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Texas Weight Loss – San Antonio
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Texas Weight Loss – San Antonio
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About San Antonio
San Antonio ( SAN an-TOH-nee-oh; Spanish for "Saint Anthony"), officially the City of San Antonio, is the seventh-most populous city in the United States, second-largest city in the Southern United States, and the second-most populous city in Texas. It is the 12th most-populous city in North America, with 1,434,625 residents in 2020.Founded as a Spanish mission and colonial outpost in 1718, the city in 1731 became the first chartered civil settlement in what is now present-day Texas. The area was then part of the Spanish Empire. From 1821 to 1848, it was part of the Mexican Republic. It is the oldest municipality in Texas, having celebrated its 300th anniversary on May 1, 2018.From 2000 to 2010, the city was the fastest-growing of the top ten largest cities in the United States; it was the second in growth in that category from 1990 to 2000.
Neighborhoods in San Antonio, Texas
Adams Hill, Alta Vista, Arena District, Big Country, Blanco Woods, Denver Heights, Dominion, East Side, Eastside Promise Neighborhood, Eden, Edgewood, El Dorado, Five Points, Forest Oak, Government Hill
Things to do in San Antonio, Texas
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Capt. Roy Taylor
SkyTeam 11 HD pilot
Tour SkyTeam 11, Ask Us - 16956160Capt. Roy R. Taylor Jr. is the pilot and reporter for WBAL-TV 11's news helicopter, SkyTeam 11 HD.
Roy, a Baltimore native, grew up in Roland Park and has lived in Maryland most of his life. He attended Roland Park Elementary School, Roland Park Junior High, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Community College of Baltimore County and the Baltimore County Police Academy.
Roy spent more than 26 years with the Baltimore County Police Department having being assigned to Central Traffic Division, Fullerton District, Marine Unit and the Aviation Unit. He actually started the Aviation Unit in 1983 by purchasing a Cessna 150 airplane, fixing it up for police work and donating it to the Police Department.
Roy obtained his private pilot's license in 1974 at the old Baltimore Airpark in Baltimore County. He now holds pilot ratings for Airline Transport Pilot Rotorcraft-Helicopter, Commercial Airplane single engine land, Commercial Airplane Multiengine Land, Instrument Airplane, Flight Instructor Rotorcraft-Helicopter and Flight Instructor Multiengine-Airplane with more than 19,000 hours of logged flight time.
Roy retired from the Police Department in July 1998 to start a helicopter news program at a Baltimore television station, where he became the city's first pilot reporter.
Roy has earned a Certificate of Valour in 1999 for the Charles Tower Fire from the Maryland State Police and an Emmy Nomination for Spot News in 2000.
Roy then joined WBAL-TV on Sept. 1, 2003. Since coming on board, he covered spot news, often breaking stories from the air. Roy also files special reports as part of the "Discover Maryland" segments, which won an award from Maryland's Department of Tourism Development.
Roy is the first pilot/reporter to earn an Emmy award for Outstanding Program Achievement for exclusively covering a during July 27, 2004, and has won three overall. He continues to be as aggressive as possible to keep Marylanders informed on breaking news.
To submit a question to Roy and see his pictures from the air, just click here.

subset: commoncrawl


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The gonad chronicles part 1: Neutering's newest controversy
Veterinarians and owners alike are troubled by a new study linking castration and ovariohysterectomy with an increased risk of disease-including some cancers. Should this study change the way we discuss and perform such common, recommended procedures?
Next >
This is the first article of a two-part dvm360 series focusing on neutering and the effect of hormones on the development of both physical and behavioral concerns (see the Related Links section below for a link to part 2). The following article will explore new research focusing on joint disorders and cancers in both neutered and intact golden retrievers.
All fields, even those governed by scientific principles, are affected by cultural shifts and trends. We see these effects daily in how pet dogs are treated. Dog parks and doggie daycare are modern inventions reflecting both our culture (no one is home for much of the day) and social trends (dog parks offer welcome opportunities for humans to socialize as well). These examples reflect another deeper change in our culture: that dogs are viewed as family members. Many owners believe their pets have social, cognitive and behavioral needs that require special attention.
So when a research team from the University of California-Davis (UCD) published a paper earlier this year titled, "Neutering dogs: effects on joint disorders and cancers in golden retrievers,"1 it's no surprise that both veterinarians and dog owners felt unmoored from one of their cultural tenets—that we should neuter dogs for population control and for their health. Listservs and specialists have been inundated with questions about whether we should stop neutering dogs on the basis of this new information. To answer such questions, let's step back, take a deep breath, critically review the data and use it for risk analysis.
Designing the study
Hormones' effect on the development, progression and treatment outcomes for cancer has been a focus of intense research for decades, but very few populations of any species routinely castrate or perform ovariohysterectomy (OHE) on healthy animals. The exceptional population is dogs in the United States. Most dogs in this country are neutered, in contrast to Scandinavia, where most dogs are intact. Early prepubertal neutering has become more common here over the past 25 years, largely to control the homeless dog population. Additionally, routine veterinary recommendations for dog owners include neutering the pet if there is no intent to breed. These two factors together suggest that American dogs offer a good population for anyone interested in studying the time penetrance of hormonal factors on behavioral and physical health. Accordingly, the authors of the UCD PLOS One paper sought to investigate whether neutering (OHE and castration) created any real increased risk of cancer or other conditions—or offered protection from them—as had been proposed in a series of papers published mostly within the last two decades.
The historical data on hormones and behavioral and physical development suggest that the effects are complex and not always independent of social and physical environments. Hormonal effects on many cancers are also complex. Because hormones affect multiple organ systems, neutering represents an experimental manipulation of all of those systems. The PLOS One study included both male and female dogs and compared those that were intact and those that were neutered. The neutered population was further split into dogs neutered early (/= 12 months).
The authors sought to retrospectively examine the potential effects of neutering on a series of conditions within one breed (in an attempt to control for variation due to breed). They chose a common breed (golden retriever) that has a relatively high incidence of neoplasia. Golden retriever breed clubs also have an active interest in breed health. Because the study was retrospective, the authors sought to further control for differences in populations and diagnosis by using a single hospital database. Uncontrolled variation is a serious problem in epidemiological and risk studies because such variation interferes with interpretation of both statistical and biological effects.
The authors examined seven conditions that breeders identified as concerns for golden retrievers: hip dysplasia (HD), cranial cruciate ligament tear (CCL), lymphosarcoma (LSA), hemangiosarcoma (HAS), mast cell tumors (MCT), osteosarcoma (OSA) and elbow dysplasia. These conditions have been the subject of other papers—not always with the same conclusions—examining effects of neutering and hormones (see the references in the PLOS One paper). All of these conditions would be assessed in the context of the three treatment groups: intact, early neutered and late neutered retrievers.
Assembling the study group
All of the study dogs came from the veterinary teaching hospital database at UCD. Intact and neutered male and female golden retrievers were required to be between 1 and 8 years old, admitted between Jan. 1, 2000 and Dec. 31, 2009 and with the following data in their records: date of birth, date of neutering and date of diagnosis or onset. The authors also collected a body condition score when available. Researchers only included diseases that were present in a minimum of 15 cases (1.5 per year of the study). Furthermore, there had to be evidence linking clinical signs to the disease diagnosis or the dog was not included in the study. Once all of these criteria were met, the sample size for each group was determined (Table 1).
Dogs less than 1 year of age and those 9 years of age and older were not considered for the study, which means that we don't know the outcomes for dogs who were disease-free before the age of 9, but not after. We also have incomplete follow-up for those flagged as affected once they aged out of the study, a finding that limits conclusions about survivorship and potential quality of life. In addition, age of onset may not have been noted or known. Sometimes this information was provided by the referring veterinarian or the owner and not a UCD pathologist.
An attempt was made to ensure that age of neutering preceded age of onset for all dogs included in the study, but because of the insidious ways in which many cancers develop and because of the highly variable times of neutering, this goal may not have been met. The authors are completely aware of these limitations and excluded some patients for one disease, but included them for another. The authors further note, "A case could be considered as intact for one disease if onset was prior to neutering and considered as late-neutered for another disease that may have occurred after neutering."
For all of these reasons, collecting prospective data is preferred for establishing many risks and most mechanisms, but by definition, such studies take a long time. Retrospective studies, on the other hand, are often used to identify associations that may be further investigated in a prospective study, and the PLOS One paper is no exception (for more information, check out the Morris Animal Foundation's project on golden retrievers at www.caninelifetimehealth.org/#About/GoldenRetrieverLifetimeStudy). With a retrospective study, you hope that your sample size is large enough that, within the bounds of your specified conditions, you can still say something interesting and potentially helpful.
Reviewing the results of the study
Early versus late neutered dogs: When comparing early neutered (/= 12 months) males, there was a statistically significant difference in the number of dogs with CCL and LSA. A greater percentage of early neutered males were diagnosed with these conditions. Two statistical tests with slightly different assumptions were used for each analysis. Only one of these tests produced a statistically significant effect with respect to HD and more early neutered males were diagnosed with this condition. For females, there was a statistically significant difference only for those affected with CCL, reflecting a greater percentage among early neutered dogs.
Early neutered versus intact dogs: When comparing early neutered with intact male dogs, there was a statistically significant difference in the number of dogs diagnosed with HD, CCL and LSA. A greater percentage of neutered males was diagnosed with these conditions. For females, there was a statistically significant difference only for CCL, with more early neutered dogs being diagnosed.
Late neutered versus intact dogs: There was no statistically significant effect for any of these conditions when late neutered dogs were compared with intact dogs.
Using this data, we can now identify specific patterns of concern by comparing the numbers in each group. However, we cannot establish "risk" in a true statistical sense because of the data's limitations. (The relevant data can be found in Tables 2 and 3.)
So what can we say? In this sample of golden retrievers, between the ages of 1 and 8, inclusive, and admitted to the veterinary teaching hospital at UCD over a decade of study, the number of male dogs with HD who were early neutered (N=16) was twice that of dogs who were intact (N=17). In early neutered dogs of both sexes, the early neutered dogs (N=9 for males and N=13 for females) were more likely to have CCL than either intact (N=0 for males and N=0 for females) or late neutered dogs (N=1 for males and N=0 for females). Early neutered males (N=17) had three times the occurrence of LSA compared with intact males (N=5), for the 22 total male dogs diagnosed over the decade of the study.
Putting the research into practice
The authors note that they cannot extend their results to other breeds, or even to dogs, in general. Imagine if all of the dogs that had no disease at the age of 8 developed it at the age of 10 and dropped dead? The analysis would look vastly different. We know cancer is a time-penetrant condition, and early cancers, especially those of pre-reproductive age, are rare in any species.
Any causal attribution for neutering and neoplasia and other non-behavioral pathologies is also premature. But we may be able to use breed to identify when there may be an increased genetic risk—and hence a putative mechanism—for any type of disease. The PLOS One study did not consider that some of the dogs in their study could be members of overlapping family lines and hence not independent cases. The study also did not address another type of breed canalization—that associated with work. Dogs that are bred for conformation versus work, whether the work is as a military working dog, a herding dog or a field trial dog, are different both behaviorally and genetically. In turn, these groups may produce different outcomes for such studies. Given these state-of-the-art data, we can conclude that there is no one recommendation that will fit each client and each dog.
If the dog is a shelter or rescue animal, neuter the dog immediately if it's healthy enough to undergo the procedure. The risk here—especially in a country like the United States where unwanted, neglected dogs number in the millions—is that we must decrease the population entering shelters. And, although puppies are considered more adoptable, we must decrease the number of pups coming in from the street or being born into shelters. Too many of these young animals may have epigenetic effects from poor maternal and grandmaternal experiences, and too many of them have poor early or in utero nutrition.2
This is a formula for creating pathological reactivity, and I see a nonstop stream of these dogs in my patient population, in shelters and rescues, and through those who e-mail me for help. The Scandinavians do not seem to have the same unwanted dog population that we do, so they make different decisions. But we must intervene in this tragic situation.
Note: In the second part of this series, we will review data outlining neutering and hormonal effects on behavior and look at some more information about hormones and neoplasia.
Dr. Karen L. Overall is a researcher, editor of The Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, and author of more than 100 publications, dozens of chapters and a new book, The Manual of Clinical Behavioral Medicine for Dogs and Cats.
1. De la Riva GT, Hart BL, Farver TB, Oberbauer AM, Messam LL, Willits N, Hart LA. Neutering dogs: effects on joint disorders and cancers in golden retrievers. PLOS One 2013;8(2):e55937.
2. Overall KL. Editorial: Caring for the brains of young pups. Vet Rec 2011;169(18):465-466.


