text:
County officials believe a recent letter from the Jacksonville city manager regarding a weekend mutual aid incident is in response to a fire department funding request that is being considered as part of the 2013-14 Onslow County budget, but city officials say that is not the case.
County officials believe a recent letter from the Jacksonville city manager regarding a weekend mutual aid incident is in response to a fire department funding request that is being considered as part of the 2013-14 Onslow County budget, but city officials say that is not the case.
In a Sunday morning email, Jacksonville City Manager Richard Woodruff forwarded Onslow County Manager Jeff Hudson a message from Director of Jacksonville Public Safety Michael Yaniero with a summary of a JPD response in the county.
According to the county, a JPD officer assisting in the county when Onslow County Sheriff�s deputies were unavailable was injured by a suspect in a breaking and entering in the Country Club Road area.
�This is the mutual aid the City provides the non City tax payers,� Woodruff wrote. �It is indeed frustrating when the county cuts the City revenue, but your residents still benefit from the services the City Tax payers provide.�
Hudson, per Woodruff�s request, shared the message with the commissioners Tuesday during a special meeting held at the Onslow County Multi Purpose Complex.
According to Hudson, the email �harkens back to the request for their fire department.�
Woodruff said the email had nothing to do with the request.
Woodruff told The Daily News Thursday the commissioners need to remember the service the city provides when needed. In this case, an officer got hurt and the resulting workers comp claim falls on the city.
�All city taxpayers pay county taxpayers to support the sheriff,� Woodruff said, explaining that when commissioners cut city funding they need to be aware of the city services that non city residents get. �The day may come when we no longer respond outside of the city. We have to remember that it�s the city taxpayer that is paying for that service.�
Spencer Lee, deputy chief of the Jacksonville Department of Public Safety�s Fire Division, requested funding from the Onslow County Fire & Rescue Commission for $101,500 in rescue equipment and $120,500 plus N.C. tax and delivery for a mobile air and rehab trailer on Jan. 30.
Lee cites the demise of the Jacksonville Volunteer Rescue Squad as a contributing factor to the request, noting there is very little technical response functionality or capability provided by agencies for Onslow County citizens. Jacksonville Fire Department provides water, confined space and structural collapse rescues but lacks the trained personnel and equipment to perform other technical rescue functions like high angle and trench rescue.
The resources, he writes, will benefit the larger part of the county to include the city and Camp Lejeune.
The squad reportedly had multiple violations of its contract with the county, according to information from Norman Bryson, Onslow County Emergency Services Director. The contract was canceled on July 16, 2012, following recommendation from the Fire & Rescue Commission, which is composed of representatives from fire and rescue services as well as Onslow County Board of Commissioner Chairman Paul Buchanan, the county finance officer and a member of insurance industry and at-large citizen members. Volunteer agencies submit their budget requests to the commission, which then makes a recommendation for funding to the commissioners, Hudson explained.
Hudson told The Daily News the city was instructed to submit the request to the commission but since the commission generally deals with volunteer agencies, it was presented directly to the county commissioners instead.
�This is the first time a municipality has asked for equipment for a municipal department as part of a budget cycle,� Hudson said. �Since this is the first time this has occurred, the commissioners are considering that directly.�
The equipment will benefit the county since the JFD will operate teams and house the units so they are available to others, Mike Yaniero, director of Public Safety for Jacksonville, said Wednesday. Yaniero said that the city should see part of a quarter-cent tax that county and city residents pay that funds public safety issues.
According to Hudson, the quarter-cent local option sales tax was approved in 2010. Of that amount, 50 percent is used to roll-back county property taxes, 25 percent goes to public safety and 25 percent is for public education.
�In previous years, none of those tax dollars have been allocated to the city, but they have been allocated to other municipalities and volunteer fire districts in the county. The city believes that city residents should have the same benefit from this tax that non-city residents enjoy,� Yaniero said. �Using these funds for the purchase of these items benefits all residents, both city and county.�
Hudson said the public safety portion of the funds has been used to pay for the jail, sheriff�s department, court system security, emergency management, Emergency Medical Services, volunteer fire and rescue agencies and the county�s 911-call center.
�Many of these functions serve all the residents of the county, regardless of whether they live inside or outside a city,� he said. �The county spends far more money on public safety than the revenues generated by the quarter-cent sales tax.�
Hudson said a decision will not be made until the Commissioners finalize their budget which must be done by July 1. A proposed budget is usually complete on or around June 1.


text:
Even if and when you stay faithfully married, your time as a wife won't last forever.
About Hilary
Hilary Bernstein is a Christ follower, wife, homeschooling mama, and writer who believes every Christian woman can transform her home into a haven. She loves laughing, getting handwritten letters, hosting friends and family for dinner, going on date nights with her husband, singing along to the radio while driving her kids around, and relaxing on family vacations at the beach. The author of several eBooks, Hilary loves to encourage her e-mail subscribers!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Recently, our congressional representative, Mark Meadows, a staunch member of the tea party wing of the Republican Party, published a "Be Our Guest" column in the Times-News. His theme was criticism of the Affordable Care Act (aka ACA and/or Obamacare).
Recently, our congressional representative, Mark Meadows, a staunch member of the tea party wing of the Republican Party, published a "Be Our Guest" column in the Times-News. His theme was criticism of the Affordable Care Act (aka ACA and/or Obamacare).
I believe his column was an exercise in failed leadership.
Let me be clear here: The Affordable Care Act has problems. There are things that need fixing. And any rational person will agree that the rollout of the national website has been a mess.
However, the ACA forms the basis of a solution to problems in our health care system that have festered far too long: runaway costs, the uncontrolled power of insurance companies to arbitrarily decide who can get what, if any, health insurance (herein lie the true "death panels"), and the plight of the many millions of Americans who cannot afford any insurance.
In light of this, I've been thinking about leadership and how it applies here. For instance, Rep. Meadows could have discussed the ACA in an unbiased way — along with his complaints, he might have mentioned its good points. I mean, really, does anyone think it's bad that insurance companies can no longer deny coverage for pre-existing conditions? Can't we agree that it's a good thing women will no longer be charged more for coverage?
Rather, he chose to rehash the same old talking points and to cherry-pick individual examples of complaints his office has received.
But even there, many of his points were disingenuous political spin at best or misleading statements at worst. Just a few examples:
(1�) He cited a Kaiser report showing a large increase in insurance premiums since the president took office. Well, given that the new health care plans have only been available for six weeks, those increases are the result of the old system. To me, this just proves the case that an overhaul was needed.
(2) Rep. Meadows called up the effects of the health care law on the "hardworking families in Western North Carolina" and goes on to reference a woman whose insurance rates went up. But he didn't mention the hardworking families who could not afford any insurance but who now, under Obamacare, will have access to it for the first time.
And where was his concern for these hardworking Western North Carolinian families when the shutdown resulted in the shutdown of the National Park System in the midst of our busy tourist season?
(3) He pointed to the individual mandate as "an offender" in rising taxes. However, he failed to discuss the costs of all those people who currently do not have insurance. When these uninsured people go to the emergency room for treatment — for anything from an ear infection to a car accident — it's taxpayers who pay for that care. These are the hidden costs of the current system.
4. Rep. Meadows stated, "Americans can sign up for Obamacare in one place: Healthcare.gov." This is not a true statement. To be accurate, it would have to read, "Americans who live in states that rejected the ACA can sign up for Obamacare in one place: Healthcare.gov."
In closing, he lists some suggested fixes to improve the law. I agree with some of these, and I'm sure there are other changes that would improve the ACA. So props to him for that part of his column.
But one must wonder: Why didn't he take this approach from the beginning? Why couldn't that have been the starting point rather than closing down the government?
However, my point here is about leadership.
President Barack Obama took ownership of the problems with the health insurance website rollout. He publicly apologized. He offered to work in a bipartisan manner to implement amendments to the law. This is what a leader does — take responsibility for what happens on his watch, acknowledge the problems and move forward.
So this was a missed opportunity for Rep. Meadows. I was disappointed, and frankly surprised, that he brushed off the government shutdown, which he helped engineer, with literally one phrase, "With the debt ceiling and continuing resolution off the table … ."
Instead, his column was largely a negative railing against a law he dislikes. OK, he's entitled to his opinion — that's the purpose of an op-ed piece, after all.
But this was a chance for him to show some leadership. Taking responsibility for his role in shutting down the government would have been leadership. Holding himself accountable for the economic damage he helped cause in his district would have been leadership. Working on fixes to the ACA from the beginning of his term would have been leadership. And this is where Rep. Meadows failed the leadership test.
The debt ceiling and continuing resolution issues will come up for consideration again early next year. There will be an opportunity for him to work with all his House and Senate colleagues, as well as the president, to avoid a repeat of last month's disasters.
So Rep. Meadows will get a second chance at leadership. I hope he uses it well.
Recently, Times-News columnist Mike Tower announced the end of his column, "Just My Opinion," at the end of the year due to his move to Arizona. Over time, I have come to admire Mike's evenhanded views on many issues.
In the past few weeks, we've engaged in a lively email exchange about our respective columns and issues of the day. I expressed my view to him that Hendersonville will be the poorer for having lost his moderate voice.
In his very gracious reply, Mike thanked me and told me the best decision he'd made regarding his column was to always ask for his readers' thoughts. He said the mail he received greatly broadened his perspective. He went on to tell me I was welcome to use his closing sentence, and I could even say he bequeathed it to me. I consider this an honor. And while I don't know whether I will use it as a regular feature, I am using it this month: "These are my opinions. What do you think?"
To Mike and his bride, I wish you well and Godspeed.
Dawn Kucera is a Hendersonville resident. She can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Touring the Old Fourth Ward
Posted by
Becky |
View all posts by Becky
Leave a comment!
Loft, bungalows, modern houses, the Beltline, new parks, Martin Luther King's birthplace, fabulous restaurants, funky shops … they all come together in Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward, a historic area that's becoming one of the city's favorites. This Sunday a handful of residents opened their doors and let us into their homes for a Fall in the 4th Ward home tour and it was fantastic.
Our tour began at a former cotton warehouse in Studioplex. In the courtyard, you can see the old metal doors and structure of the second story, which has been opened up (it's also open to the sky, so balconies that look out here are great bonus areas). Here we saw three very different ways people are living in these true lofts. One was a one-room full of amazing artwork and custom furniture, another had added a second story loft bedroom and rents the space out for events, the third was a wide-open artist's live-work studio with 15 foot ceilings. Here's a look at that one.
One of my favorite things about this space was that the owner had separated her bedroom with a clear glass wall and installed this stained glass window. On the other side is the media area complete with built-in shelves around the window.
The owner is also an architect, which explained how she designed this beautiful kitchen:
The cabinets were rough wood with stainless steel cabinets; the kitchen island has a beautiful patina. The open shelves were artfully arranged, and the pantry, complete with antique pie safe, was stunning:
A few blocks away we toured through this beautiful modern home by TaC Studios:
This home is Earthcraft certified and sustainable elements include a 500 gallon rain cistern. It's located near the new Beltline East Side Trail and it's scale respects the other homes in the neighborhood. While compact, the interiors are open and airy, and make it feel like a much larger house inside. Connections to the yard through doors to the dipping pool courtyard and the master bedroom balcony open the living space to the outdoors.
Finally, we came upon a once-derelict bungalow that had been rehabbed and sold by an architect neighbor. You know, when you see that a lot of architects are flocking to a particular neighborhood, it's an early sign of transition. It's amazing to see this neighborhood now compared to what it was like when I first toured the area about six years ago.
The lovely blue door was an indicator of what to expect inside. The architect made the most of the small 2-bedroom, 1-bath home, and the owner has an amazing eye for mixing eclectic pieces.
The living room opens into the kitchen, which also incorporates the dining table. Sorry my shots do not do the beautiful home justice.
Did you attend the tour? If so, which house was your favorite?
For more, check us out on Instagram!
Photos of the modern house courtesy of TaC Studios Architecture. All other photos by Becky Harris.


