rimblr.com

What: Public Library Staff
When and where: 6:30 p.m., Thursday, 665 W. Olive Ave., across from City Hall
New library branch: Library staff is seeking input from residents about opening a branch library. The idea is being studied after Measure B, a proposal to fund construction of a new library, failed to receive the required two-thirds majority vote. It received 59 percent.
Los Altos School District
When and where: 7 p.m. Thursday board room, 201 Covington Road
SCHOOL: The superintendent will discuss reopening Gardner Bullis Elementary School.
PARCEL TAX: The board will discuss details of a parcel tax.
Santa Clara County
What: Board of Supervisors’ Health and Hospital Committee
When and where: 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, board chambers, 70 W. Hedding St., San Jose
VALLEY MEDICAL: The committee will get an update on the massive effort to transform the county’s hospitals.
HEALTH BUDGET: Committee members will hear an update on budget cuts for the Health & Hospital System.
Palo Alto School District
When and where: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, board room, 25 Churchill St.
STRATEGIC PLAN The board will consider adopting the district strategic plan.
EMPLOYEE CONTRACTS The board will hold public hearings on teacher and support-staff contract proposals.
What: Envision San Jose 2040 Task
When and where: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, City Hall wing room 118-120, 200 E. Santa Clara St.
LAND USE ALTERNATIVES: The task force will discuss the implications of long-term employment and population projections on land use, services, infrastructure and the environment.

mercurynews.com

MOSCOW, May 23 (Reuters) - Germany’s RWE (RWEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) is late in paying for Russian power firm TGK-2 (TGKB.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) which it acquired in March, TGK-2 parent company UES (EESR.MM: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday, threatening to void the deal if delays continue.
“The board of directors of UES decided to unilaterally cancel the sales contract of TGK-2…if it is not paid for by May 31, 2008,” UES, Russia’s former electricity monopoly, said in a statement.
RWE had no comment.
The utility paid $800 million for effective control of TGK-2, a regional producer of electricity and heat.
UES, or Unified Energy System, is in the process of selling off all of its assets, including 20 major power producers, as part of a Kremlin-backed reform of the sector that will see the Soviet-era monopoly dismantled and privatised by July 1.
This is the first time UES has threatened to void a sales deal in response to late payment. (Reporting by Simon Shuster)

reuters.com

You are now plugged in to Multiplayer, a blog built by MTV News and MTV Games for gamers who play everything from “Halo 3″ to “Desktop Tower Defense.” This is the place to catch up on our exclusive interviews with top game makers, to debate the highs and lows of the gaming life and to experience coverage and access you won’t find anywhere else.
Got something you want to share with Multiplayer? Let us know at multiplayer@mtv.com
Since the last entry, I…
*Played more of “Secret Agent Clank,” of course.
Now that the demo’s out, I think it’s okay to point out one of the game’s most interesting features: it gives positive rewards for individual stealth actions. That may not seem like a big achievement, but it makes “SAC” a significantly different stealth game from any “Splinter Cell” or “Metal Gear” that I’ve ever played.
In gaming’s famous stealth series, the main consequence of sneaking past an enemy is a lack of failure. If you sneak past everyone in a “Metal Gear” game, maybe you’ll unlock a special set of camouflage. But from moment-to-moment, all you get is the relief of not triggering an alarm. In “Clank,” you get a score multiplier for each guard you sneak past or sucker punch into oblivion. You get positive reinforcement for a lack of direct conflict.
As a gamer, I’m so used to getting points or power-ups for having defeated enemies and getting nothing for walking past them. Who knew there was another way? The makers of “Secret Agent Clank” did.
Next: I will do surgery via the Wii. I hope.

multiplayerblog.mtv.com

AFTRA TO COMMENCE NEGOTIATIONS WITH AMPTP ON MAY 7 FOR A NEW THREE-YEAR PRIMETIME TV CONTRACT
LOS ANGELES (May 6, 2008) - The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) announced that its Primetime Negotiating Committee, comprised of 31 working actors, will commence formal talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) regarding a new three-year Exhibit A of the Network Code agreement tomorrow, Wednesday, May 7.
Exhibit A of the Network Code covers such AFTRA primetime network TV dramas and situation comedies as “Rules of Engagement,” “Cashmere Mafia” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Flight of the Conchords,” “Dante’s Cove” “The Reaper” and “Til Death.” AFTRA’s current primetime television contract expires June 30, 2008.
AFTRA’s negotiating team for the primetime talks will be headed by Primetime Negotiating Committee Chairman Matthew Kimbrough, along with AFTRA National President Roberta Reardon and AFTRA National Executive Director Kim Roberts Hedgpeth.
The talks will take place at AMPTP headquarters in Encino, California.
AFTRA will adhere to a press blackout during the talks.
AFTRA announced last week that its members ratified the recently negotiated Network Television Code; the agreement was ratified by a 93% margin.
The AFTRA Network Code agreement covers actors and all other on-camera and off-camera talent on all forms of television programming, including reality shows, syndicated dramas, daytime serials, game shows, talk shows, variety and musical programs, news, sports, and promotional announcements. Programs covered by the Code include ” American Idol,” “Dancing with the Stars,” “Late Show with David Letterman,” “Good Morning America,” “20/20,” “The View,” “The Tonight Show,” “Oprah,” “The Price is Right,” “Deal or No Deal,” “America’s Next Top Model,” “Days of Our Lives,” “All My Children,” “Cake,” “Saturday Night Live,” “Entertainment Tonight,” and “Survivor,” among others. The new three-year pact is effective from November 16, 2007 to November 15, 2010.

