text:
This is not an offer for credit and should be used for estimation purposes only based on the information you provided. You should not base your decision on this estimate alone. Title, registration, tax and other fees, and personal circumstances such as employment status and personal credit history, were not considered in the calculations.
Drive - CVTech PowerBloc50
Driven - Invance
Reverse - PERC®
Standard - 12 months
Extended - Up to 60 months in total coverage
Front - RydeFX® MPV
Front Track / Rear Track - RydeFX® MPV
Travel - 7.1 in. (18 cm)
Travel - 14.1 in. (35.8 cm)


text:
Summer journeys to Niag'ra
and to other places aggravate all our cares.
We'll save our fares!
I've a cozy little flat in
what is known as old Manhattan
we'll settle down
right here in town!
We'll have Manhattan
the Bronx and Staten Island too.
It's lovely going through the zoo!
It's very fancy on old Delancy street you know.
The subway charms us so when balmy breezes blow to and fro.
And tell me what street compares with Mott Street in July?
Sweet pushcarts gently gli-ding by.
The great big city's a wonderous toy just made for a girl and boy.
We'll turn Manhattan into an isle of joy!
We'll go to Yonkers where true love conquers
In the whiles And starve together dear, in Chiles
We'll go to Coney
And eat baloney on a roll
In Central Park we'll stroll
Where our first kiss we stole
Soul to soul
And "My Fair Lady" is a terrific show they say
We both may see it close, some day
The city's glamour can never spoil
The dreams of a boy and goil
We'll turn Manhattan into an isle of joy!
The great big city's a wondrous toy
Just made for a girl and boy
We'll turn Manhattan Into an isle of joy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Super Bowl is fast approaching, are you ready for some Football?
I don't know about you, but I am most looking forward to the snacks. {tee-hee} What can I say, I told you I was a Foodie! 🙂 I used to look forward to the commercials too, but so many of them have gotten so trashy, it's ruined it!
Attention Hot Wing fans, this is the dip for YOU! It is sure to be a hit at your Super Bowl party this weekend! There are many, many varities of this dip floating around in the Foodie Blogosphere, but this one is our favorite as we don't care for Blue Cheese!
Buffalo Chicken Hot Wing Dip
(click title for easy printable version)
- 4 whole Chicken Breasts, Boiled, Drained And Shredded
- 12 ounces, fluid Frank's Hot Buffalo Wing Sauce (do NOT Substitute, this is sooo good!)
- 2 blocks (8 Oz. Block) Cream Cheese
- 16 ounces, fluid Ranch Dressing
- ½ cups Chopped Celery
- 8 ounces, weight Shredded Monterey Jack, Sharp Cheddar Cheese Or A Combination Thereof
Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a 13x9x2 inch baking pan, combine the shredded chicken meat with the Frank's hot sauce, spreading to form an even layer.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the cream cheese with the Ranch dressing, stirring till smooth and hot. Pour this mixture evenly over the chicken mixture to form a second layer.
Sprinkle celery over top. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then sprinkle cheese over top and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes till hot and bubbly. (You don't want the top to get browned or it will be hard. )
Let stand 10 minutes before serving with sturdy dipping chips. Dig in!
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Is this the season to sell your house? Although the winter holidays are often quieter when it comes to house sales, potential buyers who are viewing at this time tend to be serious.
Holiday home staging is a technique you'll want to take into consideration when selling your property at this time of year. Read on to find out how to create an atmosphere that's cosy, inviting, and helps your potential buyer vividly imagine their next Christmas in the space.


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20/03/2013 - The OECD has taken a major step forward in measuring how we feel about our lives.
Newly released Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being establish the first comprehensive framework for internationally comparable and intellectually robust data on this topic. These Guidelines provide advice on the collection and use of measures of subjective well-being, and will allow statisticians and researchers to better measure how individuals evaluate and experience their lives.
The Guidelines, developed under the OECD's Better Life Initiative, stem from the growing interest in looking beyond traditional ways of measuring economic performance to provide a broader picture of social progress. The need for national statistics agencies to collect and publish measures of subjective well-being was a key recommendation of the 2009 Report of the Stiglitz – Sen –Fitoussi Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress, established by the French Government .
For Martine Durand, the OECD's Chief Statistician, measures of subjective well-being have the potential to play an important role to inform decision making. "Subjective well-being data can provide an important complement to other indicators already used for monitoring and benchmarking counties performance, for guiding people's choices, and for designing and delivering policies."
But she insisted that subjective well-being can only tell part of the story. "To provide a fuller picture, subjective well-being data must be examined alongside information on more objective aspects of life," she added.
The Your Better Life Index offers an example of the wider picture. It aims to measure how societies are faring in a number of areas – from jobs, health and housing through to civic engagement and subjective well-being – and allows citizens to determine which of these are most important to their own well-being.
The definition of subjective well-being used in the Guidelines extends beyond the idea of 'happiness' to cover three elements:
The Guidelines are intended to be used as a resource for data producers developing their own surveys, but also include sections that will be more relevant to potential users of subjective well-being data such as policy analysts and economists.
The guidelines discuss the reliability and validity of subjective well-being measurement as well as methodological issues such as the nature of surveys used and the design, order and wording of questions. Recommendations are provided on reporting and analysing the data collected and ways of mitigating the effect of various sources of bias. Examples of surveys and prototype questions are also included.
Further information about the Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being or about the OECD's Better Life Initiative are available from Conal Smith of the OECD's Statistics Division (tel.: + 331 45 24 97 05); the OECD's Media Division (tel.: +331 45 24 81 03) or http://www.oecd.org/statistics/betterlifeinitiativemeasuringwell-beingandprogress.htm.
Related Documents


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Hax: A clean inbox doesn't mean an empty heart
Dear Carolyn:
I recently found out that my boyfriend deletes all his emails, including ones from me. I was so surprised when I heard this because I've never met someone who doesn't keep any personal emails!
I was also a bit hurt and upset because we've had some heartfelt email exchanges, especially when we did long-distance for a year. I've poured hours of thought into our correspondences.
Admittedly I am somewhat of a sentimentalist and enjoy reading old messages, or at least knowing they are available to be read at any time.
When I asked him the reason, he said the messages themselves don't matter so much, it's the feelings they bring out. He also explained that he doesn't delete my messages immediately after reading them, but maybe a week or a month later, after the messages have exhausted their use.
I can't believe he doesn't value our correspondences enough to keep them. Since then, I'm having a hard time writing to him at all, knowing my message will eventually be deleted.
I don't want this to be an issue, and I don't care about his email management per se, but it's been on my mind for longer than expected. Advice?
Dear C:
Please don't take this the wrong way — man I want to be your boyfriend.
A clean email queue … I'm just going to close my eyes and feel it for a second … sigh.
You do realize, I think, that what you have isn't just an email-sav(or)ing difference but a difference in the way you live your emotional lives. That's why you haven't been able to shake this off as you expected you would — and that's why it is an issue, even though you don't want it to be.
For a sentimental person to pair off happily with an emotional modernist, both need to feel gratitude for the difference, versus pain or contempt, and neither one can harbor the goal of changing the other's approach.
His preference is about him and yours is about you; if you remain unconvinced of that, then the path I see for this relationship is a frustrating one for you both.
So can you, Sentimental, appreciate his uncluttered emotional shelves — or will you keep buying him knickknacks and then feeling rejected when he doesn't display them?
And can you, Modernist, regard her nostalgia as a warm place that's available to you when you want or need it — or will it always be, in your eyes, the unholy spawn of silliness and a hoarding compulsion?
The way people show affection isn't in itself a measure of how much affection they feel — effusive gestures can be empty, of course, and quiet ones both powerful and profound. He could be archiving emotions just as you tuck away mail. But believing this intellectually isn't enough: The quality of his affection has to be there, as does your ability to appreciate the way he chooses to show it.
The clearest way to judge these is to see whether each of you is getting what you want and need from the other. How you measure that is up to you, with only one ground rule: You can tell someone what you want, but you can't tell anyone what to give.


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Despite protests and threats of legal action, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers is pushing ahead with its plans to expand the availability of top-level domains. The plan, approved in June of 2011, will potentially lead to a flood of new name space for websites beyond the established national TLDs (like .us and .uk) and generic TLDs such as .com, .net. and .gov.
Starting January 12, ICANN will begin accepting applications for TLDs, with a registration fee of $185,000. But there's no timetable for the approval of applications, and according to a report by Reuters, it will start off slowly. ICANN has also promised to quickly take down sites under the new TLD system that violate registered trademarks.
As we reported in November, the Association of National Advertisers and other member organizations of the Coalition for Responsible Internet Domain Oversight have been lobbying heavily against the plan, out of concerns that it will force companies to register domains across each of the new TLDs registered to defend their trademarks and avoid potential Internet name grabs, either by "cyber-squatters" seeking to sell the registered domains at a profit, or by criminals seeking to use the domains for phishing attacks and other forms of Internet fraud against their customers. Dan Jaffe, the executive vice president for government relations at ANA, claimed that the new TLDs could cost companies millions by forcing them to register domains defensively and constantly monitor new websites for trademark infringements.


