Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Officials: Serbia's NATO ambassador leaps to death
BRUSSELS (AP) ? Serbia's ambassador to NATO was chatting and joking with colleagues in a parking garage at Brussels Airport when he suddenly strolled to a barrier, climbed over and flung himself to the ground below, a diplomat said.
By the time his shocked colleagues reached him, Branislav Milinkovic was dead.
His motives are a mystery. Three diplomats who knew Milinkovic said he did not appear distraught in the hours leading up to his death Tuesday night. They said he seemed to be going about his regular business, picking up an arriving delegation of six Serbian officials who were due to hold talks with NATO, the alliance that went to war with his country just 13 years ago.
A former author and activist opposed to the authoritarian regime of Serbia's former strongman Slobodan Milosevic, he was a respected diplomat and leading intellectual in his country, officials said.
The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release details, said they knew of no circumstances ? private or professional ? that would have prompted him to take his own life.
One of the diplomats described the death to The Associated Press, saying she had spoken to a member of the delegation who had witnessed the leap from the 8- to 10-meter-high (26- to 33-foot-high) platform.
The diplomats all spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not permitted by foreign service regulations to speak publicly to the press.
Speaking in Brussels, Serbia's Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said that "Belgian police are investigating, but it's obviously a suicide. It's hard to figure out the motives or causes."
The death cast a pall on the second day of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers. Officials said they were shocked by the news of the death of a very popular and well-liked ambassador.
NATO's Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he was "deeply saddened by the tragic death of the Serbian ambassador."
"As Serbian ambassador to NATO he earned the respect and admiration of his fellow ambassadors," he said.
During the 1990s, Milinkovic was active in the opposition to Milosevic. After he was ousted in 2000, Milinkovic was appointed Serbia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe, or OSCE, in Vienna.
He was transferred to NATO as Serbia's special representative in 2004. Serbia is not a member of the military alliance, but Milinkovic was named ambassador after Belgrade joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program, which groups neutral states.
The move to join the NATO program had angered Serbian nationalists who are now in power. They have pledged the nation will never join because of the alliance's 1999 bombing campaign, during which it forced Milosevic's forces to withdraw from Serbia's southern province of Kosovo.
Milosevic was widely blamed for instigating the Balkan wars that followed the breakup of Yugoslavia, conflicts that claimed more than 100,000 lives and left millions homeless.
Milinkovic worked to foster close ties with other ambassadors from the former Yugoslavia, recently organizing a dinner for a Croat colleague who was transferred to Moscow.
Milinkovic is survived by his wife and 17-year-old son.
_____
Stojanovic reported from Belgrade, Serbia.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/officials-serbias-nato-ambassador-leaps-death-093459101.html
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Holiday Open House in Cypress Creek Lakes - Cy-Fair Real Estate
Holiday Open House in Cypress Creek Lakes
Courtesy of Cypress Creek Lakes
This weekend, Santa Claus made a special stop in Cypress Creek Lakes. The Cypress Creek Lakes Holiday Open House was held Sunday, December 2nd from Noon to 5 pm at the community?s new Phase 3 Recreation Center. Over 500 people attended this fun event.
Prospective home buyers, residents and area Real Estate Agents stopped by for some holiday fun including:
Free photos with Santa Claus
Free gourmet coffee, hot chocolate & bakery items
Listened to the Warner Elementary School Choir
Registered to win an Apple iPad
Met H-E-B Buddy courtesy of the new H-E-B Fairfield Market
Dawn Mulholland was the lucky winner of the Apple iPad drawing.
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Cypress Creek Lakes Homes For Sale
Showing properties
1 - 25 of 26.
See more Homes in Cypress Creek Lakes tract.