latimes.com

30.04.08 - By Vivek Wallace: This weeks Left-Hook Lounge Q&A segment covers a very interesting group of topics and fighters. With great ring moments of 2008 already behind us, most of today’s questions from some of the biggest fight fans on the planet takes a look at the road ahead..
Kurt Enlow (Los Angeles, CA): Andre Berto is being discussed as a possible opponent for Joshua Clottey for the soon to be vacant IBF belt. Who do you think wins this fight?
Vivek W: Personally, I think it’s still a bit early for Berto to take ths fight. 200 plus amateur fights helps, but I still think it’s a bit early in his professional career for this type of fight. No doubt, Berto is the perennial champ of the welterweight division at some point in the distant future. Trouble is, this fight isn’t happening in the distant future, it’s due to take place within the next couple months. My major concern about this fight is the following: At this point in his young career (only 3 1/2 years) Berto simply hasn’t been tested enough. He’s fought a few gritty fighters, but none have the power, the heart, the determination, or the drive that Clottey has. One thing that I think helped Miguel Cotto out tremendously is that Arum and his matchmakers constantly put him in the ring with a wealth of different styles; Torres (Power), Malinaggi (Slickness), Urkal (Unorthodox), Mosley (Speed, decent power), etc. For my ‘gamers’ out there, it’s sort of like a video game where each new phase introduces a new wrinkle to overcome before you reach that one opposition that employs them all at a very advanced stage. When you don’t bring a fighter along in this way, regardless of the talent he may have, it sets the stage for a situation where the skill confidence may not align well with his developmental confidence. Berto’s offense is great, but his defense is still a bit incomplete. Part of his developmental confidence was exposed as insufficient when he faced Rivera. He looked very well until Rivera saw an opening and exploited it - which was an uppercut that resulted in what was later dubbed a ‘flash’ knockdown. Rivera is a veteran who has much experience and when he went southpaw, it proved the inexperience of Berto who was visibly uncomfortable at times. Rivera doesn’t bring half the ability that Clottey does, and although Clottey isn’t considered to be in that Tier 1 level of welters out there, it should be duly noted that he’s only one fight away. What happens when Berto realizes that for once he’s in the ring with a fighter whose will to win is unrelenting? What happens when Berto realizes that this same guy has the power to hurt him, yet he doesn’t quite have the power to keep him off of him? All of these questions are gonna present themselves in this match-up and when it all boils down, I tell fight fans the same thing every time….”When it comes to pressure in fights, those above-average fighters step up, while those below average fighters wilt down”. Despite the great appearance, it’s safe to say that none of us truly knows what Berto will do, but with the help of a Joshua Clottey - who knows that he can’t squander another opportunity - we’re all sure to find out real soon!

eastsideboxing.com

You should have knowledge of the market
The strategic location of a store also presupposes a sound knowledge of the market, factors which are often concomitant with one another. Vaishali Banerjee, manager-India of Platinum Guild India, believes firmly that if “the location is wrong, business can be very tough.” To avoid being turfed out of the market, Platinum Guild India did an extensive survey of the Indian consumer before launching its product in the metros of the country.
Even if an existing business wishes to establish a branch in another location of the same city, a knowledge of its would-be customers and an attractive location are the pivots on which the success of the business would hinge. When Popley & Sons, which is headquartered in Mumbai, scoured the suburbs of the city for a convenient location to establish a branch of its business, it astutely selected Bandra, which in 1990 was considered one of the hubs of the city. “We had a good database of customers from Bandra,” remarks Rajiv Popley, director of Popley & Sons, “and that convinced us to come here.”
An intimate knowledge of the market would also assist the jeweler in creating products for his consumer. Says Shehzad Zaveri, managing director of Minawala Jewelers, “I design jewelry for people with taste and money. Jewelry is really about the survival of the person with the smoothest words and one who knows how to create fantasy with magic!” An analysis of the market could also help the jeweller to work across various segments and create multi-store formats if he so desires. Jewelers like Popley & Sons have stores which sell mass jewelry (Popley & Sons), premium level products (the La Classique stores) and the prêt line format (Diatime) which serves the needs of consumers who are making non-planned purchases.

