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Been away for a few weeks focusing on other tasks. What better way to jump back into the Studio than with the shiny new iOS 7 straight from day one at WWDC. Admittedly I missed the keynote, but I have all the goods you need to know right here. Enough with the rumors, which I have been studiously avoiding over the past few months, let's get down to brass facts.
There are a lot of changes – Apple clearly is interested in keeping people interested in their devices, which is no surprise given the mounting consumer interest in Android software and hardware. The first thing you will notice when you get to load up the shiny new OS is the new look. It's called flat design and it quite literally takes the 3D out of the icons, pages and apps.
But pretty is as pretty does, right? What will iOS 7 do?
Control Center: Control Center is an overlay screen that offers quick access to your most used controls and apps. Swiping up from any screen, even the Lock screen, will get you into Airplane mode, Wi-Fi on or off, screen brightness, and even a flashlight. There goes my Flashlight app.
Notification Center: Beefed up and more usable – Notification Center gives you alerts for mail, missed calls, still to-dos, and more. "Today" is new and provides a summary of the days' important features, such as weather, birthdays, traffic, etc., with a nod to tomorrow's events. Looks a bit like Google Now in aspect. Swipe down from any screen, as usual.
Multitasking: It's gotten smarter. App updates happen automatically now in a strong Wi-Fi signal without battery drain. It will learn when you like to use what app and update the app before your usual use. Access preview screens of open apps and flick them closed (Hello Android and WebOS). Imitation is the highest form of flattery after all, and these are undoubtedly nice adds to iPhone / iPad / Touch users.
Camera & Photos: Some tweaks and nods to Instagram, with square format options and filters. Plus easy access to still shots, video and panorama shots. Fun. The Photo app also has some upgrades – Collections, Moments and Years. Photos will be automatically slotted into these categories to make for a bit better organization of those sometimes vast libraries.
AirDrop: This has been available on Macs but it has now made its even more useful entre onto iOS. AirDrop is a sharing tool – quickly and easily share photos, videos, contacts — and anything else from any app with a Share button. Tap Share, select the person you want to share with and BAM – using Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, the media is transferred. Transfers are encrypted too, which is nice. iPhone 5 and later iPad and Touch versions only.
Safari: Much better than before and finally catching up to some of the other decent mobile browsers. Unified search / address box. Nicely executed visual tabs – think overhead Coverflow view. Full screen so you can take full advantage of those tiny screens. Swiping allows you to quickly move forwards or backwards through pages. Improved interfaces with Reader and Twitter. And a password storage keychain for Safari via iCloud. Or have Safari generate passwords for you. Finally up to 21st Century standards.
iTunes Radio: Seems strange that the pioneer of digital media retailing took this long to develop its own radio streaming app, but here it is. It's not really radio reinvented as Apple proudly claims – its a lot like other streaming radio apps that allow you to build stations that get more personalized the more you listen. Nice that it's free, though.
Siri: Still a work in progress, but definitely progressing. Siri has a new flat look and can speak to you in either a male or female voice. It is faster, and checks more sources. Unfortunately, it will be defaulting to Bing for web search rather than Google, which I think is a step down. It will perform more tasks now, like returning calls, playing voicemail, controlling iTunes Radio, and more.
App Store: Some minor tweaks with a new "Apps Near Me" category that offers suggestions on apps that are popular in and around your locale. A good add for parents is a new Kids section that offers suggestions based on age. And, as noted above, apps will now update in the background, which is a welcome change.
Find My Phone: It's gotten a little better. Your Apple ID and Password need to be inputted to actually turn off Find My iPhone or erase the device. Good luck with that, phone thieves. Find My iPhone can also continue to display a custom message, even after the device is erased. Also, your Apple ID and password are required before anyone can reactivate it, so it becomes quite onerous to do nefarious things with someone else's device.
What about iPhones for business users? Along with some of the obvious usability improvements (business users love those), AirDrop and stronger phone security, some other commenters have noted certain features on the SDK slides that might be interesting to the enterprise.
Enterprise Single Sign-on This allows users to authenticate once to the enterprise, and then get access to apps without having to repeatedly log in. Reduced log ins is a good thing.
Per-app VPN – Virtual Private Networks are necessary for mobile/remote users, possibly allowing better user experience and ease network burdens.
App Configuration Management presumably, mobile app management, perhaps offering the ability to push apps to or remove apps from managed devices. Maybe even prevent loading unauthorized apps.
App Store Volume Purchase possibly an improved volume purchasing program, which would benefit larger businesses and educational clients.
Smart Mailboxes likely similar to smart mailbox feature in OS X's Mail app. They act as permanent email searches, which makes it easier to find emails matching certain characteristics. Better search means more efficient communication.
PDF Annotations I love this one! No more opening your PDFs in a particular app to annotate them? Sign me up!
Wi-Fi Hot Spot 2.0 Likely better mobile hotspot/tethering.
Phone, FaceTime, and Messages Blocking Believe this to be blocking of communication based on phone number, email, or other factors. Sort of like the next generation of Do Not Disturb.
Peer-to-peer Connectivity probably involves the new AirDrop feature.
Data Protection By Default better security for apps. Possibly part of the data encryption that is already in place. And probably involves that encryption that will accompany AirDrop sharing.
I haven't identified all the changes with iOS 7 and there could be additional features added (or subtracted) before it all rolls out in the fall. Nonetheless, there is a lot here to sink your teeth (or your fingers) into so kudos to Apple for coming to the party with something to offer.


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Posted by: Nick
If you've only heard of one Tasmanian distillery, chances are that distillery is Sullivans Cove. Based in Hobart and formerly known as Tasmania Distillery, this founding father of Tassie whisky has a chequered and yet ultimately inspiring past and, as we Waffle boys discovered when we visited their site recently, an extremely promising future.
Sullivans Cove is one of Tasmania's most visitor-friendly distilleries. The viewing platform looking out across the bond store is a proper money-shot (see above!) and in keeping with the establishment's status as Tassie's poster-child distillery. This honour was thrust upon Sullivans Cove in 2014 when a bottle of their French Oak Cask won the prestigious World's Best Single Malt at the World Whiskies Awards and changed the face of Tasmanian whisky forever. But as our generous host, Strategy Manager Fred Siggins, was keen to point out, there is so much more to Sullivans Cove than barrel HH525.
Consistency in flavour is a difficult task for the fledgling Australian whisky scene. Due to the size of the industry (or rather the lack thereof) most releases are the product of one barrel and therefore the flavours vary from bottle to bottle. While some distilleries choose to conveniently sweep this issue under the carpet, Sullivans Cove embrace it, hand labelling each bottle with a sticker informing the purchaser exactly which cask or casks are contained within. The result is that a dram of one French or American Oak bottling will be unlikely to taste identical to a previous one.
While this approach ensures Fred is continually explaining to customers why their new bottle tastes slightly different to their old one, it also forms one of the most exciting aspects of the distillery. During our visit we were lucky enough to sample not one, but two of the French and American Oak expressions. Had they not featured the distinctive blue and black labels we may not have picked them as the same bottling.
In each case one dram was smooth and easy drinking and the other vibrant, fresh and zingy. Excitingly, we could not work out which of each we considered to be the better drop – instead deciding that we would prefer one over the other depending on the mood we were in. Fred agreed and recommended that Sullivans Cove customers leave a small amount in one bottle before opening the next, to really appreciate the difference.
The other exciting aspect of the distillery is the age of the whisky in the bond store – and in their bottles. Sullivans Cove head distiller Patrick Maguire has been creating whisky since taking over the company in 1999 and giving it a much-needed new lease on life in the process. This means that some of the barrels are now pushing 18 years old, an incredible age for an Australian spirit.
Both the French and American Oak releases are usually aged for anywhere between 10 and 17 years while the entry level Double Cask release, a marriage of 2 to 4 American Oak barrels and one French Oak barrel, contains a cross section of particularly mature whisky, unheard of in any other Tasmanian release.
The only drawback of this premium method of whisky creation is the premium price. Sullivans Cove make no bones though about the fact that they make a premium product and are not looking to change that any time soon. Fred did point out, however, that there is a lot of new Australian whisky coming into the market currently demanding a similar (or greater) price to the Sullivans Cove Double Cask. While this new stock is exciting, the whisky is likely to only be 2 to 3 years old. When compared with the potentially 17 year old whisky found in the Double Cask, it really paints the Sullivans Cove price point in a positive light.
Sullivans Cove is now one of the most recognisable brands in the New World spirits scene, an achievement which is a true testament to the work put in by Patrick Maguire all those years ago. For a very long time, his whisky creation was a labour of love, an unprofitable venture fuelled by passion rather than profit. The rules have now changed, however, and currently there are over twenty distilleries in operation in Tasmania – with more on the way. It is certainly no overstatement to say that this reality may not have come to be if not for Sullivans Cove Distillery.
Sullivans Cove will be open for tours seven days a week, starting in September! Tours depart hourly and can be booked at the Sullivans Cove site.

