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With a board that avgs 71 y/o and +13 years of svc I'm not surprised they responded with obstructions and not open arms. Since I am not a shareholder for the continuous year (thank goodness for my portfolio) they won't consider it.
But the thing is, the same people running the company are the same people who've been there since the product was approved by the FDA in 2009, and its still not on drugstore shelves, which means either the product sucks, they suck, or somewhere in between. I'm in the group that thinks its somewhere in between.
Yet, even if the product sucks (and I've been assured by some it does and others it doesn't) there are so many condoms on the shelves of every drugstore I've ever been to, at least one female condom can fit there as well, even if its just a novelty. If it ain't the FC2 it will be something else someday.
And thus this letter (see below). I cut the part where I pan their decisions to hire an ex-pharma exec and an ex-marketer of IUD's (who is also on the board), b/c it seemed appropriate to be nice. But I am dumbfounded, speechless, nonplussed in the true definition of the word, why they'd hire execs with those kinds of expertise for a product that's the anti-IUD and the anti-pharmaceutical. It's like hiring a vasectomy surgeon to sell condoms. They need brand strategy and consumer distribution expertise not ex-pharma folks.
In my view, at least if we can align comp structure, I know they won't be paid unless my capital is put to best use, which so far, it hasn't.
Here is the full letter going out to the board today and please remember this is not a solicitation to buy / sell / transact business just shared out loud thoughts and ideas.
Dear OB:
I was disappointed by your response to my letter regarding my shareholder proposal for changing executive compensation. I had hoped you would welcome the proposal not put up roadblocks to cause its exclusion.
My goal in recommending an alternative comp structure is simple and threefold
• To find a system that is fair to executives
• To find a system that incentivizes good long term capital allocation not short term goals
• To find a system that aligns the interests of shareholders and management
The current compensation plan isn't fair.
As your filings point out, you have no control over the timing of public sector purchasing patterns. Since the public sector remains your largest customer, one order, the timing of which you have no control over, can determine whether or not executives are compensated.
Last year, executives did not receive bonuses. This year, because of the Brazil tender, they likely will (including yourself). The key point is that your current executive compensation system doesn't reward decisions from the FHCO C-suite, but rather decisions made in developing world health departments thousands of miles away.
Executives should be compensated for the decisions and efforts they make, not someone else's.
The system doesn't motivate long term planning or capital allocation.
Your current plan is based on one year sales and margins over which – as you've long established - executives have limited control. As a result, spending on marketing campaigns or strategies with long term payoffs negatively impacts the compensation for executives, disincentivizing long term planning.
Executives should not be compensated solely on short term results as your current policy now holds.
The system doesn't align interests of shareholders and management.
Ending the dividend to invest in your business is an equivalent indication that you can allocate capital better than your shareholders can. The system I recommended in my proposal rewards good capital allocation and ensures that the capital you've taken from shareholders is put to the best and highest use, as your shareholders themselves likely would have done with their dividends.
A plan that promotes good capital allocation would incent better decisions and might improve outcomes.
I hope you and the board will address the shortcoming of your current executive compensation plan and consider implementing one – perhaps along the lines of the ones I recommended in my earlier letter - that is forward thinking and rewards good long term capital planning.
Above all, I want to see evidence of a management team that makes sound long-term high-return capital decisions while providing safe, low cost and accessible choices in women's reproductive health. I imagine we stand on common ground with respect to that goal.
A few additional comments.
As you are aware, I previously recommended in prior communications with you and Ms. King two low cost ideas to help expand your product reach.
1. Explore a partnership with SHE Sustainable Health Enterprises.
SHE, as you know, has created a program to locally manufacture and distribute affordable menstrual pads in Africa (Saathi does a similar program in India). They have a partnership with J&J and their founder, Elizabeth Scharpf, is an advocate for expanded use of the female condom.
In fact, in an interview I read online, she is asked: "You're going to a desert island, and you're allowed one food, one drink and one feminist. What do you take?" and she answers: "Cherry pie, champagne and whoever invented the female condom."
It is easy to imagine a wealth of opportunities available through a partnership with SHE to reach a shared customer base in Africa, your largest market. I previously recommended you reach out to her and I've emailed with her several times. In response to my suggestion, both you and Ms. King replied: "She didn't return a phone call". That is not leadership regarding a potential partnership with an influential advocate of your product.
2. Expand your creative / brand development.
I have also suggested that you hire a creative / brand team from one or two "innovator cities" (perhaps offering equity as a form of long term alignment) to test creative programs and get your product on shelves. This suggestion was simply ignored and I see no evidence to support your statements that you have already initiated a successful brand building strategy.
I think we both agree that bending the consumer sales curve will require smart long-term investments in sales, marketing and distribution today, with the benefits in years 2, 3 and beyond. I also think we both agree that getting the right consumer brand strategy is the key to fixing recent cash flow degradation, stagnant shareholder equity, rising competition, and risks associated with a being one-product company.
So please consider changing your incentives to align them towards the long term investments required to bend the sales curve. Doing so will help provide shareholders more faith and trust that decisions from management and the board are made with optimal long-term capital allocation in mind.


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- This event has passed.
Continuum 2018: After 25 years
September 5, 2018 - September 19, 2018
Continuum 2018: After 25 years
Celebrating Associate Professor Emerita Kay Knight's 25 year of teaching
Wed. Sep 5 ~Wed. Sep 19, 2018
Opening Reception: Friday, Sep. 7, 2018, 5-7 pm
KSE Gallery | Gallery Hours: Wed-Fri: 2-7PM/ Sat: 11-3PM
Continuum 2018: After 25 years presents Associate Professor Emerita Kay Knight's works covering broad range of materials, sizes and subject matter used throughout her twenty-five year of teaching at UWM, along with the selected Painting & Drawing alumni works. The Alumni included in the exhibition are only a few of many that have passed through her classes during that twenty-five years.
With this exhibition Knight wishes to express how much she has learned from all of her former students and hopes that she has passed on her love, knowledge and passion for the making of art.
Participating Artists:
Kay Knight
James Barany
Rean Bodley
Francesca Cozzone
Peter Gehrig
Nina Ghanbarzadeh
Regan Golden-McNerney
Chantala Kommanivanh
Nykoli Koslow
Matthew Warren Lee
Matthew Luther
Lindsay Marx
Nick Naber
Amy O'Neill
Deidre Prosen
Katie Ryan
Neil Subel
Nancy Subel
Ryan Woolgar
Lee Xiong
Koua Mai Yang (Kuab Maiv Yaj)

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Запись к специалисту в регистратуре для получения справки в детский сад( школу).
R: Good morning. How can 1 help you?
P: Good morning, my son needs a medical certificate for school. What
should I do?
R: Some specialists should examine your child. You must have feces,
blood and urinalysis taken. After it you should visit your local
pediatrician who will fill in the child's health certificate.
P: Excuse me, but I've been told something about vaccination.
R: Yes, it has slipped out of my mind. The information about
vaccination is in the medical card of your child.
P: When and where can we see the specialists?
R: Our regional ophthalmologist, otolaryngologist, and children's
neuropathologist will see children, who have came for medical
examination today after 12 p.m.
P: And where are the consulting-rooms?
R: The neuropathologist sees patients in room №5 on the first floor.
Other specialists rooms are on the third floor. By the way the X-ray
room is on third floor too.
P: Can the child be X-ray today?
R: Yes, but you can have the analysis taken only tomorrow in the
morning. The laboratory is open from 8 a.m.
P: We will came at 8 a.m. sharp; as far as I know blood analysis should
be taken on an empty stomach.
R: You'd rather come even earlier. There are a lot of people in the
P: And when does doctor Ivanova see patients, she is our local
R: It will take you 2 days to see all specialists and have the analysis
made. You should come on Wednesday. She sees patients from 9 a.m.
till 12a.m. Do you know where her consulting-room is?
P: Unfortunately yes, we are not rare guests in your polyclinic.
R: I hope the age will give your child health.
P: Thank you very much. Let's hope for a better outcome.


text:
Product Details:
Payment & Shipping Terms:
|Number Of Conductors:
|Conductor Material:
|Solid Bare Copper
|Conductor Size:
|Unshielded Twisted Pair
|New PVC
Ethernet Cat6A UTP Pure Copper 0.57mm Conductor Network Cable Pass Fluke Test
Generic cabling products are used for modular and flexible transmission of information between buildings or groups of buildings. It can realize the connection of voice, data, exchange and all kinds of control equipments and communication network system. It includes network, telephone, monitoring, power supply and lighting system, etc.
On the market there are a lot of the cable, module inferior copper or alloy production, plastic parts made by the mould is not accurate and waste plastics into such products, which lead to the construction side can not pass test after laying.
Cat6 Cable is a kind of network cable,which are often used for connection in Switch,router to computer.The transmission frequency is expend to 250MHz or higher.Compared cat5e,there is a difference in the appearance and structure,it does not only add the insulated cross,make the 4pairs wire into the groove of corss,and the diameter of cable is more thick.
Indoor wiring, digital communications horizontal twisted pair cables, used in building integrated wiring system in the work area of communication between the frame out wiring end and the transition between the user and the communication of residential cabling system leads to the wiring wiring between aircraft. The center cross PE frame is adopted to separate the 4 individual pairs of wires, and the electrical transmission performance is reliable and excellent, and the bandwidth and SNR margin are enhanced. For communication over 250MHz channel broadband, the maximum transmission rate is 1000Mbps.


