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Smartphones are turning every moment into a candid photo opportunity, which means a glowing complexion is more important than ever. That is why Pond's, the iconic Unilever beauty brand, is partnering with supermodel Molly Sims to help women look luminous with the brand's Luminous Line of cleansers and its new moisturizer.
This month, Sims joins Pond's to help women experience the "luminous effect" that comes with having great skin. Together, they are launching the "Pond's 30-Day Luminous Photo Challenge," a 30-day photo sweepstakes featuring daily challenges to inspire women to share photos of their happiest, most radiant moments. Thirty prizes will be awarded so women can live life more luminously. From March 4 through April 2, women can upload pictures to the Pond's Facebook page to enter the sweepstakes. They can also tag their photos on Twitter or Instagram by using the hashtag #LuminousEffect to be entered.
"Molly Sims knows that it always pays to feel your beautiful best and the Pond's Luminous Line can make every woman confident and camera ready every day," says Dawn Hedgepeth, director of brand building, Unilever Skincare. "We could not be more excited to partner with her to continue our commitment to helping women look bright and luminous."
The line includes a wet cleansing towelette, moisturizer and collection of cleansers that aim to brighten dull skin. The towelettes are enriched with moisturizing ingredients and soft white kaolin clay to gently draw out dirt, makeup and deep-dwelling impurities, leaving skin bright and luminous. The latest addition to the Luminous Line, Pond's Luminous Moisture Day Lotion with SPF 15, is enriched with illuminating minerals and an SPF 15 formula that contains UVA and UVB sun protection against skin. The complete line is available at mass retailers, select drugstores and supermarkets nationwide.


