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Blocking Immune System Protein in Mice Prevents Fetal Brain Injury, But Not Preterm Birth - 03/05/2014
Blocking Immune System Protein in Mice Prevents Fetal Brain Injury, But Not Preterm Birth
FDA-approved anti-inflammatory drug tested on mice appears to prevent lifelong damage, Johns Hopkins-led research suggests
Release Date: March 5, 2014
An inflammatory protein that triggers a pregnant mouse's immune response to an infection or other disease appears to cause brain injury in her fetus, but not the premature birth that was long believed to be linked with such neurologic damage in both rodents and humans, new Johns Hopkins-led research suggests.
The researchers, reporting online March 5 in the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology, also say they found that an anti-inflammatory drug that is FDA-approved for rheumatoid arthritis and is believed to be safe for humans to take during pregnancy halted the brain injury in mouse offspring. The treated mice exposed prenatally to the inflammatory protein were still born before reaching full term, but without neurologic damage.
"Down the road, we hope to be able to treat pregnant women whose babies are at risk for this type of neurologic damage and prevent it from happening," says study leader Irina Burd, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of gynecology and obstetrics and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and director of the Integrated Research Center for Fetal Medicine.
Roughly 500,000 infants are born preterm in the United States each year, accounting for close to 12 percent of all live births. Such babies have increased rates of illness and death, but they are also at higher risk for cognitive and neurobehavioral disorders as they grow older. Studies have identified an association between maternal infection and inflammation and preterm birth, in addition to the development of cerebral palsy and neuropsychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia and autism.
In research designed to identify the exact mechanisms behind preterm birth and fetal brain injury, Burd says she and her term were surprised to learn that they may have different pathways and origins.
"We didn't expect to stop brain injury in our mice without also stopping preterm birth, the impact of which extends beyond the brain," she says.
In the study, one group of pregnant mice got saline injections into the womb, while another group got injections of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a toxin meant to generate the kind of inflammatory effects of E. coli bacteria without the presence of the germ itself. A third group first got an injection of a compound known to block the effects of interleukin-1 beta (IL-1), a protein involved in activating the inflammatory immune response and shown in previous research to be a key player in modulating fetal brain injury following exposure to inflammation in the womb. Thirty minutes after getting the IL-1 blocking agent, those same mice got an LPS injection.
As expected, the saline-only group delivered no preterm offspring. In the other groups, 80 to 95 percent of the litters were delivered prematurely. Meanwhile, mice that got the IL-1 blocking drug — sold in the United States under the trade name Kineret — did not suffer the harmful neurological effects of the inflammatory response experienced by the group that received only the LPS. The researchers say that blocking IL-1 halted a cascade of inflammatory responses that would otherwise lead to the activation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase in the fetal brain, an enzyme implicated in neurotoxicity.
"Those mice that got the drug while pregnant still delivered early, but the drug prevented neuronal injury in their offspring," Burd says.
The brains of the mice that got only LPS had fewer dendrites attached to their neurons. Dendrites are fingerlike extensions of the neuron that form with others to create the synapses, or the circuits that help neurons communicate with one another. Those that received the IL-1 blocker had a similar number of dendrites to those mice that only got saline.
Burd cautions that they are still a long way from the use of the drug in humans.
Mofeedah Al Shammary, M.D., and Michael V. Johnston, M.D., of Johns Hopkins were also involved in the study, as were researchers from the University of Pennsylvania.
The research was supported by an American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology/American Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Foundation grant, the National Institutes of Health's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K08HD073315) and the Passano Foundation.
For the Media
Media contacts:
Stephanie Desmon
[email protected]
Lauren Nelson
[email protected]


