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I gave them a short notice on my vehicle. So I was very impressed and pleased that they were able to get my car in and out with such a short time frame. I told them that I really needed my car on that day before the close and they accommodated my needs.
Very professional and friendly. Understand your nees . Explain things on your level
(Translated by Google) It's the quick thing they treat him well with kindness ... (Original) Es la cosa rapida lo atienden bien con amabilidad ...
Rick and his staff were extremely knowledgeable when it came to my old '97 Toyota 4Runner. I had some clutch issues that persisted even after they replaced it. Knowing we needed the vehicle, Rick took time during his Christmas holiday to diagnose the issue and figured out what the problem was and fixed it. They are honest and upfront about expected costs. I would highly recommend Good Cents Auto for your auto needs!
Friendly staff, knowledgeable mechanics. They really went beyond what's expected. Even cleaned off the dead lizard that was stuck to my dash!
I was informed every step of the way of what was going on with my vehicle. Very friendly staff.
This place was amazing! When ask to see if they could check my car they scheduled me quickly to check it for the next day in the morning. They took about an hour to check my car and give me a diagnosis. A quick and easy fix on my car that had a electrical problem. They fixed it in less than an hour. Got there at 9am and was leaving the shop around 10:40 am they made sure my car had perfect cool air. They are super friendly, kind and very honest! Also did not charge me a crazy amount comparing to the dealership. Saved me $1,000.00 and Extremely happy with my working AC in my car!
Always great service with great follow ups
Excellent service and great work
Friendly service. Great with vehicles
Great honest mechanics
I love the text I receive updating the progress on my car! It great to find an honest business, great prices and they do excellent work. Mandi even makes me feel like family!
Quality, great people.
As a small business owner, it means a lot when other businesses share your same core values & go out of their way to help you in any way possible. My car is cooling properly & my issues were resolved. I was recommended other services needed at my next oil change, but was not "upsold" any extra services/repairs that were not needed. They even found out that the lugnuts on my tires were locked, so if I had a flat, I would literally be stuck on the side of the road with no way to change my tires! They fixed that for me at a very minimal cost. The staff is super friendly & inform you about what is going on with your vehicle every step of the way, so there are no surprises. That means way more than you know! Thanks for everything!
I did some damage to my car at 5 am on 12-28 and I got my car back at 2 pm on 12-29! These are the best group of people I know and I would recommend them 100 times over!!! Mandi definitely went above and beyond for me and I am forever greatful! I would give them way more than 5 stars if I could!
Best place to get your car fixed..
I started bringing my car here last year when a friend told me about this place. Ive had a lot of work done to my car since. The guys in the shop are very friendly and knowledgeable. Anytime I have had a problem they have fixed it. If it is a car emergency they will do their best to fit you in, even if they have a busy day already. I would recommended them to anyone! Which I have!
Their customer service is out of this world, their honesty is greatly appreciated and their prices are beyond reasonable. They give my husband a ride back home when he drops our truck off to them. They always call and keep us updated so we know exactly whats going on the whole time. Except for the time they surprised me and cleaned out the interior and wiped it all down AND cleaned out the bed of the truck after just returning from a LONG drive to and from Cleveland, Ohio for medical treatment. I was more excited over that than having a fixed vehicle :-) And they never fail to send me a thank you card, although I should be sending them one for all they do for me. So thankful for this place!!!
Honest and fair
After a different mechanic shop told me I needed have a transmission replaced, good cents took a look at it and said that was not the case. The problem was with a prevoius repair done incorrectly at good year. The honesty and fairness at good cents saved me $1000. They now have all my future business.
High Quality service, honest and very knowledgeable.
I have a 16 year old vehicle. Have used them for years. Always satisfied. I highly recommend. Ric, Matt, & Katie very honest and professional. Always calls and let's me know what the problem is and the cost to repair before doing the work. No surprises when they complete the job.
High Quality Services
Fast efficient work....great customer service and support....friendly staff.
Professional and friendliest shop.
Take time with you. Explain what's needed to get done in the order of major to minor.
Top Notch
I am always pleased and confident in my vehicle performance once it leave's Good Cents. I know that attention to detail regarding work on my car as well as their desire to make sure I leave in the safest vehicle possible. So grateful for this shop... Simply the best
Great Job!!!
It is always a good experience at Good Cent Auto will they get on their hands they can have Raynaud's changes and in and when they have those changes s auto. This services grade and the charges are reasonable. I would not go anywhere else.
Wonderful work
Fast friendly n very experienced.
Professional and friendly service
I took my car in for front brake service. The team at Good Cents was very professional in handling my business. From the excellent customer service you receive as you enter the shop from Katie, to the quality of work you receive from Matt and Mike in the shop, I had a great experience with Good Cents Auto. Rick has an amazing team representing him in that location. Even the Thank You card I received afterwards was a welcomed gesture letting me know my business was appreciated. Not something you get from another shop. Thanks Katie, Matt, Mike and Lilly!
always terrific
It is a real pleasure doing business with Good Cents. Their work is excellent and the keep you posted on your car. I wouldn't go anywhere else.
Good Cents Auto Repairs I love them.
I've been going here with all of the vehicles I've owned or had for the last 6 years. I love the work they do. They help you in anyway they can. They will bend over backwards to make sure they find what ever may be causing any problem. There staffs amazing and they always great you with a smile and respect. They have become part of my family. I will always go here!! There Great!!!
Good Cents Auto
Rick and his employees are great at their jobs. I have taken my vehicle to Good Cents Auto for 3 years and they have gone above and beyond to make the repairs in a timely manner and resonably priced. I recommend Good Cents to all Mt friends.
Makes sense to go with Good Cents
We have five cars in our family and we give all our auto work to Good Cents. I have also introduced many friends to them. Their diagnosis is always accurate and their cost estimates are right on the money. They also back up with work. If you have had your car repaired there, they will repair anything for free it the parts are still under warranty. You will be hard pressed to find anyone more reasonable than Rick the owner. Good Cents is not interested in selling you anything that you will not need but will go over the risks of not repairing something. Rick also understands that a 10 year old car does not need original factory parts - he will find you after market parts. This what you need in a mechanic. You are in charge of your repairs. He will also pick up your car if its not moveable.
If you need repairs done on your cars or trucks i recommend good cents auto for repairs i had one van work on and one truck work on and they did a great job on both I would recommend them to every one that need repairs on there cars or truck they do good great work Rick And The Crew that work on your cars or truck explains every thing to you before the work on your vehicle that help a lot I want to Thank Good Cents Auto For Everything They did For Fixing My Van and Truck Thank Rick And MATT
Will Refer This Business
To Good Cents Auto: Thank you for meeting all my automobile needs beyond and above expectations. I feel you are always willing to work with me and inform me of my immediate needs and future if I so wish. I have referred your business to many friends and they have been just as satisfied as me. Thank you for being a caring and honest business. We need more like y'all. Thank you, Monica
For me, having my car worked historically has been a leap of faith. I never felt confident that the work was being done properly or I was charged fairly. Now that is different. Rick and his staff are top notch people, honest and skilled. When I walk out, I know the maintenance or repairs were done right and it certainly didn't kill my pocket book. When I drive away, I am positive that the vehicle I am in is mechanically sound. Can't recommend Good Cents Auto enough!
Honest people, honest repairs!
I have used good cents auto for several years with multiple vehicles. Rick and the staff have always done an excellent job of communicating the problem, making the repairs and give honest pricing. None of my vehicles have ever had to go back for rework. I highly recommend good cents auto.
excellent service!
My vehicle is 14 years old and has needed lots of maintenance this past 2 years. Good Cents uses a computer and their knowledge and experience to find the problems, called to let me know what they could do and the cost before performing the work. I have had work done on the transmission, radiator, brakes, air conditioner, lights, etc. Always honest and helpful. When possible,they scheduled the day & times when the work could be performed without leaving my vehicle overnight. I would recommend Ric and Good Cents to anyone for any automotive needs. Ric stands behind his work and shows interest in satisfying all costumers.
Great Service
The customer service personal were very courteous and knowledgeable. The repairs were performed expertly by certified technicians. My overall experience with Good Cents Auto was 5 star rating.
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These days, it's impossible to make a fighting game without the awareness that the community surrounding those games is going to put it through its paces. The fact that there's a dedicated group of players who'll be picking apart movesets and stun durations isn't daunting to fighting game creators, though. For some, it's inspiring,
When I asked Team Ninja lead Yosuke Hayashi and Dead or Alive 5 director Yohei if they'd implemented any changes to the game specifically in anticipation of its reception by the fighting game community, they answered that that's not how they approach design. "We want to appeal to all levels of skill," said Shimbori. Right now, the dev team is working on game balance, he elaborated, to make DOA5 a fun game first. Shimbori mused that any adoption by the tournament scene comes later and emerges as a happy corollary to the enjoyment average players get.
I also asked the Team Ninja developers what they think separates the competitive tournament player from someone who just plays titles like DOA just for laughs. "In a way, the pro player is there to show off," Yosuke replied. "His skill comes from a lot of practice and dedication and the best platform to demonstrate that is in competition. A casual player just wants to have fun, but the pro wants to win against other players like himself to prove his devotion. Sometimes, it's ego involved, too, because you want everyone to know how good you are."

subset: commoncrawl


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The last pope to take the name Benedict, before the one who made history this month announcing plans to retire, assumed his duties a few weeks after the outbreak of World War I.
As Christmas 1914 approached, Benedict XV, who described the war as "the suicide of Europe," pleaded for a Christmas truce. The military leaders refused, but somehow, at several points along the trenches, a surreal cease-fire broke out anyway.
