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Paul McCarthy at Hauser and Wirth, installation view.
Paul McCarthy at Hauser and Wirth, installation view.
Paul McCarthy, "Inside her Ordeal," 2009, oil stick, charcoal and collage on paper, 127 x 81″
In Time Out New York, Kate Lowenstein is underwhelmed by Paul McCarthy's naughty drawings at Hauser and Wirth. "Paul McCarthy�s trademark work tends to be irresistibly over-the-top�take his barf-inducing performance pieces or his massive Santa with Butt Plug sculptures, for instance. But a drawings-only show? Eh. No matter how daring the content (and hell, nothing is really daring these days), McCarthy�s two-dimensional work simply cannot live up to the ball-busting precedent he set by creating an inflatable pile of shit and a fully functional chocolate factory in a New York gallery (made to churn out small chocolate versions of the aforementioned Santa, of course). Granted, the current drawings, all centered on a 19th-century German tale and its 1937 Disney rendition, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, are studies for future work, but presented this way�as pieces unto themselves�they underwhelm.
"The plans McCarthy lays with these small pencil drawings and large-scale oil-stick works draw attention to the odd story of Snow White�which, upon reflection, is pretty damn weird (as McCarthy suggested back in 2000 with his markedly sinister installation, "Dwarf Head"): What are all those mini men really thinking about the good-looking Miss White, anyway? The brothers Grimm may have spared us the details, but the sexual undertones in the dwarfs� admiration for their beautiful housemate are pretty inescapable. In McCarthy�s hands, the fairy tale is cast in an unsparingly lascivious light, its main character a sexpot who takes up with her prince while her animal friends linger, their junk hanging out all over the place (oh yes, even Bambi and Thumper have humanoid privates in these pictures).
"There is an admirable audacity in making monuments to human beings� basest habits, and McCarthy is most successful when he triggers our gag reflexes in an effort to point out the pitiful state of society and politics. But bringing the viewer into the thought process behind the work�much of which succeeds precisely because of its slick, hyperproduced quality�is unnecessary. It�s one thing to present a show of preparatory sketches for the Piet�; having seen the finished product, it�s a thrill to get a peek into the making of the masterpiece. But plans for artworks that have yet to be made�especially those with little new to say�are nothing but an ineffectual cock-tease."
"Paul McCarthy: White Snow," Hauser and Wirth, New York, NY. Through December 24, 2009.


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The Confidentiality Fetish
The problem with attorney-client privilege
Last year the former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating resigned as head of a commission appointed to look into the sexual-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, because some bishops were refusing to provide information the commission requested. Why would the Church, having appointed such a panel, deny it access to relevant information? Because, Keating explained, the uncooperative bishops had "turned to their lawyers when they should have looked into their hearts." Although most Catholics favor "transparency" in this crisis, another commission member explained, "the attorneys for a diocese do not think that way."
This is an all too familiar refrain in American public life. The captain of the Staten Island ferry that crashed into a pier in October of last year, killing ten people, wouldn't tell investigators where he had been at the time of the crash—his lawyer wouldn't let him. At about the same time, in Palo Alto, California, a teenage girl involved in a bizarre hit-and-run accident that killed a small child received a surprisingly harsh sentence. The victim's family had urged severity after repeatedly expressing bitterness at the girl's failure to apologize to them. Her lawyers had advised her not to. After he was forced to admit his involvement with Monica Lewinsky, Bill Clinton earned further opprobrium by refusing—most likely on the recommendation of his lawyers—to concede that he had earlier lied about Monica during the Paula Jones case.
Even people with little reason to fear liability turn to lawyers to vet their public statements. Anita Hill, herself a lawyer, appeared at Clarence Thomas's confirmation hearings with a battery of lawyers—even though her role was simply to give a straightforward account of events she had witnessed, with no prospect of ensuing litigation. Sherron Watkins, the Enron accountant who confronted Kenneth Lay face-to-face at a time when many of her peers were afraid to do so, often spoke to the media through a lawyer after she became famous.
Lawyers, in short, have carved out a role for themselves as the privileged keepers of much information that is important to the public interest. Historically, lawyers have liked to think of themselves as defenders of individual liberty against an overbearing state, primarily through traditional advocacy—that is, persuasively asserting a client's rights. Today, however, lawyers' typical efforts to mediate between clients and the state rely less on advocacy and more on information control. This is a disturbing development; lawyers have brought to their new role as information guardians a powerful predisposition toward needless secrecy that suppresses and distorts information about many matters of public importance.
Never say anything to the police without talking to a lawyer first. Never volunteer anything in a deposition. Never try to explain or apologize when you are in an accident. Don't talk to anyone about your civil case. These canonical precepts serve to maximize the profession's influence. Lawyers are excessively prone to advise confidentiality for the same reason that surgeons are excessively prone to advise surgery. Confidentiality puts a premium on services and protections that lawyers are distinctively qualified to provide.
Dependence on lawyers often impedes responsible or humane behavior. It also has tangible costs for some clients. The Palo Alto teenager would probably have been better off if she had been more candid about her wrongdoing. So, for that matter, would Bill Clinton. Candor might have created more sympathy for the teenager at her sentencing hearing, and it might have eased the political pressure on the President.
In a world that increasingly seeks transparency in government and business, the legal profession stands out for its frankly uncompromising commitment to opacity. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis's principle that "sunlight" is the "best of disinfectants" is a major influence on contemporary public policy nearly everywhere except in his own profession.
The bar's commitment to confidentiality is not just an ideology; it is also a marketing strategy. In the bar's competition with other professions, confidentiality is often a more important advantage than legal expertise. Many accountants can give better advice than most lawyers about what belongs on a tax return; and one needs an engineer to draft some reports that are required by environmental laws. But lawyers can give clients something that other professionals, with the exception of doctors and priests, cannot: strong confidentiality rights. Although the legal system routinely requires accountants, bankers, and business consultants to disclose ostensibly private communications with their clients, attorney-client privilege protects most communication between lawyers and their clients from involuntary revelation.
This principle got a boost from the Supreme Court's 1981 decision in Upjohn v. United States. Upjohn involved an investigation by a lawyer at the pharmaceutical company of an allegation that middle managers had bribed foreign government officials. When the Internal Revenue Service subpoenaed the lawyer's files, the Court ruled that they were privileged. In the years since Upjohn was decided, corporate investigations have become a big business, and lawyers have acquired a virtual monopoly over it.
Tobacco-company lawyers further tested the limits of confidentiality when they persuaded their clients to give them responsibility for much of the companies' research on the health effects of smoking. The lawyers reasoned that since health effects were central to many product-liability suits against the companies, the research facilitated legal advice, and hence should be privileged. If the results looked good, the studies were shifted away from the lawyers and made public. If they looked bad, the lawyers invoked privilege. Some courts rejected this strategy as an abuse of privilege, but it is hard to distinguish from the more routine practice, encouraged by Upjohn, of using lawyers to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.
A recent move to tighten financial-disclosure requirements for public companies—the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, passed by Congress in reaction to the Enron scandal and other corporate infractions—has increased the demand for lawyers even more. Although the reporting that Sarbanes-Oxley calls for is financial, lawyers, rather than accountants, determine what is to be disclosed. Anxious about the expanded liability the statute imposes, executives would rather talk to lawyers than to accountants or consultants, because lawyers confer greater confidentiality. When board meetings address sensitive issues these days, the directors frequently ask nonlegal advisers to leave the room.
The bar is currently fighting a proposal by the Securities and Exchange Commission that would require a corporation to report to the commission if one of its lawyers withdraws because the corporation persists in conduct the lawyer has advised is illegal. The bar argues that such a "noisy withdrawal," by signaling the lawyer's knowledge of wrongdoing, would effectively disclose the communications that prompted it. Noisy withdrawal is a long-standing requirement for accountants. But lawyers have so far been successful in blocking its application to themselves.
Of course, most business and professional relations involve confidentiality. In most dealings, however, the law requires that confidentiality yield to stronger public or third-party interests. Yet the bar often insists that attorney-client confidentiality be preserved at the expense of even the weightiest competing interests. Suppose—to take a case studied in law-school ethics classes—that a now deceased client once confessed to his lawyer that he had committed a crime of which someone else has just been convicted. May the lawyer disclose the confession in order to save the wrongfully convicted person? The stakes for the convicted person are enormous; the stakes for the deceased client are nil. Nevertheless, the Arizona Supreme Court once held in a similar case that disclosure is prohibited. The American Bar Association recently revised its position on confidentiality to permit disclosure in situations like this; but most jurisdictions still follow the rule applied in the Arizona case.
For the bar, the rationale for confidentiality is that without it, people would avoid lawyers or withhold information from them. By itself, of course, such a consequence would not hurt anyone but lawyers. Whether there is a public interest in encouraging consultation with lawyers depends on a further contention: that it tends to induce compliance with the law. Assured of confidentiality, the argument goes, clients will freely disclose their plans to their lawyers, who can then counsel them not to pursue plans that would violate the law. Without the assurance of confidentiality, many of these discussions would never take place, and lawyers would lose the opportunity to direct their clients along the straight and narrow.
It seems unlikely, however, that the kind of advice clients seek only when assured of confidentiality has socially desirable effects. One problem with the claim that legal advice promotes compliance with the law is ambiguity in the meaning of "compliance." Some legal advice is designed to help clients get around a law by casting their affairs in a way that technically conforms to it but defeats its purposes. Many lawyers insist that they have a duty to exploit loopholes in the interests of their clients whenever possible. Vinson & Elkins, a firm that helped Enron craft bizarre business structures for the sole purpose of giving an unrealistically favorable appearance to the company's financial statements, has responded to criticism by saying that as long as what the client wanted could be accomplished within the law, the law firm was not responsible for any bad consequences. Society may be obliged to permit lawful though obnoxious conduct (although many people dispute that this was even lawful), but it is not obliged to encourage it with the shield of confidentiality. If limiting confidentiality reduces Enron-style "compliance," so much the better.
Let's assume, however, that "compliance" means respecting both the letter and the spirit of the law. Is strong confidentiality likely to further it? Someone who feels committed to obeying the law in any case should not need an assurance of confidentiality to disclose his plans. The bar's argument assumes that the client has some disposition to disobey it. So what does a lawyer say to induce him to comply? The lawyer can advise the client about the likelihood that wrongful behavior will be prosecuted, and explain what the penalty for getting caught might be—but there is no guarantee that this information will encourage compliance. In certain areas of practice both the likelihood of prosecution and the size of the penalties are so small relative to the prospective gains from wrongful behavior that full knowledge of the law often makes a client more inclined to violate it. For instance, low audit rates and low penalties for a number of abuses make tax evasion a rational strategy for many clients. (The Internal Revenue Service recently went to court to force several law firms, including the Dallas firm of Jenkins & Gilchrist, to disclose their tax-shelter client lists, quite understandably suspecting that the firms' legal advice increased the propensity of their clients to engage in practices the IRS considers illegal.)
Cutting back confidentiality might leave lawyers with fewer opportunities for encouraging their clients to comply, but they would have more success with the opportunities they did get. If lawyers had to disclose illegal behavior through noisy withdrawal, as the SEC proposes, they would have much more leverage with those clients who did consult them.
The net effect of confidentiality, therefore, is probably to reduce compliance with the law. This truth is implicit in laws such as those requiring therapists to report possible child abuse by their clients. Knowledge of this requirement may prevent some potential abusers from seeking professional help in time—but policymakers have consistently assumed that disclosure laws prevent and stop abuse much more often. Indeed, the bar's own confidentiality rules allow disclosures that would prevent criminal acts likely to cause "death or substantial bodily injury." If confidentiality really promoted compliance, then the rules protecting it would be strengthened, not relaxed, when the stakes were high.
The rationale for strong confidentiality evaporates completely in those areas of corporate practice covered by regulations like the SEC's noisy-withdrawal proposal. For one thing, corporate executives do not have the luxury of withholding information from lawyers, because doing so would deprive them of the right to invoke the "advice of counsel" defense in a criminal case or the "business judgment" defense in a civil case. Moreover, under even the strictest confidentiality rules a corporate manager cannot assume that everything he tells his company's lawyer will remain private—because the "client" in the corporate context is the organization, not the managers who work for it. Corporations can waive confidentiality for their managers' statements, and after wrongdoing is discovered they often do. What frequently happens is that the managers are fired, and the board waives confidentiality for their statements to counsel in the hope of inducing prosecutors to be lenient toward the corporation.
In 1995 Bernard Nussbaum had a suggestive exchange with Senator Richard Shelby in the course of a Senate Whitewater Committee investigation into the circumstances that forced Nussbaum to resign as White House counsel. One of the episodes that led to his resignation was his refusal to allow the Justice Department to search the office of Vincent Foster, the deputy White House counsel, after Foster was found shot to death in a nearby Virginia park. Asserting a lawyer's prerogative to control information, Nussbaum insisted that he review all the documents in Foster's office first, in order to decide whether any of them should be kept confidential. The Justice lawyers were looking for evidence pertinent to Foster's death, and, in fact, a suicide note was eventually discovered in his office.
Months later, when Nussbaum appeared before the committee, he professed bewilderment at the fuss his obstruction had provoked. Virtually any lawyer would have done as he did, he said, with unfortunate plausibility. But when he proceeded to argue that any client would want such behavior, he got into trouble with Senator Shelby.
shelby: Why didn't you say [to Deputy Attorney General Philip] Heymann, come on down and we'll look this over together?
nussbaum: Senator, did you trust the Justice Department?
shelby: On stuff like that, I certainly do.
nussbaum: Would you let them into your office, your counsel's office, to look at your personal stuff?
shelby: Absolutely. I have nothing to hide. They can come over tomorrow or today.
Lawyers are prone to forget that confidentiality often comes at a price—the implication that the person involved has something to hide. It now seems clear that Foster committed suicide; but there was much confusion at the time, and Nussbaum's assertion of confidentiality fueled suspicion of a cover-up.
Another indication that lawyers underestimate the costs of confidentiality—for both clients and society—comes from a recent experiment at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. After suffering large losses in two malpractice cases, the hospital responded in a daringly novel manner. Instead of trying to tighten control over information relevant to potential claims, it adopted a policy of routine voluntary disclosure. When a mistake was discovered, the hospital informed the patient or the family, apologized, and recommended consulting a lawyer. It made information available to the patient immediately without request, and when a malpractice claim was made, it responded promptly with what it considered a reasonable offer.
The hospital's premise was that malpractice claims are fueled less by financial motives than by anger and distrust. Disclosure and apology go a long way toward assuaging such feelings. (Jennifer Robbennolt, a psychologist at the University of Missouri, has found support for this idea in experimental simulations. Subjects asked to decide whether to accept specific settlement offers in hypothetical cases were most likely to accept when the defendant was described as open and apologetic.) And a claim can be resolved at lower cost when the defendant makes a convincing demonstration of good faith.
Of course, openness has a price too. Many patients who would never have discovered mistakes are told of them. Thus it's not surprising that the Lexington hospital sees a higher rate of claims than most VA hospitals. But its average payment per claim, and the total cost of claims made against it, are among the lowest recorded by any VA hospital. "The attorneys around here in Lexington used to think we were crazy," Ginny Hamm, then the hospital's lawyer, told a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer in 1999. But the hospital considers its program a resounding success, and many other institutions are reconsidering their practices as a result.
There are limits on how far such private initiatives can prudently go. Optimal transparency would probably require much deeper changes, including making our courts more efficient and scaling back our harsh and intrusive liability system. Still, as the Lexington hospital's experience suggests, the system leaves more room for transparency than lawyers typically realize—or tell their clients.