(all data current as of
12/5/2012)
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4 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,128 sq ft
Lot size: 8,750 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 1
Listed with Darling Homes
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3 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 3,525 sq ft
Lot size: 9,690 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 1
Listed with Darling Homes
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4 beds, 4 full baths
Home size: 3,523 sq ft
Lot size: 8,750 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 2
Listed with Darling Homes
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5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,299 sq ft
Year built: 2013
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 7
Listed with Lennar Homes/Village Builders
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4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,409 sq ft
Year built: 2013
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 7
Listed with Lennar Homes/Village Builders
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5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,656 sq ft
Lot size: 13,369 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 21
Listed with Realty Associates
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4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 2,973 sq ft
Lot size: 9,837 sqft
Year built: 2007
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 25
Listed with Sapphire Realty
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3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 2,054 sq ft
Year built: 2013
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 25
Listed with Lennar Homes/Village Builders
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3 beds, 2 full baths
Home size: 2,600 sq ft
Lot size: 11,306 sqft
Year built: 2006
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 25
Listed with Realty Associates
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3 beds, 3 full baths
Home size: 2,167 sq ft
Year built: 2013
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 27
Listed with Lennar Homes/Village Builders
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4 beds, 4 full baths
Home size: 2,625 sq ft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 34
Listed with Keller Williams Signature
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3 beds, 2 full baths
Home size: 2,092 sq ft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 34
Listed with Keller Williams Signature
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4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 3,158 sq ft
Lot size: 8,497 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 41
Listed with Perry Development Management
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5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,888 sq ft
Lot size: 14,313 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 42
Listed with Perry Development Management
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5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,930 sq ft
Lot size: 13,306 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 4
Days on market: 42
Listed with Perry Development Management
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4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 3,184 sq ft
Lot size: 7,483 sqft
Year built: 2007
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 58
Listed with Sapphire Realty
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5 beds, 5 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,216 sq ft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 70
Listed with Darling Homes
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4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 4,007 sq ft
Lot size: 8,750 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 70
Listed with Darling Homes
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4 beds, 3 full, 2 part baths
Home size: 3,645 sq ft
Lot size: 8,750 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 70
Listed with Darling Homes
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5 beds, 4 full baths
Home size: 3,399 sq ft
Lot size: 7,500 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 96
Listed with Perry Development Management
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4 beds, 3 full baths
Home size: 2,888 sq ft
Lot size: 7,500 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 98
Listed with Perry Development Management
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4 beds, 3 full baths
Home size: 2,942 sq ft
Lot size: 7,500 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 99
Listed with Perry Development Management
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5 beds, 5 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 3,867 sq ft
Lot size: 13,200 sqft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 105
Listed with Gatehouse Properties
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4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 2,589 sq ft
Year built: 2012
Parking spots: 2
Days on market: 118
Listed with Keller Williams Signature
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5 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths
Home size: 5,830 sq ft
Lot size: 13,950 sqft
Year built: 2006
Parking spots: 3
Days on market: 126
Listed with RE/MAX Realty Center
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.
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About Jim Mulholland
Jim Mulholland is the owner / broker at Mulholland Realty. ?Jim has been a REALTOR in the Cypress, TX area since 2005 focusing mainly on the larger master planned communities in the area such as Blackhorse Ranch, Bridgeland, Coles Crossing, Fairfield, Longwood Village, Northlake Forest, Rock Creek, Stone Gate, and Towne Lake. View all posts by Jim Mulholland?
Copyright ? 2012, Houston Realtors Information Service, Inc.
The information provided is exclusively for consumers? personal, non-commercial use, and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. This data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS.
This IDX solution is (c) Diverse Solutions 2012.
Source: http://cyfairrealestate.com/blog/holiday-open-house-in-cypress-creek-lakes/
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There can be no principled objection to the regulation by the state of ...
Dan Hind?dismisses as nonsense the argument being voiced by the press regarding the menace of statutory regulation, noting that journalists are subject to arbitrary interference by editors and owners. While individuals have the inherent right to free speech,?writing or speaking as an employee of a company precludes that ability.
Journalists and their editors have an unusual privilege. As brokers of public speech they largely determine how the world beyond our immediate experience appears to us. They decide what matters and who to take seriously. This privilege is particularly pronounced when it comes to their own trade, where, after all, they have firsthand knowledge. And they do not like to let outsiders in on the process, if they can help it. The anthropologist Georgina Born describes in her book?Uncertain Vision?a 1997 conversation with Jim Gray and Jeremy Paxman of?Newsnight:
Both of them talk genially, reflectively, about how ironic it is that Newsnight and News and Current Affairs continually make claims for access to private and public institutions in the name of the public interest, and yet here they are, querying whether they should grant me access to their 11 am meeting. They don?t.
