unshakably kinkily: October 2012

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Game Jar | My Fantastic Gaming Community

Three years ago I had just started a job working for a small health and safety consultancy in Wootton Bassett where I live. I had always been a huge fan of games, but safe to say I had no idea about the sheer scale of likeminded people who were only a tweet away. I had no idea how to get a job in the games industry ? I knew I had probably missed my chance by not studying the right subjects at college or gambling on university, but hey, this was a time where I didn?t even know community managers for developers existed. I didn?t know about things like Gamescom or Eurogamer Expo ? I had never looked beyond the titles on the shelves, satisfying myself with the escapism they brought me and thinking that this was all I needed to enjoy games. You may say I?m a late bloomer to the world of gaming. True I?m a relative virgin to the community but I?ve loved and played games since I can remember. But if the gaming community is a party, then I?ve shown up fashionably late? and the party is awesome.

It all started with something called Twitter ? this new fandangled social media thing where apparently you can stalk celebrities and find out what they do from cutting their toe nails to abusing their fellow celebs. Whilst this is loathsomely possible, it can also be used to do a great deal of good.?On signing up to Twitter I thought I?d search for any local-based tweeters that I could start following. I came across a certain Joe Dale who I happened to go to school with, albeit a few years below but knew him through my sister and the occasional ?hello? over the years. It was the start of something meaningful to me; Joe was writing for Death by Robots (now TheGameJar) at the time and I thought that sounded wicked cool. I enquired as to what he did there as it sounded like something I?d like to do and he gave me some pointers as to who to follow on Twitter and to get writing some reviews.

I quickly found that the gaming industry had a great and active presence on Twitter. I found myself following a whole host of users and engaging in conversation with people I?d never met, but regarding topics we were passionate about. I?d never had this with friends from school so Twitter became a great place for me to?critique and?discuss topics ? and people who shared that interest would see it and engage with me. Twitter, I thought, you?re onto a winner with me.

Death By Robots needed a few new writers ? Joe introduced me to Jenn and Ryan to whom I submitted a few pieces to try and showcase my fledgling writing skills. They were thankfully impressed, or I was the best of a bad bunch, so we had a Skype chat, which I found scary. How am I meant to come across to these new people? I want to impress but don?t want to look like a douche?! However, my fears were misplaced and we got on great again thanks to similar interests in games and music alike. Here I?ve met two people who six months before I probably would never have met had I not joined Twitter.

What I want to get across in this article is not my whole backstory on how I came to TheGameJar but how social media and the wider gaming community has played a huge positive role in my life. I have a great group of close friends from school but they can?t satisfy me the way my gaming community can, and I don?t mean sexually. If I went to the pub with my friends and started talking about games or some sociological and ideological aspects of gaming most of them would switch off ? it just doesn?t interest them the way it does me. Yet if I post on Twitter or write a feature for TheGameJar on why games make us happy, people respond and interact with that and there aren?t many better feelings than when people give you positive feedback and interaction. We all have an opinion that we love to air and Twitter gives us an outlet to vent our frustrations, joy, anger and happiness to people who will, in some cases, actually listen to you ? a hub of likeminded souls.

Some people are lucky enough and have the skills to pay the bills and work in the gaming industry as programmers, coders, PR, community managers (I know what they are now) and a whole host of other roles. Unfortunately there are those of us who work in the ?real? world and engage as much as time allows into our gaming community. I?ve come to appreciate the hard work and dedication required to make a successful game, be it the Assassin?s Creeds of this world or the iPhone apps of Hardlines and New Star Soccer. Twitter is the best way to engage with an audience who are after what you have.

Through TheGameJar I?ve been lucky enough to attend a few expos and meet a number of people who work within the industry. Being able to redeem the occasional review code for a new game is a great perk, but pales in comparison to the buzz I get out of my timelines and writing feedback. Being able to meet the people you interact with on a regular basis is fantastic and I hope for more opportunities in the future as we gamers are often the shy type. Hence we seek out the contact from our online peers as we often find it a struggle in person.

There?s just something about my gaming community that fills a hole. I?m checking my Tweetdeck as often as I can and get frustrated when I have to work, therefore missing a few hour?s worth of tweets ? I could have missed something big! There?s always a game or controversial topic being discussed that naturally needs my opinion whether others care to read it or not, but that?s the beauty of Twitter; you can divulge your opinion until the cows come home and more often than not someone will come back with their own opinion, sparking a heated debate than ends up with more Twitter handles in the 140 characters than actual opinionated content.

My gaming community are my followers and the people I follow on Twitter, Skype friends and Facebook friends, people who interact with my blog posts and game posts. They give me joy, laughter and at times incredulities. A few have gone on to become people I talk to every day and may even get an invite to my wedding next year (if they?re lucky/add me on Skype). This world I was unaware of only three years ago has now become the backbone to my daily life and a whole world I now can?t live without.

Source: http://www.thegamejar.com/2012/10/my-fantastic-gaming-community/

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Record Food Prices Will Likely Disrupt Energy Markets

Researchers at the New England Complex Systems Institute (CSI) studied periods of social unrest in the Middle East and North Africa to attempt to explain the underlying causes of the riots that swept these areas in 2008 and 2011. The Cambridge-based researchers looked at a variety of factors that could trigger unrest ? poverty, oppression, unemployment, etc. in an attempt to explain the disturbances.

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The study found the factor most responsible for triggering riots and social unrest was rising food prices. High food prices do not trigger riots themselves according to the research, but created conditions in which social unrest could flourish.

Since the majority of the world's crude oil is produced and exported from the Middle East and North Africa ? roughly one of every two barrels is exported from this region ? instability in this area would create major global economic problems.

While the anti-U.S. riots in Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa that broke out last month were blamed on an American-made video, the study claims that periods of social instability in this region can be accurately predicted by food prices ? and the film happened to be the trigger for the unrest.

CSI Findings - Plotting global food prices, as measured using the United Nation?s Food and Agriculture Organization?s (FAO?s) Food Price Index, against the dates of recent unrest the researchers found a high degree of correlation between the high food prices and periods of instability. The chart above (from the CSI report) covers the period from January 2004 to May 2011.

When the FOA?s Food Price Index climbed above the threshold level of 210 the researchers found that conditions tend to ripen into periods of social unrest. The study doesn?t claim that a breach of the 210 level immediately leads to riots, just that the probability of instability becomes much greater.

The FAO Food Price Index is at 216 in September, slightly above the instability threshold identified in the report. The FAO Index has been above the threshold level for most of the year. Going forward the price of food is expected to move upward with the drought in the U.S. and Russia adding to pricing pressures, thus increasing the probability of unrest.

For the millions of people in developing economies food comprises anywhere from 35% to 80% of routine household expenses. The Middle East and North Africa are major importers of grains and foodstuffs, so increasing food costs are quickly reflected in local prices. In the more developed economies household expenditures on food are more like 10% to 15%. High food prices have a larger and more direct impact on households in developing economies, posing a challenge for these governments.

One of the authors of the report predicted another ?massive food price spike? this fall and winter, even bigger than the last one seen in 2011. This crest will be exacerbated? by this summer?s drought and heat wave in many grain growing areas. He noted that ?when people are unable to feed themselves and their families, widespread social disruption occurs. We are on the verge of another crisis, the third in five years, and likely to be the worst yet, capable of causing new food riots and turmoil on a par with the Arab Spring.?

fao food index 2001 to 2013 Rabobank Report - World food prices are forecast to hit an all-time high in the first quarter of next year - and then keep rising - as crops in the U.S. have been hit by the country's worst drought since 1936 according to a new report issued last month by Rabobank, a financial institution specializing in agriculture economics and research.

