text: Search results 15 items matching your search terms. Filter the results. Item type Select All/None Blog Entry Web Page Event Folder Link News Item Message Board Comment Forum Collection New items since Yesterday Last week Last month Ever Sort by relevance · date (newest first) · alphabetically GNU Hackers Meeting by Jeanne Rasata — published Apr 05, 2011 — last modified Apr 05, 2011 02:39 PM — filed under: Meeting Paris, France - 23, avenue d'Italie, 75013 Paris Located in FSF Events SFD 2011: Local Does Compute by Jeanne Rasata — published Aug 31, 2011 — filed under: Meeting Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridge College, 1000 Massachusetts Avenue Located in FSF Events GNU Hackers' Meeting by Jeanne Rasata — published Apr 16, 2010 — last modified Jun 30, 2010 03:27 PM — filed under: Meeting Theme: Free Secure Networking and Decentralized Applications. This is a technical meeting; all GNU contributors are welcome. Located in FSF Events 13th Libre Software Meeting by Jeanne Rasata — published May 30, 2012 — filed under: Meeting Geneva, Switzerland - Uni-Mail, Plain Palais Located in FSF Events GNU Hackers Meeting 2013 by Jeanne Rasata — published Jun 26, 2013 — filed under: Meeting Paris, France - IRILL, 23, avenue d'Italie, 75013 Paris Located in FSF Events GPL and Free Software Licensing Seminars by Matt Lee — published Jul 20, 2004 — last modified Jul 20, 2004 03:43 PM — filed under: Meeting FSF is leading two day-long seminars on the GPL and Free Software licensing. The courses will be taught by Daniel Ravicher, Senior Counsel to FSF and Executive Director of the Public Patent Foundation; and Bradley Kuhn, FSF's Executive Director. Located in FSF Events 2005 Associate Member Meeting by Matt Lee — published Feb 08, 2005 — last modified Feb 12, 2005 05:13 PM — filed under: Meeting All FSF associate members are welcome to join FSF leadership and staff for a day of presentations and conversation. Located in FSF Events OpenDocument public hearing by Matt Lee — published Oct 27, 2005 — last modified Oct 27, 2005 02:43 PM — filed under: Meeting The Massachusetts Senate Post Audit Committee has called for hearing to take place in hearing room A1 at the State House in Boston (on Beacon Street, look for the gold dome) regarding adoption of the OpenDocument format. Located in FSF Events GNU GPLv3 Launch by Matt Lee — published Jun 27, 2007 — last modified Jun 29, 2007 10:03 AM — filed under: Meeting On Friday, June 29, at 12 noon (EDT), the Free Software Foundation will officially release the GNU GPL version 3. Please, join us in celebration as we bring to a close eighteen months of public outreach and comment in revision of the world's most popular free software license. Beyond the creation of an improved license, the process of drafting version 3 has helped highlight vital issues for the community of free software users. This is a moment to thank both the thousands who participated by commenting on the license and those who represented stakeholders through the GPLv3 committee process. Now, with the release of GPLv3, we will see new defenses extended to free software. These defenses will continue the long history of fighting all efforts to make free software proprietary. Please, join us as we stream live footage of Richard Stallman announcing GPLv3 from Noon (EDT) at www.fsf.org. If you are in the Boston area you can also join us at the FSF offices from 11:30am. Please let us know at <firstname.lastname@example.com> if you would like to attend. -- Peter T. Brown Executive Director Free Software Foundation 51 Franklin St. 5th Floor Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA Located in FSF Events FSF Members Meeting 2007: "Year of the Upgrade" by Matt Lee — published Mar 14, 2007 — last modified Mar 14, 2007 11:48 AM — filed under: Meeting This year's meeting will focus on the practical efforts underway to increase free software adoption and strengthen the free software movement. With the theme "Year of the upgrade", we will discuss the FSF campaigns and projects, and elicit a conversation with members about where we need to focus our efforts. Eben Moglen will set out a vision for the future with his speech "After GPLv3", and a panel of FSF board members will lead an interactive discussion on the work of the FSF. Following on from the success of last years members forum, we have invited a few distinguished members to speak and discuss their work, and this year we welcome Mako Hill to talk about his work "Defining free culture". Located in FSF Events Next 5 items » [1] 2


text:
Don't see your question? Visit our help section.
Get access to great in-store deals and local pick-up
Sign up for our email deals newsletter!
The Trivial Pursuit video game from EA builds on the original gameplay with stunning visual presentation, new question types and all-new questions, and the innovative Facts & Friends game mode. The quick-playing Facts & Friends mode adds a whole new social dynamic to the game that keeps everyone involved by encouraging players to guess whether their opponents will answer their questions correctly.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
We are a fast growing independent plumbing and heating merchants with 8 branches across London and the Home Counties.
Three of our branches, Epsom, Eastbourne and Watford, also have bathroom showrooms serving retail customers high end bathroom brands such as Duravit, Hansgrohe, Kohler Daryl, V&B to name a few at very competitive prices.
Our aim is to provide outstanding customer service as well as quality products at the best prices possible.


text:
Redskins come back from 7 down to beat Celina
The Wapakoneta Redskins varsity softball team found itself in a tough spot. It was the bottom of the third inning, and they were trailing the Celina Bulldogs by seven runs.
Add to that, the Redskins have only beaten the Bulldogs once in the last four years.
Add the added pressure that if the Redskins lose this game, their tournament life is over.
Not a problem.
Scoring six runs in the third inning and the go-ahead run in the sixth inning, the Redskins came back from a 7-0 deficit to defeat Celina, 11-8.
"It's like we need two innings under our belt to play the softball that we know how," Wapakoneta varsity coach Bill Sammons said. "When they start playing with a chip on their shoulder, they finally start playing."
And they did — playing with a vengeance. The scoring began in the first inning when senior shortstop Amy Hume scored from third base on a wild pitch. Then senior catcher Kati Sawmiller hit a single that scored senior third baseman Ashlie Cox to make the score 7-2.
Alexis Schwartz then added a 2-RBI single in the same inning. Then senior second baseman Carli Sammons wanted a piece of that, and hit a 2 RBI single herself.
At the end of the inning, the Redskins were loud, back in the game and trailing by one, 7-6.
"We hit the ball, we put the ball in play and I knew we were going to score runs," Sammons said. "It's just that we gotta continue with our defense to get better."
After a tumultuous first two innings, where Celina scored one run in the first inning and six in the second, the defense stepped it up for the Redskins, allowing only one run in the next five innings.
After shutting down the Bulldogs in the top of the fourth inning, Staci Miller drove an RBI single into the green to tie the game at 7.
"Celina is a great team, an amazing team," Sammons said. "It was a tough game, 7-0, to battle back like that, I think that's one of the biggest comebacks in postseason history for us."
From the mound, junior starting pitcher Renee Lovett found herself in a little jam in the fifth inning. She gave up a run and had the bases loaded with the heart of the Celina order up. She got out of the jam with minimal damage, and the Redskins needed another run.
In the bottom of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, senior right fielder Kristi Bailey came to bat for the Redskins. She hit a ground ball back to the pitcher. The pitcher got the force at home and the catcher attempted to get Bailey at first, the throw was in time, but bounced off the first-baseman's glove.
The runner that was on second scored on the error, and the ball trickled to the second baseman. The runner from first base attempted to take home as well, but was gunned down by the second baseman. 1-2-E3-4-2. Wapak scored the tying run, but Celina got the two outs to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, the Redskins again took care of business defensively, and Celina wasn't able to get the go-ahead run.
Bottom of the sixth inning rolls around and Schwartz ripped an RBI double to the outfield for the go-ahead, and eventually game-winning, run.
"That's why we have her hitting, and we have her hitting as much as we can," Sammons said.
Schwartz had three RBIs on the day, including the game winner. After the game, she was all smiles.
"It was just the mentality, you just keep your head up, and know that you are going to win," Schwartz said.
Lovett, despite pitching 45 pitches in the first two innings, stayed focused and pitched the complete game.
"Renee continues to win the pitch," Sammons said. "It's frustrating as a pitcher when you have so many errors behind you, but she just stayed focussed."
Sammons said it was nice to get a win over Celina, since the Redskins were 1-8 against them in the last four years.
"It was really nice to get over this hump, especially with these seniors," Sammons said.
Wapakoneta now advances to the Miller City district, where they will play Tuesday against the Maumee Panthers in their first game
"I am so excited to play somebody who is not is the WBL," Sammons said, "let's put it that way."


text:
When Saul Santana went looking for revenge, he found it in Anthony "Ace" Colon.
It was the bloody summer of 2009, and Santana, a 10th Street Gang member, was seeking retaliation for the shooting of his cousin, fellow gang member Edwin Rivera.
Santana found Colon, the rival Seventh Street Gang member who shot his cousin, on Ullman Street in Riverside and in broad daylight shot him several times in the back.
Colon died later that day.
"I did that dude dirty," Santana later told Rivera.
Santana, who also was shot in retaliation a few months later, was sentenced Monday in federal court to 27 years in prison.
His sentencing marks the latest chapter in the 10th Street Gang prosecution, one of the biggest organized-crime cases in Buffalo in decades.
At the heart of the prosecution are five murders, including the slayings of two innocent neighbors caught in crossfire, and the allegation that the defendants acted collectively, as part of a criminal enterprise, to sell drugs and terrorize their West Side neighborhood for nearly a decade.
"I did this to myself," Santana told U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara. "No one else is to blame."
His mother, weeping in the courtroom, could be heard saying, "I love you."
"I took the life of another human being," Santana said, "and that can never be replaced."
Santana's defense lawyer acknowledged his client's role in the war between the 10th and Seventh Street gangs – he was one of the first gang members to be charged in the case – but suggested his actions were the product of a world most people can't even fathom. It was a world that saw Colon shoot Rivera, Santana shoot Colon, and another Seventh Street Gang member shoot Santana.
"That's just a microcosm of the case," said James P. Harrington, Santana's defense attorney, "but it defines the world these young men were living in."
Federal prosecutor Joseph M. Tripi agreed but reminded Arcara that Santana's regret didn't become evident until after he was charged with Colon's killing.
"The war between the two gangs heated up, and Mr. Santana was part of that," Tripi said of that summer on Buffalo's West Side. "At the time, there was no remorse."
Santana pleaded guilty last year to taking part in a racketeering conspiracy but, as part of his plea deal, admitted killing Colon on June 26, 2009, in an act of revenge.
"They have a code," Arcara said. "It's too bad the culture he was in caused him to do what he did."
Formed in the late 1980s, the 10th Street Gang dominated the West Side neighborhood bounded by Niagara Street on the west, Richmond Avenue on the east, Auburn Avenue on the north and Carolina Street on the south.
The government's investigation of the gang resulted in 38 people being charged; many of them have taken plea deals. About 20 reputed gang members still face felony charges, including murder or attempted murder.
The investigation was overseen by the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force, a coalition that includes Buffalo Police and State Police.
email: firstname.lastname@example.com
New York Gang Investigators Association 2019 NYGIA, P.O. Box 794, Yonkers, NY 10703


