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Pakistan, Karakoram, Panmah Muztagh Climbs And Expeditions Author: Christof Nettekoven Climb Year: 2016 Publication Year: 2017 Supported by the German Alpine Club, Matthias Bohe, Harry Kirschenhofer, Philipp Moser, Chris Romeike, and I began our journey on July 14, aiming to explore side valleys of the Panmah Glacier. The approach from Askole took four days, following the Dumordo River and Panmah Glacier to reach the high meadow of Skinmang at the junction of the Chiring Glacier and Nobande Sobande branch of the Panmah. On the 23rd we established base camp at 4,175m on the lower part of the Maedan Glacier (called South Chiring Glacier on the Japanese Miyamori map). After some steep climbing we placed a high camp at 5,130m.On July 30, Matthias, Philipp, and Chris left high camp and climbed 3km to the head of the Maedan, then up a 100m névé slope (55°) to reach the west ridge of Peak 6,020m. They gained the crest by following avalanche-scoured terrain, then continued up the ridge over several steeper steps (65°), the biggest of which required downclimbing loose rock on the far side (UIAA II–III). Finally, they reached a big snow slope rising 200m (40°) to the final section of the north ridge. After negotiating the exposed summit crest, the team was surprised to find a black raven sitting on the highest point. The GPS recorded 35°51.074'N, 76°5.053'E, and thanks to the bird the peak was dubbed Porok Ri, which means Raven Mountain in Balti. On August 3, Matthias, Harry, Philipp, Chris, and I left high camp at 3 a.m. to attempt Nera Peak (6,143m). Our plan was to climb up the west flank, over a steep hanging glacier to a snow basin, and from there up the steep west face to the top. Since belaying the complete climb over the hanging glacier would have proved too time-consuming, we decided to climb unroped to the left of the steepest part of the glacier tongue, via a névé slope (420m, 55°). Shortly before reaching the basin, huge crevasses blocked the way, so we roped up and bypassed them on the left. Deep snow and narrow crevasses hampered progress to the summit slopes, which involved snow and ice with steps up to 80°. Five and a half hours after leaving camp we reached the top (35°53.094'N, 76°05.171'E).The west face of unclimbed Chiring I (Chiring West, 6,861m Google Earth).The Maedan Glacier still offers attractive unclimbed peaks above 6,000m. At the southeastern end of the basin lies S1 (ca 6,024m) and S2 (ca 6,000m). Opposite Nera Peak, on the west side of the glacier, are four unclimbed rock towers resembling sharks’ teeth.The most spectacular targets can be found in the Chiring Range, on the east side of the Chiring Glacier. Here are unclimbed peaks up to 6,861m, as well as 1,000m granite walls and faces up to 1,400m.In 1986, T. Shigetani’s expedition attempted Karpo Go (sometimes called Karpogo Sar, Chiring, or Kezhen, 7,038m) from the Chiring Glacier but gave up after a fatal fall into a crevasse (AAJ 1987). In 1988, Tadashi Kamei’s team made an unsuccessful attempt on Chiring West from the south (a.k.a. Chiring I, 6,861m Google Earth; not to be confused with Karpo Go, which lies behind; see AAJ 1989). Japanese climbers led by Hiroshi Fujii would eventually succeed on Karpo Go, in 1994, approaching via the Shaksgam in China (AAJ 1995). It appears all the major peaks directly above the Chiring remain unclimbed. Christof Nettekoven, DAV, Germany \0xD7 Supported by the German Alpine Club, Matthias Bohe, Harry Kirschenhofer, Philipp Moser, Chris Romeike, and I began our journey on July 14, aiming to explore side valleys of the Panmah Glacier. The approach from Askole took four days, following the Dumordo River and Panmah Glacier to reach the high meadow of Skinmang at the junction of the Chiring Glacier and Nobande Sobande branch of the Panmah. On the 23rd we established base camp at 4,175m on the lower part of the Maedan Glacier (called South Chiring Glacier on the Japanese Miyamori map). After some steep climbing we placed a high camp at 5,130m.On July 30, Matthias, Philipp, and Chris left high camp and climbed 3km to the head of the Maedan, then up a 100m névé slope (55°) to reach the west ridge of Peak 6,020m. They gained the crest by following avalanche-scoured terrain, then continued up the ridge over several steeper steps (65°), the biggest of which required downclimbing loose rock on the far side (UIAA II–III). Finally, they reached a big snow slope rising 200m (40°) to the final section of the north ridge. After negotiating the exposed summit crest, the team was surprised to find a black raven sitting on the highest point. The GPS recorded 35°51.074'N, 76°5.053'E, and thanks to the bird the peak was dubbed Porok Ri, which means Raven Mountain in Balti. On August 3, Matthias, Harry, Philipp, Chris, and I left high camp at 3 a.m. to attempt Nera Peak (6,143m). Our plan was to climb up the west flank, over a steep hanging glacier to a snow basin, and from there up the steep west face to the top. Since belaying the complete climb over the hanging glacier would have proved too time-consuming, we decided to climb unroped to the left of the steepest part of the glacier tongue, via a névé slope (420m, 55°). Shortly before reaching the basin, huge crevasses blocked the way, so we roped up and bypassed them on the left. Deep snow and narrow crevasses hampered progress to the summit slopes, which involved snow and ice with steps up to 80°. Five and a half hours after leaving camp we reached the top (35°53.094'N, 76°05.171'E).The west face of unclimbed Chiring I (Chiring West, 6,861m Google Earth).The Maedan Glacier still offers attractive unclimbed peaks above 6,000m. At the southeastern end of the basin lies S1 (ca 6,024m) and S2 (ca 6,000m). Opposite Nera Peak, on the west side of the glacier, are four unclimbed rock towers resembling sharks’ teeth.The most spectacular targets can be found in the Chiring Range, on the east side of the Chiring Glacier. Here are unclimbed peaks up to 6,861m, as well as 1,000m granite walls and faces up to 1,400m.In 1986, T. Shigetani’s expedition attempted Karpo Go (sometimes called Karpogo Sar, Chiring, or Kezhen, 7,038m) from the Chiring Glacier but gave up after a fatal fall into a crevasse (AAJ 1987). In 1988, Tadashi Kamei’s team made an unsuccessful attempt on Chiring West from the south (a.k.a. Chiring I, 6,861m Google Earth; not to be confused with Karpo Go, which lies behind; see AAJ 1989). Japanese climbers led by Hiroshi Fujii would eventually succeed on Karpo Go, in 1994, approaching via the Shaksgam in China (AAJ 1995). It appears all the major peaks directly above the Chiring remain unclimbed. Christof Nettekoven, DAV, Germany This AAJ article has been reformatted into HTML. Please contact us if you spot an error.

FrançaisEnter Your Search:Search tipsSearch criteria Articles Journal titlesAdvanced |HHS Author Manuscripts |PMC3221481 FormatsPubReaderPDF (166K)Article sectionsAbstractMETHODSDISCUSSIONCONCLUSIONSSupplementary MaterialReferencesAuthors Hogan, T. Losman, E. Carpenter, C. Leipzig, R.Related linksRelated articles Acad Emerg Med. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2011 November 21.Published in final edited form as:Acad Emerg Med. 2010 March; 17(3): 316–324. doi: 10.1111/j.1553-2712.2010.00684.xPMCID: PMC3221481NIHMSID: NIHMS334454Development of Geriatric Competencies for Emergency Medicine Residents Using an Expert Consensus ProcessTeresita M. Hogan, MD, Eve D. Losman, MD, Christopher R. Carpenter, MD, Karen Sauvigne, MA, Cheryl Irmiter, PhD, Linda Emanuel, MD, PhD, and Rosanne M. Leipzig, MDDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Resurrection Medical Center (TMH), Chicago, IL; the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois (TMH), Chicago, IL; The Buehler Center on Aging, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (TMH, LE), Chicago, IL; the Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan (EDL), Ann Arbor, MI; the Department of Emergency Medicine, Washington University (CRC), St. Louis MO; the Division of Education, Brookdale Department of Geriatric and Palliative Care (KS, RML), Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY; and the American Medical Association (CI), Chicago, ILAddress for correspondence and reprints: Teresita M. Hogan, MD; Email: gro.erachtlaehser@nagohtAuthor information ► Copyright and License information ►Copyright notice and DisclaimerThe publisher's final edited version of this article is available free at Acad Emerg MedSee other articles in PMC that cite the published article.AbstractBackgroundThe emergency department (ED) visit rate for older patients exceeds that of all age groups other than infants. The aging population will increase elder ED patient utilization to 35% to 60% of all visits. Older patients can have complex clinical presentations and be resource-intensive. Evidence indicates that emergency physicians fail to provide consistent high-quality care for elder ED patients, resulting in poor clinical outcomes.ObjectivesThe objective was to develop a consensus document, “Geriatric Competencies for Emergency Medicine Residents,” by identified experts. This is a minimum set of behaviorally based performance standards that all residents should be able to demonstrate by completion of their residency training.MethodsThis consensus-based process utilized an inductive, qualitative, multiphase method to determine the minimum geriatric competencies needed by emergency medicine (EM) residents. Assessments of face validity and reliability were used throughout the project.ResultsIn Phase I, participants (n = 363) identified 12 domains and 300 potential competencies. In Phase II, an expert panel (n = 24) clustered the Phase I responses, resulting in eight domains and 72 competencies. In Phase III, the expert panel reduced the competencies to 26. In Phase IV, analysis of face validity and reliability yielded a 100% consensus for eight domains and 26 competencies. The domains identified were atypical presentation of disease; trauma, including falls; cognitive and behavioral disorders; emergent intervention modifications; medication management; transitions of care; pain management and palliative care; and effect of comorbid conditions.ConclusionsThe Geriatric Competencies for EM Residents is a consensus document that can form the basis for EM residency curricula and assessment to meet the demands of our aging population.Keywords: geriatrics, emergency medicine residents, competency, consensusThe specialty of emergency medicine (EM) shoulders a great responsibility for the care of older adult patients in the United States. There were more than 17 million elder patient visits to emergency departments (EDs) in 2006, with visit rates exceeding those of all age groups other than infants.1 By 2030, the number of U.S. elders will almost double to 71 million, accounting for roughly 20% of the U.S. population.2 Older patients tend to have complex clinical presentations, and their care can be resource-intensive. Evidence indicates that emergency physicians (EPs) fail to provide consistent high-quality care for elder ED patients and that this results in poor clinical outcomes.3–10 Few EDs address the distinctive needs of older patients, and many do not have the necessary expertise, equipment, and policies in place to provide optimal care for this growing population.11,12 Older patients are often diagnostically challenging and quite ill, and their clinical presentations are often atypical or influenced by underlying comorbidities. In addition, older patients who present to the ED are a particularly challenging subgroup for the ED culture. They tend to be very time- and resource-intensive and have few safeguards in place for observation and care at home. As a consequence, they are admitted more often than their younger counterparts to the hospital and intensive care unit,13–15 although hospitalization has been shown to carry significant risk for this population.16,17Despite this compelling need, there is little training for EPs in the unique clinical and psychosocial characteristics of older patients.18 In 1992, an American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) member survey found that practicing EPs considered it more difficult to manage elders compared with younger patients and that the time spent during residency training on geriatric EM was inadequate.19 When this survey was replicated in 2007, no improvement was identified.20A 2008 Institute of Medicine (IOM) report details the crisis facing all segments of the health care workforce as the numbers of elders swell over the next 20 years.21 The IOM’s report recommends that “the geriatric competence of virtually all members of the health care workforce needs to be improved through significant enhancements in educational curricula and training programs, and then assessed through career-long demonstrations of this competence.”21 IOM recommendation number 4.2 goes on to state, “All licensure, certification and maintenance of certification for health care professionals should include demonstration of competence in the care of older adults as a criterion.”21In October 2008, ACEP published a white paper detailing the multiple challenges that the surging “gray tsunami” will have on the practice of EM over the next two decades.22 ACEP’s primary recommendation to address these issues is education, particularly to 1) prioritize and provide support for the development of an enhanced geriatric core curriculum for resident training and 2) prioritize and support the development and dissemination of a body of core knowledge for practicing emergency clinicians similar to that for pediatrics and trauma.Recently, geriatrics-specific, competency-based consensus performance standards for medical students were created and disseminated by Leipzig et al.23 This was the first crucial development in medical education’s response to the IOM report. Leipzig and her colleagues demonstrated a way for graduate medical educators to advocate for new educational standards improving the care of older adults by applying the principles of competency-based training.Competency-based training is the new standard for medical education. Over the past 10 years, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (AC-GME) has moved from granting accreditation to residency programs based on their compliance with curricular and structural requirements, to a process where residencies are assessed on the actual accomplishments of their residents. Specifically, the ACGME requires that residents achieve measurable outcomes of performance and knowledge. This model shifts resident education to the demonstration of clinical competency in general (e.g., communication skills and professionalism) and discipline specific (e.g., medical knowledge) areas.24 Curricula and assessment are driven by the competencies, with the curricula describing how and where this learning occurs.In this article, we describe the use of a consensus method to identify geriatric competencies for EM residents, a minimum set of behaviorally based performance standards that all residents should be able to demonstrate by completion of their residency training. All of the geriatric EM competencies begin with the phrase, “The graduating emergency medicine resident, in the context of a specific older patient scenario (real or simulated), must be able to …,” and then describes a specific behavior that the learner must demonstrate. This differs from a curriculum in an important way. While a topic area for learning is clearly described as in a curriculum, the desired outcome is not just didactic mastery of the topic area, but a defined behavior generated within that context.We focus on EM resident education because residency programs train physicians to provide what becomes the standard of competent care to older adults. When these minimum geriatric competencies become the baseline for completion of residency training, the next step will be to assure that all practicing EPs achieve these competencies through continuing medical education and maintenance of certification.METHODSProcess Overview and TimelineOur primary objective was to develop a consensus document by identified experts on geriatric-based competencies for EM residents. This consensus process used an inductive qualitative research methodology to produce a consensus document.25 The phases are diagramed in Figure 1 and took place between February and December 2008 (Table 1). The Geriatric EM Competencies developed in this study expand, in a specialty-specific manner, the competencies developed for graduating medical students, by building on the medical student competencies the same way that residency training builds on medical school.23Figure 1Phases. *Domains = broad general categories in the care of ED elders that encompass each competency; competencies = specific measurable behaviors that the EM resident must achieve.Table 1Timeline for Consensus Process to Determine Geriatrics-related EM Resident CompetenciesA snowball sample of participants and expert panel members initiated a four-phase process to gather the data (specific content that would become competencies). A snowball sample assembles a nonrandom population (in this case EPs and educators) with expertise in the topic at hand. The group is sampled on goal-directed topics and then asked to identify additional expert subjects for sampling until recommendations for further subjects are exhausted or repeated.26A methodologic thematic analysis approach was used for this consensus document to establish the most appropriate geriatric EM competencies. All procedures were supported with institutional review board approval. The principal investigator (PI; TH) generated categories and themes, which were sequentially tested with the expert panel members for reliability and validity using Boyatzis’ method25 of rater-to-expert reliability. Rater–expert reliability is also known as category agreement with an expert. Specific other individuals who have authored previous research, discovered themes, and developed thematic codes are used to ensure consistency of judgment among viewers. Triangulated data sources were used. First, the PI’s documentation and wiki recording processes were used to compile the data and create a consistent source of information for the members of the expert panel, who served as coders.27,28 Additionally, both literature reviews and the undergraduate competencies were used to compare and contrast the recommended geriatric EM competencies.Phase I: Identifying the Universe of Potential ContentIn 2008, the PI was awarded a Brookdale Leadership in Aging Fellowship for the purpose of leading development of geriatric competencies in EM. She engaged leaders of the ACEP Geriatric Section, the American Geriatric Society (AGS) Council of Surgical and Related Specialty Societies, the American Medical Association (AMA) Impact in Aging Committee, the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD), and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Geriatric Task Force in this process.Snowball sampling was used to identify the largest possible number of individuals to consider those items important in the care of elder ED patients.29,30 The initial participants were identified based on publication history, position in stakeholder organizations, and participation in key interest groups. A total of 363 physician participants were identified and sampled by the PI using the above technique.A narrative inquiry was used to gather the initial domains and competency themes.31 Domains are the broad general categories in the care of ED elders that encompass each competency, or specific measurable behavior, that the EM resident must achieve. Participants were asked to identify the important issues in the care of elders in the ED. The medical student competencies served to inform this conversation and as a template for the divisions into domains and competencies. Participants recalled real geriatric patient encounters and dissected the events in the care of those patients. The PI then categorized themes in the conversations into domains and competencies.After the participants exhausted their suggestions for potential domains and competencies, they were asked who else might add valuable input to the process. The suggested individuals were then queried in an identical manner. The sampling ended when suggestions became redundant and those suggested as additional participants had already been queried. From these responses, thematic analyses yielded a total of 12 domains (Table 1) and over 300 potential competencies.Phase II: Narrowing the Focus to Essential CompetenciesThe PI recruited a 24-member expert panel (see Data Supplement S1, available as supporting information in the online version of this paper) on the basis of their expertise in medical education, EM residency training, EM geriatric content, or general geriatric content. These individuals were selected to represent a wide spectrum of organizations, and represented 16 EM residency programs, dean’s offices, ACEP, AGS, AMA, CORD, the Emergency Medicine Residents Association (EMRA), the Residency Review Committee (RRC)-EM, and SAEM. One individual could represent more than one group. The expert panel also included leaders in the development of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) medical student geriatric competencies. It was anticipated that the professional standing and expertise of the members of the group, along with structured review of the evidence, would enhance acceptance of the recommendations by leaders in the field. The expert panel’s charge was to refine the domains and competencies identified to develop the consensus document.This expert panel then broke up into subcommittees that tackled each of the broad domains and the series of related competencies. They were asked to limit the list to the smallest possible number of geriatric EM specific items pertaining to the behaviors that an EM resident would have to achieve to be minimally competent in the care of older adults in the ED. Specific guidelines (Table 2) were given to the subcommittees to assist in this cluster analysis process. Ultimately, the panel used an iterative process of refining the domains and competencies to the content that all agreed was essential to the practice of EM and absolutely necessary to assure competent care for older adults in the ED.Table 2Guidelines for CompetenciesThe subcommittees worked through an interactive online “wiki” (accessible online workspace for asynchronous collaboration) discussing, researching, and refining the 300 potential competencies to 72 behavioral-based competencies. In addition, they reduced the domains from 12 to 8. An extensive literature review was conducted to inform the selections of the competency items and assure that the final items reflected the best clinical evidence available. The literature searches were begun by the PI and augmented substantially by each subcommittee, whose members often had significant expertise in the domain. Subcommittee work was facilitated by a series of biweekly expert panel conference calls between May and October 2008. Through this process some domains were unified or renamed, and others eliminated. Each of the subcommittees then submitted its list of competencies to the larger group in a wiki format in preparation for the consensus conference to evaluate the face validity of the competencies.Most of the competencies that were eliminated represented good medicine that was likely to be encountered by EM residents in many adult, not necessarily geriatric, patients or that were process and systems issues out of the control of residents. For example, the statement “To search for anticoagulation and reverse any coagulopathy in patients with significant trauma” was one of the initial competencies. Although more elder patients are anticoagulated than are patients in younger age groups,32 it is always good medicine to search for anticoagulation and reverse coagulopathy in trauma. Therefore, this was not considered to meet the geriatric-specific guideline. Competencies were included when they occur in all adults, but there are special considerations in older patients. For example, medication management in older adults requires special attention to age-related changes in drug metabolism and response, requiring dosage modification and avoiding the use of certain drugs. Older adults in hospice care are covered by specific Medicare guidelines that are not applicable to younger adults. Finally, outcomes of some ED practices have worse outcomes in geriatric patients, such as the likelihood of developing a pressure ulcer from lying for a long time on a backboard or ED stretcher.If a competency was specific to geriatric care but not a resident-specific task, it was also dropped. For example, “To expedite imaging in elders who are back boarded and with cervical collars in order to decrease iatrogenic pressure ulcerations” is elder specific.33 However, this is an operations or policy issue. While residents can sometimes effect and expedite the workup of such patients, assuring that this occurs systematically is not under resident control, and therefore this did not make the final list of competencies.Phase III: Consensus ConferenceThe next refinement of domains and competencies was achieved in a formal face-to-face meeting. The expert panel convened at a day-long meeting in Chicago on October 26, 2008. Its mandate was to review the list of 72 competencies developed by the subcommittees and come to consensus on a final list of essential competencies. Using audience response software (Turning Technologies, LLC, Youngstown, OH), each competency was presented and participants rated each as must include, should include, or do not need to include, a method of rater–expert internal reliability.25After debates about feasibility and educational and clinical appropriateness, eight domains and 26 competencies emerged. The domains were atypical presentation of disease; trauma, including falls; cognitive and behavioral disorders; emergent intervention modifications; medication management; transitions of care; pain management and palliative care; and effect of comorbid conditions. A final consensus-based recommendation to accept or reject each competency was made by the entire group. At the end of the meeting, unanimous consensus was reached that these 26 competencies constituted the essential knowledge and skills that all EM residents must achieve prior to finishing their training.Phase IV: Finalizing the CompetenciesOnce the final 26 competencies were established by the consensus conference, a subgroup of four expert panel members tested the domains and competencies for reliability and validity to ensure the clarity and uniqueness of the language and consistency of form and substance. The subgroup evaluated each competency for face validity—that the content of the competency clearly fit with the concept of the domain. In addition, reliability (100%) was tested with a rater–expert coder process.34 The group assured that each competency was behaviorally based and had a reasonable behavioral measure embedded within it.To improve the validity of the competencies, the data were triangulated using both a literature review and the AMC medical student competencies. The literature review consisted of the PI and experts gathering relevant literature to clarify the significance of issues and topics for each domain. The undergraduate competencies were used to compare the recommended EM competencies to the minimum criteria established by the consensus for undergraduate geriatric competency. The final consensus document of minimum geriatric competencies for EM residents was circulated to the whole expert panel for review and was unanimously approved (see Table 3).Table 3Geriatric EM Resident Domains and CompetenciesDISCUSSIONThis article describes the iterative process of consensus development used to identify the essential knowledge and skills residents need, in addition to core EM training, to give competent care to elders in the ED. The results of this inductive, qualitative consensus process highlight the issues that EM education and geriatric experts believe EM residents should have the ability to recognize, anticipate, and act on to assure the quality and safety of care received by elders in the emergency setting. With clear guidelines, experts identified eight domains and 26 competencies.The domains reflect three types of content. The first are core geriatrics concepts such as the atypical presentation of disease, recognition and treatment of cognitive and behavioral disorders, and the complexities of medication management. Elders simply present differently from younger adults. Myocardial infarctions often present with dyspnea or dizziness, not chest pain; a perforated viscous presents without abdominal tenderness; subdural hematomas without acute neurologic changes; and injury with occult shock.35–37 However, these subtle presentations are not really atypical for elders, they are just different from what is typical for younger adults. EM residents need to learn the typical presentations for the countless elders they will see in their practices.The second content area includes core EM concerns such as trauma and emergent interventions. Trauma is a key part of the EM curriculum, and falls are the most prevalent type of geriatric trauma.35 Yet understanding how to care for elders who have fallen, and how to prevent future falls, is not a standard part of residents’ training. Emergent intervention modifications include adapting treatments and monitoring to maximize benefit and minimize harm in elders. Modifications include recognizing that, in general, age alone should not be the deciding factor on whether to treat, and that for older adults, the need for care like bladder catheterization or spinal immobilization needs to be regularly reevaluated because the benefit may decrease while the likelihood of harm increases.38The third content area involves adapting fundamental principles within geriatrics to the specifics of the emergency patient. These include concerns about transitions of care (the tradeoff in care and safety between going home and hospitalization), pain management and palliative care (the tradeoff between the ED need for rapid pain management and the geriatric mantra of “start low, go slow” for medications), and anticipating the effect of comorbid conditions on the patient’s episode of illness. EPs must recognize that many elders are physiologically frail and that stress on one system can soon lead to deterioration in another. For example, an elder who comes to the ED with a gastrointestinal hemorrhage is at risk for myocardial ischemia. Residents need to anticipate what other organ systems are at risk and take appropriate preventive measures.The Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine is designed as the core foundation document for future medical school and residency curricula.39 The geriatric competencies are meant to complement the Model, taking those broad overarching principles and identifying the specific behaviors that assure quality care for geriatric patients. The competencies are intended to inform the curriculum and assessments needed for residents to gain the knowledge and skills to demonstrate these behaviors.Defining the geriatric EM competencies is just a first step toward achieving desired norms of practice for older adults seen in the ED. Despite the “calls to action” from ACEP and the IOM, the interest of CORD leadership, and the ACGME mandate to move to competency-based education, there are multiple barriers to actually achieving this goal. One is that most faculty did not receive training in geriatric EM, making it less likely that they will be comfortable teaching the competencies to their residents. At the request of CORD, an educational “tool box” is being developed to provide curricular materials that residency programs can use to facilitate implementing geriatric EM teaching and assessment. The tool box of teaching and assessment resources for the geriatric EM competencies, being developed by members of the expert panel and others, will serve as a content repository for educational material that supports the teaching of each competency and for faculty development. These educational materials will be organized under the eight domains and include relevant articles, PowerPoint presentations, Web-based interactive clinical cases, pocket cards, and suggested assessment tools. The tool box will also include resources that can be used for asynchronous learning outside of the conference setting. Assessment tools are being developed, including written tests, case simulations, interactive Web-based cases, and other materials to facilitate the measurement of residents’ performance of the competencies. The tool box also provides links between each geriatric competency and the corresponding ACGME core competency it demonstrates. In this way the geriatric competencies can be used to demonstrate active compliance with ACGME and RRC mandates. An example of such a tool box exists in the Portal of Geriatric Online Education (http://www.pogoe.org), sponsored by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation, where the AAMC medical student geriatric competencies are being linked to teaching and assessment products accessible on the Web site.Implementing effective models of education in an overcrowded residency curriculum is a challenge to all programs. According to several theoretical models of education, such as Miller’s Triangle,40 and the six steps identified by Davis et al.,41 learners must progress through specific stages to achieve competence. Each step is necessary for the next, and the steps build on one another toward the final goal of consistently improved patient outcomes. Receptive attitudes are necessary to allow suitable intake of knowledge, knowledge must be used to develop skills, skills must be used to result in appropriate actions, actions must achieve desired outcomes, and all of these must be taken up in norms of practice for overall improvement to result. Definition of minimum competency targets is a necessary prerequisite for implementing any of these steps well. There are several ways that viable implementation can be achieved using these models. Currently a pilot is under way at five EM residency programs to evaluate one method for teaching the geriatric EM competencies. Attitudes toward the care of older adults, knowledge, and skill acquisition in EM residents will be measured as outcomes using a written knowledge assessment as well as chart review. Impact on norms of practice will not be measured, but can be expected, and progress will be further aided as additional residency programs adopt these competencies.The geriatric EM competencies herald a new era for EM residency programs. With this tool we have identified critical topic areas with its own set of minimum behaviorally measurable performance standards. With such tools, resident educators can seize new opportunities to drive specialty content. The competencies can serve as evidence of a program’s advancement in step with the ACGME Outcomes Project, because each competency ties to several of the core competences. The geriatric EM competencies can serve as a report card for mastery and eventually assure the public that our residents are prepared for the predictable challenges of caring for the upcoming tidal wave of older adults.CONCLUSIONSWe describe the expert consensus development of the document Geriatric Competencies for EM Residents. We utilized snowball sampling, literature review, prior consensus documents, consensus panels, expert advice, and principles of inductive, qualitative, multiphased research to create a minimum set of competencies for the care of older adults that EM residents would be expected to achieve during residency. The consensus document is written in behavior-based language so that it can serve as the basis for competency-based geriatrics EM curriculum and assessment tools to measure resident attainment of the competent behavior it defines. These competencies define the minimum set of behaviors that EM residents need to demonstrate to ensure that they are able to care for our nation’s rapidly growing and complex older patient population.Pilot work is now under way to examine the effect of dissemination of these competencies to five selected EM residency programs. The pilot evaluation will focus on changes in knowledge through pre- and postdidactic testing, attitudes through surveys, and behavior through retrospective chart review of selected documentation points.These competencies are a start at defining physician behavior that can improve quality of care for older adults in EM. They are resident-focused, although many apply to all practicing physicians. Future work on competencies for attending physicians will build on these, but could also address systems changes needed to improve care for geriatric ED patients. Having residents achieve these competencies is a first step at ensuring better outcomes for older adults receiving emergency care.Supplementary MaterialSuppl1Data Supplement S1: Expert panel.Click here to view.(29K, pdf)AcknowledgmentsThe authors acknowledge the inspirational mentorship of Dr. Linda Emanuel, the Buehler Professor of Geriatric Medicine and Director of the Buehler Center on Aging at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine; Dr. Rosanne Leipzig, Gerald and May Ellen Ritter Professor and Vice Chair, Education, Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development, Mount Sinai School of Medicine; and Dr. Gary Strange, Professor and Chair, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago. This project would not be possible without the dedication and expertise of the entire expert panel who worked tirelessly for the cause of improving care for our nation’s elders. Finally, the authors thank all who participated in the snowball sampling: your ideas carried us forward.This work was primarily funded by a grant from the Brookdale Foundation, through the Brookdale Leadership in Aging Fellowship. The authors thank them for their generous support and advocacy for geriatric care. Additional support was provided by the American Medical Association through underwriting the conference calls, consensus conference, and support of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Portal of Geriatric Online Education.References1. Pitts SR, Niska RW, Xu J, Burt CW. [Accessed Dec 2, 2009];National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2006 Emergency Department Summary. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhsr/nhsr007.pdf. [PubMed]2. Roberts DC, McKay MP, Shaffer A. Increasing rates of emergency department visits for elderly patients in the United States, 1993 to 2003. Ann Emerg Med. 2008;51:769–74. [PubMed]3. Chin MH, Jin L, Karrison TG, et al. Older patients’ health related quality of life around an episode of emergency illness. Ann Emerg Med. 1999;34:595–603. [PubMed]4. Denman SJ, Ettinger WH, Zarkin BA, Coon PJ, Casani JA. Short-term outcomes of elderly patients discharged from an emergency department. J Am Geriatr Soc. 1989;37:939–43. [PubMed]5. Friedmann PD, Jin L, Karrison TG, et al. Early revisit, hospitalization, or death among older persons discharged from the ED. Am J Emerg Med. 2001;19:125–9. [PubMed]6. Krumholz HM, Radford MJ, Wang Y, Chen J, Marciniak TA. Early beta-blocker therapy for acute myocardial infarction in elderly patients. Ann Intern Med. 1999;131:648–54. [PubMed]7. Lee PY, Alexander KP, Hammill BG, Pasquali SK, Peterson ED. Representation of elderly persons and women in published randomized trials of acute coronary syndromes. JAMA. 2001;286:708–13. [PubMed]8. Magid DJ, Masoudi FA, Vinson DR, et al. Older emergency department patients with acute myocardial infarction receive lower quality of care than younger patients. Ann Emerg Med. 2005;46:14–21. [PubMed]9. Wilber ST. Altered mental status in older emergency department patients. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2006;24:299–316. [PubMed]10. Rathore SS, Mehta RH, Wang Y, Radford MJ, Krumholz HM. Effects of age on the quality of care provided to older patients with acute myocardial infarction. Am J Med. 2003;114:307–15. [PubMed]11. Hwang U, Morrison RS. The geriatric emergency department. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55:1873–6. [PubMed]12. Wilber ST, Gerson LW, Terrell KM, et al. Geriatric emergency medicine and the 2006 Institute of Medicine reports from the Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System. Acad Emerg Med. 2006;13:1345–51. [PubMed]13. Singal BM, Hedges JR, Rousseau EW, et al. Geriatric patient emergency visits. Part I: comparison of visits by geriatric and younger patients. Ann Emerg Med. 1992;21:802–7. [PubMed]14. Strange GR, Chen EH. Use of emergency departments by elder patients: a five-year follow-up study. Acad Emerg Med. 1998;5:1157–62. [PubMed]15. Strange GR, Chen EH, Sanders AB. Use of emergency departments by elderly patients: projections from a multicenter data base. Ann Emerg Med. 1992;21:819–24. [PubMed]16. Fernandez HM, Callahan KE, Likourezos A, Leipzig RM. House staff member awareness of older inpatients’ risks for hazards of hospitalization. Arch Intern Med. 2008;168:390–6. [PubMed]17. Horwitz LI, Meredith T, Schuur JD, Shah NR, Kulkarni RG, Jeng GY. Dropping the baton: a qualitative analysis of failures during the transition from emergency department to inpatient care. Ann Emerg Med. 2009;53:701–10. [PubMed]18. Institute of Medicine Committee on the Future of Emergency Care in the U.S. Health System. Emergency Medical Services at the Crossroads. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2006. 19. McNamara RM, Rousseau EW, Sanders AB. Geriatric emergency medicine: a survey of practicing emergency physicians. Ann Emerg Med. 1992;21:796–801. [PubMed]20. Carpenter CR, Lewis LM, Caterino JM, Wilber S, Scheatzle M, Fiorello A. Emergency physician geriatric education: an update of the 1992 Geriatric Task force survey. Has anything changed? [abstract] Ann Emerg Med. 2008;52(4 Suppl 1):S156.21. Institute of Medicine Committee on the Future Health Care Workforce for Older Americans. Retooling for an Aging America: Building the Health Care Workforce. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2008. 22. Fitzgerald RT. The Future of Geriatric Care in Our Nation’s Emergency Departments: Impact and Implications. Dallas, TX: American College of Emergency Physicians; 2008. 23. Leipzig RM, Granville L, Simpson D, Anderson MB, Sauvigne K, Soriano RP. Keeping granny safe on July 1: a consensus on minimum geriatrics competencies for graduating medical students. Acad Med. 2009;84:604–10. [PubMed]24. Chapman DM, Hayden S, Sanders AB, et al. Integrating the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education core competencies into the model of the clinical practice of emergency medicine. Ann Emerg Med. 2004;43:756–69. [PubMed]25. Boyatzis RE. Thematic Analysis and Code Development: Transforming Qualitative Information. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 1998. 26. Goodman LA. Snowball sampling. Ann Math Stat. 1961;32:148–70.27. Holsti OR. Content analysis. In: Lindsey G, Aronson E, editors. Handbook of Social Psychology. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley; 1968. 28. Smith CP. Managerial Competence: The Key to Excellence. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt; 1992. 29. Heckathorn DD. Collective samples and compliance norms: a formal theory of group mediated social control. Am Sociol Rev. 1990;55:366–84.30. Heckathorn DD. Respondent-driven sampling: a new approach to the study of hidden populations. Social Problems. 1997;44:174–99.31. Marshall C, Rossman GB. Designing Qualitative Research. 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 1999. 32. Hutten BA, Lensing AW, Kraaijenhagen RA, Prins MH. Safety of treatment with oral anticoagulants in the elderly: a systematic review. Drugs Aging. 1999;14:303–12. [PubMed]33. Ackland HM, Cooper DJ, Malham GM, Kossmann T. Factors predicting cervical collar related decubitus ulceration in major trauma patients. Spine. 2007;32:423–8. [PubMed]34. Anastas JW, MacDonald ML. Research Design for Social Work and the Human Services. New York, NY: Lexington Books; 1994. 35. Callaway DW, Wolfe R. Geriatric trauma. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2007;25:837–60. [PubMed]36. Majeski J, Durst GG. Geriatric acute perforated appendicitis: atypical symptoms lead to a difficult diagnosis. South Med J. 1998;91:669–71. [PubMed]37. Muller RT, Gould LA, Betzu R, Vacek T, Pradeep V. Painless myocardial infarction in the elderly. Am Heart J. 1990;119:202–4. [PubMed]38. Alter DA, Manuel DG, Gunraj N, Anderson G, Naylor CD, Laupacis A. Age, risk-benefit trade-offs, and the projected benefits of evidence-based therapy. Am J Med. 2004;116:540–5. [PubMed]39. Thomas HA, Beeson MS, Binder LS, et al. [Accessed Dec 2, 2009];Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine from the American College of Emergency Physicians and Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and American Board of Emergency Medicine. 2007 Available at: https://www.abem.org/public/_Rainbow/Documents/2007%20EM%20Model.pdf.40. Miller GE. The assessment of clinical skills/competence/performance. Acad Med. 1990;65:S63–7. [PubMed]41. Davis DA, Thomson MA, Oxman AD, Haynes RB. Changing physician performance: a systematic review of the effect of continuing medical education strategies. JAMA. 1995;274:700–5. [PubMed] Contact Us

Realtime Air Monitor: Technical Details On 09 Mar, 2014 By Ryan Pavlovsky Why do the air radioactivity levels vary so much? 222Rn is the dominant component of the radioactivity in the air, and how much radon there is at any time can rapidly change depending on the weather conditions. This system will explore rain, solar, wind, humidity and barometric pressure. To understand these variations, we have placed a weather station right next to our air sampling system. Can you find any correlations between radon progeny and weather? Radon gas and its decay products are breathed in by humans every day, and this has been happening for millennia. The dose from radon and its decay products give humans an estimated 50% of our background dose. High levels of radon (e.g., in basements with poor ventilation) have been linked to lung cancer, and radon is believed to be the second biggest cause of lung cancer after smoking and ahead of secondhand smoke. An estimated 21,000 people die from radon-caused lung cancer each year. For the source of these data and more info, see the EPA Radon health risks page. The US Environmental Protection Agency recommends action if indoor radon concentrations exceed 4 picocuries per liter (pCi/L), which is 150 Becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m3). Typical indoor levels are lower, at 1.4 pCi/L (52 Bq/3). Typical outdoor levels are even lower: 0.4 pCi/L (1.5 Bq/m3). Data Transparency The data we provide represents the conditions we are currently experiencing in our monitor. We do not selectively present data. This is possible because we do not bear the burden of public safety as the EPA or CDHP does. Our purpose is education of the public. If we believe that data is not representative of the system we reserve the right to revise the analysis in order to make our presentation more accurate. Changes will always seek to improve the quality of the results presented. System Description The air sampler that we have constructed forces 21SCFM of air through a 4" diameter HEPA filter. The FPAE-102 filter collects 99.99%DOP 0.3um particles. Each filter is run for approximately 3days. During this time the filters are continuously assayed by a mechanically cooled, n-type high purity germanium detector. This detector has superior energy resolution and efficiency, even at ~10keV energies. We are thus sensitive to radiation in the 3keV-3000keV energy range. Spectra are collected every 5min while weather data is collected from our commercial weather station. These data are collected, aligned with respect to timestamps, and stored in a database. Data is transferred to a server which performs the necessary analysis to produce the displayed data. The sampler sets at about the same height as the Berkeley Campanile lookout. Data Analysis Currently spectra are processed by integrating over hour time periods and extracting net peak counts. The live-time of the system is used to estimate the count rate in the peak and that is plotted on the main timeseries graphic. Note that these spectra are not 'background' subtracted and do include radioisotopes in materials surrounding our detector. The selection of isotopes to include in the timeseries plot is driven first by the total contribution to the spectra. The majority of these lines tend to be Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM). Of particular interest are the natural decay chains that begin with 238U and 232Th. Additionally we are interested in what we call Technically Enhanced NORM. These are isotopes that are of man-made origin but are a part of the total terrestrial dose that humans receive. One such isotope is 137Cs which is present from the atmospheric testing of nuclear bombs. We include isotope trackers for isotopes that are of particular interest based on current events. Additionally we are not labeling all spectral peaks. At the time we fulfill the 'pretty spectra' feature request we will label all peaks. This will allow us to have non-overlapping labels on spectra. 'Realtime' Sampling In truth the sampler is psuedo-realtime. The limits for what would be realtime operation would be somewhere around the spectra acquisition time of about 5minutes. However in order to ensure quality of the data and provide some flexibility in data formats we have opted to remain at approximately hourly updates. At any time the system is at most 1.5hrs behind the current time in normal operation. We feel this still meets the transparency and quality goals that we have for this project. Outages We regularly take the system down for about 15minutes every 3days. The reason for taking the system offline is the physical removal of the sample filter. These outages are not deemed true 'outages' and since they are short in duration and are necessary for system operation. Additionally we sometimes have outages that we do not expect. There are sometimes hardware or software issues that will come up during operation. We have a calendar in the side bar for planning and communicating when prolonged outages occur.

Drop Shape Analysis System This article focuses on the hardware and software components used in the system to collect data for the Absorption and Surface Elastic Properties of Corresponding Fluorinated and Nonflourinated Cationic Polymer Films Measured by Drop Shape Analysis, a paper submitted to Langmuir (2001, 17, 5256-5264) by Drs. Tomas Fromyr and Finn Knut Hansen of the University of Oslo (Norway) and A. Kotzev and Andre Laschewsky of the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). This paper (LA001407K) is available from the American Chemical Society.The abstract reads as follows: Two different types of cationic polysoaps together with their monomers were synthesized with divalent quaternary ammonium repeat units carrying a hydrocarbon side chain, respectively. Dynamic surface tensions and surface dialational rheology were measured by means of drop shape analysis of a sessile bubble, using specially developed hardware and software (outlined below). Surface dilatational rheology was measured by the oscillating bubble method. Both the monomers and polymers show strong surface activity. The hydrocarbon monomer shows a maximum surface pressure, 28 and 47 mN m-1 and for the hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon polymers, respectively. The fluorinated polymer has peculiar absorption characteristics, especially at low concentrations. All substances have very high surface dilational elasticity, up to 180 nM m-1 for the flourinated polymer, while the hydrocarbon substances give approximately half of this value. The specific surface areas are relatively high, and absorption of all these substances is considerably slower than for ordinary surfactants, probably due to their particularly bulky headgroup and charged nature. The monomers form micelles with cmcs of 0.3 and of 3.0-1 g L for the fluorinated and hydrocarbon monomer, respectively. With increasing bulk concentration, a maximum in surface elasticity is observed for the monomers, but this decreased to almost zero at high concentrations. Both this decrease and the most of the frequency dependence of the modules are believed to be caused by molecular transport between surface and the bulk. It is more pronounced for the monomers than for the polymers. Deviations from the transport theory are observed and are believed to be caused by in-surface relaxation processes. This article will focus on the system and components used to undertake the data collection required for the above-referenced paper and study. Particular interest will be made in outlining the current products available from ramé-hart instrument co. that could be used for such a task. The diagram above illustrates the major components used in the study with the heart of the system consisting of the ramé-hart Model 500 Goniometer. This instrument includes a base rack with leveling control, the PC and LCD with DROPimage Advanced 2.0 software. The camera communicates with the PC via a FireWire connection (F1 Series) at speeds up to 60 fps. (Older systems relied on a proprietary Frame Grabber Card and were limited to speeds up to 30 fps.) The Model 500 also includes the Fiber Optic Illuminator and corresponding backlighting subsystem. The 3-axis stage features both fine and course vertical adjustment and a leveling stage. The DROPimage software allows the user to measure surface tension via the axisymmetric drop shape method. Mounted on the stage is the optional Environmental Chamber (p/n 100-07) with two quartz windows. This option allows the user to control the working environment. Coupled with the optional Proportional Temperature Controller (p/n 100-50), the temperature of the chamber can be controlled between ambient room temperature and 300°C. Cooling the chamber rapidly can accomplished by passing a refrigerant through the cooling ports. Temperatures below room temperature can be achieved and monitored although only heat-induced temperatures are controlled by the temperature controller. The Automated Dispensing System, p/n 100-22-100, is an indispensable option which can be used not only for increasing the accuracy of the drop volume, but is also capable of performing dynamic studies wherein the volume of the drop is increased and decreased while readings are being taken. Shown in the diagram above is also an Oscillator. The DROPimage Advanced software supports an in-line oscillator and we are currently in the process or redesigning this hardware. The oscillation is required in this study to measure the surface dilatational viscoelastic properties and dynamic surface tensions using a combination of the oscillating bubble and drop shape analysis methods. DROPimage is available in three flavors: DROPimage CA, which ships with our Model 120; DROPimage Standard, which ships with our Models 200 and 300; and DROPimage Advanced, which ships with our Models 250 and 500. CA offers Contact Angle Measurement Tools. Standard offers CA measurement as well as Surface Energy Tools. Advanced includes - in addition to CA and SE tools - surface and interfacial tension tools. Advanced is methods-based and also has an experiment wizard, session control, reporting and graphing tools, and is backward compatible with files created in RHI and all versions of DROPimage. DROPimage Standard and DROPimage Advanced both have integrated support for the Automated Dispensing; DROPimage CA does not. Users of DROPimage CA (120) can upgrade to DROPimage Standard or DROPimage Advanced. Users of DROPimage Standard (200 and 300) can upgrade to Advanced. Special pricing is available to those upgrading from previous versions of DROPimage and RHI. If you are thinking of upgrading your DROPimage or legacy software, require more information, or a quotation, please contact us Thank you for your continued confidence and business. We work hard to earn your business and will continue to lengthen our stride to maintain our position as the world leader in contact angle and surface science tools. Regards,

There are a number of commands and features in our ramé-hart DROPimage Advanced software which are underused but nonetheless useful especially if people knew about them. That's were I come in: my job is to help point out these features. One of the ways that we find most useful is through our video series. We now have over two dozen videos showing all the major tasks - like calibrating, measuring contact angle, leveling the stage, measuring surface and interfacial tension, etc. Today's new video is one that shows how the trigger command can be used to start measuring at the precise moment a drop is formed. Click the video below to play or go to: The above-mentioned symposium will be held June 13-15, 2012, in Quebec. Parties interested in registering to attend or submitting a paper should go to: Regards,

All for the sake of a handful of beans Bangaloreans are always complaining about how cosmopolitan the city has become and how it has completely lost itself in the race of modernisation. For those who love the sights and sound of Bangalore, the old localities of Malleswaram, Shankarapuram, Chamarajpet and Basavanagudi still give them glimpses of the old world charm that Bangalore once possessed. But what these people do not realise is that the old Bangalore still lives on in its many localities, festivals and structures. Come December and Basavanagudi hosts the famous Kadalekai Parashe. The entire stretch of Bull Temple Road in Basavanagudi from BMS college till Ramakrishna Ashrama becomes an open granary for groundnuts. Farmers from Bangalore urban and rural district and even from Tamil Nadu join their counterparts in Karnataka in celebrating this festival. Apart from groundnuts, you can enjoy the makings of a rural fair as people from all walks of life unveil their goods on the road. In January, it is the turn of the Avarakai Parishe. This is also a unique festival of Bangalore. The VV Puram Circle just off Minerva Circle and off KR Road becomes an impromptu market for baked beans. This tradition perhaps has its origin on the story of Bangaluru and the baked beans. The avarekai and its many avatars are dished out to its affectionados in and around VV Puram circle where farmers from Magadi, Hoskote and other places congrete and sell their Avarekai. Some of the shops in the area sponsor the event and also prepare only during this duration all dishes made or containing Avarekai. During March it is the famous Karaga which is a tradition going back to the time of Kempe Gowda. The Karaga startes at midnight from the Dharmaraya temple and goes around the old city or petes of Balepet, Chickpet and City Market before returning to the Dharmaraya Temple. The small Kalyani or body of water adjacent to the Indoor stadium at the beginning of the Kasturba Road near Hudson Circle is the place where the Karaga festivites commence with the preparation of the Hasi (wet) Karaga. Bangalore is among the handful of cities in Karnataka that still have the Karaga tradition. It is a sight to behold and one must see it to know our tradition. The entire Karaga tradition is steeped in the stories and legends of Mahabharata. Come April, then Bangalore turns into an open air concert with Rama Temples and Rama Seve Mandalis vying with one another in hosting Carnatic music concerts as part of Ramanavami. Though these concerts are only a few decades old, they have quickly acquired a local flavour and they are the toast of all musicians. These music concerts have seen the likes of MS Subbulakshmi, ML Vasantha Kumari, Balamurali Krishna, Bhimsen Joshi, Yesudas, MS Gopalakrishnan, Sudha Raghunathan, Kunnikudi Vaidyanathan, Lalgudi and many others perform. The music concert at Fort High school in Chamarajpet by the Rama Seva Mandali and at Seshadripuram, Shankarpuram and NR Colony concerts draw huge crowds and they are a delight to listen. Another festival native to Bangalore is the St Mary’s feast. This feast goes back to several decades and the area of Shivajinagar comes alive when the festival is organized as part of the celebrations of St. Mary’s Church in Shivajinagar. The church has been elevated to a minor bascilica. The festival of Infant Jesus shrine in Viveknagar draws huge crowds. It takes place every January and people from all walks of life throng to the deity. The Mahavir Jayanthi by the Jains in Bangalore has also a totally local flavour. Apart from these events, the regular santhe, jatre or fair at Yeshwanthpur, Madivala, Banashankari are famous for direct selling of products by farmers.

How do the Regional Catchment Strategies compare? « Melbourne Reading Group – Are waterways winners or losers under the new State and Federal budgets? The July Reading Group discussed the development of the ten Victorian Regional Catchment Strategies (RCSs), particularly the different approaches that were adopted. Some CMAs, such as Goulburn Broken CMA and North East CMA, focussed on a resilience-based approach while others used a traditional asset-based approach, following the guidelines produced by the Victorian Catchment Management Council (VCMC) and the Department of Environment and Primary Industries (DEPI) more closely. Some RCSs dealt strictly with natural resource management issues while others broadened their focus to include social and economic considerations. Across the state, there were different levels of clarity regarding priorities for investment. Given the different approaches taken, the challenge will be in reporting on the implementation of the RCSs at the state-wide scale. It will also be important to evaluate the different approaches overtime. The draft 2013-2019 Regional Catchment Strategies (RCS) have recently been released for public comment. The RCS is the key planning document that will set regional priorities for the future management of natural resources. Some of the strategies build on the ‘assets-based approach’, while others incorporate new and emerging ideas around resilience. The ‘resilience approach’ recognises that integrated catchment management requires flexibility, adaptation and consideration of the interconnections between people, places and their economic realities.

Cannibalism 3 - The Historical Context This is the Third of three postings dealing in general with hunger, and starvation (Part 2); cannibalism's history and ineffectiveness as survival strategy (Part 1). Here I will show that we have unfortunate examples of cannibalism in disaster scenarios, why they occurred, and what happened. Much of the following is from Scott and McMurray The Delicate Question: Cannibalism in Prehistoric and Historic Times, Given our blogs obsession with ending points, we naturally will focus cannibalism induced by large scale disasters. And unfortunately enough, there are examples of this as well.The first example, by time line, is in Soviet Russia in 1921-1922. A combination of agricultural confectionery taxes, and poor lead to mass starvation that peaked in 1921. The Soviets were forced to ask for aid in feeding 10 million starving people. There are a number of estimates of the death toll, but 5+ million seems to be an agreed on conservative number. Accounts of cannibalism were common, possibly because by 1921 there had been so many famines in Russian and the Soviet Union that by 1921 the Russians were becoming desensitized to the practice. The behavior included the selling of human meat in markets and the practice of corpse-eating by entire families. The later Ukrainian famines induced by Stalin was more brutal as it was even more intentional. Desperate hunger drove people to sell off all of their possessions for any food they could find. At night, an eerie silence fell over the village, where all the livestock and chickens had long since been killed for food and exhausted villagers went to bed early. But Communist requisition brigades looking to fulfill the impossibly high grain quotas continued to search even those villages where inhabitants were already dying from starvation. They used metal poles to probe the ground and potential hiding places where they suspected grain could be hidden.Some of the brigade members, fueled by Soviet hate campaigns against the peasants, acted without mercy, taking away the last crumbs of food from starving families knowing they were condemning even small children to death. Any peasant who resisted was shot. Rape and robbery also took place....Burtianski said at one point, he avoided buying meat from a vendor because he suspected it was human flesh. When the authorities heard about the incident, he was forced to attend the trial of a man and his two sons who were suspected of murdering people for food. Burtianski says during the trial one of the sons admitted in chilling terms to eating the flesh of his own mother, who had died of starvation. "He said, 'Thank you to Father Stalin for depriving us of food. Our mother died of hunger and we ate her, our own dead mother. And after our mother we did not take pity on anyone. We would not have spared Stalin himself'" .... Naumenko also witnessed instances of cannibalism. He said he first discovered that his neighbors were eating human flesh after one of them, called Tetyana, refused to share her meat with him despite the fact he had just helped bury her father. "I saw Tetyana eating chicken meat and saw there was a lot of it. I approached her and asked her for some, but she refused to give me any. Because it was human flesh." Hundreds were executed or killed by other villagers for cannibalism. Soviet records show that around 1,000 people were still serving sentences for cannibalism in prison camps on the White Sea at the end of the 1930s. "What do you do if there's nothing to eat? We collected birch leaves and toasted them and ate them. What else could we do?" Many people met their deaths with quiet resignation, praying and comforting their starving children with fairy tales. Cannibalisms next well known Russian trip is to the Siege of Leningrad in World War 2. Under siege for 900-days there were over a thousand cases of cannibalism in the polices' secret records. What is particularly unusual about the famine is that it did not lead to epidemic decease which is usually the largest killer in long term famines. The authorities went to particular care to isolate the contagious, and to keep the city as sanitary as possible. During World War 2 in the Pacific, Japanese soldiers in New Guinea in 1942-1944, cut off from access to supplies, cannibalized Australian Allied soldiers, Asian POWs, native inhabitants of New Guinea, and other Japanese soldiers. The soldiers occasionally removed flesh while victims were still alive, perhaps in the hope of maintaining a fresh food supply in the moist jungle environment where decomposition was rapid. These cannibalistic practices required planning and investment and became almost commonplace. Our final visit will be to the The Peoples Republic of China during the Great Leap Forward." “...[C]annibalism was a systematic and organized military strategy, committed by whole squads or by specific soldiers working within the context of a larger squad…The fact that such activities were committed by whole groups, working within the normal military structures, resulted in a situation in which the act of cannibalism ceased to be horrific and became instead a part of everyday life.” Yuki Tanaka, Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II 1996.China has had periodic food shortages throughout much of its history, and the near constant threat of famine was one cause of learned cannibalism. The starvations caused by Mao Zedong’s Great Leap Forward lead to unprecedented number and levels of the practice. Natural disasters combined with confiscation of the peasants food supplies led to at least 30 million Chinese people starving to death between 1958 and 1962. Children were killed and consumed by their parents or sold to another family and human meat was sold in the open marked. Peasants readily admitted to witnessing cannibalism first hand. During the famine of the Great Leap Forward, peasants killed and ate their children in many parts of China. In Wild Flowers Jung Chang recounts the story told to him by a party official: One day a peasant burst into his room and threw himself on the floor, screaming that he had committed a terrible crime and begging to be punished. Eventually it came out that he had killed his own baby and eaten it. Hunger had been like an uncontrollable force driving him to take up the knife. With tears rolling down cheeks, the official ordered the peasant to be arrested. Later he was shot as a warning to baby killers. Becker, Hungry Ghosts: Mao’s Secret Famine 1996.

The unbearable mask The 120 woodcuts that make up the volume of Les songes drolatiques de Pantagruel appeared without almost any text in 1565. But the short and somewhat babbling preface by the printer, Richard Breton even so reveals everything that can be told about this curious collection of prints. It starts with a lie, but the syntax soon betrays the bad conscience of the author who cannot stay on the edge of half-truths. However much Breton assures us, with reference to their old friendship, these pictures are surely not by the hand of the already famous François Rabelais (1494-1553) who died twelve years earlier. True, only a year had passed since the publication of the popular posthumous addition of Pantagruel (Le Cinquième et dernier livre des faits et dits heroïques du bon Pantagruel) whose Rabelaisian paternity was much discussed over time, but now it seems definitely accepted. And it is also true that at that time already a whole publishing industry was built on the name of Rabelais. Nevertheless, all this should not have necessarily led Richard Breton into temptation. But we also have to admit that this pious fraud, which is really consistent with the work of Rabelais, gives an attractive upbeat to this striking series of pictures. He wrote this in the dedication Au lecteur salut: The great familiarity I had with the late François Rabelais (dear Reader), has moved and even compelled me to bring to light the last of his work, the drolatic dreams of the very excellent and wonderful Patagruel, a man very famous for his heroic deeds on which the more than veritable histories write awesome things. This was the main reason that I, wanting to avoid prolixity, did not want to add any comment apart from emphasizing that these are the most curious pictures that can be found in the whole world, and I do not think that Panurge would have ever seen or known more admirable ones in the countries visited during his last voyages. As to a detailed description of the properties and essence of these figures, I leave this work to those who are more versed in this faculty and more capable than I am, as well as the explanation of their mystical and allegoric meaning, and their provision with the names most fitting to them. Similarly, I have not seen it fitting to add a long recommendation before this work: may they do it who want to spread their fame all over the world, because as the proverb says, the good wine needs no bush. Nor have I wanted to entertain myself in finding out the author’s intentions, both as they are uncertain to me, and because of the great difficulty to reach the rather lunatic thoughts of such great geniuses. Nevertheless I hope that many people will be satisfied with the present little work, because who are of a dreaming nature will find here enough matter to their dreams, the melancholic will find what to cheer him and the merry to laugh, due to the great variety to be found in it. And I also ask all of them to accept this in a good soul, assuring them that by giving this work to light I had no intention to insult or to scandalize anyone, but only to offer it as a pastime for the youth. I also add that open intellects will find several good inventions in it for preparing extravagances, organizing masquerades, or to apply them as the occasion requires. This is in truth the reason that has led me to avoid this little work being lost, and I beg you to accept it just as willingly as I offer it. The Parisian printer Richard Breton, died in 1571, closely related to the German book market, and to whom the spreading of Protestant text would later cause serious headache, had published in 1562 a Recueil de la diversité des habits qui sont de present en usage, tant es pays d’Europe, Asie, Affrique et Isles Sauvages, Le tout fait apres le naturel, illustrating the immense human variety of outfits, dresses and fashions. The hundred woodcuts show with a great fantasy the fanciful ways of dressing all over the world, also making distinction between social classes, and paying great attention to exotic curiosities. Each plate of the book is accompanied by an explanatory quatrain. The authorship of this book is not indicated either, only the dedication was signed by a certain François Desprez (albeit with the thinly veiled anagram of “Deserpz”). Some woodcuts of the Recueil de la diversité des habits The affinity between the design and style of the woodcuts, the imaginative presence of some monstrous figures, as well as the sustained collaboration between Breton and Desprez leaves no doubt about the responsibility of the latter for the Drolatic dreams of Pantagruel. We know that Desprez was a good craftsman, but he was surely no “intellectual” and even less an “author”. His job was the design of fillets for prints and ornamental decorations, and his mind and hand were accustomed to this task. However, he was obviously not satisfied with mere ornamental design, and occasionally he also made an excursion into the world of book design. Desprez clearly perceived that printing industry, for the first time in its history, launched the mass production of all kinds of images, producing illustrated books which every day reached a wider public. He was himself a collector of the images he saw in books of emblems and imprese, scientific and travel books, bestiaries or the less accessible “libri di arte”, and for whose appreciation he did not have to be an educated humanist. The collection of such works was very widespread in this period, especially among craftsmen and artists who sought inspiration in them for their work. Thanks to printing, a large encyclopedia of images was being created from the mid-16th century, and Desprez obviously might have asked himself why not to contribute, as a designer of ornaments and grotteschi, to this ever growing corpus. Although he could not compete with the symbolic density of emblems, neither with the dialectic application of the erudition of ancient culture, but he discovered a demand for his own speciality, the popular air, mockery and laugh. And it was just obvious to make his ware more profitable through the use of the greatest specialist of these, Rabelais. A passage in Richard Breton’s dedication almost inadvertently betrays this intention, emphasizing the same point that we read in several other dedications of the period: the utility of the illustrations of the book. Among them, he writes, “the open intellects will find several good inventions for preparing extravagances, organizing masquerades, or to apply them as the occasion requires.” From Pierio Valeriano’s commented hieroglyphs through Hans Holbein’s The Images of the Old Testament (published by us in Spanish) to a great part of emblm books, from the Jesuit Claude-François Menestrier’s guide to compose “symbolic images” through Filippo Picinelli’s Mundus symbolicus to the antique coin collections by Erizzo, Vico and others, and of course to Cesare Ripa’s great compendium of allegories, the Iconologia (translated by us to Hungarian), all emphasize the same idea. This latter treatise, for example, announces already in its title: “A not less useful than necessary work for poets, painters, sculptors, designers and others to represent human virtues and vices, passions and affections and to compose concepts, emblems and decorations for weddings, funerals and dramatic plays”. He considered that Desprez’s more humble woodcuts would be serve principally for masquerades, but he was not averse to anything “required by the occasion”. On the other hand Desprez, by his training and by his work also knew that these incongruous figures that he was proposing to the editor (or were they commissioned by the clever Breton?) were not born from nothing, but were rooted in a burlesque and satiric tradition, in the metamorphosis of the carnival, the transgressive visions of madness. They had been present in medieval architecture, the carvings of stalls and capitals, between the ornaments of tapestries, and of course on the borders of manuscripts, the drôleries. All these sources which nowadays pass rather unnoticed as secondary or decorative arts, offered to the avid eyes of Desprez a feast of images, where the figurative and the ornamental, intertwining each other, created a multitude of unusual, whimsical or shocking forms. The most learned and noble representative of this art was Pieter Brueghel (1525-1569), whose engravings were widely disseminated in France of those years, and who was also a direct inspiration for Desprez. But a first glance at these pictures also immediately calls to mind The Garden of Earthly Delights, The Hay Wain and other paintings by Hyeronimus Bosch (1450-1516). The basic genealogy of these images is therefore traced quite clearly. The title of the book includes an adjective (drolatique) which seems to appear here for the first time in French. Drôle means “funny, curious”, and this is the origin of the term drôlerie used by modern art history for the ornamental fantasies on the borders of medieval manuscripts or architectural decorations. Drôlerie is thus related to grottesco, but they are distinguished by the classical origins of the latter as contrasted to the medieval roots of the former. In late 16th-century France the meaning of drôlerie also included those satyrical – and often grotesque – figures which since the beginning of the wars of religion flooded the press, as well as the animal-shaped masks and costumes. Its etymological origin, the Dutch drol (gnome) carries in itself the ambivalence of a being which on the one hand is funny and simple, while on the other hand murky, tangled and even with a shade of malignancy. Some centuries later, in 1830 it was Balzac to use again this term when he chose the title Les contes drolatiques for a series of unlikely medieval stories which gave him occasion to an uninhibited, at times rough, or even obscene narrative, and whose fifth edition in 1855, five years after Balzac’s death, was decorated with 425 fantastic illustrations and vignettes by Gustave Doré. “Drolatic” is an adjective of “dream” in the title, and we must ask what kind of dream is this. It is certainly the dream of reason, as it gives birth to monsters. And also a dream of revelation through which we acquire a knowledge impossible in wakefulness. That dreams (especially by virtue of the vis imaginativa during the conception and pregnancy) can literally give birth to monsters, was well known by contemporary authors of treatises. Nothing derogatory is then in the use of “dream” in the title, nothing that would diminish the seriousness of the artistic purpose. On the contrary, this dream reveals us a reality which is hidden by daytime appearances, and which escapes the constraints of socially correct discourse, language and logic. This dream offers us a glimpse into the continuous flow of the unexpected associations between the objects and the elements of the language, into a deeper layer of reality which makes more complete our understanding of the world. Si eres punzón, ¿por qué el estuche dejas? Si cubilete, saca el testimonio. Si eres coroza, encájate en las viejas. Si buïda visión de San Antonio, llámate Doña Embudo con guedejas. Si mujer, da esas faldas al demonio. If you’re a bell, where’s the clapper? If a walking pyramid, get thee to Egypt; If an overturned top, find a label; If a Hershey’s kiss, you need some foil. If a turret, why are you down here? If an unrepentant penitent’s, then you’re his hood and his crime; you’re a mockingbird in a cypress tree. If you’re a plunger, where’s the toilet? If a goblet, then let’s have a toast; If a dunce cap, then clothe the stupid. If a pointy vision of Saint Anthony, your name is Lady Funnel with a mane: If a woman, go to Hell with these petticoats. The language itself is stretching the borders of objects towards an anamorphosis which reveals the most hidden secrets and shames. In these pictures the “world upside down” of the carnival is accompanied by the juxtaposition of the contraries, and traditionally both belong to the safest way of soliciting laughter. And just at this point the deepest seriousness of these drolatic dreams is revealed. Let us look into the faces of these figures. Many are deeply expressionless, and most are serious, even angry. Some are depressed, and some sorrowful. Even those laughing do it bitterly, or at most smile slyly. Virtually all of these characters carry their inconsistency as an unbearable sentence. Quite a few hide their face or even lack it, and their most human part is replaced by an object, a cube, a jug, a motley, a shoe, a helmet which imprison them and leave them brainless. These bodies are radically uncomfortable in their uncertainty, with spectacularly self-destructive tendencies, as if only suicide or autophagy could get them out of their tortured bodies. Almost all are armed, and a more or less repressed violence runs through the pages. This uncertainty of species does not fit the venerable notion, so dear to the Humanism and Baroque, the Great Chain of Being, where man is on top of all the this-worldly creatures, just one step under his Creator. Here the boundaries are erased, and the human being, by losing his dignitas, almost becomes a blasphemous emblem of God’s inexperience. Hybridity, just as in the creatures of Giger’s Alien, go as far as the intertwining of the living flesh with objects and machines. This erasure of differences, coupled with a blurring of the venerable traditions, pulls us down into a curious and shockingly egalitarian world. The hierarchy of dignitas hominis – which includes a process of improvement, as man, by virtue of his free will, is able to climb higher or to sink into misery – becomes its own caricature here. These pictures do not just illustrate the egalitarianism of medieval carnival such as we have seen in the masters of Desprez, Brueghel and Bosch, but already lead to the Baroque disappointment where for example Lazarillo de Tormes is converted into a tuna under the pen of Juan de Luna (Segunda parte del Lazarillo), and they open the gallery of the beings which Adrenio and Critilo will encounter during their journey in Gracián’s El Criticón. An air of fatalism is hanging over these poor souls doomed to be what they are. If the naked Scythe in Alciato’s famous emblem announced his freedom with the motto Omnia mea mecum porto, “I carry with myself everything I have”, then these beings, each a crazed microcosm, shout the same, but as a motto of their indissoluble bondage to the earth beyond which there is nothing and without which they would also become nothing (notice the underlined presence of rivets, knots, ribbons and straps). Wherever they go, they carry with themselves not their liberty, but their prison. So why do we laugh when looking at them? Do we perhaps laugh when watching Tod Browning’s Freaks of 1932? It is true that ugliness can be laughable at the first glance. But this does not seem a good answer either. The representation of ugliness presupposes and refers to an idea of beauty, but these figures do not want to give us this comfort either. It is not their ugliness that affects us, but their basic indeterminacy. Not their distance from the design, but the fact that there is no design. And if there is no design, there is no God. Everything is just a provisional assembly. We can also see it from the opposite aspect. Perhaps Desprez, in contrast to his earlier Recueil de la diversité des habits, shows here the naked man, stripped of any appearance and habit, with a deep anthropological pessimism, in its heterogeneous and absurd essence, which finally defines him, without any mask. We noted earlier that Desprez’s designs unites the grotteschi of Italian and French humanists with the medieval drôleries, still alive in the popular tradition. This practice of the educated decorator is revealed in the execution of even the slightest details of the woodcuts, in his tendency to the arabesque, the flight of the feathers and plumes, the gracefulness of the lines of tapes and herbs. The drawings are loaded with a rhythm that lends lightness to these figures, while a different, heavier line would make them excessively sober, and even sinister. Many of them show how a seemingly superfluous stroke contributes to the definition of a gesture, the suggestion of movement, the balance of the composition, the playful associations. The dedication to the readers, the only text accompanying the volume bears a remarkable affinity to Cervantes. So much that one is tempted to think that Cervantes in fact read it, because its strategy is so similar to the famous prologue of the first part of Don Quixote (1605). Both Breton and Cervantes confess of being unable to properly present such a “naked” work, or even define the ultimate purpose of the author. Breton, with an irony which from the perspective of the above analysis is much sharper than it looks, even refers to the possibility of a mystical or allegorical reading of the pictures, although admits that he is not capable of giving it. And one cannot ignore the parallel between the implicit purpose of the two works: “Strive, too, that in reading your story the melancholy may be moved to laughter, and the merry made merrier still; that the simple shall not be wearied, that the judicious shall admire the invention, that the grave shall not despise it, nor the wise fail to praise it”, and “Nor have I wanted to entertain myself in finding out the author’s intentions, both as they are uncertain to me, and because of the great difficulty to reach the rather lunatic thoughts of such great geniuses. Nevertheless I hope that many people will be satisfied with the present little work, because who are of a dreaming nature will find here enough matter to their dreams, the melancholic will find what to cheer him and the merry to laugh”. Of course, Bakhtin has already long demonstrated how much Rabelais and Cervantes are united by their interest in popular culture and the affinity of their humor, but it looks like we have to pick up also the printer Richard Breton into their carriage. Breton’s decision to resist the urge to add any text to the images was a more serious and complex one than it seems. Note that we are in a world which fervently wanted to exploit the multimedia potential of the union of picture and text both as a mean of persuasion and as that of the ars memorandi, fixing things in the memory. The fundamental model of this combination was the emblem with its threefold structure where the central pictura was encircled by an inscriptio and a subscriptio, and with its established habits of reading. For a publisher it was therefore difficult to avoid the addition of some text. Breton, however, was able to see the power of these images to elicit astonishment and reflection in their mute and defiant presence, without any further guide. In his decision it might also have played a part that once he attributed the book to Rabelais, the texts accompanying the images would have to be written at the height of the master, and he did not dare to go this far. The publishers following Breton did not have so good sense, and they provided the pictures either with moralizing verses and authorities, or claimed that each of them were portraits of key figures in Rabelais’ life and works (here you can see the woodcuts with these assignments). The first way was chosen by two late 17th-century German editions in Augsburg, the one of which accompanies the pictures with moral quatrains on vices, characters, etc., while the other proposed their reading as satires of specific professions or offices. For their part, the 19th-century editors of the complete works of Rabelais (1823) provided each of the 120 figures with a name and subtitle. In 1870 Edwin Tross refused this, published the book without these additions, and in hsi foreword he criticized those positivist excesses. To take just an example from which each reader can judge the arbitrariness of these attributions, according to the edition of 1823 Pope Julius II would have been represented by no less than sixteen quite different figures in the book. However, it should be noted that beyond the abstract deformities and monstruosities of the carnival some more specific allegorical features can be also detected in these pictures. Throughout Europe, a specific teratology of political cartoons was developed, which was especially alive in the religious debate in Germany and in the Netherlands. This was not alien to Rabelais either, for in the last book of Pantagruel, published only a year before the Drolatic dreams, the Loud Island is inhabited by a bunch of impossible birds representing prelates, bishops, cardinals and other illustrious personalities of the Roman Curia. In the Dreams many pictures contain religious overtones. One glance is enough to note that weapons and religion are the two most frequent sources of their motives, which is well justified by the political climate of the time. However, their satirical or allegorical articulation is far from unequivocal. The mixture of motives and their drift toward the absurd avoids a linear reading which would indispensable to a direct criticism of a given enemy one wants to subdue. On the other hand, we also have to admit the contiguity of these figures with other sets of pictures which also included similarly monstrous beings, as the illustrations of fables and miracles, voyages, bestiaries or medical treaties. They are constant hints to the fact that we cannot completely understand the machine of nature. The Baroque monsters have even less humor. They are interpreted as ominous signs, and their presence through the stories and engravings of popular prints becomes more stressed and widespread as European society – especially the South – becomes aware that the world is aging and getting worse, abandoning the way of the old Humanist ideals. This work also fits in this process. The monsters of Drolatic dreams are deeply rooted in this cultural landscape. The chill caused by them was resolved as summarized by Michel Jeanneret: “There are several ways to get rid of monsters, and the 16th century had different ways for this purpose. You can attribute the wonders to distant countries, thus converting them into exotic objects which will not disturb us so much. You can also disable them by treating them as allegories, conventional and fictive signs, by which they lose their frightening face. In other cases, the existence of monsters is assigned to natural causes, thus dissipating their mystery. From the 17th century, rationality will be the most effective defense against the horror. It can be seen at this point how different the strategy of Drolatic dreams is. It does not intend to neutralize the monster, it does not deny it, but, on the contrary, it accepts its plausibility. […] At the intersection of farce and fear, the Dreams, probably unknowingly, realizes the carnivalization of horror. It exorcises the strange and alien by using one of the few really effective human weapons, laughing. This operation falls within the process of the great change observed by Foucault since the early 16th century: the figure of madness gradually replaces the obsessive image of death. […] Rather than distorting the human, they humanize the unknown.” (“Rire à la face du monstre”, in: Les Songes drolatiques de Pantagruel, Paris: La-Chaux-de-Fonds: 1989, 33.). The same Jeanneret noticed a certain regularity in the design of the book that would strengthen his argument. The figures of two facing pages always look at each other, and while the left one is always of a threatening or disturbing aspect, with more aggressive features, the right one is funnier or merely more innocent; and it is always on the right side where we find more birds, decorations, lighter traces, more musical instruments. We can ask whether this was the final lesson that François Desprez and Richard Breton wanted to offer (in the shadow of Rabelais, of course), such a linear reading during which, by proceeding from the mournful to the festive and merry we balance the initial unrest with a laughter that kills the monsters (what we are), thus gradually humanizing us. In this interpretation we are the suffering humanity that laughs at itself by looking in a distorting mirror, this infinite procession of chimeras lightened by the subtle embroideries of master Desprez, the ultimate teaching of the Humanism on humanism. Our Spanish edition of Dreams, whose introduction is an enlarged version of this post, was recently published in the series “Centellas”: Los Sueños droláticos de Pantagruel, Palma: José J. de Olañeta, Editor, 2011.

Britannica -Wikipedia I have been busy writing a paper over the past weeks and had only had a glance at the discussions taking place on the Britannica blog on Web2.0. The piece by McHenry and the subsequent comments show how much 'ideas matter' to Britannica . They removed Stephen Downes' critical comments and in doing so showed that they didn't really have any intentions of true debate about Web2.0 and education, just a one-sided story to support their views: their experts are the only ones able to think and produce valid knowledge. By discarding other views they have shown that they don't adhere to their own principles for validating information. Most of us remember their attacks on Wikipedia as being a second-rate piece of work. The argument by McHenry shows a distinct lack of understanding of the societal impact of Web2.0 technologies. Henry James from MIT shows he knows the issues in his blogposts on Wikipedia and media literacies. They go to the heart of current developments in networked information and knowledge. He follows the move away from expert knowledge towards collective knowledge, developed on online networks, perhaps in projects such as the Wikipedia or in games. People work together, develop skills and knowledge as they go along, learning from others in an informal way. He discusses four skills as most important to this: Collective intelligence: to be able to share knowledge and build knowledge together, which of course is not at the forefront of most educational programmes, where most assessments are individual projects; information literacy and critical analysis skills to ensure sound judgements are being made on information sources; networking skills, to be able to make the links to other people and information, sysnthesise and disseminate information; negotiation skils required to travel across networks, get involved in communities, adapt to a variety of cultures. I agree with these and if the education profession is serious about personalising the learning environment, and embedding it in students' other everyday activities, these are the skills student will require to foster a deeper level of learning. Educational institutions should think hard on how these skills could be embedded in the curriculum as they are undoutable what citizens of tomorrow need. It is not helpful of traditional media to attack new developments, and even worse to use new media and not engage with them in the best possible way by distorting the discussions and deleting views that are not quite theirs. Seth Finkelstein in TechnologyGuardian was wondering what the purpose of Britannica's involvement in blogging has been: to get involved in the technology as it seems unavoidable, or to just make use of the technology to create links to their own encyclopedia. I wonder. PLE, Web2.0,

The symbiosis between theory and practice Last night and this morning on the Twitter #PLENK2010 a discussion went on about the relation of theory and practice. Questions were raised about the need for theory at all. Well, I have learned over the years that to me theory is very important. For one to understand why I practice in the way I do. Also to question decisions made by politicians about education and schooling; so to understand what their aims and objectives are with schooling and if they are in the best interest of children and adults. One framework that has helped me in this over the years is an adaptation of the Alexander Framework, from the E836 course Study Guide of the MA in Education course by the OU in the UK. I have included it here. Should not all educators be thinking about the four questions in this diagram? What should learners learn? How should the learning be taught and assessed? What is an educated person? Why should learners be educated in this way? And should not all educators be aware of the invisible influences on the learning and teaching process, such as ideas, values and culture which will influence the views of learning, knowledge and education of themselves and their institution? I find that this picture shows fairly clearly what part of the teaching practice we can observe, and what influences are hidden in formal educational settings.What it lacks is the role the learner plays in all this, as her or his voice is hidden in the pedagogy of the institution. The way adult learners have shown their agreement or disagreement with the relation between theory and practice is with their feet: At the moment they feel the teaching no longer relates to their lived in world and their context, they will leave the course. Of course children do not have this choice as schooling is compulsory. Since I have started working on the research and development of a Personal Learning Environment my ideas of what should be in the diagram have changed slightly, as the observable practice has changed; the curriculum content, assessment and pedagogy are no longer related to the institution, but to the learners autonomous drive to find out or do something new, so I now use the following visualization: It is the learners themselves whose ideas, values and beliefs will influence their learning. A certain level of reflection on their own learning, knowing and education is important to make progress on their learning journey, or if you find that too directed, on their climbing frame of learning: scrambling up one moment, moving sideways or back down and in another direction the next time.

The Grieving Since there's very little grief training in our culture, people are often surprised by how hard their grief hits them. We usually don't know what to expect until we experience a major loss and begin to suffer the consequences. It's important to understand that grief is a pervasive experience that impacts the whole person--physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It's also important not to be afraid to experience grief symptoms--many people try to put their grief aside and "get over it," but this only delays the healing process. As you go through the grieving process, you'll probably experience three distinct phases of grief. Shock and Denial Most people experience this as their initial reaction--shock, a feeling of numbness or unreality, and possibly even denial that the loved one is gone. In this initial phase, our minds begin to adjust to the loss of our loved one. Because this is such a difficult time, thinking about or experiencing grief constantly is too painful, so we go back and forth between believing the loss has happened and a sense of denial or unreality. It's critical to give yourself time to adjust to the loss and to come to terms with it. This stage can last as long as several weeks. This is a time of chaos for individuals experiencing grief at the loss of a loved one as they try to adjust to the world without the person in it. During this phase, we are intensely aware of the reality of our loss, but will try almost anything to escape it. This is a period of exhaustion and intense emotion, and the grieving person will often experience mood swings, sometimes dramatic ones. Normal emotions at this stage include anger, extreme sadness, depression, despair, and extreme jealousy of others who haven't suffered the same loss. During this stage, people begin to understand all the implications of the loss and begin to rebuild their life. This stage can last a year or more. This stage is also known as acceptance or reorganization. The disrupted stage people go through comes to an end as they find a new balance. People in mourning become aware that the physical signs of their grief are beginning to fade and that they are less exhausted than they once were. The pain of the loss remains, but the unbearable intensity of it recedes, and people begin to experience hope again. Life begins to seem possible again.