That short, peaceful spell inspired the 2005 film "Joyeux Noel," which focused on the experiences of some Scottish, French and German troops on a battlefield in Belgium. That film, in turn, inspired "Silent Night," an opera by Kevin Puts, the Peabody Institute faculty member who received the Pulitzer Prize in music last year for this extraordinary work.
Opera Philadelphia is presenting the East Coast premiere of "Silent Night" at the Academy of Music in an impressive co-production with Minnesota Opera, which commissioned and unveiled the piece in November 2011. (The final performance is Sunday.)
Music history is not ...
strewn with examples of successful first-time operas, so Puts' debut in the genre is doubly persuasive.
There are a few weak spots here and there (and maybe too many growling brass chords), but the score for "Silent Night" delivers. The composer's fundamentally tonal style communicates directly; his orchestra achieves prismatic power.
(The two men have been commissioned by Minnesota Opera for another work, this one based on the vintage thriller "The Manchurian Candidate.")
Everything about that unlikely Christmas truce is fascinating. And, as was the case with the film version, the opera personalizes the event with telling glimpses into the lives that intersected on that gruesomely scarred countryside.
"Silent Night" grabs hold from the Prologue, which introduces the primary characters from each country at the moment when the war first touches their lives. As their nationalistic pride heats up, Puts creates a Charles Ives-worthy clash of harmonies to go with it.
In short order, those characters become multilayered and sympathetic. How they end up — death, defection, transfer to other hideous fronts (punishment from top brass for the fraternization) — hits home. There is much left in the snowy air as the final curtain falls.
Two key characters are stars of the German opera stage — tenor Nikolaus Sprink and his Danish lover, soprano Anna Sorensen. They both find themselves at the front that December 1914, he in uniform in the trenches, she to perform for the nearby German high command.
Anna uses her connections to join Sprink on Christmas Eve and becomes part of the unexpected suspension of hostilities. When she sings "Donna nobis pacem" after a multinational Mass, the effect is riveting. The whole amazing scene, with all of its impossible hope, becomes focused on a single, plaintive voice.
That is just one of the many highlights in a work that gains strength from several little vignettes — a letter-writing scene, an officer getting a haircut, a man clutching the corpse of his older brother. With each turn of the revolving stage, something fresh is learned about the people trapped in the war that couldn't possibly end all wars.
The atmospheric set (Francis O'Connor) is complete with bunkers, the ruins of a church and a no man's land where Sprink dares to tread, singing a song and inviting his foes to join him.
The sturdy cast, directed with a fine eye for subtle detail by Eric Simonson, includes a stirring performance by William Burden as Sprink. The tenor is especially affecting during his eloquent expression of despair about the war, sung against a long-sustained note in the orchestra.
Kelly Kaduce does a vibrant job as Anna. A more tender tone would be welcome in some of the high-reaching melodic lines, but the soprano's phrasing is emotionally telling throughout. Also on the German side, Craig Irvin gives a compelling performance as Horstmayer, the Jewish officer determined to serve the Fatherland.
Liam Bonner's mellow baritone and nuanced acting flesh out the French officer Audebert, who has one of the opera's finest moments — as the lieutenant writes up the casualty list, a litany interspersed with thoughts about his wife, the vocal line spins gently over a haunting accompaniment of harp and strings.
Andrew Wilkowske shines as Audebert's droll aide, Ponchel. On the Scottish side, Zach Borichevsky sings stirringly as Jonathan Dale, a young soldier who cannot stomach this strange truce. Troy Cook is an urgent presence as the Scottish chaplain.
Michael Christie conducts the score with great sensitivity and draws beautifully detailed playing form the Opera Philadelphia orchestra.
"Silent Night" should be staged in Baltimore. How about a collaboration between Lyric Opera Baltimore and Peabody Opera in 2014, the centennial of the war and the Christmas truce? It would make an uplifting challenge for both organizations, and a fitting way to honor an extraordinary composer teaching in our midst.


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Student helps lead Pioneers to victory
September 24, 2012
Logan Kotzian '13, known around campus as Logie Bear, has played a lot of positions at for the Lewis & Clark football program—receiver, kick returner, and now cornerback. Today, Coach Chris Sulages calls the Hillsboro native "as pure and natural a corner as there is."
At 5-foot-9 and 160 pounds, Kotzian isn't particularly big, but his skills shine on the field. "The techniques and being in the right position, especially for a cornerback, are far more important than being the biggest guy," says Tim Jacobs, defensive coordinator for the Pioneers. "If you're in position to make a play on the ball…that's the key."
With a recent win over Macalester, the 2012 season is already off to an impressive 3-0 start. But Kotzian hasn't let the game distract him from his studies in sports psychology.
"He's developed both in the classroom and on the field," Jacobs says. "He's done what you're supposed to do in college—he's grown as a total person."
Read more from Portland Tribune


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Chiropractic treatment involves moving, stretching and manipulating the spine. Before seeking chiropractic treatment, let your doctor know about all medications and supplements you take because the chiropractic manipulation could interact with the medications. While spinal problems are not believed to be a major cause of the migraine attacks there is some level of scientific evidence that improved spinal function can can reduce both the frequency and duration of migraines. If tension headaches become more frequent or severe, a doctor may prescribe stronger pain medications or muscle relaxers for the pain.
Chiropractors are highly trained and educated health care practitioners who use a "hands on" approach and/or specific instruments to locate and correct spinal misalignments that cause the nerve pressure that may be responsible for tension and other types of headaches. Migraines seem to always happen when you are most stressed and come not only with severe and debilitating head pain, but sensitivity to sound and light, dizziness and often nausea as well. Depending on the findings of the history and patient examination, the chiropractor may recommend patient reassurance, manual therapies, modalities and lifestyle recommendations including rehabilitation. However, the plan of management will be individualized to the patient's needs and examination findings.
How can a Lake Forest Hills, Florida chiropractor ease migraines?
Migraine headaches are the most severe and can completely debilitate the person suffering from one. Most people who live with migraines have tried everything… special migraine diets, sleep hygiene, avoiding triggers and rounds of different medications. Some people only experience pain in one part of their head or behind their eyes, some people experience a pounding sensation inside their whole head, and some people even experience nausea, while others do not. Overall, the literature is ripe with case studies and despite the limited number of clinical studies on the topic, the results have been very encouraging.
Due to its severity and the other symptoms the migraine patient cannot function and is usually bedridden. Studies have shown that chiropractic care in Lake Forest Hills, Florida 32201 can be a highly effective method of treating the underlying cause of headaches without resorting to pain masking medication, since more than 80% of headaches originate in the neck or have components of mal-positioned vertebrae in the neck. It is known that chiropractic treatment and care can help you prevent certain unnecessary tension or irritations in the neck and head which may lead to headaches.
When do I need to see a Lake Forest Hills, Florida chiropractor?
Now, though some patients with headaches may find effective results on an instant basis after the treatments by a good chiropractor, yet others may notice a slow and slight decline in the symptoms of the headaches after several weeks or longer following a chiropractic treatment. Most believe the only cure for a pounding headache is simply to just grin, bear it and let it pass. Ninety-five percent of headaches are primary headaches, such as tension, migraine, or cluster headaches. Improving the movement or alignment of the bones in the neck can relieve the pressure and irritation that results in headaches.
This misalignment can irritate the nerve roots in the neck and may even cause minor constriction in some vessels which supply blood and minor constriction in some vessels which supply blood to the brain. People often consume over-the-counter pain pills to alleviate headaches, but you may be able to help relieve pain without medication by applying some simple common sense methods. So, if you know of anyone who suffers from headaches, help them to get off the drugs (which can cause many side effects) and get to see a chiropractor. Chiropractor For Migraines in Lake Forest Hills, Florida use devices such as shoe inserts, braces, straps and other tools.
Visit a chiropractor near you:
How to choose the best chiropractor in Lake Forest Hills, Florida?
The most typical symptoms of migraines include throbbing pain, nausea or vomiting and even sensitivity to sound or light. The exact cause of tension headaches is not known, but it is believed that they may have something to do with muscle tension that is caused by stress or heightened emotions. When nerve interference is present, it disrupts the communication link between the brain and the affected body part, causing dis-ease and other conditions, including chronic headaches. Chiropractic adjustments are not only great for helping reduce the severity of migraines, but regular chiropractic care can also help reduce the frequency of these migraines as well.
Evidence has demonstrated that chiropractic care, including spinal manipulative therapy, can be an effective treatment for cervicogenic and tension-type headaches. As you may know, chiropractors in Duval County, Florida treat subluxations in the spine, which prevent proper communication from the brain to the body (think of it like only receiving the first six digits of a phone number and attempting to figure out the seventh without proper information).


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Organized by Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP)
in association with
Universidad de los Andes
April 8-12, 2019
Bogotá, Colombia
The Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP) network is organizing a Learning Days workshop for principal investigators (PIs) in Latin America. This five-day event aims to spread the concepts and tools of experimental methodology for social science research. The workshop will cover sessions on key aspects in the design of experimental impact evaluations, presentations of experimental research, statistical exercises (with and without statistical software), and individual advisory sessions for participants to work on their own research designs. Key topics include causal inference, hypothesis testing, randomization, power, average treatment effects, non-compliance, and more. Accepted applicants will be expected to complete a brief preparatory exercise before arriving for the workshop.
The final agenda will be available on this page. For previous workshop agendas, see:
Chile: http://egap.org/sites/default/files/FinalAgendaEGAPLearningDaysChile_sit...