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Rising gas prices pushed both inflation and retail sales higher in August, two government reports showed Friday.
The Consumer Price Index, which measures a broad basket of consumer goods, showed prices rose 0.6% in August. It marks the sharpest one month rise in inflation since June 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Gas prices accounted for most of the change, rising 9% during the month. A gallon of unleaded gas started August at a national average of $3.50, but ended the month at $3.83, according to AAA.
Given gas prices have continued to rise in September, and food prices could rise as a result of droughts in the Midwest, economists expect inflation will gradually head higher in the next few months.
As of Friday, unleaded gas was priced at a national average of $3.87 a gallon.
But even with increases in gas and food, other prices are likely to remain relatively tame. Wages are stagnant, and a weak job market gives companies very little room to raise prices.
"We do not expect inflation to take root in the economy, however, due to the overall weak economic conditions and the soft tone to the labor market and average hourly earnings," Thomas Simons, a money market economist with Jefferies, said in a note to clients.
Check gas prices in your state
Economists often prefer to look at inflation measures that strip out volatile gas and food prices. One of those gauges, called core CPI, was nearly flat in August, rising only 0.1%.
On an annual basis, inflation is up 1.7% from a year ago and core CPI is up 1.9%, in line with the Federal Reserve's goal to keep inflation around 2% a year.
A separate report also released Friday showed retail sales picked up 0.9% in August.
But the numbers are not adjusted for inflation, and the biggest increase came from gasoline stations, which saw sales rise 5.5% during the month.
Auto sales also rose, as did sales of building materials -- an encouraging sign that the housing sector may be recovering.
Sales fell 1.4% at electronics and appliance stores.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mr. Speaker, Mr. President, Members of the Assembly, friends and neighbors:
You provide me the privilege of this podium for just the second time, but I know that the excitement I feel on these occasions will never fade. Coming together, in the presence of our fellow citizens, to assess the condition of our state, and of its governance, and to think together about plans for its future greatness ? surely everyone here feels as honored as I do just to be present.
When we met last year, I described the state of our state as ?far from sound?, and ?in need of serious attention.? I noted that state government was broke, and broken. That we were far behind in making the changes needed to restore income to Hoosier paychecks, and an atmosphere of opportunity that persuades our young people to stay and build their lives here.
By any honest account, those descriptions remain true tonight. None of the problems that gave birth to Indiana?s change movement is behind us, or nearly so. But that is not to say that nothing is different in Indiana from a year ago. In fact, we are a vastly different place.
In the last year, we have become more progressive, adopting approaches to government widely used in other states, but new to us. We have become more forward-looking, building toward a great future, not merely scraping by through a present of struggles. We have become more activist, tackling our problems with vigor not half-measures, confidence not resignation, risk-taking not timidity.
As an utterly forgettable young infielder, I heard far too often the coaches shout ?Daniels, don?t let the ball play you.? They meant to get off your heels and move forward, advance on ground balls and field them before it was too late. If you mishandled the first attempt, there would still be time to try again and throw the runner out at first.
Indiana is no longer on its heels, waiting while our problems bounce past us or through our legs. Even though the inning is still an early one, we are moving forward against our challenges. We are playing the ball.
We saw a bankrupt state government, and we acted.
A $2 billion surplus had evaporated; several straight budgets had spent more than was coming in; schools and local governments had been stiffed, and thus forced to borrow, through delayed payments of over $700 million. Some said, ?Go slow. A decade of deficits can?t be fixed in one budget. It took years to get into this hole, it will take years to get out.?
But we said, ?No.? We said, ?Now.? First, we have a constitutional duty to balance the budget, and without gimmicks. Second, the sooner we get the boat bailed out and upright, the sooner we can set a course for the new investments and improvements Indiana needs.
Together, we passed the leanest state budget in a half century. Spending in most areas was held constant, or less. The only increases, modest ones at that, were for schools, transfers to local government, child protection, and Medicaid. We asked special interests to back off a little, to think for once about the good of all, to work with us and put our state back in the black. With exceptions, they did.
And we have results. Tonight, with a half-year of this first budget behind us, we are in a position to forecast that Indiana will have a balanced budget for the first time in ten years, and not after two years as the budget contemplated, but after only one, by June 30 of this year. Congratulations to all who helped.
We are not ahead of schedule because of good luck. Revenues received, aside from our very successful tax amnesty program, are no better than expected. We are ahead of schedule because our New Crew of reform-minded public servants is finding ways, every day, to reduce waste and stretch tax dollars.
We stopped cooking our own prison food in 26 separate kitchens and saved $12 million, while food quality improved. We discovered and cancelled maintenance contracts on equipment the state no longer owns.
We ended sweetheart deals and began negotiating as though tax dollars were our own. We no longer pay $8000 for a copier machine we can get for $4500; we no longer buy ball point pens department by department for $1.02 when we can get them in bulk for 48 cents. Our millions of driver?s licenses now cost a dollar, not $1.52 each to produce.
Over 2000 state-owned vehicles have gone to the auction block; eight aircraft and a raft of unneeded real estate are on their way there.
By the way, if anyone would like to buy a rocking chair, purchased by state government for $2000 each, from Texas of all places, we have ten for sale.
Hundreds of savings, some large but most small by themselves, total up to over $200 million in reduced spending so far. To those who belittle our concern with such matters, we say never forget that some Hoosier worked hard for every one of those dollars, and it is an obscenity for government to waste it or to spend it less efficiently than is humanly possible.
A prudent family pays down its credit cards before it buys a new car. As a first dividend from our fiscal recovery program, I am directing tonight that $156 million of the extra proceeds from our amnesty success be used for a special distribution to Indiana?s public schools, repaying half of the funds withheld from our school systems during the previous era of deficit spending.
Balancing the people?s books is a solemn duty, but it is not the whole business, or the true purpose of government. That highest purpose is to provide excellent public service to citizens at the lowest possible cost to taxpayers.
We saw state government that, in far too many places, was slow, incompetent, or even shamed by dishonesty and scandal. We saw backlogs, waiting lists, and unmet needs. We acted, and we have results.
Every problem we inherited remains to some extent, but everywhere progress has begun. The backlogs of tax filings, environmental permits, minority business certifications, medical disability and unemployment claims have been slashed or eliminated. The child support system that was collecting only half the money owed to single moms has begun to improve, and at $6 million each, every percentage point really counts. One hundred new caseworkers are trained and on the job protecting vulnerable children, and the nation?s largest caseloads are on their way down.
We saw what methamphetamine was doing to the small towns and families of our state, and launched the nation?s most all-out effort to combat it. Meth production has been cut in half, the backlog at the evidence lab is down by two-thirds, the nation?s first meth treatment prison wards are up and operating, and other states, for once, are copying us.
We built a system to connect low-income Hoosiers with discounts on their prescription drugs, and have already helped 100,000 to slash their medication costs. At no cost to taxpayers, Rx for Indiana has helped 5 times the number served by the state?s previous effort, and delivered twenty or more times the savings to poorer citizens who can really use the help. Standing in for thousands of volunteers who made those savings possible is a woman who singlehandedly helped two hundred neighbors in need; please help me thank Jennifer Nelson of Terre Haute.
We said the people?s business should be done more openly, and, with your help, we have results. Those who lobby the executive branch about rulemaking or contracts now must register their activity for all to see. Contract decisions are posted on the web, for all to see. Campaign finance disclosures will now be filed twice as often.
Rules against gifts, and penalties for violating the public trust have been stiffened. The revolving door has been locked; public employees offered jobs by those doing business with the state must now wait at least a year before taking them.
Because tougher rules alone will never make men angels, we established an Inspector General. There is now a place for the whistles of whistleblowers to be heard. Now that people know wrongdoing will be acted on, whistles are blowing, ten times as often as a year ago. Thirty-three cases have been referred for prosecution, and the word is spreading: if you?re thinking about cheating the taxpayer, pick another state than Indiana.
One typical whistleblower, who turned down a bribe and turned in the wrongdoer, is with us tonight, representing that overwhelming majority of public employees who want to work in a clean, efficient state government. Please help me recognize Teresa Marshall of Shelbyville.
Citizens who see their government wasting money on little things cannot be expected to trust it when it seeks to do big things. Those who watch government make a botch of the simplest service, with no serious effort to reform or improve itself, are justified in a cynicism that poisons our ability to unite around common goals.
So we will continue challenging old ways, trying new approaches, setting higher targets and measuring everything along the way, knowing that we must never be satisfied but taking heart from the dramatic improvements we are recording every day.
Even as we press on with the work already begun, there is essential new work to commence.
No area of responsibility must concern us more than public education, and no area intersects more with our other problems. As, far and away, the state?s most expensive spending category, education cannot be separated from our fiscal responsibilities. And no factor will do more to determine Indiana?s future economic health than the quality of the learning in our public schools.
At $10,000 per student, Indiana occupies a proud position near the top of states in commitment to public education. At $1.14 of their income for every dollar spent in the average state, Hoosiers dig deeper to support their schools than almost any citizens in America. Our commitment to our schools is a reason for pride and must never waver.
But are our children getting as much education as possible from all this money? Last year at this speech, I pointed out that we sometimes seem to elevate construction over instruction. The average school building here costs almost half again what is spent in the rest of the country. Debt service on school buildings is 3 times the national average, and by far the biggest driver of higher property tax bills.
We addressed that imbalance with common sense rules that simply say, if you are planning a building that will cost above the national average, think twice, and show cause before proceeding. Since those simple rules went into place, no request has been rejected, but $87 million that we know of has been trimmed voluntarily from local school borrowing proposals.
This year, we must seize another opportunity to shift more dollars to the classroom, where it matters most. We spend more dollars than most states, but all too often, we don?t spend them where the kids are. Consider that well under half of Indiana school employees are teachers, one of the lowest ratios in America.
Ignore for a moment our excessive construction costs; only 61 per cent of operating expenses reach the classroom, compared to a national best approaching 70%. Hundreds of millions that could be going for more teachers, higher teacher pay, cheaper text books, or new programs like all-day kindergarten, extra math and science tutoring, or a longer school year, go instead to administrative and support costs. We could have smaller classrooms, smaller schools, better-paid teachers and new programs just by making even small improvements in the way we spend our school dollar.
At $10 billion of total spending, every one per cent shift of dollars from overhead to the classroom could fund 1500 new teachers, or buy every high school student a computer.
No superintendent I?ve met wants to waste money in the back office that could be spent on the front lines of education. Our school administrators should be permitted to opt out of expensive state requirements that consume time and money but add little or nothing to student achievement.
And they need new authority and new tools to conserve and stretch precious dollars. In most cases, our 292 school corporations operate on their own: they buy things as cheap as supplies or as costly as insurance and energy with no collaboration and no economies of scale. In many states, all school buses are bought centrally, at prices thousands of dollars per bus lower than Indiana schools are paying.
It is time to make more of our school dollars available to teachers and the purposes that matter most. Let?s catch up and pass other states in the efficiency of our school spending. I am sending to the General Assembly a package of reforms to enable our school officials to conserve scarce dollars and redeploy them to the classrooms and the teachers of our state.
If the machinery of state government was due for an overhaul, our local level needs an extreme makeover. How ironic that Indiana, by reputation cautious about Big Government, leads the nation in the number of politicians we elect. How curious that Hoosiers, strong believers in local control, have imprisoned mayors and county officers in a system that prevents major change without state approval.
Redundant and antiquated government makes property taxes too high and decision making too slow. Scattered authority produces bizarre tax assessments in which identical houses just blocks apart are taxed at widely different levels. Like our other challenges, change will take many years, but it is past time to begin.
The days of top-down control of local affairs from Indianapolis have run their course. As I did last year, I call on the General Assembly to liberate localities to raise funds from sources other than the overused and unfair property tax. And to begin assuming the costs of caring for endangered and abandoned children at the state level, also reducing property tax burdens in every county. And to offer blanket pre-approval to any community or school corporation that wishes to combine with its neighbor or consolidate duplicative layers of government. Let our traditional ?creature of the state? system begin giving way to a new era of home rule and local autonomy across our state.
But there is an essential tradeoff implicit in this new freedom. Cities, counties, and school districts must become partners in reform, supporting and leading in the reduction of overhead and the elimination of excess. I ask the local officials of our state to endorse and help effect the end of the archaic township assessment system and the transfer of this failed process to the level of our 92 counties.
My fellow citizens, there are sprints, and there are marathons.
A balanced budget is already in sight. Reform of state government is well underway, and changes in local government will come in time.
But the reversal of economic decline, and then the climb to leadership, will not be the work of weeks, or even a few years. Only boldness, and imagination, and then the fortitude to sustain pro-growth policies will suffice to turn around decades of erosion.
It cannot be said too often. Governments do not ?run? economies. They do not create jobs or wealth. At their worst, they destroy jobs, or drive them to other, friendlier locations. At their best, they establish an environment in which free men and women, pursuing their dreams and best ideas, create wealth for each other.
In 2005, we made Indiana a much more growth-friendly place. Taxes on research and development and small business were reduced. We have reordered state government, in every relevant activity, to become an ally and not an obstacle to growth. A new public-private job-seeking agency replaced a failed state bureaucracy and closed more deals with companies investing in Indiana than in the previous two years combined.
We placed special emphasis on the suffering small towns and rural spaces of our state. We went all-out and saved the Crane naval research center. We launched the most pro-agriculture program in decades, and, in one year, Indiana has moved from nowhere to national leadership in biofuels. During 2006, ten or more new ethanol and biodiesel plants will open across our state. The Indiana economy is still facing upstream, but at least now we are swimming.
Perhaps the single most important step government can take for our economic future is to ensure the best possible infrastructure, the strongest possible framework, to support the businesses of tomorrow.
In a wired world, ?infrastructure? no longer means just roads, rail lines, or waterways but also the invisible fibers and frequencies over which today?s most vital and valuable commerce is transacted. It is time to modernize a telecommunications regulatory system set up for the age of monopolies and copper wire to unleash this century?s most dynamic, diverse and competitive technologies. Two decades ago, Indiana waited too long, left an outmoded regulatory regime in place, and lost its in-state banks as a result. This time, let?s be among the leaders in freeing investors to connect our businesses, small towns, and homes to the unseen skeleton of the New Economy.
The emergence of invisible infrastructure does not mean that the backbone we can see is less important. In fact, to a state that sits at the ?crossroads of America?, nothing is more crucial to our economic future than the best network for moving goods in, out, and through to the markets of America and the world.
It is within our grasp to create that network. To connect even the smallest community of Indiana to the world economy in a way that gives us a competitive advantage over other states. To make ?Major Moves? into a future of extended manufacturing superiority and a position as the nation?s logistics capital.
Business as usual will never get it done. As matters stand, we?ll have fewer than half the dollars needed to build the roads, bridges, rail lines and airports our economy needs and, in most cases, Hoosiers have been promised. Without new approaches, long-sought projects like US 31, the Hoosier Heartland Corridor, new Ohio River bridges, the Gary-Chicago Airport, I-69, and dozens of others will continue to languish on the drawing boards where they have been for too long already. And the thousands of new jobs that could be created in businesses that build them or locate near them will never come into existence.
The plan we call ?Major Moves? would trigger tremendous job growth using in large part a very handy tool: other people?s money. Two thirds of the tolls paid on the Indiana Toll Road are paid by out-of-state motorists.
If we can interest private firms in putting their own money into the construction of I-69 and perhaps other expensive projects, recapturing that investment through tolls paid largely by non-Hoosiers, by all means let?s do. And if, a big if, private firms are willing to offer Indiana a very large sum of money today for the right to operate our northern toll road over time, we would be foolish not to seize that opportunity, and make the dreams of decades a reality in our time.
With ten days to go, we have good reason to believe that one of many active bidders will offer the state an amount far beyond anything we could generate ourselves. If such an offer does not materialize, we have lost nothing. If it does, I will recommend to the General Assembly that we capture those dollars and reinvest them in the nation?s boldest transportation program, from one end of our state to the other, putting thousands of Hoosiers to work every step of the way.
We must move on one more long-term barrier to bigger paychecks, as well as a higher quality in the lives Hoosiers lead. It?s a troublesome truth that ours is one of the least healthy states in America. We weigh, drink, and smoke too much, and exercise too little. So it?s no accident that we have some of the highest health care costs anywhere, a barrier in the way of the new jobs we seek.
Our InShape Indiana initiative is off to a reasonable start, with thousands of citizens signing up to pay more attention to basic principles of wellness. But no single step we could take would matter more than reducing the percentage of Hoosiers, particularly young Hoosiers, who smoke cigarettes. All the evidence shows that the most effective way to deter young smokers is at the cash register. I ask this Assembly to raise Indiana?s lowest-in-the-Midwest cigarette tax by at least 25 cents a pack.
The first steps of any race are critical. Our first steps have been fast ones, strong and straight. But the ground we must cover to catch up to accumulated problems, and overtake other states of this country, will be a long and demanding one.
At the gym I frequent, I sometimes run with ? or, more accurately, run far behind ? a friend named Sunder Nix. If the name is familiar, it is because Mr. Nix is an Indiana sports hero, a gold medalist at the ?84 Olympics and a 400-meter specialist.
Sunder tells me that, although the first or ?drive? phase of a race is key, the second stage is likewise. In this ?transition? segment, his goal is to maintain the speed he has attained through a fast start. ?Whatever you do,? he teaches, ?don?t lose your momentum.?
Momentum for change has been established in Indiana. We have already taken steps people said were not possible. This is no time to rest, let alone pull up lame. We must gather confidence and courage from the fast start behind us and head straight for the next set of goals: more money in our classrooms, the exchange of 19th Century institutions for 21st Century models, and brave, bold moves to build a backbone for a new generation of great jobs.
To those of our fellow citizens for whom all this seems like too much change too fast, we say, ?We understand.? Who among us doesn?t wish now and then that someone would stop the world so we could all get off?
I?ve saved a recent quote from a Lafayette gentleman who spoke, I know, for many when he said ?I?m an old-timer, and old-timers don?t like change. I know I?m just that way and I don?t have to have a reason for anything.? To that good man, and all like him, we do understand, but we offer you good reasons, a million of them. That?s how many young people are enrolled in Indiana schools tonight, facing a life of competition far tougher, and more global, than anything today?s workers ever knew.
Those kids are the million reasons that we cannot stand still in this state. That we cannot accept mediocrity or middle of the pack status in any realm. That we must think big, aim high, and act boldly, to build for them the foundation, physical and institutional, on which they can construct bright futures, and do it here.
To this Assembly, I say ?Lap One, well done.? But the second phase is all-important. We don?t have a single day, let alone a legislative session, to rest, or cruise, or hesitate. Let?s move, let?s act, let?s play the ball aggressively, confident that we are a state whose potential exceeds its performance, determined that ?good enough? never is, that catching up is merely a start, that true greatness lies ahead.
God bless you and this great state.


