text:
The Azure Service Bus EAI/EDI December 2011 CTP has been out for about 2 weeks at the time of this blog post. As soon as I saw the Service Bus Connect feature in the documentation I wanted to try and hook up the Service Bus to SAP. The organization that I work for utilizes SAP to support many of its core business processes. We are also heavily invested in BizTalk Server when integrating SAP with other Corporate Systems. For the past 5 years much of my work experience has involved integration with SAP. So much that I had the opportunity to write a couple chapters on BizTalk-SAP integration in the Microsoft BizTalk 2010 Line of Business Systems Integration book.
Integrating with SAP is of great interest to me both personally and professionally. I like the challenge of taking two different types of systems that would seemingly be impossible to integrate yet find a way to do it. I also enjoy the expression on SAP consultants face when you take a Microsoft product and successfully execute operations inside their system like creating customer records or creating Work Orders.
Using the Service Bus Connect feature is not the only way of bridging your On-Premise Line of Business Systems with external parties via cloud based messaging technologies. Within the past year Microsoft also introduced a feature called BizTalk Server 2010 AppFabric Connect for Services. This tool allows for BizTalk to expose an endpoint via a Service Bus Relay. I have also used this mechanism to communicate with SAP via a Mobile Device and it does work.
There are a few differences between Service Bus Connect and AppFabric Connect for Services. Some of these differences include:
- Any message transformations that need to take place actually take place in the Cloud instead of On Premise. When integrating with SAP, you never want to expose SAP schemas to calling clients. They are ugly to say the least. In this scenario we can expose a client friendly, or conical schema, and then transform this message into our SAP request in Azure.
- AppFabric Connect for Services utilizes a full deployment of BizTalk in your environment where as Service Bus Connect only requires the BizTalk Adapter Pack when communicating with SAP. All message transformations and orchestration takes place On Premise and the cloud (Azure Service Bus) is basically used as a communication relay.
When connecting to On-Premise Line of Business Systems, both methods require the BizTalk Adapter Pack to be installed On-Premise. The BizTalk Adapter Pack is included in your BizTalk license. Licensing details for Service Bus Connect have not been released at the time of this writing.
The following walkthrough assumes you have some experience with the new Service Bus CTP. If you haven't looked at the CTP before I suggest that you visit a few of the following links to get more familiar with the tool:
- Introduction to the Azure Service Bus EAI/EDI December 2011 CTP by Kent Weare (me)
- Azure Service Bus Connect EAI and EDI "Integration Services" CTP by Rick Garibay
- Azure AppFabric Labs–EAI, Service Bus in the Cloud by Mick Badran
- How the Azure ServiceBus EAI & EDI Labs SDK impacts Microsoft integration by Sam Vanhoutte
- Azure Service Bus EAI/EDI December 2011 CTP – Content Based Routing by Mikael Håkansson
Also it is worth pointing out another blog post written by Steef-Jans Wiggers where he discusses Oracle integration with Service Bus Connect.
Building our Application
- The first thing we need to do is to create a new ServiceBus – Enterprise Application Integration project. In my case I am calling it HelloSAP.
- Since we know that we want to communicate with an On-Premise LOB system like SAP we need to Add a ServiceBus Connect Server. We can do this by accessing Server Explorer, right mouse clicking on ServiceBus Connect Servers and then selecting Add Server. When prompted we can provide a host name of localhost since this is a local environment.
- We now can expand our Service Bus Connect Servers hierarchy. Since we want to build an SAP interface we can right mouse click on SAP and select Add SAP Target…
- If you have ever used the BizTalk Adapter Pack before, you are now in familiar territory. This is (almost) the same wizard that we use to generate schemas when connecting to SAP systems via BizTalk. There is a subtle difference in the bottom left corner called Configure Target Path which we will discuss in a few moments. If you are unfamiliar with this screen you are going to need some help from your SAP BASIS Admin to provide you with the connection details required to connect to SAP. Also if you are interested in further understanding everything that is going on in this screen I recommend you pick up the BizTalk LOB book that I previously talked about as I discuss the different aspects of this wizard in great detail. (ok..no more shameless plugs)
- We now want to select the type of interface that we want to interact with. For the purpose of this blog post I am going to select a custom IDOC that is used when submitting timesheets from our field personnel. In my case, the version of SAP that I am connecting to is 700 so that is why I am selecting the ZHR_CATS IDOC that corresponds to this version. Once again, if you are unsure you will need to speak to your BASIS Admin.
- Notice how we cannot click the OK button after establishing a connection to SAP and selecting an IDOC? We now need to create a Target Path. Creating a Target Path will provide the Bridge from the Azure Service Bus into SAP. Click the Configure button to continue.
- Assuming that we have not been through this exercise before we need to select Add New LobRelay from the Select LOB Relay to host the LOB Target: dropdown list.
- Another dialog box will appear. Within this dialog box we need to provide our CTP Labs namespace, a Relay path, Issuer name and key. For Relay path:, we can really provide whatever we want here. It will essentially make up the latter portion of URI for the Endpoint that is about to be created.
- Now we are are prompted to Enter LOB Target sub-path. Once again this value can be whatever we want to choose. Since the HR Timesheet module inside of SAP is often called CATS I will go ahead and use this value here.
- Now with our Target Path configured we are able to select the OK button to proceed.
- Inside Server Explorer we now have an entry underneath SAP. This represents our End Point that will bridge requests coming from the cloud to SAP.
- At this point we haven't added any artifacts to our Enterprise Application Integration project that we created earlier. This is about to change. We need to right mouse click on our SAP endpoint and then select Add schemas to HelloSAP…
- We will now get prompted for some additional information in order to re-establish a connection to SAP so that we can generate Schemas that will enable us to send a message to SAP in a format that it is expecting. You may also notice that we aren't being prompted for any SAP server information. In the Properties grid you will notice that this information is already populated because we had previously specified it when using the Consume Adapter Service Wizard.
- Inside our solution, we will now discover that we have our SAP schemas in a folder called LOB Schemas.
- For the purpose of this blog post, I have created another folder called Schemas and saved a Custom Schema called CloudRequest.xsd here. This is the message that our MessageSender application will be sending in once we test our solution. (BTW: I do find that the Schema editor that is included in BizTalk is much more intuitive and user friendly than this one. I am not a big fan of this one)
- We now need to create a Map, or Transform, to convert our request message into a request that SAP will understand.
- Next we need to add a Bridge on to the surface of our Bridge Configuration. Our Bridge will be responsible for executing our Map that we just created and then our message will get routed to our On-Premise end point so that our Timesheet can be sent to SAP.
- We now need to set the message type that we expect will enter the bridge. By double clicking on our TimeSheetBridge we can then use the Message Type picker to select our Custom message type: CloudRequest.
- Once we have selected our message type, we can then select a transform by clicking on the Transform – Xml Transform box and then selecting our map from the Maps Collection.
- Before we drag our LOB Connection shape onto our canvas we need to set our Service Namespace. This is the value that we created when we signed up for the CTP in the Azure Portal. To set the Service Namespace we need to click on any open space, in the Bridge Configuration canvas, and then look in the Properties Page. Place your Service Namespace here.
- We are now at the point where we need to wire up our XML One-Way Bridge to our On-Premise LOB system. In order to do so we we need to drag our SAP instance onto the Bridge Configuration canvas.
- Next, we need to drag a Connection shape onto the canvas to connect our Bridge to our LOB system.
- The next action that needs to take place is setting up a Filter Condition between our LOB Shape and our Bridge. You can think of this like creating a subscription. If we wanted to filter messages by their content we would be able to do so here. Since we are interested in all messages we will just Match All. In order to set this property we need to select our Connection arrow then click on the Filter Condition ellipses.
- If you have used the BizTalk Adapter Pack in the past you will be familiar with SOAP Action headers that need to be be set in your BizTalk Send Port. Since we don't have Send Ports per say, we need to set this action in the Route Action as part of the One-Way Connection shape. In the Expression text box we want to put the name of our Operation which is http://Microsoft.LobServices.Sap/2007/03/Idoc/3/ZHR_CATS//700/Send wrapped with single quotes ' '. We can obtain this value by selecting our Service Bus Connect Server endpoint and then viewing the Properties page. Within the Properties page there is an Operations arrow that can be expanded on and we will find this value here. In the Destination (Write To) we want to set our Type to Soap and our Identifier to Action.
- There is one last configuration that needs to take place before enable and deploy our service. We need to set our Security Type. We can do so by selecting our SAP – ServiceBus Connect Server instance from Server Explorer. Then in the Properties Page, click on the SecurityType ellipses. Determining which Security type to use will depend upon how your SAP instance ahs been configured. In my case, I am using ConfiguredUsername and I need to provide both a Username and Password.
- With our configuration set, we can now enable our SAP – ServiceBus Connect Server instance by right mouse clicking on it and then selecting Enable.
- We can now deploy our application to Azure by right mouse clicking on our Visual Studio solution and selecting Deploy.
Testing Application
- In order to test our application we can use the MessageSender tool that is provided with the CTP Samples/Tools. It will simply allow us to submit EDI, or in this case XML, messages to an endpoint in the Azure Service Bus. In order to successfully submit these messages we need to provide our Service Namespace, Issuer Name, Shared Secret, Service Bus endpoint address, a path to our XML file that we want to submit and indicate that we are submitting an xml document. Once we have provide this information we can hit the enter key and provided we do not have errors we will see a Message sent successfully message.
Note: In the image below I have blocked my Shared Secret (in red) for privacy reasons.
- If we launch our SAP GUI we should discover that it has received a message successfully.
- We can then drill down into the message and discover the information that has been posted to our timesheet
While testing, I ran into an exception. In the CATSHOURS field I messed up the format of the field and sent in too much data. The BizTalk Adapter Pack/SAP Adapter validated this incoming data against the SAP schema that is being used to send messages to SAP. The result is a message was returned back to the MessageSender application. I thought that this was pretty interesting. Why? In my solution I am using a One-Way bridge and this exception is still being propagated to the calling application. Cool and very beneficial.
Overall the experience of using Service Bus connect was good. There were a few times I had to forget how we do this in BizTalk and think about how the Service Bus Connect does it. An example of this was the SOAP Action Headers that BizTalk developers are use to manipulating inside of Send Ports. I am not saying one way is better than the other but they are just different. Another example is the XML Schema editor. I find the BizTalk editor to be much more user friendly.
While I am not convinced that the current state of Service Bus Connect is ready for primetime (they have CTPs for a reason), I am very impressed that the Microsoft team could build this type of functionality into a CTP. For me personally, this type of functionality(connecting to On Premise LOB Systems) is a MUST HAVE as organizations start evolving towards Cloud computing.


