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How much does the medical system know about the total hardware of the immune system, and how all parts interconnect? As you've seen in the last few blogs, their understanding is crucially hampered by what they now know they don't understand. The problem is, most parents have no idea of the extent of their immunological "blindness". Definitive knowledge of the innate immunity, our first defences, resembles a big black hole called "ignorance". Immunologist appear to be like tree experts, walking in huge forest, saying, "Oh yeah, I recognise that clump of trees – they are antibodies, but I don't know what they have to do with those ones. Wonder what these are? And those are...." and so it goes on.
Vaccines are presented as if antibodies are wonderful and the only thing that matters. Gardasil is a particular case in point in that regard, because the antibodies provoked by the vaccine, are hundreds of times higher than the antibodies created under conditions of natural immunity. Is that a good thing? Gardasil's inventor thinks so (God's gift to women) without wondering for a moment about the consequences of generating vastly higher levels of antibodies than an actual infection could have ever created. < p/>
Doctors faced with a vaccine reaction, have a standard explanation: "We don't know what this problem is, but we know it's not the vaccine." Even in their ignorance they KNOW it's not the vaccine, and they seem to truly believe it.
The medical profession has an extraordinary concept of "rightness" about their beliefs. Unless proven otherwise, their consensus theories are considered immutable fact. And woebetide you if you suggest they don't know what they are talking about.
So for instance, until recently, the brain was considered "privileged" - relatively protected from the immune system. On this fallacious assumption, autism is proclaimed as a genetic disorder rather than an aberrant immunological attack on the brain. This article may be one of the first to openly discuss that children with autism have serious inflammatory markers in the brain.
An immunologist may STILL also say, "Oh – there's something going on in a brain? Well, because we KNOW (believe) that the brain is "privileged", it can't be anything to do with a needle we stuck in your child's arm."
Yet on the other hand, we have been told for years, that viruses such as measles, mumps and rubella, can get into the brain and cause inflammation or encephalitis.
How could they tell us that, yet consider that the brain was a separate entity from the immune system? Where is the logic?
If your child has a Gardasil shot, loses her ability to think properly or function sleeps interminably and has constant inexplicable pain, the ability for the medical profession to connect the Gardasil shot to the brain problem will pretty much near ZERO.
The two will not be connected.
Note that I didn't say "cannot", but "will" not.
And so it was when Jasmine died after her third Gardasil shot on 21st September 2009.
Jasmine was 18. The pathologist took samples, which ESR tested for.... Alcohol, drugs, opiates and paracetamol.
Not long after, permission was requested to destroy the samples.
Jasmine's parents said, "No", and immediately asked if brain samples could be sent to a lab in Canada for further neurological testing.
In answer to repeated prods, Jasmine's parents were told that the pathologist was "seeking expert advice".
In March, the pathologist asked Dr Kate Neas, a clinical geneticist who looked at sudden heart rhythm disturbances, to organise for the whole family to have cardiac investigations. The Renata's still distraught family members, were neither interested, nor fooled. They recognised the delaying tactics for what they were, and replied saying that they would consider such an appointment when the brain samples had arrived in Canada.
In July, the New Zealand autopsy results showed no evidence of any inflammatory changes within the nervous system. The methods the pathologist used were not specified. The pathologist reported that he had not received any medical records or any other medical information at the time of Jasmine's death. He only found out the circumstances surrounding of Jasmine's death, months later.
Had Jasmine's mother not insisted on speaking with the pathologist, the process would have likely proceeded in the absence of any information, a serious flaw in the fundamental coronial process.
The Chief Coroner also tersely reminded Rhonda to see Dr Neas.
The family again refused to see Dr Neas until the tests had been done in Canada, so on 12th August, 2010 after the Coroner finally relented, and allowed brain samples to be sent to Canada for specialist neurologist testing, However, in doing so, the Judge said,
"Tissue released from the pathology department of Wellington hospital is irreplaceable. Whilst all effort has been made to abstract as much information as possible from the samples, scientific and legal developments are not predictable and, thus, further investigation or clinical review, should this become necessary, will not be possible once the tissues are released." (emphasis added)
A remarkable comment, given that a few months earlier, the same people asked permission to destroy the samples. Was this also a last ditch attempt to stop these tissue samples being sent overseas?
The Coronial Services paid the freight to Canada, but refused to pay the testing costs, (see No 1) because they were "considerable".
As soon as the samples arrived in Canada, an email arrived from the laboratory, asking whether samples had been obtained from the brain stem and cervical cord, important areas when one is looking for inflammation.
Unfortunately, none were available, because none had been taken at autopsy.
The results from Canada were received in early May 2011. A covering email simplified the findings for the family, from the full report and the slides.
In part Dr Shaw's email stated:
Some of the cellular stains described above show apparent abnormalities. These include:
1. A number of cells undergoing programmed cell death in the hippocampus and cerebellum;
2. Neuro inflammation, particularly in the hippocampus;
3. The presence of stress markers in cerebellum and hippocampus.
4. The presence of aluminium labelling in all areas.
The first three outcomes point to some form of brain injury and could be taken to support the types of clinical symptoms that Jasmine experienced. However, given that we have only Jasmine's samples and no controls, we can't be sure that the condition is not part of a "normal" spectrum across a population of women of her age group. While I believe this to be unlikely, it might be difficult to prove otherwise.
The aluminum in the various brain regions is telling and could only have come from an outside source. That source could be by diet (we all consume a certain amount of aluminum daily in our normal diet), antacids, antiperspirants, or vaccines with aluminum adjuvants. Gardasil does contain aluminum, but so do many other vaccines, so it is difficult to pinpoint Gardasil as the reason for the aluminum in the brain.
Given that people don't get symptoms like this, just from food aluminium like baking powder, or antiperspirant – and given that Jasmine didn't take anti-acids, and only had one vaccine containing aluminium, the family consider the vaccine to be the source of aluminium.
What can we conclude from the fact that Canada found that Jasmine's brain was inflamed with cells dying, and had aluminium everywhere (note 7th line of abstract)?
Why ...... were the tests in Canada, ....
different to the tests done in New Zealand?
Before and after the first, second and third Gardasil injections, Jasmine received FIVE INJECTIONS of depo-provera, a three monthly injected contraceptive which uses large quantities of Polysorbate 80 as the means of preventing conception. But polysorbate 80 is also a compound used to drag drugs into the brain in much higher quantities than the blood-brain barrier normally allows.
Gardasil also contains polysorbate. However, the larger amounts of polysorbate in Depo Provera may have acted as an extra "adjuvant" which took the vaccine adjuvant aluminium from the three vaccine injections, and dumped it each time, .... into the brain.
It should be pointed out that many girls who have had serious reactions to Gardasil in New Zealand and around the world had been taking the Pill or some other chemical contraceptive.
It is well known that aluminium is a neurotoxin.
But is there anything else which could have caused Jasmine's brain inflammation?
It is also possible that Gardasil proteins might have an affinity to a brain receptor like NMDA, which has already resulted in anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis in a teenager after DPT. Those dealing with the UK Cervarix (HPV vaccine) reactions, say there are three confirmed anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis cases after Cervarix, which are in the official data base, but are not yet written up in the medical literature. Those cases exhibited similar symptom patterns to Jasmine.
Three other brain disorders have been reported after Gardasil. Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, Motor Neurone disease, and White Dot Syndrome.
Testing Jasmine's samples for the anti-NMDAR antibody is the next logical step.
So, ... Does Gardasil affect the brain?
Jasmine's parents have many stories to tell of young ladies, whose "mental" status changed after Gardasil. For some, that lead to seizures (often a sign of brain inflammation) and death. They do not know of any autopsy investigations on any other girls who have died after receipt of Gardasil. Like many others around the world, I consider Jasmine to be the almost invisible tip of a world-wide iceberg, representing young girls who are being damaged in many diverse ways by Gardasil and Cervarix, but whose parents are being fobbed off with the line, "Vaccines don't do this!"
The reason why Jasmine's family could not get satisfactory and definitive answer in New Zealand, is crystal clear (to me). The system designed to "investigate" unusual deaths, does not appear to be able to take correct samples required, or apply the correct tests, to find answers to the correct questions.
But then, as Dr John Emory once pointed out at a SIDS conference, "If you ask the wrong questions, you'll get the wrong answers"
More importantly for the vaccine industry, if pathologists and vaccine manufacturers don't know how to look in the right place, or use the right tests, or even ask the right questions, they can always truthfully say, "What reactions? We've never seen any."
Because, (manufactured) ignorance really is bliss.
But so long as the vaccine industry can always deny definitive knowledge of reactions, parents making choices will continue to assume that vaccines never cause harm, and those of us who believe otherwise, will never be able to prove vaccine reactions.... , because those responsible for patient safety in vaccine manufacturing companies, and the agencies supposedly protecting recipients, are - in my opinion - committing "Wilful Ignorance".