Food prices, as measured by the United Nations FAO Food Price Index, could climb by 15% from current levels according to Rabobank, reaching a record 244 by July, 2013 (see chart). This price level would be well into the zone where the probability of instability in the Middle East increases substantially. The FAO index previously hit an all-time high in February, 2011, just as the ?Arab Spring? ignited riots across the region.

As a result of drought in key exporting countries and rapid demand growth, Rabobank forecasts the combined global wheat, rice, corn and soybean stocks-to-use ratio will fall to 19.6 per cent in 2013. In addition, export bans and commodity stockpiling by concerned governments could exacerbate commodity price volatility.

According to the report the most affected commodities are those largely used in animal feed (corn and soybeans) and are not core food staples (wheat and rice), therefore the impact of the price increases might be more severe in economies that consume high levels of meat and dairy products.

The Rabobank report also made the following points regarding the agricultural sector:

Food security remains a highly sensitive issue in many regions. They expect to see a return of government intervention, which could exacerbate food and commodity price volatility. Increases in commodity stockpiling and other interventionist measures, such as export bans, are a distinct possibility as governments react to protect domestic consumers from increasing world food prices. Increased intervention will likely add to increasing world food prices.
At the end of August, severe or extreme drought conditions covered over 42 percent of the U.S. mainland. June to August precipitation and heat in the central U.S., where most of the U.S. row crops are produced, is likely to result in the least favorable growing conditions since the Dust Bowl (1936).
The scale of the production setbacks this season will underscore the need for an almost unprecedented amount of demand rationing. Rabobank?s? crop modeling indicates that there may still be a considerable downside from current official production forecasts. Fundamentals remain much tighter than current official market estimates.
The price of energy and agricultural products have correlated very closely over the last decade. The increasing production of biofuels has been one reason for this high degree of correlation, as well as the upgrading of diets and lifestyles in China and other developing countries.

With regard to China, the Financial Times pointed out last month that China?s corn imports are going through the roof ? and are expected to stay elevated for quite some time. The increase in demand, and extended drought, should help put a floor under any price weakness. The Financial Times chart at right is stunning.

Iran Embargo ? In addition to the potential unrest in the Middle East triggered by rising food prices, rising tensions between Israel and Iran could drive oil prices above $130 a barrel next year according to a new report by Goldman Sachs. They see the embargo taking a large share of Iran?s production off the market for an extended period of time, which should keep oil prices elevated.

Separately, Robert McNally, the former chief energy advisor on President George W. Bush?s National Security Council, sees a ?dangerous divergence? between market players and policy makers with regard to the risks of a conflict between Israel and Iran. McNally says the markets appear to assign only a 5 per cent probability of an escalation in the conflict, whereas policy makers ?are more like 50-50 right now.? He went on to note he has never seen a gap in probabilities so large. Oil prices should move upward as the market becomes more aware of the risks.

Portfolio Implications ? If the studies noted above are correct, rising food prices will likely generate more instability in crude oil exporting countries. The Iran/Israel conflict and ongoing embargo should also take crude oil supplies off the market. In such an environment proven oil reserves in politically secure areas of the globe should increase in value. We can buy these reserves at a steep discount in today?s equity market.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fso/~3/TFqoIl50wAU/record-food-prices-will-likely-disrupt-energy-markets

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Friends, family pay tribute to late-Sen. McGovern

A man pays his respects at the public viewing for former Democratic U.S. senator and three-time presidential candidate George McGovern at the First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., as an honor guard salutes , Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. McGovern died Sunday in his native South Dakota at age 90. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

A mourner pays his respects at the public viewing for former Democratic U.S. senator and three-time presidential candidate George McGovern at the First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012, as an honor guard salutes. McGovern died Sunday in his native South Dakota at age 90. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, Pool)

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2011, file photo, former Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Sen. George McGovern arrives for the funeral Mass for R. Sargent Shriver at Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Potomac, Md. Family spokesman said he passed away peacefully, surrounded by family and life-long friends early Sunday morning Oct. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen, Pool, File)

FILE - This 1944 file photo provided by the McGovern family shows George McGovern when he received the Distinguished Flying Cross. Sioux Falls, S.D. is welcoming political figures, family and friends in town Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012 for a public viewing and prayer service to mark the life and career of former Democratic U.S. senator and three-time presidential candidate George McGovern, a legend in state's political history who died Sunday, Oct. 21, at age 90. (AP Photo/McGovern Family, File)

Mourners pay their respects at the public viewing for former Democratic U.S. senator and three-time presidential candidate George McGovern at the First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. McGovern died Sunday in his native South Dakota at age 90. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, Pool)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) ? Friends, family and former colleagues paused before the flag-draped casket of former U.S. Sen. George McGovern on Thursday to pay tribute to the liberal Democrat who ran for president against Richard Nixon and lost and who later became a champion in the fight against global hunger.

About two dozen people lined up outside the First United Methodist Church in Sioux Falls before the start of the public viewing and prayer service for McGovern, who died Sunday at age 90. His funeral is Friday.

Vice President Joe Biden, who served alongside McGovern in the Senate in the 1970s and early '80s, was among the confirmed guests expected to attend Thursday.

"I was honored to serve with him, to know him and to call him a friend. ... Above all, George McGovern was a generous, kind, honorable man," Biden said Sunday in an emailed statement after McGovern's death.

The two days of remembrance for the staunch liberal will include some of South Dakota's highest ranking officials from both sides of the political spectrum. Sen. John Thune, Rep. Kristi Noem and South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard, all Republicans, have confirmed they plan to attend. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., is scheduled to speak at the 6:30 p.m. Thursday prayer service.

It isn't yet clear who will speak Friday at the funeral inside the Mary Sommervold Hall, which seats 1,800 people. McGovern family spokesman Steve Hildebrand said the family will not announce who is attending.

It's possible that former President Bill Clinton and former Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Sen. Bob Dole could attend. Clinton and his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, met McGovern while campaigning for him in 1972 and remained friends. Bill Clinton later appointed McGovern as ambassador to the United Nations' food and agriculture agency and awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country's highest civilian honor.

McGovern later was appointed to be the first UN Global Ambassador on World Hunger. Dole and McGovern co-founded the Food for Education program for children in poverty-stricken countries.

McGovern, who railed against the Vietnam War as a senator and later lost his 1972 presidential bid to Republican Richard M. Nixon in a historic landslide, is to be buried at a later date at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Sioux Falls business managers are preparing for an influx of customers, though they don't know just how many.

Tiffany Semmler, a manager at Minervas Restaurant, a few blocks from the site of the funeral, is bracing for a busy Friday.

"You never know if people are coming from out of town and going directly to the funeral, we might not get an excessively busy lunch. If they decide to go directly home after the funeral, we won't get a big push after the funeral," she said, noting that the restaurant is planning to schedule an additional server and cook.

"If everyone stays in town and isn't going back to work on Friday, we could get hit really hard," she said.

At least one hotel is offering a discount for those attending the funeral of McGovern, who was born in Avon and grew up in Mitchell.

