text:
Robert J. Samuelson: Watch Medicaid bury other priorities
WASHINGTON: The White House recently put out a 40-page report arguing that the 24 states that have not expanded Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA or "Obamacare") are hurting their poor and themselves. It's an easy case to make, but it's incomplete and misleading. The further truth is that Medicaid also threatens to crowd out spending for many traditional state and local functions: schools, police, roads, libraries and more.
Indeed, this has been happening for decades. From 1989 to 2013, the share of states' general funds devoted to Medicaid has risen from 9 percent to 19 percent, reports the National Association of State Budget Officers. Under present law, the squeeze will worsen. The White House report doesn't discuss this. The paradox is that a progressive program also has unprogressive consequences.
First, some background.
Passed by Congress in 1965 as part of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, Medicaid is health insurance for the poor. In 2012, it covered almost 58 million people and spent $432 billion, with costs split between the federal government (about 58 percent) and the states (42 percent). The ACA expanded eligibility for Medicaid to people with incomes below 138 percent of the federal poverty line. In 2014, that's $16,105 for a single adult and $32,913 for a family of four. Earlier federal eligibility requirements were tighter.
In June 2012, the Supreme Court, while upholding most of the ACA, threw out the Medicaid provisions. The court ruled that the Obama administration couldn't force all states to accept the Medicaid expansion. It had to give them a choice. Ever since, there's been a running battle between the administration and the states that have declined. The White House report, done by its Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), is the latest salvo.
To the White House, the right-wing anti-Obamacare crusade is mean-spirited partisanship at its worst. The 24 non-participating states are sacrificing huge amounts of almost-free money and condemning an estimated 5.7 million people — who would qualify for the new Medicaid — to being uninsured. (In participating states and the District of Columbia, 5.2 million signed up.) Under the ACA, the federal government pays all the cost of the Medicaid expansion through 2016 and, after that, the reimbursement rate drops gradually to a still-generous 90 percent in 2020.
Through 2016, abstaining states are losing $88 billion in federal funds, estimates the CEA. Meanwhile, many of the needlessly uninsured don't get routine preventive care and tests. They lack the peace of mind of insurance. They face higher out-of-pocket costs and medical debts.
This critique contains much truth. Obamacare's politics are hugely symbolic. Opposition — or support — is worn as a badge of honor. Still, two aspects of the White House report suggest opposition to the Medicaid expansion isn't just rabid partisanship.
One is the assumption that the 90 percent reimbursement rate remains permanently. Why should it? To curb budget deficits, Congress might cut it. "The ACA says what it says. Future Congresses can repeal or modify it," says Matt Salo of the National Association of Medicaid Directors. Could the favorable reimbursement be bait-and-switch? States' actual costs could be higher than assumed. Why make a bad problem worse?
Even if this doesn't happen, demographic trends — also ignored by the White House report — are devastating for states. Medicaid's cost structure is peculiar. Children and adults under 65 represent three-quarters of beneficiaries but only one-third of costs. The quarter who are aged and disabled represent two-thirds of costs. They are especially sickly and poor. More than 60 percent of nursing home residents have Medicaid.
What this means is that, as the population ages, states' Medicaid spending will rise inexorably. The competition between nursing homes and home health care — on the one hand — and classroom teachers, higher education, police and other governmental services — on the other — will intensify. Medicaid becomes a vise squeezing other public services or requiring continuous tax increases. More spending goes toward meeting past obligations and not present and future needs. Underfunded state and local pensions compound the effect. States and localities acquire a backward-looking bias.
This has already occurred at the national level, where Social Security, Medicare and (to a lesser extent) Medicaid — programs heavily for the elderly — dominate the federal budget. Other spending is slowly shrinking as a share of the economy. We could minimize this process for states and localities by transferring all Medicaid costs to Washington (or at least the costs of the elderly and disabled). To pay for it, Washington would reduce transportation and education grants to states.
Let Washington mediate among generations. Let states and localities concentrate on their traditional roles of education, public safety and roads. Spare them the swamp of escalating health costs. This is the bargain we need — and probably won't get.
Samuelson is a Washington Post columnist.


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Vandals hit Concord New Hampshire church
Police: Disturbing images found in building's basement
Church leaders in Concord made an upsetting discovery in their building's basement Tuesday morning.
Concord police said vandals broke into the building of the South Congregational Church and left a mess, using sugar packets and markers to draw satanic symbols.
"It can be unsettling when something like that happens. I don't think anybody has any fear. It's more a dismay," said Rev. Carlos Jauhola-Straight.
Jauhola-Straight said staff members saw the numbers 666 written on the wall and on a clock, and using sugar packets, the vandals drew what appears to be a pentagram.
"The library had been strewn with napkins and tissues and sugar packets, and that there had been some graffiti drawn on the walls," said Jauhola-Straight.
Police said the vandals entered the church through a window. According to investigators, the damage could have been in the basement for days without being discovered because the library wasn't used over the weekend.
"We believe it could have happened sometime between Friday evening -- maybe between 5 and 6 o'clock -- and Tuesday, when it was discovered," said Lt. Timothy O'Malley, of the Concord Police Department.
Police said the vandals created more of a mess than any real damage inside the church.
"When we took a look at the damage, it looked like more foolish vandalism," said O'Malley. "The references to Satan and 666 is concerning, but we are not certain that that wasn't something more childish than something more sinister."
Church officials said they will use the vandalism to increase awareness when it comes to security, and to take measures to make sure all doors and windows are locked when the building is empty.
"Other than that, I'm not sure what else we can do. (We're) just trying to be proactive in response," said Jauhola-Straight.
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call the Concord Regional Crimeline at 603-226-3100.

subset: commoncrawl


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Egyptian mummies continue to fascinate us due to the remarkable insights they provide into ancient civilizations. Flinders Petrie, the first UK chair in Egyptology did not have the luxury of X-ray techniques in his era of archaeological analysis in the late nineteenth century. However, twentieth century Egyptologists have benefited from Roentgen's legacy. Sir Graham Elliott Smith along with Howard Carter did early work on plain x-ray analysis of mummies when they X-rayed the mummy Tuthmosis in 1904. Numerous X-ray analyses were performed using portable X-ray equipment on mummies in the Cairo Museum.
Since then, many studies have been done worldwide, especially with the development of more sophisticated imaging techniques such as CT scanning, invented by Hounsfield in the UK in the 1970s. With this, it became easier to visualize the interiors of mummies, thus revealing their hidden mysteries under their linen wrapped bodies and the elaborate face masks which had perplexed researchers for centuries. Harwood Nash performed one of the earliest head scans of a mummy in Canada in 1977 and Isherwood's team along with Professor David also performed some of the earliest scannings of mummies in Manchester.
A fascinating new summer exhibition at the British Museum has recently opened, and consists of eight mummies, all from different periods and Egyptian dynasties, that have been studied with the latest dual energy CT scanners. These scanners have 3D volumetric image acquisitions that reveal the internal secrets of these mummies. Mummies of babies and young children are included, as well as adults. There have been some interesting discoveries already, for example, that dental abscesses were prevalent as well as calcified plaques in peripheral arteries, suggesting vascular disease was present in the population who lived over 3,000 years ago. More detailed analysis of bones, including the pelvis, has been made possible by the scanned images, enabling more accurate estimation of the age of death.
Although embalmers took their craft seriously, mistakes did occur, as evidenced by one of the mummy exhibits, which shows Padiamenet's head detached from the body during the process, the head was subsequently stabilized by metal rods. Padiamenet was a temple doorkeeper who died around 700BC. Mummies had their brains removed with the heart preserved as this was considered the seat of the soul. Internal organs such as the stomach and liver were often removed; bodies were also buried with a range of amulets.
The exhibit provides a fascinating introduction to mummies and early Egyptian life more than 3,000 years ago and includes new insights gleaned from cutting edge twenty first century imaging technology.
Ancient Lives: New Discoveries is on at the British Museum until the 30 November 2014.
Heading image: Mummy. Public domain via Pixabay.


text:
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text:
McDonald's Could Reveal A New Breakfast-Wars Strategy Tomorrow
McDonald's, which has dominated the breakfast market for years, faces more competition than ever before.
Taco Bell started offering a breakfast menu in March with crowd-pleasing items such as the Waffle Taco. Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts, and Burger King are also revamping their menus to entice consumers.
McDonald's will probably address how it plans to remain the top breakfast chain on an earnings conference call with analysts tomorrow, writes Julie Jargon at The Wall Street Journal.
While McDonald'shas hinted that it will expand breakfast hours past 10:30, no official announcement has been made. Taco Bell's breakfast goes to 11 a.m.
And earlier this month, McDonald's gave out free McCafe coffee. That promotion ended April 13.
About 25% of McDonald's total sales come from breakfast, Jargon writes.
The category is thriving even as overall fast-food sales decline.
U.S. restaurant traffic during the breakfast hours increased 3% in 2013 compared to the prior year, according to a study by NPD group. Yet traffic declined by 1% during the lunch and dinner hours.
There's a simple reason why fast-food breakfast is so popular, NPD analyst Bonnie Riggs told QSR Magazine in March.
"It's the cheapest meal you can get at a restaurant outside of a snack," Riggs said.
See Also:
- Starbucks Attacks Dunkin' Donuts With Ad Featuring Men Named Duncan
- VOTE NOW: Who Serves The Best Fast Food?
- Domino's New Chicken Product Is Unlike Anything We've Ever Seen
SEE ALSO: Why Taco Bell's New Breakfast Ads Are Helping Their Competitors
Want to read more fast food news? Follow Business Insider: Life on Facebook