Malawi: http://egap.org/sites/default/files/AgendaEGAPLearningDaysMalawi.pdf
Montevideo: http://egap.org/sites/default/files/EGAP_LearningDays_Uruguay_Agenda.pdf
Organization: This event is organized by Maarten Voors (Wageningen University, EGAP Trainings Director) and Andrés Moya (Universidad de los Andes). In addition, Jake Bowers (University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, EGAP Methods Director), Natalia Garbiras Díaz (University of California, Berkeley), Tara Slough (University of California, Berkeley, EGAP Predoctoral Fellow), and other EGAP members will participate as workshop instructors.
Scholarships: Accepted applicants will be contacted to coordinate travel details and request additional information. The workshop's organizers will cover the financial costs of: airfare to and from the workshop location, lodging (for attendees from outside Bogotá), breakfast/lunch/snacks, and a celebratory dinner the last night. Participants are responsible for other dinners, visa arrangements, and incidentals.
Participants: The workshop is designed for principal investigators--i.e. professors, post-doctoral fellows, PhD students, and NGO/government agency evaluators who implement experimental research projects on programs related to institutions, governance, and development. The workshop is limited to applicants based (anywhere) in Latin America. Applicants must have training in social sciences, and should have basic knowledge of statistics and/or econometrics. Prior familiarity with statistical sofware is a plus, but not a requirement. Finally, as the sessions will be conducted in English, applicants must have a professional command of the language (reading and speaking). There will be Spanish-speaking instructors in attendance. In order to maintain a productive atmosphere, the meeting will have a maximum of 15 participants.


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Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wedding Wednesday – 47 years later
In her diary entry of Saturday, March 30, 1957, my great grandmother Virta Knutz recalled the day she married her husband Will:
"47 years ago today we were married and such a day as it was; it rained, hailed, wind blew hard and it blizzarded all before noon but that did not stop me; Delbert [her brother] took me to the depot and waited with me till the train came; I had to go to Huron (from Esmond) to meet Will. Henry Thompson and his girl Stella were there to be married at the same time we were; we were witnesses for each other. We ate our dinner in a hotel which is now torn down and there is a gas station and truck parking lot there now. After dinner we were married and did some shopping and drove home; we used horse and buggy those days, had to drive about 7 miles; got home I got my first meal for us; which was (as I remember) bacon and eggs and potatoes."
Above: Their marriage certificate
They would celebrate eight more anniversaries together before Will's death in 1966.
4 comments:
Such a wonderful post! What a gift to have the diary. Contrasting this with modern wedding practices takes my breath away.ReplyDelete
Thanks - Yes, the train ticket and the cost of dinner were their only wedding expenses! :)ReplyDelete
The remark about being witnesses for another couple reminds me of how many times I have seen marriage records reflecting this phenomenon (this was from the Arkansas marriage records on Family Search).ReplyDelete
This is still a common practice for civil weddings. If you do have have the means or foresight to bring along two witnesses, then the couple before or the couple after will act as a witness to your vows. My mom worked for the courts, so was very accustom to this.ReplyDelete
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Hope Sweetbay's Consolidation Doesn't Sever Their Rays Partnership?
The minute I heard about the fact that Tampa Bay born Sweetbay Supermarkets were trimming their store chain by 33 locations within Tampa Bay I wondered immediately how the consolidation would affect their strong partnership with the Tampa Bay Rays? Sure the chain will still have over 72 store in Florida, but slicing the region of 33 locations definitely takes a huge chunk of both grocery sales and local "feel good" exposure for the grocery retailer.
With the grocery chains long history of support and sponsorship with the Rays, you have to now wonder with 33 of their Tampa Bay stores being vacated just about the time for the Rays pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training if the close and intimate relationship the Rays and the grocery chain had for so many Major League Baseball seasons might also becoming to a haste conclusion.
The chain became the first supermarket chain to join with the Rays back in September 2008 as the Rays were experiencing their "magical season of baseball", when Sweetbay joined forces with the Rays by signing a multi-year partnership deal with the MLB franchise. From that moment on, the team and the grocery chain found interesting and unique ways to join bring the game of baseball into their stores.
With Sweetbay's consolidation announcement there is a boatload of questions without plausible answers at this time as to the continuation of such Rays game day experiences as the Rays Bat Kid of the game who loud and proudly announced that classic phrase "Play Ball!" before every Rays home game over the last few seasons. Sure the co-sponsor of the event, Aquafina/Pepsi could take the reins and make a smooth transition, but the fact remains, Sweetbay had a deeper impact on our Rays experience than we all realize.
Could there be a naming change now for the former Sweetbay High-5 station manned by Rays players during the last 2 Rays Fan Fest where kids got to get a high-5 from Rays players and Coaches as they rounded Third and came into Home Plate. Most people might not remember, but Sweetbay was also one of the corporate sponsors of the Rays 2011 Fan Fest as well as hosting Rays players autograph signing within their stores.
Sweetbay also provided a unique experience back in 2011 season when they offered a unique Rays game day experience during a Matt Joyce autograph signing at their North Dale Marby location. Fans who donated a 4-pack of fruit cup to the Feeding America's Kids Cafe within the store were then eligible for a drawing to get 4 Rays home game tickets, 4 batting practice field passes, and a Matt Joyce signed bat during that season. The Rays and Joyce also premiered a special edition Rays set of players card on that date with Joyce personally signing his card for all in attendance
Sweetbay was also the first Tampa Bay area store to carry the same Kayem brand hot dogs sold during Rays home games at Tropicana field in their store locations throughout Tampa Bay to give fans a chance to also enjoy the same great hot dog taste while watching Rays away game broadcasts in the comfort of their own homes or backyards. And who could forget their annual $1,000 shopping spree with a Rays player in one of their locations where a Rays fan gets to go wild getting grocery carts filled within an allotted time with the help of Raymond and one of the Rays players.
Hopefully there is no huge effect of the relationship between the Rays and Sweetbay, but the reality is there will be less of a footprint in the region for the grocery chain and their long time partnership with the Rays could definitely be a victim in this change. It would be sad to see the chain take a step back and re-assess or remove themselves from the Rays fold.
It is a bit unsettling to see the chain who first brought their new name to our eyes in Largo, Florida in 2004, and is based in Tampa, Florida might be leaving our Rays game day experience. Together the Rays and Sweetbay chain made a great partnership with great game day and hit it out of the park regularly with their community events that not only sparked large crowds and a fond following, but showed that a sports franchise and a retailer could cross promote themselves with such class and grace.
But I guess sometimes change happens whether we want it to or not. Heck, where will Rays Manager Joe Maddon shop for his annual Thanks-Mas event if the stores near the Trop are shuttered up?
2 Comments
Sad to hear about the closures. I can only imgaine soon other grocers will come in and buy up the vacated locations. Wal mart express anyone? Their already building them here in Jacksonville. Go Rays!


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Foundations of Imaging Science Summer Short Course Being Offered Again in 2015
Full scholarships are available
Apr. 6, 2015
The Center for Emerging & Innovative Sciences, based at the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences at the University of Rochester, is again offering a series of Optics, Photonics, and Imaging (OPI) short courses for the summer of 2015. The courses are designed for anyone interested in furthering their career in the OPI industries, including people who would like to transition into these industries.
CIS is pleased to be included in this offering with a 10-day course in Foundations of Imaging Science. If you or anyone you know would be interested in attending our short course, you may find more information by visiting the course description website.
Full Scholarships are available for this course through CEIS.


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versão impressa ISSN 1517-4522
Sociologias v.4 n.se Porto Alegre 2008
Technoscience, democracy and ethical challenges of biotechnology in Brazil
Tecnociência, democracia e os desafios éticos das biotecnologias no Brasil
Cristiane Amaro da SilveiraI;Jalcione AlmeidaII
Master in Rural Development (Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul UFRGS), Ph.D. Student of the Post-Graduation Program in Sociology of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (PPGS / UFRGS), and Substitute Professor of the Department of Sociology at the same University. E-mail:firstname.lastname@example.com
Professor and researcher of the Post-Graduation Programs in Rural Development and Sociology of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). CNPq researcher. E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com. The authors are members of the research group Tecnologia, Meio Ambiente e Sociedade TEMAS/UFRGS (Technology, Environment and Society)
Translated by Marcelo Otto Severo
Translation from Sociologias, Porto Alegre, n.19, p. 106-129, Jan./June 2008.
The increasing questioning of the evolutionist ideas and the great narratives, the classics that served as support to the studies in the field of social sciences, has led to many different reactions within the academic context. Even though the post-modern trends and theories of the end of history have a right to be in this set of possibilities, no less influential are the proposals for revising the reality in which we live from the point of view of the modern project and its radicalization. It is within this project that Anthony Giddens proposes the prospect of a new ontological security pact, which will be built in a world of abstract systems that need to be reinserted in global dimensions. Discussions concerning new biotechnologies, both worldwide and in Brazil, reveal interesting characteristics of this new moment of human history. The access points that result from the fear of famine and environmental concerns, in this case, do more than reduce the reliability of the expert knowledge; they bring about the reorganization of ethical, social and political implications quite distinct from the "heuristic of fear" proposed by the philosopher Hans Jonas. How do such reorganizations point to new trends in the process of technology management in the light of the recent controversy surrounding the new biotechnologies in Brazil? This is the question that this article intends to discuss.
Keyboards: biotechnology, biosafety, social risk construction, environmental ethics, democracy.
