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Here you can see a detailed look at the forecast for the next 48 hours. Note that the base for this is our Meteogram product, which shows a good average forecast for Dondé (Boké, Guinea).
However, you can also look at our compact prediction based on any other model that forecasts for your chosen location.
The following models are available for Dondé:
ECMWF 6z/18z (3 days), ECMWF IFS HRES (5 days), GFS (5 days), GEM (5 days), ACCESS-G (5 days), ICON (5 days), NORWAY (5 days)
This plot displays the 14 day temperature forecast for your selected location, Dondé.
The red numbers show the expected high temperature for a given day, while the blue numbers show the expected low temperature. Because forecast uncertainty increases with time, we also display the range of possible high/low temperature outcomes, shown as the shaded red/blue regions. The actual high/low temp could fall anywhere in that shaded region, and the larger the shaded regions are, the higher the forecast uncertainty is.
Current weather - Here we've put together a glance at all the most important information about the current weather in Dondé (Boké, Guinea). You can see where there are thunderstorms currently ongoing, as well as where thunderstorms have occurred in recent weeks and months with our lightning analysis tool. Our HD satellite images of Dondé will show you whether there's sunshine currently in the area, or if clouds are making for a more gloomy day. Finally, current observations will tell you what current temperatures look like around Dondé at the moment, as well as if it's humid and/or windy.
Forecast for the next few days - The weather forecast for Dondé is available in several different versions, all clearly and simply displayed here on the Weather Dondé page. For the short term, we have data based on a single weather model that is known to deliver the best forecast for Dondé. For the longer term, we have forecasts for the next two weeks based on an analysis of many different possible forecast outcomes that will give you a sense of not just what's most likely, but how the forecast could change in future updates as we get closer to any given date. If the range of possible outcomes is narrow, you can have high confidence in the forecast. If the range is wide, you know there's more uncertainty, and to not give too much credence to any one possible forecast outcome. We also have other products such as Meteograms and Forecast XL elsewhere on our site to give you additional options for figuring out the forecast for Dondé.
Neighboring places around Dondé
- Kaataba, Banbanguilare, Tiélé, Dokoual, Dara, Boyéré, Hérébowal, Bansané, Anguéra, Larapessé
Cities, towns, villages
- Anub, Bakhaday, Bakiya, Bakiya, Balansira, Bamba, Bangaya, Bansané, Barkéré, Bawiya, Bigori, Bindougou, Bitonko, Boffa, Boké, Bomfira, Borodji, Botini, Botoko, Boufou, Bounta, Bégnira Adouma, Béré Koye, Dademouna, Dakindé, Danguiri, Dantaré Bofoulo, Dapompo, Dassara, Diaweli, Dikissin, Dikya, Dioungoun, Dita, Dokiti, Dokoual, Dondé, Dongdabi, Doniya, Doï-Doï, Dékouri, Fandiékhouré, Fatimpo, Foulamansa, Foulaton, Fria, Galo Kadé, Gaoual, Goré, Guiapé, Guidali Koutiouri, Guildé, Guinguélou, Guiéfari, Halire, Hamdallay, Idaré, Ikarkète, Ikounoun, Inaye, Kaataba, Kabatandji, Kabonto, Kabéléa, Kafou, Kalikali, Kalounka, Kalémé, Kaléta, Kambambolou, Kambé Saourou, Kamélag, Kandaïdé, Kandika, Kandouman, Kankou, Kantongondébéré, Kanufote, Karach, Kassambiya, Katendé, Katongoro, Kerol, Khonibombo, Kimbo, Kitiandé, Koba, Kola, Koliya, Kolo, Kolon, Koundara, Kouyé Sékouya, Madiné, Mafoca, Matakan, Menkiné, Missidé Nangagni, Missira, Monchon, Naja, Nangagni, Niamayaravol, Némataba, Oré Korassé, Orévenndou, Ouadiatoulaye, Ouantan, Ouassou, Oudaba, Oukégué, Ourakaré, Ouyane, Ouzik, Pogon, Port-Kamsar, Potopoto, Rounde Dara, Sadièye, Sambaldé, Sambaya, Sambaya Péquéty, Sandia, Sangarédi, Sanguia, Sanguéya, Saraya, Saré Almidou, Saré Bessoro, Saré Oupa, Sayonya, Simbon Roudé, Sintiou Rou, Sintiân, Sintiân Kapéli, Soguéya, Songoya, Soukoutou Sébé, Tambaya, Youkounkoun
Mountains and hills
- Apassi, Fello Botovel, Fello Kalia, Fello Kessé, Fello Kondia, Fello Kouraniouké, Fello Longo, Fello Sounga
- Lac de Binton, Lac de Kaboy


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WASHINGTON - Al Franken was not joking.
The Minnesota Democrat, presiding over the Senate, wouldn't allow Sen. Joe Lieberman "just an additional moment" to finish a thought on the health care bill.
Time had run out, Franken told the stunned Connecticut Democrat, who asked to conclude his remarks. "In my capacity as senator from Minnesota," Franken said, "I object."
The moment, now a popular YouTube video, left veteran senators like John McCain fuming. But it showed Franken -- even if he was just following instructions -- in hyper-serious mode.
Franken was just good enough to win a litigious U.S. Senate recount election a year ago, and smart enough to generally stay out of the national spotlight once he got there.
Since then, as if channeling the "daily affirmations" of his old "Saturday Night Live" character Stuart Smalley, Franken has stuck assiduously to a step-by-step program for transforming himself from comedian to legitimate lawmaker.
Since being sworn in last July, the former satirist and liberal pundit has largely succeeded in positioning himself as a player on two of the most important measures of worth in Washington: getting bills passed and raising money, a sphere in which he has not been shy about using his old show business connections.
Franken also has recovered the sharpness of his tongue, using a recent speech in Washington, D.C., to uncork a withering critique of the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Roberts, whom he accused of taking "a fist with brass knuckles" to the rights of ordinary people against corporate America.
The speech was treated on the left as a coming-out party. On the right, former George W. Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson wrote that the author of "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot" had basically "relapsed."
Franken says he does not view the speech as a breakout moment but rather as a way to reframe the debate over President Obama's Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.
"What I see is every decision they've made has been on behalf of large corporations against average working people," Franken said of Roberts and like-voting justices. "I think that's not such a radical take on this court."
Significantly, he also vows to keep speaking out "when I think it's really called for" -- a move that could noticeably recalibrate his stature in national politics, where he has a media platform anytime he wants it.
Air America Franken
"I see a little bit of Air America Al Franken coming out," said Hamline University political scientist David Schultz. "He's going back to the persona that endeared him to a lot of liberals, which was bashing really hard on the opposition."
If so, the relative quiet since Franken's swearing-in last July 7 could be the calm before the storm.
Analysts say it's inevitable that a celebrity-turned-pol like Franken would have his every word scrutinized -- one reason that Franken has been judicious with his remarks until now, hustling past the daily press scrums in the Capitol and turning down serial invitations to go on TV.
"I want my colleagues to see me as someone who is trying to get things done, not who's trying to steal their camera time," Franken said.
Until now, aside from a few minor skirmishes with Republican colleagues -- chronicled in a GOP opposition research dossier titled "Sen. Franken's Breaches of Decorum" -- Franken has provided little comic fodder for his opponents. As Stuart Smalley might have said, doggone it, some Republicans even like him.
Nearly a dozen GOP senators have sponsored bills with him, including Orrin Hatch of Utah, who devoted one winter evening to helping Franken with the musical bridge to a country ditty he was trying to write.
"While Al Franken and I are still striving to see eye to eye on a lot of things, we do agree that the world needs a little humor once in a while," Hatch said.
Humor aside, Franken, 59, has developed a reputation as a policy "wonk" who does his homework before public hearings, sometimes with the help of his wife, Franni. Laboring at night to study the prepared statements of witnesses, he can cross-examine with trial-lawyer intensity.
Said fellow DFL Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a former Hennepin County Attorney, "Al has been a quick learner in his first year in the Senate, and he's working hard on important issues."
'Angry Al'?
On the national scene, Franken's Supreme Court speech established him as the Judiciary Committee senator to watch in Democratic efforts to wrest control of the ideological debate over what constitutes judicial activism.
From the start, Franken has had to contend with his old life resurfacing amid his fresh start.
On his fifth day in office, just as he was trying to establish serious cred in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of his old "Saturday Night Live" sketches lampooning Senate confirmation hearings surfaced on the Internet.
Franken says he's not running away from his previous life. "This is a different job," he said. "I know that."
But the desire to skewer political opponents still burns.
The election of Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown in January denied Democrats the filibuster-proof 60-vote majority that Franken's election had accorded them six months earlier. With the Democrats' health care agenda in a deep winter chill, Franken told a Families USA conference that the bill's opponents were using "lies and disinformation" to scare the public.
In a further reprise of his Air America past, Franken recalled former House Speaker Sam Rayburn, who once said, "Any jackass can kick down a barn, but it takes a carpenter to build one."
"Sam was a Texan," Franken told the conference. "In Minnesota, we don't use words like jackass. We call them 'donkeys.'"
Franken's GOP detractors have seized on such utterances as evidence that their old "Angry Al" caricature lurks just beneath the surface of his studious, bespectacled exterior.
"At first I think there was some restraint, but after a while I think he fell back into being himself," said Minnesota GOP Party Chairman Tony Sutton. "It's not just your philosophy, but the way you go about expressing it. Regardless of all the handling, if you're an angry, ticked-off guy, that's just going to come through."
But even as Franken ran afoul of a few Republican senators in well-publicized scrapes with John Thune of South Dakota and Bob Corker of Tennessee, he has also bent over backwards to make friends across the aisle -- a prerequisite for getting things done in the Senate.
"This is in sharp contrast with both Hubert Humphrey and Paul Wellstone, who broke into the Senate by offending senior colleagues with their brash behavior," said Hill editor Al Eisele, a longtime Congress watcher and former aide to Vice President Walter Mondale.
Becoming a player
Franken staffers, who keep a rescue dog named Blaine in the office, say the record of Franken's first 12 months in office speaks for itself: Out of 23 legislative initiatives, five have become law. Eight involved one or more Republican co-sponsors, including a veterans' service dog program introduced with Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia.
The one that got the most attention was a measure aimed at mandatory arbitration contracts in employment, a provision inspired by the Jamie Leigh Jones rape case. It passed with bipartisan support -- and stirred the bad feelings of opponents who saw themselves thrashed on "The Daily Show" as apologists for rape.
Another Franken victory, though significantly weakened in its final form, addresses conflicts of interest among Wall Street rating agencies, a problem many observers saw as being at the root of the 2008 financial collapse.
"The fact is, in an astonishingly short period of time he figured out how to operate as a player in the Senate," said American Enterprise Institute scholar Norman Ornstein, a Minnesota native who also is a close friend and adviser to Franken. "The stereotype of him as an angry, shallow celebrity who could never make it in this world except as a bomb-thrower just simply doesn't in any way fit reality."
No matter what Franken's legislative record is, he is unlikely to outrun his polarizing celebrity shadow, which friends and foes alike have used in the all-important chase for political cash.
On that score, Franken was awarded one of the highest forms of political respect last week when he was asked to lend his name to help the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee reach its midyear fundraising goals.
In Washington, that's serious business.
Kevin Diaz is a correspondent in the Star Tribune Washington Bureau.