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Anytime any violent tragedy happens in the US the usual suspects immediately shriek for more gun control. The problem is that it cannot solve the violence problem and those shrieking the loudest know this.
Senator Feinstein admitted as much in an interview recently:
CBS "Face the Nation" host John Dickerson asked Feinstein if Congress could pass any law that would have stopped Stephen Paddock's rampage.
"No, he passed background checks registering for handguns and other weapons on multiple occasions," said Feinstein, who noted Paddock didn't display any of the signs one might look for in a potential shooter like a criminal record or mental illness.
Yet she's more than willing to use the event to promote her own citizen disarmament agenda. As Nancy Pelosi said when asked if legislation on bump stocks would lead to further restrictions down the road "So what? I certainly hope so."
They want the restrictions even if they won't work for the stated purpose. What unstated purpose are they, then trying to accomplish?
Of course they won't work. Whenever anyone compares US violent crime (specifically homicide) rates with other countries they always say "Western nations" or "Developed Nations", not realizing that such a limitation is a blatant admission that factors other than gun control are of far greater import to such rates. When asked why such a limitation, it's said "to keep it an apples and oranges comparison". So factors other than gun control are so much more important that they completely change the kind under discussion? Um. Um.
Yeah, that's what I thought.
Or ask someone for a before/after comparison, to find an example of a place that
- Had a high violent crime rate
- Passed strict gun control
- Had violent crime rates subsequently precipitously drop
- And stay down, showing a lasting effect, rather than a short-term readjustment to a new circumstance.
The closest anyone has come is Australia. An acquaintance of mine lives in Australia and he pointed it out. The total numbers of violent crimes actually went up in Australia, but because population also went up, the net rate (violent crimes per 100,000 population) declined slightly. However if you look at the trends over time, you see that the decline was simply the continuation of a trend that started well before the prohibition and confiscation of semi-automatic weapons. The ban had no effect on violent crime.
Part of the problem of relying on gun control is non-compliance.
- Connecticut passed strict "assault weapon" registration in the wake of Sandy Hook. About 50,000 of the estimated 370,000 rifles covered by the legislation were registered by the deadline.
- More non-compliance with New York's "SAFE" act. Only about 44,000 of the estimated 1 million covered weapons were registered.
- In Washington State, over 5000 gun owners gathered to engage in a massive civil disobedience event to basically swap guns back and forth in violation of Washington's then new law requiring all transfers to undergo a Federal background check.
- Common joke among gun owners: Guns? I don't have any. I lost them all in a tragic boating accident.
Even beyond the non-compliance issue is that guns are simply too easy to smuggle, too easy to make. Australian police are reporting that about 10% of the guns they seize from criminals are homemade, including submachine guns. (Look, if you know anything about how guns work, you'd realize that an open bolt submachine gun is one of the easiest repeating arms to make.) Want to know how to make your own gun using commonly available materials? Check out any number of videos on Youtube or get the army training manual TM 31-210. It's available online. I have it in PDF.
Smuggling. Drug smugglers bring thousands of tons of drugs into the US every year. Now, if every one of the homicides committed with a firearm were done with a separate gun (I'll deal with that here in a moment) and every one had to be smuggled in, that would only be about seven tons, trivial in comparison. And guns are wood, steel, and plastic, a lot easier to hide from sniffing dogs than complex chemicals with unique scents.
And that assumption up above about every gun only being used once? That turns out not to be the case. Back in the late 80's one of the news services, NBC, I believe, did a special on guns where they "traced" a single gun as it was trafficked across several states and dozens of crimes before eventually being confiscated by police. Their intent was to show how horrible even a single gun is. What they actually showed is how few guns are needed to actually provide for criminal "needs".
None of that even considers how you're going to get rid of the existing more (some think a lot more) than three hundred million guns already in private hands in the US.
The simple truth is, you can't. Furthermore Americans, and particularly American gun owners, wont's stand for it. See the non-compliance examples up above. While some might, a large fraction of gun owners simply will not give up their guns willingly. We're not Great Britain. We're not Australia. Neither of those countries have the history of resistance to government and passion for individual liberty that's bred into Americans despite the efforts of some forces to stamp it out. Cultures, when placed under stress, tend to revert to their founding myths (see "Revitalization Movements" in cultural anthropology). Our founding myths include such things as "I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give my Liberty or give me death" and "Stand your ground. Don't fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to have a war, let it begin here" (in response to an attempt by the government to confiscate arms, I might add).
That leaves force, sending armed men (armed with guns) to collect up the guns. Only, you don't know where they are. That's one of the reason gun owners have been so resistant to anything like universal registration. And if you do, well:
Gun owners in this country outnumber police by 100 to one.
They outnumber the military by close to that.
They outnumber military, reserves, and guard combined by about 30 to one.
They outnumber the combined militaries and government paramilitary organizations of the entire world by more than 2 to one.
Barring a "cultural change" that gets most of those people willingly giving up their guns, there is simply no way it can be done. None. And the tide turned on that cultural change in the late 80's. More States are allowing more people to carry guns in more places than ever before. More people are carrying than ever before. The percentages of people carrying are higher than any time since the "wild west". And along with that, violent crime rates have fallen, dramatically, from their high water mark in the early 90's. While there have been a few, admittedly horrific, high-profile incidents, the simple truth is that the average American over the last few years has been safer from violent crime than most people's living memory and hovering near 100 year lows.
Gun control cannot work. Fortunately, it's not necessary.


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The Judiciary presented its budget request to the House appropriators last week. This letter suggests that the unrelated expenses should be funded via direct appropriations rather than out of PACER fees.
The committee had written an initial letter to the courts in February 2009, asking whether they were complying with the Act. The courts replied in a letter the following month. Evidently their answer was not satisfactory.
For context, you might find my working paper on PACER finances illuminating, as well as my recent thoughts on where the PACER fee debate is going.
March 25, 2010
The Honorable Richard Durbin
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Committee on Appropriations
184 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Susan Collins
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government
Committee on Appropriations
125 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER)
I have concerns about how the Administrative Office of the Courts is interpreting a key provision of the E-Government Act relating to public access to Court records. Given the transparency efforts that have been made a priority across the Federal Government - as well as the recent call in the FCC's Broadband plan for increased online access to court records - I believe more attention needs to be paid to make these records free and easily accessible.
As you know, Court documents are electronically disseminated through the PACER system, which charges $.08-a-page for access. While charging for access was previously required, Section 205(e) of the E-Government Act changed a provision of the Judicial Appropriation Act of 2002 (28 U.S.C. 1913 note) so that courts "may, only to the extent necessary" (instead of "shall") charge fees "for access to information available through automatic data processing equipment." The Committee report stated: "[t]he Committee intends to encourage the Judicial Conference to move from a fee structure in which electronic docketing systems are supported primarily by user fees to a fee structure in which this information is freely available to the greatest extent possible... Pursuant to existing law, users of PACER are charged fees that are higher than the marginal cost of disseminating the information."
Since the passage of the E-Government Act, the vision of having information "freely available to the greatest extent possible" is far from being met, despite the technological innovations that should have led to reduced costs in the past eight years. In fact, cost for these documents has gone up, from $.07 to $.08-per-page. The Judiciary has attempted to mitigate the shortcomings of the current fee approach in a variety of ways, including limiting charges to $2.40-per-document and the recent announcement that any charges less than $10-per-quarter will be waived. While these efforts should be commended, I continue to have concerns that these steps will not dramatically increase public access as long as the pay-per-access model continues.
To move closer to the mandate of the E-Government Act, the Administrative Office of the Courts should reevaluate the current PACER pay-per-access model. Even to retrieve free materials such as opinions, PACER currently requires the individual to establish a PACER account. One goal of this review should be to create a payment system that is used only to recover the direct cost of distributing documents via PACER. That review should also examine how a payment system could allow for free bulk access to raw data that would allow increased analytical and oversight capability by third parties.
Additionally, in 2007, the Judiciary asked for and received written consent from the Appropriations Committees to "expand use of Electronic Public Access (EPA) receipts to support courtroom technology allotments for installation, cyclical replacement of equipment, and infrastructure maintenance." As a result, funds collected by the $.08-per-page charge have been used for initiatives that are unrelated to providing public access via PACER and against the requirement of the E-Government Act. The Appropriations Committee should review the Judiciary Information Technology Fund Report provided each year to ensure the funds generated from PACER are only going to pay for the direct costs of disseminating documents via PACER, and not for additional items which I believe should be funded through direct appropriations.
Joseph I. Lieberman


