text:
ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at firstname.lastname@example.com.
- Yu, Hongyu
- Wang, Yinmin
- Jiang, Hanqing
- Chawla, Nikhilesh
- 1 An, Yonghao
- 1 Arizona State University
- 1 Phelan, Patrick
- 1 Public
- Mechanics
- coupling
- phase change
- 1 Lithium Ion Battery
- 1 Mechanical engineering
- 1 Si
- 1 diffusion
- Mobile Crowd Sensing in Edge Computing Environment
- The Effect of Disability on Subjective Well-Being across the Adult Lifespan: The Moderating Roles of Age at Disability Onset and Disability Type
- Mechanically Active Heterogeneous Polymer Matrix Composites
- Attribute-Based Encryption for Fine-Grained Access Control over Sensitive Data
- 并购背景下教育行业品牌价值研究
As one of the most promising materials for high capacity electrode in next generation of lithium ion batteries, silicon has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. Advanced characterization techniques and atomic simulations helped to depict that the lithiation/delithiation of silicon electrode involves processes including large volume change (anisotropic for the initial lithiation of crystal silicon), plastic flow or softening of material dependent on composition, electrochemically driven phase transformation between solid states, anisotropic or isotropic migration of atomic sharp interface, and mass diffusion of lithium atoms. Motivated by the promising prospect of the application and underlying interesting physics, …
- Contributors
- An, Yonghao, Jiang, Hanqing, Chawla, Nikhilesh, et al.
- Created Date
- 2014


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"Well, the devil made me do it the first time, the second time I done it on my own.â€
–Billy Joe Shaver
The New Yorker published a 2009 story about the psychology of delayed gratification.
It discussed a group of 4 year-old nursery school students who were part of a study done at Stanford University in the late 1960's.
The children were given the opportunity to eat a marshmallow. Ones who ate it immediately only received one marshmallow. The ones who waited for an undetermined time, (up to fifteen minutes) would receive a second marshmallow.
Most of the children couldn't wait. Most grabbed and ate the first marshmallow immediately.
The psychologist tracked the participants over the next forty years. The children who waited for the second marshmallow went on to live productive, and in many cases, outstanding lives.
Those who immediately grabbed a marshmallow didn't do as well.
Walter Mischel, the Stanford psychology professor who did the study, got serious about tracking the students in 1981. He studied every trait he could think of.
The students who couldn't wait were more prone to adult behavior problems and inability to deal with stress.
When they got to college age, the nursery school students who waited 15 minutes averaged SAT scores 215 points higher than those who could only wait 30 seconds.
Mischel seems to have discovered the Rosetta Stone of why some people become wealthy and others do not.
Dr. Thomas Stanley has done extensive research into why some people become millionaires. His book, The Millionaire Next Door, was a huge best seller.
Stanley noted that education and intelligence did not automatically predict wealth. He said that small business owners, without advanced degrees, were more likely to be millionaires than were doctors or lawyers.
I've been in the financial services business all of my adult life and it has always amazed me how some well-educated people make such stupid mistakes with their money.
Now I understand. The doctors and lawyers were the people who couldn't wait for the marshmallow.
The Stanford scientists are studying genetics and are trying to learn if some regions of the brain assist in delaying gratification. The study gives credence to the idea that people who "can't help themselves†really can't help themselves. Something in their DNA makes it harder for some people to delay getting a reward.
It's not about discipline as much as it is about heredity. Knowing that, we need to help those who are prone to marshmallow grabbing by giving them fewer chances to fail.
Right now, we have a financial system that has played to people's weaknesses, rather than their strengths.
We have allowed people who are prone to instant gratification to have as much credit as they could get their hands on. College students were given credit cards and free t-shirts. People who didn't want to save for a down payment were given sub-prime mortgages. Payday lenders popped up to prey upon the poorest of the poor, who couldn't wait for their paychecks. Everyone and everything, (including dogs, cats, and dead people), have been issued credit cards.
We stopped giving workers defined-benefit pensions and let them "pick their own investments†in 401(k) plans.
The economy is a mess. That mess can be traced to people on Wall Street and Main Street who wanted the second marshmallow but didn't want to wait for it.
Now that we are starting to understand the problem, it is easier to find solutions. We need systems that encourage people and businesses to work toward long-term rewards.
Our leaders need to realize that a large segment of society is going to screw-up their finances if we let them.
We can't let what has happened, happen again.
The devil, their environment or genetics caused people to make mistakes the first time.
It is our job to make sure they can't do it a second time.
Don McNay, who lives in Richmond, Ky., is an award-winning financial columnist for Huffington Post Contributor. You can learn more about him at www.donmcnay.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Spain: Messi one away from Mueller's record
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) -- Lionel Messi scored twice Saturday as Barcelona made the best start in the history of the Spanish league with a 5-1 win over Athletic Bilbao, while Real Madrid extended its dominance over Atletico Madrid by easing to a 2-0 victory.
Barcelona's 13 wins and a draw in the opening 14 rounds surpassed Madrid's 12 wins and two draws to begin the 1991-92 campaign.
The leader's milestone, unmatched in 81 previous seasons, came in the first year under coach Tito Vilanova, who took over from Pep Guardiola in the offseason after four campaigns as his assistant.
"I'm very happy for the performance of my players and for having achieved the record,'' said Vilanova. "It's good to have won so many games, but I am even happier that even winning 5-1 we were still looking for a sixth goal until the end.
"I'm sure that we will compete for titles this season.''
Barcelona led 3-0 by halftime thanks to goals by Gerard Pique, Messi and Adriano. Cesc Fabregas and Messi scored after halftime.
Messi's 11th double of the season left him one goal shy of Gerd Mueller's record of 85 for club and country in a calendar year, set in 1972.
The 25-year-old Messi, who could become the first player to win the FIFA world player of the year award four times, has scored 28 times this season, including a league-leading 21 goals.
Madrid's ninth straight win in the Spanish capital's biggest derby kept alive its run of not losing to Atletico in 24 straight games, dating back to 1999.
Atletico entered the game on its best start ever with 11 wins in 13 rounds. But any hopes of ending years of misery were crushed when Cristiano Ronaldo scored an exquisite free kick in the 16th minute.
The match at the Santiago Bernabeu featured more hard fouls, petty scuffling, and bad tempers than beautiful play.
Neither team shined, but Atletico was as nervous and apparently intimidated as ever as it consistently rushed its passes in midfield, which inevitably ended in Madrid charging the other way with the ball.
Atletico remained in second place with its second loss of the season. But Barcelona is six points clear, as third-place Madrid closed to within five of its city rival.
After Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas saved Radamel Falcao's only clear chance to score, Atletico winger Arda Turan conceded a free kick outside his area by handling the ball.
Ronaldo stepped up and struck an unstoppable dipping blast that left the diving Thibaut Courtois with no chance in goal.
Madrid had no trouble halting Atletico's occasional surge forward, and a poor clearance by Miranda in his own half led to Mesut Oezil scoring Madrid's second goal in the 66th from a pass by Ronaldo.
Only the woodwork saved Atletico from a rout as Ronaldo hit the goalframe twice before the final whistle.
Barcelona turned to a set-piece to break through with its passing game temporarily held in check early at Camp Nou. Pique pounced on the rebound of Fabregas' shot from a corner that goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz did well to block to open the scoring in the 22nd.
Messi then struck to double the advantage three minutes later when he took Xavi Hernandez's pass, dribbled across the box, and flipped a shot over Iraizoz that scrambling defender Fernando Amorebieta couldn't keep out of the net.
Bilbao's defensive discipline crumbled, and moments after Messi hit the crossbar, Fabregas threaded a pass through the defense for the streaking Adriano to blast over Iraizoz in first-half injury time. Fabregas took his goal in the 57th from a pass by Andres Iniesta.
"We enjoyed the game a lot and we each gave it our all,'' said Fabregas. "We are completely worn out, but it was well worth it.''
Ibai Gomez got Bilbao's consolation goal in the 65th.
Messi recorded a double for the fifth straight game five minutes later when he evaded a defender with one touch before curling a strike into the far side of the net.
Also, Valencia fired coach Mauricio Pellegrino after losing 5-2 at home to Real Sociedad with all the visitors' goals coming after Jonas was red carded in the first half, leaving Valencia with 10 mean.
Getafe, meanwhile, beat Malaga 1-0 for its third consecutive win.


text: We offer the best sports bar experience in our friendly and relaxed club. With our superb two 3-metre HD screen, comfy seats and great offers at the bar, including special student deals, it's a great location and atmosphere for sports viewing. If you fancy your chances at the oche, we also host monthly darts tournaments using our pro-standard 8-lane Darts Zone. Call in for more details.


