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European Commission
Press release
Brussels, 19 December 2012
State aid: Commission adopts new Broadband Guidelines
The European Commission has adopted revised guidelines for the application of EU state aid rules to the broadband sector. These guidelines will help Member States achieve the objectives of the EU Digital Agenda. Taking into account the extensive submissions from all stakeholders, they contain in particular a reinforcement of open access obligations and improved transparency rules. They also follow the principles of the Commission's State Aid Modernisation (SAM) initiative, which aims at facilitating well-designed aid targeted at market failures in order to achieve growth-enhancing priorities, while simplifying the rules to allow for faster decisions.
Commission Vice President in charge of competition policy Joaquín Almunia said: "To achieve the ambitious goals of the Digital Agenda in promoting very fast broadband connections throughout the EU, we need to achieve the right mix between public and private investment while building a pro-competitive environment. These new rules will allow for well-designed public interventions targeted at market failures and ensure open access to state funded infrastructure".
The changes are based on a two-staged public consultation and an intensive dialogue with all stakeholders (Member States, national telecoms regulators, aid granting authorities, telecommunications operators, business associations, consumer associations and citizens).
These changes focus on the following principles and priorities:
Better, faster broadband is the top priority in 2013-14 of the revised Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE) (IP/12/1389) is a flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 Strategy aimed at fostering economic growth. The Digital Agenda sets ambitious objectives for broadband infrastructure development, namely to bring basic broadband to all Europeans by 2013 and ensure that, by 2020, (i) all Europeans have access to much higher internet speeds of above 30 Mbps and (ii) 50% or more of European households subscribe to internet connections above 100 Mbps.
Public authorities may fund such investments in line with the EU state aid rules. To facilitate pro-competitive investments, the Commission adopted the first broadband guidelines in 2009 (see IP/09/1332 and MEMO/09/396).
To adapt the guidelines to fast moving technology markets and to the objectives of its Digital Agenda (see IP/10/581 and MEMO/10/199) and State Aid Modernisation initiative (see IP/12/458), a review process was launched in 2011, with a first public consultation (see IP/11/493). After assessing the submissions, the Commission drafted revised guidelines and consulted stakeholders again in June 2012 (see IP/12/550). In light of comments received, the Commission has now finalised the new guidelines, which will enter into force from the first day following its publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The Commission may review the new guidelines on the basis of future important market, technological and regulatory developments.
The formal adoption and publication of the new guidelines in the Official Journal in all EU official languages is foreseen for January 2013. For information purposes, the full text of the guidelines is available in the working languages of the EU institutions at: http://ec.europa.eu/competition/state_aid/legislation/specific_rules.html#broadband
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What makes a successful IT professional? This has been discussed and debated and considered for years. While many technical abilities relate to a person's success – and all are vital – in this slideshow, John Hales, a Global Knowledge instructor, focuses on the general character attributes every IT pro should have and on the things that every IT pro should know or do. While general character attributes, like being ethical or inquisitive, are more difficult to learn and develop, professional skills, such as knowing when to say you don't know something or not being afraid to call technical support, can be learned and honed.
If you are considering becoming an IT professional, pay special attention to the character attributes to see if yours match. Anyone can improve in the "things you know or do" category, whether you are just starting out or have worked in the field for years.
John Hales, Global Knowledge Instructor, A+, Network+, CTT+, MCSE, MCDBA, MOUS, VCP, VCAP, VCI, EMCSA
Related Topics : A Big Market for Big Data Jobs, Midmarket CIO, IT Management Automation, SharePoint, Technology Markets
The gig economy is clearly disrupting the tech industry, both in positive and negative ways. ... More >>
Is fake news a security issue? Some say yes, as it can be used as a social engineering tool to spread disinformation and conceivably to get unsuspecting users to click on malicious links. ... More >>
Executives at several top tech firms outline the skills they need now and in the near future, including IaaS and IoT security expertise. Other skills listed may surprise you. ... More >>

subset: commoncrawl


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These headlights for the 99-04 Ford Mustang provide a refreshed look for your Mustang without standing out too much. These OEM style lights also come at only a fraction of the cost of OEM Headlights. The Headlights are securely mounted using the original screws & nuts of the OEM parts. If you are unsure about installing automotive accessories by yourself we recommend consulting a body shop.
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RETURNS & EXCHANGES - Our Policies and Promises to Our Customers.
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*Due to the nature of our products use, we usually do not accept returns but exceptions may be considered on a case-by-case basis. We advise that all customers consider the following before an RMA form is submitted.
What do I do if I received an incorrect product(s)? What can I do if my purchased item(s) are defective?
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SECR tank engines
This gallery contains images of South Eastern & Chatham Railway tank engines from the design tenures of Stirling, Wainwright and Maunsell and even at least one pre-Stirling example. The SECR was, of course, an amlagamation of the SER (South Eastern Railway) and the LCDR (London Chatham & Dover Railway) hence the inclusion of designs from both those systems.Read More
I'm always on the qui vive for more material to augment this part of my collection.
Please contact me via the Add comment button at the bottom of the image page if you have anything available.


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Reviews ()
Optiparts air bags are made of heavy-duty Polyurethane coated nylon. They are about half the weight and significantly stronger than bags made of PVC or PVC coated Nylon. Compliant with IOD'95 rules. Available in normal valve or twist lock tube valve. 48 Liter bags are slightly heavier than 43 Liter bags, but after capsizing there is a lot less water in the boat. Easy to inflate and deflate, don't get caught on the water without them.
- Valve Type ヨ Twist Lock Tube Valve (Long Straw)
- Color ヨ Orange
- Capacity ヨ 48L


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Mplus Discussion
Multilevel Data/Complex Sample
Katrin Lintorf
posted on Saturday, June 27, 2009 - 5:35 am
I am working on a multilevel analysis and I am interested in the group-specific betas. So I had the idea to save the group-level residuals. As far as I read in some above posted threads this was not possible in earlier versions of Mplus. Is this still true of Mplus 5.2 (5.21)?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Saturday, June 27, 2009 - 8:06 am
Between-level factors scores can be estimated and saved.
Katrin Lintorf
posted on Saturday, June 27, 2009 - 9:44 am
Thank you for your reply! I had already tried the FSCORES-option but had difficulties in understanding what the dat-file shows. Now I see what you mean.
regina hackbarth
posted on Wednesday, March 09, 2011 - 2:55 pm
i am running twolevel-regression-models w/ manifest variables using the complex option. i've been wondering whether it is possible to check for model assumptions (i. e. normality of residuals) while or after running the analyses? if so, could you please let me know how this can be done? is there a way to save level 1- and level 2-residuals?
thank you very much for your help!
Bengt O. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, March 09, 2011 - 6:05 pm
Type=Complex uses the MLR estimator which is already robust to deviations from normality.
There is no option for saving or checking normality of residuals.
regina hackbarth
posted on Thursday, March 10, 2011 - 2:41 am
thank you very much for your prompt reply. that helps!
regina hackbarth
posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - 3:33 am
dear professors,
i realize my questions are kind of naive and i apologize - i'm only getting started working with mplus.
since my last post, i've come to realize that it's actually the "twolevel"-option i'm using in my analyses.
am i using the mlr estimator all the same and how about the fiml algorithm? i was told it was working automatically if i wrote nothing but "type = twolevel" in my analysis-command. is that true? the reason i'm asking is that i get the following warning:
Data set contains cases with missing on x-variables.
These cases were not included in the analysis.
Number of cases with missing on x-variables: 20
I get a similar warning concerning the dependent variable.
is fiml replacing the missing values still or are they in fact excluded?
again - sorry to bother you if this seems all too stupid to ask.
Thank you very much for your time!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 - 8:08 am
Observations with missing values on the observed exogenous variables in the model are excluded because the model is estimated conditioned on these variables. Missing data theory applies only to observed endogenous variables. If you want the observations with missing on the observed exogenous variables to be included, mention their variances in the MODEL command. They will then be treated as endogenous variables and distributional assumptions will be made about them. Observations will missing on all dependent variables are also excluded because they contribute no information.
regina hackbarth
posted on Thursday, March 31, 2011 - 5:30 am
i'm sorry, but i still don't seem to understand. it's a multilevel regression model with manifest variables and i'm not specifying anything but "type = twolevel" in the model command.
in this case - am i using mlr (because it's the default) and is fiml operating, too although i get the warning menttioned above, that variables with missings on x-variables are excluded from the analysis? i mean are they estimated by fiml despite the warning or are they really not included?
thank you!!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Thursday, March 31, 2011 - 5:57 am
They are not included as stated in the message. FIML is used for estimating the model. Means, variances, and covariances of observed exogenous variables are not parameters in the model.
regina hackbarth
posted on Saturday, April 02, 2011 - 1:48 pm
thank you very much for your answer! but why is it that i don't find fiml in the "twolevel"-section of the "estimator"-list in the user's guide (p. 483)?
i still don't seem to get that straight: with type = twolevel and nothing else changed - am i using mlr as stated in the user's guide or am i using fiml? or are they in fact the same? where can i find a reference to better understand what fiml is doing? how can i best describe to a reader how my models are being estimated?
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Saturday, April 02, 2011 - 4:47 pm
The current Version 6 user's guide has the information on page 532. The estimators ML, MLR, and MLF are full-infomration maximum likelihood estimators (FIML). See the Little and Rubin book on the reference list in the user's guide for a description of how Mplus handles missing data estimation.
posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 5:49 am
Dear prof. Muthen,
Does FIML (with MLR estimation for example), mean that the parameters are estimated by optimizing the likelihood of the raw data? Or the likelihood of observed covariances and means?
Thanks in advance!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, May 24, 2011 - 4:39 pm
Raw data.
posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 2:54 am
Thank you very much for your quick reply.
Is this the case for both continuous and categorical variables?
I am wondering because computational time is so much shorter for continuous data.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 - 5:35 am
Yes. With categorical outcomes and maximum likelihood estimation, some models require numerical integration. This is computationally very demanding. There is a brief description of this in the user's guide.
Josh Klugman
posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 - 7:49 pm
Do I understand correctly that MPlus version 7 does not allow analysts to save the level 2 residuals?
This is especially an issue for multilevel logistic regression. Researchers argue that average marginal effects is the best way to convey effects in a logistic regression. My understanding is that in a multilevel context to calculate AMEs the level 2-specific intercept needs to be included to calculate each case's predicted probability.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 10:44 am
You can save the random intercept and slope using the FSCORES option and compute residuals from them.
Josh Klugman
posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 11:55 am
Professor Muthen, thank you for your response. I kept on seeing your references to FSCORES but I assumed they would not apply to a model with no latent variables. If I was wrong that is good news!
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 - 4:15 pm
Random intercepts and slopes are latent variables.
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I'm excited to start my new job. I should be. Before I start, however, I am wisely taking Carolyn's advice to spend some time being me. This involves wonderful uses of my time like… mapping my commute.
I'm going to go back to making my commute on motorcycle, weather permitting. I enjoyed it a hell of a lot more than talking on the cell in the car (see: being productive.) Motorcycing in San Francisco is a constant challenge and a natural stimulant better than coffee; drivers do not care if you survive. The Marin side of my drive is what motorcycles are made for.
I'll mix it up as Hannah needs a lift every-so-often (more-often-than-not, actually.)