subset: commoncrawl


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Nothing yet, but I'm making them to be ready to ship as soon as we hear. Also I'll be playing around with some 4130 to make them in.
Printable View
Nothing yet, but I'm making them to be ready to ship as soon as we hear. Also I'll be playing around with some 4130 to make them in.
Well I had ordered an M70 kit the other day and to my surprise :) I opened up a M64B underfolder kit. I have a deal working on a M70 milled kit but will definitely now need a M64 set of plates whenever they are a go.
Good! I have a buddy at work who is driving me crazy, where did you find your kit? At this point he just wants any milled gun, folder, fixed, rpk.
Hey VZ58, I will take two sets of m64 patch kits whem you get them ready and approved. I ordered a second m70 and got another m64. I guess I will be building two of them now. One for each hand.
Nice milled build. This looks a lot stronger than the stamped receivers. I'll have to try your method.
I have a friend who built a rifle using a stamped receiver and milling down the milled receiver ends to make them trunnions.
Found my answer, the M64's have threaded barrels, and the M70's have pinned barrels.
Rikoshay, I'm not sure what your question was? You're right, 64 are threaded 70 are pinned, 64 have a unique bolt hold open and a different receiver contour.
The question was "what's the differance" between the two. I should have done some research first before I posted the question.
Very nice work
FWIW, I finally tracked down a working # for the BATFE tech branch and left a message for the agent who is suppose to be reviewing my samples. He was out of the office today but is suppose to call me back monday.


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23 of 24
S'more Bars
Caramel ups the ante on this campfire classic.
No one can resist the classic combination of graham crackers, oozy toasted marshmallows, and melted chocolate, especially when it's all held together with caramel. These bars are delicious at room temperature, or get them a little melty by putting them on some foil on a hot grill.... Read More
View Recipe


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Principal Sessions Judge Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi convicted the accused - Vijay Jadhav (19), Kasim Bengali (21) and Mohammed Salim Ansari (28) - under section 376(e) (repeated offence of rape) of the Indian Penal Code.
The three were earlier convicted in the gangrape case of a telephone operator at the Shakti Mills compound and sentenced to life imprisonment in that case.
The amended rape charge section 376(e), which came into effect after the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, attracts the maximum penalty of capital punishment.
The court is likely to pronounce the quantum of sentence tomorrow after hearing the arguments.
The court had last month framed an additional charge against the three under section 376(e).
The 18-year-old telephone operator was gang raped on the premises of Shakti Mills in July last year a month before the photojournalist was brutalised on August 22.
The three men have already been sentenced to life imprisonment in that case.
According to prosecution, this qualifies them for punishment under the amended section in the photojournalist gangrape case.
The 22-year-old photo journalist of a magazine was gangraped by Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Bengali, Salim Ansari, Siraj Rehman and a minor boy when she had gone to the Shakti Mills compound in the Central Mumbai with a male colleague on an assignment.
The Bombay High Court had last week refused to interfere with the sessions court's decision to frame a fresh charge for repeat offence of rape.


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December 17, 2008
[N.B. You can scroll down for all articles or click on highlighted names or titles to go directly to the referenced article. Since this is a large issue, if it takes too long to upload the entire issue, you can click on the individual links below to more quickly get to a review that interests you.]
By Eileen Tabios
Michael Caylo-Baradi Reviews SHORT MOVIES by Jukka-Pekka Kervinen and Márton Koppány
Rachel Daley Reviews ZONE : ZERO by Stephanie Strickland
John Olson Reviews SCAFFOLD by Joel Chace
Eric Gelsinger Reviews SO THAT EVEN by Tawrin Baker
Kristina Marie Darling Reviews TORQUES: DRAFTS 58-76 by Rachel Blau DuPlessis
Denise Dooley Reviews THE SENSORY CABINET by Mark DuCharme
John Herbert Cunningham Reviews CAUGHT BY THE TAIL: FRANCIS PICABIA AND DADA IN PARIS by George Baker and I AM A BEAUTIFUL MONSTER: POETRY, PROSE AND PROVOCATIONS by Francis Picabia, translated by Marc Lowenthal
Eileen Tabios Engages DEMENTIA BLOG by Susan M. Schultz
Pamela Hart Reviews THIS IS WHY I HURT YOU by Kate Greenstreet
Jon Curley Reviews A WOMAN'S GUIDE TO MOUNTAIN CLIMBING by Jane Augustine
Karen An-Hwei Lee Reviews MENTAL COMMITMENT ROBOTS by Sueyeun Juliette Lee
Tom Beckett Reviews SUBSISTENCE EQUIPMENT by Brenda Iijima
Lisa Bower Reviews TRADING IN MERMAIDS by Alfred A. Yuson
Thomas Fink Reviews PARSINGS by Sheila E. Murphy
Michael Caylo-Baradi Reviews PERSUASIONS OF FALL by Ann Lauinger
Tom Beckett Reviews STRING PARADE by Jordan Stempleman
Karen Rigby Reviews THEORIES OF FALLING by Sandra Beasley
Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews THE GREAT WHIRL OF EXILE by Leroy V. Quintana
James Stotts Reviews ITERATURE by Eugene Ostashevsky
Tom Beckett Reviews YOUR TEN FAVORITE WORDS by Reb Livingston
John Herbert Cunningham Reviews BLANK VERSE: A GUIDE TO ITS HISTORY AND USE by Robert B. Shaw
Elizabeth Kate Switaj Reviews IN NO ONE'S LAND by Paige Ackerson-Kiely
Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews POLYVERSE by Lee Ann Brown
Eric Gelsinger Reviews OPEN NIGHT by Aaron Lowinger
John Bloomberg-Rissman Reviews ANIMATE, INANIMATE AIMS by Brenda Iijima
Eileen Tabios Engages HALLUCINATING CALIFORNIA by Richard Lopez and Jonathan Hayes
Emily Schorr Lesnick Reviews ARDOR by Karen An-Hwei Lee
Linda Rodriguez Reviews ROUNDING THE HUMAN by Linda Hogan
Helen Losse Reviews AFTER THE POISON by Collin Kelley (1)
Sam Rasnake Reviews AFTER THE POISON by Collin Kelley (2)
Robert E. Wood Reviews AFTER THE POISON by Collin Kelley (3)
James Stotts Reviews IN COMPANY: AN ANTHOLOGY OF NEW MEXICO POETS AFTER 1960, Edited by Lee Bartlett, V.B. Price and Dianne Edenfield Edwards
Denise Dooley Reviews UNBECOMING BEHAVIOR by Kate Colby
Tom Beckett Reviews WORLD0 and NO SOUNDS OF MY OWN MAKING, both by John Bloomberg-Rissman
Michael Caylo-Baradi Reviews THE SINGERS by Logan Ryan Smith
Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews HOW TO DO THINGS WITH WORDS by Joan Retallack
Lars Palm Reviews PLAYING THE AMPLITUDES by Christopher Rizzo
Karen An-Hwei Lee Reviews BOX OF LIGHT / CAJA DE LUZ by Susan Gardner
Jeff Harrison Reviews WALDEN BOOK by Allen Bramhall
Fiona Sze-Lorrain Reviews BONE PAGODA by Susan Tichy
John Bloomberg-Rissman Reviews ISSUE 1, Edited by Stephen McLaughlin and Jim Carpenter
Fiona Sze-Lorrain Reviews WOMEN POETS ON MENTORSHIP: EFFORTS & AFFECTIONS, Edited by Arielle Greenberg & Rachel Zucker
Eileen Tabios Engages TORCHWOOD by Jill Magi
Karen An-Hwei Lee Reviews SHADOW MOUNTAIN by Claire Kageyama-Ramakrishnan
Patrick James Dunagan Reviews GLAD STONE CHILDREN by Edmund Berrigan and DRUNK BY NOON by Jennifer L. Knox
Fiona Sze-Lorrain Reviews SAVAGE MACHINERY by Karen Rigby
Patrick James Dunagan Reviews ALL THAT'S LEFT by Jack Hirschman and ONE OF A KIND by Jack Micheline
Adam Halbur Reviews EYE-SENSING by David Jaffin
Steven Karl Reviews STATE OF THE UNION--50 POLITICAL POEMS, Edited by Joshua Beckman & Matthew Zapruder
Eileen Tabios Engages RED by Marilyn R. Rosenberg
Brett Duchon Reviews PRAU by Jean Vengua
Wendy Lynn Cohen Reviews LOUISE IN LOVE by Mary Jo Bang
Steven Karl Reviews SHY GREEN FIELDS by Hugh Behm-Steinberg
Nathan Logan Reviews THE ROMANCE OF HAPPY WORKERS by Anne Boyer
Patria Rivera Reviews FIELD OF MIRRORS: AN ANTHOLOGY OF PHILIPPINE AMERICAN WRITERS, Edited by Edwin Lozada
Brett Duchon Reviews COMPLICATIONS by Garrett Caples
Linda Nguyen Reviews BRIDGEABLE SHORES: SELECTED POEMS (1969-2001) by Luis Cabalquinto
Linda Rodriguez Reviews THE PORTABLE FAMINE by Rane Arroyo
Reed Boskey Reviews WHAT THE FORTUNE TELLER DIDN'T SAY by Shirley Geok-lin Lim
Rebecca Holohan Reviews THE SPLINTERED FACE: TSUNAMI POEMS by Indran Amirthanayagam
Katherine Levy Reviews KALI'S BLADE by Michelle Bautista
Monna Wong Reviews MUSEUM OF ABSENCES by Luis H. Francia
Aileen Ibardaloza Engages PINOY POETICS: A COLLECTION OF AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL ESSAYS ON FILIPINO AND FILIPINO-AMERICAN POETICS, Edited by Nick Carbo and POEMCRAZY: FREEING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS by Susan Goldsmith Wooldridge
Aileen Ibardaloza Reviews PASSAGE: POEMS 1983-2006 by Edgar B. Maranan
Eric Gelsinger Reviews WHEN I COME HERE by Ryan Eckes
Nathan Logan Reviews ON THE FLY by Amy King
Aileen Ibardaloza Engages BARING MORE THAN SOUL by Reme A. Grefalda
Michael Caylo-Baradi
A PREFACE: Angelo Suarez engages with the works of Philippines-based poet-artists Bea Camacho, Costantino Zicarelli, Buen Calubayan and Cesare A.X. Syjuco
Angelo Suarez on THE POETICS OF INTERMEDIA: Bea Camacho's Eulogy to Art
Angelo Suarez on A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS MORON: Constantino Zicarelli and Buen Calubayan
Angelo Suarez on CESARE A.X. SYJUCO AND THE NEW FORMALISM
Allen Gaborro Reviews DOVEGLION: COLLECTED POEMS by JOSE GARCIA VILLA, Ed. John Edwin Cowen
Patrick James Dunagan Reviews EVANGELINE DOWNS by Micah Ballard
Tiny Poetry Books Feeding the World…Literally!
A German Shepherd Most Assuredly Shall Grace the White House Lawn
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Posted by EILEEN at 6:55 PM
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Brought to you by:
Winner selected based on number of times the video
is viewed by Sunday, September 29th
Bob Wingate sings his catchy, original song, "Squirrel's World."
Desiree Everett devotedly sings "His Eye is on the Sparrow."
Janice Tinsley sings the much beloved "God Bless America."
Silvia White performs a sweet, original a cappella piece titled "Silvia Loves Chocolate."
The Silverliner Dancers enthusiastically perform a dance to "Cowboy Sweetheart."
Darrell Connor faithfully performs the classic gospel song "I Believe."
The winner will be announced Tuesday, October 1st
in the Salisbury Post and SalisburyPost.com.
Contest is free to enter and is open to amateur groups and individual performers. All performers must be 55 years old or older. All performers must agree to be videotaped, with videos posted online on SalisburyPost.com. Employees of Salisbury Post and Trinity Oaks are not eligible to win.