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The Guess Who
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The Guess Who
Biography by Steve Huey
While the Guess Who did have several hits in America, they were superstars in their home country of Canada during the 1960s and early '70s. The band grew out of vocalist/guitarist Chad Allan (born Allan Kobel) and guitarist Randy Bachman's Winnipeg-based group Chad Allan and the Expressions, originally known as first the Silvertones and then the Reflections. The remainder of the lineup featured bassist Jim Kale, pianist Bob Ashley, and drummer Garry Peterson. The Expressions recorded a cover of Johnny Kidd and the Pirates' "Shakin' All Over" in 1965, which became a surprise hit in Canada and reached the U.S. Top 40. When the Expressions recorded an entire album of the same name, its record company, Quality, listed their name as "Guess Who?" on the jacket, hoping to fool record buyers into thinking that the British Invasion-influenced music was actually by a more famous group in disguise. Ashley had been replaced by keyboardist/vocalist Burton Cummings, who became lead vocalist when Allan departed in 1966. The Guess Who embarked on an unsuccessful tour of England and returned home to record commercials and appear on the television program Let's Go, hosted by Chad Allan. However, further American success eluded the Guess Who until the 1969 Top Ten hit "These Eyes"; the recording session for the accompanying album, Wheatfield Soul, was paid for by producer Jack Richardson, who mortgaged his house to do so. Canned Wheat Packed by the Guess Who produced three Top 40 singles later that year. In 1970, the Guess Who released the cuttingly sarcastic riff-rocker "American Woman," which, given its anti-American putdowns, ironically became their only U.S. chart-topper. The album of the same name became their first U.S. Top Ten and first gold album, and the group performed for President and Mrs. Nixon and Prince Charles at the White House. (Pat Nixon requested that "American Woman" be dropped from the set list.)
Trouble was brewing on the horizon, though. Guitarist Bachman, having recently converted to Mormonism, took issue with the band's typical rock & roll lifestyle, leading to clashes with Cummings. Finding the atmosphere unbearable, Bachman left the group in July 1970 and formed Brave Belt with Chad Allan, which later evolved into Bachman-Turner Overdrive. His place in the Guess Who was taken by Kurt Winter and Greg Leskiw, and the title track from their next album, "Share the Land," climbed into the Top Ten later that year, and several more singles charted afterwards. The group returned to the Top Ten one last time in 1974 with the novelty single "Clap for the Wolfman," featuring dialogue by deejay Wolfman Jack. Burdened by shifting personnel and loss of direction, Cummings broke up the band in 1975 and tried a solo career. The lineup from the Guess Who's glory years reunited in 1983, and a version of the group with constantly shifting musicians (occasionally original members) continues to tour.
Content provided by All Music Guide. (C) 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.


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Researchers from the Whitehead Institute and Genset Corp. have found a new compound that controls weight gain in obese mice without affecting their food intake.
When administered in daily low doses, the compound, called gAcrp30, caused profound and sustained weight loss in chubby mice eating a cafeteria diet -- meals high in fat and sugar, and available in unlimited quantities. Continuing the low daily doses allowed the mice to keep the weight off over a sustained period of time despite their fattening diet.
The results will be published in the Proceedings of the National Academies of Science on February 6 on the web and on February 13 in print.
"The human gAcrp30 protein was used in these mouse studies, but much further research is needed to determine whether this substance can be used in [humans] as an aid in weight loss," said Professor of Biology Harvey Lodish, a member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and lead author of the paper. "Such a therapy is urgently needed by the many thousands of obese patients who suffer from related health problems such as diabetes."
Humans have developed a very efficient mechanism to store fat -- a survival mechanism that allowed our hunter-gatherer ancestors to withstand long periods of time without food. However, this boon has become a curse in modern times, with our constant, abundant food supply. Food is broken down in our intestines to form free fatty acids, which are then absorbed by the body and circulated in the blood. When we don't expend energy, the free fatty acids can be stored for the long term as fat or converted to sugar and stored for short-term use as glycogen.
About five years ago, researchers from Professor Lodish's lab cloned a protein secreted only by fat cells. Called Acrp30, this protein was suspected to be a hormone, but not much was known about its function. The protein was patented by the Whitehead Institute and licensed to Genset in 1999.
Over the past year, researchers at Whitehead and Genset discovered that one particular fragment of Acrp30, called gAcrp30, is naturally produced by the body and works in a completely different manner compared to most available weight-loss agents.
Most weight-loss drugs work by either preventing the body from absorbing fatty acids in the intestine, or by inhibiting the breakdown of fatty acids so they are excreted from the body rather than stored as fat. In contrast, the gAcrp30 circulates in blood and causes muscle to burn fatty acids faster so they aren't stored as fat. The result is weight loss without the complications of having fatty acid pass through the body. This is especially significant since 25 percent of our weight is muscle, making muscle the most important tissue for removing fatty acid from the blood and using it for energy.
The mice treated with gAcrp30 showed significantly reduced levels of free fatty acids as well as decreased glucose and triglyceride levels in their blood despite their high-fat diet. Even treated mice that were directly injected with fat showed these lowered levels indicating that the protein rids the body of fatty acids without interfering with intestinal absorption.
The other Whitehead author of the paper is Tsu-Shuen Tsao, a postdoctoral fellow in the Lodish lab.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on February 7, 2001.