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Far-right news website Politicalite gives the majority of their reporting to dispelling claims that the Christchurch terrorist had links to the far-right. The author did not give any media attention to the victims of the terror attack in New Zealand, moreover using the article as a vehicle for anti-Muslim narratives. This is UK's media monitoring highlight for March.
IPSO has been called out for failing to protect minorities from press discrimination. The Media Diversity Institute teamed up with Hacked Off to write an open letter to IPSO calling for an end to #RacismInThePress.
Daily Mail columnist Richard Littlejohn pushes 'Islamification' narrative when discussing the case of Shamima Begum. This is UK's media monitoring highlight for February.
From a far-right newspaper accusing the president of Greece of being a "traitor" because of his Jewish identity, to an alternative media website compiling a selection of crime stories based on the assumed nationality of the perpetrators, these January highlights are an overview of the most significant results of our monitoring of traditional and new media in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, and the United Kingdom.
FRANCE – MP blames Muslims for her own homophobic views
Date of publication: 18 January 2019
Media outlet: Valeurs Actuelles, conservative magazine
Author: Agnès Thill, La République En Marche (LREM) MP in the French national assembly. The Valeurs Actuelles reporter is Bastien Lejeune
Link: https://bit.ly/2Ctfki3
Headline: "Medically assisted procreation and Koranic schools: Agnès Thill's controversy, the symptom of progressive sectarianism"
Description of the anti-Muslim content: At a French parliamentary debate, Agnès Thill, MP of President Macron's party LREM, presented a note to the National Assembly expressing her opposition to the new law on medically assisted procreation (known in France as PMA). Regarding the introduction of the word "parent", to replace "mother" and "father", she said that "this absence of gender in the word 'parent' will encourage the growth of Koranic schools". Her note reads: "Our Muslim friends, who, as we know, are against this gradual distancing from the concepts of father-mother, man-woman, for the word parent include parent 1 and parent, [...] live in a parallel world, in our Republic, where everything is as they want, where a man is a man, a woman is a woman, and there are not, for our Muslim friends, parent1 and parent2". According to Agnès Thill, the introduction of the PMA law would "lead moderate children to become less moderate teenagers". In this article, the right-wing magazine Valeurs Actuelles, does not criticise her anti-Muslim and homophobic remarks, but simply points out how unusual it is for a LREM politician to hold these views. The controversy is presented as "a new example of the majority's difficulties to tolerate divergent views". The reporter writes: "Agnès Thill's crime? To be the only one in her parliamentary group to defend the idea of a real debate about medically assisted procreation". Last November, Agnès Thill came under attack from many, including her own political party, for saying that the "powerful LGBT lobby" was influencing the debate on the PMA. In a video interview at the end of January, she compared the "suffering of single women" who want to use the PMA to "drug addicts": "If a drug addict suffers, do we give them drugs? If a woman is suffering, do we give her a child so that she stops suffering?" A child is not a type of medicine".
Myth debunked: In vocalising her opposition to the law, Agnès Thill is proposing a gender binary which is intolerant of other gender identities and of any family that is not heteronormative. And at the same time uses the opportunity to accuse French Muslims of being homophobic because they have more gendered roles of mother and father, or a traditional family structure. In her opinion, the state moving away from the mother-father and woman-man dichotomy, Muslim people would turn to their own communities' schools, which, she says, are more prone to radicalising the children than the public institutions. In saying so, she is insinuating a correlation between attending an Islamic school and Islamic fundamentalism. When mentioning the expected effect of the law on the Muslim community, Agnès Thill is attributing her own homophobic views to Muslims and, at the same time, using them as the reason for her objection to the law.
More to read:
LGBT-friendly Berlin mosque deradicalizes Muslim youth
Queer as Intersectionality: Theorizing Gay Muslim Identities
UK – Anne Marie Waters' fallacies about Islam and the establishment
Date of publication: 7 January 2019
Media Outlet: Politicalite, populist far-right news website
Author: Anne Marie Waters, founder and leader of the far-right party "For Britain" and founder and director of Sharia Watch UK
Link: https://bit.ly/2BhojTA
Headline: "ANNE MARIE WATERS: After Terror Attacks, The State Is Protecting Islam's Reputation"
Description of the anti-Muslim content: In this article, Anne Marie Waters claims that Islam is inherently violent because that is what the Quran prescribes. However, she continues, there is no public debate around Islam's teaching because "such discussion would reveal the truth about Islam's teachings". According to her, the British state defends Islam because it wants to let "masses from the Middle East and Africa" to come and settle in the UK. "For every cruelty or atrocity associated with Islam, whether it be the grooming gangs, child marriage, FGM, or jihadi violence, the priority of the establishment is always to protect the religion". Anne Marie Waters also claims that Sharia law will "be accommodated in all areas of life" and that Europe will be radically transformed. The well-known anti-Islam activist Anne Marie Waters founded the political party "For Britain" after leadership bid for the Eurosceptic UKIP party failed.
Myth debunked: It is deceitful and false to claim that "the priority of the establishment is always to protect the [Islamic] religion". Facts show that Muslims in Britain are repeatedly stigmatised and attacked, not only by "ordinary people", but also by government officials or "the establishment". To name a few: Boris Johnson, Former British foreign secretary, compared full-face veiled women to letterboxes; Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid uses the term "no-go areas", an expression imbued with anti-Muslim sentiments; the then-Communities Secretary Eric Pickles sent a letter, endorsed by Cameron, asking Muslim leaders to "explain and demonstrate how faith in Islam can be part of British identity". Furthermore, there is no such thing as "truth" when it comes to the Quran and Islamic teaching. Islam is a religion, with the Quran as its central text and, as such, is subject to different interpretations that vary across time and space. As with all the major religions, there is not one single understanding and application of the holy book that all the believers who identify with that religion follow in the exact same way. Some Islamic terrorists justify their violent acts through their interpretation of the Quran, but this is also in conformity with their objectives and world view, and it is different from those of the overwhelming majority of Muslims across the world. Claiming that, compared with the major religions, Islam is inherently violent because of the words contained in the Quran is a fallacy. A comparative text analysis of the Old and New Testaments and the Quran has shown that the Christian texts, especially the Old Testament, contains more references to killing and destruction. However, when Christian terrorists, such as Anders Behring Breivik (who had the Bible in his manifesto), kill people, no one blames the Old Testament and claims that Christianity is inherently violent.
More to read:
Norway attacks: Was Breivik a Christian terrorist?
Islamophobia issues, challenges and action
GREECE – Eleftheri Ora accuses Greek President of being a traitor on account of his Jewish origins
Date of publication: 28 January 2019
Media Outlet: Eleftheri Ora, far-right daily newspaper
Link: https://bit.ly/2t4DI5i
Headline: "Prokopis Traitor with… Kippah"
Description of the antisemitic content: Eleftheri Ora's front page accuses the President of Greece Prokopis Pavlopoulos of being a traitor for his soft stand on the Prespa Agreement which formally recognises the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) to be recognized as the Republic of Northern Macedonia. On the previous day, Holocaust Memorial Day, he attended an event in Thessaloniki's Music Hall. The far-right newspaper shared information about protests against the President to be held outside the city hall and by the use of inflammatory language actually indirectly encouraged attendance at the protest. Clashes with the police were reported that night. The following day, the newspaper published the front page mentioned and accuses the president of being a traitor. It also described the previous days' clashes as an ''angry mob's attempt to lynch the president''. This front page is an example of unprofessional journalism that borders on incitement to antisemitic hate.
Myth debunked: Eleftheri Ora is taking advantage of public opinion surrounding the highly contentious Prespa agreement to fuel hatred against Jews. The newspaper connects two separate issues –the President acceptance of the Prespa agreement and his assumed Jewish identity – which have no correlation. The newspaper does not provide any evidence to support the claim. Furthermore, last week, a majority of Greek MPs voted in favour of the Prespa agreement, but Eleftheri Ora has singled out and disparaged, the role of the president. The accusation that Jews are not loyal to society or the country in which they live is one of the oldest antisemitic tropes. In line with previous articles that attributed Jewish origins to many politicians, Eleftheri Ora is once more feeding conspiracy theories that accuse Jewish people of being disproportionately represented in spheres of power and to secretly pulling strings in Greek politics.
More to read:
Straight Talk on the Charge of Jewish Disloyalty
How Greece is combating widespread anti-Semitism
HUNGARY – Research Institute Director makes controversial statements on the 1920 anti-Jewish law
Date of publication: 7 January 2019
Media Outlet: Magyarhirlap.hu
Link: https://bit.ly/2BiPAFj
Headline: "Some people want to create a political debate"
Description of the antisemitic content: This article is an interview with Sándor Szakály, Director of the Veritas Research Institute run by the government. While discussing current affairs with his interviewees, Sándor Szakály claims that there is confusion around the numerus clausus, a 1920 law that restricted Jewish students' access to higher education. According to Szakály, "Jews were not specifically targeted by the law", but "only those Jewish people who were not baptised". Furthermore, Sándor Szakály states that the law "was not a legal disqualification but rather a restriction of rights, and it is, by no means, appropriate to call it a Jewish law". The journalist rightly challenged Sándor Szakály's statement and said that the numerous clauses law had led to the Holocaust. This was not the first time that the Director of the Veritas Research Institute made an antisemitic statement about the numerus clausus. In a 2016 interview with the Budapest Beacon, he similarly claimed that the law was not directed against Jews, as it does not even mention the word "Jewish" and, while he admitted that the quota certainly did limit the rights of some, it also "gave greater opportunities to others".
Myth debunked: Mazsihisz, the Federation of Hungarian Jewish Communities released a statement saying that Sándor Szakály's "approach and vocabulary are particularly unfair to Jews" and "his historical interpretations are not only deceptive but also dangerous". A number of historians have rebutted the Director's comments in the past. Ignác Romsics, one of the most authoritative researchers on the period 1919 to 1944 in Hungary stated that "indeed, the word Jewish or Israelite did not appear in the text of the numerus clausus law; however, parliamentary records about instructions for implementation of the law and the practical application of the law clearly show that it was exclusively directed at the Israelite denomination or 'nationality." In 2016 GTTO published an article by journalist Dóra Ónody-Molnár which stated that "the trivialisation of the numerus clausus law [...]contributes to the interpretation that, before 1944, i.e. while Hungary was a sovereign state, Jews were basically safe, and that the persecution of Jews only began under the German occupation". Even if Sándor Szakály were not involved in politics, the fact that the Veritas Research Institute is run by the government makes the Director a political influencer. His antisemitic statements are therefore in sharp contrast with the "zero tolerance on antisemitism" position by Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán. If Orbán stated the "need for firm policy to combat rising anti-Semitism", how can a Director of a Research Institute make antisemitic remarks without being asked to consider his position
More to read:
Did the Jewish quota deprive people of their rights?
VIDEO: M. Kovács: Disenfranchised by Law. The "Numerus Clausus" in Hungary 1920 - 1945
BELGIUM – Former Migration minister favoured Christian refugees for humanitarian visas
Date of publication: 17 January 2019
Media Outlet: RTBF, Belgian public-service broadcasting organisation
Author: The former Secretary of State for Migration, Theo Francken, of the Flemish nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA).
Link: https://bit.ly/2MWMc7p
Headline: "Humanitarian visas: Theo Francken favoured the arrival of Christians".
Description of the anti-Muslim content: In this interview, Jan De Volderhead of the Belgian branch of the charity called Community of Sant'Egidio, discloses details on the country's humanitarian visa programme. De Volder revealed that the Community of Sant'Egidio, which was selected by the immigration ministry to cooperate on humanitarian visas, received instructions to only select Christian Syrians. This shows that the former Secretary of State for Asylum, Migration and Administrative Simplification, Theo Francken, of the Flemish nationalist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), has been choosing refugees on the basis of religion.
Myth debunked: As an EU report states, "Humanitarian visas are one of the tools that countries can use to enable people in need to access international protection legally and safely". While it has not yet been fully implemented by all EU countries, the humanitarian visa system was proposed "to address the intolerable death toll in the Mediterranean [...], to combat human smuggling, and to manage arrivals, reception and processing of asylum claims better". Using religion rather than vulnerability to select refugees is discriminatory. This anti-Muslim bias wrongly creates the impression that some people, Muslims, are less deserving of being granted refuge on the basis of faith. Asylum seeker selection should be based on people's need and on the vulnerability, regardless of anyone's religious background.
More to read:
Humanitarian visas across Europe?
Anti-Migrant Islamophobia In Europe. Social Roots, Mechanisms And Actors
BELGIUM – Media site publishes crime stories assuming foreign nationality of perpetrators
Date of publication: ongoing
Media Outlet: Sceptr, alternative media covering news in Belgium and the Netherlands
Link: https://sceptr.net
Description of the anti-Muslim content: Sceptr is a news outlet that, according to its website, reports "hard topics that traditional media neglect" and "aspires to be a taboo-free place and an instrument for politically active citizens". In one of its sections, called "migration and integration", almost all articles focus on crimes committed by migrants. However, in most of the cases, there is no proof that the perpetrators are actually migrants. The site rewrites articles from other newspapers in a way that discredits migrants without providing any evidence. The word "allochtoon" ("foreigner") is used in almost all headlines to describe the criminal as a non-Belgian national. A story from Gazet Van Antwerpen, about a man named Toufik C who was convicted of raping a 14-year-old girl, is taken by Sceptr and framed in a way that describes him as a migrant with a Muslim background. No other media outlet who reported the story mentions the nationality of the perpetrator, including the sensationalist HLN. Sceptr considers his Arabic name as proof he is a foreign national. They repeatedly use this pattern over and over. They use foreign-sounding names or skin colour to assume foreign origins and to describe them as "allochtoon". The articles seem to select the most serious crimes, such as sexual assaults, murders, and stabbings.
Myth debunked: Attributing foreign nationality to anyone who has a foreign sounding name or non-white skin colour, as Sceptr does, asserts that Belgian people cannot be anything other than white Christian people with traditionally "Belgian" names. It means that citizenship and nationality are not given on the basis of the country where one was born or grew up or live, but rather on the name. It fosters a view of society where ethnic or religious minorities are considered alien, with harmful consequences on people's life. In crime reporting, it is unprofessional to highlight someone's religion or nationality when it is not relevant, let alone assuming it (and highlighting it). Journalistic deontological codes prescribe that, unless there is a direct connection with the crime, or unless it is useful for the public to identify a suspect and report them to the police, information such as nationality, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation should not be stated. Mentioning the nationality when it is not necessary might cause an overestimation of the proportion of the crimes committed by foreigners, as Sceptr does, which might lead to stereotyping and discrimination.
More to read:
German media respond to new rules on reporting ethnicity of criminals
Recommendations for journalists, media workers, writers and commentators when covering crime
GERMANY – Is this what the country will look like in 2021?
Date of publication: 16 January 2019
Media Outlet: PI-News ("Politically Incorrect") is a far-right news website that defines itself as "Against the Mainstream, Pro-American, Pro-Israel, Against the Islamisation of Europe, For Fundamental Laws and Human Rights"
Link: https://bit.ly/2SWLARr
Headline: "Muslim baby boomers cause radical societal restructuring"
Description of the anti-Muslim content: The article starts with a fictional account of how Germany will be in 2021, according to the author: "Turkish language courses are well attended by former Germans […] Tanja is now called Birgül, Stefanie Cidgem and Beatrice-Jacqueline is called Züleyha. In the streets, heaps of trash are piling up, so that germs can spread […]. Democracy has long given way to sharia-communism. There is no blossoming sense of community anymore, and personal freedoms are gone anyway […] standards have gone down in every respect. […] Every small village has a mosque […]". The article quotes Germany's birth-rate statistics, defining "nightmarish" the percentage of newborns with a migrant background in some cities compared with the decreasing numbers of "German" birth rates and marriages. The author envisages a societal disaster due to the number of foreigners living in the country: "an exploding crime rate, crumbling houses, indebted people, Islamisation, Muslim parallel societies and conditions which continuously start to look like their countries of origin".
Myth debunked: The myth of "Islamisation", according to which Christian Europeans will be replaced by Muslim immigrants, is a fabrication that conjectures and exaggerates the consequences of immigration in Europe. Even if the birth rate of people with a migrant or Muslim background is increasing in Europe and the birth Germans without a migrant or Muslim background is decreasing, this does not equate to Muslims living in Europe wanting legislations based on religious teachings, as several polls show. There is a wide range of socio-economic factors that influence the lifestyle and customs of people living in a country that make it impossible to predict how society in Europe will look in five or more years. According to Paul Hedges, Associate Professor in Interreligious Studies at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, the Islamisation agenda is based on a number of assumptions: "that Islam is foreign to Europe" – which is historically false – and that "Islamic values are antithetical to European/Christian ones" – which is incorrect because, as Hedges states, "the key ideas of Greek philosophy and science that came to underpin mainstream Christian thought for centuries, as well as enable the Renaissance, and the development of modern science were all mediated to Europe through Islamic societies and advances made by Islamic thinkers". Finally, the derogatory discourse that associates "germs", "trash", "crime" and "crumbling houses" to people with a migrant background is a racist rhetoric of denigration. Through stigmatisation, it creates otherness to build a national identity that excludes some on the basis of ethnicity and religion.
More to read:
The Muslim Overpopulation Myth That Just Won't Die
The known anti-Muslim activist Anne Marie Waters claims that "the priority of the establishment is always to protect the [Islamic] religion", but facts show the opposite: government officials repeatedly stigmatise and attack Muslims. This is UK's media monitoring highlight for January.
From the publication of a list of politicians with alleged Jewish origins to the dissemination of groundless fears about terrorism over Christmas, these December highlights are an overview of the most significant results of our monitoring of traditional and new media in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, and the United Kingdom.
In an article on a femicide trial in England, the Russian media outlet Sputnik chose to lead the story with the religion of the perpetrator, even though the faith has nothing to do with the crime committed. This is the UK's media monitoring highlight for December.
From preposterous proposals to adopt "French" first names to made-up Christmas bans, these November highlights are an overview of the most significant results of our monitoring of traditional and new media in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, and the United Kingdom.
A populist far-right news website has illustrated an article with photos that misinform and are inflammatory. In the entire piece, there is no mention of the asylum seekers' religion and yet the photos show a British street filled with many men who are exclusively Muslim, as well as a woman wearing a niqab. This is UK's media monitoring highlight for November.
A populist far-right news website has corrected inaccurate and misleading statistics after the Media Diversity Institute sent a complaint to the publication. Even with this correction, however, the article remains deeply hateful against Muslims.