text:
From Conservapedia
|This article is within the scope of WikiProject Religion, an attempt to build a comprehensive guide to Religion-related articles on Conservapedia. If you would like to participate, you can edit this article, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.
|This article or part thereof was copied from CreationWiki but the copied text was originally written by me, TerryH, (under the name Temlakos) and does not include alterations made by others on that site.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
With the negative ads flying in this year's political campaigns, many voters may be struggling to separate fact from fiction. But some Hispanic Americans would rather hear a few tall tales than, some critics say, be taken for granted. Both Democrats and Republicans say they've made the Hispanic vote a priority. But less than 5 percent of all political TV ad money goes to Spanish-language media, according to a study released Monday by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. It's a matter of respect for some Hispanic leaders, who see the lack of funding as a dismissal of the fastest-growing voting bloc, and one that is expected to play a critical role in November. The campaigns are excluding millions of voters from the political conversation, said Javier Palomarez, president of the Hispanic chamber.
"Like all Americans, Hispanics are perfectly capable of judging negative advertising for what it is," Palomarez said. "What matters is that campaigns prioritize Hispanic voters in a manner that is equivalent to their ever increasing electoral significance."
Many Latinos are watching English-language broadcasts and the campaigns should take that into account, but they also should not ignore Spanish-language media, said Arturo Vargas, executive director of National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Voters who watch Spanish-language channels are more likely to be naturalized citizens. And naturalized citizens tend to vote in higher percentages than native-born Latinos, who are more likely to take the right to vote for granted, Vargas said.
Some 12 million Hispanics are expected to vote in this year's election. Their vote is seen as critical in swing states with large Hispanic populations, such as Nevada, Florida and Colorado. Voter turnout is at the forefront of both President Obama's and GOP nominee Mitt Romney's efforts to mobilize the Hispanic community.
Just $16 million of the approximately $360 million spent on all campaign television advertising since April has been used in Spanish-language markets through Sept. 25, according to the chamber study, which has been tracking TV ad spending. The study tracked advertising spending in 10 states: Florida, Colorado, Virginia, Nevada, Arizona, California, Illinois, New Mexico, New York and Texas.
In Florida, Hispanics make up about 16 percent of registered voters, yet Spanish-language ads accounted for just 7 percent of the $107 million spent on all political advertising in the state. Miami, one of the nation's largest Hispanic markets, does better. Candidates and supporters spend about 31 percent of their ad dollars on Spanish-language media trying to woo the largely Cuban, Puerto Rican and Colombian electorate.
Democrats spent nearly twice as much, or more, than Republicans on Spanish-language ads in Florida, Colorado and Texas. Of the 10 states studied, Republicans outspent Democrats only in New York and spent the same amount, which was nothing, in Illinois and Virginia. The advertising markets studied in Virginia did not include the Washington metro area.
The gap in political spending is particularly stark in California, where less than 3 percent of spending is on Spanish-language ads despite Latinos making up nearly 20 percent of registered voters, and in Texas, where less than 6 percent of spending is on Spanish-language ads despite Latinos making up 23 percent of registered voters. Neither state is considered competitive in the presidential contest.
"Television advertising is reality," said Ken Goldstein, president of Kantar Media's Campaign Media Analysis Group, which conducted the study. "Campaigns can say they have a bunch of money, but if they're not advertising then they don't have a bunch of money. Campaigns can say a state is competitive, but if they're not advertising there, the state is not competitive. Campaigns can say they want to talk about a particular message, but if they're not doing it in their paid advertising, they're not serious."
In the presidential race, $10 million was spent on Spanish-language TV ads and $158 million spent on English-language ads. Democrats spent more than twice as much as Republicans on Spanish-language ads. The numbers include spending both by parties and so-called "Super" PACs.
Romney released his latest Spanish-language ad, titled "Nuestra Comunidad," last week featuring the former Massachusetts governor clasping hands with Hispanic supporters and posing for photos with Hispanic children. Republican Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno, who narrates the video, pledges that Romney can "revive the American dream" for Latino families. The Romney campaign plans to "spend more on Spanish-language advertising" than either John McCain or George W. Bush did in their 2008 and 2000 and 2004 presidential races, according to Romney spokeswoman Andrea Saul.
The Obama campaign said its Hispanic outreach efforts are more about substance than spending and boasted the campaign has been running Spanish-language radio and TV ads since April. The campaign uses many forms of digital communication.
"Throughout the campaign, we have used all the tools at our disposal, from innovative advertising to grassroots organizing in the Latino community to promote the president's record," said Obama spokeswoman Gabriela Domenzain. Some observers question whether the lack of advertising in Spanish-language markets is because of trends that show more Hispanics tuning in to English-language TV.
Univision and ABC announced this spring that they would partner to build the nation's first English-language news and information channel for U.S. Hispanics. Based in Miami, the 24-hour channel is expected to begin airing next year.
But Palomarez called it a "gross miscalculation" by any campaign to spend 96 percent of its advertising on English-language markets. He noted that top shows on Univision often rivals the viewership on major English-language networks."The numbers speak for themselves," he said.
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text:
Air Force One photo op panics NYC - finger-pointing begins
Of course no one is taking responsibility for this. Who would want their name on this public relations fiasco?
Following an astonishing decision to let a Boeing 747 buzz the Manhattan skyline this morning without informing the public, you get what you typically expect from government when a mistake is made: not my fault.
Bringing back memories of September 11 to New York City residents, entire buildings were evacuated after -- what turned out to be one of President Obama's planes -- swooped low over the Statue of Liberty into lower Manhattan on Monday morning. The 747 was escorted by two F-16 fighter jets.
Sounds somewhat similar to the hapless single engine pilot who accidentally strayed into restricted airspace in Washington, DC last Friday. Except that was an accident. This was an "approved activity." Except no one told the public it was going to happen.
John Leitner, a floor trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange Building, told the Associated Press that about 1,000 people "went into a total panic" and ran out of the building around 10 a.m. after seeing the planes whiz by their building, near the World Trade Center site.
"Apparently, nobody in the building was informed that this was going to happen," he said. "Everyone panicked, as you can certainly understand."
It's easy to understand why there would be panic. It's astonishing that nobody thought the public ought to have a heads up.
A what?
So what kind of an approved activity was it? A photo op. A photo op involving one of the planes that serves as Air Force One.
Details on the photo shoot -- except that it caused mass panic -- aren't known yet. What is known is that everyone, save the public, knew about it.
An FAA spokesman told the New York Times that "the photo op was approved and coordinated with everyone."
He said the mayor's office, the Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the US Park Police, and 911 were all aware of it.
The NYPD acknowledged that they were aware of it but said the FAA told them not to talk about it.
"The flight of a VC-25 aircraft and F-16 fighters this morning was authorized by the F.A.A. for the vicinity of the Statue of Liberty with directives to local authorities not to disclose information about it but to direct any inquiries to the F.A.A. Air Traffic Security Coordinator," the Police Department said in a statement.
And the Department of Defense released a statement that could generously be called jibberish.
"In coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Presidential Airlift Group conducted a aerial photo mission in the New York City area on 27 Apr 2009. This mission, involving the VC-25 and an F-16, was conducted in conjunction with normally scheduled continuation training for assigned aircrew members. This mission was coordinated for the Upper New York Bay, south of the Holland Tunnel and in the Newark Bay north of the Staten Island Expressway between the hours of 1000L and 1030L."
Sources at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told the Wall Street Journal that they received a memo telling them to keep the mission quiet.
"Information in this document shall not be released to the public or media," the memo instructed. "Public affairs posture for this effort is passive."
Oh yeah...
And, not for nothing, the City sent out a statement after the event informing the media that the photo op was "part of an approved federal activity."
Although part of the City was aware of it, the guy in charge was apparently kept in the dark. Mayor Bloomberg said he was "furious" that he wasn't told about it.
"Why the Defense department wanted to do a photo op right around the World Trade Center catastrophe defies imagination," he said.
New York Senator Chuck Shumer agreed. "This was a photo shoot. There was no need for surprise. There was no need to scare thousands of New Yorkers who still have the vivid memory of 9/11," he said.
The president's Press Secretary seemed to be taken off-guard when asked about the incident at his press briefing. Stammering through a response where he told reporters to call the FAA, Air Force, or the White House Military Office, MSNBC's Chuck Todd told him it was "odd that he didn't have a response as it was the president's aircraft."
"You might be surprised to know that I don't know every movement of Air Force One, but I will ask..."
If you think New Yorkers are upset about it, you'd be correct. Look at some of the reaction on Twitter...
RositaCortez isn't happy: This is not funny: We still remember 911 & this is not acceptable.
Jonsamsel wants some accountability. Air Force One Photo Opp Triggers Panic in Manhattan - Seem Terribly Irresponsible - Who Made This Stupid Decision?
Kevindepew asks: DoD surprised that two F-16s chasing Air Force One around Statue of Liberty and lower Manhattan might startle us?
citycynic wonders: So why does Air Force One need to do a photoshoot anyway?
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text:
For Worldwide Sketchcrawl 27 today I headed to San Francisco on BART for a 10:30 meetup at the Ferry Building, sketching along the way. The couple at the top of the picture seemed to be on an unsatisfactory date. The woman seemed passive-aggressive: she'd gone along with bringing her clunky bike on BART and her stupid, ancient, ill-fitting helmet, but wasn't going to have fun. Her date adjusted her helmet straps for her but while he kept his on all the way to the city (complete with duct tape patch), she wouldn't put hers on.
The guy in the middle above is Pete Scully, sketched outside Peets' Coffee at the Ferry Building. I had a great time sketching with him and my friend Sonia and other sketchcrawlers wandering the Financial District of SF.
There were too many people at the Ferry Building, shopping at the upscale foodie shops, being annoying tourists, and/or waiting for ferries. I waited in a line of 20 women for the restroom and didn't even bother trying to get a cup of coffee at Peets. While we waited for Enrico to give us the "Go," we sketched the scene. Yes, I exaggerated the crowds and the closeness of the Bay Bridge.
There's a clarinetist (see Sketchcrawl 21 sketch) who is a permanent fixture at this spot, playing annoying screechy "music" that he segues into "Mary Had a Little Lamb" or "Popeye" whenever a kid approaches. Moms and their tots stop and dance while dads take photos and stuff money in his case. I couldn't wait to get away from the crowds.
Pete had the brilliant idea of going to the top of the nearby Hyatt Regency Hotel to sketch the view from above. We tried to go to the top floor (17) but the elevator would only take us to 14. We met a bellman on 14 and he said you had to have a key card to get there. I brazenly asked if he had one and he said yes. "Could you take us there?" I asked. He opened the door and swiped his card and sent us on up. What a sweetie! I wish I'd thought to tip him.
When we got off the elevator a gentleman informed us that the 360 degree-view-Regency Lounge was only for Regency Members and asked if we were members. I said no, but asked if we could just look at the view and draw pictures. He asked "For how long?" and I said "Oh, about 10-15 minutes" and he said OK. We were there for nearly an hour and nobody bothered us. We did tip him when we left and he invited us to help ourselves to any of the complimentary food and beverages but we declined.
Sonia and I were hungry so while Pete started sketching a cable car we bought lunch at a deli across the street. We ate sitting at a bus stop, the only seats around. People kept coming up to us and asking about buses. Then I tried sketching the cable car and the hill it goes up and down. I was doing pretty good until I somehow planted a street light in the path of the street car.
Heading north, Pete sketched an old German hofbrau that didn't inspire me (though his sketch did, which I will link to when he posts it) so I drew him from across the street, sitting on his stool in front of McDonalds.
I was tired and about ready to call it a day but managed one more sketch. I was more interested in the almost spiral staircase, the shadows, and odd architecture than the mannequins in their jungle print undies. I'm not a fan of the Victoria's Secret brand or their ads and I think maybe it shows in the way I subconsciously made the mannequins look like they were giantesses, trapped in the store window and trying to get out.
It was 4:00 and although the end-of-Sketchcrawl meetup was happening at 4:30 in Union Square I decided to just go home and relax rather than head towards more crowds. It was a great day!


