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Ken Fedesna Donation Documents Video Game Developer and Publisher Midway Games
Ken Fedesna, former Executive Vice President and General Manager at video game developers and publishers Bally/Williams/Midway/Atari Games, has donated a collection that documents the history of Midway Games and showcases the company's work on the TouchMaster line of multigame touchscreen video game units and projects related to connecting their coin-operated games through the internet. Fedesna joined Williams Electronics in 1977 and, over his 27 years with that company and Bally/Midway, he managed the development of countless pinball machines, video games, and other amusement and video lottery games. This collection consists of a TouchMaster Infinity unit and thousands of pages of documentation, including internal correspondence and memorandums, hand-written notes, market research and benchmarking documents, game earnings reports, promotional materials, and presentations related to new strategies and products. These invaluable materials highlight several key areas of Midway's game development work and broader industry trends during the 1990s and 2000s.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, Sony's PlayStation (1995), Nintendo's N64 (1996), Sega's Dreamcast (1999), and other high-powered home video game consoles lured players out of public pay-to-play arcades with high-quality games and improved graphics that rivaled the many arcade games. As the home video game market grew, the coin-operated game market consolidated, eventually leading industry giants Bally, Midway, Williams, and Atari Games to become one through a series of mergers. The materials in this collection chronicle how Midway Games positioned itself to meet the new reality of declining arcade game revenues by developing innovative multigame touchscreen video game units, systems that networked arcade games through the internet, and publishing games solely for home consoles.
In the mid-1990s, less costly and more durable touchscreen technology allowed coin-op game manufacturers to produce touchscreen units that could hold up well in high-traffic bars and street locations. In 1996, Midway introduced TouchMaster, its first multigame touchscreen video game unit. The countertop unit featured nine games, including card games such as Solitaire and the poker-style game Royal Quest, as well as a Ripley's Believe it or not trivia game and the four-player basketball game Hot Hoops. Before the proliferation of smartphones placed computers and mobile gaming in the palms of most barflies, millions of people played casual video games on touchscreen units like TouchMaster. The Ken Fedesna Collection traces the development and evolution of the TouchMaster series and its games during the middle to late 1990s.
Hoping to attract players back to arcades, in 1998 Midway Games tested its first internet-based coin-operated video game network Wavenet on Atari's San Francisco Rush: The Rock arcade racing game. The technology never found wide adoption, but it laid the foundation for future network projects. Just two years later the company released the Midway Tournament Network (MTN), which uploaded player's accomplishments to a Midway server where high scores could earn players cash prizes. Midway's work on MTN exemplifies the broader coin-op industry investment in networked game competitions, tournaments, and rankings, including by companies such as Incredible Technologies (ITNet) and Merit (TournaMAXX). Unfortunately for Midway, the technology didn't prove workable and profitable enough to continue. The company closed its coin-op business in June 2001 to focus entirely on making home console games. As such, this collection also includes an array of materials related to the development and publication of home console and handheld system games, including Gravity Games Bike: Street Vert Dirt (2002), Justice League: Injustice for All (2002), MLB SlugFest 2003 (2002), Haven: Call of the King (2002) Freaky Flyers (2003), Red Card (2003), and remakes of the arcade classics Spy Hunter (2001) and Defender (2002).
Donations such as this one complement ICHEG's existing collections of coin-operated games and archival materials related to the design and production of Atari and Williams coin-operated video and pinball games, while also helping advance The Strong's mission of preserving and interpreting the history of electronic games.
Article written by Jeremy Saucier, The Strong.
For more on toys, games, and all sorts of other stuff for play—past and present—from Jeremy and his museum colleagues, visit The Strong's Play Stuff Blog
Posted by Victoria Gray in Advertising, Culture and Society, Design, Family Entertainment, Games, Guest Blogger, History, Ideas, Licensing, Marketing, Pinball, Play, Pop Culture, Posts by Jeremy K. Saucier, Product Development, Sales, Technology, Toys, Video Games | Permalink | Comments (0)
How to Choose a Strong Trademark in the Toy Industry
By Josh Gerben
Founder of U.S. based Gerben Law Firm, PLLC, Josh Gerben is a trademark attorney whose full-service intellectual property law firm has secured over 4,000 trademarks for clients since 2008. The firm provides patent, copyright and trademark services for businesses internationally. Josh Gerben has been featured in a variety of national news outlets including FOX News, NPR, Huffington Post, and The Wall Street Journal.
To build a successful business, you must develop a strong brand. Choosing a strong trademark is the first step in growing your business and creating customer recognition and loyalty. However, not all trademarks are created equal, and a weak mark may not provide the protections that you need. Consider the following tips to choose a strong trademark in the toy industry.
What Constitutes a Strong Mark?
Your trademark may be the first interaction a person has with your toy brand. For this reason, it is important to choose and register a strong mark, which should also protect against infringement. Take the time to understand what constitutes a strong mark, and what may not be approved by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. Trademarks can be divided into four categories, based upon their level of distinctiveness:
Generic words depict a general product or service. An example of this would be "Blocks" for a brand of toy building blocks. These generic words cannot function as trademarks and will not be approved by the USPTO.
Descriptive trademarks describe a product or service. "Ridiculously Enormous Teddy Bears," for example, would be a descriptive mark. Because the terms used are not unique in any way, descriptive trademarks receive very little protection.
Suggestive trademarks only hint at the product or service being offered. Hot Wheels is an example of a suggestive mark in the toy industry. While suggestive marks may offer more protection, trademark disputes are possible, as others may choose similar, non-distinct language, like Cool Wheels, for their toy brand.
Arbitrary trademarks consist of commonly used words that aren't related to the good or service provided. An example of an arbitrary mark in the toy industry is Razor, which sells scooters, not shaving materials. Arbitrary marks offer much stronger protection from infringement, but they often come with the downside of needing to educate consumers about the goods or services actually offered by the brand.
Fanciful trademarks offer the strongest protection against infringement. They are invented terms with no relation to the product or service provided. Crayola and Nerf are both well-known fanciful trademarks within the toy industry.
Continue reading "How to Choose a Strong Trademark in the Toy Industry" »
Posted by Richard Gottlieb in Brands, Guest Blogger, Intellectual Property | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sidewalk Surfing: The Gnarly History of Skateboarding Part III (1994 to 2019)
In Part I of my skateboarding blog series, I discussed how the first big wave of skateboarding took place from 1959 to 1965, and then skateboarding went mainly "underground" from about 1966 to 1972. Part II told about how the introduction of Frank Nasworthy's durable composite "Cadillac Wheels" enhanced the skateboarding experience, leading to the second big wave of skateboarding between 1973 to 1981. The third wave of skateboarding extended from 1983 to 1991 when famous skaters Tony Hawk (vert skater) and Rodney Mullen (freestyle) dominated the pro skateboarding scene. With a worldwide recession affecting all major industries in 1990, most skateboard manufacturers closed shop and the sport once again went into decline. By 1994 skateboarding had made a comeback and, for more than two decades has been a part of mainstream youth culture, bringing us to the fourth (and final?) wave.
In 1993 Don Bostick saw the need for a worldwide organization that would provide a platform for skaters to showcase their talent and skills. The following year, Bostick established the World Cup Skateboarding (WCS) with the first event "Slam Jam" taking place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in May of 1994. Shortly thereafter interest and excitement over the sport began to reemerge and the first X Games (originally called Extreme Games) took place in Rhode Island in 1995. Since X Games were broadcast on ESPN, skateboarding, along with eight other sports including BMX, were catapulted into the mainstream sports scene. At the same time, skateboarding footwear made a comeback with Vans, and now popular manufacturers such as Nike and Adidas began making shoes specifically for skaters.
Continue reading "Sidewalk Surfing: The Gnarly History of Skateboarding Part III (1994 to 2019)" »
Posted by Victoria Gray in Culture and Society, Demographics, Fads, Guest Blogger, History, Play, Pop Culture, Posts by Guest Bloggers, Posts by Tara Winner, Sports | Permalink | Comments (0)
Branding and Product Loyalty
You may not know Mark Lehberg, but if you've ever shopped for toys you may have seen some of his packaging work. The founder and owner of Latitudes Marketing By Design is the creative and entrepreneurial force behind the promotional, marketing and packaging materials of clients across North America, China, Hong Kong, Europe, and India. From small U.S. multinationals (such as Hasbro and Crayola) to small local firms, Lehberg offers his clientele a one-stop shop that caters to all of their creative needs.
He has taken that packaging expertise and written "The Art of Package Design" due out later this year. Below is an excerpt from his chapter on "Branding and Product Loyalty".
http://www.latitudes-marketing.com
Part 1 ………………………………………………………..
Where did branding come from and why? To understand that we first need to identify what branding is. The name evolved from the use of a "brand" burned into the hide of cattle to identify their owner. Branding today is a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service.
At the dawn of commerce, in the open market, people shopped for goods in a market, selecting the best fruit, produce, meat and household items. All of the products were similar, but some stood out above the rest. So the seller started to identify them with their own mark of insignia to identify them as different from their competitors. And as word spread of their superior quality, consumers sought them out. The "brand" had arrived.
In the 1660s, imports into England often cheated the public and the phrase "let the buyer beware" became popular. Inferior quality and impure products were disguised and sold to uninformed customers. Honest merchants, unhappy with this deception, began to mark their wares with their identification to alert potential buyers. This was the beginning of branding. In the 1860s packaging evolved when the Smith Brothers packaged their cough drops in glass jars. This was a novel idea - they used the packaging as a way to "brand" their products for consumers. They became, "the cough drops in the glass jars". They were branded.
Official trademarks were pioneered in 1866 by Smith Brothers for their cough drops marketed in large glass jars. This was a new idea - using the package to "brand" a product for the benefit of the consumer.
Continue reading "Branding and Product Loyalty" »
Posted by Richard Gottlieb in Brands, Guest Blogger | Permalink | Comments (0)
2019 Class of the World Video Game Hall of Fame
Every year The Strong welcomes new inductees into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, and this year the inductees are Colossal Cave Adventure, Microsoft Windows Solitaire, Mortal Kombat, and Super Mario Kart. It's a fabulous class, one that well embodies the criteria for selection of icon-status, longevity, geographical reach, and influence.
The process for selecting the new inductees begins with a list of twelve finalists chosen by museum staff. This year those finalists were:
Colossal Cave Adventure
Dance Dance Revolution
Microsoft Windows Solitaire
Sid Meier's Civilization
These were all games that the museum felt easily met the selection four criteria. When we released the list, we were not surprised that several finalists received more comment (some heated) than others. A few vociferous critics, for example, hated the choice of Candy Crush Saga. Although I wondered if that nominee would be open to the charge of being too new (it came out in 2012), I thought much of the criticism ignored its immense worldwide popularity and its important role in expanding the audience for gaming on smart phones.
While Candy Crush Saga was scorned by many, Microsoft Windows Solitaire earned a surprisingly large amount of support from the public after our announcement. Indeed it received the highest number of votes in the Player's Choice balloting which is open to the public; in fact it earned more votes than all the other games combined! People seemed to get its importance. After all, since being included in Windows 3.0 in 1990 it has probably been installed on more than a billion computers. Because the game was so familiar—most users had played solitaire with physical playing cards—it was easily understandable. By clicking and dragging cards, many people learned to use a mouse, a relatively unfamiliar computer peripheral that at the time. The game became so ubiquitous that it appeared widely in popular culture, often as a time waster such as in sitcoms such as The Office.
If Microsoft Windows Solitaire is so common as to almost feel commonplace, Colossal Cave Adventure is a game that is probably unfamiliar to many. Not me, though! I remember the magical hours my brother and I spent playing it back in the early 1980s on our family's Osborne-1 computer. It was the first game I ever finished, and while it had no graphics (as an interactive text-based adventure you typed in two-word commands to control your actions) it still conjured up a magical world of fantasy. Originally created in 1976 by Will Crowther and expanded and modified by Don Woods, it was based on Crowther's explorations of Mammoth Cave. (The scholar Dennis Jerz wrote a wonderful paper a number of years ago in which he explored the game's origins.) The game influenced many early game designers and inspired Scott Adams to create the first commercial computer game company. It's hard to overestimate Adventure's importance, which is why it was far and away the highest scored game by our International Selection Advisory Committee.
Mortal Kombat exercised influence of another kind. Certainly it was an important game in its own right. Midway Games had Ed Boon, artist John Tobias, and others create it as a counter to the best-selling Street Fighter 2, and it was a hit in the arcades. But it was when it migrated to home consoles that it inspired furor as critics and lawmakers condemned its exaggerated violence, lambasting it in Congressional hearings. The games industry took so much heat for Mortal Kombat (and other violent games such as Night Trap) that they formed the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to rate games. As was noted in an article we published in the American Journal of Play, such moral panics occurred previously with other media like dime novels, comic books, movies, and television. Mortal Kombat created the spark that lit this firestorm over video games, but its staying power as a game (both in the original and with sequels) testifies to the power of its play.
Super Mario Kart is the most straightforward of these games. Still a delight to play, it helped popularize a franchise that's been enduringly popular on Nintendo systems ever since. The first racing game to make it into the World Video Game Hall of Fame, its popularity rests, I believe, on how relentlessly social and joyous it is. It's hard to play the game without smiling—even if you stink at it like I do—which is perhaps why it's so beloved.
These four games join the previous 20 inductees, and we look forward to honoring these titles in a major new exhibit that will house the World Video Game Hall of Fame in The Strong's ongoing museum expansion.
For more on toys, games, and all sorts of other stuff for play —past and present— from Jon-Paul and his museum colleagues, visit The Strong's Play Stuff Blog
Posted by Victoria Gray in Guest Blogger, Hall of Fame, Manufacturing, Play, Pop Culture, Posts by Jon-Paul C. Dyson, Toys, Video Games | Permalink | Comments (0)
Secrets to Surviving Toy Fair
Dawn Wilensky wrote this great piece on surviving Toy Fair in 2012. Its a classic with a message that merits repeating.
Have you found yourself saying "there's got to be a better way" as you wrestle through the crowds, try to catch that ever elusive taxi or hunt for something palatable during mealtime at Javits Center during Toy Fair.
You are not alone as thousands who attend the annual trade show also grapple with these same challenges.
With this in mind, I asked Toy Fair veterans far and wide to divulge their deepest, darkest (alright maybe not so deep and dark), but nonetheless, useful secrets for surviving during those trying four days.
Here's what they said!
Leslye Schaefer, svp marketing & consumer products, Scholastic Media
"For my fellow female colleagues, it's a must to wear comfortable shoes. The lower the heel the better! For everyone, be prepared for snow. Over the years, it has snowed during Toy Fair numerous times. Warm coats and boots are a good idea. Also, getting a cab outside of the Javits Center is tough at the end of the day. Make arrangements for a car service or hop on one of the Toy Fair buses to a hotel/midtown or a location where cabs will be more readily available."
Eric Levin, division head, Techno Source
"Toy Fair is unlike any other trade show out there. It's a grown-up's playground and you need to have fun. It's about bringing products to life for attendees through exciting play experiences. We always order the most padding possible for beneath our carpet to keep attendees' feet happy ."
Jen Derevensky, president of Ren Beanie Public Relations
"Alternate your shoes. Even comfortable shoes can hurt your feet after a full day of walking all over Javits and standing during showroom tours (not to mention hauling it through the streets of NYC!), so I always bring a second pair in my purse or laptop bag to change into midday. I find that alternating keeps my feet from hurting too much in one spot...and having happy feet makes for a much more successful show! I always carry snacks like almonds and high protein granola bars. They help keep your energy up, especially where there's no time to eat between appointments.
Continue reading "Secrets to Surviving Toy Fair" »
Posted by Richard Gottlieb in Events, Guest Blogger, Toy Fair | Permalink | Comments (1)
Phil Bloom On What the Loss of Toys "R" Us Really Means
Philip Bloom is a well known, well liked and highly knowledgable commentator on the toy industry. His Bloom Report is a must read for those who want to keep up with news about the business of play.
I recently wrote an article, "Target and Wal-Mart Have Never Known a World Without Toys R Us; that's a problem". Phil wrote a response to that article which I think is an important read for anyone wanting to better understand what the loss of Toys "R" Us means for the industry.
Philip's thoughts are particularly important because he was with Toys R Us during its hayday. Phil held executive positions with Toys R Us from the 1970's through the 1990's. As Vice-President of Merchandising, he led the company's first international efforts, pioneering merchandising initiatives in the first ten Toys "R" Us International countries (including the entry into Japan). He is a walking history book when it comes to Toys "R" Us.
Here are Philip's thoughts:
Our industry should be panicking...and here's why~Richard Gottlieb really called it right in his December 1 piece "Target and Wal-Mart Have Never Known a World Without Toys R Us; that's a problem". I urge you to read it. Here are my thoughts on the subject, along with some Toys R Us background:
First let me address the real secrets of Toys R Us (TRU). These thoughts are from my over 50 years in the retail toy business, including 20 with TRU (including VP of International Merchandising).
The late Charles Lazarus was a genius, and seemingly could see the future. He is arguably the founder of "Big Box Specialty Retailing". His empire was built on just a few simple methodologies. As he began to open large toy stores (40,000 square feet), he gave toy manufacturers the opportunity to grow as they never had before by giving them a place to put their products, and in most cases, their entire lines of merchandise on a year-round basis. Up to that time, toys was seen as basically, a fourth quarter business. Lazarus went to the manufacturing industry and promised them year-round exposure. All they had to do was finance his inventory with long-term "dating". In other words, they could manufacture all year and ship all year by granting TRU payment terms that were stretched out for as long as a year. TRU would maintain inventory on new and continuing items, allowing consumers to buy toys all year. And buy they did!
Manufacturers could now put new items on the shelves early in the year to test their viability and TRU would develop sales projections and place orders with manufacturers for large scheduled deliveries later in the year. For the first time, manufacturers had "real-world" info on which to base manufacturing.
Continue reading "Phil Bloom On What the Loss of Toys "R" Us Really Means" »
Posted by Richard Gottlieb in Guest Blogger, Retail | Permalink | Comments (2)


