about asylum and prison records being 'the good stuff'. My index to insanity files has stalled due to lack of time, but one of these days I'll add the last section to my Web site. By the way… I use your unpublished Guide to Prison Records almost every time I am at Qld State Archives. It is starting to come apart at the seams!
Thanks Judy – working on a new publication Prisons & Asylums – you will love it!
Thank you for the nomination Shauna!
Thanks for including us in your list of nominated blogs!
Shauna, We met at Unlocking the Past in Brisbane and Recently I heard that you related to the Johnston family. I am descendant from William Waugh & Frances Oxley Thorpe and one of their daughters married a Thomas Danvers Johnston in 1862. Are we researching the same family?
Hi Noela Nice to hear from you but sadly we are not related -it's a common name. Thanks Shauna
Thomas danvers johnston is my great great great grandfather
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- Tweets that mention My Ancestor Approved Award « Shauna Hicks History Enterprises -- Topsy.com - [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Seonaid Lewis, Shauna Hicks. Shauna Hicks said: Just posted My Ancestor Approved…


text: Muscle car Megan roared into our hearts with her soft spoken voice. Megan looks forward to owning her own business and travelling the world. When shes not in school she loves to go to car shows and play softball. Megan like guys who are confident, smart and fit. To find out Megans fantasy check out the interview video in the members area.


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Tech & Digital Workers
The Tech & Digital Network (in-formation) is an industrial network covering all SF members who work in high-tech, digital or scientific industries. We currently have members working in system engineering, web development, games, solid state electronics and scientific research. Our network is an industrial network, meaning that all workers in these industries are welcome, from programmers, to admin to cleaning staff.
Our aim is to support worker self -organisation in our industries, to build our strength and independence as a class and to stand in solidarity wherever workers are in struggle.
contact info
If you work in technological or digital industry and are looking to get organised then get in touch! We can be reached through the contact form linked below.
You can get in touch with us via the contact form on this site.


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If you're on the market for a fake Lamborghini, look no further than China. An enterprising company there is selling a Toyota-powered Murcielago lookalike for about $66,000, a mere fraction of what China's super wealthy normally pay for Lambos.
It goes from 0-100 kph in about nine seconds and tops out at about 200 kph, but from several meters away it looks pretty good. Step a little closer and the discriminating Lambo ogler might notice that a few things are amiss. Like a spoiler, for instance.
But if you're worried about detection, some of those little details can be taken care of for extra cost. Buy Lamborghini wheels for $7,800. Get a Lamborghini key for $1,400. Ditch the stock Toyota 2.2 liter 3S engine for something with more grunt; say, a V6 or V8 (Can you imagine seeing/hearing a Lamborghini-looking car emitting an American small block burble?).
It's not clear which car the company used to make the replica, but there are people who seem to have a good head for these things in China. Hell, they're cheaper, and how many people are really going to know the difference? This Chinese copy will likely have a market in the land of the dragon, where a base Gallardo can cost more than $500,000 and an Aventador goes for almost a million.
From a country whose engineers have mimicked everything from rifles to fighter jets, we're anxious to see what the next knockoff will be. More Rolls Royce limousines? A new Eiffel Tower, perhaps? (Hat tip to Baber K. Khan!)


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About 888poker Promotions
Special online poker offers will always be waiting for you at 888poker! Check this space regularly for our exclusive promo codes, and use them to enjoy cash bonuses and tournament tickets on the house! You also get access to a no deposit bonus with us. And, every month, we offer our players unique opportunities to win high-end gadgets, luxury holiday packages and so much more. We've also got daily casino deals which grant you FreePlay on selected slots, Blackjack and Roulette. But we don't stop there! If you like sport betting, you can snag free bets to back your favourite teams too.


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BioWare Details Dragon Age Legends Bonus Content
The BioWare Blog details the five unlockable items for Dragon Age 2, used by the character Evra. Evra's Ring was used "to punch demons in the face, sometimes felling them in a single blow." We can probably assume it boosts your important demon-punching stat. BioWare isn't as specific about the properties of Evra's other two items, a Trophy Belt and the Air of Confidence ring.
The Ivo Family Crest and Dura's Blue Flame tie narratively into browser game Dragon Age Journeys. The team still plans to finish that project, and is working on it alongside Legends.
Dragon Age Legends hasn't launched yet, but you can still sign up for beta access. The full game is expected to hit in February, in time to score some loot before scheduled March 8 release of Dragon Age 2.
No word was given on whether these items are exclusively offered to Legends players, or if they'll be available as standard DLC for Dragon Age 2. We've contacted to BioWare to find out, but have yet to hear back at the time of publishing.