subset: commoncrawl


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Salba isn't the name of a dance although it may have you dancing. Don't chuckle, but the plant Salvia hispanica, popularly known as chia—the same chia that hits the airwaves every holiday season in the form of Chia Pet gifts—is a superfood, like açaí, blueberry, montmorency cherry and pomegranate. Salvia hispanica is native to Mexico. The genus Salvia is the largest genus of plants in the mint family, Lamiaceae. The Salvia genus also includes all the varieties of sage.
Those ch-ch-ch-chia sprouts that are grown and giggled at each year are among the most nutritious foods in the world. Chia, a whole grain, was cultivated by the Aztecs in pre-Columbian times, and was so valued that it was given as an annual tribute by the people to their rulers. The word chia is derived from the Aztec Nahuatl* word chian, meaning oily. The Mexican state of Chiapas is derived from the Nahuatl for chia water or chia river. Salba is a name trademarked by a company that understands the potential of the grain, gauged the marketing potential of a name other than ch-ch-ch-chia (as the name Kamut was trademarked—an easier sell than khorasan wheat) and cultivated a registered variety, grown only in Peru, which ensures strict nutritional consistency
*Nahuatl was the language of the Aztecs; their descendants, 1.5 million Nahua people, mostly live in Central Mexico and still speak the language (in many dialects).
And, it tastes great! So if anyone in the household wants to focus on healthy eating, those who don't give a hoot (most kids, teens and adults under 40) will be fighting over these tasty Salba Smart tortilla chips, pretzels and organic salsa. The line will soon expand to include potato chips, flatbreads, bars, cereals and breads made with Salba.We'll get to them in a minute (or skip to Page 3), but first, a word about the health benefits of Salba/chia.
Continue To Page 2: The Health Benefits Of Salba/Chia
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|Oil paintings gallery - Get reproduction of your favorite artist's painting. Artwork of Lyubov Popova - Russia 1889 to 1924. Abstract oil painting online. Create a custom order from your favorite photo, painting, or portrait. Product ID: AB-8474-KA
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NEWTOWN, Pa., Feb. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM), a leading global provider of digital platform engineering and software development solutions, today announced that nine of its experts have been named "Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs)" by Sitecore®, the global leader in experience management software, including:
- David Mead, one of only 63 Ambassador MVPs
- Jon Riekse, one of only 39 Strategy MVPs
- Saurabh Sachdeva and Dean Thrasher, two of only 19 Commerce MVPs
- Pavel Veller, Aliaksandr Smahin, Zachary Kniebel, Brent Pinkstaff and Dmytro Shevchenko, five of 208 Technology MVPs worldwide
Now in its 12th year, Sitecore's MVP program recognizes individual technology, strategy, and commerce advocates who share their Sitecore passion and expertise to offer positive customer experiences that drive business results. The Sitecore MVP Award recognizes the most active Sitecore experts from around the world who participate in online and offline communities to share their knowledge with other Sitecore partners and customers.
"We are so proud that nine of our Sitecore experts – the most ever for our company – have been recognized with this distinction," said Valeri Makovik, VP, Technology Solutions, EPAM. "This recognition not only shows the depth and global reach of our Sitecore experience, with at least one EPAM expert represented in every MVP category, but also reflects our deep commitment to the broader Sitecore community and to our customers who choose Sitecore as their platform of choice."
Over the last 11 years, EPAM's 300+ Sitecore professionals have delivered more than 100 projects for 50+ global customers. As one of Sitecore's elite Platinum Partners in the US, a Gold Solution Partner in the UK and an Implementation Partner in APAC, EPAM delivers large-scale, omnichannel digital marketing solutions that ensure a seamless digital experience for its global customers. EPAM has utilized its Sitecore expertise to build four accelerators for businesses to quickly take advantage of Sitecore's platform without having to create their own digital solution, including EPAM's Sitecore Retail Accelerator, Sitecore SAP Hybris Connector, EngX Accelerator and Sitecore Aprimo DAM Connector.
"The Sitecore MVP awards recognize and honor those individuals who make substantial contributions to our loyal community of partners and customers," said Pieter Brinkman, Sitecore Senior Director of Technical Marketing. "MVPs consistently set a standard of excellence by delivering technical chops, enthusiasm, and a commitment to giving back to the Sitecore community. They truly understand and deliver on the power of the Sitecore Experience Platform to create personalized brand experiences for their consumers, driving revenue and customer loyalty."
The Sitecore Experience Platform™ combines web content management, omnichannel digital delivery, insights into customer activity and engagement, and strategic digital marketing tools into a single, unified platform. Sitecore Experience Commerce™ 9, released in January 2018, is the only cloud-enabled platform that natively integrates content and commerce so brands can fully personalize and individualize the end-to-end shopping experience before, during, and after the transaction. Both platforms capture in real time every minute interaction—and intention—that customers and prospects have with a brand across digital and offline channels. The result is that Sitecore customers are able to use the platform to engage with prospects and customers in a highly personalized manner, earning long-term customer loyalty.
For more information about EPAM's Sitecore expertise, visit www.epam.com/sitecore. Information about Sitecore's MVP program can be found here: http://www.sitecore.com/mvp.
About EPAM Systems
Since 1993, EPAM Systems, Inc. (NYSE:EPAM) has leveraged its core engineering expertise to become a leading global product development and digital platform engineering services company. Through its 'Engineering DNA' and innovative strategy, consulting, and design capabilities, EPAM works in collaboration with its customers to deliver innovative solutions that turn complex business challenges into real business opportunities. EPAM's global teams serve customers in over 25 countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. EPAM is a recognized market leader among independent research agencies and was ranked #12 in FORBES 25 Fastest Growing Public Tech Companies, as a top information technology services company on FORTUNE'S 100 Fastest-Growing Companies, and as a top UK Digital Design & Build Agency. Learn more at http://www.epam.com/ and follow us on Twitter @EPAMSYSTEMS and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes statements which may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the accuracy of which are necessarily subject to risks, uncertainties, and assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied include general economic conditions and the factors discussed in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. EPAM undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities law.
CONTACT: Danielle Ruess-Saltz
Source: EPAM via GLOBE NEWSWIRE