The executive director of the Sioux Falls Regional Airport bets most out-of-towners will be driving. Pheasant hunting season opened last weekend, said Dan Letellier, and the airport's 23 daily flights Thursday and Friday are already booked.

"Any national figure or business leaders from other parts of the country may very well end up chartering flights or corporate jets," he said.

___

Follow Kristi Eaton on Twitter at http://twitter.com/kristieaton .

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-10-25-McGovern%20Services/id-96e85d0e382e4457aa05c997570427f4

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Love Of Family & Home: Rustic Fall Centerpiece Tutorial

?Hey Friends!

Did you all have good weekend?!

I wanted to share another Fall Centerpiece Idea with you today. This one is super easy to make & also inexpensive in terms of materials. If may also look a bit familiar to you....

If you've been around these parts for a while, you probably remember the Rustic/Chic Fall Wedding that my mom & I decorated for last year. This centerpiece was one we did for the wedding, and was one of my favorite parts of the decor for that event.

I see this centerpiece getting pinned on Pinterest over & over again, but realized that I never did a tutorial to show you all how to make it! My bad!?So, I thought I would take that opportunity to recreate one for my OWN home & go through the steps to show you all how you can make one too! :)

Are you with me?!

Here we go....

I started with 3 glass jars. A tall cylinder type jar from the dollar tree, a regular sized mason jar, & a smaller jelly jar. You don't have to use these exact containers, but instead just look for something similar. You could easily find similar jars in a thrift store.?

The rest of my supplies.....

White Burlap

Jute/Twine

Book Pages

Monogram Stencil

Craft Paint

Stencil Brush

Hot Glue Gun (not pictured)

Brown Paper Bag (not pictured)

I'm gonna go through & show you how I decorated each individual jar starting with the regular sized mason jar. First, cut a piece of burlap wide enough to cover the width of the jar & long enough to wrap around it. Then, cut two pieces of jute to that same length to use as trim.

Set aside the jute & grab your mongram stencil. ?Place it in the middle of the burlap & stencil the monogram to the burlap using the craft paint & stencil brush. If you don't have a stencil brush available, you could easily use a craft size paint brush.?

It should look something like this.....

Give the monogram a couple minutes to dry & then add your jute trim using your hot glue gun. Once the trim pieces are attached, wrap the burlap monogram around the mason jar & secure with hot glue.

Now we move onto the tall cylinder jar. You'll cut another piece of burlap, this piece should be quite a bit narrower....

Wrap around the jar & hot glue.

Then cut two pieces of twine long enough to wrap around the jar and hot glue them around the cylinder as shown....

Now, we are gonna make roses out of book pages to adorn the cylinder. First cut a circle out of the book page. Then cut the circle in a spiral pattern as shown here.?

Starting at the outside edge of the circle, begin rolling the paper towards the center.

Continue rolling until you are to the small circle at the end of the spiral. Add a little hot glue to the circle & attach the rolled paper to it. The rolled paper should loosen a bit when you let go of it.

You should be left with something like this....

You'll want to make three of these total. One will go on the cylinder & the other two will go on the table surrounding the centerpiece.

Hot glue the paper rose to the glass jar & if you'd like, add a little twig for some extra cuteness! :)

The last jar to decorate is the little jelly jar! Cut one one more piece of burlap. Again, cut it wide enough to cover the jar & long enough to wrap around it.?

Grab some brown paper (you can use a brown paper bag) & cut out a leaf. I used a leaf cookie cutter that I had on hand, but you could just grab a small leaf out of your yard & use it for your pattern!

Just to make it look a little more real & give it some dimension, I rolled the paper leaf up in my hand to wrinkle it. I also folded some creases in it.?

Wrap the burlap around the jelly jar & secure with hot glue. Also hot glue your paper leaf to the jar. Then cut a piece of jute to wrap around the jar & tie a little knot to secure it.

On the jelly jar & the glass cylinder, I pulled on the edges of the burlap to cause them to fray a little bit. You don't have to do this to yours if you don't want to, but I like the way the frayed burlap looks. :)

Then add your candles to the the jars & put your centerpiece together....

I had this piece of log?! Wood?! I don't know what to call it! It was leftover from another project, so I thought I would use it! I bought it at Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon. I think it makes a great addition to the centerpiece! You wouldn't have to use it though. When we decorated for the wedding, the centerpiece just went straight on the table & it looked great like that as well! The little pumpkin was one that I already had.?

I also gathered some acorns from my mom's yard to adorn the bottom of the centerpiece. Even though they are little, I think they add a lot! It's a little touch of wilderness & you can't beat the fact that they are FREE! :)

The extra paper roses just get nestled into the acorns....

I just love this centerpiece! It's rustic, but I think the paper roses add that little bit of chic-ness!?

I think it looks pretty cute sitting on our outdoor table as well! :)

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!?

I also hope that I inspired you to give it a whirl!

It would be beautiful on your table this Thanksgiving!!

And boy would your guests be impressed! :)

What is your favorite part of this centerpiece?!

Thanks so much for stopping by!!?

I hope you have a Terrific Tuesday!!!

Source: http://www.loveoffamilyandhome.net/2012/10/rustic-fall-centerpiece-tutorial.html

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Apple iPhone 5 iLuv Parasol Smart Cover Pouch

Color: Available in different colors (see selection above)

Type of case: Pouch

Manufacturer: iLuv

Warranty Period: 1 Year

There are no comments. Be the first one to leave a comment below.

Source: http://smartphonepedia.com//iluv-parasol-smart-cover-pouch-iphone-5.html

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Web Design Site Optimization | One Way Links Site Blog

Finding Balance between Web Design and SEO

The primary aim of using SEO strategies and tactics is to draw large numbers of visitors to a website through the countless search engines that exist on the internet. As the main priority is to make a website appear at the top of people?s search results on a consistent basis, certain targeted words and phrases must be used throughout the site?s content. Since much of SEO includes increasing visibility and popularity, a website?s links must also be strategically placed in various other websites and places around the internet. As the internet continues to evolve, people are finding more ways to go about SEO, such as utilizing social networking and media websites to promote their own sites.

For both the web design and its SEO strategy to truly be effective, there will have to be a considerable amount of planning involved throughout the whole building process. The primary reason this is important is that a website?s ranking in search results is largely due to that site?s text content. Thus, even when a given website?s purpose and success depends on its images and video, there must still be carefully chosen text content within it for it to obtain and maintain prime real estate in search engines. In this regard, the best approach is often to find the proper balance of text and media content for whatever relevant niche the website is trying to attract.

We now live in the 21st Century, which happens to be a new age of information largely driven by the internet. Thus, whether it is for business or personal reasons, it is important to utilize various strategies to maintain a positive web presence. This can be achieved by nearly anyone, as long as there is intelligent web design along with a well-planned SEO strategy.

Part of the main reasons for having a website set up is to have as many people visit and return to it as often as possible, whether it is for personal, professional, or ecommerce purposes. Especially for professional and ecommerce sites, if there is no significant traffic of visitors to them, there is pretty much no way for these sites to yield any sort of financial returns. For any website to really be effective, it must have an intelligent design, but this must also be constructed with search engine optimization (SEO) in mind. Yet, there are a number of web design/SEO strategies which have been proven more effective than others.

