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(CNN) -- The tobacco industry was once a well-funded behemoth in American politics, and while Big Tobacco's power is slowly eroding, its influence is far from gone.
Once President Obama signs the new tobacco bill, the tobacco industry will be subject to federal regulation.
President Obama on Monday signed a bill that gives the Food and Drug Administration power to regulate the manufacturing, marketing and sale of tobacco.
Anti-tobacco activists champion the legislation as a historic step forward for public health, but even some who have fought tobacco concede that the tobacco companies scored some wins in the final legislation.
"It's a great victory for the public health community, but I would not overestimate the demise of the tobacco industry and their ability to lobby," said Paul G. Billings, vice president of national policy and advocacy for the American Lung Association.
In the past century, the tobacco industry has been distinctive in its ability to avoid coming under the authority of the FDA, while almost every other consumer product has been subject to federal regulation.
Congress voted in 1965 to require all cigarette packages to carry warning labels, a warning that was made under the surgeon general's name five years later.
The legislation Congress approved this month, known as the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, would give the FDA power to ban candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes, widely considered appealing to first-time smokers, including youths.
It would prohibit tobacco companies from using terms such as "low tar," "light" or "mild," require larger warning labels on packages that show pictures of the effects of tobacco use and restrict advertising of tobacco products. It also would require tobacco companies to reduce levels of nicotine in cigarettes.
Similar legislation, introduced by Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, more than a decade ago, failed to make it through Congress.
Patrick Reynolds, whose grandfather founded the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said the passage of the bill "marks the diminished clout of the tobacco lobby on the Hill."
Stanton Glantz, a longtime anti-tobacco advocate and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, said the public health community has made "gigantic progress" over the past few decades, but he sees the FDA bill as a win for Philip Morris USA, the nation's biggest cigarette company.
At last week's annual National Conference on Tobacco or Health, a large anti-tobacco gathering, in Phoenix, Arizona, Glantz said only about half of the room applauded when it was announced that the legislation passed.
"People were talking about making lemonade out of lemons," he said. "Basically, the public health people cut a deal with Philip Morris."
Philip Morris, which is owned by Altria Group Inc., was the only major tobacco company to endorse the legislation, although the company has expressed some First Amendment reservations about parts of it.
Glantz argues that the legislation legitimizes the tobacco industry at a time when "legitimacy was being lost."
His biggest complaint: The bill creates a 12-member advisory board through which all regulations will flow. Tobacco industry representatives will hold three nonvoting seats.
"Putting three guys on this committee would be a little bit like putting three mobsters on the Department of Justice committee on organized crime," Glantz said, echoing the sentiment of other strong tobacco-control advocates.
R.J. Reynolds said one of its early objections to the legislation was that Philip Morris had a role in crafting it. "The only way a company can grow is at the expense of another," said Maura Payne, vice president of communications for Reynolds American Inc.
Philip Morris argues the bill won't create a commercial advantage for it and instead will create a framework for an emerging market of "reduced-harm products."
"For adults who use tobacco products who want to avoid the health risks of smoking, the best thing for them to do is quit," said William Phelps, a spokesman for Altria.
"Our goal would be to design the best products that we can and then, under federal authority, make those products available to adults who do not quit."
All About Food and Drug Administration • Smoking


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I've recently learned (the hard way), that adding more ingredients to something doesn't equate to a better flavour. I made a yellow split pea soup last week and it was so salty (from too much ham stock and unneccesary garlic) that it was indedible. I was especially gutted as I'd been really looking forward to making it (I used to buy the yellow split pea soup from my college canteen ALL the time, so it has nostalgic sentiment).
My soupy failure was fresh in my head when I decided to make a marinade for my chicken stir fry. I have posted about a stir fry chicken marinade before, however, me and garlic are having a rocky patch at the moment. Plus, this marinade tasted so much better than the last one, that I just had to share, sorry if it seems too samey!
Ingredients (Served 2)
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
100ml light soy sauce
A few splashes of Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp ground ginger
2 tbsp all spice
2 tsp black pepper
Leave this in the fridge for an hour or two, or preferably overnight!
I just cooked this in a wok, with some stir fry vegetables, noodles and a couple extra splashes of soy sauce. But I bet it would be delicious over some rice too.
The marinade made the chicken so moist and tender. Cue lengthy, exaggerated "mmmmmmm"'s and clear plates all around!
Do you have a favourite marinade? If so, please share; I'm interested in doing many more! 🙂


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Nik B. necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 253 diseños de 75 diseñadores freelance.
Who Is Near?
We are a personals and dating company with a portfolio of products used by over a million people a month. We are branching off into the mobile and location space, and we need a fun, cool logo for the project.
Please try to make the logo as fun and engaging as possible. This is a fun app that allows you to meet people and engage socially, so fun should be communicated in the logo.
Our core sector is 18-24. They are smart, computer-literate, and very aware and conscious of brands.
Here are just some guidelines of logos that we like:
And here are some general comments:
Ideally we're looking for something that is less Illustrator-y and more of a refined, clever type treatment.
Present a full-color and a monochrome version.
Please keep in mind that this will be primarily seen in a mobile context, so it needs to look just as good in a small size (~25px tall) as it does large.
This will primarily be on a mobile screen, so we'll need the logo to be horizontal, and not vertical or in square.
Although we are in dating, this is not a specifically dating-oriented application so please do not include things like hearts.
The files we will require are:
Print file format - .ai (CMYK)
Web file format - .jpg and layered .psd (RGB)
Please do not use any stock images or clip art in the logo
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Chris Mooney | January 19, 2011
By Chris Mooney • Wednesday, January 19, 2011 - 11:06
UPDATE: After posting this, I realized that the idea that climate denial is ideological, rather than corporate driven, is also the explicit and central argument of Oreskes and Conway, Merchants of Doubt. There was no intention to slight them–it's just that I'd read Dunlap and McCright more recently, so their work was at the front of my mind. I've added a reference below, and my apologies to Oreskes and Conway.
Recently, I've been reading some research by Riley Dunlap, a sociologist at Oklahoma State University who collaborates frequently with Aaron McCright, another sociologist at Michigan State. Together, they've done penetrating work on the right wing resistance to climate change science in the US, and in particular, on the role of conservative think tanks in driving this resistance.
In a series of 2010 papers, however, I'm detecting a theme that runs contrary to what many often assume about the driving forces of climate denial. It is this: McCright & Dunlap argue that while corporate interests may once have seemed front-and-center in spurring resistance to climate science, at this point it's becoming increasingly apparent that ideological motivations are actually the primary motivator. Or as they put it: "conservative movement opposition to climate science and policy has a firm ideological base that supersedes the obvious desire for corporate funding."
Time was when defending climate research was all about finding out which conservative think tanks were being funded by Exxon Mobil. Or more recently, by the Koch brothers. And there's certainly a lot of special interest influence out there. But McCright and Dunlap argue that we should focus on the power of conservative, free market and anti-regulatory ideology first and foremost. In other words, the corporate funding, when it occurs, may be more a symptom of what's going on than the root cause.
Why? Well, first, Dunlap and McCright note that "conservative think tanks increased their opposition to climate science and the IPCC, even as major portions of industry were reducing theirs." And I don't think there's any denying it: Corporate views on climate change have grown considerably more diverse, with many leading companies, like General Electric, now calling for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Just look at what happened yesterday: The CEO of Royal Dutch Shell called for climate action because the "clock is ticking."
Meanwhile, right wing resistance has gotten increasingly shrill, especially after "ClimateGate," and attacks on climate scientists have only grown more vicious.
A second leg of the argument takes an international focus: Climate denial, say McCright and Dunlap, seems to thrive in nations that "have or have had conservative governments and in which conservative think tanks are firmly planted." That would include the U.S., UK, Canada, Australia, and Denmark. And then their third argument is to look at "skeptic" scientists: While this isn't uniformly true, they tend to be political conservatives. Indeed, Naomi Oreskes and Eric Conway have written that "market fundamentalism" underlies the ideology of the scientists they discuss in their book Merchants of Doubt, like Frederick Seitz.
If McCright and Dunlap are right, there are some important implications. One would be that the continuing growth in the clean energy industry may drive a wedge between business interests on the one hand, and political conservatives on the other.
And the other is that no matter how pragmatically corporate leaders behave on this issue, free market ideologues may nevertheless continue to block action—whether or not it's good for the economy, or for business.
Oreskes and Conway, Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming, New York: Bloomsbury, 2010.
Dunlap, Riley E. and Aaron M. McCright. 2010. "Climate Change Denial: Sources, Actors and Strategies." Pp. 240-259 in Constance Lever-Tracy (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Climate Change and Society. London: Routledge.
McCright, Aaron M. and Riley E. Dunlap. 2010. "Anti-Reflexivity: The American Conservative Movement's Success in Undermining Climate Science and Policy." Theory, Culture and Society (2-3) 26:100-133.
There is no doubt that some
There is no doubt that some cooperation's are funding a anti-climate campaign to cloud the issues and create disinformation about climate change. There are billions to be lost in the corporate world. What we need right now is a massive shock to the system. What we need right now is for every car on the road running on electric power or solar.
Think about what that would mean to the oil companies and the vast gas distribution network throughout the states. Hundreds of thousands of gas stations would need to change over night and they don't want to. They make large profits the way things are right now. Change means massive reinvestment. That means time. Despite what we need lawmakers want to drag it out over 10 to 20 years.
So the longer Congress postpones doing what is necessary for the people, the more time these industries have to slowly self-finance their transformation. So that their profit margins are not effected. EV technology has been around for decades and FORD might have put out a EV option economy car in the 80's. It was only after the Japanese put hybrids on the US car market, do we see the automakers move to change.
That's what the "Auto Crisis" was all about, a government hand to help them setup new product lines. Unfortunately in the name of Jobs and the Economy we are moving far to slow and our situation continues to get worse.
Kooiti Masuda replied on Permalink
different ideologies in different countries?
Though I have not done social-scientific analysis, I feel that the situation in Japan about denialism of anthropogenic climate change is quite different from that in North America. I feel that something ideological is behind it, but I cannot explain what is. It is not market fundamentalism which is also prevalent here but is promoted by different people.
Influential capitalists here do not deny the importance of the issue of climate change, though some of them seem to effectively sabotage any govermental intervention.
Strong voices of AGW denialism seem more correlated with political left wing rather than right, though the correlation is not sharp. Books promoting AGW denialism have various flavors. I point to several examples.
Atsushi Tsuchida has been an anti-nuclear-power activist, was clearly socialistic in his earlier days, and is still certainly environmentalist and anti-establishment and anti-global-market. He opposes free trade and promotes local agriculture for the sake of sustainability.
Hiroo Yamagata who translated books of Lomborg and of Singer and Avery is known as a libertarian, but his favorite economist is Krugman, and he is also a promoter of Lawrence Lessig.
Makoto Ezawa, a social scientist, fell in a conspiracy theory that the outlook of climate change is overhyped by "new liberals" including financial leaders in City of London and Wall Street as well as such polititians as Clinton and Gore who want to make profit from trading of emission quota etc.
I see some nuclear power lobbyist activity which is certainly capitalist and backed by part of the establishment. The Japanese edition of James Lovelock's "The Revenge of Gaia" (2006) was promoted by one of such lobbyist organizations. On the other hand, I do not see any fossil fuel lobbyist activity in Japan. (Singer's book was commercially sold, but I did not see any lobbyist organization which promoted it.) I think it reasonable that an anti-establishment-minded person in Japan tends to find villain in promoters of nuclear power rather than those of fossil fuel.
(I guess that the situation is somewhat similar to France. A book by Yves Lenoir (2001) translated from French is sold in Japan, though not so popular. Lenoir is certainly left-wing and anti-nuclear-power. He fell into conspiracy theory about capitalists.)
Kooiti Masuda replied on Permalink
AGW denialists in Japan
I would like to add information about some more authors, to show variety of AGW-denialistic people in Japan. Note that this is just my subjective summary.
Tadashi Watanabe, a professor of engineering chemistry, also one of opinion leaders on education of chemistry, makes incoherent discourses similar to North American propagandists. He translated and promoted Mosher and Fuller's book on "Climategate". I am not sure whether he is paid by someone or driven by his own ideology.
The following people seem to make AGW-denial activities voluntarily, perhaps out of ideology, but if so, their ideology does not seem typical market fundamentalism or business-as-usual.
Kiminori Itoh, another professor of engineering chemistry, emphasizes uncertainty of climate science. He does some analysis related to solar forcing. He used to seem a rational skeptic, but since so-called "Climategate" his disbelief to climate scientists seems enhanced. He dislikes nuclear power.
Syun-Ichi Akasofu is a retired solar-terrestrial physicist (expert of aurora) based in Alaska. He is entrenched in the idea that the current warming is just "recovery from the Little Ice Age" and that the cause cannot be CO2 and likely to be solar. His perspective of the greater issue of natural resources and environment seems sound, though.
Shigenori Maruyama, a professor of geology, was hyper-active in AGW denial in 2008 but rather quiet since then. He was entrenched in the cosmic ray hypothesis of Svensmark, and he "predicted" global cooling. He said that people of the world needs to reduce use of resources, in particular fossil fuel, for sustainability.
Kunihiko Takeda, a professor of material engineering, writes his opinions about various issues about environment in very popular books. He insists that his is the better way to deal with environmental issues. His opinion about environmental policy is roughly similar to Lomborg's, but his discourse is much less coherent than Lomborg's. He does not always deny AGW, but he sometimes denies strongly. He is in favor of nuclear power.
not so fast
Do you honestly believe that there are no lobbyists on the Hill right now working to get favorable laws from the "conservative" Republican party? Sure right now groups like the Tea party and those who consider themselves "conservative, "might represent strong ideological views and even those on the other side of that line, have equally strong convictions. The influence paddlers will stoke the fire in their favor when it suits them.
Recently Democrats tried to passed some laws to modernize light bulb standards. Republican immediately opposed the laws because they believed that further regulation of the light bulb industry would infringe on the peoples right of choice. Think about that.. updating the current light bulb standards will infringe on the freedom of choice.. Now ask yourself is it really about freedom or is it about money?
Kooiti Masuda replied on Permalink
cooperative vs. ideological
I think that sometimes "corporate-driven" and "ideological" motives cannot be separated. Whether a cooperation directly funds some organizations or it gives high dividend to its owners (stockholders) and let them fund them is rather arbitrary.
But, if that action of the corporation is "rational" as what an economic actor should do at that situation, it is more likely "corporate-driven", and if irrational as such, it is more likely "idelological".