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What was different in your life a year ago, and how do you feel about the changes?
** To find out what Tuesday Tell All is, click HERE
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Tuesday Tell All - Last Year
2 comments:
Well this was our first Christmas with our kids actually living in the States. We'd been in Africa for our all our kids' childhood except for visits to family and latter-stages of pregnancies when I'd fly home to deliver. Our kids loved it.ReplyDelete
Of course some of the more commercial aspects of Christmas that they'd never experienced weren't desirable, but other experiences were very enriching. Some of our friends did the 12 days of Christmas for us and my kids thought that was the "coolest thing ever."
It was nice that my children could experience some of the traditions I grew up with around Christmas time.
I was spending my last Christmas alone.ReplyDelete
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Home Prices In U.S. Cities Fall At Slowest Pace Since '10
This article from Bloomberg today reports that the Phoenix real estate market was up 2.3% from March to April 2012, which was the highest reported. Is the Phoenix residential real estate market in recovery? With month after month of price gains and inventory drops, I personally believe we are. With 5-6 more months of similar trends under our belt, it will be official.
Interested in detailed Phoenix real estate market statistics? Check here: https://www.trust-in-justin.com/phoenix-real-estate-update-062112/
Here's the article from Bloomberg:
Home Prices In U.S. Cities Fall At Slowest Pace Since '10
Residential real estate prices fell in April at the slowest pace in more than a year, adding to signs the U.S. housing market was firming.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities dropped 1.9 percent in April from the same month in 2011, the smallest decline since November 2010, after decreasing 2.6 percent in the year ended March, the group said today in New York. The median forecast of 28 economists in a Bloomberg News survey projected a 2.5 percent drop.
A turnaround in prices is a necessary step toward luring more buyers and sustaining demand for housing, which is starting to stabilize after precipitating the last recession almost five years ago. Record-low borrowing costs, due in part to Federal Reserve efforts to hold down long-term rates, may keep promoting home sales in the presence of an 8.2 percent unemployment rate.
"Housing has picked up since the middle of last year," saidRyan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities USA Inc. in New York, who correctly forecast the monthly gain in prices. "Sales have improved and the inventory of homes for sale has been falling, which has brought a bit more balance into the market and fed into a bit of stabilization of prices."
Estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from declines of 1.7 percent to 3.1 percent. The Case-Shiller index is based on a three-month average, which means the April data was influenced by transactions in March and February.
Another report showed consumer confidence in June fell to a five-month low as Americans became less sanguine about the outlook for jobs and incomes. The Conference Board's indexdropped to 62 from a revised 64.4 in the prior month.
Stocks Rise
Stocks fluctuated after yesterday's selloff in global equities. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index rose less than 0.1 percent to 1,314.52 at 11:37 a.m. in New York.
Home prices adjusted for seasonal variations climbed 0.7 percent in April, matching the prior month's gain, which was revised up from a previously reported 0.1 percent increase. It was the best back-to-back gain since mid 2009. Unadjusted prices increased 1.3 percent in April as 19 of 20 cities showed gains.
Phoenix showed the biggest adjusted monthly increase, with prices rising 2.3 percent from March. Detroit showed the biggest decrease at 2.1 percent.
The year-over-year gauge provides better indications of trends in prices, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller group. The panel includes Karl Case and Robert Shiller, the economists who created the index.
Atlanta's Decline
Ten of the 20 cities in the index showed a year-over-year decline, led by a 17 percent drop in Atlanta, the only city to show a double-digit decrease.
Phoenix showed the biggest year-over-year increase, with prices rising 8.6 percent in the 12 months to April.
"We finally saw some rising home prices," David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said in a statement. "While one month does not make a trend, particularly during seasonally strong buying months, the combination of rising positive monthly index levels and improving annual returns is a good sign."
Prices may be on an upward trajectory as the glut of unsold houses that went on the market after the recession shrinks. There were 2.49 million existing homes for sale in May, down from an average supply of 2.93 million in 2011 and 3.22 million in 2010, data from the National Association of Realtors show.
Existing Homes
The same NAR report indicated the median price of an existing home climbed 7.9 percent to $182,600 last month, the highest since June 2010, from $169,300 in May 2011.
"Nobody feels like prices are going down anymore," Larry Nicholson, president and chief executive officer of homebuilder Ryland Group Inc. (RYL), said during a June 13 investor conference. "Everything we see now would tell us the second half of the year will be better than last year. We're seeing the quality of the traffic pick up. We're seeing new traffic. The business has gotten better and moving back towards a normalized process."
Helping potential buyers step into the market, the average rate on a 30-year fixed loan droppedto 3.66 percent last week, the lowest in data going back to 1972, according to Freddie Mac.
Even so, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said last week the economy wasn't getting a typical boost from a real estate recovery. To spur faster economic growth and more activity in housing, the central bank announced last week it would buy securities to extend the maturities of assets on its balance sheet, thereby lowering longer-term interest rates.


text: Caldecott Medalist Wisniewski is clearly the "Master Man" of paper-cut illustration, powerfully demonstrated again with the delightful illustrations for this traditional tall tale from northern Nigeria. Shepard is a professional storyteller and Wisniewski a former clown and puppeteer, and both understand all the elements of holding an audience spellbound with a successful tall tale. In this fast-paced story of superheroes, Shadusa is a strong but boastful man who proclaims himself the strongest man in the world—Master Man. He is challenged by an enormous man who proclaims himself the real Master Man, and as that giant is chasing Shadusa, the huge man stumbles into a fight with an even more gigantic man (and those two giants are still fighting in the sky, causing thunder from their battles). Shadusa learns that his wife's advice is correct: "No matter how strong you are, there will always be someone stronger. And watch out, or someday you may meet him." The book's design uses set-off text blocks and white speech balloons throughout and includes many pages with divided panels, giving the look of a sophisticated comic book and packing a lot of plot and action into 40 pages. Sound effects ("Splash!") and key action words ("ROAR!") are skillfully incorporated into the dramatic cut-paper collages, affording opportunities for audience participation during read-aloud sessions. The humorous story begs to be acted out and could easily be adapted into reader's theater or a play. (The author offers a reader's theater script on his Web site.) Pull this one out to read to a group of wiggly kids, and show them the power of a masterful picture book. (author's source notes) (Picture book. 5-9)


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Mission Building… for God's Glory!
God's faithfulness has been evident in our church for over 65 years – and He is faithful today! We dreamed and prayed for a new facility for several years – and HE answered! We were blessed to move into this new facility in July 2017 and we are trusting Him to bless our efforts to 'Make and Grow More Disciples of Jesus' in the future!
This facility is about touching more people with God's love and grace, and we are trusting Him to help us pay off the small building debt that remains. Read down past the pictures to learn how you can participate in 'Mission Building'!
Click photos to see bigger images…
The process began several years ago as we continued to struggle with lack of space for worship – along with little-to-no parking and several steps which made access difficult for some of our elderly and wheelchair-bound family. 2013 saw a renewed interest and a willingness to step out in faith asking the Lord for wisdom and guidance. After many meetings and much prayer the present property was purchased and dedicated for God's purposes. Fundraising efforts began in 2013 and ground was broken August 18, 2014.
God was faithful as His people prayed, planned, and gave to make this dream a reality. Through God's grace the complete amount of $2.9 million has been given or pledged (as of May 31, 2019) – an incredible testament to God's work and the obedience of His people! We were blessed to move in and enjoy our first service on July 16, 2017 – five days before hosting a national convention! God is good and we are excited to see Him continuing to work through BBC!
God stirred the hearts of His people, and His people responded faithfully once again! Of course, buildings require maintenance and upkeep, so we will continue to ask the Lord to provide the finances to take good care of this blessing. If/when you decide to participate financially, our secure 'Online Giving' is the easiest way to give your one-time or recurring gifts.** You can also write a check – be sure to write 'Building Fund' on the Memo line. If you need more information or have other questions, please use the email button on the right – one of our finance team members will get back to you!
And – as always – we'd love to have you join us for Sunday morning worship! Or you can tune in every Sunday at 11am and listen on the radio at station KCNI 1280 on the AM dial and across the internet.
"Lets' Hit The Mark" together for God's glory and more effective ministry!
** ('Mogiv' is our provider partner and you can give as a guest or with a 'Giver Account'. Giver accounts are required if you want to setup automatic recurring gifts. Giver accounts do not cost anything, but there are minimal fees for every gift. Visit our Online Giving page for more information and instructions!)
(updated 081319)


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Filmmaker, story writer Eric Rohmer, 89 (January 11)
Feminist Mary Daly, 81 (January 3)
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BOOK TALK is a blog published by the staff of the Glendale (CA) Public


text:
Why Install A Fence?
Fences tend to have gained a bad reputation because people usually see this type of addition as something purely utilitarian that will not provide any aesthetic benefits. Before saying no to this option, consider the various benefits and uses this simple addition could offer
- Privacy: Wesley Chapel is a great place to enjoy the sunny days of Florida, but if your neighbors are close by, spending time in the backyard may not be as relaxing as it could be.
- Safety: This addition can help your pets and young children enjoy the outdoors without causing you to worry about their safety. They will provide a large enclosed space to prevent them to venture outside into the street.
- Attractiveness: whether you are looking to accentuate your property, or are thinking about selling, the custom designs available here at the Florida Shed Company promise to not be boring or ugly.
- Protection: A home that features better protection is less likely to be targeted by thieves and will keep unwanted wandering animals away as well.
Styles of Fences
If you have decided to install a fence on your property but are still hesitating because you have not seen any style you like, head over to our location to look at some of the options available. We all have seen chain link barriers, which have a certain use, but you might looking for a style that will fit in your environment and match the style of your Wesley Chapel home.
Some of the appealing styles we carry include:
- Wood: For those who like a clean and traditional look, a wooden fence will offers many options for design, color, and frames.
- Steel: This easy and low maintenance style offers a strong yet flexible barrier that also comes in a variety of designs.
- Vinyl: This material is particularly interesting because if gives many of the same options as wood, but also has additional picket styles and has a longer lifespan than its natural counterpart.
- Aluminum: Strong and lightweight, and rust resistant, this is the best material to use if you are hoping for a more simple look.
Before you make a decision on the style you are going to adopt, it is important that you visit a provider that features examples of the products, and compare the materials in front of you. Wesley Chapel professionals will also be able to point you toward the best options for other qualities you may be looking for such as easy maintenance, simple installation, or lifespan.
Additional Services
At the Florida Shed Company, we place the customer's needs as a priority, which is how we have been able to keep up with our reputation as the best provider of custom fences around Wesley Chapel. As such, we provide additional services to benefits any of the residents choosing us for their new installation. You can always count on us for:
- Free online estimate
- In-home appointments
- Delivery and Installation
- 100% financing for Florida residents
- Product warranties
- 20 years of expert services
If you need help selecting the fence that will complete your Wesley Chapel property, feel free to reach out to our professionals. For more information on any of our products and to receive a free quote, give us a call today at 727-524-9191. Our team of professionals are ready to get started on your next project!


