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Text of Eric Kaler's inauguration speech as president of the University of Minnesota
I first came to the University of Minnesota in September of 1978. I was about to be 22 years old. And I was about to be a graduate student in the best chemical engineering program in the world. I had a fellowship to support me, which was the only...
I first came to the University of Minnesota in September of 1978.
I was about to be 22 years old.
And I was about to be a graduate student in the best chemical engineering program in the world.
I had a fellowship to support me, which was the only way this son of a working class family could go to graduate school.
That was my first encounter with the excellence of this University, and with the mission and public support that made it accessible to me.
That was the University of Minnesota then, and, in many ways, what it still is today.
But those twin pillars of excellence and access at the University, those two foundational stones for the prosperity of Minnesota, have never been more at risk.
That's why I am devoting this next chapter of my life to the mission of this University, and to the future of its students.
But I'm just one person. I can't achieve excellence alone, not in these unusual times, not amid increasingly scarce resources, not across this vast organization.
That's why I'm asking you - students, faculty, staff, elected officials, business leaders, alumni, and citizens of Minnesota - . . . I'm asking you today to join me to move this University forward, to tell our great stories. I'm asking you to help me to instill pride in this great University among every citizen of our state.
Together, we can fulfill this University's extraordinary promise.
My friends, we have work to do.
Governor Dayton, thank you for your part in today's ceremony, and for your unwavering support. Thank you very much.
Chair Cohen, Vice Chair Larson, and Regents Allen, Beeson, Brod, Frobenius, Hung, Johnson, McMillan, Ramirez, and Sviggum . . . Thank you for your wisdom, your governance of this great University, and your confidence in me as its President.
Mayors Coleman and Rybak, other honored elected officials, faculty, students, and staff here, and watching in Crookston, Duluth, Morris and Rochester, welcome. Alumni here and watching around the world . . .
Friends in our Extension offices and Research and Outreach Centers across the state, all of our honored delegates from Minnesota, from across the nation and around the world . . . Members of the Inaugural Committee and its chair, my good friend, Frank Bates . . . Regents Professor Kathryn Sikkink, our mace bearer . . .
All our distinguished guests and friends, welcome, and thank you for joining us.
I am particularly touched that so many of my Delaware and Stony Brook friends are here today, including the president of Stony Brook University, Dr. Samuel L. Stanley Jr.
Sam, thank you for coming.
As I said, September 1978 was important to me, but it pales in comparison to the morning of June 17, 1979. That was the day I first laid eyes on the woman who would become my wife, Karen Kaler. A man could not ask for a better friend, a better companion, or a better partner, than she is to me. She blessed me with two sons, Charlie and Sam, and everyday they give me confidence in our future. To them and to our other family members, thank you for being here with me today.
We have work to do.
I am committed to:
Re-invigorating how we teach and learn, ensuring an exceptional undergraduate experience, a rigorous graduate environment, and a world-class research enterprise;
I am committed to:
Re-imagining how we operate and function;
I am committed to:
Championing the value of this University to the people of this state;
I am committed to:
Strengthening our business, community and philanthropic partnerships;
I am committed to:
Unleashing an entrepreneurial spirit among us, reaching globally even as we serve and engage communities locally;
I am committed to:
Leading a University that understands that diversity is critical to achieving excellence.
Together, we can re-invent the land-grant vision of the nineteenth century to meet the global needs of the twenty-first century.
Together, we can place the University of Minnesota among the group of the best public research universities in the nation.
I am sure you recognize these words:
Complete with the gender bias of the early twentieth century, those are the words inscribed above the grand columns of Northop Auditorium on the Twin Cities campus.
Those 33 words are an enduring, succinct, description of our noble mission. They are words that have stood the test of time and should continue to serve as a guidepost for all we do.
I will come back to those words in a few minutes, but let me tell you first about Ifrah Esse. and show you the impact this University can have on a student, her family and our state.
Ifrah is from Minneapolis, by way of Somalia. She is the sort of student and alumna who generates enormous pride in this University.
By every measure, she IS our pride and promise.
Ifrah graduated in 2008 with a B.A. in sociology. That achievement came 12 years after she emigrated with her parents and her eight surviving siblings from a Kenyan refugee camp.
When Ifrah arrived in the United States, she was 11. She could neither read nor write Somali, and didn't know a word of English.
That changed.
While in high school, she visited our Twin Cities campus and fell in love with it. She set--and achieved--a goal to become a University of Minnesota student. She remembers being inspired by her professors to think in new ways.
The daughter of a truck driver and a school lunch worker, she worked fulltime while at the U. This helped her family, and paid for books. As a strong student, she received grants and scholarships to help with tuition.
Today, Ifrah is a sourcing specialist for Target, working with vendors worldwide to deliver their goods to stores nationwide. On her own time, she mentors immigrants, who, just like her, possess immense promise.
Three of Ifrah's older siblings have also graduated from the U, including a brother who recently graduated from our Medical School.
A dozen years removed from a refugee camp, Ifrah says the University of Minnesota has become an
Ifrah, thank you for letting me share your story . . . Please stand so we can honor you.
By the way, she is now planning to APPLY to law school here. Ifrah . . . if you need a letter of recommendation . . . just let me know!
My friends, we don't do any better than that.
Students like Ifrah are the heart and soul of this University, representing excellence, access, personal transformation and promise for our workforce and civic life . . . punctuated with a huge exclamation point of pride.
She is an example of how this state's only land grant University fulfills its promise. We must keep that promise for - and to - all of our students on all of our distinctive campuses . . .
from Crookston -- known for its applied research and online learning innovations
to Rochester - with its joint programs using Mayo Clinic and IBM facilities
from Morris - a unique public liberal arts college and model of sustainability
to Duluth - home to the nation's only large lakes observatory.
We serve the entire state of Minnesota.
We also innovate.
We discover.
It is another essential part of our mission.
The words on Northrop call it "THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH."
That's called research.
With world class talent, laboratories, equipment and technology, our scholars are engaged everyday in investigations that offer great promise for cures, for technological advances, and for new understanding of the world's social and political problems.
Why should we care about having a research university in our backyard?
Because we are a home for the innovation that makes Minnesota work, that contributes to the success of Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, and start-ups.
Our research University is also the cradle of creative thought in the arts and humanities. We lead the way in professional studies - such as law and medicine - in the state. This makes Minnesota and the Twin Cities a cultural magnet within our region, and within the nation.
From the pacemaker to the Black Box, from open-heart surgery to Honeycrisp apples, the University's history of discovery is rich and profound. Today, in labs just a short walk from here, we are investigating food safety, Alzheimer's, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and childhood illnesses of all kinds.
Can we guarantee that yet another life-saving bone marrow transplant protocol or another strain of soybeans will be developed here? Guarantees are tough.
But I CAN guarantee you this: If we DON'T invest, if we DON'T attract and retain the best scientists, if we DON'T recruit and support the best young investigators, we absolutely will NOT discover new things.
Instead, we will wither as a University. We will decline as a state.
We enjoy today the fruits of investments that were made by our parents and grandparents. If we don't invest in our children just as they did, then OUR grandchildren will not have the benefits, nor the standard of living we enjoy.
Norman Augustine, the former CEO of Lockheed Martin, and a passionate supporter of research and development in higher education, put it this way: If you happen to find yourself on an airplane that is losing altitude, and if you have to throw out things to cut weight . . .
the ABSOLUTE LAST thing you would throw out is the engine.
We must invest to keep our engine running.
When it comes to excellence, I know of no great university without a great medical school, without great health sciences. As in other areas of research and discovery, we have an exceptional history of innovation in the health sciences. I am committed to moving us to the very top tier of excellence nationally. We must ensure we can continue to produce the next generation of health professionals for our state.
But even more than results, research produces trained people capable of finding the next generation of advances. I was a graduate student here, and I know what we can do. That is why we must strengthen our support of graduate students and programs, but also challenge them and enable them to achieve higher levels of discovery. I want us to be the destination of choice for the best and brightest graduate students from around the world.
Our professional students--from pharmacy to public policy, from dentistry to business -- have in their hands the future of our health, our companies, our government, our society.
Excellence in research extends far beyond the laboratory or clinic. The humanities, social sciences and arts are also integral to our research mission.
Don Randel, a former president of the University of Chicago, said it best --
"The ultimate foundation of any society ought to be the human imagination, honed to the greatest degree and in the company of its faithful companion . . . CURIOSITY."
Curiosity is the driver for creative work in all fields. A curious and open mind can yield previously unimagined beauty and expression. Creative works are the core of what we call civilization. In turn, their development and maintenance are a core responsibility of universities, such as ours.
We know that American public higher education is the envy of the world. Why?
Because all of our students get a core liberal arts education. They gain knowledge of cultures and languages, as well as the ability to think critically and communicate effectively. The ability to reason and criticize is essential to our democracy and civil society.
These skills are a bedrock for education across the University of Minnesota.
