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Already having garnered a strong and eager fan base as well as strong acclaim for their previous album and EPs, it is not pushing the realms of credibility to predict Ghost In The Static will put it all in the shade once their new album Fallout hits the world on September 1st. The album is quite simply immense, a magnificent explosion of electro industrial metal which takes the senses on a massive thrilling ride. If you were impressed by their previous work and who could not be with its vibrancy and cutting energy, Fallout will leave you in rapture.
Formed in 2009 by frontman Steve Fearon, Ghost In The Static explored, experimented with, and evolved an evocative and stirring sound which was impossible not to connect with. Their Open Eyed Dreamer Part I: Revelation debut album of 2011 fully impressed as it showed a band still evolving but already creating compulsive inciteful sounds. Earlier this year two EPs The Infection Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 gave a teaser to what was to come and certainly ignited great anticipation though neither gave real warning of the incendiary levels of invention and imagination to come. The new album has more muscle and intensity thrusting through its sound though the band has not neglected their electronic and melodic side. They have evolved it all into a striking consumption of emotional blistering and concussive energy. Think Celldweller and Suicide Commando in a riotous union with Nine Inch Nails and most of all Pitchshifter and you get a sense of the storm of creativity which envelops and brings climactic pleasure to a head.
Still within the world of post-apocalyptic struggle which themes their music, the new album is not so much a united series of songs as on the last album though all are linked by an overall vibe to stand powerfully individually or as part of Fallout. This gives it a better balance than its predecessor in many ways but no less expansive in its atmosphere and depth. It is also more direct and intrusive, the attack a perpetual and sustained insistence from the first full track to the last lingering note of the release.
Starting with Armageddon, a brief intro setting the landscape the album is set in, the release slams into the ear with the title track, a stirring electrified rub of energy upon the senses. There is an immediate hunger to the song which takes no for an answer as the guitars of Gareth Stapleton and Lewis Collins score the senses with sharp and impactful riffs and melodic surges. The synths of Collins sizzle like acid on flesh across the air of the track to disrupt the already riled energy pervading every pore, whilst the edgy basslines of Mike Fearon simply leaves one looking over their shoulder. A step into a graceful melodic aside gives brief respite though even there the tinge of destruction is whispering in the ear. The track is openly infectious and bustles thoughts and emotions in to a sense of something even more special to come.
Another Day builds on the excellent start to raise the temperature even higher. It is a provocative and challenging slice of invention which straight away evokes imagery and emotions. A distressed ambience opens the song with the fear and desperation of someone lost calling through the sonic distortion. The plea is smothered as the track erupts into a boiling maelstrom of energies and aural disruption. The rhythms of drummer Martin Rogers echo and pulsate within bone as the song ignites the caustic air with its contagious tarnished melodic enterprise and insistent niggling synths. It is the triumphant brassy jazz sounds though which provide the match to full rapture which lingers long after the closing return to the lonely voice.
The muscular and venomous IWTMT brings a fluid union of metal and electronic craft to keep things stewing perfectly whilst the ferocious stomp of Saviour and the corrosive breath of Rapture just give further abrasive charges of electrified pleasure. Each and every track leaves nothing but awe in their wake but when it comes to Not Enough and Fallen Gods it becomes something almost illicit. The first is simply infection gone wild, the rampaging energies and hooks barbed with addiction making melodic poison as it sweeps limbs and senses up into a brawling and insatiable tornado of sound and passion. Once bitten the song remains within forever, a companion in sleep, thought, and those intimate moments though its rhythms make a great pace maker. Fallen Gods is the same, a song which refuses to leave without an exorcism. Like a rampant Rabbit Junk, the band teases and molests with more of their adoration baiting melodies and inspirational imagination and both confirm what a strong vocalist Steve has become. Both carry a more electronic gait in contrast to the harder earlier songs though all are perfectly unruly and powerful.
With two vocal guests in MiXE1 on Lost and Cease2Xist in Everyone, a couple of emerging industrial/electro powers, and the closing dark elegance of Judgement Day, the album is the fullest feast of experimentation, imagination, and irresistible energy. The pleasure does not stop there though as the CD version alone contains the brilliant and slightly punky YDNTL plus the equally stunning Nihilism III, which to our mind makes the download redundant such their greatness, but do not tell the band we said that.
Fallout is one of the best albums to come out this year and within electro industrial metal possibly the very best so far. Ghost In The Static has come a long way since those early days and just keep getting better and better. Whilst you mark that release date off on your calendars we are off for a cold shower, phew!
To find out more, pre-orders etc go to http://staticdistortionrecords.co.uk
Listen to Ghost In The Static tracks from Fall Out on The Bone Orchard podcast from The Reputation Radio Show
RingMaster 16/08/2012
Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright
The best and easiest way to get your music on iTunes, Amazon and lots more. Click below for details.


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As an unabashedly extreme fangirl of all things Eames, I am happy to say that the U.S. Postal Service is also feeling some Eames love this month. This week they have issued a hotly-anticipated set of 16 commemorative stamps honoring the iconic husband and wife design team whose work continues to be the standard against which all modern is measured.
Through architecture, furniture and film; their extraordinary body of work was as innovative as it was playful. The stamps are a perfect slideshow of their greatest hits from their own home, Case Study #8, and the sexy La Chaise to (in this fangirl's opinion) the perfect chair, the LCW.
You can order the commemorative set online. And, at less than $7 a set, you can buy some to save and use others for sending some real mail to your favorite modernists.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sure, the holidays are a feast for the eyes (twinkling Christmas lights, beautiful wreaths), and your taste buds (cookies!), but if you forget about your nose, you're skipping a seriously festive part of the season. Try these homemade ways to surround yourself in cozy, friendly scents in this year.
1. Build a festive simmer pot.
If you're hosting a holiday party (and have a burner free on your stove), fill a saucepan with a bit of water and inviting aromatics like cinnamon sticks and apple slices. As the mixture heats, it will fill your home with happy, nostalgic scents — and your guests may never want to leave.
Get the tutorial at Design Improvised »
More From Good Housekeeping
2. Or, try pine.
For a less sweet take on the simmer pot, try one with pine branches as the main ingredient (and fool yourself into thinking you bought a real tree this year).
Get the tutorial at Make+Haus »
3. Mix your own potpourri.
To make a holiday blend that's exactly to your liking, experiment with your own recipe of dried fruit and spices.
Get the tutorial at Coordinately Yours »
4. Make minty candles.
Peppermint tops off these DIY votives, but you can customize the layers with your favorite essential oils.
Get the tutorial at Hello Natural »
5. Hang a sweet-smelling garland.
Cinnamon-applesauce pomanders look lovely paired with bright dried orange slices, and (you guessed it) they smell amazing, too.
Get the tutorial at 5 Orange Potatoes »
6. Boost pine cones.
Sneak a favorite seasonal fragrance into your Christmas decor by spritzing cones with a cinnamon-scented oil.
Get the tutorial at Kleinworth & Co. »
Pin It for Later
Follow @goodhousemag on Pinterest.
More Holiday Ideas:
• 14 Creative Ways to Dress Your Tree
• 20 Magical Ideas for Mason Jars This Christmas


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The new MP4-15 was more an evolution than a new car, but with continual changes to the aerodynamics and a new power-steering set-up coming on stream during the season, testing and development were to move even higher up the list of priorities. Coulthard was quick to acknowledge Panis's important place in the team, referring to the great benefit it was having, "Somebody fulfilling this role whose judgement we could absolutely depend on and who was quick enough not to raise any doubts about the data he was inputting."
Adrian Newey's third car for McLaren incorporated a number of refinements which had been developed during the off-season during consultations with the FIA. Because of this Martin Whitmarsh maintained that, while some rivals might attempt to complain to the governing body, he had no worries about their legality even though some, such as the distinctive exhaust set-up with its central exit, and the hot-air radiator outlet 'chimneys' atop the sidepods, were novel.
Talk at the launch was not restricted to the car's technical aspects, however. Prior to the event, Daimler took the opportunity to confirm that it was exercising its right to buy 40 per cent of the TAG McLaren Group. At the same time Whitmarsh reflected on the considerable challenges facing the hitherto unfortunate Coulthard during the coming year. "He is," he remarked, "intelligent enough to realise that we considered other drivers for this season."
The team had no intention of repeating the poor start it had made in 1999, but this proved unavoidable. After taking the top two qualifying positions in Australia both cars retired when their new FO 110J Mercedes-Benz V10s suffered valve seal problems. Two weeks later Häkkinen's engine blew up again at Interlagos while he was leading, and having finished second on the road Coulthard was then disqualified for a wing-height infringement. But on the positive side the new cars were very fast and better at responding to changes and more comfortable on the limit than the MP4-14 had been.
At Imola, Häkkinen held the lead for a long time, though once again Michael Schumacher's pace enabled him to win for Ferrari. It wasn't until Silverstone, courtesy of Coulthard, that the team had a victory to celebrate. Häkkinen made it a great day by finishing second, though he wasn't happy with his car's set-up even after small changes during his pit stop.
He finished second again at the Nurburgring, This time behind the German Schumacher, before winning in Barcelona after driver experienced tyre problems. Coulthard posted an impressive second, despite having stepped out unharmed after the Learjet in which he'd been travelling crash-landed four days earlier.
At Monaco DC dominated as Häkkinen fell victim to a gearbox problem and Schumacher's suspension broke. The Scot won again at Magny-Cours with Häkkinen second and still complaining about his car. In Austria, however, a refreshed Häkkinen stormed through to win and to declare: "We've solved our problems. I'm back to what I used to be and the Championship is not over yet."
With Schumacher failing to score both there and in Germany two weeks later, and with Häkkinen winning in Hungary as well as at Spa, he was not just back in contention but actually leading the Championship. Ferrari fought back with wins at Monza and Indianapolis, leaving Häkkinen trailing
Schumacher by eight points with just two races left. He fought back hard at Suzuka but as the rain fell the advantage went to Schumacher. The German eventually won his first title with Ferrari, who also narrowly took the Constructors' World Championship, but the season had seen a classic battle between the two top teams.
The team had once again scored seven wins, and overall reliability had been much better with Häkkinen in the points for every race but three and Coulthard for all but four.