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Surveying for Shipwrecked Mariner Graves off Loch Sloy, Kangaroo Island, SABy Maddy Fowler and Cassandra Morris
On the 27th March, Kyle Lent, Cassandra Morris and Maddy Fowler, maritime archaeology students at Flinders University, embarked on the Sealink Ferry to Kangaroo Island to participate in the 2012 survey of historic shipwreck burial sites lead by Amer Khan from the Department for Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). This project involved conducting an archaeological survey to investigate possible locations of the burials of twelve bodies recovered from the sea following the wreck of Loch Sloy. The vessel was bound for Port Adelaide when it wrecked north of Cape de Couedic in the early morning of 24th April 1899. The location of the remains of the shipwreck is at present unknown.
Upon arriving at the point where we would be leaving the vehicles and begin what turned out to be a four hour walk to site, the remoteness and isolation of where we were was suddenly impressed upon us. The walk took us along the cliff tops of the western coast of Kangaroo Island. There was no path to follow and the terrain was rough with broken limestone and low-lying vegetation. The feat of the four survivors of the wrecking event (one of which would perish before reaching help) was appreciated once the harsh environment into which they were thrown surrounded us.
When we reached the northern limit of the survey area we split into two teams and the survey team began by assessing the sea conditions. After some initial observations were undertaken from the cliff top, the survey team climbed down to the base of the cliffs, where a flat rock shelf softens the impact of the waves (Figure 1). At this point it was clear that the tide was too high for a survey to be undertaken along the base of the cliffs as at high tide waves sweep up to the cliff face.
It was decided that a survey along the top of the cliff would be undertaken. Historical documents pointed to the burials being placed at the base of the cliff, although it is quite possible that some bodies were buried at the top. The survey team walked a transect from the northern point of the survey area to where the excavation team were located, approximately 200 metres (m), and two possible burial sites were identified. Key points to look for in the landscape include: arranged stones usually in lines or with possible corner angles, upright stones, stones small enough to lift but big enough to hold back sediment, and an east-west alignment (to indicate Christian burials). The team recorded these two possible sites by taking GPS positions.
In the initial site survey, which took place in December 2011, a cliff top survey was undertaken with some possible burial sites located. The excavation team further investigated one of these sites. A scale drawing was made of the linear rock feature that appeared to be a possible grave. The grave ran in an east west direction with three rocks creating a line on the western end and a very distinct line along the northern edge. The rock feature was roughly rectangular and approximately human sized and the rocks were small enough to be easily lifted by people (Figure 2). Detailed photographs were also taken at this point. Both teams then traced their way back across the landscape to the vehicles.
Due to the long and difficult walk to and from the site, a different approach was taken on the subsequent trip—approaching the site from the north rather than the south. This involved walking down a ravine, over a headland, along a beach and then over another headland. On this day two people from the ABC News crew joined us. Conditions on the following visit were improved as it was just after low tide, and the survey team was able to undertake a search along the rock shelf at the base of the cliffs. Within the central section of the survey area, the rock shelf presented itself as a beach, with masses of rocks and boulders fallen from the cliffs (Figure 3). Amongst the fallen cliff faces was a multitude of deposited timber remains, buoys, and odd pieces of rubbish (a can of insect spray with Spanish packaging perhaps the strangest piece, along with the occasional flip-flop). In order to keep in contact with the other team, three volunteers remained at the top of the cliffs with one of the UHF radios to relay messages if need be.
Beginning the survey, possible sites were searched for while another team member acted as a spotter, watching the ocean in case of large waves. Clambering over the rock fall, there were few sites above the high water mark with enough sediment to bury a body. From historical accounts, written by those conducting the burials, the graves were described as being above the high water mark, at the base of the cliff. To pinpoint many of these areas required climbing up a sand hill or fallen boulders. Continuing along the base of the cliff until the beach ran out, only two possible sites had been found—both along the same ridge but impossible to get to, lessening the likelihood of being burials. Following this, the team moved on to survey the southern extent of the area (Figure 4).
This survey was short as no possible area could be identified along the rock shelf. Concluding the entire survey, it was decided that should the burials have been placed at the bottom of the cliffs, no trace remains to this day. The only possible location left unexplored was under the rocks and boulders. Observing the coast with the knowledge of the violent winter storms that occur every year, it is thought to be unlikely that the burials would have lasted through the first storm, let alone surviving 100 years on the rugged coastline.
While the survey was undertaken, the excavation team placed a 50 centimetre (cm) by 50 cm test pit and excavated to determine whether the primary possible gravesite contained human remains. This test pit was conducted using trowels to remove sediment in 10 cm spits. The spoil from each spit was sieved and the trench was photographed at each level (Figure 5). Bedrock was reached at approximately 50 cm depth and no cultural material was identified. It is therefore unlikely that the rock feature represents a gravesite, however it cannot be ruled out entirely. It is possible that the test pit targeted the wrong area of the site.
Along with the grave survey, we also undertook other survey projects. One project was to relocate and record a small vessel located in the Ravine des Casoars that had been reported to DENR by the park rangers when it was exposed in October of last year. Based on a GPS position we conducted a metal detector survey and dug test pits but were unable to relocate it (Figure 6). The river which flows nearby and exposed the wreck during high levels had also helped to cover the wreck in sand when it decreased.
Another project undertaken was to identify the location of a shelter hut at West Bay, built to assist people who came ashore in the area after wrecking. We used an historical photograph to try to find the location and conducted a pedestrian survey through the dunes. No remains could be located on the surface but an approximate area for the structure was identified (Figure 7).
A final task was to relocate a threshing floor near American River. This site, built in the 1950s, is a ring of rocks with a flat dirt floor in which sheaves of grain would be placed to be 'threshed'—a process to tear grain from the stalks and loosen the husks. Listed on the government register, this site had not been relocated for many years, despite several attempts being made. We left the road on a bearing towards a rough GPS position. Part way to the GPS point we discovered a stone feature in a right-angled linear arrangement. This arrangement was recorded as it possibly relates to the threshing floor. The threshing floor was then located approximately 100 m further on. Viewing the site amongst the tall grass and bushes, the construction of the ring was flawless—stones were all the same height and length and had been placed upright, fitting together perfectly. The site was recorded and a new GPS point taken about 20 m away from the original mark.
We would like to thank Amer Khan and Cameron Hartnell from DENR for giving us the opportunity to volunteer on such a unique project. Also Terry Drew, Lynda Bignell and Steve Saville for supplying a box of Mars Bars and entertaining stories. Finally our appreciation to the Flinders Chase National Park rangers: Charlotte, Caroline and Alison, ABC news crew: Caroline and Chris, and all the volunteers with the Kangaroo Island Walking Group for carrying our equipment.
Please tune into ABC at 7:30 on Friday 20th to see the news feature about the site and the Loch Sloy.


