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Thousands of homes could be removed from the high-risk flood zone in Valley Stream as early as the summer, as the Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to unveil revised flood maps next week.
A meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m. in the Village Hall courtroom with representatives from FEMA and Sen. Charles Schumer. There, officials will announcement changes to the maps that went into effect in September 2009.
"It's a very good feeling to know that we have a very good possibility of being removed from these maps," said Valley Stream Community Association President Carol Crupi. "But until I know for sure I am going to hold back too much excitement."
Crupi, a resident of Gibson, has been a leader in the fight against the flood maps for the past three years. Several thousands homes in that section of the village were added to the high-risk flood zone in 2009, however homeowners have contended that they don't belong there because the neighborhood doesn't flood.
At the direction of Congress, FEMA had to go back to the drawing back and come up with new Nassau County maps using relevant, local data. The new maps that will be released next week will include information from the New York City coastal analysis and Jamaica Bay study.
Crupi said that she expects hundreds of homeowners to attend next week's meeting and that there are many questions that need to be answered. She wants to know if anyone will be refunded premiums they paid in 2010 if it is determined their property was erroneously put into the flood zone. Additionally, Crupi said she is concerned that residents might have to renew their flood insurance policy in the coming months, even if their home is set to come out of the flood zone next year.
It is expected that the base flood elevation — the minimum elevation of a property to be excluded from the flood zone — will be lowered by about a foot from 11 feet, 4 inches, according to village Building Superintendent Thomas McAleer.
Crupi said she still believes that FEMA should lower it to the 8-foot level that was in place for years before the new maps went into effect. Still, the reduction is enough where it is likely to remove thousands of homes in Gibson from the flood zone.
Marc Tenzer, president of the Mill Brook Civic Association which represents 811 homes in South Valley Stream, said he hopes his neighborhood is also removed from the flood zone. He said that flood insurance should be optional, not mandatory for people who have mortgages.
"It's a step in the right direction for those people who didn't get flooded," Tenzer said of the forthcoming changes. "For the most part, Mill Brook should be out of the flood zone."
Mayor Ed Fare said that village officials will be scrutinizing the new maps. He said there are areas of Valley Stream that simply don't belong in the flood zone and wants those removed. "The map changes must be closely analyzed," he said. "My concerns will remain with those homeowners that remain in the flood zone."
Fare said that if a home is kept in the flood zone, he wants to ensure that those owners won't have to pay exorbitant insurance premiums, like the $2,000 and higher annual payments some residents had to make when the maps first went into effect. Instead, he wants those homeowners to remain eligible for the Preferred Risk Policy rate of about $400 a year.


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I am absolutely in love with these gorgeous hydrangea flower balls created by Lillie's Flowers for Alabama Weddings Magazine. Terry Bruno's photography captured the wonderful images used in this photo shoot. The colors are so soft and elegant. This would be a beautiful scene for a bridal shower or a nice spring luncheon.
Be sure to check out all of the pictures and details here.

subset: commoncrawl


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Convergence - there's a buzzword for you, and nobody is embracing it more than Nokia with its latest mobile phone, the N95.
Not content with giving you just a phone, the chaps at Nokia have crammed in a dedicated music player, 5 megapixel camera, satnav, Wi-Fi, 3G and HSDPA connectivity, Bluetooth, blogging tools, the ability to get your emails on the go and pretty much every other feature you've seen on a phone to date. Is this all too much, or just the next logical step?
- Nokia through the years: The best and worst phones, in pictures
- Best smartphones: The top mobile phones available to buy today
Slightly larger than Sony Ericsson's W810i Walkman phone, compared to other slimmer phones on the market this is no size 0 model. The design is dominated by the 2.6-inch screen on the front of the model and this slides both up and down to reveal the controls.
Sliding down reveals the dedicated music buttons; play, stop, fastforward and reverse as well as flipping the display to landscape rather than portrait. The music interface is simple to use and you can search for songs via the usual array of things such as artists, albums, genre and playlists. Disappointingly there is no microSD memory card shipped in the box and with only 160MB of phone memory for all your media assets (pictures are around 700k and music around 3MB) it's something you'll have to invest in from the start.
Back to the music aspects, and the phone has a small speaker built-in so you can listen without headphones. It's not the best speaker in the world, however we were surprised by its performance. Better still the N95 has a 3.5mm jack on the side so you can connect it directly to a speaker or headphones. Unlike Sony Ericsson Walkman range, you don't need to use a specific dongle, however, and you'll love this, we did find that without a cap it had filled with pocket lint by the end of our 1-week trial.
Moving on from the music to the camera, as we've said the Nokia N95 sports a 5 megapixel (2592 x 1944 pixels) camera complete with Carl Zeiss optics, Tessar lens, and MPEG4 VGA video capture of up to 30 fps. The camera is turned on via the lens shutter, which is considerably smaller than Sony Ericsson K800 range and like the Cyber-shot models the phone is held landscape.
Controlling and changing camera settings again is easy thanks to a combination of on and off screen buttons however we did find considerable time lag between taking a picture and it actually capturing it. This resulted in fast moving subjects being either blurred or out of frame completely and while the 5 megapixel headline might make you think that you can ditch your compact camera we wouldn't bet on it just yet. Picture quality on the whole is very good (see images compared to the Pentax A30).
Next up is the built-in GPS device insuring that you won't get lost. For this to work you have to have the phone open (i.e., slider out to reveal the keypad) because the GPS receiver has been tucked in underneath. Compared to TomTom or Navman the software isn't the easiest thing to use and requires you at times to pull data from either a wireless connection or 3G/HSDPA.
Rather than supplying all the map data from the beginning the Nokia N95 downloads maps on the fly automatically saving them to the phones memory or an inserted memory card. The map downloads are free, but depending on how you download the data will cost you for the transfer from your service provider.