text:
Final Frontier is the sequel to the novel I published last year, New Frontier. Currently available for $2.99 on Kindle(ASIN: B009ORP5U0), Smashwords, Nook, and Kobo. Also, Times of Trouble is currently going for $.99 on Kindle (ASIN:B0075CNFFI) (but is available in paperback and on other e-book platforms), and Out of Time, my time travel novel is always $.99 (on all ebook platforms). Update: all of my ebooks, but Beyond the New Frontier, are $.99 for the month on Kindle.
What it's about:
In this sequel to New Frontier, the USS Lewis & Clark begin their search for the Soviet starship Yuri Gagarin. They find the wormhole that the Gagarin went through twelve years earlier and decide to go through it. On the other side, the crew of the Lewis & Clark find a solar system that used to be populated by aliens known as Pictorians, but they're no longer there. Neither is the crew of the Gagarin. So, the Lewis & Clark is flown back through the wormhole to report back to Earth.
Unfortunately, something is wrong, they find themselves 30 years in the past. As they struggle to wait for their future to catch up, the crew of the Lewis & Clark make changes to certain events, but they cause unintended consequences; including making another alien species mad enough to forbid humans from traveling beyond the Sol System. Find out what happens in this conclusion of the New Frontier series.
Also available is the combined versions of both novels, which is available to borrow for free for Amazon Prime Memebers, called Beyond the New Frontier (ASIN: B009NVH76M) and is currently free until the end of Thursday, the 11th of October. Tops out at 84,779 words.