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SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. — A pair of skeletons for sale at a Pennsylvania auction house went for more than a couple of bones.
A Lancaster County antiques dealer bought both skeletons Tuesday at Tom Hall Auctions in Schnecksville. A male skeleton in a tuxedo went for $900 and his Bible-carrying female counterpart went for $950.
The skeletons are believed to be of German or Irish origin in the late 19th or early 20th century. They each were owned at one point by a New York mortician's museum and the Independent Order of Oddfellows, the likely origin of their accessories.
Auction winner Bill Wood says he bought the skeletons to go along with another he has at Old Mill Antiques, his Strasburg shop. He plans to resell all three.


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Miami Dolphins on 'Hard Knocks' is shrewd business
Miami Dolphins training camp will be featured in the documentary series 'Hard Knocks' for its upcoming season. While some teams declined offers to appear on the HBO show, 'Hard Knocks' is a good fit for for a Miami Dolphins team struggling with falling ticket sales and a decade of football irrelevance.
The HBO documentary series "Hard Knocks," which follows one NFL team through preseason training camp, has chronicled defending Super Bowl champs, colorful coaches, and rookies battling for a shot in the NFL. This season, the show will be following the Miami Dolphins, rookie Dolphins coach Joe Philbin announced in a press conference Tuesday. Co-produced by NFL Films, the seventh season of "Hard Knocks" will debut Aug. 7, running five episodes.
Getting the right team for "Hard Knocks" can be a tricky business. Popular, successful teams like the Green Bay Packers or defending Super Bowl champ New York Giants have huge fan bases, storied histories, strong brand recognition, and a large potential viewership – "Hard Knocks," would love to have them (the series debut in 2002 followed the Baltimore Ravens, fresh off their own Super Bowl title). But those teams have little impetus to allow HBO and NFL Films into their facilities, where team dynamics and interpersonal dramas will be aired for public consumption. The series is renowned for its intimate access to players and personnel, which can be a mixed blessing for featured teams. By contrast, mediocre teams with small fan followings, like the Jacksonville Jaguars or the Cincinnati Bengals, won't have viewers flocking to HBO.
The Dolphins, however, may be the perfect fit. A storied franchise with a long history and good brand recognition, the Dolphins have been among the NFL's bottom feeders for a solid decade, since Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino and coach Jimmie Johnson made their exits. The 'Phins have had seven coaches since Johnson left in 1999. Playing in a tough AFC East division that includes both the Patriots and the Jets, Miami hasn't made the playoffs since 2008.
In recent years, the Dolphins have been mostly famous for poor ticket sales and a front office thoroughly despised by its fans. In an effort to boost interest in the team, owner Stephen Ross has sold minority stakes in the team to a slew of Miami celebrities, including singer Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, and tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. In March, a group of Dolphins fans protested outside Sun Life Stadium, calling for General Manager Jeff Ireland to be fired. The team's offseason thus far has been an exercise in failure – Peyton Manning, Alex Smith, Matt Flynn, and coach Jeff Fisher were all seriously courted by the Dolphins, then chose to go elsewhere.
"Hard Knocks" will make people care about Dolphins players who aren't necessarily household names (among the story lines sure to be featured is a quarterback competition among the Dolphins' top draft pick, Ryan Tannehill, presumed starter Matt Moore, and aging veteran David Gerrard). The Dolphins' reviled front office will have a chance to humanize itself and explain some of the failures of the offseason.
And a few stars may emerge. New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan became a superstar after the his team's 2010 "Hard Knocks" appearance, thanks to his loud-mouthed coaching style and a series of colorful sound bites (which we can't print here). Dolphins coach Philbin, who used to be offensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, is the first rookie coach so far to appear on "Hard Knocks," and the show is an opportunity for Dolphins fans to get to know their new leader.
Such familiarity could translate into a boost in ticket sales. In a crowded sports market that includes the NBA's Heat, baseball's Marlins, and yet another storied powerhouse, the University of Miami Hurricanes, that's something the Dolphins sorely need.


