text:
I've never had anything against Paddy Ashdown. I've always thought of him as a sort of genial, auburn raisin in camouflage gear, crinkling with amusement (or outrage) on Question Time, and occasionally being wheeled out at conference time so that young Lib Dems can come and dip their fingers in his facial crags and dream of hung parliaments.
No, I never had anything against Lord Ashdown until he piped up in the Lords debate over the Owen / Hennessy amendment on the Health And Social Care Bill yesterday. The amendment argued that the bill was such a drastic alteration to the way in which the NHS functioned that parts of it should be examined closely by a special committee. At a crucial moment as the amendment was coming to a vote, Lord Ashdown sputtered into life:
"If it must be considered in a committee," he railed, looking for all the world like a squared-off orangutan scrotum in an ill-fitting suit, "What on earth is our function?"
Well, quite.
What is the function of the House of Lords? Except as an affront to the very idea of democracy. It somehow manages to be the least-democratic of the Houses of Parliament, which is saying quite something. (For the record: No, I don't think a minority of swing voters in marginal constituencies deciding the government of the country for everyone else twice a decade is what Aristotle was thinking of when he talked about democracy. Had he any idea how close to oligarchy and aristocracy it could look, he might not have been so set against the idea of government by the people.)
Really, would someone like to explain what the function of the House of Lords is?
It's not even like it's a bulwark of tradition, because those peers who do not have to worry about the shifting winds of political opinion, the hereditary peers, have mostly been ditched. What's left are those who could suck up to a government enough to be made a life peer.
Yesterday's vote was defeated by 68 votes. There have been 100 new Conservative peers created since the election. David Cameron, has appointed more peers more quickly than any other Prime Minister in history, so much so that the chamber gets too full to accommodate them all. And their colostomy bags.
The Coalition pledged to reform the House of Lords, presumably by stuffing it to bursting point with placemen and placewomen, so that it would reform in much the way that 'reclaimed meat' does. They will become one, immense, dense, Spam of a House, issuing edicts from above. Lordzilla, filling her egg chamber – sorry, debating chamber – almost entirely, feasting on Manuka honey and stoat-corpses. Sometimes, if you peer closely, you'll see the face of Shirley Williams or Floella Benjamin stuck just underneath the surface, screaming silently.
The other view you hear is that their greater life experience allows peers to take a more balanced, nuanced look at legislation. Lord Hunt of Wirral, who introduced the Health and Social Care Bill into the Lords, is an exec director of Beachcroft, which advises many private health companies. Indeed, as reported in The Mirror, in a brochure advertising their lobbying services for private healthcare firms, Beachroft says "In David Hunt and Charles Clarke, Beachcroft has two former senior Cabinet ministers with unrivalled knowledge of the workings of Westminster." In all, 40 peers have financial interests with private healthcare firms. Thank goodness their outside interests allow them to take a dispassionate look at legislation.
The other argument one hears is that the Lords serve as a corrective and a hindrance to The Commons. Unfortunately, it's not true.
As we saw time and time again throughout Labour's period in government, the Lords were more than happy to wave through the Terorrism Act of 2000, or the one that followed not a year later, the Identity Cards Act of 2006. No assault on our civil liberties was too egregious to rouse the Lords from the slumber.
Well almost none. The one time in living memory the Lords have actually behaved in the way the Lords are nominally meant to behave was over, wait for it, fox hunting! What is it that can actually generate enough fury in the Lords to get them to send a bill back repeatedly? The right to have one animal tear another apart! And not because they are outraged by it, but because they support it.
The Lords is a profoundly undemocratic institution. The only argument for their continued existence is that they actually, on occasion, act as such. If there is a role for the Lords, it must be to represent those interests which are not represented by the majority party in the House of Commons, or at least to ensure that their rights are not abridged. It must behave like the undemocratic institution it is, if it is to have a purpose at all.
Or is it really just to provide a comfortable retirement home for Olympians and the principals of Oxbridge colleges?
One of the arguments used by the government every time it tries to get rid of the right to jury trials (oh, that's right, they did! With the Criminal Justice Act 2003! Did the Lords do anything about it? Um…) is that juries sometimes return 'perverse verdicts'. The argument runs that because juries decide that , despite the law, someone should or should not be considered guilty of an offence, they should be phased out.
But that is the point of a jury.
If justice were best served by the constant and consistent application of the law as written, then there would be no need for juries. Juries are there to look beyond the law and at the individual details of a case. They are there as reasonable, normal members of the community to make a determination as to whatever is just, in spite of the law when necessary. Because the law is a blunt instrument, it doesn't fit all cases equally well, and the best system we have is to get a group of people together to discuss the case at a human level and come to a decision. Perverse verdicts aren't a weakness but a strength of jury trials.
And the same goes for the Lords. If they aren't perverse, they are pointless. And as we have seen, they are unwilling to be perverse. They are an 'upper' chamber in thrall to those in the 'lower' who appointed them. They are a bizarre anachronism, an insult to all thinking people, and every day they form part of our government is another day away from us ever achieving anything like democracy.
In answer to your question, Lord Ashdown:
Nothing. Now, piss off.


text:
From E-Democracy.org
Revision as of 14:48, 19 April 2012 by Admin (Talk | contribs) (Reverted edits by 22.214.171.124 (talk) to last revision by Admin)
This is the starting point for E-Democracy.Org project proposal development, planning, and coordination. It connects to the Projects involvement online group for volunteers from across E-Democracy.Org as well as public Board work.
Project planning and coordination
For funded or volunteer-driven projects in process.
- Participation 3.0 - Next generation online civic engagement
- Issues Forums development
- Inclusive Social Media - Includes funded neighbor forums in high immigrant/diverse areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
- Rural Voices - Online citizen engagement and media in rural Minnesota.
- Issues Forum services for local communities
- New Zealand Issues Forums - Building on the Canterbury Public Issues Forum
- United Kingdom Issues Forums - Includes development of council-wide and neighbourhood specific forums.
- United States Issues Forums
- GroupServer Development Group
- MyBallot - our easy to use "who is on my ballot tool"
- Donations - Encouraging participant donations, major donations
- Volunteers - Recruiting and involving volunteers
Project proposals and brainstorming
For proposed projects and outlining new ideas, including possible grants.
- Grants - A public window into our grant-writing efforts - this represents a portion of our work in this area. We have a grant writer on contract.
- Project ideas - We have number of big ideas under consideration for potential grants/funding requests. If you happen to be a funder, consider this list a "call for funds" and let us know what you'd like to see in detail.
Administrative links
- Webmail for E-Democracy.org Leaders
- Google Docs for E-Democracy.org
- Other Google Tools
- Video - YouTube for E-Democracy.org
- Video - Vimeo for E-Democracy.org
- Google Stats - www/pages/blog - forums
- GoogleAdwords for E-Democracy.org
- Mogulus Live Video Webcasting from E-Democracy.org
- ConferenceCalls.com - For call-out global conference calls
- Skype - Our US/UK telephone number provider
- Maxemail - Our incoming voicemail/FAX provider
- ReadyTalk - Our Board call service
- InstantPresenter - Our Webinar service
Home - Mobile - Forums - Wiki - Blog - About - Help - Contact - People - Donate - Rules - Archives

subset: commoncrawl


text:
26 January 2012
they sang a few of the classics but then the music teacher threw us a curve ball. and it's not like I ever even liked the song dynamite but there is no way not to like it now that I've seen it performed by fifty-three second graders. because my goodness. when fifty-three second graders throw their hands up in the air and sing how they 'GON LIGHT IT UP, LIKE IT'S DY-NO-MITE', all bets are off. the song took on a completely different meaning and don't you know they brought the house down. the crowd went wild and fifty-three second graders (my son included) beamed. and if that is not the best thing to happen all week well then I don't know what is.
16 comments:
okay, i had to listen to that song to see what it was. i can just picture the kids singing it now! adorable.ReplyDelete
I always get really misty at these things, I just cannot be stopped, cannot help myself.ReplyDelete
KIDS! ahhhh
I actually got a little choked up reading this. I can picture it completely. Awesome!ReplyDelete
What I would give to have seen that in person, heck to see a video of it even. And, what an earworm, now I'm gonna have that song in my head the rest of the day.ReplyDelete
I'm listening to the song right now -- and beaming.ReplyDelete
Such a great memory that you shared here.
Life is full of beautiful surprises.
aw this post made me happy.ReplyDelete
when i was a teacher, watching them do these performances was always a highlight of my year. i would often get teary as they performed because of all the things you just mentioned. there is nothing that can restore your faith in humanity like seeing a kid so full of pride.
Sounds like an amazingly precious performance! It's a shame that I can only sing with the wild abandon of a second grader if I'm a little tipsy at Karaoke night. Haha!ReplyDelete
I liked that song, but now I like it more because I can just picture it sung by that class.ReplyDelete
Kids. Love.
pure awesomenessReplyDelete
amazing. chills happening here in my tiny apartment.ReplyDelete
aw! i know someone else who loves that song - it's a great song for them little ones! would've loved to have seen!ReplyDelete
smiling so big right now! that's amazing! best thing I've read this morning :)ReplyDelete
awesome. i can just see it in my mind.ReplyDelete
ah that gives me tears to think of it! i can't wait till marlo gets to be in things like this....ReplyDelete
this story made ME beam and with tears! wow - such a powerful thing singing and storytelling are - thank you friend. i needed it today! xxReplyDelete
how CUTE!ReplyDelete
I miss those days!