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I saw this article on Irongeek.com http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=s...orcer-injector and I'm trying to make it work on my arduino UNO. But i'm totally new to this world.. I know a little bit of programming that's all.
The thing is.. Adam tells in his video that this should work on Arduino with some changes. What changes?! He also says this forum is the best way to contact him!! I hope so!!
Thank You!!


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Regardless of which side of the fence you're on about genetically engineered food, there are plenty of arguments for the idea of manipulating nature in the name of solving food problems.
But what about flowers? Not something that we can eat, or use as feed, but regular flowers grown and cut only to fill vases and occupy the hands of brides walking down the aisle. Decorative flowers are a frivolous crop, yet one that Americans spent $32.1 billion on in 2011.
Following in the steps of geneticists, who have been tinkering with food plants to create hardier and more profitable varieties, a new crop of floral geneticists are working on flower varieties that contain genetic material introduced from other species. Flower breeders have been practicing hybridization of plant species for ages, but the new era of genetic modification reeks of a scary sci-fi future where mankind gets a bit too big for its britches. Hello, Frankenflowers.
The flower is one of nature's most perfect creations. How in the world could science ever improve upon it? Here's what the biotech florists are working on.
Adding scent
Few things are as intoxicating as the fragrance of a flower, but over the last 50 years, flower breeders have been gung-ho on selectively breeding for other attributes, at the cost of scent. When you select for one trait, you generally forfeit others.
"For a long time, breeders have mostly focused on how flowers look, their size, color and how long blooms last," said David Clark, a professor of environmental horticulture. "But scent has gotten left behind. Go to a florist and try to smell the flowers. You probably won't get what you expect."
But a team of researchers, including Clark, at University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences have discovered some of the genes that control the complex mixture of chemicals responsible for creating a flower's scent, paving the road for novel ways of manipulating a flower's aromatic compounds to produce desired fragrances.
Researchers can adjust the levels of these compounds, controlling a flower's fragrance while also producing more or less of it. The result? Bigger, brighter flowers with long vase lives and scent. Better smelling roses are just a few DNA tweaks away.
Creating impossible colors
Because of genetic limitations, blue roses do not exist in nature, no matter how earnestly breeders have been trying to create them. They are the holy grail of the rose world. Although nominal "blue" roses have been bred by conventional hybridization methods, they have little more than a purple tinge. And white roses can be dyed blue, but a true blue rose is rarer than a blue moon.
But after 20 years of research, Japanese company, Suntory, and its Australian subsidiary, Florigene, have managed to create a blue rose. Named "Applause," the blue color was attained by inserting a delphinidin-producing gene from a pansy into an Old Garden 'Cardinal de Richelieu' rose. When the flowers debuted in Japan, they sold for between 2,000 and 3,000 yen ($22-$33) per stem.
Although Applause is more of a silvery-purple-blue than a vibrant azure, it's the closest thing to blue yet to come from the hands of breeders and scientists. And the company promises to continue working on make it bluer. Until then, a rose is a rose is a pansy.
Removing pesky pollen
Scientists looking to increase the life of flowers ended up with a variety of geranium that offers the promise of sneeze-free blooms for allergy sufferers.
Using a genetically modified bacterium to "infect" geraniums, researchers at the Instituto de Biología Molecular y Celular de Plantas in Spain created plants that are not able to spread allergens.
To do this, they genetically altered Agrobacterium tumefaciens, the bacteria that causes the plant ailment crown gall disease, to carry a modified gene that would increase the production of the plant hormone cytokinin, which has an anti-aging effect on plant cells. They modified another gene that would interfere with the production of pollen and anthers. The bacteria carried these modified genes into the Pelargonium cells, changing their DNA. The researchers then grew new plants from these modified plant cells.
The researchers note that the new variety of geraniums is also sterile and unable to breed with plants in the wild.
Making flowers that glow in the dark
As if unusually boosted scent, unnatural color, and pollen-free flowers weren't freaky enough, Australian company Bioconst is working on glow-in-the-dark flowers using fluorescent genes isolated from … jellyfish.
The core area of research and development currently at the company is to create genetically engineered glowing plants that rely on 'green fluorescent protein' (GFP) to make flowers fluoresce a bright green. GFP is derived from the jellyfish, Aequorea victoria. The company already has a glowing flower, called Galassia (video below), that is treated with a fluorescent spray, but the jellyfish-flower puts the others to shame.
Let's just hope they don't accidentally splice aromatic compounds of the jellyfish into the flowers as well.


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Table of Contents
Citadel and Wildfire
To show debugging information without jamming the layout Wildfire was born. libcitadel caries a portable implementation of it, ready to be used in "your program too" [tm]. WebCit uses this implementation to send error messages via the Wildfire protocol to your Browser along with the Payload.
Use it with WebCit
- Install the 1231347286 FireBug Mozilla plugin
- configure/compile libcitadel/webcit with execinfo:
./configure --with-backtrace
working witht it
- click the tiny bug symbol in your lower right browserbar to activate FireBUG.
- Enable the "Console" and the "Network" Tab in FireBUG for your WebCit host
- Enable FirePHP for your webcit host in the menu with the blue bug
- manipulate a template by adding a blank to a token so its "broken"
- hit that template with Firefox.
- note the red icon in the FireBUG Console? Click on it to view the full error message
Using the libcitadel Wildfire implementation in your application
- add -rdynamic to your CFLAGS and LDFLAGS else backtraces won't work
- get the SVN Head libcitadel
- link your application to it
- call WildFireInitBacktrace() in your programm, so it can start addr2line for line number decoding
- add code like this to add Wildfire Messages:
Buf = NewStrBufPlain(HKEY("test error message")); SerializeJson(Header,WildFireException(Buf, HKEY(__FILE__), __LINE__, 1), 1); WildFireSerializePayload(Header, <HeaderBuffer>&n, <HeaderAddFunc>);
- n needs to be an integer counting up through one http request
- if you want it to use <HeaderAddFunc> to add new http headers to your webserver, add it here, else it will append HTTP-Headers to <HeaderBuffer>. Null the one you don't want.
- check your hello world message!


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See how Toyota vehicles compare against the competition. Start by choosing your Toyota vehicle and a competitor to learn more on how they stack up.
4Runner incorporates rugged body-on-frame construction and is equipped with skid plates to help protect the engine, front suspension and fuel tank (and the transfer case on 4x4 models). Featuring independent double-wishbone front/4-link and coil-spring rear suspension, 4Runner's chassis is a time-tested combination that's tough enough for the trail, smooth enough for the city.
See how the 2018 Toyota 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium 4x4 compares against the 2017 Nissan Pathfinder SL 4x4. For starters, a Navigational System is Standard on the 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium 4X4 while optional on the Pathfinder SL 4X4. Skid plate or underbody protection and power vertical sliding rear window are both standard on 4Runner TRD Off Road Premium 4X4, whereas not available on Pathfinder. Finally, a trailer hitch and full size spare tire are both standard on the 4Runner while not available on the Pathfinder.


