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a few times a week was my vote....since i've bought it recently . I love it! It's in my cd player in my car. I always have one cd i play for weeks in my car as i am traveling to and from places. If it's not a Moya cd, it is an Enya Cd.
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Nigel wrote: And now i can say in all honesty that i think its Moya's finest work to date. And thats coming from me..... a 'Two Horizons' obsessive.
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How to Conduct a Good Training Session with Your Dog
Training your dog should be fun, but sometimes it can be frustrating. After all, your dog won't learn a new behavior on the first try. You have to repeat the command and then reward the correct behavior dozens of times to help your dog associate the command with the action. Here are some pointers for making the most of your training sessions:
Whenever your dog comes to you, be nice to him. Don't do anything the dog perceives as unpleasant. No matter what he may have done, be pleasant and greet him with a kind word, a pat on the head, and a smile. Teach your dog to trust you by being a safe place for him. When he's with you, follows you, or comes to you, make him feel wanted.
Be consistent. If any magic is involved in training your dog, it's consistency. When you begin teaching your dog a new command, choose a short word or phrase and stick with it. Choose "Let's go!" or "Walk!"; don't use one command today and another next week. This just confuses your dog, who needs consistency and repetition to learn the proper behavior.
Consistency in training means handling your dog in a predictable and uniform manner. If more than one person is in the household, everyone needs to handle the dog in the same way. Otherwise, the dog becomes confused and unreliable in his responses.
Be persistent. Training your dog is a question of who is more persistent — you or your dog. Some things he can master quickly; others will take more time. If several tries don't bring success, be patient, remain calm, and try again.Credit: Photo © iStockphoto.com/Jean Gill
Give a command once and in a normal tone of voice. By repeating commands, you systematically teach your dog to ignore you, and changes in inflections from pleas to threats don't help. Most people are unaware of how many times they repeat a command. Give the command, and if your dog doesn't respond, show him exactly what you want him to do.
Eliminate the word "no" from your training vocabulary. All too often, no is the only command a dog hears, and he's expected to figure out what it means. No exercise or command in training is called "no." If you find yourself in a situation where it's imperative to interrupt your dog's behavior, use the word "stop" instead.
Avoid negative communications like "no" with your dog because they undermine the relationship you're trying to build.
Use your dog's name appropriately. Use your dog's name once before a command to get his attention. For example, say, "Buddy, Come." The quickest way to teach your dog to ignore you is to use his name repeatedly — and raising your voice doesn't help, either.
Don't use your dog's name as a reprimand. And don't nag your dog by repeatedly using his name without telling him what you want him to do. Pair his name with a command instead.
Understand your dog's keen mind. Dogs often give the appearance of being able to read your mind. In actuality, by observing you and studying your habits, they learn to anticipate your actions. Because dogs communicate with each other through body language, they quickly become experts at reading yours.
Focus on the positive. How many times do you say "Good dog" when interacting with your dog? Positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior makes your dog want to repeat the behavior in the hopes of getting another reward. Negative communications from you have a negative effect on your dog's motivation to work for you.
Don't train your dog when you're irritable or tired. You want training to be a positive experience for your dog. If you get frustrated during training, stop and come back to it another time. When you're frustrated, your communications consist of "No!" and "Bad dog!" An unfriendly or hostile approach doesn't gain you your dog's cooperation; it needlessly prolongs the teaching process. When you become frustrated or angry, your dog becomes anxious and nervous and has difficulty learning. A better approach is to train your dog when you're in a better frame of mind.

subset: commoncrawl


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Native Youth MARINE CROPPED JOGGERS - INDIGO
- $80.00
Native Youth MARINE CROPPED JOGGERS - INDIGO
- $80.00
Shipping + Returns
- This item is eligible for returns.
- Shipping from Native Youth (Manchester, England) to Ashburn, VA
- Estimated delivery dates (when provided) are for orders placed today considering typical order processing and shipping times to Ashburn, VA. However, weather and other unforeseen circumstances may occasionally cause delays.
- Full Shipping Policy Full Returns Policy
|🌎 Intl. Air
|6-10 business days
The Marine joggers are a relaxed pair of washed indigo pants featuring a pintuck seam and mock fly detailing. Complete with side pockets and adjustable drawstring waist, match the 100% cotton pants with the Marine Kimono for a full look. The model is 6' 1" and wears a size 30 Made from 100% cotton
Something on your mind? Spill! We're here to help!
The Designer
Native Youth is a Manchester fashion brand influenced by international street style & contemporary culture. The label holds three key principles at its core; design, fabrication and construction. Founded in 2012 by Ash Kumar, the brand has grown rapidly from its initial introduction of a capsule menswear range. The label now created coveted season menswear and womenswear collections that are sold worldwide and can be found in over 140 speciality and department stores in 32 countries. Beginning with fabric selection, we consider the composition, hand feel, drape and function of our materials. These tactile qualities are what make our products stand out. Definition and playfulness are injected into our ranges through our seasonal signature prints and intricate detailing


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ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE, Calif., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- An aide to President Obama told reporters Sunday that Republican rival Mitt Romney's tax plan doesn't add up.
Democrats have been slamming what they call Romney's $5 trillion "revenue neutral" tax cut proposal.
Speaking aboard Air Force One as Obama headed to Los Angeles for a fundraiser, Deputy White House Communications Director Jen Psaki said Romney has proposed lowering taxes 20 percent for everyone over 10 years at a cost of $2.7 trillion; repealing the high income payroll tax at a cost of $300 billion; ending the estate tax for a cost of $150 billion; and lowering the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent for a cost of $1.1 trillion.
Psaki said that adds up to $4.8 trillion in revenue losses, rising to $5 trillion when factoring in interest payments for additional government borrowing.
Romney has taken off the table tax breaks for savings, capital gains, IRAs and 401(k)s, she said.
That's hardly revenue neutral, Psaki said.
"Eliminating all of the high-income tax breaks, all tax breaks across the board for high-income individuals, as he said he would do, that still only gets you to $2.7 trillion," Psaki said. "Nobody thinks he's going to do that."


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Castelli Venti Sock
Tech Specs
Super tall for super warmth.
Winter socks used to barely close the gap between the top of your shoes and the bottom of your tights. First there were 9cm, and then Castelli's bold move to 15cm. However, the cold still found a way to leak in. But, at 20cm, the Castelli Venti Socks take warmth to new heights — literally.
To ensure warmth, Castelli constructed the Venti socks from Merino wool. Why Merino? Well, because it's a long-fiber wool that's renowned for its soft touch, breathable warmth, and moisture wicking properties. And, even though the tall-sock look seems to be a fad, this cut functions to keep your legs warmer in the winter. As a result, your feet will remain warmer as well.
As we said, the material is non-abrasive, but the benefits don't stop there. Merino wool is what we call a 'hydrophilic' fiber, meaning that it has the natural ability to positively interact with water. In fact, Merino is able to absorb as much as 30 percent of its weight before exuding the sensation of wetness. Additionally, it's naturally antimicrobial, so you'll experience next to no stink from the socks. This property is furthered by Merino's natural ability to disperse electrostatic charges. So, the Venti socks will pick up less dirt, grime, and lint in the first place.
These socks are long enough to keep cold out of the gap between your tights and shoes, and they also provide an extra layer of warmth on your lower legs. Additionally, their simple design aesthetic will look fantastic under your suit in the city.
The Castelli Venti Socks are available in color Black and in the sizes Small/Medium (35-39), Large/XX-Large (40-43), and XX-Large (44-47).
- Tall wool socks to keep you toasty and looking sharp
- Merino wool offers soft touch, and breathable warmth
- Wool's natural properties wick, dry, and fight odor
- Simple design pairs with any kit or office wear
- Longer length is designed to seal the cold gap between tights and shoes
Best socks ever!!
- Familiarity: I've used it several times
- Fit: True to size
- Size Bought: L/XL
These are now my favorite socks, both on and off the bike. Very stylish and warm, my feet are quite happy. Plus they're the perfect length when wearing knee warmers or knicker bibs.
Great wool sock for winter
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
- Fit: True to size
Love the tall sock. Very warm and the length covers provides coverage when wearing my full length bid tights.
Great wool sock
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
- Fit: True to size
Got these for cycling on cool days and they meet my needs. I love the taller height and they have solid construction. Should get many seasons out of these. My shoe size is 12 and I went with XXL. Perfect fit!
Warm, comfortable
- Familiarity: I've used it several times
I have worn this socks with and without booties (w/o booties into the low 40s and your toes will survive). They are extremely comfortable and not as bulky as I feared they might be. The most amazing thing is they stay dry (or at lest feel dry) even when things heat up a bit. They are so comfortable I have taken to wearing them around the house.
Must Have for Year Round Commuters
- Familiarity: I've put it through the wringer
Size 13 feet XXL is perfect. I have cruised at -25F below Zero with a pair of Wolvhammers in absolute comfort. They are nice and tall to pair with knickers or under bibs for extra cozy warmth. Not too thick. I keep a stack of these handy if they get all slushed out freezing days. These will begin to roast your toes above 40F, use them for the colder rides instead. Love these... so will you.
Quality Feel & Look
- Familiarity: I've used it once or twice and have initial impressions
I wear a 10.5 or 11. Got the XXL, they fit great. Wool is a proper fabric for socks, these hit the spot. Cushy and thick. Pro look.
|4 - 6.5
|7 - 10
|10.5 - 13
|36 - 39
|40 - 43
|44 - 47
|4 - 7
|7.5 - 9.5
|35 - 38
|39 - 41


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JustAnEngineer wrote:I know it is, I'm just amused it continues using that term when the memory controller has moved onto the CPU now.Ragnar Dan wrote:That's your motherboard chipset. Does your chipset have one of those dinky little 40mm fans that always fail?What the BIOS calls the MCH is running hot.
It's a Gigabyte X58A-UD3R, BTW, and has a heatsink only on its NB, but I haven't checked how well attached it is. It probably needs a re-gooping, but the real problem is still the CPU & its HSF. There appears to be poor conduction from the heatspreader to the HS, and I also notice Core 0 is upwards of 10-12° C warmer than Core 3. The proc (a 930) is presently running at 3500 MHz, and when running Folding@Home, shows temperature readings near 100° C on the first core. Sounds dangerous, but I'm not convinced it's accurate. But I am considering a new HSF, and perhaps even a new motherboard to get what I think the processor can do out of it.