text:
Skip to Main Content
Doing Business
Help Me Find
County Home
Departments E-Z
Human Resources
Employee Benefits
Deferred Compensation
Mass Mutual Forms
Mass Mutual Forms
The following fillable forms are provided for your convenience.
Benefit Election at Age 70-1/2
Election Booklet
Enrollment Forms
Important: Forms are not fillable. County must receive a copy of:
a)enrollment form
b)acknowledgement and disclosure statement form
c)beneficiary designation in order to enroll participants in the plan.
Note that forms are included in this Enrollment Form booklet (after cover letter). Enrollment Forms for Mass Mutual can be mailed to:
Contra Costa County
Employee Benefits Service Unit
651 Pine Street, 5th Floor
Martinez, CA 94553
or fax to (925) 335-1798
New Enrollment forms must be received by the 25th of the month to be processed for the next 10th of the month pay.
Hardship Withdrawal
: Submit forms directly to Mass Mutual. Do not send to Employee Benefits Service Unit
Loan Application
: Application must be submitted in person to the Employee Benefits Service Unit for authorization
Notification of Change
: To increase or decrease your current contribution amount, go to the Employee Self Service link at
. Once you access the site go to Benefits and click on Life Events to change your contribution amount.
Participant Change Form
: Use this form for name changes, correction to Social Security Number, Marital Status Change
Rollover forms should be sent directly to Mass Mutual. FAX to (816) 701-8005 or e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com
Capital Gains & Dividend Distributions
Contact Information
Deferred Compensation Plan Document
Deferred Compensation Special Benefit
Loan Provision for Deferred Compensation
Mass Mutual Forms
Power of Attorney and QDRO
Arrow Left
Arrow Right
Slideshow Left Arrow
Slideshow Right Arrow


text:
Clark WaterfallCo-founder & Managing DirectorBSG Team VenturesBoston, Massachusetts
Award-winning portrait artist Sonia, paints custom oil portraits internationally. She paints official and family portraits, children's portraits in oil and pastel as well as landscapes, seascapes and floral paintings. Sonia is a graduate of Colby College in Waterville, Maine where she double-majored in English and Art, although she was accepted to Tufts University's Engineering program. Her painting style was favorably noted upon by her teachers at the Museum of Fine Arts School in Boston, Massachusetts and the Colby Professor of Art.
Sonia is a third-generation student of John Singer Sargent. She studied at the New York Art Students' League in New York City, as well as at the Copley Society in Boston and on a national basis with tbe best portrait artists of our time with lineage going back to JSS and was mentored for five years. Sonia feels grateful to have studied with these famed artists as many are now deceased or in their late 80's. Locally Sonia studied and took workshops with famous portrait artist Robert Cormier who passed on the traditions and values of renowned Boston School artist R.H. Ives Gammell. She also studied with well-known/ famous portrat artist, Constance Flavell Pratt, learning nuances of pastel portrait painting.
Sonia is a member of the Portrait Society of America, the National Arts Club of New York, Oil Painter's of America; the Artist's Fellowship of New York, the Portrait Society of Atlanta of Atlanta, Georgia; the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists of Greenwich, Connecticut and Wellesley Society of Artists of Wellesley, Massachusetts. She enjoys events such as the Boston International Fine Art Show, the conference of the Portrait Society of America and Connecticut Society of Portrait Artist events.
Some noteworthy events have include painting in Greenwich, CT for the Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists & Greenwich Art Council "Arts to the Avenue," as well as in Wellesley, MA, and exhibiting works in Greenwich, CT and Westport, CT, as well as at Page-Waterman Gallery in Wellesley, MA and the Art Guild of Manhasset, New York and in Atlanta, Georgia. She has also enjoyed the opportunity to paint in Vermont with the Putney Painters as a guest artist.
Sonia's portrait and landscape work is sought after by many private and corporate collectors. Her work hangs internationally. She resides in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
Please contact the artist at email@example.com for pricing.


text:
BinMaster Level Controls introduces new dual-timer capacitance probes, Procap I and Procap II, that feature a flexible time delay for covered and uncovered conditions.
Each probe can be set for two alerts, and each alert can be either an immediate alert or one with up to a 30-sec. delay. For example, a probe can be set to alert immediately to a covered state, when the probe is used to shut off a filling process, and at the same time it can be set to alert with a selectable 1-sec. to 30-sec. delay when it detects an uncovered state.
Procap I and Procap II will not interfere with two-way radios or other equipment operating in the radio spectrum because they work at 6 KHz, below the RF level of 9 KHz. The dual-timer capacitance probes offer Quick-Set calibration and are used for high- and low-level detection in bins, silos, tanks, hoppers, chutes and other vessels used for material storage or process manufacturing.
"With instantaneous notification, filling processes can be shut down immediately avoiding overfilled conditions," says Todd Peterson, vice president of sales for BinMaster. "Conversely, if empty conditions are of great concern such as with shutting down production, the timing on the probe can be set to alert immediately to an uncovered condition."
The manufacturer's suggested list price is $320 for the Procap I and $270 for the Procap II. For more information, call 800/278-4241 or visit www.binmaster.com.


text:
Tame Ducks Shot in Wylie Park
This is sure sad. I've been a hunter since I was a little kid growing up NE Iowa. I have and continue to hunt deer around Decorah, Ia. I have hunted ducks in northern Minnesota and pheasants in South Dakota. There is one main rule of hunting that my dad taught me and I taught my son. You eat what you kill. We hunt for food.
I have camped may times in Wylie park in Aberdeen. It is an absolutely beautiful place to spend time. This is what happened there according to aberdeennews.com
Five tame white ducks at Wylie Park were shot and killed between 9 a.m. Wednesday and 9 a.m. Thursday.
"I'm not sure why anyone would do that," said Mark Hoven, parks superintendent for the city of Aberdeen. "It's unfortunate there are people out there who would do something like this, but we hope they catch whoever is responsible."
The ducks were shot in the head with a small-caliber rifle or an air rifle, according to a release from the Aberdeen Police Department. The shooting happened at the northwest pond of the Wylie Park Campground, an area now closed to vehicle traffic.
No shell casings were found in the area, Capt. Dave McNeil of the police department said.
The ducks were found sometime after 9 a.m. floating dead in the water, after someone called the police, Hoven said.
The ducks, which had been at the park for at least two years, have stayed in Aberdeen year-round and had been cared for by city workers, he said.
"They were basically a part of the park," he said.
Other ducks are still alive at the park and campgrounds, he said.
Police do not have a suspect yet. A cash reward is offered for anyone who can provide information that leads to the conviction of the person or people involved, the release stated.
In recent months, an air rifle was used in other unsolved crimes, including the shooting of several vehicle windows. It is unknown if these crimes are connected.
What Jerks.


text:
Hasty generalization
Hasty generalizations, also known as the fallacy of insufficient statistics, the fallacy of insufficient sample, leaping to conclusions and hasty induction, is the practice of drawing a conclusion about a population based on a sample size that is too small.
- Sample S, too small, is taken from population P.
- Conclusion C is drawn about population P based on S.
The fallacy is a misuse of the following reasoning, known as generalization, inductive generalization and statistical generalization.
- X% of all observed A's are B's.
- Therefore X% of all A's are B's.
This is not fallacious when enough A's are observed to warrant the conclusion.
- Jane has met atheist X. X had based his/her lack of belief in any god(s) on invalid reasoning. X is converted to Christianity. Jane concludes that all atheists disbelieve in any god(s) for the same reasons as X.
This statement is fallacious because 1 person is not an adequate sample size of any category.
- Thomas knows 10 Asian people. Many of them are better educated and/or score higher academically. Thomas concludes that all Asian people are smart.
This statement is fallacious because 10 people are not sufficient to judge a racial category. There are likely other factors at work, including but not limited to the possibility that Thomas doesn't work hard at school, that Thomas does not enjoy learning at school, that Thomas's Asian friends work extremely hard and/or Thomas is/was disadvantaged socioeconomically compared to his Asian friends.
- Patrick has recently seen a movie where the antagonist was extremely greedy and also happened to be Jewish. Patrick does not know any Jewish people. Based on the movie and another movie he's recently seen, Patrick concludes that all Jewish people are greedy bankers.
This statement is fallacious because he is judging a group (a small group, but substantial nonetheless) based on a stereotype. Patrick is also judging a group without any personal knowledge of anyone within the group, giving him a sample size of zero.
- "While the word "atheist" may give the impression that it only has to do with a lack of belief in God, the reality is that they are "naturalists" (often materialists) [1]"
NOTE: Any statistics that follow are completely fictitious.
- Approximately 70% of the adult population of Scotland is polled to find their views on homosexuality. They have found that Scotland supports the legalization of gay marriage 77% Yes, 17% No, and 6% Unsure.
This is not a fallacious statement because with such a large sample size and with an overwhelming majority (over 4:1), it is unlikely that the 30% who were not polled will tip the balance significantly, especially if the pollsters were careful to not limit themselves to urbanized areas.
- Jessica has asked everyone within her small town in grade 8 what they thought about the cafeteria lunch food, excluding those who have never tried it. She found that the overwhelming majority disliked the food, 85% Dislike, 12% Don't Care and 3% Like.
This is not a fallacious statement because the only people excluded were those who had never eaten it (those unable to draw a conclusion) and she was only drawing a conclusion about the 8th graders within her town.