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Markets roiled by fresh US sanctions on Russia
LONDON (AP) — Another round of U.S. sanctions on Russia weighed on markets Thursday. News that a Malaysia Airlines passenger plane carrying 295 had been shot down over Ukraine added to the negative tone.
Russia's MICEX index underperformed the world market, closing down 3.8 percent, a day after the latest round of U.S. sanctions, which targeted two major energy firms, a pair of powerful financial institutions, eight weapons firms and four individuals. The U.S. penalties are meant to increase pressure to end the insurgency in eastern Ukraine believed to be supported by Moscow.
"A fresh round of sanctions against Russia has wrong-footed the market today, and helped to remove some of the complacent momentum witnessed in equities," said Brenda Kelly, chief market strategist at IG.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed down 0.7 percent at 6,738.32 while Germany's DAX fell 1.1 percent to 9,753.88. The CAC-40 in France ended 1.2 percent lower at 4,316.88.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.3 percent at 17,094 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.5 percent to 1,972.
Traders hammered Mattel and AutoNation after the companies reported disappointing results, while homebuilders sank on news that home construction slowed sharply last month. Over the rest of the week, earnings reports from Google and IBM are key events investors will monitor.
Earlier in Asia, most of the region's markets finished in negative territory or were little changed. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed 0.1 percent lower at 15,370.26 and China Shanghai Composite declined 0.6 percent to 2,055.59. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 were little changed.
South Korea was the only major market that finished higher. The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.4 percent to 2,020.90. The market was boosted by expectations that the country's new pro-growth finance minister would introduce measures to ease housing market regulations and encourage domestic spending.
Elsewhere, trading was muted, with the euro flat at $1.3526 and the dollar down 0.3 percent at 101.36 yen.


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The 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act is also the 50th anniversary of the presumptive Republican nominee for president, Barry Goldwater, voting against the Civil Rights Act.
Goldwater, his defenders effectively argue, was not a racist, only an ideologue. True enough. He had been a founding member of the Arizona NAACP. He helped integrate the Phoenix public schools. His problems with the Civil Rights Act were theoretical and libertarian — an objection to the extension of federal power over private enterprise.
But some political choices are symbolic and more than symbolic. Following Goldwater's vote, a young Colin Powell went out to his car and affixed a Lyndon Johnson bumper sticker. "While not himself a racist," concluded Martin Luther King Jr., "Mr. Goldwater articulates a philosophy which gives aid and comfort to the racists." Jackie Robinson, after attending the GOP convention in 1964, helped launch Republicans for Johnson.
In the 1960 election, Richard Nixon had won 32 percent of the African American vote. Goldwater got 6 percent in 1964. No Republican presidential candidate since has broken 15 percent.
There is much to be written on the dangers and diminishing utility of a Republican electoral strategy based on maximizing the turnout of white voters. My concern here is with the tone and approach of the Goldwater movement. The candidate and his supporters regarded his vote against the Civil Rights Act not primarily as a political maneuver but as the evidence of ideological courage in the cause of liberty.
Announcing his candidacy, Goldwater had pledged: "I will not change my beliefs to win votes. I will offer a choice, not an echo." The choice was generally libertarian and Jeffersonian (in its resistance to federal power). The echo consisted of Republicans who had accommodated federal power on the welfare state, civil rights and much else. The energy of Goldwater's movement was directed against compromised members of the GOP — the RINOs of their time. According to Goldwater, President Dwight Eisenhower had embraced "the siren song of socialism." Goldwaterites accused the Republican establishment of "me-tooism" and advocating a "dime store New Deal."
That establishment sometimes comically embraced its cliche. "What in God's name has happened to the Republican Party!" exclaimed Henry Cabot Lodge. "I hardly know any of these people!" But Goldwater also fully inhabited his stereotype. Brown v. Board of Education and associated decisions were "abuses of power by the court." The Tennessee Valley Authority should be sold "for a dollar" (which did not help much with Goldwater's electoral appeal in Tennessee or Kentucky). "We ought to forget the big cities," Goldwater told the Georgia GOP convention. "We can't outpromise the Democrats."
When Goldwater eventually, inevitably and massively lost, it is instructive where he placed the blame. "This year, obviously," Goldwater reflected, "millions of Republicans decided socialism and central-decided socialized government is all right."
Obviously. Obviously it had nothing to do with a candidate who declared intraparty war, advocated "extremism in the defense of liberty" and opposed the landmark civil rights achievement of the 20th century.
The political events of half a century ago have current echoes. The spirit of Goldwaterism is abroad among tea party activists. Their ideological ideal is often libertarian and Jeffersonian. A few — Rand Paul (R-Ky.) briefly during his Senate campaign; Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) at a recent town hall — balk at accepting the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act. More generally, they believe that the GOP's political recovery must begin with the defeat of compromised GOP elites. Never mind that those elites, by any historical standard, are conservative. So the movement targets Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has a 90 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union — revealing a revolution that can't even locate the Bastille.
The problem comes in viewing Goldwater as an example rather than as a warning. Conservatives sometimes describe his defeat as a necessary, preliminary step — a clarifying and purifying struggle — in the Reagan revolution. In fact, it was an electoral catastrophe that awarded Lyndon Johnson a powerful legislative majority, increased the liberal ambitions of the Great Society and caused massive distrust of the GOP among poor and ethnic voters. The party has never quite recovered. Ronald Reagan was, in part, elected president by undoing Goldwater's impression of radicalism. And all of Reagan's domestic achievements involved cleaning up just a small portion of the excesses that Goldwater's epic loss enabled.
The Republican Party needs internal debate and populist energy. But it is not helped by nostalgia for a disaster.
Read more from Michael Gerson's archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .


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God of Every Story
God of Every Story
As of 2023-03-25 05:43:09 UTC (more info)
Not Available - stock arriving soon
Manufacturer Description
DescriptionTalented worship leader and songwriter Laura Story is best known for her inspirational hit ?Blessings? . With only two albums to her credit, she?s already an award winner several times over. ?Blessings? was certified Digital Gold and nabbed a 2012 Billboard Music Award, GRAMMY? and helped Story to four Dove Award wins. She also co-wrote ?Indescribable,? a Chris Tomlin anthem.Now, with her third studio album, God Of Every Story, Laura returns to that deep place of spiritual vulnerability and personal honesty. Award-winning producer Ed Cash helmed the deeply personal project, and their shared Carolina roots led to the incorporation of acoustic and epic instruments into this worshipful pop album.Lyrically, God Of Every Story draws from Story?s own life. Her husband?s brain tumor early in their marriage led the young family down a painful path she wouldn?t have chosen, but one that deepened her faith and her music. The resulting songs show God?s love and grace intersecting with real life. The album is a wonderful reminder that despite our questions or circumstances, God is the ultimate author of our story.
Key Product Details
- Artist: Laura Story
- Genre: Christian
Product Features


text:
We've spent hours (if not days) testing and configuring proper server settings, writing tutorials for advanced features, troubleshooting and optimizing. For anything not covered in the "quick start" section below, there is a wealth of additional resources available below if you run into any problems. As always - If you have any questions, feedback or ideas for future versions - We would love to hear from you! ~Enjoy
Latest Versions:
-2.32 = Compatible with Raspberry Pi Model 2 and below
-3.00 = Alpha build for Raspberry Pi Model 3 (needs further testing)
Download PressPi:
You can download PressPi v1.6 HERE.
Installing PressPi:
- 1.) Download Win32DiskImager
2.) Write image to SD Card. (8gb+)
3.) Boot & Enjoy!
- 1.) Login to your Pi. ( pi : raspberry )
2.) Run "sudo raspi-config" to expand the file system
3.) Reboot.
- Raspbian Base
B+ compatible
Powered by Nginx
SSH: pi/raspberry
User: wpadmin / !WPadmin!
MySQL: wpadmin / !WPadmin!
PHPmyadmin: wpadmin / !WPadmin!
Raspcontrol: presspi / !PressPi!
Access WordPressPi
Access PHPmyadmin
Access Raspcontrol
Update: 12/31/2014
Update: 1/4/2015
Update: 5/15/2016
*3.0 Alpha is live


text: NEW, A fully enclosed Birkenstock. With its classic and timeless character, the new Maine lace-up takes the next step from your favorite sandal or clog to your favorite enclosed Birkenstock. It's made with only a few simple components, no stitching, linings or synthetic materials here. The Maine is fully adjustable and repairable. And of course, at the heart of every Birkenstock is the contoured cork and latex footbed that molds and shapes to your foot with every step.


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Nick and Jen (aka Mr and Mrs Plate Rack!) lovingly source these stainless steel plate racks and shelves in India.
They are beautiful, industrial units which enable you to store everything from your vintage crockery to your saucepan collection. The shelves, slots and hooks allow you to show your favourite kitchen treasures rather than hide them away. They come in different sizes so are compact enough for small urban apartments yet big enough to hold all of your kitchen essentials. Each Indian plate rack and shelf is hand-cut, so they are all unique and a little bit quirky, which we think gives them their charm! They are a timeless storage essential that work well with any style.
- Address
Ta218BB Somerset
United Kingdom


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Park Yoochun warns his father Han Jin Hee.
On the Thursday episode of MBC's "I Miss You," Jung Woo (JYJ's Park Yoochun) looks at the phone records of Zoe/Soo Yeon (Yoon Eun Hye). Sang Deuk had stolen her phone previously.
Jung Woo finds out that Sang Deuk had spoken with Jung Woo's father Tae Jun (Han Jin Hee). Jung Woo says that he will go out and speak to his father and goes to find him at his company.
Tae Jun looks at Jung Woo and says that he doesn't have a son and turns around. Jung Woo asks him why he won't give him a minute, when he talked to Sang Deuk on the phone for 5 minutes. Tae Jun slaps Jung Woo with the documents in his hand and Jung Woo realizes that the documents were the murder case files of Sang Deuk.
Tae Jun says, "You'll never find Soo Yeon," and Jung Woo smiles and says that his father is admitting that she's not dead. Jung Woo says, "I'm not crazy. I wonder who lit that storage place on fire. Why was my phone in your desk? Why did you say that she was dead? Was it for me?"
The drama airs every Wednesday and Thursday.


