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Should I still present my prescription discount card at Wal-Mart when buying a $4 generic?
Yes, always present your prescription discount card when buying prescriptions not covered by a
prescription drug benefit plan. For generic medicine on the Wal-Mart list, you will pay either $4 or
the prescription discount card price, whichever is lower.
Discount Prescription Card Program
Show All Answers
How much does the plan cost?
Your prescription discount card is provided to you free of charge by the county.
Does everyone in my family need an individual card?
No. Everyone in the family may use the same card if desired.
Can I use this card to get discounts on my pet's medications?
Yes, if your pet has been prescribed a medication, you may receive a discount on the medication by
taking the prescription to a participating retail pharmacy.
I just received my card. Can I use it right away?
Yes, just use your card to start saving immediately. Present your prescription discount card at a
participating retail pharmacy when you fill or refill your prescriptions.
I've lost my card. How can I get a replacement?
Please call toll free 1-877-321-2652.
Can I use my card to get discounts on over-the-counter products and non-prescription
Not usually. However, discounts are available for many diabetic supplies.
How is this prescription discount program different from traditional prescription insurance?
This plan is not insurance; it is a prescription discount program. The card provides immediate
discounts at the pharmacy. Upon presenting your card to the pharmacist, you will pay the lower of a
discounted price or the pharmacy's regular retail price. There are no claim forms to fill out and no
limit to the number of times you can use the card. These discounts are available only at participating
retail pharmacies.
Can I use my prescription discount card with my current insurance benefit to reduce my
Your card cannot be used in conjunction with other insurance. However, you are able to use your
card to purchase prescriptions that are not covered by these plans.
Can I still use my prescription discount card if I sign up for a Medicare
Yes, you can use your prescription discount card anytime you need to purchase a prescription that is not covered by your Medicare prescription plan or any other
Should I use my prescription discount card during my deductible and
No. Only use your prescription discount card to purchase non-covered
Can I use my prescription discount card in addition to my Medicare
No. You need to present either your Medicare prescription plan card or your
prescription discount card. Only use your prescription discount card when
purchasing medications not covered by your Medicare prescription plan.
I'm not going to sign-up for a Medicare prescription plan; can I still use my
Yes, you can continue to use your prescription discount card just as you do
Which pharmacies accept the card?
The prescription discount card is accepted at 57,000 retail pharmacies nationwide, including many of
the leading chains. Ask your local pharmacy if they participate or call toll free 1-877-321-2652 to find
out if a specific pharmacy participates in the program.
How much will I save?
While savings on each prescription may vary, you can save an average of 20 percent off of the
pharmacy's regular retail prices for prescription drugs. In addition, you may save even more by
choosing from our list of select medications. This list is comprised of products offering additional
Will I always receive the lowest price?
Yes. You will receive the best price available to you through this program at the pharmacy. On
occasion, pharmacies will price a particular medication lower than the discount rate provided by the
card. If that occurs, you will receive the lower price.
Can I find out the discounted price of my prescriptions before going to the pharmacy?
Because prices can vary by location, only the actual pharmacy can tell you the exact price of the
prescription. However, you can look up an estimated price for medications at
www.caremark.com/naco, or call toll free 1-877-321-2652.
Why did the price of my prescription change since the last time I purchased the
Drug prices are different from pharmacy to pharmacy. Even chains have different prices in their
stores depending on the population they are servicing. Additionally, manufacturers' drug prices
change periodically.
The brochure says I can save an average of 20 percent on my prescription medication. Will I
Because a pharmacy's retail price or usual and customary charge can differ greatly by pharmacy, your
exact percentage of savings may vary depending on the prescription drug and the price you have
paid before.
Do I have to choose between my prescription discount card and the Wal-Mart $4 generic
No, always present your prescription discount card at a participating pharmacy, including Wal-Mart,
so you will receive the lowest price available from the pharmacy for that prescription medicine on
that day. You will receive the $4 price at Wal-Mart, when applicable, and the prescription discount
card discounted price when it is lower.
Should I still present my prescription discount card at Wal-Mart when buying a $4 generic?
Yes, always present your prescription discount card when buying prescriptions not covered by a
prescription drug benefit plan. For generic medicine on the Wal-Mart list, you will pay either $4 or
the prescription discount card price, whichever is lower.
Can I get an additional discount off the Wal-Mart Generic Drug Program – $4 for select
No, when presenting your prescription discount card, you will receive either the pharmacy's regular
price for the prescription medicine or the prescription discount card discounted price, whichever is
lower. If Wal-Mart's $4 price for select generics is lower than the prescription discount card price,
you will pay $4. With the prescription discount card, you will receive the best price available for your
prescription medicine on that day from that pharmacy.
What is specialty pharmacy and what kinds of services do they offer?
Specialty pharmacy offers delivery of injectable and select oral specialty medication and supplies to
the location of your choice. Services include delivery notification and refill reminder calls to help you
stay on your treatment plan. You'll also receive expert care services including counseling, follow up
care calls, informative disease-related materials, and access to health experts 24 hours a day, seven
days a week.
What drugs are offered through specialty pharmacy?
Medications for a variety of chronic conditions including multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis,
cystic fibrosis, hemophilia, infertility, immunologic disorders, Crohn's disease, Gaucher disease,
pulmonary hypertension, Fabry disease, MPS 1, blood dyscrasia, growth hormone deficiency,
respiratory syncytial virus, hepatitis C and more are available through specialty pharmacy.
What is Mail Service?
With the Caremark Mail Service program, you can purchase up to a 90-day supply of select
medications from the mail service pharmacy for a fixed price. It's easy to get started with mail
service—just send in the mail service order form along with your original prescription, to Caremark.
For a list of medications available through and to receive an order form please call toll free 1-877-
321-2652 or visit www.caremark.com/naco.
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text:
Mideast Muddle at Levant
A year ago, an East Burnside storefront was poised as Portland's next food temple. Inside, under the watchful eye of babushka-wrapped bubbes photographed in the old country, stood the promise of souk-like lamps, the vast maw of a brick hearth, drinks fizzing with black sesame syrup, and chopped-liver toast winking with Manischewitz. With Levant, former Wildwood cook Scott Snyder aimed to claim uncharted territory, remixing his Sephardic Jewish roots with French techniques and modern plating. His back pocket held two aces: local diners game for adventure, and a growing buzz that Fertile Crescent cooking would be the Next Big Thing. A kitchen rummaging through forgotten pantries? A brave new world of tang, crunch, and dates? We were ready to hop aboard. But sadly, so far, Levant has only transported us to a Hilton Hotel dining room on a Middle Eastern night.
Not everyone will agree with this assessment. Levant has attracted fans and critical raves. High notes include a cozy bar for playful cocktails, well-chosen wines, and the occasional dish that shows a kitchen in gear, including a sumptuous heap of lamb considered four ways, rib to neck, juicy to blistered. But five visits and 12 months later, I've found little magic, vision, or consistency. The food looks pretty, but lacks courage and conviction. The things that render Middle Eastern food irresistible—the vibrant juxtapositions, the fierce rusticity—are nowhere to be found, much less the will to reinterpret them.
A plate-long purée, a vertical arrangement, a sprinkling of red pepper—this, in a cold schmear, is the tale of Levant. To begin, fava bean falafel, hard as helmets, arrives on a landing strip of tahini. The accompanying drizzles of zhoug, typically fragrant and fiery, couldn't power a birthday candle. Your $4 stack of pita bread, oddly pounded in musky spice, lacks simple beauty and golden puff. Handheld lamb "cigars" crackle with sweet-spiced meat, but the advertised chile fire was extinguished way back when.
Speaking of fire, what are those insistent flames doing in the open kitchen? Levant's brick hearth might as well be the televised Yule log. I've yet to encounter a memorable smoky char or even a crinkled vegetable skin. Meanwhile, the sea doesn't part for Levant's timid fish story. Beautifully crisped sardines hold enough bones to cure osteoporosis and little else. "Spiced, crispy squid" shows up as lifeless forms on the plate, tortured with something called "yogurt tahini remoulade." And so it goes throughout the menu—a blandness here, a botch there. Desserts are no exception: date and nut torte dry as the Gobi desert, labneh-iced persimmon cakes tasting like a salt mine.
Salads can be equally deflating. Not bad, mind you, but like much of the cooking here, dull pretenders to the throne. Roasted beets with candied walnuts, goat cheese, and honey vinaigrette or sliced pears and celery garnished in "savory za'atar and hazelnut granola" can't mask what Levant is at heart: seasonal Northwest dishes masquerading as Eastern Mediterranean concepts. It's Wildwood, with harissa.
Every restaurant needs to make a choice. What do you stand for? Levant's passions and predilections are still a mystery. The kitchen could vault by simply committing to a direction, any direction—regional street foods, game-changing mezza plates, nights of fine dining backed by more informed service. Right now, this is shallow food posing as something we should take seriously. Even the gimmicky dinner knives, which stand on their backs but are otherwise useless, don't cut it. Most important, Levant needs a bottom line: make it taste good. Otherwise, we're left to wander in the desert at this place, searching for the promised land.