text:
I wish Goldsboro would ship their copies of FULL THROTTLE...gettin itchy.
On a related note, I canceled my pre-order of their S/L ed. of IMAGINARY FRIEND by Stephen Chbosky. Early positive reviews have turned to mixed as more reviews come in, and more pointedly Ive had an opportunity now to thumb through the book and didnt really care for much of what I saw.


text: 6-inch FHD tablet with 3G Phone and Stylus Pin-sharp 1920x1080 full HD Super IPS+ display, 380 nitsIntuitive creations with stylus & ASUS exclusive note appsPocket-sized 6-inch tablet with 3G phoneIntel Inside® with battery life lasts up to 17 hours on 3G talking and 7 hours on 720P video playbackDual front speakers with SonicMaster Technology for superior sound effect8MP rear camera & 1.2 MP front camera to capture life moments Shop Modal header Meet the innovative new ASUS Fonepad Note 6 With a 6-inch, 1080 × 1920 Full HD display and 3G phone functionality, ASUS Fonepad Note 6 delivers a whole new mobile experience and will change the way you stay connected. Stunning Design for the Modern World The ASUS Fonepad Note 6 is one of the most beautiful products to date. Our challenge was in creating a comfortable and stylish experience for our users with full HD display. The result is a fusion of master engineering with elegant angles. Design 6-inch Expert Engineering for Every Pocket With its beautiful streamlined shape and easy-to-hold design, the 6- inch ASUS Fonepad Note 6 provides a whole new mobile experience for the busy user. Easy to hold or slip into your pocket, the ASUS Fonepad Note 6 is an elegant solution for a busy world. Full HD Display/Super IPS+ Share Your World in Incredible Full HD Never before has one device captured and displayed your world with such clarity and definition. The true 1080 × 1920 Full HD Super IPS+ display means never missing a detail, no matter where or when. Take your display to a whole new level, and see the world through clearer eyes. Splendid Richer, Vibrant Colors Easily adjust your color scheme to best compliment your media. No two experiences are the same and subtle tools help define those experiences in total definition. Camera 8MP Camera to Capture Life's Moments Share your life with friends and families with incredible clarity. The 8 MegaPixel rear-facing camera and 1.2 MegaPixel front-facing camera help capture every moment like you've never seen. Photos and live video come alive, and new image-signal processors work in every kind of light. All Smile More Photos Means Better Choices Capture your friends at their best every time. With the fun new ALL SMILE feature, choose the best photo from a quick burst of shots to make sure you get the best picture possible. Panorama Take Stunning Panorama Everywhere Easily pan the camera and capture immersive panoramas in seconds and instantly share your view with the world. Smart Remove Become Your Own Photo Editor The interactive editing feature SMART REMOVE lets users become a hands-on editor of all their photos. Whether removing unwanted backgrounds, pesky photo intruders or simply isolating an image, this effective app helps create the photos you want to keep forever. Gallery Your Photo Gallery Brought to Life On the train, in the office or on the go, ASUS Gallery gives users a full canvas of tools to edit, sort and share photos from anywhere. Give your photos the pop and pizzazz of a professional photographer and keep all of your important photos in albums that tell your tale. Important events, vacations and more come alive and all in one place. Easily share with family and friends to spread the joy. Design Display Splendid Camera Camera Face Camera Panorama Camera Smart Remove Gallery Enjoy an All New Audio Experience Our lives are filled with sounds in every direction, and the ASUS Fonepad Note 6 delivers them with incredible precision. The audio experience provides an award-winning dynamic that creates an entirely new level of excellence. Speakers Turn The Sound Around with Dual Front Speakers Our engineers obsessed over bringing a totally-realized audio package to the ASUS Fonepad Note 6. You will hear why with the powerful Dual Front-Facing Speakers. The sterling speaker quality is only matched by its extreme mobility. SonicMaster A Better Definition of Superior Sound State of the art sophistication has never come in a smaller package. Enjoy the innovative, GRAMMY Award-winning SonicMaster system and wonder at its incredible clarity. AudioWizard Create An Audioscape All Your Own The AudioWizard system lets users become sound engineers all on their own. Choose from a variety of settings or mix your own to heighten your audio landscape. Not all media sounds the same, and with the Fonepad Note 6 it will never sound the same again. Speakers SonicMaster AudioWizard Touch of the Design One Touch and You'll Never Let Go Smooth, ergonomic design dominates the ASUS Fonepad Note 6's pleasing aesthetic. Small enough to fit in your hand, its durable but stream-lined finish frees users from worries of scratches and wear and tear. Anti-Fingerprint Coating An Innovation in Clean Touch Technology Life can be messy. That's why the comfort of Anti-Fingerprint Coating lets users stay in control of every touch. Whether browsing the Web or playing games, the sensitive screen recognizes each and every touch with a whole new feel. Touch of the design Anti-Fingerprint Multi-tasking with Intel Level Performance & Steady Stylus Speed meets control, all in the power of the Intel level performance and Stylus. Lighting-fast web and app loading with Intel®InsideTM, which means staying connected faster.Intuitive design with stylus allows for quick interaction from video graphics to dynamic creative tools, you will never waste a moment again. Intel Level Performance A Performance Boost from Intel® InsideTM Intel®AtomTM Processor 2.0GHz for smooth, fast web-browsing and improved graphics performance. *Intel, the Intel logo, the Intel Inside logo and Inte® AtomTM are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Stylus with Pen Mode Scribble Your Thoughts Instantly It only takes a moment to lose a great idea. That's why every time you remove the lightweight stylus from Fonepad Note 6, the SuperNote widget starts up immediately for you to pen your thoughts. Stylus with Instant Page Write All Over The World Interact with text with incredible ease. Whether it's while reading the news, reviewing documents or browsing the Web, Instant Page lets users create transparent notepads to attach to whatever catches their attention. Keep for your own archive or share ideas with co-workers and friends. Reader Mode Smart Text Selection Never Get Lost in Translation The intelligent new Smart Text Selection feature uses the Stylus to highlight key words or sentences while browsing.Instantly translate text into any language you desire, or sync the highlighted text with other devices for further exploring. Smart Crop Invent New Style with Your Stylus New functionality allows you to use the Stylus with great results. Smart Crop intuitively cuts and stores information with a diagonal swipe of the Stylus. Smart Peek Invent New Style with Your Stylus Use the Stylus and tap on the hard key to enjoy the extensive functions. Smart Peek allows you to have a peek on any file. CPU Processor Stylus with Pen Mode Stylus with Instant Note Reader Mode Smart Text Selection Smart Crop Instant View Smart Peek Stay on the Go The Way You Need Stay mobile without losing a step. A powerful battery means never worrying about losing control and keeps you moving forwards. Universal data storage allows for a total experience that pushes the world along. *Up to 17 hours of battery life for 3G talk time Battery Life Charge through Your Day Fonepad Note 6 was built to last. Take it to go for another 6 ½ hours for 720P video playback and 17 hours for 3G talk time. The power stays on as long as you do. Micro SD Slot Comprehensive Access to Extensive 64 GB Storage Interactivity is important when you are on the move. That is why the Fonepad Note 6 features both a Micro SD for your input needs, ensuring maximum storage of up to 64 GB with full HD output. WebStorage Create Your Own Cloud with Uploads and Syncs Stay connected with all of your devices, no matter where you may roam. With WebStorage, mobile access to new and existing files is as close as the next touch of the screen. Because the Cloud system keeps everything right where you need it, staying connected has never been easier. Battery Life Micro SD Slot WebStorage 3G Phone The Innovative New Mobile Adventure Social media moves very quickly, so never lose touch with any of your favorite personal accounts. With the phone and tablet abilities, you will be fed with all the social updates on the interface and never be out of touch again. SuperNote A Note-Taking Tool for The Perfect Multimedia Device Capture your own creativity at a moment's notice. SuperNote allows users to read, scribble text and type anytime they choose. Inserting photos, videos and other highlights help ideas come to life. My Library A Reading Experience That Is Truly A Masterpiece Turn the page like never before. MyLibrary collects and displays all of your favorite literary works. From best-sellers to magazines and everything in between, the intuitive design delivers a classic feel that invites the reader in. You can also highlight the content with your Stylus, scribble notes and save or share your notes anytime. AO Link Manage Your Data Across Devices With the new AO Link function, all of your mobile devices are finally connected. Sync your data via the Cloud, your Wi-Fi/DLNA or through an ASUS VIP account. Managing your world has never been easier. Instant Dictionary Manage Your Data Across Devices The world is constantly growing. With the Instant Dictionary function, you can master any language you desire- all with the touch of your finger. From pronunciations to translations, you will never have to worry about emails, browsing or messages getting lost in translation. Browser The Web Comes Alive with Perfect Focus Web browsing has never been easier with the new Eye-Friendly features. From the Smart Reflow which keeps all your pages in focus whether zooming in or out to the Smart Reader which brings all your pages to a perfect new light, you will never experience anything more intuitive in a mobile device. Calendar Day in, Day out, Stay Organized and Stay Focused Stay up to date with the integrated Calendar App. All of your social media events, birthday and special events are all incorporated into one beautiful calendar. Day to day, month to month, you'll never miss a thing. Messages A Better Messaging Tool for A Faster World Messaging should be fast, clean and easy to interact. Whether to one person or a group, you can now share vivid photos and videos, invite your friends on the go and spread links to all of your favorite web materials. It is the best communication on Email Your One Stop Solution for All Your Email Needs Mobile technology makes communication a 24 hour ability. Be productive and stay in touch no matter how many email accounts, and prevent scheduling conflicts before they happen. Organize and respond to all of your needs with all of your emails in one easy-to-read list. 3G phone SuperNote My Library AO Link Instant Dictionary Browser Calendar Messages Email Stylish ASUS Fonepad Note 6 Side Flip Cover Made of tough and tactile materials, the lightweight Side Flip Cover thoroughly safeguards your ASUS Fonepad Note 6 and gives you a firm grip even with one hand. ASUS EB50N NearField Headset Enjoy talking and music limitlessly on the go via Bluetooth connection. ASUS fonepad Note 6 Beauty Sound Touch Responsiveness Ubiquity Applications Accessory