As well as showing you maps (the opening sequence is very Google Earth) you can also more importantly use the software to get you from A to B. If you want audible instructions there is an additional cost attached and prices start from £5 for a 5-day trial to £50 for 3-years. With no Point of Interest data installed, city guides are also an optional extra.
If you thought that's all the phone does you would be mistaken, as we said at the beginning this phone is all about convergence so web surfing, the ability to check your email, listen to the radio, file photos to Flickr and so much more are all present.
Depending on whether you going to buy your phone directly from Nokia or via an operator will depend on whether you get access to the VoIP software. Basically Vodafone and Orange scared of cabinibalising their markets have opted for this feature to be turned off while T-Mobile let you have the phone unfettered.
Trying to achieve so much is always a hard task and there are times when you will struggle with the Nokia N95.
A jack-of-all-trades rather than a master of none this provides the functionality of a GPS, MP3 player, digital camera and of course phone, in one fairly small box.
For the purists out there, none of the individual elements beat a solo offering, but then you wouldn't be able to get all those elements in your pocket without getting suspicious looks.
So should you embrace convergence? The Nokia N95 is a very nice if not muddled at times piece of kit, still bar the lack of a QWERTY keyboard this is still one of the best smartphones available today.


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1. hostility - noun
· a hostile (very unfriendly) disposition; "he could not conceal his hostility"
Synonym(s): ill_will
Hypernym(s): unfriendliness
2. hostility - noun
· a state of deep-seated ill-will
Synonym(s): enmity, antagonism
Hypernym(s): state
3. hostility - noun
· the feeling of a hostile person; "he could no longer contain his hostility"
4. hostility - noun
· violent action that is hostile and usually unprovoked
Synonym(s): aggression
Hypernym(s): action
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Bahrain Financial Harbour is Bahrain's top business development and it's most up-market location. It can be found on the northern shore of Bahrain's main island, with a broad variety of commercial, residential and leisure facilities. Occupying the 22nd and 41st floors of the West Tower, Servcorp's reception and offices offer spectacular views over the sea and Manama city.
The building is surrounded by various amenities, parking facilities, 24 hour security, prayer rooms, banks, health club, in addition to a selection of cafés and fine dining restaurants. Bahrain Financial Harbour accommodates a number of high- profile tenants including international banks, law firms as well as the Bahrain stock exchange.
10 minutes by car from Bahrain International Airport.
Taxis are available all around the city.
Ask if they have unique-password, rocket-fast WiFi – For your security.
Ask to be connected to the internet – How long does it take?
Ask if the provider is Tier-1.
Ask to be allowed to check download speeds.
Ask to speak to IT support: Are they in-house or a third party? Are they even in the country?
Ask to be given a phone number so you can try the service before you buy.
Ask for a phone rate card.
Ask to meet your dedicated receptionist. The receptionist is the front line of your business.
Ask about disaster transfer.
Ask if your phone extension can roam at no cost to other locations.
Ask if the wireless internet is secure.
Ask what kind of firewall can be set up for your network.
Ask to see the transparency code of the provider.
Ask if incoming callers can dial '1' for voicemail to mobile.
Ask if you can get free calls equal to your connection amount.
Ask if your phone bill is 20% lower than telco rate.


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The world's largest bottle of single malt Scotch, containing 105.3 litres of whisky, will be unveiled on Thursday 25th October at its new home in the Scotch Whisky Experience, located next to Edinburgh Castle. It has journeyed from its birthplace in Tomintoul, the highest village in the Scottish Highlands, to go on display to visitors keen to learn more about this national tipple.
The owners of two Tomintoul businesses, Dru McPherson, of the Clockhouse Restaurant and Mike Drury, of The Whisky Castle whisky shop, set out in 2009 to create the world's largest bottle of Scotch whisky recognised by Guinness World Records.
Local Tomintoul Distillery, owned by Angus Dundee Distillers, agreed to donate the 105.3 litres of Tomintoul Single Malt Whisky Aged 14 Years to fill the bottle, equivalent to over 150 x 70cl bottles. As the Tomintoul brand has grown from strength to strength, with increasing sales in the UK and abroad, Angus Dundee have added a number of new expressions and ages. To meet the changing needs of the market, unchillfiltered and naturally coloured Tomintoul Aged 14 Years was launched in April 2009.
To set the record, a glass bottle was specially commissioned, a gigantic cork was crafted and an oversized label was printed. A team of 14 were set the task of pouring in individual 70cl bottles of Tomintoul 14 to fill it. The bottle was closed and dressed, to mimic the packaging of its more normal sized counterpart, using a hammer to fit the cork and hairdryer to seal the wrapping. At the time of its bottling, in August 2009, it was officially certified by Guinness World Records as "The Largest Bottle of Scotch Whisky in the Worldâ€, standing at 4ft 9 inches and weighing 164kg.
The Clockhouse and Whisky Castle stated "our record breaking icon embodies the finest spirit of Highland enterprise, from the highest community in the Highlands. It exemplifies the true spirit, ingenuity and strength of our community - big bottle, big heartâ€. Robert Fleming, Master Distiller at Tomintoul Distilled also added "it's been a pleasure working with neighbouring businesses on a project to raise the profile of the Tomintoul area and to donate our single malt for this wondrous, giant bottle of Tomintoul Speyside Glenlivet Single Malt Scotch Whiskyâ€.
The Tomintoul bottle can be seen and photographed by visitors to the Scotch Whisky Experience in Edinburgh, on their guided whisky tour, from October 25th. Current plans are for the bottle to remain at The Scotch Whisky Experience for one year.


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"As a mother I'm proud to support Mothers4children - a groundbreaking fundraising initiative to aid children in trouble. I'm inspired by the idea of women from different worlds channelling energy as a powerful force for good casinobonus365.co.uk!"
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"Everything changes when you become a mother, nothing remains the same. My children are the best thing that ever happened to me and i believe every child has the right to feel safe and loved and enjoy the brightest future possible."