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Burlesque dancer searches for her missing infant and a friend's killer in Emma Donoghue's 'Frog Music'
Emma Donoghue's latest novel has many facets, all of them fascinating. Like her short story collection Astray and her novel Slammerkin, Frog Music is a detailed slice of historical drama, this time set in the festering boomtown of San Francisco in 1876. Like her hair-raising bestseller Room, it incorporates the elements of a thriller; in fact, there's enough of a puzzle here for it to qualify as a full-blooded mystery (Donoghue herself refers to Frog Music as a crime novel in an author's note).
Best of all, there's Donoghue's familiar and intricate examination of women in impossible circumstances, bound to repugnant men for survival but never broken by them.
Like the works in Astray, Frog Music is based on a true story, this time about the unsolved murder of a cross-dressing frog catcher named Jeanne Bonnet, here called Jenny. (If you can resist the phrase "cross-dressing frog catcher," you really need to examine your lack of curiosity.) In the book as in life, Jenny is shot through the window of a boarding house in the novel's opening pages, in the company of Blanche Beunon, a burlesque dancer and prostitute.
Inspired by an account of this crime she read years ago in a museum gift shop book, Donoghue takes this event and puts her formidable, eloquent mark on it. In her version, Blanche's survival seems random chance: She's only spared because she bent down to untangle her gaiters. She has known Jenny for only a few weeks when she dies — they met when Jenny ran her down on a bicycle — and their friendship has hit a difficult spot.
Still, Blanche grieves, and her sorrow gives way to outrage. She spends the next several days trying to track down Jenny's killer, sure she was the intended victim. Her main suspects are her estranged, dandified lover Arthur and his sidekick Ernest, freeloaders and former acrobats who gamble away Blanche's earnings. Furious at her refusal to work so she can care for her infant son, they spirit the child away, leaving a frantic Blanche to search for him, too.
Blanche acts as a guide through the seamy, steamy city by the bay, which is undergoing a brutal, uncharacteristic heat wave and a massive smallpox outbreak. Both plagues have set the citizens on edge, as have long-simmering tensions against Chinese workers filling the city's tenements.
Cultural disgust is universal, though, in this overheated melting pot. Blanche, a French immigrant, is disgusted by a family of Irish saloonkeepers. " You Frog whore, that's what Ellen would have liked to call Blanche, no doubt, except that the woman probably couldn't pronounce such a word because the Irish are the prudes of Europe. (Always have more children than they can feed, then go round crossing themselves as if they don't know what f------ is.)"
Donoghue revisits an older and in some ways more horrifying version of the shed where a small boy grows up captive in Room, exposing the shocking practice of baby farming, in which unsavory individuals are paid to take in unwanted infants — and then treacherously neglect them. "How many will she find stacked in each crib, alive in name only, sucking on what — milk watered down to cloudy water? Glazed-eyed and crone-faced, tiny bones showing through translucent skin?"
But Blanche learns rescuing her child from this hell is no easier than leaving him to wither and die. Donoghue isn't blind to the demands of motherhood, and some of the book's best sequences involve the impatient, inexperienced Blanche, used to catering to the dark tastes of men, trying to decipher the whims of an infant.
Colorful French slang and period songs — both of which have their own glossaries in the book — flow through the novel lyrically, making the era as vital as the plot. Donoghue is as acrobatic with her storytelling and language as Arthur and Ernest were flying high above the heads of their audience, and she paints the stinking city vividly as "a roulette wheel that spins its human chips at random. Blanche has been driven around by cabbies who claim to be gentlemen temporarily down on their luck, and spent high-paid nights with michetons who boast that they began as coal miners."
Gradually, a second question emerges: What sort of person will Blanche become? Will she stay a prostitute? Or will she break free from the men controlling her? "She is different these days, one way or another; she knows that," Donoghue writes. "[H]as this older, harder Blanche been hidden inside her all along?"
Early on, Jenny had told her, "If you meet an obstacle you can jump free." She's talking about riding the bicycle on crowded city streets, but by the novel's end, Blanche sees another, more important lesson. "[N]ot always," Blanche thinks. "You have to allow for some damage." Damaged or not, she has a choice, one that will keep you riveted as you make your way through this vibrant novel.
Connie Ogle is the Miami Herald's book editor.


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Library+Schools=Beyond Books
Welcome to the Public Library of Steubenville and Jefferson County teacher's link. Here you will find information for the classroom to make your school year successful.
Library Application Form For School Office
Assignment Alert
Classroom Visits For Junior High and High School
Teacher's Resources
EBSCO: a magazine database that not only includes citations like the Readers Guide, but many articles are presented in full text format.
Biography Resource Center: Includes the Marquis Who's Who, as well as other respected biographical sources, and also includes magazine articles on the subjects, and links to websites.
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Communicating With Designers
As a former product marketing manager (acquistions editor) in the publishing world, I have worked with many a designer on book jackets, book design and artwork. I have always wondered why it was so difficult to get the designer to see what it was that I wanted in a design. Of course I was usually trying to convey functional ideas about what the design should do. And designers always seemed to talk a different kind of language. I eventually — it took many hands on experiences — learned a whole lot from the designers I came into contact with. I am not sure they learned anything from me.
The following link is written by a designer who appreciates the fact that designers (including himself) have some quirky ways. Getting the communications channels uncluttered and working between quirky designers and geeky developers is an interesting challenge. Some good suggestions and thoughts at this blog. Hope these thoughts smooth the waters between two worlds that sometimes seem like unbridgeable two-brane universes, and two types of brains.