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Skryclad: Clothed In Visions
Observations of the light and the dark of what is, was, and might be in the Pagan community's expansion and evolution.
Magickal Religion
In my first post in this blog, I shared my working definition for the term path. In brief, a person's path is the synthesis and the summation of their spiritual, religious, and magickal undertakings. If you have not read the first blog, I hope that you take time to read it.
I'd like to say a few things about magickal religions and what the adjective "magickal" means in this context. All religions have an exoteric and an esoteric component though they vary in the proportions of each and how they are expressed. One of the simplest examples of this is the idea that sacred teachings can be taken to have a literal exoteric meaning and also a hidden teaching that is only found through an esoteric understanding of the same words. The exoteric portion of religion tends to be normative (about how we should live) while the esoteric portion of a religion tends to be transformative. Magickal religions have a larger proportion of the esoteric than the exoteric. Magickal religions tend to have fewer restrictions on gaining access to esoteric teachings or experiences than mainstream/non-magickal religions. Another important distinction about the nature of magickal religions is that their members are more likely to be practitioners of some esoteric art or science. Although on the surface it may appear that prayer, faith healing, and similar practices are comparable to ritual or operative magick there are substantial differences. Magickal practitioners have a more active engagement and understanding of the process that they use to access the powers and forces that they are a part of their religion.
Devotion in both exoteric and esoteric religion is an expression of a loving connection to the Divine; however its manifestations are different. Examples of exoteric devotion include studying sacred texts, doing good works, the repetition of prayers, etc. Examples of esoteric devotion include ecstatic practices, divine possession, and magickal rituals (not to be confused with teaching based services). In both exoteric and esoteric religious actions, a person's relationship to devotion informs both their style of action and the type of assistance they receive in their pursuits. In magickal religions, the test for what constitutes devotion is determined more by a person's spiritual reality than external teachings. In non-magickal religions, what constitutes devotion is more determined by external authority. This in turn results in divergent approaches to both theurgy and mysticism that I'll explore at some other time.
You may have heard of magick being described as black and white, as the seven colors of the rainbow rays, and more schemes. Let me suggest a threefold arrangement for the describing the flavors of magick that is compatible with most of the other tags in common usage. Many traditions acknowledge the value of the three-fold division of the Lower Self, Middle Self, and Higher Self though variant terms are used to name these divisions. For those unfamiliar with these terms, you can think of the Lower Self as the elemental dreaming self, the Middle Self as the waking talking self, and the Higher Self as the eternal divine self. By extension, magick can be thought of as Low, Middle, or High magick depending upon which part of self is the most dynamic. Most magick uses all three in varying combinations but usually one is predominant. The use of the terms High and Low magick are routinely described by the intention and the outcome of the working. Instead, I propose that a three-fold division is more useful and that the parts of self that are engaged in the work determine the category that is applied. I believe that it is the norm in Paganism to use Low, Middle, and High magick.
Names and labels have power in the the Low, Middle, and High domains. In my next blog I'll explore the use of names and labels such as Pagan, Wiccan, etc. as exoteric and esoteric constructs. This may clarify and/or create more controversy about their usage.
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When the socialist revolution comes, the first shot will not come from filthy peasants bearing flaming torches or angry, poorly dressed workers demanding higher wages. No, listening to the anti-government chatter these days, it's clear that the new socialist revolution will be spearheaded by a lone asparagus.
The vegetables are coming, my friends. Green, gassy, fibrous vegetables. They aren't buttered. Or salted. And this time, they mean business.
Last week, flush with his victory in a lawsuit challenging the president's health care initiative, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced gravely that "if we cross this line with health care now—this unconstitutional line—where the government can force us to buy a private product and say it's for our own good, then we'll have given the government the power to force us to buy other products: cars, gym memberships, asparagus. The list goes on." Broccoli? Belgian endive? The list indeed goes on.
Perhaps not surprisingly, Cuccinelli's rhetorical choice perfectly echoed a question federal Judge Henry Hudson posed to the Obama administration during the October argument of the case Cuccinelli just won, as Hudson wondered aloud at the time whether the government could require people "to buy a car, to join a gym, to eat asparagus."
Using the same logic, columnist George Will conjured the dread specter of the state brandishing broccoli when he wrote at the start of this month that if congressional power to regulate interstate commerce "is infinitely elastic, Congress can do anything—eat your broccoli, or else—and America no longer has a limited government." Don't think there's anything that sinister about broccoli, friends? Think again. That broccoli is just a front for the New World Order.
Think about it. If the asparagus and broccoli are really coming to knock down our doors and kidnap our children, can helicopters loaded with cauliflower really be that far behind? And what of the eggplant in night-vision goggles? If we're soon to be governed by a totalitarian taxonomy of toxic greens, who—one wonders—will sound the warning against the tyrannical field peas?
Some government critics are less specific than Cuccinelli in their vegetable-takeover threats. For them, all leafy greens are created equal, and each carries a broad, if unspecified, danger. For such critics, green vegetables are more anti-liberty than antioxidant. So here is Rep. Paul Broun, R-Ga., boldly speaking out against the dread generic-fruit-and-vegetable at a town hall meeting last October: "The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta said people in America are not eating enough fruits and vegetables. They want to give all the power to the federal government to force you to eat more fruits and vegetables. This is what the federal, CDC, they gonna be calling you to make sure you eat fruits and vegetables, every day. This is socialism of the highest order!"
If, like me, you are surprised to learn that your mother, your grandmother, and that kindly little cucumber from Veggie Tales were all committed socialists of the highest order, that's just because you haven't yet clued in to their nefarious plan.
When, at her July confirmation hearings, Elena Kagan failed to dispel the Hudson/Broun/Cuccinelli claim that the socialist revolution will come with balsamic on the side, the deal was sealed. When pinned down by a glassy-eyed Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., on the not-so-hypothetical question of whether Congress could actually pass a law forcing Americans to eat "three fruits and three vegetables every day," Kagan replied that it just sounded like a "dumb law." This was seen by some conservatives as the greatest gotcha moment in Commerce Clause history. Clearly, the despotic liberal project of force-feeding Americans vegetables has moved past the planning stages and into reality. They're coming to get your children, America, and they're coming by way of the salad bar.
If ever a revolution were being fomented from the ground up, this is it.
What is it about conservatives and their fear of vegetables? And how did those selfsame politicians who purport to be from "agriculture states" reconcile that fact with their bottomless hatred of all things that grow in the ground? Al Franken famously mused that Republicans have never forgiven liberals for "Freedom Riding, bra burning, pot smoking, free-loving, tree-hugging, draft-dodging, Woodstock-attending, Woodstock-overdosing, God not-fearing, and carrot cake. They've never forgiven us for carrot cake." Some say this all started when President Ronald Reagan first embraced ketchup as a vegetable and culminated when George H.W. Bush famously banned suspicious greens from Air Force One by proclaiming, Sam-I-am-like, that: "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm president of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli!"
By then, the lines in the national vegetable wars were clearly drawn. In 1988, Dan Quayle hoisted Michael Dukakis on the end of a Belgian endive, claiming that the former Massachusetts governor was an out-of-touch vegetable elitist. (Not only was Dukakis telling Iowa farmers to grow an obscure and leafy green, he was also subtly suggesting that foreign vegetables were better than domestic ones.) President Obama took yet more Republican heat in the summer of 2007 for suggesting that farmers in Iowa might have checked out the price of arugula. Arugula! They're still reeling from that one over at Fox and Friends, where the word arugula is code for "violent Nazi-style total world dominion."
There's a long, illustrious pedigree to the political food smear. Consider this classic 2004 attack ad, describing Howard Dean as a "tax-hiking, government-expanding, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show."
To be sure, a goodly amount of the conservative complaints about healthy food are thinly veiled slurs on women in general and Michelle Obama in particular. Last week, Sarah Palin lectured Laura Ingraham on the first lady's socialist plot to promote healthy eating: "Take her anti-obesity thing that she is on. She is on this kick, right. What she is telling us is she cannot trust parents to make decisions for their own children, for their own families in what we should eat." And when Rush Limbaugh goes after Michelle Obama for the same reasons, he doesn't even bother to hide the fact that he hates her for being a woman (note his classy references to her wardrobe and to "Michelle My Butt") as much as for her love of vegetables ("Gotta eat healthy stuff, gotta eat the garbage that she grows in the garden, nothing but fruits and vegetables").
Come to think of it, the very word "nanny state"—so frequently linked to GOP anti-vegetablist rhetoric—suggests that, much like George H.W. Bush, what most Republicans are really trying to work through with all this veggie fear-mongering, is their issues with their mothers.
Look, you're not going to get me to say a single nice word about green vegetables. I think maybe Gertrude Stein said it best when she reminded us that "a vegetable garden in the beginning looks so promising and then after all little by little it grows nothing but vegetables, nothing, nothing but vegetables." But if you really believe that the president plans to initiate a new world order by way of healthy field greens, it's also possible that you're a little bananas.


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Concurrent activation of RAS/ERK and PI3K/AKT pathways is implicated in prostate cancer progression. The negative regulators of these pathways, including sprouty2 (SPRY2), protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A), and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), are commonly inactivated in prostate cancer. The molecular basis of cooperation between these genetic alterations is unknown. Here, we show that
Rachana Patel, Meiling Gao, Imran Ahmad, Janis Fleming, Lukram B. Singh, Taranjit Singh Rai, Arthur B. McKie, Morag Seywright, Robert J. Barnetson, Joanne Edwards, Owen J. Sansom, Hing Y. Leung


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Submitted by Michael J. Del Moro, FrontLines Intern, USAID
The buzz about a fresh, youthful energy infiltrating the agency was at full pitch today when a group of student interns got the chance to meet Administrator Shah in an informal setting. For months, young-ins like me had experienced the abundance of energy and passion for success at USAID and have now found the source: a sharp, well-spoken leader with the ability to change the way people think about development.
Forty of my colleagues and I had the privilege of taking pictures with Dr. Shah and listening to his plea for us to accept that the big issues of world hunger, disease and lawlessness are not indefinite tragedies, but solvable problems.
The Administrator spoke off-the-cuff for about 10 minutes before fielding questions ranging from how he got to where he is to how he intends to improve Agency deficiencies like understaffing.
Interns walked away with a photo with a VIP and insight into USAID leadership. I hope the Administrator walked away excited about our enthusiasm. We are proud to be the next generation of development professionals.