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03 Nov 2018 in Match Reports
After a hectic period of fixtures, Town have risen to 4th in the North West Counties First Division South after a 7-1 victory against Stone Dominoes.
After a hectic period of fixtures, Town have risen to 4th in the North West Counties First Division South after a 7-1 victory against Stone Dominoes.
It was a nervy opening, with both sides taking the opening ten minutes to settle into the game. Town began by testing the Dominoes 'keeper McCarthy through Conor Brotherton's strike from the edge of the area, before a Middleton header was comfortably saved by the home side's stopper.
Stone Dominoes then went close, after Keeylin Thomas was put through by playmaker Alexander Nwachukwu, but Thomas couldn't hit the target.
Town went down the other end and earned a corner. A Ste Yarwood delivery was met by Chris Middleton who volleyed home to open the scoring for his second goal in three matches. The advantage was doubled soon after when Stringer-Moth was on the end of an impressive Liam Brownhill delivery, and turned it past McCarthy.
The home team pulled one back when Sam Parr turned on into his own net, a third goal in a 5 minutes period.
While this rate of goal-scoring cooled, both sides created chances with Brownhill again in the centre of the action for Town. His ball over the top was brought down by Brad Byrne who beat multiple defenders to get the cross in to the box, which just evaded the waiting Stringer-Moth.
For Dominoes, Nwachukwu was the centre of the action. A set piece delivery from 35 yards out was put into a dangerous area but none of his teammates were there to capitalise.
McCarthy had made a few crucial saves in the first half an hour of play but an uncharacteristic mistake cost his side before the break. His under hit ball out from the back was pounced on by Stringer-Moth. A composed square ball provided an opportunity for Byrne, who finished neatly to grab Town a third goal.
Griffith nearly halved the deficit as half time loomed, with the match still hanging in the balance. After picking the ball up 30 yards out and striking it sweetly, he saw his shot hit the underside of the crossbar before bouncing to safety.
HT: Stone Dominoes 1 – 3 Wythenshawe Town
Town wasted no time extending their lead when the second half kicked off. After a run down the left wing, Byrne held the ball up well and pulled it back to Ben Steer who showed his goal scoring instincts with a composed finish.
Yarwood was the next to get in on the action as Town began to dominate. A Dominoes defender managed to block to the Town attacker's first attempt, but Brownhill was on hand to win the ball back. Brownhill then played it back to Yarwood, who wasted no time in curling it in to the top corner.
Despite trailing by 4 goals, Stone Dominoes still threated and Brownhill was called upon to clear the danger. Town 'keeper Jake Aldred was forced into several reaction saves before a Dominoes freekick sailed over his bar.
Town, however, remained in control. Two substitutes almost created a goal, after Spence Jenkinson found Matthew Landregan. An audacious attempted chip was claimed by McCarthy at a stretch but Landregan was not going to finish the match empty handed. In the last minute of regulation play, Stringer-Moth (who was awarded Man of the Match for his influential display) found the Town forward, who lifted it over the McCarthy's head and found the corner of the Dominoes goal. The quality of the finish drew much admiration from the travelling Town faithful, and reflected the professional display of his side in the second half
A further goal was to follow in stoppage time, after Town were awarded a penalty. New signing Spencer Jenkinson stepped up and a cool finish down the middle added a seventh for Wythenshawe Town in what was to be the last meaningful action of the match.
After a tight first half, Town pulled away from Stone Dominoes in the second half and made it four North West Counties victories in a row.
FT: Stone Dominoes 1 – 7 Wythenshawe Town


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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a serious autoimmune disease. It causes the body's defenses to attack joints by mistake. Nobody knows exactly why.
The heart and lungs can be affected, too. RA can put too much pressure on blood vessels or lead to lung scarring and shortness of breath.
If not caught early, rheumatoid arthritis is likely to cause great pain, inflammation, deformities, disability or even early death.
There is no cure for this disease, but RA experts think its impact can be greatly reduced if caught early. So those who suspect they have the disease are strongly urged to fight early and hard for a clear answer.
Kelly Young, president of the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation and an active advocate for RA patients, first had RA symptoms at age 13 when her hands stiffened. She thought "rheumatoid arthritis" at once.
Most people probably wouldn't have, but her grandfather had RA. So when she had clenched fists that she had to pry open to get her fingers loose, it popped into her head.
Kelly asked many doctors about the possibility that she had RA. But she wasn't correctly diagnosed until 2006. By then, she was a mother of five.
Kelly says she now has RA in every joint. She says at times, the disease triggers "pain like childbirth."
Early, Aggressive RA Treatment Brings Hope
More and more now, experts are recommending early, aggressive treatment for RA.
The Mayo Clinic and other experts say you should go to a doctor to check for rheumatoid arthritis when you first have persistent discomfort and swelling in your joints. It usually begins in the toes and fingers and in the same joints on both sides of the body.
Kelly notes that the American College of Rheumatology reports that "it's growing clearer that treatment must be early and aggressive" for best results.
The Arthritis Foundation says thorough medical histories and physical exams are the key to catching juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA). Parents whose kids have fevers and rashes for several weeks should suspect JRA.
Often, when RA is tackled in childhood, full remission can occur, and disease episodes called flares can be fewer and less severe.
Kelly might suffer less today if she had been diagnosed early. But she fights back any way she can. She set up the Rheumatoid Arthritis Warrior website and the Rheumatoid Patient Foundation.
The foundation's goals are to increase awareness, support patient advocacy for disability accommodations and targeted government action, and contribute to and promote scientific discovery that leads to a cure.
What Can You Do to Help RA?
The Arthritis Foundation and the American College of Rheumatology urge all arthritis patients to jump in the water. Water buoyancy supports body weight, reducing joint stress and pain.
You should also exercise as much as you can and focus your diet on fish, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Those with RA may also be put on an anti-RA drug plan set by their doctors.
And last but not least, humor can help.
"I've had to decide whether to make lemonade out of RA lemons or take the 'woe is me' road," Kelly says. "I think laughter helps any situation. It does for me. So I hope my humor on rawarrior.com lifts spirits for others, too."
She calls Lucille Ball, who had RA, a "funny girl's idol." Kelly says Ball showed that a woman can be goofy and successful at the same time.
Kelly said she once had to be dragged "kicking and screaming" to a medical treatment. But later, "No one else did it for me; so I had to learn to drag myself. It was a long and harsh journey."
Sources: Mayo Clinic, 2016; Arthritis Foundation


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Where is the furniture made ?
A: All Shilo furniture is made in Vancover, Canada.
What kind of wood do you use?
A: Mostly solid, kiln-dried Canadian pine aswell as have access to some hard woods.
How is the furniture finished ?
A: Our standard finish is stain and wax. We offer varathaned and painted finishes aswell!
Can I place a custom order?
A: Yes, we can customize most items to meet your needs. Since we build in Vancouver we can produce custom orders relatively quickly. If you have a design of your own or a picture please feel free to fax it to us or attach the picture and e-mail us, we will get an estimate to you.
How long is my custom order going to take ?
A: From 2 to 6 weeks depending on the size of order.
Does Shilo do shipping ?
A: We deliver through the lower mainland. Its up to the customer to find shipping.
What kind of warranty do you offer ?
A: We fully guarantee all our products against material and labour defects and reserve the right to repair or replace. Pieces should be brought to our factory.


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Compile Heart has released new details regarding the class change system and some new gameplay footage for their upcoming release of Hyperdimension Neptunia vs Sega Hard Girls.
First up we take a look at the game's class change system – a feature which allows you to change the class choice for each of your characters (instead of being locked in as most games tend to be).
All the characters have their own unique classes, and more will unlock as you progress in the game. Having a way to change your classes gives you another way to mix it up in the combat sector; something that's good for keeping a game feeling fresh in play.
Speaking of some classes being unique to certain characters, some special skills are also unique to certain classes as well. Some of the special skills that can be had are as follows;
- SP Recovery During Symbol Attack – When entering a battle through a symbol attack, you'll recover a bit of SP.
- Spy – The user can't be attacked or targeted by any action from enemies for three turns.
- Knockout Evasion – When taking damage that would normally knock a character out, the character remains with 1HP, once only.
That's all we've got on the class change system, classes, and skills (for now) – but we've also got a new bit of video for you to check out which shows off around four minutes of gameplay.
Check it out;
Hyperdimension Neptunia vs Sega Hard Girls is due out in Japan on November 26th.


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It's no secret I spend a lot of time on Twitter, and through those activities I make a lot of great connections with interesting people. One such person, Mitch Mitchell of the I'm Just Sharing blog asked to interview me about my 3D modeling and animation activities. Of course
I had to think about it I said, "sure!"
It was a lot of fun, Mitch asked several penetrating questions that really made me think. He's posted the results at this link.