text:
Sunday, 25 January 2009
Leaving a village
You'll see the sign that indicates the edge of Noordlaren and underneath it is a crossed out 30, that being the speed limit in kilometres per hour within villages (18 mph). The sign on the right hand side of the road shows the speed limit on a rural road. 60 km/h ( 37 mph ). Note also the deliberately rough road surface to encourage drivers to slow down. Speed limits used to be higher, and quite a lot of them were reduced recently.
Within this village, which has very little through traffic, cyclists share the road with drivers. However, at the edge there is a single direction cycle path on both sides of the road. On the right it starts just before the 60 sign, which is why some of the rough surface is left smooth for cyclists.
Note also the rubbish bin for cyclists visible on the left side of the road. That's a pretty good give-away that this is a popular route for school children. Also, look at that beautiful blue sky. Not at all bad for January.
Almost all villages have 30 km/h speed limits on all their roads, even when they also have cycle-paths.
6 comments:
- O'Reilly said...
The sheep have their warm winter coats on so they can cycle without feeling cold.
- 26 January 2009 at 04:31
This is similar to a few places in Germany- although here they have a chicane instead of rocks. I think I like the rocks though- there's now way anyone would miss that...
- 26 January 2009 at 14:55
- Adrienne Johnson said...
The giant butterfly net is the rubbish bin? If so, I like it!
- 26 January 2009 at 21:49
- acline said...
There's no reason at all -- except for a lack of imagination and political will -- that what you're showing us here couldn't also exist in rural Missouri.
- 27 January 2009 at 19:21
- xzaz said...
@Adrienne Johnson
Yes the giant butterfly net is the rubbish bin. I cycle their a lot in the summer times and you can smash your trash right in to the nets. Its pritty handy.
For small stuff their is a bin on all the places where you can sit down.
- 28 January 2009 at 00:19
- David Hembrow said...
Sorry, I forgot to reply on the bin. There's another post queued up for a few days times which shows more of them.
- 28 January 2009 at 07:48


text:
U.S. Rep. Andy Harris certainly is the darling of Harford County's conservative voters, who make up a large contingent of the local people who participate in the election process.
There's certainly no mystery as to why he's able to draw crowds like the one he attracted last week to Bel Air Town Hall. He touched on all the issues that have been of interest to his base in the past few years, namely federal spending, energy policy, immigration and health care reform, among others.
From a very broad perspective, his views, taken individually, are well within the range of what is considered the political right of mainstream thinking. Taken in aggregate, however, they sometimes seem a bit contradictory.
Asked about national defense, in keeping with the expected answer, he said he favors increased defense spending. He also, however, went to great lengths to talk about cutting federal spending. The two things are not necessarily mutually exclusive; Harris said he'd like to see cuts in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education. Even if both were eliminated, however, it would be all but impossible to cut federal spending without cutting defense spending. The U.S. defense budget for more than 30 years, regardless of which party has controlled Congress or the White House, has consistently been equal to or more than all other discretionary government spending combined.
Now if he were to start talking about cutting spending on things like issuing Social Security checks and providing Medicare benefits – non-discretionary spending as these categories come from dedicated funds – then it would be possible.
On the subject of federal medical programs, Mr. Harris similarly holds two seemingly incongruous views. Last week he was quoted saying "...the government running health care is not the way to do it."
It has long been popular to be critical of the government – even when you're part of it as is Mr. Harris.
Curiously, while he has steadfastly been opposed for government-run health care for most people, when he was first elected to Congress in 2010, he was conspicuous in his expression of irritation at having to wait a whole month before his Congressional health care plan would take effect.
It is very easy to show up at public meetings and rail about the inefficiencies in government and commit to re-argue legislation that already has been passed. Indeed, it also makes for good politics because tapping into public frustration over failures and problems is a good way to attract votes.
It doesn't, however, accomplish much. Indeed, those elected to public office who fail to work with others elected to similar offices, but who hold different views, subvert the system. The idea of having so many people in Congress wasn't so the opinion of one or a few would carry the day; it was so different views could be raised and policies hashed out based on those different views and perspectives.
If Mr. Harris wants to continue in Congress, he'll be able to do so only if he is able in the long run to deliver something other than complaints about the federal government. Anyone can complain about it. If you complain about it and end up being sent to Congress, though, the expectation is that you'll do something about it, not continue to complain.
Given the rote — and sometimes incompatible — positions Mr. Harris expressed last week, it appears he's poised to do a lot of complaining and not much else from his seat in Congress.


text:
Canh Recipes
Bun Canh Do Bien Recipe (Vietnamese Crab Noodle Soup)
The idea of eating hot soup during May sounds strange to many people. But in tropical countries, consuming hot broth at any time of the day (even for breakfast!) is normal. Odd as it is, hot liquid on a hot day does seem to help your body stay cool. With this factoid and the heat spike we've been experiencing in the Bay Area, I prepared bún canh đồ biển.
It has a sweet, red-colored broth (I used annatto seed oil to color it). The soup is fairly soft in texture: round, thick noodles are used and cá hồng (red snapper), crab meat, shredded lettuce, bean sprouts and sugar snap peas are added at the last minute.
Full Recipe...
Canh Bun Recipe (Vietnamese Soup)
Canh bún is a simplified version of bún riêu. It has a similar, red-colored sweet broth except it doesn't contain tomatoes. The soup is also softer in texture; round, thick noodles are used and fried tofu pieces and rau muống (pea shoot tendrils) are added at the last minute.
Traditionally, pork is used for canh bun but I prefer cooking with veal instead. You could stick to the more authentic version or use other meat and add riêu (crab morsels) as well.
Full Recipe...
Lotus Root Soup Recipe (Canh Cu Sen)
The authentic recipe for lotus soup, called canh củ sen in Vietnamese, calls for pork broth, dried scallops, dried octopus and various dried fruits and nuts. With my family being mostly vegetarian, I adapted it to fit everyone's diet.
I tried to mimic the meaty broth with Okinawan potatoes (purple-fleshed Japanese sweet potatoes) and preserved daikon radish and flavored it with the usual dried black dates called jujube (or plum), dried South almonds, peanuts and gojee berries. Lastly, fresh lotus root is sliced thinly and added to the broth until softened. Some people like it on the crunchy side, but I prefer it very tender.
Full Recipe...
Corn and Crab Soup Recipe
This crab soup , simply called súp cua in Vietnamese, was my attempt to finish the leftover crab from last night's dinner. We bought six crabs for the two people who actually eat seafood in our house, so there was a fair amount unfinished. I prepared cua rang me (Vietnamese tamarind crab) and that's basically all we ate with a little salad on the side. We were so full by the end of the meal that we could not finish the dish. It was our Mount Everest and we didn't conquer it!
I didn't want to waste the delicious crab, so I cracked the rest and gathered the crab meat. I had chicken stock in the freezer and I thickened it with a little corn starch. I added frozen corn and green onions to the soup and the result was just as I expected: mildly sweet, velvety and wonderfully soothing. Simply perfect!
Full Recipe...
Canh Tan O Recipe (Vietnamese Chrysanthemum and Shrimp Soup)
Canh tần ô is a very common Vietnamese soup. It consists of chrysanthemum leaves and shrimp balls in a thin broth. It's a very healthy, light meal. I added a few scoops of steamed jasmine brown rice to make the meal complete.
I'm giving losing the baby weight another go, and this is my "day 1" meal. Wish me luck!
Full Recipe...


text:
2 UTSA football players arrested on armed robbery charges
Two former University of Texas at San Antonio football players have been released from the program after their alleged involvement in an armed robbery Tuesday.
Adefemi Adekeye, 21, was arrested Wednesday night on a charge of aggravated robbery.
Toyin Dada, 21, was arrested Thursday, also on a charge of aggravated robbery.
The university and head coach Larry Coker released statements that they had been made aware of the arrests but would not comment because of the ongoing police investigation.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit for Adekeye, a man went to his off-campus apartment Tuesday to buy an ounce of marijuana for $300, but when he got there Adekeye and another man robbed him at gunpoint.
The man was pistol-whipped before being thrown out of the apartment, according to the report. He then flagged down a constable for help, which led to an hours-long SWAT standoff while negotiators attempted to coax the armed men out of the apartment.
When they entered the apartment, however, they found it was empty.
An arrest warrant affidavit for Dada was not available Thursday night.
According to the university, Adekeye is a junior kinesiology major who started classes in fall 2010. He is also listed as a nonscholarship walk-on to the football team, for which he played safety.
Dada is listed as a senior general business major who started classes in fall 2011. He is also listed as a nonscholarship walk-on who played cornerback.
"We were made aware of Adefemi Adekeye's arrest on Wednesday night and have dismissed him from our program. Due to the ongoing investigation by law enforcement, we will not make any further comment on this situation," UTSA head coach Larry Coker said.
"On August 1, we were notified that UTSA student Adefemi O. Adekeye was arrested by the San Antonio Police Department in relation to an incident that occurred off-campus. We have no further comment at this time," UTSA Spokesperson Christi Fish said.