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If you enjoy watching the Red Sox, but think the games last too long, Bill O'Brien has a solution.
O'Brien, 57, of Worcester tapes the games and doesn't begin watching them until about an hour and a half after they've started. Then he fast-forwards between pitches and during commercial breaks.
O'Brien tries to delay catching up to the live action for as long as possible to avoid having to watch Dustin Pedroia step out of the box and repeatedly readjust his batting gloves between pitches and view that barrage of Southwest Airlines ads with the ballerina leaping in the air. He's actually never seen that absurd Head & Shoulders commercial with Angels pitcher C.J. Wilson standing on the field without a cap, something baseball players never do unless the national anthem is playing.
So while a Sox game may last three or even four hours, O'Brien watches all the important action in about half that time. It's a quite economical way of watching the Sox, and that's fitting because O'Brien teaches economics at Worcester State University.
Some friends have copied O'Brien's way of watching the Sox, but he admits that his son, Jay, thinks it's silly.
"Most people would like to watch it live, and I understand that," O'Brien said. "You don't get those heart palpitations in between pitches by fast-forwarding."
O'Brien still has to stay up late to watch the end of games, but he's a night owl.
While watching his 46-inch Panasonic plasma from his brown Lazy Boy recliner, O'Brien makes sure the television isn't tuned in to NESN when he turns it on to avoid seeing the live score before he switches to his DVR. O'Brien has learned to turn off his cellphone because he has received text messages from happy Sox fans spreading the news about a great play or an exciting victory before he witnessed it.
He places his Bose speaker system in front of the bottom of the TV screen to block the score crawl when he switches back and forth between games he has taped.
O'Brien doesn't fast-forward as much when the Sox bat, but he fast-forwarded on the fastest speed when Daisuke Matsuzaka used to rack up long pitch counts for them. O'Brien's DVR has four speeds, one is regular, two is slightly faster, three is even faster and four is fastest. Sometimes while O'Brien exchanges messages with his students on his laptop, he plays entire games on two, giving him his own version of Sox in two.
He fast-forwards through all replays because he creates his own replays. He rewinds and replays close plays in slow motion by clicking twice on his play button. When a Red Sox was thrown out at the plate in the ninth earlier this season, he replayed it six times in slow motion before he could tell that the ump blew the call.
By fast-forwarding so often, O'Brien doesn't get to hear much of the announcers. Even when he's not fast-forwarding, he keeps the volume down pretty low.
"I hear enough of them," he said. "They say the same things all the time."
O'Brien has also learned to extend the taping for three hours longer than the game is scheduled to end.
"I've had games run out because of rain delays," he explained.
O'Brien can tape up to two games at once. One Thursday night, he taped the Sox game and the Baltimore-Denver NFL game. He turned on the Sox at 8:45, an hour, 35 minutes after it started and fast-forwarded through the first six innings until 9:30 p.m. He was catching up to real time, so he switched to the Denver game. That game started at 9:10 instead of 8:30 because of lightning. So he fast-forwarded his tape on the fastest speed to watch the opening kickoff.
O'Brien watched the Denver game, fast-forwarding between snaps, long enough so that he could switch back to the Sox and not catch up to live action as quickly.
When the Pats and Sox played on the following Thursday night, he turned on the Sox at 8:30 for 45 minutes. Then he switched to the Pats and watched the first half while fast-forwarding through commercials, then switched back and forth between games. Fast-forwarding between plays isn't as easy with the Pats because they use a hurry-up offense so often.
Interestingly enough, when friends visit, O'Brien never fast-forwards through the video he made of his vacation this summer to Ireland.
Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15.


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Starship Defense
The tower defense genre shifts into outer space! Defend your space
fleet from enemy waves across 30 levels.
STARSHIP DEFENSE takes the tower defense genre into outer space! Defend your space fleet from wave after wave of enemy attacks by equipping a variety of weapons and using a combination of strategic skills and resource management. Attach weapons to your ships using the Touch Screen, making sure to place them for maximum effect when planning your defense—if you don't, the relentless nature of your enemies could overwhelm you. Increase your chances of success by using energy collected from defeated enemies to install new and more powerful weapons, destroying particular enemies to obtain weapon upgrades, and watching for rare power crystals that unlock advanced attacks, including a devastating black hole! And if you still find yourself in trouble, select an SOS card to call on a special kind of assistance. You'll have to defend your fleet across 30 intense sectors, some with specific challenges, while advancing your rank from lowly recruit all the way to fleet admiral. Are you up to the challenge?


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Are you sick of those ordinary Oscar office pools? Tired of only guessing the top 6 or 8 categories for the Academy Awards? Let your inner-movie geek shine with Bowl the Perfect Oscar Score (aka Oscar Bowling), created by Jeff Bayer. Try to nail 300 points on the 2013 Academy Awards.
This is a confidence list.
There are 24 categories.
How to play
Pick your winners in all 24 categories. Then, give each winner a confidence score. Your most confident pick gets 24 points, second most confident gets 23 points, third most confident gets 22 points, and eventually your least confident pick gets 1 point.
This is perfect for Oscar parties, because the lead keeps changing. The winner is the one with the most points at the end. A perfect score is 300. If there is a tie (there never is a tie), then the winner is the one with the most points in these three categories combined (Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress).
You'll eventually be able to say things like … "Once, in 2015, I got a 297 Oscar score." Or, "I know a guy who once hit 300 back in 2016." Yeah, you'll be saying these things. Trust me.
Nick Allen's Oscar Picks for 2013 (out of a Possible Score of 300)
24 - Amour - Best Foreign Language Film 23 - Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln - Best Actor 22 - Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables - Best Supporting Actress 21 - The Gatekeepers - Best Documentary 20 - Life of Pi - Best Cinematography 19 - Life of Pi - Best Visual Effects 18 - Anna Karenina - Best Production Design 17 - Argo - Best Editing 16 - Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty - Best Original Screenplay 15 - Argo - Best Picture 14 - Ang Lee, Life of Pi - Best Director 13 - Anna Karenina - Best Costume Design 12 - Tony Kushner, Lincoln - Best Adapted Screenplay 11 - Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty - Best Actress 10 - Paperman - Best Animated Short 09 - ParaNorman - Best Animated Feature 08 - Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln - Best Supporting Actor 07 - Life of Pi - Best Score 06 - Hitchcock - Best Makeup 05 - Skyfall - Best Original Song 04 - Argo - Best Sound Mixing 03 - Zero Dark Thirty - Best Sound Editing 02 - Inocente - Best Short Doc 01 - Curfew - Best Live Action Short
Here are the nominations for the 2013 Academy Awards.
Best Picture Nominees:
Amour (2012): To Be Determined
Argo (2012): Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck, George Clooney
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Dan Janvey, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald
Django Unchained (2012): Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin, Pilar Savone
Les Misérables (2012): Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward, Cameron Mackintosh
Life of Pi (2012): Gil Netter, Ang Lee, David Womark
Lincoln (2012): Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen, Jonathan Gordon
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow, Megan Ellison
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Nominees:
Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (2012)
Hugh Jackman for Les Misérables (2012)
Joaquin Phoenix for The Master (2012)
Denzel Washington for Flight (2012/I)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Nominees:
Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Emmanuelle Riva for Amour (2012)
Quvenzhané Wallis for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Naomi Watts for The Impossible (2012)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role Nominees:
Alan Arkin for Argo (2012)
Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Philip Seymour Hoffman for The Master (2012)
Tommy Lee Jones for Lincoln (2012)
Christoph Waltz for Django Unchained (2012)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Nominees:
Amy Adams for The Master (2012)
Sally Field for Lincoln (2012)
Anne Hathaway for Les Misérables (2012)
Helen Hunt for The Sessions (2012)
Jacki Weaver for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Best Achievement in Directing Nominees:
Michael Haneke for Amour (2012)
Ang Lee for Life of Pi (2012)
David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Steven Spielberg for Lincoln (2012)
Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Nominees:
Amour (2012): Michael Haneke
Django Unchained (2012): Quentin Tarantino
Flight (2012/I): John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom (2012): Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Mark Boal
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Nominees:
Argo (2012): Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012): Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi (2012): David Magee
Lincoln (2012): Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): David O. Russell
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Nominees:
Brave (2012): Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman
Frankenweenie (2012): Tim Burton
ParaNorman (2012): Sam Fell, Chris Butler
The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012): Peter Lord
Wreck-It Ralph (2012): Rich Moore
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year Nominees:
Amour (2012)(Austria)
War Witch (2012)(Canada)
No (2012/I)(Chile)
A Royal Affair (2012)(Denmark)
Kon-Tiki (2012)(Norway)
Best Achievement in Cinematography Nominees:
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained (2012): Robert Richardson
Life of Pi (2012): Claudio Miranda
Lincoln (2012): Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall (2012): Roger Deakins
Best Achievement in Editing Nominees:
Argo (2012): William Goldenberg
Life of Pi (2012): Tim Squyres
Lincoln (2012): Michael Kahn
Silver Linings Playbook (2012): Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor
Best Achievement in Production Design Nominees:
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Dan Hennah, Ra Vincent, Simon Bright
Les Misérables (2012): Eve Stewart, Anna Lynch-Robinson
Life of Pi (2012): David Gropman, Anna Pinnock
Lincoln (2012): Rick Carter, Jim Erickson
Best Achievement in Costume Design Nominees:
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables (2012): Paco Delgado
Lincoln (2012): Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror (2012/I): Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Colleen Atwood
Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling Nominees:
Hitchcock (2012): Howard Berger, Peter Montagna, Martin Samuel
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Peter King, Rick Findlater, Tami Lane
Les Misérables (2012): Lisa Westcott, Julie Dartnell
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Nominees:
Anna Karenina (2012/I): Dario Marianelli
Argo (2012): Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna
Lincoln (2012): John Williams
Skyfall (2012): Thomas Newman
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song Nominees:
Chasing Ice (2012): J. Ralph("Before My Time")
Les Misérables (2012): Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer("Suddenly")
Life of Pi (2012): Mychael Danna, Bombay Jayshree("Pi's Lullaby")
Skyfall (2012): Adele, Paul Epworth("Skyfall")
Ted (2012): Walter Murphy, Seth MacFarlane("Everybody Needs a Best Friend")
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Nominees:
Argo (2012): John T. Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, José Antonio García
Les Misérables (2012): Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson, Simon Hayes
Life of Pi (2012): Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill, Drew Kunin
Lincoln (2012): Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ron Judkins
Skyfall (2012): Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell, Stuart Wilson
Best Achievement in Sound Editing Nominees:
Argo (2012): Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn
Django Unchained (2012): Wylie Stateman
Life of Pi (2012): Eugene Gearty, Philip Stockton
Skyfall (2012): Per Hallberg, Karen M. Baker
Zero Dark Thirty (2012): Paul N.J. Ottosson
Best Achievement in Visual Effects Nominees:
The Avengers (2012): Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams, Daniel Sudick
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012): Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White
Life of Pi (2012): Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik De Boer, Donald Elliott
Prometheus (2012/I): Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley, Martin Hill
Snow White and the Huntsman (2012): Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Phil Brennan, Neil Corbould, Michael Dawson
Best Documentary, Features Nominees:
5 Broken Cameras (2011): Emad Burnat, Guy Davidi
The Gatekeepers (2012): To Be Determined
How to Survive a Plague (2012): To Be Determined
The Invisible War (2012): To Be Determined
Searching for Sugar Man (2012): To Be Determined
Best Documentary, Short Subjects Nominees:
Inocente (2012): Sean Fine, Andrea Nix
Kings Point (2012): Sari Gilman, Jedd Wider
Mondays at Racine (2012): Cynthia Wade, Robin Honan
Open Heart (2013): Kief Davidson, Cori Shepherd Stern
Redemption (2012/V): Jon Alpert, Matthew O'Neill
Best Short Film, Animated Nominees:
Adam and Dog (2011): Minkyu Lee
Fresh Guacamole (2012): PES
Head Over Heels (2012): Timothy Reckart, Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
Paperman (2012): John Kahrs
The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare (2012): David Silverman
Best Short Film, Live Action Nominees:
Asad (2012): Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura
Buzkashi Boys (2012): Sam French, Ariel Nasr
Curfew (2012/I): Shawn Christensen
Death of a Shadow (2012): Tom Van Avermaet, Ellen De Waele
Henry (2011/III): Yan England