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Bubble cloud at 9 o'clock," says the modulated voice over the boat's intercom, and all of us passengers — elderly, middle-aged and two busloads of middle-school students from Chappaqua, N.Y. — scamper to the port side of the 110-foot vessel.
Ahab chased one, Jonah was swallowed by something akin to one, and here we are with no literary or Biblical pretensions. We simply hope to see a whale — and perhaps snap a photo.
We have a whole day off, we've scraped together gas money, and so we are daycationing in Plymouth, Mass., a historic town that sprang up when the Pilgrims set foot on that famous rock, which is now, by dent of nearly four centuries of souvenir hunters, far smaller than it was back then.
On land, the town drips with history — the living museum Plimouth Plantation, and a replica of the Mayflower. Majestic town markers include the National Monument to the Forefathers, an 81-foot-tall granite female figure named Faith, as well as a harbor statue to Massasoit, a Wampanoag leader responsible for a peace treaty with the Pilgrims that lasted until his death in the 1660s.
Plus, Plymouth boasts a happening downtown.
But today, we head seaward for Stellwagen Bank, a nearly 19-mile glacial deposit beneath the bay waters. The bank is part of a marine sanctuary, and it's a popular place to watch for whales.
Our skipper is Tom O'Reilly, a local lobsterman who pilots the whale-watching boat a few days a week. The naturalist aboard is a woman appropriately nicknamed Krill, for whale food. Growing up in Buffalo, Carol Carson loved whales. Her parents gave her the nickname, not knowing she would one day narrate whale-watching cruises.
Some things to know:
Baleen whales — a group to which humpbacks and North Atlantic right whales belong — do not have teeth. They filter food — mostly microscopic bits — through plates in their mouths. To feed, humpbacks blow bubbles, which act as a net through which the whale swims to gather the ton or so of food it needs each day.
Hence, a bubble cloud lit green by the sun means a whale could be ascending to the surface.
After the bubbles, there sometimes is a spurt of water expelled through the whale's blow hole, then a dorsal fin. And then the lucky whale-watcher may see the quintessential shot of the humpback whale's tail, the 18-foot wide fluke, the T-shaped mark of a leviathan of the deep.
The truly lucky whale-watcher might see a humpback breach — leap into the air and land with a slap, displacing water as only a 40-ton object can. They are water acrobats.
So have your cameras ready.
On our roughly four-hour trip, Carson gives a short safety speech, then shows a DVD inside the large cabin that describes what we hope to see. (Captain John Boat — the ship's owner — guarantees whale-sightings, or you get a free trip.) Around the Plymouth area, the more common whales include right, minke and humpbacks.
A Wide Berth
Most humpback whales seem oblivious to watercraft, which must stay at least 100 feet clear of them, according to guidelines from the National Marine and Fisheries Service, a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Marine Mammal Protection Act prohibits harassing the animals, and specifically protects right whales, which command a 500-yard berth as they're extremely endangered, according to the Whale Center of New England in Gloucester, Mass.
Carson says the season, which started in April, has been great so far; Her informational talk is interrupted about an hour into our 90-minute cruise to the feeding grounds, when the skipper slows the boat. Off to the left, a group of fast-moving Atlantic white-sided dolphins slice through the waves. We oogle and aim cameras. (And later? Most of us will check our digital cameras to see shot after shot of blue waves, sans quick-moving dolphins.)
The dolphins shoot past, and the engines are restarted, only to be cut again because we are surrounded by humpbacks cresting the water — though not breaching. There is one named Aswan by whale watchers, and another named Trident, both marked by distinctive fins. Each whale cruise includes naturalists and marine biologists like Krill who take pictures and track specific whales. Off in the distance, the Dolphin VIII, another whale-watching boat — chugs over from Provincetown.
Birds signal the whales' arrival as they take off from the surface to make room. The whales — there are 10 or 15 of them — seem to move in slow motion as they surface and then slide back into the dark water. There is no breaching, but it doesn't matter. The whales are beautiful. There is no other word.
The season ends in October.
Contact Susan Campbell at firstname.lastname@example.com or 860-241-6454.
For a full guide to past 'daycations' around the region, visit www.courant.com/daycation


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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - The drawing above depicts one of the five set-up changes that make up my new and very different golf swing method called the OVER THE TOP GOLF® swing. This is not a golf lesson, at least, not in the conventional sense where you have to start from scratch. The OVER THE TOP GOLF® swing builds upon your own foundation to optimize your golf swing to produce both longer and straighter golf shots. My instructional eBook uses easy to follow drawings and narratives to guide you.
Throughout the state of Utah you will find golf pros at country clubs, public golf courses and driving ranges who teach different variations of the same thing. Everyone knows that developing a consistent golf swing that produces satisfactory results is one of the most difficult things to do. It is for that reason that I created the great OVER THE TOP GOLF® swing - an alternative to conventional golf instruction that will amaze you both with how much you have improved and how easy it was to learn.
One of the great features of OVER THE TOP GOLF® is the fact that you will effectively become your own golf pro. Being able to self-correct a swing flaw within minutes is an incredible feeling. Once you learn this golf swing method, you own it. It is so simple - just five set-up changes added to your own regular golf swing - that you have the ability to take inventory and fix problems immediately.
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To make a payment by credit or debit card, after clicking the Buy Now Button above, click on the words "Don't have a PayPal account?" to be taken to the Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express payment page.
Keywords for this article: different, easy, eBook, golf, golf swing, lesson, hit golf ball, instruction, learn, long, method, new, optimize, simple, straight, OVER THE TOP GOLF, Salt Lake City, Utah