At the moment the press are taking full advantage of their privileged position to talk a lot of nonsense about the menace that statutory regulation would pose to a free press. The unnamed authors of a?Telegraph?editorial?tell their readers that ?the growing clamour for press regulation backed by statute threatens a priceless British freedom?. The unnamed authors of an?Independent?editorial meanwhile opine that ?for the most part, the British press, national and local, is the most vibrant, innovative, and tenacious in the world, and we know how to hold those in authority properly to account. We should be wary of anything that impairs that?.
These self-styled defenders of a free press fail to mention that they are usually employees of, or freelance contractors with, publicly traded companies that enjoy limited liability. Insofar as they are dependent for their position on the management of these companies they are not themselves free in any serious way. One does not often hear a journalist holding his employer ?properly to account?. As James Harrington once remarked, ?he who wants bread is his servant that will feed him?. And the condition of dependence remains after immediate needs are met. The lure of the preferment is perhaps even more corrupting than the fear of destitution.
Not surprisingly, these servants are not terribly reliable guides to free expression, or the ways in which the existing systems of communication frustrate it. So let?s talk for a moment as though we aren?t afraid that we?ll never be commissioned to write for a newspaper again.
Only human beings are capable of speech. It follows that freedom of speech is a right than can only be claimed by human beings. Corporate controlled speech is already unfree, since it is already subject to arbitrary interference by editors and owners. The artificial monsters that control the bulk of print, broadcast and online media are not human beings and to consider them as such is only to succumb to their game of lucrative make-believe. Therefore we can regulate them in ways that cause no harm to the principle of free speech. We can coerce them in ways that would be unacceptable if applied to individuals.
If an individual wishes to speak freely he or she can only do so as an individual. There should be no law abridging the freedom of the press in this regard. If I want to publish my own views, without the sheltering privilege of limited liability, then I should be entirely free to do so. The law should not interfere with my right to free expression, insofar as it does not infringe on the rights of others. I will stand full square behind what I write and take the consequences. But if I write or speak as an employee of a company, I am not writing as a free citizen. The organizations at whose pleasure I serve are creatures of state power. They fall, quite rightly, under the jealous eye of the sovereign power. They exist only insofar as they serve the common good.
There are important discussions to be had about the form that regulation takes. It is also reasonable to be concerned at the scope of regulation, the definition of a news publisher in the era of digital technology, and so on. But there can be no objection in principle to the regulation by the state of entities that enjoy a privilege granted by the state.
That said, while it might be desirable to regulate the press, to give a right to reply to wronged individuals, to set limits on the concentration of ownership and so on, this falls very far short of the changes needed if our communications system is to serve the cause of freedom. For one thing, the libel laws remain an unacceptable hindrance to open exchange and meaningful public debate.
More seriously, as Pierre Bourdieu once said, journalism is ?a very powerful profession made up of very vulnerable individuals?. We rely on these vulnerable individuals to tell us about the world beyond our immediate experience. We rely on them for our picture of the world, for our sense of what is important and what can be ignored. But they aren?t vulnerable to us. They are vulnerable to their employers. Their employers are vulnerable in turn, but not to us.
Newspapers and broadcasters are courts, to use a good old republican term of abuse. They are closed to outside scrutiny. They reward those who serve them faithfully and they punish those who do not. The institutions operate in a world of power that is, at best, opaque. Not surprisingly, journalists struggle to describe reality when doing so challenges the interests of those who are in a position to harm them. That?s not to say that the people working in the media are all villains, far from it. But villainy is often the best policy. And even those who try their best to serve the public interest do so in conditions of vulnerability that they cannot adequately acknowledge.
The News International scandal created an opportunity to introduce some kind of regulation of the press. But mechanisms to curb the worst abuses will not create the journalism we need. It is time we started thinking seriously about the kind of communications system a free people needs.
This was originally posted on Dan?s personal blog The Return of the Public.
Note: This article gives the views of the?author, and not the position of the British Politics and Policy blog, nor of the London School of Economics.?Please read our?comments policy?before posting.
About the author
Dan Hind?is the author of two books,?The Threat to Reason?and?The Return of the Public, which won the Bristol Festival of Ideas Prize in 2011. His e-book, Maximum Republic is published this week.