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In this 16-minute video presentation, Christine Laehle explains bullying and teasing, types of bullying, characteristics and warning signs of a target and a bully, and bystander effect. Laehle ... California Department of Education School Safety Resources The California Department of Education's Safe Schools web page offers a list of available training opportunities, resources and technical assistance to help establish school/community environments that are physically and emotionally safe, well ... California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare This site provides information related to selected child welfare programs. Programs featured on the site are being used in California to promote child and family well-being. Resources are listed by topic areas including behavior management, parent ... California Healthy Kids Survey A California statewide survey of resiliency, protective factors and risk behaviors of students in grades 5, 7, 9 and 11. 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CSC offerings include professional ... Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence (CSPV) Housed at the University of Colorado Boulder, the CSPV disseminates information/resources, offers technical assistance and conducts research related to understanding and preventing violence, particularly adolescent violence. The website provides a ... Classroom Prevention Program A first-grade program that combines a classroom management strategy called The Good Behavior Game with an enhanced academic curriculum in language arts and math. A Critique of the Week component addresses topics related to healthy lifestyles. ... Common Sense Reasoning for Detection, Prevention, and Mitigation of Cyberbullying This research article offers new insight into the problem of cyberbullying and current efforts for its prevention. Cyberbullying (harassment on social networks) is widely recognized as a serious social problem, especially for adolescents. While ... Community Action Planning: "Building Prevention and Response Training Module" These Bullying Prevention Training Module materials are designed to support community and school efforts in the presentation of research-based resources that can help lead bullying prevention efforts. Slides help present the latest information and ... The programs and services of Community Matters include components of the Whole School Climate Framework. They are modular, providing the flexibility to address a school's specific culture, needs and goals: Cyberbullying Solutions Safe School ... Cyberbullying and Strain A Research Summary factsheet from the Cyberbullying Research Center providing insight on a current study using a popular contemporary criminological theory-general strain theory (GST)- to contribute to what is known about the factors associated with ... Direct From the Field: A Guide to Bullying Prevention Developed as a joint project of three state agencies in Massachusetts, Direct from the Field was designed to assist educators in creating a bullying prevention program to meet the unique needs of their respective communities. The Guide includes ... Educators for Social Responsibility - ESR ESR works directly with educators to implement systemic practices that create safe, caring, and equitable schools so that all young people succeed in school and life, and help shape a safe school. The website includes information on professional ... Electronic Media and Youth Violence - A CDC Issue Brief for Researchers Electronic media play an integral role in the lives of all people. The rapid evolution of technology in various forms has significantly influenced the way people live and interact. These new technologies have become mainstay for how people, ... Fix School Discipline Produced by the Public Counsel of California, this website contains a toolkit to support and guide schools in addressing discipline and creating positive climates for student learning and wellness. Numerous resources are listed and specific ... Foundations Recovery Network: Research Outcomes Foundations Recovery Networks mission is to be the leader in evidence-based integrated treatment for co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders through clinical services, education and research. Their publications provide important ... Gateway Drugs: How Does Addiction Start? Implications for Bullying Behavior This article provides a comprehensive overview of the concept of gateway drugs put together by the drug abuse and treatment experts at Foundations Recovery Network. With over 23 research citations and visual aids, the guide is both comprehensive ... Girls Circle and The Council for Boys and Young Men One Circle Foundation offers three models Girls Circle, The Council for Boys and Young Men, and Womens Circle. The programs employ evidence-based principles of a strengths-based approach, motivational interviewing strategies and a strong focus on ... Hamilton Fish Institute: The 411 on Bullying The Hamilton Fish Institute compiled this comprehensive research-based document on the topic of bullying. Starting with the basic 4-1-1 that includes a definition, normal conflict vs. bullying behaviors, common examples and types of bullies and ... Implementation Research: A Synthesis of the Literature A full research monograph of work by the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida. In this document you will find a detailed summary of the science of implementation. The study of the findings of research ... KiVa Antibullying Program A school-wide intervention that addresses individual-, classroom-, and school-level factors. Manuals and curricula are developmentally targeted, for grades OneThree, FourSix, and SevenNine. Materials are available to provide information and advice ... Lions Quest Skills for Adolescence A comprehensive life skills program designed for schoolwide and classroom implementation for grades 6-8 (ages 10-14). The program employs a variety of instructional strategies, including inquiry, discussion and group work. Eighty 45-minute ... Love Is Not Abuse This curriculum deals with sensitive issues related to dating abuse. During their teenage years, when they are no longer children, but not yet adults many young people begin to form their first romantic relationships. Dating violence/abuse is ... National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN) The National Child Traumatic Stress Network was established to improve access to care, treatment, and services for traumatized children and adolescents exposed to traumatic events. NCTSNs collaboration of frontline providers, researchers, and ... National School Climate Center (NSCC) A safe and supportive school environment nurtures social, ethical, and academic growth. NSCC focuses on promoting a healthy learning climate by providing a variety of resources, programs, and best practices related to bullying prevention and ... Not The Target Not the Target provides individual counseling services and anti-bullying programs for schools, students, parents and therapists. The website offers information on bullying and cyberbullying prevention training, resources and more. ... One Circle Foundation The One Circle Foundation assists communities and agencies in recognizing and reporting abuse and neglect; development of school based support systems for mandated reporters and creating public service announcements. The organization is dedicated ... Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports (PBIS) Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) is a framework for achieving improved academic and behavioral outcomes for all students. It guides intervention at the school and district level by a structure to support the adults and students ... A YMCA of Silicon Valley initiative offering programs for students, teachers/staff and parents/caregivers to prevent bullying and promote a positive school climate/culture. Student workshops address consequences of bullying and how to identify and ... Que Es El Acoso - StopBullying.gov Espanol Website Like the English language version, the new site provides parents, teachers and community leaders with resources they need to prevent bullying. Explore the new site for research and best practices on cyberbullying, prevention and response. You will ... Ripple Effects Whole Spectrum Intervention System A computer-based program for students that has 140 topics for 6-12 year olds and 390 topics for 13-17 year olds. Topics can be customized for the individual student and address social-emotional competencies such as assertiveness, decision-making, ... Roots of Empathy (ROE) - Anti-Bullying Program Roots of Empathy (ROE) is an evidence-based classroom program with significant effect in reducing levels of aggression among school children while raising social/emotional competence and increasing empathy. This anti-bullying program starts as ... Safe Communities ~ Safe Schools Pre-Planning Assessment Handbook The Handbook is intended to aid school-community planning teams in identifying areas of strength and weakness that could affect school and community safety. Includes instructions, scoring sheets and the following checklists: Parent/Community ... Safe School Ambassadors Program The Safe School Ambassadors (SSA) program is an "inside-out" approach to improving school climate, that relies on social norms change and the power of students to help stop bullying and violence. Student bystanders are a critical and under-utilized ... Say It Straight Say It Straight (SIS) is a research-based program to help students in grades 3-12 learn skills to communicate and behave in ways that empower them to reduce risky behaviors such as bullying, drug/alcohol/tobacco use, violence and eating ... Suicide Is Preventable Know the warning signs for suicide and how to have a direct conversation with someone who may be in crisis. But don't keep this important information to yourself. Help educate others by sharing this website with friends, family and loved ones ... The Effects of Adolescent Health-Related Behaviors on Academic Performance An investigation of longitudinal literature on the effects of the most predominant health-related behaviors including alcohol/marijuana use and bullying on adolescent academic performance. Thirty studies dating back to 1992 were retrieved from the ... The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments Schools and communities across the U.S. are contending with many factors that affect conditions for learning, such as bullying, harassment, violence and substance abuse. The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments (NCSSLE) is ... Too Good for Violence Too Good for Violence K-12 is a universal, violence prevention and character education program that teaches character-based skills, attitudes, and behaviors to help students: differentiate between feelings and actions, encourage respect between ... UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools The UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools offers a number of resources and tools as well as a program clearinghouse and publications to support schools in creating environments for social emotional wellness and academic success. They also have ... UCLA School Mental Health Project The UCLA Center for Mental Health in Schools offers a number of resources and tools as well as a program clearinghouse and publications to support schools in creating environments for social emotional wellness and academic success. Use the website's ... Understanding and Intervening in Bullying Behavior This training toolkit (produced by USDEs Safe Supportive Schools Technical Assistance Center) is comprised of two modules addressing bullying in classrooms. The 2-part series include: Module 1: Understanding and Intervening in Bullying Behavior, ... What, me worry? Students, Stress and Learning Stress is a physiological response (including bullying) to a perception of a lack of control. The research presented addresses how children and teens react to stress, symptoms of stress, and how young people perceive stress differently from adults. ... Youth Suicide and Self-Harm Prevention: 2017 Resource Guide Suicide is the second leading cause of death for U.S. children and youth ages 10 through 24. This guide divides selected resources into seven main sections including evidence-based practices and program planning. There are several notable ... Youth Suicide Prevention and Student Mental Wellness Series Online Courses Developed with support from the California Mental Health Services Authority (CalMHSA) for the Region 11 K-12 Student Mental Health Initiative, these no-cost course modules are designed for teachers, administrators, nurses, and district and school ...

Race Fantasies, White Guilt and Sci-Fi Narratives [link to an article] I stumbled across an article by Annalee Newitz today. I am still surprised (rightly so?) when Mr. Me post-colonial, anti-colonial, person of color in a white town, writing a thesis about race premised on intellectual and political race-fantasies of my own, reads something that makes something snap inside me such that I go: "Holy crap! How come I've never thought about it this way before?!" And when I stumble on something that gets me to think out-of-the-box, I love sharing it! This article (link here) discusses white guilt and white racial fantasies within popular cinematic sci-fi narratives. I personally think it is a very interesting take. If you have any (differing) thoughts, I would love to hear them. "Critics have called alien epic Avatar a version of Dances With Wolves because it's about a white guy going native and becoming a great leader. But Avatar is just the latest scifi rehash of an old white guilt fantasy. Spoilers... Whether Avatar is racist is a matter for debate. Regardless of where you come down on that question, it's undeniable that the film - like alien apartheid flick District 9, released earlier this year - is emphatically a fantasy about race. Specifically, it's a fantasy about race told from the point of view of white people. Avatar and scifi films like it give us the opportunity to answer the question: What do white people fantasize about when they fantasize about racial identity?"Read the full article here. Here's My Guilty Pleasure [what is yours? and a po...

Strolling with a skeptical biochemist Why Dads Can't Dance This is a topic that's dear to my heart? Why? Because it's one of the few things where Denyse O'Leary and I completely agree—the silliness of evolutionary psychology. Here's her blog posting [Coffee!!! Evolution explains why Dad’s dancing is so awful, except where it isn’t]. Here's the article published in the Telegraph ['Dad dancing' may be the result of evolution, scientists claim]. The "scientist" is Peter Lovatt, a psychologist and a dancer at the University of Hertfordshire (UK). The cringeworthy "dad dancing" witnessed at wedding receptions every weekend may be an unconscious way in which ageing males repel the attention of young women, leaving the field clear for men at their sexual peak. "The message their dancing sends out is 'stay away, I'm not fertile'," said Dr Peter Lovatt, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire who has compared the dancing styles and confidence levels of nearly 14,000 people. His research has backed up scientific studies showing a connection between dancing, hormones and sexual selection. Men between the ages of 35 and 60 typically attempt complex moves with limited co-ordination – an observation that will be obvious to anyone who saw George W Bush shake his stuff with a troupe of West African performers in 2007. Dr Lovatt pointed to research showing that women could gauge the testosterone levels of their dance partners by the style and energy of their moves, and suggested that "dad dancing" may be a way of warning women of child-bearing age that they might be better off looking elsewhere. "It would seem completely unsurprising to me that since middle-aged men have passed their natural reproductive age, and probably have a family already, evolution would act to ensure they are no longer attractive to 18-year-old girls," Dr Lovatt said.No comment is necessary except to say that psychology better do something to clean up its image or the entire discipline is going to become a joke. [Photo Credit: That's my daughter Jane at her wedding in June 2007. And that's me, demonstraing my infertility in the same way my cavemen ancestors might have done.] The Sandwalk is the path behind the home of Charles Darwin where he used to walk every day, thinking about science. You can see the path in the woods in the upper left-hand corner of this image. My own view is that conclusions about the evolution of human behavior should be based on research at least as rigorous as that used in studying nonhuman animals. And if you read the animal behavior journals, you'll see that this requirement sets the bar pretty high, so that many assertions about evolutionary psychology sink without a trace. I once made the remark that two things disappeared in 1990: one was communism, the other was biochemistry and that only one of them should be allowed to come back. TIBS Dec. 2000 It is naïve to think that if a species' environment changes the species must adapt or else become extinct.... Just as a changed environment need not set in motion selection for new adaptations, new adaptations may evolve in an unchanging environment if new mutations arise that are superior to any pre-existing variations Douglas Futuyma One of the most frightening things in the Western world, and in this country in particular, is the number of people who believe in things that are scientifically false. If someone tells me that the earth is less than 10,000 years old, in my opinion he should see a psychiatrist. There will be no difficulty in computers being adapted to biology. There will be luddites. But they will be buried. An atheist before Darwin could have said, following Hume: 'I have no explanation for complex biological design. All I know is that God isn't a good explanation, so we must wait and hope that somebody comes up with a better one.' I can't help feeling that such a position, though logically sound, would have left one feeling pretty unsatisfied, and that although atheism might have been logically tenable before Darwin, Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist Another curious aspect of the theory of evolution is that everybody thinks he understand it. I mean philosophers, social scientists, and so on. While in fact very few people understand it, actually as it stands, even as it stood when Darwin expressed it, and even less as we now may be able to understand it in biology. The false view of evolution as a process of global optimizing has been applied literally by engineers who, taken in by a mistaken metaphor, have attempted to find globally optimal solutions to design problems by writing programs that model evolution by natural selection. Principles of Biochemistry

How safe are Saudi women in taxis driven by Saudis? This opinion piece appeared in the October 28, 2016 Saudi Gazette. Uber and other car service apps have revolutionized the mobility of Saudi women. Now the government is proposing that all drivers must be Saudis. I am not certain whether official yellow taxis must be Saudi, or if this law includes the 'apps' as well. As a note, back in the 1970's, there was a period of time when all taxi drivers had to be Saudi nationals. This was done to immediately give employment to able bodied men who might not have the education or other skills to find employment. It seems this idea has come full circle. A link to the story is here, and the text is pasted below. by - Samar al-Migrin THE issue of smartphone apps for taxis is a controversial topic everywhere. When they were launched, many taxi drivers lost their jobs and customers. Taxis booked via an app are usually cleaner than traditional taxis found in the street and offer better services at reasonable rates, especially inside cities where conventional taxis are expensive. When I visited New York last year, I saw dozens of yellow cab drivers protesting about these apps. They were angry because their business had been negatively impacted and they were no longer able to compete. Although I felt sad for them, the truth is that the taxis that are booked via smartphone apps are way better than traditional taxis in terms of quality of service. Moreover, the drivers speak nicely to customers and do their best to make customers happy because they know if they do not, then customers will give them a negative review. In the Kingdom, these apps play an important role in helping Saudi families travel, especially in light of the ban imposed on women driving. In other countries, people use taxis for certain errands. Saudi women are happier and no longer feel worried about riding alone with a taxi driver. In fact, these apps are a solution to the transportation problem that women used to face. The Ministry of Transport recently issued a decision to Saudize taxis and replace expatriate taxi drivers with Saudis. I was glad when I read the news and thought that Saudi taxi drivers should be given an opportunity to prove themselves. But a few days after the decision, I started to carefully think about this matter. The decision will result in Saudi women being alone with a Saudi taxi driver in the same car. I think there is a contradiction between this decision and the ban imposed on women driving in the Kingdom. Saudi women are banned from driving because of Saudi drivers, most of whom are young and reckless. If young Saudi men are dangerous and they are the reason why women cannot drive, then what is the justification for the decision to allow young Saudi women to get in a car with young Saudi men? I would like to reiterate that I am not against Saudization, but we need to look at this issue more carefully.

Extinction, Mass Extinctions, Extinct Species, And The Ongoing 6th Great Mass Extinction March 7, 2013 in Animals & Insects, Fossils, Humans, Plants Extinction is the process by which a species, genus, or family, becomes extinct — no longer existing and living in the world. It is the abolition and annihilation of something that previously existed in the world. In the case of biology, it refers specifically to the end of an evolutionary line, or a branch on the tree of life. The actual moment of extinction is considered to be when the last individual representative of a species or group is no longer living. But functional extinction can occur considerably earlier than that — as the result of loss of genetic diversity, range, and/or the ability for a population to breed and recover. Most types of life, especially animals, are closely tied to their ecological niches and environments. With a loss of their living environment, and its accompanying species, extinction is almost inevitable for many types of life. Species diversification and emergence typically doesn’t occur in these circumstances, it usually happens within healthy ecosystems. The long-period of time that follows large extinction events when no new species emerge is referred to as a dead zone . Tags: 6th extinction event, 6th great mass extinction event, Aiolornis incredibilis, Anthropocene mass extinction, bee extinct, bison latifrons, Camelops, causes of extinction, civilization extinction, climate change extinctions, deforestation extinct animals, deforestation extinction, dire wolf, effects of extinction, Elasmotherium extinction, End Cretaceous mass extinction, end-Permian mass extinction, endangered animals, extinct animals, extinct megafauna animals, extinct plants, extinct species, Extinction, extinction event, giant armadillo, giant kangaroo, Holocene mass extinction, Homotherium, human extinction, Irish Elk, IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, keystone species, Macoun's Shining Moss, mass extinctions, megafauna mass extinction, Megalania, Meiolania, Miracinonyx, Moa, Oncorhynchus rastrosus, Ornimegalonyx, over-fishing extinctions, over-hunting extinction, Panthera leo atrox, saber tooth salmon, saber-toothed cats, Sivatherium, sixth great mass extinction event, Smilodon extinction, Stellar's Sea Cow, Tasmania thylacine, Tasmanian tiger, the American cheetah, the American lion, the Haast's eagle, Thylacine extinct, Tyrant Sea Bear, unicorn extinction, Wonambi 2 Comments » Elasmotherium, The Origin Of Unicorn Legends, Survived Until At Least 50,000 Years Ago, Possibly Until Much More Recently Biological Cells Found In Dinosaur Bone Confirmed To Be 67-Million-Year-Old Collagen, Possibly Contain DNA October 25, 2012 in Animals & Insects, Fossils In 2005, what appeared to be preserved soft tissue was found inside of a 67-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus Rex bone. This soft material was confirmed by later research to be collagen. And now new research has provided further strong evidence that these are in fact dinosaur proteins, and not the result of microbial contamination. The primary evidence is the soft tissue’s reactivity to antibodies that only target specific proteins found in the bone cells of vertebrates. This rules out microbial contamination. And strongly suggests that there are actual T-Rex cells preserved in the soft tissue, and possibly DNA. Tags: 67 million year old collagen, dinosaur collagen in 80 million year old bone, dinosaur DNA in bones, dinosaur proteins in bone, DNA from dinosaur cloning, t-rex protein bone No Comments » Spider Eating A Wasp, 100-Million-Year-Old Moment Captured In Amber October 9, 2012 in Animals & Insects, Fossils An 100-million-year-old amber fossil showing the exact moment that a spider begins to attack a wasp has just been discovered by researchers. The scene is perfectly preserved in time, giving a remarkably detailed look into the distant past. This is the only fossil showing a spider attacking prey caught in its web ever found. It’s an unprecedented fossil, that shows “an action that took place in the Hukawng Valley of Myanmar in the Early Cretaceous between 97-110 million years ago, almost certainly with dinosaurs wandering nearby.” “Aside from showing the first and only fossil evidence of a spider attacking prey in its web, the piece of amber also contains the body of a male spider in the same web. This provides the oldest evidence of social behavior in spiders, which still exists in some species but is fairly rare. Most spiders have solitary, often cannibalistic lives, and males will not hesitate to attack immature species in the same web.”

Posted on September 21, 2016September 22, 2016 Are you putting your baby to sleep safely? Scroll down to see more content Here’s what all parents need to know about safe infant sleep environments… According to a study published in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal Pediatrics in August 2016, the majority of parents are not placing their infants in safe sleeping positions. While this study is shining light on safe infant sleep practices, it’s important to remember that these are not new guidelines. To reduce Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and other sleep-related infant deaths, these recommendations have been created and revised over the last 25 years. It’s time for a refresher course! Since 1992, there has been a stress on creating safe sleep environments for infants. For healthy, term infants, it is always advised to place an infant on their back to sleep on an AAP-approved sleeping surface (crib, bassinet, playpen, cradle) that is firm and free of loose/bulky items like blankets, stuffed animals, pillows and sleep positioners which can increase the incidence of SIDS. It is not recommended that cribs have bumper pads on them because this can pose a suffocation and strangulation risk as well. Factors that reduce the risk of SIDS are breastfeeding, pacifier use and room-sharing (but not bed-sharing). Factors that increase the risk of SIDS are overheating and smoke exposure. Unfortunately, there are many non-approved infant sleep items that are still for sale in stores and online thus creating a very confusing situation for parents. Check out HealthyChildren.org for more information and resources about reducing the risk of SIDS and other sleep-related infant deaths. Is your child getting enough sleep? A recent study from Penn State reviewed video footage during one night’s sleep for infants at 1, 3 and 6 months. The study measured several outcomes, but one of the more striking results were regarding loose/non-approved items on infant sleep surfaces — approximately 90 percent of infants had some sort of risky item in their sleeping quarters. Approximately 30 percent of infants changed sleep locations at some point during the night, and this number decreased as infants got older. The second sleep environment was usually unsafe (bedsharing with parents, sleeping on their stomachs, sleeping in a car seat or swing, etc.). The study’s main participants were Caucasian, college-educated, two-parent families. In addition, parents were aware of the video monitoring. Therefore, the incidence of unsafe infant sleep practices is likely underreported in the study and the general population. Babies need safety in every environment they thrive in… review the guidelines and protect your loved ones!

Hands-On Review: Celerity FC-24XL byDarryl Brooks SANology Inc. Atto's Celerity FC-24XL HBA is designed for data-hungry applications. But is its power worth paying for? Fibre Channel HBA hardware specifications Fibre Channel HBA products require serious purchase ... HBAs prop virtualisation After testing Atto Technology Inc.'s quad-ported, independent channel host bus adapter (HBA) with an onboard Intel processor, it seems clear what industry the company is targeting. The Celerity FC-24XL storage adapter, Atto's newest, fastest, most densely ported HBA, could have been called Celebrity, because Atto seems to have had Hollywood in mind when it was developed. Hollywood movie production houses were among the early adopters of Fibre Channel (FC) storage area networks (SANs). Because they must move large volumes of data between editing stations to manipulate audio and video characteristics, applications often require the largest data pipe available. If you've noticed how quickly new DVDs hit the video store shelves, you can chalk it up to the increased productivity resulting from FC SANs. Atto continues to increase its footprint in tinseltown by providing products in lockstep with Apple Computer Inc., the favorite platform of movie production houses. It's surprising that no other HBA vendor currently has a comparable product for this space. Apple sells a dual-ported, independent channel PCI adapter for connectivity to its XSAN line of products for $500, and Charismac Engineering Inc. has rewritten Emulex Corp. drivers to support a limited number of HBAs for Mac OS X, but that's it. Installation The Celerity FC-24XL is supported under Mac OS X 10.3.x, various versions of Windows and Red Hat Linux 8.x and 9.x. Although backward compatible with PCI, the Celerity FC-24XL should be installed in a 64-bit PCI-X slot to achieve maximum throughput capabilities. If port density--not speed--is your main objective, then installing the card into a 64-bit PCI slot will work. After installing the HBA into a Power Mac G5 server, I checked to see if the driver and firmware versions were up to date, and found that both needed to be upgraded. To install the driver version (1.20), I installed the latest Atto configuration tool (2.61) and flash file (FlashBundle_2004_03_31.24X), both of which can be found in the support/download section at www.attotech.com. Make sure you're running Mac OS X 10.2.4 or later (although 10.3.x is required to use the FC-24XL) and Java update 1.4.1 for the configuration tool to work properly. I used the configuration tool to update the flash file on the FC-24XL and it worked without incident. Extracting and installing the new device driver required a few mouse clicks. A reboot was required due to the changes in the flash file. Ordinarily, Mac OS X device drivers are loaded and unloaded dynamically or manually using the kextload and kextunload commands. After rebooting and evoking the configuration tool, I could see that the device driver and flash file had been updated. Atto Technology Celerity FC-24XL The Celerity FC-24XL is a high-performance host bus adapter suitable for applications that use large files and require high throughput. Usability and interface To better understand Atto's Celerity FC-24XL, we'll map the functionality of the HBA to the five layers (FC-4 to FC-0) of the FC networking model to see how it stacks up against the FC standards. (See "Fibre Channel networking model") FC-4. Device drivers operate at the FC-4 layer by packaging information units (e.g., SCSI command/data/status) to be transported down to the other layers and out over the glass wire. Because device driver code is often accessed in main memory, it's important that this code is small and efficient. The Mac OS X device driver for the Celerity FC-24XL is just over 200KB, due mainly to the functionality of Mac OS X's I/O developers' kit. In contrast, the packaged driver for the Windows platform is more than 4,000KB. FC-3. The still-developing FC-3 layer is described as a set of common services that serve multiple ports on the same node. Encryption, the striping of outgoing data across multiple ports, and the definition of multicast and hunt groups can all be done at this layer. The potential to exploit the functionality of the FC-3 layer with the Celerity FC-24XL is great. For example, a real-time application that needs the greatest bandwidth with the least latency could be configured to access a four-disk LUN through each of the HBA's four ports that are connected to four separate fabric ports that are ultimately connected to four separate storage ports. This is disk striping at its best because the probability of overrunning a fabric or storage port drops to almost zero with the proper buffering at each interconnect. In addition, using the features of the Alias Server (a well-known service in the fabric), frames destined for the node can now be directed to all four ports (multicast) or the least busy port (hunt group). A storage virtualization product can take the Celerity FC-24XL's four ports and present them as one logical path from a storage server to its client application hosts in the form of a hunt group. When application hosts access their storage over this path, load balancing is automatically achieved by the native functionality of the hunt group. FC-2. The framing and signaling portion of the standard, FC-2 receives information units from the upper layer protocols and packages them into frames to be sent to the destination port. Depending on the class of service in use, some level of signaling is used to either ensure that the frame arrived, or that there are sufficient buffers for the delivery of the next frame. The Celerity FC-24XL only supports the Class 3 connectionless service, and thus doesn't guarantee the delivery of frames with receipt acknowledgment. Therefore, upper layer protocols that don't manage delivery errors (e.g., IP/UDP) aren't suitable applications. FC-1. FC-2 frames are eventually serialized at the FC-1 layer and beamed across the physical interface for delivery to the destination port. Serialization is performed immediately before transmission, and is used to establish a clock frequency between the communicating ports by encoding timing bits into the data stream. It's also used to maintain DC balance (equal number of zeros and ones) on the glass wire. The quality (jitter) of the rise and fall times of the optical signal is a direct reflection of the quality of the serialization-deserialization (SERDES) function on the HBA. When considering SERDES functionality, focus on the number of integrated circuits per independent channel, power dissipation and the number and speeds of protocols supported by the circuit. This helps define an upgrade path for the HBA, or even uncover the full range of protocols that can be transmitted using the HBA. The FC-24XL is outfitted with two dual-channel FC controllers to perform serialization functions on behalf of the upper layer protocols. There's one SERDES channel for each port to support the independence of the data stream as it flows to and from its destination. FC-0. This layer describes the supported variants of the physical interface and their associated speeds. Twisted pair, copper and fiber optic cabling are the supported media over which FC frames can be transported. The different connectors associated with the cabling options are also defined. The FC-24XL uses four 2Gb/sec, small form-factor pluggable LC-type connectors to achieve maximum port density. Designed for high-throughput local applications, the HBA is outfitted with multimode lasers. Thus, multimode fiber optic cabling--preferably the 50 micron type--must be used to connect the Celerity FC-24XL to the fabric or end device. Fibre Channel networking model This diagram illustrates the five layers of the Fibre Channel networking model as defined by the industry standard. The high-performance design of the Celerity FC-24XL adheres to the model standards. Built for performance The Celerity FC-24XL boosts the performance of these layers with its Intel XScale processor. The design approach is similar to the TCP offload engines available on iSCSI storage adapters. Although much of the FC protocol is implemented in hardware and is immune to the overhead associated with processing IP headers, the additional features (port-to-port streaming and hardware RAID) offered by the FC-24XL benefit by having an integrated processor. The Celerity FC-24XL also comes standard with 128MB of SDRAM (upgradeable to 512MB) for direct memory transfers from the storage device without involving the application server's CPUs. This may appear to be overkill, but for applications that are sensitive to CPU interrupts, this isn't excessive. When plugged into a PCI-X bus slot operating at 64 bits and 133MHz, Atto says the FC-24XL is capable of sustaining 1GB/sec transfer rates between its attached devices and the CPU. Overprovisioning the bus with four 2Gb/sec (4Gb/sec full-duplex) ports is similar to how you would provision initiators over ISLs. Considering the likelihood of concurrent full-duplex communication across all four ports, overprovisioning this resource makes sense. Features The Celerity FC-24XL has eight 512-byte buffer credits for delivery into the fabric. This may not seem like much, but because the HBA operates over the Class 3 connectionless service and the maximum payload of a FC frame is 2048 bytes, the initiator needs only to receive an R_RDY frame from the communicating device to send the next data frame. In addition, the HBA is outfitted with multimode lasers. So the laser's light propagation distance is limited to 300 meters, and the R_RDY frame received by the HBA after the first frame is sent will arrive before the HBA is done sending the second frame. Both initiator and target mode is supported on the FC-24XL. When configured for initiator mode, the HBA sends frames into the fabric. When configured for target mode, the HBA receives frames from the fabric and could, for example, support a storage virtualization server. The FC-24XL also supports SNIA's HBA API, a common API developed by the standards organization. This is intended to improve the manageability of HBAs in a SAN without regard to proprietary-vendor APIs and is an essential part of the SMI-S. Product offerings from vendors complying with SMI-S can be managed using other vendors' software, thus avoiding vendor lock-in. Conformity to this specification should be considered mandatory when considering SAN hardware components. Cost The Celerity FC-24XL comes with two transceivers; two additional transceivers may be purchased separately. The retail price is approximately $2,600, which puts it out of reach for application servers that have simple access and throughput requirements. It's appropriate for data-hungry applications in film production, high-end engineering applications or even general-purpose servers running storage virtualization target software. Although priced moderately higher than other four-port FC HBA offerings, such as LSI Logic Corp.'s LSI7402XP-LC and QLogic Corp.'s QLA2344, the Celerity FC-24XL sports upwards of 512MB of onboard SDRAM memory for media-rich applications that can take advantage of direct memory access. The FC-24XL is a high-end product designed for the most data-driven applications. The density and speed of its ports provides unbridled access to storage content, especially large media-rich files. In addition, storage virtualization and disk-to-disk backups are also potential applications that can make use of the number and speed of the ports. Its adherence to FC standards at every level of the reference model should help allay compatibility concerns. The performance characteristics of the four ports when combined with the Intel processor, multiple dual-channel SERDES circuits and up to 512MB of DMA memory makes the Celerity FC-24XL a must-have for applications plowing through terabytes of data daily, such as audio-visual content servers. You'll pay a premium for the Celerity, but if you're running demanding applications, you're likely to find that it's worth the price. This was last published in July 2004 Latest Seagate SAS HDD is 'poor man’s SSD' Seagate sees 10 TB drives as sweet spot Secondary data storage takes center stage Dell XC Series underpins hospital's IT overhaul Seagate adds helium HDD to Enterprise Capacity line Serial ATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment or SATA) Future of the Ethernet drive may hinge on NVMe over Ethernet What's the best way to protect against HDD failure? New 96 TB Exablox OneBlox 4312 targets production storage How to overcome flash-based storage limitations to ensure efficiency storage capacity planning I/O performance in need of a fix Fail-in-place systems: Avoiding hard disk drive failures What are the key differences between SATA II vs. SATA I?

Highlight of the day has to be the session that I took at IMS. They wanted someone to work with MBA aspirants and make them understand the nuances of things that happen during the GD phase of the selection process. This was after a while I was doing something like that. And I came home with a few things. Here's a list. In no order, as always... A. Realisation that I suck at public speaking. I would want to believe that I am good at it. But I am not. I do have a speech impediment - I stutter, speak fast, gobble up words, have a nasal voice. Thankfully, all these can be worked on. The things that are tougher to work on, confidence, presence, ability to structure thoughts - I have those. So, nothing to worry about. Need practise. Thats about it! B. The "proud" and "popular" decision that I took to NOT read newspapers and consume just the online pieces, its backfiring. Why? Because when I was reading newspapers, I was getting something in my head (howsoever crappy, biased, inaccurate it were). On the other hand, when I consume stuff online, I often get lost in the forest full of trees of knowledge. And the way I consume new information, I tend to look at just the highlights and not the details. I am doing what Feynman says is knowing the name of something. And honestly, I dont know how to fix this. While reading online is great, I can choose what I want to read on. So, most of what I know tends to be from one of my favorite buckets - startups, decision making, evolution, human behaviour, business, investing, cultures etc. Now as a social animal, I need lot more than these disciplines. And thus, more. Also, lately I have been thinking about reading. When I say reading, there is books, there's blogs, there is newspapers and there is reading for business - industry reports, opinions etc. Lemme talk of books first. There are three distinct ways in which I hope to read to learn from books. First, I am becoming convinced that reading entire books (for learning) may not be the most efficient method. Like Naval said in a recent podcast, most books have one or two points to make and then they use 300 pages to drive home that one point. I can do better by reading book summaries and other such things. Bastardised form of learning but I am ok with it. So, books like Blink, Influence etc. would fall under this category. In fact thanks to platforms like TED, Youtube and podcasts, you can watch a 18-min video and you would have consumed the entire book. Or you download a 30-min podcast on your phone and as you reach your office, you would know about a new thing! Second, when you read about lives of great people - thats something I ought to continue doing. When you read a biography, you are not just learning from the lives they lives, you are also living their lives with them, seeing what decisions they made and how they made those decisions. The best part? You have the advantage of the hindsight! Third, there are few exceptional non-fictional books that pack more points than one. Case in point? The one that I am reading right now - Sapiens. The other such book that I immensely enjoyed is Tools of Titans. Its essentially a "listicle" 2.0 book (list of lists), it had lists of things, daily habits and other such things from some of the most successful people. Such books ought to be read cover to cover. Keyword, read to learn. This does not include fiction. Books that I read for recreation. Like John Grisham. Or Lee Child. I am planning to pick Simenon. Let's see how that goes. Blogs - well, I follow some 400 odd blogs - I dont read them all. I skim (and skim fast) and I am happy with the approach. Unless while skimming, something catches my fancy. I then sort of deep dive into it. I read arguments in favour and against. I try to read more opinions. I try to think (not too deeply though) and once I am convinced, I try and take a stand. This piece about reading is one such example. Everyone says that you ought to read. I know. I agree. But then there's so much to read and the speed at which I read, how do I ensure that I read a wide range of things? The way I have just explained! Newspapers - I ought to start reading. The thing that I am not happy about with newspapers? What they consider news, I consider them non-events. Things like Virat Kohli buying a 100-crore apartment is not news. But since that is what sells, that is what they write. I dont blame them for this. Look at me. I am so used to the idea of free things, I would not pay any money for high-quality journalism / writing! So, for newspapers, I ought to pick and choose what I read. Business - thankfully, my day job is not analysing businesses (which people like WEB do). As a result, I dont have to read things like annual reports where they apparently "hide" things in plain sight and you have to be very diligent to be able to sift wheat from chaff. I reckon that it would be a very time consuming process and since I do not hope to be a master of one particular discipline, I can get away with it. I'd rather know about a lot of different things, make connections and let serendipity and happy accidents guide me home. C. Retention. While I was taking the session today I realised that I dont retain much from what I read. I had the same realisation the last night when I was at a friends place and we were talking about impact of technology on traditional walled-gardens like banking. I have read about the subject in detail but I could not recall specifics. And its not a cool thing. In fact I've spotted this trend lately. Little signs that I am growing old. It's exactly like they said it would be. Creeping over slowly, imperceptibly as I am busy with my day to day life. So, I need to work harder onto undo-ing these things. One way is to write. Because, I have noticed that I tend to retain things that I write. Ok, digressing. And not to forget, other things that old age inflict upon us. D. Handwriting. My handwriting sucks so bad its not funny. While taking the session at IMS, I made notes and when I had to give feedback, I could not read what I had written! Poor students. But then, its something that I am sure I dont want to work on. Let the handwriting go down the drain for all I care. While I love the feel of pen on paper and on whiteboards, I continue to be a fan of typing (on an Apple keyboard ofcourse), unless they come up with a new way to capture thoughts. E. In the end, I loved spending time with students. I was in the zone. I would love to do it lot more - with other MBA aspirants. And students in general. I am not sure if I have a lot to contribute but I do have a lot to learn. About myself. About the world. And the ideas that these young ones have. Need to figure out a way to do so. May be pick 5 students, work with them through the year and prepare them for this? Seth Godin did something similar. He calls it the altMBA. Lemme think more. Will be back on this. So yeah! This is it for the day. Thanks Ojas for asking me if I am free to take these sessions up!

Seizures in Pregnancy In Pregnancy 1. How does epilepsy affect conception? Epilepsy, in itself, has no impact on fertility. However, the treatment of epilepsy can impact conception. Phenobarbital, phenytoin, and carbemazepine are metaboized in the hepatic P450 system. Their metabolism increases the production of sex hormone-binding globulin, which can decrease the unbound, active fractions of hormonal contraceptive agents. Therefore, hormonal [...][Continue Reading...]Sexual Dysfunction in Multiple Sclerosis: Medical Assessment In Male Sexual Dysfunctions Medical examination for the assessment of sexual dysfunction should be comprehensive and include all systems potentially involved in the physiology of sexuality. Neurologic examination should include the assessment of genital sensitive function including the research for allodynia, muscle weakness and alterations in muscular tone and the anal wink to document reflex function of the sacral [...][Continue Reading...]Iatrogenic Sexual Dysfunction In Male Sexual Dysfunctions Drug-induced sexual dysfunction is a common problem occurring during treatment of a variety of illnesses, including depression, schizophrenia, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Antidepressants, among all psychotropics, are most likely to cause sexual dysfunction, and orgasm disturbances (delayed ejaculation or anorgasmia) are the type most commonly associated with them. The association of antidepressants and decreased libido [...][Continue Reading...]Sexuality in Brain Injury In Male Sexual Dysfunctions Sexual impairment is a commonly described consequence of traumatic brain injury. Indeed, many authors believe that sexual dysfunction is “more often the rule than the exception”. A brain trauma could involve all those brain regions activated during a normal sexual response. Nevertheless, sexual impairment in injured people seems to be related both to a direct [...][Continue Reading...]Anticonvulsivant Drugs and Erectile Dysfunction In Male Sexual Dysfunctions In addition to the effect of epilepsy itself, antiepileptics drugs seem to contribute to hormonal alterations associated with sexual dysfunction. It has been suggested that antiepileptics drugs may have differential influence on the metabolism of sexual hormones and their binding proteins with secondary complications. Moreover, some antiepileptics drugs may adversely affect normal reproductive cycling and [...][Continue Reading...]Vulval Pain In Women's Health Vulval pain is a complex and poorly understood area of vulval disease, which as a result is often inadequately managed, or not even recognized. The majority of women who have some form of vulval pain may be labelled as chronic thrush sufferers for many years or be labelled as mad as they don’t have any [...][Continue Reading...]Contraceptives In Contraceptive Hormones Contraceptives, Hormonal Monophasic Oral Contraceptives Ethinyl estradiol/desogestrel Brand Names: Apri 28, Desogen, Ortho-Cept, Reclipsen, Solia Ethinyl estradiol/drospirenone Brand Names: Yasmin, Yaz Ethinyl estradiol/ethynodiol Brand Names: Kelnor 1/35, Zovia 1/35, Zovia 1/50 Ethinyl estradiol/levonorgestrel Brand Names: Alesse-28, Aviane-28, Lessina-28, Levlen-28, Levlite-28, Levora-28, Lutera, Nordette-28, Portia-28, Sronyx Ethinyl estradiol/norethindrone Brand Names: Balziva, Brevicon, Femcon Fe, Junel 21 [...][Continue Reading...]Nursing Implications for Contraceptives

Natrah, Nadra, Bertha Hertogh In 1950, a custody battle over 13-year-old Dutch girl, Bertha Hertogh turns into a violent clash between East and West (source: Monsoon Pictures).It was only this morning after reading a news report about Nadra (Bertha Hertogh)'s death that I thought to myself, why there is no film produced on this incident. So I decided to search the Net and could only found one documentary, currently in Singapore's national archive titled, 'My Name is Nadra, not Bertha'. Thanks to Facebook, I got to know from a friend that a movie on the Nadra tragedy is to be produced by Monsoon Pictures (poster above), scheduled to be screened next year. Below is an excerpt of my comment posted in Facebook, reproduced here.The issue of Natrah is not just about custody. But the bigger tragedies were the forced religious conversion and the insensitivity of the colonial British towards the local sentiment. First, Natrah was brought up as a Muslim and second, she was legally married to Mansor Adabi, according to Muslim rites. And it was absolutely natural for the local Muslims to feel upset when the court declared their marriage null and void.Also, I'd like to quote a phrase of Haja Maideen's book, 'The Nadra Tragedy'; "Arthur Locke (British administrative officer in Terengganu) was apparently upset and uneasy that a white girl was being brought up by a local woman". And this eventually led to the custody battle and the subsequent riot in Singapore. If only Aminah rejected the "advise" by the British officer to bring Natrah to Singapore and stayed in Kemaman, things wouldn't be the way it was.One of the biggest cause of the problem was because Singapore was still under British rule. And the rule of the land was of course, British laws. And when you're up against the British authorities and British judges, no doubt there is little chance of success. I believe incident like this would not have occurred should Singapore had been independent and free. This event should serve as an important lesson in a multiracial and plural society like Singapore and Malaysia. Peace and harmony are something that should never be taken for granted.Related blog entry.SaifulIslam - Pulanglah Natrah

Dermatology Hospital in Bangalore Finding a dermatology hospital in Bangalore is not so hard when you consider the Genesis facility. They are a smaller facility but they offer many services that other larger institutions do not. They have a professional team of doctors and nurses who can deal with many different types of skin problems. Your skin is the largest organ in your body and it may come as a surprise to you that people really do not take care of their skin as well as they should. Also there are a number of things that can go wrong with your skin. Given these factors it is good to find a reliable dermatology hospital in Bangalore. They can help you in the following ways. • Acne: acne is a common complaint especially with younger people. It often begins in the teenager years when kids are more self conscious about their looks. The doctors in Genesis are professionals with years of experience. They can offer natural as well as conventional methods to treat this emotionally devastating skin problem • Warts and moles: warts and moles can be very embarrassing when they appear on the face and hands. Plus they can be contagious when touched. Added to this is the fact that moles can turn into cancerous lesions. It is important to have them removed professionally. • Skin cancer: Genesis dermatology hospital in Bangalore can also help you with serious problems like skin cancer. This can turn very ugly and even prove fatal if it spreads to other parts of the body. So it is imperative that you get this seen by a skin specialist. • General skin care: in order to keep your skin looking good you should look after it well. This prevents a lot of problems and • Psoriasis and eczema: these are skin problems that often reoccur. Many times these problems need long term treatment. There are many herbal remedies available for these problems as well as conventional medicines. The Genesis facility has a natural medicine department that can offer alternative medicine solutions to your problems. • Fungal infections: this skin problem can also be handled by genesis dermatology hospital in Bangalore. Fungal infections can affect your toenails and even your finger nails. They are not only unsightly but can be hazardous to your health. Sometimes plantation warts can be picked up in summer when you go around barefoot. These are very contagious and can spread if not treated. These usually require minor surgery to eradicate them completely. Skin problems can be treated individually but they can also be greatly diminished by improving your health. If you want to have great skin and fewer problems you should take steps to get healthy. Bangalore Genesis Hospital offers a program to help you have a healthier lifestyle. It is called the Smart Heart program.

Eighty percent of all cases of blindness can be prevented or treated; the right to sight can and must be fulfilled World Sight Day is an annual event focusing on the problem of global blindness; it aims to raise public awareness around the world about the prevention and treatment of loss of vision. Every five seconds one person in the world goes blind. One child goes blind every minute. It is estimated that over seven million people become blind every year. "VISION 2020: The Right to Sight" is a global initiative, launched in 1999, which aims to eliminate avoidable blindness by the year 2020. VISION 2020 programmes have been adopted in more than 40 countries. Foods That Help to Improve Eyesight Ocular nutrition and eye health is an important part of helping maintain our vision and eye health as we age. One can safely say that every part of the human eye needs ocular nutrition support and nutrition to improve eye health.As we age, many things can go wrong with our vision. Ultraviolet light from the sun can damage the lens and the cornea. Wind, dust, chlorine fumes, automobile fumes, freezing temperatures and physical injury are examples of threats to good vision. Vibration from driving and hitting potholes has a cumulative negative impact on eye health as well as long hours spent in front of a computer screen. And certainly we need foods that help to promote healthy eyes. Key points to remember: •Eat a good, balanced diet with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. •New research suggests antioxidants and good nutrition may help prevent cataracts.Foods rich antioxidant vitamins like vitamin A and C, E may reduce your risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Zinc helps your body absorb antioxidant vitamins and may have its own protective effects. •Both flaxseed oil and fish oil may help relieve dry eyes and reduce the risk of other eye problems. •Discuss your diet or taking a vitamin supplement with your Dietician if you believe that your diet may be inadequate. •The biggest avoidable risk is smoking. •Protect your eyes from sunlight. Use good quality sunglasses, Wearing a brimmed hat also offers very good protection. •Get your eyes tested at least every two years and more frequently if necessary. Mrs Shilpa Mittal World heart day2014 World Heart Day is an annual event which takes place on 29 September every year. Each year’s celebrations have a different theme, reflecting key issues and topics relating to heart health. 2014’s theme is creating heart-healthy environments. The places in which we live, work and play should not increase our risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Too often, society ';blames'; the individual for having CVD - you smoke, you eat and drink too much, you don';t exercise! But the environments where we live, work and play can have a huge effect on our ability to make the right choices for our heart health - especially increasingly urbanized environments that have changed our lifestyles and diets. LIVE – By encouraging individuals to make heart-healthy choices, such as choosing healthy food options, increasing physical activity and saying no to tobacco. Avoiding Overwhelming displays of tobacco and fast food and exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke WORK – By encouraging activities in the workplace, such as promoting education in heart health and supporting active transport to work and school, increasing availability of health food and smoke free zones. PLAY – By encouraging investment and use of active recreation areas, such as leisure facilities, sports centres and access to green spaces. JOIN - the movement Together with World Heart Federation members, World Heart Day spreads the news that at least 80% of premature deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) could be avoided if four main risk factors – tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and harmful use of alcohol – are controlled. Everyone has the right to make heart-healthy choices wherever they live, work and play. But we all need to take action to make it happen. 1. Look after your heart high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity all damage the blood vessels and, increase the risk for having a stroke or a heart attack, and, it now seems likely, going on to develop dementia in later life. These problems can be prevented through healthy lifestyle choices, and treated effectively if they do occur. 2. Be physically active Move more. Moderate to heavy exercise can decrease your risk of Alzheimer's by up to 45%. Moderate exercise includes house work, climbing stairs, and sports like bowling and golf. And start early -- exercising in your teens can protect you later in life. Being fit has been show to decrease brain shrinkage, a common finding in dementia, and may help fight depression, which also commonly occurs in Alzheimer's disease patients. Aim for an hour per day, but every little bit adds up. 3. Follow a healthy diet is fuel for both brain and body. A healthy, balanced diet can be of great help. Some evidence suggests that a Mediterranean-type diet, rich in cereals, fruits, fish, legumes and vegetables can help to reduce the risk of dementia. Also up your Vitamin E which is a very potent anti-oxidant. Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish is associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), which is present in larger amounts in the brain, appears to be particularly important. 4. Challenge your brain challenging the brain with new activities you can help build new brain cells and strengthen the connections between them. This may counter the harmful effects of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementia pathologies. Learn some great new things, learn a new language or taking up a new hobby or sport, slove quiz, puzzles. 5. Enjoy social activities engagement may also be beneficial to brain health because it stimulates our brain reserves, helping to reduce our risk of dementia and depression. Try and make time for friends and family, you can even combine your activities with physical and mental exercise through sport or other hobbies. changes to your lifestyle today, and be consistent, to decrease your risk of Alzheimer's disease. All of the things mentioned above work much better for prevention than for slowing of progression or treatment. Shilpsnutrilife celebrates Nutrition Event on occasion of national nutrition week 2014 Post Nutriday details in navbharat Times nutriweek2014 Nutriday details in navbharat Times 14th sept 2014 My name featured in today's Bombay times in an article on 4 junk foods masquerading as healthy foods Here's the list... Protein bars: Protein bars are very close to being considered junk food if not eaten in the right manner. Dr Seema Tyrewala, celebrity nutritionist, says, "People have a huge misconception about protein bars. For those who don't work out, a lot of protein increases uric acid levels, and is heavy on the kidney." She cites the example of a client who snacked on many protein bars in a day as he thought he was getting his dose of protein from them, plus they were tasty. "They also add to the cholesterol content of the body as they are heavy on sugar," she adds. Breakfast cereal: The popularity of breakfast cereal can be attributed to heavy marketing, which began in the early 19th century in North America. While earlier, they were oats and corn 'grits', it was the cornflakes that took the market by storm. But what's available these days is quite different, "Breakfast cereals are loaded with sugar. The ones that are made of chocolate and other sweetened dried fruits are high on calories. People should buy non-branded corn flakes that are cheaper. For sweetness, fruits or honey can be added as that's a healthier option," says clinical nutritionist Shilpa Mittal. "While cereals do provide nutrition, one doesn't know in what quantity they are absorbed by the body and we often end up consuming large amounts of sugar instead," she adds. Sports drinks: Marketed as 'beneficial to all', sports drinks are far from that tall claim. "Most sports drinks have sugar content that is three times more than what is needed," says Dr Tyrewala, who has often encountered patients who were actively working out but had sugar problems. "If you are consuming that much sugar, what is the use of working out?" she asks. People, she adds, need to read the labels carefully and see the amount and forms of sugar — including dextrose — that is included in the drink. Mittal reccomends homemade nimbu-paani as a better alternative. "It has the electolytes you need, and one can control the amount of sugar they want to consume," she explains. Multi-grain products: Products like flour and bread are often sold as containing 'seven-grains' , 'multigrain' and 'bran', but what the clever labelling hides is that the nutrients are added later, after the processing step. Says Mittal, "Most multi-grain products have very smart labelling. They cover up how there's very little multigrains present in the mix. At times, multigrain flour merely has 10% of wholegrain, which means it's not even one percent in one roti," she says, adding that people should instead make the flour at home. Mrs Shilpa Mittal

How You Can Make Quantum Mechanics Actually Work (for your Brain)! in Article February 21st, 2012 If you were to ask any reasonable person (or reasonable physicist) how quantum mechanics works, 9 out of 10 times he/she would probably give you the same answer: magic. Yes, the field of quantum physics is known far and wide across academia as being both pretty difficult (lots of math) and pretty confusing (it just seems like it makes stuff up as it goes). However, despite all the tedium and wizardry that surrounds quantum mechanics, if you look hard enough at the many applications that the science has to offer to other fields, you may quickly come to find that it is also pretty dang awesome. Indeed, even the field of neuroscience has experienced some cross over with quantum physics in an attempt to explain many of the mysteries of the mind. But, what specific oddities about the brain are so opaque that they would need something as complex as physics’ black magic to explain them? What are the quantum mysteries of the mind? Let’s consider for a second some of the basic principles behind synaptic plasticity in neurons. As any molecular or cognitive neuroscientist will tell you that the plastic nature of connections in the brain is great, mainly because it lets your neurons tweak and strength certain essential inputs and outputs, and remove (or “prune”) the ones that are not so essential. If they were to go on, they would probably also tell you that neurons can select the neuron-to-neuron connections that they preserve and remove based on the strength of the signals that are being conducted through all those different connections. Basic model of Hebbian learning/synaptic plasticity: Cells that signal together create strong connections and stabilize; cells that signal weakly do not stabilize and are eventually removed In short (and to quote Donald Hebb), “neurons that fire together, wire together” and all other signals/connections fade away over time. This all seems pretty intuitive, of course neurons want to talk with other neurons from which they can actually get a decent signal! The exact mechanism by which this occurs, however, is not altogether intuitive. Indeed, since this form of wiring is so important in the brain for functions such as learning, memory and general cell-to-cell communication, many neuroscientists are left asking just what motivates it. More importantly though, if this event is essential to learning and memory formation in the brain, do you have any control over how your brain decides when to fire and what to wire to? Quantum particles: impossibly small bundles of subatomic species and energy, or highly concentrated balls of pixie dust? Quantum theorists have attempted to explain this “firing and wiring” effect, along with the influence that consciousness holds over what stays and what goes, by citing the quantum zeno effect, a bizarre phenomenon first observed by particle physicists who were attempting to observe the spontaneous decay of uranium. During their experiment, these physicists would continuously make observations of the radioactive uranium particles to observe the degradation. Amazingly, the researchers soon began to realize that whenever they made continuous observations of the uranium, it would cease to decay and instead appeared to “freeze” itself in a stable state! To ensure that they were all not crazy (or suffering some form of radiation poisoning), the initial research team shared these results with several colleagues who replicated them and observed the exact same thing! It is now actually a relatively accepted fact in the realm of quantum mechanics that rapid repeated measures of a quantal system will slow the fluctuation between quantal states of any species within that system. Quite literally, this phenomenon seems to validate the old saying that “a watched pot never boils”! Do neurons, per say, utilize quantum locking as a defensive mechanism while stalking intergalactic prey, or perhaps just to remain in one specific state for long periods of time (had to give a shout out to the Doctor Who fans in this article)? But how does all this “quantum locking” come back to neuroscience, and to cells firing and wiring together for that matter? According to a new theory floating around that combines both quantum mechanics and cognitive neuroscience, the determination of neural circuit formation depends entirely on the quantum zeno effect. The way the effect is achieved in the brain isn’t through being camera shy like uranium, but instead through simply being able to focus one’s attention. As the theory states, the mental act of focusing attention can stabilize the brain circuits that are associated with whatever one is focusing on. So, if you were to receive a prick on your finger and you were then to focus all your attention on it, the current state of your brain at the time would be maintained in order to allow you to interpret the signaling associated with that event (i.e. feeling pain). Thus, in terms of promoting Hebbian learning: the more you are able to direct your attention to specific stimuli, the more readily all the neurons involved in the current response to that stimuli will be able to fire and synapse to one another (thus promoting the strengthening and solidifying of specific neural circuits)! While this model is definitely not without its holes, the quantum zeno hypothesis does provide a very interesting way to consider how the brain may handle bouts of conscious learning (or self-directed plasticity) and is able to stabilize certain synaptic pathways. If anything, it hopefully provides us with a more magical interpretation of the brain and how it completes its many whimsical tasks!

Orithia- Skull & Shackles Devil's Arches West of the coast of Salamon, Devil’s Arches was one of the first major islands of the Shackles discovered by Kondaran explorers some 200 years ago. The island is covered with Aaqan ruins— enormous, crumbling edifices and eroded towers that remain as reminders of civilisation’s impermanence, as well as its capacity for evil. The limestone platforms, amphitheaters, and ziggurats are covered top to bottom with bas-relief carvings and paintings depicting acts of repulsive depravity, suggesting a horrifically bloody and degenerate civilization. These ancient Aaqan cities dot the entire island, and many stand in startling contrast to one another, depicting entirely unique facets of the civilization they collectively belonged to. Yet each city possesses a singular constant structure: a great gray stone arch devoid of any carving or decoration that stands at the center of each set of ruins. These ruins date to a time just after the fall of Aaqa where the giant and cyclops servants of the Wind Dukes were left to their own devices and eventually degenerated into savage cannibals. When the Runelords (evil remnants of the Wind Duke empire) came into power, these cannibals became the start of the army which conquered most of the continent of Darkfell The Kondaran explorers who originally stumbled upon these monuments found their blatant nakedness even eerier and more obscene than any other relics on the island, and thus referred to each of these landmarks as the Devil’s Arches, giving the island its name. These arches remain entirely endemic to the island, and both scholars and archaeologists continue to bicker about their significance; however, many agree that the monoliths’ names are more accurate than the original explorers perhaps knew, and the arches may have once been diabolical gateways to summon the denizens of Hell or some similarly evil demiplane. Hell Harbour Methoth Lake Mezdrubal Peshaka Neu Tyvas-Devas City of Bleeding Stones

The Role of Water in Ensuring Processes of Living Laima Ozoliņa Riga Secondary Night (Shift) School No.14. Presentation on theme: "The Role of Water in Ensuring Processes of Living Laima Ozoliņa Riga Secondary Night (Shift) School No.14."— Presentation transcript: The Role of Water in Ensuring Processes of Living Laima Ozoliņa Riga Secondary Night (Shift) School No.14 The Role of Water: Molecular level Molecular level Cellular and organism level Cellular and organism level Water- setting for life Water- setting for life Water- regulator of a climate Water- regulator of a climate Water and people Water and people Water can be found in three states of aggregation: as a hard state (e.g. ice), as a hard state (e.g. ice), as a liquid state (e.g. water), as a liquid state (e.g. water), gaseous state (e.g. water vapor or steam) gaseous state (e.g. water vapor or steam) Hydrosphere (greek: δρο-, hydro- water, σφαρα, sphaĩra sphere) is one of the Earths covers, which is made out of water that can be found in oceans, sees, above earths surface (lakes, rivers, swamps and other inland waters) and below the surface (groudwater). Water covers ~75% of the Earths surface. Its gross mass is ~1,4×10 18 tonnes, which is 0,023% from the Earths. Approximately 2×10 13 tonnes of water, mainly as a vapour, are ir the atmosphere. g Chemical and physical properties Water is a good polar solvent. Water is a good polar solvent. Water has great thermal capacity (slowly heats up and slowly cools down). Water has great thermal capacity (slowly heats up and slowly cools down). Water has a unique density change when temperature falls down or freezes. Water has a unique density change when temperature falls down or freezes. The density of water increases up to + 4 o C (maximum density), but from + 4 o – 0 o C density decreases. Ice (crystallline water) is lighter than liquid water. This way density facilitates its circulation below ice and O 2 delivery to all the living in water. The density of water increases up to + 4 o C (maximum density), but from + 4 o – 0 o C density decreases. Ice (crystallline water) is lighter than liquid water. This way density facilitates its circulation below ice and O 2 delivery to all the living in water. Molecule of water Chemical formula: H 2 O Molecular mass:18,01528 g/mol Density:1000 kg/m3 Melting: 0 °C ( 273,15 K) Simmer: 100 °C ( 373,15 K ) Water is the basis for all living, that is why, it could be considered to be the most important liquid in the world. It is said that all known living forms need water, as well as that the life has begun in the water. Takes part at photosynthesis. Takes part at photosynthesis. Provides transport for different substabces. Provides transport for different substabces. In nature it is a habitat for water creatures. In nature it is a habitat for water creatures. With the help of water impregnation (for non-seed plants, spore plants, animals with external impregnation) and development of fetus is possible. With the help of water impregnation (for non-seed plants, spore plants, animals with external impregnation) and development of fetus is possible. Provides osmoregulation and un turgor pressure for plants. Provides osmoregulation and un turgor pressure for plants. Helps plants with circulation of different substances with a help of transpiration. Helps plants with circulation of different substances with a help of transpiration. Takes part in cutting biopolymer molecules (hydrolisis). Takes part in cutting biopolymer molecules (hydrolisis). Physiological importance Water is a raw material for photosyntesis Photosyntesis is one of the most important processes in nature used by plants and other organisms to convert the light energy captured from the sun into chemical energy that can be used to fuel the organism's activities. Moreover, during photosyntesis oxygen, that all aerob organisms use for breathing, is exuded. Photosyntesis provides that substances and matters circulate in nature and the balance of gases in the atmosphere. Photosyntesis is one of the most important processes in nature used by plants and other organisms to convert the light energy captured from the sun into chemical energy that can be used to fuel the organism's activities. Moreover, during photosyntesis oxygen, that all aerob organisms use for breathing, is exuded. Photosyntesis provides that substances and matters circulate in nature and the balance of gases in the atmosphere. 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 Water in organisms All living organisms contain All living organisms contain 70 % – 90 % water and that ensures the existence of the living. Water sustains balance in the body (homeostasis). Water sustains balance in the body (homeostasis). Ensures absorption in cells, provides transport for substabces and matters to particular cells and getting metabilic waste products from the organism. Ensures absorption in cells, provides transport for substabces and matters to particular cells and getting metabilic waste products from the organism. Provision of terrestiral water depends on: air humidity, precipitation, water in soil, closeness of lowground waters, waters course etc. Provision of terrestiral water depends on: air humidity, precipitation, water in soil, closeness of lowground waters, waters course etc. Water- natural habitat Almost all living creatures for their metabolic processes need water. For many of them, water is the natural habitat. The adequacy and consistency of it depends on the chemical composotion of different salts, distribution of temperatures, sea currents, profundity and pollution. The most organisms in the ocean are located in the light zone (up to 200 meters), where sunshine hits them. A lot of seeweed is located there and it provides organisms living in water with necessary food and oxygen. When going deeper in the ocean the light and organisms decrease. In the twilight zone (200 – 1000m) whales and wild fish are located, for example, sharks and ray – fish, but on the seabed you can find echinodermata and slugs. Spreading of the organisms in deeper water is limited by not only not enough light, but also colder water temperature and higher pressure. Small amount of organisms are located in the dark zone (1000 – 4000m) and only small amount of plants can survive deeper than 4000 meters. Deepest zone where fish has been caught is 8000 meters. Water on Earth can be found in different forms – in the sky as clouds, in saltwater and in forms of icebergs, in lakes and rivers, etc.. Water circulates in the World through vapour and rain. Vapour that can be found in atmosphere creates clouds by condesating. Water- regulator of a climate Due to effects of climate change summers are becoming increasingly hotter, affecting human and animal health as well. Due to effects of climate change summers are becoming increasingly hotter, affecting human and animal health as well. By the start of grazing season animals are affected by the stress caused with heat and increased insect attacks. By the start of grazing season animals are affected by the stress caused with heat and increased insect attacks. Sensitive to the high heat are both agricultural and domestic animals. Sensitive to the high heat are both agricultural and domestic animals. A peripheral vasodilatation can occur for animals who stay long at elevated temperatures and without any increase in circulating bloods volume, the death of an animal can follow as a result. A peripheral vasodilatation can occur for animals who stay long at elevated temperatures and without any increase in circulating bloods volume, the death of an animal can follow as a result. Newest trends suggest that climate changes have contributed to emerging and spreading of animals diseases. Animals can suffer from celiac disease, vector-borne diseases, have heat strokes or become dehydrateded and fell dehydration. The biggest problem is the high heat and climate changes in the migration area for animal movements. Newest trends suggest that climate changes have contributed to emerging and spreading of animals diseases. Animals can suffer from celiac disease, vector-borne diseases, have heat strokes or become dehydrateded and fell dehydration. The biggest problem is the high heat and climate changes in the migration area for animal movements. Water- regulator of a climate In the world altogether for the needs of householding, pets, recreation and production is consumed 565 km ³ of water per year. Irrigation related to food production requires another 3300 km ³. Taken together, it is about 4,000 km ³ of water per year, which corresponds to 44% of the actively circulating waters quantity. Water and people A great percentage of our body consists out of water (e.g. newborns =75 %, grown-ups = 60%). In order to keep living a human needs to drink app. 1-2 l of waterper day, excluding that they receive from food. Human body cells live in an intracellular fluid (for an adult the amount of the fluid is 50 liters), which is in constant motion. From this liquid cells are feeding, acquiring oxygen and excreting metabolic end products that further with the help of the lymph are drained to veins and excreted from the body. The faster this process occurs, the faster the body disposes of waste products. Human body cells live in an intracellular fluid (for an adult the amount of the fluid is 50 liters), which is in constant motion. From this liquid cells are feeding, acquiring oxygen and excreting metabolic end products that further with the help of the lymph are drained to veins and excreted from the body. The faster this process occurs, the faster the body disposes of waste products. Elimination is even more important than substance intake in order for cells to be intact and free from diseases, since each cell has to eat, work and discharge waste that can be removed only with water. Elimination is even more important than substance intake in order for cells to be intact and free from diseases, since each cell has to eat, work and discharge waste that can be removed only with water. When a child is born 90% of his/her weight is the water. For an adult this number is 75%, but the old man has just 65% of water in his/her organism. With years, we'' dry out'' and become like raisins. When a child is born 90% of his/her weight is the water. For an adult this number is 75%, but the old man has just 65% of water in his/her organism. With years, we'' dry out'' and become like raisins. Water and health What happens with an organism if it does not have enough water? 1% - if your organism has lost such amount of water – you feel thirsty. If the weight of a person is 100 kg, it can be calculated that a person has lost 0,7 l of water, because 70 % a humans body is made out of water. 1% - if your organism has lost such amount of water – you feel thirsty. If the weight of a person is 100 kg, it can be calculated that a person has lost 0,7 l of water, because 70 % a humans body is made out of water. 2% - loss of appetite, stress and reduced capacity of work. 2% - loss of appetite, stress and reduced capacity of work. 4% - sickness, tiredness, headaches and emotional instability. 4% - sickness, tiredness, headaches and emotional instability. 6% - disorders of coordination and speech. 6% - disorders of coordination and speech. 10% - problems with thermoregulation and un cells start to die. 10% - problems with thermoregulation and un cells start to die.

Biological Rhythms: Circadian rhythms Biological Rhythms: Circadian rhythmsAims To know the biological clock in control of the Circadian Rhythm To understand the difference between Endogeous Pacemakers and Exogenous Zeitgebers To be able to explain research into Circadian rhythms 2 The Synoptic Tool Kit IDEAs Disadvantages of the Biological approach(Synoptic - presenting a summary or general view of a whole) Biorhythms A biological rhythm is any change in a biological activity that repeats periodically. Often synchronised: Daily, Monthly and annual. Circadian = 24 hour cycle; S/W cycle Infradian = 24+ hour cycle; Menstrual cycle Ultradian = <24 hours; Sleep Biological rhythms Circadian = 24 hour cycle; S/W cycleInfradian = 24+ hour cycle; Menstrual cycle Ultradian = <24 hours; Sleep Key concepts Biological clocks The SCN: the Master Circadian PacemakerClock genes Human= CLK+BLMAL1=PER+CRY=negative feedback loop Circadian = 24 hour cycle; S/W cycle Endogenous Pacemakers regulated by Exogenous Zeitgebers Human isolation studies: Siffre Chronotherapeutics: Aspirin Individual differences: Owl/Larks Animal research ethics The SCN: Supra Chiasmatic NucleusIn humans pathways are more complicated. The main biological clock seems to be a small area in the hypothalamus (involved in motivation, temperature control) the (SCN) Suprachiasmatic nucleus. The neurons of the SCN has an inbuilt circadian rhythmic firing pattern. When the SCN of a Rat is lesioned the circadian rhythm including sleep and feeding patterns is totally disrupted for the animal (Stephen and Zucker 1972) AO2/3 Task 1: Brain and Name Label your model with the following conceptsSCN, Optic Chiasm, Light, Pineal Gland, Optic Nerve, branches from the optic nerve M A neural pathway connects the retina of each eye to the SCN.This allows the amount of Light falling on the retina to influence the activity of the SCN neurons. Thus indirectly affecting the release of Melatonin from the Pineal gland. When the SCN is intact it regulates the manufacture and secretion of melatonin that takes place in the Pineal Gland. M Controlling Circadian rhythmsWhy is the circadian rhythm 24 hours? The sun rises and sets every 24 hours. In humans the light level is detected in the eyes and passed on to retinal ganglion cells, which also contain a light sensitive pigment. These cells release (NT) acetylcholine and have several effects. They activate the neurones that cause dreaming and some also connect to the SCN. Blind Rats lose their cyclical behaviour. They sleep the same amount of time but they do not have a clear defined sleep phase. This confirms visual information is needed to set the pattern. This is also seen in the Miles Blind man case study. SCN-Pineal Gland-Light/Dark-MelatoninThe SCN responds to day length with neural messages from the Pineal gland. The SCN is light insensitive. The Pineal gland is light sensitive. The cells of the pineal gland are similar to the photoreceptors of the retina. So their interaction is essential. Information from the SCN about darkness causes the pineal gland to secrete melatonin, whilst daylight inhibits its production. Melatonin continues to rise and fall daily even when free running. But the destruction of the SCN prevents this rhythm. Areas of the SCN (s) The neurons of the ventral SCN are now believed to function not so much as clocks but rather as the location in the SCN that receives and responds to external inputs, while the neurons of the dorsal SCN are believed to constitute the SCN’s actual robust, endogenous clock. This view is supported by certain jet-lag experiments which have shown that in rats, the process by which a light stimulus resets the internal clock occurs far more rapidly in the ventral SCN than in the dorsal SCN. Scientists have now discovered that the neurotransmitter GABA excites the cells of the dorsal SCN but inhibits those of the ventral SCN. These opposing effects might influence the differing reaction times of these two sub-regions when someone travels across several time zones. This discovery thus opens new insights into the mechanisms behind the disturbing symptoms of jet lag. Ventral SCN influenced by external cues (Light) Dorsal SCN less affected by light 15 THE TICKING OF THE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN)The basis of the circadian rhythm lies in interactions between certain proteins, creating the ‘tick’ of the biological clock; it is an ingenious negative feedback loop. Darlington et al. (1998) first identified such proteins in the fruit fly, drospholia. In the morning, two proteins, CLOCK and CYCLE (CLK-CYC) bind together. Once joined, CLK-CYC produce two other proteins, PERIOD and TIME (PER-TIM). PER-TIM has the effect of rendering the CLK-CYC proteins inactive, so that, as PER-TIM increases, CLK-CYC decreases and therefore PER-TIM starts to decrease too (negative feedback). This loop takes about 24 hours and, hey presto, you have the biological clock! The actual proteins vary from animal to animal. In humans the main pairs are CLOCK-BMAL1 and PER-CRY (BMAL1 and CRY are also proteins). This protein mechanism is present in the SCN (the central oscillator), and is also present in cells throughout the body (peripheral oscillators). The presence of peripheral oscillators explains why there are different rhythms for different functions such as hormone secretion, urine production, blood circulation and so on. The role of the Pineal glandAO1 In birds and reptiles the most important EP (Endogenous Pacemakers) is the Pineal gland. This structure contains receptors that respond to external Light. Penetrating the thin layer of skull that lies above the pineal gland. In turn these light receptors influence the activity of neurons in the Pineal Gland. These neurons have a natural rhythmic activity and also convert the NT serotonin into the hormone Melatonin. Melatonin is then released into the general circulation which acts on many of the body’s organs and glands, and seems to be responsible for the rhythmic nature of many activities including the sleep/wake cycle. For instance Melatonin acts on the brainstem sleep mechanisms to help synchronise the phases of sleep and waking (s/w), and it has been shown that injections of melatonin can produce sleep in sparrows. The manufacture and release of Melatonin is regulated by the amount of Light falling upon the Pineal gland, decreasing as light increases. e.g Chickens wake and become active at dawn and Melatonin secretions falls. This means that waking is controlled by the biological clock in the Pineal gland, it is adjusted to the actual time that morning begins, which varies through out the year. This is a good example of how EPs interact wit EZs. AO1 AO2/3 Free running When biological clocks are allowed to run free the S/W cycle extends. Daily exposure to light or social cues such as a telephone call at the same time each day is sufficient to keep the human clock in time (Empson, 1993) Environmental factors other than light can entrain (‘set’) the clock of animals such as Hamsters. They will maintain a 24 hour cycle without light in response to feeding, exercise or social interaction. Michel Siffre A French cave explorer Six months living in a caveHis biological clock was allowed to ‘free-run’, He was wired and monitored Erratic sleep-wake pattern at first Then averaged just over 25 hours When he emerged it was the 179th day but in his days it was only the 151st. Folkard (1996) case study of Kate Aldcroft25 days without access to time She played amazing grace on the bagpipes twice a day, on what she believed was the same time each occasion. The time at which she played became later as the study progressed. She began to sleep for longer (up to 16 hours at a time) and her sleep wake cycle extended to 30 hours. Folkard (1996) case study of Kate AldcroftKate Aldcroft, a university student, was housed in a laboratory for 25 days without any access to cues about the time of day. To indicate her perception of the passage of time she was asked to play amazing grace on the bagpipes twice a day, on what she believed was the same time each occasion. The time at which she played became later as the study progressed. She began to sleep for longer (up to 16 hours at a time) and her sleep wake cycle extended to 30 hours. This shows how EZ’s help the human body coordinate with their environment, and rhythmic activity maintains in the absence of Ez’s. Jet Lag symptoms Siffre Michel Siffre, a French cave explorer, spent over six months living in a cave in Texas, deep under the ground, with no light, or anything else to tell him what time of day it was. His biological clock was allowed to ‘free-run’, that is, he just followed his body’s inclinations, eating and sleeping whenever he chose, with no fixed timetable. He was wired up so that some of his body functions could be recorded; he had a telephone link to the outside world, and was monitored by video camera. Siffre had a fairly erratic sleep-wake pattern at first, but it settled down to a pattern that averaged just over 25 hours, instead of 24 hours. We do have an internal mechanism that regulates our sleep/wake cycle, but it shifts to a length of approximately 25 hours if we do not have external zeitgebers to reset it. When he emerged it was the 179th day but in his days it was only the 151st. Commentary Case study – Siffre is the study of one individual and therefore has unique features. His body behaviour may not be typical of all people and, also, living in a cave may have particular effects due to, for example, the fact that it is cold. Experiment – Siffre’s study was also an experiment ; he controlled key variables (exogenous zeitgebers) to observe the effects on the sleep-wake cycle. The experimental approach (Scientific method) allows us to demonstrate causal relationships. However, this level of control makes this research reductionist. Artificial Lighting However, in the past psychologists did not think that dim artificial lighting would effect the Circadian rhythm (like sunlight). Therefore the participants in these isolation studies were not totally isolated from EZ’s. Recent research suggests that this may not be true; for example, Czeisler et al. (1999) altered participants’ circadian rhythms down to 22 hours and up to 28 hours just using dim lighting. Evaluation: This is a one-participant study, so may not be generalisable to all humans. Also Siffre’s living conditions were unusual in other ways than simply lacking time signals, and other factors such as loneliness could have affected his behaviour. Similar studies have been done with rats, isolating them from daylight (Groblewski), and found a similar increase in the sleep-wake cycle, which supports the findings from the Siffre study. A strength of the study is that it lasted a long time, allowing Siffre’s rhythms to settle down into a natural pattern. Freewill and determinismOn the other hand, there is evidence that we can ‘will’ our biological rhythms to change. One study found that people who were told to wake up at earlier times of the night than usual had higher levels of the stress hormone ACTH than normal at the designated time and they woke up earlier (Born, 1999). However, ……. Freewill and DeterminismEZ’s could not help him to adjust Miles et al’s (1977) study of a blind man. The man blind from birth had a circadian rhythm of 24.9 hours. He had to use stimulants and sedatives to adjust his sleep-waking cycle to the standard 24 hours. This shows that light is the main exogenous factor, as it reduces the natural 25 hour rhythm to 24 hours. He could not over ride his biological impairment. This also indicates that visual information is important Luce and Segal Artic Circle study (1966)People who live within the Artic circle sleep for 7 hours per night despite the fact that during the summer the sun never sets. This shows that light is not the only zeitgeber, nor is the biological clock only influenced by light. Other exogenous factors such as social customs and psychological factors Aschoff and Wever (1976) WWII BunkerPlaced ppts in an underground WWII bunker in the absence of environmental and social time cues. They found that most people displayed circadian rhythms between hours, though some rhythms were as long as 29 hours. Effected by individual differences 3 Week Cave study Folkard (1985) 12 participants lived in ‘temporal isolation’ for 3 weeks…isolated from natural light and other time cues. They agreed to go to bed at 11.45pm and get up when it said 7.45am. The clock initially ran to time but gradually quickened until it indicated a passing of 24hrs for 22hrs. All but 1 of the participants kept pace with the clock…thus demonstrating a strong free-running rhythm. After the experiments it only took a few days for the ppts to resynchronise their cycles to the available time cues (clocks/light), showing the importance of external cues. Research to biological rhythmsKleitman (1963): Student participants went to live to an underground bunker, with no cues of light or dark. They had to choose their own sleep/wake times. Their circadian rhythms were extended between 25 to 27 hrs Light does not always effect free running clocksSometimes light is inefficient to over ride free running clocks. Kelly et al (1999) researched free running clocks of submariners living on a US nuclear submarine. These submariners live on a 18 hours day. All cues, such as light and social cues, do not shift the rhythmic nature of melatonin production on to the new 18 hour day. It remains 24 hours. Cryptochromes detect lightHall (2000) suggest that certain proteins (Cryptochromes) in the body detect light ... Explaining that by shining light on the back of participants knees changed their rhythms (Campbell and Hughes, 1988)  Consciousness is awareness of yourself and your environment.  Biological Rhythms  These are periodic physiological fluctuations.  Can affect physiological. Biological Rhythms and Sleep (unit 3) Specification 1.Biological Rhythms- Circadian, Infradian and Ultradian and disruption of rhythms 1.Sleep- Stages, Responses of organisms to abiotic factors (This is an overview. Later we will go into more details with examples of plants and animals) Plant Responses to Stimuli Biological Rhythms 2: Infradian Describe and evaluate research into infradian rhythms Give examples of Infradian Rhythms. PYA4 – Biological Rhythms, Sleep and Sleep Disorders Bio-rhythms sleep is an altered state of awareness. PSYA3 Revision BIOLOGICAL RHYTHMS & SLEEP Part 1: Biological Rhythms  Organisms need a method of sleeping and waking in constant conditions.  Need to be able to predict timing of events like migration and hibernation. Biological Rhythms Animals. Definitions Biological clock is an internal timing system which continues without external time clues, and controls the time. Biological rhythms Starter Quiz 1.Identify one IDA that could be used to evaluate Circadian rhythms 2.Why is understanding circadian rhythms useful? 3.Provide a limitation.