text: Hi, What do you want to do with all that space? Store large datasets? Store usenet news? The expected workload has a HUGE impact on your choices, because it says things about a) how many nodes files need to be spread across to get the bandwidth you need, and b) what the access patterns to the file system might look like. You've mentioned that you are concerned about availability in the presence of node failures. That makes good sense. And for PVFS, if a node that has your file's data goes down, then you can't get to that file. That's a little different than your description, and the difference could be important. If, for example, you really just want to use the space and it's ok to only get a single link's worth of bandwidth, then you could set up a PVFS volume that puts files on single servers. Then any given file has at most two nodes on which it is dependent (metadata server and the node on which the data is stored). Most data would still be available in most failure cases. Likewise you could set up the system to stripe to only two I/O servers and so on. It's not the ideal solution by any means, but it is a good tradeoff between availability and performance given the packages available. There aren't too many choices at the "free" price point. Cross-mounted NFS volumes would be the other one that I can think of :). Rob --- Rob Ross, Mathematics and Computer Science Division, Argonne National Lab On Thu, 30 May 2002, Yudong Tian wrote: > Hi everyone! > I'd like to hear your expert opinion on how to effectively use the > distributed storage capacity of a cluster. Suppose you have hundreds > of nodes, each with a local hard disk, thus the accumulated capacity > is huge. Aslo you have large amount of data to be stored. How can we > reliably take advantage of the storage on the nodes? > I checked out PVFS. It is nice, but it seems to me the reliability > is an issue -- if one of the storage nodes goes down, the whole FS is > not available (correct me if I am wrong). CXFS and GFS are not our > options because they cost $$. Any suggestions on how we can best use > the capacity, while having no problems when one or two nodes crash? > > Thanks. > ------------------------------------------------------- > Falun Dafa: Truthfulness Benevolence Forbearance > http://www.falundafa.org > ------------------------------------------------------- > Yudong Tian, Ph.D. GSFC/NASA (301) 504-5825 > >


text:
Energy for the World. Opportunity for Papua New Guinea.
Feature Media Releases
PNG LNG Project Delivers Record Revenues to PNG
/Media Releases
Media Releases
, 15 November 2018
APEC Voices of the Future representatives visit PNG LNG Plant
Media Releases
, 17 October 2018
PNG's first biodiversity book on Hela and Southern Highlands Provinces launched
Media Releases
, 10 October 2018
ExxonMobil PNG honours Laba Security Services & Baker Hughes for Outstanding Safety Performance
Media Releases
, 02 October 2018
ExxonMobil PNG supports YWCA education training for Papa women
Media Releases
, 12 September 2018
ExxonMobil PNG supports Hiri Hanenamo Quest
PNG LNG Plant achieves over 13 million work hours of zero Loss Time Injury
Media Releases
, 11 September 2018
ExxonMobil PNG and IBBM announce winners of 2018 MSME Digital Innovation Awards
Media Releases
, 31 August 2018
ExxonMobil PNG supports Advancing PNG: Women Leaders Network to host PNG Women's Leadership Training
Media Releases
, 14 August 2018
New partnership to help grow agriculture potential in Hela Province
Media Releases
, 12 July 2018
ExxonMobil PNG assists with restoration of food gardens in Hela Province


