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J.C. Penney stock is tumbling a day after the department store chain announced the sudden departure of Michael Francis, a former top Target executive brought in last October to help redefine Penney's brand.
Penney's terse statement Monday gave no reason for Francis's exit. As president, he was responsible for marketing a new pricing plan that the company says replaced hundreds of sales events per year with lower prices overall as of Feb. 1. Francis also oversaw merchandising and product development and played a big role in signing up new brands as part of larger plan to transform the company under its new CEO, Ron Johnson.
The departure is the latest sign of tumult at J.C. Penney, which last month reported a bigger loss than expected and a 20 percent drop in revenue as shoppers fled in confusion over the new pricing strategy, which Johnson spearheaded.
During presentations at a recent industry conference this month and following the first-quarter earnings report, Johnson continued to back his pricing strategy, saying the problem was that Penney's marketing didn't clearly spell it out.
"Our marketing, while it is gaining a lot of mind share, is not doing the work it (must) to communicate our pricing strategy and to drive our traffic," Johnson told investors last month.
With Francis's departure, Johnson, who came to Penney from Apple Inc., will assume direct responsibility for and oversight of marketing and merchandising.
Since the abysmal first-quarter earnings report, Penney has been changing its advertising and marketing to better explain the three-tiered pricing strategy, which entails everyday prices 40 percent lower than a year ago; deeper month-long reductions on selected items; and clearance sales the first and third Friday of each month, called "Best Price Fridays."
Penney also has been backpedaling. It's adding five more "Best Price Fridays" throughout the year, including one before Memorial Day weekend, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Charles Grom. And it is resurrecting the word "sale" in its advertising; it was taboo under Johnson's original plan.
Analysts were surprised by Francis's exit, even though critics said the quirky, whimsical style that the former Target Corp. chief marketer injected into Penney's advertising didn't clarify its new pricing plan.
"The departure of Francis does not help build confidence that the grand turnaround plan envisioned in (January) will materialize," analyst Paul Lejuez of Nomura Securities International told clients in a note Tuesday. "While Ron Johnson is the key architect of the plan, and we believe he presented many good ideas, the early missteps have made (Penney) much more of a 'show me' story, rather than one where we can give them the benefit of the doubt."
Lejuez said the change is likely to open questions for Penney's suppliers. Just last month, Francis joined Johnson on stage to announce that a slew of designers like Cynthia Rowley and Vivienne Tam are launching new, affordable collections for Penney, starting this fall.
By midday Tuesday, Penney's shares were down $2.46, or 10.1 percent, trading at $21.88, and had touched their lowest point in nearly two years.
The shares soared last winter after Johnson laid out the new pricing strategy, peaking at $43.13 on Feb. 9. They have since lost almost half their value.


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Egerton Consulting is a Leading Independent Consultancy
Specialising in Risk Analysis, Reliability Engineering and Statistical Analysis
Based in the UK, we provide expert advice and training services internationally to engineering and technology industries. Sectors that we support include electricity, oil and gas, rail, air traffic management, water, manufacturing and emergency services. The company is also active in research, with a focus on statistical methodology and the physical sciences.
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Some of our recent clients: (Click here for more)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
PEMBROKE, N.C. – Coker sophomore Akeem Prendes (Brampton, Ontario) picked a perfect time to score the first goal of his collegiate career, as he put home a header in the 109th minute of play, giving Coker a 2-1 double OT win over UNC Pembroke Friday night.
The win extends the No. 5 regionally ranked Cobras winning streak to nine games and improves their overall record to 10-1, while the No. 10 regionally Braves fall to 7-3-1.
The Braves were first to strike with a goal just before the end of the first half off a header from Sam Miles, with an assist from Braxton Miles.
Coker netted the equalizer in the 65th minute of play with a goal from Stephen Scrivens (Tampa, Fla.) with an assist from Tony Quiroz (Miami, Fla.). The score stayed even at one apiece through the remainder of regulation and through the first overtime and most of the second.
Just when it looked like the game would end in a draw, Prendes gave the Cobras the goal they had been searching for and the win when he put home the game-winning header off a corner kick from Rommel Fondin (Palm Bay, Fla.)
James Sweeney (Huntingtown, Md.) had two saves in the match and the Cobras outshot the Braves 18-12.
The Coker men will be back on the field for their next match on Wednesday, Oct. 7 against the No. 1 regionally ranked Lander Bearcats at home. Kick-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.


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I was fortunate to receive a copy of Tees: The Art of the T-Shirt by Maki from the publishers of the book. This is actually the first T-Shirt book I've received for review or even owned. Nonetheless, this book reinforces the fact that the T-Shirt is one of the most successful pop culture products ever. There literally is a T-Shirt for everything. But the T-Shirt isn't all about showing off the latest cultural headline, but it is also wearable art. Every T-Shirt you wear reflects who you are and what you stand for. You can tell a lot about a person just from the T-Shirt that they are wearing.
Tees the book is an exploration of the artistic side of the T-Shirt. The author of the book, Maki Design, is actually a pair of T-Shirt designers, Kim Smits and Matthijs Maat. Their careers took off after they successfully won at the popular design contest site, Threadless. After a year and a half of blogging about T-Shirts I expected to recognize a few of the designs and designers in the book. And of course, I did. But I was even more surprised by the number of designers and brands that I had not heard of. The authors really delve deep into the indie T-Shirt culture.
The book is 333 pages long and features 82 design studios and artists. Each of the featured studios/designers provide short insight blurbs into their designs and inspirations. The book is filled with T-Shirts of different styles. If you're looking for a T-Shirt bible, this is as close as you'll get.
If you have any interest in T-Shirts (and I bet you do if you're reading this blog) or just a general interest in graphic design then I highly recommend this book. You can pick up a copy now from Amazon9 for $19 (retail is $30).


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Most likely, Mike Modano turned his lonely eyes to Twitter and wistfully pondered where had Ronald Reagan gone. We're going to choose to believe Mike Modano is aware that the former president-turned-conservative-heartthrob has been dead for 10 years and was just making a pseudo-political statement (while also misspelling his name). Mike Modano's followers chose to believe otherwise.
I'm not even sure what that last one means, but I'm just going to assume it's something gross.
h/t @SeanGentile
Photo Credit: Getty Images


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We know Facebook ads are tracking us, we just don't always know which ones. But that process is about to get more transparent because Facebook is going to start labeling the ads you see based on past behavior.
This new feature is the result of an agreement between the social network and the Council of Better Business Bureau. Here's how it'll work: Say you see an ad for deals on lift tickets, and you've been searching for snowboarding boots. Very curious. So you mouse over the ad, and you'll see a little grey-blue icon that tells you your browsing is being watched. Of course it would be vastly better if the stamp was just there without you having to hover over it. But you can certainly opt out of ads from specific brands, as well as tracking as a whole, and the stamp will make it more clear which manipulative adverts you don't want Facebook to show you. And that's at least a step in the right direction. [New York Times]


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Florida Residents Deal
Up to 5% off
Nov. 1, 2018 – Dec. 31, 2019
It pays to be a Floridian, play in your own backyard and explore your local theme parks, pools, and beaches.
Enjoy the Sunshine State and take advantage of:
Daily breakfast
Premium Wi-Fi
5% savings off any stay in Florida
Valid for stays between November 1 and December 31, 2018 at participating Florida properties in the Hilton portfolio and is subject to availability. Valid for Florida residents only. Must present Florida ID at check-in. Two (2)-night minimum length of stay is required. Offer includes exclusive discount of 5% off of the standard "Breakfast & WiFi" or "Premium WiFi" packages, which includes breakfast for two adults for each night's stay and daily, in-room Premium Internet access (where available) for the duration of the stay. Kids eat without charge with paid adult at select hotels. Gratuities and taxes are not included. Request the "Florida Resident Deal" Package or plan code "FR2" or "RPFLR2" at time of booking. Other restriction and blackout dates may apply. For full terms and conditions, visit www.HiltonFLResident.com.
Community: St. PetersburgHilton St. Petersburg Bayfront


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"He's just perfect, I can't even describe him any other way," Bullock reveals exclusively in the new issue of PEOPLE, announcing that she is the proud mother of Louis Bardo Bullock, a 3½-month-old boy, born in New Orleans. "It's like he's always been a part of our lives."
Bullock, 45, and husband Jesse James, 41, began the adoption process four years ago and brought Louis home in January but decided to keep the news to themselves until after the Oscars. Their close friends and family – including James's children Sunny, 6, Jesse Jr., 12, and Chandler, 15 – were essential in keeping the adoption a secret.
Then, just 10 days after the March 7 Oscars, Bullock and James separated following reports James had cheated. Bullock says she is now finalizing the adoption as a single parent.
For much more, including an in-depth interview with Bullock and exclusive photos of the star and her baby boy, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday
See what other readers have to say about this story – or leave a comment of your own