You may also be interested in the following posts (automatically generated):
- The government should resist calls for further press regulation in the wake of the phone hacking scandal. Further regulation would seriously hamper independent journalism.
- Revenge of the Evil Empire and why I?m backing Darth Vader: my case against statutory newspaper regulation
- Book Review: Media Regulation: Governance and the Interests of Citizens and Consumers by Peter Lunt and Sonia Livingstone
- Self-regulation is not working to keep British media factual about climate change
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YC-Backed Telephony Startup Plivo Raises $1.75M From Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Qualcomm Inc. & SV Angel
Plivo, a Y Combinator-backed telephony startup which offers an API platform for voice and SMS applications, is today announcing having raised?$1.75 million in seed funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Battery Ventures, Qualcomm Incorporated and SV Angel.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/89CsrtCE5A4/
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Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Pretty Bad Ass Workout - BODYROCK.tv | Fitness Advice, Workout ...
Workout Break Down
Set your?interval timer to 24 rounds 30 seconds work 10 seconds break!
1. Half Burpee Sand Bag Swing using the Sandbag
2. Inner Thigh Leg Left Equalizer
3. 1 Leg Stagger Push Ups
4. Inner thigh Right using the Equalizer
For $20 OFF THE Equalizer AND ENTER THE CODE BODYROCKEQ20
B is for Boring.
Everyone I speak to is bored. No matter where we are in the world it seems like we are sitting in the same Starbucks drinking the same $5 coffees.
We typically visit the same handful of sites. Those of us who still watch TV all watch the same handful of shows. Essentially the same shops are everywhere selling usthe same stuff that we don?t need. We spend money to temporarily alleviate boredom. I do this at the drug store. I can kill 10 minutes looking through the best floss options, and
I?m convinced that my recent obsession over having the freshest breath scientifically possible is just another huge minty distraction.
Why are we so bored? Movies help ? food is a go to party in your mouth for most people, combine the two and you have the couch potato winter olympics.
Travel is the best cure for boredom that exists, and I believe it?s the secret to why most celebrities seem to pull off looking happy even when they are having melt-downs. They might be crazy but they are constantly moving that crazy around.
Most of us can?t pick up on a moments notice and jet off somewhere sunny and fabulous, but at the heart of travel is movement ? and moving your body is the most practical way? of?changing things up. There are a million ways to do it ? biking, jogging, running, dancing, skipping, swimming, walking ? BodyRocking :) Movement releases the feel good chemicals, it takes?you places, it opens up the world around you. Now add music and soundtrack your life ? and you are moving and grooving all at once.
If you are bored, frustrated, fed up or just feeling a lack of inspiration and motivation in your existence then before you sink into a funk try a little bit of movement. Most people are stuck in a rut because they won?t move out of it. Get up and shake your tail feathers.
Freddy
*If you are at work get up and take a leisurely stroll down to the can ? and take the long way back :)
Friend Your Trainers on Facebook:
BodyRock Main Facebook?Here
dLisa-Marie Facebook?click?Here
Sean?s Facebook page click?here
Freddy?s Facebook page: click here
Get your gear for this workout here:
Source: http://www.bodyrock.tv/2012/12/03/pretty-bad-ass-workout/
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Monday, December 3, 2012
Fore: Obama, Bill Clinton enjoy round of golf
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. (AP) ? Fore ? 42 and 44 are playing 18.
Former President Bill Clinton ? the 42nd president ? is joining President Barack Obama ? he's No. 44 ? for a round of golf at Joint Air Base in Maryland.
Also in the group, according to the White House, are U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk and longtime Clinton backer and strategist Terry McAuliffe, who's running for governor in Virginia in 2013.
Clinton was a big help to Obama in the president's re-election campaign ? an exceptional surrogate who made dozens of appearances for the incumbent and vouched for his economic record.
Clinton also made a well-regarded speech at the Democratic convention and won praise for sometimes explaining Obama's record better than Obama was doing himself.