Let me turn now to public engagement, another mission-critical activity.
We always will respond to the changing needs of our communities, state and world by sharing our expertise, knowledge, resources and discoveries.
We have a tradition of outreach to our rural communities that we will not abandon.
Not only because we're so directed by the Morrill Act of 1862 . . .
And not only because we continue to advance our legacy of agricultural innovation and feeding the world . . .
No, we won't abandon these roots because of students like Kenny Deutz.
Kenny grew up on his family's farm near Marshall, Minnesota, tending crops and milking cows. Since he was a little boy he has wanted to be a veterinarian. Kenny came to the University of Minnesota to achieve that goal.
A few months ago, right after his freshman year, Kenny was accepted into VetFast, an accelerated veterinarian degree program. Across the nation, there's an acute shortage of large animal veterinarians. As the only veterinary college in the state, the University of Minnesota has an obligation to help meet this workforce shortage.
VetFast students receive their bachelor of science and doctor of veterinary medicine degrees in seven years instead of eight. It saves a year's tuition. It's good for the economy. It allows young people like Kenny to give back to his community, and live the dream he first had in kindergarten.
Kenny, congratulations, please stand so we can honor you ...
While we're committed to our roots, the fact is the world keeps getting smaller and, as Minnesotan Thomas Friedman has written, flatter.
We must rethink our mission of public engagement for the twenty-first century and create new pathways for engagement locally, nationally and globally.
Driving excellence in our mission activities is not enough. We must also be excellent in our operations.
Do you remember the solemn and inspirational words on Northrop?
The story behind those 33 words is instructive. It goes like this . . .
The idea for inscribing profound words on Northrop was hatched in 1924 ... about the same time construction was first proposed.
Four years later, in January, 1928, President Lotus Coffman appointed a committee
. . . an inscription committee ... to write the words.
This committee didn't meet until March, 1929 ... 14 months later.
They must have had scheduling issues.
Because they couldn't come to agreement, the project lost steam and was not revived until the summer of 1935 . . . six years after the first committee meeting!
By then, Northrop had already opened . . . with no inscription.
During this time, the University hired
an inscription consultant.
He was, of course, from California.
By May 1936, the words were settled on by the committee and, soon after, inscribed.
They are beautiful words. But . . . 12 years for 33 words?
I hope this story is inspiration for a culture change, a re-set that drives us to be more entrepreneurial, less risk-averse and better partners. We must reduce bureaucracy, focus on shared values, and pick up the pace.
In every aspect of University operations, we need to question what we do. We need to know if it has the intended outcome, or if we could do it better, or not at all.
There is a real cost to slowness, to long meetings, excessive committee deliberations and endless email chains. There's a cost in human resource time, and in the tangled web of bureaucracy that dogs us. And there are opportunity costs.
Of course, we will be data driven and collaborative. A University President has to be relentlessly consultative, but not to the point of stagnation, indecision and missed opportunity.
This institution needs to have an administrative backbone that is effective in supporting teaching, research and public engagement.
Today, I am committing to you that, while I'm President, we will reduce administrative costs.
I promised you efficiency in our administrative operations, but we also need to closely re-examine the academic programs we offer, the centers and institutes we support, and the methods of engagement we use.
We must be sure they are as effective as they possibly can be.
If we conduct that examination in an unsentimental and intellectually honest way, we will find programs that we don't need. We will find centers that are no longer useful. And we will also find opportunities for transformational advances.
Only the faculty - in consultation with our constituencies and with the help of our staff - can ensure that the intellectual mission of this University is at the highest level.
To my faculty colleagues: Your work drives this University.
I have never met a faculty colleague who did not want to be working at a great university.
As you expect me to deliver on my job, I expect you to deliver on yours.
We also need to look externally. We must better define our partnership with the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system and more clearly articulate the public value and distinctive role of each institution, while working together to deliver higher education in Minnesota as cost-effectively as possible.
Philanthropy . . .
We cannot achieve our promise without philanthropy.
Private support is profoundly important, especially as we face public disinvestment in higher education and a resulting rise in tuition.
Philanthropy will not -- and should not -- replace public investment.
However, philanthropy does play an absolutely pivotal role in building on the foundation of public investment to catapult us to excellence. It is the difference between good and great.
I'd like to take a minute to speak directly to our more than HALF A MILLION alumni around the world, some of whom are watching from distant places.
This is a great university. I bet many of you would be astounded at the quality of this system today--I have been. On all of our campuses, facilities and laboratories are world class. Teaching is a priority. Undergraduate research is robust. Study abroad is encouraged. Our athletic programs are creating cheers and champions.
Alumni, we need you. We need your input. We need your financial support. We need your energy. Please consider how you can best give back.
GENEROSITY WITHOUT BOUNDARIES, with only the future of young people in mind, has the transformative power to deliver on the promise of this great University.
These are painful times. Poverty in Minnesota is at an all-time high. Unemployment has severely affected many of our neighbors.
Giving is difficult for many of us. But for those of us who have benefitted from the generosity of others, and to whom so much is given, contributing to this University will go a long way to preserving our shared values: excellence and access.
My wife, Karen, our sons and I are committed to access for students who otherwise cannot afford to attend.
To underscore our commitment, we are establishing today the Kaler Family Scholarship Fund.
It will support four scholarships for undergraduate students each year.
I will be relentless and passionate about encouraging others to join us in making similar commitments.
In addition to individual philanthropy, we must continue to strengthen our partnerships with the business community and foundations. These partnerships reflect business leaders' understanding that having a world-class research university in their back yard is important when it comes to successfully attracting and retaining qualified employees.
You have heard my story, Ifrah's and Kenny's. All three of us were able to attend this wonderful University because of financial aid, from private and public sources. It's up to all of us to ensure that future generations of talented students are not shut out because of the economic circumstances of their families.
Before I conclude, there are two additional points that I feel especially strongly about.
One is diversity. Any great team, organization, or University, must actively pursue diversity. In our faculty . . . among our staff . . . and within our student body.
I can think of no community, no challenge, no classroom that is not enhanced by diversity . . . of thought, of background, of language, of values, of religion, of gender, of ways of knowing.
Diversity pushes us to challenge our assumptions. It sparks our creativity, and it enables a richer and, frankly, more interesting life. A student who, by accident or by plan, has a narrow and homogenous education will be spectacularly ill-equipped to succeed in a modern life.
Diversity is also an economic and civic imperative. By 2035 almost half of the citizens in the Twin Cities metro area will be people of color. Yet, today, our state has one of the nation's largest achievement gaps between students of color and white students from kindergarten to twelfth grade, and that extends to a gap in higher education.
We all bear responsibility.
If we are to prosper in the future as a state, it is incumbent upon all of us to close this achievement gap. I will partner with our K-12 leaders and others and bring University expertise and resources to reach this goal. Education is the path to a better life . It always has been.
The second important matter is advocacy. Each of us must step up to the plate and advocate tirelessly for this great University.
Everyday I walk into my office and ask myself, "What am I doing to increase the pride in this University system? What am I doing today to improve our communities? What am I doing to fulfill the University's potential, its promise?"
I urge you to ask the same questions of yourself, be you a student, a professor, a researcher, an administrator, a food service worker, a residence hall advisor, an alum, a business leader, elected official, a coach or a Regent: "What am I doing today to improve the lives of our students and our state?"
The more we do, the more the nation and world will know that the University of Minnesota boldly stands for excellence, access, discovery, community engagement, diversity and a global reach in an ever-competitive world.
And we will take our place in the front rank of great public research universities.
Wrapped in tradition . . . lifted by pride . . . driven by our desire to fulfill our great promise . . . we have much work to do.
Let's go do it together.
Thank you very much.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Couple puts Lincoln images up for sale
The more than 150 images of Abraham Lincoln that collectors Jim and Carole Shay have displayed at the Springfield Art Association Gallery of Art include a portrait of the 16th president made up of text from the Gettysburg Address.
Created in 1926 by Nathaniel Chasin of Washington, D.C., the portrait was purchased by the Shays from a shop in Gettysburg, Pa.
"Half the fun of collecting is finding — we call it 'the quest' — and then sharing it with others," Jim said.
For $286, someone else may own the Gettysburg portrait given the fact that the Shays are selling all the images in the exhibition, "The Many Faces of Abe: The Jim and Carole Shay Collection."
A percentage of proceeds will benefit the art association's exhibit and collections programs.
But Angie Dunfee, the art association's executive director, wants the public to focus on the exhibit itself, not the sale.
"It's showing how Lincoln's image has been interpreted and used for decades for advertising, for political purposes, for commercial purposes and also in fine arts," said Dunfee, who added that the exhibition isn't necessarily a historical show.
"We have a set percentage (30 percent) in our gallery for anything that sells there, so it wasn't something that was set between the collectors and the art association.
"That's just a happy happenstance that came up that they decided to sell the collection. It wasn't for sale when we were negotiating having the show."