What are the benefits of attending Girls State?
When and where is Buckeye Girls State?
The number of girls in each state is determined by the state Auxiliary's available resources.
Citizens are divided into two mythical political "parties". The parties do not reflect the two major political parties in today's system, but allow Citizens to gain a special knowledge of how the system works. Elections are held to fill city, county and state positions. Activities include government workshops, legislative sessions, campaigning, party rallies, debating, voting. The Citizens also receive instruction in Parliamentary Procedure. This "hands on" method is unique and extremely effective. Girls State affords participants an opportunity to live together as self-governing citizens by informing them about the duties, privileges, rights and responsibilities of American citizenship and hopefully encourages their participation in the democratic process as they progress into adulthood. Additional activities include: journalism, law enforcement, music, field trips, group devotions, and patriotic ceremonies.
Through hands-on experience young women have the opportunity to not only learn the mechanics of local and state government; but also learn citizenship and patriotism; gain self-confidence, poise and character. Attendance also makes participants eligible to apply or be selected for awards, honors and scholarships as outlined in the scholarship section.
Attendance also provides Delegates with the opportunity to apply or be selected for awards, honors and scholarships. This includes Girls Nation, United States Senate Youth Program, the Samsung Scholarship and the Buckeye Girls State Endowment Scholarship.
Buckeye Girls State is currently held on the campus of the University of Mount Union, Alliance, Ohio. The program is usually held the second or third week of June. The 2011 program begins with registration on Sunday, June 12th and ends with the closing program on Saturday, June 18th. Each girl must provide her own transportation to and from Buckeye Girls State.
Girls State Delegates are sponsored through local American Legion Auxiliary Units and Posts of The American Legion. Other interested organizations in the community may also contribute to this sponsorship. The sponsorship fee covers the full expense of the Delegates meals and accommodations. Anyone interested in cosponsoring a Delegate, should contact the American Legion Auxiliary Department Headquarters in Zanesville, OH at 740-452-8245 or your local American Legion Auxiliary.
Staff comes not only from volunteers of the American Legion Auxiliary but also from the field of education, government, former Girls State participants and people who are interested in furthering the program. Counselors, state and local government, public officials and speakers participate and provide guidance in their respective fields of expertise. If you would like to serve in a staff position please contact the American Legion Auxiliary Department Headquarters in Zanesville, OH at 740-452-8245 and let us know what area you would be interested in and what you feel that you could offer the program.