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PITTSFORD — Vermont State Police are investigating the suspected murder of a Bristol woman in Pittsford during the early morning of Friday, July 5.
Vermont State Police said they received an E-911 call at around 2:28 a.m. about a possible family fight on West Creek Road in Pittsford. Troopers responded and found Kristen L. Parker, 32, of Bristol, dead inside the residence. Parker's boyfriend, identified as Christopher Sharrow, 35, of Pittsford, was also at the residence with three young children.
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The Official Web Site
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The truth about "Rock Star"
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Rock Star
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Kevin Conder
Joined: 24 Jul 2002
Posts: 6
Location: Wilsonville, Or. USA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 1:38 pm
Post subject: The truth about "Rock Star"
"Rockstar" is premiering on HBO, August 10th.
After that, it goes into heavy rotation. This means that pretty much everyone in America who has HBO will see at least part of it while surfing around.
So it might be interesting for all of you to know the following:
Did you know that Mark Wahlberg's camp made Warner Bros. put a gag order on Micheal Matjiveic- that he couldn't, and for that matter, can't, even today, without written clearance,say what he sang. I have seen the contract.
Did you know that Walhberg repeatedly claimed that he "worked with a voice coach to increase sustain for six months"
and that he sang a good percentage of the songs.
Evidence from interview:
Entertainment Tonight
August 13, 2001
Now, were you singing?
I sing a lot of it. I sang throughout the whole thing and it was up to Steve to use my vocals when it was good and if they had to dub any of it. They were certainly more than welcome to dub anything.
AOL Chat Transcript
Sept 4, 2001
Question: Is that your real voice singing in 'Rock Star'?
Mark Wahlberg: Most of it, yes.
end interviews
There's a lot of purposeful confusion out there, created by Warner Bros. about who sang what on both the movie and the album.
Here, then, is the truth.
Jeff Scott Soto sang all of Bobby Beer's songs in the movie.
He sang "Stand Up and Shout" on the album.
Micheal Matijivec sang all of Chris Cole's parts- all of them(except the very last song, sung by Verve Pipe.)
He sang all of the other Steel Dragon songs on the album.
Mark Wahlberg lied, or at best, purposely fed the deception that he is that incredible voice.
The fact that the Wahlberg camp is trying to steal glory onto their star away from a should-be rock superstar is the truth.
I'll stop there.... for now. There's more.
I will keep pushing this until Mark comes clean and give Mr. Matijivec
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City Gal
Joined: 12 Jun 2002
Posts: 2227
Location: London, England
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 2:28 pm
Post subject:
well well well, very interesting!
How come no-one has mentioned this before?
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Joined: 19 Mar 2002
Posts: 748
Location: Drexel Hill, PA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 2:43 pm
Post subject:
Let me ask you a question - WHO CARES? Did I go to see the movie because Mark was singing - UM No! As far as what "Mark W.'s Camp" worked out - WE DON'T CARE! Unless I hear it from Mark W's lips, I could care less.
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Kevin Conder
Joined: 24 Jul 2002
Posts: 6
Location: Wilsonville, Or. USA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 3:09 pm
Post subject:
Well, the reason you didn't hear about this is both legal and Warner wanted to create the illusion that Mark sang.
I understand that and I'm fine with it. But the fact that Warner delibriately deceived the public and then leaglly gagged the real singer(Mike Matijevic) is well.. not good.
Understand that I don't have anything against Mark other than wanting him to stop taking credit that's not his.
And I do have reams of evidence. Like the original studio tapes...
I mean, aren't you guys ****ed that you were lied to? Geez, the guy makes 10 million a movie anyway. He has to pretend he's a great singer, too?
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City Gal
Joined: 12 Jun 2002
Posts: 2227
Location: London, England
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 3:18 pm
Post subject:
Well his singing has been discussed before and most of us know he didn't sing, it's in the RS section somewhere, but I am intrigued by why they would go to such lengths to cover it up.
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Joined: 09 Jul 2000
Posts: 373
Location: Houston TX USA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 3:21 pm
Post subject:
Who asked YOU to step your nose into what Mark did and didn't do? Why does it matter to you anyway? The appropriate people will get their credit when it is deserved, until then back off. I think you and Mark Shields need to have a discussion off the board. Frankly who gives a rip who actually sang what? We all know that Mark can sing, we've heard him in Boogie Nights. You really should email mr. shields and leave your **** off the board, none of us care what you said anyway, well, most of us anyway.
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sarah and mark 4ever
Joined: 27 Jul 2001
Posts: 279
Location: Renton,Washington,USA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 3:36 pm
Post subject:
Let's all calm down
I mean it sounds like Mark and that's all i care about. I mean if this is true they found an amazing double!
Now the next thing I am going to say which will probly get this thread closed is,
SCREW YOU!! I mean you come on to the fan message board, which by the way you had never been to. I checked your profile!!! And tell us a bunch of **** that doesn't matter.
Oh yeah you know there is a Rock Star Message Board use it!!!!
100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 91, 90,........................................
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City Gal
Joined: 12 Jun 2002
Posts: 2227
Location: London, England
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 3:49 pm
Post subject:
I don't think this subject is worth getting upset over.
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Joined: 27 Apr 2002
Posts: 2350
Location: UK
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 4:04 pm
Post subject:
Wow Kev chill out man.
Can I ask you a question.Do you like Mark Wahlberg?
Ok nobody's getting upset.
Maybe Mark said he did a lot of singing.Maybe he did & a large percentage of it got dubbed.
Anyway when I saw the premier interview of Rock Star.The lady who was doing the interviewing on the red carpet said.Here is the guy that did most of the singing on the film.I think she spoke to him or pointed him out to the camera.
Strong words for a first post.
Lets all cool down.
Maybe you should be posting to Warner Brothers.
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Kevin Conder
Joined: 24 Jul 2002
Posts: 6
Location: Wilsonville, Or. USA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 4:44 pm
Post subject:
My, my, aren't we a passionate bunch.
That's good, when so many people lack it.
Let's get a few things clear-
1.)This is a "General" board- that means any material related to MW is relevant, correct?
2.) Starting a discussion based on the truth is never a bad idea. This is the U.S., right?
3.) Yes, my friends, I have e-mailed Warner and several magazines and TV shows.(And yes, I am getting responses.)
4.) If the moderator thinks what I've said is inapproriate he can pull it, right?
5.)If what I'm saying is a "how cares" issue, why fire off such salvos at me? Sounds like you care, a lot. Someone is saying something negative about someone you care about(Wahlberg). Now you know how I feel.
6.) This is not a "smear" campaign. This is a pro "give credit where credit is due" campaign. Remember the name: Michael Matijevic.
7.) There is far more around this issue than just who sang what. I mean, this is a message board. I can't lay everything out.
Believe me, I understand why Mark did what he did. Can you imagine what it was like for the guy who sang it all listening to Mark take credit?
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Joined: 27 Apr 2002
Posts: 2350
Location: UK
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 4:54 pm
Post subject:
I think we all understand what you are saying but I don't think any of us here can change the situation.
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Joined: 17 May 2002
Posts: 603
Location: Southern California
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 6:14 pm
Post subject:
I have no idea WHY this is of great importance to you Kevin, do you have some kind of copywrite issue, have you been duped by the same thing at some point? are you a singer/songwriter that has had lyrics/credit taken from you?. I can tell you right now that Mark will NOT come on here personally and say 'look Kevin is right, I didn't sing at all on Rock Star', you have more chance of angels flying out of your arse mate and unfortunately you're going to come up against a lot of angry people for posting this, maybe that's what you were after all along. Lianne, our administrator has made it quite clear that Mark DID NOT sing on Rockstar and Warner Bros has not sued her to my knowledge.
PS Are you Michael Matijevic?, is he your brother,lover,friend? I'm intrigued by this, I'll be saying Michael Matijevic in my sleep tonight, well maybe not....
[This message has been edited by elisabet (edited July 24, 2002).]
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sarah and mark 4ever
Joined: 27 Jul 2001
Posts: 279
Location: Renton,Washington,USA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 6:20 pm
Post subject:
Look where you were moved to dumb *** !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh and I am sure this Matjiveic know what he was getting into!!
Oh and Elisabet don't worry, all smiles here
[This message has been edited by sarah and mark 4ever (edited July 24, 2002).]
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Joined: 17 May 2002
Posts: 603
Location: Southern California
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 6:36 pm
Post subject:
See what I mean Kev?
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Kevin Conder
Joined: 24 Jul 2002
Posts: 6
Location: Wilsonville, Or. USA
Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2002 8:48 pm
Post subject:
Thank you all for your replies. BTW, I am not Matijevic. Please keep any hostility or offense you feel to me and not him. He has no knowledge of this. At least, I got you to remember the name. And everything I've written is true.
I am a writer and I will be soon starting a new project, loosely based on a rock star's life in the next century. If you search on my name on Amazon or any book site, you'll see my latest novel.
What I've been doing here, although I doubt if any of you care, is a kind of research. I thought this little drama made **** good copy. So do a lot of other people. I might just lift this whole thread(with a few creative changes) into the book.
Thank you for showing me how deeply some people care about their idols. And how thin-skinned they can be about them.
I expected harsh replies, but I must admit the viciousness of your posts was more than I was ready for.
May you all find what you are looking for and may that be all that you expected it to be and more.
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Big game's about to start. (GolTV's pregame show starts at 3 p.m. eastern; game itself an hour later). FC Barcelona's beaten up enough on defense to give Real Madrid a legitimate shot at avenging their 5-0 throttling from earlier in the season.
Tricky spot, this game. Barca's pretty much got the league title wrapped up. They face one another in the Copa del Rey final on Wednesday. Then comes the UEFA Champions League home-and-home series, the biggest of the bunch. Still, it's the two best teams on Earth taking the pitch. (Fine, two of the top three if you're inclined to give an even-strength Man U more credit than they likely deserve). Anything can happen. Enjoy, if you're so inclined.
• El Clasico casts a spell on the globe and sends Spain in a tizzy [Star]
• El Clasico – Real Madrid vs Barcelona And 10 Things You Could Bet On [LiveSoccerTV]
• Real Madrid 200/1 To Thrash Barcelona 5-0 [Goal.com]
• Though the World Leader In Sports maintains otherwise, Cristiano Ronaldo is not the same as Ronaldo, but in this graphic, dutifully sent along by tipster Mark of Chicago, they seem to maintain that Ronaldo will appear in El Classico today. He won't. He's not on Real Madrid. He's retired.
• El Clasico - Real Madrid CF v FC Barcelona pre-match facts and stats [Crunch Sports]
• Mourinho tight-lipped ahead of 'El Clasico' showdowns [CNN]
• Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola: Real Madrid are favourites to win first El Clasico meeting [Goal.com]
• Four El Clasico clashes in eighteen days [Roar Sports]


text:
More than 1,000 people came to the state Capitol on Monday for an emotional hearing on guns. Some called for a ban on assault weapons and magazines that can hold large numbers of bullets. Others said such restrictions wouldn't have stopped Adam Lanza from his massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December. What's your view? Will some of the bills proposed for Connecticut, such as heavy taxes on ammunition, prevent killings or protect innocent people? Or not?
Gun Owners, Opponents Clash Sharply At Historic Hearing At State Capitol Complex
Courant.com, Jan. 28
Confessions of a Liberal Gun Owner
NYTimes.com, Jan. 28
Gunmakers Push Back Against Connecticut Proposals
wsj.com, Jan. 28
Marco Rubio says after D.C. passed gun laws, 'violence skyrocketed'
Politifact.com, Jan. 28