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If you want to burn fat to lose fat obviously you have to get a pen and paper out and work out the most efficient pace / duration combination to burn the most TOTAL FAT CALORIES.
Which, of course, is a different thing than trying to improve fat utilisation for a marathon.
Mr Viper wrote (see)
What are peoples views on how quickly it is ok to increase mileage. I've been running for around 18 months and worked my way up to around 40mpw at the beginning of the year. In the last month I've been avergaing around 55mpw. I was intending to give myself a further 2 months at this mileage before steadily increasing again so I hit 70mpw by September time. Is this an appropriate timescale or too much too quickly?
Mr Viper
There are two issues here - one of intra-year increases and how they are managed and the other is how you apply the quality training to increases in mileage. Then you have to factor in your running experience and the method you use to increase mileage.
Although your approach seems conservative (and it is in structure) it represents a jump from 40 to 70 in one year. If you are accompanying your training with proportional increases in quality work then I would say that's aggressive.
If you think about a multiyear progression an experienced runner may look to increase by about 10 miles year to year. It takes a long time to really be sure that a volume increase and quality work increase is the right thing to do. It's not a case of what is possible, it is what is optimal and makes you quicker. That's personal so there's no easy answer. At the end of each season there is always the question - where and how do I progress from here?
Similarly, if you were to add in 2nd runs on some days (which I like to do for reasons other than mileage purposes) then I would say it is okay to increase a bit more aggressively.
Sorry, that was just an unhelpful ramble.
Thanks Moraghan - very helpful. My initial feeling was that my mileage increase would all come from easy miles. I currently do two quality sessions a week, both with my club (total quality miles around 14) and I think that currently the proportion of quality miles to easy is a bit too high. By the time I reach 65-70 mpw this would be about right?
Would you recommend adding second runs on some days then as I approach 70 mpw (or even before?)- what is the benefit of this? I'm moving house soon so running to work would be an option to get a morning run in, in addition to an evening one. Alternatively I could fit the 70 into 6 individual runs but would this be less useful?
Mr Viper
I think your thinking is backwards. If you feel your quality component is too high then reduce it - don't increase your easy mileage to justify it and make the sums work. If I were you I'd increase volume / quality gradually and in proportion (which means at your current mileage reducing it) whilst listening to your body and see where you end up. I doubt it will be 70, but if it is then at least you've done it methodically.
2 runs.
In terms of training effect (for a marathon) one a days are better than splitting it up - assuming you are recovering sufficiently.
The reason I like 2 a days are as follows - and they have nothing to do with the goal of increasing mileage although that can be a byproduct. But the 2 a days would be additional for a marathoner.
1. On quality days. There is an Italian study that showed that percieved effort is lower in a session done 4 - 6 hours later than a run of about 30 minutes compared to no run at all prior. Apparently the earlier run results in more production of HGH which can reduced perceived effort or perhaps actually true effort. (A sleep of 30+ minutes also results in more HGH production by the pineal gland as well). So the purpose of this would be to improve your quality workouts. Anecdotally I have found a run of 2 - 3 miles sufficient and you will note many Kenyans run 3 times a day - each run seperated by 4 - 6 hours.
2. The day after quality days. Renato Canova has described his research that a run the following day after a quality workout helps to reduce resting lactate levels in the blood to a level lower than if you hadn't run. He says these should be done @ 80% of MP.
On these days I try and maximise the time between the early run and main easy run because maximising rest and recovery is the priority. It's important to remember that making the 2nd workout easier and maximising rest are two different things!
* All the above assumes you are fit enough of course!
I know I should really cut the quality work a little bit at the moment. My issue is to do this I'd have to drop a club run which I enjoy and helps alot with motivation. I guess I could drop 1 of the club runs until my mileage is a bit higher and then reintroduce at a later date.
Moraghan when you say you doubt I'll end up at 70 do you mean it's likely to be less mileage? I think once I move house at the beginning of July I'll run into work (about 3 miles) on the days when I have a quality session in the evening and see how I get on with this.
There is lots of anecdotal evidence around this idea of an easy run earlier in the day before an intense workout/race.
It can seem like you're just imagining it and just having one of those 'purple patch' days.
Even easy runs of as much as 10 miles in the morning before an evening race seems to lead to a better performance than doing nothing beforehand.
I seem to remember Mike Gratton running one of the fastest legs of the National 12-stage relays one afternoon after doing an am run of 22 miles! (Feel free to correct this, Mike, if you're reading )
However, I'm a bit stuck since I do my track sessions between 7am-8am - its a bit tricky getting the easy run in 4-6 hours earlier. Ah well, at least I get the track to myself......
I'm going to try and make do with 1 run per day for as long as possible - eke it out in terms of time/distance as much as possible before adding in more runs.
Anyway, I've been thinking about how to tackle my 10k race. I've been prioritising quality sessions in terms of the main determinants of a 10k race. Here's what I've come up with so far:
Priority 1: LT development (tempo runs)
Priority 2: 10k pace development (through longer intervals of abotu 1.5 miles)
Priority 3: VO2 max (as discussed previously, kilometre repeats at 5k pace)
If I had longer than 10 weeks I might have focussed on each aspect for longer, but right now I have to hit what's going to make me improve the most. If I have more time next year I might do month cycles where I focus on each in turn.
parkrunfan wrote (see)
Even easy runs of as much as 10 miles in the morning before an evening race seems to lead to a better performance than doing nothing beforehand.Is this true? I might try this before my 10k in May. But not as much as 10 miles, perhaps 2 or 3.
The Duckinator wrote (see)
parkrunfan wrote (see)Even easy runs of as much as 10 miles in the morning before an evening race seems to lead to a better performance than doing nothing beforehand.Is this true? I might try this before my 10k in May. But not as much as 10 miles, perhaps 2 or 3.
Indeed, certainly dont overdo it until you know what you can handle and how it works for you.
And also remember that this is in addition to the 2-3 mile warm up in the hour before the race, that would typically start at easy pace and gradually build towards 10K race pace at the end.
So you'd have something like a 12-13 mile day there.
Curly45 I noticed in your schedule you have a parkrun planned for Saturdays. How do you run this?Do you use it as a time trial?Or is it more a social run?
The end of last year I did several parkruns but due to being a bit competitive I would always race them. Stopped when upping the mileage but have now started doing them again. Question is should they not be raced especially if doing them most weeks?
Mr Viper wrote (see)
I know I should really cut the quality work a little bit at the moment. My issue is to do this I'd have to drop a club run which I enjoy and helps alot with motivation. I guess I could drop 1 of the club runs until my mileage is a bit higher and then reintroduce at a later date.
Moraghan when you say you doubt I'll end up at 70 do you mean it's likely to be less mileage? I think once I move house at the beginning of July I'll run into work (about 3 miles) on the days when I have a quality session in the evening and see how I get on with this.
You could reduce one of the club runs in length. If you want to keep the quality then do so - these are just guidelines anyway. But for these discussion purposes we should endeavour to start with best practice and then adjust away from that!
I would think it's likely to be less than 70 - purely because 0 to 70 in 18 months is a fair test of the body. At some point you're going to have a month when everything gets slower and a bit more of a struggle - we all do and it's all part of the training process, so it's unlikely to be a smooth and linear increase in mileage.
No doubt you could go to 100 this year and get the workouts done, but at the end of the day all this training is for performance. If you race slower at 65 miles a week than at 55 then all the theory in the world means bugger all and you should go back to 55. You may reach an optimal balance for 2010 and if so, stay there. By 2011 your optimal balance will likely be higher. What's optimal balance? That's the art of running.
And that's why this thread is a great idea.
I'm sure there is a pretty large group of 'middle ground' runners who actually enjoy the discovery/experimentation as a never ending fascinating journey.
I think this group is pretty much uncoachable in the traditional sense of just doing what they are told because they want to ask questions, look at things from another angle, understand the logic of whats going on etc etc Its the 'What Ifs?' that are intriguing and fun and if someone has already had the same 'what if?' and can provide some input, all the better.
There's plenty of this type of discussion on the sub 3:00 thread but its not restricted to a certain level of performance, its more to do with the facination of wanting to test your own capabilities through experimentation.........
Some people want to buy a shiny new car from a showroom and just put petrol in it whereas others buy a car and deconstruct it to see how it works, change parts to improve performance etc
Whereas Moraghan would buy the shiny new car and just put petrol in but spend hours in the kitchen with his mixing bowl trying to perfect his next fruitcake....
A fruitcake writes...
I think many runners go through phases. For 4 years I was happy with my progress running lots and doing whatever sessions my club had down. Then my progress stalled and I had a coach for 2 years to work on my marathon time. Life circumstances then meant that it was hard to commit to the sessions he was setting so for the last 4 years I have used knowledge from my coached period and what I've picked up from forums for training purposes.
It can be hard to tread a line between doing what you wish, honouring club commitments and sticking to a philisophically sound programme.
Even with Hilly, I need to keep reinforcing the logic of what her coach is setting her and why she doesn't `need more miles' because that is her default training style.
PFR - for years I've never had coaching mainly because I find it hard to stick to what someone else tells me to do. I've always been a mileage queen worrying that if I drop mileage I'd lose fitness. My running has been mainly focussed on marathon training so I built up to running twice a day seven days a week with the odd day of rest when the body felt like it rather than planned in. This worked for a long time with improvements, but the last few years I've felt tired and stale with this approach and now feel that to make further improvements I do need someone else to unlock some parts of my running that I don't seem to be able to do myself. Besides the coach now setting my sessions I also still need BR to keep me in check as I'll sometimes say I want to go for a long run What I think I'm saying in a clumsy way is that sometimes when you think you've done as much as you can by training yourself you may need to call on the expertise of a coach who may well bring a fresh approach to a stale running life.
I agree with this phases thing.
I started without having any idea what I was doing but there was a few of us at school at 16 who were inspired firstly by the Coe/Ovett/Cram rivalry but also by the incredible marathon talent that was around at the time.
I now cringe at some of the 'training' we did but if nothing else we had determination....I'm sure I hit the wall a few times in training, thinking it was normal to have to 'go through the pain barrier'. Anyway, the end result was a rather shambolic 4:12 marathon at 16.
There was no internet to learn from and magazines didnt teach you much, but trying to use what little logic I possessed I then got the time down to 3:30 over the next 12 months. 3 marathons, 3 painful collissions with The Wall!
I then left the marathon alone for a while to concentrate on shorter stuff. Then a few years later it struck me that for a 17 year old without a clue 3:30 wasnt at all bad.
It was then that I underwent some postal coaching by Frank Horwill and the next 3 marathons were 2:52, 2:51 and 2:48 just through putting the right building blocks into the training.
The 2:48 was actually a major disappointment as the Horwill approach had got me fitter than that, probably about 2;35 fitness, but because I felt as fit as a fiddle I stormed off at 5:04 for the first mile and was actually leading the 2nd biggest marathon in the country at the time....... not what you would call a conservative, sensible start to a marathon. A 1:18 first half was followed by a painful 1:30 second half. Just when I thought the Wall had been left behind years ago it was back with a vengeance!