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Drawing Fundamentals
Term 2 2017
Having good basic drawing skills is the foundation to most art disciplines and anyone can learn to draw. This class is suitable for beginners to advanced students wanting to discover their hidden drawing skills or develop their own technique further using a variety of drawing mediums. Each session will introduce the student to new drawing techniques developing essential observational skills and learning about form, tone & rendering styles using graphite, charcoal, conte, pastels, ink, & coloured pencils. We will also explore a plein air drawing session in the picturesque Pittwater.
Students will be guided through various drawing techniques to improve their drawing skills, gaining more confidence as they find their self expression. The course will cover still life, landscape, plein air sketching, figurative, portrait & loose expressive drawing.
Materials & Equipment List
- Pencils, a range from H, HB – 2B through to 6B
- Charcoal, sticks and charcoal pencils,
- Conte crayons
- Coloured Pencil
- Pastels (small set of range of colours)
- India Ink
- Blending stumps (thick & thin)
- Erasers, and battery pencil eraser
- Pencil sharpener or Stanley knife
- Paper, A3 drawing pad
- Apron (optional)
- This event has passed.


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Hummus Elite
Sunday - Thursday: 11:30 AM - 10:00 PM /
Friday: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM /
Saturday: Closed /
stars - based on
Glatt Kosher Middle Eastern / Mediterranean Cuisine
About Hummus Elite
Hummus Elite was founded on the idea of comfortable prices for healthy dishes without compromising quality, freshness, and service for its customers. Based on the typical Israeli style with a modern twist, Hummus Elite holds strong ties to its Mediterranean origin. With a growing demand for greater selections, Hummus Elite has
decided to expand its
variety of dishes
while still retaining
its original concept.
At Hummus Elite we use only the best ingredients, including organic produce and eggs. Our Hummus is freshly made several times a day with the highest quality imported spices, with no preservatives added.
Hummus Elite in the Press
The New York Times
March 8, 2013
By Fran Schumer
Even though Hummus Elite is mostly about hummus and has only 10 tables, a friend urged me to try it. I did, and was enchanted by almost every dish I ate. In the hummus category, these dishes included hummus with beef, hummus with eggplant, plain hummus and hummus with mushrooms and truffle oil. In the nonhummus category, they consisted of silky, roasted eggplant; ground beef-and-lamb kebabs fragrant with coriander; and, most surprising of all, an eight-ounce hamburger that, like the best backyard burgers, tasted as if it had been cooked over charcoal instead of just gas.
Rating: Very Good
Click here to read more
Our Englewood, NJ Location
Click here for directions
Recommend Hummus Elite
Hummus Elite 2013 © All Rights Reserved | 39 East Palisade Avenue | Englewood, NJ 07631 | 201.569.5600
Website Design and Development by Graphic Advance


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Home births are still rare in the United States but it is a growing trend.
Jessica Wilcox thinks her in-laws still view her ideas about childbirth as kind of out there, but it's hard to argue with success: In the last five years or so, Wilcox has given birth to two boys and two girls — each weighing more than 10 pounds — at her northern Virginia home. And she hopes to do it again one or two more times.
Wilcox is part of a small but growing trend. While home births are still rare in the United States, they've posted a surprising climb in recent years, according to a government report out Thursday.
After declining from 1990 to 2004, the percentage of U.S. births that occurred at home jumped 29 percent from 2004 to 2009, when it hit the highest level since researchers began collecting data 20 years earlier.
Non-Hispanic white women were most likely to give birth at home in 2009, with one in every 90 births, or about 1.1 percent, in that group taking place at home. That represents an increase of 36 percent over 2004.
Still, Wilcox's children represent only a tiny minority. In 2009, 29,650 U.S. births, or .72 percent of total births, occurred at home. Compare that to, say, 1940, when 40 percent of births took place at home.
Home births today tend to be more common among women 35 and older and among women with several previous children, according to the new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. They're most common in states with renegade reputations, such as Montana, which had the highest percentage of home births, nearly 2.6 percent, followed by Oregon and Vermont, with nearly 2 percent each.
"It's women who are consciously rejecting the system," says coauthor Eugene Declercq, professor of community health sciences at Boston University.
Although she's not older, that would describe Wilcox. Now 30, she delivered a baby in a hospital when she was 17 and gave him up for adoption. "It was a great hospital, but it was not a positive birth experience," Wilcox says.
She didn't like getting an epidural or an IV. She didn't like all the poking and prodding by the nurses. And she didn't like the fact she never saw the same doctor twice for her prenatal care. "I really wanted that personalized care that a midwife provides," Wilcox says.
Her husband, Jeremy, 34, needed some convincing that it was safe to give birth at home, she says. "He was raised the same way I was: You get pregnant, you go to the hospital to have the baby."
But now her husband likes to point out that he's in good company: The son of Super Bowl-bound Tom Brady, New England Patriots' quarterback, and his wife Gisele Bunchen, was born at home in 2010.
While the risk of death for a baby in a planned home birth is low, the scientific literature suggests it is two or three times higher than that for a newborn in a planned hospital birth, notes an opinion paper published last year by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists' Committee on Obstetric Practice.
Home births actually had a lower risk profile than hospital births in 2009, though, according to Declercq and his coauthors. Hospital births were twice as likely to be low birth weight or preterm babies as home births. And just under 1 percent of home births involved more than one baby, compared with 3.5 percent of hospital births. In addition, women who opt for home births are less likely to be teenagers or unmarried. This all suggests that midwives who attend home births select low-risk women as candidates, the authors write.
"Home birth isn't for anybody who walks in the door," says Marsha Jackson, the certified nurse midwife who attended Wilcox's first home birth. For example, Jackson says, her practice rarely accepts women who want to have a vaginal birth after a C-section, or VBAC, at home because of their elevated risk of a uterine tear.
Jackson cofounded BirthCare, a certified nurse midwife practice, back in 1987. Today, Jackson says, the group's six midwives attend 25 to 30 births a month. About 60 percent are home births, while the rest are in BirthCare's freestanding birth center in Alexandria, Va.
"The babies that we caught are now having babies with us," she says. "That is wonderful. When we opened our practice, we never imagined that."
Photo credit: Inhabitots
Via MSNBC


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2 Kings 2
2:1 And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from a Gilgal. (a) Which was the place where the children of Israel were circumcised after they came over Jordan and had been forty years in the wilderness, ( Joshua 5:9 ).
2:3 And the b sons of the prophets that [were] at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from c thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I d know [it]; hold ye your peace. (b) So called, because they are begotten anew as it were by the heavenly doctrine.
2:5 And the sons of the prophets that [were] at e Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know [it]; hold ye your peace.
(c) That is, from being your head any more: for to be as the head, is to be the master, as to be at the feet, is to be a scholar.
(d) For the Lord had revealed it to him. (e) Not only at Bethel, but at Jericho and other places were there prophets, who had scholars, whom they instructed and brought up in the true fear of God.
2:8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped [it] together, and smote the f waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. (f) That is, of Jordan.
2:9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, g let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. (g) Let your spirit have double force in me, because of these dangerous times: or let me have twice as much as the rest of the prophets: or if your spirit were to be divided into three parts, let me have two.
2:11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, [there appeared] a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into h heaven. (h) Thus God has left a testimony in all ages (both before the law, in the law and in the gospel).
2:15 And when the sons of the prophets which [were] to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The i spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. (i) The Spirit of prophecy was given to him as it was to Elijah.
2:16 And they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men; let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master: lest peradventure the Spirit of the LORD hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said, l Ye shall not send. (l) Because the fact was extraordinary, they doubted where he had gone, but Elisha was assured that he was taken up to God.
2:21 And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast m the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren [land]. (m) Thus God gave him power, even contrary to nature, to make the water profitable for mans use, which before was hurtful.
2:24 And he turned back, and looked on them, and n cursed them in the name of the LORD. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. (n) Perceiving their malicious heart against the Lord and his word, he asks God to avenge the injury done to him.