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Click to viewIt happens to the best dashing science fiction hero: You come up with a preternaturally clever plan to stop the bad guys, involving a totally cunning bit of MacGyvering or hustle... and it totally fails. Your super-gadget blows up. Or your allies flake. The bad guys turn out not to be total idiots. Or all the random variables you totally had a handle on turn out different. It's what you do after your cunning plan fails that separates the good guys from the great guys. Here are our favorite failed plans.
Every other one of the Doctor's cunning plans, in Doctor Who. The Doctor is always hatching plans that fall completely flat. This is especially true in the original series, where stories had to last 90 minutes or longer. In "The Ark In Space," the Doctor plans to attack the Wirrn while they sleep - but they left a guard behind. And then he plots to stop them by electrifying the bulkheads - but they attack the electricity supply. In "Pyramids Of Mars," he builds a fancy anti-mummy machine, which the mummies wreck. Then he plants explosives on the mummies' spaceship, which fail to explode. In "Parting Of The Ways," he builds fancy Dalek-brain-busting machine... which he doesn't have the gumption to use. The Doctor has a clever scheme to get hold of the Master's laser screwdriver in "Last Of The Time Lords"... and it won't work for him. And so on.
The last battle against the Tripods, in The Pool Of Fire by John Christopher. The humans have a clever plan for attacking the domed cities of the alien Masters: sneak in and pour alcohol into the water supply, incapacitating the Masters so the humans can crack their protective domes. This works most places, but totally fails in the Panama Canal dome. There's a backup plan, which involves primitive airplanes and bombs. This fails too. And then there's a third backup plan, involving hot-air balloons and bombs. This almost fails as well, because the balloons just bounce off the dome - except that Henry lands his balloon on the dome and cradles his bomb against the dome's surface, sacrificing his life to make it blow up.
Pretty much every plan ever on Firefly. Let's rob a train - even though it turns out to be full of Alliance troops. Let's take on some passengers, what could go wrong? Let's crash a fancy society ball. Or better yet, let's team up with Saffron, the woman who double-crossed us last time. It'll be fine this time!
Whenever Sisko tries to get sneaky on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Captain Benjamin Sisko has many fine qualities, but subterfuge is not one of them. When he tries to trick the Romulans into joining the war against the evil Dominion by giving them a fake holo-recording of a meeting where the Dominion discusses invading the Romulans, it totally blows up in his face because Romulan senator Vreenak sees the fake for what it is. (But luckily for Sisko, Garak the "simple tailor" from Cardassia has a back-up plan, that blows up in Vreenak's face: literally. The resulting debris looks like the result of a Dominion attack, and the fake holo-recording looks much more genuine after it's been damaged in the explosion. Similarly, Janeway is always coming up with plans that fail on Star Trek: Voyager, including trying to shut down the evil clown in "The Thaw" and tricking the sentient missile into thinking they're in a minefield so they can shut it down in "Warhead."
In Ursula LeGuin's The Lathe Of Heaven, pretty much every well-intentioned attempt to use George Orr's reality-altering dreams for good purposes fails. Like when Heather tries to fix the problems George's dreams have already caused by inducing more world-warping dreams:
Heather begins to believe his story and seeks him out at his hideaway. Finding him in a state of exhaustion and desperation she says she will hypnotize him ( she learned it in college) and suggests that he dreams that the aliens are not on the moon and that Haber is really a good man who will cure George, not use him. This spontaneous plan backfires when George dreams that the aliens are no longer on the moon. You guessed it. George dreams that they came to the earth itself. Portland is nearly destroyed and civilians are killed by friendly fire as the military overreacts but it turns out that the aliens are peaceful beings without weapons, who are psychic and whose native element is the dream state itself.
Pretty much every escape attempt in The Prisoner. In the 1960s spy-village drama, the man known only as Number Six tries a whole variety of gambits to get away, from stealing a helicopter to getting elected Number Two to smuggling himself in crates to building a boat. He's the Wile E. Coyote of superspy escapees, and he meets with similar luck to Wile E.
That whole plan of sending soldiers into a nuclear reactor and not letting them fire their weapons when they're surrounded by alien monsters, in Aliens. Not to mention blocking off the bulkheads but not paying attention to the ceilings.
The whole trap-the-Predator idea in Predator 2. The feds have been tracking encounters with the Predator2 ever since the first movie, and they have a plan to capture a live specimen using a slaughterhouse that the Predator has been raiding for food. They think they can blind the Predator by blocking out the infrared spectrum of light - but the Predator just switches its helmet over to ultraviolet and wastes them all.
All of Horza's best-laid plans in Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. Infiltrating the pirates? Abandoning one of them to die (but leaving him the detonator of a nuclear weapon)? Impersonating the pirates' leader? Assuming the injured Idiran soldier who got away won't cause any more trouble? It all works out spectacularly badly.
Altering history turns out to be a flawed plan in the 2002 movie of The Time Machine. Our hero, Alex Hartdegen, wants to save his girlfriend from getting killed by a mugger by going back in time and changing history. But after he finally builds his time machine, he goes back and can't change the past. No matter how many times he changes things, Emma still gets killed.
The dinosaur trap in Planet Of The Dinosaurs. In this fine, wonderful movie, a group of space travelers are at the mercy of a vicious Tyrranosaurus Rex. First, they try to poison the creature by leaving some Allosaur meat outside its lair, laced with poison berries. The plan goes south because the creature attacks from the rear. Their second plan, to coat wooden stakes with the poison and impale the creature on them, fails... until it finally works.
The Iluminati and friends come up with a whole host of plans to stop the Hulk when he comes back from outer space to trash everything, in the comic series World War Hulk. Iron Man comes up with some incredibly fancy battle armor that lasts about five minutes. Mr. Fantastic creates a huge machine that simulates the feeling the Hulk gets from being pacified by the all-powerful Sentry... and the Hulk smashes it right away. Dr. Strange tries to reach the Hulk's friendly alter-ego Bruce... and the Hulk smushes his hands. Oh well.
Lili's gambit on Earth: The Final Conflict: Lili Marquette is among the Taelons, who are attacking Earth, and tries to sabotage the engines on their ship. She sort of succeeds, but Zo'or deals with it by expunging the extra energy out into space.
Stargate is full of failed gambits: Sheppard tries to distract the Super-Wraith with a flare and run to a puddle-jumper in the Atlantis episode "The Defiant One," but the Super-Wraith left the puddle-jumper's shields on. When that fails, he challenges the Super-Wraith to a pointless knife fight and early gets slaughtered. In the SG-1 episode "The Serpent's Lair," the SG-1 crew plants C-4 explosives around a Goa'uld ship, but then Apophis himself shows up and captures them. Meanwhile, Colonel Samuels has a plan to attack Apophis using special warheads... which totally bounce off. Oops.
There are like three attempts to stop the comet in Deep Impact. First, the spaceship Messiah is launched to drill into the comet's surface and plant bombs, which only split it into two still-destructive comet pieces. Then Earth tries to launch a ton of missiles, which only make the comet more pissed off and splodey. The smaller piece of comet hits and creates a mega-tsunami. Just as the much larger piece of comet is about to hit, the Messiah flies into a fissure in the comet piece and blow it up.
Every Terry Gilliam hero ever pretty much makes screwy plans that don't work out that great. Like Sam Lowry in Brazil, who has a plan to erase Jill from the records so they can escape - which doesn't work out that great, because Jill gets erased for real. And James Cole in Twelve Monkeys thinks he can avert the future plague by tracking down Jeffrey Goines and the Army Of The Twelve Monkeys, but they turn out to be a total red herring.
Thanks to Lauren Davis, John Kim and Liz Henry for research help.