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Earlier this week the appearance of a digital Kurt Cobain in Guitar Hero 5 irrupted into controversy with Courtney Love and former Nirvana band members calling for Activision to patch the title. Now Love's attorney is involved.
"Ms. Cobain is extremely upset about Activision's use of Mr. Cobain's likeness to sing the songs of others in its Guitar Hero game," Keith A. Fink, Love's attorney, told Kotaku. "Activision was granted permission by Kurt's trust solely to use his name and likeness. Activision was not given an unbridled right to use Mr. Cobain's name and likeness. Kurt's songs have a special and unique meaning to his fans and his image and legacy are very important to Ms. Cobain. The agreement Activision has with the trust doesn't allow them to use his likeness in ways that denigrate his image. We would hope Activision would do the right thing on its own and prohibit game users from using Kurt's image to sing others songs and if they don't we expect the trust to take appropriate action to protect Mr. Cobain's image."
Activision told Kotaku earlier this week that Love signed the agreement allowing the use of Cobain in the game. But what appears to be driving most of the controversy is the ability for gamers to use Cobain's likeness to perform in and sing other songs.
Love posted on her Twitter account that she was going to sue Activision and that the way Cobain appears in the game is a breach of contract. She also said she was sickened by how he is used in the game.
Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl, the two surviving members of Nirvana, released a joint statement saying they too are upset over the way Cobain can be used to pantomime other artists' music "alongside cartoon characters."
"Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better."
The are asking Activision to "re-lock" Cobain's character so he can only perform his own songs in the game.