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Veteran�s Court is an �outcome-based� program dedicated to helping military men and women get back on the right side of the law while providing what it is hoped is necessary to keep them there.
Cupcakes in the courtroom.
That was how County Judge T. Patterson Maney chose to honor the three latest graduates of the Veteran�s Court he was instrumental in founding.
Veteran�s Court is an �outcome-based� program dedicated to helping military men and women get back on the right side of the law while providing what it is hoped is necessary to keep them there.
William �Chief� Patterson, Katrina Rose and Michael Horlacher received graduation certificates Monday along with a handshake from Maney and the aforementioned cupcakes.
Perhaps most significantly, Assistant State Attorney Ginger Madden also informed each that charges they had faced would be dropped.
Horlacher, who has just retired from the Air Force, had been in the program just over a year when he received his walking papers.
�He�s done everything and more than we asked of him. We�re very proud of him,� Maney said in presenting the graduation certificate. �Thank you for your service to the nation and thanks for completing the program.�
Horlacher said he was �in a bad place� when he committed the crime that pulled him into the legal system.
He credited Carl Jett, the Veteran�s Court treatment coordinator, for introducing him to the program and helping guide him through it.
�He�s the guy who helped me get where I needed to be,� Horlacher said.
The motto of the Veteran�s Court is �return stability, rebuild relationships and reduce recidivism,� according to Jett. The program accepts retired veterans as well as active-duty personnel who have committed misdemeanor or felony offenses.
Once an individual is enrolled in the program, court officials look at the special needs of each.
For some, it could be drug and/or alcohol treatment or anger management training. Others might need therapy or help getting off the street or finding a job.
Maney, who as a brigadier general in the U.S. Army Reserves suffered brain trauma in a bomb attack in Afghanistan, recalls the difficulty he had for a while doing the math required to balance a checkbook.
�This is an outcome-based program,� he said. �It takes a little time for these folks to understand, the biggest issue for us is getting the vet who is writing bad checks to a place where they don�t write bad checks.�
As of Monday, there are 26 people enrolled in Veteran�s Court. For the first time in the year-and-a-half it�s been up and running smoothly, clients from all four counties in Florida�s First Judicial Circuit are enrolled.
Nationwide, about 9 percent of the incarcerated population are veterans, Maney said. The Veteran�s Court actually diverts veterans from the county court system and puts them in treatment programs paid for through their service to the nation.
�It provides treatment at no direct cost to the county,� Maney said.
Rose, another Air Force veteran, was commended upon graduating with many of the same words Maney had used in speaking of Horlacher.
�It�s a relief,� she said a short time later, clutching her graduation certificate. �It�s a life changer.�
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.