With a total value in excess of $15,000, the Shays' collection of Lincoln images began in the early 1970s. They couldn't afford to pay $1,000 for a court document with Lincoln's signature on it, so they turned to collecting images of Lincoln instead, and the collection has taken up "quite a bit" of the Shays' Springfield home, Jim said.
Members of the art association since 1967, the Shays wanted to benefit the organization by selling their Lincoln images, Jim said.
"We've had fun with them. We've taken photographs of them. Now it's time to pass them onto somebody else and let the art association benefit from some of the proceeds," said Jim, who is retired, along with Carole.
The exhibition is organized by themes: commercial art, political pieces and fine art.
"Best by Test" is a slogan on the framed package of "Old Abe Cigars," which may be purchased for $86. The hand fan "Freedom's Flight: from Abe to Ike, 1854 G.O.P. 1954" is available for $72. A photograph by the former Herbert Georg Studio of Springfield taken from an original negative of Abraham Lincoln owned by King V. Hostick of Springfield sells for $572.
Images that are unsold will go back to the Shays' home, where they will continue to be displayed.
"It isn't as if we're letting them go. I still have them in my camera. Now we'll have more space in our house to probably collect more Abraham Lincoln images," Jim said.
Tamara Browning can be reached at (217) 788-1534.


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There is a shop around here. Everytime I drive past it, I feel a sense of sadness. Can you tell me why?
It is an innocent vacuum cleaner store - probably locally owned. I bet the owner of the store lives around here, sends their kids to a local school, and provides for their family. But, I have never gone into that store, and I probably never will. I wonder how many people in this town bought their vacuum cleaner from this store? Probably very few.
There is really nothing wrong with the store. The owner is probably very nice and would make me feel welcome. But it is kind of inconvenient to get to - even though I drive past it most days. The store is along a stroad;
The city is probably very proud of this stroad - it looks shiny and newly widened. But, by being located along a road like this makes it a lot of effort to visit the store. I have to pull over, park the car, and lock it. But what if the shop is too expensive or does not have what I want? Then I have to do a left turn back on to the road, while cars are flying past at 45 mph - all for nothing. I may as well just look at the vacuum cleaners next time I am at Target or Kroger.
In my mind, this store represents a sad side to the suburban story.
I want to support small businesses, but it is incredibly inconvenient to do so. The only small businesses I frequent around here are restuarants for lunch, and the occasional contractor for when I want something done to my house. If I were to do all of my weekly shopping at small businesses - drive 2 miles to a family owned grocery store, 3 miles back to a family owned butcher, another 3 miles to a family owned pharmacy - it would feel like I was spending all day navigating traffic, driving across town just for a few items at a time.
I would have a hard time convincing myself, or my wife, that we would want to spend our Sunday doing this. Why would we not just head to Kroger, where we only have to park once, and we can get everything conveniently at one location?
It is a sad reality that small businesses often struggle in the United States;
When I started blogging, my second article was about the effects of the automobile. I wrote;
"Car-dependent cities don't favour small businesses. When driving, it takes a lot of time and effort to slow down, find an opportunity to make the turn, find a free parking spot, and park your car. Then when you want to leave, you have to get back in your car, and wait for an opening until you can merge back into traffic. In a car-dependent city where each small business provides it's own parking, it becomes a huge waste of time and is massively inconvenient to drive between and park at each store. From a consumer's perspective, they want to make the least number of stops possible during a shopping trip. Department stores and other big box retailers have a significant advantage as the consumer only has to park once and have most of their needs under a single roof, then they only have to pack their car once and return home. Local green grocers, bakeries, butcher shops, convenience stores, and other specialty retailers simply can't compete with that. Small businesses favour foot traffic - and thus, they favour the traditional city. In a traditional city you're likely to walk past countless small businesses going about your daily business. It's more convenient to simply spend 5 minutes of your time walking in to one of those on your way home than to go out of your way to a large supermarket. This isn't to say that large stores don't work in traditional cities - they do, but local businesses can be more competive purely because it's more convenient to visit a small business in a traditional city."
I grew up in the Australian suburbs - by American standards the area I lived in would be considered 'pre-war suburbia';
Just like the United States, Australia also has its fair share of post-WW2 suburbia and cul-de-sacs. A strip mall in Australia does not look that different to an American one;
But, my house was conveniently located inbetween a bus stop and a train station, that both dropped me off in the city centre, where everything I could ever possibly need to do was within walking distance;
I never bothered to get my drivers license in Australia. Most of my friends at university did not either - you would be considered crazy if you paid $1,800 a year for a parking permit!
I would consider that a 'strong' urban core - the type I talked about in my blog post What About The Elderly? In that post, I defined a strong urban core as being one where an elderly person would be able to take a bus into town, and have all of their needs satisfied on foot. Most Australian towns and cities are pretty centralized in terms of the services, job opportunities, and retail that you can find in the city centres.
There are plenty of American cities with strong centralized downtown cores. Portland, Oregon is one of them - infact, I would probably consider Portland the poster child for the ideal hypertrophic city. The city's core is compact and walkable;
I never needed a reason to leave downtown during my stay except when I headed off to the coast or to explore Columbia Gorge.
Unfortunately, not every city is like this. Little Rock, Arkansas is one of those. Unless you work in a high-rise office, or want to visit a handful of museums, there is really nothing else to do downtown - at least not enough to keep you occupied for an entire day. It is really sad to see this, because I have talked to people that remember Little Rock in the 1950s, that say it use to be like that;
It looks like a great city I could spend a day exploring.
Here is the same location today;
There is nobody around - all I see are the blank walls of offices buildings. Virtually anything worth visiting in Little Rock today is along a strip mall in the northern and western suburbs. Little Rock is essentially a city that has hollowed itself out.The Case for Investing Downtown
In an urban environment, not only are we concentrating our infrastructure and saving money - requiring very little to service many - but on a per-acre basis - the taxes and jobs generated from it are phenomenally high;
It is within a city's best interest to attract investment downtown.
I have come to the opinion that most Americans cherish a good urban environment. Whenever I see an postcard promoting downtown Little Rock, most often it will be an image of the River Market district;
The area of Little Rock that is compact, walkable, with a handful of shops is only about 1,400 feet long;
Even though most of downtown Little Rock consists of parking lots and the blank walls of office buildings, the small part of good urbanism that exists in Little Rock is what leaves the impression - even if that good urbanism is very small.
At the start of the Strong Towns video Huntington Calling , you will hear a former mayor asking;
"Why on earth would we go back in time 70 years to model our current cities on?"
Because we were creating lovable, productive places.
When I look up Huntington, West Virginia, I see images of their downtown;
The places I see are the places she was talking about that were built 70 years ago. Now, according to her, "times have changed" and they want to build this instead;
Nobody is going to cherish that - it looks like it could be anywhere in the country. I doubt those buildings are older than 10, maybe 20 years and the area already looks a lot more blighted and ugly than the 70+ year old buildings downtown;
The role of a city planner should be to create value in their city. This value can be monetary (downtown properties generate a greater tax revenue per acre), economic (downtown businesses generate more jobs per acre), or qualitative (creating lively, urban environments that people cherish and remember.) They were doing that 70 years ago.Back to the Vacuum Cleaner Store
If I owned a small business, would I see more customers by being located along a road;
Or being located in an urban area where people are streaming past my door?
There is a small shop in Hot Springs, Arkansas called The Bath Factory. All they sell are handmade bath soaps and bath salts;
The Bath Factory does very good business - it is always filled with customers. I usually pay the store a visit everytime I am in Hot Springs. Why? Because it is conveniently located downtown. Everytime I am in Hot Springs, I always make at least one trip downtown. When I am walking downtown, I walk past dozens of small businesses;
It takes me all but a few minutes to head inside one of these stores, make a purchase, then continue walking down the street.
Would I visit the The Bath Factory if it was located along a highway in Hot Springs, instead of downtown?
I doubt it. Not just for bath salts.
An essential part of becoming a Strong Town is to have a strong local economy - one that keeps as much money local as possible - and for this to happen, we need to create an environment that small businesses can thrive in - and an environment where people are willing to support them.
We need family owned businesses like the vacuum cleaner shop and The Bath Factory. They support local families, keep money in the economy, and create strong communities - and most importantly they stop our towns from being overtaken by large chains and franchises that turn us into Copy and Paste Towns by simply pasting their template into our town to milk out profit - without contributing to the town's livability or uniqueness.
It is very hard to create an environment like this in suburbia compared to downtown. If you look at any small town or large city with a strong, vibrant downtown core, you will find small businesses everywhere - from specialty shops;
To street vendors;
And a culture that values buying local.Conclusion
If we jump back to the question;
"Why on earth would we go back in time 70 years to model our current cities on?"
Because it worked.
- Our cities were financially productive.
- Small businesses florished and remained competitive.
- We had vibrant, lively urban streets filled with people and activity.