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This team is not about one person. It was a big question mark when Chuckie got hurt, but we have a freshman that came out here and put on his big boy pants. – Travis Reynolds, USU receiver
LOGAN — Darrell Garretson didn't think he was going to get a chance to play for Utah State this year, but the true freshman quarterback has the Aggies just a game away from bowl eligibility.
In only his second career start, Garretson enjoyed a day that some veteran quarterbacks only dream of. The baby-faced signal-caller threw for 370 yards, the most ever for a freshman at USU, and three touchdowns as Utah State efficiently routed hapless Hawaii 47-10 on Saturday.
"I knew this day was going to come," senior wide receiver Travis Reynolds said about Garretson. "As a freshman he has poise and I see him as a leader and a lot of players on this team see him as a leader."
Garretson's favorite target was Reynolds, who tied a career high with eight receptions for a career-high 152 yards and a score. Reynolds was hit hard on his first catch, resulting in a personal foul that ejected Hawaii safety Marrell Jackson. Later in the quarter Reynolds drew another 15-yard penalty when he was hit late out of bounds.
All the hard Hawaii hits only served as motivation to Reynolds.
"I told them, 'I would be mad too if I was you,'" Reynolds said. "'You are trying to stop the No. 1 receiver on the team.'"
Outside of Hawaii's first drive of each half, the Aggies (5-4, 4-1 MWC) were outstanding defensively. The Warriors (0-8, 0-6 MWC) were held to 319 yards overall and 59 yards rushing.
USU picked off quarterback Sean Schroeder three times, with the highlight coming late in the third quarter when linebacker Kyler Fackrell jumped over Hawaii's running back to grab an interception on the goal line. Fackrell then weaved through traffic before leaving everyone in the dust for a 99-yard touchdown return. It was the third-longest interception return in school history.
"It was really tiring. I was exhausted afterward," Fackrell said.
Perhaps the only thing that went wrong for Utah State was some ineffectiveness inside the red zone on offense. The Aggies had to settle for field goals four times, a higher number than ideal for head coach Matt Wells. On the positive side, the occasionally shaky kicking game connected on all four kicks, three from Nick Diaz and a 52-yarder from Jake Thompson.
"I hold my breath every time they go out there. We didn't get one blocked today, right?" Wells asked rhetorically. "Everybody knows that I get upset when we don't score touchdowns in the red zone. ... I'm really proud of that unit. They've had a lot of scrutiny internally. For them to go out and perform well, I was very happy with them."
With Saturday's win the Aggies need just one more victory in their final three games to become bowl eligible, something that many thought would not be possible when quarterback Chuckie Keeton was lost for the year last month. With Garretson at the helm, the Aggies have steadied the ship and could make an appearance in the Mountain West title game should Boise State slip up.
"This team is not about one person," Reynolds said. "It was a big question mark when Chuckie got hurt, but we have a freshman that came out here and put on his big boy pants."
Utah State will take its pants on the road one more time this season — Saturday at UNLV. Following the game against the Rebels the Aggies will have an off-week before playing their final two games of the regular season at Romney Stadium — against Colorado State and Wyoming.
Kraig Williams is a 2010 Utah State University graduate and regular Deseret News sports blogger. He can be followed on Twitter @DesNewsKraig.


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For the past 60+ years, we lived in a world that incorrectly interpreted a statement from Albert Einstein, who allegedly claimed that nothing can move faster than the speed of light. Just like Moore's Law, people tend to "bend" its meaning until it has no meaning at all.
Scientist John Singleton created an interesting device that accelerates the radio waves until they pass the speed of light. Yes, you've read that correctly – by using a process that is similar to the way Pulsar stars emit light – John jerked radio waves until they caved in and passed their theoretical speed barrier.
With radio waves traveling faster than the speed of light, near real-time communication as seen in Star Trek is possible [traveling in Star Trek style is another thing], but more importantly, this has serious implications in the world of telecommunications and the design of computer chips.
For ages now, semiconductor industry thought that once that conventional ways of communication are used, a move to optical interconnects will be mandatory. Back in 2006, Intel demonstrated its own SOI [Silicon-On-Insulator] wafers that used the optical laser interconnect. As you might know, the latency inside computer chips increased due to the fact that electrons lost the ability to travel at the speed of light, hence the SRAM latencies of 1-4 cycles, up from the latency of 0 in Pentium 4 and original Athlon processors. If accelerated radio waves could be used, semiconductor industry just might enter a whole new era of speed.
Singleton stated that usages for his device are enormous: "Because nobody's really thought about things that travel faster than light before, this is a wide-open technological field". This discovery could revolutionize medical, communication, semiconductor, space exploration fields.
Who knows, last day of June 2009 might be hailed in scientific books in decades to come. From attacking cancer to complete change in way how astronomers search the universe above – accelerated radio waves just might be the silver bullet we needed.
Somehow, there is no doubt who just positioned himself as the prime candidate for Nobel's prize for Physics.


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Best-selling author Joe Kissell guides you through every step in the process of upgrading to Mountain Lion. You'll begin with a compatibility check, learn to make a suitable pre-upgrade backup, and then follow assorted pre-upgrade advice, including managing your Apple ID, deleting digital detritus, and making a safe copy of the installer file. Joe helps you pick an upgrade plan: in-place (easy), clean install (for control freaks), over Leopard (a time-saving option), and even how to move your stuff from an older Mac to a new one that's running Mountain Lion. He also describes the basics of installing Mountain Lion Server. After guiding you through the upgrade, Joe gets you started with key post-installation steps. You'll also find troubleshooting advice in case of upgrade failure, along with a chapter about Recovery mode.
In particular, you'll learn how to:
Manage iCloud: During your Mountain Lion installation, you'll be asked for an Apple ID, but should you enter one? And, if you have more than one, which one? You'll find advice for sorting out your Apple ID before you enter the installer.
Upgrade from Tiger or Leopard: How will you download the installer from the Mac App Store on one of these Macs? What about Rosetta for PowerPC-based apps? Joe answers these questions and discusses the special challenges you'll encounter when trying to upgrade efficiently from 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard.
Handle Your Hardware: Check for Mountain Lion compatibility, clear extra files and software off your disk, and test your Mac to be sure all the hardware and disks are running properly—better to discover and correct a problem now than on upgrade day.
Deal with duplication: Learn why having a duplicate of your hard disk is essential before installing Mountain Lion, and how to make one. Also, get help with backing up a Windows volume, should you be running Windows on your Mac via Boot Camp.
Consider a few geeky details: If you secure your data and documents with disk encryption now, or would like to under Mountain Lion, get advice on what to do before you upgrade and learn why Joe likes Apple's FileVault 2. Also, read what Joe thinks of partitioning and what you might want to do about it before installing.
Perform the upgrade: Run the Mountain Lion installer, choosing all the optimal settings and options for your computer and tastes, and make sure all your personal data is still in place afterward.
Perform post-installation tasks: You're not done when the installer is – be sure to run Software Update, set up necessary user accounts, and (perhaps) turn on FileVault and Time Machine. You'll find help with troubleshooting any problems that may have occurred with your upgrade.
Go beyond the basics: Joe even covers topics such as the basics of installing Mountain Lion Server; moving from an older Mac to a newer one that already has Mountain Lion installed; and using Recovery mode to fix disk problems, reinstall Mountain Lion, and perform other maintenance tasks.


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(CNN) - A former four-term Democratic congressman from Alabama and one time strong supporter of President Barack Obama will campaign for Mitt Romney Wednesday.
A Romney campaign aide confirms to CNN that Artur Davis will stump for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee in the battleground state of Virginia.
Artur Davis appears Wednesday on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." Watch the program from 4 p.m. ET – 7 p.m. ET.
- Follow the Ticker on Twitter: @PoliticalTicker
- Follow Paul Steinhauser on Twitter: @PsteinhauserCNN
Davis, who is black, may be best known for seconding Obama's nomination at the Democratic National Convention in 2008, when he served as an Obama campaign co-chairman. Davis said he had hoped Obama's presidency would make a huge dent in race relations, as well as move the Democratic Party further to the center.
In 2010, Davis made an unsuccessful bid for governor of Alabama. In May he announced he was switching to the GOP, leaving the door open to a future political bid as a Republican.
Davis said in June that he thinks his one time political party was becoming more unwelcoming towards Southern conservative Democrats.
"I think the Obama administration has candidly gone too far to the left. You can raise all kinds of questions on whether that's good politics or not," Davis said on CNN's "The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer." "Obviously the election will determine that."
The Romney campaign says Davis will team up with Virginia GOP Victory Chairman Pete Snyder and a local business owner at an event in Arlington.
Buzz Feed was first to report on the Davis appearance at the Romney campaign event.
The big pay off. He sold his soul for the almighty dollar . . . "Money, money, money" Next.
Yeah, good luck with that.
Davis is absolutely correct to believe that Republicans will improve race relations. They have a proud history in this realm – most recently with Bachmann's latest fear mongering.
Congressman Davis should be ashamed of his comments considering his pedigrees. I wonder if he is been following developments at home here with the super Pac contributions and negatives attack on both sides.Good luck in your desperate ambition. One thing I do know is that Americans are not stupid.
The tea party has taken the republicans so far to the right that being in the center looks extremely left. My question is: what was he promised to do this? If he had ANY integrity, he would say no and work to represent his constituents, regardless of party affiliation. This man has been bought and paid for by either the Koch brothers, or Adelson.
If I were an Alabamaian, I`d be concerned to have Davis in any position of leadership.
He is a self serving politician 1st and foremost at a time where America needs people who are smart and honest.
There is no way, given the Republican`s undermining of this President, as revealed in FEBRUARY of 2009 by Mitch McConnel`s plotting [which was caught on camera] , any honorable persom would blame the President And I for one wonlt reward them for their obstruction.
He sounds like sour grapes. He figured Pres O would nominate him for Secy of State or some other high position. Romney is promising him the moon now, too and when Romney loses, Davis' career will be what the mailman stepped in.
Oh yea Romney realy going to make a dent in race policys. stupit is as stupit does he belongs in the romney campaign
What a traitor. Americans don't like traitors and Arthur Davis will be treated like that.
I am sure the Republicans promished him millions to join their team. Let's give millionaires and billionaires more tax cuts and punish the middle class.
Obama / Biden 2012
Arthur Davis should be ashamed of himself,he knows very well he can NEVER get the black vote for a mormon & the racist republican/teaparty
Now heres a guy with a pair, good for you sir, stand up for your beliefs!!!!!
How can Davis be so foolish, and may I daresay, ignorant, as to think the the republicans will do a better job with race relations than President Obama?! The man is obviously delusional!!! Democrats should bid him GOOD RIDDANCE !
Awe he found one person of color to tout lies for his campaign. It won't work. This man is being used just like Michael Steele to try and get minorities into the republican fold. Too late, we see your true colors. Also Biden should not apologize for anything. What is good for the republicans is also good for the democrats, the difference is the republicans are cowards when it gets to hot for them.
Davis is a traitor. If Democrats moved more to the left; will you make Romney & Repubs move more to the center from the extreme right they are sitting at? It's all about where you can be given a political position as a poster child for the black. That's how some people turn their backs to those that helped them. You will soon find out you are loosing your integrity if you ever had one.
Proof that people will sell their souls for the mighty dollar. Obama too far left? The left complains he's too far right for them, are you serious? Again, I'm sure money had a little to do with this one.