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Global call to "stop the horror" in Sudan
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, London, Washington, Canberra
- A decade on from the start of the mass atrocities in Darfur a coalition of politicians from three continents have called for urgent action to address the humanitarian crisis in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile
- The Sudanese government is accused of intensifying indiscriminate bombings against rebel-held areas
- Over a million people have been displaced or severely affected by violence and independent experts warn of man-made famine by April
- Meanwhile, the decade-long conflict in Darfur continues, with 1.4 million living in camps and 3.5 million relying on food aid.
A global coalition of 98 politicians from the United States, United Kingdom and Australia have signed an open letter addressed to their respective Foreign Secretaries urging them to lead the UN Security Council to action on Sudan at this pivotal moment.
The coalition includes William Bain MP, Chair of the Associate Parliamentary Group on Sudan and South Sudan (UK), House Democratic Whip, Congressman Steny Hoyer (US) and Australian Senator the Hon David Feeney, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence.
Congressman Frank R. Wolf from the United States House of Representatives said:
"Ten years ago this month, the Sudanese government, headed by Omar Bashir, embarked on a campaign of violence in Darfur in which 300,000 people were killed. The world says, "Never Again," and yet in the face of mounting atrocities in Sudan today, where is the outrage? History must not be allowed to repeat itself. We must stand up for the people of Sudan".
Baroness Cox from the United Kingdom Parliament said:
"There can be little doubt over the ruthless attacks being perpetrated by the Government of Sudan on its own people. I travelled to Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile in January and saw for myself the desperate subhuman conditions being forced upon tens of thousands of civilians. Addressing the conflict in these two areas is crucial to finding a lasting peace between Sudan and South Sudan".
Michelle Rowland from the Australian Parliament said:
"UN Security Council Resolution 2046 warned the parties to this conflict of consequences if they did not uphold their obligations and stop the fighting. The African Union has been very clear on the urgent need to address this conflict. We are calling on our respective governments to lead the UN to back up its words with actions".
Read the full letter –here: http://sudanapg.tumblr.com/
List of signatories:
Members of the UK Parliament:
William Bain - Labour MP for Glasgow North East
Hugh Bayley – Labour MP for York Central
Rt Hon Hilary Benn - Labour MP for Leeds Central, former Secretary of State for International Development (2003 - 2007)
Nicola Blackwood – Conservative MP for Oxford West and Abingdon
Sir Peter Bottomley – Conservative MP for Worthing West
Richard Burden – Labour MP for BIrmingham Northfield
Geoffrey Clifton-Brown – Conservative MP for The Cotswolds
Mary Creagh – Labour MP for Wakefield, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Alex Cunningham – Labour MP for Stockton North
Sir Tony Cunningham – Labour MP for Workington, Shadow Minister for International Development
Nic Dakin – Labour MP for Scunthorpe
Mark Durkan – Social Democrat and Labour Party MP for Foyle, former Deputy First Minister for Northern Ireland
Louise Ellman – Labour and Co-operative MP for Liverpool Riverside
Paul Flynn – Labour MP for Newport West
Cathy Jamieson – Labour MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Pauline Latham - Conservative MP for Mid Derbyshire
Mark Lazarowicz – Labour and Co-operative MP for Edinburgh North and Leith
John Leech – Liberal Democrat MP for Manchester Withington
Jeremy Lefroy – Conservative MP for Stafford
Ivan Lewis – Labour MP for Bury South, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Rt Hon Elfyn Llwyd - Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd
John Mann – Labour MP for Bassetlaw
Ann McKechin – Labour MP for Glasgow North
Madeleine Moon – Labour MP for Bridgend
Penny Mordaunt – Conservative MP for Portsmouth North
Stephen Mosley – Conservative MP for the City of Chester
Pamela Nash – Labour MP for Airdrie and Shotts
Yasmin Qureshi – Labour MP for Bolton South East
Dame Joan Ruddock – Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford
Lord Avebury – Liberal Democrat
Lord Alton of Liverpool – Crossbench
Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top – Labour
Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville – Conservative
Lord Chidgey of Hamble-le-Rice – Liberal Democrat
Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale – Labour
Lord Collins of Highbury – Labour
Baroness Cox of Queensbury - Conservative
Lord Curry of Kirkharle – Crossbench
Lord Dholakia of Waltham Brooks – Liberal Democrat
Lord Edmiston of Lapworth – Conservative
Baroness Goudie of Roundwood – Labour
Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead – Labour
Lord Rea – Labour
Earl of Sandwich – Crossbench
Baroness Tonge of Kew – Crossbench
Members of the United States House of Representatives:
Michael E. Capuano (D-MA)
Frank R. Wolf (R-VA)
Barbara Lee (D-CA)
Michael T. McCaul (R-TX)
Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD)
John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)
Aaron Schock (R-IL)
Sam Farr (D-CA)
Mike Honda (D-CA)
Wm. Lacy Clay (D-MO)
Joseph Crowley (D-NY)
Sanford Bishop (D-GA)
James P. Moran (D-VA)
James P. McGovern (D-MA)
Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY)
Melvin L. Watt (D-NC)
Alcee L. Hastings (D-FL)
Lois Capps (D-CA)
Tim Huelskamp (R-KS)
Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ)
John F. Tierney (D-MA)
Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)
Betty McCollum (D-MN)
Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY)
Adam Smith (D-WA)
Michael H. Michaud (D-ME)
Scott H. Peters (D-CA)
Stephen F. Lynch (D-MA)
Keith Ellison (D-MN)
Joe Courtney (D-CT)
Jackie Speier (D-CA)
Joseph R. Pitts (R-PA)
Jared Polis (D-CO)
Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR)
Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ)
Members of the Australian Parliament:
Senator Simon Birmingham
Liberal Party - South Australia
Senator Doug Cameron
Australian Labor Party - New South Wales
Senator the Hon Jacinta Collins – Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations
Australian Labor Party - Victoria
Senator the Hon David Feeney – Parliamentary Secretary for Defence
Australian Labor Party - Victoria
Laurie Ferguson MP
Federal Member for Werriwa
Australian Labor Party - New South Wales
Hon Alan Griffin MP
Federal Member for Bruce
Australian Labor Party - Victoria
Hon Greg Hunt MP
Federal Member for Flinders
Liberal Party - South Australia
Hon Robert McClelland MP
Federal Member for Barton
Australian Labor Party - New South Wales
Hon Judi Moylan MP
Federal Member for Pearce
Liberal Party - Western Australia
Graham Perrett MP
Federal Member for Moreton
Australian Labor Party – Queensland
Senator Louise Pratt
Australian Labor Party -Western Australia
Michelle Rowland MP
Federal Member for Greenway
Australian Labor Party - New South Wales
Senator Lisa Singh
Australian Labor Party - Tasmania
Laura Smyth MP
Federal Member for La Trobe
Australian Labor Party - Victoria
Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens
Australian Labor Party - New South Wales
Senator Anne Urquart
Australian Labor Party - Tasmania


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New Search
If you are not happy with the results below please do another search
International Junior Golf Tour
91 Old Carolina Drive
Bluffton, SC 29910
(844) 779-3374
"Hands down, the IJGT is the best junior golf tour, especially in the Northeast. The staff is super friendly, the tournaments professionally run, and the courses are spectacular! Thanks for being the "playground" to help me develop my competitive game for the past 5 years! I am looking forward to competing on the IJGT for the next few years against the best junior golfers from around the world."Frank Szucs, Brookside, New Jersey11 wins on the IJGT including 29 top 10 finishes
"The IJGT tournament courses are first-class and many are ones that have hosted PGA Tour events. Playing the IJGT has prepared me for competing at the next level. The strength of the fields promotes a great learning environment and lets you know how your game stacks up against the rest. The tournament awards are always something to strive for, whether it is IJGT merit points, AJGA exemptions, or other amateur tournament invitations."Kyle Nakazaki, Manhattan Beach, California2 wins on the IJGT including 10 top 10 finishes
"The IJGT has helped me to improve my golf game through top-notch competition. Over the years, I have made life-long relationships with friends I have made through competition. The IJGT has helped me position myself on the national scene and prepared myself for the best opportunities to receive a college golf scholarship."Andrew Bieber, Shaker Heights, OH12 wins on the IJGT including 47 top 10 finishes
"The IJGT has certainly been a building block and foundation for my junior golf career. It has helped me build character as an individual throughout the many years of participation. The level of competition has also helped me to take my game to the next level. The entire IJGT staff has been a huge benefit to me and because of them I gained a lot of confidence to continue to participate in many other junior golf events. I will always be thankful for the direction that the IJGT has guided me!"Nicholas Reach, Moscow, Pennsylvania3 wins on the IJGT including 10 top 10 finishes
"The IJGT is a wonderful tour that has given me the experience to compete at a high level. The IJGT has also given me my first experience of match play at the North America Cup, which helped me learn the match play format."Jim Liu, Smithtown, New York2010 U.S. Junior Amateur Champion, 2010 Verizon Junior Heritage Champion, and 18 wins on the IJGT


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About Us
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The Friends of the Library of Walla Walla meets on the third Thursday of the month at noon at the Library. Friends are dedicated to strengthening and promoting the Public Library, building community and financial support, and encouraging volunteer involvement. Everyone is welcome to join.
The Library has a Pacific Northwest Collection, featuring books about early Walla Walla County and Washington State for in-library use. With your library card, you may also access the online databases Ancestry (in-library only) and HeritageQuest.
You are encouraged to bring your Library card each time you visit. If you have photo ID we can look up your card but prefer that you bring your card.
The Library appreciates the gift of donated material but it is evaluated with the same criteria used when new material is purchased so we do not always add the items to the Library's collection. Please call 509.527.4550 for more information.
Most Library cards expire after two years to give the staff the opportunity to verify that we have the correct and current address, phone number and email information for you.
You can renew your materials online at the Library's website by following these steps:
If items did not renew, it may be for one or more of the following reasons:
If material is not owned by the Walla Walla Public Library we will be glad to consider it for purchase first; if it does not meet our collection guidelines, we'll borrow it for a $3 fee to cover mailing costs. We can only interlibrary loan books.
If you checked out material which was already damaged, please bring it to our attention when you return it. If you are returning it in the bookdrop, please put a rubber band around it to alert us to damage.
If Library material, checked out to you, has been torn or exposed to weather, or has been damaged in any other manner including missing covers or barcodes, please bring the material to the Circulation Desk so that the damage can be assessed and fees or replacement costs explained.
The Library offers classes on general computer use as well as classes in our media lab, CrewSpace. CrewSpace holds a variety of classes based on producing media. Please check out CrewSpace for more information.
The Library has a calendar which lists brief program descriptions as well as dates and times. The Library's Home Page will also direct you to the information that you need or you can call us at (509) 527-4550 and we'll be glad to answer any questions.
Anyone who has a Walla Walla Public Library card is welcome to join the Library's book club. Visitors are also welcome. The Book Club meets the 3rd Wednesday of the month at noon at the Library. Call 509-527-4550 or check the calendar to verify the time and date and to see what we're reading.
The Library also has other services such as a program called Book-Club-In-A-Bag and DearReader. Read more about our Services.
Please read our Internet Policy.
The Library has computers with Microsoft Office Suite and access to the Internet. Use is limited to one session per day and requires a Library card. Computers with Microsoft Office Suite may be used in addition to Internet usage each day. You must have a valid Walla Walla Public Library card to use the computers in the Library. The Library also provides the opportunity for those visiting from out of town (50 miles or more) to use a guest pass with the same time limit.
Printing is 10 cents per page on all computers.
Wireless access is available throughout the Library. You must provide your own computer with a wireless network card.
Print materials may be returned in the "through the wall" return located in the wall by the Poplar Street entrance, or in bookdrops located in the Alder Street parking lot and next to the Alder Street entrance. Bookdrops are emptied before open hours and again at 2:00 p.m.
Only print material may be returned in the bookdrops.
DVDs, Books on CD, and CDs may be returned inside the building or in the special AV "through the wall" return located in the wall by the Poplar Street entrance. Items returned in the AV drop will be checked in the next day.
You can access your account online by clicking "Your Account" on this website or by visiting the catalog's site at http://catalog.wallawalla.bywatersolutions.com.
You will need your log-in and password. You were given the log-in (usually the last 5 digits of your library card) and the password (usually your last name in lower case letters) at the time you received your card but you can call us or stop in if you have forgotten.
You may borrow as many books, magazines, and books on CD as you wish. They are due in 3 weeks.
You may borrow 5 music CDs per day. They are due in 3 weeks.
You may borrow 5 DVDs per day up to a total of 10 checked out at one time. DVDs are due in 7 days.
All library materials may be renewed twice, unless someone is waiting for them. Materials may be renewed online anytime before they are due. You may also renew by phone or in person when the library is open.
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Individuals owning property in or living within the limits of the City of Walla Walla are eligible for a free library card.
Individuals living outside the limits of the City of Walla Walla need to purchase a library card to use the Walla Walla Public Library. Those who live within Walla Walla County, but not in the cities of Walla Walla or Waitsburg, are members of the Walla Walla Rural Library District (WWRLD), which will reimburse the $68 cost up to their budgeted amount through the end of 2020. This now includes residents of College Place.
Those who reside outside Walla Walla County or within the city limits of Waitsburg are not part of the WWRLD and will not be eligible for the $68 reimbursement.
You may check your fines online at any time, or during regular open hours by phone at 509.527.4550 or in person.
To check fines online, please follow these steps:
We would be happy to consider purchasing specific items for our collection if they meet our collection development criteria. You may make a suggestion online, by phone or in person.
Suggest a Purchase Online
The Library has both quiet rooms and meeting rooms. Quiet Rooms are for individual or small group use.
Meeting rooms are for programs which are open to the public and held during regular Library hours. These meetings cannot be fee-based or involve a private enterprise or sales.
Reservations must be made by a Walla Walla Public Library cardholder who will be present at the meeting. Please call 509-527-4550 for more details.
You may renew your materials online, by phone at 509.527.4550 during regular library hours, or in person. You do not need to bring the materials with you to renew them.
To renew online, please follow these steps:
You may place a hold online at any time, or during regular open hours by phone at 509.527.4550.
To place a hold online, please follow these steps:
Please visit the Library Card Application page.


