text:
Notre Dame Faces Groundswell of Outrage after Announcing Plan to Honor Obama
ND Prof McInerny: "Notre Dame has forfeited its right to call itself a Catholic university."
Mon Mar 23, 2009 - 11:15 am EDT Sat Jun 19, 2021 - 10:14 am EDT
By Kathleen Gilbert
NOTRE DAME, Indiana, March 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Within hours of the announcement that Notre Dame has invited President Obama to issue the school's commencement address and receive an honorary law degree, thousands of Catholics shook cyberspace – and Notre Dame's telephone switchboard – with outrage and demands to rescind the invitation.
Soon after the simultaneous statements by the White House and Notre Dame were released Friday afternoon, the voicemail boxes of University administrators were reportedly full with complaints against Notre Dame president Fr. John Jenkin's decision to honor the leader many refer to as "the abortion president."
Leading the charge is the Cardinal Newman Society (CNS), which launched a website immediately following the announcement, offering a petition to combat the school's plans (https://www.notredamescandal.com/). CNS reported Monday afternoon that the petition topped 33,500 signers in 72 hours, averaging 270 signatures an hour, and that the society has received almost 25,000 emails decrying the scandal.
"It is an outrage and a scandal that 'Our Lady's University,' one of the premier Catholic universities in the United States, would bestow such an honor on President Obama given his clear support for policies and laws that directly contradict fundamental Catholic teachings on life and marriage," the petition reads. CNS president Patrick J. Reilly also faxed a letter to Notre Dame's Bishop John D'Arcy of Fort Wayne-South Bend requesting intervention.
CatholicVote.com has joined the Society's effort with an email campaign to promote the petition.
"For a prominent Catholic institution to give President Obama the benefit of their platform is shocking and disappointing," said CatholicVote.com president Brian Burch. A commencement speaker, he said, is held out as "someone students ought to emulate and admire. There's a clear contradiction between his policies and that which a Catholic institution is presumably bound to promote."
CNS also reports that Project Sycamore, an organization dedicated to protecting Notre Dame's Catholic identity, is organizing alumni to protest the honor.
Ralph McInerny, a prominent Catholic writer and philosophy professor at Notre Dame since 1955, said in an article on The Catholic Thing that, "By inviting Barack Obama to be the 2009 commencement speaker, Notre Dame has forfeited its right to call itself a Catholic university."
"Not to put too fine a point on it, this is a deliberate thumbing of the collective nose at the Roman Catholic Church to which Notre Dame purports to be faithful," he wrote. "Faithful? Tell it to Julian the Apostate."
"For one whose fifty-four year career as a member of the Notre Dame faculty is coming to an end this June," wrote McInerny, "it is a bitter thing to reflect on the 2009 commencement speaker. … One has groaned at previous selections, but the invitation to Barack Obama is far from being the usual effort of the university to get into warm contact with the power figures of the day. It is an unequivocal abandonment of any pretense at being a Catholic university.
"Lip service may be paid to the teaching on abortion, but it is no impediment to upward mobility, to the truly vulgar lust to be welcomed into secular society, whether on the part of individuals or institutions," he continued.
A National Reporter Online symposium article gathered the words of several high-profile Catholics, including two Notre Dame professors, weighing in on the news. (https://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OTBlNmY2NzM4ODdkNDY0NzRjMzA3OTZlYjg5YzcwYjU=&w=MA==)
Ethicist and moral theologian Pia de Solenni suggested that the invitation "could be an excellent opportunity for Notre Dame gently and publicly to remind the nation of the university's Catholic identity and the incompatibility of the president's hostile actions with this identity.
"At the same time, the university could extend an invitation to dialogue in hopes that the president could come to respect these beliefs even if he does not agree with them," wrote Solenni, who emphasized that "it would have to be eminently clear to all on the part of the university that a tension exists between its professed values and the president's actions."
CNS president Patrick J. Reilly, however, was pessimistic about the possible effects of the invitation. "This is not an academic event; it is an honors ceremony," he wrote. "There will be no questions or dialogue, nothing learned. …We have been betrayed."
"The invitation to deliver a commencement address, especially when coupled with the award of an honorary degree, is not a neutral act," wrote Catholic author George Weigel. "It's an act by which a Catholic institution of higher learning says, 'This is a life worth emulating according to our understanding of the true, the good, and the beautiful.'" Weigel added it was "frankly beyond my imagining how Notre Dame can say that" of the broadly pro-abortion president.
Pro-life leaders quickly joined the chorus of condemnation.
"American Life League joins the Cardinal Newman Society and all Catholics of good will in condemning Notre Dame University's defamation of Our Lady through its unconscionable invitation to the leading symbol, hero and darling of the culture of death," stated American Life League President Judie Brown, who called the invitation "disgusting pandering to the culture of death" and urged constituents to cease funding the University if it persisted.
"Father Jenkins cannot expect pro-life Catholics to stand back and allow the most pro-abortion president in U.S. history to make a mockery of Notre Dame's Catholic identity," said Pro-Life League National Director Joe Scheidler, himself a graduate of Notre Dame.
Fr. Jenkins insisted over the weekend, after the protests began, that the invitation would remain.
To contact Notre Dame:
email form: https://president.nd.edu/contact-us
Notre Dame Fellows:
Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., President, U. of Portland
Patrick F. McCartan, Senior partner, Jones Day
William M. Goodyear, CEO, Navigant Consulting
list of all Notre Dame Fellows: https://www.nd.edu/leadership/fellows/
To contact the USCCB:
Cardinal Francis George, President
Archdiocese of Chicago
phone: 312-751- 8200
Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, Chairman, Committee on Education
Diocese of Worcester
committee email: [email protected]
To contact Notre Dame's bishop:
Bishop John D'Arcy, Fort Wayne-South Bend Diocese
Fort Wayne Chancery
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Notre Dame President: School "Honored" by Obama's Acceptance to Speak and Receive Honorary Degree
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/mar/09032306.html
Catholic Notre Dame University to Give Obama Honorary Degree on May 17, Against USCCB Policy


Ten patients with biopsy-proven Alzheimer's disease (AD) received low-dose (0. 35 mg/d) intraventricular bethanechol, a muscarinic agonist, and saline placebo in a 24-week double-blind crossover design. Eight of these ten patients later participated in an open escalating-dose (to 1.75 mg/d) trial of bethanechol. Patients' drug responses were assessed by neuropsychological examination and informant measures of activities of daily living, mood disturbance, and abnormal behavior. Bethanechol appears to have a narrow therapeutic window for positive effects; low doses did not reliably alter patient functioning, moderately increased doses appeared to have a palliative effect on patient mood and behavior, and the highest dose was detrimental to patient functioning. Bethanechol does not appear to ameliorate the dementia of AD, but may exert a mildly positive effect on patient behavior and mood.


The game intro has the humans and orcs battling as usual when all of a sudden fire rains down from the sky and dark creatures come down destroying everything in sight. This unknown force must be stopped and quickly! In the single player campaign a prophet warns the humans and the orcs to gather their armies but the humans won\'t listen. Little do they know the people they lose in battle will come back to fight against them. The undead forces must be stopped along with their plagues. You get to experience the story from multiple perspectives. You get to play all races in the single player campaign. From the orc campaign you get to play Thrall a young warrior orc who is experiencing disturbing visions. The prophet will guide him and his army against the coming chaos. On the human side you get to play the noble prince Arthas trying to solve the mystery of these plagues. Through your journey you will get the aide of dwarves, elves and a sorceress named Jaina.
You can play against the computer or against your friends via LAN or Battle.Net. There are four races you can play. Each offering unique heroes, magic and abilities. Each race possesses similar units from grunt workers to heroes. Most fighting units have strengths and weaknesses. Pay attention to these as you are sending them out to fight.
Each chapter has a primary mission objective for you to complete. Oftentimes, there are optional quests which can land you some nice loot if you can complete them. The quests themselves can vary between rescuing someone, establishing a base, exploring territory, or to just surviving for a given time period!
From a Christian perspective this game has violence. Although the game play is not too violent (some blood), the cut scenes can be graphic. There is swearing. All races have an altar of some sort, and their own religious beliefs. Magic is heavily used as well. The humans like to follow the light and the undead tend to serve darkness. There is sacrificing in the game from a couple of the races. The undead are just plain horrid and quite evil indeed. They practice necromancy and summon many undead beings. Unlike the previous WarCrafts, I was happy not to see any pentagrams. However some buildings had 5 pointed stars in their architecture. Other symbols found in the game were obelisks. Finally I wish the female sorceresses covered their stomachs...wouldn\'t you think they would get scratched in battle?


Founded in 1969, GAP is one of the world's most iconic apparel and accessories brands and the authority on American casual style. The GAP's kid's collection is cute and cozy with must-have pieces for baby, toddler, and kids. GAP's Superdenim offers the softest, stretchiest, and most comfortable jeans with simplified waistbands and modern silhouettes. Discover sweatshirts, jeans and adorable graphic t-shirts.