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Today, the fruits of the company's development work are nearing public availability, as the company announces the XZ-1 fixed-lens point and shoot camera. The Olympus XZ-1 bears an impressive i.Zuiko Digital 6.0 - 24.0mm, with maximum apertures of a bright f/1.8 to f/2.5 across the zoom range. The Olympus XZ-1's lens has 35mm-equivalent focal lengths from a useful 28mm wide angle to a moderate 112mm telephoto.
Effective resolution of the Olympus XZ-1 is ten megapixels, from a 1/1.63"-type CCD image sensor. Output from the sensor is handled by a TruePic V image processor. To fight blur from camera shake, there's a sensor shift-type image stabilization system. On its rear panel, the XZ-1 offers up a 3.0-inch LCD display with a fairly high resolution of 614,000 dots, roughly equating to 205,000 pixels. Other features include a contrast detection AF system with an AF assist lamp, a variety of art filters, an accessory port compatible with PEN-series accessories, and a high-def movie mode.
The Olympus XZ-1 ships in the USA from January 2011, priced at around US$500. For more details, read our Olympus XZ-1 preview.
Dim the Lights and Get Ready to Shoot Brilliant Still Images and HD Videos With the X-tremely Bright, X-tremely High-Quality XZ-1
CENTER VALLEY, Pa., January 5, 2011 – On the heels of the PEN® interchangeable lens digital camera revolution, Olympus takes their compact digital cameras to the X-treme with the introduction of an ultra-compact flagship camera and first of a new series, the XZ-1. Developed for the photographer or enthusiast who is looking for the ultimate high-quality, high-performance premium compact camera, the XZ-1 offers all of this, and more without sacrificing image quality. Never fear the darkness with the XZ-1's super-bright built-in Olympus iZUIKO lens – the first built-in Zuiko® lens on a compact digital camera. The X-factor that achieves this category-defying quality: A combination of three state-of-the-art features: the X-tremely large, super-sensitive CCD sensor, the X-tremely fast TruePic™ V image processor and the X-tremely bright, fast f1.8-2.5 iZUIKO digital lens. Further proof that Olympus lets you capture it all.
"The XZ-1 features one of the world's brightest built-in lenses on a digital compact camera to enable you to shoot high-quality still images and HD videos in any shooting environment, including difficult low-light conditions," said Katie Roseman, product manager, Olympus Imaging America Inc. "This camera will give you the versatility needed to take on any challenge without weighing you down."
Outstanding features:
X-factor Style - full manual controls in a slim, stylish pocket-sized camera;
X-ceptional Image Quality - a range of new features offer superior image quality, together with 10 megapixel CCD sensor with the TruePic™ V Image Processor to produce sharp photos;
X-cellent Low-Light Performance - iZUIKO f1.8-2.5 6.0-24mm lens for improved shooting in low-light scenarios, enhancing image clarity and drastically reducing grain. Also featuring Dual Image Stabilization and an AF Illuminator to maximize performance in low-light settings; and
X-treme Creativity -The XZ-1 offers six Art Filters, each of which uses different settings to create incredible photographic effects that would otherwise require additional lenses, filters or complex editing. Additionally, the Live Guide on-screen setting offers quick tips for shooting different subjects (kids, pets and flowers, for example) assists the photographer with some of the more complex in-camera settings (aperture, shutter speed and exposure compensation, for instance).
X-factor Style Whether you're an experienced Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) or PEN shooter who wants a second smaller camera for trips and nights out, without sacrificing image quality or performance, or the aspiring enthusiast who is ready for a higher-powered camera, the new trendy XZ-1 has the features you need for high-quality images. With its thin, attractive matte black body, you'll be inconspicuous while you use the XZ-1 to take candid photos and videos in the shadows at a wedding reception. The XZ-1's body is small enough to easily fit in your pocket, yet feels solid in your hands and you can easily take it with you everywhere.
X-ceptional Image Quality Whether composing still images or HD videos, photographers will appreciate the XZ-1's sharp 3.0-inch OLED monitor to frame and show off still images and High Definition (HD) movies in detailed 720p. The LCD displays 610,000 dots in vivid color, reproduces colors and shades more accurately with deeper black tones and consumes less power. The monitor also provides a wide-viewing angle ensuring that images can be composed from even the most obscure angles. A new graphic interface makes it easier to read text and find the settings you need on the fly, and Live Control enables intuitive operation allowing you to shoot photos while viewing the effects on the camera's LCD.
Shooting video is as easy as ever with the new Olympus XZ-1 camera. The camera captures all the action in crisp 720p HD video at 30 frames-per-second. The XZ-1's easy-to-reach record button on the back of the camera body makes recording videos a breeze. If you're about to snap a photo and you realize a video would capture the spirit of the scene even better, simply press the record button and instantly you're capturing videos! Easily toggle back and forth between capturing stills and videos by using your index finger to press the shutter button or your thumb to press the record button. Having the ability to shoot still images and videos opens up a world of imaging possibilities.
The XZ-1 pairs a high sensitivity 10 megapixel CCD sensor with the TruePic™ V Image Processor to produce clear and colorful photos using all the pixel information from each image to provide the best digital images possible. The image processor is noted for accurate natural color, true-to-life flesh tones, brilliant blue skies and precise tonal expression; it also lowers image noise in photos shot at higher ISO settings (ISO 100 to ISO 3200), enabling great results in low-light situations.
The XZ-1 also offers the advanced manual controls that experienced photographers expect from digital SLR cameras. Shoot full manual, and also with a control ring around the front of the lens and the wheel controller on the back, the XZ-1 gives immediate access to the most important manual settings like ISO, aperture and shutter speed to make it easy to adjust the camera on the move. Three levels of exposure control using a neutral density (ND) filter distributes light offering greater flexibility to change the aperture and exposure time in different situations while allowing the photographer to take the best picture in any condition.
X-cellent Low-Light Performance The iZUIKO f1.8-2.5 6.0-24mm (28-112mm equivalent angle of view in 35mm cameras) digital lens is a newly-developed 4x compact version of the legendary, high-quality ZUIKO digital lenses featured with Olympus DSLRs. With a minimum aperture of f1.8 at wide-angle and a maximum aperture of f2.5 at telephoto, this lens boasts super-fast shutter speeds for sharp, low-light images. This aperture range also allows photographers to take portraits that highlight the subject by defocusing the background, a capability that is not normally possible in compact cameras. The lens is specifically designed for clear, high-quality photographic performance.
Apart from the speed of the f1.8 lens, the camera's low-light mode automatically adjusts the ISO sensitivity up to ISO 3200 to take sharp, full-resolution photos in dark places. The camera's iAuto mode automatically detects low-light scenes and adjusts the ISO accordingly for the best image quality. The camera also features an AF illuminator to make it simple to focus in low-light locations. The XZ-1 also features a low-light mode for even quicker access to maximize low-light situations.
If you're going to an evening at the theatre, the XZ-1 also offers Dual Image Stabilization to further assure you'll get the shot you want while holding the camera. Mechanical Sensor-Shift Image Stabilization compensates for camera movement in low-light conditions when shutter speeds are slower while Digital Image Stabilization freezes the action with high ISO sensitivity and fast shutter speeds that prevent blurry images often caused by a moving subject.
The XZ-1 has an easily accessible built-in pop-up flash to illuminate low-light subjects, reduce red-eye and fill in dark areas. The camera also is compatible with a range of optional external flashes, including the Olympus FL-14, FL-36R and FL-50R, so you can dynamically control lighting as your photography skills grow.
X-treme Creativity Olympus pioneered easy-to-use in-camera Art Filters for still images captured inside its E-System DSLRs and was the first company to offer the ability to apply Art Filters to HD video recordings captured with the PEN cameras. The XZ-1 features six Art Filters that photographers can apply to still images and HD video: Pop Art, Soft Focus, Grainy Film, Pin Hole, Diorama and Dramatic Tone. You even can create an in-camera slideshow that mixes still images, movies and sound. The camera incorporates five kinds of background music as well as slideshow control functions, including still image fade-in/out, sound recording volume and background music volume adjustment.
The XZ-1's Live Guide interface simplifies great photography and provides the results you desire at the touch of a button. Want more vivid or muted color in your shot? Want warmer or cooler color? Want a brighter or darker subject, or a sharper or softer background? Or maybe you want to capture the fast-moving action of your subject with a little artistic blur? Simply select Live Guide and press the up and down arrows on the back of the camera to slide through numerous photographic effects. Make adjustments and watch the LCD as the effects are made live – before the image is captured!
X-cessorize To expand the camera's versatility, the XZ-1 includes an accessory port so photographers can attach optional accessories like the SEMA-1 external microphone adapter, the VF-2 electronic viewfinder or the newly introduced MAL-1 Macro Light. These optional accessories easily slide into the camera's accessory port and hot shoe.
The new camera's compact design makes it the perfect companion for all of your dive trips. The PT-050 underwater case has been customized for the Olympus XZ-1 and is waterproof to a depth of 40 meters (approximately 130 feet). With its durable, high-quality polycarbonate construction, this Olympus housing protects the camera from water while also cushioning it from knocks and bumps on land.
The XZ-1 makes sharing your content easier than ever. Just connect it to your HDTV with an optional HDMI cable and use your HDTV's remote to control playback functions and navigate the camera's menus from the comfort of your couch.
Colors and Availability The Olympus XZ-1 comes in black and white and will be available in January 2011. It includes the XZ-1, USB Cable, Video Cable, Li-Ion Battery Pack, Li-Ion Battery Charger, Shoulder Strap, OLYMPUS [ib] software CD-ROM, Manuals and Registration card.
U.S. Pricing / Product Configurations XZ-1 Street Price: $499.99
ABOUT OLYMPUS IMAGING AMERICA INC. Olympus Imaging America Inc. is a precision technology leader, designing and delivering award-winning products for consumer and professional markets.
Olympus Imaging America Inc. works collaboratively with its customers and its ultimate parent company, Olympus Corporation, to develop breakthrough technologies with revolutionary product design and functionality that enhances people's lives every day. These include:
Digital Cameras
Professional and Interchangeable Lens System Cameras
Related Underwater Products and Accessories
Digital and Microcassette Recorders
Digital Media
Olympus Imaging America Inc. is responsible for sales in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. For more information, visit: www.olympusamerica.com.
*Specifications and design are subject to change without any notice or obligation on the part of the manufacturer. All trademarks and registered trademarks listed herein are the property of their respective holders, in the US and/or other countries. © 2011 Olympus Imaging America Inc.
# # #


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No Smoking and No LitteringKeepitreal
"The only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on. It is never of any use to oneself." Oscar Wilde 1856-1900, British Author. Early evening and marooned amongst the Friday night madness of Siam Square's "beautiful people" and throat choking traffic, there was only one way I was going to get a much needed beer Chang within the hour……head for the Klong! Whether you're heading to or from Khao San Road (KSR), and as long as it's before 7 pm, you should bear in mind the Klong (canal) boat taxis as a great alternative when wishing to explore the city as they have natural air-conditioning, there are no traffic jams and they are dead cheap. What more could you ask for?
From under the bridge just behind the Discovery Centre, Siam Square I arrived at Banglamphoo Pier (located under the bridge between the Queens Gallery and Golden Mount) refreshed and wide awake; after ducking under the low bridges along the way, in under 10 minutes for 5 baht.
After a ten minute walk, passing democracy monument, I was seated on KSR with Chang in hand, beer snacks ordered and unfortunately an all too familiar sight these days….. A young smoker (no, not the green kind) being escorted to the cop shop on the back of a police motorcycle.
NO, this is not going to be an account of my usual Friday night walkabout, but instead a much need reminder for all. Whether you're back in the kingdom again for some more fun this year or are here to leave your mark for the first time, take note because THINGS HAVE CHANGED!
Although it is not obviously apparent in most areas around the city, especially along KSR, there is a very hefty littering penalty in Thailand (take note of the yellow peril below) which conveniently goes hand in hand with the Government's Anti-Smoking regulations. Briefly, for the uninformed, smoking is prohibited in ALL public buildings and also "supposedly" in air-conditioned establishments (i.e. bars, clubs & restaurants).
Yes, I imagine right about now you're looking around Khao San and thinking, well hey, I don't see any such rules down here, but go tell that to the dude who stubbed out his cigarette on the ground while at the ATM. He was seen by a local motorcycle patrol officer and taken off to the cop shop; amidst applause from the misunderstood along the way, to be fined. The guy had no idea what he'd done wrong or what was going on. Unnecessary negativity on what may have been his first night out on KSR.
I speak from experience, there's no way of getting out of it once you've been seen littering; in particular easily seen glowing cigarette stubs, so bear in mind that the fine you'll have to fork out is anything up 2,000 Baht should you get caught. What's the solution? Basically think twice before you trash anything in the street. Just remember that there's a heap of restaurants and bars with ashtrays along KSR and litter bins around the city so be cool and make the effort, after all 2,000 Baht buys a lot of fun in the kingdom right?
And remember…..