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Elbow Grease Classic Gel was introduced in 1982. The market demanded water based lubricants which could be used with condoms so we created a wonderful thick and viscous gel lubricant. The Classic formula has been a favorite for many years and continues to be one of the best sellers! Elbow Grease Classic Gel is a thick long-lasting lubricant that enhances your sensual experience.
Ships Everywhere.
Works well and easy to wash offAnonymous - August 28 2019
It Feels better and works better than petrolium jelly. Great product!!Anonymous - June 12 2018
first timer when it comes to lubes and i like it, not thick and didn't dry out at all, decently priced tooAnonymous - March 9 2015
works great on sex toys, finger play and intercourse ofcourseAnonymous - February 5 2015
Highly recommend this cream formula. Not only does it provide smoothness without that sticky feeling, it also enhances your sex action by a million.Anonymous - January 16 2015
My new boyfriend is a total stud muffin with an ultra high, man ego. I try to tell him that giving massages to your women doesn't make him look like a sissy at all, it just shows love and devotion. I thought getting this cream with a man showing off his arm muscles on the jar would look really manly to him. The trick worked! The cream went on a bit thick though, but it made him dig in with his strong hands for an awesome rubdown. I think this cream is more meant as an lubricant for intercourse, which he certainly didn't mind using it for either. The cream felt fantastic, perfect for a smooth gliding ride. Mission successfully completed!!!Anonymous - September 25 2014


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Thomas Gainsborough
Thomas Gainsborough (gānz´bûr´ō), 1727–88, English portrait and landscape painter, b. Sudbury. In 1740 he went to London and became the assistant and pupil of the French engraver Hubert Gravelot. He was also influenced in his youth by the painter Francis Hayman and studied the landscapes of the great 17th-century Dutch artists. In 1745 he returned to Sudbury, later moving to Ipswich and finally to Bath, where he gradually acquired a large and lucrative portrait practice rivaling that of his contemporary Sir Joshua Reynolds. Gainsborough is celebrated for the elegance, vivacity, and refinement of his portraits, which were greatly influenced in style by the work of Van Dyck. Some of these portray old-money aristocrats, but more are from the newly wealthy and highly cultured middle-class elite. Gainsborough had little taste for the society of his sitters, however, and spent much spare time painting his favorite subject, landscape, entirely for his own pleasure. These works were among the first great landscapes painted in England. As a colorist Gainsborough has had few rivals among English painters.
In his last years Gainsborough excelled in fancy pictures, a pastoral genre that featured idealized subjects (e.g., The Mall, 1783; Frick Coll., New York City). He painted all parts of his pictures himself, an unusual practice for his day. He left a large collection of landscape drawings, which influenced the development of 19th-century landscape art. He is well represented in the national galleries of London, Ireland, and Scotland; in the Wallace Collection, London; and in many private collections. Examples of Gainsborough's work may be seen in the Metropolitan Museum and the museums of Cincinnati, Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Outstanding among his well-known works are Perdita (Wallace Coll., London), The Blue Boy (Huntington Art Gall., San Marino, Calif.), and Lady Innes (Frick Coll.).
See his letters, ed. by M. Woodall (rev. ed. 1963); his drawings, ed. by J. Hayes (2 vol., 1971) and ed. by J. Hayes and L. Staiton (1985); his prints, ed. by J. Hayes (1972); J. Hayes, Gainsborough's Landscape Paintings: A Critical Text and Catalogue Raisonné (2 vol., 1982); J. Lindsay, Gainsborough: His Life and Art (1983); M. Rothschild, The Life and Art of Thomas Gainsborough (1983).


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Spider arm
In every front loading horizontal axis washing machine with stainless steel tank there is a Spider arm. For top class heavy load washing machines SKF has developed a unique system that comprises in one unit the complete support system including bearing, seal greased and motor support delivered to the customer.
- Stiffness
- Compactness
- High load carrying capacity
- Water exclusion
- One supplier for a sub-system
- One mounting operation


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My wife has an amazing ability to read people and judge them within seconds of meeting them. Over the years I have challenged her many times, telling her not to judge a book by its cover but to get to know someone properly first. Time has shown that her first impressions were always right.
We don't all have that ability – I know I don't – but we do tend to remember our first impressions of people most. Right or wrong, first impressions certainly do last – and sometimes, they are the only impressions you'll have the chance to give. Your first impression is your business card, in effect, and it will determine whether a person calls you back, uses your services, or stays to listen to you.
This is just as important when you are presenting, even if your audience doesn't have the ability to get up and leave before you have finished. There are two key reasons for this.
The first is that you need to give people a reason to want to listen to you. If you don't make them want to listen right at the start, they probably won't. If their first impression is that you are going to bore them senseless, their survival instinct will kick in and they will decide to do something less boring instead. Like doodling. Or email. Or tweeting. Or checking the cricket score. Or examining the inside of their eyelids.
The second is what's known as the 'primacy principle'. This states that people remember most what you say first. So if you have a particularly important message, you might want to say it right at the start, and then use the rest of the talk to explain why, rather than build up to it logically and methodically and then reveal your moment of wisdom at the end. A presentation is not a whodunnit. If the butler did it, say so at the start, then explain your reasoning.
So your introduction is extremely important. Here are five things you need to achieve in your first minute or so:
1. Connect with your audience. The best presentations are more about two-way communication than about simply broadcasting a message as if the audience were not there. Even if you as the presenter are doing almost all the talking, it is important to make the audience feel a part of what you are doing. For example, if you are going to present in a different country, pick up a local newspaper and find something interesting which you can mention at the start, or tell a story about what happened to you in the taxi from the airport, or last time you were there. Something like that will tell the audience that you're not just going to give them exactly the same talk you have given ten times before to ten different audiences. It's personal. It's a talk specially created for them.
A few words in the local language can be powerful as well, as Presidents Kennedy and Reagan both memorably used in their Berlin speeches.
2. Establish your credibility. If your audience doesn't respect you as an authority on your subject, they won't listen properly. Being respected is one of the four aims of presentation, and it is one you need to achieve right at the start. Imagine an unknown presenter talks for an hour about how to become a great tennis player. Why would you listen? Then at the end, he reveals that he's Roger Federer's coach. Suddenly he has immense credibility, but you can't go back and be more attentive – it's too late. Establish your credibility at the start (or even before you take the stage).
3. Explain the purpose. After your introduction, it should be clear to the audience what you are going to talk about, and why it is important for them. (Not for you – for them.)
4. Set expectations. This is where you make sure the audience knows what they can expect, and what they should not expect. If you're going to talk about mobile app development but you are not going to cover Android, make that clear at the start – otherwise some people might wait and wait for you to cover Android, and then get disappointed when you don't. You should set positive expectations – and then make sure you meet or exceed them.
5. Make them want to listen. Your introduction has to give the audience a reason to listen more. This could be because you are amazingly engaging or funny, or it could be because the problem you are talking about is relevant to them. If you are going to talk to a group of German engineers about the reproductive difficulties of Andean llamas, that could be tough, so choose your subject well, but if in fact there is a relevant engineering challenge in solving Andean llama reproduction problems, make sure that's clear at the beginning.
First impressions aren't always fair. If you walk into the room wet through because somebody took your umbrella, your first impression won't be a good one. If you spend ten minutes trying to make your slides appear on the wall, that doesn't look too good either. It's not just about what you say.
So do everything you can to ensure that your first impressions are positive, in how you appear, what you do and what you say, and that will end up being a lasting positive impression.
Otherwise, you'll just have to pray that my wife isn't in the audience.


