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July 2014—"We never went hungry during the time we received assistance."
Such a simple statement from Bellah Mabhungo, 57, from Mabhungo village in Zimbabwe said it all. For her and others in the village, the hunger season had come a little earlier than expected in 2013.
Harvests had been poor in Mabhungo and neighboring villages, which meant higher food prices in the markets, a double hit for families like Mabhungo's and Mable Siwenge's. More than 2 million people in Zimbabwe were in need of food assistance at the peak of the hunger season in March 2014.
That's where the seasonal targeted food assistance by the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) began to help.
"With the assistance, we managed to survive until harvest time in March [2014]," said Siwenge, 50. She was a first-time recipient of food assistance this year, as her land did not produce well with the local maize and groundnut seeds she used. The seasonal assistance was provided from October 2013 to March 2014.
About one-third to one-half of the 168 families in the village had received this food assistance in previous years. But this year, USAID, in partnership with WFP, tried a different approach to assistance in this and other villages in Gweru and Gokwe South districts—mobile money and food instead of just food. WFP provided cash transfers in Gweru and Gokwe South because enough food was locally available to support direct purchases by beneficiaries. The intervention would not work in other districts because of inadequate food supplies.
Partnering with EcoNet, one of the largest mobile phone companies in Zimbabwe, and its subsidiary, Steward Bank, WFP piloted the first mobile money-based food assistance in Zimbabwe. With 92 percent cell phone coverage in the country, distributing food assistance in the form of mobile money made sense. For individuals who did not have their own phone, they typically did have an SIM card—the data storage card in a mobile phone—and could use a neighbor's or friend's phone with their own SIM card to access their mobile money.
Several days prior to the food distribution of vegetable oil and beans, more than 17,300 beneficiaries in Gweru and Gokwe South districts received an SMS text message indicating that $4 for each person in their household was now in their e-wallet. Beneficiaries could then immediately go to the nearest EcoCash agent—an agent for EcoNet—to get the actual cash in hand. For Siwenge, it took her about 40 minutes on foot to get to the nearest EcoCash agent.
Beneficiaries such as Siwenge saw a distinct advantage to getting mobile money—she managed the money for her seven-member household ($28 per month) and could take it out of her e-wallet little by little, so it was less likely to be diverted for things such as school fees, non-food items or loans to family members. With her cash, she bought grains for her family and had them milled.
Mabhungo agreed with Siwenge. Before receiving the assistance, her family of three limited their portion sizes to make sure the food lasted. After the program began, she said, "We never slept without having consumed anything."
Both women preferred a combination of mobile money and food instead of only one intervention. They felt they budgeted better for their families with only part of their food coming in the form of cash, but also felt it gave them control over what food their families ate.
Families in need weren't the only ones to benefit. Rural markets were stimulated because families now had the cash to purchase grains, and EcoCash agents in Gweru and Gokwe South districts also saw an increase in their business. Nyasha Muzila, an EcoCash agent at Muzila Store near Mabhungo, affirmed this increase in business during the two months of the mobile money program. While she also indicated her EcoCash transactions and sales from her store went back to normal levels at the end of the program, she and her family felt it opened up new opportunities for them to reach rural communities with other mobile banking options.
In preparation for the next hunger season, USAID, WFP, EcoNet and Steward Bank plan to take the lessons learned from the pilot—for example, ensuring accurate mobile phone numbers for beneficiaries and liquidity for EcoCash agents—to improve and expand the program.
USAID has supported WFP's seasonal targeted food assistance for a number years to help fill the food gap during the hunger season. In fiscal years 2013 and 2014, USAID's contributions totalled $45 million in the form of U.S. and regionally purchased commodities as well as cash resources for the mobile banking pilot and its predecessor, Cash for Cereals.


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Persons using assistive technology might not be able to fully access information in this file. For assistance, please send e-mail to: email@example.com. Type 508 Accommodation and the title of the report in the subject line of e-mail.
Norovirus Outbreak in an Elementary School --- District of Columbia, February 2007
On February 8, 2007, the District of Columbia Department of Health (DCDOH) was notified of an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis in an elementary school (prekindergarten through sixth grade). The school nurse reported that 27 students and two staff members had become ill during February 4--8 with nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea; because symptoms lasted <48 hours, a viral etiology was suspected. DCDOH recommended two preinvestigation interventions, which were implemented the same evening (February 8): 1) more thorough handwashing and 2) bleach cleaning of all shared environmental surfaces with a diluted (1:50 concentration) household bleach solution. This report summarizes the subsequent investigation of the outbreak, which suggested that noncleaned computer equipment (i.e., keyboards and mice) and person-to-person contact resulted in illness. To decrease disease transmission during gastroenteritis outbreaks, public health officials should emphasize good handwashing practices, exclusion of ill persons, and thorough environmental disinfection, including fomites that are shared but not commonly cleaned.
Epidemiologic Investigation
On February 9, DCDOH conducted a site visit and interviewed school personnel to determine the possible etiology of and risk factors for illness and to recommend additional control measures. The school had two to three classes per grade, and one to three staff members were assigned to each class. Although students attended a few classes outside their classroom each day (e.g., art or math), they spent the majority of time in their own classrooms. No outbreaks of gastrointestinal illness in the community were reported to DCDOH during this period.
A case of gastrointestinal illness was defined as illness in a student or staff member who reported nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea and who was present at the school any time during February 2--18. A questionnaire was developed to use in a cohort study of all staff members and students. Because no food was served at the school other than lunches that students brought from home and prepackaged snacks served in prekindergarten classes, foodborne transmission was not suspected; questions focused on illness onset, symptoms, school grade, classroom, special classes (e.g., art), ill contacts, and use of certain facilities or equipment (e.g., library computers) or participation in certain programs (e.g., after-school programs). Questionnaires were sent home by the school principal with all staff members and students the afternoon of February 9. The school nurse identified additional cases beginning February 9 by visiting each classroom daily; she interviewed persons who became ill during school and interviewed absent ill persons or a family member by telephone regarding grade, classes, illness onset, and symptoms. Information regarding ill contacts, facility and equipment use, and participation in programs was unavailable from the participants enrolled by the nurse.
Of 314 students and 66 staff members at the school, 207 (66%) students and 59 (89%) staff members participated in the DCDOH investigation, for a total of 266 participants (70%). A total of 225 (85%) were identified by using the questionnaire, and 41 (15%) were identified by the school nurse interview. Of 266 participants, 103 (39%) met the case definition. Among the 103 ill persons, 79 (77%) were students and 24 (23%) were staff members. The median age of students was 8 years (range: 3--12 years) and of staff members was 41 years (range: 13--66 years). A total of 42 of 77 (55%) students and 22 of 24 (92%) staff members were female. Illness onset occurred during February 4--17, with peak incidence on February 7 (Figure). Reported symptoms included vomiting (64%), nausea (56%), and diarrhea (47%). Median illness duration was 36 hours (range: 0.2--96 hours). Median length of stay at home after onset of symptoms was 1 day (range: 0--4 days).
The attack rate (AR) among respondents was 39% overall; ARs did not differ significantly between students and staff members or between females and males (Table). Classroom ARs ranged from 18% (kindergarten classroom G) to 71% (first-grade classroom J). Illness was not significantly associated with grade, location (i.e., floor) of classroom, special classes, or certain facilities or programs. Two factors were significantly associated with illness in bivariate analyses (p<0.05, Fisher's exact test): being in first-grade classroom J (AR = 71%; relative risk [RR] = 1.9; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.3--2.8) and contact with an ill person (AR = 38%; RR = 1.8; CI = 1.2--2.7). Using a multivariable model, being in classroom J and having an ill contact also were the only two independent and significant risk factors after backward elimination.
First-grade classroom J was the only classroom in the school in which computers were shared among students and staff members. Students in all other classrooms either had their own computer or shared library computers. Library computer use was not associated with illness, and no students in classroom J reported using library computers.
Laboratory Investigation
Stool-specimen collection kits were provided during the DCDOH site visit on February 9, and specimens were received from two ill persons. Twenty-five swabs were used to sample environmental surfaces. Although February 9 was the day after the initial bleach cleaning, several surfaces had not been cleaned and were visibly soiled. Sampled surfaces included toilets, faucets, water fountains, doorknobs, mice and keyboards from three computers (each in a differnt room), school utensils, and toys. Samples were tested by reverse transcription--polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for norovirus and DNA sequencing; stool specimens also were cultured for bacteria.
Laboratory results were available February 13. One (4%) of the 25 environmental swabs, from a computer mouse and keyboard in first-grade classroom J, was positive for norovirus subtype GII. Norovirus subtype GII also was identified in both stool specimens. Noroviruses from the two stool specimens and a single environmental sample were identical by DNA sequencing of region B, the gene commonly used for genetic classification. Bacterial cultures of stool specimens and environmental samples were negative.
On February 15, DCDOH recommended the following additional interventions: 1) clean computer equipment (e.g., mice and keyboards) and other shared surfaces that were overlooked during the February 8 cleaning with a 1:50 concentration household bleach solution, and 2) exclude ill persons from school for at least 72 hours after resolution of illness because of continued fecal shedding of infectious virus (1). The last person reported with a case of illness had symptom onset February 17 (Figure).
Reported by: R Diggs, MPH, A Diallo, PhD, H Kan, PhD, C Glymph, MPH, BW Furness, MD, District of Columbia Dept of Health. SJ Chai, MD, EIS Officer, CDC.
Editorial Note:
Norovirus (family Caliciviridae) causes the majority of acute gastroenteritis outbreaks in the United States (2). Person-to-person spread through the fecal-oral route, contaminated food and water, and aerosolized vomitus are known to transmit norovirus; contact with contaminated environmental surfaces also has been implicated in transmission (3). Laboratory studies have demonstrated that fingers contaminated with norovirus can transfer the virus to environmental surfaces, which can subsequently contaminate clean fingers with detectable amounts of norovirus (4). Because of shared computer use in health-care facilities, schools, and workplaces, certain researchers have suggested that computer equipment might be a route of bacterial disease transmission (5). A surrogate marker for norovirus, feline calicivirus, has been shown to persist on computer mice and keyboards for 8--48 hours (6).
This outbreak is the first report of norovirus detected on a computer mouse and keyboard, which highlights the possible role of computer equipment in disease transmission and the difficulty in identifying and properly disinfecting all possible environmental sources of norovirus during outbreaks. The contaminated computer was located in first-grade classroom J, the only classroom that was independently associated with illness and the only classroom in which computers were shared by students and staff members. No other high-risk modes of transmission explain the increased attack rate in classroom J; for example, no food was served, water-fountain samples were negative for norovirus, and no episodes of vomiting were reported. These factors, together with previously documented hand-to-fomite and fomite-to-hand norovirus transmission, suggest that computer contamination might have played a role in norovirus transmission in classroom J and possibly elsewhere in the school.
Person-to-person contact also likely played a role in this outbreak. Contact with an ill person was one of two significant risk factors for illness in bivariate and multivariable analyses. School children might be at increased risk for person-to-person norovirus transmission because of close quarters and poor hygiene (7). Because an ill person is infectious while symptomatic and possibly for 3--14 days or longer after recovery because of continued fecal shedding, the short exclusion time of ill persons from school (median: 1 day after symptom onset) might have facilitated person-to-person transmission in this outbreak. Student person-to-person contact during the weekend was reported anecdotally, and onset of new cases continued after the weekend.
The findings in this report are subject to at least four limitations. First, because data regarding ill contacts, facilities, and program participation were unavailable for nurse-interviewed participants, bivariate and multivariable analyses of these variables were limited to data from survey respondents. Second, certain uninfected persons might have been misclassified as ill because of the broad case definition and subjective reporting of symptoms, which might have resulted in an overestimate of ARs. Third, data were not collected regarding which students in classroom J used computers; consequently, the risk associated with computer contact could not be directly assessed. Finally, because several fomites were cleaned before sampling and not all fomites were sampled, the extent of environmental contamination and the possible transmission role of fomites unrelated to computers could not be characterized.
Proper washing with soap and water can eliminate norovirus from hands (4); alcohol-based sanitizers also reduce feline calicivirus on hands (8). Potentially (but nonvisibly) soiled surfaces are best disinfected with a solution of 1:50 to 1:10 concentration of household bleach in water (1,000--5,000 ppm chlorine) by vigorous wiping for >10 seconds (4,9). However, because a 1:10 household bleach solution is caustic, only corrosion-resistant surfaces should be cleaned with this concentration. Laptop computer keyboards have been shown to withstand >300 disinfections with 80 ppm bleach solution without visible deterioration (5). When cleaning environmental surfaces that are visibly soiled with feces or vomitus, masks and gloves should be worn, a disposable towel soaked in dilute detergent should be used to wipe the surface for >10 seconds, and a 1:10 household bleach solution should then be applied for >1 minute (4,9). Disposable towels used to clean visibly soiled surfaces should be discarded appropriately after use because they can transfer norovirus to fingers and other surfaces (4). Although quaternary ammonium compound-based cleaners typically are not recommended for eliminating norovirus, certain newer formulations* are effective; alcohol-only cleaners are less effective (10).
This report is based, in part, on contributions by J Davies-Cole, PhD, District of Columbia Dept of Health; S Lyss, MD, and J Blair, PhD, Office of Workforce and Career Development, CDC.
* A list of cleaning products effective against norovirus approved by the Environmental Protection Agency is available at http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/list_g_norovirus.pdf.
Disclaimer All MMWR HTML versions of articles are electronic conversions from ASCII text into HTML. This conversion may have resulted in character translation or format errors in the HTML version. Users should not rely on this HTML document, but are referred to the electronic PDF version and/or the original MMWR paper copy for the official text, figures, and tables. An original paper copy of this issue can be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO), Washington, DC 20402-9371; telephone: (202) 512-1800. Contact GPO for current prices.**Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Date last reviewed: 1/2/2008

