Luke_Wilbur

Foreign film admissions revenue increased 18.7 percent to $216 million in 2006, according to new data released from the U.S. Census Bureau. This information is from the 2006 Service Annual Survey: Information Sector Services, a series of tables that are part of a larger package on economic activity in several service industries. It includes companies that produce and distribute information and cultural products, as well as the companies that provide the means to transmit or distribute these products. Some other establishments in this survey are publishers of newspapers, books and periodicals; motion picture companies; broadcast companies; telecommunications companies; and Internet service providers. Total movie theater operating revenue in the United States was $11.1 billion in 2006, with ticket sales making up 66 percent of the total. Domestic feature films provided the lion’s share of box office receipts, amounting to $7.1 billion of the $7.3 billion sold, while admission to foreign films made up 3 percent of that revenue at $216 million. Foreign films include such titles as “Pan’s Labyrinth” and “The Lives of Others,” the latter winning an Oscar as best foreign language film. Revenue from admission to domestic feature films remained flat in 2006 after a 4.9 percent decline in 2005. Twenty-nine percent of movie theater operating revenue came from the sale of food and beverages. Other details about the information sector include the following: Broadcast television revenue was up 5.6 percent, achieving a level of $38.3 billion while revenue for cable television (and other subscription programming) gained 8 percent to a total of $38.4 billion. Music publishers showed a 22 percent increase in revenue to $5.1 billion. Sound-recording industries saw a 13 percent increase to $21.2 billion. Revenue for newspaper publishers showed a 1.7 percent decline, falling to $48.9 billion. Revenue for radio networks showed growth, up 33.7 percent to $4.4 billion, while radio stations revenue remained flat at $13.7 billion. Revenue was down 9.4 percent for greeting card publishers. Greeting cards made up $2.9 billion, or 70 percent, of the $4.1 billion greeting card publisher revenue.

Eminent coral scientists have given world leaders in Bali more reason to act urgently against climate change, by producing a new report that warns coral reefs will disappear within decades if atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise. Their paper, published today in the prestigious Science magazine, is the most compelling scientific case yet that unchecked global warming will be a disaster for coral reefs and the 100 million people and one million species depending on them. CO2 concentration in the earth's atmosphere is currently 380 parts per million (ppm) but the authors say if future emissions exceed 450ppm we risk losing reefs. “This is a very ambitious target and should represent yet another reality check for world leaders meeting in Bali,” lead author UQ Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said. Reducing CO2 emissions must also be accompanied by reducing reef risks such as overfishing, pollution and unsustainable coastal developments, a cross-section of the report's authors (all of whom are members of the Coral Reef Targeted Research and Capacity Building for Management Program, CRTR) said at UQ. Tools to reduce stress on coral reefs already exist, and include: increased protection of river catchment and coastal areas; co-management arrangements between governments and local communities; improved catchment, water quality and environmental flow measures; fishing regulation enforcement; restoration of reefs and coastal vegetation; and sustainable tourism. The study has found serious consequences follow on from even small increases in CO2. “The warmer and more acidic oceans caused by the rise of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels threaten to destroy coral dominated reef ecosystems, exposing people to flooding, coastal erosion and the loss of food and income from reef-based fisheries and tourism,” Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said. “This is happening just when many nations are hoping that growing industries like tourism and fisheries will allow them to develop beyond their often impoverished state. “Increased CO2 not only warms the climate but also dissolves in sea water making it more acidic. “This, in turn, decreases the ability of corals to produce calcium carbonate, which is what the all-important framework of coral reefs is made of.” The study used information built up over the past decade to project how reefs will look if emissions are or are not controlled. “It is a sobering thought that we have used the lower range of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios in our analysis yet still envisage serious if not devastating ramifications for coral-dominated reefs. “Emission pathways that include higher CO2 (600 to 1000ppm) and global temperatures of 3°to 6°C defy consideration as credible alternatives,” the report said. Next generation reef scientists and managers have been meeting at UQ this week for an international forum to develop policies to sustain the world's coral reefs. More than 50 postgraduate and postdoctoral students from 20 countries have attended. “These future leaders in coral reef science have honed their leadership skills and discovered how to grow their influence among those networks which manage and set policy for coral reefs worldwide,” UQ Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor and paper co-author Professor Paul Greenfield said. The CRTR, based at UQ, is a leading international coral reef research initiative that provides a coordinated approach to credible and scientifically-proven knowledge for improved coral reef management. Its partners include the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank, University of Queensland, the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and approximately 40 research institutes and other third-parties around the world.