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3 New Whisk(e)ys We Love Right Now
New brands and bottles you should know.
With so many new whisk(e)ys coming into the market these days, it's a challenge to decide which ones will make the cut for review. But some bottles instantly prove they're something special, standing head and shoulders above the flood of middling booze. These 3 whiskeys stand out from the crowd of recent releases.
Jim Beam Signature Craft Rare Spanish Brandy
Jim Beam has taken the trendy concept of unusual whiskey finishes a step further with their Signature Craft Rare Spanish Brandy expression. Rather then aging the spirit in a brandy barrel, they add a measure of brandy straight into the bourbon. This direct approach keeps the resulting spirit from spending too much time in oak, yet still benefiting from the fruit and spices of the brandy.
The resulting blended spirit has a wonderful spicy aroma, with ginger, cinnamon, and anise blending with classic vanilla and oak bourbon notes. With a rich and creamy body and raisin custard flavor, the brandy influence comes through loud and clear.
It plays as well in a Sidecar as it does in a Manhattan, an makes a really amazing Boulevardier. But Jim Beam Signature Craft Rare Spanish Brandy really is best served neat—it's almost a cocktail straight from the bottle. If you really want to give it just a little kick, an ice cube and a splash of spicy bitters does the trick nicely. In national release as of August for $40 a bottle at 86 proof, it's an easy pick.
Ardbeg Ardbog
Ardbog is the latest release from Ardbeg in their continuing line of no age statement, mysteriously named single-word whiskies (also in the lineup: Uigeadail, Corryvreckan, Supernova, Alligator, and Galileo). A mixture of whiskies aged in bourbon and Manzanilla sherry casks, it's my favorite Ardbeg to come out in some time. It strikes me as one of the more sherry-influenced Islay whiskies, and yet does a wonderful job of balancing out smoke, spice, and sweetness.
Earthy peat mixed with fruity sherry aromas draw you in, while typical Ardbeg campfire smoke and sea spray drifts from the glass. On drinking you'll find these flavors deepen and evolve, with an underlying caramel sweetness that ties together the oak, fruit, and smoke. Finishing long, complex, and satisfying, it's a thick and chewy dram that will stay with you all night. In limited release for the past two months, it's listed around $100 a bottle and worth every penny, if it's up your alley. I enjoyed mine with just a drop of water to take the edge of the 104.2 proof.
Laphroaig Càirdeas Port Wood Edition
High on my list of dream vacations is a trip to the isle of Islay, home to many of my favorite smoky Scotches. I'm torn about when the best time to visit would be—a moody fall requiring thick sweaters and the warmth of a peat fire has deep appeal, and a spring morning with light breaking free of the clouds certainly is tempting. But for sheer ease of access to the distilleries on the island, visiting during the Fèis Ìle might be the winner. An annual festival celebrating all things Islay, with whisky front and center, it's a chance to hobnob with other Scotch nerds, as well as sample rare treats from the whisky warehouses.
This year, though, I've had to settle for traveling by dram. The Càirdeas Port Wood Edition is the latest in a series of limited release whiskies from Laphroaig, released to coincide with the festival this year. It's definitely a departure from the flagship 10 year expression, known for its intense peaty flavor. The Càirdeas PWE is the same juice as the 10 year, but after the 8th year it's transferred to port barrels for 14 months of finishing. And those 14 months make all the difference.
Lighter and nimbler than the Ardbog, this is a rosé of a Scotch—and it pours almost pink! It's initially smoky on the nose, but berries and barbecue begin to dominate. The flavor is lovely: ripe strawberry and plum, a nice balance of oak and smoke, and a sweet jammy body. The finish is nicely drying. Quite a departure from what you would expect in a Laphroaig bottle, yet with just enough peat to ground it, it's the definition of a sunny, summery Islay whisky. Add a tiny ice cube to emphasize the fruit and take the edge off the 102.6 proof, although it drinks just fine at bottle strength. Unfortunately the limited release is mostly sold out, so you'll have to quest for dusty bottles or cross your fingers and contact your specialty liquor retailers, where the pricing may vary dramatically. But it's worth the hunt.
What's your favorite whisk(e)y of the moment?
Samples provided for review consideration.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


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Hall Console by Reed Hansuld
The lumber is picked through sustainable mills and yards, He is a believer in finding the right board for the job both structurally and aesthetically, but also in trying to reduce wasted material. He also likes to mill his own sustainable lumber from domestic logs and air-drying it. Many of the exotic or rare woods used come in the form of veneer, which preserves some of our most valuable and rare species.
These pieces are one of a kind, built one at a time. Built and designed to last generations.


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Browsing Conference papers by Author "Freytag, Per V."
Now showing items 1-1 of 1
The International IPSERA Workshop on Customer Attractiveness, Supplier Satisfaction and Customer Value. 25-26 November 2010Ellegaard, Chris; Freytag, Per V. (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Reports on supply chain management (SCM) failure are becoming more frequent in the SCM literature, despite widespread recognition of the business potential associated with such optimizations of operational buyer-supplier interfaces. Some failures can be ascribed to imbalances in the net benefits realized by the buying and supplying company implementing SCM. Failed SCM initiatives hurt the buying company's customer attractiveness and limit opportunities for long term value creation with suppliers. Hence, an important task for the buying company is the management of SCM initiatives in a way that benefits both parties. However, SCM costs and benefits often materialise as the result of complex interactive processes between buyer and supplier actors, which makes SCM a challenging management task. To increase the understanding of these complex processes, this study identifies the various types of supplier costs and benefits resulting from the failed VMI initiative of a multinational company. While the benefits from this case turn out to be few, the costs appear in large variety and scale. More importantly, we uncover the underlying mechanisms generating these costs, thereby enabling managers to identify and avoid the costs. Based on the findings, we propose pre-project classification of supplier VMI readiness to allow more beneficial implementation as a key managerial implication. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8229
Files in this item: 1CEPFpaperAttrWorkshopNov2010.pdf (292.5Kb)
Now showing items 1-1 of 1


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Brought together from ten independent municipalities, all the district centers of Wuppertal have maintained their own individual character. The two major centres are Barmen und Elberfeld, conveniently linked by the unique Schwebebahn, or suspension railway. The two shopping centres are well known for the number of owner-operated businesses, which are also appreciated by customers from Essen , Köln or Düsseldorf thanks to the unusual range of goods.
If you would like to combine your visit to Wolfsburg with a shopping trip, a stroll through the Porschestrasse is recommended. The central shopping area of the city leaves no wish unfulfilled, and, in addition to small boutiques, the CityGalerie Wolfsburg awaits you, with more than 100 stores! Then it's off to the Wolfsburg designer outlets at the end of the pedestrian area. You like things a bit quaint? Then try strolling between the half-timbered houses in the adjacent districts.
Many of the gorgeous and historically significant buildings in Wiesbaden house exclusive, individual shops and boutiques. The emphasis is on individuality and originality, as is clearly demonstrated by the vast array of unusual fashion, jewellery and accessories as well as the diverse and attractive dining options. On Wilhelmstrasse you will find exclusive and international brands, Taunusstrasse supplies predominantly antiques and the narrow alleys of the old town offer quirky individual boutiques. Wiesbaden is a town for wandering, shopping and enjoying!
In Weimar, wherever you stop to look around you will see culture and history. Famous composers, artists, writers and thinkers are everywhere. But Weimar has still more to offer: small owner-operated shops invite you to browse your way around the city. Charming alleyways, streets and squares form the setting for delightfully designed stores with one-offs, home-made items, fashion made in Weimar, or small souvenirs.
A generous pedestrian zone, snug courtyards and crooked alleys: in Wurzburg a shopping expedition is really fun! The large fashion chains are found chiefly in Kaiserstrasse and Schoenbornstrasse. Around the Marktplatz and Domstrasse you will see many original boutiques and delicatessens. If you are looking for the hottest fashion labels, you're sure to find what you seek in Augustinerstrasse, Eichhornstrasse and Karmelitenstrasse.
The high-quality architecture in the twin cities of Ulm and Neu-Ulm creates a very particular shopping atmosphere – spacious and urban in the New Center or labyrinthine and medieval in the Fischer and Gerber districts. The combination of speciality shops with an extraordinary range, large department stores and brand stores affords the consumer a tremendous variety of options. With the numerous restaurants, cafés and bars, your visit is sure to become an entertaining experience.
Simeonstrasse in Trier connects two extremes: the "Porta Nigra" or Black Gate of the Romans and the medieval Hauptmarkt (Main Marketplace) with its colourful flower and fruit stalls. Between the two lies an are in which you can't explore without discovering something, and you will never seek without finding. Large department stores next to small owner-operated shops, renowned chain restaurants next to cafés offering cakes baked on the premises, popular fashion houses next to small boutiques. Discover it all!
The historic old town of Tuebingen, the small big university town on the Neckar, is studded with creative shops offering individual products. Here the visitor can take a stroll through an almost traffic-free center and enjoy their shopping experience in chiefly owner-operated stores, all filled with surprising discoveries. The Mediterranean atmosphere around the Marktplatz and the cosmopolitan attitude of this youthful student city will impress any visitor. Rating: well worthwhile.
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По-нататъшна помощ ще получите от доставчика на браузъра чрез щракване върху иконата:


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SiteGround Reviews
SiteGround is one of the most popular and highest rated hosting provider in the WordPress community. They provide unique in-house WordPress speed and security solutions to make your site as fast and secure as possible. They are known for the best 24/7 support in the industry which is why they're an official 'WordPress' recommended hosting provider. This is also why we use SiteGround for hosting the WPBeginner website. SiteGround features include automatic upgrades, built-in WP caching, CDN, one-click staging and GIT version control. They are also one of the few companies offering location specific hosting with 3 data centers in USA, Europe, and Asia. On top of all this, they have а special 70% discount for WPBeginner readers.