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Coffee Tree to Cup in Brazil: Part I, The Farm
Author's note: In early June, I attended the coffee harvest in Pedregulho, Brazil, with leading specialty coffee producer Octavio Café and Dallis Coffee, the highly respected New York coffee roaster Octavio recently acquired. Down at Octavio's Nossa Senhora Aparecida farm, I leaned how coffee goes from the plant to your French press—as millions of coffee trees are picked, sifted, seeded, dried, roasted, and brewed into the coffee that wakes you up every morning. Here's Phase 1: all about the coffee plant itself. —CJ
Close your eyes and picture a coffee plant.
Not this beautiful cappuccino, not the dark dust in your Folger's jar, not those brittle, toasty-smelling beans—a coffee plant.
I'm willing to bet that, unless you're from a tropical area or have taken some effort to educate yourself, you had trouble envisioning just where coffee comes from. It's funny: no matter how little time we've spent on farms, we know that corn grows on stalks, wheat in amber fields, grapes on a vine. Coffee, on the other hand? A mystery to most of us. And I include myself, as of a few years ago, in that category: downing mugs of the stuff each morning with only the vaguest notion that it came from warmer regions in sacks of dry green beans.
So I jumped at the chance to spend a few days in the heart of this year's coffee harvest, with Octavio Café and Dallis Coffee, down in the endless coffee fields of Nossa Senhora Aparecida in Pedregulho, Brazil—picking coffee fruit, pulling out the beans, seeing how they're sorted and dried and milled and roasted and, ultimately, brewed up into the black stuff that wakes you up in the morning.
It's a long journey, so we'll start at the beginning.
Where Does Coffee Come From?
First things first: that coffee bean? It's the seed of a fruit called a "coffee cherry." It's about the size of a blueberry, say, or a Jelly Belly, growing in clusters on short, shrubby trees. Those trees thrive in many tropical and sub-tropical patches of the world—Colombia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Ethiopia. Though coffee demands a warm climate, conditions vary greatly; some coffee terrain is nearly flat, some mountainous; some wetter, some drier.
The Alta Mogiana region of Brazil, where I found myself last week, is a place of rolling green hills and ghostly morning fog and rich red soil—the sort of arresting beauty that can have you gazing out over the landscape for hours on end. It looks something like Napa Valley; well, if Napa were swept with sugarcane fields and palm trees. It's a verdant plain at an elevation of about 1000 meters, whose seasonal shifts are prime for coffee. Warm, rainy summers; cooler, sunny winters; no risk of frost. ("One touch of frost and you're done for," said John Moore, VP of Dallis Coffee and my expert tour guide through the harvest.)
Coffee fruit grown here, depending on the cultivar, can be either red or yellow. The yellow ones move through a color life cycle like that of a banana: first hard and green, then soft and yellow, finally withered and black. During the harvest, you'll find fruit at all stages—red, yellow, orange, green, black; the clusters are striking, bundles of vibrant hue.
Those coffee cherries are, in fact, edible—roaming through the coffee fields, tasting along the way, you'll find distinct flavors in each fruit. The mature yellow cherries have the fresh vegetal tang of a green bell pepper. As they darken with age, the sugars concentrate and turn raisiny, wrinkly and sweet on the tongue. (At either stage, they're tasty—though there's too little fruit clinging to each seed to be used commercially for much more than fertilizer.)
On the farms of Octavio Café's Nossa Senhora Aparecida—a Brazilian specialty coffee farm, but hardly a large-scale one, by the nation's standards—5 million trees, standing between six and ten feet high, sweep the landscape in long, elegantly curving rows that seem to frame the town of Pedregulho.
About Octavio and Dallis
Brazil is the world's largest coffee producer and exporter, but not all Brazilian coffee is created equal. Octavio Café, whose harvest I crashed, is a well-regarded producer of specialty coffee, the highest classification of beans in the coffee world. Started by Italian immigrants Giusepe and Vincente Quércia, who crossed the seas in 1890, the company is now in its fourth generation of family ownership. (This generation's Quércia, Orestes—a former São Paulo state governor, a current senatorial candidate—may be a busy fellow, but keeps in active involvement in all its operations. "He seems most at home on the farm," Moore told me.) Octavio's coffees are highly ranked by the International Coffee Organization; it employs champion Brazilian baristas in quality control and coffee blend development; it operates an award-winning café in São Paulo and a coffee training program.
Octavio recently acquired the century-old Dallis Coffee, a Queens-based roaster and supplier orchestrating coffee programs across America—from small cafés to restaurants including Manhattan's Gramercy Tavern and Union Square Café. It's a two-way street of a deal: Dallis gets a top-end Brazilian product, of course; Octavio secures not only an American market, but earns access to Dallis's other imports. Brazil levies strict protectionist tariffs on green coffee, so only through Dallis's international reach can Octavio serve coffee from Papua New Guinea and Colombia and Ethiopia.
Octavio and Dallis take shared pride in Nossa Senhora Aparecida, a place where quality control tends toward the obsessive and the reward, as Moore is fond of saying, "is in the cup."
Listening to Moore detail each phase of coffee production recalls listening to a vintner lovingly describe each grape that ends up in the bottle. There's science, but there's a sense of artistry and history, too. At Octavio's farm, beans are bred for quality, not volume; at every conceivable stage of the process, inferior fruits or beans are siphoned off from the final batch. Every micro-lot of coffee, units as small as 320 bags, is separately "cupped," or tasted, to guard the final blend against imperfections. And quality control measures range from infared color sorting to soil sampling and chemical analysis.
As such, the processes we'll see here aren't necessarily practiced across the coffee industry. But for a look at the care and rigorous attention that a specialty coffee farm is capable of, it's a fascinating education.
Check back tomorrow for Part II: The Coffee Harvest.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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- Elegant design, sophisticated finish, the exclusive Double Twist system makes the nib come out in two turns. The Present Ageless range is made of resin, a modern, stylish material. Pastel colours have just been added to the classic black.
- Nib type: Ballpoint pen
- System: Double Twist
- Lenght: closed - 121 mm, nib out - 135 mm
- Diameter: ø 12 mm
- Type
- Ballpoint Pen
- Size
- Standard size
- Material
- Fine Plastic
- Product colour
- Black
The first PILOT pens were launched in Japan in 1918. At this time, the country was opening up to Western influences and was importing European techniques.
Trade agreements and contracts were being signed and the Japanese whose writing was poorly suited to the demands of commercial trade quickly had to simplify the lines of their characters and adopt international calligraphy standards. Many pen manufacturers were set up in Japan during this time.
Ryosuke NAMIKI, a mechanical engineer and professor at the Tokyo Merchant Marine Collage, was captivated by the ingenuity of these fountain pens which his contemporaries called ""10,000 year brushes"" because of their uninterrupted ink flow. However, at the same time Ryosuke NAMIKI remained convinced about their imperfections.
Using his skills in industrial engineering, he created a high quality prototype. After forming a partnership with one of his colleagues, Masao WADA, he created the NAMIKI MANUFACTURING COMPANY and started producing fountain pens.
As a tribute to their other shared passion, the sea, the pair used the brand name PILOT, referring to the fleet's flagship.
In 1938 the company became the PILOT PEN Co Ltd, then in 1989 the PILOT CORPORATION, a modern name covering the decades of creativity, innovation and design which have enabled the PILOT brand to position itself as the world leader in writing instrument technology.
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text:
Olivia Pope's gut is never wrong, but how can we be sure anymore when we can't even see it? Since Scandal opted not to write in Kerry Washington's pregnancy, Shonda Rhimes & Co. have come up with interesting ways to handle Bump Gate.
What the hell happened to Scandal?
Check out the most ridiculous ways we've seen so far. [Ed. Note: By popular demand, we've updated with more because Scandal just keeps on delivering.]
1. Olivia Pope loves lamp!
2. Objects in the foreground are closer than they appear. Oh, wait, they actually are.
3. Is that a mug? A lamp? Even Liv's unsure.
4. Ah, the Walk and Talk's awkward, purse-wielding cousin.
5. Kerry's new low center of gravity has apparently pulled her off the couch.
6. Blink and you'll miss the random blue line at the bottom of the screen.
7. Liv still loves lamp!
TV's most heartbreaking deaths
8. "If I just hide behind this glass-paned door, no one will know I'm now eating popcorn for two."
9. I spy with my little eye ... a totally not pregnant woman. Nope. Not pregnant at all.
10. "Seriously, Jake. WTF is in front of me right now?"
11. Don't adjust your screen. This is actually happening.
12. Just take the lamp behind the middle school and get it pregnant if you love it so much. Oh, nevermind. You already are.
13. You're right, Olivia. It is hilarious that anyone thought this would work.
14. Fitz is the wind beneath Liv's wings, but Kerry's baby bump is literally beneath that eagle's wing.
15. Glad they finally found something useful for Harrison to do.
16. Who loves lamp more: Liv or Brick Tamland?
17. Gravity 2, starring Kerry Washington.
18. One man's chair is another's bump blocker.
19. At least she looks comfortable.
20. Nobody puts baby behind a monitor.
Scandal airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.