subset: commoncrawl


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Remarks by Angel Gurría, OECD Secretary-General, delivered at the launch of the OECD Economic Surveys of the Euro Area and the European Union
Brussels, 27 March 2012
(As prepared for delivery)
Vice-President Rehn, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to be in Brussels to launch the OECD Economic Surveys of the Euro Area and the European Union. Today, we are presenting two books but only one overriding message: Europe needs to step up its efforts to create the conditions for sustainable growth.
Progress is underway, but we are still not out of the woods. The improvement in financial conditions since December and the orderly restructuring of Greek debt certainly are welcome developments. The longer-term refinancing operations of the ECB have already addressed important financial stability risks for the EU banking system. The signing of the commitment to fiscal stability among 25 EU Members is another very positive event.
Yet, we still cannot draw too much comfort from these signs of healing. How many times have we seen conditions ease only for the crisis to return? Risk spreads on government debt remain at unsustainable levels for several European countries, and they have shown recent signs of creeping up again. So what needs to be done to overcome the crisis once and for all?
Decisive and immediate short-term action is required to fully stabilise vulnerable euro area sovereigns.
The absolute priority must be to stabilise the most fragile euro area sovereigns. We call on the informal ECOFIN later this week to expand the available stability funds further to provide a credible level of support. The 'mother of all firewalls' should be in place – strong enough and broad enough to ensure that it does not need to be used. In addition, monetary conditions should remain supportive for some time and the pace of fiscal and financial retrenchment should be carefully managed.
The origins of the euro crisis lie in the build-up of excessive financial, banking, economic and fiscal imbalances during the upswing of the credit cycle. Economic catch-up, weak financial supervision and too low real interest rates in some countries triggered housing and credit booms, fuelled by excessive risk taking and bank lending from other euro area countries.
Returning to sustainable growth is a major challenge for both creditor and debtor countries, particularly as the monetary union excludes nominal exchange rate adjustments and leaves only the difficult options of relative price reductions, and the strengthening and rebalancing of growth through structural reforms. Both will take time.
The concern is that bank deleveraging, fiscal consolidation and economic adjustment could unduly restrict demand in the short term before the benefits of long-term adjustment on stability and growth materialise. However, recent OECD analysis of past experience shows that – contrary to conventional wisdom – some structural reforms can have positive effects even in the short run. Imagine the flows of investment that could be unleashed if regulations keeping new entrants out of markets were dismantled, and better conditions for doing business were put in place.
For this sustainable recovery to occur, Europe needs a strong banking system that is able to lend for growth-enhancing investment. The EU is undertaking a major exercise to improve the positions of banks, so that they achieve sustainable funding positions, are well capitalised and fully account for the quality of their portfolio. The upgrading of financial oversight needs to deliver stronger banks and reduce systemic risks in the euro area.
However, we are still missing a crucial ingredient for recovery: growth.
Demand in the euro area and neighbouring economies remains vulnerable. Debt burdens are high, confidence is weak. Let us not forget that, today, 24 million people in Europe are unemployed and that the youth unemployment rate is at record levels of up to 50% in some countries.
The underlying growth performance of the EU and euro area economies over the past decade has been disappointing, with slowing productivity growth adding to ageing pressures. While many economies are still in first gear, there are huge opportunities to boost growth by removing or improving the poorly-designed regulations and institutions that hold them back. The OECD Euro Area Survey shows the five country-specific priorities identified by the OECD in its Going for Growth assessment.
But seizing these opportunities will require greater ambition and tackling vested interests. The experience of OECD countries shows that crises offer the best opportunities for change. These opportunities must be seized to transform the growth outlook, enhance social benefits, and reduce inequality and social exclusion, particularly of older workers and young labour market entrants with low skills.
Reforms in highly indebted countries can help restore competitiveness, reallocate resources to new growth sectors and reduce the debt burden. But, reforms are not just needed in such countries. For example, the OECD has long argued that reducing regulatory obstacles in the services sector of surplus countries such as Germany would strengthen domestic demand, which would be "win-win" for Germany and the euro area.
For these structural reforms to bear fruit in the short term, it is essential that confidence be restored. This is why both structural reforms as well as confidence-enhancing fiscal and financial policies should be implemented simultaneously, as a single coherent package.
This process needs to be underpinned by a stronger Europe.
A step change in the political commitment to the Single Market is needed. Regardless of the considerable progress made so far, the project is unfinished. Cross-border economic activity in Europe is held back by chequered implementation of the Single Market and incoherent conditions for doing business across borders.
Implementation of the Single Market thus needs to be improved, both legally and on the ground. There should be an annual report for each country setting out remaining obstacles to its economic integration within the EU. New initiatives, including the proposed "Single Market Act", must be carried through. And more attention is needed to promoting a coherent approach to cross-border regulation and infrastructure.
The build-up of imbalances and the crisis uncovered flaws in the design of the EMU – mainly the inherent instability of a monetary union without a fiscal union. The need for a new cross-cutting approach to economic, financial and fiscal governance is obvious. Thus, the "six pack" economic and budgetary governance package and the new "fiscal compact" are especially welcome. They have substantially upgraded EU and national fiscal institutions.
A new European Stability Mechanism is coming into place and a vast programme of reforms to financial oversight is being undertaken – including the creation of the European Supervisory Authorities and the European Systemic Risk Board. Many of these measures were considered unthinkable before the crisis.
However, the Survey highlights three key pieces of unfinished business.
First, recent reforms have gone a long way to improving the design of economic and budgetary governance. There is not a great deal more that can be done within the existing structure of the Union on this score. Despite reverse majority voting, the Council retains a margin of discretion: this makes it vital that euro area governments show their ability to implement the reforms and stick to their commitments.
Second, some difficult regulatory issues need to be tackled to ensure financial stability. It is essential that the euro area and the Single Market have a credible crisis management framework. Such framework would require common funding arrangements and a more integrated approach to financial supervision. At the same time, the excessively close link between sovereigns and domestic banks needs to be addressed by ensuring that these have adequate capital, avoid excessive concentration of risk and take full account of their sovereign exposure.
Third, despite everything that has been done in terms of governance, the only guarantee that there will not be another build-up of imbalances, another crisis, in the future is making euro area economies more robust. Economies must be able to withstand the pressures and maintain competitiveness within the monetary union. A special priority is making national labour markets work better, with greater flexibility, and increasing labour mobility across Europe's regions.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Although we mostly focus on the unfinished business, we should always keep in mind how much Europe has already achieved: the Treaty of Rome, the 1986 Single Market Act, the creation of the euro as a single currency, and the many reforms during the five years since the financial crisis began.
These impressive achievements should generate the confidence to take the bold decisions necessary to put the economy back on a sustained growth path – for the sake of the European Union as a whole, its individual Members and their citizens.
Please count on the OECD to continue to support Europe, to design, promote and put in place better policies for better lives.
Thank you.
Related Documents