If a website is to not only attract visitors but make a positive impression on them, as well, its design must creatively use relevant content and images. After all, as the very substance of a website, the content is the primary element that will keep a visitor engaged in the site, whether for their viewing enjoyment or to make purchases. Certainly, people appreciate websites that have a lot of great content, but they also increasingly prefer this content to be presented to them in a simple, clean, and uncluttered web design. Even more, the website?s design must implement various degrees of SEO strategies and tactics, if it is to attract as many visitors as possible.

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How A Search Engine Optimization Works Wonders For Your Site Now that you have your very own website bearing your domain name and sporting an excellent design, you no doubt expect things to just swim along the way you expected them to. But your website tracker shows something different; hits are on the low side, and that's not what you wanted to see. Naturally, you were expecting some big numbers, with lots of visitors coming back to your site again and again. Don't lose hope, however. Just reassess your approach and try to figure out where things are going wrong....
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Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Chevrolet Volt gets software update to avoid stalling

Some 2013 Chevrolet Volt owners report that the Volt's electric motor has suddenly shut off while the vehicle was in motion, Read writes.

By Richard Read,?Guest blogger / October 23, 2012

This February 2012 file photo, shows a 2012 Chevrolet Volt at a Chevrolet dealership in the south Denver suburb of Englewood, Colo. General Motors has begun contacting owners of the 2013 Volt about a potential flaw in the car's control-system software, Read writes.

David Zalubowski/AP/File

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Like it or not, car tech is changing. And as that technology changes, so does the way that we maintain and service our?vehicles.

Skip to next paragraph The Car Connection

High Gear Media?s flagship website offers news, reviews, and the latest shopping tools for the cars that matter to US consumers. For more expert insights from Car Connection editors and opinions from around the Web,?click here.

In dismal quarter for PCs, Apple's Macs could shine ... - Fortune Tech

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FORTUNE -- Last quarter was a terrible for most personal computer makers. With sales down 8%-9% across the board, yearly PC shipments fell worldwide for the first time since the 2001 recession according to Gartner and IDC, which attributed the dismal results variously to the economic slowdown, a pause in advance of Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows 8 and the fickleness of consumers who would rather spend their money these days on smartphones and tablets than on traditional PCs.

None of which explains why 44 of the 64 Apple (AAPL) analysts we polled in advance of Thursday's earnings report believe that Mac sales actually grew in the quarter that ended Sept. 29 -- both sequentially (i.e. from the previous quarter) and year over year. That would mark the 26th straight quarter that the Mac's growth has outpaced the rest of the industry.

To be sure, some analysts -- both professional and independent -- are forecasting a drop in Mac sales. But the consensus of both groups is that the new MacBook Air and Retina MacBook Pro introduced in June pushed sales to more than 5 million for the quarter -- an increase of more than 4% over the same quarter last year.

We'll find out if they were right when Apple reports its fiscal Q4 earnings after Thursday's closing bell.

Below:?The analysts' individual estimates, with the pros in blue and the amateurs in green.

Source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/22/in-dismal-quarter-for-pcs-apples-macs-could-shine/

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Gay GOP group hesitantly backs Romney

WASHINGTON (AP) ? A prominent gay Republican group offered Mitt Romney its "qualified endorsement" on Tuesday, calling it the right decision for the nation even as it slammed Romney's opposition to gay marriage.

Rather than offer the Republican presidential nominee its full support, Log Cabin Republicans said it will focus its efforts instead on Republican candidates for House and Senate who favor equality for gays and lesbians.

"If LGBT issues are a voter's highest or only priority, then Gov. Romney may not be that voter's choice," the group said in its endorsement, adding that its members value a diverse set of issues. "We believe Gov. Romney will make cutting spending and job creation his priorities, and, as his record as governor of Massachusetts suggests, will not waste his precious time in office with legislative attacks on LGBT Americans."

Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul said in an email that the candidate welcomes the endorsement and appreciates the group's support.

A lengthy explanation released by Log Cabin Republicans under the banner "We Are Americans First" was part endorsement, part rebuke to a Republican Party whose standard-bearers the group said "appear to be caught up in an outdated culture war." The group argued that Americans of all sexual orientations have suffered financially under President Barack Obama, and while Romney may not share all of their views, he could be worse.

"Mitt Romney is not Rick Santorum, and Paul Ryan is not Michele Bachmann. Otherwise, our decision would have been different," the group said.

Even so, Log Cabin Republicans, a vocal and long-time critic of Romney's opposition to gay marriage and civil unions, said it would continue fighting a federal amendment banning gay marriage, which Romney supports, and condemned "the aspects of the GOP platform which work to exclude our families."

Stonewall Democrats, a national gay group backing Obama, called the decision by Log Cabin Republicans shameful and insulting. "This is politics at its worst ? when a community sells out its own people for the gain of a few individuals," Jerame Davis, the group's executive director, said in a statement.

The last-minute endorsement by the Republican group reflected persistent tensions among gay conservatives about what role to play within a party still largely opposed to many of the broader gay community's priorities. Another gay Republican group, GOProud, in June said it would "enthusiastically endorse" Romney and pledged to "commit significant resources" to electing him.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gay-gop-group-hesitantly-backs-romney-163823972--election.html

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Monday, October 22, 2012

Midday Matinee ? Going to the Birds | BPI Campus

Our OFA/DFL team is working out of the Sheet Metal Workers Union Hall. Sunday there was some confusion because a group of birders had also scheduled a meeting in the same hall. (More)

Midday Matinee is our people watching, people doing and people being feature. Join the Woodland Creatures for an afternoon break.

Being good Democrats and inclusive folk, we decided we could share the hall with the birders, all of whom own parrots. They were having a ?mash up.? Everyone brought fresh veggies and lettuce and they chopped it all up, mixed it up and then a couple of hours later, each had enough bird food (think a finely chopped salad) for their feathered friends. Twenty birders along several big tables added a lot of energy to the Hall. We had about 10 people phoning and others out canvassing.

In case you?re wondering, the parrots stayed at home. I have bad memories of Hitchcocks? The Birds and can?t imagine a bird as a pet. If the birds had been part of the meeting, I would not have voted to share the hall or I would have grabbed a clipboard and hit the streets.

Picture the startled faces at the sign in table as people were asked, ?Are you here for Obama or the birds?? We did grab a few new Obama volunteers and are wondering just how big the ?birders for Obama? demographic might be. We had fun with ?It?s really Romney that is going to the birds? and other not-entirely-family-friendly puns.

One woman who volunteered has a parrot who plays basketball. Who knew? Another bird is accomplished at running mazes. Parrots, they say, are more intelligent than dogs or cats. Hmmm. The parrot people are serious about their pets and have provided for continuing care or new owners in their wills since their birds will outlive them.

Team Obama had blue or gray T-shirts. Mine said, ?Wise Old Women for Obama.? The birders had shirts with beautiful painted birds, ?Got bird? and ?Crazy Old Bird Woman.? They had cool shirts.

This is what I love about volunteering. Early Sunday morning I had no idea I would learn so much about parrots and that the low hum of chop chop would sound like a hive of activity in the background as we made our calls.

I can?t promise you this same experience but I can promise you that volunteering is a great way to make a difference and meet interesting people.

Source: http://bpicampus.com/2012/10/22/midday-matinee-going-to-the-birds/

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CSN: Patriots live and die with Brady and Belichick

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When the ball hit the ground, everything zoomed into focus. Suddenly, there were no more excuses. There was nothing left to say. No sane or logical way to defend what had become of this Patriots team.