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100 Pics W is For Level 11-20 Answers
100 Pics W is For Level 11-20 Answers, Cheats and Solutions for iPhone, iPhone 5, iPhone 6, iPad, iPod touch, iOS devices and all Android devices. This quiz is easy to play, you just guess and answer the picture then you will complete the puzzle. Don't forget if you use less clues, you can win more coins!
Can you guess and solve all the pictures for 100 Pics W is For Level 11-20 Answers? If you can't guess and answer all pictures in this quiz, don't worry because we have the answers for all levels in this quiz on this post!
100 Pics W is For Level 11-20 Answers
Level 11 : WAG
Level 12 : WASHING MACHINE
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Sega has been removing games from app hubs of late since they don't adhere to their quality norms. More games recently fell victims to these new regulations (After Burner Climax and Jet Set Radio). So if you were looking to download these games from the Google Play Store, your time has run out as you will no longer find them there.
Sega has now removed ChuChu Rocket from the Google Play Store and iOS App Store citing the aforementioned reasons. As it stands right now, the only legacy games you can find in the Play Store from Sega are Sonic 1, 2, CD, and Crazy Taxi. It seems like the iOS platform has lost more games compared to Android.
The only hope for Android users is to get these games using emulators, while iOS users have been left high and dry. It is likely that Sega will soon bring these games back to the app hubs, possibly in remastered versions, so not all hope is lost at the moment.
Source: Pocket Droid UK
Via: Droid Gamers


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Clapper: RT reporting on US problems part of 'multifaceted' Russian campaign to undermine elections
"RT was very active in promoting a particular point of view, disparaging our system, our alleged hypocrisy about human rights, etc. Whatever crack, fissure they could find in our tapestry, they would exploit it," Clapper told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday, at a hearing about cybersecurity challenges.
In addition to hacking, Russia used fake news, social media and RT to influence the recent US elections, Clapper argued. Though the US intelligence community has not been able to gauge the actual impact of any of these action,"the totality of that effort, not only as DNI but as a citizen, I think is a grave concern," he said.
"We could do with having a USIA on steroids to fight this information war a lot more aggressively than we're doing right now," Clapper later said, referring to the body that oversaw US government propaganda between 1953 and 1999, when it was replaced by the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). He qualified the statement as his personal opinion.
Earlier in the hearing, committee chairman John McCain (R-Arizona) asked whether Russian interference in the election would qualify as an act of war.
"They did not change any vote tallies or anything of that sort. We have no way of gauging any impact it had on the choices the electorate made," Clapper responded. "Whether or not that constitutes an act of war is a very heavy policy call I don't believe the intelligence community should make."
Flanked by NSA chief Admiral Mike Rogers and the Pentagon's Undersecretary for Intelligence Marcel Lettre, Clapper agreed with outraged Democratic Senators that President-Elect Donald Trump was unfairly disparaging the intelligence community.
"I think there is an important distinction between healthy skepticism that policymakers, including the first policymaker, should always have toward intelligence… and disparagement," he told Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Missouri).
The DNI also took a shot at WikiLeaks cofounder Julian Assange, describing him as "holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London because he's under indictment by the Swedish government for a sexual crime."
Assange's publication of US documents put the lives of US spies and military at risk, Clapper argued. "I don't think those of us in the intelligence community have a whole lot of respect for him."
Several times during the 3-hour hearing, Clapper and Rogers referred to the saying that people living in glass houses should not be throwing stones, mainly to argue that cyberattacks need to be separated out from espionage, which everyone engages in.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) went with the metaphor, arguing that it is "time to throw rocks" at Russia and describing the current sanctions as "pebbles."
"We live in a big glass house," warned Senator Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), citing a study about the US influencing elections more than twice as often as Russia has been accused of.
The study by political scientist Dov Levin of Carnegie Mellon University covers the period between 1946 and 2000, and does not include military coups and regime change efforts following the election of candidates Washington disliked, or election monitoring and other "general assistance" programs.
President Barack Obama received a classified briefing about the reported Russian involvement in the election on Thursday morning, AP reported. He had asked US intelligence agencies to conduct a full review of "Russian hacking" last month, asking that it be completed before he leaves office on January 20. An unclassified version of that report will be released to the public "early next week," Clapper told Congress.


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Update: I just received a discount code for the upcoming class which begins September 16th. Enrollment ends on the 15th. Use the code housewife15 to receive 15% off the 12 week course.
I am very excited to share with you an online cooking class that begins in a few weeks. It is taught by a fellow blogger Kelly, who blogs at Kelly the Kitchen Kop.
The class is called Real Food for Rookies and is a 12 week class that begins September 16th. If you want to learn how to make real food (without all those processed ingredients) then this class is for you. I know that many times we want to feed our family healthy food on a budget, but it can be confusing! There are so many conflicting opinions, so many options, and it is sometimes hard to begin. I remember when I first starting cooking with whole grains and I made whole wheat cinnamon rolls for the first time- they were terrible! I would have loved to take this class several years ago!
The classes include:
- Reading Labels to Avoid the Junk
- Choosing Which Fats & Oils to Use in Your Kitchen
- Choosing Which Sweeteners to Use & Batch Baking Tips to Save Time
- Choosing the Right Meats
- Choosing the Right Produce
- Choosing the Right Dairy
- Healthy Breakfast Ideas
- Healthy Lunches, Snacks and On-the-Go Foods
- Healthy Dinners & Fast Food Alternatives
- Superfoods Part 1
- Superfoods Part 2
- Beyond Real Food
If sign up for the class you will receive:
- 12 weeks of online classes with videos, downloadable audios, and written materials.
- LIFETIME access! Read/listen/watch at your leisure: on your break at work, while the kids are sleeping, in your pajamas, whatever! If you have a busy week, no big deal, just pick it back up on your own schedule.
- Exclusive expert interviews with Sally Fallon Morell (President of the Weston Price Foundation), Dr. Kaayla Daniel (author of The Whole Soy Story), Jane Hersey (Director of the Feingold Association), Tom Naughton (Fathead filmmaker), and now one more: Jimmy Moore from the Livin LaVida Low-Carb blog!
- BONUS: Thanks to my amazing sponsors, the price of this class will include so many generous members-only coupons and discounts that you'll be able to recoup over half of the enrollment fee! Discounts on Green Pastures cod liver oil, U.S. Wellness Meats, Biokult probiotics, natural skin care products & cleaning supplies, stainless steel pans, fermented food starters & supplies, and organic ghee.
- BONUS: Free copy of the Kitchen Kop Real Food Ingredient Guide.
- Members-only discussion forum (chat about Real Food all you want and no one will think you're a weirdo!)
I am planning on signing my daughter up for this class, and using it as part of a home economics curriculum. Wouldn't it be great to have your kids learn these things when they are young, rather than having to unlearn bad habits as adults? My favorite part about this class, Lifetime access! As a busy mom, I am glad these lessons will be available forever, so when life happens I don't have to miss something!
Now I know you are probably thinking that $10 a class (or $120) is a lot of money, and it is! But, I think you will earn back this money in a few months, by cutting the grocery bill, and maybe even the doctor bills, once your family starts eating better!


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- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Prep Tools Stainless-Steel Whisk $19.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Stainless Steel 7" Balloon Whisk $39.95
- Quicklook All-Clad Precision Stainless-Steel Balloon Whisk $39.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Prep Tools Mini Whisk $12.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Stainless Steel French Whisk $29.95 – $34.95
- Quicklook All-Clad Stainless-Steel Ball Whisk $24.95
- Quicklook Open Kitchen by Williams Sonoma Flat Whisk $8
- Quicklook W & P Matcha Whisk and Shaker Set $49.95
- Quicklook All-Clad Silicone Ball Whisk $24.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Stainless Steel Whisks, Set of 3 $99.95
- Quicklook Open Kitchen by Williams Sonoma Whisks $9 – $10
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Stainless Steel Flat Whisk $34.95
- Quicklook All-Clad Precision Stainless-Steel Flat Whisk $39.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Stainless Steel 7" Mixing Whisk $36.95
- Quicklook All-Clad Precision Nonstick Whisk $37.95
- Quicklook Professional Stainless-Steel French Whisk Sugg. Price $19.95 Sale $12.99
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Olivewood-Handled Whisk $24.95
- Quicklook Open Kitchen by Williams Sonoma Whisk, 3 1/2" $7
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Nonstick 7" Balloon Whisk $41.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Nonstick French Whisk $31.95 – $34.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Signature Nonstick 6" Flat Whisk $34.95
- Quicklook Copper Handled Whisk Sugg. Price $24.95 Sale $19.99
- Quicklook Professional Stainless-Steel Balloon Whisk Sugg. Price $19.95 Sale $12.99
- Quicklook All-Clad Precision Stainless-Steel French Whisk $39.95
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Maple-Handled Whisk with Silicone Tines Sugg. Price $9.95 Sale $6.99
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Walnut Wood-Handled Whisk Sugg. Price $17.95 Sale $9.99
- Quicklook Williams Sonoma Maple-Handled Whisk Sugg. Price $15.95 Sale $9.99
Whisks & Egg Beaters
Master chef Julia Child and Chuck Williams, founder of our original Williams Sonoma shop, popularized the bulb-shaped whisk as an essential kitchen tool in the 1960s. Whisking is an essential cooking and baking skill that requires the right tool. Keep your Cuisinart mixer for the heavy lifting when it comes to blending thick batters and doughs and use whisks to have control over thinner ingredients. Let us give you a few tips on choosing the perfect beater for your dish from our collection of professional-quality utensils.
When to Use a Balloon Whisk
Balloon whisks are the most popular and commonly known beaters, and they come in numerous sizes, from tiny to large. Balloon whisks are good general-use tools for mixing eggs, whisking egg whites into cream or creating whipped cream. A balloon whisk can also be used instead of a sifter to lightly mix dry ingredients like flour, baking soda, baking powder and sugar together while also breaking up chunks. Balloon whisks are favored for adding more air into soufflés and whipped creams for that fluffier appearance.
When to Use a French Whisk
A French whisk has a long, narrow shape with a weighted, contoured handle, which makes it a perfect fit for mixing various dishes. It typically comes in a 5" and 7" length. Though this is also an all-purpose tool, French whisks have more flexible wires than balloon whisks. The shorter 5" length makes it an ideal tool for mixing liquids (even drinks), sauces, vinaigrettes and dressings. The 7" length efficiently beats eggs and batters. The narrow profile of a French whisk allows you to scrape the edges of a bowl or pan to better mix ingredients.
When to Use a Ball Whisk
Less common is the ball whisk, which looks like a piece of retro art by itself. The straight wires with weighted ball bearings on each end have a few purposes that differ from bent wires. Balled wires whisk more vigorously than other tools, which means ingredients will quickly be expanded and also better aerated as they are being mixed. These beaded tips make for whipping egg whites into fluffier meringues. In addition, it's much easier to clean a ball whisk than other types of whisks. They are long, at about 12", for highly efficient mixing in deep bowls.
When to Use a Flat Whisk
A flat whisk, also known as a roux whisk, has flattened wires for a purpose. The orientation of the wires makes it a good whisk to use in a large shallow skillet where continuous stirring and gentle whisking is necessary to create a roux or other delicate sauce.
When to Use a Silicone Whisk
Wire whisks coated with heatproof silicone are ideal for use while prepping and cooking in non-stick pans. The silicone prevents the whisking action from scratching the protective coating. Silicone whisks release food from their wires easier than non-coated whisks.
A Few Whisking Tips
Though the right whisk helps, so does having your ingredients whisked at the right temperature:
Whipped cream: Make sure your cream and the metal bowl you're using to mix are extra-cold. The colder your cream and metal bowl, the easier the cream and air will whisk together.
Egg whites: Make sure the egg whites and a bowl are room temperature, which can make them frothier and stiffer faster. For whisking egg whites, using a copper bowl gives you perfect peaks.
Whisking method: Whisk side-to-side, not in a circular motion. When you whisk side-to-side in a quick beating motion, you'll introduce more air into your bowl. Using a whisk in a circular motion only moves ingredients without introducing air into the mix.
You can use elegant beaters to fluff up your egg whites. Keep practicing whisking using the snap of your wrist, a culinary technique perfected by Julia Child, to create delicious dishes all year round.