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Tomorrow, the acclaimed "high school chemistry teacher turned meth kingpin" drama Breaking Bad returns for its final stretch of episodes. But at the San Diego Comic-Con today, the show's cast and creator Vince Gilligan were on hand to answer io9's most quasi-pressing questions. Here's what we learned.
1.) To get in the mind of Walter White, Bryan Cranston visited the Department of Chemistry at the University of Southern California and learned about the proper erlenmeyer flasks to use should one decide to cook methamphetamine. (Also for the sake of televisual veracity, Cranston received tutelage in which glassware will explode if used incorrectly. The rules of laboratory safety still apply in taut 60-minute dramas.)
2.) In the next season, we will see more of Walt using his scientific know-how for nefarious deeds:
io9: One of Walt's secret weapons is his background in chemistry. Will we see any of his "dark chemistry" lessons?
Vince Gilligan: Walt is kind of the anti-MacGyver. You will see a couple more of these moments later this season. Those are fun to come up with. I am no chemist or scientist, but I have a layperson's love for science.
io9: Do you have a scientific advisor on set?
Vince Gilligan: Not on set, but Dr. Donna Nelson from the University of Oklahoma approached us several seasons back and said, "I really like this show, and if you ever need help with the chemistry, I'd love to lend a hand. She's been a wonderful advisor. We get help wherever we need it, whether it's chemistry, electrical engineering, or physics. We try to get everything correct. There's no full-time [advisor] on set, but we run certain scenes by these experts first.
3. And in extremely important news, Gilligan — who worked prominently on The X-Files — has sadly never encountered X-Files/Breaking Bad fan fiction. Internet, here is your clarion call.
4. Jesse Pinkman — Walt's tragic comrade-in-cooking and actor Aaron Paul in real life — will flex more of his laboratory muscles during the fifth season:
io9: One of the great scenes in the fourth season is when Jesse stands up for himself at the Mexican superlab. Will we see Jesse's confidence and scientific know-how increase further this season?
Aaron Paul: As the seasons go on, Jesse's becoming more and more competent. Not to spoil too much, but he comes up with an idea and it works. He's finding his footing — just see the evolution of his clothing.
5. At io9's request, actor Bob Odenkirk informed us that he did not model sleazy attorney Saul Goodman on any of his legendary Mr. Show characters:
Bob Odenkirk: No, not on Mr. Show, but I think I built a little on my Larry Sanders Show Stevie Grant character, who's a manipulator and a person who's in it for himself and trying to get everyone to do what he wants them to do so he can make the most money. He's very much annoyed that the people that he works with have their own interests, like, "Will you just fucking do what I tell you to make some money?" [...] I didn't read for this part, [Vince Gilligan] just gave it to me. I thought he gave it to me because of Larry Sanders, but no, Mr. Show.
6. Jesse's memorable outbursts and frequent profanity are orchestrated down to the tee:
io9: To what degree do you improvise Jesse's colorful catchphrases, like "Yeah, Mr. White! Yeah, science!"
Aaron Paul: In all honesty, everything is on the page. That's why the show is what it is. If it's not on the page, you have nothing. Every single "Yo!" and every single "Bitch!" is on the page. Maybe 0.5% of the "Bitch!"-es I add. I might improv a "Bitch!" every other one.
7. One of the last uncompleted arcs on Breaking Bad is Walter's eventual collision course with his brother-in-law (and shamed DEA agent) Hank Schrader (Dean Norris). You will, however, not see Hank's extensive rock, ahem, "mineral" collection. (We honestly forgot this distinction and everyone thought we were trying to be cute.)
io9: Will we see Hank's rock collection this season?
Dean Norris: Minerals! It's a mineral collection.
Betsy Brandt (who plays Hank's wife Marie): You do realize he's going to hit you [after this interview]. Don't be alone in the hallway!
io9: If that happens, I will never wash my face.
Dean Norris: The minerals were there when he was depressed. I don't think we see much of the minerals anymore. He's back to catching the real criminals [...] His status with the DEA is highly improved. He's back in the saddle in all ways [...] He comes back vindicated — he's the only guy who figured out [Gus Fring's operation] and there are repercussions to those who didn't listen to him. He also gets to jack up his investigation, so it gets more intense.


text:
Relics of my past and present
by Elouise
Every day I'm surrounded by relics of my past that reach into my present. Then there's the odd relic I buy for myself because I know I need it. Even though I don't know where it will take me. The photo above shows three of my relics.
The big furry raccoon is a gift from two male seminary students. Unannounced, they came to my faculty office the week of their graduation in 1986/7. Each had taken multiple courses from me. Yet to their sorrow, they had been less than supportive my first semester of teaching. They came bearing a gift of contrition and gratitude. Their way of making amends and reaching out to acknowledge complicity in my first-year trial by fire.
I promptly, there and then, gave this furry beast his name: Klein Calvin. That's Calvin for Reformed theologian John Calvin, not Calvin Klein. And Klein for the German word for small. Again, not for the clothing brand Calvin Klein.
Over the years, Klein Calvin has occupied seats of honor in my house. From these exalted seats he has given my grandchildren tons of fun and caused Smudge, our rescued cat, moments of extreme consternation.
The smaller white teddy bear with a heart is also a gift. This time from my theology class in spring 1999. A surprise gift the week I returned to class after time off following my mother's death. The class hadn't been particularly easy. These were the years after our new sexuality policy was approved by the Board, giving aid and comfort (in my unchanged opinion) to those who were on the lookout for deviation.
Yet here was this totally unexpected gift, made possible because of human ties that bind us. When I was a child I never owned a real teddy bear. This is my teddy bear. She's been sitting on the sofa in my office for years. Sometimes hugged close when I've felt overwhelmed about not having my mother present to answer at least a thousand questions.
Finally, right there in the middle is my newest cuddly friend. I've christened her Baby El. A likeness of me. When she arrived two weeks ago, I wasn't sure what to do with her.
For now, I'm certain she is not about my father. She's about me. I want to know myself better and honor myself. Especially, but not only, that little girl who still resides in me. Now woven into every fiber of my being.
If I just think about getting to know myself (and that little girl…), it won't happen. I need to practice honoring myself for real. And Baby El is my partner in this. She's real. She's present. And she always welcomes me with a smile.
Which, by the way, is helping free me from making D into the bad man he is not, or even into a very large version of Baby El.
I used to think I could work it all out in my head or in my writing. Both are important. Yet having a concrete stand-in ally (who represents me) makes all the difference. It doesn't matter what's going on in me: shame, fear, the need for comfort, discouragement or wanting someone to share my joy. She's there for me, and I'm there for her.
I also want you to know how I came to this point. It's all about a book I just finished. More on that later.
©Elouise Renich Fraser, 29 August 2018
Photo taken by ERFraser, 29 August 2018


text:
This keyhole escutcheon is supplied with matching finished escutcheon pins for installation.
Oval keyhole escutcheons in a variety of sizes and patterns.
All of the escutcheons shown here are available in 5 finishes: antique brass, polished brass, semi-bright brass, light antique brass and dark antique (sometimes called oil rubbed bronze).
Learn about our Designer Discount Program


text:
This was a question asked on one of the crochet forums I'm on. Thought I'd share my response here. Feel free to add your input in the comments to help others!
I would say that what yarn you use depends on project and attitude actually. I know everyone has an opinion and there are various camps of thought. But my take is more of a unifier of worlds. I'm a true Libran – I dislike division.
You can crochet with anything. Seriously. And I've done it. I've mixed all sorts of fibers (some things not even considered "fiber") and broken most taboos out there. And what I haven't broken yet, I will endeavor to before I die. You can't focus on being able to see. This is the eternal quip between my grandmothers and I. "But grandma, if you really know how to crochet, you don't have to see your stitches, right?" It's our private little laugh between us. But it's true. I've used lots of stuff people didn't think you could crochet with. But I also find that people get in a rut with fibers because they only use one type of hook or tool. Hooks can make an incredible difference in the variety of things you can create. Certain ones are better for certain things.
Only once have I come across a fiber that I felt was the spawn of satan and that I refused to try again and actually threw it away. Something called whirly-gig. And the monstrosity was difficult to use because it falls apart. Shouldn't have been called yarn! In my experience, as long as it doesn't fall apart, it can be crocheted!
I find most yarns do not meet people's expectations because they approach it either with preconceived notions or one hook fits all approach. And that's OK. Specialization is important too. Let the fibers speak to you and you'll figure out how they best like to be used. It's like anything in life, you learn how it works. All fibers have a personality of sorts and a way they "prefer" to be handled. All you do is just figure that out.
I say take the fear and hesitation out of it and just let go. Get some paint and splash it on that canvas and see what you get.