text:
Content Count1,350
Last visited
About Rusla
Star Contributor
Contact Methods
Website URL
Profile Information
photography, art, writing, leather work armour and clothes, animals, traveling, sewing, gf soap and lotion making.
Calgary, AB. Canada
Recent Profile Visitors
wheeleezdryver reacted to a post in a topic: Christmas Food Gifts
Hoping To Meet People Like Me
Rusla replied to C.S. Blogsmith's topic in Meeting RoomAs I have not been on here in a long time it is still nice to see some of the oldsters like me on here. Jersey Angel, you are looking quite furry today. Anyway, I am a writer, artist, photographer and I can relate to how you feel. They certainly were not much as friends go, were they? I didn't lose my friends, we still talk by phone. The thing is about this disease you will feel cheated. Where I am there is very little places to go eat for us folks. So my friends go out and have fun and I, stay home and paint and write. Although I consider what I am doing a much more admirable pursuit than swilling alcohol, there are some days I wish I could have dinner with my friends. I never eat at their places because of cross contamination issues. I also don't want to put them out to attempt to make anything special for me, so I don't go. The thing is until someone has the disease they just don't get it about the disease and I wouldn't expect them to. So in the meantime you have us, we are not the same and as we live in different places and countries it makes it difficult to hang out. We just have to make our own world.
Any Irish Out There?
Rusla replied to ranger's topic in Gab/Chat RoomWhen I was in Ireland corned beef and cabbage was rarely on the menu. I think I saw it once and that was in Dublin. But I can say I had absolutely no problems eating in Ireland and I love Ireland for many reasons.
Glutened By Kraft Bar-b-q Sauce
Rusla replied to HerbalHippie's topic in Ingredients & Food Labeling IssuesI would like to say that I do not touch the BBQ sauces because a great deal of time they have Barley Malt in them which is a gluten. I have never been made sick by Kraft and I am so sensitive that miniscule crumbs devastate me. I would definitely suggest calling the company. Rusla
New Calgary Restaurant - A Tasty Menu?
Rusla replied to safetylegs's topic in International Room (Outside USA)No it won't, Lisa. I think I alone am paying their bills. I have taken four people there who have been bringing their friends and family and I have been there three times this week. Talk about an addict.
New Calgary Restaurant - A Tasty Menu?
Rusla replied to safetylegs's topic in International Room (Outside USA)Yes, I have actually I was there twice in two days. Their food is all made from scratch and they serve pizza and delicious chocolate cake. They have a children's menu also. Even though they are far away from me, it is worth it to drive there. There is absolutely no gluten in that restaurant. Go and enjoy it.
Diagnosed With Dermatitis Herpetiformis
Rusla replied to MDW1's topic in Dermatitis HerpetiformisWhen you are gluten-free you need to be totally gluten free, that means, soaps, shampoos, lotions, food. You must read every label all the time and if you aren't sure don't touch it. I also call all the companies if their phone number is on the bottles. Now, I have DH and being careful of shampoos etc. because it affects the DH also if you have lotion on your hands and it is not Gluten free then when you pick up something to eat, you injest it. I always get glutened at work no matter how careful I am at cleaning things off and wearing gloves to do it. All it takes is a few crumbs for me.
Worcestershire Sauce
Rusla replied to sickchick's topic in Gluten-Free Recipes & Cooking TipsWorchestershire sauce is almost always wheat/guten based, that is where your problem lies. I do not know where it comes from but I have found a gluten/wheat free one called Wizard.
New Gluten Free Restaurant In Calgary
Rusla replied to Rusla's topic in International Room (Outside USA)i don't think I would want to try it without refridgeration. Since the Splitt closed here last year we have had no restaurants that are gluten free and now we have one and it has pizza. As you can tell I am crazy happy because it is very good food. They also do vegan for the vegans in the city.
New Gluten Free Restaurant In Calgary
Rusla replied to Rusla's topic in International Room (Outside USA)Okay, until you show up here I will be forced to eat your share of chocolate cake and pizza.
New Gluten Free Restaurant In Calgary
Rusla replied to Rusla's topic in International Room (Outside USA)I am so bad, I went back to the restaurant today with another Celiac friend. This time we split a Ceasar Salad that had cheese and garlic croutons, gluten-free of course. It was delicious, then I again had a pizza which was every bit as good as the one yesterday and brought most of it home with me for supper. I also brought another piece of their delicious chocolate cake home with me. My friend and I travel from Bowness to Forest Lawn for that food and I rarely like travelling out of my area if I don't need or have to but for them I will. We also met a couple from Silver Springs there, we were working on her to open a bigger place in the NW. All of us in there today were having pizza's.
New Gluten Free Restaurant In Calgary
Rusla posted a topic in International Room (Outside USA)I found a brand new gluten free restaurant in Calgary today. Granted not in an end of town I usually go to but that is okay. They have only been open five weeks. The name is "A tasty Menu," right now they are only open Wed. to Sunday, 11:00 am - 8:00 pm for now until they get more busy. It is a small modestly designed restaurant. They make everything from scratch and even though I am not a thin crust pizza girl, their thin crust pizza is to die for and so is their chocolate cake with cream cheese icing.They are located at #105 - 4202 17th Ave SE on the north side of the road in a small strip mall next to an adult store, phone number is: 403-235-0031. Stop in and say hi to the owner, Barbara, who is celiac,
Best Place To Be gluten-free In Europe?
Rusla replied to Gabbous8's topic in International Room (Outside USA)I have just returned from Ireland. Believe me whether large city or small town there is no problem staying gluten-free. All I had to do was walk into a restaurant and sa, "I am Celiac." The would adjust anything and some had gluten-free menus, you can buy delicious gluten-free items in every food store.
Anyone Been On A Holland America Cruise?
Rusla replied to Emily Elizabeth's topic in Traveling with Celiac DiseaseI was debating a cruise with some friends, I talked to Holland America. Holland America is very well versed on Celiac disease and said it would be no problem if you let them know at time of booking and again when on board. I also know others who have been on Holland America and said they would travel no other, because not only were they treated like royalty but not once were they glutened.
New Member
Rusla replied to Yellow Rose's topic in Coping with Celiac DiseaseYellow Rose, welcome. I don't know how to answer your question as having arthritis also does not make joint pain go away. However I can answer about the big "D" if you have that...lol
I Hate My Job!
Rusla replied to gdobson's topic in Gab/Chat RoomWhen I started my job, I loved it and the coordinator. However, half way through coordinators changed the new took away all our stress toys, no more pats on the back for good things, only kicks in the face. I rewrote a manual for them and I was given three hours to do it in, others rewrote a section of another manual and were given a week to do it in. When, supposed appreciation went out everyone but me was thanked. When they decide to do something for us who deal with ot and other things they order in KFC and Pizza. People now leave there in droves. The coordinator lies to us about everything and there is no morale in the place I work. Most of us are so depressed we are just looking for a chance to get out of there. Yes, I can relate to how you feel about your job.


text:
Wabash Club of Chicago Welcomes Anne and Andy Fordby Tom Runge • April 5, 2006 Share:
April 4, 2006. A filled-to-capacity room of Wabash alumni and friends greeted Anne and Andy Ford in Chicago on what is likely to be the Ford's last official visit to the Windy City. The Fords were attending the annual Wabash Club of Chicago Alumni Admissions dinner at the downtown Maggianos.
Several prospective students and their families were afforded Wabash style hospitality by the Chicago Club – it was an opportunity to see the very best of the College community.
Wabash Club co-chairman Greg Jania '93 served as the evening's emcee. After dinner, Greg thanked the Ford's for the tremendous leadership and vision they had provided to the College and presented them with a brass Wabash coaster set in a beautiful mahogany chest.
At one point in the evening, one prospective student stood up and told the group his decision was made – he's attending Wabash in the fall! As they say: "And the crowd went wild…"
Many thanks go to Wabash Club of Chicago co-chairmen Greg Jania '93 and Eric Schoettle '93 for putting together a great evening. Thanks as well to young alumnus coordinator Khurram Tahir '01. These three individuals have really energized the Chicago area alumni effort.
Photo: Emcee Greg Jania '93 welcomes the group to the evening's dinner.
For more photos, click here.


text:
Vista Theatre
4473 Sunset Drive,
Los Angeles,
58 people favorited this theater
Bard's Hollywood Theatre opened on October 16, 1923 with Baby Peggy in "Tips" plus vaudeville acts on stage. The seating capacity at opening was for 838.
Alongside its elegant facade, the interior is the true stunner at this old single screen palace in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles.
Recent comments (view all 127 comments)
I was reading an article about the demolition of the National in Westwood (sad) , and ended up finding the updated official website for the Vista and the Los Feliz 3, run by Vintage cinemas (happy).
Some great interior shots HERE
I love this place and am so happy that it still exists in this day and age of multiplexes and on-demand movies at home and watching movies on mobile devices.. We're lucky to have it in the neighborhood.
Attended the 9:45PM showing on 6/15 of "Super 8". A great crowd a little over 200 in attendance. Many people in the industry go to the Vista. I just realized that the opening for Elvira's weekend horror movie on KDOC was filmed here.
Parking note: I take the Red Line from North Hollywood and get off at the Sunset-Vermont station. The Vista is only two blocks east. If in need of a quick bite, stop at Von's right on the way and pick up a sandwich and a Starbucks-they have seating.
I was there on Sunday for the 1:30 showing of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", which drew a very big crowd for a matinee. The theater is beautiful and the projection was perfect. I like the fact that they have screen curtains. Last time I went there, about ten years ago, they didn't. The only minus is that the curtains look too modern for that theatre. A shiny gold curtain flooded with red lights would look better with the classic decor. By the way, I live in Virginia, and whenever I travel I make it a point to visit single screen theaters. On this trip west, I visited the Vista, the Crest, and the Regent.
The exterior with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" on marquee was featured for a few minutes in tonight's episode of TNT TV's "Southland" cop drama show.
I saw that episode and was pleased to note that they use mylar (or plastic?) displays on the marquee, old-school style, rather than just hanging letters that spell out the title of the feature.
Nice to see about 160 people for the 8:50PM show this past Tuesday for "Dark Knight". Veteran actor Clu Gulager, a regular at the Beverly Cinema, showed at the Vista recently.
(Martha used to run "Phantom" at the late lamented Majestic Crest. The women dress up and it's fun being one of the lone men attending)
This year's Screening (Redux ~ IX) will be at The Vista Theatre.
Cheers! Martha (Boswell)
Cell: 310-709-8917
Date: November 10, 2012
Time: Midnight
Tickets: $20.00
The Vista and its sister venue a half-mile away, Los Feliz 3, converted to digital around Sept 6; however, the Vista was allowed to keep its 35MM projector as some directors wanted it for special screenings.
In the Independent Theatres listings of the Los Angeles Times for February 10, 1971, the Vista was showing a double feature of Cindy and Donna (IMDb) and Girly (IMDB).
These were more low-budget sexploitation movies than full-on porn, but they were the sort of thing the Vista was running regularly around that time. The theater went to gay porn for a while later in the '70s, and then in 1980 it became a revival house, first operated by Thomas Theatres out of San Francisco and then by Landmark, which operated it more as a revival/art house combination.
Landmark abandoned the revival format at the Vista in 1985. The August 24, 1986 Los Angeles Times has the house listed as the New Vista, showing a double feature of Top Gun and Real Genius. I don't think the Vista ever went back to porn after its time as a revival house. It did show some gay-themed movies during those years, aimed at the large gay audience in Silver Lake and East Hollywood, but I don't think any of them were porn.
Below link with a screen grab of the Vista Theatre in "Throw Momma From The Train".
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater


text:
Well a crazy workday kept me from blogging yesterday. I was , however, reminded of an important piece to trouble shooting applications, even database instances. What was that piece? Never get hung up on a single test box, or a single test instance. The reason why may be obvious, but the problem is that if you get hung up on a single instance or box , you can miss the actual problem.
Take yesterday, for example, I was helping a customer with a box that recently migrated to 11.50.FC5 , their app was crashing every time the engine came on-line, and in the process was crashing the Informix engine as well. Now as a support engineer you tend to focus on the assertion failure file and shared memory dump , just like an application developer would focus on debug logs and a core file. Well to make a long story short, after trying to identify the problem, I finally asked them to test on a separate box that had 11.50.FC5, if they had one. They did have another test box, and tested their application which did not crash and worked as expected. It turned out there was no problem with Informix, or the application, but the original test box had significant issues all its own, due to an unforseen accident that both the developers and myself were not originally aware of.
It's so easy these days, in this "whose to blame" society that we forget sometimes, that conditions exist where no one is to blame. Accidents happen, and it's what we do to idenify and correct the issue, accidental or not, that helps make our application, and ourselves , successful.