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107: Launch & Promote Your Yoga Offering with Abby Herman
099: Branding Your Yoga Website with Kali Edwards
099: Branding Your Yoga Website with Kali Edwards
097: Focusing In On Your Niche [Consultation Call] with Susan Hopkinson
Podcast Reviews
- Great ContentAugust 10, 2022 by Aubmiddle from United States
Shannon offers such great content! Love what I'm learning from her- Amy Peele
- Just what I needed!August 4, 2022 by Lauralai44 from Australia
This is a fantastic podcast for new and continuing yoga teachers. I stumbled across this podcast when I was just about to start teaching, i.e. the moment when I realised there was still sooo much I didn't know! I did a 350hr YTT but as I graduated I felt like I had so much left to learn. I love the breadth and range of topics in this podcast, and Shannon's openness to different perspectives allows the listener to question and learn, no matter where they are at in their yoga journey. Every time I listen, I come away with more knowledge but also more questions! I love how Shannon and the team find people who are passionate about their area, it makes me so much more interested to listen and learn. I joined in for the pelvic health knowledge, but I'll be sticking around for connectedness, some accountability, and to keep broadening my scope of thought in the yoga realm. Thanks for keeping it real Shannon and always trying to honour real yoga in this podcast.
- so much actionable knowledgeJuly 13, 2022 by saradoane from United States
my new favorite yoga pod!
- Thank you so much for your inspirationJuly 7, 2022 by caroline Ligtenberg from Germany
Dear Shanon, You inspire me every Monday wenn I listen your new podcast. Thank you for the courage for the theme's you are lately on. I think it's time to rethink our thoughts and patterns about other people, cultures, gender and more. Yes! Now it's the time. And you give me a new question to think about every Monday. Also till next week! And stay strong and happy. Namasté (and I don't say this often, only wenn I feel it so. Also Namasté for you) Caroline Ligtenberg Do-In-Yoga.de
- I learn SOOOOO much!June 9, 2022 by myusernamesucks from Canada
Thank you thank you thank you Shannon for all you do. I cannot imagine my life without this podcast in it! I've learned so much about how to be an inclusive and caring yoga teacher. And I thought I already was!! There is not one episode that at the end I thought I didn't learn anything. So many nuggets and takeaways. I appreciate you and your team so much. Sending you so much love and gratitude. -Kelly


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Ford's chief marketer Jim Farley has overseen some of the company's most important successes of the past few years, ones that have made it the most profitable automaker in America. How does he get motivated? By vowing to "fuck GM." UPDATED
The quotes come from early copies of "Once Upon A Car," a book about the Carpocalypse by well-respected New York Times reporter Bill Vlasic due to be published in October. Circulating widely among Detroit auto industry types, Farely's words are already causing a stir:
"What Jim Farley really wanted to do was kick the daylights out of General Motors. "I'm going to beat Chevrolet on the head with bat," he said with a slightly wicked smile. "And I'm going to enjoy it." There was a saying going around Ford: GM was like the kid who was born on third base and yells out, "Hey Ma, I hit a triple!" Farley and his fellow Ford executives and workers were ready to rumble."
...This was like the glory days again — Ford versus GM, let the better car company win. "We're going to beat on them, and it's going to be fun," said Farley. "F—- GM. I hate them and their company and what
they stand for. And I hate the way they're succeeding."
This may seem like typical corporate yo-mama speak, but after nearly a century of coexistence in the same city, Detroit's automakers have a Marquess of Queensberry-type code about competition, where public trash talking is taboo. (Even in commercials, the criticism is often soft-pedaled.) GM CEO Dan Akerson made several gaffes in his June interview with The Detroit News, but among the biggest was saying Ford "might as well sprinkle holy water" on Lincoln — even though he's right.
In response to the quotes, GM spokesman Jay Cooney told us:
"We would not have expected such crass words coming from Ford."
I bet the answer in other parts of GM involves swinging baseball bats.
UPDATE: We asked Ford if the company had a reaction, and this was the reply from spokesman John Stoll:
We have not yet seen the book and are unable to comment on the specific quotes. This is a passionate, competitive industry, and we respect all of our competitors.
You can keep up with Justin Hyde, the author of this post, on Twitter or Facebook.


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Digestion and fusion are key steps in geochemical sample preparation. Digestion dissolves the sample into a liquid phase, which is required for most instruments.
The digestion technique used depends on the end use of the data. Fusion involves the total digestion of the sample in molten flux, then casting the melts into discs. The type of flux used depends on the type of sample, the element(s) of interest being analyzed and the instrument being used for analysis.
SGS works with you to evaluate your requirements and helps you to select the digestion or fusion most appropriate for your samples:
- Two-Acid Digest / Aqua Regia Digest
- Multi-Acid (4-Acid) Digest
- Fusion
When you need to be sure of procedures, protocols and laboratory practice, trust SGS's global network of expertise and experience.
C/ Trespaderne 29,
Edif. Barajas I. Barrio Aeropuerto, 28042,
Madrid, Madrid, Spain


