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What's it take to be a superhero? For the most part, it's luck: born at the right place at the wrong time, such as Superman on the eve of Krypton's destruction; or exposed to ionizing radiation to somehow develop superhuman abilities instead of cancer, such as Spiderman and Hulk.
Then there are those overly ambitious multi-millionaires — Bruce Wayne, Oliver Queen and Tony Stark — who kick bad-guy butt as Batman, Green Arrow and Iron Man, respectively. [Latest News on Iron Man]
These non-mutated super-rich superheroes have no superhuman powers. They instead rely on their wits, skill and strength. This begs the question: Given a few million dollars in discretionary spending, could you be such a superhero? [7 Amazing Superhuman Feats]
The answer is yes, well, at least almost, according to E. Paul Zehr, a professor of kinesiology and neuroscience at the University of Victoria, in British Columbia.
Zehr takes on Iron Man in particular in his latest book, "Inventing Iron Man: The Possibility of a Human Machine" (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2011). This book, replete with images of Iron Man action figures and real tales of his Iron Man training, is a sequel to Zehr's 2008 book "Becoming Batman."
Zehr's university-based research includes neuroplasticity, akin to neural rewiring, associated with exercise training and rehabilitation. This expertise, combined with Zehr's childlike curiosity and proficiency in martial arts, makes "Inventing Iron Man" — along with "Becoming Batman" before it — a fascinating exploration of human potential.
I am Iron Man
In short, without spoiling Zehr's latest book, it would take years to build the Iron Man suit, years to become accustomed to the suit, and years to train to fight and fly. Thus, you'd be middle age before you could begin your Iron Man career; and by that time, you'd be past your prime.
Yet what Zehr demonstrates so adroitly in this book is that Iron Man concepts are being invented every day.
For example, Iron Man's iron suit has evolved considerably since its debut in a 1963 Marvel comic book, from knight-like armor to something sleek and flexible. So, too, have real-life protective suits, from bulletproof vests to astronaut gear. The modern incarnation of Iron Man now has better control of his suit, as if it were skin. So, too, do amputees with their prosthetics; and now we are entering into an era of brain-machine interface, with mere thoughts controlling a computer cursor.
And as Iron Man can fly, so too can "Jet Man" Yves Rossy, the first person to achieve sustained flight with jet-powered wings on his back. The 52-year-old Rossy in fact is much like any superhero in training, racing against old age to perfect his "super" ability. [Superhero or Supervillain: Which Lurks Inside You?]
Crippled inside
But here comes the dose of reality. While Iron Man's suit is nearly indestructible, the man inside it is not. Tony Stark ultimately would be doomed by concussions and other injuries, Zehr explains.
The long-term effects of head injuries have garnered much public attention recently with the revelation of former National Football League players suffering from depression and cognitive disorders from years of head banging. Less discussed but perhaps more dangerous are blast waves from explosions that many soldiers experience; these are shocks that rip through the body at the speed of sound.
Iron Man is exposed to impacts and blast waves, and these get amplified through the iron, making matters worse. After a decade of such injury, it is unlikely that Stark could maintain his wits to operate the suit, let alone fight crime.
Next, brain-machine interface is only now an emerging field. Monkeys and humans must train for weeks or months to do something as simple as move a computer cursor with their thoughts. This will always be difficult, Zehr told LiveScience, because "you're trying to get your mind to do something it was never wired to do."
Iron Man's suit needs to be connected to Tony Stark's body as if it is an extension of him; he's not merely a knight in armor. This total control would take years of dedicated training to master; and the artificial circuitry to allow it would most certainly break down or malfunction, particularly in the presence of the aforementioned blast waves.
Then there's the consequence of risky training. If old age doesn't catch up with "Jet Man" Rossy, a crippling or fatal accident might. The same is true for anyone hoping to master superhero feats such as flying. [7 Ways the Mind and Body Change With Age]
Yet ultimately"Inventing Iron Man" is a book of hope. One only needs to visit the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to see real-life iron men and women, injured in battle, re-inventing themselves and regaining strength and mobility. Many of the struggles that Iron Man Tony Stark would face, so carefully detailed in Zehr's book, these soldiers encounter every day.
This makes"Inventing Iron Man" a manual as much as it is a science-grounded examination of science fiction.
Christopher Wanjek is the author of the books "Bad Medicine" and "Food At Work." His column, Bad Medicine, appears regularly on LiveScience.
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to correct Oliver Queen's name, which included the wrong last name.


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May 21, 2010
People apparently interpreted the earlier post regarding Mo Williams's dog's cruel attack on Antawn Jamison's pooch, as some sort of sick joke. It was not.
Mo Williams's pit-bull business can be found here: LaFamiliaPits.com
(By the way, the "La Familia" stuff is part of Mo's love for the old-school gangster mythos. His personal pit's name is Capone, Mo's self-given nickname is Mo Gotti, and when he hits a 3-pointer, the sound system at Quicken Loans Arena plays the familiar seven-note refrain of the theme from The Godfather. You wouldn't know that if you caught Mo only in the NBA playoffs, when his game sleeps with the fishes.)
Meanwhile, Tootsie, Antawn Jamison's Shih Tzu, is in stable condition at a veterinary clinic near Chicago, where LeBron is house-hunting with John Calipari and William "World Wide Wes" Wesley. No word yet on who'll get the top bunk.

subset: commoncrawl


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This is Week 34 in my Beyond the Internet series in which I explore the sources of information beyond our computer screens and the topic is Family History Society (FHS) Libraries.
It's easy to assume that most genealogists/family historians are members of at least one family history society, but is that still true in this internet-driven era of research?
When I started out in my family research nearly 26 years ago family history research was the same as now, in the sense of trying to track down one's ancestry and our families' lives. However it was also extremely different in ways that even those of us who lived through find hard to re-imagine. Shauna Hicks posted a great story about this recently and it's well worth a look just to see pre-internet research through the looking glass.
But anyway all that's a diversion. Why would you bother going to a family history library today? There are several reasons.
1. Accessibility
You may not have a reference library close to you given their concentration in larger places, so the local FHS library may be the most convenient place for you to visit
2. Local Reference Books
Societies which have been operating for some time will steadily accumulate a wide variety of books on their specific location, as well as a representative sample of books on other places
3. Indexes
In the "olden" days, all manner of records were indexed by enthusiastic volunteers and mostly ended up on microfiche. While some of these have wound up on various internet pay-to-view sites, not all of them have: there may well be a nugget just waiting for you to find it. One example – the Genealogical Society of Queensland has indexed a wide array of Roman Catholic church records for Queensland. If you come from the Brisbane area, do take note when a child is baptised in Wooloowin where the home for unmarried mothers was situated, or the burial records of St Joan of Arc, Herston which was the parish providing pastoral care to Royal Brisbane Hospital. Another example – The Family History Society of North Queensland in Townsville have indexed a wide variety of resources, books etc which is invaluable if you have ancestors from the region. Some societies have published their indexes online so that's also worth pursuing but for now we're talking about off-line resources.
4. Pioneer Registers
In the lead up to Australia's Bicentenary in 1988 and Queensland's 150th celebrations in 2009, many societies published pioneer information submitted by genealogists. I may be wrong but I'm not aware of any of these available online. I'd imagine similar pioneer databases are available for overseas researchers. I wrote about some of these here.
5. Microfilmed records
They often have unusual records on microfilm which you won't find elsewhere. I'll be talking about some of these in the next few weeks so I'm not going to tip my hand now.
6. Classes, Interest Groups, and Collegiality
Many active societies will have classes targeted at specific genealogy interests. They are a great way to learn more from an experienced presenter.
Similarly societies will usually have Specific Interest Groups eg Scottish, Irish, IT etc. Once again you will learn a lot but you'll also have help to brainstorm your problems. But do also pursue your own research – with the best intentions even the experts can give you incorrect information. For example, years ago I was resoundingly told there were no Catholic Germans who came to Queensland and none from Bavaria. The person was an expert, but had an unstated bias towards Lutheran research and was completely incorrect on the topic of Catholic German immigrants.
Which societies should you join? You can look at this a number of ways.
If you want to do the face-to-face research and get assistance, then the society near you is likeliest to be the most helpful. It may also be helpful to be a member of a society in the area where your ancestors lived. If you have options you may wish to check out their online presence and see just what they offer to members before choosing where to spend your money and time.
Also consider what reciprocal memberships they offer. You want to ensure you get maximum "bang for your buck".
What are your thoughts on family history societies and how have they been valuable to your research?