As this month sees the student demonstrations of November 9 and the impending trade union strikes of November 30, as well as the continuing international Occupy movement, Activism 2011 was rife with passionate discussion and a momentum of possibility for change.
The NUS hosted the UK's biggest student conference on November 17 at Goldsmiths College. The free event combined interactive workshops, roundtable discussions, lectures and film screenings for a day that was as jam-packed as it was radicalising.
Workshops provided the opportunity for like-minded students from across the UK to discuss the contentious issues affecting young people, from education to the environment, public service cuts to poverty, and from local community to global justice.
A popular theme of the event was the use of social media to affect change, plan direct action, and increase dialogue between campaign groups. The session, Social Media in Campaigning, hosted by NUS web officer, Dan Higgins, explored the potential of Twitter to build and maintain student campaigns. The idea was reinforced by a long discussion of the UCL Occupation of December 2010 against tuitions fees and university cuts, where Twitter played a vital role.
The Real Social Network, a film made by UCL students, decisively announced to the conference "protest has changed". The film follows a group of students in London from December to March 2011 as they occupied universities, shut down banks and hacked software on the way to building the student movement. One that has sent ripples around the world in the past 12 months.
UK Youth Climate Coalition was also central to the "unite and fight" sentiment of the occasion. The session promised to "inspire, empower, mobilise, unite". They discussed intergenerational justice, empowering young people, and more specifically, planning exactly how young people can increase the UK's commitment to tackling climate change.
Similarly, the direct action group, Plane Stupid, hosted a session looking at the role of "cheeky, creative, and confrontational actions in campaigning for social change" – from super-gluing yourself to the Prime Minister to teaming up with local residents against airport expansion. The group, who are also involved with the Grow Heathrow project, set the tone for energetic passion as key to bringing about government change.
Emily James' film, Just Do It, followed environmental action groups campaigning at the Copenhagen Climate Conference and used humour to persuade the young, impressionable student audience that direct action – whether it ends in jail sentences or not – is the only way forward.
Though characterised by a somewhat cheeky youthfulness, the tone underpinning the entire day's events was undoubtedly the gearing-up toward the November 30 day of action. The demonstration is expected to see full strikes across the public sector, in the capital and across the UK.
NUS campaigner, Jim Dickinson, led what was perhaps the most insightful session of the day, understanding political apathy and defeating it.
The interactive workshop, which examined the latest research on political apathy, identified the top 10 measures that organisations use to actively generate apathy. Fuming with political angst, Dickinson's enraptured audience griped at the indifference of "everybody else". "Don't these people care?" someone asked.
The event was a resounding success, with almost 1000 students attending. This is a welcome change for student activists across the country, for whom the NUS has long been characterised for its inability to get fully behind the student movement. In November 2010, former NUS president Aaron Porter, publicly apologised for his "spineless" lack of public support for university occupations across the country.
"For too long, the NUS has perhaps been too cautious and too spineless about being committed to supporting student activism… I just want to apologise for my dithering in the last few days", Porter said.
Heralding a conference about activism does not actually go a long way towards changing the perception of the NUS as all talk, and little action, but it is definitely a start.


My little friend Maddux who is 4.5 is getting his work on this summer and loving every minute! Many of the things that he wasn't interested in at all in the Fall he is gravitating too. One of them is our land forms.
His favorite landform is the Island. Maddux could play with the Island landform all day and night if he could.
I bet you can imagine his delight when he was shown how to make his very own to take home.
This has led to so much playful learning which is developing his sense of the world.
This is such a sweet post. I love watching such enthusiasm for learning.
He will remember this one! Perfect for a child's love of building.
Where Did All Of The Leaves Go?


Sorry, we couldn't find any 2017 Mitsubishi Lancer listings that matched your search criteria.
Avg. Dealer Rating: (64 reviews) "I visited dealer late in day on sat. Met with salesperson who was very informative. I was impressed with the prices on the vehicles. Unfortunately, I had to leave and decided next day to go to look at the Kia soul at BIll Lukes."


But trails all sane people.
Experts predict tens of millions will jump out of windows.
With unending calls from debt collection agencies.
Because it has worked so well in Greece.
Good news: we've still got a few working F-16s.
And name of your first dog.
Everyone got by using an abacus, fashioning homemade wings, reading their tea leaves.
Be nice to the person training you to replace them, you might end up training them to replace you.
Not, as they claim, last Thursday.
Unless they don't have to work.
Hopes to build winning coalition of potheads, gun owners, xenophobes, tax evaders.


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Eritrea: The Young Nation With Numerous Attractions
Eritrea – a young nation, possessing evidences of ancient civilization; a heritage that dates back to the creation of human kind and land gifted with fascinating features of land. Moving colors of culture, a wonderland of pleasure and a magic sea of adventure; a coastal line most suitable to scuba diving, not to mention swimming and rafting; a desert attractive for camel rides in the bright moonlight of the summer night; a fascinating countryside of landscape and vegetation, permanently forest and green; challenging mountains and slopes, risky cliffs and dykes attractive to climbers; an ideal land of explorers, the dreamland of all visitors; an enchanted land that is simply magnificent with a breathtaking highland; refreshing beaches of the tropical paradise; spectacular coral garden of the underworld heaven. It is a unique country, with a treasure of history, a hospitable people of shared smile, famous for their faith and culture, dancing in harmony with nature and one another; a diverse culture of many colors, yet united as one that no one can disperse. Home to faith and religion, the land of ancient spiritual meditation; the place of grand monuments and unique monasteries; blessed land of impressive churches, yet with history of the first mosque; land of various ethnic groups of different lifestyle and a unique tradition. Hence, Eritrea is a potential tourist destination.
As a matter of fact, tourists are welcome to enjoy the attractions. To begin with, lose yourself in the Dahlak Islands to enjoy the underwater world of a billion creatures. On your way exploring the 350 unspoiled islands, you should never miss to stay a moment in one of the hottest places on earth, the Danakil Depression with 300 feet below sea level. Hence, to the adventure tourists, there lies one of the majestic volcanoes around Dubbi of Eritrea which was created by the violent underground activity of the African Plate (Nubian) to the west and the Eurasian, Arabian, Indian, and Somalia Plates to the east. These volcanoes along with other large number of volcanoes lie along the Great Rift Valley. Also tourists may cruise down the southeastern portion of the coastal plain and enjoy the Denakil Depression, the lowest and hottest place on planet, which is also part of The Great Rift Valley. Again this depression is the site of what is known as the Alid volcano. Hence, apart from tourist attraction, researchers have assessed that the area of this volcano is a potential for possible geothermal resources, which may be used in the future to produce electricity for the country. If you happen to have more time, take the pleasure to discover the historical shipwrecks. There exist loads of wreck ships ruined during the Second World War. There also exists a bulk of Ethiopian wreck ships destroyed by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front during the armed struggle for independence.
Hence, the historical ships in the Eritrean Red Sea are "a dream come true" to the international wreck ship diving tourist divers. Studies have discovered that the Dahlak Kebir Island in the Gubbet Musnefi t area harboring some Italian wreck ships from WWII. Some of them include: Nazario Sauro, Urania, promoeteo, Giuseppe Mazzini, Bottego …etc. Moreover, tourists are most attracted to the sandy beach of the Red Sea enjoying the wide sandy beaches and calm sea waves along the Red Sea coast; these are the safe heavens to nature-loving tourist. The Gurgusum, Buri Pennisula, Zula Bay, Mersa Gulbub, Mersa Ibrahim and Ras Kuba. Again, as you cruise back to the capital of the country take the winding route of Filfil Selemuna to explore the wildlife of the green belt forest. For this reason, for those bird lovers, and bird hunters, you will need to stay more in Semenawi Bahri (Filfi l), a few kilometers from Asmara, is protected area for the county's national park for it is a region with numerous species of fauna and fl ora. Studies have proved that the region is rich in wildlife such as ground hornbill family bird life that includes francolins, sunbird, shrikes, canaries, turacou, serins, starling, green pigeon, oriole, barbet, robin baboon and babblers. Moreover, here and there in the cloudy vegetation of Solomuna, various love-birds, wood dove, coucal, warblers, perinea, cisticola, woodpeckers, cameroptera, crombeck, varieties of parrots, warblers, tit and hornbill are chanting and dancing together with nature. Equally attractive alternative, one may travel along the moving landscape of Nefasit Arberebue, just through the sweeping fogs and dark clouds in a steam train or a diesel one.
To test ancient archeological site dating back to 400-500 BC, one should travel to the south of the country so as to enjoy the impressive ruins of Kohaito, Tokondae, Keskese, and Belew Kelew and or Metera of Senafe. Grand monuments and striking ancient structures are still standing high in these sites. These include obelisks with inscriptions dating back to the 3rd century. Just a few miles drive, one should explore the oldest Christian Monasteries of the country including DebreLibanos, founded late 5th century by Syrian Missionary Aba Metae or Matewos. This is sited perched in the edge of a cliff of the Ham Plateau. Eritrea has more to offer to tourists in its cities and towns. The architecture includes a range of style Turkish, Egyptian, and Italian styles. The Neo-Florentine, Neoclassical Art Deco of the 1930s Italian structures is prevalent in the country. One may enjoy these structures just at a glance when strolling down town Asmara, the capital of the country.
The country's capital itself is most of the times quoted as "the museum piece of architecture." Asmara is situated on a plateau some 115kms away from the Red Sea port of Massawa. It stands in the cool central, and atop of the eastern escarpments. It was established early in the beginning of the 20th century with the advent of Italian colonialism in Eritrea. The city is connected with the port city of Massawa with an impressive highway zigzagging down from above 2200 meters to the sea level. It is also linked with the port with one of the World's most amazing stem locomotive travels. The city is always admired for its majestic building styles. It is unique for it is a complete Art Deco city. It is believed to have an outstanding architectural heritage possessing the greatest concentration of the most advanced 1930s architecture in the world. It is said that in the 1940s, Asmara was one of the dazzling international modern cities in the world.
The buildings stand a living monument for the 20th century wonderful inventions. Someone strolling down the streets of the city would simply enjoy buildings that look like ships floating in a sea. Some others, such as the Fiatagliero building look like a flying jet plane. Many others buildings symbolize Guglielmo Marconi's invention, the radio receiver. Hence, Asmara is a memory of architectural heritage of the 1920s of the Italian colonial times. Additionally, the city is special for its cleanliness and good network of transportation. The hotels or accommodations in the city are suitable for all kinds of pockets; whether it is business trip or a leisure vacation. The city is active all the nightlong; the various pubs, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs provide tourists with striking native dishes, international. Delicacies, alcoholic drinks and beverages. More importantly, however, Asmara is loved by many as one of the most peaceful, charming, and civilized cities in the world not only for its climate and setting but also for the calm dignity of its citizens.
This is common throughout the major Eritrean cities in the country. More than anything else the security and the hospitable citizens of country make tourists feels at home. The people of Eritrea are very friendly; they have the belief that, "a guest at home is god at home." A special test for tourists is also the sites of the liberation struggle situated in bleak mountains of the Sahel, northern angle of Eritrea. Hence one must be willing to enjoy the arduous journey across the rough terrain mountains to visit these miraculous EPLF defenses, trenches, bunkers of Nakfa, Himbol and the Roras Plateaus, and the Denden terrains. Most prominently, Eritrea is the land of important historic routes including the following international historic routes: The Holy Grail or Ark of Covenant Trail on which the Ark of the Covenant was allegedly brought
from the Middle East into Eritrea. And the Queen of Sheba Triangle that involved stopping over of the Queen in Eritrea and supposedly she gave birth to the son of Solomon in Eritrea Besides, the Route of Sahaba on which some disciples of Mohammed travelled from Mecca to Massawa and to inland of Eritrea. Hence, the magic in the country is countless; the adventure delightful; the attractions impressive; the people and their culture welcoming; their life bright and cheerful, their diversity colorful; their common factors pride and confidence; their harmony and unity, united in the same wave.
The past half century marks a period of struggle and progress characterized with historic accomplishments: PFDJ
September in the Eritrean Calendar
INTERVIEW OF PRESIDENT ISAIAS AFWERKI WITH LOCAL MEDIA Part I (Abridged)
Joint Statement by Foreign Ministers of the State of Eritrea and the People's…
ሓተታ : ዓለማዊ ግንባር ኣንጻር ዕብለላን ተጻብኦታትን