text:
Jane Austen's 'Emma' becomes a stage musical
Death has been awfully kind to Jane Austen. Her novels "Emma," "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility" were all adapted into successful films and TV miniseries. Her personal life - liberally imagined - is the subject of the current movie "Becoming Jane," and her impact on contemporary readers is told in yet another film, "The Jane Austen Book Club," set for a Sept. 21 release.
"How," the New York Times recently asked, "did this early 19th century novelist become the chick-lit, chick-flick queen for today?"
Austen's satire is so beautifully sculpted, her insights into human nature so timeless, that inevitably, it seems, she's now a subject for the musical stage. "Emma," taken from the 1816 tale of a spirited matchmaker who's blind to her own feelings, is a world premiere developed by TheatreWorks of Palo Alto. It opens Saturday at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, where it played in a brief workshop production last summer.
"I think it's her lightest story, her funniest and most accessible," says Paul Gordon, the show's composer, lyricist and book writer. "I'm sure somebody will correct me, but I think it's one of the first romantic comedies in literature."
Adapting perfection is intimidating, as Emma Thompson discovered when she wrote the screenplay for "Sense and Sensibility." Thompson won an Oscar for her work, but her labors required more than 15 drafts and years of insecurity and despair.
"It's horrible while you're doing it," she told the Boston Globe. "Although having done it, it's satisfying."
Gordon, who had never written the book for a musical - only music and lyrics - says he decided early on to retain as much of Austen as possible. Seventy percent of his dialogue, he estimates, is taken directly from the book.
"And why not? Why not 80 percent?" he says. "Why mess with something that's great? Why should I think I could do it better than she can? I can't."
Shoehorning Austen's diamond-like prose into the tight framework of a song lyric was tougher.
"Mostly, I would get inspired by a particular line, and I would use it as a starting-off point for the song," Gordon says. "Then, obviously, everything else would be tailored to that motif or rhythm.
"I try to stay consistent with Jane Austen's language, with the time period, and distinguish between English and American speech. There are words you might want to use that you realize, 'Oh, in 1815, they didn't know that word.' "
Gordon, who lives in Los Angeles and declines to reveal his age, was in Palo Alto most of this month, working closely with TheatreWorks founder and Artistic Director Robert Kelley, who is directing the "Emma" production. Lianne Marie Dobbs, who had the title role in TheatreWorks' adaption of Willa Cather's "My Antonia," is playing Emma, and Timothy Gulan, who starred in the touring company of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels," is Emma's longtime friend (and possible suitor) Mr. Knightley.
"Emma" isn't the first 19th century classic that Gordon has set to music. He wrote the music and lyrics for "Jane Eyre," which opened on Broadway in December 2000, the same season that Mel Brooks' "The Producers" dominated musical theater. Despite admiring reviews, five Tony nominations and direction and book by the respected John Caird ("Les Miserables," "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby"), it closed after six months.
Choosing his words cautiously, Gordon says he was "disappointed in the business aspect" of the show's Broadway run, "but nearly happy creatively with what we did."
"Emma," he hopes, is more likely to please the tourist trade that makes or breaks a Broadway musical.
"Even though it's a costume drama, per se, it's a romantic comedy. It's hopefully a laugh-out-loud show with romance. And it's light fare," he says. "I love 'Jane Eyre' - this is not derogatory at all - but it can be a dark show. You have to be willing to go on that journey, and if you're not in the mood for it and you walk into that theater, I don't think you're going to have a great time."
Kelley, 60, who founded TheatreWorks in 1970 and directs three or four productions a year, says "Emma" has "an amazing amount of heart and an amazing amount of humor. It's remarkably wise about the process of learning to love. And Emma is kind of a beautifully imagined, somewhat flawed character who finally has to come to understand herself as she grows from being a young woman into a legitimate adult."
It's possible, Gordon acknowledges, that the musical and emotional values he's invested in "Jane Eyre" and "Emma" are too refined, too subtle for the broad common denominator of today's Broadway. There's no pageantry in either, none of the dazzle of "The Lion King" or the broadly played pop appeal of "Hairspray," "Grease" or "Mamma Mia."
"Yeah, I think we are definitely playing against where Broadway is heading," he says. "But I also believe there can be shows that can take us away from it. Somebody's got to do it."
Gordon mentions two exceptions to the current formula for success: "Spring Awakening," a fiercely energetic rock musical about adolescent angst, set in 19th century Germany; and "Grey Gardens," the tragicomic tale of a mother and daughter holding onto memories in a crumbling Long Island mansion. Both those shows, Gordon says, "took us away from where things were going." The surprise success of "Spring Awakening," which is playing to near-capacity audiences, and the modest success of "Grey Gardens," which won Tonys for lead actresses Christine Ebersole and Mary-Louise Parker but recently closed after a nine-month run, give him hope for "Emma's" Broadway prospects.
Gordon needs optimism. He's written three more musicals that he hopes will eventually reach Broadway: one from the 1976 film "The Front," about a blacklisted screenwriter in the 1950s; one from the 1912 classic children's book "Daddy-Long-Legs"; and one from the Orson Welles family epic "The Magnificent Ambersons."
None of those, it's safe to say, exudes the bracing whiff of a surefire hit. Gordon knows that. And he's hoping, with his financial future in mind, to come up with a "Hairspray" or "Mamma Mia" that could give him an annuity.
In the meantime, the Austen juggernaut continues unabated. The Jane Austen Society of North America's Web site announces a variety of news and events, and boasts 3,000 members and more than 60 regional groups. An Amazon.com search reveals a raft of recent publications, including "Jane Austen for Dummies" and "Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders."
Finally, "Emma" isn't the only Austen novel that's been made into a musical. In Mill Valley, composer-lyricist Rita Abrams and author Josie Brown have put "Pride and Prejudice" to music and are using their Web site, www.prideandprejudicemusical.com, to attract a theatrical producer.
Emma previews Wed.-Fri., opens Saturday and runs through Sept. 16 at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. $25-$63. (650) 903-6000, www.theatreworks.org.


text:
Adelaide Cooking School- Asian Feast
Rilka's Kitchen
Event Details
Asian food is a combination of complex flavours from many regions, and is much easier to prepare at home than many realise. Learn how to make delicious flavour-filled dishes such as plump dumplings, savoury Japanese pancakes and flavoursome San Choy Bau.
This class covers so many countries' cuisines, from Japan to China, Vietnam to Thailand, using the freshest flavours.
"For me, feeding people is about sharing my passion and love for food. Being able to share my table is one of the best things I can experience and I hope, by spending time with me at Rilka's Kitchen, you will feel the same." ~ Rilka Warbanoff
When & Where
Rilka's Kitchen
91 Mt Barker Rd
Rilka's Kitchen
Cook, teacher, entrepreneur, author, radio personality –flamboyant foodie Rilka Warbanoff is all of these and more.
A force to be reckoned with on many fronts, Rilka's first love has always been food. For her, preparing and sharing meals with friends and family is a joyful act, and since returning home to South Australia, Rilka has made her mark on the thriving Adelaide food scene.
Her book, Rilka's Feasts, was published by HarperCollins in 2012, and she made a triumphant return to radio in 2014, pairing up with Leith Forrest on 5AA every Wednesday night. Ratings for the timeslot have doubled since Rilka became the '5AA Foodie', with Adelaide listeners embracing her infectious enthusiasm and taking the show to the top of the ratings chart. Now also on Tuesday afternoons with Jeremy Cordeaux and Andrew Rimer on Sunday nights and 5MU on Thursday morning you can get a tip from Rilka anytime.
Rilka's Kitchen offers creative lunch and dinner classes several times a week, or a special menu can be arranged for your own group. All classes focus on food that contains no gluten, wheat, yeast, preservatives or added sugars, while retaining flavour and fun.