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text:
"How can I move on..when I'm still stuck to you?"
(Two Troublesome Loons Sticky and Glued………..Heavyhearted, Torn, and Blue…………………Love struck, and Confused…………… Hated and Weighted…………….. Dizzy and Sedated……………. Painfully plucking away each others feathers..but so salty the tears, they bind the Leather Tether even more…tightly together)
My Night
New dress
New shoes
New stockings.
New do.
New China Red Lipstick for shiny red lips.
New practiced glide and New extra sway of hips.
A promised date on an outdated calendar.
A long-awaited Escape to something grander. Something better or Greener, Tender and maybe Finer.
A long bath, manicure and pretty toe.
A rose oiled rub-down for a sun-kissed glow.
A New flirty scent with honey flavored powder.
A hopeful tasty treat for the suitor of the hour
A diamond g-string with matching push-up bra.
A desired finished product..free of blemish nor hint of flaw.
A full frontal view, a rear view and side……
but in the mirror the chain can't hide.
Bulky and mismatched.
Out of place yet still attached….
(Meanwhile, across town) His Night..
A drive to comfort… a familiar caw. A hiked skirt with hidden claw. A One night proposal or maybe a lifetime. A dream of stability, loyalty, trust, and finally fidelity. A friendship wished upon and a love never torn. A likeness of self and hopes of something easy and never felt.
Delighted he watched her, and secretly checked off his prized requirement list. But, as the night ensued..her perfectness became strangeness. Her motives became questionable. No longer tempted his mind wandered…and instantly….
…..Back to My Night (Continued)
….It drags from room to room, clings and clangs, annoyingly clanking. It sticks to my heels and no matter how hard I kick..it always hangs. Dangling, pulling and tugging. Yanking, suckling, and hugging.
"Dammit!" I'm so sick of this thing!" I snatch my leg and try to jerk free.
It trips me up….. then suddenly I'm knocked down.
Now..just look at me! All dressed and ready..just to lay on the ground.
But..not for long..cause when I fell..It pulled him too. A tumbling, and bumping, through Heaven and Hell he flew..right back to me…stuck like glue.
Now..here we are sit, two Crazy Loons. Fools for searching for what we already knew.
It always ends up the same way, no matter how far we THINK we may be able to stray…It's back to..just US..
…………Tight forever…with hopes of never…escaping the safety of the cage that we built from each others feather… a love-struck leather; infused with the blood and sweat of our relationship… that's the tether.


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Novartis has begun shipments of Fluvirin, the seasonal influenza vaccine in the United States for the 2012-2013 influenza season.
What are the Fluvirin Flu Vaccine Ingredients? Here is the package insert so you can view the cocktail list for yourself. http://www.fda.gov/downloads/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Vaccines/ApprovedProducts/ucm123694.pdf
FLUVIRIN® is a trivalent, sub-unit (purified surface antigen) influenza virus vaccine prepared from virus propagated in the allantoic cavity of embryonated hens' eggs inoculated with a specific type of influenza virus suspension containing neomycin and polymyxin." (aka antibiotics)
It is designed for protection of the following viruses:
A/Christchurch/16/2010, NIB-74 (H1N1) (an A/California/7/2009-like virus)
A/Victoria/361/2011, IVR-165 (H3N2)
B/ Hubei-Wujiagang/158/2009, NYMC BX-39 (a B/Wisconsin/1/2010-like virus).
It contains some trace of thimerosal, a mercury derivative.
"Each dose from the multidose vial or from the prefilled syringe may also contain residual amounts of egg proteins.,," Chick Embryonic Fluid is a foreign animal proteins and genetic information injected into the human body. We're not scientists but as we understand it, you are getting chicken DNA- is that better than the flu?
…"≤ 1 mcg ovalbumin), polymyxin (≤ 3.75 mcg), neomycin (≤ 2.5 mcg), betapropiolactone (not more than 0.5 mcg) and nonylphenol ethoxylate (not more than 0.015% w/v).
The U.S. EPA says, http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/hlthef/propiola.html
Acute (short-term) inhalation exposure to beta-propiolactone causes severe irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and respiratory tract in humans. Acute dermal exposure may cause irritation of the skin, blistering, or burns in humans. Contact with the eyes may cause permanent corneal opacification. Burns of the mouth and stomach may occur in humans following acute exposure via ingestion. No information is available on the chronic (long-term), reproductive, developmental, or carcinogenic effects of beta-propiolactone in humans. Squamous cell carcinomas of the forestomach have been reported in orally exposed rats. In dermally exposed rodents, skin tumors have been observed. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified beta-propiolactone as a Group 2B, possible human carcinogen.
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1jyay)
- Split, trivalent, inactivated vaccine
- Manufactured from purified, egg-grown viruses
- Standardized according to USPHS requirements for 2011-2012 influenza season
- Thimerosal-free
- Preservative-free
- Each 0.5 ml vaccine dose contains 15 µg hemagglutinin of each of the recommended strains:
- A/California/7/2009 NYMC X-181 (H1N1)
- A/Victoria/210/2009 NYMC X-187 (H3N2) (an A/Perth/16/2009-like virus)
- B/Brisbane/60/2008 via http://www.gsksource.com/gskprm/en/US/adirect/gskprm?cmd=ProductDetailPage&product_id=1244169218783&featureKey=600572#nlmhighlights
Not to be left out of the zillion dollar industry
SWIFTWATER, Pa., July 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of Sanofi , announced today that the first lots of Fluzone vaccine began shipping to U.S. health care providers following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) licensure of the 2012-2013 formulation. This initial shipment represents the first of more than 60 million doses of seasonal influenza vaccine the company plans to deliver to health care providers in the U.S. this influenza season. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sanofi-pasteur-begins-shipping-fluzone-influenza-virus-vaccine-in-us-for-2012-2013-season-2012-07-16?reflink=MW_news_stmp
And the ingredient list for Fluzone- Formaldehyde and http://www.rxlist.com/fluzone-drug.htm
|Quantity (perdose)
|Fluzone 0.25 mL Dose
|Fluzone 0.5 mL Dose
|Fluzone High-Dose 0.5 mL Dose
|Fluzone Intradermal 0.1 mL Dose
|Active Substance: Split influenza virus, inactivated strainsa:
|22.5 mcg HA total
|45 mcg HA total
|180 mcg HA total
|27 mcg HA total
|7.5 mcg HA
|15 mcg HA
|60 mcg HA
|9 mcg HA
|7.5 mcg HA
|15 mcg HA
|60 mcg HA
|9 mcg HA
|7.5 mcg HA
|15 mcg HA
|60 mcg HA
|9 mcg HA
|Sodium phosphate-buffered isotonic sodium chloride solution
|QSb to appropriate volume
|QSb to appropriate volume
|QSb to appropriate volume
|QSb to appropriate volume
|≤ 50 mcg
|≤ 100 mcg
|≤ 100 mcg
|≤ 20 mcg
|Octylphenol Ethoxylate
|≤ 75 mcg
|≤ 150 mcg
|≤ 250 mcg
|≤ 50 mcg
|Single-Dose Presentations
|Multi-Dose Presentation (Thimerosal)
|25 mcg mercury
|a per United States Public Health Service (USPHS) requirement.
b Quantity Sufficient.
N/A not applicable
While humans are not ideal hosts for H5N1, bird flu viruses do sometimes manage to adapt for easy transmission from human to human, and the results can be devastating. In 1918, one such transformation led to the Spanish flu pandemic, a global outbreak that claimed an estimated 50 million people.
To better understand the possibility of H5N1 making a similar transformation, two teams of scientists recently manipulated the virus until it could spread through the air from one ferret to another. If a flu virus can infect a ferret, then it could theoretically infect other mammals, including humans. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/26/science/the-evolution-of-bird-flu-and-the-race-to-keep-up.html?pagewanted=all
Getting back to the eggs.
Avian influenza (AI)–the bird flu–is a virus that infects wild birds (such as ducks, gulls, and shorebirds) and domestic poultry (such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, and geese). There is a flu for birds just as there is for humans and, as with people, some forms of the flu are worse than others.
From the FDA-http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm085550.htm
"AI is primarily spread by direct contact between healthy birds and infected birds, and through indirect contact with contaminated equipment and materials. The virus is excreted through the feces of infected birds and through secretions from the nose, mouth and eyes.
Contact with infected fecal material is the most common of bird-to-bird transmission. Wild ducks often introduce LPAI into domestic flocks raised on range or in open flight pens through fecal contamination. Within a poultry house, transfer of an HPAI virus between birds also can occur via airborne secretions. The spread of avian influenza between poultry premises almost always follows the movement of contaminated people and equipment.
AI also can be found on the outer surfaces of egg shells and in the case of HPAI, can infect the inside of the egg which includes the yolk and albumen or the egg white. Transfer to eggs is a potential means of AI transmission. Airborne transmission of virus from farm to farm is highly unlikely under usual circumstances.
HPAI can be spread from birds to people as a result of extensive direct contact with infected birds. Broad concerns about public health relate to the potential for the HPAI virus, such as the HPAI H5N1, to mutate, or change into a form that could spread easily from person to person. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is aggressively working to ensure public health is protected."
To address the variability in the egg supply, Sanofi Pasteur restructured its flock management so that embryonated eggs would be available to support vaccine production at full capacity throughout the year. Because embryonated eggs are themselves potentially susceptible to avian influenza, flocks associated with vaccine production are under strict contract and must be completely housed, monitored by veterinarians, and raised under biosecurity regulations. With government support, Sanofi Pasteur has also established contingency flocks as a backup against avian influenza and other risks. http://www.nae.edu/Publications/Bridge/EngineeringandVaccineProductionforanInfluenzaPandemic/Egg-BasedProductionofInfluenzaVaccine30YearsofCommercialExperience.aspx
Biosecurity chickens. Who'd have thought? Yup- Not much security if u ask us. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/birdbiosecurity/biosecurity/
Product names are registered trademarks of respective owners.
This article, "Flu Shot Vaccine Ingredients 2012-2013," is not medical advice. Educate yourself so that in making a decision where you or your child is concerned, you should take an active role in learning. http://www.anh-usa.org/main-menu/resources/position-papers/862/ and the U.S. Government at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/season/flu-season-2012-2013.htm#us-vaccine
Smiling is infectious, you can catch it like the flu. Someone smiled at me today, And I started smiling too.
And the number one post in our Flu Section is about an associated rash from either the flu or the vaccine. https://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/swine-flu-rash-hives-symptoms/
Stay tuned and have a good day, one day it will be your last. God Bless.
Open wide, say ahhh and check out more posts from Ahrcanum!
The Swine Flu Report that began in April 2009 is at https://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/swine-flu-report
Shaking, rattling and rolling into the conspiracy, truth and science of EARTHQUAKES, HAARP, EISCAT, Tesla, etc., with more posts at https://ahrcanum.wordpress.com/earthquakes-haarp/
Help spread the word. SUBSCRIBE NOW and Follow us on Twitter @ahrcanum or sign up at http://www.twitter.com/ so you can get the latest updates as soon as they're posted. Make sure to re-tweet, so all your friends get the heads up too.