subset: commoncrawl


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I am truly delighted to have been nominated by Lisa Taylor (Writers Block Party) for the Inspiring Blog Award and Angela (Zen Being) for A Thought Provoking Blog Award. All their blogs are very inspiring and wonderful. I recommend to visit to their sites. Thank you so very much!!!
Rules for the Award…
1. Thank the person who nominated you and write a post about it.
2. Share 7 things about your Self.
3. Pass the award on to 7 to 9 blogs you enjoy, link to their blogs, and let them know you nominated them.
My 7 Favorites are…
1. Favorite Color? White
2. Favorite Drink? Water
3. Passion? Self Exploration and Learning
4. Facebook or Twitter? WordPress 🙂
5. Favorite number? 3
6. Favorite Movies? Avatar, Inception
7. Favorite flower? Lotus
Blogs I recommend for Inspiring Blog Award are
- MoonLightened Way
- A Nature Mom
- Empty Words
- Religion4All
- From Yoga To High Heels
- LASAssociates's Blog
- amras888
Blogs I recommend for A Thought Provoking Blog Award are
- The Liberated Way
- Resting in Awareness
- The Wisdom Of Life
- Balanced Action
- j. ricci energy
- Quote A Wiz
- The Journey up the mountain.
- Path of the Beagle
- onehungrypoet
Hope you enjoy these inspiring and thought-provoking blogs. I sincerely thank all from my heart for your love and support by sharing your likes, votes, thoughts and awards. Keep exploring our Self… 🙂


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Associated Press – 2013-10-20 01:57:04
WASHINGTON (October 17, 2013) — The Justice Department on Thursday brought fresh charges against four former Blackwater Worldwide security contractors, resurrecting an internationally charged case over a deadly 2007 shooting on the streets of Baghdad.
A new grand jury indictment charges the men in a shooting that inflamed anti-American sentiment in Iraq and heightened diplomatic sensitivities amid an ongoing war. The men were hired to guard US diplomats.
The guards are accused of opening fire in busy Nisoor Square on Sept. 16, 2007. Seventeen Iraqi civilians died, including women and children. Prosecutors say the heavily armed Blackwater convoy used machine guns and grenades in an unprovoked attack. Defense lawyers argue their clients are innocent men who were ambushed by Iraqi insurgents.
The guards were charged with manslaughter and weapons violations in 2008, but a federal judge the following year dismissed the case, ruling the Justice Department withheld evidence from a grand jury and violated the guards' constitutional rights. The dismissal outraged many Iraqis, who said it showed Americans consider themselves above the law. Vice President Joe Biden, speaking in Baghdad in 2010, expressed his "personal regret" for the shootings.
A federal appeals court reinstated the case in 2011, saying now-retired Judge Ricardo Urbina had wrongly interpreted the law.
Prosecutors again presented evidence before a grand jury, and US District Judge Royce Lamberth gave the Justice Department until Monday to decide what to do with the case.
The defendants include Dustin Heard, a retired US Marine from Knoxville, Tenn.; Evan Liberty, a retired US Marine from Rochester, N.H.; Nick Slatten, a former US Army sergeant from Sparta, Tenn., and Paul Slough, a US Army veteran from Keller, Texas.
Slatten is charged with 14 counts of voluntary manslaughter and 16 counts of attempt to commit manslaughter; Liberty and Heard are charged with 13 counts of voluntary manslaughter and 16 counts of attempt to commit manslaughter; and Slough is charged with 13 counts of voluntary manslaughter and 18 counts of attempt to commit manslaughter. All four were also charged with one count of using and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.
They were charged under the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, a statute that allows the government to prosecute certain government employees and contractors for crimes committed overseas. Defense lawyers have argued that statute does not apply in this case since the guards were working as State Department contractors, not for the military.
Heard's lawyer, David Schertler, said in an email he was disappointed with the prosecution, which he believes has no merit.
"We will continue to fight and defend Dustin Heard's innocence and honor until he is fully exonerated," he said.
Lawyers for Slough and Slatten declined to comment. Liberty's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement, US Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. said the prosecution "demonstrates our commitment to upholding the rule of law even in times of war and to bringing justice to the memories of those innocent men, women and children who were gunned down in Baghdad more than six years ago."
Prosecutors last month agreed to dismiss their case against a fifth guard, Donald Ball, a retired Marine from West Valley City, Utah. A sixth guard, Jeremy Ridgeway of California, pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing.
The Justice Department had earlier dropped Slatten from the case, but after the appeals court decision reinstated the prosecution, the government said he remained a defendant.
The company formerly known as Blackwater Worldwide is under new ownership and is now headquartered in Virginia. It had changed its name to Xe Services, but the company was sold to a group of investors who then changed the name to Academi.
Blackwater founder Erik Prince is no longer affiliated with the company.
In moving forward with the case, the government will seek to overcome some of the legal problems that have dogged the prosecution. The case ran into trouble because the State Department promised the guards that their statements explaining what happened would not be used for criminal prosecution.
The guards told investigators that they fired their weapons, a crucial admission. Because of a limited immunity deal, prosecutors had to build their case without those statements, a high legal hurdle. In dismissing the case, Urbina said prosecutors had read the statements, reviewed them in the investigation and used them to question witnesses and get search warrants.
Court documents also reveal conflicting evidence, with some witnesses saying the Blackwater convoy was under fire and others saying it was not.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Posted in accordance with Title 17, Section 107, US Code, for noncommercial, educational purposes.