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GOP feuds over Obamacare tactics
A brewing Republican versus Republican fight over whether to use a government funding measure to choke off Obamacare is splitting the party ahead of this fall's budget battles.
A growing number of Republicans are rejecting calls from leading conservatives, including Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, to defund the president's health care law in the resolution to keep the government running past Sept. 30. The rift exposes an emerging divide over how the GOP can best achieve its No. 1 goal — to repeal Obamacare — while highlighting the spreading fears that Republicans would lose a public relations war if the dispute leads to a government shutdown in the fall.
Story Continued Below
The debate is happening behind closed doors and over Senate lunches, as well as during a frank meeting Wednesday with House leaders in Speaker John Boehner's suite where fresh concerns were aired about the party's strategy. On Thursday, the dispute began to spill into public view, most notably when three Senate Republicans — including Minority Whip John Cornyn — withdrew their signatures from a conservative letter demanding defunding Obamacare as a condition for supporting the government funding measure.
( PHOTOS: 25 unforgettable Obamacare quotes)
Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) called the push to defund the law through the continuing resolution the "dumbest idea" he had ever heard.
"Defunding the Affordable Care Act is not achievable by shutting down the federal government," Burr said. "At some point, you're going to open the federal government back up, and Barack Obama is going to be president."
Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) have circulated letters in the Senate and House to push their colleagues to unite behind the anti-Obamacare effort. The proponents of the push argue that if the government shuts down over Obamacare, it will be the president's fault — not theirs.
"I see it as Obama is threatening to shut down the government unless we fund Obamacare," Rubio said.
( Also on POLITICO: House Republicans: Defund Obamacare)
While the push has won the support of the GOP trio eyeing a White House run — Rubio, Cruz and Paul — the fight also has given the Florida Republican an opportunity to cater to the right after his star dimmed in the eyes of many conservatives for cutting a deal to pass a Senate immigration bill.
Indeed, Rubio seems to be relishing this fight that's firing up the GOP base.
"I would say, 'If we're not going to have a red line in the sand on Obamacare, what will we have a line in the sand on?'" Rubio told POLITICO on Thursday. "For those who are saying it's not achievable, I would say to them, 'If it's not achievable it's because they are basically conceding defeat before they even try.'"
( Also on POLITICO: Rubio drums up rhetoric)
After recapturing the House majority in the 2010 midterms, Republicans were emboldened to cut spending, using must-pass government funding bills and debt ceiling increases as their leverage. But their steep demands for cuts quickly ran into political reality — namely the Democratic Senate and the White House — and the House and Senate leadership have made a series of compromises that have angered rank-and-file conservatives.
With the fall spending fights nearing and the White House struggling to implement the health care law, conservatives say now is the time to fight and force Democrats to bend to their will. But funding the health care law is hardly the only disagreement. Senate Democrats and House Republicans are tens of billions of dollars apart on their government funding targets.
Nonetheless, Rubio, Lee and other conservative lawmakers have begun to make the case that if Republicans back a budget bill that includes funding for Obamacare, they essentially are supporting the law.
"They will choose to fund it and thereby, become part of the legislative process of Obamacare's implementation, but I'm not going to," Lee said Thursday.
Such comments have irked a number of Republicans, virtually all of whom have called for the law's repeal.
"That's not true because a good portion of it is mandatory spending, and the only way you get rid of mandatory spending if you want to defund Obamacare is 67 votes because you got to override a presidential veto," said Oklahoma Sen. Tom Coburn, a fellow conservative. "So that's not an accurate assessment."
Coburn called the conservative effort a "failed strategy" since "backbones don't hold long" after a government shuts down, and he said it's a political loser.
"My feeling is if you want to make sure that the Democrats take control of the House, run that strategy," Coburn said.
Similarly, Cornyn said he disagrees with the assessment that supporting a budget bill with Obamacare funding is the same as supporting the law.


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For continuing coverage of the George Zimmerman case, download the Local 6 app.
[DOWNLOAD FREE ZIMMERMAN APP: iPhone | Android]
The George Zimmerman Case App covers one of the most captivating criminal trials in Central Florida -- The People vs. George Zimmerman in the death of Trayvon Martin.
The app provides in-depth information on the case, including insight from Local 6's investigative reporter Tony Pipitone.
Users can enjoy:
- Push notifications of all case developments
- Interactive chats with other followers
- One-touch connection to live video from the courtroom, news conferences and demonstrations
- Links so you can explore crucial evidence in the case
- Story archives and background information about the case
- Slideshows of the most talked about photos
- Video that everyone is talking about
The Local 6 Zimmerman Case app is your only all-access pass into one of the biggest trials in Central Florida history.
Download it for free today by texting "Zimmerman" or "Trayvon" to 45995.
You can also receive a breaking news text alert informing you when a verdict has been reached and when the verdict is read. Viewers and users can also sign up for email news alerts.
In addition, follow Local 6 on Twitter and like the station's Facebook page to find out the latest information in the Zimmerman case.
Copyright 2013 by ClickOrlando.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Crewneck Koka FUSION LAUREL Orange
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available colors: Black, Heather Grey, Orange
made in Poland
Koka STREET line
We use cookies our website. If you continue we assume that you consent to receive all cookies on our websites. More information in Privacy & Cookies policy. You can change cookies settings in your browser


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The forex exchange market is seen because the best avenue for increasing wealth manifold times and is presently on the boom. Despite the actual fact that there's so a definite degree of risk concerned, the profit margins are relatively terribly high and thus definitely worth the risk. Within the forex market, 2 currencies are changed […]READ MORE
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ACE Money Transfer is a UK based Company and has been operating in the North West of England since 2002. Our head office was the starting point of the UK success story when we commenced business with retail clients and two business associates but after obtaining our Authorized Payment Institution (API) from Financial Services Authority (FSA) our company is now set to become a global name specializing payment services
Over the past 10 years, by keeping in mind basic necessities of people, understanding that they belong to different cultures and respect their values & norms, finally ACE decided to channelize our network into new dimension by giving opportunities to all communities to send their hard earn money back to their home. We have made this possible through our expanded network of agents, correspondents, partner banks, established branches in Europe, and MTOs (Money Transfer Operators) across the UK, Europe, Africa and Asia in more than 70 countries worldwide to entertain our 2 Million Customers around the globe to send & receive their payments through 200,000 locations that help us to build our credibility and retain customers trust on ACE Money Transfer.
The company success stems from the expertise and market knowledge of its senior management and this will ensure that the company is well positioned to make a positive impact to the market and will be able to sets itself apart from other remittance providers.
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Hey! Thanks to some friends at the Fb group on the new Electribes, I have anaged to swap the Electribe2 OS to use it as a sampler!
Im not allowed to post urls but google electribe os swap and you can read my tutorial on how to do it.
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Chemtura Corporation has announced the acquisition of the Trace Chemicals business from Bayer CropScience. "Trace Chemicals is a leader in grower-applied seed treatments. With this acquisition, Chemtura will be able to apply the benefits of its global experience to an important and growing segment of the seed treatment business, 'downstream' crop protection via the seed," says Mike McFatrich, global seed treatment product manager, Chemtura Corporation.
"Our experience in seed treatments in the United States and around the globe, as the originator of Vitavax, will allow us to offer growers a choice in seed amendments and flexibility in the way that the protection is obtained. Being backed by Chemtura's commitment to technology will enhance product choices for growers and those who serve growers' seed treatment needs.
Key products in the portfolio include the following, which will continue to be sold under the Trace Chemicals brand name:
• Latitude — A hopper box seed treatment which contains Imidacloprid and Vitavax for insect and disease protection on corn, sweet corn and popcorn.
• Prevail — A planter-applied fungicide seed treatment combining Allegiance, Terraclor and Vitavax for cotton, peanuts, barley, oats, rye, wheat, rice, corn, beans and soybeans.
• Stiletto — A flowable soybean fungicide for convenient "on-farm" application of seed protection.
Additional information concerning Chemtura is available at www.chemtura.com.


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Thomas Livingstone Mitchell (1792-1855)
On this page...
The first set of Aboriginal artefacts ever obtained by the Museum
Skilled draughtsman and surveyor, Mitchell arrived in Sydney in 1827, the same year the Australian Museum was founded. Appointed surveyor-general in 1828 he comprehensively reformed the Survey Department and the scope of its operations. As surveyor and explorer he undertook and completed some enormous tasks, but he was not a good administrator, often in conflict with his superiors and inadequately supervising his staff.
Mitchell designed or rerouted the major roads around Sydney and beyond, including the roads to Parramatta, Liverpool, Goulburn via Berrima and Bathurst via the Blue Mountains. In the 1830s and 1840s Mitchell conducted several journeys to western New South Wales and into Australia's interior. He attempted to find an overland route to Port Essington (north-east of Darwin, Northern Territory) in 1845. He was a strong proponent of retaining Aboriginal place names and in this way contributed to the preservation of some aspects of indigenous culture, giving Australia a pool of distinct geographical names. Mitchell was interested in designing a ship's propeller based on the boomerang.
Mitchell's second journey to the interior in 1835 aimed to trace the course of the Darling River down to its junction with the Murray River. He charted the long sections of the Bogan and Darling rivers and made observations of local Aboriginal peoples, collecting some artefacts. These artefacts, 23 in total, he donated to the Australian Museum, making it probably the first set of Aboriginal artefacts ever obtained by the Museum in its eight years of existence (Australian Museum Catalogue 1837).


