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John Makely / NBC News
The Breezy Point neighborhood of Queens, where more than 100 homes burned when Superstorm Sandy hit.
Scroll to bottom of story to see a 360 degree panorama of the fire zone.
BREEZY POINT, N.Y. -- This private community, which has fended off previous existential threats, is now facing its "greatest historical challenge" as a result of Superstorm Sandy, with some residents questioning whether they can afford to rebuild and others wondering if the resurrected beachside community will bear any resemblance to its bucolic former self.
A halting first step on what figures to be a long road back took place Thursday evening, when the Breezy Point Cooperative Inc. Board held its first post-Sandy shareholders meeting at a Catholic high school in Brooklyn.
More than 1,000 residents of the community founded by Irish immigrants around the turn of the 20th century packed the meeting, which was closed to the media and members of the general public.
According to residents who attended, the board discussed applications for emergency Small Business Administration loans, the status of efforts to restore various utilities, demolitions and a disaster recovery fund, planned infrastructure improvements and other topics.
But some of those interviewed as they left said that their biggest concerns weren't addressed.
"In the long run, it seems like things are going to take a lot of time," said Rob Moran, a 38-year-old construction worker who attended with his wife, Carinne Bach. "A lot of questions are still up in the air right now."
Bob Esposito, a former police officer whose home sustained water damage, said he was pleased to hear about infrastructure improvements, but wished the board had at least touched on the bigger issues that are weighing on residents' minds.
"They were prepared to give a lot of information out, which we all needed to hear, but I think they are very reluctant on answering the hard-core questions," he said.
Sandy smacked into the village on the southeastern tip of the city's Rockaway peninsula the night of Oct. 29, unleashing floodwaters that surged through the bungalows and bigger, newer homes, tearing some of the former off their foundations. The flooding also may have sparked a fire that burned down more than 100 of the 2,800 homes in Breezy Point.
John Makely / NBC News
Heavily damaged homes along Oceanside Drive in Breezy Point, N.Y.
The tight-knit community, home to many generations of numerous families, is only beginning to grapple with the wide-ranging consequences. Debris is slowly being cleared and power restored, but the water system is still shut down and demolition of the roughly 200 homes that sustained the worst damage -- including what remains of those in the fire zone -- has yet to begin.
Breezy Point, which was largely self-sufficient before the storm, is receiving assistance from the city as it attempts to jump-start its recovery. But officials and residents acknowledge that they have only begun to regroup.
Cooperative board Chairman Joseph Lynch declined an interview request from NBC News to discuss the current situation, but in an online statement to shareholders posted Nov. 16 he wrote, "This storm and its destruction have presented our Cooperative its greatest historical challenge, which will take time to overcome."
In a later message posted just before Thanksgiving, he said that "the economic challenge for some in this regard will be a true test and hardship," before ending on an optimistic note:
"In spite of this very serious setback I am confident that our Cooperative will also continue to grow, evolve, and prosper as it has over the past fifty-two years," he said. "We also have no other choice."
But other community members, including at least one co-op board member, are less sanguine about the prospects of the largely middle-class neighborhood, home to many firefighters, police officers and sanitation workers.
"Unfortunately, I'm afraid it may cause some people to leave the community," said Marty Ingram, fire chief of the Point Breeze volunteer firefighters and a member of the co-op board, though stressing that he was speaking only for himself. "I hope it doesn't. But it's going to have an impact."
Ingram said the community would pull together and he believed would offer some "quiet" financial aid to help people who can't otherwise afford to rebuild.
Mary Elizabeth Smith, a lifelong resident and author of "A History of Breezy Point," noted that the community, which started out as more of a summer getaway spot for working-class families and slowly morphed into a charming residential enclave with intimate sand lanes running between homes, has proven remarkably resilient over the years.
Courtesy of Mary Quinn
Mary Quinn, now 59, stands with her parents and older brothers as a little girl in Breezy Point in front of their bungalow, which was the typical type of housing in the community's earlier days. Quinn's family moved to the community full time in the early 1960s. She rebuilt the house in 1994.
The Breezy Point Cooperative was created in 1960 when residents learned that the 800-acres on which their homes stood had been quietly sold to a developer interested in building seaside high-rises. A group of homeowners went door-to-door collecting $500 from each family to raise an initial $75,000 defense fund, she said, and the group was ultimately able to buy back 400 acres for $12 million.
The co-op has been an oasis of economic stability in the decades since, paying off its communal mortgage years ago. That prosperity was in part due to the board's initial ban on mortgage loans -- a requirement that was eventually relaxed to allow buyers to put 50 percent down on a home and finance the remainder. As a result, Ingram said that not a single Breezy Point home was foreclosed on during the housing crisis that erupted in 2008.
Smith said the credit belongs "to our ancestors … (who) really took a major chance, put up money in a belief in something that did not occur anywhere else in the United States: a community of houses that owned the land underneath them."
The city briefly considered making Breezy Point a public park in 1962, but protests from residents and the developer scotched that effort. Then, after the National Park Service took title to land to the west and east after the same developer ran into financial problems, the cooperative went to federal court to battle with its new neighbor over ownership of newly formed sand flats, winning the rights to the land in 1982.
"A lot of people who live there today have no idea of the battles that were fought to get this property," said Smith, 62, who was about 9 when the fight began to save Breezy Point, "and that's why people really don't want to leave the place. I'm certainly one of them."
Moran and Bach are among the residents hoping they can rebuild their bungalow, which may have to be demolished.
The home, which was built by Bach's deceased father, was inundated by a couple of feet of raw sewage and water, has a slight tilt and apparently some problems with the foundation. Though city inspectors indicated in two initial inspections that they should be able to rebuild, the couple fears it needs more than a repair and they may have to start anew.
John Makely / NBC News
Rob Moran, 38, cleans out the flooded basement of his home in Breezy Point, N.Y., on Dec. 1, 2012. Moran and his wife Carinne Bach, 38, are asking building inspectors to re-assess their home, which they fear may not be safe to live in.
With a Dec. 31 deadline set to apply for a free demolition provided by the city, they had hoped to learn at Thursday's co-op board meeting how the building codes might change as a result of Sandy's incursion, especially whether rebuilt homes might need to be elevated to lessen the likelihood of future flooding. But they left empty-handed.
"We got a little information, but I'm sure not quite as much as everybody had hoped," said Bach, 38, a dance and fitness instructor who is several months pregnant. "I don't think it's for a lack of trying. I just think there's so much red tape and so much unknown."
"As far as where we're to go from here, there's not a clear road map," she added.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg hinted on Thursday that building code changes should be expected for waterfront areas, noting that "we can't just rebuild what was there and hope for the best."
John Makely / NBC News
A FEMA inspector works amid the burned homes in Breezy Point.
"As you can see, the yardstick has changed -- and so must we," he added. "FEMA is currently in the process of updating their (flood) maps -- and those maps will guide us in setting new construction requirements."
If new, more-stringent building requirements are put in place, many fear the expense will drive out some longtime residents, particularly the elderly and families that have kept summer or part-time homes -- about 40 percent of the residences -- there for decades.
Laurie Cerra is struggling to keep the small green bungalow that had been in her family for about 85 years. She swept the floors, filled garbage bags and struggled to hold back tears last week as volunteers used crowbars to rip down the walls. The home received a red card -- meaning it was unsafe to enter -- from inspectors, but she was doing the work in a bid to save the damaged foundation.
"I'm trying to separate myself from this, I really am. I spent every summer here … growing up. I'm really hoping I can repair the foundation," said Cerra, 54, a dietitian from Greenfield Township, Pa.
But because she can't get coverage from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which doesn't provide emergency aid on second homes, and has not heard from her homeowners' insurance for wind damage coverage in three weeks, she can't afford to rebuild in the short term.
John Makely / NBC News
Laurie Cerra, a registered dietitian from Pennsylvania, stands in the living room of her Breezy Point, N.Y., home on Dec. 1, 2012, as volunteers help her remove debris. Cerra is hoping she can save the damaged foundation and rebuild the home, which has been in her family for about 85 years.
"Maybe in, I don't know, three or four years, if I get (the) foundation, then I can do it myself. I can try and do sheetrock myself," she said. "At this point, no, it's just going to be out of my savings account to rebuild."
The co-op board is implicitly acknowledging the financial threat. In a statement posted online on Saturday, it said Breezy Point homeowners can now borrow, over the next two years, up to 80 percent of their home's appraised value, or up to $500,000, to repair or replace their properties.
It also waived one part of the "carrying charges" -- monthly fees that include garbage collection, road and building maintenance, property tax and security services -- for the owners of about 300 homes that were destroyed or significantly damaged.
Lynch, the co-op board chairman, had upset some residents by reminding them that it is "really important" that shareholders continue to pay the fees "as our corporation will face real financial challenges and pressure in the immediate future."
Lifelong resident Kim Dillon was among those who felt the tone was wrong so soon after the disaster.
"Our lives are in disarray and I don't think their first contact with us should have been … 'we're still expecting maintenance fees' when there's people that don't have houses," said Dillon, 43, whose family is one of two that have moved back onto their block, even though there is still no running water.
But Dillon said her neighbors, who were like family, would be back, though she acknowledged her hometown would change as a result of the devastation.
"It's going to be sad to see the bungalows gone, because that was like old Breezy Point," she said, referring to the area known as "the wedge," where the six-alarm fire burned so hot that stormy night. "I don't think there's going to be many -- if any -- left."
Follow this link to view the panoramic of Breezy Point full-screen.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- US Supreme Court to take up same-sex marriage issue
- Obama seeking $60.4 billion for post-Sandy recovery
- Advocates on both sides hope for Supreme Court clarity on same-sex marriage
- Woman survives six days in snow eating tomatoes
- 'My puppy saved my life': SUV rams into man's jewelry store, which he had just left
- Shark bait? Rotting whale on Malibu beach raises fear
- Mormon church website: 'Sexuality is not a choice'
Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook


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Some information is missing or invalid below.
Blue topaz stones, diamond accents and a floral design give these linear drop earrings eye-catching flair.
Earring Details:
Diamond Details:
Stone Details:
Image(s) may be enlarged to show detail.
Diamond weights are approximate. Diamond total weights may vary between .01 and .08 ct. Some diamonds have fewer than 17 facets.
Promotional offers available online at Kohls.com may vary from those offered in Kohl's stores.

subset: commoncrawl


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Maltose Syrup
- Datasheet (英语)
Wuhu Deli Foods Co., Ltd.目前只在以下作出标识的区域展示其产品资料:
Maltose Syrup is also known as maltobiose or malt sugar. It is made from rice and malt by fermentation saccharification. It is used as a sweetener and a color preserver for a wide range of food products.including candy, soft drinks, fruit jams, meat products and baked goods. It is a viscous liquid. It has a sweet slightly malty flavor with no aroma.
Wuhu Deli Foods Co., Ltd. is an export-oriented manufacturer and specializes in the production of natural bee honey and syrup products. They have separated production lines for the pure honey and syrup products, with 10,000 square meters workshops designed as per GMP standard. Their products include natural bee honey, honey powder and other honey products, flavoured syrup, maltose syrup, clarified rice syrup, brown rice syrup, GMO free rice syrup, and so on. There is also a variety of the types of honey available as well as various kinds of flavored syrups available.
产品类型 Categories
应用领域 Categories
Wuhu Deli Foods Co., Ltd.
希望在赛百库经销商/贸易商板块进行展示推广?请立即联络我们 !


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- Pulsar PN8003X Womens 50M Watch$110.00 $140.00
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- ClearancePulsar PM2271X Stainless Steel Ladies Watch$99.00 $160.00$160.00Clearance
Make time for yourself with watches from our Pulsar collection at Shiels. With innovative designs and a flair for being different, Pulsar watches are an ideal addition to any wardrobe. Pulsar's individualistic and refined collection of American watches is the ideal accessory to dress up any outfit.
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Explore Shiels' complete collection of the finest men's and women's watches online, to find the timepiece you'll never want to leave at home.


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First off let me congratulate everyone with a New 2014 Year! I would like to wish all my readers a great year and may all your images come out better than you expect! I have not written anything on here for a while because the bus and I have been stationed in San Diego and have not done much traveling at all. However the events of earlier this week do deserve a special notice, so here we go - my first update of 2014.
Some of you may remember that about a year ago I published on here a story about purchasing a collection of Magic Lantern Slides taken by John Rahill in Russia during the winter of 1917/18 while he was doing work for YMCA. The story made international news and I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of interest these images generated. Later, during my summer travels, I visited YMCA archives in Minneapolis MN and actually found some good useful information that will come in handy in both explaining my recent discovery and my theories about how things unfolded.
This summer I wrote an article about the slides for a magazine caller Russian Life and supplemented it with a few images. This publication focuses on Russian diaspora and historic accounts of the motherland. The article was warmly received and I got a lot of feedback, well wishes on my re-photographing mission and invites for Magic Lantern Shows. One thing that followed though was completely unexpected. 4 months after the article appeared in print I got an email from Portland Oregon in which a grandson of one of YMCA workers who happened to be in Russia on the same mission as Rahill told me that he also has a large collection of lantern slides that his grandfather took during that memorable journey. He said that similarities in the nature of our collection were striking and invited me to come and see the slides for myself. Imagine my excitement when I thought that there is another never before seen set of slides of war-torn Russia as seen through a different set of eyes. The name of his grandfather also appears a few times in note cards that came with my slide set - I assumed that the two men must have traveled together for some time and so took some pictures of each other. I was very much looking forward to seeing new images of John Rahill and to showing my Portland host new images of his grandfather. With that in mind I booked a flight with a plan to stay there for two nights.
I got to Portland on Tuesday evening and was met by Kurt - the kind slide owner who agreed to put me up for couple of nights at his house (I will withhold his and his last name for privacy's sake). Excitement was palpable in the air as we started the short drive from the airport to his place. It was a foggy evening and I think that was very symbolic of the situation - neither of us really knew what to expect from each others pictures. As we drove slowly through the surface streets of northern Portland, Kurt noted that he recognized a picture or two from the ones that were published in Russian Life as also being present in his set. I didn't think much of it. As I mentioned in my previous post I have found a few duplicate images in Stanford archives among Russel Storey's images, it seems that a practice of sharing key frames for personal presentations was present at the time. However, next Kurt described a few images that I possess, but have not published anywhere and that rang some alarm bells. By the time we parked by his house Kurt and I figured out that what I was actually about to see was a complete DUPLICATE set of magic lantern slides made from John Rahill's slides!
I can't place my feelings with any exactness on the scale between excitement and disappointment after this fact was first realized. On one hand there were new images to be seen and therefore no new visual information to be gained that could help me with my research. On the other hand it was still rather incredible to see a duplicate set of images form 95+ years ago! Remember going to a photo processing facility after a vacation and asking them to make two sets of 4x6 prints so you could give one to your friend who traveled with you? What are the chances of those two sets finding each other nearly a century later? Well these two sets did!
When we walked into Kurt's dining room I saw waiting there two suitcases full of lantern slides with exact same red binding as those in my possession. Here they are as I first saw them.
As you can see in the first picture some notes of Carl (Kurt's grandfather) were also present, so I was hoping to gain some insights into places visited by him. It turned out that not only those notes were written in such handwriting that none of us could understand more than a word here or there, but what was indeed deciphered did not contain any helpful particulars.... I started going through the glass plates rather quickly - by now I have seen them many times and was now looking for images that may be missing from my set. I did not see a single photo that was not the exact duplicate. Now that I'm thinking of it there may have indeed need a few that I thought I had, but in fact only remember from the black and white proof prints and may not have in slide format. Either way at least 98% of the 400 or so plates that Kurt has are exact copies or Rahill collection.
I must add a word of caution to all those who read this and my have some slides stored away in their basement or attics - be careful with these things! They are made of fragile 1mm thick glass and are also sensitive to moisture. Keep them in a dry place and if they are in a basement elevate them from the floor in case of an unexpected flood. When carrying them around try to not turn the cases these slides are kept in onto different sides - carry them in the same position that they are stored in, that glass breaks very easily and while the top cover glass can be easily replaced, the bottom piece carries emulsion and the image and so if that one breaks your slide is toast. It seems that at some point during the last 90+ years Kurt's a lot of slides have come in contact with water, which made the cloth sealing tape come apart and some water even seeped in between the glass and completely dissolved parts of many images. Also there were a lot more broken slides than in Rahill's set - that may be due to them being moved from house to house more times. Still, this is a great find and I was a bit puzzled on how/why would a second set like this be created.
In search for the answer I dove into the research from Minnesota and soon discovered that whenever Rahill's name was mentioned in any correspondence or official logs the name of Kurt's grandfather was right side by side. Not only did they leave for Russia aboard the same ship and were on the same train coming back from Samara, but they were also mentioned as traveling together to the front lines. To top it all off they were both from Cleveland Ohio. Now I am thinking that the two buddies signed up for YMCA service together and must have gone through the entire trip together. It remains to be conclusively proven whether they actually ran the Soldier's Home in Valk together, but in the field report from Rahill reads "Out work...", not "My work", so I take that as a clue to Carl being there with him. That would also explain why Carl would want a complete second set of slides that John took - after all, they have seen the exact same things and lived through the same experience together.
Kurt also had a couple of things I have not seen before that excited me very much. First off was a simple empty box about 3x3.5x4in. To some it may have seemed like an insignificant little paper box with some Russian font on it, but to me it was a little treasure and Kurt kindly gifted it to me seeing how my eyes lit up after I saw it. This is the original box in which John and Carl purchased Magic Lantern Slides from the studio of S. A. Baranov in Moscow. Carl's set also came with a number of these commercial slides that were exact same frames that John brought back with him (though I think there were 5-10 less of them there than what I have).
The best thing though was actually the slide projector that Kurt pulled out late at night.
This is a double projector (basically actually two projectors in a stack) made by Chas Beseler. It took me a good amount of time next morning to figure out the exact configuration in which is was intended to function, but eventually I got it all together and found out that it's only missing very few non-essential screws. The projector actually came with two sets of lenses (10 and 15in) and the original cross-fade attachment that you can see in front of the lenses. These attachments are relatively fragile and not too many of them have survived intact. After seeing my excitement Kurt kindly contributed this old beast to The Photo Palace Bus arsenal and now this is the projector I will be using during my slide shows. This will do two things for the show - make my life a lot easier because I can now adapt much quicker to any combination of room and screen size and make the viewing experience a lot more smooth and enjoyable because I will be able to switch out some of the older slides that I exhibit while the one is still being projected. Previously at the beginning of my program when those older slides are featured I had to have a moment of blank white lite upon the screen while I took out one slide and replaced it with the next one. With this projector one slide can be upon a screen while I replace the slide in the other carrier and then cross-fade to it - no more white screen time!
Well, that concluded my short tale of a Portland Lantern Slide Adventure. I would like to thank Kurt and his wife Anette for sharing their home with me, what excellent and pleasant hosts they are. Maybe next time I'm in the area I can grab some supplies and spend some time repairing the damage to some of Kurt's slides so to lessen the stress on broken slides and to prevent oxidation in those that are missing sealing tape or have broken cover glass.
I also wanted to quickly mention that my Book Campaign is still ongoing and there are less than three weeks to pitch in, help me write an great story and get yourself a beautiful tintype plate. Please click HERE to see all the possibilities.


