Don't let the evil man punt Baxter!
Give a like, Give $1 to Charity.
Maybe you will get off the Naughty List this year.
For every person who likes the San Diego Humane Society Page between last Tuesday and Dec. 23rd, $1 will be donated to the organization from the Rachel Ray Nutrish Charity. The goal is to raise $10,000 and you don't have to spend a single dollar.
This social media campaign will succeed for a few major reasons.
It is endorsed by mega celebrity, Rachel Ray, and thus can take advantage of her many media channels.
Very minimal effort is needed by the user to donate: just a single click.
Will Ferrell has been promoting the Anchorman launch for months and the audience is very aware.
It is the holiday season and people are in a giving mood, especially when it is free to them.
People love dogs. Especially ones that can eat a whole wheel of cheese (we aren't even mad, we're impressed).
The tough question is how long do these users stay fans of Nutrish and do they ever purchase the product?
Often marketers need to clarify to upper management what the ROI will be on the money invested in Facebook. Normally they make assumptions, algorithms or state it is just for brand awareness and link building. In this scenario it is easy to tell the cost of aquisition. It is literally $1 per like.
Facebook has recently changed the rules of their promotions and contests within the social media network making it easier to run contests of this nature.
By removing these restrictions it is making it far easier for small businesses to run promotions on the site without fear of getting blacklisted or penalized by the social media network. Hiring someone to develop an app or paying for a software as a service can immediately crush any return on investment that was expected by the promotion.
Facebook and other social networks are the greatest asset a small business can has in their arsenal to compete against larger chains. For example, our client uses Facebook advertising for three months a year to direct students who are graduating college to their shop for thesis binding. It is a very targeted audience and Facebook is one of the few options to get them the message directly.
Have you successfully used a Facebook promotion or advertising campaign to grow your digital presence? Please tell us your story in the comments.