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Angus Livingston, AAP Senior Political Writer
(Australian Associated Press)
Putting money back in the pockets of minimum wage workers helped create jobs rather than destroy them, new research has found.
Unions are arguing for workers to get $50 more a week when the Fair Work Commission decides soon how much to increase the minimum wage.
The Reserve Bank of Australia looked at the regular minimum wage rises from 1998 to 2008 and found they had no impact on jobs.
Researcher James Bishop on Wednesday released his study, which showed the small, regular increases were mostly passed on to workers.
"These adjustments appear to have little adverse effect on hours worked or job loss," Mr Bishop's report said.
In fact, his study found jobs that had larger wage rises also had larger increases in the number of hours worked.
"I also find that award wage increases do not have a statistically significant effect on the job destruction rate," Mr Bishop said.
"Again, if anything, the point estimates suggest that the job destruction rate actually declines when the award wage is increased."
ACTU secretary Sally McManus called on the Fair Work Commission to push the minimum wage up 7.2 per cent when it makes its decision in coming weeks.
"Australia needs a pay rise. Corporations are making record profits while the rest of us continue to struggle," she said on Wednesday.
From 1998 to 2008, wage rises were handed out to all awards across the board, meaning workers getting the lowest pay got the largest percentage pay rises.
This was a deliberate policy designed to help workers at the lower end more than those in better-paying jobs.
But Mr Bishop said while wage rises encouraged jobs, an unexpectedly large rise could be a tipping point.
"There will always be some point at which a minimum wage adjustment will begin to reduce employment," he said.


text: Back Caregivers Need to Care for Themselves According to the Administration on Aging (AoA), millions of Americans are involved in some form of helping elderly family members or friends with their daily routines. Numbers of caregivers range from 33 million to over 50 million. Exact numbers are not known because caregivers often do not identify themselves with this role In addition, there is no standard definition of "caregiver," so research studies use a variety of descriptions that influence the estimates. No matter the numbers, if you're part of this group, whether you call yourself a caregiver, or simply a good daughter or son, you know that caring for an aging parent or friend has its rewards and its trials. If you are a caregiver, or expect to be one someday, the following are tips to help you cope. Prepare for care While your loved ones are still able to manage aspects of their daily lives, have a frank conversation with them about caregiving plans. If you are an adult child caring for a parent and have other siblings, ask the sibling who is most comfortable with the parent to discuss the subject with him or her. If you're caring for a spouse, initiate the topic by talking about the type of care you'd prefer for yourself (for example, an assisted living apartment). Don't assume that the method of care you want is also what your loved one wants. Find a geriatric care manager Care managers help families devise strategies to meet an older loved one's caregiving needs. You can find one through the National Association of Professional Geriatric Care Managers. The organization's website is at www.caremanager.org. Locally, you can call area agencies for referrals. Look in the phone book under "older adults" or "senior citizens." Be very careful to check references and credentials before hiring anyone to care for your family member. Use the National Center on Caregiving's Family Care Locator or the AoA to find resources in your state. Allocate responsibilities Caregivers need to delegate specific responsibilities to others. Establish a schedule and say, for example, "On Sunday, you can take Mom to church; on Monday, you can drive her to the store," and so forth. Try to keep a balance in your life A burned-out caregiver isn't much help to anyone. Try to get enough sleep; exhaustion is a common complaint among caregivers. Get regular exercise. Exercise helps relieve stress, gives you a break from caregiving responsibilities, and keeps depression at bay.


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NEW YORK, N.Y. – Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market:
Foot Locker Inc., down $2.52 at $32.79
The shoe store chain's fourth-quarter net income rose 28 per cent, but investors were disappointed with the retailer's outlook.
Ann Inc., up $2.28 at $31.28
The retailer posted a better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and a strong sales guidance for the current quarter and full year.
Pandora Media Inc., up $2.06 at $13.79
The Internet radio company's fourth-quarter results beat expectations, and CEO Joseph Kennedy is stepping down.
The Cooper Cos. Inc., up $3.53 at $108.23
The contact lens and surgical tools maker's fiscal first-quarter net income rose 37 per cent on better sales of contact lenses.
H&R Block Inc., up $2.30 at $27.28
An Oppenheimer analyst said in a note to clients that he foresees a strong tax season for the tax preparer despite a slow start.
Medifast Inc., down $1.44 at $22.96
The weight-loss company forecast net income and revenue in the first quarter below what Wall Street was expecting.
Skullcandy Inc., down $1.51 at $5.21
The headphones maker projected a loss and drop in sales in the current quarter, and it said 2013 results will be worse than last year.
Sequenom Inc., down 18 cents at $4.31
The genetic test maker reported a loss in the fourth quarter that was larger than Wall Street analysts expected.


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Comoros profile
- Published
A chronology of key events:
1527 - Portuguese cartographer Diego Ribero depicts the Comoros islands on a European map for the first time.
1886 - Comoros become a French protectorate.
1912 - Comoros formally become a French colony administered from Madagascar.
1942 - British forces invade the Comoros and Madagascar, toppling the pro-Vichy administration and handing the territories over to the Free French government of Charles de Gaulle.
1947 - Comoros become an overseas territory of France and are given representation in the French parliament.
1961 - Comoros given autonomy.
1974 - Three of the islands making up the Comoros vote for independence, but a fourth island, Mayotte, votes to stay with France.
1975 July - Comoros unilaterally declares independence, with Ahmed Abdallah as president.
1975 August - Abdallah deposed in coup assisted by French mercenary Colonel Bob Denard, and replaced by Prince Said Mohammed Jaffar.
1976 - Jaffar replaced by Ali Soilih, who tries to turn the country into a secular, socialist republic.
1978 - Soilih toppled and killed by mercenaries led by Denard, who restore Abdallah to power.
1989 - Abdallah assassinated by presidential guard under command of Denard, who stages coup. France intervenes, Denard leaves islands.
1990 - Said Mohamed Djohar elected president.
1995 - Djohar removed in a coup attempt led by Denard. French troops intervene, Denard surrenders.
1996 - Mohamed Abdulkarim Taki elected president, drafts a constitution which extends the authority of the president and establishes Islam as the basis of law.
Secessionist threat
1997 August - The islands of Anjouan and Moheli declare independence from the Comoros.
1997 September - Troops from the island of Grande Comore land in Anjouan to try to prevent its secession, but are routed.
1998 - President Taki dies, apparently of heart attack, and is replaced by an acting president, Tadjidine Ben Said Massounde, pending elections.
1999 April - Massounde signs an autonomy agreement in Madagascar, but the delegates from Anjouan and Moheli refuse to follow suit, saying they must first consult their people, thereby prompting violent demonstrations in Grande Comore against people of Anjouan origins.
1999 April - Massounde ousted in a coup led by the chief of the General Staff, Col Azali Assoumani.
2001 March - Azali Assoumani says the country will return to civilian rule in 2002 after new institutions of government had been set up. He also said he would not stand for election.
2001 August - A "military committee" seizes power in the breakaway island of Anjouan with aim of rejoining the Comoros.
2001 September - In Anjouan, a day-old takeover by Major Combo Ayouba is crushed by Major Mohamad Bacar, who leads the military government set up in August.
2001 November - Anjouan sees another failed coup attempt, this time by Colonel Said Abeid, who is against Bacar's reunification efforts.
Autonomy for islands
2001 December - Voters back a new constitution that will keep the three islands as one country, but will grant each one greater autonomy.
2002 April - Colonel Mohamed Bacar elected leader of Anjouan and Mohamed Said Fazul elected leader of Moheli. Azali Assoumani named president of reunited Comoros.
2002 May - Mze Abdou Soule Elbak is elected island president of Grande Comore, also the base of Azali Assoumani, the overall ruler of the reunited Comoros.
2003 February - Security forces say they have foiled a coup plot against President Assoumani.
2003 December - Leaders of semi-autonomous islands reach a power-sharing deal, paving the way for elections
2004 March-April- Local elections for assemblies on the three semi-autonomous islands. Supporters of federal president, Azali Assoumani, win only 12 of 55 seats. Elections are held in April for 33-member national assembly - Assemblee de l'Union.
2004 June-July- National assembly opens. President Assoumani Azali names members of first federal government.
2005 January - First visit to France by a Comoran leader for 30 years.
2005 April and November - Mount Karthala, one of the world's largest active volcanos, spews ash over Grande Comore. Thousands of villagers flee.
2006 May - Muslim cleric Ahmed Abdallah Mohamed Sambi, from Anjouan, wins federal presidential elections.
Anjouan standoff
2007 May - The African Union sends troops to help keep the peace in June's elections after Anjouan president Mohamed Bacar refuses to stand down.
2007 June - Anjouan holds local elections in defiance of the federal government and the African Union. Mohamed Bacar is inaugurated as Anjouan's president.
2007 October - The African Union imposes travel sanctions on Anjouan leader Mohamed Bacar and other government officials and freezes their foreign assets while calling for fresh elections.
2007 November - AU begins naval blockade of Anjouan island.
2008 March - Comoran and AU troops land on Anjouan and recapture it. France takes renegade leader Mohamed Bacar into custody.
2009 March - The island of Mayotte votes to fully integrate with France. The Comoros government, which lays claim to the island, terms the referendum null and void.
2009 May - Voters in a referendum approve extension of president's term of office. The extension is opposed by the opposition and many residents of Moheli.
2009 June - Yemenia Airways plane crashes off Comoros, killing all but one of 153 people on board. Comoran expatriates demonstrate in France after suggestions plane may have been faulty.
2009 December - President Sambi's party wins landslide victory in parliamentary election.
2010 April - Libyan soldiers take up duty in the presidential guard as ''trainers''.
2010 June - Political leaders, after some delay, agree on elections timetable starting in November with primaries for the presidency.
2010 December - Ikililou Dhoinine wins presidential elections, and takes office in May 2011.
2013 April - Several people are detained, accused of plotting against the government.
2013 November - Comoros comes out on top in a survey of women's rights in 21 Arab League states. The poll by the Thomson Reuters Foundation surveyed 336 gender experts.
2015 February - Parliamentary elections.
2016 May - Azali Assoumani wins the presidency after a partial election re-run.