text:
The ladies of "Game of Thrones" hit the red carpet strong at the Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday in Los Angeles.
Sibel Kekilli wore a peach chiffon MaxMara dress with a loose updo, showing off the fading tattoo on her upper left arm. Kekilli said she's trying to get rid of the Chinese symbol, which she thinks means fulfillment.
Kekilli walked the red carpet along with her co-star Carice Von Houten, who opted for a black short Christian Dior dress with beach wavy hair and maroon lips.
Though the two walked the red carpet together, they did not discuss their fashion choices beforehand.
"When we see each other, it's like 'Oh what are you wearing? Who are you wearing? But by then it's too late, we are already here," Kekilli said on ensuring the co-stars don't wear the same dress.
Maise Williams and Sophia Turner later walked the red carpet together, with Williams in a white ensemble — which she chose because of its comfort factor — and Turner in a black Dolce & Gabbana dress.
The most daring "Thrones" lady of the evening, however, was Rose Leslie who showed up on the red carpet in a leopard print skirt with a revealing violet lace top.
"It's just fun," said Leslie. "I was drawn to it because I was surprised violet and leopard could go together."


text:
Facebook Has Powerful Friends; Will Users Suffer?
President Obama has done pretty well on Facebook. He recently told an audience at a San Francisco fundraiser that he has 19 million friends on the website, "which only puts me half a million friends behind SpongeBob SquarePants."
The president's chummy relationship is not just with Facebook users — he's also friendly with Facebook executives.
Politicians have many reasons to "friend" the social networking site, which connects them with voters and can help them raise money. Last week, the company announced that it is ramping up its presence in Washington with a slate of new hires. Also last week, President Obama met with Facebook's founder and other tech leaders at the G-8 summit in France.
An Overly Chummy Relationship?
During a town hall meeting at Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters, Obama introduced himself as the man who got founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to give up his trademark hooded sweatshirt for a jacket and tie.
"The first time we had dinner together, and he wore this jacket and tie," said Obama, "halfway through the dinner he's starting to sweat a little bit, it's really uncomfortable for him, so I helped him out of his jacket."
All this coziness makes some privacy activists uncomfortable.
"The Obama administration holds the keys to Facebook's future," says Jeff Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy. "I think the president should have been much more cautious when he stood up there with Mark Zuckerberg."
Facebook has more than 600 million members, about half of whom visit the site more than once a day to share photographs, describe their feelings or "like" a band. All that activity means the company owns a huge amount of information about a huge number of people. And the rules for what the company can do with that information are still being written.
"Many members of Congress who will be weighing in on this issue are users of Facebook," says Rey Ramsey, the CEO of TechNet, a political network of executives at tech companies, including Facebook.
If you don't like your power company or your water company, in the United States you likely have very few alternatives. The same is true with social networking in this country and globally; Facebook dominates.
Ramsey says he believes politicians writing new Internet privacy rules can be impartial, even as those same politicians may depend on Facebook for fundraising and communications. After all, Ramsey says, the government regulates all kinds of industries that politicians use every day. "We use electricity, but we have an agency that oversees that."
This concept of Facebook as a utility that people cannot live without in the modern world — like electricity, water or gas — is also gaining traction among Facebook's critics.
"If you don't like your power company or your water company, in the United States you likely have very few alternatives," says Christine Rosen of the technology journal The New Atlantis. "The same is true with social networking in this country and globally; Facebook dominates."
Rosen, who is also a scholar at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, believes people are now using Facebook "as if they're turning on a light switch or turning on their water, so I think it might be helpful to start thinking about some of the questions that raises about how the government should look at it."
A Push For Stronger Privacy Rules
Facebook, which declined to comment for this story, does not like people to call it a utility. After all, anyone can create a competing social network. And more to the point, utilities are heavily regulated.
Already, the government is moving toward stronger privacy regulations online.
The Obama administration released a privacy policy framework last year, and a bill in the Senate looks similar to the administration proposal.
"When it comes to privacy, the administration has a split within its personality," says Ohio State University Law professor Peter Swire. He was President Clinton's privacy adviser and served as a lawyer to the Obama social media team during the presidential transition two years ago.
"The campaign was based on motivating people through social networks," he says. "On the other hand, the administration is supporting unprecedented privacy protections. Working that out is tough for society, and it's a split for the administration, as well."
One administration official who works on these issues remarked that Facebook has disproportionately little contact with the White House compared with other big tech companies.
But Facebook is trying to change that. The recently announced hires are the first step to catching up with companies like Google and Microsoft in Washington.
Ed Black, CEO of the Computer and Communications Industry Association, argues that these growing ties will have no impact whatsoever on the ultimate set of privacy rules. "Can you really imagine that Facebook's going to shut off one-third of the Congress who voted against them on something and not give them access? Do you realize how absolutely absurd that would be?"
While politicians do have an interest in using Facebook, they also have an interest in privacy. Elected officials are at least as worried as the rest of the world about what personal details of their lives online could someday be revealed.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
May 14, 2009 — -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., accused CIA briefers today of lying to her and other lawmakers about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, and said she had only been informed of their use five months later.
"The CIA briefed me only once on enhanced interrogation techniques in September 2002 in my capacity as ranking member of the Intelligence Committee. I was informed then that the Department of Justice opinions had concluded that the use of enhanced interrogation techniques were legal. The only mention of waterboarding at that briefing was that it was not being employed," Pelosi said today, reading from a prepared statement.
Terror suspect Abu Zubaydah was subjected to waterboarding 83 times in August 2002, the month prior to when Pelosi was briefed about enhanced interrogation techniques.
A report released last week directly contradicted Pelosi's recollections of the briefing. The Director of National Intelligence's report indicated that the speaker was in fact briefed about such techniques used on Zubaydah -- one of three terrorist suspects subjected to waterboarding, an interrogation tactic that simulates drowning.
The DNI report said then-House intelligence Chairman Porter Goss, Pelosi -- who was the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee -- and two aides were told about "the particular EITs that had been employed" on Zubaydah.
Pelosi and her staff, along with some other Democrats, have maintained that House Democrats did what little they could to register objections to the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, but that the Bush administration wouldn't or couldn't be stopped.
Pelosi's remarks today provoked a stern reaction from Republican lawmakers.
"It's outrageous that a member of Congress should call a terror-fighter a liar," said Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., the vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee. "It seems the playbook is, blame terror-fighters. We ought to be supporting them."
Bond questioned Pelosi's claim that the speaker could do little to influence the Bush administration, saying that when lawmakers are briefed, they can ask for more information and also voice their displeasure or disagreement to the speaker or other leaders in the House.
"It's no excuse to say, 'I was powerless.' That's what oversight is all about," he said. "There are a whole range of actions, and she did not take them."
Hoekstra Says Pelosi Lost Credibility
Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., the top Republican on the House intelligence committee said he finds it "very difficult to believe" that intelligence officials would intentionally mislead leaders of the House intelligence committee, as Pelosi is alleging.
"What I heard her say -- and I was quite taken aback by her when she said -- was that politics are more important than national security," Hoekstra said. "That's a very dangerous precedent."
Hoekstra told ABC News earlier this week that that in his eyes Pelosi has lost all credibility on interrogation tactics.
House minority leader John Boehner said "the speaker's comments continue to raise more questions than provide answers."
"It's pretty clear that they were well aware of what these enhanced interrogation techniques were, they were well aware that they had been used, and -- and it seems to me that they want to have it both ways. You can't have it both ways," he said.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. -- a possible 2012 presidential contender -- told ABC News today that Pelosi is trying to be "politically popular" on the issue of interrogation.
"She never raised concerns -- others did. People like John McCain have been raising concerns for a long time about some of the enhanced interrogation techniques. She never did until just recently, when she thought it was politically popular," Ensign said on "Top Line." "I think that there is a question of veracity of her comments today, and if you look at her body language she certainly didn't look comfortable in what she was saying."
Pelosi today said she would welcome the release of the September 2002 briefing but that she could not disclose much more from it.
"Those briefing me in September 2002 gave me inaccurate and incomplete information," she added. "At the same time, the Bush administration -- exactly the same time -- September of 2002, the fall of 2002, at the same time, the Bush administration was misleading the American people about the threat of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq."
Pelosi said she was first informed about the use of waterboarding in February 2003. Per the DNI report, Pelosi's national security aide, Michael Sheehy, participated in a February 2003 briefing in which interrogation methods used on Zubaydah, including waterboarding, were discussed. Pelosi said Sheehy told her simply that the Intelligence Committee chair had been briefed about the use of waterboarding, without going into details, and she lodged a letter of complaint to register their protest.
The CIA had little to say about Pelosi's accusation. A spokesman said only that "the language in the chart -- 'a description of the particular EITs that had been employed' -- is true to the language in the agency's records. … This information, however, is draw from the past files of the CIA… and notes that summarized the best recollections of those individuals."
Pelosi Wants 'Truth Commission'
Pelosi reiterated her demands for a "truth commission" to further investigate the issue of the interrogation techniques. She also lashed out at Republicans for playing political games over what she knew and when she knew it.
"I don't know how you can fall prey to this -- this is their policy, all of them. This is their policy. This is what they conceived. This is what they developed. This is what they implemented. This is what they denied was happening," she said. "And now they're trying to say, 'Don't put the spotlight on us. We told the Congress.' Well, they didn't tell us everything that they were doing."
Boehner questioned Pelosi's call to investigate further the issue of interrogation techniques.
"I think this is dangerous, and I think it's wrong. But if they insist on pressing forward with these hearings, I think everything should be on the table, including, what Speaker Pelosi knew and when she knew it and, frankly, more importantly, what she did about it," Boehner said.
Pelosi tried to downplay any impact Democrats could have had on the administration's decision to use such techniques.
"No letter or anything else is going to stop them from doing what they're going to do," she said.
Pelosi today maintained her earlier stance, that she was only present for one of the more than 40 briefings for members of Congress on enhanced interrogation techniques, and that she was told only that the Bush administration had legal opinions that would have supported the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, not that these tactics were actually being used.
"In that or any other briefing ... we were not, and I repeat, were not told that waterboarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation techniques were used," Pelosi said at a news conference in April. "What they did tell us is that they had some legislative counsel ... opinions that they could be used, but not that they would."
The issue of the use of these interrogation techniques -- and which lawmakers were aware of them -- were first raised after the Department of Justice decided last month to release memos written by Bush administration lawyers providing legal justifications for harsh interrogation techniques that are considered torture by the United Nations and by President Obama.
Cheney: People Were 'Forgetful'
Republicans today continued to question Pelosi's involvement.
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., said the speaker needs to clarify her stance on the issue.
"Her own majority leader in the House, Steny Hoyer, has said we need to get to the bottom of this. I was in a meeting with the speaker, and she indicated that we ought to have a truth commission on all of this, and part of that is, to make sure at this point, that we know -- and the American people know -- what she knew," Cantor said in an interview today with WLS radio in Chicago.
While steering clear of voicing an opinion on whether Pelosi knew about waterboarding, former Vice President Dick Cheney -- who has been at the forefront in criticizing the administration for releasing the memos -- said earlier this week that congressional leaders, including the speaker, were onboard with the administration on other issues, such as the terrorist surveillance programs.
"I think what happened with respect to enhanced interrogation techniques is the CIA did go up. They did brief the relevant people, and I think what often happens in these circumstances is once a controversy develops, then some of the people that were briefed get forgetful," Cheney said in an interview with Fox News Tuesday.
ABC News' Martha Raddatz contributed to this report.