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Acupuncture is one of the oldest, most commonly used medical procedures in the world. Originating in China more than 2,000 years ago, acupuncture began to become better known in the United States in 1971, when New York Times reporter James Reston wrote about how doctors in China used needles to ease his abdominal pain after surgery. Research shows that acupuncture is beneficial in treating a variety of health conditions.
In the past two decades, acupuncture has grown in popularity in the United States. A Harvard University study published in 1998 estimated that Americans made more than five million visits per year to acupuncture practitioners. The report from a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture held at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1997 stated that acupuncture is being "widely" practiced--by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners--for relief or prevention of pain and for various other health conditions.
Although the general term Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) usually refers to Chinese Acupuncture, other quite similar modalities include Five Element Acupuncture, Japanese Acupuncture, Korean Acupuncture, and Auricular Acupuncture.
NIH has funded a variety of research projects on acupuncture. These grants have been awarded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the Office of Alternative Medicine (OAM, NCCAM's predecessor), and other NIH Institutes and Centers.
This fact sheet provides general information about Chinese Acupuncture, Japanese Acupuncture, Korean Acupuncture, Five Element Acupuncture, Auricular Acupuncture, research summaries, a glossary that defines terms underlined in the text, and a resource section.
Acupuncture Theories
Chinese Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese medicine theorizes that there are more than 2,000 acupuncture points on the human body, and that these connect with 12 main and 8 secondary pathways called meridians. Chinese medicine practitioners believe these meridians conduct energy, or qi (pronounced "chee"), throughout the body.
Qi is believed to regulate spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance and to be influenced by the opposing forces of >yin and yang. According to traditional Chinese medicine, when yin and yang are balanced, they work together with the natural flow of qi to help the body achieve and maintain health. Acupuncture is believed to balance yin and yang, keep the normal flow of energy unblocked, and maintain or restore health to the body and mind.
Traditional Chinese medicine practices (including acupuncture, herbs, diet, massage, and meditative physical exercise) all are intended to improve the flow of qi.
Western scientists have found meridians hard to identify because meridians do not directly correspond to nerve or blood circulation pathways. Some researchers believe that meridians are located throughout the body's connective tissue; others do not believe that qi exists at all. Such differences of opinion have made acupuncture an area of scientific controversy.
Five Element Acupuncture
Based on the five elements of natural phenomena (wood, fire, earth, metal, and water) the Five Element Acupuncture focuses more on the ability of a person's psycho-spiritual nature to heal disease. As a specialty practice it requires extensive training beyond the Traditional Chinese Acupuncture. The style of the needling is similar to Japanese Acupuncture, which uses minimum stimulation.
Japanese Acupuncture
The Japanese Acupuncture also requires advanced training beyond the Traditional Chinese Acupuncture. The techniques are focused on providing the greatest effect with the least stimulation. This typically involves using thinner needles on fewer acupuncture points. The stimulation is minimal, with shallower insertions and sometimes just barely touching the skin with the needle. The abdomen is used as a basic diagnostic tool by many practioners of Japanese Acupuncture.
Korean Acupuncture
Korean Acupuncture emphasizes one's basic constitution or body type for diagnosis. In addition to techniques which are unique to Korean Acupuncture, practioners utilize techniques from the Japanese Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine, along with the Five Element Acupuncture.
In Korean Hand Acupuncture, a subset of Korean Acupuncture, the hand is seen as a microsystem of the body, with each part of the entire body represented in the hand. A diagnosis may be made of any part of the body, and conditions anywhere in the body may be treated by treating only the hands.
Auricular Acupuncture
Auricular Acupuncture has developed into both a specialty area of its own and an adjunct area to the other acupuncture modalities. Using the ear as a representation, or microcosm, of the whole body, practioners of Auricular Acupuncture can diagnose and treat the entire body, including psychological issues, by focusing on the ear. This method is successfully and extensively used in alcohol and drug detox centers to help people overcome additions.
Mechanisms of Action
Several processes have been proposed to explain acupuncture's effects, primarily those on pain. Acupuncture points are believed to stimulate the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) to release chemicals into the muscles, spinal cord, and brain. These chemicals either change the experience of pain or release other chemicals, such as hormones, that influence the body's self-regulating systems. The biochemical changes may stimulate the body's natural healing abilities and promote physical and emotional well-being. There are three main mechanisms:
- Conduction of electromagnetic signals: Western scientists have found evidence that acupuncture points are strategic conductors of electromagnetic signals. Stimulating points along these pathways through acupuncture enables electromagnetic signals to be relayed at a greater rate than under normal conditions. These signals may start the flow of pain-killing biochemicals, such as endorphins, and of immune system cells to specific sites in the body that are injured or vulnerable to disease.
- Activation of opioid systems: Research has found that several types of opioids may be released into the central nervous system during acupuncture treatment, thereby reducing pain.
- Changes in brain chemistry, sensation, and involuntary body functions: Studies have shown that acupuncture may alter brain chemistry by changing the release of neurotransmitters and neurohormones. Acupuncture also has been documented to affect the parts of the central nervous system related to sensation and involuntary body functions, such as immune reactions and processes whereby a person's blood pressure, blood flow, and body temperature are regulated.
Preclinical studies have documented acupuncture's effects, but they have not been able to fully explain how acupuncture works within the framework of the Western system of medicine.
According to the NIH Consensus Statement on Acupuncture:
Acupuncture as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the United States. While there have been many studies of its potential usefulness, many of these studies provide equivocal results because of design, sample size, and other factors. The issue is further complicated by inherent difficulties in the use of appropriate controls, such as placebos and sham acupuncture groups. However, promising results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of acupuncture in adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and in postoperative dental pain. There are other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma, in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research is likely to uncover additional areas where acupuncture interventions will be useful.
Increasingly, acupuncture is complementing conventional therapies. For example, doctors may combine acupuncture and drugs to control surgery-related pain in their patients. By providing both acupuncture and certain conventional anesthetic drugs, some doctors have found it possible to achieve a state of complete pain relief for some patients. They also have found that using acupuncture lowers the need for conventional pain-killing drugs and thus reduces the risk of side effects for patients who take the drugs.
Currently, one of the main reasons Americans seek acupuncture treatment is to relieve chronic pain, especially from conditions such as arthritis or lower back disorders. Some clinical studies show that acupuncture is effective in relieving both chronic (long-lasting) and acute or sudden pain, but other research indicates that it provides no relief from chronic pain. Additional research is needed to provide definitive answers.
Acupuncture and You
The use of the various acupuncture modalities, like the use of many other Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) treatments, has produced a good deal of anecdotal evidence. Much of this evidence comes from people who report their own successful use of the treatment. If a treatment appears to be safe and patients report recovery from their illness or condition after using it, others may decide to use the treatment. However, scientific research may not support the anecdotal reports.
Lifestyle, age, physiology, and other factors combine to make every person different. A treatment that works for one person may not work for another who has the very same condition. You as a health care consumer (especially if you have a preexisting medical condition) should discuss any CAM treatment, including acupuncture, with your health care practitioner. Do not rely on a diagnosis of disease by an acupuncture practitioner who does not have substantial conventional medical training. If you have received a diagnosis from a doctor and have had little or no success using conventional medicine, you may wish to ask your doctor whether acupuncture might help.
The Sensation of Acupuncture
Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair-thin. People experience acupuncture differently, but most feel no or minimal pain as the needles are inserted. Some people are energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Improper needle placement, movement of the patient, or a defect in the needle can cause soreness and pain during treatment. This is why it is important to seek treatment from a qualified acupuncture practitioner.
Glossary of Terms
Anecdotal Evidence
Data based on reports of usually unscientific observation. Anecdotes are often accounts of an individual's personal experience.
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
A syndrome primarily found in children and teenagers that is characterized by excessive physical movement, impulsiveness, and lack of attention.
Clinical Trials
Tests of a treatment's effects in humans. Clinical trials help researchers find out whether a promising treatment is safe and effective for people. They also tell scientists which treatments are more effective than others.
A variation of traditional acupuncture treatment in which acupuncture or needle points are stimulated electronically.
Electromagnetic Signals
The minute electrical impulses that transmit information through and between nerve cells. For example, electromagnetic signals convey information about pain and other sensations within the body's nervous system.
A chronic disorder characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain, fatigue, and multiple tender points. "Tender points" refers to tenderness that occurs in precise, localized areas, particularly in the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips. People with this syndrome may also experience sleep disturbances, morning stiffness, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, and other symptoms.
Major Depressive Episode
A period of depression during which a person experiences a combination of symptoms that interfere with the ability to work, study, sleep, eat, and enjoy once pleasurable activities. Symptoms vary, but may include persistent feelings of sadness, anxiety, "emptiness," hopelessness, guilt, restlessness, or suicidal thoughts. People may also experience persistent physical symptoms that do not respond to treatment, such as headaches, digestive disorders, and chronic pain.
A traditional Chinese medicine term for the 20 pathways throughout the body for the flow of qi, or vital energy, accessed through acupuncture points.
The use of dried herbs in acupuncture. Generally, moxibustion in the United States involves the use of sticks of compressed herb(s) and is an adjunct to acupuncture rather than a part of acupuncture.
Chemical substances made by tissue in the body's nervous system that can change the structure or function or direct the activity of an organ or organs.
Biochemical substances that stimulate or inhibit nerve impulses in the brain that relay information about external stimuli and sensations, such as pain.
Synthetic or naturally occurring chemicals in the brain that may reduce pain and induce sleep.
An inactive pill or sham procedure given to a participant in a research study as part of a test of the effects of another substance or treatment. Scientists use placebos to get a true picture of how the substance or treatment under investigation affects participants. In recent years, the definition of placebo has been expanded to include such things as aspects of interactions between patients and their health care providers that may affect their expectations and the study's outcomes.
Preclinical Studies
Preclinical studies provide information about a treatment's harmful side effects and safety at different doses in animals. These studies are normally performed in animals.
The Chinese term for vital energy or life force. Pronounced "chee."
Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
A type of clinical trial using two groups of people; one group (treatment group) receives the treatment and the other (control group) does not. Participants are assigned to either the treatment group or the control group at random, to prevent bias in the research.
The Chinese concept of positive energy and forces in the universe and human body. Acupuncture is believed to remove yang imbalances and bring the body into balance.
The Chinese concept of negative energy and forces in the universe and human body. Acupuncture is believed to remove yin imbalances and bring the body into balance.
This document has been excerpted from source material provided to the public by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. NCCAM has provided this material for your information. It is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your primary health care provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with your health care provider. The mention of any product, service, or therapy in this information is not an endorsement by NCCAM. NCCAM Publication No. D003 - December 2004.