text:
Rent-A-Center, Inc. Reports Third Quarter 2015 Results
Rent-A-Center, Inc. Grows Acceptance Now Location Count by 15 Percent and Consolidated Same Store Sales by 5.2 Percent
PLANO, Texas - October 26, 2015 - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ/NGS: RCII) today announced results for the quarter ended September 30, 2015.
Highlights on the quarter include the following:
On a GAAP basis, loss per diluted share was $0.08 in the third quarter compared to earnings of $0.49 for the third quarter of the prior year, due primarily to the $34.7 million write-down of smartphones as discussed below
Earnings per diluted share, excluding special items, was $0.47 compared to $0.50 for the third quarter of the prior year (see non-GAAP reconciliation below)
Consolidated total revenues increased 3.6 percent to $791.6 million and same store sales increased 5.2 percent over the prior year
Acceptance Now same store sales increased 24.5 percent, driven by the continued ramp-up of existing locations and the introduction of 90 day option pricing. During the third quarter, 30 Acceptance Now staffed locations and 208 direct locations were opened, 18 staffed locations were merged with existing locations, and three staffed locations were converted to direct locations.
Core U.S. same store sales decreased by 0.2 percent, representing an improvement of 340 basis points compared to prior year. Since the first quarter of 2014, the two-year same store sales comp has improved by 1,100 basis points. The improvement is primarily due to the new smartphone product category and higher merchandise sales, offset by headwinds in oil industry affected markets and continued pressure in the computers and tablets category.
The Company's operating profit as a percent of total revenues, excluding special items, increased to 6.6 percent, a 50 basis point improvement over the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA increased by 8.5 percent over the prior year (see Table 3 below).
For the nine months ended September 30, the Company generated $249.3 million of cash from operations, capital expenditures totaled $61.1 million, and the Company ended the third quarter with $60.1 million of cash and cash equivalents, and $41.8 million less in debt compared to Q2 2015
The Company declared a dividend of 24 cents per share in the third quarter of 2015, which was paid October 22, 2015
"The third quarter again reinforces our focus on improving returns on our existing assets, in order to fund higher return growth initiatives," said Robert D. Davis, the Chief Executive Officer of Rent-A-Center, Inc. "The Acceptance Now location count increased 15 percent this quarter driven primarily by adding direct locations. While we believe the staffed model will continue to be the gold standard for the industry, given its superior ability to drive volume and profit dollars, our direct channel enables the expansion of our offering to lower volume locations and broadens our scope of potential retailers. We recognize that technology and innovation are critical to compete and we are investing accordingly to continuously enhance our value proposition," Mr. Davis continued.
"Improved profitability trends in the Core U.S. business including a $40 million reduction of store expenses through the third quarter reflect clear progress on implementing the strategic initiatives. The upfront work associated with our flexible labor and sourcing and distribution initiatives is substantially complete and they remain on track for the expected benefits. In order to further optimize our store base, approximately 100 under-performing stores were closed or sold during the quarter. By improving the return profile of existing assets through our strategic initiatives and by optimizing the store base, we are able to reinvest in new technology to support our rapidly growing Acceptance Now business," Mr. Davis concluded.
Progress on initiatives:
Acceptance Now Technology Initiatives - doubled the penetration of online approval via retailer websites as well as the technology to support the seamless application process. Each of these technologies are available in about a third of our staffed locations
Sourcing & Distribution - all products are flowing through the new supply chain, all DCs have been fully sourced with product, and the initiative remains on track to fully realize $25 to 35 million of annual run-rate income statement benefits by the end of 2016
Flexible Labor - our new model has been introduced in approximately 2,100 Core U.S. locations, 5,550 new part-time co-workers have joined the Company, and the initiative remains on track to generate $20 to 25 million of annual run rate savings by mid-2016
Omni-channel initiatives - began pilot of virtual approval on Rentacenter.com and will have full eCommerce capability in 2016
Smartphones - smartphones were approximately 9.0 percent of Core U.S. total store revenues and the locking software is installed on 65 percent of on-rent phones and virtually all of our new phones
New point-of-sale system - the pilot has been expanded and is now in 8.5 precent of Core U.S. stores
SAME STORE SALES
Table 1 2015 2014
Period Core U.S. Acceptance Now Mexico Total Core U.S. Acceptance Now Mexico Total
Three months ended September 30, (0.2 )% 24.5 % 5.0 % 5.2 % (3.6 )% 25.7 % 25.9 % 1.9 %
Note: Same store sales are reported on a constant currency basis beginning in 2015.
Quarterly Operating Performance
Explanations of performance are excluding special items and compared to the prior year unless otherwise noted.
ACCEPTANCE NOW third quarter revenues of $196.7 million increased 26.6 percent year over year driven by same store sales growth, the introduction of 90 day option pricing, and a 24 percent year over year increase in the number of locations. Gross profit as a percent of total revenue stabilized sequentially, despite being negatively impacted by lower gross profit margin on merchandise sales and a higher mix of merchandise sales primarily due to the popularity of the 90 day option pricing. Labor and other store expenses, as a percent of store revenue, were positively impacted by improved leverage in the business.
CORE U.S. third quarter revenues of $575.4 million decreased 1.4 percent year over year primarily due to the continued rationalization of our Core U.S. store base. Gross profit as a percent of total revenue was negatively impacted by lower gross profit margin on merchandise sales and a higher mix of merchandise sales both primarily due to smartphones. Labor, as a percent of store revenue, was positively impacted by lower store count, labor hour reductions that occurred in the third quarter of 2014, lower workers compensation costs, and the flexible labor overtime initiative. Other store expenses, as a percent of store revenue, were positively impacted by a lower store count, lower gas prices, lower training costs for smartphones, and lower insurance, partially offset by higher product service cost from smartphones. Core U.S. operating profit, as a percent of total revenue, increased 90 basis points.
MEXICO third quarter revenues decreased 24.1 percent driven by currency fluctuations and store closures; however, operating losses improved by $2.1 million.
FRANCHISING third quarter gross profit increased 29.3 percent and operating profit increased by $0.6 million.
Smartphone Write-Down:
During the third quarter, we determined that it was necessary to adjust our smartphone inventory primarily through the write-down of older generation phones, and via the acceleration of secondary market dispositions of excess phone inventory. Upon standing up the category a year ago, we purchased inventory to support new and older technology, and older generation phones fell short of our expectations while newer generation phones exceeded our expectations, resulting in excess phones. In connection with this decision, the company has recorded a $34.7 million pre-tax inventory write-down in cost of sales for the third quarter to account for these actions. Management is currently refining its approach to this profitable product category based upon our initial year of experience in this area.
Non-GAAP Reconciliation
To supplement the Company's financial results presented on a GAAP basis, Rent-A-Center uses the non-GAAP measures ("special items") indicated in Tables 2 and 3 below, which exclude charges in 2015 for the write-down of smartphones, the loss on the sale of 22 Core U.S. stores to a Franchisee, restructuring charges related to the closure of 65 Core U.S. stores, start-up expenses related to our sourcing and distribution initiative, the loss on the sale of 14 Canadian stores and discrete adjustments to tax reserves. Gains or charges related to sales of stores, store closures, and discrete adjustments to tax reserves will generally recur with the occurrence of these events in the future. The presentation of these financial measures is not in accordance with, or an alternative for, accounting principles generally accepted in the United States and should be read in conjunction with the Company's consolidated financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP. Rent-A-Center management believes that excluding special items from the GAAP financial results provides investors a clearer perspective of the Company's ongoing operating performance and a more relevant comparison to prior period results.
Reconciliation of net income to net income excluding special items (in thousands, except per share data):
Amount Per Share Amount Per Share
Net earnings (loss) $ (4,092 ) $ (0.08 ) $ 25,925 $ 0.49
Special items:
Write-down of smartphones, net of taxes 21,114 0.40 — —
Other charges, net of taxes 6,615 0.13 5,518 0.10
Vendor settlement credit, net of taxes — — (4,682 ) (0.09 )
Discrete income tax charges 1,178 0.02 — —
Net earnings excluding special items $ 24,815 $ 0.47 $ 26,761 $ 0.50
Guidance Policy
Rent-A-Center, Inc. provides annual guidance as it relates to same store sales, earnings per diluted share, and other key line items and will only provide updates if there is a material change versus the original guidance or to provide clarification. Management will not discuss intra-period sales or other key operating results not yet reported as the limited data may not accurately reflect the final results of the period or quarter referenced.
2015 Guidance
We now expect Q4 EPS to be $0.52 to $0.62 and these projections now equate to full year 2015 guidance of $2.00 to $2.10.
Rent-A-Center, Inc. will host a conference call to discuss the third quarter results, guidance and other operational matters on Tuesday morning, October 27, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. ET. For a live webcast of the call, visit http://investor.rentacenter.com. Certain financial and other statistical information that will be discussed during the conference call will also be provided on the same website.
A rent-to-own industry leader, Plano, TX-based, Rent-A-Center, Inc., is focused on improving the quality of life for its customers by providing them the opportunity to obtain ownership of high-quality, durable products such as consumer electronics, appliances, computers, furniture and accessories, and smartphones, under flexible rental purchase agreements with no long-term obligation. The Company owns and operates approximately 2,700 stores in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico, and approximately 1,690 Acceptance Now locations in the United States and Puerto Rico. Rent-A-Center Franchising International, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a national franchiser of approximately 200 rent-to-own stores operating under the trade names of "Rent-A-Center", "ColorTyme", and "RimTyme". For additional information about the Company, please visit our website at www.rentacenter.com.
This press release and the guidance above contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "could," "estimate," "should," "anticipate," or "believe," or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are accurate. However, there can be no assurance that such expectations will occur. The Company's actual future performance could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: the general strength of the economy and other economic conditions affecting consumer preferences and spending; factors affecting the disposable income available to the Company's current and potential customers; changes in the unemployment rate; difficulties encountered in improving the financial performance of our business segments; failure to manage the Company's store labor and other store expenses; the Company's ability to develop and successfully execute the competencies and capabilities which are the focus of the Company's multi-year program designed to transform and modernize the Company's operations, including the flexible labor and sourcing and distribution initiatives; the Company's ability to successfully implement its new store information management system; the Company's ability to successfully market smartphones and related services to its customers; the Company's ability to develop and successfully implement virtual or e-commerce capabilities; the Company's ability to execute and the effectiveness of a store consolidation, including the Company's ability to retain the revenue from customer accounts merged into another store location as a result of a store consolidation; rapid inflation or deflation in prices of the Company's products; the Company's available cash flow; the Company's ability to identify and successfully market products and services that appeal to its customer demographic; consumer preferences and perceptions of the Company's brand; uncertainties regarding the ability to open new locations; the Company's ability to acquire additional stores or customer accounts on favorable terms; the Company's ability to control costs and increase profitability; the Company's ability to retain the revenue associated with acquired customer accounts and enhance the performance of acquired stores; the Company's ability to enter into new and collect on its rental or lease purchase agreements; the passage of legislation adversely affecting the rent-to-own industry; the Company's compliance with applicable statutes or regulations governing its transactions; changes in interest rates; adverse changes in the economic conditions of the industries, countries or markets that the Company serves; information technology and data security costs; the Company's ability to protect the integrity and security of individually identifiable data of its customers and employees; the impact of any breaches in data security or other disturbances to the Company's information technology and other networks and the Company's ability to protect the integrity and security of individually identifiable data of its customers and employees; changes in the Company's stock price, the number of shares of common stock that it may or may not repurchase, and future dividends, if any; changes in estimates relating to self-insurance liabilities and income tax and litigation reserves; changes in the Company's effective tax rate; fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; the Company's ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls; the resolution of the Company's litigation; and the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including but not limited to, its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2015, and its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Rent-A-Center, Inc. and Subsidiaries
STATEMENT OF EARNINGS HIGHLIGHTS - UNAUDITED
Table 3 Three Months Ended September 30,
Revised Revised
(In thousands, except per share data) Before After Before After
Special Items Special Items Special Items Special Items
(Non-GAAP (GAAP (Non-GAAP (GAAP
Earnings) Earnings) Earnings) Earnings)
Total revenues $ 791,605 $ 791,605 $ 764,363 $ 764,363
Operating profit 52,199
Net earnings (loss) 24,815
(4,092 ) 26,761
Diluted earnings (loss) per common share $ 0.47
$ (0.08 ) $ 0.50
Adjusted EBITDA $ 72,178 $ 72,178 $ 66,509 $ 66,509
Reconciliation to Adjusted EBITDA:
Earnings (loss) before income taxes $ 39,862
$ (5,772 ) $ 34,810
Add back:
Other charges and (credits) — 34,698 — (7,072 )
Restructuring charge — 10,936 — 3,185
Impairment charge — — — 4,558
Interest expense, net 12,337 12,337 11,781 11,781
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles 19,979 19,979 19,918 19,918
(1) Excludes the effects of a $34.7 million pre-tax write-down of smartphones, $4.9 million pre-tax loss on the sale of 22 Core U.S. stores to a franchisee, a $4.3 million pre-tax charge related to the closure of 65 Core U.S. stores, a $1.2 million pre-tax charge for start-up and warehouse closure expenses related to our sourcing and distribution initiative, and a $0.3 million pre-tax loss on the sale of 14 stores in Canada. These charges reduced net loss and net loss per diluted share for the three months ended September 30, 2015, by approximately $27.7 million and $0.53, respectively. Net loss also excludes the effect of $1.2 million of discrete income tax adjustments to reserves that reduced earnings per diluted share by $0.02.
(2) Excludes the effects of a $7.1 million pre-tax vendor settlement credit, a $4.6 million pre-tax impairment charge and a $3.2 million pre-tax restructuring charge. These charges reduced net earnings and net earnings per diluted share for the three months ended September 30, 2014, by approximately $0.8 million and $0.01, respectively.
SELECTED BALANCE SHEET HIGHLIGHTS - UNAUDITED
Table 4 September 30,
(In thousands) Revised
Receivables, net 63,252 68,759
Prepaid Expenses and Other Assets 75,538 83,298
Rental Merchandise, net
On Rent 849,234 865,010
Held for Rent 272,225 293,480
Total Assets $ 3,038,956 $ 3,082,186
Senior Debt $ 371,625 $ 425,135
Senior Notes 542,740 550,000
Total Liabilities 1,636,658 1,705,668
Stockholders' Equity $ 1,402,298 $ 1,376,518
Note: During the fourth quarter of 2014, the Company identified immaterial errors that affected receivables, prepaid expenses and other assets, rental merchandise and other balance sheet line items. The correction of these errors resulted in an increase in receivables of $0.5 million, a decrease in prepaid expenses and other assets of $2.3 million, a decrease in on rent merchandise of $2.2 million, an increase in held for rent merchandise of $26.9 million and an increase in total assets of $23.0 million at September 30, 2014. The above corrections resulted in a decrease in total revenue of $5.2 million, an increase in gross profit of $0.3 million and an increase in net income of $0.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2014.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS - UNAUDITED
(In thousands, except per share data) Revised
Rentals and fees $ 683,343 $ 675,342
Merchandise sales 80,932 58,477
Installment sales 17,786 17,822
Other 4,475 6,384
Total store revenues 786,536 758,025
Merchandise sales 2,456 4,477
Royalty income and fees 2,613 1,861
Total revenues 791,605 764,363
Cost of rentals and fees 178,094 174,041
Cost of merchandise sold 82,043 47,569
Cost of installment sales 5,854 5,867
Total cost of store revenues 265,991 227,477
Other charges and (credits) 34,698
(7,072 )
Franchise cost of merchandise sold 2,304 4,200
Total cost of revenues 302,993 224,605
Gross profit 488,612 539,758
Store expenses
Labor 209,904 218,623
Other store expenses 201,638 208,424
General and administrative expenses 39,590 39,130
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles 19,979 19,918
Other charges 10,936
Total operating expenses 482,047 493,838
Operating profit 6,565 45,920
Interest expense 12,490 11,981
Interest income (153 ) (200 )
Earnings (loss) before income taxes (5,772 ) 34,139
Income tax expense (benefit) (1,680 )
NET EARNINGS (LOSS) $ (4,092 ) $ 25,925
Basic weighted average shares 53,060 52,864
Basic loss per common share $ (0.08 ) $ 0.49
Diluted weighted average shares 53,060 53,114
Diluted loss per common share $ (0.08 ) $ 0.49
(3) Includes a $34.7 million write-down of smartphones.
(4) Includes a $4.9 million loss on the sale of 22 Core U.S. stores to a franchisee, a $4.3 million charge related to the closure of 65 Core U.S. stores, a $1.2 million charge for start-up and warehouse closure expenses related to our sourcing and distribution initiative, and a $0.3 million loss on the sale of 14 stores in Canada.
(5) Includes $1.2 million of discrete adjustments to income tax reserves.
(6) Includes a $7.1 million vendor settlement credit.
(7) Includes a $4.6 million impairment charge, a $2.8 million corporate restructuring charge and a $0.4 million restructuring charge related to the consolidation of 150 stores in Q2 2014.
SEGMENT INFORMATION HIGHLIGHTS - UNAUDITED
During the fourth quarter of 2014, management reevaluated its operating segments and segment reporting, and determined that the chief operating decision makers relied more heavily on operating profit before corporate allocations when evaluating segment performance than operating profit after corporate allocations. In the following tables, segment operating profit is presented before corporate allocations. Corporate costs, which are primarily costs incurred at our U.S. corporate headquarters, are reported separately to reconcile to operating profit reported in the consolidated statements of operations. The costs incurred at our Mexico field support center are reported in the Mexico segment because the Country Manager is responsible for Mexico's operations and its field support center. The Franchising segment's corporate costs are reported in the Franchising segment because the President of RAC Franchising International is responsible for that segment's operations and corporate functions. Certain corporate assets used to support our Core U.S., Acceptance Now and Mexico segments, including the land and building in which the corporate headquarters are located and related property assets, cash and prepaid expenses were also allocated historically to these operating segments based on segment revenue. In the following tables, corporate assets are reported separately to reconcile to the consolidated balance sheets. Management believes that these changes provide investors with a more precise view of field operations and corporate costs that accurately aligns with management's view of the business.
Revenues Revised
Core U.S. $ 575,356 $ 583,616
Acceptance Now 196,652 155,278
Mexico 14,528 19,131
Franchising 5,069 6,338
Total revenues $ 791,605 $ 764,363
Gross profit Revised
Core U.S. $ 374,214
Acceptance Now 102,133 92,378
Mexico 9,500 13,553
Total gross profit $ 488,612 $ 539,758
Operating profit (loss) Revised
Core U.S. $ 15,700
Acceptance Now 28,901 29,938
Mexico (2,359 ) (4,529 )
Total segment operating profit 44,039 90,025
Corporate (37,474 ) (44,105 )
Total operating profit $ 6,565 $ 45,920
(4) Includes a $0.4 million restructuring charge related to the consolidation of 150 stores.
(5) Includes a $4.6 million impairment charge and a $2.8 million corporate restructuring charge.
Depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles Revised
Core U.S. $ 11,818 $ 13,671
Acceptance Now 836 697
Mexico 1,165 1,714
Franchising 45 49
Total segments 13,864 16,131
Corporate 6,115 3,787
Total depreciation, amortization and write-down of intangibles $ 19,979 $ 19,918
Table 10 Three Months Ended September 30,
Capital expenditures Revised
Core U.S. $ 6,148 $ 5,637
Mexico 16 438
Total segments 7,085 6,523
Corporate 11,171 13,760
Total capital expenditures $ 18,256 $ 20,283
Table 11 On Rent at September 30, Held for Rent at September 30,
Rental merchandise, net Revised Revised
Core U.S. $ 496,524 $ 530,569 $ 260,563 $ 279,923
Acceptance Now 334,167 313,533 6,354 5,779
Mexico 18,543 20,908 5,308 7,778
Total on rent rental merchandise, net $ 849,234 $ 865,010 $ 272,225 $ 293,480
Table 12 September 30,
Assets Revised
Core U.S. $ 2,404,391 $ 2,519,146
Total segments 2,857,046 2,977,967
Corporate 181,910 104,219
LOCATION ACTIVITY - UNAUDITED
Table 13 Three Months Ended September 30, 2015
Core U.S.
Acceptance Now
Staffed
Mexico Franchising Total
Locations at beginning of period 2,803 1,459 12 143 187 4,604
New location openings — 30 208 — 1 239
Acquired locations remaining open — — — — — —
Conversions (22 ) (3 ) 3 — 22 —
Closed locations
Merged with existing locations 68 18 — — — 86
Sold or closed with no surviving location 16 — — — 3 19
Locations at end of period 2,697 1,468 223 143 207 4,738
Acquired locations closed and accounts merged with existing locations 7 — — — — 7
Locations at beginning of period 2,847 1,359 — 176 180 4,562
New location openings 2 55 — — 14 71
Acquired locations remaining open 1 — — — — 1
Conversions — — — — — —
Merged with existing locations — 55 — — — 55
Sold or closed with no surviving location 9 — — — 6 15
Locations at end of period 2,841 1,359 — 176 188 4,564
Maureen Short
Finance, Investor Relations and Treasury
maureen.short@rentacenter.com