But it is these experiences that really teach you how the body works and you also learn that you can quite easily leave off the mileage for a few weeks/months without harming your 'potential'.
So, for me coaching is the provision of information that I can disect and think about rather than being handed a schedule as such.
I also agree that you will after a while need something to renew your enthusiasm and that is often an extended break. Even if it feels like it is wasting some of the fitness that has been hard gained you still have to work on the principle that the body knows when it needs a longer break than usual and this will often show up as disillusionment.
Top class waffling there!!
Maybe, maybe.
This is all very fascinating. Hence lots of my questions on the theories behind things.
I shall lurk here, there really is a wealth of knowledge within this community.
I'm somewhat in the middle. I like the routine of being told what to do and having a plan, but also ejoy fluidity and have great interest in the bigger picture and all the sciency bits.
PRF, track at that time in the morning? Yikes
Really good thread, Curly!
Wow I go away one evening and...
Hello everyone!!!
Too much to comment on, but Zion - yes I run them just off my best (sshhh dont tell Moraghan but that makes them quality work and puts me at 3 a week)...my pb is 22:20 (done twice at different courses) but I run about 23:50 ish at the moment - my legs just will not do any more due to the track sessions so I dont push. Its a bit sad that I am still usually in the top 5 women though!
I would rather lose another session than the parkrun - its a great place to talk over ideas with other runners among other things, but I'm really not bothered about the times atm. I ran them all through my previous marathon training as my only quality session and its a great place to go and mini taper for if you need a pace 'check'.
So enjoying my day off - had the track all to myself this avo - got a great 4 miles tempo in (up from 3 miles for the last two weeks!). I love these days when it all seems so easy
Hilly I'm interested in what your coach will have to say - I wonder if the high mileage is your double edged sword at the moment and has allowed you to take the edge off things without meaning too...
Cake - where's my cake please?
You would have thought that Moraghan would have baked you a cake for your birthday, wouldnt you?
Wow, this is all getting way to indepth for a beginer like me.
Are there any good books out there that you guys feel have particularly helped you in developing the ability to write your own scedules and really understand what kind of thing you should be putting in them. Or is it all just down to experiance and experimenting with what works for you?
So from what you guys are saying if I'm only running 4 times a week only one of those sessions should really be a 'quality' work out. And if I really gradually ramp up the easy miles, maybe eventually adding extra days running, I could eventually add another days 'quality' running. Where does cross training come into all this. Is it really a big no no to try and swap an easy run for a bike ride or a session on the rower. Is it all about time on your feet?
Sorry R_B - I meant to answer then promptly forgot...
There's nothing wrong with cross training - but its also not necessary - the best thing to get better at running is more running! If you enjoy it then thats great - keep it. Also on your knees - do you use Sorbathane insoles? If not invest in a pair - they are about £18 quid and are lifesavers!
Maybe others will have ideas too but I dont think you can go too far wrong with Lore of Running bu Noakes and Advanced Marathoning by Pfitzinger. I know PRF has really enjoyed Charlie Speeding's book, but I havent read it yet!On the experience thing - some people here are very experienced - Moraghan,Hilly, Philpub, BR and PRF. The rest of us are still learning - which was kind of what this thread was all about so even if you dont feel you have stuff to add - by asking questions you are helping the rest of us learn more too!
Regarding one quality session - my choice would be marathon paced tempo for marathoners but I could be wrong on this! Also dont forget that the key focus for your week should be the LSR - so perhaps incorporating the two is the way forward...
rugger_bird -
Think of it like a brain storming session where no question is too stupid. You know the sort of thing, does standing on one leg for 10 minutes before doing a track session help you go round corners better?
On second thoughts, that was supposed to be an example of a stupid question, now I'm not so sure!
On the books front, I'd agree with the Lore Of Running by Noakes and for a really sciencey approach, Peter Coe's Training Endurance Athletes is a good reference.
I think I need to go and lie down now - I'm sure I just saw a fruitcake speeding down the M62!
If you can master the odd publishing decisions the absolute best book for building your own schedules etc is Run With The Best by Ray / Benson with the Coe book prf mentioned for the why. In fact, I think RWTB is the best book out of them all.
For me, Lore Of Running poses lots of interesting theories but is a bit short of practical advice.
Jack Daniel's Running Formula is pretty straightforward but I don't like its canned approach which makes it feel too much like an internet off the shelf schedule.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Mises Daily Articles
Did Bernanke Prevent Another Depression?
Also, retail sales came under severe pressure — year on year, the rate of growth fell from 5.2 percent in November 2007 to minus 11.5 percent by August 2008. The unemployment rate jumped from 4.4 percent in March 2007 to 10 percent by October 2009. During this period, the number of unemployed people increased from 13.389 million to 15.421 million — an increase of 2.032 million.
In response to the collapse of the key economic data and a fear of a financial meltdown, the US central bank aggressively pumped money into the banking system. As a result, the Federal Reserve balance sheet jumped from $0.884 trillion in February 2008 to $2.247 trillion in December 2008. The yearly rate of growth of the balance sheet climbed from 1.5 percent in February 2008 to 152.8 percent by December of that year. Additionally the Fed aggressively lowered the federal-funds rate target from 5.25 percent in August 2007 to almost nil by December 2008.
Despite this pumping, the growth momentum of commercial-bank lending had been declining with the yearly rate of growth falling from 11.9 percent in January 2007 to minus 5.3 percent by November 2009. As a result of the fall in the growth momentum of lending, the growth momentum of the money supply would have followed suit if not for the Fed's aggressive pumping to the commercial paper market. This pushed the yearly rate of growth of our measure of US money supply from 1.5 percent in April 2008 to 14.3 percent by August 2009.
In his speech Bernanke blamed reckless lending in the housing market and financial engineering for the economic crisis. He also acknowledged that the supervision by the Fed was inadequate. According to Bernanke, once the crises emerged the Fed had to act aggressively in order to prevent the crisis from developing into a serious economic disaster. The Fed chairman holds that a highly accommodative monetary policy helps support economic recovery and employment.
We hold that various reckless activities in the housing market couldn't have emerged without the Fed's previous reckless policies. After closing at 6.5 percent in December 2000, the federal-funds rate target was lowered to 1 percent by May 2004. The yearly rate of growth of our monetary measure, AMS, jumped from minus 0.9 percent in December 2000 to 11.5 percent by December 2001. In short, the strong increase in the growth momentum of money supply coupled with an aggressive lowering of interest rates set the platform for various bubble activities, or an economic boom.
A reversal of the Fed's loose stance put an end to the false boom and put pressure on various bubble activities. The federal-funds-rate target was lifted from 1 percent in May 2004 to 5.25 percent by June 2006. The yearly rate of growth of AMS plunged from 11.5 percent in December 2001 to 0.6 percent in May 2007. As it happened, the effect of this tightening was felt in the housing market first before it spilled over to other bubble sectors. (A tighter monetary stance slowed down the diversion of real savings toward bubble activities from wealth-generating activities.)
Contrary to Bernanke, we suggest that his loose monetary policy of August 2007 didn't save the US economy but saved various bubble activities that had come under pressure from the previous tighter monetary stance.
Note the loose monetary stance has been aggressively diverting real funding from wealth generators towards bubble activities, thereby weakening the wealth-generation process. The only reason why loose monetary policy supposedly "revived" the economy is because there are still enough wealth generators to support the Fed's reckless policy. Also, note that all the gains from the previous tighter stance have now been wasted to support bubble activities.
As long as the pool of real savings is still growing, Fed policy makers can get away with the illusion that they have saved the US and the world economies. Once the pool of real savings starts stagnating, or worse, declining, the illusory nature of the Fed's policy will be revealed — note that the economy follows the state of the pool of real savings. Any aggressive monetary policy in this case is going to make things much worse.
The actions of Bernanke to revive the economy run contrary to the basic principles of running a company. For instance, in a company of 10 departments, 8 departments are making profits and the other 2 losses. A responsible CEO will shut down or restructure the 2 departments that make losses — failing to do so will divert funding from wealth generators toward loss-making departments, thus weakening the foundation of the entire company. Without the removal or restructuring of the loss-making departments, there is the risk that the entire company could eventually go belly up. So why then should a CEO who decides to support nonprofitable activities be regarded as a failure when Bernanke and his central-bank colleagues are seen as heroes who saved the economy?
Bernanke is of the view that by pumping money he has provided the necessary liquidity to keep the financial system going. We suggest that this is false. What permits the financial sector to push ahead is real savings. The financial sector does not have a life of its own; its only role is to facilitate the real wealth that was generated by the wealth producers. Remember that banks are just intermediaries; they facilitate real savings across the economy by means of money (the medium of exchange).
By flooding the banking system with money, one doesn't create more real savings but, on the contrary, depletes the pool of real funding. Most commentators are of the view that in some cases when there is a threat of serious damage to the financial system the central bank should intervene to prevent the calamity, and this is precisely what Bernanke's Fed did.
We suggest the severe threat here is to various bubble activities that must be removed in order to allow wealth generators to get on with the job of creating wealth. If a lot of bubbles must disappear, so be it. Any policy to support bubbles, be it large banks or other institutions, will only make things much worse. As we have seen, if the pool of real savings is not there, a central-bank policy to prop up bubbles will make things much worse. After all, the Fed cannot generate real wealth.
Bernanke's policy — which amounts to the protection of inefficiency, i.e., bubble activities — runs the risk of generating a prolonged slump with occasional rallies in the data. It could be something similar to the situation in Japan (which Bernanke has in the past criticized).
Summary and Conclusion
We can conclude that, contrary to Bernanke, his loose policies didn't save the US economy from a depression but have instead damaged the process of real wealth generation.
Bernanke's loose policies have provided support to bubble activities, thereby destabilizing the economy. So in this sense his policies have saved the bubbles, thus undermining wealth generators.
We suggest that the more forceful the Fed's response to various economic indicators is, the more damage this does to the pool of real savings. This runs the risk that at some stage the United States could end up having a stagnating or worse, declining, pool of real savings.
If this were to occur, then we could end up of having a severe economic slump. If anyone needs examples in this regard, have a look at countries such as Greece, Spain, and Portugal.
Over a prolonged period of time the policies of these countries (an ever-growing government and central-bank involvement in the economy) have severely damaged the heart of economic growth — the pool of real savings.
Again, if the pool of real savings is to become stagnant, or worse, starts declining, any attempt by the Fed to make things better is going to make things actually much worse by depleting the pool of real savings or funding further. If the pool of real funding is stagnating, then no matter how much pumping the Fed does, banks will not be able to lift lending. Remember: without expanding real funding any expansion in credit could lead to financial disaster.