There were still two minutes left when Devin McCourty coughed up that kickoff, but at the same time there were only two minutes left. And in those previous 58 minutes, the Patriots had inspired one of the NFL?s worst offenses and turned them into a juggernaut. The Jets came to Foxboro looking like the Little Giants, but trotted out for that decisive drive feeling like the West Canaan Coyotes. Mark Sanchez might as well have been Joe Namath; Joe McKnight could have been Curtis Martin; Jeremy Kerley was Wayne Chrebet.

On second thought, maybe those comparisons are just a little exaggerated but in the moment it was real. In that moment, there was no stopping the Jets. They'd either score a touchdown, or milk the clock and kick a game-winning field. Either way, it was over.

Rex Ryan?s post-game press conference was already running through your head. The arrogant laughter; the giddy hop in his step. ?We knew we could come in here and kick their ass,? he?d say, with a glimmer unseen since his wife?s last pedicure, ?and that?s exactly what we did! First place, baby!?

Antonio Cromartie would?ve had something to say, too. Same goes for Bart Scott. Darrelle Revis would have chimed in from rehab. The rest of the league would have loved it.

God, it was going to sting; like a Brandon Spikes helmet to the skull. But in reality, the Jets were only part of the pain. They were the tip of an icicle that was about to be driven through our eye sockets, John McClane-style. Sure, they?d dance on the 50-yard line, throw a party in the press, and really stick it to the Pats for the following 24 hours. But once the Jets storyline subsided, the big picture would be so much worse.

In that instant ? Lex Hilliard?s hit, McCourty?s fumble, Antonio Allen?s recovery ? the Patriots were 3-4 for the first time since 2002. But while that previous ugly start had come on the heels of the most inspiring season in franchise history, with 25-year-old Tom Brady and 50-year-old Bill Belichick still easing into their respective primes, in 2012, 3-4 marked a disaster. It would come on the heels of New England?s seventh straight championship-less season, another missed opportunity on the game?s biggest stage, another paralyzing sucker punch to all those fans who still refuse to believe that this era will pass without one more title. One more parade. Something to calm the nightmares of the collapse in Indy, David Tyree?s catch, Wes Welker?s drop.

Truth is, as the pain of McCourty?s fumble set in throughout Patriots Nation, it wasn?t even about the Jets. It wasn?t about one loss. Instead, it was about the very foundation of this franchise. It was about a 3-4 record with a 35-year-old Tom Brady, a 60-year-old Bill Belichick and a shaky supporting cast. It was about facing a reality that we?ve feared for years; that we know is inevitable but will never be prepared for. It was about those questions. Those serious expletive questions of NFL mortality, and what will someday lie ahead for the New England Patriots.

Can Tom Brady still carry the load?

Is Belichick still one of the best coaches in the game?

Of course, it?s impossible to ask those question without feeling like a jerk; without feeling disrespectful, ungrateful and unworthy of everything that Brady and Belichick have done for this city. Not to mention, we?ve counted them out before. Like last year, after the Pats lost back-to-back games to the Steelers and Giants, even some of the most respected and level-headed voices in the Patriots press box were wondering if the game had finally passed Belichick by; if Brady could still do it on his own. It was only natural. And naturally, the coach and his quarterback responded by once again rising to the top of the AFC and came within one Brady-to-a-wide-open-Welker connection of that elusive fourth ring.

They proved us all wrong.

Well, kind of.

Despite the improbability of their run to a fifth Super Bowl appearance in 11 years, the fact remains that they blew it last February. In New England ? at least as long as Brady and Belichick are around ? it?s not enough to make the Super Bowl. You have to win, and in each of their last two trips, the Patriots were in a position to do that, before crumbling down the stretch. We don't have to rehash the details, but between Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, and the 2006 AFC Championship, we all know that the Pats left three titles on the table. They choked. And while that doesn?t all fall on Brady and Belichick, we can?t give them proper credit for the three Super Bowls wins, without hitting them with considerable blame for the three losses.

They?re the legends. They?re the Hall of Famers. They?re the ones who are responsible for lifting the masses ? the football mortals ? and making sure the team reaches its full potential. They're also our heroes. We want them to be perfect. And for that, it's not always easy to see their faults for what they are, and admit that neither has been as good as they need to be. But the evidence goes beyond those three big losses.

As Jackie MacMullan noted in her column this morning, in the first seven years of his career, Brady was 39-10 in games decided by seven points or fewer. Since 2009, he?s 13-12 in games that close, and 1-5 in games decided by less than a field goal.

We can't run away from that.

We can't ignore how increasingly uncomfortable Brady looks in the pocket at times, and some of the decisions he's made. For instance, the intentional grounding against the Seahawks or the pass that should have been intercepted yesterday by Cromartie. There was also the play in Buffalo when he started ducking away from imaginary pass rushers. Going back to last year's playoffs, there was the interception on that unnecessary bomb to Matthew Slater in the AFC Championship, there was the intentional grounding in the Super Bowl and, of course, the infamous pass to Welker which, while certainly catchable, could have been more catchable. Listen, I'm not saying Brady has to be perfect, he was never perfect, but when the game was on the line, he was always pretty close. Lately, that hasn't necessarily been the case.

We also can't ignore the continued failures of Bill Belichick's secondary or the fact that he was out-coached by Pete Carroll two weeks ago. Belichick would be the first person to tell you that a team's failure to execute in crunch time is a product of poor coaching, and the Pats' record in close games indicates that the coaching isn't there. Now that may not be all Belichick. He has a staff of guys who are supposed to support him on that. But then again, who hires that staff? Is he just not bringing in the right people? Has he lost the ability to do that? And seriously, what the hell is going on with that secondary?

Anyway, this is where we were last night at about 7 o'clock, just as Devin McCourty fumbled the kickoff and sent the Patriots season into a tail spin. Or so we thought. And in the midst of all that anger and confusion, our biggest fear was exposed. Our biggest fear, not only for this season, but every season until this era comes to an end: The fear that Brady and Belichick are no longer good enough. It's something that will linger around this team until they prove otherwise. A product of the fact that it's been quite a while since they were good enough, and that with every passing year it gets harder to keep pace.

But back to yesterday's game, and the fact that, just as we were ready to count out the Pats, and throw Brady and Belichick to the wolves . . .? they came through.? The defense made stops (with a little help from Stephen Hill) on that post-fumble possession and then in overtime. When Brady got the ball on that game-tying drive in regulation, he was absolutely possessed. You literally could not have asked for him to do any more and/or do it any better than he did. That was vintage Brady. Confident, decisive. There was a zip on his ball that hadn't been there all game. In overtime, he wasn't perfect but wasted no time getting New England into good field position. He was integral in the Pats stealing this win. Granted, it was one that had been stolen from them initially ? and thanks in large part to Brady ? but like we said, the good stuff that happens at the end will always over shadow the early struggles. Again, that's why no one remembers that Brady was only 16-27 for 145 yards in Super Bowl XXXVI. It's all about that last drive. As it was on Sunday. You can complain all you want about how they got there, but in the NFL, in the division, and especially within a rivalry like Pats/Jets ? a win is a win. The Pats got it. Brady and Belichick got it. That's the biggest take away.