text:
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text:
Peter Wilkinson and Atika Shubert , CNNAugust 23, 2012
(CNN) -- Zara married for love, against her family's wishes, more than a decade ago in the Middle East. Shortly after the marriage, she and her husband, along with their two children, moved to Britain for work. There, she says, her husband began to drink, heavily. He became violent, holding a knife to her throat, she says.
"He started raping me, which affected me mentally, lots of stress and the relationship between me and my sons. I couldn't speak out because I learned that to speak out against your husband to anyone outside, it is big shame."
"So, I was struggling between eastern culture with what I learned and western culture where I should live freedom, equality, justice. I found it difficult."
She still finds it difficult. Zara is not her real name. She spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, saying she fears for her life.
During her marriage, she says, the violence continued. She showed CNN police reports she eventually filed, but she decided not to pursue a case, and her husband was never charged. Roughly eight years into the marriage, she ran away and met another man. She decided to ask for a divorce.
"I told him I want a divorce. I don't want to cheat on you. The relationship is broken. I said, all I want is relationship with my sons."
She says her husband initially agreed but insisted they both go back to their home in the Middle East, to explain to their families.
"He gathered all his family in his house. And I was shocked to see 60 or 70 people at his house. His mother called me by very bad names. She called me a prostitute in front of my sons.
"I remember when my mother-in-law looked at my face and held my sons in her hands, big hands. She told me: 'My son is a doctor. You should hold your head up. Who are you to cheat on my son? Who are you?'
"After that, she told me: 'I will look after them, you don't deserve to be a mother. And my sons were looking at me.'"
Then, Zara says, her husband issued a death sentence, calling her father in the neighboring town, demanding she be killed for dishonoring her family -- an "honor" murder.
"He told my father, if you are a man, clean your shame. If you are a man, kill your daughter."
Her sister warned her not to return home, she says. But she called her father to hear his voice one last time.
"He told me: 'I miss you, I want to see you.' He didn't tell me what he heard from my husband [about ordering her death]. Because he knows I would run away. I was scared. He said 'come, I want to protect you.'"
Zara was ready to flee her home in the Middle East. But she decided to see her father one last time, even though she knew it might have been a trap. A part of her, she says, almost wished for death.
"I felt rubbish. Just rubbish! I wanted to die. I wanted to disappear because I didn't want my father, or my brother, or my cousin to kill me. My son will carry my shame.
"My father told my mother: 'The problem, I know, she didn't cheat on her husband. The problem is she brought us shame, shame that cannot even be cleaned by blood. I know she's innocent. But we can't clean this shame."
Faced with this impossible choice, Zara says her father realized he had no alternative.
"My father sent me away because he knew that I would be killed by my uncles or my cousins. There is no other option. He doesn't want to get rid of me. But he wants to get rid of shame ... that I brought my family because of my stupidity, to be honest with my husband that I love another man. That's my crime."
So Zara's father banished her from their home in the Middle East and sent her back to Britain. Meanwhile, Zara's husband filed for divorce in the Sharia court of the couple's hometown in the Middle East.
This meant she was separated from her children, she says, without her knowledge or consent.
Much of Zara's story is hard to verify with her former husband. CNN has seen court documents and her applications for asylum, but Zara's case workers with a British women's aid agency say we cannot ask her husband for a response, for fear it may trigger a violent reaction.
Zara has not returned to the Middle East since leaving five years ago. When she left, her sister wrote to her imploring her never to return. "It will be your grave," she wrote.
Zara has now gained residency in Britain and has chosen to leave Islam, a decision that has cut her off from her children, who are now teenagers.
When she last spoke to them, she says they told her they wanted no more contact with her. "They don't want to hear my voice. It was very painful to hear that. I felt like I got divorced twice: From a husband and my sons. I'm not angry with them. I don't know. But I'm tired. I'm tired of culture and religion. I'm very tired to be a woman. I'm very tired to be a mother."
She is defiant when asked if she believes she will see her sons again. "I gave birth to my sons and I am a mother. I will not give up my right as a mother. I will fight until the end. They will be proud of me and I will be proud of them. I am sure about this."
Zara says she does not hate her husband or her own relatives, even though she still fears they may kill her for bringing shame on the family. She sees them all as victims -- like her -- of a brutal, unrelenting tradition, one that leading Muslim thinkers insist has no place in Islam.
One that has no place in Islam, or in the world. Yet, it is Islam where we find this barbaric behavior. The perpetrators may not be acting in accordance with the Koran, but they are all Muslim and they all believe they are doing the will of their belief.
In fact, honor killings predated Islam, but seem to proliferate under a system that relegates women to a second-class human being.


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Manuel deals with travel issues on way to New York
NEW YORK -- Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel is thrilled to be back in the dugout. But if the entire truth must be told, he's really happy that he's no longer on a plane or at the airport.
Manuel said Friday that he had to undergo quite an odyssey to rejoin his team after the All-Star break. His flight, originating in Orlando, Fla., was supposed to leave at 4:20 p.m. ET on Thursday afternoon, but due to various delays and travel vagaries, he didn't arrive in New York until after midnight.
"My break was fine until I flew in here," he said. "I got to the airport at 2 o'clock, and they changed it to 5:30. Then, they changed it to 7:40. Then we got on the plane and we sat there for over an hour. We finally left and then we landed here and sat [on the runway] for over an hour and 30 minutes.
"Then we finally got a gate and we taxied in. I went and tried to get a cab, and they were just getting off work and changing shifts at 11 o'clock. There were about 40 or 50 people standing on line and I'm last. I got to the hotel at about quarter after 12 last night and I was cussing every one of you guys and everybody on the team. Then I took a shower, laid down and woke up this morning at quarter to 9."
The Phillies went into the All-Star break with a .500 record, and they've been one of the best second-half teams in baseball over the last few years. Philadelphia has gone 269-198 after the break since 2007, the best mark in the Majors, but Manuel doesn't want to take anything for granted.
"My benchmark is win tonight," he said. "If you want to try to get somewhere, you'd have to win I'd say 90-92 games, but sometimes 85-90 wins can get you somewhere, too. We've got to win some games. We've got 66 games to go. We've got to win a high percentage of those games."