text:
Welcome to DarlingModel.com where you can learn about Gia Darling, her life as a male to female transsexual and her career as a plastic surgery advisor and consultant in Beverly Hills, CA. Additionally, Gia is a worldly renowned model and actress in both mainstream and adult industrie. Gia Darling is an internationally recognized media expert, brand, public speaker and business woman.
Type your paragraph here.welcome


text:
We are meeting with the Hospice team today!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Waiting for Jesus
We are meeting with the Hospice team today!
Posted by Mrs. Cherry Heart at 2:22 PM
11 comments:
- Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...
Oh, Dolly, I'm so sorry to hear this. It's hard when your loved one talks this way and it is a sad time for you, I know. I will pray for you and may the Lord comfort your heart.
- September 29, 2011 at 2:31 PM
- Jeanette said...
I'm so sorry for that Dolly. I hope her remaining days are peaceful. You will be in my thoughts.
- September 29, 2011 at 3:03 PM
- GARAGE SALE GAL ~ Deb's Earthly Delights said...
Praying for peace while you all wait for Jesus to come and take your Mom home with Him..
- September 29, 2011 at 3:12 PM
- Lisa ~ A Cottage to Me said...
I know the sadness you are going thru right now. Having lost my Mom just a little over a year ago. I too hope your Mom's time left with you is one creating more loving memories to cherish of her. You will be so grateful for this time with her!
- September 29, 2011 at 3:17 PM
- Cindy said...
Dolly....you climb in the bed with her there in the hospital...hang hospital rules!!!
You also tell her you will be alright...and you give her permission to leave...we mom's need to know our children will be alright...yes they will miss us...but it is okay for them to go...YOU WILL MISS HER AND LOVE HER>>>>but YOU WILL BE ALRIGHT.
I have told this too many waiting for their love ones to leave...after telling them that...the patient always looks so relaxed and then they can pass...knowing it is alright!! I encourage the families to hold their love ones...to climb in bed with them to sing and to talk to them...even if you think they can't hear you...the things I have seen in those last minutes is beautiful. I promise you we forget the pain after childbirth and when we hold that little one...you will also erase those last breaths...and you will remember the special times!!!
Praying for you and giving you a big hug!!! Cindy from Rick-Rack and Gingham
- September 29, 2011 at 4:06 PM
- Anonymous said...
Dolly I will be praying for you and your mom. We are Spiritual volunteers with hospice in our area and if your group is anything like the hospice we work with they will be so helpful.
I think those last days together as a family at home can be so very precious and will pray that God will help your mom say yes to your desire.
bee blessed
- September 29, 2011 at 4:12 PM
- BrushedByAnAngel said...
Dolly, when there was nothing else they could do for my mother, one of us climbed into the hospital bed with her, held her hand, thanked her for being our mother, and told her if she needed to go we would be alright because of all the things she had taught us. The nurses never said anything - we even brought blow up beds and stayed throughout the night. You just need to be there for her if she won't go home with you. That is what she needs most. Prayers to you and your family,
- September 29, 2011 at 4:16 PM
- Holly- Cutie Pie Cottage said...
Oh Dolly, I remember my mother telling me those same words. It was hard but the Lord helped me to be strong for her and I know the Lord is helping you, too. ((HUG))
- September 29, 2011 at 4:38 PM
- Kathleen Grace said...
Oh Dear Dolly. My heart goes out to you. It is as hard to see our loved ones go through illness as it is to think about them leaving us. I hope you can talk your mother into coming home with you. It is a special and loving experience to have someone at home at a time like this. I went through it with my sister and grandmother and I was so grateful that they were never alone. You and your mom will be in my prayers.
- September 29, 2011 at 6:50 PM
- vivian said...
oh dear Dolly. How hard this must be for you. I will just pray that Gods will be done, and that your mother will be comfortable regardless of where she is. I do hope she will decide to come home with you. I wish I could be there to make a casserole or run the vacuum for you.. just something to make you day easier...
Just know that I'm sending up some prayers!
- September 29, 2011 at 8:11 PM
- The Cutest Cottage Lamps said...
Dolly, you brought tears to my eyes. My mom died a few years ago and she had made that decision also. It's very hard on us even now when I think about her decision; I was just thinking how nice it would be to go camping with her and Dad this weekend. Oh well, we cannot force someone to do what we want them to do. Keep the good memories of your mother close to your heart always! And God Bless you and your mother.
- September 30, 2011 at 8:30 PM


text:
I recently had the pleasure of spending a Saturday with about 25 teachers from around Oxford and the UK (one had even come over from Poland!) for the APPEAL-2 programme run by the John Adams Institute at the University of Oxford.
The day was packed full of interesting lectures about particle physics, cosmology and particle accelerators. After lunch, the teachers descended to the basement of the physics building into the undergraduate laboratories where I held a workshop making small cloud chambers out of (mostly) household materials.
When I was developing the workshop, a colleague from Oxford (Andrew) was kind enough to film a short video about cloud chambers with me. He did an amazing job managing to film the chamber working and even finding a really snazzy thermal camera to show the temperature difference in the cloud chamber.
The thing I find so amazing about these simple devices is that they allow us to see tiny charged particles that we otherwise wouldn't know were there. The particles are called muons and are created when high energy cosmic rays from outer space interact with atoms in the Earth's upper atmosphere. These collisions produce particles called pions which very quickly decay into muons.
Muons are like electrons but they are 200 times heavier and are unstable. Normally, muons decay (into an electron & 2 neutrinos) in 2.2 millionths of a second (!) and wouldn't even last as long as it takes to get from the atmosphere to Earth. The fact that we observe them at all is really strong evidence of time dilation in Special Relativity.
Because muons are heavier than electrons, they don't interact as easily with matter, so can pass straight through the air, the buildings we're in, and tens of metres into the Earth. This is another reason why some particle physics experiments have to be buried deep underground, so that they don't see these cosmic ray muons!
Interestingly, about half of the muons we observe in a cloud chamber are positive and half negatively charged - we could find that out by bending the particles using a magnetic field, positive particles would go one way and negative the other. The negatively charged ones are 'matter' particles, but the positive ones are actually anti-matter. I think it's pretty amazing that we can observe antimatter with such a simple experiment!
I'm glad to say that 9 out of 10 of the chambers that the teachers constructed really worked, even if we were running a little short on dry ice towards the end of the session!


text:
There's an old-fashioned phrase, "there's method in our madness."
Today was a day when I went for lots of method, and saved up all the madness for later on.
When I carried the CFZ rubbish bags out into the road Wednesday night, the 4th of March 2009, it was snowing. I was surprised: I thought we'd seen the last of the "Christmas postcard" look, this winter. But I shrugged (mainly to shake snowflakes from my shoulders) – and retreated back indoors and thought no more of it. Until…
Thursday morning, got a phone call at around 0950 from Mrs Wade - a resident of our village - that some strange footprints were in her back garden. I was the only one awake (it had been a long and difficult evening, yesterday), so I grabbed my camera and headed off to have a look.
On arrival, shortly after 10am, my early and non-zoological impression was that the the prints looked like they'd been made by a one-legged deer. Sometimes, people describe an animal that's missing a leg as "one-legged" when really they mean "three-legged" – and I may not be a zoologist, but I know enough to dismiss the idea of a one-legged deer pogo-ing around the rural landscape.
Mrs Wade recapitulated for the video camera how she'd seen these footprints from her window, had wondered what they were – and had then decided to ring the CFZ.
I was in preliminary investigation mode: rather like Sherlock Holmes, who said it's a capital error to theorise in the absence of data. So, I just improvised. I'm very unused to studying snowprints, as we don't get much snow in Devon. Mud, yes. There's plenty of that in Devon. But mud's quite a different medium, as sloppy mud doesn't retain imprint countours and firmer mud doesn't compact nearly so readily as snow.
Anyhow, the tracks presented a markedly in-line appearance, ie there was no discernable left-right-left-right pattern straddling an imaginary centre line.
I inferred direction of travel from the fact that one end of each track was clearly defined, whereas the other end was blurred. Forward motion of a human in the snow usually shows a well-defined heel print and a scuffed toe impression, so I decided to allow myself that assumption. A working assumption, of course.
The track ran from the far end of the lawn, across the almost-pristine snowy surface (just a few bird prints showed), and petered out at the paved area adjecent to the house, where the snow had already melted. Another linear string of tracks headed back out from the patio area, across the other side of the lawn.
So, with my back to the house, and facing south across the lawn, the inbound track (on my right) approached from the SSW (ie, south-west, but more south than west: a bearing of around 190º, I'd say). On the other side of the patio (my left), the tracks resumed in an arc roughly SSE (bearing 170º) back towards the end of the lawn area. The patio distance between the arrival point and departure point was roughly 20 ft.
Each print was roughly horseshoe-shaped, as if made by a cloven hoof – or two elongated feet close together, that move in unison. A U-shape describes the track quite well; V-shaped equally so. Something inbetween, really.
Devil's Footprints? Well, the area at the dead centre of each overall shape showed no discernable impaction in the snow. The snow was around 2cm (almost one inch) deep, and a cloven foot would have to have an unusually deep cleft to leave that portion of the snow untouched. However, the sun was already destroying the early-morning evidence, and it was difficult to be sure.
After taking a few pictures, I suddenly had the bright idea of following the prints. Remember, this was 10am in the village of the CFZ, and I'd only had one coffee so far, so I wasn't firing on all cylinders yet.
I found the garden had a well-defined boundary fencing – nothing that would thwart an intact deer, but definitely one that would make a one-legged deer scratch its head… assuming it had any spare limbs with which to do that, of course…
Following what I felt were the departing tracks, I found they fizzled out at the boundary hedge: snow had fallen on the hedge itself, but none had fallen – or at least none remained – under the hedge. So that trail had run cold. As a second-best, I then back-tracked the prints approaching the house, and found they fizzled out in exactly the same manner. However, the snow on each hedge and its associated shrubbery showed no significant disturbance, so I concluded nothing had barged through the foliage since the snowfall.
Inference: something had passed under the hedge? Something pretty small? A Mad March Hare, maybe?
Well, yes - possibly: on considering the matter later on, I decided the entity had not jumped the hedge. There was no snow-scatter (or deeper impression in the lawn itself) that one would expect if something had jumped a barrier several feet high and then landed on the other side. Not that I had ever thought this was seriously the case, but one has to cover all bases – remember, I had set myself the task of gathering data, rather than jumping to conclusions.
Since the snow in the vicinity of the hedge was shaded from the rising sun, there had been little melting, and thus tracks were well-preserved. However, since the snow in Woolsery mainly had arrived on a south-westerly track, approaching the garden from its (roughly) southern aspect, the areas most shielded from the sun had earlier also been well-shielded from the snow! So tracks were better-preserved there, but also less pronounced, since there was less snow to do the preserving in the first place.
If the snow had been borne on a northerly wind, then ingress and egress evidence might have been a lot more conspicuous. Still, there you go: we don't always get what we wish for, in life, do we?
Observing a crime scene and not jumping to conclusions has been drummed into me by watching many Forensic Detectives shows on Discovery. But I couldn't help but feel that this was probably tracks of a rabbit or hare. Something that hops with its feet together, anyway. The alternatives – that either a one-legged deer was exploring people's gardens, or that Woolsery had received its first cloven-hoofed emissary from the Devil – these were both too much to contemplate before my second coffee of the morning!
We also write a monthly column for The Bideford Post and we decided that it was about time that we introduced Weird Torridgeside to the blogosphere..
Friday, 6 March 2009
Posted by Jon Downes at 07:19
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
Infographic on how to make your marketing more productive
Target audience: Nonprofits, cause organizations, foundations, NGOs, social enterprises, businesses, educators, journalists, general public.
Ian Cleary of RazorSocial recently published an infographic highlighting the daily tasks of a social media marketer. But what's really useful about this infographic isn't a rundown of daily tasks. It's the 29 tools.
Some of these tools you may already know about, but here's a quick rundown of the highlights: Continue reading