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Last week, I was in Los Angeles for the latest Kelsey Conference (ILM 07). We heard presentations from many interesting speakers, most notably Jake Winebaum from RHD, Jay Herratti from Citysearch, Chamath Palihapitiya from Facebook, Stuart McKelvey from TMP, John Hanke from Google and the always interesting Jason Calacanis from Mahalo.
Once again, I had the opportunity to meet and discuss with many of my local search and directory industry peers, making this conference a must-attend if you're in the local search industry. It took me the a few days to come up with takeaways from the conference, not because there weren't any, but because they were embedded deeply in the zeitgeist of the whole conference and needed to be extracted. After a "disappointing" 2006 (as reported in this post from SES Chicago), I think we're at a new inflexion point for the local search industry. It was almost as if every stakeholder in the room had realized that things were not as they had seemed to be and that they were being more realistic and pragmatic about online local search.
Without further ado, here are my takeaways from Kelsey ILM 07:
- People are finally realizing that it is very difficult to "do" local. Both advertiser and user markets are very fragmented and local initiatives do not always scale. If you're not "native" to the local search market, the learning curve is huge.
- Clearly, the online local market has not been cracked yet. There is no clear winner yet and we're still many years away from glory days.
- Local is going to be huge online but the various stakeholders need to work together. Players have to identify where are their core strengths and weaknesses and partner to fill the gaps (either through aggregation of technologies, content or sales). M&A should be on everyone's mind as well. Expect a very active 2008 on that front.
- We heard the second reality check coming from a directory publisher in a couple of months. Time is running out and it's now time to execute.
- Verticalization is starting to happen. People are realizing that there are user & advertiser differences between yellow pages headings. We might finally see some real segmentation in the industry (headings-based pricing, vertical sites, specific ad products and content, etc.) .
- Call-tracking/pay-per-call is now a strategic pillar of local. To solve the media fragmentation issue, this offers a unified business model to aggregate various products together and simplify the sales process.
- Mobile is still the holy grail of local search, coming soon, but not in 2008. Maybe 2009.


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Stephenson receives life sentence in murder case
The man who killed an Aurora woman will spend the rest of his life in prison.
Tuesday the same jury that found Charles "Steve" Stephenson guilty of murdering Leah Jennings sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
WLWT News 5's Brian Hamrick asked Stephenson for his reaction to the verdict as he was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, but Stephenson remained silent.
Jennings' family spoke out.
"My reaction is finally some relief. And he got what I believe he deserved," said Jennings' son Ryan Siebe.
Prosecutor Aaron Negangard said this is the verdict he has been waiting for.
"What we've come for from the beginning is justice. Justice for Leah Jennings and justice for her family."
Leah Jennings was killed in March 2011 in her Aurora home. The jury determined Stephenson beat her to death with a pepper grinder and a skillet.
Stephenson's defense team called his grown children to the stand. His daughter Sarah told the jury her father was "a very kind person" and his son Farly said he "respectfully disagreed with the verdict."
Stephenson's defense attorney confirmed the conviction will be appealed.
Jeff Sharp said, "(Stephenson) is maintaining his innocence."
No timeline was established for the appeal. But for now Stephenson is a convicted killer who left the courthouse Tuesday, as one detective put it, "sentenced to death by incarceration."


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Australia Had An Ugly Day
As the resource supplier to the booming emerging markets, Australia enjoyed many years of economic prosperity.
But as China's economy slowed, concerns about Australia's health mounted. Dylan Grice summed up the concerns when he wrote that Australia is "a credit bubble built on a commodity market built on an even bigger Chinese credit bubble."
Policymakers have been trying to balance the economy away from one led by resource exports to one led more by consumption.
While industries supporting those resource exports continue to contract as expected, the industries supporting consumption are not improving as hoped for.
According to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics report, capital expenditures in the country fell 5.2% quarter-over-quarter in Q4. Manufacturing was in the worst shape followed by mining.
What's more, fiscal year 2014-2015 (i.e. mid 2014-mid 2015) capital expenditure plans also look "awfully weak," writes Societe Generale's Klaus Baader. Fiscal year 2014-15 plans came in "17.4% below the first estimate for 2013/14, which was itself down by 8.8% from the peak in the prior year."
Not only are we seeing a slowdown in mining, we're seeing a slowdown in non-mining investment as well.
While Baader urges caution in interpreting this data because of "the length of the forecasting horizon" and because "the previous year's spending is only half-way done, so the basis is still moving." He does point out that this isn't great for Australia's GDP prospects in the second half of 2014 and going into 2015.
SocGen's Kit Juckes writes that this is just evidence that "Australia's painful rebalancing isn't over."
What's more? Qantas, Australia's largest airline announced 5,000 layoffs and posted a huge loss. Overall, it was just a bad day for the Aussies.
See Also:
- Everyone Calm Down: New York Bottomless Brunches Are Perfectly Legal
- Neil deGrasse Tyson: I Loved 'Gravity' But Here's What The Movie Got Wrong
- MAP: The Most Popular Countries In The World To Visit
SEE ALSO: Breathtaking Aerial Photos Of Australia's Resource-Rich Northern Territory