text:
I've talked in vague terms about "that house we're building" and you've seen bits and pieces on Instagram, but I haven't really shown you guys much of what we're building!
It's been busy, to say the least.
This project flew through the planning stages pretty darn quickly – I already had a good idea of what I wanted, and our architect was totally game. We worked well together, and this is the result!
(Update: if you don't know what I mean by "preppy modern," click here.)
What you see above is the front elevation of the home. This is an oversized lot for the neighborhood, which makes me SO happy! Front-entry garages aren't for everyone but they're very common in this neighborhood, and putting the garage in the front allowed us to maximize the backyard space while still creating a really gorgeous exterior. I have a thing about backyards (because we have a tiny one…) and really wanted to preserve the size of this one since the oversized lot is such a fantastic feature.
So, what are you looking at up there? :) The home will be all brick (I have one picked out and I loooove it) with cast stone accents at the front entry, and the window sills and lintels (the detail above the window). We'll likely have to nix some of the cast stone to save costs, but we're going to try to keep as much as possible!
The majority of the roof will be composition shingles, with a standing seam metal accent on the street-facing part of the first floor. Ever since we did the roof of our own home in standing seam metal I've been obsessed!
I'll get into the floor plan in another post, but here's what you're looking at in a nutshell:
- the two-car garage is on the extreme left
- an office is to the right of the garage, with 2 large windows
- to the right of the office is a powder room, with 1 smaller window
- the entryway (and entry vestibule) is to the right of the powder room, shown with cast stone
- the dining room is on the extreme right
- on the second level, the "play room" is those first 3 windows, then a bedroom with 2 large windows, and then a jack 'n jill bath to the extreme right
There's more going on in the back, obviously, but I'll get to that. :)
What you see above is the left-hand side of the house, to the east.
- the master bedroom is those first 2 windows on the left
- the master bathroom is that large space between the windows, plus the 2 side-by-side windows
- the garage takes up the rest of the space from the exterior door all the way to the right
- the chimney you see is coming up from the living room on the 1st floor
- the window on the 2nd level is at the head of the stairs
What you see above is the back of the house.
- on the far left is a large covered patio, and behind that is the kitchen
- the living room is the bank of 3 windows in the middle
- the master bedroom is on the far right
- on the 2nd level there is a bedroom on the far left
- and another bedroom on the far right of the 2nd level
What you're looking at is the right-hand side of the house.
- the dining room is the 2 windows on the far left
- the butler's pantry is the 1st small window
- the kitchen is the last 2 small windows
- the covered patio is on the far right
- on the 2nd level, the 1st 2 windows are a jack 'n jill bathroom
- a bedroom is the last 2 windows on the 2nd level
All told, this house is just under 4,000 square feet (which is the average size for new construction in this neighborhood) and has 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms – it's going to be awesome! Framing is almost complete and walking through the house might just be one of the most exciting things I've done in awhile. :) I was having a bad day last week but it instantly improved while I was standing on the second level, soaking up the sunshine – it was an awesome feeling.
So that's the exterior of the house we're building. If you want to follow along on Instagram, the hashtag is #thepreppymodernhouse. Talk to you soon!


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I spoke at GlobalFest Human Rights Forum, an annual one week forum on Human Rights issues presented by UNA Canada, Calgary Branch.
It was the kick-off event. The subject matter for the evening was, Shelter.
One of the questions everyone was asked to consider was, Is housing a right?
Harvey Voogd, one of the presenters, spoke of how Medicaid was once not part of our Canadian landscape. How it wasn't universally available. And now it is. Now, we don't even question its necessity in the lives of all Canadians.
That's the future I see for housing, he said.
I hope he's right.
Imagine that future.
A future where every Canadian has access to safe, secure and affordable housing that meets their cultural, spiritual, physical and everyday needs.
Housing that is not insecure.
What an amazing future that would be.
I think about what we see today at the shelter where I work and in shelters across this country. Housing insecurity, like food insecurity, income insecurity, is debilitating. The energy needed to chase after resources to keep your family housed is exhausting.
For families in housing insecurity, getting ahead doesn't mean going back to school or starting your own business, or getting a promotion.
It means juggling priorities like food on the table and school supplies for your kids with the need to keep a roof over their head.
It means having to decide between sending your child to school with a lunch, or having dinner on the table for when they come home.
It means not insuring your possessions to be able to afford bus fare for the month or gas in your car to get to your job on the other side of the city where public transit doesn't run, or takes two hours each way to get there.
It means having to rely on neighbours and family for childcare and after school-care or perhaps leaving your children at home alone because you're on the bus trying to get to, or from, a job that just pays enough to cover the rent.
Housing insecurity does not come with peace of mind or breathing room in your bank account in case of an emergency.
It does not include room to send your child to a tutoring program to help strengthen their math or language skills in school.
And it definitely doesn't come with room to take them to the Zoo or a movie or the Science Centre where you can spend time together, learning and growing and laughing and playing being a family.
Housing insecurity is a constant struggle to make distant ends of a stretched thin bottomline expand to meet monthly commitments that never seem to be completely balanced.
Housing insecurity makes life hard. It makes it difficult to dream and believe you can make your dreams come true.
Housing insecurity is something parents try desperately to hide from their children. But when housing insecurity turns into homelessness, there is no more hiding. No more trying to pretend it's not happening.
For children, the reality of housing insecurity turned into the loss of the home they knew can be terrifying. Horrific.
For children, housing insecurity that brings them to a family emergency shelter is not a 'holiday' or a camping trip as some parents desperately try to sell the notion of being in shelter to their children. It is a complete disruption of their daily lives, their sense of belonging, their need for security.
Housing is a right.
And every child needs it. Deserves it. Must have it to be able to learn and grow and develop their minds so that when they grow up, housing insecurity isn't a part of their journey.
One day, I hope we get to a future where the right of every child to a safe home is a reality.
There are five more events scheduled for GlobalFest Human Rights Forum. Click HERE for info.


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Hartline, Haldan Keffer
Hartline, Haldan Keffer, 1903–83, American physiologist, b. Bloomsburg, Pa., M.D. Johns Hopkins, 1927. From 1931 to 1949 (except for 1940–41), he was a researcher at the Eldridge Reeves Johnson Foundation for Medical Physics, Univ. of Pennsylvania. He was a professor at Johns Hopkins from 1949 to 1953, when he joined the faculty of the Rockefeller Institute (now Rockefeller Univ.). Hartline was a co-recipient of the 1967 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine with George Wald and Ragnar Granit for their discoveries concerning the primary physiological and chemical visual processes in the eye. Hartline studied the eye of the horseshoe crab and determined that stimulation of one of the receptor cells in the eye is accompanied by depression of the nearby cells, resulting in enhanced contrast and shape perception.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2023, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Medicine: Biographies


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Sojourners Magazine: April 2006
Subscribe to Sojourners for as little as $3.95!
Cover Story
The politics of abortion has been dominated by extreme views on either side, but now voters are looking for solutions, not slogans.
'How many of you are both pro-life and against the death penalty?'
What the church must learn from Rwanda.
A Bible study on welcoming the outsider.
Fearful of harsh border enforcement legislation and trapped in poverty, many immigrants turn to churches for help.
One set of faith-based principles for immigration reform is being promoted by the No More Deaths coalition, based in Tucson, Arizona.
The Walton empire gets political.
The Guantanamo prison is beyond the pale.
Washington calls the kettle black.
Would Jesus come to Davos if he were invited?
Today's toddler, in his front-facing carrier, thinks he can fly.
Culture Watch
There is little that is "neutral" or "value-free."
Island Living
A few years ago, the "postmodern memoir" or "autobiographic novel" was all the rage among critics anxious to define new literary genres.
When the Sago mine explosion trapped 13 West Virginia miners 250 feet below ground in January, I was deep into Kettle Bottom, a stunning collection of poetry by Diane Gilliam Fisher that i
Hollywood shows little respect for working-class and poor people.
The 'Triple-A' music format comes with a nice fit, but only for a few.
Peter's denials and Judas' betrayal foreshadow the reactionary horror to come.
In February a New York court found Iraqi-American Rafil Dhafir, 57, guilty of violating U.S. sanctions against Iraq and of money laundering.
•Dish it Up. The employees of Windows on the World restaurant, which was destroyed in the Sept.
The trade-off outlined in David Batstone's "The HIV Trade-Off" (February 2006) doesn't have to be made.
After unanimous votes in Congress, President Bush signed into law in early January the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2005, drawing praise from human rights and religious g
In February, 86 evangelical leaders declared climate change a Christian priority and lent their support to political initiatives to fight global warming, saying "The earth's natural s
The poor are with you always—
'I was a stranger and you welcomed me.' Jesus' words in Matthew are disarmingly simple, yet they encapsulate a core tenet of Christianity: radical inclusion.
Rodell and Dale Scarabin and their children outside their makeshift house in Venice, Louisiana, in January, following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Re-enact your favorite Bible stories with the Deluxe Jesus Action Figure!
I loved the cover of the February issue with the African children playing and pumping water ("Fighting Global Poverty: What Works," by Stephen Smith). They looked so happy and well.
A January report on Internet use among Protestant churches, conducted by Ellison Research, found that most churches are riding in buggies on the information superhighway.
In "Falsehoods and the Iraq War" (January 2005), Jim Wallis invites Dick Cheney to debate all the religious leaders who say this war of choice does not meet the criteria of a just war.