O crescente questionamento das idéias evolucionistas e das grandes narrativas que serviram de suporte, desde os clássicos, aos estudos nas áreas das ciências sociais tem desencadeado reações diversas no âmbito acadêmico. Se as tendências pós-modernas e as teses do fim da História se situam legitimamente neste espaço de possibilidades, não menos influentes são as propostas de releitura da realidade em que vivemos, a partir do projeto moderno e sua radicalização. É dentro deste último empreendimento que Anthony Giddens propõe a perspectiva de um novo pacto de segurança ontológica, que passa a ser construído em um mundo de sistemas abstratos que precisam ser reencaixados em dimensões globais. As discussões envolvendo as novas biotecnologias, em nível mundial e no Brasil, são reveladoras de características interessantes deste novo momento da humanidade. Os pontos de acesso desencadeados por pavores alimentares e preocupações ambientais fazem, neste sentido, mais do que diminuir a fidedignidade em relação ao conhecimento perito; provocam reordenamentos de implicações éticas, sociais e políticas bastante distintos da "heurística do medo", proposta pelo filósofo Hans Jonas. Como tais reordenamentos sinalizam para novas tendências no processo de gestão das tecnologias à luz da recente polêmica configurada em torno das novas biotecnologias no Brasil? É sobre esta questão que o presente texto pretende refletir.
Palavras-chave: Biotecnologias; Biossegurança; Construção social do risco; Ética ecocentrada; Democracia.
In recent decades, the visibility achieved by the controversies and debates about genetic engineering techniques has caused some discomfort, to say the least, among those social agents who tend to defend technoscience1 as a positive sign immanent to the progress of mankind that would, by itself, provide solutions to the diversity of problems faced by modern social groups. The rhetoric of technoscience as a "panacea" that would solve the problems of hunger, malnutrition, disease and environmental degradation is no longer allowed free passage on the unlimited linear surface of a science founded in the Enlightenment, running into a new epistemology of knowledge, which, in the Popperian sense, is built on quicksand and it is also based on not-knowing (Silveira, 2005).
As a result of the recent developments of the technoscientific knowledge, as well as the increasing negative impact of human activity through the use of technical devices, the current questioning of the certainties of the Enlightenment paradigm promotes an institutional renewal of modernity: at the same time that scientists are asked to opine as expert systems2, from a state of uncertainty in which the authoritarianism of truth is no longer possible, and the "secret of the prince," embedded in the modern processes of recognition of the technological and scientific authority, is undermined by the inclusion of the concept of risk in the democratic game; on the other hand, the national States feel increasingly encouraged to articulate their internal decisions with standards and protocols of international legitimacy, and, relying on the objectivity of reason, they seek to redefine the social values in order to break the division between nature and culture, between technoscience and democracy.
Science, combined with an ethic of prudence, is the philosopher's stone of this institutional renewal. In the particular case of the implementation of genetic engineering techniques, the renewal would be reflected in the national policies of biosafety, which combine the common language of technoscience with the common value of biodiversity (biological and cultural) to provide a new social contract, based on an environmental ethics. Ethics that, contrary to the apology of inaction, attempts some kind of orchestration of interests, situated between the ideals of the technoscientific objectivity and the techno-political subjectivity. But, does the current direction of the biosafety policies, especially in Brazil, precipitate the break in the division between social groups and nature, between technoscience and democracy? Is it possible that the Brazilian context of the management of modern biotechnologies, or rather agricultural biotechnologies, point to an institutional renewal in these terms? These are some of the questions that this article intends to explore, albeit it does not intend to be conclusive.
The counterpart of modernity: technonature and its dark side
The rupture, found in modern thought, between social groups (culture) and nature, between technoscience and democracy, is symptomatic of the words of Pascal, who, believing himself to have been cast out of nature, says: "The eternal silence of these infinite spaces fills me with dread." In this sense, it is clear that the alliance between modernity and Christianity was emphatic in its narrative of the creation: it sees man in the image and likeness of God, separating him from nature and allowing him to make use of it with free will, in accordance with his needs.
Although this narrative makes use of the Platonic representation of the demiurge as a god that is not all-powerful and does not have the power to create a world from nothing, being limited to shape the matter, to organize it from pre-existing chaos; the Christian thought reverses Plato's: if the demiurge, as an artisan (demiourgos), did not do what he wanted to do, at least he got the best possible results; the Christian God, on the other hand, is all-powerful, He creates the world as He wants it to be, from nothing, and not from chaos to order. Thus, since the Christian man is made in the image of This God, he has the ability to take His place. As he recognizes himself as an antinatural being, because he is separated from nature, the human being believes that domination is his only way to be reintegrated with it (nature), to avoid being terrified by the silence inflicted on him by heaven.
But if it was necessary seventeen hundred years for this ethical principle of modernity, born with Christianity, to finally find the concept of nature that best suits it that of a nature stripped of all mystery and enchantment, that of a fabricated, artificial nature, which is available to use and it is possible to manipulate ideal for the application of classical physics to a world that claims for unification through the law of universal attraction the world of the Newtonian synthesis but it will not withstand the relentless increase in the number of exceeding cases. The universe, and the living beings in particular, proved to be too disobedient to fit into the regularities of the universal laws, and every discovery in the fields of zoology and botany is impressive to the system, as a proof of the presence of God in the detail, in the diversity (Larrère & Larrère, 1997).
However, as difficult as it was to generalize such a model, the emphasis on the scientific community, as well as the practice of experimentation and the establishment of judicial proof, bear more resemblance to the monarchies than the deliberative democracy of the Greek polis. The model was turned into a paradigm, in the Kuhnian sense, providing an example to the positive aspects that emerged later.
According to Giddens (1991), it is due to the influence of this contemporary understanding of modernity that the social scientists do not understand it properly. Therefore, he maintains that the cultural and epistemological orientations of the current sociological positions are misleading, because they observe the present time from a preceding or a later state of affairs, and they will defend, respectively, the emergence of a new social system ("consumer society," "information society," etc), and the end of another ("postmodernity," "postmodernism," "post-industrial society"), thus avoiding the study of the fact itself, which is the radicalization of modernity and its consequences. Regarding the recurrent epistemological approaches, Giddens mentions Lyotard who spread the concept of postmodernity and, more important, promoted the disarticulation of attempts to support the epistemology and the faith in humanely planned progress and questions him on the fact that the legitimation of heterogeneous claims to knowledge, with no privileges to science, makes it impossible to aim at a systematic knowledge of the current period. For if it were valid, such a proposal would affect the practice of the social scientists, since any effort to apprehend the current period would be useless and, consequently, it would be disregarded in favor of a healthy physical exercise.
But if the sociologists' effort to understand the modernity is spoiled and contaminated by such interpretations of contemporary reality, Giddens condemns the loss to the Social Sciences, which is due to the influence of evolutionary ideas, here understood as "history [that] can be told in terms of a story line' which imposes an orderly picture upon the jumble of human happenings" (p.15, 1991); since they promote only the "opportunity side" of modernity, and leave in the shadows its dark side. In this sense, the author states that
The development of modern social institutions has created vastly greater opportunities for human beings to enjoy a secure and rewarding existence than in any type of pre-modern system. But modernity also has a somber side that has become very important in the present [20th] century [ ] (p.16, 1991)
However, the truth is that, even though they produced their works in a turbulent period of history, the classic authors, especially Marx and Durkheim, appreciated the opportunity side' of modernity, foreshadowing the emergence of harmony and social control. Marx emphasized the consequences of class struggle; Durkheim invested in the organic solidarity that results from the division of labour, and social integration with the preservation of individual autonomy. Even Weber, who was the most skeptical of the three authors, realized that the excessive use of rationality and bureaucracy would crush human creativity and individuality, but he could not anticipate the dark side of modernity. Thus, although the three authors saw the degrading consequences of the modern industrial work, which subjects human beings to an exhaustive, repetitive work discipline, none foresaw that the development of the "productive forces" would have a large scale destructive potential in relation to the natural environment.
It is within this context that Giddens will propose a different analysis of modernity, which would overcome the sociologists' current problems in the assessment of the environmental concerns (in its dark side, alien to modernity, as it was conceived by the Enlightenment), assuming that
The world in which we live today is a fraught and dangerous one. This has served to do more than simply blunt or force us to qualify the assumption that the emergence of modernity would lead to the formation of a happierand more secure social order. Loss of a belief in "progress," of course, is one of the factors that underlies the dissolution of "narratives" of history.Yet there is much more at stake here than the conclusion that history "goes nowhere." We have to develop an institutional analysis of the double-edged character of modernity (p.19, 1991).
For the author, the division between modernity and postmodernity proposed by Nietzsche served to reveal the hidden assumptions of the Enlightenment, without excluding us from modernity. And it is in this sense that Giddens says it is better to speak of "modernity coming to understand itself," because the dogma of providential progress, which replaced the divine providence, has finally released reason from the certainties of the Enlightenment. Thus, from now on, no more knowledge can be built on unquestionable foundations, and even the most consistent concepts may be seen as valid "in principle" or "until further consideration."
In other words, the epistemological foundations that supported the claims of control, allowing the humans, in their externality, to take possession of nature, to dominate it, to subdue it, and reinvent it in accordance with their wishes, have crumbled3. Thus implodes the thesis of the end of nature that has been serving both to the apology of artificiality, and the eulogy of nature; it relied on the belief, common to lawyers and prosecutors, that modernity has destroyed nature. But it is from this implosion that comes the inflection of the modern paradigm, because the artificiality of nature corresponds, proportionally, to the naturalization of the devices that are beyond our control. Therefore, there is no technosphere anymore, but a technonature that includes our works4. Works such as those that we have created through natural processes, and eventually abandoned us; works whose natural future escapes from our hands. In this sense, it is possible to say that nature still exists, and the problem is not its annihilation, but the fact that we have acted as if it did not exist, that we have acted as if only the machines existed and as if we were separated from that universe.
An institutional reading: expert systems and deliberation among equals
Therefore, following this line of argumentation, the advances in knowledge that have occurred since the Enlightenment revolution have revealed an idea of nature that transcends and encompasses the humans, that has no need for them to continue its history. And this assertion reveals a limitation in the maintenance of the ethical model of modernity: anthropocentrism, in which humans are separated from nature, in a position of experimentation and control. But, on the other hand, it is due to these findings that man can not return to the ethical model of Antiquity, which put the humans, microcosm within the macrocosm, in the center, in a position to observe nature. The current state of knowledge has implications that contribute to a rejection of the arguments that favor humans in their relationship with nature (because the anthropocentrism has crumbled, literally, to the ground, due to the distortion of the geocentric theory); and also to ensure that current developments in search of an ethics are guided by a scientifically informed view. An environmental ethics would consider only the traveling companions, from other species, in this odyssey of evolution. The humans, reintegrated with nature, would no longer enjoy a privileged position.
However, the evidence does not allow us to forget that the construction of a scientifically informed view of nature, to break with the already established division between social groups and nature, between technoscience and politics, will not happen without resistance from the scientific habitus5, because
there is no need to adopt Kuhn's social epistemology to find out that the most significant gaps in science are precisely, and usually, those that are controversial. To role of a nature's spokesman, as an expert or part of a public debate, may be reduced to the dissemination of what is consensually accepted knowledge. It means informing citizens and decision makers about common truths. Similar beliefs are in serious danger of becoming the vehicle to an outdated state of knowledge, which, in anticipation, would be counterproductive (Larrère & Larrère, p.257, 1997)*.
The recognition of the scientific uncertainty (and controversy), and the subsequent social construction of the dark side of modernity, i.e. the awareness of the risks that result from human action on nature, trigger a rejection of the Platonic model of the authoritarianism of truth, good or beauty, over the human community, and force nature and technoscience into the social groups, to become a subject of public debate. And if, by following this course, we leave behind the perfect and unchanging world proposed by Plato, a world we could take appropriate through the application of objective scientific knowledge and mathematics, the fact is that we tend to move towards an Aristotelian model of prudence; since, "in a world of uncertainty, when one is confronted with different and unresolved scenarios, it is not reasonable to be limited by rationality. An ethic of prudence is likely to avoid decisions whose effects may have harmful consequences." (Larrère & Larrère, p.194, 1997)
In other words, the environmental crisis, here understood as a context that, in the last decades, encompasses scandals such as the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad-cow disease (MCD), the dioxin-contaminated chickens, the problems involving pesticide residues, and the risks involved in the use of nuclear power, the whole "biotechnology issue;" it is a call to action for nature's spokespersons and, despite the fact that society, the decision makers and the public opinion expect simple answers, it is necessary to understand that those will be able to answer questions on the threat of prion6, the possibility of another Chernobyl, the impact of the contamination by pesticides, and the genetically modified organisms (GMO), only if they expose their doubts, if they demonstrate the insufficiency of the available data, as well as the divergences that exist within the scientific community.
More than ever, to present such issues as depending solely on the technical application is a way of avoiding a discussion of multiple objectives that would offer a possibility of choice in which many would have us to believe that there is a necessary correlation between them. In relation to the discussions involving agricultural biotechnologies, for example, there is a visible effort from one side of the debate to prevent public participation and discussion. The "agents of technological optimism,7" heirs to the Enlightenment, argue that only the molecular biologists are able to decide and provide an opinion on the safety of genetically modified organisms, especially the seeds of transgenic soybean resistant to the Roundup herbicide. In defense of the "theory of genetic determinism," they overemphasize the "scientific fact" to the detriment of other "social values," and as a result, even though they simulate a democratic debate, their intention is to silence it in favor of an overvalued molecular biology, in spite of the other scientific disciplines and the political and social interests. Powered by a view of techno-scientific innovation as "evolution" and "progress" of knowledge, in its linear and cumulative process as a device endowed with an undeniable reparative potential, able to fix, by itself, the impacts resulting from the use of previous technology, or to provide solutions for social problems recognized by the world of common sense.
However, where the "agents of technological optimism" see "progress," the "caution critics" see the "social and environmental impacts" of the techno-scientific innovation, and present it within a context of "unpredictability" and "uncontrollability." For them, it is as if the genes had the alternative to combine in some other way, different from what the universal thought considers to be normal, as if the DNA puzzle had not been solved once and for all, as if nature could react to its artificialization through the naturalization of works that escape from our alleged control. The theory of gene flow8 evokes this idea of a contingent nature that has evolved concomitantly with human action.
Such positions, listed in Table 01 below, have polarized the public debate in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil, and the study of these two different conceptions of nature will provide contrasting political strategies to deal with the question. First, there are those who believe in a technosphere controlled by human reason and defend the autonomy of technoscience in the face of a policy to comprehend the objectivity of the universe, maintaining the division between social groups and nature, between technoscience and politics. On the other side, there are those who, realizing the unpremeditated consequences (Giddens, 1991) engendered by our technological devices, believe that the only possible way to resolve the dispute is to build a debate as broad, as informed and as rigorous as possible. From this point of view, it is not as if the opinion of the expert would have the same weight as that of other social values and judgments, on the contrary, it is privileged due to is teaching objectivity; but to expose it to the public for discussion, not only its certainties and assumptions, but also the controversies and uncertainties, thus resuming the teachings of ancient Greece in relation to the close interdependence between science and democracy.
Thus, there is a discourse that defends the indiscriminate release of genetically modified organisms into the environment, heralded by the "agents of technological optimism;" and there is an idea of social risk that, inheriting the Greek virtue of temperance and moderation, pays attention to the uniqueness of each case and adopts precaution as a rule. Unlike the conception of a monarchical science, legitimized by modernity and antagonized by the authoritarianism of truth, which intends to put an end to the public debate by classifying as "irrational fears," "emotionalism," "terrorism" and "obscurantism" the critical view of the agricultural biotechnological innovations; the praise of prudence is evident in the discourse of the critics.
From an ethical point of view, it means that the critics defend that "there is an obligation to know what seems to be a recognition of our ignorance: we do not have scientific knowledge of the future consequences of our actions" (Larrère & Larrère, p.272, 1997). But this point of view is also pro-active. The "caution critics" do not recommend inaction in the face of the risks associated to human action, but argue for ethical practices to work along with the technoscience: the precautionary principle and a set of rules and policies created in the last decades to prevent and manage the dark side of human action may find application in the political space of democracy. But even if these actors take into account the uncertainties of the scientific knowledge, they do not intend to reject it. The reason removes the fear, which can only be conceived within the ethics of rupture, the division between politics and technoscience, between nature and social groups. When (a la Giddens) the reason, as well as the religion, is detraditionalized, released from the dogma, when the process of knowledge production incorporates the reflexivity, then the Lights switch place. The technoscience that dictated directions for politics is replaced by a deliberative action among equals, guided by expert knowledge. From Antiquity, it retains the practices of good use and prudence; from modernity, the need to have knowledge in order to act. The result is the good use of the environmentalism, based on knowledge that is well aware of its limits.
A democracy beyond the authoritarianism of scientific truth and sociocentrism?
When the German philosopher Hans Jonas founds the "heuristics of fear," in 1979, that is, when he argues that we should invest in the control of a technical device that is proportional to our power to intervene in nature, he is recognizing the dark side of modernity. But he maintains the division between society and nature. He denounces the technical utopia to preserve the illusion of total power. Seeking to replace technoscience with ethics (Jonas, 1994), he maintains their separation. Crediting the authoritarian regimes with the ability to deal with environmental problems, he goes as far as to propose a model that, considering the worst possible scenario, provides an apology for inaction. The fear, associated with "irrationalism" and "emotionalism," is a direct criticism of the "evolutionist" and "progressive" ideas of modernity.
However, the use of fear to influence behavior is not very effective. It is like the smoker who, threatened with cancer, pulls a cigarette to ward off the fear, for example. According to Larrère & Larrère (1997), Jonas left out of his "heuristic" the field of rational argument, the political model of prudence, deliberation, within which the precautionary principle seeks for its content and for which "the idea that men are responsible for the ills that affect them compels some to look for a cure."
Such is the model of the social risk construction. To isolate it, to see what it implies, how it works, is to appreciate its qualities. It is possible to combine two competences, which have proved their worth: the technical expertise to fix our relationship with nature, and the political skills to solve human problems (Larrère & Larrère, p.234, 1997).
In this sense, it is about entrusting the biotechnological management to a political mediation: notwithstanding the uncertainties of reason (not the irrationalism), after a debate as informed as possible, owing to the technoscience, it will have to resolve the irresolvable, it will have to answer the questions to which the current state of technoscience can only offer doubts, contradictions and dissent. But it is necessary to avoid the point of view of the "agents of technological optimism," according to which "just admitting doubts about GMs automatically identifies the individual as a warrior of the dark side, someone who prevents scientists from eliminating humankind's greatest burden, famine" (Leite, p. 1, 2004-a).
Whereas at one time science intended to replace tradition, in its transition from cosmogony to cosmology, and then the positivities; the fact is that it needed, until recently, to break away from from tradition, to deny its role as an unquestionable dogma. The advances in knowledge, provided by modernity, and the impacts of technonature allow, at last, the questioning of the scientific fundamentalism (Giddens, 1991; Silveira & Almeida, 2005b; Silveira & Almeida, 2000a); the reason must explain itself within a deliberative and democratic space. But then, the social responsibility of the scientist is not that of presenting to the public black boxes labeled by topics, not anymore, but "to exercise against all odds the teaching of objectification" (Roqueplo, 1993 apud Larrère & Larrère, 1997). Such teaching will be valid only if it incorporates the reflexivity, which, since expertise has been established as an unquestionable substitute for tradition, "consists in the fact that social practices are constantly examined and reformed in the light of coming information about these very practices, thus constantly altering their character" (Giddens, p. 45, 1996).
The detraditionalization and the inscription of reflexivity in the basis of the system are challenges that, from the introduction of modernity down to its current radicalization, have instigated reason in its come into being. But the triggering phenomena of the institutional change that we are also experiencing, as indicated by Giddens, would be complemented by the symptomatic globalization of the social practices, which would bring new implications for the scientific habitus. A pragmatic example, related to the recent discussions on biotechnology and biosafety, was the precedent-setting exercise of biodiversity as a "global goal." According to Larrère & Larrère (1997), it was the result of a successful articulation of a large number of researchers around the world, from various specialties, and their commitment led to a global alliance for the defense of the world heritage: the Earth Summit of 1992 and its Convention on Biological Diversity, a confluence of scientific, economic, political, social, and moral interests, among others, on this issue of global impact. Exercising their teaching of objectivity, the scientists have stressed the challenges of defending biodiversity, they exposed to the public their doubts, hypotheses and controversies on the subject (climate change, species extinction, greenhouse effect, etc.), to provide possible scenarios to alert the global community.
However, as Latour would say (apud Leite, 2004b), this redefinition of the role of the scientist is not without concerns, and the proof is the representation of science and technology, exploited by the "agents of technological optimism," on the issues of biosafety, which confirm the competence of the molecular biologists. The agents proposed that the Comissão Técnica Nacional de Biosegurança CTNBio (National Technical Biosafety Committee) should be composed exclusively of molecular biologists, in a project sanctioned in 2005 (Brazil, 2005). This is a sui generis repetition of the Asilomar Conference (1975), but on global dimensions, since it was expanded to the developing countries that had been left out of the international discussions on technological innovation in 1975.
It is worth to mention that, in 1975, "after the scientists expressed serious concerns with the announcement of the success in transferring genes from one species to another" (Kempf, p.49, 2004), a conference was organized by the National Academy of Science, in Asilomar the name by which it became known but the event was virtually behind closed doors, an elite gathering of 140 researchers who spent four days discussing the future of the researches on genetic-engineering technologies. The debate was centered on the safety aspects of the experiences, the rules that would be necessary for them to continue without threatening the freedom of the scientists. As stated by Kempf (p.48-49, 2004), the biologists intend to limit to a minimum the interference of the public or the government in their business (Kempf, p.48, 2004), and in the end, the meeting achieved the goal of most molecular biologists: to ensure, without outside interference, the control of the procedures and the exclusion of the social from the definition of the problem (ibid., p.49).
But, according to some, that attitude of the scientists is no longer possible, since it would be a "shot in the foot" to defend the authoritarianism of scientific truth in controversial issues such as the biosafety aspects of the new biotechnologies. The recognition of different skills, and not only the scientific skills, must be taken into consideration; in the Brazilian case, the result was the creation of the Conselho Nacional de Biosegurança CNBS (National Biosafety Council), although the division of tasks between the CTNBio and the CNBS is not clearly defined, and the permanence of the molecular biologists' "superpowers" (Silveira, 2005; Silveira & Almeida, 2005a; Silveira & Almeida, 2005b), which are incompatible with the institutional renewal proposed by the previous scientific advances and regulations, around the democratic and preservationist principles (the Precautionary Principle, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Brazilian Consumer Protection Code and the Brazilian Constitution, the National Environmental Policy, among others).
As stated by Latour (apud Leite, 2004b), considering the fact that "it is necessary to think about gene flow, about laws, about this and that, about the number of elements that will go to the meeting, who must be recruited and accepted without being belittled," the discussion should have, at least, two functions. The first of which would be to consider the diversity of interests and entities involved. The second would be to decide how to organize, or combine, these different institutes, within a common world. It is like building a house, for example, where there are carpenters, plumbers, etc.; they would not be building many different houses, instead, they would be working in the same house, in the same common "cosmos," to use the old Greek expression. In the case of the genetically modified organisms (GMOs), that cosmos involves international politics, subsidies, legal aspects, the ecology of gene dispersal, the question of where to find public and convincing experiments, and so on. Thus, in these terms, the molecular biologists, who support the tradition of the authoritarianism of scientific truth, are wrong, because it is as if they do not want their technoscience to succeed.
Nonetheless, a public debate is really necessary, and the institutional forms of knowledge should avoid the imposition of a single thought and solution to favor a government, a large body of State or a scientific community in particular. And in this sense, neither the Platonic dictatorship, nor the authoritarianism of scientific truth, which is the same thing, poses a real threat to this new institutional contract between democracy and technoscience, between nature and social groups. If it is possible to recognize a reason based on uncertainty and reflexivity, then it has become a "soft science," which does not bother to expose its contradictions in the public space, but there is still the risk that politicians may feel forced to take "hard decisions." The need for definitive answers and strategies from the part of the governments and States, in the face of foreign and domestic policy, creates a new impasse in the form of blackmail. In addition, this process to legitimize environmental and biosafety issues suffers the interference of economic, political and social strategies, with no immediate relation to the object of concern. There is also the risk of not addressing the threat, being concerned only with its economic, political or social goals (Larrère & Larrère, 1997).
To combine technoscience and democracy implies a balanced division of tasks. Technoscience is already prepared to think like a mountain, according to the (environmentalistic) Land Ethic of Aldo Leopold, a forester who learned and taught that to respect and protect nature, it is necessary to think of ourselves as the being (the land) that we want to conserve as it is (Larrère & Larrère, 1997). But to embrace conservation, it is necessary to abandon the polarity of the "subject-object" relationship (Table 01). Nature is a landscape whose construction or destruction has man as a co-producer (or co-destroyer), without forgeting the exercise of reason. But not the reason provided by the scientific authoritarianism, advocated by the "agents of technological optimism" and manipulated by political (blackmail) or economic (the pursuit of profit) interests. To try to act as each element of nature, to try to think like a mountain implies the appraisal of the biodiversity, as well as the social diversity. And no one is more able to act positively in relation to the biological diversity than the natives, who, equipped with a look of participants, are the ones who know better the environment they want to conserve.
In this sense, it is possible to say that, "global progress is devastating: it homogenizes, normalizes, undermines the genetic diversity and the specific diversity, the functional diversity and the spatial heterogeneity, in summary, it undermines the biodiversity" (Larrère & Larrère, p.323, 1997), just like the knowledge, that, pretending to be universal, destroys that which is most valuable: the casual, the chance, the unexpected, the surprise, the different, the diverse.
The expression "think global, act local" is more valid than ever. Technoscience, extended throughout the world in the form of networks by expert systems, has, in this new contract, the responsibility of assisting the social groups in the construction of citizenship through the validation of the local knowledge. But if it is possible to think of some form of progressive universalization through the extension of local experiences regulated by a consensual common goal, i.e., if it is possible to think within this logic that is the conservation of a biodiversity closely related to the cultural diversity, then we can no longer neglect the issue of power, domination, and the old democratic debate on opportunities for minorities, because, according to Touraine,
it is necessary to cease to oppose, rhetorically, the power of the majority to the rights of the minority. There is no democracy if these two elements are not respected. Democracy is the regime in which the majority recognizes the rights of the minorities because it accepts that today's majority may become tomorrow's minority and be subject to a law that will not represent its interests, but that same law will not deny the exercise of its fundamental rights (p.29, 1996).
Only a technoscience that validates knowledge and only a social group that respects minorities would be institutionally prepared to deal with a new development project intended to be durable and sustainable, as well as the issues of biosafety. It is not about importing innovations from developed countries, as in the case of GMOs, whose patents revert to the United States, but are increasingly spread across the globe. It is about deciding what are our real problems and social challenges, to develop appropriate technologies to deal with them and benefit from it. While the unequal relations continue to allow the megadiverse countries to have their resources plundered and patented by developed countries, everything will be taken from us, even the capacity for knowledge production. We have need of a technoscience that produces taxonomists who want something more than simply serve the multinational interests to charge royalties. We need to know objectively our diversity, but we also need, as a precondition, to respect our social diversity. Both go hand in hand.
Thus, even though the sustainable development and the biodiversity are planetary goals, they are implemented through local experiences, making use of territorial resources, social settings, political situations, and possibilities for the application, within this context, of available technologies. If the current scenario of the discussions on the agricultural biotechnologies and the issue of biosafety in Brazil reveal a strengthening of the position of the "agents of technological optimism," a manipulation of technoscience through the legitimation of the authoritarianism of scientific truth (as reflected in the "superpowers" of the CTNBio) to cover sociocentric interests that involve royalties, international politics and relations of dependency, all of it to maintain modern anthropocentrism; this position, fortunately, is not the only one there is. Behind the diffuse initiatives of the "caution critics," there are many visible signs that the history of the tense relationship between technoscience and democracy can no longer be silenced. If the monarchy served it well, the incorporation of democratic dispositions and the advances in knowledge and the environmental problems are beginning to draw the contours of its shroud. And a new ethics, born from this state of facts, would invalidate the expression "everyone for himself." They are all drifting along, in the same boat, in search of the north: nature and social groups, technoscience and democracy.
Bibliographical References
BOURDIEU, P. Razões práticas: sobre a teoria da ação. Campinas: Papirus Editora, 1996.
BRASIL. Lei n.º 11.105, de 24 de março de 2005. Disponível em: <http://www.presidencia.gov.br/ccivil_03/_Ato2004-2006/2005/Lei/ L11105.htm>. Acesso em: 04 de maio de 2005.