text: Flint Residents May Finally Get Water Deal Tuesday Judge expected to approve settlement on replacement of lines By Newser Editors and Wire Services Posted Mar 28, 2017 8:30 AM CDT 5 comments In a photo from March 10, work continues on the water replacement lines in Flint, Mich. (AP Photo/Chris Ehrmann) (Newser) – Flint residents battling tainted water may finally get some resolution on Tuesday. A federal judge is expected to approve a sweeping settlement that spells out a plan to replace water lines for thousands of homes, reports the AP. Under the deal, Flint would replace at least 18,000 lead or galvanized-steel water lines by 2020, and the state would pick up the bill with state and federal money. The cost is expected to be about $100 million. The settlement calls for the replacement of 6,000 lines in each of the next three years, with all the work done by Jan. 1, 2020, reports the Detroit Free Press. More than 700 water lines already have been replaced and work is ongoing, but the agreement would end the uncertainty over how to pay for the enormous task. The state will set aside $87 million and keep another $10 million in reserve if necessary. Another part of the deal revolves around bottled water. The state would deliver it for free to homebound residents and continue running at least nine distribution centers, reports the Detroit News. But if demand peters out and tests improve, the state can begin shutting down the distribution centers later this year. Plaintiffs wanted door-to-door delivery of bottled water, but the agreement rejected that. Instead, residents can continue to call the city's 211 service and get free bottled water within 24 hours. (Read more Flint water crisis stories.) My Take on This Story Report a story error Show results | 0% Hilarious 25% Intriguing 4% Depressing 55% Brilliant 4% Scary 13% Ridiculous


text: All suggestions in the previous BFI thread were implemented...attached is the new patch for the demuxer. Once this is committed, I'll continue working on the decoder; now, shuffling between both of them and running to and fro from the exam hall, I'm a bit out of air....the GSoC deadline is approaching(yikes!), so hopefully a commit now will atleast make me eligible for further consideration(and also give me something to cheer about...). Note: I've removed most of the unnecessary variables...but there are, I think, three variables replicated in the local structure as well...only for reasons of code readability and the fact that it takes lesser pointer accesses to reach them compared to AVCodecContext. I hope this won't be a problem. ----------------- Sisir Koppaka -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: bfi_demuxer_01.patch Type: text/x-diff Size: 9331 bytes Desc: not available URL: <http://lists.mplayerhq.hu/pipermail/ffmpeg-devel/attachments/20080412/9b644ae3/attachment.patch>


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Quinceanera marks the transition from childish to adulthood. How to choose quinceanera dress according body figure?
If your body shape is apple, remember don't choose puffy skirt. Because full skirt will make your waistline larger. Why you don't try a V-neckline with empire waistline dress? This kind of dress will help you hide your waist this weakness to creat more great body shape.
If you are pear shape, you should transfer attention to the upper body. Beacuase the widest is around your hips. You can choose 2 pieces dress, the upper body should in light color, then skirt in dark color. People will attracted by your upper body.
Hourglass is the best body shape. You can wear whatever you want. Because you have golden ratio in shape.
Follow these tips to choose beautiful quinceanera dress, dress up yourselves like a princess.