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an experienced team of designers and developers based in Berlin. We craft user-centered apps for VR, AR,
3D, medical. On desktop, mobile, and web.
We care, because we love that shit.
After reviewing all existing material, we create a first assessment document with tons of annotations and quick paintovers. Our engineers can identify bottlenecks and unused potentials.
We love ideation! We then cluster, evaluate, visualize, and sharpen all results – and make them work. We suggest means of implementation and validate ideas for feasibility.
We roll-out your user's experience step by step, from first awareness to a conversion. Feasibility is king: all steps are discussed and reviewed by senior developers.
We craft color scheme, typography, look, and – of course – transitions and motion design. Good design requires implementation: We tweak to pixel-perfection on the target platform.
We like prototyping with tangible assets and quick iterations that drive decisions and designs. And we get code running on the target platform as early as possible.
We recommend early qualitative user-testing, which we can facilitate quickly and cost effective. Our development pipeline is fully test-driven, with build-servers and a refined reviewing process.
As a team we design and implement together. This collaboration results in an refined product that is rock solid and looks and feels great.


text:
Captain's Report
Captain's Report by Capt. Steve
Keeping with their business plan that focuses on the smaller boats, Wellcraft has introduced the 210 Fisherman. It not only functions as a great first boat, but also a likely first upgrade from that smaller boat that just doesn't have enough room after all.Wellcraft's level of fit and finish was not wasted on this 210. As I looked along the topsides, I saw no imperfections, no waving in the reflections, and no defects. It was buffed to a high gloss shine.
Stepping Aboard
Starting at the bow, I noticed right away that Wellcraft doesn't just take the easy way out. Where other builders cut a hatch out and call it an anchor locker, Wellcraft installed a stainless steel anchor roller and added a stainless hawespipe for running the rode and anchor chain through. To secure the deployed anchor there is an 8" (20.3 cm) cleat on the centerline. Just aft are the two V-seats with large hinged covers over self-draining fish boxes. The covers are finished on both sides and gasketed as well as supported by gas assist struts. Abaft of the center console, a cooler is standard equipment, and on our test boat, the optional seat cushion and backrest were also installed.
The Console
I was surprised at how much room there was on the sides of the console. All too often, fishing from the side decks means smacking the butt end of your rod into the console, particularly on a boat in this size range. On the 210 the space is mostly facilitated from the mounting method of the T-top. Wellcraft mounts it to the sides of the console where most builders attach them right to the deck. This leaves lots of open space where the frame is usually intruding into the side deck space. I also noticed that the console itself is molded in so there's no problem supporting the weight of the top, or you and your passengers when the going gets rough. In the port side is the usual head access. I found the head to be roomy enough with 60" (152.4cm) of head room (no pun intended). There's no padding on any of the bulkheads so watch yourself if nature calls in a seaway, when slowing or stopping would be a good idea.
The Helm
At the helm, there were no surprises. Visibility was good and I was protected by the windshield even while standing. The panel sported two multifunction gauges giving the ability to scroll through fuel usage, fuel remaining, speed, etc. This boat also had the optional Raymarine package installed that consisted of an HD fish finder/chartplotter and a VHF and there was clearly enough open space to satisfy whatever package suited you appropriate to this size boat.
I liked the steering knob on the stainless steel wheel, and the optional stereo was mounted on the top right of the panel rather than hidden inside the head compartment. Another nice touch was the location of the controls for the trim tabs -- right in front of the throttle. Just extend a finger and you're there. That said, I never touched the tabs and never felt the need to do so.
"T" Top
Looking up from the helm, the optional T-top that was installed on our test boat was covered in canvas, and underneath is netting for supporting life jackets. I never really cared much for that method of storage, as whatever you put in there causes the netting to sag in the middle. And since there's not really much storage room on any center console, I'd opt to let something more like chart books and binoculars cause the sagging. Life vests should be worn, not stowed when offshore.
The only thing that I thought was lacking on the console was foot rests. It wouldn't take much to mold in a two tiered step like Wellcraft did on their 210 Sportsman, but here, it's a flat surface right down to the deck. There's was nowhere to put my feet.
Leaning Post
The leaning post is comfortable enough, and there's an optional backrest that inserts into the rod holders on either side of the post. That would be an attractive option and further require the need for a foot rest when you're elevated.
The leaning post itself is molded in, NOT bolted in -- so it's going to be nice and sturdy. Underneath, a 26 gallon (98.4 L) baitwell is fed by a 700 gph pump, and on both sides you've got Plano storage boxes for your tackle.
Aft Cockpit
Back in the cockpit area there is plenty of room, and the coaming going all the way around is padded. The bulwarks start at 25" (63.5 cm) and get slightly higher as you go forward. The two aft seats are very comfortable when you're running, and when it's time to get down to business they remove by sliding two spring loaded deadbolts giving you access all the way to the back of the cockpit, ready to fight the fight.
On the Water
I found the handling of the 210 Fisherman to be good enough to qualify it for offshore runs without any trepidation as to whether she could handle whatever pops up. While we didn't get a chance to test it in heavy seas, the waves we did get showed its ability to carve smoothly and throw water off to the sides rather than into the helm. She's rated for engines up to 250, but there was plenty of power to spare with the 200 Yamaha four-stroke that this boat was equipped with. Wellcraft will ship with either Evinrude or Yamaha outboards. Maneuverability was nothing less than you would expect for a boat with the Scarab pedigree. Turns were stable and tight with no tendency to slide off to the outside and there was no ventilating with the engine in full down position. Full speed, hard over turns were firm and as if on rails so make sure everything is secured, because the contents of the boat will lose position before the boat loses anything to a turn.
All in All...
Wellcraft went to their Scarab design team to come up with a very nice hull for the 210 Fisherman. It performs well, it's a great fishing machine, and as I've said over and over, with this boat… it's all about space.
Test Result Highlights
- Top speed for the Wellcraft 210 Fisherman (2009-2010) is 43.9 mph (70.7 kph), burning 17.0 gallons per hour (gph) or 64.34 liters per hour (lph).
- Best cruise for the Wellcraft 210 Fisherman (2009-2010) is 26.2 mph (42.2 kph), and the boat gets 3.23 miles per gallon (mpg) or 1.37 kilometers per liter (kpl), giving the boat a cruising range of 294 miles (473.15 kilometers).
- Tested power is 1 x 200-hp Yamaha F200 four-stroke.
Standard and Optional Features
Marine Electronics
|VHF Radio
|CD Stereo
|Head: Portable
|Shore Power
|Trim Tabs
|Washdown: Fresh Water
|Washdown: Raw Water
Exterior Features
|Ice Chest
|Optional T-Top
|Outlet: 12-Volt Acc
|Swim Platform
|Bimini Top
Hull Warranty
|NMMA Certification Other Certification
|Yes CE certification (export only)
(It's quick and FREE!)


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Grimes takes on McConnell
POLITICO this week begins a yearlong series from the road on the hottest races of 2014. Today, the second installment of a two-part look at the challengers seeking to unseat Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the top target of tea party conservatives and national Democrats.
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — Call it supreme self-confidence or misplaced bravado. But at 35 years old and barely two years into her public career, Alison Lundergan Grimes betrays no hint that she's even the slightest bit cowed taking on one of the toughest and wiliest tacticians in the U.S. Senate.
Story Continued Below
Asked about a position she'd take "if" she were a senator, the Democratic candidate running against Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) corrected a reporter: "When I'm in the United States Senate. … That's when, not if."
To the Grimes campaign, everything seems to be working six months into her campaign. Polls show her in a dead heat with the unpopular McConnell, who has to worry about his own primary challenge. Money is gushing in from all corners of the Democratic Party, including Hollywood stars who feted Grimes with a big-dollar fundraiser last week. And she's done something that few candidates here manage to accomplish: unite a Kentucky Democratic Party frequently at war with itself.
( PHOTOS: Kentucky Senate race: Alison Lundergan Grimes)
The question hovering over her campaign — which Washington and Kentucky Democrats hungry to defeat the vulnerable GOP leader cannot answer — is whether the political newcomer can hold up under 10 grueling months of McConnell's attacks and media scrutiny.
After a rocky rollout, Grimes's campaign has been a six-month exhibition of how to control the image of a largely untested candidate with the weight of her entire party's expectations on her shoulders. As if taking on McConnell wasn't tough enough, Grimes is learning the ropes in the country's highest-stakes Senate race — wooing liberal donors and progressives, while at the same time trying to carve out a winning identity as a Democrat in a conservative state.
What those competing pressures have produced is an approach marked by extreme caution. Campaign appearances are sporadic and tightly managed. Responses to questions about hot-button issues are scripted — excessively, in the minds of even some allies — or not responsive at all, lest Grimes take a position that upsets either her liberal base or the moderate voters she needs to win over.
( PHOTOS: Senators up for election in 2014)
A simple question posed to Grimes about a key provision in Obamacare — should the mandate on individuals to buy insurance be put off for a year? — prompts an answer about easing the burden on small businesses and a shot at McConnell.
"Well, if Sen. McConnell was serious at all about helping the people here in Kentucky, looking out for their health, he wouldn't have laughed in their faces when it came to unemployment insurance benefits," she said during the interview in her hometown of Lexington, following a speech to a meeting of businesswomen lunching at a beer distribution plant.
But avoiding specifics on issues is easier in January than in September and carries its own risks. Many voters have yet to form an opinion of the Lexington attorney schooled at American University in Washington. That means the coming months will be a race to define Grimes in the eyes of conservative voters who may not like McConnell but are highly skeptical of Washington Democrats.
( QUIZ: Do you know Alison Lundergan Grimes?)
"I think most reporters think that candidates running for office ought to be able to discuss the issues and respond to questions," McConnell, 71, said in an interview. "I'm a little surprised that the press corps has so far let her get away with saying so little."
Washington-Kentucky tensions
Democrats in Washington are monitoring every development in the race, amid occasional flashes of tension between some national Democrats and Grimes's campaign. One of the biggest players in her orbit is a man who does not hold an official campaign title: Grimes's father, Jerry Lundergan, a longtime Democratic boss in the state.
"Nothing important happens without Jerry knowing about it," said one source close to the campaign.
That includes the naming of a campaign manager. At Grimes's request, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee proposed a number of candidates for her to consider as her campaign manager before she announced her run. But the candidate — and her father — instead picked Jonathan Hurst, a veteran Kentucky operative with long-standing ties to Lundergan.
( Also on POLITICO: On the Ground: Behind Matt Bevin's campaign)
Lundergan allies also opened up a Kentucky super PAC in July called We Are Kentucky, even though a Washington outside group, Senate Majority PAC, and its sister organization have already dropped roughly $1 million attacking McConnell and plan much more. Several Kentucky Democrats privately scoff at the role of the Washington outside group.
And Lundergan has tapped his long-standing friendship with Bill and Hillary Clinton to help with his daughter's campaign. Both Clintons have spoken several times with Grimes, and Bill Clinton is expected to stump in Kentucky at least once on Grimes's behalf, sources say. The former president has introduced Grimes to deep-pocketed donors, sources say, helping to bolster her coffers after she endured a major shakeup on her finance team last fall when the top two fundraising officials left the campaign largely for personal reasons.
A former Kentucky Democratic Party chairman and state legislator, Lundergran has put behind him a three-decade-long feud with Gov. Steve Beshear, the head of Kentucky's other leading Democratic family. But Lundergan's oversized role in the campaign and his gregarious yet rowdy personality have rankled some Democrats in and out of Washington.
Allies of Lundergan say that's fine with them.
"I don't think Jerry is out of line when he challenges their thinking," said one Kentucky Democrat who asked not to be named. "If they want to help us on our terms, we'll take their help. If they don't, we'll just do it on our own. And I think they got that message loud and clear."
( VIDEO TIMELINE: Alison Grimes' political career)
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee participates in weekly strategy conference calls. While Lundergan is not on every call, he speaks and texts frequently with top DSCC officials.
And two consultants with longstanding committee ties – ad man Mark Putnam and pollster Mark Mellman – helped put the campaign on more solid footing. [A spokeswoman said Putnam and Mellman were on board before the campaign launch; Putnam worked for Grimes's Secretary of State campaign.]
The DSCC got behind the choice of Hurst as campaign manager, and senior committee officials say they've developed a strong working relationship with Grimes, her team and father, praising the campaign as well run so far.
Lundergan, for his part, demurs when asked about his role in his daughter's campaign.
"You'll have to ask somebody else," he said.
Electrifying a crowd
Grimes clearly is taking steps to assuage doubts about whether she can stay competitive as the race intensifies. After a curious campaign launch — she jumped into the race in July in what appeared to be a spontaneous, last-minute decision — she surfaced several weeks later at an elaborately staged Lexington rally at a lavish facility run by her father's catering and events company.
Since then, she hired a former editor at the Louisville Courier-Journal, Stephen Ford, to head her policy shop. And after two of her top fundraising officials — Colleen Coffey and Michael Pratt — left the campaign last year, she named Jill Straus, a well-connected operative and DSCC confidante to lead her New York finance operation.
After being mostly absent from the campaign trail in recent weeks, Grimes re-emerged here last week for a raucous, elaborate rally in Eastern Kentucky where she rolled out a new economic plan.
There were well-produced videos deriding McConnell and promoting Grimes, including one with an appearance from Bill Clinton, and an acoustic band blared Johnny Cash songs. Speaker after speaker gushed about the Democratic candidate.