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Catholic character of CSJ shapes and is shaped by every aspect of college life including student affairs, faculty, administration and staff activities, and curricular and co-curricular programs. Composed of members of various faiths, the college community acknowledges the challenge to serve the needs of the Church and society and recognizes its role to provide a forum for dialogue between the gospel and secular culture. The College is called upon to teach and learn, and in so doing, to influence the larger society of which it is a part. In addition, the College strives to create an atmosphere that fosters the development of personal spirituality. Standards of moral and ethical behavior are integrated into the body of knowledge conveyed to students. Finally, the College community pursues a common dedication to the truth, a common vision of the dignity of the human person, and is characterized by mutual respect, sincere dialogue, freedom of conscience, and protection of the rights of individuals.


Chomp Pro Algae Mold Stain Cleaner Remover. This professional strength algae and mold stain cleaner and remover is a fast, bleach free, environmentally safe way to clean algae and mold stains from most hard, exterior surfaces. Chomp Professional Strength Concentrated Algae Mold Stain Cleaner and Remover with DST, Step 1, can be used on roofs, fences, stone, brick, pavers, concrete, decking, siding, cedar, vinyl, stucco, and patios. It will clean and remove stains caused by algae and mold and make weathered wood look like new. This product is environmentally friendly, biodegradable, bleach free and with no phosphates. A gallon makes seven gallons of cleaning solution. Depending on the stains and surface, it will clean approximately 800 square feet.


RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) The way senior Jakob Gollon sees it, Mercer has been building toward this NCAA tournament through years of playing power conference teams.
Each matchup – the lopsided losses, the confidence-building wins, even the final minutes of a close game – taught the 14th-seeded Bears a lesson. And that has helped them mature into the team that stands here now, fresh off the tournament's biggest upset over Duke and playing Tennessee to reach the round of 16 on Sunday in the Midwest Regional.
Mercer (27-8) shook up the tournament and ruined plenty of brackets by knocking off Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils on Friday, controlling the final minutes of a tight game to pull away from a younger team filled with big-name talent.
It marked the 17th time in the past four seasons that the Bears have played a team from a major conference, according to STATS LLC. They have beaten Florida State and Georgia Tech from the Atlantic Coast Conference; Seton Hall from the Big East; and Southeastern Conference teams Alabama, Mississippi and even these same Volunteers (23-12) in last year's NIT.
Beating Duke marked the seventh win in those games for the four-year seniors, who opened this year with a three-point loss at Texas, an eventual NCAA team.
No one has to convince the 11th-seeded Vols of that. After beating Iowa in the First Four then following with their own upset of No. 6 seed Massachusetts in Friday's second round, they have heard plenty of questions about both Mercer's win over them last season as well as the Duke upset.
TENNESSEE'S BEEF: Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon had double-doubles in the UMass rout, with Stokes scoring a career-high 26 points to go with 14 rebounds. Keeping the two 260-pound big men off the boards is going to be a difficult challenge for the Bears, particularly considering their biggest player – 6-foot-11, 250-pound senior Monty Brown – is likely out with a possible concussion suffered against Duke. "We need some girth to bang around a little bit and he would definitely have helped us there," Hoffman said.
MERCER'S BALANCE: The Bears certainly have plenty of scoring options, with Langston Hall (14.6 points) and Daniel Coursey (10.1) averaging in double figures and four other players averaging at least 8.2 points per game. Mercer displayed that balance against Duke, with five players scoring in double figures.
MOMENTUM: Both teams have played well coming down the stretch. Tennessee has won seven of eight games, with the only loss coming to No. 1 overall tournament seed Florida in the SEC tournament. Mercer has won five straight, including a three-game run through the Atlantic Sun tournament. That leaves both teams playing with plenty of confidence, especially after their Raleigh openers.