subset: commoncrawl


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Just a week after a "surplus" giraffe was killed at a Danish zoo, Denmark is once again embroiled in an animal cruelty controversy. According to PETA's British and German affiliates, the Danish military is using live pigs for target practice and medical training. [Warning, the following images are disturbing.]
It's called Operation Danish Bacon — a training regimen in which live animals are used to re-create battlefield injuries.
The new images, which were provided by PETA, show pigs being shot and blown up as they're strung from wooden rafters. Military personnel can be seen using AK-47 rifles and 9mm handguns. Then, to give army medics the experience of working on gunshot wounds, the animals are operated upon. The pigs are later killed, even if the surgery is a success.
According to a Mirror report, British army surgeons have been sending surgeons to Jaegerspris Kaserne in Denmark twice a year to take part in the exercises — even though the practice is illegal in Britain.
Thankfully, the pigs are anaesthetized throughout the ordeal. From The Mirror:
During the training the pigs are "subjected to bullet and blast wounds", the UK Government has confirmed. PETA has appealed to the Danish Minister of Defence to stop the country's animal-based trauma training exercises.
Campaigners argue that hi-tech human simulators should be used instead, adding that they are more realistic than using live animals.
A PETA spokesman said: "Eighty per cent of Nato allies have already ended the cruel use of animals in archaic military medical training exercises.
"Instead of shooting, stabbing and blowing up animals, military personnel in these nations are trained to treat traumatic injuries using life-like human-patient simulators, such as the state-of-the-art Caesar military simulator.
"This is used by the Nato Centre of Excellence for Military Medicine, as well as other non-animal methods that have repeatedly been shown in military and civilian studies to teach lifesaving skills better than crude animal laboratories."
This practice may also be a violation of Denmark's own Animal Welfare Act, which requires that non-animal methods be used to train the military whenever possible.
According to a former U.S. military medical worker, lifelike human simulators are a far superior way of preparing doctors to treat injured humans. The so-called Caesar patient simulator, which breathes and bleeds, can be used anywhere.
All images: Jorn Stjerneklar/PETA.


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The children and I explored what kids might have put in their suitcases when they were evacuated.
Children's Author, daydreamer lover of cats
Writing tips and thoughts on a writer's life
On a mission to find the right book for every child and encourage reading for pleasure
Showcasing the newest books for ages 4-11ish!
Spiritual and Worldly Poetry for the Soul
Design | Publishing | Photography | Art
我的畫 活像現實 不完美 | Drawing Reality Imperfect
Writing - Loving What I Do and Doing What I Love!
Spread Positive Vibes. Give Love. Be Happy.
Play, Early Education and more...


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News this week that hasn't been political has included information about Hawaii's volcanoes finally spilling lava into the ocean again, for the first time in several years. And, a video of one of the calderas has been making the rounds, uploaded to Vimeo and shot by Mick Kalber.
One of the main ways this has become viral is pareidolia at work, with headlines such as "Hawaiian Volcano Smiles at Photographer" and such other whimsical things.
Obviously, the volcano, caldera, and lava are not smiling. It's the human brain trying to make a familiar pattern out of randomness. Which it very happily does. Visually, it's generic pareidolia. If it were audio noise and you thought you heard something (the ghost hunter's infamous "EVP" or Electronic Voice Phenomenon), that would be audio pareidolia.
Everyone does it. And yet, there are still some noted pseudoscientists have consistently refused to believe that it's real. After all, almost their entire repertoire of claims would be blasted away if they admitted that a bit of the right shade here and a bit of the right shade there and something random will appear to be something familiar.
The phenomenon of pareidolia is real. Get over it.