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Israel is set to become a major exporter of gas and some oil, if all goes to plan. The giant Leviathan natural gas field, in the eastern Mediterranean, discovered in December 2010, is widely described as "off the coast of Israel."
At the time the gas field was: "… the most prominent field ever found in the sub-explored area of the Levantine Basin, which covers about 83,000 square kilometres of the eastern Mediterranean region."
Coupled with Tamar field, in the same location, discovered in 2009, the prospects are for an energy bonanza for Israel, for Houston, Texas based Noble Energy and partners Delek Drilling, Avner Oil Exploration and Ratio Oil Exploration.
Also involved is Perth, Australia-based Woodside Petroleum, which has signed a memorandum of understanding for a thirty percent stake in the project, in negotiations which have been described as "up and down." There is currently speculation that Woodside might pull out of the deal: "… since the original plans to refrigerate the gas for export were pursued when relations between Israel and Turkey were strained. That has changed, more recently, which has opened the door for gas to be piped to Turkey."
The spoils of the Leviathan field has already expanded from an estimated 16.7 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of gas to nineteen trillion — and counting:
"We've discovered nearly 40 tcf of gas, and we have roughly 19 tcf of that gas that's available for export to both regional and extra-regional markets. We see exports reaching 2 billion cubic feet a day in capacity in the next decade. And we continue to explore," stated Noble Vice Chairman Keith Elliot. There is estimated to be possibly six hundred million barrels of oil, according to Michael Economides of energytribune.com.
Woodside Petroleum might also be hesitant to become involved in further disputes, since they are already embroiled, with the Australian government, in a protracted one in East Timor relating to the bonanza of energy and minerals beneath the Timor Sea, which has even led to East Timor accusing Australia "of bugging East Timorese officials during the negotiations over the agreement."
Woodside's conflict in East Timor however, may well pale against what might well erupt over the Leviathan and Tamar fields. The area is not for nothing called the Levantine Basin. Whilst Israel claims them as her very own treasure trove, only a fraction of the sea's wealth lies in Israel's bailiwick as maps (here and here) clearly show. Much is still unexplored, but currently Palestine's Gaza and the West Bank between them show the greatest discoveries, with anything found in Lebanon and Syria's territorial waters sure to involve claims from both countries.
In a pre-emptive move, on Christmas Day, Syria announced a deal with Russia to explore 2,190 kilometres (850 Sq. miles) for oil and gas off its Mediterranean coast, to be: "… financed by Russia, and should oil and gas be discovered in commercial quantities, Moscow will recover the exploration costs."
Syrian Oil Minister, Ali Abbas said during the signing ceremony that the contract covers "25 years, over several phases."
Syria, increasingly crippled by international sanctions, has seen oil production plummet by ninety percent since the largely Western fermented unrest began in March 2011. Gas production has nearly halved, from thirty million cubic metres a day, to 16.7 cubic metres daily.
The agreement is reported to have resulted from "months of long negotiations" between the two countries. Russia, as one of the Syrian government's main backers, looks set to also become a major player in the Levant Basin's energy wealth.
Lebanon disputes Israel's map of the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border, filing their own map and claims with the UN in 2010. Israel claims Lebanon is in the process of granting oil and gas exploration licenses in what Israel claims as its "exclusive economic zone."
That the US in the guise of Vice President Joe Biden, as honest broker, acting peace negotiator in the maritime border dispute would be laughable, were it not potential for Israel to attack their neighbour again. In a visit to Israel in March 2010, Biden announced: "There is absolutely no space between the United States and Israel when it comes to Israel's security — none at all", also announcing on arrival in Israel: "It's good to be home."
Given US decades of "peace brokering" between Israel and Palestine, this is already a road of pitfalls, one-sidedness and duplicity, well traveled. There is trouble ahead.
Oh, and in demonology, Leviathan is one of the seven princes of Hell.


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You are currently browsing the daily archive for July 17, 2010.
(Back in New York) You've seen this before here. No, it's not named for a boat competition, as someone suggested to me yesterday. The paint is spiffied up, but
imagine my surprise and delight when
Cape Race glided into Atlantic Basin yesterday under
her own power, accompanied by music from her own Cat 3512.
Ah joy! Eggs hatch (or make delicious souffles), apples ripen, oysters open, bread rises, and projects evolve. Click here and here for festivities in Atlantic Basin last year, and come
check out this calendar of July events planned there this month and next, including Underwater New York (Check out their "An Oral history of Atlantis") and a movie about Poppa Neutrino.
First five fotos by Will Van Dorp. Composite by Carolina Salguero. By the way, if you do Facebook, you could befriend Mary Whalen, the 613-ton ambassador (See post for 2/20/2008).
Tangentially related and from the other side of the continent, check out these blog posts (thanks to Tom Larkin) on
Log broncs (a variation on truckable tugs)
A collage of wooden boats and other delights.


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Customized tours for all ages and audiences
TACC Data Center (J.J. Pickle Research Campus)
Virtual Tour Only Available
The J.J. Pickle Research Campus houses TACC's largest supercomputing systems, including Frontera, as well as some of the fastest, most efficient, and sought-after high-performance computing and data storage systems in the world!
TACC Visualization Laboratory (Main Campus)
In-Person Tour: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday – 10am -3pm
Located on UT Austin's Main Campus in the POB Building, the Vislab is a showcase of the technologies that are used to support researchers as they turn their simulations into visually appealing, scientifically significant images. These tours are popular amongst K-12 and undergraduate students who engage hands-on with Lasso, a multi-touch screen, and Stallion, the world's highest resolution tiled wall.
Tour Group Information
We can comfortably accommodate groups of 15 or less. Please schedule your tour at least two weeks in advance. Duration of tour: 35-45 minutes.
- K-12 students, teachers, and community - educational tours provide an overview of TACC services and resources, exposure to career opportunities in STEM fields with an emphasis in advanced computing, and an interactive learning experience.
- Undergraduate and graduate students- learn about TACC visualization services, training, and research opportunities.
- Industry partners - VIP tours are available for TACC users or prospective affiliates.
- Walk-ins - the TACC Visualization Laboratory (Vislab) welcomes small groups (1-5 people), Monday-Friday from 10am-3pm. A proctor or staff member will provide a 10-minute overview. Please note: If the laboratory is in use during time of your visit, you may be asked to schedule a tour or return later.
For more information about STEM education programs, please visit the STEM programs page.
Tobacco-Free Campus
The University of Texas at Austin ("University") prohibits the use of all forms of tobacco products on University property. The University prohibits any advertising or sale, or free sampling of tobacco products on University property. Littering the campus with the remains of tobacco products or any other related waste product is prohibited.
Campus Carry
As part of The University of Texas at Austin, the Texas Advanced Computing Center and its labs are subject to Senate Bill 11 (Concealed Campus Carry), in effect from August 1, 2016. For questions concerning concealed carry on campus, please refer to the University Handbook of Operating Procedures and the Campus Carry website.