A Day in the Life of Ozone This section contains a table showing the number of times ozone concentrations in the Bay Area historically exceeded air quality standards. Historical Ozone Data The Spare the Air Program began in 1991. The table below lists the number of Spare the Air advisories issued for the Bay Area each year since then, as well as the number of days on which ozone concentrations exceeded the state and federal health-based air quality standards. You can see the dates that the ozone standards were exceeded in 2011, 2010, 2009,2008,2007,2006,2005,and2004. YearSpare the Air DaysNational 1 Hour Excess DaysNational 8 Hour Excess DaysCA 1 Hour Excess DaysCA 8 Hour Excess Days 20174*000 201627*15515 20159*5411 201410*5310 201210*438 200611*121822 200391719*** 1999113920*** 19982381629*** 199730**8*** 1996258**34*** 19952411**28*** * The national 1-hour ozone standard was revoked on June 15, 2005. ** The national 8-hour ozone standard of 0.08 ppm was not implemented prior to 1998. On May 27, 2008, the U.S. EPA implemented a more stringent national 8-hour ozone standard of 0.075 ppm. In December 2015, the U.S. EPA implemented an even more stringent national 8-hour ozone standard of 0.070 ppm. *** The California 8-hour ozone standard became effective May 17, 2006. The Air District began keeping records for the standard in 2005. Spare the Air alerts are issued when violations of national health standards are predicted by the Air District during the Spare the Air season. The national 1-hour air quality standard for ozone was set at 120 parts per billion in the ambient air, averaged over 1 hour. The U.S. EPA revoked this standard as of June 15, 2005. The national 8-hour standard for ozone is set at 70 parts per billion of ozone in the ambient air, averaged over 8 hours. The California 1-hour standard for ozone is set at 90 parts per billion of ozone in the ambient air, averaged over 1 hour. The California 8-hour standard for ozone is set at 70.0 parts per billion of ozone in the ambient air, averaged over 8 hours. Visit the Air District's web site for more information about the state and federal ambient air quality standards and the Bay Area's attainment status, and to see ten years of annual air quality summary information about Bay Area air quality.

The Insomnia Epidemic: Let There Be Light, But Not 24/7 More than 30% of adult Americans, about 40 million people, complain of difficulty sleeping. For most of these individuals, treatment begins with medication. This tells us two things. Sleep is a big problem and a big business. These two aspects of the ecology of sleep create a complicated calculus in an already enormously complex field. But I think it is possible to keep the two issues separate and tell a few good stories in parallel. It must be said that the cultural influences on the medical community in deciding what constitutes normal and disordered sleep are profound. While all medical conditions are culturally bound, the fact that sleep is a universal behavior (that takes many forms and can be willfully modified) in addition to a biological one, makes its conceptualization particularly susceptible to the vagaries of a given era’s customs and beliefs. So how does one of the most basic biological functions become so disordered? After all, what could be more natural than sleep? The first thing you notice when digging into what we know about sleep is how little we understand. The function of sleep, a state that occupies one third of our lives, remains unclear. Why is sleep necessary for our survival? Why do we dream? Sure we have made some connections by observing what happens to people who are sleep-deprived or perform shift work. Clearly physical and cognitive function take a hit. Medical interns working on the night shift are twice as likely as others to misinterpret hospital test records that could endanger their patients. The Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl nuclear power plant accidents were attributed in large part to the consequences of compromised night shift workers. We know memory and learning is impaired. Protein synthesis that produces the building blocks needed for cell growth and repair is markedly diminished. But theses are crude observations, not understanding. The second thing you realize, and this boggles the mind, is that almost everything we do know about human sleep has been learned in the last fifty years. Unfortunately, like the first beliefs in any discipline, many of the early theories about our sleep were wrong. Until recently, humans were thought to be different from all other animals in having sleep that is consolidated into one continuous nocturnal episode. This notion of uniquely human sleep held sway until the early 1990’s when Thomas Wehr, a sleep researcher at NIMH inadvertently stumbled on something that changed everything, or should have. Wehr selected healthy untroubled sleepers who were accustomed to 16-17 hour days and 7-8 hours of sleep, a routine that many of us live by or envy because we get less sleep. He exposed them to ten hours of light and fourteen hours of dark per day and watched what happened to their sleep. This ratio of light to dark (10:14) mimics the natural light of a typical winter day in a temperate climate. Initially they slept for 11 hours per night, suggesting a chronic sleep deficit, and then settled into an average of 8.9 hours each night. By the fourth week Wehr saw something that wasn’t supposed to happen in humans. They all developed a sleep pattern characterized by two sleep sessions. Subjects tended to lie awake for one to two hours and then fall quickly asleep. After about 4 hours of solid sleep, they would awaken and spend one to two hours in a state of quiet wakefulness before a second four hour sleep period. This bimodal sleep has been observed in many other animals. One such creature turns out to be pre-industrial man. Only recently have anthropologists and historians scrutinized the sleep of other cultures, earlier centuries and prehistoric humans. In the remarkably informative “At Day’s Close, Night in Times Past”, Roger Ekirch unveils nocturnal life in the pre-industrial west. Drawing from a broad range of sources he found a trove of evidence documenting our history of bimodal sleep. Until the late 1700s, and the widespread use of artificial light, people retired to bed soon after sun down and entered what was called “first sleep.” They would awaken three or four hours later and enjoy a couple hours of quiet. During this time they often prayed, chatted about dreams and had sex. A French physician described this time between sleeps as a particularly good opportunity for sexual intimacy when couples “do it better” and have “more enjoyment”. The middle night interactions seem to have been essential for social cohesion. This was followed by “second sleep” that again lasted 3-4 hours and ended with sunrise. In fact a study of contemporary cultures across the globe reveals a wide spectrum of sleep habits. Some anthropologists now speak of three sleep cultures: monophasic cultures (the West where one consolidated sleep period dominates), siesta cultures (where one afternoon nap is added in the afternoon, the word siesta meaning the 6th hour) and polyphasic cultures (China, Japan, India where multiple naps throughout the day of varying lengths are the norm). Researchers have replicated and expanded on Wehr’s work. Several studies have taken subjects to deep underground bunkers free of any artificial light in order to observe our internal clock’s rhythm. Again, they observe this biphasic pattern. Subjects sleep in two four hour solid blocks separated by a couple hours of meditative quiet during which there is a remarkable surge of prolactin, unseen in modern humans. The participants report feeling so awake during the day that it is as if they experience true wakefulness for the first time. So we find ourselves in a somewhat perverse situation. We have not evolved to naturally drift rapidly into one continuous nocturnal snooze. But according to the medical community and the pharmaceutical industry, if we don’t do this, we suffer from a sleep disorder that merits medicating. However, if you ask any sleep expert how some people seem to fall asleep quickly and sleep continuously for seven or eight hours they’ll say that such a sleep pattern is characteristic of chronic sleep deprivation. We evolved in an environment of alternating light and darkness and developed internal clocks to manage in such conditions. Every known organism with two or more cells has an internal clock. In this regard we are not unique. It is our use of artificial light to extend our day and defy our natural rhythms that distinguishes humans. We have just begun to understand the consequences of this Promethean sin. Sleep deprivation has been linked to obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, cardiac disease, compromised immune function and depression. In the same way that food products/supplements are replacing normal eating with dire health effects, sleep continues to be condensed by the 24/7 culture. The recent rapid growth of a new category of medications that promote wakefulness makes one wonder if sleep will soon be optional or ultimately obsolete. So what are you supposed to do if you? The constraints of work schedules and family responsibilites make radical changes in sleep-wake timing difficult. Here's some guidelines: Abandon the idea of going to bed for 6-8 hours of sleep at night (unless this works for you). Get a feel for what your sleep cycle looks like. If you wake up before you need to, get up. This is probably a natural cycle end. You will make up for lost nighttime sleep with a nap(s). Napping Guidelines: · Timing: Afternoon (3-5 PM) Proven to provide more sleep efficiency, more slow wave sleep, and less time to fall asleep· Duration: Optimally 10 – 20 minutes. People experience greater cognitive impairment due to sluggishness after a nap of 30 or more minutes than that due to sleep deprivation.· The full benefits of naps comes with habitual napping. Stick with it! 4. If possible, when you feel like reaching for that afternoon caffeine fix, take a nap. In the next blog I will take a look at the impact of the pharmaceutical industry on our sleep culture.

A new report has been published by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and The Crown Estate on the performance of subsea cabling in high energy environments to support the development of commercial wave and tidal energy sites. The aim of the Sub-sea Cable Lifecycle Study is to improve the industry’s understanding of how best to specify and manage subsea cables for wave and tidal energy projects, by investigating how the cables installed at the EMEC test sites in Orkney have been performing since installation in relation to installation methods, faults, and operational life of the cables. It provides a summary of the review to inform the marine renewable energy industry on factors affecting the integrity and performance of sub-sea cables but can also be put to use across other projects that will support the development of the nascent marine renewables industry The study revealed that the sub-sea cables installed at the EMEC test sites appear to be in extremely good condition considering the environment in which they are deployed. The report concludes that in sites with high tidal flow the greatest risk to sub-sea cables is the effect of cable strumming - vibration caused by the flow of water past the cable. Key recommendations to developers include: carrying out calculations to assess the risk of strumming at an early stage; completing detailed site surveys and optimising the cable route to avoid key risks; and protecting the cables with armouring in high energy environments.

Menu Planning for a Month in 10 Minutes Many home cooks recognize that menu planning has huge advantages- it saves time, money & frustration: 1. Menu Planning saves time, because it saves unscheduled trips to the grocery store. It also allows the cook to do a lot of advance preparation for meals later in the week, thereby reducing time in the kitchen. 2. Menu Planning saves money because a well-planned meal that's ready to go at home makes it a lot less tempting to go out to dinner when we're tired just to avoid cooking. It also makes it a lot less attractive to just throw an expensive steak on the grill to make a quick and easy meal. 3. It saves frustration because, well, there's very little more frustrating than knowing that dinner time is an hour away and I have no idea what to cook! But a lot of home cooks hate menu planning. It can take a lot of time to do, and it's a disruption to sit down once a week and have an undisturbed half hour or forty-five minutes to plan the week's worth of meals. So, it gets neglected, and we "wing it" until we've noticed that every meal for the past week has been fast food or that we've been eating the same "easy" meal day after day. Then, we make ourselves do it again . . . and the cycle starts over. Well, I have a new system that makes menu planning for a whole month take just a few minutes. I clocked it at less than 10 minutes! I have a monthly meal chart, with re-shuffle-able menu cards. At the beginning of each month, I can simply "deal" the cards into the pockets in a sensible order, and I'm done : ) It takes a bit of planning to set up (about the same amount of time as planning a menu the old fashioned way), but then it works perpetually. An Entire Month of Planned Meals First, get your supplies: A Package of Rainbow-Colored 3x5 Cards A Package of White 3x5 Cards (optional - this is only to give you 6 colors instead of 5) A Jewelry Organizer Similar to this one A Marker to Write With. A Pair of Scissors to cut cards with. This is what you do: 1. Make a list of the meals your family eats. 2. Organize those meals into categories. For instance, you could categorize by Ethnicity (Mexican, Korean, Greek, Italian, Indian) or by Main Ingredient (Beef, Pork, Pasta, Beans) or some other way that suits you. You can also sort by preparation method (Slow Cooker, Oven, Stir Fry or Grill, Simmering) Personally, I categorize my Vegan meals by texture (Soups, Stews, Casseroles, Pilafs & Pastas, Burgers & Wraps). I put meat-based meals on the white cards. These meals offer a variety of dishes and are a complete meal for Omnivore and Vegan alike. 3. Assign a Color to each category. This makes it much easier to see at a glance that your menu has a proper amount of variety. 4. Write Each Meal on a 1/2 of a 3x5 card in the Appropriate Color. (They sell pre-cut 1/2 cards if you really hate the idea of cutting them) You will need at least 28 cards. Many American families are said to rotate through the same 9 to 12 meals over and over again. If you're one of those families, you'll want to duplicate your favorite meals onto cards so that you have at least 28 meal cards.If you like, you can even put the names of favorite restaurants on some cards, if that's where you know you'll be going on occasion. 5. Sort your cards into the pockets of your Jewelry Organizer. The top row will be Sundays, the second row Mondays, the third row Tuesdays, etc. Put Slow Cooker, Easy, or Pre-prepared meals on the nights when you are very busy. For instance, if you have Church on Wednesday nights, you might want to plan all Slow Cooker Meals for Wednesdays.Generally speaking, you'll just want to make every day a different color - the row for Wednesday might all be green, and the row for Thursday might all be pink. 6. Double-Check your family calendar, and see which cards need to be moved or removed. If you're going out for your Anniversary in two weeks, remove that card. If a Lenten Season Starts at the end of the month, move any meat-based menus you might have put there. (I know most people check the calendar first, but then they're trying to think of too many things when they first arrange their menu. I find it's easier to arrange it all, then just make a few small adjustments. I'm a sequential thinker : ) Put any extra cards in the bottom row of pockets, still sorted by color, for next month's planning. Check to make sure you don't have too many similar meals too close to each other (like if every meal all week involves chicken ; ) It's so easy to plan a month worth of meals this way! Once I have the plan done, this is how I use it: 1. On Shopping Day, I can easily shop for 7 days worth of meals, and know just what to buy. (I'm considering writing a list of non-staple ingredients for each meal on the back of the card for ease of shopping). This doesn't mean that I necessarily have to eat at home for the next seven days, or that I have to follow my plan if I don't feel like it. It just means that I'm prepared. The Jewelry Organizer - I found it at my Thrift Store : ) 2. If plans change - say if a friend invites us over for dinner, I simply move cards around. I take the card out of the day it is not needed, and use it to "bump" a card for which I have not yet purchased groceries. The unused card goes back into the deck for next month's planning. 3.Similarly, if I have a lot of leftovers one night, the next night's dinner can be moved to another day while we eat leftovers. Alternately, the if we have enough leftovers to make another entire meal, then the meal can be frozen and scheduled as an "official" meal at a later date. 4. I glance ahead and pre-cook a few meals, or pre-prepare a few dressings or sauces to make life easy on another night. 5. I can do appropriate meal preparation at the right time this way. For instance, if an ingredient needs to be thawed, or the slow cooker needs to be set up the night before so that I can have an easy morning the next day - that's easy to do! I'm not left struggling to thaw a frozen entree with only an hour to dinner time. 6. For many meals, I just write the entree down - because I know that I serve things like Bread, Salad, Pickles, Olives, Crudites and Dips routinely, as well as fruit for dessert, without having to write that down. This is a simple, easy salad to make from ingredients that are inexpensive and readily available in fall and winter, but quite tasty year round! I adapted it from the "Mediterranean Green Bean and Potato Salad" that I shared a while back. One day I wanted to serve Rosemary Potatoes AND a salad with these flavors, and I didn't want potatoes twice in the same meal. It turned out so well, that I anticipate that I'll seldom make it with the Potatoes in the future. In our family, we like Green Beans tender. If you're a crisp-tender sort of person, that also will work well in this recipe (and, does make a prettier salad). It's so simple to make - and so tasty. Cook to desired doneness & drain 1 1/2 Pound Frozen Green Beans Add: 2 Cans (or about 4 Cups Home Prepared) Great Northern or other White Beans), drained 1 Can (15oz) Black Olives, Sliced 2 Tablespoons Caper Buds A little Scallion or Minced Red Onion may be added if desired. Toss with Vinaigrette Dressing Shake together in a jar, and pour over veggies: 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil 1 teaspoon Dijon Dressing 1/2 teaspoon minced Garlic 3/4 teaspoon Salt Dash or two of pepper Pinch or two sugar A couple of pinches Oregano Alternately, for an Oil Free Salad, you can use Simply Greek Dressing This is being shared on Gluten Free Fridays Posted by Mediterranean Zucchini Soup Here is another simple, nutrition packed, low calorie soup. It's easy to make, tastes good, adds variety to the diet, and helps us get enough servings of vegetables in our diet. Mediterranean Zucchini Soup Briefly saute (use a little broth, water or oil to saute - whatever you prefer) 1/2 Cup Chopped Onion (1/2 large Onion, or 1 small Onion) 1 teaspoon fresh Garlic Add and simmer till tender 2-3 Medium Zucchini, Sliced Water just to cover 1 Cube Vegetable Bouillon, broken up 1/2 teaspoon Basil Simmering the Zucchini with the other ingredients. Dash Cayenne Dash Black Pepper Puree with Immersion Blender till smooth (alternately, carefully transfer in batches to regular blender to puree). Add to taste Dash Dry White Wine

A life between newspapers at one of the oldest newsagents 28.07.2010 | Author: tugsearch | Category: Small Business | Leave your comment When some businesses died they take good memories with them. The history of José ‘Paco’, and his wife Maria, is the story of a newsagency. “It took us all the effort of the world,” told these merchants of the printed word. Since 1960, its tiny window was only down for a handful of days; it was half a century of relentless work that will write soon its final point. Paco and Mari will retire, and with their departure, the kiosk will close. They paid 20,000 pesetas over 20 years, which was the price when they were newlyweds. “Loads of bucks,” says Paco. Forget the honeymoon. Forget any breaks the next two decades. It was all about working Monday to Sunday from 6 to 12. “Rest? At New Year and Christmas. That was it. Early in the mornings they had to collect all the material because there were no distributors. So at 5am they were already standing; then 18 hours solid of work. In the mornings they used to sell copies of ABC, Ya or Arriba. In the afternoons it was the Alcazar, Madrid Pueblo, Information and others. And if someone did not have time to come round the kiosk, they did also home delivery. Paco used to go, for example, to the Milagrosa Hospital, which he served for decades. While Mari ran the newsagency. For him the press business was not new. His mother sold newspapers on a bench in the street, and used to leave her son in a bar with a pile of newspapers to make some extra cash. History has passed through Mari and Paco’s newsagency. Since the election of Kennedy to the world cup in South Africa, the end of the cold war or the arrival of the man to the moon. Thousands of headlines have passed through their hands. “I remember three days in particular,” says Paco, “Fabiola’s wedding, the death of Manolete and the Normandy landings. With the latter we made the most money in the whole Spain,” he added. “I left the shop with stacks of newspapers, and none made it to the kiosk. They all were sold out on the way.” When Prince Felipe and Letizia got married, things were much better. By then the couple gave themselves the luxury of taking a few days off. They had moved closer to the business, and were no longer working in the evenings. But they missed weddings, baptisms or communions. Even their parents’ funerals were cast after the morning working. All that earned them the bronze medal awarded them 30 years ago the Ministry of Public Works for being one of the best selling jobs in Spain (now rumoured to aspire for gold). And they won the hearts of customers one after another, who insisted that Paco and Mari should stay there for life, because they can not imagine the neighbourhood without them. Their marriage, with so many years together leading up their kiosk, has not lost its complicity. When you bend, the other takes to get things over your back. A perfectly synchronized choreography attesting to the years they have been practicing this craft. Living together in their little hole, far from wearing out, it seems that they have made one. “And the first house we had was half,” says Paco. “What a burden,” says Mari. And they smile. Then Paco realizes that he has exhausted the newspaper that provides daily to one of his sons. And apologies to run at full speed to buy a copy from the nearest kiosk. They have two children. “One economist and one chemical engineer,” said swollen with pride. They have been able to study and have good jobs. “And everything,” says Paco excited, “thanks to this small house.” 3.It reduces cost 4.Depending on the size of system you install, you may not ever receive an electric bill again What are the Web Page Musts Yours should Have 14.04.2010 | Author: kayemarks | Category: Small Business | Leave your comment If your home based business does not have a web page, well, you are definitely missing a lot. In todays world, a home business without a web page is like a business without an address or a phone number. Read more on What are the Web Page Musts Yours should Have… How Can I Start a Small Business? These days, home based businesses are thriving. Owe it to the growing complexity of big companies, most people now favor the simple and direct services of a home based business. Starting a home-based business is not as complicated as you think it is. You just have to follow certain steps to be able to establish one that actually makes money. Read more on How Can I Start a Small Business?… How to get the Perfect Replica Tag Heuer Watches online 25.02.2010 | Author: Alexander | Category: Small Business | Leave your comment A Tag Heuer is a great choice for many customers because it has lots of advantages besides simply looking very good. However, this is the main reason why people choose it. Tag Heuer Replica succeeds in having an amazing design, according to the current tendencies. If you get to buy such a watch from a trustworthy dealer, you will own a great accessory which will give everyone the impression that you are wearing a genuine Tag Heuer. Take a brief glance on the following tips before buying a Tag Heuer Replica watch. Read more on How to get the Perfect Replica Tag Heuer Watches online… Is Pay-For-Performance SEO The Best Solution For SMEs? 20.10.2009 | Author: digirank | Category: Small Business | Comments: 1 A pay-for-performance SEO model provides a relatively risk free SEO solution for SMEs as no payment is made until the objectives have been met. If the SEO specialist fails to meet the targets and objectives then the SME incurs no cost. Read more on Is Pay-For-Performance SEO The Best Solution For SMEs?… The Earths Geomagnetism its Outcome on Human Behaviour 14.01.2009 | Author: srauvers | Category: Advertising, B2B, Entrepreneurs, Management, Marketing, Public Relations, Sales, Small Business | Leave your comment The emotional mood of groups of human beings has always been of interest to researchers and psychologists. We are starting to learn that the single human conscience when brought together as a group acts as a group conscience, and is really mirroring activity occurring on the earth and the sun. Science is starting to show that we are all part of a unified group collective, with our emotions governed by solar and earth activity. As we begin to learn more about our earth and the suns relationship to it, we really are learning more about our relationship with one another. Behavior in groups is reflected in large scale events such as weddings, seminars, conventions etc. Read more on The Earths Geomagnetism its Outcome on Human Behaviour… Online Billing – Next Stride to Success 28.11.2008 | Author: naveengupta | Category: Business, Small Business | Leave your comment Billing clients online has come of age and is now an upward spiral trend in modern billing. It has benefited small businesses and freelancers tremendously by reducing the payment collection time and increasing cash flows. The only effort to get there is to generate invoices. Read more on Online Billing – Next Stride to Success… Send Invoices the Easy Way… Billing clients is one of the most important ingredients in the business framework and no businessmen can deny the fact that they often get into a spat with their clients over billing related matters. After all it is the basic right of every service provider to charge for every service that has been offered. Agreed, that such conflicts are not instigated but are a result of misunderstanding. Whatever it is, the inevitable result is that firm-client relationship is weighed down. So, the question is how to prevent the inevitable. And there is only one answer that is automating your billing and invoicing process. How do you do it? Well, use the best online invoicing software. ‘Online billing’ – revamp your billing process 17.11.2008 | Author: naveengupta | Category: Small Business | Leave your comment It’s time to take a great leap forward rather than sit back and move at a snail pace. The age old saying ‘slow and steady wins the race’ has been rephrased to ‘slow and steady NEVER wins the race’. The recent past has seen drastic technological advancements in every walk of like, well almost every. And anyone who decided to defy this development has fallen in an endless pit, be it businesses (of any size), individuals or anyone for that matter. There have been only two methods to doing business. One, the traditional method, where the business is done the way since it was incorporated and second, where the emphasis is on business process re-engineering and use of state-of-the art technology. The former often gets caught oblivious by the pressure mounted by developed firms and then gradually fades away. Though most of us today are prepared to embrace almost every technological development in any sphere of business, the response to online or e-billing softwares has been somewhat subdued. The companies are still circumspect about letting the machine handle their accounting procedures, one wonders why? Perhaps rigidity in the mindset is a problem. Businesses of all nature and size encounter billing related conflicts especially when it comes to accounts or cash procedures. The foremost objective of e-billing software is to erode it from the root. It streamlines internal procedures and processes and allows you to concentrate on developmental services rather than book-keeping and reconciliation of transactions. Good online billing software is developed keeping the potential and end users in focus, resulting in user friendly interface and ease of use. Thus, knowledge of accounting or invoicing or computing is not a pre-requisite in availing the services of well structured online billing softwares. The best of e-billing softwares can be integrated to the way business is done and its nature. Moreover, the biggest advantage of electronic billing/invoicing over traditional methods is that it enables 24/7 access to billing records. No matter in which part of the world, both the biller and the payer can access their billing records and manage their payments. The historic record of payments can be viewed from the generated database and track of outstanding payments can be kept and mailed to clients instantly. This is something which is impossible to do with the conventional documentation which involves postage of invoices. Since, online billing system runs on third party payment gateway integration, it alleviates all the potential threats. A secure payment gateway provides an encrypted connection between a web site’s server host and a non-internet based Processor, allowing for an authorization to be requested and received.

All dollars (or Pounds, or Euros) should be equal! The efficient market hypothesis, and the capacity of free markets to allocate efficiently financial resources have, as a consequence of the recent financial crisis, been seriously questioned. There is absolutely no cause for that. In a free market all dollars pursuing assets are equal, and so the prices reflect the markets appreciations of returns, risks, and other factors… and so in essence, all assets will produce equivalent all included risk-adjusted returns. Like any bet on the roulette. But then came bank regulators, with their risk-weighted capital requirements, more risk more capital, less risk less capital, and determined that some dollars, those being lent to what was perceived as “absolutely safe” were worth much more because these could be leveraged by banks much much more, than the dollars lent to what was perceived as “risky”. Like doubling the roulette payout when playing it safe, like betting on a color. And of course that made it impossible for the markets to function. It would be like pricing assets in dollars Euros and Pounds, simultaneously without informing the markets of which currency was used. In fact, since bank capital when in “risk-free” land could sometimes be leveraged about 40 times more than when in “risky” land, the currencies used are perhaps more like dollars, pesos and yen. And so a dollar going to someone “risky” is for the banks worth de facto much much less than a dollar going to the AAAristocracy. Talk about financial exclusion! Talk about increasing inequality gaps! Discriminating against risk-taking, in the "Home of the Brave"... you´ve got to be kidding! Please regulators, allow a dollar to be a dollar for everyone! So that markets will work again! Do you want your bank regulators have a total lack of confidence in your banks? Markets, banks, bankers they do all one way or another perceive risk of default of borrowers and adjust to these by means of interest rates, size of exposures and other terms. And so when bank regulators order banks to also adjust to the same perceived risk in their capital requirements then they are implicitly considering the banks to be absolutely blind. Frankly, is that the type of regulators you want? Don´t you think that if a regulator believes in that kind of nonsense, he is a regulator that can be too easily be taken for a ride? America, more bank capital (equity) required for loans to “The Risky” than to “The Infallible”, is contrary to Liberty & Opportunity Yesterday, in the good company of friends who value liberty above all, I visited the Statue of Liberty for the first time. As a son of immigrants, though not to America, looking at her my eyes went tearful, thinking about the challenges of leaving all behind, and beginning, from scratch, a new life in a new unknown foreign country. And sitting there listening to a great audio guide I was reminded all the time of that she, Lady of Liberty, stood there greeting all, to the Land of Freedom and Opportunities. And it all made me reflect again on the fact that current bank regulations, odiously discriminate against what is perceived as “risky”... And my eyes went tearful again. Let me explain. Of course, a newly arrived unknown immigrant, with nothing or little to his name, would be perceived as risky by any banker, and therefore be charged higher interests, be lent lesser amounts, and have to accept stricter terms, than what applied to those residents of the Americas who already had the opportunity to made a good name and some assets for themselves. But, those days, luckily, there was not a bank regulator in America who ordered that, on top of a bankers natural risk-adverseness, banks also needed to hold much much more capital when lending to “The Risky” than when lending to “The Infallible”. And so those days’ bankers were free to apply their own criteria, and “The Risky” free to access opportunities, without the interference of some dumb and overly concerned nanny. Now though, since 1988, Basel Accord, bank regulations are based on capital requirements which are much much lower when lending to “The Infallible” than when lending to “The Risky”. And that means that banks make a much much higher risk-adjusted return on assets when lending to The Infallible, than when lending to The Risky. And that means that a current immigrant, or an American who has not yet made it to the AAAristocracy (or the AAArisktocracy) has much lesser opportunities of obtaining a bank credit to make real the kind of America’s dreams which made America what it is… because please don’t tell me that America was just built upon house ownership credit cards and consumption. Dear Friends, "The Home of the Brave" should not accept this kind of suicidal regulatory risk-aversion, which stops banks from financing future and makes these only refinance the past. By the way, as I a layman read the law, it would look like it is even prohibited. PS. I am not an American, but since my father was freed from a concentration camp by Americans in 1945… I confess being much biased in its favor… at least of that 1945's America. PS. I have absolutely no objection to all the security measures taken around the Statue of Liberty but, the way some security officers voiced their authority, unfortunately, made me think of sacrilege. PS. Risk weights of 100% for the Sovereign and 0% for “We the People” reads like a slap in the face of USA’s Founding Fathers These just refinance the past... (and so Europe is going down, down, down) Let me refer again to the tragically misguided banking regulations in the world, designed by some who do not care one iota for the real economy, that which are not the banks. The main principle of such regulations are capital requirements (equity) based on perceived risks. More risk more capital, less risk less capital. And that results in the bank can expect to earn much higher expected risk-adjusted returns on equity , when financing the safe (refinancing the past) than when finance the risky (the future). And that results in that the economies do not take enough risks to produce its absolutely-safes of tomorrow ... but will dedicated itself to milk the cows of yesterday, to extract their last drop of milk. And all sheer stupidity. Regulators ignored, and still ignore, that perceived risks, such as those reflected in credit ratings, have already been cleared for by banks and markets when setting interest rates, the amounts of the loans, duration and other clauses, And so when the same perceptions of risk, are reused, now to determine the required capital, this only ensures that the banking system overdoses on perceived risk. They also forgot that their regulatory risk with banks has nothing to do with the perceived risks of the bank's customers ... and everything to do with how the bankers perceive and react to these perceptions. And that the above causes distortions in the allocation of bank credit in the real economy, still nothing is discussed. For an older person, retired, with barely sufficient savings, a financial advisor must recommend a super safe conservative investment strategy which provides liquidity, traditionally bonds. But, in the case of a young professional, who is saving for retirement in 30 years, the obligatory advice is to take much more risks, such as buying stocks. And so you can say that bank regulators follow rules adequate for the old, and not for the young. I assure you that if the European youth, such as that in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, lifted their eyes just a little while from their iPads, or similar devices, and realized what was being done to them, many sites would burn...like Troy. Worse yet, the regulators require banks to have an 8% capital when lending to an ordinary citizen entrepreneur, but allow these to lend to their governments, holding no capital at all. This has quietly introduced a perverse communism, and disrupted all price-risk equations in capital markets. Of course, all in close association with other beneficiaries like the members of the AAAristocracy. But, you might say ... "At least we will have safe banks". Do not delude yourself. All banking crisis, whenever not a case of outright fraud, have been unleashed by excessive lending to what ex ante was perceived as absolutely safe, and which, ex post, turned out to be risky, and no banking crisis in history, has resulted because of excessive loans to what was correctly perceived as risky. As a young man, in Sweden, in the churches where from time to time I went, they sang psalms which implored, "God, make us daring". European regulators, with respect to their banks, are now rewarding cowardice... (and so Europe is going down, down, down) The Financial Stability Board evidences its utter confusion, again, with their G-SIBs list, a subset of the G-SIFIs. In reference to “the policy judgment to be informed by various empirical analysis of the systemic risk that the Globally Systemic Important Banks Institutions” pose, in order to set the G-SIBs cutoff score, and determine to which of five “buckets” each one of the monster too big to fail banks belong, the Financial Stability Board published, on November 11, their end-2012 data G-SIB list. For those who need some translation the G-SIBs are the banks among the Globally Financial Important Financial Institutions, the G-SIFIs. And we there now find 29 banks, since recently Bank of China was added to the original 28, perhaps because China objected to not having one single bank among that exclusive group of banks. But, what does all this mean? There are 5 buckets indicating how much additional capital each bank as a percentage of risk-weighted assets a banks needs to hold, for the regulators feeling reasonably sure, the world is secure. These buckets are 1%, 1.5%, 2%, 2.5% and, the horror, the empty 3.5% bucket. I mention that last one because although “the bucket thresholds will be set initially such that bucket 5 is empty, if this bucket should become populated in the future, a new bucket will be added to maintain incentives for banks to avoid becoming more systemically important… eg if bucket 5 should become populated, bucket 6 would be created with a minimum higher loss absorbency requirement of 4.5% etc)." If you think the above to sound as a quite infantile regulations, like scaring the children with the boogeyman, I would probably share your appreciation… because what do you think could happen if suddenly regulators got so scared that empty bucket had to be occupied? Would that not cause a crisis by itself? Why do they not try with an extra 3 percent on all assets, no matter an asset’s risk-weight. That would really put a cracker in the G-SIBs’ pants. Perhaps Bank of China would scream… “Take me out, I don’t belong here” No friends let me assure you that if I was a Global Systemic Important Bank, and that the price for being The Most Systemic Important Global Bank in the world, would be to have an additional 1% or risk-weighted assets in equity… I would gladly say… “Sure, bring it on!” But the saddest part of the story is, sine qua nom, that the more regulators insist on the risk-weighing of assets the less access to bank credit will those who most need it and who we most want to have access to it, namely “The Risky”, like medium and small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups. Here is THE QUESTION for Janet Yellen during her US Senate confirmation hearings as Chair of the Federal Reserve Ms. Janet Yellen Is it not a fact that, with the sole exceptions of when pure fraud was present, all major bank crises have always resulted from excessive exposures to what was ex ante perceived as “absolutely safe”, and never ever from excessive exposures to what was ex ante perceived as “risky”? And, if so, can you please explain to us the rationale behind the pillar of current regulations, the risk weighting of the capital requirements, which allow banks to hold much much less capital against what is ex ante perceived as “absolutely safe” than against what is perceived as risky? Could it not be that in reality it should perhaps be the complete opposite? Is it correct that in the “home of the brave” we impose this type of bank regulations which discriminate against those perceived as “risky”? And by the way, is such thing really allowed under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, “Regulation B”? Finally, do not these regulations created such distortions that it makes it impossible for the banks to allocate credit efficiently in the real economy? PS. Oh I almost forgot. I remember the Constitution of the United States of America, in Section 8 states “The Congress shall have the power to…fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.” Can you please refresh our minds as to when we delegate fixing the risk-weights to the Fed? PS. Oh and I almost also forgot too. The US Constitution in its section 9 states: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States”. Now, is that not something that de facto happens when we sort of recognize the existence of an AAAristocracy or AAArisktocracy? Have the risk weights used in current bank regulations really been approved by the US Congress, in accordance to the Constitution? As a Venezuelan I regretfully know much too much about the violations of a Constitution, but I cannot say that I know much about the Constitution of the United States. For instance, the Constitution of the United States of America, in Section 8 states, “The Congress shall have the power to…fix the Standard of Weights and Measures.” And I know that bank regulators, by setting risk weights determine how much capital (equity) banks need to hold against different assets... which means that banks will be able to obtain different risk adjusted returns on equity for different assets. And so I ask, did the United States Congress really approve those risk weights? I say this because I find that concept to be anathema to “The Home of the Brave”. And I also ask because the US Constitution, in its section 9 states: “No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States”… and that seems precisely what the US might have allowed by allowing regulatory preferences, much lower risk weights, on loans to the Sovereign (the Monarch) and to an AAAristocracy... or more precisely an AAArisktocracy. And what are those risk weights? The sovereign, meaning the government, meaning bureaucrats deciding on the use of bank credit was given 0%, the “AAArisktocracy” 20%, and WE THE PEOPLE are deemed to be 100% But what do these risk weights really signify? The answer is quite straightforward. Those with low risk weights will have even more access at even easier terms to bank credit, than what the natural order of banking would give them. And so those with higher risk weights will, consequentially, have less even access to bank credit and have to pay even more for it, than what the natural order of banking would give them. And so, in words of Mark Twain, this means that bankers are even much more prone than usual to lend out the umbrella when the sun shines, and to take it back when it rains. And the tragic consequences for the US are many: It increases the inequality gap between The Infallible and the Risky It stops bank from financing the future and make them mostly refinance the past. And in the case of the sovereign, it translates into an effective subsidy of the interest rates paid by the Government, and so everyone is flying blind, not knowing what the real not subsidized risk free rate would be. And that fundamental mistake of doubling down on the same ex ante perceived risks, like those in credit ratings, potentiating risk aversion, is killing the western economies as we knew them... and not so softly. Trusting excessively ex ante perceived risks, regulators have allowed banks to hold much much less capital against assets perceived ex ante as “absolutely safe”, than against assets perceived as risky. And that resulted in that banks earn much much higher risk adjusted returns on equity on “The Infallible”, like exposures to sovereigns, housing sector and the AAAristocracy, than on The Risky, like medium and small businesses, entrepreneurs and start ups. And that means that banks have dangerously leveraged up much too much on The Infallible and, equally dangerously, much too little on The Risky. And so when one of “The Infallible” ex post turns out to belong to “The Risky”, as always happens sooner or later, often precisely because it has had too much access to bank credit, then the banks stand there naked with almost no capital. And so “The Risky”, those who on the margins of the real economy most need and should have access to bank credit, in order to help our economies to move forward, they will not get it. In essence this all means that banks will not help to finance the western economies future, but only help to refinance its past. Senator Patrick Moynihan is quoted with saying “There are some mistakes it takes a PhD to make”. Unfortunately most of us equally seem to believe “There are mistakes, so dumb, these just cannot be made by a PhD”. We baby-boomers extract as much equity as possible from the risk-taking our parents allowed banks to take, while refusing now to allow banks to take the risks our grandchildren need. Why the Bank of England, BoE, like most other bank regulators, is pissing outside the pot. I invite you to read the Bank of England publication “Bank capital and liquidity” It states: “It is the role of bank prudential regulation to ensure the safety and soundness of banks, for example by ensuring that they have sufficient capital and liquidity resources to avoid a disruption to the critical services that banks provide to the economy.” But, if that comes with avoiding that those in the real economy who most need and deserve access to bank credit, do not get it, only because they are perceived as more “risky”, then the regulators are most definitively pissing outside the pot. The regulator divides here the balance sheet of the bank in 3 categories: Cash and Guilts, Safer loans, and Riskier loans. If then, as they do, they allow banks to hold much much less capital against Guilts and Safer loans than against Riskier loans, that simply means that banks will be earning much much higher expected risk adjusted return on Guilts and Safer loans, that on Riskier loans. And that means that “The Infallible” will have even more access to bank credits, which could turn these into risky, and make it very dangerous for the banks, while “The Risky” will get even less access to bank credit and make it very dangerous for the real economy. “The Infallible” are the sovereigns, the housing sector and the AAAristocracy. “The Risky” are medium and small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups. All dollars (or Pounds, or Euros) should be equal!... Do you want your bank regulators have a total lack... America, more bank capital (equity) required for l... The Financial Stability Board evidences its utter ... Here is THE QUESTION for Janet Yellen during her U... Have the risk weights used in current bank regulat... The silly doubling down on ex ante perceived risks...

The Superhero Lunchbox Project The Online Exhibit For years, I've repurposed old, metal lunchboxes. A Rambo lunchbox became a lunchbox dedicated to Great Women of Literature. Another honored Great Writers of the South. More recently, I've dedicated a lunchbox to The Donner Party. For a long time, though, I've had it in my head to create the ultimate Superhero Lunchbox...not a lunchbox featuring Batman or Wonder Woman, but a box honoring my real-life heroes.I posed this challenge to a wide circle of friends: get your hands on a metal lunchbox, and put some thought into who or what your heroes are, and why. And then get to work making the Superhero Lunchbox of your dreams.This online exhibit is the result of that challenge. I hope visitors to this site will find it fun and interesting, and maybe even inspiring. Lunchboxes are such useful things, and so many of us have fond memories of toting tuna sandwiches to school in our Partridge Family or Six Million Dollar Man lunchboxes. There seems to me to be no reason for us to outgrow this tradition of toting around our meals in metal boxes that say something about who we are, what we like, and what our values are. I know I've never outgrown it.Start here, because it's what started it all for me, and work your way up. Enjoy. Leave some feedback. Make a lunchbox.For a more detailed view, click on the individual images.If you're moved to make a lunchbox of your own, and have it included in this exhibit, submissions are welcome. Get your hands on a metal lunchbox (no plastic, please) - you can buy a blank one from lunchboxes.com or repurpose an old one. Go to town. Choose your superhero, and and run with it. Photograph your finished lunchbox, write a few words about your subject, and send the photos and text to me at [email protected], with the words "Superhero Lunchbox" in the subject box. My mom, Carol Offield, has led an amazing life as a powerful woman who has performed spectacular feats no one else could have. I continue to be amazed by her daily. She has been a businesswoman, single parent, philanthropist, great friend, kind mother, bridge maven, and now she is a grandmother, too. She is unquestionably a phenomenal superheroine: It seems as though she stopped a speeding locomotive well over a hundred times when she interrupted what I was sure was the end of the world. She soothed me with stories about what happened when she was my age, or about what happened to my grandma, or my dad. Somehow the world, which had been barreling forward like a rocket at the speed of light at a target of complete destruction, suddenly was sailing uncomplicated in the breeze like a kite. Then we could just laugh. She said things like, “Stop worrying when you don’t have all the facts!” and I never listened, until I found myself repeating them to my students, hoping I could be half as smart as her. It took the super-strength of a superheroine to be a single parent to two spirited children, particularly the demanding, devious, and difficult daughter I know I was. It was this super-strength, superheroine wisdom that gave her the good sense to make our childhood richer than any other kids I know: She was superheroine smart for reading aloud Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. books, instead of stuff like Stuart Little. Superheroine smart for letting us take lots of mental health days, so the other kids would have a chance to catch up. Superheroine smart for going on strike, so we did the grocery shopping in primary school. That was harder than doing it the standard way….and so much more fun. Just like a superhero of stage and screen, she leapt tall buildings in a single bound when she solved the insolvable for me. The superheroine trick that no one else’s mom could figure out was that she never did things for me. She taught me how to do the tasks myself—beginning in kindergarten. My insolvable problem at the time was that I didn’t believe I belonged in kindergarten and wanted to advance to first grade. So she set up a meeting for me to discuss it with the principal. Superheroine lessons, I guess. But that meeting (and, I’m sure, a bunch of background phonecalls I didn’t know about) solved an insurmountable problem. What kindergartener can talk her way into first grade? Me, it turned out, but not without her superheroine mom’s help! My mom’s most amazing superheroine feat of solving the unsolvable and even time traveling occurred as she has cared for me as I have been sick. The whole process of managing my illness and running a business would have caused someone else to give up. I am so much work, and I am fully aware and very sorry that I do not always have the sunniest of dispositions. She managed my difficult demands while living with me for several months while I was the sickest. That’s a tall building if I ever heard it—running a business, as well as commuting back and forth between two cities. On some days, that surely involved time travel. Superheroines don’t have much of a reputation for being very much fun to be around. This is one way she is nothing like a superheroine. In fact, she is great fun! We have had so much fun going around here and there and dreaming up schemes. What a fantastic gift that has been to be with her. It is not surprising, then, that so many people in my life have met her and arrived at the same conclusion: Each, individually, has said the same thing: “She’s an angel!” So true. A superheroine angel. That’s what she is. I hope she is super-mortal because I never want to lose her!

Because they’re happy! Posted on September 8, 2014 by Renée The CSF Habit(AT) project has had us exploring the myriad ways we humans wear our culture in the cities we inhabit. We live in one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world, and we are quickly realising the depth of ways the citizens of London engage with fashion as a means of communicating their individual and collective identity. But Habit(AT) doesn’t stop with London, our various projects have us working with people from all over the world and this gives us the opportunity to learn and share with other urban cultures. Over the past few years CSF has developed a close alliance with the city of Copenhagen – our Director, Dilys Williams, has lead the Copenhagen Youth Fashion Summit for the past two years, and we have worked closely with design schools KEA and Kolding on projects like Local Wisdom and Fashioning the Future. When it comes to design for sustainability we share a common vision. Over the past several years, sustainable design has really started to flourish across Copenhagen’s fashion industry. The capital’s fashion week makes an intense effort of showcasing brands that are trying to put human and ecological resilience at the heart of their business – Designers Remix, Baum & Pferdgarten and Malene Birger are just a few examples. Danish fashion is defined by its design heritage of clever simplicity, functionality, clean minimalism and the belief that design is for all. Sustainability seems to have grown into an essential ingredient of this design identity, and so when I had the opportunity to visit Copenhagen over the summer I wanted to know how the city had managed to nurture a culture which is not only receptive to but is driving the change towards sustainable design through sustainable living. Last year Denmark was crowned the happiest country in the world, and there are many official reasons why: generous parental leave, a supportive health care system, a priority for gender equality and an almost 90% voting rate. Apparently half of Copenhagen residents cycle to work or school, and so as I rode around the city I noticed many examples of sustainable design in art galleries, independent shops and studios, but it was the design of the city itself that I found so engaging. Granted, I happened to be there during one of the hottest weeks on record, but this gave me the chance to see people jumping and swimming in the river and canals – only through googling did I realise Copenhagen’s harbours had gone through a decade long clean up to become a home for wild urban swimming. The city was like one giant, modernist water park! With the inviting bike paths and waterways, it appears as though this city is actually being designed for the humans that live in it and this must be contributing to (what looks like to an outsider) a genuine sense of collective responsibility. Copenhagen not only encourages the active participation of its inhabitants, it feeds off it. At an under construction metro station in Nyhavn, environmental artist, Thomas Dambo has set up a playful art installation called the Happy Wall. You will find 2000 reversible, recycled wooden boards creating a giant interactive pixel screen, welcoming fun and play from anyone who is willing. Follow #HAPPYWALL to see just how happy the people of Copenhagen are.

Fashion Colloquia Milano Posted on October 13, 2015 by katelyn Last month Dilys and I spent a remarkable 2 days in Milan at Domus Academy for Fashion Colloquia, a roving global event aiming to foster in-depth conversation between international fashion educators, practitioners and media. Co-hosted by London College of Fashion, along a number of other leading fashion universities the events have often taken place alongside official fashion weeks in order to give academics and leaders in the field a space to discuss challenges and new themes emerging at a different pace to the whirr of the global fashion calendar. So in the warmth of an early autumn Italian sun, dozens of presentations covered issues and new ideas for fashion education, including themes of digital technology, the changing industry landscape as well as the nature of creativity and sustainability. We found out many things, for instance from Brendan C. McCarthy, what happens when fashion students are expected to put their garment in the real world and why Ghandi as a fashion symbol is a hard sell for 18 year olds in New York. From Suzanne Mancini we heard that finishing BA students at the Rhode Island School of Design will have spent £250,000 on their education and yet they shouldn’t expect a fashion show at the end of it. Paul Yuille cautioned universities not to treat technology as a silver bullet and rather to define innovation in terms of relationships. Mathew Gill told us how niche print media is actually flourishing. Fellow LCF academic, Natascha Ratcliffe-Thomas asked us to create our own perfect formula for creativity. Maarit Salolainen discussed pedagogy she’s developed to stimulate rapid fashion and textile experimentation and upskilling in the classroom. And from Eleanor Snare we heard why it’s crucial that the sustainable fashion discussion uses a system approach to fully take into account the shaping conditions of people. Ethics vs. Margins Impassioned debate flared up a number of times (always nice to see happen at an academic conference) and it is interesting that the main points of contention were to do with ethics -and often whether fashion has any place being a force for social change. One educator noted how important it is for for students to be critical changemakers but said that this seems to gets harder over the years. He finds that current students are less capable from the onset than ever to filter and discern the non-stop information around them, that they need skills of curation to find their own way through. A teacher from AMFI agrees and says, we must focus less on giving them knowledge and instil more self- confidence. At CSF we would completely agree, that the skills of joining things up and learning how to see patterns and interconnections as well as an ability to translate values and ethics into actions are some of the most important requirements for graduates looking into the future. To this conversation, Dilys and I added our presentation New Glasses for New Classes, a discussion from our research over the last year into the new skills and capabilities required in fashion education to design a better future world. Research conducted during the first year of the co-created curriculum with Kering has developed our understanding of what teaching for radical change might entail. We discussed how important industry-education partnerships are to bridge knowledge in action with knowledge in incubation but it is not enough to simply put these perspectives in a room together and expect change to happen. Business and now students have often built up a perspective, seemingly geared towards success that precludes imagining possibilities outside the current status quo. Universities crucially hold the space between past present and future and as educators we must offer students a place to experiment, to take risks, to ask truly radical questions of business, the academy, fashion, and humanity. Particularly in art and design universities, we are in the business of realising what radical change might look like.

Business Concentrations Students are required to select one of the following concentrations as part of their degree plan. The courses in each concentration are offered in a two year cycle. It is important that students wanting to specialize in one of the following areas take the necessary courses as they are offered. Business (Generalist) Management students will acquire the knowledge base and skill set necessary to make them effective leaders throughout all levels of business. Students focus on topics that include human resources, organizational behavior, business information systems and entrepreneurship. This will equip graduates to be competitive globally in the business environment. Courses -- 15 Credit Hours MGT 3413 Organizational Behavior MGT 4443 Business Information Systems MGT 4213 Human Resource Administration MGT 4173 International Management Choose one of the following: MGT 4563 Entrepreneurship NPA 4213 Leadership for Non-Profit Organizations BUS 4993 Business Internship Marketing Marketing students will study the broad range of marketing principles including retailing, selling, market research, international marketing, and market behavior. This will equip graduates to understand consumer needs and desires as well as be able to develop various strategies to motivate people to buy products and services. Given the wide appeal of this skill set, the coursework will introduce students to marketing in the private and non-profit sectors, both domestic and international. MKT 3133 Retailing MKT 3143 Consumer & Market Behavior MKT 3153 Promotional Strategies MKT 4613 Intl. Marketing MKT 4313 Marketing Research Choose one of the following: MKT 3163 Sales NPA 3713 Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations BUS 4993 Business Internship Finance Finance students will pursue a course of study that will prepare them for employment in a wide variety of careers in the financial industry. Most graduates will find employment in banking and financial services as loan officers, brokers, and financial planners; while others will go into a corporate finance role as analysts. Students will develop an understanding of financial markets and institutions, fiscal and monetary policy objectives, and how to apply microeconomic and macroeconomics theory to financial decision-making. FIN 3133 Investments FIN 3143 Money & Banking FIN 4223 Financial Statement Analysis FIN 4153 International Finance Choose one of the following: FIN 4113 Principles of Insurance FIN 3243 Real Estate NPA 4513 Fundraising BUS 4993 Business Internship Non-Profit Administration Nonprofit Administration students will study all aspects of the nonprofit sector. This includes fundraising and marketing methods, as well as the necessary systems to account for the monies received. Also, organizational leadership. personnel motivation, and the legal environment will be studied. This will prepare graduates for a career in a wide range of nonprofit organizations. NPA 3913 Non-Profit Law NPA 3313 Accounting for Non-Profit Organizations NPA 4213 Leadership for Non-Profit Organizations BUS 4993 Business Internship International Business International business students will focus on the broad range of activities that affect the growth of global commerce. Issues in management, marketing and finance will be addressed so students will be able to identify the needs of a worldwide consumer market. Students will also study a foreign language so they can better communicate in a foreign market. FIN 4153 International Finance MGT 4173 International Management MKT 4613 International Marketing. Foreign Language (6 credit hours) General Business students will receive a well rounded education in all areas of business. Students can focus on management, marketing, nonprofit administration and finance. This broad knowledge base will prepare graduates to enter a variety of positions in the world of business. Courses -- 15 Credit Hours Select 15 credit hours from the upper division courses from Management, Marketing, Finance, or Non-Profit Administration

SWEDISH THOUGHTS The word Christmas is akin to Old Icelandic and Old English. In northern England talks still little old-fashioned contexts of yule, possibly a legacy of the Vikings rampage there. When we raise our beer glasses and wish each other Merry Christmas, it is an unbroken tradition right from pagan times, even if it was then the beverage horn was lifted. It called to drink in Christmas. In the Catholic Middle Ages introduced the Christian celebration of Christmas in our country and was celebrated during the same time as before the pagan Christmas. An old-fashioned Christmas Our time yearning for an old-fashioned Christmas is the union of the old agrarian society and the bourgeois Christmas celebration Christmas in the city at the turn of the century. It will be a kind of mixture of julbrasor and Yule straw, an ostentatious bourgeois Christmas, lavish trees and lots of presents. Our Christmas traditions Many of our Christmas traditions is a union of old Swedish traditions mixed with elements from foreign country. The Christmas tree became common during the late 1800s and the Christmas Santa Claus distributing only in the 1900s. Santa is also a mixture of our little gray-clad house elf and the man in red St. Nicholas. Previously, especially Christmas goat, which accounted for much julhyss in ancient times peasant Sweden, has been hired if they had any Christmas gift giver at all. 1900s has given us both adventsljus, Advent, Advent stars and Advent candlesticks, also of German descent, while Donald Duck comes from the large immigrant country USA. The turkey and the mistletoe has Anglo-Saxon ancestry. Christmas red color Christmas red color are certainly many people who wonder about. A clear answer is not to give. Red was an expensive color to produce and was only used on special occasions, not just for Christmas. Christmas in the farming community had hardly any red components as Christmas red color is a phenomenon of our time. The red color often occurs in combination with green: spruce, lingonrisets and moss green color and plants that may be in julprydandet. The Christmas tree (but not the dressed) is associated with very old Swedish Christmas traditions.

Sometimes good thinks happen and sometimes bad thinks happen. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish between the two. Some thinks need immediate action and some thinks may remain as thinks forever. Thinks can be angry and heated. Thinks can be joyful. Thinks should never be cold. These thinks are linked to many other wonderful thinks and I like to attribute these. These thinks do not necessary reflect those thinks of my employer.Think long, think on. SUNZ learnings - scared and excitied Linear, as we know it, is over and this by no means is a linear account of what I experienced at the SUNZ summit. Linear is self indulgent - it’s assuming that the restrictive lens (the lens that can’t even capture all the goings on in one room) is an accurate account of what has happened. In our own eyes, it is the Truth. However, a linear recount is impossible and somewhat unrealistic. Interestingly, we train linear thinking into our youth, from a very early age. In primary school nearly everything is measured by ‘progressions’. Further, we train our young people to write stories through the tiresome genre called ‘recount’. We claim that it is some how ‘developmental’. We facepalm when we get to that inevitable end - “and then we got McDonalds and it was yum” (unless, of course, this is the first time the child has written a full sentence) then we punch the air and give the kid a sticker - then wonder why she doesn’t move on. Well kids, McDonalds is not yum. It is instead a result of what we call “Cynicism”. Not the *hair-flick* “Don’t be so cynical” (as-in-suspicious) sense, but Cynical in the Zygmunt Bauman and Peter Sloterjik sense of the word. The easiest way to think about this kind of cynicism is our wonderful human ability to know that things like smoking, drinking, and eating crap food is bad for us, but we do it anyway. Likewise, we know that people in the world are starving while at the same time knowing that world has an abundance of food. Yet we walk away and shrug it off. What can we do? Scraping mashed potato into the environmentally unfriendly waste disposal and even muttering to ourselves at times “There are children starving in Africa!” whilst grabbing the spray and wipe and cleaning all the evidence away. Hardened gravy stains on the formica will not do! Often we hear that being human is the one thing that separates us from the machines. Even the most wonderful machines don’t have that human capability. This was demonstrated beautifully by Captain Sully’s human ability to turn that plane around - and land it on the Hudson - AI couldn’t do that. Well actually it probably could now because it would have learned from Sully… but that’s beside the point. We are humans. We can make good decisions. That’s what makes us better-er. Baby X was a good girl. She doesn’t have a snotty nose. Quite likeable. Now where was I? So we are sitting on the edge of incredibly disruptive and awesome technologies. Disruptive? Think about the way that cars replaced horses. Yes, we still have horses, but we don’t ride them to work anymore. But it takes a while to happen. The first car cost the equivalent of $500,000 so they didn’t really catch on. The price has to get to that ‘sweet point’ where it makes more sense to buy a car than buy a horse, then - boom. Cars everywhere and not a horse in sight. The prediction is that this will be the case for electric vs petrol cars. It will take a while, but eventually the cost of an electric car will become affordable. Then - boom. Same can be said for phones. Any computer with the capability of an iPhone 6 would have cost $5 trillion in 1984 and $4,830,000 in 1997 but now that they are at an affordable rate (for a certain elite) 15 year olds are walking around with them in their pockets. And they are great! Just today while sitting in a cafe I said, “Hang on, let me figure out when the Vic 20 came out”. I wasn’t really figuring it out - I was asking google. But I caught myself. I really did think that I was figuring it out! And maybe I was. When I think about future focused pedagogy I am sensible. I do not believe in children mindlessly consuming technology. I believe (and I think that my school does it very well) that technology is a seamless tool. We have taken the ‘shiney factor’ off the device, our kids use devices for good. They use devices to learn about how to clean the streams, how to give to the community, how to create a better world - you know the drill. And I have also stood by the fact that our school will use technology to make enviro-ethical decisions, to connect with communities around the world, and to organise and give to our own community to make the world a better place. And this was a safe and comfortable place to be in. I thought that the thing that separates us from the machines is our humanness. We are humans, we are beautiful, we see beyond the spreadsheet. A computer, for example, will make someone redundant. A computer will close a business - not realising the impact that this will have on the entire town - (think Flint Michigan). But a human, a human has the capability to see beyond the numbers, to see the stories behind the data and to make the human call. But what scares me and what I have come to realise, are the implications of that pesky little thing called Cynicism. If cynicism is combined with the exponential growth of our machines (eg A.I) then I have an increasingly scary feeling. This is because the machines don’t suffer from cynicism. If the machines could consume, the machines wouldn't smoke. Simply because they know it is bad for them. The machines would chose synthetic milk over ‘natural’ milk. And the machines would know that synthetic meat is far better for us (and the animals!) than ‘natural’ meat (not that there is anything remotely natural about our mainstream meat and milk). Suddenly I find myself standing at the bottom of the exponential curve in some kind of existential crisis. And there is a new urgency. We can’t rely on teaching our children that they have 'humanness' which makes them stand out from the machines. Our children instead need to learn that the machines will soon be able to make more human (or cynically free) decisions than them. So schools need to figure out how to deal with and eradicate out the out-of-control human cynicism. This is the next step for education. We can no longer rely upon and celebrate the fact that we are human, instead we need to explicitly teach strategies so that we remain human. It's a tweak, but an important one. And I have a sneaking feeling that it is not going to be achieved through spelling and calculation. And when I got home from summit I had a Thai take-away and it was yum.

Treatment for depression in traumatic brain injury: Cochrane find no evidence for non-pharmacological interventions by Eleanor Kennedy @Nelllor_ This blog originally appeared on the Mental Elf site on 31st May 2016. Traumatic Brain Injury has been associated with increased occurrence of depression (Gertler et al, 2015). Traumatic Brain Injury results from damage to the brain by external forces, such as direct impact or rapid acceleration; consequences of a traumatic brain injury may be temporary or permanent and can lead to problems with cognition, emotion and behaviour (Maas, Stocchetti, & Bullock, 2008). The main feature of depression is either a depressed mood or loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities, or both, consistently for a two week period. Depression can present as a major risk factor for suicide after Traumatic Brain Injury. A recent Cochrane systematic review aimed to measure “the effectiveness of non-pharmacological interventions for depression in adults and children with Traumatic Brain Injury at reducing the diagnosis and severity of symptoms of depression.” People who experience traumatic brain injury are at an increased risk of depression. The Cochrane Injuries Group searched eight electronic databases for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of non-pharmacological interventions for depression in adults and children who had a Traumatic Brain Injury. For inclusion in the review, study participants had to fulfil the following criteria: A history of Traumatic Brain Injury due to external forces; samples that included participants with non-traumatically acquired brain injury, such as stroke, were also included if the data allowed for separate analysis of those with Traumatic Brain Injury Fulfilment of diagnostic criteria for an applicable mood disorder, such as major depressive disorder or adjustment disorder with depressive mood, based on DSM or ICD criteria Presenting with clinically significant depressive symptoms based on standardised measures The primary outcome was “the presence or remission of depressive disorders, as determined by the use of accepted diagnostic criteria (e.g. DSM-IV or ICD-10), by the use of a standardised structured interview based on such criteria (e.g. Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM Disorders), or the results of validated self- or observer-rated questionnaires of depressive symptoms.” The secondary outcomes were: Neuropsychological functioning, psychosocial adjustment, everyday functioning, quality of life, and participation Medication and healthcare service usage Treatment compliance, based on the proportion of withdrawals from intervention The occurrence of suicide or self-harm Any adverse effects of the intervention. Six studies were included in the review. Three of the studies were carried out in the USA (Ashman, Cantor, Tsaousides, Spielman, & Gordon, 2014; Ashman & Tsaousides, 2012; Fann et al., 2015; Hoffman et al., 2010), one in China (He, Yu, Yang, & Yang, 2004), one in Canada (Bedard et al., 2014) and one in Australia (Simpson, Tate, Whiting, & Cotter, 2011). Participants in all studies were over 18 years of age. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) modified to suit those with TBI 10 weekly session plus recommended daily meditation BDI-II Fann 2015 (Fann et al., 2015) 100(86 with follow up data) CBT in person or by telephone 8 to 12 weekly sessions Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17) He 2004 (He et al., 2004) Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) 4 treatment sessions each lasting 5 days, with an interval of 2 days between sessions Hoffman 2010 (Hoffman et al., 2010) Supervised exercise training 10 weekly sessions, plus a home program Simpson 2011 (Simpson et al., 2011) Group-based CBT 10 weekly sessions Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) Primary outcomes The review reported on four comparative analyses: CBT, or a variant of CBT, vs waiting list; included a meta-analysis of three studies (Bedard, Fann, Simpson). There was no indication of a difference in depression symptoms attributable to the intervention (standardised mean difference (SMD) -0.14, 95% CI -0.47 to 0.19; Z = 0.83, p = .41). CBT to SPT; based on one study (Ashman), the difference in depression remission was not statistically supported (RR 0.76; 95% CI 0.58 to 1.00; Z = 1.96; P = 0.05) nor was the difference between groups in depression symptoms (SMD -0.09; 95% CI -0.65 to 0.48; Z = 0.30; P = 0.77). rTMS plus tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) to TCA; based on one study (He). There was a reduction in depression symptoms seen in the rTMS plus TCA group, (0.84; 95% CI -1.36 to -0.32; Z = 3.19; P = 0.001), however the difference was not considered to be clinically relevant. This was the only study to report adverse effects as two participants reported transient tinnitus with spontaneous remission. Supervised exercise and exercise as usual; based on a single study (Hoffman). There was no difference in depression symptoms between groups following the intervention (SMD -0.43; 95% CI -0.88 to 0.03; Z = 1.84; P = 0.07). Secondary outcomes Secondary outcomes were reported for each individual study. There was no difference in treatment compliance between intervention and comparison group in each study. One study (He et al., 2004) reported adverse effects as two participants reported transient tinnitus with spontaneous remission. Most other secondary outcomes showed no difference between intervention and treatment groups. There is insufficient evidence to recommend any particular non-pharmacological treatment for depression in traumatic brain injury. Some studies were not included because of the narrow focus of the review. The primary outcome of these studies was quality of life or psychological well-being and as such did not require included participants to have a diagnosis of depression or a particular cut-off score on a depression scale. While these may have been of interest, this is not necessarily a limitation as it allowed the authors to concentrate on a clinically relevant treatment effect for depression. The authors found the quality of evidence to be low or very low in all comparisons, mainly due to the lack of blinding participants and personnel to the treatment. This lack of blinding could have affected the self-report depression symptom scales in particular. The authors suggested some suitable placebo treatments such as sham rTMS to imitate real TMS or a social contact intervention to compare to CBT. The paucity of studies included makes it difficult to draw any firm conclusions. There was no strong evidence to support any of the interventions explored here. All of the studies are very recent which suggests there may be an increase in this kind of research. The authors point to some implications for future research in this area, such as the careful consideration of what will be meaningful to the individual participants and the question of the suitability of RCT design for CBT interventions. The review calls for future RCTs that compare active interventions with controls that replicate the effect of the attention given to participants during an active treatment. Ashman, T., Cantor, J. B., Tsaousides, T., Spielman, L., & Gordon, W. (2014). Comparison of cognitive behavioral therapy and supportive psychotherapy for the treatment of depression following traumatic brain injury: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 29(6), 467–478. [PubMed abstract] Ashman, T., & Tsaousides, T. (2012). Cognitive behavioral therapy for depression following traumatic brain injury: FINDINGS of a randomized controlled trial. Brain Impairment. Cambridge University Press. Bedard, M., Felteau, M., Marshall, S., Cullen, N., Gibbons, C., Dubois, S., … Moustgaard, A. (2014). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy reduces symptoms of depression in people with a traumatic brain injury: results from a randomized controlled trial. J Head Trauma Rehabil, 29(4), E13–22. [PubMed abstract] Fann, J. R., Bombardier, C. H., Vannoy, S., Dyer, J., Ludman, E., Dikmen, S., … Temkin, N. (2015). Telephone and in-person cognitive behavioral therapy for major depression after traumatic brain injury: a randomized controlled trial. Journal of Neurotrauma, 32(1), 45–57. [PubMed abstract] He, C. S., Yu, Q., Yang, D. J., & Yang, M. (2004). Interventional effects of low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on patients with depression after traumatic brain injury. Chinese Journal of Clinical Rehabilitation, 8, 6044–6045. Hoffman, J. M., Bell, K. R., Powell, J. M., Behr, J., Dunn, E. C., Dikmen, S., & Bombardier, C. H. (2010). A randomized controlled trial of exercise to improve mood after traumatic brain injury. Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2(10), 911–919. [PubMed abstract] Maas, A. I. R., Stocchetti, N., & Bullock, R. (2008). Moderate and severe traumatic brain injury in adults. Lancet Neurology, 7 (August), 728 – 741. [PubMed abstract] Simpson, G. K., Tate, R. L., Whiting, D. L., & Cotter, R. E. (2011). Suicide prevention after traumatic brain injury: a randomized controlled trial of a program for the psychological treatment of hopelessness. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 26(4), 290–300. [PubMed abstract] Caribbean or African ethnic origin Completed high level of education Ever been employed Lifetime history of ever using cannabis Participants with first episode psychosis were more likely to: Use cannabis every day Use high-potency cannabis Have started using cannabis at 15 years or younger Use skunk every day A logistic regression adjusted for age, gender, ethnic origin, number of cigarettes smoked, alcohol units, and lifetime use of illicit drugs, education and employment history showed thatcompared to participants who had never used cannabis: Participants who had ever used cannabis were not at increased risk of psychosis Participants who had used cannabis at age 15 were at moderately increased risk of psychotic disorder People who used cannabis or skunk everyday were roughly 3 times more likely to have diagnosis of psychotic disorder A second logistic regression was carried out to explore the effects of a composite measure of cannabis exposure which combined data on the frequency of use and the type of cannabis used.Compared with participants who had never used cannabis: Individuals who mostly used hash (occasionally, weekends or daily) did not have any increased risk of psychosis Individuals who smoked skunk less than once a week were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with psychosis Individuals who smoked skunk at weekends were nearly three times as likely to be diagnosed with psychosis Individuals who smoked skunk daily were more than five times as likely to be diagnosed with psychosis The population attributable factor (PAF) was calculated to estimate the proportion of disorder that would be prevented if the exposure were removed: 19.3% of psychotic disorders attributable to daily cannabis use 24.0% of psychotic disorders attributable to high potency cannabis use 16.0% of psychotic disorders attributable to skunk use every day The results of this study support the theory that higher THC content is linked with a greater risk of psychosis, with daily use of skunk conferring the highest risk. Recruiting control participants from the same area as the case participants meant that the two groups were more likely to be matched on not only demographic factors but also in terms of the actual cannabis that both groups were consuming. The study has some limits, such as the cross-sectional design which cannot be used to establish causality. Also the authors have not included any comparison between those who smoke hash and those who consume skunk so no conclusions can be drawn about the relative harm of hash. Media reports about the study have mainly focussed on the finding that ‘24% of psychotic disorders are attributable to high potency cannabis use’. This figure was derived from a PAF calculation which assumes causality and does not allow for the inclusion of multiple, potentially interacting, risk factors. Crucially the PAF depends on both the prevalence of the risk factor and the odds ratio for the exposure; the PAF can be incredibly high if the risk factor is common in a given population. In this case, the prevalence rate of lifetime cannabis use was over 60% in both participant groups. According to EMCDDA, the lifetime prevalence of cannabis use in the UK is 30% among adults aged 15-64, so it is arguable that this study sample is not representative of the rest of the UK. The authors themselves note that “the ready availability of high potency cannabis in south London might have resulted in a greater proportion of first onset psychosis cases being attributed to cannabis use than in previous studies”, which is a more accurate interpretation than media reports claiming that “1 in 4 of all new serious mental disorders” is attributable to skunk use. Future studies looking at the relationship between cannabis and psychosis should also aim to differentiate high and low potency cannabis. Longitudinal cohort studies are particularly useful as they have the same advantages as a case-control design but data about substance use could be more reliable as ‘lifetime use’ can be gathered from multiple measurements collected at a number of time points across the lifetime.

100 years ago today -a little historical perspective What is and what is true depends on one’s perspective. One hundred years ago today, the assassinations in Sarajevo of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his pregnant wife Sophie by the young Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip propelled humanity into the bloodiest century ever, almost 17 million deaths in WWI, and, after German humiliation contributing to the later rise of fascism, over 80 million in WWII. Differing perspectives? In Sarajevo today, Princip is seen by Serbians, not as an assassin but as a liberation hero for his stand against the occupation and aggression of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, while non-Serb Bosnians see Princip as the forerunner of the Serbians who bombed Sarajevo in the 1990’s and, in ethnic cleansing, killed so many of its citizens. After WWI, Christian Yogoslavians claimed this atheist revolutionary as a martyr, and, after WWII, Communist Yugoslavia praised him as pan-Yugoslav patriot. So we hold our theories and truths very lightly as we re-write, rather, re-configure with patients' their histories. New neuronal connections allow for an increasingly expanded repertoire from which to construct 'truth' about what has been, but the negotiation of relationship on an ever shifting foundation can give motion sickness to its participants. Today the contemporary analyst has given up her perch as the arbitrator of truth and struggles to welcome in a kaleidoscope of emerging and ever changing points of view found within both her patient and herself. This poses its difficulties for patients who need a definitive answer on what is and what was. Likewise, it poses difficulty for the analyst who finds uncertainty anxiety provoking. Posted by Lycia Alexander-Guerra, M.D. Countertransference and Disclosure Another interesting paper on countertransference is by Zachrisson who sees countertransference as “the analyst’s participation in the relationship.” He writes, “Countertransference refers to something happening in the analyst. …Something takes place in the analyst threatening to bring him or her out of analytic position.” In other words, it may threaten the analytic frame by vitiating the therapist’s analytic attitude. It may seem that Zachrisson has the old fashioned view of seeing countertransference as something to be avoided, but instead he writes “An essential aspect of analytic attitude is precisely this: to allow the expression of what is in the patient's psyche, irrespective of which feelings or thoughts are there, and regardless of what feelings these may evoke in the analyst.” These feelings are to be borne and reflected upon by the analyst, and I would add, reflected upon by both participants. If, as Lachmann intimates, co-construction includes countertransference, then would it not follow that exploration which situates both participants in its construction ought to be part of a necessary negotiation? Odgen makes use of countertransference and “the subjective contribution of the analyst,” Zachrisson writes, and advocates “analysis of this intersubjective construction” to aid the analyst in accessing “the patient’s inner states.” Because “[s]ubjectivity is present ubiquitously” Zachrisson uses Ogden’s concept of the analytic third to help ‘contain’ both “the subjectivity of the analyst” and “the ubiquity of counter transference.” Furthermore, Zachrisson takes Aron’s ideas about the analytic endeavor being both mutual and asymmetric, the latter making expressions by the analyst “both important and complicated” and reminds the analyst that “such openness must be conscious, clear, and contemplated.” Here I would interject that this would be the ideal, and as such, unattainable, for enactments, sometimes through spontaneous disclosures, are inevitable. Where the analyst can be more easily mindful is in the attitude to allow everything in from the patient, including the painful explication of the effect on the patient of the analyst’s missteps. As Zachrisson puts it, “In the intersubjective perspective, the analyst’s relationship to the patient is marked by a high degree of mutual subjectivity.” Zachrisson cautions, “It is decisive to differentiate the case where the analyst enacts his own needs from the case where the primary aim is to communicate an understanding of the patient’s inner world or of the actual relationship. … If he manages to keep his reflecting stance, the countertransference can be useful. If he loses it, the countertransference becomes disturbing.” Psychoanalytic Relationship. Int. Forum Psychoanal., 18:177-188. Posted by Countertransference? Can candidates in training, or even seasoned analysts, ever tire of discussing our ‘countertransference’ and the importance of our self reflection? At TBIPS we include the analyst’s contribution— inadvertent or deliberate, explicit or implicit— in our discussions throughout the training, and in every course. Heimann extended the Freudian concept of countertransference (the analyst’s neurotic transference to the patient) to include all feelings and reactions to the patient, acknowledging that countertransference provided useful information about the patient, even positing that the patient created the countertransference. Thus, countertransference was not to be eschewed but, instead, utilized. Lachmann poses the question of whether we are ready to dispense with the term ‘countertransference’ Lachmann, from his Self Psychology approach, advocates that the analyst provide (ideally, always) a self object experience for the patient. He gives a clinical example of how he welcomed in Cecilia’s inexhaustible talk about her favorite soap opera. One TBIPS candidate, Stavros Charalambides, noted that Lachmann missed an opportunity for negotiation when he did not pose to Cecilia whether she wanted the analyst to continue listening to the lives of her soap opera characters or whether she wanted to consider if something else might also be worthy of their attention. My Relational bias wonders, too, whether it does a disservice to a patient when we deprive them of knowing their impact on us. I greatly admire Lachmann’s work and often assign his papers, but I, too, was left wanting more from the clinical vignette in his paper. Perhaps Cecelia, over time, goes further than the connection to her mother merely through a soap opera. Maybe Cecilia’s mother can offer nothing more, but how sad if this remains their only connection. Maybe Cecilia’s father can never connect to her except when she does for him, like compiling a book about him. Maybe Cecilia’s acceptance of what little her parents are capable of offering was great progress. But what if an inadvertent outcome for Cecilia was that she had become a self object experience for her parents just as Lachman was for Cecilia, and that she never learns to negotiate to include her own needs? Lachmann is a great fan of co-construction, now termed co-creation, and wrote with Beebe a wonderful paper on mutual regulation between infant and mother, but I had some questions about why Lachmann does not extend co-construction to include countertransference when he writes “…even if I had felt angry, that would not indicate to me that Cecilia's motivation was to make me angry.” Lachmann, I suppose, is considering other motivations of Celia’s, such as the attempt to make a connection, or an attempt to know her analyst’s mind, for example, which only as a by-product might make her analyst angry. Because Lachmann sees co-construction as “understood,” he does not tell us where the analyst’s contribution is to the Self psychologist’s two dimensions of transference: the self object dimension and the representational dimension. Sometimes, I need it made explicit, as may the patient. appropriate and pathological aspects, with an emphasis on its primary affect shame, and helping the clinician to avoid engendering shame in the therapeutic situation. It includes discussion of envy and rage and deficits in mentalization. We emphasize recognition, containment, empathy and mirroring. Instructor: (psychoanalytic electronic publishing) unless make deadline. Name________________________________________ Degree____ License #_______State___ Address_____________________________________City_______________State___Zip______ Email address________________________________ Request long distance learning ____(yes) Mail form with check made out to TBIPS (and CV if first time registrant) to TBIPS, Inc 13919 Carrollwood Village Run, The Third: Moving from Complementarity to Triangular Space Aron enumerates various ways we conceive of "something beyond the dyad” called the [analytic] third: “a context within which we emerge, … an emergent property of dyadic interaction and … a dyadic achievement that creates the psychic space necessary for reflexive self-awareness and mentalization" (the understanding that the other has contents of mind, as well, and different from one’s own—an important and necessary component for mutual recognition of relational intersubjectivity). What a recognition of paradox regarding the third: that we emerge from it, as well as it from us, and it is something we create and utilize. What makes the analytic third so useful? Aron, and Benjamin, state that “thirdness…allows the analyst to restore a process of identification with the patient’s position without losing her own perspective.” This is a refreshing experience of learning negotiation procedurally for a patient raised in an environment of negation (“where the acceptance of one person’s subjectivity meant an obliteration of the other’s”). Learned complementarity— your way or my way, no in between— can ensue, and play out in the transference-countertransference dialectic, and an analytic impasse may result. Aron tells us that this impasse can sometimes be averted by opening the intersubjective space to create an analytic third where the analyst is open to the patient’s multiple and contradictory identifications. Benjamin delineates two types of the third: The ‘one-in-the-third’ (the rhythmic third) — where oneness is experienced in a rhythmic pattern between two such as reciprocal speech or eye gaze, is dyadic and exists early (pre-oedipal) in relationship— and the ‘third-in-the-one’ – where the conflict within the mind of one can act as a third position. For some, like Britton, where the ‘triangular’ space is created in the analyst’s mind, the mother's mind creates the third position. For Benjamin, the rhythmic third emerges, not from one mind, but from within the dyad. Her third-in-the-one (the intentional third), on the other hand, says Aron, "creates a space for differentiation" [from oneness], much like 'marking' (described by Gergely when the mother gives her version of the infant's response, differentiating her response as a reflective mirroring rather than one generated from within her. The infant has the capacity to see the mother's response as separate from its own.) Marking, then, is not a perfect match, but a reflection, as well, of otherness, a kind of mirroring that "is a dyadic phenomenon, functioning as a differentiating third point emerging between" two people and, as such, does not require a third person to separate the infant from the mother. Marking creates the third-in-the-one [in the one dyad]. We can have both the connection, in the one-in-the-third, and difference, in the third-in-the-one. Aron notes that the Lousanne group’s investigation of triangularity in infancy shows the capacity at an early age to have triadic interactions between two people (e.g., from the mother’s mind emerges a third position) indicating that triangularity can no longer be conceived as the hallmark of the oedipal phase. The child no longer needs the primal scene (relationship of parents which excludes the child) to have experience with the third. Rather, the child is privy to the emerging third position within the mother’s mind. A third point of reference can emerge from the dyad within the mind of one and, when shared, can facilitate self-reflection and mentalization. Aron points out how certain self disclosures by the analyst can create thirdness in the analytic dyad. When the analyst lets her mind be known (when , e.g., she disagrees with herself or is of two minds [e.g. I want to respond to your request for advice, but concerned that, if I do, I analysts disclose "aspects of their inner processes"—a thirdness is introduced in the dyad, where the disclosure itself can serve as the strange attractor (from chaos theory, which allows the possibility to shake up linear thinking and have a reconfiguration of elements). Aron writes, “[T]he analyst’s reflexive self-awareness, a dialogue with one’s self, creates a third point.” When made explicit, the patient becomes privy to the analyst’s mind, both its contents and its way of working. It is this third point of view which allows for the third space, and in this space, both analyst and patient can think together about connection and difference. See also on this same paper the post of Jan 27, 2013. Compare and contrast it to ideas in Aron’s 1995 paper (in the post of Jun 8, 2014.) L. (2006). Analytic Impasse and the Third: Clinical implications of intersubjectivity theory. Int. J. PsychoAnal., 87:349-368 Reconciliation: Film, The Railway Man The Railway Man (2014), directed by Australian Jonathan Teplizky (Burning Man) and starring Colin Firth as the older, WWII veteran Eric Lomax— who quietly suffered decades with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), aggravated perhaps by the stiff upper lip, nobody talks about such things society — is based on Lomax’s 1995 memoir of his capture in Singapore in 1942, where he was forced to work on building the Thai-Burma railroad, his torture in a Japanese POW camp— younger Lomax portrayed by Jeremy Irvine (War Horse)— and the eventual, decades later, confronting of his torturer Takashi Nagase (Hiroyuki Sanada— 47 Ronin, The Last Samurai); the Young Nagase (Tanroh Ishida). In this role, Firth is a changed man from his usual handsome and sometimes comedic presence. He has the haggard look of the perpetually haunted, the vacant look of the dissociated. Firth had met with Lomax before the latter’s death in 2012, and understood from him some of Lomax's utter exposure, degradation and the vulnerability experienced at the hands of his torturer. Like a therapy session where present and past alternate foreground and background, — and, inescapably with PTSD, where the past impinges on the present— Teplitzky’s film moves between the war years and the 1980s. Torture, the most horrendous of ruptures, is somehow miraculously repaired when Lomax, returning to Thailand with the intent to torture or kill his torturer, finds that Nagase is deeply remorseful and has spent his life dedicated to making sure no one forgets the atrocities committed by him and others. What has led Lomax, after decades of debilitating flashbacks and nightmares, to have the capacity to forgive Nagase? If he was aided by the relational home that Lomax’s second wife Patti (Nicole Kidman) provided for him, we see very little of her in this film. If he was aided, too, by Helen Bamber, his therapist at the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture, we see none of her in the film. Perhaps the real life friendship that later developed between Lomax and Nagase was based on that Nagase might be the only person who could truly understand what had happened to Lomax in the horror of that wartime. Regardless, The Railway Man depicts the most tremendous of feats of humanity: to forgive the unforgivable. Finding a Third Coming to terms with being left out can sometimes predominate in an analysis. As children, we do not simply internalize objects (mother, father) but also relationships or patterns of relationships (systems) – including the perceived relationships of our parents, observed or imagined— and exclusion from it can be a narcissistic injury. Aron writes, “The child’s wish to be included represents both a wish for relationship…and an attempt to maintain self esteem.” In finding ourselves excluded from the parental relationship and parental interaction (the primal scene as exclusion of the child from the parental dyad), this exclusion, with its blow to a child’s grandiosity, becomes an organizer which links narcissism and object relations. Trauma can disrupt the capacity to pretend, play, and move freely between identity and multiplicity, between discontinuity and integration. One cannot enjoy being the object of desire without also having subject with agency, the analysand or the child operating in the paranoid-schizoid position, in psychic equivalence, fears loss of self and identity. The up side of recognition of this exclusion is the opportunity to experience the self as both subject and an object, which leads to the possibility of developing the capacity to hold two contrasting ideas simultaneously – that of being both a subject and object—and, ala Winnicott, the ability to allow for paradox to be sustained without the need to push for its resolution. Aron says this capacity for toleration of contradiction becomes another nidus for regulation of self and object relations, for creativity, mentalization, symbolization, and even multiplicity of gender. The capacity to be both subject and object, participant and observer, allows one to be both subject who desires and object who is desired. Moreover, experiencing oneself as both subject and object allows for intersubjectivity and, in the treatment situation, the creation of an analytic third. Aron writes that the child first lives in a dyadic world, relating to only one parent a time, until it discovers (in the Oedipal stage) that parents have a relationship of their own from which the child is excluded. In utilizing Britton’s ‘triangular space,’ Aron notes it “allows for the possibility of being a participant in a [dyadic] relationship and observed by a third person and of being an observer of a relationship between two other people.” The child is able to identify with self as object and self as subject, and to identify with other as both subject and object, that is the development of intersubjectivity. Aron asserts that the experience with this alternating between participation and observation is what allows for becoming an analysand. Aron, Welcome to "Contemporary Psychoanalytic Musings," the blog of the Tampa Bay Institute for Psychoanalytic Studies or, as it is conveniently known, T-BIPS. We invite you to post your comments on psychoanalysis and books, film, conferences, the media, art, theory, clinical situations, current controversies, social issues, and anything else as seen through a psychoanalytic lens. We look forward to a spirited dialogue with you.Lycia Alexander-Guerra, M.D.TBIPS PresidentGabcast! Welcome! #3

Appreciation and Celebration May 4, 2016Growth MindsetA Mindset for Learning, Christine Hertz, Connected Educators, Gravity Goldberg, Jennifer Serravallo, Kristi Mraz, mindset, Mindsets and Moves, Strategy, The Reading Strategies Bookadmin Tweet #g2great Today was our first day back from Spring recess. Teachers were smiling and sharing stories about their adventures over break as they were getting ready for this last part of the year. Down the long hallways students’ writing adorns the walls and we see a noticeable shift in the quality of writing – there are signs of growth. The buses empty out and students begin to fill the cafeteria and spill out into the hall. They’re taller than they used to be, they walk down the hallways more confident than in the timid days of October’s falling leaves. Our students’ bright faces are full of happiness and expectation. It’s springtime and our school is bursting with energy, this is a time when students are coming into their own. We have tilled the soil for learning and we want to celebrate growth: Transferring Mindset: He came through the door carrying Italian chocolates that he knows are my favorite and a big white orchid. Quickly, he ran over to me, his big brown eyes sparkled, “I have something for you!” Being a teacher is more than just teaching a subject especially when you are in a primary grade. It’s about teaching children how to be kind, and how to learn to work together. We want the best for all our students, to feel accepted and valued. This gift celebrated the teamwork between home and school and his success was a shared victory. All of our efforts are coming together and now his growth has begun to take root and is becoming known to him. For this boy, optimism and resilience were the underpinnings for his emerging growth. He is learning how to get past the issues that would hold him back, he is learning how to see the world from a brighter perspective. Thank you Christine Hertz & Kristi Mraz for writing A Mindset for Learning.(video) Your work has inspired ours and together we are making a real difference in the life of this boy. Ownership and Mindset: Students were working in partnerships and groups, clustered around posters, gluing index cards, and all sorts of books lay open on floors and tables to guide their work. This is ownership. Children who are empowered learners, who embrace the work because it is meaningful. For one student ownership has not come easy. He tries to be compliant but more often than not, he avoids doing the sustained work that he needs in order to grow as a reader. Today, was different. Today he was able to deeply comprehend a text with a sense of excitement and joy His understanding fostered a deep personal connection to the book because none of its meaning was lost on him. The Bear Son An Inuit Tale is a touching story of love and he couldn’t wait to share his feelings, thoughts, and insights with us: “I wish this was nonfiction because the bear is so gentle with the children. I want it to be real.” As he gazed down at that page, it wasn’t abstract to him, it was palpable. It’s not the book, it’s the boy. How did his personal growth as a reader get us here? There were many threads that pulled together to elevate him to a new level of understanding: the consistent message that he can work to learn, the expectation that he will read deeply, and the narrative of success that was just waiting for him to believe. Everyday he is surrounded by students who do this work with the same spirit and zeal and today he did too. Thank you Gravity Goldberg for writing Mindsets and Moves (Webinar) and giving a voice to student ownership. This boy is learning how to grow into himself as a reader, one who is beginning to care deeply about his work and reflect on his process. We share this success with you. A Flexible Mindset: “Do you know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk?” You might expect the answer to be a quick and easy yes. One boy looked back shaking his head no, and the other squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side, “Is that the one where the witch takes him out in the forest and feeds him candy. Then she tries to eat him.” The plan was to use a familiar story to develop saliency. There really is nothing predictable about the classroom. Truly, flexibility is an essential quality that teachers are endowed with or learn to develop over time. Flipping through the book, giving a brief explanation of the story was all that was needed to model the strategy: Retelling What’s Most Important by Making Connections to the Problem.This strategy was carefully selected especially for them. It wasn’t about the book, it was about the strategy. The boys went to work transferring the strategy to their independent books. One boy quickly discovered there was more than one problem in his traditional literature book. Time to flex again, out came a goal card that would enhance the mini-chart. Its job was to give a useful prompt for the boy to do the work at hand. Meanwhile, the other boy had placed his post-it’s at all the right spots in his book. Fabulous! He looked earnest with the “all done” look that young children master so early. “So let’s talk about your book…” A few words and our flexibility flag began to fly. His next step was to give him the language to talk about how the resolution connected back to the problem. Leaning into the mini-chart he practiced, and success followed. What a difference 20 minutes can make. Today, for these boys, they got exactly what they needed. They were confident, happy kids.