text:
Heckscher Digital Education: Teen Perspectives
Welcome to the Teen Perspectives blog page. Here you will find past reports and posts that shared a teen point of view on happenings at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM). The blog was managed by the PAMM Teen Arts Council (PTAC) which meets weekly to learn about exhibitions, create digital content, and plan events at the museum for teens. Here you can find archived content related to PTAC's activities, as well as Brick x Brick, an off-site after school partnership program with Miami Edison High School, Miami Bridge, and Girl Power. Brick x Brick uses the Museum's building project and exhibitions to inspire integrated problem-solving and new skills in the fields of architecture, computer graphics, geography, sociology and specific art interventions.
Keep up with all of PTAC's adventures, events, and latest news through their new platform on Instagram - make sure to give them a follow!


text:
Perfect Strolling Weather
On a Saturday morning there is nothing better than a stroll around the Farmer's Market. Whether you're in NW Arkansas or the River Valley, a hot cup of coffee and come comfortable shoes, and it's a great way to get your weekend started.
On Saturday morning skies will be partly cloudy and in NW Arkansas, most early temperatures will be in the upper 60. Meanwhile, in the River Valley you too will have partly cloudy skies - but your readings will be in the lower 70s.
The fruits, vegetables, and flowers have been looking pretty good lately. Sometimes the displays are so nice - you don't want to mess them up.
Whether you are at a Farmer's Market or just enjoying a quiet morning at home, have a wonderful Saturday morning.
Laura Huckabee / Meteorologist


text:
Study: Quitting junk food is as tough as going through drug withdrawal
Researcher find switching from high-fat diet to low-fat diet leads to stress in the brain
DETROIT – Going on a diet and giving up junk food is never an easy thing to do.
Now there's new research suggesting it may be even harder than you thought.
Read: Lifestyle changes can help kids prevent diabetes
The new study says the feelings you have when quitting junk food are similar to those experienced in drug withdrawal.
Researchers found that a high-fat diet can actually cause chemical reactions in the brain leading to stress and withdrawal symptoms when you switch to a healthier diet.
Read: Maine residents manic for potato doughnuts
The study was performed on mice for a period of six weeks.
In a news release, the study's author says the chemicals monitored in the mice are similar to those found in the human brain.
The study is published in the International Journal of obesity.
You may also like:
10 foods to improve your heart health
Cleanses can help clear mind, body
Copyright 2012 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


text:
Novy Soyuz is an upcoming game from Best Way, the Ukranian devs behind the excellent strategy series Men at War. It's basically Fallout, only set in the USSR.
The story - translated by Reddit user Dreamercz, since the game's page isn't in English - is that the Cuban Missile Crisis doesn't end so peacefully, and the USA and USSR bomb each other into the stone age. It's set in 2012, and you play a 70 year-old survivor of the initial war of the 1960s. Which sounds awesome.
The devs are promising an open world to explore, with everything taking place in real-time and players given the option to pause things.
So far so FallOut, but a big part of that series has always been taking the piss out of Cold War America. Seeing things go down from the other side of the fence looks interesting! Especially given the fact these Eastern Bloc types have a track record of making depressing, awesome games set at the end of the world (STALKER, Metro, etc).
Novy Soyuz [Official Site, via Reddit]


text: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 Board of Directors: Board to Submit Bylaws Proposals to 2015 House on PTA Role, Vote In what some Board members described as a "maturation" of the relationship between physical therapist assistants (PTAs) and association governance, the APTA Board of Directors voted to bring bylaw amendments to the 2015 House of Delegates that would enable chapters to allow PTAs to serve as delegates in the House, grant PTAs a full vote at the component level, and enable PTAs to run for non-officer Board of Directors positions. These decisions and others intended to increase the value of APTA membership to PTAs came after a lengthy discussion of recommendations made to the Board by the Physical Therapist Assistant Board Work Group, which was charged with exploring issues related to the goals of the Physical Therapist Assistant Caucus. The work group focused on 3 major issues: postgraduate development of the PTA, promotion and protection of the work performed by a PTA when a PTA is involved in a plan of care, and active participation in association activities relating to the PTA, including decision-making. The majority of the Board's discussion was related to 3 major recommendations that addressed PTA participation in their components and in the House of Delegates. The work group's recommendations were intended to make it possible for PTAs to have a full vote within their components (currently PTAs eligible to vote are allotted a half-vote), and to create a way for PTAs to serve as voting chapter delegates in the House (currently only sections, which cannot vote in the House, can choose to have PTAs serve as delegates). Within each recommendation, the Board was presented with an option—basically, to create a bylaws amendment that would mandate the change at the component level, or to offer an amendment that would make the change optional for components. In the end, the Board voted for options that allowed for more choice. Before taking the votes on the most significant recommendations, APTA President Paul Rockar Jr, PT, DPT, MS, called for an "open forum" to allow Board members to discuss their perspectives on the broad issues of PTA involvement. Board members generally agreed with the sentiment expressed by Director Mary C. Sinnott, PT, DPT, MEd, who said that "it's about time we look at realities" and "take down some of the walls" that have prevented PTA members from full participation. At the same time, directors questioned 1 recommendation option that called for a seat on the Board of Directors to be set aside for a PTA only. That particular option was ruled out by the Board early on as an approach that would run counter to the idea that Board members serve at-large and not as representatives of constituent groups. PTA Caucus Chief Delegate Amy Smith, PTA, BS, agreed, noting that "Eligibility to serve is a greater equality." In deliberating the recommendations, the Board repeatedly came back to 2 considerations: the distinction between the PT-PTA relationship in practice and the PT-PTA relationship in association governance; and the distinction between having a PTAs represent their components in the House and having them represent the PTA as its own component. In the end, the Board voted to draft bylaw amendment proposals for the 2015 House of Delegates that would allow components to provide PTA members a full vote at the component level, make PTAs eligible to serve as chapter delegates at the discretion of each component, and makes PTAs eligible to run for nonofficer positions on the Board . The eligibility proposals will also contain language that would eliminate the PTA caucus by 2020. The Board also agreed to explore the possibility of creating a "Section-like" component for PTAs in 2015. Other work group recommendations approved by the Board include an effort to collect better data on the value of the PT/PTA team regarding utilization, and that a PT/PTA team toolkit communicating the value of the relationship be "actively supported" and promoted to APTA components. In another discussion related to the PTA, the Board heard a report on the feasibility of transitioning to a PTA entry-level baccalaureate degree. The report is the result of RC 20-12, a charge from the 2012 House to explore a PTA baccalaureate degree. In reviewing the implications of the baccalaureate option, the report calls for a practice analysis and identification of best practices to help inform any decision abut changes in degree level. To see the full discussion on this and other topics from the April Board of Directors meeting, watch the archived livestream of all open sessions. Editor's note: this article was changed from its originally-released version to reflect the Board's discussion of a "Section-like" component for PTAs. Comments If this passes, it should improve PTA membership. These are the major reasons my PTA cohorts are not members. I am so incredibly proud of our PTA Caucus. Thank you for your diligent efforts. You earned my respect again. Posted by Polly on 4/30/2014 9:43 AM This is a start. As a PTA It has been and us against them feeling for most of us. The day our voting rights dropped to 50% we became less. In an organization that is supposed to look out for both parties, I don't feel we have gotten our fair share of protection or promotion. I am glad to see the changes coming about. We are a very big part of the treatment process and we needed to be treated as so by our association. Posted by Jill lievano on 5/2/2014 4:48 PM As a SPTA in my last semester, I hope to see the voting issue changed in the near future. Giving PTA members a full vote means giving all members the chance to be equally involved in a profession that requires team-work. I believe that PTA membership numbers will increase once a full vote is granted. This would strengthen the APTA as a whole. Issues like term protection can more effectively be fought if PTs & PTAs present a united front. I think that a strong PT/PTA coalition (based on equal voting rights) would be very beneficial for everybody involved. Posted by Rahela Nieto -> BLWa<G on 2/15/2015 10:37 PM I am pleased to see these changes coming in the near future. I am a PTA with 18 years experience and I finally feel some respect is being given to us from the APTA. It is hard to feel a need to become a member of an association that treats us as second class citizens so to speak. With these changes, I will give serious consideration to joining the APTA again. My hope is for the board members to take into serious consideration a change to PTA entry-level baccalaureate degree. I have already earned the respect of many P.T.'s in Indiana, and now I can say we have gained respect from the APTA. Posted by Terry Harris on 9/4/2015 9:45 PM