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Publisher: FDG Entertainment
Genre: RPG
Released in: 2016
Platform: Playstation Vita
Developed in collaboration with Cornfox & Bros
Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas combines captivating storytelling, breathtaking 3D visuals and exciting gameplay into one epic action-adventure experience. In the game you explore the islands of Uncharted Seas, a world filled with many dangers, puzzles and secrets. Oceanhorn features a soundtrack created by Kalle Ylitalo, Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy) and Kenji Oto (Seiken Densetsu).


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Stanford University's Graduate School of Business has received a $150 million gift -- one of the largest in the university's history -- to create an institute to alleviate poverty through entrepreneurship, officials have announced.
The gift from Dorothy and Robert King of Menlo Park was inspired by 40 years of hosting international students in their home. As hosts, the Kings saw the impact that education and entrepreneurship can have on individuals and on a larger scale, they said in a Stanford announcement.
The funding will create the Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies (SIID, but referred to as "SEED"), which will help develop entrepreneurship in countries where the per-capita income is less than $1.25 per day. An estimated 1 billion people worldwide live at that level, business school officials said.
Robert King is an investment partner at Peninsula Capital in Menlo Park and a 1960 Stanford graduate business school alum. He said he was inspired by the success of one entrepreneurial venture, led by two entrepreneurs whom one of his houseguests introduced.
King provided seed money for Baidu, a Chinese-language search engine, which later debuted on NASDAQ in 2005. Baidu now employs 10,000 people in China, he said.
"We believe that innovation and entrepreneurship are the engines of growth to lift people out of poverty. And we believe Stanford's tradition of innovation coupled with a forward-thinking global bias as well as its multidisciplinary resources will make a real impact," he said.
Hau Lee, a professor of operations, information and technology at the Graduate School of Business, will head SEED. He said the institute will provide on-the-ground support for entrepreneurs, offer new courses and engage in research. Training programs could help local farmers to be independent, while funding and mentoring could help expand the work of overseas entrepreneurs, he said.
Stanford students will be able to travel to developing countries to work on socially conscious projects, such as product development, through the institute.
Employing entrepreneurship to build up economies "is distinct from providing humanitarian aid and relief. It is turning people from receivers of aid to self-employed or the working," Lee said.
The Graduate School of Business and Stanford's Hasso Plattner Institute of Design have already pioneered a program in which students collaborate with overseas organizations to identify needs and create new ventures. Two such examples are d.light, a consumer-products company serving people without electricity, and Driptech, a water-technologies firm that produces affordable, high-quality irrigation systems designed for small-plot farmers.
Garth Saloner, business-school dean, said many students want to work on the global level, making people's lives better through business, education, health care and governance.
He called SEED "an enormous opportunity for Stanford students, faculty and on-the-ground entrepreneurs."
"There are very few settled solutions about how best to alleviate poverty in a wide range of contexts, which means there is plenty of opportunity to uncover, share and apply new insights," Saloner said.
Lee has had his own first-hand experiences with the societal impact of business.
"I did a hazelnut plantation in Bhutan so that people didn't have to be migrants," he said. Prior to the project, village children were mostly raised without their fathers, and many areas had been deforested. But now, locals are able to stay home and work at the plantation. The fields and woodlands have been restored.
And 25 percent of the company's profits go back to the community, he said.
Social entrepreneurship also has positive political effects, he said. Local farmers are welcoming foreigners.
"They are not viewing it as Western capitalism coming in. It's having a positive impact," he said.
Stanford has received other large gifts: $400 million from the Hewlett Foundation in 2001 ($100 million for matching undergraduate scholarships and $300 million to the School of Humanities and Sciences); $100 million from real-estate developer John Arrillaga in 2006; $105 million from Nike founder Phil Knight in 2006; and $75 million from Business Wire founder Lorry Lokey in 2008.


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Titans must lose, unless long-shot tie would occur
With San Francisco due, the Browns pray they didn't leave hearts in Cincinnati. Prepare to fly to San Diego, or pack up the 2007 season and go home. That's how the coming Monday after shapes up for the Browns, with the race for the second of two AFC wild-card spots down to Cleveland and Tennessee. The Browns' game against the 49ers will end at about 4 p.m. Sunday. Odds are about 500-to-1 it won't matter if they win or lose, and must wait to see how the 8:15 p.m. Tennessee-at-Indianapolis game plays out. Suppose the Browns lose to San Francisco and finish at 9-7. If Indianapolis beats Tennessee, the Browns make the playoffs anyway. That's because both teams would be 9-7, and the tiebreaker that would apply would be records against AFC foes -- Cleveland's would be better, 7-5 to 6-6. If the Browns win, but Tennessee also wins, the Titans will get the second wild-card spot. That's because both teams would be 10-6. Both teams would be 7-5 against AFC foes, so the next tiebreaker would kick in: record against common opponents. Tennessee has that advantage. However, there's that longshot chance a win would be decisive for Cleveland. That would be the case only if the Titans and Colts tie. Cleveland would be 10-6. Tennessee would be 9-6-1. For what it's worth, the Browns were affected by the last tie recorded in the NFL, where ties are rare because of the sudden-death overtime system. The tie was between Pittsburgh and Atlanta on Nov. 10, 2002, a week after the Steelers won 23-20 at Cleveland. The Steelers and Falcons got to the end of the 15-minute extra session still tied at 34. For reasons relating to fatigue, the NFL limits overtimes to one period. Had Pittsburgh won, the Steelers would have finished at 11-5, earning a first-round bye. Instead, the Steelers had to play a first-round game against Cleveland. The Pittsburgh-Atlanta game is the NFL's only tie since the Browns came in 1999. If the Browns get in, odds are their first-round game will be at San Diego. That would be the case if the Chargers win at Oakland on Sunday (4:15 kickoff) to clinch the No. 3 seed. If San Diego loses, and Pittsburgh wins at Baltimore, the Steelers would be the No. 3 seed, hosting the No. 6 seed, Cleveland or Tennessee. One more note on possible ties: If Cleveland ties the 49ers and Tennessee loses, the Browns go to the playoffs. If the Browns and Titans both tie their opponents on Sunday, Tennessee advances, and pigs fly. 'On, Wisconsin' Maybe Joe Thomas can lead the Browns in a few choruses of the Wisconsin Badgers fight song. The Browns must hope that Jim Sorgi, an ex-Badger who helped persuade Thomas to attend Wisconsin, can lead Indianapolis past Tennessee on Sunday night. "I know Jim Sorgi's going to play at least a half," Colts Coach Tony Dungy told local media. "I don't know if he'll get in the game, if he'll get in the first half." That means Peyton Manning would play the first two quarters, at the most. Sorgi, 27, is tall and skinny by NFL standards. He joined the Colts as a sixth-round pick, No. 193 overall, in 2004. Derek Anderson was a sixth-round pick, No. 213 overall, a year later. Sorgi was 3-of-5 for 26 yards in mop-up duty in Sunday's 44-20 win at Baltimore. In four appearances this year, he is 17-of-29 for 175 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. In 13 career appearances, with no starts in four seasons, he is 66-of-102 for 683 yards, with five TDs, one interception, four sacks and a 96.2 rating. Help wanted Dungy can do Browns Coach Romeo Crennel a huge favor by playing his starters long enough to beat Tennessee. For what it's worth, Crennel did some of his best work as New England's defensive coordinator against Dungy. In the 2003 AFC finals, Crennel's defense played a key role in a 24-14 win over the Colts. In the 2004 AFC divisional round, Crennel's unit was even better in a 20-3 conquest of Manning and Co. "I think Tony's going to do what's best for his team, whether that affects the 'integrity' or not," Crennel said. "He's in the playoffs, and if he chooses not to play his starters, that's his choice. "He's not really worried about my team." The linger factor Crennel knows a win over the 49ers probably won't impact the playoff situation, yet, he said: "I think we need to win that game. I want to win that game." He thinks digging out of a 19-0 hole of Cincinnati counts for something, even though the outcome was a 19-14 loss. "This team continues to show some resiliency, some fight," he said. Beating the 49ers would put the Browns on a good note if they make the playoffs or heading into 2008. "We have to get over the loss," Crennel said. "If we let this disappointment linger, then we'll lose on Sunday. I'm not looking to do that." Extra points - The Browns have serious issues on the defense line. Starting nose tackle Ethan Kelly was placed on injured reserve Monday with a knee injury and Orpheus Roye (foot) and Robaire Smith (neck) left Cincinnati with injuries. ... Backup safety Mike Adams also was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury. He has played mostly special teams. - This is Crennel's way of saying he doesn't give Anderson a pass for having to deal with those awful Ohio River winds: "I think that there were a couple of throws that he would like to have back." - The Browns trailed just 6-0 late in the first half before Anderson threw two interceptions resulting in touchdowns. Crennel doesn't think the smarter play would have been to run the clock out. "I regret we threw the picks, that's what I regret," he said. - Crennel swatted away the notion the Browns took Cincinnati lightly: "I don't think that guys were full of themselves. Overall, they played hard." Canton Repository