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This morning Intel launched its all-singing, all-number crunching Sandy Bridge E processors and brand-spanking new X79 motherboard chipset.
It's not messing around; these are the fastest desktop CPUs that have ever passed across our test benches.
The flagship CPU, the Intel Core i7 3960X, is right up there at the very top-end of processors, and all six-cores of its updated Sandy Bridge E architecture can be yours for nigh-on £750.
So it's no value proposition then.
There is not a little controversy surrounding it though as despite being sold as a straight six-core CPU the literature Intel has given reviewers clearly shows two dormant or dead CPU cores unused on the die.
We've gone into more depth about this in our full Intel Core i7 3960X review.
Still, it is a lightening-fast processor capable of the sort of raw computational prowess you wont see outside of the server environment. It's also no slouch in the overclocking department either, our review chip managed 4.8GHz in Asus's Sabertooth X79 motherboard.
It's not just the top chip that is an overclocking beast, and to demonstrate that we've been gleefully playing with YOYOTech's XDNA Platinum PC.
That's running the cheaper, mid-range Intel Core i7 3930K Sandy Bridge E running at 4.4GHz out of the box.
The other stand out feature of the new Sandy Bridge E processors and X79 chipset is the support for the next generation of memory; quad-channel DDR3.
Quite what improvements this gives, in real-world terms, over triple-channel DDR3 is rather intangible, and to be honest more indicative of the platform's server roots than any importance on the desktop.
If you want the full low-down on Intel's latest offerings, then look no further.
Check out our Sandy Bridge E reviews:(opens in new tab)
If you want the fastest processor on the planet, look no further. Most impressive is the additional overclocking headroom Intel has delivered over the old six-core chip. Platform upgrades including more PCI-E lanes and SATA 6Gbps are welcome, too.(opens in new tab)
Asus's RoG boards are all very well if money's no object. Back in the real world, the Sabertooth series offers a much more realistic compromise between performance, features and price. The chipset cooling and overclocking support look very solid. We certainly squeezed some great numbers out of the new Core i7-3960X.(opens in new tab)
With the XDNA Platinum sat on your desktop, purring away quietly as it does, with its cold-cathode tubes illuminating the clean lines of the immaculate interior, even £2,500 worth of buyer's remorse will have a hard job up against such an impressive machine.


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Eiffel Programming
Welcome to 'Eiffel for Everyone at Wikibooks.
About EiffelEdit
First developed by Bertrand Meyer, Eiffel has a clean and very readable syntax. Many of the design principles of the language emphasize the readability and maintainability of the code.
Because of its excellent implementation of language features like multiple inheritance and generics (especially constrained generics) it takes less code to express complex ideas in Eiffel than it does in other programming languages. A strong type system with exhaustive static type checking allows programs to scale easily in size, and to evolve in ways that are difficult to achieve with other languages.
Eiffel has been criticized for being a verbose language, and it's easy to get hung up on the verbosity of some of its constructs (like its loop statement). Yet I've found that other languages that are often hyped for their terseness, especially the C family with Java and C++, can be very verbose in declaration and use of complex types.
Guiding Design PrinciplesEdit
- Everything is an Object
- Design by Contract
- Single Entry, Single Exit
- The Open/Closed Principle
- Command/Query Separation
Past, Present and Future VersionsEdit
Eiffel Un-features -- What You Won't See In EiffelEdit
Eiffel Features -- What's Unique About the LanguageEdit
Contracts and contract inheritance Rich set of assertions Multiple Inheritance Constrained Genericity Type-safe agents (also known as closures) Void Safety SCOOP (Simple Concurrent Object Oriented Programming)
Anatomy of a ClassEdit
Parts of a classEdit
Eiffel Names Reserved words Notes or indexing Name Inherit create features more notes the end Features Attributes Functions The Uniform Access Principle Procedures Commands vs Queries
Nuts and BoltsEdit
Implementing Features Local Variables Creating objects Assignment Calling features Operators Expressions Copying Objects Comparing Objects Conditional control The if statement The inspect statement Iteration—looping Flow of Control Attachment Checking and Locals (e.g. if attached l_foo as al_foo then ... end)
Base TypesEdit
Expanded Types INTEGERs of Various Sizes REALs CHARACTERs BOOLEAN Reference Types ANY STRINGs DATE Containers
What's required What's ensured Invariants: What is always true (about a class) Checks Variants and loop contracts
Why its useful How it works LSP Renaming Redefining Undefining Extending Non-conforming inheritance Implementation inheritance Multiple inheritance Inheritance of Contracts
With Containers With Algorithms Constrained Genericity Example: Hash tables
Uses for tuples Returning multiple values from a function Named tuples
As a way of iterating over containers Using agents Closed and Open Arguments Agent declarations
Advanced TopicsEdit
Covariance and Anchored Types
Really Advanced TopicsEdit
Memory Management Details Garbage Collection Limitations Interfacing to Other Languages .Net Support Low-level Debugging


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5 Ways to Handle Pushy Debt Collectors
Know your rights if you get one of those dreaded calls
For West Asset Management, a debt collection firm with 1,500 employees in 13 states, harassment by telephone was the business model, says the Federal Trade Commission.
See also: How can I stop junk mail?
Answer the phone and you'd be subject to cursing and false threats of arrest, wage garnishment or seizure of property by self-described attorneys. Hang up and instantly, there was another call. Don't answer and your phone kept ringing.
At Unicredit America, faking up a courtroom was the preferred tactic. According to the office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, employees dressed as sheriff's deputies hand-delivered dubious subpoenas ordering at least 370 frightened people to its office in Erie, Pa. — which was done up as a courtroom with other employees posing as judge and bailiffs.
California-based collector Rumson, Bolling & Associates, meanwhile, used outright threats of violence, reports the FTC. Unless paid, its employees vowed to kill alleged debtors and their pets. To rape their mothers. And on at least two occasions, to desecrate the bodies of the deceased children of debtors owing on funeral bills.
What is it with debt collectors? Most of the 450,000 employees at the nation's 4,100 agencies, in the words of their trade association president, are "salt of the earth" who play by the rules in their difficult task: trying to collect an overdue $150 billion that's owed in this tough economy to businesses ranging from huge banks and utilities to mom-and-pop florists and veterinarians.
But others — plenty of them, judging by the more than 140,000 consumer complaints to the FTC in 2010 (27 percent of all complaints filed, the most for any single industry) — rely on lies, harassment and extortion to get money.
West Asset Management, which paid a $2.8 million settlement to the FTC, and the parent company of Rumson, Bolling & Associates declined to comment on the FTC's charges. Michael Covatto, president of now-defunct Unicredit, could not be reached for comment.
Low risk, high rewards
What motivates rogues to violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the federal law that dictates what collectors can and can't do?
"Because the incentives are high, and penalties so low, there's much more money to be made with threats and shaking people down," says journalist Fred Williams, who spent three months as a debt collector for a Buffalo, N.Y., agency before writing the book Fight Back Against Unfair Debt Collection Practices.
Victims can sue them in state or federal court. If they win, they can collect up to $1,000 from the collector, and possibly court and attorney fees. A class-action lawsuit by a group of consumers can seek up to $500,000 or 1 percent of the collector's net worth, whichever is lower. Especially egregious violations can warrant civil lawsuits seeking million-dollar fines and company closure.
The FTC also may refer potential criminal violations by debt collectors to federal and state prosecutors. Then it's up to the prosecutors to determine whether to investigate and bring criminal charges.
Many collectors feel emboldened to push the limits. Doing so can have a personal payoff — in Williams' agency, top-performing collectors could look forward to $10,000-a-month bonuses.
Williams routinely witnessed fear-prompting tactics. Some debtors were pressed to borrow more. As a collector, "the way you become most successful is getting people to take a second mortgage or create a new type of debt to pay off the one you're calling about."
According to officials, common violations of the law include repeated and constant calls to debtors (or any calls before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m.), false threats to have them arrested or their property seized, or the use of profane or abusive language. Other tactics: pretending to be attorneys or police officers, or threatening to seize wages, property or Social Security payments unless paid.
Public humiliation was an effective tactic, Williams says. Some collectors "would leave messages saying they are 'investigators' who will call the debtor's boss if they didn't pay. Who wants that?"
Hard-luck stories or claims of mistaken identity fell on deaf ears. "Whether you owe or not, collectors figure you're gaming them," says Williams. "They justify their tactics because many debtors run their own scams, pretending to be somebody else or they're not home."
The best of times — and the worst
The economic turmoil of recent years has increased the volume for the debt-collecting business.
"Typically, about 3 percent of consumer debt has been turned over for collection, but today it's running at about 6 percent," says Mark Schiffman, spokesman for ACA International, the collection industry's trade association.
Keeping a job in this business, however, is the hard part. "Collectors must meet quotas — bringing in a certain amount of money each month — or risk losing their jobs," says Michelle Dunn, who owned a debt collection agency for eight years before writing The Guide to Getting Paid and other books for creditors and collectors. They face the paradox that while the amount of debt they're trying to collect is up, the amount they're able to collect is down.
"With unemployment and the bad economy, people don't have the money to pay back," says Schiffman. "Whether it's just that or the bad reputation of the industry, most people don't want to hear from us."
Sid Kirchheimer writes about consumer issues for AARP.org.
You may also like: Is mortgage modification for you?


