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I started playing Half Life 2 again recently. I don't know why. During it I've noticed a theme: I really like burning places with zombies. In WoW it's Stratholme. In HL2 it's Ravenholme.
If you're not familiar with HL2, here's the general concept of the zombies: these parasites called head crabs, which are about the size of a very fat cat, latch onto a person's head. They then control them. The person is still alive, and from the sound of it, quite aware of their situation and the pain involved. For the most part they are slow and don't hurt much, but they make the most awful sounds. The worst is the one carrying the poison ones. It sounds so sad, yet relieved when it dies.
Ravenholme is a town that got bombarded with shells filled with headcrabs, resulting in a lot of fire and zombies. And Father Grigori.
I've decided that WoW needs someone like this holy man. He is clearly insane, but clearly a strange sort of genius, and perfectly devout. He remains in the town to save his flock. This means killing zombies. I find him to be an inspiration, the kind of man I'd hope to be when the zombie/alien invasion comes. Oh yes, the Earth of Half Life has been invaded by aliens, alien bugs, and zombies. The hero is a physicist who more than once is sent to stabilize a reactor core (nuclear would be trivial compared to this technology) and whose appearance causes joy among all nearby. He's followed by a hot chick who is good at killing zombies with her bare hands or gun. In other words, it's a nerd's dream.
I created my paladin before I knew about HL2, but somehow I ended up on a similar path. I like to kill zombies, I'm an engineer, and my character is her own hot chick. She is a blood elf after all. But perhaps she could be a bit more like Father Grigori rather than Gordon Freeman. A 'moderate Scarlet', meaning just as fanatical and crazy, but not as prone to murdering innocents. Unless they wander into one of my traps.u
LOTRO: Speak into my magic ball
14 hours ago


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I discovered the new ad this morning and I'm LOVING it. It will be a big help to couponers, as well as the average consumer.
"It's about time you found out.
myWeekly Ad is the revolutionary way to save. Sign in or create a CVS.com® account to see what's in store for you."
All of the deals are neatly separated by category. The part that I love the most is that the vagueness the ads conveyed before is gone. Now, when you see a deal, you can click "deal details" and it REALLY fills you in on the details. For example, a specific item list for the sale, right there at the click of a mouse.
I'm still in the process of checking it out myself, but I had to share my excitement. Go check it out. www.cvs.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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While the sound of bands like Flavor Waster is nothing new, what this Washington DC outfit have managed to do with it is create something different within it. With heavy inspirations from post-hardcore and punk bands like Refused and Fall Of Troy, their music is juxtaposed with the soft vocals of lead singer Jodi Jones, who somehow manages to create a more wistful edge to their tough exterior and makes for a much more interesting listen.
With this being their debut album, 'It's Always Sunny When You're Cool' is being seen as more of a litmus paper for the band's musical direction. Filled with a whole range of ideas and directions, the record can move from an onslaught of ridged guitars and ferocious drumming to a tranquil ballad with next to no notice. And while this mix of styles does dampen the album's pace, they have just the right amount of variation to keep it on track throughout.
Bold and energetic, Flavor Waster have certainly made a lasting impression with their debut full-length. An eclectic cacophony of rock awesomeness with all the hallmarks of band that knows exactly where they are going.


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Dozens of products are tested every month in the Good Housekeeping Research Institute (GHRI). Our experts evaluate these items using a host of criteria, state-of-the-art equipment, consumer feedback, and other metrics to arrive at decisive conclusions about which products are the best in their categories. For Good Housekeeping's February 2013 issue, we tested BB creams, red wine stain removers, single-serving coffee makers fitness, video games, and contenders for our 5th annual VIP (Very Innovative Product) Awards. Read on to see which ones performed the best.
Single-Serving Coffee Maker. Our experts in the Kitchen Appliances & Technology Lab brewed 288 cups of coffee in 17 machines before selecting the best single-serving coffee maker: the Keurig Vue, which sports a 74-ounce water tank and automatically adjusts the water flow and brewing time based on your selection. Want a small cup of coffee? Prefer a cappuccino or hot cider? The versatile Vue has the ability to do more than brew a great cup of coffee, although it certainly does deliver on the java. Handy features include an adjustable cup stand, good for taller mugs, and an easy-to-program LED screen. For reviews of other coffee makers, please take a look at GHRI Test results.
Beauty Balm Creams. GHRI's Health, Beauty, and Environmental Sciences Lab rounded up 10 creams for laboratory and consumer testing. The top cream? Lumene Illuminating Anti-Age BB Cream SPF 20. Not only did Lumene perform the best as a moisturizer, but, according to testers, it provided cosmetic coverage that lasted all day long. The cream's two shades ("light" and "medium") blended in with a variety of skin tones. Read about our Anti-Aging Awards to learn about other top beauty products.
Fitness Video Games. Testers stretched, jumped, danced, and ran in place along with the digital instructors in 12 video games. Nike+ Kinect Training for Xbox 360 finished ahead of the rest. According to one tester, Nike+ is "a real workout, not just for fun." A range of sensors let you navigate the game with hand motions by allowing the game to "see you" and more precisely track your aerobic movements. Nike+ gives you the ability to customize your workout, even choosing whether your goal is to "get toned" or "get strong." Never before has a video game come so close to being a real, in-your-face personal trainer.
More From Good Housekeeping
Red Wine Stain Removers. Experts in our Home Appliances & Cleaning Products Lab splattered red wine on cotton, polyester, and carpeting, then put ten red wine stain removers to the test. Though all tested stain removers performed admirably, Wine Away scored better than the rest. As it was easy to use and rinsed without difficulty from carpeting, Wine Away's our top choice for those unfortunate occasions in which you stain a shirt or rug with red wine.
Also, be sure to check out the winners of our2013 VIP awards.