Blog Global Poverty – An obligation to care? March 25, 2014 Let’s face it. School is difficult, family relationships are difficult, romantic relationships are difficult, and above all, trying to navigate the treacherous and nebulous path called life is difficult. More often than not, we have our heads barely above the water, wondering if anything that we do really even matters. Even during our few, truly happy moments the numbing weight of reality beckons, slowly sapping even the remnants of the little joys in life that had sustained us. I sincerely hope that no one reading this is in fact in the above situation. But it is reality, and sometimes we just find ourselves in the dark place. And speaking from personal experience, it certainly requires a Promethean effort to get back on our feet again. But even considering a more moderate situation of trying to deal with the daily hubbub of our life obligations, we college students are stretched far too thin. We even struggle to find the time to grab a cup of coffee with our friends. Could we even care about whatever happens beyond our sphere of close relations? Given our current predicament, isn’t anything beyond caring for our close ones supererogatory? Perhaps we can engage in a philosophical discourse regarding our ethical obligations towards the global community. We can stake out with claims of utilitarianism, or add in a flavor of cosmopolitanism, then counter it with nationalism, then eke out some Rawlsian Law of the Peoples and so on. While some people may find this conversation to be more thrilling than an Alfred Hitchcock flick, frankly, (basically) no one gives a crap. What is more important than the impersonal “-isms” of philosophy to mere mortals likes us is how our interaction with global poverty makes us feel, or more broadly speaking, how our interaction with poverty at large make us feel. Does the panhandler in front of McDonald’s make us feel squeamish? Why can’t he get a real job? No matter how much the morally superior and the saints among us try to inspire us to help out the poor in consideration of the imbalanced socioeconomic structure and our glaringly privileged status, I am the first one to admit that it is extremely difficult to internalize the knowledge and donate a dollar only for the panhandler to buy a pack of smokes at CVS. But we don’t have to be guilt-tripped or preached into carrying the obligation towards global poverty. We should act as if we have an obligation towards global poverty because we are selfish. Because we feel so detached from the rest of the world that we are desperately looking for ways to plug ourselves back in. Because we are gasping for breath and watching others smile from our help is a breath of fresh air. We should embrace our privilege; we should acknowledge our entitlement for what its worth not because we deserve it, but because we don’t need to hear anymore lies that promote self-hatred. And we will give selfishly with all the pomp and circumstance until we realize that it is not the world that needs us, but us that need the world.

Tokyo ReportImage Credit: Pixabay / gabrielmbullaFor the First Time, Japan's Prime Minister Is Visiting CubaAfter the U.S. opening, Japan joins a rush of countries seeking increased ties with Cuba. By Mina Pollmann for The DiplomatSeptember 17, 2016 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will travel to Cuba next week after giving a speech at the UN General Assembly in New York. It will be the first visit by a Japanese prime minister to Cuba. The Cuba visit, which includes Abe’s meeting with President Raul Castro, is meant to deepen Japan-Cuba bilateral ties. When Washington and Havana resumed diplomatic relations last July, it created a flurry of economic and political opportunities for other countries to exploit. Japan will also seek Cuba’s understanding and cooperation on the whole spectrum of North Korea-related issues, including Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs and abductions of Japanese citizens. Havana is in a unique position to exercise some influence because it still maintains diplomatic relations with Pyongyang. During the visit, Japan will offer around 1 billion yen ($9.8 million) in grant aid to purchase medical equipment. The finalization of plans to set up a medical facility to train Cuban doctors in Japanese medical practices – and facilitate the sale of Japanese medical equipment – is also expected during this trip. Japan will also officially offer debt relief – for 120 billion yen out of the 180 billion yen that Cuba owes Japan on uncollected payments and interest for Japanese exports to Cuba – during this visit. Japan has been trying to be ahead of the curve when it comes to rapprochement with Cuba, and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida made the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to the country last May. Natsuo Yamaguchi, leader of the Komeito Party, the ruling party’s junior coalition party, visited Cuba at the invitation of the Cuban Communist Party last week and delivered letters from Abe to Castro and former president Fidel Castro. But other countries are also actively pushing their agenda; Chinese premier Li Keqiang is expected to make a visit to Cuba this month as well. How Japan will distinguish its economic agenda in Cuba – whether it be engagement through government-backed official development aid or private investments – from China’s is a question that will continue to bedevil Japanese policymakers. The opening of Cuba is just the next chapter in a much longer story of Sino-Japanese competition for influence in (and access to the resources of) the developing world.

Do Kimberlites Indicate the Start of Plate Tectonics? Kimberlites and the start of plate tectonics Stern et al We want to know when plate tectonics began and will consider any important Earth feature that shows significant temporal evolution. Kimberlites, the primary source of diamonds, are rare igneous features. We analyze their distribution throughout Earth history; most are young (∼95% are younger than 0.75 Ga), but rare examples are found as far back as the Archean (older than 2.5 Ga). Although there are differing explanations for this age asymmetry (lack of preservation, lack of exposure, fewer mantle plumes, or lack of old thick lithosphere in the Archean and Proterozoic), we suggest that kimberlite eruptions are a consequence of modern-style plate tectonics, in particular subduction of hydrated oceanic crust and sediments deep into the mantle. This recycling since the onset of modern-style plate tectonics ca. 1 Ga has massively increased mantle CO2 and H2O contents, leading to the rapid and explosive ascent of diamond-bearing kimberlite magmas. The age distribution of kimberlites, combined with other large-scale tectonic indicators that are prevalent only in the past ∼1 Ga (blueschists, glaucophane-bearing eclogites; coesite- or diamond-bearing ultrahigh-pressure metamorphic rocks; lawsonite-bearing metamorphic rocks; and jadeitites), indicates that plate tectonics, as observed today, has only operated for Posted by

Time to rant . . . WARNING: This post may offend. There, I said it, you've been warned. Society today over-medicates and over-sanitizes the hell out of everything! Do you ever wonder why people are so sick today? #1, they eat crap "food", leading to an unhealthy body that can't fight off anything. #2, they over sanitize everything, leading to antibiotic resistant bacteria. Seriously, the commercial that states "never touch a germy soap pump again"?? REALLY?? What happens after you touch said germy pump? YOU WASH YOUR HANDS!!! If you're hearing a loud "bonk, bonk, bonk" that's the sound of my head hitting the wall, and the whooshing sound is me rolling my eyes. I got the feeling last night that some people really thought I'm an idiot and probably a bad mother. Why? Because I let Kaiden get into everything. Yes, even the Walmart shopping carts. I know they are a fantastic source of bacteria, viruses, and probably fungi. But before you judge (and sanitize yourself for even reading this), ask yourself this question: how often do you get sick, and how often do you run to the doctor? Here - we don't. Why? Because we don't need to. We aren't just "lucky". For one, we eat FOOD, not FDA-approved non-food. Read up on the paleo diet, don't take my word for it. For another, holistic remedies are cheap and they WORK. And we rarely need them. People get so grossed out seeing a kid chewing on something other than a toy. Gee, where do you think their hands (and the toy) have been? On the floor!!! Right where you and the dog walked, after having been outside where the rabbits, squirrrels, birds and other animals poop all over everything. But eeeeewwwww, GROSS, if they licked the floor. Uh, same thing, there's just an extra middle-man. And just for the record, yes, we wash our hands and practice good hygiene. But don't expect me to sanitize everything. Doing that is what helps people get sick in the first place. EEK! A toddling toddler?? We are getting closer!!! Mr. Kaiden still doesn't do 4-point creeping (what we normally call crawling), he 'inchworms", but his assisted walking is getting so much better! He only needs to hold onto our hands and off we go! When he decides he's had enough, he sits. My favorite new thing is that when we go to read some books - I know which book is his favorite (Moo, Baa, La la la by Sandra Boynton), I purposely bury it in the pile of books and grab a different book to start with. He has now done this several times - he pushes the book I'm holding out of his way, then finds and grabs his favorite book. Then he closes the book I'm trying to read to him, takes it out of my hands and gives me his favorite and tries to open it. Oh, and I must read it several times; once isn't enough! He is so darn cute!! Kaiden is now beginning to understand the concept of pointing - when we point to something, he looks at our hand and follows it to what we are pointing at, no problem, even the therapists got to see that today. But, he still doesn't point to anything himself. Same with eating. Doesn't want to self-feed. In fact, earlier this week he grabbed the spoon from me and I was able to help him load some food on it - but to get that spoon to his mouth - ooooh did that ever make him mad! He yanked the spoon out of my hand and threw it on the floor with some authority, then screamed at me! I don't get this - he brings everything ELSE to his mouth, why not food?? Funny thing is, I've found he learns new skills best by watching other children - but it's not just any children, he learns best by watching other children with Down Syndrome. I never thought that when we started going to a support group that THAT would be the result . . . what a funny child he is!! I came across the section on the lymphatic system in one of my holistic healing books while looking for something unrelated and gave it a re-read, and I'm glad I did! It suggests, for getting the lymphatic system back on track, certain dietary changes for awhile along with herbal help - hawthorne is of course mentioned. For the most part it's stuff we already do, like no refined sugars, no processed foods, no caffeine, no alcohol, but it also listed no red meats and meat fats. It went on to state that to encourage lymphatic drainage, the individual should go on an all-fresh-fruit diet for awhile, then slowly reintroduce fresh veggies, then slowly reintroduce white meats. I thought, what the heck, it certainly can't hurt. There are fruititarians out there, who believe that eating fruit only is the way to go . . . so I gave Kaiden only fruit, plant fats (avacado & coconut milk), and chia seeds for 3 days, then added in veggies for 2 days, then added in chicken breast. And you know what? His fingers look almost NORMAL! The swelling is I'd say 80% gone. This is something I definitely want to do this again with him; I am willing to bet we'd get back to completely normal. However, we do have a weight check coming up in a month; doing a fruit only diet isn't exactly going to make him gain weight, which is what the pediatrician thinks he needs to do. He is a light little peanut at around 20lbs, but he is growing and gaining skills, so I'm not worried. I could see after just 3 days on fruit he was a little skinnier although he still has plenty of baby chub . . . I don't want to take away all his baby chub, so we'll be doing this in steps. Still, though, it just floors me that western medicine claims there is no cure for lymphedema . . . Seems to be working . . . Tuesday night Kaiden got his first dose of Hawthorn Heart Berry Syrup. I keep hawthorne on hand for Lola, with her significant heart murmur. And what happened? Kaiden peed all night long, and peed heavily all day Wednesday, without upping his normal liquid intake. His fingers do look better; the color is better and his hands aren't turning blue anywhere near as much. What does this tell me? That his heart wasn't working as efficiently as it could and he was indeed retaining fluids. The fingers on his left hand may take awhile to heal . . . having them swell up so badly and burst the capillaries is like a bad injury. Time will tell how long it takes. Another WIN for holistic medicine . . . and remember, western medicine says there is "no cure for lymphedema". ;-) I'm not saying we should all stop listening to our western medicine doctors . . . but please don't take their word as law. There ARE alternatives, and in my opinion, much healthier ones! lymphedema? Maybe the horseradish was a coincidence, or maybe it showcased an underlying problem. Lymphedema is the closest match to what's going on with Kaiden's fingers. They are fine when he wakes up, whether from a nap or overnight. But as soon as he's active again, the swelling & bluish color comes back. His fingers are not consistently hot when swollen; it's not inflammation. They are not consistently cold, either, and do not turn white; not Raynauds Syndrome. It's a fairly slow progression from turning pink to swollen . . . the swelling will last days or weeks before the the swelling gets bad enough that it bursts the capillaries, making his fingers basically bruised. It's in 3 fingers on his left hand, extending into the palm, and has spread to one finger on his right hand. That one is pink and swollen, but not nearly as swollen as the others got and looks to be receeding, so maybe the swelling won't burst the capillaries on that one. According to western medicine, as long as you aren't born without a lymph system, there is no known cause and certainly no cure. According to holistic medicine, hawthorne (for the heart) and/or dandelion leaves added to the diet will take care of it (along with a healthy holistic diet, of course). Kaiden's hands have always spontaneously turned blue, then within 30 seconds to a minute they go back to normal . . . I took him to an endocrinologist for this about a year ago and was told it's very common with Down's kids; it's a "hiccup of the vascular system". And not to worry about it unless his fingers turn blue and stay blue, which they don't. Kaiden's heart has been extensively checked out by ultrasound/echocardiogram (at least I think that's the right term) - while in utero and 3 times after birth. In utero we were told one wall of his heart leaned a little to the left, but everything else looked fine and he would be monitored after birth to verify there were no problems. He was born with an open ductus; common with preemies (which he was) and it's also common with Down's kids (which he is). Either way, 2 doses of neoprofin and it closed, verified by the last 2 monitoring checks. But, as heart problems are so common with Down's kids, it is possible they missed something tiny, or something not visible on the screen. So, hawthorne it is for now. It can't hurt him at any rate! Dandelions will come when the snow melts. ;-)

the life we choose the ups and downs of an expat family. two stories of interest to me in the news this morning. China to ban transplants from executed prisoners 2012-March-26 08:53 Shenzhen Daily CHINA has pledged to abolish the practice of taking transplant of human organs from condemned prisoners within three to five years, a senior health official said Thursday.China is creating a national organ donation system to reduce its reliance on inmates and encourage donations from the public, Huang Jiefu, vice minister of health, told a conference in Hangzhou. A trial system has been launched in 16 provinces to achieve the goal, Huang said. Health officials have said insufficient organ donations by the public mean that the majority of transplanted organs in China come from executed prisoners — but only with prior consent.Statistics from the Ministry of Health show that about 1.5 million people in China need transplants, but only some 10,000 transplants are performed annually. China has been making efforts to improve its regulations on organ transplants. The State Council issued its first regulations on human organ transplants in 2007, banning organizations and individuals from trading human organs in any form. A revision to China’s Criminal Law marked the first time for authorities to single out criminal activity related to transactions involving human organs. Criminals convicted of “forced organ removal, forced organ donation or organ removal from juveniles” could face homicide charges. Pursuit of luxury brands by students triggers concern Wang YuanyuanIt's summer vacation, a time when students are free and annual summer sales reign. On the busiest shopping streets in Shenzhen, young student shoppers are everywhere, even in the shops selling luxury world-famous brands that would frighten even some white-collar workers with their sky-high prices.Some students even cross the border to Hong Kong on shopping sprees. Many go home with a pile of booty. When Zhong Shuhua saw her 16-year-old daughter's shopping bag, which was filled with trendy clothes and cosmetic products, she found herself gobsmacked. "I was so surprised to see what she had bought in Hong Kong," Zhong said. "Lipsticks from Revlon, eyeliners from Rimmel, dresses from I.T., a necklace from Swarovski and skin-care products from Lancome -- all the things she doesn't need at such a young age." What Zhong didn't know was that her daughter was definitely not an exception.Unlike years ago, many middle school students now seem to have abandoned the cheaply fashionable products in the Dongmen shopping area, once a paradise for fashionistas with little money in their pockets. They've shifted their playground to the high-end shopping malls for the brand products that are quite beyond their means. "The beginning of every semester is always a time to show off," said a teacher surnamed Cai at Bao'an Senior Middle School. Many students come back to school with the prizes they've purchased during vacation."Boys have the latest cell phones or new PSPs and girls spread all kinds of skin-care products on the table and trendy shoes under their beds in their dormitories," Cai said. Of course not all students are like that, said Xu Qin, a soon-to-be Senior 2 student from Shenzhen No.2 Experimental School. But the phenomenon does exist among Xu's classmates and friends, Xu said.Xu thought these problems might be the result of massive TV commercials and popular fashion magazines widely read by students. "We have lots of channels to get this kind of information," Xu said. "The more information you get, the more you want to have them. So those who have a large amount of pocket money start to buy these things, and the trend will gradually spread to their friends, classmates and eventually the whole school." Xu said she was not a brand-name fanatic but occasionally buys some of the expensive products when shopping with her friends. "After a half-day shopping in Sasa Cosmetics in Hong Kong with my friends, it was a mission impossible to wind up empty-handed, even though I knew they were far too expensive for me," said Xu. The trend has triggered concerns among many parents and teachers who regard the pursuit of brand-name products as stunting the proper development of students. "These things are expensive and, most importantly, unnecessary for students," said Cai. "The most important thing for them to learn now is the value of hard work, which can make them realize wasting their parents' money is a shame. They must get to know that in the future, they have to rely on themselves."Schools have a role in educating students about this, said Pi Aimin, principal of Shenzhen Wenjing Middle School. But Pi thinks parents can do more."Family education plays a crucial role in the issue," Pi said. "Parents should control the amount of money they allow them to spend and never encourage their children to get high scores in study by offering luxury gifts. Instead, they can encourage them to participate in social work and help those in need. Cultivating children's sense of independence is helpful to prevent them from using parents' money for unnecessary things." hi, welcome to the life we have chosen. my family and i have been living in south america for close to seven years and now we are starting a new adventure in china. we are a family of six. two boys, two girls. we just try to learn something everyday and love where ever we are.

Dec 2014 Time to Take “Guilty” out of the “Pleasure” by dmackladykp2 | 3 Letting go of guilt is beyond freeing – and necessary for optimal health of mind, body, & spirit. This week’s post comes to us from an anonymous guest-writer. Cheers to moving past guilt as we move toward a meaningful holiday, plus a new year & new beginning! [Don’t take it with you!] I just ate over 1000 calories in one sitting and I don’t feel bad about it. Mac-n-cheese is my guilty pleasure now and again, so when I do indulge, I enjoy every morsel! I’m sure you have your own guilty pleasures too. But, why do we feel guilty about things we enjoy? I don’t even like the term guilty pleasure. Pleasure should bring happiness! Guilt is one of the most useless emotions we waste our time on. We’ve all felt it, but when does guilt ever really help the situation? It doesn’t, except in those cases when it’s your actual conscience letting you know if a decision feels right or wrong. In those cases, the guilt we feel can help us experience growth. But in many cases, guilt is negative, fear-based, and keeps us in an endless loop of yuck. As the late Erma Bombeck said, “Guilt: the gift that keeps on giving.” Good one, Erma! It doesn’t seem very logical to replay a scenario in our heads and continue to feel bad about it over and over again…but we’ve all done it. All we can do is learn from a situation, make amends if necessary, and move forward. We do the best we can with what we know in the moment, and that doesn’t make us bad people. It makes us human. So, let’s talk about guilt… There’s a big difference between your moral compass and icky, obligatory feelings of guilt. Follow your compass, but take a step back when you notice feelings of guilt coming from external sources. Much of the time, the guilt we experience isn’t even based on our own thoughts. It’s based on ideas we got from someone else or society. How many times have you had someone try and guilt you into doing something? It’s the old switcheroo…”If you don’t do what I want you to do, then you’re being selfish!” Huh? Who is the selfish one here? We need to remember that we are in control of our feelings and nobody can “make” us feel guilty, unless we let them. Take back your power. If you really don’t want to do something; then don’t. It’s healthy to have boundaries, but it’s unhealthy to feel guilty about having them. You are not responsible for how other people feel. That’s their job. I think the whole notion of doing something out of guilt rather than desire is backwards. Do everyone a favor and consider doing things because you actually want to do them. This simplifies things quite a bit, now doesn’t it? Yes, I realize there are certain things nobody likes to do such as pay the bills or clean the house, but ultimately, we do those things because they make us happy in the long run. I enjoy coming home to a clean house, not to mention electricity and running water! I’m talking about doing things because you think you should, but you really don’t want to. The word “should” feels negative because it sounds like we don’t have a choice. We have choices, people! Disappoint some folks if you need to. Life is too short to spend it doing things out of obligation or guilt, and that leaves little time to spend doing things out of So, how do we tackle this guilt monster and send it packing on its own guilt trip? I think that whenever you notice feelings of guilt creeping in, you should stop and ask yourself some § Where is this feeling coming from (self or others)? § Why do I feel guilty? § Do I really want to do this? § Will this choice make me happy in the long run? § Do I feel a sense of obligation? § Is my conscience bothered? The only obligation you truly have is to yourself. It pays to question your thoughts and see if the feelings are coming from your conscience or externally. We don’t have to live up to external standards; only our own. You can also ask yourself if the situation will matter in 10 minutes, 10 days, or even 10 years. This helps put things in perspective. Another tip you can try is observing how often you say things like, “I should do xyz.” You might be surprised at how often you “should” yourself. Try re-framing it and say something like, “I could do this,” or “I choose to do that.” My boyfriend is great at gently reminding me of this when he catches me using the dreaded “should” statements. Try asking a friend or significant other to call you out on this. One of my personal favorites is, “I should go to the gym, but I don’t feel like it.” When I reframe it as a conscious choice, rather than an obligation, then I’m in control. Even if I choose to skip my workout, it’s my choice and there’s no reason to beat myself up over it. It’s scary, yet absolutely refreshing to be responsible for your own decisions instead of blaming something or someone else for your actions. This post is fitting as the holidays approach…a potential minefield of guilt. It’s a wonderful time to do nice things for others, and I hope that you do, but beware of the disease to please and any accompanying guilt. If you find yourself grappling with thoughts like, “Did I buy enough?” or “Did I do enough?”– remember to step back and examine where those thoughts are actually coming from. Most importantly, don’t forget to ask yourself, “Does doing this make me happy?” Make conscious decisions that honor your choices, and come from a place of [pure!] love rather than obligation. Lastly, remember that there’s no reason to feel guilty for taking responsibility for your own happiness. “Happiness is something that multiplies when it is shared.” – Paulo Coelho

1 Small Moment Stationery Wow! I am in amazement of the people who can keep up their blog once school is back in session. I am having difficulty even reading all the great blogs that I follow! This posting is really a piggyback post to Thoughts of a Third Grade Teacher. She wrote a great post about the beginning of Writer's Workshop, brainstorming "watermelon" topics and then finding those "seed" stories. Check it out here! Don't you just love the posters? I also love, love, love the idea of assigning a point value to their brainstorming. You may not do this with every session, but it would be good to pick a few. I know that in our hearts we believe that writing is developmental, and grading of it is subjective, but grade we must! This little point system is just one small way to quantify what is going on. So, why am I writing this since Third Grade Teacher already did? After I read the post I whipped up two different papers for the kids to use for brainstorming. My first one looked just like her poster, and the second one I did with a watermelon and seeds. I sent them to her, and now I'm giving them to you! Enjoy! 1 Winner, Winner And It Wasn't Dinner... Okay, first I will admit that my title is very lame. I'll attribute it to the fact that I have been trying to come up with Weird School Series rhymes in preparation for our author visit of Dan Gutman so I'm little worn out with coming up with a rhyme on a dime. A few weeks back I entered a contest for a Back To School Giveaway! Three different bloggers were offering two selections each from their Teacher's Notebook Shop. As you can see below, I was one of the lucky ones! Here are the three blogs I won from: I selected some really amazing things! From First Grade Factory I chose: Nursery Rhyme Homework--I thought this was a great idea as our little ones are not coming to school knowing nursery rhymes and fairy tales and yet references to both will appear on state testing. We need to bring back both of these genres! Teacher Talk: Modeling and Developing Text Interaction--This is a fantastic resource aligned with Common Core Standards that provides text cards to support children as they interact with text. From previewing text to synthesizing text...it covers everything! From The Teacher Wife: Action Verbs--This is a great 30 page unit that includes anchor charts, activities, games and assessment tools. The graphics are so cute! All About Nouns--Another cute unit chock full of charts, games, activities and cross curriculum linking! Phonics Friend--Short and long vowel patterns complete with adorable characters and their favorite things. Such as "Short A Max" whose favorite color is black and favorite pet is a cat....so cute! There are also loads of other printables that go along including posters for word walls! Writing Interactive Notebook--Perhaps my personal favorite...naturally. These are fantastic printables that create a wonderful interactive notebook. She also offers a free download that shows you how to assemble the notebook in a prong folder. If you have always wanted to try a Writer's Notebook, this is the place to go! Love, love, love it! A big thank you ladies for all the wonderful stuff. I encourage everyone to head over to their stores and check out their items...they have lots of goodies! Jennifer over at Rowdy in First Grade posted a really great idea for managing Popsicle sticks to pick students. It is really so simple, yet brilliant. Check it out here! I don't know about you, but I use Popsicle sticks to determine who is going share their writing, lead our Fundations (phonics) drill or lead our daily math routines. Each task requires two cups, picked and not-picked, and it is inevitable that I end up playing "pick-up sticks" at some point in the day. Jennifer's posted idea would have gone a long way to cut down on that fiasco!! Last year I discovered an App for the iPhone called Teacher's Pick or virtual Popsicle sticks. I think it is a bargain at $0.99 and it helped me cut down a bit on the "cups o' sticks" that were floating around. Teacher's Pick allows you to set up a class with the names of all your students and you can easily copy that list for multiple classes. Here are some screenshots to give you an idea of the interface: I set up my class and then made several copies for all of my different purposes. We even set up a game that the kids use during Morning Meeting. It is called Earth, Air, Water and Fire. I set up a class called "Game" and instead of student names I made a stick that said "Earth", "Air", "Water", and "Fire." The student who is the leader will go around a circle and press the selection button. If it says Earth, Air, or Water the child in the circle has to name an animals that is on land, flies or swims. If "Fire" comes up, the leader sits down and the child from the circle becomes the new leader. The game ends when we have gone around the circle at least once, or we run out of time. Quick and fun! If you have an iPhone, iTouch or iPad, give it a try! This was what it looked like when I walked in. The furniture was pulled away from the wall because they painted the room. Everything piled in the center. I always feel better when I get all of the desks set up. Notice my gorgeous new rug ready to lay out! My room theme was space and I couldn't resist this galaxy paper. This year I created templates for my Daily Five posters. We brainstormed our "I Charts" on the whiteboard, and then I transferred it neatly to the charts on the bulletin boards. Things to change: If I had stayed in third grade I would have returned to solid color bulletin boards. I found the galaxy paper to be visually noisy! You will see many of Beth Newingham's ideas in my room. The character trait posters were used to discuss and identify specific character traits. When we discovered a character who displayed that trait, we would add the book to the poster. (Beth puts mini pictures of the books, but I am not nearly as clever or organized. We wrote the titles with whiteboard markers). This is my "desk" area. I used one section of the computer station and stored things in the rolling cart drawers. You will also notice my Desk Apprentice on top of the fridge. This is a teacher's dream. Some day I'll fancy it up.... Genre posters and my easel. The genre posters were stuck to radiator with magnets, but the kids kept knocking them down. We eventually put them on a ring and clipped it to the side of the cart. Update: I put the posters in a binder and made a flip chart! I really enjoyed the reading map. Each child had their own unique tack and when they read a story with a real setting, they placed their pin in the city/state. The kids really got into this and would use the Internet to find exact placement. Eventually, the class decided to add the other continents. We also used the map to identify the city with the high and low temperature each week (another special tack) and when Flat Stanley went on his adventures, we noted that!  My Cafe Board is set and ready to fill. I use the bottom portion for the kids to place their post it with a goal. All ready, just need the kids! Everyone has written great advice so far. My advice is rather simple: 1. Well-meaning teachers who have had your students in the previous year will want to tell you all the things wrong with the student. Smile, nod and say, "Thanks, let's hope that he/she had some growth this year," then walk away and forget everything they said. It IS a new year, there WILL be some growth and YOU are a different person. Let the child start new! 2. Be humble. You don't need to know everything, and if you act like you do you will create a divide. Ask your team members for help...but don't expect them to hold your hand. 3. Find the most difficult child in your class and love them and protect them like a mama grizzly bear. It is easy to love the good kids, but your true teaching spirit will come out with the difficult ones. 4. Rest, take your vitamins and rest some more. 5. Finally, when things are not going well in a lesson, don't be afraid to throw in the towel. Stop the lesson, move on and reflect on it later. A talented teacher is not one who can execute a lesson plan perfectly, a talented teacher is one who recognizes that a lesson needs to be executed. (Theme song to Godfather should be playing in your head right now). Here is a favorite Mentor Text to refer to when life hands you lemons. I'm Gonna Like Me-Letting Off a Little Self-Esteem, by Jamie Lee Curtis. This is an upbeat book with repeating text, "I'm Gonna Like Me." The story finds the good in all the annoying, scary things that can happen to little kids. It is a wonderful text to use to get children to brainstorm situations when something goes wrong. Have them write as many ideas as possible...a perfect list for small moment ideas! 1 Mentor Text Madness--Day 3 The Hello, Goodbye Window by Norton Juster and illustrated by Chris Raschka is a delightful text that describes, through the eyes of child, what happens outside the window of her grandmother and grandfather's house. This is another great read aloud for the beginning of the year, because you can revisit it for several mini lessons throughout a unit on narrative writing. Mini lesson ideas: Seed Story Closing with a reflection of character's thoughts and feelings Children identify easily with story and often are eager to share their own experiences with visiting grandparents or other relatives. This is a perfect time to have them turn and talk with their elbow partner about those experiences and then send them off to write while they are excited! Younger children enjoy modeling a similar story with another object or place. Hello, Goodbye Treehouse Hello, Goodbye School Hello, Goodbye Pet Me on the Map is a great first week read aloud. I like the book for many reasons. It lends itself perfectly to a social studies unit on geography and it can be used to introduce science unit on habitats. I like it for writing because it can open up many possibilities. For those not familiar with the book, this is an excerpt to give you an idea: This is me in my room. This is a map of my room. This is me on the map of my room. This is my house. This is a map of my house. This is a map of my street.... The story continues all the way to This is my country on a map of the world. I like the story for writing because of the following features and potential lessons: Use of text features. Labeling, diagrams, and maps. Repeating text. Circular story. Simple transitions. This is a simple activity to get started: Jenn over at Finally in First has an adorable activity that also goes with this book.Jessica Meacham has an amazing unit with other activities. (Scroll down the page). Are all of these words rattling around in your head? It is easy to get distracted with everything we have to do in those first few weeks of school. This time of year is perfect for reading mentor texts that will support Writer's Workshop throughout the year. I like to read many, many picture books during those first few weeks of school to help break up the monotony of rules, regulations and procedures. I read the books for the pure pleasure of reading and listening. The bonus? Later in the year when you want to use one of those books for a writing mini-lesson, you can say, "Remember when we read this book? Well today we're going to visit just a piece of it as we talk about...." Today's Pick: What Do Authors Do? by Eileen Christelow This story is about two writers who conveniently live next door to each other. Their dog and cat start to chase each other and each author begins the process of writing a book about the adventure. This is a perfect book to demonstrate where authors get their ideas, the process they go through for writing and the challenges they face during editing. Students love to hear this book and beg me to read all of the thought bubbles from the dog and cat. We return to this book many times throughout the year when talking about the writing process. Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk This is a story of a little mouse who lives in the library and reads book after book every night. One evening he decides to write a book of his own and tucks the tiny book onto the library shelf. He writes several more books and the librarian leaves him a note inviting him to a "Meet the Author" gathering to share his secrets to writing. The mouse is too shy to come to the gathering, but he sets up a box that says "Meet the Author". When the children peer in to the box, they see themselves in a tiny mirror. Next to the box are small blank books and pencils for everyone to try writing their own book! I love to read this story and have tiny books all stapled and ready to go. There is something magical about writing in a tiny book and I use one of the mini pocket charts from target to display our newest treasures! How fun! 1 Bucket Filling Freebie One of the activities I created for Work on Writing as part of my second grade Daily 5 was our Bucket Person of the Week. Like many of you, I created a bucket filling environment. During the first few weeks of school we read the book How Full is Your Bucket? by Tom Rath and Mary Reckmeyer and Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud. Once the students were comfortable with the language and purpose of bucket filling, we created a "Bucket Person of the Week. Each week we selected a student to highlight and during Work on Writing the rest of the class would write a bucket filling message to that person. I kept a special mailbox to store the written bucket messages and at the end of the week I would bind them and present them to the student. Students LOVED receiving their special messages! (I'm still new at the embedding Google docs thing so if this link does not work let me know and I will try again). By the way, in case you haven't discovered this there is a Bucket Fillers website that offers a free e-Newsletter and they have a nifty shop with Bucket Filling emblems! Here is an easy mini lesson on word choice that I did this year with my class AND it tied in with a current lesson they were having in art class. After the students were discussing colors and hues in art class, I brought in a stack of paint chips. Source: flickr.com via Kitty on Pinterest Using the paint chip I wrote the word fun on the lightest color. Together we brainstormed words that could replace "fun" and ranked them in order until we got to the boldest color and boldest word. I partnered students up, handed out paint chips, some tired words and a thesaurus and the students went to town. Soon our door was covered in colorful paint chips with student made signs reminding them to pick a bolder word and other clever sayings. After a few weeks, we attached all of the chips with a word ring and hung them up in the writing station. Later in the year when they were partner revising their Young Author's Books, I heard more than one child say, "I think you could use a bolder word here," and they would run off to the chips! Here is a sampling of some of the phrases the kids came up to display our paint chips. They created their own signs by hand and I wish I had taken pictures of the whole darn thing....but I didn't! While searching Pinterest for a picture of paint chips, I came across some other cool uses. Check these out: How fun would these be to make? Source: readingresource.net via Tara on Pinterest So colorful! Source: firstgraderatlast.blogspot.com via Elisa on Pinterest Make some jazzy Elkonin boxes. Reading Rockets has a great tutorial for this. Source: howaboutorange.blogspot.com via Paula on Pinterest I can picture bookmarks with reading strategies or icons printed on them. You could use clear address labels to print your strategy so the color would remain. You can get paint chips for free, but if you are like me you feel a little guilty taking a class set. I had a conversation with my nice Benjamin Moore dealer and he gave me a whole pack of chips they didn't display because one or two of colors are discontinued. Don't be afraid to ask! Have you ever used paint chips in the classroom? Last week I wrote about Wordle a favorite word cloud generator of mine. Jen over at Runde's Room left me a comment about her favorite word cloud generator--Tagxedo pronounced [tag-SEE-doh] similar to "Tuxedo." I am in word cloud heaven. Tagxedo allows you to make word clouds into shapes. You can copy text, type in your own, or just enter the URL of a web page. For example, here is a coffee-cup shaped word cloud of my blog: The really neat thing about Tagxedo is that you have the option to include punctuation or numbers. Here is my About blog post without numbers or punctuation! The possibilities for Tagxedo are endless, but I know that my number one use will be to take the rather wordy emails that my principal loves to send and turn them into a fun word cloud. I can't wait! Of course, there are boundless educational uses for Tagxedo, but for now I keep thinking of the shapes and the people who would love them. How about a Tagxedo for the bus driver? Or the music teacher? In addition to the standard shapes there is an entire gallery of shapes preloaded with words. Why is this exciting? When you click it opens up in the creation window and you can paste in your own text and choose your own colors! I need a monkey, ladybug and smiley face shape for a few of our staff members with those themes for their rooms. Oh, and wouldn't a book be great? Tagxedo is the brain-child of Hardy Leung. The current beta version allows you to create your own shapes. (Warning: It appears, to this elementary teacher, to be way more math and computer coding than I am willing to know/learn...I'm thrilled to leave it to the experts. Thanks, Hardy!) Want to know more? Check out this FAQ from Tagxedo. One of the first mini-lessons I teach in Writer's Workshop is creating and using a Thought Journal. Some might call it a Writer's Notebook, Journal or Reflection Notebook. In my classroom the Thought Journal is a place where students can play with writing. They use the Thought Journal to try out new techniques in Writer's Workshop, keep lists of ideas to write about and reflect on their reading. This book by Ralph Fletcher is a wonderful companion for older students (4th - 8th) about how to use their Writer's Notebook. Younger students need more hands-on instruction with lots of modeling to use their Thought Journal. I teach the first lesson during the first few days of school. I show the students my own Thought Journal and spend a great deal of time telling them about the different parts and what all the pictures mean to me. That evening I send them home with an assignment to start collecting pictures. I also post my samples on my class blog so parents know where we are headed. The next day I demonstrate Wordle for the kids and we make Wordle clouds for any topic we are learning that day. I show them my the Wordle cloud on my Thought Journal and get them excited about creating their own. I send home a blank composition book and directions for Wordle and give the kids a long weekend to complete their Thought Journal at home. I wish I had taken pictures! One was cuter than the next! Stay tuned for directions on how to use Wordle! My Not Weird School I mentioned yesterday that Dan Gutman will be coming to our school for our Young Author's Day. Usually our author comes in the spring, but Dan was available in early October so we jumped at the chance. The downside is that everyone will be crazy busy with back-to-school. But I have a few tricks up my sleeve: I have encouraged everyone to make their back-to-school bulletin board do double duty as their author bulletin board. To emulate Gutman's My Weird School series teachers can create a board rhyming their name. So if your name is Mrs. Fry your board might say: Mrs. Fry's Class is Soaring High....and you might have a hot air balloon with the name of each student. We always create a board in our lobby with pictures of the entire staff to help new families on back-to school-night. Title of this board? The Not Weird Teachers of (Insert school name here). In honor of Gutman's Million Dollar series I'm thinking of labeling The Million Dollar Office, The Million Dollar Water Fountain or The Million Dollar Lunch Room. You can find this and other fun things at Dan Gutman's website. What types of activities have you done for Young Author's Day or Author's Visit. Let me know! Death of the Bookstore Borders, is closing. Believe me when I tell you that I have done more than my share of trying to keep it alive. I have the shelves of books and Mastercard bill to prove it! Borders was my go to place when I needed to get away from everyone for a bit. I would announce, "I'm going to the bookstore, anyone need anything?" and then zip out before they roused from their baseball watching, video game playing coma. Whenever I walk into a bookstore I get a smile on my face.   I love the way bookstores are laid out!  Here is what I love about bookstores: They are grouped by topics or genres. The displays call out to me, "Pick me, pick me." I can order a latte, grab a pile of books and sip and browse. They have cutesy book-themed items to go with the books, which is why I have Mo Willems' pigeon, Laura Numeroff's mouse and many Dr. Seuss plush toys! The books smell new and you get to keep them (assuming you buy them which I always do). Don't you wish libraries would become more like a bookstore? If I were in charge of the world, I would put a cafe in the public library and dump Dewey and set up my library like a bookstore. Sigh! My good friend told me that Borders was having their closing sale, and at first I couldn't bring myself to going, but I convinced myself that they were going to go out of business whether I liked or not, so I might as well pick up a bargain or two.  How sad. I headed for the magazine rack and picked up a few titles that I would never pay full price for but don't mind 40% off. Next, it was on to the children's books. The day I went they were only 10% off, but people were stuffing their carts like crazy. Just to be polite, I picked up a few myself.  Please note: Dan Gutman is coming to our school for an author visit in October, so the above books were in the name of research. How do you feel about this behemoth store closing? Has the Kindle and Nook replaced our bookstores? Tell me what you think!

Book Marketing Tactics Round-Up I'm sure you are wondering what I'm doing here on a Wednesday post instead of Rachel. Well, after last week's blogging ate three of Rachel's mornings, we have come to the long-building conclusion that we're both blogging too much. Books aren't getting written and that means Things-Have-To-Change(TM) around here. We're still going to update everywhere Wednesday with new advice and helpful posts, but Rachel and I will be alternating who's up each week. Anyway, there's been a lot of requests for marketing posts and, as I'm always asking for post requests, I'm going to try my best. Marketing is a HUGE topic ya'll. People get degrees and spend lifetimes perfecting it as a skill. In a way, we're always talking about marketing here in some form or another. Since "marketing books" is too big a topic, I'm instead going to list and talk about every single book marketing tactic that I know of. It's going to be a, We all need some practical, effective, actionable information to sell books with. While there's loads of abstract marketing strategy we need to talk about, books still need to sell and we all have work to do. SO, let's focus on the pragmatic stuff today and I'll have more abstract strategy talk for ya'll on another day. What, specifically, can you do to market a book? I'm going to try to list things in the order of power/importance they will have on your book's sales. 0. Write a good book, write another good book You knew I was going to say this right? ^_~ Having a good story, well-told is the foundation. Marketing will just make a bad product fail faster, but a good book will enjoy word-of-mouth recommendations which are still one of the strongest and best form of marketing around. A really good book will have opportunities beating their way to it. (Kindle Big Deals aren't offered to bad books. Awards sell books too. Etc) Launching new books is the second best thing an author can do marketing wise. Nothing sells books like selling new books. So yeah, primo marketing advice is to write, write well, write better, and keep writing. 1. Title, Cover, Blurb, First page We've talked about this a lot. These are what get customers to click, to sample, to buy, and to read. I cannot emphasize their importance enough as fundamentally powerful marketing tools. If your book isn't selling well, but has good reviews, then maybe you should consider changing these elements around. Check out my post on relaunches and rebranding for more. 2. Back Matter and Front Matter The front and back of your books are powerful tools, but limited. There's not a lot of space here to work with. Here's what Rachel and I consider to be sorta minimum best practices right now. For front matter, have as little as possible, get people to the story asap. include your blurb. Kindles don't show the blurb. People will often add or buy your book and then read it months later. You want to remind them, then, why they were excited enough to buy it. Remember, it's not about sales, it's about earning readers. (and retention rates!) For back matter, thank the reader ^_^ ask them to leave a review. This one trick will double, triple, or even quadruple the number of reviews you get. ask them to join the newsletter hook them on your next book (if you have a next book, or a pre-order if you have one of those) 3. Reviews Good reviews sell books and build careers. Endorsements and recommendations are the primordial forces of marketing after all. Items #0,1,2,3 in this list will help you get reviews on websites that sell books. Beyond that though, it's worth the time to court reviewer sites, bloggers, and such. Reviewers lend their own reach, voice, and authenticity to a book's online profile. They help provide links, google search results, and direct traffic/sales. It takes time to build good relationships with reviewers, but it's worth it. You literally cannot buy this kind of press. When going for reviewers, here's a few guidelines, Don't be pushy or obnoxious Make things easy for them (provide many formats, media packet, timely responses, etc) Don't attempt to influence the review, not even slightly Don't give them crap if the review isn't as good as you wanted Honor their efforts with your own links and press for their review site/account/page/blog... Know that, when you ask someone for a review, you are committing to whatever they put up. If they don't like your book and say so online, too bad. You don't have to link to their bad review and you don't ever have to send them another book again. Silence is the most and best you can do with a bad review. While having a good book is important, you also want to court reviewers who you think would genuinely like it. Not only will they be more likely to say yes to reviewing the book at all, but you'll stand a better chance of getting a good review. Lastly, it's rude to waste people's time. So don't send books at reviewers just cause they have a large audience. Ideally, reviewers are also your fans. 4. Website Believe it or not, the author website is pretty good at selling books. Especially when you have a blog or other content marketing paired with it to draw traffic. Rachelaaron.net + Pretentious Title have sent a total of 5000 people to Rachel's Amazon.com book buy pages over the last year. Going by our affiliates data, that's about 2000 book sales in total. That's not chump change. At the end of the day though, the author website is part of the marketing foundation. It's not just for people finding you and your books online, but it's also a crucial tool for many other aspects of online marketing. I've an entire post about all the features a good author website brings to the table. Please check it out. 5. Author Newsletter Are you gathering your readers into your own private newsletter? If no, then get started. This is a very powerful marketing tool that allows you to cheaply and effectively market directly to readers. It's so essential that I'm sure you've all heard a lot about how you have to have one these days. There's a lot of different formats for these things. Some people use them like a blog, emailing the list with content every week/month. Others, like Rachel, only use it for big announcements. Both ways are fine, but there's a golden rule you need to know about newsletters. Don't waste people's time. Remember, this is email. If people click to open, that's already a big leap of trust on their behalf. If you then waste their time... BAM! Unsubscribed. You need to grow this list, which means that your every message needs to be valuable / entertaining enough for people to (a) open and (b) stay subscribed. We use mailchimp.com for Rachel's new release mailing list, but there's lots of good free and paid offerings out there. I should do a post on these, it's a huge topic. For now, make sure you get one that comes with (as an option for later if nothing else) automation options. You'll want things like welcome letters and such as your list grows and you desire stronger features. Tips for growing your list, Ask. You have to tell people about it! You have to ask them! Almost no one will sign up if you don't ask. As I said above, asking at the back of the book works super well. Don't waste people's time. This is important enough to say again. Ask yourself, "is this wasting their time?" every time you send out an email to your list. List bait works awesomely. I'll have more data on this later, but the #1 thing we've done this year to increase newsletter signups has been the Mother of the Year reward for membership/signup. It's more than doubled the monthly growth rate (so far). Team up. Other authors often team up to collectively email using their combined lists. This is a powerful tactic that can get a lot of new customers and also new sign ups. 6. Bookbub and Email Marketing Services Newsletter marketing is strong stuff marketing wise. It's no wonder then that there are tons of email marketing services out there that you can pay to use. You'll probably never have a 2 million person email list, but Bookbub will send you out to theirs for a couple hundred bucks. Anyway, you all probably know about Bookbub.com so there's no introduction needed there. Getting your book featured on Bookbub as often as possible is a great strategy. It's tougher every day though and it's also expensive. (Totally worth the cost IMO) If you'd like some alternatives, check out my NDFL Mega Fall Promotion post. I've tried and listed a lot of smaller email marketing services there. They might sell hundreds, or merely dozens, of books, but they are easier, cheaper, and efficient. That was by no means an conclusive list though (I didn't try the Fussy Librarian or Kindle Nation Daily). You should definitely search for more. These services are all very useful in getting actual sales for you and helping you build momentum on your career and series. 7. Author Team Ups We've never done a boxed set of books, and Rachel doesn't team up with folks often, so I don't speak from a lot of experience here. Teaming up with other authors to run signings, hangouts, promotions, newsletters, write books and publish boxed sets is a powerful tactic. I've heard no end of success stories about these methods so I would be remiss in not mentioning them. Romance rocks the team ups! Business-wise it makes sense to me. Why reach 1000 newsletter subscribers when you can team up and suddenly reach 10,000? Getting 5 authors together can make for a pretty big hang out audience. A good multi-author promotion can work wonders through your combined reach and appeal. How to get in on these things? I'd start by cruising kboards.com, but often times you need to network with other, similar to yourself, authors. If you are particularly gung-ho about these, go make one happen. Authors are all pretty easy to contact what with everyone being publicly on social media and such. Most are eager for promotion opportunities as well. Don't know who to contact? Why not start with authors who show up in your Amazon.com also-boughts? You know you've got something in common. 8. Appearances Any sort of guest post, interview, podcast, video event, signing, blog tour, and so on. Appearing in a place other than your own blog and social media. These sorts of events are very handy in that they leverage someone else's audience. Ideally that's an audience that is fresh (hasn't heard of you) and is receptive / appropriate for you to appear in front of. Rachel's about page is a good example of these kinds of things. Honestly, this stuff can be a mixed bag of success. Getting featured by someone big can result in a great boost of traffic. Medium and small sites will contribute also, but it's easy for these contributions to be invisible to you. While we generally take an "it all adds up" philosophy here, but the gotcha on appearances is that they take time. Often they take more time that many of the other things I've mentioned above. A written interview, for example, might take a day to fill out. Appearances are probably one of the most fun types of marketing though. It's not all about coldly calculated ROI after all. Just be careful about letting appearances get in the way of your writing. We see a lot of authors fall prey to that trap. 9. Distributors Amazon.com is pretty much a given for all authors, but every store front you can get your book on is technically more eye-balls and more sales. Readers don't overlap between distributors a whole lot, which is good for finding fresh eyes, but it's troublesome because you almost have to build your readership on each sales channel separately. Be prepared to invest time and effort to succeed with any bookseller. Anyway, the main reason I wanted to bring up distribution as a marketing tactic is because there's various marketing options here beyond just putting your book up on a new bookseller. For example, Kindle Unlimited. While KU makes you Amazon exclusive, it puts your book into a much smaller pool. This increases exposure and reduces competition. Pay-outs, despite everyone's moaning, are still pretty darned good. Rachel makes more money from KU some months than from regular sales. Another example would be Kobo. I loved the Kobo panel at RT2016. Mainly because Kobo really wants to work with you, the author with the good book, on promotions. Aside from coordinating launch promos and other sales events, one bit of advice I heard was to apply to be in Kobo's monthly 30% off sale. Applying is easy and authors are encouraged to apply month after month. Getting in that sale brings in a lot of positive exposure and builds readership on Kobo. I have on good authority that both B&N and the iBookStore both have author promotion teams that you can email from within their portals. Both are looking for launch events and sale events to promote if you give them your time, effort, and book. They, like Amazon, also sometimes do their own big sales events and a working relationship with these promotion teams can help you get in on that stuff. Pro tip, you are much more likely to succeed with these promotion teams if you make sure to give them enough advanced notice. The number 1 suggestion I heard for getting this kind of help was lead time. A month or two out ideally so that it can be planned and fit into the promotion team's schedule. Last minute requests for launch promo help is often just not possible for them. Last, but not least, you can use Amazon's KDP count-down deal feature. This places your book on a special count-down deal page and everything. Right by itself that's good for boosted exposure and sales, though I'd recommend you pair such an event with a Bookbub or other, external promotion at the same time to maximize the punch. There's more of these kinds of interesting options out there than my examples of course. So I'd encourage you to explore. Hopefully though, I've made my point that the booksellers have some great offerings. Warning - stay away from Google. I'm not mentioning google books here because they can change your books' prices without notice, permission, or warning. This causes a price match on Amazon and other sites. If you have a book on Google, your entire empire is effectively at their mercy. Google decides your book is $0.99 for the month? Well, I hope you didn't want any royalties that month and I hope you didn't have any other sales planned! They don't care if they blow your 60-day Bookbub prerequisite. We've actually talked to Google reps about this, but got no good answer. .(Google call us with a better one!) 10. Social Media Wow! This is #10! That's almost the bottom of the list. YUP. For all the importance placed on social media, it's terrible at selling books. We've done a lot of experiments with social media here and conversion rates are terrible on every platform we've ever tried. (1000 to 1 or worse!) IMO social media suffers from a huge case of preaching to the choir. Most authors only reach people who already know and like them. Now, some folks are really good at getting their marketing message to transmit outside of their own bubbles. If this is you, great. If its not, then social media is going to have a very poor ROI for your efforts. Facebook is a bit of an exception, in that author pages are a great place to build fandom. Again though, if you don't do it naturally, you will likely be in for a bad time. You can also just engage in paid advertising. The best marketing is free, but money buys eyeballs from lots of places. Amazon Marketing Services, Goodreads Ads, Google Adwords, Facebook Ads, Twitter for Business, and so on, are all examples of paid ad distributors that can work for authors. If you want to try these out, You need to measure the results While you need to measure the results of any advertising (time is money friend), measuring these methods is essential. See, really making them work takes R&D. You have to try, experiment, research, learn, and refine. It's gonna take spending some money and eating some losses until you learn how and where to market your stuff. I'll be open about this, our experiences here have been universally rough. Everything I named above, except Facebook ads which we haven't given a serious try to, has been a loss. I've been doing R&D as I'm advising you and I've been having a terribly unsuccessful time with it. IMO this isn't because these places don't work. It's because we here have a poor product funnel. Rachel has 11 novels (not counting 2k to 10k) out but the low royalty rates on the 8 NY novels nukes the return on any advertising investment we make. This'll change as she writes more indie books though. I am very much looking forward to having a completed, 5-book, Heartstrikers series to play with for marketing purposes 12. The Weird Stuff There's more to marketing books than I've covered here today. This is just a list of popular places and methods that I've encountered. There's endless opportunities out there. I haven't talked about YouTube at all, because I know and hear very little about it (publishing wise). There are guys out there who make power point presentations for free or sale to promote their non-fic platforms and do so very successfully. There's also running a podcast or internet radio show. There's Google groups. There's email courses. There's so so much. I would love to see a post about effective revisions+editing. Realizing just how much time I spend on this, I've abandoned pantsing for plotting, but my timeline still looks something like this:Planning novel: 1.5 monthsFirst draft: 2 monthsCreating a plan for the revision: 3 monthsImplementing revision: 4 monthsEditing: 4 months(Send to beta readers)Revision and editing based on feedback + proofreading and final polish: 3 months(I've got about 10 hours a week to spend on writing.)Looking at the numbers, ideally I'd just write a perfect first draft and cut out all the rest, but yeah, that's never happened yet... (The email reply apparently ate my reply to you as well. Thankfully gmail saved it.)You're welcome!If it makes you feel better, those reordering problems you mention are pretty universal. When Rachel moves things around, all that kind of reordering happens to her as well.While practice and experience do make a big difference in speed, a factor of perception might be that Rachel works full time on her books. That "1 week edit" for her is 40 to 60 hours of work. Which is 4 to 6 weeks of equivalent work at 10 hrs a week, at least. So maybe you are editing at a good pace, but it's just a timing difference.That said, I have to ask about your book. I can't find who you are from the comments, but 150 scenes is a lot. Like, a lot a lot. How long is the book? 300k+ words?Having helped Rachel assemble and reassemble 15 or so novels now, I have a lot of experience with this. My gut says that your book is very likely either long and/or very complicated. While it might be an amazing book, you are likely wrestling with these complexities as an author and it shows up in construction time and execution challenge level.For example, can you tell me the book's central conflict in one to two sentences only? That's true about 40-60 hours' work coming in at 4-6 weeks, alas--one reason I'm always looking for ways to be more effective. I also have a really hard time fitting in more than one hour at a time, which is the worst when it comes to planning the revision when I have to keep a lot of stuff in mind at the same time. (It also sucks when writing the first draft when I'm in "the zone".)The scene number might be a bit misleading, because more than scenes, it's what I've put in separate notecards in Scrivener, so includes sequels, transitions and other logical divisions that help me keep track of things. Still, it's some 40 chapters, and about 160 K. It's something of a high concept book, so it's easy to summarize the central conflict (I'd rather not get into details here at a public forum), but it's also very fast-paced, with three POV characters (all each others' antagonists), and the kind of structure where everyone takes actions all the time, causing complications. The subplots are also very tightly woven into the main plot, and there are different factions with various agendas that play a role. It all ties in nicely at the end (I think... provided I don't confuse the heck out of my readers first!), but I suppose it's quite a bit to juggle in the getting there.Anyway, thanks a lot for taking the time to answer! You've made me feel better about being "slow". :-D

I am an American living in Switzerland. After falling in love with linguistics during my Anthropology studies I learned German and then Swiss German. I love the languages and dialects of Switzerland. Ich bin eine Amerikanerin und wohne in der Schweiz. Nachdem ich mich in Linguitik verliebt hatte, während meinem Anthropologiestudium, lernte ich Deutsch und Schweizerdeutsch.Ich liebe die Sprache und Dialekt der Schweiz. I met my husband while he was studying in the States. Had he gotten his undergrad degree in Switzerland, at the University where he's now getting his doctorate, it would have cost 840 francs per semester instead of the 4,631 francs at his university in New England. Tuition is not the only difference in Universities in the US and Switzerland. Whereas in the US, students don't need to declare a major until the 2nd or 3rd year of study. Here, students begin studying only one or two fields. There are also Hochschulen (high schools) in Switzerland. They're less like US high schools and more like college in France. They come after secondary school and are instead of university. So the general course of a Swiss child's education is as follows: Primary school from 1st to 9th grade Then there is secondary school: kids can choose to go to a vocational secondary school that will lead to an apprenticeship or they can go to a secondary school that will lead to gymnasium (college prep high school), or a hochschule. (There's also a Berufsmatur as well that's somewhere in between.) From Gymnasium, kids will go to University or a Hochschule. (Some kids can choose to take exams and enter Gymnasium as early as 7th grade if they want, but they are few.) But there are tests and intentions that need to be taken to chose this course. This has always made me feel uneasy. I was fearful that foreigners who don't know how the system works wouldn't be able to help their children find their way through the system. It also felt like a way to keep classes the way they are. But my teacher friend from the I post explained that teachers are aware of these issues and encourage the kids to follow a path that best suits there needs. There are also multiple info nights for families with brochures in multiple languages to inform them.) There also seems to be a greater respect for and appreciation of apprenticeships and trade schools here in Switzerland. Since learning about the system and hearing more and more about the fact that too many children are being forced on a course for college, resulting in increased drop out rates and needless debt, I've begun to appreciate this system more. So this post was less funny and more informative, I guess (hope.)

Must Have Books For Anyone Homesteading Or Wanting To! I thought I'd post some of the books I have found useful in my homesteading adventure. For those who don't know it I was raised in the city and had no experience with livestock, gardening, etc. at all before I made the decision to start urban homesteading and later moved onto land. That's not to say I just jumped in feet first. I had been reading on the subject for 3 years before I took the plunge. Here are some books that I will always keep on my shelf. The Encyclopedia of Country Living - Carla Emery I couldn't write a homestead recommended book list without it. Carla covers everything about homesteading. Even down to giving birth at home and how to use a wood cook stove. If you can't get any other book get this one. It has more information than any book I've found and many things you will never see in some books, written by people who really know! Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre A great guide for those of us with little land, it is truly amazing how much food you can produce on a little scrap of yard. Canning and Preserving Your Own Harvest: An Encyclopedia of Country Living Guide Another great book by Carla Emery. It takes the guesswork and anxiety out of canning! The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It A very good book on being self-sufficient. Storey's Guide To Raising Chickens Any of the Storey books are excellent on raising livestock, and I highly reccomend them all for in depth instructions on all aspects of care for your livestock. This book is invaluable in chicken raising for meat or eggs. I will say that the Encyclopedia by Carla Emery has more info on broody hens though. Keeping A Family Cow This is a must read if you are even considering a milk animal. It pretty much sold me on the benefits of a cow over goats. I love goats and I've had milk goats, but there is just no denying that a cow is better for a large family and for things like cream and butter. It goes in depth on the costs verses the benefits of the family cow. What you need to raise one. Feeding, birthing, and cow emergencies. If you think a cow can't make sense I would say read this first and then make your decision. Warning! This book talks in depth about the dairy industry, you may never want to drink milk from the jug again! I still am clinging to my dream of a jersey milk cow someday, and with prices shooting up and our family demands on milk, butter, and cheese only going to get worse I think we'll have to work it out. To highlight my point on the need for establishing community for your skills I'll tell you a funny story. When we first moved to Wyoming I immediately wanted to get chickens. For years I had been reading and studying about how to raise them, the cost effectiveness of keeping them, etc. So finally my dream came true when we moved out on 5 acres in the country. We got a dozen hens from someone at our church. They weren't the prettiest chickens you ever saw, kind of ragged and mixed breed. But they were hardy (having survived Wyoming winters without a coop) and laid eggs just fine. I loved watching them from the back fence busily scratching for grubs and worms out in our garden. We had also recently joined 4-H for rabbits and chickens with my eldest daughter and were heartily welcomed into the group. The group had amazing leaders that were fun and friendly to us newcomers. Well one day I went out to collect eggs and noticed that one of the chickens was behaving strangely. She seemed uncomfortable and kept making this strange squeaking noise. Alarmed I separated her from the flock. This was during the height of the Asian bird flu scare and many of my family members had expressed their concern with me owning chickens on the off chance that the flu would reach my flock. As she kept squeaking I finally called the leader of our rabbit/chicken club and told him the problem. This mans name was Marvin and he was the kind of no nonsense man that you often see in farming. He was a bit gruff but the kids loved him and he loved teaching the kids. He had been raising rabbits chickens ducks and turkeys for more than 20 years and had a wealth of skills. After listening to my story he bluntly said that he had seen chickens do that before and it was most likely due to my hen having eaten a mouse. Chickens can't tear things apart so when they get ahold of a mouse or snake they swallow it whole. Well I almost couldn't believe it! I just had a hard time envisioning the chicken eating a whole mouse. I mean how could she get her beak open wide enough? He told me not to worry, within a few days the mouse would be digested and the squeaking would go away. He, of course, turned out to be right and the hen went on to live a long life, but it proves that the best reference you can possibly have is an experienced person. Because I can tell you no chicken raising book I ever read had information on squeaking chickens!

THE INFLUENCE OF REGIONAL EXPANSION AND GOVERNANCE PERFORMANCE TOWARD COMMUNITY WELFARE IN OGAN ILIR DISTRICT SOUTH SUMATRA PROVINCE Radjab Semendawai The phenomenon that made the object of research is the community welfare in Ogan Ilir District, South Sumatra Province. The research objective was to discuss the influence of Regional Expansion and Governance Performance toward Community Welfare. The study used quantitative research approach. Samples are 226 respondents drawn from the study population as many as 550 people using the Table of Krejcie. Collecting data using literature study, questionnaire and observation. Data analysis using SEM Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis. The results of the study are the following: The amount of the influenceof Regional Expansion toward the Community Welfare reached 0.79. Has proven that the influence of Regional Expansion toward the Community Welfare determined by aspirations, strategy, organizational skills, systems and infrastructure, human resources, organizational structure and culture. The amount of influence on the Government Performance toward Community Welfare reached 0.75. The amount of influence on the Government Performance toward Community Welfare contributions are determined by individual performance to increase community welfare, contribution by group's performance to increase community welfare, and contribution by organizational performance to increase community welfare. Therefore the influence of Regional Expansion and government performance together toward Community Welfare. The new concept is derived from the discussion of the influence of Regional Expansion and Performance Governance The Welfare Society in Ogan Ilir is: First, the concept of Cultural Change Work Government conceptualized as the development and adjustment of the values of work and the work of government bureaucracy in the public welfare that includes a change in norms work; work ethic and work ethos; second, the concept of Individual Performance Contributions absorbed into the government's performance according to job function and areas of work of the person in order to realize the welfare society of legislative members performance contributions; apparatus of bureaucracy unit performance contribution; sub district administrative performance contribution; apparatus village performance contribution; and NGOs members performance contributions. Regional Expansion, Government Performance. Public welfare REGIONAL AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT AND FAMILY EMPOWERMENT TO ACHIEVE THE ACCELERATION OF EMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY REDUCTION Dr. Afriadi Syahbana Hasibuan, MPA., MCom (Econ) Decentralization and Regional Autonomy have been running for almost two decades in the unitary Republic of Indonesia (Negara Kesatuan Republik Indonesia = NKRI). In the course of nearly two decades, the local government system is undergone basic changes from one Act to another Act, on which becomes the foundation of the implementation of the decentralization and regional autonomy. In addition, Act No. 6 of Year 2014 about The Village also experienced several changes, the latter is giving new hope to people with the recognition of rural and indigenous villages. Public expectations with the birth of the Act which is the reference for the work of local government and village can open up job opportunities to accelerate the reduction of poverty. Therefore, Act No. 23 of 2014 on Regional Government and Law No. 6 of 2014 concerning the village were made to respond to the interests of society. The government provides 32 Local Government affairs either obligatory, as well as concurrent affairs.Likewise, the village is given an assignment by the Government to take care of the village administration, rural development, community empowerment and social development (Article 22). The 32 affairs and village assignments are managed and implemented effectively through the mechanism of regional and rural development management for the benefit of society. Giving affairs and the assignment is meant to be able to open up employment opportunities and accelerating poverty reduction in the Region to improve intelligence and prosperity to the region's autonomy (visionary). To achieve this, it is implemented empowerment by giving understanding and preparation of visionary organizations (Local Government) to get an increase in using effective economic resources by digging and manage based on local resources itself by providing a foundation of knowledge to the community to have the professionalism, competence and has the ability to innovate on local economic resources towards regional competitiveness aimed at open and compete to penetrate global market. regional and rural development, empowerment, employment, and poverty reduction. Higher learning institutions have emerged increasingly in numbers in every part of the world and Malaysia too has enticed students, both from local and international students, with wide choices of good and reputable Universities. Presently, there is a significant increase in the number of local students choosing public universities in Malaysia, as compared to enrolment in private universities, to resume their advanced studies. Statistics have also shown an increased in the enrolment by foreign students in Malaysian universities. Various factors have surfaced when describing factors in choosing public universities over private ones and the driving forces behind such selections. The aim of this study is to investigate the factors that have influenced students choosing public higher institutions over private institutions in Malaysia. This study adopted the quantitative method in the investigations, wherein 200 questionnaires were distributed randomly to students of a chosen local university, the University Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP), to gauge their feedbacks on the factors that have influenced them in choosing public universities in Malaysia. International students were also included as respondents in this study. There were seven (7) independent variables studied in UniMAP, ranging from the reputation of the university, programs offered, facilities provided, overall costs, availability of financial aids / scholarships, influence from peers, families and friends and lastly to locations. Findings revealed that four (4) of the hypotheses were accepted, whilst another three (3) hypotheses were rejected. The results of this study could greatly help to assist other public institutions of higher learning to have better understanding of the factors that influence students’ decision to pursue their advanced studies in public universities in Malaysia, thereby enabling a plethora of appropriate enrolment strategies be undertaken to create a more conducive and attractive education environment. Keyword THE EFFECT OF IMPLEMENTATION VILLAGE SECRETARY POLICY TO BE ELIGIBLE CIVIL SERVANT REGARDING TO THEIR PERFORMANCE AND ITS IMPLICATION IN GOWA REGENCY, SOUTH SULAWESI Author Udaya Madjid The essential government function is giving services to the community, both on public and civil services. This study focused on policy implementation (X) with dimensions of policy content and policy context influence on employee performance (Y) with quantitative and qualitative dimensions, and the implications on the quality of service (Z) with cover five dimensions : tangible, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and emphaty. Design research is an explanatory survey method with quantitative approach. Data analysis from 275 respondents through multi stage cluster sampling combined with simple and stratified random sampling and it process using path analysis. The results showed the fact findings to the development of Merilee S. Grindle’ theory on the implementation of the policy by adding on it of the importance of perfect implementator policy to the achievement of outcomes. Policy implementation, performance and Servant quality REGIONAL HEAD ELECTION IN INDONESIA AND ITS ELECTORAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS A Direct Regional Head Election (Pilkada Langsung) system has a number of advantages compared to the political recruitment system provided by the centralized model in the Act No.5 of 1974 or the representative democracy model in the Act No.22 of 1990 in conjunction with the Act No.32 of 2014 concerning Regional Administration. A democratic, honest and fair general election (free and fair elections) can be accomplished if there is some legal instrument that regulates all the election process works as well as to safeguard the election administrators, participants, candidates, voters, observers, and state citizens against fear, intimidation, violence, bribery, fraud and other various deceptive practices to affect the election results. However, an interesting situation to study more is that the Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) is given very short time by law to resolve a Regional-Head Election dispute and the verdict is eagerly awaited by the regional head candidates declared won the election by the Constitutional Court in which previously the suit was already filed in the first place by the candidates who was lost in competing in the regional head election. Moreover, other candidates, who also have the same interest in the process for nominating in the regional head election, still have legal remedy namely failing a lawsuit at State Administrative Court (PTUN), then an appeal until cassation at the Supreme Court. The interesting thing is that there is one pair of candidates who has not completed in making the legal remedy and has not obtained the Inkrach (final and binding) verdict from the related court, but the National Election Commission (KPU) has declared the winner of the regional head candidates, and worse yet, the decision is until at the phase of inauguration. Consequently, how the legal certainty can be obtained by the parties who make the legal remedy in the court of general jurisdiction (peradilan umum) if the Constitutional Court has ordered the National Election Commission to make inauguration to the pair of candidates that has been declared winning by the Constitutional Court. Hence, the author would like to review more deeply regarding the legal resolution for the head regional election. Subsequently, what the author would like to deliver is how to conduct the dispute resolution process of Regional Head Election in Indonesia. The Original of Malay Songs (OMS) is a music song genre which has a long history background since the presence of Rubaiyat Arts and traditional poetry in the peninsula of North Sumatera since the 16th century. This investigation made to find out the musical culture and the Indonesian Archipelago songs and particularly to the Original of Malay Songs which have become heritage for Malay Nations and Malay lovers in all over the world. As the form of culture studies by Malay people from generation to generation for centuries. OMS is a symbolic nature from musical communication use either informal or formal. Therefore, this investigation is a research framework of OMS as the symbolism of cultural heritage traditionally. This investigation involved job field by using semi-structured interview technique to collect further data then processed by implementing analitic-descriptive method. Data gained from four legendaric people of OMS then studied by implementing literature study method and elaboration of note field. In the end, the product of this research is a description on how OMS as the symbolism of Malay Cultural Heritage gained hereditary from generation to generations. SENSITIVITY OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM TOWARDS TO INTERIOR DESIGN ELEMENTS IN BANDUNG CITY, INDONESIA Kharista Astrini Sakya, Imam Santosa, Andar Bagus A space should be adapted to the characteristics owned by the user. In this field, an interior designer should be able to make sufficient space for the user as well as the activities do in space. Proper for normal users or who have special needs like autistic. The case of the birth of children with autism from year to year is increasing. Year after year passed, the government is now increasingly concerned with the existence of such cases so that the target is to build thousands of special schools with autism. This study aims to determine the sensitivity of the autistic children toward to interior design elements so that in the next research interior designer can create a design space / room corresponding to the sensitivity of children with autism. The method used was a questionnaire (N = 55) and statistical significance testing by t-test. Researchers used a comparative study with related research, thus aims to determine whether children with autism in Bandung City sensitivity same as the sensitivity of children with autism in a case study related research. The results of significance using t - test showed that it turns all values ​​greater than 0.05 which means there is no significant difference between the sensitivity / autism issue in Bandung City and in the case study related research. It can be concluded that in fact autistic was same / similar between autism sensitivity issues in Bandung City and in related research based on result’s questionnaire.