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Environmental Services Asst
Fulltime Evening with rotation
AFSCME Union
Posted: May 10, 2022
We are currently offering a SIGN-ON BONUS for all full-time Environmental Service positions! The amount of the sign-on bonus is $500 for a 1 year employment commitment. Don't miss out - apply today!
Performs all manner and variations of utility or general work relative to the Environmental Services Department's responsibility to maintain a clean and aseptic internal Hospital environment which will include the physical, entomological (free of insects), osmological (free of odors) and safety environment and will or may include the operation or use of any or all types, styles, or mode of equipment, supplies, material, linens or products presently in use or adopted for use in the present, near, or foreseeable future where it is relevant either to the department, job performance or its use is adopted, required,, requested, or directed by the Department Director or Hospital Management.
- Employee operates all departmental equipment in a safe, orderly, and efficient manner. Upon completion of equipment usage, must maintain equipment before putting back in the proper storage location; i.e., wipe the entire machine down, wrap the cords in a neat orderly fashion after cleaning assigned areas.
- Climbs ladders to hang cubicle drapes and window drapes or to reach areas for other cleaning/disinfecting purposes.
- Cleans and services hospital building areas, moves furniture, equipment, and supplies in and around hospital departments, and performs a variety of housekeeping and other duties to maintain the hospital in an orderly and sanitary condition as assigned.
- Washes walls, ceilings, and inside windows, by hand, using water, cleaning solution, sponge, and cloths or machine; may be called upon to wash outside windows and screens. Washes drapes, cubicles, mops, and rags when requested by the Supervisor or Department Director.Gathers and disposes of refuse; washes wastebaskets and large refuse containers and relines with plastic bags; cleans light fixtures, tops of windows, door frames and other high places using ladders or scaffolds when necessary.
- When requested by Supervision, moves equipment, furniture, bulk moves of files both on and off site; procurement and/or return of files from an already established filing system
- Uses chemicals in a safe/efficient manner according to Hospital/departmental guidelines. Responsibility of employees to wear all personal protective equipment as required.
- Disinfects areas by scrubbing and spraying with approved germicide cleaner
- Terminally cleans and disinfects all patient rooms, isolation rooms, floors; beds, restrooms, furniture and equipment after a transfer or discharge from a patient following Infection Control procedures.
- Collects all regular and infectious waste in a manner established by the Infection Control Committee and/or infectious waste guidelines.
- Scours, polishes, and washes sinks, tubs, mirrors, and other plumbing fixtures; cleans water coolers and replaces disposables, such as towels, soap, liquid soap dispensers, and toilet tissue.
- Employee will be held accountable for daily and routine quality checks/reviews and to make all improvements that are deemed necessary.
- Sweeps, mops, vacuums, and wet scrubs floors, halls, and stairways.
- Receives daily assignment and supplies; transports them to the work area. At the end of shift, returns unused supplies to hopper and/or supply room; also returns used and unused mops, cleans utility cart and equipment.
- Performs repetitive tasks in maintaining an assigned area of the Hospital in a sanitary, orderly, and attractive condition.
- Assembles necessary cleaning supplies and equipment for transporting to the assigned work area.
- Makes discharge beds with clean linen in the prescribed manner. Requests help in heavy furniture or equipment moves; notifies supervisor when supplies are low; reports any mechanical failure or conditions as observed in assigned areas for preparation of work request for Engineering Department. .
Experience Required: Prior training in institutional cleaning desired but not necessary; previous experience in similar work preferred. Other qualifications include the following: must be able to lift and handle heavy to light loads by pushing or pulling refuse carts and electric or battery powered equipment; must be able to bend, stoop, climb, push, pull, or crawl; must be able to follow written and oral instructions, policies and procedures; must be able to stand or walk for long periods of time;
Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances:
- Act 34
- UPMC is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Disability/Veteran
Individuals hired into this role must comply with UPMC's COVID vaccination requirements upon beginning employment with UPMC. Refer to the COVID-19 Vaccination Information section at the top of this page to learn more.
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At UPMC, we're driven by shared values that guide our work and keep us accountable to one another. Our Values of Quality & Safety, Dignity & Respect, Caring & Listening, Responsibility & Integrity, Excellence & Innovation play a vital role in creating a cohesive, positive experience for our employees, patients, health plan members, and community. Ready to join us? Apply today.


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It's a Stylish Keyboard on the Outside, a Smart PC on the Inside
ASUS today continues to deliver on its promise of cutting edge
technological and design innovations with the launch of the EeeKeyboard
PC—a fully-functional PC concealed within a svelte and stylish keyboard.
First unveiled to a tremendous reception at CES 2009 and subsequently
garnering 1st place at the CeBIT-PreView 2009 Awards, the portable 1kg
EeeKeyboard PC works with any HDTV, monitor, or projector to turn
itself into a full-fledged PC. It provides users with a wireless
computing platform, with Ultra-wideband (UWB) Wireless Display
connectivity enabling it to stream HD 720p videos up to a 5-meter range
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multi-touch panel provides users with an interactive and intuitive means
of directing the on-screen cursor to launch programs, send instant
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The Complete Compact PC for Mobile and Versatile Indoor Computing
The lightweight, space-saving EeeKeyboard PC lends itself perfectly
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enjoyed with any HDTV, monitor or projector. Connect the EeeKeyboard PC
to a HDTV in the living room to turn it into the family multimedia
entertainment center; hook it up with a monitor in the study or office
and use it as a normal PC; or pair it with a projector in a conference
room for presentations.
The EeeKeyboard PC comes with a durable and shock-proof solid state
drive to ensure all stored data is kept safe during transit, while
built-in conveniences such as the microphone and high quality stereo
speakers allow users to enjoy all of the EeeKeyboard PC's features
without requiring additional accessories.
Ultra-wideband (UWB) Wireless Display Connectivity
The EeeKeyboard PC features Ultra-wideband (UWB) Wireless Display
connectivity and is able to stream HD 720p visuals to a designated
display device within a 5 meter range. UWB Wireless Display connectivity
also brings with it higher data transfer rates, and ensures a reliable
link during data transfers.
5" Multi-touch Panel for an Intuitive and Interactive User
The EeeKeyboard PC has another ingenious feature—an interactive 5"
multi-touch panel designed to enhance the user experience by adapting
its functions to suit the task at hand. At its most basic level, it
serves as a touchpad for controlling the main display cursor. It can be
set to display quick launch keys and shortcuts to enable users to easily
access programs and web content. It can also display the media player's
interface, allowing users to browse, select, and play songs with a tap
of a finger.
ASUS has taken user feedback into account and ensured that the
EeeKeyboard PC's LED-backlit keys are precisely calibrated to ensure
consistency in mechanical responsiveness, latency, and actuation
pressure. The EeeKeyboard PC is engineered for both quality and
durability, with its aluminum cover and UV-coated underside ensuring it
looks brand new even after years of use.