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No. 7 Kansas State wins Big 12 title, beats Texas
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, left, talks to quarterback Collin Klein during a senior day recognition before an NCAA college football game against Texas, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Manhattan, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, left, talks to quarterback Collin Klein during a senior day recognition before an NCAA college football game against Texas, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Manhattan, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein throws during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Texas, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Manhattan, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein, bottom, makes it into the end zone for a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Texas, Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, in Manhattan, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) ? Just as Collin Klein was preparing to trot onto the field for the biggest home game in Kansas State history, coach Bill Snyder put his arm around his senior quarterback and whispered something in his ear.
"He just told me how much he appreciated me, and that he loved me," Klein said. "It was a great moment. And I know he said that to every single one of us, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And that's pretty special."
Everything about this night was special for the Wildcats and their fans. With Klein passing for one touchdown and running for two, Kansas State beat Texas 42-24 to wrap up its third conference championship in 117 years, prompting thousands of people to rush onto the field as the sound system blared, "We are the champions."
The Wildcats (12-1, 8-1) had never played for a conference championship in their last game at home, and had never had a player end the regular season in such close contention for the Heisman Trophy as Klein.
With his main competitors, Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel nor Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o, off, Klein had the stage all to himself. He had one last chance to burnish his credentials for what would be Kansas State's first Heisman, and he made it count.
John Hubert scored three touchdowns on short runs for Kansas State, and Klein threw every Heisman question right back at the questioner.
"Tonight's all about our team and what we were able to accomplish tonight," he said. "And Texas didn't give it to us easily. Tonight's about K-State family. That's the most important thing."
After a slow start, Klein wound up hitting 8 of 14 passes for 184 yards and added 108 yards rushing on 23 carries.
In front of their sixth sellout in seven home games, the Wildcats also tied their team record for victories in a season and matched Oklahoma's Big 12 record.
It was Kansas State's fifth straight victory over Texas (8-4, 5-4), which led 10-7 at halftime, and capped and gave Kansas State coach Bill Snyder the conference title just four years after he came out of a brief retirement.
"Bill is unbelievable," Texas coach Mack Brown said. "I have said many times that I think what he has done here is the best in the country, from start to finish."
Oklahoma beat TCU earlier Saturday and immediately donned caps and T-shirts declaring themselves Big 12 champs. But Kansas State's 24-19 win at Oklahoma on Sept. 22 gives them the tiebreaker and sends them to the Fiesta Bowl.
"I think (the title) means an awful lot to all of us," Snyder said. "A great deal to the young people in our program. They were excited about it. Obviously I speak for everybody in our football family. I think it's significant and important for each and every one of us. I'm pleased for a lot of different people, the people that genuinely support this program."
Texas, which may be headed for the Cotton Bowl, lost its lead on Kansas State's first possession of the second half. Klein hit a 29-yard pass and Hubert broke free for 28 yards as Kansas State soared 75 yards in seven plays, with Hubert scoring from the 2.
Hubert also had a 2-yard TD run with 47 seconds left in the third quarter and scored on a 1-yard run for a 35-17 lead with a little more than 3 minutes to go after Drew Liddle recovered Texas' muffed punt.
A few minutes later, Allen Chapman intercepted Case McCoy's pass and ran it back 35 yards, setting up Klein's 9-yard TD run for a 42-17 lead with 1:53 left. The back-beaker may have been Klein's long pass to a wide-open Tyler Lockett that went for a 55-yard scoring play.
"Basically, they just out-executed us," said Texas safety Adrian Phillips. "They did what they were supposed to do and we did not come out to do our job after halftime."
McCoy threw a 14-yard TD pass to Jaxon Shipley in the second quarter and a 9-yard scoring pass to Malcom Brown less than 1 minute left in the game. Brown also scored on a 2-yard run in the second quarter.
McCoy hit 26-of-34 passes for 314 yards, with two interceptions. He was sacked four times by a swarming Kansas State defense.
The Wildcats' lone touchdown of the first half came on a 1-yard run by Klein and after an embarrassing lapse by defensive back Nigel Malone.
With perfect timing, Malone jumped in front of McCoy's intended receiver on Texas' second possession, made the interception and sped 30 yards into the end zone. But the ball only traveled the 29. The play was initially ruled a touchdown, but upon review, it was determined Malone had let go of the ball and allowed it drop to the ground just as he was about to step across the goal line.
So it was placed on the 1 and Klein plowed into the end zone for his 21st rushing TD of the season and No. 54 for his career.