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Yorkshire Terrier – The Yorkie 29 Mar, 2012 Yorkshire Terrier The Yorkshire Terrier, AKA the Broken-Haired Scotch Terrier, the Halifax Blue-and-Tan Terrier, the Yorkshire Blue-and-Tan Terrier and the Yorkie, became vogue in the mid-1800s. Nonetheless, its connection with England’s working class who immigrated to England from Scotland in the mid-19th century, where it was a prized dog. Today’s Yorkie is solely an lovable dog and is one of the worlds most popular of all breeds. It has been depicted as being bold, bossy, powerful, shrewd and enthusiastic. When running, a Yorkie gives the impression of being “mounted on wheels,” resulting from the fact that its feet regularly are not visible under its greatly extended fur coat. Too much horse play can spark undesirable behavior, for example yelping, and Yorkies might be somewhat demanding to housetrain. One story including a Yorkshire Terrier encouraged many folks to fall in love with this breed. At the same time as World War II, an American soldier named William Wynne reportedly found a little Yorkie in a shell hole close to the Japanese line in New Guinea. Wynne named her Smokey, The little dog rode in Wynne’s knapsack and went with him on 150 assaults and 12 recovery missions soon after the war finished. Consistent with one owner: “Yorkshire Terriers have involved very nearly each nature with style and moxy, from the mine shafts of northern England to the trenches of World War II to the lobbies of the White House in the United States, where Richard Nixon’s Yorkie, Pasha, was a guest.” The Yorkshire Terrier was acceded the American Kennel Club’s Toy Group in 1885. The Yorkshire Terrier’s initial job was to chase and kill rats and rodents in the mines and cotton factories in Yorkshire England. It is thought to trace back to a humble, descendant as far back as anyone can remember, to a somewhat smallish dog that ordinarily weighed about 10 pounds, called the Waterside Terrier. The Waterside Terrier was common in the Yorkshire area and was prominent with locals in the West Riding zone. In the midst of the 19th century, at the peak of the Industrial Revolution, Scottish workers relocated south to England in venture of work. They carried with them their little Scottish terriers of non-descript legacy. In Yorkshire, the these mutts were crossed with local terriers to make the Broken-Haired Scotch Terrier, which ended up well-regarded as a wonderful rat killer in nearby textile industrial facilities and coal mines. As time passes, other crosses undoubtedly occurred. In spite of the fact that owners cannot agree on the Yorkie’s exact beginnings, the resulted breeds have been acknoledged: the Maltese Terrier, the Skye Terrier, the Dandie Dinmont Terrier, the Waterside Terrier, the old harsh-covered Black-and-Tan English Terrier, the Manchester Terrier, the Paisley Terrier, the now-wiped out as far back as anyone can remember-haired Leeds Terrier and the Clydesdale Terrier. The=outcome of whatever crosses happened possibly was called the Yorkshire Terrier. It was bigger than today’s Yorkie and was industrious enough to tackle even the largest and fiercest of rodents.

Transdisciplinary Arts The article below is reproduced from the Huffington Post. The app was developed by Cuttlefish Multimedia Loughborough who have just created a basic related platform in concert with an sKTP with DMU/IOCT. It is a good example of a traditional discipline changing and adapting to new technology : In art and myth, the journey is usually a heroic quest, dripping with metaphor. But what if a journey involves, instead of a highly-sought destination and revelation, simply bouncing between ports in the most banal way possible, like on the cross-channel ferry between Dover and Calais? For artist Simon Faithfull, the anti-heroic banality of this crossing made it a perfect launching ground for his Limbo project (commissioned by the Film and Video Umbrella), which transmits and geo-locates, in real time, digital drawings made by Faithfull via a custom-made iPhone app. For a full six days (May 14th through 19th), Faithfull stayed on the ferry for an unorthodox artist residency orchestrated by artconnexion, a French art organization, going back and forth in this "window between states" while he created -- and instantly broadcast -- drawings on his iPhone. (They can be viewed not only via the iPhone app, but by following the project on Facebook or Twitter. ) Drawings of the water, fellow passengers, passing ships, luggage, signs, shorelines, and docks were all posted in real time via the app, along with precise latitude and longitude. The ubiquitous nature of smartphone use is such that Faithfull was able to carry out this residency in perfect anonymity, looking like any other passenger passing the time checking e-mails or text messaging. As a teaching artist who splits his time between London and Berlin, and thus spends a considerable amount of time in airports, Faithfull is all too familiar with those never-thrilling netherworlds between states; this experience has been part of the inspiration for Limbo, the premise of which is to turn that negative into a positive with a mobile studio that broadcasts to the world. Faithfull has been making electronic device drawings for over 10 years -- in 2004 he traveled to Antarctica with the British Antarctic Survey on an Arts Council fellowship, where he transmitted via email drawings made on a Palm Pilot -- so in addition to broadcasting new drawings as they are completed, the Limbo app presents a full geo-located catalogue of over 500 observational sketches that Faithfull has made throughout the world over the years. The app provides a world map view, allowing the user to find drawings near their current location or anyplace they select. The bespoke Limbo app created for Faithfull by Jude Venn of Cuttlefish is customized not only in terms of the user experience, but on the level of the drawing program. Unlike older devices, the new smartphone drawing programs tend to render anti-aliased lines -- creating a smooth non-pixelated stroke; but Faithfull wanted to keep the raw pixel quality of his early Palm Pilot work, so his drawing program allows for a more low-tech, jagged line. "I'm not interested in having the program interpret and try to correct my strokes," he says, "It's a jagged line but it's my jagged line." Faithfull describes Limbo, which carries the subtitle "an expanding atlas of subjectivity," as an open ended project; he will continue indefinitely to create and transmit drawings wherever he goes, "mapping my subjective take on the world." About that subjectivity: Faithfull is interested in the power of day-to-day observations, which, when translated into memories become a highly personalized reality, "a sort of parallel world." Limbo, likewise, begins with observational, subjective sketches which, once they are posted online or broadcast to iPhones, become a powerful memory world that eventually seems more real than its subjects. So real are these drawings that Faithfull occasionally sees the real world in a strange new light. He notes how odd it seems to go back to a place he's drawn: "It jumps out and seems bizarre that it actually exists...It seems the world is copying me instead of me copying the world."

Photo travel destinations to visit in 2014 from travel bloggers around the world Photo travel destinations to visit in 2014 from travel bloggers around the world By Noel on in Nature or landscape photography, Ocean, coastline or water views, Panoramic views, Top Attractions, Travel Photography, Unique places Photo travel destinations to visit in 2014 from travel bloggers It’s always difficult to choose where to travel on vacation that is spectacular, unique and a photo travel destination worth visiting for it’s amazing vistas, cultural sites, food, people – the whole package, if you get where I’m coming from. So to help inspire you to travel somewhere in the world that hasn’t been on your radar, I asked some fellow travel bloggers and photographers to share some fantastic places that are worth visiting in 2014 and must see places to visit and capture for photography. Hope this will inspire you to visit any of these locations or just go and explore a place that has always been on your bucket list to visit, enjoy! Tasman Glacier in New Zealand Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand Aoraki/Mount Cook holds a special place in my heart because our visit was the first time that I had ever seen a glacier. The frozen landscape literally gave me shivers, the scale and magnitude of the mountains and the gargantuan sheet of ice itself served to highlight just how powerful Mother Nature truly is. The glacial landscape which has forged a divide between the south island’s rugged west coast and the more sedate flat lands of the east, provide a wealth of photo opportunities for those willing to explore its remote terrain. Our African safari to Kenya and Tanzania with Micato Safaris was an amazing adventure. Before this, we had only seen animals caged in zoos. It was exciting to see them pass in front of our vehicle (like this elephant in Serengeti National Park). It was also amazing to bear witness to the interdependence of different species who mingled together. Sahara Desert landscape Sahara Desert, Morocco Morocco is full of awesome cities and beaches, but one of the most inspiring places I visited in the country was the Sahara Desert. After a two-hour camel trek into the desert and watching the sun go down over the dunes, the sky lit up with more stars than I’ve ever seen in my life. About an hour later, I watched the moon rise over the horizon, illuminating the red dunes once again. My experience in the Sahara was definitely one of the best of my life, and should be on everyone’s bucket list! Megan Smith at Abbazia di San Galgano Capturing la Vita San Galgano Abbey, Tuscany, Italy When asked about one of my favorite photographic spots, I immediately thought of the Abbey of San Galgano in Tuscany, Italy. The Abbey was built in the 13th century, however, in 1781 the already decaying roof caved in. What remains is one of the most enchanting locations in Tuscany for photographers. The abbey stands alone behind a gorgeous field of sunflowers, with a backdrop of the hilly Tuscan countryside. Upon your first step inside, you will find yourself taken by its mystical nature. The raw architecture juxtaposed against the open sky leaves the photographer with endless inspiration and possibilities. Laurel Perry at Materia, Italy Despite having no expectations or knowledge on the region, we could see there was something uniquely beautiful about Matera. The architecture and style reflected the rich history. Founded in the 3rd century BC, it has been conquered many times, survived devastating earthquakes and endured political turmoil. Filmmakers have also used it as a setting for ancient Jerusalem, including Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ. It’s worth a stop for some sunrise photography through the unique and spectacularly scenic town of Matera. Erin Bender at www.travelwithbender.com A typical Welsch landscape Wether you’re looking for a good hike, extreme sports or photography, Wales has something for you. The 1400-ish kilometers long trail of its coastal path offers you the most beautiful landscapes as you can see in this shot of Trefin’s cliffs at the golden hour. Karl Delandsheere at http://hobography.net/en/ Sardinia and Costa Esmeralda I love Sardinia, not only for amazing sailing and Italian ‘La Dolce Vita’. The colours are seducing. All possible shade of blue and green, you can’t take your eyes away from the water, neither your camera! Add beautiful sailing boats, charming cities and you will have one of the most picturesque place on Earth. Above is my swimming spot, Villasimius Beach in Sardinia. It’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth. The water is crystal clear, warm and inviting. If you love beaches and archaeology as much as I do, you’ve got to check it out. Marysia Maciocha, check out my blog at Sardinia coast line If you’re not beachy, don’t fret, there’s plenty for you too. This island has something for everyone. If you like the outdoors, go trekking, climbing, diving, windsurfing or cycling. If you’re a foodie, the seafood is some of the freshest I ever had and because of all the goats, there’s a lot of delicious cheese. It’s also extremely safe for the solo traveler. Cathy Goldner at www.solo-travelers-alliance.com. Ubud, Bali a procession Ubud, Bali “You won’t be in the spiritual town of Ubud in Bali, Indonesia long before you learn that traffic slows down several times a week to allow the Hindu processions to pass through. Everything in Bali moves at such a languid pace that it hardly seems an inconvenience to park yourself on the sidewalk for a while and watch the papier-mache elephants dance past, along with the elaborately decorated girls in lace dresses, wearing make-up as bright as the bouquets of flowers they carry. Like everything else in Bali, the traditional ceremonies of Ubud are a thing of beauty to behold.” Tasha Hacker at Changmai and elephants Chang Mai, Thailand When I visited Chiang Mai, I resisted taking a “hokey” elephant ride. Then I got talked into it–and I loved it! Elephants rock you from side to side until you feel that you’re going to fall off at any moment. When you recover from laughing, you will notice that your elephant has stopped short to test out a piece of grass for a brief snack along the route. Needless to say, my first experience riding elephants was not my last! One place in the world a travel blogger will not want to miss is SE Aisa. I suggest to start in Bangkok, Thailand. Bring your camera and take a ride down the Chao Phraya River on your first day just to get the lay of the land. Also, stop by the Temple of Dawn on the west banks. There is definitely a photo opportunity there. Eat Lunch on the street or tuck inside of Sala Rattanakosin for a great view of the Temple. The Delicate arch is a symbol of the state of Utah. It was originally known as the “Cowboy chaps,” which really does look like the leather leg covers used by ranchers. This view of the Delicate Arch shows the La Sal Mountains in the background. The 1.5 mile hike from the Wolfe Ranch parking area to the arch is marked with cairns (small stacked rocks) to show the way. The walk is without much shade, so be sure to bring plenty of water. Visit Neva Fels travel site at The entire country of Belize is a gorgeous destination with photo opportunities everywhere you turn. The mainland offers towering ancient Mayan ruins, verdant rain forests and the wildlife that comes with them, and happy locals sitting on the porches of their stilted homes. The cayes provide white sand beaches, crystal clear blue waters, and bright, colorful island homes. And since Belize has the second largest barrier reef in the world, its waters offer even more exciting opportunities for the underwater photographer. Katherine Belarmino Visit my travel blog Travel the World at Iceland is a magical playground for any landscape photographer. While it may not be the most colorful or lush island — painted predominantly black with volcanic rock and ash, capped with white in winter and a low green mantle in summer — it’s a land of astounding texture and topography, from the intricate formations of small rocks found in the lava fields to the dramatic mountains and glaciers rising and blanketing the island. If you’re keen on waterfalls, Iceland has them in spades. Photogenic creatures such as the small-stature Icelandic horses and the birds and seals along the coastline are another delightful feature. And of course, in winter, the opportunity to witness and photograph the northern lights is one of the most special ones our planet has to offer. Shara Johnson at SKJtravel.net Taking in the sunset at the Atacama Desert in Chile Atacama Desert, Chile One of the best destinations for photography that I visited in 2013 was without a doubt the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. Covering an area of 1000 kilometres and located west of the Andes mountain range, the Atacama Desert is known as the driest place in the world. There are many beautiful salt lagoons, volcanoes and surreal landscapes. So it’s really not surprising that NASA has used this region to test some of the equipment for its missions to Mars. But it’s not only the landscapes that are special here, the skies are also remarkable; with clear skies that allow for awesome stargazing! Bianca Bauza at Labuan Bajo, Komodo National Park, Indonesia “Labuan Bajo lies on the westernmost coast of the island of Flores in Indonesia. Known best as the gateway to Komodo National Park, Labuan Bajo sees a fair number of tourists, but at heart it’s still a small fishing village. The vibe is laid-back and people are exceptionally friendly. Highlights for us included exploring the national park, scuba diving and some of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve seen anywhere. With tourism growing fast, there are accommodation and dining options to suit all budgets. Labuan Bajo is also a good jumping-off point for adventures to the interior of the island, with interesting archaeological and historical sites.”Tamara & Donny with TurtlesTravel at Hampi, India Hampi, Karnataka, India Hampi was my favorite place in India. A small village, surrounded by rice fields, bizarre boulders and fresh water lakes. Probably the most relaxed place in India. Theimageis taken on top from the Monkey TempleinHampi. Photo Credit: Sabrina Iovino | www.JustOneWayTicket.com Istria skyline From rolling hills, charming seaside & hilltop towns, vineyards, and olive groves Istria is the new place to go. This heart-shaped penisnula located in the northern Adriatic region of Croatia offers charming coastline and rustic hinterland. Given its size, the both can be enjoyed in the same day. Istria is heaven for food, wine and cycling aficionados. Vera Br at I had heard that Trebinje was a beautiful city but I wasn’t prepared for how stunningly beautiful it actually is. It might be a small city but there is plenty to keep trigger-happy photographers busy: The mountains, waterside, small market place, the Old Town from the Ottoman period, the Ottoman bridge (Perovica Most), and Hercegovacka Gracanica where the Serbian Poet, Jovan Ducic is buried. It’s only about 20 miles from Dubrovnik and definitely worth visiting. Turkey is a photographer’s dream. From the historic treasures of Istanbul to the stunning landscapes of Cappadocia, the old cities of Central Anatolia and the heritage listed Mount Nemrut, the hamsi fisherman on the Black Sea, and the historic ruins of Ephesus there is something for everyone! I haven’t even mentioned the local markets at the small villages dotted around the country, the friendliest people I have ever met and some of the best food you’ll ever eat! Join me on a journey of travel and food http://atasteoftravelblog.com Hagia Sophia, Istanbul Hagia Sophia is a unique mixture of architectural, cultural and religious styles. Originally built as a Christian Church in the early Christian days of Constantinople, it later become a mosque. Unlike most churches to become mosques, the Christian motifs and symbols were kept in Hagia Sophia. Now a museum owned by the Turkish government, Hagia Sophia is one of Istanbul’s most visited sites. While it is terribly photogenic, with glorious art and light at every turn, my advice is to take some photos, then put your camera away to soak in the atmosphere and sheer beauty of this magnificent testament to religious architecture, art and tolerance. Water villa Maldives “If you dream of visiting powdery white sand and clear idyllic beaches, the Maldives is where you’ll want to visit this year. This archipelago isolated in the Indian Ocean was once an exclusive getaway for the rich and famous. However, tourism is going to increase this year as many budget airlines are beginning to fly there, helping to make paradise a bit more affordable.” Beth Williams at www.besudesuabroad.com Mesa arch, Canyonlands National Park No need to be a real photographer to get this shot. Just make sure you get up in the middle of the night so you are right on time to see the sunrise behind Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, Utah. By far the most spectacular place for sunrise pictures we have ever been to…Antonette our website is http://we12travel.nl Windows at Fort Union Fort Union National Park, New Mexico Sometimes a place doesn’t get discovered. Fort Union National Monument, part of the vast National Parks network, is one of these and it’s a gem. Located in the middle of nowhere, about an hour-and-a-half northeast of Santa Fe off I-25,, it is worth a visit if you’re in the area. We’d driven past it many times on our way to and from Colorado and never stopped until a few years ago. Now it’s one of my favorite spots in the area. This old Union Army supply depot and fort, built in 1851 along the Santa Fe Trail, was a major supply station until the railroad arrived in 1880. After that, most supplies were shipped via rail. Fort Union was closed in 1891.The original buildings, made of stone and adobe, were left to deteriorate in the high desert sun. Today, what remains are stark and eerie adobe and stone silhouettes against a Rocky Mountains background. Fort Union is a photographer’s dream. Grab your camera and go! Ecuador, Galapagos I’ve picked the Galapagos islands, the archipelago of volcanic islands situated about 1,000km of the Ecuadorian coast, as my must see photo worthy destination of 2014. The endemic species and variety of nature on the island group will make these islands a favourite for nature and wildlife photographers of every level. There are so many beautiful places and animals there, that it’s hard not to use your camera continuously, the animals are in no hurry and will happily pose for you! Where many people opt for multiple day cruises to visit the different islands, we decided to stay at the island Santa Cruz and stay a couple of days here, which was a great way to spend some quality time with giant tortoises, while visiting El Chato Tortoise Reserve, and seals and iguanas, that were laying randomly on the streets in Puerto Ayora day and night. As each island is inhabited by different endemic species, we also took some day-cruises to different islands like North Seymour and Isabela to see unique wildlife, like blue-footed boobies, frigates, hammerhead sharks, turtles, penguins and iguanas. Lydian Brunsting Founder/ photographer at http://www.shoutography.com/ Curacao Panorama Curacao is our favorite Caribbean island for many reasons, but one of the main reasons we love the island is because of its unique beauty and a multitude of adventurous activities. The landscape ranges from oceanside cliffs, beautiful beaches with crystal clear water and thriving coral reefs, and a mountain with amazing views from the top; because the island is generally dry you will also find cactus in the mist of beautiful flowers. Last but not least, the small towns provide a great look into island life as well as many unique photo opportunities! One of my favorite discoveries in Ireland was taking a Hawk Walk at Ashford Castle. The castle itself was the original draw, but the hawk experience turned out to be the fondest memory. This picture depicts my husband, Gene, getting acquainted with our hawk, Inca–the first Peruvian hawk in Ireland. Our guide was very cooperative and helpful in setting up shots and suggesting the best spots for me to stand. I also managed to get some excellent videos of the experience. In addition to photographing the hawk walk, ancient Ashford Castle is spectacular for photographs and the adjacent village of Cong is quite colorful. There are so many places in Japan to visit and are worthwhile places to experience the amazing beauty, history and environment. Nikko exemplifies all of these attributes and more – the natural landscape is mostly in its natural state with gorgeous panoramas, historic Unesco World Heritage sites, charming towns and wonderful hot springs to relax after a busy day of exploring the area. If you are a lover of nature and also historic sites and architecture, then put Nikko along with many other amazing places in Japan on your bucket list, its a must see for those that love to do photography and also enjoy an exciting and exotic country. Patagonia, Croatia, Iceland, Belize, Galapagos ohhhh they are wonderful photos of places I so want to visit. But actually I couldn’t pick just one from this awesome collection. What a wonderful world we live in, just begging to be explored. Reply [email protected] January 14, 2014 at 12:07 pm So many wonderful places are now added to my bucket travel wish list. Thanks for including my daughter’s delicate arch photo (Kari Sikorski Photography). Reply Brittany Ruth January 14, 2014 at 10:58 am Thanks for sharing such amazing places. I already have a bunch that I’ve been waiting to see but there are so many other cool places on here too. Reply Sofie January 14, 2014 at 10:25 am So many amazing photographs in here! My bucket list just got a lot longer… again:D Reply the cape on the corner January 14, 2014 at 9:42 am thank you for that gorgeous collection! I can’t wait to add to my travel photos this spring, when we will experience paris for the first time. nervous, and excited. Reply Leah January 14, 2014 at 8:53 am Wonderful images! Consider me inspired! Iceland is on the top of my 2014 list- glad to see you enjoyed it there. 🙂

Who is Beggar-ing Whose Neighbors? The FT's Martin Wolf has an interesting column about global imbalances and the economic slump. He calls on the surplus countries to take responsibility for increasing global demand:In normal times, current account surpluses of countries that are either structurally mercantilist – that is, have a chronic excess of output over spending, like Germany and Japan – or follow mercantilist policies – that is, keep exchange rates down through huge foreign currency intervention, like China – are even useful. In a crisis of deficient demand, however, they are dangerously contractionary.Countries with large external surpluses import demand from the rest of the world. In a deep recession, this is a “beggar-my-neighbour” policy. It makes impossible the necessary combination of global rebalancing with sustained aggregate demand. John Maynard Keynes argued just this when negotiating the post-second world war order.In short, if the world economy is to get through this crisis in reasonable shape, creditworthy surplus countries must expand domestic demand relative to potential output. How they achieve this outcome is up to them. But only in this way can the deficit countries realistically hope to avoid spending themselves into bankruptcy.Some argue that an attempt by countries with external deficits to promote export-led growth, via exchange-rate depreciation, is a beggar-my-neighbour policy. This is the reverse of the truth. It is a policy aimed at returning to balance. The beggar-my-neighbour policy is for countries with huge external surpluses to allow a collapse in domestic demand. They are then exporting unemployment. If the countries with massive surpluses allow this to occur they cannot be surprised if deficit countries even resort to protectionist measures. (For a similar argument by Michael Pettis, see this earlier post).Dani Rodrik has a related worry, that America's propensity to import reduces the effectiveness of any stimulus because a significant portion of the spending will be on imported goods. That is, the marginal propensity to import reduces the simple spending multiplier (which he guestimates at 1.8): Now suppose that we had a way to raise the multiplier by more than half, from 1.8 to 2.8. The same fiscal stimulus would now produce an increase in GDP of $2.8 trillion--quite a difference. Nice deal if you can get it. In fact you can. It is pretty easy to increase the multiplier; just raise import tariffs by enough so that the marginal propensity to import out of income is reduced substantially (to zero if you want the multiplier to go all the way to 2.8). Yes, yes, import protection is inefficient and not a very neighborly thing to do--but should we really care if the alternative is significantly lower growth and higher unemployment? More to the point, will Obama and his advisers care? Being the open economy that it is, I fear that the U.S. will have to confront this dilemma sooner or later. In an environment where the dollar has already appreciated against the Euro and even more significantly against emerging market currencies, fiscal stimulus here will produce an even larger current account deficit. If American consumers decide to spend 40 cents of a dollar of additional income on cheap imports from China and other foreign countries, the multiplier will be a mere 1.3. How long will it take before politicians of all stripes cry foul over the leakage through the trade account and the "gift to foreigners" that this represents? And they will have Keynesian logic on their side. One would hope that a decline in the Dollar - though not too abruptly, please - could be an adjustment mechanism (even if panic-induced demand for US Treasuries has moved the Dollar in the other direction lately) but Chinn and Wei's finding that flexible exchange rates do not facilitate current account adjustment suggests otherwise. That's counter-intuitive, but I guess I shouldn't be too surprised; some of my own work has studied another aspect of the "exchange rate disconnect" puzzle. Labels:

Milkweed's spectacular autumn podcast The final stage in milkweed's life cycle is a magnificent aerial dispersal of its seeds. The dried pods, remants of those huge blossoms, crack open and several hundred aerodynamic seeds are exposed to the wind; this happens gradually, over a period of days rather than all at once, presumably to maximize the range of distribution of their landing sites. I hope that every child (and the inner child of every adult) has had or will have the opportunity to hold a dried stem aloft and shake it gently on an autumn day. One can't help but marvel at how this immensely effective dispersal mechanism has evolved over the millennia. Those who raise milkweed in butterfly gardens need to be aware that neighbors may not share their enthusiasm for the plant. We cut down the stems of all our plants just before the pods open. The seeds are then available for "stealth gardening" along roadsides or in wastelands. For those who want to distribute the seeds by hand in a more controlled fashion, the seeds can be separated from the fluff (the coma), or even more simply just digitally removed from a mature but unopened pod (instructive video here). (and yes, I know it's actually a "seedcast," not a podcast, but I couldn't resist using the word) "Shellshock" - a scary new computer bug The flaw has been found in a software component known as Bash, which is a part of many Linux systems as well as Apple's Mac operating system. The bug, dubbed Shellshock, can be used to remotely take control of almost any system using Bash, researchers said... "Whereas something like Heartbleed was all about sniffing what was going on, this was about giving you direct access to the system," Prof Alan Woodward, a security researcher from the University of Surrey, told the BBC. "The door's wide open." Some 500,000 machines worldwide were thought to have been vulnerable to Heartbleed. But early estimates, which experts said were conservative, suggest that Shellshock could hit at least 500 million machines... "Using this vulnerability, attackers can potentially take over the operating system, access confidential information, make changes, et cetera," said Tod Beardsley, a Rapid7 engineer... For general home users worried about security, Prof Woodward suggested simply keeping an eye on manufacturer websites for updates - particularly for hardware such as broadband routers. Wasp nest on a window The world's fastest camera is capable of taking 4,000,000,000,000 pictures per second. African vultures are being killed by poachers and are now as endangered as the rhinos. The Guiness World Record for clapping hands belongs to Vanna White, hostess of Wheel of Fortune, who has accumulated approximately 3.5 million on-screen claps. "Despite Legalization, Colorado Teenagers Stubbornly Refuse to Smoke More Pot." ...they are part of a general downward trend in Colorado that has continued despite the legalization of medical marijuana in 2001, the commercialization of medical marijuana in 2009 (when the industry took off after its legal status became more secure), and the legalization of recreational use (along with home cultivation and sharing among adults) at the end of 2012. A supercut of careless or criminally negligent package deliveries by FedEx employees (I should note that the ones for our neighborhood are great). A new online tracking device can monitor and record what websites you've visited. The sad legacy of New Age fascination with the iconic Serpent Mound in Ohio (photo at right). Video of immense smuggling tunnels between Mexico and the U.S. "...tear gas is a chemical agent banned in warfare per the Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993, which set forth agreements signed by nearly every nation in the world — including the United States. The catch, however, is that while it’s illegal in war, it’s legal in domestic riot control." "Amazon’s profits for its entire existence [20 years] are still less than what ExxonMobil takes home every 2.5 weeks." DNA used to track Michelle Obama's white ancestors - "The results showed that the two families were related. The DNA testing indicated that Melvinia’s owner’s son was the likely father of Melvinia’s biracial child, Dolphus Shields. (Dolphus Shields is the first lady’s great-great grandfather.) Impressive stop-motion animation using carved foam. A new major Mayan city has been discovered in the jungle of the Yucatan. It’s illegal for drug companies to advertise their prescription drugs to consumers almost everywhere in the world. The only exceptions are the US and New Zealand. "A Summerville High School student who says he was arrested and suspended after writing about killing a dinosaur using a gun in a class assignment has hired a lawyer... Investigators say the teacher contacted school officials after seeing the message containing the words "gun" and "take care of business," and police were then notified on Tuesday. Summerville police officials say Stone's book bag and locker were searched on Tuesday, and a gun was not found." "At least 100,000 elephants have died in just the last three years. If this rate continues, African elephants could go extinct in a few decades." Oceanic plankton have been found on the outside surface of the internatinal space station. Jane Austen used straight pins to edit a manuscript (photo at left). "With no calculated blank spaces and no obvious way of incorporating large revision or expansion she had to find other strategies – the three patches, small pieces of paper, each of which was filled closely and neatly with the new material, attached with straight pins to the precise spot where erased material was to be covered or where an insertion was required to expand the text." Uncle John's Bathroom Reader explains the difference between ice cream, frozen custard, gelato, sherbet, sorbet, and frozen yogurt. An update on the unrest in Pakistan and the role of opposition leader Imran Kahn. "A chef preparing a dish made from cobra flesh died when the snake's head he had severed 20 minutes earlier bit him on the hand." The outfits for a Colombian women's cycling team have generated a storm of protest because of the use of flesh-colored fabric: Video of the cyclists is available at The Telegraph. Jon Stewart's tirade re "boobs on the ground" At 3:00 AM during the night of December 14–15, 1916, a train with 21 carriages, full of gold bars and gold coins (around 120 tonnes), departed the Iaşi train station eastward. In four other carriages, two hundred gendarmes guarded the train. The gold load of this train has as of 2005 a value of $1.25 billion. Seven months later, in the summer of 1917, as the war situation was getting worse for Romania, another transport was sent to Moscow, containing the most precious objects of the Romanian state, including the archives of the Romanian Academy, many antique valuables, such as 3,500-year-old golden jewels found in Romania, ancient Dacian jewels, the jewels of the voivodes of Wallachia and Moldavia, as well as the jewels of the Romanian royalty, thousands of paintings, as well as precious cult objects owned by Romanian monasteries, such as 14th century icons and old Romanian manuscripts. It also contained various deposits of the Romanian people at the national banks. The value of this train is hard to estimate, especially because most of its contents are art objects, but most likely nowadays it could even surpass the value of the other train... After the Romanian Army entered Bessarabia, at the time nominally part of Russia, in the early 1918, the new Soviet government severed all diplomatic relations and confiscated the Romanian treasure. The Romanian government tried to recover the treasure in 1922, but with little success. In 1935, the USSR did return a part of the archives, and in 1956 paintings and ancient objects, most notably, the Pietroasele treasure. "Dances with quadcopters" "Cirque du Soleil, ETH Zurich, and Verity Studios have partnered to develop a short film featuring 10 quadcopters in a flying dance performance. The collaboration resulted in a unique, interactive choreography where humans and drones move in sync. Precise computer control allows for a large performance and movement vocabulary of the quadcopters and opens the door to many more applications in the future." Your children will eat jellyfish for dinner From an article in Modern Farmer: About five miles offshore a crewmate spots, floating near the surface, a mat of gyrating grapefruit-sized globs that stretch the length of five city blocks, a slick so thick it appears as if you could walk on it. These are cannonball jellyfish. Locals call them “jellyballs.” And they will be dinner. “Jellyballs have been very, very good to me,” says King, who has worked as a state trooper for the last 20 years, and might be the only jelly-balling cop in the country. This past season was particularly robust: King and his men caught an estimated 5 million-plus pounds of cannonball jellyfish. At what King says is this year’s price (seven cents a pound), this equates to $350,000... These brownish Cnidarians (from the Greek knide, or nettle, for their ability
to sting) are now the state of Georgia’s third biggest fishery by volume, behind crabs and shrimp. The first cannonball jellies were commercially harvested off the Gulf Coast of Florida in the early ’90s, and since then Darien, Georgia, has become the epicenter of the industry... At the Golden Island plant, the jellies are dried and shipped to China and Japan, where they are cut into long, thin strips and served in salads with cabbage and teriyaki sauce. If prepared right, the jellyfish are crunchy, like a carrot. Jellyfish are popular in China, along with other sea creatures like geoducks (those gigantic phallic clams from the Pacific Northwest) for similar textural reasons. But these sorts of foods are being embraced well beyond Asia. And as climate change and the global industrial agriculture system continue on what many view as a doomed course, we may have no choice but to eat foods that make sense ecologically — or can at least thrive in a changed The weed some officials refer to as "Satan" has moved into the Midwest from cotton country, and was discovered in western Iowa soybean fields last year. It's native to desert regions of the southwest U.S. and northern Mexico... The plants can grow as tall as 7 feet, each one producing as much as a million seeds. Its stems can grow as thick as baseball bats... "The big concern is, in Southern states, it has developed — quickly — resistance to a considerable amount of herbicides," Johnson said. And a more measured viewpoint from the Wikipedia entry: Amaranthus palmeri is a species of edible flowering plant in the amaranth genus. It has several common names, including Palmer's amaranth, Palmer amaranth, Palmer's pigweed, and carelessweed. It is native to most of the southern half of North America... The leaves, stems and seeds of Palmer amaranth, like those of other amaranths, are edible and highly nutritious. Palmer amaranth was once widely cultivated and eaten by Native Americans across North America, both for its abundant seeds and as a cooked or dried green vegetable. Other related Amaranthus species have been grown as crops for their greens and seeds for thousands of years in Mexico, South America, the Caribbean, Africa, India, and China. The plant can be toxic to livestock animals... Palmer amaranth is considered a threat most specifically to the production of genetically modified cotton and soybean crops in the southern United States because in many places, the plant has developed resistance to glyphosate. Wildfire in Yosemite This remarkable photo by Darvin Atkeson enlarges to wallpaper size with a click. Source. Video of a siphonophore Siphonophores are of special scientific interest because they are composed of medusoid and polypoid zooids that are morphologically and functionally specialized. Each zooid is an individual, but their integration with each other is so strong, the colony attains the character of one large organism. Indeed, most of the zooids are so specialized, they lack the ability to survive on their own. This is somewhat analogous to the construction and function of multicellular organisms; because multicellular organisms have cells which, like zooids, are specialized and interdependent, siphonophores may provide clues regarding their evolution. Miranda said it best: "O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here!" The brutal death and postmortem mutilation of King Richard III A sword or battleaxe spike was thrust four inches into the deposed monarch's head by King Henry VII's forces and appears to have claimed his life at the Battle of Bosworth, ending the War of the Roses. He suffered a total of 11 wounds around the time of his death, nine to his skull and two to the rest of his body, according to the analysis... Experts believe it was one of two blows to his head or an impact to his pelvis that claimed the Plantagenet King's life, although investigators hinted that the pelvis injuries might have been inflicted after death as an act of vindictive battlefield celebration. A computer simulation appears to show Richard's injuries are consistent with accounts that his body was thrown over a horse and mutilated by angry bystanders... Prof Hainsworth said: "Richard's injuries represent a sustained attack or an attack by several assailants with weapons from the later medieval period. The wounds to the skull suggest that he was not wearing a helmet, and the absence of defensive wounds on his arms and hands indicate that he was otherwise still armoured at the time of his death." From The Telegraph, where there is an informative video. "Emblems of belief" approved for use on U.S. government headstones Hagfish slime First, this incredible information about the technology of the threads of slime: In self-defense the hagfish produces from its glands a slime that is composed of nanometer width threads and what is likely sugar or glyco-modifications. The slime is thought to impede capture by making the hagfish slippery, and possibly by clogging the gills of a predator. The nanothreads are remarkable: comparable to spider silk in tensile strength (800 megapascals or near 1 gigapascal) and lightness, and 5 times stronger than steel on a weight basis. Moreover, each thread is only 12 nanometers wide but 15 centimeters long. Amazingly, a full thread is wrapped up in so that it fits within a single cell, highly specialized and called a gland thread cell (GTC). Scientists have uncovered, using electron microscopy, the organization of a single hagfish nano-sized thread, helping resolve the mystery of why extrusion of such a long (compared to its width) thread from the cell does not cause tangling. The thread is coiled up in a conical “skein” in 15-20 layers. As a GTC matures, its nucleus migrates to an extreme pole, leaving most of the cell volume packed with a single coil of thread. The research was carried out by PhD student Timothy Winegard, a team of scientists, and led by senior author Professor Douglas Fudge at the University of Guelph. Here's a scanning EM of a disrupted thread cell (from the Journal of Cellular Biology): And finally a video of a hagfish defending itself with slime: It's not actually incorrect, but I would have been happier had the signmaker put an "s" on the "edible" to clarify that the word is being used as a noun, not as an adjective. (I wanted to put "something else" into the pit toilet) Both signs photographed at the University of Minnesota's Landscape Arboretum this past week. On the subject of ambiguity I'll also mention that several discussions of the current scandals involving the National Football League have included comments by "Domestic Abuse Advocates," who presumably would not refer to themselves in that fashion... Dance partner For students learning dance in the 1920s. (Presumably her name would be Amelia). Via gh2u. Migrating monarch butterflies detectable on weather radar Keen observers of our radar data probably noticed some fairly high returns moving south over southern Illinois and central Missouri. High differential reflectivity values as well as low correlation coefficient values indicate these are most likely biological targets. High differential reflectivity indicates these are oblate targets, and low correlation coefficient means the targets are changing shape. We think these targets are Monarch butterflies. A Monarch in flight would look oblate to the radar, and flapping wings would account for the changing shape! NWS St. Louis wishes good luck and a safe journey to these amazing little creatures on their long journey south! From the Facebook page of the U.S. National Weather Service in St. Louis Missouri. No comments: Let's have a lead party! The front cover shows Dutch Boy, carrying his paint bucket, being greeted by a toy lead soldier, a shoe, a plate and a light bulb. The back cover features a hand that has made a broad brush stroke with the admonition "'Save the surface and you save all'; Paint & Varnish"... The first page shows the Dutch Boy talking to the lead soldier; it is followed by 14 images--7 in color and 7 in outline--of items that use lead. Items include a light bulb (lead glass), shoes and baseballs (lead in the rubber), and a bullet (entirely made of lead). Each outlined image was to be filled in using the complementary color image at its side as a guide. Text via The Ethical Adman, where there is additional information; image via Sweet Dreams. "Agafia's Taiga Life" - updated "Taiga cleanses you." Today I received an email from staff at Vice, informing me that they had posted the documentary about Agafia Lykov. I've embedded it above. For those new to this blog, or those with impaired short-term memory, the background story is here: Isolated for 40 years in the taiga. I'm currently reading the book and will probably report on that later. [reviewed here]. This is a remarkable and captivating video. The narration is modest, descriptive rather than judgmental, and consists primarily of the words of Agafia herself. The images are awesome in terms of giving insight into a way of life that is absolutely and totally different from mine and your own, but perhaps somewhat like that of our great-grandparents. Find the fullscreen button in the corner of the video and click it. This is well worth your time. Trust me. Addendum: A Redditor found Agafia's house on Google Maps. Zoom out to gain some perspective on her isolation. Reposted from 2013 to add an update on Agafia's current status: This summer she has been bothered by a wild bear, which has sniffed around her huts in search of food. 'I scare it by banging on an empty bucket,' she said to a group led by Vladimir Makuta, head of Tashtagol district of Kemerovo region, who flew in by helicopter to bring her essential supplies of hay, grain, and potatoes, while also cutting firewood. In some time the bear will hibernate but this is not the only problem. 'I don't know about how will I get through the coming winter,' said Agafya, who will be 70 on 23 April next year (though some accounts say she has reached this milestone already). 'I didn't manage to finish half of the hay I need for my goats, and some of them are not giving milk. I have six goats now, and I can only milk a couple of them. 'And my logs are not ready. I really don't know.' An awesomely elaborate cabinet "One of the finest achievements of European furniture making, this cabinet is the most important product from Abraham (1711--1793) and David Roentgen's (1743--1807) workshop. A writing cabinet crowned with a chiming clock, it features finely designed marquetry panels and elaborate mechanisms that allow for doors and drawers to be opened automatically at the touch of a button. Owned by King Frederick William II, the Berlin cabinet is uniquely remarkable for its ornate decoration, mechanical complexity, and sheer size." One of the featured items from an exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum. A remarkable 18th-century gaming table "Elegant furniture incorporating intriguing mechanical devices was a trademark of the Roentgen workshop, which from 1768 until about 1793 was one of Europe's most successful cabinetmaking enterprises. The distinguished design and the innovative way prefabricated elements such as the detachable legs were assembled make this table an example par excellence of David Roentgen's ingenious creations. His objects are an amalgamation of superior technical skills, sophisticated looks, high quality materials, and multiple functions. Roentgen's patrons sought adaptable furnishings that could perform manifold tasks. This piece is a console, a desk for writing and reading, and a game table for cards and chess with a concealed spring-driven backgammon box. Yet when closed it took up only a small amount of space in the intimate interiors popular during the Age of Enlightenment. A set of eighteenth-century game pieces - twenty-nine stamped wooden medallions illustrating European monarchs and historical views - are associated with the table. " I had a delightful time at the 50th reunion of my high school class in Minneapolis. Amazingly, about 2/3 of the class returned, arriving from as far away as California, Florida, Montana, Vermont, Texas, and nine other states for three days of renewing the best friendships of our lives. Image via Seleene's Sandbox. 8 comments: "Babe, I'm Gonna Leave You" (for about a week) Hate to leave the blog again so soon, but real life calls. YOLO, and all that.., New Zealand basketball team's haka Before their match with the United States team, the New Zealanders performed a traditional "haka" The various types of haka include whakatu waewae, tutu ngarahu and peruperu. The peruperu is characterised by leaps during which the legs are pressed under the body. In former times, the peruperu was performed before a battle in order to invoke the god of war and to discourage and frighten the enemy. It involved fierce facial expressions and grimaces, poking out of the tongue, eye bulging, grunts and cries, and the waving of weapons. If the haka was not performed in total unison, this was regarded as a bad omen for the battle. Often, warriors went naked into battle, apart from a plaited flax belt around the waist. The tutu ngarahu also involves jumping, but from side to side, while in the whakatu waewae no jumping occurs. Another kind of haka performed without weapons is the ngeri, the purpose of which was to motivate the warriors psychologically. The movements are very free, and each performer is expected to be expressive of their feelings. Manawa wera haka were generally associated with funerals or other occasions involving death. Like the ngeri they were performed without weapons, and there was little or no choreographed movement. World-record tomato Grown by a man in Ely, Minnesota, it weighed 8.41 pounds. The Big Zac variety tends to have “megablooms,” with individual tomatoes growing fused together. MacCoy said his record-breaking tomato looks like five individual fruits wrapped into one. He started the plants on April 15 indoors, then moved them to his greenhouse in early May. From there he carefully pruned the plants of all other growth except the vine supporting his tomato, using a theory that a small plant would produce larger tomatoes. Dehydrated chicken manure, kelp meal, humic acid, triple-10 fertilizer and other “stuff like that” kept the soil nourished, said MacCoy. Even the watering was by design: he watered the plant by hand using rainwater he collected in a barrel. When the tomato’s weight became too much for the plant, Sara bought a pair of pantyhose to use as a sling to support it. The death of Yiddish I've never been one to share the agonies of those who despair over the death of languages, except insofar as the loss of ancient languages renders certain documents and artworks unreadable. An entry at The Dish discusses the inclusion of Yiddish as a threatened language: Frankel comments on how secular Judaism has contributed to the death of Yiddish and a simultaneous loss of traditional Jewish identity: The secular community is dead, dead, dead. There’s no Yiddish press, no Yiddish theater [not quite accurate since there is one still-vibrant group, the National Yiddish Theater-Folksbiene]. Dead, dead, dead. There were hundreds of Sholem Aleichem schools, Peretz schools. Where are they? How many Yiddish books are being published? The secular people dominated everything and now they’ve lost. Hasidim are pushing everyone to be more religious, more Jewish. Rabbi Frankel’s bemoaning of the potential extinction of Yiddish illuminates a greater issue: The language has become synonymous with Orthodox Judaism and has lost its meaning within the secular parts of the faith. School principal inspires her students Jody De St. Hubert, principal of Alice Smith Elementary in Hopkins, Minnesota, challenged her students last year to read over 10,000 books. She then lived up to her end of the deal - dyeing her hair purple and camping on top of the school's roof. To speed up your re-orientation, note that the "eye" is painted on the center of the model's forehead. Created by Johannes Stötter, whose website is here. Learn about human decomposition at a "body farm" "Excarnation in Texas" is an essay exploring a body farm in Texas. This isn't the body farm I'm familiar with in Tennessee, but it serves a similar purpose: Kate, an associate professor at Texas State University in San Marcos, does most of her work at their Forensic Anthropology Center (FACTS)—the centerpiece of which is the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF), the largest of America’s five “body farms.” Including Kate, FACTS has three full-time researchers, a rotating crew of anthropology graduate students and undergraduate volunteers, and a steady influx of cadaver donations from both individuals and their next of kin—brought in from Texas hospitals, hospices, medical examiners’ offices, and funeral homes. When I arrive, Kate is helping lead a weeklong forensics workshop for undergrads, spread out across five excavation sites where skeletal remains have been buried to simulate “crime scenes.”... While grad students carry out the “intake” and “placement” of the bodies outdoors, about twenty-five undergrads volunteer to process the remains for free, from disarticulating the sun-dried cadavers to soaking them in the kettles to scrubbing the last bits of cartilage off with their gloved hands. They remove tendons with hemostats and toothbrushes, then they wash the bones again by hand, adding Dawn if still greasy. Finally, they leave them out on countertops to dry... Perhaps surprisingly, his immediate reaction to the photos, and the details of the research—scientists “captured the vultures jumping up and down on the woman’s body, breaking some of her ribs”—was one of pride. “Just the amount of damage done to the body—it was hours, literally hours, and it was clean,” he says. “It was just this huge amount of unthought-of information.” In his enthusiasm, Ted posted a link on Facebook saying, “Hey, look! Mom got eaten by vultures! Awesome!” In a third-grade classroom at her elementary school, Mary was online and saw the note from her youngest brother. She clicked on the link—and had a typical Robinson family reaction: “I was like ‘Oh, cool! They’re talking about her!’” Then she saw the pictures. “And it was ‘Oh, there’s Mom’s face! There’s her teeth! Oh, there’s her ribs! Oh, wow.’” Mary was deeply hurt when her friends and colleagues at work were unable to relate to her excitement at the news. “I have just hit revulsion, revulsion, revulsion—and it’s very lonely and hard. This is awesome—but it’s so out-of-the-box, there’s no paradigm. That’s your mom? What?” Much more at the interesting link. 1 comment: A walkway in Jerez Apparently those are grapevines, not trees. “Jerez” is the hispanicized version of “Sherish” which was its Moorish name when the town was under Islamic rule. The English speaking world modified the Arabic into “Sherry,” Jerez being the origin of Sherry wines. Credit to Sue's Sevilla Sabattical, via The World Geography and Reddit. Because physics You can make your own pendulum wave device (and you don't have to use bowling balls). Via Nothing to do with Arbroath. A staggering intracranial deficit New Scientist provides this image of a 24-year old woman who appears to have a form of cerebellar aplasia, with surprisingly minimal symptoms: The discovery was made when the woman was admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital of Jinan Military Area Command in Shandong Province complaining of dizziness and nausea. She told doctors she'd had problems walking steadily for most of her life, and her mother reported that she hadn't walked until she was 7 and that her speech only became intelligible at the age of 6. Doctors did a CAT scan and immediately identified the source of the problem – her entire cerebellum was missing. The space where it should be was empty of tissue. the etymology is not always definite. There are very few formal terms in the list, apart from a few expressions fostered by the law (intoxicated, over the limit), and some early scholarly words (inebriate(d), temulent, ebrious). Local regional variations are sometimes apparent, such as from Scotland (fou, strut, swash, blootered, swacked), England (bottled, pissed, rat­arsed), and Australia (blue, rotten, shickery, plonked, on one’s ear); and since the eighteenth century most new words in this semantic field have started out in the United States. But it’s rare to find a word that stays in one country for long, and these days online slang dictionaries have largely broken down geographical boundaries.... There seems to be a universal trend to avoid stating the obvious. To describe someone as simply drunk, in drink, or in liquor is accurate but evidently uninspiring. One fruitful vein is to find terms that characterize drunken appearance (owl­eyed, pie­eyed, cock­eyed, lumpy, blue, lit) or behaviour, especially erratic movement (slewed, bumpsy, reeling ripe, tow­ row, rocky, on one’s ear, zigzag, tipped, looped) or lack of any movement at all (stiff, paralytic). Another is mental state, such as being muddled (fuddled, muzzed, queer, woozy), elated (high­flown, wired, pixilated), or worn down (whittled, half­shaved, rotten, crocked, the worse for wear).... These days, though, the leading question for the lexicologist has to be: what exactly is the lexicon of drink? Many of the words formerly associated with drinking are now associated with drugs, such as high, loaded, pie­eyed, piped, potted, wasted, and blasted. Often Ohaguro is the custom of dyeing one's teeth black. It was most popular in Japan until the Meiji era. Tooth painting was also known and practiced in the southeastern parts of China and Southeast Asia. Dyeing was mainly done by married women, though occasionally men did it as well. It was also beneficial, as it prevented tooth decay, in a similar fashion to modern dental sealants. In 1873, the empress of Japan made a radical beauty statement, appearing in public with white teeth. For centuries, tooth blackening, known as ohaguro, signified wealth and sexual maturity especially for women in Japanese society, and they would drink an iron-based black dye tempered with cinnamon and other aromatic spices to achieve the lacquered look. Text and image via Deformutilation, where there are additional images. 1 comment: About 500 QI buzzers Those unfamiliar with the show may note that the testing of the buzzers typically occurs in groups of four, culminating with Alan Davies. These observations from the Wikipedia entry: Each panellist has a buzzer, with the sounds of all four often being based on a theme. They are demonstrated at the beginning of the programme, but are sometimes changed in some way for repeated use. Davies' buzzer usually subverts the theme established by the preceding three. Comical twists include in the ninth episode of series B (Bats), when all the first 3 buzzers were bells, then Alan's buzzer turned out to be a male voice (Leslie Phillips) saying "Well hello! Ding dong!" ... In episode 5 of Series A, rather than a comical buzzer, Davies set off the forfeit alarm, (suggesting he sets one every time he offers an answer) meaning he started the show on -10 points before a question was asked (it was later changed to the sound of a duck quacking)... Sometimes questions are based on the buzzers themselves, usually Davies'. For example, one of his buzzer noises the Series D episode "Descendants" sounded like a Clanger, and the panel had to try and guess what was being said (the answer being "Oh sod it, the bloody thing's stuck again.") In the Series F episode "Fakes and Frauds," all the buzzers sounded like ordinary household objects, but then turned out to be the sound of the superb lyrebird mimicking the noises. Davies's however, was again an exception; his buzzer, which sounded like a telephone, really was a telephone and not a lyrebird mimicking one. [A] 68-year-old Ohio businessman has stockpiled more than 8,000 of the old-fashioned credit-card-processing machines, known for their tendency to scrape the fingers of the merchants who operate them. Mr. Matthews keeps the machines boxed up individually on the shelves of his 12,000-square-foot warehouse, ready to be shipped at a moment's notice. He has enough spare parts to assemble another 2,000 if need be... But Mr. Matthews has been ringing up a few more sales lately. He credits a series of high-profile security breaches—including an incident that prompted restaurant chain P.F. Chang's China Bistro Inc. in June to start using manual imprinters at its 200 restaurants—for easing the knuckle-buster bust, at least temporarily... He says he recently was forced to pay cash at a bar while vacationing in Lake Tahoe because a sudden storm knocked out power and the restaurant didn't have a knuckle buster on hand. The devices are also sometimes used by merchants who don't have immediate access to an electronic system, such as a car-service driver or a seller at a street fair. Desks with pedals for preschoolers Via Reddit. How to impress fans and terrify opponents. Not. Via Neatorama. 3 comments: High school Native American mascots I searched the database and found 2,129 sports teams that reference Braves, Chiefs, Indians, Orangemen, Raiders, Redmen, Reds, Redskins, Savages, Squaws, Tribe and Warriors, as well as tribe names such as Apaches, Arapahoe, Aztecs, Cherokees, Chickasaws, Chinooks, Chippewas, Choctaws, Comanches, Eskimos, Mohawks, Mohicans, Seminoles, Sioux and Utes. (Not all teams with the names “Raiders” and “Warriors” are referencing Native Americans, but we spot-checked 20 schools with each name and a majority of each did.) Some 92 percent of those 2,129 team names belong to high schools (the rest were college, semi-pro, pro and amateur league teams). Of all the active high schools in the database, 8.2 percent have Native American team names. From FiveThirtyEightSports, where the information is discussed in detail. How the Star Wars' laser gun sounds were created Explained at the 1:40 mark. A medieval ring From a private collection in London, with provenance not described, offered by Timeline Auctions: "13th-16th century AD. A round-section penannular hoop with bulbs and opposed hands to the finials. 3.07 grams, 25 mm overall, 21.43 mm internal diameter."

The Republic of Uganda is a multilingual landlocked country in East Africa and bordered by Sudan in the North, Kenya in the East, Tanzania to the South, Rwanda in the Southwest and the Democratic Republic of Congo in the West. The country was named by the wartime British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill as the "Pearl of Africa." Her beautiful and dynamic scenery is characterized by lakes, rivers, ancient forests and savannas. The country is crossed in the south by the equator. Climate, travel time Uganda can be visited anytime throughout the year. Her seasons are divided into the rainy and dry seasons, which can rarely (although possibly) interfere with the tour plans. Uganda enjoys a relatively mild climate between 20 - 30 degrees Celsius. Only in the area of Lake Victoria, the humidity is slightly increased. Otherwise, you can expect a rather dry heat. In the higher elevations and in the mountains (Mt Elgon, Ruwenzori), temperatures below 20 degrees Celsius are not uncommon. The rainy season comes twice a year (October to November and March to late May). The best time is during the dry season from June to September and December to February. Visa Immigration to a visa and at least another 3 months valid passport is required. The visa you can re-apply at the Uganda Diplomatic missions in your country, at the payment of a Visa fee. To travel to Uganda are no vaccinations required, with the exception of yellow fever vaccination. The health care is the responsibility of every traveler. Vaccinations can help you feel good to travel with a very concrete and protect from infection of certain diseases. Vaccinations, which are generally recommended include: Hepatitis A and B, polio and tetanus. To travel to Uganda Yellow fever vaccination is mandatory. Furthermore, we strongly recommend malaria prophylaxis. Make this with your doctor first. The official language of Uganda is English and is spoken by all residents with education, at least in part. In addition, each ethnic group has its own language or dialect. Significant foreign language other than English is Kiswahili.Flights and Airports Uganda's Entebbe International Airport, 45 km southwest of the capital Kampala. Uganda is served at the time, unfortunately, not directly from most of the world. But there are a variety of alternatives of different airlines to get to Entebbe, such as British Airways, Egypt Air, Emirates, Ethiopia Airlines, KLM, Kenya Airways and SN Brussels Airlines. Currency / Foreign Exchange The currency in Uganda is the Uganda Shilling. Foreign currencies that can be easily exchanged in the banks are the US Dollar, the Pound Starling and the Euro. From the Forex Bureaus in Kampala you can also change a Japanese Yen, the Canadian Dollars, and the South African Rand. We advise that on your trip you take with you some few dollars (for example, for the visa fee). For drive of U.S. dollars is to ensure that nobills be adopted that are older than the Year 2000. For large slips (50, 100) you get some better exchange rate than in smaller denominations. Traveler's checks are exchanged only in very few banks. If you still do not want to miss travelers' checks, please think of your receipt of the check. This is required by most banks for inspection. Paying by credit card in Uganda is possible only in large hotels, expensive shops or at the international car rental companies. With a VISA card or a master card you can withdraw from Barclay's or Stanbic bank ATM points across the country. Security in Uganda has improved after more than fifteen years of stability ever. However, you should also note here are some precautions as you would in any foreign country you visit as guest: Never carry more money than necessary. Do not be exhibited with valuables in the streets, expensive watches and jewelry at home, lifted the safest. When visiting markets Bus parks and other highly frequented places you should take care of pickpockets. Avoid streets or remote areas. Insurance is always a question of personal risk taking and safety awareness. From our experience, we recommend that you definitely take out travel health insurance, which includes reimbursed medically necessary expenses, and again in an emergency return. Safari clothing should be casual and comfortable. Lightweight, light cotton clothing, T-shirts, long trousers, sturdy shoes, long sleeved shirts / blouses, a sweater or light jacket for the evening are recommended. By Uganda's proximity to the equator is sufficient sun protection (sun hat, cream, sun glasses) is essential. We recommend: A very good hiking shoes with ankle support for the gorilla trekking Appropriate socks Light shoes sandals possibly during car trips Short / three quarter length trousers Long sleeved shirts and T Shirts Light jacket Waterproof clothing / lightweight rain gear (no flashy colors) Backpack for the day pack Waterproof bag for camera and film The minimum age for participation in the gorilla trekking is 15 years old and each permit is likely to costs $ 650 starting from Jan. 2014. This applies to Uganda. In Rwanda the Gorilla permit cost $ 700 and in any case the Gorilla permits need to be fully purchased early in time to avoid inconveniences when planing a successful holiday trip with a Gorilla trekking activity. What you need a very good hiking safari shoes, a sweater or long sleeved shirt, a rain jacket and a backpack. All other game drives are mainly from the car instead. Since the roof flaps remain open for better game viewing it is recommended to bring a light rain jacket and a hat. Avoid the gorilla and chimpanzee trekking with bright color dresses. Subdued colors like gray, cream ,green are the best. Please note that the roads and paths in the wilderness is very uneven and bumpy, and occasionally go "off road". Although tipping is not obligatory in Uganda, in tourist related sites and activities, this culture has been highly adapted. Be therefore prepared to tip everywhere, where foreign tourists can be found. These include protected areas, hotels and upscale restaurants as well as drivers and guides in organized tours. Here's an appropriate tip is expected: In restaurants here, the amount to be paid simply rounded Driver / guide $ 10 per tourist per day Camps and Lodges U.S. $ 5 per tourist per night

Loose Ends 2015 This year I spent a lot of time thinking and reading slowly. Part of this slowness was due to the demands and interruptions of life. Part of it is a sort of lessening of energy I am experiencing either due to aging or my increased workload or both. I find my career more fatiguing than rewarding, regardless of the necessary money it makes me. The health insurance alone saves me several thousand dollars a year. All that is factored in and I accept it for now. I try, instead, to see my “job” as a meditation in action, or at least an obstacle course to strengthen my resilience. But working about 50 hours a week (and decompressing from work – I run and do yoga) slows my life in various ways. Since May I have been considering and reconsidering a post about various absurd perspectives on human consciousness. I find the linking of human consciousness with some sort of larger "force" or "agency" in the universe to be about as grounded and worthy of respect as The Force in Star Wars. But, I have to be careful about how I approach this subject. There are many potential roadblocks to clarity, much of them muddied by fringe scientists with a religious and/or spiritual agenda. Even more importantly, most human beings believe that they need this imaginary force or agency to live fulfilling lives - I don't really want to disrespect that specific metaphysical need. I have also been rereading two books on philosophical aesthetics beginning primarily with Nietzsche and including Heidegger, Adorno, Camus, Foucault among others. The Re-enchantment of the World and Life as Art each deal with the possibility of Art (and the incorporation of Art into one’s intimate life) as a replacement for religion in human living. I am very sympathetic to this perspective as it rings so true in my personal experience. These two books fascinate me and spark all sorts of (as yet) fragmented ideas. So, again, I am moving slowly through the experience of that. I spent a lot of time, particularly in the second half of the year, rereading my small collection of chess books and reacquainted myself with that ancient game. There was a time in my life when Ted, Jeffery, and I played dozens if not hundreds of games of chess. But that started in my college days and stopped well over a decade ago now. Again, I am doing this slowly, studying about a dozen games by world masters over the course of weeks while playing chess against my iPad a little. I enjoyed these moments of play along with a couple of wargames I concentrated on: Ukraine '43 and The Mighty Endeavor II - both of which I found fun and historically insightful. So I have not written as much in 2015 and much of what I have written is in the form of notes and random paragraphs. I have toyed with a couple of ideas for fictional writing but have made little headway other than a few spontaneous bursts of creativity which have yielded a few pages of what I would consider acceptable text. In addition to my thoughts on human consciousness mentioned above, I have several other blog posts in the works but also unfinished. They need more thought and consideration. My Nietzsche blog continues to progress slowly as well. The truth is kind of enjoy it, this journey - or the reveling within the consideration rather than the resolution of questions; in between walks on my land, staring at the sky and stars, regular running, tending to chores, and Flipboarding (see below). I blogged about various books I read throughout this year. There are some cool books already lined up for 2016, mostly of a historical nature. But I also am interested in rereading Proust again. It has been awhile. But Proust is massive and all-consuming and the slowness of reading his thousands of pages would overwhelm other worthy interests of the moment. So Proust will wait. Meantime, I began a biography of Soviet Marshall K.K. Rokossovsky after Christmas. I am particularly excited to read this history since we have so few biographies of Soviet commanders during the Second World War available in English. This is primarily a residual effect due to the inaccessibility of Soviet records during the Cold War period, when the Soviet history and culture was mostly off limits to the West. But since then a lot of terrific material of the Soviet war effort has become known, such as the work of Colonel David Glantz. Before the current period, only biographies on the great Soviet Marshal Georgy Zhukov were accessible to me. Nevertheless, in my general reading about the Eastern Front of WW2, I became aware of Rokossovsky’s particular operational prowess as an army commander. So, I look forward to learning more about this interesting military leader. Back to the Flipboarding mentioned above. I am not into social media much. I don't have a Facebook account or Snapchat or Instagram or anything. I have never seen much value in the mindless technological intrusion into human intimacy that all that entails. I text with family members but that is about it, except for my blogs, of course. At any rate, I blogged in last year's Loose Ends post about becoming an avid user and reader of the Flipboard app on my iPad. I admit there is an obsessive aspect to my Flipboarding. It is likely as bad as what everyone is doing with smartphones these days. I don’t have a smartphone, so Flipboard is my “plug-in” to technology. But, I would be doing this anyway, more or less. I am fascinated with the world and with keeping up with all things my magazines represent. They are all topics of fascination for me. I have always studied the news and read about current events more than most people I know. Only now when I do it, in the back of my mind, there are these invisible “followers” watching me – or at least peeking in on me now and then. Sometimes I think about them when I am selecting a story. But, I try to minimize that sort of mindset and stick to general journalistic guidelines I have formed in my head and gradually refined from using the app so much. I churn through over 100 content sources every day. I skim every story I flip into a magazine. But I usually fully read only 8-12 stories per day. My Loose Ends flipzine had no followers this time last year. Today it has 104. That is not a large number by any means. There are plenty of flipzines by other flipboarders that have thousands of followers and millions of page flips. Sex and Intimacy remains my most popular flipzine in terms of total page flips with more than 115,600, all basically over the past year. Notice: Art has the most followers with 477. I created it back in March. My daily news Notice Magazine has 189 followers and features my own mix of short-term news and special interest stories. Nearly 109,000 pages have been flipped in that one. So, I enjoy flipboarding, it is a "flow" experience for me. When I flipboard time just seems to fly. I discipline myself to keep it under two hours a day. That might sound absurd, spending so much time on such an activity. I am entertained, informed, puzzled, made more aware of so many things happening in our world. These things cannot be dismissed by either going outward into the infinity of space or inward into the infinity of consciousness. These are, all of them, things in themselves. They are out there in definable mental or physical (only) space. I can choose to trivialize them from some spiritual or scientific perspective - they don't really matter because of whatever theory you might wish to apply. But I think that theory is about as relevant to the origins and workings of things as my flipboarding all this content. Obviously, Flipboard in no way creates events nor does it make them happen. Yet that utter nonsense is pervasive in the grand dialog about "truth" (biocentrism or the alleged spiritual implications of quantum physics are two examples) and I hope to blog more about this ridiculousness in 2016. You do not need the Flipboard app to view my magazines. You can do it on your PC, if you like. It just formats the pages better if you use the app. My Flipboard magazines, for those interested…

Sustainable Development Goal 04: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all Targets under this goal #SDT041US - by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes #SDT042US - by 2030 ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education #SDT043US - by 2030 ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university #SDT044US - by 2030, increase by x% the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship #SDT045US - by 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, and children in vulnerable situations #SDT046US - by 2030 ensure that all youth and at least x% of adults, both men and women, achieve literacy and numeracy #SDT047US - by 2030 ensure all learners acquire knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including among others through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development #SDT04aUS - build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all #SDT04bUS - by 2020 expand by x% globally the number of scholarships for developing countries in particular LDCs, SIDS and African countries to enrol in higher education, including vocational training, ICT, technical, engineering and scientific programmes in developed countries and other developing countries #SDT04cUS - by 2030 increase by x% the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially LDCs and SIDS

The Lord’s Wonders at the Exodus 1When Israel came forth from Egypt, the house of Jacob from an alien people, 2Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel, God’s domain.a 3*The sea saw and fled; the Jordan turned back.b 4The mountains skipped like rams; the hills, like lambs.c 5Why was it, sea, that you fled? Jordan, that you turned back? 6Mountains, that you skipped like rams? You hills, like lambs? 7Tremble, earth, before the Lord,d before the God of Jacob, 8*Who turned the rock into pools of water, flint into a flowing spring.e

April 9, 2014 by USHistory Teachers Today's Free Video This video can be found here: =ZO-vmHFD-9g Download the lesson plan for this content below! What is inside this lesson plan? US History Lesson Plans Include 1) Bell ringer / opening activity 2) PowerPoint presentation 3) Guided notes worksheet for PowerPoint presentation 4) Bonus worksheet (vocabulary, crosswords, word search, etc.)

Printing Industry Lags Other Manufacturers in Defined Management Processes By Dr. Joe Webb Published: April 27, 2017 In what is not a surprise to many, the job shop operational structure of many printing businesses put the industry near the bottom of all manufacturing industries in terms of its management processes. These data come from the Census Bureau’s Management and Organizational Practices Survey. The data measure the presence and use of employee reviews, goal setting, planning, correction of problems, training, bonuses, performance indicators, and other factors. To make the data more digestible, we converted the data to an index where 100 is the average of all manufacturing industries. There are some factors that affect the rankings that are not discussed in the report, but seem obvious. Industries with a high cost of failure are near the top, such as transportation equipment. Building planes properly requires high measures of quality control. When planes can’t complete their journeys because of improper design or construction, the costs of even one failure can be devastating. Industries with heavy regulation are also near the top in the Census report, such as chemicals and food, where penalties for regulatory noncompliance are very high. Management planning and controls are essential in businesses where tracking and chain of custody through to the final user are important.

At my most alluring There was an article a while back in the NYT about how, if you're a black man in the US, dressed however professionally, no one will sit next to you on a commuter train in a white area. I must be whiter than whiter than white, or something, but I have the opposite problem: everybody, but everybody, wants to sit next to me on the Paris bus. There can be empty seats next to other people that are closer to the doors. Empty seats next to other empty seats. Facing front, even. Doesn't matter. People make a beeline for the seat next to the one I'm in. It doesn't matter if I have lots of bags with me and need to adjust those to make room. The seat next to mine is never empty for long. While it's easy enough to figure out what the NYT writer was experiencing - hmm, black, in the US, might it have been... racism? - I'm finding my bus situation, though of course far less upsetting than racism, far more mysterious. I'm by no means the whitest person riding public transportation in Paris, nor am I the smallest. The latter is sometimes the case in NY, which is why, when the empty seat next to me on public transportation back home inevitably fills, I'm not that baffled. I'd think that those with racist tendencies would not be inclined to park themselves next to someone as non-Gallic-looking as I am, but that the occasional riders wishing to make a PC point would opt for someone more of-color, veiled, or both. This aside, I tend to think I give off an air of unapproachability in public, even when not intending to, honed from... years spent riding subways and buses in big cities. People do not gravitate to me in this way in other public situations. So, what is it, and how can I make it stop? People tend to sit next to attractive people; I guess you will have to make yourself less attractive. I have that problem on public transportation in the US. People *always* sit next to me, even if there are other vacant seats (I've sat at almost the back, and have had people literally walk past an entire bus of empty aisle seats to sit next to me). I try to look unfriendly, but it really doesn't work. I also get approached for directions all the time, and panhandlers, and basically any other time people need something from a random stranger.In terms of race, I consciously try not to avoid sitting next to black men on a bus, even if it occasionally makes me uncomfortable, because I don't want to contribute to making someone feel like they are being avoided based on their race. I also have a real dilemma when the only seat left is next to a homeless person. I really hate sitting next to smelly people, and the thought of my clothes touching theirs grosses me out, but I also think it's extremely rude to stand rather than sit if there's an empty spot. If the person looks really smelly, I usually stand, if the person just looks off-putting for other reasons that don't look dangerous or completely unhygienic, I generally sit. I do on occasion encounter the problem that a white woman choosing to sit next to a black man is so rare, people sometimes read it as significant and assume I want to be hit on, which is uncomfortable. I try to link taking the seat with looking aloof, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.Another big bus dilemma is, if you do end up sitting next to said undesirable seat mate, and the bus clears out, do you move to a more vacant seat? On the one hand, that seems rude. On the other, it also seems weird in an empty bus to be sitting right next to someone, especially if you don't want to be next to them in the first place. Oh, P.S. no advice how to make this stop, obviously, but if you figure out a way, let me know. Britta,I feel like your case is less of a mystery, because you actually are of whiter than white extraction, and thus precisely the person someone who wants to avoid sitting near "ethnics" would head towards, especially in a city as racially, uh, tense as Chicago (at least when I lived there...). This might also tie in with why you get approached off-transport as well, something that happens to me occasionally but not more than it does to others.My desire to sit on transportation is great enough that I go for the closest empty seat (on the train), or on the bus, a seat at the back that seems like it will provide me with extra space for at least a time, where I won't be trapped behind a lot of people when my stop comes, etc. I can't say I'm generally aware of thinking about the race of those I'm sitting closest to, but given the above-mentioned constraints, whatever racial anxieties/PC inclinations might be buried in my subconscious, they don't get to express themselves. On the rare occasions I'm not simply obeying some preset plan re: seat arrangements, I'll pick sitting next to a woman over a man, and someone small/legs not spread/without lots of bags over someone who, between self and person, has not left the seat next to them partially occupied.I'm also probably insufficiently wary of sitting next to The Smelly, and once, on a bus in Brooklyn, had the unfortunate experience of a man with wet pants (no, not from rain) falling backwards just about onto my lap. But as a matter of principle, I think it's totally OK and PC and wise to avoid sitting next to people covered in filth.Re: the move or not dilemma, I vote move, because I don't like being at the window seat on a mostly-empty bus, with someone next to me in the aisle seat and not budging. If I knew they were doing this, for example, to make a PC point about their willingness to sit with a Jew or an American or who knows, I'd still wish they'd consider being progressive in another way instead. That's interesting. Do you think people care about shades of whiteness where they would seek out a seat from a blonde woman before a brunette? I always assumed anyone sufficiently not threatening, e.g. Asian women, would have similar experiences. In terms of black males etc. I wouldn't say I seek out sitting next to them, but I try to consciously not avoid it, e.g. by walking past a black man in order to sit next to a white woman. I do make exceptions, as in if a black man has a "don't sit next to me" look or is doing the leg spread, I usually won't sit down, unless it is absolutely the last seat on the bus. If it's equally convenient, I will almost always choose to sit next to a woman rather than a man, or a professionally dressed person etc. Britta,It's not necessarily brunette vs blonde, but whiteness is, of course, subjective. A brunette who looks ethnically ambiguous might set off anxiety alarms re: whichever group (Latinos, Algerians, Jews, a particular subset of Asians) has the "in my country there is problem" set concerned. Moving on up, moving on down Don't try this in the dorm Feminism and ooh shinyism WWPD Guides: Being an American in Paris The Ninth Life of a princess The good men of high school Normandy, where poodles are ombré Coffee in Paris: not quite a guide Important life update: "Maybe the dingo ate your b... Food:Space The unintended benefit of the end of artificial fo... CCOAdom further explained Assorted profundity April Fools if only

