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Reeds Ferry Sheds Tax Holiday
Save on paying sales tax during the Massachusetts Tax Holiday. Order your shed now. The tax-free weekend is Aug 16-17th.

By: Reeds Ferry

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Reeds Ferry Sheds Tax Holiday - Video

2012 VAWA renewal Senator Franken sheds crocodile tears
The proponents of VAWA include cops, prosecutors, career politicians, neofeminists and the brainwashed followers of any of the above who can #39;t be bothered to...

By: AstroKid Nj

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2012 VAWA renewal Senator Franken sheds crocodile tears - Video

New survey sheds light on tourism in Vermont
Survey says tourists are often referred by friends or family and are looking forward to sampling local food and products. Subscribe to WPTZ on YouTube now fo...

By: WPTZ NewsChannel 5

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New survey sheds light on tourism in Vermont - Video

Rajasthan: 22-year old woman diagnosed with rare disease that sheds #39;blood tears #39;
In an unusual case, a 22-year-old woman from Kota has been diagnosed with a rare disease which leads to shedding of blood tears from the eyes instead of sa...

By: Zee News

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Rajasthan: 22-year old woman diagnosed with rare disease that sheds 'blood tears' - Video

Turkish PM: Israel will drown in Palestinian blood it sheds
The Turkish prime minister has some harsh words for Israel over its atrocities in the Gaza Strip. Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Tel Aviv will be brought into acc...

By: PressTV News Videos

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Turkish PM: Israel will drown in Palestinian blood it sheds - Video

Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian, ditched his Speedos and signed a new endorsement deal with swimsuit maker Aqua Sphere.

Phelps, who came out of retirement in April after winning a record 18 Olympic gold medals, has worn Warnaco Group Ltd.s Speedo swimsuits since turning professional at the age of 16.

Aqua Sphere is a producer of swimwear and accessories for triathletes and fitness swimmers that has not made racing suits before. The company, which began in Genoa, Italy, in 1998, will work with Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, to develop products that are accessible to a broad range of swimmers, from professional to recreational, it said in a news release.

There is an opportunity to help make the sport more inviting to others by recognizing that everyone begins at different levels, requires assistance matching their skills with products, and lacks the appropriate context in order to maximize their swimming experience, Phelps said in a statement.

Contract terms werent disclosed. Phelpss deal with Speedo expired at the end of 2013. His contract with Vista, California-based Aqua Sphere runs through 2022, according to the Sports Business Journal.

Phelps won six gold medals at the Athens Games in 2004, broke Mark Spitzs record for golds at a single Olympics with eight in Beijing in 2008 and added four more in London in 2012.

By matching Spitzs record of seven gold medals in Beijing, he was awarded a $1 million bonus from Speedo.

Having won a record 22 Olympic medals, he retired at the age of 27. He returned more than 18 months later, saying he changed his mind because he missed the sport.

The 29-year-old is signed up to compete in four events at the U.S. national championships this week in Irvine, California. The swim meet will determine U.S. roster sports for the Aug. 21-25 Pan Pacific Championships in Australia, which then help determine the U.S. team for next years world championships in Kazan, Russia.

Phelps has said he isnt sure whether he wants to swim at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

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Michael Phelps Sheds Speedo to Don Aqua Sphere Swimsuit

ST. LOUIS There was no pass-the-hanky moment, no catch in the voice, no its getting dusty in here moment with John Lackey yesterday.

In fact, after spending a few hot and sticky and uncomfortable minutes with Lackey in the Cardinals home dugout, it sure felt as if he had not only turned the page on his 412-year Red Sox career about three seconds after the trade went down last Thursday, but that he had already begun reaching to turn that page well before the trade.

Lackey paused for two seconds and looked out into the mid-summer haze when asked if he was hoping to get traded.

Im not going to go that far, he finally said. I wasnt surprised.

Lackey was on guard for the interaction with a group of media comprised mainly of Bostonians, eager to get Lackeys take on the trade. He had not taken out an ad in any newspapers to express his thoughts and feelings (if any), and nobody who had contact with his shallow New England roots had sought out his opinion since last Thursday.

While former rotation mate Jon Lesters name was in trade talks for what felt like weeks if not months, Lackeys name did not surface until three or four days before the big day. Besides his strong performance last year and so far this season, Lackey had the added bonus of costing only $500,000 next season. That pittance had much to do with Lackeys high trade value.

Before the Cardinals would do the deal, however, they needed assurance from Lackey that he would indeed play for that amount and not just walk away.

Lackey gave them his word.

But when asked if he would have given the same word to the Red Sox, Lackey got squirrelly about the topic.

I dont know about that honestly. I didnt get that far ahead to think about it at that point, Lackey said.

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John Lackey sheds no tears

Its the stuff dystopian sci-fi is made of: A city on the edge of the largest fresh water reserve on the planet suddenly has no drinkable water. At 1:21 am Saturday morning, the City of Toledo put out an alert: dont drink or bathe in water from the city water supply. About 500,000 residents of the region were affected. Including me.