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Claudication: Exercise Versus Endoluminal Revascularization (CLEVER) (CLEVER)
|The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Read our disclaimer for details.
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00132743
Recruitment Status : Unknown
Verified April 2013 by Joselyn Cerezo, MD, Rhode Island Hospital.
Recruitment status was: Active, not recruiting
First Posted : August 22, 2005
Last Update Posted : April 25, 2013
- Study Details
- Tabular View
- No Results Posted
- Disclaimer
- How to Read a Study Record
|Condition or disease
|Cardiovascular Diseases Peripheral Vascular Diseases Atherosclerosis
|Device: Stent Behavioral: Supervised Exercise Therapy Drug: Cilostazol
|Phase 3
Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is a major source of morbidity and mortality, particularly in older individuals. Despite its high prevalence, clinicians often fail to diagnose PAD, particularly in patients who do not have classic claudication symptoms. Even in those individuals with documented PAD, cardiac risk factors are not often aggressively treated, and only a minority of patients receive pharmacologic therapy with cilostazol. Although there is a growing body of literature demonstrating the value of exercise rehabilitation in individuals with peripheral vascular disease and claudication, exercise rehabilitation is not often prescribed as supervised exercise rehabilitation for claudication, is not reimbursed by Medicare, and is rarely covered by private insurance. Therefore, few individuals with PAD and intermittent claudication have access to supervised exercise rehabilitation.
The use of surgical intervention and stent placement to improve blood flow in patients who do not have ischemic pain at rest or limb-threatening ischemia (Fontaine class III or IV) remains controversial. There is data suggesting that patients with intermittent claudication who have had revascularization with stents have improved exercise capacity and walking times. However, the patients in the various studies often differ substantially in their clinical characteristics, and a variety of techniques were employed, including balloon angioplasty and stents, which makes it difficult to come to a definitive conclusion about the relative efficacy of stenting to improve functional performance. Additionally, to our knowledge, the combination of stent revascularization with supervised exercise rehabilitation has not been studied.
The broad objective of the study is to optimize physical functioning, increase activity levels, and reduce cardiovascular disease risk in older individuals with PAD. The specific aim of the trial is to test the primary hypothesis that aortoiliac stenting/pharmacotherapy improves maximum walking duration (MWD) better than supervised exercise rehabilitation/exercise maintenance/pharmacotherapy for those with aortoiliac artery obstruction at 6 months. Other aims are to compare these two treatment groups with two other treatment groups, optimal medical care/pharmacotherapy and combined stent plus supervised exercise rehabilitation, at 6 months, and to compare all 4 groups with regard to the following variables: MWD change score at 18 months, changes in free-living daily activity levels, patient-perceived quality of life (QoL), and cost-effectiveness. The study also will perform exploratory analyses of demographic and biochemical risk factors for atherosclerosis, including body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, lipid profile, hemoglobin Alc (HgbAlc), fibrinogen, and C-reactive protein. An estimated 252 patients (at up to 30 study sites) with aortoiliac insufficiency and intermittent claudication will be randomly divided into four groups: optimal medical care/pharmacotherapy, supervised exercise rehabilitation/maintenance/pharmacotherapy, stent/pharmacotherapy, and stent/supervised exercise rehabilitation/pharmacotherapy. Recruitment will be performed over 28 months and patients will be followed for 18 months; the total study duration will be 5 years.
|Study Type :
|Interventional (Clinical Trial)
|Actual Enrollment :
|119 participants
|Intervention Model:
|Parallel Assignment
|Double (Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
|Primary Purpose:
|Official Title:
|Claudication: Exercise Versus Endoluminal Revascularization (CLEVER)
|Study Start Date :
|February 2007
|Estimated Primary Completion Date :
|July 2013
|Estimated Study Completion Date :
|July 2013
Active Comparator: 1
Optimal Medical Care
Behavioral: Supervised Exercise Therapy
Supervised exercise therapy, three times per week
Drug: Cilostazol
Cilostazol, 100 mg twice a day
Active Comparator: 2
Optimal Medical Care and Supervised Exercise
Device: Stent
Drug: Cilostazol
Cilostazol, 100 mg twice a day
Active Comparator: 3
Optimal Medical Care and Stent
Device: Stent
Behavioral: Supervised Exercise Therapy
Supervised exercise therapy, three times per week
- MWD change score [ Time Frame: Measured at 6 months ]Aortoiliac revascularization with stent (ST) combined with optimal medical care (OMC) improves maximum walking duration (MWD) compared to optimal medical care alone in patients with claudication and peripheral arterial disease (PAD) who are amenable to peripheral stenting
- MWD change score [ Time Frame: Measured at 6 months ]Regular supervised exercise (SE) combined with optimal medical care (OMC) improves maximum walking duration compared to optimal medical care along in patients with claudication and PAD who are amenable to peripheral stenting.
- MWD change score [ Time Frame: Measured at 6 months ]Aortoiliac revascularization with stent (ST) combined with optimal medical care improves maximum walking duration compared to supervised exercise (SE) combined with optimal medical care in patients with claudication and PAD who are amenable to peripheral stenting.
- MWD change score [ Time Frame: Measured at 18 months ]To evaluate the mid-term durability of any treatment effect by performing pair-wise comparison of change in MWD between baseline and 18 month time points among all three treatment groups of primary interest.
- Free-living daily activity [ Time Frame: Measured at 6 and 18 months ]To assess a treatment effect on free-living daily activity levels of any treatment group, comparing baseline electronic step monitors values with those obtained at both follow up intervals (6 and 18 months)
- Quality of Life [ Time Frame: Measured at 6 and 18 months ]To examine treatment effects on patient-perceived health-related quality of life (physical function) between all groups at 6 and 18 months
- Cost-effectiveness [ Time Frame: Measured at 18 months ]To Examine inpatient and outpatient costs associated with the three treatment strategies, and to evaluate the relative cost-benefit by calculating incremental cost-effectiveness and cost effectiveness acceptability curves using health utility change in the denominator.
- Cardiovascular risk factors [ Time Frame: Measured at baseline, 6 months, and 18 months ]To evaluate the impact of cardiovascular disease risk factors by comparing these values at baseline, 6 months, and 18 months.
- Interaction effect [ Time Frame: Measured at 18 months ]To evaluate the interaction effect, if any, of gender or race on improvements in MWD, improvement in free-living daily activities, and quality-of-life.
- Major adverse peripheral events [ Time Frame: Measured from randomization to 18 months ]To track major adverse peripheral events (MAPEs) associated with aortoiliac stenting and femoropopliteal endovascular intervention.
- Major complication [ Time Frame: Measured from randomization to 18 months ]Rate of major complication defined as any occurrence of death, myocardial infarction, amputation of the target limb (limb treated in this study), or occurrence of critical limb ischemia or repeat target limb revascularization (TLiR).
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided below. For general information, Learn About Clinical Studies.
|Ages Eligible for Study:
|40 Years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
|Sexes Eligible for Study:
|Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
Inclusion Criteria:
- Subject has symptoms suggestive of intermittent claudication, such as exercise-induced pain, cramps, fatigue, or other equivalent discomfort, involving large muscle groups of the leg(s) (calf, thigh, buttocks), relieved by rest
- Claudication score consistent with "Rose", "atypical", or "noncalf" claudication by San Diego Claudication Questionnaire
Positive noninvasive evaluation for significant aortoiliac PAD on the most symptomatic side(s) (bilaterally if symptoms are equal):
- Contrast Arteriography: Contrast arteriogram showing at least 50% stenosis in the aorta, common iliac artery, or external iliac artery, OR
- CTA or MRA: Ankle-brachial index less than or equal to 0.9 (or abnormal ankle PVR waveform at ankle if arteries are incompressible*) with at least 60% stenosis in the aorta, common iliac artery, external iliac artery, accompanied by a biphasic or monophasic Doppler wave form at the common femoral artery (loss of early diastolic flow reversal or loss of forward flow during diastole), OR
- Duplex Ultrasound: Ankle-brachial index less than or equal to 0.9 (or abnormal ankle PVR waveform at ankle if arteries are incompressible*) with occlusion or focal doubling of peak systolic velocity in the aorta, common iliac artery, or external iliac artery, accompanied by a biphasic or monophasic Doppler wave form at the common femoral artery (loss of early diastolic flow reversal or loss of forward flow during diastole), OR
Vascular Noninvasive Physiologic Tests: Ankle-brachial index less than or equal to 0.9 (or abnormal ankle PVR waveform at ankle if arteries are incompressible*) with resting thigh-brachial index (thigh-BI) less than 1.1, and common femoral artery Doppler systolic acceleration time greater than 140 msec [these tests may be ordered for study screening].
- Abnormal PVR waveform must lack augmentation at the ankle, have a delayed, rounded systolic peak, and straight or convex downslope, and must be reviewed by the core lab.
Note: MRA/CTA, and contrast arteriogram images images must be submitted to the Clinical Coordinating Center and Doppler waveform tracings to the Noninvasive Test Committee for over read pre- or post-randomization
- Highest ankle pressure reduced by at least 25 mm Hg after exercise compared to resting pressure (or loss of previously present Doppler signal for both the posterior tibial and anterior tibial arteries immediately after exercise if arteries were incompressible) Note: The highest ankle pressure result is determined by using the higher result of either the dorsalis pedis or posterior tibial artery measurement.
- Subject has moderate to severe claudication symptoms, defined as less than 11 minutes MWD at baseline (initial) Gardner treadmill test
Exclusion Criteria:
- Presence of critical limb ischemia (Rutherford Grade II or III59 PAD, defined as pain at rest, ischemic ulceration, gangrene) or acute limb ischemia (pain, pallor, pulselessness, paresthesias, paralysis) in either leg
- Common femoral artery (CFA) occlusion or greater than or equal to 50% stenosis by angiography, MRA, CTA, or duplex ultrasound or doubling of systolic velocity in the ipsilateral common femoral artery by duplex ultrasound, or 50% diameter stenosis by visual estimate in the CFA by angiography, MRA, or CTA, (inadequate outflow for iliac stent intervention), if available pre-randomization
- Known total aortoiliac occlusion from the renal arteries to the inguinal ligaments (all other occlusions, including aortic occlusion, ARE eligible)
- Participant has bilateral claudication symptoms and the limb that is more symptomatic does not show evidence of aortoiliac insufficiency as described in inclusion criterion number 5
- Participant has bilateral claudication symptoms, but both limbs are equally symptomatic and one side does not show evidence of aortoiliac insufficiency as described in inclusion criterion number 5
Subject meets the following exclusions based upon modified American College of Sports Medicine criteria for exercise training:
i. Ambulation limited by co-morbid condition other than claudication, for example:1. severe coronary artery disease; 2. angina pectoris; 3. chronic lung disease;4. neurological disorder such as hemiparesis;5. arthritis, or other musculoskeletal conditions including amputation ii. Poorly-controlled hypertension (SBP greater than 180 mm Hg) iii.Poorly-controlled diabetes mellitus iv. Other active significant medical problems such as cancer, known chronic renal disease (serum creatinine greater than 2.0 mg/dl within 60 days or renal replacement therapy), known chronic liver disease or anemia, active substance abuse, or known history of dementia
- Contraindication to exercise testing according to AHA/ACC guideline, specifically: Acute myocardial infarction (within 3-5 days), unstable angina, uncontrolled cardiac arrhythmias causing symptoms or hemodynamic compromise, active endocarditis, symptomatic severe aortic stenosis, acute pulmonary embolus or pulmonary infarction, acute noncardiac disorder that may affect exercise performance or be aggravated by exercise such as infection, thyrotoxicosis, acute myocarditis or pericarditis, known physical disability that would preclude safe and adequate test performance, known thrombosis of the lower extremity, known left main coronary stenosis or its equivalent, moderate stenotic valvular heart disease, electrolyte abnormalities, known pulmonary hypertension, tachyarrhythmias or bradyarrhythmias, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, mental impairment leading to inability to cooperate, or high degree atrioventricular block
- Arterial insufficiency of target lesion due to restenosis of an angioplasty/stent or bypass is not eligible
- Recent (less than 3 months) infrainguinal revascularization (surgery or endovascular intervention)
- Recent major surgery in the last 3 months
- Abdominal aortic aneurysm greater than 4 cm or iliac artery aneurysm greater than 1.5 cm is present
- Patients who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or lactating
- Unwilling or unable to attend regular (3 times a week) supervised exercise sessions. (Please review this commitment carefully with each prospective participant.)
- Weight greater than 350 lbs or 159 kg (may exceed treadmill and angiography table limits)
- Inability to understand and sign informed consent forms due to cognitive or language barriers (interpreter permitted)
- Absolute contraindication to iodinated contrast due to prior near-fatal anaphylactoid reaction (laryngospasm, bronchospasm, cardiorespiratory collapse, or equivalent) and which would preclude patient from participation in angiographic procedures
- Allergy to stainless steel or nitinol
- Allergy or other intolerance to cilostazol (bleeding history) or history of congestive heart failure [if ejection fraction is shown to be greater than or equal to 50% patient may be enrolled]
- Nonatherosclerotic cause of PAD (fibromuscular dysplasia, dissection, trauma, etc)
- Inability to walk on a treadmill without grade at a speed of at least 2 mph for at least 2 minutes on the first treadmill test
- ST-segment depression greater than 1 mm in any of the standard 12 ECG leads or sustained (greater than 30 seconds) arrhythmia other than tachycardia or occasional premature atrial or ventricular contractions during exercise testing
- Post-exercise systolic blood pressure within the first five minutes after eligibility treadmill test lower than pre-exercise systolic blood pressure
- A peak heart rate greater than 80% of maximum (calculated by subtracting age from 220) while reporting "onset" of claudication symptoms (level 3 or 4) during the second baseline examination
- Repeat treadmill test shows a MWD result that is greater than 25% different than the subject's initial Gardner treadmill test result. Current active involvement in a supervised exercise program (e.g., with a trainer, exercise protocol, and goals, such as in cardiac or pulmonary rehabilitation) for more than 2 weeks within the prior 6 weeks.
To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contact information provided by the sponsor.
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT number): NCT00132743
|Principal Investigator:
|Don Cutlip, MD
|Brigham and Women's Hospital
|Principal Investigator:
|Timothy Murphy, MD
|Rhode Island Hospital
Other Publications:
Publications automatically indexed to this study by ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number):
|Responsible Party:
|Joselyn Cerezo, MD, Clinical Trials Project Manager, Rhode Island Hospital
|ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
|Other Study ID Numbers:
U01HL081656 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
U01HL077221 ( U.S. NIH Grant/Contract )
|First Posted:
|August 22, 2005 Key Record Dates
|Last Update Posted:
|April 25, 2013
|Last Verified:
|April 2013
Cardiovascular Diseases
Vascular Diseases
Peripheral Vascular Diseases
Peripheral Arterial Disease
Arterial Occlusive Diseases
Bronchodilator Agents
Autonomic Agents
Peripheral Nervous System Agents
Physiological Effects of Drugs
Anti-Asthmatic Agents
Respiratory System Agents
Fibrinolytic Agents
Fibrin Modulating Agents
Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action
Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors
Vasodilator Agents
Neuroprotective Agents
Protective Agents
Phosphodiesterase 3 Inhibitors
Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors
Enzyme Inhibitors