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I'll find someone new without you.
I cry in my sleep at night.
I'm breaking apart without you.
I hardly ever think about you.
Baby come back I need you.
And I'm wondering, if you're doing fine too.
I look in that mirror, you look so sad.
You ain't slept a wink in days.
Haven't had a thing to say.
Since the girl left it's all gone bad.
I could really use a hand.
I don't think I'll make it on my own.
I'll just go on prayin' she comes home.
How we gonna do it, now?
gotta get her home some way.
So, how we gonna do it?
How am'I gonna do it now?
How am'I gonna do it?
Come on help me make a plan.
Since that girl left I hurt alot.
Looks like you're the only friend I got.
So how am'I gonna do it?
HOW AM I GONNA DO IT BABY!?!?
How we gonna do it, baby?
I'm gonna sit and cry like I do.
That things will work out right.
It's a big, wide, wonderful world.


Commenting on the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) minutes for February 2012 published today by the Bank of England, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:"As expected, the decision by the MliPC to maintain interest rates at 0.5% was unanimous. But there was a surprising split on the decision to increase Quantitative Easing (QE), with seven members voting for a £50bn rise and two members voting for £75bn. Those supporting a larger QE increase (of £75bn) did so because there is a risk of a prolonged period of depressed demand in the economy. However, we believe the majority were right in restricting the increase to £50bn, as there are signs that the domestic economy is improving slightly and the eurozone threats are now less acute.


Why Sleep is Important and What Happens when you don't get enough?
Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite. Obesity – Studies have shown that people who get less then 6 hours of sleep are at a higher risk of getting a hormone imbalance which can cause a serious imbalance in your appetite control. Also make you feel less full after eating.
It's particularly important to watch what you put in your body in the hours leading up to your bedtime.


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Energy bill falls short, but still alive
January 1, 2004	By LP Gas
For the second year in a row, big benefits to the propane industry didn't quite make it through Congress.
But unlike 2002, when each house passed an energy bill but failed to reconcile the two versions, conferees in 2003 agreed on the Energy Policy Act, which provides tax benefits for the propane industry and some increased grant money.
While the House approved the conference report, opponents in the Senate blocked a vote in November, charging that the bill gives too many benefits to big business. The Senate could vote on the same bill early in 2004, or conferees could drop some provisions the objectors find offensive.
The bill does not include a provision pushed by the National Propane Gas Association to allow a tax credit for buyers of propane as automotive fuel. The Senate had earlier approved the provision but the House did not.
Some of the bill's provisions are:
Tax benefits for vehicles
Buyers of propane-powered vehicles could claim the entire clean-fuel vehicle deduction through 2006. Previous law phased it out after 2004.
Taxpayers can deduct up to $150,000 per site for the cost of clean fuel refueling property, up from $100,000 in current law. Also, the act would expand the definition of clean fuel to include hydrogen produced from propane. The deduction lasts through 2008, except for hydrogen (2011).
Buyers of alternative fuel vehicles could get tax credits of up to $40,000 depending on the cost of gasoline-powered equivalents, emissions, and size.
Credits for buildings
Builders and homeowners would get a 20 percent, non-refundable credit on the price of energy efficiency materials (insulation, exterior windows, etc.), up to $2,000 per unit between the years 2004 and 2006. Homeowners could apply the credit against both the regular tax and alternative minimum tax.
Manufacturers would get a credit of up to $100 for energy efficient washing machines and $150 for refrigerators built between 2004 and 2007.
Builders of commercial properties could claim credits of up to $1.50 per square foot for energy efficient properties built by 2010.
Levels of direct spending
Authorization of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program would get increased to $3.4 billion for each of the next three years. The Department of Health & Human Services would get a year to recommend a new formula for apportioning funds among states, considering average costs and usage of heating and air conditioning homes in different regions.Separately, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions approved the Poverty Reduction & Prevention Act, which would increase LIHEAP funding by the same amounts with unspecified funding for the four following years.
It also would issue emergency funds if the number of heating or cooling days for a month was more than 100 above the 30-year average in a state or region, or if home energy costs increase by 20 percent above the five-year average for a given month.
The National Energy Assistance Directors Association predicts the increase would raise the percentage of eligible households from 17 to 32. PRPA would also allow $600 million a year in emergency funds. Under EPA, Weatherization would get $325 million in 2004, $400 million in 2005 and $500 million in 2006.
Local agencies providing transportation to public schools could get grants under a new Green School Bus Pilot Program for using alternative fuel-powered buses. The program begins in 2005 with $45 million, grows to $65 million in 2006 and $90 million in 2007, and unspecified sums in 2008 and 2009.
The legislation creates a new Low Income Community Energy Efficiency Pilot Program with $20 million per year in 2003-05 for grants to local governments and non-profits to improve energy distribution and conservation in poverty areas.
Finally, the bill would provide unspecified grants to states through 2012 for the Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program to give consumers refunds for buying Energy Star appliances.
Briefly speaking
RSPA pushes through incident reporting rule
The Research & Special Programs Administration has issued final rules modifying the federal incident reporting requirements and the hazardous materials incident report form.
The National Propane Gas Association had joined The Fertilizer Institute in opposing many aspects of the rule changes. NPGA had supported exempting "de minimis" releases to avoid nuisance reporting, but the Department of Transportation disagreed and made the rule apply to propane.
NPGA also opposed another provision that requires companies to file a report in situations in which product retention systems are damaged but no propane is released. The new rule requires reports be filed when repairs to the damaged component are needed. NPGA plans to seek reconsideration of the provision, asking the DOT to require reporting only where immediate repair of to the product retention system is required. Details are in the Dec. 3 Federal Register.
RSPA also proposed to formally incorporate certain widely-used exemptions to hazmat regulations into its rules. These include use of salvage cylinders and meters. Details are in the Dec. 4 Federal Register. RSPA is taking comments until Feb. 6.
Propane prices rising
The average residential propane price at the start of December rose 16.6 cents per gallon from a year earlier, including one-tenth of a cent in November. Wholesale prices dropped 7.9 cents over the year and 0.9 cents in November to 62.9 cents, according to the Energy Information Administration.
Pipeline safety advisory issued
The Office of Pipeline Safety issued an advisory bulletin to pipeline operators warning them to check new steel lines. Stray electrical currents can cause external corrosion. Details: Nov. 12 Federal Register.
This article is tagged with congress, energy bill, government, Guest column, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), National Propane Gas Association (NPGA) and posted in Current Issue
Common carriers mull solutions to challenging driver environment
Propane Fuels America: Maryland
Propane Fuels America: Delaware