I know we are not supposed to have favorites, but I am human. I really enjoy and appreciate the games from Arc System Works. Their Family games have been a personal favorite for some time now. We are Family Friendly Gaming so it makes sense.
Any time there is any kart racing game released, it will be compared to Mario Kart. There is no getting around that. Family Kart 3D is a fun kart racing game that families can enjoy for a very low price on the Nintendo 3DS. The low price makes up for their only being twelve race tracks.
The eight racers, and eight karts in Family Kart 3D are adequate for a downloadable hand held game. The race tracks are fun. Family Kart 3D starts easy and progressively gets more difficult. It is thankfully a little on the casual side in terms of overall difficulty. At least until you reach the toughest races.
My one problem with Family Kart 3D is my right hand started hurting after extended game play. I think this has to do with keeping the 'A' button down for gas, and hitting the 'R' button for the power sliding. I wound up rotating my wrist, and clinching and unclinching my hand to alleviate the discomfort.
The power sliding is very handy and useful in Family Kart 3D. The more it is done, the more a gauge builds up. This gauge goes up to three levels. The player can use it (once it fills the first level) for a short speed boost. There are also items on the track that provide a variety of weapons/items.
The 3D visuals in Family Kart 3D are astounding. I love to hear the different special effect sounds and music in this Nintendo 3DS game as well. Family Kart 3D places just behind Mario Kart for the title. It is a fantastic kart racing game with hours of replay thanks to the three main modes (Grand Prix, Free Play, and Time Mode).


It is a pleasure to announce that the Think Tank 3 Summary Report just arrived in cIRcle, UBC's Digital Repository! According to cIRcle statistics, it has been accessed and/or downloaded by the following "Top Country Views": Canada, United States, Belgium, Australia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom so far.
The report covers five core themes: operationalizing sustainability; enhancing human well-being; green venues/buildings; measurement and certification; and, business case of sustainability.
Read the full report via cIRcle at: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/45598.
In case you missed it, Professor John Robinson, Associate Provost of UBC Sustainability, presented strategies on sport and sustainability at the Think Tank 3: Program event. This event, hosted by the UBC Centre of Sport and Sustainability on 26-27 September 2013, can be viewed and/or downloaded in cIRcle at: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/45586.
The years 2010 and 2011 have been very exciting for those of us here at the Fisheries Centre. We welcomed two new faculty members, increasing the number of faculty at our Centre to twelve. First, we hired Dr Sang-Seon Yun, who comes to us from Kunsan National University in Korea, and is working with the Aboriginal Fisheries Research Unit in examining chemical communication systems of fishes. We also welcomed National Geographic Fellow Dr William W.L. Cheung, who obtained his PhD at UBC in 2007 and has returned to work on global change biology and fisheries.
The year 2011 also included the launch of a new website and visits from very distinguished guests thus helping the Fisheries Centre to 'persevere in [its'] scholarly productivity and outreach efforts, with the goal of cultivating local and international fisheries awareness'. Click on 'View/Open' to read the rest of the report in cIRcle at: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/43679.
There are 190+ items in the Fisheries Centre collections in cIRcle. Explore these titles – Modelling the trophic role of marine mammals in tropical areas (2009); Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea: 1950-present (2010); Trade in seahorses and other syngnathids in countries outside Asia (1998-2001) (2011) and more. Or, browse the Fisheries Centre collections by Author, Title, Subjects and By Dept. Affiliation.
Hosted by the UBC Reads Sustainability Lecture Series. Ozzie Zehner is the author of Green Illusions and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Berkeley. His recent publications include public science pieces in Christian Science Monitor, The American Scholar, The Humanist, The Futurist, Women's Studies Quarterly and The Economist as well as educational resources in Green Technology (Sage, 2011) and Green Culture (Sage, 2011). Zehner's research and projects over the previous two decades have been covered by CNN, MSNBC, USA Today, Science News Radio, The Washington Post, Business Week and numerous other media outlets. He also serves on the editorial board of Critical Environmentalism. Zehner primarily researches the social, political and economic conditions influencing energy policy priorities and project outcomes. His work also incorporates symbolic roles that energy technologies play within political and environmental movements. His other research interests include consumerism, urban policy, environmental governance, international human rights, and forgeries.
The Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources resumed it's Hearing May 12th, 2010 to review current issues related to offshore oil and gas development – you can view the archived webcast of the Hearing.
Take a look at the US government response timeline.
Take a look at the Deepwater Horizon Response site, which gives up to date news and video on how events are progressing.
Read the Globe's article: Moderator's skipped question on Gulf oil spill at Harper forum.
Confirming our commitment to the Heritage Contract, to ensure B.C. ratepayers continue to receive the benefits of B.C.'s low-cost electricity assets.
Moving forward on critical infrastructure projects such as Site C and the Mica and Revelstoke upgrades.
Increasing B.C.'s clean energy supply to meet domestic and future export demand.
Better align implementation of policy between BC Hydro and BCUC and review the need for a separate transmission corporation.
Enabling utilities to implement initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or improve energy efficiency, such as encouraging installation of high-efficiency heating systems like heat pumps or vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure.
Creating a First Nations Clean Energy Business Fund to support revenue sharing opportunities and to increase First Nations participation in clean energy resource development.
For another opinion read the article What Voters weren't told about the Clean Energy Act from the Tyee.
*Trial Subscription* Trial ends February 26, 2010.
Please visit the new GREENR Knowledge Portal from Gale and then send us your thoughts using this comment form. With enough feedback we may be GREENR longer.
GREENR (Global Reference on the Environment, Energy, and Natural Resources) is a new, authoritative online resource that focuses on the academic study of sustainability and the environment.
Environment & Safety Library : "The Library combines powerful, easy-to-use, continuously updated compliance tools with a research collection of [mostly U.S.] federal and state laws, regulations, and documents." NOTE -we do not have access to grayed-out text.