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When I tell people I'm in graduate school studying to be a librarian, I receive the response, "You need a Master's degree for that?" I find myself struggling to defend it. Librarians do more than what the average person realizes, but how much of that is really gained through the MLS? I usually wind up confessing it is like a stamp to gain entry a nightclub. I've been advised countless times by librarians that your coursework doesn't really matter, but your experience does. I agree that there is no teacher greater than experience, but isn't this a huge flaw in our profession's degree? This is also disheartening for me because the first word I've used to describe myself most of my life is "student." I like being in the classroom. I want to learn. I want more degree to mean more than a stamp or a merit badge.
I agree with Library Journal's Editor-in-Chief Michael Kelley that I have learned almost nothing in library school that I didn't already know or that I couldn't have learned on the job or quickly on my own. Coding? I learned the basics of HTML and CSS on my own prior to starting my MLIS, but I was still required to take a basic web development course as a prerequisite for Digital Libraries. Dublin Core? An afternoon of reading would've sufficed but instead I had to write 1,500 words comparing Dublin Core to MARC. I wish I spent this time creating records for practice.
Then there are the things everyone assumes we learn in library school, but we don't necessarily do. Cataloging? No idea! Archives? Tim Hensley, the Director of the Carole Weinstein Holocaust Research Library at the Virginia Holocaust Museum tweeted that he doesn't hire public history MAs. He hires MLS, MLIS, and graduates with similar degrees because those programs train their students for archival work. This came as a shock to me because my program doesn't offer archival training. I gained my archive experience under the supervision of a M.A. History graduate instead of a MLS graduate.
I'm three-quarters through my MLIS program and so far the courses have prepared me very little or not at all for a librarian job. This dissatisfaction with my education and preparation as a librarian isn't unique to my program. Now please do not misunderstand, if you hired me today I'd do an amazing job because I gained experience outside of the classroom. My greatest experience comes from being a Graduate Assistant to the Scholarly Communications Librarian. Previously I had a seventh-month paid archives internship at an automobile museum and was a summer library assistant at a public library. By the time I graduate next year, I'll have an additional archives internship and a year of full-time experience supervising a study abroad library. I believe I have a lot to offer to a potential employer, but isn't because of my MLIS. It is because of these library work experiences that I realized that what I am "learning" in my courses is not translating into working as a librarian. Sometimes I wonder how much more I could be learning to better myself as a future librarian if I wasn't stuck in a virtual classroom three nights a week or typing up papers on the weekends.
I'd love an apprenticeship instead of a MLS/MLIS degree. Librarianship is more like a guild than the academy. Unfortunately, I do agree with Andy that the MLS is here to stay because of the way that higher education is currently structured. Now, we have two options. We can keep advising every new class of MLS students to push through the degree like a chore and get as much experience as possible or we can revise library school curriculum to also prepare our future librarians.
What I want to see is updated curriculum that has caught up to the growing field librarianship. Classes on scholarly communications, copyright, and technology classes that go past basic coding. Not just because I am interested in it, but because that is the direction librarianship is moving. These are the skills I need to prepare myself for the scary library job market. Now you may say that scholarly communications is really only for academic librarians, but making research openly available benefits school and public libraries. And copyright… is there a type of library or librarian that cannot benefit from a stronger knowledge of copyright? Whether it is about protecting the rights of the library or patrons, or determining how we can make our collections available, we need to be educated in copyright law. I got a small glimpse of copyright law in my Introduction to Information Policy course, and decided I needed to know more than what library school was going to offer. This semester I enrolled in the Copyright Law course offered by the my university's law school. Through this class I gained familiarity with both statutory law and legislative history, discussed the Georgia State case, and had class an hour after the Kirstsaeng decision dropped. It was a great learning experience. No class in graduate school has better prepared me to be a librarian, and it wasn't even a library school class.
I am an angry optimist and use a Henry Rollins quote as a personal motto, "My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud." I'm optimistic about the future of library school if we work to change it. We need to update the curriculum. We need less talking in the classroom and more doing. Let's build experience into the curriculum. Projects don't need to be limited to the last quarter of the semester. Give us the opportunity to practice by creating metadata records for collections, building collaborative websites, and using emerging technologies in our projects. Library students can be citizen archivists and help a university's special collections with data entry. Projects can be brought to life if implemented by mid-terms rather than writing a theoretical paper. Have us practice virtual reference with each other, research the copyright and archiving policies of journals to discover by doing, and start writing a grant the third week of classes rather than the third to last. Students can work with open source software to develop stronger tech skills and gain experience building a thorough digital library or catalog. We can even build new software, such as an Omeka plug-in. When MLS programs cannot provide these opportunities to learn in the classroom, faculty and students can work together to develop new opportunities. Universities can host an unconference like THATCamp or begin partnering with other institutions to offer virtual internships. This way we can better prepare our graduates. Our profession and libraries deserve this.
Chealsye Bowley is an MLIS student at Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL and is slowly taste-testing her way through librarianship. She currently is a Graduate Assistant in Technology and Digital Scholarship at Florida State University. In August, she will be running away to Italy for a year to be the Library Supervisor of FSU's Florence Study Center's library. She tweets @chealsye and blogs for Hack Library School.


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In the rearview mirror of history, the Nixon administration can look monstrous. It features a brilliant but insecure and almost constantly cursing chief executive who ruined a landslide 49-state re-election with a corrupt cover-up of a burglary ordered from within the White House.
Aaron Sorkin's HBO show "The Newsroom" represents the reality of working in television news about as accurately as "The West Wing" captured working in politics -- which is to say, not at all.
This week on the "Big Three" prodcast we talked with our special guest, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, about the momentous upcoming week for the Supreme Court.
Why do we love gangsters -- at least the ones on TV and in the movies?
This week on The Big Three we say bye bye to Michele Bachmann; comedian Russell Brand joins us (naked, apparently) to talk about his column condemning group-blame in the wake of the brutal beheading of a British soldier; and Dean and Margaret offer their take on a commencement address for the Class of 2013.
On Memorial Day, we honor those patriots who gave "the last full measure of devotion" -- in Abraham Lincoln's words -- and died defending our freedom and union.
This week on "The Big Three," we take a look at what might have been Obama's worst week ever -- as a negative trifecta of scandals threaten to overwhelm his administration and derail his ambitious legislative agenda. We get a reality check with special guest, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison. And no talk about the biggest stories of the week would be complete without a conversation about Angelina Jolie's decision to have a preemptive double mastectomy and the message it sends to millions.
The fiery South Carolina congressional special election between former Gov. Mark Sanford and Elizabeth Colbert Busch is attracting national attention -- but not for the reasons it should.
There are days when Congress seems determined to earn its 12% approval rating -- and that 14 Republican senators are threatening to filibuster any new gun legislation should make your blood boil if you still have a heart to pump it with.
This week on The Big Three we tackle North Korea's nuclear threats, North Carolina's push for an official state religion and a new poll that shows conspiracy theories proliferate along partisan lines across the USA.
Forget Punxsutawney Phil's predictions. The words "Play ball!" are the most dependable sign that spring has arrived in America. Finally, baseball season is here.
Some days start out historic. The gay civil rights movement has reached the Supreme Court -- a milestone by any measure. We won't know what the justices will decide until June, but it is not too early to reflect on how we got here.
Welcome to The Big Three -- a CNN Radio podcast on the big three stories of the week, featuring three contributors who write for CNN Opinion -- myself, my bride, Margaret Hoover, and political comedian Dean Obeidallah, who is of no relation (as far as we know).
"You guys are crack addicts."
Never fear. While North Korea is a closed communist state, a rogue nuclear power that regularly threatens war and starves its own people in prison camps, Dennis Rodman has just returned from some one-on-one diplomacy with its "dear leader" Kim Jong Un and has good news to report: "I love him. The guy is awesome. He was so honest."
With a crop of political movies in the Oscar running, this weekend Hollywood is looking more like Poliwood. Best Picture contenders such as "Argo," "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Lincoln" have managed to pay off at the box office even as they brought politics and history to the big screen -- proof that we'll take smart over stupid as long as we're entertained while educated.
You would click on the link, and there you'd find the Tea Party Patriots' mailer, calling for liberty and asking for money, decrying "big-government Republicans" and "leftist Obama Democrats" alike.
"What we have done is kicked this can down the road. We are now at the end of the road and are not in a position to kick it any further. ... We have to signal seriousness in this by making sure some of the hard decisions are made under my watch, not someone else's."
Question: What do George Clooney, Chaka Khan, the American Medical Association, Bon Jovi and C. Everett Koop have in common?
At Thursday's Capitol Hill confirmation hearing, Chuck Hagel will finally get to answer his critics.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal rode into the Republican National Committee retreat in Charlotte, North Carolina, ready to offer a dose of tough medicine for the Republican Party, which he now says "must stop being the stupid party."
If you don't get the job done at work, you won't get paid.
Everybody knows the Republican Party is basically an all-white bastion, right? After all, even Colin Powell condemned the "dark vein of intolerance" that has flowed through his party since the post-civil rights era political realignment.
Joe Biden doesn't much like the NRA -- and the feeling is mutual.
"It's why the American people hate Congress. Unlike the people in Congress, we have actual responsibilities."
Jack Alvo drives the streets of the New York City six days a week -- the 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. shift. He never imagined he'd be a cabdriver at his age.
Sometimes it takes a tragedy to make us confront reality.
Washington is playing chicken with the fiscal cliff -- the combination of automatic tax hikes and deep spending cuts in 2013 that could plummet our recovering economy back into recession. Brinksmanship is back while the clock ticks.
Marvin Miller died Tuesday at the age of 95. And here's why you should know his name: Miller transformed the game of baseball even though he never put on a uniform.
Who's afraid of Grover Norquist?
In the horse race coverage of political campaigns, we sometimes forget that elections are just exciting preambles to the main event -- governing.
Indiana Republican Senate candidate Richard Mourdock believes that rapes resulting in pregnancy are "something that God intends to happen."
This election is about the economy -- not social issues or other distractions.
"Partisanship ought to end at the water's edge" is a longstanding adage of American politics.
One of the mysteries of this administration is that President Obama is a great orator, but not always a great communicator, and we saw that dichotomy in effect again last night in Charlotte.
Clint Eastwood's rambling speech to an empty chair in Tampa, Florida, was more than just awkward performance art on a political stage.
Is that the best he can do?
"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
One hundred years ago Monday, Theodore Roosevelt launched the most successful third party presidential bid in American history, declaring, "We stand at Armageddon, and we battle for the Lord!"
The bodies of the victims are being buried. The court case will continue, without cameras. The horror in Aurora has faded from the front page in favor of Olympic coverage.
Welcome back to work, Congress. Hope you enjoyed your fourth full week off this year. Now find a way to work together to help get America back to work.
This is what happens when politics starts looking like a cult: Jeb Bush gets attacked for being a traitor to the conservative cause.
It's not your imagination: Our politics are more polarized than at any point in recent history.
The World Trade Center is again the tallest building in New York one year after the killing of Osama bin Laden and more than 10 years after the attacks that brought them down.
It turns out that Richard Nixon was a hippie.
"I have here in my hand a list of 205 communists ..."
It's tough to get quality people to run for political office these days. There's the cult-like polarization, the vicious mudslinging, and the cost to families and finances.