text:
This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Washington • The most partisan, least productive Congress in memory has skipped out of Washington so lawmakers can make their case for voters to re-elect them.
The Senate closed the Capitol not long after sending President Barak Obama a spending bill that will make sure the government won't shut down Oct. 1, the start of the new budget year. The measure passed early Saturday by a 62-30 vote.
Left behind for a postelection session is a pile of unfinished business on the budget and taxes, farm policy and legislation to save the Postal Service from insolvency.
The GOP-controlled House beat its retreat Friday morning after taking one last, futile slap at Obama by passing a bill called the "Stop the War on Coal Act." The measure, dead on arrival in the Senate, was aimed at boosting the coal industry in its fight against new environmental regulations while hurting Obama's political prospects in coal states such as Ohio and Virginia.
The Democratic-controlled Senate's middle-of-the-night session came after a spitting match between Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Republicans over Reid's insistence on advancing legislation by Sen. Jon Tester of Montana to boost access to public lands for hunting and fishing.
Tester is perhaps the Senate's most endangered Democrat and Republicans protested that he was being given special treatment in a clearly political move to boost his re-election chances. The measure cleared a procedural hurdle by an 84-7 vote.
The votes came at midnight to give senators who had scattered from Washington time to return.
Democrat Claire McCaskill was in Missouri for a debate, while Michael Bennet, D-Colo., had been in the southwest portion of his state to attend a ceremony celebrating the new Chimney Rock National Monument. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., was venting his frustrations with American Airlines on Twitter.
The only must-do item on the get-out-of-Dodge agenda was a six-month spending measure to fulfill the bare minimum of Congress' responsibilities by keeping the government running after the current budget year ends on Sept. 30.
The spending measure permits spending on agency operating budgets at levels agreed to under last summer's hard-fought budget and debt deal between Obama and Capitol Hill Republicans. That's 0.6 percent increase from current spending rates, which represents a defeat for House Republicans, who had sought to cut about 2 percent below the budget deal and shift $8 billion from domestic programs to the Pentagon.
Reid also relented to a demand by tea party Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., for a vote on suspending foreign aid to the governments of Libya, Egypt and Pakistan. Paul only got 10 votes. But Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., won approval of a nonbinding resolution supporting steps to make sure Iran doesn't develop a nuclear weapon.
It's the earliest pre-election exit by Congress from Washington since 1960, though lawmakers will return after the Nov. 6 vote to deal with unfinished work.
The approval rating for the current Congress dropped to 13 percent in a Gallup poll this month. That was, the lowest ever for an election year. The GOP-controlled House and Democratic Senate managed to come together with Obama to enact just 173 new laws. More are coming after the election, but the current tally is roughly half the output of a typical Congress.
Even so, political pundits say Republicans are strong favorites to keep the House while Democratic chances of keeping the Senate are on the upswing with Obama's rise in the polls.
The exit from Washington leaves the bulk of Congress' agenda for a post-Nov. 6 session in which it's hoped lawmakers will be liberated from the election-year paralysis that has ground Capitol Hill to a near halt.
Topping the lame-duck agenda will be the George W. Bush-era tax cuts, which expire Dec. 31, and more than $100 billion in across-the-board spending cuts set to strike at the same time. The cuts are punishment for the failure of last year's deficit "supercommittee" to strike a deal.
Also left in limbo is the farm bill, stalled in the House due to opposition from conservative Republicans who think it doesn't cut farm subsidies and food stamps enough and Democrats who think its food stamp cuts are too harsh.
The current farm act expires on Sept. 30 but the lapse won't have much practical effect in the near term. Still, it's a political black eye for Republicans, especially in states such as North Dakota and Iowa.
The lack of productivity of the 112th Congress was the result of divided government and bitter partisanship.
Congress' major accomplishments tended to be legislation that mostly extended current policies, such as a highway bill, and legislation demanded by Obama to renew a 2 percentage point payroll tax cuts and extend student loan subsidies.
Even this Congress' signature accomplishment a budget and debt deal enacted last summer to cut $2.1 trillion from the budget over 10 years delayed the most difficult decisions by assigning the supercommittee the job of finding at least $1.2 trillion in deficit savings.
When that failed, House Republicans walked away from the budget deal by pressing for further cuts to domestic appropriations and reversing some on the pact's Pentagon cuts.
In the Senate, Reid worked closely with the White House to use the Senate schedule for Obama's political advantage, repeatedly forcing votes on closing tax breaks for oil companies and raising taxes on upper bracket earners.
But Reid failed to schedule debates on any of the 12 annual appropriations bills and the Democratic-led chamber, for the third year in a row, failed to pass a budget.
Republicans also point to almost 40 items of House-passed jobs-related legislation sitting stalled in the Senate.
"This isn't leadership. It is negligence," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Senate Democrats cited their progress on bills such as a renewal of farm programs and legislation to overhaul the Postal Service and give it an infusion of cash to stave off insolvency.
"The reality is for as closely as divided as this Senate is, we passed a large number of bipartisan bills this year, very important bills, but as you all know, it takes two chambers to pass a law," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "On the other side, too many of the Congress members, particularly the tea party folks, think compromise is a dirty word."
What Congress did and didn't do
• Congress early Saturday finalized a six-month stopgap spending bill to keep federal agencies running past the end of the budget year and the elections. Action was needed to avoid a partial government shutdown.
• The House moved to rescind guidelines introduced by the Health and Human Services Department giving states more flexibility in how they administer welfare-to-work requirements under the 1996 welfare overhaul act. The bill has little chance in the Senate.
• The Senate approved a resolution insisting that the United States will do all it can to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
Among major legislation left:
• Tax cuts that will expire at the end of the year, including the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts.
• Spending cuts of $109 billion to defense and nondefense programs that will take place automatically at the start of the new year if alternatives are not found.
• Jan. 1 deadline to avert an almost 30 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements to doctors.
• House has yet to act on legislation to overhaul the Postal Service, which is losing $25 million a day.
• The Senate has yet to act on a $635 billion defense policy bill.


text:
Lekkas' shutout lifts Junior Blues to win
TOPEKA, Kan. — The Springfield Junior Blues converted three of their four shots in the overtime shootout and got a shutout from goalkeeper Stefanos Lekkas as they took a 1-0 North American Hockey League victory over the Topeka RoadRunners Saturday night.
The win gave Springfield a split of the two-game road series. Topeka shut out the Junior Blues 2-0 on Friday.
Lekkas turned away all 45 shots he faced through three periods and the overtime as Topeka outshot the Junior Blues 45-29. Topeka was 0-for-4 on the power-play, while the Junior Blues were 0-for-2.
Each team got five shots in the shootout. Davis DeKorte, Brendan Jacques and Alex Baskakov converted to give the Junior Blues a 3-0 edge after four rounds, while Topeka missed on its first three attempts.
The Junior Blues (14-13-4) have 32 points and are tied for fifth place with Saulte Ste. Marie in the NAHL North Division. Both teams are one point behind fourth-place Janesville.
The Junior Blues will host Port Huron in a two-game series Tuesday and Wednesday at the Nelson Center. Game times are 6:05 p.m. Tuesday and 3:05 p.m. Wednesday.


text:
Today at the Worldwide Partner Conference in San Francisco, Microsoft's chief operating officer, Kevin Turner, announced that Windows Server 2008 (previously known as Longhorn), Microsoft SQL Server 2008, and Visual Studio 2008 will be officially launched on February 27, 2008. This may come as a surprise to those following the Windows 2008 Server news closely, since most sources at Microsoft have been insisting that the next version of its server operating system will released at the very end of 2007. Apparently in Redmond there is a difference between releasing the OS and the extravagant product launches, which are more of a pep rally for the product then a technical presentation.
Since this news comes in the context of a speech at the Worldwide Partner Conference, the focus is on money and how much Microsoft Partners can expect to make off the release of these three products. With lackluster Vista sales, along with Apple and Linux continuing to push hard for acceptance in the corporate workplace, this year most resellers have had to rely on Office 2007 to make their sales numbers. Next year could be a different matter. Windows Server 2008 integrates tightly with Vista, which will help speed adoption of both OSes in the corporate world. (I know personally of several Fortune 500 companies that are waiting on Server 2008 before starting their Vista rollouts, including my own.)
Partners can also expect those who are waiting for Vista's Service Pack 1, which is slated to be released about the same time as Server 2008, to get off the fence, further boosting sales (as much as $128 billion, according to Turner). One possible downside to the announcement is that since companies now have a hard date for the release of these products, they may push their adoption dates back so they can do them en masse—something that neither Microsoft nor their partners want to see.
I am really excited about Windows Server 2008. Not only does it build on Server 2003's emphasis on security and ease of management, but it hits two really important points: Terminal Services and virtualization. There is no doubt that virtualization is one of the hottest topics in the data center, and Microsoft has addressed this by making Windows Server 2008 more effective as a virtual machine with their core roles, but the company also plans on releasing the update to Virtual Server soon after the release of Windows Server 2008—albeit with out all the bells and whistles they originally planned. Smaller virtual machines running on a more efficient hypervisor makes for a happy data center.
On the Terminal Server side, a lot of functionality that previously required additional software is now being bundled into the core OS for free. This is a godsend for those IT departments running on a lean budget who want to support additional features but cannot justify the added expense of a full-blown Citrix environment.
No matter how you slice it, Windows Server 2008 will be a big deal. Obviously it's not going to sell as many copies as a desktop OS like Vista, and certainly it will have fewer people that see it face to face, but IT departments know that the core of their infrastructure needs to be as stable and as flexible as possible. So far, everything I've seen of Windows Server 2008 leads me to believe that Microsoft has done a good job listening to customer feedback and is on target to make this a must-have upgrade for all but the smallest companies.