text:
Limo Bus Hire in Tayport
Have you spent hours searching the internet for the right party bus hire deal? Well, the search is over now that you have landed on coachbroker.uk; a website renowned for offering the best deals throughout Tayport and across the region of Fife.
As the area's go-to company for coach hire, minibus hire, party bus hire and the likes, we are called upon for all types of transport needs. This means, whatever you are looking for a vehicle for, we can help.
Whatever you need for Party Bus Hire, we've got the solution for you
If you are on the search for limo bus hire or party buses, then we can offer a high-class service at a premium rate, whatever the occasion. This includes, but is not exclusive to, the below:
- Weddings
- Civil ceremonies
- School trips
- University trips
- Sporting events and games
- Theatre visits
- The opera
- Hen dos
- Stag dos
- And much more
If you wish to place a booking, or if you have some questions about the Party Bus Hire options available to you, contact us today. From here, our team of expert transport advisors can help you select the right vehicle, plan the perfect route and go to great lengths to find you a suitable deal.
We also offer Limo Bus Hire in local areas around Fife
Party Bus Hire options in Fife
0.00 out of 5
Our customers rate us 0.00/5 based on 0 customer reviews


text:
White House embraces CBO report
The Obama administration is going all out to turn the Congressional Budget Office's latest Obamacare report into a positive — and they're confident they can convince Americans that it's a good thing if the health care law means they can work less.
In a White House blog post Thursday, Jason Furman, the chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, fleshes out the administration's defense against a wave of publicity over the CBO report that said the health care law will lead to a reduction in work hours.
Democrats were livid that the report immediately got turned into a Republican talking point — "2 million lost jobs" — even though the "2 million" figure was really just an equivalent of the reduced work hours, not actual jobs.
( POLITICO Podcast: Obamacare can't win a week, Sochi security concerns, Keystone XLs environmental impact)
So they're getting more aggressive in their efforts to push two counter-arguments: Obamacare will actually help employment in the short term, and if some people voluntarily work fewer hours, this is the kind of relief overworked families actually need.
In Thursday's blog post, Furman writes that the report proves the Affordable Care Act will help ease a longstanding problem — people working longer and harder than they want to, at great sacrifice to their quality of life, because they're afraid of losing health coverage if they don't.
"Access to health insurance outside the workplace allows people to structure their careers in ways that make sense for them, like by taking time off to raise a family or by retiring when they want to," Furman wrote. "It also allows people to take risks that further their careers and benefit the economy as a whole, like going part-time in order to go back to school, leaving a job in order to start a business, or moving to a better job, perhaps at an employer that does not offer coverage."
( Also on POLITICO: W.H. hit hard among CBO fallout)
"By increasing workers' mobility across jobs, secure access to health insurance helps them to find the job that is best for them—and thus increases overall wages and productivity," Furman wrote. "Moreover, reducing job lock encourages entrepreneurship, a critical ingredient for growth and job creation."
And that "lost jobs" thing? Not true, Furman says. By putting more money in people's pockets — through the Obamacare subsidies that will help bring down the cost of health insurance for low and middle-income people — the law will actually increase the demand for goods and services, which should help create jobs. He noted that CBO director Doug Elmendorf testified at a House Budget Committee hearing Wednesday that the law "spurs employment and would reduce unemployment over the next few years."
"The ACA is thus – today – helping ensure that every American who wants a job can find one," Furman wrote.
( Also on POLITICO: Obamacare and jobs: CBO adds fuel to fire)
The debate is already turning away from the idea that the report proved Obamacare will actually kick people out of jobs. But that won't end the argument, as Republicans and conservatives question whether Democrats really want to become the party of less work.
"It turns out that discouraging work is just another one of the wonders of Obamacare," National Review editor Rich Lowry wrote in POLITICO Magazine. "The old jobs crisis was people not having jobs; the new jobs crisis is people having to work."
Furman, however, argues that by getting rid of "job lock" — people staying in their jobs for fear of losing health coverage of pre-existing conditions — the law will be good for the economy by letting people switch jobs or start their own businesses.
He also writes that the law will help workers become more productive — because if they're healthier, they won't have to take as many sick days — and revives the administration's argument that people will have more financial security if they don't have to worry about being bankrupted by an illness.


text:
I came across an amazing tutorial on how to easily make a bow tie on prudentbaby.com. My close friend Amy and I became obsessed with making them for an Easter photoshoot with my boys, so we immediately drove to Michael Levine in downtown LA to find as much cute fabric as we could. Then we dragged my ancient sewing machine from the back of my garage, buried under Christmas decorations and bins of baby clothes, and made these little guys. I'm in love! I think the plaid one is my absolute favorite :)
Check out the tutorial and very helpful step-by-step instructions over at prudent baby.


text:
Looking for the attractive Childrens Beds in Allahabad? If you want comfortable, and eye-catching beds for your little ones then you can trust us. SKF Decor is the most trusted Childrens Beds manufacturer, and wholesale supplier in Allahabad that offers the alluring designs of beds for your kids to enjoy, play, and sleep.
We are a Delhi based Childrens Beds manufacturing company which also deals in Allahabad. We offer numerous options of childrens beds for you in a variety of colors, sizes, styles, and themes. You can choose from our vast range of amazing childrens beds collection to get the perfect bed for your little ones.
Your kids sleep should be relaxing and full of good dreams. You children can take proper rest and sleep on our carefully and perfectly designed childrens beds. Our designers craft these beds by keeping in mind the ideal theme for children and make it look stunning so that your little ones love to sit and sleep on beds.
Explore Our Products


text:
So many red coats. So many tears. So many unanswered questions! Last night'sPretty Little Liars A
finale brought back ghosts of Rosewood's past: Toby, Wilden's police car, and Alison. Of course the big reveal happened within the last five minutes, but overall the episode was -mazing! We already can't wait until season 4 premieres in June. Until then, here's a recap of the finale's best moments:
Top 10 Moments:
1. Jenna's back: And she's teaming up with Melissa and Shana. What do these three have in common? They're all up to no good! But really, we wonder what they were whispering about.
More From Seventeen
2. Pretty Eyes:So it turns out that Toby is alive! After we nearly cried at his "death," we were relieved, especially since it meant a reappearance of his abs. Please don't scare us like that again!
3. Spoby reunion: Now that they're both on the A Team, why not reunite? Toby tells Spencer, "Everything I've done is so I could protect you." We're pretty sure she can trust him and are so happy they're back together!
4. "Bye, Ezra." Of course, just as one of our favorite couples reunites, another relationship crumbles. Aria walks away from Ezra, leaving our hearts shattered. We applaud her maturity, but ending things with Ezra? So sad!
5. Hanna bonds with Malcolm: "All aboard the Hanna Express!" By playing trains with Malcolm, she finds out Spencer's a part of the A team. For a small child, he's super smart!
6. Fire! Somebody set the house ablAze. The fire spelled out a giant A and nearly ended the liars' lives. Even Mona didn't seem to be expecting this plot twist. Luckily they were rescued just in time!
7. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Alison? Looks like somebody didn't die after all. Ali rescued the girls from the burning building. How is Ali still here? The flashback at the end shows a helping hand pulling her body from the dirt.
8. Mona's new rank: After opening up to the girls in the burning house, Mona is now at the bottom of the totem pole again. At least it seems that way, since she also received the text from A.
9. Wilden's cop car: The Wilden mobile is haunting Hanna. Seriously, we want to know how someone pulled it from the lake! The video shows that Shana and Jenna rescued the detective after Mama Marin ran him over. But how does Shana know Wilden?
10. The Trunk: The most cryptic thing about the car is whatever is in the trunk. What could it be? Our guess is a body. But whose? We haven't seen Jason in awhile... Or maybe it's the body of "Alison"? The one that was dug up by Emily and reappeared on the A Train. We like the twin theory, so maybe it's Ali's crazy twin in the Red Coat.
Quote of the Week:
"You're mine now. Kisses, A"
Why we love it: Even though there were tons of quote worthy lines, this final text from the new A (which was even sent to Mona's phone) signifies a shift in the power dynAmic and sets up the new season. Is it Alison? Is it another head honcho? Unfortunately, we're pretty sure we have to wait until next season to find out.
What was your fave part of the episode? What do you think is in the trunk? Tell us in the comments below!