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Should Catholics have destination weddings?
When it's time to tie the knot, couples should consider their ties to a local parish.
By Catherine O'Connell-Cahill, senior editor of U.S. Catholic.
[Sounding Boards are one person's take on a many-sided subject and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of U.S. Catholic, its editors, or the Claretians.]
Please take the survey that follows this essay.
"I don't understand why they just can't get married here!" lamented the grandmother who was being force-marched 2,800 miles to Mexico for her grandson's wedding.
"We spent $2,000 on the trip, if you can believe that," said a friend who returned with her husband from a family wedding in Hawaii.
A mom whose two oldest are getting married in the coming year kept me regaled me with horror stories about the booming nuptial trend of destination weddings. Her daughter got socked with expensive airfare and hotel costs when standing up in several weddings in far-off locales, in addition to the usual bridesmaid outlay (dress, shower and wedding gifts, bachelorette party). Of course she had to go solo because she could no more afford to bring a guest to these affairs than she could afford to buy the tropical islands on which they were held.
Destination weddings are creeping up to 25% of weddings nationwide, often held in beachy spots such as Mexico or the Caribbean. "You might be dreaming of a barefoot ceremony on a white sand beach," says a website dedicated to these affairs. "But maybe you want something completely out of the ordinary like waterfalls, mountains or even an erupting volcano as your backdrop." Just be sure to head for the hills before the lava ruins the bride's pedicure.
Two groups who love destination weddings unreservedly are the couples themselves (we'll get to them in a minute) and advice columnists, who relish the steady stream of irate emails from those expected to take time off work and shell out big bucks to attend. Like the one couple who wrote to Miss Manners after being browbeaten into taking a week off work to attend a week-long cruise wedding of a friend's daughter. (Cruise weddings star in the Destination Wedding House of Horrors.) The bride called off the wedding with three weeks to go, but the travel insurance didn't care and wouldn't cough up, so the two guests were stuck with an unwanted cruise. Miss Manners, they asked, do you think the bride and her family would reimburse us for the money we laid out? Miss Manners politely laughed up her sleeve.
Why do couples choose destination weddings? Pop culture eggs them on, for one thing. The magazine Destination Weddings and Honeymoons trumpets, "You'll stand out from the pack…[Y]ou won't have to choose from the same old hometown spots all your friends have booked." Such as that parish church where you had your First Communion. The culture of individualism in which we live insists that you must be unique above all.
It's true that many guests must travel to a wedding regardless, simply because of the mobility of our society. That's how destination weddings got started--if you have to travel anyway, why not travel to a fun location? I get it. The family can spend a few vacation days together. But driven by consumerism and can-you-top-this, they often escalate into a self-centered extravaganza. And is it not better for at least one of the marrying pair to be at home, with the ability to invite at least some of the folks who would never think of (nor could afford) flying to Cozumel for the wedding?
Wedding websites say that a destination affair can save you about $3000 over the average wedding bill of, gulp, $26,000. How? Couples well know that only about half of those invited will actually come, so going to the Bahamas is a way to clandestinely prune your guest list without appearing to do so. A friend told me of a bridal couple appalled to learn that the groom's entire extended family decided to attend en masse, planning a family reunion to coincide with the wedding. Um, that wasn't exactly the plan.
Destination weddings usually mean no church wedding, unless the couple is diligent enough to scout out a Catholic church at the wedding location and get permission to marry there. Few do. More common nowadays, as the Mexico-bound grandmother soon discovered, is that a friend of the couple officiates. "I went up to this girl who performed the ceremony and I asked, what are your qualifications?" said the grandma. "She said to me, 'I just went online!' I'm thinking to myself, 'And we came all the way here to see you?'" The wedding-planning site TheKnot.com lists churches that will ordain someone "instantly via the Internet" and presto, you too can do a wedding for your pals.
A wedding in your local parish beats the beach hands down. The parish, even if the couple hasn't been inside since high school, is where the community gathers to eat—and become—the Body of Christ each week. To marry in church locates the marriage within this Christian community, drawing in not only your own family and friends, but perhaps also more casual neighbors and other parishioners to pray with you and for you, to witness your public commitment. Just like a baptism or a first communion, a wedding is a sacred event that is also public—it's not just about you.
A priest friend who has long worked with young adults says Catholic couples who choose destination weddings do so because their generation has never really been told why they should go to church, why they should get married in church, and what is it about a church wedding that's important. Also many of them have heard so many nightmares about church weddings that they want no part of it, he says. Church weddings are seen as dull compared to the sandy variety (imagine how frumpy they appear compared to the volcano weddings).
During the wedding of my friend's daughter last summer, the celebrant, Father John Cusick, told all of us to fix our eyes on the bride and groom because that's what God's love looks like. "To see the face of love is to see the face of God," he said.
The wedding was not in Cancun but in steamy St. Louis, in the summer. The bride and groom were radiant--they "stood out from the pack" all right, not because they had planned a wedding in a rainforest but because they were clearly in love and stood before God and a church full of their family and friends to say so. Their relaxed demeanor (they got married in the church at St. Louis University where they had met and attended Mass together) telegraphed that they somehow knew the truth—that their wedding day was not really all about them.
The promises they made to each other, in the presence of God and a few hundred witnesses, doubtless strengthened the marriages of all the couples present—because we Catholics really believe there is something to this business of being one body in Christ. When we gather around as a young couple pledge themselves to each other in front of a priest, it puts an obligation on all of us to help that couple keep their commitment when year 7 or year 25 rolls around and the going has gotten tough. A failed marriage hurts us all; a successful marriage gives us all hope.
So yes, it's better to be married where you can stand before those who have helped to form you, who loved you when you were a bratty kid, who stuck by you even in your Goth phase.
Who tends to be excluded from destination weddings? The old, the ill, the broke, and the very young. The very people whom Jesus urged us to take special care of. The very people who should be at our weddings--both for their own sake and for the sake of the bride and groom. Marriages after all unfold not on the beach but on the streets of real life—shouldn't the wedding reflect this, with your diabetic great uncle and crying babies in attendance, as you stand and make your promise to be part of this very community, to do your part as a couple to build up the Body of Christ?
Of course for young couples even to consider a Catholic wedding, they have to have some experience of the church that is positive and life-giving. That stretches back to the years long before young people are ready to get married. But at least when young adults approach a Catholic parish for a wedding—often their first real encounter with the church as an adult—let us throw open our arms to welcome them, to rejoice with them. Let us not allow people to answer the phone whose first question will be, "Are you registered?" Let us not permit the parish secretary to say of the priest, "He'll never marry you." The people answering the phone and the door at our parishes are the first-responders in evangelizing the young people who phone, email, or visit about a wedding. Let's get rid of the dragons at the gate.
If given the chance, I bet we could persuade many young people why a church wedding is superior to their gal pal marrying them on the beach as the sea turtles and dolphins look on. Starting your life together as a married couple is a momentous event—it's exciting and solemn; it prompts you to look both backward and forward, to God and to the generations that brought you forth, to the children you will bring into the world. Catholics call it making a "covenant"—a word that we might have to unpack for young people, that reaches back into the Old Testament to the moment where God promised never to forsake the Israelites. Our promise on our wedding day is that big. That's way more exciting than any volcano.
Flickr photo cc by Camlin Photography