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Bangladesh is on the front page of the New York Times for the third time this year. All three stories have been on the garments industry. The previous two talked of opportunities and warned of dangers and exploitation in the industry. The latest one is, of course, after the fire. Reporting by Jim Yardley and Julfikar Ali Manik, photographs by Andrew Biraj and Khaled Hasan.
Horrific Fire Revealed a Gap in Safety for Global Brands
By JIM YARDLEY
ASHULIA, Bangladesh — The fire alarm shattered the monotony of the Tazreen Fashions factory. Hundreds of seamstresses looked up from their machines, startled. On the third floor, Shima Akhter Pakhi had been stitching hoods onto fleece jackets. Now she ran to a staircase.
But two managers were blocking the way. Ignore the alarm, they ordered. It was just a test. Back to work. A few women laughed nervously. Ms. Pakhi and other workers returned to their sewing tables. She could stitch a hood to a jacket in about 90 seconds. She arranged the fabric under her machine. Ninety seconds. Again. Ninety more seconds. She sewed six pieces, maybe seven.
Then she looked up.
Smoke was filtering up through the three staircases. Screams rose from below. The two managers had vanished. Power suddenly went out throughout the eight-story building. There was nowhere to escape. The staircases led down into the fire. Iron grilles blocked the windows. A man cowering in a fifth-floor bathroom called his mother to tell her he was about to die.
"We all panicked," Ms. Pakhi said. "It spread so quickly. And there was no electricity. It was totally dark."
Tazreen Fashions Ltd. operated at the beginning of the global supply chain that delivers clothes made in Bangladesh to stores in Europe and the United States. By any measure, the factory was not a safe place to work. Fire safety preparations were woefully inadequate. The building itself was under construction — even as sewing work continued inside — and mounds of flammable yarn and fabric were illegally stored on the ground floor near electrical generators.
Yet Tazreen was making clothing destined for some of the world's top retailers. On the third floor, where firefighters later recovered 69 bodies, Ms. Pakhi was stitching sweater jackets for C&A, a European chain. On the fifth floor, workers were making Faded Glory shorts for Walmart. Ten bodies were recovered there. On the sixth floor, a man named Hashinur Rahman put down his work making True Desire lingerie for Sears and eventually helped save scores of others. Inside one factory office, labor activists found order forms and drawings for a licensee of the United States Marine Corps that makes commercial apparel with the Marines' logo.
In all, 112 workers were killed in a blaze last month that has exposed a glaring disconnect among global clothing brands, the monitoring system used to protect workers and the factories actually filling the orders. After the fire, Walmart, Sears and other retailers made the same startling admission: They say they did not know that Tazreen Fashions was making their clothing.
But who, then, is ultimately responsible when things go so wrong?
The global apparel industry aspires to operate with accountability that extends from distant factories to retail stores. Big brands demand that factories be inspected by accredited auditing firms so that the brands can control quality and understand how, where and by whom their goods are made. If a factory does not pass muster, it is not supposed to get orders from Western customers.
Tazreen Fashions was one of many clothing factories that exist on the margins of this system. Factory bosses had been faulted for violations during inspections conducted on behalf of Walmart and at the behest of the Business Social Compliance Initiative, a European organization.
Yet Tazreen Fashions received orders anyway, slipping through the gaps in the system by delivering the low costs and quick turnarounds that buyers — and consumers — demand. C&A, the European retailer, has confirmed ordering 220,000 sweaters from the factory. But much of the factory's business came through opaque networks of subcontracts with suppliers or local buying houses. Labor activists, combing the site of the disaster, found labels, order forms, design drawings and articles of clothing from many global brands.
Walmart and Sears have since said they fired the suppliers that subcontracted work to Tazreen Fashions. Yet some critics have questioned how a company like Walmart, one of the two biggest buyers in Bangladesh and renowned for its sophisticated global supply system, could have been unaware of the connection.
The factory's owner, Delowar Hossain, said his managers arranged work through local middlemen. "We don't know the buyers," Mr. Hossain said in an interview. "The local man is important. The buyer — I don't care."
Bangladesh is now a garment manufacturing giant, the world's second-leading apparel exporter, behind China, which is no longer the cheapest place to make many basic goods. Bangladesh has the lowest garment wages in the world, and many of the Tazreen factory's victims were young rural women with little education, who earned as little as $45 a month in an industry that now accounts for $19 billion in exports.
In Bangladesh, public outrage about the fire has boiled over. An estimated 100,000 people attended the burial ceremony of 53 workers whose bodies could not be identified. Industry leaders have promised financial support for survivors and the families of the dead. The Bangladeshi government has started inspecting the country's 4,500 garment factories; it has already found fire code violations in almost a third of the hundreds it has examined.
"Now we have to do much more," said Mohammad Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, conceding past failures. "We have learned. We start from here."
In the United States, Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis compared the Tazreen blaze to the 1911 Triangle shirtwaist factory fire in New York, which led to sweeping reforms of American sweatshops. In Bangladesh, factory fires have been a persistent problem, with the International Labor Rights Forum saying more than 600 garment workers have died in such fires since 2005.
And even before the Tazreen blaze, outside pressure was building on Bangladesh's garment sector to increase wages and ease restrictions on union organizing. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, along with European diplomats, has urged the government to investigate the unsolved murder of a labor organizer, Aminul Islam.
In reconstructing the deadly blaze, The New York Times interviewed more than two dozen survivors; relatives of the victims; Bangladeshi fire officials; garment factory owners and managers; auditors; and others. In the end, analysts said, the conflagration was a tragic byproduct of an industry in which global brands and retailers, encouraged by hundreds of millions of consumers around the world, are still primarily motivated by the bottom line.
"We as consumers like to be able to buy ever-greater quantities of ever-cheaper goods, every year," said Richard M. Locke, deputy dean of the M.I.T. Sloan School of Management. "Somebody is bearing the cost of it, and we don't want to know about it. The people bearing the cost were in this fire."
'Precious' Escape Time Is Lost
Several months ago, Shima Akhter Pakhi was summoned to the sixth floor of Tazreen Fashions. Ms. Pakhi, 24, had worked at the factory for three years, and every month she sent money back to her family in rural Bangladesh. Now she earned a monthly base salary of $51, maybe $20 more with overtime. Up on the sixth floor, managers were tapping her for fire safety duty.
When Ms. Pakhi started at Tazreen, the factory had only three floors, but the owner was adding five upper floors in expectation that business would grow. The empty, unfinished sixth floor was nearly the size of a football field. Ms. Pakhi and a few other employees were handed fire extinguishers and taught to remove the pin, squeeze the handle and spray. They were also told that in the case of a fire on upper floors, employees should evacuate down the staircases in descending order from top to bottom.
"They did not tell us what we would do if the fire started on the ground floor," Ms. Pakhi recalled.
Fire investigators say the blaze erupted on the cavernous ground floor after stacks of yarn and fabric caught fire. Had the fabric been stored in an enclosed, fireproof room, as required by law, the fire could have been contained and the workers could have escaped.
Instead, the blaze spread quickly, pushing up the staircases, along with toxic fumes from burning acrylic. Investigators discovered that few fire extinguishers had been used. And, finally, managers made a catastrophic mistake by initially dismissing the fire alarm.
"They killed time," said Abu Nayeem Mohammad Shahidullah, the director general of Bangladesh's national fire service. "Time was so precious, so important. But they said it was a false alarm."
Mr. Hossain, the factory owner, said in a separate interview with Bangladeshi news media that he did not know why managers on the floor would have tried to stop employees from leaving the factory. He added that none of the gates in the staircases were locked.
Managers had been preparing the factory for inspections from buyers and staged a drill a few days before the fire, several employees said. Ms. Pakhi said managers had even displayed photographs of the fire training session on bulletin boards.
"I think they took the pictures and hung them on the board to show the buyers," she said. "They would see the pictures and think they have trained people to fight fires. But personally, I don't think I could fight fires with this training."
Tazreen Fashions is part of a larger garment conglomerate, the Tuba Group, which owns at least half a dozen apparel factories in Bangladesh. Mr. Hossain said a team from Walmart's local office conducted a compliance audit last year and faulted the factory for excessive overtime, while making no mention of fire safety or other issues. Moreover, he said, the local buying houses had also inspected and approved the factory, tantamount, he assumed, to approval from Walmart and the other global brands these middlemen represented.
Kevin Gardner, a Walmart spokesman, said the company stopped authorizing production at Tazreen "many months before the fire." But he did not say why. Accredited outside auditors inspected the factory on Walmart's behalf at least twice in 2011, he said. That May, auditors gave the factory an "orange" rating, meaning there were "higher-risk violations." Three months later, the factory's grade improved to "yellow," meaning there were "medium-risk violations."
Sears, in a statement, said its supplier "was not authorized" to produce goods at the Tazreen factory and that it had done so "in violation" of Sears's rules.
But David Hasanat, the chairman of the Viyellatex Group, one of the country's most highly regarded garment manufacturers, pointed out that global apparel retailers often depend on hundreds of factories to fill orders. Given the scale of work, retailers frequently place orders through suppliers and other middlemen who, in turn, steer work to factories that deliver low costs — a practice he said is hardly unknown to Western retailers and clothing brands. The order for Walmart's Faded Glory shorts, documents show, was subcontracted from Simco Bangladesh Ltd., a local garment maker. "It is an open secret to allow factories to do that," Mr. Hasanat said. "End of the day, for them it is the price that matters."
A Friend Shouts, 'Save Us!'
On the sixth floor, Hashinur Rahman heard the screams and rushed to a staircase. He and others had been making satiny lingerie, but they pushed past a manager and began descending into thicker and thicker smoke. Ignoring the manager would save their lives.
The factory did not have ceiling sprinklers or an outdoor fire escape. Fire officials later concluded that the two staircases on the eastern side of the building were quickly overwhelmed with fire and toxic smoke. But officials say the lone western staircase remained passable for many minutes and provided an escape route for many survivors. About 1,150 people were working that night, and all of the roughly 300 workers on the second floor managed to escape down the stairs, fire officials said.
Mr. Rahman, 32, had barely made it out of the building, along with many of his colleagues, when his cellphone rang. It was a friend who worked on the third floor. Hundreds of people were trapped.
"Save us!" the friend shouted. "Help us!"
Mr. Rahman said he ran to the narrow alley that separated the factory's western wall from a building under construction. The gap was maybe five feet. Work crews had covered the western wall with rickety bamboo scaffolding so they could put plaster on the exterior of the still-unfinished Tazreen factory.
Mr. Rahman climbed the bamboo to a third-floor window covered with an iron grille. He leapt onto a concrete slab of the new building and found a brick. He began smashing the grille, trying to break it open. He looked inside and saw his co-workers' desperate faces. They were in the room where samples were made and sent to buyers for final approval, and they stood on sewing tables, pulling frantically on the grille.
One seamstress, who goes by a single name, Rahima, had tried to escape the third floor by a stairwell but began choking on smoke. As the smoke thickened, Ms. Rahima said, she fell to the floor. Then people trampled her.
"When I fell down, and the people were stepping on me, I did not think I would survive," she recalled. "But then I thought of my daughter."
Ms. Rahima had been married to a husband who beat her. When their daughter was born five years ago, the husband fled. Ms. Rahima left her village to find work in the garment industry, which has provided an escape from grinding rural poverty for millions of women like her in Bangladesh and around the world. She moved into a rented room with her two sisters and got a job at Tazreen. In the village, Ms. Rahima's parents cared for her daughter while she sent back money. Two days before the fire, the little girl arrived for a rare visit.
"I got my strength, and I stood up," Ms. Rahima said. "I ran to the sample room."
Finally, the iron grille gave way.
A few men jumped to the concrete slab of the adjacent building. Leaning against the scaffolding, they reached across the gap to help co-workers make the leap. Women went first. Ms. Rahima made it across. So did Ms. Pakhi. On other floors, people smashed open windows or tore out exhaust fans and leapt into the darkness. Some landed on the metal roofs of nearby shanties. Some landed on the ground.
And some never made it out at all.
Son Phones 'Ma' Before Dying
As word spread, people raced to the factory: mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and gawkers. Soon a throng stood beneath the building, their faces glowing in the cruel brilliance of the flames. Golapi Begum left her own factory job and raced to Tazreen Fashions to find her son, Palash Mian. He was 18 and worked on the fifth floor. Ms. Begum stared up at the factory and shrieked.
Then her cellphone rang. It was her son.
"Ma, I have no way to save my life," he told her. "I cannot find any way to get out. I am in the bathroom of the fifth floor. I am wearing a black T-shirt. And I have a shirt wrapped around my waist. You will find me in the bathroom."
He hung up. He called his father, as well as several friends. Then his phone went dead.
"I became insane," his mother said. "I spent the whole night in front of the main gate of the factory. I was screaming all the time."
She found him the next day. Rescuers had lined up all the recovered bodies on the grounds of a nearby school. Family members unzipped bag after bag, searching. One husband looking in vain for his young wife said the charred human remains looked like chunks of coal.
But Ms. Begum unzipped a bag and found her son. She recognized his face. And he was wearing a black T-shirt.
She collected his body and returned it to their village, where he was buried.
Julfikar Ali Manik contributed reporting from Ashulia, and Steven Greenhouse from New York.
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President Trump, who just five months ago said he wanted "to get out" of Syria and bring U.S. troops home soon, has agreed to a new strategy that indefinitely extends the military effort there and launches a major diplomatic push to achieve American objectives, according to senior State Department officials.
Much of the motivation for the change, officials said, stems from growing doubts about whether Russia, which Trump has said could be a partner, is able and willing to help eject Iran. Russia and Iran have together been Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's principal allies in obliterating a years-long effort by domestic rebels to oust the Syrian leader.
"The new policy is we're no longer pulling out by the end of the year," said James Jeffrey, a retired senior Foreign Service officer who last month was named Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's "representative for Syria engagement." About 2,200 U.S. troops are serving in Syria, virtually all of them devoted to the war against the Islamic State in the eastern third of the country.
Jeffrey said U.S. forces are to remain in the country to ensure an Iranian departure and the "enduring defeat" of the Islamic State.
"That means we are not in a hurry," he said. Asked whether Trump had signed off on what he called "a more active approach," Jeffrey said, "I am confident the president is on board with this."
Jeffrey declined to describe any new military mission. But he emphasized what he said would be a "major diplomatic initiative" in the United Nations and elsewhere, and the use of economic tools, presumably including more sanctions on Iran and Russia and the stated U.S. refusal to fund reconstruction in Assad-
controlled Syria.
But the more-activist policies he outlined, and only in vague terms, could increase the likelihood of a direct confrontation with Iran, and potentially with Russia.
Jeffrey's description of a much broader U.S. role follows years of criticism from lawmakers and analysts that neither Trump nor his predecessor, Barack Obama, had a coherent strategy for Syria. Trump, like Obama, insisted that U.S. interests were focused on defeating the Islamic State, and he resisted significant involvement in the civil war against Assad raging in the rest of the country, even as both Iran and Russia increased their influence.
Jeffrey and retired U.S. Army Col. Joel Rayburn, who transferred to the State Department from the National Security Council last month to become "special envoy for Syria," were brought in to try to create a coherent blueprint that would prevent a repeat of what the administration sees as the mistakes of Iraq — where a precipitous U.S. pullout left the field open for Iran, and for a resurgence of Sunni militants that gave birth to the Islamic State.
Pompeo first listed Iran's withdrawal from Syria as one of 12 U.S. demands of Tehran in a May speech at the Heritage Foundation.
U.S. policy is not that "Assad must go," Jeffrey said. "Assad has no future, but it's not our job to get rid of him." He said, however, that he found it hard to think of Assad as a leader who could "meet the requirements of not just us but the international community" as someone who "doesn't threaten his neighbors" or abuse his own citizens, "doesn't allow chemical weapons or provide a platform for Iran."
The first test of the administration's expanded role in Syria may come sooner rather than later in Idlib, in the northwest part of the country.
The province is the last bastion of rebel control after seven years of civil war, during which Assad, with extensive Russian and Iranian assistance, pounded opposition forces into submission. His scorched-earth tactics and, at times, use of chemical weapons have killed hundreds of thousands of civilians and driven millions from their homes.
Idlib has now become a crowded holding pen for up to 70,000 opposition fighters, along with about 2 million Syrian civilians displaced from other battle zones, and activists and aid workers trying to assist them.
Turkish military forces are also in Idlib, where they have pushed back Syrian Kurds from the Syria-Turkey border. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who fears a new exodus of Syrian refugees, is due to attend a summit in Tehran on Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
Assad has said he is preparing a final offensive in Idlib, and Russian warplanes this week began bombing the region. Humanitarian organizations have warned of an unprecedented level of civilian bloodshed, and Trump himself has threatened U.S. retaliation if an all-out offensive is launched, especially with the use of chemical weapons.
"If it's a slaughter, the world is going to get very, very angry. And the United States is going to get very angry, too," Trump said Wednesday. Pompeo, Jeffrey said, has delivered the same message by telephone to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as did White House national security adviser John Bolton in a recent meeting with his Russian counterpart.
Russia, which has beefed up its naval and other forces in the region in recent weeks, has charged that the United States is preparing to manufacture a chemical weapons attack to justify military intervention. It says its operations in Idlib are aimed at up to 14,000 fighters linked to al-Qaeda.
While the United States agrees that those forces must be wiped out, it rejects "the idea that we have to go in there . . . to clean out the terrorists, most of the people fighting . . . they're not terrorists, but people fighting a civil war against a brutal dictator," as well as millions of civilians, Jeffrey said. Instead, the United States has called for a cooperative approach with other outside actors.
"We've started using new language," Jeffrey said, referring to previous warnings against the use of chemical weapons. Now, he said, the United States will not tolerate "an attack. Period."
"Any offensive is to us objectionable as a reckless escalation" he said. "You add to that, if you use chemical weapons, or create refugee flows or attack innocent civilians," and "the consequences of that are that we will shift our positions and use all of our tools to make it clear that we'll have to find ways to achieve our goals that are less reliant on the goodwill of the Russians."
Trump has twice authorized U.S. air and missile attacks on Syrian government targets as punishment for chemical weapons use.
Asked whether the United States would consider its own airstrikes against terrorist forces who are interspersed with Syrian rebel fighters in Idlib, Jeffrey said, "We have asked repeatedly for permission to operate" there, and "that would be one way" to respond.
"In some respects, we are potentially entering a new phase, where you have forces from the different countries facing each other," rather than pursuing their separate goals, he said, listing Russia, the United States, Iran, Turkey and Israel, which has conducted its own airstrikes against Iran-linked forces inside Syria.
"Now all of them have accomplished their primary jobs" there. "But nobody is happy with the situation in Syria."
Clarification: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized State Department official James Jeffrey's comment regarding possible U.S. airstrikes in Syria as a response to a Syrian-Russian offensive in Idlib. The remark — "We have asked repeatedly for permission to operate"— referred to potential ways of attacking terrorist forces there interspersed with Syrian rebel fighters.