text:
Sharp reveals see-through solar panel
Sharp's latest solar cell panel seems perfect for green fiends living within a sky-rise condominium.
A see-through solar energy panel announced today by Sharp -- primarily designed for balcony railings and skyscraper windows -- offers an uncommon alternative energy solution and sense of privacy in a single package.
The semi-transparent black solar panel launches in Japan on October 1, and delivers a solar power conversion efficiency of about 6.8-percent with a maximum output of 95 watts. While the low conversion rate seems lackluster comparative to the 10- to 20-percent efficiency standard these days, few see-through solar panel options exist commercially. Overall panel size stands at 4.5-feet wide by 3.2-feet tall and sports a super thin profile of only 0.37 inches.
A related press release notes that the module, which also acts as a heat shield, mostly consists of laminated glass infused with photovoltaic cells. Sharp did not announce plans for a U.S. debut of this nifty panel, nor did the company reveal pricing.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
HTML::Mason::Resolver::Null - a do-nothing resolver |
HTML::Mason::Resolver::Null - a do-nothing resolver
my $resolver = HTML::Mason::Resolver::Null->new;
This HTML::Mason::Resolver subclass is useful if you want to create
components via the HTML::Mason::Interp->make_component
and you never plan to interact with the filesystem.
Basically, it provides all of the necessary resolver methods but none of them do anything.
This means that if you use this method things like $interp->exec
will simply not work at all.
However, if you just want to make a component with an interepreter and execute that component it can be useful. For example:
my $interp = HTML::Mason::Interp->new( resolver_class => 'HTML::Mason::Resolver::Null', data_dir => '/tmp' );
my $comp = $interp->make_component( comp_source => <<'EOF' ); % my $var = 'World'; Hello, <% $var %>! EOF
my $buffer; my $request = $interp->make_request( out_method => \$buffer, comp => $comp ); $request->exec;
print $buffer;
HTML::Mason::Resolver::Null - a do-nothing resolver |


text:
Puffer Case
Couldn't load pickup availability
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I ordered the phone case not knowing about carefone, but now I know this is a good company with good quality products. The case looks good and is protective. I have referred friends and family so they can purchase products from carefone.


text:
Seizure (1974)
Studio: Scorpion Releasing
Release date: September 9th, 2014
Reviewed by: Brett Gallman
The movie:
Im guess most serious examinations of Oliver Stones filmography will start somewhere around Midnight Express and move forward from there, with 1981s The Hand earning perhaps a cursory glance before one takes stock of the politically-charged oeuvre that has largely defined his career. At first glance, its tempting to write off directorial debut Seizure as an extreme outlier, perhaps even going so far as to consider it early-career grunt work for a filmmaker trying to break into the business, even if its at the helm of a dusty little Can-Am production. Such dismissiveness is quite unwarranted, not so much because Seizure is a hidden masterpiece or the Rosetta Stone that unlocks its directors career, but because it is a prelude for Stones preoccupation with transgressiveness.
Both this film and The Hand find him gravitating towards stories about tortured artists whose work take on lives of their own and blur the lines between fiction and reality, something Stone has been rather obsessed with, particularly in terms of reconciling history and celluloid. For Stone, film is a medium through which one can reconstruct reality, so its no wonder these early films would reflect arts capacity to transgress in such a manner.
In Seizure, Stone observes an ill-fated weekend for frustrated horror novelist Edmund Blackstone (Jonathan Frid). Having been tortured by nightmares involving a bizarre trio of home invaders, he invites a group of friends over for a retreat. With both his wife and son also in tow, its an idyllic gathering shadowed only by some soap-operatic domestic turmoil involving some of the visitors. Even the reports of a local asylum escape rests comfortably in the background, at least until three psychopaths crash the party and subject Blackstone and company to a series of demented (and deadly) games.
Arriving alongside the likes of Last House on the Left and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Seizure is another exercise in 70s savagery, though Stones take is more ethereal and drowsy. If this decade was often marked by the intrusions of waking nightmares, then this is a sleepier tale that suppresses its horrors back to the unconscious. Unfolding with its own form of nightmare logic, Seizure feels as though its been cast in a thick haze, leaving viewers with the impression of drowning in illogical rhythms and surreal imagery. Standing in stark contrast the sweltering fever dreams of its strictly American counterparts, Stones film is more of a cold sweat in the vein of many Eurohorror productions, particularly the films of Rollin and Bava.
Naturally, the resulting atmosphere is engulfed in absolute weirdness, with three maniacs serving as irrepressible loci points for the films madness. An incongruent bunch boasting a dwarf (Hervé Villechaize!), a hulking executioner (Henry Judd Baker), and the self-proclaimed Queen of Evil (Martine Beswick), the trio arrives as enigmas and leave just the same way: Dont ask who we are or who we came from, the sinister Queen intones, for they are without beginning or end. One of Blackstones guests attempts to make heads or tails out of their presence by alluding to their correspondence to ancient mythological figures, but it has all the effectiveness of sorting out the illogical nature of dreams. Perhaps they are simply demons of the mind, agents of an id gone wild: where many films of this era were about projecting such horrors outwards, this one represses them and burrows into a damaged psyche.
Many of the horrors perpetrated here are physical in nature, yet thats hardly a chief concern. The Queen and her cohorts aim represent a primal, chaotic evil that somehow transcends death itself: their ultimate goal is to spread corruption, with their immediate sights honing in on Blackstones young son. Both Beswick and Villechaize relish their devious turns, which is a boon since the film is quite talkative for long stretches; you sense that Stone (who co-wrote the films screenplay) is plumbing for profundity when his inexplicable images are more than substantial. His hesitance in allowing the film to simply exist as a thinly-veiled document of Manson-inspired hysteria bogs the proceedings down.
Once the films direction becomes obvious, it becomes even more inert, though that's arguably a case of form following function: so much of Seizure feels like being stuck in a bad dream that you cant shake. Stones rapid-fire editing and time looping especially mimic a dreamlike state and give the film a jagged edge, as theres a roughness to Seizure that allows it to share the grungy, grimy sensibilities of its contemporaries. Its targeting of both bourgeoisie predators (Joseph Sirola plays a real scumbag) and blameless prey (the Blackstone son isnt the only one caught in the crosshairsso too is the family dog and a teenage girl) feels anarchic as well: there is real evil in the world of Seizure, and it knows no bounds. Beswicks Queen is essentially an eloquent precursor to The Shape.
Despite his place as ostensible protagonist, Frids Blackstone operates somewhere on the fringes for much of the film. Hes an interesting avatar for this specific brand of 70s nightmare: not only is he a thwarted artist, but hes also an ineffectual, milquetoast husband struggling to keep his family safe from inexplicable forces. A few years removed from Dark Shadows, Frid is well-matched for the role since acting haunted and forlorn must have been second nature for him by this point. Its interesting that Seizure is both his story and decidedly not his story all at once: he has no real measure of control, as evidenced by the title: appropriately enough, this is a film that aims to shake both its characters and its audience to their respective cores, which is exactly what Oliver Stone has thrived on doing for four decades now.
The disc:
With its director having reportedly disowned it during that time, its no surprise that Seizure has languished in obscurity. Its only just now made its way to disc courtesy of Scorpion Releasing, whose Blu-ray release features a transfer struck from original vault elements. Parts of the print are a bit coarse, but its an altogether fine presentation. A trailer joins a pair of interviews with stars Mary Woronov and Richard Cox, both of whom provide some anecdotes about both this film and others from their respective careers. In the context of Stones career, Seizure stands as a strange, almost otherworldly dispatch from an artist struggling to articulate the various demons hed been struggling with at the time (most of them hailing from Vietnam, surely); I dont know that he did so successfully, but, then again, Im not quite sure he ever expected to. comments powered by Disqus Ratings:
Average members rating (out of 10) : Not yet rated
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Votes : 0