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"Mothers4Children is an inspiring idea - I am happy to be included, as a mother Karamba lucky enough to have healthy, happy children - to help raise awareness and funds for children who are less fortunate than my own."
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LOUISE REDKNAPP visits Kids Company, and is amazed by all the amazing work and fabulous projects they are doing.
Launches Jeune Fille a collection of ballerina shoes for girls, in support of Mothers4Children!
As a community of women, we advocate and facilitate change for children in need.
Download our amazing new tool onto your web browser and fundraise for children while shopping online! It's super quick and easy - and at NO extra cost to you!
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Please help us! Donate
Vote Smart Just The Facts
"Experts nearly all recommend Vote Smart."
"Vote Smart is a bright light in an often desultory civic culture."
- Bill Moyers
"We think so highly of Vote Smart that we are distributing their materials to all of our affiliates."
Key Votes
S Amdt 3962 - Home Loan Regulation Modifications - National Key Vote
Related Legislation
- S Amdt 3826 - Consumer Financial Protection Division Within The FDIC
- S Amdt 3839 - Termination of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Conservatorships
- S Amdt 3938 - Study on Ending the Conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
- S Amdt 3760 - Federal Reserve Audit
- S Amdt 3816 - Derivatives Regulation Modifications
- S Amdt 3955 - Establishing New Mortgage Underwriting Requirements and Eliminating a Risk Retention Requirement
- S Amdt 3991 - Credit Rating Agency Board
- S Amdt 3832 - Establishing Bankruptcy Process for Non-bank Financial Institutions
- S Amdt 3989 - Debit Card Fee Regulations
- S Amdt 3987 - Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection Termination
- S Amdt 4051 - Prohibiting Funding of State and Local Governments to Prevent Defaulting on Debt
- S Amdt 4034 - Federal Preemption Over State Consumer Financial Laws
- S Amdt 4071 - Amending State Authority to Enforce Consumer Financial Regulations
- S Amdt 4114 - Credit Default Swap Regulations
- S Amdt 4072 - Inspector General Appointment Modification
- S Amdt 3746 - Allowing States to Limit Credit Card Interest Rates
Issues Related to S Amdt 3962
Stage Details
Amendment -
Amendment Adopted
(63-36) -
May 12, 2010(Key vote)
See How Your Politicians Voted
Title: Home Loan Regulation Modifications
Vote Result
Yea Votes
Nay Votes
Vote Smart's Synopsis:
Vote to adopt an amendment to S Amdt 3739 to S 3217 that increases regulations on mortgage loans, including a requirement that the creditor determine that the borrower has a "reasonable ability" to repay the loan, based on "verified and documented" information.
- Prohibits creditors from issuing mortgage loans unless a determination can be made that the borrower has a "reasonable ability" to repay the loan and all applicable taxes, insurance, and assessments, and specifies that such determination shall consider the following (Sec. 1075):
- Credit history;
- Current income;
- Expected income;
- Current obligations;
- Debt-to-income ratio, or the residual income the consumer will have after paying non-mortgage debt and mortgage-related obligations;
- Employment status; and
- Other financial resources other than equity in the dwelling or property that secures repayment of the loan.
- Requires creditors to verify the aforementioned information by reviewing the following (Sec. 1075):
- W-2 forms;
- Tax returns;
- Payroll receipts;
- Financial institution records; or
- Other third-party documents that provide "reasonably reliable" evidence of the consumer's income or assets.
- Specifies that creditors are presumed to be in compliance with the "reasonable ability to repay" requirement if the aforementioned requirements have been met and the creditor has determined the borrower's ability to repay using the maximum rate permitted under the loan during the first 5 years following consummation and the establishment of a payment schedule (Sec. 1075).
- Specifies that the aforementioned presumption of compliance shall not be applied to a loan for which the any of the following criteria are met (Sec. 1075):
- The regular periodic payments for the loan may result in an increase of the principle balance or allow the consumer to defer repayment of principal;
- The terms result in a scheduled payment that is more than twice as large as the average of earlier scheduled payments ("balloon payments"); or
- The points and fees (15 USC 1602(aa)(4)) exceed 3 percent of the total loan amount, unless, for the purposes of calculating such points and fees, the totals attributable to any premium for mortgage guarantee insurance provided by a Federal or state agency shall exclude any amount of points and fees greater than 1 percent of the total loan amount.
- Exempts the following from all of the above requirements (Sec. 1074):
- Temporary loans ("bridge loans") with terms of 12 months or less; and
- Reverse mortgages.
- Prohibits compensating a loan originator for any mortgage loan if the compensation varies based on the terms of the loan, other than the amount of the principal (Sec. 1074).
Amendment - Introduced (Senate) - May 12, 2010
Title: Home Loan Regulation Modifications
- Mark Begich (AK - D) (Out Of Office)
- Barbara Boxer (CA - D) (Out Of Office)
- Scott P. Brown (MA - R) (Out Of Office)
- Christopher J. 'Chris' Dodd (CT - D) (Out Of Office)
- Al Franken (MN - D) (Out Of Office)
- John Forbes Kerry (MA - D) (Out Of Office)
- Amy Klobuchar (MN - D)
- Carl Levin (MI - D) (Out Of Office)
- Charles E. 'Chuck' Schumer (NY - D)
- Olympia Jean Snowe (ME - R) (Out Of Office)


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Luckily, I found this old forum post, which had the solution: Just go into your atalkd.conf file and uncomment the line that says eth0.
I'll walk you through it:
Open a terminal, then type:
sudo nano /etc/netatalk/atalkd.confThen delete the # sign in front of the word 'eth0'. Pretty simple!
Apparently, netatalk will just bind to whatever network interface is laying around, so it can sometimes get confused and bind to the crippled one used by VMWare Server. This fix just tells it to look for eth0 from now on instead of picking one willy-nilly.