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Wraith (Monster)
|This article is in need of content, please consider adding to it.
The Wraith is one of the most vulnerable monsters in the game to the BURNDAYRAZ glyph. With its low HP and reliance on mana burn and physical resist for survival, it's practically defenseless against fireballs and easy prey to any character skilled with them. Those trying to use melee combat will have a much more difficult time, dealing reduced damage and suffering the mana burn affliction. If you absolutely must make a physical attack, always try to use up your mana before attacking a wraith and try to do so shortly before you level up so that the mana burn can be cleared off easily. Using some form of First Strike to avoid mana burn is another option, which is particularly effective after using fireballs to soften up the wraith. Because you want to avoid physical attacks altogether against this monster, the BLUDTUPOWA glyph is particularly useful against it.
The Tormented One, the Wraith boss, has much higher physical resist in addition to all the usual wraith properties. Spellcasting is the way to go here.


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In Reply to: Two budgies don't make a snowstorm posted by ESC on May 08, 2008 at 21:39:
: : : : What does "two budgies don't make a snowstorm" mean? Where does it come from? Has anyone heard this phrase before?
: : : Well it's not from the U.S. We call them parakeets here.
: : Never heard of it and I get zero Google hits for "two budgies" and either "snowstorm" or "snow storm" in the same sentence.
: Two robins don't make a spring. Or something like that.
If someone said it to me I would assume that it was an amusingly nonsensical way of saying "Something is being exaggerated" i.e. two mice don't make a plague or two raindrops don't make a rainstorm. I say nonsensical because budgies aren't white (they are very brightly coloured) so even a even a huge flock wouldn't (visually) resemble a snowstorm. As for the "two robins don't make a spring" link - the appearance of budgies doesn't foretell snow because they are native to areas where it is too hot for snow. BTW, we have parakeets in Australia as well as budgies. I checked this out and it turns out that a parakeet is just any small to medium sized species of parrot. So we just give the budgie a special name since they are so common here, whereas the US people seem to lump them in with the bigger group. Pamela


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Here is a fun little doodle I drew up today.
Also, I'm refraining from making any comments on the historicity of these narratives (suffice it to say, these events probably never happened).
For additional details, however, check out the following:
- On the Birth Narrative in Luke
- Matthew vs. Luke and the Problem of Authenticity
- Mark Goodacre's podcast on the conflicting Christmas stories.
Filed under: Belief, Cartoon, Jesus, New Testament | Tagged: jesus, John, Luke, Mark, Matthew, Nativity |


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Last Thursday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, various women including Renee Zellweger and the female cast of Grey's Anatomy were honored for the contribution to entertainment and their support of other women. This celebration was in honor of the 31st anniversary of Women in Film and the extravagant gala dinner was the place to give out the 2007 Crystal and Lucy Awards. The Women in Film site gives this description of the awards:
The Crystal Awards were established in 1977 to honor outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. Recipients are chosen for both the diversity of the accomplishments and their contributions to the advancement of women in film.
The Lucy Awards were founded in 1994 by Joanna Kerns, Bonny Dore and Loreen Arbus and are presented in association with the Lucille Ball Estate. They were named for Lucille Ball, who was not only a legendary actress and comedienne, she was also a producer, studio owner, creator and director. They are given to recognize women and men and their creative works that exemplify the extraordinary accomplishments she embodied; whose excellence and innovation have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.
Past recipients of the Crystal Award include Mary Tyler Moore, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Halle Berry. Past recipients of the Lucy Award include Geena Davis, Rosie O'Donnell and Blythe Danner. This year sees Renee Zellweger as the recipient of the Crystal Award and Shonda Rhimes and the female cast of Grey's Anatomy as the recipients of the Lucy Award.
The MaxMara Face of the Future award was also presented at the gala. This is given to a female star at the turning point in her career while still contributing a lot to the community at large. This year Emily Blunt took home the award. Her Golden Globe nominated role in Devil Wear's Prada brought her quite a bit of mainstream success, as did her Golden Globe win for 2005's made for tv movie, Gideon's Daughter.
Here are pictures from the awards credit: WENN.com


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Houston Dynamo vs. Philadelphia Union
Saturday, October 20, 6:30 p.m. CT
BBVA Compass Stadium
Union lead 3-1-2
NBC Sports Network - 6:30 p.m. (DirecTV: 603; Dish Network: 151; AT&T U-Verse: SD= 640 HD=1610; Comcast: SD= 49 HD=649)
KBME 790 - 6 p.m.
La Ranchera 850 - 6 p.m.
The Houston Dynamo will be aiming to extend their long unbeaten run while also securing a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs when they play host to Philadelphia Union on Saturday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo are undefeated at home over the entire season, their streak now at 24 games, and are still hanging on to fifth place in the Eastern Conference following their 1-1 draw with Montréal last time out. Union are eliminated from playoff consideration but have won two games in a row, coming off a 1-0 win against New England before the international break.
REFEREE: Mark Geiger. SAR (bench): Greg Barkey; JAR (opposite): Adam Garner; 4th: Ismail Elfath MLS Career: 102 games; FC/gm: 26.5; Y/gm: 3.7; R: 26; pens: 34
INJURY REPORT PRESENTED BY THE METHODIST HOSPITAL SYSTEM (As of Tuesday, October 16)
- HOUSTON DYNAMO – QUESTIONABLE: MF Brad Davis (L calf strain)
- PHILADELPHIA UNION – OUT: DF Bakary Soumare (R knee menisectomy recovery); DOUBTFUL: DF Sheanon Williams (L ankle peroneal/Achilles strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Gabriel Farfan (R ankle contusion); MF Danny Cruz (L big toe sesamoid stress fracture); FW Zach Pfeffer (L knee contusion); PROBABLE: MF Freddy Adu (L quad strain)
SUSPENDED: None
- SUSPENDED NEXT YELLOW CARD: HOU: Bobby Boswell … PHI: Gabriel Farfan, Gabriel Gomez, Michael Lahoud
- SUSPENDED AFTER TWO YELLOW CARDS: HOU: Corey Ashe, Calen Carr, Brad Davis, Macoumba Kandji … PHI: Brian Carroll, Jack McInerney, Carlos Valdes, Michael Farfan
- ALL-TIME (6 meetings): Dynamo 1 win, 7 goals … Union 3 wins, 10 goals … Ties 2
- AT HOUSTON (3 meetings): Dynamo 1 win, 4 goals … Union 2 wins, 5 goals … Ties 0
- 2012 (MLS): 6/30: HOU 2, PHI 1 (Davis 20; Ching 83 – Daniel 46); 9/23: PHI 3, HOU 1 (Adu 28, 50; Martinez 70 – Garcia 44)
- Union took the lead in the 28th minute. Right back Ray Gaddis made a marauding run up the field and put in a cross that eventually found its way to Freddy Adu beyond the far post. Adu then cut the ball in front of goal and beat Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall to the near post.
- The Dynamo pulled level just a minute before halftime when Boniek García hit a beautiful strike off the post and in, following a great feed from Will Bruin, who sucked both defenders to him in the middle of the box.
- Adu netted his second goal of game when he banged home a 50th-minute penalty kick after André Hainault dragged down Philly's Sheanon Williams in the box. Adu then left the game while clutching his left leg, replaced by Keon Daniel.
- Josué Martinez capped the victory in the 71th minute when he got his foot on a blast from center back Amobi Okugo and took another touch to beat Hall right in front of the net.
- PHILADELPHIA UNION (4-4-2): Zac MacMath - Raymon Gaddis, Carlos Valdes, Amobi Okugo, Sheanon Williams - Danny Cruz (Chris Albright 81), Michael Lahoud, Brian Carroll, Michael Farfan - Freddy Adu (Keon Daniel 57 / Antoine Hoppenot 66), Josue Martinez.
- HOUSTON DYNAMO (4-3-3): Tally Hall - Kofi Sarkodie, Andre Hainault (Cam Weaver 81), Bobby Boswell, Jermaine Taylor - Luiz Camargo (Giles Barnes 63), Ricardo Clark, Brad Davis - Boniek Garcia, Will Bruin, Macoumba Kandji (Calen Carr 46).


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Memorial Day Burger (California Burger)
Avocado Relish
2 ripe Hass avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, and coarsely chopped
1/2 small onion, finely diced
1 jalapeno chile, finely diced
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 pounds ground chuck (80 percent lean)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 slices Monterey Jack cheese
4 hamburger buns, split; toasted, if desired
1 small bunch watercress
4 slices ripe tomatoes
To make the avocado relish, combine the avocados, onions, jalapeno, lime juice, and cilantro in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper. The relish can be made up to 1 hour in advance and kept at room temperature.
Divide the meat into 4 equal portions (about 6 ounces each). Form each portion loosely into a 3/4-inch-thick burger and make a deep depression in the center with your thumb. Season both sides of each burger with salt and pepper. Cook the burgers on the grill. In the last minute of cooking top each burger with a slice of Monterey Jack cheese and close the grill to allow the cheese to melt.
Place burgers on the bun bottoms and top each one with a few sprigs of watercress, a slice of tomato, and a dollop of avocado relish. Cover with bun tops and serve immediately.
Recipe from Bobby Flay's Burgers, Fries, and Shakes


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If you are involved in a conflict or dispute, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) may be right for you. ADR refers to a variety of out-of-court processes that resolve conflict peacefully and promote creative solutions.
About Mediation
Free or Low-Cost Mediation
Divorce and ADR
Agricultural Mediation
Mediation and Cases Already in Court
Court-Based Mediation Programs in Your Area
Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Resolution Program
Questions about ADR
About Mediation
Mediation is one of the more popular forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
In mediation, a person called a "mediator" helps people in a dispute to communicate with one another, to understand each other, and if possible, to reach agreements that satisfy everyone's needs. The mediator does not take sides or decide who was right or wrong in the past. The mediator helps people focus on the future and make their own decisions.
Mediation often improves communication, saves people time and money, and leads to longer-lasting agreements.
Mediation can be especially effective in family, neighbor, and business conflicts or where the individuals involved want to preserve their relationship.
Mediation may not be appropriate or safe in cases involving a history or fear of domestic violence.
Free or Low-Cost Mediation
Free or low-cost mediation and other ADR services are offered through not-for-profit Community Dispute Resolution Centers (CDRCs). CDRCs handle disputes between parents, parents and children, families and schools, landlords and tenants, neighbors, roommates, consumers and merchants, business partners, and others.
CDRCs operate in 62 New York Counties and help nearly a hundred thousand New Yorkers a year.
Divorce and ADR
If you are thinking of getting divorced, you may want to consider divorce mediation or Collaborative Family Law.
These alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes often reduce the stress, trauma, and expense of divorce on children and families.
If you live in New York City, you may be eligible for a limited number of free or reduced-fee divorce mediation or collaborative family law sessions. Please note that these processes are not appropriate in cases involving domestic violence, child abuse, or where one spouse cannot locate the other. For more information, send an email to email@example.com.
If you already have a divorce case in court, and you and your spouse need help to resolve a parenting dispute (custody and visitation), you may ask to be referred to a free, court-employed, mental health professional. These staff professionals -- sometimes referred to as Family Counseling and Case Analysts or social workers -- may be able to help you and your spouse reach agreement on parenting issues. They can also connect you with other community resources as well.
You may also ask court staff for referral to a reduced-fee, Court-Connected Mediation Program, if one is available in your county.
Agricultural Mediation
For disputes or problems related to farming or agriculture, or if you are a farmer, contact the New York State Agricultural Mediation Program.
Mediation and Cases in Court
If you have a case already in court, you may want to discuss mediation and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options with your lawyer. If you need help finding a lawyer, you may want to visit CourtHelp or call your local bar association.
If you don't have a lawyer and you are interested in resolving your dispute through mediation, ask court staff for a referral. Free or reduced-fee mediation services may be available in the courthouse where you have a case or through your local CDRC.
Court-Based Mediation Programs in Your Area
|Learn more about
court-based mediation programs in your area
|New York City
(Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island)
Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Resolution Program
If you are having a dispute with your lawyer over fees, court rules allow clients to resolve their disputes through arbitration. To learn more, visit the Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Resolution Program.
Questions about ADR?
If you have a question about ADR, contact ADR staff.


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Vitamin D inproves sleep and fatigue in TBI as well.
Author: tbihealing
Sean Dudas is a California native and remains active and interested in many corners of life. In November of 2015, Sean suffered a moderate traumatic brain injury from a fall; his life since has been solely devoted to the topic of this blog - TBI and other forms of acquired brain injury. With his passions and life as he imagined it to be on an indeterminate hold during his rehabilitation and recovery, he began this blog and a TBI health advocacy group. Through uniform rules of professional responsibility and ethics, he hopes the health advocate profession may be an affordable adjunct to the team needed by every brain injured person and those caring for them. He hopes that this blog will continue educating and supporting survivors of brain injury, their caregivers, and anyone interested in this devastating medical sojourn, alongside the discovery of a new self and a meaningful life outside the treatment environment. Sean is active in supporting mental health and suicide crisis support, various manifestations of trauma in children and adults, and is a Doctor of Law with a focus on health and science law. He is also an athlete, poet, writer, and nature enthusiast. View all posts by tbihealing


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Celebrating the depths of Hellboy at 20 years
PHILADELPHIA >> It's been two decades since Mike Mignola created a horned, red-hued devilish beast with a penchant for cigars and a big gun.
Since that first appearance in the pages of Dark Horse Comics' "San Diego Comic-Con Comics" No. 2, Hellboy has become a top-seller for the publisher, transformed into animation and spawned a pair of films starring Ron Perlman as Hellboy.
Not to mention a bevy of comic book titles anthologized and reprinted time after time.
"I didn't think it would last four issues," Mignola told The Associated Press Thursday. "That was my goal. Do four issues then hope I can find another job."
It's lasted, he conceded, though the character is in the midst of an impossibly difficult adventure: being dead.
Mignola said he's working to figure out what happens to his creation, who died in 2011 and - for now - is in hell.
"How do you end a book where you've already killed the guy off?" he asked. "It's going someplace and there's certain things that have to get done, but as far where it's going, I can't really say . It's building to a certain kind of climax."
While that climax builds, Milwaukie, Ore.-based Dark Horse is marking the 20th anniversary with international events March 22 in Portland, Los Angeles, London, Buenos Aires and Skokie, Ill., featuring artists and others involved in the various Hellboy stories it has published.
Scott Allie, Dark Horse's editor-in-chief, said the company's involvement with Mignola and Hellboy is what has helped define it as a publisher.
"Every creative person or company aspires to be a part of something with such cultural relevance across so many media that continues to earn awards, rave reviews, and reach new readers," he said. "Dark Horse defines itself by our creative integrity, and there's no better example than Hellboy, where we've worked with one of the geniuses of the medium for 20 years, building Mignola's world around these characters. Dark Horse is very proud, and happy if we are in part defined, by this one."
Mignola said Hellboy's appeal, while hard to pinpoint, is because of the way he has written the character.
"Even though it deals with monsters and the supernatural, I tried to write that character like a regular person," he said.


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Over the last few months I've been doing a lot of thinking about Open Badges and badge system design. During that time I've found myself weighing the idea of the Open Badges Infrastructure against the idea of Open Badges. I've come around to this thinking: one is a subset of the other. Open Badges is an umbrella concept about perception, achievement, learning, representation, assessment, and value that has produced the tool that is the OBI. Perhaps the OBI is an epiphenomenon of the conceptual work of Open Badges. OBI is to tool as Open Badges is to process. It's a bit chicken/egg but as we progress the temporal distinction seems to matter less and less.
OBI the tool is designed to be agnostic, but Open Badges the concept presents opportunities for transmission of deeply held beliefs, strong opinions and decisive values about learning, education, agency, creativity, dynamism, change, and evolution. I'm racing through these important and defining ideas right now because I want to start sharing some initial thoughts about badge system design. But I'm happy to have this discussion in greater detail with you on this blog, on twitter, through emails, during calls, and if we're lucky, in person. You have helped us and continue to help us build this amazing tool; now let's talk about what we can do with it as well as what we want to do with it.
Serendipitously today after I had already written the few intro-type paragraphs below, I saw a tweet that lead me to download and read a highly influential systems design paper Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System. As I read this inspirational document by Donella Meadows I grew increasingly excited: on my own I had arrived at similar realizations and had used nearly the exact terminology as she had in her paper. Those clues indicate to me that I'm on the right track. To that end, I'm dispensing with the many revisions I usually go through for a blog post and instead dropping in my initial rough draft to share it with you while the ideas are still messy and fresh. I don't want to overthink them—at least not right now. Let's begin our conversation now before the ideological badge cement has hardened.
Open Badges offers thousands of possibilities to those who choose to participate. I want to help you see what those amazing opportunities might be. Here's my humble request: be my reader and my co-author on this journey.
– – –
Badge system design presents a variety of exciting challenges and opportunities. In some ways, it's similar to designing the perfect society, one in which important things are recognized, feedback is welcomed and used, individuality is respected, people are encouraged to express themselves freely and creatively, expand their potential, attempt difficult but rewarding experiences, interact with and aid others, seek and find opportunities, learn, experience, make, scaffold, share and grow. Perhaps a little thinking is in order, huh?
Humility plays a key role in the design of any system, including badge system design. Your badge system design, no matter how brilliant, most likely will not end global hunger, solve the debt crisis, or fix a broken educational system. However, if created with intelligence, finesse and empathy, it may have the capacity to change someone's life. Indeed, it may possibly help to alleviate some of those other, larger concerns.
Currently, the entire ecosystem remains an unknown quantity: how many badges will flicker on in the badge system galaxy? What will happen as it knits together? It's quite possible that your simple designs may take on a far more complex role than you can imagine. So a few suggestions, notes, and recommendations are in order.
History is littered with lessons and examples of great ideas that went bad or never got off the ground. The human equation always introduces an element of chance. While that tendency certainly presents a massive complicating variable, ultimately that's where the ground might be most fertile. Be fearless, investigate it.
And yet note that it might be best to start with a simple idea and let organic evolutionary properties run their natural course. Because unexpected emergent properties will occur even if you think you've planned for everything. Eventually Taleb's black swan will fly overhead. Perhaps its shadow will pass by, perhaps it will skim the waters for a while and move on, or perhaps it will land and begin swimming in your happy little pre-planned badge ecosystem. Who knows?
Okay. Taking a somewhat more clinical view, some psychological research indicates that resilience contributes greatly to long term happiness. Resilience is important to a robust system. How can you build in resilience? What do we mean by resilience? Your badge system design will play some role in an earner's sense of self. And so, like the person earning the badges you're designing, if it's to have a long and happy life, your badge system must have its own source of resilience. Whether that arises from the community, the planners, or the larger ecosystem does not matter.
– – –
Those are some initial thoughts. Much, much, much more to come.


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When searching for an apartment, you have to take into account several factors like location, priority to parking, public transport, etc. All such factors are hugely important to find a perfect place. However, another secondary factor which will affect your day to day lifestyle is the floor that you live on. While plenty of options are available in a high-rise apartment, a low-rise building has its own charm and advantage.
A low-rise building has about 5 floors, maybe six sometimes. The first basic advantage of a low-rise building is low density, meaning fewer units per floor, giving you quiet surroundings to enjoy life privately. So you can live in a low-rise apartment complex, with elevator and 24/7 security system, with CCTV's in all common areas. Low- rise also means low risk during fire or earthquakes; you can just run down the stairs. The building will be safer during natural calamity. [Read more…]


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Consider your values
Your values are at the center of your life care plan. Reflect on what matters most to you.
What defines your values
Life Care Planning is fundamentally about you and that's why values are at the center of the planning process. It is about knowing what is most important to you and communicating how that affects your wishes for future health care.
Who we are, what we believe, and what we value are all shaped by the experiences we have had. Many parts of our lives – faith, family, jobs, and friends – all affect us deeply. We are also influenced by other people's experiences.
We encourage you to answer the questions that follow and to discuss them with your agent. They are meant as a guide, not as a test, and there are no right or wrong answers.
What defines your values
Consider these thought starters
Spend some time considering the following areas and how, if at all, they have shaped your feelings about medical treatment?
Step 1: Think about what makes you unique
- Personal values: What is most important to you in life? What unique beliefs do you have that others may not know about?
- Cultural values: What is most important to you when it comes to your culture? Are there cultural traditions that might impact your decisions for medical care?
- Religious values: What religious or spiritual values are most important to you? How do your religious beliefs influence the medical care you would want?
Step 2: Clarifying your values helps you consider the decisions that you would want made on your behalf
- If you were having a really good day, what would you be doing?
- What gives your life meaning (i.e. the people closest to you, spending time in nature, your spirituality or faith, listening to music, working or volunteering, being a parent, grandparent, daughter or son)?
Step 3: Consider experiences that matter
- What experience have you had with someone you know (or have heard of) who became suddenly ill or injured?
- What did you learn from that experience that helps you to better understand your own values?
Discussing these issues with family, others in your culture, spiritual leaders, or friends in your religious community can help you feel confident in your choices.
Your answers to these questions are very important to your future health care decisions. We encourage you to keep them in mind as you continue to explore this website.
Reviewed by: John W Prochnow, November 2017


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Check out the latest RPG news | Podcasts | Twitch Streams
My dearest ****, This may be my last letter to you. I have continued my correspondence in the hopes of retaining the gift of words, and some sense of time. But there is no escape from this hell. This realm stands apart from Vana'diel. It is a prison. There are those among the Hydra who have begun to think the world was destroyed as we lay unconscious, and this shade of reality is all that remains.
I still have no idea of where I am. The area appears to be Beaucedine Glacier, but I see no sign of the allied forces. Neither day nor night has dominion here. There is no sense of time passing at all...
I was a little disappointed when I was introduced to the other members. 'Multi-national strike force' is a misleading description--the great bulk of the unit has been assembled from the knightly orders of San d'Oria. They said it had to do with the problem of supplying different sizes of equipment, smoothness in relaying orders, and other such flimsy excuses.
Our battle has been never-ending. All for the brief flowerings of scarlet color on the endless fields of snow... Most of my companions have lost their grip on sanity, and pursue our enemies with a dull single-mindedness. Why do they fight? Why bother to spill each other's blood anymore? I am losing the will to care the longer I stay here... I don't want to become like them. I don't want to forget you.
…they issued me with my new mission attire…when I put it on I can almost feel my abilities being enhanced. With this kind of equipment, I'm sure to survive the coming conflict.
I will not say goodbye. We will meet again one day, I swear it…
you're a maniac Hathen.


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GCH CH Goldsand's Columbus
(Photo by Lynda Beam)
The week's biggest prize was today's Evansville Kennel Club show in Louisville KY. All of the seven had to get by strong competition in their respective groups before making it to Norm Patton's final. They were the English Setter, GCH CH Stargaz'R 'N Wingfield Time Will Tell, the 15" Beagle, CH Tashtins Lookin For Trouble, the Standard Schnauzer, GCH CH Blackhawk Finnegan's Wake, the Russell Terrier, GCH CH Goldsand's Columbus, the Miniature Pinscher, GCH CH Marlex Classic Red Glare, the Standard Poodle, GCH CH Jaset's Satisfaction, and the Old English Sheepdog, CH Bugaboo's Picture Perfect.
GCH CH Jaset's Satisfaction
(Photo courtesy of Best In Show Daily)
Taking home the biggest BIS of his career was the Russell Terrier, Bosse. Taking home the Reserve ribbon was the Standard Poodle, London. Bosse joins the Kentuckiana Cluster midway after spending three days in York PA where he was Best at yesterday's York Kennel Club show. Today's big BIS is his fifth this year.


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Noticias comerciales
Sydney, Australia, 15 February 2012 – Leading New Zealand gases and engineering company BOC Ltd and New Zealand Steel today announced they had agreed a long term industrial gas supply contract that will be critical to New Zealand Steel's ongoing iron and steel making operations at Glenbrook.
BOC will invest around $70 million (around EUR 56 million) in new air separation plant and associated equipment to supply products to the New Zealand air gases market. This investment is underpinned by a contract with New Zealand Steel to serve the air gas needs of that plant's production for at least a 20 year period.
The plant will replace an existing plant that is approaching the end of its useful life. It will feature increased production and storage capacity enhancing reliability of supply and potential for growth for New Zealand Steel. The plant will also supply increased quantities of liquid oxygen, nitrogen and argon to the broader New Zealand air gases market for other vital applications such as medicinal use, food freezing & packaging, and metal fabrication.
Up to 120 people will work on the plant's construction over the next two years. Once operating, the state of the art facility will generate energy savings from the current production; equivalent to the yearly energy needs of 1900 average New Zealand homes.
BOC South Pacific Managing Director, Colin Isaac, said the new infrastructure would enable BOC to deliver efficient and cost-effective supply of air gases to its growing New Zealand customer base.
"The new contract to supply air gases to New Zealand Steel continues a long lasting partnership between our two companies," Mr Isaac said.
"Last year we celebrated our 100th year of business in New Zealand and I see this new investment as a strong signal of our confidence in our New Zealand business well into the future."
New Zealand Steel President, Simon Linge, said the agreement marked a significant commitment by New Zealand Steel in its continued support of New Zealand customers and the New Zealand economy.
"It was important for us that this facility was state of the art, which reduces our environmental footprint and shows the commitment to innovation that New Zealand Steel was founded on," Mr Linge said.
"We are extremely pleased to continue our long term partnership with BOC. Importantly this shows our confidence in New Zealand, and the broader importance of a strong and sustainable manufacturing industry in this country."
BOC expects to complete construction of the new plant in December 2013.
About BOC
BOC is a member of The Linde Group which supplies compressed and bulk gases, chemicals and equipment around the globe. The company develops safe, sustainable and innovative solutions for customers in many specialty sectors, heavy industry and medical environments. For more than a century the company's gases and expertise have contributed to advances in industry and everyday life, including steelmaking, refining, chemical processing, environmental protection, wastewater treatment, welding and cutting, food processing and distribution, glass production, electronics and health care.
For further information, see www.boc.com.au
About The Linde Group
The Linde Group is a world leading gases and engineering company with approximately 50,000 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. In the 2010 financial year, the company achieved sales of EUR 12.868 billion. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards sustainable earnings-based growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment – in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. Linde is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com
About New Zealand Steel
New Zealand Steel Limited is the country's sole producer of flat rolled steel products for the building, construction, manufacturing and agricultural industries. It operates a fully integrated steel mill at Glenbrook, about 60 kilometres south of Auckland. Using locally sourced ironsand, lime and coal, New Zealand Steel produces around 600,000 tonnes of steel each year using a direct reduction process, turning west coast black sand into metallic iron. Around 60% of its steel and iron is exported to world markets. New Zealand Steel is part of the Bluescope Steel group of companies.
Further information:
Karen Heidtmann
Brand & PR Manager of BOC
Phone +61.423.841-054
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Andrew Crook
Crook Publicity
Phone +61.7.3225.4510
E-Mail: firstname.lastname@example.com
Vicki Woodley
External Affairs Officer
Phone +61.9.375-8846
E-Mail: email@example.com


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2013 PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF (pdf)
The post-Dagger days began in Puerto Rico.
It was in San Juan in 2007, at the first Puerto Rico Tip-Off, where we tried to find out if VCU, as a Goliath exterminator, had staying power. Nearly a week after rolling designated milk jug Maryland-Eastern Shore in the 2007-08 season-opener, VCU headed to the Puerto Rico Tip-Off. Anthony Grant, was, as Shaka Smart is today, THE rising star among college coaches. Eric Maynor, whose "Dagger" with 1.8 seconds left gave VCU its unforgettable, 79-77 upset of Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament the previous March, was a certified star. You could have sold his image on commemorative plates on QVC alongside those bearing Dale Earnhardt's, if the NCAA allowed that sort of kitsch.
But while Grant and Maynor were known quantities, magnetic drawing cards with the goods to back it up, the rest was up in the air. People love NCAA Tournament upsets, they embrace the Princetons and the Bryce Drews, the Eric Maynors, the Cleveland States and the La Salles for weeks each March. But when the lights go out, most of them fade from the national consciousness. We rode high on the hog for months, but secretly, we wondered if Maynor's "Dagger" was VCU's 15 minutes; If the illogical food chain of college hoops would gobble us up and cast us back from whence we came, back to the obscurity of mid-majordom.
The tournament began in earnest. Grant's recruiting class that year included Larry Sanders, Joey Rodriguez, Lance Kearse, Ed Nixon, Brandon Rozzell and Myk Brown, and transfer Kirill Pishchalnikov was also on board. Much of the publicity, and for a VCU recruiting class up to that point, it was significant, focused on Kearse and Rodriguez. Sanders was intriguing, but very much an unknown.


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No trains today. Angry line of "customers". They've all touched in, because there is no sign on the oystercard reader. Touching out again will cost them £1.30. "Why don't you put a sign on the reader?"
"The management don't want us to."
There is no independent thought within the Borg.
51.463500 0.015000


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How to become a Budburst Citizen Scientist
Understand the science of phenology, its history and contributions.
Meet the five Budburst plant groups, and
Review key phenology events within each plant group.
Select your plant: one featured by a Budburst Project or Partner, or
One from among the 300 Budburst plants!
Will this be a one-time or life-cycle observation?
Register as a Budburst citizen scientist to create your account,
Post your observation reports, and
Review and analyze your data.
Nativars Research Project
Spring 2018 - Fall 2022
Nativars are cultivated varieties of native plants that can differ from their parent species in flower color, flower size, scent, phenology, and other ways that may affect their attractiveness to pollinators. With an upsurge in concern about pollinator conservation, many people are asking if it is OK to use nativars in pollinator gardens. To date, there have been very few studies on this and the results have been mixed. So we invite you to join us on this scientific journey to help answer the important question: how do nativars differ from one another and from their parent species in phenology and pollinator attractiveness?


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- An article from Ireland about the use of low-dose naltrexone for a wide variety of immune system disorders, including CFS. Unfortunately, there is a high-level UK health "expert" quoted here guessing that LDN is all about placebo effect, but hopefully the news coverage will help spread the word. Here's the latest update on my own use of low-dose naltrexone.
- A Los Angeles Times article about research into CFS in teens, following mononucleosis - mostly accurate, emphasizes that CFS causes debilitation in teens, plus an interesting statistic that 50% of teens who developed CFS after mono recovered within 2 years (hear that, Laura?)
- And a whole slew of news stories about a CFS-virus link in kids in the UK this week - about time, British friends, right? Here's one of the articles, from the BBC.
It's been a busy week here - we're all still trying to adjust to the early mornings and hectic evenings of the new school year. I'm doing OK, a bit better than last week. Looking forward to the weekend!


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Seen the reviews for "The Last Airbender" today? You might want to read them if only to wallow in the delight critics seem to be taking at tearing it to shreds. And I thought "Sex And The City 2" got pummeled.
It hasn't been a great summer for Hollywood. "Eclipse" is about to smash records and "Toy Story 3" continued a predictable run of excellence for Pixar. But apart from those two, gallons upon gallons of ink have already been spilled over how lackluster the offerings have been out of Hollywood this summer. It's shocking, frankly. Given the momentum that "Avatar" and "Alice In Wonderland" provided, you would have thought Hollywood would be on a roll now. Well, Mr. Shyamalan put that to a quick end.
Looking ahead, everyone agrees that there is only one important release left this summer and that's "Inception," the new movie from "Dark Knight" helmer Christopher Nolan. No one knows anything about "Inception" except that it's about dreams and that it looks AWESOME.
There has been only one other major release this summer that was an original film idea and not a sequel/remake/adaptation. That was "Knight & Day," and it's fading fast. "Inception" is something of a last hope, and it might be why Nolan can be considered the most important filmmaker in Hollywood right now.
As well as "Eclipse" and "Toy Story 3" are doing, both films are geared for a younger audience. Yes, grown-ups also love Pixar movies, but Pixar is still aiming squarely at the child within you. Nolan, on the other hand, makes movies that are very adult in nature. I don't mean that they contain violence or sex. I mean that Nolan is a filmmaker who wants to explore extremely mature ideas. "Memento" was a movie about the nature of memory, and how it can betray us even when we think it's infallible. "The Dark Knight" was about both the nature of terrorism and how it can corrupt us with the need for extreme vengeance.
These are not kiddie ideas. These are the kind of things you think about when you're in your 30s and 40s. When you have the kind of self-awareness and life experience to think through really big ideas. Nolan likes to explore serious, nuanced themes like this (much more nuanced than the sledgehammer liberalism of a movie like "Avatar"), yet Nolan does it within movies that also happen to be spectacularly entertaining.
I don't know that there's another filmmaker that can get away with this right now -- a filmmaker that can strike such a delicate balance between spectacle and deep thought. Nolan doesn't make movies with a message as so many other clumsy directors do. He's only interested in exploring ideas and seeing how they drive a story.
That's why "Inception" needs to be good, and to succeed. We need to know that movies can be more than a filmed marketing memo. We need to know there's something there behind all the stunts and CGI. This summer, it's been all to easy believe that kind of feeling from big movies may never come back.


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The Israel Electric Company sent around notices that a certain neighborhood in Raanana was going to have their electricity turned off one day for routine service.
Unfortunately, it turned out to be the same day as someone's wedding, and it would be chaotic on the day of her wedding not to have any electricity at home!
She and her parents called the electric company -- and the outcome was more dedicated than any customer relations story I've heard about from anywhere else in the world.
Only in Israel -- read the story here. The submitter summed it up:
hat-tip: CR's wall on FB.
"...It was truly amazing. There are people here with big hearts who made it clear that our happiness was important to them as well.
We sent a warm thank-you letter to the electric company along with the attached pictures.
Just goes to show that Chesed [kindness] is alive and well in the land and people of Israel."
Visiting Israel?
Learn to Shoot at Caliber-3 with top Israeli Anti-Terror Experts!
Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael טובה הארץ מאד מאד


text: Filmmakers Dmitriy Yasyukov and Werner Herzog team to offer a portrait of the rugged, self-sufficient Siberian trappers who lead incredibly difficult yet fulfilling lives far outside the confines of contemporary society. Though the southern region of Siberia is populous and prosperous, a long journey north eventually leads to the village of Bakhita, on the edge of the Yenisei river. With a population of just 300, Bakhita is reachable only by helicopter or boat, and offers no telephone lines or running water. The lives of the people who live there have changed little in the last few hundred years, and as a result, they're experts in living off of the land. By examining the culture and traditions of Bakhita, Yasyukov and Herzog challenge our concept of what it really means to live a truly free life.


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Back in 2010, founder Crispin, couldn't help noticing the huge gap between the noodles he enjoyed in restaurants and those he saw for sale in the supermarket.
Armed with a vision of bringing healthy Asian flavours to the humble supermarket shelf, Crispin launched Kabuto in 2011, ready to do battle with an instant noodle market that sells over 100 billion servings a year!
Crafted with the dedication of a Samurai, Kabuto Noodles have all the good bits of instant noodles but really improve on the bad. They're still quick and easy to make by adding boiling water and there's no need to keep them in the fridge, but Kabuto Noodles have no additives or preservatives, no sachets or plastic to throw into landfill, just great quality ingredients and tasty Asian-inspired recipes. They're even named after the Samurai warrior's armoured helmet – the perfect pot for a steaming bowl of noodle goodness!


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The day I met you for the very first time, I looked upon your face, and saw not a person - but a universe of all that is fascinating and shiny and beautiful, a wide expanse of perfection, where flaws are not expected or even acknowledged. I saw beautiful words and syllables, so exquisite, how could one not weave them into stories and poems? So many endless permutations & combinations, of so many different stories, and many amazing adventures, each one of which you are the hero of.
So I wrote. I wrote about you. And while I weaved your stories together and put them on paper with ink & a bit of me - I fell. I fell for you.
No one ever told me I was falling not in love, but falling in disappointment. That somewhere at the back of my mind, I always knew you would leave. Just did not know when, at what point in time, I'd have to sit up and acknowledge flaws.
Now, there is a wreckage between my ribs, left there by you. A wound, that throbs dully, that I carry around everywhere I go, with every single step I take. An ache that stops pounding on the door of my existence, only once the pills I weigh every night without fail in my fragile palms, kick in. And for the first few seconds after I open my eyes every morning, somewhere between a deep, dreamless sleep & being wide awake, in those moments of hazy disorientation.
Falling was a stupid idea. Why did it seem so brilliant at the time?
P.S.: I have no idea why this post happened. Sometimes, I literally just phase out.
Now Playing: Stairway To Heaven | Led Zeppelin


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"With lively humor and deep scholarly knowledge, Mitra Karl Brunnhölzl brilliantly unpacks the profundity of the Heart S ū tra here for modern readers. In practical and accessible ways, he invites us to join the great practitioners of India and Tibet in contemplating the Heart Sūtra's wisdom. We are fortunate to have teachers of Karl's acumen among the growing body of inspiring Western Buddhist teachers."—Dzogchen Ponlop author of Rebel Buddha and Mind Beyond Death
"When the Buddha revealed the Prajñaparamita sutras, teaches Karl Brunnhölzl, the arhats in attendance were so shocked by what they were hearing that they died on the spot. The Heart Attack Sutra seeks to preserve this same spiritual shock for Western minds (but perhaps without the grim consequences that Buddha's earlier students had to face!) by presenting and commenting in detail on the Heart Sutra, arguably the most well-known sutra in the Mahayana tradition."—Mandala Magazine


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If any of you have read the wonderful book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, you know how she writes about finding ways to use their out of control zucchini from their garden. She and her daughter provided some great recipes, including one for really good zucchini chocolate chip cookies and a great zucchini orzo. If you don't have the book, you can find those recipes here on their website.
And over at Spinach Tiger, Angela has posted a delicious looking zucchini chocolate cake that I may have to make soon. And that young food whiz, Tony Tahhan, shows how to make a gorgeous zucchini and goat cheese pizza.
As for this recipe, I think you'll love the addition of the pancetta to the zucchini, which gives it a nice salty kick. Try making your own bread crumbs and using fresh rosemary. It really makes a difference.
Zucchini Gratin
for a printable recipe, click here
1 large sweet onion, sliced
extra virgin olive oil
kosher or coarse sea salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
freshly ground black pepper
2-3 medium zucchini
10 slices pancetta
1/3 cup bread crumbs *
2 large springs rosemary, minced
1/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
Cut off the ends of the zucchini and slice them lengthwise, about 1/4 of an inch thick until you have 10 slices. Set aside.
In a skillet, saute the sliced onions with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and large pinch of salt until soft. Add garlic and black pepper and saute for a couple of minutes. Place the onions in an oven-proof dish.
Season the zucchini slices with some salt and pepper. Top each one with a slice of pancetta. Layer the zucchini over the onions in the ish, slightly overlapping. in a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs, rosemary an cheese. Sprinkle over the zucchini and drizzle with additional olive oil.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. You can turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes at the end if you need the pancetta to crisp up some more.
* Tip: Make your own bread crumbs with leftover bread. They are far superior to what you can buy in the store. Just place the bread, with the crusts removed, in your food processor and grind away. Fresh bread crumbs can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for quite a while. I make whole wheat bread crumbs all the time from leftover good quality whole grain bread.
For another zucchini recipe, try my mom's Zucchini Lasagna:
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Articles on DIY (Do It Yourself) Replacement Windows, Advantages and Disadvantages, Costs, and More.
Discussing the Cost of Replacement Windows
Replacing windows is a lot easier and cheaper than adding a new window. All you have to do is install the windows from the inside, so you don't have to remove any stucco or trim on the exterior. New installation requires alterations to the trim and parts of the wall and removal of the outside trim.
Discussing How Much Replacement Window Glass Materials Cost
The cost for replacement window glass materials varies by size, shape, coating, thickness, type of glass, manufacturer, and window style. Bay windows and bow windows consist of small, multiple panes of glass throughout. Casement windows consist of two to three large panes of glass. Standard windows are square, while others may be curved or round. You may have an easy time finding a suitable replacement for a standard window, but if you have a non-standard window, the manufacturer will likely have to customize the glass.
Discussing How Much Replacement Window Frame Materials Cost
When choosing replacement window frames, many homeowners stay true to the original architecture of the home. If the home has original wood or vinyl frames, the replacement materials will likely be the same. For many homeowners, remaining consistent with the original architecture can be costly — especially if the window frames are wood.


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A gigantically excessive former Airship Hangar built on a Soviet Base in Berlin has found new life as a gigantically excessive water park. It's like a man-made island inside with a water slide that propels people up to 44mph.
Now called the Tropical Islands resort, the water theme park has a pool 4x the size of an Olympic-sized pool and 600ft of man-made sandy beach. They claim to also have the world's largest indoor rainforest with 50,000 trees in 600 varieties.
It took a little time to create the water world in the hangar as the developers found it hard to keep the temperature at an even 78 degrees Fahrenheit. So they ended up welding the two steel doors, which weigh 600 tons each, shut. Also:
To open the hangar to light, "we exchanged the [steel] skin of the hall with 20,000 square yards of translucent film. This makes natural tanning possible."
Seems like water parks in once great buildings are becoming quite a trend. [AirSpace Mag via BoingBoing]


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Order 24 of our delicious Granola Bars.
All orders ship out within three business days and take 1-5 days to reach you. The price shown above includes shipping.
You can pick which flavor bars you would like: Original, Tropical, Mango Ginger and Chocolate Chip. Select a single flavor or any combination, just make sure the total number of bags adds up to 24.


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|Defected Syrian Officer Claims Scud Launches, Govt. Denies
|[An Nahar] A former Syrian officer who served in a battalion specializing in surface-to-surface missiles told AFP on Thursday regime forces had fired Scuds three days ago, but the government has denied this.
First Lieutenant Aaraba Idriss said he is still in contact with officers and members of his former Battalion 57, part of Brigade 155, despite defecting 10 months ago.
He said they told him they fired five Scud missiles for the first time on Monday from their location in Nasiriyeh on the highway between Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
and the central Syrian city of Homs.
Idriss, who now heads the Hassan Battalion of the rebel Free Syrian Army, said "the missiles were fired northwest at 10:45 (0845 GMT), 12:30, 13:50, 15:15 and 17:10" and may have struck in Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
or Idlib province.
A soldier, who defected on Tuesday morning, corroborated the report to AFP.
Idriss said the "Golan-1" missiles were either Russian-made or Russian modified" and have a range of up to 300 kilometers (180 miles).
The Local Coordination Committees, a network of opposition activists on the ground, said on Monday that "regime forces fired a long-range Scud missile from the Nasiriyeh area," but was unable to determine its target.
According to a source in Damascus, the army had actually fired a smaller, Syrian-made version of the Scud.
A U.S. official told AFP on Wednesday that the regime had fired Scud missiles at oppositions targets.
On Thursday, the Syrian foreign ministry said it "categorically denies rumors that the Syrian army has fired Scud missiles," state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
"Biased and conspiratorial rumors are spreading in anti-Syrian circles that the Syrian army is using Scud missiles in response to armed terrorist groups when it is known that Scuds are strategic, long-range missiles and are not suited for use against armed terrorist gangs," a statement said.
|Posted by:Fred


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"farewell, my black balloon." -the kills
(end of the line.)
it was midnight in this revolution of my heart. i fell asleep on the bus ride home and woke up at nine mile station, middle of nowhere, and realized that this nap that sucked me into angelic dreams and dreary lucid mental orgasm was nothing more than a sad escape from reality. i pulled down the blinds over my eyes, turned out the lights in my brain, i threw all the clutter from off the floors and tucked it under the bed of my heart and i just sat for hours and hours listening to "let it be" on repeat staring at the white white white white ceiling of my skull.
let it be. let it be. let it be. it all did amount to nothing. a few dozen scraps of poems on the floor with dust and neglected bills, empty bottles of pills, half empty bottles of booze. i couldn't even commit to alcoholism.
it was cold. i was at a bus stop. my phone was dead. the twenty-four hour grocery store was closed, and the snow was pouring down like i was stuck in a dry erase board and this magic eraser was quickly deleting my stick figure limbs. the bus driver was gone. careless to the fact that i was faced with stalemate at parker and peoria.
but really i was at the crossroads of adulthood and childhood. where the crayon coloring on the walls scrolled along like stock market tickers. where bouncy balls were filled with the hot air of politicians. where the seesaw wobbled up and down like somewhat productive half-baked socially progressive arguments about race, gender, sexuality, all leading to the inevitable conclusion that we needed to learn how to look at each other as individuals.
but what from there? practice what you preach, but what if you're an atheist? how do you learn to dance like yourself when you've been inflicted with the awkward steps of society? how do you fly a plane when the gravity of the responsibility of love keeps you grounded?
we are expecting bad weather nationwide. internationwide. universally. exponentially. galaxically. i have got to stop making up words. i have got to stop drunk texting my invisible friends in the middle of the night.
i'm buried in snow.
it's metaphorical snow. did i establish that? i'm sorry. am i breaking the fourth wall? am i breaking the fifth wall if i say i know you get sad sometimes? am i throwing a rock through your precious painted christmastime window? i'm sorry if i ruined the little mermaid for you by analyzing my insane quandry that the disneyverse is just the bible with more colors. is that true? i sound like a crazy person. you sound like a crazy person. we sound like a crazy person.
when i need something to grasp onto i hold your hand. in my head. i take us to the movies and i stare stare stare at the screen. i've become tainted by the fact i'm a writer. all i can do is tear apart the character motives and the necessity of certain dialogues. i have been invited into someone's dream and all i can do is mock their wallpaper and tell them the proper way to entertain their guests. i am the king of cocktail parties
that nobody would want to go to.
but right now, i am bundled at a bus stop. in bum fuck egypt. in the middle of the night. in colorado. on this third rock from the sun. our sun. our holy holy sun that just belongs to me, not you. and it's taken this. it's taken all this to remind me
that all i have to do
is point to the sky
choose a star
and walk towards it
until i find myself beneath it
then take the next elevator into space
where hopefully my love is waiting for me
and if she's not
i'll deal
because sometimes the best life is lived alone, but only if alone means to you that you never find someone to get stuck on a ferris wheel with and kiss until your mouths are sore. down below your friends are waiting for you.
entrapment is the shiny love that takes you away from all your other loves.
be careful.
carry pepper spray and a strong argument.
box without gloves and ride life bareback.
always have at least two quarters in that tiny little pocket in your jeans.
tattoo your name on your palm, and wear it like an indian headdress.
tread softly and carry a big heart.
happy february,
02.2013 is a twenty-eight day project chronicling my february of 2013 through poetry. to read the entries from the beginning CLICK HERE