Lake Erie has a long, troubled history. A common refrain in 1960 was Lake Erie is Dead. The lake and its tributaries have been polluted enough to catch on fire multiple times; the 1969 Cuyohoga fire is just the most famous one. Lake Erie is even mentioned in Dr. Seuss 1971 book The Lorax.

Lake Eries mess helped inspire the formation of the EPA in 1970, and the Clean Water Act of 1972. Things got better; Lake Erie became a hub for fishing and recreation, and is considered the Walleye Capitol of the World. To be able to consume fish from the lake at all, much less swim in the water, is a major achievement in just a few decades.

How did Lake Erie go from polluted, flaming disaster to environmental success storyand then back again to environmental disaster, in just 45 years? And why is it always Lake Erie that has issues? The answers to that question are not hard to find.

Lake Erie is different from the other Great Lakes because its so shallow. The western end of the lake (where Toledo is) has an average depth of only 24 feet. The water warms quickly, and its a great place to live if youre a blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). Say, toxin-producing Microcystis. Microcystis has the ability to control its buoyancy; it can sink or rise to the top of the water at will to chase the sunlight.

When you look at the satellite photo below of the cyanobacterialbloom, its a pretty close overlay for the warm western shallow section of the lake. And exactly where the water intake for the Toledo Water Treatment plant is (red marker on map). The satellite image here is fromJuly 31st, 2014; the problem with toxic algae was not a surprise overnight development.

Both scientists and politicians know there is a problem with algae at this end of the lake nearly every year; look at this satellite photo from 2013. Or 2012. But its not just bad luck and geology; there is a third piece in the Lake Erie Algal Bloom equation.

Toledo is located on the mouth of the Maumee River. It was a strategic area in the 1812 War; and again in the Toledo War of 1835.

The Maumee River was key to Toledos early economic success; its also the cause of algal bloom problems now. Maumee is the largest watershed in the Great Lakes system. It runs right through the Breadbasket of the Midwest, an intensively farmed area. Satellite views show thousands upon thousands of little boxes of green; the highly productive farms and fields of Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana.

The Maumee watershed is such productive farmland because it was once a swamp; the Great Black Swamp. Drainage tiles allowed removal of water from the surface of the soil, and made wonderfully rich swampland available for farming. Drainage tiles also collect up runoff and deliver it very efficiently to streams and rivers.

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Dont Drink The Waterin Lake Erie

Hawaiian Telcom's second-quarter story was once again dominated by its consumer segment, where the telco reported that revenue was $36.3million, up4.3 percentyear-over-year due to revenue growth from its TVand high-speed Internet (HSI) services.

The service provider said that the ongoing buildout of its last mile fiber-based network has become the "catalyst" in driving video and HSI services, which is more than offsetting declines from legacy services.

"Our second quarter results closed the first half of 2014 on a strong note, highlighted by the highest number ofHawaiian Telcom TVsubscriber additions since its launch a little over three years ago," said Eric K. Yeaman, Hawaiian Telcom's president and CEO, in the earnings release. "Hawaii's best entertainment experience can now reach 142,000 households on Oahu and awareness for the service is steadily growing, giving us positive momentum and positioning us to further increase our video market share."

The service provider saw similar gains in the business segment, particularly in next-gen services such as Ethernet. Similar to its larger ILEC counterparts AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon (NYSE: VZ), business revenues declined slightly due to a decrease in equipment, managed services and legacy revenues.

Here's a breakdown of the telco's key metrics:

Broadband and Video:Consumer HSI revenue rose in the quarter to $2.6 million as the overall subscriber base rose to a total of about 91,400 customers, which was primarily driven by HSI pull-through rates from new video subscribers and standalone HSI subscriber additions.As of the end of June, about 54 percent of all of Hawaiian Telcom's video subscribers had a triple-play bundle and about 91 percent had double- or triple-play bundles.Per the industry-wide trend, revenue increases from video and HSI were partially offset by legacy revenue declines related to consumer access and long distance line losses of 8.4 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.

Likewise, video service revenue grew 2.9 percent year-over-year to $5.5 million, driven by the addition of approximately 9,500 subscribers for a total of approximately 23,100 subscribers at the end of the second quarter.Hawaiian Telcom TVaverage revenue per user (ARPU) was up nearly 11.4 percent year-over-year and 2.6 percent when compared to the first quarter of 2014.During the quarter, the service provider enabled an additional 12,000 customers with IPTV, increasing the total number of households enabled to 142,000 with over 50 percentof those households capable of connecting directly to the company's fiber-based broadband technology.At the end of the second quarter,Hawaiian Telcom TVpenetration of households enabled was approximately 16.3 percent.