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California's delegation to the Republican Party convention in Tampa on Monday got an early morning pep talk Monday from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that included some highly pointed jabs at Gov. Jerry Brown.
With most of the day's events canceled amid worries about Tropical Storm Isaac, some Golden State Republicans waited eagerly to hear Christie, who blasted Brown and said he could relate to the delegation's travails as GOP representatives in a deeply blue state.
California Republicans, he said, should take heart from New Jersey's decision to opt for a conservative governor.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"New Jersey decided to take a chance of electing a conservative Republican governor for a blue state," Christie said. "California made a bad choice by going with an old retread."
"Jerry Brown? He's on his way to establishing a failed record," the New Jersey governor said.
The California Republican Party has suffered lately not just from political defeat, but from financial troubles, as the state party apparatus has had to lay of some workers and re-organize its internal structure.
Because of the storm, which by mid-morning was headed toward the Gulf Coast, Republican leaders were busy Monday figuring out how to re-schedule their carefully planned events.
On Monday, everything was canceled except for a 10-minute call-to-order and short speech by Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee.
On Tuesday, the schedule called for numerous speeches, culminating with the roll call vote that will nominate Mitt Romney as the party's presidential nominee. Romney himself is expected to speak to the convention Thursday night.


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lipscomb women's basketball team is 18 days into their fall practice schedule and head coach Greg Brown is seeing the benefits.
"In the last week we have started to see strides," Brown said. "We started to see improvement defensively and tried to get caught up a little bit more. Offensively we are starting to see them screen a little bit better, see angles, get better reads and our communication is getting better. All-in-all we starting to see the improvement we wanted."
As the Lady Bisons and the rest of the Atlantic Sun Conference work towards the start of the season, the league released the preseason polls with Stetson chosen as the coaches favorite garnering eight first-place votes. Florida Gulf Coast was second picking up the other two first-place votes. Lipscomb was predicted to finish ninth in the league.
Victoria McGowan of Stetson was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year while Brittany Kennedy of Florida Gulf Coast earned the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Brown has seen several players step up over the first two weeks of practice noting senior Hannah Phillips and junior O'Neisha Smith.
"Hannah with her experience plays so hard," Brown said. "As a senior and with her leadership she brings a ton of intangibles.If we took a poll of the most improved, O'Neisha Smith would be that right now. She has started to get a little confidence.
"Each day in practice we are starting to see different players step up. Every day is a little bit better than the one before."
The Lady Bisons have two more weeks until their exhibition opener when they host Freed-Hardeman on Thursday, Nov. 1 in Allen Arena at 5 p.m.
"I continue what to see the intensity and concentration get higher," Brown said. "With playing Freed on the first gives us a chance to evaluate ourselves against someone else instead of against ourselves."


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Emacs has a feature where it can automatically convert leading spaces to tabs. This is controlled by the indent-tabs-mode variable. I find mixing tabs and spaces extremely annoying as graphical diff tools will often display a tab and an equivalent number of spaces differently. Therefore I like to disable this behaviour. However, the obvious solution doesn't work.
(setq indent-tabs-mode nil)
The documentation explains the reason
Its value is nil
Automatically becomes buffer-local when set in any fashion.
I'm surprised it works like this. Fortunately, there is a simple fix:
(customize-set-variable 'indent-tabs-mode nil)
If it wasn't a customizable variable1 you might use something similar to the following.
(add-hook 'first-change-hook
(lambda () (setq indent-tabs-mode nil)))
(setq-default ...) looks like a better solution. Thanks to Ron for the tip.
(setq-default 'indent-tabs-mode nil)
1. Is this even possible for a variable that automatically becomes buffer-local when set?


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On Saturday, Feb.1, they beat Marquette 74-59 at Madison Square Garden. D'Angelo Harrison, who leads the team in scoring with 17 ppg, filled the stat sheet with 27 points, was 6 of 11 from 3-point range, had six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two of St. John's 12 blocked shots.
Harrison is now 17th in St. John's history with 1,423 career points, having just passed Willie Glass (1,419, 1984-87) and Marcus Hatten (1,400, 2001-03), and is only one point away from tying legend Walter Berry (1,424, 1985-86).
"I thought the kids took a positive step forward, which is encouraging as we head toward the second half of Big East play," said head coach Steve Lavin. "There were a number of positive aspects of play today and as a result we were able to get a win against a very feisty Marquette team."
On Jan. 28, the play of All-American Doug McDermott was too much as the 20th ranked Creighton Jayhawks defeated the Johnnies, 63-60. Hoping to steal a win in Nebraska, St. John's late 18-point rally in the last 12 minutes was not enough to top McDermott's 39 points.
Even though they shut down Ethan Wragge, the national 3-point leader, who tied a school record with nine 3's in a 28-point win over Villanova last week, McDermott, was on fire and he nailed a 25-footer with 2.5 seconds left to win the game.
Harrison scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to lead St. John's and Obekpa and Jordan had 11 apiece.


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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - First year head coach Robert Cain and the Tennessee State men's and women's tennis team are less than two weeks away from the first matches of the 2013 season.
The Tigers start the campaign at crosstown foe Lipscomb on Friday, March 8 at 12 p.m.
The men will begin OVC play on March 16 at Tennessee Tech, followed by a match at Jacksonville State on March 17. The women will join the men at Jacksonville State for their first conference action.
This year's OVC Championships run from April 19-21 in Paducah, Kentucky.
Coach Cain spent the last six years as head tennis coach at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff before coming to TSU.
Follow TSU Athletics on Facebook.com/TSUTigers, Twitter @TSU_Tigers and YouTube


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EO Report - Spring 2003
Bernard Khoury
Announcer, Vol. 33, Iss. 1
Let's Eavesdrop
I heard two papers at our recent meeting in Austin. Each was by a well-established faculty person at a major university and each had a direct bearing on physics teaching; however, their contrast was so stark that I found myself wondering if we all shared a
common purpose in our teaching.
In one talk, Blair (not the person's real name) reviewed a series of experiences in front of classes of students. After a long career of such experiences, Blair admitted to being a failure as a teacher who had not managed to teach anyone anything! Any student who learned anything did so on his or her own initiative and effort. Blair's view of examinations and problems were that they would help students to learn some materials, but they were not an effective means to provide information to the teacher as to how much the student had
actually learned.
In the other talk, Courtney (also not the person's real name) focused attention on a range of teaching experiences and how best to help students to learn. Courtney was concerned with how a student was reasoning, where were any faults in that reasoning, and how to induce the student to see his or her reasoning errors and to begin to correct them. Courtney found it important to allow the students to discover their own inconsistencies, so that the students could begin to develop some coherence in their approaches to the natural world. Courtney believed that incoherence and inconsistency were drivers of progress in science and that students should be made aware of this.
I have since wondered what might happen if Blair and Courtney had met in the lounge at the Austin Renaissance to share some of their observations following their many years of experiences.
Courtney: Blair, I don't see how you felt that you never taught anyone anything. You seem to be saying that you were a failure at teaching.
Blair: As a physicist, I would never acknowledge that I had failed at anything. What I am saying is that we deceive ourselves if we think we can teach anything to anyone. If the person wants to learn, all you need to do is to provide a learning environment, and the learning will occur without the intervention of a teacher.
Courtney: Well, Blair, what if the student does not want to learn?
Blair: Then, there is no point in trying to teach that person anything; unless the person truly wants to learn, there is no hope for teaching.
Courtney: What if the student does want to learn but he or she may not know how to learn?
Blair: What does that mean? How could a person, an adult person in a college or university, not know how to learn?
Courtney: Well, what if they believe that learning is simply what they had to do in the elementary grades and in high school: remember things and tell the teacher what you remember when the teacher asks you a question.
Blair: In that case, such a student should not be in the physics class. He or she should probably not even be in college at all.
Courtney: Isn't that the point, Blair? We get lots of students in our classes whom we might wish were not in our classes. How are we going to help them to learn?
Blair: Maybe if we had fewer students in our classes and if they came to us with a hunger to learn we wouldn't have all these problems. We surely don't need so many students to be in our physics class. Physics is too hard for many students, and we shouldn't force them to be here. It is even worse when we persuade students that they can learn physics without needing to work very hard, much harder than most students want to work.
Courtney: Blair, you are focusing too much on physics as a subject, and on how difficult it is for many students. Why not focus more on the students who are in the class and try to make some incremental improvement in their understanding of the scientific world?
Blair: I don't have time for all of that. Working with students who are not ready to learn is frustrating and too difficult. I'd rather work on a physics problem; that is hard enough for me. Don't ask me to do the impossible.
Courtney: I'll buy the next round.