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Cakespy: Zucchini Cake With Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe
Quirky, cute, sometimes controversial, always delicious recipes from Jessie Oleson.
Jessie Oleson (aka Cakespy) drops by every Monday to share a delicious dessert recipe. —The Mgmt.
It's not easy being green.
It is, however, exceedingly easy to eat green, especially when we're talking about zucchini cake. Now, you probably already knew that the abundant late summer fruit (yes, it's a fruit) yields a moist, dense, and delicious quick bread. But please, don't let the story end there—because when you take it into cake territory by adding a thick slathering of chocolate cream cheese frosting, you'll have a far sweeter finish.
The frosting prettily contrasts the color of the cake, and the triple-threat of complementary flavors—tangy cream cheese, rich chocolate, earthy zucchini—makes for a final product that leaves zucchini bread absolutely green with envy.
- Yield:12 (as a cake) 16 to 20 (as cupcakes)
- Active time: 15 minutes
- Total time:90 minutes
- 3 cups flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- 2 cups (about 2 medium-large) shredded zucchini, skin on
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
- 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature (for frosting)
- 2 tablespoons milk or cream (for frosting)
- 2 to 3 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted (for frosting)
- 2 squares unsweetened Baker's chocolate (1 ounce each), melted (for frosting)
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease either two 9-inch cake pans, or line two muffin tins with cupcake cups.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda and baking powder.
In a small bowl, combine the eggs, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, zucchini, and lemon peel.
Stir the wet mixture into the dry ingredients, just until moistened. Gently stir in the nuts, if you've chosen to add them, at this point.
Transfer your batter to your prepared pans or cupcake liners. Bake for 45 to 60 minutes for cakes, 30 to 45 minutes for cupcakes (until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out mostly clean).
Once you've removed from the oven, let the cakes cool in the pans for about 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
While the cakes cool, make the frosting. In a stand mixer, whip the cream cheese until it is soft and fluffy; add the milk or cream, and then the confectioners' sugar, bit by bit, until it has reached your desired consistency. Add in the melted chocolate last, and mix until it is fully incorporated.
Frost cakes, either using the two 9-inch cakes to make a layer cake, or top each cupcake with a healthy dollop. The frosting yield is fairly generous, so don't be afraid to heap it high.
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.


text: Small Study Reports Benefit of Marijuana on MS Spasticity May 14, 2012 A small clinical trial by California investigators found some benefit of smoked marijuana against spasticity (muscle tightness and spasms) and pain in people with MS. Participants also experienced significantly reduced thinking ability after smoking marijuana, highlighting the need for research on cannabis products or other treatments that can more selectively reduce painful symptoms without producing adverse effects on cognitive function. Additional research examining the effects of marijuana on spasticity in MS is being supported by the National MS Society and others. The current study was published online on May 14, 2012 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ). Background: For many people with MS, spasticity (muscle tightness and spasms) is a painful and disabling symptom that can have a significant negative effect on quality of life. Since the currently available medications do not entirely work for everyone, people with MS are searching for solutions to help with their spasticity. The search for more effective treatments for spasticity and other symptoms related to MS is an important research priority for the National MS Society. The Society is currently supporting a clinical trial of different forms of cannabis products to test their ability to relieve spasticity in people with MS. This California-based trial is currently recruiting participants. The study: Jody Corey-Bloom, MD, PhD (University of California, San Diego) and colleagues conducted a placebo-controlled clinical trial involving 37 people with MS whose spasticity was resistant to standard medications. In the first 3-day treatment phase, half of the participants smoked marijuana once a day, and half smoked a placebo, and all underwent testing. After waiting 11 days, the groups were switched so that those originally in the marijuana group were in the placebo group and those originally in the placebo group were in the marijuana group, and all tests were repeated. Thirty people completed this trial. Compared to those on placebo, the investigators found significant improvement in spasticity according to a clinical measure called the modified Ashworth scale in those who smoked marijuana. They also reported improvement in patient-reported pain in those on marijuana. However, using a measure of information processing speed and accuracy called the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Test, the researchers found that after smoking marijuana, participants experienced significantly reduced thinking ability, compared to placebo. Limitations of this study include the small number of participants, the fact that many participants knew when they were smoking marijuana versus placebo, and that many participants had a history of marijuana use. Comment: There is an unmet need for better ways to treat MS spasticity, which can have significant negative effect on quality of life. This study points to the potential of cannabis or cannabinoids for reducing spasticity and pain, but also highlights the need for more research to develop treatments that can selectively reduce spasticity without compromising cognition. The search for more effective treatments for spasticity and other symptoms related to MS is an important research priority for the National MS Society, and the Society is currently supporting a clinical trial of different forms of cannabis products to test their ability to relieve spasticity in people with MS. The Society is also supporting research on non-pharmacologic treatments for spasticity, such as muscle-targeted exercise.


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Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino
The Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino's goal is to bring Arizona's gaming venues to the next level. The casino contains more than 1,000 slot machines, with 71 table games within the 100,000 SF casino. There is 12,000 SF of meeting space, 242 rooms and suites, retail shopping, 5 lounges, a nightclub, as well as a 1,400-seat theater/entertainment venue. The development provides a much needed entertainment hub for the South Valley. The design incorporates the Gila River Community's tribal heritage through its three main areas, which reflect the types of buildings found in a traditional Akimel O'otham village. The hotel lobby is modeled after an olas-ki, or "round house;" the entertainment hub, food and beverage area is modeled after a vah-ki, or "rain house," and serves as the main intersection point between the casino and hotel buildings; and the casino floor is modeled after a gu-ki, or "big house," traditionally used as a meeting and gathering place.
Developer: Gila River Indian Community
Contractor: Kitchell Contractors
Honorable Mention: aloft Hotel
Developer: Gila River Indian Community


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'Khavda' pottery is an art form of Khavda, North Kutch . While the men do all the throwing in terracotta, the women handle all the surface decoration which in this northern Kutch village of Ludia is primarily in the form of painting. Â Â
The potter gets mud from a specific acre (A lake) area near village. It is called 'Rann ka mitti'. This soft clay is shaped into a pot on a potter's wheel and left to dry in shade, then Kumbhar women use red, black, and white clay-based paints to decorate each piece of pottery with distinct community-specific designs.  After a while, it is cleaned and put in the sun to dry and then baked in a furnace, powered by simple and locally available fuels of dry wood and cow dung. The vessels are coated with a thin wash of geru (red color). The pots of Khavda get their red colour from Geru, a type of soil (ocher/ umber), and the black and white dots and stripes are also made with natural material. Finished pieces lie aside, ready for drying. The terracotta pots of Khavda are distinct from the ones we may see elsewhere, because of their painting and form which is a result of repeated cleaning at every stage of the process of their making.
Pottery by Master Potters Kumbhar Abdul Ibrahim and Rahima Bhen.
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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The parents of an 8-year-old girl are upset after they say their daughter was forced to unplug a backed-up toilet with her hand at school.
The parents said their daughter was with another student last Friday morning when they discovered that the toilet at Dinsmore Elementary School on the Northside was backed up. They said the students told a substitute teacher, and the teacher told them to unclog the toilet.
The girl's parents are now worried for their daughter's health.
"She proceeded to wrap her hand in toilet paper, dig down inside the commode, remove the contents and place them in a trash can," Millicent Jones, the girl's mother, said.
"Anyone would know that you do not send a child into a bathroom to clean feces of someone else's feces when there's proper staffing to do that," Anthony Jones, the girl's father, said.
Millicent Jones said she immediately contacted Duval County Public Schools for answers. She said she was referred to Kelly Services, the organization in charge of providing substitute teachers.
Jones said she wanted to get the full story, meaning she wanted to hear from the substitute teacher. Instead, she said she was given the runaround.
"They explained to me that they couldn't release that information to me," she said. "But they did tell me that the only information they could give me was that appropriate action has been taken."
The Joneses said although this was an unpleasant experience, they in now way blame the school. They said the school jumped on the issue right away and handled it very professionally.
The family said their daughter now has to have blood work to make sure she hasn't been infected. For them, their daughter was only doing what she was told, and a sacred trust has been violated.
"It didn't matter to her that she was doing something wrong," Anthony Jones said. "She just -- this is somebody I trust to tell me to do something right and knowing that it's safe, that whatever she's telling me is safe."
The school district said it's not in a position to discipline the substitute teacher because technically she is not employed by the district. Officials have said they do not want this person back in the classroom.
Kelly Services said it's reviewing the situation.
"We are always concerned when there are allegations reported of inappropriate direction by one of our employees," a spokeswoman said in a statement. "We are looking into the situation fully and have no further comment to provide you."


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Electrical bioimpedance
Electrical bioimpedance measurements of tissue provide significant levels of contrast between benign and malignant pathologies due to the vastly different morphologies occurring between tissue types. Focal sensing or mapping of these properties can provide clinicians useful information regarding the extent and severity of diseases like cancer. Our group is currently developing technologies to couple bioimpedance sensors to clinical devices including: 1) intraoperative instruments for use in assessing surgical margins during tumor resection; and 2) standard biopsy needles for use in providing real-time pathological assessment of tissue.
Faculty contact: Ryan Halter


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Gluten Free Vegan Stroganoff
Gluten-Free, Vegan Stroganoff – A vegan recipe that even meat-lovers will enjoy. The surprisingly "meat-like" quality comes from a combination of mushrooms, browned and flavored with gluten-free soy sauce, sherry and vegetable broth. Baby onions and a tangy, creamy sauce made from stirring in Vegan Gourmet Dairy Free Sour Cream round out this new take on classic stroganoff.View Recipe