text:
Runners — both avid and amateur — came from all areas of Queens to compete in this year's 5K race in Forest Park.
About 172 people raced on Sunday, October 2 to raise money for Forest Park Trust, Inc., which provides Forest Park with free educational, recreational and cultural events.
Joining the runners were scores of volunteers and spectators who cheered as each crossed the finish line. The race began and concluded in Victory Field Running Track, with check-points setup throughout the trail route. Professional scoring and assistance was provided by the Forest Park Runners Club.
When asked about the win, Cuahuizo said he was "happy" that he did well and called Forest Park "his place" for daily training after he finishes his work day in the construction industry. Cuahuizo has been active in local races and finished first in the Mile Challenge held in Alley Pond Park this April and seventh in Forest Park's 4-Mile Classic Road and Trail Run this May.
But the race attracted runners at all levels.
Allison Mintz, 37, of Forest Hills said she recently began participating in community races for pure enjoyment.
Frank Gallo, Forest Park Runners Club's race director, was very pleased with the turnout and the cooperating weather. Gallo applauded the runners and also emphasized the crucial role volunteers play in orchestrating this and other race events.
"I told them, 'You're all special. There's a reason why you do this. It's something inside you that makes you feel good.' If I don't have the volunteers to place pointers or give out the water, it's not happening," he said.
Also part of the event was a Children's Field Day, which took place in the middle of Victory Field before and during the race. Volunteers, many of whom were Forest Hills High School students, helped youngsters with a variety of activities like a 50-yard dash "Fun Run," as well as life-size chess and checkers games.
For an official list of all winners of the 5K race,visitwww.nycgovparks.org orwww.forestparkrunners.org.
The next big race at Forest Park will be the 4-Mile Classic Road and Trail Run in May 2012.