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The Why of Sustainability
By Julie Newman
For those of us committed to greening Yale, the reasons for doing so have always been self-evident. Who could argue with the benefits derived from using less energy and resources to fulfill one's job responsibilities, especially in an age of austerity when reducing costs is paramount to maintaining the pre-eminence of this great institution?
© Michael Marsland
Julie Newman
In some quarters, however, it has always been fashionable to assert that we can't afford to conduct business sustainably, and those cries are now even louder given the downturn in the economy. I say, tell it to President Levin, himself a distinguished economist. Over the past 10 years he has forcefully argued that environmental citizenship must extend beyond the university's academic enterprise and that Yale as an institution must adopt policies and practices that will contribute to a more sustainable planet. Five years ago, he boldly committed the university to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 43 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, at a cost of less than 1 percent of annual operating expenses. And just last year he formed a Sustainability Task Force that has developed a three-year blueprint—just released—for transforming how Yale handles its waste, transportation, food, water usage, energy and greenhouse gases, land, procurement policies and compliance with environmental health and safety initiatives.
The university already finds itself well-positioned to realize this ambitious strategic plan because of its scholarly infrastructure in the environment. For over a century, F&ES has been second to none in sustainable management, policy and science, and, in fact, F&ES master's students helped in preparing the university's sustainability strategic plan. I'm sure readers of this magazine, who have sustainability written into their DNA, welcome the administration's embrace of their most cherished values and are encouraged that the pace of change here is accelerating. In a recent letter to the Yale community, even President Levin betrayed an environmentalist's sensibility when he said, "This plan is not just about improving Yale's environmental footprint—it is intended to enhance the quality of life on campus while streamlining systems and processes to save resources, as well as time and money."
But even with the force of the president's office behind such efforts, the task ahead is daunting if only because of Yale's sheer size. The Yale campus is composed of approximately 400 buildings, with 16.2 million square feet of space spread across 1,088 acres, supporting 26,000 students, staff and faculty year-round. The biggest challenge won't be finding the resources and expertise, but changing the hearts and minds—and familiar habits—of the professors, researchers, staff and students—the lifeblood of the university.
Without the impassioned commitment of the Yale community, how will we integrate land use, water use and runoff, transportation and utilities infrastructure to create a built environment that is innovative, comfortable, safe and livable? How will we decrease Yale's municipal solid waste by 25 percent below the 7,500 tons that is now generated? How will we increase recycling rates by up to 25 percent? How will we facilitate a smooth transportation network when plans are to simultaneously erect more buildings and encourage fewer single-occupancy cars coming into New Haven? How do we reduce laboratory waste and energy use and promote the use of safer research materials?
Without the vision and perseverance of the average worker here, how will we reduce energy consumption by 15 percent, given that the number of computers now in use—24,000—is on the increase? How will we decrease the 240,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent generated from heating, cooling and electricity demands? How will we decrease the 600 million gallons of water that we drink every year?
I could go on, but you get the idea. A successful plan will require that Yale employees not only accept new ways of doing business but also fundamentally rethink their relationship to the environment. This will take more than a convincing practical argument from the plan's supporters, including me. One of the biggest challenges that I have had during this exhilarating process has been to justify why we should be engaging in this effort at all, as if we still live in an era of cheap abundant resources that can be consumed or exploited at will.
In a community as diverse as ours, the moral argument for sustainability can be elusive. So I turn to the words of my sage colleague Mary Evelyn Tucker, co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, for the "why" of sustainability: "To move from an ethic of sustainability that can be measured to assisting the flourishing of life is our challenge. Our deepest relationships emerge from love and not just from sufficiency. This flourishing is about experiencing the life around us in a way that we can feel reciprocity with the elements—earth, air, fire, water. As we build with the elements, we will understand our dependence on these building blocks of life. We will establish new mutually enhancing relations with the Earth."
Julie Newman is the director of the Yale Office of Sustainability and a member of the Sustainability Task Force. You can view the Sustainability Strategic Plan 2010-2013 at http://sustainability.yale.edu/sites/default/files/FINAL_to_Print.pdf.


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What Are Run-On Sentences?
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Mignon Fogarty is the creator of Grammar Girl and the founder and
managing director of Quick and Dirty Tips. She strives to be a friendly guide .
in the writing world Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing.
Covering the grammar rules and word choice guidelines that can confound even the best writers,
Grammar Girl makes complex grammar questions simple with memory tricks to
help you recall and apply those troublesome grammar rules. Want more from
Grammar Girl? Visit her full archive and subscribe to his weekly podcast here:


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01332 224830
Monday to Friday 9am-5pm
The GTi Successful Retailing course covers all the aspects you will need to know in order to confidently and competently retail products to your clients. The course includes detailed modules on how to choose and prepare your products, how to approach the client and how to measure their response. The course is beautifully written and accompanied by images and voiceovers to give you the best possible learning experience. This theory-only course is completed entirely online, in your own time, so it fits in around a busy lifestyle. There are no online examinations to complete, instead students are provided with a workbook which contains tasks for each module which will help you to tailor the sales process to your own business and products.
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Top-Rated Toenail Fungus Treatment Near West Bloomfield MI
Trust The Foot Docs With All Your Toenail Fungus Treatment Needs!
Bunion treatment and surgery practices:
Bunions usually form when the big toe pushes toward the second toe because of prolonged pressure on the feet, forcing the big toe joint in the opposite direction. Extra bone grows where the base of the big toe meets the foot, crowding your other toes and causing pain. The tendency to develop bunions is usually hereditary. Dr. Gross and Dr. Foreman specialize in the treatment of bunion deformities, both surgically and non-surgically.
Do I need to receive surgery?
Many people who have a bunion can gain temporary relief by wearing shoes that are larger than normal with a wider toe area. They may also find pain relief by helping to cushion the bunions with a protective pad, and find that they don't need to receive surgery after all and the pain from the bunion is manageable. If these methods aren't working for your pain relief, you may need to receive bunion surgery.
We'll then take an X-ray of your foot to diagnose your situation and determine the kind of surgery that will be best for you and your foot. With over 100 different types of bunion surgery out there, we'll make sure that you receive the one that's right for you!
If you're suffering from a bunion, contact us to make sure that you receive quick and effective bunion removal surgery.
Toenail Fungus Laser Treatment Cure in West Bloomfield
Nail fungus is a chronic condition that impacts your quality of life and can even lead to serious health problems for patients with diabetes or immune disorders.
The most common symptoms of fungal nails are the thickening and/or discoloration of the nail (white, black, yellow or green). The nail may become brittle and crumble around the edges, or even break off from the toe (or finger) completely. If left untreated, the infection can become painful. The skin may also become inflamed and painful underneath and around the nail.
The treatment of nail infection is difficult because these fungi live in the layer of dead skin around your nails, in the space under your nail, and in the nail itself, which makes it hard for other treatments to reach and destroy the infection.
What Are The Signs or Symptoms of Nail Fungus?
- Yellow streaks in the skin under the nail, or nail bed, and on the underside of the nail
- Buildup of bits and pieces of skin and nail fragments under the nail
- Discolored and thickened nail that may separate from the skin under the nail
- Brittle, broken, and thickened nails
- White spots or streaks on the nail surface
- Soft and powdery nail surface, which appear as the infection worsens
- Damaged, crumbly, and brown or gray nail surface, with no separation of the nail from the underlying skin.
Will I need more than one treatment?
Is the procedure painful?
Is this covered by my insurance?
When you need the best Toenail Fungus Treatment Center in the West Bloomfield area, contact the Foot Docs! We have the experience with bunions and toenail fungus to ensure that you're in the best of hands with your upcoming foot surgery. Contact us with any foot problems that you may have!