text:
Massively Single Player, Part 1
Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 NEXT
I played WoW solo.
All I wanted to do in that game was explore the vast and beutiful world.
I don't know. Most of those revolve around loot, and I'm not much of a loot person.
I'd like to share my solo MMO experience in another game, City of Heroes:
I fall under this category of liking to play alone in an MMO. There are quite a few reasons for it, some of which have all ready been mentioned by Shamus in his article and by other posters in this forum, and some things that haven't. I played WoW for a few months, but most of my MMO experience comes from playing Final Fantasy 11. When it comes down to brass taxes these were the three things that got me to the point of quiting.
1. Farmers- These guys all ways infuriated me. It's one thing to fight over a mob because you want the item to use for your character, but when you have these people who just spend all this time just constantly farming to sell the items in highly annoying. Also haveing mobs that only spawn once a day was ridiculous.
2. The Party System- This was a major problem I had with FF11. Once you made it past level 10 all your leveling was pretty well forced in party, that is unless you felt like spending a week or two grinding low level mobs. Once you made it to level 40-50+ you some times had to spend hours just looking for a party that you might be able to grind out a level in an hour or two. That is unless the party broke up during the hour it took you to finally meet up at the designated area.
3. "Noob Haters"- These people are what really turn me off to MMOs. These people that have been playing for so long and feel the need to call people noobs just because they don't know something about the game, or because that are new players. Many of these people easily forget that they them selves were new players them selves. Also they like slinging it around with out thinking that maybe they are calling someone a noob who has been playing a game linger then they have.
Exe. I played FF11 fro almost 4 years. I went almost 2 years without bothering to try out crafting because I didn't see it worth wild until I was high enough level to go and get crystals instead of buying them. When I started crafting I would ask around about what materials were needed to make items and one time I had a player who had only been playing for two months call me a noob and told me something on the lines that I should go back to the "noob area".
Now a I realize that much like in real life there are all ways going to be jackasses in MMOs, but it seems to me that the normal to jackass player ratio in MM0s is much more unbalanced then in real life. I may be wrong but I think this has to do with the anonymity of online gaming.
well, i dont know - i tend to play for content over who i'm doing it (or not doing it) with. If im playing an MMO, i want to do what ever will expose me to most content. And so i'll do solo quests if i think i can do them and complete them.. but i also love groups which dont spend hours accomplishing nothing and being annoying. I wont do either if i dont feel like im succeeding in something.
That's why the Elder Scrolls is so perfect, you get exactly that to a deeper extent
I meant it in the sense that you could really put some effort into that thing and get results, and that it required much more skill than most people realised.
But still, i agree that you can play while barely paying attention. Sorry for the misunderstanding there :P
EDIT: Having read through the thread, i see very little hate for that comment. You sure you're not just assuming?
ha i play some mmo's by myself and liek the last point.
I'm sort of in this camp. When I play MMOs I'm always a little nervous about jumping into the pool. I guess I'm casual when it comes to MMOs- I've only started dabbling in them this past year and I'm usualy somewhat intimidated by all the special lingo people throw out- worried that if I join a group I'd embarass myself by breaking some of those laws of the land I dont know, ("You're not a tank, what are you doing, get back") So I go solo for a very long time in the begining. It's only when the solo experience gets taxing and feels like a grind that I dip my toe tentatively into the multiplayer side of things and try some grouping.
I will say that if there's no groups out there I usually get fed up- this happened to me with DDO. I was to the point where I'd kind of hit a wall and and progress was impossible without some very boring grinding, but nobody wanted to group with me (I have no gamer friends so I dont have a built in group).
Another reason people like soloing in MMOs is because they might like the fact that the economy is real in a way no single player game can simulate.
So anyway- I like the idea of soloing not being punished. However, I think that it's inherently very hard to ballance both. I mean, if players are well rounded enough to not need help, why should they group? Just for the social aspect I suppose.
The moment I read this the first game that popper into my head was Dofus, mainly because when I played it, I was almost always with a group. I'd still play it now but the free-to-play area is far too small, and I like my money where it is.
I'm in your camp as well, although I attribute it to the fact that I deal with troublesome people and social situations at work all day, and when I get home, I don't want to have to deal with the same thing. Thus, I find I group up only occasionally, because I spent all day dealing with the stress of people management, and I don't want to experience that in my game and relaxation time at night. That doesn't mean I want to play a single player game either, necessarily....I like the auction house (possible only in an MMO), the guild chat (sometimes), and those fun occasional "random moments" that only happen when you bump into other players in the MMO and save their ass and vice versa. That's cool stuff, and its part of the multiplayer process.
One thing I don't like is an MMO that "breaks the suspension" by making some areas arbitrarily harder just to force grouping...why is ogre X tougher than all these other ogres? Because the designer decided they need areas specifically aimed at multiplayer? Whatever. I like Guild Wars with its bots, and DDO has certainly made an effort (sort of) with its solo options. WoW has done the best balancing overall, though, as the process of leveling is very rich, with thousands of quests before ever hitting 80....I fail to see the advantage of rushing to the end game, honestly, with so much cool stuff to do.
Now, with the Random Dungeons feature in patch 3.3 I've been doing more grouping in the last two weeks than I have in the last two years....the game now finds players for me, drawn from other servers, who are not going to diss me because I want to do a DPS arms warrior and not tank. I love it! I've found this process less stressful now, as grouping is now something that just "gets done" and very quickly....no hour long waits to organize a party, no being told to respec tank or whatever because that's what they need (even though I don't enjoy tanking) and no more power-tripping controllers telling everyone else what to do (usually); everyone gets organized by the game itself, almost without more than a few minutes wait, and BAM we're having fun in a dungeon. It's dramatically improved the overall grouping part of the game for me, I gotta say.
I can't stand waiting on other people do stuff, I don't like having to dick around for 4 hours a night to find the week link in a 25man raid for why we can't down a boss. Many times I find myself with my head on the desk wishing I could walk in by myself, kill the bosses, see the story occuring there, say "Wow, that was awesome; can't wait for what comes next", and go to bed.
I've fooled myself into thinking that raiding is fun, but I'm sorry given the choice between running Ulduar or Icecrown with a 10/25 man group, and being told "Hey here's all this content made soloable for those of you who want the story"; I'm taking the latter option.
Why do I still do it? Because I'm a lore junkie, and I'll be damned if all that stands between me and the end of a story arc is 9 and/or 24 other douche-bags that have trouble pulling their heads out of their ass.
But then again...
Let's look at the case of Final Fantasy XI. Here we have a game where you are ALWAYS in a group (except for the hours you spend farming). Quests don't give experience, so it's ALWAYS about the grind. Nothing drops good gear except for rare spawns and certain bosses. Even then most of your gear will be obtained through the auction house or self crafting.
On that note: In WoW we find that endgame raids discriminate against people who are not geared enough at lvl 80 to handle the raid. In FFXI we get sets of equipment that become nessesary to equip as soon as you reach the level it can be equipped. You really do need to expand your moghouse and inventory because you'll need it to store all the extra sets of gear you will be needing to simply level up. Some groups won't even let you join unless you have the right FOOD. Eventually you find that you are gonna kill the same enemies over and over for pretty much the entire game. Crabs, pugils, goblins and mandies. What did these crabs ever do to you that you need to gang up on them and kill them over and over? If you wanna maximize experience they have to be several levels higher than you, so you are already at a disadvantage. There is no user friendly level on the mob, just a feeling you get about it's relative strength compared to yours. There is good story stuff in FFXI, and by capping your level in all the storyline places you really get the feeling that square hates you and wants you to die and lose a level. Don't get me wrong, I love the game, but I thank my lucky stars that I have WoW to go to when I want to level from 1-20 in a single day.
I actually enjoy playing WoW as a duo. Leveling with a partner is MUCH more enjoyable than doing it all by yourself. My college roommate and I have duo'ed about 5 toons together to lvl 80. So long as you are willing to put that character down when the other guy is not playing him, it's perfectly fine.
My guess is that this is exactly the demographic BioWare is looking to capture with The Old Republic. From everything I've seen about the game, it seems to be shooting for being the kind of MMO where even playing single player you can get really interesting content.
Heh--if you play the game as a duo, is that 'massively multiplayer' or just 'co-op'?
It's a topic for another thread, but, to me there hasn't been a real Elder Scrolls sequel since Daggerfall. Morrowind and Oblivion were completely different, microsized, watered-down versions of DF. But I still hold some hope that a genuine Elder Scrolls 3 will come along.
I can think of a couple of reason for Solo-play in an MMORPG.
1) Wanting to play in a persistent world that's periodically updated. Single-player is fine but sooner or later you're going to run out of things to do. The same could be said for an MMO but an MMO has an incentive to provide new content every so often.
2) The specific Genre only exists as an MMO. No one is making Space flight sims or Space capital ship sims anymore, or at least very rarely. Your options are EVE online, SWG: JTL, Jumpgate, and STO when it comes out. Superhero RPG game? If you don't own a console your best bet is City of Heroes/Champions Online.
3) I'm doing something specific that team play would steamroll right over. In City of Heroes, one of the reasons to solo was to play the story arcs. Granted some storyarcs required a team or certain classes weren't geared for solo-play. The pure "force multiplier" classes (Healers, Buffers, DeBuffers) could have a hard time soloing something that a tank or dps class could handle on their own.
4) Courtesy. This really only extens to people I knew in guilds/SGs, sometimes they didn't want to team for one reason or another. I respect there choice to do so and I'm not going to piss and moan that they don't want to team. The best I do is ask and maybe offer an interesting quest.
5) Running a PUG is a lot of work. "If you can't get a group, make one!" is my approach to when I want to team, but after a while it gets exhausting. Trying to make sure the team is full/balanced and everyone is gaming adequately. I don't ask much from PUGs, sometimes all I need from them is to be a giant meatshield distraction anything else on top of that is gravy.
No, you are not alone :)
Yahtzee once described Eve as a space-themed chat room. That right there offers a lot of insight into the issue. You don't have to be grouped up and playing together to experience the massiveness of it.
The "game" of an MMO is gearing yourself up, or generally empowering yourself however the game has you do it. If it requires others to help you down the boss then so be it. But if it doesn't, then recall the saying: to do anything right you have to do it yourself.
People who are clingy and want to be your friend in an MMO feels a little wierd anyway.
With only a few exceptions, I always play a game because I think that it will be fun. It's why I tried the WoW free trial in the first place and why once in a blue moon I think about coming back to it. I'm not really interested in joining one of the guilds, but I do want to play the game.
Although the presence of other players is good too. I feel like I'm in an actual world, surrounded by real people. I can ask others for help (and in turn help others). Occasionally, really cool stuff happens, such as a level 70 character plowing into Goldshire and single-handedly taking on every single person in that place (I was a level 10 wizard. I threw every spell I had at him, and he just healed it all back up).
What I'm trying to say is that in an MMORPG, this solo player only cares for the G part.
I believe you mean "Concept"?
Anywho, having been playing WoW for the past 4 years of its 5-year history, I find that I mostly agree with everything you said. One portion of the demographic I don't think you mentioned though was the more casual players whom don't necessarily prefer to play alone, but they don't have the time to devote themselves to the multiplayer sections of the game, especially not the lengthy PvE sections that can sometimes take hours to complete.
Take WoW, for example. The average raid in that game can take upto 3 hours to finish (give or take depending on the group's skill-level), and even that's after you're group has mastered the bosses so they can clear them all in a single shot. It can take all week to clear a dungeon if you're still learning it. Some people just don't have that much time for a single span of time, or they prefer not to play a game for that long.
So it's a group of people who enjoy playing the game, and they've love to get into some multiplayer aspects of the game, but they find that doing such makes the game into a much bigger time-sink than they're able, or willing, to allow for. So they content themselves with what they can get done on their own because fun is still fun, even if they're missing-out on something else in the game they'd enjoy.
I stopped playing MMOs this year. This was after a period of time when I found myself playing alone more and more first in WoW last year, then in LotRO in spring.
I have played online for 10 years, but I won't be bothered anymore. People weren't always nice, or particularily good players, but there always used to be a remote chance of having fun with other players. I could still meet lovely people on a random chance maybe three or four years ago.
I can't remember the last time I met an ok fellow player online. CBA hanging around with torturous griefers and trolls, hysterical roleplayers, angry self-antagonized nerd children, ppls woh cant b bthrd 2 spl, sexual predators, and all the other dysfunctional members of the "online community". Are these people even gamers? Do they love games? Or are they just online to dump their problems or project their miseries on other people.
This year instead of going for MMO subscriptions, I've enjoyed The Path, Tales of Monkey Island and Torchlight. Good times.
That's funny considering they are the worst pvp class in the game.
If you have to grind levels in WoW, You're doing it wrong.
Because I usually play as either the healer or the tank. And I freaking hate PUGs. So whenever I wasn't in a guild group in Aion, I played my Templar ALONE. Because in 9 out of 10 cases someone stupid would rush, overaggroing 3 groups of elite monsters, or some DPS idiot would just spam the "nuke everything" button and think I have 10 taunt skills to draw the attention of mobs, or the healer would go AFK without telling anyone.
Also, I love playing Guild Wars because while the heroes can't use some of the skills players get, or can't understand how some comboes work, they are still superior to 90% of the playerbase.
LotRo, Conan and Warhammer are free to play but need subs to complete.
Of the three at the moment, I'd pick LotRo, almost purely because of Monster Mode and it's so damn pretty.
Conan is nice but it's very linear. Same with Warhammer.
City of Heroes/Villains is always lovely though. A Blaster/Scrapper:Tank or Mastermind/Stalker team should kick ass while still being a scream to play.
If you're into retro, a new EQ update is coming out soon; and EQ2, despite its flaws is still the most pretty, evocative, well-made world ever.
I played as hunter in WoW and tried to do anything alone. Well, Hunter is probably the easiest class of them all, i'm just standing in front of a trap and pressing 1,2,3,4,5,6 to shoot at my enemies while my pet bites them.
Great article. Rarely is the solo aspect addressed. I thought the "casual" gamer reference was right on the money. Instead of sinking a bunch of time into a group, I prefer to lone wolf it. Taking missions in stride and mainly picking up a clan to just chat with.
LOL, Didn't know they had the term Pickup Group. When you get tired of solo missions, or feel masochistic, pick-up a group.. I like it. LOL.
Fallen Earth has made a great strides in supporting the casual, lone-wolf, self-entertaining MMO player. Oh, and can't forget EVE.
I'm skeptical that PC players would be any better, if my experienc in Face Of Mankind is anything to go by.
People are assholes. From experience forcing players to group up for progress was never a great idea to begin with. Considering the surge in popularity for games such as World of Warcraft and Runescape, with the latter putting an emphasis on solo play, it's no surprise people love playing at their own pace instead of being dragged into playing with others that may make their playing experience worse.
It's the move from actual multiplayer to solo mmo's that puts me off WoW and Champions online etc. I want team based action.
I played wow for a while and it really just seemed like a very large but very mediocre RPG rather than a living world, inhabited by players.
Anyone I met just seemed to be running around the place constantly, whizzing past my screen.
This was also true of Champions online; just loads of randoms; and sometimes shared quests which played exactly the same cept there was a leaderboard at the end...
Then I found Eve Online. A real MMO. The Space that players live in is maintained, developed, and secured by players. The markets and economy is player driven. The wars and conflicts are player driven. And to survive in the game you must play with others.
Well I never did instances unless I was bored out of my mind while leveling. It's much faster to just solo quest and all that, and I guarantee no one I know wants to level a new class the exact time I do.
Now if you're level capped and want to play solo, then yes you're a bit weird. Technically you've beaten the game at that point if all you do is solo.
(love the name by the way :D )
I am also one of you. But I just get tired if I have to be social at all. Which makes it a hassle to join a group. I am also afraid of holding someone back, or irritating them, thus playing in groups is often very stressing. I cannot stay back and use my own tactics, I cannot stop to read what a new item does, I cannot do things on my own time and terms. Because the others in the group usually push on forward. I am also not that good in writing fast in the chatbox of these games, so I tend to not talk much. I can write fast, but not correct. And I aim to write correctly :P
The only MMO I really play is Champions Online. I have played in a group now and then, when I have to, but it has never been more enjoyable than playing alone. If I could I would most likely play that game all by myself all the way through. Why? As you said, the allure of a massive world where others can see your character and what you do. If Champions Online was just Champions, without the online part, I would still buy it because of the crazy amounts of customization, but it is an added "perk" that you can show off the characters you make.
I am a Singleplayer by heart, and the only reason I put up with a multiplayer portion is if it is insanely fun (TF2) or if there are no other options (Champions Online) or if I have a brother or a friend playing the MP portion of the game (Brutal Legend)
While it's true that some MMOGs have an extremely high ratio of jerkasses to good people, there are occasions when being logged into one is the best thing you can do.
It isn't actually so hard to play as a hunter in PVP. Survival hunters are grossly underestimated.
That sounds a lot like me. Then to go a step farther than that, once I've figured out that stuff and explored it on my own, if I go along with other people who haven't done it yet, I'll intentionally pretend to not know what's going on so they can figure it out for themselves, too. Even if I know it's going to get us all killed, I'll go along with whatever ridiculous strategy they want to try, just because it's fun to see what people come up with.
Unfortunately the people who actually want to do that seem to be turning into a smaller and smaller fraction of the gaming population over time. Now you have people running around with add-ons/plug-ins that pretty much let you put the game on autopilot and never have to read the quest text or solve anything on your own, which makes me kind of sad. Their choice, though, I guess.
|Pages PREV 1 2 3 4 NEXT