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So you already know how important it is to rest your meat, and you may have even gone and cooked your steak sous-vide. Surely, the only thing left to do is cut it and eat it, right?
Not so fast.
One of these steaks is not like the other.*
*Okay, okay. For all you language and logic pedants out there, it's true that if one of these steaks is not like the other, then both of these steaks is not like the other. But you know what I meant, right?
Can you spot the difference between the two hanger steaks? They were both cooked to a perfect 130°F medium-rare in the same pan, they are both cut from the same piece of meat, and they both sport a beautiful brown, crackly crust. Yet one of them is more tender than Otis Redding on a good day, while the other has more in common with a rubber band.
What's the difference? It's all got to do with the angle at which it's sliced.
"what does slicing against the grain really mean?"
We read it in cookbooks all the time: "Slice thinly against the grain." But what does slicing against the grain really mean? Well, meat is made up of bundles of long muscle fibers that are laid out parallel to one another.
Take a close look at your meat, and you'll see that just like wood, it's got a grain. In some muscles, like the loin (where NY strip and rib-eye come from) or tenderloin (a.k.a. filet mignon), that grain is very fine: the muscle fiber bundles are thin enough that they don't form a significant grain. Cuts from weak muscles like these will be soft and tender pretty much no matter how you slice them.
On the other hand, cuts from harder working, more flavorful muscles, like skirt steak, hanger steak, or flank, have thicker muscle fiber bundles with a clearly defined grain. Take a look here:
In this picture, I've labeled the three features you're most likely to notice on a piece of grilled meat.
- Natural faults can occur at the interface between larger muscle groups, where the connective tissue meets the muscle, where the meat may have been folded during packaging or transport, or where a careless butcher may have made a nick in the meat (as is the case here).
- Grill marks are probably the lines most often confused with grain. Many a time, I've seen backyard chefs start slicing meat at a 90° angle to the grill marks, rather than to the natural grain of the meat (which may or may not coincide with those grill marks).
- The grain is the most important characteristic: it is the direction which the muscle fibers are aligned, and properly identifying it can make the difference between tough and tender.
"the fibers themselves are tough cookies"
You see, the fibers themselves are tough cookies. They have to be. Their job is to move all the moving parts of an animal that is much much bigger than you. Try and tear a single muscle fiber by stretching it along its length, and you'll have a pretty hard time. On the other hand, pulling individual muscle fibers apart from one another is relatively easy.
Try it: Get yourself a flank steak, cut off a small square of it, and try yanking it apart by holding it with the grain running between your hands. Can't do it, right? Now rotate it 90 degrees so that instead of pulling along the length of the muscle fibers, you are pulling them apart. Much easier.
So before putting a piece of flank, hanger, or skirt steak in your mouth, the goal should be to shorten those muscle fibers as much as possible with the help of a sharp knife. If you cut with your knife parallel to the grain, you end up with long muscle fibers that are tough for your teeth to break through. Slicing thinly against the grain, however, delivers very short pieces of muscle fiber that are barely held together.
Ah, tenderness...
Really, that's about all you need to know, so you have full permission to stop reading right now.
But! For those of you, who like me, had the greatest geometry teacher in the world in 9th grade and have thus been instilled with a preternatural desire to draw triangles and measure stuff, well, in the words of Mr. Sturm, get your gas masks, because we are climbing Mount Elegance, and the air up there is quite thin!
So final question to answer: quantitatively, how much of an effect does this actually have my meat? I mean, how much does it really matter which way I slice it?
Let's set up some definitions:
- Let w be the distance you move the knife between slices (i.e. the width of the slice).
- Let m be the length of the meat fibers in each slice.
- Finally, let θ be the angle between the knife blade, and the meat fibers.
Given a bit of high school trigonometry, you can quickly come up with the following formula:
- m = w / sin(θ)
So what are the implications of this? Well, if our goal is to minimize the length of the meat fibers (m), then we need to maximize sin(θ). In order to demonstrate, I cut a 1/2-inch window out of a regular piece of paper and layed it across a flank steak at various angles.
In retrospect, I should have used some grease-proof paper or plastic. Ugh.
Anyhow, as you can see in this first image, when the meat is cut 90 degrees to the direction of the meat fibers, sin(θ) is equal to 1 (i.e. maximized), and the meat fibers are exactly as long as the slice is wide. Now take a look at this:
In this picture, I've rotated the paper to simulate what a cut made at a 45-degree angle would do the meat fibers. This time, while the width of the slice is still .5 inches, the length of the meat fibers has reached .707 inches long (that's .5^(1/2), for all you nerds out there who get excited over 45-45-90 triangles). That's an increase of almost 50%!
Now take it to the extreme: if you were to cut perfectly parallel to the meat fibers, then sin(θ) will be equal to 0, and according to the unbreakable laws of mathematics, your meat fibers would stretch all the way into infinity (assuming the steak came from a really really really big cow, that is.)
So one last look at the first two steaks. Now can you spot the difference?
If not, I know the names of several good doctors who specialize in Attention Deficit Disorder.


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"When we learn how to cultivate a fearless mind, we can achieve whatever we set out to accomplish." According to Dr. Craig Manning, author of The Fearless Mind: 5 Essential Steps to Higher Performance, a 'fearless mind' is achieved when we have cleansed ourselves of the barriers that prevent us from reaching our greatest potential. We do this by learning to accept what we have control over (and what we do not). When we understand this we are able to channel our energy into mastering those aspects that we have direct responsibility for, and not wasting energy (emotional, mental, or physical) on those things that are outside our control.
Dr. Manning played tennis throughout his youth, in college (on scholarship) and as a professional. However, through an interesting series of events – which he describes in the book – he discovered his true passion was helping others become masters of their sport. He's helped athletes in tennis, skiing and track and field become champions. In the book he uses stories from sports to help people in any profession achieve much higher levels of performance.
The Fearless Mind helps you master those aspects of your life that you can control. Dr. Manning takes you through five steps to help you achieve higher performance:
Step 1 – Motivation: The will to keep trying, and the will to win are critical to success. Motivation is fixed in behavior, and behavior is rooted in one of two forms: task or ego. Task-oriented behavior is focused on performance, here and now. Ego-oriented individuals focus on how outcomes affect their self-worth. Motivation is guided by one of these two outcomes. Task-oriented behavior is the key to becoming a master.
Step 2 – Anxiety: Anxiety is "a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome." When we don't feel like we have control, anxiety increases significantly. Is anxiety bad? Not if we learn how to channel it positively. It can provide us with the energy to get things done much more quickly and efficiently.
Step 3 – Concentration: Concentration is referred to as "attention control" or the discipline to focus on what is relevant, and ignore everything that is irrelevant. Concentration is absolutely critical to becoming a championship athlete or master of whatever you endeavor to achieve.
Step 4 – Confidence: Confidence is a feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something. Self-confidence is a feeling of trust in one's abilities, qualities and judgment. Many people confuse self-confidence with arrogance – they are very different behaviors. You cannot have too much self-confidence; store up as much as you can to help you in the difficult moments.
Step 5 – Decision Making: "No individual is destined for greatness. We achieve high performance only through hard work…and a fearless mind." Making correct decisions is important at every stage of development, whether you're an athlete or a CEO. Becoming disciplined at task-oriented behavior will instill within us the ability to make correct decisions at every point along the way. Disciplined decision makers become masters.
These principles will set you on the course to success. I highly recommend this book to help you gain mastery over your life. Dr. Manning's five steps will help you focus on what you need to change to become a master. Don't hesitate, get a copy of the book and begin developing a fearless mind.
Full disclosure: I know Dr. Manning and consider him a dear friend. His teachings and influence are making a considerable impact on my son's efforts to become a championship ballroom dancer.
The Product Management Perspective: Product managers deal with a myriad of tasks and distractions every day, and the sheer volume often seems overwhelming. Can you become a 'master' product manager? Yes, you can if you focus on the right things. The "right things" will differ from one product (or company) to another; the key is having a fearless mind and being a fearless leader. The five steps in The Fearless Mind will help you master the role of product manager. As a side note, I highly recommend Dr. Manning's podcast on Live on Purpose Radio.


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Narcissus, daffodil, grape hyacinth and early blooming bearded iris are some of the earliest, and probably the easiest, of spring bulbs, although bearded iris do not always bloom early in their first season. Crocus, freesia and harlequin flower are just as early, but not always as eager to naturalize (bloom annually after the first year). Anemone, rananculus, hyacinth, lily and tulip are impressive when they bloom in their first spring, but prefer cooler winters to bloom reliably each spring afterward. It may seem to be too early to be concerned with spring bulbs, but this is when they should be planted in the garden, so that they can disperse their roots through winter and be ready to bloom on time.
Bulbs, including corms, tubers, rhizomes and tuberous roots, become available in nurseries when they should be planted. Summer bulbs like gladiola will be available when they should be planted a bit later. They may not look like much while dormant and bare, and are even less interesting when they get buried and cannot be seen, but bulbs have what they need for their big show next year.
Like so many vegetable plants, some types of bulbs can be planted in groups every two or three weeks, depending on the duration of the bloom cycle. For example, if bloom lasts three weeks or so, a second phase of the same type of bulb planted three weeks after the first should begin to bloom as the first phase is finishing. Of course, phasing only works in the first season, since all bulbs of each particular type will be on the same schedule by the second season.
Bearded iris, ranunculus and anemone each bloom all at once, regardless of when they get planted, so do not conform to phasing. However, the various varieties of bearded iris have the advantage of different bloom seasons. Early blooming varieties can be followed by midseason varieties, which can be followed by late bloomers. Some of the modern cultivars of bearded iris even bloom early and again later.
Foliage of the Week: Licorice Plant
Even with a yummy name and a history in herbal medicine, licorice plant, Helichrysum petiolare, can nonetheless be somewhat toxic in large quantities. To make matters worse, a few people find that the soft tomentum (fuzz) on the leaves and young stems can be irritating to the skin. Licorice plant really only smells slightly like licorice. Inconspicuous tan flowers that bloom in the middle of summer are not much to look at.
The attributes are the foliar texture and color. The small evergreen leaves spread out over the ground densely but shallowly on thin stems that are limber enough to cascade nicely from planters or over low retaining walls. Well exposed or slightly shaded large plants can be 3 feet broad while only a foot or so deep. Some of the popular modern cultivars of licorice plant are pastel chartreuse or darker green variegated with white. More traditional licorice plant is silvery gray. The tomentum gives the leaves an appealing velvety sheen.
Licorice plant is so easy to grow that it has naturalized in a few rural areas of California, and is identified by the California Invasive Plants Council as an invasive exotic weed. Most modern cultivars that can be found in nurseries are therefore sterile.
Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408.551.9931 or email@example.com.