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Busy week with two conferences so not too much reading.
Peter over at Obesity Panacea discusses a study that to me suggests that experience counts when choosing a weight loss provider.
Marion Nestle discusses the new surprising finding that HFCS may well be far worse for you than sugar.
David Katz tell you to get your flu shot (on the Huffington Post no less - not exactly a bastion of evidence based medicine).
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Saturday Stories
Friday, October 29, 2010
How to make a manly macho salad.
Even though I don't speak Swedish, that didn't stop this video from cracking me up.
The best I can tell from the web is that the mid-life crisis guy character in this week's Funny Friday video has just gone and got himself a "macho" tattoo and is trying to seduce his wife who in turn just wants him to make a salad.
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, October 28, 2010
You know your front of package labeling program's a joke when...
You know your front-of-package program is a joke when potato chips qualify.
Now don't get me wrong, I too occasionally enjoy them, but at 847mg of sodium with 210 calories and nothing good nutritionally a bag, baked Old Dutch chips are certainly fairly classifiable at best as "sometimes food", but not, "Wise" and certainly not (reading the ad copy actually made me laugh out loud) the,
"perfect complement to an active lifestyle"Weird unexpected finding?
When peeking at the difference between the nutritional information of baked vs. regular Old Dutch chips I found that the baked chips have a teaspoon of sugar per bag (vs. none in the original) and 23% more sodium.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Marie Claire lays bare vile weight bias.
Wow, wow, wow.
Marie Claire published perhaps the vilest, most weight biased article I've ever read. It's called, "Should Fatties Get a Room".
I couldn't possibly do the ugliness justice so head over there now, have a peek, and then come back here to read the comment that Jezebel so wisely pulled from the crop.
Brilliantly written.
Beth, whoever you are, you're awesome! Maura Kelly (the author of the Marie Claire piece and the lady in the photo up above), best I can do for you is you're honest. Oh, and you're also ignorant and slightly loathsome.
"Dear Maura Kelly,[Hat tip to Holly]
I sincerely apologize for my disgusting body and all the various rolls of fat on my person.
When I married my fat husband back in June I didn't realize it would offend anyone when we got to that "you may kiss the bride" moment, or we would have skipped it. If I'd realized how unacceptable it is for me to have love or happiness, I would have called the wedding off entirely, of course. I have told my husband that there will be no more kissing or cuddling or FATTY SEX until we both lose some weight. I hope he understands...
I really am so sorry for being so fat and happy all this time! In your very honest and sensitively written article "should fatties get a room?" you write that fat people should walk more, yet you also write that fat people walking across a room is something you find disgusting. I take long walks around my neighbourhood most days, is this too much? I want to find the correct balance between getting thin and not upsetting anyone with my jiggling body parts.
I also swim twice a week and go to the gym once a week, are these activities also disgusting to you? Perhaps I should start doing these activities at night so nobody has to be offended by them. Do you think that would be best? I don't own a television so I haven't seen Mike and Molly. But I do hope they take garbage like off the television soon. As you say, it's implicitly promoting obesity. Surely anyone who watches it will see the yucky fat people making out and suddenly think to themselves "I should gain some weight, that looks like fun." And then where would we be?
By the way, I haven't ever had any health problems before but if anything does come up I'll be sure to stay away from the doctor so as not to be a drain on anyone's health costs.
Thank you for writing this meticulously well researched, world-changing article. I really think you are going to cure obesity with this! Yay! Your plump friends are very lucky to have a friend like you who is in no way a hateful bully or an ignorant sizeist jerk.
Best wishes,
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Badvertising: Peek Freens Lifestyle Selections - nutritionism in action.
Food and product manufacturers in Canada are likely jumping for joy as a consequence of Health Canada's new 5-15 percent daily value campaign.
Because campaigns like 5-15 percent daily value promote nutritionism - the notion that specific nutrients in foods dictate their health benefits and permit you to ignore the food's remaining ingredients.
Peek Freens Lifestyle Selections are a great example of nutritionism in action.
Simply put, they're cookies with a nutritionism bend.
The one up above? It has "fibre".
Other Peek Freen "lifestyle selections" boast the inclusion of, omega 3, green tea, calcium and prebiotics.
Ultimately though, they're just cookies, and cookies, no matter how they crumble, aren't healthy. Doesn't mean you can't have one from time to time, but please bear it in mind - they're freeking cookies.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Health Canada rolls out the most useless nutrition campaign in history.
Readers of my blog are likely well aware that when it comes to Health Canada and nutrition I've got low expectations. That said, not even my lowered expectations were enough to prepare me for the mind-numbingly stupid new nutritional education campaign unveiled last Friday at a Longo's supermarket in Toronto.
The campaign had fanfare with a formal press release from Health Canada touting a, "Major Nutrition Labelling Initiative", replete with an important feeling press embargo and a razzle dazzle press conference with our own Minister of Health.
Multiple reporters contacted me prior to the event asking if I knew what was up, and a few opined that it was odd that Health Canada hadn't provided them with much pre-information. Of course it was only after the press conference that we all understood why they weren't given much - there wasn't anything to provide.
In a nutshell the hoopla was all stirred up for Health Canada to teach Canadians the following two points:
If a product has less than 5% of its percent daily value of whatever, that's a little.That's it, that's all, see you later folks.
If a product has greater than 15% of its percent daily value of whatever, that's a lot.
Oh, and they've also got a shiny new website that tells you pretty much the same thing.
So here's the rub.
Canadians don't know a heck of a lot about nutrition and Health Canada's recommendation that you "use" the percent daily values to guide choices assumes far too much.
For example, let's say you're trying to compare two pretty much identical products that differ only in Vitamin A and Vitamin C levels - should you choose the one with more Vitamin A or the one with more Vitamin C? I don't know the answer, so why should you?
Here's another. What matters more? High levels of fibre and iron or low levels of sodium and saturated fat?
Most amazingly?
You know what's the very first number on our nutrition facts panel? Calories. You know what this latest campaign, rolled out explicitly with obesity as part of its rationale avoids teaching about? Calories.
How difficult would it have been for Health Canada to on their percent daily value page include a calculator to help determine a person's caloric needs and then instruct them on how to use that number to navigate nutrition fact panel calories?
Ultimately what Health Canada has done is to decline to actually affect a useful nutrition facts panel reform - one which would have done such things as eliminate the arbitrary, non-real world servings sizes, disallow the use of multiple sugar synonyms to make products appear as if sugar's only a minor ingredient, get rid of those micronutrient levels that no Canadians, not even nutrition professionals, really know how to utilize and serve only to confuse (really, do we have so much scurvy and night blindness that we actually need to list Vitamins C & A?), and instead they came up with a lame dog and pony show promoting mindless nutritionism and the dangerous notion that eating, "healthy" somehow protects weight.
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 5:30 am
Labels: Food Labeling, Government, Health Canada
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Saturday Stories
Dr. Arya Sharma explains how we need a paradigm shift in obesity treatment.
Sweat Science explains why group exercise is more fun.
Careful with that Corona - Mexican beer dermatitis.
Seed Magazine's Dave Munger asks what really causes autism and why don't people care about evidence?
Gina Kolata from the New York Times writes about how elite athletes push through their pain.
Gawker explains how Men's Health magazine basically only has 4 issues.
The New York Times advises you to buy cheap running shoes.
Does everyone out there know that supermodel Paulina Porizkova is a witty and insightful writer?
Friday, October 22, 2010
Never say no to Panda
Today's Funny Friday's a great series of dairy commercials from Chinese cheese maker, Panda.
Have a great weekend!
Have a great weekend!
[Hat tip to Lorne, BMI's Director of Operations]
Thursday, October 21, 2010
More hoops for Ontarians seeking bariatric surgery.
I've blogged before about how Ontario's Ministry of Health has chosen to shut the doors for timely access to bariatric surgery for Ontarians.
As part of their much bally-hoo'ed new strategy they decided to create a centralized bariatric registry which involves a website where physicians register so as to apply to have their patients wait for months to years to get an appointment at a bariatric assessment centre.
Well just two weeks ago, after 7 months of "coming soon", the site finally went live and yesterday I had the opportunity to use it.
Want to know what the site does?
It requires physicians to register for access and in return it provides physicians with access to a PDF form.
The form's not fillable - it needs to be filled out by hand (because we doctors are known for our fabulous handwriting I suppose).
Call me crazy, but I would have thought that after 7 months of web development at least I'd be able to actually fill out the form online (whereby submitting online may have privacy concerns).
Or at the very, very least I'd be able to print out the form and photocopy it so that I'd have it available in my form folder rather than have to physically log onto the registry's website each time and go through 4 separate pages before reaching the actual form that I then am required to print, retrieve from my printer, and fill out, but that's not the case because each form has a unique number on it.
And while I'm sure it sounds like I'm whining and being fickle and nitpicky I can tell you that family doctors are a busy bunch and while forms certainly are part of our lives, this 1982-esque, fax machine, hand written, print each time system is only going to slow things down further and is just yet one more example of how the organization of Ontario's bariatric surgical program doesn't seem to reflect a clue.
[Here are the instructions the site provides for filling out the form:
•Always use a ballpoint pen, preferably black. Do not use red or pencil.
•Print all text and numbers legibly, and inside the boxes without any loops or extra strokes.
•Mark all choice fields (e.g. no/yes) with an X.
•If you make a mistake or wish to correct any item on the form, strike through the error with a single horizontal line and write the correction next to it. Never erase or use white-out. Date and initial all corrections and remember to refax if necessary. The original referral form must be used for corrections.
•When faxing, the page must be oriented vertically so that the database can read the barcode at the top.
•Fax all completed referral forms to 1-800-268-2370. Do not send a cover page or any other documentation.
•Check to ensure the fax transmitted successfully.]
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 5:30 am
Labels: Government, Surgery
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Badvertising: Cheetos cures breast cancer.
If you haven't come across the term it refers to the use of breast cancer fundraising to sell unhealthy products or services and in so doing provide them with a sheen of goodness.
Not sure that anyone's ever going to be able to do anything about it, but that doesn't change the fact it's reprehensible.
Apologists will likely bleat that I'm bashing corporations who are trying to do something good.
They forget the fact that corporations do things to sell products and that engaging in non-profitable activities would in fact put publicly run companies at the risk of shareholder lawsuits.
If corporations truly wanted to just do good, they'd hand over big juicy cheques to charities. If their donations are dependent on sales you can bet your bottom dollar the fundraising tie in will be making them at least as much money as they ultimately end up giving to the charity.
Regarding Cheetos and other potato chips in the battle against breast cancer I'll remind you that according to the National Cancer Institute, obesity increases the relative risk of developing post menopausal breast cancer by 50%. They also report that maintaining a body mass index of 25 could prevent 11,000 to 18,000 deaths per year from breast cancer in U.S. women over age 50, that breast cancer is more likely to be detected at a later stage in obese women than in lean women, and that weight gain during adulthood has been found to be the most consistent and strongest predictor of breast cancer risk in studies in which it has been examined.
[Hat tip to Ken Leebow from Feed Your Head]
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 5:30 am
Labels: Badvertising, Junk Food Fundraising
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
When did fruit become a "trick"?
Today's guest post comes from Dr. Sara Kirk.
Sara brings with her a very broad perspective. She's got a PhD in nutrition and psychology from Leeds University, is a Canada Research Chair in Health Services Research, is an associate professor at Dalhousie's school of health administration, worked formerly as a dietitian and is a loving mom.
Spending some time with her at the Obesity Society conference it became readily apparent that she had some thoughts she'd love to put out there and I happily offered up my blog. As you'll see, her thoughts fit right into this place and I hope she'll become a regular contributor.
You can also find more from Sara on her research group ARCH's blog.
Children across the country will be experiencing a collective sugar rush next week, culminating in the practice of "Trick or Treat" for Halloween. This has me pondering the meaning of a treat to today's children and families. Halloween is a great example. While the event itself takes place on one day of the year, the marketing machine that is the Halloween season, like other holidays or events, lasts for several weeks, with stores packed with jumbo bags of candy and chips. Then there are the various Halloween parties that take place – often through school and other organized events like Girl Guides and Scouts. No sooner is Halloween over than we start gearing up for Christmas, then Easter, and so it goes on.
My definition of a treat when I was growing up was something that happened only occasionally, usually no more than once a week. For today's children, I would argue that treats are now an everyday occurrence, contributing to the obesity epidemic through their ubiquity as part of the "obesogenic" environment in which we are immersed. At this point, the proponents of obesity as an issue of "personal responsibility" usually produce the argument that as a parent I should "just say no". But when serving junk to children is not only the cultural norm, but also the biggest fund-raiser for many schools and other non-profits, how easy is it to buck the trend?
I live in Nova Scotia, a province that is leading the country with its school food and nutrition policy. Yet, those who you would think have most invested in the health of their children, the parents, frequently undermine this policy, exposing my children to unhealthy foods with neither my knowledge nor my consent. For example, through bake sales, which happen every month in my children's school as a way to raise funds. While the school food policy can enable teachers to ask that parents send healthy items to the bake sale, my children regularly report the availability of unhealthy items being sold, or raffle prizes comprising large amounts of candy (my son won a big bucketful in the first bake sale of the year).
Then there's the annual Halloween party, run by the Parent-Teacher Organization, typically features sugary pop, chips, candy and popcorn for sale, while the class also has its own Halloween party with "treats" provided by the parents. This is repeated at Christmas, Easter and at the end of each term if there is no accompanying holiday to tie it into and through other regular events like the Spring Fair.
Then there are the extra-curricular activities that children take part in. These included soccer and swimming for my children over the summer and I was shocked by the quantity of "treats" that parents brought to these environments. A typical "treat" comprised a pouch of kool-aid and a chocolate covered cookie or rice krispie treat – together these equated to around 250 calories, more than was burnt in the activity!
Sadly my observations from the touchline, poolside and playground suggest that the power of food marketing to children and their parents remains a major contributor to the expanding girths of the nation's children, active or otherwise. I am one of a few parents who send fruit with my children to these many events, but what a crazy world we live in when for many parents and children the fruit I send would be more commonly seen as the "trick" in lieu of the now normalized "treat".
Monday, October 18, 2010
Heart and Stroke Foundation teaches elementary school kids that pizza's healthy.
One of the primary drivers of unhealthy eating and obesity today is the normalization of fast food as an everyday part of life.
Apologists tend towards the stance of, "it's part of life", or, "everything in moderation", or, "there are healthy fast food options too", and while I readily agree that fast food is here to stay I draw the line at public institutions (schools, hospitals, etc.) and health based non-profits encouraging its consumption.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation is a perfect example. As I've blogged about before, the Heart ant Stroke Foundation's explicit position is that since people are going to eat out anyhow, at the very least the Foundation can steer them to healthier eating out options.
The Heart and Stroke Foundation believes that less bad is in fact good.
While the Health Check program has its check marks in many fast food restaurants, there are no checks dearer to the Heart and Stroke Foundation than those of Boston Pizza (pun intended) as Boston Pizza is likely the largest single institutional donor the Heart and Stroke Foundation's got.
Perhaps it's that donor status that has the Heart and Stroke Foundation regularly giving out Boston Pizza coupons to elementary school students as rewards for their Heart and Stroke fundraising, and perhaps it's that donor status that has the Heart and Stroke Foundation using pizza as a healthy, "combination food" example for teachers.
In their teacher-geared publication, "Heart Smart Kids: A teacher's curriculum based resource for healthy living activities Grade 4-6" the "Healthy Eating" section provides a "tip" for teachers.
The "tip"?
"Tell students to make an estimate of serving sizes and contents for combination foods such as sandwiches. E.g.: a cheese pizza might contain one serving of Grain Products, one of Milk and Alternatives and half a serving of Vegetables and Fruits"Yes, the Heart and Stroke Foundation want teachers to use pizza as an example of a healthy combination food. But they go further than that as pizza's also included as a photo on a handout for the kids meant to be used by them in the planning of a, "healthy class party" (see photo up above).
Think there's any chance that kids having received that "tip" and/or using that handout to plan a "healthy class party" aren't going to choose pizza for the meal and think that it's a healthy choice?
So is pizza healthy?
It certainly can be, but that'd require the pizza to be homemade as store bought pizza is jam-packed with sodium and calories.
And what pizza are the kids likely to be seeing on a regular basis? Fast food pizza - both school based pizza day pizza and home delivered pizza. Hardly the sort of food you'd expect the Heart and Stroke Foundation to recommend. Hardly unless of course you consider the fact that their endorsement of pizza as a healthy food helps to plug one of their largest sponsors and that for whatever reason they've decided that it's better to encourage elementary school children to believe that less bad is good, and that fast food is a normal, acceptable and healthy part of everyday life.
Such an incredible, and yet sadly unsurprising, shame.
[Hat tip to Alaina Mundy who scratched her own head a few times when reviewing this curriculum]
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 5:30 am
Labels: children, Health Check, Heart and Stroke Foundation
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Saturday Stories
Away all week in San Diego, but here are a few good ones that slipped through.
James Fell takes on Biggest Loser trainer Jillian Michaels' kettlebell skills and writes what for me was a laugh-out-loud pretend conversation with her and her agent.
Marion Nestle covers the first blush of the IOM's new front of package labeling recommendations. No teeth, all gums.
Friday, October 15, 2010
The amazing exercise benefits of public drunkeness
As always with the Onion, today's Funny Friday, while brilliant and hilarious, also provides a sad and truthy commentary on the state of our world.
Have a great weekend!
Study: Americans Get Majority Of Exercise While Drunk
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Overeaters Anonymous and the US Military
While in San Diego for the Obesity Society conference a bunch of us decided to take a tour of the USS Midway aircraft carrier.
Decommissioned in 1992, the Midway saw action in both the Vietnam and Korean wars and the ship has burned turned into a huge museum.
Walking through the ship I came across a preserved crew notice board. I took a picture of it and posted it up above.
It was dated March 23rd, 1990 and the last item of business was the announcement of the ship's Overeaters Anonymous meeting.
While I know I shouldn't have been surprised, weight's a struggle everywhere, somehow I didn't expect to see such an open and safe invitation in a warship and found it heartening that the military offered some support.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
What do the world's foremost obesity experts eat?
Well thanks to The Obesity Society, nothin' good.
When I wandered through the lunch offerings at this years Obesity Society's Annual Scientific Assembly in San Diego (one of the world's largest obesity conferences), what did I find?
Giant brownies, pretzels and full sugar soda - an interesting juxtaposition with the 2 abstracts and 2 complete symposia dedicated to sugared soda.
Sure could make one less hopeful about the world changing to de-normalize the ubiquitous provision of junk food when even the Obesity Society feels comfortable ordering it up for its members.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Badvertising: Odwalla and the case of the missing mango
So I was at the hospital the other day and I ran into this cardboard cutout promotion for a fruit smoothie by a company named Odwalla.
As you can see from the photo, it was promoting a beverage called, "Mango Tango" and it bragged, "1 Whole Pureed Mango per 450mL".
Curious, I picked up a bottle and had a peek at the nutritional facts panel.
Want to know what I learned?
That Odwalla Mango Tango had 0% of my percent daily value of Vitamin C.
That seemed strange given that I would have thought mangoes are full of vitamin C and the cutout said that there was a whole pureed mango in each bottle.
Looking up mangoes, I found that a whole mango actually contains 96% of my percent daily value of Vitamin C.
So shouldn't that be how much is in Odwalla Mango Tango?
Well perhaps as a commenter had noted on my blog post on KD Smart, the processing removed all the vitamins. Or perhaps something's up with their secret formula.
Either way though one thing's for sure. Odwalla's trying to sell products on the basis that drinking them is tantamount to drinking whole fruits, replete with all of their nutritional cache and benefits and the fact that those benefits appear to be absent to me strikes me as ethically challenging.
So nutritionally what's in Mango Tango? Mango flavour, water and an astonishing 15 teaspoons of sugar per bottle.
Ethics, shmethics.
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Saturday Stories
Daniel Gordis explains why he feels an Israeli strike to preempt a nuclear Iran is inevitable.
Blogging buddy and pharmacist Scott Gavura covers pseudoscience and runners on Skeptic North.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Breaking news: Meridia voluntarily pulled from Canadian market
In a statement just released by Health Canada, Abbott Laboratories has announced the voluntary removal of Meridia from the Canadian marketplace.
Meridia was a satiety/fullness enhancer that in concert with organized eating, helped patients to reduce their calories by allowing them to feel fuller faster.
I didn't use Meridia particularly frequently. Of the 3,000 or so patients I've seen, I'm guessing I've tried Meridia out with less than 50 of them, and while it was far from a magic bullet, for some patients it had terrific benefit.
The withdrawal comes on the heels of the SCOUT study which demonstrated an increased risk of serious cardiovascular events associated with Meridia use in patients with heart problems.
Meridia's withdrawal means that in Canada there is now only a single on-label medication for use in the medical management of our number one preventable cause of death and thus far in the States FDA committees have voted against the approval of 2 of the 3 next generation weight loss medications.
Weight loss in a bottle seems a long way away.
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 11:38 am
Apologies to my American Republican readers
I realize I'm Canadian and consequently probably don't have a terrific handle on the nuances of American politics.
Of course that won't stop me from posting today's Funny Friday - an ad on why you should vote Republican.
Apologies to my American Republican readers but it's pretty darn funny.
[Hat tip to my American democrat of a sister Michal]
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Championing Public Health Nutrition 2010
October 25th & 26th!
It's the second Ottawa based conference put on by the Centre for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), and for those involved in nutrition and advocacy, I'd say it's a must attend event.
For those of you who aren't aware, CSPI is a non-profit nutritional advocacy organization that takes zero industry funding. Instead they raise funds by means of sales of their phenomenal nutrition newsletter Nutrition Action.
Once again CSPI has put together some world class speakers for the event (though perhaps not all are world class as I'll be part of a panel too) and I'm sure it's going to be a fabulous few days.
Hope to meet you there!
(Registration over here)
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
Introducing Coca Cola Pro with Calcium and Vitamin D!
In a surprise move the Coca Cola company announced the launch of its new product, Coca Cola Pro designed specifically for school children.
Said a company spokesperson,
"Children require extra attention for their nutritional needs. To that end we've designed Coca Cola Pro. Fortified with 8 grams of protein, 25% of their daily recommended value of calcium and 45% of their daily recommended value of vitamin D, Coca Cola Pro can help to ensure that your children grow up with strong bones and helps them to build the lean tissue important for their metabolisms."Education Minister Leona Dombrowsky, when asked about the new beverage stated,
"Our goal is to ensure that kids have access to good and healthy food and Coca Cola Pro, despite having a bit of added sugar, helps to provide essential nutrients to our children. We hope to help make it available to school boards across Ontario to be run in concert with school milk programs."Think that'd be nuts?
Think that a smidgen of protein, calcium and vitamin D couldn't possibly make Coca Cola a healthy beverage?
Well while Coca Cola Pro and those quotes up above aren't real, there is an equally ridiculous beverage being pushed on our children - chocolate milk.
Drop per drop when compared with the Coca Cola Pro I created, chocolate milk has identical amounts of protein, calcium and vitamin D with the added "benefit" of having 17% more sugar, 80% more calories and 590% more sodium.
And while Leona Dombrowsky didn't come out in strong support of Coca Cola, she did come out in strong support of chocolate milk.
You see Ontario had been considering a ban on 500mL cartons of chocolate milk. A few days ago they backed off that plan and Leona was quoted as stating (for real this time),
"Milk and chocolate milk is available in our schools because it is good for kids....Our goal is to ensure that kids have access to good and healthy food like milk and chocolate milk....You know, 'milk does a body good and that's what we want to make sure that our students have access to"Yes Leona, what could be better for kids than a beverage that per 500mL carton contains 1/3 of a child's total daily sodium recommendation, 15.5 teaspoons of sugar and more calories than 10 pieces of licorice?
What could be better?
My mythical Coca Cola Pro. It'd have the same magic nutrients of milk but with less sugar, less sodium and fewer calories.
Yet somehow I don't think it's too bad that Coca Cola doesn't make it, instead I think it's too bad that Big Milk has so completely indoctrinated the world into thinking that milk's magic that no one bothers to question comments like Leona's, and that hoodwinked schools, parents, politicians and health professionals continue to defend chocolate milk's consumption.
Posted by Yoni Freedhoff, MD at 5:30 am
Labels: children, Government, Milk
Tuesday, October 05, 2010
Guest post: A personal best.
So as regular readers know, this past Sunday was the Run for the Cure.
It was, as always, a magical event and today's guest post comes from one of our team members - Laurie Shusterman who has managed to translate the essence of why she's such an inspiration to so many, into words.
Thanks Laurie for sharing this with me (and the blog), thanks to everyone who ran, and a huge thanks to my reader donors who crushed last year's total of $250 by donating nearly $1,300 this year and helping Team BMI raise over $10,000!
(P.S. Proud dad moment as my barely 6 year old ran the complete 5km. When I asked her if it was more difficult or easier than she'd expected she told me that it was more difficult, but she didn't mind because it was an important thing for her to do)
Today I ran a "Personal Best" .... those of us who consider ourselves "runners" ....ok maybe amateur runners at best, we strive to run a "personal best". Those are the days where everything comes together, the weather, the race course, your body (hopefully injury free and rested) to run the hardest and the fastest race of your personal running history to log your best time. Today I ran my "personal best". This race was different however, the runners were not wearing numbers, but rather names of loved ones .... grandmothers, mothers, daughters, sisters...the list is too long to mention them all. There is also that small percentage of men who should not go without a name, or be uncounted. The runners today were more concerned with their "costumes" than their running shoes, and we were no exception....there was a lot of pink hair envy out there today. One young group of girls even asked to have their photo taken with us!
When we started off we weren't concerned about setting our watches or stepping on the timing mat as we crossed the start line, we were busy looking for our BMI team mates. Off we went, not by a gun shot, but with music and enthusiasm, thousands upon thousands of people all out there for one cause. I found it so emotional as we all silently read the names people had written on their backs and realized this day was much bigger than any of us. Young boys in tiaras, grown men with pink shirts, even a young man running on an artificial leg .... young girls, many grandmothers; brides, ballerinas, dogs.... they were all out there today, all with a single goal.
The run did come to an end, but I believe it was not the official "finish line" because we won't cross it until researchers have found a cure for Breast Cancer. We didn't check our watches at the end, in fact I never even started mine; today was about being there for all those people suffering from or surviving from a horrible disease. It was about being with our BMI friends we have come to know over the last few years and working together for a cause....it was about raising money for the girl who was running for "More Time With Her Mother".
Thank you Kelly for organizing the BMI Team, it was an amazing event! Sorry we couldn't find you.
Today I ran a "personal best" and I don't even know my time!
Monday, October 04, 2010
Fatism rears its ugly head in Toronto mayoral race.
Rob Ford is a 41 year old mayoral candidate running in Toronto's upcoming elections.
Politically Ford has certainly provided folks with ample ammunition to go after him, but just last week, retired anesthesiologist Dr. Marvin Kay went after him just because Ford was ample.
According to the column in the Toronto Sun, Kay commented at an open mike,
"I'm a physician and I look upon you as a possible patient. I am concerned about your weight. Do you think you'll be able to handle a four year term"Because everybody knows fat folks can't possibly handle politics - just ask Winston Churchill.
Later in a radio interview Kay continued,
"I was quite disturbed by his obesity. He's a very heavy man with a large belly and double chin. He was sweating quite a bit. Several times he picked up a towel or a napkin to wipe his forehead ... his weight could become a problem and perhaps lead to a heart attack or stroke."Really Dr. Kay? You've seen a lot of 41 year old obese men drop dead of heart attacks and strokes?
Sadly there are a lot of Dr. Kays in this world, including many who are indeed physicians.
I suppose the only silver lining in this story is that Dr. Kay has retired and consequently he's no longer bringing his brand of all too common bias to the bedside.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Saturday Stories
Malcolm Gladwell on why he feels Twitter and Facebook won't be fueling the next social revolution.
Dan Gardner on David Suzuki, the end of days and humility.
Philosophy prof. Chris MacDonald wonders about our right to know what we're eating.
Martin Robbins provides a sadly hilarious blueprint of most mainstream science reporting.
[Fabulous illustration of David Suzuki done by Amanda Woodard. For more examples of her work and for contact head over to her website]
Friday, October 01, 2010
Need a divorce lawyer?
Well maybe you should consider this guy.
Today's Funny Friday is an advertisement for a divorce lawyer and he certainly cuts right to the heart of the matter.
Have a great weekend!
[Hat tip to Lorne, BMI's Director of Operations (why are you surfing for divorce lawyers?)]