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After this weekend's presidential runoff election, the military and the Muslim Brotherhood are still struggling in Egypt. Is dictatorship being restored or is Egypt groping toward a fragile balance of political power? Also, Greek elections and their impact on the Euro. Later, we remember Rodney King, the face of the LA Riots, who died yesterday in Los Angeles. On our Red State-Blue State feature, Romney copes with Obama's modified Dream Act.
Banner image: Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood candidate Mohammed Morsi (C) waves amongst his supporters after the announcement of presidential election results at the electoral headquarters in Cairo on June 18, 2012. Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images


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Things You Do not Know Your Health Insurance Will Pay
Most of us expect our health insurance to pay for procedures such as yearly physical examination and examination of children. If you are not very familiar with your policy, you can lose and pay out of pocket to get prescriptions and procedures that are often covered. Of course, what's covered will vary from policy to policy and state to state, but it's always worth it to call customer service numbers on the back of your card to research further. Read on for information on some procedures and services that are often completely free.
Medical equipment
Things You Do not Know Your Health Insurance Will Pay
If you break your legs or hips, you expect your health insurance to cover your hospital visits and the necessary surgery. However, it can also help take care of you once you leave the hospital. If you look under the durable medical equipment section of your reach, you may notice that the crutches and wheelchairs are covered, as are some of the fake limbs. Below this section, nursing mothers can even buy breast pumps more than 90 percent, saving hundreds of dollars.
Pregnancy Prevention Surgery
If you are ready for a more permanent birth control option than oral, injection or physical birth control, you may consider alternative lung tube for women and vasectomy for men. Most people assume that they have to pay for their own procedures, but in most cases, your health insurance will pay the bills. This is because pregnancy prevention surgery will ultimately save you insurance money in the long run.
Non-Western Medicine
If your normal doctor does not offer the medication you need, you might consider alternative treatments such as acupuncture, massage therapy, herbal supplements, or chiropractic services. Many of these services and procedures can be covered by your insurance. You can also use your health savings account to pay for acupuncture as long as your doctor prescribes it.
Gym membership
Slowly but surely, many major insurance companies work to make the sport more attractive to their customers by offering discount gym membership. This is because clients who exercise regularly tend not to suffer from medical ailments like diabetes and heart disease. Investing in a gym membership will ultimately pay off for your insurance company from time to time.
Sleep Study
Are you struggling to fall asleep? Most doctors will provide sleep aids, but your insurance may provide the resources you need to address the root of the problem. You may be able to participate in a sleep study that may reveal whether something like sleep apnea or restless leg syndrome keeps you awake at night, and both of these problems can be treated with treatment.
Nurse 24/7
Many health insurance companies provide their members a toll free number where they can talk to nurses enrolled 24 hours a day. This is great if you face mild medical problems late at night or just have questions about treatment that need to be answered before morning.
Always be sure to check your policy before you pay for any procedures or recipes. Nothing tastes better than saving for your health! Things You Do not Know Your Health Insurance Will Pay


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Confessions of a Mercenary
Since Ji and I got back from Winterspring, I've had a lot on my mind. Everyone could tell we'd been injured – nothing major, but enough to catch people's attention, especially considering how concerned everyone has been about me the last few weeks. I hadn't really planned to talk to anyone about what happened while we were up there. I still prefer not to. But after Krog had another run-in with an attacker the other day, people are going to keep asking more and more questions. So I think it's time for me to start filling in some blanks.
The blanks start long before Winterspring.
Years ago, before I'd come to Orgrimmar, I was part of a mercenary group called the Veiled Blade. On one of our jobs, we had been hired to acquire the spellbook of a dragonkin in Blackrock Spire named Lord Valthalak, one of Nefarian's lieutenants in those days. As often happens with these kinds of things, that involved killing him. Mostly, anyway. Trouble is, though, between Nefarian's forces and his alliance at the time with Rend Blackhand's Blackrock orcs, getting to Valthalak and killing him wasn't going to be an easy task.
That's where we cut a deal. As it turns out, not all the Blackrock orcs where exactly thrilled with Rend putting them in Nefarian's service…and, long story short, we managed to come to an arrangement with Rend's head of security – an orc named Malkorok. He would deliberately leave prearranged gaps in the guard patrols leading to Valthalak. We would slip in, kill him, collect what we came for, and get out. We get in and out with a minimum of fuss. Malkorok gets a pocket full of gold and the satisfaction of knowing the dragons had been weakened, for whenever Rend finally turned on them like Malkorok assumed he eventually would.
That was the plan. And it mostly worked. We went in, we killed Valthalak, we got the spellbook. But we also collected an enchanted amulet from him, and after no small amount of infighting, we divided it into pieces and split it among some members of the group. Don't ask me what the appeal would be of getting a piece of an amulet; I wasn't one of the ones fighting over it. And the ones who did… Well, Valthalak wasn't quite as dead as we'd assumed. His spirit lived on, and it sent spectral assassins after those of us who'd been involved in stealing the amulet. Again, I'm not sure why the big to-do about the amulet; in his shoes, I probably would have been angrier at us for killing him than for taking his favorite piece of jewelry. Maybe it's a dragon thing.
One by one, the members of the Veiled Blade started to be picked off by the spectral assassins. Soon enough, there were only three of us left: me, a dwarf named Theldren, and a human named Deliana. We all went into hiding – me in Orgrimmar, Theldren in Blackrock Depths, Deliana in Ironforge. Separately, and quietly, Deliana and I started to recruit Horde and Alliance adventurers to gather the pieces of the amulet and put Valthalak's spirit to rest. It took some time, but it worked. For a while.
That changed a couple weeks ago when I was walking through the Drag with Ji, and a new batch of spectral assassins came out of nowhere and killed me.
From the look of things on the blog after Garrosh reported the attack, some people were pretty quick to put two and two together and figure that Malkorok had been behind it. Truth be told, I was only too happy to let him take the blame. And for those of you who've wondered, now you can see a little better why he and I have bad blood between us. Now maybe you have a notion of why I don't trust him. I know he can be bought. Because I was one of the ones who bought him.
As for why I wouldn't have told anyone any of this until now…well, that's where things start to get complicated. TL;DR alert in advance: This may be a long story.


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School lunches need more fruits, veggies and whole grains and a limit on calories, says a report urging an update of the nation's 14-year-old standards for cafeteria fare.
But the changes won't come cheaply.
Schools can't put just anything on a kid's lunch tray. They must follow federal standards, because the government's school lunch program subsidizes lunch and breakfast for needy kids in nearly every public school and many private ones.
Yet those standards are lacking, according to an Institute of Medicine report released Tuesday. They don't restrict the number of calories kids are offered, even though childhood obesity keeps climbing.
And they don't match up with the government's own dietary guidelines, which serve as the basis for the familiar Food Pyramid and were updated in 2005. They call for lots of fresh fruit and veggies and more whole grains.
"Today, overweight children outnumber undernourished children, and childhood obesity is often referred to as an epidemic in both the medical and community settings," Virginia Stallings, who chaired the report committee, wrote.
The proposed standards won't be cheap. The committee said breakfast prices could soar 20 percent, and lunch prices could rise by 4 percent.
That's daunting for school kitchens, which get less from the government, $2.68, than it actually costs to make each free lunch, about $2.92, according to a recent survey done by the School Nutrition Association. Combine that with rising food and fuel prices, and school kitchens are feeling the squeeze. Many have been raising prices for full-price meals.
The federal dollars "simply do not keep pace with rising costs on everything from food and labor to napkins and spoons," Dora Rivas, president of the association and head of food and nutrition in Dallas public schools, said in a statement last week.
The group is pressuring Congress to boost spending on school lunches. The Institute of Medicine committee agreed, saying the reimbursement should be raised to cover the cost of adding more fruits and veggies to the menu and substituting healthier whole grains for refined grains.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the Obama administration would review the report as it writes new rules for school meals.
The report proposed new standards according to grade levels _ kindergarten through five, six through eight and nine through 12. Among the recommendations:
_ Each week, kids should be offered 2 1/2 to 5 servings of fruit for lunch, depending on their grade, and at least five servings of fruit for breakfast. No more than half the fruit servings should be juice.
_ Kids should be offered 1 1/4 to 2 1/2 servings of vegetables for lunch, according to the report, which says that a half-cup of dark green and bright orange veggies and legumes like beans should be offered at lunch.
_ And kids should be offered nine to 13 servings of grain for lunch and seven to 10 servings of grain for breakfast, the report said. At least half of those servings should be whole whole grains such as whole wheat bread, oatmeal and brown rice.
That is what they should be offered _ under the proposed standards, a kid would be allowed to turn down some items in the cafeteria line as long as they still took a certain number of fruits, juices or veggies to their seats.
The current standards only set minimum calorie levels, but the report says there should be a ceiling on calories, too. Lunch should be no more than 650 to 850 calories, and breakfast should be no more than 500 to 600 calories, depending on grade, the report said.
The Institute of Medicine is part of the National Academies, an independent organization chartered by Congress to advise the government on scientific matters. (lasvegassun, 10.19.2009) http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/oct/19/report-students-need-more-veggies-fewer-calories
On the Net:
Institute of Medicine: http://www.iom.edu