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Components of Cells | The Origins of Multicellularity | Microscopes | Learning Objectives | Terms
Review Questions | Links | References
Scientific estimates place the origin of the Universe at between 10 and 20 billion years ago. The theory currently with the most acceptance is the Big Bang Theory, the idea that all matter in the Universe existed in a cosmic egg (smaller than the size of a modern hydrogen atom) that exploded, forming the Universe. Recent discoveries from the Space Telescope and other devices suggest this theory smay need some modification. Evidence for the Big Bang includes:
1) The Red Shift: when stars/galaxies are moving away from us the energy they emit is shifted to the red side of the visible-light spectrum. Those moving towards us are shifted to the violet side. This shift is an example of the Doppler effect. Similar effects are observed when listening to a train whistle-- it will sound higher (shorter wavelengths) approaching and lower (longer wavelengths) as it moves away. Likewise red wavelengths are longer than violet ones. Most galaxies appear to be moving away from ours.
2) Background radiation: two Bell Labs scientists discovered that in interstellar space there is a slight background radiation, thought to be the residual afterblast remnant of the Big Bang. Click here for additional information from sites dealing with the Big Bang, or here for a Powerpoint slideshow about the Big Bang.
Soon after the Big Bang the major forces (such as gravity, weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force, etc.) differentiated. While in the cosmic egg, scientists think that matter and energy as we understand them did not exist, but rather they formed soon after the bang. After 10 million to 1 billion years the universe became clumpy, with matter beginning to accumulate into solar systems. One of those solar systems, ours, began to form approximately 5 billion years ago, with a large "protostar" (that became our sun) in the center. The planets were in orbits some distance from the star, their increasing gravitational fields sweeping stray debris into larger and larger planetesimals that eventually formed planets.
The processes of radioactive decay and heat generated by the impact of planetesimals heated the Earth, which then began to differentiate into a "cooled" outer cooled crust (of silicon, oxygen and other relatively light elements) and increasingly hotter inner areas (composed of the heavier and denser elements such as iron and nickel). Impact (asteroid, comet, planetismals) and the beginnings of volcanism released water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, ammonia and other gases into a developing atmosphere. Sometime "soon" after this, life on Earth began.
Extra-terrestrial: In 1969, a meteorite (left-over bits from the origin of the solar system) landed near Allende, Mexico. The Allende Meteorite (and others of its sort) have been analyzed and found to contain amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, one of the four organic molecule groups basic to all life. The idea of panspermia hypothesized that life originated out in space and came to Earth inside a meteorite. Recently, this idea has been revived as Cosmic Ancestry. The amino acids recovered from meteorites are in a group known as exotics: they do not occur in the chemical systems of living things. The ET theory is now not considered by most scientists to be correct, although the August 1996 discovery of the Martian meteorite and its possible fossils have revived thought of life elsewhere in the Solar System.
Supernatural: Since science is an attempt to measure and study the natural world, this theory is outside science (at least our current understanding of science). Science classes deal with science, and this idea is in the category of not-science.
Organic Chemical Evolution: Until the mid-1800's scientists thought organic chemicals (those with a C-C skeleton) could only form by the actions of living things. A French scientist heated crystals of a mineral (a mineral is by definition inorganic), and discovered that they formed urea (an organic chemical) when they cooled. Russian scientist and academecian A.I. Oparin, in 1922, hypothesized that cellular life was preceeded by a period of chemical evolution. These chemicals, he argued, must have arisen spontaneously under conditions exisitng billions of years ago (and quite unlike current conditions).
Figure 1. Ingredients used in Miller's
experiments, simple molecules thought at the time to have
existed on the Earth billions of years
ago. Image
from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th
Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com)
and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com),
used with permission.
Figure 1. Ingredients used in Miller's experiments, simple molecules thought at the time to have existed on the Earth billions of years ago. Image from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
In 1950, then-graduate student Stanley Miller designed an experimental test for Oparin's hypothesis. Oparin's original hypothesis called for : 1) little or no free oxygen (oxygen not bonded to other elements); and 2) C H O and N in abundance. Studies of modern volcanic eruptions support inference of the existence of such an atmosphere. Miller discharged an electric spark into a mixture thought to resemble the primordial composition of the atmosphere. Miller's atmosphere contents are shown in Figure 1. From the water receptacle, designed to model an ancient ocean, Miller recovered amino acids. Subsequent modifications of the atmosphere have produced representatives or precursors of all four organic macromolecular classes. His experimental apparatus is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. A diagrammatic representation
of Miller's experimental apparatus. Image from Purves et
al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by
Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com)
and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com),
used with permission.
Figure 2. A diagrammatic representation of Miller's experimental apparatus. Image from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
The primordial Earth was a very different place than today, with greater amounts of energy, stronger storms, etc. The oceans were a "soup" of organic compounds that formed by inorganic processes (although this soup would not taste umm ummm good). Miller's (and subsequent) experiments have not proven life originated in this way, only that conditions thought to have existed over 3 billion years ago were such that the spontaneous (inorganic) formation of organic macromolecules could have taken place. The simple inorganic molecules that Miller placed into his apparatus, produced a variety of complex molecules, shown below in Figure 3.
Figure 3. Molecules recovered from
Miller's and similar experiments.
Images from Purves et al., Life: The
Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates
and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com),
used with permission.
Figure 3. Molecules recovered from Miller's and similar experiments. Images from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
The interactions of these molecules would have increased as their concentrations increased. Reactions would have led to the building of larger, more complex molecules. A pre-cellular life would have began with the formation of nucleic acids. Chemicals made by these nucleic acids would have remained in proximity to the nucleic acids. Eventually the pre-cells would have been enclosed in a lipid-protein membrane, which would have resulted in the first cells.
Biochemically, living systems are separated from other chemical systems by three things.
Fossil evidence supports the origins of life on Earth earlier than 3.5 billion years ago. The North Pole microfossils from Australia, illustrated in Figure 4, are complex enough that more primitive cells must have existed earlier. From rocks of the Ishua Super Group in Greenland come possibly the earliest cells, as much as 3.8 billion years old. The oldest known rocks on Earth are 3.96 billion years old and are from Arctic Canada. Thus, life appears to have begun soon after the cooling of the Earth and formation of the atmosphere and oceans.
Figure 4. Microfossils from the Apex
Chert, North Pole, Australia. These organisms are Archean in
age, approximately 3.465 billion years old, and resemble
filamentous cyanobacteria. Image from
Figure 4. Microfossils from the Apex Chert, North Pole, Australia. These organisms are Archean in age, approximately 3.465 billion years old, and resemble filamentous cyanobacteria. Image from http://www.astrobiology.ucla.edu/ESS116/L15/1515%20Apex%20Chert.jpg.
These ancient fossils occur in marine rocks, such as limestones and sandstones, that formed in ancient oceans. The organisms living today that are most similar to ancient life forms are the archaebacteria. This group is today restricted to marginal environments. Recent discoveries of bacteria at mid-ocean ridges add yet another possible origin for life: at these mid-ocean ridges where heat and molten rock rise to the Earth's surface.
Archaea and Eubacteria are similar in size and shape. When we do recover "bacteria" as fossils those are the two features we will usually see: size and shape. How can we distinguish between the two groups: the use of molecular fossils that will point to either (but not both) groups. Such a chemical fossil has been found and its presence in the Ishua rocks of Greenland (3.8 billion years old) suggests that the archeans were present at that time.
The proximity of the Earth to the sun, the make-up of the Earth's crust (silicate mixtures, presence of water, etc.) and the size of the Earth suggest we may be unique in our own solar system, at least. Mars is smaller, farther from the sun, has a lower gravitational field (which would keep the atmosphere from escaping into space) and does show evidence of running water sometime in its past. If life did start on Mars, however, there appears to be no life (as we know it) today. Venus, the second planet, is closer to the sun, and appears similar to Earth in many respects. Carbon dioxide build-up has resulted in a "greenhouse planet" with strong storms and strongly acidic rain. Of all planets in the solar system, Venus is most likely to have some form of carbon-based life. The outer planets are as yet too poorly understood, although it seems unlikely that Jupiter or Saturn harbor life as we know it. Like Goldilocks would say "Venus is too hot, Mars is too cold, the Earth is just right!"
Mars: In August 1996, evidence of life on Mars (or at least the chemistry of life), was announced. Click here to view that article and related ones. The results of years of study are inconclusive at best. The purported bacteria are much smaller than any known bacteria on Earth, were not hollow, and most could possibly have been mineral in origin. However, many scientists consider that the chemistry of life appears to have been established on Mars. Search for martian life (or its remains) continues.
Heterotroph (other-feeder): an organism that obtains its energy from another organism. Animals, fungi, bacteria, and mant protistans are heterotrophs.
Autotroph (self-feeder): an organism that makes its own food, it converts energy from an inorganic source in one of two ways. Photosynthesis is the conversion of sunlight energy into C-C covalent bonds of a carbohydrate, the process by which the vast majority of autotrophs obtain their energy. Chemosynthesis is the capture of energy released by certain inorganic chemical reactions. This is common in certain groups of likely that chemosynthesis predates photosynthesis. At mid-ocean ridges, scientists have discovered black smokers, vents that release chemicals into the water. These chemical reactions could have powered early ecosystems prior to the development of an ozone layer that would have permitted life to occupy the shallower parts of the ocean. Evidence of the antiquity of photosynthesis includes: a) biochemical precursors to photosynthesis chemicals have been synthesized in experiments; and b) when placed in light, these chemicals undergo chemical reactions similar to some that occur in primitive photosynthetic bacteria.
Prokaryotes are among the most primitive forms of life on Earth. Remember that primitive does not necessarily equate to outdated and unworkable in an evolutionary sense, since primitive bacteria seem little changed, and thus may be viewed as well adapted, for over 3.5 Ga. Prokaryote (pro=before, karyo=nucleus): these organisms lack membrane-bound organelles, as seen in Figures 5 and 6. Some internal membrane organization is observable in a few prokaryotic autotrophs, such as the photosynthetic membranes associated with the photosynthetic chemicals in the photosynthetic bacterium Prochloron. (click here to view Prochloron and other cyanobacteria at the Tree of Life Page). A transmission electron micrograph of Prochloron is shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5 Prochloron, an extant prokaryote
thought related to the ancestors of some eukarypote
chloroplasts. Image fom http://tidepool.st.usm.edu/pix/prochloron.gif.
Figure 6. The main
features of a generalized prokaryote
cell. Image
from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th
Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com)
and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com),
used with permission.
Figure 5 Prochloron, an extant prokaryote thought related to the ancestors of some eukarypote chloroplasts. Image fom http://tidepool.st.usm.edu/pix/prochloron.gif.
Figure 6. The main features of a generalized prokaryote cell. Image from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
The Cell Theory is one of the foundations of modern biology. Its major tenets are:
Cell Membrane (also known as plasma membrane or plasmalemma) is surrounds all cells. It: 1) separates the inner parts of the cell from the outer environment; and 2) acts as a selectively permeable barrier to allow certain chemicals, namely water, to pass and others to not pass. In multicellular organisms certain chemicals on the membrane surface act in the recognition of self. Antigens are substances located on the outside of cells, viruses and in some cases other chemicals. Antibodies are chemicals (Y-shaped) produced by an animal in response to a specific antigen. This is the basis of immunity and vaccination.
Hereditary material (both DNA and RNA) is needed for a cell to be able to replicate and/or reproduce. Most organisms use DNA. Viruses and viroids sometimes employ RNA as their hereditary material. Retroviruses include HIV (Human Immunodefficiency Virus, the causative agent of AIDS) and Feline Leukemia Virus (the only retrovirus for which a successful vaccine has been developed). Viroids are naked pieces of RNA that lack cytoplasm, membranes, etc. They are parasites of some plants and also as possible glimpses of the functioning of pre-cellular life forms. Prokaryotic DNA is organized as a circular chromosome contained in an area known as a nucleoid. Eukaryotic DNA is organized in linear structures, the eukaryotic chromosomes, which are associations of DNA and histone proteins contained within a double membrane nuclear envelope, an area known as the cell nucleus.
Organelles are formed bodies within the cytoplasm that perform certain functions. Some organelles are surrounded by membranes, we call these membrane-bound organelles.
Ribosomes are the tiny structures where proteins synthesis occurs. They are not membrane-bound and occur in all cells, although there are differences between the size of subunits in eukaryotic and prokaryotic ribosomes.
The Cell Wall is a structure surrounding the plasma membrane. Prokaryote and eukaryote (if they have one) cell walls differ in their structure and chemical composition. Plant cells have cellulose in their cell walls, other organisims have different materials cpmprising their walls. Animals are distinct as a group in their lack of a cell wall.
Membrane-bound organelles occur only in eukaryotic cells. They will be discussed in detail later. Eukaryotic cells are generally larger than prokaryotic cells. Internal complexity is usually greater in eukaryotes, with their compartmentalized membrane-bound organelles, than in prokaryotes. Some prokaryotes, such as Anabaena azollae, and Prochloron, have internal membranes associated with photosynthetic pigments.
The oldest accepted prokaryote fossils date to 3.5 billion years; Eukaryotic fossils to between 750 million years and possibly as old as 1.2-1.5 billion years. Multicellular fossils, purportedly of animals, have been recovered from 750Ma rocks in various parts of the world. The first eukaryotes were undoubtedly Protistans, a group that is thought to have given rise to the other eukaryotic kingdoms. Multicellularity allows specialization of function, for example muscle fibers are specialized for contraction, neuron cells for transmission of nerve messages.
Microscopes are important tools for studying cellular structures. In this class we will use light microscopes for our laboratory observations. Your text will also show light photomicrographs (pictures taken with a light microscope) and electron micrographs (pictures taken with an electron microscope). There are many terms and concepts which will help you in maximizing your study of microscopy.
There are many different types of microscopes used in studying biology. These include the light microscopes (dissecting, compound brightfield, and compound phase-contrast), electron microscopes (transmission and scanning), and atomic force microscope.
The microscope is an important tool used by biologists to magnify small objects. There are several concepts fundamental to microscopy.
Magnification is the ratio of enlargement (or eduction) between the specimen and its image (either printed photograph or the virtual image seen through the eyepiece). To calculate magnification we multiply the power of each lens through which the light from the specimen passes, indicating that product as GGGX, where GGG is the product. For example: if the light passes through two,lenses (an objective lens and an ocular lens) we multiply the 10X ocular value by the value of the objective lens (say it is 4X): 10 X 4=40, or 40X magnification.
Resolution is the ability to distinguish between two objects (or points). The closer the two objects are, the easier it is to distinguish recognize the distance between them. What microscopes do is to bring small objects "closer" to the observer by increasing the magnification of the sample. Since the sample is the same distance from the viewer, a "virtual image" is formed as the light (or electron beam) passes through the magnifying lenses. Objects such as a human hair appear smooth (and feel smooth) when viewed with the unaided or naked) eye. However, put a hair under a microscope and it takes on a VERY different look!
Working distance is the distance between the specimen and the magnifying lens.
Depth of field is a measure of the amount of a specimen that can be in focus.
Magnification and resolution are terms used frequently in the study of cell biology, often without an accurate definition of their meanings. Magnification is a ratio of the enlargement (or reduction) of an image (drawing or photomicrograph), usually expressed as X1, X1/2, X430, X1000, etc. Resolution is the ability to distinguish between two points. Generally resolution increases with magnification, although there does come a point of diminishing returns where you increase magnification beyond added resolution gain.
Scientists employ the metric system to measure the size and volume of specimens. The basic unit of length is the meter (slightly over 1 yard). Prefixes are added to the "meter" to indicate multiple meters (kilometer) or fractional meters (millimeter). Below are the values of some of the prefixes used in the metric system.
kilo = one thousand of the basic unit
meter = basic unit of length
centi = one hundreth (1/100) of the basic unit
milli = one thousandth (1/1000) of the basic unit
micro = one millionth (1/1,000,000) of the basic unit
nano = one billionth (1/1,000,000,000) of the basic unit
The basic unit of length is the meter (m), and of volume it is the liter (l). The gram (g). Prefixes listed above can be applied to all of these basic units, abbreviated as km, kg, ml, mg, nm....etc. The Greek letter micron (µ) is applied to small measurements (thoud\sandths of a millimeter), producing the micrometer (symbolized as µm). Measurements in microscopy are usually expressed in the metric system. General units you will encounter in your continuing biology careers include micrometer (µm, 10-6m), nanometer (nm, 10-9m), and angstrom (Å, 10-10m).
Light microscopes were the first to be developed, and still the most commonly used ones. The best resolution of light microscopes (LM) is 0.2 µm. Magnification of LMs is generally limited by the properties of the glass used to make microscope lenses and the physical properties of their light sources. The generally accepted maximum magnifications in biological uses are between 1000X and 1250X. Calculation of LM magnification is done by multiplying objective value by eyepiece value.
To view relatively large objects at lower magnifications we utilize the dissecting microscope (shown in Figure 7). Common uses of this microscope include examination of prepared microscope slides at low magnification, dissection (hence the name) of flowers or animal organs, and examinations of the surface of objects such as pennies and five dollar bills. Magnification on the dissecting microscope is calculated by multiplying the ocular (or eyepiece) value (usually 10X) by the value of the objective lens (a variable between 0.7 and 3X). The value of the objective lens is selected using a dial on the body tube of the microscope.
Figure 7. Parts of a Nikon dissecting
microscope. Image courtesy of Nikon Co.
Figure 7. Parts of a Nikon dissecting microscope. Image courtesy of Nikon Co.
The compound light microscope, shown in Figure 8, uses two ground glass lenses to form the image. The lenses in this microscope, however, are aligned with the light source and specimen so that the light passes through the specimen, rather than reflects off the surface (as in the dissecting microscope shown in Figure 7). The compound microscope provides greater magnification (and resoultion), but only thin specimens (or thin slices of a specimen) can be viewed with this type of microscope.
Figure 8. Parts of a Nikon compound
microscope. Image courtesy of Nikon
Figure 8. Parts of a Nikon compound microscope. Image courtesy of Nikon Co.
Electron microscopes, two examples of which are shown in Fgure 9, are more rarely encountered by beginning biology students. However, the images gathered from these microscopes reveal a greater structure of the cell, so some familiarity with the strengths and weaknesses of each type is useful. Instead of using light as an imaging source, a high energy beam of electrons (between five thousand and one billion electron volts) is focused through electromagnetic lenses (instead of glass lenses used in the light microscope). The increased resolution results from the shorter wavelength of the electron beam, increasing resolution in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) to a theoretical limit of 0.2 nm. The magnifications reached by TEMs are commonly over 100,000X, depending on the nature of the sample and the operating condition of the TEM. The other type of electron microscope is the scanning electron microscope (SEM). It uses a different method of electron capture and displays images on high resolution television monitors. The resolution and magnification of the SEM are less than that of the TEM although still orders of magnitude above the LM.
Figure 9. Electron microcsopes. The above
(left) image of a transmission electron microscope is from
The above right image of a scanning
electron microscope is from http://nsm.fullerton.edu/~skarl/EM/Equipment/SEM.html.
Figure 9. Electron microcsopes. The above (left) image of a transmission electron microscope is from http://nsm.fullerton.edu/~skarl/EM/Equipment/TEM.html. The above right image of a scanning electron microscope is from http://nsm.fullerton.edu/~skarl/EM/Equipment/SEM.html.
Miller S. L. 1953 A production of amino acids under possible primitive Earth conditions, Science; 117: 528-529.
Oparin, A. I. 1961 Life: its nature, origin and development. translated from Russian by Ann Synge. Oliver & Boyd, 207p.
Oparin, A. I., 1968 (translated from a book published in Russian in 1966), "Genesis and Evolutionary Development of Life," Academic Press, New York, 203 p.
Schopf, J. W. 1999 Cradle of Life: The Discovery of Earth's Earliest Fossils. Princeton University Press, 367 p.
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text:
Police renew pleas for public assistance
POLICE have today renewed their pleas for public assistance in the murder investigation of Shandee Blackburn.
Regional crime coordinator, Detective Inspector Paul Elliot the cause of Shandee's death is still not known.
"We have a lot of resources pumping into this investigation," he said.
"We do have some CCTV footage which obviously over the weekend was a bit hard to source.
"We're in the process of door-knocking the area yet again to try identify the cameras and the footage that may give us some information to any suspect or point us in the right direction."
Shandee Blackburn, 23, was killed in the early hours of Sunday morning in what police are describing as a "vicious" attack.
Police believe Shandee was walking home from work at 12.20am when the attack occurred, she was found on Boddington St.
Det Insp Elliot has urged anyone with any information to come forward.
"Anyone in that area needs to come forward and talk to us, even if the information that they have is (minor) so we can try and identify an offender," he said.
"The most minor piece of evidence that you think may not be important may be crucial to this investigation."
SHANDEE Blackburn had been talking about plans for the future with her work colleagues just days before she found dead on the edge of the city centre early Saturday morning.
The 23-year-old died in Boddington St while paramedics tried to save her life, though earlier reports indicated she had died in hospital.
The Harrup Park Country Club employee has been described by colleagues as a hard-working and friendly young woman.
Harrup Park general manager Michael Jones said the news of Shandee's death had shocked staff.
"The board and staff at Harrup Park are devastated by this news," Mr Jones said.
"It was disbelief then shock, then the realisation that awful things like this happen in Mackay and it's obviously very sad news."
Counselling has been offered to all Harrup Park staff. Mr Jones said Shandee had recently appeared happier with her life than in the past.
"She had been talking about plans she had. In recent times we noticed how happy she was with her life," he said.
Mackay detectives are being assisted by officers from the state homicide group in Brisbane in their investigation and are calling for public assistance to help solve the crime.
Central Police Region crime co-ordinator Detective Acting Inspector Paul Elliot said officers were investigating all options, including whether or not the attack was random. Police believe she was walking home from work about 12.20am when the attack occurred.
"We are very interested in speaking with any people who may have been in or around the Boddington St, Juliet St area, around the McDonald's (restaurant) or Shakespeare St area either late Friday night or early Saturday morning," Det Elliot said.
"We can identify that the young girl was walking along Juliet St when she had cause to turn left into Boddington St where she was met with foul play.
"At this stage there is some property outstanding; we can't confirm whether it was an attempted robbery or an opportunistic thing after the attack."
Residents of Boddington St say they heard a man screaming for help just before police and paramedics arrived.
"He was saying, 'My friend's on the ground, my friend, help her'," a resident, who did not want to be identified, said.
The resident said there was lots of "carrying on" before the screaming began.
"We heard a noise and when we looked down there was a bunch of drunk people and there was a girl lying on the floor," the resident said.
"We were looking out from our bedroom window. There was a guy screaming and crying."
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
CENTRAL police regional crime co-ordinator Detective Acting Inspector Paul Elliot has described the attack on Shandee Blackburn as vicious and callous.
"It's an attack on a young girl who was in the prime of her life," Det Elliot said.
"It was a very callous attack on a very young and defenceless female."
Police have not disclosed how Ms Blackburn was killed or what injuries she sustained during the attack.
However, a post mortem, which has been scheduled for tomorrow, will shed light on the exact cause of death.
Det Elliot said information from the public was crucial in solving this case.
"We urge anyone who sees anything suspicious to leave it where it is, telephone the police and we will take the appropriate response," he said.
Det Elliot was confident police would solve the crime.
"We are very eager to see this matter be brought to conclusion," he said.
"We are appealing to anyone who was driving their car in that area, around midnight, or just after midnight, on Friday night or early Saturday morning to come forward.
"Even if they think they have a minor insignificant piece of information for us it's imperative that they come forward.
"Because that piece of information may be the key to solving this matter."
The crime has left the Mackay community shocked, he said.
"I think our hearts need to go out to the people who have been affected by this," he said.