Business segment:Business revenue was $42.1 million, down $0.5 million from the same period a year ago, primarily due to a $2.4 million year-over-year decrease in equipment and managed services revenue, mostly related to a $1.8 million sale of equipment to a large Hawaii-based private school in the second quarter of 2013.Also, a year-over-year decline in legacy business access and long distance revenues contributed to the business revenue decline.However, Hawaiian Telcom said these decreases were largely offset by $2.1 million of incremental net revenue added as a result of the SystemMetrics acquisition and a 4.6 percent year-over-year increase in business data revenue driven by higher demand for IP-based data services.

Wholesale segment:Wholesale revenue was $15.8million, down $0.5 millionyear-over-year to $14.3million. The telco attributes the decline to a number of its wireless carrier customers replacing their bandwidth legacy copper-based T-1 circuits with fiber-based, higher bandwidth Ethernet circuits.Likewise, switched carrier access revenue declined $0.2 million year-over-year to $1.5 million, which it also attributes to the overall decline in access lines and minutes of use and the impact of intercarrier compensation reform.

Overall second-quarter 2014 revenue was $96.8 million, up from $97 million in the second quarter of 2013. Next-gen video, HSI and $2.1 million of net incremental data center services revenue from SystemMetrics revenue was offset by a $2.4 million decrease in equipment and managed services revenue, related to lower customer premise equipment sales, and a 5.5 percent decline in access lines.

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Hawaiian Telcom's Q2 consumer revenues rise to $36.3M on broadband, TV growth

The Expendables 3 is a mostly successful blend of the franchises first two films. Its filled with the wanton mayhem and destruction of the second film, but also plenty of terrible dialogue and overall cheesiness of the first movie. Despite those flaws, thePatrick Hughessequel works because its constantly fun and features a story that builds off the fact the franchise was in danger of getting stale, leading it into a new era. Read the rest of our Expendables 3 review below.

When the first Expendables came out, the joke of it was it starred aging action stars. In The Expendables 3, thats finally caught up to the narrative. As the film begins, the core team (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Randy Couture, Terry Crews and Dolph Lundgren) complete a dangerous mission that has Barney (Stallone) questioning everyones mortality. Maybe everyone is just getting too old and he doesnt want to lose more friends. That sets up a story where he leaves his friends behind to recruit a new, young version of The Expendables (newcomers Kellen Lutz,Ronda Rousey, Victor Ortiz and Glen Powell). Theyre tasked with taking down the baddest bad guy yet, played by Mel Gibson andthings, of course, go horribly wrong. I bet you cant guess who is called in to save the day.

That idea of old vs. new, coupled with Barneys guilt, gives the film a not-so-subtle, but welcome, emotional core. Theres both the generation gap to deal with as well as the idea of friendship and family being more important than business. Its nice that the film has even an inkling of pathos to go along with the trademark humor and action.

The script by Stallone,Creighton RothenbergandKatrin Benediktgivesevery member of this cast multiple times to shine. New additions such as Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes and Harrison Ford, all have pretty sizable parts with plenty of scenery to chew on. (Kelsey Grammaris the one person who gets the short end of the stick, unfortunately.) Its Gibson though, as the heavy of the piece, who is the star among stars. Hes channelling some of that Lethal Weapon wackiness blended with William Wallaces charisma and its great. You really miss having Gibson as a movie star in The Expendables 3.

But its not all smooth sailing. The film is filled with an incessant amount of awful one liners and the whole second act is bogged down by its own creation. The Expendables 3 is built around this great self-aware narrative idea but that idea back them into a few corners. First, the self-awareness frequently goes too far. For example, Arnold Schwarzeneggers character actually says Get to the Chopper instead of just winking at it. Plus, because Barney has to recruit a new team, were forced to relive the same scene four times to introduce all these characters. Once theyre on board, you have these new, young characters who are smart and modern. That means, when they go on their first mission and use a bunch of new technology, the ease of it almost feels lazy when compared to the big boom of the old Expendables.

Thats not to say the new team is boring. They have a swagger and energy thats nicely opposed to the old team. However, theyre seriously short changed on backstory and their entire second act feels like nothing more than an obvious, dialed down place holder to bridge the gap between the opening and the climax.

Despite the predictability of it all, the third act is probablythe best overall actionscene in the entire franchise. Its massive and the way everyone gets a heroic moment is commendable. The stunts and explosions are off the charts and though they get punctuated with some really eye-rolling dialogue and unbelievable set pieces, its just fun to see how this massive cast can come together in a way that makes narrative sense.

Much was made about the fact The Expendables 3 was rated PG-13 and not R, but you dont really notice. More people die in this movie than most R rated movies. You just dont see the blood. And despite what may or may not be available on the internet, The Expendables 3 is a must see on the big screen.

Overall, The Expendables 3 is a your basic, solid, fun, summer action movie. Its exactly what you expect and while there are plenty of bad parts, the good ones more than balance them out. Itll be nice to see how the franchise moves forward now that its been infused with this new blood.

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The Expendables 3 Review: Plenty of Dumb Action As The Franchise Matures