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The recent news that ATL rapper Shawty Lo (of Laffy Taffy fame) may be the potential star of a new reality show featuring him, his 11 children, and his 10 baby mamas had this feminist searching for somebody's pearls to clutch, seeing as how even the First Lady's love of pearls has not inspired me to cop a strand of my own.
I watched the trailer for this latest train wreck out of Atlanta in mild disgust and mega internal conflict. On the one hand, I felt compelled to embrace this potential portrayal of what one friend called an "alternate family." I mean, my family, composed of my single mom, my only-child self, my cousins who were stand-ins for big brothers, and more recently my step-family is certainly "alternate." At least I felt that way as a kid when I was asked to fill out those old-school ditto sheets with the members of my family, which curiously left absent slots for cousins and aunties and grandparents.
And when I see the "rabid" nature of respectability politics that makes grown-ass women feel justified in referring to other sisters hustling trying to make it as "brood mares" I am reminded that I don't ever wanna be down with the myopia and pathology of the respectability racket either! It is so absolutely clear that this respectability shit IS.NOT. working, no matter how much we remix it. The refusal to see that requires what I like to call indignant ignorance, and frankly ain't nobody got time for that!
On the other hand: this Shawty-Lo biznass is utterly ratchet! And ratchetness gives me pause, every single time! It's meant to. Ratchet acts are meant to be so over-the-top and outrageous that they catch your attention and exceed the bounds of acceptable saying.
This is the manner and mode of ratchetness that Bey seems to be invoking (successfully or not, you be the judge) in this pic which had the internets all ablaze over the weekend.
Bey's ratchetness is about flamboyance, about doing the most, and "Bey-ing the most."
Shawty-Lo's brand is "ghetto" "hood" ish on steroids.
In this regard,his show is certainly poised to succeed. (And it ain't even aired yet.)
So my initial thought to my friend on FB was: "When there's a show about a woman and her ten baby daddies then we can have a discussion about alternate families. Until then, this just sounds like women with few options capitulating to Black male patriarchy."
By-and-large, I believe this is true. But it is also true that I find something fundamentally off-putting about a brother with 11 kids by 10 different women, even though it appears that he supports them all, claims them all, and works to have some level of relationship with their moms. I'm tired of brothers not having to be emotionally accountable for their relational choices. I'm tired of the way patriarchy's love affair with capitalism sets men up to think that manhood and fatherhood are tied to one's bank account.
Patriarchy exempts men from having to emotionally grow the fuck up.
I mean, it's great that Shawty Lo knows and claims all his children. But um, WHEN did that become the standard?!
Men don't want superficial relationships, but they have little motivation to cultivate the habits of character—emotional generosity and maturity, selflessness, self-confidence (not EGO) – that are necessary for good relationships. Intuitively most men reject women who want them only for what they have, and rightfully so. But these same men are rarely challenged to cultivate the kind of emotional consideration that they seek in others. They want these things from women, benefit from the time we spend cultivating these attributes in our friendships with other women, but are so ill-equipped to provide them themselves.
Even still, in the crevices of my wrinkled forehead are the residues of my own respectability politics, my ambivalence about the limits of our alter(n)ations, and our excessive celebrations of alterity. Even as our generation works hard to stop clutching the pearls and with it the respectability that we think is held in tact by the thin tie that binds, we are confronted with the challenges that led our foremothers to embrace respectability in the first place. We might not be striving for big R-type Respectability, but we are all over little-R respectability.
Well, "ask me what I do and who I do it for." For the future kids, for my mama, my grandmama, my aunties, all those people, for whom I am the embodiment of hope.
When I was growing up, watching way too many girls become mothers before they had the resources to make sustainable lives for themselves and watching my mother hustling to make ends meet, I caught the cautionary tale real quickly. Whatever you do, don't do this.
Not justifying. More like confessing. And inviting us–respectable, supereducated brown girls, the ones who "did it the right way," whatever the hell that is– to tell the truth about our continued investments in respectability, and about all the ways that our love for all things ratchet is as much about getting free as it is about reminding ourselves of all the reasons why we made the choices we made. So we wouldn't end up like that. Like them.
I mean it could be good ole fashioned "Chickenhead Envy" on my part. Cuz damn. It definitely feels like "Hoes be winning."
But are they really? Are any of us of winning in a scenario where respectable and ratchet are the only two options?
Yes, the alternate family that Shawty Lo and the Baby Moms have built may be subversive, transgressive, and even admirable in its insistence on creating meaningful kinship bonds despite the dictates of respectability. Alternate families are incredibly difficult to create and structurally discouraged at every turn. And in some ways our affective lives (our emotional selves) have not caught up to the space, time, and resource demands of this neoliberal moment.
Ratchetness emerges under these conditions as a kind of habitus through which (some) working-class folks and folks with working class roots interact with every aspect of their lives from entertainment to family to government.
(Hurricane Chris performs "Halle Berry"–one of the first songs to popularize the term "ratchet" in front of the Louisiana Legislature, watch around the 6min mark.)
More and more though, I am coming to understand that subversive and transgressive politics do not a revolution make. I mean how exactly does the subversion and transgression represented here undercut patriarchy?
Just because it's alternate and non-normative–and thus even potentially queer– should I as a feminist embrace it?
From what I see, this radical reimagining of family works primarily to balance the public portrayals of Black men as oversexed deadbeats against the reality that "as long as he takes care of his kids," we can't really have anything to say, because ultimately "he ain't that bad."
What do we do with a man that sleeps around unprotected with all these women given the alarming rates of HIV infection in ATL? (And how many people will come to this post and remind me that the women also chose to have unprotected sex with him?!)
As I watch the mothers of Shawty Lo's children form strategic alliances all in the name of parenting their children and getting what they need from this ONE man, I think about the continued imbalance of power that Black men have over Black women despite all the ways white capitalist supremacist patriarchy conspires to keep Black men locked into a form of subordinate masculinity.
I know that should this show become a full fledged series, everyone will focus on the Mamas, on how stupid they all were to take up with dude, who has a reputation for foolishness. Their maturity and the wisdom of their choices will surely be discussed.
His? Not so much.
As I've said before, reality (television) frequently makes Black women the victims of persistent acts of disrespectability.
So even as I unhand my (mother's) pearls, I think this show among others can invite us to think about Black women's deployment of ratchetness as part of a kind of disrespectability politics.
Or in Bey's case, as a kind of joy and celebration, that the rush to respectability simply doesn't allow.
Elsewhere I have written about ratchet feminism, primarily as a kind of female friendship forged in the midst of complicated relationships among men, their mothers, and their many women. I think this show will place this concept on the table again, as it demands we think about all of the creative ways women negotiate patriarchy.
At the same time, we have to think about how the embrace of ratchetness is simultaneously a dismissal of respectability, a kind of intuitive understanding of all the ways that respectability as a political project has failed Black women and continues to disallow the access that we have been taught to think it will give. #AskSusanRice
We must ask what ratchetness itself makes possible, even as the gratuitous and exploitative display of it attempts to foreclose possibility. What does ratchetness do for the ratchet and non-ratchet (and sometimes ratchet) alike?
Are Black women not always already perceived as "ratchet" anyway? As over-the-top, excessive, doing the most and achieving the least, unable to be contained, except through wholly insufficient discourses, like ghetto, and hood, and ratchet. AND respectable.
Are Black men "ratchet"? Can white women be ratchet? Is this ratchet?
I don't have the answers. And I'm not knocking these moms. The best I can do here is own my contradictions and then let go of these damn pearls, because despite my desire to hold on, this ain't our mothers' feminism.


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Thirteen people were shot dead as supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood clashed with police across Egypt on Friday, defying an ever-widening state crackdown on the movement that ruled the country until six months ago.
Islamists opposed to the army's overthrow of President Mohamed Mursi in July have been holding daily demonstrations, even since the army-backed government declared his Brotherhood a terrorist group last week, increasing the penalties for dissent.
The government is using the new classification to detain hundreds of Brotherhood supporters. Thousands more, including top leaders of the group, have been in jail for months, arrested in the aftermath of the army takeover.
The crackdown has reduced but not entirely broken the ability of the Brotherhood to mobilize protests. It has lately been relying on students to sustain momentum against what it refers to as the "putschist regime" governing Egypt.
In the Cairo district of Nasr City, riot police in bulletproof vests fired teargas at protesters throwing fireworks and stones. Similar clashes erupted across the country, as has become commonplace after midday prayers on Friday, which is not a working day in Egypt.
The Health Ministry said five people were killed in different districts in Cairo. A security source said they died from bullet wounds.
One of the five was a man who was shot dead by the protesters after he yelled insults at pro-Brotherhood demonstrators marching near his house, the source said.
A male protester and a woman were shot dead in the coastal city of Alexandria, medical and security sources said. It was not clear whether the woman was a protester or an onlooker.
Two were shot dead by police in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia after a march set off from a mosque after midday prayers, medical sources said.
In the rural province of Fayoum, southwest of Cairo, three protesters, including a student, died from bullet wounds to the chest and head, local Health Ministry official Medhat Shukri told Reuters.
Another university student was shot dead during clashes in the southern town of Minya. The Health Ministry said 58 people were wounded nationwide.
Police arrested 122 Brotherhood members for possession of weapons, the Interior Ministry said in a statement. The Brotherhood says its supporters are unarmed.
Constitutition vote
The power of the Brotherhood – the country's oldest and best organized Islamist movement – has been dramatically eroded by the arrests, the freezing of its leaders' assets and the designation of the group as a terrorist organisation.
A new constitution to be voted on at a referendum on 14-15 January will also ban religiously based political parties and give more power to the military.
The army-backed authorities say the constitution will pave the way for a return to democratic rule by mid-year.
It would be a further step toward the complete removal of the Brotherhood from public life after winning every election in Egypt since autocrat Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in 2011.
Authorities have pledged to hold a secure referendum, despite the daily protests and frequent bomb attacks against the security services over the past months.
They blame the Brotherhood for the unrest. The Brotherhood says it is committed to peaceful activism.
A conservative estimate puts the overall death toll since Mursi's fall at well over 1,500. Most of those killed have been Mursi supporters, including hundreds gunned down when the security forces cleared a protest vigil outside a Cairo mosque.
About 400 police and soldiers have been killed in bombings and shootings since Mursi was ousted.
Four soldiers were wounded by an explosion caused by a roadside bomb apparently targeting a military convoy in the volatile North Sinai area, security sources said.
Most of the attacks on security forces have occurred in the Sinai Peninsula, which borders Israel and the Gaza Strip. But recent bombings in the Nile Delta suggest militants are widening their reach.