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From shwores to tanscaping, here is the ultimate Jersey Shore dictionary to help you get through Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi's new novel, A Shore Thing, filled with a fresh batch of Snooki-isms. By Jaimie Etkin.
Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi has already educated Jersey Shore viewers with her distinctive lexicon full of terms, from her " pouf" to her " kookah," but her new novel taps into the reality TV star's literary talents. A Shore Thing tells the story of Gia Spumanti's summer in Seaside Heights, NJ, where she chases gorilla juiceheads, accidentally burns a pair of her signature pink fuzzy slippers, sucks on pickles, and gets a gig at a tanning salon. Of course, the thinly-veiled Snooki-modeled character is no Jane Eyre, but her prose about chicken-parm-offs, sandy sexual encounters, and bathroom catastrophes are enough to make one's mouth water and subsequently, trigger one's gag reflex—a skill uniquely Polizzi.
bacne (n.)—A pattern of blemishes, specifically located on one's back, caused by an inflammatory disease involving the skin's sebaceous glands.
Though this may be a problem for anyone at any age, those who are fond of anabolic steroids find it to be a particularly nasty side effect, as opposes to other, more minimal issues.
Example: "Any juicehead will get some nut shrinkage. And bacne."
badonk (n.)—A large, plump posterior. Synonymous with "junk in the trunk." (see also, crack)
Jennifer Lop ez and shorties (also known as young women) with Apple Bottom jeans are likely to have one of these. As Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott famously asked in her 2002 hit, "Work It," "Love the way my ass go bum-bump-bum-bump-bump… Keep your eyes on my bum-bump-bum-bump-bump… And think you can handle this badonk-a-donk-donk?"
Example: "And I love my body, especially the badonk."
beach badge (n.)—A pass that one must purchase from the town in order to swim, sun, and the like at the New Jersey shore.
Jerseyites may not pump their gas, but nothing comes free in the Garden State. A beach badge—which is essential for beach admittance—is typically represented by a pin affixed to the beachgoer's bag and is usually checked upon entry. A badge typically costs $5 to $7 per day or approximately $35 seasonally and is sometimes included in rental packages.
Example: "'You kids have beach badges?' he asked when he saw Pete's friends. 'We don't need no stinking badges,' said one of the kids in an exaggerated Spanish accent."
Benny (n.)— a non-resident of the New Jersey shore region who descends on the locale during the summer months.
Those who frequent the Jersey Shore, but aren't indigenous to area are said to largely hail from Bayonne, Elizabeth, or Newark, New Jersey or New York (hence B.E.N.N.Y.) Some, however, have hypothesized the term also alludes to the money these visitors bring in (i.e. Benjamins, the slang term for $100 bills). Whatever the meaning, locals are not fans.
Example: "We call out of towners Bennies. They come to the Shore every July, act like they own the place, and then leave the locals to clean up the mess."
braciola (n.)—A piece of Italian beef pan fried in its own juices; or, a euphemism for male genitalia (see also, peen)
Apologies for any meals ruined in the attempt to educate.
Example: "Meanwhile, Gia was starting to wonder if he even had a braciola... Johnny Hulk of the Ken-doll crotch?"
chicken-parm-off (n.)—A competition in which two parties cook their respective recipes for the classic Italian dish, chicken parmigiana (which typically consists of breaded chicken topped with marinara sauces and Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses) for a judge or panel or judges to conclude which is best. (see also, moozadell)
It's like chicken cutlet night, kicked up a notch—with sauce and cheese on top.
Example: "The chicken-parm-off… the guido version of a bake-off."
crack (n.)—Exposure of the gluteal cleft between the left and right buttocks, often due to low-rise bottoms. Also known as, butt cleavage. (see also, badonk)
This has nothing to do with cocaine… that we know of.
Example: "'Too much?' asked Bella, who rolled over to check if her shorts showed crack and/or cheek."
creep (v.)—To approach someone to whom one is romantically interested at a club
Though some may be familiar with this term from TLC's 1994 album CrazySexyCool, in the Guidonese, it has less to do with keeping it on the down low and more to do with meeting a lady or man friend who is of "smushable" quality.
Example: "In two seconds, he creeped over to her. In five seconds, they were grinding, her butt pressed against his thighs."
date-rapey (adj.)—To act in a way on a romantic outing that suggests one will take sexual advantage of his or her partner (see also, Rule of Ten)
Nothing funny about it… besides the attempt to make this an adjective.
Example: "If a guy got date-rapey on me, I'd hide in bed for three days."
dime (n.)—A prospect who rates at a level 10 (being the highest) on the scale of attractiveness
Example: "Only dimes will do, bro."
dirties (n. pl.)—Clothing that is unclean
Because it sounds cuter this way?
Example: "Bella threw all her dirties on her bed. The pile was as tall as she was. Between the gym and the clubs, she went through a lot of clothes in a week."
Ed Hardy (n.)—A designer brand of T-shirts that typically includes a decal depicting a skull, heart, swords, flames, or some other symbol of masculinity and is often bedazzled with rhinestones
This is a key item in staying fresh to death and T-shirt time. Celebrity dad Jon Gosselin is also a big fan of the designer's work.
Example: "At Ed Hardy, Stanley almost refused to buy a mad cool black T-shirt with gold tribal designs all over it."
famewhore (n.)—A person who metaphorically prostitutes him or herself in the media in the hopes of sustaining his or her 15 minutes in the spotlight.
Note: Any connection between the castmembers of Jersey Shore and the definition of this term are purely coincidental.
Example: "She might've forgiven the famewhoring exhibitionism, freebie grabbing, and zero conversation."
fist pump (n., v.)—An enthusiastic punch into the air with one's hand, typically performed as a nonviolent dance move. Or the act of punching the air with one's hand in the same fashion.
The act of fist pumping tends to be done in groups, set to techno beats (also known as House music), and often leads to a sweat-stained T-shirt (likely of the Ed Hardy variety).
Example: "Not surprisingly, he was a great dancer, first-pumping higher and harder than anyone else."
food baby (n.)—An expanded stomach that is the result of consuming too much food.
More than likely, chicken parmigiana.
Example: "I wonder if my food baby is a boy or a girl."
girl hug (n.)—A rarely genuine greeting between two women in which they kiss each other on both cheeks and bump clavicles.
Example: "'I heard you were back in town,' said Janey, coming over to give Gia a girl hug (double kiss, and a clash of collarbone)."
gorilla (n.)—A particularly muscular man (see also, juicehead)
A favorite look among the Jersey Shore's Snooki and J-Woww, who bear no relation to any of the characters in this novel.
Example: "I thought we'd be waist-deep in guido juicehead gorillas by now. Where are they?"
guy code (n.)—The rules by which men, friends or foes, live by when it comes to loyalty to their female counterparts. Also known as, the bro code.
In addition to preventing one's male friends from hooking up with sisters, mothers, ex-girlfriends, etc., these laws of the gentleman help maintain calm in the testosterone-filled world.
Example: "Rocky evoked the Guy Code. Tenet number one, as everyone knew: If your boy cheated, never let on to his girl about it. Tenet number two upheld the same spirit of loyalty: If you didn't touch a girl, never say you did."
juicehead (n.)—A man who does steroids or works out to the extent that his muscles are so large that it appears he does steroids (see also, gorilla)
Example: "Don't talk to them while they're working out. It's a sacred time for juiceheads, like church. Creeping would be disrespectful."
Juicy (n.)—The abbreviated name of fashion brand Juicy Couture, the designer of the terrycloth and velveteen sweatsuits that are staples in a guidette's wardrobe. Note: This has nothing to do with juiceheads by definition.
Example: "Linda was, then and now, a cute blonde, head-to-toe in Juicy."
Karma (n.)—A nightclub in Seaside Heights, New Jersey
Although karma may be a bitch, this proper noun refers to one of the hottest clubs in Seaside Heights, where the House music bumps, the fists pump, the Jagerbombs flow, and the beat is beaten up. It's also where Angelina broke up with her boyfriend, Vinny contracted pinkeye, and many other romantic evenings never to forget on Jersey Shore.
Example: "Bella sat at the palazzo bar at Karma in her sluttiest metallic-pink micro bikini top and a miniskirt that could pass for a belt."
lean cuisine (n.)—A particularly thin gentleman, i.e. the opposite of a gorilla and/or juicehead
Example: "The hippie had cute curly hair like Andy Samberg, who Gia had always crushed on. He was a skinny kid. A real lean cuisine."
lethally brunette (adj.)—A fierce woman with brown hair, i.e. the anti- Legally Blonde
Eat your heart out, Reese Witherspoon.
Example: "No self-respecting lethal brunette would bend and snap."
nabe (n.)—An abbreviated term for "neighborhood"
But this one ain't Mr. Rogers'.
Example: "At the end, he turned into a third-degree stalker, showing up at their apartment building, the family-run Italian deli where Bella worked, and all her favorite spots around the nabe."
mung beer (n.)—A beverage that is partially consumed and left over from a party until at least the following morning
Example: "The first, a dark inside room that, even from the outside, smelled like mung beer, Axe body spray, and sweat."
motorboat (v.)—The act of putting one's face between a woman's breasts, and moving one's head quickly from side to side while making a "brrr" noise with one's lips
Example: "'Mmmm,' he mumbled, his face between her boobs, motor-boating." (120)
moozadell (n.)—An alternative pronunciation for mozzarella cheese (see also, chicken-parm-off)
Example: "She grated fresh moozadell and parm into a bowl and added more bread crumbs to the cheese mixture along with fresh-chopped basil, oregano, and thyme."
mystician (n.)—One who professionally applies Mystic spray tanning products (see also, tan-tagging and tanscaping)
Example: "Mystician Rizzoli took Janey into room one."
peen (n.)—A small version of male genitalia (see also, braciola)
Example: "It was so small, you can't even call it a penis… So call it a peen?"
poli (n.)—An abbreviation for police (see also, nabe)
Because the complete words are so hard to say sometimes.
Example: "The same poli from the boardwalk—Officer Mustache—hitched his belt up under his chubby belly and approached the scene."
pouf (n.)—A female hairstyle in which a large portion of hair is raised at the crown of one's head and secured with a banana clip (see also, tramp clamp)
"The higher the hair, the closer to God," appears to be the mantra Snooki was following when boosting up her hair, whether at the beach, going tanning, or hunting for juiceheads. The smallest housemate's 'do is about as iconic as her orange skin, fuzzy pink slippers, and love of pickles—all of which are also characteristics of her fictional protagonist Gia.
Example: "Life was hard. But a pouf? That should be easy."
pound (v.)—To have sex with (see also, smush)
Example: "Let's go back to my parents' house and find some bitches in Barnegat Light to pound."
Rule of Ten (n.)—A game in which two men count off each girl who walks into a bar—excluding "fat chicks, grenades, bitter bitches, and quivering virgins"—until the 10th "sufficiently easy bimbo" enters and thus, becomes their target. The men flip a coin and the winner of the coin toss has seven days to get said bimbo into bed using "any means necessary, except telling her about the bet." If he was unsuccessful after the allotted week, the other player had the same opportunity to sleep with the target. If he also fails, they could both attempt to woo her until the end of the summer.
Example: "The Rule of Ten winner this year would win bragging rights for life."
salami boy (n.)—A man with a stomach "hard and flat enough to cut salami on." (see also, gorilla and juicehead)
Example: "Tonight, she aimed her gyrating hips straight at Salami Boy."
shwore (n.)—A whore found at the Jersey Shore
Example: "While he waited, Ben tried to get the attention of a couple of shwores in bikini tops and shorts so skimpy, the pocket lining hung lower on their thighs than the hem."
sick (adj.)—Amazing, awesome, hot
Has nothing to do with one's physical well-being.
Example: "Oh, God, you look sick! Totally mad creepy sick!"
sixth sense (n.)—A physical trainer's ability to connect with his or her client after six sessions
Example: "I've developed a sense of people. I call it the Sixth Sense. By the sixth workout, I've got their number."
slag (n.)—A particularly sexually loose young woman
Example: "One to show those Jell-O-shot-spiking, lying slags Linda and Janey the true meaning of being in deep shit."
Slippery Nipple (n.)- a shot consisting of Bailey's Irish Cream and Sambuca or Butterscotch Schnapps
Example: "A bartender appeared to take her order. 'Slippery Nipple,' she said. 'Extra slippery.'"
smurf (n.)—A short person, who is not necessarily blue as a particular 1980s cartoon would have many believe. Some, in fact, are quite orange.
Example: "Being a Smurf, Gia had learned to walk on any terrain in heels."
smush (v.)—To have sex with someone, ideally a guido and a guidette. (see also, pound)
While the acting of smushing and pounding may seem synonymous, this is actually the more gentle approach to lovemaking that goes down on Jersey Shore.
Example: "While making out, Gia wondered if he was using the old trick of telling a pretty girl she was smart (or a smart girl she was pretty) to get her to smush with him."
Snooki sandwich (n.)—A decadent dessert that includes Nutella and peanut butter between two deep-fried chocolate chip cookies
Example: "They went to another booth and got fried Oreos and a crazy thing called a Snooki Sandwich."
SoCo (n.)—The abbreviation for the liqueur Southern Comfort, often consumed as a shot with lime
Example: "If she'd had another shot of SoCo, or if Ben were stronger, things might've gone differently in that hot tub."
tanscaping (v.)—The process of using spray-on tanning products to create the illusion of a six-pack without the workout (see also, mystician and tan-tagging)
The fast and faux way to attain one's very own " situation."
Example: "You pull the trigger, and a fine spray comes out the nozzle. We use this to do tanscaping."
tan-tagging (v.)—The process of using a spray tan gun to draw various shapes and designs on one's skin, "like body graffiti, but with tanning spray." (see also, mystician and tanscaping)
Example: "Carl and the other art students had a blast tan-tagging little flowers and birds and designs on each other's legs and arms, smoking joint after joint."
the three Ds (n.)—Drinking, dancing, and duh
Example: "Tonight, we're all about the three Ds. Dance until we're soaked. Drink until closing. And, Duh, find two boys who've got their priorities straight."
tramp clamp (n.)—A term for a clip used to fasten one's pouf (see also, pouf)
Example: "Gia hoisted the front section of her hair, holding it high over her head with one hand. With the other hand, she gave it a blast of spray. Then she twisted the clump into a bubble and fastened it in the back with a butterfly clip, aka a tramp clamp."
tree branching (n.)—A popular dance move amongst the lethally brunette crowd to woo her guido in the creeping process
Example: "How about tree branching? It's a dance move. You put your wrist on a guy's shoulder, like this, and then shake around in front of him. And, if it gets creepy, I might wrap one leg around him, like this."
vibe (v.)—To be attracted to another person
Example: "He's hot, single, he invited me to his house. We were vibing like crazy."
Vin Diesel (n.)—The most gorgeous man alive, according to many a guidette
Also, the recent star of The Tooth Fairy.
Example: "Vin Diesel is a lot hotter than Jesus… He's hotter than just about everyone."
yummy (adj)—Attractive
Has nothing to do with food… usually.
Example: "Rugged, clean-shaven, with a slightly crooked nose, stellar cheekbones, and full red lips—and yummy olive skin, as if he'd been baking under the Tuscan sun for generations."
Jaimie Etkin is an assistant culture editor at The Daily Beast. She has also written for Us Weekly and Radar.