text:
The authors of Ecological Forest Managementhave thrown down the gauntlet. The battle between traditional production forestry (PF) and ecological forest management (EFM) for the hearts and minds of forestry students everywhere, for the profession of forestry itself, and for the acceptance of the public has been joined. EFM offers a constructive alternative to landowners, foresters, forestry students, and the public suffering disillusionment with the agronomic simplification and reductionism of PF.
Ecological Forest Managementdeconstructs—nay, pantses—PF by both critique and example. It exposes the limits—ecological, social, and (somewhat) economic—of PF. "We decided to adopt ecological concepts as the foundation of our forest management text, upon which we would build economic and social considerations," say the authors. Of course, this is very rational, but it's also quite radical in the profession of forestry.
The book reflects the radical evolution happening in forestry, a profession that is part science, part art, and part craft. Production forestry (PF) has held sway since forestry's beginnings in America before the turn of the twentieth century. PF is about maximum sustainable production of wood. Foresters trained in PF were taught that they alone knew best how to manage forests. But over the decades, scientific understanding, public disdain of clearcutting and appreciation of forests, and federal judges have undermined that cherished tenet.
About the Authors
In the world of Pacific Northwest forests, "Norm and Jerry" has a couple of different meanings. First, it refers to the people, Jerry F. Franklin and K. Norman Johnson, who had quite distinguished careers in forestry (with the emphasis on forest science) before they became legends of forest policy and forest politics after the northern spotted owl hit the fan in the late 1980s. As politicians sought to address and/or survive the Pacific Northwest timber wars, they often turned to Norm and Jerry for policy advice, which was always sincerely and thoughtfully given, though not always similarly utilized.
"Norm and Jerry," as in "to Norm and Jerry the stand," also refers to variable retention harvest (Figure 1), a silvicultural prescription the two pioneered as an alternative to the total clear-cutting prescribed by PF. When the stand is a native natural forest, the term's application is derogatory, but less so if the stand is already a plantation.
The (mostly very good) mark left by Norm and Jerry on Pacific Northwest forests can also be found on other forests in the United States and the world. I could go on and intend to later in a "preremembrance" of Norm and Jerry. My problem is that my previous preremembrances feature people still living, but with their great contributions to conservation behind them. Norm told me that he and Jerry are retired, yet in the same email string he mentioned two additional book projects. Ecological Forest Management is neither the last word on ecological forest management, nor the last word from Norm and Jerry. EFM may be Norm and Jerry's magnum opus, but it is not their last opus.
The other Johnson, Debora, is a highly competent forester and GIS jockey extraordinaire with long experience in inventory, planning, and analysis. Debbie and Norm are married.
About the Book
The book is a weighty read, not only in the hands at four pounds but also in the mind. Though Norm and Jerry kindly sent me an autographed copy, that version will rest prominently and proudly, but unread, on my bookshelf. My Kindle® version is well marked up in yellow and is also digitally searchable. (Paper is so twentieth century and electrons weigh almost nothing.) I confess to not having read every word, for some of the book is quite esoteric and not central to my interests. However, the book is well organized and categorized, with an eight-page table of contents detailing five parts containing twenty-one chapters; 127 subchapters are further broken out into 279 topic areas. One can dip in and out to satisfy one's interests and curiosities and one's need to refer to chapter and verse.
There are also lots of pictures, alas more in black and white than in color, and not all are pretty. To be honest, if not kind, EFM is often not pretty—though not as butt-ugly as a clear-cut. A particularly positive aesthetic highlight are the line drawings of twenty-one species of old-growth trees by Robert Van Pelt.
The Evolution of Forest Textbooks and Forestry
Before dropping out of Oregon State University in 1976, I hung around the College of Forestry. Most of the "FM" (forest management) students were destined to careers in production forestry: liquidate by clear-cut, plant, spray, thin, clear-cut; repeat (Figure 2). All had their little red book—not Mao's, but the introductory textbook in McGraw-Hill's American Forestry Series. The first edition of Forest Management: Regulation and Valuation, authored by Kenneth P. Davis, came out in 1951 with a distinctive dark red cover. The subtitle is code for production forestry.
The second edition of the book, published in 1966, was authored by Lawrence S. Davis (son of Kenneth P.). For the third edition, published in 1987, the subtitle was dropped and K. Norman Johnson added as a co-author. (Norm is the first Johnson in Franklin, Johnson, and Johnson.) The fourth edition, published in 2001, had two additional co-authors, Pete Bettinger and Theodore E. Howard, and a new subtitle: Forest Management: To Sustain Ecological, Economic, and Social Values. The fourth edition started with McGraw-Hill's red cover, but when the book was acquired by Waveland Press it gained a cover picture of a managed (but at least not clear-cut) forest. The new subtitle is an acknowledgment that forests are more than just standing logs. The evolution of subtitles parallels the evolution of forestry in America.
Norm and Jerry, along with Larry Davis, were slotted to produce the fifth edition of Forest Management but the found the effort "too limiting." In addition, Davis was unable to continue. The result is Ecological Forest Management, part memoir and all textbook. EFM is an existential challenge to PF. Continuing to bear the flag of PF (albeit a bit less intense than previously), Pete Bettinger (once a grad student of Norm's) and three other authors have published Forest Management and Planning, an updated and shortened successor to the fourth edition of Forest Management.(As for the cover, it's about one-half pretty forest canopy with the remainder a pastoral setting and large bodies of water; do not judge a book by its cover.)
Seeing the Forest Beyond/Below the Trees
PF generally sees a natural stand as needing to be regulated by clear-cutting and then planting it with one species of conifer, thus truncating the forest cycle either as soon as financially possible (maximum economic value [aka net present value]) or when the annual rate of board-feet gain starts to diminish (maximum timber volume). The practice of EFM starts with the premise of both understanding and appreciating the natural functions of the forest, conserving them if possible or at least mimicking them as wood is extracted from the stand.
Chapters 2 and 3 of Ecological Forest Management describe and explain natural forests as ecosystems and detail their developmental stages. These two chapters are worth the price of the book alone. The authors contribute to our understanding of forests by describing six developmental stages:
1. disturbance and legacy creation event (DLC)
2. preforest stage (PFS)
3. forest canopy closure event (FCC)
4. young forest stage (YFS)
5. mature forest stage (MFS)
6. old forest stage (OFS)
The book presents three archetypical forests, distinguished by disturbance regimes and the dominant tree species:
1. conifer-dominated forests initiated by infrequent (episodic) severe wildlife
2. hardwood-dominated forests initiated by infrequent (episodic) severe windstorms
3. conifer-dominated forests characterized by frequent (chronic) wildfire
Earlier, the authors were bifurcating conifer forests into either moist or dry conifer forests but have dropped those descriptors in this book. While the three archetypes aid understanding, numerous variations exist within and between this trifurcated categorization. For example, hardwood forests sometimes burn, moist conifer forests sometimes blow down, and dry conifer forests tend to have all developmental stages simultaneously.
On the Ecological Forest Management Bus
There is much good to be said about the practice of EFM.
Every view has a reference point. Not just aesthetically but also ecologically and hydrologically, EFM is a vast improvement over PF with its clear-cuts and short rotations with their straight rows of same-spaced, same-age, same-size, same species of trees.
A subpart of EFM is scientifically sound ecological restoration thinning—judicious logging that can put moist-forest plantations on a track to achieve older forest character and also can restore grazed-off, fire-excluded, high-graded dry forest stands so they can again become structurally and functionally diverse older forests.
Practiced on lands where the landowner requires some return on investment—if only to at least to pay the taxes if not the kids' college tuition or their health care expenses down the road—EFM makes much more sense than PF.
While EFM is also the most responsible way to manage corporate industrial timberlands, any serious application of EFM cuts into the net present value goal of profit maximization to the chagrin of investors. Government regulation is in order.
Off the Ecological Forest Management Bus
The practice of EFM has a lot going for it, but it's not a fat-free hot-fudge sundae (something universally desired with no downsides that doesn't exist). There is some (very important) bad to be said about EFM.
Every view has a reference point. Compared to the natural forest, EFM is degradation, not just aesthetic but also ecological and hydrological.
Franklin, Johnson, and Johnson tout EFM as an ecologically, economically, and socially acceptable way to manage forests of all ownerships. While they acknowledge and genuinely appreciate the importance of permanently conserved areas (where no roading and logging is allowed) as a vital part of the forest landscape, they generally believe that EFM can sustain forests across the landscape. Many scientists recommend that much more of our forests needs to be in permanent reserves.
Although EFM is very useful to inform the ecological restoration of degraded federal forests—be they moist-forest plantations or fire-excluded, cow-bombed, and high-graded dry conifer forests—it's general practice, which still is somewhat timber volume-driven, is most appropriate on nonfederal lands.
For the Next Edition
The authors say that "we view this volume as a first approximation of ecological forest management and most certainly not the final word, which we do not expect ever to be written!" In anticipation of a second edition, here are a few major comments and suggestions, offered with respect and admiration, but also with insistence.
• Acknowledge the enormous and important difference between a natural complex preforest stage and an unnatural simplied preforest stage.
With regard to the preforest stage (PFS)—formerly called "early-successional ecosystems on forest sites"—that develops after a disturbance and legacy creation event (DLC; fire, wind, insects, or volcano), there is a huge difference in the biological legacies of a DLC'd old-growth stand and the DLCing of an already disturbed, degraded, and simplified plantation. The biological legacy (consisting of live and dead trees, both standing and fallen; coarse woody detritus; and/or undisturbed understory) of a complex natural PFS dwarfs that of an unnatural simplified PFS. For more, please see the peer-reviewed journal article of which Jerry is the second author.
• For natural stands on federal public lands, advise no logging.
The social license, to which the authors give great weight, has expired for logging of older (mature and old-growth) forests, save for limited and scientifically sound restoration of some hammered dry forest conifer stands. Even if the authors still do not consider it harmful to log perfectly natural stands, albeit more sensitively but still in pursuit of timber volume, the public isn't going there. The highest and best use of natural forests is not a less harmful form of logging. Even on the Bureau of Land Management's O&C lands in western Oregon, any timber-first! emphasis of the O&C Lands Act of 1937 has been superseded by the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act, other federal statutes, and—most importantly—public opinion.
• Tell readers how much of the forest landscape should be in no-cut (with a limited exception for ecological restoration) reserves.
Legendary Harvard naturalist E. O. Wilson, in his book Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life, recommended that to avoid massive species extinction (a fair criterion for minimum sustainability), at least half of our planet, meaning at least half of its forests of all ownerships, needs to be fully set aside for nature. This is backed up by the peer-reviewed science, including the journal editorial Bolder Thinking for Conservation by Reed Noss and eleven other distinguished ecologists, which opens by asking:
Should conservation targets, such as the proportion of a region to be placed in protected areas, be socially acceptable from the start? Or should they be based unapologetically on the best available science and expert opinion, then address issues of practicality later?
These researchers reviewed the science and answered that at least 50 percent of Earth should be in protected areas.
For Earth's forests to remove enough excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to actually move the needle on climate change, half is not enough.
• For natural stands on federal public lands, advise no logging.
The federal public lands in the American West should form the ecological and geographic basis for that half of the forests in the United States that need to be in permanent reserves. (As for the American East, the existing national forests need to be filled in by acquiring unoccupied private inholdings, and a whole lot of additional national forests need to be established.) Any logging on national forests should be a by-product of ecological restoration, not a product of ecological forest management. The science of species conservation, as well as the wishes of the public, demands it.
• Insist upon more fire.
A major reason that the authors recommend variable retention harvest in unlogged natural stands is to provide more preforest stage (PFS). The authors are quite right that this highly important stage of forest development and biological diversity is far more scarce than old-growth forests, due to routine salvage logging after natural events such as fire and windstorms. Of course, some commercial logs make their way to the mill, which raises suspicion in the minds of many as to motive. We'd have plenty of PFS—and complex PFS at that—if the federal agencies would fully eschew salvage logging, and even more if these federal agencies would embrace forest fire as both generally desirable and always inevitable. I believe that the authors are not uncomfortable with fires in forests, but they recognize the extreme discomfort (due to brainwashing) of the public (finish this six-word sentence: "Only. . . ") and the hegemony of the fire-industrial complex (federal forest agencies, state fire agencies, Congress, private contractors, and more). This fire-fighting juggernaut is as hugely expensive as it is ineffective, and it arose from and is part and parcel of production forestry. Speaking truth to production forestry needs to include speaking truth to its ancillary fire-industrial complex.
On the Whole
The forests of the world will be better off for the publication and utlitization of Ecological Forest Management.
May ecological forest management deliver the death blow to production forestry. May EFM become the norm for nonfederal forestlands. May EFM not become the norm on federal forestlands, where instead the norm should be the full conservation of intact forests and the restoration of damaged forests.