text:
Check Message
Screen Gestures
Scroll Between
Select Single
Context Menu
Zoom In
Zoom Out
Slide Bar
Bezel gestures
Minimize Apps
Show Settings App
Show Top Menu
View Notifications
Practice gestures on your device!
Simply tap on the Tutorials icon from your home screen.
Software Update
Get the latest version of BlackBerry 10 software
Software updates are free, generally take under 15 minutes to complete, and you can download them over a Wi-Fi® network or mobile network. Updates over a mobile network might be restricted due to file size and additional charges might apply.
online support
on device support
To get help using your BlackBerry 10 smartphone, simply click the Help icon on your home screen.
blackberry community
Use the Community app to stay up-to-date with news and help information.


text:
ReleasesBack to
Kenny Burrell
The music on this 1997 two-CD set was originally on two LPs and already previously reissued as a pair of CDs. Guitarist Kenny Burrell leads a very coherent jam session in the studio with a particularly strong cast that also includes trumpeter Louis Smith, both Junior Cook and Tina Brooks on tenors, either Duke Jordan or Bobby Timmons on piano, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Art Blakey. The material consists of basic originals and standards and has excellent playing all around; six of the nine tunes are over nine minutes long. At that point in time, Cook and Brooks had similar sounds, but, fortunately, the soloists are identified in the liner notes for each song. The solo star is often trumpeter Louis Smith, who fell into obscurity after a few notable appearances on Blue Note during the period (including his own brilliant date, Here Comes Louis Smith). He was one of the finest of the Clifford Brown-influenced players of the period and deserves much greater recognition. This is a recommended reissue for hard bop collectors who do not already have the two individual CDs. ~ Scott Yanow


text:
The Christian's GPS
One of the great inventions of the modern world is the global positioning system (GPS). The devices that use this satellite system make travel easier and enhance marital bliss by eliminating disputes between husbands and wives regarding the need to …Read More
Twilight of the Idols
The nineteenth-century philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche is famous for his declaration that "God is dead." That brief dictum does not give the whole story. According to Nietzsche, the cause of the Deity's demise was compassion. He said, "God is dead …Read More
Confusing Truth and Fiction
If you do much witnessing to people these days, you have probably run into this phenomenon: You tell them about Jesus, and they say something like, "Well, the church has twisted around what Jesus really said." You press them …Read More
Cults 'R' Us
There are any number of ways that cultural confusion always walks down the aisle with relativism. Divorce, in this instance, isn't an option. If, for instance, we all agree that there is no such thing as right and wrong, then …Read More
Worship According to the Word
In The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor offers this insight into fallen human nature: "So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find someone to worship." Though the Grand …Read More
The Moral of the Story
Everybody loves Jesus. Marxists love Jesus, because He was such a radical revolutionary. Unitarians love Jesus, because He befriended the social outcasts. Liberals love Jesus because, well, because He was liberal. Even some conservatives love Jesus, because He was so …Read More
The Spirit of Rebellion
Though I haven't the infernal wisdom that C.S. Lewis demonstrated in his classic work The Screwtape Letters, I think I know something about at least some of the devil's stratagems. The Screwtape Letters, you remember, purported to be a …Read More
Objective Cultural Norms
For Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), the principle of "all things to all men" was not a moral warrant for upholding cultural relativism. Instead, it was a practical mandate for upholding cultural norms. It was for him an inducement to communicate …Read More
Intolerable Tolerance
One of my seminary professors had a true story that he would tell in order to illustrate the false humility of postmodern relativism. While he was a professor at a state university, he had a student who was an evangelical …Read More
Error and Our Era
"Truth is great and will prevail, if left to itself." Thus asserted Thomas Jefferson, champion of free speech and enemy of established religion. I'm not sure that Jefferson entirely believed that. Jefferson did believe that only an educated, well-informed citizenry …Read More


text:
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka got his start in the labor movement in the coal mines of Pennsylvania, where he led 1989's famous nine-month strike against the Pittston Coal Company during his tenure as the youngest president of United Mine Workers. Since that time, the increasing casualization of the workforce and declining industrial production have dramatically altered organized labor's role in the American political landscape.
On September 9 Trumka dropped by The Nation to discuss the state of the labor movement today—the challenges unions face in this economic climate, their relationship to political parties and why it's so important that progressives not forget about the principle of collective bargaining.