text:
Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces
John E. Dunkin, Dae E. Kim
An experimental device, called the centrifugal friction apparatus (CFA), was developed which is capable of measuring the static coefficient of friction, μ, between flat surfaces with very low normal forces. Experiments were performed with the CFA using the polished surface of n-type arsenic doped silicon wafers to investigate static frictional behavior under differing light load conditions. For loads less than 100 mgf, the average μ and the standard deviation were found to increase as the normal load decreased. For loads between 100 mgf and 1.1 gf μ was found to be a constant in the range of 0.30-0.40. Results suggest that despite extreme smoothness the real area of contact is still significantly smaller than the apparent area of contact and μ is still a function of load. Tests with solid particles between the silicon mating surfaces showed that under low load conditions (<0.9 Pa), the change in μ was negligible for both abrasive particles and for solid lubricants. At the higher loads used (≈475-575 Pa) the expected changes in μ were starting to occur for both types of solid particles.
https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1648(95)06706-X
10.1016/0043-1648(95)06706-X
Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.
static friction Physics & Astronomy
coefficient of friction Physics & Astronomy
flat surfaces Physics & Astronomy
Friction Chemical Compounds
Arsenic Engineering & Materials Science
Solid lubricants Chemical Compounds
Silicon Chemical Compounds
Silicon wafers Chemical Compounds
Dunkin, J. E., & Kim, D. E. (1996). Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces. Wear, 193(2), 186-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1648(95)06706-X
Dunkin, John E. ; Kim, Dae E. / Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces. In: Wear. 1996 ; Vol. 193, No. 2. pp. 186-192.
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title = "Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces",
abstract = "An experimental device, called the centrifugal friction apparatus (CFA), was developed which is capable of measuring the static coefficient of friction, μ, between flat surfaces with very low normal forces. Experiments were performed with the CFA using the polished surface of n-type arsenic doped silicon wafers to investigate static frictional behavior under differing light load conditions. For loads less than 100 mgf, the average μ and the standard deviation were found to increase as the normal load decreased. For loads between 100 mgf and 1.1 gf μ was found to be a constant in the range of 0.30-0.40. Results suggest that despite extreme smoothness the real area of contact is still significantly smaller than the apparent area of contact and μ is still a function of load. Tests with solid particles between the silicon mating surfaces showed that under low load conditions (<0.9 Pa), the change in μ was negligible for both abrasive particles and for solid lubricants. At the higher loads used (≈475-575 Pa) the expected changes in μ were starting to occur for both types of solid particles.",
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Dunkin, JE & Kim, DE 1996, 'Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces', Wear, vol. 193, no. 2, pp. 186-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1648(95)06706-X
Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces. / Dunkin, John E.; Kim, Dae E.
In: Wear, Vol. 193, No. 2, 05.1996, p. 186-192.
T1 - Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces
AU - Dunkin, John E.
AU - Kim, Dae E.
N2 - An experimental device, called the centrifugal friction apparatus (CFA), was developed which is capable of measuring the static coefficient of friction, μ, between flat surfaces with very low normal forces. Experiments were performed with the CFA using the polished surface of n-type arsenic doped silicon wafers to investigate static frictional behavior under differing light load conditions. For loads less than 100 mgf, the average μ and the standard deviation were found to increase as the normal load decreased. For loads between 100 mgf and 1.1 gf μ was found to be a constant in the range of 0.30-0.40. Results suggest that despite extreme smoothness the real area of contact is still significantly smaller than the apparent area of contact and μ is still a function of load. Tests with solid particles between the silicon mating surfaces showed that under low load conditions (<0.9 Pa), the change in μ was negligible for both abrasive particles and for solid lubricants. At the higher loads used (≈475-575 Pa) the expected changes in μ were starting to occur for both types of solid particles.
AB - An experimental device, called the centrifugal friction apparatus (CFA), was developed which is capable of measuring the static coefficient of friction, μ, between flat surfaces with very low normal forces. Experiments were performed with the CFA using the polished surface of n-type arsenic doped silicon wafers to investigate static frictional behavior under differing light load conditions. For loads less than 100 mgf, the average μ and the standard deviation were found to increase as the normal load decreased. For loads between 100 mgf and 1.1 gf μ was found to be a constant in the range of 0.30-0.40. Results suggest that despite extreme smoothness the real area of contact is still significantly smaller than the apparent area of contact and μ is still a function of load. Tests with solid particles between the silicon mating surfaces showed that under low load conditions (<0.9 Pa), the change in μ was negligible for both abrasive particles and for solid lubricants. At the higher loads used (≈475-575 Pa) the expected changes in μ were starting to occur for both types of solid particles.
U2 - 10.1016/0043-1648(95)06706-X
DO - 10.1016/0043-1648(95)06706-X
JO - Wear
JF - Wear
Dunkin JE, Kim DE. Measurement of static friction coefficient between flat surfaces. Wear. 1996 May;193(2):186-192. https://doi.org/10.1016/0043-1648(95)06706-X

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Home / Diplomacy & Statecraft, Volume 19, Number 2
"The Worst of all Worlds:" Oil Sanctions and Italy's Invasion of Abyssinia, 1935-1936
Author: Strang, G. Bruce
Source: Diplomacy & Statecraft, Volume 19, Number 2, June 2008, pp. 210-235(26)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09592290802096257
Italy's invasion of Abyssinia in 1935 caused a crisis for the League of Nations. League members imposed limited sanctions against Italy and debated at length the imposition of an embargo on oil shipments to Italy, which came to stand as a symbol of the League's determination to punish the Italian aggressor. The British government conducted a detailed investigation to determine whether or not an oil sanction could compel Italy to abandon its invasion. Although Italy imported the vast majority of its oil, British and League experts concluded that an oil embargo would not succeed. Even if the League instituted a comprehensive embargo amongst its members, Italy could still have secured sufficient supplies from non-members, particularly the United States, which could not legally prevent American companies from trading with Italy. Italy could also have secured additional supplies through third-party transshipments. An additional ban preventing Italy from using League tankers to carry its purchases would not have succeeded either, although the various sanctions together would have increased Italy's costs to import oil and the amount of pressure on its gold reserves. In spite of the technical difficulties involved in implementing an embargo, the British Cabinet continued to support the idea for domestic political reasons; it needed to placate the British public that considered it vitally important to put into practice the League's collective security rhetoric. The League's unwillingness to impose an oil sanction and its evident failure to prevent Italy's conquest of Abyssinia discredited the League and its collective security provisions.


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text:
President Signs Rep. Chu's Bill to Fight Money Laundering by Cartels Into Law
WASHINGTON – Rep. Judy Chu, D-CA, celebrated the signing into law by President Obama of the Preserving Foreign Criminal Assets for Forfeiture Act of 2010 on Dec. 22, 2010.
Sponsored by Congresswoman Chu and Rep. Ted Poe, R-TX, in the House, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse, D-RI, and John Cornyn, R-TX, in the Senate, this new law will allow U.S. law enforcement to more easily freeze the illicit proceeds of international criminal organizations in U.S. financial institutions, in the hopes of preserving those assets for future seizure.
The concept for the bill came about after conversations between the Congresswoman and U.S. and Mexican officials following the death of Agustin Roberto "Bobby" Salcedo. Salcedo, a respected educator and school board member in the Congresswoman's 32nd District, who was gunned down by suspected narcotics traffickers while visiting his wife's family in Gomez Palacio, Durango, Mexico on New Year's Eve 2009.
Many of the officials contacted by the Congresswoman said the best way to combat the drug cartels responsible for the violence in Mexico is to provide law enforcement with better means of interdicting their money laundering operations.
"Foreign criminals are able to protect hundreds of millions of dollars in dirty money by moving their proceeds abroad before US police can seize them – enabling them to continue their illegal activities," said Rep. Chu. "With the President's signature on this new law, we are providing law enforcement with another tool to fight the drug cartels - by cutting off their life-blood and allowing federal law enforcement to seize these illicit assets. I applaud the President, as well as my colleagues in the House and Senate, for their support of this bill."
"Currently, US law only allows us to seize a drug cartel member's assets in the United States after a final judgment has been issued in a Mexican criminal court. With a conviction rate of less than 5% in Mexico, this means that we are unable to seize a majority of cartel assets in the United States before the money has disappeared," stated Poe. "This new law will allow a US court to issue a restraining order to freeze these assets after ruling that there is evidence of criminal activity. Not only will this increase our ability to hit these cartels financially, but also use those resources to fund additional investigations and prosecutions."
The U.S. Department of Justice estimates that hundreds of millions of dollars have been laundered by international criminal organizations because the defendants moved the assets out of the U.S. before the U.S. courts could seize them.
Representative Judy Chu was elected in July 2009 to the U.S. House of Representatives as the Representative of California's 32nd District, which includes East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley. She is a member of the House Judiciary, Government Oversight, and Education and Labor Committees.
Congresswoman Chu's career in politics spans 24 years. A lifelong educator, Congresswoman Chu taught community college classes in Los Angeles and East Los Angeles for 20 years. She holds a Ph.D. in psychology and a B.A. in mathematics.