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The Politics Hour: December 6, 2019
Virginia's Attorney General on Second Amendment sanctuaries; D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on Councilmember Jack Evans; Virginia Sen.-elect John Bell on his priorities.
For many gardeners, spring planting is well under way and summer vegetables will soon follow. Recent years have proven hard on local greenery, with prolonged heat waves and damaging storms. But there are steps you can take to ensure a healthy garden, from choosing local plants to well-timed watering. Whether you're tending a backyard vegetable patch, a community garden plot, or just a few potted flowers, we've got tips for getting the most from the land.
Sharing Backyards links people with yards, lawns and backyards to spare with people who are interested in gardening, but don't have enough space or sun to grow their own garden. Search for a shared backyard in your neighborhood.
Montgomery Parks Community Gardens Program offers Montgomery County, Md., residents the opportunity to use public space and water to garden individual plots at a low cost.
Part of the University of Maryland Extension Master Gardener program, Grow It Eat It helps Marylanders improve health and save money by growing their own food using sustainable practices. The program offers free expert gardening advice weekdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. In Maryland, call 800-342-2507. Outside the state, call 410-531-1757.
U.S. Botanic Garden is a living plant museum. From roses to orchids, the rainforest to rare plants, you can learn about the latest in gardening.
MR. KOJO NNAMDIPerhaps you're working a backyard vegetable garden, a community garden plot or just a few balcony flower pots. Whatever your patch of green, the exceptionally cool weather this spring has made planting tricky. And many gardeners have put off planting their more delicate summer vegetables and flowers. And the risks aren't over once the summer actually begins. Heat waves and severe storms like last summer's derecho are likely to take their toll.
MR. KOJO NNAMDIBut there are steps you can take to ensure a healthy garden. And joining us to tell us what they are is Holly Shimizu, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden. Holly, good to see you again.
MS. HOLLY SHIMIZUGood to see you.
NNAMDIAlso with us in studio is Jim Ford. He is the chief operating officer of American Plant Company. Jim Ford, thank you for joining us.
MR. JIM FORDHi, Kojo.
NNAMDIAnd Pat Lynch is a community garden coordinator for Montgomery County. She's also a Montgomery County Master Gardener. Pat Lynch, thank you for joining us.
MS. PAT LYNCHGreat to be here.
NNAMDIHolly, as we've said, we've had an -- oh, by the way, if you'd like to join the conversation, you know the drill, 800-433-8850. If you're a gardener you do know this drill. You can also send email to email@example.com or send us a Tweet at kojoshow. Holly, as we've said, we've had an unusually cool spring. What has that meant for planting this year?
SHIMIZUWhat it's meant for me and for the Botanic Garden is we've had to wait for some of the plants like tomatoes and basils, things that don't like the cold weather because they don't want to go out there when the soil is cold and wet. So I have not planted any of these and it's May 15 so planning to go this weekend and get all of those tender things.
NNAMDIGood luck to you. Jim Ford, there should be no danger to warm-weather plants at this point. What are you planting now?
FORDI'm planting a little bit of everything. I'm like Holly. I got a late start on my tomatoes and stuff so that's what I'm working on. And then I'll move into my summer annuals.
NNAMDIPat, in a city and even in the suburbs, not everyone has a yard or space for a garden, but many people are looking to grow food or plants. You coordinate ten community gardens for Montgomery County, soon to be eleven. What kind of interests have you been seeing in the plots that you oversee?
LYNCHWell, this year's been great. We have actually rented out all of the plots. That's the first year that we know that this has happened. And I have waiting lists at many of my gardens. People are very anxious to be doing vegetable gardening especially. And the program has just grown. We started in '09 and just have been going strong.
NNAMDICan you give us a brief overview? How do Montgomery County's community gardens work?
LYNCHWell, our gardens are sponsored by Montgomery Parks, so that -- I don't run all of the community gardens in Montgomery County, although some days I think I do. So they are located in the parks. People -- we have smaller and larger plots. People pay a rental fee at the beginning of the year. The fees range from a low of $25 for our smallest plots all the way up $75. People get deer fencing, groundhog protection, water on site, woodchips and me to enforce the rules.
NNAMDIInterest still is growing, it seems, in community gardens. How do you find new sites for a community garden?
LYNCHWell, that's really tough. We...
NNAMDIThat's the challenge.
LYNCHThat's the challenge, yes. People say to me, why don't we have more and it's like, I'm looking. We look at sites for a number of things. They're evaluated by whether they are available. What's easiest for us are sites that exist already in Montgomery Parks. We look for flat areas without a lot of trees that are quite sunny and that have access to a water supply. Our primary way of doing water is we rent water meters from WSSC and our gardeners fill up our 1200 gallon tanks to have a water supply onsite.
LYNCHSo it's a lot that you have to have in place in order to be able to stretch my very small budget in order to start new gardens. But we are always on the lookout for new sites. And I get leads from people and we go out and check them out. And this year we're doing the new garden at the Long Branch Community Rec Center in Silver Spring. Last year we did one at Gaynor Road next to a large apartment complex in Rockville. So it's a challenge but we keep at it.
NNAMDIWherever you can find room to do it. 800-433-8850. Are you a gardener? What are you planting this year? Holly, we mentioned cold spells but how about extremes? We've had some extremes in our weather. It's quite cold in the winter, very hot and humid in the summer. And as we've seen this spring, not very predictable. How does that complicate gardening?
SHIMIZUWell, the things that that brings to mind for me, one is how to plan for the rains when we get these heavy, heavy rains. They can do a lot of damage if you haven't really thought about where you want the water to do. You do want to keep the water onsite but you've got to do the grading of the site so that it's not going to destroy your garden beds. Because that drainage and that water movement, you want to understand it and lessen the damage from it.
SHIMIZUThe other point that I think is really great is that if you garden with native plants, they are going to tend to be able to handle these extremes much better than a lot of plants that you bring in from elsewhere, because they've adapted to it. So that would be things like Echinaceas and Rudbeckias, you know, beautiful natives that do well. And they just are adapted.
NNAMDIYou know, I'm glad you mentioned heavy rains because, Jim, we've tended to have very heavy downpours in the summer in recent years. But heavy rain does not necessarily mean your garden is getting enough water. Why is that?
FORDThat is absolutely true because a lot of the rain when it rains that heavily runs off. One of the best ways to counteract that is to mulch and also working a lot of organic material into your soil so your soil has enough organic material to help absorb that rain so it doesn't run off. The mulch also slows the water process down and lets it seep in.
FORDThere's a lot of things going on with rain gardens and stuff like that I know through the county, through the district and everything that really can help, like Holly said, keep that water onsite. Help it get down into the ground that produces the reservoir for the trees during the summertime. So that's really one of the best things out there. Really work up that soil, mulch it so you slow that process down.
NNAMDIWhat are the basics of watering?
FORDThe basics of watering?
NNAMDIWhen do you -- when's the best time to do it, how much, that kind of thing?
FORDOkay. That differs. Everybody has their own opinion. I like to do my watering always in the morning. The latest, maybe 12:00, 1:00, if you go out and you see something flagging and it really is dry, it's not just flagging because of the heat, then I water in the morning. That way you keep all the excess water off your plants at night and that cuts down on a lot of bacterial problems, leaf spot and things like that.
NNAMDISo, Holly, how can you tell if you've watered enough?
SHIMIZUWell, I'm not afraid to go into the soil and actually see, is that water going down? I can just use my finger. I know you can get probes and so forth, but I am a hands-on gardener. So I'll just put my hand in and get a sense of, is that water going in or not. But I'm also a big fan of aeration in the soil. So I want to make sure -- like I have a roof garden with containers. And the containers that have good drainage do much better than the containers with poor drainage because there just is not enough air in there. So when we have those heavy downpours, that water saturates that soil and the air -- the roots do not like that.
NNAMDIHow do you get that drainage?
SHIMIZUI'm actually going to put -- drill holes in the sides of these containers. But the real truth is you should do it before you plant it. But these are old recycled plastic containers so I can just, you know, drill in there and get some drainage.
NNAMDIPat, you're running community gardens and we talked earlier about storms and extreme weather. What do you recommend to protect a garden from severe storms?
LYNCHWell, in the community garden it's sometimes a little harder because you have so many people doing different things.
NNAMDIThat's what I was thinking.
LYNCHBut, you know, what we tell people from the get go is pay attention to the soil. And I would just emphasize what Holly and Jim have said. You prepare your beds. You make sure that -- most people don't think of soil -- a large percentage of your soil needs to be air. So you want organic matter in there and you want it to be really soft and fluffy. But the other thing that we -- you know, the difficulty is different people do different things.
LYNCHWe have people who like to do a trench kind of style and they'll plant in the mounds so the water runs off nicely. And they've done burlap or newspaper in the pads which slows down the water. It will drain away. It will stay in place. And it's a question of teaching people over and over again. Because I have brand new gardeners, people who have never grown anything in their lives. They start in a community garden. So we count on the experienced gardeners and also our Montgomery master gardeners who come to visit the gardens and help people figure out what's the best way to handle both the heat and the water.
NNAMDIPat Lynch is a community garden coordinator for Montgomery County. She's also a Montgomery County master gardener. She joins us in studio along with Holly Shimizu, executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden and Jim Ford, chief operating officer of American Plant Company. We're taking calls at 800-433-8850. How did your garden fare during last summer's extreme heat and severe storms?
NNAMDIBefore I get to the phones, Jim, if one wants to get serious about watering you recommend using a rain gauge. How does that work?
FORDRain gauges, I love those. Basically it's any tube and you can measure up on the tube how many inches you got. Usually it's broken down into eighths of an inch. So an eighth, quarter, half, something like that. And they're very easy to use. You just stick them somewhere where there's not a tree overhead or a fence that's blocking the rain, anything out in the open. I have mine on my fence post at home. My neighbors all think I'm crazy because I go out there and I look at it.
FORDSo I can tell if I got a inch of rain in an hour or I got a inch of rain all day. So I know exactly -- or it gives me a better idea what my beds and all are doing, what the soil's taking up, how soon my basements going to flood, all those kind of interesting things.
NNAMDIWe're talking to Jim's neighbors. He's not crazy. It's a rain gauge, okay? Here's Haley in Oxford, Md. Haley, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.
HALEYYes, hi. Thank you so much for this program. Can you hear me, because I can't...
NNAMDIWe're hearing you very clearly.
HALEYOkay, great. I got too excited and I bought some basil plants and a couple tomato plants. And I've had them outside and they aren't dying or anything but they don't look happy. And I'm just wondering, should I just cut my losses and get rid of them and get some fresh ones? Or is there something I can do to help them recover from what I've just put them through?
SHIMIZUWell, in my opinion, I would give them another chance and hopefully they will recover. They -- it could be just a setback and they may recover. If you find they don't after I would say like two to three weeks, they're just not picking up -- we're having warm weather today -- I would say take them out and start over. But I've had this happen and my plants will often recover.
HALEYSo I haven't -- that was my biggest concern is that, you know, I'm going to put all this energy into them and I've already done some damage...
SHIMIZUWell, you know, I always also recommend people harden off your plants. So when you get them, especially if they've just come out of a greenhouse, you need to give them a few days in an interim condition where they're not fully outdoors in the sun and the wind. They're part -- they're outdoors but they're a little protected. So you have a gradual moving to the harsh outdoors.
NNAMDIOkay. Thank you very much for your call, Haley. We move on to Dale in Rockville, Md. Dale, your turn.
DALEHi. I'm from a community garden and I've been running it for the last five years in Rockville. And we have a wonderful half plot that's available for Rockville residents. It's in King Farm and it's a great organic garden started by our friend and environmentalist Carl Hen (sp?) with us. And we have this half plot and we have all kinds of -- it's all organic. We have all kinds of organic vegetables to go in it that this person could have. Whoever wants this plot can get in touch with me.
DALEThe organic vegetables have been hardened off. We've got potatoes...
NNAMDIHow do they get in touch with you, Dale?
DALEDHMcCarthy M-C-C-A-R-T-H-Y @comcast.net.
NNAMDIAnd you will not be surprised to know that Pat is extremely enthusiastic about what you're doing.
LYNCHIt's great. It's great.
DALEWell, but, you know, I really believe in this. We have a children's garden that's part of it. The children plant organic vegetables. I work with them. We plant, we harvest. It's just incredibly exciting. It's a wonderful space and we have a wonderful community. We just have one spot that's open now and I thought I'd put it out there for the first Rockville resident who wants to really come and garden with us.
NNAMDIOkay. Thank you very much for your call. Pat, a lot of people have lost trees, flowers and shrubs during heat waves in recent years. What's your advice for spotting when your plants are in trouble? You know, my favorite piece of advice from Holly is just, take them out. Things die in all gardens.
LYNCHThat's right. They do indeed. And actually what I worry about in the heat is the gardeners before I worry about the plants. So I say to people, when you're out there, go early in the day, go late in the day. Make sure that you're wearing your sunscreen and your hat and drink plenty of water. Your plants can be replaced, you can't. So you can tell my public health education background coming through. That's the first thing I worry about when we start to talk about heat and drought.
NNAMDIYou've worked for the NIH as I understand.