text:
The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.
The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.
The Castle Sedan Used as German Military Hospital
- Description
- Ink wash and charcoal sketch on paper. The work depicts the Château de Sedan, a castle in Sedan, France, while it was used as a German military hospital during World War I. The foreground of the drawing is dominated by a large cross in a circle which appears to have been cut in to the grass on the ground. The castle is shown behind the cross, with a flag, likely a hospital flag, flying on one of its peaked roofs.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1918-11
- artist
- Peixotto, Ernest Clifford
- ID Number
- catalog number
- 25868
- accession number
- 64592
- 64592
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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text:
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and Concert Pharmaceuticals Announce Worldwide Licensing Agreement to Devel
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and Concert Pharmaceuticals Announce Worldwide Licensing Agreement to Develop and Commercialize Deuterium-Modified Sodium Oxybate
DUBLIN and LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc (NAS: JAZZ) and Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced an exclusive license agreement that provides Jazz Pharmaceuticals worldwide rights to develop and commercialize Concert's deuterium-modified sodium oxybate (D-SXB) compounds, including C-10323.
Sodium oxybate is the active ingredient in Xyrem®, a prescription medicine marketed in the United States by Jazz Pharmaceuticals to treat two of the key symptoms of narcolepsy, a serious neurological disorder that affects approximately 157,000 people in the United States.
Under the agreement, Jazz Pharmaceuticals will have worldwide commercial rights to C-10323, as well as principal responsibility for ongoing development activities. Concert will receive an upfront payment and is eligible to receive additional milestone payments as well as tiered royalties based on potential worldwide sales of any D-SXB products.
"This collaboration reflects our deep commitment to patients with narcolepsy and to improving their care with safe and effective treatment options," said Jeffrey Tobias, MD, executive vice president of research and development and chief medical officer of Jazz Pharmaceuticals. "Our agreement with Concert on the D-SXB program provides an excellent opportunity for us to explore the potential of deuterium technology in this important area. We look forward to advancing this program into clinical testing in order to further evaluate its potential to provide benefits for patients with narcolepsy."
"Preclinical data indicate that selective deuterium incorporation can stabilize sodium oxybate in vivo and we are eager to see how this improvement in metabolic properties is reflected in the clinical performance of D-SXB," said Roger Tung, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Concert Pharmaceuticals. "This collaboration with Jazz Pharmaceuticals allows us to progress our deuterium-modified sodium oxybate program with a partner that has extensive development and commercial experience and is a leader in the narcolepsy field."
Through Concert's DCE Platform® (Deuterated Chemical Entity), Concert has developed a number of deuterium-containing analogs of sodium oxybate. C-10323 has emerged as the lead compound based on in vivo preclinical testing that demonstrated prolonged pharmacokinetic profile and reduced variability as a result of its specific deuterium modification pattern. The companies plan to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application for C-10323 later this year.
About Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc is a specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on improving patients' lives by identifying, developing and commercializing innovative products that address unmet medical needs. The company has a diverse portfolio of products in the areas of narcolepsy, oncology, pain and psychiatry. The company's U.S. marketed products in these areas include: Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) oral solution, Erwinaze® (asparaginase Erwinia chrysanthemi), Prialt® (ziconotide) intrathecal infusion, Luvox CR® (fluvoxamine maleate), FazaClo® (clozapine, USP) HD and FazaClo LD. Outside of the U.S., Jazz Pharmaceuticals also has a number of products marketed by its EUSA Pharma division. For further information, see www.jazzpharmaceuticals.com.
About Concert Pharmaceuticals
Concert Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on applying the company's DCE Platform® (deuterated chemical entity platform) to create novel and differentiated small molecule drugs. Concert's approach leverages decades of pharmaceutical and clinical experience to reduce the time, risk and expense needed to create important new medicines. The company has a broad research pipeline addressing renal disease, hematologic disorders, CNS disorders and other therapeutic areas. Founded in 2006, Concert has raised more than $110 million of venture and institutional capital. For more information on Concert Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.concertpharma.com.
About Xyrem
Xyrem® (sodium oxybate) oral solution is indicated for the treatment of cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in patients with narcolepsy and may be dispensed only to patients enrolled in the Xyrem Success Program®. Xyrem is the only product approved by the FDA for the treatment of cataplexy and EDS in narcolepsy, a serious neurological disorder. Xyrem was first approved in the U.S. in 2002. The Xyrem Success Program is a proprietary program to ensure the safe use of Xyrem and minimize the risk of abuse, misuse, and diversion of sodium oxybate. Xyrem is available only by prescription from physicians enrolled in the Xyrem Success Program and is distributed through a single central pharmacy directly to patients. The labeling for Xyrem contains a boxed warning about CNS depression, abuse, and misuse. In controlled clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions seen (incidence ≥ 5% and twice the rate seen with placebo) in Xyrem-treated patients were nausea, dizziness, vomiting, somnolence, enuresis, and tremor.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to Jazz Pharmaceuticals' future exploration of the deuterium-modified sodium oxybate (D-SXB) technology and development of D-SXB compounds, including C-10323, the future clinical testing of D-SXB to evaluate the compounds' therapeutic and commercial potential, and the plan to submit an investigational new drug application for C-10323. These forward-looking statements are based on Jazz Pharmaceuticals' current expectations and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with the timing and results of the exploration of the D-SXB technology; the companies' ability to file an IND for C-10323 as currently contemplated; the uncertainty of clinical success and therapeutic value of D-SXB compounds, including C-10323; the uncertainty of regulatory approval; the difficulty in integrating the D-SXB products into the company's product portfolio and the possibility that the company may fail to realize the anticipated benefits (commercial or otherwise) from this license; and those risks with respect to research and development and clinical trials detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in Jazz Pharmaceuticals' Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports (Commission File No. 001-33500), including in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 and future filings and reports by the company, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012. Jazz Pharmaceuticals undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations.
Concert Pharmaceuticals Inc., the CoNCERT Pharmaceuticals Inc. logo and DCE Platform are registered trademarks of Concert Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
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The article Jazz Pharmaceuticals plc and Concert Pharmaceuticals Announce Worldwide Licensing Agreement to Develop and Commercialize Deuterium-Modified Sodium Oxybate originally appeared on Fool.com.
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Pakistan eyes 'peace pipeline' for region
It hopes a deal to ship Iranian gas to India via Pakistan can boost its energy supply, regional ties.
Along the scenic coast in Pakistan's gas-rich Balochistan Province, a weathered roadside shop advertises "fuel available at every price."
Inside, heady fumes fill a room stacked with cylinders of compressed gas and barrels full of gasoline – fuel smuggled from Iran through the rugged border region 50 miles west of this Pakistani city, explains Balach Abdullah, the owner.
From here, the fuel makes its way as far as Karachi, Pakistan's largest city.
The Pakistani government is hoping to turn this clandestine exchange into a major energy and trade route.
The Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) pipeline proposal is a $7.5 billion project that would transport gas from the western Iranian Pars gas field to India through Pakistan along a 1,500-mile route.
The pipeline would be a triumph for Pakistan. The country hopes to make itself a major energy player linking the gas in Central Asia and the oil in the Middle East to the fast-growing economies of China and India.
But geopolitical considerations, among others, have so far blocked the proposal from becoming a reality.
The United States, which this month signed a nuclear trade deal with India, opposes the plan that would bind its main rival, Iran, with key allies in the region. Proponents of the deal counter that it could improve security by boosting relations in the often volatile region – and have even dubbed the proposal the "Peace Pipeline."
"Washington has minced no words saying that they are completely opposed to the pipeline deal," says Tariq Fatimi, a former Pakistani ambassador to the United States who is now a consultant with a Pakistani energy exploration company.
Now that India has signed a nuclear deal with the US, he says, it would be more inclined to support American policy in the region, which might mean pulling back from such deals with Iran.
Despite the US nuclear deal, India has not pulled out of IPI discussions. Iran and Pakistan also remain supportive of the deal. Two days after the US-India nuclear deal was finalized, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki met his Pakistani counterpart in Islamabad and confirmed that the two countries would now begin work of the pipeline bilaterally.
"India may join the project whenever it is ready for this," the Iranian foreign minister said.
A 'Peace Pipeline'
Ismat Sabir, editor of the trade magazine Energy Update in Karachi says it would be "a win-win situation for everyone."
The three large Asian countries could become comfortably interdependent she explains, which would encourage trust in a region where neighborly relations have often been hostile.
"Iran will sell its gas over land to a major consumer, Pakistan will get some hefty transit fees, and India will finally start to meet its energy demands," she continues.
US urged to reconsider its position
In a report released this month, The Pakistan Policy Working Group, an independent and bipartisan group of top US experts on Pakistan in Washington, also suggested that the US "reconsider [its] opposition to the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project" as a way of easing regional tensions, especially between India and Pakistan.
The report also points out that the pipeline is tied in with the precarious security situation in Balochistan Province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan.
An armed separatist rebellion has brewed in Pakistan's largest and least populated province for decades, and has intensified since 2006, when the Pakistani Army assassinated the high-profile Balochi leader, Akbar Khan Bugti.
In the latest incident of this low-intensity conflict, over the weekend a Balochi separatist group claimed responsibility for a bombing that killed three people in the Dera Bugti district, home to the country's largest gas reserves.
Iranian-Pakistani trade growing
In the past few months Iran and Pakistan have been warming diplomatically along the border that separates the two countries. In recent months a flurry of agreements have brought the two countries closer as they promise to transform the Balochistan region into an active transport, trade, and energy hub.
Over the summer, Iran and Pakistan signed four agreements that unveiled a new ground transport route and enhanced cooperation in the mining sector in the area rich in minerals.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi also announced last week that Pakistan would import 1,000 megawatts of electricity across the border from Iran, as his country suffers from one of the worst energy shortages in its history.
Already the illicit trade of Iranian gas in Balochistan, run by Mr. Abdullah and other merchants dotting the thinly populated southern coast of Pakistan with their makeshift filling stations, attest to the country's demand for energy. It also illustrates the porous nature of Pakistan's 600-mile border with Iran, as well as a history of close relations among the ethnic Balochis who live on either side.
Over the summer Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visited Islamabad and New Delhi to finalize the pipeline deal at a time when the prospects of India's civil nuclear energy appeared to be dwindling. Disagreements among the three countries over gas pricing and delivery points have also been a stumbling block to negotiations.
Representatives from all three governments had met at venues from Spain to Saudi Arabia to discuss the final details of the plan, including pricing and delivery points.
Despite its recent nuclear deal with the US, India, which imports 70 percent of its required energy, will "need the nuclear deal, the IPI gas pipeline and more," according to Abbas Bilgarami, who works in the local oil and gas industry.
As a result, India might find itself growing closer to the US, Pakistan, and Iran, he says.
"The compulsions imposed on this region," by the US in its security concerns here "will have to be reconsidered," says Mr. Bilgarami. "The regional vision is still very strong."