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Affordable Care Act: Important Information for You.
Next year will see some of the biggest changes to the health-care system brought about by the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010. Other reforms have already rolled out, but nothing like what will happen in 2014.
Starting Tuesday, you can start shopping for health coverage on new insurance "marketplaces." Some people will be able to qualify for tax credits to help afford a policy, which must follow a new set of standards. No one can be turned away because they're sick, and insurers can't cap the amount they will pay out. You will be penalized if you don't have insurance.
Even for Americans with stable coverage, the law boosts benefits so everyone gets things like free preventive coverage.
"People don't always understand how the law can protect them in good ways," says Rebecca Burkholder, vice president of health policy at the National Consumers League, a consumer-advocacy organization. "It's not just for the underinsured—there are a lot of great opportunities for everyone."
Here's our brief rundown—what you need to know about the new health-care law:
If You Need Insurance
First, determine whether you need to buy a new policy.
The federal government website, healthcare.gov, is the best place to start. Spanish-language information is available at CuidadoDeSalud.gov. If you have coverage through your job that you are happy with, or coverage you bought on your own before the law passed on March 23, 2010, you don't need to worry about a lot of this.
The marketplaces sell plans through March 31. Loss of minimum essential coverage qualifies as an event that would allow you to enroll outside of this window.
If you want your insurance to start by Jan. 1, 2014, you need to buy it by Dec. 15, 2013, says Karen Pollitz, senior fellow at the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health-care policy organization.
The Health Law Rollout
Explore how America's health-care overhaul will affect you on this first-person adventure. CLICK THE IMAGE to start interactive experience.
Insurance sold on the marketplaces comes in four levels: platinum, gold, silver and bronze.
What differs among them is largely the premium, or the cost per month, and the cost-sharing—or how much you will pay in things like deductibles and copays. On average, bronze plans will pay about 60% of medical costs, silver covers 70%, gold covers 80% and platinum covers 90%.
What doesn't differ are the basics that a plan must cover. Even the bronze options have to cover "essential benefits" including hospitalization, labs, prevention and maternity.
Call your providers to make sure they are in the network of the plan you are considering. Also look into whether the medicines you take are on the plan's drug formulary.
Tax Credits
You might qualify for help with your health-insurance payments through the marketplace, in the form of a "tax credit" paid out in advance to help with premium costs.
In general, for a family of four, you will likely qualify if you earn between $23,550 and $94,200 a year. The lower your income on this range, the more you will likely save in insurance costs.
Folks on the lower side of that income spread might be able to get help with costs such as deductibles. This affects families of four earning up to $58,875.
When you apply, you may need to have your Social Security number, W-2 forms, policy numbers for current health insurance and information about job-related coverage.
You can get help paying your premium only if you purchase coverage on the marketplace.
Answering Obamacare Questions
How do I find the marketplace in my state?
Will my income qualify me to save on premiums or out of pocket costs?
What do I need to do to get ready to enroll in coverage?
How can I get help with my application for insurance coverage?
Where can I find out more about Medicaid expansion in my state?
Where can I find out where my family size and income fall on the federal poverty level scale?
Can my kids access health-care coverage?
If You Need Help
Healthcare.gov has a live-chat feature. There is a call center open 24 hours a day at 1-800-318-2596. The service offers personalized assistance with things like plan selection in more than 150 languages.
You can also get in-person assistance. "Navigators" can help you prepare your application and determine your eligibility for tax credits.
Insurance agents are another resource. You or the insurer might have to pay the agent, who is allowed to steer you toward particular products, says Ms. Pollitz.
Another option is to go to a local health center—they've received $150 million in grants to help enroll people.
The Fine
If you don't have insurance by Jan. 1, you might face a fine. In 2014, it's 1% of annual income, or $95, whichever is higher. The fine goes up each year.
You might be exempt if you've been uninsured for less than three months of the year, have an income too low to file a tax return or are a member of an Indian tribe.
Private insurance isn't your only option. You can also look into whether you qualify for Medicaid, the health-care program for low-income Americans, which has been broadened in many states.
The law expanded Medicaid eligibility to Americans below 133% of the federal poverty level, which is about $31,000 for a family of four in 2013. To see where your family might fall on this scale, look at www.familiesusa.org and www.healthcare.gov.
If you are in a state that didn't expand Medicaid, but your income would have qualified you for coverage under the new rules, you are exempt from the fine. Also, regardless of where you live, families with children will no longer face an asset test, and income requirements are now simpler, so look into it even if your state didn't expand, suggests Cheryl Fish-Parcham, director of health policy at Families USA, a health-care policy group.
Insurers can no longer rescind, or take away, your coverage for arbitrary reasons. They cannot deny you coverage if you have a medical condition that predated your application.
Insurers can't place yearly or lifetime limits on what they will spend paying for your essential health benefits.
Kids and Women
Some new protections apply specifically to women and children.
Dental and vision coverage for kids are required in the marketplaces.
Insurers can no longer charge higher prices for women. All marketplace plans cover pregnancy and childbirth. Breast-feeding support is also covered, including breast pumps and counseling for new moms.
Even if you don't qualify for Medicaid, investigate public programs on behalf of your kids, says Ms. Fish-Parcham. Look at www.insurekidsnow.gov.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent employees don't have to do anything differently in 2014. If they offer coverage, they can continue doing so. If they don't offer coverage, they don't have to.
They will have the opportunity to purchase insurance through new marketplaces designed for them, known as the SHOP system. All of the policies sold there need to cover the essential benefits. Insurers can't charge a small business more if it employs women or if its workers have high medical bills.
Small businesses with fewer than 25 employees could qualify for a tax credit to help pay for insurance. Large employers, on the other hand, might have to pay a fee if they don't offer coverage, but not until 2015.
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This has been running long enough now that I'm sure it needs little introduction, so with the new season starting this weekend it's time to welcome back the Football Prediction Thread. For those who haven't played before the rules are below:
The Rules:
- 3 points for the correct score e.g. 3-1
- 1 point for correct result e.g. draw/win
- 5 bonus points for predicting all correct scores for the round of matches
- 2 bonus points for predicting all correct results for the round of matches
- All predictions in before the kickoffs of the matches you predict
Bonus Points:
As always, there will be bonus points awarded for predictions of the Top 4 and Bottom 3 of the table come the end of the season, with these predictions having been vital in deciding the final table in previous seasons. If you correctly predict the place in which a team finishes, you will earn 5 points, and if the team finishes in the top 4/bottom 3 but not in the place you predicted, you'll score 2 points. I'll stick a code in the second post.
In-game Tournament:
The tournament will start on week 21 and will run for however many weeks necessary depending on how many entrants we get.
There will be a bonus 10 points for the winner of the tournament, 6 points for the runner up, and 2 for third place.
It's as simple as that, really. Happy predicting!
Here are the fixtures for the first week of predictions:
Friday 11th August
Arsenal v Leicester (7.45pm)
Saturday 12th August
Watford v Liverpool (12.30pm)
Chelsea v Burnley (3pm)
Crystal Palace v Huddersfield Town (3pm)
Everton v Stoke City (3pm)
Southampton v Swansea City (3pm)
West Brom v Bournemouth (3pm)
Brighton v Man City (5.30pm)
Sunday 13th August
Newcastle v Tottenham (1.30pm)
Man Utd v West Ham (4pm)
And here's some code!
Code: Select all
[b][u]Friday 11th August[/u][/b]
Arsenal [b][/b] - [b][/b] Leicester (7.45pm)
[b][u]Saturday 12th August[/u][/b]
Watford [b][/b] - [b][/b] Liverpool (12.30pm)
Chelsea [b][/b] - [b][/b] Burnley (3pm)
Crystal Palace [b][/b] - [b][/b] Huddersfield Town (3pm)
Everton [b][/b] - [b][/b] Stoke City (3pm)
Southampton [b][/b] - [b][/b] Swansea City (3pm)
West Brom [b][/b] - [b][/b] Bournemouth (3pm)
Brighton [b][/b] - [b][/b] Man City (5.30pm)
[b][u]Sunday 13th August[/u][/b]
Newcastle [b][/b] - [b][/b] Tottenham (1.30pm)
Man Utd [b][/b] - [b][/b] West Ham (4pm)
Code: Select all
[u][b]Top 4:[/b][/u]
[b]1st -[/b]
[b]2nd -[/b]
[b]3rd -[/b]
[b]4th -[/b]
[u][b]Bottom 3:[/b][/u]
[b]18th -[/b]
[b]19th -[/b]
[b]20th -[/b]
Also set up a Fantasy League to run alongside this, which can be found here:
Code: 1514632-362747