text:
February 26, 2009
Contact: Stephanie Babyak, Jim Bradshaw
or Jane Glickman
(202) 401-1576
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today highlighted provisions of the Department of Education's proposed FY 2010 budget overview that would dramatically expand student financial aid while making it simpler, more reliable and more efficient. "We need to invest in our economic future and enable our kids to compete in today's global environment. America's students and workers need a higher level of education and training," Duncan said.
"President Obama's proposed budget calls for a historic investment to make college more affordable and accessible and to help more students succeed once they get there."
"The new funding announced today represents a significant expansion of our federal student aid programs, providing more dollars to allow more students to attend more schools," he said.
The secretary noted that the proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Education builds on the historic increases in the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) by taking additional steps to advance education reform and restore the nation's economy. The ARRA would provide an additional $17 billion for Pell Grants in Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010; the current year funding is $16.2 billion, with 6.1 million students participating.
The stimulus package is also providing nearly $14 billion in tuition tax credits for middle class families, raising the credit to $2,500 from $1,800.
Details of the FY 2010 budget proposal will be released in late April. The budget overview issued today contains provisions that would:
Guarantee funding for the Federal Pell Grant program and ensure that grant amounts would keep pace with inflation. By making funding mandatory, the Pell Grant program would no longer be subject to the discretionary budget process, would eliminate uncertainty in funding from year to year, and would ensure that the grants reflect cost of living increases. Beginning with academic year 2010-2011, the Pell grant maximum would be indexed to the consumer price index plus one percent, thus ensuring that Pell grant awards would meet their original objective to cover a substantial percentage of college costs. The maximum for the 2010-11 academic year would be $5,550.
Make college loans reliable, stable and efficient, thus eliminating uncertainty families have experienced due to the turmoil of the financial markets. All new student and parent loans would be provided directly from the federal government through the same electronic system that colleges use for Pell Grants. Taxpayers would save more than $4 billion a year in reduced entitlement subsidies, and those funds could be reinvested in more aid to students seeking a higher education. Private sector companies would continue to perform loan collection and related services through performance-based contracts with the Department of Education.
Restructure and expand the Federal Perkins Loan Program to ensure that all colleges and universities can take part in the program. The revamped Perkins program would provide $6 billion in loans every year, a significant increase from the current $1 billion in funding. Funds would be distributed to reward schools that provide more need-based aid to students and that maintain reasonable student costs relative to other schools in their sector. As now structured, the formula for distributing Perkins loans is weighted by a decades-old formula that favors particular schools, as well as schools that increase college tuition, rather than to those that keep costs down. Colleges and universities participating would increase from 1,800 to 4,400.
Secretary Duncan also noted that the budget overview includes a $500 million grant program for a new federal-state-local partnership to improve retention and graduation rates, particularly for low-income college students. Funds would support research into what works to help increase college completion.
"Currently, our young people face too many financial and other hurdles to obtaining a college education," Duncan said. "With the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and the proposals announced today, we are taking several major steps to clear those hurdles."
"By ensuring that higher education is affordable and accessible for all our young people, we will make certain that our nation is prepared to compete in an information-age economy," he said.
Information on the U.S. Department of Education budget overview is available at: www.ed.gov.
|Back to February 2009