LYNCHI have indeed. I have indeed. And especially that's -- all of those things are especially true for older people, which is the part of the NIH that I worked for, the Institute on Aging. But, you know, most of the plants have a will to live. And I think that, you know, they get droopy. You need to be paying attention to them. The general guidance that the University of Maryland Extension gives is for vegetable gardens, gardens actually need 1" of water a week.
LYNCHWe have more trouble with people overwatering their plants than plants even dying in the heat. And I guess I'd check with Holly and Jim, but my feeling is gardeners are by nature optimistic souls. And we believe it will get better and next year will work better.
NNAMDISpeaking of overwatering, Jim, can you tell us about the cucumbers in your vegetable garden?
FORDI had the opportunity to drown a couple cucumbers experimenting with a process called sheet mulching. And actually because of the way I had them sheet mulched and stuff, they weren't -- the ground wasn't drying up. And it wasn't drying up nearly like I thought it was. So when they would show a little wilt from the afternoon sun I'd water them. And in the end I watered them to death. So it does happen and drainage is really important. And when you try something new, like I was trying, I needed to stick my finger down in the dirt instead of just going on what the plant was showing me. I would've been better off.
NNAMDIBut, Holly, you point out that watering also is a signal to plants to grow. What's the issue with that in the summer?
SHIMIZURight. So for me a lot of times I also have suffered from overwatering. I tend to over care for things. And knowing that, especially for example I've had extensive beds of hot peppers. And when you have the heat at midday, they can't grow. It's just too hot. So they rest. They just kind of stop growing and they wilt. Now they are not wilting from lack of water. They are just wilting because it's so hot. So -- but I initially would go out there and water them and water them and water them to death.
SHIMIZUSo I do not recommend heavy watering unless the soil is dry. And it's a lesson learned for me because, you know, when I see a wilting plant my first thought is, water. Not always correct.
NNAMDIGot to take a short break. When we come back we will continue our gardening conversation and introduce the issue of chemical dependency. Thought it was only humans. Ah-hah. It could be plants too. 800-433-8850 is the number to call. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.
NNAMDIWe're talking with Jim Ford. He is the chief operating officer of the American Plant Company. Pat Lynch is community garden coordinator for Montgomery County and a Montgomery County master gardener. And Holly Shimizu is executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden. We're taking your calls at 800-433-8850. But if the phone lines are busy you can send email to email@example.com or just send us a Tweet on kojoshow.
NNAMDIPat, earlier on, Holly recommended some of the native plants that grow well in this region. On the other hand, growing nonnative plants can be very successful. You've got gardeners from all over the world with plots in your community gardens. Tell us about that.
LYNCHOh, it's great fun. I go around and do regular garden inspections and there isn't a gardener alive who does not want to talk about his or her plants.
NNAMDIOf course.
LYNCHAnd I have met people who are growing seeds that grandma had back in the old country. I've actually been given some. I see plants I've never seen before. And of course being a gardener and a foodie it's like, woo, first what is that? Second, how do you cook it? And luckily every once in a while I get people to give me a sample who tell me how to cook it when I get home. So lots of different gardening techniques.
LYNCHMany people growing -- you know, our gardener from Uganda, our gardeners from Southeast Asia, our gardeners from Korea. They're all growing all sorts of interesting things in addition to the tomatoes and the peppers and the eggplant that we all see.
NNAMDIHolly, if someone is interested in native plants, you recommend people come by the Botanic Garden to see the native plant garden there.
SHIMIZURight. We have a fabulous regional garden which features net plants native to the Mid Atlantic. And it's really like a great plant library. You can see how they do. You can see the way they like to grow, what they look like. And I think it's really inspiring to see them and certainly to include some in your garden.
NNAMDIOnto the phones again. Here's Brian in Baltimore, Md. Brian, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.
BRIANHi everyone. Hi, Kojo. I have a question. I finished reading a book not too long ago, I think it was called "The Square Foot Gardening Method," it's author Mel somebody. And he really touted this soil composition mix that he claims he came up with where it's equal parts, I believe, peat moss, vermiculite and compost for the perfect growing medium for plants. And I was wondering what all the guests there think about that specific type of mix for raised beds and gardening. And if you think that there are any different types of mixes that might do better in the Washington, D.C. area given the climate.
FORDI'm not a fan of peat moss. I'd much rather see you use a good compost. Vermiculite does add a lot of air space to the soil and all but it also holds water. So if you want to use something, we usually recommend using the perlite or working in some real fine pine. I'm also a big believer in working in some of the native soil into these raised beds because the native soil does help hold nutrients and stuff because of the way the particles are charged. So that would be my recommendation.
SHIMIZUI agree with what Jim said and I would -- I like to get the drainage in the soil by using something like a sharp granite. There's something called chicken grit. I love to add that into the soil because I like it to break it up. And we don't -- I don't like to use peat moss. I prefer to use compost. And again, I want to fluff up that soil.
NNAMDIOn now to Christiana in Rockville, Md. Christiana, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.
CHRISTIANAYeah, thank you, Kojo. Great show. I want to give a big thank you and shout out to Pat Lynch. She's our community garden coordinator. Great work, Pat. It's really exciting. I'm here at the Rocking Horse community garden. This is our third season that we're in existence. And even just hearing the overwatering tips from Jim and Holly were great. Now I know how to not kill my cucumbers.
CHRISTIANAThe most important thing for me personally, in addition to growing, is really the community aspect. I really love just to learn from my neighbors and to see families come in and little two-year-olds stumping along with a carrot in their hand and not being afraid of bugs, and actually eating beans right off the vine. That is so thrilling and it's just so different from what we always hear about kids not eating vegetables. There can be so much excitement. And that is really, for me, a great joy in the gardening.
NNAMDIYou know, our managing producer Brendon Sweeney is having the same experience in his community garden, except that he is also managing to pick up a lot of ideas for segments and guests on the show in his community garden. So they obviously serve a whole lot of purposes. Holly, we now get to -- the fact that you have issues with chemical dependency -- well, not you, we're not talking about you and we're not talking about drugs. We're talking about roses?
SHIMIZUYes. Well, that's very true. And I do not like people to select plants that aren't going to grow well here. And roses are a good example because oftentimes you buy a rose, you take it home, it looks gorgeous, you plant it and it just goes downhill. In this region you get black spot, you get powdery mildew. They're the worst two diseases that roses get. But people need to know that there're great roses out there.
SHIMIZUYou know, the -- I love the people that go in the wild. There's one called highway 290. That's where they found it. And then at the cemeteries and here and there. So you can find great roses. I like roses with fragrance and roses with rich, beautiful foliage as well as flowers. So no need for these chemically-dependent plants.
NNAMDIJim, you've got a warning for those people who love impatiens, a very popular little flower that decorates a lot of gardens in our region. What's going on with impatiens this year?
FORDWell, this year -- it started last year really in the area, the downy mildew. And the impatiens basically get wiped out by it. And you can plant the new guinea impatiens or try begonias or a lot of coleus, ferns. There's a lot of perennials that do well in the shade that you can use. So the impatiens, really nobody knows how long this is going to stay around. It could be two years, it could be eight years, it could be ten years.
NNAMDIOn to -- but, Holly, before I go back to the phones, you've got suggestions for substitutes for impatiens. What would you recommend?
SHIMIZUWell, I love caladiums too. I think they're very beautiful. And I do love ferns and epimediums and native pachysandra.
SHIMIZUBegonias, some of the very cool begonias. I don't like those waxy looking things but the beautiful, beautiful begonias. There are so many. We actually have a begonia show right now at the Botanic Garden.
NNAMDIYou also have some solutions to weed problems. What do you use at the Botanic Garden?
SHIMIZUWell, we use a citrus spray and that is working. You have to stay on it. You have to pay attention to it. I really prefer hand-weeding if you can stay ahead of it, but that doesn't always -- it's not always the case. So if you need to go and spray you need to use something that isn't going to be toxic to the soil. So a citrus spray has been working for us.
NNAMDIJim, what do you recommend for weed control?
FORDI'm with Holly on that. We sell a product called Burnout that is citric acid. It's a vinegar. You do need to read the instructions. You do need to be mindful of what you're doing. It works best when it's a clear hot sunny day and the plants are out in the sun. That's what works the best. It does not always kill the roots, so you need to use it multiple times. As it comes back up you'll eventually exhaust the root and it will disappear.
NNAMDIPat, are there rules in the community garden about what kinds of chemicals or pest control people use?
LYNCHYes, there are. In our gardens you may only use organic products. Those are either things that are OMRI labeled, O-M-R-I, which is the Organic Materials Research Institute. They certify things as organic or an organic label. We actually recommend and try to stick with some of the barrier methods. Holly mentioned hand-weeding. What I recommend to gardeners is the use of newspaper covered with compost in your garden or newspaper or cardboard covered with woodchips in the path. They don't entirely prevent the weeds, but if you can get a start on it early in the season, you can cut down on the amount of weeding you have to do.
LYNCHAnd as Jim said, the citric acid, the vinegar products are acidic. And so I really encourage people to very, very carefully read the instructions and follow them because they are not -- just because it says organic doesn't mean it is entirely without risk.
NNAMDIHere is Teri in Berwyn, Md. Teri, your turn.
TERIYes. Hello, Kojo. I'm a big fan of your show.
TERIYour welcome. And to your guests I would be interested in hearing their recommendations for a 5 X 7-ish plot in the front yard. Because that's the only place where we have enough sun at our house. And we're -- we would like to make the neighbors happy, not only with the vegetables, etcetera but with the way it looks. So an arrangement and combination of plants would be very helpful.
NNAMDIWhat do you suggest, Holly Shimizu?
SHIMIZUWell, I would suggest you get inspired by the concept of a potager, which is a French vegetable garden concept where they're beautiful. And the vegetables are combined with herbs and flowers, edible flowers, things like nasturtiums, beautiful vegetables. Many vegetables are And then some fabulous herbs. I think herbs really belong in the front garden. They're fragrant. You can harvest them. So that's my suggestion but I'd love to hear your thoughts.
TERIWhat about the deer?
NNAMDIOh, maybe less of a problem in the front garden.
TERINo, okay.
NNAMDISame problem, front garden, rear garden. It doesn't make a difference. Jim.
FORDYou could work in a couple -- maybe a couple berry bushes to add some interesting color year around. It'd also give you a little bit of foundation. But yeah, I was really experimenting in my vegetable garden with different lettuces and all, planting the different colored lettuces around. It's interesting the designs and stuff you can get. Like a lot of the Swiss chard and all right now that you can plant. It's already been planted for the spring but again in the fall you can plant the Swiss chard and spinach and all. You can make some really interesting designs. It's very attractive.
NNAMDIHere is Gamila in Silver Spring, Md. Gamila, your turn.
GAMILAHi. Thank you, Kojo and I want to say hi to Pat. We worked together a few years ago. I'm calling you because...
NNAMDIGlad we could bring you back together. Go ahead, Gamila.
GAMILAI couldn't believe my ears. It's awesome. Hi, Pat.
GAMILAHi. I am calling to see if you could settle a marital dispute. We have a huge garden with about ten or eight very big oak trees. And they have a lot of shade but I want to plant a vegetable garden. And my husband says absolutely not. It will not grow because we don't have a lot of direct sunlight. So is that true?
NNAMDIWell, I have to tell you in advance that Holly Shimizu likes native oaks because they support birds, so I'll put the question to her.
SHIMIZUWell, as much as I love native oaks, you can't grow vegetables in the shade under them. So I'm sorry to tell you, your husband wins. And so I recommend you find another place. You could do what I've done, which is I go to my roof garden, because that's where I actually have the sun.
NNAMDIAnd feel free if you need any more marriage counseling, Gamila, to call in on the show any time. Pat.
LYNCHAnd I would say if the roof isn't an option, the other thing is to look around for a little shady corner. You can do tomatoes, peppers, eggplants in containers. Get yourself a nice big 16" container and you can do an amazing amount of vegetable growing just tucked into a corner with sun. But under the oaks -- and please, please, keep your beautiful mature trees. We need them.
NNAMDIThank you very much for your call, Gamila. We're running out of time very quickly. But, Pat, I guess I should mention that Montgomery County composts the leaves and grass that it collects from homes, and you can buy it. Tell us about that in 20 seconds or less.
LYNCHTwenty seconds or less it's called LeafGrow. It's done by Maryland Environmental Services. And it is a wonderful product. You can get it at most retail stores. It is reusing what we have put out on the corner, those of us who don't have the wherewithal to compost. And it is a great improvement, definitely wonderful product.
NNAMDIPat Lynch is community garden coordinator for Montgomery County. She's also a Montgomery County master gardener. Jim Ford is the chief operating officer of the American Plant Company and Holly Shimizu is executive director of the U.S. Botanic Garden. Thank you all for joining us. "The Kojo Nnamdi Show," is produced by Brendan Sweeney, Michael Martinez, Ingalisa Schrobsdorff, Tayla Burney, Kathy Goldgeier, Elizabeth Weinstein and Stephannie Stokes, with help from Camellia Assefi. Our engineer, Tobey the-one-and-only Schreiner. Natalie Yuravlivker is on the phones. Thank you all for listening. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.
Virginia's Attorney General on Second Amendment sanctuaries; D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on Councilmember Jack Evans; Virginia Sen.-elect John Bell on his priorities.
A law which reduced federal excise taxes for a range of alcohol producers is set to expire at the end of the year. It could mean a 400% tax hike.
All you need to know about holiday evergreens in the DMV — from the one at the Capitol to the one in your living room.
No one's ever accused Washington of being a fashion capital. But some are out to prove that we actually can have style when we try.