text:
I've been using Watir for a month or so now and use
profile = Selenium::WebDriver::Firefox::Profile.new
profile.proxy = Selenium::WebDriver::Proxy.new :http=> proxy # proxy = "IP:Port"
This works great for Firefox. However, I'd like to use Chrome as well on my Ubuntu Lucid dev machine. When I use
I get an @model=nil when I use puts profile.inspect
. As a result I can't get out through the proxy and I can't use
profile.native_events = false
All of the code I'm trying to use works fine for a Firefox browser (obviously all Selenium::WebDriver::Chrome instances are replaced with Selenium::WebDriver::Firefox). And I can get Chrome to see the outside world when I bypass the proxy or set it up in Ubuntu so everything goes through the proxy but that isn't ideal and doesn't solve the native_events issue.
From what I can tell so far Chrome is a lot faster to load as a program. And significantly faster on the retrieval of URLs. So I could do a lot more testing if I were to use Chrome but for now these Selenium::WebDriver issues are preventing me from doing so.


text:
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text:
Tooth enamel isn't just strong; it's the hardest substance in your body. It isn't indestructible, however, and can be eroded by substances that are stronger. Acid exposure can come from many sources, but with the help of your dentist, you can keep your enamel strong and healthy.
Acid erosion on teeth can lead to a variety of symptoms that should be evaluated by a dentist. As the outer layer of your teeth wears away, you may experience tooth sensitivity. This sensitivity often leads to pain when you consume hot or cold foods and drinks.
Your teeth may also become discolored. This is because the enamel is white, unlike the sensitive, yellow tissue underneath is known as dentin. As the enamel erodes and exposes more of your dentin, your teeth begin to show more of its yellow color.
The appearance of your teeth can change in other ways as a result of acid erosion, depending on the case. The bottom edge of your front teeth may start to look transparent instead of its natural opaque. You may also notice your teeth look smaller or thinner than they used to. If you notice any of these symptoms, you may have acid erosion, and should see your dentist right away for an evaluation.
There are just as many possible causes of acid erosion. Your favorite beverages, for example, may also be to blame for the initial sensitivity: According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), soft drinks are the most frequent source of erosive acids, most damaging due to their low pH levels. Other popular drinks, such as fruit juices, sports drinks and energy drinks, can also damage your teeth due to their acidity.
These liquids aren't the only possible cause. Frequent vomiting introduces highly acidic stomach contents to your mouth and can lead to acid erosion. This is a particular concern for pregnant women suffering from morning sickness, as well as those who struggle with bulimia or related eating disorders. Similarly, gastroesophageal acid reflux disease (GERD) is a condition that makes acid from your stomach back up into your throat and mouth involuntarily. This leads to frequent heartburn and, ultimately, the erosion of your tooth enamel. If you suffer from GERD, make sure your dentist is aware of your condition.
To read the entire article visit Colgate.com.
The remainder of the article details the following:
- Prevention
- Treatment
Composium Dental Centre
Joshua Charlat, DMD
30 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 203
Toronto, ON M4V 3A1
(416) 415-2429
Joshua Charlat, DMD
30 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 203
Toronto, ON M4V 3A1
(416) 415-2429


text:
Verizon on Thursday said it will release a semiannual report about the data requests it receives from the government. It is the first major telecom to make such a move.
Verizon and other tech industry giants have come under fire for cooperating with government surveillance programs. Verizon and AT&T in particular were named in documents leaked by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, which indicated the companies shared customer phone call information with the U.S. government.
Mum on National Security Requests
In addition to triggering a public outcry, those revelations spurred Verizon shareholders, including Trillium Asset Management, to call on the company to publish regular reports on how it shares its data. Verizon initially resisted the proposal, but the company evidently is now willing to be more transparent.
Verizon will disclose how many government data requests it receives regarding criminal cases. It will break down the data into categories including court orders, subpoenas and warrants. Verizon also might report on requests it receives in emergencies.
The company will not publish information on data requests pertaining to national security concerns.
Verizon plans to release the first report in early 2014 and to provide semiannual updates thereafter.
Thumbs Up From Consumer Advocates
Verizon's move was applauded by groups including the Center for Democracy & Technology and the American Civil Liberties Union, which noted that it was an important first step in protecting consumer data. The ACLU encouraged AT&T to release a similar report.
"Shareholders and customers like to see that if they are angry about something, a company will respond," said Trip Chowdhry, senior analyst for Global Equities Research.
"Usually, getting information out into the public and letting people go through the data is a better strategy than letting them be angry that a company is hiding some kind of information from them," he told TechNewsWorld.
First Step
The public advocacy groups also praised Verizon for being the first major U.S. telecom to publish this information. Many Silicon Valley companies, including Google and Facebook, already issue transparency reports regarding their government data requests.
Staying in front of the information should ensure that Verizon's bottom line doesn't suffer due to outrage over government surveillance operations, said Joel Espelien, senior analyst at TDG Research.
Despite all the public scrutiny over the NSA programs, Verizon hasn't seen a mass exodus of customers — but issuing a semiannual transparency report is a gesture of goodwill to reassure those who may be a shade less loyal.
"Verizon hopes that the public blames the government, and not them, for the intrusion on privacy that these requests represent," he told TechNewsWorld. "They also hope that the public backlash will cause the government to make fewer requests going forward. Although nothing is certain, I think they are more or less correct on both counts."