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Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some stellar articles on creative ways to say thank you, signs you're over your job, and how to eat vegetarian on the cheap.
9 Creative Ways To Say Thank You — Next time you want to thank someone, consider doing it with food or a video. [Christian PF]
4 signs you're over your job & 5 things you can do about it — You may be over your job if you don't think getting fired would be a bad thing. [Get Rich Slowly]
How to eat vegetarian on the cheap — If you want to eat vegetarian on the cheap, learn to recognize ripe fruits and veggies. [Five Cent Nickel]
The 5 Worst Ways to Save Money — Falling prey to consumer traps is one of the worst ways to save money. [Sweating the Big Stuff]
Should I Trade In My Car? — Consider trading in your car if you can negotiate an excellent price on a new car or you can sell your old car yourself and get a better price than you would from a dealer. [Barbara Friedberg Personal Finance]
Walking, Riding, and Driving to Class: Back to School Safety Tips for Families — If your child walks to school, make sure they are implementing the buddy system. [Parenting Squad]
All-in-One Laundry Bombs — Did you know you can make your own laundry bombs for just a few dollars? [PopSugar Smart Living]
How Can I Learn to Dress Better? — To dress better, start by performing a wardrobe audit. [Lifehacker]
Three Factors that Reduce a Home's Value — Foreclosures and environmental threats can reduce a home's value. [Free Money Finance]
What Makes a Brand or Restaurant So Memorable? — Brands or restaurants that have an unusual take on the same old stuff tend to be more memorable. [Careful Cents]
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


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- Home
- Government
- Departments A - F
- Economic Development
- Incentives
- Enterprise Grant
Enterprise Grant
Program Purpose and Benefits
The City of West Fargo (city) targeted development program provides the use of public funds to leverage private investment for interior and exterior improvements to commercial properties located within the city. The program applies to all commercial property that is located within the targeted redevelopment area downtown. Targeted redevelopment area is defined as a property located in the downtown overlay district (see map attached). The program is intended to encourage property owners and business tenants of properties to undergo projects which are transformational with respect to use (which must be consistent with the vision of the West Fargo 2.0 comprehensive plan) or lifespan of the building not just maintenance of the property (This is not a building maintenance contract).
Program Goals
- Beautify the area by improving exterior building facades
- Enhance commercial growth
- Encourage redevelopment and reinvestment
- Increase community pride in the adjacent neighborhoods
- Add significant physical improvements to the aesthetics of the property
- Create unique and distinct places
- Coordinate implementation efforts
- Attract businesses that compliment revitalization of an area through employment, unique offerings, and complementary businesses to the West Fargo 2.0 Comprehensive Vision
Project Eligibility
The program is offered through and administered by the City of West Fargo Economic Development office. Interested parties may apply for a grant not to exceed $75,000. To qualify for the entire $75,000 the applicant must have at least $150,000.00 of qualifying expenses that are approved by the West Fargo Economic Development Advisory Committee (EDAC) and City Commission. Projects will be considered on a prorated basis, the grant is eligible for up to 50% of the qualified expenses. Additional Renaissance Zone incentives may be applicable if other capital/structural improvements are made to the property. Eligibility requirements include:
- Payment of all taxes and/or assessments must be current
- Property must be zoned commercial and operate as such
- Applicant must make a financial commitment to the project
- Projects must be transformational in appearance, use, or lifespan of the building.
- Improvements must comply with all City zoning and building code requirements and Sheyenne St/Main Ave recommendations.
Enterprise Grant Materials and Application (PDF)
Economic Development
Physical Address
800 Fourth Ave. E.
Suite 1
West Fargo, ND 58078
Phone: (701) 515-5340


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Area of Malaysia plane search now size of Australia
KUALA LUMPUR – An international land and sea search for a missing Malaysian jetliner is covering an area the size of Australia, authorities said on Tuesday, but police and intelligence agencies have yet to establish a clear motive to explain its disappearance.
Investigators are convinced that someone with deep knowledge of the Boeing 777-200ER and commercial navigation diverted Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, carrying 12 crew and 227 mainly Chinese passengers, perhaps thousands of miles off its scheduled course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
But intensive background checks of everyone aboard have so far failed to find anyone with a known political or criminal motive to hijack or deliberately crash the plane, Western security sources and Chinese authorities said.
With the plane missing for 10 days, German insurer Allianz said on Tuesday it had started making payments on claims linked to the jetliner.
Malaysian Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference the "unique, unprecedented" search covered a total area of 2.24 million nautical miles (7.68 million sq km), from central Asia to the southern Indian Ocean.
Flight MH370 vanished from civilian air traffic control screens off Malaysia's east coast less than an hour after take-off early on March 8.
Investigators piecing together patchy data from military radar and satellites believe that someone turned off the aircraft's identifying transponder and ACARS system, which transmits maintenance data, and turned west, re-crossing the Malay Peninsula and following a commercial aviation route towards India.
Malaysian officials have backtracked on the exact sequence of events. They are now unsure whether the ACARS system was shut down before or after the last radio message was heard from the cockpit – but said that did not make a material difference.
"This does not change our belief, as stated, that up until the point at which it left military primary radar coverage, the aircraft's movements were consistent with deliberate action by someone on the plane," said Hishammuddin. "That remains the position of the investigating team."
China's ambassador to Malaysia said his country had investigated its nationals aboard the flight and could rule out their involvement.
U.S. and European security sources said efforts by various governments to investigate the backgrounds of everyone on the flight had not, as of Monday, turned up links to militant groups or anything else that could explain the jet's disappearance.
Malaysian police investigations have also failed to turn up any red flags on 53-year-old Zaharie Ahmad Shah, the captain, or co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27.
Accounts of their lives portray them as sociable, well-balanced and happy. Neither fits the profile of a loner or extremist with a motive for suicide or hijacking.
"I've never seen him lose his temper. It's difficult to believe any of the speculation made against him," said Peter Chong, a friend of Zaharie, describing him as highly disciplined and conscientious.
The New York Times cited senior U.S. officials as saying that the first turn back to the west was likely programmed into the aircraft's flight computer, rather than being executed manually, by someone knowledgeable about aircraft systems.
Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told Tuesday's daily news conference that that was "speculation."
Malaysian officials said on Monday that suicide by the pilot or co-pilot was a line of inquiry, although they stressed that it was only one of the possibilities under investigation. Police have searched their homes in middle-class suburbs of Kuala Lumpur close to the airport.
Among the items taken for examination was a flight simulator Zaharie had built in his home.
A senior police officer with direct knowledge of the investigation said the programs from the pilot's simulator included Indian Ocean runways in the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Diego Garcia and southern India, although he added that U.S. and European runways also featured.
"Generally these flight simulators show hundreds or even thousands of runways," the officer said. "What we are trying to see is what were the runways that were frequently used."
Thailand said on Tuesday a re-examination of its military radar data had picked up the plane re-tracing its route across Peninsular Malaysia. The Thai military had previously said it had not detected any sign of the plane.
What happened next is less certain. The plane may have flown for another six hours or more after dropping off Malaysian military radar about 200 miles northwest of Penang Island.
But the satellite signals that provide the only clues were not intended to work as locators. The best they can do is place the plane in one of two broad arcs – one stretching from Laos up to the Caspian, the other from west of Indonesia down to the Indian Ocean off Australia – when the last signal was picked up.
China, which, with Kazakhstan, is leading the search in the northern corridor, said on Tuesday it had deployed 21 satellites to scour its territory.
Australia, which is leading the southernmost leg of the search, said it had shrunk its search field based on satellite tracking data and analysis of weather and currents, but that it still covered 600,000 sq km (230,000 sq miles).
"A needle in a haystack remains a good analogy," John Young, general manager of the emergency response division of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), told reporters.
Allianz, which confirmed last week that it was the lead insurer covering the airliner, said it and other co-reinsurers of the aircraft's aviation hull and liability policy had made initial payments.
"This is in agreement with the insurance broker, Willis, and is in line with normal market practice and our contractual obligations where an aircraft is reported as missing," Allianz said in a statement.
German business daily Handelsblatt has reported payments in the case would be around 100 million euros ($139.13 million) for the aircraft and the people aboard.
Latest Headlines in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lanka President says 42 new laws enacted for economic transformation, 62 laws due for enactment March 5, 2024
- Sri Lanka revises fuel prices from March 05, 2024 March 4, 2024
- Electricity tariff to be reduced by 21.9% from midnight today March 4, 2024
- Court extends enjoining order safeguarding Sarath Fonseka's positions in SJB until March 19, 2024 March 4, 2024
- Two former Sri Lankan police officers sentenced to death over custodial death March 4, 2024