Plans have been announced to sell two military sites in Shropshire to help provide land for almost 30,000 homes across England.
Among facilities to be sold is Venning and Parsons Barracks at Telford, and the historic Plymouth headquarters of 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines.
Defence sources said that the Marines had ``outgrown'' Stonehouse Barracks, close to the city's waterfront and dating back to the 18th century. The Brigade is to be relocated to a new home with facilities suited to their modern requirements.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) intends to sell off 13 sites to raise £225 million.
Network Rail (NR), which owns and operates Britain's railway infrastructure, is finalising plans to sell almost 200 sites for around 12,000 homes.
These include 700 homes at the former Manchester Exchange station, and 800 homes at a site in Chesterton, Cambridge.
An NR spokeswoman said the organisation was not able to provide an overall figure for how much it expects to raise from the process.
The MoD sales form part of a programme of defence estate rationalisation announced in last year's Spending Review and is expected to deliver a total of #1 billion in revenue while creating space for 55,000 homes, including some in areas of high demand.
In a written statement to the House of Commons, Defence Minister Mark Lancaster said consultations will take place over the coming weeks with ``stakeholders'' including trade unions, to determine the future of each site and their occupants.
Also up for sale is the site of the Royal Military Police HQ and Defence School of Policing and Guarding at Southwick Park, in Fareham, Hampshire.
Other facilities being sold off are RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire; Chalgrove airfield in Oxfordshire; Colerne airfield and the Azimghur barracks near Chippenham, Wiltshire; the Prince William of Gloucester barracks in Grantham; the Venning and Parsons barracks in Telford; Middlewick ranges near Colchester; Amport House in Andover, Hampshire; and land at Old Dalby in Leicestershire and Harley Hill in North Yorkshire.
NR anticipates that land for around 5,000 homes will be delivered in London, 3,600 in Manchester and the north of England, 1,700 in the Midlands and east of England, and 1,400 in the south.
The company's managing director for property, David Biggs, said: ``Network Rail has been unlocking land for development for over a decade, providing space for thousands of homes, while generating income to reinvest back into the railway.


The above story, unfortunately, is true. When hospitals let bad doctors continue to hurt patients, those hospitals are putting patients in harms way, even if the doctor is not an employee of the hospital. The only way to prevent such tragedies and to hold hospitals liable for the damage they have done is to bring a corporate negligence (sometimes known as a negligent credentialing or negligent retention) claim.
Only one Missouri case has tackled this issue head on, and that case was ultimately reversed on separate grounds. In Harrell v. Total Health Care, Inc., 1989 WL 153066 (Mo. App. W.D.) reversed on other grounds, 781 S.W. 2d 58 (Mo banc. 1989), the Western District Court of Appeals took note that it was dealing with a case of first impression. The Court of Appeals realized that the corporate negligence doctrine was not a recently developed theory, rather "it is no more than the application of common law principles of negligence." Id. at *4. The court ruled that a hospital owes a duty of care to protect patients from foreseeable risk of harm. A breach of that duty is corporate negligence. Id. at *5.
In Harrell, the plaintiff alleged that defendant Total Health Care owed a non-delegable duty to the insurance plan subscribers to use reasonable care in selecting doctors to participate in the insurance plan. Id. at *3. Plaintiff was able to prove that the defendant made no inquiry into the doctor's competence or reputation and that if such an inquiry had been made that the defendant would have found that the doctor had a history of malpractice claims. The insurance plan doctor that referred the patient even testified that she assumed that the defendant insurance plan had investigated the credentials of the defendant doctors. Id. at *3.
In recognizing the corporate negligence theory in Missouri, the Court of Appeals held that a hospital or insurance plan has a common law duty "to conduct a reasonable investigation of physicians to ascertain their reputation in the medical community for competence. What may constitute a reasonable investigation and what facts may indicate questionable competence or lack of skill by a doctor are matters for jury determination on a case by case basis." Id. at *5.
The Missouri Supreme Court ultimately held that the defendant insurance plan was immune from suit due to an unrelated statute, but as the Western District Court of Appeals held, "the immunity is not reached unless it first be determined that plaintiff's evidence stated a cause of action." Id. at *1. The Supreme Court left undisturbed this necessary preliminary determination. Harrell v. Total Health Care, Inc., 781 S.W. 2d 58 ( Mo. banc. 1989).
In addition to Missouri, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and New Jersey are just a few of the many states that have officially recognized a corporate negligence theory. Although it may be called "negligent credentialing" or "negligent retention," it is clear a hospital has an ongoing duty to protect patients from harm by doctors.
One of the first states to explore the corporate negligence theory was Illinois. In Darling v. Charleston Community Memorial Hospital, 211 N.E. 2d 253 ( Ill. Sup. Ct. 1965), the Illinois Supreme Court held that a hospital had a duty to act upon complaints of nurses regarding substandard care by a doctor. Id. at 258. When the hospital "failed to review" the doctor's care, the court upheld a verdict for the plaintiff. Id. at 261.
The Supreme Court of Wisconsin has held that "a hospital is under a duty to exercise reasonable care to permit only competent medical doctors the privilege of using facilities." Johnson v. Misericordia Community Hospital, 301 N.W. 2d 156 (Wisc. Sup. Ct. 1981). A failure to investigate a medical staff applicant's qualifications, either by looking at court files or talking to peers, gives rise to a foreseeable risk of unreasonable harm. Id. at 164.
A duty to formulate, adopt and enforce adequate rules and policies to ensure quality care for patients.
The Court in Thompson went a step further to hold that "if the attending physician fails to act after seeing abnormalities [in the patient's condition], then it is incumbent upon the hospital staff member or employee to so advise the hospital authorities so that appropriate action might be taken." Id. at 709.
A negligent credentialing, negligent retention or corporate negligence case raises several hurdles for practitioners, both plaintiff and defendant. The first of which is experts. To prove that a hospital has a certain duty of care, expert testimony may be required. See Johnson v. Misericordia Community Hospital, 301 N.W. 2d 156, 172 (Wisc. Sup. Ct. 1981). Possible experts include doctors who have served on peer review committees, hospital administrators and academics. Many doctors have served on peer review committees and/or committees that grant and review privileges.
The expert need not say if the particular hospital deviated from the standard of care, although a jury may find that helpful, but simply needs to set forth the standard that an ordinary hospital should thoroughly investigate a doctor prior to granting privileges and have in place a procedure to continually review a doctor's qualifications, reputation and competence. Those stops must include, at a minimum, soliciting information from peers (including those not on a doctor's application), determining if the doctor is properly licensed and if that license is being challenged, and inquiring whether there have been malpractice suits and loss of privileges.
Another source of experts are current and former hospital administrators. These experts can bring credibility to a case by drawing a clear line between a deviation from the standard of care by a doctor (medical malpractice) and a simple case of negligence by a hospital. Remember that the two theories differ greatly and involve separate duties with separate caps on damages and separate statutes of limitations.
The final area to look for experts in is academics. Many major universities offer undergraduate and graduate degrees in hospital administration. These professors provide a true neutral approach and are often on the cutting edge of change in the health care industry. Professors can bring to the table "text book" literature and are experienced in teaching to a jury or a classroom.
Lawsuits—determine every location a doctor has had privileges and find any lawsuits.
Nurses' Depositions—when a doctor commits malpractice, it is important to depose the nurses who provide care. We deposed a nurse in one Missouri corporate negligence case who testified that she was scared for her patients' health every time the defendant doctor touched a patient.
Complaints—Quality Assurance Reports, Incident Forms and Complaints are outstanding sources of discovery. Although these documents may be partially subject to Missouri's peer review statute, R.S.Mo. § 537.035, the Missouri Supreme Court has "determined that no peer review privilege exists under Missouri law for factual statements." State ex rel. Faith Hospital v. Enright, 706 S.W.2d 852 ( Mo. banc. 1986) (citing to State ex rel. Chandra v. Sprinkle, 678 S.W. 2d 804 ( Mo. banc. 1984)).
Other incidents—it is also important to look for other acts of negligence by the same doctor. Since hospital employees have a duty to report substandard care by a doctor and the hospital to act upon that information (see Darling), other incidents of medical malpractice by the same doctor at the same hospital will be important evidence.
National Practitioner Databank—in order to investigate a negligent credentialing claim, a plaintiff must be able to determine what type of background investigation was conducted by the hospital. Most hospitals order a National Practitioner Databank Report. This report will be crucial for both the defense and plaintiff in a corporate negligence suit.
Insurance Files—the National Practitioner Databank is often incomplete and not all claims are reported. Most medical malpractice insurance policies require that the doctor inform the insurance company of any past, present or potential claims when the doctor first applies to the company for coverage. Additionally, those policies require a doctor to notify the insurance company any time there is the possibility for a claim. The insurance company's file is a source for the discovery of other incidents.
Our representation in medical malpractice cases has revealed that the corporate negligence theory is needed in Missouri. The case referred to in the opening paragraph is one such case.
The allegedly negligent doctor had three lawsuits (and settlements) before landing at this rural Missouri hospital. Within four days of his first day of practice at this hospital, nurses filed the first of 30 Quality Assurance Reports, Incident Reports and Complaints against the doctor. Prior to allowing bile to leak into the patient's abdomen, the doctor was sued six times. At least six complaints had been filed with the Missouri Board of Healing Arts. The hospital, however, never revoked his privileges. The emergency room doctor who saw the patient misdirected his question to the patient of "Why did you let him cut on you?" That question is for the hospital and lies at the heart of the corporate negligence theory.