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Prophetic Politics: Charting A Healthy Role For Religion
In Public Life
By Robert Jensen
03 February, 2012
A review of Walter Brueggemann, The Practice of Prophetic Imagination: Preaching an Emancipatory Word (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012).
Does God take sides in the elections? Is there a voters' guide hiding in our holy books? Should we pray for electoral inspiration?
Secular people tend to answer an emphatic NO to those questions, as do most progressive religious folk. Because religious fundamentalists so often present an easy-to-caricature version of faith-based politics -- even to the point of implying that God would want us to vote for certain candidates -- it's tempting to want to banish all talk of the divine from political life.
But a blanket claim that religion and politics don't mix misunderstands the inevitable connection between the two. Whether secular or religious, our political judgments are always rooted in first principles -- claims about what it means to be human that can't be reduced to evidence and logic. Should people act purely out of self-interest, or is solidarity with others just as important? Do we owe loyalty to a nation-state? Under what conditions, if any, is the taking of a human life justified? What is the appropriate relationship of human beings to the larger living world?
These basic moral/spiritual questions underlie everyone's politics, and our answers are shaped by the philosophical and/or theological systems in which we find inspiration and insight. Since everyone's political positions reflect their foundational commitments, it doesn't seem fair to say that those grounded in a secular philosophy can draw on their traditions, but people whose political outlooks are rooted in religion have to mute themselves.
Rather than trying to bracket religion out of politics, we should be discussing how religious traditions can play a role in a healthy politics, and one productive place to start in the context of the Christian tradition is Walter Brueggemann's new book, The Practice of Prophetic Imagination: Preaching an Emancipatory Word . Building on the book for which he is most known -- The Prophetic Imagination , first published in 1978 with a second edition in 2001 -- Brueggemann moves beyond sectarian politics and self-satisfied religion to ask difficult questions about our relationship to power. He makes it clear that taking the prophetic tradition seriously means being willing to make those around us -- and ourselves -- uncomfortable.
In that earlier book, Brueggemann argued that the tradition of prophecy demands more of us than a self-indulgent expression of righteous indignation over injustice or vague calls for social justice, what he calls a liberal understanding of prophecy that can serve as an attractive and face-saving device for any excessive abrasiveness in the service of almost any cause.
Brueggemann wants more from those who claim to stand in the prophetic tradition, which he asserts is rooted in resistance to the dominance of a royal consciousness that produces numbness in people. Prophetic ministry, Brueggemann argues in that first book, seeks to penetrate the numbness in order to face the body of death in which we are caught and penetrate despair so that new futures can be believed in and embraced by us. And make no mistake, Brueggemann's concern is not the royal culture of Biblical days but dominant culture of the contemporary United States and its quest for endless material acquisition and constant expansion of power.
Brueggemann also makes it clear that the prophet is not a finger-wagging scold. The task of prophetic ministry is to bring to public expression the dread of endings, the collapse of our self-madness, the barriers and pecking orders that secure us at each other's expense, and the fearful practice of eating off the table of a hungry brother or sister. In other words, prophets speak the language of mourning, that crying in pathos, that provides the ultimate form of criticism, for it announces the sure end of the whole royal arrangement.
More than three decades after the publication of that book, Brueggemann returns to explore the implications of taking seriously the prophetic imagination, specifically for clergy. But while the book is aimed at preachers and their struggles to bring the prophetic imagination alive in a congregation, Brueggemann's words are relevant to any citizen concerned about the health of our politics and the state of the world.
The new book begins by arguing that the gospel narrative of social transformation, justice, and compassion is in direct conflict with the dominant narrative of the United States: therapeutic, technological, consumerist militarism that is committed to the notion of self-invention in the pursuit of self-sufficiency. The logic and goals of that dominant culture foster competitive productivity, motivated by pervasive anxiety about having enough, or being enough, or being in control. All this bolsters notions of US exceptionalism that gives warrant to the usurpatious pursuit of commodities in the name of freedom, at the expense of the neighbor.
Right out of the gate, Brueggemann makes it clear that he is going to critique not just the problems of the moment but the political, economic, and social systems from which those problems emerge, and that to speak frankly about those systems means taking risks. Preachers who put the articulation of this prophetic imagination at the center of their work -- and he makes it clear that preachers don't have to claim to be prophets but should see themselves as handler[s] of the prophetic tradition -- will most likely encounter intense resistance to the message. The dominant narrative does dominate, after all, and critics are rarely embraced.
Just as the prophets struggled to persuade a royal culture that preferred to ignore the message, so do contemporary preachers need to connect the dots and make a case that goes against the grain. Central to this process is that dot-connecting, that naming of reality.
Prophetic preaching does not put people in crisis. Rather it names and makes palpable the crisis already pulsing among us, Brueggemann writes. When the dots are connected, it will require naming the defining sins among us of environmental abuse, neighborly disregard, long-term racism, self-indulgent consumerism, all the staples from those ancient truthtellers translated into our time and place.
What masks those sins, Brueggemann writes, is a totalizing ideology of exceptionalism that precludes critique of our entitlements and self-regard, and the prophetic imagination helps us see that.
Once we accept this critique of the systems that surround us, the next step is dealing with a sense of loss and the accompanying grief as we let go of the illusions that come with wealth and power. That function of prophetic preaching is important because in a society of buoyant denial as ours is, there is no venue for public grief, he writes. It is required, in the dominant narrative, to rush past loss to confident recovery' according to a tight ideology of success.
Brueggemann does not suggest we stay mired in grief; when society's denial has been penetrated, prophetic preaching has the task of giving voice to hope-filled possibility. But he reminds us to be careful not to jump too quickly into an empty hope: Hope can, of course, be spoken too soon. And when spoken too soon, it may too soon overcome the loss and short-circuit the indispensable embrace of guilt and loss. The new possibility is always on the horizon for prophetic preachers. But good sense and theological courage are required to know when to say what.
This is our task -- the tearing down of systems inconsistent with our values and the building up of something new, dismantling and restoration -- not only for preachers seeking to be handlers of the prophetic tradition, but for anyone interested in facing honestly our political, economic, and social problems. The task, in Brueggemann's words, is to mediate a relinquishment of a world that is gone and a reception of a world that is being given.
Again, Brueggemann's goal in the book isn't to advocate for specific politicians, parties, or political programs but to articulate the underlying values that should inform our political thinking. He seeks to confront truth (against denial) and articulate hope (against despair) in the face of a denying, despairing, totalizing ideology that presents itself as the only game in town. While it is difficult for many people to let go of the dominant ideology, Brueggemann argues that people yearn and trust for more than the empire can offer. We yearn for abundance and transformation and restoration. We yearn beyond the possible.
Brueggemann's analysis may resonate with many progressive people who aren't churchgoers or don't consider themselves spiritual in any sense, but who may ask whether his arguments need to draw on a religious tradition. Wouldn't most of his arguments make just as much sense in the language of secular politics? I think they would, but there is great value in Brueggemann's approach.
First, whatever any one person's beliefs, the dominant religion in the United States is Christianity; around three-quarters of the U.S. population identifies as Christian in some sense. The stories of that tradition are the stories of our culture, and the struggle over that interpretation is crucial to political and social life.
Even more important is the fact that church is still a place where people come to think about these basic questions. Even in the most timid church, the question of what are people for? is on the agenda, and hence there is potential to challenge the dominant culture's values.
The local congregation continues to be a matrix for emancipatory, subversive utterance that is not amenable to totalizing ideology, Brueggemann writes. People continue to sit and listen attentively to the exposition of the word. People still entertain the odd thought, in spite of the reductionisms of modernity, that God is a real character and the defining agent in the life of the world. People still gather in church to hear and struggle with what is no on offer anywhere else.
Brueggemann's invocation of God may put off secular people, who assume that any use of the term implies supernatural claims about God as an actual being that directs the universe. But that is not the only way to understand God, of course. In fact, one of the greatest conversation-starting aspects of this approach is the always provocative question, What do you mean by God? When someone cites God, we can -- and should -- ask: Is God a being, entity, or force in the world? Is God the name humans use for that which is beyond our understanding? What is God to you? Rather than closing down conversation along sectarian lines, our religious traditions have the capacity to open up the conversations about meaning that are difficult to have in a privatized, depoliticized, mass-mediated, mass-medicated world.
To ask whether we should understand our world through a religious or secular lens is to misunderstand both -- it's not an either/or proposition. We have the tools of modernity and science to help us understand what we can understand about the material world. We have faith traditions that remind us of the limits of our understanding. In the church I attend (a progressive Presbyterian congregation, St. Andrew's http://www.staopen.com/ , http://www.jimrigby.org/ ) those two approaches are not at odds but part of the same project -- to understand a world facing multiple crises, drawing on the best of religious and secular traditions, struggling together to solve the problems that can be solved and to face the problems that may be beyond solutions.
In a world in collapse, these realities often seem too painful to bear and the work before us often seems overwhelming. The prophetic tradition offers a language for understanding that pain and finding the collective strength to continue.
Robert Jensen is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and board member of the Third Coast Activist Resource Center in Austin, one of the partners in the community center 5604 Manor, http://5604manor.org/ . He is the author of All My Bones Shake: Seeking a Progressive Path to the Prophetic Voice, (Soft Skull Press, 2009); Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity (South End Press, 2007); The Heart of Whiteness: Confronting Race, Racism and White Privilege (City Lights, 2005); Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity (City Lights, 2004); and Writing Dissent: Taking Radical Ideas from the Margins to the Mainstream (Peter Lang, 2002).
Jensen is also co-producer of the 2009 documentary film Abe Osheroff: One Foot in the Grave, the Other Still Dancing, which chronicles the life and philosophy of the longtime radical activist. Information about the film, distributed by the Media Education Foundation, and an extended interview Jensen conducted with Osheroff are online at http://thirdcoastactivist.org/osheroff.html .
Jensen can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com and his articles can be found online at http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/index.html . To join an email list to receive articles by Jensen, go to http://www.thirdcoastactivist.org/jensenupdates-info.html .
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6 Activities
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Topics: Core, Communication & Social Media
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The Voice slipped, but still dominated Monday, while two freshmen dramas hit lows.
NBC singing competition's two-hour episode drew 13.1 million viewers and a 4.6 in the adults 18-to-49 demographic, down two-tenths from last week's premiere. Lead-out Revolution (6.6 million, 2.3) dropped three-tenths to a series low.
TV Scorecard: What's canceled?Fox's The Following (6.5 million, 2.2) also fell to a series low, dipping a tenth. Bones (6.9 million, 2.0), however, grew a tenth.ABC's Castle, which celebrated its 100th episode, was the only other show to see an improvement, grabbing 11.7 million viewers and a 2.2, up a tenth from last week. Dancing with the Stars (13.8 million, 2.1) had the night's biggest audience, but fell three-tenths in the demo.8 p.m.
CBS: How I Met Your Mother (R) 4.1 million viewers (1.1 demo rating); Rules of Engagement (R) 4 million (1.1)ABC: Dancing with the Stars 13.8 million (2.1) [8-10 p.m.]Fox: Bones 6.9 million (2.0) NBC: The Voice 13.1 million (4.6) [8-10 p.m.]CW: The Carrie Diaries 970,000 million (0.4) 9 p.m.
CBS: 2 Broke Girls (R) 5 million (1.4); Mike & Molly (R) 5.1 million (1.4)Fox: The Following 6.5 million (2.2)CW: Hart of Dixie (R) 610,000 (0.2)10 p.m.
CBS: Hawaii Five-0 (R) 5.3 million (1.1)ABC: Castle 11.7 million (2.2)NBC: Revolution 6.6 million (2.3)