text:
From ₹1,950.00
- ☛【High Quality Fabrics】This cycling Pant are made of high-quality fabric added sublimation print on its original simple appearance, unique pattern created by brand designer. Suitable for all levels cyclists to choose this riding wear, Pant is quick-dry and make you feel more comfortable, Bicycle Pants are popular for cycling club clothes, Unlike others this Cycling Pants do not harmless the skin, it is designed with skin-friendly materials.
- ☛【GEL PADDING】 The breathable pad features quality stitching that won't be subjected to wear-and-tear and provides cushioning even while cycling for long distances, Shockproof on the road riding and breathable enough so as to make you stay dry and cool, These bicycling Pants are suitable for all levels cyclists, which includes road biking or mountain biker. It has a quick-dry and breathable feature which makes you feel more comfortable.
- ☛【ANTI-SLIP LEG GRIPS】 Pedal with pro-like swiftness the leg grip firmly keeps the Pant in place, Pant with a smoothness that prevents abrasions and chafing, Elastic to keep shorts in place, no slide up. Our bicycle pants are highly durable.
- ☛【Satisfaction Guaranteed】As a leading brand in the cycling field we have catered to over 1000 cycling groups across the world, during this service we have gathered valuable inputs from short-distance riders to race across America riders. Our Pants are time tested by some of the best riders in the world in the most adverse conditions, We are technical cycling wear brand with our inhouse production setup which enables us to guarantee a top-quality and perfect fit.
- ☛【SIZE GUIDE CHART】 Please refer to the size guide on the product images area for the detail size information to choose your best suitable size. If you prefer loose, we recommend you to buy 1 size larger (We suggest to select the size according to the Waist measurements).
☛These bicycle Pant, can be used for all types of cycling activities such as Road Cycling, off Road and Mountain Biking, Casual bike rides, fitness and indoor cycling spin classes.
☛ Cadance(TM) women has centrally sewn inserts and is crafted with the latest technology high density foams. Its special shape offers the absolute best protection and fit differentiating it from the other cycling pads in the market. The super soft polyester spandex fabric has a double layer structure and is treated with Quick-dry fabric (MOISTURE WICKING) which helps collect and expel moisture. The perforated base layer provides increased breathability and quick dry.
☛ Cadance women is best suited for rides around 3Hrs mild cross-country, short-distance road race and so on.
☛ The stretchable, form-fitting elastic waist keeps these cycling Pants from getting lose while riding.
Package Includes: 1 Piece Cycling 3/4 Pant
Note: ☛Certain graphics are shown as 3d to cover all graphics, actual product might have some color variations from the one you see on your screen. These can be for various reasons such as light and color settings of your screen, printing on various different fabrics show slight variations due to the shine of the fabric and yarns content.
☛Please see the "Our size guide" on the product images area for the detail size information to choose your best suitable size.
Expected Delivery Time: 5-6 Working days; Actual time may vary depending on your location.
Return policy: We only exchange Products if they are defective, damaged . you should promptly contact us at [ firstname.lastname@example.com ] with details of the product.
Conditions for Return (For Size Issue): You can return the package using any courier/ postal service of your choice within 5 days of receiving the item. Please remember that the customer is responsible for the returned item until it reaches us.
For Bulk Orders / Team Orders Contacts Us On +919712322522 or Mail on email@example.com
|Pant / Short Size
XS, Small, Medium, Large, XL, 2XL, 3XL
There are no reviews yet.
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Raise return/exchange request within 7 days of receiving the item. In case of item looking used or wrong item sent, please raise the issue on the same day by email or maximum early next day. After 7 days we cannot help with the issue of "item looks used."
We process returns/refunds for defective/ wrong items received.
For size issues there are no returns/refunds, just exchanges. Exchanges are not promised (to avoid policy abuse) but we generally help, and issue store credit if your correct size is not available with us. Items returned must be sent to us in unused, unworn condition with original packaging, tags 100% intact.
For any issues • Check if your item is eligible for return/exchange. All details are in this policy. • Email at firstname.lastname@example.com or Call us on +91 9773149258 within 7 days of receiving your item. • Please mention your order number / Product / Issue with photos in the email to best highlight the problem..
Returns and refunds are eligible if • Replacements are sent in cases where the product sent by Triumph is not matching as per the size chart of Triumph or in case of any defects in products / Wrong Products.
Returns/ exchanges will be processed only • If the product is unused/unworn • In original packaging with tags, manuals, packaging intact (not torn or ripped). • If sent with proof of purchase – receipt/ invoice • Returned with promotional items sent with the product
Shipping charges for return/ exchange • For defective/damaged/wrong items we will ship back the item at no cost to you. • For size returns you are required to ship the item to us with charges borne by you. • The customer will be charged the reverse pick-up fee and also rework charges based on the nature of the rework. The rework shall take 5 working days per product. • Original shipping charges are non-refundable.
Note • Cancellation without reason by the customer will also incur 4% cancellation fee. • A product may vary slightly in colour from the image shown on the website. • A customer may exchange a product once. • Return or Refund is not possible on Group Orders / Club Orders / Customise Orders.In general, our team helps customers get the item they are happy with, we assist in genuine cases for return/exchange with the goal to make customer experiences great.


text:
Indy Concrete Contractor LLC
We are a full-service concrete business that can do everything. We have decades of experience in installing and repairing all types concrete products, including epoxy flooring for commercial properties and garages.
Business Name:
Indy Concrete Contractor LLC
320 E. Market st. #1606Indianapolis Indiana 46204United States
About Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most-populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion County in 2020 was 977,642. The "balance" population, which excludes semi-autonomous municipalities in Marion County, was 887,642. It is the 15th most populous city in the U.S., the third-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, Illinois and Columbus, Ohio, and the fourth-most populous state capital after Phoenix, Arizona; Austin, Texas; and Columbus. The Indianapolis metropolitan area is the 33rd most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S., with 2,111,040 residents.
Neighborhoods in Indianapolis, Indiana
Arden, Arsenal Heights, Audubon Gardens, Augusta, Avalon Hill, Bates-Hendricks, Bean Creek, Butler-Tarkington, Carson Heights, Chapel Hill Village, Cole-Noble District, Cottage Home, Crown Hill, Deer Creek, Delaware Trails South
Things to do in Indianapolis, Indiana
Our Newest Profiles


text:
Boehner opposes working with Iran to aid Iraq
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States should not talk to Iran about jointly helping the Iraqi government fend off insurgents who have been overrunning large swaths of that country, House Speaker John Boehner said Wednesday.
"Absolutely not," Boehner, R-Ohio, told reporters. "I can just imagine what our friends in the region, our allies, would be thinking by reaching out to Iran at a time when they continue to pay for terrorism and foster terrorism" in the region.
The U.S. has not had relations with Iran since the 1979 storming of the U.S. embassy in Tehran and the holding of American hostages there for over a year.
Boehner made his remarks hours before he and other congressional leaders were scheduled to get a White House briefing from President Barack Obama on the situation in Iraq.
The government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Malik has been trying to stem a fast-moving offensive by the militant Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, which has been overrunning cities and is threatening the country's largest oil refinery.
Aides have said Obama is not expected to approve air strikes but is considering sending special forces and providing the Iraqis with intelligence assistance.
Boehner said he was hoping Obama would describe "a strategy that would guarantee some success for keeping Iraq free and propping up the democracy that we fought so hard to get there." He declined to say specifically what he would favor doing.