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Steamboat pile burning highlights collaboration
Weather conditions this past week provided the U.S. Forest Service a window of opportunity within which to safely burn multiple slash piles in and around the Steamboat Ski Area.
The lighting of the piles highlighted collaborative efforts between the ski resort and the Forest Service to address forest health issues and the removal of hazardous fuels generated from the bark beetle epidemic over the last decade.
Two large piles, approximately 100 feet wide and 20 feet high, were burned as well as numerous smaller piles.
The decision to burn piles was made due to recent snowfall which has allowed for safe burning and eliminated the threat of fire spreading to unintended areas.
A large portion of the Steamboat Ski Area is on National Forest lands where operations take place under a special use permit from the Forest Service.
The ski area is considered Wildland Urban Interface within the Routt National Forest. Removal of hazardous fuels within interface areas is a priority of the Forest Service due to the presence of values at risk.
The resort and the Forest Service work together as stewards of the land while providing a safe recreation experience for visitors.
The ski area's progressive approach to forest health in and around its boundaries has resulted in several years of active timber management to remove dead and diseased trees. Fuels remaining from timber projects include mechanically and hand piled slash.
The Forest Service then burns the slash piles when conditions are right. Removal of these fuels lowers the overall risk of wildfire in the area and is in the best interest of long-term public safety, according to the Forest Service.
Start a dialogue, stay on topic and be civil.
If you don't follow the rules, your comment may be deleted.