text:
Litigation Hold Notices In Quebec
Webinar Montreal Canada
Internal Investigations: How To Manage A Crisis Efficiently
Lobbying In Quebec: The Importance Of Adopting Compliance Programs And Policies
Canada: Court Of Appeal For Ontario Limits Intrusion Upon Seclusion Claims In Cybersecurity Cases
by Ashley Haines (Toronto) and Nicole Henderson (Toronto)
On November 25, 2022, in Owsianik v. Equifax Canada Co., 2022 ONCA 813 (Owsianik), the Ontario Court of Appeal (Court) held that intrusion upon seclusion is not a viable cause of action against a defendant who has been the victim rather than the perpetrator of a cyberattack. Owsianik was the lead case in a trilogy of decisions released the same day that offer much-needed clarity on the scope of this tort, confirming that a defendant's alleged failure to prevent a breach of privacy by an outside party will not give rise to a claim for intrusion upon seclusion.
The tort of intrusion upon seclusion was first recognized by the Court in Jones v Tsige (Jones) in 2012, allowing recovery of moral damages for invasion of privacy even absent pecuniary loss. Jones was a classic case of snooping, in which the defendant improperly accessed the plaintiff's private financial records. In the decade since Jones, a number of privacy class actions have been commenced – and some certified – in circumstances bearing little similarity to Jones, including cases involving cyberattacks by third party criminals.
Owsianik and its two companion appeals (Obodo v. TransUnion of Canada, Inc., 2022 ONCA 814 and Winder v. Marriott International, Inc., 2022 ONCA 815) were proposed class actions arising out of cyberattacks in which hackers unlawfully accessed personal information collected and stored by the defendants. The issue before the Court in all three appeals was whether the defendants could be liable for intrusion upon seclusion when it was the hackers, rather than the defendants themselves, who had intruded on class members' personal information.
COURT OF APPEAL DECISION
In Owsianik, the Court unanimously upheld the majority decision of the Divisional Court, finding that it was "plain and obvious" that the intrusion upon seclusion claim could not succeed. First, the Court restated the elements of the tort as follows:
the defendant must have invaded or intruded upon the plaintiff's private affairs or concerns, without lawful excuse (the "conduct requirement");
the conduct which constitutes the intrusion or invasion must have been done intentionally or recklessly (the "state of mind requirement"); and
a reasonable person would regard the invasion of privacy as highly offensive, causing distress, humiliation, or anguish (the "consequence requirement").
The conduct requirement is made out only where the defendant commits an act that constitutes a deliberate invasion into the plaintiff's privacy – that is, where the defendant is the "intruder." In this regard, the Court clarified that the state of mind requirement must be established in relation to the conduct requirement. If the defendant does not commit an intrusion, its intention or recklessness with respect to some other conduct will not suffice. As a result, a defendant who is the victim of a third party cyberattack cannot be liable for intrusion upon seclusion, even if the defendant was allegedly reckless in failing to properly secure the plaintiff's private information.
In reaching this conclusion, the Court rejected several arguments made by the plaintiffs in all three appeals. Among others, the Court dismissed an argument that class members were left without a remedy for invasion of their privacy. Plaintiffs whose personal information is affected by a cyberattack may have claims against the defendant in negligence or breach of contract depending on the factual circumstances, although those claims will generally require proof of pecuniary loss. Where a plaintiff is left without a claim in contract or negligence for lack of compensable harm, this does not mean that she has "no remedy". The Court also considered that the plaintiffs' practical inability to sue the hacker in the present case was not proper basis to impose liability on the defendants.
In Obodo, the Court also rejected the plaintiffs' invitation to impose a form of vicarious liability on a defendant for "enabling" a cyberattack by failing to detect or prevent it. The policy considerations that justify the imposition of vicarious liability cannot exist absent an employer-employee relationship between the actual intruder and the defendant. That is consistent with the caution in Jones that the parameters of the intrusion tort should be kept "tight and narrow."
The Court also emphasized the importance of disposing of unmeritorious claims at an early stage rather than allowing them to proceed to trial, underscoring that even novel questions of law can and should be resolved on certification motions or motions to strike. In this regard, the Court noted the unfairness visited on class action defendants when courts artificially delay determination of important legal issues, giving the plaintiffs an undue "leg up" in the certification process and any settlement negotiations.
This trilogy of cases gives much-awaited clarity on the scope of the intrusion upon seclusion tort. Further appeals are possible, but these cases signal that going forward, claims for intrusion upon seclusion should be limited to cases where the defendant itself has deliberately invaded the plaintiff's privacy. However, depending on the factual circumstances, plaintiffs may still be able to bring loss-based claims such as negligence or breach of contract in response to cyberattacks. The Court also left for another day the scope of the statutory privacy torts that have been enacted in some provinces.
Owsianik also serves as a welcome affirmation of the courts' vital role in screening out unviable claims at or before certification rather than simply deferring them to a common issues trial. This is encouraging for class action defendants looking to use preliminary motions to dispose of unmeritorious claims at an early stage.
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Nicole Henderson
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Re-Animator review
Anton van Beek | Jun 5, 2014
Stuart Gordon's notorious 1980s shocker gets a brand-new lease of life in high-definition
The 1980s were a particularly exciting time for horror fans. Filmmakers constantly tried to outdo each other by pushing harder and harder at the boundaries of good taste. Yet outside of the gallons of gore being unleashed on screen many of the movies contained little else of note. Stuart Gordon's Re-Animator was another matter altogether…
Based on H.P. Lovecraft's six Herbert West – Reanimator short stories, Gordon's film certainly doesn't skimp on the blood. Even now some of set-pieces are as outrageous and shocking as ever. But, remarkably, this is balanced by a healthy jolt of satire and some winning performances from the leads, resulting in characters that you actually end up caring about – and surely that is the biggest shock of all.
Picture: Second Sight's Blu-ray contains a brilliant new 1080p restoration. Image fidelity is strong, with plenty of fine detail evident in close-ups, and there's a nice contrast between the vibrant, sometimes gaudy, colours and rock-solid blacks. There are shots that suffer from a slight lack in sharpness, but we suspect this is down to the source elements.
Re-Animator has traditionally be presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, yet this BD opts for 1.78:1 instead. However, rather than crop the image slightly, this actually appears to have been achieved by exposing the full image on negative. A cursory comparison between a frame from the film's pre-credit sequence and the same shot from the bonus documentary (where it is framed at 1.85:1 - see comparison below) shows noticeably more information at left and bottom of the picture.
The alternate 'Integral Version' of the film (see the comments on 'Extras' below) has also been subject to a similar level of restoration.
Picture rating: 4.5/5
Audio: The uncut version of Re-Animator offers a choice of LPCM stereo or DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtracks (only the latter is available on the 'Integral Version'). Both sound pretty good for a 1980s horror, with excellent dialogue and music reproduction, as well as creating a modestly expansive front-end. The 5.1 mix sounds a tad more open thanks to subtle use of the rears for atmospheric effect, but not so much that it makes for a radically different experience.
Audio rating: 4/5
Extras: The only new extra here is the 'Integral Cut' of the film. Running 19 minutes longer than the original release, it restores all of the excised material previously only available as extended/deleted scenes. Due to resulting pacing issues it's more of a curio than anything, but fans should still be delighted by its presence.
The remaining extras are all familiar from previous DVD platters, but are just as welcome as ever. The 'uncut' version of the film is accompanied by a pair of fantastically fun and informative commentary tracks. The platter containing the 'Integral Version' also serves up five interviews, the hour-long Re-Animator Resurrectus documentary, a deleted scene, 17 extended scenes, six trailer and two photo galleries.
Extras rating: 4.5/5
We say: An astonishing hi-def debut for one of the most outrageous and exhilarating fright flicks of the 1980s
Re-Animator, Second Sight, Region B BD, £26 Approx


It's an oxymoron, really, "favorite unlikable character," yeah?
I often hear from writer friends, "Your character isn't likable." And, for those not familiar with the general conventions, that's not a good thing. However, since this is often what I'm going for, I don't mind the feedback. In fact, it's spot on.
The norm is that readers are supposed to like and root for characters early on. I get that; but I struggle with it. Each year, I'm reminded of one of the most unlikeable characters of all time and I re-think this.
He's wonderfully terrible: A mean, scary, evil-hearted thief. I often wonder what wrath he could've bestowed upon Whoville had he been conceived by Stephen King rather than Dr. Seuss. Take a second to imagine the carnage… Okay, now stop.
The reader isn't supposed to like the Grinch at the outset. There's nothing likable about him, unless you admire his cute, furry greenness that's not unlike another likable bad-guy, Oscar the Grouch. It's the disgust we have for him that makes his turn-around meaningful.
My point, and I do have one, is that despite the common thought that writers should paint characters who are relatable and likable, I often seek to build an eclectic cast including those we don't like. Often, I'll turn those cats around as they learn important lessons through their journey, but sometimes they just stay bad. And I'm okay with that too.
It is my literary friend the Grinch who gives me permission to pursue my unlikables.
What does the Grinch have that other unlikeable characters don't? A rockin' theme song.
In closing, some Grinch trivia: The town of Whoville and the mountain on which the Grinch lives were based on a real place the Town of Easthampton, Massachusetts and the overlooking mountain named Mount Tom, which are just north of Springfield, MA where Theodor Seuss Geisel grew up.
Happy holidays and peace on Earth!