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As announced by the Nuncio yesterday, the retirement of Bishop Friedhelm Hofmann will begin today. The bishop of Würzburg, who celebrated his 75th birthday in May, has been at the helm of the diocese for 13 years.
The announcement of the upcoming retirement was made on Sunday when the bishop and diocese celebrated the 25th anniversary of his ordination as a bishop. Before coming to Würzburg in 2004, Bishop Hofmann served as an auxiliary bishop of Cologne for 12 years.
The silver jubilee of his ordination as bishop was thus also an opportunity to thank Msgr. Hofmann for his service. Numerous bishops from Germany and abroad had come to concelebrate, among them Cardinals Reinhard Marx and Friedrich Wetter, from Munich both, Archbishop Piero Marini, and Archbishop Jean-Claude Périsset, the previous nuncio to Germany, Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich from Luxembourg, Bishop John Ndimbo from Mbinga in Tanzania and Bishop Bernardo Johannes Bahlmann from Óbidos in Brazil, both partner dioceses of Würzburg.
In contrast with the expressions of appreciation and gratitude for his work, from brother bishops as well as the local Lutheran bishop and the president of the Bavarian parliament, Bishop Hofmann rather more critical in his homily. Looking back on the past 25 years, he noted how the problems in society had not improved. "On the contrary, the problems became more acute and new challenges have arisen". Examples mentioned by the bishop were the cries in the world leading to increasing streams of refugees, the increase in religiously motivated extremism, and the ethical challenges of genetic research. How can this be compatible with God's love for us? Referring to his motto, "Ave crux, spes unica", Bishop Hofmann said, "What may seem to us as the ultimate humiliation, is for Jesus the rising and entrance into the glory of the Father. This belief shakes us up and presupposes knowledge of the fullness of our salvation."
In a recent interview for the Tagespost, Bishop Hofmann looked ahead to his retirement, saying:
"I am aware that I am taking a step back. I will not interfere in how my successor executes his office. I have decided that for myself. My predecessor, Bishop Scheele, did the same thing. But I am willing to help out when I am asked, for examples with confirmations. I will continue living in Würzburg."
Said interview also contains a number of comments from Bishop Hofmann on a number of topics, comments which show that, in many respects, this is a bishop with his head screwed on right.
On same-sex marriage, promoted in Germany by the "Ehe für alle" (marriage for all) initiative, he says:
"The so-called "Ehe für alle" is, in my opinion, a catastrophe for society. Marriage is a God-willed union of man and woman, which is open to the generation of new life. An "Ehe für alle" is therefore impossible according to Catholic understanding. Pointing this out is not remotely the same as attacking or discriminating homosexual people".\
About the presence of Muslim immigrants (and often second- and third-generation Muslims) in German society, which in the basis remains a Christian society:
"It should be clear: when Muslims come to us and want to live here, they must accept our social rules. But for me as a Christian, the Islam is not a challenge. It is rather the failing of Christianity that we should fear. We must speak with Muslims on equal footing. We must make it clear to them that basic civilian advances such as the Charter of the United Nations of the Basic Law of Germany are based on Christian ethics. We must inform them that their freedom and wellbeing also depend on the continued existence of that Christian foundation."
The shortage of priests is also felt in Würzburg. The number of young men knocking on seminary doors is small. Bishop Hofmann points out several reasons for this.
"These days, young men often no longer come from a Christian family. When God is not mentioned at home, when there is no prayer, it is difficult to arrive at the thought to go this path. Secondly, young people have a fear of commitment. This can also be seen with marriage. People no longer want to commit themselves to one person for their entire lives. That obviously makes celibacy a major hurdle, which many cannot overcome, although they may certainly be suitable for the priesthood. And then there is the great pressure of expectation on the priest from the community. Many priests experience this. Young people then wonder if they want to do that to themselves."
Another hot-button topic is the question of ordaining women to the priesthood. Bishop Hofmann has something to say about that, and about celibacy and the ordination of married men, too.
"The ordination of women is not possible. The priest, after all, represents Christ and must therefore be a man. The Church has no leeway there. This is a different question than that of celibacy. I consider celibacy to be a very important concept. In it, the Church makes clear that she is not a great worldly concern, but is built on a different foundation. But there have always been married priests as well in our Church, for example in the Uniate churches or converts. It is therefore possible to discuss the question of the viri probati. But this discussion should not be held in such a way that one speaks ill of celibacy and considers it superfluous. It can only be about ordaining proven men, for example deacons, who have shown themselves capable of ecclesiastical service as married men. Such a step can only be made in unity with the word Church. The pope is certainly open to thinking in this direction, but at the same time he is not one who wants to rip the Church from her foundations."
The Church in Germany is among the richest in the world. In the past, Pope Benedict XVI, himself a German, has been very critical about the wealth of the Church. Bishop Hofmann says:
"Pope Benedict was completely right. In Germany, we are a rich Church. But in the face of the needs of the world I often wonder myself if all the reserves that we are building are justified, or if we shouldn't give that money to the poor and hungry."
Finally, Bishop Hofmann greatly respects the retired pope, and the way that he is sometimes discussed is a discgrace.
"Pope Benedict is one of the greatest theologians to have occupied the seat of Peter. He has given the world so much that is positive and important, in word and deed. It is a tragedy that we haven't always positively accepted this in Germany. But I am convinced that in 20, 30 years Pope Benedict will find new listeners as a Doctor of the Church of the modern age."
Würzburg is the second diocese, after Hildesheim, to fall vacant after a brief spell in which every German diocese had a bishop at its head. When the retirement of Bishop Hofmann begins, at noon today, auxiliary bishop Ulrich Boom will be in charge until the cathedral chapter has chosen an administrator to oversee current affairs until a new bishop has been appointed. Würzburg is the northernmost diocese in Bavaria and a part of the Church province of Bamberg.
Photo credit: Markus Hauck (POW)


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Orchid, Lily and Rose Hand-tied
An extra special person deserves a very special gift – just like this luxurious hand-tied bouquet. The exquisite mini orchid is a charming centrepiece that looks so sophisticated set against exotic Oriental lilies and velvety large-headed roses in marshmallow pink. A heavenly gift that exudes luxury.Featuring a pink mini cymbidium orchid, white Oriental lilies, large-headed ivory roses, large-headed pink roses and pink spray roses with palm leaves, eucalyptus and salal, hand-tied, wrapped and finished with gold voile ribbon.
A delivery charge of £7.00 will be added to your final bill - excludes funeral orders.
Due to the Covid-19 situation we are currently unable to do deliveries
Ordering Information
Delivery is not available on Sundays or Bank Holidays.
For same day delivery you must place your order by 1 pm UK time.