Klein was 0 for 4 in Kansas State's scoreless second quarter while McCoy was going 17 for 20 in the first half for 204 yards.
McCoy's longest pass play went for 70 yards, but almost all of that was the running of Daje Johnson right after Adrian Phillips intercepted Klein's pass in the end zone and gave the Longhorns the ball on the 20, setting up a field goal.
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Napoleon's coded Kremlin letter sold for $243,500
In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, auction house associate Jean-Christophe Chataigniera holds up a letter dictated and signed by Napoleon in secret code that declares his intentions "to blow up the Kremlin" during his ill-fated Russian campaign is displayed in Fontainebleau, outside Paris. The rare letter, written in unusually emotive language, sees Napoleon complain of harsh conditions and the shortcomings of his grand army. The letter goes on auction Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, auction house associate Jean-Christophe Chataigniera holds up a letter dictated and signed by Napoleon in secret code that declares his intentions "to blow up the Kremlin" during his ill-fated Russian campaign is displayed in Fontainebleau, outside Paris. The rare letter, written in unusually emotive language, sees Napoleon complain of harsh conditions and the shortcomings of his grand army. The letter goes on auction Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, auction house associate Jean-Christophe Chataigniera poses for a photograph next to a letter dictated and signed by Napoleon in secret code that declares his intentions "to blow up the Kremlin" during his ill-fated Russian campaign is displayed in Fontainebleau, outside Paris. The rare letter, written in unusually emotive language, sees Napoleon complain of harsh conditions and the shortcomings of his grand army. The letter goes on auction Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, a letter dictated and signed by Napoleon in secret code that declares his intentions "to blow up the Kremlin" during his ill-fated Russian campaign is displayed in Fontainebleau, outside Paris. The rare letter, written in unusually emotive language, sees Napoleon complain of harsh conditions and the shortcomings of his grand army. The letter goes on auction Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
In this photo taken Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, a letter dictated by Napoleon in secret code that declares his intentions "to blow up the Kremlin" during his ill-fated Russian campaign is displayed in Fontainebleau, outside Paris. The rare letter, written in unusually emotive language, sees Napoleon complain of harsh conditions and the shortcomings of his grand army. The letter goes on auction Sunday, Dec. 2, 2012. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
FONTAINEBLEAU, France (AP) ? A secret code letter sent by French emperor Napoleon boasting that his multinational forces would blow up Moscow's Kremlin has sold at auction Sunday for ?187,500 ($243,500) ? 10 times its estimated presale price.
A Paris museum, the Museum of Letters and Manuscripts, was finalizing its purchase of the Oct. 20, 1812, document with elegantly calligraphic ciphers.
The sale price, which includes fees, far outstripped the pre-sale estimate of ?15,000 ($19,500), according to Fontainebleau Auction House south of Paris.
Experts say the letter is unique, written in a numeric code that Napoleon often used to throw off would-be interceptors ? notably when he was conveying battle plans. The letter's content also revealed the strains on Napoleon of his calamitous Russian invasion.
"At three o'clock in the morning, on the 22nd I am going to blow up the Kremlin," the letter said, laying out his route of retreat and urging his minions to send rations to the towns to the west. "My cavalry is in tatters, many horses are dying."
Napoleon's prolific correspondence has drawn aficionados from around the world in places like the U.S., Britain, Japan and Russia. Interest appears to be rising as museums like the Museum of Letters and Manuscripts prepare to mark the bicentennial of Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo in 1815.
The Kremlin letter was but one piece in the vast auction Sunday. A 310-page manuscript for the "Essay on countryside fortification," which Napoleon wrote while exiled on the remote island of Saint Helena in 1818-1919, was also bought by the Paris museum ? for ?375,000 ($487,000), including fees.
Gerard Lheritier, director of the Paris museum, said it already has at least 1,500 letters, manuscripts or other writings linked to Napoleon Bonaparte. It recently acquired one from Japan that Napoleon had written to the Empress Josephine; it fetched ?600,000-?700,000, he said.
"We have many letters that are much more important" than the Kremlin one, Lheritier said by phone. He was unfazed that the price was far above the presale estimate, and speculated that the letter could have fetched ?250,000 ($325,000). "This is a nice letter because it's in code, and he's going to blow up the Kremlin ? so it's appealing," he said.