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New home sales jump to 4-1/2-year high in January
New U.S. single-family home sales surged to their highest level in 4-1/2 years in January and the month's supply of houses on the market was the smallest since March 2005, further evidence the housing sector recovery is gaining muscle.
The Commerce Department said on Tuesday sales jumped 15.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted 437,000-unit annual rate, the highest level since July 2008 when the economy was in the throes of a recession.
The percentage gain was the largest since April 1993. December's sales pace was revised up to 378,000 units from the previously reported 369,000 units. Economists polled by Reuters had expected sales to rise to a 381,000-unit rate last month.=
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by James Dalgleish)


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People tell me I look like my mother.
All. The. Time.
It's actually a real compliment. My mom is a looker. Always has been. I (almost) never think about how she's over 20 years older and instead focus on the fact that we are both small and fit with curly hair and an ever ready Colgate smile, compliments of the white strips she brings me on a regular basis.
Sometimes she also brings me a new shirt or pair of jeans that she recently purchased for herself. Since she buys nice stuff and it's… um… free… it's not a hard sell. So it's not like I help matters. The only problem is when we show up at a family function in matching outfits which can be a little embarrassing, especially when one of the younger kids takes me by the hand and says, "Come here, grandma."
But besides that momentary twist in the chest, it's good, and we laugh about it. I mean really how lucky am I to have her genes and her jeans?!
Recently my mom, the most energetic person I know – the one with only two speeds – high octane or falling asleep while sitting up; the one who plays tennis before Zumba class and then follows it up with a body sculpting class and later hopes someone will want to join her for bike ride or a walk, and even later on, possibly go dancing – has been ever so slightly sidelined by a sore um thigh. (We don't speak about any affliction that might indicate age or else I would have said arthritis in her hip.)
It has been extremely difficult for such an active (see: rigid) person to lessen her fitness load even slightly, so true to her generally bulldozing self, she charges on; limping through tennis games, letting an occasional 'Ugh' out in gym class and only allowing it to really aggravate her in the wee hours of the night when she should be sleeping.
As my step father is annoyingly fond of saying, "The apple don't fall far from the tree" since I not only resemble my mom but, after a brief period in my younger life resenting the hell out of her, have adopted many of her healthy eating and exercise tendencies.
While I am a pretty low key exerciser, think, reading my book while peddling my elliptical, sometimes I take it up a notch like the class I tried the other day. It was kind of a circuit boot camp; you know, jump squat, sprint, push-ups, sprint, throw-up, sprint, running man, sprint, etc.
It was in the middle of the second circuit when I felt it, a twinge in my left thigh. It nagged at me for the rest of the class but I powered through, limping slightly to my car after it was over.
"Shit. Shit. Shit."
I hated being sidelined. I hated feeling compromised. I hated feeling… old.
Later when my mother came over to babysit, I noticed we were wearing the same jeans and similar black boots. I told her she looked cute, she told me I looked cute and then we giggled like a pair of idiots. Matching idiots. As we hobbled together toward the kitchen to share a veggie burger and sweet potato, it was with a new understanding. I realized I not only looked like her but slowly and steadily I was becoming her.
Years ago the idea of it would have horrified me. I was young and so sure of my individuality and youth. I didn't fully realize that time mercilessly keeps moving and doesn't stop for anyone. We all become our parents at some point.
Although it turns out my thigh injury was just a muscle pull not cough arth cough ritis cough, the real difference is negligible. For better or for worse, I am becoming my mother.
Just ask anyone.


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Expert's Rating
- Good dynamic malware detection
- User-friendly interface
- Weaker signature-based detection
Our Verdict
Despite good heuristics, PC Tools Internet Security missed two Conficker variations.
PC Tools Internet Security ($60 for up to three computers for one year as of 5/21/09) offers a decidedly mixed bag of protections. (We reviewed it for our midyear security suites roundup and security suites chart.) Symantec acquired the security vendor in 2008 to increase its worldwide market share with consumers in new and emerging regional markets. Though now part of Symantec, PC Tools continues to maintain a separate development operation from Symantec's consumer business unit (responsible for the Norton Internet Security Suite), and its entry in the Internet security suite market comes with strong heuristic malware detection, but it's weaker in other areas such as traditional malware detection.
PC Tools uses its own antivirus protection, and at first glance it appeared to score very well in AV-Test.org's extensive malware-detection tests for both the on-demand and on-access detection of 2735 files, macro viruses, and scripts, scoring nearly 100 percent in each. However, PC Tools is the only security suite to miss at least two variations of the Conficker worm in both on-demand and on-access testing. Against the zoo Trojan horses, worms, password-stealers, and other nasties, PCTools identified on average only 58 percent of the 722,372 collected samples, placing it second to last, just ahead of Comodo.
But on behavior-based detection of malware, PC Tools scored the highest of any suite tested. In overall detection, PC Tools produced a warning 93 percent of the time; detected and blocked 87 percent of the malware; and removed 80 percent of the malware. PC Tools also produced strong numbers for detecting and removing rootkits–stealth malware used to hide infections from PC users and security software alike. It successfully removed all nine active rootkits we tested it against.
For performance, AV-Test recorded long file scan times of up to 173 seconds for on-demand scans of a 741MB file. On-access file scans required 66 seconds, compared with only 41 seconds to copy the same file on a system without antivirus installed. In informal testing, PC Tools appeared to slow our Windows XP machine more noticeably after installation than other security suites.
In proactively identifying unknown malware for which it doesn't yet have a signature, PC Tools scored below average. In tests with 2o-week-old signature files, it identified just 29 percent of malware samples. And on 4-week-old signature files it identified only 23 percent.
According to AV-Test.org, PC Tools responds moderately fast to new widespread malware attacks, typically between 6 and 8 hours. But PC Tools also produced the fewest signature updates per month of any suite tested: 34 in January 2009, 30 in February 2009, and 34 in March 2009, averaging 1.1 per day, compared with over 200 per day from Norton.
PCTools gears its interface for the average consumer; as such, it doesn't offer many configuration options, and for some, that's just fine–it's user friendly; just set it and forget it. For the more advanced, however, such a simple interface will feel constraining. There is little documentation beyond a nominal Quick Start guide, so creating a firewall rule is less intuitive within PC Tools than within Windows Firewall.
The suite includes the optional PC Tools Browser Defender toolbar (for Internet Explorer only), which provides antiphishing protection. Unlike many phishing filters, PC Tools does not use lists from antiphishing sites. Instead, PC Tools relies on heuristic analysis to identify phishing attempts; the company told PC World that "blacklisting is no longer an effective method of protecting against phishing sites as in our research we found that sites were up for less than 24 hours." Once installed, Browser Defender missed a few freshly reported phishing sites (less than 2 hours old) listed on DSL Reports Phish Track, but correctly warned against sites more than few hours old.
PC Tools Internet Security does not include parental controls or backup. The company told PC World that "these added components cater for a small [percentage] of the market and unnecessarily bloat a product, often making it cumbersome to install and run."
Despite strong heuristics, PC Tools Internet Security compares unfavorably with other suites we've tested, based on its mixed test results. This is PC Tools' first attempt at a security suite; and, like Comodo, it too could have a strong offering in the near future if it bolsters its traditional malware detection and offers more configuration options. Ironically, for about the same price, its big sister, Norton Internet Security 2009, is a much better purchase.