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NFL suspends Dashon Goldson for hit on Darren Sproles
- Safety Dashon Goldson of the Buccaneers has been suspended without pay for one game
- Goldson has been suspended %22 for a flagrant and repeat violation of NFL safety rules prohibiting hits to the head and neck area of defenseless players%2C%22 the NFL said
- The violation was Goldson%27s fifth for unnecessary roughness since 2011
The NFL announced Monday it has suspended Tampa Bay Buccaneers safety Dashon Goldson without pay for this week's game against the New England Patriots "for a flagrant and repeat violation of NFL safety rules prohibiting hits to the head and neck area of defenseless players."
Goldson was penalized for Sunday's hit on New Orleans Saints running back Darren Sproles – his fifth violation for unnecessary roughness since 2011.
"You had an unobstructed path to your opponent," Merton Hanks, the NFL's vice president of football operations, wrote in a letter to Goldson informing him of the suspension.
"It is clear that you lowered your head and unnecessarily rammed the left side of your helmet into the left side of your opponent's head. You delivered a forceful blow with your helmet and made no attempt whatsoever to wrap up your opponent or make a conventional tackle on the play. This illegal contact clearly could have been avoided."
Goldson can pursue an expedited appeal within three business days. If not, he will be reinstated Sept. 23.
The suspension will cost Goldson one game check worth $264,706, which is one-seventeenth of his $4.5 million base salary.
Before the suspension was announced, Bucs coach Greg Schiano said Monday, "There is a concern he may get suspended, but Dashon is trying to do the right thing. It's not one of those, 'Oh I don't care, I'm just going to do it' things. He's aware.''
But Goldson didn't seem bothered by penalty flags or a possible suspension on Sunday, when he told The Tampa Bay Times: "The NFL has its own rules, but we're just trying to play football. We're not worried about those penalties, we're really not. That's just football. We learn how to tackle when we're young and (we've) been doing this for a long time."
Schiano added: "It really doesn't matter whether you think it's a penalty. It's called, so it's a penalty. That's really the issue. If something's going to be called, we have to avoid it because it's hurting the football team.
"On the same token, I want our guys to play hard. I don't think anybody's intentionally trying to do that, so we just have to be more and more aware of that situation and make sure we avoid that as much as we can," Schiano said.
The Bucs have committed a league-high 23 penalties for 220 yards in two games.
Contributing: The Associated Press


text: So you think your baby's all Twitter-ready with that Kickbee while chilling in the womb? Nah, only practice makes perfect, so the folks at Belgium's Hasselt University came up with the Twoddler: a hacked Fisher-Price activity board with buttons linked to predefined Twitter messages. Obsessive parents can put photos of themselves on the buttons, so that whenever those buttons are hit the Twoddler tweets something like "@mommy I miss you." We like this idea, but then again you'll never know if it's just someone else's kids bashing the buttons -- you'll still feel good anyway. Watch some Twoddler action after the break.


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As a fitting follow-up to last weekend's 'ride of firsts,' today was a 'run of firsts' at the Chabot Trail Run in Castro Valley, Calif.: First longer trail race, and first 30K distance in the books! And as I sat recovering on the couch and sorting out the day's events, I decided it'd be best described as equal parts exhilarating adventure and happy coincidence.
But, to back up for a moment…Vivi, my running partner in craziness
crime, and I signed up for the event on a whim (although she did talk me down from the 50K, thank goodness), thinking it'd not only be a nice change of scenery, but also a good way to give our legs a rest from the roads, as well as a perfect proving ground race to test our trail mettle.
We arrived to the start area about 45 minutes before the 8:30 a.m. gun time and managed to snag the last parking spot (good race karma, we decided) before picking up our packets, hitting the bathroom and swinging back by the car to drop our sweats.
By the time we did all that, we could hear the race organizers lining people up, so we jogged over to the start.
After giving a few last-minute instructions, the event director started the final countdown, and we were off!
The first mile or two was on paved roads around the lake, so we eased in at a conservative 9:00-mile pace. Then the pavement gave way to dirt and we got onto the good stuff…a bouncy footbridge followed by soft trail.
Now, about that happy coincidence: Vivi had put out a call on Facebook the previous evening to our November Project friends about the race, letting them know we'd be running and inviting them to join in to pace us or cheer us along.
We figured it might be too last-minute to have anyone take us up, but a little ways into the run we heard someone come up behind us and say, "Are you Jen and Vivi?"
Enter Molly, whom I nicknamed my Race Angel for the day! She's training for the Boston Marathon and had a 19-miler on the schedule for the weekend, so she figured she'd kill two birds with one stone and grab some miles while gabbing with some fellow runner gals.
In yet another testament to the amazing running community, we all immediately started chatting like old pals…and the miles flew by because we were so immersed in conversation.
Before we knew it, we had tackled the first of four major climbs (walking the steep parts because I wanted to heed my ultrarunner friend Jamie's advice to conserve energy) and hit the first aid station.
And, wow. They should call these mini-buffets instead of aid stations. It was like a mirage in the desert, such an amazing spread with all kinds of items, both healthy and not-so-healthy. Huge kudos to Inside Trail Racing for really taking care of us runners.
With my sweet tooth, I thought I would have to restrain myself around all the candy, but I actually wasn't craving it at ALL. In all my pre-race hydration focus, I ended up making a rookie nutrition mistake (more on that later), so I grabbed a PB&J sandwich square to stay on the safe side.
And then we were off again!
Over the next few miles we met up with a super-nice woman named Leslie — a mom in her 50's who had taken up ultra-running and was doing the 50K as a wait to train for her upcoming 50-miler.
That's the great part about these longer distances; not only are they so much less crowded that road races, but you can run alongside people at a slower pace and actually have some great conversations along the way.
I think (hope?) people enjoyed running with us, as well. We were having such a great time being out there, laughing and taking it all in, that we must have served as some interesting on-course entertainment!
Despite the intermittent climbs, our spirits stayed high as we alternated jogging on the flats and small rolling hills with walking up the steeper areas.
I also tried to stay on top of my hydration and fueling, which was Leslie's main advice, taking sips of Osmo Nutrition Active Hydration and nips off my PocketFuel every mile or so.
After we had done another four miles (~10 total), we came upon the second aid station. By this time, my stomach was starting to feel a little grumbly (Note to self: My big mistake was to eat salad for lunch the day before the race – never again, as it didn't set well).
I tried a combo of boiled potatoes dipped in salt, along with a Dixie cup of Pepsi, which helped. And then we were off again!
The third and final aid station before the finish was about four miles away (~mile 14), and we were still feeling pretty strong at this point. So strong, in fact, that a fellow runner commented on how upbeat we seemed as we hiked up a steep hill.
She identified herself as a triathlete by training, and said that her half Ironman races were much easier than the 30K distance, which made me very happy to hear in light of my upcoming April Olympic distance!
We made good time to the final aid station, and I grabbed more Pepsi and salted potatoes, filling the flasks in my Ultimate Direction Jenny Ultra Vesta (ok, I may have gotten it for the name, but it's such a handy and comfy vest for long runs) with water mixed with the Tailwind electrolyte drink that they had on the course.
By this time, we were out of the wooded areas and running in full sun, along dirt paths through some really beautiful scenery (another benefit of trail events).
We kept commenting on how lucky we were to have such good weather, too — it was a perfect 65 degrees.
About 15 miles in, I remember telling Vivi and Molly that I couldn't believe how good I felt.
Admittedly, we were undertrained for the race — I was hoping to get 14-15 miles the weekend we attempted the Double Dipsea last month, but the weather never cooperated, and we called it a day at 10. So we were attempting 18+ miles, having completed only a 12-mile "long" training run in advance of the race.
Well, apparently I provoked the running gods by saying that — and it turns out they've got a wicked sense of humor. No sooner did I utter those words than the wheels started slowly coming off, and thus began a gradual unraveling over the next few miles.
I forced myself to keep sipping and eating small amounts, but every incline got tougher as the accumulated climbing of the day started to take its toll. Our solution? A few photo opps as we made our way slowly toward the finish (i.e. chances to rest for a minute, catch our breaths and bring our heart rates down).
With a mix of jogging down straightaways and walking up inclines, we slowly ticked off another mile and saw a sign that indicated we were a mile away from the finish. Heartened, we picked up the pace to bring it home. But at the end of that mile, when the finish line was nowhere in sight, I hit the mental wall.
We figured we couldn't have more than another mile, and Vivi got her second wind, so she ran ahead while Molly hung back and kept me distracted enough to keep going despite my rebelling mind and body.
When we turned the final corner, saw the finish line and noticed that the clock was under 3:30 (Vivi and I were thinking we'd aim for under 4:00, but would thrilled with 3:30), it was enough to give us that final boost to get across the finish. Final time: 3:23:21.
And then the feasting began!
On the way out of the park, we ran into a woman who races with her Dachshund. He had completed the half marathon today, and he's training for his first marathon later this year — so, of course, we had to get a shot with the impressive little guy and his bib (yes, he was officially registered for the race).
Leslie (our new ultra hero from the race) had also mentioned that it was her rule to make a new friend during every event — so between her, Molly and our new four-legged mascot, we not only met but happily exceeded that goal for the day!
And I've just got to share something that Vivi and I saw on our way home over the Bay Bridge that gave us a laugh…
This furry fellow was also enjoying himself today, catching some rays and taking in the views from the sunroof.
There certainly is something to be said for taking on another round of firsts. You never know where it'll take you — and who you'll meet along the way.
Happy running and racing, friends!


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MOUNTAIN VIEW—Ars is on-site at the Google HQ for an Android-related press event that kicks off at 10:00am PT (click here to see when the event happens in your timezone). Though it hasn't been officially confirmed, it's all but certain that Google will launch a Google-branded phone, named Nexus One. We're providing news, analysis, and pictures live and in real-time, so join us in the chat below. A replay of the chat will be available after the event is over.
Check out our photo gallery of the Nexus One.