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Fairweather Farm is a small homestead/farm located in Oregon's Willamette Valley.
Jay and Lisa are devoted to creating a diverse environment of food production, for our own use and for sale. There is nothing as good as home-grown food! We sell tomato and other plant starts in spring (custom-order), and honey in fall; we also sell eggs year-round, and sometimes have sheepskins, fleece and wool, and lambs, chicken, turkey, or ducks available.
We also work full-time from home, please keep this in mind when contacting us.
Phone: 541-258-4430
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
In 2009, Fairweather Farm moved from Jackson County in southern Oregon to our current place in Linn county. While these two farm locations have many similarities, and we have much the same goals and philosophies (and brought with us much of the farm paraphernalia), the farm mix did change. This might be particularly noticeable in the blog posts.


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I am so, so happy to be writing you today.
As some of you know from my social posts and the ONE blog article I've written this year, I've been suffering through a major health crisis. As a result, I've had no choice but to start learning how to really sit back, take my time, not try to push feeling better (because wow, that does not work at all), and address the way I think about and relate to my goals and dreams.
That last one kinda stands out, doesn't it?
Being really sick has blown my mind. Having been a meditating, vegetarian yogi since 2005, I never in my worst nightmares thought I would go through the challenges Topical Steroid Withdrawal has presented me in the past ten months. I thought I was immune to them – a superhuman yogi destined for an uninterrupted life of health, wellness, and success.
Sad to say healthy habits do not guarantee shit, my friend.
With all the time I've had to relax (like, really relax because the docs tell me that's how I'm going to get better faster) I've gained insight into a lot of my habits and tendencies. Among the all-too-common rushing, pushing, and buzzing about that has come to signify our culture, I am also in the habit of being a slave to my goals, and to my ideal self. Nothing is ever quite good enough. I could always be doing more. Why haven't I done it by now?
The result of such habits is a perpetual state of discontent, irritation, and – physiologically speaking – fight or flight mode, which has to do with your nervous system and can be totally devastating to your whole body. The latter, of course, is deeply connected to the presentation of my initial symptoms of an inflammatory auto-immune condition, potentially more so than food, exercise, positive thinking, or any other oft-touted remedy for modern ills.
Even though I ate super healthy, did yoga nearly every day, meditated, and even formed my entire career around wellness…the invisible thorn was an actual, measurable level of stress that threw my entire system out of balance, which then forced my hand into an insidious relationship with steroid creams. Upon reflection, I've come to realize that this stress – for me anyway – lies in the space between where I am and where I want to be…or perhaps more accurately where I think I want to be.
Without careful inspection, our goals and dreams can be yet another sad result of our social conditioning.
Enter September. I always feel like September is the new January. At the end of summer, entering into my fave season, it's so grounding to set some new goals, check in with where you're at, and get excited about possibilities and the future. Only problem is, in the past, getting excited about possibilities and the future has involved a very distinct vision of what I think my life should look like. And now that I've experienced this insane level of un-wellness, baby that vision has changed!
Eat all vegetables. Exercise every day. Finish my book in month while working for clients full time and keeping my house clean and my dogs walked and meditating every morning for at least a half an hour. Draw daily. Make lots of money. Hand-write letters to my gram every two weeks. And kale. Lots of kale.
How do I feel? What do I need right now? Why am I being so serious? Is that really what I want?
However you like to approach your September, maybe just pause to think for a moment: Is the space between where you are and where you want to be bringing anxiety or excitement? If it's not excitement, consider sitting back and inspecting your goals and dreams. Be on the lookout for what I call "OPS" – Other People's Standards.
The ongoing habit of wanting to change yourself can keep you in a feedback loop of stagnant frustration. Maybe it's time to just be with who you are now instead of who you think you should be at the end of September.
Happy fall, my friends.
ps. I'm feeling much better, thank you. ♥
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Mitsu says it will be a global model.
The announcement was made by Mitsubishi Motors Corporation CEO and president, Osamu Masuko, during his recent visit to South Australia's Kangaroo Island. While he did not go into a lot of details, the man in charge at Mitsubishi Motors did say the 'mini SUV EV' will be out in around four years and will have a maximum range of approximately 400 kilometers (248 miles).
In recent years, Mitsubishi has introduced a great number of alternatively-powered concepts, so now it's nice to hear it finally has plans to diversify its eco-friendly range of models by adding a pure electric car. In light of the fuel economy scandal, the Japanese car manufacturer certainly needs to share this type of news about its intentions towards an electrified future as a way to try and balance things out.
With Nissan buying a 34-percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors for $2.17 billion, there's now more flexibility in terms of the hardware seeing as how Nissan is now the largest shareholder and basically has control over Mitsubishi. The tie-up is already bearing fruit, with the next-gen Navara and Triton likely to ride on the same platform. Nissan is hard at work preparing the second-gen Leaf with a range of more than 200 miles (322 km), so perhaps Mitsubishi can use some of the hardware for its future EVs.
Note: Mitsubishi all-electric eX concept pictured.
Source: motoring.com.au


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April 29, 2013 Length: 3:31
From the very beginning, our Lord Jesus Christ was with God, because He is God! He created everything. Look around you—all the people, animals, plants, even the Earth itself, He made! Life comes from Him.
Because of Adam and Eve's choice to disobey God (and all of our choices to do the same, since then), sin came into the world. This sin keeps people from God. But God's love for us is so great that He wanted to free us from sin through Jesus.
When Jesus was getting ready to come into the world, God sent John ahead of him. John came to help people see that Jesus was God's Son, and that they should follow Him.
When Jesus came into the world, even though He made the world, because of sin, the people of the world did not know Him. He was right with His own special people—the Jews—and they did not welcome Him. In fact, they killed Him.
But, just like light shining in darkness makes the darkness go away, so our Lord Jesus Christ shone in the darkness of our sinful world. He entered Hades, the place of the dead, and rescued people, even Adam and Eve, from death!
Jesus rose from the dead. He freed us from sin and death. He gave us power to become children of God!
1. We have just celebrated Great and Holy Friday, the day Christ was crucified. On Holy Saturday, while the tomb was closed, Christ went into the realm of the dead and brought back to life those who lived godly lives.
2. The icon of the Resurrection teaches us that truth.
3. What is Christ trampling or stomping on in the icon? Those are the doors of Hades, the place of the dead.
4. Is it light or dark there under the doors? Do you think it is a happy or sad and scary place?
5. The icon shows us that Christ is the winner in the battle with darkness, evil, and death. At the Gospel, listen for the words, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
6. Be happy today because of what Jesus has done!


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Abstract—In outdoor cases, TDOA-based methods with lower accuracy than DOA based methods but fewer microphones and less computation time, are used for 2D wideband sound source localization using only three microphones. Using these methods, outdoor (far-field) high accuracy sound source localization in different climates needs highly sensitive and high performance microphones which are very expensive. In the last decade, some papers were published to reduce the microphones count in indoor 2D sound source localization using TDE and ILD based methods simultaneously. However, these papers do not mention that using ILD-based methods need only one dominant source to be active for accurate localization. Also it is known that using a linear array, two mirror points will be produced simultaneously. This issue means we can localize 2D sound source only in half-plane. In this paper we propose a novel method to have 2D whole-Plane dominant sound source localization using TDE, ILD and HRTF-based methods simultaneously. Based on the proposed method, a special reflector (instead of dummy head) for microphones arrangement is designed and source counting method is used to find that only one dominant sound source is active in the localization area. Simulation results indicate that this method is useful in outdoor and low degree reverberation cases when we try to raise SNR using spectral subtraction and source counting methods.
Index Terms—Sound source localization, TDOA, TDE, PHAT, ITD, ILD, HRTF.
The authors are with the Electrical Engineering Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Hafez Ave., Tehran 15914, Iran (e-mail: email@example.com; firstname.lastname@example.com)
Cite: Ali Pourmohammad and Seyed Mohammad Ahadi, "TDE-ILD-HRTF-Based 2D Whole-Plane Sound Source Localization Using Only Two Microphones and Source Counting," International Journal of Information and Electronics Engineering vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 307-313, 2012.