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Home schooling on the rise in Virginia
The number of home-schoolers in Virginia has increased by more than 50 percent over the past decade, to more than 32,000 children. If they were a school district, it would be the ninth-largest in the state–with almost as many students as the Norfolk Public Schools
By Allison Landry and Amber Shiflett | Capital News Service
Amy Wilson says she didn't choose home schooling; her son did.
"My son chose home schooling when he was about 3. I didn't realize that's what was happening at the time. We tried having him go to preschool, and it was not a good fit for him," said Wilson, the government affairs director for the Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers. "Once I started questioning preschool, I suddenly found myself in this land of home-schoolers."
Across the United States, a growing number of parents like Wilson have chosen home schooling as an alternative to public schools. In Virginia, the number of home-schoolers has increased by more than 50 percent over the past decade, according to the Virginia Department of Education.
There are now more than 32,000 home-schoolers in Virginia. If they were a school district, it would be the ninth-largest in the state – with almost as many students as the Norfolk Public Schools.
Why Families Choose Home Schooling
A variety of factors push parents to try home schooling. They include flexibility, concerns about the quality of public schools and the freedom to teach without boundaries.
Ann Zeise is a home-schooling expert and owner of A to Z Home's Cool Homeschooling, a popular website that provides resources and guidance on the subject. Zeise said many factors influence the growth of home schooling, such as:
- The perception of whether the public schools in a state are good or bad
- The ease of complying with the state's home-schooling laws
- The availability of a support network for home-schooling parents and students
Home schooling gives parents the opportunity to choose the schedule, curriculum and teaching style that best suits the needs of the child and the family, according to Parrish Mort, president of the Organization for Virginia Homeschoolers (usually called VaHomeschoolers).
"It's a great gift to really be able to fine-tune your child's education to their learning styles," Mort said. "What home schooling gives you is the freedom that you just don't have as much of when you choose school."
Moreover, home schooling allowed Mort to accommodate her son's specialized learning needs. "It became a lifestyle for us, and we loved it," Mort said.
Susannah Foster, a home educator for 10 years in Fairfax County, says her three children–ages 5, 11, and 15–have all benefited from home schooling.
"We've been able to move at each child's individual pace, choose a curriculum best-suited to their individual learning styles and needs, and pursue their interests in a way that, I hope, allows them to enjoy education rather than dread it," Foster said.
Christina Caffi is a former home educator in Fairfax County and office manager for a holistic family practice. She said home schooling helped bring her family together.
"We were able to enjoy more time with our child, getting to know her and to tailor her education to her needs and interests," Caffi said. "We were able to avoid the stress of the public school schedule and take advantage of the freedom of our schedule."
Caffi said she began considering home schooling after observing the conditions at her daughter's high school.
"When our first child entered high school, we were dismayed at the lack of discipline in her public high school," Caffi said. "Remembering our own experiences in high school just 20 years before, we had concerns for the negative peer pressure she was facing and for the erosion of the moral values that we had tried to instill in her."
Home Schooling: Doing the Math
Nationwide, there are more than 2 million home-schoolers, according to the National Home Education Research Institute.
During the 1994-95 school year, Virginia had 9,623 home-schoolers (including children kept out of public schools for religious reasons). By 2001-02, the number hit 21,121; and by 2011-12, the most recent year available, it climbed to 32,064. They represent 2.5 percent of all school-age children in Virginia.
The school divisions with the most home-schoolers are Fairfax County (2,929), Loudoun County (2,119), Chesterfield County (1,954), Prince William County (1,345) and Virginia Beach (982). That's not surprising, because those are highly populated areas, and the home-schoolers there represent a tiny fraction of the school-age population.
But in Floyd County, in Southwest Virginia, the 269 home-schoolers represent nearly 12 percent of all school-age children, according to data analysis by Capital News Service. In Surry County, in the Hampton Roads area, home-schoolers represent 11 percent of all school-age children.
In 25 school divisions in Virginia, more than 5 percent of all school-age children are home-schooled. They range from Fauquier County and the city of Staunton to Powhatan and Warren counties.
Virginia's Home-School Rules
Virginia makes it easy to home-school. Parents don't need a college degree or any special academic qualifications. All they must do is:
- Notify the local district of their intent to home-school
- Provide a general curriculum, which can be a correspondence course or distance learning program
- Provide evidence of progress of the child's academic progress each year
During the VaHomeschoolers Conference and Resource Fair in March in Glen Allen, Stephanie Elms, a member of the organization's board, held an introductory session on the paperwork and legalities behind home schooling. Elms explained the different options under state law for evaluating a child's progress.
"Home-schooled children," she said, "do not need to follow the Standards of Learning"–Virginia's standardized testing program that critics say is too rigid.
Instead, she said, home-schoolers could take an alternative standardized test, such as the California Achievement Test, the Iowa Test, or the Stanford Achievement Test.
"For those kids where standardized testing is not a good reflection of their abilities, there is an option two," Elms said. "Under this option there are alternative methods for evaluation." They include written documentation showing evidence of progress, a portfolio of student work, report cards or transcripts.
What about Socialization?
Foster said home schooling is not the best option for every parent, but she believes it is the best option for preserving her individual family values.
"Great teachers are a blessing, but even the greatest teacher can't possibly care for the development of a child as much as a parent does," Foster said. "This is not a lifestyle that is appropriate for every family."
One concern about home schooling is that children might not learn social skills from associating and working with students in a traditional school setting.
Missy Edwards, the former vice president of the Parent Teacher Association at Lanier Middle School in Fairfax, expressed that concern. She has three children, who have all attended public schools. Edwards said she has been actively involved in her children's academic paths throughout high school.
Like many public school parents, Edwards believes home schooling cannot provide the type of benefits that public schools do.
"I don't believe that home-schoolers can benefit from the social and academic capabilities of dealing with real-world issues," Edwards said. She said public school "has provided my kids with socialization skills that I wouldn't be able to give them if I had them at home with me every day."
While Edwards said that she could never be a home-school parent, VaHomeschoolers leaders Amy Wilson of Prince William County and Parrish Mort of Cumberland County said public schools have always been an option for their children.
"If they told me they wanted to go to public school, I would let them give it a try. So far, they both prefer home schooling," Wilson said.
Mort agreed: "Every year, we'd re-evaluate. It's one child, one year at a time. If they chose to make a different choice, it was fine."
As the number of home-schoolers has grown, so have the opportunities for home-schoolers to socialize with each other.
"With so many people home-schooling, it isn't difficult to find a group of like-minded families with which to socialize," Caffi said. "There are many opportunities for fun or learning experiences with groups and service opportunities abound."
Caffi pointed out another advantage of home schooling: Parents know whom their child is socializing with. "That is a responsibility that is difficult to maintain in the away-from-home school setting."
photo by Randen Pederson
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text: Ever watch The Boondocks? Well, here is the healthier vegan version of "The Luther". LOL. I got it at Hella Vegan Eats. They're in the East Bay CA area. Kamut beet patty with two toasted donuts. The Donuts were not that sweet at all! Was good! Yummy! And no, I didn't get "the itis" after eating it.


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The Timberwolves take on the playoff-bound Phoenix Suns tonight in Phoenix. Tip is at 8 P.M. CST. You can see it on FSN or League pass and, as always, hear it on WCCO 830.
I have to drive down to Washington, D.C., later this afternoon, so this will be brief.
A few quick notes, below the fold.


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Warm Hospitality in a Quiet Country Setting
168 Autumn Heights Dr. Salkum, WA email@example.com
(360) 985-2434 or 800 985-2434
The secluded Inn offers wonderful star gazing, bird watching, and a view of the Cowlitz Valley and the rolling hills beyond.
We're located one half mile down Fischer Rd., in the heart of country only 13.5 miles East of I-5 on a National Scenic Byway (Highway 12), off Exit 68 and en route to all 3 of our mountains.
On a clear day, as you drive east along Highway 12, watch for Majestic Mt. Rainier on your left. Straight ahead and slightly to the right is Romantic Mt. Adams, and further to the right is the World Famous & Awesome Mt. St. Helens.
Gourmet Breakfast Featuring The Shepherds Inn Signature Huckleberry Crepes!
NEW YouTube How-To Videos for Huckleberry Crepes & Filling.
In The Morning...
The birds will serenade you with their morning songs as you smell the delightful aroma of breakfast wafting into your room. While you savor a memorable breakfast, be sure to keep your eyes open for signs of deer or other wildlife that often wander by.
In The Evening...
You may be entertained by watching a family of deer or owls who visit regularly, sit by the pond and feed the fish, or take a stroll down the lane. Then as the sun slowly creeps behind the distant hills, you may decide to share the romance of watching another masterpiece as it's being painting in the evening sky.
During Spring and Summer you can expect to be lulled to sleep by our frog pond opera after your complimentary evening dessert!
About the Innkeepers: Richard and Ellen Berdan - Read More
Current Happenings:
The 8th Annual Onalaska Apple Harvest Festival is coming up on September 30 -October 2, 2016
Gift Certificates Available
Call (800) 985-2434 for more information.
|Check out the The Shepherd's Inn Bed & Breakfast at Washington Bed & Breakfast Guild web site
Member Since 1991


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دانلود Helping Your Child Through Early Adolescence با فرمت pdf
دانلود Helping Your Child Through Early Adolescence با فرمت pdf
Early adolescence can be a challenging time for children and parents alike. Parents often feel unprepared and they may view the years from 10 through 14 as a time just "to get through." However, research and common sense tell us that this view is very limited. During the early adolescent years, parents and families can greatly influence the growth and development of their children. We sell our children short if we expect little from them and we sell ourselves short if we believe that we have no influence. A growing awareness that young adolescents can accomplish a great deal is behind a national effort to improve education in America's middle grades. At the heart of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a promise to raise standards for all children and to help all children meet those standards.
In support of this goal, President George W. Bush is committed to promoting the very best teaching programs. Well-trained teachers and instruction that is based on research can bring the best teaching approaches and programs to children of all ages and help ensure that no child is left behind. Helping Your Child through Early Adolescence is part of the president's efforts to provide parents with the latest research and practical information that can help you support your children both at home and in school. It's not easy to raise a young teen. Many outside influences distract our children and complicate our efforts. Exhaustion, anxiety, a lack of support and limited resources may make it hard for us to be all that we want to be for our children. But whatever the challenges, we share one aim: to do the best job possible as parents. We hope that you will find this publication helpful in achieving this goal.