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The Russian Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft, known by its US designation of 28S, undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) and landed safely in Kazakhstan Friday morning after a five and a half month stay in space, carrying three crewmembers of the ISS crew back to Earth and beginning the Expedition 31 mission aboard the station.
Soyuz TMA-22 background:
The Soyuz TMA-22/28S spacecraft launched to the ISS on 14th November last year, with a docking to the ISS at the Mini Research Module-2 (MRM-2) Zenith port two days later on 16th November, delivering American astronaut Dan Burbank, and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin to the ISS to serve on the Expedition 29 and 30 missions.
The launch – which was the first crewed launch since the retirement of the Space Shuttle last July and the first crewed launch since the failure of the Progress M-12M spacecraft last August – put an end to fears of a need to decrew the ISS in light of the grounding of the Soyuz booster after the August Progress failure.
The Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft is also the last in the line of TMA (200 series) variant Soyuzes, as all Soyuzes hereafter will be of the newer TMA-M (700 series) variant, AKA "digital" Soyuzes. Thus, when Soyuz TMA-22 leaves space Friday morning, it will mark the last time that the venerable TMA variant of the Soyuz is in space.
Despite arriving at the ISS roughly one and a half months late due to delays associated with the August Progress M-12M failure, Soyuz TMA-22 will still be departing the ISS after the usual duration of five and a half months on-orbit, since the spacecraft's stay on the ISS was extended by roughly one and a half months due to delays relating to the accidental overpressurisation of Soyuz TMA-22's replacement vehicle – Soyuz TMA-04M/30S.
The Soyuz TMA-22 landing was scheduled for 30th April, but was moved forward three days to the 27th April due to upcoming Russian holidays.
Undocking and landing:
After saying goodbye to their crewmates remaining on the ISS, the three Soyuz TMA-22 crewmembers entered their spacecraft a few hours prior to undocking. Following which the removal of docking clamps holding the Soyuz onto the ISS, followed by hatch closure between the Soyuz and ISS, the depressurisation and subsequent leak checks of the vestibule between the two hatches was conducted.
The Soyuz TMA-22 crew – in their Sokol launch and entry suits – then strapped into the Descent Module for landing.
Handover of ISS attitude control to the Russian Segment (RS) of the ISS was conducted, maneuvering the ISS under Russian Service Module (SM) control to the undocking attitude (90 degrees pitch up from LVLH), along with the issuing of the ISS free drift command, allowing Soyuz TMA-22 to undock from the MRM-2 Zenith port at 8:15 AM GMT.
Soyuz TMA-22 – flown by Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov and Soyuz Flight Engineers Anatoly Ivanishin and Dan Burbank – then conducted a 15 second separation burn to place the spacecraft on a trajectory away from the ISS.
Around two and a half hour later, during which time the ISS will maneuver back to its normal attitude, Soyuz TMA-22 conducted a roughly four and a half minute de-orbit burn at 10:49 AM GMT, placing the spacecraft on a sub-orbital trajectory with its perigee (lowest point) inside Earth's atmosphere.
The next event came at 11:18 AM GMT, with tri-module separation of the Soyuz's Orbital Module (BO), Descent Module (SA) and Instrumentation & Propulsion Module (PAO). Entry interface into Earth's atmosphere will occurred three minutes later at 11:21 AM GMT, during which Soyuz TMA-22's SA protected its precious cargo of humans and experiment downmass from the fiery heat of re-entry.
Following nine minutes of re-entry, parachute deployment occurred at 11:30 AM GMT, followed finally by landing 11:45 AM GMT near the town of Araklyk in Kazakhstan. The crew will then later be extracted from the Soyuz and flown by helicopter to a nearby airfield, with the Soyuz TMA-22 crew then parting ways after six months together, with Russians Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin heading by aircraft to Moscow, and American Dan Burbank doing a "direct return" to Houston, Texas via a NASA aircraft.
Click here for ISS News Articles: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/tag/iss/
Hardware replacements and modifications:
In the past few days, a couple of hardware replacements and modifications have been made to the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft in order to get it ready to depart the ISS.
The first, performed on Tuesday, related to the KhSA Cooler/Dehumidifier Assembly fan box inside the Descent Module, which on 15th March had deactivated, thus requiring it to be Removed & Replaced (R&Rd) for undocking and landing. Steps included removal of the old fan box and installation of a new one in its place, hooking up cables to the new fan box, and telemetry checkouts.
The second modification, also performed on Tuesday in the Descent Module, related to the Anatoly Ivanishin's personal seat liner for his Kazbek couch – specifically the headrest and lower section.
During a recent Kazbek couch fit check, a standard procedure conducted before all Soyuz landings, Ivanishin noted that he was having difficulty fitting into his customised seat liner, a problematic issue for landing since the seat liners help cushion crewmembers from the impact of touchdown.
As such, the crew were asked to reduce the thickness of the foam at the top of the head and around the hip area of the seat liner, using the "makita electric jig saw, a serrated knife, regular knife, hand hacksaw, cutter and lots of US grey tape", in order to improve the fit.
On Wednesday, another fit check was performed to verify the issue is now resolved, this time using a ruler to measure clearances.
Expedition 31 begins:
As soon as Soyuz TMA-22 undocks from the ISS, Expedition 30 will end and Expedition 31 will begin, with Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko as ISS Commander, having assumed command from Dan Burbank earlier this week, and American astronaut Don Pettit and European astronaut André Kuipers as Flight Engineers.
Despite being at three crew operations until the Soyuz TMA-04M/30S spacecraft arrives on 17th May with three additional Expedition 31 crewmembers – Russians Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin, and American Joe Acaba – the three-person Expedition 30 crew will nevertheless be extremely busy over the next few weeks.
As currently scheduled – as much as the date remains only a No Earlier Than (NET) date – the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft is set to launch on its inaugural flight to the ISS on 7th May, for a capture and berthing to the ISS three days later on 10th May – to be performed by Don Pettit and André Kuipers. As such, both Pettit and Kuipers will be busy over the coming weeks brushing up on their "track and capture" skills using onboard robotics simulators.
While the current schedule calls for Dragon to launch and berth to the ISS prior to the Soyuz TMA-04M launch, if SpaceX deicide they need more time to fully test Dragon's complex software, NASA may decide to wait until after the Soyuz TMA-04M launch and docking to launch the Dragon – meaning Dragon would arrive at the ISS will a full crew of six aboard the station.
In addition to the first ever visit of a commercial spacecraft to the ISS, other tasks for Expedition 31 include the usual heavy schedule of scientific research activities aboard the station, along with standard systems maintenance and repairs. Expedition 31 will end with the undocking and landing of Soyuz TMA-03M/29S on 1st July.
(Images: L2's ISS and Russian Sections – Containing presentations, videos, images, interactive high level updates and more, with additional images via NASA, CSA and NASA TV).
(Click here: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/ – to view how you can access the best space flight content on the entire internet).


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Schwarzenegger Workout
Are You Man Enough For Arnie's Workout?
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If there's one man who has truly left his mark on the world of bodybuilding, Arnold Schwarzenegger is that man. And if you know no one else in the bodybuilding industry, you know Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not only is he well-known for his unbeatable muscular physique back in the day when he competed, but he's also been a great inspiration to many. What's more is that his legendary workout advice from the past still holds true today. If you adopt his approach to training, you're right on the mark for making some serious progress.Arnold once said, "You'll find, as I did, that building muscle builds you up in every part of your life." This statement pretty much sums up his overall attitude toward his time spent in the gym; you have to give it everything you've got in order to see results. "Bodybuilders who have to force themselves to go to the gym and work out will never achieve the kind of success possible for those who can't wait to hit the gym and start pumping iron," Arnold stated in The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding.
Let's take a look at Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout routine and how he left his mark on the bodybuilding industry.
"Bodybuilding is much like any other sport. To be successful, you must dedicate yourself 100% to your training, diet and mental approach."Schwarzenegger's philosophy was that bodybuilding is not a single-event endeavor. If you really want to see success, you must focus on all three components including your training program, your nutritional intake and your mental approach.
Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout routine was built, in part, on his firm belief that it is essential to get the right nutritional strategies underway. He stated that in order to build muscle, you must fill your body full of quality nutrients. You should never slack off and turn to junk food to fill the calorie void. If you want to build lean, solid muscle, quality nutrition is key.
On the fat-loss side of things, one of the biggest strategies in Arnold Schwarzenegger's workout routine was calorie cycling. This involved having some higher calorie days interspersed with some lower calorie days in order to prevent his metabolism from slowing down.
He advised that on any calorie-reduced diet, if you went long enough you would see your metabolism slowing down, making further fat loss incredibly difficult.
Set your average calorie target for the week and then stagger your calories with both high- and low-caloric days.
For more of the theories behind Schwarzenegger's workout routine, keep reading…


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"As you will see from yesterday we talked about the importance of language. So I'm thinking of challenging the title PIP. I think it should remain Disability Living Allowance, after all that's what it's about, disabled People's extra cost of living. It shouldn't not based on independence (defined by professionals) conditionality.
The condition that one should become "personally independent", which is likely to be defined in a medical model way, will not result in the independence disabled People have demanded over the years (i.e. independent living is about having choice and control over your life like that of non disabled people.
It includes all things in your life like work, education, raising your family, leisure, personal mobility etc) If the government want to continue encouraging us take responsibility over our lives, then they must give us the right to make our own decisions as to how DLA money should be spent.
It must not be measured by able-bodied people's assumptions as to what it is to be independent. Could you ask your networks what they think. I believe disabled people want to keep disability living allowance as a universal allowance.
We want to continue the principle that once you become eligible it is left up to you (personal responsibility) as to how you spend it to minimising the extra costs of being a disabled person, therefore we shouldn't be constantly reassessed as to how our so called independence is going. I'm thinking of demanding we keep the language that means disability living. And as we know, living must be defined by the person whose life it is. (Disabled people are the experts in their own situation)
I could put this down as an amendment, but I need support from the outside world, to make it important and powerful.