But obviously, it's not the only one. We know things aren't perfect right now for the Pats. So far from it. We know that there's still so much work to be done. But guess what? It's Week 7. You look around the AFC today, and there's one team ? Houston ? that's not in need of some serious work before the playoffs get underway. And when it comes to Houston . . . there's still so much to prove. Matt Schaub's still never started a playoff game. They still need to find away to keep all their big guns healthy. In other words, the AFC's still up for grabs.

And much like we learned down the stretch yesterday at Gillette, you'd be crazy to count out the defending conference champs ? and the two guys still leading the charge.

Rich can be reached at rlevine@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Rich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/rich_levine

Tags: Bill Belichick, New England Patriots, Rich Levine, Standing Room Only

Source: http://www.csnne.com/10/22/12/Patriots-go-as-Brady-Belichick-go/nbcsportspatriots.html?blockID=791781&feedID=10426

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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Sandra Fluke ?rally? for Democrats in Reno draws in excess of half a dozen (Michellemalkin)

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| Politics - Top Stories Stories, News Feeds and News via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/257168965?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Improving Website Popularity By Means Of Internet Marketing

In the world today, millions of websites are now in the internet. In fact, one of the leading search engines today is doing some sort of innovations which clear out irrelevant sites that contain similar contents. It is beneficial for a lot of businesses for internet users will never get off track in heading to the website of their wanted product.

Internet marketing has come a long way for many years now. It has become a useful key for many online businesses to reach their company?s full potential. Furthermore, promotions done in the internet are much more cost efficient than advertising a business? products and services through media, such as television, cable channels, radio and even digital billboards. Greater numbers of proficient internet marketers are present in many online communities waiting for a particular business to hire them. Nowadays, it is a must for a particular online business to be employing sufficient online presence for them not to be buried and be left out by other business websites. Home

Apart from its cost cost-efficient property, marketing by means of the internet will help thousands of freelancers all over the world. Furthermore, skilled writers can be employed to write many articles for Irun Leeds North search engine optimization. SEO is the tool used in the internet today in ranking up their sites in popular search engines. Getting on the top of a search engine would mean thousands of revenues will race their way to the bank accounts of website owners. Without SEO, a particular online site will never make a mark even in the 10^th page of search engines. The SEO professionals will be the one who will think of what niche and keywords to use, promoting the website of their clients to reach success and for them to paid sufficient amounts of money.

SEO or in full, search engine optimization is now considered the heart of all websites in getting the top spot on search engines. In addition, this is a distinct method to draw in millions of unique visitors every month. Even just 10% of million visitors will purchase a product every month; the business will surely survive for a lifetime. More and more professional SEO marketers are in deep search for better ways to boost their presence in the internet. There are lots of techniques wherein any auto blogging remover cannot detect. It is not illegal, but there are tools employed by search engines screening only websites having legal and tax paying businesses will take benefit by means of their online facilities. Visit Irun Limited Leeds

By employing a superb SEO and article writing team, individuals can then set themselves to the excitement of getting their websites on top of the front page of well-known and well utilized search engines. A businessman can then develop their means of website development in preparation for thousands of visitors coming in every day. In addition, their banking transactions must all be set up most especially that a greater number of potential clients will click the order buttons of their website. Therefore, marketing by means of the internet is really useful in the world today most especially that almost all things are controlled by computers.

Learn more...

Irun Limited Leeds

Link Popularity Is Very Important In Internet Marketing
Search engine marketing ? the wholesome means to improve a business online
Increasing Website Traffic, Internet Marketing Campaign From Paton Marketing
Improving User Experience Using Website User Behavior Data ? What You Need To Know
What the JC Penney Link Buying Scandal Means for SEO

Source: http://seo.firstpagegoogle50.com/2696/improving-website-popularity-by-means-of-internet-marketing/

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My 5 Favorite Sources for DRM-Free E-Books, part 1 of 2 | TeleRead ...

By Joanna Cabot

Project Gutenberg I love DRM-free books! I know that for most people, DRM is an issue they might not think about often; if their books work, they?re happy. But for many more experienced e-book users, it?s an issue to care about.

If you acquire 100 Amazon e-books and then you buy a Kobo, how are you going to read those books? If you spend years as a loyal Sony customer and then buy a Kindle, what will you do with the books you?ve bought and loved? Unless you are blessed with some technical skills?and either a country whose laws permit format-shifting, or a moral compass that doesn?t care as much about the letter of the law?you?re stuck.

Unless, that is, you buy and read books that are DRM-free. These books can be kept forever, converted using free software such as Calibre, and read on any device you might own. But where to get them? Here are some of my favorite sources:

1. PROJECT GUTENBERG

This is the oldest e-book repository on the Web. It has over 40,000 free books, with more available through affiliates like Project Gutenberg Canada and Project Gutenberg Australia. These books are all public domain titles, but you would be shocked at what?s in the public domain these days. It?s not just Shakespeare and the Bible anymore?there are pulp sci-fi and mystery titles from the Golden Age, early issues of Scientific American and Astounding Stories, cookbooks, children?s classics (including books for very young readers, such as the complete works of Beatrix Potter) and more. Many are illustrated. Some have audio book versions. Most of the newer ones were prepared through Gutenberg?s Distributed Proofreaders program to ensure they are error-free. New books are added very frequently

Browsing can be a bit of a chore?some of the books are sorted into topical bookshelves, others are not. But if you know what you?re looking for, or stick to the ?new release? or ?most-downloaded? RSS feeds, you?re sure to find something good. And the scope of this project?their goal is to have every public domain book ever published?is incredible. This is truly an unparalleled resource, and one of the great gifts the Internet has given us.

Here are five books to get you started; I suggest downloading the HTML, as it seems to convert the cleanest.

??The Harvard Classics: The vast majority of the works in Dr. Eliot?s famous ?five-foot shelf,? a collection designed to give a reader a complete classical education with only the books which might fit in a single shelf.

??The Best Short Stories: A collection of themed short story collections such as ?The Best American Humorous Short Stories? and ?The Best Russian Shirt Stories,? sorted by country or origin.

??The Golden Treasury, edited by Francis Turner Palgrave: One of the best poetry anthologies ever published. The poetry bookshelf?has some other good ones listed.

??Legends of the Jews?by Louis Ginzberg: This series draws together Jewish myth and folklore from a variety of sources, similar to how the Brothers Grimm synthesized fairy tales from multiple sources.

??Wuthering Heights?by Emily Bronte: My all-time favorite novel. A gothic story of the forbidden love between the beautiful Catherine and the mysterious Heathcliff.

2. DELPHI CLASSICS?

Interested in reading the great classics but don?t want to take the time to download two dozen Dickens books, or seek out individual volumes of Sherlock Holmes stories? Do you want to read Andrew Lang?s popular Fairy Books as they first appeared with complete illustrations? Do you want to learn more about the great artists or poets, but don?t know where to start? Delphi Classics is for you!

This store is known for their lavishly illustrated complete works collections (complete works of Dickens, complete works of Austen, and so on) but lately has branched out into two new series: Masters of Art and Masters of Poetry, which, as their titles imply, present the complete works of artists and poets. These books are very well-done, with Delphi Classics D.H. Lawrence numerous illustrations, biographical information and other goodies it would take a long time to track down on your own. They?re also updated frequently?with corrections as well, with new works, as they become available.