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Federal officials are replacing the food pyramid with a full plate — and while experts say that the new approach is an imperfect solution, it's a vast improvement on the much-maligned My Pyramid.
At a news conference Thursday morning, First Lady Michelle Obama, together with Surgeon General Regina Benjamin and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, unveiled the new icon, called My Plate. The plate features four labeled sections: two larger, equally sized sections representing vegetables and grains, and two smaller sections for fruit and protein. Perched on the right side is a smaller circle for dairy — perhaps for a cup of yogurt or low-fat milk — and to the left sits a fork, completing the full dinner-plate effect.
"When it comes to eating, what's more useful than a plate, what's more simple than a plate?" Obama said. She called the new design "a quick, simple reminder for all of us to be more mindful of the foods we're eating."
My Pyramid, introduced in 2005, was a chore for consumers to understand, experts said. Its colored stripes represented different food groups — grains, vegetables, fruits, oils, milk, and meats and beans — but consumers have to go online to figure that out. The daily amounts of food were given in ounces, and as Obama pointed out in her speech, parents "don't have the time to measure out exactly three ounces of chicken."
It almost made the old food pyramid from 1992, which appeared to favor grains disproportionately and measured units with the ambiguous "serving," look appealing by comparison. At least the old pyramid showed pictures of what kinds of foods were in each group, dieticians said.
"For me, My Pyramid was too abstract," said Ruth Frechman, a registered dietitian in Burbank and a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Assn. "It was confusing. So I'd say 'Here's My Pyramid,' and show [my clients] the slides — but then I'd show them the old food guide pyramid's graphics to show what it really meant."
The new plate is drawing praise from health professionals. Dr. Adrienne Youdim, medical director of the Cedars-Sinai Center for Weight Loss in Los Angeles, called the new plate "a positive change when it comes to diet and nutrition."
"The concept is not new — it's been used quite widely in the clinical sphere," Youdim said. "Our clinical dietitians often use [the plate model] to educate patients on nutrient intake and portion sizes."
But while the food plate is a huge improvement on the pyramid, said Walter Willett, chairman of the department of nutrition at Harvard University, it's far from ideal. Among his concerns: the plate alone does not tell people which foods are good and bad to eat.
"To make informed choices, people will need additional information," Willett said. "It really makes a difference whether the grains you eat are whole grains or refined grains. It makes a huge difference what kind of proteins are being consumed — to be healthy, we need to be replacing the meat with a mix of chicken, nuts and legumes."
The smaller dairy circle, he added, could be misleading.
"It implies there should be a glass of milk or some dairy at every meal and there's no evidence to show that that's beneficial," he said.
As Obama noted in her speech, one thing it did not include was exercise — an aspect of healthy living she continues to promote with her "Let's Move" campaign to reduce childhood obesity. That s something the old pyramid had over the new plate because it managed to include exercise by depicting a stylized stick figure climbing a staircase up the pyramid's edge.
Other countries have struggled to illustrate the importance of exercise. France also uses the stairs; Grenada paints incongruous little red silhouettes of people playing sports around its food graphic. China makes someone run past its five-tiered pagoda of food.
But perhaps the most clever one is Japan's food graphic, according to James Painter, chair of the school of family and consumer sciences at Eastern Illinois University. Rather than a pyramid, Japan's features a food top, filled with the different food groups, with a little person running along the top's surface. If that person stops running, the top stops spinning and falls.
"They incorporate exercise better than any of the other diagrams," said Painter, who has studied 65 government nutrition icons from around the world.
For more history of the food pyramid and descriptions of some of the wackier icons around the world, check out our preview story: USDA to reshape how we see dietary nutrition.
Follow me on Twitter @LAT_aminakhan.
Federal officials are replacing the food pyramid with a full plate — and while experts say that the new approach is an imperfect solution, it's a vast improvement on the much-maligned My Pyramid.


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|Members List
|Today's Posts
|Mark Forums Read
|Topic Review (Newest First)
|Aug 26th, 2008 09:16 PM
|I wantthat Castlevania painting with Simon fighting Death. It would make any room instantly more awesome.
|Aug 25th, 2008 06:12 AM
I thought the cock on Kirby's head was pretty obvious; He sucked a cock....
Whatever Kirby sucks in he usually gains a hat resembling what he sucked in.
|Aug 19th, 2008 06:34 PM
|I'm still trying to figure out the Dildo-headed Kirby picture.
|Aug 19th, 2008 02:29 PM
|I'll go and run wearing only briefs tonight to see if that can attract zombies.
|Aug 19th, 2008 03:27 AM
|or maybe the red dot is the equivalent of the pirates black dot and soon the 8-bit mafia will come around and "take care" of the offending artwork... of such mysteries is the world made
|Aug 19th, 2008 02:18 AM
Man, some of that art scared me *laughs* I found a few pieces I liked, though there were some from games I didn't recognize, so I'm sure that took away from some of the impact of the piece.
This might've been something answered before, but I'm guessing these pieces are also for sale? Any info on what things like those go for? (I'm presuming that's what the red dot means...sold.)
|Aug 19th, 2008 12:47 AM
|is one of the artists the one from el tigre
|Aug 18th, 2008 11:21 PM
|Purple Man
|Those little illustrations of games like Ghosts 'n' Goblins, Burger Time etc are downright awesome. No wonder many of them seem to be "red-dotted". I'd go for the Moon Patrol one myself.
|Aug 18th, 2008 06:20 PM
|Duct Tape Ninja
Man this brings back some memories.