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I Am A Camera
4,300 words that entirely explains LSD. You're welcome.
In which Michael Pollan convinces me to go on an LSD trip for the first time in 30 years, with pleasantly surprising results
#lsd #acid #trip #psychedelic #drugs #michaelpollan #howtochangeyourmind #brain #theory #mri #research #defaultmodenetwork #undergraduatedrama #sofiabolt
Hey, guess what? I took LSD for the first time in 30 years last week! Like most art majors in the late 1980s, I took psychedelics around a dozen times as a college student, a combination of LSD and mushrooms and MDMA; but once I left school and moved to Chicago in the mid-1990s, I left behind my psychedelics habit and considered it over for good, because the experiences would always wipe me out so much and I had thought that I had pretty much learned everything useful that I could from them.
Last summer, however, I read Michael Pollan's new book How to Change Your Mind, which got me thinking about the subject of LSD again for the first time in a long time. A celebrated long-form journalist who so far in his career has written mostly about food (regulars will remember me bugging the shit out of everyone at Twitter last summer while reading his mind-blowing The Omnivore's Dilemma), last year Pollan wrote a massive 400-page overview of the absolute latest scientific research into psychedelics, weaving in the pre-countercultural history of LSD (back when it was considered a mainstream prescription medication for treating things like depression and addiction), the interesting left turn LSD took in the 1960s (when Timothy Leary essentially singlehandedly turned it into The Greatest Menace Society Faces), and the quiet research into LSD and brain activity that's been going on in the 1990s and '00s, under the guidance of respected academic institutions and the latest generation of MRI brain-scanning machines.
The consensus that's starting to emerge from this research — and the subject that takes up the biggest chunk of Pollan's book — is that our brains are basically made up of a bunch of different sections that do different things, much like the sections of an orchestra; and that there's a section scientists call the "Default Mode Network" (DMN) that acts like the orchestra's leader, taking all the input from all these other sections and processing them in a way that makes rational sense. When we say that someone is "sane," that essentially means that their DMN is working correctly, taking cues for example from the eyes ("I see that my finger is over a candle flame right now"), skin ("Ooh, it's getting hot down here"), and memory ("The last time I touched a flame, I burned myself badly") to then send a very logical and sensible signal to the rest of your system ("Take your finger out of that candle flame, you moron"). This is also the section of the brain that's responsible for what we call "consciousness" or "self-sentience," basically the phenomenon of us being aware of ourselves, aware that we're a distinct person with distinct memories and opinions; or in other words, if you're an atheist like me and don't mind the risk of going to hell, the Default Mode Network is what we've traditionally referred to over the millennia as "the soul."
According to many of the scientists who have been studying this, what LSD actually does is not "turn on" sections of the brain that are usually turned off, the prevalent theory about psychedelics we've had for centuries, but in fact turns off the DMN while allowing the rest of your brain to stay on and working as normal; and without the orchestra leader to make rational sense of it all, the various other sections of your brain are free to directly communicate with each other in a way they don't usually get to, which is what produces the hallucinations, heightened senses, and unusual thought processes that we typically associate with psychedelics. And, according to these scientists, since various maladies like anxiety, depression, addiction and PTSD are all essentially nothing more than a DMN that's not working correctly, taking LSD can often serve for such people as a "reboot" of their system, which is why so many people in recent years and under tightly controlled guidance have seemingly experienced the "miracle" of being entirely cured of their depression or addiction after just one single LSD trip, including the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, who literally coined the phrase "higher power" to explain the profound experience of taking psychedelics to combat addiction, just one of dozens of fascinating anecdotes I learned for the first time while reading Pollan's book.
Needless to say, all this got me really interested in trying LSD again, this time so I could experience it through the prism of this new understanding about the DMN, and to see how my brain might process the "trip experience" now in middle age and understanding a lot more about myself and the world around me than I ever did as an undergraduate. It took me six months, but I finally tracked down a single 100-microgram tab; and on a wintry day a couple of Saturdays ago, I took it at 9:00 in the morning, and basically tripped my balls off until 5:00 that evening, staying in my apartment the whole time while dressed in my pajamas and listening to downbeat electronic music for eight straight hours. My full 4,300-word journal of the experience is at my Google Drive account, which I'll be linking to again at the end of this post, but for those looking for the tl;dr version, I'll mention the highlights now...
—To begin with, it's pretty amazing how perfectly every detail of the trip experience can be explained if you believe in the theory about the Default Mode Network; and especially interesting is the way the DMN seems to work as a series of concentric rings, with the more lizard-brain stuff like sensory perception on the outside and the higher-brain stuff like intellectualism in the middle core. That's why, I theorized, when an acid trip starts out, the first effect is altered sounds and visions, and why the "peak" is always so cloudy and hard to remember afterwards; that's literally when the part of your brain that deals with consciousness is most shut down, but it's also the part that wakes back up the fastest. And that's also why the effects seem to come in a perfectly symmetrical parabolic curve; after not noticing them in the middle of my trip, for example, the altered sensory perceptions once again became the dominant effect during the last hour or two of my trip, which made me theorize that they're the last section of the DMN to "wake back up," after being the first to get turned off.
—And then the other biggest surprise was how much different and more pleasant my trip experience was when doing it during the day, by myself, without ever leaving my apartment, and having no particular obligations other than to just be in my own head and wallow in the experience as much as I wanted. Like most other college students, when I did acid as an undergraduate, it was exclusively overnight experiences (dose around 9 pm, come off it at 5:00 in the morning), always done with a bunch of other art-major undergraduate friends, and almost always as an accompaniment to social obligations, either parties or heading to a bar or very often while attending an all-night rave. I didn't appreciate it at the time, but doing LSD by myself made me realize that so much of the paranoia and exhaustion of my college trips, the cotton-mouth and sore muscles, was actually because of the activity and drama that came with doing acid with a bunch of other undergraduates in the middle of the night while running around in public for hours, and not from the acid itself.
Doing it solo while staying at my place the whole time made it a much more laid-back and pleasant experience, and gave me an opportunity to fully enjoy the effects without being distracted by feuding teenagers or suspicious cops or the glaring fluorescents of a convenience store, an immensely preferable option that I strongly encourage others to do if they're going to trip for the first time. And starting at daybreak while ending at sunset was a beautifully metaphorical experience as well, poetically synchronous which made me feel in touch with the various shamans and sages who have taken psychedelics for mystical and psychological reasons over the centuries; and perhaps most importantly, the drugs were entirely out of my system by the time I went to bed that night, versus doing LSD as an undergraduate where I would often go an entire two days straight before getting any decent sleep, yet another aspect of why I felt so frazzled and exhausted whenever doing acid in college.
Anyway, I had a lot more thoughts and insights while actually on the trip, including my theories on why some people have Charles-Manson-style psychotic breakdowns when doing acid; why it's become known as a "party drug" in recent years despite the fact that it's not actually a social experience in any way at all; why it's so common to feel closer to nature or to experience a "oneness with the universe" while on psychedelics; and why good-looking indie-rockers who flail around on a stage are so irresistible when you're 25 but slowly lose their siren-song charm the older you get. The entire 4,300-word journal is over at my Google Drive account, for those who would like to read a lot more.
This week's task for the 52 Week Photography Challenge I'm doing this year was to take a "landscape image in reflection," so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to take my new DSLR down to the Chicago tourist mecca known as Cloud Gate (aka "The Bean"), using the tripod and remote shutter I got for Christmas. This is the first shot I've done this year that could only be done with a DSLR instead of a cellphone camera, and I'm quite happy with the results. As always, stop by my Flickr account for more of the technical details of how I achieved these shots, and to see a lot more.
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Yee-haw! Leading up to their first show in Texas, this was the message that adorned SPTechCon's website in large letters made of rope.
At first, this reference to a caricature of Texas culture made me cringe, being a native Texan and all. However, to SPTechCon's credit, there is some significance to the phrase being used in relation with the subject matter of the conference. Much like the opportunity the Wild West represented to early Texas settlers, who likely coined the phrase, companies are exploring what opportunity SharePoint's flexible, but rapidly evolving platform represents for their internal collaboration and operations.
SPTechCon Austin was a great few days of sessions with thought leaders sharing their best practices, announcements from Microsoft and Amazon, and networking among SharePoint developers, admins, and power users. This was one of the biggest SharePoint conferences of the year, and a great chance for practitioners to learn how to take advantage of the features Microsoft has built into the latest versions of SharePoint. There were many great sessions on topics such as site design, user experience, migration, and troubleshooting, to name a few. Particularly relevant to the subject of performance was a talk by Todd Klindt and Shane Young, from SharePoint 911, on troubleshooting techniques. They shared expert tips on getting to the bottom of common SharePoint problems and shared some additional tools to aid in troubleshooting and monitoring issues. Check out Todd's blog here.
A large underlying topic at the show was what many are referring to as the inevitable move to Office 365 in the cloud. Even though many companies are planning to eventually move to the cloud, the majority of the sessions were centered around the current on-prem versions of SharePoint.
Most companies were talking about their plans to move to SharePoint 2013. Some were looking at moving from 2007, and foregoing 2010 for 2013. But everyone was concerned, in some fashion, with when their company will be making the move to Office 365.
Newly ordained SharePoint admins from small to medium companies were eager to learn how to extract more value from SharePoint for their internal employees. Larger organizations were looking for greater control over their increasingly complex SharePoint environments.
However, the overwhelming issue for SharePoint teams was the struggle to get users to adopt. 63% of the attendees* that took a survey at our booth responded that their biggest challenge with SharePoint was that users were adopting too slowly.
Troubleshooting slow performance was the next highest source of frustration. One in three replied that their users complained of slowness when accessing SharePoint sites and portals. One SharePoint Admin I spoke with confirmed that many of his SharePoint issues come from many users all hitting pages concurrently. His organization had over 100,000 users using SharePoint. He needed a way to understand what was falling down during critical events that led to high load.
Many companies were using third party web part software to add critical business collaboration and functionality on top of SharePoint. Two thirds of the attendees we surveyed were using third party web parts such as Avepoint, K2, Nintex and Metalogix (All of which were exhibiting at the show). The addition of third party software into SharePoint deployments creates its own issues – one in five attendees we spoke with confirmed that they faced issues of complexity from third party apps or web parts. A SharePoint Admin I spoke with explained how he was involved in a prolonged troubleshooting ordeal between a SharePoint system implementer, Microsoft's support team, and his internal team. Multiple teams managing and contributing to their deployment and the addition of custom code made troubleshooting much more difficult.
It was evident this year at SPTechCon, by the conversations and feedback from attendees, that companies are moving quickly to realize the potential to bring tighter collaboration and enable more efficient operations with SharePoint. The challenges companies face now and in the coming year are balancing the integration and use of Microsoft's out-of-the-box features and any third party tools with the ability to ensure performance and usability so that more users will adopt SharePoint. And if that task is not challenging enough, many companies have migrations to Office 365 in the cloud already in progress or on their roadmap.
It was great to see SPTechCon have such a great show here in Austin. I asked a group of admins what they liked about the show compared to other SharePoint conferences. One said that many of the thought leaders she follows on the web were also there presenting, and she loved that she could meet them and ask questions face-to-face – definitely a quality of any great conference.
To learn more about SharePoint Performance, be sure to read Andi Grabner's interview he did at the conference, or read his SharePoint Sanity Check in 15 minutes!
Given how much value this year's show represented, we are certainly looking forward to SPTechCon's 2016 return to the Lone Star State. Yee-haw!
*Survey of attendees was conducted at our booth. 3% of the total of attendees at the show responded.


The ANT005 from Williams Sound is a 22 inch coaxial antenna that has been specifically designed to be used with any personal PA system or large-area FM transmitter that operates at 72-76MHz. This antenna provides the system with a maximum operating range.
The ANT 005 from Williams Sound is a 22 inch coaxial antenna that has been specifically designed to be used with any personal PA system or large-area FM transmitter that operates at 72-76MHz. This antenna provides the system with a maximum operating range.