If they did that, then they just should have brought back the original, especially since it's only a 1 year deal.
The eggplant stripes between the white & silver should be black, if you're going for a color swap, as well as part of the collar.
Although it's a stunningly beautiful take on their original jersey, I agree they shoulda made it purple not black.
The Ducks jersey - what a goddamned mess. The webbed foot looks completely out of place on the shoulders; it actually looks like what a minor league team would do to show their affiliation with the parent club.
The bottom had so much potential, but the top is a complete disappointment. This jersey is a girl with a great body and a horrific face.
Fine. It's fine. Serviceable... like fast food that lost its hotness in the car but isn't outright cold. Or a WatchMojo top 10.
Not a fan. Sharks colours, yokes that clash with the classic striping, etc.
It's for when you want a hodgepodge of retro elements on a moder frame with little concern about how they mesh together. An ugly mess ensues.
It was a nice idea but the execution just wasn't there. There's too much going on at once. Should've just gone with a throwback.
I think it looks great... Aside from the shoulder patches that don't fit in any way what-so-ever.
Objectively that's a great jersey. If it was meant as a fauxback, not great.
This sweater will be a good test of how the general public doesn't notice fine (and even medium) jersey details. I'd wager that 90% of Ducks fans think this is exactly the sweater they once wore.
I honestly don't know what to think about the jersey. They did too much of an effort and yet seems like they didn't make enough of an effort. Using every single colour in Ducks history is interesting too.
It also appears this is just a 25th anniversary jersey as the Ducks are only using it for this season.
I like the idea but the execution is lacking. I think swapping the black body for eggplant, using the same number font throughout the jersey, and changing the wrist striping would have gone a long way in helping the final design.


Will not be happening here.
Budget getting tight? Or director got bored?
I don't think "My body is made of swords" is supposed to be literal.
Whoo! Fill up that time!
Unlimited Blade Words #04 — Ready, And… Stare!


Have you ever wondered where do the heroes come from? What's the thing they possess which sets them apart from the rest? Well, heroes are just the normal human beings like all of us but what sets them a cut above the rest is their ability to hold themselves in the adverse circumstances to conjure a result which may seem a far cry for most of the mortals. In the continuation of our World Cup Heroes series, we take a look at a West Indian hero who not only took his team over the line but also instilled a belief in his team that the World Cup was theirs for the taking. Let's rewind back to 44 years.
It was June 11, 1975, and the first ever Cricket World Cup, named Prudential World Cup, was just 7 matches old. Up to that point, none of the seven games could possibly be categorized in what we call a legitimate thriller but fortunes were going to change in that regard in Birmingham in what was the 8th match of the inaugural World Cup where Pakistan took on the mighty West Indians to produce the first-ever nail-bitter in the World Cup history.
Pakistan were dealt a telling blow in the lead up to the match as their regular captain, Asif Iqbal withdrew from the game owing to him going for an emergency medical procedure. Majid Khan had to take over the momentous responsibility and that too against a fearsome opposition. But one thing really boosted the hopes of Pakistanis and that was their batsmen's prior experience of playing the likes of Andy Roberts, Keith Boyce, Vanburn Holder and Bernard Julien in the county circuits of England.
Pakistan's apprehensions had some solid grounds as West Indies boasted of the names like Gordon Greenidge, Alvin Kallicharran, Roy Fredericks, Rohan Kanhai, Clive Lloyd and a young Vivian Richards. But fate can always be depended upon to bring out her treacherous games to befall the mightiest of the warriors and something similar happened in Birmingham too.
Pakistani bowling attack, in that match, featured Sarfaraz Nawaz, Asif Masood, Naseer Malik, and Pervez Mir along with supporting hands of Javed Miandad and Mushtaq Mohammad. No bowler other than Sarfaraz could be termed as threatening for the West Indians and he vindicated this fact soon enough as he snaffled the wickets of Greenidge, Fredericks, and Kallicharran in quick succession to reduce West Indies to 36 for 3 wickets.
The early blow had been dealt with and what was needed was the capitalization by the remaining Pakistani bowlers and they surely did pounce on it as West Indies were further dented with the wickets of Kanhai, Richards and Bernard Julien to reduce them to a struggling 6 for 145. The West Indian chances were getting gloomy with each passing delivery. Enter the wicket-keeper Deryck Murray to support his captain in the chase.
But that association didn't last long as the captain departed after getting to his half-century, leaving his team reeling at 151 for 7. With the departure of Lloyd, the West Indian tail got exposed to the treacheries of Pakistani bowlers and Murray was left to wage a lone battle for his team. In such a high demanding situation, Murray oozed calm and that's just what his team needed at that moment, more so when Keith Boyce departed at the score of 166.
Time was ripe for a final assault by their best bowler but Majid, interestingly, didn't bowl Sarfaraz at that time of the chase which allowed Murray to build a slow and steady partnership with Vanburn Holder. Murray's sense rubbed off Holder as the duo first looked to steadying their team's sinking ship. Their association began with boring nudges here and there but, as both the batsmen grew in confidence, started to swell in momentum to leave the Pakistani skipper scratching his head who desperately looked for options beyond the x-factor of Sarfaraz.
But as the West Indian total rolled past 200, Majid wasn't left with any other choice than bringing on his best bowler into the attack. That move immediately paid dividends as Sarfaraz had Holder caught by Pervez Mir to devoid Murray of yet another partner in his pursuit of success for his team. With 64 runs still to get and only Andy Roberts left for support, Murray surely would have imagined the apocalypse coming at any moment yet he decided to give it a go.
The work of Roberts was cut-out. He had to just play calmly without trying to go for any glory shot and let Murray take the charge of the chase. That's exactly what they did. The initial focus was to bat till the end as they had a full 14 overs to play with. The strategy paid off and the West Indian pair slowly inched closer to the total. What backfired for Pakistan was their move of bowling Sarfaraz out in the pursuit of the final wicket, a threat which Murray and Roberts negated successfully.
Surely, in hindsight, it seems a blunder on Majid's part to bowl out his best bowler but one should not take away any credit from the last batting duo who battled great adversity to take their team over the finishing line with two balls to go. Roberts was heralded as a hero with his match-winning 24 runs and surely, he deserved the adulation as he had shown great maturity and composure to achieve the improbable for his team.
But amidst all this glory talks of Sarfaraz who was picked as the Man of the Match because the adjudicator had gone home after the eighth West Indian wicket fell or Roberts batting out of his skin to win the game, we tend to attach lesser importance to the role Deryck Murray played. He top-scored with 61 but more importantly, he kept the adrenalin of tail-enders like Holder and Roberts in check to optimize their batting potentials.
Murray was the man who stood between Pakistan and victory on the 11th of June. He is the unheralded knight of the West Indian victory in the first-ever humdinger at the marquee stage.