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The North Carolina Department of Insurance / Office of State Fire Marshal conduct inspections throughout the State to determine a Fire Department Insurance Class Rating. The rating is reflected on the property owner's insurance policy where real property exists. The class rating determines how much the property owner's pay for insurance when protected by the Fire Department having jurisdiction. The ratings are Split Rates, Straight Rate, and Municipal Rate. These ratings are figured by Fire Department, water supply, and communication. Each Fire Department has the responsibilities of maintaining these requirements set forth by the North Carolina Department of Insurance to provide fire protection in their respected response districts. The class ratings go from 9 down to 1, meaning 9 being the highest insurance premium, and 1 being the lowest.
A Split Rate is found in most of the rural Fire Departments where there is partial hydrant coverage throughout the response area. A split rate will consist of a number / number (S). ie: 6/9s. When a Fire Department is formed, they start as a 9s, which means all insured properties are classified at the highest rating allowed by NCDOI. The Fire Departments then have to maintain the records, and provide complete coverage for three years to obtain a lower class rating. If the fire department receives a lower class split rating, everyone located within one thousand feet of a fire hydrant will be covered under the first number, ie; 6/9s and everyone outside of the one thousand feet would be covered under the second number, ie; 6/9s. These ratings reflect on both residential and commercial properties. The residential property will receive an insurance premium reduction when dropped below 9s, down to a 6. Once the rating drops below a 6, this does not pertain to residential, only commercial, meaning a commercial property can continue to receive premium drops, down to a class 1.
A Straight Rate is most commonly found in cities or rural areas where there is complete water coverage for the entire fire department response area. A straight rate would be the same as a split rate, only there will be one number instead of two, ie; 6. Both residential and commercial properties are covered the same, as residential will not receive a premium drop with anything lower than a class 6 rating, and commercial could receive premium drops down to a class 1 rating.
A Municipal Rate is found where there are small municipalities located inside of a county, ie; Lillington, Erwin, Coats, Angier, & Dunn. All the municipal departments located within Harnett County are Straight Rate Departments by NCDOI.


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Reinhardt, Ad
Reinhardt, Ad (Adolph Reinhardt), 1913–67, American painter, b. New York City. Both a painter and an art theorist, Reinhardt is best known for his black paintings, begun in 1960. Associated with minimalism (see modern art), the paintings appear all black and exhibit only slight variations in hue and the presence of form on close scrutiny. In rejecting the conventional attributes of painting, he attempted to abstract the pure and contemplative qualities he admired in Eastern art.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: American and Canadian Art: Biographies


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Busy in free agency, Giants still have holes
NEW YORK (AP) No team was busier than the New York Giants in free agency. Still, they're not fooling themselves into believing their offseason work is close to finished.
The Giants have signed 16 veterans already, addressing problems on both lines and in the secondary after they went 7-9 last season. General manager Jerry Reese says that only means some needs have been taken care of.
Those also are areas the Giants could hit in this week's draft.
''The draft stands alone. What we did in free agency really doesn't affect what we do in the draft,'' Reese said.
Fortunately for New York, which picks 12th, this draft is so deep that whomever Reese grabs should be a potential starter from Day 1. Speculation has centered on North Carolina tight end Eric Ebron, Pittsburgh defensive tackle Aaron Donald, and Notre Dame offensive tackle Zack Martin.
Here's a look at where the Giants might go in the draft:
THE TIGHT END: Ebron, in particular, makes sense because the Giants need a tight end with big-play skill over the middle in their offense. Eli Manning is most comfortable and effective when he has such a threat.
''Everybody needs a playmaking tight end,'' Reese said. ''I think in all offenses you want a playmaker at every position if you can. I think every team wants a Pro Bowl-style tight end, they want a couple of Pro Bowl wide receivers, they want a Pro Bowl running back. Sure, you'd like a big, strapping tight end.''
Ebron is 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and comes off a strong junior season (62 catches, 973 yards) in which he broke an ACC record for yards for the position held by Vernon Davis, now a star with the 49ers. He has excellent hands and can get deep. His blocking is, well, a work in progress.
VERSATILE DEFENDER: Donald swept nearly all the postseason awards he was eligible for last year. The Giants lost Linval Joseph at defensive tackle, and Donald is a more versatile player than Joseph was.
But Reese believes the Giants have some options at the position already on the roster.
''We have guys who need to step up. We brought in some defensive linemen in free agency, we have some guys from last year,'' he said. ''(Cullen) Jenkins, we have (Johnathan) Hankins from last year, we have (Markus) Kuhn coming back from the knee injury, so we have some defensive linemen.''
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LINE: They also added plenty of guys on the other side of the trenches in free agents, including projected starting center J.D. Walton, John Jerry, Geoff Schwartz and Charles Brown. The imposing Martin, though, wouldn't be a bad addition.
Martin goes 6-4, 308 and started 39 games for the Fighting Irish. He was a team captain, consistent and dependable, and probably could play guard in the NFL, too.
''I just see him as a good offensive lineman,'' Reese said. ''I think he has some flexibility to play both but I just see him as a good offensive lineman.''
DEEP THREATS: With Hakeem Nicks gone, the Giants hope Rueben Randle, entering his third season, can replace the long-ball skills Nicks brought to the team. New York brought back 2012 Super Bowl hero Mario Manningham after he had two injury-plagued seasons in San Francisco, but with this being a, well, deep crop of receivers, the Giants should be able to find one in later rounds.
SECONDARY THOUGHTS: Although they loaded up on defensive backs in free agency and have former starting safety Stevie Brown returning from injury, the Giants could turn to the secondary should a high-quality prospect be on the board.
''You would like to think that the 12th pick would be a player that can come in and contribute right away, but you have to earn your positions here,'' Reese said. ''We don't give guys positions.''
AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL


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Run Brett, Run
July 28, 2009 at 11:15 pm Janie Hermann 8 comments
This is awesome on so many levels that I just had to share:
I found out about this video from Sophie Brookover via Facebook. Sophie reports that she is planning to run the race — and perhaps even throw the race all for the cause.
I love it when a clever fundraising idea is promoted so brilliantly and I hope that this will be a huge success for Brett Bonfield and the teens who need a space to hang out at the Collingswood Library.
Click here for more info on the 5K Race and Collingswood Book Festival.
8 Comments
Thanks. Emerald (the filmmakers) deserve a lot of credit for overcoming the many deficiencies of their leading man.
I hope we have a great turn out for the race. The teens of Collingswood deserve to have a great area in their library, so we're doing our best to do right by them.
This is fabulous and shows how playing and loosening up can help you create something really unique! Good for Collingswood for having some fun – and getting their message out too!
I love it! Bravo!
Aha, I just KNEW there was a reason I had gone into training for my first 5K which I ran on July 25th.
Even though I WILL not be able to beat Brett by this date, I will RUN! Fantastic idea, video, and plan!
Go, Brett, go!
It is my son's 5th Birthday that day and we have plans to go to Great Wolf Lodge otherwise I would participate too – not sure I would finish, but I would at least give it a try. I just started a new exercise regime and hope to be able to at least speed walk 5K some time soon.
It would be great to have a whole posse of NJ librarians chasing after Brett!
Excellent! Can I donate without running? Yoga is more my pace.
Please post your time for the race.
If he beats my time for that day, I will send the $25.00. If I beat him, I will send $15.00
If he is wearing Vibram shoes, I suspect he is actually a ringer, even with a suit and tie.
This is great!! Well done on every level.