jckindia.com

Conceived and written by Ricardo Cortes and Bowman Hastie, who previously collaborated on Just a Plant, another coloring book about the benefits of hemp, I Don’t Want to Blow You Up features several Muslim men and women — some of whom are famous — a short bio, and the simple declaration that they don’t want to blow you up.
The book found itself under fire even before it got published, and one of its main subjects — basketball icon Kareem Abdul-Jabbar — demanded to be omitted from its pages. This set back its publishing date by several months, from November 2007 to February 2008. We caught up with Mr. Cortes to ask him about the book, its arduous journey to print, and the message he hopes it will send to the increasingly xenophobic, anti-Muslim West.
What led you from a book about marijuana to one about Muslims?
I found a lot of similarities between the “War on Drugs” and the “War on Terror” that is our current obsession. Both have created a culture of fear based on false and inflammatory propaganda, and both involve children in how they perceive the world around them as they mature.
When did you begin working on the book, and what was your primary motivation?
My co-author Bowman Hastie and myself were hanging out at the edge of a pier on the Hudson River, some time in late 2006. Neither of us can remember the exact conversation, but it must have had something to do with life in post-9/11 New York City. We might have been discussing the color coded “Terror Alert” system developed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, or the growing political concern over “immigration reform”, or the added security measures we’ve all had to endure at airports. We might have been talking about our own suspicions and fears, and possibly recounting some personal instance of catching ourselves scrutinizing a person on the subway because they appeared to be Arab or Muslim. We might have been trying to imagine what must go through the minds of people who have taken the brunt of these fears and suspicions, and even hate, in recent years. The title of the book derives from our imagined sentiment of someone who is absolutely innocent yet still must face this sort of distrust and hostility from so many people they encounter, day in and day out. The statement, as we imagined it, is incredulous and defiant: “I don’t want to blow you up!”

awearnessblog.com

By THOMAS WATKINS – 10 hours ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Crack users openly suck on glass pipes, gang members deal drugs on sidewalks and streets are speckled with human feces.
Yet the Los Angeles Police Department and some people who live and work on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles — the city with the nation’s largest population of homeless people — say that crime is dropping and that the streets are safer and cleaner than they were just two years ago.
They credit the turnaround to a police crackdown launched 18 months ago and call it a rare success in dealing with homelessness, one of the most troubling social problems facing urban areas nationwide.
“We wanted to restore order to what was one of the most chaotic areas,” said Cmdr. Andrew Smith, who supervised police in Skid Row until a recent transfer. “It’s completely transformed.”
Prompted in part by a downtown real estate boom that brought luxury condos to the doorstep of Skid Row, the $6 million-a-year Safer City Initiative put 50 extra officers on the streets to target drug dealers and enforce laws that forbid jaywalking and camping, sitting or sleeping on sidewalks.
There are now 375 police officers assigned to the dilapidated neighborhood spanning about a square mile on the east side of downtown. In 2007, police handled 1,132 reported crimes, a decrease of 27 percent from the 1,551 crimes reported in 2006.
Despite the drop, the effort has been derided by the American Civil Liberties Union and other activists who say it unfairly targets the homeless — many of whom are mentally disabled — and forces them out of the city or into jail.
Gary Blasi, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, published a report in September showing police issued about 12,000 citations in the first year of the effort, with the majority for “walk/don’t walk” traffic signal violations.

ap.google.com

Doup and sandwich Luncheons will be served at the Saint John’s United Church Hall on Brunswick St., Dalhousie, N.B. on the following dates: Wednesday, April 30th from 11 am to 1 pm with take-outs available. We would like to see you again. Everyone is welcome.
Sll children aged to 5 are invited to participate in the Teddy Bear Clinic. We will measure, weight and check ears and language of their favorite doll or teddy bear. A snack will be served and prizes will be given! Thursday, May 1 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at 280 Victoria St. Dalhousie.
Dalhousie Minor soccer will be holding an annual meeting at the Dalhousie Aux Quatre Vents High School on the evening of Thursday, May 1 , at 7 PM.
The royal Canadian legion Branch #19, Campbellton will be holding a Ham Supper on May 1st from 4 – 6 p.m. Everyone welcome.
The Campbellton Centennial library will hold an open house for those who love Robert Munsch. During the day there will be readings of Robert Munsch books, 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 May at 2:30pm to 3:30pm. Registration is not required.
Royal Canadian legion Branch 19 will hold a ham supper on Thursday, May 1 from 4 pm to 6 pm. All are welcome.
The saint Thomas aquinas Cwl will hold their regular monthly meeting on Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 1:30 PM in the basement of the church. All members are encouraged to attend. Ladies interested in becoming members are most welcome.
The atholville Public library will present Cheryl Page, Independent Sr. Sales Director Mary Kay Cosmetics on Thusday May 1st at 6:30 p.m. You must register. Call 789- 2914.
Bake Sale - By the Catholic Women’s League of Our Lady of Lourdes Council, Atholville, Friday, May 2 at the Campbellton City Center Mall beginning at 9:00 a.m.

tribunenb.canadaeast.com