If you buy from Delphi?s website as opposed to the Amazon store, you can download the free updates at any time from your account.?Two drawbacks:

a. Some of the files are very large, which may slow down a less robust reader.

b. Also, you have to pay separately for the .mobi and .epub versions. I tried converting a mobi version using Calibre and after 30 minutes of trying, Calibre crashed. I don?t relish paying again for an epub if I move to a Kobo Reader down the road, and I think Delphi Classics should amalgamate their editions and let their customers download a purchased title in whatever format they choose.

My five favorites:

??Delphi Poets:?Emily Dickinson ($1.99) ? Dickinson?s complete works, with bonus biographical material including Dickinson?s letters, as well as photographs and illustrations.

??Dickens eVolume Collection?($3.99) ? The complete works of Dickens, plus biographical materials and extras, in a zipped file of 20 volumes.

??The Brontes ? Complete Works ($2.99): The complete vollected works of all the Brontes, including their childhood writing and work by their lesser-known artist brother. Illustrated with photographs and reproductions and all the usual bonus features.

??Andrew Lang- Complete Works ($2.99): The complete fairy tales books, in order, plus his other short story collections, poetry, other writing and so on. As usual, illustrated with all the usual bonus features.

??Masters of Art ? Leonardo da Vinci ($2.99): Da Vinci?s paintings in full colour, zoom-able, with bonus details. I reviewed this unique series?for TeleRead earlier this year.

(Check back tomorrow for part 2.)

* * *

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Join us at?facebook.com/TeleRead

Source: http://www.teleread.com/drm/my-5-favorite-sources-for-drm-free-e-books-part-1-of-2/

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Saturday, October 20, 2012

Moog LEV-96: Forget Synths, Moog Is Making a Batshit Acoustic Guitar or Something [Music]

Click here to read Moog LEV-96: Forget Synths, Moog Is Making a Batshit Acoustic Guitar or Something

Moog just showed the world a prototype of a component that could be used to make the world's next wonder instrument. Here we see LEV-96 "sensoriactuator" concept installed on a acoustic guitar. Now what the hell does it do? More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/TkvgBXs4rS0/moog-lev+96-forget-synths-moog-is-making-a-batshit-acoustic-guitar

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"Perversion files" show locals helped cover up

In a Tuesday, Oct., 16, 2012 photo, Portland attorney Kelly Clark examines some of the 14,500 pages of previously confidential documents created by the Boy Scouts of America concerning child sexual abuse within the organization, in preparation for releasing the documents Thursday, Oct. 18, as he stands in his office in Portland, Ore. The Boy Scouts of America fought to keep those files confidential. (AP Photo/Greg Wahl-Stephens)

FILE - In this Sept. 1, 2010 file photo, attorney Kelly Clark makes remarks during a news conference, in Portland, Ore. Confidential files kept by the Boy Scouts of America on men they suspected of child sex abuse are set to be released after a two-year-long court battle. The anticipated release of the files on Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012, by Portland attorney Kelly Clark will reveal 20,000 pages of documents the Scouts kept on men inside ? and in some cases outside ? the organization believed to have committed acts of abuse. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) ? Again and again, decade after decade, an array of authorities ? police chiefs, prosecutors, pastors and local Boy Scout leaders among them ? quietly shielded scoutmasters and others accused of molesting children, a newly opened trove of confidential papers shows.

At the time, those authorities justified their actions as necessary to protect the good name and good works of Scouting, a pillar of 20th century America. But as detailed in 14,500 pages of secret "perversion files" released Thursday by order of the Oregon Supreme Court, their maneuvers allowed sexual predators to go free while victims suffered in silence.

The files are a window on a much larger collection of documents the Boy Scouts of America began collecting soon after their founding in 1910. The files, kept at Boy Scout headquarters in Texas, consist of memos from local and national Scout executives, handwritten letters from victims and their parents and newspaper clippings about legal cases. The files contain details about proven molesters, but also unsubstantiated allegations.

The allegations stretch across the country and to military bases overseas, from a small town in the Adirondacks to downtown Los Angeles.

At the news conference Thursday, Portland attorney Kelly Clark blasted the Boy Scouts for their continuing legal battles to try to keep the full trove of files secret.

"You do not keep secrets hidden about dangers to children," said Clark, who in 2010 won a landmark lawsuit against the Boy Scouts on behalf of a plaintiff who was molested by an assistant scoutmaster in the 1980s.

The Associated Press obtained copies of the files weeks ahead of Thursday's release and conducted an extensive review of them, but agreed not to publish the stories until the files were released. Clark was releasing the documents to the public online at www.kellyclarkattorney.com ; he said the website was operating slowly Thursday because so many people were trying to access it.

The files were shown to a jury in a 2010 Oregon civil suit that the Scouts lost, and the Oregon Supreme Court ruled the files should be made public. After months of objections and redactions, the Scouts and Clark released them.

In many instances ? more than a third, according to the Scouts' own count ? police weren't told about the reports of abuse. And even when they were, sometimes local law enforcement still did nothing, seeking to protect the name of Scouting over their victims.

Victims like three brothers, growing up in northeast Louisiana.

On the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1965, their distraught mother walked into the third floor of the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office. A 31-year-old scoutmaster, she told the chief criminal deputy, had raped one of her sons and molested two others.

Six days later, the scoutmaster, an unemployed airplane mechanic, sat down in front of a microphone in the same station, said he understood his rights and confessed: He had sexually abused the woman's sons more than once.

"I don't know how to tell it," the man told a sheriff's deputy. "They just occurred ? I don't know an explanation, why we done it or I done it or wanted to do it or anything else it just ? an impulse I guess or something.

"As far as an explanation I just couldn't dig one up."

He wouldn't have to. Seven days later, the decision was made not to pursue charges against the scoutmaster.

The last sliver of hope for justice for the abuse of two teenagers and an 11-year-old boy slipped away in a confidential letter from a Louisiana Scouts executive to the organization's national personnel division in New Jersey.

"This subject and Scouts were not prosecuted," the executive wrote, "to save the name of Scouting."

In a statement on Thursday, Scouts spokesman Deron Smith said" ''There is nothing more important than the safety of our Scouts."

Smith said there have been times when Scouts' responses to sex abuse allegations were "plainly insufficient, inappropriate, or wrong" and the organization extends its "deepest and sincere apologies to victims and their families."

___

An Associated Press review of the files found that the story of these brothers and their scoutmaster, however horrendous, was not unique.

The files released Thursday were collected between 1959 and 1985, with a handful of others from later years. Some have been released previously, but others ? those from prior to 1971, including the story of the three scouts in Ouachita Parish ? have been made public for the first time.

The documents reveal that on many occasions the files succeeded in keeping pedophiles out of Scouting leadership positions ? the reason why they were collected in the first place. But the files are also littered with horrific accounts of alleged pedophiles who were able to continue in Scouting because of pressure from community leaders and local Scouts officials.

The files also document other troubling patterns. There is little mention in the files of concern for the welfare of Scouts who were abused by their leaders, or what was done for the victims. But there are numerous documents showing compassion for alleged abusers, who were often times sent to psychiatrists or pastors to get help.

In 1972, a local Scouting executive beseeched national headquarters to drop the case against a suspected abuser because he was undergoing professional treatment and was personally taking steps to solve his problem. "If it don't stink, don't stir it," the local executive wrote.