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Library Search
The NRFC Library is a collection of materials to build a knowledge base around fathers, fatherhood, and operating a Responsible Fatherhood program. It also houses all resources created by the NRFC, including fact sheets, PSAs, and past webinars.
Use the search options provided below to find resources that you are interested in.
Fatherhood events are a great way to celebrate dads and broadcast the message that dads matter to your community. They can help create a positive relationship between your organization and the community it serves. They can also act as a marketing vehicle to recruit dads to your fatherhood…


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28. The Committee examined document SC-88/CONF.001/10 which arose from the difficulty which the Bureau had encountered in the examination of nominations which had an indissociable combination of cultural and natural elements.
29. The Committee recalled the inconsistency between the definitions of cultural and natural heritage in the Convention and the criteria laid out in the Operational Guidelines, particularly the fact that Article 2 defining natural heritage did not refer to cultural aspects of such heritage and yet natural criterion (iii) refers to "... areas natural beauty or exceptional combinations of natural and cultural elements".
30. In order to simplify the work of the Committee and its Bureau, the Committee agreed to the procedure whereby the evaluation of nominations with a combination of natural and cultural elements would be made by ICOMOS, which would take account of the cultural criteria (paragraph 24 of the Operational Guidelines) and, in consultation with IUCN, also of natural criterion (iii) relating to natural beauty and the exceptional combination of cultural and natural elements (paragraph 36(a)(iii)).
31. In the same manner, the Committee encouraged States Parties to present the justification for such properties evoking both cultural criteria and natural criterion (iii).
32. The Committee recognized that this procedure constituted only an interim practical measure and did not resolve the issue of all "mixed sites" which were neither specifically foreseen nor excluded in the Convention itself.


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Mike FlanaganAugust 29, 2011
When I got this card in 1978, I would have had no wish for my life above being a major league baseball player. Back then I would have envisioned myself as a member of my favorite team, which was not the Orioles, but now, in my early 40s, looking back on that purposeful team and on my own often purposeless life, looking also at this card of a young focused left-hander throwing free and easy, a year from winning the Cy Young award and the first game of the World Series, I am thinking that if I could have been a baseball player, someone with a rare and beautiful gift, and I could have chosen an organization to come up in as a player, I would have been an Oriole during the golden years of that franchise.
I would have learned the right way to do things, the Oriole Way, and I would have learned what my place was in the world, my role, and I would have learned how to play that role. I would have been surrounded by others with rare and beautiful gifts doing the same thing, all of us coming together instead of pulling apart. Life is in constant disintegration, but to be an Oriole during those years must have felt like something close to that opposite of that, as if a life could be led, at least for a while, as an integral part of a song.
Some years after the Orioles fell from that grace into a more familiar kind of perpetual disintegration, I spent four seasons in a primitive cabin in the woods. I've been thinking about that cabin lately. Sometimes, at dusk, there was a symphony. I don't want to romanticize it: more likely than not, I would have been depressed, aching with loneliness, guilty for wasting another day, angry at my inability to write anything worthwhile, wishing not that I was part of a song but that I had more batteries for my handheld battery-powered television so that I could watch sitcom reruns on the screen the size of a baseball card. That is, I was not in a lotus position peacefully drinking in the majesty of the forest. But now, many years later, I can discard the fetid personal demons fouling the moment and remember that there were two main parts of the symphony: frogs and a wood thrush. The frogs honked along dumbly, one-note simpletons, and then every once in a while the wood thrush would let loose with that watery many-noted call that I wish I could describe but can only say that whenever I heard it I loosened up just a little on the chronic grip that held me to my misery.
I thought about that symphony a few days ago when I heard that Mike Flanagan had been found dead, that he'd done himself in with a shotgun. As I've mentioned elsewhere on this site, one of my more memorable trips to the ballpark was when I saw the Red Sox play the Orioles and a pack of drunk guys behind us spent the whole game honking at the opposing pitcher, "Mike Flanagan: UMASS!" They were fellow UMASS guys, I guess, trumpeting their pride, but what I was thinking about a few days ago was how their drunken monotonous croaking was to the graceful pitching of the victorious Flanagan like the frogs' guttural belching to the song of the wood thrush. Those guys were fans, like I am a fan, and we fans are of this earth, simple and dull, limited, unblessed by the rare and beautiful gift that inspires our croaking, and all we can do is call out to those we believe are part of something higher.
And if there's such a thing as prayer, let me send mine into the sky like a frog croaking at dusk, and let the words of the prayer be "Mike Flanagan: UMASS!" and let the prayer find Mike Flanagan somewhere with the wish that such a thing, blunt and absurd, but sincere, could help spirit him back into the center of the harmony he once knew, a blessed note in the center of a swinging, indestructible song.


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First off – yes, the city name is spelled two different ways! I had to look it up, because I kept getting confuzzled. http://www.visitwhanganui.nz/ explains it this way:
You may notice two different spellings of 'Whanganui', or 'Wanganui'. Since the mid-1800s there have been two different spellings in use for the name of our area. The different spellings arose from the way in which local iwi pronounce the word 'Whanganui' (the 'wh' creating a barely aspirated sound), and the way in which European settlers wrote down the word as they heard it – 'Wanganui'.
More recently, the name of our district was deemed by the Government to be 'Whanganui'. This is why you will see the name of our city spelt with and without an H as you travel around. Either way – it is still the same place, Whanganui or Wanganui!
I will also own the fact that I totally took advantage of a very lazy Sunday morning here at Rose Cottage – but I did shower before noon – if barely. 🙂
A little on this lovely Air Bnb – I got it for 2 nights for less than $50 total and that is in NZ dollars, so about 37.00 – what a bargain. I have my own room with a lovely sitting area, and an ensuite bathroom with a fantastic rain shower – and MY OWN kitchen – like full totally stocked kitchen. That NEVER happens! My host, the lovely Kay is adorable, and just lovely to chat with as well – so triple bonus!
Once I shook off my laziness, I headed out to wander around. Being Sunday, and the winter, the downtown area was dead – there was a bargain store and a few restaurants open, but that was it.
I decided to start hitting the scenic route, starting with Virginia Lake, which I had passed coming into town, and was struck by the Gazebo. I wandered around the lake and the meandering paths – enjoying the swans, ducks, and the very cool, and very blue Pukekos – which are just fascinating bright blue birds. The lake was peaceful and the trails were the perfect place to just get lost. I could, and did, spend several hours just wandering around.
After wandering around the lake trails, I decided to check out the Winter Gardens, a little building up the hill – I wasn't sure what to expect, but I was so impressed. The flowers, the colors and the garden art just made me smile – and it was 100% free – always a good little treat. (and I might have gone overboard with the flower pictures, but the colors made me happy!)
After hitting the garden, I stopped in the little cafe – for my daily "what am I going to do without NZ flat whites" fix – and took a picture of the quintessential Kiwi cafe selection. There are some pretty unique kiwi cafe treats in there!
I sat outside as it got dark watching the people and the birds, until I was just too chilled, then headed back to my air bnb to plan my route for tomorrow – I have a short drive and no deadline for arrival in my next stop, quaint little Levin, so I am planning some stops and wanders.


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Larry Rutter
Chugiak resident Lawrence "Larry" Wayne Rutter died Sunday, March 11, 2012 in Anchorage. He was 61.
Rutter was born on Aug. 27, 1950 in Redding, Calif. He was a graduate of Central Valley High School in Central Valley, Calif. He arrived in Alaska in June of 1989 after retiring from work at a cement plant. In 1991, he began working on the Alyeska Pipeline, where he worked until he retired in 2008.
He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed fishing, hunting, cutting trees for firewood, riding his ATV, snow machining, having a beer with friends and spending time with family and friends.
"Larry was an outstanding father, husband and friend," his family said. "He was always willing to lend a helping hand to anyone — any time or any place. He will be greatly missed."
He was preceded in death by his parents, Wayne and Joy Rutter.
He is survived by his wife Tracy of Chugiak; daughter and son-in-law Buffi and Jerry Brown of Dunsmuir, Calif.; son and daughter-in-law Dustin and Gina Rutter of Dunsmuir; grandsons Cody and Christopher Brown and Evan Freeman, all of Dunsmuir; granddaughter Alison Freeman of Dunsmuir; sister Nancy Matheson of Shingletown, Calif.; and brother Burton Rutter of Trinidad, Calif.
A celebration of life will be held Friday, March 23 at 3 p.m. at the American Legion Post 33 in Peters Creek.
Arrangements were by Janssen Funeral Homes.