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Send your own questions to me at [email protected], @TheLiB, or +Sarah Houghton.
Hi! Welcome to episode 7 of What Sarah Said. This question comes to us from Aaron and he writes:
I have a two-part question: I have a large number of heavy history books that I have owned for more than twenty years. Moving them to a new location, I noticed that the top edges have black spots that cannot be removed. Fortunately they don't as of yet penetrate into the face of the pages. The books were not in a wet location, but humid summers may have had an effect. I assume that these spots are some sort of living organism eating the books. Do I need worry about the "spots" continuing to damaged my books? The books have been moved to a much nicer location.
Second question: Do you have recommendations for affordable shelves to hold heavy books that perhaps have the strength found in a library? All my old shelves have warped. My current solution is to use metal utility shelving, which doesn't look proper for my beloved library.
All right! So the first part of your question: the spots. I had to hearken back to my training in library school. I started out wanting to be a rare books librarian so I took lots of classes in preservation and book restoration. And my first thought was: Oh god, it's black mold. And I think that's right. Without seeing a picture of what you're describing, this sounds like black mold to me. Depending on where they were they could be insect droppings of some sort. I looked on some preservation websites and found a few that pointed to, you know, spots of that nature, if they really are just on the top of the books, that could be coming from cockroaches, from silverfish, even from deathwatch beetles although it's unlikely, carpet beetles…it could be a lot of things. I guess I have more questions. Were you finding insect casings or larvae or droppings of any kind around these books? Or is it truly just little spots? And what do the spots look like? Are they big? Are they tiny? I'm going to assume that they're tiny, and while not uniformly distributed, somewhat–you know if you look at the whole. And in that case I think you've got a case of mold. It could be mildew, but if they're spots it's usually mold. So that's bad.
Yes, that's going to continue to eat away at those books. Don't put them near other books…anywhere near any other books, because it will pass instantaneously to whatever's next to it. You're in pretty big trouble. The only way to treat mold that I'm aware of, and that my research showed me with paper, is to actually use bleach. And the bleach does have damaging effects on the paper long term. So while you could bleach it to stop the progression, there's no guarantee that it's not going to create more or equal damage as the pages start to get brittle and fall apart from the damage of the bleach itself.
If it was mine, I would probably do a bleach and water solution, 50/50, and then using probably a cotton swab or a ball, depending on how thick and large the books are, and I would just dab a light solution of the bleach along the top of the pages where you do see the spotting and dry them out and see if that makes a difference. I don't know if you've seen the spots progress…there's a lot of questions. But that's my answer at first blush and if you have more information feel free to follow up via email and I'll try to do better.
And in terms of shelving. This is hard. There's a lot of library shelving out there from companies like Highsmith and Demco, Gaylord, and some other vendors. And library shelving is expensive. So I don't know much shelving you need, linear feet wise. If it's not very much and you want to get a really attractive, nice bookcase that is really sturdy and can hold those heavy books, that's what I would look at, one of those vendors, and I'll link to those in the show notes.
But if you're just looking at something larger like maybe you need a ton of book shelving that all matches together, I wouldn't look to formal library shelving for that because it is super, super expensive.
So thank you so much for your question! And tune in next time for the next episode of What Sarah Said!


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