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What's so great about living on campus? In a word, value.
AUM Housing and Residence Life offers students benefits such as being close to classes and activities, living and learning with friends, making better grades and getting involved in a community. You'll be surrounded by all of the cultural, social and sporting events that make AUM vibrant, and you can build a network of lifelong friends to share your memories of campus life. Our supportive living-learning community will connect you to other students with similar academic interests and experiences.
Our residence halls are new or recently renovated, providing the home-like environment that students request. In-house computer labs, free laundry areas, study lounges, free cable TV and free high quality internet services are other amenities you'll enjoy.
Ready to register for your place on campus? We invite you to explore what each of our housing locations has to offer, see where they're located, and compare our room rates.
Live on campus and experience the difference!
Single rooms in an apartment-style high-rise with a spectacular view of campus.
- Single and double rooms in an efficiency apartment just a few steps from AUM classrooms.
- All apartments are close to AUM classrooms and campus services.
- Parking is free and adjacent to all apartments.
- Each apartment has a kitchen.
- Extended basic cable service is free.
- Local telephone service and high-speed internet service are free in both The Commons and The Courtyards housing areas!
- Free laundry facilities are located in all housing areas.
- The Commons study rooms are equipped with computers.
- AUM housing is a place to make new friends and have old friends for neighbors.
- There's always something to do - socials, recreational activities, and other events.
- AUM housing provides a diverse environment and an atmosphere for living and learning.
Welcome, New Warhawk Residents!
Once you have been accepted to AUM, please complete your Housing Application as soon as possible. Please log in to the MyAUM portal and click on the Housing icon. Once you have completed your application, you will receive additional information from the Housing and Residence Life Office via email. If you have any questions about the application process, feel free to send us an email at firstname.lastname@example.com. We look forward to welcoming you to the Warhawk Housing Community!.
Questions? Call 334-244-3296, email firstname.lastname@example.com or stop by the Housing and Residence Life Office in The Nest, Room 1H35!


text:
A sign of spring in Toronto: the annual migration begins
(Cue the background soundtrack of the moans of howling winds)
An unusual and curious migration occurs every April in Toronto. This is the first documented report, that I know of, in recorded history of this strange phenomenon. With temperatures rising slowly above freezing and winter's snow slowly melting, these event are worthy of being on the Discovery Channel and, in the past, HGTV before the "G" was removed. After months of sub-zero conditions, biting winds, and mounds of snow (except this year), the Emerald Cedar (Thuja occidentalis "Smaragd") has returned from months of feeding and gorging itself on 20-20-20 in greenhouses all over southern Ontario to return to its
|Huddled together to preserve warmth against April's cruel winds
Some already claiming preferred nesting sites on strange wooden objects
|Patiently waiting for their right mates to appear
By Paul Jung, author of "garden muses: a Toronto gardening blog" Google Google Find us on Google+ Find us on Google+