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Fortinet Rapidly Expands Its Partner Focused Security as a Service Cloud Offerings With Additional FortiCloud Offerings
Fortinet now offers Appliance, Virtual Machine, Native Cloud and SaaS delivery of the Security Fabric
Jon Bove, Vice President, Channel Sales at Fortinet
"Fortinet is helping partners and customers to accelerate cloud adoption by providing the most extensive offering of security MaaS and SaaS offerings in the industry. FortiCloud Services provides our partners the opportunity to offer their customers both proven and easy to implement, manage, and scale security solutions."
News Summary
Fortinet® (NASDAQ: FTNT), a global leader in broad, integrated and automated cybersecurity solutions, today announced it is rapidly expanding its partner-focused Security-as-a-Service (SaaS) cloud offerings with additional FortiCloud solutions, providing the industry's most extensive collection of Management-as-a-Service (MaaS) and SaaS services. The breadth of services available provides Fortinet partners and customers the opportunity to select cloud security and management offerings that are easy-to-implement, easy-to-manage, flexible, and scalable as their business grows. In addition, the broad FortiCloud Services portfolio enables customers to consolidate their number of security vendors to streamline threat correlation.
FortiCloud Services currently includes 10 MaaS and SaaS offerings, including FortiGate Cloud Service, Fortinet's cloud-based firewall management tool, which is experiencing rapid growth and already has over 550,000 subscriptions. Similarly, FortiSandbox Cloud has an adoption rate that has grown more than 300% to eclipse 125,000 licensed users. Those customers looking for valuable performance extensions to their FortiGate UTM, can also tap into the benefits of FortiMail SEG, FortiWeb WAF and more.
The FortiCloud Services Partner Opportunity
FortiCloud Services provide end-user customers with platform options. Many of the services are available on multiple platforms such as appliance, virtual machine, and cloud, offering partners and customers the ability to tailor their FortiCloud services to suit their individual needs. For example,
- FortiCloud Services help Fortinet partners become more operationally efficient through automation and centralized management.
- FortiCloud Services offers flexible business models that helps partners to scale with their customers' needs.
- The variety of FortiCloud Services allows partners to offer features with devices designed for high performance security, translating to quicker ROI for operating expenses and opportunity for partners and their customers.
FortiCloud Services includes the following MaaS and Saas offerings:
- FortiGate Cloud: Fortinet's cloud-based firewall management tool
- FortiAP: Providing integrated and secure wireless access
- FortiExtender: The company's secure LTE wireless WAN extender, providing 3G/4G connectivity for reliable broadband to the internet
- FortiSwitch: Delivers a secure, simple, scalable Ethernet solution with outstanding security, performance, and manageability
- FortiManager: Offers customers automation-driven and single pane-of-glass management capabilities
- FortiPresence: Fortinet's WiFi presence analytics and customer engagement solution
- FortiToken: Offers customers secure cloud management of two-factor authentication (2FA) for FortiGate
- FortiCASB: Offers customers cloud security analytics and posture management
- FortiMail: Fortinet's hosted email security
- FortiWeb: The company's cloud-based web application firewall-as-a-service
Supporting Quotes
"Talk Straight & Schools Broadband uses FortiGate Cloud for remote logging and administration of FortiGates as well as FortiWifi deployments, and I have found the product both user-friendly and feature-rich. FortiGate Cloud allows engineers to deploy wireless networks quickly and easily with minimal training, this is largely down to a well thought out UI. Being able to deploy Fortinet Access Points singly or in bulk without needing to have them shipped to our offices makes deployment much more efficient. With the cost-effective MSSP license, it means we can easily sell to education and B2B with a low-touch and automated deployment."
- Rob Mason, Product Development Manager at Talk Straight & Schools Broadband
Additional Resources
- Read more about FortiCloud Services here.
- Learn more about becoming a FortiPartner.
- Find out how Fortinet's Security Fabric delivers broad, integrated, and automated protection across an organization's entire digital attack surface from IoT to the Edge, Network Core and to Multi-Clouds.
- Learn more about FortiGuard Labs and the FortiGuard Security Services portfolio.
- Learn more about the FortiGuard Security Rating Service, which provides security audits and best practices.
- Learn more about Fortinet or read more about Fortinet's Network Security Expert program, Network Security Academy program, and FortiVets program.
- Follow Fortinet on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram and our FortiPartner twitter account.
About Fortinet
Fortinet (NASDAQ: FTNT) secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations around the world. Fortinet empowers its customers with intelligent, seamless protection across the expanding attack surface and the power to take on ever-increasing performance requirements of the borderless network - today and into the future. Only the Fortinet Security Fabric architecture can deliver security features without compromise to address the most critical security challenges, whether in networked, application, cloud or mobile environments. Fortinet ranks #1 in the most security appliances shipped worldwide and more than 400,000 customers trust Fortinet to protect their businesses. Learn more at https://www.fortinet.com, the Fortinet Blog, or FortiGuard Labs.
Copyright © 2019 Fortinet, Inc. All rights reserved. The symbols ® and ™ denote respectively federally registered trademarks and common law trademarks of Fortinet, Inc., its subsidiaries and affiliates. Fortinet's trademarks include, but are not limited to, the following: Fortinet, FortiGate, FortiGuard, FortiCare, FortiManager, FortiAnalyzer, FortiOS, FortiADC, FortiAP, FortiAppMonitor, FortiASIC, FortiAuthenticator, FortiBridge, FortiCache, FortiCamera, FortiCASB, FortiClient, FortiCloud, FortiConnect, FortiController, FortiConverter, FortiDB, FortiDDoS, FortiExplorer, FortiExtender, FortiFone, FortiCarrier, FortiHypervisor, FortiIsolator, FortiMail, FortiMonitor, FortiNAC, FortiPlanner, FortiPortal, FortiPresence , FortiProxy, FortiRecorder, FortiSandbox, FortiSIEM, FortiSwitch, FortiTester, FortiToken, FortiVoice, FortiWAN, FortiWeb, FortiWiFi, FortiWLC, FortiWLCOS and FortiWLM.
Other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Fortinet has not independently verified statements or certifications herein attributed to third parties and Fortinet does not independently endorse such statements. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, nothing herein constitutes a warranty, guarantee, contract, binding specification or other binding commitment by Fortinet or any indication of intent related to a binding commitment, and performance and other specification information herein may be unique to certain environments. This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding technology releases among others. Changes of circumstances, product release delays, or other risks as stated in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, located at www.sec.gov, may cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in this press release. If the uncertainties materialize or the assumptions prove incorrect, results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Fortinet assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, and expressly disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.


text:
Crystal Tile Earrings (Teal)
Measurement: 2.5 x 4.5cm
Due to the handmade nature of Lovelystrokes jewellery, product design may vary from the photo.
Every piece of Lovelystrokes jewellery is made by hand, specially for you. No two pieces are the same - variations make each piece an original work of art.
The earring post is made of surgical-grade stainless steel - suitable for sensitive skin. Care instructions and a lint-free jewellery cloth will be provided.
Note: Due to many variations in monitors and browsers, actual product colours may vary from colours shown on your monitor.
Please keep out of the reach of young children & pets due to small parts which could pose as a choking hazard.
Crystal Tile Earrings (Teal)