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In April, the University of South Florida (USF) Libraries Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center welcomed historian Ronald Grigor Suny for its second Armenian Studies event in six months. Turnout was exceptional, with a standing-room-only crowd in attendance.
Suny explored a variety of historic justifications for and ramifications of the Armenian Genocide (1915-1923) as well as killing and deportations of Greeks, Arabs, Assyrians, and others, under the Ottoman Empire. He spoke of first-hand research conducted during numerous visits to Turkey over a 20-year period. During visits to Kurdistan, he spoke with Kurds regarding their historic memory of and, sometimes, participation in the Genocide, having been bribed and coerced by its orchestrators. Most importantly, Suny described a relationship between the marginalization of the Kurdish population in present-day Turkey and the denial of the Armenian Genocide, suggesting that if the Turkish government were to acknowledge the Genocide, removing the 'national security' implications it uses as justification now, it would remove a tenet of their justification for failing to grant Kurdistan autonomy.
The talk also related what Dr. Suny sees as hopeful steps, from large, unimpeded demonstrations taking place in Turkey, and his own Workshop for Armenian/Turkish Scholarship (WATS) collaborations, where Turkish and Armenian scholars come together to explore the essential truths of the Armenian Genocide.
"Dr. Suny explained in a highly convincing manner how the reluctance of the current Turkish government to admit to the Armenian genocide was linked to the current Turkish-Kurdish conflict in Eastern Anatolia," said USF History Professor Kees Boterbloem. "He pointed out, encouragingly, that this denial, a standard adhered to by all of Turkey's governments since the 1920s, may have had its day."
The audience discussion that followed the talk raised interesting questions about France and Turkey and admission to the European Union, and an understanding of the difference between the official Turkish government line and the feelings of the Turkish populace.
The USF Libraries Holocaust and Genocide Studies Center wishes to express gratitude to the USF History Department and Golfo Alexopoulos for their sponsorship of this important event.
The Armenian Studies collection at the USF Tampa Library continues to grow, with the acquisition of materials in a wide range of languages. Please contact Merrell Dickey to learn how you can support this initiative: (813) 974-1654 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
SOURCE: http://www.lib.usf.edu/donate-usf-library/uncategorized/genocide-under-the-ottoman-empire/?utm_campaign=suny&utm_medium=email&utm_source=&utm_content=finishreadingtextlink


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Hi everyone! My name is Hilary and I blog over at Young Texan Mama. I am really excited about sharing my first project with you over here at the Moda Bake Shop. I love working with pre-cuts and this is a simple and quick project that uses the adorable Moda Mini Charm Packs.
1 – Moda Candy Mini Charm Pack
2 – Fat Quarters
1 – 6.5″ x 6.5″ piece of cotton batting
2 – 6.5″ x 8″ piece of cotton batting
1 – 6.5″ x 8.5″ piece of batting & 1 – 6.5″ x 8.5″ piece of Insul-Bright batting
Out of one Fat Quarter cut the following:
2 – 6.5″ sqaures
1 – 6.5″ x 8.5″ rectangle
Out of your 2nd fat quarter:
3 – 2.25″ x 22″ strips (they don't have to be exactly 22″ just cut them from the long side of your fat quarter).
Step 1: Select 9 mini charms to be the main panel of your pot holder, and 3 mini charms to be the accent of the larger piece.
Stitch the 9 minis into 3 rows of 3. I like to chain piece my squares over sewing one at at time.
Press your seams in alternating directions, then sew the 3 rows into a 9 patch block. I like to press the seams between the rows open to reduce the bulk. You'll be left with a 6.5″ square.
Step 2: Take your 3 remaining minis and sew into a row of 3. Press your seams in one direction, you'll be left with a 2.5″ x 6.5″ strip. Sew this strip to one of your 6.5″ squares of fabric from your FQ.
Step 3: Using your 9 patch block, a piece of 6.5″ batting, and the remaining 6.5″ fabric square, make a quilt sandwich & quilt as desired.
I like to baste the layers together with a couple of safety pins to keep the layers from shifting while quilting.
I quilted my piece with diagonal lines through the points of the squares, but you can quilt it however you want. I think it would look cute with loops or an all over meander.
Step 4: Take your pieced 6.5″ x 8.5″ rectangle, your 2 – 6.5″ x 8.5″ pieces of batting (or Insul-Bright), and your 6.5″ x 8.5″ rectangle. Sandwich the 4 layers together, baste with safety pins, and quilt. I used 2 pieces of cotton batting for the interior of my pot holder.
I've never had problems with 2 layers of cotton batting not being enough insulation, but if your worried, then a layer of Insul-bright would definitely protect your hand from heat.
Step 5: Sew your 3 binding strips together, end to end, so you end up with on long strip. Press the seams open to reduce the bulk. Fold binding in half, wrong sides together, and press. Cut a 4 inch piece of binding for your loop, and cut a 6.5 inch piece of binding for the top of your square panel.
Take the 6.5 inch strip and sew it to the top edge of the main panel with a 1/4″ seam allowance. Once sewn, fold it around to the back and stitch in place. I like to machine bind mine, but if you prefer you can hand stitch it down.
This is what your main piece will look like when you're finished. Set it aside.
Step 6: With your mini charms facing up, baste your 2 panels together with a 1/8″ seam allowance. That will prevent shifting when you sew your binding on. Sew slowly because you'll be sewing through several layers of fabric.
Take the 4.5″ piece and fold the ends to the center and press, creating a double fold binding. Sew along the open long edge to close it together.
Pin and baste the loop you just created to the back of the 6.5″ x 8.5″ quilted panel.
Step 7: Take the remainder of your binding and stitch it to your potholder with 1/4″ seam allowance. Again, sew slowly because you will be sewing through several layers of fabric. A walking foot might be beneficial for this step.
When you get to the loop, make sure it is laying flat on the back of the pot holder.
Step 8: When you get back around to your starting point, make sure you have enough binding so that the 2 edges overlap about 3/4″. (I had already trimmed out the remainder of my binding at this point.)
Fold over the raw edge of one strip, and then tuck the other one inside. That way when you sew it together there are no raw edges showing. Fold the edges flat and continue sewing your seam, making sure to back-stitch where you started.
Step 9: Once it is stitched down, fold binding to the back and pin or clip in place. If you pin, try not to sew over your pins because it could break your needle and mess up your machine. I learned that the hard way when I first learned how to sew.
Again when you get to the loop, make sure it is laying flat.When you get back around to your starting point back-stitch to secure the stitches, and you're done!
Hilary Smith


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The raven spread its wings,
Across Stygian of the night,
The cerulean frothed elixirs black,
The wind was but a wight.
Hands intermingled,
Eyes met in swoon,
And that cloudy new moon night,
I swear I saw the moon.
Tonight I lie beneath the vaults,
Silver runs into the ink,
The wind ever so caresses me,
But I cannot sleep a wink.
Hands don't hold no secrets tonight,
And eyes don't meet in swoon,
They say it shines right overhead,
But I just can't see the moon.