text:
UnScripts:Trapped at Sea
This script art a part of
The UnScripts Project
Your personal Shakspearian folio of humor, love, woe and other silly emotions.
Main Page | Marlowe of the Month | Requests | The Scripts Collection
After the success of movies like Open Water and Floaters, that other one that everyone presumes is actually the same movie, the British film industry decided they wanted a slice of the same low-budget-low-losses pie and came up with the imaginatively titled "Trapped at Sea". As suspected it was a flop but not one that broke any records. Critics received it surprisingly well describing it as "drivel" and "one of those unintentionally hilarious movies you make your friends watch".
Scene 1: Ext. Deck of an Expensive Yacht - day.
- Man: (to Man #2) Did you hear about that genetically enhanced shark that escaped and ate Ellen MacArthur...?
A group of twenty or so twentysomethings are having a party. All around them there is nothing but ocean. It's a bit foggy.
MARLINE is a ditzy blonde. Her expensive looking dress is on backwards and she is wearing armbands. As she makes her way over to MARTIN her glass of champagne gets sloshed over everyone because she's having just such a safe time yah!
- Marline: I'm having just such a safe time yah! It was so wonderful of Daddy to lend us his yacht for the day, yah!
- Martin: (Looking past her) Yeah…
- Marline: Oh my God Martin you should so totally dance with me, yah! It'd be so safe!
- Martin: (Looking past her) Yeah… No! I can't, sorry. Athlete's Foot. Too sore.
- Marline: (Horrified) I've heard that can be pretty nasty!
- Martin: Oh absolutely. I could die.
- Marline: (Still horrified) We can't have that at all! (She crouches down to stroke his foot) You better get all better very soon, yah! Can't keep this lovely hunk of man away from me for too long.
- Martin: It's the other foot.
- Marline: (petting Martin's other foot) Well you better get all better very soon, yah! Can't keep this lovely hunk of man away from me for too long (she looks at him in a slutty fashion).
Marline dances off to go get more champagne. JASON sits beside Martin and leans in to talk quietly.
- Jason: You don't have Athlete's foot at all, do you?
- Martin: (trying to keep a straight face) Should I?
They laugh at Marline's expense.
- (Fade to)
Scene 2: Ext. Deck of an Expensive Yacht - day.
All of the twentysomethings are playing Twister except for Martin who is spinning the spinner thing.
- Martin: Left hand red. Go on, Mark, it's probably not gonna bite.
MARK's hand navigates its way to wards the nearest red which happens to be where Marline's vagina is.
- Marline: Oh I wish you were playing, yah, Martin it'd be so safe.
- Martin: Really.
There is some laughter at Marlines expense and then out of the mist comes a great big wooden galleon. Martin stands up and points.
- Martin: Guys look at that!
The conglomeration of twister fans simultaneously turn their heads and gasp. They all fall about themselves while they try and get up. A voice comes from the ship.
- Captain Ginger Beard With One Eye: Arr! I be commandeering this ship, the noo, maties!
Suddenly pirates start jumping from their ship and landing on or around the expensive yacht. Everyone except Martin has lost their head and starts running around screaming. The pirates begin to slay everyone in creative and unnecessarily violent ways, occasionally Martin winces. A man with a ginger beard climbs down a rope ladder and steps out in front of Martin. The man draws his sword and points it at Martin who stands up. Marline runs between the two of them and throws herself over board, screaming.
- Captain Ginger Beard With One Eye: Arr!
- Martin: Hello.
- Captain Ginger Beard With One Eye: Arr! I be Captain Ginger Beard With One Eye
- Martin: You have two eyes.
- Captain Ginger Beard With One Eye: Aye. Yee be walking the plank now lad.
- Martin: (looking at where Marline just jumped off) But I have Athlete's Foot. I can't get it damp!
- Captain Ginger Beard With One Eye: I dinnae care lad, off 'e plank with yee now.
- Martin: (tuts) Fine…
- (Cut to)
Scene 3: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin and Marline are treading water as they watch the pirate galleon tow the expensive yacht away to treasure island.
- Marline: Oh my god, yah! What're we going to do!
- Martin: Drown I should think.
- Marline: But they killed everyone one, yah!
- Martin: They didn't kill me.
- Marline: (looking at Martin like he might be the second coming) But you came to rescue me, yah!
- Martin: (sighs) They didn't kill me. (Begins to cry) Why didn't they kill me?
- (Fade to)
Scene 4: Ext. Ocean - day.
Marline is holding her phone above her head.
- Marline: Oh my god, yah! I can't get a signal!
- Martin: That doesn't surprise me.
- Marline: And the screen isn't working, yah!
- Martin: Again, that doesn't surprise me.
- (Fade to)
Scene 5: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin and Marline are treading water.
- Marline: (Screaming) Oh my god, yah! I saw a shark – I saw a shark!
- Martin: (calmly) It's the English channel. You did not see a shark.
- Marline: (Still screaming) But I saw a shark!
- Martin: (Still calm) No. No, you didn't.
- (Fade to)
Scene 6: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin and Marline are treading water.
- Martin: And if it couldn't get any worse. I just pissed myself.
- Marline: Eugh but Martin! What're we gonna drink now!?
- (Fade to)
Scene 7: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin and Marline are treading water.
- Martin: I didn't say you could come, did I?
- Marline: (Begins to cry) Oh please don't leave me Martin!
- Martin: Don't worry, I can't… The guilt would just eat me up.
- Marline: (smiles) Oh you're so lovely, yah…
- Martin: No. I'm not.
- (Fade to)
Scene 8: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin and Marline are treading water.
- Marline: Oh Martin! Martin! It's getting dark!
- Martin: So it would seem.
- (Fade to)
Scene 9: Ext. Ocean - night.
Martin and Marline are treading water.
- Marline: (Screaming) Oh my god, yah! I saw a shark – I saw a shark!
- Martin: (calmly) It's the English channel. You didn't see a shark.
- (Fade to)
Scene 10: Ext. Ocean - night.
Martin and Marline are treading water.
- Marline: Martin! I can't sleep, yah!
- Martin: Neither can I, Marline. Neither can I.
- (Fade to)
Scene 11: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin and Marline are treading water.
- Marline: We're going to drown aren't we, yah!?
- Martin: It seems likely, yes.
- Marline: I'm really glad you came to stay with m-
- Martin: (interupting) I didn't – they pushed-
- Marline: (interrupting) I love you, yah!
- Martin: I fancied your brother!
- Marline: (disgusted) Eugh! Eugh! Get away from me, yah, bumboy.
Marline swims away.
- Martin: Shit. Was that all I had to say…?
- (Fade to)
Scene 12: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin is treading water.
Suddenly there is a rumbling noise and the water around him begins to ripple. About sixteen naval vessels and five helicopters appear out of the grey mist as it clears. Martin has been saved. Wearily he climbs aboard the "HMS Happy Ending" and then gets a ride home on the helicopter "Cliché".
- (Fade out)
(Alternate Ending)Scene 12: Ext. Ocean - day.
Martin is treading water.
Suddenly Martin jerks and screams in pain. He is dragged underwater and then a plume of blood flowers on the surface of the water. A row of blood stained shark's teeth break the water. On the shark's forehead the words "Sad ending" are tattooed. Then A whole horde of harpoons get embedded in the shark.
Marline and a naval officer are standing aboard "The Mediocre"
- Marline: Oh Yah! I'm so glad you destroyed that evil genetically enhanced shark, yah! You're my hero!
She clutches the naval officer who looks down at her.
- Naval Officer: Do you have a brother?
- (Fade out)
Splashing noise.
|Featured Article (read another featured article)
|Featured version: 17 July 2009
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text:
Rush of Fools and Meredith Andrews to Join Agnew's Holiday Tour
Nashville, Tenn. Dec. 2, 2009… Critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Todd Agnew is partnering with Rush of Fools and Meredith Andrews for the "Do You See What I See?" Christmas tour. The nine date tour will run from December 3 to December 17. Tour dates are listed below.
"Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year," says Agnew. "It's a time we spend with family and friends. I'm very excited to spend this Christmas season celebrating the birth of Christ with Rush of Fools, Meredith Andrews and many of our friends across the country."
The tour's namesake comes from Agnew's 2006 holiday album Do You See What I See? which tells the Christmas story from the personal perspectives of all the eyewitnesses of the birth of Christ. The Christmas show comes on the heels of Agnew's 40 date "The Promise Remains" tour with Building 429 and Kimber Rising sponsored by Christian humanitarian organization World Vision. Agnew also released his fifth studio album titled Need in October.
More information on Todd Agnew:
Todd Agnew is a five-time Dove Award nominee, garnering numerous hit radio singles including two No. 1 hits, "Grace Like Rain" and "This Fragile Breath (The Thunder Song)." Agnew continues to perform over 150 dates per year and has currently sold over 500,000 units.
More information on Rush of Fools:
Premiere progressive worship band, Rush Of Fools is a four-time Dove Award nominee who won ASCAP's Song of the Year Award in April 2008 for their hit-single "Undo." The band performs more than 100 shows a year and will release their third full-length project in 2010.
More information on Meredith Andrews:
Billboard magazine hailed Meredith Andrews as one of 2008's "Faces to Watch," when she released her debut worship project, The Invitation, on Word Records last year. The album featured the hit single "You're Not Alone," which vaulted to No. 1 on R&R's Inspirational Chart and became a Top 5 hit on the Christian AC Chart. The album also garnered two 2009 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards for Worship Song of the Year and Praise & Worship Album of the Year.
Tour Dates:
*All dates subject to change. For the most updated tour information, visit www.toddagnew.com
12/3/09 – Houston, TX – Berean Baptist Church *No Rush of Fools or Meredith Andrews
12/4/09 – Cleveland, TX – Calvary Baptist Church *No Rush of Fools
12/5/09 – Kilgore, TX – St. Luke's United Methodist Church *No Rush of Fools
12/9/09 – Joplin, MO – Joplin Memorial Hall
12/10/09 – El Dorado Springs, MO – Church of God Holiness
12/12/09 – Hardin, KY – Hardin Baptist Church
12/13/09 – Morton, MS – Livingston Center
12/15/09 – Grove Hill, AL – Grove Hill Baptist Church
12/17/09 – Columbus, MS – First United Methodist Church