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It is not good news to learn that there are several dog foods contaminated with fluoride levels above the EPA's legal limit for humans. And, fluoride is linked to hormone disruption, thyroid problems and bone cancer (osteosarcoma).
I am making the following copyrighted material available in my efforts to provide background knowledge on areas related to canine cancer. I believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material in this article is distributed without profit for educational purposes.
Fluoride in dog food – Pets' health at risk?
Published June 26, 2009
An independent laboratory test of popular dog food brands, commissioned by Environmental Working Group, revealed that the food we buy for our pets contains high levels of fluoride, a contaminant that may put dogs' health at risk.
Eight major national brands marketed for both puppies and adults contained fluoride in amounts between 1.6 and 2.5 times higher than the Environmental Protection Agency's maximum legal dose in drinking water, and higher than amounts associated with bone cancer in young boys in a 2006 study by Harvard scientists (Bassin 2006). All 8 brands contain bone meal and animal byproducts, the likely source of the fluoride contamination.
Scientists have not studied the safety of high doses of fluoride for dogs.
Fluoride levels ranged between 7 and 11.2 milligrams (mg) of fluoride per kilogram (kg) of dog food, with an average of 8.9 mg/kg in the 8 contaminated brands. In contrast, 2 dog food brands, one with vegetarian ingredients and one made by a small manufacturer, did not contain detectable levels of fluoride.
Bone meal leads to high fluoride levels in dog food
Fluoride concentrations in 10 dog food brands
Notes: Fluoride content of 10 brands of dog food as determined by Covance lab (Madison, Wisconsin) using method 944.08 (AOAC International). ND* – below the method's limit of detection (less than 0.2 mg/kg fluoride).
While scientists have not determined how much fluoride is safe for dogs, they have found that people who consume excessive fluoride often develop mottled teeth (dental fluorosis) and weakened bones, leading to more fractures. High fluoride consumption is also associated with reproductive and developmental system damage, neurotoxicity, hormonal disruption, and bone cancer (NRC 2006).
Most of the fluoride contamination in dog food comes from an unsavory mix of bone meal and various meat byproducts added to dog food. The 8 high-fluoride brands list ingredients that include chicken by-product meal, poultry by-product meal, chicken meal, beef and bone meal; these are basically ground bones, cooked with steam, dried, and mashed to make a cheap dog food filler. A smaller amount of fluoride in dog food comes from fluoridated tap water used to prepare the food at pet food plants.
Results of fluoride tests in 10 dog food brands
|Dog food brand
|Dog food marketed for
|Fluoride concentration detected (mg/kg)
|Meat by-product ingredients (and position on the label)
|Adult dogs, all breeds
|< 0.2
|All life stages
|< 0.2
|All life stages
|Chicken meal (1)
|Adult large breed
|Chicken meal (1)
|All life stages
|Chicken meal (1); Turkey meal (2); Lamb meal (5)
|Adult dog
|Poulty by-product meal (5); Lamb meal (8)
|Puppy large breed
|Chicken meal (1); Lamb meal (5)
|Active adult
|Chicken by-product meal (2)
|Puppy large breed
|Chicken by-product meal (2); Chicken meal (8)
|All life stages
|Beef and bone meal (1)
Fluoride occurs naturally in the earth's crust, rocks, and soil, and in some water supplies. But two-thirds of Americans — and their pets and livestock — are exposed to the chemical via tap water that is artificially fluoridated in an effort to prevent tooth decay (CDC 2006).
Fluoride is also found in certain foods, either due to processing or from natural accumulation by the plants grown in high-fluoride soils (Buzalaf 2004; Fein 2001; Heilman 1997; Jackson 2002; Rodrigues 2009).
Once ingested with food or water, fluoride accumulates in bones.
Topical application of fluoride on teeth is a common and effective means of preventing tooth decay. But ingested fluoride is well known to damage teeth and the musculoskeletal system (NRC 2006).
Three studies show that boys who drink fluoridated tap water between the ages of 6 and 8 face a heightened risk of osteosarcoma, the rare but deadly form of bone cancer associated with fluoride (Bassin 2006; Cohn 1992; DHHS 1991). Scientists suspect that boys' rapid growth may make them more susceptible to bone cancer (Bassin 2006).
Dogs may be even more vulnerable to osteosarcoma than humans. More than 8000 osteosarcoma cases occur in dogs each year in the U.S. and the actual number is probably higher, since not all cases are confirmed and registered (Mueller 2007). In contrast, osteosarcoma incidence in the U.S. population is 0.3 cases per 100,000 (NRC 2006), adding to approximately 900 cases annually. Thus, nearly 10 times more osteosarcomas occur in dogs compared to people.
A dog drinking adequate water would be exposed to 0.05-0.1 mg fluoride per kg of body weight daily, depending on the dog's water consumption. A 10-pound puppy that eats about a cup of dog food a day would ingest approximately 0.25 mg fluoride/kg body weight/day based on average fluoride content in the 8 contaminated brands tested by EWG. At that rate, the puppy would consume 2.5 times more fluoride than EPA's legal limit in drinking water.
When fluoride in drinking water is taken into consideration, a 10-pound puppy would be exposed to 3.5 times more fluoride than EPA allows in drinking water. Large breed puppies may be exposed to even more fluoride.
Whatever the size and the appetite of a dog, combined fluoride exposure from food and water can easily range into unsafe territory. And, unlike children, who enjoy a variety of foods as they grow up, puppies and adult dogs eat the same food from the same bag every day, constantly consuming more fluoride than is healthy for normal growth. Routine exposure to excessive fluoride can predispose dogs to health problems, along with high veterinary bills, later in life.
Fluoride contamination in dog food exceeds safe levels
Notes: Fluoride dose corresponding to legal limit in drinking water (MCL of 4 mg/L) was calculated using EPA's default daily water intake rate of 2 L for a 70 kg adult (NRC 2006). Dogs' exposures to fluoride was calculated from fluoride concentrations in EWG's commissioned testing and recommended feeding amounts listed on dog food brand packaging.
Food and products for pets receive little government oversight. They are subject to few standards or regulations. This situation may put pets' health at risk. Americans have a right to expect pet food to be held to health and safety standards similar to those for human food, and to be free from contaminants that endanger pets' health. Yet, when it comes to finding pet foods free of dubious food additives, chemical pollutants or untested ingredients, pet owners are largely on their own, since the agency in charge of pet food oversight, the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has little authority and few resources to ensure that products produced for pets are safe (FDA CVM 2007).
Pets are sentinels for all of us. The widespread contamination of pet food illustrates the urgent need for standards that require companies to prove their products are safe before they are sold. Updating public health laws to reflect the newest scientific research is a critical step to protecting the health of all members of American households, whether they walk on two legs or four.
To protect pets from excessive fluoride exposures, dog owners can purchase pet foods that do not contain bone meal and other animal byproducts.
To safeguard the health of pets nationwide, the government should establish fluoride limits in pet food that would protect both puppies and large breeds more vulnerable to bone cancer.
Official Methods of Analysis of AOAC INTERNATIONAL (2000) 17th Ed., AOAC INTERNATIONAL, Gaithersburg, MD. Method 944.08 determines total fluoride content in a variety of samples, including fats and oils, raw materials, plant tissues, bones, water, and many types of foods. Fluoride is extracted from the ashed sample using perchloric acid distillation method. Fluoride levels are then determined using colorimetric detection method.


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Established in Weimar in 1991 at the instigation of the French and German ministers of foreign affairs, the trilateral relationship between France, Germany and Poland has from the outset conveyed the desire of Germany and Poland to draw inspiration from the Franco-German model for their reconciliation. The purpose of the Weimar Triangle has evolved naturally in terms of enlargement and its activities have slowly been steered towards helping Poland prepare for its accession to the European Union.
Poland's membership in the EU on 1 May 2004 rekindled the vocation of the Weimar Triangle, which is establishing itself as a framework for political dialogue at various levels of government of the three countries. It affords them the opportunity to exchange their views on the progress of European integration, internal policies, Europe's foreign security and defence policy as well as the development of relations with the "new neighbours".
In 2006, on the occasion of its 15th anniversary, the three partners have decided to breathe new life into the Weimar Triangle. In the future, it is expected to play a more significant role, in terms of both cooperation and proposal-making within the EU on current key issues (energy, economic development, social model, etc.). By improving its reputation, it should also encourage an increasing amount of contact between civil societies, in order to multiply debates of ideas between their respective public opinions, thereby fighting prejudices and misunderstandings, which, because of their national history, often endure. In this spirit, the Weimar Triangle has already been enriched by many initiatives in various fields, from research to cooperation between territorial communities and student exchanges.
Bringing together the presidents of Poland and France and the German chancellor, the summit in Nancy (19 May 2005) was organized around three major themes:
- the main European issues, key to moving forward with European integration after the 2004 enlargement. In particular, this applies to the internal policies, the EU's policy towards neighbouring countries as well as to the common European security and defence policy (CESDP);
- current international issues, in particular the situation in the Near East and Middle East and UN reform;
- the trilateral partnership, which needs to be intensified, stressing economic exchanges and trade, training, research and intercultural exchanges.
The next summit will be held in Weimar (Thuringia) on 3 July 2006. Meetings between ministers of foreign affairs and officials tasked with European affairs, as well as between various "technical" ministers should also take place this year.


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DETROIT — U.S. safety regulators are investigating whether a recall to fix air bags on nearly 745,000 Chrysler SUVs is working properly.
The company recalled older-model Jeep Grand Cherokees and Libertys in 2012 because the air bags could inflate without a crash, causing injuries.
Chrysler installed an electrical filter to eliminate electrical spikes on air bag circuits and thought that would solve the problem.
But since the recall, the company has received six reports of air bags inflating without a crash on SUVs that had the recall repairs.
No crashes were reported, but owners said there were some cuts and burns, according to documents posted Monday on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration website.
The safety agency says it's investigating whether the recall is working. Chrysler says it's co-operating but hasn't determined whether the recall is working.
The investigation affects Libertys from the 2002 and 2003 model years and Grand Cherokees from 2002 to 2004.
The company says customers with concerns can call (800) 853-1403.