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Touro Law Center has entered into a Scholar Exchange Program with the School of Law at the Netanya Academic College in Israel. Click here for more information.
Touro Law has launched a new Honors Program Blog at http://tourolawhonorsprogram.wordpress.com/, to report on activities of Honors Program alumni and of current Honors Program students.
Touro Law Review has published Volume 30, Number 1 (2014). The issue includes papers from the National Religious Legal Theory Conference hosted by the Law Center in April 2013; an article on antitrust class actions by securities "Superlawyer" Lawrence Steckman '88; an interview of civil rights leader and former US Solicitor General Drew Days by Professor Rodger Citron; and two student comments, one on the NY Equitable Distribution statute by Nicole Giannakis and the other on NY's guardianship system, by Melanie Rosen. Visit the Touro Law Review site!
Recognized as one of the most innovative law school programs in the country, Touro Law Center's unique hands-on curriculum and collaborative relationship with the Federal and State courthouses next door gives students the opportunity to work side-by-side with respected professionals from throughout the legal community, giving them the edge they need to succeed.
At Touro Law Center, you'll learn how to think critically . . . how to solve problems effectively . . . and practically apply the legal theory you're taught in the classroom to the real world of the courtroom.
Touro Law Center225 Eastview DriveCentral Islip, NY 11722Phone: (631) 761-7000Fax: (631) 761-7009


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lipscomb Bisons tennis team did not find home to be all that sweet as they played their first Atlantic Sun Conference match at the Huston-Marsh-Griffith Tennis Center.
Friday morning they fell 6-1 to USC Upstate to drop to 1-2 in conference matches, 2-9 overall. The Bisons split road matches last weekend at Mercer and Kennesaw State.
The Bisons found themselves in trouble quickly after being swept in doubles.
"Once again, the doubles point was big for us," Lipscomb coach Mario Hernandez said. "We came up just short but we are putting ourselves in the position to win it. All we can do is keep pushing until we break through."
The only winner for the Bisons was Stuart Tierney who beat Upstate's Jamie Yates 7-6, 7-6.
"There isn't too much else to say," Hernandez said. "We didn't get the job done and we have to keep at until we do get it done."
Saturday morning at 10 the Bisons will play host to another A-Sun foe, ETSU.
The Buccaneers are 8-8 overall, 3-0 in the A-Sun after beating Northern Kentucky 7-0. They have won their last five matches. In their last four matches they have only lost three singles matches.
Lipscomb-USC Upstate men's tennis results
6-1, Upstate
1. Matthias Kiddler/Gonzalo Blanco (Upstate) def. Miguel Cortez/Stuart Tierney (LIP), 8-6
2. Ramon Simonetti/Yvon Haessig (Upstate) def. Daniel Hernandez/Rob Mitchell (LIP), 8-7 (3)
3. Rajanuir Dharni/Pedro Carvalho (Upstate) def. David Salazar/Nacor Ibanez (LIP), 8-4
1. Kidler (Upstate) def. Salazar (LIP), 6-0, 6-0
2. Simonetti (Upstate) def. Mitchell (LIP), 1-6, 7-5, 10-6
3. Blanco (Upstate) def. D. Hernandez (LIP), 6-3, 6-3
4. Tierney (LIP) def. Jamie Yates (Upstate), 7-6, 7-6
5. Hasessig (Upstate) def. Cortez (LIP), 6-2, 6-3
6. Dharni (Upstate) def. Ibanez (LIP) 6-1, 6-3


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By Paul Sandle
LONDON (Reuters) – London-listed Shire is buying ViroPharma for $ 4.2 billion, attracted by a pipeline of potentially lucrative drugs to treat rare diseases, a growing trend as drugs companies lose revenues from patent expires on conventional treatments.
Several companies including France's Sanofi, according to reports, were interested in ViroPharma, which makes Cinryze for the treatment of immune disorder hereditary angioedema.
Treatments for such rare disorders can command huge prices, running into hundreds of thousands of dollars a year per patient.
Shire said on Monday it had agreed to pay $ 50 a share in cash for U.S. biopharmaceutical ViroPharma, a 27 percent premium on Friday's closing price. Shares in the group spiked nearly 30 percent in September on bid speculation.
Though some investors have raised concerns about the sustainability of the business model for rare disease drugs, healthcare providers have so far generally accepted the high costs, given the transforming effects of the medicines and the very small number of patients who need them.
The value of biological drugs to treat rare disease was crystallized in 2011 when Sanofi paid more than $ 20 billion to buy Genzyme.
Rare diseases are already an important part of Shire's portfolio, including drugs to treat Gaucher's disease and Fabry disease, and it said buying Exton, Pennsylvania-based ViroPharma would create a $ 2 billion a year unit, accounting for 40 percent of Shire's total revenue.
Shire Chief Executive Flemming Ornskov said the deal was "entirely consistent with our clear strategic objective of strengthening our rare disease portfolio".
Shares in Shire, already at record highs in recent weeks after the group raised 2013 earnings guidance, reached a new peak of 2,899 pence. They were trading up 3.6 percent at 2,898 pence by 0951 GMT. [ID:nL5N0IE2MB]
Analyst Savvas Neophytou at Panmure Gordon, who has a "buy" rating on Shire, said the deal was "clearly at an eye-watering multiple" of 7.6 times enterprise value over revenues, but it was strategically very sound.
"Given the company's growth characteristics, a premium valuation is warranted in our view," he said.
Ornskov declined to comment on competition to clinch a deal, but he said he was under no pressure and the price agreed was good for both sets of shareholders.
He said Cinryze, ViroPharma's leading product, would complement Shire's Firazyr on-demand treatment for acute attacks for hereditary angioedema, a rare genetic disease characterized by sudden attacks of swelling of the skin or the mucous membranes, which can be disfiguring, painful and life-threatening in some circumstances.
"Hereditary angioedema is a devastating rare disease that affects about 18,000 patients in the U.S. and EU," he told reporters on Monday.
"We will be able to better serve them by long-term prophylactic prevention with Cinryze and on-demand prevention of acute attacks with Firazyr." Firazyr is one of Shire's fastest growing drugs.
Shire, whose biggest selling drug is hyperactivity blockbuster Vyvanse, has largely grown by buying up promising companies and licensing drugs rather than building its portfolio from first-stage research.
Ornskov said mergers and acquisition and in-licensing was in Shire's DNA: "Our focus on this does not stop as a result of today's transaction."
ViroPharma is forecast to have annual revenues this year of $ 445-465 million, up from $ 428 million in 2012. The bulk of revenues this year, some $ 395-405 million, is expected to come from Cinryze sales in the United States. Shire said it hoped to grow international sales of the medicine.
Ornskov said ViroPharma also had a number of other biological drugs, and a portfolio of development programs targeted at other rare disease conditions.
Lazard and Morgan Stanley advised Shire on the deal and Goldman Sachs worked for ViroPharma.
(Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler; Editing by Will Waterman)
- Mergers, Acquisitions & Takeovers
- Health
- ViroPharma
- rare diseases


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This article or section needs more/new/more-detailed sources to conform to a higher standard and to provide proof for claims made.
Mount Gundabad was a mountain at the northern end of the Misty Mountains.
According to the Dwarves, Durin the Deathless, eldest of the Fathers of the Dwarves, awoke at Mount Gundabad in the north of the Misty Mountains shortly after the Awakening of the Elves. Mount Gundabad remained a sacred holy site to the Dwarves ever after and a meeting place with the other Fathers of the Dwarves.
In the Third Age, the Orcs of Angmar claimed it as their capital, which was one of the reasons for the Dwarves' special hatred of this people. After the fall of Angmar Gundabad remained an Orc stronghold, until it was cleaned of Orcs during the War of the Dwarves and Orcs. But the Orcs repopulated it over the next two hundred years, although after the Battle of Five Armies, there probably weren't as many.
Mount Gundabad was the rally point of the armies of Bolg the Goblin chieftain, who would later go on to fight the Battle of Five Armies.
Gundabad is a Khuzdul word of unknown meaning. The first element is probably Gund, meaning "excavated tunnel".


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Unhappy With Even Minimal Scrutiny, US Removes Last Pretense Of TPP Transparency
from the running-scared dept
One of the central problems of ACTA has been its lack of transparency. TPP has also been negotiated behind closed doors, but unlike ACTA has permitted at least one small opportunity for public groups to engage with the negotiators through the use of stakeholder forums, where organizations and even individuals were permitted to give short presentations about aspects of TPP. This has allowed points of view other than those of industry lobbyists to be heard by negotiators.
But it seems that even that tiny shaft of sunlight being shone upon the measures believed to be in TPP was too bright for the US, which is hosting the next round of the negotiations in Dallas, from May 8 to 18:
"As anticipated, now that the US has taken control of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement negotiations it has removed the only pretense of transparency -- the day-long 'stakeholder' programme where critics can present information and analysis directly to negotiators", says Professor Jane Kelsey, from the Law School at the University of Auckland.
The excellent site TPP Watch explains why even a few hours of transparency was so threatening:
The stakeholder presentations have offered detailed expert analyses of the legal issues and implications of TPPA proposals that many countries' negotiators do not have time, resources or knowledge to develop themselves.
In theory, there are other ways for critics of TPP to gain access to the negotiators. For example, civil society groups might hold an open meeting about TPP in the hotel where the negotiations were being held -- except that last time they tried to do that, their booking was cancelled at the behest of the USTR.
They also provide important support for the positions that countries are taking in the negotiations, especially against the very aggressive demands from the US.
Even though it is voluntary for the negotiators to attend, they often ask for follow-up discussions on the issues and how they might protect their interests -- without, of course, the advisers having access to the draft text.
That action, taken with the latest move, shows that the US will do everything in its power to stop any kind of independent discussion of TPP taking place that might bring inconvenient issues about the treaty to the attention of negotiators from other countries. The only consolation is that this kind of bullying proves just how frightened the US is that open, transparent discussions of TPP could cause the whole thing to unravel -- and provides an additional incentive to fight for even more transparency than those stakeholder forums provided until now.
Follow me @glynmoody on Twitter or identi.ca, and on Google+
Filed Under: acta, tpp, transparency