text:
ARTICLES CELEBRITIES WTF SECRET LIVES YOUR FAVORITE CELEBS KEEP UNDER THE RADAR
WTF Secret Lives Your Favorite Celebs Keep Under The Radar
CRACKED Staff
Wherever you're reading this, look around you. Assuming you're not in the bathroom, the people surrounding you all have secret lives you may never know about. And that's not just the case for random schlubs, either. For celebrities, keeping closeted passions out of the limelight can be difficult.
In honor of season 2 of Impastor, TV Land's dark comedy about a con man posing as a man of God, which premieres Sept. 28 at 10:30/9:30c, Cracked rifled through famous people's darkest secrets to find out what kind of alternative lives they've been living under the radar ...
7 Snoop Dogg Is A Licensed Football Coach Who Operates A Charity Youth League
Snoop Dogg is famous for his string of hip-hop hits, his past run-ins with the law, and, of course, his pioneering use of words ending in "izzle." Combine that with his public fondness of recreational herbs, and it's almost impossible to not see him as the celebrity version of the stereotypical slacker roommate ... which is why the way he really spends his time outside of music is all the more surprising.
Snoop is a licensed football coach who started coaching his son's team, Rowland Heights Raiders, in 2003 and hasn't looked back. Currently, the man is the head coach of the Diamond Valley Steelers, formerly a "ragtag group of 12-year-olds" whom he has turned into one of the better youth teams in the country. What's more, Snoop is way more involved in his mentor role than the usual coach-and-team dynamic requires; he routinely sits down with the kids, talking about their personal lives, grades, and bullying. The evidently emphatic and effective Coach Snoop is so far removed from the cool-and-dangerous image of Snoop Dogg, he has made a point of never, ever rapping to his players. If one of them makes the mistake of even calling him Snoop Dogg, it's push-up time.
But wait, it gets even better. Where some people would consider living out the plot of an inspirational 1990s sports movie a pretty great achievement, Coach Snoop has taken things even further by setting up an entire league for youth teams just like his. Snoop Youth Football League currently hosts 19 teams. The league is entirely nonprofit, and its sole aim is to give inner-city children a healthy environment regardless of race, creed, or economic background.
The Richmond Standard
He still makes sure that even the pigskin knows his name, though.
It looks like this is not just some passing fad like that time he released a reggae album, either. Snoop Youth Football League had its inaugural season in 2005. The Dogg himself describes the venture as a way to teach the kids discipline, self-respect, and teamwork, and he has even said that it's his true calling -- that whole pesky "music" thing is just a means to an end.
6 Justin Bieber Is An Amazing Hockey Player
Mat Hayward/Getty Images
Thanks to the nature of his fame, his millionaire status, and pretty much every headline ever written about him, it's easy and tempting to write Justin Bieber off as a frail and simple man-baby who desperately flexes his nonexistent tough-guy muscles at the world.
That is, unless you're Matt O'Dette, coach of the ECHL ice hockey team the Bakersfield Condors. O'Dette has seen Bieber play hockey, and what he saw was enough for him to offer the then-18-year-old pop star a tryout contract for the 2012-2013 season.
Unfortunately, the Maple Leafs got there first.
It's easy to assume that O'Dette's comments and the contract offer come with copious amounts of salt and rampant air quotes, but the guy's enthusiasm about Hockey-Bieber goes well above and beyond the usual publicity stunt. Having seen video material of Bieber in action, O'Dette rants and raves about the pop star's extraordinary blend of skill, toughness, and shot technique. He even compares Bieber's talents to those of Mike Ribeiro, a renowned center who has been playing in the NHL since 1998.
As absurd as this all sounds, it's good to remember that Bieber is Canadian, and thus has hockey flowing in his veins by birthright. He has played from a pretty young age and very much continues to do so, despite his superstar status.
As evidenced by this pic from last Tuesday.
Man, add that to the fact that Bieber can solve a Rubik's Cube in 83 seconds and is a masterful multi-instrumentalist, and you might even start thinking that the most famous young pop "talent" in the world actually has, you know, talent.
5 Viggo Mortensen Is The Leonardo Da Vinci Of Indie Art
Steve Babineau/Getty Images
If you're really good at reading between the lines, you might be able to read Viggo Mortensen's true passions from the roles he chooses. While Aragorn from The Lord Of The Rings, Man from The Road, and his characters in various David Cronenberg movies tend to be charismatic and hard men, they also share the theme of an outsider-type who nevertheless has gifts and talents that allow him to rise above the rest.
That same theme applies to the actor himself: During his off hours, Mortensen embodies the "genius indie multi-talent" trope so hard that passing struggling artists presumably get sucked into his singularity. Viggo Mortensen is what that annoying screenplay writer hogging the best table in your local Starbucks dreams to become when they grow up: He speaks six languages. He's a photographer. He makes records. He paints and writes poetry. All while being one of the world's most esteemed movie actors.
Nicolas Genin/Wiki Commons
Turns out "Hipster Strider" is a surprisingly solid career move.
At the time of this writing, Mortensen's body of non-movie-related artistry includes around 17 books (mostly various combinations of paintings, photography, and poetry) and 17 music albums. Sometimes his interests also bleed into his movies. He performed and co-composed a song for The Return Of The King, because of course he did. In A Perfect Murder, he played a painter and many of the character's works were his.
Shockingly, he was a bad guy.
Despite his insane prolificness, Mortensen's not hogging all the indie-artist glory for himself. In 2002, fresh off the financial stability brought on by the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, he founded Perceval Press, a publishing house aimed specifically to work with interesting artists and writers whose style would likely be rejected by traditional publishers. While we have no firm idea of the quality of their output, the fact that the site's front page has a "Duck of the day" feature puts Perceval Press firmly in our good books.
Perceval Press
4 Rosario Dawson Is A Huge Star Trek Geek
Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images for Wizard World
Rosario Dawson's acting chops are many and varied, but her on-screen presence can best be filed under "badass." She's equally commanding when she's verbally smacking down superheroes in Daredevil and Jessica Jones or gunning down bad guys in Sin City. If they remade Aliens today and cast her as Vasquez, the aliens would flee for the next solar system within minutes. And then she would turn in her battle gear, change to her favorite sweatpants, and spend the rest of the day geeking out on Star Trek and practicing her Vulcan nerve pinch on a teddy bear.
What we're saying is that Rosario Dawson is a huge Trekkie. Like so many passionate geeks, she's not particularly shy about her object of affection either; as this poor MTV interviewer finds out, mentioning the words "Star" and "Trek" can and absolutely will derail a casual movie promotion interview with Dawson into a two-and-a-half-minute monologue about the enticing nature of the Star Trek universe, the varying quality of the movies, and the fact that the second someone invents a proper holodeck you'll never see her again.
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Look at her face. We've never been that exited about anything.
Dawson's Trekkie nature has inevitably led to some interesting situations when she's met people actually involved with the franchise, especially as her particular geek flavor is of the "gotta play it cool when meeting your idols" variety. She ran a Twitter petition about getting a role -- any role, though she would have preferred a sexy Vulcan -- in Star Trek: Into Darkness, but when she actually ran into J.J. Abrams on a flight, she ended up choking and discussed politics and T-shirts instead. When she did a movie with Chris "Captain Kirk" Pine, she kept completely mum until Pine found out about her Trekkie-ness during the press tour. At which point she geeked the hell out on him.
Oh, and of course Rosario Dawson also speaks Klingon:
Sure, she claims that she knows only a few words, But come on -- anyone who's comfortable enough with their Klingon to bust it out live on an episode of Conan totally owns several copies of The Klingon Hamlet and keeps a bat'leth by their bedside "just in case." Which, now that we think of it, would only make Rosario Dawson more awesome.
3 Neil DeGrasse Tyson Is An Award-Winning Ballroom Dancer (And Almost Joined An Exotic-Dance Troupe)
Neil deGrasse Tyson is many things: famed astrophysicist, popular TV presenter, noted educator, and confounder of the flat-Earth-truther movement. These are all par for the course in his role as the patron saint of science nerds everywhere. Less in line with said role: his past as an expert dancer. Here he is in all his leotardy glory, at the center of his team in the 1980s:
Note how every other guy in the picture instinctively fades into the background, but he looms.
Like every young man, Tyson was keenly interested in what his body could do. However, unlike the rest of us who mostly opted to do this in the safety of solitude, he was willing to do it in front of an audience. By his own admission, Tyson was already strong and flexible. He saw dancing as the next level of body control and embraced the gracefulness and careful muscle control it requires with "almost an academic curiosity." This eventually paid off big-time; Tyson's University of Texas team was good enough to take home the gold medal in Latin ballroom at a 1985 national tournament. Why Bill Nye was chosen for Dancing With The Stars despite the science community having a bona fide ballroom dancer, we'll never know.
Somehow, the story of Neil deGrasse Tyson the dancer manages to get even better: Our favorite astrophysicist was once very, very close to joining a Chippendales-style exotic dance troupe. If you have trouble with that mental image, keep in mind that this was young Neil deGrasse Tyson:
Up to 80 percent of his debates could be won just by showing his opponent
this photo from his wrestling days.
Ultimately, Tyson backed out at the last minute when he found out that the show would have required him to wear an asbestos thong and set it aflame while dancing to Great Balls Of Fire. And while that's a sensible decision and all, we can't shake the mental image that in some alternate universe a version of Neil deGrasse Tyson really, really got into exotic dancing and is hanging upside-down from a pole somewhere even today.
2 Danica McKellar Is A Math Guru
Mark Davis/Getty Images
The life of a former child star emerging into adulthood tends to follow a prefixed route: a rebellious phase that screams "I'm not a child anymore" to the world; a short, possibly scandal-tainted honeymoon with the public and media; and a slow descent into relative obscurity. And then there is Danica McKellar, better known as Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years, who ignored all that jazz completely. Not only has she been getting steady (if slightly more low-profile) work as a TV and voice actor since her hit show went to the sitcom graveyard, but she has also carved out for herself the least-likely side career in former-child-star history: She is a UCLA-graduated mathematics genius.
Seen here in her natural environment.
What makes it even more impressive is that she didn't even really mean to do this. She enrolled with the intention to major in film but soon got fed up with constantly being recognized as Winnie, so she started taking math classes to prevent her head from turning to mush. (Incidentally, math class had the exact opposite effect on us.) She turned out to be really good with numbers. One day, a dude tapped her on the shoulder and finished his "Hey, aren't you the girl ..." question not with "... from TV?" but with "... who got the highest score on the midterm?" That, for her, was the point of no return. She went on to number crunch so hard, she was part of a group that has a theorem about temperature for a mathematical model of magnetic material informally named after them. She has also written several math books aimed specifically at girls in an effort to promote the fact that it's OK for women to be whatever they want to be, prejudices be damned. For millions of little boys whose first crush was Winnie Cooper, there's no greater satisfaction than knowing she somehow went on to be even more perfect years after the show.
1 Jeremy Renner Is The Hawkeye Of Aesthetics
Ian Gavan/Getty Images
Most actors are very different from the characters they play once the cameras stop rolling. Others, like Mayim Bialik (who has a PhD in neuroscience just like her character in The Big Bang Theory) and Arnold Schwarzenegger (who is secretly a murderous robot from the future, just like his character in Jingle All The Way), share surprising similarities with their most famous roles. But only Jeremy Renner manages to simultaneously be exactly like and the complete opposite of his most famous role. Like Clint "Hawkeye" Barton, the real-life Renner has an eye so keen, it's bordering on a superpower. Unlike his Avengers character, however, Renner's sharp eye powers are focused entirely on making things pretty.
"I tried to pitch that one to Kevin Feige once. He still hasn't stopped laughing."
You see, Jeremy Renner -- the man we associate with badass roles like Hawkeye, The Town's Jem Coughlin, Staff Sgt. James from The Hurt Locker, and understudy Jason Bourne from The Bourne Legacy -- is a tried and tested makeup artist. This was his "embarrassing thing that I had to do before I made it" job, only he's not the slightest bit embarrassed about it; on the contrary, he remembers it fondly as a great gig and has retained his skills to the point that he could give you smoky eye at a moment's notice.
Of course, Renner is now a multi-millionaire who doesn't have to touch a damn makeup brush ever again. That's not to say he's letting his powers rest on their laurels, though -- if anything, he has Hulked them right the hell up. These days, he's known as an amazing house renovator that can flip houses for insane profit. This is not just a "Oooh, let's paint the walls and see if we can raise an extra $10,000" thing: Over the years, Renner and his business partner have bought, painstakingly renovated, and sold around 20 houses, and their profit per house appears to be pretty massive. Their most lucrative flip so far was an L.A. mansion that they bought for $7 million. In 2013, it sold for close to $25 million.
"See, this is why it doesn't bother me that Downey earns eight figures per Marvel film
and I get paid in used sticks of chewing gum."
Sure, Renner's not the only celebrity doing this; Vanilla Ice is experiencing a second coming in the house-flipping industry. But Renner is certainly one of the only people who's wrestling plumbing plans and interior decoration to the tune of millions of dollars while being a super bankable A-list movie star. Let's see Iron Man do that.