text:
Click or Press enter to Enter to Enable skip content option
Please Select a Section to Skip to
J Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Anaheim Hills
8200 East Crystal Drive Anaheim Hills, CA 92807-2514
Call Us: 888-802-2956
At Jstar we focus on what's really important - your experience. Our One Price, Simple, No Games philosophy takes the hassle and frustration out of buying a vehicle. We monitor the market for what each vehicle is actually selling for after all the hours of back and forth negotiation. Then we post one price - our BEST price - on every vehicle upfront, saving you time and frustration.'' Please contact us for further information. Jstar wants to be ''YOUR''Chrysler Jeep Dodge Ram dealer. Assumptions on lease : 7.75% Sales tax, 0.00260 MF, $3,995 down, $85 Doc Fee, $500 Title & Reg on approved credit. Assumptions on Purchase : 7.75% Sales tax, $3,995 down, $85 Doc Fee, $500 Title & Reg, 60mo APR @ 6.99%, 72mo APR @ 7.99% on approved credit. Nero Noctis 2019 Lamborghini Urus AWD 8-Speed Automatic V8
While every reasonable effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this data, we are not responsible for any errors or omissions contained on these pages. Please verify any information in question with a dealership sales representative.
The advertised price does not include sales tax, vehicle registration fees, other fees required by law, finance charges and any documentation charges.
Images, pricing and options shown can be an example only and may not reflect exact vehicle color, trim, options, pricing or other specifications.
MSRP is the Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of the vehicle. It does not include any taxes, fees or other charges. Pricing and availability may vary based on a variety of factors, including options, dealer, specials, fees, and financing qualifications. Consult your dealer for actual price and complete details. Vehicles shown may have optional equipment at additional cost.
The estimated selling price that appears after calculating dealer offers is for informational purposes only. You may not qualify for the offers, incentives, discounts, or financing. Offers, incentives, discounts, or financing are subject to expiration and other restrictions. See dealer for qualifications and complete details.
All Pricing and Advertised Prices for any/all vehicles offered for sale may not include dealer installed accessories which can be purchased for an additional cost.
The Factory Rebates may not be available on this vehicle if you elect to take advantage of a Special Alternative APR or Special Lease program. Some Factory Rebates are California Resident specific and may vary for residents of other stat
Pricing provided may vary significantly between website and dealer as a result of supply chain constraints. Pricing shown is non-binding and does not constitute an offer. Contact your dealer for updated vehicle pricing.
All Pricing and Advertised Prices for any/all vehicles offered for sale do not include dealer installed accessories which can be purchased for an additional cost. Dealer Installed items include ELO GPS $1,699. CilaJet 5-YEAR COVERAGE $1495, 3M Door Protection $795, Paintless Dent Repair $495, Wheel Locks $199 and Nitrogen Tire Fill $295.
J Star of Anaheim Hills is your Ram and Jeep dealer near Yorba Linda and Placentia, CA. Finance or Lease a new 2023 Ram truck, like the 2023 Ram 1500, or a new Jeep SUV such as the 2021 Jeep Wrangler with the best deals and specials. We are committed to providing you with everything you need to make an informed decision about your next vehicle purchase. Visit our research pages below to get more details about the best Ram and Jeep reviews. And you can check out the models in our inventory, including:
There is no better time to buy your new dream truck or SUV than now. Also, there is no better place to buy all the latest Jeep 2022-20223 model vehicles than at J Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Anaheim Hills. Say hello to your first-choice certified Jeep dealership. For several years now, our dealer has been serving drivers and buyers throughout Anaheim Hills and its neighboring environment. Our dealership offers a substantial selection of new 2023 Jeep vehicles. From the 2023 Jeep Compass to the 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee L and even the 2022 Jeep Wrangler. All for sale!
Get the best deals on all new Jeep purchases with our 'new Jeep specials.' The best part about buying from J Star is that we have a standby financial center run by a team of highly experienced finance experts. These finance experts can help you get the right loan or lease for your dream car. All of the processes are carried out with great ease, utmost transparency, and lightning speed! So, why not run down to our Jeep dealership and check out our 2023 Jeep Renegade lease deals and 2023 Jeep Grand Cherokee lease specials. With J Star, you can get a great car without breaking the bank.
Never has there been a better time to visit our dealership near Yorba Linda than now. With the new car selections, you can now get excellent vehicles from our new and used SUV inventory. Buyers near Corona, Placenta, and Anaheim can now get high-quality, fully-inspected used vehicles at an affordable rate.
More than just making a purchase, J Star also ensures that all customers have access to highly experienced technicians to resolve all kinds of automobile issues that might arise. With adequate tools and state-of-the-art equipment, you get your repairs, and car maintenance is done in no time. You also have access to original vehicle parts, should the need arise. J Star Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Anaheim Hills offers quality cars, professional services, and a team that cares about your pocket. What more could you ask for. Get started today!
While great effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this site, errors can occur.
Please verify all pricing information with a customer service representative.
This is easily done by calling us or visiting us at the dealership.


text:
"Everything is comfortable between your hands. You feel immediately at ease with such a cockpit."
"The cockpit bits from COMMENCALs in-house brand was the biggest surprise of the component check. The 50mm stem and 780mm bar pairing hit a sweet spot for me and I see no reason to replace them.
"The RIDE ALPHA saddle and cockpit offer surprising comfort.


text:
Anastasius I
Anastasius I ănəstā´shəs, –zhəs [key], c.430–518, Roman emperor of the East (491–518); successor of Zeno, whose widow he married. He broke the power that the Isaurians had enjoyed since Leo I, made peace with Persia, maintained friendly relations with Theodoric the Great, and made Clovis I an ally. He built a wall to protect Constantinople against the Slavs and Bulgars. His reign saw the revision of tax collection and the abolition of gladiatorial contests. His Monophysite inclinations stirred religious unrest throughout the empire. Anastasius was succeeded by Justin I.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Ancient History, Late Roman and Byzantine: Biographies


text:
It looks like I'm not the only person who likes the idea of signed HTTP requests as an authentication method.
Joyent and Digital Bazaar have co-written an Internet draft for cryptographically signed HTTP requests:
Several web service providers have invented their own schemes for signing HTTP requests, but to date, none have been placed in the public domain as a standard. This document serves that purpose. There are no techniques in this proposal that are novel beyond previous art, however, this aims to be a simple mechanism for signing these requests.
Signed HTTP requests are also a key feature of something I've been working on. It's great to see the idea pick up momentum.


text:
LAS VEGAS. IDC analysts today provided an overview of the current status of the networking market and Software Defined Networking (SDN) in particular. The IDC analysts gave their insights during the annual IDC Analyst meeting held at the Interop conference here.
Rohit Mehra, research VP at IDC, said that 10 and 40 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) are set to hit 20 million ports in 2014. According to IDC, 10 and 40 GbE Ethernet datacenter ports will generate combined revenues of $7 billion for 2014 and will account for 90 percent of all datacenter Ethernet switch spending.
Mehra did not provide any specific guidance this year on how much datacenter spending would be directly related to SDN. Last year, at the Interop 2013 event, Mehra said that IDC's forecast for SDN was that the in-use SDN marketplace will generate $3.7 billion in revenue by 2016.
Brad Casemore, research director at IDC, did provide some new insight into the current drivers and state of SDN deployments. Casemore noted that what has driven early SDN adoption was a need to transition to the cloud and to be able to more intelligently handle heavily virtualized applications, servers and datacenters.
Casemore added that early adoption of SDN has also been driven by network requirements for better multi-tenancy and isolation support, as well as the need for improved automation of network provisioning.
According to new data that hasn't yet been publicly published by IDC, 29 percent of respondents to a recent IDC study said that the network's need for more agility to support virtualization is a primary driver for SDN deployments. 23 percent of respondents cited the need to increase the ability of the organization to better deliver new applications and servers to the network. Only 4 percent of the study's respondents said that the need to lower capital expenditures is a key driver for SDN deployment.
There are multiple ways in which SDN is being deployed today, with OpenFlow controller-based approaches leading, cited by 33 percent of respondents. 31 percent of respondents said that they were using overlay-based SDN approaches, which include VMware's NSX and Juniper's Contrail. 27 percent of the study's respondents said that they were using an SDN controller with multiple protocols and APIs.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at Enterprise Networking Planet and InternetNews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist


text:
I found the patchwork quilt last week at a yard sale. I thought I'd leave it in the jeep for picnics. Hm…today I found this wicker chair–still pretty sturdy sitting on a corner. In the jeep it went!
Drab lawn chair + yard sale quilt = insta-summer yard chair.
And quit cozy I might add.


text:
Tiffany Vance and Ronald Doel have traced the history of the Stommel diagram from physical oceanography into biology, in their 2010 paper Graphical Methods and Cold War Scientific Practice: The Stommel Diagram's Intriguing Journey from the Physical to the Biological Environmental Sciences in Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences (DOI: 10.1525/hsns.2010.40.1.1.)
The paper provides an rich history of how the innovative oceanographer Henry Stommel created his diagrams to emphasize the cross-scale dynamics of the ocean (See figure below), and how his diagram was adapted by biological oceanographers. However, they miss how Stommel diagrrams moved into ecosystem ecology and sustainability science.
Below I present a series of Stommel diagrams. The first three figures are reproduced in Vance and Doel's paper, the later three are from sustainability science.
First, Stommel's original figure, which was designed to show how oceanic processes varied across scales, and that sampling efforts had to be planned with a consideration of these.