text:
We are a relatively new company with over a decade of experience. Social Media Reach is dedicated to raising the bar when it comes to innovation, creativity, and strategy. We understand that social media takes time and resources to truly understand and manage, that is why we have done the work and have attained the resources for you.
Over the years we have made strategic alliances that will benefit your company. By leveraging these alliances we are able to jump start your companies name and conversation in an effective professional manner.
Your Brand and name is important to us, that is why we have made it top priority to follow industry best practices to ensure nothing but quality and professionalism.
Social media can be defined as: "media for social interaction, using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media use web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues. They support the democratization of knowledge and information and transform people from content consumers to content producers." - Wikipedia 2010.
The goal behind social media marketing is to listen and to converse with your targeted market. Whether it be to B2B or B2C, there are many ways to have a successful conversation with your market. Our goal is to help your company develop strategies and effectively get your message across to your market.


text:
Defense in 2003 Framingham murder barred from questioning witness about stabbing
WOBURN - The lawyer for a former Framingham man accused of murdering a man in 2003 was barred on Friday from asking a key prosecution witness about a 2012 stabbing in Framingham.
Timothy Bradl, who represents Eric Murray, wanted to question Randy Lopez about a December 2012 stabbing in which a woman suffered serious injuries after being stabbed in the chest.
Lopez is testifying in Murray's first-degree murder trial in Middlesex Superior Court. Murray is charged with killing Joseph McDaniel, 19, by shooting him to death on Kendall Street in Framingham on Oct. 7, 2003. Lopez has been granted immunity.
Lopez, he said, was not charged in the stabbing, but his two friends were. Bradl said Lopez should have been charged, and Lopez may take that as a sign that he needs to say the right thing at trial to make sure he is treated "kindly," by the Middlesex district attorney's office "by doing a good job for them here."
"He brings these two horrible people to Framingham and they end up stabbing a woman in Framingham," said Bradl. "He should have been charged. There was probable cause. I'm shocked he was not charged. A few months later, he's a key witness in a trial conducted by the same charging agency."
Prosecutor Nicole Allain argued that Lopez's claim that he had nothing to do with the stabbing was corroborated by video evidence and it had nothing to do with the immunity agreement in the murder case.
"He was never charged and he was never promised anything," Allain said.
Judge Sandra Hamlin ruled that Bradl could not question Lopez about the stabbing.
Bradl was allowed to question Lopez about three other cases in which he was convicted to discredit him to the jury of eight women and six men.
Bradl asked Lopez if he was convicted of threatening to commit a crime in 2008 in Framingham.
"I don't know, yeah, probably. It's hard to remember," Lopez said.
Bradl also asked Lopez if he was convicted in 2008 in a separate assault and battery case out of Framingham.
"Yeah, I guess," said Lopez. "I don't remember. It's too far back."
Lopez was also convicted of assault and battery to a collect a debt in 2004, also in Framingham District Court.
Earlier this week, Hamlin ruled that a potential witness who testified in Murray's original trial in 2005, had valid Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, and allowed prosecutors to use a transcript of his original testimony. Bradl had opposed it.
On Friday, Allain read questions from the 2005 transcript while a Middlesex district attorney's office employee read the answers of Richard Jamal Waters.
Waters said in the testimony that he had hung out with McDaniel for several hours the day he was shot, and went to Kendall Street with him that night. He said he went to the corner store to get a juice and when he came out he saw McDaniel in the street with his fists up ready to fight someone.
Waters said he could not see who it was, and then he said the other person shot McDaniel.
"I saw a flash," said Waters. "I blinked my eyes and I began to run to Joe. I ran up to Joe. He started walking away, like stumbling and he collapsed. I ran over to him. He was shaking. He was never conscious. I was telling him not to pass out, not to die on me."
During the 2005 testimony, Waters said he was a member of the KST, known as the Kendall Street Team or the Kendall Street Thugs, and had a KST tattoo on his neck. He said it stood for Kendall Street. He said McDaniel was not a member.
"We're all just together," he said. "It's just a bunch of kids. It's nothing serious."
The trial is scheduled to continue on Monday.
Murray was originally convicted of killing McDaniel in 2005, but Hamlin threw out the conviction in 2010 after McDaniel's connection to the KST, described as a street gang in a federal drug investigation, came to light. Murray had claimed he was afraid of McDaniel, but was limited about how much he could discuss gangs in the first trial.
Murray is charged with first-degree murder and illegal possession of a firearm. If convicted, he faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or email@example.com. For trial updates, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW, #Murraytrial.