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Today was a day for planting fall bulbs and feeling completely lazy about Halloween. I've got a party tonight and we don't even have costumes. My husband Teddy and I ALWAYS have amazing costumes. Nope, not this year. I guess we'll just go as Vampires (ourselves).
In the meantime I'm sharing an amusing story I've shared before PLUS some cute cute cute Halloween memes. xoxox
Max heard the Nessun dorma ringtone and groaned. It was his brother Andy. It was an emergency. He could sense it.
He picked up and listened.
"Max, thank God you're there. I'm by Baker Beach. Some asshole redneck in a truck sideswiped me. The car is totaled. Can you get out here? Right now."
Max untangled himself from the woman next to him and sat up. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. Like I said, the car is totaled."
"Call AAA. I'll call Uber and get you a ride home."
"You don't understand man. I have someone locked in the trunk and he is pissed off."
Andy watched at the back end of his car became even more mangled by the violent pounding from the occupant he'd locked in the trunk. The noise was even worse.
"Stop it NOW," he yelled, "or I'll drain every drop of blood from your body, stuff your pathetic putrid smelling carcass and sell it to the highest bidder."
Than banging and howling stopped right at the moment Max drove up.
He got out of the car. A woman got out of the passenger side. Like Max, she was dressed in black from head to toe.
"Mehitabel, you look beautiful. What are you doing with my brother?"
She smiled and kissed Andy on the cheek. "Glad you're not hurt. Who do you have in the trunk?"
Max went over to Andy's car and kicked the bumper. The mangled trunk lid popped open.
"Holy fuck," Max swore under his breath.
Mehitabel put her hand over her nose and mouth to keep out the stench. "Andy, this isn't good."
"I know, this is bad," said Andy. "But it isn't every day you find a Sasquatch."
After the car was towed and the sun started to come up, the three Vampires stopped at their favorite diner for breakfast. They'd all had their fill of blood the night before but coffee and eggs sounded good right then.
"Is this the fourth or fifth car you've totaled this year?" Max took a sip of coffee and shook his head at his brother.
"Second this year," said Andy. "Hey, it wasn't my fault."
Mehitabel looked at the brothers. "So do you think he'll be alright?"
"The Sasquatch? I don't know. As long as he stays out of the city I think he'll be fine," said Max.
"This is San Francisco. Nobody would notice him," said Andy.
Max smiled and put his hand on Mehitabel's knee.
"You guys should get married. I'm serious," said Andy.
Mehitabel almost spit out her coffee. Max took his hand off of her knee, then thought better of his action and put his hand back on her knee and gave a small squeeze. The waitress came by and poured more coffee.
I guess the moral of this story is that as long as you are always there for each other, don't ask too many questions, and keep love in your hearts life will be good.
~ Juliette aka Vampire Maman


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Resources for Aerospace Manufacturers and Their Suppliers
From the first thread of upholstery for seat cushions to the final gallon of paint for the exterior, American manufacturers, large and small, are contributing to the construction of an airplane. While many Americans see an airplane as one item, it is really a feat of modern engineering and planning with thousands of parts being assembled all across America to create the single airplane. In fact, according to a 2008 study by the U.S. Department of Commerce, aerospace supports more jobs through exports than any other industry. The U.S. aerospace industry directly supports about 430,000 jobs and indirectly supports more than 700,000 additional jobs.
This week at the Paris Air Show, civil and military aircraft manufacturers and those engaged in the burgeoning space vehicle market will show off their products to buyers from all over the world. Selling internationally is vital for America to meet the President's goal of doubling U.S. exports by 2015 in order to support millions of jobs. The aerospace industry contributed $78 billion in export sales to the U.S. economy in 2010. The industry's 2010 positive trade balance of $44 billion is the largest trade surplus of any manufacturing industry and came from exporting 42% of all aerospace production and 72% of civil aircraft and component production.
For manufacturers looking to break into this market, ITA has also worked with Boeing's Supplier Management Office to produce a webinar for U.S. aerospace companies that discussed how to participate in Boeing's global supply chain. In addition, ITA organized a webinar with Airbus procurement officials and over 200 companies where Airbus officials discussed the company's procurement strategy and how U.S. companies can become part of its supply chain.
For all manufacturers, ITA has the Manufacture America Initiative that connects U.S. manufacturers with resources to help them be more competitive in the global marketplace, regardless of market. Boeing has been an active participant in the Manufacture America Initiative for the aerospace industry and the MAS Aerospace Team website is full of resources and contacts for U.S. aerospace manufacturers and their suppliers.


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WASHINGTON -- NCAA president Mark Emmert backed a proposal to allow conferences to increase grants to student-athletes by $2,000, "to more closely approach" the full cost of attending college, beyond the athletic scholarships given for tuition, fees, room, board and books.
Emmert told the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics on Monday that the proposal will be finalized this week and he'll ask the NCAA Division I Board of Directors to support it at its meeting Thursday. He noted that student-athletes have limited opportunities to work outside the classroom and playing fields, and that the current model of athletic scholarship hasn't changed for 40 years.
Emmert says he'll also ask the board to allow colleges and universities to provide multiyear grants, instead of year-to-year scholarships.
"We are going to create a model that would allow -- probably ... up to $2,000 in addition to" tuition, fees, room and board, books and supplies.
Emmert said he expected all of the Bowl Championship Series conferences to adopt it -- at least those six that get automatic bids to BCS bowl games -- because they have the revenue stream to afford it.
"Will schools underneath that?" he asked. "I don't know. So you don't want to put a conference or a school in a position with a mandatory expense, and the only way to pay for it is to cut scholarships."
One university president on a later panel said he opposed the proposal. Boise State president Robert Kustra urged supporters of the plan to look at the support that Division I student athletes receive, and compare it to "the rest of our students, who are making minimum wage, collecting tips, trying to find their way into their next semester at the university ... Go back and examine the life of a student-athlete in intercollegiate sports in America today, and see how privileged they are to be where they are and the opportunities they have."
Kustra also warned that the proposal will give some schools a competitive advantage over others.
"You just heard president Emmert say that some conferences will, some conferences won't. Well gee, I wonder who will, and I wonder who won't," he said to laughter. "I think I know the answer to that. The haves will, and the have-nots will try -- I'll try -- but many will not be able to. And so what you're doing, then, is fueling a little bit more of this BCS/anti-BCS debate."
Boise State belongs to the Mountain West Conference, which does not receive an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game.
Another panelist, LSU chancellor Michael Martin, said in an interview after the meeting that he was undecided on the proposal.
"I think institutions like us could clearly afford it," he said. "I'm not sure all can. Also right now, we're very sensitive on our campus to the fact that the faculty have gone three years without any salary adjustment. And then to say that every student athlete gets $2,000 at the same time that we may have to go another year without one, only builds up that tension between faculty leadership and the administration and athletics.
"So I want to think carefully about the unintended consequences of expanding additional resources on athletes at a time when the rest of the institution has been so heavily taxed by budget cuts."
Emmert's proposal comes as momentum builds for providing student-athletes with additional help in defraying the costs of college. The Big Ten, for example, has floated the idea this year of paying athletes to cover expenses, and last month, the National College Players Association, an advocacy group, said that players should receive a portion of new revenues, such as those from TV contracts. The group calculated the average scholarship shortfall for men's basketball and football at the Football Bowl Subdivision level was about $3,200.
The group's president, Ramogi Huma, called Emmert's proposal "an important and positive step" but not far enough.
"With record TV revenues, the cap should be raised to the full cost of attendance and funding should be guaranteed," said Huma, whose group has collected 339 petitions from current athletes at five schools supporting that position.
Emmert said he would also bring a proposal to the board -- probably in January but possibly as early as this week -- for a freshman "academic redshirt" model where some students would receive athletic scholarships but not participate in sports. They would spend a year of academic preparation getting their grades up to where they need to be.