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911 call: 'I just stabbed a homeless man,' suspect says
Detectives say John Stabile wanted to go to jail for life or he'd kill again
A man who admitted to stabbing a homeless man called 911 dispatchers to tell them what he had done and then waited for deputies to arrive, according to the 911 call released Tuesday.
John Stabile, 23, faces one count of first-degree murder in the death of 42-year-old homeless man Bradley Suessine.
"I just stabbed a homeless man," Stabile can be heard telling dispatchers Saturday morning.
Stabile then described what he was wearing and said he was waiting in front of a 7-Eleven with the knife in his pants.
"I don't know if he's dead or not," Stabile said.
Stabile said the man he stabbed was in an alleyway in Deerfield Beach.
"I've got some psychotic issues," Stabile explained, adding that he's been taking medication for three years.
Stabile was on the telephone with dispatchers when deputies arrived.
Broward Sheriff's Office homicide detectives said Stabile told them he had seen Suessine around the area and had been thinking about killing him for a couple of weeks. Detectives said Stabile told them he wants to go to jail for the rest of his life or else he will kill again.


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Yulia Lipnitskaia, the 15-year-old Russian wunderkind, just took home an Olympic gold for Team Figure Skating. She's six days younger than US figure skater Tara Lipinski was when she won a gold medal in Nagano in 1998, and so she has officially become the world's youngest athlete to ever win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics. Go on, you amazing claymation figure of a human. I mean, dear lord. Gumby called, he wants his schtick back.
Also on the winning team are Evgeni Plushenko (the most decorated figure skater in modern Olympic history), Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev, and Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov. Canada won the silver, and the USA took home the bronze. (Don't be too sad, Ashley Wagner!)
Now Lipnitskaia returns home to Moscow to train for a few days before she returns to Sochi to compete in the individuals. Say it with me, folks: She could go all the way!
More From ELLE
Follow Laura on Twitter.
Photo via Getty
Via .


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Many years later as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendia was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. —Gabriel Garcia Marquez: One Hundred Years of Solitude
It is late summer 1977 in Aspen, Colorado. Pluto is still a planet. Nobody wears tattoos or pierced lips. Hair is long and bell-bottoms, wide. Jimmy Carter pardons all Vietnam draft evaders. "Tonight's The Night" by Rod Stewart is the year's number one song, but receives no Grammy. Star Wars plays in theaters. Rocky wins the Oscar for Best Picture. Apple begins selling its first laptops.
The first MRI image is produced. Pink Floyd performs the first quadrophonic concert in London. I am reading Bruce Chatwin's In Patagonia. Patty Hearst is sentenced to five years. G. Gordon Liddy is released from prison. And Ted Bundy leaps from a window in the Aspen Courthouse and escapes into the Rocky Mountains.
Aspen nestles in the Roaring Fork Valley and sits in the shadow of surrounding mountains, 11 to 14-thousand feet high. The back side of the ski slopes of Aspen harbors a few atavistic log cabins, remnants from prospecting days during the 1800's, which are now rented to semi-hard-core Thoreau impersonators who may want to live in a place like Aspen but want to escape a place like Aspen. I rent one of these log cabins and build a corral of lodgepole pines for my horses Kriya and Circe. There is no running water, no electricity, no roads, no neighbors in that neck of the woods—the allure, not hardship.
You take baths in a claw-foot, cast iron bathtub you fill with ice-cold water from the spring bubbling up next to the tub, under which you build a small fire to heat the water, as though a giant pot of soup. You place a 1X8 pine board between you and the floor of the tub because the cast iron gets so hot from the direct flames below, you could inadvertently sear your bottom. In winter when it snows on Aspen Mountain, it dumps feet at a time, every time, all winter. You might find yourself shoveling the tub out of snow to take a bath. And you might need to chop through thin ice to get to the water flowing from the spring. You will not see solid ground for months at a time. You'll probably wear insulated hiking boots every day, even in summer.
Life was not easy on the backside of the mountain, especially in winter. But it was a good time to live in Aspen. John Denver had a home there and sometimes gave free concerts in the Wheeler Opera House, built in 1889 and whose acoustics were so exceptional, when Denver sang "The Eagle and the Hawk" chills ran down your spine. Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thomson partied in Woody Creek. Leon Uris lived on Red Mountain and sometimes rented a room at the Holiday Inn, so he could watch football on cable TV. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band hung out in Aspen. And Don Henley. Glenn Fry lived next door to Jimmy Buffet. In 1977, Claudine Longet, perhaps Aspen's most famous femme fatale, was spending her 30 days in jail on weekends for shooting her lover, Olympic ski racer Spider Sabich. Later, she married her lawyer.
For heat inside the relatively large cabin, the open fireplace in the center of its one room radiated warm air in four directions. For dinners, a fancy wood-burning cook stove with two compartments for baking, and a reservoir for heating water. Summers, you drove your 4X4 along a narrow dirt path leading up the mountain from the valley below, the high-mountain meadows full of Indian paintbrush, skunk cabbage, and elegant blue columbines. There was an unwritten rule for back-country driving when vehicles met in opposite directions: the guy driving "down" the mountain had to back up to find a place wide enough for both to pass on the single-lane paths (originally carved for horse-drawn wagons hauling silver) because his chances of going over the edge while going backward were slightly less.
You might also want to remember not to dump the ashes from your fire place and cook stove into the outhouse pit until the ashes are completely cold. That stuff in the pit does not need a match to start a fire: if it gets too hot, spontaneous combustion occurs. You might show up at your cabin one evening, the way we did, and discover that your outhouse had blown itself to smithereens—the roof over there; the door, way over there. Bits and splinters of the walls…everywhere. They don't call it deep shit for nothing.
In winter, you cross-country skied up that same path. Or, you skied up the face of Ajax Mountain, Aspen's main ski slope (which most people mistakenly—or endearingly—call Aspen Mountain), early in the morning before all the skiers began pummeling down on regular skis (snowboards were not yet popular), and then you telemarked your way down through deep powder on the back side of the mountain where the cabin sat.
In this photo, the season is late summer, the aspens have not turned yellow yet. When Ted Bundy escapes from the Pitkin County Courthouse at just about the time this photo is taken, he works his way through town, by-passes Tom's Market, then climbs Aspen Mountain and hikes over to the back side. He runs across a cabin, breaks in, steals some food, clothes, a rifle.
I'll stop there for today. This is getting longer than imagined. I'll save Part II for next week.
Forgive the weirdness of the photo, it's a very poor digital copy of a 35mm slide taken ages ago. The guy didn't even clean the slide.
You can view more DP Photo Challenge images here: Seasons


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If you have British ancestors, you might find the Lost Cousins website useful.
It's free to join, and what you do is enter any members of your family who appeared on the 1881 census of England, Wales or Scotland. And you can find the census on line, too.
Once you've entered them, the Lost Cousins site attempts to match them with data entered by other members, and if you've entered the same family as someone else, chances are you're related!
And the more people who participate, the more chances you have of finding a lost cousin.
I've entered about 120 blood relatives so far.
Filed under: British genealogy | Tagged: 1881 census, Lost Cousins | Leave a comment »


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PHILADELPHIA vs. CLIPPERS
Tip-off: 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Staples Center
TV/radio: Prime Ticket/KFWB 980, KWKW 1330
Update: It's time for the return of Chris Paul, who has missed the last 18 games with a separated right shoulder. Paul went through drills on Saturday and Coach Doc Rivers came away with one impression: "He looked great. We plan on playing him." … Not only does it bolster the starting lineup to have an All-Star point guard leading the show, it means Darren Collison's skills can be utilized from the bench. And if J.J. Redick can come back from a sore hip, Jamal Crawford's scoring punch can be added to the bench mob. Forward Hedo Turkoglu also remains questionable with a knee bruise. … The Clippers halted a two-game skid with a win over Toronto on Friday and now look to build some momentum with two games prior to the All-Star break. … Blake Griffin, the Clippers' lone All-Star starter, has scored at least 35 points in his last three games, the first time a Clipper has done so since World B. Free did it for the San Diego Clippers in 1979. "This stretch is what has taken him to another level," Crawford said. "He's been incredible."


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Ten Top Tips
Research into Ten Top Tips was undertaken at University College London and funded by the Medical Research Council's National Prevention Research Initiative. A large randomised controlled trial of over 500 patients from 14 GP practices across England showed that those who received the Ten Top Tips leaflet lost significantly more weight than those who received usual care over the short term (3 months). Furthermore, patients who received the leaflet reported a greater increase in the automaticity the target behaviours, which suggests Ten Top Tips was more effective at establishing new habits.
Click here for more on Ten Top Tips
UPBEAT and LEAP
Being overweight during pregnancy brings health risks for the mother and unborn child. Weight Concern provided expertise for a large trial led by St Thomas' Hospital and funded by the National Institute for Health Research. The trial was testing out a group programme for women to support changes to eating and physical activity in order to improve health outcomes. Weight Concern was instrumental in producing the materials for health trainers who delivered the programme and for training and supervising them throughout the study. The study showed that women who took part in the groups had better eating and activity habits at the end of the study compared to those not taking part in groups. Weight Concern is currently involved with a second study to disseminate the programme in a community setting.
Shape Up LD
We have recently adapted Shape up for people with learning disabilities - 'Shape Up LD'. We have 2 versions of this Shape Up; 1 for adults and 1 for young people. A pilot randomised controlled trial funded found that adults with LD were enthusiastic about the programme, as were carers and trained facilitators from LD services. Those who participated in the programme were lighter than those who received usual care at the end of the programme, and this benefit appeared to continue even after the groups had finished. Camden & Islington Public Health are currently running groups with young people with LD in local schools.
Shape Up FCT
'Shape-Up following cancer treatment' is a new version of the original Shape-Up program adapted for people who have completed treatment for cancer. The program has been designed with input from this population and has been piloted in a randomised controlled trial involving women with a diagnosis of endometrial (womb) cancer . The results have been very promising and suggest the program is feasible, acceptable, and helps these women improve the quality of their diet.


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Quick bloggy bits from around the L.A. underground (and up). Share 'em.
- FEATURED: Boyz Noize Remixes Chemical Brothers on 'Swoon'*
- Oxnard Rapper MED Celebrates His Medical Pot Card in New Video
- MP3: Snoop Dogg & Quazedelic Shout Out the Güeros in New Song
- Baths Meets Mononoke in Samurai-Feat Vid for 'Lovely Bloodflow'
* "The Chems have gotten noisier on their new album, but one of the smoother tracks is first single "Swoon." Apologies, but this is not an electro megamix of the 2009 album by Silversun Pickups."
(all stories via West Coast Sound, via L.A. Weekly)


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World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
Working in nearly 100 countries around the world, World Vision serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender.
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Scottie Dog Quilts
Something for Everyone
Retro and modern prints commingle effortlessly throughout Scottie Dog Quilts in Eureka, California.
Meet the Staff
Front row, from left: Judith Paseman, Liz Scott Adams (co-owner), Sydney Adams, BrendaLou Scott (co-owner), and Geri Fury; back row: Kathryn Hartsell, Margie O'Keefe, Judy Palmer, Crystal Barrow, Laura Meglemre, and Pat Durbin; not pictured: Kathi Springmeier.
Sorted by Collection
The shop staff sorts and displays newer offerings by collection to help shoppers assess the latest mix of coordinates.
Give It a Whirl
Schoolhouse Twister from Let's Twist (Country Schoolhouse; 2010) by Marsha Bergren gives a colorful line a new spin.
Dear Jane
A host of quilt patterns are on display in Scottie Dog Quilts. Here, a Dear Jane quilt shows off a variety of small blocks.
Reflecting the Landscape
A mosaic picture quilt by Pat Durbin reflects Eureka's picturesque surroundings.
Stars & Strings
BrendaLou Scott and Liz Scott Adams, owners of Scottie Dog Quilts, designed Stars & Strings for Quilt Sampler® Fall/Winter 2012 magazine.
Machine-Quilting Details
Machine-quilter Angela Davy quilted Stars & Strings with a variety of intricate feather designs.
Get the Magazine!
Contact Scottie Dog Quilts to purchase a copy of the Fall/Winter 2012 issue of Quilt Sampler magazine, pick up the magazine at your local quilt shop or newsstand, or get the digital issue online.
Peek inside Pendleton Quiltworks, another quilt shop featured in Quilt Sampler Fall/Winter 2012.


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Possible shooting reported at Los Angeles airport
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — Police and paramedics surrounded a terminal on Friday at Los Angeles International Airport because of a reported shooting.
Witness Brian Keech said he heard "about a dozen gunshots" from inside the security gate at Terminal 3.
Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said emergency crews have responded to a multi-patient incident.
The incident was reported after 9:30 a.m.
There was no immediate word of any injuries, but television images showed two people being wheeled away by firefighters. Triage stations also were seen.
No other details were immediately available.


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I'm a shareholder in Lippo Malls Indonesia Retail Trust that has called for a massive rights issue (S$336.8m) that will not be underwritten by the five Joint Mgrs (StanChart, CIMB, Credit Suisse, BoA and UBS). Market is too volatile for them to risk their money for "peanuts"? In normal markets, they would be entitled to a fee of 2- 3% for underwriting the rights issue. This would have worked out to fees of between S$6.7m- S$10.1m.
But the five of them (StanChart, CIMB, Credit Suisse, BoA and UBS) are getting a total of S$1.5m (or 0.45% of amt to be raised) to do bugger all as I see it. This is 31.25% of the fees that will paid in relation to the rights issue. The rest of the fees will go to StanChart (financial adviser), lawyers, accountants, printers and so on.
Guess LMIR didn't want to upset the investment banks who were planning to underwrite the issue.


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Most "-isms" in the Body of Christ are little more than an attempt to push some limited image of Christ on everyone else.
Some -isms today that threaten to rob us of the fulness of Christ are pietism and post-modernism.
"Pietism" is a theology of personal retreat, defeat and escape.
It believes that I am God's highest purpose, thus making everything about me (or us), and about our purely subjective and often self-focused relationship with Jesus – but not much more.
"Post Modernism" is a philosophy that defines reality solely in terms of me, myself and I – because everything is determined by my own perceptions, experiences and sensibilities.
Christian post-modernism teaches that we should disengage from the world because it is irrelevant and is a distraction from God's ultimate purpose – which is a relationship with me and those like me.
Building on one or more of those "isms", in some circles "ekklesia" is now becoming a theology of ecclesiastical self-absorption.
Under the banner of "ekklesia" (the Greek word for "church"), some want to deny or explain away the Kingdom of God and the Great Commission and promote ekklesia – built on their own pietistic post-modern sensibilities – to the exclusion of all else.
Jesus, in turn, becomes only about me and those like me among post-modern pietists, as they create Him in their own image. Some even promote the view in blogs and upcoming books that they are now "beyond" all other parts of the Body of Christ.
My Jesus, however, is bigger than their Jesus!
Vision and Mission
This latest theological fad is a reaction to a "mission" mentality that has, I agree, wounded many people by pushing the centrality of Jesus out of too many churches. Everything, including Jesus and His people, becomes secondary to some vision or mission, and many Christians have been deeply offended and hurt as a result.
But an extreme reaction to a problem can often be just as problematic as the original wrong.
As I read some bloggers who are trying to promote "ekklesia" (the latest buzz word for "organic" or "simple" church), my spirit has become troubled as I see them create new problems in reaction to old problems.
Often, in their zeal to promote their vision of ekklesia as against everything else, they say it's all about Jesus because true ekklesia – to use a New Testament metaphor – is the Body of Christ.
But the Jesus they see is really a Jesus created in their own image – shaped by the hurts they've suffered or their reaction to the wrongs they've witnessed or just simply their own post-modern sensibilities – in order to promote some concept of the Body of Christ which is little more than a justification for their safely-ensconced retreat into self-constructed cocoons.
Like any truth out of balance, the irony is that those who most loudly protest that ekklesia should be only about Jesus have, in fact, created a false and emasculated Jesus to justify their own personal and reactionary theology.
Yes, ekklesia is about Jesus …
… but Jesus is about more than just ekklesia – and thus, is about more than just me and "us".
Boxing God In?
I am not going to box God in by telling Him – or you – what His life must look like in you or in your church. Sure, there are basic components for authentically biblical church, and for the most part institutional churches fall far short.
But apart from those basic components, neither will I box God in, and thus limit His people, by proclaiming what church can't look like – because what Jesus in me and my fellowship looks like often will be different than what Jesus in you and your fellowship will look like.
We each have different gifts and callings, with different graces, and thus should expect there to be different expressions of Jesus within the Church, within the larger Kingdom of God, and within our fulfillment of the Great Commission.
There also are different seasons, and different cultures, and different stages of growth and maturity, and so the life of Jesus in each of us also will look and be expressed differently – individually, collectively as the church, and culturally as salt and light to a desperate world – for those reasons.
It is immaturity to say – apart from some biblical basics that I fully affirm – that because my experience of Jesus is such and such, then your experience of Jesus must look the same. It is even greater immaturity to say that because my experience of Jesus is NOT such and such, then Jesus himself is NOT about such and such.
And it is pure, unmitigated gall to tell everyone how your tribe (i.e., those who share your own post-modern, pietisitc sensibilities) is "beyond" all the rest of the Body of Christ – especially when the fruit of your tribe has been little more than ingrown, anemic Christianity that can't seem to gain traction outside your own post-modern, pietistic circles.
It is time for some fruit inspection!
The Grand Epic
If Jesus in me does not result in Jesus among us, there is a problem. On this, I agree with those who have reacted against "mission" or "discipleship" or whatever else might become more important than the life of Jesus in us and among us.
But we need to take it further. Colossians chapter 1 is a great exposition on this. If Jesus living in us and among us does not result in Jesus living through us – for the transformation of our culture and even history itself as "all things, whether on earth or in heaven," are "reconciled to Christ" (Col. 1:20) – then we serve a false Jesus.
Some say ekklesia is all about Jesus, and I agree. But we nonetheless need to ask whether they are touting a Jesus created in their own image to justify some reactive retreat. It could be a negative reaction to a totalitarian and thus abusive affirmation of Christ's preeminence over all things. Or it could be a negative reaction to hierarchical and thus controlling forms of discipleship. Or it could be a negative reaction to any number of wrongs.
But in doing so, they risk throwing out the proverbial baby with the proverbial bath water. If we buy into any reactive and thus false concept of "ekklesia", by pursuing a false and emasculated Jesus, then we concede defeat, deny the Great Commission, limit the Kingdom of God, and are left with only one option: to escape into ever more introspective and introverted cocoons.
My Appeal
Let's deal with legitimate wrongs, but without limiting Jesus or His sovereign Lordship over all things!
Let's stop dissing other segments and "tribes" within the larger Body of Christ – whether they be Charismatic, fundamentalist, evangelical, neo-Calvinist, politically engaged, or whatever – by mis-characterizing them through negative stereotypes in order to claim we are somehow better than them.
I am not better than the the rest of the Body of Christ, because they have things that I need, and I have things they need.
In our own fellowships, we have worked hard to develop resources and ministries to help people get to an authentic Jesus, by finding healing and wholeness. This frees them to experience true ekklesia, because they have the life of Jesus where before there was only hurt or reaction. And in that freedom, they are doing wonderful things to advance the will of the Father in all spheres of human endeavor.
It is wonderful when people come into fellowship hurting or wounded, and find healing. But those who want to be national influences or insist on publishing public blogs to promote a crippled vision of ekklesia – out of negative reactions to admittedly real problems – are doing a great disservice to the Body of Christ.
Let's guard against "ekklesia" becoming just another name for reactive, self-imposed cocoons built around our own sensibilities.
Let's stop with the "beyond" stuff, which is really just an ill-considered attempt to say that the sensibilities of one's own "tribe" should be normative for everyone else.
Let's truly be all about Jesus, but let's make sure He's the Jesus He Himself reveals to us in the Great Commission: Jesus, Lord of all who is over all – in heaven and on earth!
~ Jim
For a follow-up series of blogs, see Beyond Evangelical, Parts 1 through 3.


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A theme built from the ground up to increase the revenue of magazine and news websites.
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From the built in ad manager to the magazine layouts and infinite scrolling on blog pages and related posts to features designed to boost social sharing, everything serves the purpose of making your site more profitable.
If you run a news website or any other form of site monetized with ads, Performag will help you make more money. It's as simple as that.
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In addition, you can set custom colors for different categories, to highlight them throughout your site. In the theme customizer, you can also apply custom backgrounds and custom colors to various theme elements, so that there are almost no limits to the ways in which you can personalize your site.
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Set detailed preferences for the style and behavior of your site. Options are available site-wide and on individual pages.
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Choose from different header layouts and apply custom background colors, patterns or images to your site header.
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Average $1,950 A Week @ 3K Miles OTR Position
- Starting Pay is 60 Cents Per Mile
- Auto Raise to 65 Cents Per Mile after 30 Days
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- Out 14 Days Home 3
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Rider Policy
Call 908 357 2276 Press 1
- 1 Year Verifiable CDL A Experience
- Must Have Tanker Endorsement
- Must Be Willing to Stay Out for a Minimum of 14 Days at a Time
- Must Meet FMCSA Requirements
Beyond the job benefits already listed above, there are several other advantages to truck driving jobs in Reading. Those holding truck driving jobs and bound to or from New York and New England must pass through at least a portion of Pennsylvania to reach their destinations. Likewise, Pennsylvania is home to the petroleum and steel industries — two significant commodities that offer steady work for truckers in Reading.
or call (888) 929-7247
See all Jobs Opportunities
with TRD Trucking
Company Drivers
The information below provides insight into how working as a Company Driver may meet your expected lifestyle, work into your long-term career plans, and provide the working environment you seek.
What is Company Driver?
Company Drivers are employed by specific companies that maintain its own fleet of trucks. Company Drivers are can be separated into 2 categories: (1) drivers working for trucking carriers that exist for the sole purpose of transporting freight of others, or (2) drivers working for companies that carry its own freight to support its own company's product or service. Company drivers are in high demand, particular among large carriers.
What are some personal characteristics helpful for Company Drivers?
Aside from the personal characteristics needed to be a good truck driver, a Company Driver can be representing a company with thousands of workers in the US and internationally. Therefore, it is helpful for a Company Driver to keep a happy, helpful demeanor both to the general public and customers. Likewise, reliability, honesty, integrity, and self-motivation is necessary since you won't have anyone looking over your shoulder or directing your every move. No one will tell you when to get out of bed in the morning or when to take a break or stop driving for the day (except the NMCSA, of course!).
For additional information about Company Drivers, including what is a Company Driver, pathways to securing a driving job, financial investment requirements, personal characteristics, average salaries and compensation structures of Company Drivers, visit Truck Driving Job Resources.
Different types of materials require different types of trailers, and each type of trailer offers drivers its own challenges. Therefore, it is important to understand what is required to not only drive your truck and your freight, but the trailer you are pulling as well.
What is a tanker/fuel transport driver?
Tanker equipment is designed for hauling various types of liquids and gases ranging from water to gasoline to hydrogen or other chemicals. Tankers include trailer used exclusively for the purpose of hauling liquids and flatbed trailers with tanks secured to the trailer.
What characteristics does a tanker driver need?
A tanker driver must accept an extremely high level of responsibility and exercise equally extreme caution when hauling and offloading liquids or gases. Some chemical hauled in tankers can be environmentally-hazardous if released, and other may be deadly — sometime for a considerable distance and requiring evacuations of neighborhoods or business districts. The liability a driver and employer hold when hauling and offloading hazardous materials requires high levels of insurance as well as high premiums. Tanker drivers are not going to be hired if inexperienced or with records of questionable driving behavior.
Tanker drivers must also be detailed in record-keeping. Reading gauges as materials is loaded, hauled, and offloading is important to know how much of a tank's capacity is delivered to what locations and if gauges indicate leaks. Hazardous material transportation laws can be strict.
What endorsements do tanker drivers need?
Tanker drivers are required to hold the (N) Tanker endorsement, and it is advised to obtain the (H) Hazardous Materials endorsement or (X) Hazardous Material-Tanker combination endorsement. With the endorsement tanker drivers will be limited in the liquids they can haul.
For more information about Tanker Hauling, including what type of companies hire, job requirements, compensation structures, what endorsements are needed, visit Truck Driving Job Resources
Truck driving route type vary within the industry and are dependent on several factors including interstate trucking requirements, route planning, type of cargo hauled, frequency, hazardous materials restrictions, driver experience, etc.
Over the Road (OTR) Routes are likely those that most people with minimal knowledge of the trucking industry envision drivers working. OTR routes can be regional with occasional outside of region assignments or they may be cross-country to make one delivery or several along the way. OTR drivers are generally paid by the mile and are on the road for much of the year with limited home time.


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As Paul Lynde sang in the 1973 animated version of Charlotte's Web, "The fair is a veritable smorgasbord orgasbord, orgasbord."...okay, Cole Porter it ain't, but as far as the LA County Fair goes, it's hard to disagree, at least with respect to fried foods. This weekend, like a rat after garbage, I made my annual trip in pursuit of the best deep fried junk imaginable.
Every year at the fair, there is something new dumped into the frier, and this year it was s'mores. The deep fried s'mores, available at the same food hut offering deep fried Twinkies, Oreos, frogs' legs, artichokes and Coke (??), probably win the award for worst presentation. The s'mores looked more like deep fried cow pattie, something which may be in the works for next year's fair.
From what I could tell, rather than a true s'more, this was pretty much a single marshmallow, battered, fried and topped with chocolate. Unfortunately, the batter to marshmallow rating was out of balance; it needed more gooey marshmallow. The bites that picked up a lot of goo, some batter and some chocolate in the right proportions, though, were an oozy bite of heaven. Still, they should have included a full chocolate bar and graham cracker...then it would have been a s'more.
From the same stand, we had deep fried artichokes, which were nice. Usually we get them from the other purveyor (Jeannes?) which are also good, but these had a better ranch dressing accompaniment.
I usually pick up some deep fried Oreos, which I can never resist, but are never as good as they sound. This year I passed. (And don't even get me started on the vomit-inducing monstrosity that is the Krispy Kreme Fried Chicken Sandwich).
Moving around the fair, we picked up some excellent apple fries. Apple fries are french fry cut apple slices, battered and fried and served with whipped cream. When done right, as these were, they taste like little bits of apple pie. The whipped cream was not only real, but impressively thick and rich.
But for me, the piece de resistance of fried fair food is still that old standby, now approaching its fourth or fifth year, the deep fried Snickers Bar. Available at the Texas Donut Stand, the Snickers bar is everything fried junkfood should be. The puffy batter encases and then soaks up the oozing, melting beauty of a warm Snickers. Oddly, the Snickers advertising is pretty low key for the fair...you really need to know where to find it. Served on a stick, looking like a smallish corn dog with powdered sugar, the fried Snickers is the perfect fried fair food. These things are so rich and excessive that even I can't eat one of these on my own, but split two or three ways, it's just right.
Given the perfection of the Fried Snickers, I can't fathom why there aren't more fried candy bars at the fair? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Almond Joy, Three Musketeers, Milky Ways...all of these should be shoved on a stick and fried, post haste!
Now, even I can't live on fried food alone, so we did venture into the world of non-fried fair food.
King Taco, the legendary East LA taco chain that has fair booths, is one of our regular stops. It may not be quite as good as their stands, but I don't get real King Taco enough, so this does it for me.
Then it was off to Dr. Bob's famous Inland Empire ice cream. I've never been to the Dr. Bob's scoop shop in Upland, so the fair is as close as I come to fresh scooped Bob's. I usually stick to his Scharffen-Berger chocolate flavors, which are the best chocolate ice cream anywhere, ever, but I couldn't resist the novelty of his delicious, creamy licorice ice cream...very licorishy.
...and then I saw it, or maybe I felt it, the tractor beam like pull of an enormous sign picturing the Giant Western Sausage. I knew immediately that this Giant Western Sausage was my destiny. I was nervous, anxious even; could a food whose major selling point was its size actually be good? I straddled up to the booth and watched people order corn dogs the size of baseball bats. Well, the sausage was modest, tiny really, compared to those...not really all that excessive. Then it came, an enormous sausage...it could have been 18 inches long, covered with peppers and onions, served on a warm, buttered bun. I sized it up and met its forlorn stare with my own. I bit. Shockingly, this was a pretty decent sausage. It had some spice, some garlic, some zest, some zing, and, size wise, it was the sausage that kept on giving.
Did the Giant Western Sausage change me? Was it a turning point in my life, infusing me with a new found respect for ground meats? I'll never be sure of that, but I'm pretty sure that I'll be thinking about it come next fall, when I saunter over to Pomona and wade through the pigs, pottery, table settings, home made jams and tapestries, looking for sustenance, and plenty of it.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Fry Me to the Moon: The LA County Fair
Labels: Kids, LA County Fair, Sweets
3 comments:
Deep-fried vegetables are one thing, but the idea of deep-fried sweets always grosses me out.
- October 1, 2007 at 3:49 PM
- sku said...
Raven, say it ain't so...doughnuts, beignets, fritters; fried and sweet were meant to be together.
- October 2, 2007 at 8:45 AM
- Linda said...
Now I'm hungry....Have tried deep-fried chocolate bars a few times at spa hotels in Italy and always liked them. But most of the other stuff I didn't know about, or I didn't know they ate that.
- December 6, 2021 at 8:13 AM
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Despite its name, climbing okra (Luffa acutangula) isn't an okra at all. Rather, it's been tagged with that misleading moniker because of its superficial resemblance to garden okra. So, just what is climbing okra, if okra it ain't? It's an edible gourd, a kissing cousin to the loofah (Luffa cylindrica). And, since all Luffa varieties belong to the family Cucurbitaceae, climbing okra is actually kin to the common cucumber.
Climbing okra is a vigorous vine that uses its long tendrils to cling to supporting structures such as trellises and fences. Depending on soil quality and related growing conditions, this plant's runners can reach 6' to 20' in length, quickly covering its support with a lush canopy of large, dark green leaves. (In warm, moist regions it's sometimes necessary to control the vine's rampant growth by pinching off the tips of runners.)
Luffa acutangula begins producing flowers well before reaching maturity. Blooms are 2 1/2" to 3 1/2" in diameter and resemble butter yellow thunbergia flowers. The blossoms open late in the afternoon and remain open all night. At twilight the flowers almost seem to glow, exuding a sweet fragrance that's irresistible to moths and late-shift bees. Male and female blooms grow on separate stalks and are easy to tell apart: The males stand out from the foliage on elongated stalks; female flowers hug the stems and are backed by immature fruit.
Once your climbing okra begins to bloom, it's time for you to keep a sharp eye out for young fruit; hidden among the large leaves, they're difficult to spot and can quickly grow too large to be tender. The flesh of the young fruit is snow white with contrasting green ridges, giving a cross-sectioned slice the appearance of a cogwheel.
If picked while still young and tender, vine okra has a sweet, delicate taste and can be used like summer squash. For boiling, stirfrying, or steaming, select fruit that are no more than 6" to 7" long. You can then peel them—or simply slice off the ridges, as the Chinese do.
For batter-frying, choose pods that are 10" to 12" long and 2" or so in diameter. Cut the fruit into 1/4"-thick slices, leaving the peel on to hold the tender morsels together as they cook. Dip the slices in a milk-egg mixture, then in flour or cornmeal before frying.
Harvest the fruit of the climbing okra regularly, even if you have to give some of your crop away. Like other cucurbits, this vining plant should not be allowed to set seed — that is, produce mature fruit — until fall. (Once it does, the vine begins to wither.) Come September, you can allow a few pods to ripen on the vine for next year's seed supply.
I f you enjoy craft projects, you might want to let a few pods dry as gourds. They turn a warm light brown and make interesting additions to dried arrangements that are especially appropriate for Thanksgiving. However, if a frost is forecast before your gourds are thoroughly dried, cut them off the vine and hang them by their stems in a warm, dry place indoors.
Climbing okra requires the same growing conditions as melons and cucumbers: soil that's rich in organic matte, and plenty of sun. The plants are very sensitive to cold and won't thrive in wet, chilly soil. You can start climbing okra seeds outdoors when nighttime temperatures are staying above 55°F. Or plant them indoors (no more than three weeks before your best guess at what will be the last frost date) by sowing two seeds for each 3"- to 4"-diameter pot. Remove the weaker seedling from each container as soon as the little plants have developed their first set of true leaves.
When the seedlings have been set out in the garden, keep the soil moist at all times. A 6" layer of straw mulch regulates moisture beautifully, as well as helping to keep weeds at bay and preventing low-hanging fruit from touching the soil and rotting. Feed each vine monthly with one cup of a 5-10-5 garden fertilizer (diluted according to the directions on the container). The vine also responds marvelously to fish-emulsion foliar sprays.
Last year I ( the author of this article) grew climbing okra on the wire surrounding my large, "finished" compost pile. The plants rooted in the cool, rich soil with vigor and grew steadily until fall — even though the summer of 1984 was the hottest in 138 years here on the Highland Rim of Tennessee.
Unfortunately, the same insects and diseases that plague the rest of the cucumber family may also afflict climbing okra. I've had no disease on my vines, but I do fight a running battle with spotted cucumber beetles. Late in last year's hot, dry summer, spider mites became a problem as well. But I've been able to control both pests with a spray of garlic and red pepper diluted in water. (I've not found too many insects that can stand up to that combination!)
In an edible landscape designed to produce as much bounty as beauty, climbing okra is hard to top as a plant that's pretty enough to eat, while tasting every bit as good as it looks. Chinese okra ("Luffa cylindrica"), also called dishcloth gourd or luffa, is a type of gourd produced on plants that closely resemble cucumber vines. The fruits are green and grow up to 1-3 feet long, though they are harvested for food before they reach their mature size. They can be eaten fresh or added to cooked dishes. The inside of this gourd can be dried and used as a cloth, hence its common name.
Chinese okra should be planted in full sun and soil that maintains even moisture without being wet. Taken from http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/climbing-okra-edible-gourd-zmaz85mjzraw
Till next time this is Becky Litterer from Becky's Greenhouse, Dougherty, Iowa


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A string of acquisitions and corporate changes haven't yet rekindled Yahoo's advertising business.
Yahoo on Tuesday reported quarterly sales that fell slightly short of both Wall Street's expectations and its own results from a year ago. Excluding revenue shared with advertising partners, Yahoo's sales came up just shy of $1.1 billion for the quarter ended June 30, down about 1% from last year. Sales for Yahoo's display advertising (banners and video ads) business dropped 11%.
Yahoo's core profit for the quarter, excluding stock-based compensation and some one-time expenses, rose to $331 million, up 46% compared to last year. Excluding some expenses, Yahoo earned 35 cents per share, beating the 30 cents per share consensus forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
"I'm encouraged by Yahoo's performance," Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer said in a written statement. "Our business saw continued stability, and we launched more products than ever before, introducing a significant new product almost every week."
Though display ads continued their downward trend, the company said it believes that core business will soon be resuscitated. Mayer noted that Yahoo's page views are rising again after more than a year of declines. Visits to Yahoo were up in June -- the first month page views grew year-over-year in 2013. And revenue from search ads fared better than the display advertisements, growing 5% year-over-year and reaching $404 million.
That resurrection in page views is partially due to recently refreshed versions of Yahoo mail, weather, sports, news and Flickr -- both on the desktop and on mobile.
"Yahoo's future is mobile and we're delivering our products mobile first," Mayer said on a conference call with analysts.
The revamped Yahoo mail app for tablets, for instance, brought a 120% increase in daily active Yahoo mail users. Flickr's redesign and offer of 1 terabyte of free space for each user lifted daily photo uploads by a factor of three, Mayer said.
This week marks the one-year anniversary for Yahoo with Mayer at the helm. The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has acquired 16 startups, nine of which were purchased in the last quarter including its largest buy, Tumblr. Yahoo expects that acquisition to grow its audience to more than 1 billion monthly visitors.
For the current quarter, Yahoo said it expects revenue to come in between $1.06 billion and $1.1 billion excluding traffic acquisition costs, in line with analysts' estimates.
Shares of Yahoo (YHOO) didn't move much on the news, increasing less than 1% in after-hours trading.
The challenge for Yahoo going forward will be to turn its increased traffic into an increase in advertisers. "The material impacts from a revenue standpoint will be in 2014," Mayer said.
Yahoo rival Google (GOOG) and search partner Microsoft (MSFT) are both slated to release their quarterly earnings on Thursday.


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Firstly, let's set the record straight: I love disaster movies.
I don't care if the Earth is being invaded by aliens, getting hit by comets, being saved by oil drillers or poisoned by angry trees (yes, my brain even shrank through The Happening). It's fiction, it's fun and, let's face it, who doesn't enjoy a bit of global calamity interwoven with a silly plot.
So, today the extended trailer for the November film 2012 has been released (below), and I do admit, I was mildly excited to see what this budding blockbuster had to offer — although I changed my mind when seeing the horridly Hollywooded 'science' and the USS John F. Kennedy flatten the White House after surfing a mega-tsunami at the end. That was no cigarette they were smoking in the Sony Pictures cutting room.
The whole 2012 hype has kept my blogging gene active for the best part of a year, so I know for a fact that 2012 director Roland Emmerich has a lot of material to play with.
According to the CGI-fest of a trailer, have some ancient intrigue with "mankind's earliest civilization" (the Mayans… a.k.a. not mankind's earliest civilization) predicting the "end of the world" (are you sure?) with their pesky calendar. We also have something astronomical (yep, Planet X is back) careering toward Earth. We get tsunamis flattening cities, flying giraffe, Noah's Ark, minivans getting hit by Big Flaming Balls Of Fire™, crying children, earthquakes, fire, more crying children, famine, angry politicians and John Cusack. (What?)
This is going to be oodles of fun if you want to see our planet disintegrate into a tortured dust bowl via computer-generated fury, but could this also be the end of the quintessential disaster movie?
This has been my complaint all along about the insane doomsday scenarios being dreamed up by crackpots and greedy authors: You're trying too hard! What ever happened to the subtle art of doomsday prophesy?
EXAMPLE: Nostradamus says the world will end some hazy time in the hazy future (get that man a Nobel Prize!); a computer expert says, "Hmm, these microchips might reset when the calendar switches from 1999 to 2000," followed by the aforementioned crackpots and greedy authors telling the scared populous that we'll be driven back into the Stone Age… all because of a small, overlooked flaw in computer programming.
I miss those doomsday scenarios. They were simpler times.
Now we have 2012 conspiracy theorists compounding doomsayer dogma, bending science to suit their hopelessly flawed doomsday scenarios. 2012 seems to be a hothouse for every impossible planet killer we could possibly imagine. How the hell Emmerich is going to work Nibiru, Planet X, killer solar flares, polar reversal, galactic alignment and geomagnetic hoopla into the plot I'll never know.
Impossibly jumbled plot to one side, I will still want to be one of the first to see this movie. I've examined the real science behind the proposed end of the world in 2012 since May 2008, and I can assure you, I have yet to come across one single ounce of Planet X matter. No planet-wide calamity is expected on December 21st, 2012, and there isn't a single shred of scientific or archaeological evidence that suggests otherwise. It will be interesting to see if Emmerich hired a science advisor, to actually add any credibility to doomsday, but if recent examples are anything to go by, I suspect it's going to be science-lite.
Unfortunately, I am still saddened by Sony Pictures marketing ploy. The Institute for Human Continuity (IHC) viral campaign was very a successful yet short-sighted idea, marketing the movie like a multi-million dollar advertising campaign, but pandering to the anti-science sentiment that flows through the heart of doomsday hoaxers.
All in all, yes, I'll watch 2012, but I can guarentee I'll be shaking my head for the most part. The choice of cast is a warning sign. John Cusack as the flawed dad who'll save the day? Danny Glover as President?? Woody Harrelson? Woody Harrelson?


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Day 4: Aug 23 in Sydney - PixTraveler's 2010 Cruise to Montreal
This Google Earth tour map with photos traces the author's visit to Sydney, Nova Scotia on a 2010 Boston to Montreal cruise on the HAL Maasdam.
Map Viewer Status
Sorry, this browser is not able to show a Google Earth Map in the viewer. However, you can still click on the Slideshow button to view pictures and click the Download button to download the map file.
The map has started loading in the map viewer at the bottom of this page. Please wait, this could take a few moments.
Exploring Features on This Page
Click or tap on the arrows to explore the features on this page.
MapClick or tap on the Map link to scroll to the Google Earth map at the bottom of the page. You can follow the route, zoom in to view details, and zoom out see the entire area.
PhotosWhile viewing a map, click or tap on a photo icon to show a larger thumbnail and a caption. Click on the thumbnail to view full size images in the slideshow starting with the selected image.
Guided TourClick or tap in the Guided Tour list to start an animated Google Earth Virtual Tour at a point of interest. Google Earth flies over the track and, as you fly over photos, it pauses, zooms in, and opens a thumbnail. You control the Tour like a video player pausing wherever you want.
SlideshowClick or tap on the Slideshow button to view pictures without showing a map. This allows you to view the pictures even if you are using browser that does not support Google Earth maps.
Google Earth ApplicationClick or tap on the Google Earth link to download the Google Earth map file. You can configure your browser to automatically open the Google Earth application. In the application, you can take a Virtual Tour, view photos, run the Slideshow, and access many more features.
You can show the map viewer, start the slideshow, or open the map in Google Earth.
Guided Tour
Sorry, this browser is not able to show a Google Earth Map on this device. However, you can still tap or click on the Slideshow button to view pictures in the Slideshow and tap or click the "Google Earth" button to open the Google Earth application. The Guided Tour items below can help locate points of interest when you run the Tour in Google Earth.
Click on an item below to show the map and start the Google Earth Tour at a particurlar point. Click on the Back button to return here.