Installing renewable energy is economically viable for tourist accommodation despite being considered too expensive and inefficient, according to the first Australian study of renewable energy in tourism accommodation. The UQ study shows that the performance and economics of renewable energy is not consistent with poor perceptions of the technology. Tourism operators and tourists were asked about their attitudes to renewable energy such as wind and solar power in tourist accommodation. UQ PhD graduate Gordon Dalton, who conducted the survey, found 70 percent of tourism operators were interested in adopting renewable energy although they were worried about setup costs, reliability and efficiency. About 70 percent of tourists said they would change their energy consumption habits such as turning off lights and turning down airconditioners while on holiday. Most tourists, 90 percent of whom were Australian, said they would even tolerate a blackout on holidays as a result of renewable energy failure. Dr Dalton found 50 percent of tourists were willing to pay at least five percent more to stay at a hotel with renewable energy but the other half, were not willing to pay any more. “Tourists are in favour of renewable energy, they want their hotels to have renewable energy, they're willing to accommodate its inconveniences and are willing to adapt to some extent,” Dr Dalton said. “There needs to be a lot of marketing and a lot of tests to demonstrate that this technology is viable.” He found most types of renewable energy installations near a hotel were visually acceptable, with the exception of some wind turbines. Tourist operators thought that governments should be advertising and promoting renewable energy more and that government rebate schemes only applied to domestic applications. He included three case studies where renewable energy was used in a large hotel, bed and breakfast and in an eco-lodge resort. His analysis showed that wind turbine energy was more economical by a factor of 10 compared to solar energy with set up costs recouped in five years for wind and in 10 years for solar. “Wind seems to be a political hotcake that no one really seems willing to address and as a result doesn't seem to be promoted,” he said. “It's big in Europe, but micro generation wind, where a single turbine provides power for an individual unit, isn't being promoted whatsoever.

Institute Researchers at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) have discovered a new brain mechanism that plays an important role in regulating how we experience pain. Scientists from QBI's synaptic plasticity laboratory discovered the new mechanism while studying the amygdala – the part of the brain that deals with our emotional responses. QBI has one of the relatively few laboratories around the world currently looking at how the amygdala deals with pain inputs. According to QBI's Dr Andrew Delaney, there are essentially two aspects to pain. “You have a sensory component that tells you where you are hurting and what sort of hurt you've had, and there's the emotional response you have to that event,” he said. “The sensory part of pain is quite well understood, but until now very little had been done to look at the emotional part of pain.” QBI scientists used an anatomical technique which involved labelling the neurons in what is essentially the brain's pain-relay station [the parabrachial nucleus] to identify target cells in the amygdala that receive inputs during pain. Researchers were able to record electrical responses in the amygdala when the pain inputs were stimulated electrically. “People have long thought there's a connection between your experience of pain and the emotional state that you're in,” Dr Delaney said. Historically, this has been borne out by first-hand reports from people who have suffered a traumatic injury during the height of combat and yet gone on to all but ignore their injury for some time. A similar phenomenon happens on the sporting field where, during the game's emotional zenith, a player injures a knee or ankle but manages to finish the play or walk off. For many years, this was thought to be a spinal cord effect, whereby the release of hormones during heightened emotions inhibit the transmission of pain – sometimes called the "gate theory" of pain. “Our findings indicate that there is also an interaction between the stress pathways in the brain and the pain pathway that targets the amygdala,” Dr Delaney said. "This seems to indicate that during times of stress, our emotional response to pain may also be modulated, perhaps reducing the emotional impact of a painful experience.” The QBI scientists have shown, for the first time, that the stress hormone noradrenaline acts as a fast modulatory transmitter in the brain, and that the way this transmitter works at these pain synapses was by scaling down the size of the pain inputs. Such a mechanism had not previously been identified in the brain, and it is one which is ideally suited to providing strong control over the activation of the emotional response, even when strong painful input activates the pathway to the amygdala. According to QBI's Head of Synaptic Plasticity, Professor Pankaj Sah, people who suffer chronic pain have higher incidence of anxiety disorders, conditions known to involve dysfunctional processing in the amygdala. “This study reveals an important site for interaction between the pain and emotional systems of the brain, potentially offering a key connection to how this might be occurring,” he said. “Ultimately understanding how these systems interact at the synaptic level might reveal the nature of these dysfunctional states and offer an insight into how we might better treat such conditions.” The research – "Noradrenaline Modulates Transmission at a Central Synapse by a Presynaptic Mechanism" – is published in the journal Neuron and is downloadable