text:
Rock Island Trail Home | Rock Island Trail Map | Mileage Chart | Towns & Services | Forum | Stickers
Please support our advertisers - they help make this website possible.
Missouri's Rock Island Trail is now a reality! With a little momentum, and some push from the affected communities, the Rock Island will continue to grow and Missouri will remain the rails-to-trails destination of North America.
Missouri State Parks refers to the trail as the Rock Island Spur of the Katy Trail. These two trails already intersect in western Missouri, and eventually will connect a few hundred miles to the east as well.
About the Rock Island Trail in MO
The Rock Island Trail is a "rails-to-trails" trail which will stretch over 200 miles across the state of Missouri. By intersecting the Katy Trail on both the western and eastern sides of the state, Missouri's trail system will form a 450 mile loop.
The Rock Island Trail is already open between Windsor and the Kansas City suburb of Pleasant Hill. It will continue to expand further westward through Kansas City's suburbs, and eastward toward the St Louis area. On the western end, Jackson County has opened a 13 mile segment from Lee's Summit to the Truman Sports Complex at I-70.
Katy Trail Connection
Missouri's Katy Trail is a "must ride" for touring cyclists from all over the country, offering over 200 miles of scenic uninterrupted trail. The citizens of Missouri are fortunate to have this jewel in their backyard, but in the past it was less accessible to to Kansas City residents due to distance. Now that the Rock Island trail connects the Katy Trail to KC's outer suburbs, this amazing trail system is finally within easy reach of the Kansas City area.
In 2008, as part of a settlement over the Taum Sauk Dam disaster, Ameren Corporation give the state of Missouri control over a portion of the old Rock Island railroad right-of-way. This section runs from Windsor, where it intersects the Katy Trail, northwest into the suburbs of Kansas City.
The remaining 144 miles of the Rock Island Trail will run from Windsor to Beaufort, which is about 16 miles from Washington. With the new bike-friendly bridge at Washington, trail users will be able to easily make the connection to the Dutzow trailhead on the Katy Trail.
Missouri Rock Island Trail inc FaceBook and website - a coalition of citizens, businesses, and communities united in support of the Rock Island Trail
This fact sheet from Missouri Rock Island Trail Inc. provides numerous details about the trail and what lies ahead for continued progress
The Missouri Bicycle and Pedestrian Federation is always on top of any news or developments regarding the trail:
At the bottom of MBPF's articles, you'll find links to other related articles.
Jackson County Regional Rail Coalition Facebook page - promoting development of the section near Kansas City
Jackson County Rock Island Corridor
Windsor to Beaufort Facebook Group
Missouri State Parks - not much info here yet but stay tuned
Google's suggested bike route from Lee's Summit to Pleasant Hill - on-road route to bridge the current gap at Greenwood
Trail Conditions on the Rock Island Trail
Please let us know if you are aware of any adverse trail conditions.
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Goodness me Von! Just as hungry as I am now, I have to see these delicious dishes. Sounds fantastic and seen as truly delectable. Wish that I can come over to dive inside.
Wow what great looking food! That lime cheesecake looks amazing but I too would not be able to say no to that PB and chocolate dessert.
Hi Von, looks like another wonderful dining experience.


text:
Mike Guardia
Author. Speaker. Historian
Nonfiction (2010-2018)
Nonfiction (2019-present)
American Armor in the Pacific
This latest in the Casemate Illustrated series explores American armor during the Pacific Campaign of WWII, from 1942-45. During this period, there were more than 20 major tank battles and/or operations where tanks provided heavy fire support to infantry units. These operations include the Battle of Tarawa and the Bougainville Campaign.
Relying heavily on first-person accounts, American Armor in the Pacific gives a detailed discussion on American and Japanese armored forces – including their development, equipment, capabilities, organization, and orders of battle, strategies, and comparative tactics.
Praise for "Hal Moore: A Soldier Once…and Always"
"....collectively captures the heroism that Moore performed on fighting for freedom abroad. This work comes from hours of interview from the subject and his personal archive. Guardia has done a service in sharing the life of a forgotten hero." (PurePolitics.com)
Praise for "Shadow Commander"
"...very well researched and readable account of one man's fascinating military career, which was rarely spent far from where the action was. " (Miniature Wargames UK)
Praise for "The Fires of Babylon"
"...a great book for those who are interested in modern tank combat, Operation Desert Storm and Army leadership when under fire...Highly Recommended (AMPS)


text:
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
using System;

using System.IO;

namespace FileSystemTest
{
    public class IsPathRooted : IMFTestInterface
    {
        [SetUp]
        public InitializeResult Initialize()
        {
            Log.Comment("Adding set up for the tests");

            return InitializeResult.ReadyToGo;
        }

        [TearDown]
        public void CleanUp()
        {
            Log.Comment("Cleaning up after the tests.");

            // TODO: Add your clean up steps here.
        }

        #region helper methods
        private bool expected;
        private bool TestIsPathRooted(string path)
        {
            Log.Comment("Path: '" + path + "'");
            if (Path.IsPathRooted(path) == expected)
                return true;
            Log.Exception("Expected " + expected);
            return false;
        }

        #endregion helper methods

        [TestMethod]
        public MFTestResults Negative()
        {
            MFTestResults result = MFTestResults.Pass;
            expected = false;
            try
            {
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(null))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(""))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(string.Empty))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted("file"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(".txt"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted("file.x"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Log.Exception("Unexpected exception: " + ex.Message);
                return MFTestResults.Fail;
            }
            return result;
        }

        [TestMethod]
        public MFTestResults Positive()
        {
            MFTestResults result = MFTestResults.Pass;
            expected = true;
            try
            {
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\sd\file"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }

                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\sd\file.comp"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\\Machine\directory.dir"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\\Machine\directory\file.zz"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\sd\file." + new string('f', 256)))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\\Machine"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\\Machine\directory"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
                if (!TestIsPathRooted(@"\\Machine\directory\file"))
                {
                    return MFTestResults.Fail;
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Log.Exception("Unexpected exception: " + ex.Message);
                return MFTestResults.Fail;
            }
            return result;
        }