Saturated Fat, Glycemic Index and Insulin Sensitivity: More Evidence Insulin is a hormone that drives glucose and other nutrients from the bloodstream into cells, among other things. A loss of sensitivity to the insulin signal, called insulin resistance, is a core feature of modern metabolic dysfunction and can lead to type II diabetes and other health problems. Insulin resistance affects a large percentage of people in affluent nations, in fact the majority of people in some places. What causes insulin resistance? Researchers have been trying to figure this out for decades.* Since saturated fat is blamed for everything from cardiovascular disease to diabetes, it's no surprise that a number of controlled trials have asked if saturated fat feeding causes insulin resistance when compared to other fats. From the way the evidence is sometimes portrayed, you might think it does. However, a careful review of the literature reveals that this position is exaggerated, to put it mildly (1). The glycemic index, a measure of how much a specific carbohydrate food raises blood sugar, is another common concept in the diet-health literature. On the surface, it makes sense: if excess blood sugar is harmful, then foods that increase blood sugar should be harmful. Despite evidence from observational studies, controlled trials as long as 1.5 years have shown that the glycemic index does not influence insulin sensitivity or body fatness (2, 3, 4). The observational studies may be confounded by the fact that white flour and sugar are the two main high-glycemic foods in most Western diets. Most industrially processed carbohydrate foods also have a high glycemic index, but that doesn't imply that their high glycemic index is the reason they're harmful. All of this is easy for me to accept, because I'm familiar with examples of traditional cultures eating absurd amounts of saturated fat and/or high-glycemic carbohydrate, and not developing metabolic disease (5, 6, 7). I believe the key is that their food is not industrially processed (along with exercise, sunlight exposure, and probably other factors). A large new study just published in the American Journal of Clinical nutrition has taken the evidence to a new level (8). At 6 months and 720 participants, it was both the largest and one of the longest studies to address the question. Participants were assigned to one of the following diets: High saturated fat, high glycemic index High monounsaturated fat, high glycemic index High monounsaturated fat, low glycemic index Low fat, high glycemic index Low fat, low glycemic index Compliance to the diets was pretty good. From the nature of the study design, I suspect the authors were expecting participants on diet #1 to fare the worst. They were eating a deadly combination of saturated fat and high glycemic carbohydrate! Well to their dismay, there were no differences in insulin sensitivity between groups at 6 months. Blood pressure also didn't differ between groups, although the low-fat groups lost more weight than the monounsaturated fat groups. The investigators didn't attempt to determine whether the weight loss was fat, lean mass or both. The low-fat groups also saw an increase in the microalbumin:creatinine ratio compared to other groups, indicating a possible deterioration of kidney function. In my opinion, the literature as a whole consistently shows that if saturated fat or high glycemic carbohydrate influence insulin sensitivity, they do so on a very long timescale, as no effect is detectable in controlled trails of fairly long duration. While it is possible that the controlled trials just didn't last long enough to detect an effect, I think it's more likely that both factors are irrelevant. Fats were provided by the industrial manufacturer Unilever, and were incorporated into margarines, which I'm sure were just lovely to eat. Carbohydrate was also provided, including "bread, pasta, rice, and cereals." In other words, all participants were eating industrial food. I think these types of investigations may be limited by reductionist thinking. I prefer studies like Dr. Staffan Lindeberg's paleolithic diet trials (9, 10, 11). The key difference? They focus mostly on diet quality, not calories or specific nutrients. And they have shown that quality is king! * Excess body fat is almost certainly a major cause. When fat mass increases beyond a certain point, particularly abdominal fat, the fat tissue typically becomes inflamed. Inflamed fat tissue secretes factors which reduce whole-body insulin sensitivity (12, 13). The big question is: what caused the fat gain? Ludicrously stupid in my opinion. Carbohydrates have a very different impact on the health of people with rock solid blood sugars (A1c 4.3-4.9)who can eat all they want without health impacts, than they do on people with higher ones ranging into the pre-diabetic range (usually undiagnosed) who risk glucose toxicity, and they are toxic to many organ systems in anyone diabetes. Without knowing starting blood sugar status, and breaking out results by that status the results are meaningless.Plus it takes a good 10 years of exposure to significantly high blood sugars to produce visible damage to health. The impact of those carbs won't show up in just six months. Finally, all diets studied result in very different test results at 6 months than they do at two or three years.Who are the imbeciles who come up with these badly designed studies and why aren't they doing the menial jobs their limited intelligence would make more appropriate for them? Just to echo what Jenny said with my boyfriend and myself as examples: Although I've cut out carbs (save for the few I get in cheese and green vegetables), when I ate them, I was maybe 8-10 pounds heavier than I am now (I'm now effortlessly slim, and weigh what I did in high school). My boyfriend, on the other hand, can't eat a cracker without putting on weight. He agreed to an experiment, to eat exactly as I said for a month (only bacon, eggs, hamburger, steak, chicken with the skin on, and coffee and spring water), and lost 17 pounds sans exercise. And his blood pressure went from high to near normal. He now eats dairy and vegetables and drinks some wine, and has lost more weight and maintained that weight loss but without crazy exercise or being hungry. Hi Stephan, I think insulin resistance is a pretty tricky topic. Mice on high fat diets are quite non-responsive compared to low fat mice when injected with much insulin* (and hence don't die--as much). This would imply resistance, but of course, as you know, receiving insulin during times of low blood sugar and insulin sensitivity is a bad idea. I think Peter has a great series of posts on physiological insulin resistance.Also, it's important to factor in cell "type." Glutamine has been shown to increase fat cell insulin resistance, while perhaps reducing it in muscle cells.* Maybe we want insulin resistant fat cells with muscle cells' sensitivity varying according to blood sugar?*Sorry, I don't have my computer with my references. Yep, this is a pretty complex and controversial issue.I agree with Jenny that the glycemic control of subjects has to be considered when trying to answer the question "do dietary carbohydrates contribute to insulin resistance?". The Kitavans, certain Asian populations, and even plenty of Americans and Europeans can eat all the natural carbs they want without much impact. But those who already have dysglycemia may not be able to tolerate even a moderate amount of carbohydrate - regardless of the source.There are so many variables to consider. I believe stress is one of the most important, and often overlooked. I'm not just talking about psychological and emotional stress, but also physiological stress that occurs with chronic, systemic inflammatory conditions like a leaky gut or autoimmune condition (both incredibly prevalent today). Stress alone is entirely capable of wreaking havoc on glycemic control, and with the recent research linking inflammation to the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes, it's virtually certain that stress also plays a significant role.This would explain, at least in part, why certain traditional cultures can eat so much carbohydrate without problems, whereas people living modern lifestyles cannot. It's not the carbohydrates that are causing the blood sugar dysregulation, but the blood sugar dysregulation that is causing the carbohydrate intolerance.So what causes the blood sugar dysregulation in the first place, aside from stress? I agree with Stephan and many others that modern foods like industrial seed oils, HFCS and refined grains are the most notable dietary contributors. I've also come to believe that environmental toxins play an increasingly big role, via inflammation. Martin Levac Like I wrote on Hyperlipid in response to his recent blog post,"Don't blame the processing when it's the substance itself that is poisonous. We don't hydrogenate animal fat. We render animal fat. It's still "processing" but the end product conserves its healthful properties.Which brings another point, if even with processing a substance conserves its healthful property, isn't it reasonable to assume that an unhealthful substance also conserves its unhealthful property?We hydrogenate vegetable oil. Maybe, just maybe it's the vegetable oil that's killing us.Processed arsenic. It's still arsenic."Do you truly believe it's the processing and not the substance itself that kills us? We've been processing our food for a long time yet only recently has it started killing us like that. Maybe it's what we eat, not how we prepare it.If you feed arsenic to everybody, then it doesn't matter if one eats refined arsenic while the other eats whole arsenic, does it?Then there's the time element. If you test over a period that is too short, then the result will show no effect. Taubes noted that it takes about 20 years for diabetes to develop in a population. Then that's the time scale we must test the hypothesis on.But then if the intake is high enough, it could take as little as a month. That's where processing comes in. When it's processed, especially refined, then the intake can be as high as we want.It's about the substance itself, then the quantity, then the time scale. Stephan, I'm going to guess that part of your issue with this study is with the dietary variables. I'm guessing the saturated fat they used likely wasn't coconut.If you were going to design this study, how would you set it up? Let's assume you could change any of the variables, including duration. It strikes me, reading the research review and the comments, that clearly poisonous foods, such as wheat and PUFA, ought to be avoided by sensible people. The problem or damage caused is not something that can be quickly determined, on a six month basis, precisely BECAUSE the problems take years to develop. That is, of course the changes over a short period are inconsequential: that is exactly the problem. The body does not know what is killing it, because there is no immediate reaction or sensation of illness.In turn, this is precisely BECAUSE people are designed, just about like dogs, to eat almost anything. On a short term basis people can live on wheat or turnips or fruit. That is one reason why people have been so successful as a species.To do a short term test merely proves that people are omnivores. But we knew that.Really, the US and many other countries are in a massive, although uncontrolled, experiment with the effects of PUFA and wheat. What we do know, on a long term basis: it makes people sick. people get heart disease, cancers, Alzheimers, and diabetes of course.The whole point is that these diseases come about because of chronic abuse of the body's ability to cope with a less than optimal diet. My thought, on all of this, is that aside from wheat and PUFA, people can probably tolerate a wide range in their diet, so long as the basis of the nutrition is saturated fat and not flour, which is simply too accessible as nutrition. It seems the tide is changing regarding glycemic index and people are beginning to speak in terms of "carbohydrate load" or total carbs consumed over I guess a 24 hour time period. But what is this based on? I have come to the point of just trying to avoid wheat, sugar and vegetable oil (and living notably healthier for it) and leaving it at that until a more concrete, verifiable explanation comes along. J. A. Deep May I suggest Clinical Ramifications of Malabsorption of Fructose and Other Short-chain Carbohydrates ["FODMAPs"].IANAN, but may I ask the Nutritionists here, is a blindingly simple Occam's Razor at work in the conclusion:"After years of unsatisfactory dietary manipulation, it is evident that a low FODMAP diet is successful in providing relief from functional gut symptoms, whether in the setting of a FGD or IBD. More research is required into the FODMAP content of foods around the world, as differences in food composition are known to vary. Refinement in the dietary advice given will improve the diet, especially with regard to completion of the analysis of all foods for their FODMAP content. Further studies are required to correct the limitations associated with current food composition tables, to refine this dietary approach, and to better explore its application in patients with irritable bowel syndrome and other disorders such as inflammatory bowel and celiac disease."In short, if this Occam's Razor is right, then metabolic syndrome arises from FODMAPs, and in turn, the many human diseases so far associated with FODMAPs?To be clear, if this Occam's Razor is right, then our other debates -- whole high-carb/low carb, saturated/unsaturated simply misses the point. It is FODMAPs are the cause of everything.Please don't flame me, IANAN and I'm just asking!!! Great post Stephan.What do you think as the theory of lipotoxicity as a possible explanation for insulin resistance? Here is a post with some links:Consistent with your last point, this theory (lipotoxicity) puts forth abnormal fat metabolism as a possible precondition for type 2 diabetes. It contradicts the "tired pancreas" theory that we hear so much about.It does seem to me that the glycemic index is not a very good variable in a study like this. The glycemic load would probably be more appropriate. And, indeed, they should have controlled for insulin resistance status. I'm still trying to sort out all of this stuff regarding my own glucose control situation and this information is quite helpful. There's a lot of discussion on this loose circle of blogs (Stephan's, Peter's, Jenny's, and a lot of the paleo/primal blogs) about various fats and carbohydrates, their forms, quantities, and effects, but what about that other macronutrient, protein? Could protein source, quality, and quantity play a role? Tried to post before but left the Wikipedia summary out. Could a low FODMAP diet be the simple answer?http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fructose_malabsorption I think inflammation plays a significant role, and although it has been a focus in the diabetes literature for 10 years, it's still not widely recognized as a contributing factor in mainstream medicine.Several studies have found that inflammation causes insulin resistance and dysregulation of lipid and glucose metabolism. This happens in both obese and nonobese people. ()This theory is quite compatible with the theory of lipotoxicity that Ned wrote about and mentioned in his comment above. It also provides additional insight on why n-6 PUFA, refined carbohydrates and excess fructose are all associated with rising rates in metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.Also, recent research has shown that altered gut microbiota and bacteria LPS are major contributing factors to both obesity and diabetes. This is yet another mechanism implicating the modern lifestyle's role in the pathogenesis of these conditions. Stress, antibiotic overuse, poor diet, lack of breastfeeding during infancy and medications like birth control all have a significant adverse effect on the gut microbiota, and thus could predispose to type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome. One thing I'm wondering about, Stephan: A lot of people who subscribe to Cordain's "Paleo Diet" avoid dairy products, which are said to cause "insulin spikes" (due to long chain fatty acids in milk??). I know you've said that an "insulin spike" does not imply anything to the effect of "insulin resistance." Still, I would find more elaboration enlightening. I mean, why shouldn't we expect that routine exposure to something that causes rapid elevation of insulin to have some adverse effect? Google "insulin spike" and you will see it is merely a trendy bodybuilding buzzword. Diabetics know full well how VITAL insulin is, because they fail to produce it at optimal levels and the body suffers from high blood sugar.Insulin is our body's natural way of keeping blood sugar levels down. But low blood sugar is not a good thing either. Diabetics can experience traumatic episodes of both high and low blood sugar, because their ability to produce glucagon is impaired. Insulin and glucagon work together to keep blood sugar at a normal level. Helen wrote, "There's a lot of discussion on this loose circle of blogs (Stephan's, Peter's, Jenny's, and a lot of the paleo/primal blogs) about various fats and carbohydrates, their forms, quantities, and effects, but what about that other macronutrient, protein? Could protein source, quality, and quantity play a role?"Helen, this is a great question and I would strongly suspect that there is some benefit to getting your protein from high-quality animal sources such as meat, eggs, and dairy. Stephan, you provide references for the following: (2, 3, 4) "controlled trials as long as 1.5 years have shown that the glycemic index does not influence insulin sensitivity or body fat gain."(5, 6, 7) "examples of traditional cultures eating absurd amounts of saturated fat and/or high-glycemic carbohydrate, and not developing metabolic disease." (8) "neither saturated fat nor high glycemic carbohydrate influence insulin sensitivity in humans, at least on the timescale of most controlled trials."(9, 10, 11) "studies like Dr. Staffan Lindeberg's paleolithic diet trials . The key difference? They focus mostly on diet quality, not calories or specific nutrients. And they have shown that quality is king!"(12, 13) "When fat mass increases beyond a certain point, particularly abdominal fat, the fat tissue typically becomes inflamed. Inflamed fat tissue secretes factors which reduce whole-body insulin sensitivity. The big question is: what caused the fat gain?"However, you've also noted studies showing that fructose reduces insulin sensitivity in humans, along with many other harmful effects. CiteIt would seem that all these references are at least consistent with the (very simple) hypothesis that fat gain is caused by: 1) the proportion of a) glucose to fructose in sugar and many fruits and juices and b) glucose to fructans in wheat; along with 2) the limit on the amount of fructose/fructans consumed per sitting (25g to 50g)? Cite For clarity, the direct action could be (hypothetically) that fat gain is caused by the malabsorption of fructose and fructans in the intestine, leading to gut permeability, rogue fructose and unsaturated fatty acids in the blood stream, and the growth of adipose tissue, aka the "fat organ". As further narrative, the "fat organ" could be genetic selected to survive winter, increasing in size just when pre-winter fructose is available in large quantities. J.A. Deep -I think it's important to keep in mind there can be many routes to fat gain. I gained the most weight (i.e., I'd never had a weight problem before, but recently gained 20 pounds in a short period), while consuming the least fructose in my life (no sweeteners, rarely any fruit), avoiding seed oils, and avoiding refined grains, and indeed, most grains. I was also exercising moderately to vigorously 20-30 minutes daily, and was not a couch potato - or desk-worker - the rest of the time. I still don't know why I gained the weight, but I've now lost 10 of those pounds while adding back to my diet 1-2 pieces of fruit a day as well as legumes, which I'd also been minimizing in an effort to follow a more paleo diet. darwinstable @HelenYes, I agree with you. I think the conventional theory that a sufficiently hypercaloric diet can cause fat gain still has some validity, even if fructose/fructans are appropriately limited.What I'm trying to understand is the sudden epidemic of fat gain in affluent societies. In the simple hypothesis, the epidemic is caused by eating the many industrial foods that grossly exceed the "natural" fructose/fructans content of traditional or "paleo" diets, which is:a) no worse than a 45/55 proportion of fructose/fructans to glucose and b) a total fructose/fructans load or limit per sitting (25 g to 50g) of fructose/fructans.What makes the epidemic worse is that fructose and fructans are hidden in a great many industrial foods, and there are no labelling requirements! For a more complete list of "forbidden fruit", see the FODMAP study. I'd also be interested in knowing more information on the foods you ate that resulted in the unexpected fat gain. Perhaps you could email me with more information at johnadeep at gmail dot com? Thanks for your reply! I don't think fructose polymers should be in the same category as sugar and other sources of free fructose, so I don't like the FODMAP concept.Malabsorption of fructose monomers and fructose polymers is different. Monomeric fructose that isn't absorbed gets fermented in the small intestine, where it shouldn't. Polymeric fructose (inulin, FOS) isn't supposed to be absorbed, so using the term "malabsorption" is misleading. Polymeric fructose is a fermentable fiber that gets broken down by bacteria in the large intestine, where fermentation is supposed to occur. Inulin and FOS don't contribute a meaningful amount of absorbed fructose because the colon (where they are broken down) doesn't absorb fructose. It gets eaten by bacteria. If you eat too much, it gives you gas. But that doesn't mean it's harmful in moderation. Hi guyberliner,I'm not aware of any evidence that post-meal insulin spikes are harmful. To the contrary, traditional cultures eating very large amounts of carbohydrate are lean, insulin sensitive and have low levels of atherosclerosis, CHD and diabetes. That doesn't prove that eating 70% carb is the ideal diet, but it does show that under good conditions, the human metabolism can tolerate it without obvious ill effects.I think there's a lot of confusion between fasting insulin and post-meal insulin. High fasting insulin is usually bad, and can indicate insulin resistance, while the significance of eating foods that increase post-meal insulin to long-term health is unclear as far as I know. Also, while the FODMAP concept may alleviate symptoms people experience d/t fructose malabsorption, it doesn't address the root of the problem (why people can't absorb fructose properly in the first place). I always prefer to identify the underlying mechanism and address it at that level with the hope of restoring normal function. Stephan,Yes, fructans can be eaten in moderation (7.5-10g?), but the modern industrial diet of wheat -- in cereal, bread and pasta -- may cause symptoms of IBS, and restricting fructan intake in a diet may reduce symptoms in a variety of gastrointestinal disorders. (Id.)And yes, fructans cannot be converted to fructose in the small intestine, but there is much we do not know about where fructans end up -- in the large intestine! In one example, the fatty acids created from fructans by the gut bacteria in the large intestine do eventually find their way into our bloodstream, and the fatty acids released in this way may not trigger an appetite suppressing response. CiteIndeed, whatever we have so far learned about the ten trillion strong population of ancient creatures in our gut only shows how little we know, or may ever know.What I don't see any disagreement over here is the correlation between fat gain and a diet of a) a proportion of fructose/fructan to glucose greater than 1/2; and/or b) greater than the 25g limit per sitting of fructose/fructans. Whoa, I haven't seen that yet. Awesome. good points stephan, I agree with you sugar is not the problem it is the malnorishment that tends to come with it due ot dieting for weight loss and not eating enough good stuff.it is also known that eating saturated fat with carb lowers the gi of that carb even more slowing absorption by coating the carbs, carbs that are absorbed to fast in high amounts cause problems when your malnorished from poor diet or dieting (hypocal) diets. we know that sugars like glucose, fructose are very reactive to oxygen right? this means if the body doesn't handle sugar well you get inflmmation, cellular damage from sugar sticking to cells and oxidizing them.in fact body builders will inject insulin to help store more protein in muscles as well as up their glycogen stores, insulin is a anabolic steriod you know. I don't think cells become insulin resistant, they become glucose resistance because they do not have the minerals and vita ect to handle the oxidative nature of the glucose. but only my opinion.in fact I would guess that insulin being a protein molecule gets coated and oxidized too doesn't it if sugar sticks to it?if you have all the nutrients you need you can handle glucose (rocket fuel)and if you eat enough saturated fats (natural not manmade from veggie oil sat fat) less fat cells are needed to provide the sat fats you need and in theory should reduce in number due to apoptosis in fact you need more fat cells if your low fatting and have low mineral consumption like calcium and magnesium or fat soluable vitamines. our bodies hoard what we dont get enough of. can't imagine how anyone can absorb cal vita d etc without saturated fat intake?it will hoard fat soluable vita in fat cells, it will hoard fat if you don't eat enough of it converting all those carbs to fat.your body can become overwhlemed if your eating alot of carbs in protecting the body from its oxidative nature. I think if you stick to whole carbs with all their phytonutrients and natural fats (organic is best?) you should be okay. but not being an expert (except at losing weight permanently over a 35 year period) I can only guess, but frankly I am sick of all the false info/hype perpetuated that cause such problems with knowing what ot eat.

Bus conflict A bus conflict occurs when two logic devices output different values on the same bus line. When two signals are asserted at the same voltage, the one with less impedance generally wins. In the NES, this generally happens when a program writes to a mapper whose registers overlap ROM but the ROM does not shut off its output, causing a potential conflict on the PRG data bus. Most ASIC based mappers include logic to disable the ROM's output enable during writes, putting the ROM's outputs into a high-impedance state and preventing the bus conflict. But many mappers, especially discrete logic mappers, do not. Programming around bus conflicts If you are using a mapper with bus conflicts, make sure that all devices on the bus are asserting the same value by writing to a ROM location that already contains the value that you are writing. For instance, to switch to bank 5 in UNROM or UOROM, write a 5 to a ROM location that already contains a 5. One common way to do this is to perform an immediate load and then store over the opcode: @loadInstruction: ldy #5 sty @loadInstruction+1 To switch to a bank based on the value of a variable, put it in an indexed register and then perform an absolute indexed store: lda curMapBank sta bankBytes,x ; ... bankBytes: .byt $00, $01, $02, $03, $04, $05, $06, $07 Emulating bus conflicts Most emulators have assumed that the CPU "wins" all bus conflicts, that is, that the mapper circuitry sees the signals from the CPU more strongly than the signals from the PRG ROM and acts solely on the CPU. Quite a few early programs in iNES format were developed withoug taking bus conflicts in account, and do not work correctly when run on an NES Game Pak that has been modified to take rewritable memory. In general, the authors of these programs did not know at the time that bus conflicts existed. These programs can, however, be made to run by adding ROM-disabling circuitry like that of ANROM or the positive chip enable of the PRG ROM chips used with AOROM. The following classes of iNES files will often contain bugs causing bus conflicts: Old homebrew ROMs. Old documents did not mention the possibility of bus conflicts. Mapper hacks. Because the MMC1 was poorly understood, and the code to operate an MMC1 is generally larger than that for a discrete logic mapper without bus conflicts, the early English translations of the Famicom game Final Fantasy II changed it from MMC1 to a variant of mapper 2. Buggy homebrew or hack. Code or tables to avoid bus conflicts may have been written incorrectly, or a JMP instruction may have sent the program counter into nowhere. It has been confirmed through testing that both the CPU and the mask ROMs used in the NES era drive a 0 more strongly than a 1, as one would expect based on the logic's implementation. This implies that an emulator should use the bitwise AND of the value from the CPU and the value from the ROM. However, programmers must not rely on this undefined behavior. Emulators should log a warning whenever a bus conflict occurs. This will help find bugs 1. in the emulator's handling of PRG ROM bank switching and 2. in future homebrew ROMs tested on the emulator.

Posts Tagged "sur lie" Sur Lie Aging Explained What is Sur Lie Aging? Sur lie aging is the process of allowing a finished wine to continue to sit on the lees in order to extract flavors. Recently we explored the fact that there are two different types of lees. There are the grape lees (coming from the fruit) and the yeast lees (you guessed it, from the yeast). Each of these can be used in sur lie aging and each will produce different results. Aging wine on the grape lees is something to be undertaken with extreme care as this lees can easily spoil a wine if not done properly. When done correctly though it can lead to a wonderfully complex wine. Yeast lees on the other hand is the more common lees to perform sur lie aging with. As the yeast decomposes it can impart nut, bread, and yeast flavors to a wine. Different yeast cells can contribute different flavors too so you’re not guaranteed to get the same thing from all yeast strains. The remainder of this article pertains to aging on the fine lees only. How does Sur Lie Aging Work? During sur lie the lees cells break down (i.e. decompose) into simpler compounds. This releases sugars and proteins that interact with the wine chemistry. There are also flavor and aroma compounds that get released. As the proteins are released they bind with tannins in the wine. This is good for a white wine as you don’t want tannins in a white. However, for a red wine this can be problematic as it is the tannins that go a long way in determining the aging potential of the wine. For this reason red wines are usually not aged this way while white wines often are. The deciding factor depends upon the intentions of the wine maker. If the lees are left undisturbed in the bottom of your aging vessel for too long they can start to form some nasty sulfur flavors and aromas. To keep this from happening you need to stir the lees regularly, a process called battonage. Stirring the lees keeps hydrogen sulfide from forming as quickly and ensures that your wine gets maximum exposure to the cells and the compounds they’re decomposing into. Things to Watch Out For As you proceed through the sur lie process be sure to pay special attention to the flavor profiles of your wine. You can over do this and end up with off flavors. If at any point you experience sulfur like flavors like rotten eggs, rack off the lees immediately. The sooner you take action the better your chances are of being able to deal with these off flavors. Taken too far and your wine won’t be drinkable. When to Age on The Lees Preparation for sur lie aging begins as fermentation is wrapping up. The lees should be stirred up every two to three days for the last bits of fermentation. Once fermentation has ended continue to stir the lees once or twice each week for a period of six weeks or so. After that stir it up monthly. Some wine makers prefer... Racking off the Lees Racking is the next step, after the initial more vigorous fermentation. What is racking? Simply put racking is siphoning your wine off of the dead yeast, known as lees, into a clean container. There are two reasons to rack your wine. First it helps clarify your wine but it can also prevent off flavors from the decomposing yeast. Over time yeast and other sediment will precipitate out of your wine and settle to the bottom. The cloudiness will dissipate with each successive racking until you’ve got a nearly clear wine. Nearly because you do sometimes need to fine the last bit of cloudiness out. Getting your wine off of the yeast as it decomposes can prevent off flavors. While some wines are aged on the yeast you really need to know what you’re doing to do this successfully. When to Rack Generally you want rack after the vigorous fermentation has completed. Initially fermentation produces great quantities of gas and is too much for many aging containers such as carboys or barrels. Once this phase is over and much of the yeast has died you would then rack the wine off of the lees and let fermentation continue and its more subdued rate until complete. As sediment collects at the bottom you’ll rack again. Some wine makers rack only once and others will rack four or five times depending upon the flavor profile they’re going for and how clear they want the wine. If, for instance, you’re going to be clearing your wine through fining you don’t have to rack the wine so many times to get it clear. When Not to Rack There are some wines that are aged on the lees and bottled without racking, a process known as sur lie aging. This french term simply means “on the lees”. This process is used on namely Chardonnay, Champagne, and Muscadet. The lees can add nutty, toast, or even hazelnut flavors. Chemically sur lie alters the oak flavor molecules and increases their integration with other molecules. This can tame oak flavors and make them taste like a part of the wine as opposed to an additive. As mentioned earlier you need to know what you’re doing to pull this off. For your first time you might consider splitting your wine and only performing sur lie on a portion of it. Taste your sur lie batch often and err on the side of caution when deciding to bottle. Bottle most of it when you are picking up the additional flavors you are looking for. With a small amount of wine let it sit on the lees and continue tasting to see how long it takes to pick up off flavors. This will give you a good guide line for sur lie wine making in the future. The Light Lees Protocol This “protocol” involves adding fresh yeast back into a completely fermented wine for a period of two to eight weeks. Doing this aids in the releases mannoproteins and poysaccharides into the wine, both of which alter the flavor and mouth feel of the finished product. Light lees is also added...

Feeding our children well is so important for the development of their bodies and brains. When I say "well", I don't mean what taste good. What I mean is food packed with nutrition and healthy fats. I use to think I fed my family well. The boxes of food said things like "whole grain", "all natural", "fat free", "multigrain" and a whole host of other labels that are misleading. It turns out that I wasn't feeding my family well at all because I wasn't feeding them actual food. I'd like to share with you a little about how we went from eating processed products to real food. WHY CHANGE? A large portion of our meals were made up of something from a box or bag. Cereal for breakfast (it's heart healthy, right?) with low-fat milk , cream of tomato soup (canned of course, made with that low-fat milk) and grilled cheese sandwiches (the kids helped by unwrapping the cheese) for lunch. Dinner was often served with a salad covered in low-fat dressing and a side of flavored rice from a box. Snacks were made up of products like granola bars, cereal bars and packaged cookies. I'm at a point now in my nutrition journey where I can't even call these products food. They are highly processed, chemical food wannabees that don't add to the health of my family, but actually diminish their health. I changed the way I feed my family in June of 2012. We started off by eliminating gluten (wheat). I started here because our oldest daughter and I had been sick for several years and all of the research on our symptoms pointed at gluten as the culprit. The research led me to blogs like Mark's Daily Apple and Whole9. I cleaned out the pantry, fridge and freezer on June 13th and removed anything with gluten in it. We had several boxes of food that we gave to the food bank! My fridge and pantry were empty. I admit, I started doubting myself and thinking I'd just made a huge mistake. TAKING A BIG STEP We are a one income family and I'd just gotten rid of most of our groceries! I knew for our family though, if we were going to change our eating lifestyle, it was better to do it this way rather than little by little. I had talked to my kids beforehand about how I had learned that it was the food I was buying that was making me and their older sister sick. I explained that our home should be a safe place for all of us, and that included the food that was in it. They understood that immediately and bought into it because they know that family looks out for each other. I assured them that I would find yummy substitutes for baked goodies that didn't make anybody sick when they ate them. I was feeling so much better within a few days of cutting out wheat! This was enough motivation for me to keep studying, researching recipes and racking my brain for meal ideas that my whole family would eat. In August, I read It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig. I recommend this book to everybody I talk to about nutrition and how I feed my family. The book explains how the food we eat affects us, physically and psychologically, in an easy to understand way. The information is backed by the latest scientific research, has delicious recipes and includes help with meal planning. IMMEDIATE DIETARY IMPACT Angel and I decided to do a Whole30 in September, after reading It Starts With Food. We each had our own reasons for taking on a Whole30. I was still having a few health issues and I had a feeling that they were food related, plus I wanted to take our family's "clean" eating a step further. Angel had a sugar demon that he wanted to conquer and he wanted to support me in my Whole30. Doing the Whole30 meant cleaning out the fridge and pantry again. This time I was looking for ingredients such as dairy, soy (which I found in my canned tuna!), high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), monosodium glutamate (MSG), and sugar. The kids ate Whole30 at home that month, but were still eating school lunches. (I know there is not anything healthy about school lunches. Baby steps...) September finished and Angel and I felt fantastic! I discovered I am also sensitive to dairy and he kicked his sugar demon to the curb. We decided to keep the foods that we had cut out during the Whole30 out of the house and stick to a diet of unprocessed whole foods. LIFESTYLE CHANGES Paleo or Primal would most closely describe our lifestyle. We do enjoy the occasional non-Paleo/Primal food here at home (oats, legumes, rice and corn for example), but it's still healthier than how we use to eat. I'm pretty strict about a few ingredients...gluten (wheat), MSG, soy, HFCS, partially hydrogenated oils, dyes, caramel coloring and fake sugars. If a product has even one of these ingredients, I won't buy it for my family. There are other ingredients that I don't want my family eating, but the ones I listed pretty much covers enough to where basically all processed foods are a no-go for our family. Our kids have adapted well and they know that at home we eat as healthy as we can. We don't stress over what they eat when we go to birthday parties or "food-centered" gatherings and events. We know that at home our kids are eating very well, so an occasional gluten filled hot dog bun holding a soy laced hot dog, smeared with HFCS ketchup is not something we stress over at this point in our clean eating journey. In the last year, we have gone from a good portion of our meals and snacks being made up of processed foods with a long list of ingredients (sometimes unpronounceable!) that didn't enhance our health (and actually made us sick), to a lifestyle of real whole foods that improve our health. We eat real food- meats, lots of veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds and healthy fats 95% of the time. I am still researching and learning about food and how to best feed my family. Our journey into clean eating is far from done. In my next post, I will share how simply changing what I feed my family has impacted our physical, emotional and mental health, in ways I never imagined. -Tracy

Sara Bonaventura (110) -mantegna--shadow--She vanishes-A 'mise en scene' of an impossibility, a virtual presence.L'invisibile è essenziale agli occhiSi natura negat...(The essential is invisible to the eyesIt is negative in nature ...)Sara writes:The feminine body is never neutral; it is always marked out, claimed, and figured with language, always inscribed in a logic and history defined by men. In this men-written discourse, women are absent as active presence, but present as passive objects of representation. Though history cannot be re-written, it can be re-interpreted. Women may fill in some gaps, some silences, some vanishing points, live in left out parenthesis...I often play with quotes or idioms, trying to disclose a new sense, implying also nonsense:-The concept of sexual difference functions as the vanishing point. (~Jacqueline Rose)-In the video’s text: On est fou que de sens, only meaning drives you mad. (~Michele Montrelay), rien à voir équivaut à n’avoir rien, nothing to see 'equals' having nothing. (~Luce Irigaray)-The body is written, but can speak also, referring to l'Écriture Féminine where the female body is seen as a direct source of female writing. (~Ann Rosalind Jones)-nowhere now here (at the beginning of the video) means in this hic et nunc, which is always ineffable.-Towards the end of the video an inter-text says peek a boo-merang, referring to past and future space-time dimensions in an ironic way. Irony turns everything upside down and so opens up new perspectives, thereby presenting the video’s ending as a kind of hanged-woman game but also staying open ... To give no answers, but multiple possibilities to you, the other, the referent.-And ‘the end’ is in a big bubble, a vanitas vanitatum; to remind us that life is death, but also that death is life. The death of language could be a new beginning; when wounds become scars, vulnerable but healthy again.sara's youtube channelsara on flickr Francesca Kaplan-It's My Scar (109) Francesca writes:When I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, I felt like my world was tumbling in. I had had a lot of sickness in my life, years of Hypothyroidism and Hashimotos, Crohns Disease and other peripheral ailments. But when I had cancer, things changed. This was something I had to deal with immediately and drastically. They had to remove my thyroid, and it left a short, but obvious, scar across my neck. It looked like I had been in a bar fight. Before I had the surgery I was sure I was going to want to hide the scar under flowing scarves, turtlenecks, and well-placed necklaces, but what I found is that as soon as it healed, I loved my scar. People would stare at it: it was in a particularly conspicuous location, and I would catch people looking down at it, puzzled, before coming back to meet my eye. I would touch it, happy to have a physical reminder of the experience I had just overcome. It has been 11 months that I have been cancer free, and during that time, the scar has faded. It’s still there, and obvious, but as the months go by, it gets lighter, the skin taking back the pigment, smoothing over the jagged edges. As it faded, I started to get sad.Rachel Murawski and Liz Lessner, some talented and creative artists friends of mine, understood my concern. One afternoon, we were talking about this, and we decided it would be meaningful to memorialize the scar so that it never faded from my every day memory. They pushed me to make the first Scar Necklace. When people ask me what my necklace is, even though it very close to the original scar, both in location and in style, I simply say “It’s my scar.” There is something very powerful about celebrating something that to many is ugly, and should be forgotten. I don’t want to forget. Both because I live with the very real possibility that cancer is not a once in my lifetime possibility, and because I am proud of myself for living, and surviving, with strength and dignity.itsmyscar.com Francesca Kaplan, it's my scar, Liz Lessner, Rachel Murawski Rachel Kilback (108) -Bite Back--Dried Up--I Hurt, I Bite, I Bleed-Rachel writes:I use found items (from animal remains to plant life to garbage) to work through my struggles with chronic pain and illness. I have been battling severe pelvic pain for the last 17 years (since my first period). Things only got worse after the hysterectomy when I was 22. Guilt and suffering are prominent in my self-portrait pieces. It is a difficult thing to really look at yourself, discover what is underneath, and then portray that for all the world to see.www.elleavuleloup.ca -Metamorphosis-Natalie Holland comments:The process of working with the theme of cosmetic surgery inevitably brought me to a different train of thought relating to transformation of an image. It was connected to life-changing transitions. Any transition serious enough to alter your definition of self will require not just small adjustments to your way of living and thinking, but a full-on metamorphosis. The woman who gazes at her reflection in a bathroom mirror contemplates her image which no longer reflects back to her in the same way. Perhaps the surgery has saved her life, as it can save ours; but there is no surgeon that can save us from the truth.We live and die by our image. We keep our despair buried as we constantly gaze at ourselves in a mirror of our reality, but in the end, we’ll have to let go of everything. Not just youth and beauty, but of old age and, finally and against our will, life. Alessandra Tecla Gerevini (106) "Ombre nude" projectAlessandra writes:A research on the body, about the body. Lights and shadows modeling the body. Sometimes they reveal, sometimes they hide. Glimpses at lips, hips, breasts, at the skin, the hair and feet. Glimpses that are telling an every woman’s secret life. The body represented in an everyday space, so familiar, so used to nudity. A body we have to show parsimoniously, because it’s an intimate representation of ourselves and our desires. A representation in the simple and pure way, helped by natural morning light, a light that doesn’t blind us but caresses our body and soul. Alessandra Tecla Gerevini, Maxi Matuschka (105) -The New Deal--Turban--Afternoon--The Hand--Beauty Out of Damage-On the cover of The New York Times Magazine, August 13, 1993.From Maxi Matuschka's Beauty Out Of Damage-artist statement:After surgery and treatment for cancer in 1991 Matuschka-artist and activist who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1991-worked vigorously creating a large body of drawings and photographs that were used for posters in demonstrations and rallies across America, promoting breast cancer awareness. The images are still in demand: often published in scholarly and academic journals related to sociological issues on health, medicine, beauty and body image.Matuschka made worldwide headlines when her self-portrait entitled Beauty out of Damage was published on the cover of the Sunday New York Times Magazine. This photograph generated 12 awards (including a Pulitzer Prize Nomination) and subsequently The New York Times received an unusually high amount of letters to the editor, ranking it as one of the most controversial covers in its history. News coverage on TV was extensive and this you tube represents a cross section of programs both the artist and photograph were profiled on.www.matuschka.netan extensive catalog and more information can be found on: theartofmatuschkashop Maxi Matuschka, Hannah Brancato, Kendra Hebel, Sarah Tooley (104) GET IT OFF YOUR CHEST, PLUCK IT FROM HER BREAST an interactive performance that invites participants to explore & share notions of shame and the body.by Hannah Brancato, Kendra Hebel, and Sarah TooleyThis interactive performance meditating on shame and the body confronts the unrealistic beauty standards contemporary American society imposes via representations of women’s bodies in the mainstream media. Artists Hannah Brancato, Kendra Hebel, and Sarah Tooley mesh the vaudevillian circus side show freak booth with the sterile, hierarchical, physician’s office, a setting in which they invite participants to explore notions of shame and the body, thereby bringing you Get It Off Your Chest, Pluck It From Her Breast. Participant/patients engage with the layered artwork on a visual, emotional, and physical level.For stories that where collected during the performances over the past year, visit: -Eve, Not of Adam -Life Size. Paper Mache form with birch bark veneer, birch seeds and naturally forming lichens, 2009Jeannine writes:My fascination with the human body, inside and out, informs my aesthetic. I find the sculpting process to be a constant dialogue. An experience with intuition, what cannot be seen, only felt and the physical. My work stems from how I find connections with myself, the human race and the world around me. Each work is not only a study of form, but a spiritual and emotional study as well. I use the female form to highlight our connection to the organic world and I hope to challenge the viewer to reconsider the role of women, not as objects, but as strong, beautiful and vitally connected to the world we share. I use non-traditional materials to create traditional forms to lead the viewer to question the underlying meaning and to reconsider and hopefully appreciate the hand of the artist.-Eve, Not of Adam- I considered so many things when I was making this sculpture. I wanted her to be beautiful and reverent. Throughout the entire art making process I considered the role of women on Earth and humankind's relationship with the Earth. Whereas, we once worshiped the Earth and heavens, we now worship material things and Gods who resemble us. I was pleased to find my sculpture becoming Everywoman. She is old, she is young, beautiful/disturbing, black/white, strong/vulnerable…The roles of women are changing, but still remain the same. We are the givers of life, the source of blame, adored, victimized, strong, weak … I feel like my sculpture encompasses all of this as well as connecting us to our source of life, our Earth.

Students will follow along as I guide them through my experience with making stained-glass butterflies. As they read, they’ll be learning how to write a how-to and then insert transitions into the essay to move their readers easily through the process. Suitable for students in 5th – 12th grade. My stained-glass how-to Last week I attended a class on how to make stained-glass butterflies. You know, the kind you hang up on a window with little suction cups. The teacher was very clear on how to do each step. We practiced cutting glass first, listening for the “hiss” that showed we were scoring the glass correctly with our cutters. After we had cut a line and a circle (both of which I messed up), he moved us to the next step. I chose what I thought would be a simple butterfly design and found out how wrong I was. First, I traced a wing onto the glass with a marker. Then I cut a square around the wing so I would have a small piece of glass to work with. Next, I used my glass cutter to etch the butterfly wing onto the glass. To do that, I had to begin at the edge of the glass, not on the design itself, and then etch my way toward the design. When I got to the design, I traced my glass cutter over it for a little bit and then scooted my cutter off the edge of the design. I did this many times until the whole wing was etched. This is called the fan method of cutting, and it really helps when it comes time to use the pliers to break the glass and separate the design from the rest of the glass. All this etching was hard for me, and it hurt my hand. Also, I wasn’t very good at it. I broke a few wings before I got the hang of it. After I had cut out my design, I took my wing over to the grinder. It’s a small machine that grinds down the rough edges of the glass. The teacher put his thumb on the grinding part to show me that it would not hurt me. The grinder is important for two reasons: (1) It makes the design the correct shape, and (2) It takes the sharp edges off the glass so you can handle it without getting sliced. Funny thing, though; when I was grinding my wing, I sliced the pad of my thumb on a sharp glass edge. The teacher was quick with a bandage. Who wants blood all over their grinder? Now it’s your turn: A how-to paragraph or essay shows readers how to do something. Think of something you know how to do. It can be anything serious like playing soccer or something silly like how to procrastinate. Write down your idea. Now you are going to plan a how-to paragraph or essay, but you do not have to write the whole thing. We’re just practicing here. Because a how-to must be orderly, first write out the steps in a list. Your list can be numbered, or it can be a bullet list. Leave a whole line between each step. (In other words, double-space your list.) After you have finished with your list, look at my true story about the butterfly wings and underline all the transitions I used to get you from one step to the next one. In this case, transitions are words like “first,” “second,” “finally,” “then,” “after I had . . .,” “before you can attach . . .,” “while you wait for the glue to dry . . .,” and so on. When you have underlined my transitions, write your own transitions in the empty lines on your list. Move your readers from one step to the next. That’s it. You don’t have to write the how-to paragraph or essay unless you are dying to finish this up!

College Research Paper Writing Simplified Writing is a process that the majority of people enjoy. However, for some people, it is a daunting task that makes education an endeavor to forget. For such persons, custom writing services provided by companies online can provide them with a quality option to accomplish some of the essential assignments. They only require the awareness of certain aspects of quality as relates to college research paper writing. These factors are the basics of writing such as the outline of the essay, the nature of the English language grammar used, sources used to locate useful information, and other vital elements considered in determining whether the college research paper meets standards. Nature of references In writing a college research paper, it is fundamental that the student pays attention to the required number and nature of sources. The sources chosen as references depend on the topic of work that the student is pursuing. The implication of this is that writers must establish the relevance of materials before selecting them as references for the completion of the college research paper. The ideal procedure is to select the sources and explore the connection between the information included in the reference material and the topic or study question of the college research paper. The student ought to recognize the significance of choosing the best sources. If relevant and credible sources are chosen for a student college research paper, there is a high likelihood that the project will meet the requirements, in terms of exploring the study topic efficiently. A wrong choice of sources can prevent the student from completing the college research paper appropriately. Quality of the English Language Grammar A fundamental requirement is that writers ought to communicate ideas in college research papers effectively. It is impossible to encourage the reader to read materials that are poorly written with respect to the quality of language. The ideal way to ensure that the written language used in the study work is appropriate is to take caution while drafting the assignment. In addition, college research papers should be edited adequately. Editing can be done through appropriate tools that are highly efficient in conducting the activity. Computer-aided tools may be used to check the quality of grammar and identify the possibility to plagiarized information in the college research paper. Identifying these errors with the naked eye is almost impossible. Companies that provide writing support services online can take advantage of online grammar check programs to help clients deliver high-quality essays and reports. The general format The format of college research papers is also an essential requirement for academic assignments. The format recommended for use in specific assignments depends on specifications provided by the instructor. Hence, writers ought to be watchful of the format specifications for individual assignments. Students and writers ought to learn the various methods or formats that are applicable to different academic essays or reports. In order to have the capacity to use different formats effectively, writers ought to master the standard details of the application of each of the format. College research papers must adhere to the specific rules of the format. This requirement is especially fundamental to assignments that are meant for grading. Examiners often attach marks for the format, in terms of how the student applies the format correctly.

As more households owned cars after World War II, both companies and owners recognized the need for a permanent identification system. In the 1950’s, it became a requirement that all cars and trucks were given a unique vehicle identification number or “VIN” to be permanently affixed to the vehicle. The VIN must now be placed on each vehicle title if the vehicle is to be operated on a highway or public road. A modern VIN is a 17 character code composed of both letters and numerals. IT may be affixed to the windshield, riveted to a door or placed inside the engine compartment. The ID tag contains a wealth of information, including: • The place of manufacture; • The year of manufacture; • The assembly plant; • The make, model and engine type; • The six digit serial number. The identifying information has proved so useful that manufactures have since begun adding additional vehicle tags. Other tags include: • Engine VIN with the serial number, engine displacement and number of cylinders; • Transmission VIN with a unique serial number, transmission type and date of manufacture; • Trunk VIN containing the gross weight, eight and towing capacities, tire size and proper tire pressure; • Service Parts VIN containing many major parts numbers as well as a code for the original paint used. Not only is the VIN tag used for repairs, it is also an invaluable tool for police. With a national database for this information, police can match a vehicle ID to a title or registration information. This allows police to better track down stolen vehicles or determine whether a vehicle is being driven with stolen license plates. The VIN is normally metal plate with the code characters etched in by the manufacturer. It may be welded, riveted or otherwise permanently attached to the vehicle to prevent theft or removal. Despite precautions taken to secure the VIN to the vehicle they do become damaged or removed at times. A fire, theft or accident can cause the VIN to be unreadable or missing. For owners, repair centers and insurance adjusters, a VIN tag replacement is available. There are businesses that can take the information from the certificate of title and create a new VIN tag. With the better quality companies, the replacement tag will be made of steel or aluminum with the code characters engraved on the tag. It will provide a means to reattach the tag and step by step instructions for the repair person or owner to secure the new tag. If the information cannot be located from the title, some companies are willing to assist in finding the information from the manufacturer or through a title search.

Part I: Flow Chart Create a flow chart or step-by-step guide identifying how you will collect, review, and apply data to make a decision that will affect patient care in general. · Identify the steps you will take to collect, review, and apply data to make a decision that will affect patient care. · List the type and source of information needed in each step. · Identify the technologies used in each step. Part II: Paper Write a 750- to 1,050-word paper explaining the flow chart or step-by-step guide. · Describe how you may become aware of the trend in question and why you would want to investigate further. · Describe the data you would need to collect, the source(s), and why you would need this data. · Describe the data collection methods you would use and why. · Describe how the data would affect your response to the adverse trend. · Explain how you will use the technology in each step. · Describe any regulatory, legal, and ethical issues related to the use of data and the technologies used. Include at least three peer-reviewed references, and develop an APA-formatted reference page. Format your paper consistent with APA guidelines. Attach the flow chart and reference page as appendices to the paper. Subject

Liberal party support extending Capital Metro across border into Queanbeyan 'Rapid services by 2031' map from 2012 Transport for Canberra report The Queanbeyan Age has not carried many stories on light rail or Capital Metro that spring readily to mid, but they did carry a report on 18 December 2015 about the keenness that Liberal MP for Eden-Monaro Peter Hendy has for seeing the Capital Metro light rail extended from Canberra across the border into Queanbeyan. The Transport for Canberra report from 2012 was the first ACT Government policy document to publicly show a Queanbeyan link to any Canberra public transport network. The NSW Liberal party has a strong track record in recent year on investing in public transport infrastructure and tackling reform in the various workforces, organisations and bureaucracies that comprise that sector. It has proved remarkably successful. Recent heavy and light rail projects are actually being delivered upon, unlike the previous decades in which transport projects would be announced at an election and then promptly ignored until the next elections photo opportunities beckoned. Light rail in Sydney's CBD and the Dulwich Hill extension are two excellent examples that compare favourably with Capital Metro, and the new rail line into Sydney's west indicates that transport technologies that are scalable will best suit a rapidly expanding city. Investment in public transport infrastructure is something that the Federal Liberal and NSW Liberal parties understand is important to the community. Could Stage Two of Capital Metro run into NSW? Federal funding could bolster that ambition from NSW representatives. Federal funding could see light rail cross the border from Canberra into Queanbeyan By Kimberley Le Lievre If CANBERRA’S light rail line proceeds federal funding could be used to expand it’s reach to Queanbeyan, federal member for Eden-Monaro Peter Hendy said. Dr Hendy said should a “spare line” be available, it should run from the airport through to Queanbeyan. “It is a major population centre in the region,” Dr Hendy said. intend having further discussions in the future with Andrew Barr about those issues, but we’re a long way from talking about commitment of money on that,” he said. The idea was floated as part of a federal funding wishlist put forward by the Queanbeyan City Council in the lead up to the next election in 2016. At December’s Planning and Development Review Committee meeting councillors agreed on the list, to be formally submitted as a wishlist for the community to election candidates. Dr Hendy said while the Ellerton Drive Extension project was a main priority, having been given $25 million from both federal and state governments, it would not affect other projects put forward for funding. “There are other road and transport proposals that, in the long run, really do need to be seriously looked at.” Dr Hendy stopped short of saying Queanbeyan had been spoilt in the past, he did say he was willing to use his “very good relationship” with the Prime Minister and federal treasurer to help Queanbeyan and the seven councils in the Eden-Monaro electorate. “I think I’ve got a voice that gets listened to,” he said. Remember the single lane GDE fiasco? Canberra Liberals Transport spokesman Alistair Coe has released an 'options paper' proposing a single bus lane up Northbourne Avenues median strip, instead of Capital Metro Stage One. After three years of criticising the Capital Metro Stage One light rail project, the Canberra Liberals have finally released an alternative plan. And that is it.... buses! Along the Northbourne Avenue median! This is the transport policy for all Canberrans that we have been promised after three years of hand-wringing doom forecasts from the Canberra liberals over light rail. It really isn't good enough. All we have been offered is an options paper proposing buses as a better option, that uses nine of its eighteen pages saying why light rail isn't suitable. The actual proposals are relegated to two to three pages each. No proper costings are provided aside from figures hastily plucked from somewhere that lack any explanation. Is it really the Canberra Liberal transport policy though? The words 'Canberra Liberals' do not appear anywhere on the paper. Not once. The closest it comes to acknowledging the source of the paper is referring to 'the opposition'. Why? Perhaps the Canberra Liberals party room read it and experienced the same sense of 'is this it?' that ACT Light Rail members did upon reading it. Lets look at the three options: Option 1 - move the cycle lane into the Northbourne Avenue median strip, with bus priority measures along the corridor. Option 2 - A single lane bus lane along the Northbourne Avenue median strip, with the cycle lane remaining on road. The bus lane would be one-way, and would reverse direction in the mornings and afternoons. Option 3 - A single bus lane in the Northbourne Avenue median strip flanked by cycle lanes either side. The ACT Light Rail position on these suggestions is that these proposals are twenty years too late. They may have been appropriate in the 90's when Gungahlin was first established, but the population of both people and cars has grown too much for this small target approach. The major flaw of these options are that they are a 'Northbourne Avenue only' solution. They propose no works outside that corridor. They offer no solutions to Gungahlin residents, on already congested roads and congested buses at capacity. They only run along Northbourne Avenue. The Federal Highway section and Flemington Road are ignored. The rest of Canberra is ignored. The people of Gungahlin are already experiencing public transport congestion on their rapid bus services. Often the buses cannot stop to collect passengers as they are already full. Nothing in this option paper resolves this bus capacity issue. The plan also ignores any discussion of the cost of tearing up contracts, as promised by the Canberra Liberals if they form government following the 2016 Assembly elections. It has cost the Victorian Government 1.4 billion dollars to tear up the East Link contract. This needs to be factored into the Canberra Liberals proposal. The cost of removing/replacing services under Northbourne is not factored in. Whether it be light rail or a single lane of bitumen, they will be impacted. Lacking any real costings except vague figures of between $20 and $100 million, the paper doesn't carry anywhere near enough detail to be a genuine alternative policy proposal. Alistair Coe said "Whilst it is fairly expensive, it is still a fraction of the cost of light rail and it also doesn't have the operating expenses," "Our transport planning is going to be based on genuine options, genuine cost-benefit analysis and genuine consultation with the community." A plan costing $100 million that brings no benefits to the community is simply wasting public money. Transport infrastructure needs to be based on a triple bottom line approach that takes in the social, economic and environmental costs and benefits. The options paper lacks credibility in all three of these areas. For three years the Canberra Liberals have promised an alternative transport plan for Canberra. A single bus lane up Northbourne's median strip is not a plan. It's desperation. Are there any positives? Yes. People can now see the lack of vision displayed in transport policy by the Canberra Liberals. This is such a small target approach it is hard to believe that the party room endorsed it. Minister for Capital Metro, Simon Corbell has responded with the following: "The Canberra Liberals’ options paper for Northbourne Avenue is a band-aid solution that will leave Canberrans with ongoing traffic congestion, no long-term public transport solutions and no plan for the development of Canberra. Deputy Chief Minister Simon Corbell said the proposal ignored the price of tearing up light rail contracts, which the Canberra Liberals have said they would do at any cost. “Not only is the proposal a band-aid solution for Canberra’s public transport, it also ignores many millions of dollars of potential cost for tearing up light rail contracts, which the Canberra Liberals have said they would do at any cost,” Mr Corbell said. The Federal Liberal party has previously dismissed the Canberra Liberals’ threats to tear up light rail contracts as ‘economic lunacy’. “When the Federal branch of your party is rejecting your toxic policies that will increase the ACT’s sovereign risk and waste taxpayer funds there is something very wrong,” Mr Corbell said. “The Canberra Liberals’ proposal has no plans for beyond Antill Street through to Gungahlin, which will leave Gungahlin residents with the same transport options and congestion they have now. “This is a band-aid solution to a problem that Infrastructure Australia says will cost the ACT $700m per year by 2031. The Canberra Liberals’ plan is too little too late to fix the growing cost of congestion in our city.” Minister for Roads and Parking Mick Gentleman said that these proposals would do little to relieve congestion in the short term, and has no plan for Canberra’s expected growth. “What we’ve seen from the Canberra Liberals is a half-baked document with numerous mistakes and inconsistencies that doesn’t even attempt to solve our long-term problems. The proposal at this stage can’t be taken seriously,” Mr Gentleman said. “With any of these three options, buses would still need to regularly interact with traffic. Adding more lanes of traffic will only increase congestion.” There are few dedicated priority traffic signals for buses on Northbourne Avenue included in the proposal, which will increase travel times for buses on Northbourne Avenue. “The proposal fails to recognise that many trees on Northbourne Avenue will still need to be cut down, and doesn’t address how the Canberra Liberals will put a roadway down the median without removing trees or utilities,” Mr Gentleman said. The trees on the median of Northbourne Avenue will need to be removed soon due to health issues, and are expected to be replaced with 4-5 metre tall semi-mature plantings during the construction phase of Capital Metro stage one. “We know light rail fits with the National Capital Plan and the National Capital Authority has been willing to come to the table and work with the ACT Government to find a design that fits with the Griffins’ plan,” Mr Gentleman said. “The Canberra Liberals have proven with this proposal they have no idea how to improve Canberra’s public transport network.” The Transport Canberra – Light Rail Network plan, which outlines possible future stages of a light rail system, including to Woden, Canberra Airport, and the Parliamentary Triangle was released for consultation by the ACT Government in October. The ACT Government is in the final stages of assessment of bids from two international consortia to build, maintain and operate Capital Metro stage one, with a preferred bidder expected to be announced early next year." In a press release accompanying the photoshopped image, Mr Coe said: "The opposition commissioned some work with regard to various options for Northbourne Avenue. One of those options that is on the table, the only one from the government, is light rail," he said. "We think it is important to show people what it is going to look like and we think this is probably a pretty fair representation. A lot of the images that we have seen so far from the government have gums overhanging high voltage power lines." Coe said artist's impressions released by the government showed fully matured trees of a similar height to those that will be cut down. see very implausible pictures of light rail going down the Northbourne median and we think this image might better capture what light rail will look like under the government's proposal. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," he said. "It does go to show that a tree-lined straight road is a boulevard. A straight road without trees resembles a highway. think that's what we start to get there with this Northbourne Avenue image. It becomes a straight expanse going for many kilometres." The Canberra Times reported on the photoshopped image here. Capital Metro Minister Simon Corbell said the image was "misadvertising". will be over 1,000 trees planted along Northbourne Avenue, the Federal Highway and Flemington Road as part of the light rail project," he said. Corbell said semi-mature trees would be planted along Northbourne Avenue, to "ensure the restoration of the avenue occurs in a very quick manner". "The only people who are being irresponsible are the Liberals with this grossly misleading image released today, which clearly shows a wide medium available for tree plantings, but with no trees in it," he said. "If they seriously believe that the National Capital Authority will approve a project without any tree plantings on Northbourne Avenue, they've simply got rocks in their heads." their detailed submission, Mr Haas said that: · ACT Light Rail supports the ACT Governments Capital Metro Stage One project, and the draft Light Rail Network Plan. · ACT Light Rail supports the proposed light rail routes as outlined in the draft plan. · ACT Light Rail supports planning light rail rotes around ‘future needs’. · ACT Light Rail recommends that the routes may need updating, as large scale residential developments such as Googong, and the redeveloped CSIRO Ginninderra Field Station will create transport demand that light rail may be best placed to respond to. · ACT Light Rail supports a business case for each corridor; and would ask that the ACT Government ensure that there is ongoing funding for this task in the budget cycle. · ACT Light Rail supports seeking Commonwealth funding for light rail, but do not believe this should hold back network development ACT Government exploring alternative funding models, including land value capture, congestion charges and toll road funding being used to expand public Parliamentary triangle route, commencing after extension of Capital Metro Stage One to Russell. ACT

Disease Bird cherry-oat aphids and greenbugs on wheat By Jeff Whitworth, Extension Entomologist, Kansas State University April 03, 2013 | 11:55 am EDT Bird cherry-oat aphids and greenbugs may begin to show up in April on wheat fields in Kansas. I have sampled wheat on March 20 and 28 in Riley, Geary, Dickinson, and Saline counties and found very few aphids. All have been bird cherry oat aphids but there are a few lady beetles in all fields -- more than enough to control the few aphids that are present, at least for now. In those same counties, I checked for alfalfa weevil hatching and although I would find a pinprick-sized hole once in a while, I found no larvae yet. If aphid populations begin to increase as the weather warms up, producers will have to decide whether fields should be sprayed to control them. This depends on the population level, the general growing conditions, and the presence or absence of natural enemies. Both lady beetles and parasitoid wasps, can do an adequate job of controlling aphids in many cases. So, while treating for aphids is always a possibility, it has not often been justified. It takes a pretty high population of aphids (30-50/tiller) with no lady beetles or mummies (indicating the wasp is active) and less-than-ideal growing conditions before an insecticide application to prevent damage from aphid feeding is justified. The discussions below for each species give a little more detail on the kind of direct feeding injury the aphids can cause, and economic threshold levels. Both the bird cherry-oat aphid and greenbug can transmit a virus that causes barley yellow dwarf, but a foliar insecticide application now will not guarantee the disease has not, nor will be, transmitted to the plants. The bird cherry-oat aphid is one of the largest aphids to be found on wheat in Kansas and varies in color depending on the temperature and its stage of growth. Nymphs are usually pale yellowish-green, darkening as they mature to a deep olive green in the adult stage. Under very warm conditions, adults may be much paler in color. When large colonies persist on wheat plants past the boot stage they can cause the flag leaf to twist into a corkscrew shape that can trap the awns, resulting in 'fish-hooked' heads. When the climate is sufficiently warm, asexual reproduction can continue year-round on wheat, oats, and other cereal grains. Asexual reproduction of the bird cherry-oat aphid occurs in Oklahoma and possibly in southern Kansas, and these populations are likely responsible for the migrants that colonize more northern wheat fields very early in spring, often while snow is still on the ground. At one time, it was thought that the bird cherry-oat aphid caused very little direct yield loss to wheat except by vectoring BYDV. However, more recent research information from Oklahoma State University and the USDA-ARS suggest that the bird cherry-oat aphid is almost as damaging to wheat yield as is the greenbug. The data shows that if populations exceed 20 aphids per tiller before the boot stage, (400 aphids per foot of row) for 10 days, a 5% yield loss could be expected. If populations exceed 40 aphids per tiller for 10 days, (800 per foot of row) before boot, a 9% yield loss could be expected. Although its feeding causes no chlorosis or other visible damage to wheat plants, heavy infestations can also reduce grain quality, affect protein content and test weight, and even reduce protein assimilation by grazing cattle. Still, the bird cherry-oat aphid causes the most damage by vectoring plant viruses, especially BYDV. Although the hot summer weather in Kansas is usually effective in decimating aphid populations, bird cherry-oat aphid can temporarily avoid extremes of temperature by feeding on the lowest parts of the stalk, at or below ground level. It is also able to feed actively in weather too cold for other aphids, such as the greenbug, enabling the bird cherry-oat aphid to effectively colonize seedling wheat quite late into the fall. The bird cherry-oat aphid is usually held below economic injury levels by natural enemies such as lady beetles, lacewings, hover flies, and parasitic wasps. However, conditions that favor outbreaks of greenbug or Russian wheat aphid (for example, an abrupt shift back to cold temperatures after a warm spell in spring) also benefit the bird cherry-oat aphid. The bird cherry-oat aphid will often be found forming mixed colonies with these aphids when they are abundant. In such cases, decisions to apply pesticides should be driven by the numbers of those direct-damaging species and materials applied to control them should be equally effective against bird cherry-oat aphid. If bird cherry-oat aphid is present alone, count the number of aphids present on each of a series of 25 - 50 randomly selected tillers across a zigzag transect of the field. Treatment with an insecticide broadly labeled for aphid control on wheat can be considered if an average of 50 or more aphids per tiller is present from boot stage up until heading. However, treatment with contact insecticides will not reduce the incidence of virus transmission. Greenbugs Greenbugs are pale green aphids with a dark green line down the back and antennae as long as the body. Greenbugs usually prefer to feed on the underside of lower leaves. Damage can occur in fall or spring, with tiny reddish spots on leaves signaling a beginning infestation. Later, infested leaves turn yellow, then reddish brown and eventually die. In the field, damage often appears as yellow or reddish-brown irregularly shaped patches that can spread to become almost field-wide. The guidelines below are useful in estimating the need for greenbug control. For convenience, damaging levels are expressed as the number of greenbugs per foot of row, but in assessing the need for control, the thickness of the stand also becomes important. 50 greenbugs per foot of row in a thin stand would be more serious than in a thick stand because the number of aphids per plant would be greater. Similarly, larger plants can tolerate somewhat larger numbers of greenbugs before significant damage occurs. Approximate Damaging Levels of Greenbugs Stage and development of plants No. of greenbugs per linear foot Seedlings, thin stands less than 3 tillers 50 3- to 6-inch wheat, 3 tillers or more 100 to 300 6- to 10-inch wheat 300 to 500 Overwintering greenbugs can rapidly develop into damaging infestations during warm periods in February and March, and close surveillance of fields is necessary if greenbugs are present. Beneficial insects such as parasitic wasps and ladybeetles become increasingly effective in reducing greenbug populations around mid-April. Once parasitism levels reach between 10 and 15 percent, greenbug populations usually decline fairly rapidly. Greenbug control on small grains is occasionally needed during periods of relatively cool weather (below 60°F, but above freezing). Experience has shown that good results are possible under these conditions with some, and perhaps most, of the recommended insecticides. Dimethoate may be an exception, however. It may not give acceptable control below 60°F. Oklahoma State University has developed a sampling program called “Glance ‘n’ Go,” which calculates a greenbug threshold based on the cost of control, the market value of wheat and the month of the year. For more information on their greenbug pest management decision support system, see the web site at: http://entoplp.okstate.edu/gbweb/. Consider avoiding pesticide applications when beneficial insects such as lady beetles and parasitic wasps are active, as these are often abundant enough to prevent greenbugs from reaching damaging levels. Augmenting greenbug predators such as ladybeetles or lacewings by importing and releasing is not advisable.

» Belief in God Optimism and Pessimism Time Magazine recently ran an article based on the book "The Optimism Bias." The subtitle, which sums up the article, read "Those rose-colored glasses? We may be born with them. Why our brains tilt toward the positive… in spite of all the negative." It outlines how, based upon so many negative life experiences, we should collectively be much more pessimistic about events and their expected outcomes, yet we remain much more positive that we should be based on reality. Although hope and optimism are healthy for us, they are often counterintuitive. This article postulates that positive thinking is hard-wired into our brains. Optimism was naturally selected during our evolutionary process because without the anticipation of a future reward man would have giving everything up. Even the knowledge of our mortality to should lead us to a "dead end," to despair leading our survival activities to stop because, after all, why is it worth it? They use evidence from MRI scanners showing activity in certain sections of the brain which might indicate those areas are responsible for our positive thoughts and keep us thinking optimistically and happily, when we otherwise logically wouldn't. Personally, this article, though fascinating, did not make me happy at all. I am a very optimistic person but would be greatly deflated to learn that all my optimism is simply a chemical reaction in a deep section of my brain. Does Judaism have anything to say about this? I looked at the article that you mention and, though intrigued by the suggestion, felt much as you did from this theory; to think that my optimism or anyone else's is simply the result of hard-wiring is not very optimistic! I find it very disempowering to think that our optimism is not the result of a conscious effort to be that way, and those who are depressed or negative is simply because of some malady or hormone dysfunction. According to Jewish thought, optimism and pessimism are included in the larger body of actions and thoughts about which we can and need to exercise Free Choice. In general the concept of free choice applies to things we are obligated to do, i.e. mitzvot, and deeds or thoughts which we are proscribed from performing, i.e. misdeeds. Which mitzvah would obligate one to be optimistic and proscribe us from being pessimistic? The answer is the mitzvah of bitachon, or "trust" in the Almighty. The concept of trust is predicated upon the core Jewish belief in God's unlimited power, giving Him the ability to affect the results of any given situation. Hence the Talmudic statement, "even if a sharp sword is raised above your head, do not give up hope for Divine intervention." The notion of bitachon is further based upon the Jewish understanding that God is all-knowing, and is fully cognizant of all our needs down to the most precise detail. Furthermore, He loves us all more than anyone else and, although He's busy with many others, never takes His eye off of any of us for a moment. All this teaches us that whatever happens to us is, ultimately, for the good. If the result of any given situation is not to my liking, I can still rejoice in that outcome because I know it is truly the best thing for me, whether I ever find out why so, or not. To live this way brings about serenity, you're not nervous and worried what will happen, and brings about a life of optimism and joy. This realization is, in fact, "hard-wired" into our souls, which deep down contain a spark of Godliness and know this well. It is our choice whether we tap into that wellspring of knowledge within ourselves and live with optimism and serenity, or to heap layers of darkness upon our souls and live solely with the realities of the physical world; leaving God out of the picture, and allow pessimism to take over! I found the Discovery Seminar's presentation on Bible Codes very convincing and it has captured my interest. How exactly do the Codes work? 6.Animal Souls I have a dog that I love dearly. She has brought joy to my life and brought smiles to the faces of many. I've heard many people say that animals don't have souls or... 7.Tracing Jewish Roots How does one, who has been raised Christian, begin searching to see if his ancestors were Jewish? My family comes from Germany. My great-great-grandfathers came alone... 6.Boys' Names The origin and meaning of some of the most common Jewish names for boys.

Coming Home From Ramallah The son of a Jewish woman and an Arab man struggles with his identity. A true story. by Zev Roth After the concluding prayer, Dan quickly walked to the front of the shul in Jerusalem, said "Good Shabbos" to the rabbi and a few other people he knew, and at once made his way toward the back. Time to get home and make Kiddush for the family. On his way out, a sudden impulse struck him and he turned around to watch the people filing out. His eyes slowly scanned the shul. Was there anyone who needed a place to eat? "Who's that sitting toward the side wall? I know almost everyone here, and I don't believe he's been here before." Dan approached the young man, scanning him with an experienced eye. Dungarees, backpack, dark skin, curly black hair -- looks Sephardi, maybe Moroccan. A moment more for consideration, and he was moving toward the boy with his hand extended in welcome. "Good Shabbos. My name is Dan Eisenblatt. Would you like to eat at my house tonight?" The young man's face broke in an instant from a worried look to a toothy smile. "Yeah, thanks. My name is Machi." The young man picked up his backpack, and together they walked out of the shul. A few minutes later they were all standing around Dan's Shabbos table. As soon as the family started singing Shalom Aleichem, Dan noticed that his guest wasn't singing along. "Maybe he's shy, or can't sing," he surmised. The guest gave another one of his toothy smiles and followed along, limping badly but obviously trying his best. Even after the meal began and the guest had relaxed somewhat, he still seemed a bit fidgety and was mostly silent. Dan picked up the signal and kept the conversation general, and centered his remarks on the weekly Torah portion, mixed with small talk about current events. Is there a song you want to sing? I can help if you're not sure about the tune. After the fish, Dan noticed his guest leafing through his songbook, apparently looking for something. He asked with a smile, "Is there a song you want to sing? I can help if you're not sure about the tune." The guest's face lit up, a startling change. "There is a song I'd like to sing, but I can't find it here. I really liked what we sang in the synagogue tonight. What was it called? Something ‘dodi.'" Dan paused for a moment, on the verge of saying, "It's not usually sung at the table," but then he caught himself. "If that's what the kid wants," he thought, "what's the harm?" Aloud he said, "You mean Lecha Dodi. Wait, let me get you a siddur." Once they had sung Lecha Dodi, the young man resumed his silence until after the soup, when Dan asked him, "Which song now?" The guest looked embarrassed, but after a bit of encouragement said firmly, "I'd really like to sing Lecha Dodi again." Dan was not really all that surprised when, after the chicken, he asked his guest what song now, and the young man said, "Lecha Dodi, please." Dan almost blurted out, "Let's sing it a little softer this time, the neighbors are going to think I'm nuts," but thought better of it. Finally it got to be too much for Dan. "Don't you want to sing something else?" he suggested gently. His guest blushed and looked down. "I just really like that one," he mumbled. "Just something about it -- I really like it." In all, they must have sung "The Song" eight or nine times. Dan wasn't sure -- he lost count. MACHMUD IBN-ESH-SHARIF Later, when they had a quiet time to talk, Dan said, "I was just wondering, we haven't had more than a few moments to chat. Where are you from?" The boy looked pained, then stared down at the floor and said softly, "Ramallah." Dan's heart skipped a beat. He was sure he'd heard the boy say "Ramallah," a large Arab city on the West Bank. Quickly he caught himself, and then realized that he must have said Ramleh, an Israeli city. Dan said, "Oh, I have a cousin there. Do you know Ephraim Warner? He lives on Herzl Street." The young man shook his head sadly. "There are no Jews in Ramallah." Dan gasped. He really had said "Ramallah"! His thoughts were racing. Did he just spend Shabbos with an Arab? Wait a minute! Take a deep breath and let's get this straightened out. Giving his head a quick shake he told the boy, "I'm sorry, I'm a bit confused. And now that I think of it, I haven't even asked your full name. What is it, please?" The boy looked terrified for a moment, then squared his shoulders and said quietly, "Machmud Ibn-esh-Sharif." Machmud was looking even more terrified now; obviously he could tell what Dan was thinking. Hurriedly he said, "Wait! I'm Jewish. I'm just trying to find out where I belong." Dan stood there speechless. What could he say? Machmud broke the silence hesitantly: "I was born and grew up in Ramallah. I was taught to hate my Jewish oppressors, and to think that killing them was heroism. But I always had my doubts. I mean, we were taught that the Sunna, the tradition, says, 'No one of you is a believer until he desires for his brother that which he desires for himself.' I used to sit and wonder, Weren't the Yahud (Jews) people, too? Didn't they have the right to live the same as us? If we're supposed to be good to everyone, how come nobody includes Jews in that? "I asked these questions to my father, and he threw me out of the house. Just like that, with nothing but the clothes on my back. By now my mind was made up: I was going to run away and live with the Yahud, until I could find out what they were really like." Machmud continued: "I snuck back into the house that night, to get my things and my backpack. My mother caught me in the middle of packing. She looked pale and upset, but she was quiet and gentle to me, and after a while she got me to talk. I told her that I wanted to go live with the Jews for a while and find out what they're really like, and maybe I would even want to convert. "She was turning more and more pale while I said all this, and I thought she was angry, but that wasn't it. Something else was hurting her, and she whispered, 'You don't have to convert. You already are a Jew.' She whispered: "You don't have to convert. You already are a Jew." "I was shocked. My head started spinning, and for a moment I couldn't speak. Then I stammered, 'What do you mean?' "'In Judaism,' she told me, 'the religion goes according to the mother. I'm Jewish, so that means you're Jewish.' "I never had any idea my mother was Jewish. I guess she didn't want anyone to know. She sure didn't feel too good about her life, because she whispered suddenly, 'I made a mistake by marrying an Arab man. In you, my mistake will be redeemed.' "My mother always talked that way, poetic-like. She went and dug out some old documents, and handed them to me: things like my birth certificate and her old Israeli ID card, so I could prove I was a Jew. I've got them here, but I don't know what to do with them. "My mother hesitated about one piece of paper. Then she said, 'You may as well take this. It is an old photograph of my grandparents, which was taken when they went looking for the grave of some great ancestor of ours. They went up north and found the grave, and that's when this picture was taken.'" Dan gently put his hand on Machmud's shoulder. Machmud looked up, scared and hopeful at the same time. Dan asked, "Do you have the photo here?" The boy's face lit up. ""Sure! I always carry it with me." He reached in his backpack and pulled out an old, tattered envelope. This grave was in the old cemetery in Tzfat, and the inscription identified it as the author of Lecha Dodi. Dan gingerly took the photo from the envelope, picked up his glasses, and looked carefully at it. The first thing that stood out was the family group: an old-time Sephardi family from the turn of the century. Then he focused on the grave they were standing around. When he read the gravestone inscription, he nearly dropped the photo. He rubbed his eyes to make sure. There was no doubt. This was a grave in the old cemetery in Tzfat, and the inscription identified it as the grave of the great Kabbalist and tzaddik Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz -- the author of "Lecha Dodi." Dan's voice quivered with excitement as he explained to Machmud who his ancestor was. "He was a friend of the Arizal, a great Torah scholar, a tzaddik, a mystic. And Machmud, your ancestor wrote that song we were singing all Shabbos: Lecha Dodi!" This time it was Machmud's turn to be struck speechless. Dan slowly stood up from the bed, still in awe about what had happened. He extended his trembling hand and said, "Welcome home, Machmud. Now how about picking a new name for yourself." I just heard on Radio Kol Chai in Israel an American group singing the "story" of this young man. WOW! I was so amazed to hear it put to music, and what a beautiful composition it was. Do you know what the name of the song is and which group sings it? A MOST BEAUTIFUL STORY! THANK YOU FOR SHARING - VERY INSPIRING FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE "LOST"... NOT FOR LONG :) I'm almost crying, that was an unbelievable hashgacha pratit and inspiring story. Gripping story. What happened next to the young man? I'd love to know. debra farrar, very moving yes we all are human I love to read these exerts from the authors. I live in the U.S.A. and I can't imagine living the way some of these people do. It's very sad and yet there is always hope. sheryl patrick, very moving, many jews in the world supressed their jewish rootsto live and have a being without prejudice. It is my desire to serve the Jewish People and the Nation of Israel without prejudice. I want to come to Israel again, very soon; was there in 1996 when Netanyahu was running for national office. The God who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps, neither do those who serve and are faithful. Jeff Pomykala, I got chills down my spine reading how this came out! ~ Our G-d is truly an awesome G-d and his ways are spectacular! Welcome home, Machmud! David M. Schwartz, That blew me away. Would that Arabs at least see us as cousins! It is wonderful how He works. I held back the tears. I wanted to have an experience like this. There is a mystery to my background, no hints of being a Jew, but I am converting, and I can identify with the character's inner feelings about 'coming home' to Judaism. For these past two years I have been praying that the hearts of the Arabs will be changed. I know I am not alone praying for this. Perhaps this is a small sample of this change we have been praying for.