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Article Text
Objectives: (1) To quantify lethality of firearms relative to other suicide methods, (2) to quantify the extent to which suicide mortality may be reduced by limiting access to firearms.
Methods: Data on suicides and hospitalised para-suicides that occurred in the state of Illinois from 1990 to 1997 were combined. Total number of episodes for each suicide method was estimated as the sum of the number of suicides and the number of para-suicides for that method. Gender and suicide method were used as proxies for intention to die, and estimated lethality of suicide methods within method-gender groups (for example, male firearm users). Logistic regression was used to quantify the lethality of firearms relative to other suicide methods. Excess mortality associated with the use of firearms was estimated by conservatively assuming that in the absence of firearms the next most lethal suicide method would be used.
Results: From January 1990 to December 1997, among individuals 10 years or older in the state of Illinois, there were 37 352 hospital admissions for para-suicide and 10 287 completed suicides. Firearms are the most lethal suicide method. Episodes involving firearms are 2.6 times (95% CI 2.1 to 3.1) more lethal than those involving suffocation—the second most lethal suicide method. Preventing access to firearms can reduce the proportion of fatal firearms related suicides by 32% among minors, and 6.5% among adults.
Conclusions: Limiting access to firearms is a potentially effective means of reducing suicide mortality.
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Suicide prevention efforts date back at least to pre-Christian times, when Roman emperors made laws to curb the practice of tax evasion through suicide.1 Modern efforts include suicide awareness and prevention programmes that aim to identify and treat suicidal individuals. Some of these targeted programmes have been effective in identifying those at risk for suicide.2 For example, from 1991–97 during National Depression Screening Day, 316 700 people were screened for risk of suicide and provided referrals if needed.3 However, other efforts have not proved as effective.4–6 Many reasons exist for programmes' lack of success; one pervasive problem is the difficulties inherent in identifying and reaching people who are at risk for suicide.7 For example, although one third of suicide victims visit a physician shortly before they die, most do not divulge their suicidal intent or even their depressed mood.8–11 It seems that many, if not most, suicidal people are first noticed by mental health professionals only after a suicide attempt. For these people, surviving a suicide attempt presents their best chance of receiving appropriate care. Given the difficulties in identifying suicidal individuals, universal preventive efforts aimed at the entire community deserve serious consideration.12,13
One such universal approach is to limit access to substances and products that are likely to be misused by suicidal individuals. The Arsenic Act of 1851 is an early example of this approach.14 More recent examples include reductions in the carbon monoxide content of domestic gas,15,16 development of less toxic antidepressants,17 and restrictions in the prescription of potentially lethal drugs.18,19 In some instances reduced availability of certain lethal substances was accompanied by contemporaneous reductions in the suicide rates,20,21 in other instances similar reductions in the availability of lethal substances were not accompanied by reduced suicide rates.22 Whereas it remains uncertain whether universal approaches to suicide prevention can actually prevent suicide on a large scale, it is likely that a consequence of limiting access to very lethal and irreversible suicide methods is a population level reduction in suicide mortality (not attempts). The primary aim of this study is to quantify the reduction in suicide mortality that may result as a consequence of limiting access to firearms.
While previous studies have estimated the risk of suicide associated with the availability of firearms,23–31 there are no epidemiological studies that quantify the lethality of firearms relative to other suicide methods. This may be attributable in part to the difficulties inherent in collecting data on para-suicides (that is, suicide attempts), without which any estimate of lethality would be biased. (This bias, which emanates from sociological and psychological distinctions between para-suicides and suicides, will be considered below.) Here we greatly, but not completely, reduce this source of bias by combining data on hospital admissions for para-suicides with data on completed suicides. The specific aims of this study are: (1) to quantify lethality of firearms relative to other suicide methods, (2) to quantify the extent to which suicide mortality may be reduced by limiting access to firearms.
Two sources of data, spanning the years 1990 to 1997, were used in the analysis presented below: data on completed suicides were compiled from annual mortality data files of the Chicago Department of Public Health; these files contain sterilised records abstracted from death certificates. Data on para-suicides were abstracted from administrative hospital discharge data compiled as part of an Illinois State mandate.32 These files contain information from acute care facilities that were operating in the state of Illinois between 1990 and 1997, but they do not include data from Veteran's Administration hospitals, nor from psychiatric hospitals. Suicides and para-suicides were identified by International Classification of Diseases external causes of injury codes: E950-E959,33 and were classified into seven categories according to suicide method(s).
To reduce the possibility of double counting an episode, it was assumed that hospitalisation episodes that culminated in death also appeared as fatal episodes in the annual mortality files. Therefore, 183 hospital admissions that culminated in death were excluded from the analyses. These excluded episodes were similar to the 10 287 completed suicides that appeared in the annual mortality files. Compared with admissions that did not culminate in death, these fatal episodes were significantly more likely to involve males and older people (47 versus 31 years). Also, to reduce the bias associated with potential misdiagnosis of suicide as accident, we included in the study only episodes involving those ages 10 or older.34
In the analyses below each para-suicide and each suicide was regarded as a unique episode. To avoid bias associated with examining either suicides or para-suicides to the exclusion of the other, data on completed suicides were combined with data on para-suicides. The total number of episodes for each suicide method was estimated as the sum of the number of suicide episodes (from the annual mortality data files) and the number of para-suicide episodes (from the hospital discharge files). For example, the total number of firearms related episodes (5043) include 96.5% suicides (table 1) and 3.5% para-suicides (not shown). The average risk of death for each method was estimated by dividing the number of fatal episodes by the total number of episodes for that method.
In determining the lethality of firearms relative to other suicide methods, a central analytical challenge involved controlling for the strength of individuals' intention to die. Suicidal individuals vary in the strength of their intention to die, which can influence their choice of a suicide method; this, in turn, can influence their probability of mortality. Therefore, to assess a suicide method's relative lethality, it is necessary to control for the effect of intention to die. In the absence of direct information, we used suicide method and gender as proxies for intention to die. Although choice of suicide method is a function of multiple factors,14,35,36 it is suggested that on average intention to die is more similar within methods than across methods. For example, on average, intention to die among firearm users is more similar than between firearm users and those taking pills. Thus, grouping people by their suicide method can partially control for their intention to die. Moreover, because there are stable gender differences in intention to die,37 grouping by gender should also partially control for the effect of intention to die. Thus, for the current analysis, we make the simplifying assumption that intention to die is relatively similar among groups of same gender individuals who used the same suicide method. For example, male firearm users constitute one such method gender group with relatively homogenous intention to die. Female firearm users constitute another method gender group with relatively homogenous intention to die.
Within each method gender group, however, the reported age related differences in suicide mortality34 should remain. Specifically, we expect younger individuals within each method gender group to have lower suicide mortality than relatively older people. As detailed in the discussion section there are a number of reasons, such as younger individuals' relatively better health, to expect lower mortality among younger individuals. If no age disparity is found among members of a method gender group, where intention to die is relatively homogenous, then it is postulated that the suicide method is so lethal as to nullify the protective effect of younger age.
Finally, we estimated the excess mortality associated with the use of firearms by conservatively assuming that in the absence of firearms, the next most lethal method would be used. This involves the assumption that although suicide methods reflect individuals' intention to die, they do not reflect the likelihood of their attempting suicide.23,35 Suicidal individuals carry on their plans even in the absence of their preferred method, simply by using the next most lethal method. We will return to these assumptions in the discussion section.
From January 1990 to December 1997, among individuals 10 years or older in the state of Illinois, there were 37 352 hospital admissions for para-suicide and 10 287 completed suicides (table 1). Poisoning was by far the most common suicide method among both men (59%) and women (88%). The other most prevalent methods among men were use of guns (20%) and suffocation (10%). Among women, the other most prevalent methods were cuts (4%), guns (2%), and suffocation (2%). Among minors, the most prevalent methods were use of poisons (85%), cuts (5%), and guns (4%). Overall, about 96% of episodes involving firearms and 90% of episodes involving suffocation were lethal. In contrast, 6.7% of episodes involving cuts, and 6.5% of episodes involving poisons were lethal (table 1).
From 1992 to 1997, hospital charges for suicide attempts totalled 169.4 million dollars or, on average, 28.2 million dollars annually. Poisoning episodes were the most prevalent and, as may be expected, they generated the most charges, amounting to 141.5 million dollars in the six year period. Each poisoning related episode generated on average $5123 in charges. However, the most costly episodes were those involving firearms, generating an average of $15 540 in charges per episode, for a total of 3.1 million dollars.