In response to the Atlantic Cities article - Is the 'Traditional Downtown' Dead? My answer is no - it just needs to be revived.


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TUESDAY, April 8, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Four men paralyzed below the waist have regained some movement in their legs after a series of electrodes implanted along their spinal cord reawakened nerves long thought deadened, researchers are reporting.
Electrical stimulation of the spinal cord has given the men the ability to voluntarily flex their toes, ankles and knees, and the strength and precision of their movements has improved over time through intense physical rehabilitation, the researchers said.
"The really exciting news that has emerged from the study is that spinal cord injury may no longer mean a lifelong sentence of paralysis," said Dr. Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the U.S. National Institutes of Health. "This is a substantial milestone that has been reached."
All participants are now able to synchronize leg, ankle and toe movements in unison with the rise and fall of a wave displayed on a computer screen. Three of the four are able to change the force at which they flex their leg.
The findings were published online April 8 in the journal Brain.
The first man to receive the implants, Rob Summers, can stand unassisted for brief periods of time, following physical rehabilitation that involves standing and stepping while suspended in a harness over a treadmill.
"At this point I can stand, and I can move my ankles, toes, knees, hips," said Summers, 28, who first received the implants four years ago and lives in Portland, Ore. "I can do sit-ups, which is crazy. Today I am doing about an hour of sit-ups without any help."
Researchers said they were most surprised by the improvement shown in two men who had complete motor and sensory paralysis.
In those patients, the pathway that sends information about sensation from the legs to the brain has been disrupted, as has the pathway that sends information from the brain to the legs to control movement.
Researchers had thought that the sensory pathway needed to be at least partially intact for the men to be able to control the nerves reawakened through electrical stimulation.
"There must be some information getting from the brain past the spinal cord injury to the lower spinal cord that controls the movement of the legs, but the amount of information that's getting across is so small it's not enabling the patient to move," explained study co-author Reggie Edgerton, a distinguished professor of integrative biology and physiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "The stimulation increases the excitability of the spinal circuits, enabling the person to perform some of these movements."
At this point, the electrical stimulator must be on for the men to be able to move. "One of the individuals can move sometimes without the electricity, but it's not as fine and not as strong," said senior study author Susan Harkema, director of rehabilitation research at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center at the University of Louisville.
The research revolves around a spinal cord stimulation unit that sends a constant stream of energy into the spinal cord through an array of 16 electrodes implanted beneath the bone of the spine, Harkema explained.
Summers received the implants in December 2009. The goal, said researchers, was to increase the sensitivity of local circuits within the spinal cord that carry out basic motor functions without input from the brain.
The stimulator worked as planned, with Summers' feet and quadriceps moving on their own. "It feels like pins and needles, like if you fell asleep on your arm and then your arm started to wake back up," he said.
The immediate results startled researchers. "The first experiment, he actually moved his toes and his legs," Harkema said. "We really had to rethink how a human being controls movement."
Part of the sensory pathway in Summers' legs was still intact after he was paralyzed in July 2006 when a car hit him as he stood in his own driveway. "He still had some feeling there, so we knew there was still a connection to the brain," Harkema said. "There were still some signals there."
So they tried the implants on three more men, including two receiving no sensation from their legs. All moved the first time they turned on the electrical stimulator, Harkema said, and within days were able to control some movement.
The main point, Edgerton said, "is in four out of four subjects we've observed something that 99.9 percent of the scientists or anyone else would say could not have occurred. This tells us there is new potential within the spinal cord we have yet to take advantage of."
What's more, all of the men had been paralyzed for longer than two years. "We have shown the plasticity of the brain and the spinal cord is not limited to the first six to 12 months after the injury," Edgerton said. "It can persist for years."
The next steps are to improve the technology behind the electrical stimulator and to test more patients, Harkema said. The NIH and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation partly funded the treatment for the first four patients, and researchers are looking for funding to provide implants for dozens more.
"I think if we could do 30 to 40 more, that would really open the evidence of how clinically relevant this is," she said.
In addition, the current results were gained using a device originally developed to help people control pain, Pettigrew said. Researchers want to develop a next-generation model specifically to create mobility in paraplegics -- perhaps even one with electrodes placed on the skin, so no surgery is required.
Summers believes this research will eventually allow him to walk.
"My ability to stand continues to get stronger and more independent," he said. "I absolutely believe 100 percent that mobility and functionality is right around the corner."
More information
For more information on spinal cord injury, visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
This article: Copyright © 2014 HealthDay. All rights reserved.


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Today's Workout: Crisscross hop squat gets you jumping
Spring has definitely sprung. The days are getting longer and the weather's almost perfect.
You may have a skip in your step and whether it's motivated by bathing suit season or just feeling the warm sun on your skin, you have extra energy to burn.
Our move today is a crisscross hop squat. It's a perfect combination move to get the heart pumping.
This move will work your inner and outer thighs, glutes, quads and hamstrings. It also doubles as a cardio workout.
Begin by standing tall, feet set slightly wider than your hips. Engage the core, and tuck your arms up by your chest for balance. From your outside stance, hop your feet inward crossing at the ankles. Bouncing off your feet, quickly hop back out to a wide stance, and into a squat. Use the deep positioning of your squat to propel yourself back up into your crisscross position more efficiently.
Continue this in and out motion for at least 10 times per set. Giving yourself a short break, just a few seconds, and continue your next set. Shoot for three to five sets. Use this move as a warm-up or incorporate into a lower body workout, giving you a cardio pick-me-up.
— Marlo Alleva, an instructor at Gold's Gym and group fitness coordinator at Fontaine-Gills YMCA, in Lakeland, Florida, can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Batman's David Goyer Makes Da Vinci a Superhero in Starz's Da Vinci's Demons
In Starz's historical fantasy series Da Vinci's Demons, the titular and prolific inventor and artist is not exactly how you've imagined him to be. In place of the long-bearded man, this Leonardo Da Vinci (played by the 31-year-old British actor Tom Riley) is in his prime, battling his own inner demons as he fights to set knowledge free.
Get the scoop on all the new winter TV shows
Adapting a legend who almost seems more myth than man was easy for executive producer David Goyer, who helped to bring Batman to life in the recent big-screen trilogy and also penned the upcoming Superman film Man of Steel. "It really wasn't that difficult because he's kind of superhero-y anyway," Goyer told reporters Saturday at the winter TV previews. "There are so many legends that have grown up around Da Vinci and there's so many tall tales about him. People have said that aside from Christ, he's the most recognized historical figure in the world. In that regard, my approach to it was not dissimilar to adapting Batman or Superman."
In the series, Da Vinci finds himself in the midst of a battle - of religion vs. science, past vs. future, truth vs. lies - that places him between two opposing forces of that era: The Vatican and the prominent Medici family of Florence. After extensive historical research, Goyer assures viewers that at least 85 percent of what they'll see in the series actually happened and that the writers have embellished infrequently, which is why they dub the series a historical fantasy.
What they don't know about the Renaissance polymath has actually been written into the series. "One of the themes of the show is that history is a lie," Goyer says. "It's constantly being overwritten. History is not always what you think it is. We're sort of saying this is the secret history of the man who invented the future. I'm not calling this a historical piece, it is a historical fantasy...It's primarily meant to be a fun piece more than anything and hopefully that was indicated in what you're seeing."
Get the scoop on your favorite returning winter TV shows
Historical aspects aside, Goyer says even the look of the series has a superhero feel, explaining that they found the perfect blend of period and modern style that ended up giving the series a "graphic novel" feel. In that same vein, Goyer explains that Da Vinci actually parallels Batman. "Father issues, missing parent, obviously both obsessed with flight," he notes. "They both had these formative incidents when they were trapped in caves, or in Batman's case, a well. I also thought it was interesting that Bob Kane, the creator of Batman, originally based Batman's cape on Da Vinci's glider, so there's two figures that are always kind of inextricably linked."
Da Vinci's Demons premieres Friday, April 12 at 10/9c on Starz. Will you be watching?
View original Batman's David Goyer Makes Da Vinci a Superhero in Starz's Da Vinci's Demons at TVGuide.com
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Beginning his discussion of real presence, Hunsinger turns to Aquinas.