Ever wish you could grow apple trees in your backyard? This guide will tell you all you need to know about apples, including how to plant, grow, and care for apple trees in your garden. Apples trees aren’t just for people with acres upon acres of land. Even in a small space, you can plant a hedge of dwarf apple trees or an apple espalier and yield a successful crop. Planting Spring planting is recommended in central and northern areas. Where fall and winter weather is generally mild and moist, fall planting is successful. Climate Considerations Not every apple grows everywhere. Each variety has a specific number of days needed for fruit maturity. Tree tags don’t always tell you where the variety grows best, but many catalogs do. Also check with your local Cooperative Extension Service for a recommendation specific to your area. As a general rule, if a tree is termed hardy, it grows best in Hardiness Zones 3 to 5. If termed long-season, apple quality will be best in Zones 5 to 8. Check your zone here. Each variety has a number of chill hours needed to set fruit (i.e., the amount of time temperatures are between 32 and 45 degrees F). The farther north you go, the more chill hours an apple variety needs to avoid late spring freeze problems. Check tree tags for chill hour information or ask the seller. Site and Soil Take a soil test prior to planting your apple trees. Your local Cooperative Extension Service can instruct you in collecting the soil sample, help you interpret the results, and provide valuable information about the soil in your county. Results from the soil test will determine the soil amendments necessary to correct nutrient deficiencies and adjust soil pH. The amendments should be worked into the soil to a depth of 12 to 18 inches where the tree will root, not just the planting hole. Apple trees need well-drained soil, nothing too wet. Soil needs to be moderately rich and retain moisture as well as air; mulch with straw, hay, or some other organic material to keep soil moist and provide nutrients as they decompose. Choose a sunny site. For best fruiting, an apple tree needs “full sunlight,” which means six or more hours of direct summer sun daily. The best exposure for apples is a north- or east-facing slope. Tree spacing is influenced by the rootstock, soil fertility, and pruning. Seedlings or full-size trees should be planted about 15 to 18 feet apart in a row. A dwarfing rootstock might be 4 to 8 feet apart in a row. Dwarf apple trees are notoriously prone to uprooting under the weight of a heavy crop, so you should provide a support system for your hedge. You can grow your trees against a fence, or you can provide free-standing support in the form of a trellis. Make sure the tree will not be planted in a “frost pocket” where cold air settles in low-lying areas. Choose a higher site with a slip if possible so that cold air will flow away from the trees. Do not plant trees near wooded areas or trees. Planting the Tree in the Ground Before planting, remove all weeds and the grass in a 4-foot diameter circle. After you purchase the tree, protect it from injury, drying out, freezing, or overheating. If the roots have dried out, soak them in water about 24 hours before planting. Dig a hole approximately twice the diameter of the root system and 2 feet deep. Place some of the loose soil back into the hole and loosen the soil on the walls of the planting hole so the roots can easily penetrate the soil. Spread the tree roots on the loose soil, making sure they are not twisted or crowded in the hole. Continue to replace soil around the roots. As you begin to cover the roots, firm the soil to be sure it surrounds the roots and to remove air pockets. Do not add fertilizer at planting time, as the roots can be “burned”. Fill the remainder of the hole with the loose soil, and press the soil down well. Most apple trees are grafted. The graft union must be at least 2 inches above the soil line so that roots do not emerge from the scion. The graft union (where the scion is attached to the rootstock) can be recognized by the swelling at the junction. See our video to learn how to plant a bare-rooted fruit tree. Care Minimize Pruning of a Young Tree Pruning slows a young tree’s overall growth and can delay fruiting, so don’t be in a hurry to prune, other than removing misplaced, broken, or dead branches. There are several techniques to direct growth without heavy pruning. For example: Rub off misplaced buds before they grow into misplaced branches. Bend a stem down almost horizontally for a few weeks to slow growth and promote branches and fruiting. Tie down with strings to stakes in the ground or to lower branches. Prune a Mature Tree Annually Once an apple tree has filled in and is bearing fruit, it requires regular, moderate pruning. Prune your mature tree when it is dormant. Completely cut away overly vigorous, upright stems (most common high up in the tree). Remove weak twigs (which often hang from the undersides of limbs. Shorten stems that become too droopy, especially those low in the tree. After about ten years, fruiting spurs (stubby branches that elongate only about a half-inch per year) become overcrowded and decrepit. Cut away some of them and shorten others. When a whole limb of fruiting spurs declines with age, cut it back to make room for a younger replacement. Thin Ruthlessly Thin or remove excess fruit. This seems hard but this practice evens out production, prevents a heavy crop from breaking limbs, and ensures better-tasting, larger fruit crop. Soon after fruit-set, remove the smallest fruits or damaged ones, leaving about four inches between those that remain. Pests/Diseases Apples are prone to pests. Here are some pointers: Keep deer at bay with repellents, fencing, or deer-resistant plants; deter mice and rabbits with wire-mesh cylinders around the base of the tree. Sprays may be needed for insects like Japanese beetles, although one of the worst culprits, the apple maggot, can be trapped simply enough by hanging one or two round, softball-size balls—painted red and coated with sticky “Tangle-Trap”—from a branch in June through the summer. Reapply the sticky goo a time or two, as necessary. Fend off diseases by raking apple leaves, burying them beneath mulch, or grinding them with a lawnmower at season’s end. Pruning reduces disease by letting in more light and air. To keep insects away from apple trees, make a solution of 1 cup of vinegar, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 quart of water. Pour this mixture into a widemouthed plastic jug. Hang the jug, uncovered, in your apple tree. Harvest/Storage Harvest Patiently. After all this pruning and caring, be sure to harvest your apples at their peak of perfection. Pluck your apples when their background color is no longer green. Different apple varieties mature at different times, so the harvest season can stretch from August to October. At this point, the stem should part readily from the branch when the fruit is cupped in the palm of your hand and given a slight twist around, then up. If the apple is overripe and soft, use for cooking! Apples keep well for about six months at temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees F. “Baked apples have an excellent effect upon the whole physical system, feeding the brain as well as adding to the flesh, and keeping the blood pure; also preventing constipation and correcting a tendency to acidity, which produces rheumatism and neuralgia.” –The 1898 Old Farmer’s Almanac Recommended Varieties Choose the Right Varieties Look for disease-resistant trees, such as ‘Liberty’, ‘Jonafree’, ‘Macfree’, and ‘Williams Pride’, which will give you the ability to grow organic fruit or to use fewer chemicals. Maintenance is easier, too. You need to choose a rootstock. All apple trees sold have 2 parts: a “rootstock” or foundation and a “scion” or top portion which determines the fruit variety. A rootstock can be “seeding” (which produces a full-size tree) or it can be “dwarfing” or “size-controlling” (which produces a smaller tree for easier care and harvest). For dwarf trees, make sure that the rootstock is specified. A Bud 9 is a common, hardy tree that’s easy to train for USDA Climate Zones 3 to 5. The M9 is probably the most widely planted rootstock, though it could die in frigid winters. Buy dormant, bare-root, 1-year-old nursery trees with good root systems. Dwarfs and semi-dwarfs will bear in 3 to 4 years, yielding 1 to 2 bushels per year. Standard-size trees will bear in 5 to 8 years, yielding 4 to 5 bushels of apples per year. The variety of apple selected should be based on fruit characteristics, bloom time, and pollen compatibility. Consult a local nursery to see which trees are potential cross-pollinators in your area. For best results, include a ‘Grimes Golden’, ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Red Delicious’, or ‘Winter Banana’ in your planting. These varieties are known pollinators. Crabapple trees can also be used as pollinators if they bloom at the same time as the desired variety. Nursery catalogs will provide pollination charts. Most apple varieties do not pollinate themselves or any flowers of the same apple variety; this requires planting at least two different apple tree varieties close to one another so that the bees can pollinate. (There are actually some self-pollinating apple tree varieties if you are really short on space. However, even these apple trees will bear more fruit if cross-pollinated.) Also consider how you will use your apples: Do you love to bake apple pies? Or, perhaps you just want apples that taste far better than what you could buy in a grocery store. See Best Apples for Baking for more information. A young dwarf tree produces about 1 ½ bushels of fruit—and even less when the tree is part of an apple hedge. So, if you’re interested in baking lots of ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’ apple pies, you’ll need to plant several trees of that variety to get enough fruit. If you have no particular culinary goal, try planting one each of different varieties that ripen over the entire harvest season. Then you can enjoy regular apple tastings and still have enough fruit on hand for a “mess” of cooked apples. Seek out the advice of local orchardists about the varieties that will do well in your area. Do the bulk of your planning from an easy chair, with a half-dozen nursery catalogs in your lap! Wit & Wisdom March 11 is Johnny Appleseed Day, celebrating John Chapman, legendary American pioneer and folk hero who planted apple trees across the American Frontier. Did you know that apples and aged cheeses can reduce tooth plaque? (Eat them together!) A bad woman can’t make good applesauce. –proverb Does an apple a day keep the doctor away? Find the answer and learn more about the health benefits of apples, apple cider, and cider vinegar. This fall, try your hand at making an apple head or try one of our Top 10 Apple Recipes! Recipes Apple Pie with Cider Pecan CrustApple QuicheIndian Summer ApplesauceApple Cake Cooking Notes See our table on the best baking and cooking apples in North America. My boyfriend has 4 apple trees and this past fall it produced a ton of really big apples. Some had dark spots and they tasted little bitter. I do not know what to do to produce healthy apples. What do i need to do to protect the fruit sonit will produce a beautiful crop to share with my family. Submitted by Ralph on February 9, 2017 - 6:55pm When is the correct time to spray young apple trees for bugs and disease? How does "all the time" sound? Submitted by Almanac Staff on February 13, 2017 - 10:39am Hi, Ralph: Thanks for this great question, the answers to which in some part depend on your location, what types of apples you have, and whether there are known infestations on hand or nearby. The best thing to do is an online search for “when spray apple trees” and then read up on the subject. But basically the thing to do is neem oil now to get at any overwintering pests, and then a fixed copper spray right before bloom for brown rot and fire blight. Then come the times throughout spring and summer when various organic pesticides and fungicides might be necessary. So, do an online search, but also contact (or go online to) your local state cooperative extension service–they will be your absolute best source of information on when to do what for apples. Thanks again, and good luck! P.S. We should add that the #1 mistake that people make in spraying apple trees is not in the timing or in what is being sprayed, but in not being thorough enough. growing apples in ghana Submitted by richard nixon on December 29, 2016 - 3:50pm I am interested in farming. I now want to procure apple seeds from south Africa and cultivate it in Ghana....I live in the middle belt of Ghana ,we have temperate weather. is it possible to cultivate apples which are imported from SA in Ghana???? Plantation of Apple Submitted by Engr Shahadat H... on October 14, 2016 - 4:09am Submitted by Yahaya A. Abubakar on September 25, 2016 - 5:07pm Thanks for all the advices,I am better educated to go back Apple farming. planting apple Submitted by Dwomoh Sampson on September 20, 2016 - 10:39am Please I live in Ghana a country in west Africa. I'm interested in growing apple at my area Ashanti Mampong in Ashanti Region, but I don't know if if my location will favour the plant. Please kindly help me with this issue Can you identify where is the market of the seeds of an APPLE? reply Submitted by Opobo David on September 17, 2016 - 4:18am I want to plant apple trees in my farm as soon as possible, but my problem is skills and knowledge, good planting materials, source of seeds or seedlings, related soil suitability, weather factors, market for selling products or market information, approachable price, and extentionist contacts. growing apple tree Submitted by Paul Roux on August 18, 2016 - 11:03am I started from seed apple trees (2) in the fall I will put them on our 3 season porch, will the leaves fall and trees become dormant Do you live in an area with Submitted by Almanac Staff on August 19, 2016 - 4:26pm Do you live in an area with cold winters? Apple trees do require chill hours. They will go dormant in their pots if left on an unheated porch. Submitted by Greg on August 13, 2016 - 11:05am We have 3 apple trees, 2 pear trees, 1 cherry, one plum tree, and 5 new nut trees. The apple trees are 5 years old, the pear are 8 years old. The cherry tree is 3 years old and the prune is 2 years old. The nut trees are 2 years old. They have yet to produce an apple, pear, cherry, or nuts. Last year we had lots of plums - this year none. There are blossoms (not many) except the plum tree had lots of blossoms this year. I used fertilizer on them 2 years ago as told by the local apple farmer - he said; "put 3 pounds of chicken poo fertilizer on them - that will produce fruit the next year." Well, the fertilizer did not work - no fruit was produced. I was pruning them to clear out the center until I watched our neighbors only apple tree produce many apples without being pruned or fertilized. Basically the neighbor neglects the tree. So that's what I am doing in the hope they will produce. Do you have any ideas why the trees are not producing? Fruit Trees Not Bearing Fruit There are a few reasons fruit trees do not bear fruit. Sometimes they are such vigorous growers that all of their energy goes into leaf and stem/branch production rather than fruit production. Other times, a late spring frost can prevent fruiting. The third most common reason is lack of or poor pollination. This would have been our second year for our gala apple to bear fruit - unfortunately every apple (there were many) fell off or disappeared. They were very small and had black dots on them. We're so disappointed as we were expecting a large crop from our one tree. A neighbor has a tree that produces many apples and we have also planted an apple in our back yard (which also lost all it's apples). What did we do wrong? We bought orchard insect spray and used it twice. Have had an apple tree growing in the garden now for approx 3yrs, it has still has had no fruit. Do i need to have another apple tree and does it need to be the same and how far do i need to plant the second tree no fruit Submitted by Almanac Staff on March 8, 2016 - 11:07am Trees don’t fruit for a variety of reasons. Lack of pollination is one. The question of whether you need another apple tree and what type depends on the type of tree you’ve got. Here’s more information on this: Notice also that this page suggests that time to fruit after planting an apple tree can be 2 to 5 years. It really behooves you to find out what kind of tree you have (got any plant tags from when you purchased it?), then you can consult a local nursery or explore further on the Web to better understand how to maintain it.. The source, as you can see is Connecticut, but the core information holds true. Apple trees and nut trees. Submitted by Charles Handfield on March 5, 2016 - 6:13pm It is 5 March 2016. I live in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Today it was 72' Fahrenheit. My trees are budding and starting to flower. I have been watering once a month during the so called winter. If I prune the buds now will I harm the budding and fruiting later, such as them not budding or setting fruit? I do figure that I will have at least 2-3 snow storms in the next 30 to 60 days, Any advice is appreciated. Need to start apple growing Submitted by Mupaghasya Abisayah on February 26, 2016 - 8:20am I leave in Bukonzo county Kasese district, Uganda and i am very much in need to start growing apples. Am a teacher of agriculture at Bwera SS. I have enough land but am lucking the seed. My home area allows for its production with cool climate on the lower slopes of the Rwenzori Mnts. Plz assist me with funds to acquire the seedlings and i too join the apple industry. Thanks a lot for your contributions. growing apples Submitted by Ngwa Henry Ngwang on January 24, 2016 - 1:22am Like chukwuemeka odum of Nigeria, i am interested in growing apples. i live in the grasslands of the nortrh-west region of Cameroon which has two seasons a year: a wet season from mid-march to oct. and a dry season from nov. to early march (no rain, hot and dusty). i would like to know more about its cultivation and where to get viable seeds. is nwanza misheck still interested in incorporation, as he aptly puts it? Submitted by caitlyn coffey on November 15, 2015 - 6:53pm I am thinking about planting a apple seed if i plant the seed within the next month or so would it be ready to plant outside in spring Caitlyn Appleseed Submitted by Almanac Staff on November 16, 2015 - 12:37pm Hi, Caitlyn: This is sort of a tricky question, because a lot depends on the type, health, and origin of the apple from which the seed comes. The short answer is, Sure, go ahead and plant it, and if it is going to germinate, it will certainly do so before next spring. Good luck! Apple seed/trees Submitted by Jaine on April 30, 2016 - 2:00pm 16th December 2015 in UK we collected seeds from our ancient orchard, rinsed and dried them and laid them on kitchen roll, covered with a sheet of kitchen roll, put into a ziplock bag and left in fridge.on 1st March some were just beginning to sprout so we put them in mini pots with earth, not compost. in 3 weeks they were sprouting well - having been left on a sunny window sill and watered twice a day. They were transplanted into larger fibre pots on 22nd March and are now around 4" high, each with 7 leaves. We had 70 seeds and we now have a potential 35 trees. We'll do it again late this year after the apple harvest but, after they've sprouted we'll put them straight into the fibre pots to avoid damaging the fragile roots in transplanting time. We haven't big potted them yet, the frosts are still with us so they're staying indoors. Hope this is helpful. What can I do to help my apple tree to grow. It's been planted for 2 seasons now and the over all tree size hasn't changed much. It's a New Zealand Green Apple tree and according to the tag on the tree it should grow up to 20 feet. The first season it produced 12 apples and this season it has produced about 30 apples but the tree hasn't grown any bigger. I live in Northern California and our summers are very hot AVG 110 degrees and our fall and spring temps are usually in the 80's during the days and low 50's in the night, winters can get down to the low 30's. Any suggestion would be helpful I was eating a Gala Apple, Submitted by nessa779 on August 14, 2015 - 9:12pm I was eating a Gala Apple, when I noticed the seeds had roots,so I put the core in a small pot of soil,well it sprouted and I have 3 seedlings, all about 2-3 inches, will they make it and what should be my next step? have a bit of green thumb and really wanna help them transform into beautiful fruit bearing trees. Thank You Ms.GreenThumb Sorry to disappoint but the Sorry to disappoint but the parent of your seedlings is a grafted plant. It crossed with another variety to produce the apple you got the seeds from. Your trees may eventually bear fruit but it will not be Gala, it will be a hybrid of some sort. It may be even better than Gala who knows! But if you are interested in growing them as an experiment, give it a try. Transplant them to their permanent location this fall and wait a few years until they start blossoming. We have an apple tree that we Submitted by HollyB2008 on August 11, 2015 - 10:50pm We have an apple tree that we planted about 3 years ago. It is finally doing well and producing apples, but we just noticed that something has eaten the leaves out of the top branches of the tree. We don't see any bug accumulations on the tree, and the apples all seem to be doing fine. Any thoughts on what might be eating the leaves, and what we can do to stop them and protect the rest of the tree? Caterpillars, sawflies, Caterpillars, sawflies, leafminers, beetles, and aphids all like to dine on apple tree leaves. Try using an oil spray and/or insecticidal soap. These two pesticides help to control leaf-eating insects. I This is the first year my Submitted by Gray fox on August 10, 2015 - 7:30pm I This is the first year my apple tree produced and I have been told that the apples are not good to eat. Help is that true? Your apples may not win any Submitted by Almanac Staff on August 12, 2015 - 8:55am Your apples may not win any beauty contests but unless they are wormy they should be fine to eat. Enjoy the fruits of your labor! For 2 years i've grown dwarf Submitted by Yiorgo on July 14, 2015 - 5:02pm For 2 years i've grown dwarf apple trees in a container but am now considering planting them inground. When is the best time to do it so the trees survive. Hi, Yiorgio: This really Submitted by Almanac Staff on July 15, 2015 - 4:16pm Hi, Yiorgio: This really depends on where you are, but the trees do need to be in or as close to full dormancy as possible. The roots, which you should move as completely, quickly, and gently as possible into a premade adequately sized hole, need to be able to get good water. So you can do this either in late fall, if the ground is not in danger of freezing, or in very early spring, when they are ready to come out of dormancy. Good luck! After reading the Submitted by Joanna Appleseed on June 22, 2015 - 5:05pm After reading the instructions and advice of growing apple tree's from a seed, I have to say .... I am certain Johnny Appleseed didn't go through so many scientific steps....why do people always want to make things so much harder than it needs to be. I have wrapped my seeds in paper towel,placed in a freezer baggie,then buried approx.six inches deep in soil outside during winter months...when spring arrives dig them up. Add water to moisten, close baggie, place baggie in shaded area and watch the magic of root sprouts which will appear in aprox. 2 wks. I live in Ohio so wintering is not difficult. Submitted by Susan Steward on June 20, 2015 - 11:11am I planted a sapling from my mothers Red Delicious apple tree. I have had it for 15 years. I live in Northern Nevada. This is the first year it has produced apples! Problem the apples are about the size of a cherry and dont seem to be getting any bigger. I was told an apple tree planted from a sucker will not produce is this true? Submitted by Pat Corbid on June 4, 2015 - 7:09pm We live in zone 3 and are considering planting one or two apple trees. we have heard that apple trees will not grow or produce if they are near cedar trees. Is that a fact? If so, if we have one cedar on our 1 acre property, can we plant the apple trees if they are a distance from the cedar. If yes, what is the approximate distance we should adhere to? Cedar apple rust can become a Submitted by Almanac Staff on June 5, 2015 - 11:47am Cedar apple rust can become a big problem. Please see the fact sheet at There are some apple varieties that are resistant to the disease. Delicious, McIntosh, Jerseymac, and Liberty are a few. See a longer list at Hello! I just moved into a Submitted by Sarahnicrop on May 30, 2015 - 2:16pm Hello! I just moved into a house that has persimmon, apple, pear and pecan trees. No one has lived here for several months, so the trees have not been pruned this year. The apple and pear trees already have small fruit on them. They seem to be fairly mature, at 10-15 feet tall. The pecan tree did not produce last year, and it gives nuts every other year (according to a neighbor). One pecan tree is HUGE and must be pretty old, the other is younger, strangling about as tall as the apple/pear trees. I think the persimmon tree is dead. I am a complete novice and would love to learn how to take care of these trees and harvest their fruit! Can I prune my tree while it Submitted by Dobb on May 25, 2015 - 4:03pm Can I prune my tree while it has fruit on it? Hi, Dobb: From a technical Hi, Dobb: From a technical standpoint you can, but it wouldn't serve any good purpose. Please see the pruning and thinning tips above. The best time is when it is dormant, although you can still do so right up through flowering if absolutely necessary for some reason. Remember that pruning focuses growth, so work on identifying damaged, diseased, or underperforming branches while they are fruited out. Consider taking photos to help you identify what you will want to get rid of later. Good luck! Our 7 apple trees were eaten Submitted by CindyGrassi on May 25, 2015 - 12:52pm Our 7 apple trees were eaten my moles over the winter around the base. We sprayed a substance on them to seal them. (suggestion by our local garden shop) We have so may flowers, but very few leaves. Is this normal? Will the trees live? Thank you. Can I plant a group of apple Submitted by Dirk Emde on May 19, 2015 - 4:46pm Can I plant a group of apple trees in a clearing in a white pine plantation? It's the only good soil I have available? The clearing is about 150ftX1000ft. I thought maybe 50 trees. Hi Dirk, It should not be It should not be problem as long as the trees get enough sun and pollinators can find them. Do a bit of research on how big the variety you choose will grow and don't plant them too close. I have a 30+ year old Submitted by jnm on May 16, 2015 - 2:19pm I have a 30+ year old decorative apple tree which produces small 1/2" fruit most every year. I also this last winter grew several Red Delicious trees from seed. After these grow a couple years can they be grafted onto the old thee and will they produce Red Delicious apples. This is eastern Kansas area. Growing apples from seed Submitted by oaomcg on May 18, 2015 - 2:08pm Growing apples from seed isn't going to work. The apple tree has an extraordinary number of genes. The progeny will never resemble the parent that it came from. Most apples are not good for eating which is why discovering a good variety is a real treasure. From there they are cloned and grafted onto a good rootstock. You will never get red delicious apples from planting the seeds of a red delicious. You will most likely end up with a fruit that is inedible. Submitted by jeffgao on May 2, 2015 - 12:51pm I live in Toronto and just bought a 4 in 1 Apple Tree for my small back yard(Beni Shogun Fuji, Honeycrisp, Chehalis,Akane). Are they good combination? some say 4 in 1 grafted apple trees are not good. What do you think about 4 in 1 grafted apple trees? how to take good care of them? thank you Hi, Jeff: 4-in-1 grafted Hi, Jeff: 4-in-1 grafted apple trees are perfectly OK, provided they are cared for properly -- please read the tips above. If there is a way, you should try to plant it to the south of a structure of some sort, so that it gets maximum sun but is protected from the NW winds. Have fun! We brought Submitted by Kieron on April 17, 2015 - 8:38pm We brought an apple tree last year and were told it was a sweet type of apple variety by the incompetent garden center staff. It however has a very tarty sharp almost citric like flavor. The apples are a golden yellow tinged with red. I lost the label and was wondering what type it would be? It's ready to harvest mid October and has a profusion of fruit. I have now purchased another apple tree( and been told it is a dessert apple for sure.It;s a different garden center. The last tree we brought fruited the same year. Is it possible for this to happen this year? I will plant it this week. i just would like to know how Submitted by andrew korczyns... on April 8, 2015 - 8:13pm i just would like to know how manny years it will take I have a granny Smith Apple Submitted by Isaac Esquivel on April 4, 2015 - 5:18pm I have a granny Smith Apple tree a about 7yrs old. Just wondering what would cause the newly setting fruit to become yellow and fall off Apple drop can happen for Submitted by Almanac Staff on April 6, 2015 - 8:10am Apple drop can happen for many reasons. If it's this early, the issue is usually pollination. Most apple varieties in your yard need another apple tree within 100 feet of your tree. Another reason is pollination due to lack of bees or poor weather. Finally, apples do some natural fruit dropping because the trees wouldn't be able to support the load if every single flower developed into a full-sized apple. It's a good idea to thin your tree every year; a good rule of thumb is one apple for every 40 to 50 leaves. I have 2 dwarf apple trees' 1 Submitted by Brenda Painter on March 15, 2015 - 12:06pm I have 2 dwarf apple trees' 1 red delicious and 1 yellow delicious. The are still green in side, the height they are suppose to be, very few limbs, not filled out like most with lots of limbs, bark is light and dark grey, gets full of leaves, but no fruit yet. Trees about 10 years old but look like 2 years old. Live in TN. USDA Zone 7a. Trees planted side by side, about 10 feet a part and I have never had to trim them, not enough limbs to trim. Trunk is about 5 inches round. Other fruit trees doing good but no fruit, same age. What am I doing wrong? Sounds like the distance Submitted by Almanac Staff on March 16, 2015 - 10:51am Sounds like the distance apart, and varieties should be OK. Golden Delicious is a good pollinator for other apples. Do they get full sun? Do flowers form at all? If you think your trees look sickly, which can sometimes deter fruiting, check for pests and diseases. Make sure that you provide enough water. Also, rich soil and/or too much fertilizer can inhibit flowering/fruiting, encouraging instead leaf and branch growth. Pruning also helps to stimulate fruiting; dwarf apples don't need as much pruning as other sizes, but they can still benefit. For more information, you might check these sources:https://www.youtube.com/watch?... I've always been told the Submitted by EdnRaleigh on February 2, 2015 - 3:39pm I've always been told the only stupid question is the one you don't ask. Could a feather duster be used to help pollination? Perhaps dust several trees multiple times. Can the pollen then be saved by wrapping the duster in a brown or plastic bag to dust a tree that blooms at a later date? Feather dusters are Submitted by Almanac Staff on February 3, 2015 - 3:11pm Feather dusters are excellent for pollinating fruit trees. You can even tie it to a stick to reach the top flowers on tall trees. Pollen is best used the same day and tricky to store. Here's a link to an article about saving pollen. I am considering getting a dwarf apple tree. Do you have a recommendation on how much room is required for the roots? Would like to plant it under my picture window that faces the east. Submitted by Almanac Staff on January 30, 2015 - 12:00pm Hi, Estelle: This is a great question -- thanks! Even for a dwarf apple tree, we always plan on a 4-foot diameter, although the eventual reality may be less than that. The thing to do here is to consult with a local nursery or your county extension service to get advice specific to your area. You need to make sure that the type you get is self-fruiting (doesn't require another tree in the neighborhood). You need to use really good soil. And so forth. Someone more local can help you fine-tune your planting. Another thing to consider is whether it is going to block your view, and also the fact that it will be east- rather than south-facing. You might want to consider planting your dwarf apple tree in a really big container that you can move or turn. Thanks again! I have a few fruit trees in Submitted by NatalieKo on January 26, 2015 - 10:26am I have a few fruit trees in my garden- 2 peach, 2 fig, 2 apple and berry canes along with blueberries. The problem is with my 2 apple trees (red delicious and gold delicious.) They have cedar apple rust and have produced very poorly in the 6 years that I've had them. I was hoping at some point they may adapt better, but now that they are nearly 15 feet tall it's time to decide whether or not to keep them or remove them. Since I live in the city and have limited space, I need fruit trees that will produce. Should I give them a few more years or go ahead and take them out? Also, what varieties will be disease resistent in zone 7a - Piedmont area of NC? Thanks much! If you want to save your Submitted by Almanac Staff on January 28, 2015 - 2:34pm If you want to save your trees it's recommended to remove any host plants (red cedar or junipers) growing within 300 yards of your apple trees. You can also spray the trees with a sulfur solution (3 tablespoons sulfur to one gallon water) three times during the growing season. If you are looking to replace your trees choose from Baldwin, Enterprise, Liberty, McIntosh and Sundance. They are known to be highly resistant to cedar apple rust. Rather than pulling out the Submitted by PGerrish on May 8, 2015 - 7:33pm Rather than pulling out the trees, you should think about grafting scionwood from a cedar apple rust variety. You could actually add several types. This seems better than cutting the mature trees down. More types and less wait for apples. i just brought 2 apples from Submitted by suny on December 6, 2014 - 2:14am i just brought 2 apples from shop for seed however i am confused. Is that summer temperatures range between 30°C and 40°C. April is the warmest month in most parts of the country. January is the coldest month, when the average temperature for most of the country is about 10°C suitable for apple cultivation. I have a small Apple tree Submitted by Linda Beghtel on November 26, 2014 - 7:49pm I have a small Apple tree (Unknown type, tart, firm, great pie apples) and I decided to try to grow a new tree from a seed (experiment as one lady said). Researched and found that it 'takes two different types of seeds to germinate an apple seed' so got another apple (Gala) and put the seeds through the 6 wks in fridge, with damp towel. Got 3 germinated planted them and they started growing, got to 1 inch tall. Thrilled, until the first one 'keeled over'. It just went withery and dark stem and fell over. I had one in one pot and two in another pot left, so I thought it was still possible to get a 'TREE'. The second 'single' one is going the same way. What is wrong? I have them in clay pots, with good potting soil, in a East window as we are just going into our winter season (California Central Coast). I give my plants a diluted Miracle Gro every other watering. Since those 1st few, two others have germinated, I just planted them in pots and they are just shedding their seed shell. Help? I'd really like a couple of these to live. Hi Linda, Make sure that you Submitted by Almanac Staff on December 1, 2014 - 3:20pm Make sure that you have good quality potting soil that is not too heavy. Instead of fertilizer add a bit of compost to the soil. Handle the seedlings carefully when transplanting. They can easily get damaged. Keep the soil moist but not too wet. The seedlings need as much sunlight as you can give them. Good luck! we planted 4 dwarf apple we planted 4 dwarf apple trees, red delicious, Cortland, golden delicious, and a gala. we bought two from a local home and garden store and 4 from a catalog. we have had a couple that seem to have leaves, but a couple of them look dead. my husband thinks we should trim off the dead branches and part of the dead trunk. I am nervous we have never taken care of apple trees before and I have read your comments about them being dormant when you plant them in the spring. What to do. Also do you treat peach and pear trees the same? When did you plant the trees? If they were planted in the spring they should have leaves by now. If they look dead they probably are dead. You can try to contact the catalog place or talk to the people at the home and garden store to see what they suggest. The best time to prune the trees are in early spring. Go to our peach and pear pages for information about growing peaches and pears. I have a dwarf Honeycrisp Submitted by Valerie52 on September 24, 2014 - 2:51pm I have a dwarf Honeycrisp here in Michigan. It is about 9 years old. I've had two years where I had a great crop - both were years that I had a professional come in and spray several times in the season. I'd like to be able to care for this tree myself but just can't seem to gain any success. I use an organic balanced fertilizer; I spray with copper, milky spore, and a fruit tree insecticide; use the fake apples with Tangle-trap, and clean up all the bad apples under the tree, all to no avail. I have plum leaf curculio, scab, some kind of pest that curls the leaves at branch ends, and some kind of disease that makes ALL the leaves a little warped and spotted and shiny (can I send you a picture?). Just realized I said that I Just realized I said that I had sprayed with milky spore - that's wrong, it was Kaolin Clay which is supposed to act as a barrier to the plum curculio. Honeycrisps are tricky to Submitted by Almanac Staff on September 25, 2014 - 11:28am Honeycrisps are tricky to grow. They are picky about location and soil. Some of the common problems include cedar apple rust, codling moths, leafrollers, aphids, apple scab, scale and fireblight. You may deter some of the pests by adding calcium to the soil and treating the tree with horticultural and antifungal oils. We had and old apple tree Submitted by Karen Loder on September 14, 2014 - 4:06pm We had and old apple tree that never did much this year we had it pruned sprayed and put a bee hive bòx under the tree while it was in bloom. Like magic the tree has produced 11 large boxes of apples and there is more to come. My question is there are alot of small apples left do I wait untill they get big or are they ripe now?? I did read that I should have thinned the tree when the apples were cherry size to late for that this year so what do I do now thanks for this site it is very helpful. Hi Karen, You can test a You can test a small apple to see if it is ripe. If not, leave the apples on the tree until before your first frost this fall. You can pick and discard some of the small apples now to allow the remaining apples on the tree to grow bigger. what do i do with ground Submitted by David Lyman on September 13, 2014 - 2:12pm what do i do with ground apples? My wife and I just moved into an acrage with a old established apple orchard. We arent sure what kind of apples they are and will have to figure that out at some point. We just moved in and fall is coming early this year so there are a few thousand apples on the ground already and we've picked and froze thousands more. my issue is that we dont know what to do with all of the apples on the ground. many sites say to let them rot and fertilize the ground for future crops. but some say that if you do, it'll raise the chances that they will catch diseases easier. And that rodants will flock to your feilds to feed on them. so i'm not sure what the answer is. can you hekp me and answer it for me. also, what is a good resource to use to figure out what kind of apples they are? david Lyman I planted last fall a mutsu Submitted by karen lincoln on September 2, 2014 - 10:00am I planted last fall a mutsu and fugue. has sun all day, had to wrap this spring for three days because of frost here in MI because it was full of blossoms. Got lots of little apples, but leave are curling and something was eating the leaves. sprayed with neem, some of the apples got little worms. now they aren't really big but are growing 9/01/14. a lot of the leaves are either gone or webby something is still eating them. Maybe I needed to spray earlier with the neem before blossoms or after they set fruit. I live in my grandparents old house. There are 3 apple trees here that are at least 40 years old. I'm not sure what kind of Apple trees they are but my grandpap always told me the one was a "black apple tree" if that helps. My problem is the apples on all three trees only get golf ball size and have dark spots and divots in them. I'd really like to save these trees because they mean a lot to me. Thankyou for any help. Could your grandfather have Could your grandfather have meant that one of your tree was an "Arkansas Black" variety? You can find information about this cultivar on the Web. As for the dimples and dark spots, that can be caused by several things. For example, apple scab causes brown corky areas and deformed fruit. Apple maggot flies lay eggs in the fruit, causing dimples (check for worms inside the apple, if so). Plum curculio also can lay eggs in the fruit and cause crescent shape marks and dimples. Tarnished plant bugs and codling moths can cause similar damage. Small apples can be caused by poor pollination. We'd imagine that your grandfather planted the correct mix of varieties for proper cross-pollination, if needed (ones that are compatible and bloom around the same time). (Arkansas Black, for example, requires another variety for cross-pollination for best results.) However, sometimes the pollinators themselves may not do an adequate job, such as if the weather was unusually wet or cold. Insecticides may harm bee activity as well. But more likely, the small fruit is due to poor thinning. Sometimes apples just produce too much fruit for all of them to grow large--the tree's energy is distributed too widely. It will naturally drop some of its fruit (around June) as a form of natural thinning. But one needs to also hand thin for best fruit size and tree health. Too much fruit can cause limbs to break, as well as "biennial bearing" which means that a sparse crop next year will follow a heavy crop this year. To avoid this, thin the crop each year. When the fruits are about dime size, thin out each cluster of fruit to 1 large, healthy looking fruit. Remove any diseased, wrinkled, malformed etc., apples. Space apples to about 6 to 8 inches between each. For more information, see: The apples from the "Black Submitted by Chris Rohrback on August 18, 2014 - 11:55am The apples from the "Black apple tree" have very dark red skin "almost black" and are very white inside and very sweet. Thankyou for the advice. The trees are also VERY BIG!! A good 30-40 feet tall and very full. I'm not sure how to trim them or how much because I'm afraid of killing them. I have tried to take seeds from the " Black apple tree" and plant them in previous years with no luck. At least then I could plant a new one for my Pap if this one dies. Also when and how is the best Also when and how is the best way to prune or cut back these trees. I live in central PA. I don't want to cut off to much. And how soon after major pruning can I expect to have good fruit growing. Thank you again for any help. I planted 1 Honey crisp tree Submitted by Tina Bohman on August 2, 2014 - 3:55pm I planted 1 Honey crisp tree and 1 pear tree going on 3 years now and no fruit producing. Not even blossoms. Very puzzled. And the leaves look as they are getting eaten up. The trees are double in size and appear to be very strong. But do not understand what is going on with them. Honeycrisp requires another Honeycrisp requires another apple or crabapple variety for cross-pollination in order to produce fruit; most pear trees also require a compatible pear variety. However, the lack of blossoms suggest that something else is also going on. It likely is that your trees are just too young yet to flower. Sometimes it takes 3 to 6 years (depending on variety) before they will start producing flowers and fruit. Other causes can be too much nitrogen fertilizer, which may contribute to leaf growth rather than blossoms or lack of enough sunlight. Make sure that the variety is suitable for your area: Apples and pears require a certain amount of cold to fruit; it you live in a warm climate, certain varieties will not flower. Improper pruning can also be a culprit. I have 1 apple tree. Will it Submitted by Karen Koons on July 31, 2014 - 10:33am I have 1 apple tree. Will it produce fruit by itself or do I need to have 2 trees? Hi, Karen: You ask a simple Submitted by Almanac Staff on August 1, 2014 - 11:26am Hi, Karen: You ask a simple question whose simple answer unfortunately is not too helpful -- It depends on what type (variety) of tree you have. Some are self-fruitful (can set fruit by themselves) and some require cross-pollination from another tree, usually by honeybees. If yours is in the second category, there is still hope for you if somehow bees from another near enough tree are able to find their way to yours. Thanks for asking! I have 2 dwarf apple trees. reply I have 2 dwarf apple trees. the are 14 years old. the bark on one of them is peeling off in a strange pattern. Is it normal for this to happen or is the tree sick? Submitted by Almanac Staff on July 30, 2014 - 11:33am That depends. Older trees sometimes peel bark naturally. But pests, diseases, and cultural problems can also cause peeling bark. Check for holes or grooves in the bark and wood--borers (such as the flatheaded apple tree borer) sometimes lay eggs in bark; the larvae can chew and drill galleries in the underside of the bark, causing the bark to peel off in large patches. Other insects can also affect the bark. Sunscald can also cause peeling bark. My honey crisp is 3 years old Submitted by carol kuhrt on July 12, 2014 - 12:23pm My honey crisp is 3 years old and about 4 foot high. it growing slowly . i will try the 10-10-10 and see if that helps . I also have some red spots on the leaves ,they look healthy . can you help me please . I have also grown a tree from seed .It is about 5 foot is it to late to graph it? just read about this. I planted two apple trees two Submitted by Nell mewborn on July 10, 2014 - 3:17pm I planted two apple trees two years ago I have not seen a bloom on them they are growing and doing very well they have leaves on them just not any blooms. Why not and what did I do wrong. Your tree may not be mature Submitted by Almanac Staff on July 11, 2014 - 9:31am Your tree may not be mature enough to reproduce. If your tree is two years old, it is likely to be another 2 to 3 years before you can expect it to start blooming. Some cultivars take longer. have a gala 4years old blooms Submitted by james r clark jr on June 23, 2014 - 9:37am have a gala 4years old blooms on it when purchased .hasn't bloomed since.a wonderful tree big growing great.no other apple trees in area.i want to plant another for pollination but if it doesn't bloom what good would the second tree do thanks My trees have been around for Submitted by Robert C Wells on June 22, 2014 - 9:29pm My trees have been around for years. I have a problem with insect and do not know just how to eliminate them. They bore into the very small fruit to the core. I have pulled a lot of the apples and dropped them on the ground but there are many others that have the black spots on them indicating that they have been attacked. The apples are about golf ball size now and looking good except for the worms. What can I do next year season the eliminate these pest? Thanks There are several Submitted by Almanac Staff on June 23, 2014 - 3:22pm There are several different apple boring insects. See our pest information at the top of this page and then go to nysipm.cornell.edu/factsheets/treefruit/pests/ab/ab.asp to read more about these insects. My trees have apples about Submitted by RoRobert Wells on June 22, 2014 - 1:30am My trees have apples about golf ball size now. Most of the apples have been attacked by one insect that bores to the core. The insect attack the apples when the apples are very small. What are these pest and how and when can they be eliminated. Do they start as a flying insect and over winter in the ground? I wonder? Any help would be appreciated. We have a dwarf fuji apple Submitted by criselda on June 8, 2014 - 12:59pm We have a dwarf fuji apple tree in a wine barrel. This will be the second season. The apples started to get soggy and shrink and fall off the tree. Am I over watering? Plus, I was adding acidic pH4.5 water to the soil. Did this cause it? Plus I gave it a little fertilizer during growing season. Can I save these apples? How should I care from the point on? Containers can be tricky to Containers can be tricky to keep perfectly watered. They dry out quickly but can also get too soggy. You need to let the soil dry out between waterings and make sure that the wine barrel drains well. Most apple trees prefer slightly acidic soil with a pH range of 5.0 to 6.8. You may want to test the soil to make sure that the soil is not too acidic. I planted several apple seeds I planted several apple seeds from two apples two and a half years ago, out of about 12 seeds I got 4 trees. All 4 trees look different. I planted them in 5 gal buckets and keep them outside,In the winter I burry the buckets so the dirt is at ground level and covered with leaves. This last winter was harsh and 1 of the four died. 1 plant is about six feet tall, one plant is about 3 foot tall and has red trunk. the last one is about 18" tall and is more like a bush than a tree. All three have different leaves. Is this normal?I started these to plant up north for deer feed so as long as they produce some kind of apple I'll be happy. Submitted by Almanac Staff on June 7, 2014 - 2:13am Interesting! You can grow an apple tree from seed but you will not get the apple that grew on the mother tree. Apples do not breed true and that is why seeds are not usually sold. The best way to duplicate an apple tree variety is to graft scions from the mother tree to appropriate rootstock. So, this is normal and the deer should enjoy whatever they get! so with that said, could I so with that said, could I use the tree's I grew as rootstock? Our property has some real old apple trees on it I could take graphs from? Tell me the tye of soil that Submitted by Samuel Bosomprah on April 28, 2014 - 4:27am Tell me the tye of soil that is good for planting apple See soil information above. Submitted by Almanac Staff on April 29, 2014 - 12:17pm We have planted seeds on Feb. Submitted by Ruth Carlson on April 13, 2014 - 6:20pm We have planted seeds on Feb. 22 from an old apple tree and have nine seedlings up. King Henry and his wives are growing really well(5"-12" high) and we have transplanted them into two inch peat pots. Our question is when should they be planted outdoors and is there anything special we should do with them besides staking them up? Hi Ruth, It's recommended to It's recommended to transplant apple seedlings when they are 8 to 10 inches tall. Water the plants once about every 10 days. Continue watering them until they are well-established. I have started seeds from an Submitted by Robert Nightingale on March 25, 2014 - 8:50am I have started seeds from an apple tree called a "Yellow Transparent" locally we call them "August Whites" these trees are originally from Russia and not only are they self pollinating but they are an original tree not crossed with any other apple and they will grow true to the parent tree. There is a name for this type of tree that will produce original apples from seed, but I cant remember does anyone know. Also does anyone know any other of these types of apple trees that have not been crossed. I would be happy to trade some of my seeds to someone who can get me equivalent seeds from another of these type of trees. Thanks Search for antique Submitted by Almanac Staff on March 26, 2014 - 12:10pm Search for antique or heirloom apple varieties online and you will find much information about these amazing trees. I just planted 3 varieties of Submitted by Steffieshouse on March 23, 2014 - 9:06pm I just planted 3 varieties of apple trees, one dwarf red delicious, one regular size golden delicious and a green apple tree, about 1 and a half months ago. All my other fruit trees that I have planted already have signs of life (green leaves, blossoms etc.) but I haven't seen any change in my three apple trees. How long before I know if they are still good or if I need to replace them? It is now March 23. I have read that apple trees take time to fruit, but I just want to make sure they are still alive I guess. Spring planted apple trees Spring planted apple trees are usually dormant when you plant them. It may take them a little time to start showing growth. Make sure to water them and you can also cut a small branch a see if it is green inside. For grapes, ice water was Submitted by jailani on March 18, 2014 - 3:22am For grapes, ice water was used on the roots to trick the plant into fruiting and it did. Isnt that great. Could the same technique be used on apple plant. Has anyone tried this method before. May i know how much to purchase 2 varieties (that can cross-polinate) and to have this shipped to Singapore. I sure would love to try the ice water technique. Even if it doesnt work I am still happy to have a sterile apple plant in my garden. Makes very good conversation pieces. Which varieties are more resilient to high humidity and high temperature. Can anyone help. Am in Uganda (East Africa) Submitted by Gombya K Martin on March 18, 2014 - 3:06am Am in Uganda (East Africa) and i want to grow Apple trees so where can i find good quality Apple trees for planting. I recently bought a gala apple and a golden delicious apple. I live in South Texas. My Gala apple has bloomed and it looks good, but the golden delicious just looks like it's budding. It doesn't look different than when we planted it. Does it take a long time to bud and spring? Also, I put a bit of neem oil on both, but will this affect pollination? :( I am a first time planter. Thanks! Golden delicious apples bloom Golden delicious apples bloom mid- to late-season. The neem oil should not affect pollination. I am reading your other Submitted by Lucia Casique on March 23, 2014 - 9:42am I am reading your other replies, and one of them says that the trick is the trees to bloom at the same time. would I have an issue with Gala and Golden delicious since they will bloom in different times? Planted Fuji and winesap Submitted by Gene apple on March 9, 2014 - 3:29pm Planted Fuji and winesap Apple trees 3 yrs ago they have not bloomed why not please help Winesap is sterile and Submitted by Almanac Staff on March 11, 2014 - 6:52am Winesap is sterile and doesn't pollinate, but the Fuji (which is self-fertile) could pollinate it. The trick is that the apple trees must be near each other--AND bloom at the same time. Also, you need your friends, the bees, to do the pollination. So, avoid insecticides during the blooming period. I have same problem with Submitted by Miki on June 17, 2014 - 1:01pm I have same problem with lemon & orange trees! I live in Singapore (just 80 Submitted by jailani on February 24, 2014 - 5:25am I live in Singapore (just 80 miles north of the Equator). The weather is hot and humid all year round. Can apple tree grow in this climate. just for info, someone working for the Nparks here in Singapore managed to grow from seed (not sure on the variety) and is now about a metre tall. I' v planted. 10 grafted Submitted by ajam on January 19, 2014 - 3:54pm I' v planted. 10 grafted rootstock. M9 of spur variety 3 yrs back in north east facing well drained lofty soil at altitude of 6600 feet with Average of 1500 chilling hrs/winter, but there seems a problem with growth as they are only grown half a feet in 3 yrs, though i v used cowdung , fertilizer. And area gets proper sumlight , tested d soil. Too with ph 6.5 , prunned it little n watered it regularly though leaves seems good n no pests rodent ao any sign of disease but no results no growth , help me Your climate may not be ideal Your climate may not be ideal for the variety of apples that your are growing. The high altitude and maybe cooler nights in the summer may hamper the growth of the trees. We suggest that you contact the nursery where you bought the trees to see if they have any suggestions. I live in Central Illinois Submitted by Stephen Bannon on January 7, 2014 - 1:08pm I live in Central Illinois (zone 6a) and I am considering converting some of my corn/soybean fields to a small orchard. Are there any precautions to take with the current corn/soy soil and what are some good starter varieties of apple trees? We suggest that Submitted by Almanac Staff on January 9, 2014 - 2:43pm We suggest that you do a little bit of research before starting the orchard. You may also want to test the soil to see what you need to add to it for best apple growing results. Visit your local extension service online to get local apple growing advice. Just planted a jonathon and Submitted by sherri gruber 60 on November 18, 2013 - 11:17am Just planted a jonathon and granny smith. Wanted to know if next fall I would have apples on my drawf trees Dwarf apple trees generally Submitted by Almanac Staff on November 21, 2013 - 10:02am Dwarf apple trees generally take two to four years to grow fruit. Submitted by swea on November 9, 2013 - 11:54pm I live in zone 9 on the middle Texas coast, and have bought a Golden Dorsett and an Anna tree that are about five feet high to plant this fall. I also have three smaller Granny Smith trees to plant, but those were grown from seeds. Will the Granny Smiths still be useful pollinators even though the apples might not be edible? There are several considerations. Anna and Dorsett Golden are a perfect pair as to pollination, and they are both low-chill varieties. Granny Smith requires a bit more chill hours (about 400 to 500 hours vs. 200 to 300 for the others) to blossom, and is said to grow to Zone 8. We're not sure how it would do in your Zone 9, but it is certainly worth a try. As you stated, too, the seedlings grown from seed from a Granny Smith apple may not come true--so you may not get edible apples, and your trees may not perform the same as a true Granny Smith--as to chill hours, hardiness, bloom time, etc. Granny Smith tends to be a later season variety, ripening in Texas around September, whereas Anna and Dorsett Golden are more early season, ripening in late June/early July. It could be that your Granny Smith offspring might bloom too late to pollinate the others. For more information, you might ask the company where you bought your Anna and Dorsett Golden apple trees about pollination compatibility with Granny Smith. Or, try contacting your county's Cooperative Extension: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu... so i live in utah and want to Submitted by krys sulich on September 30, 2013 - 10:46pm so i live in utah and want to try to grow a McIntosh apple tree but i dont even know if you can plant them in our climate, also hard to find some for sale. Krys, Yes, you can grow Submitted by Almanac Staff on October 1, 2013 - 8:23am Krys, Yes, you can grow apples, including Macs, in Utah. Here is a helpful list of different apple varieties to consider: You'd need to research your local tree nurseries to see which varieties they carry or contact your cooperative extension. I just cleared about 2 acrse Submitted by Gary Thibodeau on September 26, 2013 - 4:02pm I just cleared about 2 acrse in Nova Scotia Canada and I found about 15 big apple trees,Can I cut them down to about 4 feet and graft then they are about 10 to 20 feet tall and a mess with about 3 to 4 bases together.If i can what is the best time of year to do this Old apple trees are good Old apple trees are good hosts for new grafts. Leave some healthy branches on the tree. The limbs can be any length but for best results their diameters should be 3/4” to 2” at the points where they’ll be cut off to receive the new scions. Best time to graft is just before the buds open in late winter or in early spring. I live in the middle of Submitted by Tom Jinkerson on September 26, 2013 - 10:18am I live in the middle of Wisconsin. My Cortland semi dwarf trees have their first apples! 1 on one. And 2 on the other. When should they be picked? Not enough to test. Very nice apples! Cortland apples are usually Cortland apples are usually harvested in early fall when they loose their green background color and develop a full, bright red color. I have 4 dwarf Honeycrisp Submitted by TPatt on September 21, 2013 - 7:24pm I have 4 dwarf Honeycrisp apples trees (I live in PA. poconos area) I planted them at least 5 yrs ago and they were supposed to be 2-3 yrs old when I bought them only 1 tree get flowers but only gets about 5 apples which stay very small. What might be the problem. Area is well drained and gets mostly sun. Sometimes Honeycrisps take Sometimes Honeycrisps take even longer to produce and are temperamental. When you say that they get "mostly sun," are they getting at least 6 hours of direct sunlight? Are you pruning correctly or have you been stubbing back branches when you prune? My neighbor and I rent Submitted by My Neighbors Ne... on July 25, 2013 - 8:06pm My neighbor and I rent separate houses on the same property and share a yard. He took it upon himself and decided to "prune" the apple tree in our mutual yard and completely butchered it. It's no more than a 4 foot stump, now. I'm not sure what type of apple tree it is/was. Will this tree come back or has he killed it? I know some trees grow back from a stump; but will a fruit tree, specifically a species of apple? Apple trees do not grow back Submitted by Almanac Staff on July 26, 2013 - 12:42pm Apple trees do not grow back from a stump. In addition, any serious pruning should take place in late winter, just before spring, while the tree is dormant. We'd suggest you call a local tree care specialist. can a 50+ apple tree be Submitted by angela de quattro on July 23, 2013 - 12:14pm can a 50+ apple tree be rejuvenated and produce? We do not know the variety. We are in RI. Yes! Old apple trees are worth saving--as long as the branches seem healthy and the trunk is not split or rotting. You'll need to prune the old trees in late winter or early spring before the leaves begin to appear. Up to one-third of the live wood on an apple tree can be removed each year. If a tree has been abandoned for a long time, cut only diseased and damaged branches before removing one-third of the live wood. After pruning, be sure to clear out the area around the trees so that they can get sunlight and air circulation. See more about pruning trees above. Submitted by James M. Thomas on July 15, 2013 - 9:55pm I have a small apple tree I grew from a seed but now it's leaves seem to have something like powdery mildew on the lower leaves. If it is, can I use a regular fungicide on it? Thank you To control for apple powdery To control for apple powdery mildew, a good fungicide spray program is generally required for control, starting with a pre-bloom spray. Here is more information: At this point, we would advise that you speak to your county cooperative extension experts for on-the-ground advise and sprays that are permitted in your area. Does Apple grow in tropical Submitted by Josh Beke on July 3, 2013 - 9:01am Does Apple grow in tropical climates. I am collecting various seeds to try in Africa. Are there any specific species that will thrive well in such climates. I just ran across a Submitted by Michael Wags on August 16, 2013 - 6:00pm I just ran across a "Tropical" nursery for apple trees that could grow in Africa. They might have some info for you. See link: http://www.kuffelcreek.com/tro... Thanks Michael. I knew it Thanks Michael. I knew it could be done. i am thinking of planting a Submitted by denis-keane on June 25, 2013 - 8:25pm i am thinking of planting a few apple trees in my backyard but i dont know where to have the soil tested can i put cow manure in planting the soil there is probabll very poor maybe grimes golden red delicous andapple bud i am in brampton ont Apple trees grow well in a Submitted by Almanac Staff on July 9, 2013 - 10:41am Apple trees grow well in a wide range of soil types. The soil needs to drain well, however, and not get soggy. They prefer soils with a texture of sandy loam to a sandy clay loam soil. Ideal soil pH for apple trees is near 6.5. You can usually get a free or low-cost soil test for your county cooperative extension. If your soil doesn't drain well, plant trees higher than they are planted in the nursery (2 to 4 inches higher). All the best! I still don't know how far Submitted by Adam Guinn on June 23, 2013 - 10:32pm I still don't know how far they away for them to grow. Hi, Adam, We have added more Hi, Adam, We have added more information to this page to answer your question. Tree spacing depends on the rootstock you choose and other factors. An M.9 dwarf is 4 to 8 feet and this goes up to a seeding which is 15 to 18 feet. Ask your plant nursery for the tree spacing that fits the rootstock that you purchase. I have an apple tree, and I Submitted by angelita wade on June 18, 2013 - 5:34pm I have an apple tree, and I have a ruby red greatfruit on one side and an navel orange tree on the other side will I still get apples? My apple tree blumed but I dont see any apples tree looks very healthy.I have seen bees on my treeWhat can I do to make it blum some more? You may need another apple Submitted by Almanac Staff on June 20, 2013 - 11:27am You may need another apple tree to cross pollinate your tree. Do you know the variety that you have? If you do, you can look it up online. As a rule at least two varieties of apple trees is needed to maximize fruit production and quality. I'm using Bonide fruit tree Submitted by tina nickell on June 17, 2013 - 12:34pm I'm using Bonide fruit tree spray concentrate insecticide and fungicide and it says do not spray more than 2 times per year. how often should I spray a dwarf apple tree and when We advise that you check with We advise that you check with the Bonide company regarding the latest labeling. However, note that this product contains an insecticide that may harm bees which pollinate apple trees so do not use during bloom time at all; it's for well after the petals have fallen. i bouth 8 apples trees last year and there was son apples in it and this years the leaf are comming but not even 1 flower grows and the leaft are green and it look like there dry out can you tell me why it dont blom and thank you for your time There are a couple common There are a couple common reasons why apple trees do not blossom: 1. Not enough sunlight. 2. Not enough "chill hours" as apples need a minimum number of hours with temperatures under 45 degrees. 3. Too much nitrogen fertilizer in the soil around the tree. Your comment about "dried out" leaves concerns us. We suggest sending or taking leaf samples to your county cooperative extension. Dried-out leaves can indicate a serious root problem. We didn't even realize we had We didn't even realize we had an apple tree and no idea how it got there - been in the house for 30 years and nephew when out back two years ago and picked five big juicy awesome tasting apples of the tree. Nothing last Summer - now it is is full of flowers(BLOSSOMS) Will these turn into apples and when? In order for those blossoms In order for those blossoms to become apples, you need 1) two or more apple tree varieties near each other so that they can pollinate and 2) bees which carry the pollen from one flower to another. You'll know if they are pollinated: If apple seeds develop, the petals from the blossoms will fall off. Next the fruit will start developing. So -- there must have been a nearby tree that is was blooming at the same time that yours bloomed last year? hi i live in nigeria nd i'll Submitted by emman kokwill on June 14, 2013 - 7:11pm hi i live in nigeria nd i'll like to know if my apple can really grow in country? Here's a link to an article Here's a link to an article that may help with your question. http://www.kuffelcreek.com/tro... I think this is weird. We Submitted by Sharon R on June 12, 2013 - 5:03pm I think this is weird. We have an apple tree with an almost totally grown apple on it that is now blossoming. Hi - We live in Madison, WI Submitted by Apple Tree Fan ... on June 10, 2013 - 4:34pm Hi - We live in Madison, WI and this is our 3rd spring in this house. There's a mature, or seems to be a fairly mature, apple tree in our backyard (south-facing) that produced a beautiful crop of large honey-crisp type apples last year. (Even with the drought -- we watered it pretty regularly.) But it appears that there aren't going to be any apples on it this year (as was the case two seasons ago as well.) Is it common for some apple trees to only produce fruit every other year?? There is another apple tree in the back yard that has never produced more than a handful of apples that seems to have a few more apples forming this year. That one is a flowering apple tree whereas the main one that produced the great apples last year does not flower much at all but otherwise has a lot of new growth and looks healthy. (We pruned it a fair amount late late last Fall.) Any thoughts about the lack of apples? There could be a couple of There could be a couple of reasons for the lack of fruit this year. Heavy pruning, where you remove a portion of a branch, will stimulate more vegetative growth and delay flowering. A normal apple tree develops buds for next year at the same time it matures the fruit for the current crop. Last fall your tree may have used most of its energy to mature the many apples and formed less new buds for this years. Late frosts in the spring can also damage the new flower buds. Submitted by Rebecca Allison on June 6, 2013 - 10:18pm We get apples on our trees but they never get big and they fall off before they have a chance to get bigger. What are we doing wrong? There are many reasons why There are many reasons why apples fall off the tree early. Often, it's due to lack of good pollination by bees. Also, apples must have cross-pollination in order to develop fruit; they cannot pollinate themselves or any flowers of the same apple variety. Plant at least two varieties of apple trees together in order to maximize fruit production and quality. Make sure that the varieties you choose have overlapping bloom dates. Fertility is also influenced by good tree nutrition. Take soil tests and follow fertilization guidelines based on these tests; do not overfertilize. As a general rule, we apply 1 pound of 10-10-10 fertilizer to each tree the first year, 2 pounds the second year, and 3 pounds the third year up to a maximum of 5 to 6 pounds for a mature tree. Apply in late winter or early spring before growth begins--and do not apply to near the tree trunk. I have a red delicious apple I have a red delicious apple tree and it is probably about a year old and a half old. I took a seed and refrigerated it with a damp paper towel which worked really well and it has been in a pot ever since. The tree is really thin and the leaves start about one and a half feet from the bottom. It is just over three feet now. I was just wondering how long I can keep my tree in a pot? I was not planning on keeping it in a pot for so long but I moved from OH to SC and now I live in an apartment so I am unable to plant it. Right now it is sitting on the balcony and seems to be doing really well. It dropped off its leaves in the winter and I thought it was dead but then it grew them back and has grown almost two feet since spring started. I won't be living in a house for another 6 to 8 months though. Will my tree survive until then? Also, it is siting in OH dirt right now and I have noticed that the dirt around here is a reddish color. Will the change in soil be a problem? Oh and should I water it in the winter? Sorry for all the questions, I have never grown a tree before but it is pretty exciting because I never expected my seeds to actually sprout in the refrigerator. It was more of an experiment than a plan. Submitted by Almanac Staff on May 30, 2013 - 11:02am Your tree will be fine in a container for another few months. You may have to repot it into a bigger pot. Fall and spring are the best times to transplant into the ground. Make sure the soil is well-drained and not too wet. Soil needs to be moderately rich and retain moisture as well as air. Add lots of compost to the planting hole. The tree goes dormant in the winter so there is no need to water it. Good luck with your "experiment"! I was lucky enough to plant Submitted by Nicloa on May 20, 2013 - 10:57pm I was lucky enough to plant an apple seed, and it grew. It is a few years old, now (didn't seem to grow past 6inches the first few years), and is about 3-4ft tall. It is quite thin, but is full of leaves and has a few branches. I now know to prune it in Fall. My question is how do I grow more? I have tried several times, since, to grow from seed, with no results. I made sure that I used organic apples, and tried pears. I don't mind what it turns into- in fact it seems like fun to find out in later years. What kind of apple, or pear, is most likely to grow? Try exposing the seeds to Try exposing the seeds to cold first. Place the seeds in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel. Put the bag in the refrigerator for about 6 weeks. Then plant in a pot with soil. Only about 30% of the seeds will germinate. Good luck! Submitted by Anonymous on May 17, 2013 - 10:31pm How do you graft an apple tree scion into a suitable apple rootstock? no blossoms last year I planted 2 young honeycrisp trees a few years ago (the kid at the store said I need 2 trees but left out the all-important words "of different varieties" - big sigh). Last year I got no blossoms at all. This year they look good and have lots of leaves, but no blossoms yet. My next door neighbor has a very large apple tree and he got no blossoms last year either. This year his tree is all leafy, but no blossoms yet. I'm counting on his tree to pollinate mine. When do apples bloom? Sorry, I'm a newbie. Apples bloom in the spring Apples bloom in the spring after the leaves first come out. You will see a group of flower buds in the center of the leaves. Here in New Hampshire our trees are in full bloom. wow apples are nice Submitted by Anonymous on May 11, 2013 - 9:08am wow ive just grown my own apple tree, and we are loving it. we are justed beginers!!!hoping for the best with are apple tree. Submitted by Anonymous on April 23, 2013 - 4:30pm Where in US I can buy young apple tree ofvariety "Close" with its pollinizer? Thanks for your question. We Thanks for your question. We have not heard of a variety of apples called 'Close'. Maybe one of our Almanac.com friends can help. Perhaps it is alliteration Submitted by Reena on October 4, 2015 - 10:35am Close and Carlos, when said rapidly, sound similar and may be the cause for confusion here. There is a type of apple tree named Carlos Queen which grows well in zones 2b-6. It is large and green with a red blush. Just a guess at what this could be perhaps, but hope it helps. I bought a sale-priced McIntosh-labeled tree about 13 years ago. After about 7 years it finally blossomed and I got 3 little apples. Each year the # of apples increased. I mentioned this to my landscaper (who I trust) and he told me it was a crabapple! It's the only fruit-bearing tree in my yard (whenever I grow something I call it a "science experiment" so that I don't feel too guilty when it dies). This tree began coming full of fruit (about 20 little apples) last year, and this year the flowers are all over the tree! I've looked it up online to see if it's a McIntosh or crabapple, and the flowers look alike. Since I don't eat my science experiments, how do I find out if it's a McIntosh or a crabapple tree? Thank you!!! crab apples will be a lot crab apples will be a lot smaller than mcintosh apples. and they're usually all green, and very sour. I hadn't thought of that! Thank you! They are red and have seeds, so I guess they are McIntosh afterall! Maybe I'll eat one this summer. Take care, Becky Submitted by Anonymous on April 21, 2013 - 11:31pm ...I happened on this doing research for a story but I LOVED it. I love apples and discovered I love reading about them. Very interesting and maybe I'll try a couple of apple trees. I also learned that I should not have so radically pruned my flowering crab when it was so young. :( Any hope it will recover? It's five years old, thin and spindly but healthy. Your crab apple tree will do Your crab apple tree will do fine. It will grow back. In the future just prune to open up the branches to let more sun and air into the tree. Is my tree gonna make it? Submitted by Anonymous on April 9, 2013 - 10:32pm I ate a giant green granny apple and I planted the seed. It was growing fast and good n healthy.I went on vacation and my brother (smh) didn't water the plants so it lost all of its leaves. I changed pots because the pot it was in was too small. The pot is about 12in high and the tree is about 3ft high. The bark is pretty strong but because of the winds I put in a stick so that it doesn't break. It has five small branches and a leaf appeared on it. It's been a couple of months since its had a leaf. But I didn't give up. Do you think that by the time summer comes around it will grow back its leaves? It also has what looks like two smaller apple trees starting to grow on the base of this tree. Should I cut them off or just let them grow? I don't know if telling you I live in California helps. Let the tree grow another Let the tree grow another month or so to see if it will have more leaves. Leave one of the smaller trees to grow in case you have to cut the original tree back. Be aware that apples do not reproduce true from seed so the fruit is unlikely to resemble the granny apple the seed came from. Thanks you! Thanks for the tip. I'm really hopping it continues to grow I'm really proud of my tree. Every time I tell someone I grew it from a seed from an apple i ate they never believe me. Hopefully I don't have to cut off the tall part of the tree. I've heard about that before. When I was told that most likely the apples grown on the tree wont be like the one i ate I looked it up and was disappointed but none the less I was thrilled that I was even able to grow an apple tree. Texas apples Submitted by Anonymous on March 27, 2013 - 12:53am Bought 2 apple trees. Both labels say to zone 8..we live on the border line of zone 8 and zone 9..should I plant them in full sun or filtered sun? We're happy to hear you We're happy to hear you bought low-chill apples suited for your zone. Even in your zone, full Sun exposure is required for fruit-producting plants. Make sure your soil is tested and has the right pH before you plant. Often the pH is low and you need to apply lime. Calcium deficiency is common in Texas apples. Also, you'll usually need to supplement with fertilizer, especially nitrogen. Call your county cooperative extension for local advice. When do I plant? The seedling I got from an apple just sprouted about a week ago and already is about an inch tall. My dad and I don't know when to plant my seedling outside or when it will bear fruit. Please reply soon. Keep the seedling in a pot Keep the seedling in a pot until it is about 2-3 feet high. You can put the pot outside if the weather is warm. Plant the tree in the ground this fall if it is big enough. It will take years until the tree will bear fruit. You also may need another apple tree for cross pollination. Young apple trees bought in bags Submitted by Anonymous on March 3, 2013 - 12:42am I bought two dwarf apple trees at Costco, a Red Gravenstein and another that had several types of apples on it. The roots were in bags with dirt. I was wondering how long it is feasible to keep the trees in the bags before planting? You can keep them in the bags You can keep them in the bags for 2 to 3 weeks but make sure to keep them in a cool location and keep the soil moist. Ideally the trees need to be planted as soon as possible. Pollentation Submitted by Anonymous on February 6, 2013 - 2:04pm I planted 4 Golden Ginger trees from seeds. Not knowing I had to have other varieties to produce apples. We have old apple trees about 200 feet down a hill. What is the correct distance for trees to cross pollinate? Pollinators should not be Submitted by Almanac Staff on February 7, 2013 - 9:19am Pollinators should not be farther than 200 feet away for standard trees. Often 100 feet is recommended. Spacing should be even closer for semi-dwarf and dwarf trees. apple germination Submitted by Anonymous on January 31, 2013 - 8:03pm while cutting up apple from store found seed it was starting to germinate planted in in potting soil now have apple tree about 2" tall how do i keep it going???? You can keep the seedling in Submitted by Almanac Staff on February 5, 2013 - 11:56am You can keep the seedling in the pot or plant it in a bigger pot. Place it in a sunny window and keep the soil moist. Plant the tree outdoors this spring. When the tree is about 2 to 3 feet tall tie it to a stake to protect it from damage. slow growing trees Submitted by Anonymous on October 15, 2012 - 11:17am Hello, I planted one golden and one red apple tree about 3 years ago. Though they have grown but neither of these trees have shown much height or width growth. Their trunks have also remained small and they don't carry many leaves during spring or summer months. The trees are about 8 ft tall but the branches are thin. What should I do to promote growth and hopefully enjoy the fruits one day. Thanks!! apple tree vigor Submitted by Almanac Staff on October 15, 2012 - 3:49pm Factors including growth habit (dwarf, semi-dwarf, or standard); cultivar; rootstock; environmental conditions (spacing, light, water, soil nutrients, winter/wind protection, etc.); care (such as proper pruning), pests/diseases, etc., will all affect the vigor and the number of years in which your apple trees will establish themselves fully and start to bear fruit. Have your soil tested to make sure it is fertile enough for your young trees. Keep the area weeded. Make sure that the trees are getting enough sunlight and are not exposed to constant wind. Keep them watered during drought. It could also be that you have a rootstock or cultivar that encourages slower growth. If that is the case, everything is probably on track, but it may take several more years for the tree to fully establish. Pruning while the tree is dormant can help to stimulate growth in spring (keep in mind, though, that this can delay fruiting); in addition to the advice in the article above, ask a local nursery about how to prune young apple trees to increase vigor. Also, during the growing season, you can try bending a branch or two into a horizontal position for a few weeks, as described in the article above, to encourage branching. Thanks very much. My tree is Submitted by Anonymous on October 19, 2012 - 3:09pm Thanks very much. My tree is in a well fertilized area, well watered and weed free. It is also pest and disease free. I will follow your advice and hopefully will write back in a couple of years. Thanks very much again, this was very helpful!! Submitted by Anonymous on October 3, 2012 - 12:13am I am young, but old enough to start a family, 25, and want to grow an apple tree in hopes that one day my children will be able to pick and eat fruit from it! My grandparents have an apple tree in their yard, and I loved eating fruit from it, I also have 2 peach trees and a pair tree! All the trees have been bought from nurseries, but I want to know how to go about growing my own apple tree from a seed! Where do I find the seeds? It says that 1 from an apple wont produce fruit or may not produce good fruit! So any suggestion on where to find a good seed? You can grow an apple tree Submitted by Almanac Staff on October 3, 2012 - 12:50pm You can grow an apple tree from seed but you will not get the apple that grew on the mother tree. Apples do not breed true and that is why seeds are not usually sold. The best way to duplicate an apple tree variety is to graft scions from the mother tree to appropriate rootstock. Weve just moved into a new house which has an apple tree in the garden. It's pretty big and needs a good prune in a few weeks (so I've been told). I picked a few apples yesterday but it is quite big so couldn't reach many at all and even with a ladder we only reached the lower branches. Quite a few of the (green) apples had bugs in and on them. Most of the rest don't seem to look all that great - some parts are green on the outside and the rest of the apple is quite dark. What's normal? Which should I avoid eating? Have young children and don't want to make them ill I have purchased a home which has a great big Apple Tree. The Tree was neglected and overgrown. I pruned it a lot in the Spring and it Blossemed nicely and has started to produce little crab apples. My neighbor seems to think it used to be a Real Apple tree. If I keep up with the Pruning and care is there a chance it could be an apple tree jsut producing crab apples due to neglect? Crab apples are a type of Crab apples are a type of tree and there are many varieties (e.g., Bailey's, Monrovia, and Jackson and Perkins). They won't turn into an "Apple" tree. Apples and crabapples will pollinate each other. And you can still use the fruit of a crab apple in cooking (applesauce, jelly)! You prune the tree in early spring before it blooms or leafs out. Follow our instructions above for tree care. You may wish to bring a sample to a nearby tree nursery for identification. Submitted by Anonymous on July 10, 2012 - 9:49am Hi! I have 2 apple trees and a pear tree. We have lived here for 5 yrs and never ate an apple because I heard you can't just wash and eat them. I hate that these apples are going to waste. Do you know if you can just pick and eat off established apple trees? or must they be treated with a chemical spray of some sort? Thank you. An organic apple is perfectly An organic apple is perfectly fine to eat! It's the apple trees that are sprayed with pesticides which are of concern. why doesn't my McIntosh apple tree bare full size apples Submitted by Anonymous on June 25, 2012 - 10:32am I grew a McIntosh from a seed and now the tree is about 30 feet tall but only bares small apples about the size of marbles or a little bigger..can anyone tell me what to do to get them to grow to full size? We'd suggest that you hand We'd suggest that you hand thin the tree in late May. There are also fruit-thinning sprays. At this stage, you could take some hand pruners and very gently remove some smaller apples to allow the energy to go into developing bigger apples. It's hard to remove the little apples, but you have to do it! from seed? Submitted by Anonymous on August 28, 2012 - 5:33am did you catch the part where it said "grew a mcintosh apple from seed"? never heard of a apple growing true from seed,just saying If you grew an apple tree If you grew an apple tree from a seed out of a McIntosh apple it won't produce McIntosh apples, because the seed is a cross btwn the McIntosh flower (female) and the apple tree that produced the pollen that fertilized the flower (male). Even if the pollen producer is a McIntosh, the seed won't produce a McIntosh due to genetics. To get a McIntosh apple you need to clone it by grafting a McIntosh scion onto an suitable apple rootstock, like the one you grew. thinning apples Submitted by Anonymous on June 10, 2012 - 9:40pm I just bought a gala & McIntosh tree (fo planting in norther VT), each about 3 to 3-1/2 inch caliper. My supplier said I should thin the apples to only about 12 per tree to help the roots get better established. Is this true? If I thin so no branch gets overloaded and no apples are closer than 4 inches to each other, can I "safely" grow moe than a dozen this season? Yes, apples should be thinned Submitted by Almanac Staff on June 14, 2012 - 9:59am Yes, apples should be thinned for good fruit size and encourage bloom next year. It may seem extreme but it really does produce a higher-quality tree and crop. Cut off enough fruit so that your remaining apples are spaced 4 to 6 inches apart and you leave 1 fruit per bloom cluster (which is generally 5 to 6 blossoms ). You should think the apples when they are about the size of a dime. Submitted by Anonymous on May 23, 2012 - 2:17pm I heard you should not eat apples from a tree in the first or second year? Is this true? We just planted a couple of Honey Crisp Apple trees and they are getting apples. DARE we NOT eat the fruit? Hmmm...We haven't heard this. Submitted by Almanac Staff on May 30, 2012 - 12:20pm Hmmm...We haven't heard this. In fact, we'd encourage you to pick the apples in the first year after planting to help the tree produce more fruit next year. However, after the first year, thin fruit so it doesn't get overloaded and produces better quality. Also, Honey Crisps can be a tease! Make sure the fruit is truly ripe (all red) before picking. Taste one and you'll see.

Home Herbal Medicine Know the Wonderful Benefits of Ginseng Ginseng is one of the most popular herbs and is the most widely recognized plant used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is very helpful if you consider it as part of your overall health regimen. There are various types of ginseng. This herb is in use for more than 7000 years. Today, it is the most popular supplement used in various medicines. The three main species of ginseng includes oriental, Siberian and American. All these three species have various common elements, but they also have subtle differences. Benefits of ginseng An adaptogen: Ginseng acts as an adaptogen, in that it normalizes physical functioning based on your individual needs. For instance, it lowers high blood pressure and at the same time raises low blood pressure. As a tonic: This herb is used to diminish the effects of stress, boost your energy levels, improve your performance, and stimulate your immune system. Research showed that ginseng supports the central nervous system, lung function, circulatory system and liver function. So, ginseng acts as a general tonic for your entire body. Sexual health: Men use this herb to improve the sexual function and also as a remedy for impotence. Ginseng helps effectively to reduce the menopausal symptoms because it increases the levels of estrogen in your body. Prevention and cure: Most of the conventional medicine systems use ginseng as an essential component in variety of prescriptions and consider the herb as both preventative and curative. This herb removes both physical and mental fatigue, dissolves tumors, cures pulmonary complaints, and also reduces the effects of aging. Ginseng is effectively used for: Chemotherapy and radiation therapy protection As a sleep aid Chest problems Appetite stimulant The herb is prescribed to restore your memory, and enhance cognitive abilities and concentration that is damaged with improper blood supply to the brain. Active ingredients of ginseng: Ginseng consists of vitamins A, B6 and zinc metal. Zinc helps in the development of thymic hormones, which are essential for the functioning defense system. The active ingredients in ginseng are called as ginsenosides. These ingredients have adaptogenic properties, which enable ginseng to balance and counter the effects of stress. Other types of ingredients are glycosides, which act on your adrenal glands and help to remove adrenal hypertrophy and production of additional corticosteroids in response to chemical, physical and biological stress. Benefits of ginseng multiply when it is combined with other herbs. But, there are some precautionary measures to be taken while using ginseng. Pregnant women and children should avoid the usage of ginseng. People with illnesses such as uterine fibroids, endometriosis, or cancers of ovaries, breast, prostate, and uterus should avoid ginseng as it has estrogenic effects. Diabetic people should also avoid ginseng as it lowers blood sugar levels. There are some mild side effects of ginseng such as insomnia, heart palpitations, diarrhea, high blood pressure, agitation, headaches, and nervousness. So, you should also keep these in mind along with the benefits of ginseng.

Sensual Toys: Posterior Plugs and Proper Manhood Care Health,Fitness Not surprisingly, men tend to focus on the member as their primary source of pleasure for all things sensual (which has the side benefit of encouraging men to pay proper attention to their manhood care, of course). But there are other areas that can factor into sensual pleasure, and toys can help a man explore and access these pleasure centers. Of special interest is the posterior plug, which can help a newcomer interested in expanding his horizons find a way to investigate new pleasures. The posterior plug The majority of men are familiar with the term "posterior plug," but they may not have actually seen one and may be confused about the difference between and posterior plug and a manhood replica. That’s natural, as both are sensual toys that can be used for posterior excitement. A posterior plug is generally smaller than a manhood replica and makes less of an attempt to mimic the physical appearance of a member. Although some posterior plugs are essentially a straight rod of uniform girth, most plugs tend to have more of a shape. Typically, a posterior plug will be fatter in the middle and more slender at the top and bottom. The bottom will also have a wide, flared base. The base is to help ensure the plug does not get inserted all the way into the posterior, which would make removal difficult. Posterior plugs come in many different sizes and girths; some will feature a curve and bend in the middle. Use Because a posterior plug tends to be smaller than a manhood replica, it’s the better of the sensual toys to use for first exploring posterior sensual activity, Many men find that the plug is ultimately preferable long term compared to the manhood replica and so continue to use it rather than "moving on" to the larger toy. One other advantage is that it is much easier to wear a posterior plug under clothing, enabling a guy to use the posterior plug while out and about or even while at work. Most men who are just beginning to explore new sensual excitement should choose a small posterior plug and get used to it before moving on to a larger model. It’s also important to choose a plug that is very smooth, in order to avoid scraping the interior of the rear. Rubber, latex, vinyl and silicone are typical materials used in posterior plugs. Glass plugs should not be used. Lubrication is definitely required. For silicone-based sensual toys, use only water- or oil-based lubricant. For rubber or latex, use water- or silicone-based lubricant. Vinyl plugs can be slickened by water-, oil- or silicone-based lubes. If the plug is worn or used for an extended period of time, it should be re-lubricated periodically. Prior to insertion, it’s usually a good idea for a man to loosen himself up using his fingers. Use the same lubricant as will be used with the posterior plug. Cleaning Cleaning the posterior plug is of great importance. After rinsing in hot water, a good lathering of anti-bacterial soap should be applied and rinsed, again in hot water. Let the plug dry thoroughly in the open air, then pack it away in a zip-lock container to keep bacteria from accumulating. It’s also often a good idea to give a plug a quick rinse under hot water before using it again. Sensual toys such as the posterior plug can add tremendous fun to a man’s manhood care and play - so much so that he may overdo his self-pleasuring and end up with a sore or raw member. Using a top notch male organ health crème (health professionals recommend Man1 Man Oil, which is clinically proven mild and safe for skin) can be a big aid here. The best crème will contain both a combination of moisturizers and a powerful antioxidant. Shea butter (a high-end emollient) and vitamin E (a respected natural hydrator) are a dynamic duo when it comes to soothing raw manhood skin. The antioxidant alpha lipoic acid, meanwhile, attacks free radicals and therefore decreases the chance of oxidative stress, which can otherwise inhibit healing of manhood skin. Visit www.menshealthfirst.com for more information about treating common male organ health problems, including soreness, redness and loss of male organ sensation. John Dugan is a professional writer who specializes in men's health issues and is an ongoing contributing writer to numerous online web sites. Related Articles - manhood care, posterior plug, male organ health crème, Email this Article to a Friend!

Confessions of An Addict: My Writing Life I write because if I don't, I'm like a meth addict without meth. I cannot sleep or think about other things except the story I'm thinking of. I become completely obsessed with the fact I'm not writing, and I can't think about anything else until I'm back at my desk with another 3,000 words written, story complete. Putting words to paper gives my life a symmetry that otherwise it does not have.Therefore I pursue my madness gladly.Good stories are like perfected algorithms: specific sets of words, stacked like waiting arrows. Shot into lines, paragraphs, pages, endings. As I write, I am an archer, aiming for the story I predict.Sometimes my arrows fall, and I must collect them in the dark. That darkness can be terrifying, but it always leads me to where the story was supposed to go.In order for a story to come to life, to wield this kind of power, it requires everything from me. But once the story is done, I am released, at least for few hours, an afternoon, a day.This temporary liberation is not truly free, for my mind is already working on the next story, the next chapter, without my awareness. Wherever I am, it watches, taking notes, pulling everything apart. Simplifying until it has the details it will weave into the next story.A single jade green grape resting on gravel.The pink curl of a chicken's beak as it breathes it last breath.An untied shoelace, orange and dragging.A woman's left hand that moves like a jellyfish as she talks, exuberant.And then my writing addiction calls me back: the words want me, and I want them. We are addicted to each other. A new story calls to us both.~Recently a writer/blogger friend of mine, Ellen Barone, of asked me to take part in a Blog Hop about my writing life. The questions and answers are below the photo slideshow below.Slideshow? Yes. As I was thinking about writing this post, I realized that a slideshow of doors from my recent Moroccan journey might give you the sense of what my writing process is like. There are a series of doors that my words must pass through to become joined together. Some of these doors open easily, others remain closed. But my words, my arrows, must shoot through the wood, the metal, the gate, the lock.So, dear reader, a few doors for you: I wanted to ask a few other writers/bloggers about their writing process, too. I've included their profiles and a link to their sites after my own answers. Since Ellen Barone is a memoir/travelogue writer/blogger(and so am I!), I've chosen three women writers who are not only writing in the same genres, but have written pieces that have moved me: Annemarie Dooling, Kimberly Lovato, and Mara Gorman.~What am I working on/writing?The most important writing I do is for myself, and I always put that first. I keep two daily journals, a habit that I started when I was about twelve years old. One journal is of the usual variety: meandering thoughts about experiences and ideas. The second journal is really where I pay attention to detail, and it is entirely made up of character sketches of people I meet or see on the street, café, and so forth.For this website, I try to write one or two times a week: short and longer length pieces.I'm working on a dozen + stories for publication, primarily about place, a handful of which are heavily memoir. I'm concentrating on writing for literary magazines and anthologies right now, but a few pieces are set aside for magazines and online sites.My largest project is my book, which is about living in an indigenous isolated community of Ngabe people on a mountaintop in Northwestern Panama for many months. It is a story of finding my own strength and liberating myself from a difficult past. Guided by the Ngabe people and my own experiences, I both lose and recreate myself.I also am working another book, which is about spending a year (and more!) in Calcutta, India, working at a Mother Teresa orphanage. It is about the experience of falling in love, both with a small boy whom I tried unsuccessfully to adopt, and my love affair with the city itself.How does my work/writing differ from others in it's genre?That's a difficult question, as I cross back and forth between two genres: I am both a memoirist and a travel writer. At the moment, I am mostly cast in the travel genre, but think this genre has it's share of difficulties, in that (some) people writing travel write "travel-lite" pieces: Top Five, etcetera. I do think that the genre is being restructured right now, and that there is a huge interest from all avenues--editors, writers, and readers--to focus more on long form pieces that are deeper and literary. Most of my writing heroes/heroines, whom I model my own work on, are travel writers of the old school variety, and so my goal is to write books and stories that are worthy of being included with their work. (A lofty goal, I know.)My writing differs from other memoirists because I write about place and my relationship to place more than most people in that genre do. Places seem to inspire revelations in me: something about the experiences I have connects me to my own life story, and most of my stories come out of those epiphanies.Within the genre of travel writing, what makes my writing different are a few things. First, I consider myself an explorer, not a traveler: I take risks--sometimes big ones--because I feel that I have to do that to understand a place. Second, I don't have much interest in doing the usual things everyone seems to do. I tend to choose places that are off the map and of little "tourist" interest--or if they are popular places to go, I work hard to see it differently. A good example of this in action is my Oranges and Roses story, which is about Paris, but not the Paris you're thinking of. Third, I don't write stories to try to convince you to go anywhere. I write stories to find commonality, the universal, to help people see themselves in cultures other than their own, and I try to use my own vulnerability to do that. Last, women are still not where they should and could be in the travel genre--or in the world at large. This motivates me to write stories which inspire women to explore outside of the constraints that they find at home and abroad. To go where women don't go, do it solo, and enjoy it.Why do I write the way I do?I'm dyslexic, so my writing process comes from having that disability/ability. Being dyslexic pushes me to work harder and to come up with solutions to problems that most writers don't have. I usually visualize--almost in 3-D--most or all of a piece before I actually write it down. It comes out fully formed, a living thing, a copy of what I see.Journaling has helped me a great deal with dyslexia, and it also has helped me to maintain a practice of paying attention to details, even when I'm doing something else. For example, (although most people don't realize it) I have terrible social anxiety, and so while I'm nervously chattering away, I'm also distracting myself by taking note of all the small things in the room. Details I make mental notes on often show up in my journals later the same day, and slither into the stories I write if they made a big impression.How does my writing process work?Sit at desk. Write. That's it.But, seriously...I divide my writing--and therefore, processes-- into two categories:One, the writing I do to maintain my sanity and perspective (journals), which also have the delightful by-product of giving me lots of interesting fodder for future work. For this category, I write 3,000 words a day, or more, everyday. When I travel, I usually take notes on everything, up to twenty pages per day. At home, I use any in between moments to meet that word goal: my break time at work, mornings at a my favorite café, evenings after I get home. I don't force myself to do it, I just have the habit of doing it. It took time to turn it into a daily practice and I had to have patience with myself and let go of doing it "perfectly".Two, the writing I do for others (website, stories for publication, book). For this second category, I write another 3,000 words per day, or more, everyday. When traveling, I will often complete a story every few days. While at home, I work on stories and my book every weekend, for two or three days in a row. I don't do rewrites: any edits I do are about making things cleaner, succinct, spared down. If I have questions about how to write something, I usually will ask one of my mentors for help or clarity. I take walking breaks often because walking clears my mind and leaves me free to write without distractions. (Note: I used to reward myself with jellybeans, but now I reward myself with a walk.)If what I write moves me when I read it aloud, I'm done. Then it's time to write the next story. Now it's time for the Blog Hop. Four women I admire, who combine travel with memoir and do it differently: raw, brash, sophisticated, lean, contemplative, bubbly, ironic. Each one has written a piece in the past few months that has opened a door in my own work. Thank you to each of them. Go, girl. (And readers, leave a "like" at the end of the post, because that makes us all feel wonderful!)Visit each blog to read about how these women write.Visit Ellen at her blog The Internal Traveler to read her piece on her writing life. Consumer travel journalist, Ellen Barone, has been creating and curating intriguing, trustworthy and engaging travel inspiration and advice since 1998. With her signature blend of narrative/service journalism, editorial photography/digital technology, Ellen is a notable example of a photojournalist fusing blogging, multimedia storytelling and social media to engage with a diverse and active following. She's currently working on a travel/memoir book, and her Travel Updates features blogs on every travel topic imaginable.Annemarie can be found at Frill Seeker Diary and at the Huffington Post. Who is Annemarie Dooling?An Italian girl from Brooklyn, first college graduate of her family, orphaned at age 20. She's climbed a mountain in Africa to meet gorillas, toured World Cup stadiums overhead by helicopter and shared shoe recommendations with Nancy Pelosi. She's spoken to audiences at NYU, Internet Week, Book Expo America and TBEX, and contributed to Marie Claire, National Geographic’s Intelligent Travel Blog, AOL Travel, Huffington Post and Time Out.Visit Mara at her blog, The Mother of All Trips Mara Gorman doesn’t know when or where the travel bug bit her: Italy when she was nine? Paris when she was 19? India when she was 29? But having children has done nothing to cure her of it. She’s been traveling with her two sons for over a decade, including a 13-month adventure across 6 states, 3 countries, and 2 continents with her toddler. An award-winning freelance writer, she chronicles her family’s adventures on her website and offers inspiration, stories, and advice in The Family Traveler's Handbook. My favorite piece: What My Mother Taught Me About Travel. Read Kimberly's piece on her writing life on her blog, Fluent in Fabulous Kimberly Lovato is a freelance writer and author specializing in lifestyle and travel, with a heaping spoonful of culinary curiosity on the side. Her articles and stories have appeared in various print and online media from around the world, including Travel and Leisure Magazine, American Way, and BBC Travel. Her love of France—the language, the culture, the people, and of course the food—led her to write a culinary travel book, Walnut Wine & Truffle Groves, about the people and the cuisine of the Dordogne region. The book has been honored with several awards including the coveted Lowell Thomas Award given by the Society of American Travel Writers.Thanks for reading. Leave a comment, share, or give a "like" after scrolling down a bit more. You know how much I love it when you do!Amy Gigi Alexander ← The Absence of One Mother Gives ManyYes, I am a Strong, Beautiful Woman. Anywhere. →

- Algis Kasparavičius “Distances and Destination” -The contemporary art gallery “Si:said”, Klaipeda July, 2015 Algis Kasparavičius (born in 1975) is one of the most intriguing active Lithuanian artists. Since graduating from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2005 where he had studied sculpture, he has been holding personal shows and participating in group exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad. He began his career with the theme of things versus non-things setting out to explore their boundaries, but eventually the turned to the inner world and existence of the man. A person as a social being seeking opportunities of communication and co-existence; criticism of the global supply dictated by individual choices from the perspective of existence; search for meaning or challenging the raising of the question of existence per se – all of these issues stand out from the range of Kasparavičius’ works created during the past five years. Often his works reflect and analyse the destructive manifestations of the contemporary society as acquired working principles, aims and measures camouflaging the human authenticity and different choices. The viewer is invited to set out on a journey through artistic objects that are perceived as reflections of the real life due to their symbolic identifiability. Close interrelations between the objects invite to get engaged and to create or discover personal stories. Slight irony found in most of Kasparavičius’ works does not allow to get stuck in negative development and offers to join forces in the search for ways out and in seeing phenomena of the world with sympathy. Deep poetic feeling based on philosophy and religious studies as well as faultless precision of the works produce immersive atmosphere for knowing and contemplating the pieces of art. Kasparavičius keeps experimenting and looking for new consonances of materials choosing rusted metal, concrete, rock, glass, recycled paper, and wood for his works. According to the author, the installation “Distances and Destination” was inspired by the space of the “Si:said” gallery. The artist weaves the room into his installation as an obligatory and important element, an integral part of the story, and essential context where objects of art are determined by their interrelations and well as their relations to the location, and provoke reflections on personal experiences. Kasparavičius renegotiates the relationship between the process and the final result. Distances between being and seeming, between creating and imitating. What is the nature of these distances? What are the obstacles when attempting to cover them? What are they, and do they exist at all? Perhaps many things are simply invented and created in order for us to avoid collision with our own authenticity? Why do we do this? Fear and flight from our authenticity create repetitive roles and make us perform rituals, invented and negotiated necessities which cost us our time that we only have in limited quantities. Although the exhibition features a lot of black colour and may raise thoughts that it speaks of the most difficult and uncomfortable issues, such as the finite nature of human life, decay, and death, in reality the authors prevents us from lingering in negative interpretations and rather offers confrontation with personal choices. Are we one of those life imitators with polished black shoes living under regulations enforced upon us, rejecting our own authenticity and identity, being the authors of the result we see? Are the only things of worth in life are constant polishing and semblance trying to fit in with the standards acceptable to the society? Distances that we try to cover and that we admire as necessary and universally accepted without realising and reconsidering what we aim for, or seeing from a safe distance that there is no way we can make it past the 2-meter high or 2-meter long wooden barrier. What remains of us between the footprints we want to leave, the multiplication of our own images, the words unsaid or unwritten? Who could be interested in that? Barely visible letters, fragments of colour prints witnessing someone’s glory and truth cannot defeat time that turns everything into a grey mass. We have no resistance against it. The stories of families, relatives and friends subside and fade in time. And all that remains is our own focused attempt to perpetuate and give sense to ourselves, but these attempts will merely find their place in the same grey mass of other people’s memory. Two empty paintings speak to us of our fate and legacy in time and invite us to renew ourselves and fill these forms with our own content. A burnt-out light bulb can light up again. A luxurious chandelier is an attribute of wealth, a decoration assembled from fragments and sharp shards reflecting other lights, but without its own source of light. A bouquet of black roses as a phase given meaning by the act of cutting that we would like to finish, as a result, but not the one we had expected. The exhibition bursting with existential content invites to search for individual interpretations and sacrifice due attention and time by sitting own on a woodblock and to reconsider personal distances and destinations.