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National Sleep Foundation launches free 'Sleep Disorders' online resource guide for primary care
The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) is pleased to announce the launch of a comprehensive free online sleep disorders resource for all professionals in primary care. The "Sleep Disorders" guide is the updated web version of Dr. Peter Hauri's book, The Sleep Disorders, first published in 1977.
"We are honored to have worked with Dr. Hauri to extend the important work he began over 35 years ago," said David Cloud, CEO of NSF. The book has long served as a sleep care primer for generations of non-sleep medicine physicians and technologists. "The NSF will maintain and update this book as a free online resource for future generations as a tribute to Dr. Hauri."
Dr. Hauri served as a resource in bringing the book back for this new and permanent application and unfortunately died shortly before its completion. He was a psychologist and pioneer in researching the mechanics of a good night's sleep offering guidelines to combat insomnia. He retired as the director of the Mayo Sleep Disorders Center.
"Finding sufficient time for sleep care education within formal medical school and other health care training programs has remained an elusive goal for decades," explains Cloud. "To address this challenge, the National Sleep Foundation is proud to make this "Sleep Disorders" resource accessible through a free and easy to navigate web resource. We developed this resource specifically for the non-specialist who needed a free, fast and convenient tool."
This online resources serves as a practical introduction to sleep apnea, insomnia, narcolepsy, circadian rhythm disruption, parasomnia, sleep-related movement disorders, and more. Easily accessible on portable devices such as iPad, ebook readers, this tool can be instantly pulled up in a physician's office.
Visit http://www.sleepdisorders.sleepfoundation.org for free answers about sleep disorders available online 24/7. While designed for primary care physicians and professionals, the general public is welcomed to access the content. It will soon be available in print.
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BSE Mad Cow Disease - Archived EDEN Topic Page
BSE Mad Cow Disease - Archived EDEN Topic Page
Introduction to BSE
What is BSE?
Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) is the bovine (cattle) form of a group of diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). TSEs are chronic degenerative diseases that affect the central nervous system of the infected animal. They are known to occur in sheep and goats (scrapie), deer and elk (chronic wasting disease), mink (transmissible mink encephalopathy) and domestic cats (feline spongiform encephalopathy).
Cattle suffering from BSE are often irritable and can react violently to stimuli that normally do not impact healthy animals. As the disease progresses, animals become dizzy and disoriented and eventually lose the ability to walk. This erratic behavior is responsible for the disease being commonly referred to as "mad cow disease."
Unlike foot and mouth disease (which spreads rapidly from animal to animal and from herd to herd), there is no evidence that BSE is contagious or spreads by contact between cattle or by contact between cattle and other species. BSE is not believed to be caused by a bacteria, virus, parasite, fungus, toxin, or chemical. Currently, the most accepted theory is that BSE is caused by a modified form of a normal nerve-cell surface component known as a "prion protein."
If eaten, these modified prion proteins can accumulate in the brain and other tissues, including the spinal cord, subsequently causing normal prion proteins to change to the modified form. These modified proteins continue to accumulate in the brain to the point where they damage brain cells, eventually leading to neurological disease and death. Why or how this substance changes to become disease-producing is still unknown.
Whether normal or abnormal, prion proteins primarily are found in neurological tissue, including the brain and spinal cord. Thus, the disease spreads when a susceptible animal eats the brain, spinal cord or nervous tissue of an infected cow where the abnormal prion protein has accumulated, or when a susceptible animal eats proteins rendered from these tissues.
BSE was first diagnosed in the United Kingdom in 1986, and was likely caused when cattle were fed rendered protein that contained prions from the carcasses of scrapie-infected sheep or cattle with a previously unidentified transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE). The practice of using products such as meat-and-bone meal as a source of protein in cattle rations had been common for several decades. Restrictions on ruminant protein in feed for ruminant animals were first imposed in England in 1988. In August 1997 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) established regulations that prohibit the feeding of most mammalian proteins to ruminants. Similar restrictions were put in place in Canada at the same time. For more information, visit Federal Initiatives. It is believed that the BSE infected cow in Washington state was exposed to feed containing the prion proteins before the feed bans went into place in North America.
Information from this section comes from the following sources:
- Veterinarian Office of Michigan State University
- "Emerging and Exotic Diseases of Animals" – Iowa State Univ – College of Veterinary Medicine
BSE – the risk to humans
USDA, one of the federal agencies responsible for the safety of certain meat and poultry products, as well as animal health, maintains the risk to human health that might stem from eating BSE-infected animals is extremely low in the United States. This is due in large part to the programs they have had in place for several years to detect the presence of BSE, to prevent the spread of the disease through the cattle population, and to reduce the likelihood that animal products harboring the infectious agent make their way into the human food supply. More information about these regulatory programs, which also involve the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is provided on the Federal Initiatives page.
As BSE is the bovine (beef) form of a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE), there also are several TSEs expressed in humans: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), variant-CJD (vCJD), Gerstmann-Sträussler-Scheinker syndrome (GSS), fatal familial insomnia (FFI) and Kuru. Since 1996, strong evidence has accumulated for a causal relationship between outbreaks of BSE in cattle and the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). Both disorders are invariably fatal brain diseases with unusually long incubation periods measured in years and are caused by an unconventional transmissible agent (neither virus nor bacteria). The U.S. Centers of Disease Control (CDC) provides comparison of the naturally occurring CJD and the BSE-induced vCJD on its Web site, though it is important to note that these two diseases ARE NOT the same and that classical CJD has not linked to consumption of beef.
Since variant CJD was first reported in 1996, a total of 221 patients with this disease from 11 countries have been identified. As of October 2009, variant CJD cases have been reported from the following countries: United Kingdom, France, Ireland, the United States, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Canada, Italy, Japan, and Saudi Arabia. Two of the three U.S. cases, two of the four cases from Ireland, and the single cases from Canada and Japan were likely exposed to the BSE agent while residing in the United Kingdom. One of the 23 French cases may also have been infected in the United Kingdom. There has never been a case of vCJD that did not have a history of exposure within a country where this cattle disease, BSE, was occurring.
It is believed that people who have developed vCJD became infected by consuming cattle products contaminated with the BSE agent. Research has shown that the agent accumulates in specific tissues: brain, spinal cord, retina, dorsal root ganglia (nervous tissue located near the backbone), distal ileum (part of the small intestine) and the bone marrow. Thus, muscle meat (steaks and hamburger) from infected animals are believed to be safe for human consumption. Still, an animal suspected of being infected with BSE is prohibited from entering the human food supply. The BSE agent has not been detected in blood, milk or dairy products
Information in this section came from the following sources:
- Centers for Disease Control
Systems that protect public health and the beef industry
When the first native-born North American case of BSE was diagnosed in Canada in May of 2003, the United States closed its northern border to cattle and beef products; cattlemen, dairymen and others directly involved with the cattle industry took an interest. U.S. consumers became more interested in December 2003 when BSE was discovered in a Holstein that had been slaughtered in Lake Moses, Washington. BSE was discovered in this cow because of an existing BSE surveillance program in which suspect animals (including downer cattle) were tested for presence of the prion agent. By the time tests confirmed presence of BSE, the affected dairy cow's meat had entered the food supply, its risk materials had been rendered, and the meat products distributed. The discovery led to public awareness of the systems and programs that have long been serving to protect both public health and agricultural industries from foreign animal disease.
While a number of cases (18 in Canada and three in the U.S) have been found in North America since 1993 and confirm that BSE is present, the actual number of infected animals present in the cattle population is believed to be extremely low. The United States and Canada have conducted surveillance for BSE since 1992 at rates that have met or exceeded international standards. There is no doubt that the steadily increasing intensity of surveillance has contributed to the probability of finding a case of BSE.
The Federal government has a number of programs to protect public health and the beef industry from BSE, most dating from the early 1990s.
Preventing the spread of BSE to, and in, the cattle population:
Ruminant feed ban: The primary initiative for preventing the spread of BSE to U.S. cattle and within the cattle population, should it get into the country, is the ruminant feed ban. The inclusion of rendered mammalian protein in feed for ruminants was prohibited in August 1997. FDA extended the feed ban to prohibit the inclusion of high risk cattle materials in feed for all animal species from October 26, 2009.
Keeping BSE prions out of human food:
Prohibition on "Downers": Until December 30, 2003, "downer" cattle could be slaughtered for human food once they had passed inspection for signs of disease by a USDA veterinarian, while a sample of brain tissue was taken for BSE analysis as part of the surveillance program. Under the newer rule, cattle that are downers for any reason may not be slaughtered for human food.
Getting Central Nervous System (CNS) tissue off the table: Three primary methods of accomplishing this are
- banning the brain and spinal cord tissue of animals 30 months of age or older from the human food supply,
- banning the use of air-gun stunning, which can cause CNS tissue to move into and to contaminate muscle tissue, and
- requiring processors to show routinely that tissue separated from the carcass using advanced meat recovery systems (AMR) does not contain CNS tissue.
Detecting BSE in the US cattle population: After the first US case of BSE in 2003, the government developed an enhanced surveillance program to determine the probability of BSE in United States cattle. Under the enhanced surveillance program, 647,045 samples were collected from 5,776 unique sites across the United States between June 1, 2004 and March 17, 2006. Of these samples, two were confirmed positive (0.0003% of the sampled population). The USDA used this data to develop a maintenance surveillance program testing approximately 40,00 animal per year.
Click here to learn more about the USDA Enhanced Surveillance Program and the monthly totals of animals tested.
Responding efficiently to the detection of BSE: The federal government has a BSE Response Plan that defines the actions agencies will take when BSE is detected – to contain the disease, trace the source, identify potential spreaders, indemnify farmers and protect public health. The degree of their success has a direct impact on beef economic markets.
The highly integrated nature of the North American beef industry requires that the United States, Canada and Mexico adopt a coordinated approach to address both the regulatory and trade aspects of BSE challenges. Maintaining consumer confidence in the safety of beef is fundamental to the management of BSE and remains a top priority among the three governments endeavoring to improve the international approach to BSE.
For more information and resources on this topic, please visit Federal Initiatives.
National Animal Health Laboratory Network: This laboratory network was developed in 2002 as a way to improve the testing and surveillance of domestic animal diseases, such as BSE, that are a potential threat to animal and public health and the national economy. For more information and resources on this topic, please visit the EDEN NAHLN page.
Information in this section came from the following sources:
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Educational resources
Land-Grant University Web Pages
- Iowa State University Extension -- BSE Information Sources
- NDSU Extension Service -- BSE Frequently Asked Questions
Federal Agency and Association BSE Web Pages
- BSE Response Plan (pdf)
- BSE Surveillance in the United States
- Q&A on Atypical BSE (pdf)
- USDA-FAS BSE Page (historic information)
- USDA APHIS Import and Export Information
- Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS)
- USDA APHIS BSE Factsheet
- Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS)
- Economic Research Service-Market Context for BSE (historic information)
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
National Cattlemen's Beef Association - BSEinfo.org
Centers for Disease Control -- BSE and Creutzfeldt-Jakob Diseases (vCJD)
International Agency BSE Web Pages