(I think I had that Blanka figure in one of those paintings.)
|Aug 18th, 2008 04:10 PM
|Cool stuff. Most of the Mario ones were creepy as hell, and I liked those Street Fighter peices at the end.
|Aug 18th, 2008 02:58 PM
|damn i forgot you were going to this, wish i had gone it looks great!
|Aug 18th, 2008 12:57 PM
|I love old games. Great pics. The one of Samus in her helmet was really cool. Hot women in underwear playing video games is every man's fantasy..
|Aug 18th, 2008 11:40 AM
|Awww... The Ghouls N' Ghosts / Ghosts N' Goblins one was cute and made me smile.
|Aug 18th, 2008 09:48 AM
|Mmmh, delicious kitsch. One day we'll look back on those pictures and say "What were we thinking?" Kinda like people do these days when they see 80's interior designs.
|Aug 18th, 2008 09:35 AM
|I'm not much of a video gamer these days but I know what I like in a game. I have seen and played a lot of the games that this art was based on, especially the Zelda ones. Those were my favorite art pieces because those are the games my twin brother and I spent a lot of time beating. Also the Mario art was good, I suppose I'm a Nintendo fanboy. But not as big as some other people I know who own every Nintendo game ever.
|Aug 18th, 2008 08:47 AM
|Rog, the guy who let you in (James St. James) was one of the original club kids and knew Michael Alig, the guy that was involved in the murder of Andre Angel Melendez. James wrote a book about it called Disco Bloodbath that became the movie Party Monster. In the movie Alig was played by Macaulay Culkin and James was played by Seth Green.
|Aug 18th, 2008 07:21 AM
|no sinistar, eh
|Aug 18th, 2008 06:50 AM
|Thanks for the pictures...amzing stuff. My favourite has to be the Earth Worm Jim paintings ...also Mario ala Soviet Lenin style was quite awesome.
|Aug 18th, 2008 06:34 AM
|That looked awesome! I especially liked the piece about that old soviet era game. Who knows what other games they may have made that have gone extinct. Thanks for another great pics-o-rama!
|Aug 18th, 2008 03:45 AM
|That looks like a ton of fun. I wish I knew, I would have went.
|Aug 18th, 2008 03:20 AM
The 'I Am 8-Bit' 2008 Show Opening Reception Photo Gallery!
Automatically generated comment thread for The 'I Am 8-Bit' 2008 Show Opening Reception Photo Gallery!.


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Make an impact in your community by donating or registering for Relay For Life.
Chemotherapy for colorectal cancer
Chemotherapy uses anticancer, or cytotoxic, drugs to destroy cancer cells. It is sometimes used to treat colorectal cancer. Your healthcare team will consider your personal needs to plan the drugs, doses and schedules of chemotherapy. You may also receive other treatments.
Chemotherapy is given for different reasons. You may have chemotherapy to:
- destroy cancer cells in the body
- shrink a tumour before other treatments such as surgery or radiation therapy (called neoadjuvant chemotherapy)
- destroy cancer cells left behind after surgery and reduce the risk of the cancer recurring (called adjuvant chemotherapy)
- relieve pain or control the symptoms of advanced colorectal cancer (called palliative chemotherapy)
Chemotherapy is usually a systemic therapy. This means that the drugs travel through the bloodstream to reach and destroy cancer cells all over the body, including those that may have broken away from the primary tumour in the colon or rectum.
Chemotherapy drugs commonly used for colorectal cancer
The most common chemotherapy drugs used to treat colorectal cancer are:
- 5-fluorouracil (Adrucil, 5-FU) given intravenously
- capecitabine (Xeloda) given as a pill
- oxaliplatin (Eloxatin) given intravenously
- irinotecan (Camptosar) given intravenously
- raltitrexed (Tomudex) given intravenously
The following chemotherapy combinations are used to treat colorectal cancer. Leucovorin is a drug that helps 5-fluorouracil work better.
- 5-fluorouracil with leucovorin given every 1–4 weeks over 6 months
- FOLFOX (leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil and oxaliplatin) given every 2 weeks for 12 cycles over 6 months
- CAPOX (capecitabine and oxaliplatin), or XELOX, given every 3 weeks for 8 cycles over 6 months
- FOLFIRI (leucovorin, 5-fluorouracil and irinotecan) given intravenously every 2 weeks until disease progresses
- CAPIRI (capecitabine and irinotecan) given every 3 weeks until the disease progresses or for no more than 16 cycles
If colorectal cancer doesn't respond to these drugs or if it recurs, you may be offered targeted therapy. Irinotecan or a chemotherapy combination with irinotecan may also be used if it wasn't used before. Trifluridine plus tipiracil hydrochloride (Lonsurf) may be used for metastatic colorectal cancer if most other chemotherapy combinations and targeted therapies haven't worked. This is given as a pill.
Chemoradiation is treatment that combines chemotherapy with radiation therapy. Chemotherapy is given during the same time period as radiation therapy. Some types of chemotherapy make radiation therapy more effective.
Chemoradiation is often used before surgery (called neoadjuvant therapy) for rectal cancer. 5-fluorouracil or capecitabine are the drugs usually given in chemoradiation.
Hepatic arterial infusion
Hepatic arterial infusion may be used to treat liver metastases when cancer has only spread to the liver and it can't be removed with surgery. It delivers chemotherapy directly to liver tumours through the main artery of the liver (called the hepatic artery). Floxuridine (FUDR) is the most common chemotherapy drug used for hepatic arterial infusion.
Hepatic arterial infusion tends to have fewer side effects than systemic chemotherapy. But it is not used as often as systemic chemotherapy because it has to be done in a hospital by a large healthcare team who are trained to give this treatment.
Information about specific cancer drugs
Details on specific drugs change quite regularly. Find out more about sources of drug information and where to get details on specific drugs.
Questions to ask about chemotherapy
Find out more about chemotherapy. To make the decisions that are right for you, ask your healthcare team questions about chemotherapy.
Research at the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control led to a new standard in leukemia testing.
How can you stop cancer before it starts?
Discover how 16 factors affect your cancer risk and how you can take action with our interactive tool – It's My Life! Presented in partnership with Desjardins.


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Tagged: Twilight book
Things That Make Me Go "Hmm"
Thank goodness interleague play is over, as the Phillies were a rather disapointing 6-12 against AL East opponents. Did I say "disappointing"? I think "dreadful" might be a better word.