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Penn Law and Engineering Launch Innovative Program in Law and Technology
At a time when debates over technology policy are as significant as they are complex, the University of Pennsylvania Law School and School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) are launching an innovative joint degree program whose goal is to graduate lawyers and engineers able to address issues at the intersection of law and technology. The first cohort of students is expected to enroll in fall 2014.
From the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on the patentability of human genes, to the controversy over the National Security Agency's PRISM surveillance program, to the debate over network neutrality and regulation of the Internet, the ability to solve many of today's most pressing problems depends on a deep grounding in both the law and technology.
Establishment of the Law and Technology program, leading to both a JD and an Engineering Master's degree, was announced by Penn Law Dean Michael A. Fitts and Penn Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt.
"A cross-disciplinary approach is critical to preparing law graduates trained to tackle a burgeoning set of complex issues involving technology and the law," Fitts said. "In patents, copyright, media and Internet regulation, privacy and national security and many other areas, today's problems are almost always more than just legal problems and require substantive understanding of how the technology works."
"Engineers have become increasingly aware of the need to understand better the legal and regulatory frameworks that govern the development, implementation, use and monetization of technology," Glandt added. "Given the growing importance of the high-tech sector, the demand for such interdisciplinary training is likely to intensify for years to come."
Students pursuing the joint degree in Law and Technology will typically spend their first year at the Law School and second at SEAS. In years three and four, students will take classes in both schools and participate in a capstone course on Technology and Policy co-taught by faculty from both schools. Students may pursue any Engineering Master's degree, depending on background, qualifications, and interest.
Penn is uniquely positioned among top research universities to develop a cutting-edge program on technology and the law. Committed to "integrating knowledge," the University stresses interdisciplinary education, and both the Law School and Penn Engineering previously have developed pioneering programs with other schools.
In addition, Penn Law has a core of faculty who are experts on law and technology and is home to the Center for Technology, Innovation and Competition (CTIC), a leading interdisciplinary think tank on technology policy issues, which will serve as strong foundation for the initiative. Students enrolled in the program will also be supported by the Law School's pioneering Detkin Intellectual Property & Technology Legal Clinic.
Strong ties already exist between Penn Law and Penn Engineering faculty. For the past few years, Professors Jonathan Smith of Engineering and Christopher Yoo of the Law School have co-taught an innovative course on Technology and Policy that brings law and engineering students together in the same classroom.
Smith and Yoo will lead the new Law and Technology program, which in addition to curricular opportunities is expected to support student research fellowships, technology law-related moot courts, technology-related summer public interest fellowships, and the student-run Penn Intellectual Property Group.
The new JD/Engineering Master's solidifies Penn Law as the most interdisciplinary law school in the nation, with more than 35 joint degree and certificate program offerings. Over the past decade, Penn Law's academic program has been fully integrated with other professional schools at Penn that are preeminent in their field.
"The joint program in Law and Technology is further proof that a cross-disciplinary approach to legal education is critical to preparing law graduates to navigate this increasingly complex world as leaders and influential decision-makers," Fitts said.


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Rapid and drastic cuts in U.S. peanut acreage are being seen this year, to the point of Virginia no longer being a major peanut-producing state, says Dallas Hartzog, Auburn University Extension agronomist. Hartzog gave an update on peanut acreage during the recent Southern Peanut Growers Conference held in Panama City, Fla.
"Virginia has grown from 90,000 to 95,000 acres of peanuts. In 2005, they grew 23,000 acres, and they'll grow only 13,000 acres this year. That is the death of an industry, and that breaks my heart," Hartzog said. "No one wants to see peanuts go in that direction. There are a number of reasons for it, but the fact is that there are now several counties in Alabama, Georgia and Florida that grow more peanuts than the entire state of Virginia. Unless things change drastically, Virginia is not going to be a major peanut-producing state this year for the first time in recent history."
Extension specialists report that Virginia has a good-looking crop this year with tomato spotted wilt virus being their only concern, he says. "Growth is said to be good to excessive primarily because they had 10 inches of rain in June. But sclerotinia blight is favored by excessive vine growth which can devastate a crop in July and August."
North Carolina has grown from 110,000 to 120,000 acres of peanuts, says Hartzog. In 2005, they grew 97,000 acres and that number dropped to 86,000 acres this year.
"They're growing about 75,000 acres of Virginia-type peanuts and the balance is planted in runners," he says. "They're looking at runners because they're trying to grow those peanuts with fewer input costs. Managing disease pressure is the No. 1 problem for growers in the Virginia-Carolina region."
Extension specialists report that North Carolina had a dry spring until May. "Since then, they've had adequate rainfall, and they have a good stand of peanuts. Crop yield prospects are good for now," says Hartzog.
Georgia peanuts growers had expanded to 755,000 acres but are back to about 580,000 this year, he says. "Central Georgia is very dry, and it's also dry in the western part of the state's peanut belt. The eastern part of Georgia received 2 inches to 5 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Alberto, but that moisture is gone. For the most part, the moisture situation in Georgia ranges from marginally dry to very dry."
Georgia growers have reported problems with weeds and insects, adds Hartzog. "Thrips pressure was high in some areas, and a heavy incidence of tomato spotted wilt virus is expected where that has occurred."
In Alabama, growers are about 15 inches short on rainfall for the year, with about 54 percent of normal rainfall to date, said Hartzog in mid July. "We have three conditions — dry, drier and driest. Most showers have been isolated, brief in duration, and have covered a small area. Some growers have not received a good rain since they planted. This year, drought has added immense pressure to an already fragile farm economy in Alabama. In many places in Alabama, we still could make a reasonable peanut crop if we get rain today," he says.
Alabama's peanut acreage dropped from 225,000 acres last year to 170,000 acres in 2006. The certified acreage could be even less, at about 138,000, says Hartzog. "We are continuing to cut. We have had some expansion in the southwest and into central Alabama, but we're still cutting acres, and we've cut by about one-third. We've taken a lot of acres out of historic peanut land," he says.
Looking at Texas, it's very dry, says Hartzog. "Only south Texas has received some rain along the coast, but the rest is dry. Historically, Texas and dry, and growers there rely on irrigation. Acreage in Texas is down from 265,000 acres in 2005 to 210,000 acres this year."
Mississippi acreage could expand
Providing an update on Mississippi's peanut crop was Joe Morgan, executive director of the Mississippi Peanut Growers Association.
"Peanuts are not a new crop to Mississippi — they go back many years," says Morgan. "But for most farmers who are growing peanuts in Mississippi, it's a very new crop. I started growing peanuts in 1989, and I knew of only two or three farmers who were growing them at that time. Peanut production is steadily increasing in Mississippi. The predicted acreage for 2006 is 19,000 to 20,000."
Looking at the different regions of the state, in 2001, 3,200 acres of peanuts were produced in seven southern Mississippi counties, says Morgan. In 2005, Mississippi produced 14,197 acres, and production was scattered throughout the state. That year, the southeast region had 8,400 acres of peanuts. The southwest and northwest each had about 2,800 acres and the northeast had 220 acres, he says.
"Predicting where we go from here is more difficult," says Morgan. "In making a prediction, I'll assume four things. The next farm bill must have a peanut loan rate of at least $355 per ton. The peanut handling charges must be resolved so growers don't have to pay for them. Reasonable contracts must be offered.
And new buying points must be built in Mississippi where there aren't any. Our infrastructure is there now, but there's a lot of trucking involved — that will help us."
If all of these conditions occur, he says, Mississippi could grow from 30,000 to 40,000 acres of peanuts. "The southeast region of the state probably will stay pretty much the same as far as acres. The southwest region could double or triple in acres. The northwest this year had between 5,000 and 8,000 acres. The northeast increased from 220 acres last year to 1,000 acres this year. If conditions are right, the northeast easily could increase to 4,000 or 5,000 acres in the future. The region has fresh land, and farmers there need a crop to rotate with cotton. The farmers who planted peanuts last year in this region made 4,900 pounds per acre on peanuts and 650 pounds on cotton — they're in desperate need of a rotational crop," says Morgan.
Mississippi has several things going for it as far as peanut production, he says. "We have favorable soils that have never been planted to peanuts. We have a favorable climate, and last year, we had the second-highest peanut yield average, according to USDA. Taking all things into consideration, peanuts have been a good crop for Mississippi, and with the right conditions, they'll continue to be a good crop."