text:
panxing18
Postby panxing18 » Sat Apr 20, 2019 1:23 am
NEW YORK (AP) — game Friday night Ryan Zimmerman Jersey , grounding out in his first plate appearance for the New York Mets in nearly 2½ years.Sidelined by neck, back and shoulder injuries since May 27, 2016, Wright came up as a pinch-hitter against the Miami Marlins and received a warm ovation from the Citi Field crowd. With fans on their feet and his wife and two young daughters in the stands, the 35-year-old Wright led off the bottom of the fifth inning and swung at the first pitch he saw, a 96 mph fastball from Jose Urena.The seven-time All-Star hit a bouncer to the left of third baseman Brian Anderson, who made a nifty pickup of a short hop and threw across the diamond to retire Wright. The Mets' captain returned to the dugout http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-adams-jersey , where he high-fived and hugged teammates with a big smile on his face.Wright is scheduled to start at third base Saturday night against the last-place Marlins in his goodbye game before a sellout crowd. Unable to overcome all the injuries, he's said he expects this weekend to mark his final appearance in the big leagues.Wright was on deck when the last out was made in the fourth, causing the crowd to boo loudly when the inning ended. He clutched his bat and paced the dugout for most of the next half-inning before bounding onto the field even before the Marlins took their positions with a 3-1 lead in the fifth.Once one of the top players in baseball, Wright was reinstated from the disabled list Tuesday but didn't play in New York's three-game series against NL East champion Atlanta this week. With the Braves trying to earn home-field advantage in the Division Series, the Mets did not want to compromise the integrity of the pennant race.Wright made his major league debut for the Mets in 2004, three years after they drafted him 38th overall. He is the longest-tenured active player to spend his entire career with one team. PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates bet on themselves a year ago when they traded away stars Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen, believing the return they received plus the pieces already in place would help them make inroads in the hypercompetitive National League Central.The results were promising. The Pirates put together just the franchise's fourth winning season in the last quarter century Bryce Harper Jersey , finishing 82-79 thanks in large part to the rapid development of a young starting rotation led by Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams that quickly found its footing. While many of their rivals retooled over the winter, Pittsburgh instead doubled down on its largely homegrown approach."I think that a seven-game improvement last year was a meaningful step forward, and we are absolutely positioned to take another meaningful step forward and get us back into that range where we have a very good shot at playoffs," owner Bob Nutting said.To get there, the Pirates needs the core of the rotation of Taillon, Williams, Chris Archer — acquired in an aggressive move at last summer's trade deadline — and Joe Musgrove to build off a solid 2018 while hoping the offense can become more potent under new hitting coach Rick Eckstein. While the Pirates were a respectable 10th in batting average in 2018 (.254) Stephen Strasburg Jersey , they ranked in the bottom half of the majors in runs, home runs and slugging.The return of third baseman Jung Ho Kang — who hit 36 homers in 2015 and 2016 before his career was derailed after being arrested on a DUI charge in his native South Korea in late 2016 — should help. First baseman Josh Bell spent a significant portion of his offseason working on regaining the stroke that allowed him to hit 26 home runs as a rookie in 2017, a total that dipped to 12 a season ago.Pittsburgh brought in veteran Lonnie Chisenhall to help out in right field until Gregory Polanco returns from shoulder surgery and shortstop Erik Gonzalez beat out Kevin Newman for the starting shortstop gig. Otherwise Pittsburgh's lineup will look much as it did in 2018. The Pirates hardly see that as a negative."Everybody is committed to doing what we can to putting a World Series championship team on the field," team President Frank Coonelly said over the winter. "And we do know that we can do it."Some things to look for as Pittsburgh vies for a return to the postseason for the first time since 2015.FIFTH AMENDMENT: The only real question mark on the pitching staff is at the back end of the rotation, where Nick Kingham and Jordan Lyles have spent the spring trying to lock down a roster spot. Kingham endured an up-and-down rookie season in 2018 while Lyles has worked primarily out of the bullpen since 2015.GOLDEN GUN: Leftfielder Corey Dickerson put together the finest season of his career in 2018 after being acquired from Tampa Bay late in spring training. He hit .300 and was a revelation on defense, where he won his first career Gold Glove while patrolling spacious PNC Park. He earned a raise to $8.5 million in 2019, the final year of his contract. The 29-year-old Dickerson would like to stay in Pittsburgh long term but the Pirates have been hesitant to re-sign players in their 30s.FIRING FELIPE: While specific roles for the middle relievers remain in a bit of flux http://www.nationalsfanproshop.com/authentic-matt-adams-jersey , the back end of the bullpen is set. Felipe Vazquez was the team's only All-Star in 2018 while he converted 37 of 42 save opportunities. Keone Kela, brought over from Texas at the trade deadline, will work in the eighth inning with Kyle Crick getting a shot in the seventh. Their reliability will help shorten the game for Pittsburgh's starting rotation.HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE: Pittsburgh's improved play in 2018 didn't exactly galvanize the fan base. The Pirates posted their lowest average attendance at PNC Park since it opened in 2001 and its lowest overall since 1996. General manager Neal Huntington has spoken at length about the need to put a compelling product on the field, but that message hasn't quite resonated.FOR OPENERS: The Pirates begin 2019 on the road at Cincinnati on March 28. Their home opener is on April 1 against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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Sustainable Shetland has secured a court order aimed at helping it avoid financial ruin ahead of a legal challenge against the Viking windfarm.
The group is seeking to have the Scottish government's decision to grant consent for 103 large turbines in the isles overturned.
It has secured an order limiting its potential expenses ahead of its battle against the project.
Viking Energy's windfarm has attracted objections following concerns over the possible impact on the landscape and on the whimbrel, a protected migratory wading bird.
The campaign group maintains that ministers acted unlawfully or unreasonably in not holding a public inquiry before giving the go-ahead for the project. They have raised proceedings for a judicial review of the Scottish ministers' decision at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
Making the judgement on Friday Lord Doherty said he considered it appropriate to make a protective expenses order limiting the group's potential liability to £5,000 with a cap of £30,000 put on the ministers' expenses.
Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw QC, for the campaigners, said the major challenge was in relation to the impact of the development on the whimbrel which is protected under a birds directive.
"We are talking about a wind farm which is the equivalent of five normal wind farms," he told the court.
In the action it is claimed Scottish ministers failed to give proper consideration to objections over the windfarm and all other material considerations in deciding not to have a public inquiry. It is also claimed they failed to give adequate reasons for not having one.
They are also said to have failed to take account of the impact of the development on the whimbrel and their duties under the birds directive.
It is also argued they could not reasonably have decided the relevant factual background to establish the scientific facts over the protection of the bird without an inquiry.
Campaigners say the decision letter over the Viking project failed to properly address landscape objections raised over the development.
The campaign group's chairman, Andrew Halcrow, said: "Sustainable Shetland welcomes the decision of the Scottish Court of Session to grant a protective costs order to Sustainable Shetland in respect of the Judicial Review of the Scottish ministers' decision to grant planning permission for the Viking Windfarm, with a cap on liability to Sustainable Shetland of £5,000 for ministers' legal costs, and a reciprocal cap for their liability of £30,000 for our legal costs, and with no liability to Sustainable Shetland for Viking Energy Partnership's legal costs.
When approval for the Viking wind farm was given in April this year Energy Minister Fergus Ewing claimed it would "bring enormous benefits to the people of Shetland".
The project, the third biggest in Scotland, was said to be capable of powering more than 175,000 homes.


This course is designed for students who are planning to work as a paraprofessional interpreter (LOTE – English) typically in the community and business domains.
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[ubuntu] How to stop ubuntu from messing with the clock?
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[kubuntu] Kubuntu w/ KDE 4.3, and maybe an audio fix?


This was the birthday cake that I made for myself. The outside was wrapped with a thin layer of almond sponge cake. Inside of the cake were layers of coffee chiffon, dark chocolate mousse, coffee gelee, salted caramel mousse and chocolate glaze. We were rushing to a restaurant for dinner so I didn't have enough time for any cake decorations. So I just stole my daughter's Kinder surprise egg, ripped if off and stuck them onto the cake. My girl was so smart and caught me right away…lol.
Entremets are not difficult to make at all. They are just time-consuming as your need to make several layers and build each layer up. Only a small amount is required for each layer so there will be quite a lot of preparation. It is hard to make such a small amount of caramel sauce so not the entire batch of it is needed in the recipe. The remaining sauce can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for later use.
Please refer to this blog post for a picture tutorial of the decorative almond sponge cake.
In a small bowl, beat egg white and icing sugar with a whisk until smooth. Whisk in melted butter. Combine and sift flour and cocoa powder in another bowl. Add to first mixture in two batches and fold to combine. Do not overmix. Refrigerate for 10 mins if the paste appears to be too thin.
With an offset spatula, spread paste evenly on a silicon baking mat that is the same size as the baking pan. Create designs with fingers or a pastry comb (I dragged my Ateco pastry comb through the paste to make stripes). Transfer mat onto a baking sheet then freeze for 15 minutes or until the paste is firm.
In a mixing bowl, beat almond flour, icing sugar, whole egg and egg yolks with a hand mixer until pale and thickened. Fold in sifted flour followed by the oil. In another clean bowl, whip egg whites with a hand mixer until soft peaks. Add sugar and beat until firm (but not stiff) peaks form. Fold into the egg mixture gently.
When the chocolate paste is firm, remove baking sheet from freezer and transfer mat to the square baking pan. Pour the joconde batter over the frozen paste. Spread evenly with an offset spatula or bench scraper to cover the entire design.
Bake in a 325°F/160°C preheated oven for 15 minutes or until the cake springs back to the touch. Remove from oven. Immediately loosen the sides and flip cake out of pan onto a piece of parchment paper. Lift up silicon mat carefully and transfer cake to a wire rack to cool completely. With a ruler and a sharp knife, trim cake into 1.75" wide strips. Keep cake strips covered until ready to use.
Please refer to Kahlua and Espresso Chiffon Cake for a picture tutorial.
Sift together the flour, espresso powder and baking powder (if using) into a mixing bowl. Mix well and make a well in the center. Add oil, milk, egg yolks and vanilla bean paste to the well and whisk gently until combined.
In a clean, separate mixing bowl, whip egg whites with a hand mixer until foamy. Add cream of tartar (to stabilize the meringue) and continue beating until soft peaks form. Then slowly add sugar in batches and continue beating until glossy and firm peaks form. Scoop about one third of the meringue to the yolk mixture and mix well to lighten. Then pour this back to the remaining meringue. Fold gently and thoroughly until homogeneous.
Pour batter into 6" pan and smooth top with a spatula. Tap cake pan against the kitchen counter several times to get rid of any large air bubbles. Bake in a 325°F/160°C preheated oven until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of cake comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes for my oven. Invert the cake pan and cool completely on a cooling rack before unmolding. Slice cake to about 1/2 inch thick (only one cake layer is needed). Keep covered with plastic wrap until ready to use.
Chill a mixing bowl and the whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes before you start. Mix cocoa powder, salt and hot water in a small bowl until thoroughly combined. Stir in vanilla bean paste. In another bowl, melt chocolate over a pot of simmering water (or in the microwave over medium power). Stir into the first mixture and let cool to room temperature.
With a hand mixer, whisk whipping cream in the chilled mixing bowl until soft peaks. Fold whipped cream into chocolate-cocoa powder mixture in two batches until no white streaks remain.
Bloom gelatin by mixing it with 45 g of water and set aside for 5 minutes. In another bowl combine coffee powder, sugar, corn syrup and hot water then mix well. Pour mixture into the bloomed gelatin and stir until combined. Let cool to room temperature.
Pour coffee mixture into a plastic wrap lined 6-inch cake pan (for easy removal) and chill until set.
In a saucepan, combine sugar and water and mix well. Set over medium heat until the mixture starts to boil. Reduce to low heat then cover the pot and simmer for five minutes. The steam created will wash down the sugar crystals clinging to the wall of the pot and prevent crystallization. Remove lid and continue to simmer until the sugar turns dark amber (an instant thermometer should register between 325 and 350℉/160 and 175°C). Remove from heat. While the sugar is boiling, heat cream in another pot to almost a boil and keep warm.
Add in the softened butter and mix well. (the mixture will bubble up immediately so be extra careful not to burn yourself). Then gradually add in the hot cream and whisk until smooth. Stir in the salt.
Return pan over low heat and cook with constant stirring until the mixture comes to a boil again. Remove from heat then transfer the caramel sauce into a bowl and let cool.
Chill a mixing bowl and the whisk attachment in the freezer for 10 minutes before you start. Bloom gelatin by mixing it with water and set aside for 5 minutes. Warm mixture in the microwave or sit the bowl in hot water until gelatin is liquefied. Set aside.
In the chilled mixing bowl, beat whipping cream until thickened and soft peaks form. Fold into the caramel mixture in two batches until well combined.
Combine sugar, water, light corn syrup, sifted cocoa powder and whipping cream in a saucepan. Cook over low heat to almost a boil (190ºF/88ºC). Remove from heat.
Wrap bottom of the cake ring with plastic wrap. Line the inside with acetate or parchment paper strips for easy unmolding. Wrap the inside of the mold with joconde imprime cake strips, decorative side facing out, with the ends slightly overlapping each other. Press ends firmly together to seal the seams. Place a coffee chiffon cake layer inside the ring.
Place half of the dark chocolate mousse in a piping bag and pipe into the gap. Spread remaining mousse over the cake layer and fill until about half full. Tap ring against the kitchen counter to get rid of air bubbles then smooth top. Refrigerate until mousse has set.
Remove the chilled cake layer from the fridge. Place the coffee gelee over then top with salted caramel mousse to almost full. Tap ring against the kitchen counter a few times to get rid of air bubbles and smooth top. Refrigerate until set.
Remove chilled cake from the fridge and pour the chocolate glaze over. Return to the refrigerator and chill until glaze has set. Unmold and decorate with fresh fruits. Cut into slices and serve.