Vladimir Hofmann, a French artist of Russian descent who with his brother Andre also bid Sunday, said they'd wanted to purchase the letter for Russia's famed Hermitage museum.
"Why? You know, it's a question of perhaps nostalgia, perhaps patriotism, to return the thing ? very important for Russia and for Russian people ? to them," Vladimir Hofmann said.
Referring to such Russian interest in the letter, Lheritier said with a chuckle: "I prefer that it stays in France."
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Mechanical Services For All Types Of Vehicle | Palin Defender
Automotive services should be done either by the car owner or a professional mobile auto mechanic San Francisco to ensure the life of the vehicle is lengthened. There are a number of auto service procedures that are available in several auto repair shops in the US. These automotive services can be classified into two: car repair services and car diagnostics.
Car Diagnostic Services is an automated service that is a type of preventive car maintenance. Routine diagnostic procedures include checking different parts of the vehicle to see if they are still at their best. This is important so that if something needs to be replaced, it can be replaced immediately before causing major problems to the car.
Three of the most important auto parts in vehicles that usually undergo diagnostics are transmission, brakes, and engine.
However, according to some mobile auto mechanic, the term transmission gearbox refers to the gearbox, clutch, and axles as a whole. The transmission is what gives the car its speed and power. It has the ability to reduce the motor speed while increasing the power at the same time. Transmission is responsible for shifting car from any problems related to the transmission that may require major car repair.
The motor, on the other hand, is used to burn the gasoline in the engine and convert the energy to mechanical motion. It is an internal combustion engine that burns fuel and utilize the hot gases produced by the power generation. Most engine configurations focus on increasing the combustion efficiency and engine power. If there is a problem with the engine of a vehicle, the car is usually left to a car repair shop for a number of days to get it fixed.
Finally, the car brakes are devices used to stop the car while driving or in motion. There are different types of car brakes but they all work for the same purpose. Brakes diagnosis involves increasing the momentum of brakes as well as brake repair and replacement.
When it comes to car repair, the most popular automotive services include air conditioning system repair and collision repair. Especially for older vehicles, air conditioning units are not running as well as before. You need to be constantly replacing the parts. Auto air conditioning units absorbs the heat inside the, especially during the summer. Auto air conditioning units differ according to car models so it is best if a mobile car mechanic San Francisco is consulted before doing anything.
Collision repair, on the other hand, is part of the automobile body work and services framework. Collision repairs are made to the cars dented by road accidents or mishaps. You can do these car repairs but they are painstaking processes so it is highly recommended that you seek professional help. The car repair services, such as these, require certain skills, techniques, and tools. People have been trained to specialize in those things, so it is best if you let them do their job. Just make sure that you transact business with an auto repair shop that is renowned for competitive prices in exchange of high quality work.
Source: http://www.palindefender.com/2012/12/mechanical-services-for-all-types-of-vehicle.html
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Is being considered plus-sized going mainstream?
It appears that a new trend is taking shape among celebrities and the fashion world that has me?cautiously optimistic: a sharp rise in pop culture icons?embracing their curves and publicly?denouncing their body critiques.
Notables?openly?discussing their weight-gain include Christina Aguilera, Jessica Simpson, and, of course, Lady Gaga, all of whom at one point in their careers were seen as the poster child for the very slim, nearly emaciated look around the early 2000?s.
I can only image the amount of insane pressure placed on celebrities to look the part and at the end of the day, they?re people with real lives,?strengths, and insecurities just like the rest of us. But regarding the recent rise in curvaceousness as a flag in the sand for being an ?individual,? well, I?m not sure I totally want?Hollywood?setting the tone on body-image for another whole generation of women.
Here?s what I am excited about when it comes to this growing trend of plus-sized?appreciation:?