text:
Main Content
Top of the page
Knowing what to expect before, during, and after surgery can help ease your fears. Knowledge can also help you take an active role in your recovery.
Being an active patient means asking questions and not agreeing to anything until you understand it and believe that it's for the best.
Minor surgeries that can be done in your doctor's office or at a same-day surgery centre usually take less than 2 hours, and you can recover at home after the surgery. For these, you most likely will need only oral pain medicines after your procedure. Examples of these types of surgeries are:
For more major surgery or emergency surgery, you will probably stay in the hospital.
You will have an appointment with your surgeon before your surgery. For this appointment, take along a list of questions about the surgery to help you understand your treatment.
Your surgeon will explain why your surgery is needed, what it will involve, what its risks and expected outcome are, and how long it will take you to recover. Talk to your surgeon about any concerns you have about the surgery. You may also want to ask about treatments you might try other than surgery.
Most surgery centres and hospitals have a before-surgery form for you to fill out. This form usually includes questions about your medical history and current health.
This information helps the surgical team prepare for your surgery. They are trained to provide you with safe care during your surgery. You most likely will complete the form 1 to 3 days before your surgery.
Talk to your surgeon about what kinds of surgery you have had in the past. Describe your recovery period, and be sure to mention any problems you may have had.
Describe any health problems you have, such as:
It's important to tell your doctor about any tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs, or medicines you use. This includes over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and natural health products, such as St. John's wort and diet aids. Your use of substances or medicines may affect your reaction to anesthesia or pain medicines.
Talk about any physical restrictions you have, such as an artificial joint or limited range of motion of your neck, arms, or legs.
Let your doctor know if you have any metal implants or fragments in your body.
Tell your surgeon if you are or might be pregnant.
Before surgery, your surgeon may also ask you to see your regular doctor for an examination and possibly for tests. A surgeon may ask this to make sure that surgery is not likely to be too hard on you. The tests may include:
You may also be scheduled for other tests, such as X-rays or an electrocardiogram (ECG, EKG), if your surgeon thinks they are needed before your surgery.
Your surgeon may include other doctors in your care, depending on your other medical conditions. For example, if you have heart problems, your surgeon may discuss your care with a cardiologist.
If you have many medical problems, your regular doctor may do your physical examination before surgery. To help make sure that no problems are missed, you may find it helpful to have a doctor who knows you well do this examination and your medical history.
If you will need blood during your surgery, you may wish to donate your own blood. This has to be done several weeks before your surgery.
Many hospitals or surgery centres have a nurse who will meet with you or call you at home a few days before your surgery. This nurse makes sure all your forms and tests are complete before your scheduled surgery. The nurse also:
Before your surgery, your surgeon or nurse will remind you to do the following:
When you arrive for your surgery, your nurse will:
Your nurse will also explain to you what will happen and will reassure you to help you stay calm. He or she may go over a pain scale, which may be used to help see how you are doing after surgery.
Your surgeon or the surgical team may also give you some information on what will happen after surgery, such as whether you will have special equipment, like another IV, a urinary catheter, or wound drains.
The nurse will have you:
Pre-surgery medicines
The nurse will give you any medicines ordered by your surgery team, such as:
Family and friends
The nurse will tell your family or friends how long you will be in surgery and in the recovery area. The nurse will also let them know where they can wait during your surgery.
The nurse will answer any questions you or your family members have about your surgery. Tell the nurse who you want to be contacted right after your surgery to talk about how the surgery went.
A special surgical team helps the surgeon with your surgery. This team usually includes:
In university or teaching hospitals, doctors with different levels of surgical training may watch or help with your surgery. But your surgeon will be in charge.
The surgical team is trained to provide you with safe care during your surgery. Before they start, the team members will double-check your name, what type of surgery you are there for, and what part of your body is to be operated on.
If you are having general anesthesia, a breathing tube (endotracheal tube) is placed in your windpipe or a special airway (laryngeal mask airway, or LMA) is placed in the back of your throat to help you breathe during the surgery. To learn more, see the topic Anesthesia.
The place on your skin where the incision will be is washed with a special solution to remove bacteria. All instruments used during your surgery are sterilized to reduce your risk of infection.
Pain control is an important concern. Near the end of your surgery, your surgeon may inject a long-acting pain medicine at the site of your surgery to decrease your pain for 6 to 12 hours after surgery.
Right after surgery, you will be taken to a recovery area where nurses will care for and observe you. A nurse will check your vital signs and bandages. He or she will also ask about your pain level.
When you wake up, you may have a small tube just below your nose that supplies oxygen to your lungs.
You will most likely stay in the recovery area for 1 to 4 hours. Then you will be moved to a hospital room or you will go home. You may receive medicine or fluids through your vein (intravenous, or IV) during your time in the hospital.
Relief of any nausea or vomiting is an important concern. If you will be going home the same day, you will need to drink fluids without vomiting, be upright without fainting, and urinate on your own before you will be sent home.
If you go home, the nurse will give you instructions on breathing and exercises to help prevent any problems. For most minor surgeries, the nurse will encourage you to be as active as possible to prevent these problems.
Your doctor may give you medicine for pain.
Pain control remains an important concern after surgery. Inflammation or nerve injury from the surgery can cause pain. Your doctor may give you more than one medicine for pain. In some cases, you may use a pain pump so that it's easy to get pain medicine right when you need it.
Typically, before you go home your doctors and nurses will make sure that:
The most common problems after surgery are pneumonia, bleeding, infection, clotted blood (hematoma) at the surgery site, and reactions to the anesthesia.
In the first 48 hours after surgery, the most likely risks are bleeding and problems with your heart or lungs.
From 48 hours to 30 days after surgery, the most common risks are infection, blood clots, and problems with other body organs, such as a urinary tract infection.
Along with putting you to sleep during surgery, anesthesia can have side effects. Two of the most unpleasant ones are nausea and constipation.
While nausea will soon wear off, your constipation can leave you uncomfortable for several days after your surgery. Your nurses can give you a medicine to promote bowel movement. But eating may actually be the most effective means of ending constipation, because food will push waste through your system.
You may meet most of the criteria to go home but may not be able to do certain things well enough to go home. In this case, you may go to a type of assisted-living facility instead of to your home. Nurses and rehabilitation specialists at an assisted-living facility can help you work toward getting home.
You will most likely go home with a sheet of instructions including whom to contact if you have a problem.
A nurse will go over these instructions with you. He or she can also help arrange for any care you will need when you go home. This may include nursing care or visits from other health care workers.
Your instructions will include:
Your home-care instructions will include how to take care of your incision. The instructions will explain:
Your instructions will include when to have a follow-up appointment with your surgeon. Your surgeon will want to talk to you before your follow-up appointment if:
Call 911 or other emergency services right away if you have these symptoms:
Your recovery from surgery may be different from what your surgeon expected. Other symptoms or problems may develop after your surgery, even when you follow your surgeon's instructions. This can be very frustrating.
Be sure to call your surgeon if you have an unexpected symptom or problem, including:
Current as of: January 20, 2022
Author: Healthwise StaffMedical Review: Anne C. Poinier MD - Internal MedicineBrian D. O'Brien MD - Internal MedicineKathleen Romito MD - Family MedicineAdam Husney MD - Family MedicineE. Gregory Thompson MD - Internal MedicineMichel M. Murr MD - General Surgery, Bariatric SurgeryKenneth Bark MD - General Surgery, Colon and Rectal Surgery
Current as of: January 20, 2022
Author: Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:Anne C. Poinier MD - Internal Medicine & Brian D. O'Brien MD - Internal Medicine & Kathleen Romito MD - Family Medicine & Adam Husney MD - Family Medicine & E. Gregory Thompson MD - Internal Medicine & Michel M. Murr MD - General Surgery, Bariatric Surgery & Kenneth Bark MD - General Surgery, Colon and Rectal Surgery
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise.org.
© 1995-2022 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.


text:
Yesterday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released a report in which it urges the adoption of four approaches to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. In announcing the report the IEA noted that, at the earliest, the next international treaty won't even be finalized before 2015 (and its implementation won't start until 2020). But in the intervening years, we're likely to build infrastructure and continue emissions that will make the goals of that agreement nearly impossible to reach. In the interim, the IEA suggests steps that are needed to keep the planet on a path that would limit emissions to 2°C.
The report comes immediately in the wake of the first recordings of carbon dioxide levels that exceed 400 parts per million at Mauna Loa, far from any sites of industrial emissions. These levels haven't been seen in millions of years and, if current emissions trends continue, we're expected to reach temperatures we've not seen in equally long: between 3.6°C and 5.3°C warmer than the preindustrial era, according to the IEA. And, as the World Bank recently noted, that sort of rise would radically reshape our world. So the IEA is sold on the goal of limiting future temperature rises to 2°C.
Unfortunately, energy-related emissions went up by 1.4 percent last year to 31.6 Gigatons. If we wait to 2015 to finalize plans to keep future temperature rises to 2°C, the IEA estimates we'll need to spend $5 trillion to get back on track.
In contrast, the IEA estimates that we can stay on track by spending $1.5 trillion in the years between now and 2020. If spent according to the IEA's new four-step plan, we'll save just as much money as we spend due to more efficient use of energy. The IEA focused on technologies that are already on the market and are in active use in some countries, meaning that there are no barriers other than cost and scaling.
The plan
One of the steps is something the IEA has been arguing for a while: given that there is a finite supply of fossil fuels and that burning them creates problems, it makes no sense to actively encourage their use. Despite this, fossil fuel is heavily subsidized in many countries. The IEA has consistently called for these subsidies to be phased out; one of its four points is to simply accelerate the phasing out.
While also on the subject of waste, the IEA would like to see oil and gas producers do more to capture methane that is currently allowed to escape into the atmosphere. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and is eventually converted to CO2 in the atmosphere; capturing more of it will account for 18 percent of the savings.
In the US, the expansion of renewables and natural gas has led to a significant decline in the use of coal, which has led to a corresponding drop in carbon emissions (coal is the least efficient fossil fuel in terms of energy per emissions); China's emissions growth is slowing for similar reasons. The IEA would like to see that happen globally. If we limit the construction and use of the least efficient coal plants for the rest of the decade, it could account for 20 percent of the IEA's goals.
But the biggest step we can take is simple efficiency. Building or retrofitting more efficient buildings, industry, and transportation could account for nearly half the emission changes needed for the IEA's plan. And this is where most of the money for the plan comes from; efficiency measures can usually save a significant amount on energy expenses, often with time windows of less than a decade. These savings are required to offset the cost of mothballing some of the coal plants before the end of their expected lifespans.
These savings will, of course, exact a cost somewhere, primarily in the energy industries. If the IEA's plan were adopted, coal consumption would obviously drop and some fossil fuel reserves that are currently slated for development will not be needed as quickly as expected. As a bit of a sop to the energy industry, the IEA notes that the problems caused by climate change—water shortages, severe storms, sea level rise—will exact a cost on the industry's infrastructure as well.
Overall, the IEA's plan seems like a solid one. But the group has been calling for many of these steps for a number of years and responses have been slow. There's definitely an element of the "tragedy of the commons" here. Although it's appealing in general to think that these efficiency measures could allow finite reserves of fossil fuels to last decades longer than they would otherwise, the countries and companies relying on the income from developing them are unlikely to be happy to go along with the plan.