Anyway, today is an off day, and tomorrow they return to action against their familiar NL East foe, Atlanta.
In the meantime, here are a few stray thoughts that struck me over the past week or so.
While paging through the 2009 Phillies Yearbook (one of the goodies that we picked up at last week's Phestival), I noticed that some of the player profiles included an entry for "Last book you read". As quite a few of the profiles did not even include this particular item, I can only assume that they haven't actually read a book in recent memory. I did note that both Scott Eyre and Cole Hamels had the same answer to this one: Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.
Huh? Really?
Last time I checked, this book (and its sequels) had a target audience of teenage girls. It is a vampire love story, after all. As they used to say on Laugh-In, "Verrry interesting."
Speaking of Cole Hamels, a column in the Inquirer last week noted that he and his wife Heidi are expecting their first child, and that it will be a boy. The couple still plans on adopting a child from Africa, with Hamels quoted as follows:
"We're going to adopt a girl, and it will be great for her to grow up with a brother. They'll be like twins."
Cole is apparently using a different definition of the word "twins" than I am familiar with. Nonetheless, best wishes go out to the expectant parents.
Finally, this shout-out goes to Julia at Julia's Rants, who correctly identified 5 of the 6 lyrical snippets used in my last entry. For the record, the answers are:
"Bakin' potatoes, bakin' in the sun…" – Rock Lobster, The B-52's
"The way the beach is kissed by the sea…" – Love, Reign O'er Me – though I was thinking of the classic version by The Who, this song was also covered by Pearl Jam
"Don't know much about history…" – Wonderful World, Sam Cooke
"Here comes the rain, here she comes again…" – Rain, The Cult
"You make me laugh, give me your autograph…" – Supersonic, Oasis
"School's out for the summer…" – School's Out, Alice Cooper


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MIDDLEBURY — A senior who helped the Middlebury Union High School boys earn the best record among local squads is the IndependentPlayer of the Year and headlines the 2011 Addison IndependentBoys' Basketball All-Star Team.
Center Carl Leduc's emergence this winter played a big role as Coach Chris Altemose's 10-12 Tigers finished strong, including a first-round road win in the Division II playoff and a near second-round upset of the defending champion. Two more Tigers are honored here.
Coach Peter Quinn's young Vergennes squad finished a misleading 7-14, with one loss in overtime and another seven by six points or fewer — including a one-point setback to eventual champion Missisquoi, and a five-point playoff loss to finalist Fair Haven. Two sparkplug underclassmen guards received Independentrecognition.
Coach Nathan Bellomo also fielded a young squad at Otter Valley that went 3-17, including one overtime win and two marathon road losses, one in double overtime and one after five extra sessions. A steady sophomore scorer made the Independentteam.
After graduating at least four starters for the second straight season, Coach Bill Leggett's Mount Abraham team managed a pair of wins against a challenging schedule. Bright spots included the work of two guards who are honored here, one senior two-year starter and a junior who came on strong as the season progressed.
Selections were made based on observation, consultation with coaches and statistics. Congratulations to the following:
CARL LEDUC, MUHS SENIOR, PLAYER OF THE YEAR. Notes: Expected to be a role player, Leduc instead worked his way into a starting job and led the Tigers with 13.2 points and 9.2 rebounds and added 1.8 steals per game ... At six-foot-four became one of the most respected post players in D-II ... Came on strong in the final 12 games, averaging 15.6 points and 11 boards ... Had a 20-point, 20-board game vs. D-II champ Missisquoi ... Shot 58 percent from the floor on a variety of post moves and offensive putbacks ... Was second on the Tigers in the "hustle points" tracked by the team, in part because he deflected five passes a game.
Altemose's Quotes: "It just kind of came together for him ... He came into the season as a bench player, and he just kept working harder and harder and harder ... Every day it was just a complete effort from him ... Carl was one of our leaders, for sure ... He really didn't care about points. They just came ... I was just so pleased with his season."
COLLIN CURLER, VUHS JUNIOR.Notes: Intense competitor whose effort raised his teammates level of play ... Helped across the board with averages of 11.4 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.8 steals ... Excellent ballhandler who was effective spotting up for a jumper, attacking the basket, or dishing off to teammates ... Strong on-ball defender with good hands who also read passing lanes well.
Quinn's Quotes: "Collin was our captain and unquestioned leader on the court ... Collin plays at one speed. He plays as hard as he can all the time ... He's a great ballhandler, and he plays ferocious defense ... He's always, always in on the play ... He's a team-first guy, for sure. He takes responsibility for mistakes, and he shares credit for success."
CAM SKERRITT-PERTA, MOUNT ABE SENIOR.Notes: Scored 14.5 points per game despite being the focus of opponents' defenses all season ... Excellent shooter with three-point range ... Shot 85 percent from the line, and has twice hit more than 100 consecutive free throws in offseason camps, with a personal best of 146 ... Also possesses the ability to finish on the break and set up teammates' shots ... Hard worker on defense.
Leggett's Quotes: "It was pretty incredible considering that all the other teams planned to stop him that he still managed to come up with 14-and-a-half points a game ... He helped us hand the ball against heavy pressure ... He was pretty consistent ... If he's given room, he can be deadly ... He's a very good kid. He has obviously our best offensive option, but we went about his business like everybody else ... He wanted to compete and he wanted to win."
BRENDAN BURRELL, MUHS SENIOR.Notes: Sparked the young Tigers with hard work and hustle during games and practice ... Well-rounded, unselfish player who could shoot, pass, defend and handle the ball ... Helped in all statistical categories with averages of 10.9 points, 4.0 assists, 2.8 steals and 3.8 rebounds ... Capable of scoring explosively, and erupted for a career-high 31 points in a critical win over Mount Abe.
Altemose's Quotes: "He had a solid season, and he was consistent ... He had a good year. He worked hard. He brought it every day in practice ... He kind of solidified us out there ... His work ethic as the captain, for sure, set the tone ... He keeps coming. He's a competitor."