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State Impact Pennsylvania wins Alfred I DuPont-Columbia University Award
State Impact Pennsylvania, a joint reporting initiative on the Marcellus Shale, has won one of broadcast journalism's most prestigious awards. WHYY's Susan Phillips is a key member of the winning team.
The Alfred I DuPont-Columbia University Awards announced today that State Impact Pennsylvania is one of its 13 winners for 2013. Others include CBS News, USA Today, NPR and PBS.
State Impact Pennsylvania, which launched in July 2011, is a partnership among WHYY, WITF in Harrisburg and NPR to bring consistent, in-depth reporting to coverage of energy and environment across the commonwealth. The early focus has been on the natural gas boom in the Marcellus Shale region.
The award citation reads in part: "This joint reporting project . . . showed the significant impact of natural gas fracking on Pennsylvania residents, and is an important model for reporting on local issues."
WHYY's Phillips works with Scott Detrow of WITF to post updates, reports and analysis multiple times a day on the State Impact Pennsylvania site. The two journalists also produce in-depth radio reports for public radio stations across Pennsylvania, as well as for national broadcast on NPR.
You can see them talking about their reporting in the accompanying video.
You can see and hear the award-winning stories by following the accompanying links.
State Impact Pennsylvania is one of eight team-reporting initiatives that NPR and NPR.org launched in 2011, in hopes of improving the depth of reporting on state issues and having some of that journalism bubble up to national broadcasts.
An NPR team in Washington, D.C., coordinates all eight projects, producing multimedia for the Web site. Other WHYY journalists have contributed reporting, videos, photos and graphics to the project.
Phillips joined WHYY in 2004. A Philadelphia native, she is a graduate of George Washington University with a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She's won numerous awards for her journalism, for stories including her series on the Marcellus Shale prior to the launch of State Impact and her reporting from the scene of the Haiti earthquake.
Before the State Impact initiative, Detrow was Pennsylvania Public Radio's State Capitol Bureau Chief from 2009 to 2011. A graduate of Fordham University, he won a national Edward R. Murrow Award for covering a Pennsylvania National Guard brigade's deployment to Iraq.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.


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Best Web Hosting Affiliate Programs: $150+ Commissions Per Sale
The web hosting industry has some of the most lucrative affiliate programs online, but not all are created equally. As a long time hosting affiliate, I've worked with quite a few of them in my time. These are some of the best hosting affiliate programs I have worked with and trust the most – and it just so happens that a lot of them lead the industry in payouts.
Having dealt with a lot of hosts, I know the difference between good and bad companies. Wonky payout schedules, crazy amounts of shaved leads and horrible customer support/end-user experience.. been there, done that. I recommend that if you're going to promote a company you get a real feel for how they work. Go through the sign-up process, bug their support department with silly questions to see how quickly/accurately they respond – you want to get a feel for the true end user experience so you can represent them well.
So lets cut to the chase, here are my top 3 web hosting affiliate program recommendations. I go into details with each host further down, but I know you're busy.
- Arvixe Hosting ($70-$135 per sale)
- InMotion Hosting ($75-$125 per sale)
- Dream Host ($50+ per sale)
Personal/Blog Hosting Affiliate Programs
These are the companies I typically promote with offers related to blogging or setting up a simple site. They usually have a lower barrier to entry (price) and are focused more towards individuals and hobbyists.
Payout $70-$135 per sale. Hosting starts at $4/mo.
Arvixe is one of my favourites in the personal/blog hosting sphere. They're not new to the industry, but pretty new among many affiliates. This can help or hurt you depending on who you're promoting to because they don't have a ton of brand recognition. Being different than the usual folks can help, after getting the big names jammed down someones throat all day, because they're someone new to check out and they'll likely consider them more.
Arvixe includes a free domain name for life with every hosting account and gives affiliates coupon codes.
InMotion Hosting Affiliate Program
Payouts $75-$125 per sale. Hosting starts at $6/mo.
InMotion has a really interesting program and I think I will be promoting them a lot more going forward. They offer fairly typical payouts but have a few weird bonuses you can accrue over time if you take some extra steps, such as an extra $5 per sale if you follow/like their social accounts online and $10 if you put their link/banner above the fold on your website. These extras are per-sale.
The reason I put InMotion in the business hosting category is because that's how they market their product. They focus more on a business audience and their site looks much more professional than many others out there. I'll likely review them in the future and compare to some other hosts I promote more, but I think I'll see a conversion bump in some markets by pointing them to InMotion.
Payout $65-$90+ per sale. Hosting starts at $4/mo.
Dreamhost is another popular option for hosting. Like other they have good brand recognition, but offer some extras such as a free domain registration for new sign-ups. Like Arvixe.
Business Web Hosting Affiliate Programs
These hosts and plans are more focused towards the small/mid-size business market. Great to promote if you're dealing with local business owners or people looking for somewhere to host their online business.
Their hosting is targeted at folks who run big sites or have a need for speed. Their system is optimized inside and out to run WordPress as fast as it possibly can, with tons of caching and other tech mixed in to ensure your site stays up if you get huge amounts of traffic.
Other VPS/Dedicated Hosting Plans
Payout $50-$135 per sale. Hosting starts at $30/mo.
InMotion, Arvixe and DreamHost all offer VPS and Dedicated servers, so if you're looking at pointing people towards high performance hosting you'll probably want to refer them to at least a VPS with one of those providers. Compare their pricing, resources and extras for each plan, what add-ons/upgrades most of your referrals will need (cPanel, 1-click installers), etc.
Whoever you choose to promote, and I can't stress this enough, make sure you stand behind them 100%. Don't make your pick on who to promote based solely on the affiliate commission, you want to refer people to someone that you already host with (and trust) or a host that is trusted by your friends & family.
The programs listed above are some of the bigger offers per sale, but there are many others out there. If your host already has an affiliate program you may want to consider using them first, even if it means less commission.


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When founding drummer Chad Zollo departed from Ends !n Tragedy, he left with a message for singer/guitarist Ian Jarrell.
"He said, 'I'm going to find you another drummer, I want you to continue, and you have to be a part of this project forever,' " Jarrell remembers. "That's a theme we'll always have. It's us against everything that's going to try to stop us—and we're not going to let it."
After four years, three guitarists, a trifecta of bassists and a triple-shot of drummers, Jarrell is Ends !n Tragedy's only constant. "I don't know what that says about me, exactly," Jarrell says. "There's a real feeling that we'll live on regardless."
The current roster consists of what Jarrell calls "an Albuquerque all-star lineup." Members of Left Unsaid, Stabbed In Back and The Unemploid form a punk rock dream team. Jarrell's nine-month stint with the 12 Step Rebels (along with Zollo) adds an extra spoonful of local music cred to the equation. "Having this lineup gives me the best options I could possibly have, because I've got some amazing musicians to play with me," Jarrell says. "It's built my confidence."
It took nearly a half-decade, but Ends !n Tragedy has an official release on local label Socyermom to tout. The six-song EP "Like Bullets From Fairview" wields what an Anaheim promoter who booked the band once described as the "ultimate rock."
"We say we're trying to bring back the solo."
Jarrell says the band plays hard and fast to give the songs a hardcore feel, but there's plenty of melody to soften the edges. "There are a lot of licks," he explains. "We say we're trying to bring back the solo."
There's an overarching sinister quality to the chunky guitar, and Jarrell's screams sound like they're doing irreparable damage to his vocal chords. "I do probably hurt my voice more often than I should," Jarrell admits. "Eventually, after doing it for so long, you build almost like a callus in your throat. I think my speaking voice has gotten deeper since I started singing for Ends !n Tragedy."
Lyrically, "Like Bullets From Fairview" follows the life and afterlife of a man named Otis. Otis is banished to hell, where he climbs the ranks to become one of the leading forces in the campaign to bring about the end of the world. Jarrell says many of Otis' struggles are inspired by events in his own life—save for the whole burning in hell part. "It seems like a more interesting way to tell the story of what people feel like when they're betrayed by friends or people that they're close to."
To record the EP, Ends !n Tragedy traveled north to Tone Palace Recording outside of Taos. "It's in the middle of nowhere," Jarrell says. "It was so nice to come out of the studio and see snowy mountains completely surrounding you. You separate yourself from everything else and you can just concentrate on the album."
In April, Jarrell says he hopes the band can jump back into the studio to record its first full-length album. But before that, there's the little matter of two EP release parties. Jarrell says the group's supporters have been itching to celebrate for some time. "There's been one little obstacle after another trying to keep the band from staying together," Jarrell says. "We have a lot of great friends who have been pushing us along and have been waiting forever for us to finish this album."