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|Home >> Course Descriptions >> College of Arts and Sciences
|Studies in Sixteenth Century Literature.
|Three semester hours.
|A detailed analysis of a major author, genre, or literary movement of the sixteenth century. Possible topics include More, Spenser, Humanism, or the Reformation. May be repeated for credit when topic changes. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
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A Bohemian, Coastal Wedding at The Lookout in Brooklin, Maine
Alexandra (Alle) Weil (31 and a holistic nutritionist) and Tim Peper (35 and an actor) combined their love of Maine's coastal charm and Georgia O'Keeffe's artwork to bring their romantic, bohemian theme to life.
"We didn't want a formal wedding," Alle says. "We loved the idea of giving the day a more casual feel." A palette of soft, earthy hues played up the serene setting, where Alle and Tim wed under a driftwood arch handcrafted by the groom. "Tim collected all of the wood with the help of our families," Alle says.
"I spent most of my childhood summers in Maine, so the location is very special to me," Alle says of their sentimental venue, which came alive with untamed arrangements of wildflowers and king proteas. The couple worked with 44 North Coffee to create a custom blend that guests eventually took home.
Antler details, natural stone escort cards and beds of moss infused the tented reception with woodland-inspired flair, along with vintage animal illustrations that acted as table numbers. After a farm-to-table feast that was served family style, partygoers indulged in a rosewater cake filled with mulberry honey.


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The new beauty collection from Ted Baker was inspired by the 1920s and is packaged with gift giving in mind. The Great & The Gorgeous Gift set contains:
• Bronzer (7.4g)
• 2 x Lip Crayons (2.1g each)
• Eye Liner Pen (0.5ml)
• 2 x Eye Creams (5.8g each)
• Eye Glitter (1.6g)
• 2 x Nail Varnishes (9ml each)
• Pink Illuminating Liquid (9ml)
• Gold Illuminating Liquid (9ml)
Not bad for £40!
The L'Oreal Color Riche Collection Privee (£8.19) is a range of custom-made nude lipsticks created in collaboration with L'Oreal spokesmodels with the idea that there is a shade to suit every skin tone.
Cheryl Cole, Frieda Pinto, Julianne Moore, Liya Kebede, Eva Longoria and Doutzen Kroes created the shades available in the UK.
Cheryl is for honey complexions, Frieda for those with caramel tones, Julianne for pale skins, Liya for dark skinned lovelies (can't find this shade anywhere!) Eva for golden complexions and Doutzen for fair skins.
Whatever your shade, L'Oreal have tried to create something 'nude' for you.
The KIKO Precision Eyebrow Pencil (£5.90) is perfect for those of us who are trying to grow out their brows. I'm not trying to emulate Cara D (her brows look great on her but would look like caterpillars on me) just trying to mask years of enthusiastic plucking. The pencil is made of hard waxes to ensure the colour stays put. The other end of the pencil is a handy brow brush so you can ensure a natural smudge and no harsh lines. A sharpener is also included.