text:
Parke, J. L., and S. Lucas. 2008. Sudden oak death and ramorum blight. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2008-0227-01
DISEASES: Sudden oak death, ramorum leaf blight, ramorum shoot blight
PATHOGEN: Phytophthora ramorum
HOSTS: More than 100 species of forest trees, native shrubs, herbaceous plants, and woody ornamental plants
AuthorsJennifer L. Parke and Sunny LucasOregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon
Phytophthora ramorum is a recently emerged pathogen with a host range of more than 100 plant species. This fungus-like organism causes sudden oak death on certain members of the oak family, and has killed over 1 million trees in coastal forests in California. The pathogen also causes ramorum leaf blight or shoot blight on native plant species and horticultural nursery crops, and has plagued some nurseries in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and in Europe.
Phytophthora ramorum is a recently emerged pathogen with a host range of more than 100 plant species. This fungus-like organism causes sudden oak death on certain members of the oak family, and has killed over 1 million trees in coastal forests in California. The pathogen also causes ramorum leaf blight or shoot blight on native plant species and horticultural nursery crops, and has plagued some nurseries in California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and in Europe.
Phytophthora ramorum causes two distinct sets of symptoms, depending on the host species. On certain members of the Fagaceae (oak family) such as tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus) and coast live oak (Quercus agrifolia), P. ramorum causes lethal bole (trunk) cankers resulting in the disease called sudden oak death (SOD). On other native plant species as well as many horticultural nursery crops, P. ramorum causes a foliar blight and shoot dieback. The disease on these hosts is referred to as ramorum leaf blight or ramorum shoot blight.
Bole and crown symptomsP. ramorum infects the phloem and inner bark to cause bleeding cankers on susceptible members of the Fagaceae. The presence of these bleeding cankers is the most diagnostic symptom of SOD. Initially, individual spots exhibit a clear, reddish exudate on the main trunk of the host (Figure 1). As the disease progresses, this exudate may continue to seep through both cracked and intact bark (Figure 2). The affected area eventually stains a dark reddish-brown as the bleeding is diffused by rainfall (Figure 3). Removal of the outer bark reveals discolored areas (cankers) in the inner bark, often surrounded by a black line (Figures 4, 5). Cankers range from a few centimeters to 3 meters in length, developing most often in the lower part of the trunk but also as high as 25 meters from the ground. Cankers have only been found on mature coast live oak trees, but may appear on tanoak at any stage of development.
P. ramorum may also infect sapwood, restricting water transport in xylem vessels. The crown of infected plants often appears off-color before individual branches or the entire crown turns brown and dies (Figure 6). Infected stump sprouts may exhibit foliar necrosis, stem lesions, and wilted shoot tips known as "shepherd's crooks" (Figure 7).
Foliar symptomsFoliar symptoms are not always observed on canker hosts, but tanoak leaves may exhibit mid-vein and petiole necrosis (Figure 8).
Ramorum leaf blight and ramorum shoot blightMost hosts of P. ramorum exhibit symptoms chiefly on the foliage. On some hosts, lesions and vascular discoloration are associated with the stems. Plants susceptible to ramorum leaf blight or shoot blight (simply referred to henceforth as ramorum blight) include woody ornamental nursery stock as well as native herbs, shrubs, and trees other than the oak family hosts described above. On Rhododendron, necrotic lesions may appear anywhere on leaf surfaces (Figure 9) and are easily confused with lesions caused by other leaf-infecting species of Phytophthora. Leaf infection may occur through the petiole from infected stems, causing necrosis along the mid-vein (Figure 10). Foliar symptoms on other hosts vary, consisting of wedge-shaped or irregularly-shaped, darkened lesions that may appear watersoaked (Figure 11). Defoliation of affected camellia leaves is common (Figure 12). On California bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), necrosis is often confined to the leaf tip, with small yellow-brown spots scattered on other parts of the leaf (Figure 13). Conifers can also be hosts for P. ramorum, although disease incidence is usually limited to young trees beneath heavily infected bay laurel or tanoak (Figure 14). For a description of symptoms on various hosts, refer to the following sources: Davidson et al., 2003; Rizzo et al., 2002; Tjosvold et al., 2005; and The California Oak Mortality Task Force Website.
In greenhouse studies, P. ramorum infects the roots of several hosts, although it does not produce root rot symptoms typical of soilborne Phytophthora species. Root infection of nursery-propagated rhododendrons has been reported. It has been demonstrated that the pathogen can spread from the roots and up the stem to above-ground plant parts.
SignsAlthough not detected on all hosts, sporangia (asexual fruiting structures) and hyphae of P. ramorum can be found on leaves, usually on the lower surface (Figure 15). Sporangia are only formed under very moist conditions. Chlamydospores (asexually produced survival structures) may also be found on or in infected leaf tissue of foliar hosts (Figure 16), or in the wood and bark of canker hosts.
Phytophthora ramorum is an oomycete (or water mold). No longer considered true fungi, these fungal-like organisms are now classified with brown algae in the Kingdom Stramenopila (or Straminipila, or Chromista). P. ramorum is a relatively new Phytophthora species, first isolated in Europe in 1993 but not described until 2001. P. ramorum is placed in the family Pythiaceae, order Peronosporales, and class Oomycetes; molecular phylogeny shows it to be most closely related to Phytophthora lateralis, a root pathogen of Port-Orford-cedar, and P. hibernalis (which causes brown rot of citrus fruit).
P. ramorum has a unique set of morphological traits that can be observed well on certain laboratory media (PARP medium, V8-juice agar, corn meal agar, or carrot agar). Vegetative growth consists of delicate, highly branched hyphae that grow in culture best at approximately 20 C (Figure 17). No mycelial growth is observed over 35 C. Asexual reproduction in the form of sporangia or chlamydospores is the most common form of reproduction for this oomycete. Sporangia can germinate directly or release motile zoospores. Large numbers of zoospores can be produced, ideally between the temperatures of 15-20 C. At 25 C, sporangia are more likely to germinate directly, by producing a germ tube. Sporangia are elongate, semi-papillate (have a short, rounded tip), and are sympodial (where each successive sporangium develops on a branch behind and to one side of the previous apex where growth has already ceased) (Figure 18). The sporangia of P. ramorum are produced on a short (< 5 µm) to nonexistent pedicel (stalk), are caducous (fall off easily), and measure 25-97 x 14-34 µm (length x width). P. ramorum sporangia are significantly more elongate than those of its closest relatives. This oomycete also forms many chlamydospores in vitro, which are hyaline (clear) when young, and turn golden brown in older cultures (Figure 19). Chlamydospores of P. ramorum are larger than chlamydospores of P. lateralis, averaging 40-80 µm, and are mostly terminal and rarely lateral, although some can be intercalary (develop within the hyphal strand).
P. ramorum is heterothallic, requiring opposite mating types designated as A1 and A2, for sexual reproduction. The A1 mating type is most commonly found in Europe and was first described there. The A2 mating type is most common in the U.S., although the A1 type has occasionally been observed in U.S. nurseries. Oospores (spores that result from sexual reproduction) are formed when an oogonium of one mating type is fertilized by the antheridium of the opposite mating type. Terminal oogonia are almost spherical and range in size from 24-40 µm in diameter (Figure 20). Antheridia are amphigynous (the oogonium grows through the antheridium) and also rounded. Oospores have only been observed under laboratory conditions and their role in disease development in nature is not known.
Because SOD and ramorum blight are diseases that have emerged recently, many details of the disease cycles are not yet understood. It appears that Phytophthora ramorum shares many characteristics of other aerially dispersed Phytophthora species. After infection of the host tissue, sporangia are produced and dispersed to new host material. There, the sporangia either germinate or release motile zoospores. A new infection event occurs, and the asexual cycle is repeated.
Ramorum blight is a polycyclic disease (has more than one disease cycle per growing season) on foliar hosts, producing many sporangia during wet conditions. Chlamydospores are produced in abundance by this pathogen and likely serve as a reservoir of inoculum during conditions unfavorable for disease development. SOD hosts are often considered "dead end" hosts because no sporangia are produced and mortality occurs as a result of canker formation or colonization of sapwood. However, sporulation has been observed on leaves and petioles of one canker host, tanoak. Sexual reproduction has not been observed in nature.
P. ramorum has a large host range that includes more than 100 species in over 40 genera. APHIS (the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) maintains up-to-date lists of proven hosts and associated plants (those plants for which Koch's postulates have not yet been confirmed) for P. ramorum. Not all species in a particular genus are susceptible, and within a given species a gradient of susceptibility among individuals is often evident. The factors that cause these differing responses by closely related species are not known. P. ramorum has been found in the nursery, the forest, and the urban-wildland interface. In 2006, P. ramorum was detected in 62 nursery-related sites in 11 states. Outside of nurseries, in 2007, ramorum blight affected coastal mixed-evergreen forests in 14 counties in California and in part of one county in southwest Oregon (Figure 21). It occurs discontinuously, not necessarily affecting all potential hosts. P. ramorum is believed to be exotic to both North America and Europe.
Genotyping of P. ramorum isolates shows that there are three clonal lineages: EU1, NA1 and NA2 (Table 1). These distinct genetic lineages suggest that strains were likely introduced separately to Europe and North America from P. ramorum's unknown geographic origin. The finding of both EU1 (mating type A1) and NA1 (mating type A2) isolates from the same nursery in California in 2007 introduces the possibility that sexual reproduction could occur as it does in its place of origin. This underscores the need to prevent movement of nursery stock infected with P. ramorum.
Table 1. The three clonal lineages of Phytophthora ramorum in relation to distribution and mating type.
In Europe, ramorum blight was first observed on rhododendron and viburnum in the early 1990s and by 2007 had spread throughout nurseries and retail centers in 16 countries. In addition, the pathogen has been detected in gardens, parks, and woodlands in eight countries. In a few gardens and parklands in the U.K. and the Netherlands, beech and oak trees have begun to show symptoms of disease. In most cases, the trees are adjacent to infected rhododendrons.
As with other aerial Phytophthoras, P. ramorum is likely transmitted by rain splash, air currents, and wind-driven rain, but the specific details of dispersal and infection are not fully known. Sporangia are believed to be moved by air currents following wet weather. They likely initiate leaf and twig infections high in the forest canopy. Following rain or fog, more sporangia are produced, which can be blown or splashed to other leaves. They may also run down the bole with rainwater, initiating cankers on susceptible hosts. Infections often spread from taller trees to understory trees and shrubs beneath them. Root infection has been observed on young tanoak seedlings in heavily infested forests, but the epidemiological significance of this is not known, since abundant aerial inoculum was also present at these sites. There is a high risk of propagule transmission by humans who move infested plant material, logs, and soil. In the forest setting, viable propagules can get lodged on the shoes of hikers or on bicycle tires, but it is not known if these soilborne propagules can initiate disease. P. ramorum can be recovered from streams in infested areas, but it does not appear that this has led to new infections in the forest. While these and other potential bird, mammal, and insect vectors have not been ruled out, the pattern of disease occurrence in the forest is most consistent with windborne dispersal of inoculum.
In the forest setting, P. ramorum follows a classic dispersal gradient. Most inoculum remains within 5-10 m of the host, and the number of propagules decreases with distance from site of formation. Yet, it is possible that a few propagules are dispersed long distances. Caducous sporangia carried above the canopy during a storm event might initiate an infection far from their origin. This is a likely scenario of what occurred in Curry County, Oregon, as this site is 400 miles from the nearest known infested forest site.
P. ramorum does not sporulate on all hosts. Reproductive propagules have not been recovered from at least one of the species most devastated by SOD, coast live oak. However, sporangia are produced readily on the foliage of California bay laurel, which is commonly found in association with coast live oak and tanoak in infested forests in California. Ramorum blight is not lethal on bay laurel. It is thought that sporangia and zoospores produced on bay laurel can readily infect coast live oak and tanoak in the forest. The ecology of chlamydospores is poorly understood. Chlamydospores are produced in or on leaves of some hosts. When infested leaves fall to the ground or chlamydospores are shed, it is hypothesized that chlamydospores may lie dormant during the dry summer, then eventually germinate and produce more sporangia when the winter rains arrive, initiating new infections.
In horticultural nurseries, infections have been found up to 0.5 m from the closest infected plant, but infections due to long distance wind dispersal have not yet been noted. Irrigation water can be an inoculum source for nurseries using contaminated recycled irrigation water or water from infested streams. Rhododendrons and some other nursery plants can become infected through their roots if inoculum is present in the potting mix.