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Posted on Mon, Dec 17, 2018 Sun, Dec 16, 2018 by HolyLandJustice.org
An Israeli tech firm is selling spy software to dictators, betraying the country's ideals
Omar Abdulaziz in Montreal, Quebec, Oct 17, 2018. (photo: François Ollivier / The Washington Post)
A Saudi dissident is suing an Israeli technology company, accusing it of providing the Saudi government with the surveillance software to spy on him and his friends — including Jamal Khashoggi.
By Max Boot | The Washington Post | Dec 5, 2018
Freed of serious regulatory pressure, Israeli spy companies are free to maximize profits any way they can.
Israel has always prided itself on being, as the Book of Isaiah says, "a light unto the nations" — an exemplar of "righteousness" to inspire Jews and gentiles alike and bring salvation to mankind. That is why the menorah is the symbol not only of Hanukkah, which Jews are now celebrating, but also of the state of Israel. But Israel's light is dimmed when veterans of its famed armed forces, whose mission is to defend the Jewish state's freedom, misuse their expertise to aid oppression in other countries.
Saudi dissident Omar Abdulaziz, who lives in Canada, has filed a lawsuit against an Israeli technology company called the NSO Group accusing it of providing the Saudi government with the surveillance software to spy on him and his friends — including Jamal Khashoggi. The program, known as Pegasus, not only allows the monitoring of all communications from a phone — all texts, all emails, all phone calls — but can also hijack a mobile phone's microphone and camera to turn it into a surveillance device.
The information gathered on Khashoggi may have motivated his murder by alerting the Saudi authorities that he was stirring up electronic dissent within the kingdom, while denouncing Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman in vituperative terms as a "pac-man" who devoured all in his path. "The hacking of my phone played a major role in what happened to Jamal, I am really sorry to say," Abdulaziz told CNN. "The guilt is killing me."
Firms like the NSO Group have been started by veterans of Unit 8200, Israel's version of the National Security Agency. A 2016 report by a watchdog group called Privacy International identified 27 Israeli companies in the business of surveillance, the highest number per capita in the world. But the NSO Group has created the most controversy amid charges that its products have been misused against civil society activists around the world.
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The Crusher has been many things over the years, but we've always called it The Crusher. Originally a way for the riders of Marquette, MI to explore the hundreds of miles of barely-maintained gravel, two-track, and logging roads, The Crusher now takes riders from across the midwest to places that have a higher bear population than human.
You don't have to go far into the woods of Michigan's Upper Peninsula until you come across some mining equipment, often times a machine that takes large rocks and crushes them into small ones. Every year there's a portion of the route that: a) could use a mining crusher to pulverize the gravel to more rideable conditions, and b) provides soul crushingly stout terrain about two thirds of the way in.
Riding it for the first time, the name just made sense. "Crusher" was a natural choice.
The ride cut across the Huron Mountain highlands and down a screamingly, crushingly fast (and frequently well graded) downhill on County Road 510. The ride then rolls up and over a spine of the Huron Mountains for a second, less well maintained descent. Serious terrain features, sometimes over aggregate the size of footballs (and larger!) Sections with gnarly gravel, on steep grades, mixed in with sand, mud, swampy gulches and brushy workarounds if a rider doesn't want to get their feet wet.
When we expanded beyond the Huron Mountains and ran a checkpoint event we called it, for a brief time, The HAMR (Huron Adventure Mountain Race). But everyone still calls it The Crusher. Distances vary each year, with options for a shorter route that will take riders all day, to a longer route that may take riders two days to complete. This year's long race has an option for a new 225-mile route from Copper Harbor to Marquette. Rain or shine. Self-supported. There's a reason that a snorkel is on the required gear list.


¡Reserve su unidad de self-storage hoy! U-Haul Moving & Storage at Montgomery Hwy es una de nuestras ubicaciones de almacenamiento de primera clase en Dothan, AL que ofrece unidades de self-storage limpias, secas y seguras. Tenemos múltiples tamaños de unidades de almacenamiento para satisfacer sus necesidades personales de almacenamiento y mudanza. Pregunte acerca de las unidades de self-storage con clima controlado cuáles pueden estar disponibles en algunos de los precios más bajos ofrecidos para una unidad de almacenamiento en el mercado.
El horario de las ubicaciones de almacenamiento están sujetas a cambio sin embargo, muchas de nuestras ubicaciones de self-storage están abiertas las 24 horas y tienen horas de acceso extendidas. Dependiendo de sus necesidades de almacenamiento y zona, pregunte por almacenamiento de RV, almacenamiento de barco, almacenamiento de vehículo y almacenamiento de motocicleta en Dothan, AL, 36301. El almacenamiento portátil de U-Box puede ser una gran opción para sus necesidades de almacenamiento y mudanza, ¡pregúntenos cómo podemos ayudarle!
Get Your Propane Tanks Filled Here!
Had great communication during my U-Box rental experience. Let me know when it had been transported and had no issues with the moving company I hired picking it up and dropping it back off.
Staff very friendly and helpful !!!
I had 2 uboxes sent to this location from MA. Once at this location they were inaccessible for 2 days due to lack of organization at this UHaul facility. This cost me 300 extra dollars. Awful service.
Very friendly and helpful. They met all my needs. Thank you Uhaul!
The GM was very helpful with assisting me with everything I need to make my move easy. .
The service was great and the Manager Jay was outstanding.
Customer Service was great thank you.
The reservation at the above facility was canceled through the rental center at 202 Santa Rosa Ave. Ft. Walton Beach.
After dealing with Hurricane Michael Customer service was awful. I had to eventually call the General Manager and he helped me over the phone! Also paid for a Dolly and it wasn't in it.
Everything in my unit was molded and had so many bugs. I now have no furniture in my new home. All my valuables completely ruined. So thank you uhaul.
The only problem I had was when I would call, I would be sent to a call center and they couldn't really help me. Then I needed information on the storage price and the man at the store couldnt help.
I was told it was 24 hr access at rental and found out once I paid $55 for a literal closet that it was select hours. I was very disappointed with the storage experience and won't use it again.
The staff was very nice, friendly, and accommodating. Their customer service was over the top. PLEASE let them know how very much I appreciated their help.
Working with the staff in person was great.


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Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's career highlights
Meet Bing Dwen Dwen, the Beijing 2022 mascot
By Camille Laventure
Their career lasted 22 years. 22 years of passion, emotion, talent, and perfection. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are among the best ice dancers of all time. Let's relive the greatest moments in this iconic duo's career, who will forever be legendary.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada win Gold in the Figure Skating Ice Dance Free Program at the Gangneung Ice Arena during the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea on February 20, 2018. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/COC)
Promising beginnings
Tessa and Scott skated in the same club from a very young age (Tessa at age 6, and Scott at 3), but individually at first. When she was 8-years-old and he was 10, they started their career together. Who would have believed then that they would become world record holders for the short and long dances and combined scores?
In 1998, they participated together in their first competition, and a year later, in January 1999, they obtained their first victory in the provincial competition final in Woodstock, Ontario.
Things then started to escalate.
Into the major leagues
Team Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir from London, Ont., perform their free dance in the ice dance competition at the World Figure Skating Championships, Friday, March 27, 2009 in Los Angeles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
In 2004, the duo won the national junior competitions in Edmonton, Alberta. Then in 2006, Virtue and Moir became the first Canadian junior ice dance world champions.
While in their second year as international seniors in 2008, they won their first World Championship medal.
Vancouver: the first Olympic Games
Ice dance gold medalists, Team Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, celebrate after receiving their medals during victory ceremonies Monday February 22, 2010 at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Team Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform their free dance in the ice dance competition Monday February 22, 2010 at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver. Virtue and Moir won the gold medal in the competition. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Robert Skinner
Tessa Virtue of London, Ont. and Scott Moir of Ilderton, Ont. compete in the ice dance final, the free dance, at Pacific Coliseum at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C, Monday, Feb. 22, 2010. (CP PHOTO)2010(HO-COC-Mike Ridewood)
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir (Vancouver 2010)
For their first Olympic Games (and at home, on top of that!), where they arrived as gold medal hopefuls, Tessa and Scott did not disappoint. Not only did they make it to the podium, they climbed to the top of it. It was a historic moment: they were the first North American duo – and the youngest, at age 20 and 22 – to win Olympic gold in ice dance. The Europeans had dominated the discipline since its introduction to the Olympic program in 1976.
This victory was all the more impressive since Tessa was still struggling with pain in her legs, a pain that made walking, even for a short time, difficult. The duo began their Olympic competition with a second place finish in the compulsory dance, but brought the house down with their Flamenco-inspired original dance.
The World titles
Ice dance gold medalist Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir share a laugh during victory ceremonies Friday March 26, 2010 at the World Figure Skating Championships in Turin, Italy. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
One month after their first Olympic Games, Tessa and Scott won their first world title. They then got their hands on two more world titles, in 2012, then the last one in 2017 (in their come-back season; read below), where their victory in the final allowed them to wrap up a perfect season.
READ: Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir's Iconic Career Moments
Sochi 2014…then a break
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir during ice dance competition in Sochi.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.
Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir compete in the ice dance free dance figure skating finals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Monday, Feb. 17, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, COC – Winston Chow
Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform their short dance in the ice dance competition at the Sochi Winter Olympics Sunday, February 16, 2014 in Sochi. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir receive their silver medals in figure skating ice dance at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014.
Tessa and Scott went to Russia to defend their Olympic title. Unfortunately, they were beaten by Americans Davis Meryl and Charlie White in their quest for gold. However, they can boast of a double silver, thanks to the second place Canada won in the new team event.
After their performance, Moir went to kiss the Olympic rings as a farewell. Virtue and Moir did not announce their retirement, only that they were withdrawing from the competition for the next season. In the end, this break lasted two seasons.
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, of Canada, skate their short dance at the World figure skating championships in Helsinki, Finland, on Friday, March 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)
After a two-and-a-half year break, Virtue and Moir announced in 2016 they were coming back to competition, with the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic gold medal in their sight. The duo would now train full time in Montreal, with coaches Marie-France Dubreuil and Patrice Lauzon.
They had one of their best seasons in 2016-17, setting new personal and world records and accumulating titles. Among those, they won the World Figure Skating Championships for the third time.
The flag bearers
Tessa and Scott were named flag bearers of the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony. This was the first time Canada had two flag bearers at the Ceremony, and they rose amazingly to the challenge.
The duo was also chosen because of their role in advancing ice dance both technically and artistically. They arrived on the senior international scene just as figure skating's scoring system changed and quickly became known for their intricate footwork and innovative lifts as they rocketed up the world rankings.
PyeongChang 2018: The swan song
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform during the team event ice dance short dance at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games at Gangneung Ice Arena on February 11, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Vincent Ethier/COC)
Canada's Scott Moir and Tessa Virtue celebrate a clean skate in the ice dance free dance program at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Korea, Tuesday, February 20, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO – COC – Jason Ransom
Team Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir during their gold medal performance at PyeongChang 2018, Tuesday, February 20, 2018. COC Photo by Stephen Hosier
We still aren't tired of watching their free program on the Moulin Rouge soundtrack, how about you? This routine, an instant classic, will stay in our heads for the rest of figure skating history. Before they even hit the ice, the whole world knew it was their last Olympic performance, which made it all the more exciting.
The competition itself kept us on the edge of our seat: after the short program and Papadakis and Cizeron's free program, Virtue and Moir absolutely had to perform a perfect routine to win gold. You already know what happened next: they danced like never before, lit up the PyeongChang arena, and took home the gold medal.
This victory allowed them to be crowned most decorated figure skaters Olympic history, with five medals (let's not forget they also won gold in the team event in PyeongChang), and to be tied with three other figure skaters who have won three Olympic titles.
Come on, have fun and watch this piece of anthology one more time:
Making history one last time
Figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir sign their star as they are inducted into the 2018 Canada Walk of Fame during a press red carpet event in Toronto on Saturday December 1, 2018.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
On December 1, 2018, Tessa and Scott were officially inducted into the 2018 Canada Walk of Fame.
Canada's Walk of Fame celebrates outstanding achievement in five areas: arts and entertainment, business and entrepreneurship, philanthropy and humanities, science and technology, sports and athletics.
Members of the public can nominate Canadians for induction who have made an impact on Canadian heritage, have at least 10 years experience in their field with an established body of work, and represent the essence of what it means to be Canadian.
Virtue and Moir more than fill that criteria.
The goodbyes
Thank you ❤ #VirtueMoir #XXII pic.twitter.com/poZEnEljAp
— Tessa Virtue (@tessavirtue) September 18, 2019
On September 17, Tessa and Scott announced their retirement on social media with a personal and emotional video showing their career highlights. If this retirement was widely anticipated by the fans and the sports world, it still represents the end of an era for Canadian – and international – figure skating. Virtue and Moir will continue to perform for several more months during their Rock the Rink skating show tour.
And Canadians will never forget them.