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Over the past few days I've been posting a lot in the Drupal Groups at Drupal.org about the rationale for some of the design decisions we have taken on the Drupal.org redesign. I thought you might find them interesting, so I'll copy them over here as well.
In particular we're talking about why the header is so big, the global navigation is so small, search is so prominent, the 'dashboard' tabs are more prominent than the global header and why there is no 'download now' link on the homepage.
I can't guarantee that the rationale is entirely holeproof, however it has definitely been based on paying close attention to what a broad range of people want to do on Drupal.org, making some decisions around how to best prioritise these needs, designing to suit these prioritised needs and then testing to check that the new design does actually support key user tasks.
There is one fatal flaw in this version of the redesign and that is that we accidentally left off the big 'Get Started' call to action from the homepage… d'uh! (Definitely one of the downsides of designing at speed to fit into weekly iterations is that these kinds of oversights can happen – thankfully the Drupal community let us know about it quick smart!)
You can see the interactive prototype here and the historical archive of the past 10 iterations here.
This is directly copied from my forum posts so hopefully make sense in this context… be warned… it's long!
Post One: Get Started and the Download Button
evaluating a website design is a really difficult task, as the discussion here and elsewhere demonstrates. It is tremendously difficult to see the design from perspectives other than your own and to get some kind of distance from the content. It is also really hard to judge how well a design works from just looking at it and meandering through it – it can really only be properly judged 'in action' – does it actually let people achieve the tasks they need to achieve. Does it make easy things easy? Does it make difficult things achievable? Does it support the objectives we have for Drupal as an organisation? for Drupal end users? and on and on. This is why we're trying to get the design out in as many ways as possible to see how it's doing – both online and in person, amongst 'insiders', 'outsiders' and another groups we've recently started calling 'mid-siders'.
Disclaimers aside, there are a few things that might help move the conversation forward, hopefully! I'm going to tackle the first one here and some others in posts to follow shortly.
Get Started and the Download Button
you are dead right, the strong call to action for Get Started from the homepage has disappeared and this was an oversight on our part. Expect to see this re-instated on the next iteration and thank you for making us aware of it. We have been focussing a lot more on other 'internal' pages and just made a few small changes to the homepage this iteration which resulted in this dropping off. Our bad.
If you've been following the redesign you'll probably have noticed that we actually started with an enormous 'Download' button, which then evolved into an enormous 'Get Started' button which then evolved into more of a 'Why Choose Drupal' section. As Mark said, this is a part of a deliberate strategy on our part to 'bury' the download button a little – what we are trying to do is to make sure that they actually know what they are getting into when they 'download' Drupal, and to 'scaffold' that experience a little.
We want them not to expect it to be completely easy to set up a website using Drupal (not to apply mental models of the hosted blogging services, for example, which seem to be quite strong in people's minds), and we want them to know that there is both a strong and supportive opensource community and commercial ecosystem that can help them along the learning curve if they need it. And, I'm sure you know this already – a lot of people who are interested in Drupal will need that support. For many people who are evaluating Drupal as a solution, particularly within larger organisations, the last thing they should be doing is downloading Drupal.
So, the people we are primarily designing the homepage for are people who are coming to Drupal.org to consider it as a solution for whatever their requirements are, and who are not particularly experienced developers, or possibly not even particularly experienced with Content Management Systems/Platforms/Frameworks etc. This means that people who do have this experience, who do understand the existing Drupal vocabulary, who do want to evaluate the platform by downloading it and taking a look – these people are going to have to work a little harder to get to what they want and they will have to put up with some fluffy language (like the Legos, although I think the Lego reference is being deleted as I write this… which I think is a bit of a shame actually). But the thing is that this audience is capable of doing that little extra work, and they are also more likely to easily recognise what is so great about Drupal.
So, to summarise,
- we are deliberately making the download link a little more difficult to find so as to better support the experience of newcomers to Drupal who do not have the ability or time to evaluate the product by downloading it, however;
- the current iteration is missing a strong call to action to 'Get Started'. This was a (bad!) oversight on our part and we'll make sure it gets back in there in the next iteration.
I hope this helps make things a little more understandable. Do let me know if you have any questions that I can answer regarding this. I'm going to post some notes re: the size of the header and the placement/relative size of the global navigation next. If there are other issues you'd like me to address specifically, then let me know.
Post Two: That header is so big and it's all about search? What the?!
First up, I'd like to acknowledge that yes, that is one big old header. It is bigger than your average header and designing a header that size does mean that you're going to fit less 'above the fold'. This may seem like an unusual strategy, but it's certainly not unique, nor does it imply bad design or usability IF it is being done to support a strong strategic objective.
Hopefully you won't be surprised to hear that we do have some strategic objectives in having such a big-ass header!
Again, if you have been following the redesign process, you'll have noticed that the big-ass header is actually a relatively recent introduction to the homepage design, coming as late as iteration 7. Here is the last version before it: http://drupal.markboultondesign.com/visual/iteration6/homepage_notlogged…
1. approachability
Use of white space (or in this case, blue space) is very important to design, as I'm sure you know. Allowing breathing space around elements helps you to more easily review the content on the screen and for the designer to guide your eye from element to element. Mark is much more the expert on this tho, (In face, he's written a bunch about it that is not directly relevant to this conversation but you might find interesting here: http://alistapart.com/articles/whitespace/ )
When I've been observing people using this 'big ass header' design, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. People say that it feels calm and approachable and easy. People have compared it to a horizon line. It does seem to create a positive effect. This is great because we are trying to ensure that people aren't overwhelmed by Drupal, and that they feel positive in their ability to understand and engage with it. Everything that I've observed to date has demonstrated that the big-ass header is very helpful in achieving this end.
I can't overstate how intimidating Drupal can be to novice users, although it may strike you as ridiculous. Alleviating this intimidation without getting in the way of active Drupal users is one of the big challenges for this project and the size of the header is a big part of that.
2. focus on search
As you've picked up, one of the reasons that the header is so large is because the search element is so large. As with the header, this is somewhat unconventional, but we've done this to support the way that people want to use the Drupal.org website.
I'm going to do a separate post about the size/placement etc. of the global navigation and the rationale for that, but suffice to say that for the majority of users, and especially for regular users of the site, Drupal.org is not a 'browsing' site– it is predominently a searching site, and secondarily a place to monitor and engage with activity and conversations.
This makes perfect sense, though, when you think about what people actually come to the site to do.
This is a big part of how we conduct our research. A lot of it is talking, asking people about what tasks they need to do on d.o, watching how they currently perform those tasks (much use of Google, as you'd imagine!), getting them to perform those tasks on the new design.
Invariably, for regular users of Drupal, search was the way that people wanted to get to their content. Many people would just just Google search, when compelled to use our redesigned site, they'd go straight to search. I can't tell you how many times I've had to ask people 'if you had to use the navigation, which link would you choose?' when asking them to perform a task. This was true back when the global navigation was much more extensive and prominent, and it remains true today.
It was in response to the strong demand for search that we re-made the header to be so big and search focused.
We did some A/B testing between the more conventional navigation approach and the search-centric approach and the search-centric approach was more successful.
If you're not convinced I'd encourage you (as I have encouraged the community throughout the project) to do your own research – get people who are regular d.o users to define the tasks they do on d.o and have them 'do' the tasks using each of the designs – and see what you find. I'd be really interested to hear the results.
Finally, the size of the search element is a show of faith in the ability of the d.o search to 'do the job' in finding the information. Generally speaking, search on sites is rubbish and a conventional positioning carries this expectation of rubbish-ness.
The bold positioning of the search element here says – search is the right option for finding what you're looking for. Give it a try. (And yes, we have been assured that much work will be done on the search functionality for Drupal.org so that it does deliver on this promise).
3. search 'furniture'
Some other feedback we've received is about the 'stuff' that's around the search field and that it takes up space/wouldn't be used etc.
I agree that the vast majority of people won't refine their search on the homepage, nor will they use the 'most popular' searches… although these are able to be used, their primary purpose is to give information about the search capabilities of the site and to help people use the search properly.
By showing the 'filter' options, what we are telling people (more or less subconsiously) is the types of content that will be shown in the search results and that you are able to filter out types of content. We're exposing the range of content on the site and providing a hint that the search will be more fully functioned than a typical 'sitewide search', and certainly than the current d.o website. (and yes, significantly improved search functionality is on the menu for the implementation of the redesign!)
By showing the 'popular' searches what we're doing is alleviating 'blank page syndrome' – what do I search for? They are tiny prompts that are intended to help people formulate a search query, and especially if they are relatively new to Drupal, help to expose what others are looking at.
I could quite happily live without 'popular' searches, or replace it with something else, but the 'filter' options play an important role and should not be removed. In fact, we intend to add 'API' to the list of filters in the next release.
search results
A big part of this strategy is a much improved search results page. We've only shown hints of this so far in releases, but the next iteration will hopefully show the enhanced faceted navigation within search results to make it a really powerful and useful tool for locating information on the site.
not everyone searches!
There is an important audience who do NOT search, and they are our newer, less technical/experienced audience. They are the least likely to use the search element, and for that reason, the majority of the 'index' or 'landing' pages are designed specifically for their needs. Starting with the homepage and through all of the 'section' landing pages.
OK. That's a bit of an overview of the rationale and reasoning.
Post Three: Teeny, (Relatively) Tiny Header
ok. This is the last in my series of three monster posts trying to throw some light on why things are as they are in the Drupal.org redesign.
Before you read this, make sure you've read the previous monster post on the big header and search, it's related.
Several people, on this forum and others, have made note of the fact that global navigation on the current design is relatively understated and certainly not one of the most prominent elements of the design. Absolutely true and, for what it's worth, entirely intentional.
Why so? Well, a number of reasons.
First and foremost, when we considered what the most important and most frequent user journeys on d.o would be, accessing the landing page for a site 'section' was very low on the list. Finding out about Drupal, getting access to specific information, monitoring issues and continuing conversations – these were much more important. None of these important user journeys require global navigation.
For 'new' users (outsiders) , we consider the movement from Home to About/Why Choose Drupal and/or Get Started the most important user journey. (granted you can't tell this from the missing links to these on the current iteration homepage – our bad, and an accidental omission as discussed elsewhere)
for 'existing' users (insiders) the primary user journeys are to specific content via search/search results and to monitor content/issues/discussions/news etc. which is done via the dashboard.
Hence the emphasis on the search element and the dashboard element (which for existing users will generally replace the generic homepage and will be highly customisable and focussed on monitoring content of personal interest). And hence the demotion of the generic 'global' navigation.
We also know that you guys, once you get involved with Drupal, don't tend to use the global navigation yourself. You use bookmarks, you use the URL (eg. groups.drupal.org etc.) using the browsers memory – both of these are more efficient than going to the homepage and navigating through a hierarchical navigation structure.
Yes, it does seem like a somewhat unorthodox approach, and contradictory to 'good usability', but that's not necessarily the case either.
There is a lot of evidence that shows that people would really rather NOT use global navigation if they can avoid it. People much prefer to use contextual (in content) links for navigation and local (relevant to that section) navigation to get to where they want to go. Global navigation is usually used only as a last resort (or if someone forces you to use it in a usability test!)
Again, if in doubt I encourage you to conduct your own research. Get people to define a few tasks that they would 'do' on d.o then put them in front of this prototype and ask them to do the tasks here, and watch them. very few people will go to the global navigation as their first port of call. In my experience, if they are doing that, it's because there is important information and links missing from the central content area.
A few authors more eminent than me have written on exactly this behaviour. If you have a moment, take a look and see what their experience has been with global navigation vs. local/contextual navigation and search.
hope this makes sense and, as ever, awaiting your feedback.