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Sept. 28, 2010 -- Viagra is well recognized for its primary use. But who knew it would show promise as a cancer fighter, too?
Medical advances can be slow -- a fact frustrating to some who want the "latest and greatest" cure for their ailment, and don't want to wait out the testing process.
But once a drug has been approved for one use, doctors can prescribe it "off-label" when it is shown to be useful for something else. And an increasing number of drugs are prescribed in this manner. Off-label use of medicines accounts for about one-fifth of all prescriptions, according to a past study in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Viagra, for example, is a triple threat -- it's most commonly used to treat erectile dysfunction and is FDA-approved to treat pulmonary hypertension, but it can also be used to increase blood flow as a way to avoid amputations. And now, researchers may have found yet another use for the extremely popular drug: to help treat prostate cancer when used in combination with another cancer drug.
There are other drugs that perform double duty, including a skin cancer cream used to smooth out your facial wrinkles, a baldness drug to protect against prostate cancer, and a drug for enlarged prostate and possibly prostate cancer that may stop baldness.
Many of these off-label uses meet with controversy and questions about their value, particularly since the FDA has not yet approved the uses. (As a result, drug companies cannot advertise off-label uses.)
Though the hair loss drug finasteride is recommended by some medical organizations as a preventative measure against prostate cancer, many doctors say that such a use is inefficient and ill-advised.
But in many other cases, the alternative uses are well-known in the medical community -- though perhaps not among the general public -- and are regularly exploited.
Get Your Questions Answered at the OnCall+ Men's Health Center
Viagra is approved for use as a treatment for erectile dysfunction, and is also marketed under the name Revatio to treat pulmonary hypertension, a buildup of pressure in blood vessels leading to the lungs.
Doctors have also used it off-label to increase the blood flow to damaged areas as a way to avoid amputation and the onset of gangrene.
And new promising research may also lead to another use of Viagra: as a treatment for prostate cancer in combination with another cancer drug, doxorubicin.
Researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University discovered that in mice, the combination of Viagra and doxorubicin effectively killed prostate cancer cells and also offered a protection against the well-known cardiac effects of doxorubicin, including cardiomyopathy and heart failure. The study is published in the latest issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Doxorubicin has been used for more than 40 years and continues to be one of the most effective drugs against cancer, but the problem is the cardiac effects of this drug," said Rakesh Kukreja, professor of internal medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., and one of the study's authors.
Kukreja said the drug combination was also effective against ovarian cancer and stomach cancer, and the findings show it has great potential as a cancer treatment.
Other experts are not convinced of that treatment potential.
"Everything works against mouse tumors," said Dr. Derek Raghavan, chair and director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. He is not connected with the Viagra study.
"These types of data are what have been seen in the field for years and are doubtful to give a long and/or significant impact to tumor growth," said Robert Gertzenberg, professor of urology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He is also not connected with the current research.
Approved for the treatment of enlarged prostate, Avodart, like Propecia, has been tested for prevention of prostate cancer as well.
But the drug from GlaxoSmithKline, chemically known as dutasteride, finds a third use: preventing baldness. Smaller studies have shown some encouraging results.
"It seems to have more benefit [than finasteride] in regrowing hair from pattern hair loss," said Dr. Amy Newburger of Dermatology Consultants of Westchester, N.Y., noting that "it is not yet approved for this indication."
That Avodart would work makes some sense. Like Propecia, the drug targets the pathway that converts testosterone to DHT, which is the suspected culprit in hair loss.
"There are good studies that show it is effective," said Dr. Marc Avram, clinical associate professor of dermatology at Weill Medical College at Cornell Medical Center. "There are doctors who do give it out there for hair loss.
"Doctors are using it off-label for men," Avram said. "It absolutely should not be used off-label for women."
While women should not use the drug because of the risk of birth defects, questions also remain about its safety as a baldness remedy for men.
In a review article last October in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Avram and Dr. Nicole Rogers, a hair loss specialist with Old Metairie Dermatology in Metairie, La., wrote that "phase III FDA trials appear to be on hold for using dutasteride to treat male pattern hair loss. It is unclear exactly why, but we hypothesize it is because of concerns about side effects."
Dutasteride lasts much longer in the body than finasteride, and among the side effects the doctors noted was a reduced sperm count among men using the drug.
"The sexual side effect, if you get it, lasts a lot longer than with Propecia," Avram said. "If it affects sperm, they're going to need to do long-terms studies to approve it.
"My feeling is they [GSK] are not really going strong for approval, because to do that, they're going to have to prove that sperm is not affected in any long-term ways," he said.
Avram said he does not typically prescribe the drug.
"My feeling is Propecia works in most men, and between Propecia and Rogaine, we can stop their hair loss," he said.
Efudex, a skin cream that has been used for years to combat the early stages of skin cancer, may one day have a second use as a wrinkle-buster.
So suggests a small study of 21 subjects, commissioned by Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which makes the cream. The study is published in the June issue of the journal Archives of Dermatology.
Study participants who applied the cream twice daily for two weeks were able to reduce the number of potentially pre-cancerous spots on their faces. But in addition to this, researchers also found through clinical evaluation that the subjects enjoyed other improvements in aging-related damage, including fewer wrinkles, fewer dark skin spots and less hyperpigmentation.
The drug, of course, also had side effects -- primarily in the form of redness and irritation shortly after the application of the cream. And even though a number of currently available cosmetic skin treatments have similar or worse side effects, for some consumers these downsides could outweigh the benefits.
"It is possible that for some patients, topical fluorouracil may have an important role against photo-aging," lead study author Dr. Daniel Sachs of the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor said in a press release. "For others, however, it may not be cosmetically acceptable given that a standard course of therapy may last two to three weeks and the ensuing reaction can persist for several more weeks."
Still, the idea that the drug could one day enter the cosmetic armamentarium is not an outlandish one.
"Undoubtedly, there will be patients who desire a therapy such as topical fluorouracil for cosmetic purposes given the relatively low cost of this therapy compared with ... laser resurfacing," Sachs said.
On Tuesday, two medical organizations -- the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Urological Association (AUA) -- announced new guidelines that recommend that millions of men over age 55 who are regularly screened for prostate cancer speak with their doctor about taking a drug which might reduce their risk of the disease.
This drug is finasteride -- a drug that has been shown in studies to help ward off prostate cancer, but which is perhaps more well-known as the hair-loss drug Propecia.
Indeed, in a 2003 study involving 18,000 men, finasteride was shown to cut the risk of prostate cancer by around 8 percent.
"If a man is getting screened because he's worried about prostate cancer, taking the drug is a very rational thing to do along with screening," Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, told ABC News.
But at the estimated cost of $90 a month, the drug is expensive. And in the earlier trials there was some evidence that the drug might cause high-grade cancers. While proponents have denied such findings, other doctors have voiced their concern over this potential use of the drug.
"There are way too many side effects, and I believe that if they get cancer on finasteride, it's going to be biologically more aggressive," said Dr. Aaron Katz, director of the Center for Holistic Urology at Columbia University. "This is not the way to prevent cancer of the prostate."
"I still do not feel that this is ready for prime time," agreed Robert Getzenberg, director of urology research at the Brady Urology Institute at Johns Hopkins Hospital. "There are too many important questions that are unanswered."
In a pinch, doctors may look to the erectile dysfunction drug Viagra as a means to increase blood flow to tissues in the body that need it. Such was the case when 20-year-old college sophomore Jamie Schanbaum suffered meningitis and, shortly thereafter, an infection that threatened her fingers and legs.
Dr. Peter Lin, Schanbaum's doctor, who treated her at St. Joseph's hospital outside of Houston, said his team used the drug to see if it would be possible to spare Schanbaum the extensive amputations some physicians suggested as the only way to control the gangrene in her arms and legs.
"Viagra stimulates blood flow," Lin told ABCNews.com. "We wanted as much blood flow to get to the damaged area as possible."
While Viagra's usefulness in this regard has yet to be confirmed, an Australian study this year looked at the possibility that the drug might help increase blood flow to the uterus in pregnant women, which could in turn help developing fetuses receive more oxygen. Other studies have also taken a look at whether the drug could one day be used to increase blood flow to the brains of patients with multiple sclerosis, as well as whether it could help travelers deal with jet lag.
It's a drug whose name has become synonymous with cosmetic treatment. But many forget that Botox -- the most commonly known brand name for botulinum toxin type A -- had its humble start in the treatment of crossed eyes and spastic conditions as early as the 1970s.
However, the reputation of the drug changed forever in 2002 when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved it for the treatment of facial frown lines. Injecting the solution into the faces of their patients, doctors could selectively paralyze certain muscles implicated in the formation of wrinkles.
Now, doctors are further stretching the drug's usefulness by treating patients who experience certain type of hyperlacrimation -- in other words, the overproduction of tears in response to certain stimuli.
For 58-year-old Patricia Webster of Maidstone, England, who had been living with the degenerative nerve condition known as Guillain-Barre syndrome, the occasional shot straight into her tear ducts means freedom from an embarrassing symptom of her condition in which she would appear to cry whenever she ate.
"For the last 18 years of my life I've done nothing, and the embarrassment of my eyes was a major part of this," she told ABCNews.com.
Still, even Webster was skeptical when her doctor first offered up the treatment.
"Of course, I'm thinking, 'Botox ... it's a cosmetic treatment.' I thought, 'He's not worried about my eye, he's telling me that I'm wrinkly,'" Webster said.
In addition to hyperlacrimation, some doctors are also using Botox to help relieve chronic pain.
Many glaucoma patients using an eye drop known as bimatoprost to improve their vision have enjoyed an unexpected side effect -- thicker, more luxurious eyelashes.
The effects of the medication were so pronounced, in fact, that the FDA recently approved the drug for this cosmetic use. Allergan, the company that manufactures the glaucoma drug known as Lumigan, rebranded it under the new name Latisse.
Dr. Scott Whitcup, Allergan's executive vice president of research and development, told ABCNews.com that researchers noted the eyelash-enhancing side effects of the eye drops during the Phase 3 trials for the drug.
"At the time, we began thinking of developing Lumigan as a treatment for eyelash growth," Whitcup said.
Essentially, the drug works by keeping hairs in their growth phase -- the phase during which they become longer, thicker and darker. Of course, the eyelash-enhancing effects of Latisse are not permanent once the drug is discontinued. And at $120 for a 30-day supply, Latisse is not cheap. But it is still far cheaper (and most likely less risky) than surgical procedures designed to achieve the same end.
Strange but true: When it comes to trying to get pregnant, some women look to a remedy more associated with coughs and colds than conception. That remedy is Robitussin.
So far there is no reliable evidence to show that the syrup does much, if anything, to increase the odds of a woman getting pregnant. The theory, however, is that in much the same way the drug can thin the mucus in your nose and throat, it may also thin the cervical mucus. Thinner cervical mucus means that sperm may have an easier time making it into the uterus to fertilize a waiting egg.
While proof of this remedy remains elusive, it is far from the only home-grown cure that many women look to when it comes to getting pregnant. Some aspiring moms try dietary changes, for example. But because so many factors contribute to a woman's ability to conceive, doctors warn that changing any one variable is not likely to have a huge overall effect on the chances of pregnancy.
Among the plethora of drugs used in the cosmetic realm, it's a safe bet that few would recognize the name phosphatidylcholine. But in many clinics around the world, this soybean-based, FDA-approved treatment to break down fat in the blood is also being injected under the more familiar names lipostabil or lipodissolve as a surgery-free fat buster.
That's not to say, however, that the treatment is safe. Indeed, cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists agree that these injections should be avoided by consumers shopping around for a slimmer look.
"There is really not a single scientific study to show that it definitely works," Dr. Malcolm Roth, director of plastic surgery at Maimondes Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., told ABCNews.com. "Are these chemicals safe when injected into fat? And what happens to this fat? Where does it go?"
Despite the dangers of the procedure, however, the growing number of clinics offering the treatment is a testament to its continued legal status in the United States. Still, the procedure is banned for cosmetic purposes in Brazil and other countries.
"Most physicians performing this procedure do not have training in liposuction, plastic surgery or dermatologic surgery," said Dr. Carolyn Jacob, a board-certified dermatologist in Chicago. "Even dentists are doing it."
More often associated with its use as a club drug, ecstasy has captured the attention of researchers who hope that the illicit pill may one day be used to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
In the late 1970s, a group of psychiatrists found that the drug had an effect on levels of serotonin, a brain chemical that is known to regulate mood. Indeed, before ecstasy was made illegal in 1985, some psychotherapists were giving the drug to patients, citing its usefulness as an effective therapeutic tool.
In 2004, despite the illegality of the drug, the U.S. government authorized a human study of its potential to help those suffering from the emotional scars of a traumatic event.
However, while some patients in the study felt that they had benefited from the drug, today it remains on the government's list of Schedule I drugs -- a classification that includes heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines. Still, some hope that the restrictions on the drug's use may one day be lifted to help soldiers returning from war deal with psychological trauma.
Few drugs have as controversial a reputation as thalidomide. First marketed in 1957 to stave off morning sickness in pregnant women, the drug was soon found to be linked with severe birth defects ranging from cleft palates to missing and abnormal limbs, spinal cord deformities and organ abnormalities.
Despite these tragic and high-profile outcomes, a small group of patients did benefit from using the drug -- those with a severe and debilitating leprosy-associated complication known as erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL).
Considering the small number of people today who live with leprosy, it may come as little surprise that the silver lining of this devastating drug remains relatively secret. And the World Health Organization still recommends against the use of the drug to treat the ravages of ENL due to birth defects.
Nonetheless, in 1998 the FDA cleared the drug's use for leprosy under strict supervision. Women who are candidates for receiving the drug are required to undergo pregnancy testing both before and during their treatment with the drug. Men using the drug are required to use a condom whenever they have sex with a woman, and all patients are limited to a 28-day supply and must see a doctor before getting more of the drug.
Reports from Emily Friedman, Radha Chitale and Bob Woodruff contributed to this report.
Do you want to know more about men's health issues such as proper nutrition, strength training and sports injuries? Visit the ABCNews.com OnCall+ Men's Health Center to get all your questions answered.