text:
BALTIMORE (Stockpickr) -- Yesterday's selling shouldn't have come as a huge surprise to most active traders -- as long as the U.S. debt crisis continues to spread uncertainty to the capital markets, sellers are going to continue to be more forceful than buyers. All told, the S&P 500 shed 2.03% by Wednesday's market close, making yesterday the June 1 sell-off. The Nasdaq Composite fared considerably worse, dropping 2.65% in yesterday's session.
And the market continues to be seriously disconnected from fundamentals.
After all, companies are bringing in cash by the truckload this earnings season. As of this writing, 16 of the 19
Dow Jones Industrial Average
components that have released earnings have beat Wall Street's expectations. In the larger S&P 500, nearly 78% of reporting companies have already posted positive earnings surprise this quarter. While fundamentals are extremely important, fundamental investing just doesn't work in these types of short-term scenarios.
5 Technical Setups to Buy for August Breakouts
That's one of the biggest strengths of
-- it's a study of the market itself, the only mechanism that determines a stock's price. Technical charts are used every day by proprietary trading floors, Wall Street's biggest financial firms and individual investors to get an edge on the market. And by some measures, skilled technical traders can bank gains as much as 90% of the time.
Every week, we take an in-depth look at large-cap stocks that are telling important technical stories. Here's this week's look at the technicals of
SPDR Gold Trust ETF
It makes sense to start off with the de facto alternative to stocks: gold. Gold has been performing extremely well in the past few years, taking on significant buying as investors in both stocks and the U.S. dollar sought a "better protected" asset to put their money in. One of the most popular vehicles for that flight to quality has been the
SPDR Gold Trust ETF
(GLD) - Get Report
, a $63 billion fund that owns gold bullion physically held in HSBC's underground vaults.
Gold and silver had both shown some weakness in the last couple of months, as their accelerating uptrends slowed down for the first time since the recession resparked interest in precious metals. That's certainly not the case any more. Gold has been pushing to new highs in the last month, breaking out above the GLD's resistance range of $153 on July 12. The stock gave us a throwback the following week to retest support -- and now shares are looking primed for another rally run.
With shares still consolidating right above that support level, now looks like a good opportunity to build a position in shares. While the inverse correlation between gold and equities doesn't really hold true anymore, this fund should be a decent hedge against stock investor ennui in the short-term at least.
GLD, one of
, shows up on a list of
hedge funds' biggest buys and sells
for the most recently reported period.
JPMorgan Chase
A similar setup is taking shape in shares of banking giant
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
right now. Shares have been consolidating in between a horizontal resistance and support level for the last two months, forming a setup that I call an "if/then trade." It's the same setup that gold had been stuck in before it broke out this month.
Simply put, an if/then trade is a trade whose direction is contingent on the price action of a JPM. If shares break out above resistance, then it's time to go long. If shares break down below support, then this stock becomes a short candidate. The fact that this sideways consolidation busted JPM's medium-term downtrend adds a considerable bit of credibility to this setup. Now it's just a matter of waiting for the break in either direction.
Either way this trade ultimately plays out, I'd recommend placing a protective stop just inside the channel to avoid against unforeseen market moves. With other big banks still stuck in downtrends right now, JPMorgan is the most tradable big bank this summer.
JPMorgan shows up on recent lists of
5 Goldman Post-Earnings Bank Picks
Chipotle Mexican Grill
2011 has been a good year so far for
Chipotle Mexican Grill
(CMG) - Get Report
; shares of the quick service restaurant chain have rallied more than 51% since the first trading day of January. This stock has momentum and market sentiment clearly in its favor right now -- it's the
(AAPL) - Get Report
of the restaurant world.
Chipotle's most meaningful breakout came back in late June, when the stock pushed above resistance at $290. Don't worry -- if you missed that move higher, a throwback in shares is giving investors a second chance at a low risk entry.
The weakness in the broad market pushed Chipotle's shares back down to retest support in the last few days, an important technical development for investors who are looking to buy. A retest of support is an ideal buying opportunity because of the limited risk involved in taking on a position.
are prices under which there is an abundance of demand for shares, so tight protective stops can be placed with a reasonably remote risk of actually getting stopped out of the trade.
For a throwback, it's not enough that shares of Chipotle test support at $320. They also need to actually bounce higher off of that support level as eager buyers bid up "cheap" shares. After shares touch support, buy on the first white bar session.
Chipotle, one of
, is one of
Renaissance Technologies' top holdings
as of the most recently reported period.
(BIDU) - Get Report
is offering up another throwback buying opportunity. Shares of the Chinese search giant gapped higher this week on strong earnings, triggering an inverse head-and-shoulders setup that had been forming in shares since the end of April. Now Baidu is returning to test support at the range (R2) between $155 and $160.
Again, the key to buying this retest of support is to wait for shares to actually bounce higher off of that support. Risks on a trade haven't been mitigated until the support level has actually been confirmed by increased buying.
>> Get your technical analysis on the go with TheStreet's iPad app.
Baidu shows up in various Stockpickr professional portfolios, including those of
Chase Coleman's Tiger Global Management
. It's also one of TheStreet Ratings'
top-rated Internet software and services stocks
Ford Motor
Last up this week is
Ford Motor
(F) - Get Report
, the best-in-breed automaker whose 2011 share price performance has been anything but. Ford's slid more than 26% so far this year. Now the question is whether shares can set a floor -- or whether this stock is still a short candidate.
Frankly, I like Ford -- I highlighted it recently in "
6 Earnings Surprise Stocks for Your Portfolio
." The strides the company has made in product quality, operational efficiency and financial strength are striking. But that's not the same as saying that now's a good time to buy shares.
This week, Ford is retesting support at $12.50, a price level that shares plunged below in the course of yesterday's major selloff. A break below support is a pretty clear short signal for traders -- but don't go placing your orders just yet. It's not simply a single-day breakdown that's significant (especially on a day like yesterday); instead, we're looking for
of a break below $12.50 before it makes sense to bet against Ford.
Ford's rebounding a bit early in today's market session -- if that correction continues above $12.50, shorts won't have confirmation the confirmation they need. If shares continue to slide today, however, that's all the confirmation we'd need to justify a short position in this stock. As much as I like Ford, I'd recommend buyers sit on the sidelines for now.
To see this week's potential trades in action, check out the
High Volume Technicals portfolio
on Stockpickr.
-- Written by Jonas Elmerraji in Baltimore.
>>5 Airline Stocks That Could Fly Higher
>>18 Fundamentally Strong Stocks With Positive Technicals
>>5 More Earnings Stocks Set to Soar
Follow Stockpickr on
and become a fan on
Free Download:
's free iPad app offers advanced technical analysis and charting for active traders on the go. Watch video demonstrations of the
apps' charting capabilities here
, or
download it directly from the iTunes store
At the time of publication, author had no positions in stocks mentioned.
Jonas Elmerraji is the editor and portfolio manager of the Rhino Stock Report, a free investment advisory that returned 15% in 2008. He is a contributor to numerous financial outlets, including Forbes and Investopedia, and has been featured in Investor's Business Daily, in Consumer's Digest and on MSNBC.com.


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Spiced Pumpkin Pudding Pie Recipe
Barbara Kafka's Vegetable Love is a love letter to the endless possibilities of hundreds of vegetables, both common and obscure. Being that it is about the sensual pleasures of vegetables rather than simple or ascetic vegetarian eating, I thought it would be fitting to try her recipe for a rich squash pudding that can be made into a classic holiday pie. And while I've happily eaten canned pumpkin pie my entire life, the complexity of flavors achieved by cooking pumpkin pudding from scratch far outweighs the simplicity of opening a can.
Read more: Deep Fried Pumpkin Pie Makes My Stomach Rumble with Glee
- Two 2 1/2 pound sugar pie pumpkins, halved, seeds and fibers removed,
- steamed
- 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 large eggs
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup heavy cream, softly whipped, for topping (optional)
To make pumpkin purée: Peel the pumpkin, and cut into large chunks. Place in a food processor, and purée until smooth,stopping occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. (Makes 6 1/4 cups puree.)
Cook the purée in a 12-inch nonstick pan over medium heat, stirring often, for 30 minutes. Reduce the heal to medium-low. Cook and stir for 15 minutes.
Reduce the heat to low. Cook and stir the squash for 1 hour and 45 minutes, until it is reduced to 1 1/2 cups. The squash will be caramel brown and very thick with all its moisture evaporated. Allow to cool.
Place a rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 425°F. Butter and flour a 9-inch glass pie pIate.
Transfer the squash to a medium bowl. Add the sugar, spices, eggs, and 1 cup cream, mixing well after each addition. Pour into the pie plate. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. The edges will be golden brown and the center will puff. Let cool.
Serve with whipped cream, if desired.
Spiced Pumpkin Pudding Pie
Prepare a 9-inch basic pie crust, and partially bake it. Pour the pudding mix into the crust, and bake as above. Turn the pie plate halfway through the bake time to ensure even cooking. If the crust rim browns too much before the filling is cooked, cover the rim with foil. Cool before serving.
This Recipe Appears InDeep Fried Pumpkin Pie Makes My Stomach Rumble with Glee
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text:
April 20th, 1983, fell on a Wednesday. It was day 110 of 1983. The decade was the 1980s.
37 years, 7 months and 7 days have passed since April 20th, 1983.
People who were born on this exact date:
Songs that were on top of the music singles charts in the USA and the United Kingdom on April 20th, 1983:
What movie was on top of the box office?
The date is April 20th, 1983 and it's a Wednesday. Anyone born today will have the star sign Taurus. The summer of 1983 is drawing closer and temperatures have started to rise.
In America, the song Billie Jean by Michael Jackson is on top of the singles charts. Over in the UK, Let's Dance by David Bowie is the number one hit song. Ronald Reagan is currently the President of the United States and the movie Lone Wolf McQuade is at the top of the Box Office.
In the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher is the current Prime Minister. In fashion, women are currently wearing jelly shoes, turtleneck sweaters, loose high-waist pants, crop tops and puffer jackets lined with fur. Meanwhile, men have been ditching the disco look of the 70s in favor of athletic clothing such as tracksuits and sports jerseys. The "preppy" look has also been making a comeback. Because it's 1983, the radio stations are being dominated by artists such as Culture Club, Michael Jackson, Irene Cara, David Bowie and The Police.
People are watching popular TV shows such as "Quincy, M.E.", "Trapper John, M.D.", "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" and "The Smurfs". Meanwhile, gamers are playing titles such as "Space Invaders", "Lunar Lander", "Asteroids" and "Missile Command". Kids and teenagers are watching TV shows such as "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids", "Cockleshell Bay", "The Smurfs" and "Danger Mouse".
If you're a kid or a teenager, then you're probably playing with toys such as "Easy-Bake Oven", "Dungeons & Dragons", "Water Ring Toss" and "Intellivision (games console)".
Trending news stories and fads that were prevalent throughout this time period. These are news stories and events that would have been in the media on April 20th, 1983.
The early 80s saw a minimalist approach to fashion, with some trends carrying over from the late 1970s. Sweaters, fur-lined puffer jackets, tunics, ripped jeans, leotards, velour tracksuits, tube tops, knee-length skirts, high-waisted pants and embroidered jeans were all popular during this period. The colors during the early 1980s were subdued, quiet and basic. Varying shades of brown, tan, and orange were in fashion.
Between the 22nd of September, 1980, and the 20th of August, 1988, an armed conflict was being fought between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Iraqi Republic.
Popular music artists in 1983 included The Police, Michael Jackson, Irene Cara, Men at Work, Bonnie Tyler, Hall & Oates, Michael Sembello, Eurythmics, Culture Club and Dexys Midnight Runners.
Ronald Reagan and Yuri Andropov are both named as the Time Person of the Year in 1983.
Movies released in 1983 included Return of the Jedi, Terms of Endearment, Flashdance, Trading Places, National Lampoon's Vacation, WarGames, Scarface, Octopussy, Sudden Impact, Staying Alive, Mr. Mom and Risky Business.
"Every Breath You Take" by The Police would go on to win a Grammy for 1983's Song of the Year.
"Terms of Endearment" won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1983.
On Monday, the 18th of April, 1983, an Islamist suicide bomber killed 63 people at the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
Basic facts and information about this date:
Notable events that occurred around April 20th, 1983:
Zodiac & Birthstone information:
TV shows that you might have been watching around this time.
Children's and Teen TV shows that would have been airing on this date in 1983.
Toys and games that would have been popular on this date in 1983:
Celebrities and historical figures that were born on the 20th of April:
Who was the US President on April 20th, 1983?
Who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on April 20th, 1983?
Who was the Taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland on this date?
Interesting facts about conception dates.
Popular video games that you might have been playing around this time.
Enter your date of birth below to find out how old you were on April 20th, 1983.
Looking for some nostalgia? Here are some Youtube videos relating to April 20th, 1983. Please note that videos are automatically selected by Youtube and that results may vary! Click on the "Load Next Video" button to view the next video in the search playlist. In many cases, you'll find episodes of old TV shows, documentaries, music videos and soap dramas.
Here are some fun statistics about April 20th, 1983.
A list of random dates that you might be interested in: