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There are few things that you can't do as long as you are willing to apply yourself. –Greg LeMond
Diabetes affects more than 34 million people in the United States, and it stands to reason that many of those people work. Being gainfully employed can be rewarding and, very often, with benefits such as health insurance, a necessity. However, the workplace can add to the challenges of managing diabetes in a number of ways. Take the time to think about what your diabetes care needs are and how they affect or fit into your workday, and make sure to plan for you and your diabetes on the job.
Diabetes supplies
Ideally, you will carry your blood glucose meter with you to work. This allows you to carry out your usual monitoring routine, as well as spot-check your blood glucose level if the need arises. Be sure to note the temperature range at which your meter is guaranteed to work: Most meters will work at temperatures between 50°F and 104°F; a few will operate in somewhat colder or warmer conditions. Note the temperature range given for your test strips, as well, and store test strips in their original container to protect them from light, heat and humidity. Medicines, including those used for diabetes, also have recommended temperature ranges at which they should be stored. That range should be noted on the written information or package insert that comes with your prescription.
If you work outside or in another environment that may be hotter or colder than the ideal temperature for your diabetes supplies, get an insulated bag and use a heating or cooling pack as needed.
For the protection of all the employees in your workplace, make sure you have a sharps container available to safely dispose of any lancets or needles you use during the workday. Some workplaces provide sharps containers, but if yours doesn't, you will need to bring your own.
If you are at risk for hypoglycemia (low blood glucose), always keep items available for treatment. The best options to carry with you and/or keep at work are those that are portable, nonperishable, and do not need refrigeration, such as glucose tablets.
What is type 1 diabetes?
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder in which the immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. As a result, the pancreas produces little or no insulin. Type 1 diabetes is also characterized by the presence of certain autoantibodies against insulin or other components of the insulin-producing system such as glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), tyrosine phosphatase, and/or islet cells.
When the body does not have enough insulin to use the glucose that is in the bloodstream for fuel, it begins breaking down fat reserves for energy. However, the breakdown of fat creates acidic by-products called ketones, which accumulate in the blood. If enough ketones accumulate in the blood, they can cause a potentially life-threatening chemical imbalance known as ketoacidosis.
Type 1 diabetes often develops in children, although it can occur at any age. Symptoms include unusual thirst, a need to urinate frequently, unexplained weight loss, blurry vision, and a feeling of being tired constantly. Such symptoms tend to be acute.
Diabetes is diagnosed in one of three ways – a fasting plasma glucose test, an oral glucose tolerance test, or a random plasma glucose test – all of which involve drawing blood to measure the amount of glucose in it.
Type 1 diabetes requires insulin treatment for survival. Treatment may also include taking other drugs to prevent kidney damage or to treat diabetes-related conditions such as high blood pressure.
Healthful eating
Proper nutrition is important for both good health and good performance at the job. Making healthy eating a priority can be difficult, especially if your workdays tend to be rushed.
If mornings are a particular problem, get things ready the night before. Set up the coffee pot and get out any dishes or utensils you'll need. Have a back-up breakfast plan if you are unable to take a few minutes to sit down and eat. Keep healthy, on-the-go options on hand, such as dry cereal and fruit that can accompany you on your commute. Always measure out the amount you need so you can stick with your recommended carbohydrate intake for that particular meal. It is not wise to skip breakfast for a number of reasons. One is the possibility of developing hypoglycemia if you are at risk for it. This could actually delay you getting to work since you'd need to stop and treat it.
Office cafeteria
If your workplace has a cafeteria, it may be to your advantage to get to know the cooks. Let them know you are interested in healthy eating, and ask them to share information with you — such as the Nutrition Facts panels from labels of foods served in the cafeteria — so you can make appropriate choices for your meal plan. The cooks may be willing to modify certain recipes or use lower-fat cooking techniques if you ask. Simple adjustments like putting sauces on the side and grilling instead of frying go a long way toward healthier eating. Remember to show your appreciation and let the staff know they have made a difference by helping you stay on track with your meal plan.
Off-site food options
If you don't have a cafeteria or similar place to buy meals at your workplace, you may head out to a restaurant, deli or grocery store at mealtimes. On a regular basis, this option can get expensive and offer many challenges for healthful eating. However, you may be able to identify nearby restaurants with healthful choices or a good grocery store salad bar. Keep your meal plan in mind as you order, and aim for simple, low-fat dishes over heavily sauced meats and vegetables.
Brown-bag meals
The best option for eating healthfully at work may be to bring food from home. This allows you to control what you eat, how the food is prepared and how large your portion sizes are. It may save you money, as well. To keep your food cool, use the workplace refrigerator, or purchase an insulated lunch bag and reusable freezer packs. If you have a microwave at work, you can also prepare hot meals in minutes.
Healthy snacks
Whether or not you make snacks a regular part of your meal plan, it is a good idea to keep some healthy snacks at work to tide you over when the need arises. If you have access to a refrigerator, you might choose to bring in items such as fruit, yogurt or carrot sticks. Nonperishable items such as granola bars, nuts and rice cakes can be stored in your desk or locker.
Having snacks handy will help you to avoid hitting the vending machine or eating "treats" brought in by coworkers when you're hungry or are in a hurry. It is a good idea to prepackage your snacks into the portions you desire so you can avoid overeating, especially while preoccupied with work.
Physical activity
If your job includes physical labor and/or significant amounts of walking, it may be helping to keep you fit. As you know, physical activity is an important part of a diabetes treatment plan. You can evaluate the effect of your on-the-job activity on your blood glucose level by monitoring it during the day. You will benefit by keeping records of your blood glucose levels and discussing them with your diabetes care team to decide whether any adjustments, such as lowering your diabetes medicines on highly active days, are needed.
People who primarily sit at work will want to figure out when during the day they can get up and move around. Using breaks to walk up and down the stairs or walking a few laps around the building during lunch may help offset higher blood glucose levels from lack of movement while you work. Try to squeeze in at least three 10-minute sessions of moderate activity a day for a total of 30 minutes daily. When you meet with your diabetes care team, discuss the nature of your job, your activity level at work and how best to meet your physical activity goals during or outside of work.
Work hours
Managing diabetes requires learning to balance the effects of eating, physical activity and usually one or more blood-glucose-lowering medicines. One of the necessary steps toward achieving this balance is learning how your diabetes medicines work — and knowing when they are likely to be working most effectively at lowering your blood glucose. This helps you to time your eating and exercise so that neither disrupts your blood glucose control. At work, however, your personal needs also have to be balanced with the needs of your job.
If you have flexibility in your schedule, try to plan meetings or intensive projects for times other than when you need to eat or perform other parts of your diabetes treatment plan. If you don't have much flexibility, you may want to discuss your break times with your manager so they can be scheduled for times that work well with your diabetes regimen.
If you work long hours (more than 7 or 8 hours a day), you may need to plan for two meals at work, rather than just one, as well as more blood glucose monitoring, taking medicines, and finding a way to work some activity into your day.
Working an evening, night or rotating shift can be particularly challenging when it comes to diabetes control. This is in part because shift workers tend to get fewer hours of sleep overall than do people who work regular daytime hours. In addition, figuring out the best times to sleep, eat and exercise can be difficult. In general, you will still need to match your diabetes medicines to your meals, no matter when those meals occur.
It's a good idea to speak to your diabetes care providers about managing your diabetes if you do shift work. It can also help to keep detailed written records of when you're sleeping, eating, exercising and taking medicines and what your blood glucose levels are at these times. This can guide you and your care providers in making adjustments to your regimen.
Safety at work
Your primary workplace safety concerns will depend on the industry you work in and your occupation. If you work in an office, for example, your main concern may be the comfort of your work station. If you work outdoors, physical hazards such as heat, cold and sun exposure may top your list.
The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSH Act) requires employers to provide their employees with working conditions that are free of known dangers. In addition, employers have a legal obligation to inform employees of OSHA safety and health standards that apply to their workplace. Be sure you are aware of the safety policies and procedures of your workplace, and inform your employer about any unsafe conditions that you observe.
If you have any diabetes complications, you may have some special needs regarding workplace safety. For example, if you have certain types of retinopathy (an eye condition), a job that includes heavy lifting may not be advisable. If you have neuropathy that causes lack of sensation in your feet, wearing steel-toed shoes or boots may put too much pressure on your feet and cause an injury. Speak with your diabetes care providers (including any specialists you see) about your work environment and the work you do to assure that your job duties are not endangering your health or your diabetes control.
Educating your employer
While it is not required that you tell your supervisor or manager that you have diabetes, it may be wise to do so and to take the time to educate that person about how you care for your diabetes. First, assure your supervisor that you will get your job done. Then let him know what diabetes tasks you are likely to perform during the workday, such as checking your blood glucose level or taking medicines. If having your meals at set times is important to your diabetes management, let him know that, too. And if you are taking medicines that can cause hypoglycemia, explain what that means and what you need to do if your blood glucose gets too low. Explain that low blood glucose can occur unexpectedly and that if it does, you will need to briefly interrupt what you're doing to treat it, even if that means leaving a meeting for a few minutes.
The Americans with Disabilities Act requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees with diabetes to permit them to perform essential job functions. The specific accommodations to be made depend on the needs of the individual. Some examples of accommodations an employee with diabetes might need include the following:
• A private area to check blood glucose or take injected medicines
• A place to rest while low blood glucose to returns to normal
• Regular breaks to check blood glucose level, eat or drink, or take medicines
Employers must always handle any information about an employee's medical condition or disability in a confidential manner. You can learn more about your rights as an employee at the Web site of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, www.eeoc.gov.
If you truly feel discriminated against in the job setting, the American Diabetes Association may be able to help. See "Resources for Workers" for contact information.
Job stress
Many companies are doing more with less these days, or expecting fewer employees to do the work that more people used to do. In addition, many people have lost their jobs, and among those who have found new jobs, some are having to learn new skills or to do work that does not utilize the professionals skills they have developed.
Any of these situations can be stressful, and such added stress can affect your blood glucose control. There's no easy fix for job stress, but being aware of your emotional responses and doing your best to care for yourself emotionally and physically can help. Advocating for yourself in the workplace — by letting your supervisor know when a deadline is unrealistic, for example — and making constructive suggestions about what could be altered in the work environment may lead to positive changes.
If you are feeling down and out and can't seem to shake feelings of sadness or irritability, are unable to concentrate or have low energy, you might be depressed and need professional help. You should seek help from your diabetes care provider or possibly from an employee assistance program, if your workplace has one.
Employee wellness programs
Some businesses have employee wellness programs in place to help their workers learn about and practice healthy lifestyle habits. Such programs may include health screenings, educational sessions, support groups, exercise groups, cooking classes, newsletters, discounted health club memberships, health insurance plans that reimburse for preventive services and other benefits. Many employee wellness programs are available to employees' family members, as well. If your company has an employee wellness program, it's worth checking out to see how it could help you in your diabetes care.
If your company does not currently have such a program and you'd like to encourage one, your employer can find a wealth of information on employee wellness programs that are specific to diabetes at www.diabetesatwork.org. Remind your employer that a healthy lifestyle is important for everyone, not just for people with diabetes. Studies have shown that high-quality employee wellness programs improve staff health and well-being, which may, in turn, reduce absenteeism, health-care costs and disability claims.
In addition to wellness programs, some worksites also have medical personnel on site, such as nurses, occupational medicine physicians or other health-care providers. Take advantage of these resources, and be sure to tell your diabetes care provider about any tests, immunizations (such as the flu shot), etc., that you have received at work.
Knowledge and resources
The more you know about your diabetes and your individual needs for optimal blood glucose control, the better you are able to plan for those daily needs when you are at work and to communicate them to your coworkers, if necessary. By keeping your diabetes in the best possible control, you will increase the odds for feeling better, which may help your productivity at work. (Click here for some take-away tips on managing your diabetes while at work.)
Stay in touch with your diabetes care team to make sure you are on the right track with your health. Periodically ask your diabetes care team for updates regarding your blood glucose monitoring equipment and diabetes medicines. Advances in monitoring equipment, medicines and the delivery devices for medicines used to treat diabetes may simplify your management, making it easier to incorporate these necessary health items into your daily work routine.
Learn more about the health and medical experts who who provide you with the cutting-edge resources, tools, news, and more on Diabetes Self-Management.
About Our Experts >>


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West Ham have signed Republic of Ireland Under-19 striker Sean Maguire from Waterford United on a two-and-a-half-year contract.
The 18-year-old finished joint top scorer in the League of Ireland First Division in 2012, helping Waterford to gain promotion as runners-up.
Maguire, who scored 13 goals in 24 appearances, told West Ham TV: "In summer 2011 the Waterford manager brought me in for a couple of training sessions and gave me a chance in the first team and I took it.
"Here I am now at West Ham and it's a dream come true really.
"People tend to say my best trait is my movement so hopefully I can show that here. I haven't been told yet which squad I will be in but I presume I'll be going into the reserves so I'll try to work my way up like I did at Waterford."

subset: commoncrawl


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Lauer defends GM mom question
NBC's Matt Lauer on Thursday responded to critics of his questioning of General Motors boss Mary Barra on whether she thought she got the job because she's a woman and if she can handle being both a CEO and a mother.
"I want to tread lightly here, but you've heard it, you've heard it in Congress and you've heard it in the headlines. … But there are some people who are speculating that you got this job as a woman and as a mom because people within General Motors knew this company was in for a very tough time, and as a woman and a mom you could present a softer face and a softer image for the company as it goes through the episode [faulty parts linked to deaths]," Lauer said on the "Today" show.
Barra, the first female CEO of GM and a mother of two who has been with the carmaker for decades, rising up through the ranks, immediately dismissed the speculation as false.
"Well, that is absolutely not true," she told Lauer in the exclusive interview. "You know, I believe I was selected for this job based on my qualifications."
Lauer continued, asking if she will be able to balance the demands of her work and her family.
"You're a mom, I mentioned, two kids, you said in an interview not long ago that your kids said they're going to hold you accountable for one job, and that is being a mom," he said. "Given the pressure at General Motors, can you do both well?"
"You know, I think I can," Barra responded. "I have a great team, we're on the right path, we're doing the right things, we're taking accountability and also I have a wonderful family and a supportive husband, and I'm pretty proud of my kids the way they're supporting me in this."
Since the interview aired, Lauer's questions have come under fire in reaction columns and over Twitter.
"Would he ever contemplate asking Alan Mulally at Ford, or Sergio Marchionne at FiatChrysler, if they could be a good CEO and a good parent at the same time?" business columnist Tom Walsh wrotein an opinion piece for the Detroit Free Press.
Jalopnik's Patrick George also published a reaction on the interview. He wrote, "Come on, Matt. Aren't we past this kind of s—- by now? Besides the fact that no reporter would probably ever ask a male CEO that question, it's just completely irrelevant."
"Lauer himself is a father of three children, but that hasn't stopped him from doing his job, which has included, among other things, traveling to 50 locations for the 'Where In The World Is Matt Lauer' segment, or standing in for Bob Costas to host the Sochi [O]lympics in Russia," Bryce Covert of Think Progress pointed out in his reaction.
Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden took her displeasure to Twitter. She tweeted, "My suggestion: Maybe working moms should stop watching @MLauer."
Lauer answered criticism on his Facebook on Thursday afternoon, explaining that his interview was referencing a Forbes article in which the GM CEO mentioned missing her son's junior prom for work.
"It's an issue almost every parent including myself can relate to," Lauer wrote. "If a man had publicly said something similar after accepting a high-level job, I would have asked him exactly the same thing. … [Work-life balance is] an important topic, one that I'm familiar with personally, and I hope we can continue the discussion."


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Contact Us
13824 W Mcdowell Rd, Suite 100
Goodyear, AZ 85395
Sun-Wed 11 AM - 2 AM
Thurs-Sat 11 AM - 3 AM
About UsAn Arizona tradition for nearly 40 years, Gus' New York Pizza & Bar has been dishing up its Big Apple goodness to generations of Arizona diners. There's certainly no better place in Arizona to be when you have a hankering for great pizza and good times. This is a family owned restaurant and sports bar that works hard to offer something for everyone. Come and watch your favorite team battle it out while enjoying a delicious assortment of pizzas, wings, subs, and fresh salads and much more. This is, after all, the home of the 32-inch NY Giant Pizza! You can have a slice, order one of the specialty pies, and even choose a Stromboli available in one size to fit all appetites. There are so many ways to enjoy your time here, you'll surely be back to try the amazing drink selection, happy hour deals, and other specials that keep your spirits high. Enjoy the full menu indoors, outdoors, or at the beautiful open bar.


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The Guardian
Forty-nine decapitated and mutilated bodies were found on Sunday dumped on a highway connecting the northern Mexican metropolis of Monterrey to the US border, in the latest suspected outburst in an escalating war among drug gangs.
Mexico's organized crime groups often abandon multiple bodies in public places as warnings to their rivals, though Nuevo Leon state attorney general Adrian de la Garza said he did not rule out the possibility that the victims were US-bound migrants.
The bodies of the 43 men and six women were found in the town of San Juan on the non-toll highway to the border city of Reynosa at about 4am on Sunday morning, forcing police and troops to close off the highway.
Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene said at a news conference that a banner left at the site bore a message with the Zetas drug cartel taking responsibility for the massacre.
Domene said the fact the bodies were found with the heads, hands and feet cut off will make identification difficult. The bodies were being taken to Monterrey for DNA tests.
De la Garza said the victims could have been killed as long as two days ago at another location, then transported to San Juan, a town in Cadereyta municipality, about 75 miles south-west of the border crossing at Roma, Texas.
Mexican drug cartels have been waging an increasingly bloody war to control smuggling routes, the local drug market and extortion rackets, including shakedowns of migrants seeking to reach the United States.
A drug gang allied with the Sinaloa cartel left 35 bodies at a freeway overpass in the city of Veracruz in September, and police found 32 other bodies, apparently killed by the same gang, a few days after that.
The goal apparently was to take over territory that had been dominated by the Zetas.
Twenty-six bodies were found in November in Guadalajara, another territory being disputed by the Zetas and the Sinaloa group.
So far this month, 23 bodies were found dumped or hanging in the city of Nuevo Laredo, and 18 were found along a highway south of Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city.
In April, police found the mutilated bodies of 14 men in a minivan abandoned in downtown Nuevo Laredo, along with a message from an undisclosed drug gang.
Also in April, the tortured and bound bodies of seven men were dumped in the Pacific port city of Lazaro Cardenas along with messages signed by allies of the Sinaloa drug gang.
Officials last year found 183 bodies in mass graves in the Tamaulipas state town of San Fernando. They were believed to have been migrants killed by the Zetas drug cartel. Another 72 migrants, many of them from Central America, were found slain in San Fernando in 2010.


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Humble Arts Foundation is currently accepting proposals for its Spring 2008 Grant for Emerging Photographers
Humble Arts Foundation established the Grant for Emerging Photographers (GEP) in 2007 to support fine art photography projects in the U.S. and abroad.
How the GEP Works:
Given twice annually, the GEP is a $1,000 grant award that recognizes the strongest new proposal in fine art photography as submitted to Humble Arts Foundation.
Deadline: 11:59 pm, Monday, March 3, 2008
Applicants will be notified via e-mail starting the first week of April as to the status of their proposal.
Applicant Eligibility
Applications will be accepted from photographers who are at least 18 years old and do not have gallery representation.
Project Eligibility
We will fund projects that are new or ongoing.
Applicants should submit no more than one (1) proposal requesting support for one (1) project.
Review Process
Humble Arts Foundation's senior curatorial staff will review projects for visual strength and clarity of proposal.
Submission Guidelines
You may submit up to five images. Each image must be:
Jpeg format, 72dpi, 550 pixels wide only
In addition, rename each photo with your first and last name (ex. john_doe1.jpg, john_doe2.jpg, etc). We will not consider applications with .zips files or links to your work/website.
Application Process
Your application is complete after you have completed the online application and submitted up to five images. We will not consider incomplete applications.
For questions, please send an e-mail to: email@example.com or visit http://humbleartsfoundation.org/gep/index.html.
amani olu
founder / director
humble arts foundation, inc.
po box 1157
old chelsea station
new york, new york 10113
w: http://humbleartsfoundation.org
p: (646) 330 1039


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Capital flows into emerging Asia should be high on the 'watch list' for policymakers in the region. But, perhaps, not in the way we had previously anticipated.
Twelve months ago our policy antennae were keenly attuned to the risks posed by the foreign capital that flooded into Asia from mid-2009 onwards. What was remarkable about this was the speed of the rebound after the massive drop during the global financial crisis. Within just 5 quarters, net inflows rose from their early 2009 trough to their mid-2010 peak—a mere one-fifth of the time that typically elapsed between troughs and peaks in the cycle of capital flows during the pre-Asian crisis period.
Another twelve months on, what we're seeing is not really all that "exceptional"—a point often overlooked in the current debate on capital inflows to emerging markets.
In our latest Regional Economic Outlook, we put the current situation into historical perspective. Our analysis confirms that, with the recent surge, net overall capital flows to emerging Asia (as a share of GDP) have not surpassed the peaks reached in past episodes of large inflows to the region. Also, it is reassuring that signs of risks from asset valuations and corporate indicators remain largely muted, and that external buffers are large.
Of course, that's not to say it's all blue skies. The nature of inflows is different this time, and that poses new challenges and risks.
Net portfolio flows—bonds and equity—are now dominating inflows to Asia. And, for a few economies in the region—including India, Indonesia, Korea, the Philippines and Thailand—those inflows are large compared to what their domestic markets can absorb. And, despite the slowdown since late 2010, portfolio inflows to emerging Asia are expected to continue over the next two years.
The earlier rapid surge and continued concentration in potentially volatile portfolio flows raise concerns for a few Asian economies. Given the relatively shallow markets in some countries, asset price bubbles can form quickly and sudden stops remain a real possibility.
This poses risks to financial stability and asset market imbalances, particularly in a context where there are already isolated pockets of concern on overheating, such as credit dynamics in some countries and certain segments of property markets around the region.
Given that large capital flows are seen to complicate the conduct of monetary policy, and the added risks to financial stability, how then should policymakers in the region proceed?
Monetary policy effectiveness
Capital flows can affect the monetary transmission mechanism as they can depress long term bond yields, which tend to be driven mainly by global factors. This in turn means that central banks have relatively limited influence on long-term interest rates.
Despite the important role of long-term interest rates in monetary transmission in other parts of the work, our analysis find that monetary policy in Asia has a strong influence on economic activity, working mostly through short-term interest rates. Indeed, a bulk of bank loans to businesses and mortgages in the region are priced relative to short-term interest rates.
So, when capital inflows are large, conventional monetary policy still has a role to play in countering overheating pressures.
Safeguarding financial stability
But, macroeconomic stability is not sufficient to guard against the risk of financial instability—a point underscored by the global financial crisis.
The upshot has been increased attention of the role of macroprudential measures, as have been introduced by several economies in Asia. These measures aim to reduce the risk of overheating in asset prices and of subsequent busts if capital flows reverse. We find that macroprudential measures can play a useful role in reducing economic and financial instability that could arise from surges in capital inflows.
Changes in both policy rates and macroprudential measures are likely to affect economic activity, as well as financial conditions. However, macroprudential measures differ in some key respects. For example, changes in policy rates are "blunt" instruments that impact all lending activities, whereas macroprudential measures are aimed specifically at markets in which there is an excessive risk of financial instability.
Accordingly, the two instruments are best seen as complements to, and not substitutes for, one another.
Better together
Asia's economies are now well placed—and have the necessary 'space'—to tackle overheating concerns with appropriate macroeconomic policies. But that will not be enough to limit leverage and address financial stability risks. Policymakers should be ready to tighten monetary policy together with, but not in place of, macroprudential measures.


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Welcome to Tacoma World!You are currently viewing as a guest! To get full-access, you need to register for a FREE account.
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What torque wrench for most basic maintenance stuff
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Leah Remini: "I Don't Want to be Known as This Bitter Ex-Scientologist"
Leah Remini is finally breaking her silence about her split from the Church of Scientology.
In a lengthy interview with Buzzfeed, Remini recounts her "horrendous" first exposure to the church as a child, when her mother relocated Remini and her sisters to Clearwater, Florida, where they became members. "We went from a middle-class lifestyle [in Brooklyn] to living in a roach-infested motel with six other girls off a freeway in Clearwater," the King of Queens alum says. "We were separated from our mother. We had to sign billion-year contracts we didn't understand. And we kept saying, 'Why are you doing this to us? Why are we here?'"
Photos: Stars who've quit Scientology
After she eventually moved to California, Remini stayed in the church until she very publicly broke away from Scientology last June. Her primary motivation for doing so was her 9-year-old daughter Sofia. "She was getting to the age where the acclimation into the Church would have to start," Remini says. "I started thinking of my own childhood and how I grew up resenting my mother because she was never home. ... In my house, it's family first - but I was spending most of my time at the Church. So, I was saying 'family first,' but I wasn't showing that. I didn't like the message that sent my daughter."
When she decided to leave the church, Remini said she tried turning to friends who were also Scientologists for support, but was met with resistance. Though Remini says her mother has supported her decision, other prominent Scientologists - including Kirstie Alley - have denounced her. "We had a chance to make a change from within, but they didn't want to," she tells Buzzfeed. "They only cared that their lives would be disrupted if they stood with me. They didn't care about doing the right thing. That showed me everything the Church taught me was a lie."
Remini, who appeared on the most recent season of Dancing with the Stars, is currently starring on TV Land's The Exes and plans to write a memoir. "I'm not trying to be controversial. I just want people to know the truth," she says.
What do you think of Remini's comments?
View original Leah Remini: "I Don't Want to be Known as This Bitter Ex-Scientologist" at TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


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In January, Vestas handed the application to Swale Borough Council, in Kent. At the time, it was reported the facility would create around 2,000 jobs and would be used for the assembly and servicing of turbines for projects in the North Sea.
The plant, which will be operational for 30 years, will manufacture blades, as well as assemble nacelles, for the V164 7MW turbine. The towers and other components will be shipped into the plant.
The approval follows an announcement by Vestas earlier this month that it was delaying the construction of a V164 prototype by a year in response to market projections for the offshore sector. The first V164 is expected to be buit in 2014, a year later than planned.
The Sheeness plant would predominantly be supplying turbines for the UK's 33GW Round 3 offshore programme. However, despite the planning approval, Vestas has consistently said the plant will not go ahead without changes to government policy and the necessary orders to make it worthwhile.
Speaking to Windpower Monthly earlier this year, Vestas CEO Ditlev Engel said: "Sheernees is a huge investment and it will not make sense if we don't gave the orders to back it up. We need to have the orders so when we invest the money we have the orders to back it up. There's still some time to go but we are in dialogue with customers."


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12 of the Most Healthy and Sustainable College Cafeterias
Big-name schools are overhauling their food services by buying local and organic ingredients, catering to vegetarians, composting waste, saving energy and much more.
Big-name schools are overhauling their food services by buying local and organic ingredients, catering to vegetarians, composting waste, saving energy and much more.
Healthy, Fresh and Eco-Friendly
Many of us shudder when we remember our college dorm food: rubbery macaroni, bone-dry chicken and the most tasteless excuse for "lasagna" ever dished out to paying customers. But that's changing, and today's college students expect something better. Students are also among the most engaged when it comes to caring about the environment, and more and more colleges are tapping into that energy, transforming ho-hum dining halls into happening centers for green education -- not to mention fresh, healthy food.
In an era in which fewer and fewer students are staying in the dorms (many are opting for apartment living, or -- gasp -- are choosing to live at home to save money), it also behooves schools to get with the times and offer something better than bland food and stale bagels. Going green can be a big selling point with today's talented youth, as this recent list of most eco-friendly colleges in America (or this even more recent list or this one) can attest.
Sustainable Operations
In fact, there has been particular focus on the environmental impact of universities recently, some of which are as large as small cities, and consume comparable amounts of resources. The Princeton Review's recent honor roll of green colleges features top schools that are making the grade when it comes to sustainability, innovating with impressive energy-efficient buildings, reductions in pollution, "living machine" water treatment plants, solar power, bike-sharing and much more.
Here's a look at some of the creative ways colleges are greening up their food services. Perhaps what's most exciting is that, in many cases, it is the students themselves who are asking for fresh, local, organic and vegetarian foods, as well as composting and other sustainable programs. Oftentimes, school administrators scramble to keep up with a student body's calls for change.
Yale University
On the academic front, Yale needs no introduction. But what may be less well known is the Ivy's commitment to its pioneering Sustainable Food Project. The far-reaching program began in one of the university's "residential colleges," the Harry Potteresque Berkeley College. A few years ago, the center's dining hall became a test kitchen for local, organic and vegetarian food. It became extremely popular among students, and the movement has spread across the rest of the campus.
"How the food is purchased, how it is served, and how waste is managed are all part of a sophisticated and evolving system, and Yale has taken the lead in developing a model for other universities to follow," explains Yale spokesperson Dorie Baker. This includes a small organic farm in urban New Haven, as well as community service and education in the community. Students love the fresh, local food, and Berkeley College still must limit the number of non-residents that are admitted for meals.
Duke University
Duke buys a lot of green power and encourages biking. All new construction at the Durham, North Carolina campus must be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. In fact, in 2007, the school opened the SmartHouse dorm, a LEED platinum building. Across campus, the dorms buy local and organic foods, compost and promote recycling. They also use biodegradable and minimal packaging.
Duke has done extensive surveys of dining practices, and has worked with a broad base of stakeholders to make improvements.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley has long been known for a revolutionary progressive spirit, so it's perhaps not so surprising that the school hosts America's first certified organic college dining hall. In addition to pesticide, hormone and GMO-free fare, the school's Crossroads cafeteria boasts a number of green features, including natural lighting, energy-efficient fixtures and low-flow water faucets. Tables are cleaned with cloth instead of paper, excess food is donated and scraps are composted locally.
All 10 UC campuses are on track to increase the use of low- and zero-emission vehicles by 50% by the year 2010, generate 10 megawatts of renewable energy by 2014, and achieve zero waste and carbon neutrality by 2020.
College of the Atlantic
Sometimes described as the greenest school in America, Bar Harbor, Maine's small College of the Atlantic was the first to go carbon neutral (in 2007). All students have the same focus: "human ecology," which means they study the environment, although each scholar customizes his or her own major. Students built a wind turbine, and learn in green buildings.
According to COA spokesperson Donna Gold, the food in Blair Dining Hall (aka Take-A-Break) "is delicious -- and often quite international, since we have a population that is 16% from outside the U.S. (curries, salsas, stir-fries, shrimp rolls -- all in vegan, vegetarian and omnivore options)." Since the college opened in 1972, it has specialized in healthy, local and frequently organic eats. There is a thriving campus community garden and a nearby organic farm, Beech Hill, which is owned and operated by the school. Excess food is sold at a reduced price or given away, and scraps are composted. There are no trays to wash. The kitchen also recovers excess heat in order to lower energy use.
Evergreen State College
Olympia, Washington's Evergreen State sits on a spectacular 1,000-acre campus that is 80% covered by woods and beach. In a setting like that, with sweeping mountain views in the distance, it isn't surprising that students take protecting the environment seriously. The school has a 13-acre organic farm, uses electric vehicles, and is powered with 100% clean energy. The farm is certified "salmon-safe," because its practices are shown to protect water quality and native biodiversity.
Evergreen State College
Evergreen's dining hall is called "The Greenery," and about 35% of the food sold there is local and organic. Unfinished food is donated to the local food bank, and scraps are composted. There are also teaching gardens, edible gardens and community gardens that benefit students and the surrounding neighborhood.
Berea College
The small liberal arts college of Berea in Berea, Kentucky is a unique place. Students pay no tuition, and most do community service through work-study programs. Berea was the first Southern school to go coed and racially integrated, and about a third of current students are minorities. Berea is also home to an Ecovillage, which is working toward a 75% reduction in energy and water use and a 50% reduction in solid waste. The five-acre residential complex houses eco-friendly appliances, solar panels, wind power, rainwater collectors, a living machine and more.
Berea College
Berea students gain a connection to growers through the local farmers' market and other locally sourced meals, and learn to tend vegetables in the campus greenhouse. They also compost scraps. A recent student, Nathan Hall, started taking used cooking oil from the kitchens and processing it into biodiesel for the College Farm tractors. Since graduation, Hall has worked on setting up his own biodiesel company.
Berea College
Berea students gain valuable lessons in sustainable food, from farm to table.
Middlebury College
Another school pushing for carbon neutrality is Vermont's picturesque Middlebury College, which recently made a big step toward that goal by opening a biomass heating plant. Middlebury's dining services have been implementing sustainable practices for years, including sizable purchases of local foods. The college also went tray-free to save energy and water. One dining hall even has a green roof, planted with grasses and other vegetation. This reduces heating and cooling costs and stormwater runoff, and provides habitat to wildlife.
Warren Wilson College
A small liberal arts college near the progressive enclave of Asheville, North Carolina, Warren Wilson has fashioned itself into a model of sustainability. The school approaches self-sufficiency in a number of areas, composting kitchen scraps and sourcing food and lumber from its own organic gardens and managed forests (chainsaws even use soy oil!) Vehicles run on biodiesel and solar power, and green buildings abound. There's even a "free store," where students can take advantage of useful stuff others no longer want.
A group of motivated Warren Wilson students also started -- and run -- Cowpie Cafe, a vegetarian/vegan establishment on campus. Students learn about vegetarian cooking, and work with the college farm and pesticide-free garden.
University of Washington
Located in famously green Seattle, the University of Washington runs a food service that emphasizes local, organic, fair trade and natural foods. The department is working toward a zero-waste goal, and scraps are composted. The school offers compostable dishware and to-go packaging, and is partnering with Coca-Cola and others on a pilot study for the first compostable paper cup designed specifically for soft drinks.
University of Washington
Remember to take only what you need, and dispose of waste properly.
Oberlin College
Known as the home of green thinker David Orr and groundbreaking green buildings, Oberlin College in Ohio is also host to a pioneering food service. An impressive 45% of annual food purchases made by the university are locally sourced, reducing "food miles." Students have a chance to meet and greet the local growers they're supporting through periodic fairs. The cafeterias went trayless in 2008, in order to discourage food waste and decrease energy and water use.
Oberlin College
Oberlin's two main dining halls compost 100% of raw food kitchen prep. In 2007, the college composted 21,500 pounds of kitchen scrap. The school uses biodegradable packaging and has programs that promote reuse of mugs, bottles and bags. Once a week, Oberlin dining halls run a Low Carbon Initiative, which stresses foods with lower impact on the environment. Yet they still taste delicious!
Bates College
In Lewiston, Maine is Bates College, another school committed to sustainability. When the New Commons facility opened in 2008, it received LEED Silver certification as a green building. Bates spends 30% of its food budget on local products, and was one of the first college members of the Green Restaurant Association.
Bates dining services require no dumpster, since 82% of their waste is recycled, composted and diverted to a pig farmer. Used cooking oil is sold for biodiesel, and packaging is minimized.
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Originally appeared in The New Yorker.
Letter from Pashmul
An ethnic-minority force enters a Taliban stronghold.
In late 2007, in Pashmul, a tiny cluster of villages in southern Afghanistan, Muhammad Khan began his tenure as the police commander by torching all the hemp in a farmer's field. Farmers in the area had grown plants up to seven feet tall, and, being teetotallers, like many Afghans, they smoked hashish constantly. Afghan soldiers and policemen in the area also smoked, to the exasperation of the NATO troops who were training them. But Khan wasn't from Pashmul and he didn't smoke. He ordered his men to set the harvest ablaze, moved upwind, then turned his back and left, with an expression of indifference.


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Onofrio Bramante, who often signed his work with Brahms, was educated as a classic painter. Since 1949, he has done a great variety of comics work, in both the humorous as the realistic genre. He made his debut with the adventure series 'King Prater' with text by Gian Giacomo Dalmasso. This was followed by 'Falcon Wild' and 'Silver Pitt' for the Albo Scugnizzo series of the publishing house Tomasina. His production increased with 'Piccolo Crockett' (1959) for Gabriele Gioggi, 'Falco Bianco' (1961-62) and 'Jean Lafitte' (1963) for Dardo, as well as 'Dixy Scott' (1964) for Casarotti and 'Carabina Slim', 'Kwa Sind' and 'Sharaz' for La Terza di Milano. He did war stories for Hurrà and western stories for Manila and Il Santo.
He also had a large output of humorous comics during the 1950s and 1960s. Among his creations are the Indian 'Argentovivo', 'Lupettino', 'Babeo', 'Giuletta', 'Bombolo', 'Top Mix', 'Robin Het', 'Tico Tico', and 'Richetto'. He created several characters for Edizioni Gempelli, such as 'Professor Fantax', Mgù', 'Zizì, Bao e Menemao', 'Il Commissario Barbison' and a new incarnation of 'Argentovivo'. His artwork was also present in the pocket publications of the French publisher Lug with 'Neptune' (in Pampa) and 'Blek le Roc'. Brahms also did some Italian Disney stories for Topolino in the early 1960s.


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(CNN) -- User comments on news sites, while vital to interactive storytelling in the digital age, often read like scribblings on a bathroom stall: anonymous, offensive and full of hate.
"I hate what you people, and by that I mean the blacks, are doing to this city," wrote one Buffalo News reader last month in response to a story about a local shooting. "Each area you move too [sic] quickly becomes over run [sic] with crime, loud music [at] all hours, adults swearing and screaming at kids, children playing in the street, porches with beer and garbage thrown all around."
Rants like this one prompted the Buffalo, New York, newspaper to discontinue anonymous user comments on its website as of August 2. Commenters will be required to register with their name, city of residence and phone number -- more information than most news sites require -- and staffers will attempt to verify their identities.
"It is the ability to remain anonymous that encourages people to say whatever they want [online] ... when people are required to give their names, our thinking is that they'll think twice," said news editor Margaret Sullivan, who added that vetting commenters will be a "challenging" task. "There might be people who slip through the cracks."
Like those bathroom-stall messages, online comments on news stories can be difficult to police. For years, many publications have tried to strike a balance between encouraging open communication among readers and maintaining civil discourse. But a few sites, fed up with rude or inflammatory comments, are taking bold new steps to raise the level of dialogue.
The website of the Sun Chronicle newspaper in Attleboro, Massachusetts, launched a new system July 7 that requires commenters to register with their names, addresses, phone numbers and a credit card number. Users are charged a one-time fee of 99 cents, activating their accounts; commenters' names and communities, based on their credit card information, appear beside their posts on the site.
Although only 22 people had registered to comment on the site as of Friday, Sun Chronicle editor Mike Kirby said the paper, which has a circulation of about 15,000, has received as much praise as criticism over the new system.
"I can't guarantee this is going to work, but I know for sure it seems to improve the discourse online and it will certainly bring some responsibility and consistency," he said.
Or will it? While anonymity often serves as a scapegoat for inflammatory comments online, journalism observers say it's only one piece of a larger puzzle.
"The question of anonymity is definitely something we should think about, but I don't think that's the only element when you consider productive user commenting," said Steve Myers, managing editor at Poynter Online, a website run by the nonprofit school for journalists.
Users also sometimes need to be reminded of a site's commenting guidelines before they post, Myers said. "It's important to tell people what you're looking for," he added.
How CNN.com handles user comments
Also, drawing attention to an insightful comment that helps move the discussion forward -- something Myers refers to as "hoisting a comment" -- lets users know their posts, especially the thoughtful ones, are valued.
Engaging with the news
In the competitive world of online news, many sites encourage comments as a way to create a conversation with users and to measure which stories resonate most with audiences. On the most popular sites, it's not unusual for a story on a hot-button topic -- politics or immigration, to name a few -- to attract more than a thousand comments.
"As a writer, I love the instant feedback. It makes the site a two-way experience," said Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post, in an e-mail to CNN. "People no longer want to just passively sit back and be served up information. We now engage with news, react to news, and share news. News has become something around which we gather, connect, and converse."
Many sites don't require readers to attach their actual names to their comments, but the majority of sites have, at least, implemented some kind of soft registration -- requiring that readers supply a valid e-mail address and username to comment.
Though this extra step can improve the discourse, sites are beginning to realize it isn't ridding comment boards of hateful and offensive speech, Myers says. But taking away commenters' anonymity might not be the answer, he added.
The Huffington Post, which gives commenters the option to remain anonymous, launched "HuffPost Badges" in April. The new system "allows the HuffPost community to more actively participate in the comment moderation process," Huffington said.
The system, which awards badges to commenters who post frequently and flag inappropriate comments, "has helped make us a more dynamic and interesting site, while keeping the conversation civil," Huffington told CNN. "[Anonymity] is fine, as long as [users] maintain a civil tone -- something we have worked hard to ensure through comment moderation."
The pros and cons of anonymity
The debate over inflammatory online comments always seems to boil down to whether users should be allowed to post anonymously. Some industry observers say many people would be reluctant to comment without the promise of anonymity, which encourages candor.
"By allowing anonymous comments, you're going to get things and information that otherwise would not come to light," said media lawyer Robert Bertsche, who represents the New England Newspaper & Press Association.
For example, if a commenter is working at a company where criminal activity is taking place, there's great social value in that person speaking out -- and they're far less likely to do so if they can't post anonymously, he said.
Others argue that anonymity protects irresponsible or even dangerous commenters.
"With no name attached, the commenters basically wear a hood and swing a sharp axe," said Robert Steele, director of the Janet Prindle Institute for Ethics at Depauw University. "The intent in allowing and encouraging these comments online is to increase page views and time spent on the site. It's a business motivation."
Sullivan of the Buffalo News predicts the paper is likely to see a smaller number of people commenting once the new system goes into effect next month. But she believes it was the only logical next step toward cleaning up the site's reader forums, and she hopes the comments that stories do receive are more thoughtful.
Some Buffalo News users have already expressed concerns for their personal safety if their names and hometowns are posted along with their comments.
Wrote one user, "I'd rather not take the chance that some lunatic does not agree with my point of view and tries to tell me that face to face."
But this isn't a problem for many online readers of The Wall Street Journal, who under site policy have been posting comments with their real names since 2008.
"Real names help [improve the discourse] but it's also about the community of people who are attracted to the content ... certain types of content are more likely to attract people who violate our terms of service," WSJ.com managing editor Kevin Delaney told CNN.
The Journal is able to verify many commenters because subscribers register with their real names and credit card information. However, people who register for free are on the honor system.
"People slip through with fake names, but our commenters, with some frequency, do flag those for us," Delaney said.
Jean Balloon, whose comments have been recommended on the site more than 500 times to date, says she's gotten death threats from other commenters in the past.
"Die and die quickly," read one of the threats, about a comment she posted on a story about BP and the Gulf oil disaster. But that hasn't stopped Balloon from posting her honest opinions online.
"The opportunity to post your ideas and beliefs far outweigh a few crazy people," she told CNN. "I try not to live my life in fear."
The future of online comments?
Though soft registration, and requiring readers to provide their real names, still hasn't managed to completely clean up comment boards, there is one technological advance that Bill Adee, vice president of digital development and operations for Chicago Tribune, says significantly reduces the amount of hate speech spewed by commenters.
"As we implement registration that's tied to people's social media profiles, that helps raise the level of discourse on the comment boards," Adee said. "Nobody is going to drop an f-bomb when their grandma can see it on Facebook."
From requiring users' full names and phone numbers to linking user comments with Facebook accounts, news sites are approaching this issue in many different ways. And that's OK, said Myers of the Poynter Institute.
"I don't see there being one approach that's going to work for everyone," he said.
And online comment systems will only continue to evolve. Myers predicts that sites will move beyond banning certain users from commenting or asking readers to flag irresponsible comments. In the near future, journalists will be asked to get in on the action by monitoring and, at times, taking part in the discussion about their stories, he said.
Some beat reporters and bloggers already do this. By entering the comment threads and asking questions of their users, they can help lead the discussion, Myers said.
Journalists "aren't trained on how to interact with their audience," he said. "This idea is fairly new ... [they're] going to have to think about publishing as not the end of the process, but as one step."
In Buffalo, Sullivan believes her site's new system will at least encourage users to be more civil. But even she is not entirely sure if will yield the results the News is hoping for.
"That's the whole thing about the media in the Internet age," she said. "We're just throwing a lot of things up against the wall to see what sticks."
So what do you think about online commenting? How important is the option to remain anonymous when posting to comment boards? Is there a better solution? Let us know in the comments below.


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Wolf Blitzer delivers the most important breaking news and political, international, and national security stories of the day. Tune to The Situation Room weekdays 5-7pm ET on CNN.
CNN's Elise Labott reports on whether there was enough security at the Benghazi consulate in Libya before the attack.
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A new study suggests that the world's best-selling weedkiller and the GM maize resistant to it are linked to increased risk of tumor growth, multiple organ damage and premature death.
The study, undertaken by a team of researchers at the University of Caen, France, and published in Food and Chemical Toxicology, is the first to investigate the long-term effect of Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller, or the NK603 GM maize resistant to it—for which Monsanto owns the patent.
Ten groups of ten rats were fed varying combination of maize, GM maize and the weedkiller: three were fed diets containing different proportions of Roundup resistant maize at 11, 22 and 33 percent; three were fed water laced with varying quantities of Roundup; three were fed both; and others were fed normal maize as a control. The study ran over a two year period.
The results suggest that rats fed on the GM maize or given water containing Roundup died significantly earlier than rats fed on a standard diet. In terms of hard numbers, 50 percent of male and 70 percent of female rats died prematurely in the exposed groups, compared to just 30 and 20 percent, respectively, in the control group.
Perhaps more importantly, the findings show that NK603 and Roundup cause similar damage to rat health whether they're consumed together or on their own.
GM crops such as NK603 have previously been approved for human consumption based on 90-day animal trials. However, this study hows that mammary tumors and severe liver and kidney damage occurred in the rats from four months on—which wouldn't have been detected in earlier research.
So what does that mean for you? Well, almost 85 percent of maize grown in the US is GM, and Monsanto is one of the biggest global suppliers. Remember that those products don't just go into corn on the cob; they're found in chips, cereals, cooking oil and even booze. This study isn't enough to change that yet of course: after all, it's impossible to try and apply these findings to different crops. It may, however, spark a little more questioning—and that can't be a bad thing. [Food and Chemical Toxicology via The Grocer]
Image by raman..exploring myself.. under Creative Commons license
Update: Sept. 21, 2012 — Since the initial publication of this story, journalists have discovered significant evidence that the sponsors of this study, The Sustainable Food Trust, engaged in widespread media manipulation to avoid public criticism of the study performed at the University of Caen, France. The AFP, Reuters, and BBC have all since refiled their stories to account for this new information. You can read more regarding the trial's shortcomings here. -AT


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For the third time in a month, the gang at Danelectro has listed artist-autographed Danelectro guitars on eBay — with all proceeds going to a good cause.
This time, two guitars are on the auction block; one is signed by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers and one by John Mayer. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of the guitars will go to the SKJ Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya. The orphanage is home to 135 children and includes a school that educates children from the orphanage and the local community.
Petty & Co. signed a Lime Green Danelectro 1967 model. Mayer signed a Midnight blue Danelectro 1967 model while backstage at the Wiltern in Los Angeles.
Check out both individual eBay auctions — plus photos of the guitars — below:
• Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers guitar (opens in new tab)
• John Mayer guitar (opens in new tab)
For more about the SKJ Orphanage, check out this story by NPR. And be sure to head here for more about Danelectro.


text: Liam is first and foremost, is a passionate climber, inside and out. He's also a globetrotting photographer and presenter, perhaps you've seen his work on the FrictionLabs channels? Or you've probably watched a climbing comp that he's hosted. Suffice to say, he's deeply rooted in the scene! "Go hard or go home." :)-LL


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No matter what the posts are this week, the backdrop is that around this time three years ago I started this blog. Now nine hundred fiftysomething (!) posts later, the greatest gratification for me is the sense of community I've gotten from my work. I feel it! Thanks to all who've read, commented, contributed info and/or fotos, and lurked. If you've only read and lurked, great although I'd love to hear from you too.
Recent traffic has been heavy on Grouper, a 1914 tug that languishes upstate along the part of the Erie Canal where I grew up. Click here for the details. Anyone need a project for a mere $26,000? I took the pic of Grouper in early November 2009, less than three weeks ago.
Fire Fighter, to date FDNY's unit with the greatest gpm output, cuts an impressive profile as she cruises Gravesend Bay.
LORO Baltic Mercur has an intriguing silhouette.
An unidentified tanker disappears out the Ambrose, way beyond the bow of barge Charleston.
Uh . . Brendan (3900 hp), who are you trying to kid? You're no stand-in for Pati R, (5100 hp), at least from a "see-over" perspective even with your telescoping house.
And what you do NOT see in the offing of the sixth boro, large fishing vessels like this one, a midwater trawler like Challenger. This foto was taken off the east end of Cape Ann.
A front page story in today's NYTimes links Challenger and Brendan Turecamo, in a manner of speaking: a guy catching a 157-pound bluefin from a kayak that weighs less than 30 pounds, human-powered although it had to be registered as a motor vessel for him to get a tuna license, Check it out; tuna have impressive bollard pull.
All fotos by Will Van Dorp.
Here's a herring song to hold you over til my fishing post: version a and version b. I prefer b.
Note: Although I like assembling/looking at a random set of fotos, I'm aware that each one tells at least one good story . . . only problem is that I don't know the story, the very one that in fact I should. These common unknowns overlay the pictures with a sense of mystery. Maybe seeking the mysterious and exotic is why I keep doing this blog. Of course I also do it because it completes me.


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Binding Interest Clauses Require Advance Agreement Regarding Lawful Interest Rate ChargesPage last modified: December 03 2022
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Can Interest Be Added to an Invoice Even if Nothing was Mentioned About Interest Within the Contract?
The Right to Charge Interest Must be Established When a Contract is Negotiated Rather than Afterward. Providing First Notice of Interest Charges On an Invoice is Improper. Interest Must Be Under Sixty (60%) Per Year and Shown as an Annual Rate.
Understanding When An Interest Charge Is Legal and Enforceable Versus Unenforceable and Unlawful
When a business imposes an interest charge by adding the interest charge on an invoice without previous discussion and agreement regarding the potential interest charge, this unilateral, meaning single-sided, decision is improper, contrary to basic principles of contract law, and is therefore unenforceable. Simply stated, an interest charge is invalid unless the customer agreed when the deal was made that an interest charge may arise for late payment of an account. This was said very clearly within the case of King Road Paving and Landscaping Inc. v. Plati, 2017 ONSC 557:
[79] The contract did not include any payment terms or any interest rate for late payments. The first invoice in relation to the original contract does not include any claim for interest. The second invoice in relation to the extras claims payment within 30 days and late payment charges of 3% per month thereafter.
[80] The plaintiffs acknowledge that the written contract did not provide payment terms or interest for late payment, but claim that 3% per month is "reasonable in the circumstances as it is comparable to the rates charged by suppliers, which was 2% per month on average." Alaimo testified that he told Nesci that he was going to charge him 3% interest around November 2012 and that Nesci "was fine with that". No such oral agreement was alleged in the Amended Amended Statement of Claim.
[81] The defendant argues that at no time was an interest rate of 3% per month agreed to. In fact, no payment terms or interest rate were ever agreed to by the parties and the court should not be filling in blanks where the parties have not included any such terms in their agreement.
[82] Interest rates cannot be imposed unilaterally by including a claim for interest in an invoice; see Gilbert Steel, supra, where the Court of Appeal states: "I attach no significance to the notation '1% per month interest on overdue accounts' on the invoices received by the defendant at the increased prices on the basis that interest cannot be imposed unilaterally in this manner."
[83] In addition the interest rate claimed by the plaintiffs violates sections 3 and 4 of the Interest Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. c.I-15. Section 3 provides:
Whenever any interest is payable by the agreement of parties or by law, and no rate is fixed by the agreement or by law, the rate of interest shall be five per cent per annum.
[W]henever any interest is, by the terms of any written or printed contract, whether under seal or not, made payable at a rate or percentage per day, week, month, or at any rate or percentage for any period less than a year, no interest exceeding the rate or percentage of five per cent per annum shall be chargeable, payable or recoverable on any part of the principal money unless the contract contains an express statement of the yearly rate or percentage of interest to which the other rate or percentage is equivalent.
[85] The contract includes no reference to an interest rate. Even if the second invoice reflected the terms of a contract it purports to impose interest at the rate of 3% per month but does not indicate an annual rate as required by s. 4 of the Interest Act.
[86] I reject the contention that Nesci agreed orally to pay interest at the rate of 3% per month. In the first place, I find Alaimo's statements in this regard to be not credible, especially when no such agreement was pleaded in any of the iterations of the Statement of Claim. Second, there is no evidence that any such agreement, if there actually was one, fully disclosed the annual cost of borrowing as required by the Interest Act. Alaimo's evidence in this regard struck me as a belated effort to fill a gap in his claim.
[87] Finally, it makes no sense that Alaimo and Nesci discussed and agreed to 3% interest per month in November 2012, but Alaimo did not send out any invoices until May 28, 2013. If there was such an agreement Alaimo (who claims that he was desperate for payment) would have sent out his invoices (which he claims he prepared as each extra was completed) immediately.
What Happens If An Interest Rate Is Shown Only As a Monthly Rate Rather Than Annualized Rate?
For most contracts involving the sale of goods and services (i.e. other than mortgages) where an interest rate is stated as applying to late payment or overdue accounts will require that the annual interest rate be shown. The mandate to show an annual interest rate is found in section 4 of the Interest Act, R.S.C. 1985, c. I-15. In circumstances where an interest rate that is less than annual is shown, such as a two (2%) percent monthly interest charge, without also stating the annual interest rate, such an agreement is void and unenforceable.
The Interest Act also addresses the applicable interest rate if a contract states that interest applies and yet the interest rate details are omitted. In such a circumstance, the Interest Act prescribes that a five (5%) percent annual rate applies. Counter-intuitively, many perceive that where a lesser rate is stated without the annualized rate such as the example of two (2%) percent mentioned above, this unenforceable rate should be substituted with the statutory five (5%) percent rate; however, the law will not operate in such a manner as to amend or adjust the defective rate of interest stated in the contract. The law within the Interest Act only establishes the rate at five (5%) percent when interest was agreed to but the rate unstated. Accordingly, in a situation where a rate is stated without the annualized interest rate, any interest becomes disallowed.
How Much Interest Is Too Much Interest?
Even if stated properly shown as an annual interest rate, when an interest charged calculates to sixty (60%) percent or beyond is contrary to section 347 of the Criminal Code of Canada, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46 and is illegal. As an illegal interest charge, and where such is contrary to the Criminal Code, persons charging such exorbitant may be punished with up to five (5) years in jail when a charge is prosecuted as an indictable offence or two (2) years less a day imprisonment and/or twenty five thousand ($25,000) dollar fine when prosecuted as a summary conviction offence.
Furthermore, fees and other sums charged by pay day loan businesses are also regulated whereas such fees are often interest charges in disguise and such interest charges in disguise may amount to criminal activity if calculations show a rate beyond beyond the maximum allowed. These payday or short-term loan businesses are regulated per the Payday Loans Act, 2008, S.O. 2008, Chapter 9. The decision in the case of The Director v. The Cash Store, 2014 ONSC 980 has helped define some of the restrictions.
Summary Comment
Attempts to add an interest charge onto an invoice without first having first arranged an agreement to charge interest is improper and unenforceable. Furthermore, an interest clause must show the agreed upon interest rate as an annual rate, or include an annualized rate if a monthly rate is shown, and the annualized rate must be less than sixty (60%) percent.


text:
Last night's Parks and Recreation was the final episode for Rashida Jones and Rob Lowe, and they were sent off in a fiesta of emotions, with Leslie going way overboard to say good-bye to Ann and the guys going way underboard to say good-bye to Chris.
But Parks is not the first show to say farewell to Rob Lowe. Lowe left two other shows before their finales, most notably The West Wing in 2003, but also Brothers & Sisters in 2010. How does a show bid farewell to Rob Lowe and his characters? Let's look at the facts.
His character's reason for leaving:
Parks: Moving to Michigan to raise a family.
Brothers & Sisters: Death.
West Wing: Moving to California to run for Congress.
Rob Lowe's reason for leaving:
Parks: To cut the show's budget.
Brothers & Sisters: To cut the show's budget.
West Wing: It was in the wake of a salary dispute — plus, he got to be the star of the new NBC drama The Lyon's Den, which didn't even make it a full season.
Was it sad?
Parks: More bittersweet. Chris seemed genuinely thrilled to be starting a new chapter in his life. At least we'll always have "Stop. Pooping," the character's best line.
Brothers & Sisters: Yes, very. The character was in a coma for a long time, and B&S really loved its melodramatic monologues, so do the math. There were a lot of weepy tributes. R.I.P., former Senator Robert McCallister.
West Wing: Not really. It was a bummer, since Sam Seaborn was a great character, but watching him go off to California to be God's gift to handsome liberal politics wasn't so bad. Plus, he came back at the very end of the series!
Who missed Rob Lowe's character the most?
Parks: It'll probably be his BFF Ben, though it seems unlikely that the show will dwell on it too much. Out of sight, out of mind. Right, Mark Brendanowitz? (That's the character Paul Schneider played on the first two seasons of the show; he has not been mentioned since his exit.)
Brothers & Sisters: His wife Kitty (Calista Flockhart) and brother-in-law Justin (Dave Annable).
West Wing: Josh (Bradley Whitford). That's why Sam's return in the series' final episodes was so perfect.
How did people bid him adieu?
Parks: The Pawnee fellas first got him a gift card, but then pooled their emotional resources and built him a keepsake box. They also all declared their love.
Brothers & Sisters: Kitty gave a wrenching eulogy after finally agreeing to take Robert off life support. Sad.
West Wing: Toby (Richard Schiff) helped run a noble but losing campaign, and then told Sam, "They're gonna throw rocks at you next week. And I wanted to be standing next to you when they did."
Did he cry?
Parks: Yes.
Brothers & Sisters: No.
West Wing: A little.
Did we cry?
Parks: Yes.
Brothers & Sisters: Yes.
West Wing: Yes.
Did it feel right? Was it time for that character to leave?
Parks: Yeah, both Ann and Chris had sort of run out of stories. Chris probably could have stuck around, but once he was onboard to raise a child with Ann, the writing was on the wall.
Brothers & Sisters: Not really. B&S was so, so schmaltzy and overwrought that putting another death on the show, when the series was already based around a family's reaction to its patriarch's death, felt like overkill.
West Wing: No, there is never a good time to be without Sam Seaborn.
Will you forever associate Rob Lowe with this role?
Parks: Weirdly, no. Chris is such an oddball that it's more like Lowe provided the voice of a cartoon.
Brothers & Sisters: No way, Robert was just Sam Seaborn–lite.
West Wing: Indeed! Even more than his role in Wayne's World.


text:
Since there was no information anywhere on the net for Belgian Linux users around 1998, we started to collect stuff that we thought could be important. This HOWTO aims to be the definitive list of all Belgian-related Linux information. If you think not, you have no excuse to complain and certainly not to not contribute. ;)
If you need to know more about the Linux Documentation Project or about Linux HOWTO's, feel free to contact the supervisor Tim Bynum <firstname.lastname@example.com>.
Tim Bynum will post the listing to several national and international newsgroups on a monthly basis. In addition, the Belgian HOWTO can be found on the World Wide Web at http://dag.wieers.com/howto/. New versions of the Belgian HOWTO are always placed at this site first, so please be sure to check if the copy you are reading is still up to date!
This document is currently translated in 3 languages (English, Dutch and French), we're trying to keep all three of them in sync, but the English version is the source-document!
The English and Dutch version are maintained by Dag Wieërs <firstname.lastname@example.com> and is found at: http://dag.wieers.com/howto/.
The French version is maintained by Dany Vanderroost <firstname.lastname@example.com> and is found at: http://club.euronet.be/dany.vanderroost/howto.html.
A few people mailed us their suggestions and improvements, thanks go to:
Wim Vandeputte <email@example.com>
Pablo Saratxaga <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Christophe Lambin <firstname.lastname@example.com>
Geert Uytterhoeven <email@example.com>
Herman Bruyninckx <email@example.com>
Many thanks go to Ivo Clarysse <email@example.com> who started something similar earlier (LinBel) and his project helped us a lot to get this document online.
As you might have heard, Belgium also has its problem with the Linux.be domain. Similar to the Linux.nl case. Around March 1999, someone tricked the DNS administration about the trademark 'Linux' in Belgium by using 'Linux' as a commercial representation of the company ('uithangbord') which was according to the rules of the DNS administration at that time. The company in fact was one that sold motor-parts and the registration was done with a fake fax containing a penguin.
It is sad that the person who registered the Linux.be-domain name, did this behind the back of some Open Source volunteers who were planning to register a not-for-profit organisation to hold the domain name to prevent any abuse.
Afterwards there were several meetings with this person to work out an agreement so that the domain was not used for commercial purposes and handed over to a neutral organisation. But after several attempts it was very clear that the owner wanted full control over the domain, which he later emphasized by 'handing it over' to his own not-for-profit organisation. He stated several times he wanted to keep the right to add advertissements to the website, but wouldn't mind that volunteers added content to the site (that was empty at the time). After this, no one was willing to work voluntarily for the content of the site. Sadly he managed to get some people volunteer for it after all.
If some information seems to be wrong, deceptive or missing, we'd appreciate if you mailed us the improvements. Since we're just human this document isn't bug-free, but your contribution can and will make a difference.
To add yourself to the Linux user groups or businesses, collect all necessary information and mail it to us.
This document, Belgian HOWTO, is copyrighted (c) 1998 - 2002 by Dag Wieërs. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 published by the Free Software Foundation; with the Invariant Sections being "New versions of this document", "Contributions", "Feedback" and "Copyright information" with no Front-Cover Texts and with no Back-Cover Texts.
A copy of the license is available at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html.
Trademarks are owned by their owners.
Although the information given in this document is believed to be correct, the author will accept no liability for the content of this document. Use the tips and examples given herein at your own risk.
There are some things I'm planning to add to this document, if you're interested be sure you're reading the most current version of this document. (This todo-list is only a reminder to myself, it is not in the translated documents!)
Add more information about ADSL
Update the locale-section, preferably link to a related document.


text:
Paris Opera House
Anyone familiar with a large opera house would testify that it is an extraordinary labyrinth of people and passageways, but the Paris Opera House of the last quarter of the nineteenth century, in which Gaston Leroux set The Phantom of the Opera, was remarkable by any standards. The huge building was constructed to designs by Charles Garnier from 1861-1875. It was a hotbed of politics and factions. From prima donna to stage-hand, the Opera House was governed by intrigue and rumor; everyone jostling for position, defending their own territory and scrabbling for new. At the time in which the novel is set, the Opera House boasted over fifteen hundred employees and had its own stables of white horses for the opera troupe underneath the forecourt. Even today, it employs over a thousand people and contains two permanent ballet schools within the building.
The Paris Opera House rose to pre-eminence in the eighteenth century. After the Revolution it was restored to its leading position in Paris by Napoleon in the reforms of 1807. Unquestionably among the most performed composers at that time was Salieri, whose music remained in the repertoire at the time of Leroux's novel. Salieri had his greatest triumphs in Paris with Les Danaides (1787) and Tarare (1784). It is interesting that Mozart began to work with Da Ponte after the latter's huge success with Salieri in France. Indeed, Mozart was not performed at the Paris Opera until the early 1800s and then only in a severely adapted form. Salieri was hailed as the natural successor to Gluck, the main force at the opera in the third quarter of the eighteenth century, and was greatly influenced by his music.
But perhaps it was Meyerbeer who reigned supreme. His grand operas were a masterful potpourri of components. His music was accessible, his characterization brilliantly aided by his command of orchestration and he relished stage spectacle. This writer was chastened to learn that the 1849 production of Le Prophète was the first to feature roller-skating as a key ingredient and also introduced electric light as an effect. Indeed the Paris Opera always prided itself in its innovation. Aladdin (1822) by Isouard introduced gas lighting to the stage.
King of all this was the Opera's chief designer Ciceri, the John Napier of the day. Spectacle was all. Hugo in his preface to Cromwell (1827) wrote "the stage should make as complete as possible the illusion of reality". The Paris Opera's eruption of Vesuvius was legendary, employing real stones and the titles of operas alone convey everything: Le Siege de Corinth (Rossini), La Muette de Portici(Auber), Robert Le Diable (Meyerbeer) (noted for its Phantom of the Nuns effect) and, of course, Gounod's Faust, the opera which is the backdrop to the Leroux novel.
Key also to Paris formula was the ballet. This was usually at the start of Act III. The gentlemen could dine before arriving at the theater in time to see their various young ladies in the corps de ballet. Wagner's Tannhauser caused uproar with the Jockey Club because its ballet was placed too early in the production for their members' convenience.
The Paris Opera House survives in much the same form described in the novel. It occupies a three-acre site and some idea of the labyrinthian nature of the building can be appreciated if one considers that the auditorium accounts for less than one fifth of the total space. There are over seventeen storeys, seven of which are below the stage level; the stables for the opera horses still exist. There is a monument to La Carlotta. More important, there really is a lake underneath the building; it is an integral part of the design, and the water level acts as a ballast, raised or lowered, depending on the weight of the stage, seven storeys above it.
"Everybody knows the Paris Opéra, at least by reputation. It is with regret that I assure you it hasn't changed at all: for the sake of the passer-by who hasn't been warned, let me say that it looks like a railway station. But once you're inside you'll be more likely to mistake it for a Turkish bath."
- Debussy


text:
Resource Materials for Planning and Self-Assessments
- Title Page
- Notices
- Table of Contents
- Overview
- Developing a Program
- Program Evaluation
- Introduction
- Key Elements
- Implementation
- Performance
- Analysis
- Glossary
- Other Resources
- Charts
Program Evaluation
Program Implementation Information
Following are questions to consider in collecting and maintaining information needed to determine whether all aspects of the district's ELL program are being evaluated.
- Does the evaluation cover all procedural and service provision requirements set forth in the district's ELL plan, including:
- the identification process?
- the student assessment process?
- the provision of program services to all students with identified needs?
- the provision of staff and resources consistent with program design?
- following established criteria for transitioning students from ELL program services?
- the implementation of monitoring practices for students who have transitioned from ELL program services?
- Is the information collected on each ELL program element assessed with reference to the specific requirements of the district's ELL plan? (For example, when looking at the process for identifying potential ELL students, does the evaluation determine whether the district has followed the established plan for identifying potential ELL students, referral for English language assessment, and criteria for transitioning and/or exiting from ELL services?)
- Does the evaluation determine whether staff have followed applicable procedural and service requirements, including frequency, timeliness, and documentation?
- Do information sources and methods for gathering information to evaluate whether the program is being implemented as planned include, among others, the following examples:
- file and records reviews?
- staff interviews and surveys?
- input from parents, student surveys, or focus group meetings?
- grievances or complaints made to the district regarding program implementation or service delivery?
Last Modified: 01/16/2020


text:
ERIC TUCKER, LARRY NEUMEISTER and JENNIFER PELTZ
Wednesday, 21 September 2016 02:33 PM EDT
He bought bomb ingredients on eBay and recorded a mirthful video of himself igniting a blast in a backyard. In a handwritten journal, he warned that bombs would resound in the streets and prayed he'd be martyred rather than caught, authorities say.
Ahmad Khan Rahami's jihad journal ended with a stark message, according to court papers:
"Death to your oppression."
Federal court complaints filed Tuesday gave a chilling glimpse into what authorities say motivated the Afghan-born U.S. citizen to set off explosives last weekend in New York City and New Jersey, including a bomb that injured 31 people in Manhattan. The blasts came two years after the FBI looked into him but came up with nothing tying him to terrorism.
Rahami remains hospitalized with gunshot wounds from a shootout with police that led to his capture Monday outside a bar in Linden, New Jersey. It wasn't immediately clear whether he had a lawyer who could comment on the charges against him, but a federal public defender told a judge Tuesday night that Rahami has not had access to a lawyer since his arrest.
The charges against him include federal terror crimes and state charges of attempting to murder police officers.
Rahami ordered citric acid, ball bearings and electronic igniters on eBay and had them delivered to a Perth Amboy, New Jersey, business where he worked until Sept. 12, the court complaints said. San Jose, California-based eBay Inc. noted that the products are legal and widely available and said the company had worked with law enforcement on the investigation.
Just two days before Saturday's bombings, a relative's cell phone recorded Rahami igniting incendiary material in a cylinder buried in a backyard, the fuse being lighted, a loud noise and flames, "followed by billowing smoke and laughter," the complaints said.
And the complaints said in his bloodied journal — damaged by shots from his gun battle with police — he fumed that the U.S. government was slaughtering Muslim holy warriors and alluded to plans for revenge.
One portion expressed concern at the prospect of being caught before being able to carry out a suicide attack and the desire to be a martyr. Another section included a reference to "pipe bombs" and a "pressure cooker bomb" and declared: "In the streets they plan to run a mile," an apparent reference to one of the blast sites, a charity run in Seaside Park, New Jersey.
"The sounds of bombs will be heard in the streets," the journal declared.
There also were laudatory references to Osama bin Laden, Anwar al-Awlaki — the American-born Muslim cleric who was killed in a 2011 drone strike and whose preaching has inspired other acts of violence — and Nidal Hasan, the former Army officer who went on a deadly shooting rampage in 2009 at Fort Hood, Texas, the complaints said.
Rahami is accused of setting three bombs, one in Seaside Park, New Jersey, and two in Manhattan. One of the New York City bombs didn't explode, and the FBI on Wednesday issued a poster showing two men who investigators want to talk to. The agency says the men were seen Saturday night removing the bomb that failed to explode from a piece of luggage, then leaving the device behind while taking the suitcase. Investigators have said the two men are being sought as witnesses, not suspects.
The FBI has said Rahami apparently was not on its radar at the time of the bombing. But he was in 2014, when the FBI opened up an "assessment" — its least intrusive form of inquiry — based on comments from his father after a domestic dispute, the bureau said in a statement.
"The FBI conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism," the bureau said.
A law enforcement official said the FBI spoke with Rahami's father in 2014 after agents learned of his concerns that the son could be a terrorist. During the inquiry, the father backed away from talk of terrorism and told investigators that he simply meant his son was hanging out with the wrong crowd, according to the official, who was not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Rahami's father, Mohammad, told reporters Tuesday he called the FBI at the time because Rahami "was doing real bad," having stabbed his brother and hit his mother. Rahami was not prosecuted in the stabbing; a grand jury declined to indict him.
"But they checked, almost two months, and they say, 'He's OK, he's clear, he's not terrorist.' Now they say he's a terrorist," the father said outside the family's fried-chicken restaurant in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Asked whether he thought his son was a terrorist, he said: "No. And the FBI, they know that."
The FBI has faced questions before about whether it could have done more ahead of time to determine whether attackers had terrorist aspirations. The issue arose after the Orlando massacre in June, for instance, when FBI Director James Comey said agents a few years earlier had looked into the gunman, Omar Mateen, but did not find enough information to pursue charges or keep him under investigation.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said President Barack Obama was confident the bureau would review Rahami's interactions with law enforcement "to determine if there's something different that could have been done or should have been done to prevent the violence."
Meanwhile, investigators are looking into Rahami's overseas travel, including a visit to Pakistan a few years ago, and want to know whether he received any money or training from extremist organizations.
Rahami's wife is thought to be a Pakistani national. On a trip to Pakistan in 2014, Rahami emailed his local congressman seeking help because his pregnant wife had an expired passport.
David Duerden, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, was unable to confirm or deny reports that Rahami's wife had been questioned in the United Arab Emirates, which is home to a large expatriate Pakistani population and has airports that offer daily flights to Pakistan.
"We're aware of the reports but don't have any comment at this time," he told the AP.
Emirati officials in Dubai and the federal capital Abu Dhabi said they had no information on her.
Federal agents would like to question Rahami. But Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-N.J., who received a classified briefing from the FBI, said Rahami was not cooperating; that could also be a reflection of his injuries.
Rahami, who came to the U.S. as a child, studied criminal justice for a time at a community college, and he worked as an unarmed night guard for two months in 2011 at an AP administrative technology office in Cranbury, New Jersey. At the time, he was employed by Summit Security, a private contractor.
AP global security chief Danny Spriggs said he learned this week that Rahami worked there and often engaged colleagues in long political discussions, expressing sympathy for the Taliban and disdain for U.S. military action in Afghanistan. Rahami left that job in 2011 because he wanted to take a trip to Afghanistan, Spriggs said.
AP spokesman Paul Colford said the news cooperative told law enforcement officials about Rahami's work at the Cranbury facility.
Summit's vice president of security services, Daniel Sepulveda, said Rahami last worked for the company in 2011. Sepulveda said he was unaware of any complaints about Rahami's conduct.
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