Thomas Aquinas
Aquinas, in Hunsinger's mind, was able to satisfy what he sees are the two major conditions for a proposal that could resolve eucharistic conflicts: "He was able to hold together, convincingly, a robust definition of 'real presence' with an equally robust definition of 'local presence'" (23). Aquinas does this, Hunsinger argues, by speaking of Christ joining himself to us through the sacrament, as well as keeping distinct the idea of Christ's bodily location. Quoting Aquinas:
The body of Christ is not in this sacrament in the way a body is located in a place. The dimensions of a body in a place corresponds with the dimensions of the place that contains it. Christ's body is here in a special way that is proper to this sacrament" (24, quoting ST 3.75.1)
Summarizing Aquinas' view, Hunsinger suggests, "Real presence…meant nothing less than substantial presence – the actual presence of Christ's body, though in a spiritual mode without dimensions" (24). This, of course, is precisely what Calvin could not stand for. Christ's bodily life necessarily meant located bodily life. Aquinas though, instead of invoking the incarnational analogy, sought to answer the issue through the doctrine of creation (creatio ex nihilo). Transubstantiation in fact, involved "far more difficulties than does creation," according to Thomas, and created two difficulties,
First, the substance of one entity, the consecrated element, was totally transformed into that of something else, namely, the body or the blood of Christ. The second difficulty was that nonetheless the 'accidents' or appearances of the consecrated element remain even after 'their substance has disappeared" (25-26)
Even though this is the case, for unbelievers, they only receive the consecrated bread "objectively," but do not receive it spiritually, or "subjectively."
Martin Luther
Unlike both Aquinas and Calvin, Luther invokes an incarnational analogy for the eucharist. Luther based his understanding of the analogy, in part, on 1 Cor. 10:16, which led him to conceive of the union between body and elements as a kind of participation or koinonia. Even more than the incarnational analogy though, Luther posited the argument from "literalism" and the argument from ubiquity. The "This is my body" statement was taken literally (Hunsinger suggests that a better term would be "realistically") by Luther, and Luther wanted to affirm Christ's ubiquity as an aspect of even his bodily existence (although this claim is a bit odd considering his affirmation (or at least agreement) of the finiteness of Christ's bodily nature). As a summary,
"Christ's real presence in the eucharist was thus a special form of his presence in the Word. Just as Christ was imparted through the Word, so was he also imparted, though in a different form, 'corporeally in the bread and wine" (33-34).
Calvin and Vermigli
As stated earlier, Calvin's concern, particularly with the ubiquity question, was that Christ has a body localized in heaven, which means that the elements cannot actually be Christ's body in the way parsed by transubstantiation. The way Calvin mitigated these issues was through his robust pneumatology. Hunsinger summarizes:
In effect Calvin argued not so much that Christ's body was in the bread as that the bread was the instrument by which the Spirit presented and imparted the life-giving flesh of Christ to faith" (35).
Vermigli, more so than Calvin, serves Hunsinger as a figure of real ecumenical potential. He states that, "without losing the distinctive Reformed concern about local presence, he suggested how the idea of conversio, so important to Aquinas, and the idea of participation, so important to Luther, might be combined" (39). Vermigli posits, according to Hunsinger, an incarnational analogy that strikes the right balance between likeness and difference. "The eucharistic bread and the life-giving flesh were brought together by the Spirit to form a unity-in-distinction. They were related without separation or division and without confusion or change. That was their formal relation" (40).
So what was taking place with the bread and the wine? Vermigli uses the term "transelementation," which means that the bread was transformed "by virtue of its sacramental union with, and participation in, Christ's flesh" (41). A strength of this term, and the images to support it, have broad support in the tradition. Vermigli used Theophylact, the eleventh century Archbishop of Bulgaria, but could have gone much further to Gregory of Nazianzus and Cyril of Alexandria. The major image used was that of a iron rod thrust into the fire. The iron's transformation was by a participation of the heat of the fire and served as a useful image to talk about the elements being transformed sacramentally by union and participation.
What do we think about this brief taxonomy? Where do your own concerns fit in this discussion? The next post will deal most specifically with Hunsinger's own proposal, but I thought it would be beneficial to work through this first.


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PCB preps for Spring Break
PANAMA CITY BEACH — January and February are the calm before the storm in Panama City Beach. Come March, the beach will be filled with college spring breakers, and officials around Bay County are busy preparing for the challenges that arise from the month-long party. For the last year, led by Panama City Beach Mayor Gayle Oberst and Bay County Commissioner Mike Thomas, government agencies have channeled extensive attention into exploring better management practices for Spring Break. "I think one of the biggest things is we'll have additional … police forces on the streets and in the crowds and that's going to make a big difference," Oberst said. The Bay County Tourist Development Council (TDC) did not hesitate Tuesday when it came to deciding whether to approve a $100,000 expenditure to hire additional security for the beach in March. With both Oberst and Thomas on the board, the agency approved the funding unanimously, $50,000 of which would go to the Panama City Beach Police Department, and the other $50,000 to the Bay County Sheriff's Office for additional patrolling. Although the recommendation must first go through the Bay County Commission, Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman already has a plan for the funding if it's approved. Whitman said the $50,000 would be used for an ATV beach patrol of four to six officers Thursdays through Sundays, specifically behind the larger Spring Break hotels and resorts. In addition to the sand patrol, PCBPD also brings in five Panama City Police officers, five Bay County Sheriff's deputies and officers from the Florida Highway Patrol and the state division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco for assistance. Shifts for PCBPD officers also jump to 12 hours a day, six days a week. "Our major challenge is to make sure these kids have a good time and go home safe," Whitman said. "We all have to work together; we can't do this by ourselves." PCBPD also is offering area hotels and condominiums briefings to familiarize employees and residents on rules and regulations and the best way to react to issues surrounding Spring Break. "We reach out to everyone who wants to be a part of the team," Whitman said. "We go over what to look for and how to help us out, and how to protect a crime scene until we get there." Other improvements made, Oberst said, come from new "no parking" signs in the Spring Break's most congested areas, a cleaned up special events permitting process, new sidewalks and a streamlined towing service. Oberst said police have been instructed to look for "pop-up" clubs that operate without sufficient facilities. "We're trying to watch for those kinds of things and keep them in line," Oberst said. "I think we've gotten quite a bit done. We've tried to do the best we could." For the TDC, Spring Break presents an obstacle in overcoming the negative stigmas about Spring Break in Panama City Beach. "It has unique challenges that could negatively impact our brand" year-round, said TDC Executive Director Dan Rowe. "Spring Break can negatively impact people's perceptions of Panama City Beach as a tourist destination other times of the year." Rowe is hoping funding for additional law enforcement will limit the number of "negative events" that happen during Spring Break that fuel those perceptions. "Spring Break is an important economic driver for Panama City Beach; it generates a lot of visitor spending during the month of March," Rowe said. "It's an important segment, but again, it does have impacts on the community." Following direction from a 2009 Spring Break workshop with members of the community, Rowe said the TDC has since placed less emphasis on marketing Panama City Beach as a Spring Break destination. "What the business community said was that the TDC needs to really start to focus more on telling Panama City Beach's story, not to advertise Panama City Beach as a Spring Break destination as much," Rowe said. Spring Break is "very important to us, but it doesn't define us." Rowe said Panama City Beach is a summer family vacation beach more than anything else, with family vacation travel consistently the area's number one market. From a marketing standpoint, Rowe said, the TDC's Spring Break advertising is very limited and very targeted. Rowe said the TDC's messaging always encourages responsible spring breaking. The agency markets primarily through Facebook advertising on college campuses and also contributes to a cooperative marketing plan area businesses created with Collegiate Marketing Group last year. "With Spring Break and the community, every year we continue to look at how (can) we do it better," Rowe said. "How do we balance these two things. … It's not an easy task."


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Today, we continue our look at each position in the SEC by checking out quite the loaded group: Running backs.
SEC games are won and lost in the trenches, but the league has always poked its chest out from the running back position.
This season is no different, as the league is once again loaded here:
1. Alabama: The Crimson Tide might have the nation's best backfield. T.J. Yeldon enters the 2014 season with 2,343 career rushing yards and 26 touchdowns, while sophomore Derrick Henry, who might be the most talented back on the roster, excels as a bruiser and a cruiser with his pounding frame and elite speed. Junior Kenyan Drake provides a nice change-of-pace with his elusiveness, and the Tide will grind away with mammoth Jalston Fowler.
2. Georgia: When healthy, Todd Gurley is arguably the country's best running back. He has that rare combination of size, speed and explosion that make him a terror for defenses. Even with nagging injuries, Gurley has 2,374 career rushing yards and 27 touchdowns. Fellow junior Keith Marshall proved to be a great complement to Gurley with his explosiveness, but is coming off a devastating knee injury. Expect freshmen Sony Michel and Nick Chubb to get chances, along with youngsters Brendan Douglas and A.J. Turman.
3. South Carolina: Junior Mike Davis has the skill to be a Heisman Trophy candidate. He can pound away with his strength and break the big run. He has nearly 1,500 career yards and the talent to make this his last year in college. There isn't a lot of drop off with Brandon Wilds, either. Injuries have been an issue for him, but when he's on the field, he usually outworks opponents. He's also a good blocker and a receiving threat. Shon Carson has shown flashes, but has to put it all together. Keep an eye on David Williams, who could be the back of the future.
4. Arkansas: The Razorbacks didn't do a lot of good things on offense last season, but Alex Collins and Jonathan Williams presented a formidable duo for opposing defenses. Together, they rushed for 1,985 yards and eight touchdowns. The second number has to increase this season, but if the line improves, these two should produce plenty of headaches this fall. Korliss Marshall only played in eight games last year, but people around the program think he's the biggest home run threat at running back.