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Bay Scallop Chowder
By PineyCook
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 ounces thickly sliced smoked bacon, finely chopped
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 6 cups bottled clam broth
- 6 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
- Bouquet garni made with 2 bay leaves, 5 fresh parsley sprigs, 3 fresh thyme sprigs and 8 black peppercorns, wrapped in cheesecloth
- 1 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch dice
- 2 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 large leeks, white and tender green, halved lengthwise and sliced crosswise 1/8 inch thick
- 1 1/2 pounds bay scallops, membranes removed
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
Adapted from food52.com
Step 1
1. Melt the butter in a large enameled cast-iron casserole. Add the bacon and cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook, stirring, until the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the clam broth, chicken stock and bouquet garni to the casserole and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to moderately high heat and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. (The recipe can be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Bring to a boil before proceeding.)
3. Add the diced potatoes to teh soup and cook over moderately high heat until just tender, about 10 minutes. Discard the bouquet garni.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk 1/4 cup of the heavy cream with the cornstarch until smooth. Whisk in the remaining 2 cups cream, then whisk the mixture into the soup. Bring the soup to a boil over moderately high heat. Add the leeks and cook until just tender, about 4 minutes. (The chowder can stand at room temperature for up to 3 hours. Rewarm before finishing.)
5. Stir the scallops into the chowder and cook over moderate heat just until opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes; don't let the soup boil. Season with salt and pepper. Ladle the chowder into a tureen or individual bowls. Garnish with the chopped chives and serve at once.
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The 2015 Rose Parade grand marshal will be announced Friday morning.
The announcement will be made promptly at 9:30 a.m. on the north lawn of the Tournament House, the Tournament of Roses headquarters on South Orange Grove Boulevard.
Tournament President Richard L. Chinen will choose a grand marshal who embodies the theme of next year's parade: "Inspiring Stories."
Chinen said the theme of the parade is a tribute to those have accomplished much for others.
"Whether for justice, for charity or for any other good, these stories stand out because they are about those who reach out beyond themselves with humility and resolve," Chinen said in a press release announcing the theme earlier this year.
Chinen has said he hopes the parade's theme allows people to reflect on who has inspired them throughout their lives and how they inspire others.
Beloved Los Angeles Dodgers announcer Vin Scully was this year's grand marshal.
The grand marshal will ride in a float during the parade down Colorado Boulevard on New Year's Day.
Having trouble viewing the live blog on your mobile device? Use this link: http://live.dailynews.com/Event/Rose_Parade_2015_Grand_Marshal_Announcement


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The Dona Ana Hotel is situated in the coastal town of Vilanculos offering visitors easy access to the unspoilt majesty of the Bazaruto Archipelago, a protected World Wildlife Trust marine reserve and cultural reserve.
Hotel Dona Ana's windows look out onto the splendour of the Bazaruto Archipelago. In her day Dona Ana played host to scores of local and international tourists. Sadly, for nearly 30 years Senhor Alves's testament to his love lay empty and forgotten. New life is being breathed into the Hotel Dona Ana, energizing her with all the passion and mystery of her namesake.
The original Art Deco building is being intimately restored and updated as Dona Ana readies herself to become a distinctive, world-class destination. The design is a fusion of classic and contemporary, offering business travellers and tourists a differentiated experience where Portuguese and African tradition merge in unrivalled splendour. Privately owned and run, Dona Ana is committed to offering the most gracious hospitality to her guests and remaining true to her passion and love for life.
DIVING The Bazaruto Marine National Park is one of the largest of its kind in the world and home to a wide range of marine species. Scuba divers can swim with dolphins, the mighty humpback whale, manta rays, reef sharks and hosts of exquisitely coloured reef fish. The area also boasts one of the world's largest breeding herds of dugongs, as well as bales of leatherback, loggerhead and green turtles that often come ashore to lay their eggs on the sandy beaches. Our on-site PADI dive team co-ordinates diving courses catering all the way from beginners to advanced reef divers.
FISHING The Bazaruto Archipelago is a paradise for fishermen harbouring the world's most exciting game fish including Kingfish, Queenfish, Barracuda, Mackerel and Yellowfin Tuna. Pit yourself against the Giant Black Marlin, Sailfish or Wahoo or enjoy a peaceful afternoon fly-fishing in one of our inland lakes.
SNORKELING The clear blue waters of the Archipelago's reefs offer snorkelers a startling diversity of exotic marine life. The Dona Ana Dive Centre can provide all the equipment you need to explore the world beneath the sea with one of our experienced guides.
BOAT TRIPS Sundowner cruises and exploratory boat trips through the islands of the Archipelago offer you the chance to meet dolphins, whales and dugongs while enjoying a cocktail or picnic.
WATER SPORTS Dona Ana Hotel offers a range of water sports from the gentle to the extreme. Water-skiing and wake boarding are available off our main beach as well as kayaking, sailing and windsurfing.
ROOF-TOP SPA If absolute escapism is your desire, the perfect place to relax and unwind is Dona Ana's gracious rooftop-spa. As you gaze towards the horizon allow the gentle current of the waves to wash away your tension and renew your spirit. Choose from a variety of treatments designed to rejuvenate, re-energise and re-awaken your senses.
I am interested in this holiday!


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Curved Emmanuel Wordmark
The Curved Emmanuel Athletic Wordmark, in either of the two styles of curved text shown, should always be used in one of the color combinations shown here. One color print situations may be an exception, but must be approved by the Brand Committee. See the "Colors" page for approved color and background combinations.
Files for printing these logos may be obtained in the CRIS Registration System under Forms and Documents -> Branding Support Team.
To request a high-resolution version of any of the logos shown below, please click here.
To download a low-resolution version of any of the logos below, right-click on the logo and choose "Save Image As."
Full Curve
1 Color (White is tranpsparent)
2 Color
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Straight Up and Down Curve
1 Color (White is transparent)
2 Color
3 Color


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So howdy everyone! I know this is very very belated but let me show you my dorm! I never dormed before and since this is my last year at college I wanted the full college experience of living on my own. I moved in like the beginning of this month and have settled in quite nicely.
Pretty nice, for a dorm yea. I had to bring all my kooky things so I can be inspired when working on my thesis (which I will post about soon).
And now onto some sketches cuz I know I'm sick of posting photos!
Drawings at the park of people...and a squirrel!
Doodles at the diner of cats, Little Bear, a wolf, a white trash muppet and some dumb video character.
Griffins are awesome!
Mostly inspired by the Maurice Sendak book "The Griffin and the Minor Canon" and the Gryphon from Alice in Wonderland.
Hush hush hush...here comes the Boogey Man!
And last but not least, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective! Drawn while watching both movies. Jim Carrey is a living cartoon, I swear.
Aaaaaaaaaaall righty then!
Thanks for all the new recent followings and comments! See ya next time!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Tardy Dorm Post! Plus Sketches!
So howdy everyone! I know this is very very belated but let me show you my dorm! I never dormed before and since this is my last year at college I wanted the full college experience of living on my own. I moved in like the beginning of this month and have settled in quite nicely.
Posted by Zach Bellissimo at 11:23 PM 6 comments
Labels: boogey man, dorm life, griffin, jim carrey, sketches, SVA
Friday, September 3, 2010
My Final Summer Vacation...
Yes, thats right. I graduate from college later this year so this was my last summer vacation from school. And I gotta say, it was one of the best. So I already posted my Maryland trip, right after that I headed to Utah to see Tara and her family.
We went to an awesome drive-in movie lot! Tara had her wisdom teeth out that morning and thinks she looked all drugged up. I look more drugged up in this picture, haha. We saw Toy Story 3 (awesome!) and Sorcerer's Apprentice (fucking stupid as shit).
I also found these cool finger puppets, and I only bought them because they looked like all my friends! Well...I can see the resemblance...
For our two year anniversary we went to this great place called the Mayan. Its like rainforest cafe but without the talking animals. Oh and people jumping off of rocks into a lagoon!
We played mini golf with her family at an indoor amusement park, Hollywood Connections. Tara's mom won...
They had the coolest...merry go round...I'm on a goat, mother fucker, don't you ever forget!!!
The Hogle Zoo, was cool! I found out I'm the same height as an adult male gorilla.
I was laughing at this guy cuz he just made a poop.
After that, we flew back to NY to join my family at our block party, where we did face painting for the little neighbor kids.
Aaaaand then we went to Magic Kingdom in Florida. Haha, my grandpa lives there and my mom wanted all of us to visit him. Check out Brer Zach and his Brer kin.
I made Tara go on Splash Mountain with me. She didn't wanna go on it. That ride is a goddamn tease! Sitting through the pleasant imagery of the Song of the South characters and the nice songs doesn't really mask the immense fear of going down a huuuge drop at the end of the ride. It was awesome!
We got a picture by Uncle Walt...and some weird fat guy in a blue shirt...
Yea, we're on a jet ski...what of it?
Lookit that! On the Mt. Dora canal! Such a cool view.
I got a lot of souvenirs but I found these two gems at a flea market! The little Mickey is from the 70's and speaks spanish! And if anyone's interested in the phone, let me know. The guy said its right from one of the Disney hotels.
We did a ton of other stuff that is not documented in our photos, but I have to say it was one of the most eventful summers I ever had. And right now, I'm just lookin back at it and being happy. I miss Tara so much, but I know we're going to see each other again. Long distance is hard, but its worth it for us. You can go to her blog to see what stuff she posted.
Well, tomorrow I move into my dorm for college. THESIS YEAR! Its no big deal, the city is like 2 hours away from my house. But I might make a post about it...sooo...keep watch! I got a couple art things I'll post later on too.
Thanks for reading!
Posted by Zach Bellissimo at 4:30 PM 3 comments
Labels: 2010, disney world, summer, tara