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So if you're following me on Twitter, you've discovered that I have a bit of an unhealthy obsession with figure skating. (Okay, okay, that's like saying John Mayer has an obsession with saying spectacularly stupid things in public.)
Given that I hate most girly aspects of sports (pink anything and everything, Ladies Nights, and the existence of Alyssa Milano's Touch line, to start) like burning, some of the other Ladies…were mildly confused when I started shrieking about toe loops and salchows. I mean, it's figure skating, right? I should like manly things, like the biathlon and moguls. I should frown on feathers and sequins and Dick Button.
But here's the thing. I love figure skating. I loooooooove figure skating.
Why? Because during the Olympics, when everything is about pomp and circumstance and tradition and records, figure skating is the one chance to bring the crazy. I dig on the crazy.
I mean, really. Did you see that picture? That's a picture of a German pairs team dressed up as clowns and skating to Sondheim's 'Send in the Clowns.' Germans! Clowns! Sondheim! I'm pretty sure that's an avant-garde film.
When figure skating brings the crazy, it brings the crazy. Is hockey going to bring the awesome that is What Would Brian Boitano Make? Would cross country skiing bring you something as epically comedic as Be Good, Johnny Weir? No, no, it would not. The most the moguls give us is a silver medalist that made millions on a spam e-mail empire. That's practically boring.
The best part of Olympic figure skating is, and will always be, the costumes. We had clowns. We had some kind of floofy Smurf/seaweed combo. We had some inexplicable mixture of Tron and Star Trek. We had…swans.
LOOK AT THAT! The man's wearing fins on his forearms! There's a swan growing out of his left hip! It would be phallic, were it not directionally challenged!
Someone better tell Johnny Weir about the swans. I'm pretty sure Camille (Oh, yes, he named his costume) could kick those wimpy swan asses. I mean, they don't even have a beak-manifested-in-a-glove!
In conclusion, I offer you La Weir's exhibition skate routine. It's Johnny Weir skating to Lady Gaga. I'm pretty sure this makes my point for me.


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Born and raised in New York City, Alexandra Daddario has holiday gift-giving down to a science. See what the Texas Chainsaw 3D star (out January 4) plans on giving her mom, her siblings, and her tight-knit crew of fashion-forward friends this season. Like Cher Horowitz once said, "'Tis a far, far better thing, doing stuff for other people!"
3.1 Phillip Lim Vendetta mini crossbody bag, $695
More From ELLE
"This purse is really roomy, but small enough to carry around at night. My friend Allie [The Host star Jake Abel's girlfriend] would like this bag because she's just the coolest girl. She styles me sometimes, and she once put me in a red suit with shoulder pads. I'm very New York and wear a lot of black so I was scared to wear it at first, but it actually looked really, really cool!"
Rag & Bone Cambridge bomber jacket, $795
"I really like Rag & Bone because they make simple pieces that last. This is a twist on the typical bomber; it's girly, but also edgy. I would love to give this to my friend Natalie. She likes things that are a little bit different."
Play Comme des Garçons x Converse sneakers, $100
"These would be perfect for my 20-year-old sister, who has a very similar style to me—usually just jeans, a hoodie, and slip-on sneakers. It's a designer item, but not super expensive. I also could use a new pair of shoes this year. My favorite go-to is Topshop. They have great stuff."
Levi's Vintage Clothing 1950s sweatshirt, $165
"I want to give this distressed sweatshirt to my brother, Matthew. The faded, worn-in style is so his look. I really like [the shopping site for men], Mr Porter. It's really easy to navigate. Plus, they have great clothes and free shipping."
"I like this bracelet because it goes with everything and the color is fairly neutral. My mom wears a lot of gold. I think she will just love it!"


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On Wednesday evening, Barneys New York hosted a quiet supper at the home of Mark Lee to toast bijoux designer Irene Neuwirth on her recent Council of Fashion Designers of America nomination for the Swarovski Award in Accessory Design.
Guests — a mix of editors, fellow CFDAers and brand devotees — indulged in a Mexican-themed spread with handsome servers proffering tasty morsels — tuna ceviche on crisps, mini corn cakes with avocado salsa — and later, coupes filled with heartier fare — cheese enchiladas, wild mushroom tamales and grilled shrimp tacos with pineapple salsa.
Neuwirth graciously made the rounds. "This is amazing, I feel kind of like a superhero tonight," she said, her quirky gap-toothed grin on full display. The designer, exuding her signature bohemian chic in an easy Marni frock, divulged how she was told of her nomination. "[CFDA chief executive officer] Steven Kolb called me. It was so embarrassing because I was trying to be supercool and calm but everyone in my office was like screaming their heads off with excitement. I was like, 'Shhhhh!'"
Bonnie Morrison and Nate Berkus kicked back on a slate Erwin-Lambeth ultrasuede sofa. Close by, Reed Krakoff and Andrew Rosen were engrossed in conversation under an archway of Janson Goldstein-fashioned bookshelves. In the next room, Wes Gordon and Allison Williams spoke in hushed tones on a vintage Knoll bench.
"Aren't these gorgeous?" Williams asked later in the evening, thumbing a glimmering cluster of fire opals, peach moonstone and rose cut diamonds dangling from her ear. "I got sent the most beautiful pdf I've ever seen in my whole life where I got to look at a bunch of Irene's pieces and pick what I wanted to wear. It was so hard to choose. And then, we sort of framed the earrings with my hair," she said of her immaculately coiffed locks, styled to curve around her lobes. "It's all deliberate."
With the second-season finale of Williams' HBO hit "Girls" airing last Sunday, the actress revealed which scene of the season has been toughest to sit through. "The episode before the finale, I watched it with five of my girlfriends, all of whom I've known since kindergarten and that scene where I was singing…they almost had to leave the room because they were all so mortified," she said. "I actually did [leave the room]. I couldn't watch. I watch all the scenes on our show, and I mean all the scenes, and this was the first time I really couldn't make it through. Well, it's supposed to be mortifying so, I mean, at least it produced the desired effect."


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Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will host the 70th annual Golden Globes, airing live on NBC Jan. 13.
Fey (a two-time Globes-winning comedy actress for "30 Rock") and Poehler (a past nominee for "Parks and Recreation"), former teammates on the Peacock's "Saturday Night Live," have frequently shined as presenters on such kudos as the Emmys.
"Tina and Amy have a proven chemistry and comedic timing from their many years together on 'SNL' to their successful co-starring roles in 'Baby Mama,'" NBC alternative and latenight programming prexy Paul Telegdy said.
With Seth MacFarlane hosting the next Oscars, the selection of Fey and Poehler puts TV personalities at the front of the film industry's two highest-rated awards shows. The most recent Golden Globes drew a 5.0 rating among adults 18-49 and 16.9 million viewers overall.
The Globes, seen in nearly 200 countries worldwide, are produced by Dick Clark Prods in association with the HFPA. Ricky Gervais hosted the kudos the previous three years. Prior to that, the ceremony often went without any host.
Poehler helped implement two of the most memorable moments at the Emmys during each of the past two years: a pageant-like setup prior to the announcement of the 2011 lead comedy actress winner, and then conspiring with 2012 Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus to mix up acceptance speeches.
Fey's "30 Rock," a 2009 Globes winner, is two episodes into its 13-episode final season, which will wrap near the time of the Globes.