- An honest, hard look at how?women?s?bodies have been portrayed in media, which?influences?not just young girls coming into their own, but women who often look to these?mediums?as trends to watch and follow
- More?scrutiny for the fashion designers, largely?pushed by plus-sized?fashion?bloggers and body-positive leaders, has certainly helped change the tone of body image discussions in our nation, as well as clothing made available for different body types
- Greater access to positive role models, inspiration, connections and awareness for the messages within the body diversity movement
- While obesity?is on the rise, people dealing with this issue do not need to be viewed as having a crisis of character, but ?instead, have the opportunity to?reevaluate?lifestyle choices in a?healthy, supportive, and sustainable way
- Greater?interest in this area helps people in professions like mine reach a broader audience like never before
And here?s what I?m?cautious?about:
- Celebs declaring ?I?m plus-sized??diminishes?the actual impact the body-positive movement has,?because when?something becomes a trend, it has a fairly short?lifespan?unless a strong, innovative, and binding?cultural?shift occurs with it
- Do we really need another?label?for women?s bodies? I?m working towards the day where ?plus-sized? can be dropped totally, and instead it?s common to just say ?I?m a woman and I love my body?
- Women?s bodies will still be?viewed?as objects. If you?ve ever followed a body-positive?Tumblr, you?ll notice another interesting trend: the over-sexualization of?women?s bodies that are just larger than the ones we?re used to seeing in traditional media
- That young women will define body image as something purely superficial, and lines from Lady Gaga that simply?repeat ?LOVE WHO YOU ARE? do not, and cannot,?adequately?help a women?appreciate?and navigate her body image?territory
- That we as a society might miss a critical?opportunity?to counter between?rising?obesity?rates (which is a huge?economic and health factor) while simultaneously?develop a lasting?health/wellness culture that nurtures and supports a bodies overall health, not just its image
These are the types of issues I?m thinking a lot about as a coach in the body-love movement because I owe it to myself as a plus-sized woman, and to my clients, to have an?understanding?of what?s taking shape. It?s one thing to say that you?re plus-sized as a means to?increase?popularity and sales, it?s another thing to honor and respect the issues which, in reality, have very little to do with actual weight at all, and more about how a person understands, internalizes, and expresses their sense of self-worth.
I?ve love to hear your thoughts on the issue to please take the time to comment below or email me directly at rachel@undercurrentcoaching.com. And as always, sharing is caring ? this is a discussion for the masses, not just a few.
Curvy with confidence,
Rachel
Help me reach more people
Source: http://undercurrentcoaching.com/2012/12/02/is-being-considered-plus-sized-going-mainstream/
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Fracking firm ready to press on
The head of a company involved in fracking has said it is ready to press on quickly with production if a UK ban on the technique is lifted.
Cuadrilla Resources chief executive Francis Egan told the Sunday Telegraph that the development of gas resources in the UK was an economic necessity.
A government review has concluded that fracking - extracting shale gas - is safe if adequately monitored.
Mr Egan warned his company may "walk away" if the ban is not lifted soon.
Fracking is a controversial process that involves pumping water and chemicals into shale rock at high pressure to extract gas.
'New industry'It was temporarily banned in the UK after it was blamed for two earth tremors in Blackpool in 2011.
Mr Egan said Cuadrilla believed it could be producing shale gas in the UK by March next year.
Continue reading the main story?Start Quote
End Quote Francis Egan Cuadrilla ResourcesWe have proven that there is gas and that it will flow?
"We are starting a whole new onshore gas industry. In our licence alone we can supply a quarter of the UK's gas demand," he said.
Fracking is widely used in the US and supporters of the process have said it could have significant benefits for energy policy in the UK.
It has been reported that Energy Secretary Ed Davey will soon end the moratorium on the process, while Chancellor George Osborne has said he is considering tax incentives for the industry.
It is believed he may provide further details in his Autumn Statement on Wednesday.
'Patience not infinite'But Mr Egan indicated that his company was not prepared to wait for ever for the go-ahead.
"Britain is spending tens of billions of pounds importing gas," he said, adding: "We have proven that there is [shale] gas and that it will flow.
"In the three years we have been doing tests, they have drilled 60,000 wells in the US. We don't have infinite patience and our investors don't have infinite patience."
On Saturday, the Department of Energy and Climate Change dismissed an Independent report that said 60% of the UK countryside could be used for fracking, describing the figure as "nonsense".
Opponents have said fracking is a dangerous process that threatens to pollute water supplies.
About 300 people held an anti-fracking protest outside Parliament on Saturday.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20571700#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
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