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One injured in hit-and-run crash in Town of Mitchell
Sheboygan Press Media
Authorities are searching for the driver in a hit-and-run accident that resulted in a man being injured.
According to the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Office, the accident happened at 1:40 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 8 in the Town of Mitchell.
Louis Kelly, 29, of Milwaukee was driving west on county Highway V when a car that had stopped at the stop sign at the intersection of Highway V and Highway S pulled out into his path and stopped in the road.
Kelly swerved to avoid hitting the car, described by a witness as a large tan four-door car similar to a Mercury Grand Marquis, and drove into the north ditch.
His vehicle, a large Ford Econoline van, hit a hump of dirt and went airborne, hitting the side of a utility pole, coming down on top of a telephone junction box and then rolling several times.
The driver of the tan car drove away northbound on Highway S.
Kelly was taken by Plymouth Ambulance to St. Nicholas Hospital with a non-incapacitating injury to his right leg.
The Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information about the driver to call 920-459-3112 or Crimestoppers at 877-283-8436.


text:
Lew Rockwell Books
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LewRockwell.com ANTI-STATE•ANTI-WAR•PRO-MARKET
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How Did Western Civilization Get a Monopoly on 'Moral Conscience' When It Has No Morality?
By Paul Craig Roberts
"The first use of nuclear weapons must remain in the quiver of escalation as the ultimate instrument to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction." Five Western military leaders.
I read the statement three times trying to figure out the typo. Then it hit me, the West has now out-Orwelled Orwell: The West must nuke other countries in order to prevent the use of weapons of mass destruction! In Westernspeak, the West nuking other countries does not qualify as the use of weapons of mass destruction.
The astounding statement comes from a paper prepared for a NATO summit in April by five top military leaders — an American, a German, a Dutchman, a Frenchman, and a Brit.
The paper, prepared by men regarded as distinguished leaders and not as escapees from insane asylums, argues that "the West's values and way of life are under threat, but the West is struggling to summon the will to defend them." The leaders find that the UN is in the way of the West's will, as is the European Union which is obstructing NATO and "NATO's credibility is at stake in Afghanistan."
And that's a serious matter. If NATO loses its credibility in Afghanistan, Western civilization will collapse just like the Soviet Union. The West just doesn't realize how weak it is. To strengthen itself, it needs to drop more and larger bombs.
The German military leader blames the Merkel government for contributing to the West's inability to defend its values by standing in the way of a revival of German militarism. How can Germany be "a reliable partner" for America, he asks, if the German government insists on "special rules" limiting the combat use of its forces in Afghanistan?
Ron Asmus, head of the German Marshall Fund and a former US State Department official, welcomed the paper as "a wake-up call." Asmus means a call to wake-up to the threats from the brutal world, not to the lunacy of Western leaders.
Who, what is threatening the West's values and way of life? Political fanaticism, religious fundamentalism, and the imminent spread of nuclear weapons, answer the five asylum escapees.
By political fanaticism, do they mean the neoconservatives who believe that the future of humanity depends on the US establishing its hegemony over the world? By religious fundamentalism, do they mean "rapture evangelicals" agitating for Armageddon or Christian and Israeli Zionists demanding a nuclear attack on Iran? By spread of nuclear weapons, do they mean Israel's undeclared and illegal possession of several hundred nuclear weapons?
No. The paranoid military leaders see all the fanaticism, religious and otherwise, and all the threats to humanity as residing outside Western civilization (Israel is inside). The "increasingly brutal world," of which the leaders warn, is "over there." Only Muslims are fanatics. All us white guys are rational and sane.
There is nothing brutal about the US/NATO bombing of Serbia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, or the Israeli bombing of Lebanon, or the Israeli ethnic cleansing of the West Bank, or the genocide Israel hopes to commit against Palestinians in Gaza.
All of this, as well as America's bombing of Somalia, America's torture dungeons, show trials of "detainees," and overthrow of elected governments and installation of puppet rulers, is the West's necessary response to keep the brutal world at bay.
Brutal things happen in the "brutal world" and are entirely the fault of those in the brutal world. None of this would happen if the inhabitants of the brutal world would just do as they are told. How can the civilized world with its monopoly on morality allow people in the brutal world to behave independently? I mean, really! God forbid, they might attack some innocent country.
The "brutal world" consists of those immoral fanatics who object to being marginalized by the West and who reply to mass bombings from the air and to the death and destruction inflicted on them through myriad ways by strapping on a suicide bomb.
Unable to impose its will on countries it has invaded with conventional arms, the West's military leaders are now prepared to force compliance with the moral world's will by threatening to nuke those who resist. You see, since the West has the monopoly on morality, truth, and justice, those in the outside world are obviously evil, wicked and brutal. Therefore, as President Bush tells us, it is a simple choice between good and evil, and there's no better candidate than evil for being nuked. The sooner we can get rid of the brutal world, the sooner we will have "freedom and democracy" everywhere that's left.
Meanwhile, the United States, the great moral light unto the world, has just prevented the United Nations from censuring Israel, the world's other great moral light, for cutting off food supplies, medical supplies, and electric power to Gaza. You see, Gaza is in the outside world and is a home of the bad guys. Moreover, the wicked Palestinians there tricked the US when the US allowed them to hold a free election. Instead of electing the US candidate, the wicked voters elected a government that would represent them. The US and Israel overturned the Palestinian election in the West Bank, but those in Gaza clung to the government that they had elected. Now they are going to suffer and die until they elect the government that the US and Israel wants. I mean, how can we expect people in the brutal world to know what's best for them?
The fact that the UN tried to stop Israel's just punishment of the Gazans shows how right the five leaders' report is about the UN being a threat to Western values and way of life. The UN is really against us. This puts the UN in the outside world and makes it a candidate for being nuked if not an outright terrorist organization. As our president said, "you are with us or against us."
The US and Israel need a puppet government in Palestine so that a ghettoized remnant of Palestine can be turned into a "two state solution." The two states will be Israel incorporating the stolen West Bank and a Palestinian ghetto without an economy, water, or contiguous borders.
This is necessary in order to protect Israel from the brutal outside world.
Inhabitants of the brutal world are confused about the "self-determination" advocated by Western leaders. It doesn't mean that those outside Western civilization and Israel should decide for themselves. "Self" means American. The term, so familiar to us, means "American-determination." The US determines and others obey.
It is the brutal world that causes all the trouble by not obeying.
The Best of Paul Craig Roberts
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$bio: Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, has been reporting shocking cases of prosecutorial abuse for two decades. A new edition of his book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, co-authored with Lawrence Stratton, a documented account of how americans lost the protection of law, has been released by Random House. Visit his website.
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[0] => Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, has been reporting shocking cases of prosecutorial abuse for two decades. A new edition of his book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, co-authored with Lawrence Stratton, a documented account of how americans lost the protection of law, has been released by Random House. Visit his website.
Paul Craig Roberts, a former Assistant Secretary of the US Treasury and former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal, has been reporting shocking cases of prosecutorial abuse for two decades. A new edition of his book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions, co-authored with Lawrence Stratton, a documented account of how americans lost the protection of law, has been released by Random House. Visit his website.
Copyright © Paul Craig Roberts
Previous article by Paul Craig Roberts: Criminals With Badges
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Fascinating Discussion on Hidden History, Conspiracies, and Other Deep State Intrigue
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re: In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day . . .
In Honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day – Explore the History of Blacks and Reds
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text:
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Band Profile: Rotting Out
Man saves penguin - buds for life
God's Photoshop: The Rainbow Mountains of China
Review: Manhunt
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EASTERN YOUTH – interview by pr!
It's been said that music is a language. I really dig the latest album by Eastern Youth, "What Can you See From Your Place". It's got this indie rock sound that becomes complicated to describe once you hear the vocals… in Japanese. But because I'm digging it, and can honestly claim to know 0% of the Japanese language, I'd say I enjoy Eastern Youth because I can speak music. And while I may not get Bollywood soundtracks, Eastern Youth tears it up. Hisashi Yoshino, vocalist, guitarist and songwriter speaks only Japanese, even at shows, which I've heard is… awkward. Imagine a band at a club, between a guitar string change or something, speaking to the crowd in a completely different language. Tomokazu Ninomiya plays bass while Atsuya Tamori mans the drums; together, this three piece rides the line between Weezerish and Fugazisorta. Since Hisashi can't actually speak English, we passed notes back and forth. Kinda weird.
Is there desire to sing, at least a single song, in English?
I cannot imagine me singing in English for now. I cannot even have daily conversations in English. I would like to have the daily conversation in English at least but it's not that easy!
Are you planning any studio time in the near future?
We are writing new songs right now and going to release a new album in the summer in Japan.
Any future tours in America and Canada?
Of course. We would like to go back as soon as possible.
When you were on tour in America, did you have any biased or otherwise negative experiences because of your ethnicity?
We have never felt any biases from our ethnicity at shows. Although there are some people looked at us strange since they could not understand what we were saying. However, at some shops or restaurants, we saw unpleasant faces and experienced humiliating correspondence. I think there are petty people like that everywhere.
Speaking of, American's are starting to recognize Asian movies in our major cinemas, unheard of a few years ago. Are you fans of Asian films?
Yes, I am. In recent movies I saw, "Osama", [an] Afghan[istan] movie, was good. I also liked the Chinese movie called "Shonyan No Sakaya". Korean movies area boom in Japan now, but I've never seen any. I am really interested in [them] though. Of course I love Japanese ones too, however, there are not many impressed me lately.
Cool. Just watched the uncut version of Ichi the Killer last week, pretty freaky. What are some of your favorite Japanese films?
I like "Yojinboh" "Kichiku" and [a] documentary movie called "Kyokushiteki Eros". I also liked "Dodesukaden" and "Zatoichi"…the last " Zatoichi " movie was especially great. Not that one Takeshi Kitano did but the very last one with Katsu Shintaro.
I just gave one of our writers a copy of a Japanese film, Wild Zero, with the band Guitar Wolf. You familiar?
It's not that I know them personally, but I have known about them for long time.
In America, radio is divided by genre's but mostly controlled by a few corporate giants. How is the radio in Japan?
I think it's pretty much the same, that radios are controlled by major corperations. I think Japanese stations don't have their own format by the genre of music. Basically, every station is becoming a promotional medium for major labels. I don't think there are any stations that are independent like college radio stations or local FM stations in the U.S.
It's pretty sad, since the hardware and potential audience exist. Are there stations in Japan that would play rock by Eastern Youth?
Our songs are played by many Japanese stations around the album release dates but I don't think we have rock stations in Japan.
Kind of on the same topic, will digital music save or kill the music industry?
Regardless arguing about illegal downloads, it's very clear it is hurting the music business. However, I think more people can reach to all different kinds of music more easily through the Internet. In fact, I am here in Japan, and I can get the information of the music from all over the world.
Well, to be fair, the piracy industry is really different in other countries then compared to America. Do you 'notice' the affect music piracy has in Japan? We in America always hear about Japan and their bootleg markets. Have you ever purchased a copy of something, like, a movie, videogame or music CD?
No, I've never purchased copied products. Never been the victim either. I think people who are making money by copying should be punished.
issue-40
Review: Death Cab For Cutie