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*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from F. Wildman Imports
Tonight's wine was the 2009 Hugel Riesling. It had a Diam closure, clocked in at 12% alcohol by volume, and retails for somewhere between $15-$19.
Four takeaways from this wine:
1.) You can always count on Hugel to be a good bet for the money when you are faced with the (often confusing) Riesling wine section of the store. That goes for their Gewurtraminer and Pinot Gris as well. I've purchased it many times.
2.) Riesling is what I consider a "gateway" wine to move folks who have always been only Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay people into different wines.
3.) My mom liked this wine. She doesn't like wine at all.
4.) We drank it with roast chicken. Sort of like turkey, which is often recommended for a pairing with Riesling. I made a simple roast chicken rubbed with butter and sprinkled with Kosher salt. Yum.
On the nose I got lemon, white pepper, honey, honeysuckle, flowers, and pear. In the mouth I got lemon, pear, honey, and honeysuckle. The citrus and pear flavors dominated the palate whereas the honey/honeysuckle aromas were more prevalent on the nose. With good acidity and clean flavors, the wine made a great match with the roast chicken and mashed potatoes.
Filed under: France, Hugel, Riesling, White, Wine | 1 Comment »


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The global networking market is in a period of transition, with vendors big and small being impacted.
Infonetics Research this week released its second quarter 2011 Ethernet Switches and Enterprise Routers market share reports, painting a mixed picture of both market growth and decline.
On a quarterly basis, Infonetics reported that Ethernet switch sales hit $4.4 billion in the second quarter of 2011. That figure represents a 3 percent decline on a year-over-year basis, though it is a 6 percent gain over the first quarter of 2011.
While switch revenues paint a mixed picture, demand for Ethernet ports continues to grow.
According to Infonetics, second quarter 2011 port shipments grew by 11 percent on a year-over-year basis and 6 percent on a quarterly basis.
A key driver for Ethernet port growth is coming for the 10 Gigabit which grew 58 percent year-over-year, according to Infonetics. At the end of August, IDC published its data on enterprise networks reporting that 10 gigabit switch revenues increased 22.6 percent year over-year.
Infonetics also noted that Cisco's share for the second quarter of 2011 was down by 3 points, while HP is up by 2 points. Cisco continues to dominate the market however. In IDC's report, Cisco held a 63.4 percent market share for the Ethernet switch market in the second quarter of 2011.
"Ethernet switch buyers are in the driver's seat right now, as vendors are fiercely competing for their business," Matthias Machowinski, directing analyst for enterprise networks and video at Infonetics Research said in a statement. "While the battle is mostly playing out between Cisco and HP, other vendors are caught in the crossfire, with declining ASPs being one side effect. In the switch market, we expect this to result in stagnating revenue despite robust demand in 2011."
In contrast the market for global Wireless LAN (WLAN) equipment continues to grow revenues both sequentially and on a year-over-year basis. Infonetics reported that second quarter WLAN revenues hit $813 million which is a 35 percent year-over-year increase.
In terms of WLAN market leaders, Cisco holds the top spot followed by Aruba networks.
"Enterprises are building out their wireless infrastructure to deal with the surge in wireless devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) swamping their networks," Machowinski said. "As a result, wireless LAN is the hottest market in the enterprise networking space today, with revenue being pushed to new highs. Meanwhile, the traditional wired segments will continue to see subdued growth."
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.


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The Truth Behind Dental Bleaching and Teeth Whitening [FAQ]
Infection controls and universal precautions protect clients and staff alike. Everyone benefits from rigorous infection control — you, your dentist, and the dental team. The cornerstone in a good and safe dental practice is the element of trust. You should feel free to discuss this topic with Dr. Kinnee and receive a straight forward answer.
Dr. Kinnee and the entire team follow procedures recommended by several federal agencies: the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). These measures include:
- Disinfectant hand soap
- Gloves and face masks
- Chemical disinfection of countertops and surfaces
- Sterilization of all equipment before every use
- Disposable materials
- Dental Bleaching
What are the details of teeth whitening? It's safe, quick, and inexpensive. Just let them know at any appointment if you would like to whiten your teeth. You can lighten only your upper teeth or both the upper and lower, depending on how much you show when you talk and smile.
In only a day or two your custom bleach splints will be ready for you to pick up. MGD provide you with a special bleaching agent that you put into the clear splints. With only a few hours of wear per day, our special bleaching agent bubbles stains right out of your enamel in a very short time without altering tooth structure or existing dental work in any way. When your teeth reach the desired brightness, only occasional treatment is needed to maintain your new smile.
Dental bleaching can be used to correct tooth discoloration. Discolorations can be caused by staining, aging, or chemical damage to teeth. Using the latest in bleaching technology, they can offer a safe method for creating a beautiful "brilliant" smile. In cases of extreme tooth discoloration, crowns or veneers may be the only choice, but because of the low cost of bleaching treatments, bleaching is nearly always worth a solid try.
How is teeth whitening done? Key Benefits of Teeth Whitening:
- Corrects brown, yellow and spotted tooth staining
- Works on people of any age
- Is a near-permanent solution for a "dull" smile, restoring brightness and brings a smile alive
An impression is taken to make a specialized "mouthguard" or "stent" to hold the bleach against the teeth. The material is used each night for about 3-4 hours for a week or two, and at the end of this time, significant whitening will occur. In some cases, the change is nothing short of brilliant.