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Please inform the office of any changes in address, phone numbers, and/or places of employment. Also, write down exactly what happened so that when it comes to trial you can look back on your notes.
Show All Answers
The investigating police officers will complete written reports and forward those to the County Attorney's Office. One of two deputy county attorneys assigned specifically to domestic cases will review the reports and decide what charges to file against your abuser. The deputy will then file a complaint, a legal document charging the abuser with a crime, with the Lancaster County Court Clerk's Office. This will usually be done the morning following the arrest.
Simply answered, you can't. While your feelings about the case will be taken into consideration, we will not drop or dismiss charges solely at your request. All final decisions will be made by the deputy county attorney assigned to your case.
Yes, the domestic violence paralegal will call you and inform you of the charge(s) and the requested bond amount for your abuser. The paralegal will answer any questions that you have at that time.
Usually, the abuser will be arraigned in Lancaster County Courtroom Number 22 at 2 p.m. the next business day following the arrest. At that time, the abuser will be brought before a judge and informed of the charge(s) and the possible penalties. The judge will set a bond (the amount of money the abuser must post in order to be released from jail while awaiting trial). In almost every domestic case, the judge will order the abuser not to have any contact with you (referred to as a no-contact bond).
The abuser is not to have any contact with you while the criminal case is pending. This includes, among other things, contact in person, on the phone, by email, or by letter.
There are several, the most important of which is to ensure your safety during the pendency of the case.
Call 911 or report it right away to your local law enforcement agency (Lincoln Police Department or Lancaster County Sheriff's Office) if you believe a crime is occurring or about to occur. In addition, please report it right away to the deputy county attorney assigned to your case (call 402-441-8163 to find out who is assigned to your case).
The deputy county attorney assigned to your case can file a motion to revoke the abuser's bond with the court. If a judge concludes that the abuser violated the no-contact bond, the judge will set a new bond amount. The abuser will then have to remain in jail until trial, unless the abuser is able to post the new, higher bond amount.
A full-time domestic violence paralegal is available to answer any questions either in person or over the phone. Additionally, you may schedule an appointment to speak with the deputy county attorney handling your case. The appointment can be in person or over the phone.
A Protection Order is a Court issues order which directions an individual to have no contact or restricted contact with another individual. Protection Orders can also restrict the individual from being present at a particular location. There are three types of Protection Orders: Harassment Protection Orders, Domestic Abuse Protection Orders, and Sexual Assault Protection Orders. Each have different requirements for issuance and are granted upon a judge's acceptance of the merits of the petitioner's application. Unlike a no-contact order, a violation of a Court issued Protection Order can result in the filing of separate criminal charges for violation of the order.
Please access the following link for information about obtaining a Protection Order: Protection Orders - Lancaster County, NE
Approximately 2 to 3 weeks prior to the trial date, you will receive a letter from the County Attorney's Office that will inform you of the date and time of the trial. You will also be served by a Lancaster County Sheriff's deputy with a subpoena, which is a court order requiring you to be in court on that date and at that time.
We suggest that you report early on the day of the trial to the County Attorney's Office on the fourth floor of the courthouse. You can remain in the office until the case is called for trial (many trials are set for the same time in the same courtroom).
Sometimes, the abuser will change his plea to guilty. If that happens, you will not have to go to the courtroom and can simply leave without having to see your abuser. However, if the abuser still wants to have a trial, you will accompany the deputy county attorney to the courtroom, where you will testify. Also present in the courtroom will be the judge, the court reporter, the bailiff, and at least one law enforcement officer. Please let us know your concerns.
If you have concerns regarding your safety, please let us know. Deputies from the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office are available to escort you to your vehicle upon request.
The judge has a couple of options. The judge can either sentence the abuser upon the finding of guilt, or the judge can order the probation office to complete a pre-sentence investigation on your abuser.
A pre-sentence investigation is, essentially, an inquiry into various aspects of your abuser's life. The results are put together in a report and forwarded to the judge to help the judge decide your abuser's sentence. One of the most important parts of the investigation is the victim impact statement. The probation office will send you a form that contains a series of questions. We encourage you to complete the form and/or attach a letter to the judge.
This is your opportunity to communicate to the judge your feelings and thoughts about the case, your abuser, and what you would like to see for a sentence. It is important to complete the form or statement quickly and return it as there are sometimes a very short period between the time the abuser is found guilty and when they are sentenced. If you do not receive a victim impact statement from Probation, please contact our office and we will make sure one is sent to you.
Copies of your victim impact statement are not provided to your abuser, however, his or her attorney is entitled to review the statement to know what information the judge is considering, and will discuss the contents with your abuser. You should always consider your safety first. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the deputy county attorney assigned to your case.
The Constitution guarantees that someone accused of a crime has a right to see and hear the witnesses against them. If the case goes to trial, witnesses must testify before the judge, and possibly a jury, as to what happened. When you spoke to the police, there may have been certain things overlooked or not talked about that are very important in regards to what happened. For those reasons, you will need to testify in court so that a complete picture of what happened can be presented.
See the "Victim Assistance" section of this website for great resources including links to download an application for a protection order, information about the local agencies that can help you, and information about how to get set up on VINE.
If your address or phone number changes while the case is pending, please make sure that you contact the County Attorney's Office with that new information to make sure that the County Attorney's Office, the probation department, etc, has the most current information for you.
If you are afraid of your abuser finding out your new address information, please make sure the paralegal or County Attorney assigned to your case is aware of your concern. There are steps that can be taken to limit the disclosure of that information. Remember, your safety is a prime concern for the County Attorney's Office and law enforcement.
You may also be able to establish a "substitute mailing address" through the Nebraska Secretary of State's Address Confidentiality Program. For more information about this program, please call 402-471-3568 or read about the Address Confidentiality Program (Nebraska Secretary of State).


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All about signup forms
Email signup forms (also known as "web forms"), are subscription boxes you can add to your site, blog, or social page to collect new email subscribers. All signups collected through your email signup form get added directly into your GoDaddy Email Marketing Subscribers.
Why use email Signup Forms?
Signup Forms build high value email lists. When you create a registration option that's specific, you know signups are definitely interested in receiving your content, via email! The best place to add an email signup form is somewhere prominent on your website, like your sidebar.
If you want to include purchasing customers in your email list, it's best practice to include a separate email signup option during your purchase process. That way you can be sure that your signups are actively opting in.
What information to collect with a Signup Form?
Often, just an email address works. Keep it simple. If you don't need additional details for your email marketing, don't include it in the form. The most common fields to include in a form are name and email.
Signup Form How-To Guides:
Creating Your Form: A step-by-step walkthrough of the basics
Advanced Form Options: Advanced tab menu choices explained, landing pages included!
Theme Options: Learn how to customize your signup form style with the theme tools.
Publishing Options: How to embed your signup form on your website.
WordPress: Add your signup form to your WordPress website.
Facebook: Add a signup form tab to your Facebook business or fan page.
Sharing Options: Learn how to get the URL for your signup form to share anywhere.
Next step
- After creating and publishing your signup form with the how-to guides above, create a welcome email for your new subscribers.


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Welcome to this week's Swing into Spring party.
Last week's party was filled with so many awesome ideas and inspiration.
Here are this week's features:
Not a Trophy Wife proves once again the power of paint. You must check out the before to appreciate the after.
Grandma's House DIY shared a tutorial on how to build your own platform bed.
Lolly Jane shared her recipe for magic caramel pretzel cookie bars.
A few rules:
1. Please become a follower (if you already follow me on Google, I would love for you to follow me on Linky Followers as well). Follow me on Instagram.
2. Please link back to the party. This way word can spread about the party. The more people at the party, the more fun we will have, and the more views your posts will receive.
3. Please enter the link to your actual post, not just a link to your main blog page.
4. Please visit others who have linked up. Everyone works hard on their projects and blogs...let's show each other some love by visiting each other. Let's have some fun and hopefully make a few new friends along the way.
Please follow me on Instagram.
Please follow me on Instagram.


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I need a RELIABLE secure anonimizer. Can anyone recommend one? Or does www.anonimizer.com do the trick? I really do need this to be secure, as I need to give one of my clients some reliable information. Thanks to all.
www.blackcode.com seems pretty good. I have only used it a few times though. I hope this helps. Peace.
[shadow]Prepare ship for ludicrous speed![/shadow]
try this one. anonymous web surfing or this one or this one
Forum Rules


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Yesterday, on Walt Disney's 109th birthday, The Walt Disney Company made an announcement fitting the legacy of a man who found joy by bringing entertainment to the masses. Disney has passed a major social media milestone as it has reached an audience of one hundred million fans across its network of Facebook pages.
Since August of 2009, more than 200 official Disney brand, property and character pages have been created and managed by The Walt Disney Company and its in-house social media agency DigiSynd including: Disney, Disney Pixar, Toy Story, Alice in Wonderland, Dory and Mickey. These pages feature original video content, photo galleries, news, highlights and links to other Disney-branded pages. Boasting astronomical growth, Disney Facebook pages currently attract more than 5 million new fans per week.
Enjoy this new video celebrating the achievement:
Finally, it looks like they've finally activated the Twitter account they stole from it's original user: @Disney.


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Your experience with making things, building projects, and hacking hardware is directly proportional to the amount of components you have on hand; as our experience grows, so do our space and storage requirements, it seems. [Danh Trinh] must have decades of experience, because his StorageBot robotic parts drawer is as awesomely absurd as it is clever and useful.
At first glance, StorageBot just looks like a bunch of small parts drawers mounted to the wall with LED strips along the top and side. The magic happens when [Danh] walks up to the wall-mounted laptop and commands StorageBot to find a component with his voice. A video is worth a thousand words, so you might as well head to the video for the best description available
To get the StorageBot to listen to his voice, [Danh] downloaded Microsoft's speech recognition SDK and built a VB app to turn his voice into a location of what drawer contains the part he requested. Once StorageBot finds the row and column of the requested part, a pair of stepper motors behind the wall of parts drawers swing into action. Soon enough, the drawer containing the requested part pops out, and [Danh] can go about his business building more awesome stuff.
Because a few paragraphs can't convey exactly how cool [Danh]'s StorageBot is, take a look at the videos after the break.