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Modern Day Prophets
Twice during my teenage years, I felt that I'd witnessed a modern-day prophet speaking live on television. I grew up with the idea that such a phenomenon was not just possible but something for which we, as American Jews, yearn. We have watched how tremendous oratory can change history by reflecting the transformations taking place in our society and around the globe.
Prophecy, the rare experience of a human serving as a conduit for divine communication, pervades this week's Torah portion. Parashat Balak is almost entirely focused on the mercenary sorcerer Balaam, who accepts a commission from the eponymous Moabite king to curse Israel but instead becomes an agent of blessing for the sojourning nation. Every time that Balaam has the opportunity to damn the Israelites, God intervenes to "put a word in his mouth" in praise of Israel. At first, it seems that Balaam takes part in this drama unwittingly and even unwillingly, but eventually the Torah describes him as a full participant in God's plan for turning Balak's intended curses into blessings. Twice in this parashah we find a description of Balaam's pronouncements as the "Word of the man whose eye is true, Word of him who hears God's speech, who beholds visions from the Almighty . . . " (Num. 24:3–4 and 24:15–16).
Those two speeches that I heard in adolescence moved me because of their content as well their Balaam-like context—they were given by a former enemy of Israel addressing Jews before the whole world. In late October 1994, after signing a treaty to end decades of conflict, King Hussein of Jordan proclaimed a vision for reconciliation between his nation and the State of Israel. The late Arab warrior-turned-peacemaker first caught my attention with the following words:
These are the moments in which we live, the past and the future. This great valley in which we stand will become the valley of peace. And when we come together to build it and to make it bloom as never before, when we come to live next to each other as never before, we will be doing so as Israelis and Jordanians together—without the need for any to observe our actions or supervise our endeavors. This is peace with dignity. This is peace with commitment. This is our gift to our peoples and the generations to come.
One week after the first anniversary of that ceremony, King Hussein returned to Israel to comfort a nation in mourning and to exhort them not to bow to adversarial forces:
We belong to the camp of peace. We believe in peace. We believe that our one God wishes us to live in peace and wishes peace upon us, for these are His teachings to all the followers of the three great monotheistic religions, the children of Abraham. Let's not keep silent. Let our voices rise high to speak of our commitment to peace for all times to come, and let us tell those who live in darkness, who are the enemies of life, that through faith and religion and the teachings of our one God, this is where we stand. This is our camp.
Just days after an ultra-nationalist Jewish assassin murdered Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (z"l), King Hussein demonstrated how he had become both an ally to Israel and a champion for peace. His appeal, as a Muslim, to the faith traditions of "the children of Abraham" provides a contemporary parallel to this week's Torah portion. An examination of one ancient rabbinic statement about this connection, however, challenges us to reconsider our understanding of the distinction between good and evil, friend and foe.
During the third of his oracles, Balaam utters a powerful declaration about Israel, one that is directed to the other nations of the ancient Near East: "Blessed are they who bless you, accursed they who curse you!" (Num. 24:9). One of the most striking features of this verse is the way it echoes God's initial promise to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you" (Gen. 12:3). This resonance appears to be at least a partial fulfillment of God's promise, yet rabbinic sources regard Balaam's character with a mix of acclaim and scorn. On one hand, he is counted first among the "seven prophets who prophesied to the peoples of the world" (Baba Batra 15b) and is accorded status equal to Moses (Tanhuma Balak; Sifre Deuteronomy). On the other hand, numerous sources treat him as an immoral figure whose blessing of Israel represents a marked departure from his normal nature.
One of those disparaging interpretations, Mishnah Avot 5:19, actually challenges the apparent connection between Balaam's blessing for Israel and God's blessing for Abraham.
Whoever possesses these three qualities is among the disciples of Abraham our father, and those who possess the three opposite qualities are among the disciples of Balaam the wicked:
A generous spirit, a humble soul, a modest appetite—[such is one] among the disciples of Abraham our father.
A grudging spirit, an arrogant soul, an insatiable appetite—[such is one] among the disciples of Balaam the wicked.
This text raises a number of difficult questions about how the early rabbis understood Balaam's character in such diametrically opposite ways. One possibility is that they saw his initially unwitting participation in God's plan as a sign of his mercenary past, in which he would bless or curse others for the right price according to the whims of his clients. This reading, combined with our understanding of a mistrust of non-Jews in the early rabbinic period, begins to explain the dialectic above.
Another approach to this statement from Pirkei Avot involves reconciling these competing interpretive traditions by distinguishing Balaam's divinely inspired actions from his human character traits. Perhaps we should honor his ability to triumph over his dubious past and his personal flaws to assume his brief role as Israel's defender. Such a reading also allows us to embrace the fact that we now live in a world in which the "disciples of Abraham" include many Christians and Muslims who hope for the success of a democratic Jewish homeland at peace with its neighbors.
At the same time, we must recognize that the "disciples of Balaam" are not simply other nations who wish to destroy us. Sadly, arrogant and power-hungry forces persist in the Jewish world as well, including groups whose anger and fear threaten the future of Israel and of Judaism by denying the legitimacy of other Jewish communities and movements. We can and must do more to "put our money where our mouth is" in support of the Masorti / Israeli Conservative Movement as a model for the Jewish life we need to advance in Israel.
In King Hussein's words, we must assert that "this is where we stand"—that we embrace Abraham's spiritual qualities of generosity, humility, and modesty as his descendants and his disciples. Let us believe in the power of this path to make our adversaries into allies. Let us reclaim a vision for peace in Israel and throughout the world as a commitment to God and to our grandchildren. They are depending upon us.
The publication and distribution of the JTS Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee and Harold (z"l) Hassenfeld.


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So far, we have examined how Arthur M. Young, inventor of the Bell helicopter, engineer and astrologer/philosopher, used his skills and insight into how our minds determine meaning. Within this, he began to discover that there was a graphical symmetry to this process; a set of shapes that explained many of the ancient symbols that mankind has come to view as sacred. These will shortly be unveiled in more detail, but, first, we need to complete our tour of the foundations of how he approached it, for the symmetry emerges from those foundations and how we represent them.
In the last post, we looked at how Isaac Newton investigated the motion of things that move, discovering that – for example in the motion of a cannon ball – there were different aspects, faces, of that motion; and that although they were often hidden, they were tightly related to each other. Arthur Young used the equations that Newton produced for this. Unfortunately, this led us into numbers, squared numbers and, horrors, cubed numbers! Several brave readers made it to the end of last week's post, but not without difficulty. So, for this week, I decided to take a small detour to illustrate how these types of number can be seen as pictures instead of fear-inducing maths.
As a child, I had a terror of maths, assisted by an ex military 'Desert Rat' of a headmaster who believed that beating boys and throwing board-dusters at girls would help their education. That was the 1960s, not Victorian England; and the dubious joys of a Church of England country primary school. Times have changed, but for most people, the horror of seeing something squared or cubed has not. So, by way a small gift, let me share with you one of the most beautiful insights I ever learned – though, sadly, beyond my school days.
It was the ancient Greeks who developed the idea of squares and cubes and the numbers that represented them. They 'saw' numbers as representing both qualities and quantities including what they thought of as other things, like distance from a point of origin.
In the diagram above, a unit of distance, marked '1', (inches, metres, feet, etc) is added to others, in the form: 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. Nothing too complicated about that; it's simply addition, the sort of thing we use every day.
Now, imagine that these numbers are a child's counting blocks, as above. We arrange them in a line to produce the three, again. But this time, we begin another line of them with the last block of the first line. In doing this, we have changed the nature of what lies before us – what we are creating. As an example we might say we have begun to make a picture frame to contain our favourite photograph. In the process (and intuitively to our minds) we have turned a 'perfect' corner to begin the second row of blocks. This perfect corner is what we all know as a 'right angle', so named because of its special – and ancient – properties of 'rightness'.
We can fill in our photograph frame with other blocks. Because of the right angle – which we know to be ninety degrees – the blocks will all fit together to form something dramatically new. What started off as a line has now become an area…. Our simple maths formula was just 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. But now we have an area whose properties can be derived from the counting blocks that make each side. We have a choice: we can simply count all the 'one' blocks, or we can ask our Greek teachers if there is a quicker way. They will tell us that we can multiply or 'times' the length of one side by the other. This would result in 3 x 3 = 9. Again that's not too frightening. Our picture frame could have been a 3 x 4 rectangle, which would have given us an area of 3 x 4 = 12.
The first one above (3 x 3) has a special symmetry in that each side is the same length. Because of this identical symmetry, our line of three has become not just an area of nine but a SQUARE. This is the origin of square numbers: they are the same number multiplied by itself. And they produce a very magical figure – the square. To the ancient Greeks, this was very special. They envisaged that the square reflected a manifestation of divinity. From an origin – which had no quantity, but had a location – it led to a line, which did have a dimension, then to another line at the 'right' angle to produce a square, when we multiplied the length of the two lines together to give an area.
You can't square a number to get a rectangle; you can only get a square. Anything 'squared' therefore is based upon the union of two identical things, but arranged in a certain way, so that they have a relationship to each other. In this case that relationship is 'times' or multiplication. We shall see later in this series of blogs how Arthur M. Young expanded these relationships to provide us with a full diagram of human meaning – and reconciled much of the diverse ancient wisdom in the process.
Back to our squares and rectangles. A rectangle is useful, of course – most framed pictures are set in rectangles – but a square is 'perfect' and quite capable of being used as a sacred symbol, as, for example. Masonic teaching shows. Within the Masonic teachings (I am not a Mason, but have great respect for what masonry sets out to do) someone of right character is described as 'being on the square'.
Let's summarise so far:
-We have an invisible point of origin (where we begin our construction or drawing);
-As soon as we start to draw our line, we have a point, which has no length, but exists, unlike the origin, which is just an idea;
-When we have an extension to that point in a certain direction, we have a line: in this case of length three units – but this could be any number.
-When our length (or extension) is done at three units, we turn our construction through 90 degrees – a right angle – and begin another line.
-We could have continued this process, just doing the edge of our picture frame, and we would have arrived back at our start point – having created only the edge of our square. But along the way, we learned that to 'square' the length gave us the area contained by the whole figure: a surface or 'plane' of a higher order.
Can we continue this, or is the process finished with the area of our picture frame? We learned that the mystical key to the creation of a higher order was the Right Angle – 90 degrees. This whole process has been about the generation of space in which life (and motion) can happen. Can we take our figure and extend it through another 90 degrees, without repeating what we have done? And, if we get there, what will it teach us about a number cubed?
The picture below contains the answer. Enough for one post, I think. We will elaborate on this next Thursday…
To be continued…
{Note to the reader: These posts are not about maths or physics; they are about a unique perspective on universal meaning created by Arthur M. Young. If you can grasp the concepts in this blog, your understanding of what follows will be deeper.}
Previous posts in this series:
Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four
©Stephen Tanham
Stephen Tanham is a director of the Silent Eye School of Consciousness, a not-for-profit organisation that helps people find a personal path to a deeper place within their internal and external lives.
The Silent Eye provides home-based, practical courses which are low-cost and personally supervised. The course materials and corresponding supervision are provided month by month without further commitment.
Steve's personal blog, Sun in Gemini, is at stevetanham.wordpress.com.
You'll find friends, poetry, literature and photography there…and some great guest posts on related topics.
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