Common Questions about Rhinoplasty What is a closed rhinoplasty? A closed rhinoplasty refers to a technique where incisions are made only within the nose leaving no visible scar. With the cartilage delivery technique, the tip cartilages are pulled through the internal incision to allow some reshaping. In other forms of closed rhinoplasty, the tip surgery is performed blindly because there is no direct visualization of the tip components. What is an open rhinoplasty? In an open approach, an incision is made on the columella allowing the skin to be elevated off all of the underlying tip cartilages to provide direct exposure to this area. The open approach will allow more reshaping options such as more complex tip narrowing and de-fatting. Why do some doctors only do open or closed rhinoplasty? Most doctors are trained in either one of two ways and develop a particular comfort to one approach. Dr. Neavin has experience in both open and closed approaches and tailors the approach to the patient’s desires and expectations. What approach is better? Open or closed? Many plastic surgeons will offer their opinion and cite reasons why one approach is better than the other. Both open and closed rhinoplasty have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. Whether one approach is better than the other really depends on goals and expectations. How long will I be swollen after a rhinoplasty? Swelling after any nose surgery may take up to a year to resolve. While most swelling is gone within the first 6 weeks, persistent tip edema may linger. Open rhinoplasty often results in longer swelling than closed rhinoplasty. Why do plastic surgeons sometimes break the nose? Nasal bones are sometimes, not always, fractured in a rhinoplasty to either narrow the upper part of the nose or to do what is called “closing an open roof”. An open roof occurs when filing of cartilage and bone leave a gap between the bones that may be felt under the skin. Breaking the bones and pushing them together will close the roof of this gap and also narrow the nose. It may also be performed to correct a bone asymmetry. Why does thick nasal skin make rhinoplasty more challenging? Skin is generally thicker among certain nationalities such as Asian, black, hispanic, and Middle Eastern. Thicker skin hides the underlying cartilage features and limits how much definition one can have in the tip and how thin it can be made. Thicker skin also makes tip support more difficult. Noses with thick skin have a higher propensity to drop after surgery. Often, extra cartilage support is placed in the nose to add support in thick skinned patients. What is a bulbous tip? Bulbous tips are round and big and are a result of overdeveloped lower lateral cartilages. The treatment is usually removal of cartilage (called a cephalic trim) and suture techniques to narrow the lower lateral cartilages. What is a boxy tip? A boxy tip is one that resembles a square. Like a bulbous tip, it is the result of overdeveloped lower lateral cartilage that is corrected with cephalic trim and suture reshaping techniques. What is a plunging tip? A plunging tip describes the dropping of a nose with smiling. It is a combination of cartilage position and muscle attachments to the tip of the nose. The correction of a plunging tip is the division of the depressor nasals muscle which can be done through the nose or mouth. What is a polly beak deformity? A polly beak deformity is usually a complication of rhinoplasty where there is a convexity to the nose instead of a slope. In this instance the tip is usually under tilted and weak. What is a hanging columella? The columella is the column of tissue between the nostrils. Ideally, a few millimeters of the columella are visible on profile. With a hanging columella, excess columella is visible. The treatment involves reducing the cartilage that is pushing the columella down. What is a hidden columella? On side view, the columella cannot be seen. The ala can either be reduced or the the columella can be lengthened. This type of feature is common among hispanic and African American men and women.

A denture or a complete denture as it is often called, is an appliance that is inserted in the mouth, replaces natural teeth and provides support for the cheeks and lips. Most dentures are made of acrylic and can be fabricated two different ways. A conventional denture is made after all teeth have been extracted and the tissues (gums) have healed. An immediate denture is fabricated and inserted immediately after the teeth are extracted and the tissues are allowed to heal under the denture. An upper denture has acrylic, usually flesh colored, that covers the palate (roof of the mouth). A lower denture is shaped like a horseshoe to leave room for the tongue. The teeth are made of plastic, porcelain or a combination thereof. Dentures can be fabricated to fit over endodontically treated teeth and a complete denture can be attached to dental implants to allow for a more secure fit of the appliance. Dentures over a normal course of time will wear and need to be replaced or relined in order to keep the jaw alignment normal. The alignment will slowly change as the bone and gum ridges recede or shrink due to the extraction of the teeth. Regular dental examinations are still important for the denture wearer so that the oral tissues can be checked for disease or change.

Australian Wildlife Conservancy protects some of the largest remaining populations of many endangered species like Bilbies, Numbats & Gouldian Finches. open Wildlife translocations at Paruna AWC has conducted several wildlife translocations at Paruna since 2000. Five species have been translocated: the Black-flanked Rock-wallaby, Tammar Wallaby, Woylie, Quenda and Brushtail Possum. Tammar Wallabies and Black-flanked Rock-wallabies have successfully established wild, self-sustaining populations. The population of Black-flanked Rock-wallabies at Paruna may conserve important genetic variation as they were translocated from populations in the Wheatbelt that are currently in decline. Brushtail Possums and Quenda are present at low densities. The Woylie population at Paruna has now dropped below detectable numbers. The fact that the Woylie population has not successfully established and increased at Paruna highlights the vulnerability of the species to feral cat predation (the overall population across south-western Australia has decreased by 90% over the last 15 years). This further highlights the critical need to establish additional mainland islands – ie, fox and cat-free areas surrounded by feral-proof fencing – such as the feral-free areas already established by AWC at Karakamia and Scotia and the area being established by AWC at Mt Gibson. Related Field Updates

By Kevin Miller Last summer, my eighty-seven year old grandmother asked me to help her find a car to replace her 14-year-old Ford Taurus wagon. After determining that she still had the necessary skills and mental acuity to be on the road, I started researching which vehicles are appropriate for older drivers. Despite my knowledge about cars, and my internet-searching prowess, I could not find any good resources to tell me what older drivers should be looking for in a car. The AAA has now announced a program to do just that- help older drivers know what to look for when shopping for a new car. In partnership with the University of Florida’s National Older Driver Research and Training Center (NODRTC), AAA released its Smart Features for Mature Drivers at the New York International Auto Show. The program identifies vehicle features that can assist drivers with visual, physical and mental changes that are frequently encountered as they age. Muscle strength, reaction times, range of motion and visual acuity tend to diminish as part of the natural aging process. Also, the increased prevalence of health issues such as arthritis, hip and knee joint pain or osteoporosis can reduce the ability to safely execute the complex task of driving. My grandmother’s knee pain, as well as arthritis in her hands, were two concerns when we were shopping for her car.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 29 million licensed drivers age 65 and older in the United States in 2005. It is estimated that by 2020 there will be more than 40 million licensed drivers age 65 and older. “When looking for ways to help maintain an older person’s safety, it’s important to address the vehicle they are driving. Today, specific vehicle features can help improve driver comfort and safety.” says Dennis P. McCarthy, co-director of the University of Florida’s NODRTC.Some of the recommendations included in the AAA program include: · Vehicles with six-way adjustable power seats and seat heights that come between the driver’s mid-thigh and lower buttocks. These features can make it easier for drivers and passengers to enter and exit a vehicle. · Vehicles with four-doors, thick steering wheels, keyless entry and ignition, power mirrors and seats and larger dashboard controls with buttons. These features can make it easier for those with arthritic joints to enter vehicles and operate controls · Vehicles with extendable sun visors, large audio and climate controls and displays with contrasting text. These features can help drivers with reduced visual acuity better see vehicle controls and displays. AAA’s Smart Features for Mature Drivers also includes recommended vehicle safety features, which would benefit any vehicle buyer: Proven crashworthiness, crash test and rollover ratings, side and dual-stage/threshold airbags, adjustable head restraints, antilock brakes, and stability control. Without this guide from AAA last summer, I started by asking my grandmother what she liked about her Taurus, and what she didn’t like, as well as what she’d like her new car to have that the Taurus didn’t. That helped me come up with criteria for her new car:-Easy to get in and out of-Easy to see out of-Easy/understandable to operate-Small and maneuverable enough to park easily Additionally, I wanted to make sure her new vehicle was a safe one. Because it can be more difficult for older people to heal after injury, I wanted to be sure that if she was ever in an accident, she would be as safe as possible. I made a list of suitable cars, and we went out to test drive several models. She test drove a Volvo S40, Subaru Forester, Honda Fit, and Honda Civic. She ended up buying the S40, and she loves it. I was glad to get her in to a car that is safe, and one in which she feels comfortable behind the wheel.

November 11 Cheryl Brady Dolls vary in shape, size, style, material and dress more than most other categories of toys. Basically they divide into baby dolls and those which are made to resemble children or adults in features, proportion and clothing. Thus in theory one can provide a baby, a companion or, for older children, something which projects an image of how they may look and dress in later years. Most dolls these days are strong, safe and the detail such as eyes and ‘real’ hair stand up to a great deal of hard wear. Faces and features vary and judgement is necessarily subjective but as a general observation it is safe to say that children prefer a pleasant happy face with eyes that appear to look at you rather than some of the stylized, almost characterless dolls’ faces produced for the international market. Those dolls which offer something extra such as walking, talking, feeding come into the category ‘buy only if absolutely necessary’. Their very gimmicks tend to limit what can be done with them and to stultify rather than stimulate imaginative play. The younger the child the simpler the doll should be. First dolls are a progression from soft toys and are used in the same way – for hugging, patting, dragging around and pushing into a cot or pram. Clothes can be attractive but are not likely to be taken off or put on again except by adults when they need washing. For older children who can dress dolls the body needs to be flexible and limbs should move easily. For nursery-group use the type already described for family play is the most useful. A child at home will most probably have a selection of different types and sizes of doll. The cheapest way to enlarge a family of dolls or to create a set of graded-size dolls is to make them much as rag dolls have been made for centuries. Stretch nylon fabric for bodies and foam plastic for stuffing both speeds up construction and means the dolls can be washed when necessary, although they are not suitable for doll-bathing games by children. They can be made either by sewing the necessary cloth shapes and then stuffing them before sewing together or if a block of foam plastic or rolled sheet foam plastic is cut to the basic shape the outer cover can then be stitched on to it. This last method of working from the inside to the outside is very useful because the material cover can be made really tight and the chore of tryinp to stuff the doll evenly is avoided. There are patterns one can buy which usually include both doll and clothes construction but it is possible to work out a simple pattern that barely needs a tape measure. The basis of this is to use a square of material to make one sausage to be divided by a tight band into head and body (the head part being one third of the sausage). Arms can be made half the width of the body and the same length as the body (not the body and head together). This allows for a hand to be simulated by drawing a tight thread round where the wrist should be. Legs are again half the width of the body but to the body measurement add enough extra length to allow for feet, making ankles in the same way as wrists. The body and head tube should be finished at the head end by drawing up with a gathering thread to give a rounded ‘crown’. The hip end of the body should be sewn straight across and then the corners poked in to give a ‘hip socket’ into which to sew the legs. Arms and legs are made rounded at the top and the limbs can be moved quite freely if they are attached by strong thread passing several times through right limb, body, left limb, and then through a four-hole shirt button on the outside of the arm or leg so that the strain is taken by the button rather than the fabric. Features can be embroidered or felt-appliqued. Hair can be made from a skein of wool, soft string or anything else suitable. The skein can be held in place by a rubber band at both ends and centre until the hair is satisfactorily arranged and firmly stitched down. A ‘wig’, either knitted or crocheted in a loopy stitch, is more durable. Experts can probably work out something very Grand for themselves but non-experts should aim at a pudding-basin-type wig by measuring from the back of the top of the head to where the wig should end on the forehead. Knit a strip this wide which is long enough to go all round the head. Join together the cast on and cast off edges and gather up one of the other edges as tightly as possible to get the shape of a ski-hat without the bobble. The loops can be made while knitting by wrapping the wool around the needle eight times on each alternate stitch on each alternate row. When going back over these looped stitches knit into the first loop only and let the rest of the thread come off the needle. For people who prefer to sew, couching six or eight strands of wool at a time and leaving loops between each couching stitch is easy to do. If man-made fibre is used it is less likely to shrink during washing than wool. The large toddler-size doll suggested for family play in the nursery group is also often a great favourite for individual children at home. They can be made by filling one of the complete cover-all baby suits made in stretch towelling by stuffing it with chopped plastic foam after all the openings have been sewn up. If it does not have feet, socks can be sewn to the ankle bands and mittens sewn to the wrist bands can be stuffed for hands. The head can be fashioned from a block of plastic foam covered with a slightly stretchy nylon fabric or several layers of nylon stockings or from a bag stuffed with chopped foam. This is stitched firmly to the neck band of the baby suit. Hair and features can be made as suggested for the small dolls. Because the baby suits are so stretchy this gives a rather floppy doll. Shape and firmness can be applied from the outside by dressing it in rather tight baby clothes. Once these’foundation garments’ are put on it can wear any suitable-sized baby garments from sou’wester to Wellingtons.

If you can’t beat the market, be the market: That’s the logic behind index funds. More than 30 years ago, John Bogle set up shop to help investors capture market returns at minimal cost. He had realized a quarter-century earlier that complex mutual fund investing strategies don’t consistently outperform market returns. Even Bogle’s detractors have had to admit that the wisdom of his investing model has been borne out by time. Somewhat uncomfortable in his status as a present-day folk hero, Bogle remains an ardent defender of the common investor, and his zeal shines through in his 2007 book, “The Little Book of Common Sense Investing,” published by John Wiley & Sons. Name: John C. Bogle Hometown: Valley Forge, Pa. Education: Magna cum laude economics degree from Princeton in 1951 Founded Vanguard in 1974 Voted one of the “world’s 100 most powerful and influential people” by Time magazine in 2004 Institutional Investor’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2004) Named one of the investment industry’s four “Giants of the 20th Century” by Fortune magazine in 1999 Received the Woodrow Wilson Award from Princeton University for “distinguished achievement in the Nation’s service” (1999) At age 80, the founder and former CEO of The Vanguard Group is still going strong. When he’s not traveling to teach at a college seminar or to deliver a speech, he works 60 hours a week running Bogle Financial Markets Research Center, a unit of Vanguard that’s funded by the company. His latest book, published in 2008, is “Enough: True Measures of Money, Business and Life.” He took time out of his hectic schedule to talk about investing with Bankrate. Simplicity is key What is the most important piece of advice you have for someone who is new to investing? Rely on simplicity; own American or global business in broadly diversified, low-cost funds. Do you think the average person could safely invest for retirement and other goals without expert advice — just by indexing? Yes, there is a rule of thumb I add to that. You should start out heavily invested in equities. Hold some bond index funds as well as stock index funds. By the time you get closer to retirement or into your retirement, you should have a significant position in bond index funds as well as stock index funds. As we get older, we have less time to recoup. We have more money to protect and our nervousness increases with age. We get a little bit worried about that nest egg when it’s large and we have little time to recoup it, so we pay too much attention to the fluctuations in the market, which in the long run mean nothing. Switching to indexing Should people who do not currently hold index funds sell their actively managed funds and move the money to index funds, or should they hold those and start investing their new money in index funds? A lot depends on the kinds of funds they own. We’ve got an industry that makes life very complicated for investors because we’ve got dozens of different types of funds, different investment styles, different market capitalizations, specialty funds that are in telecommunications, gold, technology or whatever it may be, and a whole variety of international funds, including some that invest in just a single country. The more concentrated those investments are, say, in a single country or a single industry, I’d say the answer is generally yes, move to an index fund — but watch out for taxes. If the funds are in your retirement plan, you can ignore taxes, but if they’re in your own account, you want to take into account the tax cost involved. Another factor to consider is how much it’s costing you. The record is very clear: High-cost funds do considerably worse than low-cost funds. How could it be otherwise? Think about diversification when you’re deciding what to do, and think about cost. Costs add up That brings me to my next question. You’ve made the point time and again that costs dramatically impact investor returns. No-load funds are preferable to load funds, naturally, but how important is the expense ratio? Let’s take the question a little bit differently, if I might. There are three costs that are involved in mutual funds. The one that we talk about the most and the one that is the easiest to calculate is the fund’s expense ratio. That averages about 1.5 percent for an equity fund and about 1 percent for a bond fund. That’s a heavy drain on your returns, unless the money manager has superior ability, which over the long term very few do. People look good in the short term and then they fade in the long term. Working with low-expense ratio funds — as I call it, fishing in the low-cost pond — is one way to make sure your returns are improved. There’s a second cost that we don’t pay nearly as much attention to and which we don’t quantify very often, and that’s the impact of a sales commission — if you buy a fund with a load. For example, if the load is 5 percent, which is the typical load today, and you hold the fund for five years, that has cost you 1 percent a year. If you hold it for 10 years, it’s a half a percent a year. Think about three-quarters of 1 percent a year, the combination of those two, as cost No. 2 after the expense ratio. The third cost is hidden, but we know it exists; we just don’t know exactly how large it is. That’s the portfolio turnover cost. Mutual funds turn over their portfolios at an astonishing rate, averaging about 100 percent per year. By my estimates, any fund that turns its portfolio over at that rate is costing you an extra 1 percent per year: a half percent to buy all those securities, including market impact costs, and a half percent to sell them. A 100 percent turnover means a billion-dollar fund buys a billion dollars’ worth of stock and sells a billion. That’s our definition of 100 percent, but that’s $2 billion of transactions. You have to take into account that cost. If you find lower-turnover funds, and very few funds turn over at lower than 30 percent per year, you’re talking about not 1 percent per year, but about a three-tenths of 1 percent cost per year. In other words, the turnover rate with the decimal point moved over two places (0.003). So 100 percent turnover would cost 1 percent roughly. And a 30 percent turnover would cost three-tenths of 1 percent. So let’s call it an average of seven-tenths of 1 percent per year for portfolio turnover. So adding costs together, we have a 1.5 percent expense ratio, if you’re paying a sales commission, another 0.7 percent on average for a seven-year holding period plus another 0.7 percent for turnover costs if you’re average, so that adds up to roughly 3 percent. That’s an astonishingly high cost and investors are almost oblivious to nearly all of it, but totally oblivious to the second and third costs. We’ve got to pay attention, or as we say in “Death of a Salesman,” “Attention must be paid.” I usually estimate total costs at 2.5 percent; if someone wants to argue that’s too high, say a minimum of 2 percent paid by the typical fund investor. If you don’t like my estimates, knock them down a little bit. What’s the highest expense ratio that one should pay for a domestic equity fund? I’d say three-quarters of 1 percent maybe. For an international fund? I’d say three-quarters of 1 percent. For a bond fund? One-half of 1 percent. But I’d shave that a little bit. For example, if you can buy a no-load bond fund or a no-load stock fund, you can afford a little more expense ratio, because you’re not paying any commission. You’ve eliminated cost No. 2. One of the ironic things about this is if you want to eliminate turnover cost, the third cost I mentioned, it’s like rolling off a log — it’s the easiest thing in the world: Buy an index fund. If you buy a no-load index fund, with an expense ratio of, say 0.15 percent a year, you’ve taken that typical 2 (percent) to 3 percent cost and reduced it by about 95 percent a year. And it’s there for the taking. In the long run it’s really quite certain, because the data show us that only about 5 percent of the managers will outperform the market over an investment lifetime. Bogle’s portfolio Do you own any actively managed funds? I’m largely indexed, 85 (percent) to 90 percent in my equity funds, but I’ve hung onto some of my, what I call “legacy funds” that I’d been investing in over the years that I was running Wellington Management Co. That would include Wellington Fund, Windsor Fund, Explorer Fund, Primecap Fund, other funds like that. I’ve owned them, and they’re going to give me more or less a market return because they’re very diversified, but that’s 20 percent of my funds and I don’t intend to change that. I should say that on the bond side, in my retirement plan account, which is my largest investment — because I never owned Vanguard, which is sad to relate because I’d be a billionaire, multibillionaire — but I don’t own that, so my retirement plan is my largest investment, and in my personal account I own 100 percent municipal bond funds, which are very indexlike in their nature. Money market investing You have said that most people hold five different funds, and that people should hold equity index funds and bond index funds. How much, if anything, should people hold in money market funds? In general I look at investing as having no money market funds. If you’re concerned about risk, you’re better off holding a short-term bond fund. While the returns will be a little jagged if you draw them on a chart, they’re upward about 95 percent of the time. Whereas a money market fund, if you put it on the same chart, will go in a straight line but will end up at a lower level, because that reduction in risk comes with a reduction in return. When investing, do not own money market funds. In saving for your emergency reserves, yes, own money market funds. An important caution: Money market funds are pure commodities. What differentiates the highest- and lowest-yielding money market funds is cost. The correlation between high cost and low return or low cost and high return in money market funds is 0.99 — almost perfect. Avoid high-cost money market funds at all costs in your emergency account. ETFs vs. index funds We published a profile on Ben Stein in 2007, and he mentioned you. Basically he said that you might disagree as to which are ultimately better — index funds or exchange traded funds — but that he finds them equally attractive. You have been critical of ETFs. What don’t you like about them? It is not the idea of ETFs that I find unpersuasive. After all, if someone wants to buy the Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF compared to the Total Stock Market fund directly, or to that point buy the SPDR, which is an S&P 500 ETF, compared to the Vanguard 500 (Index Fund), I don’t have a bone to pick with them. I would tell smaller investors who are dollar averaging: Don’t touch the ETF because every time you touch them, you pay a commission. In fact, I wouldn’t buy the Vanguard ETF because you pay a commission. What’s the matter with that? The answer is nothing. So Stein and I are on the same square. What troubles me and troubles me deeply is: What are ETFs? They are index funds that you can trade all day and they are index funds you pay a commission on. Those two things strike me as a great disadvantage. Trading is your enemy, because it’s based on emotion. People do trade them with great rapidity. So I have a problem with trading ETFs, which you are lured into doing if you watch the market all day long, and also, the types of ETFs we have. (In 2007) there (were) 690 types of ETFs, and only 12 are broad-market ETFs, like the S&P 500 or the World Stock index or similar total-stock indices. That leaves 678 funds that are vehicles for speculating. Whether it’s in emerging cancer shares or the Taiwanese stock market, or the Nasdaq, those are speculative things to do. I can’t tell you they won’t work, but I can tell you that when you have a speculative instrument that you can trade all day long, I would bet an awful lot of money that you would be better off instead of doing a lot of trading over the next 10 years in those narrow, specialized, undiversified and, in terms of commissions, costly instruments — you don’t have a fighting chance of beating the kind of index strategy that I just described. Investing for everyone You were the first to introduce index funds in the form of mutual funds for everyday investors. Would you say that this was your greatest contribution to the investing public? Vanguard 500 Index Fund is unequivocally the first index mutual fund. I don’t dwell on my contributions such as they may be to the investing public. I’ve tried to do my best to build a better world for the average investor and, for that matter, for pension funds and institutional investors, too. Central to that was the creation of Vanguard, which was and is the only truly mutual mutual fund organization. The management company is owned by the funds. Its profits, running about $12 billion a year (in 2007), are largely rebated — 98 percent or something — to our fund shareholders in the form of lower expenses. Without that kind of structure, it would be very difficult to bring out an index fund. We went no-load around the time the index fund was introduced. We then focused on being a low-cost provider in the mutual fund industry. And therefore following, when we became effective operationally in May 1975, the first thing on my agenda was to start an index fund, which depended on low cost to work. The chicken-and-the-egg is that Vanguard was the chicken, and the index fund, the egg. But which was the most important? We’ve been the most innovative company in this industry. And, I would argue quickly, soundly innovative. I don’t give you points for innovation if you bring out an Internet stock fund at the height of the stock market boom in early 2000. That’s bad innovation. In terms of good innovation, I think it’s pretty clear we’ve led the way.

St Asaph: Woman's body found inside flooded home From the section UK http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-20506344 Media captionThe RNLI filmed a rescue inside a block of flats in St Asaph The body of an elderly woman has been found in a flooded home in St Asaph, north Wales, as heavy rain continues to cause problems in England and Wales.There are two severe flood warnings - indicating danger to life - on the Elwy, and some 170 regular flood warnings across England and Wales.North Wales Police advised vigilance, particularly in the town of Rhuddlan. David Cameron has said he is personally involved in flood insurance talks.Visiting the Devon village of Buckfastleigh, which was flooded at the weekend, Mr Cameron said: "It is obviously very traumatic when communities are hit by flooding like this... and now we need to help them with the recovery. "We have to make sure their insurance pays out, make sure the Environment Agency puts in place good flood defences, make sure there are better warning schemes." Media captionDavid Cameron: 'Always lessons to learn' The Association of British Insurers says discussions about extending a deal that obliges insurers to provide cover to high-risk properties while the government improves flood defences are at "crisis point", and says this could leave 200,000 homes uninsured next year.The government has denied the talks have "stalled".The prime minister said: "It's important that insurance companies ... do what they're meant to, which is provide insurance to households, and we're going to make sure that happens. I am personally involved."I've seen myself in my own constituency the difficulty people have when they can't get insurance. It's not just that it makes them feel unsafe in their own home but they can't sell their own home, and so it's very important we get this sorted on their behalf." There's a huge amount of water still on the land and still trying to get out to sea Innes Thomson, Environment Agency In St Asaph, the woman's body was discovered at about noon as emergency rescue workers carried out house-to-house checks.North Wales Police are treating the death as unexplained, but said there were no suspicious circumstances.Some residents have been rescued by lifeboats and fire crews after becoming trapped in their homes, and a pregnant woman was brought out the window of her property by British Red Cross volunteers.About 100 homes in St Asaph have been flooded, with water levels in some said to be 2-3ft (60-90cm) in places.The Environment Agency said the Elwy had reached 14ft 3in (4.35m) at St Asaph - more than 3ft (1m) deeper than its previous record, and compared with a typical depth range of 3-6ft (1-2m).Residents have also been evacuated from their homes as the threat of flooding increases in Ruthin, 15 miles away, where Denbighshire County Council says up to 400 properties are potentially at risk. The River Ouse in York is also being monitored, with the peak expected to be on Wednesday. The river burst its banks on Monday, affecting riverside buildings, although the situation is said to be less severe than flooding experienced in September North Yorkshire County Council estimates 50 roads are closed because of flooding The latest Environment Agency data shows 960 homes have suffered flooding since last Wednesday Floodgates have gone up in Upton, in Worcestershire, following a £4.5m flood alleviation scheme which was completed in the summer Parts of the new £45m defence scheme in Nottingham have been put into action for the first time. It is the largest of new flood protection schemes, but plans for more have been cut back, reports our environment analyst Roger Harrabin The EA has 172 flood warnings in force - which say flooding is expected and immediate action is required.There are also 184 less severe flood alerts, which indicate that people should prepare for possible flooding.The agency said levels in the River Nene in Northamptonshire had "risen significantly".

Can Hebrew Schools Be Saved? Posted by Rabbi Susan Grossman Like most rabbis, I get frustrated at what I wish we could accomplish in our religious school. I wish I could get parents to let the students use the skills they are learning in school–like kiddush and Havdallah–more regularly in their homes. I wish I could get a larger percentage of parents to bring their kids to Shabbat services. I wish I could get the funding we have been searching for to develop our Hebrew language retention program that would give teachers and parents who are not fluent, the tools to reinforce the vocabulary and grammar our kids learn with our two Hebrew specialists (but then forget by the next week because they don’t have enough opportunity to use it). However, I am also encouraged by the advances I have seen over the last 10 years at my synagogue school: * Almost every one of our Bnai Mitzvah can lead the entire Shaharit service thanks to our innovative tefillah curriculum. Most important, graduates tell me they feel comfortable as part of the Jewish community wherever they travel and that they have little patience for services that skimp on the traditional Hebrew liturgy! * A growing number of students are making a personal commitment after Bnai Mitzvah to recite prayers before and after they eat. * A growing number of students are expressing active interest in visiting Israel and lobbying their parents to visit. (The result: two congregational trips in two years, many individual family trips, and excitement already about our next trip in 2009.) * Most of our last few classes of Bnai Mitzvah students have continued into Hebrew High School. I don’t mind this is largely so they can keep up with the friends they made during the year. Studies show that such friendships are a large indicator of marrying within the faith. *Our own students have dubbed our program, “The Religious School That’s Fun to Go To.” It is not just the bagels and hot chocolate we sell every Sunday (though I am sure that helps), but also the fact that our teachers present a demanding curriculum in an engaging and creative way and my education director has initiated a number of very successful in-school enrichment programs. These are just a few of the things I am excited about. I am sure other synagogue schools have similar advances. Jane, writing on the Torah Aura bulletin board, is right when she says what we need most is for us rabbis and educators to believe in our religious schools. While money does not solve all problems, the biggest problem facing religious schools continues to be lack of sufficient funding to subsidize tuition and to support creative curriculum development and teacher training. Sure kids will learn more in a Jewish day school setting, but, as Jonathan Tobin pointed out recently in his article in the Jewish World Review, most parents are either unable or unwilling to send their kids to day schools. We need our congregational religious schools. And we should not sell them short. When we set the bar high, we might actually find (as I have) that our entire community will rise to those expectations.

Professional Organizations for Librarians Being a librarian can be a lonely profession. Joining professional organizations help connect you to other librarians who understand your goals and vision.Many librarians don't see the need to be part of a professional organization. Yet, these groups are the place (either physical or virtual) where you can connect to others who understand what it is to be a public librarian, medical librarian, or adademic librarian. The know the passion that the cataloguer feels for making information accessable to users. They know the joy of seeing the eyes of pre-school children wide with wonder during storytime.Professional organizations connect librarians to each other in many ways. At my first American Association of School Librarians' convention. During a chance conversation with another Catholic school librarian I learned about running a Birthday Book Club. At another convention I had a wonderful conversation with Fred McKissack as he shared his memories of fishing in the town where I live--he grew up just 30 miles away.These moments cannot happen when we sit in our own library with no connection to others. We can feel isolated, as if no one understands what our work entails, that no one shares our frustrations. This isolation will lead to burn out.Here are several professional organizations that you may want to explore:American Library Association (ALA)Strives to promote high-quality library and information services as well as public access to information.Public Library Associationdevoted to enhancing the development and effectiveness of public librarians and library services. Association for Library Service to ChildrenNetwork of children's and youth librarians, children's literature experts, and publishers.American Association of School LibrariansAdvocates excellence, facilitates change, and develops leaders in the school library media field.International Federation of Library Associations and InstitutionsA worldwide organization created to provide librarians around the world with a forum for exchanging ideas, promoting international cooperation, research and development in all fields of library activity.Association of Independent Information ProfessionalsAn organization of owners of information businesses and brokerages.Catholic Library Associationan international membership organization, providing its members professional development through educational and networking experiences, publications, scholarships, and other services.Church & Synagogue Library AssociationServes librarians, many of whom are nonprofessional volunteers, through publications, a network of religious libraries, and training sessions offered at regional and national workshops.The Association of Christian LibrariansOne of the oldest and largest evangelical academic library organizations.The Association of Jewish Librariespromotes Jewish literacy through enhancement of libraries and library resources and through leadership for the profession and practitioners of Judaica librarianship.

Home » Hearing Health » Your risk of hearing loss goes up because of this Your risk of hearing loss goes up because of this By: Bel Marra Health | Hearing Health | Saturday, October 01, 2016 - 11:00 AM Even if you don’t suffer from hearing loss now, a new study suggests that the older you become the higher your risk will be. Hearing loss is becoming such a widespread problem in the U.S. that new tactics need to be implemented to ensure more people are receiving treatment in time. Hearing loss is common in old age, but despite the variety of treatments available to improve one’s hearing and quality of life, many seniors are not speaking to their doctors about their options. The study included 647 seniors over the age of 80 who all had some level of hearing loss. Those over the age of 90 were most affected. Team leader of the study Dr. Anil Lalwani said, “Hearing loss accelerates with age in the oldest old, a population in which hearing aids are vastly underused despite their great potential benefit.” The exact number of Americans suffering from hearing loss is largely underestimated, because many cases go unreported and many seniors never speak to their doctor about their hearing concerns. The research team compared rates of hearing loss in adults aged 80 to 106. The participants were divided into four groups based on their age. Hearing loss was found to be the most progressive among those of older age. Dr. Lalwani explained that it “is associated with numerous deleterious psychosocial, functional, and cognitive effects. It is a major public health concern as the population of individuals over the age of 80 is expected to double in the next 40 years.” Of the study group, only 59 percent of participants used a hearing aid. “Hearing aids are underutilized in this population, despite the fact that hearing aid use has been shown to improve the social, functional, and emotional effects of hearing loss,” Dr. Lalwani added. The researchers suggest that hearing loss should be treated as a chronic condition, but Dr. Maseih Moghaddassi, chief of otolaryngology at Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, suggests, “On one hand, the insurance carriers may begin to bear some of the cost of a hearing aid. On the other hand, our Medicare system is so overstretched and this may take resources away from some other lifesaving procedures such as dialysis or cardiac surgery. I think it is time for our society to make some tough choices.” Until a solution is found, the researchers do recommend routine hearing tests for older patients to monitor their hearing. People who read this article benefited from… Dr. Victor MarchioneVictor Marchione, MD received his Bachelor of...Dr. Richard M. Foxx, M.D.Dr. Foxx volunteered for the U.S. Army and served as...Dr. Craig MintzerDr. Craig Mintzer currently serves as team...

Farm Cultivation Activities | Medicinal Plantation | Other Research Activities Farming/Agro-Forestry Initially about 400 acres of existing land available for cultivation has been used for cultivation of food grains and Plantation crops, involving scientists of KVK, coordinated projects and campus farm staff with financial support of the university and ICAR. About 100 ha have been planted under food, oilseed and forage crops during 2005. Another 500 ha, has been made ready, for cultivation and planting by the start of 2006. Conduct of Front Line Demonstrations by in-charges of relevant projects (Dry Land, MULLa RP, Pigeonpea, Maize, NSP, Cropping System) in 1 ha land each is being undertaken from this Kharif Season. Biological fencing for the area of about 4 km by trenching and seeding Jungle Jalebi and Leuciana/Bamboo is being done at the site to protect it from stray animals and other intruders. The Nursery for horticultural plants/trees like Bel, Anola, citrus etc. is being developed. The funds for cultivation of these can be procured through projects submitted under Horticulture Mission of Govt of India. Plantation of Bamboo/ Chiraunzi/ Katha, Bel, Aonla etc. would be taken up on priority basis, as these are native of this area and have high economic value. Biodiversity Park Bio diesel is another area of interest for development. Various companies and Govt. agencies towards such developmental studies are putting lot of efforts. About 200 ha area would be used exclusively for Jatropha cultivation. A project funding of Rs 1.0 Crores has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India.

by befour » Sat Sep 30, 2006 8:55 am Dear Randy, My post was to Tam.....not to you.....and I did not ask for your commentary, nor do I care what you think. My post was intended to be a bit humorous....and I'm sure that everyone else "got it." You need to lighten-up...you're taking your JOB way too seriously! By the way....I've been meaning to ask "how does someone who has dyslexia become a translator of foreign languages?" It seems to be an odd career choice, since spelling and proof reading are not your strong points. I believe that it is called an "oxymoron." I know who you are.....leave me alone!! disability?? by RANDY » Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:39 am Translation answer: When you are dyslexic and you get very good grades in school you do this by teaching yourself to read words as graphics and once you see them you remember them...forever. Once I have seen a word, and make it through sounding it out I memorize it as a graphic. I can then pronounce it and sometimes even spell it again but if it is wrong in a sentence I can usually pick it out. This disability has worked in my favor since I turned it into a benefit at a very young age. (Typing is still very difficult and I still exchange characters quite often.) Therefore when I see a "graphic" or word that does not look correct I can immediately pick it out. This skill which I could have said is a disability actually works well when reading languages that I do not know like Japanese, Russian and Chinese. I compare the Englsih version and memorize what certain repetative words should look like and when I see them incorrectly I can point that out to my translator. This amazes any new translators I use. It is actually a gift. I am the agency owner darling..not the translator. I have been the agency owner since 1989. You do not know who or what I am becuase your eyes are clouded in fear and are pointed in the incorrect direction of phoney baloneys who are making fun of you at your expense. I am not one of them but I know this to be a fact. by befour » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:08 am Randy darling, Head games....that's your agenda.....and it won't work on me!! It's so easy to see through you and figure out what you are up to...and I have already wasted enough time on you. It's like trying to talk to a mud stump. by RANDY » Sat Sep 30, 2006 10:12 am Oh there are none so blind as those that will not see. I feel sorry for you. You are confused. I wish you clarity in your life..one day. Honest I do. You are so miguided. You can only help yourself see truth. You have not done that yet. by London » Sat Sep 30, 2006 4:08 pm Randy, Just wanted to FYI you....Doc Wymore whom recieved around 50 of my researched articles in back in June said they were really good articles....and no, he did not say this to me. I only tell you this incase you were referring to my post as BS. By the way, that Damn University knows what this is......They call it....."Horizontal Gene Transfer" wanna see the paper(S) they have published on this and the wasp , and the stored wheat grains, and the prairie grasses......etc., >there is a lot more too.....just let me know if you do not think I'm being serious. I hope to God Randy that you are just naieve(sp?) and really were not aware of all of the above that University has studied and published. Befour, Maybe the translation service is like The one she says of Tam Tam's, a computer translation service?? Translating computer software maybe? Well, goodness me, not only did they not fix my computer bac, they decided to take some more as of just this morning.....so, here I go.... NOTE***** this is mild too......it will get a lot heavier if anything of mine is tampered with.....but this time it will name names...... Again., it's up to you...... No, it's not about computers....jeeze! Integrated Optical Computing for Chemical Sensing This paper presents a photodetection system for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing that integrates optical computing with each pixel, thus enabling optical regression processing for sensing biological and chemical agents. The focus of this effort has been to upgrade a previous, low resolution, proof-of-concept approach to system-on-chip refractive index detection by SPR based systems. The next generation chip presented here contains five more pixels and seven more bits of resolution than the original proof of concept system. A refractive index resolution of 0.0002 RI is possible with the system presented here, as opposed to 0.0010 RI for the previous hardware and 0.0005 RI for previous software-level processing of SPR data. Now here is what our Gov't science organization has been up to (note* this is only the tip of the iceburg) No, I'm not saying they are guilty, just showing you what they do......oh, by the way, as of a month ago, they now have the wasp and bees on their website. Chemical engineers at North Carolina State University have developed a technique to group molecules so tightly that they form a slick surface. The material may have a variety of applications, including non-stick cookware, COMPUTER DISC-DRIVES, airplane surface coatings, and medical implants. NSF Award 9875256 AND..... Researchers Developing Novel Method to Synthesize Semiconductor Nanowires A multidisciplinary team from Pennsylvania State University is developing a method to synthesize nanowires comprised of a single crystal semiconductor sandwiched between metal contacts. In addition to engineering the devices, the study will explore how changes in nanowire dimensions affect fundamental electrical properties. The project also incorporates an extensive educational sandwiched between metal contacts. In addition to engineering the devices, the study will explore how changes in nanowire dimensions affect fundamental electrical properties. The project also incorporates an extensive educational component, including the development of K-12 education and outreach activities. NSF Award 0103068 IS THIS WHY MY EYES HAVE BEEN HURTING AND POURING OUT TEARS????? Hmmm, why I think so! Why Look!!!! It's TOXIC LAPTOPS EXPOSED.....People, wake up, they are not recalling them b/c of the fear of fire.......get real! http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/42223/ http://www.foodcontamination.ca/animaln ... -01-01.txt Would not want you to doubt the use of those fiber optics.....fiber optics fiber optics, transmission of digitized messages or information by light pulses along hair-thin glass fibers. Each fiber is surrounded by a cladding having a high index of refractance so that the light is internally reflected and travels the length of the fiber without escaping. Cables of optical fibers can be made smaller and lighter than conventional cables using copper wires or coaxial tubes, yet they can carry much more information, making them useful for transmitting large amounts of data between computers and for carrying data-intensive television pictures or many simultaneous phone conversations. Optical fibers are immune to electromagnetic interference (from lightning, nearby electric motors, and similar sources) and to crosstalk from adjoining wires, and tapping into them is more easily detected. To keep a signal from deteriorating, optical fibers require fewer repeaters over a given distance than does copper wire. In addition to communications, optical fibers are beginning to be used in medical procedures, automobiles, and aircraft and are expected to have many other applications Why it's the rife plant with the parasitoid: Like I said, it's not just the wasp and bees, we have some seriously warped biotech scientist and a less than stellar gov't! Pollution is v. bad, but most of the damage is coming from the dumped computers.....the old technology is piling high with garbage....and if you only knew what all is in those damn computers, you know it's bad. Have a great day......If you are interested, Ok state did quite a few studies on horizontal transfer.........you should look into it.....you know, it's amazing how that University is playing the dumb role....my god, I have learned a lot of what I know from reading studies/research publications of theirs! Now, still don't think they know? Just say when and I will show you the plethora of documents generated from and by them. No problem PS: I have not had a chance to read the last 10 pages yet, but I saw above where Mafer said "agrobacterium" and yes, he is right on! Now, here the clencher on that...google it with the transgenic tobacco and you will really see how bad. First of all, I would like to thank my higher power whom I chose to call God for this site and all its' members...you all are multi-faceted and extremely intelligent indivduals . Thank you Nettimo for your suggestion of using oregano oil and the alcohol based gel like santizers while I'm working, for the biting and crawling. I also like (antiparasitics) tea tree, peppermint, lemongrass, hyssop and garlic oils, so I can change up because these parasites adapt so fast it seems, to any and all products that I use against them. The garlic oil was awesome in pulling out the "threaders" (my nickname for them), the ones that cause the "swimmer's itch". They were white, slender, and thread-like about 1/2 inch long, and perhaps they even lay the eggs that seems to keep coming out of my legs and feet. Another one of the member suggested that I stop wearing cotton especially the cotton socks that I wear with my scrubs and clogs (will NOT wear tennis shoes, parasites love them, so many places to hide!). On this past Wednesday night , those damn things had white specks and small miniature cottony balls all over my body and inside my car. Now I realize that they live in cotton even when you wash the cotton, I remember 2 months, I was wearing the scrunchies that are cloth with elastic enclosed to hold my pony tails when I washed my hair every day (still do). Well, pretty soon something was eating the back of my head up. The damn parasites will not wash out of elastic enclosed in cloth. Needless to say, I threw them all away, but now I realize that most of my clothes are cotton and they have elastic enclosed waist lines especially my night wear. So...hmmm...what's a person to do?? On Thursday, I wore satin socks and had a marvelous night at work with minimal biting and crawling, but a rather tiring one because I have not been sleeping well at all. I have a great fear that my legs will be "taken" over by them while I'm sleeping plus I have to do so much, as we all do, I'm sure to keep the parasites down like washing clothes everyday, changing sheets and towels every day, sanitizing our bodies, soaking our bodies, sanitizing and cleaning our homes. I'm always doing something that concerns these parasites or spending money to rid myself of them...these parasites are "pimping" me big time ! Sorry, but I have to laugh to keep from crying, and I no longer have thoughts of suicide. Thank you all for your suggestions on how to live with this and your scientific information on what it is... take care all... by reliefseeker » Sat Sep 30, 2006 6:17 pm HI AGAIN, a fter careful consideration, I don't know if these parasites can thrive in cotton after being washed in hot water...I have had this insidious disease for over thirty years BUT I have never been this infested until this past May. I was always able to change my bedding, bathe with scabies shampoo for hair and body, and continue with my life until I was re-infested again...but now these things are large in numbers "on" me...and they "morph" soooo much...so who knows what they are capable of now? by London » Sat Sep 30, 2006 6:48 pm releif seeker, most are not real; they are silicate.....compliments of biotech industry. okay, i WILL POST IT; ANOTHER THING THAT NO ONE HAS POSTED ON THAT I BELIEVE IT VERY MUCH INVOLVED W. OUR ILLNESS IS THE WOOLY APHID.....THEY CAN;T GET IT OUT OF SOME OF HE COTTON! IT LOVES THE FIBERBALLS TOO. TO ALL: Here is what you might want to see.....it's the wasp and woolbachia from : YOUR LOCAL SCIENCE aGENCY> THE NSF! TOLDYA..... London by ukguy » Sun Oct 01, 2006 12:17 am gwentass wrote:ukguy wrote:Sabrina...very well said (with regards to Ms Bione). The same can be said of the Mwatch crew with Marg and his two henchmen. I find it highly suspicious that people like this would have such curiosity in this condition without ever showing compassion. Surely people of such intellect would have more fulfilling or challenging pursuits than arguing with a bunch of 'delusional' people? I'm starting to figure out that this "mwatch" thing must be a group of people that posted in the pages I haven't read...Oh, as for the arguing with 'delusional' people.... what makes you think they (the 'people of such intellect') aren't actually delusional themselves? Gwenntass but I found it very easy to beat 'em down. Just don't have the time to continue. They seem to have devoted their lives to this. How [email protected] sad is that? Again it brings me back to COMPASSION. If you were 'cured' and believed this had all been in your head would devote your life to insulting people that suffer from this 'fake' disease? Intriguing. But let's not give them any more time than they deserve. Without us they're nothing. They NEED an argument to exist. Sabrina: Hi Haven't heard from Helen in a long while but I'd be very surprised if whe wasn't reading this. As for the pamphlets... i have to be honest here..I'm working flat out to keep things rolling: work and family. I have precious little free time and I know that sounds like a cop-out but it's the truth. If I ever get free time then I would like nothing better than to get involved and contribute. I know my limits and don't like to disappoint. If I can, I will. On Randy: I don't get it guys. Randy can be brash and confrontational. She has had issues with Tam in the past and I've defended his research to Randy through posts and PM's. I felt like she never get Tam a chance and just looked for ways to attack his findings. That's good in way since you need people to question the information that goes out there. Tam can certainly hold his corner as has been shown. Right now? I see Randy trying to make a difference in a good way. Unless I got Dr Wymore wrong, he is the best hope we have right now and the guy needs money. I'd sooner money headed his way rather than towrds MRF or Dr S.....FFS people. I'm not going to get into it but how much research was done by MRF with the considerable donations they received? What will get things done ultimately? Randy and Sabrina need to bury the hatchet and start talking. You both have the same goal. Chill out, think about what you want and call each other....can you do that? Bury the egos and think about it. Read above line and think again. What's most important to both of you? I think you're both closer than you think... by Barz » Sun Oct 01, 2006 4:14 am Enough you guys!!!! Uk guy is right. Bury the hatchet. OKay now, skytroll, who is going to contact Citovsky at Stonybrook. If you all have been seriously looking into this agrobacterium T, you will find that it fits easily into what we have been searching for. Second, Citovsky is the prof. who was quoted on the CNN report stating that morg sufferers have been found to have plant genes incorporated in them. SO. ... why the silence from him? Why has no one from MFA or even NMO brought this issue up? Wouldnt this be your FIRST question? WHY are we non scientific people left to fend for ourselves. To try to figure out the friggin lingo and bs. that should be directly told to us by the people who are supposedly helping us. This seems like a Giant black hole. I want to know, WHO HAS SPOKEN TO VITAL CITOVSKY? Have you all read his papers. I have not one ounce of scientific knowledge nor aspiration. This is what is called science by desperation. We need to AT THE VERY LEAST open up some sort of communication line with Mr. Citovsky. I would appreciate your help in this matter. I would also appreciate if it were someone here who has some sort of scientific knowledge. Please let me know what you think. by Barz » Sun Oct 01, 2006 4:19 am Tam, Have you any contact with Citovsky? What do you think of his findings on the Agrobacterium transferring into human DNA? Would love to hear a reply. Regards, BARZ by Skytroll » Sun Oct 01, 2006 6:52 am I do believe that the New Morgellon Order has some contact with Citovsky. And possibly Dr. Wymore. Here is an article referenced by others credit to LB board, Cliff Mick and Skeeter. I do not know for sure who has any contact with him, but, there are others who we know are creating such novel entities, like the plant-ant. etc. More on that one later. I have seen strange things in my celery. Has anyone noticed that the groove in the celery is disappearing? I cut through the small slit now and there are black things inside and the leaves on celery tips are now squeazing out as new shoots inside what used to be the groove in the celery. I study crops seriously now. Seems viruses are growing inside potatoes, radishes, any root products. Not kidding. Both can cause damage to us. Parasitoid is used as insecticide, however, the bugs it infects do not always die, and when they do the Wolbachia is inside of them. Wolbachia is black dots, like what I saw on the celery inside the groove. I think this is closer and Londons Parasitoid, there are 5 species that carry this W disease, Wolbachia. Hymenoptera, and it is wicked. Wolbachia is horizontally transferred from the bees to other insects, kills insects, but leaves the Wolbachia. The W is on the food we eat. If you wash in hot water, all veges, then wash in vinegar, then hydrogen peroxide, seem to clean veges well. Lime and Lemon in a spray or soak will work, also. Follow with a cold wash. I remember years ago, we used to soak spinach, lettuce in salt water, might even work better. We rarely got sick.

Edward O. Thorp James Grosjean Henry Tamburin Henry Tamburin is one of the most well known blackjack players and strategists. He has been playing blackjack for over 40 years and is best known for writing the book Blackjack: Take the Money and Run, which has become something of a bible for blackjack players. He teaches blackjack strategy courses and has published more than 700 articles about blackjack and other casino games. However, Tamburin wasn’t born a blackjack pro. It took work to become the man he is today. Tamburin first played blackjack in 1968, when he was a graduate student. A couple of friends convinced Tamburin and his wife to go to Las Vegas with them. While his wife waited in line to check in to the hotel, Tamburin decided to go try his luck at the blackjack table. He had never played the game before, but had heard that it was beatable. Before his wife made it to the front of the line and got the keys to their hotel room, Tamburin had already blown their bankroll for the entire trip. Then and there he decided that he would study the game, learn how to beat it and make up for his loss. As someone with a background in mathematics, Henry Tamburin had a knack for learning basic blackjack strategy and card counting. He has improved his skills further by attending gaming festivals and trading tips with other professional blackjack players including Stanford Wong and Frank Scoblete. He says that no matter how much he learns about the game he can always learn something new from other blackjack pros. In Tamburin’s book, Blackjack: Take the Money and Run, he covers basic blackjack strategy, bankroll management, side betting and more advanced strategies including card counting. He also teaches courses to wannabe blackjack pros. He teaches beginners classes, which cover the very basics from the rules to basic strategy, as well as more advanced classes. When he teaches card counting he generally uses the Knock Out, or K-O unbalanced card-counting system. Tamburin has come a long way since his first trip to Las Vegas in 1968. He is now one of the most recognizable blackjack players and continues to play blackjack in live casinos to this day. Blackjack Pros Tommy Hyland Stanford Wong Peter A. Griffin Max Rubin Lawrence Revere Lance Humble Kevin Blackwood Ken Uston Ken Einiger Keith Taft Julian Braun James Grosjean Edward O. Thorp Don Schlesinger Bryce Carlson Bill Zender Arnold Snyder Al Francesco

Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 29th Sep) Prime Minister warned as number of homeless hits record levels Tory MPs have told Theresa May that tackling homelessness will be a key test of her commitment to social justice after official figures showed it had risen to its highest level for nearly a decade. A total of 15,170 households were classed as homeless in the three months to June 2016 - a jump of 10% on the same period last year. Around a third of these are in London, according to new figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The last time a higher level was recorded in England was in the period April-June 2008, when 15,680 households were classed as homeless. Tory MP Bob Blackman, who is bringing his Homelessness Reduction Bill to the Commons for debate on October 28, said the figures were a national disgrace. His Private Member's Bill will impose a duty on local authorities to help prevent people at risk of losing their homes from becoming homeless and it is likely to need Government support to become law. A supporter of the Bill, Tory MP David Burrowes, said the Bill would be a litmus test of Mrs May's social justice credentials. The most common reason for losing a home was the ending of a tenancy with a private landlord. This is now causing a greater proportion of households to become homeless than at any point since current records began in 1998 - roughly a third (32%) of all reported cases in the three months to June 2016. Shelter chief executive, Campbell Robb, said: "Every day at Shelter we hear from families struggling to keep their heads above water when faced with the double blow of welfare cuts and expensive, unstable private renting, with far too many ultimately losing the battle to stay in their home. "On top of this, stripped-back budgets and a drought of affordable homes are making it increasingly difficult for overburdened councils to find homeless families Osborne says the Bank of England's quantitative easing makes the rich richer The former chancellor, George Osborne, has said that money printing by the Bank of England has made the rich richer and that interest rate cuts have hurt savers. Speaking from Washington in an interview with Bloomberg TV, Mr Osborne said: “We need to offset the very necessary loose monetary policy and the distributional consequences that it is having. Essentially it makes the rich richer and makes life difficult for ordinary savers.” “There’s a role for government policy not in stopping that monetary policy which keeps the economy strong but in mitigating its impact. I think all of us who believe in free markets need to work harder to find an answer to the anger that people clearly feel out there.” The Bank produced its own analysis in 2012 which showed that its quantitative easing (QE) scheme – which it restarted in August to support the economy in the wake of the Brexit vote – inflates asset values. And the Bank has acknowledged that the rich have more of these assets than the poor, meaning they automatically benefit more. Yet, as chancellor, Mr Osborne never commented on the distributional consequences of the Bank of England’s monetary stimulus measures or interest rate cuts, despite widespread complaints from some groups that QE was making the rich richer. His June 2015 budget was also widely criticised for entailing a much bigger cut to the incomes of poorer families than those in the top half of the distribution, as he slashed £12bn from the benefits bill by 2020. In the wake of the 2015 general election Mr Osborne also scrapped the Treasury’s distributional analysis charts showing the impact of overall budget tax and welfare changes, which critics said was born of a desire to disguise the regressive nature of his policies. The Institute for Fiscal studies has however, continued to publish the charts. Mr Osborne did, however, implement policies in office designed to help savers, such as pensioner bonds for the elderly and a virtual elimination of tax on savers’ interest income. In August the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to increased its £375bn asset purchase programme by a further £70bn, made up of £60bn of Government bonds and £10bn of corporate bonds. INDEPENDENT or beds rose to 74,086, its highest in 15 years. However, that statistic only records cancellations on the day of admission. About half of English NHS trusts admitted in response to Freedom of Information requests that they had cancelled nearly 42,000 operations between one and three days before patients were admitted. The new figures give a picture more in line with official figures published in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, where the definition of last-minute cancellations is wider and is taken over several days. May’s official figures marked the worst record of cancellations for the NHS in England since 2001-02, when 81,743 patients had procedures cancelled on the day they were supposed to happen. Experts warned that the data was a sign of the pressures on the health service. At the time, Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said that pressures on A&E units, staff shortages, and bed shortages due to a lack of social care for discharged patients were contributing to the problem. An NHS England spokesperson said: “The proportion of patients seeing their operations cancelled at the last minute remains under 1% in spite of record numbers of operations being scheduled... Our national data collection rightly requires trusts to focus on monitoring the number of last-minute cancellations, as this is where the most distress is caused for patients.” GUARDIAN of up to £900 for the poorest energy customers should be scrapped, says When households run up a large energy bill they are unable to pay, their energy provider often installs a prepayment meter to recoup the debt over time. Households have to use the meter to pay for their energy in advance so they cannot get further into debt. Every time they top up, a proportion of the balance is also taken to help eat away at the debt. However energy companies often charge between £200 and £900 to install the meters, including other costs. These sometimes include up to £17 to send the indebted customer a letter. Ofgem today called for a cap of between £100 and £150 on the amount energy customers have to pay, as well as a blanket ban on these fees for the most vulnerable energy customers. If a household does not pay up an energy debt, the supplier can apply for a court order to fit a prepayment meter, even if it's against their will. This is generally done as a last resort when a resolution can't be found to repay the debt. But providers often charge 'warrant costs' to customers for the installation. This can include fees for administration and locksmith charges if firms need access to a property, and can be as much as £900, according to Ofgem. In 2015, the average amount charged was £400 per installation, which includes costs such as court fees, and 86,000 meters were installed under warrant. But as the customers having meters installed under warrant are already struggling to afford their energy bills, the extra fees are likely to push them into even more debt. The watchdog says of those currently with a prepayment meter, around eight per cent of gas and six per cent of electricity customers are in debt to their energy supplier. Ofgem says the fees should be wiped out for the most vulnerable customers such as those in financial hardship, those with physical and mental health issues and those with learning disabilities. Following the Competitions and Markets Authority investigation into the energy market, the amount prepayment customers pay will be cut by around £75 per customer from April 2017. This temporary price cap for the four millions households on prepayment meters will be introduced until all homes can be fitted with smart meters by 2019. This cap was bought in because the cheapest tariffs for those customers are currently revolted against boardroom pay. In April, 59% of BP shareholders voted against a 20% pay rise for chief executive Bob Dudley, worth £14m. However, that vote was not binding and Mr Dudley received the rise despite BP's falling profits. In 2013, amid growing investor unhappiness over excessive pay, the government gave shareholders a binding vote every three years on a firm's pay policy. At BP, the next binding vote is in 2017. MPs will look at the factors which have led to a steep rise in executive pay over the past 30 years in comparison with the salaries of more junior employees. Mr Wright said: "We on the committee are also keen to explore the issue of ever growing pay increases to executives, especially when there often seems to be very little connection with company performance or any pay rises to the vast majority of employees. The High Pay Centre thinktank released a study in August which showed that on average chief executives were paid 140 times more than their employees. Prime Minister Theresa May has said she wants shareholders to have the power to veto executive pay every year, and wants companies to publish figures showing the difference between the average worker's salary and that of the chief executive. She also wants employees to sit on the committee that oversees how much bosses are paid. Last week, Sports Direct said it would put work representatives on the board after it came under fire for its treatment of its workers at its troubled Volkswagens produce double the legal emissions limit a year after dieselgate - but it's the cleanest carmaker of them all Sunday marked the 12 month anniversary since 'dieselgate' first erupted: when United States Environmental Protection Agency revealed that some Volkswagen diesel models were fitted with defeat devices specifically aimed at cheating emissions tests. But one year on from the biggest automotive scandal in modern times, Volkswagen has been found to be selling the least polluting cars of any vehicle manufacturer. Transport & Environment found that VW models currently being sold new in dealerships still emitted double the Euro6 nitrogen oxides (NOx) requirement - but that's cleaner than any other carmaker. The findings were published on Monday as part of the motoring environmental agency's report Dieselgate: Who? What? How?, which also found that not one single mainstream car brand complies with the current Euro 6 air pollution limits for diesel cars and vans in real-world driving. Tests were conducted on around 230 diesel models in total. Data was taken from investigations conducted by the British, French and German governments, as well as a large public database, all of which were based on real-world on-road figures rather than laboratory measurements. Fiat and Suzuki diesel cars were found to be the dirtiest of all, on average polluting 15 times more than the legal NOx limit determined by Euro 6 standards. Renault and Nissan vehicles exceed the limit more than 14 times, Vauxhalls were found to pollute 10 times more the restriction while Volkswagen diesel cars polluted twice as much as the Euro 6 target. The motoring group said the results of the emissions tests shone light on the 'scandalous cover up' within the automotive sector and called for action to clean-up tailpipe pollutants of vehicles in Europe. Greg Archer, clean vehicles director at T&E, said: 'The true scandal of Dieselgate in Europe is national regulators turning a blind eye to the glaring evidence of test cheating with the sole purpose of protecting their national carmakers or their own business.' Despite committing to rectifying all 1.2 million UK diesel models affected by the scandal by the end of 2016, VW has admitted it has only managed to fix 10 per cent of all impacted cars so far. DAILY MAIL It was not immediately clear when the bureau issued the penalty or when Apple agreed to pay it, and the tech giant did not respond to a request for comment. The EU has been a strong critic of multinational companies such as Apple, Starbucks and Fiat Chrysler that have benefited from keeping their money overseas. The move allows these companies to avoid paying hefty taxes they could face by bringing the money back to the US. European Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy said that EU member states cannot give tax benefits to selected companies, after Apple was ruled to pay £11bn in tax to Ireland last month. “This is illegal under EU state aid rules. The commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years,” she said. “In fact, this selective treatment allowed Apple to pay an effective corporate tax rate of 1 per cent on its European profits in 2003 down to 0.005 per cent in 2014.” Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said the Ireland tax ruling was “total political crap” and “maddening”. INDEPENDENT Rising London house prices spark departure of thirtysomethings Analysis by the group Generation Rent showed that 65,890 people in their 30s moved from London to another part of the UK in 2014-15, a net loss of 30,410 in that age group. This was 48% higher than in 2011-12, when 20,590 more 30 to 39-year-olds moved out than moved in. Internal migration data from the Office for National Statistics also showed a sharp increase in the number of children leaving the capital. In 2014-15, 26,920 more children under 10 moved out of London than came in, compared with a difference of 19,980 three years previously. Generation Rent said the exodus had taken place during a period in which house prices in London rose by 37%, compared with 16% in the UK as a whole, and rents increased by 10%, compared with 4% outside London. It said almost two-thirds of people moving out of London had gone elsewhere in the south-east and the east of England commuter belt, while 12% had moved to the Midlands and 11% to the north of England. Only among twentysomethings are more people moving into London than out; in 2014-15, there were 37,950 more people in this age group living in the capital than the year before, a 3% increase. Research by Lloyds bank found that moving to somewhere an hour’s commute from London could mean paying hundreds of thousands of pounds less for a family home. While the average price of a home in London transport zones one and two was £741,919, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, the average was £183,345, while in Peterborough, it was £189,319, Lloyds said. GUARDIAN market value of $600bn, and the attraction of the jobs it can create and the extra inward investment its favours can bring are too much for most politicians to resist. How to avoid Inheritance Tax. Easy. If you're rich, that is Office for National Statistics reports show Tory party claims of lowering personal taxes are an illusion. Personal taxes have actually increased since 2010! In numbers (+ a cool animation): The trillions in global tax evasion and money laundering Corporate scroungers: How about forcing employers to publish how much welfare top-ups their low paid staff depend on Graphs at a glance: Budget 2014 document shows we’re growing through borrowing. Again. That's why Britain needs a pay rise Who needs fat cat pay? The Germans don't. See the comparison with the UK The incomes of the bottom 90% have hardly risen in 20 years, whilst the top 1%’s has doubled The Top 1% pay more income tax? ‘cos their income’s doubled since 1995 whilst the bottom 90%'s has stagnated How decades of consumer spending through re-mortgaging concealed low pay rises during the boom, and helped cause the bust Bank of England to buy “tax dodging” Apple debt to encourage it to invest here In the Bank of England’s latest attempt to stimulate the economy, it announced a list of 100 companies, including Apple, whose debt it will start hoovering up with £10bn of freshly printed sterling. The hope is that this will ultimately spur investment and provide a boost for the wider economy, which has been hit by uncertainty surrounding the Brexit vote. For the first time, the BoE is targeting its stimulus package at overseas firms, including McDonalds, France’s state-owned electricity firm, EDF and German car-maker, Daimler, which owns Mercedes. UK-based companies including Vodafone and BP are also featured. However, several experts have pointed out that the Bank cannot track where the money goes, meaning there is no guarantee that the companies actually invest extra money at all. The Bank said it included companies that made “a material contribution to economic activity in the UK,” which included those, “with significant employment in the UK or with their headquarters in the UK”. This is not the first time the Bank has turned on the printing presses to buy up company debt; it did so at the height of the financial crisis in 2009, but the majority of previous rounds of so-called quantitative easing have focused on purchasing government bonds. This is the first time the Bank has extended QE to non-UK firms. Some economists have questioned whether previous monetary stimulus has benefited the whole economy or simply served to artificially inflate asset prices. Apple is particularly controversial. In August the European Commission ordered the California technology giant, the most valuable publicly traded company in the world, to pay €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to Ireland over a “sweetheart” deal which, the Commission claims, allowed Apple to pay just 0.001 per cent tax on its sales in some years. INDEPENDENT Number of workers on zero-hours contracts rockets by 20% in one year to hit nearly a million as pressure grows on Theresa May to tackle job insecurity A record 903,000 people reported they are now working on the controversial contracts - which do not guarantee a minimum number of hours - an increase of 156,000 since last year. Nearly 3 per cent of the UK workforce are not guaranteed a minimum number of hours, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show, increasing pressure on Theresa May to meet her pledge of tackling job insecurity. Women make up 55 per cent of those on zero-hours contracts, while one in five of those on the contracts is in full-time education. The majority of workers on zero-hours contracts are young, part-time or in full-time education. The average number of hours worked by people on the contracts is 25 hours a week, with around a third saying they want more hours. Campaigners said today's latest estimates found in the ONS' Labour Market Survey, shows zero-hours contracts have moved well beyond the student job market, with half of the latest increase aged 25 and over. The Business department said Government legislation had stopped firms banning workers on zero-hours contracts from working elsewhere, but added that seven in ten workers on the dented middle incomes, not globalisation, says Resolution Foundation The Resolution Foundation said welfare cuts and housing costs were largely to blame for the dwindling fortunes of the lower middle classes during certain periods in the two decades before the 2008 financial crisis. The thinktank said too much weight has been given to the idea that an acceleration of global trade between 1988 and 2008 and the swelling middle classes in China dented the fortunes of lower middle income households in richer countries. Resolution said: “Domestic policy is central to determining working people’s living standards even in a globalised world. Changes to trade policy, even where desirable, are not a substitute for progressive taxes and benefits, fair wage policies and sufficient housebuilding.” In an analysis of the 20 years to 2008, it found that stagnating or declining incomes in the UK could often be explained by “identifiable factors such as rising housing costs, welfare policy and economic shocks – suggesting that global forces are only one part of the story”. The thinktank claims that the so-called “elephant curve”, which suggests very strong income growth for the global middle class in emerging markets such as China, and near-stagnation for the lower middle classes in rich countries, is misleading. GUARDIAN more people have been affected by errors. Tax credits - the Child Tax Credit and the Working Tax Credit - are government payments made to households on low incomes. Concentrix's government contract is based on a payment-by-results model, with the "maximisation of revenue flows" as one of its key requirements - meaning it makes more money if it cuts more payments. BBC NEWS Greene King to move remaining pub workers off zero-hours contracts The Suffolk-based company said it was in the process of moving workers to contracts that guarantee a minimum number of hours, following its takeover of the Spirit Pub Company last year. In 2013, Spirit, the owner of chains including Chef & Brewer and Wacky Warehouse, said that most of its 16,000 employees were on the contracts, which give no guarantee of work from one day to the next. The hospitality industry is the biggest user of such contracts, which have been criticised by unions for not offering workers any security over pay. Greene King, which had already moved its staff from zero-hours contracts before buying Spirit in 2015, said it was working on moving employees to new minimum hours contracts. A spokesman said: “We do not have zero-hours contracts in Greene King pubs. Following criticism of its employment practices, Sports Direct said it would offer 18,000 workers at its shops contracts guaranteeing at least 12 hours’ work a week, although it has emerged that this change could take until the end of the year. On Sunday, pub firm JD Wetherspoon said that it would allow 24,000 staff to choose between a zero-hours contract and one offering fixed hours after a successful trial of the scheme. Its chairman, Tim Martin, told Buzzfeed that around two-thirds of staff had opted to move off zero hours and on to guaranteed contracts, guaranteeing around 70% of the typical number of hours they work each week. GUARDIAN Watchdog to probe banks and building societies as some punished savers but failed to help borrowers after BoE rate cut Financial institutions including First Direct, which is owned by HSBC, and Scottish Widows, part of Lloyds, seized on last month’s rate cut to a historic 0.25 per cent low to roll back interest rates on their leading savings deals. But – despite warnings from Bank governor Mark Carney – they have not yet reduced borrowing costs for their mortgage customers. Banks make money by lending savers’ cash out to people who take on debt. Some of the profit from interest is passed on to savers and the bank keeps the rest. When savings rates are cut but borrowers’ interest rates stay the same, it means a larger profit is typically going to the bank. Scottish Widows Bank has also cut savings rate without reducing its standard variable rate for mortgages. But a spokesman said its SVR would be reduced from 3.99 per cent to 3.74 per cent on October 1. A string of building societies are also dragging their feet. They include West Bromwich, the seventh largest, which has cut some savings rates by between 0.15 and 0.2 points. A spokesman said it last reduced SVR rates in August 2014, from 5.84 per cent to 3.99 per cent. ‘Our SVR still remains competitive today, even after any recent reductions from other lenders have been applied,’ he said. An FCA spokesman said: ‘We will be writing to all mortgage providers to understand how decisions on the standard variable rate for new and existing mortgage customers have been made in response to the change in the base rate.’ DAILY MAIL demands," he added. "Nothing is moving forward.” US presidential candidate Donald Trump has promoted protectionist trade policies, while rival Hillary Clinton has also cast doubt on a TTIP deal. Many claim that TTIP, a free trade agreement being negotiated between the European Union and the United States, will have far-reaching negative impacts in Europe on jobs, the environment and the economy. TELEGRAPH Neil Woodford scraps "largely ineffective" bonus pay at his investment firm The move at Neil Woodford's fund management business runs counter to conventional wisdom in the City that bonuses are needed to motivate staff. His firm's 35 staff will get a rise in basic pay and benefits as compensation. Craig Newman, chief executive and co-founder of Woodford Investment Management, said in statement: "There is little correlation between bonus and performance and this is backed by widespread academic evidence. Many studies conclude that bonuses don't work as a motivator, as expectation is already built in. Behavioural studies also suggest that bonuses can lead to short-term decision making and wrong behaviours." To back up the claim that bonuses are ineffective or damaging, the statement from Mr Woodford's firm points to several academic studies, and quotes from an article in the specialist publication The Journal of Corporation Law. This said: "Financial incentives are often counterproductive as they encourage gaming, fraud and other dysfunctional behaviours that damage the reputation and culture of the organisation... They produce the misleading assumption that most people are selfish and self-interested, which in turn erodes trust." BBC NEWS Fuel economy: just two cars deliver advertised mileage Just two cars deliver their advertised fuel economy when on the road, with the thousands of other models 30% worse on average in the real world, according to comprehensive new data. Some cars, such as the Fiat 500 and Ford Fiesta, gave barely half the mileage advertised. The result is that drivers are being misled and paying far more to drive, say experts, who warn that a stricter official test coming in 2017 will only close about half the gap between official and real fuel efficiency. The data from leading testing company Emissions Analytics covers 60,000 models and was published on Thursday, the first such database available to the public. It uses onboard equipment to measure mileage over four hours of real-world driving. In contrast, the official regulatory test is a gentle lab-based exercise. The worst gap between official miles per gallon (MPG) and real-world performance was for the Fiat 500, which is rated at 70.6MPG, but only delivered 39MPG on the road, a 45% drop. Other popular petrol cars performing at least 40% worse on the road include the UK’s most popular car, the Ford Fiesta, as well as the Ford Focus, Toyota Yaris and Mini Hatch. Some diesels, which generally have better fuel efficiency, also had 40% gaps, such as the VW Golf and Peugeot 308. The only cars to produce better fuel efficiency on the road were the 4.7-litre engine Aston Martin Vantage, which gave 21.5MPG in the real world, 5% higher than in the lab, and the 3.7l Nissan 370Z, which was 1% better on the road at 26.6MPG. The best on-the-road mileage was produced by the Honda Civic, which did 61.8MPG in the real world, though this was still 21% lower than its official mileage of 78.5MPG. The Citroen C3 was next best, with 60.3MPG, 28% lower than its official rating. The worst actual fuel economy came from the BMW X5, with just 16.2MPG, the Range Rover Sport (17.5MPG) and the Porsche Cayenne (17.8MPG), all well below official ratings. Julia Poliscanova, clean vehicles manager at campaign group Transport & Environment, said: “The fuel consumption gap has become a vast chasm. Carmakers’ manipulation of the weak, outdated lab test is widespread, affecting diesel and petrol cars. This means a total waste of motorists’ money and an increase in global warming emissions.” GUARDIAN Sachs. The petition, organised by a small group of EU officials, accuses Barroso of “irresponsible” and “morally reprehensible behaviour” for joining the American investment bank. Although Barroso is not the first former ex-commissioner to join Goldman, his appointment has sparked anger among rank-and-file staff, who have highlighted the bank’s role in mis-selling sub-prime mortgages, as well as lending money to the Greek government before the country’s debt disaster exploded. In a scathing denunciation of their former boss, the officials describe the Goldman job as “a disastrous symbol” for the EU and “a gift horse for europhobes”. “It is a further example of the irresponsible revolving-door practices, which are highly damaging to the EU institutions and, even if not illegal, morally reprehensible.” Ex-European commissioners must inform the EU executive of any new position for up to 18 months after they step down. Barroso took up the post at Goldman Sachs 20 months after leaving the commission. A Goldman Sachs spokesman said: “José Manuel’s experience and advice in this time of uncertainty will be extremely valuable to our clients and their reaction to his appointment at Goldman Sachs has been very encouraging.” The bank also defended its Greek currency swaps “as entirely legitimate debt management transactions” that were in line with EU yesterday fined PwC £2.3m and ordered it to pay £750,000 of legal fees. The watchdog also fined PwC partner Simon Bradburn £75,600 and issued him and his firm with a ‘severe reprimand’ – saying their conduct ‘fell significantly short of the standards reasonably to be expected of them’. In February 2009, Cattles announced that publication of its 2008 accounts would be delayed, sending its shares down 74 per cent in just one day, and in the following months Cattles said it was in breach of its banking agreements. Trading in its shares was suspended and PwC resigned as auditors. Two Cattles directors were banned from the City in 2012 for misleading investors about the quality of the company’s loans book. The FRC accepted that PwC and Bradburn were ‘deliberately misled’ by the company, but said they ‘failed to exercise sufficient professional