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Since my initial post on the subject two and half weeks ago, I have read over the replies that have accumulated across a couple of sites. I've appreciated the time that commenters have put into their replies to the post. In reflecting upon the discussions put forth, I can see that major flaw of my post was lumping e-readers and e-book stores together. In separating the two, it creates a pair of much more navigable and manageable issues for the library.
As various replies have correctly pointed out, e-books are already being lent out through libraries by vendors such as Overdrive and Netlibrary. Personally, I'd like to see some of the major e-book dealers (such as Sony and Mobipocket) consider creating lending arrangements with libraries. The additional titles and competition that they would bring would be good for libraries, patrons, and the market. As it stands now, the vendor provided software enables you to read these books on your computer, PDA, or is compatible with a handful of selected e-reader devices. For me, the current issues that dance around e-books are the various levels of permissions that are granted by the publisher and the author when it comes to the transmission of their work. It can be aggravating to show a patron a couple of different e-book choices and then have to go into nitty gritty details as to why one book could be put on a PDA while another cannot. In fact, I've had patrons turn down borrowing an e-book since it would not transmit to their iTouch or PDA because they wanted to take the book with them rather than be only allowed to read the book on their personal computer. I would strongly urge e-book lending companies to encourage publishers and authors to allow their materials to be viewed on any device; otherwise, it's completely useless to the library as a lending material if no one is interested in meeting the requirements.
When it comes to e-readers, it is my fear that we will end up with something that resembles the video game console market. With the Wii, Xbox, and the Playstation, these are a handful of proprietary systems that dominate the market. Wherein the past, a game manufacturer could develop a game that worked on multiple platforms, the current trend is for companies to sign exclusive deals for their product lines. In carrying this over to the e-reader world, it would be the equivalent of James Patterson or Janet Evanovich signing a deal to exclusively publish their e-books through Amazon. The other companies would be snubbed as would any libraries not lending a Kindle (not that you could lend it as it is, but let's pretend) as would any patrons of those e-reader lending establishments. The expense and hassle of these proprietary devices plus their propriety book formats would create a decision for a library as to whether to collect a single e-reader format or multiple types. Given the nature of budgets this year, my inclination would be the former strategy would be adopted. Overall, under this scenario, libraries and patrons would lose out in terms of access to materials.
It is my fervent hope and desire that the focus of e-reader manufacturers change from proprietary to universal platforms in which a device could read any e-book. But, alas, I think we are a few business and technology cycles away from any sort of movement towards that lofty ideal.
I am still quite serious about getting companies to allow libraries to lend their devices. So, in the hopes of turning words into actions, earlier last week I started to contact the various e-reader device makers about creating a terms of service or other arrangement that would allow libraries to lend their devices. My basic question each appeared like this:
"I have a question that I'd like someone to help me with: why is [name of company] not creating a special Terms of Service for libraries so that we can lend out [their device] with content and not risk a licensing breach?"
Depending on the web form or email, I would copy an excerpt of my post and include a link to the original post. Here's the rundown of replies thus far:
– Sony was a complete (unsurprising) run around.
From my initial submission:
Thank you for contacting Sony Technical Support.
We appreciate the time you have taken to write us. Your email has been assigned Case ID XXXXXX. An email support agent should reply to your letter within the next 24 hours. Occasionally some inquiries will require additional time.
Thank you for your patience as we strive to provide you with the best service and support possible.
The Sony Online Support Team
Within an hour, I got a reply:
Thank you for contacting Sony Support.
While we have been working hard to make the Digital Reader the best product on the market today, there is always room for improvement. We look forward to getting this type of customer response on our designs and will do our best to incorporate as many as possible in the future. To submit such requests we have established a dedicated email address. Please send all such comments to: firstname.lastname@example.com
Thanks in advance for your feedback.
Thank you for understanding.
The Sony Email Response Team
So I sent off my initial query to the email address and got back a rather irrelevant reply.
Thank you for your feedback! We read every submission to help us define the future direction of the store.
If your request is for a new title or author to be added, we are working to add new content regularly so please check back often. Also, if you have not already done so, be sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter that highlights new releases and additions and well as promotions and special offers.
To sign-up for our newsletter:
1. Launch the eBook Library Software.
2. Click on "My account" at the top and Sign in.
3. Choose "Update Newsletter Settings" in the "Newsletters and Notifications" section.
4. Check the newsletters you want to subscribe to.
5. Click "Submit".
Thank you again for taking the time to share your comments with us!
The eBook Store from Sony
Hello, customer service fail! I'm not really sure where to go from there, since their customer service website is mired with communication pitfalls. I'd love to be able to try to get someone from corporate who could actually give me a real person reply, but I guess I'm relegated to crossing my fingers and hoping they read this post.
– Foxit, the creators of the eSlick reader, had this response:
Dear [AndyW],
Thanks for your email.
I think it is a good suggestion you have sent.
But we have no plan to do this Marketing mode at present.
For now, we are working on reseller program. Our reseller can place order and Foxit will give some discount for them according to the quantity.
Best Regards,
Foxit Software Company
And since I'm not going to be ordering, I guess I don't have to worry about that reseller discount.
– Amazon wrote back something that made my eternal optimist stir, but it still leads to me to believe that I got the official brush-off already.
Thanks for writing about make libraries able to use Kindles and lend them out with out being in breech of the terms of service. I will pass this information on to our Business teams from review.
Strong customer feedback like yours helps us continue to improve the service we provide, and we're glad you took time to write to us.
Thanks for your interest in Amazon Kindle.
Please let us know if this e-mail resolved your question:
If yes, click [here]:
If not, click [here]:
Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail.
To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our web site.
Best regards,
Jonathan R
We're Building Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company
The last line drew a wry grin to my face as a sudden dose of irony. I can only really hope that it is not simply a product of the marketing department. I've decided to see if I can get an actual phone call from a customer service individual by choosing the "no" option. Here's hoping.
– I have an outstanding inquiry with Cool-ER which I should follow-up upon in the next week or so. I'm also still tracking down a place to submit an inquiry for the iLiad reader since their website appears to be uniquely obtuse for customer inquires.
I would encourage those who read this and want their libraries to have the ability to lend devices to do their own contacting of the companies involved in the e-reader business. While my persistence might get me eventually to a real live person (the new pinnacle of the customer service experience in the 21st century), it is only through combined action that libraries will see movement in their favor. E-reader use might not be the reality of today, but as the technology generations improve these devices, I feel that it will be in the future of the library. This is the time to work towards better and more open e-book formats compatible with our lending practices as well as devices for people to read them on. We are positioned to share and shape this future and we should not let it get past us. For our future collections, there is too much at stake to watch the businesses that will influence the patron borrowing interests of tomorrow proceed without us as an advisor and partner. We owe it to the future of the library to act now.


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Note to the Cosmo editors of this blog: Yes, I know this challenge wasn't on the list you gave me. But pleeeaaase let me include it. Read on and you'll see that it's an awesome challenge!
Editor's note: Sure, we're always up for hearing new sexy dares. (Just as long as you're not using this to get out of #25 on the list!)
More From Cosmopolitan
Warning to prude readers: you will probably not like this post. Actually, if you're a prude, you probably won't like this blog at all. And you're probably not reading it. So we're all good! For the rest of you, you might judge me a tad, but I think you're still going to like it.
I hooked up with D. while other people were in the room. I know, gasp. But in my defense, it was a big room. And we were very horny. D.'s two friends were staying with him—on an air mattress on the floor—and we were going to stay at my apartment, but we all went to a bar and D.'s place was just so close. And I didn't feel like trekking to my apartment. So that was that.
D.'s friends were more than just a little buzzed and they quickly passed out on the air mattress and began snoring. And I took that as a cue to start having the sessay time.
I surprised D. by pulling off his tee and shorts then stripping down. Then, after making sure that Buzzed and Buzzed-er were still snoring away, I got on top of him totally nekkid. D. was pretty much paralyzed with fear of being caught so I took his right hand and pressed it between my legs. I kept my hand over his as he began to move his fingers inside of me. It was really difficult not to let out a single moan or even a heavy breath. But I let D. keep going.
I leaned down so I was on my hands and knees, my face hovering over his face, allowing him better access to my naughty bits. At one point, I started to let out a noise, but D. clamped his mouth over mine and kissed me hard. It was seriously hot.
Then he flipped me over and got on top, spreading my legs with his knee and pushing himself inside me. He started thrusting, but it was causing a creak-squeak noise over and over. We heard Mr. Buzzed shift on the air mattress (luckily it was loud as all hell) and we immediately froze. Then his snoring resumed, letting us know that it was safe to resume thrusting.
To avoid making noise I lifted my hips so when D. pressed against me, I didn't get pushed into the bed.
"It's like we're having astronaut sex," I whispered. And it really was. Very weightless-feeling and a bit strange.
After a few minutes, I got ballsy and decided I wanted to be on top so we repositioned. I'm not gonna lie—I was watching Buzzed and Buzzed-er almost the whole time, making sure they didn't wake up. Definitely not the best thing to be paying attention to when you're having sex, but hey, it is what it is.
I leaned back on my hands so that my back was arched and D. was hitting my G-spot. My breathing started getting heavy and I let out a whisper of a moan. D. reached up and hooked his thumb in my mouth to quiet me. I closed my lips around it and sucked. I know, very porn star-esque. Except of course for the lack of pleasure noises.
I came quickly—and fairly silently—and D. followed soon after. He looked he was concentrating a hell of a lot to keep from letting out a massive groan. It was actually really sexy to watch him try to contain himself.
Afterward, we lay under the covers catching our breath and giggling (yes, D. giggled) about our naughty little "public" hookup. And D.'s two friends didn't act weird this morning, which makes me think they didn't realize what went on just a few feet from them.
And while I probably would have climaxed even if we were making noise, I have to say that the silence made it extra hot. In the same way that cutting off one sense (sight) makes you focus more on the physical sensations, taking the sounds out of sex, made me show my enjoyment in other ways, like really moving my hips or breathing heavily on D. or whatever.
Have you ever tried "silent sex"? And at the other end of the spectrum, what kinds of noise do you usually make? Do you have a go-to moan or word/phrase you use a lot?