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Tom Brady tried to spike Ed Reed, then bungled first-half clock management
The New England Patriots went into halftime of the AFC championship with a 13-7 lead over the Baltimore Ravens, but that six-point margin felt like it should have bigger.
It could have been, if not for a bizarre sequence in the final 25 seconds of the half. Brady and the Pats were at the Ravens 10-yard line with 26 seconds left on the clock. They had one timeout. But, improbably, the team only got one offensive snap before kicking a field goal.
On first down, Brady was flushed from the pocket and scrambled for a three-yard gain. When he slid, he raised his foot in the air toward Ed Reed. Instead of calling timeout, Brady quickly got his team to the line. The clock kept moving and with four seconds remaining, the sideline was forced to call timeout. New England kicked a field goal to end the half.
There were three major issues with Brady's late-half decisions:
1. Running in the first place. There was 26 seconds left when Brady took the snap. New England was already in easy field goal range. Time, not yards, was Brady's biggest ally. If it's assumed Brady wasn't going to be able to run through a defense to get 10 yards to the end zone, his only move should have been throwing the ball away. Second-and-10 with 20 seconds left is far better than second-and-7 with 17 seconds left and the clock running.
2. The spike. That was a slide only Ty Cobb could love. It's something you'd expect a baserunner doing at Fenway Park, not by a Hall of Fame quarterback Gillette Stadium. Brady raised his right foot when he hit the turf and swung it in the direction of Reed. "He puts that leg up to protect himself," Phil Simms said on the CBS broadcast.
Jim Harbaugh wasn't so sure. "That's a personal foul," he yelled toward an official. "He kicked him!"
If the kick was deemed intentional, officials could have ruled it a personal foul. On Twitter, FootballZebras.com said a flag could have been thrown if "significant contact' was made with his foot.
Whether it was intentional or not (and it looked to be the former), bringing in a possible penalty and risking an injury to the foot weren't worth it.
3. Not calling timeout. The first two are heat-of-the-moment decisions. Not calling a timeout was a calculated clock-management decision that Andy Reid would have found curious. Even if Brady had enough time to run one play, the advantage in doing so -- catching the Ravens defense unprepared -- was outweighed by the possibilities of not coming away with any points. That could have happened on a long play that killed the clock. Had New England called timeout with 16 seconds remaining, the Pats could have run two plays to try and get into the end zone and, if necessary, kicked a field goal on fourth down.


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Sunday morning service at 10:30AM has full programming for children up to 5th grade. The service consists of a vibrant worship time and a clear message from God's Word. The morning service is held in our second floor sanctuary overlooking the city of Providence. Service runs about 75 mins and childcare is available for children 0-9. (Learn more about RENkids here)
Back to All Events
Earlier Event: June 20Women's Bible Study
Later Event: June 24Spark (Youth)


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Learning to play the piano has lingered on my to-do list for a long time. But seeing the Clavilux 2000 keyboard generate a spectacular light show in real time, I might have to make it a priority.
The Clavilux is a digital keyboard rigged up to a projector, letting the audience see the music they're hearing. And it really is the music they're seeing: each stripe of light corresponds directly to a key that is struck, the individual bands representing the velocity and length of each note played.
The notes are assigned colours, as well, giving a visual overview of the harmony of the piece. Play a note that's out of key and its colour will contrast with the bigger picture.
The player can switch between two types of visualization. A 2D view results in the colorful barcode seen above while a 3D view resembles the cockpit view of some spaceship jumping into hyperdrive.
The Clavilux 2000 is the brainchild of Jonas Heuer, the same guy who put together the Noteput, an awesome interactive musical table. Music has always been a joy to listen to, but Heuer's work lets the other senses get in on the action, to spectacular effect. [Infosthetics]


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Luxury: indulgence in and enjoyment of rich, comfortable, and sumptuous living!
My husband and I moved to NYC from our homeland a few years ago. So did many of our friends. When we moved away, we left behind quite a few luxuries that we did not recognise as such until their loss was felt.. immensely. One of those was the simple pleasure of having food that we grew up with, the simplest of meals, Dal Chawal (Rice and Yellow Dal) and the joy of having that cooked, lovingly, by our mothers in exactness to our preferences.
The theme of the third challenge in the Project Food Blog contest was Luxury Dinner Party. For my dinner party, I chose to host the flavors of my home country, which, in many ways has indeed become a luxury, not often enjoyed but always highly cherished by us and our friends. Caught up in a world of professional and other commitments, we find ourselves often yearning for the flavors we grew up with. For many of my friends, who don't often cook, having a home cooked Indian meal is becoming a luxury.
So, I felt that a proper Indian meal was indeed a luxury for all of us and would be a fitting challenge entry.
Today, I share with you tips and recipes for Entertaining the Indian Way . Some typical dishes from different parts of India, entertaining customs and tips to make life easy while hosting an Indian dinner (it can be elaborate!).
This evening's menu was a combination of comfort and nostalgia, reliving flavors from our childhood, some very easy to make and some a bit more involved. I have included recipes for some of the feast and linked to more authentic Indian dishes you may want to try.
Now on to the entertaining ideas -
1. Every Indian dinner begins with Chai. Even if you arrive at 8 pm, you will be asked if you'd like some chai and inevitably, the answer will be "Yes". Chai is the welcoming invitation to unwind, the signal that separates the frazzle outside from within and sets the tone for a relaxed evening.
Chai is usually served with biscuits (for dipping) and an assortment of Namkeen. Namkeen can be anything from store bought (you can also make it at home) snack items like sev, murukku etc. to homemade stuff like aloo tikki/cutlets (what I made), vada pav, bajji etc. As you see, this is sort of the time when the appetizers make an appearance.
2. Dinner is usually buffet style. This makes life really easy doesn't it. Rarely, is casual dinner at an Indian home, a formal occasion. We like picking up food whenever we want and mingling around chatting or lounging in different places around the room and having a heated discussion on the deplorable plight of Indian politics and/or mutual acquaintances' love life! The important thing is that the food should always be accessible but not in a way that it can become projectiles!
3. Always have Dal on the menu. It can be the simplest yellow dal to the more rich Mughlai versions but trust me, you can never go wrong with dal. And, it's the ultimate comfort food for all Indians. Dal is made in many many varieties using so many different lentils across India but the one common characteristic of us Indians, is that we love dal in any form! And, the good news is that it is super easy to make.
4. If you have to make one meat item, pick Chicken. It's a safe choice. Most Indians who start out to eat meat (non-vegetarian) start with chicken and then move on to more adventurous items like mutton and fish:)
5. You don't have to make everything. Source them from quality places. Any dinner with multiple courses is usually prepped and cooked over multiple days. It can become a lot of effort and sweets especially can be quite involved. So, make your life easy and buy/source from people you know are good. The Ras Malai here were made by one my friend's moms. She makes simply divine Ras Malai!!!
6. Ice cream is an essential choice for dessert. Indians love ice cream; I guess it's the perpetual heat in the country and hence round-the-year viability of ice cream. But, no matter how wide or fancy your dessert spread, it isn't complete without ice cream.
Anjeer (fig) ice cream is one of the popular flavors of ice cream in India. I made my version of it for the party using fresh figs poached in balsamic vinegar.
7. Potlucks are typical and very normal. For the same reason as above, many a time, dinners are a collaborative effort with each guest bringing in something that makes it to the table. It's the proverbial wine bottle. Btw, in Indian parties, the alcohol is usually provided by the host only.
8. Finally, be prepared for a long evening. Indian dinners are rarely time bound and they can stretch into the night only limited by flow of conversation, food and drunkenness! :)
That ends my long monologue on the subject. I hope you enjoyed the read of some of our idiosyncrasies... :)
Oh! A parting tip: Always have the exhaust on as also nice scented candles while cooking. Yes, Indian food sticks to you and around you long after it is consumed. The spices tend to hang heavy in the air and especially if you are making fried food (like the fish fry above), I would definitely recommend opening up as much ventilation as possible and infusing other pleasant aromas into the living space.
Dal Tadka
2 cups masoor dal (yellow lentils)
1 medium onion, diced
3 whole cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of diced tomato
3-4 curry leaves
3 green chilies, sliced vertically
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1-1/2 cups water
ghee (clarified butter/ brown butter minus solids) as needed
salt to taste
If you have a pressure cooker, cook the lentils with salt until done. If not, cook in a vessel, with sufficient water until cooked fully.
Gently saute the garlic in some ghee until they release flavor. Add the cumin and mustard seeds and curry leaves and wait for them to pop. Then, add the onion and cook til translucent. Add salt and all the other dry spices and roast for a minute and then add tomatoes and cook completely.
Add the cooked lentils and water and stir everything together. Bring the mixture to a boil and then simmer for 5-7 minutes. Adjust consistency with water as needed. Before serving, add a tablespoon of ghee to the dal.
Coriander Chicken Kurma
6 chicken thighs, boneless, skinless, cubed
4 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 bunches of coriander
5-6 green chilies (Indian or Thai)
2 cups coconut milk
2 tsp cumin seeds
5-6 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon
2 whole star anise
1 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
2 tsp garam masala
salt and oil as needed
chicken marinade:
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt per taste
Toss the chicken in the marinade spices and set aside for atleast an hour. When ready, saute the onions and garlic in oil until soft. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
In a blender, combine the coriander, chilies and onion mixture to a puree. Brown the chicken pieces and reserve. In the same pan, saute the cloves, cinnamon and anise in a little oil until the aromas are released. Add cumin seeds and roast for a minute. Add all the dry masala and roast for a few seconds.
Pour in the blended puree along with the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Add the chicken pieces and cook on medium until the chicken is done. You can adjust the thickness of the curry by adding water. Every time you add water, bring the mixture back to a boil.
Below are more ideas of authentic Indian food. For more inspiration, check out all my Indian recipes.
Curried Egg Pastries
Main Courses:
Mango and Mint Dal
Meen Kozhambu (Madras Fish Curry)
Madras Crab Curry
Sweet Bites:
Cashew Burfi