As would be expected women were more likely to attempt suicide, but men were more likely to perish (table 1). For all suicide methods, except firearms, suicide mortality is significantly higher among males than females independent of age (OR 4.5, 95% CI 4.2 to 4.8). Moreover, for all suicide methods, except firearms, suicide mortality is significantly higher among adults than among minors (OR 3.0, 95% CI 2.7 to 3.4) (table 2). The protective effect of youth is strongest for less lethal methods such as exposure (OR 21.8, 95% CI 2.8 to 167.5) and cuts (OR 9.0, 95 % CI 2.3 to 35.1). This age disparity is diminished, but still significant, for more lethal methods such as suffocation (OR 6.1, 95% CI 4.3 to 8.8). Firearms are the only suicide method that is not significantly more lethal among adults than minors (OR−1.3, 95% CI −0.7 to 2.5). The protective effect of younger age is particularly pronounced when all suicide methods are considered simultaneously (table 2B). Suicide mortality, which is 7% among minors increases with every age increment to 64% among adults aged 60 or older. A similar trend is apparent among crash and exposure episodes. For episodes involving poisons and cuts, the age effect is pronounced only among those 45 and older. Suffocation is also more lethal among adults than minors, but among adults there is a flat trend. Firearms are the only suicide method that is equally lethal among all age groups.
Episodes involving firearms are 2.6 times (95% CI 2.1 to 3.1) more lethal than those involving suffocation and 8.0 times (95% CI 7.1 to 9.1) more lethal than those involving crash/jump (table 3). The increased risk of mortality associated with the use of firearms remains after controlling for gender and age. To estimate the excess suicide mortality attributable to the use of firearms, it was assumed that in the absence of firearms, all firearm users would use the next most lethal method, which is suffocation. Thus, mortality attributable to the use of firearms was estimated as follows: the proportion of lethal suffocation episodes (a) (that is, 91% among men) was subtracted from (b) proportion of lethal firearm related episodes (that is, 97% among men), and the difference was divided by the proportion of lethal gun episodes (that is, (a−b)/b or (97−91)/97). Compared with the next most lethal method, the excess suicide mortality associated with firearms is 6% for men, 7% for women, and 32% for minors.
We found significant age and gender effects for all suicide methods except firearms. Overall, suicide mortality is significantly higher among adults than minors and among males than females. These age and gender disparities in suicide mortality become less pronounced with increasing lethality of the suicide method, strongly suggesting that these disparities reflect a high intention to die among users of the more lethal methods, particularly firearms. However, evidence also suggests that firearm users' exceptionally high suicide mortality cannot be entirely explained by their high intention to die.
We parcelled out the effect of intention to die by capitalising on the well documented stable differences in intention to die that are related to gender and the suicide method. We examined suicide mortality among groups of same gender individuals who used the same suicide method (for example, male firearm users) under the assumption that intention to die is fairly uniform among method gender groups. And we expected other trends in suicide mortality to remain. Specifically, we expected younger age to be protective of mortality. The most obvious reason for lower suicide mortality among younger individuals is that health is generally better among younger individuals. Moreover, minors are also less likely to have access to lethal doses of prescription drugs, are more likely to lack technical and cognitive skills to effectively use difficult methods such as hanging, and they are less likely to be alone for extended periods of time.
Key points
Firearms are the most lethal suicide method independent of age and gender.
Preventing access to firearms can reduce suicide mortality by 32% among minors who would have otherwise used firearms.
Universal approaches to suicide prevention that do not require identification of at risk individuals deserve serious consideration.
As expected, on average, younger individuals, have significantly lower suicide mortality than their older peers. For all methods, except firearms, younger age is associated with significantly lower suicide mortality independent of gender. Although the protective effect of younger age is less pronounced for more lethal methods, it remains significant even among those who used the second most lethal suicide method—suffocation. However, the considerable protective effect of youth vanishes among firearm users; for both males and females, suicide mortality is remarkably uniform across all age categories of firearm users.
For all methods except firearms, younger age protects against mortality regardless of suicide method and gender—our proxies for intention die. It seems that robust health and other characteristics of younger individuals lower suicide mortality independent of their intention to die. However, whatever protection younger age confers, firearms negate. It is unlikely that this lack of an age effect is entirely attributable to uniformly high intention to die among firearm users of all ages. Even among those who use suffocation, adults are six times more likely to perish than minors. The considerable contrast between firearms and all other suicide methods, as well as compelling clinical evidence,36 suggest that some of the firearm related suicide mortality is attributable to factors other than intention to die, one of which is probably the extensive physical trauma of the bullet wound.
To estimate firearms' excess suicide mortality, we assumed that in the absence of firearms individuals would simply use the next most lethal method. Even under the conservative assumption that every firearm user would switch to a method involving suffocation, lack of access to firearms among minors, a population that is not legally allowed to purchase firearms, could reduce firearms related suicide mortality by as much as 32%. The associated reduction in hospital charges is $4725 per firearm related episode.
The study's limitations must also be noted. Our method of controlling for victims' intention to die by proxy is imperfect. However, it is ethically and otherwise impossible to assess the intention to die of over 47 000 community dwelling individuals. Other limitations regard the possibility of incomplete counts and misclassification. Almost certainly a considerable number of suicide episodes resulted in neither death nor hospitalisation; these episodes were not included in this study. Moreover, this undercount is likely to have occurred differentially by suicide method. Episodes involving less lethal methods were less likely to result in death or hospitalisation and thus to be included in the study. Exclusion of these episodes would result in underestimation of firearms' relative lethality. Our list of completed suicides is also likely to be incomplete.37,38 Some suicides are likely to have been attributed to accidents or other causes, thus overestimating the relative lethality of firearms.
Information on admissions to psychiatric and VA hospitals was unavailable to us. Consequently, unsuccessful attempts from these sources are not included in the analysis, although successful attempts are included, thus inflating the proportion of lethal episodes. This inflation may be considerable, given that a large number of suicides occur in psychiatric hospitals.39,40 However, there is no evidence that this inflation occurs differentially by suicide method, thus, it does not bias firearms' relative lethality. With regard to admissions to VA hospitals, we have no evidence suggesting a preference for certain suicide methods among this population. Consequently, the estimated relative lethality for each method should not be effected by the unavailability of data from VA hospitals.
In conclusion, because many suicidal people are unlikely to be identified before a suicide attempt, it is critical to reduce suicide mortality with universal prevention efforts that do not require individual level identification. Our findings suggest that firearm related suicides are associated with a disproportionate number of deaths, and limiting access to firearms can be a potentially effective community based approach to decreasing suicide mortality.
Fairly simple measures can be taken to limit access to firearms, particularly among minors. In the US firearms are readily available,41 and although Federal law prohibits purchase of firearms by minors, American youth have ready access to firearms.42 Nationally about 22 million children reside where at least one legally purchased firearm is stored 43; in about 10% of these households the firearm(s) are kept unlocked and loaded.43,44 Minors can also obtain firearms relatively easily through illegal markets45 that are stocked primarily through thefts of firearms and by smuggling.42 Clearly, the most effective preventive measure is removal of firearms, particularly handguns, from the environment in which children live and play.46 Other preventive measures include keeping firearms and ammunition separately and in locked storage, and use of trigger locks that prevent access by anyone other than the owner.47 Legal interventions include holding firearm owners responsible for injuries caused by children who have accessed improperly stored firearms.48 Moreover, citizen's adherence to these measures, coupled with state and local enforcement of regulations governing licensed dealers, can also reduce availability of firearms in illegal markets.42
Unfortunately not all suicidal individuals would benefit from community based approaches such as these. The clinical literature attests to the single mindedness by which some pursue self annihilation repeatedly until they succeed.49,50 For these people, screening, surveillance, and other targeted programmes constitute parts of an important safety net.51 However, curbing access to firearms could benefit the many others. Given firearms' particularly high excess mortality among minors, this approach promises to be particularly effective in this population. Moreover, to the extent that changes in the social milieu are lasting, reductions in the availability of firearms can also lower the suicide mortality of future generations.52,53
The authors thank Chicago DPH and IHCCCC for their support of this project, and Dorothy Wilson for her data management.
Funding: This work was supported, in part, by separate grants from Harvard Injury Control Research Center to Shenassa and Buka.
Conflicts of interest: none.