Biodegradable packaging may not be all it's cracked up to be, according to world food packaging expert, Dr Gordon L Robertson, who is also an adjunct professor at The University of Queensland. Professor Robertson, author of a definitive textbook on food packaging entitled Food Packaging Principles and Practice, said few people working in the food and packaging industries had formal education in the area with the result that decisions were often based on intuition and/or trial and error. He warned against being swept up in a rush to adopt new bio-based polymers such as PLA and PHA for food packaging without thoroughly investigating properties such as shelf life and biodegradability under normal conditions. “It's no use having a biodegradable PLA water bottle for example that is going to start leaking its contents after a few weeks, which is what is happening right now to such bottles in New Zealand and the USA,” Professor Robertson said. “These products only break down quickly under certain conditions as well. For example, a biodegradable PLA water bottle may take three to five years at 25°C to completely disintegrate and more than two months at 60°C.” Professor Robertson said food packaging had become a kind of “poster boy” for environmental activism as it was the most “visible sign of waste” even though the environmental impacts from packaging were quite small and packaging actually prevented waste. “A technical understanding of the functions and impacts of food packaging must be developed if we are to proceed with the sensible introduction of bio-based packaging,” he said.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is injecting $7.5 billion dollars into a bank battered by expected subprime losses. In exchange, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will receive a 4.9% stake in the form of convertible stock in the largest financial institution that traditionally could fund itself, but now needs external sources of capital. The deal has already been approved by U.S. regulators. In case you were wondering how first by inflation, then by deflation how we will wake up slaves on the continent our father’s founded, this is it happens. The ADIA fund, which invests the oil surplus of the richest city state within the United Arab Emirates, has agreed to play no part in the bank’s management and will have no right to appoint a director to the board. When the equity units convert to shares, Abu Dhabi ruling family, headed by Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, will become the bank’s biggest shareholder, replacing Kingdom Holdings, which has a 3.6pc stake. the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has over $650 billion in assets. In recent years ADIA been joined by funds controlled by the governments of China, Singapore and others. Ironically, Kingdom (controlled by Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal) bought the bulk of its stake in 1991 during the bank’s Latin American crisis. Analysts, however, also focused on the price Citigroup is paying for the AIDA investment, which is expected to be completed by the end of the week. The deal was structured in the form of convertible securities that will require the company to pay junk-bond levels of coupon interest, reported by Barron's to be close to 11%, for the privilege of selling part of America's premier consumer financial institution into foreign hands. The sad part is that this deal may not be enough and Citigroup may be forced to sell more than $100 billion of higher quality assets at a discount in order to raise cash. Each equity unit being sold will convert into the bank’s shares at prices ranging from $31.83-$37.24 a share between March 2010 and September 2011. Until conversion, each unit will pay interest quarterly, a fixed rate of 11pc per annum. The origins of Citigroup go back to the founding of the City Bank of New York in 1812. Over these past 195 years, the institution has been carefully built and nurtured, and its prosperity has enriched countless thousands of American stockholders. That wealth creation, as it circulated around and across the American economy, also enriched the American community as a whole. In essence, in commencing the process of selling away America's remarkably innovative and profitable financial system, the country will now be paying a rent, in the form of the profits accruing to Abu Dhabi and the other SWF buyers that must surely follow its lead, equal to what it once collected for itself. How long before they start to scream about our financial system being taken over by oil dollars…or will they?

Actually my business did better on Tuesday than Monday. So should we call it Techie Tuesday

I am still shocked and deeply saddened. I just can't believe he is dead. The loss of Sean Taylor is being felt in West Virginia. At Redskins Park and around the NFL on Tuesday, league and team officials, coaches and players took time to comment on the passing of Redskins safety Sean Taylor: -- NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell -- Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell -- Redskins safety Reed Doughty -- Redskins left guard Pete Kendall -- Eagles head coach Andy Reid -- Jets linebacker Jonathan Vilma -- Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey -- Giants wide receiver Sinorice Moss:

Washington is 3-4 in the NFC this season, so Sunday's game against Tampa Bay could be pivotal in terms of playoff tiebreakers as the Redskins head into the stretch run. Last Sunday Keenan McCardell caught five passes for 76 yards, including four that resulted in first downs. A little known fact is that Keenan has a Super Bowl ring. He got the ring during his first year with the Washington Redskins. He never played, but he was on injured reserve. On December 4, 2005, Keenan McCardell became the 13th player in NFL history to record 800 career receptions. He is also 20th on the all-time list for yardage by a receiver.