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Check our downloads page at http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/ for information about the current version of MySQL and for downloading instructions. For a complete up-to-date list of MySQL download mirror sites, see http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mirrors.html. You can also find information there about becoming a MySQL mirror site and how to report a bad or out-of-date mirror.
To obtain the latest development source, see Section 2.11.3, "Installing MySQL from a Development Source Tree".


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The Multiple Listing Service (MLS) requires that we only provide sold data to our registered customers. This allows us to provide you with reports that are more reliable then other sites, that may rely only on public records or tax data. You'll have access to the same data as real estate professionals.
Click here to create a free account or login


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Stanford star Chiney Ogwumike became the top overall pick in the WNBA draft Monday, two years after sister Nneka Ogwumike was taken first by the Los Angeles Sparks.
The Connecticut Sun grabbed the 6-foot-3 Chiney with the first selection in Uncasville, Conn., as the Ogwumike sisters joined Payton and Eli Manning as the only siblings to become No. 1 picks in American major pro sports.
But the younger Ogwumike didn't expect it to happen, revealing a new side of one of the greatest players in Stanford history.
"I didn't have confidence, but Nneka said, 'I told you so,' " Ogwumike said shortly after the selection. "She always has confidence."
The three-time All-American never seemed to lack confidence while taking the leadership role after Nneka Ogwumike graduated in 2012. Chiney Ogwumike left Stanford as the Pac-12's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, passing former Cardinal stars Candice Wiggins and Kayla Pedersen in those categories this season.
The Texan led Stanford (33-4) to the women's Final Four, where it fell to eventual champion Connecticut in the semifinals in Nashville, Tenn.
"I still think people have more confidence in me than I do in myself," Ogwumike said. "That's one thing I worked with my coaches at Stanford. But it's pretty cool to feel that way."
Now she will be expected to expand her game with so many strong forwards in the WNBA. Connecticut coach Anne Donovan recently said Ogwumike will have to develop a midrange shot to be effective.
"Now I have no other choice," Ogwumike said. "Before I knew I could stay in my comfort zone. You grow when you get outside of your comfort zone. Now it is time for me to keep working and just show it."
Ogwumike, who Friday won the John R. Wooden award as college player of the year, knows developing a perimeter game is the path to her ultimate goal: winning an Olympic gold medal with her sister.
"Striving for that goal has made us better players," Ogwumike said.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer told the forward, "You're going to have to get outside the block to make the Olympics."
Ogwumike became the 11th Stanford player to earn a first-round pick in the WNBA draft -- the sixth in seven years. She is one of 22 Cardinal players to get drafted into the league that opens the 2014 season next month.
Ogwumike also kept alive a remarkable tradition. She is the fourth Stanford athlete from the Houston area to become a No. 1 pick in the past three years. Quarterback Andrew Luck joined Nneka Ogwumike as 2012 top picks while pitcher Mark Appel had the distinction last year.
The Tulsa Shock took Baylor guard Odyssey Sims second while the San Antonio Stars got Notre Dame guard Kayla McBride at No. 3. Maryland's Alyssa Thomas went fourth to the New York Liberty, while Florida State's Natasha Howard went to Indiana to round out the top five. The Sun also took Hayward native Chelsea Gray of Duke at No. 11.
The Chicago Sky took Cal's Gennifer Brandon at No. 22.
The Seattle Storm used the 31st pick to take Stanford's Mikaela Ruef, who Monday night sounded giddy.
"It was so surreal, it was crazy," she said. "I don't care it was almost the last pick. I'm so thankful. I can't even believe this."
The fifth-year senior, who got her master's degree in engineering this year, didn't expect to get drafted. But her outstanding play that led the Cardinal in the Final Four caught the scouts' attention.
"I knew since I played well in the tournament there was a chance," the 6-3 Ruef said.
Brandon, Cal's all-time leading rebounder, is a 6-2 forward known for her jumping and rebounding ability. She was the No. 22 overall pick despite missing part of her senior season for personal reasons.
She returned to the court at the start of Pac-12 play, averaging 8.2 points and 8.5 rebounds to help the Bears reach the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Brandon was watching the draft with some Cal teammates when Reshanda Gray noticed her teammate's name pop up on the TV.
"I was speechless," Brandon said. "I was at a loss for words. It was a wonderful feeling."
Brandon is the second WNBA draft pick out of Cal in the past two years and fourth overall. Last April, guard Layshia Clarendon was the ninth overall pick by the Indiana Fever.
Brandon said she didn't go into draft day with any expectations about where she'd be drafted or if she'd even be drafted at all.
"Any team that chose me I was going to be thankful for regardless," Brandon said. "Numbers don't mean anything as long as I hear my name."
Brandon plans to finish up her degree in American Studies before heading to training camp with the Sky.
She returned to the court at the start of Pac-12 play, averaging 8.2 points and 8.5 rebounds to help the Bears reach the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Brandon is the second WNBA draft pick out of Cal in the past two years and fourth overall. Last April, guard Layshia Clarendon was the ninth overall pick by the Indiana Fever.
DeNesha Stallworth, who began her college career at Cal before transferring to Kentucky after her sophomore season, was also drafted.
Stallworth, a 6-3 forward and Pinole Valley High graduate, was the first pick of the third round at No. 25 overall by the Sun.


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Norway Spruce (Picea abies)
Norway Spruce Species Description
These plants are from foreign areas (those that occur outside of North America north of Mexico) that have been released intentionally or unintentionally. Plants that have been disseminated or escaped as a result of human activity, and become established somewhere within the United States, Canada or Greenland.
Allergenicity: No allergy has been reported for Norway Spruce (Picea abies) species.
Pollination: Occurs in following seasons depending on latitude and elevation: Spring.
Gymnosperm: Any plant such as a conifer whose seeds are not enclosed in an ovary.
Tree: A large plant, not exactly defined, but typically over four meters in height, a single trunk which grows in girth with age and branches (which also grow in circumference with age).
Weed: Any plant growing in cultivated ground to the injury of the crop or desired vegetation, or to the disfigurement of the place; an unsightly, useless, or injurious plant.
Perennial: Living for many years.
Woody Stem: Non-herbaceous. Lignified.
Evergreen: Retaining leaves throughout the year including changing seasons.
Norway Spruce Species Usage
Pharmacological: Used in medicine or pharmacological research.
Related Links
More Norway Spruce (Picea abies) imagesby Jessie M. Harris from BONAP


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If you keep your system defraged on a regular basis, it's possible to recover. Deleted inode blocks can last for a long time. If you do delete a file by mistake, make sure you put your system on a safe state right away, meaning, stop all processes, go into a single user mode and unmount the partition. Then make a copy of the file system on that partition using the dd(1) command. Bring your system to a multi user mode again and start your search.
name_of_deleted_file -n recover.dsk |fgrep "directory:0:1"
You will probably get a few versions of the deleted file, so make sure you look at the attributes, dates and etc..
My 2 cents worth...


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Pantalone (Pantaloon)
This is the best-known of the Venetian masks. From its first appearance amongst the theatrical commedia dell'arte companies, Pantaloon "the Magnificent" spoke in unadulterated Venetian dialect. It is said his name derives from San Pantaleone, one of the city's most venerated saints after whom a church is even named. Others say the name comes from "Piantaleoni" referring to the merchants who went to "plant the lion" of San Marco in conquered lands, places where it was possible to establish new trade. Grevembroch affirms that the term is even older and stems from a Greek expression, "Panda Leonda" meaning "Powerful in all things".
Pantaloon is an old merchant, often very rich and highly esteemed by the nobility, but sometimes a merchant in ruin (Pantalon de' Bisognosi). In either case he is still a very special old man because despite his age he is still capable of making amorous advances which never conclude in a positive way.
He is a hard-nosed businessman, to the point of sacrificing the happiness of his sons and family harmony just so he can arrange some advantageous marriage.
The costume consists of a Greek woolen cap, a red jacket, short belted breeches with a sword, or a hanky or a bag hanging form the belt. He wears a black cloak over his shoulders lined with red on the inside, black slippers or Turkish babouches with the ends pointing upwards. The mask reveals a large hooked nose, accentuated eyebrows and a curious goaty beard, which he usually strokes with his fingers.
The Pantaloon costume is amongst the most popular during the carnival period in that it was a mask that represented something extra – at a time when the nobility was losing itself to luxury and frivolities, Pantaloon represents a commercial mind and a business acumen that was starting to take off amongst the Venetian bourgeoisie.


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In the Walker list of 'World's Most Beautiful Cars', Maserati's divine Quattroporte sedan always sits close to the top.
But there's a new Quattroporte on its way to the States. It'll make its global debut at the Detroit auto show in January and land in showrooms in the second quarter of 2013.
Will this newcomer still stay on my 'Most Beautiful' list? Judging from the few photos Maserati has mailed out, the answer is an enthusiastic 'yes'. It may just be even more gorgeous than the current car.
Seems there are even more sweeps, swoops and curves, plus the most stunning body crease that runs below the window line and takes this dramatic upward sweep over the rear wheels. Magical.
The trademark Maserati grille is thankfully largely unchanged along with the trio of side vents on the front fender, plus the triangular-shaped rear pillar. But the rest is fresh and new. The redesigned front end, with its cats-eyes headlights and sculpted hood, is just jaw-dropping.
It also helps that the new car has been stretched in length, which heightens the elegance and stance. As most of the extra inches have been added to the wheelbase, it also means more welcome legroom in the rear.
Maserati is keeping most of the key technical details for the Detroit Show reveal, but we've heard the new Quattroporte will be significantly lighter than the outgoing car, thanks to its aluminum construction.
Under that sculptured hood there's a new Ferrari-built V-8, reckoned to be a modified version of the 453-horsepower 4.7-liter V-8 that powers the latest Gran Turismo coupe and convertible. The new motor is expected to be even more powerful, yet more fuel efficient, thanks to fuel-saving stop-start technology and a new 8-speed ZF automatic.
We also know Maserati is developing an all-wheel drive version for the car, expected some time in 2014, to increase its appeal especially in the snowy North East. Expect a more sporty S and GTS models around the same time.
This new Quattroporte is part of Maserati's bold – but frankly rather ambitious – plan to boost annual global sales to around 50,000 units by 2015. To help them achieve this, in the works are a smaller, BMW 5-series-rivaling sedan called the Ghibli, together with a new Jeep Grand Cherokee-based SUV called Levante.
Me? I just can't wait to see the new Quattroporte in the metal and re-positioning it even higher on my beauty list.