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This was an incredible year for science and engineering. We sent a powerful robot scientist to Mars, and we discovered the elusive Higgs Boson particle, plus there were world-changing innovations in medicine and materials science. We sequenced the genome of a human ancestor, and looked into the mind of an artificial intelligence that recognized the content of images on the web for the first time (of course it included cat faces). Here are the seventeen biggest scientific breakthroughs of 2012.
NASA's Curiosity Rover Lands on Mars
NASA's one-ton, six-wheel-drive, nuclear-powered science laboratory — aka Curiosity — touched down on the surface of Mars in early August, following an eight-month voyage across millions of miles of space. It is far and away the biggest and most scientifically capable rover ever sent to another planet. The landing sequence, alone, which required lowering the rover to the surface of the planet from a hovering, rocket-powered sky crane, was the most technically impressive ever attempted, and played out beautifully.
Today, just five months into Curiosity's two-year primary mission, the rover is still just stretching its legs, but has already made several intriguing discoveries. In the months to come, the rover will begin poring over the pages of Mars' history, as it scans the layers of sedimentary rock comprising Mount Sharp in search of signs of whether the planet can, or ever could, support life.
Artificial DNA Brings Us Closer Than Ever to Synthesizing Entirely New Forms of Life
Synthetic biologists demonstrated that artificial nucleic acids known as "XNAs" can replicate and evolve just like DNA and RNA, and are even more resistant to degradation than the real thing. The implications of evolvable, artificial genetic information are vast, to put it lightly, and stand to affect everything from genetic research to the search for alien life, to the creation of an entirely synthetic, alternative life form.
Computers Learn to Recognize the Content of Images for the First Time
Does anybody really have any doubt that the world's first AI will be born in a Google server farm? This dream came closer to reality this year when Google's secretive X Lab produced evidence that it had developed a neural network that could actually recognize what it was seeing in pictures. It did this by examining millions of images on YouTube for a few days, then offering the researchers some composite images of what it had learned to recognize. Two of those images were unmistakably human and cat faces. This is the first time computers have taught themselves to recognize the content of images, and is a major leap forward in the quest to find ourselves some artificially intelligent friends.
Ancient DNA from Denisovans Sheds Light on What Made Homo sapiens Successful
This year, an international group of scientists completed a highly detailed analysis of DNA from what is estimated to be a 50-80,000 year old finger bone from a group of early humans called Denisovans. And it offered a glimpse at the genes that may have given modern humans an edge over our extinct counterparts. What the researchers found is that Denisovans shared a lot of genetic material with our human cousins, the Neanderthals. What set modern humans apart from both groups was a small set of genes that are related to brain development and cognition. It's possible that Homo sapiens survived, while our human cousins did not, because of something to do with how our brains worked. From this Denisovan DNA, we also learned more about where Neanderthals and Denisovans lived, and how they migrated across Europe and Asia long before Homo sapiens ever got the idea to leave Africa. Thanks to this research, we have a more detailed picture than ever of what human life was like tens of thousands of years ago.
Physicists Detect the Long-Sought Higgs Boson
After more than 40 years, the subatomic particle that some feared would never be described without the word "elusive" attached to it was finally detected: on the 4th of July, physicists from two experiments at the Large Hadron Collider announced that the Higgs Boson had been found. The Higgs represents the last missing piece of The Standard Model of particle physics, and helps explain how other elementary particles get their mass.
The discovery lost Stephen Hawking a $100-bet, and placed the future of particle physics on uncertain terrain. "Is the particle a Higgs boson of maximum simplicity, as predicted by the 40-year-old standard model of particle physics," inquires Matthew Chalmers in this Nature News feature, "or is it something more complex and interesting that will point towards a deeper, more complete theory?" Only time — and new, powerful particle accelerators — will tell.
Researchers publish ENCODE, the "Encyclopedia" of DNA
In what is arguably the biggest milestone for genetics since the publication of the human genome, researchers this year debuted The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements Project (aka The "ENCODE" Project), publishing 30 papers across three different scientific journals with the aim of cataloguing not just the genome's various component parts, but what those components actually do. Among the initiative's many findings was that so-called "junk DNA" - outlier DNA sequences that do not encode for protein sequences - are not junk at all, and are in fact responsible for such things as gene regulation, disease onset, and even human height.
Researchers Create a Mammal Entirely from Stem Cells
For the first time in history, researchers at Kyoto University created a mouse by using eggs derived from stem cells alone. The achievement once again shows the remarkable possibilities presented by regenerative technologies like stem cells, while raising pressing ethical questions about the potential for human births in which parents might not be required.
This Electronic Implant can Dissolve Inside Your Body
The boundary that divides man from machine continues to dissolve — often in more literal ways than you might imagine. Scientists in September announced a new class of implantable electronics that can carry out a designated task for anywhere from a few hours to several weeks before disappearing completely, resorbing into the body after serving its purpose. The potential applications of this technology — dubbed "Transient Electronics" by its creator, bioengineer John Rogers — are many, and run the gamut from vanishing biological implants to environmentally friendly phones.
The First Study to Examine What Happens to Women Denied Abortions
For the first time in history, a group of researchers did a longitudinal study of what happens to women who seek out abortions, but are denied them under restrictive legal frameworks. The UC San Francisco research team followed nearly 1,000 women from diverse backgrounds across the U.S. over several years, after they were unable to have their abortions. What they discovered was that these women were more likely to slip below the poverty line, be unemployed, remain in abusive relationships with the fathers of their children, and feel stressed out from having too many responsibilities. Only a tiny percentage of them put their babies up for adoption, and most already had children before seeking an abortion. What this ongoing study demonstrates is that abortion is an economic issue for women, with dire consequences for those denied them.
Spaceflight Goes Private
The future of space exploration belongs not to government agencies, but private companies, and California-based SpaceX is leading the way. This year, while NASA's various Space Shuttles were busy hanging up their space boots, SpaceX became the first private company in history to complete a commercial cargo delivery to the International Space Station, the first of 12 contracted resupply missions in a $1.6-billion delivery deal with NASA.
Also on SpaceX's docket: 20 commercial and non-U.S. government satellites and payloads; a $260-million contract with the U.S. Air Force; and plans for Martian settlement. With objectives like that, is it any wonder the company's founder, Elon Musk, helped inspire Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of Tony Stark?
The Environment is Falling to Shit, and People are Taking Notice
Arctic sea ice reached an all-time low in September; covering a mere 3.4 million square kilometers of Arctic Ocean, this year's minimum was 800,000 square miles smaller than the previous record. Every month seemed to bring news of unprecedented heat. The record for "hottest 12-month period" was shattered no fewer than four times, and July was the hottest month in recorded U.S. history.
Meanwhile, record-setting droughts, wildfires and hurricanes rocked the planet; new research indicates parts of Antarctica are warming three times faster than previously believed; Bloomberg Businessweek called climate deniers stupid; and even idiots started believing in global warming.
Autism Symptoms Were Reversed in Mice
Every year we learn more about the many mechanisms that can trigger autism, a complicated spectrum disorder that is still poorly understood. One incredible study this year offered hope for researchers seeking a way to understand how autism develops in some people, and perhaps one day craft a targeted gene therapy. Using mice with autism-like symptoms caused by a genetic mutation, the researchers figured out how to administer a protein that reversed the symptoms. No, it will not lead to a cure any time soon. It will lead to something better: An understanding of the many ways autism can start.
A Working Tractor Beam
An experiment revealed that tractor beams are within our reach. For the first time, researchers demonstrated in the lab that a Bessel beam could be used to move a tiny silica sphere back and forth, drawing it toward and away from the source of the laser light. Though it had been theorized that Bessel beams worked like this, nobody had been able to do it. The team did this by essentially creating a strobe effect, using multiple lenses to create overlapping beams and adjusting the beams' relative phases. This provided the required energy to move the object toward the beam.
The World's Most High-Tech Condom
At last, a rubber-meets-the-road moment for materials science. Using a nano-fabrication technique called electrospinning, a team of researchers created a female condom that is woven out of fibers that block sperm and also release a medicine that prevents HIV infections. The material can also be designed to harmlessly evaporate in a matter of hours or days, depending on what the woman wants. Sure, the Mars Rover could change the future. But this simple technology could change women's lives all over the world right now.
The Most Comprehensive Face Transplant in History
Yes, there have been face transplants before, but this was the first full-face transplant — and it worked marvelously well. The recipient had lost most of his face in a gun accident, and now has a full face that he was able to move within days of his surgery. This will lead to many more people gaining a new lease on life with a face that functions almost as well as the one they were born with — and possibly, better.
There Is More Water Than We Thought in the Solar System
This was the year of water in our solar system. We already had strong evidence of plentiful water on the Moon, and this year we found it for Mars, Jupiter's moon Europa and Mercury — plus we got more detailed images of Saturn moon Titan's river systems, which probably flow with liquid methane and ethane. Water on other planets isn't exactly like water on Earth — usually it's packed with hydrocarbons, or is extremely brackish. But now at least we have evidence that water isn't as usual as we thought out there. Future space colonists may be able to mine for water on other words, using refineries to purify it into something potable.
A Virus That Creates Electricity
One day you could power your laptop just by typing. And you'll do it by using a virus called M13. The secret of M13 lies in something called the "piezoelectric effect," which happens when certain materials like crystals (or viruses) emit a small amount of power when squeezed. M13 exhibits this effect, and also has the handy ability to organize itself into tidy, invisible sheets of film. Imagine painting a layer of this film onto the casing for your laptop. Every time you tap the keyboard, these viruses convert the pressure from your fingers into electricity that constantly powers up your battery. Any kind of motion can power up M13, so you could conceivably power your house by jumping up and down on a virus-coated floor, or power your iPod by jiggling it in your pocket. Also, don't worry about a scary M13 pandemic where people start squeezing each other for energy. M13 only infects bacteria, so it is harmless to humans.