text:
BOSTON (AP) Call it the unholy alliance: one-time Super Bowl rivals Tom Brady and Michael Strahan are teaming up to produce a six-part documentary TV series called the "Religion of Sports."
Each hour-long episode looks at different examples of the cultural and spiritual impact of sports in religions around the world.
The show explores the rivalry between soccer clubs in Glasgow, Scotland; the Calgary Stampede rodeo in Alberta, Canada; and the rise of "e-sports." It also delves into NASCAR, mixed martial arts and minor league baseball.
The Associated Press caught up with Brady, Strahan and Gotham Chopra the creator, director and voice of the series that airs beginning Nov. 15 on the Audience Network on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse.
Brady is a quarterback for the New England Patriots. Strahan is a retired New York Giants defensive end, who is joining ABC"s "Good Morning America" this fall. Chopra is the son of spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.
Their comments have been edited for clarity and length:
AP: Where did the idea of this show come from?
Chopra: Figuratively I feel like I"ve been working on this my whole life. Obviously growing up with my father, I was around that world of spirituality and religion. But I also grew up in Boston. I bled green as a Celtics fan in the "80s. I loved sports. About five years ago, I had a conversation with my father, who never really understood that devotion to sports. And I remember saying to him that all of those things you speak in the spiritual tradition also exist in sports.
AP: What drew you to this project?
Strahan: I love the emotional aspect of it. You hear "Religion of Sports," and you say, "OK, so sport is a religion?" Well, yeah, it really is. The temple is this arena or stadium. These athletes can be considered the gods in certain ways and the fans can be considered parishioners. So to be able to explore that and this spiritual connection between sports and life, that"s what really piqued my interest.
AP: You say sport creates a "spiritual experience" for both fans and players. How would you describe that to non-sports fans?
Brady: It"s pretty simple: In sports you often become part of something greater than yourself. On the field, you come into sync with your teammates and coaches and together you achieve something that you could never do on your own. And as an athlete, when you are on that field and the fans get really engaged and you can feel their energy and passion and true love of the game, it is absolutely a spiritual experience.
AP: How is this series going to be different from other sports documentary shows out there?
Chopra: I compare it a lot to "This American Life." It"s stories about why sports gives people purpose, meaning and significance whether you"re an athlete, fan or person that works within sports. It"s very much character-driven. The backdrop happens to be sports.
AP: What was the most interesting thing for you about this project?
Strahan: It"s finding out those backstories and motivations. It"s the real heart-to heart-feel of everybody"s story. Cat Zingano (a mixed martial arts fighter the series followed as she prepared for a comeback fight earlier this year) and her reason for doing what she"s doing. Once you see that episode, you"ll have a much deeper appreciation for who she is and what she"s come from.
AP: Did you learn anything new about sports culture in the making of this?
Brady: As far as the series goes, it"s great to learn more about sports I"m probably less familiar with stock car racing, rodeo, e-sports and realize that a lot of the people at the center of those sports bring the same level of passion, commitment and disciple that I try to with football. Sports is a way of life for billions of people around the planet. "Religion of Sports" takes you beyond sports as we know it.
Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/philip-marcelo


text:
The cello nestled between her legs, comfortable as an old lover. But the bow was heavy and refused her command. A strangled note shivered the air.
All gone. The whole village.
She heard their screaming in the lone note, the beat of fists against the bolted door, the choking as smoke filled the hall. When she returned, only ash and charred bone remained.
Let my music be their revenge! The strings vibrated. The sun moved. Motes of light danced a gavotte – perhaps an illusion created by her tears, but she sensed Mama and Papa. The audience drew in a breath.
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here.


text:
Square Roots, 48 original watercolor paintings, 5" x 7" each, are, collectively, a small tribute to the art of Marc Rothko. I picked up a book of Rothko reproductions in Borders Books in Bettendorf, Iowa, one afternoon in '04, and, sitting in the Borders Café, as I was preparing to write what became the book called "Mother", Rothko's art brought me to tears, surprising me, at the time. I was in the Quad Cities, now called the Quint Cities, more specifically, Moline, Illinois, where I was born and raised, after my formative years in McCook, Nebraska. I was living with my mother in the last year of her life, taking care of her and writing about it. After my time with her, I left her in the care of my brother, John, who had been with her for two years before I was. On my return to Seattle, I began a series of paintings based on the square. This series is the result of that time.
Download here:


text:
[Editor's note: I've received a postcard thru the Galapagos "postal system", it works!]
Republished from The Washington Post.
By Andrea Sachs. January 31, 2010
Floreana Island's postal service hasn't evolved from its origins hundreds of years ago. But unlike Darwin's finches, it doesn't need to adapt to survive.
Instead of stamps and postmen, the Galapagos isle relies on a barrel and the kindness of travelers to move its mail. Twice a day including Sunday, boatloads of unofficial mail carriers land in Post Office Bay and walk a few sandy yards to a wooden barrel crammed with postcards and notes left by past visitors. The guests, mainly cruisers eco-touring the Ecuadorian islands, sort through the stacks, looking for addresses within delivery distance of their homes. They also drop their own messages into the receptacle, adding another link to the chain of mail.
"Sometimes it's faster than the regular mail," said our guide, Carlos, as he yanked dozens of letters from a plastic bag. "You come one day and drop it off two days later."


text:
Home > Consumer Protection > Consumer News & Information > FDIC Consumer News
FDIC Consumer News
Spring 2012
Higher Education, Lower Debt: Ways to Minimize the Borrowing Costs for College
The average annual cost of higher education has increased dramatically in the last decade. And with education debt continuing to rise along with the increase in costs, many people face a tough financial situation. FDIC Consumer News offers these tips to help students and their families avoid debt overload as they plan for — and pay for — college, graduate school or other education.
Last Updated 7/10/2014


text:
I did have a post planned for today about dual specs. But Blizzard have outdated it already by announcing that their current plans include all the features I would have wanted.
My personal take on dual specs is that I have a couple of very specific use cases in mind. A use case is a way of capturing requirements in software engineering. Instead of starting by describing what the system does, we write a few sentences about what it is and then say 'OK, I'm a user. How do I want to use this system?'. We can show the steps that a specific interaction would take. Then we go through it again for every different use case that the engineers can think so. So in my case here, I know exactly how I'd like to be able to use the dual spec system and under what circumstances. Those are my use cases.
1. For my warrior. She is usually protection spec. But she often tanks in raids where different numbers of tanks are needed for consecutive fights. So from dual specs I want the ability to switch into a proper dps spec for a fight where I'm not needed to either tank or off tank. And then switch back again. I have the gear for the dps off-spec already and I'm happy to get more familiar with my dps aspect. I want switching to be quick and easy and not hold up the raid for too long while I'm doing it, because I might be the only one who needs to switch specs.
2. I have a level 70 druid, who I played as resto in the last expansion. There's no way I'm planning to level as a resto spec. But I'm not interested in healing instances while levelling as a balance spec. Yes it's possible, but why do the healing on hard mode when you're used to life as a tree? So I always told my guild I wasn't going to touch her until I had the option of dual specs.
So I need dual specs to be available at level 70, and I want to be able to level as balance but with the option of switching to resto if I get a chance to run an instance and the group needs a healer. I also want any one-off costs to be cheap enough that I can afford to pay for both Peace and Spinks to have it.
3. I have a warlock. I don't really care if he has dual specs or not. But if it is cheap, I will probably buy it and try out a deep destro spec so that he can be an emergency replenish-bot for our 10 man runs if needed. I don't have a major requirement here. But I will use the feature more if the one off cost is low. This will probably lead to me experimenting with glyphs, running more instances to get alternate pieces of gear, and generally being more active in game with this alt.
Based on that, I'll list my 5 criteria:
- If there's a one-off cost, it needs to be affordable. Below 2k gold would be best. (I already know that I want this facility for at least two of my alts. As it happens, I do have a fair sized pot of gold to dip into but I know lots of people who don't.)
- Need to be able to switch specs in raids.
- Need to be able to access dual specs at level 70.
- Need to be able to switch specs on a short cooldown, to allow switching for one boss fight and then switching back again.
- Spec switching in raids needs to be quick and easy. If it requires consumables they need to be cheap (I already pay enough in repair bills!)
WoW Insider sums up the latest pronouncements on Dual Specs. They fulfil all of my criteria so I'm happy. If dual specs go live like this, I'll be delighted. Blizzard will have won my custom not only for the next patch but also for a period for me to level my third alt.
The current plans are:
- dual specs cost 1000g as a one off cost
- dual specs available from level 40
- switching specs will require no consumables, will be a 5s cast, and will have no cooldown
- switching specs can't be done in combat or in PvP


text:
We've all heard quite enough about Miley Cyrus and her favorite dance moves in the past few days. Unfortunately, now it looks as though twerking is here to stay, no matter what happens to the pop star.
Stately repository of all things vocabulary-constructing, the Oxford Dictionary, has officially added "twerk" to its canon:
Twerk verb
Syllabification: (twerk)
Pronunciation: /twərk/
informal dance to popular music in a sexually provocative manner involving thrusting hip movements and a low, squatting stance:
just wait till they catch their daughters twerking to this song
twerk it girl, work it girl
Apparently, pelvis thrusting to unpopular music is just going to have to find its own catchphrase.
Oxford Dictionary senior editor Katherine Conor Martin tells the Associated Press that the phrase has been around for almost 20 years, and is likely a derivative of "work it." Twerk is added as part of a quarterly update, along with "selfie" and "bitcoin." It's worth noting that this update applies only to the online version, and not the more staid print tome, the Oxford English Dictionary.