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Every so often, you meet somebody who exudes gratitude from every pore. And as Mariska Hargitay walks out of her home to greet me in a white bathrobe, with wet hair, a wide smile, and an enviable natural beauty, I immediately feel like I am in the presence of a girlfriend. Everything about Mariska makes you feel comfortable, interesting, appreciated, and, well, grateful to be here. Mariska simply radiates infectious gratitude.
She has just jumped out of the pool, she explains, and being in the water with her 3-year-old son is her favorite place to be. She and her husband of five years, actor Peter Hermann, are tucking their family into their new house on New York's Long Island, busy renovating the details and making it feel like theirs, inside and out.
Soothing ocean and beach hues fill the house. There are shells and books and family photos, including some of Mariska's famous actress mother, Jayne Mansfield, and her father, Mickey Hargitay, a former Mr. Universe. Framed in the powder room is evidence of Mariska's great genetics: her mother's bikini and a magazine cover of her famously fit father.
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After an unusually intense spring, Mariska is already feeling healed by this time off with family. She's finally recovered from a severe injury she sustained last fall on the Law & Order: SVU set, one that sent her on a scary, months-long roller-coaster ride. Last October, while shooting an episode, doing her own stunts as usual, Mariska jumped and landed in such a way that a microscopic bleed began in her lung tissue. In January of this year, she was admitted to the hospital. Her lung had collapsed, and it would eventually require multiple surgeries to repair. The experience shook her to the core and cracked open a fissure into old wounds.
The origin of those wounds for Mariska was the death of her 34-year-old mother in a car accident. Mariska, only 3 at the time, was asleep in the backseat. She doesn't remember the accident, but trauma from that experience has forged her current outlook on life. "Losing my mother at such an early age is the scar of my soul," she tells me. "But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today. I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I did to be here."
The birth of her son, August, in 2006 brought her to a new level of appreciation of her journey. She now lives in what she describes as "an interesting reality between loss and gratitude." But she's quick to note that it's the gratitude side of the equation that is winning these days. "Becoming a parent erased many of my negative childhood feelings and filled them in with something new," she explains. Her husband has been a big part of that healing too. "I wish I'd met him 10 years ago," she confides, as if all the years to come won't be enough time to contain their plans. "But everything in my life prepared me for meeting Peter. I am so grateful."
Looking at Mariska now, 45 and at peace in her place of calm, you see only a woman comfortable in her own skin. "I would spend a year here if I could, reflecting, being with my son and husband," she says. "This is the spot I'd retire to."
But far from retiring, Mariska is hitting her stride, taking center stage in the life she has created. Her role as Detective Olivia Benson on SVU led her to create the Joyful Heart Foundation, which helps victims of sexual abuse, domestic violence, and child abuse reclaim their lives. Both projects — along with her family — sustain her on a deep level. And where she is today is a place she could not have envisioned reaching early in her career, when, she laughingly recounts, she was fired as Dulcea, friend of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, on a movie set in Australia. "I was lucky enough to have a father who said, 'Don't quit.' So I just kept going." It's this buoyancy, this ability not to give up, that has allowed Mariska to take tragedy and loss and turn the telescope around to feel like, in her own words, "the luckiest person in the world."
See Mariska's Most Treasured Family Photos
Do you remember exactly how your injury last fall happened?
On October 16, I was doing a stunt chasing a bad guy. I'd always insisted on doing the stunts my own way, although I don't feel so strongly about that anymore. I jumped and landed on pads, but on the second take something happened — I just landed wrong. I got up and felt that something inside was not quite right. At first I thought I had the wind knocked out of me. I was angry with myself. Later, I thought maybe I'd pulled a muscle, but I didn't focus on the injury and kept expecting it to get better.
What happened next?
I didn't know for three months that something was really wrong. At first I seemed to get better. But then two weeks later I had chest pains and shortness of breath. My grandfather died of a heart attack at 34, and my mom died at the same age. At first I worried it was a heart attack. Then someone pointed out that my heart was on the other side!
On New Year's Day, we were walking on the beach out here near the house, and I felt this sharp pain, sort of like someone had stabbed me. I went down on one knee and just couldn't catch my breath. They took an X-ray and found that my right lung was 50 percent collapsed. I began to panic. I was so scared. I had a procedure hoping to stave off more serious surgery, but it didn't work, and I ended up in surgery about two weeks later.
After I got the clearance to go back to work, everything was normal. They told me the injured lung was now stronger than the healthy one and that there was a greater chance of the healthy lung collapsing than the right one going down again. Then, on March 5, it happened again. I was one out of 1,000, statistically.
What went through your mind then?
I just thought, Please make me better, please make me better. I got really scared that maybe something else was wrong. All those old fears about my mom and my grandfather [both of whom died relatively young] came shooting up.
Having a child changes everything. All of a sudden you have so much to lose, so much to live for. Sometimes things in life happen that allow us to understand our priorities very clearly. Ultimately you can see those as gifts.
How did it feel to be that one in 1,000? Did you wonder, Why me?
I honestly didn't feel that way. I get to be the one in 1,000 in so many positive ways, it balances out. I have so many blessings, and I've learned from all of my experiences and my losses. I think you learn to feel grateful when you are exposed at such a young age to the fact that bad things can happen. I look at all the things life has allowed me to do and I feel like the luckiest person in the world.
See Mariska's Most Treasured Family Photos
What is the most useful lesson the loss of your mother taught you?
Surviving and thriving in the wake of my mother's loss, I learned to believe in God. He has a plan, if you pay attention to the signs. I am inspired by the absolute proof of miracles.
After all of your successes, do you ever find yourself fearing failure?
All the time. It's why being a mother is so loaded. A friend said to me recently, "You're a really great mother," and I said "What?" I feel like I've been preparing all my life, but I want to do all of it right.
What has touched you most working with sexual violence and abuse survivors through your foundation?
I am constantly moved by the incredible courage it takes to heal [from these kinds of abuses]. And it's even harder when there is shame attached to the trauma. All of our Joyful Heart programs [including art, talk, and human/dolphin therapy, in which survivors swim with wild dolphins] are about getting the soul to open up again. I have seen that light rekindled in so many survivors — those are simply miraculous moments, and they're what keep me going in this work.
What, in your experience, is the most effective way to help people heal from their traumas?
The way into trauma is largely, if not completely, nonintellectual. Survivors have said that one of the most destructive aspects of trauma or abuse is the experience of being totally negated, of simply not mattering to another human being. So our programs do the opposite: They work to convince people that they are deserving of care so that they can reclaim a life of joy, hope, and possibility. The whole thing started from intuition, and now there's all this science that backs up these different approaches to healing. When I started, I'd knock on people's doors, and they'd look at me sideways. Now those same people call us up and ask us how we do what we do. It's exciting.
What would you do with a year off? What restores you?
I'd give more time to the foundation. Then I'd focus on some intense vacation time. I'd go to Italy and take cooking classes, swim with my son. I'd eat, see the countryside, and be with my husband and kid the whole time. I'd spend as much time as I could in the water. I'm a water person. Water heals.
See Mariska's Most Treasured Family Photos
As a journalist, author and public speaker, Lee Woodruff has spent her career in the media and marketing world. A contributor for "CBS This Morning," she has also reported for "Good Morning America" and hosted various radio shows. Woodruff garnered critical acclaim for her best-selling book "In an Instant," the compelling and humorous chronicle of her family's journey to recovery following her husband Bob's roadside bomb injury in Iraq while reporting on the war. Her best-selling book "Perfectly Imperfect," was followed by her first novel. As co-founder of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, she has helped to raise more than $68 million to help military veterans and their families successfully reintegrate into their communities and receive critical long-term care. Woodruff has penned numerous magazine articles on a variety of business and feature subjects and she runs a successful media training consulting business in New York. Message Input Jot something down


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2 Stocks to Benefit from 1 Huge Consumer Trend
The mobile shopping boom means business.
For the latest evidence of that trend, just look at this past holiday season's results. Mobile devices were the shopping tools of choice, surging to 16% of online sales, up from just 10% in 2011.
But while consumers are happy ditching their PCs in favor of mobile devices, the transition hasn't been as fun for many web companies. With smaller available screen space, the profit model that worked so well on desktops just isn't translating to mobile devices. Still, I see two companies that are well positioned to benefit from this huge consumer trend.
Where smaller isn't better
First, let's survey the damage. The move to mobile has hit a lot of businesses right in the wallet.
Internet radio pioneer Pandora is a great example. Quick adoption of its music-streaming app powered the company to 59 million active users, a full 47 % higher than the year-ago quarter. But all that growth is coming at a cost. Pandora's mobile ad revenue per user is barely 40 % what it can get for each desktop listener. The company has tried to adjust to those poor economics by boosting the frequency of ads it delivers. But that can only take you so far before users revolt.
And not even Google , with its gorilla grip on search, has mobile figured out. Its average cost-per-click rates fell by 15 % last quarter as the increase in mobile-based searching pressured ad revenue margins.
Facebook is feeling its way through the market, too. The social network is a force in the mobile space, boasting 600 million users. And a surprising bounce in mobile ad revenue from the company was enough to convince industry watcher eMarketer to dramatically boost its estimates on the health of the mobile ad business. But with just 14 % of ad revenue coming from mobile, it's not clear yet how Facebook can monetize that massive user base.
A great vacation
But travel site TripAdvisor is already thriving in the new mobile environment. The company's travel planning apps have been downloaded 26 million times, drawing 35 million monthly users. TripAdvisor has resisted the urge to soak those customers with ads, instead choosing to protect the apps' usability. As the company explains in financial filings:
... we have designed our mobile product to be user-friendly and have chosen not to monetize that platform to its full potential at this time. We expect the long-term benefits of a more engaged mobile audience to outweigh the short-term revenue that we could generate from, for example, an increased number of advertisements .
Passing up that short-term ad revenue pop hasn't hurt earnings much. It last reported an 18% surge in revenue on 15 % higher click-based advertising sales. Now handling 10% of all online travel searching, TripAdvisor is comfortably the leading travel website in the world. It's true that, with just a few quarters under its belt as an independent company, it still has a lot to prove. And at over 30 times earnings, it isn't cheap. But the company owns a strong ecosystem in online travel planning, and that's why I think it deserves a spot on your watchlist.
Don't need the money
Yet my favorite play on the mobile spending surge is a company that makes no money from advertising at all. eBay just doesn't need it. Its mobile business is strong enough by itself. As Devin Wenig, president of its global marketplaces division, recently said about mobile ads, "We aren't happy with the user experience and we don't need the money."
I'll say. eBay's PayPal service handled $14 billion in volume last quarter, more than three times last year's figure . To boot, active users grew by 12%, to 112 million, thanks to strong mobile adoption. That success helped eBay's overall profits rise to $2.6 billion, powered by a 21% surge in revenue .
And eBay's mobile business isn't resting on its online success. More than 20 major retailers now accept PayPal at over 18,000 locations. With an aggressive push offline, eBay can finally take a crack at the $10 trillion global physical retailing market. Yes, the company hasn't yet figured out how to get healthy consumer adoption, but it's working on it.
Foolish bottom line
Just because the surge in mobile shopping is frustrating many companies' business models doesn't mean that investors can't benefit from it. TripAdvisor and eBay are two great ways to gain exposure to this trend in the form of solid businesses with great long-term potential.
The article 2 Stocks to Benefit from 1 Huge Consumer Trend originally appeared on Fool.com.
Fool contributor Demitrios Kalogeropoulos has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends and owns shares of eBay, Facebook, Google, and TripAdvisor. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2013 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Graduation gift for self
So, I'm finally getting my doctorate! My committee has agreed to (finally!) sign off the dissertation. As a graduation gift to myself, I thought of getting one or two good bread books. I'm a novice baker, first having started off with no-knead bread, then to making partial whole wheat, and now all whole wheat bread. I find my breads to be quite satisfactory, and better than store bought loaves, at least in my opinion :) I have good oven rise in my bread, flavour is good, and I use the French knead method (so my doughs tend to be on the wet side, which I find more freindly to baking than drier doughs). Still, I'm a novice. I've baked from Bertinet's Whole Grain Book, Tassajara Bread Book, and Zen Monastery Cook Book. The latter one is not well-known in the bread world, I'd imagine, as it's more of a vegetarian cook book than a bread only book.
Anyhow, help me decide which of the following I should definitely have as a staple in my bread book collection. Or, perhaps you have others to recommend? I would like to purchase about two as good reference-type books.
• River Cottage Bread Handbook
• Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book
• Reinhardt's Whole Grain Book
• Reinhardt's Crust and Crumb
• Baker's Apprentice
• Bread Bible
• Hamelman's Bread Book (I realise Hamelman is coming out with an updated 2nd edition, with corrections, etc. If I do get this book, it'll be the 2nd edition coming out in November).
• Others to consider?
By the way, I can't afford to purchase all of these at once. I can only afford one or two right now :)