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In Italian vegetable-tanned Leather
made of Italian leather, tanned according to a technique, unique in the world, yet never replayed. The tanning uses only vegetable products (tannin, fat, tallow, etc..) And has the characteristic of age with use, becoming day by day, more and more fascination. The first age was made by applying various waxes and other natural products, whose formula is secret.
This wallet, opening on button clips, has three sections, two separate compartments for money, a convenient coin holder, and a lot of pockets for documents and credit cards conteinment.
Including carton box.
Material: Kalvskinn, vegetabiliskt garvat
Bredd: 19 cm
Höjd:10 cm
Vidd: 3 cm
Vikt: kg 0,2
Märke: Pratesi
Made in Italy
Leveranstid 2-4 vardagar
Öppet köp 30 dagar


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I Kings 4:1-34
I Kings 4:1-34 NKJV
So King Solomon was king over all Israel. And these were his officials: Azariah the son of Zadok, the priest; Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, scribes; Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud, the recorder; Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, over the army; Zadok and Abiathar, the priests; Azariah the son of Nathan, over the officers; Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest and the king's friend; Ahishar, over the household; and Adoniram the son of Abda, over the labor force. And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king and his household; each one made provision for one month of the year. These are their names: Ben-Hur, in the mountains of Ephraim; Ben-Deker, in Makaz, Shaalbim, Beth Shemesh, and Elon Beth Hanan; Ben-Hesed, in Arubboth; to him belonged Sochoh and all the land of Hepher; Ben-Abinadab, in all the regions of Dor; he had Taphath the daughter of Solomon as wife; Baana the son of Ahilud, in Taanach, Megiddo, and all Beth Shean, which is beside Zaretan below Jezreel, from Beth Shean to Abel Meholah, as far as the other side of Jokneam; Ben-Geber, in Ramoth Gilead; to him belonged the towns of Jair the son of Manasseh, in Gilead; to him also belonged the region of Argob in Bashan—sixty large cities with walls and bronze gate-bars; Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim; Ahimaaz, in Naphtali; he also took Basemath the daughter of Solomon as wife; Baanah the son of Hushai, in Asher and Aloth; Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar; Shimei the son of Elah, in Benjamin; Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, in the country of Sihon king of the Amorites, and of Og king of Bashan. He was the only governor who was in the land. Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and rejoicing. So Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life. Now Solomon's provision for one day was thirty kors of fine flour, sixty kors of meal, ten fatted oxen, twenty oxen from the pastures, and one hundred sheep, besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fatted fowl. For he had dominion over all the region on this side of the River from Tiphsah even to Gaza, namely over all the kings on this side of the River; and he had peace on every side all around him. And Judah and Israel dwelt safely, each man under his vine and his fig tree, from Dan as far as Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And these governors, each man in his month, provided food for King Solomon and for all who came to King Solomon's table. There was no lack in their supply. They also brought barley and straw to the proper place, for the horses and steeds, each man according to his charge. And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great understanding, and largeness of heart like the sand on the seashore. Thus Solomon's wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five. Also he spoke of trees, from the cedar tree of Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. And men of all nations, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom, came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.


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RIP Tim Russert
This isn't about wine. It's an hommage to Tim Russert. He was a reporter's reporter, a journalist's journalist, one of the greatest interviewers ever. Interviewing is at the heart of a wine journalist's job. Yes, tasting and reviewing and all that are important. But to really learn and grow, and to help your readers learn and grow, you have to master the art of interviewing. Tim Russert was a master. He was tough, but fair and friendly and happy and informed. He relaxed his guests. He was an inspiration. Many times, when I interview, I think of Tim Russert consciously. How would he react right now? What would he say, what would his body language convey? Tim Russert was a mentor to many people, not just Washington political journalists. Here's wishing his family peace and love.
Thanks Steve for this tribute. There are not many wine bloggers who will pay their respects to such an upstanding journalist, but I'm sincerely pleased that you took the time to do so. With my heart filled with sadness for his passing, and joy that he brought so many of us such a stellar example of good, judicial and critical reporting, I tip my hat in respect to not only a great journalist, but a wonderful man.


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The city of Stratford
Although Stratford is politically independent of Perth County, it is the seat of County. It is located on the Avon River.
Each year swans are released into the Avon River and that is why the swan has become a symbol of the city.
The city is well known for being the home of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, which is an internationally recognized annual repertory theatre festival running from April to October.
The Stratford Concert Band, a local wind ensemble, formed in 1907 by James Malone, marked their 100th anniversary performing in Stratford.
Stratford maintains manufacturing, tourism, commercial, financial and service industries. One of the top sectors of the economy is tourism.
The city offers full-service hotels, contemporary boutique inns, and cozy motels. Stratford and its beautiful neighbors, have a wide variety of place to stay.


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Another day, another misguided view on intellectual property. Via Tim Lee at Ars Technica, here's a quote from a representative from Ron+Rand Paul's Campaign for Liberty:
"We think the public domain is a terrific part of the Internet," he told us. Rather, he said, the group was worried that "Internet collectivists" would use the phrase "public domain" as "code for getting the government more involved" in copyright issues.
The group is pushing back against the idea that, "what is considered to be in the public domain should be greatly expanded."
First, copyright exists because of government, full stop. There is no copyright infringement in the state of nature. Second, to expand what is considered in the public domain means lessening the interference of government, by shortening copyright terms.
This would seem to be an area where libertarians and liberals could agree (in fact, it mostly is). It's terribly depressing to see the Paul's finding a way to oppose this.


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In the last post of this series we talked about how a repository manager, when coupled with a continuous integration server, allows you to work on individual modules in complex multi-module projects. In the post before that, we talked about the repository as something that enables greater collaboration between workgroups. In this post, I explore how using a repository manager simplifies deployment.
The following diagram shows the process of pushing code to production and automating a deployment:
This post will first discuss production deployments by setting up a hypothetical example. Assume that your organization runs a fairly complex application that consists of a few back office systems, a CRM system, and a web application. When your company needs to deploy one of these systems to production, the result is a highly orchestrated symphony of activity. Servers need to be taken offline in a coordinated manner across a distributed network of machines. Downtime needs to be planned and communicated to the right individuals, and backups need to be created before any new code is pushed to a production system.
In other words, any time you need to push new code to production, it is a real challenge to make sure that everyone is coordinating in just the right way. A few days before a production deployment, the development team freezes a particular branch and tags a release. This release is then installed in a QA environment. The QA team tests the release candidate, and if all goes well, this release is then deployed to production.
Without a repository manager, your operations teams has to know how to checkout a release tag from SCM, they have to run the entire build to generate a few binary artifacts, and then they need to write some scripts to automate a deployment to production.
With a repository manager, you can publish a release candidate binary to a hosted repository. This release candidate binary can then be used by a series of deployment scripts (or a tool like ControlTier or Puppet). You can have a deployment script that will publish the deployment to a QA environment, and then you can have a deployment script that takes the same, certified binary and publishes it to production.
The main difference between these two approaches is that the second approach adds some isolation between the SCM system and the deployment script. If your production deployment depends directly on your build, you have to recompile and repackage your entire system every time you do a deployment. This is often a challenge because the people that run the build system for deployment are seldom the same engineers that develop your system. If your operations team has to check out source code from an SCM just to build a production network, you are introducing some risk into your process.
Instead, use the repository manager as a way to share binaries with operations. If you are deploying applications to QA and production, having to rebuild an entire system from SCM just to deploy a system to an environment is an unnecessary risk. Instead of certifying tags in an SCM, your QA testers should be certifying binaries. This way you can be certain that the systems you are deploying to production have been tested.


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Reduce Nutrient Pollution from Farms
Tens of thousands of cows or pigs and millions of chickens can be squeezed onto a single factory farm, producing as much waste as a small city. The waste is often stored in open pits, benignly known as "lagoons." Even without a leak, rainfall can wash this waste into nearby waterways. The nitrogen and phosphorus in the animal waste can then create an explosion of algae, robbing water of oxygen and killing off aquatic life.
NRDC exposes the hidden dangers of pollution from factory farms to the public. Even the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been kept in the dark about how many of these facilities work, because they weren't required to—or have failed to—provide the agency with information about their operations. NRDC has long fought in the courtroom as well as in the halls of federal agencies and Congress to force the federal government to collect basic operating information about—and do more to address pollution from—these facilities.
While pushing the EPA to collect more data on factory farms, we're also empowering consumers to demand beef that is produced without harming the environment. NRDC is working with buyers and producers to develop standards for better beef, which include considerations for how water and grazing land are managed. Healthy soils and native grasses on well-managed grazing lands can filter and absorb water, preventing pollution from running into rivers and streams when it rains. Creating strong, verifiable, and recognized standards can encourage farmers to adopt practices that reduce pollution and help buyers confidently purchase beef that's better for their health and the environment.


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Having tried the recipe off the front cover of a previous edition of delicious magazine for my last blog post (The One-Pan Roast), I thought I would also do the same thing again from this month's edition, titled "One-Pan Winner". Writing my blog is not only about learning and sharing old family favourites and secrets but also about sharing recipes that I want to try and would try for an evening's supper, regardless of writing my blog or not!
The idea of these simple 'one pan recipes', that use fresh ingredients and that are easy to put together after a long day in the office, is great. Another bonus, is that it is something new to try, rather than reconstituting the same quick meals (with minor variations) that we normally throw together after working long days! If I see anymore of these style dishes on the cover in coming months, then I shall have to review and cook them as well, making a feature about them on the blog!
Being big fish fans and always being able to find Salmon in the fridge, we thought this would be perfect, based partly on the fact that the last one (One-tray roast chicken with white wine, zesty potatoes and asparagus) worked so well. The whole recipe was very aptly named as we thoroughly enjoyed it, not just from the taste but that it was very healthy too, which is never a bad thing.
What I like about these 'one pan recipes', is that 'in theory' you can try just about anything you want, that your imagination lets you come up with. If anyone has any other 'one pan recipe' favourites they love cooking, then please Comment on this post and let me know (including a quick recipe guide) – for the ones that grab my attention the most, I will do a cookup and review in a future post.
2 Red Onions, cut into wedges
2 Red Peppers, sliced into strips
1 Yellow Pepper, sliced into strips
1 Courgette, halved lengthways and thinly sliced
1 Garlic Bulb, halved across the middle
2 Medium Tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp Olive Oil, plus extra to drizzle
270g Cherry Tomatoes on the vine
2-4 Salmon fillets (depending on how many you are cooking for)
Squeeze of Lemon Juice
Handful of fresh Basil leaves
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/Fan 180C/Gas 6. Tumble the onions, peppers, courgette, garlic and medium tomatoes into a roasting tray. Pour over 3tbsp olive oil, season with sea salt and ground black pepper, then gently toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes.
2. Add the vine tomatoes to the tray and lay the salmon fillets on top. Season, then drizzle with a little more oil and a squeeze of lemon juice. Return to the oven for 10-12 minutes until the salmon is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.
Scatter with fresh basil leaves to serve.


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QUESTION: Are smoking cessation interventions effective?
Data sources
Reviews were identified by searching the Cochrane Library.
Study selection
Reviews were selected if they included randomised controlled trials of interventions to reduce or prevent tobacco use that had ≥6 months of follow up with outcomes of sustained abstinence or point prevalence quit rates.
Data extraction
Extracted data included interventions and outcomes.
Main results
20 systematic reviews were available in the Cochrane Library. 1 review (including 31 trials and >26 000 participants who smoked) examined simple advice given by doctors during routine care and showed that the intervention increased quit rates (weighted odds ratio [OR] 1.69, 95% CI 1.45 to 1.98). Another review of individual counselling given by nurses also showed increased quit rates.
Behavioural interventions for smoking cessation, in the forms of individual counselling (1 review) or group therapy (1 review), showed increased quit rates. The review of individual counselling (including 9 trials) showed that it was more effective than brief advice or usual care (weighted OR 1.55, CI 1.27 to 1.90). Group therapy was more effective than self help materials, but was not more effective than other interventions involving personal contact. 1 review of aversion therapy (including 24 trials), which paired the pleasurable stimulus of smoking with an unpleasant stimulus, found little evidence of beneficial effect. 1 review showed that self help interventions had no additional benefit over brief personal advice, but were more effective than no intervention (weighted OR 1.23, CI 1.02 to 1.49). A comparison of self help interventions (8 trials) showed that personalised materials were more effective than standard materials (weighted OR 1.41, CI 1.14 to 1.75).
A review of nicotine replacement therapy (including >90 trials) showed that all forms of this treatment were effective (weighted OR 1.71, CI 1.60 to 1.83). A review of anxiolytics and antidepressants showed that anxiolytics were not effective, whereas the antidepressants, bupropion and nortriptyline, increased quit rates. A review of the antihypertensive, clonidine (6 trials), showed effectiveness (weighted OR 1.89, CI 1.30 to 2.74) but limited usefulness because of its side effect profile. Reviews of acupuncture, hypnotherapy, and exercise showed limited evidence of effectiveness for smoking cessation.
Advice from doctors, counselling by nurses, behavioural interventions (individual counselling or group therapy), nicotine replacement therapy, and several pharmacological interventions (such as the antidepressants, bupropion and nortriptyline) increase smoking cessation rates.
The number of clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of various approaches to smoking cessation reflects the strong interest of researchers and clinicians to find better ways to help individuals stop smoking. Lancaster et al's review of the 20 systematic reviews in the Cochrane Library on this topic is timely. An important strength of this report is that only Cochrane systematic reviews were included. Most systematic reviews done by Cochrane groups use a standard protocol and include a thorough search of published and unpublished studies. The results of this review are nevertheless dependent on the strengths and focuses of the individual systematic reviews that were included.
A systematic review by the US Department of Health and Human Services of ≥180 clinical trials published between 1975 and 1999 also concluded that effective smoking cessation interventions exist that can produce long term or even permanent abstinence.1 Although the results of the US review are similar to conclusions reached in this review by Lancaster et al, some additional findings were reported. The US based group provided strong evidence that counselling intensity is associated with successful treatment outcomes. In addition, other efficacious strategies were identified such as telephone counselling. The panel that did the systematic review also developed clinical practice guidelines based on the available evidence.
Despite the high prevalence of smoking, healthcare providers often fail to assess or treat tobacco use consistently and effectively.2 Smoking status should be assessed for every patient. Because effective strategies are available, every patient who smokes should be offered at least a brief intervention in the form of a clear, strong statement of advice to stop smoking. For those willing to try to give up smoking, the use of practical counselling (problem solving or skills training) and pharmacotherapies (eg, nicotine replacement therapy) will increase the likelihood of success. It has been estimated that reducing current smoking by 50% would avoid about 175 million premature deaths worldwide.3 Delivery of effective cessation interventions should be a high priority.
Sources of funding: UK National Health Service Research and Development Programme and the Imperial Cancer Research Fund.
For correspondence: Dr T Lancaster, Imperial Cancer Research Fund General Practice Research Group, Department of Primary Health Care, University of Oxford, Institute of Health Sciences, Oxford OX3 7LF, UK. Fax +44 (0)1865 227137.
A modified version of this abstract appears in Evidence-Based Medicine and Evidence-Based Mental Health.


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Well I got up this morning and despite my hopes that Skype would be up, especially since it was partly up last night, no such luck. I did see it briefly flicker on this morning (for about 15 seconds), but essentially it is completely unavailable for me.
Interestingly enough, in my Skype Yahoo News feed, there is a big headline from Infoword that says Outage of Skype's VoIP Service appears to be Over. Uh, I don't think so. Upon reading the article, it goes on to say: "At 3:53 a.m. GMT, Skype seemed to be operating normally, with users in Asia able to log in, view their contact lists, place calls, and send messages." OK, I gues they should have said the outage seems to be over in Asia, because it sure isn't over in the U.S.
Skype has been posting short updates on its Skype Heartbeat blog. The latest was at 11am GMT. They are really not giving a lot of information at all in their posts. They certainly are not giving any indications what the problem is, although they are quick to say what the problems aren't, as in this from the latest post: "Finally, we'd like to dispel a couple of theories that we are still hearing. Neither Wednesday's planned maintenance of our web-based payment services nor any form of attack was related to the current sign-on issues in any way"
I'm sorry, but when you make a big deal about Skype being down for planned maintenance the night of the 15th and on the 16th everything is broke, I'd tend to look a what was done during the maintenance because as any programmer or computer person knows, if something goes wrong, you try to figure out what was changed and that is a good place to start. Skype did mention on one of its updates that there was a deficiency in an algorithm (whatever that means).
The VoIP Guides blog says "The Real issue was because of a deficiency in an algorithm within Skype networking software. This controls the interaction between the user's own Skype client and the rest of the Skype network. We at VOIP Guide feel, the issue was related to authentication algorithm used on their P2P network which uses a very speculative "supernodes" technology. If anyone of you have read our very interesting article on "skype supernodes and vulnerability", you would probably know how insecure skype could be."
They go on to explain more about this. Unfortunately, their link to the article on skype supernodes and vulnerability does not work. I did find this article of their about the issues with supernodes.
They have a pretty decent site with a lot of information (if you can get past all the advertisements). They also mentioned Jajah software as an alternative to Skype and I have heard of Jajah as well as Gizmo Project. From the sound of it, Jajah may be easier and quicker to use, especially for a quick, short term solution.
If this keeps up (Skype stays down) then I will have to check these out and I will post my results then.
And it seems that Infoworld retracted its previous statement and has released an article saying that Skype problems may continue throughout the day.
~Susan Mellott
Becky Carleton, a librarian at the Johnson County Library in Kansas challenged me to name ten pieces
The Drop, in the Martini Corner area of Kansas City Missouri is an attractive looking place with brick and industrial acc ents and a pretty bar and cute couches in the front. It looked like a nice… Continue reading Review of The Drop Bar and Bistro in Martini Corner, Kansas City...
I am a part of the #PitchBiteClub, a group of people put together by The Pitch to go to restaurants, taste several of their dishes and report on the experience via social media. On Wednesday, 8/20/2014 we went to Room 39 1719 W 39th St., Kansas City, MO 64111. Continue reading #PitchBiteClub Review of Room 39... | 2 Comments
I am in The Pitch's Bite Club, a group of reviewers that review a restaurant and several of their dishes. I also write my own reviews about almost everything. This is a little about me and how I review and about what I like and dislike about a restaurant and food in general. Continue reading Pitch Bite Club Restaurant Reviewer, How I Review, Likes and Dislikes...
It's been a long time since I have blogged. I am changing the name of my blog from All Things Web 2.0 to Clear Blue Dei (Thursday's Child has far to go…) and the focus of my blog… Continue reading My All Things Web 2.0 Blog is now Clear Blue Dei (Thursday's Child)...


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December has been a whirlwind for most of us, and I'm still reeling over how fast it went. Fortunately, there were moments of quiet calm this month, and several of them were spent revisiting perfumes from this last year. Throughout 2010, I enjoyed testing and reviewing an abundance of beautiful, newly released botanicals, and was very pleased that the natural perfumers themselves received a lot of positive press via magazines and blogs. With all my heart, I hope this trend continues as it is so important to support independently owned, artisanal businesses, especially when they are creating such gorgeous works of olfactory art.
The following are my favorite naturals from 2010, (as well as two non-naturals I fell for) but it's truly just a sampling of what I enjoyed. I did decide to make a list though, so I have chosen the ones that will become lifetime loves.
Bed of Roses by Velvet & Sweet Pea. I don't want to over-analyze this gorgeous fragrance too much, but Bed of Roses is like a study of contrasts. It's vintage-esque but also modern. It's powdery, but at the same time fresh and vivid. I give huge kudos to Laurie Stern for her expert hand and for creating such a dynamic and interesting rose perfume. Her skillful blending of aged sandalwood and cognac (vintage) with green mandarin and rose leaf absolute (fresh) allow different facets of rose to be present at the same moment. At its heart, Bed of Roses is a perfume that contains nine different rose distillations, so it's richer and lusher than any other rose perfume I have experienced. Rose lovers, you will not be disappointed.
Mejica by A Perfume Organic. Mejica took me by surprise. I was not expecting anything new from this vanilla based fragrance as I thought I had pretty much smelled all that the bean could offer. Clearly, I was wrong. Mejica is smooth and spicy with cloves and hints of orange in the opening. It has a rich vanilla heart and a drydown made of sweet resinous musk. It's been lovely to wear through the holiday season, and I eagerly anticipate what it will do on my skin when the days become warmer.
Bancha by DSH Perfumes. Bancha came along early in 2010 when it was still cold outside and I was craving a soothing balm. Bancha slipped into my life and provided just what I needed. Bancha is very grounding, and I liken it to scooping up limes or lemons that have fallen into dark, minty soil. Basil, rose and jasmine sambac add an herbacous floral quality while sandalwood and cedarwood round out its base, giving an aura of woods, like heat rising off a sauna's walls. I loved Bancha last winter and have worn it frequently throughout the year. In addition to the perfume, I have the Bancha scented oil which is an exceptionally restorative balm for the skin and soul.
Mecca Balsam by La Via del Profumo. Mecca Balsam received rave reviews throughout the blogging world, and they were much deserved. Mecca Balsam revolves around labdanum, frankincense, benzoin and tobacco which suffuses the air with a gentle suggestion of incense. It never becomes overwhelming because it is so well-blended and subtle. Tobacco balances nicely with the labdanum, making it soft and cozy. For an all natural perfume, it has striking sillage with impressive staying power. Another excellent fragrance for the winter months.
Wildflowers by Aftelier Perfumes. Mandy Aftel released (at least) four fragrances this year, all of which I adore. But Wildflowers made this list because it's centered around a note that for me, is crazy-making…in a good way. Hay. Yes, hay drives me a little wild. It gets up in my scalp and makes it tingle. Its scent generates the desire to frolic in a meadow of wildflowers and twirl until punch-drunk dizzy. Not all hay notes do this to me, just the ones that smell golden and have honey dripping from their stacks. Wildflowers is all about this kind of sweet, sunkissed hay and begins with a tart burst of lime and ends in a glowingly honeyed drydown.
GreenWitch by Roxana Illuminated Perfume. GreenWitch is unquestionably a chypre as oakmoss, galbanum, violet leaves and rose petals greet you from its start. After a bit, it gets a nutty, salty air from vetiver and tonka with floral nuances like boronia and honeysuckle. Honeysuckle is not in the notes, so I'm guessing the mimosa, ylang ylang and beeswax create a hybrid honeysuckle accord on my skin, and I love it. It smells like a day at the beach when you are blessed with warm skin, salt in your hair, and suntan lotion that barely lingers on your body. Green Witch has incredible sillage and staying power which lengthens the fragrance's evolution, and it might well be Roxana's most multi-layered perfume yet.
The Purple Dress by Ayala Moriel Parfums. Technically, The Purple Dress was released in December 2009, but for all intents and purposes, it was a 2010 perfume. The Purple Dress is a black tea based fragrance, steeped in a tannicy anise that is dark and smoky, moody and sexy, and has a gorgeous honeyed-wood drydown. Champaca is the featured flower in this beauty, but is tempered by the lightheartedness of magnolia and an easy touch of honey. According to Ayala's website, this fragrance is a salute to Alexander Argov, who composed the famous Israeli song, The Purple Dress. You can hear an excerpt of it here and enjoy its evocative melancholic beauty, similar to its namesake perfume.
Guerlain Arsène Lupin Dandy. As I mentioned, there are two non-naturals that I fell in love with this year, and Guerlain's Arsène Lupin Dandy is one of them. Dandy is being promoted as a masculine fragrance, and it does smell incredible on my husband, but it also smells pretty darn good on me. So let's not cramp Dandy's style with labels. Dandy begins with a nod to the legendary guerlainade brew which for me is sadly short-lived but for others, that might be preferred. Regardless, it grants Dandy an opening of distinctive familiarity that segues beautifully into a spicy, woodsy, violet tinged fragrance. Cardamom and an ultra-smooth sandalwood comprise the spicy woods while Dandy's violets infuse a supple leather note that weaves its way through the fragrance's entirety. The drydown finishes with a leathery-sandalwood-cedar musk that takes Dandy from its guerlainade opening to a modern finish.
L'Artisan Parfumeur Traversée du Bosphore. Here's the other non-natural perfume I could not pass up, and it happens to be another violet-leather fragrance, albeit a very different one from Dandy. Traversée du Bosphore's opening is full speed ahead leather and violet. It's a dry leather, nearly heat cracked and edgy and you can feel the little violets struggle against the unyielding hide. The opening is interesting, but not entirely likable and it's not until a softness emerges that I find myself succumbing to this uniquely compelling fragrance. Once the leather allows the dewy violet to soften its parched surface, it becomes more full and welcoming. The heart continues to expand upon the iris-leather accord but incorporates a gourmand aspect which on my skin is a delicious vanilla-almond confection. It's quite an evolution when one considers Traversée du Bosphore's arid beginning evolving into a gentle, sugared and musky rose at the drydown.
Don't forget to visit the other participating blogs. I can't wait to read what their favorites have been!


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Despite general art world trends toward the performative or dematerialized work, Art Basel Miami Beach 2012 was clearly running a brisk trade in paintings and sculpture. Still, a smattering of video and some performance were thrown into the mix.
The main fair at the Miami Convention Center featured a selection of video displayed in wooden "pods" at the middle of the building, while some galleries found room in their booths to show some as well.
New York's Simon Preston Gallery in the Art Nova section of Art Basel offered two very convincing uses of video. Atelier (2012), by Hans Schabus, featured the soundtrack from Sam Peckinpah's famously violent 1969 film The Wild Bunch, combined with footage created in and around the artist's Vienna studio. At Art Basel the gallery displayed Schabus's storyboards, which match stills from The Wild Bunch with incongruously placid, unpeopled views around his studio. The storyboard evidences the precision of the video recreation, the exact calculation of the substituted camera angles for every shot. After showing the video in an installation in his gallery this past spring, Preston screened the work on his laptop during the fair.
Preston also showed Irishman John Gerard's almost imperceptibly moving images of the outside of a decrepit school in Cuba. Gerard created the piece by splicing together an untold number of still photographs through digital media. The resulting video moves so slowly that, but for the screen, at first glance it looks almost like a print-a memento of a forgotten modernist structure—which becomes a bit startling as the image begins to rotate, in imitation of a camera on a very long, slow dolly shot.
Somewhat similar in its deceptive use of the still and the moving image was Kudzanai Chiurai's Iyeza (2011) at Goodman Gallery, also in the main fair. The Zimbabwe-born artist's banquet tableau, featured at dOCUMENTA (13) this year, evokes The Last Supper but in a way that immediately conveys the complex and volatile mixture of politics, violence and corruption in Africa. The woman seated as Jesus at the middle of the table dispels any immediate identification of her with the male dictators who typically control African nations, but there is no mistaking the unfortunately familiar actions that surround her. Other figures grapple for control of an automatic weapon and engage in hand-to-hand combat nearby. Interestingly, some of the figures, move part of the time so careful study is required to detect what is happening-if anything is happening at all.
Considerably less political but no less thoughtful and well-made, Sebastian Diaz Moralese's Ficcionaro (2012) at carlier/gebauer builds on the idea of the match cut, where film is made so that an object or action at the end of one shot has an immediate parallel in the next shot. Diaz has his protagonist go through a series of doors, and each time the doors give access to a different world from the one he exited. Filmed in various public locations in the Amsterdam-based artist's native Buenos Aires, it's a fun trip to take, rather like Alice stepping through the looking glass again and again.
Sao Paolo-based Brigida Baltar makes art that is explicitly based on the architecture and art forms of the theater. For her O canto do pássaro rebelde (2012) at Galerie Nara Roesler, she staged an aria from Carmen in a jungle setting and displayed the resulting single-channel videos inside three small wooden theaters mounted on plinths.
The 18 videos in the pods, curated by David Gryn of London's Artprojx, were a mixed lot. One of the highlights was Helsinki artist Eija-Liisa Ahtila's Fishermen (Études, no. 1) (2007), a seemingly artless collection of shots of African fishermen battling the surf to row themselves out into open water so they can throw their nets. Sitting eight to ten men in wooden boats, they struggle to overcome the incoming waves, digging furiously with their paddles in the water, and yet nature throws them back each time. It is perhaps a study in the futility of action or the overwhelming but often unseen power of nature, the sublime. The simple action, though obviously occurring in modern times since we're watching it on video, seems like something that has occurred since time immemorial. (Athila's 2010 work The Annunciation, a three-channel video based on the gospel of St. Luke, filmed in her studio with untrained actors, showed at the Bass Museum of Art as part of "The Endless Renaissance," which opened during the fair.)
L.A.-based Karl Haendel's Questions for My Father (2011), previously shown at Harris Lieberman in New York, is a series of talking heads, men asking the questions that they might really like to ask their fathers. For example, one asks: "When did you find out you were HIV-positive?" Another wants to know about his father's masturbation habits. In a sense, the men are acting, knowingly representing themselves on screen, since there are some indications that the questions are not spontaneously produced on video, but there's no denying the authenticity of the longing and isolation of these sons who seem to know so little about what their fathers are really like. The intensely personal questions dig into sexuality, self-esteem, ambition and regret.
In the context of the Art Basel, with collectors vying to beat each other at the games of buying art and wearing extravagantly priced clothing and with artists aspiring to have their reputations and prices ascend, Vienna- and London-based collaborators Muntean/Rosenblum's Performance at Galerie Georg Kargl (2010) had a surprisingly relevant message about vanitas. A male speaker atop a pile of sundry objects and surrounded by a troop of men in menacing riot gear declaimed through a bullhorn microphone about the ultimate pointlessness of all human effort, whether by nutritionists, insurance brokers, or, more particularly, those in the art world.
Good for a laugh was Michael Sailstorfer's Raketenbaum (2008), which translates to "Tree Rocket." Most of the video shows a fruit tree planted in the middle of a field, swaying gently against an overcast sky. Sailstorfer had attached explosives to the roots of the tree, and absurdly the tree is launched from the ground. It doesn't get very far and breaks apart shortly after liftoff. Perhaps the rocket was engineered by the North Koreans. Serbian Ana Prvacki addresses those awkward social moments when, for example, spinach is caught squarely in the front teeth of your dinner companion, in The Greeting Committee (2012). Prvacki presents several such difficult encounters and then has a pair of helpful ladies who always show up at the right time to advise on how to handle the situation. (For the spinach, use your eyes to indicate the problem and a simple hand gesture to suggest a solution.)
The NADA Art Fair also showed a selection of videos, curated by Grela Orihuela. Installation in the bar at the Deauville Beach Resort Hotel, the program took advantage of the mirrored walls of the bar as video screens stationed throughout the space and a projection on the front wall played with their reflections. Though the subzero temperature in the bar made it difficult to enjoy the program at length, the quality of the selection sustained interest. New Yorker Brian Gonzalez (a.k.a. Taxiplasm) led the pack with Tell Me Your Secrets (2012), an intriguing, claustrophobic view of a white woman with blackened skin writhing in white slime and water inside a mirrored chamber.
Also at NADA, though not in the bar, L.A. gallery Various Small Fires showed Liz Magic Laser's Distressed, a 2012 edit of a project created while she was in the Whitney ISP program, mocking consumer society with a playful air. A contingent of jean-clad performers emerge from a Diesel store in New York and proceed to abrade their denim by rubbing themselves vigorously against the stone exterior of the store and the sidewalk as bewildered shoppers stroll past. Perhaps it suggests an apt way to look at the frottage of the art fair, that quasi-sexual encounter of so much art and money rubbing up against each other.
Photo: Still from Brian Gonzales (aka Taxiplasm), Ripening, 2012. Courtesy of the artist and (Art)Amalgamated.


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Dubai's Department of Finance and Deloitte sign strategic partnership for the implementation of IPSAS has been saved
Press releases
Dubai's Department of Finance and Deloitte sign strategic partnership for the implementation of IPSAS
12 March, 2018 — The Department of Finance (DOF) of the Government of Dubai announced a strategic partnership agreement with Deloitte to enable the Government of Dubai to implement International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS). DOF signed the agreement with Deloitte, the world's largest professional services firm, as part of its continuous improvement of financial reporting across the Government of Dubai, enabling effective decision-making and delivering to DOF's Strategic Plan 2017-2021 on the adoption of international accounting standards.
The strategic partnership agreement was signed by Abdulrahman Saleh Al-Saleh, Director General of DOF, and Maher Al-Khalil, Member of the Board of Directors at Deloitte Middle East and Managing Partner of Consulting Operations services in the region. DOF emphasized that it embarked on the implementation phase of IPSAS in close collaboration with the finance leadership of the Government of Dubai entities and in partnership with the Deloitte specialists.
Director General Al-Saleh highlighted the Government of Dubai's emphasis on promoting further transparency and reliability, contributing to sustainable government financial effectiveness. This is in alignment with Law No. 1 of 2016 on Dubai Government Financial Regulation and in line with Dubai Strategic Plan 2021, reinforcing its contribution as a leading pillar in government operations based on competency, accountability and creativity, recognizing and commending the high degree of collaboration with governmental entities during the assessment and planning phases of the program.
Jamal Hamed Al Mari, Executive Director of the Central Accounts Sector, DOF, stated that the IPSAS implementation phase is based on clear Government directives to further enhance the quality and completeness of financial reporting. The leads to financial reporting at the highest quality levels, in accordance with relevant international standards, and as stipulated by the 2016 Law No. 1 on Dubai Government Financial Regulation.
Mohammed Jallad, Audit Partner at Deloitte in the Middle East, explained that accrual accounting IPSAS standards are the most international recognized and widespread in the government and public sector. He also stressed that the continuous efforts of governments worldwide to implement IPSAS enhances global cooperation and allows for constructive comparison of financial performance. In the context of Dubai, this contributes to further improving government financial management for the Emirate.
During the signing ceremony, participants expressed their confidence in completing the implementation according to schedule, positioning Government of Dubai as a leader, preparing comprehensive financial reports in compliance with International Public Sector Accounting Standards within an ambitious timeframe.
Press contact
Nadine El Hassan
Middle East Public Relations
Deloitte & Touche (M.E.)
Tel: +961 (0) 1 748444
Fax: +961 (0) 1 748999
About The Department of Finance for the Government of Dubai
The Department of Finance for the Government of Dubai (DOF) was established in 1995 under the Law no. (5), to supervise all financial and accounting affairs of the Government of Dubai, in addition to issuing consolidated financial statements for the emirate's government.
DOF is responsible for the development of the government's general annual budget and its execution in cooperation with all relevant local government entities. Furthermore, DOF provides liquidity, including transferring sanctioned budgetary allocations to all relevant government entities. It also oversees the preparation and development of financial resources, and verifies the collection and provision of general revenues, while also supervising government banking accounts.
For more information, please contact:
Jehad Kamal
Relations and Communication Manager
Department of Finance, Government of Dubai
Direct +971 4 405 6079
Mobile +971 50 429 9150
About Deloitte:
Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, a UK private company limited by guarantee ("DTTL"), its network of member firms, and their related entities. DTTL and each of its member firms and their related entities are legally separate and independent entities. DTTL (also referred to as "Deloitte Global") does not provide services to clients. Please see www.deloitte.com/about to learn more about our global network of member firms.
Deloitte provides audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries. Deloitte serves four out of five Fortune Global 500® companies through a globally connected network of member firms in more than 150 countries and territories bringing world-class capabilities, insights, and high-quality service to address clients' most complex business challenges. To learn more about how Deloitte's approximately 245,000 professionals make an impact that matters, please connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter.
Deloitte's professionals are unified by a collaborative culture that fosters integrity, outstanding value to markets and clients, commitment to each other, and strength from cultural diversity. They enjoy an environment of continuous learning, challenging experiences, and enriching career opportunities. Deloitte's professionals are dedicated to strengthening corporate responsibility, building public trust, and making a positive impact in their communities.
About Deloitte & Touche (M.E.):
Deloitte & Touche (M.E.) is a member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (DTTL) and is a leading professional services firm established in the Middle East region with uninterrupted presence since 1926. DTME's presence in the Middle East region is established through its affiliated independent legal entities, which are licensed to operate and to provide services under the applicable laws and regulations of the relevant country. DTME's affiliates and related entities cannot oblige each other and/or DTME, and when providing services, each affiliate and related entity engages directly and independently with its own clients and shall only be liable only for its own acts or omissions and not those of any other affiliate.
Deloitte provides audit, tax, consulting, financial advisory and risk advisory services through 25 offices in 14 countries with more than 3,300 partners, directors and staff. It is a Tier 1 Tax advisor in the GCC region since 2010 (according to the International Tax Review World Tax Rankings). It has also received numerous awards in the last few years, which include bestAdvisory and Consultancy Firm of the Year 2016 in the CFO Middle East awards, best employer in the Middle East, the Middle East Training & Development Excellence Award by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), as well as the best CSR integrated organization.
The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.


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Give away a dollar, and you'll make someone's day. Teach someone to give, and they'll make a difference for a lifetime.The anonymous duo behind the @HiddenCash Twitter account didn't quite realize that was the point when they started hiding envelopes of money and tweeting clues to their locations.
With over 700,000 Twitter followers, they've become de facto leaders of an accidental movement to remind people there's some good in the world and inspire them to pay it forward. The previously unnamed half of @HiddenCash agreed to reveal his identity to me, along with the story of how it all started, on a cool night in San Francisco's Mission District.
Behind The @
His name is Yan Budman, and he fittingly works a the Director of Marketing at Indiegogo, which lets people donate to creative projects. Budman's eyes squinch up to make room for the giant smiles he's prone to. It's the contented grin of a thirty-something nice-guy who's recently spent a lot of time watching people overwhelmed with glee thanks to his clandestine adventures. This Storify he made shows off a slew of HiddenCash missions and the people they touched.
@HiddenCash began after his longtime pal Jason Buzi (previously outed via voice recognition from a phone interview in May) came into a little money from a business deal. Buzi had always been generous, having donated to charities, done volunteer work, and organized The Great Waterballoon Toss in Dolores Park.
Driving through the Mission together around midnight, Buzi noticed a man who seemed down on his luck on the side of the road. He tried to hand some money to him, but scared him off. "There's probably a better way to do this," Budman said. "Like what? We'll just hide money around?" Buzi replied.
It turned out to be that simple.
Buzi had never heard of Twitter but Budman had been onboard since 2008. He quickly snapped a photo of Buzi's fist filled with money, and grabbed the handle @HiddenCash.
The duo hid the first few wads of dough near some of their favorite businesses like Yoga To The People and Sightglass Coffee, where they hoped people would donate to instructors or buy some strangers a cup of joe.
The positive feedback started rolling in immediately. Followers liked searching for the money, even if they didn't find it. @HiddenCash started talking up the idea of people sharing the cash they found to make an impact on someone else. Several successful cash hunters pledged to pay it forward, with one planning to use the money they found to buy books for a community library. After few more "drops," Budman tells me, "addiction set in."
Suddenly, the whole thing took off. Within two weeks , the project had been featured on top news outlets like the BBC, and the Twitter account had boomed to a half million followers.
"People were just coming out and meeting each other and really connecting in a positive way. The majority of people weren't even finding money. There were a lot of parents of kids who were like 'I went to the beach and they didn't find anything but they want to give their allowance to the homeless or someone on their way home'. It started creating this movement."
Minting Philanthropists
At first glance, giving money to Twitter-equipped strangers doesn't seem like the most effective way to do good in the world. @HiddenCash flies in the face of great data-driven philanthropy organizations like GiveWell, which helps donors deliver the most impact for their dollar by recommending charities with low overhead and a record of success. Anti-malaria mosquito nets, treating parasitic infections, and giving directly to extremely low-income individuals are all highly efficient means of reducing suffering.
According to the math, @HiddenCash might seem like a frivolous waste. If someone can afford a smartphone and data plan, how badly can they really need the money? That's a legitimate criticism. However, it ignores the unquantifiable way @HiddenCash inspires people to be more generous. Budman admits "for a lot of people, $100 isn't a game-changer" but explains "it can generate a ripple effect that creates a less selfish society."
That's why the retweet makes Twitter the perfect place for @HiddenCash. The concept can go viral. "The amazing thing about this technology is that it allows ideas like this to spread. If everyone around the world does these things, like gives away 10 percent of their income or volunteers 10 percent of their time, the impact is huge," Budman says.
@HiddenCash International
Budman and Buzi have taken the show on the road. There's now been around 100 drops totaling around $50,000 across over a dozen cities, including New York, Houston, Mexico City, and London. The pair have learned a thing or two, as well. They stick to hiding the envelopes in open areas so there's less danger of someone getting hurt if there's a stampede of scavenger hunters.
Budman also shoots for less populated areas. He tells me he almost got caught doing a drop at the bench in front of San Francisco's Painted Ladies apartments — of Full House fame. "I had to sit there long enough that people wouldn't be suspicious when I walked away because there's been a few times where people thought they 'saw the guy'."
I hope that after this story reveals his identity, he won't have anyone stalking him or tagging him with a location tracker to unfairly scoop up the drops. Luckily, the duo isn't alone. "Now there are hundreds of accounts that have been created all over the world, in Russia, in the smallest towns, replicating the same model because it's so easy to do. That's the beauty of Twitter," Budman tells me. "The model is open sourced. People have told us they can't give away a lot of money but this has inspired them to do what they can. It's given them faith in humanity."
The @HiddenCash boys are considering how to propel the project. They've been approached about creating a TV show and have discussed raising funds to pay for the drops. Budman suddenly gets serious for a moment. With the weight of 700,000 followers turning to him for inspiration, he says "We want to keep it growing without selling out."
For now the team is grappling with how to keep a strong signal to noise ratio on the Twitter account. "The challenge is to regionalize the content, though a lot of people have said they love following along from the story even if they're in Ohio."
Unexpected Smiles
In an age of vast income inequality and The Giving Pledge, the average person can feel like their philanthropic efforts are merely a drop in the ocean. But as Budman and I left the little back-alley SF bar where we'd met, he looked up at a graffiti mural illuminated by the sun and told me there's great power in the "element of surprise."
It can take a lot to fulfill someone's expectations. But if they don't expect something good will happen, it doesn't take much to lift their spirits: Pay for the toll of a driver behind you; give $20 to a street musician; buy a round of beers for strangers. "Anything that makes an impact with a small group of people and inspires them to do the same," Budman proclaims.
Turns out @HiddenCash isn't about the scavenger hunt or even the money. It's about reminding people that they, too, can conjure up the joy of serendipitous generosity.
Budman concludes: "We're not some angels. Anyone can do this."


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ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (AP) — Two young women were killed when a freight train derailed and toppled so much coal on them they couldn't breathe, authorities said Thursday.
The bodies of Elizabeth Nass and Rose Mayr were found buried under coal but still seated on edge of a railroad bridge in Ellicott City, police have said. They were not hit by the train, Howard County police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said.
Llewellyn said an autopsy found the women died from accidental asphyxia.
Both were 19-year-old college students. Nass attended James Madison University in Virginia and Mayr was a nursing student at the University of Delaware.
Tweets and photos from the women indicated they were drinking on the bridge as they enjoyed a summer night together before heading back to school. "Drinking on top of the Ellicott City sign," read one tweet. "Looking down on old ec," read another.
Their funerals are set for Friday and Saturday.
CSX said Thursday it resumed train operations along the railroad line at 4 p.m.
Howard County spokeswoman Alexandra Bresani said the street underneath the railroad bridge would remain closed until the on-site investigation and removal of the coal was finished.
"We're making good progress but it's quite a bit," CSX spokesman Gary Sease said, noting most of the 21 derailed cars dumped their entire 110-ton load in the accident.
The bridge the women were on is easily accessible from the picturesque downtown of Ellicott City, which is about 15 miles west of Baltimore, and generations of young people have played and partied along the tracks.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the wreck. Federal investigators have said the train was going the authorized speed of 25 miles per hour with an engineer-in-training at the controls before the wreck.
Investigators have also said the train's emergency brakes were applied automatically — not by the three-man crew — but they don't know why 21 cars of the 80 cars derailed.
National Transportation Safety Board investigator Jim Southworth has said the train's two locomotives did not derail and that the crew reported they "felt nothing, and they saw nothing before emergency braking occurred on their train."


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As the Russian war of agresssion continues in Ukraine, EU countries are welcoming and supporting unprecedented numbers of people fleeing the war to seek safety in the EU. This has serious implications for many fundamental rights within the EU. FRA is looking at current and potential fundamental rights challenges. It seeks to assist the EU and its Member States find sustainable solutions. Below you can find some of the work being carried out.
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This community is best described as a small rural agrarian South Carolina town located 18 miles west of Georgetown. It is the third oldest city in South Carolina whose main focus is on family, friends, and church. There are gatherings at the river, or at someone's home, outdoor sports for all ages, or events at church. Enjoy the Black River for swimming, fishing and boating. If hunting is what you enjoy, then you will enjoy the area with its wildlife. The close proximity of coastal South Carolina and its beaches, Georgetown, Lake Moultrie, and historic Charleston, one can enjoy the amenities offered by larger cities; while still maintaining a more community oriented lifestyle away from the hustle and bustle of city life. You can also enjoy the great restaurants that Andrews has to offer.
Here is a link to the town's website.
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RE/MAX Southern Shores has a reputation of excellence and personal integrity. Our goal is to exceed your expectations throughout the entire real estate process. Our skilled agents are dedicated to your needs; whether your interest is purchasing a primary residence, a second home for vacation, or an investment, RE/MAX Southern Shores agents draw upon a wealth of knowledge and experience.
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