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Faculty Research, Publications Proceed Apace
The college takes enormous pride in the pioneering work of our faculty and students who are constantly creating, discovering and leading the discourse in their disciplines. Recent research has examined HIV knowledge in high-risk populations, the effects of Hurricane Katrina on adolescents, psychological intervention following sports injury and workplace hand hygiene, among numerous other subjects. Following are some highlights:
A review of MPH practicum requirements in accredited schools of public health was published by Willie H. Oglesby, Ph.D., Sonia A. Alemagno, Ph.D., Melissa D. Zullo, Ph.D., Olivia Hartman, Katalin Smith, Joseph Smith and Michael Buzzelli, in the Journal of Community Health of February 2013.
In the January 2013 issue of Health Promotion Practice, Oglesby and Alemagno also published an article about the need for further research on the measurement of HIV knowledge among high-risk populations and the importance of culturally appropriate survey items tailored to each population.
Research regarding the effects of Hurricane Katrina on adolescent feelings of social isolation was published in the January 2013 issue of Social Science Quarterly by Scott F. Grey, Ph.D., Peggy C. Stephens, Ph.D., and colleagues at JBS International, Georgia State University and The University of Akron.
Research by Jingzhen "Ginger" Yang, Ph.D., about the characteristics of workplace threats and responses in a university setting can be found in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, January 2013. Yang published three additional articles in the latter months of 2012. She was a lead author on a study regarding what age children should engage in agricultural tasks, published in the fall 2012 issue of the Journal of Rural Health. In addition, she and her University of Iowa colleagues published a review article about the effectiveness of psychological intervention following sports injury, which appeared in the Journal of Sport and Health, September 2012. Yang, with U.S. and Australian collaborators, reported on the development and validation of a client-expectations scale for massage, which was published in the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, September 2012.
Maggie Stedman-Smith, Ph.D., and co-investigators published their study about use of Photovoice to document mothers' concerns regarding children's exposure to pesticide drift in the Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care, December 2012. Stedman-Smith also published an article on workplace hand hygiene and wellness along with Kent State faculty members Grey and Cathy L. Z. DuBois, Ph.D. It appeared in the November 2012 issue of Workplace Health & Safety.
Jonathan B. VanGeest, Ph.D., published a commentary on the article by Timothy P. Johnson, Ph.D., regarding failures in substance use surveys, both appearing in a special November-December 2012 issue of Substance Use & Misuse focusing on substance use(r) intervention failures. VanGeest and Johnson collaborated on a study of incentives in surveys of cancer patients, published in Cancer Causes & Control, December 2012.
Christopher J. Woolverton, Ph.D., along with colleagues, published three articles in 2012 related to his environmental health and bioterrorism research. He addressed bioterrorism curricula for public health professionals in the third 2012 issue of Applied Biosafety. In addition, he reported on effects of remediation on the bacterial community of an acid-mine-impacted stream in the November 2012 Canadian Journal of Microbiology. Finally, Woolverton published his work on dose-dependent damage from electron beam irradiation to Bacillus spore coat and membrane in the International Journal of Microbiology, 2012 issue.
Mark A. James, Ph.D., in collaboration with a number of international colleagues, published research findings in the American Journal of Epidemiology in October 2012 regarding how sickle-cell trait protects against Plasmodium falciparum infection.
In the second 2012 issue of Healthcare Management Forum in Canada, Ken Zakariasen published Leaders and Emotional Intelligence: A View From Those Who Follow, an examination of how the practices of effective leaders are related to Emotional Intelligence.


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Spicytuna necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 63 diseños de 20 diseñadores freelance.
Sorry our budget is so low for this...but we hope some of you will have fun getting creative anyway :-)
We are a new cover band in South Florida. We need a cool creative web page design to convert to a WordPress template for our band's site. Hopefully it will help us get some gigs???
Managers of dark smokey bars in So Florida...where there has not been an adjustment to the pay rate for a band since the mid 80's!
People who discover us while having a good time out with thier friends and want to know more about us and where they can see us play next.
Must be "FUN"
Must be able to work as a WordPress template. (Table less CSS)
All text in content areas will need to be web standard fonts
A .psd file with all layers intact.
menu items:
- Home
- The Band
- Contact
- Mailing List
- Shows
- Music
- Photos
Consider using this use this to influence your design: http://gobysolutions.com/mint/
- The green and purple.
- The logo - or you can create a new one or modify that one - Get Creative...have fun!
Please feature the lead singer on the home page design:


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Most Ars readers are well aware of the issues that encompass Remote Administration Tools (RATs), which hackers often furtively plant on their targets' computers to gather all sorts of information about them. One notorious use of RAT technology is to turn on the webcam on the victim's computer while disabling the webcam light, so the victim has no idea that they are being watched. Recently, Miss Teen USA Cassidy Wolf was a victim of just such a scheme, and the perpetrator tried to blackmail her using the photos he gathered.
Generally, tech-savvy people have advised the less-tech-savvy to either place a piece of tape over their webcam lenses when not in use, or to seek a computer in which the on-off LED is hardwired to light up when the camera is active. But a recent study shows that, in fact, many laptops with hardwired LEDs actually have a layer of software that can be manipulated to turn the light off while the camera is on. Peter Bright brought us the whole story in his article Perv Utopia: Light on MacBook webcams can be bypassed.
To the advice that "you should ignore the technology and simply tape" over your webcam, RockDaMan wrote "Next they'll develop an algorithm to decode the light that does pass through the tape and form it into a coherent image." tigas, another member of the Gaffer tape cult, wrote "Gaffer tape solves that everything!"
TheIrishman has a sick sense of justice: "Hahahahaha I'm just laughing thinking of the poor sod going blind after staring at my fat a$$ through my webcam. They'll need gaffer tape for their eyes!" asbath had another solution. "Do they make little tinfoil hats for webcams? While electrical tape ought to do the job, you can never be too sure, thus a tinfoil hat should thwart all remaining hacking attempts on your webcam!"
And Major General Thanatos summed it up pretty nicely: "I've found it amusing how in the past few years, paranoid actions with regard to privacy are finally seen as perfectly reasonable."
On the phone records
This week, a panel appointed by President Obama to review the surveillance techniques employed by the National Security Agency (NSA) released its findings, with surprising results. While the panel consisted mostly of government insiders, the recommendations it made were anything but pro-status quo. Among other things, the panel suggested that a third party, rather than the NSA, store metadata records for telephone communications, and it wanted the agency to tighten up its access to those records.
In Gov't review panel suggests NSA stop holding massive phone database, Joe Mullin explains some of the latest thinking on domestic spying. (Also be sure to check out our other articles on different topics addressed in the panel's recommendation: NSA should stop undermining encryption standards, Obama panel says and NSA reform panel: Foreigners actually have privacy rights, too!)
Solomonoff's Secret wrote, "This is Obama's last chance to do what's right. Let's hope he considers his legacy when deciding whether to continue down the path to oppression. Let's also hope that courts force his hand to the greatest degree possible." ShakuArai was less optimistic. "This would be a step in the right direction if it were sincere, sadly I'm sure this will likely become no more than the political distancing from the wrongdoing performed by the NSA while they simultaneously work in the background to enable them to continue 'as is' under renewed secrecy."
Like any good skeptic, Optikal256 saw a potential loophole in the recommendations. "I didn't see any mention of the problem of collaborating with foreign government intelligence bodies. Sure, we pass all these privacy limitations on the NSA, but what's to stop them from working with their buddies in the GCHQ, if the GCHQ collects all this data on US citizens and makes it available to the NSA. Maybe the NSA collects mass data on UK citizens and makes it available to GCHQ. This is already happening today, and I don't see anything in this report that addresses it."
matthewslyman broke out the sarcasm: "Perhaps the telephone companies will be more responsible stewards of these data. After all, I can't see bored telecoms engineers trawling through that data. Can you? Still, if it puts the public on notice that their 'metadata' are being 'aggregated' and their contact networks are being profiled, this is an improvement on the current state of affairs."
Ones and zeroes
John Timmer brought us an interesting report this week concerning some researchers who wrote a paper on the counting systems of the indigenous people of Mangareva in Polynesia. The members of that population, the researchers are convinced, "performed full binary calculations but layered the results on top of a decimal counting system." Check out the whole report at Polynesians may have beat computers to using binary.
Comedian orledret wrote, "There's only one group of people in the world: those who don't use the Mangarevan numerical system."
Ostracus hoped for something deeper in our computational heritage: "Now all we need to do is find an ancient society that used hexadecimal." To which somini quipped, "UNIX sysadmins?"
"Afraid not. Key word being 'society,'" wrote Wheels of Confusion.
"If the ancient Greeks had city-states and still formed a society, so do UNIX sysadmins. The parallel is obvious, each sysadmin has a city-state formed by the beard," retorted somini.
It was all too much for Mister E. Meat, though: "Personally I'm a fan of the Troll counting system in Discworld. One, two, many, lots."


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homefries preps
Posted by vlorbik on July 3, 2015
Virtual MEdZ
Selected posts
Blog selecta
VerseWham-Bam (1981)
I Love My Beer (1982)
TV Repairman (1983)
Matthew According to Vlorbik (1997)
Clerihews for Athaliah (1997)
Luke 1-5 (A Sestina) (1997)
A Bodybuilder's ABC (1997)
An Essay On Criticism (1998)
Blue Car, Blue Car (1998)
Vlorbiad (1999)
For John Henry (2008)
Gaff My Wheel (2009)
no slope radio (2009)
This World Is Our World (2012)
four 4's (2014)
negatively 5th street (2015)
Posted by vlorbik on July 3, 2015
This entry was posted on July 3, 2015 at 8:06 PM and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.


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Hi Everybody,
If you remember last year, I did a video count-down to Christmas. Well, I'm going to do the same thing this year as well. Enjoy this video everybody and remember that we serve an Almighty God because Jesus is the Reason for the Season. 😀 God bless you everybody!


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A simple guideline is to send in your gas service application at the same time you submit your application for electric service to the electric company. From the time a project begins at CenterPoint Energy, it takes approximately five weeks to process through CenterPoint Energy's engineering and design areas. Depending on the project's location, permits may then be required, which can add the following amounts of time until construction can begin. Keep in mind, these turnaround times are estimates. Turnaround times can vary based on the busyness of the season and complexity of the project.
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Made me a little sad to see this. Raymond Felton, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari and Timofey Mozgov during the Denver game on Tuesday.
One thought on "Does this depress anyone else?"
At least these guys did not lose tonight. So before we got Melo we lost to the Cavs and after we have Melo we lose to the Cavs. This is awful.