Cape Fear Regional Jetport (ICAO: KSUT, FAA LID: SUT), also known as Howie Franklin Field, is a public use airport in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. It is owned by the Brunswick County Airport Commission and located one nautical mile (2 km) northeast of the central business district of Oak Island, North Carolina. Formerly known as Brunswick County Airport, it is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility.Although many U.S. airports use the same three-letter location identifier for the FAA and IATA, this airport is assigned SUT by the FAA but has no designation from the IATA (which assigned SUT to Sumbawanga Airport in Sumbawanga, Tanzania).


One of the papers that I am writing regards "the foolishness of God" vs. human wisdom. What will come of this paper is of particular interest to me because for so long, I feel like I have lived my life as God's fool. As often as I can think of it, I go out into the world with the question in my heart, "What will Love have me do today?" After which I step out on faith trusting that no matter what the world sees, my God who knows the intentions of my heart is guiding my steps toward greater knowing of "His" place in my life and deeper service to my fellow travelers in this world.
Sometimes what I do matches with what others–both those who profess Spirituality and otherwise–would expect of me, while other times my actions are a mystery to everyone–including myself. As I get older, I get nervous a lot about how my life is playing out. The truth is I have no idea where it is going. I don't really expect any different, but I am not unaware of what "I should" be doing according to the pattern of the society I was born into. Yet by faith or by insanity, I have come to understand that, as Saint Augustine said, being in God's image, "we are attempting to understand a Mystery with a mystery." How can I ever truly know in this temporal experience, what God has created out of Eternity? I cannot. So I try to do the only thing that makes sense in this context. I strive to walk by faith and not by sight or any of my corporeal senses for that matter. The agreement of my senses is always a welcome bonus, but the agreement of my soul comes first. Of course, this presents many challenges when I try to walk in agreement with others who invest more in sense perception. To them I look like a fool–as I should.
So long I have tried to explain this to people who I love. For this very passage, I have struggled so much in my life. I have wished time and again that these words never made sense to me, so that I could do what feels good to me rather than what I feel compelled to do by my conscience. For the nagging of this passage has made me a fool not just to those who are not Christian, but even to those who live in the church. Because though these words are found in the Bible, they are not owned solely or entirely by those who claim this book.
Have you ever heard the saying, "It's not true because it is in the Bible, it is in the Bible because it is true."? Well, as God's fool, I am have come to see that this is true not just for the Bible. The truth of God and "His" means of revealing it is unlimited. The clues to a mystery are found in hidden places–where many of us refuse to look. For me it happened to be by the Way of Jesus but I do not know how God has or will extend the truth of "His" Love to all of my spiritual neighbors throughout eternity. For me, Jesus demonstrates to my soul a pattern of God's workings that transcend human understanding–period. In this human experience, I cannot see what God is doing, but I can see what God has done when I close my eyes and ears and look and listen with my heart. In faith I can trust that by God's eternal nature, "He" will do what "He" has always done–reveal "His" righteousness from faith to faith–though I have no idea what form it will take. Nevertheless, I know that it will be from Love, because God is Love.
When you look at it, the idea of someone like the Son of God having to die for the world makes no sense. But then again, that is why it makes so much sense. Only a fool would believe that. By the world's standards, Jesus and those like Him are complete failures. Where is the success in someone dying like a common criminal? Where is the logic or safety in not following the crowd? Who would be silly enough to risk following this pattern and take the chance of being rejected by everything and everyone you've been taught to believe? But it is in this very pattern that the statement in 1 Corinthians 1:25, "For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom and God's weakness is stronger than human strength" finds validity.
There is a reason why in the Beatitudes, Jesus says that it is the meek, poor in spirit, those who thirst for righteousness etc. who will receive the promises of God. Because of ego, it is very rare that we will admit when we are in need. We try to rely on what we believe to be our own strength. However, it is when we are emptied of self that we can be filled with the power of God which is the source of our lives. It is only in admitting that we are in need that we can receive; in admitting weakness that we can be made strong. It is the gift of a thorn in our flesh to remind us that we are One with God through our need–for God fulfills all of our needs so that in our ego we can never boast of what we can do on our own.