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One might imagine the scene of California's richest citizens cruising along the Pacific Coast Highway would be filled with sporty convertible Mercedes or zippy BMWs. But true to California's reputation for a pioneering spirit, the state's wealthiest ZIP codes are home to more Toyota Prius hybrid models than luxury wheels.
TrueCar.com recently collected data from 2011 tax returns looking at the wealthiest ZIP codes in the country, and then looked at the auto registrations for the top 10 to understand what kind of cars the richest Americans are driving.
"For affluent buyers who live in places where environmental concerns reign supreme, the Toyota Prius is the ultimate status symbol in eco-luxury," said Kristen Andersson, an analyst at TrueCar.com.
Manhattan's 10724 ZIP code, the richest neighborhood in the country with an average annual income of $5.7 million, favors the more-predictable Mercedes-Benz E-Class followed by the BMW X-5 SUV. No Toyotas in their top five. But when it comes to California's top cities, it's hybrid or bust.
Drivers in the fifth richest city on the list, Century City in southern California (with an average annual income of $751,000) chose the Prius, followed by the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and C-Class sedans. The Volkswagen Jetta was the fifth favorite car in the community, just behind the BMW 328.
The Prius was also the car of choice in Ross, Calif., where the average annual income was $497,000. Ranked 10th on the most-wealthy list, inhabitants in this northern California enclave chose the Prius over the runners-up, luxury vehicles from the Mercedes-Benz E- Class and the Mercedes-Benz GL-Class.
Although denizens of Atherton, Calif., with an annual average income is $768,000, opted for the Mercedes-Benz E-Class as their top car, they showed their green spirit by choosing the Prius as their next most-purchased car.
Since the beginning of 2012, Prius sales have almost jumped to double their numbers since the same period last year. Will sales continue to rise? Consumer Reports' recent panning of the 2012 Prius C in "Five Popular Cars to Avoid" may be bad news for Toyota, but as long as the hybrid remains a symbol of a driver's commitment to the environment, especially among the nation's wealthiest, the future of the Prius should be secure.
To see the full list, visit TrueCar.com.
Related green car stories on MNN:


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bucket. Signs of a mcmorning include crackheadedness, slurs in speech also known as analexia, running uncontrollably into things, and laughing hysterically for no apparent reason. Also, the strangest occurrences that would otherwise never happen occur during a mcmorning where crackheads like you seem to appear everywhere. You know its a mcmorning when you watch a crackhead take down his pants in the middle of the street and shit on a wall, or when you find yourself brushing your teeth on a bench in the middle of a park, or when you imagine mcmonsters in the woods, AND when you wake up at the earliest hours of the morning to wake everyone else up to join you in the mcfun (at least 7 o'clock).
Lizzie and Natalie: Mcmorning!


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Enjoy Free Shipping*
Espresso coffee maker in 18/10 stainless steel. Magnetic steel bottom suitable for induction cooking. 10 cups.
Richard Sapper was born in 1932 in Munich, where he pursued courses in philosophy, anatomy and engineering. He began his design career in the styling department of Daimler Benz in Stuttgart, before......
The delivery of the products purchased on www.alessi.com takes place within 48 working hours in Italy and 3-5 working days for all other Countries.
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Jazeera has leather seating in both fare classes and passengers travelling in economy receive complimentary meals, which change monthly.
Guests receive priority boarding and disembarkation, in addition to workspaces set between business class seats. Business class passengers also receive a range of extended, complimentary meal options.
Passengers travelling in economy class have 40kgs of free baggage allowance each and those in business class may each take up to 60kgs of baggage.
Check-in counters open 3 hours prior to flight departure in all countries. These counters close 1 hour prior to scheduled departure in Dubai and Egypt and 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure time in other countries served by Jazeera Airways.
Business class travellers may access a dedicated check-in counter.
Travellers in business class receive complimentary access to airport lounges.


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We're sorry, but we encountered a failure during the last operation. Please try again.
If you got here by typing a URL, please make sure the spelling, capitalization, and punctuation are correct, then try reloading the page. If you're still having trouble, try starting at OpenTable.com.
Contact OpenTable support if you need help.
Contact OpenTable support if you need help.


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Will be what IIoT adds to the global economy by 2030.
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Over the next few days V and I are taking a few days break down the coast – a long weekend away of sorts – after what has been a rather full on few months.
So in my absence I've decided to run a little series highlighting some posts from my archives that newer readers to the site might not have seen (our house sitter didn't feel like keeping my blogs going as well as watering our plants for some reason).
These are the posts that I regularly give the links to when readers ask questions via email. They were all written in 2004 (I'll do another series of posts from 2005 in the future if this works out OK).
Some of them are slightly dated in some aspects – but all of them still contain 'gems' that will helpfully help new readers and old reader alike. Please feel free to add your own tips and ideas on each of the posts.
I hope you enjoy this series – I know I'll be enjoying the chance to take a few days off!


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As big assignment approaches, Ventura cool
Royals' 22-year-old righty has impressed en route to earning start against Tigers
DETROIT -- Things threatened to get a bit stormy in Yordano Ventura's big league debut last year, but there was a moment the skies cleared and everything changed.
Carlos Santana walked to open the Indians' second inning. The count on Michael Brantley went to 2-2 as Ventura threw two pitches into the dirt. After a 100-mph fastball was fouled off, Brantley hit a sharp chopper back to the kid pitcher.
It was the perfect recipe for a raw, tense rookie to whirl toward second base and heave the ball into center field. That was not Ventura, as pitching coach Dave Eiland remembered so well.
"He turned, and no panic -- perfect peg to second, turned two and the next guy flied out," Eiland said. "He's a special kid."
On that debut night, Sept. 17 at Kauffman Stadium, Ventura stepped right into the middle of the Indians-Royals scrap over an American League Wild Card berth and coolly pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up only one run. The Royals lost, 5-3, through no fault of his.
Ventura did well enough last September and in this Spring Training to win the last open spot in Kansas City's rotation. He'll start the season's third game on Thursday afternoon at Detroit.
"Detroit is a very good team, and to appear in the opening series is very exciting," Ventura said.
A smiling 22-year-old, Ventura might be excited, but he's certainly not frazzled by the assignment.
"He has great mound presence," Eiland said. "There's no panic in him. If there is, he hides it well."
Ventura has a simple explanation for his calm demeanor.
"Every time, I'm getting more comfortable and not trying to do too much," he said.
Such as throwing a 100-mph fastball with every pitch. That's Ventura's great natural ability, but he's learned that one doesn't survive in the Major Leagues simply by throwing white heat.
"You still have to pitch," manager Ned Yost said. "Does it help you? Yeah, absolutely. But it doesn't help you if you can't get your secondary pitches over for strikes. Then they just spit on everything and gear up for the fastball and wait for it, take everything else."
Last year, in his debut, Ventura threw one pitch that was clocked at 102.8 mph, the fastest recorded by a starting pitcher all last season.
Ventura, though, has learned to throw his breaking ball and changeup for strikes, and he understands that such variety will be the spice of his baseball life.
"I try to confuse the hitters," he said. "I throw changeups, fastballs, breaking balls. Sometimes inside, outside, up, down."
"For a young player," Yost said, "he's very quick to make adjustments, which is very impressive. He retains, he studies and he adjusts."
Nothing like a changeup at 83 mph followed by gas at 101, or vice versa.
All of this speed grew from the serenity of Samana, a Dominican Republic bayside town with a population of about 15,000.
"I played at home, I liked baseball when I was a young guy, about 8 years old," Ventura said.
Before the Royals signed Ventura in 2008 at age 17, he was a shortstop as well as a pitcher.
"I played a lot of ball at home, and my arm got stronger because I'd throw, throw, throw," he said. "When I signed, I threw 91 [mph] or 89. The next year, I could throw 95. Then I got up to 99."
And -- thanks partially to his present weight of 192 pounds -- 102 mph.
Ventura is working on improving his English and is doing quite well -- "I practice every day," he said -- with help from his Dominican buddy Kelvin Herrera and other Latin American teammates such as Bruce Chen.
There'll be a further touch of home for Ventura this summer, when his mother, Marisol, joins him in Kansas City.
"She is a very, very good cook. Rice, beans and chicken. It's the best," he said.
Sometimes called "Yo," Ventura's home life also includes movies, notably "The Fast and the Furious" series in addition to Spanish-language films, and PlayStation 3 baseball and basketball video games.
Most of Ventura's life, though, centers on the pitching mound, and he finds himself dependent on the guidance of catcher Salvador Perez.
"Salvy calls a lot of good pitches, he's more veteran than me," Ventura said.
Wiser, perhaps, and older. Perez, remember, is all of 23.
"He throws hard. The command he has is pretty good for a kid that throws the ball that hard," the catcher said. "He's got a little changeup, a curveball and a cutter, but he doesn't throw the cutter too often."
What keeps Ventura so calm in a storm?
Perez's deep laugh rumbled.
"Because he knows he can get an out," he said.


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This may have been Chris Matthews best rant ever about my buddy Mitt:
If you have five minutes or so, click on the link and check it out. Besides the hilarity of it, Matthews' rant is worth watching for his delivery, vocabulary and facial expressions, all extraordinary. Political commentary just doesn't get any better.
I used to alternate between The Ed Show and Rachel, but for some reason switched to Chris Matthews six months or so ago, just about when the Presidential campaign got going. I don't what I've missed on the other two shows, but watching Matthews' coverage of Romney evolve over the past months has been hilarious. I don't think he ever liked Mitt, or even respected him, but whatever opinion he did have has gone from bad to really, really, really worse. I can't imagine worse treatment than I saw on tonight's show, but the reality is there are three months left until the election, and it's headed in only one direction.
So what's going on here? Matthews has been at this a long time. What has Romney done to set him off that no other pol has? It's hard to guess. After all, there are many, many possibilities.