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Dolasetron injection is used to prevent and treat nausea and vomiting that may occur after surgery. Dolasetron injection should not be used to prevent or treat nausea and vomiting in people receiving cancer chemotherapy medications. Dolasetron is in a class of medications called serotonin 5-HT3receptor antagonists. It works by blocking the action of serotonin, a natural substance that may cause nausea and vomiting.
Dolasetron injection comes as a solution (liquid) to be injected intravenously (into a vein) by a healthcare provider in a hospital or clinic. It is usually given as a single injection just before the end of surgery or as soon as nausea or vomiting occurs.
Dolasetron injection may be mixed in apple or apple-grape juice for children to take by mouth. It usually is given within 2 hours before surgery. This mixture may be kept at room temperature but must be used within 2 hours after mixing.
This medication may be prescribed for other uses; ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
Before using dolasetron injection,
Unless your doctor tells you otherwise, continue your normal diet.
Dolasetron injection may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:
Some side effects can be serious. If you experience any of these symptoms, call your doctor immediately or seek emergency medical treatment:
Dolasetron injection may cause other side effects. Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while using this medication.
If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online ( Web Site ) or by phone (1-800-332-1088).
In case of overdose, call the poison control helpline at 1-800-222-1222. Information is also available online at Web Site. If the victim has collapsed, had a seizure, has trouble breathing, or can't be awakened, immediately call emergency services at 911.
Symptoms of overdose may include the following:
Keep all appointments with your doctor.
It is important for you to keep a written list of all of the prescription and nonprescription (over-the-counter) medicines you are taking, as well as any products such as vitamins, minerals, or other dietary supplements. You should bring this list with you each time you visit a doctor or if you are admitted to a hospital. It is also important information to carry with you in case of emergencies.
AHFS® Consumer Medication Information. © Copyright, The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Inc., 7272 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland. All Rights Reserved. Duplication for commercial use must be authorized by ASHP.
Selected Revisions: January 15, 2015.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Asteroid belts could be key to finding intelligent life
Just enough bombardment does you good
A new study suggests that having the right kind of asteroid belt in a solar system could be essential to finding intelligent life in the universe – including here on Earth.
A team from NASA and the UK's Royal Astronomical Society has been studying the role of asteroid belts in the evolution of life on Earth and in the wider universe. They concluded that an asteroid belt is important in the development of life, since its material seeds worlds with lots of useful stuff, even if the delivery system leaves a lot to be desired.
"Asteroids are thought to be a primary mechanism for distributing water and heavy metals across the Earth's surface, and possibly even the building blocks of life itself," Rebecca Martin, a NASA Sagan Fellow from the University of Colorado told The Register. "In our own history, if an impact hadn't killed off the dinosaurs, then mammals might not have evolved into intelligent life."
As solar systems form, they frequently acquire an asteroid belt around the "snow line" – the point where it's cold enough for volatile materials such as water to remain solid. But just having an asteroid belt isn't enough in itself; you need a large planet around to make sure the belt isn't too thick or too thin.
In our own solar system, Martin explained, Jupiter sits on the edge of the belt, and its gravitational force dissipates the asteroid belt by sending much of the material there either spinning out into space or down into the Sun, with a small amount colliding with the gas giant itself and adding to its mass.
Some gas giants, typically those formed early in the life of the solar system, don't have a stable orbit and spiral in towards their sun, scattering the asteroid belt completely. But if the planet is too far from an asteroid belt, then it has no effect and the belt remains packed with material that bombards other planets too frequently for them to recover.
"Jupiter's really stable," Martin said, "it hasn't moved much more than 0.2 astronomical units (one AU = 92,955,807 miles) since it was formed. During its life 99 per cent of our asteroid belt has been scattered, thanks to its gravity."
The team then examined other solar systems to find out if similar conditions could be found elsewhere. Of the 520 giant planets studied, only 19 of them were outside the snow line, and only four per cent have the kind of compact asteroid belt found in our own locale.
"Based on our scenario, we should concentrate our efforts to look for complex life in systems that have a giant planet outside of the snow line," said astronomer Mario Livio of the Space Telescope Science Institute. ®


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There's a lot of overlap between the members of the NATO military alliance and the members of the G-8, the world's biggest economies. And those members got a two-for-one deal out of the trip to the United States, attending a G-8 meeting at Camp David, the presidential retreat. Many of those world leaders disagree on how to fix the world economy, and their disagreement mirrors the political debate here in the United States.
Joining us, as she does most Mondays, is Cokie Roberts. Cokie, good morning.
COKIE ROBERTS, BYLINE: Hi, Steve.
INSKEEP: This does sound familiar, doesn't it? They've been debating policies that promote economic growth versus economic austerity, cutting back.
ROBERTS: Right, trying to get those deficits down, trying to get the debt down. And there's some ironies here, because it's the Democrats in this election cycle who are talking about growth, which has really been the Republican way out of deficits since Ronald Reagan's administration. And it's what the - and it's the Republicans who are calling for what the Europeans are describing as austerity, and that's, of course, budget cuts.
But look, both sides claim they're arguing for growth in this country. The Republicans say the absence of government will promote growth, fewer regulations, fewer taxes. And Democrats say it's the presence of government. Spending on infrastructure projects, schools, and clean energy, they say those - that kind of investment, as they call it, would lead to growth. So it really does get to the fundamental difference between the parties, which is why this election's so significant.
INSKEEP: And does that political divide explain why House Speaker John Boehner would choose this moment to talk again about reviving the debate over the federal debt ceiling?
ROBERTS: Reviving it before the election, he has said, which has sent shivers through a lot of people in Washington, remembering how rough that debate was last year. But look, I think what he's doing is trying to focus the conversation back on the economy, and particularly deficits and debt. And he's been successful at that.
That was the whole conversation on Sunday talk shows yesterday. It's the conversation today in Washington. And that works both for candidate Romney and for him, because he has been having some trouble as speaker. He's had this group of Tea Partiers, freshman fiscal conservatives who have been upset that they haven't been able to make a bigger dent in the debt.
But now, you know, Republicans are beginning to think that Romney can actually win, and that is creating a very different dynamic here in Washington, where they are now trying to - people are trying to make Romney think that they are important. And Speaker Boehner is at the top of that list.
So when he talks about the deficit and debt, he focuses the campaign back on the economy, which is something that Romney very much wants to do, so he seems helpful to Romney. And he also plays to those conservatives in his own party who have been restive. He said yesterday he's quite sure that he remains speaker if the Republicans continue to control the House. But one way to assure that is to keep that focus on the economy.
INSKEEP: You know, Cokie, everyone points out that the economy is likely to decide the election, but then having said that, we do end up talking about social issues a fair amount, like gay marriage.
ROBERTS: Well, because I think neither side is quite sure how the economy works for them, even though they think it is the issue. The president obviously has the record of the last three years to contend with, the still-high unemployment rate. And Romney has the negative characterization of his tenure at Bain Capital. Although he got a boost yesterday, Steve, when an Obama surrogate, Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, said he thought that attacking Bain was a mistake.
But look, this is the way that the candidates compel you to their bases, is on social issues. But the campaigns have to be careful here, as Romney allies learned when one considered mounting an ad based on Obama's association with his former pastor, Jeremiah Wright.
INSKEEP: And decided not to run that ad after all. Of course, that was a so-called superPAC involved there. How are those superPACs affecting the election, very briefly?
ROBERTS: You know, it's interesting. We thought it was going to be all corporations and labor, but they're so toxic for some voters, that it's really only individuals, big individuals giving money, and wealthy individuals. And even they are worried about their branding.
INSKEEP: OK. Thanks very much. Her brand is solid analysis. Cokie Roberts, we hear from her most Mondays right here on MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Options for Atomic Subscription Manager
Atomic Subscription Manager
Atomic Subscription Manager is a mailing list management utility. Once installed, this program automatically handles all user requests to subscribe/unsubscribe to/from the mailing list. The number of mailing lists that can be maintained is not limited. Atomic Subscription Manager is the subscription central station working real-time, 24 hours a day. Simply install the program, create a mailing list, define rules for maintaining the list and minimize the program to tray. After that the program will work automatically.
Each list can have its own unique rules how to subscribe and unsubscribe the users. Following Internet ethics, the subscription may be activated both by the first request (i.e. as soon as a user sends you a SUBSCRIBE message) or by the secondary confirmation (when a user confirms his/her subscription by e-mail. This method is recommended and preferred by many). The mailing list management commands can be processed from the following sources: 1. Incoming mail (POP or IMAP). The program can parse incoming mail and find there the commands to subscribe or unsubscribe the users. Optionally, it can send notifications about subscription success or failure. The program has a built-in mailer 2. HTTP or FTP. The program may periodically poll the files on remote servers to acquire e-mail addresses to add or remove them from a mailing list. To use this option, add a newsletter subscription form to your web site and allow the visitors subscribe without additional confirmations. 3. Local files. The program may periodically poll the files on your computer and load a list of e-mail addresses to add or remove from a mailing list. This option should be used if your home computer is used as a dedicated server or you download lists of e-mail addresses from the Internet manually 4. Manually. You can add or remove users from the list manually (for example, a user may ask you to join by the phone or other way). Advertisement