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Black Bean Salad with Corn, Red Peppers, Avocado
and Lime-Cilantro Vinaigrette
2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained
3 ears fresh cooked corn, kernels cut off the cob
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons minced shallots, from one medium shallot
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 tablespoons sugar
9 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, best quality such as Colavita
1 teaspoon lime zest (be sure to zest limes before juicing them)
6 tablespoons fresh lime juice
½ cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
2 Haas avocados, chopped
Combine all ingredients except for avocados in a large bowl and mix well. Cover and chill for a few hours or overnight. Right before serving, add avocados and mix gently, being careful not to mash avocados. Garnish with more chopped cilantro, if desired.
Serve at room temperature.
Servings: 6-8


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While most of the Archive documents musical activity at the court of George III, a few items concern related literary and artistic pursuits of the princesses. Journal des dames, a serial published in London, brought current fashions in French literature, music, and dress to English subscribers. Five volumes of bound issues for 1817-1819 are found in the Archive, containing articles for language study, printed in French and Italian on facing pages; music and dance instructions for French social dance; and, as shown in the example above, fashion plates and embroidery patterns.
Several sample images from a volume with binder's title "1er Année: Modes et dessins de broderie" are shown below. Complete images for the following volumes are available in Beinecke's Digital Library:
1er Année: Modes et dessins de broderie
2de Année: Modes et dessins de broderie
1er Année: Litterature
2de Année: Litterature
2de Année: Musique instrumentale
This volume is one of two collections of fashion plates from Journal des dames. Each volume contains approximately 50 engraved plates showing women's dresses worn at court, balls, masked balls, and weddings, as well as women's hats and coats, and a few examples of children's clothing. The volume contains the following title page:
Most plates have been hand colored with watercolors, possibly by the princesses. Surrounding each illustration are two or more embroidery patterns, some with instructions in English. Below are several examples from this volume, which contains plates identified as "Costume Parisien du mois de juin, 1817."
One of two wedding dresses in the volume:
Other dresses are for balls:
This volume contains one costume for a masked ball, inspired by clothing of Peru:
Though most plates show women's dresses, there are a few examples of children's clothing:
Some embroidery patterns are for hats or accessories, such as these "chiffres pour mouchior de poche" (monograms for handkerchiefs):
Several plates show additional hats in detail:


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Hello! My name is Edye (E-D) and I'm a new teenage "lifestyle blogger". I have been a reader of blogs for over a year and thought I'd finally make a blog post of my own. My life isn't all that interesting, but maybe somebody will think it's entertaining? I've gone back and forth trying to pick a first blog topic. I thought why not a good ol' Thinking Out Loud?! I love reading them and I love writing, so here it goes…
Disclaimer: I wrote this post two days ago, on Thursday, and just now decided to finally post it. Feeling under the weather. I like to think of myself as a healthy person. I eat healthy, exercise, drink lots of water, get a flu shot, etc. However, all those things (unfortunately) don't make me exempt from the occasional cold. This past week has consisted of a sore throat, runny nose, congestion and HEADACHES!! UGH! I am slowly feeling better and more like myself day by day. I'm a Type A person, so relaxing and "taking it easy" is very difficult for me. I have a hard time letting myself relax when I have exams to study for, workouts, books to read, chores to do… But, I know that rest is a necessity for our bodies, just like air. I have tried to learn from this and not push myself so much. Practice makes perfect.
Pretty Little Liars…? Okay, what season are we on? 5? 6? I love this show and am attached to the characters. But, honestly I'm so confused already. Who is Sara Harvey? Why didn't we get to know Charlotte/Charlie more? So many questions. I think they're running out of plot ideas and are grasping for straws at this point. I'm a loyal fan and will watch this show until the end, but honestly have no idea where this season will end up. I am excited to find out though!
Super Bowl 50 Sadly, my Seattle Seahawks weren't in the super bowl this year. I am a very loyal fan (insert fan pics here) I was willing to root for my moms boy Peyton Manning this one time. Sunday afternoon was pretty chill. My mom, grandma and I watched the game, ate chips, rooted for the Bronco's and they won!! YAY! Yay for my mom, not because I'm a fan 😉 Let's talk commercials. I was a little underwhelmed with them. What's up with Budwiser? Where's the horses and puppies? Where's the sappy commercials that make me have really bad allergies? The only one that stood out was the Dorito's and Suburu commercials. Those were a solid B+.
Swinter I feel like it's 2011 and I'm back in my pink bedroom watching Phineas and Ferb. Winter this year has been all over the place. Hot one day, cold the next. Mother nature has been really odd recently. I'm no Al Roker, but I know this whole El Niño thing is messing with winter's mojo. #ThanksPhil
Well that a wrap! I think I could get used to this whole blogging thing 😉 Hope you all have a fabulous weekend ❤
Question time:
Do you watch PLL? What do you think of this season?
Who'd you root for in the Super Bowl? Broncos or Panthers?
Comments, questions, post requests? Leave em below!
Thanks for reading, Edye


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Welcome !!
MFP Stamps Challenge Week 8
MFP Stamps Challenge Week 8
The Challenge line up each month for 2016 will have a weekly challenge and will follow a schedule.
There will be a CAS with a THEME card 1st Sat.,
A Technique card 2nd Sat.,
we'll supply the tutorial
A different Kind of Card 3rd Sat.,
we'll supply the tutorial
a color challenge 4th Sat.
and an Anything goes if there is a 5th Sat.
This week's Challenge
Follow this Different Kind of Card tutorial
This weeks stamp prize is the set "All Postal"
Please click on the Design Team members name to go to their blogs to read about their card.
The winner from our last challenge, (week 7) is Janis in Idaho
You have won the set **USA Heros**.
Congratulations on your win.
I hope everyone enjoys this weeks challenge! We look forward to seeing your wonderful creations and commenting on your beautiful cards. You have until 3PM on Friday Feb. 26, 2016 to post your card. Please remember to link your card back to us or mention MFP Stamps Challenge in your blog post. And if you use an MFP stamp your name will be entered into the drawing twice. Have fun and good luck.
Happy Stamping