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Vegan Donuts Worth Trekking To at Donut Farm
I'm sure you know that I'm not vegan. Not even close! So when I say Donut Farm's vegan donuts are good, I'm actually saying they are good even compared to normal, non-vegan donuts.
Donut Farm, also known as Pepples Donut Farm, started in Northern California, but has since opened a location in Los Angeles. Silverlake, to be exact. The Silverlake shop is small, but there are seats so you can enjoy your donuts with some coffee while admiring the fun bunny mural from street artist Bunnie Reiss!
Donut Farm's donuts are not only vegan, they are also 100% organic. They have both raised and cake donuts with a variety of interesting flavors and fillings - and did I mention, they were delicious??
One of my favorites was the Philz Coffee glazed donut. Donut Farm also serves coffee (hot and cold brew) so you can double the caffeine.
Chocolate sprinkle cake donut. They also have Mexican Hot Chocolate donut! Although usually I prefer raised donuts, I really enjoyed the cake donuts here, as they're not too dense.
They also have jelly-filled raised donuts and seasonal flavors (think pumpkin and apple cider for the fall).
For tea lovers like me, there's also a matcha glazed donut, which was another one of my favorite.
Donut Farm is a little shop worth trying for all donut lovers - vegans and nonvegans alike. I like the textures of their donuts and the fun flavors.
Donut Farm
2609 Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026


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Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War (Vintage Departures) (Paperback)
List Price: $17.00
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NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A Pulitzer Prize-winning war correspondent takes us on an explosive adventure into the soul of the unvanquished South, where Civil War reenactors, battlefield visitors, and fans of history resurrect the ghosts of the Lost Cause through ritual and remembrance.
"The freshest book about divisiveness in America that I have read in some time. This splendid commemoration of the war and its legacy ... is an eyes–open, humorously no–nonsense survey of complicated Americans." —The New York Times Book Review
For all who remain intrigued by the legacy of the Civil War—reenactors, battlefield visitors, Confederate descendants and other Southerners, history fans, students of current racial conflicts, and more—this ten-state adventure is part travelogue, part social commentary and always good-humored.
When prize-winning war correspondent Tony Horwitz leaves the battlefields of Bosnia and the Middle East for a peaceful corner of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he thinks he's put war zones behind him. But awakened one morning by the crackle of musket fire, Horwitz starts filing front-line dispatches again this time from a war close to home, and to his own heart.
Propelled by his boyhood passion for the Civil War, Horwitz embarks on a search for places and people still held in thrall by America's greatest conflict. In Virginia, Horwitz joins a band of 'hardcore' reenactors who crash-diet to achieve the hollow-eyed look of starved Confederates; in Kentucky, he witnesses Klan rallies and calls for race war sparked by the killing of a white man who brandishes a rebel flag; at Andersonville, he finds that the prison's commander, executed as a war criminal, is now exalted as a martyr and hero; and in the book's climax, Horwitz takes a marathon trek from Antietam to Gettysburg to Appomattox in the company of Robert Lee Hodge, an eccentric pilgrim who dubs their odyssey the 'Civil Wargasm.'
Written with Horwitz's signature blend of humor, history, and hard-nosed journalism, Confederates in the Attic brings alive old battlefields and the new 'classrooms, courts, country bars' where the past and the present collide, often in explosive ways.
About the Author
TONY HORWITZ is a native of Washington, D.C., and a graduate of Brown University and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. As a newspaper reporter he spent a decade overseas, mainly covering conflicts in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans for The Wall Street Journal. Returning to the U.S., he won the Pulitzer Prize for national reporting and wrote for The New Yorker before becoming a full-time author. In addition to Confederates in the Attic, his books include the national and New York Times bestsellers, Blue Latitudes, Baghdad Without a Map and A Voyage Long and Strange. His latest book, Midnight Rising, was named a New York Times Notable Book. Horwitz has also been a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and a history columnist for Smithsonian magazine. He is currently the president of the Society of American Historians. Horwitz lives in West Tisbury, Massachusetts with his wife Geraldine Brooks, their sons, dogs and alpacas.
Praise For…
"The freshest book about divisiveness in America that I have read in some time. This splendid commemoration of the war and its legacy ... is an eyes–open, humorously no–nonsense survey of complicated Americans." —Roy Blount Jr., New York Times Book Review
"In this sparkling book Horwitz explores some of our culture's myths with the irreverent glee of a small boy hurling snowballs at a beaver hat.... An important contribution to understanding how echoes of the Civil War have never stopped." —USA Today
Horwitz's chronicle of his odyssey through the nether and ethereal worlds of Confederatemania is by turns amusing, chilling, poignant, and always fascinating. He has found the Lost Cause and lived to tell the tale a wonderfully piquant tale of hard-core reenactors, Scarlett O'Hara look-alikes, and people who reshape Civil War history to suit the way they wish it had come out. If you want to know why the war isn't over yet in the South, read Confederates in the Attic to find out." —James McPherson, author of Battle Cry of Freedom


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ALLEN PARK – Calvin Johnson said he expects to play on Sunday in Pittsburgh even though he missed his second straight practice Thursday.
"Body's feeling good, just have some maintenance issues I'm taking care of," Johnson said after practice.
Coach Jim Schwartz won't allow players to talk about injuries, but when asked if he anticipates he'll play on Sunday, Johnson said, "Yeah."
Johnson has been dealing with a knee injury most of the season. He missed the game at Green Bay in Week 5.
"It's all game related," Johnson said. "It's a 100-percent injury sport. You know it's just maintaining your body, keeping healthy so you can play on Sunday."
He has missed several practices this season.
Total respect
Veteran Lions cornerback Rashean Mathis, who spent nine seasons playing for the AFC Jacksonville Jaguars, has faced Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger many times over the years.
He's developed a healthy respect for the 6-foot-5 quarterback.
"Big Ben, he's the non-mobile-est, mobile-est quarterback I've ever seen, it's amazing what he does," Mathis said. "I mean that in a very respectful way. He's tremendous at what he does, I watch film and I don't know how he does it. Even when I'm watching him on TV and we're not playing, watching his game you can be 320 pounds and you still can't get him down. He's a strong, brute bull that's what he plays like – he plays reckless and that allows him to make a lot of plays."
Mathis is expected to start at cornerback Sunday opposite of Chris Houston.
Ins and outs
Ziggy Ansah (ankle), Bill Bentley (knee) and Montell Owens (knee) did not practice Thursday. This is the second week that Ansah and Bentley have missed. Owens aggravated his knee injury on Sunday.
Safety Louis Delmas (knee) returned after having Wednesday as a rest day. Delmas routinely practices on Thursdays only, saving his knee for Sundays.
Nate Burleson, who hasn't missed a day of practice since last Tuesday, returned.
(Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter.com and Tout.com. Read her Lions Lowdown blog at oplions.blogspot.com. Join her weekly live chat at 3 p.m. Thursdays at TheOaklandPress.com.)


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Spring football is over, so SI.com weighs in with a few things:
Stewart "Montana" Mandel has Georgia at #1 in his power rankings.
Gene Menez has Knowshon Moreno at #3 on his Heisman watch list.
And Andy Staples has a nice note in his "Impact early enrollees" piece:
Georgia: The nation's most loaded team couldn't possibly have a true freshman starter, right? Not only is Bulldogs coach Mark Richt considering starting a true freshman, he might also use that freshman at a position typically reserved for a veteran. Ben Jones, a 6-2, 306-pounder from Centreville, Ala., could start at center. Jones impressed coaches all spring, and if he develops in August, he may wind up allowing coaches to move current starting center Chris Davis back to guard, where Davis started every game last season.
Jones earned more respect from his coaches this spring when he played through a sprained ankle to keep himself on the two-deep depth chart. "You can tell he's trying like mad to do it just the way coach says," Richt said. "You can see he's coming. I don't know if he's coming fast enough to start in the fall, but I'm not going to put it past him."


text: Back Potbellies Warn of Later Problems You were a pretty good jock in high school, and in your 20s you tried everything from racquetball to running. But in middle age, even your softball glove is gathering dust. For recreation, you surf -- the Web, not the waves. It's all part of that cavalier male attitude toward health that also makes men less likely than women to see a doctor. The fact is, you might not care as much about looks as your wife does, but that fat around your abdomen is no laughing matter. A man's potbelly often warns of later problems ranging from heart disease to cancer, diabetes, arthritis, back pain, and sleep apnea. Medical professionals are able to predict fairly accurately who is going to have a heart attack based on diet, blood pressure, and body weight. Obese men with high fat diets and hypertension are more likely to suffer from a heart attack. Not all of them will have heart attacks, of course, but it's still enough to worry even a manly man like you. Fortunately, men can do something about it without running marathons and living on bean sprouts. Small changes in habits can pay big dividends. Men on the move You don't have to run a marathon every day to improve your health. A growing body of evidence indicates that just half an hour of moderate physical activity most days of the week can cut your blood pressure and body fat and improve your cardiopulmonary fitness. You don't even need 30 minutes straight. Three 10-minute chunks will work fine. Here's some advice to run with: Consult your doctor first. Don't start a fitness program until you do. Build activity into your day. Take stairs, not elevators. Park farther away so you'll walk more. Trade the riding mower for one you push. Consider hiring a trainer. Make sure a reputable group, such as the American College of Sports Medicine, certifies the trainer. Find an exercise buddy. Your pal can move you to exercise when you don't feel like it. Join a fitness club. The camaraderie and classes may help keep you on a schedule. Find weekend fitness fun. An activity such as canoeing, hiking, or camping is an incentive to work out during the week to get ready. If you golf, forget the cart. If carrying a bag is too demanding, use a pull-cart or a caddy. Look for age-specific leagues or outdoor clubs. Try tennis, golf, basketball, softball, bicycling, hiking -- whatever you enjoy. Volunteer to coach your children. Don't watch from the bleachers. Get physically involved in practices and workouts. Set a goal. Sign up for a long bike ride, for instance, then use that as a training incentive. Real men, real menus Design meals that are nutrient-dense and calorie wise. High quality meals and snacks provide the necessary energy for a productive, binge-free day. Heed these tips: Divide your plate into quarters. Fill one quarter with lean meat and another quarter with a piece of bread or a little pasta, rice or potato, and half the plate with vegetables, salad, or fruit. Aim for less saturated fat. That's the kind found in fatty cuts of meat, baked goods, and full-fat dairy products. Switch to lean meats. Avoid trans fats. These are partially hydrogenated oils found in many processed foods and baked goods. Use monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. They lower cholesterol and heart-disease risk. Skim milk, nuts, avocados, olives, soybeans, and vegetable oils made from soy, flaxseed, corn, and canola all contain these heart-healthy fats. Yet, even though these are heart-healthy fats, they are calorically dense, so watch portion sizes. Add fiber, fruits, and vegetables. Raw produce is especially good. Cut back on sugars. Avoid foods with lots of sugar, such as soda, candy, and cookies.


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I would like to use a pair of hydraulic pistons to raise and lower a surface that will hold about 150 lbs, and be capable of remaining in either fully extended or fully contracted modes for long periods of time. Should I mount them so that
A: expansion pushes the surface upwards, causing gravity to act as a compressing force,
B: contraction pulls the surface upwards, causing gravity to act as a tensional force?
Why? Or am I worrying about nothing with such a small load?