According to the CDC report, during the August 19 surprise visit, inspectors found brown liquid dripping on clean dishes, refrigerators out of order, improper installation of anti-entrapment drain covers in pools posing a possible danger to swimmers, faulty dishwashers that managers allegedly failed to do anything about until inspectors arrived and water from a broken ice machine leaking onto the pool deck.

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That August Zhukov sprang his surprise offensive against the Japanese, routing them even though their forces were slightly larger.

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Had the August data been a pleasant surprise, the outlook on Fed action would have been blurry.

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Nevertheless, the news of his resignation, on Friday August 29th, was a surprise.

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Then in a surprise move in August CNPC snatched from under the noses of the favored U.S. giants the rights to negotiate with the Kazak government the rehabilitation and exploitation of Uzen field near the Caspian coast.

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Thankfully, President Bush's stirring throw-down-the-gauntlet speech in August at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention and his surprise visit to Iraq in September demonstrate that the Commander in Chief has no intention of undercutting our newfound successes in Iraq.

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Given that Washington has yet to agree on a resolution for dealing with the debt ceiling and the uneven pace of economic growth, it would not surprise me to see more choppiness in the market, especially as we approach the August deadline for raising the federal debt ceiling.

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Nominal retail sales growth posted a big upside surprise in September, rising 14.2 percent year over year compared with 13.2 percent in August.

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