        [TestMethod]
        public MFTestResults ArgumentExceptionTests()
        {
            MFTestResults result = MFTestResults.Pass;
            try
            {
                foreach (char invalidChar in Path.GetInvalidPathChars())
                {
                    try
                    {
                        Log.Comment("Invalid char ascii val = " + (int)invalidChar);
                        string path = new string(new char[] { invalidChar, 'b', 'a', 'd', '.', invalidChar, 'p', 'a', 't', 'h', invalidChar });
                        bool dir = Path.IsPathRooted(path);
                        if ((path.Length == 0) && (dir == false))
                        {
                            /// If path is empty string, returned value is also empty string (same behavior in desktop)
                            /// no exception thrown.
                        }
                        else
                        {
                            Log.Exception("Expected Argument exception for '" + path + "' but got: '" + dir + "'");
                            return MFTestResults.Fail;
                        }
                    }
                    catch (ArgumentException ae) { /* pass case */ Log.Comment( "Got correct exception: " + ae.Message ); }
                }
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Log.Exception("Unexpected exception: " + ex.Message);
                return MFTestResults.Fail;
            }
            return result;
        }

        public MFTestMethod[] Tests
        {
            get
            {
                return new MFTestMethod[]
                {
                    new MFTestMethod( Negative, "Negative" ),
                    new MFTestMethod( Positive, "Positive" ),
                    new MFTestMethod( ArgumentExceptionTests, "ArgumentExceptionTests" ),
                };
             }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Doctors assemble a medical dream team to save a 600+ pound man! But first, there's a new type of school bully with a serious health threat! The Doctors take a closer look at the wrongful death suit filed against Jim Carrey and reveal a major flaw in healthcare! Then, the hot trend in Hollywood —chlorophyll water— is it an A-List health secret or hype? And, a surprising risk to your baby & what to look for!
"Healthy" Habit or Breakout Blunder?
Health Intervention: Can Jermaine Change His life?
Jim Carrey Wrongful Death Lawsuit!
Could Your Boss Be a Psychopath?!


We provide Multi-Factor Authentication design, development, implementation and support services, including integration with Google Authenticator, various types of Yubikey and other hardware and software providers.
In the modern connected world that we work and conduct business in, it is no longer safe to rely on the humble password alone. Frequently there are news reports of stolen password databases, either electronically or via social engineering methods. Passwords can also be sniffed or captured by hardware or software keyloggers.
A major concern with password security is how do you know that your password has been compromised? All security logs will show a successful login has occurred.
Multi-Factor authentication has been around for some time now, and is a practical and simple way to add an extra layer of security to your login sequence which cannot be sniffed or breached via traditional hacking methods.
There are different approaches to adding MFA. One is software based, with applications such as Google Authenticator using existing hardware (your mobile phone) to provide a time based code which you enter at login, alongside your username and password.
The second is a hardware based approach (Yubikey) which connects to your device using USB. Yubikey has a private key programmed to its internal memory and provides a one time code at login in the same way as Google Authenticator.
A more complex and even more secure approach is to combine both Yubikey and mobile phone NFC (near field communication) technology.
Looking for a turnkey Multi-Factor Authentication Solution?
We also offer Bespoke Software Development and consultancy services services for websites and web applications.
We provide Multi-Factor Authentication - Yubikey, Google Authenticator consultancy and development in Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Cambridge, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Kent, Lancashire, London, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Nottingham, Oxfordshire, Peterborough, Portsmouth, Southampton, Sussex, West Sussex, Worthing United States, Canada, Switzerland, Geneva, France, Germany, Croatia and most locations worldwide.


Many thanks of gratitude for the wonderful clients I have assisted over the years. Here are some of the great things they have accomplished and what they've said about my services.
I will do everything I can to make sure you're a satisfied client too!
Before making my appointment with Rebecca, I was a skeptic and self-doubter and I wondered if hypnotherapy could be helpful in the battle I waged with my self-control. I put off making the step into hypnotherapy for a while and finally when I did I never looked back on my previous failures with control issues.
Why does it take so long to do the one thing that can make all the difference in the world to a person's life and struggles?
I have worked with my inner self for years and was limitedly successful. I am so overwhelmed and pleased with the changes that I see in me that I want hypnosis for everyone.
After smoking for more than 30 yrs, I'm not really sure I thought I would ever quit. I tried many methods over the years including group hypnosis, acupuncture, Chantix, nicotine patches, vaping to "slowly cut back", cold turkey but nothing worked! I always had that internal struggle, the bargaining with myself, the wanting / not wanting, obsessive tug of war called will power that I was not strong enough to overcome.
I hadn't tried individual hypnosis. I figured I had nothing to lose so, I did an internet search and found Rebecca. Today, September 11, 2018, I am 6 mos smoke free!!!! What the hypnosis did for me was take away the need for will power (the one thing I felt held me back all the other times)! I was no longer obsessing over cigarettes! I remember waking up the morning after the hypnosis with the phrase " don't need it, don't want it" going through my mind. I found the take home CD of my session VERY helpful. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with Rebecca to kick the habit forever!
The session I experienced with Rebecca was amazing! It answered questions for me that I had struggled with/wondered about for years. She has the ability to make you feel completely comfortable so you are able to focus at an entirely different level. I can't explain the peace and resolve I felt after our meeting!
We are so conditioned by the beliefs we grow up with that it spills over into how we perceive everything in our life. There is so much more!! If God is nudging you in this direction or you (like I did) have an urging from your spirit to go deeper into who you are (and your purpose here) then please give Rebecca a call. It just may change your life!!!
As a newly "awakened" yet skeptical person, I was hesitant on how I would react to being hypnotized. I had a lot of questions in regards to my life's purpose and I was on the search for some answers. Leading up to meeting Rebecca was a fast succession of synchronicities. I had just finished reading "Keepers of the Garden" by Dolores Cannon and KNEW that being hypnotized to find out who I am and why I came here was the way to go about discovering those answers.
As it turned out, I had already been invited to one of Rebecca's mediation classes at the Rainbow Blossom before knowing who she was. Fast forward two weeks and there I was sitting in her welcoming office in a big comfortable chair and feeling more relaxed by the minute.
Rebecca's encouraging voice helped me to go deeper into hypnotic state than I thought would be possible and the experience I had was nothing short of a miracle. As someone who has battled severe depression for 15 years I now have hope and purpose for my future. I discovered who I am outside of this body, why I came here, and what my purpose in life is. Just imagine knowing the answers of life's ultimate questions! I can't thank her enough for this experience.
Rebecca has been an amazingly effective person in helping me deal with life's happenings. She radiates warmth, compassion and authenticity. I have grown greatly from her mentorship. Rebecca's healing talents and wisdom has been a great blessing in my life.
It started in young adulthood – night terrors, sleep paralysis – sometimes up to twenty episodes a night. I would often lie there, unable to sleep, because I was terrified of having episodes. It must have been genetic because it goes back two generations that I know of, I just had it the worst. I was a zombie during the day. Medication only made it easier to fall asleep after episodes, but it didn't make them go away. Rebecca did a lot of research on those conditions, figured out what was happening in the brain during these episodes, then inverted it into positive suggestion. We did one session in the office, which she recorded on CD. I transferred it to my MP3 player and listened to it four times a week before bed for a couple of months. I now listen to it just twice a month. I keep talking about it because I am amazed that after all these years it was resolved so simply.
Although I had experienced other past life regressions before meeting Rebecca, she introduced me to a whole, new experience of releasing my deep-seated emotions causing unnecessary anxiety and fear. My past life regression showed me how to embrace my authentic self and to see more clearly. Rebecca's soothing voice and inimitable presence capture the essence of why I chose her to explore my most personal journey to my subconscious mind. She engaged me and moved me to a place of undeniable truth of who I am. It was a very beautiful experience.
My past life healing regression with Rebecca was both profound and centering. Having no idea what I was getting into – I was surprised with the many images and correlations that were brought to mind. Weeks later and I am still pondering additional insights to the experience. Rich in healing and gentle understanding may be a good description of the outcome! I am very grateful for the experience and recommend Rebecca as a spiritual counselor and hypnotherapist – she's kind, open minded and wise.
Rebecca creates an atmosphere of total trust, warmth and acceptance. My experience with a past-life regression was one of the most amazing events of my life to date. Not only did it help me decide that I now believe in reincarnation; it allowed for a much deeper and greater understanding of who I am and who I once was—and how those two beings are now coming together. It explained a great deal about current emotions and behaviors during a time of identity transformation. The entire process in the office took perhaps 2 hours— reliving my past life felt like 20 minutes. I felt the energy of that and learned from it for a long time thereafter.
Rebecca is also skilled in the area of dream work. She assisted me with at least three major dream interpretations which allowed me to see current life events in a deeper way. She also emphasized the importance of writing them down on paper in as much detail as possible—which assists in learning the meaning.
Working with Rebecca was a very pleasant experience. Using a combination of her techniques, I was very successful in my weight reduction. I wanted to lose 15 pounds and ended up losing 30 instead!
My cravings and desires for junk foods has completely disappeared, it's amazing! I would highly recommend Rebecca, for anyone wanting to lose weight.


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Family Fun in the Hill Country
By Ryan B. Martinez
For all-ages fun, the Texas Hill Country can't be beat. Watery wonderlands and sporting events with themed nights are just some of the region's highlights. Here, welcoming weather and human ingenuity give the whole family something to agree on.
Finding a happy-medium activity for the whole family can be difficult on any trip. But in the Hill Country? It's almost unavoidable. The region's blend of man-made attractions and natural assets ensures as much. From ballpark hot dogs to skyscraping waterslides, we found unanimous thrills on a recent family romp.
Dell Diamond
Catching a game in Round Rock at Dell Diamond, the home stadium of the Round Rock Express, is about more than baseball, grand as the game is. It's also about hot dogs dripping with mustard, clear blue skies, swag, music, and atmosphere.
Sure, the Triple-A affiliate team of the Houston Astros can pull out some heart-stopping wins, but parents and kids fall for the ballpark as well as the team. Opened in 2000 on 85 acres of former farmland, the state-of-the-art facility often approaches its 11,600-plus capacity.
It's no surprise why so many turn out; views of the neatly manicured diamond are great from every seat, and entertainment extras are plentiful. Inexpensive tickets make it an affordable evening no matter your family's size, while promotional nights extend throughout the summer season.
A Star Wars theme prevailed on the night we attended. Darth Vader, flanked by two Stormtroopers, showed up to terrorize the audience—and to throw out the first pitch. Fans were invited to don their best costume; more than one woman was sporting mom-tastic Leia buns. After the game, themed fireworks burst into the night sky, accompanied by the franchise's unmistakable theme song.
Regular fixings also impressed. Our little ones beelined for the Fun Zone, where they broke a sweat on the rock-climbing wall, the quad-bungee bounce, and various inflatables. They also took pictures with Spike, the team's jowly dog mascot. The adults enjoyed cornhole and tasty flights at the beer garden, while everyone enjoyed buffalo wings, gourmet hot dogs, funnel cakes, and even some gluten-free deli options in the concession area.
Oh, and the game? When the Express beat the New Orleans Zephyrs 8–5, we all cheered like Ewoks at the end of Return of the Jedi.
Amidst the green hills of New Braunfels, a city halfway between San Antonio and Austin, is a citadel of streams, slides, and spouts. Schlitterbahn New Braunfels Waterpark does H2O right.
The family-owned park, whose German name translates to "slippery road," was opened in 1979 with only four slides. But it expanded and innovated—eventually sprawling to its present-day 70 acres, spawning four other parks with its name, and inspiring scores of industry imitators.
Forty attractions dominate the four main adventure areas, with several of them harnessing the Comal River's spring-fed waters. The seamless mix of artificial and natural environments produces an all-consuming experience. We tried a surfeit of the park's rides, from mild to wild.
In the latter category lies the Black Knight, an enclosed slide that plunged us into pitch-black surroundings and shot us down 550 feet of pipeline. We dried out in the Skycoaster, a ride that involves strapping three people into one harness, lifting them up 42 feet, and releasing them in a hair-raising swoop. The temporary free fall truly felt like flying.
The Master Blaster uphill water coaster brought by far the biggest rush of adrenaline. Scaling six stories and winding 1,100 feet, it's an award-winning marvel of engineering that lives up to the hype. The unpredictable twists, precipitous drops, and variable darkness had us whooping the whole way down.
But the park offers softer moments between the big thrills. We set the kids loose in Han's Hideout, a five-story fun house with blasts of water, net crawls, and slides. And our favorite meeting place was Blastenhoff Beach, a subtle wave pool that lulled us into a midday rest. That is, until the raging Torrent River beckoned.
The park is open weekends in early spring and fall and daily during the summer.
Dell Diamond's Saturday nights offer ever-shifting promotions. Depending on the date, you might find yourself enjoying a postgame concert, winning a car, or nabbing some swag. Check the online schedule for a full rundown.
More Texas Inspiration
Zip Line Through Texas
Family Fun on the Texas Coast
Exploring the Deep in the Heart of Texas
Categories: Attractions, Hill Country
Ryan B. Martinez
Ryan B. Martinez is a freelance writer and editor based in Austin. He loves and has written about popular music, comic books, issues pertaining to the LGBTQ community and his hometown of El Paso.
Published By: Texas Monthly
Texas Monthly is an authority on the Texas scene, covering music, the arts, travel, restaurants, museums, and cultural events since 1973.


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Film » Film Features
Back in Action
Machete's hero doesn't play by the rules, but the movie itself sure does
by Robert Ignizio
Violent action movies exist in a universe all their own. Whether it's a film starring Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, or Danny Trejo, certain rules must be obeyed. Even filmmakers as creative as Robert Rodriguez play by them. In Machete, Trejo stars as a gun-wielding badass out for revenge against the guys who left him for dead. It looks like a blast. It also looks like that violent-action-movie playbook was at Rodriguez's side the whole time.
It Doesn't Pay to Be Friends With the Hero
You'd think being tight with the good guy would widen your safety net. But hanging with him is, in fact, a guaranteed death sentence. Occasionally it's a wife or kid who gets killed, brutalized, or hooked on smack by the bad guys. It's never fair, but a loved one has to suffer before the hero deftly dishes out his own brand of vigilante justice.
Every movie in the genre has to feature a scene where the protagonist gathers his weapons for combat. Each implement of death is lovingly eroticized as the arsenal is assembled. Under normal circumstances, an entire army would be required to carry all this heavy artillery, but the hero is such a badass, he can do it all by himself, with style to boot.
Evil Henchmen Really Need a Union
Villains always treat their minions like crap. One little mistake and you're dead — no written warning, no time off without pay. It's bad enough the good guy is killing off all the underlings. Why help him out? Morale has got to be low in a position like this. Plus, there's all that time and money spent training replacement henchmen. It's just not good business.
The Unlikely Love Interest
Action heroes don't have time for love — they're too busy kicking ass. Still, women always fall for them, despite the obvious risks. Often it's a kooky bystander who gets swept up. She doesn't trust — or even like — the guy at first, and he thinks she's a major nuisance. But after all the bombs have exploded and the bodies are counted, they will inevitably fall in love.
The Hero's Razor-Sharp Wit
No action hero is complete without a witty quip like "Remember, Sully, when I told you I'd kill you last? I lied" (Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando); "Looks like some garbage needs to be removed." (Robert Ginty in The Exterminator 2); and "Sleep tight, sucker" (Chuck Norris in The Delta Force). A funny line is as essential as a gun and nearly as lethal. Send feedback to [email protected].
Film Features Cleveland Movies


text:
2020 Perodua Bezza open for booking
Perodua is set introduce the 2020 Perodua Bezza on 8 January 2020 – the latest version of the popular sedan offers smart design, smart safety and a smart drive to usher in the New Year. Perodua is now receiving orders for the 2020 Perodua Bezza through all its 186 sales outlets nationwide.
Significantly developed based on customer feedback, the 2020 Perodua Bezza is offered in 1.0 G MT, 1.0 G AT, 1.3 X AT and 1.3 AV AT variants, priced from RM34,580 to RM49,980 (on-the-road before insurance in Peninsular Malaysia).
"The Perodua Bezza was our first sedan and Malaysia's first Energy-Efficient Vehicle (EEV) sedan, with an upper-body developed completely by us. It has proven very popular with Malaysians, with 184,000 units sold since its July 2016 launch," said Perodua President and Chief Executive Officer Dato' Zainal Abidin Ahmad.
"Thanks to its fuel efficiency, quality, dependability, space, practicality, ease to drive and low ownership costs – all in a compact, great-value package – the Perodua Bezza is a versatile vehicle, loved by families and youths alike," he added.
The new sharp front-end styling, courtesy of new-design bumpers and grille, is joined by LED headlamps and two-tone side skirts, both of which are standard across the range.
X and AV variants get new 15-inch alloys while power-adjustable door mirrors are now standard across the range (retractable on AV).
Two body colours new to the Bezza – Garnet Red (exclusive to 1.3 litre variants) and Granite Grey – join the four existing hues on offer, namely Ivory White, Glittering Silver, Ocean Blue and Sugar Brown.
Perodua's Advanced Safety Assist 2.0 (ASA 2.0*) suite of driver assistance safety systems makes its debut in the Bezza range on the AV variant, making it the most affordable sedan in Malaysia with such a feature. ASA 2.0 comprises Pedestrian Detection (up to 50 km/h), Pre-Collision Warning (up to 100 km/h), Pre-Collision Braking (up to 80 km/h), Front Departure Alert and Pedal Misoperation Control, all of which work together to mitigate collisions.
Meanwhile, the X variant now gains the Vehicle Stability Control and traction control already previously offered on the AV variant. White-illuminated gauges uplift the interior, while keyless entry and start, as well as front corner sensors, are offered on X and AV variants. All variants get reverse sensors; the AV adds a reverse camera.
"As a People First company we are constantly listening to our customers to learn how we can improve our products and services, of which the 2020 Perodua Bezza is a notable result.
"We hope the improvements we've made will join hands with the 508-litre boot, up to 22 km/l fuel efficiency and all the other reasons you love the Bezza to furnish you with the motoring experience you've always desired," Dato' Zainal said.
"Please visit any of our sales outlets nationwide, where our authorised sales advisors are eager to assist and tell you more about the 2020 Perodua Bezza, which will be in showrooms very soon!" Dato' Zainal said.
The 2020 Perodua Bezza comes with a five-year/150,000 km warranty (whichever comes first).
1.0 G MT
Ivory White
Glittering Silver
Sugar Brown
1.0 G AT
1.3 X AT
1.3 AV AT
All prices are on-the-road before insurance in Peninsular Malaysia
*ASA is a driver assistance system that helps to reduce the risk of collisions and is by no means a substitute for safe driving. Always be alert and cautious behind the wheel.