Despite the economies of scale of California's huge solar power stations, there are advantages to placing solar panels on building roofs. Transmission costs are lower, grid stability higher, and the environmental problemsassociated with wilderness constructions disappear.
However, there is only so much roofing space to go around, and much of it is shaded by trees or other buildings.
In 2008, a studyby the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the U.S. Energy Department concluded that there was enough unshaded space on buildings in the U.S. to install 664 gigawatts of capacity. Allowing for variations in sunlight at these locations, this could produce 800 terawatt-hours each year.
This is a huge amount of electricity, but still barely a fifth of what Americans consume. Even if problems of storing energy for nighttime and cloudy days can be solved, rooftop solar looked like being only a modest part of the solution.
Now, however, NREL has updated its work and concluded the potential is almost twice as high as previously thought. Thenew reportestimates acapacity of 1,118 gigawatts, producing 1,432 terawatt-hours a year.
This amounts to 39 percent of current electricity sales.
Previous estimates at the regional and national levels have lacked a rigorous foundation in geospatial data and statistical analysis, according to the study. To correct this, NREL researchers used satellites and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) technology. They scanned the structures making up 128 cities and extrapolated to the other 77 percent of American buildings.
Only 26 percent of the roof space of small buildings, mostly houses, is suited to covering with panels. On the other hand, 83 percent had enough unshaded, south-facing space to make it worth putting photovoltaics (PV) on at least part of their roof. Together these modest sized patches represent a vast amount of territory waiting to be put to use, with almost twice the combined capacity of medium-sized and large buildings.
Not surprisingly there is plenty of variation by region, with California in a position to draw 74 percent of its electricity from rooftop solar. The figure is just 27 percent in Washington State.
The calculations assume 16 percent average module efficiency, something comfortably exceeded in the lab and likely to not last long commercially. "Actual generation from PV in urban areas could exceed these estimates by installing systems on less suitable roof space, by mounting PV on canopies over open spaces such as parking lots, or by integrating PV into building facades, said Robert Margolis, one of the report's authors, in a statement.
Although Europe wouldalmost certainly come off worse in an equivalent global analysis, most of the world is even better positioned to draw much of our power from the space above our heads.


Marvel brought virtually everything on its slate to the stage in Hall H on Saturday night, closing their semi-annual presentation with a smorgasbord of footage that ranged from the spiritual and surreal (Doctor Strange) to the sublimely hilarious (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2). One project that's still very much in its infancy is Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that didn't stop Jon Watts and his young star, Tom Holland, from bringing along a very fun, high energy trailer that set the tone for Marvel's first full Spidey movie.
So, what did they show? Set to Joan Jett's bratty anthem Bad Reputation, the Spider-Man: Homecoming footage focused on Peter Parker's (Tom Holland) days at Midtown High. The words "Every Journey. Every Hero. Has A Beginning." Flashed on the screen as high-school yearbook photos of every MCU actor appeared in a mock album. After that montage, we caught up with Peter in his classes, starting at 9:30 am. But Peter is only half paying attention, as we see him: Watching highlights of his battle with the Avengers from Civil War on his laptop; creating his web fluid in a secret drawer while in a "Web Design" class; listening to the cute girls talk about how they love Spider-Man in his Phys Ed class; and staring at the prettiest girl in class during lunch... while quickly being called a loser by a scruffy Zendaya, who looks nothing like her polished, Disney Channel teen-TV beauty self.
From there, the footage breaks into a montage of action sparked by Zendaya's character asking Peter, "What are you hiding, Peter Parker?" We see shots of Spider-Man walking on a truck that racing down the highway. We see him climbing a wall. And at the end of the footage, we get a very quick glimpse at his main adversary, The Vulture.
For a movie that'd barely been shooting for a month, this was a great bit of footage to get people used to what _Spider-Man: Homecoming _was going after. It was described as a John Hughes movie from the stage of the Hall H panel, and that's perfectly clear that it will be a high school movie, populated by modern high school clichés. But the word Homecoming has a dual meaning, as one quick shot in the action montage was of Tom Holland racing through the hall, pulling off his suit/tuxedo, and getting ready to leave his school dance and dive into action.
We're ready. Are you?! Spider-Man: Homecoming opens in theaters on July 7, 2017.


Cook 4 bone-in Chicken breasts to your liking, either cover with salt & pepper and bake or boil with onion, carrots, celery, herbs, salt and peppercorns.
While the chicken is cooking mix 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup of mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon each of fresh lemon juice and curry powder.
Steam 3 heads of broccoli.
Shred the chicken then top with broccoli, then mixture and finish with shredded cheddar cheese.
Bake in a 350 degree oven until bubbly.


For those of you who loved our Summer Parties and those who haven't yet experienced a PPC Stay and Play session, come along to our Fuzzy Festive Fun CANINE CHRISTMAS!
We'll have decked the halls and trimmed the trees for Santa Paws's arrival. We'll be playing the classics, like Fairy Tail of New York, Deck the Halls with BowWow's of Holly and many more!
All that's missing is you and your furry friend this festive season!


VinoKilo is the biggest vintage sale event in Germany where second-hand vintage items are sold by the kilo. There is always plenty of Vino and fantastic music to enjoy as well. We're all about having fun at VinoKilo and we try to stimulate our community to make different clothing choices. Why? Because we are against dumping textiles and we are for a better way of consuming. Textile dumping is the biggest cause of environmental pollution next to the oil industry. Up to now we have been able to hang 54.000 kilos of clothing back in the wardrobes of vintage aficionados. But that still leaves 800 million tons of unused clothing that is stored in containers in cities and harbours all over the world. So VintageUp and be #Stylishsustainable and #Consumedifferently.