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WELLINGTON/CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (Reuters) - A gunman shot dead 49 people and wounded more than 40 at two New Zealand mosques on Friday, some as they were kneeling at prayer, livestreaming online some of the killings in what Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called an assault on the nation's values.
The gunman broadcast footage of the attack on one mosque in the city of Christchurch on Facebook, mirroring the carnage played out in video games, after publishing a "manifesto" in which he denounced immigrants, calling them "invaders".
The video footage widely circulated on social media, apparently taken by a gunman and posted live online as the attack unfolded, showed him driving to a mosque, entering it and shooting randomly at people inside.
Worshippers, possibly dead or wounded, lay huddled on the floor, the video showed. Reuters was unable to confirm the authenticity of the footage.
It was the worst ever mass killing in New Zealand and the country raised its security threat level to the highest, Ardern said, adding, "This can now only be described as a terrorist attack."
Police said three people were in custody including one man in his late 20s who had been charged with murder. He will appear in court on Saturday. Police have identified none of the suspects.
"We were not chosen for this act of violence because we condone racism, because we are enclave for extremism," Ardern said in a national address. "We were chosen for the fact that we are none of these things. It was because we represent diversity, kindness, compassion, a home for those who share our values.
"You have chosen us but we utterly reject and condemn you."
Police Commissioner Mike Bush said 49 people had been killed. Health authorities said 48 people were being treated for gunshot wounds, including young children.
Leaders around the world expressed sorrow and disgust at the attacks, with some deploring the demonization of Muslims.
U.S. President Donald Trump condemned the "horrible massacre" in what the White House called a "vicious act of hate".
The gunman's manifesto praised Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose". The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One man who said he was at the Al Noor mosque told media the gunman was white, blond and wearing a helmet and a bulletproof vest. The man burst into the mosque as worshippers were kneeling for prayers.
"He had a big gun...He came and started shooting everyone in the mosque, everywhere," said the man, Ahmad Al-Mahmoud. He said he and others escaped by breaking through a glass door.
Forty-one people were killed at the Al Noor mosque, seven at a mosque in the Linwood neighborhood and one died in hospital, police said. Hospitals said children were among the victims.
The visiting Bangladesh cricket team was arriving for prayers at one of the mosques when the shooting started but all members were safe, a team coach told Reuters.
Three Bangladeshis were among the dead and one was missing, the consulate said.
Shortly before the attack began, an anonymous post on the discussion site 8chan, known for a wide range of content including hate speech, said the writer was going to "carry out an attack against the invaders" and included links to a Facebook livestream, in which the shooting appeared, and a manifesto.
The manifesto cited "white genocide", a term typically used by racist groups to refer to immigration and the growth of minority populations, as his motivation.
The Facebook link directed users to the page of a user called brenton.tarrant.9.
A Twitter account with the handle @brentontarrant posted on Wednesday images of a rifle and other military gear decorated with names and messages connected to white nationalism. What looked like the same weapons appeared in the livestream of the mosque attack on Friday.
Facebook said it had deleted the gunman's accounts "shortly after the livestream commenced" after being alerted by police. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all said they had taken steps to remove copies of the videos.
It was not immediately clear if the attacks at the two mosques were carried out by the same man.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said one of the men in custody was Australian.
All mosques in New Zealand had been asked to shut their doors and post armed guards, police said, adding they were not actively looking for any other "identified suspects".
Political and Islamic leaders across Asia and the Middle East condemned the killings and voiced concern over the targeting of Muslims.
"I blame these increasing terror attacks on the current Islamophobia post-9/11," Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan posted on social media. "1.3 billion Muslims have collectively been blamed for any act of terror."
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated "the urgency of working better together globally to counter Islamophobia and eliminate intolerance and violent extremism in all its forms," a spokesman said.
Six Indonesians had been inside one of the mosques, with three managing to escape and three unaccounted for, its foreign minister said.
Afghanistan's ambassador said three Afghans had been wounded. Two Malaysians were wounded, their foreign ministry said.
Muslims account for just over 1 percent of New Zealand's population, a 2013 census showed.
The online footage, which appeared to have been captured on a camera strapped to a gunman's head, showed him driving as music played in his vehicle. After parking, he took two guns and walked a short distance to the mosque where he opened fire.
Over the course of five minutes, he repeatedly shot worshippers, leaving more than a dozen bodies in one room alone. He returned to the car during that period to change guns, and went back to the mosque to shoot anyone showing signs of life.
One man, with blood still on his shirt, said in a television interview that he hid from a gunman under a bench and prayed that he would run out of bullets.
"I was just praying to God and hoping our God, please, let this guy stop," Mahmood Nazeer told TVNZ.
"The firing went on and on. One person with us had a bullet in her arm. When the firing stopped, I looked over the fence, there was one guy, changing his gun."
The video shows the gunman then driving off at high speed and firing from his car. Another video, taken by someone else, showed police apprehending a gunman on a pavement by a road.
Police said improvised explosive devices were found. The gunman's video had shown red petrol canisters in the back of his car, along with weapons.
Violent crime is rare in New Zealand and police do not usually carry guns. Before Friday, New Zealand's worst mass shooting was in 1990 when a gun-mad loner killed 13 men, women and children in a 24-hour rampage in the tiny seaside village of Aramoana. He was killed by police.
(This story has been refiled to add country name to dateline)
Additional reporting by Tom Westbrook, John Mair and Swati Pandey in Sydney, Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Michael Holden in London; Writing by Micheal Perry and Frances Kerry; Editing by Robert Birsel and Nick Macfie/Mark Heinrich
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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FDA Approves HPV Vaccination
The vaccine, Gardisil, is only approved for women and girls right now but its maker (Merck) is looking into its use in boys and men. Hopefully it will be available to males soon since they can also be infected and transmit the virus to their partners. A few things have to be cleared up yet, such as at what age girls should be vaccinated and if pediatricions should include it in their vaccination schedules. The CDC makes its reccomendations June 29th.
The only downside I can see is the cost: $300 - $500 for a vaccine that only lasts four years. Many communities do offer financial help for medical needs like vaccines whether via sliding scales or specific programs so hopefully this will accessible for everyone. Globally, this has the potential save 200,000 lives each year that would otherwise be ended by cervical cancer.
More information on the vaccine: What Does Gardasil Mean For Women?
More information on HPV: STI File: Human Papilloma Virus (HPV, Warts) and Herpes & HPV.


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The World Health Organization is keeping a close eye on a disease outbreak in Saudi Arabia caused by a virus in the same family as the one that caused SARS.
There have been two confirmed infections with the new coronavirus and tests results are pending on a third suspected case, according to media reports from the Middle East. Two of those three people have died.
While word of a coronavirus outbreak immediately brings SARS to mind, there is too little information at this point to say whether this is anything more than a blip on the viral radar.
Still, with pilgrims beginning to gather in Saudi Arabia for next month's Hajj, the public health community is on alert.
"As with any new virus, this is of concern to us and we're watching it very closely," WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said.
There are a large number of coronaviruses. Some infect animals, others infect birds and still others infect people. In humans, coronaviruses typically cause colds.
But a coronavirus was also the cause of the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS, which killed 44 people in Toronto and about 775 people worldwide.
The new coronavirus reportedly causes severe pneumonia and kidney failure.
One of the confirmed cases is in intensive care in a hospital in London, according to Britain's Health Protection Agency.
A statement from the WHO said the person is a 49-year-old man from Qatar who had travelled to Saudi Arabia before he became sick. He was admitted to intensive care in Doha on Sept. 7, but was transferred to Britain by air ambulance on Sept. 11.
"Given that this is a novel coronavirus, WHO is currently in the process of obtaining further information to determine the public health implications of these two confirmed cases," the WHO statement said. It did not refer to the third suspect case.
Professor John Watson, head of the respiratory diseases department at the Health Protection Agency, said to date there is no sign of spread to health-care workers.
That is important because health-care workers often serve as inadvertent sentinels of the spread of infectious diseases. During SARS, for instance, health-care workers were disproportionately affected, catching the new virus from patients they were struggling to save.
"Preliminary enquiries have revealed no evidence of illness in contacts of these two cases, including health-care workers," the British agency's release stated.
"Based on what we know about other coronaviruses, many of these contacts will already have passed the period when they could have caught the virus from the infected person."
That said, the British agency's release said there have been other cases of serious respiratory illness in the Middle East over the past three months, including in another person who was treated in Britain. That person has since died, the HPA said.
"This person's illness is also being investigated although there is no evidence at present to suggest that it is caused by the same virus or linked to the other two cases. No other confirmed cases have been identified to date in the UK."
A report on the discovery of the new coronavirus appeared last week on ProMED-mail, an Internet-based system for monitoring infectious diseases around the world.
Dr. Ali Mohamed Zaki, a microbiologist from a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, revealed that a new coronavirus had been recovered from a 60-year-old man suffering from pneumonia and renal failure. Zaki said the new virus was part of a group of coronaviruses that are closely related to bat coronaviruses.
Tests to confirm that the virus is indeed a newly identified one were conducted at the lab of Dutch microbiologist Ron Fouchier, a leading influenza researcher at the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
In an email, Fouchier said his team compared the genetic sequence of the virus they received from Zaki to that isolated from the patient in London.
"The two pieces were 99.5 per cent identical. Although it thus seems that the two cases were caused by the same virus, this is still a premature conclusion," he wrote, cautioning his team had only a small sample of sequence data from the London case to compare to their virus.
The WHO statement said work done in Britain to compare the two viruses also showed they were 99.5 per cent alike.
The WHO is not recommending any travel restrictions at this time.
Source: thestar.com


text: Google's doing a lot to bolster its Android developers guide at the moment, with fresh design tips we covered yesterday and then a new section on accessibility arriving shortly after. The latter provides a bunch of suggestions on things like minimum button size (48dp or around 9mm), and also explains how to make use of free components like TalkBack, which gives a spoken description of an app's UI, and Eyes-Free Keyboard, which many users find easier than regular touch-to-click. These stock services work best with apps that have been designed with them in mind, so if we were presumptuous enough to command all devs to look at the source link, then we probably would. (Do it. Do it.)