text:
Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2 Cruise Reviews
Using our online guide for Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2 you can access Expert Cabin and Ship Reviews and detailed information including Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2 Cruise Reviews and Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2 Photos to help you pick the best cabin on Carnival Fantasy for your cruise vacation. Check our Cruise Deals and Cruise pricing page to make sure you are getting the best deal on your Carnival Fantasy cruise vacation. Have friends or family sailing on the Carnival Fantasy? Use our exclusive ship tracker and see the live position of Carnival Fantasy or watch the Carnival Fantasy live webcam and see what they are up to.
Carnival Fantasy
Cabin U2 Details
Best Rate:
$View/Book this rate
- Category: 5A (Oceanview Stateroom)
- Deck: Upper (Forward)
- Specialty:
- Cabin Size: Cabin 186 sqf
- Occupancy: Sleeps up to 2 guests
- Cabin Details: Cabin U2 on Carnival Fantasy is located forward on the port side and includes Porthole window, Two twin beds that may or may not convert to a queen bed, closet and storage, bathroom with shower, living area with vanity Wall Safe Porthole Window
- Notes: Location: Forward. Cabins located on the foward section may experience more motion and noise from crashing waves and anchor activation.
- Related: Carnival Ecstasy cabin U2 , Carnival Elation cabin U2 , Carnival Fascination cabin U2 , Carnival Imagination cabin U2 , Carnival Inspiration cabin U2 , Carnival Paradise cabin U2 , Carnival Sensation cabin U2
Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2 Cruise Reviews
Have you sailed in Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2? Why not add a cruise review of Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2 or add photos of Carnival Fantasy Cabin U2 so fellow cruisers will know if this is a good or bad cabin for their cruise vacation.Add Cruise Review Add Your Pictures


text:
|# Copyright (C) 2012 The Android Open Source Project
|# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
|# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
|# You may obtain a copy of the License at
|# http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
|# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
|# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
|# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
|# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
|# limitations under the License.
|$(call inherit-product, device/generic/armv7-a-neon/mini_common.mk)
|PRODUCT_NAME := mini_x86
|PRODUCT_DEVICE := x86
|PRODUCT_BRAND := Android
|PRODUCT_MODEL := Mini for x86
|# default is nosdcard, S/W button enabled in resource
|DEVICE_PACKAGE_OVERLAYS := device/generic/x86/overlay
|PRODUCT_CHARACTERISTICS := nosdcard