text:
Story highlights
U.N. report: North Korea using its embassies to evade sanctions
It says former NBA star Dennis Rodman and his party took luxury goods to Pyongyang
They included alcohol and sporting goods
North Korea uses multiple techniques to defy sanctions, and shows no signs of abandoning its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, according to a U.N. report.
An eight-member panel of experts said the country "is experienced in actions it takes to evade sanctions," including using its embassies.
North Korean embassies in Cuba and Singapore facilitated its banned arms trade as proven by the North Korean ship, Chong Chon Gang, which was caught with undeclared weaponry from Cuba in July, the report said.
The amount of money made from this trade is subject to debate, but "there is no question that it is one of the country's most profitable revenue sources," according to the report.
In addition, the report said it investigated allegations that former NBA star Dennis Rodman and his party took luxury goods to Pyongyang in recent months.
While not explicitly accusing Rodman of defying U.N. sanctions on luxury goods, it said there was evidence.
North Korea's missile capabilities
"Media reports corroborated by the panel indicate that among items taken by Dennis Rodman and his party during their visits were sporting goods from various countries, five bottles of vodka (United States), one bottle of whiskey (Ireland), two whiskey glasses and one whiskey decanter (Ireland), and a Mulberry handbag (United Kingdom) ) taken by Paddy Power, a company based in Ireland."
The report said some of these items are on the U.S. or E.U. lists of banned luxury goods.
"This illustrates the importance of informing individuals and companies of their obligations under the resolutions," it said.
The panel said its investigation is ongoing.
North Korean election provides clues to reclusive Stalinist state


text:
Leilang-Electric is located in Shanghai, China. We are specialized in manufacturing all kinds of transformers, voltage stabilizers,
voltage regulators, reactors, etc.
With more than 10 years experience, Leilang-Electric always adhere to the "TOP QUALITY" route. Our technology and quality have
been in a leading position in transformer industry. We may not be able to offer the cheapest price, but we can promise the best quality
and higher value to customers.
Leilang-Electric products: Isolation transformers, three-phase dry transformers, rectifier transformers, etc. are widely used in power
generation, power supply, coal, metallurgy, petroleum, chemical, construction, port, airport, railway transportation, urban infrastructure,
and other areas. All products have passed the quality supervision and inspection center certification, quality management system
certification, environmental management system certification and occupational health and safety management system certification.
Leilang-Electric products are sold to Europe, North & South America, Oceania, Asia and Africa, more than 100 countries and regions
in the world are using Leilang-Electric products. Products' quality and technical service are recognized by all customers around the
world, and we have cooperative distributors in some countries.
Leilang-Electric will continue to carry forward the integrity of compliance, scientific and technological innovation, win-win cooperation
spirit, use TOP QUALITY and comprehensive service to cooperate with all partners, and work hard for the development of the world's
green electrical power.


text:
Margaux Isaksen, Fayetteville, Arkansas finished the 2013 Pentathlon World Cup Series in third place. Margaux combined a podium finish at the World Cup Final in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia with a World Cup win in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and a string of top 8 finishes to claim the superior place.
Margaux returns to Russia later this month for the Kremlin Cup and then will prepare for the World Championships in August to be held in Kaoshiung, Chinese Taipei. Younger sister Isabella Isaksen, Fayetteville, Arkansas finished the series in thirty-first place in her first full year of competing on the senior World Cup circuit. In addition to qualifying for both the Kremlin World Cup and Senior World Championships, Isabella, age 19 hopes to compete in Budapest, Hungary at the Junior World Championships.
On the men's side, Army Specialist Dennis Bowsher, Colorado Springs, Colorado produced some solid performances to finish 52nd in the 2013 Pentathlon World Cup Series.
A future Pentathlete to watch is Grace Kittle, Dallas, Texas who in a limited role competing in her first two World Cup Pentathlons finished 82nd in the series. Grace is a former nationally ranked swimmer who switched to pentathlon this year.
Other USA Pentathletes finishing in the top 100 on the world list are Christine McGrath, Newark, Delaware; Nicola Genaud, Denver, Colorado and Alison English, Ventura, California.
The UIPM Pentathlon World Cup Series was won by Victoria Tereshuk as Ukraine finished one –two. Margaux was the only athlete to win a Pentathlon World Cup this year other than the Ukrainians who swept the rest of the series.


text:
Dear Governor Brown:
Please support Assembly Bill 17 (D-Holden) to create a new generation of transit users, help underserved students, reduce the number of cars on the road, decrease vehicle miles traveled, and thereby make real cuts in Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
AB 17 passed with bipartisan support in both the Assembly (76-3) and Senate (37-3) to provide reduced-cost transit passes to public college and university students, as well as middle school and high school students.
We must take every viable step we can to build ridership and maximize vehicle trip reduction and legitimate our large-scale investments in infrastructure, from high-speed rail to local transit systems. Therefore, it is important to encourage transit use amongst future generations if California is going shift away from single-occupancy vehicles, reduce traffic, fulfill our State's commitment to reducing carbon and achieve the agreed upon reductions in the Paris Climate Accord. Well-designed student pass programs have been shown to significantly increase student ridership and to significantly reduce the cost of an education—as well as GHG emissions and air pollution.
In addition, students face high barriers to access their education and if we can lower one of many by reducing the cost of transportation to and from their school, we can help reduce absenteeism and increase enrollment at schools across this State. This is particularly true in our public community college system where a recent study in Los Angeles found 1 in 5 students were homeless and in need of assistance for costs beyond tuition.
We are counting on your support to sign AB 17 and provide a transit pass program for California's hard-working students and as a tool for fighting climate change.


text:
Drum manufacturers can rarely boast something in common with the US aerospace industry. The pursuit of sending man into orbit is rather more technologically demanding than the building of standard-sized tubes that resonate in acoustically pleasing fashion. Yet American drum company Trick can claim such a link, as its striking aluminium drum kits are made to AS9100-Revision B standard, the very quality system adhered to by suppliers to aerospace companies.
If this sounds hi-tech, well perhaps it's to be expected, for Trick employs fairly untraditional techniques to craft its instruments. In fact, it relies solely on aluminium - "special resonant alloy" - for its drum shells. A single ply of 1/8" thick aluminium is used for the shell of every Trick drum, with the company pointing to increased resonance and consistency over typical wood-shell instruments as the reason for its unusual decision.
Given that drummers can, generally, use all the resonance they can get, Trick's approach holds appeal on paper. Let's see how it stacks up in the real-life sound stakes...
Silver septet
First impressions of the extensive Trick kit sent for this review are good, assuming you're open to finishes at the more lairy end of the taste spectrum. We appreciate a nice retro pearl wrap the same as the next man, but we're also keen to see drum makers pushing the envelope with aesthetics too, so we were taken with the initial visual impact of the 8"x8",10"x9", 12"x10", 14"x12", 16"x14", 22"x18" and 13"x7" collection that arrived clothed in Protection Racket cases.
Checking out the Trick Drums website reveals all manner of outlandish finishes, very much in keeping with the kind of thing we've come to expect from high-end US custom builders. But the kit here is blessed with the company's ultra-special Millusion finish, which creates a neo-holographic effect. Rather than being a wrap or lacquer, the Millusion technique involves actually milling the design into the surface of the drums.
From a distance, the shells look the bomb. But there are a few aesthetic issues that become apparent as they're subject to closer inspection. For starters, the seam area of the shells looks like it needs a little more attention - the seam itself is smooth, but where the rest of the shell is treated to the impressive ripple/ flames design, the vertical strip of the seam section is a tad underfinished.
"We appreciate a nice retro pearl wrap the same as the next man, but we're also keen to see drum makers pushing the envelope with aesthetics too, so we were taken with the initial visual impact".
The other minor thing that bothers us is the little (and they are little) rectangular-ish venting holes that are sited near the edges of the shells. Again, they look pretty neat from afar, but close up a fair few are a bit too jagged for our liking.
In terms of the nuts and bolts of shell construction Trick drums are, as mentioned above, pretty straightforward in that they feature single-ply aluminium shells without reinforcing hoops; they also have double 45º bearing edges, triple-flanged hoops, nice round low mass lugs and RIMS-type suspension cradle mounts.
Aside from the choice of material, the shells stick to tried and tested blueprints and everything is as it should be - the drums aren't as heavy as you think they might be, they ship with Evans' excellent G1 heads (and EMAD batter on the kick drum) and there are a couple of nice touches on the bass drum and snare. Specifically, the snare is equipped with Trick's CNC-machined GS007 throw-off and the 22" kick provides super-easy tuning thanks to each of its tuning rods featuring a big knurled knob that does away with the need for a drum key.
This latter feature is great for quick tweaks on stage, and as the rod knobs are round, they can't get knocked accidentally while getting the drum in and out of its case etc.
Metal machine music
Die-hard fans of wood drums might turn their noses up at an all-metal drum kit. It's too easy to conjure a subconscious aural image of clangy, harsh tones and a distinctly cold sonic response. But the reality is something rather different. The use of coated Evans heads will, admittedly, add a good degree of fat, warm tonality to the kit, but there's no doubt that the Trick set-up sounds rounder and fuller than one might have predicted.
There's certainly an aggressive edge to the voice of the drums, but this is the result of a forceful upper mid-range rather than any thin, bangy metallicness. The kick benefits significantly from this muscularity - the 18" depth means lots of hefty low-end thump, but this right foot partner will also blend well with growly, gnarly bass guitar sounds. It's a fab rock/metal kick that makes its presence felt without beingnasty and clicky.
Trick makes much of the consistent response that aluminium should allow from its drums. The quintet of toms here makes it easy to assess how well this works in practice. Despite the enormous difference in size between the smallest (8"x8") and largest (16"x14"), the toms all exhibit broadly similar characteristics - they're all very 'clean' sounding, very balanced and punchy. They sustain well, with fading undertones that disappear in controlled fashion, and as such would make very reliable recording drums, particularly for rib-shaking rock.
Where the toms and bass drum present themselves more like all-rounder usable than might be expected, the 13" snare lends itself to more specific backbeat duties. This is due to its small diameter as much as its shell material, but the combination of the two serves to accentuate the spiky, piercing crack you would imagine such a drum to deliver.
If you want a thick, Joey Castillo-esque wallop, give this a wide berth. If it's Joey Jordison you prefer to emulate (or you need a super-fast funk response) then this red devil fits the bill rather neatly.