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http://mmajunkie.com When Kyle Griffin (1-0) decided to set his business degree aside in order to compete in mixed martial arts, his family probably shouldn't have been surprised.
After all, his older brother – 12-time UFC veteran Tyson Griffin – had already chosen the same path. Not to mention, the two had been sparring partners since childhood.
"I would pick the fight, and he was a little bigger than me and ended the fight," the younger Griffin told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "I did suckerpunch him a couple of times pretty good. Those are my proudest moments."
Had his mom been looking for the signs, she probably would have seen that Kyle was heading for a career in combat sports. After all, even as the smaller child, he implemented tactical gameplans to guarantee success – like scheduling those suckerpunches for the right time to guarantee a referee (or parent) intervention before things got out of hand.
"If we were at home, they'd let us fight," Kyle said. "If we were in a public place, I'd get one and get away with it."
As the two got older, and perhaps conveniently as Kyle grew bigger than Tyson, the bickering stopped. Kyle became a wrestling aficionado, and once he had graduated from Oklahoma State University, he began to consider following in his brother's footsteps.
"It was basically like, 'What do I do? Do I get a job or do I try MMA?'" Griffin said. "I never really thought of myself as going to be a fighter, even when people ask me because of Tyson. I ended up deciding to try training and try what Tyson does."
Like his brother, Kyle decided to relocate to Las Vegas to train with the famed Xtreme Couture camp, and he said working alongside seasoned veterans has already paid dividends – even if it can be a little disheartening at times.
"You get in there with guys like Mike Pyle and Jay Hieron and Martin Kampmann, and then after practice you ask yourself, 'What am I doing? Why am I doing this to myself?'" Griffin said. "It's like swimming with the sharks training at Xtreme Couture every day. I definitely have days where I'm like, 'Do I really want to do this?' You get a black eye and a busted nose, and I'm like, 'I have a business degree. I could be in an office right now. I don't have to get punched in the face every day.'
"You get to work with all those top-level guys that beat you up. Luckily, they're nice enough to tell you what you're doing wrong afterward.
"They've definitely beat me up, and I've takes some lickings, but at the same time, they help me out, and I think you progress a lot faster like that. If I was at a smaller gym or with lesser coaches, I would maybe progress a little slower."
And of course, when your brother is a five-time UFC "Fight of the Night" bonus winner, those childhood suckerpunches can come back to haunt you.
"It definitely came back to bite me in the ass," Griffin said.
Nevertheless, Griffin's dedication to the sport earned him a first-round TKO win in his debut as a professional, and tonight he takes on 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu product and fellow welterweight Alan Jouban (0-0).
Still young in his career, Griffin admits he's still a wrestler at heart, but he believes his skills are rounding out quickly. And while the occasional revengeful suckerpunch from his longtime sparring partner may sometimes cause him concern in practice, he's confident putting the business degree aside was the right choice.
"I know this is it," Griffin said. "I'm in the right place and doing the right thing right now. I wasn't sure at first, but I know now. I have fun every day at the gym. I'm excited every day going to the gym. When I get beat up, I'm even more excited to back in there and have a better day the next day."
For more on Tachi Palace Fights 8, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
MMAjunkie.com Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at noon ET (9 a.m. PT) live from the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino's Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by Gorgeous George, MMAjunkie.com lead staff reporter John Morgan and producer Goze. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.


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Part 2 of my Spring to Java EE migration series has been published.
This part of the article shows off NetBeans Java EE capabilities, such as automatically generating JSF pages, JSF managed beans and Data Access Objects (DAO's) implemented as EJB session Beans.
Posted by David R. Heffelfinger @ 06:57 AM EST [ Comments [1] ]


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Job Overview
Part Time Merchandiser
|Position Name:
|Job Type:
|Part Time
|Brossard, QC
|Job ID:
|Closing Date:
|Apr 03, 2023
Old Dutch Foods Ltd., a leader in snack food sales since 1954, known for its prestigious Old Dutch and Humpty Dumpty trademarks, is looking for a part time MERCHANDISER for SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS.
Task description
Grocery merchandising:
Pick up boxes in back store, place products in tablets according to the planograms, make the rotation and place the boxes and cartons back in the back store.
The candidate must have access to a vehicle.
Skills: Autonomous, rigorous and reliable.
Schedule and Salary
Hours may vary by volume but are about 3 hours per week.
Compensation for mileage is allocated.


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Lily Tomlin speaks up for elephants in documentary
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lily Tomlin's admiration for elephants began when she met Ruby and Billy.
The zoo dwellers also sparked her desire to help improve the lives of elephants in captivity and the chances for survival of those in the wild. "An Apology to Elephants," a documentary produced and narrated by Tomlin, is one result. It debuted this week on HBO.
"I had done some animal activism" and donated money, Tomlin said, but becoming enlightened about elephants prompted her to focus on their plight.
The film is an unabashed polemic, calling for improved treatment of elephants in zoos and an end to the use of the animals as entertainment, which the film contends must invariably involve abuse. Circus operators do not have a say, although a zoo that has overhauled its elephant habitat weighs in.
"An Apology to Elephants" also outlines the animal's importance to ecosystems and the dangers faced by wild African and Asian elephants, including habitat destruction and poachers after their highly marketable tusks.
Last month, leading conservation groups warned that the illegal ivory trade is growing and is hastening the decline of Africa's already endangered elephant population.
"The elephants became so symbolic to me, the evidence (of their treatment) so clear, and I wanted to tie it together and show how inured we are to that around the planet," said Tomlin, an Oscar-nominated actress ("Nashville") and comedian.
Feld Entertainment, the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, said the film misrepresents its practices.
"Clearly, it's a distortion of the animal care we provide 24 hours a day, seven days a week for this magnificent species. We have a team of animal care professionals and veterinarians who spend their lives caring for these animals," said spokesman Stephen Payne.
The film also failed to include the company's conservation efforts that Feld said are international and done in concert with zoos and researchers. "As opposed to people who make one-off documentaries or protest, we put our money where our mouth is," Payne added.
The film's images are dramatic, some by contrast: We see a line of elephants silhouetted majestically against an orange African sun as well as a solitary pachyderm confined within a zoo enclosure. There also are disturbing shots, including elephants prodded by sharp-edged rods and footage of the 1903 death of a Coney Island elephant that, according to the film, had turned violent because of abuse. Thomas Edison agreed to electrocute the animal named Topsy to illustrate a certain type of current.
The film spotlights those who are working for elephants today, including the Oakland Zoo, which has implemented new methods of managing the animals, including more space to roam, and a Northern California wild animal sanctuary that helps remove elephants from circuses and zoos.
The grounds are home to elephants Gypsy and Wanda, who performed for the same circus before being split up. When the pair ended up 20 years later at the sanctuary, they "went crazy and are inseparable," said Pat Derby, the former animal trainer who co-founded the Performing Animal Welfare Society, or PAWS, which operates the sanctuary.
Their new life, in nature and without the demands of performing, represents her dream, Derby says in "An Apology to Elephants." The film is dedicated to Derby, who died in February of cancer at age 69.
"Knowing they have some days or even years of safety and peace and dignity, that's the big reward," said Derby in the documentary directed by Amy Schatz.
Tomlin said her hope is that people take heed of what elephants face. Her narration, written by her longtime partner, Jane Wagner, is measured and eloquent, but she's passionate in conversation as she decries "inequity and injustice and suffering" and encourages others to get involved.
"The first thing is to be conscious of the ivory trade. Don't foster anything like admiring ivory objects or people wanting them," she said. "Just to have that consciousness affects the movement of things. It takes years, but it's like getting people to wear seatbelts."
Lynn Elber is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. She can be reached at lelber(at)ap.org and on Twitter (at)lynnelber.


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The Lady of the Sunshine Shirt Dress is cut from soft cotton and is hand printed with our uplifting Sorbet Sky placement print. Wear open over swim or temper the fit with a tonal belt and slides for long summer lunches and balmy casual events.
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We design for now, tomorrow and travels to come. Garments cut not for seasons but a lifetime of love and adventure. Wear, share, repair, repeat - Mother Nature will thank you for it.