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Sound Vision Event for Shariah Education
By Adil James, TMO
A fundraiser was held Saturday evening at the Dearborn Hyatt to counter the "anti-Shariah†legislation that is sweeping the nation.
Abdul Malik Mujahid speaks at his fundraiser
The voices from the extreme right that vilify Muslims and Islam have made an important strategy shift in recent years, aiming to promulgate their hatred into the law of the land. That difference has come in the form of plainly unconstitutional legislation that despite its illegality in relation to the religious protections of our nation has been passed as "anti-Sharia†legislation in 5 states to date, with ongoing battles to enact such legislation in other states.
Sound Vision pioneer Abdul Malik Mujahid is therefore planning an intelligent response to the shrill anti-Shariah efforts. He has begun to assemble a team of knowledgeable people from relevant walks of life including lawyers and professors, and a website (called Sharia101.org) and more, all designed to fill the void on the internet of people knowledgeable about Islam who can respond to the "anti-Shariah†distortions of Christian bigots.
Mr. Mujahid has successfully built Sound Vision, and is prominent for his other contributions as well, in fact he was given the honor of being listed in the "Muslim 500†book of most influential Muslims.
Saturday, approximately 100 influential Southeast Michigan Muslims attended Mr. Mujahid's fundraiser, one stop on Mr. Mujahid's tour of several fundraisers, to raise money in support of his vision of educating people on what Shariah is.
Mujahid spoke eloquently on the importance of Shariah legislation, the danger it poses to Muslim investing, the danger to Muslim family arbitration, the danger to the existing multibillion dollar halal investment funds, the danger to the halal industry.
Mujahid also pointed out the profound implications of anti-Shariah legislation for similarly distinct religious groups which apply their religious laws within the American legal system, for example Jews, Catholics, the Amish, and Mormons.
Mujahid gave one of the first good explanations of the nature of Shariah as being our way of life–something that is not at all fairly represented by sometimes hideous abuses done in foreign countries under the banner "Shariah.â€


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F-SCRAP grant will allow Benedictine to divert food scraps from landfills
Lisle, Illinois ~ Benedictine University has received a $46,000 Food Scrap Composting Revitalization and Advancement Program (F-SCRAP) grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to allow for the diversion of food scraps generated in the Lisle campus cafeteria and other buildings.
"The generosity of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity enables Benedictine to take another big step forward in being green," said Jean-Marie Kauth, Ph.D. associate professor at Benedictine. "Composting all the food scraps both from consumers and in the kitchen will save methane-producing garbage from going to the landfill and produce top-quality compost for growing plants.
"I can only think of a few environmental initiatives that would have more impact on campus and on the world," she added.
This new composting effort will allow Benedictine to divert in excess of 105,000 pounds (52.5 tons) per year of food waste from landfills and wastewater. Composting will be another way in which Benedictine meets its commitments to the Illinois Campus Sustainability Compact. Jobs for student workers managing the diversion program will provide a unique opportunity for students to learn about sustainability.
The grant is another example of the ripple effect "Years for the Environment," a three-year sustainability and environmental effort that grew organically from the Benedictine value of stewardship, has created on the University campus. The "Years for the Environment" project increased the presence of sustainability in the curriculum, highlighted the importance of sustainability in the surrounding community, and encouraged the University to reduce its carbon footprint.
A student-led community garden has provided modest contributions to the dining hall, and composting food scraps will allow students to see the other end of a natural food system.
The move toward composting food waste is just the latest in a long line of green efforts by the University.
Benedictine recently began using more environmentally friendly cleaning products, which reduce water consumption and pollution while improving indoor air quality for employees and students. The new products include all-purpose and window cleaners that are biodegradable and derived from renewable resources like corn and soybeans. Microfiber towels are also used in place of cotton towels, allowing staff to capture and retain more contaminants while cutting back on water and energy use.
Benedictine's Sodexo Dining Services began using a new process to decrease the use of cooking oil and turn any used oil into biodiesel fuel through Filta, a recycling service. In just five months, Benedictine reduced cooking oil used on campus by more than 2,000 pounds, thus reducing greenhouse gases by 8,794 pounds and reducing fertilizers and pesticides by 170 pounds. This would represent the equivalent of planting 438 trees.
The University has also received grant money from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to make upgrades to indoor lighting systems, and continues to monitor and maintain efficient lighting and temperature use throughout campus buildings under a curtailment program that greatly reduces energy consumption.
A new student environmental group, S.E.E.Ds, has been founded on the principles of helping Benedictine become a more environmentally friendly campus. The group's motto is, "Planting a seed today for a greener tomorrow."
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|Noah's Ark
Genesis 6:7 to 11:1
6:7 Now Yahweh was really getting rather hostile towards creation. People and animals and birds were thinking evil things lately, more than usual. Yahweh started talking to himself a lot about destroying everything and killing all the people and animals and birds he had made, but deep down he knew he probably wouldn't. He took a walk around and looked about and there was Noah, and Noah wasn't such a bad guy after all.
Yahweh said to Noah, "Build a boat. Make it 450 feet long and put in one little itty bitty tiny window." Noah obeyed and then Yahweh brought him animals to put into the boat. Breeding stock from each of the millions of species of mammals, marsupials, birds, reptiles, plus insects and plants were to be saved in this manner. Yahweh said to take 7 animals from each of the sort that he considered to be good eatin' like cows and sheep and goats, and 2 each of the inedible species like pigs and velociraptors. It's uncertain which group includes kangaroos, chupacabra, and botulism.
So Noah, at the ripe old age of 600, loaded his wife and his three sons and their wives and all the necessary feed for the massive zoo into the boat. Yahweh himself closed the door.
Isaac Asimov published a brief essay on the concentration of methane gas that would have been generated by all the farting in the enclosed environment, and the level of intensity of the explosion that would have been produced if anyone dared to strike a match.
Suddenly, for the first time ever in the entire history of the Universe, it began to rain. All of the Earth's land masses were completely covered, which amounts to a minimum of five times all the known water in the oceans, atmosphere, and melted ice in the polar caps combined. This global environmental disaster happened in only forty days, meaning the sheer water pressure alone from such a downpour was enough to crush the evil humans. Yahweh thus baptized the sins of all creation in short order with one god-sized punishment. With the exception of Noah's little family, and their huge floating menagerie, and of course the fishes, Yahweh killed everything and everyone. He wiped them out down to the last man, woman and screaming little innocent child.
Meanwhile Noah and his immediate family members floated around for a year or so in his big smelly boat and eventually things finally started drying up a little. The boat ran aground on a mountain peak. Noah sent birds out flying a few times as a sort of scientific experiment. One brought back a twig so either some trees survived being at the bottom of an ocean all that time, or the bird found some debris floating around. When a dove didn't come back at all, Noah figured the storm was pretty much over. He let the animals out, after all the kangaroos had a long walk ahead of them.
Then Yahweh made a special promise to Noah. "Never again will I use water when I get in one of those moods where I feel like killing off the whole world" he said. "As a token of this promise I will refract sunlight when it passes through water droplets in the atmosphere at an angle that is wavelength dependent so that it presents an arc of a visible array of colors at 42 degrees from the anti-solar point."
The humans got busy killing some of the animals whose lives they had saved for Yahweh. They held various animals down and cut their throats and then burned the little critters' remains to a crisp on top of an altar they had made just for that purpose. Yahweh heard the sounds of sizzling flesh and smelled the smokey smoldering and it made him feel really appreciated.
Next Noah planted a grape vineyard and when the grapes matured and the wine was ready to drink, he really got his party on. He was so stink-faced plastered that he just passed out sprawled nekid on the bed with his baby maker exposed. One of his sons, Ham, walked in and accidentally witnessed his father's hideous junk hanging free as a windchime. He immediately ran to his two brothers and explained the unbearably embarrassing situation regarding dad's man-package. The two undamaged brothers made a plan. They slowly and carefully entered the tent backwards so as not to see dad's wretched juice bazooka and, without any peeking; they covered up his personal area with a garment.
Noah woke up with a whopper of a hangover and when the gaps in his memory were filled in, man was he ever pissed off. For some reason he blamed the whole thing on Ham instead of taking personal responsibility for getting too drunk and revealing Mister Gigglewiggle. "Just for that," he swore to Ham, "from now on your brothers get to boss you around, and their children will boss around your children." A few hundred years later Noah died.
As in the case of Abel being marked, many pastors preach to this day that the "Mark of Ham" is having dark skin. How else could we tell whose children to enslave? Biblical support of slavery was in fact a recurring theme in publications by southern politicians and religious leaders leading up to the American Civil War.
11:1 At that time every single person everywhere on the whole planet spoke exactly the same language. They were of one big peaceful culture. Eventually they settled down blissfully and were having some good times in one general area and said "Hey, you know what would be totally awesome? Let's all work together to build a great big tall tower, so tall it will connect the Earth to Heaven."
Yahweh saw what the industrious creative curious humans were up to lately and he said to his selves "Oh My Me! The people are all cooperating peacefully with each other. This is terrible! They might do all sorts of great things, solve all sorts of interesting problems, and learn all sorts of things about themselves and the Universe. Let's go down there right now and diversify their cultural identity so that they will be filled with hate for each other, and make war, and compete for scarce resources, and constantly try to enslave each other instead of cooperating with each other on grand endeavors. Then they will not have time for building amazing towers that metaphorically reach for utopia."
Yahweh's solution to the tower problem worked perfectly. The people suddenly began understanding and speaking a variety of different languages. Some languages were related linguistically and geographically of course but in general it made mass cooperation more difficult. Soon they were scattered across the continents and constantly at war with each other, and far too busy to be building tall towers. At last all was right with God's little project.
We're gonna need a bigger boat.
January 25, 2012
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One Comment on "We're gonna need a bigger boat."
archaeopteryx1 Says:
When I did a whole page on animal farts filling the ark on my own site (less than 24 cows will do the trick), I had no idea Asimov had done that as well.
I like your work!
pax vobiscum,