Long-distance dispersal of P. ramorum is facilitated by shipments of infected nursery plants across the country. For example, in 2004, a large wholesale nursery in southern California shipped 1.6 million camellias throughout the U.S. (Figure 22, 23). The nursery was later found to be infested with P. ramorum (Figure 24). Although APHIS checked each of the nurseries that had received plants and destroyed the plants that were infected, many had already been sold. Despite fears that these infected camellias might spread the disease to surrounding forests, there is no evidence yet that P. ramorum has become established in forests outside of California and Oregon. P. ramorum has since been detected in several other west coast nurseries (see Diagnosis and Monitoring), which is why plant material must be certified as free of P. ramorum before host plants are shipped from these west coast states.
Because Phytophthora ramorum is a quarantined pathogen that affects plants in both forests and nurseries, disease management is complex. It requires cooperation among federal, state, and county agencies as well as private industry to protect natural resources while not unduly limiting nursery commerce. The difficulty of disease management is compounded by our incomplete knowledge of the pathogen's biology. As more is discovered about the pathogen, more effective control strategies can be developed.
Diagnosis and MonitoringIt is important to quickly and accurately identify symptoms caused by P. ramorum in the nursery, forest, or landscape. Since symptoms vary by host and are not diagnostic, best results have been achieved by combining polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based assays with the more traditional method of isolating the pathogen from symptomatic tissue on the selective laboratory medium PARP. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits designed for field detection of Phytophthora species can be a useful screening tool.
Nursery growers must systematically inspect plants and propagative material to prevent introduction of the pathogen to existing stock. In the field, monitoring must continue in both infested and non-infested areas. The use of aerial and ground surveys, stream baiting in high-risk watersheds, and monitoring by trained members of the community must all be used in concert. Effective education and communication are essential for preventing the spread of P. ramorum. Programs and training sessions have been established for nursery employees, Master Gardeners, Extension personnel, arborists, landscapers, utility workers, recreationalists, and homeowners. Web-based resources include photos of symptoms on hosts, questionnaires to help determine the need for submitting a sample, and instructions for collecting a sample.
APHIS and the U.S. Forest Service have conducted several national surveys to estimate the geographic distribution of P. ramorum in nurseries and forests. At the end of 2004, the pathogen had been detected on nursery stock in 21 states and British Columbia. In 2005, 99 nursery sites in 7 states were found to be positive for the pathogen. Despite these findings, national surveys of forest lands and nursery perimeters have not detected the pathogen outside of California and southwest Oregon.
ExclusionThe most effective way to prevent P. ramorum from becoming established is to keep it out of non-infested areas. Preventing human-facilitated spread of the disease is critical. Evidence from Europe suggests that infected ornamental plants can spread Phytophthora species to the forest. Therefore, P. ramorum is a quarantined pathogen, and international and interstate movement of hosts and associated hosts in California, Oregon, and Washington is federally regulated. Much of this entails nursery inspections and testing in quarantined areas. Nursery certification programs have been established to ensure that nurseries are in compliance with preventive protocol. Specific "best management practices" (BMPs) are recommended to prevent establishment and further spread of the disease. BMPs include monitoring all known hosts for symptom development, inspecting all incoming plant stock for symptoms of disease, and confirming that all incoming stock originates from a shipping nursery that has a USDA SOD compliance agreement or has been certified pathogen-free. For a list of BMPs, refer to the California Oak Mortality Task Force Website. Movement of infected logs (including firewood), infested soil, and litter outside infested counties are all strictly prohibited. Even within quarantined counties, one should not move infested materials. To prevent further spread through California forests, signage and devices for cleaning shoes and bicycles are being installed along trailheads in infested areas.
AvoidanceAs part of BMP strategies to avoid introduction of P. ramorum, growers are encouraged to segregate the two highest-risk genera, rhododendron and camellia, from the rest of their nursery stock. They are also asked to avoid conditions that are conducive to the development of Phytophthora diseases by improving drainage and irrigating in such a way as to minimize the period of leaf wetness. Nurseries in infested areas should also remove potential native hosts, especially bay laurel trees, from their property.
EradicationEradication may be a viable option if the disease is caught relatively early after introduction. For example, the state of Oregon established a proactive eradication program in 2001 in an attempt to control P. ramorum in Curry County in the southwest corner of the state. All hosts within 100 feet (approximately 30.5 m) of symptomatic hosts are cut, piled, and burned. Cut stumps are also treated with herbicides to reduce sprouting. Sites are then monitored for two years to confirm that the eradication process has been successful. Although the pathogen has still spread to new sites in Curry County, the infection rate appears to be less than in similar forests in northern California where eradication programs were not implemented. Approximately 579 ha (1,430 acres) in Curry County have been treated to date (Figure 25). This type of eradication program is not feasible if the disease is already widespread, or if infected vegetation is intermingled with residences.
In all nurseries, infected plants must be destroyed as part of the eradication program. If infected plants are found in a particular nursery, corresponding nurseries receiving or sending these plant materials are also inspected as part of the APHIS protocol. Infected material at these sites, as well as plants within a buffer zone of 2 m, are then destroyed (Figure 26). Healthy-appearing plants within 10 m of infected plants are held for observation for a period of time to see if symptoms develop.
On a smaller scale, eradication of inoculum from soil or contaminated containers can be achieved through treatment with aerated steam (65°C for 30 min) or by treatment with soil fumigants. Two facilities in California are also certified to "hot compost" green waste that is infested with P. ramorum.
ProtectionProtection consists of treating a healthy plant before it comes in contact with the pathogen. An important aspect of fungicide application in nurseries is to ensure that treated plants are not already infected with the pathogen. Most fungicides do not kill Phytophthora; rather they temporarily suppress symptom development, delaying detection until after the plants are shipped. Therefore, if fungicides are used, they should only be used to prevent infection and should not be applied to potentially infected plants. Several chemicals, including mefenoxam, dimethomorph, pyraclostrobin, and fenamidone, may protect nursery hosts such as rhododendron from infection. Permitted uses vary for different hosts and in different states and countries. While fungicide resistance has not yet been reported in the U.S., resistance of P. ramorum to metalaxyl has been reported in Europe. There is still more work to be done to determine dosages, application timing, and hosts to be treated. Preventive treatment of forest trees with fungicides is not economically feasible, nor is it permitted on public lands. Individual high-value trees on private property may be treated with phosphite fungicides by direct injection or by mixing them with organosilicate surfactant-penetrants applied to the bark. Both methods have been shown to reduce disease development on canker hosts, and these chemicals are registered in California.
ResistanceThere is considerable variation in host resistance among genera and species of susceptible plants. For example, significant variation in susceptibility among individual oaks, tanoaks, and bay laurel has been observed. Variation in virulence has also been seen among U.S. isolates of P. ramorum. So far host specificity has not been found for particular isolates. Of the many plants that have been tested for susceptibility to P. ramorum in laboratory studies, very few species appear to be immune.
Phytophthora ramorum is a recently emerged pathogen, thus the ultimate significance of SOD and ramorum blight is still unknown. Without a thorough understanding of the pathogen's biology, it is still too early to predict the magnitude and future impact of this disease. The climate in coastal areas of Washington, Oregon, and California as well as large areas of the southeastern U.S. is considered suitable for P. ramorum (Figure 27). The fear is that this disease could spread by infested nursery plants to the eastern U.S. where susceptible oak-hickory, oak-pine, and lowland oak forests account for 67.8 million ha (167.5 million acres), or 46% of the total area classified as timberland. In greenhouse tests, several important east coast tree species were found to be highly susceptible to the disease.
Other exotic Phytophthora species have led to extensive tree mortality and negative ecological impacts in Australia, Europe, and North America. The desire to prevent an outbreak as devastating as historical epidemics like Dutch elm disease and chestnut blight has led to cooperative efforts between governmental officials, business owners, academia, and the public.
SOD has already changed the landscape of coastal California forests, where it is estimated that over 1 million trees have been killed in the last 10 years. The disease is lethal to the multiple oak species and tanoaks that make up a substantial part of several mixed-evergreen forest types in California, thus it will greatly alter the composition of these forests. Wildlife habitats will be affected. Since dead trees create an enormous fire hazard, fire management strategies will have to be considered in areas heavily hit by the disease. The ecological implications of this epidemic are as yet unknown.
P. ramorum has also placed a financial burden on the nursery industry on the west coast. Nursery sales make up a substantial portion of the agricultural economy for all three states currently under quarantine, and ramorum blight affects some of the most profitable and popular nursery crops for interstate commerce. Crop destruction, loss of sales, new disease management practices, inspections, training, testing, and increased documentation have required a huge commitment of both time and money. P. ramorum has forced many changes in the nursery industry nationally, highlighting the need for more effective methods for dealing with quarantine pests and pathogens.
California Oak Mortality Task Force. http://nature.berkeley.edu/comtf
Davidson J.M., S. Werres, M. Garbelotto, E.M. Hansen, and D.M. Rizzo. 2003. Sudden oak death and associated diseases caused by Phytophthora ramorum. Online. Plant Health Progress doi:10.1094/PHP-2003-0707-01-DG.
Davidson J.M., A.C. Wickland, H.A. Patterson, K.R. Falk, and D.M. Rizzo. 2005. Transmission of Phytophthora ramorum in mixed-evergreen forest of California. Phytopathology 95:587-596.
Erwin, D.C., and O.K. Ribeiro. 1996. Phytophthora Diseases Worldwide. American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN.
Fichtner, E.J., S.C. Lynch, and D.M. Rizzo. 2007. Detection, distribution, sporulation, and survival of Phytophthora ramorum in a California redwood-tanoak forest soil. Phytopathology 97:1366-1375.
Goheen, E.M., E. Hansen, A. Kanaskie, N. Osterbauer, J. Parke, J. Pscheidt, and G. Chastagner. 2006. Sudden Oak Death and Phytophthora ramorum: a guide for forest managers, Christmas tree growers, and forest-tree nursery operators in Oregon and Washington. Extension Publication EM 8877, Oregon State University. 16 pages.
Grünwald, N.J., E.M. Goss, M.M. Larsen, C.M. Press, and V.T. McDonald. 2008. First report of the European lineage of Phytophthora ramorum on Viburnum and Osmanthus spp. in a California nursery. Plant Disease 92:314.
North Central IPM Center. USDA Phytophthora ramorum Educate to Detect Program.
Parke, J.L., and C. Lewis. 2007. Root and stem infection of rhododendron from potting medium infested with Phytophthora ramorum. Plant Disease 91:1265-1270.
Parke, J.L., E. Oh, S. Voelker, E.M. Hansen, G. Buckles, and B. Lachenbruch. 2007. Phytophthora ramorum colonizes tanoak xylem and is associated with reduced stem water transport. Phytopathology 97:1558-1567.
Rizzo, D.M., M. Garbelotto, and E.M. Hansen. 2005. Phytophthora ramorum: integrative research and management of an emerging pathogen in California and Oregon forests. Annual Review of Phytopathology 43:309-335.
Rizzo, D.M., M. Garbelotto, J.M. Davidson, G.W. Slaughter, and S.T. Koike. 2002. Phytophthora ramorum as the cause of extensive mortality of Quercus spp. and Lithocarpus densiflorus in California. Plant Disease 86:205-214.
Tjosvold, S.A., K.R. Buermeyer, C. Blomquist, and S. Frankel. 2005. Nursery guide for diseases caused by Phytophthora ramorum on ornamentals: diagnosis and management. University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources Publication 8156. 20 pages.
Tooley, P.W., and K.L. Kyde, 2007. Susceptibility of some eastern forest species to Phytophthora ramorum. Plant Disease 91:435-438.
USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service. Phytophthora ramorum and sudden oak death. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/pram/index.shtml
Venette, R.C., and S.D. Cohen. 2006. Potential climatic suitability for establishment of Phytophthora ramorum within the contiguous United States. Forest Ecology and Management 231:18-26.
Werres, S., R. Marwitz, W.A. Man in't Veld, A.W.A.M. de Cock, P.J.M. Bonants, M. de Weerdt, K. Themann, E. Ilieva, and R.P. Baayen. 2001. Phytophthora ramorum sp. nov., a new pathogen on Rhododendron and Viburnum. Mycological Research 105:1155-1165.