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Macanudo's Main Man
"These are not cigars," said the icon, his eyes alight under the wide brim of his straw hat. "They are sausages!"
Angel Daniel Nuñez felt the pain in his stomach. He was new on the job, and his mentor was angry. Very angry. This was not a good start to his new job, supervising General Cigar Dominicana. The factory was famous for making Partagas cigars for the American market. The man comparing his cigars to breakfast meat was Ramón Cifuentes.
In a world of cigar stars, none shined brighter than Cifuentes, an attractive man who was often compared to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Cifuentes was the closest thing in the world to cigar royalty, having owned the Partagas cigar brand in Cuba before losing it to Fidel Castro. He fled the country, sold the Partagas name to General Cigar Co. and had a fortune that would keep him comfortable for a lifetime. Now he was in the Dominican Republic, watching over a newcomer. Trying to make sure that the cigars bearing his beloved Partagas name didn't look like sausages.
The young Nuñez reached out to touch the offensive cigar. Cifuentes' arm shot from the table like a striking cobra, and slapped Nuñez's hand away.
"No, not now," he said. "We will fix that tomorrow."
Cifuentes was the only man who ever slapped Nuñez. The student spent three long months under the tutelage of the Cuban legend. Each day was a lesson, and Cifuentes was an old-school teacher, sometimes believing that the best way to teach is with one part shock and one (small) part pain. It was cigar boot camp, and it was just what Nuñez needed. When Nuñez would arrive at the factory in the morning, Cifuentes -- a man twice his age -- would be waiting impatiently at the door, always wearing his guayabera and straw hat, pointing out the importance of punctuality. (The lesson learned, today Nuñez tends to arrive at work around 6 a.m.)
In scenes remeniscent of Yoda tutoring Luke Skywalker, or Mr. Miyagi laboriously stressing the importance of detail to his Karate Kid, Cifuentes picked apart every aspect of his young student's work. On his very first visit to Nuñez's office, Cifuentes went straight to the air conditioner. "This is filthy," he said, peering at the filter. "You can't make good cigars in this type of environment." After that, Nuñez kept his office as clean as a hospital ward. "He was demanding," says Nuñez in a trademark understatement.
Nuñez is a quiet man, who speaks slowly in heavily accented English. The scattered wrinkles around his eyes are from decades spent in sunny tobacco fields and the wide smile that so often crosses his face.
He's sitting in his office in Bloomfield, Connecticut, in the heart of the Connecticut River Valley. A tiny Macanudo Maduro Ascot is burning in an ashtray to his right; four more in a pack aren't far away. It is early June, and tiny tobacco seedlings have recently been put into the ground just steps from here. In about a month, they will be ready for harvest. The best of the leaves will become Macanudo cigars.
Watching over the Connecticut crop is only one of Nuñez's responsibilities. As Executive Vice President of Tobacco and Manufacturing for General Cigar Co., the 50-year-old oversees the company's cigarmaking operations from leaf to box. Not only does he supervise the three premium cigar factories owned by General (including two in Honduras that belong to subsidiary Villazon & Co.), he manages the tobacco purchasing, tobacco sorting and processing for the company, and supervises General's tobacco growing operations in Connecticut and the Dominican Republic. Nuñez is one of the most influential executives at the company.
Despite his power, Nuñez remains modest. "In my life, I like to minimize mistakes," he says. He speaks of tobacco as if it were a religion; something to be honored, respected, but never truly mastered. He's fond of saying: "The tobacco speaks to us," but he believes that it speaks a language that's hard to fully understand. In his world, a person like himself can train and train, but ultimately can never fully control such a power.
Nuñez wasn't born in a tobacco field, but as a child growing up in the Dominican town of Moca one was never far away. His father grew a small plot of tobacco that augmented the income from his chief business of growing plantains. The backyard plot was a common sight in 1950s Moca, an agricultural town about 15 miles east of Santiago.
Becoming a farmer like his father wasn't a priority to Nuñez, but in the early 1960s the public schools of the Dominican Republic were becoming dangerous. In 1961 dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina was killed, sparking a power struggle for the government. President Juan Bosch was elected president in December, 1962, but was ousted less than a year later by the military. In April 1965, an attempt by his supporters to restore him to power resulted in civil war. The previous year Nuñez had enrolled in vocational school in 1964.
"It was right before the Revoluton [in 1965], and the political situation wasn't totally stable. The public school was getting worse and worse. There was a lot of shooting of students," said Nuñez. A vocational school specializing in agricultural studies was a safe haven. "That was one of the reasons I went to vocational school," he says. He proved to be a natural at the studies, and earned a full scholarship to Texas A&M.
"When I got to Texas I was 106 pounds and I spoke no English," he says. He learned the language at school. Studying agriculture, he learned how to create hybrids of plants, how to manage crops, even though he worked on tomatoes and roses, not on tobacco plants. In addition to hitting the books, Nuñez also learned a bit about business -- particularly how to augment his income.
"I had a full scholarship -- my notebooks, the winter coat, even my food was paid for. And money for incidentals, $100 per month. So I didn't need anything. But as soon as I finished my freshman year, I began getting up at 5 o'clock to get to the cafeteria. I worked two hours in the morning, two hours at noon and two hours in the evening. And it was the greatest time of my life, because I made my own money. I learned to get extra things, just with the effort."
The work ethic gave Nuñez enough extra cash to buy a 1970 Mustang, brand new. The $2,300 car was a welcome replacement for the '62 Triumph Nuñez he had driven through the previous Texas winter. (Which was fairly mild by most standards, but not by Dominican standards.) When he purchased it, the car was a wreck. It had no top and no battery. He paid $75.
Nuñez is an admitted car nut. His two older brothers are mechanics, and they revealed to him the mysterious tangle of wires, hoses and metal that makes up a car engine. The knowledge gave Nuñez another way to make extra money on campus.
"I love cars," he says. "I made quite a bit of money at Texas A&M fixing student's cars. I would get $5 for a tuneup, $10 for changing a clutch. It was good money in those days." He once overhauled a 4-cylander Nissan in less than 24 hours, taking apart the entire engine and putting it back together. But don't ask him to fix a new model. "Today, with my Audi, I don't even open the hood because everything is computerized," he says.
The curiosity and drive that gave him the confidence to take engines apart also pulled him from the one discipline of the cigar industry to another. He started in the tobacco fields in 1972, working for the Dominican Institute of Tobacco growing piloto Cubano, a type of filler tobacco grown in the Dominican Republic. Two years later, Nuñez took a job with General Cigar through a special partnership program with the Dominican government. The country was hoping to capitalize on the embargo against Cuban products, and hoped to build on its cigar country image by growing its first quality wrapper tobacco. General hoped the Dominican could provide a good source for tobacco, so it joined the project. With Nuñez as the Dominican technician, the partners started modestly, on a six-acre plot of land in a town called Bonao.
The tobacco grew well, but it really wasn't what American cigar smokers of 1970 were looking for. The tobacco was Connecticut seed, grown under shade, but it produced darker tobacco than the partners had hoped. The flavor was also a bit strong. "It was very nice tobacco, but in those days we were looking for a duplicate of Connecticut shade. There was not a market for anything that was not either Connecticut shade or Sumatra," Nuñez says. "It had the color of Connecticut shade, but it had the Dominican taste. The market wasn't there for that."
The Bonao project didn't work wonders for General, but it gave Nuñez the roots of an education in the cigar industry. "Edgar Cullman Sr. [the patriarch of General] told me once, "You need to see everything,"" says Nuñez. He took his boss seriously. He augmented his knowledge of growing tobacco in the Dominican Republic by traveling to General's fields in Connecticut. As soon as the Dominican crop was in from the fields in early spring, it would be time to go to Bloomfield and watch as the seedlings were transplanted into the rich, Connecticut glacial soil. When that crop was finished in the fall, the Dominican crop was ready to begin again.
Nuñez spent his first decade with General focusing on the fields. In the beginning, he failed to realize the importance of cradling the tobacco leaves being grown on the wrapper project in Bonao. As a filler tobacco grower, taking care of the leaf was a foreign concept. The difference was pointed out to him in 1977 by Joe Prensky, then the president of Culbro Corp.
"He took the crop from Connecticut and put it on the floor next to the crop I grew in the Dominican," says Nuñez. "His had a yield of 75 percent, 80 percent wrapper. Mine was 5 percent. I felt the pain in my stomach. I could see how unforgiving the tobacco is -- it never gives you a break."
His career at General was a series of lessons. In 1984, he spent all his time in the Dominican Republic, where General had its massive tobacco sorting operation. Sorting was the next step after farming, the process of preparing the leaves for the aging process. After sorting, he went to manufacturing, where he learned under the tutelage of Cifuentes. From 1992 to 1994 he traveled the globe with Alfons Mayer, then the chief tobacco buyer for General, where he learned how to purchase tobacco. Then he tackled tobacco processing, the stage where men use heat, water and time to turn raw, young leaves into smooth, elegant cigar tobacco.
"Every step was enjoyable, but tobacco processing was one of the greatest," Nuñez says. "It's where you become a chef. When you grow tobacco, there isn't much you can do. In sorting, you can't change it. But when it comes to processing -- we tend to believe we are in control."
Nuñez was later able to change tradition at General, convincing his superiors to let him shift fermentation of the Connecticut shade tobacco from the northeast United States to the Dominican Republic.
"It took me three years to convince Edgar Sr. to ferment in the Dominican Republic," he says. Why did he want the step done there? "Tobacco is from the tropics and it belongs in the tropics. In the tropics the tobacco never dries out. Here it does."
Nuñez has been at his busiest over the past two years, adding blends to the sizeable General Cigar portfolio. They include the Sancho Panza brand, a high-scoring bargain-priced line of smokes from Villazon, a new Punch Rare Corojo, and Hoyo de Monterrey 1066. In 2000, Nuñez blended a cigar called Ramón y Ramón, in tribute to his fallen former mentor, Ramón Cifuentes. The result is a strong, diverse product line with an increasing number of stronger taste profiles, the type of cigar that General seemed to lack in earlier days.
The price of Nuñez's seat of power is a Homeric travel schedule -- he's on a plane nearly every week. He flies constantly between Connecticut and the Dominican Republic (often stopping in New York City to visit the top brass at General Cigar headquarters) and he has to be in Central America every three weeks, to look at the two Villazon cigar factories. Every weekend, no matter the schedule, he's home in the Dominican Republic, where the trek begins again the following week.
The Dominican calls to Nuñez. "I belong there, and that's where I get my energy," he says. As busy as he is, he says he never brings work home, reserving his scant personal time for his wife and three children.
"Edgar Cullman Sr. saw something in me," says Nuñez, speaking about his boss. "When he first saw me, he said "I'm going to make a tobacco man out of you." He smiles. "Today he's still pushing me."
Cifuentes died last year. Mayer has retired. Many of Nuñez's mentors have moved on, in one way or another, leaving him to put their knowledge to use, and to pass it on to others. He's grateful for all the lessons, even though he knows in his heart that he can never truly perfect his occupation.
"You can be a master for a day," he says. Another fragment of the Macanudo is turned to ash as he puffs. "If you work hard enough, you may have many days like that."
Photo by John Peden