RYAN KELLEY, OV SOPHOMORE. Notes: Smooth-shooting forward who made an immediate impact at the varsity level by averaging 11.3 points and 7.8 rebounds ... Shot 50 percent from two-percent range and 69 percent from the line ... Hit double figures in points and rebounds six times, including a 24-point, 18-rebound effort in the overtime loss to Springfield and a 16-14 game vs. Windsor.
Bellomo's Quotes: "First, Ryan is a great kid and very coachable ... He has a nice approach mentally and physically to the game ... Ryan has the natural ability to play multiple positions on the basketball court ... We look for great things over the next two years."
SHEP CARTER, VUHS SOPHOMORE.Notes: Skilled guard who helped VUHS on both ends of the floor ... Tireless defender who helped key VUHS in half-court defensive sets and in presses ... Showed three-point shooting range and finishing ability on the break ... Averaged 9.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.1 steals.
Quinn's Quotes: "As the smallest person on the court, on more than one occasion he was our second-leading rebounder ... He's a good shooter ... He really got comfortable playing varsity basketball. He got comfortable with the ball. He's really hard to stay in front of ... He's an excellent defender. He's a great on-the-ball defender and frustrated more than one dribbler."
TYLER PROVENCHER, MUHS SOPHOMORE.Notes: Lanky forward who improved his play as the season progressed ... Expanded his shooting range, making him a difficult challenge to guard given his ability to attack the basket ... Used his wingspan and quickness to defend the paint ... Averaged 9.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 steals.
Altemose's Quotes: "Tyler came on strong ... He's a solid player. He's got the inside game to go with the outside game ... For a sophomore to have that versatility, it really helped us out ... He got some key boards for us ... He's solid with the ball. He doesn't turn it over."
MITCHELL CLARKE, MUHS SOPHOMORE.Notes: Showed poise, skill and good decision-making as a sophomore asked to assume point guard duties ... Used his quickness, athleticism and solid basketball IQ to good advantage on defense and on the boards ... Averaged 6.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals.
Altemose's Quotes: "He was one of our defensive leaders ... He has a great understanding for the game ... To be a sophomore point guard and just play so smart and under control, he's got a solid start ... He's a very good athlete, and he's smart and he's got a great attitude ... He's very coachable, and he's a good leader."
IAN SHAW, MOUNT ABE JUNIOR.Notes: Another player who took a step forward in the course of the season, became a consistent offensive threat later and finished with an average of 7.6 points ... Versatile offensive player who was also often asked to guard one of opponents' top threats ... Contributed on the boards with an average of 3.5 rebounds.
Leggett's Quotes: "The last half of the season he began to be a little more assertive and helped us out more on the offensive end ... He could hit the three, and he could hit the intermediate shot, and he was deceptively good at getting to the basket ... He was one of the better defensive players we had ... He just seemed to have a knack for coming up with the ball."
Andy Kirkaldy may be reached at [email protected]


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At The School
Health of Green Buildings Questioned
Standards used to certify buildings as environmentally friendly are insufficient to protect human health, according to a report authored by John Wargo, Ph.D. '84, professor of environmental risk analysis and policy at F&ES.
Wargo said that although the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program has been effective in encouraging energy efficiency, well-insulated buildings often contain chemicals, in high concentrations, released from building materials, cleaning supplies, fuel combustion, pesticides and other hazardous substances. The council's most prestigious platinum award, he says, does little to ensure that hazardous chemicals are kept out of certified buildings.
"The underlying problem is that thousands of different chemicals, many of them well-recognized to be hazardous, are allowed by the federal government to become components of building materials. Very few of these chemicals have been tested to identify their toxicity, environmental fate or the danger they pose to human health," he said.
The report, "LEED Certification: Where Energy Efficiency Collides With Human Health," was sponsored by the nonprofit Environment and Human Health (EHHI), founded by Nancy Alderman '97. The report can be viewed at http://www.ehhi.org/reports/leed/LEED_report_0510.pdf.
EHHI recommends, among other things, that the board of the Green Building Council, which is composed of developers, engineers, chemical and materials manufacturers and architects, should include more experts in the area of human health and that the government should categorize building products to identify those that contain hazardous compounds, those that have been tested and found to be safe and those that have been insufficiently tested.
Students Awarded Switzer, Compton Fellowships
Three F&ES students were among 21 environmental scholars selected as Switzer Environmental Fellows by the Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation. And four more students have been named Compton International Fellows for 2010-2011 by F&ES' Tropical Resources Institute.
The $15,000 Switzer Fellowship—awarded to master's students Stephen Blackmer '83, Kyra Busch and Michelle Lewis—is one of the nation's most prestigious academic awards for environmental leaders.
Over the past 25 years, Blackmer has held leadership positions with the Northern Forest Center, Northern Forest Alliance, Appalachian Mountain Club and Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests. He already holds an F&ES master's degree and is pursuing another one in religion and ecology. He is interested in the role of religion in social change movements.
Busch wants to make sustainable food more accessible in urban and rural areas and is interested in environmental justice, community development and sustainable food systems. In New Haven she is developing a farm-based education curriculum and is training environmental educators in her role as the public schools program coordinator for the Yale Sustainable Food Project.
Lewis is pursuing a joint degree with the Yale Divinity School and is trying to connect at-risk youth and juvenile offenders to the environment through their religions using popular culture. Before joining Yale, she spent 12 years as a U.S. park ranger.
The Compton Fellows are all first-year candidates for master's degrees in environmental management. They each received $11,250 from the Compton Foundation, which enables students from developing countries to conduct research on the environment and sustainable development that has a link to the fields of peace and security and population and reproductive health.