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Does God exist or not? That question may never be answered to everyone's satisfaction — but the question of why people become religious might be. Scientists found a way to meddle with the level of analytical thought people used, and in turn were able to influence the strength of people's religious beliefs.
Top image: CowGummy on Flickr.
Most people believe in God or some form of the supernatural, but there are hundreds of millions of atheists and agnostics worldwide. Experiments have only recently begun exploring the specific underpinnings of religious belief, said researcher Ara Norenzayan, a social psychologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
"When I became a professor about 10 years ago, I was surprised by how little experimental psychology had to say about religion - I grew up in Lebanon during the war, and I understood that religion was really important in people's lives," Norenzayan said in an interview.
An old idea in psychology suggests human thinking is divided between intuitive and analytical thinking. The former leads to quick-and-dirty answers via mental shortcuts and gut feelings; the latter involves more deliberate, effortful thinking. Since intuitive thinking appears to support belief in the supernatural, psychologists reasoned that analytical thinking might be one source of religious disbelief - indeed, questionnaires gauging analytical thinking and religious belief found that people who were more likely to adopt an analytical stance tended to report they were less religious.
In four experiments with more than 650 volunteers in the U.S. and Canada, Norenzayan and his colleague Will Gervais then found a number of subtle ways to influence volunteers into thinking more analytically to see how it affected religious belief. This could simply involve looking at a picture of someone who looks like they are thinking hard about something, like Auguste Rodin's sculpture The Thinker, or looking at words such as "think," "ponder" or "rational." Even reading words in difficult-to-read fonts triggered analytical thinking.
The experiments revealed that volunteers prodded into thinking analytically increased disbelief among believers and skeptics alike, compared with people who did not receive the same cues. "It's a moderate-sized effect - not trivial," says Norenzayan.
The scientists expected plenty of misconceptions and public reaction over their research. "I'm bracing for a lot of hate mail," Norenzayan says.
They emphasized this work does not suggest that either analytical thinking or intuitive thinking is innately superior, because they promote either religious disbelief or belief. "All human beings have both systems of thinking - they both have costs and benefits in any given situation," Norenzayan tells io9.
They also stressed that believers were capable of analytical thinking, and skeptics intuitive thinking. "Theologians reason over religious beliefs all the time," Norenzayan adds.
Finally, they noted that analytical and intuitive thinking are just one piece of the puzzle of why people may favor religious belief or disbelief. "For example, we know very little about how religiosity is shaped by cultural factors, although there's clear evidence it is," Norenzayan says.
Future research will explore whether the increase in religious disbelief is temporary or long-lasting, and how the findings apply to non-Western cultures. Gervais and Norenzayan detailed their findings in the April 27 issue of the journal Science.
Image credit: credit: Ryan DeBerardinis/Shutterstock.


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White bean spread can be deceptively beguiling. It's often far too bland, not tasting of beans or much else. On the other end of the spectrum, anxious cooks may add flavoring after flavoring to liven up their muted, starchy paste, the result of which is usually also bland, but also wildly unbalanced. But with considered, minimalist flavors, it's as delicious as it is versatile, light but satisfying.
Although this recipe calls for plenty of garlic, it cooks along with the beans and mellows out substantially. Too much lemon juice could overwhelm the beans, but lemon zest provides considerable lemon flavor while the juice adds just enough tartness.
Just because I like my white bean spread simple doesn't mean I like it boring. My favorite seasoning is za'atar, a blend of dried herbs (usually thyme, sometimes with others), sesame seeds, and spices like sumac. A za'atar heavy on the thyme and sesame seeds is my favorite. The thyme and the lemon make magic together and the sesame seeds add a hint of nuttiness welcome in a blend so reliant on lighter aromatics. Beware that some za'atar blends include salt. If yours does, adjust seasonings accordingly.
"The great 'dried versus canned bean' war should be fought another day, but for making purées I use dried whenever possible."
The great "dried versus canned bean" war should be fought another day, but for making purées I use dried whenever possible. Not only do they taste more bean-y, but they produce a starchy and flavorful broth useful not just for this spread but for making soup or cooking greens.
What should you do with all this spread? Besides the obvious chips 'n' dip, try it spread on a crusty roll with some arugula, thin slices of ripe tomato, and some sprouts. Too health-food-esque? It performs equally well on a hoagie-style roll cradling a fiery, fatty merguez sausage.
Recipe Facts
- 1 pound (2 cups) of small dried cannelini or Great Northern beans, soaked overnight
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
- 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of za'atar
- Zest of two lemons
- Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
- 1/4 teaspoon of sugar, if needed
Bring your beans and the garlic to a boil in a large, heavy pot for a couple minutes, then reduce to a simmer. Half-cover the pot and let the beans cook till very tender. Add salt to taste and let them cool in the pot. If you don't have time for dried beans, two 15 oz. cans of beans are also fine.
Set aside 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid (save the rest for another use) and transfer the beans to a food processor and purée. Through the feed tube, slowly pour in the reserved cooking liquid and the olive oil. If using canned beans, use more olive oil, stock, or water.
Add the za'atar, lemon zest, and lemon juice, then pulse a few times to combine. Tinker with the salt, acid, and za'atar if needed. If the spread feels like it's lacking a certain depth of flavor, that tiny pinch of sugar can go a long way.
Transfer the spread to a bowl and sprinkle on some more za'tar and olive oil. Let the spread cool to room temperature before serving. If you want to save some for later, move it to a smaller container, cover it with a thin layer of olive oil, and store it in the freezer.


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Chelsea Stripe Blue Knit Beanie
Chelsea Stripe Blue Knit Beanie
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It's true! It's true! It's happening and it's true and modern Briterature (SORRY) will never be the same. Britney Spears—our Brit Brit!—is currently in negotiations with Harper Collins to pen the next Great American Novel. One can only presume it has something to do with the Old Lady Who Drops It Into the Ocean at the End going on an epic road trip with Anson Mount's Weird Mono-Nostril to the denim tuxedo factory where they time-travel-speed fast enough to take down all the people who are ahead of uuuuuuuus. The working title is, "HUUUUUHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!?" I spent literally all afternoon trying to come up with a fake Britney Spears book proposal that would do comedic justice to the concept of a fake Britney Spears book proposal, but it just isn't possible. If you guys want to give it a shot, put 'em in the comments. Writing exercise!!! Anyhoo:
Spears does have some writing experience under her belt since she collaborated with her mother back in 2000 for her book, "Britney Spears' Heart to Heart," which was not only about Spears' rise to fame, but the challenges facing mothers and daughters.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, if the deal does get confirmed, the book will most likely be a work of fiction that will incorporate elements of Spears' real life. The book will take on a similar styling to MTV star Lauren Conrad's 2009 New York Times bestseller "L.A. Candy," which was based loosely off Conrad's life about a young woman who moves to Los Angeles and becomes a star of a reality show.
While obviously I would prefer it to have some supernatural and/or dystopian elements a la that FUCKMAZING Tyra Banks Hunger Games rip-off, I will accept a Britney-penned L.A. Candy franchise. God, I just root for her SO MUCH, you know? I really really really really love you, Brit. [MTV]
Dourtney Hutchystudd have been banished from Couples Therapy for being gross and naked, but now the rest of the cast is in trouble for bullying them:
"Courtney and Doug are human beings," she says, on the verge of tears, she is so angry. "She's a young woman who is still trying to make sense of the world."
As for the bullying, Dr. Jenn claims that the 17-year-old and her actor husband were victims of a nasty barrage of comments and actions from their castmates.
"The way you behaved shocked me. In 20 some odd years of doing therapy never ever have I seen people regress like this into such adolescent behavior," she says.
Yes, I expected better from you, cast of VH1's Couples Therapy. [Radar]
Nigella Lawson recently came forward with a harrowing story of being abused by her mother as a child:
"She was funny but depressed and so sensitive to noise. The sound of a plastic bag being crinkled would send her deranged. She'd shout at all of us and say, 'I'm going to hit you till you cry', and so I never would cry. I still don't.
"It wasn't a calculated thing; it was hot-blooded hitting, a thrashing out of things. Once she had to stop hitting Dominic [Nigella's brother] as she hurt her hand.
"She just didn't like me; maybe because I came after Dominic the princeling and I was my father's girl she was jealous, I don't know.
"I would say I'm sorry for whatever it was, some mess, and she'd say, 'Why do you think being inconsiderate is an excuse?"'
:'''( [News.au]
- Yes, Victoria Beckham might easily be shorter than her teenage son. But, um, perspective? Do you also think she's skinnier than her baby and taller than the Eiffel tower as long as it's really really far away? [Us]
- The drummer for Coldplay has been cast in an unspecified role in Game of Thrones season 3. Probably some fucking Tully bannerman zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz #boringesthouseever. [E!]
- Expose: Some celebrities give money to charity and some don't. Unless they did, but they just didn't alert E!. I don't know. [E!]
- Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis went to Australia and totally punk'd a kangaroo by eating it for their breakfast. (THEY DIDN'T REALLY.) [Extra]
- Kim Kardashian parked her Rolls Royce in a handicapped spot like a fucking asshole. Come on, Kim. I try to get your back. Meet me halfway once in a while. [Radar]
- Here is Kristen Bell's "tiny baby bump"! It looks a lot like the front part of Kristen Bell, but more bumpy! [JustJared]
- Channing Tatum will probably be named People's Sexiest Man Alive 2012, even though none of his face-holes really open all the way. [GossipCop]
- Sam Worthington got arrested for punching and he looks like a Juggalo. [Radar]
- THEY ARE MAKING A BOY MEETS WORLD SPIN-OFF ABOUT CORY AND TOPANGA'S KID. COMMENCE TO FREAKING. [ContactMusic]