GIDDENS, A. Introdução. As conseqüências da modernidade. São Paulo: Editora da Universidade Estadual Paulista, 1991.
GIDDENS, A. Duas teorias da democratização. In: GIDDENS, A. Para além da esquerda e da direita. São Paulo: Editora da Unesp, 1996.
JONAS, H. Técnica e responsabilidade: reflexões sobre as novas tarefas da ética. In: Ética, medicina e técnica. Lisboa: Vega Passagens, p.27-62, 1994.
KEMPF, H. Asilomar: a ciência aos cientistas. In: ZANONI, M. (org.). Transgênicos, terapia genética e células-tronco: questões para a ciência e para a sociedade. Brasília: Núcleo de Estudos Agrários e Desenvolvimento Rural, Instituto Interamericano de Cooperação para a Agricultura, 2004.
LATOUR, B. Jamais fomos modernos. Rio de Janeiro: Editora 34, 1994.
LATOUR, B. Políticas da natureza: como fazer ciência na democracia. Baurú: EDUSC, 2004.
LARRÈRE, C.; LARRÈRE, R. Do bom uso da natureza. Para uma filosofia do meio ambiente. Lisboa: Instituto Piaget, 1997.
LEITE, M. Por que precisamos de um novo fórum para o debate público sobre biotecnologia. Science and Development Network - SciDev.Net, 2004. Disponível em: <http://www.scidev.net/ms/sci_comm/index.cfm? pageid=300>. Acesso em: 21 de agosto de 2004a.
LEITE, M. "Melhores verdades". Folha de São Paulo. São Paulo. Disponível em: <http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/fsp/ciencia/ fef209200401.htm>. Acesso em: 12 set. 2004.
SILVEIRA, C. A. da; ALMEIDA, J. Social Meanings of Biotechnologies. In: CONGRESSO BRASILEIRO DE ECONOMIA E SOCIOLOGIA RURAL, 48, Rio de Janeiro, 2000a.
SILVEIRA, C. A. da; ALMEIDA, J. Significados sociais das biotecnologias: o campo de disputas em torno das sementes transgênicas no Rio Grande do Sul. In: 24º REUNIÃO ANUAL DA ANPOCS, Anais, Petrópolis, 2000b.
SILVEIRA, C. A. da. Significados sociais das biotecnologias: interesses e disputas em torno dos organismos geneticamente modificados (OGMs) no Rio Grande do Sul. 169 f. Dissertação de Mestrado (Mestrado em Desenvolvimento Rural) - Programa de Pós-Graduação em Desenvolvimento Rural, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, 2005.
SILVEIRA, C. A. da; ALMEIDA, J. Agentes sociais e disputas em torno das agrobiotecnologias: o caso da soja transgênica no Sul do Brasil. Cadernos de Ciência & Tecnologia. Brasília: Embrapa, no prelo, 2005a.
SILVEIRA, C. A. da; ALMEIDA, J. Biossegurança e democracia: entre um espaço dialógico e novos fundamentalismos. Revista Sociedade e Estado. Brasília: v.20, n.1, p.73-102, 2005b.
TOURAINE, A. Uma idéia nova. In: TOURAINE, A. O que é democracia? Petrópolis: Vozes, 1996.
* Translator's note: all quotations from here on are freely translation from Portuguese.
1 Technoscience is a system in which scientific and technological knowledge are strongly associated, working globally through constant innovation in the production and dissemination of technological artifacts into new markets and the intensive financial support. According to Latour (1994), it is not possible to think of science and technology separately.
2 Borrowed from Giddens (p.35, 1991), the concept used here refers to "systems of technical accomplishment or professional expertise that organize[s] large areas of the material and social environments in which we live today."
3 It is also possible to find in Bruno Latour (1994, 2004) the idea of an ontological and epistemological division between society (social groups) and nature through the reconfiguration of the ontological and historical understanding of the way through which the Companies have built their Constitutions from the presence of several non-humans in alliance with humans and hybrids of culture and nature, whose result is the collectivity in which we live. The Latourian notion of social groups takes into account the participation, in the same space, of humans and non-humans, symmetrically organized.
4 The terms technosphere and technonature are used here to designate: first, the idea of nature as completely controlled and manipulated by man; and second, an idea of nature that responds to human action, but not in accordance with our wishes, producing unpredictable results.
5 In the Bourdieusian sense, the notion of habitus indicates "a unifying and generative principle: it translates the intrinsic and relational qualities of observable externalities into coherent schemas." (Bourdieu, p.21-22, 1996).
6 A protein identified as the cause of the Bovine spongiform encephalopathy.
7 This designation, like that of "caution critics," has been used by the authors to refer to the parts involved in disputes over agricultural biotechnologies in Brazil, and more particularly in Rio Grande do Sul, in order to characterize the different positions taken in the dispute (Silveira, 2005 Silveira & Almeida, 2005a; Silveira & Almeida, 2000b).
8 The idea of gene flow is defended by the "caution critics," who took positions that diverge from those engendered by their opponents (the idea of genetic determinism). The gene flow presents risks, uncertainties and ambiguities, and it has become a weapon in the struggle to produce a counterpoint.


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The writer is responding to a column by Michael M. Rosen, "San Onofre grinding to restart – despite carping" (March 8):
Southern California Edison (SCE) is proposing to restart the San Onofre nuclear power plant at 35% power.
SCE proposes an experiment to run two of the four steam generators at 70% power and hope they do not suffer the kind of tube wear that took the plant out of service in January 2012.
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) is considering whether to force ratepayers in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County to pay for SCE's restart experiment.
It is time to stop the SCE's restart plan because it is based on faulty premises.
In 2005 the PUC approved SCE's plan to replace the four steam generators at San Onofre's Unit 2 and 3, which were experiencing tube wear problems. Too many of the 10,000 tubes in the electricity producing steam generators were wearing out. The PUC authorized SCE to charge ratepayers to pay $700 million for four new steam generators that were supposed to be free of the tube wear problem.
Unfortunately, the four new steam generators had tube wear problems as bad or worse than the ones that were replaced. They lasted less than two years. Premature tube wear was found in all four steam generators.
SCE's restart plan is based on the premise that Unit 2's steam generators are good to go because they showed less wear than Unit 3. There are three flaws in this premise.
First, while requiring SCE to determine the cause of tube wear in Unit 3, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has failed to order SCE to determine the cause of the wear in the Unit 2 steam generators.
Second, the "Root Cause" report Sen. Barbara Boxer cited shows SCE ignored defects in the four new steam generators to avoid a more NRC scrutiny.
And, third, there is evidence Unit 2 had less wear than Unit 3 because Unit 2 was run at a lower level of power than Unit 3.
Ratepayers are being asked to pay the fixed and marginal costs of the 35% of power restart plan when there are less expensive alternatives and there remain too many unanswered questions about Unit 2.
When steam generator replacement was completed, SCE was supposed to file a cost application with the PUC showing the costs were reasonable. SCE represented to its shareholders the replacement was done in February 2011, yet has still not filed the cost application. After SCE repeatedly claimed it was going to file the cost application, the PUC has ordered SCE to file the cost application March 15.
SCE shareholders and not ratepayers should pay for the steam generator debacle. SCE should be stopped from collecting the steam generator replacement costs in rates and to repay ratepayers for those already taken.
Finally, the public should be aware the two agencies responsible for protecting safety and keeping costs reasonable, the NRC and the PUC, have failed to take effective action to resolve the San Onofre problem.
SCE, the PUC and the NRC coordinate their actions to create the appearance they are acting to protect the public. But the facts show otherwise. The PUC is allowing SCE to charge ratepayers for San Onofre even though it has not produce a megawatt of power for more than a year. The NRC has failed to even require SCE to determine the cause of the Unit 2 tube wear. And SCE has spread money far and wide to mobilize public officials, nonprofits, and business and labor groups to blindly support the restart plan.
Countering this is an ever-growing group of private citizens who are working together to alert their community of the risk of the SCE restart plan.
Mike Aguirre
Mike Aguirre, a former San Diego City Attorney, is counsel for a party in the PUC San Onofre proceeding representing small business and nonprofit groups in San Diego.


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Ashley Judd's been missing from Hollywood of late. But now you can find her, ironically, in "Missing."
Judd, known for her big screen in films like "Kiss the Girls," "Double Jeopardy," "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" and De-Lovely," returns from a self-imposed showbiz hiatus while pursuing her higher education goals and staying deeply involved in political, social, environmental and humanitarian causes.
But one master's degree and the offer of a juicy role later, Judd's joined the ranks of respected film stars migrating to TV for "Missing," a 10-episode series shot on location around Europe that casts her as a retired CIA agent who uses every resource at her disposal to track down her vanished son. Judd opens the dossier on her return.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
On her decision to get back in front of the cameras, and to do it for television:
"I was very fortunate in that they came looking for me, and that is something that I found very humbling and flattering. Obviously I was aware that this is a golden age in television, that incredible film producers are making special TV, and that once rather impermeable membrane between film actors and TV actors has completely vanished. I remember turning on 'The Big C,' a show I enjoyed, and there was Liam Neeson doing a guest turn, and while I was in school, people were sending me a lot of television material, but it was either try to get a A in Health and Human Rights or read a script. And I figured, you know, I'm in school. I might as well go for the grade. And once I graduated, my agent called me with that special lilt in her voice, which all actors love to hear: 'I think I found the one,' And I flew to Los Angeles and had a meeting with these fine producers. They pitched me a sensational idea, a mother looking for her son. I am not CIA – I'm a mother looking for my son. It's going to film ten episodes, which does work well with the balance of my very abundant life, and, hey, each episode is event TV set in a glorious European capital. What's not to love?"