You are the joke Yatra. This is Washington DC not New England. We love our home team. Would you go over to your friends house and tell his mother that her food is crap? If you are that type of person then I am willing to bet you do not have alot of friends. Brandon Lloyd is hurt and no longer playing for the Redskins this season. So at this point he is a non issue.

The integrated fuel cell power system may be the ultimate auto answer for an eco-friendly alternative-energy vehicle. The system allows for continuous, uninterrupted use, since at least one fuel supply unit is removable, and the system can operate from another supply unit while the removable unit is being replaced. Advances in lithium-ion battery technology and a shift in the mindset of auto manufacturers, have made hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEVs) and electric vehicles (EVs) a viable alternative to traditional fuel-powered automotives for the near future, according to officials at Lithium Technology Corp, (LTC). LTC has focused solely on the development and production of large format lithium-ion batteries for more than twenty years and offers solutions today to drive the future. In the early days, developers felt that lithium batteries stored too much energy to be made safely in large sizes. and that they could never be designed to provide high power. It was only in the last few years that the technically challenge of building large, high energy and powerfull Lithium Ion batteries has been met. To understand the relationship of energy and power, consider the analogy of an automobile. The gas tank is analogous to the energy, the larger it is, the farther the car can drive. The motor is analogous to the power, the larger it is, the faster the car can accelerate and the faster it can drive. To be able to compare different battery systems irrespective of their sizes, energy and power are normalized per unit weight and volume (specific energy/power and energy/power density). “There has been a change of mindset within the car industry over the past two years triggered by the success the Japanese have had with the HEV,” said Dr. Klaus Brandt, executive vice president of LTC and managing director of LTC subsidiary GAIA Akkumulatorenwerke (GAIA). “Large lithium-ion solutions have proven to be a technical reality for passenger cars and have achieved respectable performance.” LTC has powered a project in conjunction with Innosys Engineering in which a four passenger Daihatsu Cuore was converted into an electric car using the lithium-ion batteries and a three-phase asynchronous electric motor. The battery, built with cells manufactured by LTC subsidiary GAIA, has a capacity of 25 kWh and an approximate highway range of 100 to 125 miles at 56 to 60 mph). “The technology is here today. LTC has it, and we’ve demonstrated it,” says Dr. Brandt. “Price is the biggest factor holding back the production of these more environmentally friendly, fuel efficient vehicles. By committing to work together, the auto manufactures and battery companies can bring the cost down and make cars like the Volt an affordable reality for the consumer.” The lithium-ion battery has the same capacity as the original metal hydride battery but with half the weight. The battery can be charged by either the internal combustion engine (ICE) or a standard AC household electrical socket and can drive over 40 miles on the overnight electrical charge. The converted vehicle has a fuel economy of 36 mpg in the city, and 38 mpg on the highway, as compared to the original Chevy Equinox range of 19 mpg city and 25 mpg highway. LTC launched a new product line of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO(4)) cells in May 2007, offering the largest cells of their kind in the world. Further demonstrating its commitment, the Company unveiled a Toyota Prius retrofitted with its breakthrough technology demonstrating an achievement of 125 + miles per gallon.

No one really knows how to reverse the situation yet. Just like researching a cure for cancer it takes time and money. Right now we need to find a solution to slow down the process first. There has been talk about putting iron in the ocean. But, it may kill the local plant and wild life. People are also planting trees. We need to get away from Fossil fuels. First the Poor countries will feel it. Then refugees will hit their neighbors resources to compound the problem. The chain will grow. Everyone who has money needs to donate their time or money to slow this down. This is about our survival.

You can be upset at the Redskins, but why call for the Gibbs to leave. If the Redskins made that 3rd and goal play none of you would not be saying anything. Gibbs would have looked like a genius. The problem is that the offensive line did not pick up those linebackers.

I think the vote stunned everyone and even the anti-war forces, the House 251-162 to keep the Cheney impeachment measure alive. The majority was formed by 165 Republicans and 86 Democrats. The Vermont Senate last Friday also approved impeachment charges against Cheney on a 16-9 vote.