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles is pregnant.
The 37-year-old Grammy-winning country singer and husband Justin Miller are expecting their first child in November.
Sugarland's manager Gail Gellman said in a statement that the couple is "thrilled beyond belief."
The baby is due around the couple's first wedding anniversary. They tied the knot last November in the Smoky Mountains.
Nettles and Kristian Bush make up the platinum-selling country duo Sugarland. They have such hits as "All I Want To Do," ''Stay," and "Stuck Like Glue." Nettles is also a mentor on ABC's "Duets."
This was first reported on People.com.
For the latest country music news from The Associated Press, follow: http://www.twitter.com/AP_Country


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By Anonymous
for B.G.
She stands on a low stool
wearing blue surgical booties
and a dazed expression,
limp cotton gown at her feet.
Plastic men with purple magic markers
(permanent pointy tip)
circle her, chatter in matching mint green scrubs,
slowly map the scalpel's winding path
with purple spots and sketchy lines.
They connect dots, front and back,
mark pale skin sorely branded,
burned and scarred.
She senses their plot and plan
from a far off distant place.
Her hands first flutter nervously at her sides
then clutch and clench,
open closed, open closed
pushing shame and anger
in hot surges, up to stain her cheeks flaming red.
Naked and fierce, no pockets hide her fists.
She poses on her pedestal,
spins around slow,
no twinge of fear, no prayer of hope,
mute – a block of damaged marble
impatient for an artist's sharp blade
to set her fighting spirit free.


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Newbery Medalist Avi weaves one of his most suspenseful and scary tales—about a ghost who has to be seen to be believed and must be kept from carrying out a horrifying revenge.
The time is 1872. The place is New York City. Horace Carpetine has been raised to believe in science and rationality. So as apprentice to Enoch Middleditch, a society photographer, he thinks of his trade as a scientific art. But when wealthy society matron Mrs. Frederick Von Macht orders a photographic portrait, strange things begin to happen.
Horace's first real photographs reveal a frightful likeness: it's the image of the Von Machts' dead daughter, Eleanora.
Pegg, the Von Machts' black servant girl, then leads him to the truth about who Eleanora really was and how she actually died. Joined in friendship, Pegg and Horace soon realize that his photographs are evoking both Eleanora's image and her ghost. Eleanora returns, a vengeful wraith intent on punishing those who abused her.
Rich in detail, full of the magic of early photography, here is a story about the shadows, visible and invisible, that are always lurking near.


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In the upcoming film Snow White and the Huntsman, that classic fairy tale receives a modern rejiggering complete with a guest appearance by Thor and (hopefully) a golem made out of poison apples.
This flick represents just one retelling in a long history of folklore being retold and remolded for a new audience. Here are ten actual fairy tale plot nuggets frequently downplayed or just plain forgotten, such as the time Little Red Riding Hood ate her dead grandmother's teeth.
Top image: J. Scott Campbell's hornball idiosyncratic fairy tale artwork.
10. Rumpelstiltskin commits suicide like a deranged gymnast
It's common knowledge that after the miller's daughter-turned-queen guesses Rumpelstiltskin's true name, he's tremendously unhappy and disappears thanks to some unspoken magical restraining order. But in Margaret Hunt's 1884 translation of the Brothers Grimm, the impish gold-spinner leaves this plane of existence in a truly conversation-stopping manner:
"The devil has told you that! the devil has told you that!" cried the little man, and in his anger he plunged his right foot so deep into the earth that his whole leg went in; and then in rage he pulled at his left leg so hard with both hands that he tore himself in two.
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The story then abruptly cuts off at this point, leaving the reader wondering how the Queen cleaned a bisected dwarf out of her royal carpet.
9. Goldilocks is a wizened criminal
Robert Southey's 1837 adaptation of the folktale of The Three Bears was published prior to the addition of Goldilocks to this fable. Instead, his version used an "impudent, bad old woman" who broke into the Three Bears' home. Her demise:
Now the windows were open because the Bears, like good, tidy Bears, as they were, always opened their bed-chamber window when they got up in the morning. Out the little old woman jumped; and whether she broke her neck in the fall; or ran into the wood and was lost there; or found her way out of the wood, and was taken up by the constable and sent to the House of Correction for a vagrant as she was, I cannot tell. But the Three Bears never saw anything more of her.
I love the fact that this story occurs in a universe where sentient bears and human legal structures coexist seamlessly. Southey's logical sequel to this story should have been The Three Bears 2: Bear Police.
8. The Frog King has the magic beat out of him
True love's kiss doesn't always break amphibious curses. No, some earlier versions of The Frog King saw the princess chuck the needy croaker against the wall as hard as possible. Other iterations had the slippery sovereign transform after being burnt or decapitated, because nothing dispels dark magic quite like cruelty to animals.
7. Beauty's jealous sisters conspire to see her eaten alive
The 1757 version of Beauty and the Beast by Jeanne-Marie LePrince de Beaumont contained Beauty's two unpleasant sisters who plotted to see Beauty digested by the Beast while the former was on sabbatical from the latter's magic castle. As you may remember, this emotional terrorism didn't make the Broadway musical:
"Sister," said the oldest, "a thought just strikes my mind; let us endeavor to detain her above a week, and perhaps the silly monster will be so enraged at her for breaking her word, that he will devour her."
"Right, sister," answered the other, "therefore we must show her as much kindness as possible." After they had taken this resolution, they went up, and behaved so affectionately to their sister, that poor Beauty wept for joy. When the week was expired, they cried and tore their hair, and seemed so sorry to part with her, that she promised to stay a week longer.
6. Hansel and Gretel had homicidal parents
Everyone remembers the trail of breadcrumbs and the gingerbread house, but it's often glossed over that Hansel and Gretel's parents dump them in the forest because the family's starving to death during a famine. Their mother concocts this scheme, and by the time the children return from their candy cottage hostage crisis, she's inexplicably dead. Maybe she died of malnourishment, perhaps it was an acute case of "Reader's Antipathy."
5. The Princess' lament about the pea
Without a time machine, we have no way of getting into Hans Christian Andersen's head, but I'd really like to know what dastardly Freudian maelstrom was a-swirling in his brain when he penned this paragraph:
"Oh!" said the Princess. "No. I scarcely slept at all. Heaven knows what's in that bed. I lay on something so hard that I'm black and blue all over. It was simply terrible."
4. The prince from Rapunzel attempts suicide, goes blind
Upon learning that Rapunzel has been shorn and exiled from her tower by the evil sorceress, the noble prince tosses himself to his doom, instead goes blind when he falls face-first into the brambles, and wanders the wilderness, subsisting on grass and roots. He regains his sight after Rapunzel fires some magic tears squarely into his eyes, a miracle that requires meticulous aim.
3. The Little Mermaid is in constant pain, contemplates murder, dies
Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 original tale of The Little Mermaid was completely devoid of calypso-singing crustaceans and a conventionally happy ending.
Instead the protagonist mermaid trades her tongue (it's chopped off) and fins for human legs that feel like they're constantly being stabbed with knives.
After the prince marries another woman, the mermaid considers stabbing him to death so that his blood will magically transform her back into an icthyosapien.
She rejects this plan, melts into sea foam, and becomes a "daughter of the air" favored by the Christian God (as opposed to Poseidon or Cthulhu). And as in the Disney version, any penis castles are left up to the audience's imagination.
2. Cinderella's evil stepsisters mutilate their feet
We all know that Cinderella's nasty relations try to hoodwink the prince by cramming their feet into the glass slipper. What you may not remember is that these two hellcats chopped off their toes and heels to win his affections. Also, the prince wouldn't have noticed the blood gushing from the slipper if a duo of chatty pigeons hadn't informed him otherwise. ("Rook di goo, rook di goo! There's blood in the shoe. The shoe is too tight, this bride is not right!") Moral of the story: A.) the prince was a halfwit; and B.) that shoe looked and smelled like an abattoir by the time Cinderella tried it on.
1. Little Red Riding Hood cannibalizes her grandmother
As with most popular folktales, there are regional variations to Little Red Riding Hood. In Italy and Austria, you may encounter Little Red Hat, a version that is still giving children nightmares to this day.
Here, the wolf is replaced with an ogre, who imitates Little Red Hat's grandmother while feeding the moppet her grandmother's remains. Red mistakes granny's teeth for rice, flesh for steak, and blood for wine. She's then gobbled alive after disrobing and jumping into bed with the monster. Remember children, don't trust anyone ever, particularly your loved ones. They will only be the death of you.
See also: The madness of Struwwelpeter.
Images: Warwick Goble, Arthur Rackham/Public Domain Books, Rutgers University, Edmund Dullac/CC.