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Get Facebook Likes, Twitter followers, Google +1, Youtube views, Pinterest followers…
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Twin Tunnels, not rail or new billion-dollar proposal, tops CDOT's priorities
Colorado Department of Transportation officials are examining the congestion-relief project proposal that Parsons, a private company, pitched for the Interstate 70 mountain corridor, but they haven't signed on to anything yet.
The pitch, which was submitted in 2011, is being vetted through a traffic and revenue study, along with elements of another industry proposal and CDOT ideas for the highway, but is nowhere near final approval for implementation, transportation spokeswoman Amy Ford said.
"That is definitely not part of where we are right now in our thinking," she said. "Our focus is one — complete the Twin Tunnels (widening project); two — start the planning of our peak period shoulder lanes and then three — work on this traffic and revenue study."
The study itself is just getting underway and could take up to 18 months to complete, during which time state crews will continue expanding I-70 to three lanes at the Twin Tunnels, east of Idaho Springs, and preparing a new plan that would utilize shoulder space to create a removable third-lane to help increase traffic flows during heavy congestion on the highway.
The Parsons proposal outlines a public-private partnership to implement $3.5 million in traffic-reduction measures on the crowded interstate with a tolling structure that would allow the project to pay for itself.
The first phase of the plan calls for new reversible express lanes to be constructed in the median area of the existing highway between C-470 and Silverthorne — the segment that experiences the worst backups — and would require new bores through both the Eisenhower and Twin tunnels. The new express lanes — meant to provide an alternative to sitting in traffic for drivers on busy travel days — would be tolled to help cover the cost of the project itself as well as the launch of a rapid transit bus system which would provide service all the way to Vail. At a recent Eagle County presentation of their plan, Parsons representatives said their tolled-lane model would be expected to generate more than the total cost of the project.
The tolls will be adjusted up and down as needed to ensure the express lanes do not become congested.
"With max pricing, a trip from Denver would cost about $26," Parsons program director Trapani said at the presentation. "How much is your time worth — do you sit in gridlock traffic or pay, knowing you can maintain 60 mph to your destination?"
A second phase of construction would extend the highway improvements from Vail to Silverthorne.
The Parsons proposal does not include plans for a high-speed rail on the corridor, but transportation officials said they have not abandoned the idea. A separate, but parallel study to the traffic and revenue analysis is being conducted to determine whether a train, known as an advanced guideway system (AGS), would be financially feasible.
"There are certainly some high costs associated with (the AGS). Right now we're trying to figure out does that make this project something that's not possible at this time," Ford said. "We're looking at all of it."
Existing technology for a high-speed rail that can handle the unique grade and weather challenges of the I-70 mountain corridor could run upwards of $20 billion to construct, and more recent studies show the train might not draw the ridership numbers once anticipated.
The results of AGS financial feasibility study are expected to be released later this year.
Derek Franz of the Eagle Valley Enterprise contributed to the reporting of this story.
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Making movies inspires Roscoe woman
ROSCOE - Julia Moore has finished her first semester at Huntington University in northern Indiana, where she is majoring in film. Before she graduates, she'll spend a semester studying filmmaking in Los Angeles.
Moore previously studied digital media at Rock Valley College and was one of two Rock Valley students nominated for the All USA Community College Academic Team. The Mosaic Film Festival last year accepted two of her films. "Overcomer," about a faith-based addiction recovery program, won best regional documentary.
Moore plans to pursue a career in filmmaking, and can see herself returning to the Rockford area after she finishes school.
"I really want to be an example of something great that came out of Rockford," she said.
- Isaac Guerrero
Julia Moore
Age: 20
Residence:Roscoe/Huntington, Ind.


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Story highlights
At the FDA, Sarah Sellers fought for compounding pharmacy guidelines
Years later, there are still no sterility guidelines in place
Over the years, people have died, been blinded and become ill
A compounding pharmacists' group says it's fighting for sterility standards
When the job offer came from the Food and Drug Administration in the winter of 2005, Sarah Sellers jumped at the chance.
It was her "dream job," she says, and she picked up her family and moved from Chicago to Washington.
Two years later, she left in frustration, unable, she says, to do the job she was hired to do: help clean up compounding pharmacies.
Compound pharmacists create customized medication solutions for patients for whom manufactured pharmaceuticals won't work, according to the International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists.
Those mixed-batch drugs can range from children's cough syrup – like adding grape flavor – to complex concoctions that treat cancer, according to Kevin Outterson, an associate professor of health law and bioethics at Boston University.
As a young pharmacist, Sellers had worked in a compounding pharmacy and was shocked by what she describes as unsterile conditions.
"The pharmacy was purportedly making sterile injections from scratch using non-sterile ingredients," she told a Senate committee in 2003. "When I asked permission to order and substitute FDA-approved products because of safety concerns, I was cautioned that it would be less profitable for the pharmacy."
At the FDA, Sellers had hoped to help write new federal sterility guidelines for compounding pharmacies.
"I expected the guidelines to come out when I was working at the agency in 2006," Sellers said. "But it never happened. It was so frustrating."
More than six years later, those guidelines – which some experts say might have prevented the current outbreak of meningitis – still have not come out.
Twelve people have died in the current outbreak of non-contagious fungal meningitis, linked to contaminated steroid injections made by the Massachusetts-based New England Compounding Center.
Meningitis outbreak highlights failed oversight efforts
"We've been waiting for years for these guidelines," said Michael Cohen, a pharmacist and president of the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. "They're desperately needed to assure patient safety."
Over the years, people have died, been blinded and become ill from contaminated medicines made at compounding pharmacies.
In 2003, the Government Accountability Office testified that the FDA was aware of more than 200 adverse events associated with drugs from compounding pharmacies since 1990.
The infections continued: For example, in 2011, nine people in Alabama died from blood infections after they received intravenous medicine made at a compounding pharmacy, and in 2011 and 2012, 33 people suffered fungal eye infections from drops made at a compounding pharmacy in Florida.
The sterility guidelines are in "in progress," according to Erica Jefferson, an FDA spokeswoman. The agency, she said, has tried for 20 years to have more oversight of compounding pharmacies but has faced challenges by the industry.
When asked why it's taking years to write these guidelines, Jefferson declined to comment.
Sellers said that when she worked at the FDA, "political pressure" kept the guidelines from being published.
"Compounding pharmacies make a lot of money, and it goes to various places at the state and federal level," she said.
The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists has spent more than $1 million over the past decade on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
David Miller, the group's executive vice president and chief executive officer, denies that his group has lobbied against federal sterility standards and says it has actually been fighting for them.
"We've written to the FDA; we've written to Congress," Miller said. "We've been pushing on this since before 2003."
After Sellers left the FDA, she moved back to Chicago and became an independent consultant, and she still fights for better standards for compounding pharmacies.
The problem, she says, is bigger than just a few outbreaks, since illnesses might not be traced back to contaminated drugs.
"The FDA only knows about the safety concerns they hear about," she said.
CNN's Danielle Dellorto contributed to this report.


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EXIT STUDIO LEFT: Julie de Libran, one of the creative engines behind Louis Vuitton's fashion business, is no longer working in its Paris studio, market sources said.
As studio director of women's ready-to-wear, de Libran has been the front woman for Vuitton's cruise and pre-fall collections under former artistic director Marc Jacobs, who exited last October to concentrate on his signature fashion house.
It is understood his successor Nicolas Ghesquière, who is slated to unveil his first collection for Vuitton during Paris Fashion Week, has brought in a number of new collaborators, supplanting de Libran's role.
The last collection under her purview was the pre-fall range unveiled earlier this week in New York and characterized as a team effort.
One source cautioned that de Libran remains under contract and could take on other assignments at the brand or parent LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a luxury conglomerate that spans such names as Donna Karan, Fendi, Givenchy and Emilio Pucci.
Neither de Libran nor Vuitton officials could be reached for comment on Thursday.
Jacobs has credited the uberstylish de Libran, raised in France and California, with helping construct Vuitton's rtw atelier, and he often shared the spotlight with her and other key deputies, including men's studio and style director Kim Jones.
Popular among the fashion press, she had been touted as a possible successor to Jacobs by some French editors.
De Libran joined Vuitton in 2008 as a design director after a 10-year career at Prada, working beside Miuccia Prada to help establish the Italian firm with celebrity and event dressing. Her résumé also includes stints at Versace, Jean Charles de Castelbajac and Gianfranco Ferré.


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Recently I had to get recertified for VCP and even though I didn't really want to …. I did so anyways as you can read in my previous blog post: VMware VCP5-DCV Delta Recertification Exam (VCP550D) available until March 10th + resources to prepare for it
Apparently there were some technical issues and VMware decided to extend the VCP recertification deadline until May 8, 2015. VMware understood this might frustrate people who worked hard to meet the original deadline on time (before March 10th 2015), so they decided to give those people 65% off the VCP6 migration exam.
Even though I still don't really agree with the recertification, this is a step in the good direction VMware. Keep it up.
For more information, you can read the original blog post: Short Extension For VCP Recertification Deadline (and a Reward for Those Who Met the Original Deadline)