Scouting's efforts to keep abusers out were often disorganized. There's at least one memo from a local Scouting executive pleading for better guidance on how to handle abuse allegations. Sometimes the pleading went the other way, with national headquarters begging local leaders for information on suspected abusers, and the locals dragging their feet.

In numerous instances, alleged abusers are kicked out of Scouting but show up in jobs where they are once again in authority positions dealing with youths.

The files also show Scouting volunteers serving in the military overseas, molesting American children living abroad and sometimes continuing to molest after returning to the states.

But one of the most startling revelations to come from the files is the frequency with which attempts to protect Scouts from molesters collapsed at the local level, at times in collusion with community leaders.

It happened when a local district attorney declined to prosecute two confessed offenders; when a three-judge panel included two men on the local Scouting executive board; when law enforcement sought to protect the name of Scouting and let an admitted child molester go free.

Their actions represent a stark betrayal, says Clark, who won the case that opened the files to public view. "It's kind of a deal. The deal is, our society will give you incredible status and respect, Norman Rockwell will paint pictures of you, and in exchange for that, you take care of our kids," Clark said. "That's the deal, incredible respect and privilege. But there was a worm in the apple."

The Louisiana case certainly contained all the essentials for a police investigation and, perhaps, a conviction: The scoutmaster admitted to raping a 17-year-old boy on a camping trip and otherwise sexually molesting two other boys; the victims corroborated his confession. But evidently, no charges were ever filed.

The man was let off with a warning that should he be found with young men in the future, he was subject to immediate incarceration at the state prison.

The man "was asked to leave the parish, and if he was caught around or near any boy or youth organization, he would be sent to state prison immediately," a Scouting executive wrote to national headquarters. "We are indeed sorry that Scouting was involved."

___

With the deadline to disclose the files looming, the Scouts in late September made public an internal review of the files and said they would look into past cases to see whether there were times when men they suspected of sex abuse should have been reported to police.

The files showed a "very low" incidence of abuse among Scout leaders, said psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Warren, who conducted the review with a team of graduate students and served as an expert witness for the Scouts in the 2010 case that made the files public. Her review of the files didn't take into account the number of files destroyed on abusers who turned 75 years old or died, something she said would not have significantly affected the rate of abuse or her conclusions.

The rate of abuse among Scouts is the not the focus of their critics ? it is, rather, their response to allegations of abuse. In the files from 1959 to 1985, most salient is the complicity of local officials in concealing the abuse by Scouts leaders.

Warren told the AP such complicity "was simply quite a natural desire to want to be somewhat protective over (the BSA)."

Certain cases, well-detailed by the Scouts, illustrate how it happened.

In Newton, Kan., in 1961, the county attorney had what he needed for a prosecution: Two men were arrested and admitted that they had molested Scouts in their care.

One of the men said he held an all-night party at his house, during which he brought 10 boys, one by one, into a room where he committed, in his words, "immoral acts." The same man said he had molested Scouts on an outing two weeks prior to the interrogation.

But neither man was prosecuted. Once again, a powerful local official sought to preserve the name of Scouting.

The entire investigation, the county attorney wrote, was brought about with the cooperation of a local district Scouts executive, who was kept apprised of the investigation's progress into the men, who had affiliations with both the Scouts and the local YMCA.

"I came to the decision that to openly prosecute would cause great harm to the reputations of two organizations which we have involved here ? the Boy Scouts of America and the local YMCA," he wrote in a letter to a Kansas Scouting executive.

He went on to say that the community would have to pay too great a price for the punishment of the two men. "The damage thusly done to these organizations would be serious and lasting," he wrote.

___

When cases against Scouts volunteers or executives went forward, locals often tried and sometimes managed to keep the organization's name out of court documents and the media, protecting a valuable brand.

In Johnstown, Pa., in August 1962, a married 25-year-old steel mill worker with a high school education pleaded guilty to "serious morals" violations involving Scouts.

The Scouting executive who served as both mayor and police chief made sure of one thing: The Scouting name was never brought up. It went beyond the mayor to the members of a three-judge panel, who also deemed it important to keep the Scouts' names out of the press.

"No mention of Scouting was involved in the case in as much as two of the three judges who pronounced sentence are members of our Executive Board," the Scouts executive wrote to the national personnel division.

In Rutland, Vt., in 1964, William J. Moreau pleaded guilty to "having lewd relations" with an 11-year-old Scout, according to a contemporary newspaper account. According to the files, the 11-year-old was one of a dozen Scouts who stayed overnight at Vermont's Camp Sunrise. The Scouts, as is demonstrated repeatedly in the files, talked to the parents about their concern for "the name of the Scouting movement" if charges were brought, but were rebuffed ? the parents were insistent on filing charges.

Moreau, a 27-year-old insurance adjuster and assistant Scoutmaster, resigned his position, but a local prosecutor and the police department made sure the Scouting name was never publicly associated with the crime, despite the fact that the abuse was conducted by a Scoutmaster on Scouts at a Scout camp.

"The States Attorney with whom I talked late last night and the local police assure me they will do everything in their power to keep Scouting's name and Camp Sunrise out of this," a local Scouts executive wrote in a letter to the national council headquarters.

In newspaper clippings attached to the files detailing Moreau's charges and his plea, no mention of the Scouts is ever made.

___

Over the years, the mandatory reporting of suspicions of child abuse by certain professionals would take hold nationally. Each state had its own law, and the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act passed in 1974.

The Scouts, however, wouldn't institute mandatory reporting for suspected child abuse until 2010. They did incorporate other measures, such as a "two-deep" requirement that children be accompanied by at least two adults at all times, and made strides in their efforts to combat pedophilia within their ranks.

According to an analysis of the Scouts' confidential files by Patrick Boyle, a journalist who was the first to expose about efforts by the BSA to hide the extent of sex abuse among Boy Scout leaders, the Scouts documented internally less than 50 cases per year of Scout abuse by adults until 1983, when the reports began to climb, peaking at nearly 200 in 1989.

Attitudes on child sex abuse began to change after the 1974 law, said University of Houston professor Monit Cheung, a former social worker who has authored a book on child sex abuse.

"Before 1974, you could talk to a social worker who could (then) talk to a molester and that could maybe stop abuse," Cheung said, noting that most abuse happens within families.

But mandatory reporting made the failure to report suspected abuse a crime.

"That's the change, that you're no longer hiding the facts of abuse," Cheung said.

The case of Timothy Bagshaw in State College, Pa., is illustrative of the changing national attitude to mandatory reporting. Bagshaw, a Scouts leader, was convicted of two counts of corruption of minors in 1985. But he wasn't the only one to face charges.

The Scouts learned of the abuse months before it was reported, and forced Bagshaw to resign at a meeting, but he wasn't reported to police. That failure was costly for Juanita Valley Council director Roger W. Rauch, who was charged with failure to notify authorities of suspected child abuse.

"I didn't know I was supposed to contact anyone. I felt it was the parents' responsibility," Rauch told the Centre Daily Times in 1984. "We acted very responsibly.

"I'm concerned that this not get blown out of proportion."

___

Reach reporter Nigel Duara on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/RSmBei

___

Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky in West Palm Beach, Fla.; Rebecca Boone in Boise, Idaho; and Shannon Dininny in Yakima, Wash., contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-10-19-Scout%20Abuse-Files/id-2484588f50694819902ef32800dcde97

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