text:
Too many people use the terms 'strategy' and 'tactics' incorrectly or even talk about a particular 'thing' or topic as being both a good strategy and tactic. Usually, this is actually referring to a tactic but the person likes to throw in the word strategy because it sounds cool, they don't know better or believe it somehow implies a deeper thought process and means more…
Not any more. No more excuses.
There are unquestionable and very fundamental differences between strategy and tactics and these will be clearly detailed in this article. Not only are these words used poorly and often interchangeably, but a poor understanding of the meaning of the words can inhibit or mislead a persons overall training outcomes and objectives. It can muddy a persons goals and lead people down the wrong path. Sometimes, years can be spent training a certain way or in a certain system that is not really in line with their long term overall goals, purely because the meaning of 'strategy' and 'tactics' is not clearly understood.
Traditional definition:
…the art of disposing armed forces in order of battle and of organizing operations, especially during contact with an enemy.
Simply, it is the art of disposing armed forces, especially during contact.
Tactics are those short term decisions and actions that give a combatant an advantage during combat or that time immediately prior.
Tactics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Counter fighting
- Drawing an opponent to use a desired attack in order to present an opening to attack
- Feinting to determine likely responses
- Stop hitting
- Using set up questions
- Using non aggressive stances and posture to mentally disarm an aggressor
- Telling an angry male that you thought you knew their girlfriend from school, that is why you were staring
- Appearing crazier than the aggressor in order to prevent a possible encounter going physical
- Repeating the same technique in order to prompt the defender to expect it again and then do something else
- Go low then high, high then low, left then right, right then left etc.
- Deciding not to argue with the drunk male who said you were a pathetic moron and told your girlfriend she could do better
- Identifying that guy across the room who is pissed at you for some reason so you decide to leave that room or establishment prior to violence kicking off
- Crossing the road or turning around when you see a dodgy person lingering near a driveway up ahead at night
- Deciding not to use that ATM because there are some people hanging around that do not appear quite right
- Buying that drunk guy a drink after his got spilt by you
This list is not exhaustive. Tactics are where the action is. Tactics are those actions and decisions taken with a short term focus. Tactics are right in the thick of an encounter or just prior to it happening or potentially happening. For many people, tactics are where the juice is. It is what they love. It is often quite enjoyable to watch a sport fighter fight who is a very good tactician. There is a lot going on. You can see them setting up their opponent. They are often referred to as smart fighters. They think. They utilize tactics and do it well.
Of note, many sport fighters are certainly not good tacticians. Instead, they use their exceptional power or techniques. They have very good tools and they know how to use them. This could be in the form of combinations that work for them, superior quickness or an unstoppable takedown followed by submission or ground and pound.
These combinations of moves that work well for them are a basic form of rigid tactics. As an example, they will punch high for a while and when the opportunity presents itself, they know they will go for the takedown. This rigid form of tactics is what is referred to as a fighters 'game'. They have a game plan they are going to follow. It is like a strict system of tactics that are tied together. Once a talented fighter with great tools has a good 'game' that works for them, watch out. They can be very hard to beat, even for a fighter who utilizes a more fluid implementation of tactics.
It is what many people are good at. It probably makes up around 99% of a persons training time. It is what we do when we 'do' training. We drill, we spar, we roll, we compete etc. Most people have a pretty good appreciation of what tactics are and how to train in order to develop and enhance them. The mistake is, many people call some tactics, strategy. This is incorrect.
Ok, we understand what tactics are now, so what is a strategy?
Traditional definition:
…a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.
Strategy happens away from the action. If you are involved in a violent encounter, you are not using strategy, you are using tactics. Hopefully good ones and hopefully to a good standard.
Strategy happens when you think about something deeply over a period of time and make a deliberate decision. This could be a goal or plan or whatever. These could be medium term but are generally long term. Even very long term. These deliberate decisions or goals are what drives everything else. Implementing a strategy often takes work and effort. It can require a detailed plan as to how you are going to reach your strategic goal.
It is often hard work to make something achievable. That is one of the reasons few people engage in strategic thought and implement a strategic action plan to get things done in accordance with strategic aims. Its all too easy to place it in the too hard basket for a while and then go back to doing whatever you feel like on spur of the moment decisions or just follow what everyone else is doing. Following this pattern, it is very unlikely you will by accident end up where you want to be.
And then you are 80 years old and realize you haven't done what you truly wanted to do…
In a martial arts or self defence context, deciding you want to learn how to defend yourself is very much a strategic decision. And an important one at that! However, too many people leave the strategic thought there and simply begin doing whatever classes are close to them or what their friends do. The basic strategic intent is there, however the implementation of that desired end state is done poorly. The decision of what to learn can impact on a person for years to come. A person may begin going to a certain class for 4 to 10 years or even longer. We are talking about a long time. But is that class really well suited to the students desired end state? Their strategic aim?
The issue largely stems from a beginner not really understanding violence and violent crime, so any decision they make at this early stage is likely going to be ill informed. As time goes on and the new student learns more about that violence they have made a decision to prepare themselves for, better decisions can then be made. Improvements to previous decisions can be made. The implementation of that strategic aim can improve over time.
A persons overall goals can change, so their strategic direction will change accordingly. They may change from wanting to be able to defend against a real attack to wanting to understand a certain culture and art they have since fallen in love with. As strategic goals change, their plan as to how they want to achieve those goals needs to change as well.
Another persons overall goals may harden.
They may be more interested in the area of human to human violence and may want to learn more and more and pursue the worlds best practises and concepts in that field. This persons overall strategic goals don't change, but their plans about how they are going to pursue them, will. It will become refined over time and more targeted and informed. The implementation of the strategic plan will improve as knowledge of the subject improves.
Strategic decisions drive activity through plans and routine.
After identifying an overall strategic goal (and this may take some time to consider), a strategic plan is developed as to how that strategic goal is going to be realised. That plan is then implemented into ones life and is followed. This becomes a persons training routine. In that routine, classes and seminars are gone to, books are read and thought is undertaken.
Lessons are learnt.
Done properly, these lessons directly contribute to moving towards achieving those strategic goals.
One of those areas that are developed whilst actioning our strategic plan is tactics. We learn tactics at our classes and whilst studying. With a properly implemented strategic plan, these learnt tactics will be very relevant to our desired strategic goals.
This ensures what we learn is what we want to be learning.
If we did not make well considered strategic decisions we will likely not come across those lessons that we desire which includes our understanding of tactics. What point is being the worlds best at performing a Wushu demonstration when what we really wanted to do was become a proficient boxer? This is just a simple example of how not making those important strategic decisions and sticking with the intent can lead one easily down some other path that seemed interesting enough at the time but became all consuming as friends were going there and the people were nice and friendly.
Along the path, knowledge can increase strategic understanding and provide direction as to how our routine will best facilitate learning.
Here are some strategic issues and areas where knowledge can drive understanding and appropriate training which will likely lead to relevant tactics being learnt:
- Understand the real violent crime statistics for your own neighborhood
- Understanding what form of violent crime YOU are most likely to encounter in your day to day life (fight at pub, mugging at car park etc.)
- Understand what weapons are most commonly used in real attacks
- Understanding that three or more attackers are much more likely than just two
- Understand that some people will harness social norms to gain an advantage over you non violently
- Understand how ego and face can become a core reason that violent encounters begin
- Understand that assault types of attack are much more likely (about 10 times more), than muggings and robbery
- Understand that about half of all assaults are between people who know each other (It may not be the stereotypical drunk guy you dont know in the pub)
- Understand where the primary danger zones are for you and when they are most dangerous
The above is not an exhaustive list. These are just some big picture considerations that could be seen to be useful in driving some training methodologies that would be most relevant to a person for THEM and not a one size fits all. Once knowledge is gained and strategic direction is followed, look out. Such a person would be well on their way along the path.
The importance of strategy does not only need to apply in the martial arts or self defence context. It can apply anywhere. Think of a long term goal and work towards what is truly important to you. That is strategic thinking and strategic action. Along the way, you will learn tactics that work for that particular strategic field.
This article has demonstrated some of the clear differences between strategy and tactics. The differences are obvious. When you hear people use the terms incorrectly now, it will be loud and obvious. Harnessing the power of strategy is the most important thing. Tactics follow strategy. Strategy drives a good understanding of tactics.
Strategic subjects are generally those which are written about on this site. Most articles here are about bigger picture areas of what we call Low Tech Combat. To us, this is the most appropriate use of the written word on the internet. Tactics are best learnt in person from another person. However, too many people are engaging in training that does not really follow their overall intent. And that is a shame.
Strategy must come first in order to facilitate informed decisions and appropriate training.
A true love for sports


text: Performance MMA has a wide collection of Muay Thai training gear and Muay Thai equipment, like Muay Thai pads, shin guards, training gloves, hand wraps and headgear. We also carry a number of Muay Thai shorts from all the top MMA brands like Hayabusa, Kimurawear, Twins, and more. We have all your Muay Thai training needs covered!


text:
How it works
jQuery vCards searches your website for people you referred in your articles and wrappes them in a link, which calls a vCard with some informations. The setup of this plugin is fast and simple. A professional code-generator and a comprehensive documentation will help you. There are no coding skills necessary. Just copy and paste some code, move some files and you are all set.
There are many features ready for you. With this plugin you can display many different informations. And adding more is very easy. You can search for as many people as you want.
If you want to see what I'm up to, follow me on Twitter. And don't forget to rate this item.
v1.1: Added navigation between vcards.


text:
Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this article!
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
Name *
Email *
Notify me of follow-up comments by email.
Notify me of new posts by email.
About Arras WordPress Theme
Copyright Michael Moreyne. All Rights Reserved.


text:
A dump truck carrying 60,000 pounds of bananas from Mexico tipped over in Livermore on Monday morning, closing a portion of the highway near the Altamont Pass.
The truck tipped over around 1:50 a.m., according to California Highway Patrol Officer Joe Azevedo, closing a portion of westbound Interstate Highway 580 at Greenville Road. Aside from the squashed fruit, some oil from the truck also spilled onto the roadway.
All lanes were expected to open about 9:45 a.m., though the CHP had originally thought they may be open by 7 a.m. or 8 a.m.
Officers said the big-rig overturned when it tried to avoid hitting a disabled Ford 150 pickup on the side of the road. The dump truck smashed into the pickup, but Azevedo said that fortunately, the Ford's driver had gotten out beforehand.
No one was seriously injured, and the banana jokes started flying.
"There's nothing appealing about this accident," Thomas Wedo Stevenson wrote on NBC Bay Area's Facebook page.
NBC Bay Area photographer Steve Rose and Shelby Hansen contributed to this report.