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Systems Performance: Enterprise and the CloudBy Brendan Gregg Pearson/Prentice Hall ProfessionalOct 16, 2013, 792 pp.ISBN-10: 0133390098; ISBN-13: 9780133390094Print Book Price: US$45.20eBook Price: $27.49Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud is a must-have reference guide for any IT manager or sysadmin whose job involves working with computer systems that are tethered to the cloud.
Author Brendan Gregg is no newcomer to writing definitive books on computer networks and system performance, but his latest release could well be his best work so far. Gregg received the 2013 LISA Award for Outstanding Achievement in System Administration. He is lead performance engineer at Joyent; before that, he was a Solaris kernel engineer at Sun Microsystems.
Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud is a detailed guide to optimizing systems performance. It treats a topic of immense importance in today's enterprise computing environments. Large-scale enterprise, cloud and virtualized computing environments face serious new challenges.
Gregg's latest book addresses these issues by bringing together methodologies, tools and metrics for analyzing and tuning system performance. His primer for getting the best possible system performance focuses primarily on Linux and Unix platforms.
Gregg makes ample references to key Linux distros such as Ubuntu, Fedora and CentOS. He also concentrates on Solaris and its derivatives. He doesn't ignore related issues relevant to all operating systems, however.
Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud fills a void by providing reliable and practical information to IT professionals responsible for running these systems efficiently and cost-effectively. It offers a solution to guiding practitioners looking for state-of-the-art techniques and tools for analyzing and tuning large-scale cloud computing environments.
A Measured Approach
Any doubts as to Gregg's success in creating the decade's classic expose on system performance is quickly dispelled in his first chapter. This introduction to system performance summarizes key concepts and provides numerous examples of needed performance activities.
Chapter 2 follows up these examples with a background for performance analysis and tuning. It establishes a framework for understanding terminology, concepts and models.
Yet Gregg does not restrict his discussion to just these factors. He also includes methodologies for observation and experimentation, capacity planning, analysis and statistics.
Chapter 3 delves into the essentials of kernel internals for the performance analyst. By the end of this chapter, Gregg has established a foundation for interpreting and understanding what the operating system is doing.
Applied Strategies
In the rest of the 13 chapters, Gregg goes through subsets of system components to provide a deeper understanding of how hardware and cloud interaction impacts overall system performance. This discourse starts with the types of system-observability tools available and the interfaces and frameworks built upon them.
The discussion progresses from there to application-performance topics and how to observe them from the operating system. Next Gregg tackles processors cores, hardware threads, CPU caches, CPU interconnects and kernel scheduling. Following that is a discussion of the significance of virtual memory, paging, swapping, memory architectures, buses, address spaces and allocators.
In Chapters 8 and 9 Gregg dissects file system I/O performance and discusses the different caches involved. Then he covers storage devices, disk I/O workloads, storage controllers, RAID and the kernel I/O subsystem. Chapter 10 brings the system disclosures to a close with a review of network protocols, sockets, interfaces and physical connections.
Advanced Treatments
Gregg leaps from local hardware to the essentials of cloud computing in Chapter 11. He introduces operating-system and hardware-based virtualization methods commonly used for cloud computing and explains their performance overhead, isolation and observability characteristics.
Chapter 12 brings the significance of all this build-up to a head in a presentation on benchmarking. Gregg shows how to benchmark accurately and how to interpret others' benchmark results, with a focus on ways to avoid common mistakes.
The book concludes with a systems performance case study that shows the process of analyzing a real cloud customer issue.
Balances and Complete
Systems Performance: Enterprise and the Cloud is a modern and very comprehensive guide that covers all the aspects of system performance. Gregg covers this material in a way that presents a solid balance between being too simple and offering too many details.
Gregg's explanations set the standard for understanding today's computing systems as it extends to the clouds. You will not find his approach overwhelming. Instead, it is articulate and inspiring.


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'Cold' Carriers to up travel time for transplant hearts
You cannot blame transplant surgeons for having high BP. After all, speeding in an ambulance across the city, removing a beating heart (or liver or lung) from a brain-dead patient, putting it in a box of saline and rushing back before the organ gets infected or stops beating... and then operating for 6-12 hours, cannot be good for the nerves.
The heart transplant team at Global Health City may be able to breathe a little easier soon, when they procure new organ transportation cases that are equipped with cold perfusion technology. "Right now, the organs are carried in sterilized boxes with ice and saline, which keep the organ usable for up to four hours. But the battle against time is a constant worry," said Dr R Ravi Kumar, senior interventional cardiologist at the hospital.
Despite its having the best organ transplant programme in the country, at least a 100 harvested organs go to waste every year, rued cardiologist Dr Nandkishore Kapadia at the inauguration of Global's Heart Failure Clinic on Wednesday. Most of it is because the organ gets infected before it reaches the recipient.
In contrast, the cold perfusion boxes will keep feeding the heart cold nutrients that circulate inside the blood-pumping organ, allowing it to stay alive and fresh for longer. "Studies have indicated that these cases will be able to keep harvested cadaver hearts alive for up to nine hours," he added about the boxes which have been procured at a cost of `60 lakh. (more than $100,000 U.S.)
While the additional time will make it easier for ambulance drivers who battle the city's traffic every day, what it really does is open up the possibility of procuring organs from further south. "At the moment, we struggle to procure organs from Tiruchy, which is about three hours away through our 'green corridor'. With the advantage of these boxes, we may be able to receive organs from places like Coimbatore soon," said Dr Ravi.
Global's Heart Failure Clinic brings together the whole gamut of heart services from elective surgeries to emergencies in one department and is among the few of its kind in the country.
Source: By
April is Organ Donor Month
"You Have the Power to Donate Life – Sign-up today! Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision"
Donor Registration Links in your home country


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Press Release: People v. Braun, Christopher Allen, 1/28/11
January 28, 2011
R. Scott Owens
District Attorney
10810 Justice Center Drive, Suite 240
Roseville, California 95678
For Immediate Release
Date: January 28, 2011
Art Campos
Public Information Officer
Jeff Wilson
Assistant District Attorney
A former Florida resident who is described as a "con artist" by a Placer County prosecutor has been sent to state prison for a series of crimes, including one in which he had two female victims stalked while he was sitting in a jail cell.
While incarcerated in the Placer County jail, Christopher Allen Braun, 27, gave out the address and code numbers of a woman's Granite Bay home so that his friends and former jail inmates could get into a gated community and defeat the home's alarm system.
The unwanted visits by Braun's friends have shaken the 51-year-old owner so badly that she is now trying to sell the house, said prosecutor Charlotte Baillie of the Placer County District Attorney's Office.
The crimes came to light on January 12 when Braun pled no contest to felony charges of stalking and identity theft before Placer County Superior Court Judge Frances Kearney, who then sentenced him to two years and eight months in a state prison.
Braun also pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge of violating a restraining order, and he admitted that he had violated his felony probation.
The defendant was on probation and was serving a 300-day jail term in another case in which he had been convicted on three felony counts of theft.
Baillie said Braun came into the lives of three women last summer when he began dating one of the female victims, who was 27.
In August, the two moved into an apartment with an 85-year-old woman, and Braun paid the rent with a check in which he forged his girlfriend's name without her knowledge.
A month later, Braun, who often posed as a military intelligence officer and wore military clothing to continue that ruse, and his girlfriend moved in with the girlfriend's 51-year-old aunt, who lived in a gated community in Granite Bay.
After the girlfriend broke up with Braun, the women learned that Braun had used the aunt's personal information in an attempt to obtain credit cards, Baillie said.
Braun was eventually convicted of the theft-related charges and was sent to jail. But while sitting behind bars, Braun told fellow inmates that he was rich and owned the Granite Bay home.
He gave them the secret code numbers to open the gates and deactivate the house alarm, telling the inmates and other friends they could stay at the house whenever they felt and that they could use the vehicles parked there.
His actions resulted in the felony charge of stalking, Baillie said.
The charge of identity theft was a result of Braun conning a fellow jail inmate into giving him personal information such as the inmate's social security number, driver's license number, birthdate and mother's maiden name.
Baillie said Braun's former girlfriend has since moved from the Granite Bay home and that the aunt, who is the true owner, is trying to sell the house because of the frightening and unwanted visits by the defendant's friends.