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New iPad Mini with Retina Display Announced for November
The new iPad Mini with Retina Display was just announced at today's Apple Special Event, fulfilling the wishes of many fans of eye-candy.
The iPad Mini with Retina Display will boast a 7.9-inch screen with a 2048 x 1536 resolution, making it identical to the iPad Air in terms of resolution. This means it will be able to run the same apps as its big brother. The new Mini's guts are also similar in that it comes with a 64-bit architecture A7 processor that makes is 4x faster at CPU tasks and 8x faster at graphics tasks.
Apple claims that the new Mini will also have a 10-hour battery life and enjoy WiFi connections twice as fast thanks to Mimo, as well as expanded LTE support for cellular services. Other hardware goodies include a 5MP iSight camera and the new FaceTime HD camera.
You'll be able to pick up silver/white and space gray/black models when the iPad Mini with Retina Display is released some time in November, starting at $399 for 16GB WiFi models and $529 for 16GB cellular models. As a bonus, the original iPad mini will be lowered to $299, just in time for the holiday shopping season.


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In conjunction with Native American Heritage Month this November, leaders of nearly 50 tribes and Boys & Girls Club professionals gathered in Scottsdale, Ariz., last week for a special summit.
Great Futures in Indian Country drew more than 180 participants. A "grand entry" – a solemn processional borrowed from Native culture – opened the summit. As the tribes entered, a drum group played an honor song. Tribal flags held aloft, the procession moved clockwise, forming a circle that would not dissolve until the song was complete.
Attendees were provided with tremendous opportunities to learn, share ideas and deepen relationships. Sessions generated outside-the-box thinking and creative dialogue on how Native Clubs, and Clubs with Native sites, can deepen impact on young people and develop stronger organizations to better meet community needs.
BGCA has partnered with Native communities across the country for more than two decades. The rich tradition and culture found in these communities lends Clubs on Native Lands a unique energy.
At the same time, the needs in these communities, especially for their young people, are great. For instance, while high school graduation is a serious issue for all our youth – every year, 1 in 4 students fails to graduate – it's even more pronounced for Native youth; only about 50 percent will graduate from high school on time.
That's why we're so committed to enhancing and expanding our work in Native communities – to truly reach those who need us most.
Underlying all our efforts is a deep appreciation and respect for Native culture, a commitment that the Native Club Experience continues to celebrate the distinctive way of life and history in Indian Country.


text: SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) – California could send each of its 130,000 inmates to Harvard University and still save money over what it spends to keep them locked up. Gov. Jerry Brown's recently revised budget projects it will cost a record $75,560 to imprison each felon over the next year. That's $2,000 above Harvard's tuition, fees, room and board, and other expenses. The prison price – the nation's highest – has doubled since 2005. More than three-quarters of the cost is for security and inmate health care, with salaries and benefits for guards and other workers driving much of the increase. Critics say the record $11.4 billion corrections department budget should be lower because lawsuits have forced the state to trim the inmate population by a quarter in the last decade. But the prison guards' union says the inmates who remain are the most dangerous and carry higher costs.


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Birth Space, Safe Place: Emotional Well-Being through Pregnancy & Birth
By Adela Stockton
Findhorn Press, 2009
102 pages, paperback, $14.95
Reviewed by Molly Remer, MSW, ICCE
Appropriate for first time mothers as well as women having subsequent children, Birth Space, Safe Place is a slim and succinct little volume with a sole center: emotional well-being throughout pregnancy and birth. This very specific purpose is what makes the book special. It focuses on creating the emotional space for a gentle birth as well as a physical environment conducive to gentle, physiological birth. However, there is a broad range of topics covered within this specific focus including pain, fear, support, the "cocktail" of labor hormones, avoiding physiological disturbances of the birth process, optimal fetal positioning, and blessingways.
The chronology of the book flows from "conscious conception" through making decisions about birth location, preparing for labor, support during birth, "the spirit of birth," and "early parenting joys and griefs" which addresses birth processing and postpartum recovery. The chapter on "cleansing the past" briefly addresses prior loss and bereavement, difficult previous birth experiences, and issues of abuse. Each section contains brief personal anecdotes, some from the author and some from mothers she has worked with. The exploration of each topic is brief, but is an adequate overview.
The author is a "childbirth homeopath" and so there are several sections about homeopathic remedies for specific symptoms or concerns. Aside from the homeopathic content, I did not feel as if I learned anything particularly new from the book, however it was very nice to have information about a specific element of pregnancy and birth preparation all pulled together into one nurturing place.
Birth Space, Safe Place is very supportive of doulas—for both labor and postpartum—and also of midwifery care and homebirth.
The book contains three appendices, endnotes, references, a glossary, and resource listing. The book is written in the UK (author is in Scotland), so National Health Service care is assumed and that system of maternity care, midwifery, and homebirth. The first appendix briefly addresses differences in US and Australian midwives compared to the UK.
And, make sure to check out my giveaway of Birth Space, Safe Place here!
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes.


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Drivers prosecuted for blue badge misuse
A trio of blue badge parking cheats have been prosecuted after being caught using fake and cancelled blue badges.
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Victoria Lodge update
Planning consent for six flats to be built on the site of the Victoria Lodge was refused by Barnet Council's Planning Committee in September 2018. The Planning Inspectorate subsequently granted permission following an appeal by the applicant.
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Exhibition highlights WW1 sacrifices
As the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War draws closer, Barnet's Local Studies Archive has launched a poignant free exhibition at Hendon Town Hall, entitled 'Coming Home'.
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Views sought on Council Tax Support scheme
Barnet Council has launched a public consultation in relation to its Council Tax Support scheme. The consultation began on Thursday, 18 October and will run until Thursday, 29 November.
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Thinking of flytipping in north London? Don't be Crazy!
A Finchley firm has been ordered to shell out nearly £10,000 after a successful flytipping prosecution by Barnet Council that saw its two vans confiscated for two months.
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Tell our Leader what you think
The Leader of Barnet Council would like residents to offer their views at one of three Engage Barnet events being held in September.
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Blue badge cheats brought to justice
Council counter-fraud investigators have brought more than 30 disabled parking badge cheats before the courts during the last three months.
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Residents are being asked to give their views on future priorities in Barnet over the next five years.
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Get ready for a mischievous summer!
This Saturday sees the start of a fantastic summer of reading related fun taking place in Barnet libraries with the 'Mischief Makers', Summer Reading Challenge 2018.
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Residents can now access thousands of newspapers and magazines from around the world for free at the touch of a button using just their library card.
Last updated: 11 July, 2018


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Henneman new Whitecaps pitching coach
Good new for me, as one of my favorite Tigers of the late 80's has been named the new pitching coach for the Whitecaps. Mike Henneman, former Detroit Tiger and MLB All-Star will begin his tenure in West Michigan starting the 2013 season. This will be his first professional coaching job, but he does have plenty of experience coaching young players. Since his retirement in 1995, Henneman founded a select youth baseball team in McKinney, Texas, to make sure his kids received quality instruction and competition. His team grew into an organization of teams and eventually evolved into the McKinney Marshals Youth Baseball Organization. This includes 15 select youth teams as well as a Texas Collegiate League team. Henneman serves as the co-owner, president, and roving pitching instructor of the organization, but also built a 75-acre baseball complex with 15 baseball/softball fields, two pro-sized fields including locker rooms, press boxes and an 2,500 seating capacity. A training academy, pro shop, and concession stand are also present. That's pretty impressive, and it must be nice to be able to play baseball year-round down there.
In his time with the Tigers, Henneman held the all-time saves record with 154 until is was broke in 2006. Coming up to the Tigers in 1987, he was named The Sporting News Rookie Pitcher of the Year and finished sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, after pitching to a an 11-3 record with seven saves and a 2.98 ERA. He led all Detroit relief pitchers in both wins and ERA in 1987-'88, he led the AL in win-loss percentage in 1987, and in 1989 he was elected to the All-Star team. During his decade in the majors, he earned a 57-42 record, with 193 saves and a 3.21 ERA. He also played in Texas and Houston, but seems happy to be back in the Tigers organization, and part of the Whitecaps.
"I'm so excited to be coming on board with the Tigers organization", Henneman stated to MiLB.com. "To me, it's like home-I came up with the Tigers; my career started here. I'm fortunate to be back with them. With these minor league guys, it's all about learning their personalities and working with them in a way that works best for them, without forcing anything down their throats, because that will run them off. These guys in Class A ball have the skills and they know what they want, so it's just a matter of teaching them how to be successful. I've got a bit of a wacky personality, so if we're talking about something serious, I think I can make the point in a way that these guys will listen. We're going to have a lot of fun next season at Fifth Third Ballpark."
Sounds good to me! Just one more reason to get really excited about baseball next April. The Whitecaps staff is all set now, with Henneman, Scott Dwyer returning as hitting coach, and new manager Larry Parrish.
Photo courtesy of the Detroit News


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Wed Jul 14 1999 07:46: Every time I buy something with my check card, they run into a problem with the address verification. It goes on and on until they call the credit union, which magically resolves everything. It is a mystery to me.
Okay, Mr. MegaSuperBrowser, I'm ready for you! I'll take you down!


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Sonny Gray tosses gem for 10th victory
SEATTLE – Smyrna native Sonny Gray limited the Seattle Mariners to just six hits and one unearned run and the Oakland Athletics earned a 4-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Sunday.
Gray, a former Smyrna High and Vanderbilt University standout, earned his 10th victory and Sean Doolittle recorded the final four outs for his 14th save.
James Jones singled and advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt from Gray. Jones scored on an RBI groundout from Robinson Cano to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead in the first.
Seattle squandered an opportunity to add to its lead in the fourth inning. Cano and Kyle Seager singled to put runners on the corners with no outs. Gray worked out of the jam with a strikeout of Dustin Ackley leaving the runners stranded.
After managing just one hit off Seattle starter Chris Young (8-6) through four innings, the Athletics broke through in the fifth inning.
Jed Lowrie reached with a one-out double. After an Andy Parrino walk, Craig Gentry singled to center and Lowrie beat the throw home to tie the game at 1-1. John Jaso followed with a single to drive in Parrino and give Oakland the lead.
Brandon Moss hit his 21st home run of the season into the right field seats to extend the A's lead to 3-1 in the sixth.
Young (8-6) allowed three runs and five hits with just one walk and two strikeouts for Seattle.
Endy Chavez singled and advanced to second on a groundout from Jones in the eighth inning. Gray intentionally walked Cano to bring Seager to the plate. Sean Doolittle relieved Gray and got Seager to pop out to shortstop.
Nick Punto added a solo homer off Joe Beimel in the ninth for the Athletics.