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Earlier this year, Jeffrey Rosen wrote an interesting piece in the New York Times Magazine on how the increase in business-related cases heard before the U.S. Supreme Court appears to correspond to ideological changes among members of the Court and in the country. We excerpt the piece below.
* * *
The Supreme Court term that ended last June was, by all measures, exceptionally good for American business. The chamber's litigation center filed briefs in 15 cases and its side won in 13 of them — the highest percentage of victories in the center's 30-year history. The current term, which ends this summer, has also been shaping up nicely for business interests.
* * *
Though the current Supreme Court has a well-earned reputation for divisiveness, it has been surprisingly united in cases affecting business interests. Of the 30 business cases last term, 22 were decided unanimously, or with only one or two dissenting votes.
[There has been a recent] ideological sea change on the Supreme Court. A generation ago, progressive and consumer groups petitioning the court could count on favorable majority opinions written by justices who viewed big business with skepticism — or even outright prejudice. An economic populist like William O. Douglas, the former New Deal crusader who served on the court from 1939 to 1975, once unapologetically announced that he was "ready to bend the law in favor of the environment and against the corporations."
Today, however, there are no economic populists on the court, even on the liberal wing. And ever since John Roberts was appointed chief justice in 2005, the court has seemed only more receptive to business concerns. Forty percent of the cases the court heard last term involved business interests, up from around 30 percent in recent years. While the Rehnquist Court heard less than one antitrust decision a year, on average, between 1988 and 2003, the Roberts Court has heard seven in its first two terms — and all of them were decided in favor of the corporate defendants.
Business cases at the Supreme Court typically receive less attention than cases concerning issues like affirmative action, abortion or the death penalty. The disputes tend to be harder to follow: the legal arguments are more technical, the underlying stories less emotional. But these cases — which include shareholder suits, antitrust challenges to corporate mergers, patent disputes and efforts to reduce punitive-damage awards and prevent product-liability suits — are no less important. They involve billions of dollars, have huge consequences for the economy and can have a greater effect on people's daily lives than the often symbolic battles of the culture wars.
* * *
This term, the Supreme Court has continued to cut back on consumer suits. In a ruling in January, the court refused to allow a shareholder suit against the suppliers to Charter Communications, one of the country's largest cable companies. The suppliers were alleged to have "aided and abetted" Charter's efforts to inflate its earnings, but the court held that Charter's investors had to show that they had relied on the deceptive acts committed by the suppliers before the suit could proceed. A week later, the court invoked the same principle when it refused to hear an appeal in a case related to Enron, in which investors are trying to recover $40 billion from Wall Street banks that they claim aided and abetted Enron's fraud. As a result, the shareholder suit against the banks may be dead.
* * *
For the rest of the piece, click here. For other Situationist posts on the Supreme Court, click here.


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Obamacare won't be repealed. States now must act.
As House Speaker John Boehner said this week, the presidential election confirms that the Affordable Care Act 'is the law of the land.' But the fight over 'Obamacare' is not over as states decide whether to craft their own insurance exchange program or leave it to Washington.
Mitt Romney declared many times during his campaign that he'd "repeal Obamacare on day one" of his presidency. But as House Speaker John Boehner said this week, "the election changes that."
The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – "Obamacare," as everyone now calls it – is designed to extend health coverage to more than 30 million uninsured Americans beginning in January 2014.
Under the law, states must decide whether to expand their Medicaid coverage for low-income Americans (to be paid for by the federal government) and also whether to form health care insurance exchanges – an online marketplace where individuals and small businesses can shop for health insurance, presumably in a more competitive environment.
Sixteen states and the District of Columbia are on track to set up their own exchanges, while nine have decided they will not, according to an Associated Press tally. The federal government could end up running the new health care insurance markets in half or more of the states.
Americans for Prosperity (AFP), the conservative advocacy group linked to the Koch brothers, is pushing governors to resist the law's Medicaid expansion and state-based insurance exchanges, reports The Hill magazine.
"States can and do have the power to reject federal attempts to compel their action. Governors should use that power to tell the federal government no," AFP state policy manager Nicole Kaeding said in a statement Friday. "By creating an exchange, states will serve as de-facto administrators of the federal government implementing its rules, regulations and mandates."
BEYOND OBAMACARE: 5 opinions on health care reform
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) is typical of those refusing to cooperate with Obamacare.
"Kansans feel Obamacare is an overreach by Washington and have rejected the state's participation in this federal program," Gov. Brownback said in a statement after this week's election. "My administration will not partner with the federal government to create a state-federal partnership insurance exchange because we will not benefit from it and implementing it could cost Kansas taxpayers millions of dollars."
On Friday, a group rallying at the statehouse in Topeka urged Brownback to accept the federal expansion of Medicaid, something he has yet to decide.
In Missouri, meanwhile, Gov. Jay Nixon (D) would prefer to have a state-run insurance exchange but is prevented from submitting a plan to the US Department of Health and Human Services by next week's deadline unless he gets legislative approval. Missouri voters this week approved a ballot measure prohibiting the governor from establishing an exchange unless it is specifically authorized by the state legislature or public referendum.
"The only option for Missouri at this time is to indicate that we will be unable to proceed with a state-based exchange absent a change in circumstances," Gov. Nixon said at a news conference. But he added: "Let me be clear that a federally facilitated exchange is not the ideal approach. Regulating the insurance market is a power best left in the hands of the states."
In Virginia, Gov. Bob McDonnell (who chairs the Republican Governors Association), will default to a federal exchange with the understanding that the state could change course later, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
"I don't want to buy a pig in a poke for the taxpayers of Virginia," Gov. McDonnell said at a postelection news briefing. "At this point, without further information, the only logical decision for us is to use the federal option."
In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker Republican and leaders in the state Legislature "are now scrambling to figure out their next move," reports the AP from Madison.
Gov. Walker had held off planning for a state-run insurance exchange – first until the US Supreme Court took up Obamacare (which the court mostly upheld) and then until the presidential election. Walker also rejected $38 million in federal money that could have gone toward paying for implementing the law.
Not only did Walker's Plan B fail when Mitt Romney lost the election. US Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D) beat former governor Tommy Thompson in the race to replace retiring US Senator Herb Kohl, helping strengthen Democrats' hand in the upper chamber.
After the election, Walker downplayed the urgency of the situation, saying no matter what the state does the federal government won't review it for months, according to the AP. Walker has said he doesn't think it would be a problem for the state to get an extension.
"Even after notifying them, we have until next fall to make modifications as we see fit," Walker said. "We haven't made a decision yet."
Recharged by the election of Rep. Baldwin to the Senate and the re-election of President Obama, health care activists in Wisconsin are pushing Walker to get on with the state's health insurance exchange.
"Now that the election is over and the Affordable Care Act will be implemented, it is time for the Walker Administration to stop playing political games with the health of Wisconsin's citizens," said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, in a statement. "The new health insurance exchanges, along with the expansion of Medicaid, will guarantee for the first time that everyone can control their own health care decisions and will have the peace of mind of knowing that there is a place to go, no matter what, to get quality affordable coverage."
So at this point, governors have only two choices: Devise an insurance exchange for their states or leave it up to Washington to do it for them.
"It's pretty clear that the president was reelected," Mr. Boehner told ABC News. "Obamacare is the law of the land."
Later, a spokesman tried to walk that back.
"While Obamacare is the law of the land, it is costing us jobs and threatening our health care," said Boehner's communications director. "Speaker Boehner and House Republicans remain committed to repealing the law…"
With a Democratic Senate and Obama himself in the White House for another four years, that seems more wishful thinking than anything else.


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*UPDATE: Ornstein's sentence is now of 38 months, not 20.
The International and European Federations of Journalists, IFJ and EFJ, together with their affiliate the Dutch Journalists Association (NVJ), have called for the immediate release of a Dutch journalist who faces a 20-month jail sentence.
Dutch journalist Okke Ornstein was detained and arrested upon arriving at Panama's Tocumen International Airport on 15 November. He is facing a 20-month sentence for libel and slander in relation to articles he posted on his blog about the alleged dubious business activities of a Canadian citizen, Monte Friesner, in Panama. The unions claim the libel and slander claims are baseless.
The substantive aspects of the case show that there is no ground for the criminal prosecution of Ornstein. Friesner, whose lawsuit led to Ornstein's conviction in Panama, was himself convicted in the United States—for similar offences that Ornstein wrote about on his blog. Friesner was also facing criminal prosecution in Panama, and it is presumed that he has left the country.
"A 20-month prison sentence over a series of blog posts is against the fundamental principles of freedom of speech and the freedom of expression, principles that are acknowledged as fundamental rights worldwide," said Thomas Bruning, Secretary General of NVJ.
On his blog, Ornstein mostly writes stories about corruption and fraud cases. "This prison sentence sends a signal that critical journalism on fraud and corruption is not possible in Panama," added Bruning. "Ornstein is being punished in a way that does not comply with the principles of a democratic justice system".
"We stand by our colleagues from NVJ and we ask for the 20-month sentence journalist Okke Ornstein is facing to be immediately dropped," said IFJ President, Philippe Leruth. "Journalists should be able to investigate freely and to inform civil society about all kind of crimes, including fraud and corruption, so that these criminals face the full force of the law. It should be them being detained and not the messenger being punished".
According to Ornstein's lawyer Channa Samkalden, who is involved from The Netherlands, Ornstein did not get due process and did not receive proper legal aid during the criminal proceedings in Panama.
NVJ is working with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Dutch Embassy in Panama to free Ornstein as soon as possible—and to ensure that he has access to adequate legal representation. Additionally, the NVJ has turned to Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bert Koenders, to raise the troubling issues in Ornstein's case at the highest levels in Panama.
In 2015, Dutch public-service broadcaster NTR nominated a radio documentary about refugees by Ornstein for the Tegel-prijs in The Netherlands. His in-depth radio investigation "Barro Blanco," about a hydroelectric dam in Panama that was funded by a Dutch bank and prompted questions in the Dutch Parliament about environmental and social consequences, was nominated for the prestigious Prix-Europa in 2013. Most recently, Ornstein has worked for Dutch public broadcasters and Al-Jazeera.
For more information, please contact IFJ on + 32 2 235 22 16
The IFJ represents more than 600,000 journalists in 140 countries
Follow the IFJ on Twitter and Facebook