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I'm not sure if this is the right SE to ask this question, but it seems more I have a database of files that needs to be encrypted such that multiple people with different passwords/logins to this remote system can access the same files without entering a second set of credentials.
Specifically, I need to be able to support:
- multiple users accessing the 'plaintext' version of a single file that's been encrypted once
- revokation of a single user's rights (if they get fired, etc)
- allow a user who has forgotten their password to get a new password (ie, password resets)
- ideally, allow for remote searching/sorting of such encrypted files while minimizing the ability for an attacker to intercept credentials.
My knowledge of security is theoretical at best; I've done some dongle encodings (well aware that crackers will destroy the security given enough time), but this kind of distributed system is a bit beyond me.
My current idea is:
- have a certificate file that serves to decode the remotely encrypted files. This certificate is encrypted by the user's username/password.
- users log in remotely prior to trying to decrypt the certificate, so if they cannot log in (ie, they are no longer working there, whatever), then they can't get at the certificate. This is extremely weak, since they should be able to decrypt the certificate anyway if they're savvy.
- for remote searching/sorting of these files, do date range presorting of the files. This technique is only valuable because we do not expect more than 5-10 additions to the database per user per day (and even that is ridiculously prolific), so getting entries from the last three days, three weeks, etc, supports our most expected use case. Then decryption/searching/sorting of these files can be done locally.
- for password reassignments, they need to get another encrypted certificate with the new username/password. That means that someone else on the site (the administrator, or whomever) must have access to a plaintext version of the certificate to provide the user with a new certificate, which means that new passwords must be assigned by an administrator. Which I'm OK with.
This approach is bad for a few reasons:
- savvy users can decrypt their old certificate using their credentials and knowledge of the encryption/decryption routine. This is not too big of a deal, because they cannot access remote data anyway, since their logins will fail.
- remote searching/sorting will be painful.
- if everyone on the site loses their password, they lose all their data. I'm tending to think that if customers want this level of security, then they also want this kind of consequence.
So I ask this community — does this approach sound feasible? Is there a package or group of utilities I should be looking at for this (or some other, more improved) approach?
To be clear, this system will store encrypted data remotely, and the user will then access that data. I can make the user client be on any system, but the idea is that it will be a program that we give to the user to access the remote data. The server should never have plaintext data.
So, if the user is on Windows, then they will have a client, a certificate, and login credentials. The certificate would be encrypted with those credentials, so that it can be decrypted and used to read data from this remote system. I cannot change what OS the user will have.


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Winston Scott
Winston Scott is an American astronaut who was born on August 6, 1950, in Florida. Before he became an astronaut, Scott was a Naval pilot.
Scott became an astronaut in 1992. He spent over 214 hours in space on one spaceflight.
In 1996, Scott made his first spaceflight aboard STS-72. He made a 6-hour spacewalk during this mission. Scott will fly aboard STS-87 in 1997.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
You can send an email to the website admin with comments or suggestions be emailing the Website Administrator.
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Visit the Registrar of Voters webpage: Register or Update Registration
The Transfer Station is open Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday from 8 a.m. - 3 p.m.
The Town no longer issues stickers for transfer station/beach stickers.
You will need to show one of the following: drivers license (valid), tax bill or mail.
The Town of Westbrook is lucky to have a wonderful native
photographer, Roger Charbonneau Jr., who has shared some
of his works with the us.
His website and many more pictures of the Westbrook Shoreline
can be viewed and purchased here....https://rogerspix.smugmug.com/Westbrook-Connecticut/
To contact Roger or connect through social media:
Connecticut based photographer. For usage licensing contact him at firstname.lastname@example.com
Follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/rogerspix.smugmug and Twitter at @rogerspix88.
Call DPW's Colleen Topitzer during normal business hours from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at (860) 552-4496 to report streetlight outages.
When calling in for an outage please supply house number, street address, pole number.
Here is a list to a comparison page that has up-to-date information on coverage, plans and pricing for every Internet Service Providers available in Westbrook, Ct: https://broadbandnow.com/Connecticut/Westbrook


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The City of Hoover does not maintain street lights on residential streets. To report problems with street lights on residential streets, please obtain the light pole number and then contact your Homeowners Association and/or Alabama Power Company at 1-800-245-2244. The City of Hoover maintains street lights on select major roadways including: I-65, I-459, Hwy 31, Hwy 150, Lorna Road and Municipal Drive. To report problems with street lights on these roadways, please contact Engineering at 205-444-7529 or through My Hoover Connect.
To request a new sign, you may submit through My Hoover Connect or contact our engineering department at 205-444-7529. Existing signs are maintained by the Engineering Department and your request can be sent through My Hoover Connect or by calling 205-444-7529. Neighborhood Watch signs can be requested by contacting the Police Department at 205-444-7700.
You may submit your request using My Hoover Connect or you may call 205-444-7543. If the pothole is on a City of Hoover street, our Public Works Department will be able to repair it. However, if it is a county or state maintained street/highway, you will need to contact their street maintenance department.


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Notify Me allows you to subscribe to an unlimited number of email lists. Sign up to receive email or text updates on topics of your choice so that you can stay informed. Check out Notify Me today!


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Biological Sciences Division
Research Highlights
July 2006
PNNL Team Makes the First Global Identification of Endogenous Levels of Nitrated Proteins in the Brain
Contact Weijun Qian
Contact: Colette Sacksteder
Results of the largest global proteomic study of protein nitration to date appeared in the July 4, 2006 issue of the journal Biochemistry. A multidisciplinary team at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) surveyed 7792 proteins from normal mouse brain to identify 31 unique nitrotyrosine sites in 29 different proteins. More than half of the nitrated proteins identified are involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, atherosclerosis, and Lou Gehrig's disease. The research was also featured in the National Cancer Institute's online Proteomics News (September 7 issue) and in the July 6 issue of The Economist.
Both the sensitivity of the identified proteins to nitration and their importance for normal neuronal function suggest nitrotyrosine modification as a factor in neurodegenerative disease. Nitrotyrosine is a specific marker of inflammation and oxidative stress, which can modulate tyrosine kinase signaling pathways and, if unmitigated, lead to cellular dysfunction. Structural analysis of this proteomic dataset suggests that specific tyrosine sites within individual proteins sensitive to nitration can be predicted.
This achievement was made possible by the high-resolution separation of tryptic peptides capabilities coupled with tandem mass spectrometric analysis developed at the W.R. Wiley Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at PNNL. Future studies will build upon this sensitive detection of basal levels of protein nitration to examine early events in the progression of neurodegeneration.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and PNNL's Biomolecular Systems Initiative. The team includes Colette Sacksteder, Weijun Qian, Tatyana Knyushko, Haixing Wang, David Camp, Dick Smith, Tom Squier, and Diana Bigelow, PNNL; and Desmond Smith, Mark Chin, Goran Lacan, William Melega, UCLA.
3-D structure of nitrotyrosine sites in selected proteins. With this information, protein sites sensitive to inflammation and oxidative stress might be predicted.
Full Image
News Release: A probable cause for Parkinson's?
Sacksteder CA, W Qian, TV Knyushko, HH Wang, MH Chin, DG Camp, II, RD Smith, D Smith, TC Squier, and DJ Bigelow. 2006. "Endogenously nitrated proteins in mouse brain: links to neurodegenerative disease." Biochemistry 45(26):8009-8022.


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Suspension designs that utilize control arms offer several benefits over solid-axle designs. However, the bushings that serve as the pivot points for the control arms get a real work out, and over time, they wear out. Symptoms of worn control arm bushings include suspension noise and clunking while cornering and the inability to hold an alignment. Daystar Control Arm Bushings are a significant upgrade over the rubber bushings most suspension systems use because they are resistant to vehicle fluids and road grime. They offer less deflection under load and superior wear characteristics. These bushings make the perfect upgrade when replacing worn factory bushings and for high-load applications, such as heavy hauling or vehicles that frequently go off-road.
Control Arm Bushing Kit; Black; Rear; Fits Stock Arms Only; Polyurethane;


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The Stanislaus County Fair won't just be featuring the area's agricultural bounty, the event will also serve as a collection site for much-needed food items for the hungry.
The United Samaritans Foundation and the Stanislaus County Fair are pairing up once again for their annual canned food drive. Adult fair attendees who bring in two cans of food will receive two dollars off their admission ticket.
Kathy Hobby, who heads the annual United Samaritans food drive, said this project is truly beneficial to everyone involved.
"It's a great way to bring out the community," said Hobby. "It truly is a win-win for everyone."
The United Samaritans Foundation, which has been distributing food in Turlock since 1994, began the canned food drive in 1999. Since the event's inception, the organization has managed to collect over 10 tons of food for those who need it.
Last year alone, the drive collected over 1,900 pounds of food. Hobby hopes that this year will generate an even greater turnout.
"Everybody loves the fair," said Hobby. "So we're urging people to grab a couple of cans, come out and become more aware."
Along with the canned food drive, the United Samaritans Foundation hosts daily food trucks that operate in several cities across Stanislaus County. Currently, the foundation operates nine different trucks that feed thousands of people on a daily basis. According to Hobby, the Foundation feeds an estimated 1,500-1,800 people a day.
On the last Tuesday and last Friday of every month the Foundation gives away the equivalent of three meals for three days for every member of the family.
Along with collecting cans, the drive also helps bring people out to the fair and participate in such a historic event for the city of Turlock.
"The fair is such a tradition in Turlock," said Hobby. "So, to be able to help those who are less fortunate and be a part of such a historic event at the same time is absolutely wonderful."
Along with a discounted admission at the fair, those donating cans can also look forward to some perks from local businesses. Freebirds World Burritos, a burrito chain in Turlock, will also be offering a $2 discount for those who bring in two cans.
"Freebirds works to help out the community in any way we can," said Mike Garza, manager of the Turlock Freebirds.
Those interested in participating in the food drive should bring two cans of nonperishable food to the opening night of the Stanislaus County Fair, July 12.
For more questions regarding the canned food drive, contact the United Samaritans Foundation at 668-4853.