5. Texas A&M: Johnny Manziel is gone, but the backfield should be fine by committee. Tra Carson has what it takes to be a bellcow back with his blend of power, explosion and elusiveness. The Aggies could have a solid one-two-punch with Carson and Trey Williams, who might be the most gifted of A&M's backs. Brandon Williams and James White should get carries too. White looks like the back of the future and is an every-down pounder, while Brandon Williams might be the fastest of the bunch.
6. Auburn: What Tre Mason did last year was nothing short of impressive, and the system he ran will only benefit the guys after him. Seniors Cameron Artis-Payne and Corey Grant both rushed for more than 600 yards last season and each had six touchdowns. Artis-Payne could carry the load, while Grant is used as more of the speed back. Redshirt freshman Peyton Barber could get some carries, but keep an eye on true freshman Racean Thomas, who could really challenge Artis-Payne.
7. LSU: Jeremy Hill might be gone, but Terrence Magee could start for a handful of SEC squads. He rushed for 626 yards and eight touchdowns last season and stole some carries from Hill here and there throughout the season. He isn't easy to take down and is more elusive than Hill was. But he'll certainly be pushed by freshman Leonard Fournette, who was the nation's No. 1 recruit in the 2014 class. Senior Kenny Hilliard returns with more than 1,000 career rushing yards and 21 touchdowns.
8. Florida: This might the Gators' deepest position. Sophomore Kelvin Taylor started to get more comfortable last season and is faster and more agile right now. He's trying to be more of an every-down back and carry the load, but will get plenty of help from Mack Brown and Matt Jones. Brown has really turned things around in the last year, while Jones should be 100 percent after knee surgery this spring. The wild card could be freshman Brandon Powell, who could be a real threat in the passing game.
9. Missouri: The Tigers might have a gem in junior Russell Hansbrough. He isn't the biggest back, but he blends power and speed and churned out 6.0 yards per carry last season. Hansbrough is primed for a breakout year and will have a good complement in Marcus Murphy, who is an extremely explosive player at running back and in the return game. Redshirt sophomore Morgan Steward, who is bigger than Mizzou's typical backs, but might be the fastest of the bunch.
10. Ole Miss: The Rebels have a solid duo to work with in juniors I'Tavius Mathers and Jaylen Walton. Both registered more than 500 yards last season and were neck-and-neck for most of the spring. Expect an attack by committee where Walton has more of the flash and Mathers uses more power. Jordan Wilkins is a really physical back who is more of a grinder than the other two. There isn't a workhorse, but all these guys fit what Hugh Freeze wants to do on offense.
11. Mississippi State: Another team with a potentially deadly duo headlining its backfield. Josh Robinson was third on the team last season with 459 yards, but averaged 5.9 yards per carry. He packs a punch and can break the big plays. Nick Griffin had a great spring, but has dealt with multiple ACL injuries. Having him healthy for the first time is huge. There's excitement about Brandon Holloway moving to running back, and youngsters Ashton Shumpert and Aeris Williams could get chances this fall.
12. Kentucky: The Wildcats have plenty of questions on offense, but there's hope at running back. Sophomore Jojo Kemp led the team in rushing last season (482), but will battle Nebraska transfer Braylon Heard, who might be able to do a little more with his athleticism and speed. Josh Clemons is back after sitting out two seasons with injuries, and freshmen Mikel Horton and Stanley Williams will give Kentucky good depth.
13. Tennessee: Senior Marlin Lane has a ton of experience and will relied on even more with Rajion Neal gone, but inconsistency has always been something that has hurt Lane. He's yet to hit 700 yards in a season, but he's shown flashes his entire career. Freshman Jalen Hurd, who has great size and athleticism, is being viewed as the real deal in Knoxville and will have very opportunity to grab a good amount of carries this fall after enrolling early. Him taking the starting job wouldn't surprise anyone.
14. Vanderbilt: New coach Derek Mason was pleased with where his running backs were coming out of the spring. Junior Brian Kimbrow, who has a ton of wiggle and speed, is stronger, which should help him between the tackles. The Commodores could have a future star in redshirt freshman Ralph Webb and veteran Jerron Seymour, who led Vandy with 716 rushing yards, is back, giving Vandy some good depth to start the season.


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Here I am… Again with my coffee body lotion. I love this lotion so much that I think I will never stop making it. The last few times I've used cocoa butter with it, and it's even better that my "only coffee" lotions.
I can't say I didn't like my last creation – oatmeal cocoa butter honey milk body lotion. I just didn't like it as much as my coffee lotion, and it was more time-consuming to make it.
This one is super easy and fast to make, and it smells heavenly!
Over a double bath melt together:
1/2 cup emulsifying wax (IT CAN NOT BE SUBSTITUTED WITH BEES WAX)
1/2 cup cocoa butter
1/2 cup oil (this time I used only olive oil)
(do not allow the mixture to boil)
brew some coffee
1 1/2 cup for the lotion and
1 cup to enjoy it yourself
When the oil-wax-cocoa butter mixture is melted mix it in a glass jar with 1 1/2 cup of hot coffee. Both liquids need to be hot.
Use a blender to do that if you don't want to spent the next hour stirring the mixture every 5 minutes. It will cool down and thicken much faster but you will have more to clean. I always mix the lotion in the same jar in which I store it. It's very convenient for me.
If you choose the way I make it (without blender) you need to stir it every few minutes because the coffee is separating from the rest of the mixture on the bottom of the jar…
…and it looks just like on the picture below:
When the mixture is almost cold you can add essential oils (or fragrance oils). For more coffee smell and caffeine properties you can add coffee essential oil. In my case I added about 15 drops of sweet orange, 15 drops of grapefruit essential oils and 10 drops amber rose fragrance oil (for more sweet smell).
in my lotions I never forget to add some vitamin E. Poke it with a sharp knife and squeeze the liquid out. Use as many as you wish.
Stir it well with a spoon and enjoy:
For those who don't like coffee or coffee smell or just don't want to use coffee (for another reason): you can brew 1 1/2 cups of green, mint, peppermint tea or just use plain hot water. In my previous lotions I've used fresh squeezed grapefruit juice. It worked great, too.
You can get creative and mix different liquids but do not use more than 1 1/2 cup of that mixture all together. The lotion won't get creamy and thick enough. I've done that before 😦
ah… and keep in the fridge!
* since I started making and using lotions with cocoa butter in them I noticed my stretching marks got smaller and almost invisible!!!


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We're pleased to welcome the legendary pop culture artist and father of the Agit Pop Movement Ron English as a contributor to Lost At E Minor, writing about his favorite creative and cultural discoveries of recent times. English has just completed a successful showing of new works called Lazarus Rising at the Elms Lesters Painting Rooms, in which he paid homage to Picasso's 1937 masterpiece, Guernica, transcribing it to reflect our troubled times alongside an extraordinary body of new works.
Keep an eye out for English's posts on Lost At E Minor over the coming weeks as he joins contemporaries such as Shepard Fairey and Tristan Eaton as recent guest writers.


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About A-Grade Teak Furniture
Teak is the best natural material for outdoor furniture. A Grade Teak is what Teak Warehouse is famous for. This isn't standard Teak wood. A-Grade teak is milled from the premium part of the tree. All A-Grade teak in all aspects is the best looking most consistent teak available. We use only A-Grade teak for our new teak products (we also sell premium reclaimed teak furniture). Our A-Grade teak has the following benefits of teak such as: it is hard and dense; evenly grained, gorgeous and all-weather capable. A-Grade teak develops a smooth even patina over time in outdoor conditions and has inherent qualities in the wood to resist pests and bugs and rot. Our teak is sustainably harvested in the Perum Perhutani organization in Central Java, Indonesia. We are proud that we use mature trees which are 40 years old or more, for our outdoor furniture.
Click to Read More About A-grade Teak Furniture
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Neptune™ is a beautiful, fade resistant, rot and mildew resistant UV protected fabric, fantastic for year round use outdoors. It's a perfect match for the high-end products we produce. We use it to cover cushions for our different outdoor furniture collections and for our patio umbrellas. Neptune™ has built an exceptional reputation throughout world. Click to find out more about Neptune™ Fabric.
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The research, published in Nature Climate Change, revealed around half the CO2 released through human activity dissolves in the ocean, where it forms carbonic acid leading to a decrease in seawater pH. Scientists found the changes in the pH levels, along with global warming, could lead to poor growth if not death of marine plankton. Professor John Beardall from the School of Biological Sciences at Monash University collaborated with international researchers from Swansea University's Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Research, who led the study, the Marine Biological Association, Plymouth, the University of Dundee and the University of Technology in Sydney. Professor Beardall said the impact that ocean acidification-induced changes have on plankton was a major concern. "This research suggests the impact of oceanic acidification upon marine plankton could be more serious than previously thought," Professor Beardall said. "Acidity levels will more than double by the end of the century as a result of the increase in CO2 levels in the ocean, but it is unclear how the growth of plankton will respond to this increase." Using mathematical modelling and their understanding of cellular physiology, the team has found that many marine plankton will experience a substantially more acidic environment than currently suggested. Professor Beardall plans to develop the research further to understand the effects of ocean acidification and other aspects of climate change on key Australian phytoplankton species.