text:
Quality Management Instruments
In order to draw on a sound data base for our evaluation system, we are using controlling data from the University's statistics department. Moreover, RWTH Aachen has quality assurance instruments in place that focus on the entire student life cycle.
First-Year Student Survey
Surveys already begin at the start of the student life cycle with the first-year student survey, in which, for example, first-year students explain why they chose RWTH as a university or how they informed themselves about their course of study in advance.
Student Course Evaluation
Each semester students extensively evaluate the quality of teaching and grade their courses and teachers in the student course evaluation.
Course of Study Evaluation
Course of study evaluations are regularly carried out in order to systematically and comprehensively analyze the strengths and weaknesses of individual courses of study.
Module and Examination Survey
Are students satisfied with the organization of the modules they have to take? What services help students to prepare for their exams and how do students rate their own exam preparation? The Module and Examination Survey asks these and other questions.
Pass Rates
The Faculties are offered a summary of the pass rates twice a year, which offer an overview of the current exam results, in order to directly address the Faculty's examiners and if necessary, create measures to improve the pass rate.
Student Survey
How do students evaluate the organization of the studies and the quality of teaching? The University gathers feedback on these topics and others related to the course of studies from all Bachelor's and Master's students using the RWTH student survey.
Graduate Survey
RWTH is involved in the national, collaborative project Graduate Survey, which is centrally coordinated by Institute for Applied Statistics (ISTAT) and provides findings on where graduates are and retrospective consideration of study conditions.
The QMSLportal is a platform that provides a variety of metrics to support the periodic review of the University's degree programs.


text:
Manage your account and access personalized content. Sign up for an Oracle Account
Access your cloud dashboard, manage orders, and more. Sign up for a free trial
Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Learning Management is the integrated application that dramatically improves workforce knowledge, skills, and abilities. By ensuring your employees acquire new proficiencies, ELM helps you meet your business objectives.
PeopleSoft Learning Management is part of Oracle's PeopleSoft Enterprise Human Capital Management family of applications.
Today's workforce needs, knowledge, skills, and abilities that are aligned with your organization's needs and objectives. You also need to manage and track your learning programs. Finally, the cost of delivering your learning programs must continue to decline. PeopleSoft Enterprise Learning Management enables you to meet these goals.


text:
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Really good fit and instructions were very easy to comprehend.
You don't have any items in your cart.


text:
Enabled, engaged and empowered. If you're new to Speak Up surveys, just know that this is the biggie: The Speak Up National Research Project each year polls K-12 students, parents and educators on the role of technology for learning in and out of school and is the largest collection of authentic, unfiltered stakeholder voice on digital learning. Beginning in Fall 2003, over 2.2 million K-12 students, parents, teachers, librarians, principals, technology leaders and district administrators have spoken up—sharing their thoughts and insights through Speak Up. K-12 educators, higher education faculty, business and policy leaders use Speak Up data to inform federal, state and local education programs. So, when Speak Up reports that these trends are hot: mobile learning, online and blended learning and digital content—it's more than just one person's opinion. In Fall 2010, Project Tomorrow surveyed 294,399 K-12 students, 42,267 parents, 35,525 teachers, 2,125 librarians, 3,578 school/district administrators and 1,391 technology leaders representing 6,541 public and private schools from 1,340 districts. Here are a few more particularly interesting findings from the most recent survey:
• Over twice as many teachers and administrators have a personal smart phone today than in 2008.
• While only 11 percent of teachers regularly updated their social networking site in 2007, over 44 percent are active Facebook users in 2010. Forty-five percent of administrators are also Facebook users now.
• Reflecting the exploding interest in digital content and e-textbooks, four times more administrators (35 percent) are concerned today about how to evaluate the quality of digital resources than just one year ago (9 percent).
• Thirty percent of teachers are now using podcasts and videos in their classroom instruction – an increase of over 50 percent since 2008.
• Teacher interest in teaching an online class has grown by 76 percent in just two years.
• And as classroom instruction is becoming more digitally-based, administrators are ranking digital equity and student home tech access as a much bigger issue. While only 12 percent of administrators listed digital equity as a concern in 2007, 30 percent of our education leaders today consider student access an important district challenge.
Dig in to the data from other years and other important surveys at tomorrow.org