On getting back into shape for the show's abundant action sequences after a steady stint at her desk:
"I'd had a very sedentary life until I began filming 'Missing.' I went to graduate school, and I wrote a book, so I say – and I mean it quite sincerely – I sat down for two-and-a-half years, and I didn't get up until it was time to do that. So I just got on my yoga mat with a few teachers I really like and who I trust, and fortunately I've got good muscle memory, and it came back, and it was a way not only to be really in my body and flexible, but to make sure I stayed safe and didn't get hurt. And then it was just time to fight – and I love to fight, and I find it easy and rewarding."
On her learning curve a five-year break:
"Part of what was appealing to me about doing 'Missing' is that its only 10 episodes. It was very contained and the schedule was known in advance, so I could really dedicate the rest of my year to other work, like feminine social justice and humanitarian work, as well as kind of following my hot husband [IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti] around. It was something new and different, and on 'Missing' we always used a three-camera setup, so that's a dream for an actor because not only could I give a performance from all angles at once and not have to play to a specific camera, but I could have more reality and living in the space and then we could do more each day. We would rip through extraordinary amounts of material and that was draining, obviously, but really rewarding. With the digital revolution, even on the set, it takes very little time to change the camera. It moved very quickly. I was on my way back to my trailer and they would say that they were ready, and that was actually the biggest adjustment for me, probably because I retired for five years."
On maintaining the show's near-constant sense of tension:
"I really had to be prepared, very emotionally prepared. I mean, there were times when the directors were happy after one take, and I'm like 'I'm kind of having fun here – may I do another?' So just knowing that I could bring it at the level that was important to me with every single scene and every single take."
On working from a well-developed character backstory:
"The producers and writers provided me with a very clear sense of who Becca Winstone was and is, and when we got about two episodes in they gave me, actually the timeline of my whole life. Because as you'll see in all of these flashbacks with Sean Bean, in spite the fact that we loved each other very much and we worked together as CIA operatives, the marriage was not an easy one. And so they created this timeline for me that showed, for example, how the Adriano Giannini character intruded upon our marriage. And he's an asset I reach out to in Rome when my son goes missing, so it's the horrible collision for me of my past and my present."
On the rigors of launching a new series, and the added complications of shooting it all over Europe:
"I have been told – of course, after the fact – that Season One of a show is the single hardest thing to film, and we had additional challenges being so far away from our studio. It was good , there was good direction, a lot of quality people, and it was just hard. There's really no way around it: it was just hard. But it wasn't hard in the ways that you would expect. Like, filming in Istanbul was a total joy – we didn't have to pause filming for the call to prayer every hour, or in Prague there's a guy who plays his bugle every night at 6 and we didn't have to pause for that, or we would be filming in the very famous old town square and the Astronomical Clock would go off and right before the hour 10,000 tourists would materialize because they wanted to see this wonder of the world. So those things were easy to work around because they're part of the awe and magic of being in Europe, but there were other things that were just hard. It's a wonderful show and I think people will enjoy it, and I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to forget the hardships and just be so pleased with how well it turned out."
"Missing" premieres Thursday night, March 15, at 8 PM ET on ABC


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Orange Lime Gelatin Ring
Total TimePrep: 30 min. + chilling
Makes10 servings
- 1 can (11 ounces) mandarin oranges, drained
- 1 can (20 ounces) crushed pineapple, undrained
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 package (3 ounces) lime gelatin
- 1 package (8 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, cubed
- Lettuce leaves
- 2 cups seedless red grapes
- Arrange oranges in the bottom of a 9-in. ring mold coated with cooking spray. Cover and freeze for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, drain pineapple, reserving 1 cup juice (discard any remaining juice or save for another use); set pineapple aside.
- In a saucepan, bring lemon juice and reserved pineapple juice to a boil. Remove from the heat; cool for 10 minutes. Pour into a blender or food processor. Add gelatin powder; cover and process for 30 seconds or until gelatin is dissolved. Add cream cheese; cover and process for 1 minute or until smooth.
- Stir in pineapple. Pour into ring mold. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or until firm. Unmold onto a lettuce-lined serving platter. Fill center with grapes.
Nutrition Facts1 slice: 158 calories, 5g fat (3g saturated fat), 16mg cholesterol, 126mg sodium, 25g carbohydrate (0 sugars, 1g fiber), 4g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 fruit, 1 fat, 1/2 starch.
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May 26, 2013
SAVED recipe. A beautiful presentation picture! I like another reader's idea of using blackberries in place of grapes. Quite a novel idea!! K.
Apr 2, 2013
Okay, I made this for Easter dinner. Rave reviews by all. Did add some toasted chopped pecans to the mold, because I'll add nuts to meatloaf if I can ;-). The sweet/tart flavor of the gelatin was refreshing, and I added blackberries, so the dish did look like a sunflower. Oh, I almost forgot...I used fresh oranges, supremed instead of canned fruit. It just seemed appropriate.
Mar 18, 2013
Just a thought here...if you substituted blackberries for the red grapes, it'd look just like a sunflower! I'll rate again after I actually make it, but I'm sure it'll be yummy!
Mar 15, 2013
This recipe makes a beautiful presentation on any table, love to serve it on St Paddy's Day because of the orange & green, & the taste yummy!
Aug 11, 2009
I ran across this recipe several years ago. I have made this for potlucks and family dinners. It is always a hit,,,no leftovers. It is easy to prepare and looks so pretty on the table. Try it you'll like it.


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This Blog focuses on Ancestor Stories, both the stories themselves about my family's ancestors and discussions of where they come from and how to prepare and share them. These stories may be non-fiction or fiction – we will always tell which is which, of course. Also see my KINNICK blog and The HOMEPLACE Series Blog, left sidebar, scroll down.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
More Words for Wednesday - Homeplace - definition?
Of the four parents that lived in those two houses, only one lived more than a week away from an eight mile radius until very late in life. In contrast, as suggested by the comments, when my wife, Nancy, and I celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary last summer, one of the prominent displays our daughters prepared, with our help, was a map, and photos, of the 15 homes in 12 states where we lived during those 50 years... I have them in my hands, at the moment...
What a striking difference, in one generation. Actually, the prior generation, our grandparents, spent their entire adult lives in basically the same community, as well. How different their perspectives on life from ours!
Still, there is something very strong about a "Homeplace." My dad always used that term to refer to the family farm on which he was born and raised (in the same neighborhood, of course!) Currently, I'm putting the final edits to rest on a fiction book titled "Back to the Homeplace" - it is not autobiographical by any means, but the title comes from my dad's reference. As I reflect on what caused me to start writing this story, 22 years ago (life got in the way of finishing it...), many elements of our own story can certainly be seen in the manuscript, if you know what to look for.
By the way, the discussion - I hope this continues it - in the comments on the "our old farm homes" post is a great example of how discussions can be carried out by interested persons on blogs. Someone asked me, a couple of weeks ago, why their blog posts did not generate more discussions... my reply was two fold, 1) you have to write something of interest, even compelling, and 2) you have to make comments on other folks' posts. It does work. Thanks for your participation!!
Families are Forever! ;-)
6 comments:
- AnonymousJanuary 20, 2010 at 9:44 PM
Hi, Dr. Bill...here I am! Checking you out. I'm currently living on family property from the 1920's or 30's. I'll have to post a story about this property with its interesting history soon. Until then, I'll watch your stories.ReplyDelete
Good for you! Thanks for stopping by!ReplyDelete
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
My mother passed away two years ago, at the age of 88 1/2. She lived her entire life in Klamath county, Oregon within a 25 mile radius. She lived the last 50+ years in the house my father built in 1951. In 1999, I wrote a small book about all of the houses that she had lived in during her life --- and all the stories that went with those memories. Thanks for reminding me how important it was to preserve those precious memories.ReplyDelete
Okay Dr. Bill. I'm going to try this one more time, so everyone can see it.ReplyDelete
Because you have been so kind and have been so encouraging to me on my blog, I am presenting you with the "A Blogger's Best Friend Award".
You can pick up the award at http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_-Y6k3-BSUkM/SevRxuxJfEI/AAAAAAAADNw/kUofLhqhPt4/s1600-h/award_bloggersbestfriend.jpg But, I since I see it on your blog, you have already done that!
Thank you so much for your support and for sharing your family stories.
Thank you, Lori! I was concerned when I saw your comment deleted, above. I appreciate you re-posting, and I really appreciate the award! I don't know what I did, but it came naturally, so I guess that is the most important thing. Keep up the good work... I'll try to too!ReplyDelete


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Havens Of Pompeii: Some Things Aways Survive
Description: Havens of Pompeii: Some Things Always Survive, a compelling work of historical fiction by Nicole Louw, paints a historically accurate picture of Ancient Pompeii. Louw's extensively researched portrait of Roman life in 79 AD before, during and after the devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius includes descriptions of real homes, real people and the political system of the Roman Empire. Against the background of impending doom, injured gladiator Valerus falls in love with the shy yet ambitious dancing girl, Flavia -- one of three he presented to his father as a gift. As the relationship between nobleman and slave develops, Valerus' views on the world and his life shift radically, and he schemes to free her from her cruel fate. Yet soon everything will explode around them, in ways they would never have expected.
Price: $9.99 to $27.95


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Safety Barriers
Everywhere, where digital signals must be electrically separated and processed or current and voltage limited power supply is needed, our interface devices are used such as isolating switching amplifiers, solenoid drivers, relay couplers and rotation speed monitors. The interface devices are available in the IP20 modular housing for the DIN rail as well as in the compact IP67 housing for decentralized on-site use. The product portfolio also comprises solutions for the Ex area and SIL-certified devices.