text:
E3 brought with it an avalanche of news, previews and interviews. So much hit the site over two weeks that plenty of great stories may have missed your radar.
Here's a quick list of ten big stories you may have missed had you not been paying attention.
Shigeru Miyamoto accidentally confirms "Kind Code" to Kotaku
We learn that Project Milo features a dog, is a bit like the Sims and the virtual child currently has the lifespan of a fruit fly
Sony explains their motion controller and why there wasn't a PS3 price drop at E3
Two Left 4 Dead Survivors that Didn't Make the Cut
Miyamoto talks about the Wii Vitality Sensor and how he's no longer sad
Reggie Fils-Aime talks about Microsoft's motion control and the DSi's lack of virtual console
How Super Mario Galaxy 2 came to be and why it will have 90 percent new levels
Ninja Gaiden's future explained
Why Natal's launch will be as big as the launch of the Xbox 360
How Other M will change the face of Metroid


text:
Refine resultsClear all
Keyword search
- Accessible by public transport (6)
- Bicycle rack (4)
- Bus parking (3)
- Car parking (5)
- Children's quiz available (6)
- Disabled toilets (3)
- Display on history (6)
- No dogs allowed except assistance dogs (1)
- Guided tours – ask on site for details (1)
- Picnic area (5)
- Restaurant/café (1)
- Self service tea/coffee (4)
- Shop (6)
- Strong footwear recommended (3)
- Toilets (5)
- Water bottle refill (5)
Search results
The search has returned 6 placesRefine results
Blackness Castle
See for yourself why this mighty fortress is known as 'the ship that never sailed' – with its pointed stem, square stern and tall mast.
Craigmillar Castle
Step inside Edinburgh's 'other castle', once a rural retreat from Scotland's capital.
Dirleton Castle
Find out how the fortunes of this fortress – residence damaged by Cromwell were revived by its new owners.
Edinburgh Castle
Discover a world famous icon. This stronghold has dominated the skyline of Scotland's capital city for centuries.
Linlithgow Palace
Explore the magnificent ruins of the birthplace of Mary Queen of Scots and home to the Stewart kings of Scotland.
Tantallon Castle
Discover the last of the grand medieval castles, set high on a cliff edge and featuring a massive curtain wall.


text:
The Ultra Van crowns itself as the world's largest production Corvair by way of an aluminum and fiberglass monococque shell wrapped around a Corvair transaxle. As the Ultra Van itself was conceived by aircraft designer David Peterson, the biggest Corvair is more like an aluminum airplane wing in the round than a conventional body-on-frame RV. Only about 370 Ultra Vans were ever produced. 250 of them still roam the roads. The Ultra Van is affectionately known among club members as the whale. This nickname sprang from truckers overheard on a CB radio referring to a caravan of the World's Largest Corvairs as funny little white whales on wheels. Ultra Van, ahoy! Fudgie the whale is still hanging out at your participating Carvel ice cream store.
[Thanks to Mike for the tip]
The Ultra Van Page [External]
Corvairs Make the Books in Burbank [Internal]


text:
– Taryn Terrell is "Today's Girl" on Maxim.com.
– ODB, who has not appeared on Impact Wrestling in recent weeks, revealed on Twitter that she will be on hand for tonight's show.
She wrote, "buisness men r such dicks,I get it u wear a suit n tie,anyways headin to Orlando 4sum @IMPACTWRESTLING 2 stand by my man @ShowtimeEY #BAM."
– TNA Wrestling announced this week to VIP ticket holders that a Knockouts-exclusive pay-per-view event will be taped on Sunday, March 17 at 1:00 p.m. at the Impact Wrestling Zone in Orlando, Florida. In addition to current stars, organization officials will apparently be utilizing former female talent as Angelina Love revealed on Twitter Thursday that she was contacted to appear at the "One Night Only" series event. She, however, has declined to appear.
The five-time TNA Women's Knockout Champion was asked if she will be on hand for the show and responded, "They asked me but I politely declined."
In addition to the event, TNA will tape TNA 10 Reunion that day, which is billed as a "celebration of the stars from the first 10 years of TNA."


text:
This year's graduating seniors entered college just before the Obama administration began. But they are now ready to move on to the next stage in their lives, the administration hasn't achieved the same kind of progress on one of its signature initiatives: Creating open government.
On his first day in office, President Barack Obama committed his administration to creating "unprecedented levels of openness in government." And even though his record on open government has been far from spotless, particularly in areas of national security, his administration has pushed for change.
Amy Bennett, assistant director of OpenTheGovernment.org, praises the administration for helping launch the Open Government Partnership, a multinational effort encouraging governments to take meaningful steps toward making themselves transparent and accountable. With input from civil society organizations, it has developed a National Action Plan that includes 26 commitments and is aimed toward achieving 18 goals.
But there's a big "but." ...
She points out what journalists routinely face and what citizens often find surprising when seeking information from their governments.
• People too often must turn to the courts to obtain access to information that should have been turned over in the first place - or accept being denied the information when doing legal warfare is not possible.
• The public also must wait in line to get records that should be made routinely available by agencies without a FOIA request.
Increasing transparency in government spending was another goal laid out in the Obama plan. In the wake of the 2008 economic collapse and the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Obamacare), the administration developed a new model for helping the public know where tax dollars flowed, and for what purpose. ...
It's time for Obama's open-government commitment to graduate to the next level. The president can't fix all of these issues without the help of Congress, but it's within his authority to resolve many.
This fall, the administration is to release a new version of its National Action Plan. We echo Bennett and OpenTheGovernment.org in encouraging the president to use this opportunity to be bold and include commitments that will create real, lasting transparency that makes the grade.
In South Carolina, the victim of a robbery or an assault might have to wait more than a year and a half to see justice served. That's a long time to be in limbo. Too long.
The problem is a backlog of criminal cases, and the reason for the backlog is inadequate resources.
Every year Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Toal asks the Legislature for additional money to resolve the unwieldy docket backlog. When the General Assembly last year added nine judges (circuit court and family court), it was the first time since 1997.
It is clearly not enough. But it is what the courts have, so Mrs. Toal and a group of solicitors are working on a plan to expedite the case docket by changing the way it is managed.
She tried one plan this year, but it didn't fly. So she's back at it, this time with the help of a panel of solicitors.
One source of encouragement is seeing that some judicial circuits handle their caseloads better than others. York County's 16th Circuit met the state's benchmark by having at least 80 percent of its pending criminal cases less than a year old. It was the only circuit to do so.
Greenville, which had 75 percent, can be a model for others circuits, Mrs. Toal suggests.
A one-size-fits-all system will be a challenge to develop. ...
The tendency of some legislators to disregard the judiciary and skimp on funding is unfortunate. Last year, for example, Senate Majority Leader Harvey Peeler, R-Cherokee, said, "Of all the things we need in South Carolina, more judges is not one of them."
Actually, providing fair and speedy trials is necessary. The alternative is to signal that South Carolina doesn't have enough respect for the judiciary to fund it.
That would be an affront to the essential responsibility of the state to provide timely resolution of court cases. And that would be foolish for a state trying to burnish its image and improve its prospects for economic development.
Of course, the judicial branch has the responsibility to make the courts as efficient as possible, and Justice Toal's campaign demonstrates that those efforts begin at the top in South Carolina.
But the courts also must have the resources they require to serve the citizens of South Carolina. And that demands the ongoing support of the state Legislature.
Last year, Gov. Nikki Haley's DMV director made headlines when he claimed to have discovered that nearly 1,000 dead people had cast ballots in our state.
Kevin Shwedo's blockbuster claim came just a day after his boss announced plans to fight the U.S. Justice Department over its refusal to approve a state law requiring voters to produce a state-approved photo ID before they cast their ballots, and it drew a chorus of "I told you so" from Republican officials. Attorney General Alan Wilson announced on national TV that "We know for a fact that there are deceased people whose identities are being used in elections in South Carolina." Rep. Alan Clemmons, the chief supporter of the photo ID law, declared that "we must have certainty in South Carolina that zombies aren't voting."
But there was one little problem: Of the names that Elections Director Marci Andino was shown, not a single one was a dead voter. ...
Should we guard against dead voters and other voter fraud? Of course. And when we have legitimate reason to suspect it's occurring, we need to track it down, and make any necessary changes to our laws to prevent it. What we don't need to do is pass laws based on threats that are wholly fabricated.
More to the point, we shouldn't reward politicians for peddling fabrications. We should hold them accountable. At the least, we should be a lot more skeptical when they tell us things we want to believe.
When zombie-voter-fever was infecting the State House, we said that if the claims turned out to be false, the politicians who rushed to trumpet them should work every bit as hard to reassure the voters that they were wrong. Those claims have turned out to be false. It's time for Mr. Wilson and Mr. Clemmons and all the other politicians who either peddled the claims or gave their silent acquiescence to them - and this includes the governor - to get to work reassuring voters that they have nothing to fear. Not because of the voter ID law that doesn't really do what they claim it does, but because the zombie voters never invaded our state.


text:
Wuhan, the capital city of Hubei Province in central China, is situated on Jianghan Plain, a river-crossed fertile land created by the Hanjiang River joining the Yangtze River. Wuhan is a routine port for a Yangtze River cruise. Divided by the Yangtze, the city is known as the 'Three Towns of Wuhan' with Hankou and Hanyang on the west bank, and Wuchang on the east.
The panorama was taken in Hanyang Qingchuan Bridge downstream, Hanjiang River and Yangtze River intersection , Hanjiang River from here into China's largest rivers -- the Yangtze river.
360-degree panorama photography by yunzeng liu
Hubei Province, called "E"for the People's Republic of provincial administrative regions. Hubei Province in central China, the Yangtze River, Dongting Lake and the north, between latitude 29 ° 05 'to 33 ° 20 ', longitude 108 ° 21 'to 116 ° 07 '; north of Henan Province, Anhui Province, east, southeast and south O Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, west of Chongqing Municipality, Shaanxi Province, adjacent to the northwest. 740 km long from east to north-south width of 470 km, an area of 185,900 square kilometers, accounting for 1.95% of total area, ranking 13th. The capital is the only central region vice provincial cities - Wuhan City.