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Our product is non leaching, non toxic & pyrogen free.
Tubing Available in Colored or Translucent Material.
Tubing available in cut to length.
Available Wall Thickness range of tubing 0.010 inches to 0.750 inches.
The smallest size we can extrude tubing from 0.020 inch ID x 0.050 inch OD.
A Standard size of tubing is available in stock. If you are not sure which material is best for your application, Please feel free to contact us. We will help you to explore more ways to utilize our products for your special purpose.please contact us with your details.
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Credit to the Dogs who fought bravely and played an attacking brand of footy but were blown away in the last term and Sydney win with their highest score in five seasons and stay top of the table.
BEHIND SWANSMcGlynn drags his shot wide with one second remaining and the final margin will be 82 points.
GOAL SWANSShaw drives the pass in to the pocket and Jetta wins the free as he has his arms chopped in the marking contest. A sublime drop punt from tight in the pocket and it is now 81 points!
GOAL SWANSJack hits Roberts-Thompson out in front inside 50 and LRT guides the kick to Mumford who marks just 20m out. 'The Mummy' boots his third of the day. 13 goals kickers for Sydney.
Under three minutes of game time to go and the Dogs have shown some promising signs with their attacking football although they will be beaten by a large margin.
GOAL SWANSKennedy has pushed forward and found an acre of space as Shaw hits him overhead. He is a fantastic set shot and he bags his 14th goal of the year. Swans by 69.
GOAL SWANSJong accidentally knocks it over the line on the full and McVeigh will take the free kick. From the boundary line, he drop punts through a stunning goal. The Swans are out by 63 points.
GOAL DOGSA sensational goal from Giansiracusa as he is able to collect the ball deep inside forward 50, spins out of trouble, evading the tackle and then snaping through the major!
GOAL SWANSRoberts-Thompson hands out to McGylnn who breaks the tackle and then gives it over the top to Hannebery and he knocks home the major - a Red and White tsunami! Flood gates are open.
GOAL SWANSMcGlynn gathers on the bounce, falls to ground but then gets to his feet and drives the kick to full forward where Morton, the super-sub, marks and boots his firs goal as a Swan.
Mike Pyke was the Swan who made way for Morton after coping a knock to his left ankle in this final quarter.
BEHIND SWANSParker unloads with a monster bomb from outside the paint, he strikes it well but it doesn't bend back enough.
BEHIND DOGSLake takes a great mark but then shoots at goal and misses to the right from 45.
GOAL SWANSTransition footy at its best from the Swans as Morton gets involved again after marking the Bird pass, he fires the handball out to Hannebery who steadies and drills a lovely major.
GOAL SWANSMorton, who has just been subbed on, has an immediate impact as he dishes the handball over to Goodes who steams in and bananas through another one for the Swans! His third.
GOAL SWANSMcGlynn chips a pass in to the right forward pocket to find O'Keefe on the lead. He drop punts it from 30 out close to the boundary and that is a superb kick - sublime.
The Swans will come away with the four points today but will need to have a look at the tape during the week as they can illafford to allow teams to score this heavily during finals.
GOAL DOGSAddison bags his fourth of the afternoon as he makrs at CHF, plays on and rides home a fantastic major. He has played a great game. Swans by 33.
BEHIND DOGSGia drives the shot at goal from tight in the right pocket and has the ball rished over for a minor score.
GOAL SWANSRoberts-Thompson is able to gather the ball deep in attack, he fires it out to Goodes who runs around and pumps home the goal as Jong is helped off the field after a knee to the back.
The final quarter is underway and the Swans will be looking to finish strongly. The Dogs need to fight the game out.
Some champagne football from the Swans in that term as they add another six goals to their score, the Dogs boot three, Griffen registers a careerhigh 38 touches and the Swans lead by 34 at 3QT.
Cooney was subbed on midway through the term and Cordy was given the red vest for the Dogs.
GOAL DOGSSmith to Murphy on the overlap through the centre and Murphy drills the pass to Giansiracusa. Gia jabs the short pass to Addison. Addison jogs inside 50 and threads through his 3rd.
BEHIND DOGSCross unwinds from 45 out and it shaves the post for a minor score. Swans lead by 40.
GOAL DOGSThe Dogs head to full forward and Addison out the back of the pack takes the chest grab as the ball flies over the heads of all other players. Can't miss from there. Dogs get one back.
BEHIND SWANSGoodes on the lead takes a brilliant diving grab. He strikes it hard and tugs it right for a minor score from 50 out.
GOAL SWANSJack gathers possession on the wing and sends the ball inside forward 50, Reid pushes off Lake as the ball bounces passed, he turns, gathers, runs in and snaps through his second.
GOAL DOGSHiggins gives to Dickson and he snaps through his third and the Dogs first goal since the 10th minute mark of the second quarter. Swans by 40 points.
GOAL SWANSJack shoots the handball over the top to a running Jetta who fires the pass to full forward where Roberts-Thompson takes the mark. LRT with number three! Brilliant ball movement, Sydney.
GOAL SWANSGoodes with a superb tackle on Higgins as the ball spills out of his hands, Parker roves it well and slams home another goal for the Swans and it is starting to get ugly for the Dogs.
BEHIND SWANSBird snaps from 30 out and hits the post and lets the Dogs off the hook.
BEHIND SWANSRoberts-Thompson leads in to the left pocket and leaps to clunk a strong mark overhead. From 20m out, he pulls it wide and sneaks it in for a behind.
BEHIND SWANSJack gets the handball from Reid, launches a lovely long kick from 45 but strikes the post.
BEHIND DOGSMinson wins the centre clearance as he drives the kick inside 50 and Skinner leaps to bring down a great mark. Unfortunately, he fails to cap off his good work.
GOAL SWANSJack wins the ball off hands in the left forward pocket, steadies and with a beautiful drop punt, steers it through from the tight angle and extends the Swans' lead out to 32 points.
GOAL SWANSGoodes takes the intercepting mark in the middle, looks up and finds Pyke inside forward 50. From 45, it's not pretty off his boot but it floats through for his third!
GOAL SWANSSmith with a lace-out pass inside attacking 50 to hit Goodes on the chest about 40 out with little angle to speak of. He strikes it to perfection and thumps it home. Swans out by 20.
3rd quarter underway after Sydney really upped its intensity in the second term and turned an 18point quarter-time deficit in to a 14-point HT lead. Will the Dogs fall away or continue to fight?
A sevengoal to two quarter in favour of the Swans who have found a spark and they take a 14-point lead at half time in a free-flowing and high-scoring affair. The Dogs are not out of this contest.
BEHIND SWANSA minor score to the Swans and the margin now stands at 14 points.
GOAL SWANSSydney wins the centre clearance as Pyke knocks it forward to Roberts-Thompson who turns his man, bends down to collect the footy and snaps through his second. Swans by 13.
GOAL SWANSO'Keefe takes possession deep in attack and according to the umpire, is driven in the back by Murhpy - harsh. O'Keefe makes no mistake but the Dog fans voice their disapproval.
Griffen is up to his 24th possession11 handballs and 13 kicks - and has been fantastic. The game is being played at a break-neck speed.
GOAL SWANSPyke guides the kick to the hot spot from half forward and Mumford has his arm held and wins the free. From dead in front, he bags the Swans' third consecutive goal and they lead!
BEHIND DOGSDjerrkura dances through a tackle and then snaps at goal but it floats wide for a behind.
BEHIND SWANSJack fires at goal from 50 but it comes off hands and goes through for a behind.
GOAL SWANSMarkovic turns the ball over coming out of defence, Malceski gathers and sends it inside 50 where Reid is loose, he takes it on the bounce, steams in and pops it home. Here they come!
GOAL SWANSHannebery dishes it inside to Jack who gives it off to McGlynn and the former-Hawk unwinds from just inside 50 and nails a fantastic goal as the Swans close the gap again.
GOAL DOGSDickson with a brilliant handpass out of the congestion and inside to Johannisen who takes possession and snaps it home from directly in front! Dogs continue to answer.
GOAL SWANSMalceski drives the pass forward and in to the left pocket where Mumford stands strong to clunk the overhead mark. He nurses it home with a fine set shot from 45 out. Dogs by 11.
GOAL DOGSGriffen, who is playing like a man possessed, wins the free at CHF and with a booming pass picks out Picken, who has broken free at full forward and he takes the chest grab. GOAL!
GOAL SWANSGoodes swings the pass inside 50 out in front of Roberts-Thompson who gathers the ball on the half volley, turns, breaks the tackle and snaps on his right boot for a great goal!
BEHIND SWANSThe Swans on the fast break down the wing as Goodes moves it on to Bird who gathers and sends it to Roberts-Thompson inside 50. He drags the shot right.
Back for the second quarter and the Swans have a task on their hands, harder than most would have expected, if they are to maintain top spot on the AFL ladder tonight.
The siren sounds to end an entertaining term as the Dogs register their best first quarter of the year and the Swans concede their heaviest opening quarter score for the season. Dogs by three goals.
The Dogs are playing inspired football and are taking it right up to the Swans as Griffen gathers his 15th disposal of the term.
BEHIND DOGSGriffen, with his 13th disposal, unloads from 55 out but drags it wide for a minor score as it is knocked through.
GOAL DOGSHiggins drives the pass to the top of the square and Malceski bumps Cordy out of the contest and gives away the free - two actions. Cordy pumps home the Dogs' sixth goal! They lead by 17.
BEHIND DOGSDjerrkura collects the footy inside 50 and is taken high by Shaw and wins the free. From 35 and directly in front, he sprays the shot to register the Dogs' first behind.
GOAL DOGSHiggins gathers hard up against the boundary line and dishes it inside to Giansiracusa who snaps it along the ground, it bounce over McVeigh and through for a superb major! Five straight.
GOAL SWANSGoodes floats an up-and-under kick inside attacking 50 and Pyke reads it best to clunk the uncontested mark. He lines up from point-blank-range and wobbles it through for his 2nd.
GOAL DOGSBoyd fires the pass to full forward where Lake attempts the grab, it spills to the ground and Addison crumbs it beautifully and dribbles through a lovely goal from tight in the pocket.
GOAL SWANSGoodes, from 50, decides to pull his kick and heads for Reid who takes the ball on the bounce and hooks it in to the goal-square where Pyke takes the contested grab. Pyke goals.
BEHIND SWANSJack turns and jabs the pass inside forward 50 to Reid who marks 45 out. He hooks it a little from outside the arc and it sails through for a minor score.
BEHIND SWANSA ball-up at the top of the Swans' goal-square and the Dogs usher it over the line for a rushed behind.
A fast start to this contest and the Dogs have jumped out of the blocks. High intensity and good pressure from both sides.
GOAL DOGSMcVeigh oversteps the mark after Dickson to the grab at half forward and the umpire awards the 50m penalty. From 15m out on a slight angle, Dickson pops it home and the Dogs lead by 12.
GOAL DOGSDickson gathers the footy at half forward, turns and lets it rip from just inside the arc and it sails through for a great goal as the Dogs regain the lead.
GOAL SWANSKennedy shoots the handball over the top and out of the congested pack to McGlynn who takes possession, runs in to space and fires home the superb goal from 40.
GOAL DOGSGriffen spears the direct pass to full forward to spot Lake right in front of the sticks. Beautiful kick. Lake knocks it through for the perfect start for the Doggies.
The Dogs have lost their past eight matches by an average of 59 points, while the Swans had their ninegame winning streak broken last week by the Magpies. I can't see an upset today. Here we go.
Welcome to Etihad for the clash between the Swans and Dogs. The Swans will secure top spot if they can claim the four points here this afternoon. No late changes and the subs are Cooney and Morton.


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