This free webinar will inform attendees on the most significant updates and modifications in the new standard, known as E1527-21 Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process.


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When disaster struck, many Texans discovered Sunday that they had to be their own first responders. The government could help, but only to a point.
Police officers and firefighters rescued many people from floodwaters. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said Sunday that thousands of state and national guardsmen, 20 helicopters, and 60 boats and high-water vehicles had been deployed, and he declared that citizens should know "that the cavalry is coming."
But the professional first responders could not handle all of the thousands of calls from people endangered by rising waters. The roads were largely impassable. Residents reported calling 911 and getting no answer. The Red Cross command center in Houston became physically isolated amid floodwaters.
So people had to take matters into their own hands. They connected on social media, asking for or offering help. They launched private boats and kayaks. They carried people to higher ground.
"You're seeing rescues from very expensive, high-end to very low-rent apartments," said West Houston business owner Jody Goldstein, 51. "It's hitting people equally."
The disaster Hurricane Harvey — now a tropical storm — has created is immense in scale, encompassing thousands of square miles of Southeast Texas. It has brought epic flooding that will affect millions of people. Rivers are still rising, the rain still falling.
"This will be a devastating disaster, probably the worst disaster the state's seen," William "Brock" Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told The Washington Post on Sunday. "The recovery to this event is going to last many years to be able to help Texas and the people impacted by this event achieve a new normal."
[Harvey drops nearly two feet of water on Houston area, causing deadly floods]
In an interview a few weeks ago, Long shared the one thing that worried him most when it comes to natural disasters: "You know what's keeping me up at night? This country has not been hit by a major hurricane since 2005."
That was the right thing to worry about, it has turned out. Long, just two months on the job, is coordinating the federal response to Harvey — the first storm of Category 3 or higher to hit the United States in 12 years — and the system's lethal aftermath.
FEMA acts as the nerve center for the entire federal government response, which now includes 5,000 federal employees in Texas, officials supplied by the Coast Guard, the Energy Department (whose staffers look for power failures and effects on oil production), the Department of Health and Human Services, and many other federal agencies.
FEMA said Sunday afternoon that it had 400 urban search-and-rescue personnel in Southeast Texas and that more than 500 additional rescuers would arrive Sunday evening. As of noon Sunday, the Coast Guard had 423 active-duty and auxiliary personnel and reservists deployed to the disaster zone, along with 16 helicopters flying rescue missions, Coast Guard spokesman Dave French said. The number of helicopters is slated to increase to 24 by Monday morning.
French said the agency has launched more than 2,000 rescue efforts and is searching for people stranded in homes and on rooftops in the Houston area.
The Department of Health and Human Services has assembled a team of 650 medical professionals in Dallas, waiting for orders to deploy to communities hit by the storm. Employees flew to the area Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from California, Ohio and other states. "We can open a small emergency room," said Edward Gabriel, HHS's principal deputy assistant secretary for preparedness and response.
President Trump signed a federal disaster declaration for the state, and Long said the move freed him to unify efforts and send in federal resources. Trump's declaration made federal financial assistance available to victims of the storm; they will have to apply for federal aid and can find information at disasterassistance.gov .
The unfolding disaster reflects the special vulnerability of Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city, which is barely above sea level, sits next to the stormy Gulf of Mexico, and has grown into a sprawling, heavily paved metropolis notorious for flooding.
Harvey's winds are creating a storm surge along the coast and in the bays and estuaries, essentially jacking up "sea level" and reducing drainage; gravity isn't much help.
The flooding in Houston also is slowing relief efforts elsewhere in Texas, which has experienced widespread flooding. Hundreds of Red Cross staffers and volunteers flew to Houston, expecting to drive to other affected areas to the south. But as the weather deteriorated Saturday, the organization determined that it was not safe to divert its staffers, issuing a "shelter in place" order.
Across Texas, 35 Red Cross shelters are open, but officials say the number will increase greatly on Monday. Relief efforts also are being slowed by a lack of hotel rooms in Corpus Christi, where many businesses remain closed because of widespread power outages. Those that remain open are overwhelmed by an influx of utility workers, fire and police crews, journalists, and evacuees.
Although FEMA has jumped on the Texas storm, its director has emphasized in recent interviews with The Post that the initial response to a disaster — whether it's a wildfire, a flood, a tornado or some other calamity — has to come from local and state agencies.
"Emergency management's a partnership. It's all based on a community's capacity to handle an event," Long said. "All disasters begin and end at the local level." As Long has described it, FEMA's job is to arrive when the local and state agencies are overwhelmed, which is what is happening in Texas.
Long has spoken of the need for a massive overhaul in how the country prepares for disasters, noting that the federal government alone can't always save the day. Ordinary citizens need to be prepared to be first responders, Long said. They need to have personal emergency plans. They need to be able to feed themselves for several days if disaster strikes. They need to be ready to save neighbors in harm's way.
"People need to be the help before the help arrives," he said this month at FEMA headquarters on what the agency referred to as a "blue-sky day" — a day without a major national catastrophe.
"I think we have to look at how we ask citizens to be ready, first of all. We used to look at citizens as disaster victims. Now they're looked at as what we call disaster survivors," he said. "I think we have to focus our attention back on the citizens and how we're training citizens to be truly ready for a disaster. Whether it's an active shooter, whether it's a tornado, in many cases citizens find themselves having to render first aid, CPR, or making safety decisions before the true first responders arrive."
W. Craig Fugate, President Barack Obama's FEMA director for two terms, said this month that Long's words about shared responsibility among federal, state and local agencies are an echo of what Fugate advocated for when he ran the agency.
Both men said, in different language, something similar: Americans tend to get complacent about the possibility of a disaster. "We have a long way to go," Long said about the nation's overall disaster readiness. Fugate, now retired, was more blunt: "It sucks."
['All night of slam, bang, boom,' then a scramble to assess the hurricane's damage]
Harvey made landfall late Friday as a Category 4 hurricane, then crept slowly inland. On Sunday, it was still a tropical storm, with a center of circulation 35 miles west-northwest of Victoria, Tex. The system had started to backtrack slightly Sunday, moving at just 2 mph to the southeast.
Harvey is the first major hurricane — Category 3 or higher — to hit the United States since Wilma in 2005.
Earlier that year, Hurricane Katrina killed more than 1,800 people, most of them in Louisiana, and put much of New Orleans underwater. FEMA's initially sluggish and ineffective response to Katrina tarnished the agency's reputation. It became a late-night talk show joke after President George W. Bush praised Michael Brown, his FEMA director: "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."
A 2006 law that Congress passed after Katrina is credited with improving the culture of an agency that had suffered from budget cuts and a lack of professional emergency managers early in the Bush presidency. The law required FEMA to dispatch teams to the scene along with massive relief supplies before a disaster hit.
Under Fugate, the agency improved coordination with the Red Cross and state and local emergency managers, and it boosted its use of social media to offer assistance to storm victims.
Yet even as nearly 60 federal agencies from the Defense Department to the Internal Revenue Service were on hand for the response to and recovery from Hurricane Sandy in 2012, FEMA confronted the limitations of bureaucracy in any disaster.
Large areas of New York and New Jersey were without electricity for weeks, for example, as FEMA struggled to get private utility companies and state agencies to move faster to restore power. Many homeowners who applied for disaster assistance found only confusion as they tried to navigate the many federal agencies tasked with helping them.
Trump has proposed cuts to federal emergency response funding. FEMA's $3.5 billion budget would lose $361 million under the spending plan the White House submitted to Congress in March.
Some programs criticized for a lack of effectiveness would be cut, but so would the federal commitment to helping state and local governments prepare for natural disasters through training, coordination, state-of-the-art equipment, and salaries and benefits for staff.
The Coast Guard's $9.1 billion budget for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 would be cut, too, by 14 percent.
With the Harvey disaster unfolding, the question is whether the storm could become another Katrina.
"It's hard to say. This is totally different from Katrina," Long said Sunday, recounting Harvey's unusual weather pattern. "This is an incredibly unique event."
Tim Craig in Corpus Christi contributed to this report.


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A Blog About Current Issues in White Collar Defense
EC Set to Unveil Framework for Online Gaming Across Europe
On October 23, 2012, the European Commission will unveil a series of initiatives and actions that it plans to put into effect relating to online gaming with the overall goal of providing a better framework for online gambling services in the European Union.
One of the main problems that the European Commission is facing is the differences in rules and regulations among member nations governing online gambling. Currently, no EU legislation specifically applies to the online gambling industry, which generated $13.7 billion in earnings in the EU in 2010.