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New Lichen Prints Inbound
We'll be back later this March with more news about our next installation, a collection of photo-based works informed in part by the writings of Victorian proto-ecologist (and erotophobe?) John Ruskin. Fresh lichen prints are making their way to Marfa from Color Wheel Digital in Baltimore, destined for the expanding plant-mind meditation zone already in progress at Etherington Art.


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Genres: Comedy, Ecchi, Sci-fi, Seinen, Space
Unlike the main television anime series which is mostly set in modern-day Japan, the new series will be a "sealed room" suspense comedy set 100 years in the future. The story begins when Shinnosuke and the entire Nohara family wake up from cold sleep to find themselves aboard a space ship drifting in space. The anime will depict the various events that take place inside the ship.


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Breasts Asymmetric Correction in Ferozepur- If one of your breasts is noticeably larger than other, it's called as asymmetric breasts. Along with not being able to find bras that fit and clothes that don't draw attention to the asymmetry. Having uneven breasts can often cause a crisis of confidence and self-consciousness among many women. There are several surgical options like uplifts to breast reduction, implants and fat transfer treatments to create a more balanced and naturally symmetrical look. Find the best uneven breasts correction clinic in Ferozepur.What is Asymmetric Breasts Correction? Asymmetric Breasts Correction Cost
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Firozpur district is one of the twenty-two districts in the state of Punjab located in the North-West of the Republic of India. Firozpur is the capital city of the district. It is situated inside ten gates—Amritsari Gate, Wansi Gate, Makhu Gate, Zira Gate, Bagdadi Gate, Mori Gate, Delhi Gate, Magjani Gate, Multani Gate and Kasuri Gate. The district is administratively into the following tehsils: Firozpur, Zira, Guru Har Sahai.
The information contained herein is for informational purposes only. While we try to keep the information as accurate as possible, we disclaim any implied representation about the accuracy, completeness, or appropriateness of the information for a particular purpose. The information is designed for educational purposes only and is not medical advice and should not be used as a substitute for medical or other professional advice. Photos on this website are of models and for representation only. Results of Asymmetric and Uneven Breasts Correction depend from patient to patients.
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I wrote back in July about the remarkable transformation of Chile into a prosperous market economy.
In that post, I noted that Chile was a pioneer in the shift from unsustainable tax-and-transfer entitlement schemes to savings-based personal retirement accounts. And with good reason. That system, which has been in place for more than three decades, is hugely successful.
We should do the same thing in America, and we should do it yesterday, if not sooner.
But Chile's success is driven by more than just pension reform. And I want to mention something remarkable about what's happening with school choice in that country.
First, some background. I'm currently at a Cato Institute donor retreat, where I had the chance to talk to Jose Pinera, who is now the Co-chairman of Cato's Project on Social Security Choice, but who also was the person who implemented the pension reforms in his home country of Chile.
I knew Chile had a school choice program, and I wrote a brief post about those reforms back in 2010.
But I was stunned when Jose told me yesterday that about 60 percent of Chilean kids – of all ages – now attend private schools.
That's far better than Sweden, which also has nationwide school choice, but has only about 20 percent of high school-age kids in private schools.
Jose thinks that it is just a matter of time before more than 80 percent of Chilean kids are in private schools. Why? Because people like freedom and choice.
He often brags – and rightly so – that more than 95 percent of workers chose personal retirement accounts when given the option of staying with the old government-run pension system. So it shouldn't be a surprise that parents also choose wisely when deciding how to get the best possible education option for their kids.
Now, if we can just figure out how to expand school choice in America…


text: Jono Bacon, Community Manager at Ubuntu, has assembled a nice article about what one needs to write the quick and scratch your own itch applications Linux and FLOSS are known for without a lot of hassle. The concept hearkens back to the good old days of Unix when apps were focused on doing one task and doing it well. His article is a great getting started guide to help you easily find the parts you will need. Check it out.


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Boy, those 3DS sales sure fell off a cliff. So much so that Nintendo has instituted one of the swiftest and deepest price cuts for a handheld in recent memory.
The 3DS only went on sale earlier this year for $249, but as of August 12, it'll be slashed all the way down to $169.99. That's...wow.
"For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now," Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime says of the move. "We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games."
In addition to the price cut for new consumers, those who bought/buy a 3DS before the August 12 markdown will be able to download 20 free games from the 3DS eShop. That offer comes in the form of ten NES Virtual Console games (including classics like Zelda and Super Mario Bros.), which will be available after September 1, and ten Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games (like Yoshi's Island and Metroid Fusion), which will be available a little later.
Yes, you read that right. In addition to original Game Boy games already available there will also be a Game Boy Advance Virtual Console and a NES Virtual Console for the 3DS.
In Japan, the cuts take the 3DS from ¥25,000 to ¥15,000. In Europe, while no exact price has been revealed, Nintendo says the rrp will be cut by "around a third". In Australia, the 3DS will be from AUD$350 all the way down to AUD$250 (with the same twenty-game offer).
You can contact Luke Plunkett, the author of this post, at email@example.com. You can also find him on Twitter, Facebook, and lurking around our #tips page.