Geofrey Mwanjela is conducting research on protected areas and their impact on the livelihoods of local communities in Tanzania. Ana Perea is working on how best to engage local communities in Mexico in the conservation and restoration of natural resources. Giancarlo Raschio is planning a comparative study of climate change mitigation and adaptation initiatives in Ghana and Peru. And Pablo Reed is researching whether the lands of indigenous communities in Ecuador could benefit from Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, a program designed to use financial incentives to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases.
F&ES has had more than 60 Compton Fellows from 28 countries since 1995. "The Compton Fellowship program is a unique resource that helps F&ES attract students from developing countries and supports them in conducting cutting-edge research in and around their home countries," said Michael Dove, director of the Tropical Resources Institute and Margaret K. Musser Professor of Social Ecology.
Microbes Contributing Less to Climate Warming
The physiology of microbes living underground could determine the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from soils on a warmer Earth, according to a study published online in Nature Geoscience.
Researchers at UC Irvine, Colorado State University and F&ES have found that as global temperatures increase, microbes in soil become less efficient over time in converting carbon in soil into carbon dioxide, which is a key contributor to climate warming.
Microbes, in the form of bacteria and fungi, use carbon for energy to breathe, or respire, and to grow in size and in number. A model developed by the researchers shows microbes exhaling carbon dioxide furiously for a short period of time in a warmer environment, leaving less carbon for growth. As warmer temperatures persist, the less-efficient use of carbon by the microbes causes them to decrease in number, eventually resulting in less carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere.
"Microbes aren't the destructive agents of global warming that scientists had previously believed," said Steven Allison, lead author of the study and assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at UC Irvine. "Microbes function like humans; they take in carbon-based fuel and breathe out carbon dioxide. They are the engines that drive carbon cycling in soils. In a balanced environment, plants store carbon in the soil and microbes use that carbon to grow. The microbes then produce enzymes that convert soil carbon into atmospheric carbon dioxide."
The study, "Soil-Carbon Response to Warming Dependent on Microbial Physiology," contradicts the results of older models that assume that microbes will continue to spew ever-increasing amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as the climate continues to warm. The new simulations suggest that if microbial efficiency declines in a warmer world, carbon dioxide emissions will fall back to pre-warming levels, a pattern seen in field experiments. But if microbes manage to adapt to the warmth—for instance, through increases in enzyme activity—emissions could intensify.
"When we developed a model based on the actual biology of soil microbes, we found that soil carbon may not be lost to the atmosphere as the climate warms," said Matthew Wallenstein, of the Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory at Colorado State University. "Conventional ecosystem models that didn't include enzymes did not make the same predictions."
Mark Bradford, assistant professor of terrestrial ecosystem ecology at F&ES, said there is intense debate in the scientific community over whether the loss of soil carbon will contribute to global warming. "The challenge we have in predicting this is that the microbial processes causing this loss are poorly understood," he said. "More research in this area will help reduce uncertainties in climate prediction."
Doctoral Student Receives Award
Philip Marshall, an F&ES doctoral student, recently received the Emanuel D. Rudolph Award by the Botanical Society of America. The award is given by the historical section of the society for the best student presentation or poster of an historical nature at the annual meetings. Marshall's presentation was "Pinus strobus L. and the historical utilization and management of southern New England forests, 1600-1938."


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Story highlights
- The White House says Congress should respond to last month's plebiscite
- More than 800,000 voters supported a nonbinding referendum on statehood
- Critics say the vote doesn't accurately represent the will of the island
After more than 800,000 Puerto Rican voters said they want the island to become the 51st U.S. state, the White House is calling on lawmakers to take action.
"Congress should now study the results closely, and provide the people of Puerto Rico with a clear path forward that lays out the means by which Puerto Ricans themselves can determine their own status," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters this week.
Last month's statehood referendum in Puerto Rico was nonbinding, but it was the first time such a measure garnered a majority of votes; 61% of voters who cast ballots on that question said they supported the island commonwealth becoming a U.S. state.
Critics say the two-part plebiscite on Puerto Rico's status was unclear and doesn't accurately represent the will of the island. Even the White House hasn't been clear about what the vote means, they say.
"Democracy should never be used to confuse people. ... I'm sorry they are confused in the White House," said Puerto Rican Sen. Eduardo Bhatia of the Popular Democratic Party.
The first ballot question asked Puerto Rican voters whether they supported the island's status as a U.S. commonwealth; 54% of them said no.
In response to the second question, which asked voters to select an alternative, 61% of those who cast ballots chose statehood, but more than 480,000 people abstained from voting on that question.
"They could have voted for statehood, if they had really supported it," said Maria de Lourdes Santiago, senator-elect for the Puerto Rican Independence Party, which supports the island becoming its own sovereign republic. "When you combine all the votes, statehood doesn't appear as the true winner in the second question about non-colonial options."
One thing is clear, the White House spokesman said Monday: Puerto Ricans "want a resolution to the issue of the island's political status."
Congressional action in Washington would be necessary for Puerto Rico to become a state.
Statehood has long been a thorny issue in Puerto Rico, with political parties sharply divided over the matter.
Those who support statehood say last month's vote is a sign that change is coming, despite what critics say.
"If they don't want to pay attention to it, let them not pay attention," said Kenneth McClintock, Puerto Rico's secretary of state. "But the White House is paying attention."
A law passed in 1917 made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens. But the Caribbean island's roughly 4 million residents cannot vote for president
Under its status as a commonwealth, Puerto Rico is subject to U.S. federal laws, though island residents are exempt from some federal taxes. Puerto Rico has a nonvoting representative in Congress.
After last month's referendum, McClintock said an economic downturn and shrinking population contributed to the support for statehood, where as referendums in 1967, 1993 and 1998 failed.
"I think people just came to realize that the current relationship simply does not create the number of jobs that we need," he said.
An exodus of residents from the island has culminated in a staggering statistic: 58% of Puerto Ricans live in the mainland United States, McClintock said.
"When you have a political status that scares away half of your population," he said, "it is time to reject that political status."