1. H.CON.RES.23 : Expressing the sense of Congress that the President should not order an escalation in the total number of members of the United States Armed Forces serving in Iraq. Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] (introduced 1/10/2007) Cosponsors (35) Committees: House Armed Services Latest Major Action: 1/10/2007 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Armed Services. 2. H.RES.333 : Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors. Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] (introduced 4/24/2007) Cosponsors (22) Committees: House Judiciary Latest Major Action: 5/4/2007 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. 3. H.RES.799 : Impeaching Richard B. Cheney, Vice President of the United States, of high crimes and misdemeanors. Sponsor: Rep Kucinich, Dennis J. [OH-10] (introduced 11/6/2007) Cosponsors (None) Committees: House Judiciary Latest Major Action: 11/6/2007 House floor actions. Status: On motion to refer Agreed to by recorded vote: 218 - 194 (Roll no. 1039).

Here are some videos of Flip Orley in action. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_quer...p;search=Search

The Maltese Falcon is a 130 million dollar luxury sailing yacht owned by American hectomillionaire Tom Perkins. It is one of the largest privately-owned sailing yachts in the world at 88 metres (289.1 feet), after yachts such as Royal Huisman's Athena and Lurssen's Eos . Ken Freivokh Design were the appointed designers (after an invention from the German engineer Wilhelm Prölss). The yacht was constructed in Tuzla, Turkey by the Italian firm Perini Navi. The Falcon was the third yacht built by this firm for Perkins. As of 2006 the Falcon is registered in Valletta, Malta. It completed its trial sail in the Sea of Marmara to the Bosphorus strait on 12 June 2006, and made its maiden voyage from Turkey to Italy via Malta in July 2006. As of 2006 S/Y Perkins rents the Falcon out for between EUR€ 325,000 to 335,000 per week[1] plus expenses. The Maltese Falcon moored in Monte-CarloThe ship has fifteen square sails (five per mast) stored inside the masts which unfurl in six minutes. The three carbon fiber masts were manufactured and assembled by a company financed by Perkins at the Yildiz Gemi yard in Tuzla, 50 miles south of Istanbul, Turkey, under the supervision of the English company Insensys, and are free-standing and rotating. The yacht is easily controlled and has been seen to sail off her anchor and away from berths within harbors. The yacht's sophisticated computer detects parameters such as wind speed automatically and displays key data, however Perkins does not permit the computer to actually sail the yacht. An operator must always activate the controls, yet it is possible for a single person to pilot the yacht.

Briefing on Reconstruction Progress in Iraq James Soriano, al-Anbar Provincial Reconstruction Team Leader Brigadier General John Allen, U.S. Marine Corps Deputy Commander of Multi National Force-West Washington, DC November 2, 2007

Interview With Steve Centanni of Fox News Secretary Condoleezza Rice Jerusalem November 4, 2007

Anyone know about this company? myosba.biz called me and stated they were a vendor for Verizon Yellow Pages. Internet Business Association, Inc. for profit business. The web site stated the organization was formed to assist small businesses utilize the incredible services and tools available via the internet. IBA provides access to the Internet via access to our network of more than 4,500 local dial-up telephone numbers throughout the United States. They stated they provide my white listing. 18888443551 http://www.myiba.biz/ Total Marketing Concepts Call Center out of Central Florida with Offices in Reno, Nevada. http://www.myosba.biz http://www.myosba.com/ I spoke with Brian Horner. He stated that Internet Business Association handles Verizon and AOL Business Listings. Brain Further stated that they were calling to continue my white page listings.

You are one of the first politicians that can actually write.

I am not worried about President Bush. What he did was perfectly legal. The Democrats in office censure him. The Supreme Court has stated no objections. Therefore, I can only conclude that the Executive Power is becoming more seductive to both parties that eventually our Constitution will be thrown out as obsolete thinking. The First Candidate that justly discusses the Honor of serving the American people has got my vote.

Iraqi Community leaders joined the Soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, to try and hammer out a solution to improper connections to the water supply, which leads to water line leakage and breakage, low water pressure and disease.

I am tired of both sides stating the world is our enemy. Our government leaders cry wolf so our business leaders can slaughter sheep. We wave the American flag when we really should be waving the dollar. The greenback is today's new glory.

YOU GUYS SUCK. Did any of you notice that the Patriots defenders seemed to know the routes of our receivers? Remember Bill Belichick was fined $500,000 by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the team was fined $250,000 for violating a league rule that prohibits clubs from using a video camera on the sidelines for any purpose -- including recording signals relayed to opposing players on the field. New England also must forfeit a first-round draft pick next year if it makes the playoffs or a second- and third-rounder if it doesn't. I wonder if he is looking at other media?