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e_park 5402 Luxury Construction & Real Estate European Antique Brass Kitchen & Bath Fixtures Bathroom Parts Floor Drains
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Gram Possum and Emmylou Hare
Regular price $30.00
Unit price
Shipping calculated at checkout.
A risograph print from part of the Four Legs, Wings, and Six Strings Collection featuring classic country singers and song writers re-imagined as part of the animal kingdom.
12" x 12" paper size, 11" x 11" image size
Printed on Arnhem 1618 warm white 245 gsm paper
Signed and numbered in an edition of 60


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The last several weeks have seen sponsor stories take over from on-track ones as the dominant players in the North American racing news.
NAPA, of course, has made the biggest announcement with its decision to leave Michael Waltrip Racing at the end of the year, in the wake of the controversy at the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series regular season finale at Richmond. 5-Hour Energy, additionally, seems displeased with the action the organization has taken in a statement it has released.
Other sponsors are on the move, which is normal in racing, but noteworthy in their timing after Richmond. Valvoline leaves Roush Fenway Racing for Hendrick Motorsports; Jimmy John's goes with driver Kevin Harvick from Richard Childress Racing to Stewart-Haas Racing.
Castrol made the jaw-dropping decision earlier this year to leave John Force Racing at the end of 2014 in NHRA after 29 years.
And then there is the report this morning that GoDaddy is re-evaluating its role as a primary sponsor in IndyCar with Michael Andretti's team, citing low television ratings as the impetus for a potential move out of full-time primary sponsorship there.
It all adds up to a fascinating question: Which part of racing do sponsors prefer most? Is it on-track performance, ethics, or ratings?
To borrow a term from NASCAR President Mike Helton, the "ripple effect" of the last few weeks has changed the corporate game in a way we haven't seen for quite a while. Sponsors often come-and-go from racing but it's become increasingly apparent the Richmond saga has made a bigger impact on all forms of motorsport than we might have realized in the immediate aftermath.
If it's on-track performance you crave, ideally, IndyCar would be the best bang for the buck. It costs substantially less – think in the $4 to 8 million range – for a season-long sponsorship (by comparison to $15 to $20 million in NASCAR). A sponsor can advertise itself at the Indianapolis 500, the largest single-day sporting event in North America, and have the chance to win a variety of different circuits.
That said, the marketing and promotional aspect of the variety apparently does not justify the ROI as it stands now. Roger Penske, for instance, has had to put together a consortium of sponsors to field Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe's cars since Philip Morris tobacco money exited at the end of 2010 (livery was withdrawn at the end of 2009). Elsewhere around the grid, teams have become increasingly reliant on drivers bringing sponsorship to secure a seat. There's still plenty of talent on the grid, but the days of fully-funded rides without bringing a dollar are drawing to an end.
NASCAR, meanwhile, can offer better TV ratings on the whole, with the performance aspect secondary. It's why Danica Patrick, for instance – long seen by this writer and others as a good-but-not-great driving talent who has made most of her career via marketing – can afford to run 25th to 30th place every week, but maintain the GoDaddy support for the awareness and buzz she creates off-track.
Now, though, NASCAR faces an ethics crisis the likes of which it has rarely seen. If NAPA's departure is the tip of the iceberg in terms of corporate America withdrawing its dollars, it could create another "ripple effect" – to borrow Helton's words again – where more sponsors depart and hundreds of families see jobs go away. That might be an extreme way of looking at it, but it is certainly possible if sponsors don't see the value in the tens of millions of dollars invested and the PR too damaging to their brands.
A good take from the Sporting News' Bob Pockrass, linked here, suggests NASCAR needs to implement a "grand plan" to soothe sponsors and their concerns. Pockrass notes there are elements where NASCAR is already involved in direct communication with sponsors – notably via Chief Marketing Officer Steve Phelps – but that needs to expand in the wake of the Richmond controversy.
As a fan, you want to see sponsors – regardless of series – do the job of activating and creating a connection that spurs you to root for said sponsor and buy more of their product. As a sponsor, you ideally want to be successful in all three aspects of performance, awareness and moral standards.
Depending on the fallout the rest of 2013 as it relates to sponsor movement, we'll see which of the three takes precedence in the motorsports landscape.


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(a) Interim monitoring relief authority
(1) In general
A State exercising primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems may modify the monitoring requirements for any regulated or unregulated contaminants for which monitoring is required other than microbial contaminants (or indicators thereof), disinfectants and disinfection byproducts or corrosion byproducts for an interim period to provide that any public water system serving 10,000 persons or fewer shall not be required to conduct additional quarterly monitoring during an interim relief period for such contaminants if—
(A) monitoring, conducted at the beginning of the period for the contaminant concerned and certified to the State by the public water system, fails to detect the presence of the contaminant in the ground or surface water supplying the public water system; and
(B) the State, considering the hydrogeology of the area and other relevant factors, determines in writing that the contaminant is unlikely to be detected by further monitoring during such period.
(2) Termination; timing of monitoring
The interim relief period referred to in paragraph (1) shall terminate when permanent monitoring relief is adopted and approved for such State, or at the end of 36 months after August 6, 1996, whichever comes first. In order to serve as a basis for interim relief, the monitoring conducted at the beginning of the period must occur at the time determined by the State to be the time of the public water system's greatest vulnerability to the contaminant concerned in the relevant ground or surface water, taking into account in the case of pesticides the time of application of the pesticide for the source water area and the travel time for the pesticide to reach such waters and taking into account, in the case of other contaminants, seasonality of precipitation and contaminant travel time.
(b) Permanent monitoring relief authority
(1) In general
Each State exercising primary enforcement responsibility for public water systems under this subchapter and having an approved source water assessment program may adopt, in accordance with guidance published by the Administrator, tailored alternative monitoring requirements for public water systems in such State (as an alternative to the monitoring requirements for chemical contaminants set forth in the applicable national primary drinking water regulations) where the State concludes that (based on data available at the time of adoption concerning susceptibility, use, occurrence, or wellhead protection, or from the State's drinking water source water assessment program) such alternative monitoring would provide assurance that it complies with the Administrator's guidelines. The State program must be adequate to assure compliance with, and enforcement of, applicable national primary drinking water regulations. Alternative monitoring shall not apply to regulated microbiological contaminants (or indicators thereof), disinfectants and disinfection byproducts, or corrosion byproducts. The preceding sentence is not intended to limit other authority of the Administrator under other provisions of this subchapter to grant monitoring flexibility.
(2) Guidelines
(A) In general
The Administrator shall issue, after notice and comment and at the same time as guidelines are issued for source water assessment under section 300j–13 of this title, guidelines for States to follow in proposing alternative monitoring requirements under paragraph (1) for chemical contaminants. The Administrator shall publish such guidelines in the Federal Register. The guidelines shall assure that the public health will be protected from drinking water contamination. The guidelines shall require that a State alternative monitoring program apply on a contaminant-by-contaminant basis and that, to be eligible for such alternative monitoring program, a public water system must show the State that the contaminant is not present in the drinking water supply or, if present, it is reliably and consistently below the maximum contaminant level.
(B) Definition
For purposes of subparagraph (A), the phrase "reliably and consistently below the maximum contaminant level" means that, although contaminants have been detected in a water supply, the State has sufficient knowledge of the contamination source and extent of contamination to predict that the maximum contaminant level will not be exceeded. In determining that a contaminant is reliably and consistently below the maximum contaminant level, States shall consider the quality and completeness of data, the length of time covered and the volatility or stability of monitoring results during that time, and the proximity of such results to the maximum contaminant level. Wide variations in the analytical results, or analytical results close to the maximum contaminant level, shall not be considered to be reliably and consistently below the maximum contaminant level.
(3) Effect of detection of contaminants
The guidelines issued by the Administrator under paragraph (2) shall require that if, after the monitoring program is in effect and operating, a contaminant covered by the alternative monitoring program is detected at levels at or above the maximum contaminant level or is no longer reliably or consistently below the maximum contaminant level, the public water system must either—
(A) demonstrate that the contamination source has been removed or that other action has been taken to eliminate the contamination problem; or
(B) test for the detected contaminant pursuant to the applicable national primary drinking water regulation.
(4) States not exercising primary enforcement responsibility
The Governor of any State not exercising primary enforcement responsibility under section 300g–2 of this title on August 6, 1996, may submit to the Administrator a request that the Administrator modify the monitoring requirements established by the Administrator and applicable to public water systems in that State. After consultation with the Governor, the Administrator shall modify the requirements for public water systems in that State if the request of the Governor is in accordance with each of the requirements of this subsection that apply to alternative monitoring requirements established by States that have primary enforcement responsibility. A decision by the Administrator to approve a request under this clause shall be for a period of 3 years and may subsequently be extended for periods of 5 years.
(c) Treatment as NPDWR
All monitoring relief granted by a State to a public water system for a regulated contaminant under subsection (a) or (b) shall be treated as part of the national primary drinking water regulation for that contaminant.
(d) Other monitoring relief
Nothing in this section shall be construed to affect the authority of the States under applicable national primary drinking water regulations to alter monitoring requirements through waivers or other existing authorities. The Administrator shall periodically review and, as appropriate, revise such authorities.


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Formerly known as Moschino Jeans, Love Moschino is the edgier spin-off, diffusion line of the brand Moschino. Love Moschino is celebrated for its eclectic and eye-catching designs, executed in bright colours and sprinkled with fun graphics. The brand also offers clothing and accessories in more refined styles and classic shapes with quirky details that fall in line with Love Moschino's playful spirit.
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