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Top Items:
Agence France Presse:
Google sues Polish poets over gmail.pl — WARSAW (AFP) - Google has launched legal action against a group of Polish poets, demanding that they give up their Internet domain name gmail.pl, a member of the cultural collective said. — Izabela Krawczyk of GMAiL — the "Grupa Mlodych Artystow i Literatow …
Discussion: Guardian Unlimited, Joe Duck, ALLIED and Digital Markets
Jack Schofield / Guardian Unlimited: Polish poets threaten Google's supremacy
Jeneane Sessum / ALLIED: Google Tries the Eminent Domain Trick on Polish Poets
Donna Bogatin / Digital Markets: Google's big European hypocricy
Phil Butler / Profy.Com:
Polish Poets Threaten Google Supremacy! — Google has launched legal action once again, this time against a group of Polish Poets! How's that for coming down hard on the little guy? In the press release Google is evidently trying to get the money hungry, robber baron poets to give up their Internet domain name gmail.pl.
Discussion: Digital Inspiration
Smaran / TorrentFreak:
MPAA Steals Code, Violates Linkware License — Patrick Robin, a 29 year old web developer from South England, is the developer of an ASP-based blogging platform called Forest Blog. He distributes it freely under a linkware license, asking that anyone who uses it merely link back to his site where Forest Blog is offered for download.
Discussion: Boing Boing, Smalltalk Tidbits … and digg
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing: MPAA rips off freeware author
James A. Robertson / Smalltalk Tidbits, Industry Rants: The MPAA LIves in Animal Farm
Brent Simmons / ranchero.com:
NetNewsWire 3.0d46: sneak-peek release — It is not feature-complete—there are a bunch of features still to do before 3.0 ships. — It has lots of bugs! There are lots of bugs to fix before 3.0 ships. — It is a work in progress! — If you're not comfortable running pre-release software, please don't use this version!
Discussion: MacUser
Aaron Freedman / MacUser: NetNewsWire 3.0 developer version released to the public
NetNewsWire 3.0d46 sneak-peek release
NetNewsWire 3.0d46 sneak-peek release
Discussion: The Unofficial Apple Weblog and Infinite Loop
David Chartier / The Unofficial Apple Weblog: Beta Beat: NetNewsWire 3.0 sneak peak
Skitzzo / SEOrefugee Blog:
10 Mistakes that Will KILL a Forum — As we've already discussed, there are certain things you need to do in order to promote your forum. However, even if you're successful, you and your community are still not care free. There are several things that can effectively kill even the most established forum.
Discussion: Innovation in College Media and digg
Stowe Boyd / Message:
Big Spike In Feedburner Subscribers — I was at Feedburner approving an ad for my /Message feed, and I saw that the number of subscribers to the feed went up 700+ yesterday: a 34% increase in one day. — If anyone has an explanation, I would be interested. I wasn't dugg yesterday, was I?
Discussion: Ensight, CyberNet Technology News, Mashable! and Search Engine Land
Jeremy Wright / Ensight: Google: World's #1 Feed Reader
Pete Cashmore / Mashable!: Google Reader Starts Counting
Everything USB News, Reviews, Tips:
Flash Drive Talks When Plugged In — Oh, crap. I can see it at next years CES show, all the flash drives they hand out with press kits on them will play sales pitches when I plug them in. The only thing I need less than another flash drive to add to my desktop pile is one that talks to me every time I plug it in.
Discussion: Gizmodo, Ubergizmo, Engadget and Ministry of Tech
Darren Murph / Engadget: USB Sound Flash Drive packs integrated speaker
John Gruber / Daring Fireball:
Translation From PR-Speak to English of Selected Portions of Macrovision CEO Fred Amoroso's Response to Steve Jobs's 'Thoughts on Music' — Source: "Macrovision's Response to Steve Jobs's Open Letter". … F**k you, Jobs. … We've been helping and encouraging the entertainment industry …
Discussion: brainwagon, Ars Technica, Techdirt, Podcasting News and digg
Mark VandeWettering / brainwagon: Macrovision's Response to Steve Jobs' Open Letter
Ken Fisher / Ars Technica: Macrovision's DRM Valentine: consumers not only need it, they will love it
Ryan Block / Engadget:
Macrovision, the original DRM company, replies in open letter to Jobs
Macrovision, the original DRM company, replies in open letter to Jobs
Discussion: Guardian Unlimited, Gizmodo and digg
KPaul / bungie.net:
Halo 3 Beta FAQ — Is Halo 3 beta registration closed? — Yes, phases one and two of the beta have already ended. If you haven't received an email by this point, then you were not one of the lucky few. — Is there no other way?! — If you didn't get in to either phase …
Discussion: Xbox 360 Fanboy, Kotaku, Joystiq, Game | Life and digg
David Dreger / Xbox 360 Fanboy: Introducing the Halo 3 Beta Leaderboard/List
Jared Rea / Joystiq: Bungie preps invited players with Halo 3 beta FAQ
Chris Kohler / Game | Life: Halo 3 Beta FAQ
Elinor Mills / CNET News.com:
Google hears static on radio bid — news analysis The departure last week of two top Google radio ad honchos had observers wondering whether the search giant could conquer the old-fashioned $20 billion radio industry with its new-fashioned technology. — With stations loathe to give …
Discussion: michael parekh on IT and Slashdot
The Things Other Apple Airport Extreme Reviews Don't Tell You — You're all familiar with the specs of the Extreme, so let's just skip to how it performed—later moving on to the problems we had. — On the performance side, 802.11n really does work a lot faster than our old 802.11g D-Link DGL-4300 Gaming Router.
Dan Moren / MacUser: AirPort Extreme review roundup
Sarah McBride / Wall Street Journal:
Hollywood Weighs Copyright Protections — Forces in Music Industry Close In — On Filmmakers Amid Online Piracy — Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs's recent open letter urging that digital music be distributed free of copyright protections was aimed at the recording industry.
Discussion: Medialoper, PaidContent and Boing Boing
Jimmy Guterman / PaidContent: Music Industry Begins to Imagine a Post-DRM World; Will Movie Studios Follow Suit?
Cory Doctorow / Boing Boing: Macrovision sends pretty lies to Steve Jobs
A Wiimote You Can Eat — Some people look at an empty bit of plastic packaging and see trash. Others see the culinary potential inherent in the translucent shell. People like flickr user Balakov, who decided to see what happened when he filled the shell of his empty Wii Play wiimote …
Discussion: Crave and Harry Chen Thinks Aloud
Caroline McCarthy / Crave: Long Weekend Project: Wii chocolate
Neil Patel / Pronet Advertising:
5 Sure-Fire Social Media Headline Formulas That Work — Although content is important when you are trying to leverage social media sites like Netscape or Digg, the story title used for the submission maybe as important if not more important. Here are a few types of titles that I have found to be effective.
Discussion: Link Building Blog and Rex Hammock's weblog
Cameron Olthuis / Link Building Blog: Sure-fire titles for SEO
Jeremiah Owyang / Web Strategy:
Dell to go Community Driven Feature Design in Latest Web Strategy "IdeaStorm" — Dell appears to be a company of the future, they're opening the lines of communication using the web to build better products and services. — When I was invited by Lionel of Dell to hang with bloggers …
Discussion: Mark Evans and TechBlog
Marshall Kirkpatrick / TechCrunch:
Dell Pays Tribute to Digg with New IdeaStorm Site
Dell Pays Tribute to Digg with New IdeaStorm Site
Discussion: Guardian Unlimited
Jack Schofield / Guardian Unlimited: Dell 2.0 — Michael brews up an IdeaStorm
Declan McCullagh / CNET News.com:
Exiled journalists circumvent censors by text messaging — PARIS—Journalists writing about Zimbabwe's repressive government have found a new way to circumvent their censors: sending text messages via cell phone. — A radio station hounded out of the country by Zimbabwean strongman President Robert Mugabe …