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I think Google is testing a new search interface. I don't like it. How can I get the old Google search interface back? I've heard stories about setting cookies to enable certain unreleased features; can I do the the same to disable this one?
The new search interface replaces the search results sidebar menu with one on top and also increases the results' font size:
I can get the old interface back by browsing in private mode or using a different browser (clearing cookies does not work.):


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Official websites use .mil
Secure .mil websites use HTTPS
By Samantha L. Quigley , American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON (June 30, 2008) – Iraq is enjoying some substantial political, and economic progress in addition to better security, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq said during an interview on CNN's "Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer" Sunday.
"As security has improved, the environment has changed for the better," Ryan C. Crocker from Baghdad. "That allows for compromises to emerge that simply were not possible before."
He pointed to better budget execution as one piece of evidence pointing toward Iraq's changes for the better, and also noted provinclial elections are coming up. "Those elections, in the latter part of this year, will be a very significant step," he said.
Crocker acknowledged that the United States' work in Iraq is not over when Candy Crowley, filling in for "Late Edition" host Wolf Blitzer, asked him about the increase in casualties in some areas since May.
"Overall, we have seen an improvement in the security situation and a reduction in casualties, both Iraqi and American," Crocker said. "We're up against some resilient and determined enemies [who] have the capacity to hit back, and that's what we're seeing, both from al-Qaida and its allies and from Shiia militias."
While the enemy may be pushing back, the Iraqi government's response displays intolerance for these acts and a determination to reclaim their neighborhoods from the perpetrators, the ambassador said. Leadership response to a June 24 attack in Baghdad's Sadr City area aimed at district council members is a prime example, Crocker said.
On June 26, the council reconvened to hold the election that had been scheduled for the day of the attack and elected one of the members who had been wounded as its new chairman. It then denounced the attackers, publicly thanked the United States for its support, and extended sympathy to those affected by the attack, Crocker said.
"We've got more hard work in front of us," he said. "The fighting is by no means over, but clearly we are in a different and better place than we were even six months ago."
But while Iraqi security forces are successfully taking Iranian-backed militias off the street in Basra, Sadr City and other areas around Iraq, Crocker said, he had no direct answer to whether there was Iranian activity in Iraq has decreased. But the channels remain open for talks among the United States, Iraq and Iran, however, he said.
"I think it's important to have that option," he said. "But also, it's important to have talks for a purpose, not just for the sake of having another session. We'll need to choose the timing when we think it will improve the situation [and] make some progress."
Until talks happen, Iraq and the United States will push forward on the current path, one that includes forging an agreement allowing U.S. servicemembers to remain in Iraq past the expiration of the U.N. Security Council resolution. The resolution expires at the end of the year.
The possibility of Iraq wanting the ability to prosecute U.S. personnel for crimes could be a stumbling block, however. Crocker outlined where the negotiations stand.
"We're negotiating a very broad set of issues with our Iraqi partners," Crocker said. "We're operating under some pretty fundamental principles. One of them is full respect for Iraqi sovereignty, Iraqi law and the Iraqi process.
"Neither we nor they will put anything into this agreement that would contravene those principles," he continued. "At the same time, we do have to have the necessary precautions and authorizations for our forces to do what they need to do to support Iraq."
Though work remains to be completed in Iraq, Crocker said, he is certain the climate is in place for Iraqis to build their country on all fronts — security, political and economic.


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Alfa Laval is a groundbreaker in ballast water treatment
PureBallast, developed in cooperation with Wallenius Water, was launched in 2006 as the world's very first commercially available ballast water treatment system
Removing the sulphur from vessel exhaust prevents the creation of harmful compounds in the air.
Alfa Laval PureCool is the cascade exhaust gas cooling system at the heart of iCER technology, an option for next-generation WinGD X-DF engines.
Heat exchangers are a mature technology, yet Alfa Laval is still pushing limits
Having led the development of today's compact and energy-efficient heat exchangers, we continue to lead with new techniques.
Freshwater generators
The AQUA Blue freshwater generator is a major leap forward in freshwater generation technology.
Aalborg boilers
Alfa Laval's Aalborg steam and heat generation solutions represent nearly 100 years of innovation, from energy-efficient pin-tube elements to composite boilers.
Market leading supplier in marine thermal fluid heating systems
The Aalborg TFO is an oil- or gas-fired heater for thermal fluid. It is delivered as part of a complete thermal fluid heating system.
Fuel savings and CO2 reductions of up to 12%
Recovering waste heat from main engine exhaust is a unique opportunity that benefits a vessel's bottom line as much as the environment.
Why let even a little go up in smoke
The Alfa Laval Aalborg Micro is a uniquely compact boiler/economizer designed for waste heat recovery from a vessel's auxiliary engines.
Marine separators
Alfa Laval separators first opened the door for today's fuel oils. That gives us more oil treatment experience than any other marine supplier.
Wide range of filters
Alfa Laval offers a wide range of automatic fuel and lube oil filters for reliable engine protection and lower lifecycle costs.
The Fuel Conditioning Module is a "start-and-forget" system
Configured to match any engine and engine room layout, it treats heavy diesel fuel to specified requirements to fit your engine's needs.
New legislation allows the HFO in waste oil to be recovered and reused as fuel – an energy and environmental savings.
PureVent is a compact separator patented by Alfa Laval
By using centrifugal separation to remove oil and particles from crankcase gas, it allows further reduction of engine emissions.
A complete water treatment system, PureNOx uses centrifugal separation to clean the scrubber water in an Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) process.
Smit inert gas generators
Saturated inert gas generator with low pressure, which produces inert gas by combusting fuel oil with air controlled combustion chamber.
Freshwater generation
Alfa Laval Service can support you wherever you sail
We have a comprehensive network of service centers. Our global team of Field Service engineers gives you service 24/7, any time of day.
Power from waste energy
Oceanbird - Wind Propulsion
StormGeo - Weather routing
Marine Performance Systems - Air lubrication technology


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Directing Technology
Preface edit
Every school district, private school, college and university has a Technology Director whose responsibilities are becoming more important every year. Most technology directors have had to learn their skills and their job the hard way, on the job through trial and error. The tech director's position is a specialized job like the business manager or the facilities manager, and there is usually no one in the organization who can guide, or even question, him in the performance of his professional responsibilities: he or she is THE last word on technology in the organization. Unlike the business or the facilities manager, the tech director's responsibilities have an increasingly important impact on teaching and learning. It is vitally important for the tech director to develop a broad vision, a deep understanding of the job, and a collaborative relationship with curriculum and administrative staff. There is a shortage of texts that explain these issues in the kind of depth a technology director needs to learn and succeed. Directing Technology will attempt to begin the task of creating such a resource textbook.
Mobile technology is expected to be a disruptive innovation to the expensive and highly-controlled technology systems found in many schools, and every technology director needs to be aware of the pros and cons of these platforms. These technologies, which cost roughly between $100 and $500, are not only half the price of past school computers, but they also use a different cost and infrastructure paradigm for operating systems, applications, network access, and management. In 2011, five chapters were added to Directing Technology to explore the potential, affordances, and challenges these mobile technologies may offer. A page on the Kindle, smartphone, iPad, Android tablet, and Chromebook are found in the MobleTech sections below.


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The Song
"Just A Kiss" uses a very simple, yet effective pop form that looks like this:
Intro, Verse, Chorus, Interlude, Verse, Chorus, Bridge, Interlude, Chorus, Ending
The intros and interludes are very short, and the song has a real ending, a most unusual thing these days.
The Arrangement
When you have a simple song form, you need a great arrangement to keep the listener from losing interest. "Just A Kiss" uses an excellently crafted arrangement that's about as good as it gets in any genre, which is one of the reasons why it's a hit.
The song develops nicely, opening up with piano, drums and percussion, then adding the bass when the vocal enters. Snare and guitar plus a light Hammond organ are added with the 2nd half of the verse, then the chorus gets even bigger with 3 part harmony and an additional guitar. The 1st interlude shows the arrangement skill with the heavy accents at the end, again keeping your interest. The 2nd chorus then adds a synth string pad to develop it even more.
The 2nd verse develops using two distorted guitar parts and harmony lead vocals, which ends with the bands signature 3 part harmony.
The Foundation: piano, drums, bass
The Pad: It's subtle, but the organ from the second verse onward, whole note strums from the electric guitar during the chorus, and synth string pad during the 2nd and last chorus and bridge.
The Rhythm: A soft shaker adds motion throughout the entire song, entering right at the intro.
The Lead: Lead vocals
The Fills: None really, although the string lines in the chorus can almost be thought of as fills.
The Sound
The sound of "Just A Kiss" is really big and present. During the bridge the bass might be a little too big as the notes start to blur as the line gets more complicated, but it sounds great other than that. The vocals have a bit of delayed reverb, but for the most part, all the elements are pretty much in your face with only slight ambiance to develop the layers. The song isn't too compressed, and you certainly never hear it where it's used.
The Production
This is pretty much state-of-the-art Nashville production by Paul Worley. Not only is the song layered especially well, but I love little things that mostly go unnoticed in songs like this. In this one it's the harmony vocals on the last interlude, and the small but effective change in the melody in the last chorus. And of course, it's so nice to have a real ending to a song.
Send me your requests for song analysis.
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Don't forget to check out my Music 3.0 blog for tips and tricks on navigating social media and the new music business.


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Bloc Party held a live webchat yesterday to announce a surprise release: their third album. It's called Intimacy and will be available digitally on Thursday 21 August. That's in three days… surprise!
The new album follows 2005's massively-acclaimed debut Silent Alarm and 2007's opinion-dividing A Weekend In The City. Intimacy's production comes courtesy of Paul Epworth and Jacknife Lee - knob-twiddlers on album one and two respectively.
The press release promises: "some songs are Bloc Party at their most wildly experimental, while other tracks are simply classic Bloc Party, fitting in seamlessly amongst fan-favourites Helicopter, Banquet and So Here We Are".
If the first single Mercury is anything to go by, it's going to be more A Weekend In The City than Silent Alarm. Here's the tracklisting to keep us guessing…
1. Ares
2. Mercury
3. Halo
4. Biko
5. Trojan Horse
6. Signs
7. One Month Off
8. Zephyrus
9. Better Than Heaven
10. Ion Square
Physical CD fans will have to wait until 27 October, but anyone pre-ordering will also receive the download on Thursday.


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The newest shipment of Hottop KN-8828B-2 roasters, known more affectionately around here simply as model B, will now be equipped with a K-style thermocouple. The new thermocouple replaces the original button style thermal sensor that was on the back wall of the roaster. This new thermocouple, which is extended away from the rear wall, will give more accurate temperature display and faster response time. Die to the cost and complexity involved, Hottop will not make an upgrade available for older roaster models. Roasters equipped with the thermocouple are now designated as model KN-8828B-2-K. All B roasters in our inventory are now this model.
Hottop has, at the same time, changed some of the programmed safety features of the roaster. The programmable P model, formally KN-8828P-2, does not get the thermocouple at this time.