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VAIO Update 5.1.1.04090What is this?
Vaio Update is an application similar to Windows Update. It is designed to help you keep your computer up-to-date by assisting you with installation of the latest updates for your VAIO.
What does it fix?
This update provides several improvements to the VAIO Update functionality.
How do I perform this update?
If you open VAIO Update 4, this version will be proposed as an update. Just clicking the Update button will install this version of VAIO Update 5.
If your VAIO comes already preinstalled with VAIO Update 5, the update process is the same, but a reboot will not be required afterwards.
Manual Installation
If you have VAIO Update 3 or older installed on your VAIO, first access Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs, and uninstall VAIO Update from your computer. Afterwards follow below procedure.
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Apple needs a working-class iPhone to compete globally, a technology analyst reported today.
Jeffries & Co. analyst Peter Misek suggested that Apple's iPhone 4 is retailing for $649 at Verizon Wireless (without contract subsidy) but a $300 version of the iPhone could increase earnings and the Apple brand, according to ZDNet. It also nods to AT&T's winning tactic of selling the $49.99 iPhone 3GS, which helped the carrier compete when Verizon began selling iPhone 4s in February.
The new $300 price could mean as many as 500 million phones per year for Apple that could fill the niche for mid-market iOS fare, according to Barron's.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
With Android's various prices and models, and with both BlackBerry and Nokia struggling to keep their market share from eroding, Apple appears to be the only company not concerned with catering to the masses. Misek wisely points out that lower-priced handsets are a huge market opportunity especially in developing nations, but will Apple rise to the occasion or settle for Western markets only?
Apple should pay attention to what's happening globally. While only 30 percent of the world's population have a bank account (2.1 billion,) a whopping 75 percent (5.2 billion) own mobile phones. That's a lot of opportunity.