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Ben is sending lots of love and a picnic to share with Sadie
because Aunt Sarah @ Hyacinths For The Soul
is hosting The Tartan Parade!
We're also visiting with the Tablescaper for Seasonal Sundays,
after all it's not every day a chap gets to wear plaid!
since the letter T is centre stage at Mrs Matlock's Aphabe-Thursday this week
we're joining the party there too.


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Price | RM0.00 |
Product SKU | CG1ERRA.0001145 |
Brand | RATIONAL |
Availability | Pre-Order |
- iDensityControl
Efficiency reinterpreted: Forget about the space-consuming cooking appliances and let the iCombi Pro work for you. On less than approx. 1 m2. Meat, fish, poultry, vegetables and baked goods. À-la-carte, catering, delivery service and casual dining. Thanks to the interactive intelligent assistants, iCombi Pro does a lot. With the powerful air circulation and dehumidification, iDensityControl ensures approx. 50 %* more productivity with approx. 10 %* less cooking time. It also delivers consistent and uniform results right up to every corner. At the same time, the intuitive operating concept provides the highest level of user support and minimisation of errors. So that production can simply keep on going. - iCookingSuite
You have a goal, pursue it without compromise with the cooking intelligence of the iCombi Pro. For example: Sometimes you need to get 5 steaks ready at the same time, sometimes 100, all with the same quality. Either way, produced with the same quality. To achieve this, the iCombi Pro continuously checks the condition of the food against the desired result, calculates the cooking progress and intelligently adjusts the temperature. What if the guests arrive early and the grilled vegetables aren't ready yet? Then switch from a single to mixed load. The iCombi Pro regulates the cooking parameters so that you can cook both at the same time. Or did you change your mind and want a different result? Then intervene in the cooking process and adjust accordingly. The iCombi Pro will optimally adjust the temperature and time. The result will convince you every time. It can also be reproduced at any time. No matter who is operating the cooking system. - iProductionManager
Life in the kitchen: the stress and rush to get everything ready at the same time and on time. A logistical challenge whether using pen and paper or software. No more. Because now the iCombi Pro with the iProductionManager take over: Simply place the dish on the display and it will show you what else you can produce at the same time. You only have to specify whether you want to cook with time, or energy efficiency. The system will monitor each rack individually, so that the cooking times are adjusted intelligently to the quantity and desired result. You decide if you want the food to start cooking at the same time, or finish cooking at the same time. Either way, the iCombi Pro will tell you when something needs to go into the cooking cabinet: the food is ready. - iCareSystem
Grilling any quantity of food will leave behind stubborn dirt, meaning the iCombi Pro cannot immediately be used to prepare other dishes. If it weren't for the iCareSystem. Such as with the ultrafast interim clean in approx. 12 minutes. Then you can quickly move on to cooking the broccoli, without any flavour transfer or unpleasant smells. When it comes to spotless hygiene at the end of the day, the iCombi Pro will tell you whether it is heavily, moderately or slightly soiled. You decide whether to run an eco, or standard clean. With descaling of course. Overnight of course. Always very clean, with 50 %* less chemicals in the phosphate-free cleaner tabs. The iCombi Pro can note your preferences and show you the corresponding cleaning programme the next time.
If you want to set new standards, you need to create new ways of thinking. Baking, frying, grilling, steaming, poaching - all achieved more intelligently, simply, more efficiently. RATIONAL is using more than 45 years of cooking research to think outside the box and has undertaken significant research in skills shortages, food trends and kitchen management. Gaining a new direction. Always with the same goal, getting one step closer to perfection.
I'm new. I am experienced, think, learn, forget nothing, watch and adapt. I know the desired result, adapt the humidity, air speed and temperature automatically. Thanks to my intelligence, I will dynamically respond to your requirements. Has the cooking cabinet door been open too long? Is the steak thicker than usual? Are there more chips than the last time? I will automatically adjust the settings and deliver your desired result. Time and time again. With extreme efficiency. After all, that's what my intelligence is for.
Technical Info
Capacity: 20 × 2/1 GN |
Convection mode output: 66 kW |
Width: 1082 mm |
Connected load: 67.9 kW |
Steam mode output: 54 kW |
Depth: 1117 mm |
Fuse: 3 × 100 A |
Water inlet: R 3/4" |
Height: 1807 mm |
Mains connection: 3 NAC 400 V |
Water outlet: DN 50 |
Weight: 336 kg |


text:
Article number: | 170304 |
Availability: | In stock (15) |
These tools, with a curved cutting edge of 1/2" to 3-7/8" from tip to tip, is made from high carbon steel and tempered to a range approximately .59 to .62 on the Rockwell Black Diamond hardness testing device. The handle is attached securely to the blade and is octagonal in shape so the tool will not twist or turn while carving. Approximate length with blade: 11 1/2".
Made in U.S.A.


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Dokument #1279282
Kyrgyzstan's Corruption Battle: Traffic Police vs. Secret Police
February 23, 2012 - 1:05pm, by Chris Rickleton
The mysterious death by hanging of a jailed Bishkek traffic cop has highlighted concerns that a new government campaign against corruption may be fueling a dangerous rivalry between two of the country's most secretive and powerful agencies: its police and its secret services. In the process, skeptics worry, the anti-corruption drive could target low-level offenders while disregarding large-scale wrongdoing at much higher levels.
The detention facility where 46-year-old Captain Aibek Eshbaev was found dangling earlier this month, noosed with a woman's scarf, falls under the jurisdiction of the State Committee for National Security (GKNB), the local successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB. In December, the GKNB was tapped by President Almazbek Atambayev to spearhead the fight against graft and other offenses with a newly created Anti-Corruption Service. Eshbaev served as a mid-ranking officer in the traffic police, overseen by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).
While the exact details of Eshbaev's arrest, detention and death are unclear, local media have speculated that his offence was to demand a $100 bribe for arbitrating a conflict between two drivers involved in a collision on one of the capital's thoroughfares. By the standards of Kyrgyzstan—rated 164th out of 183 countries in Transparency International's latest Corruptions Perceptions Index—the alleged offense was neither unusual nor major.
On February 15, two days after Eshbaev's body was found, pedestrians in downtown Bishkek were greeted by the unusual sight of some 150 police officers in their blue coats protesting outside GKNB headquarters. The rank-and-file traffic cops blocked a road to demand proof that their colleague – a father of five – had not been murdered or tortured to death.
While both the GKNB and the MIA publicly condemned the protest, the agencies have natural reasons for friction: their functions overlap, and rivalry between their leaderships has been known in the past, contributing to regular "confrontations" between the two, according to Arkady Gladilov, vice chairman of the GKNB's public oversight committee. Moreover, while the GKNB is directly accountable to the president, the MIA answers to the government. The creation of the Anti-Corruption Service, he said, has certainly increased tensions.
"The anti-corruption squad has to prove itself. Otherwise it will be dissolved as quickly as it was set up," Gladilov said, adding that poorly paid, bribe-taking police officers, who have strict quotas to fulfill at the MIA, are easy prey.
Toktayim Umetalieva, a former presidential candidate and an activist with a long history of leading protests against the GKNB, thinks the protesting police officers have good reason to be suspicious about the circumstances of their colleague's death. She suspects "physical pressure and possibly worse" had been applied to Eshbaev during his detention. More worryingly for Kyrgyzstan's internal stability, Umetalieva speculated that the rally could not have taken place without the "direct involvement of the MIA leadership."
Both the GKNB and the MIA are known for their lack of transparency and unwillingness to share information.
"They don't hold open house," Gladilov joked of the massive GKNB, which he called a "state within a state."
Underscoring the lack of transparency at the MIA, Internal Affairs Minister Zarylbek Rysaliev appeared before parliament on February 7 and asked for his ministry's budget to be doubled to improve staff salaries. When MPs asked how many staff were on the payroll, he responded, "It's a secret."
Press officers at both the GKNB and the MIA refused EurasiaNet.org's requests for comment; the MIA said the ministry would "release a statement when the investigation [into Eshbaev's death] is complete."
Central to the public uproar over the death is the feeling that the state's war on corruption is beginning in the wrong place, using low-level public servants as cannon fodder on the frontlines.
"Unfortunately, it seems to me, the state uses people in uniforms, then discards them," a former deputy prosecutor general, Kubatbek Kozhonaliev, told the Vechernii Bishkek newspaper on February 17. Two other recent law-enforcement initiatives – to combat drug trafficking and organized crime – have come up against similar criticism: that prosecutions are selective and do not target high-level perpetrators.
Miroslav Niyazov, a former chairman of the GKNB, is also skeptical about the government's anti-corruption campaign, calling it "no more than a show." While the folks at the bottom take the hits, Niyazov says, impunity reigns at the top.
Perennial restructuring and personnel changes, along with insufficient or inefficiently used funds, have irrevocably damaged morale in the country's security and law-enforcement services. In such a situation, says Niyazov, "Law enforcement, and the country as a whole, finds itself in a situation of perpetual revolution."
Editor's note:
Chris Rickleton is a Bishkek-based journalist.
Originally published by
Copyright (c) Open Society Institute. Reprinted with the permission of the Open Society Institute, 400 West 59th Street, New York, NY 10019 USA,
Artikel zur Rivalität zwischen Polizei und Geheimdiensten
23. Februar 2012
1279282 (frühere ID