Sigrid Ligne, Secretary General of the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), which represents companies offering online betting games, has said that this is an excellent opportunity for Europe as a whole to offer strong consumer protection in the gaming arena.
Ligne has said, "We deplore the situation today where we see 27 'mini-markets' for gambling in Europe. We are calling for the introduction of European rules to ensure proper protection for consumers and maintain a crime-free environment throughout the EU, while affording open, fair, and transparent licensing conditions for EU-regulated operators."
Private online gambling operators have expressed frustration with the EC for not forcing member states to open their online gambling markets. According to EU treaties, any business should be able to sell products and services in the EU countries as easily as it does in its own local market. The EGBA has accused the Commission of "failing in its role as guardian of the treaties" by not requiring member states to apply EU treaty rules in the online gambling sector.
Several European national governments, however, have opposed broader EU legislation because they want to protect betting monopolies that generate significant revenues for the state. The EGBA was hoping that the Commission would develop model legislation for its member states, but the Commission stated in June that it would only be developing an action plan at this stage, despite demands from the European Parliament for legislation. The action plan is expected to set out the Commission's plan in the areas of consumer protection, fraud prevention and sporting integrity. The Commission could still develop legislative proposals in the future.
The EGBA has announced that it will file a complaint against Germany in the near future because its gambling law does not meet the criteria set forth by the EU Court of Justice or the concerns that the Commission raised. The EGBA has said the Germany's procedure for granting licenses has led to the exclusion of non-German operators in violation of EU treaty rules. The law, which was ratified by 15 of the 16 German states in June, will only allow a limited number of sports-betting licenses and does not allow for online poker licenses. The Commission had been critical of Germany's gambling law in the past, but gave Germany some time to test the rules before it intervened.
The EGBA is also challenging the Belgian gaming law that has been in place since January 2012, which it argues is an "opaque and protectionist system." The EC has yet to rule on the challenge.
Time will tell what the European Union action plan will look like, but we think the European Union should strive for universal legislation across states. Universal legislation will allow for greater quality and consistency in games offered to consumers and allow for gaming operators to be more efficient in the delivery of their product by only having to focus on one set of regulations.
IFRAH Law


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#OWS Joins International Day of Action: We Are All Greeks Now
Posted 11 years ago on Feb. 17, 2012, 12:43 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
Tomorrow, the people of Greece will take to the streets again to occupy Syntagma Square in protest of the extreme austerity measures being imposed on the backs of the Greek 99% to the joy and benefit of the European financial elite. The 99% everywhere are under assault by the same global banking interests. Greece is merely the most severe economic crisis yet to be imposed by the International Monetary Fund and other agents of the 1% in the Global North. People all over the world live under the tyranny of policies dictated by the IMF, the World Bank, and the G8. As demonstrated by the wholesale slashing of social services in the name of "debt reduction," New York City and the United States are not immune.
Our resistance to austerity will also be global. This weekend, the people of cities across the world will take to the streets in solidarity with the Greek protesters who have occupied their workplaces and public spaces to resist economic injustice. Demonstrations are planned throughout Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portgual, the United Kingdom, the United States, Sweden, and more. Click here for a partial listing of international rallies on Facebook. Occupy Chicago held a Greece solidarity rally yesterday. There is a rally today in San Francisco and tomorrow in New York City. See below for more information, the original call-out, and a statement of solidarity from Occupy Atlanta.


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The Glasgow 2014 Cycling programme will showcase the disciplines of Mountain Bike, Road and Track, including four Para-Sport events. It promises an adrenaline-packed mix of speed, endurance and tactics.
Mountain Bike
The Mountain Bike events will take place at a purpose-built cross-country course within Cathkin Braes Country Park. Spectators will enjoy great vistas of Glasgow city while the riders battle it out in a discipline that combines technique with speed and endurance.
Venue: Cathkin Braes Mountain Bike Trails [South Side]
Road Race and Time Trial events will hit the open roads of Glasgow, using specific road circuit courses. They'll be taking the tourist route through Glasgow, but forgive them if they don't pause to admire the architecture. When you're travelling at these speeds, all you can see is the finish line.
Venue: Glasgow City Road and Time Trial Courses [City wide]
Some of the world's fastest track cyclists will converge on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome to take up the intense competition across 12 events for individual medal success and national glory.
Venue: Emirates Arena and Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome [East End]
Watch out for: Scotland's success in this sport has recently been celebrated in the construction of the world-class Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome. Australia, England and New Zealand also have an impressive Cycling pedigree. This will mean some electrifying action on two wheels at the Games.
International Federation: Union Cycliste Internationale http://www.uci.ch


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One of the Country's Best, The Princeton Review
Evergreen Featured in "The Best 373 Colleges" by The Princeton Review
Evergreen Also Earns Top Score of 99 on Princeton Review's Green Rating
The Evergreen State College is one of the country's best institutions for undergraduate education, according to The Princeton Review. The education services company features the school in the new 2011 edition of its annual college guide, "The Best 373 Colleges."
Only about 15% of America's 2,500 four-year colleges and two Canadian colleges are profiled in the book, which is The Princeton Review's flagship college guide. It includes detailed profiles of the colleges with rating scores for all schools in eight categories.
The Evergreen State College also achieved a Green Rating of 99, the highest possible score, placing it on Princeton's Green Honor Roll. The top Green Rating comes after numerous accolades including most recently recognition by Edward Fiske as one of the top 10 ten undergraduate environmental studies programs and previous green awards and recognitions by Princeton Review, Sierra Magazine, and Grist Magazine, among others.
The schools in The Best 373 Colleges have ratings that The Princeton Review tallies based on institutional data collected from the schools during the 2009-10 academic year and/or its student survey for the book. The ratings scores are on a scale of 60 to 99 and they appear in each school profile. The eight categories include: Academics, Admissions Selectivity, Financial Aid, Fire Safety, and Green, a measure of school's commitment to environmentally-related policies, practices and education. The Princeton Review explains the basis for each rating score in the book and at www.princetonreview.com/college/college-ratings.aspx
Robert Franek, Princeton Review's Senior Vice President of Publishing and author of The Best 373 Colleges, says "We commend Evergreen for its outstanding academics, which is the primary criteria for our selection of schools for the book. Our choices are based on institutional data we collect about schools, our visits to schools over the years, feedback we gather from students attending the schools, and the opinions of our staff and our 28-member National College Counselor Advisory Board. We also work to keep a wide representation of colleges in the book by region, size, selectivity and character."
The Princeton Review does not rank the colleges in the book academically or from 1 to 373 in any category. Instead it reports in the book 62 ranking lists of "top 20" colleges in various categories. The lists are entirely based on The Princeton Review's survey of 122,000 students (about 325 per campus on average) attending the colleges in the book and not on The Princeton Review's opinion of the schools. The 80-question survey asks students to rate their own schools on several topics and report on their campus experiences at them. Topics range from assessments of their professors as teachers to opinions about their financial aid and campus food. Other ranking lists are based on student reports about their student body's political leanings, race/class relations, and LGBT community acceptance. The Princeton Review explains the basis for each ranking list in the book and at www.princetonreview.com/college/college-rankings.aspx
The Princeton Review has posted the school profiles and ranking lists in The Best 373 Colleges at PrincetonReview.com. There visitors can find further information about the book, the student survey, the rankings, the ratings, and other features in the book including its "Honor Roll" lists saluting schools with ratings of 99 in various categories, and "Best Value Colleges for 2010" list.
About The Evergreen State College
The Evergreen State College is a nationally recognized public liberal arts college known for its distinctive interdisciplinary curriculum, high level of student/faculty engagement and emphasis on putting learning into action.
Contacts for The Evergreen State College:
Jason Wettstein (email@example.com) (360) 867-5213 orTodd Sprague (email@example.com) (360) 867-6042.
About The Princeton Review
The Princeton Review has been a pioneer and leader in helping students achieve their higher education goals for more than 28 years through college and graduate school test preparation and tutoring. With more than 165 print and digital publications and a free website, (www.PrincetonReview.com), the company provides students and their parents with the resources to research, apply to, prepare for, and learn how to pay for higher education.
Contacts for The Princeton Review: Leah Pennino (firstname.lastname@example.com) 508-663-5133 or Jeanne Krier, 212-539-1350 (email@example.com).


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You may need biohazard clean up services, ranging from cleaning and remediation of a building after death or illness to the clean up of a crime scene. Biohazards are anything that can affect or infect the human body such as blood, bodily fluid and tissue, other biological material, mold, sewage, animal contamination (bird or animal feces). All biohazards should be mitigated by a trained professional to prevent the spread of diseases.
Mishandling these substances can infect a person who unknowingly can take the infection and spread it to others. Without professional remediation, these materials can linger and cause long-term health hazards. For these situations, call Absolute DKI to restore your peace of mind.
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