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LOMBARD – For Healthy Lombard founder Jay Wojcik, the growth the nonprofit foundation has experienced in the past five years is extremely encouraging.
"I'm so blessed and happy that people see that this is a valuable organization and want to be a part of it," Wojcik said.
Healthy Lombard will host its annual Fitness February Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 22 in the center court at Yorktown Shopping Center in Lombard. There will be 26 unique tables – up from 18 last year – and each one will be interactive, Wojcik explained.
"People mean well, [but] watching last year, it was a lot of grab-and-go," she said. "If they can come to the tables and do something, they'll remember the activities they did and go away with some new information that they didn't have before."
Guests will receive a card, and those that complete 16 of the 26 activities will automatically be entered into a raffle to win prizes. Activities include a bean bag toss, food quizzes, chair massages and demonstrations, including a student Zumba class from Glenbard East and martial arts from Sky Centers in Lombard.
Winners of the foundation's 2014 Health Hero Awards also will be honored during the fair. Winners include three individuals, one family and two local organizations which have made a noticeable effort to improve their health and wellness during the past year.
State Rep. Sandra Pihos, lifestyle coach Melanie Jordan and Staley, the Chicago Bears mascot, will present awards to the winners at 1 p.m.
Wojcik, formerly a dancer, first grade teacher and director of communication at Lombard Elementary District 44, stressed the importance of physical fitness and said when she was teaching, it was rare to see a child having a hard time breathing or moving.
"We're looking at kids [now] and wondering why they're having problems with diabetes," she said. "We need to get kids moving and get them to text a little less and move their feet a little more."
Wojcik founded Healthy Lombard in 2009 along with Lombard's former village president, the late William Mueller. Using a "AAA" approach, the village-wide initiative began with building awareness, the first "A," about childhood obesity and healthy living, Wojcik said.
From there, the foundation turned to parts two and three – activities and achievements. Activities include the February fair and the G.Y.M. (Get Yourself Moving) Bags, a program for all second-graders in Lombard intended to promote 60-minutes of exercise a day on weekends. The Health Heroes winners are an example of achievement.
"We're honoring people, and now we're honoring organizations that have made a difference in the people that work for them," Wojcik said.
Moving forward, the foundation's goal is to promote expansion in other municipalities across DuPage County, Wojcik said. Addison, Bensenville, Elmhurst and Villa Park are among the towns where individuals have expressed interest in starting their own health foundation, Wojcik said.
"Our mission [now] is to be a template for other towns," Wojcik said. "We're more than happy to share our successes and failures. Pretty soon, we'll have most of DuPage County doing their own thing, which is great."


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Night Light Films on the East River, originally uploaded by b'klynborn.
24 minutes ago
Views of a born and bred Brooklynite. (email@example.com) This blog satisfies my need to hear and air feelings of B'klyn from the people whose life experience were born here. Hopefully it'll balance to some of the revisionist historical musings I've seen as if Bklyn barely existed before the 90's. Brooklyn as Tabula Rasa. If we can all live as best possible while appreciating the past and neighbors we've inherited that would be great too.


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Southwestern printed studded sweater: Romwe || Fringed concho bag: Cleobella via ASOS || Jewelry: & Vintage || Western boots: Gamloong (old)
There's nothing more comfortable than oversized sweaters which are long enough to be worn as dresses - this sweater is definitely one of those! I got this cute piece in a gorgeous nude/blush tone from Romwe the other day and I love its studded details as well as the southwestern embroidery.
I wanted to keep it simple, so I only added my favorite fringed bag by Cleobella (it was a present from me to me, I bought it a few months ago and since then I've been having it with me every day!), navajo bracelets and rings and my old indian necklace originally created by a nomad tribe almost a decade ago... Definitely a treasure. :-)
Have a great weekend! Love x


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Fasten your seatbelts. And expect lots of turbulence.
If that was the message Ben Bernanke was trying to deliver when he said the Federal Reserve could soon start scaling back its massive stimulus program for the U.S. economy, it's safe to say investors received it loud and clear.
In fact, the sell-off in stocks, bonds and commodities that rippled around the globe after Bernanke's remarks looks to some like the dawn of a new period of volatile, disorderly trade - a stark change from the calm that prevailed since the Fed began its most recent bond-buying program last autumn.
"When market regimes shift, they rarely do so in an orderly fashion - look at equity prices collapsing at the end of the dot-com bubble or the height of the financial crisis," said Stephen Sachs, head of capital markets at exchange-traded fund issuer ProShares in Bethesda, Maryland. "It usually gets violent. We're going to face that in interest rates now."
Indeed, the bond market is at the epicenter of the financial market earthquake that Bernanke unleashed. Benchmark yields, which Fed easing had driven to record lows, surged to near two-year highs and are expected to keep climbing as traders come to grips with the prospect of the Fed ending bond purchases by mid-2014.
The aftershocks have rattled markets from Tokyo to Sao Paulo, and assets that had been top performers plunged. U.S. credit markets were hammered, with the gap between junk bond yields and Treasuries hitting their widest so far this year, while global equity markets lost $1 trillion on Thursday alone.
The brute force of the decline caught some by surprise, since Bernanke warned in late May that the Fed could slow its bond buying later this year. Even so, watching long-term interest rates rise 0.4 percentage points for the week - the biggest move in more than 10 years - after trading for months near record lows was a wake-up call.
"People live in denial all the time," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at investment management firm Fort Pitt Capital in Pittsburgh. "The thinking part of people's brains understood that rates would have to go up sometime. But they weren't ready to be told that reality starts now."
That goes for companies who now face higher funding costs and investors who had borrowed money cheaply to trade.
Investors had been funding trades in riskier markets by borrowing in the stable, low-interest-rate U.S. debt market. But the cost to borrow rises with higher rates and with increased volatility - both of which appear to be here to stay, at least for now.
Dan Fuss, vice chairman of investment management firm Loomis Sayles & Co, which manages $191 billion in funds, said: "Leverage is coming out of the market. These market moves reflect that, but when you get sharp moves like this a lot of people get nervous. That can contribute to more selling."
Bond investors hoping to play "follow the Fed" forever face an even more frightening reality. As Zane Brown, a fixed income strategist at asset manager Lord Abbett & Co noted, a return to a more normal level of interest rates would result in a zero total return over the next five years for investors benchmarked to the popular Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index.
Investors pulled $15.1 billion out of taxable bond funds in the first three weeks of June, according to Lipper, a Thomson Reuters service. That is the biggest three-week outflow from the funds since October 2008, at the height of the financial crisis.
All of this has left traders and investors scrambling to protect themselves in anticipation of a volatile summer.
Trading in interest-rate futures contracts spiked to a record in late May when Bernanke first broached the subject of winding down stimulus. It soared again this week, when some 12.8 million contracts changed hands on Thursday, according to CME Group, well above May's daily average of 7.9 million.
Volume in S&P 500 index options rose to 2.3 million contracts on Thursday, a new one-day record, while overall options volume of 33.3 million contracts made it the busiest day since Aug. 9, 2011, four days after Standard & Poor's stripped the United States of its top credit rating.
Since Bernanke has insisted that winding down bond purchases depends on continued economic improvement, traders now have to assume nearly every economic data release will have the potential to whipsaw financial markets.
"Across the board, we have seen people paying up for insurance in the options market," said J.J. Kinahan, chief strategist at online brokerage firm TD Ameritrade. "The market is going to be hyper-sensitive to anything that the Fed says, and the three major reports on employment, retail sales and housing will continue to dominate the eyes of the market."
The CBOE Volatility Index, a gauge of anxiety on Wall Street, jumped 23 percent on Thursday to 20.49, the first time this year it has exceeded 20, an often-used dividing line between calm and stressed markets. It closed at 18.90 on Friday.
Signs of concern about high-flying assets like emerging markets can be seen in the options market, where more than 1.35 million contracts in the iShares MSCI Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund traded on Thursday - 82 percent of which were put options, generally used to protect against losses.
The Merrill Lynch MOVE Index, a measure of expected volatility in the U.S. Treasury market, rose to 103.7 on Friday; that index sat at 50 in early May, a multi-year low.
The uncertainty the Fed has sowed by telling markets they are on their own means the days of almost uninterrupted gains that have prevailed since late last year are over. And that brings problems of its own for investors and the market.
For one thing, violent price swings make investors more vulnerable to big losses, prompting them to sell assets simply to reduce their value-at-risk (VaR) levels, a statistical method for quantifying portfolio risk over a given period of time.
Rack up enough of these forced liquidations and it is not hard to see how a sell-off in one market can spread quickly to other assets and other parts of the world.
Bob Lynch, head of G10 FX strategy at HSBC, said this was a factor driving the bond and equity sell-off in late May "and could be an important input driving financial assets lower in the current environment."
"It is too early to tell if the market reaction to the Fed is just noise or the beginning of a greater sell-off in U.S. equities," said Mike Tosaw, portfolio manager at RCM Wealth Advisors, an investment advisory firm in Chicago.
"Over the course of the last month, we have been taking money off the table in the stock market and keeping the cash for the time being. Early next week, we plan to evaluate if this is a buying opportunity in stocks or if we need to run for the hills." (Additional reporting by Doris Frankel in Chicago and Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss, Jonathan Spicer and Herbert Lash in New York; Editing by Martin Howell and Tim Dobbyn)


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Brunch with Jeannine Hall Gailey
(me, annette, jeannine)
Annette (my co-editor at Crab Creek Review) went to have lunch downtown with Jeannine Hall Gailey while she visited.
We talked of poetry, books, publication, gluten-free eating, and all the things that only a handful of people find interesting. She gave Annette slippers and me a new fabric make-up bag, all wrapped in tissue paper in her pink grab bag of gifts.
Jeannine is looking incredible and is so very healthy, which is great news. And will hopefully be moving back here so our group can be complete again! It was so wonderful to see her!