text: The Alaska Railroad seeks ideas for artwork that may become the basis of the railroad's official 2015 commemorative art print and poster. The deadline for submissions is Feb. 21, 2014. Artwork must include an Alaska Railroad theme. Submissions should be mailed or delivered in person no later than Feb. 21 to: Stephenie Wheeler, Alaska Railroad Corporate Affairs Alaska Railroad, P.O. Box 107 Anchorage, AK 99510-7500, or hand delivered at ARRC Headquarters, 327 W. Ship Creek Ave., Anchorage, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. , Monday-Friday. The railroad retains all rights to the artwork. The artist will receive $3,000, and will be given 10 artist proofs and 20 posters.


text:
Thereifixedit.com is a site filled with dubious innovations. Some of them are cool, some of them are clever, and most of them are terrifying. Anyone who has ever stood in front of a broken household appliance with a roll of duct tape, one screw driver with a bit chipped off the flat part, and determination will laugh themselves silly browsing through this site. Maybe some of the ghetto hacks we covered before should be in this list.
[Thanks for the link Dad]


text:
Machine safety compliance: Which standards apply? Do a risk assessment
Engineers want to know what to do to comply with machine safety requirements. Heed this advice.
Today, customers face greater challenges when figuring out the proper way to safeguard machines while meeting various safety requirements. They need to determine what safety standards to adhere to (ISO 13849-1, EN 954, ANSI B11.19, RIA 15.06, PMMI B155.1, Semi S2, NFP 79, etc.) and determine the proper way to conduct risk assessments and safety risk mitigation. At the end of the day, customers just want to ensure that employees are protected and machines are running safely. So, what is the best approach for a customer to take, ensuring it meets the proper safety requirements but safeguards its machines in an appropriate and productive way?
3 machine safety suggestions
Here are three key suggestions on how to get there:
1. Develop an internal panel to discuss machine safety. Many users already have an environmental health and safety manager, but in a lot of cases EH&S personnel aren't well-versed in the intricacies of machine controls. By developing in-house teams of control engineers, maintenance workers, and production to work alongside EH&S, companies can review the best approach for them to ensure proper machine safety. This approach only works if end users have qualified personnel who can handle the task and develop the necessary internal resources. Admittedly, it can take a long time to develop and acquire the internal knowledge needed here.
2. Turn to outside help. Many customers today have outside consulting companies take care of their risk assessments and machine safeguarding. While this approach is by far the easiest for a customer to take, it usually is costly and leaves you with little internal safety knowledge. This approach might be best if you are trying to safeguard one machine quickly. However, another potential risk is that many outside consultants are safety experts but have little knowledge of machine controls; this could result in an overall solution that isn't as productive as it should be.
3. Turn to the original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). End users today are increasingly seeking help from the OEMs to implement and deliver safe machines. This has been the standard practice in European markets. We are starting to see the same trend develop in the U.S. Of course, no one knows a machine better than the OEM, so it can decide what the best standards and practices to follow are. We see many OEMs following this trend by offering turnkey, safeguarded machines compliant to the relevant standards.
So what is the best approach? Just like there are several safety standards, there are also several effective ways to integrate safety into your machines. Using some products, OEMs can tie safety directly into an existing controls network, reducing development time and hardware costs. Common safety functions, such as e-stops, light curtains, safety doors, floor mats, etc., are easily connected via distributed I/O terminals that act as safety PLCs, as well as safety inputs and outputs. This safety technology ties seamlessly with standard I/O terminals and standard controllers on the same network (EtherCAT, an Ethernet network) and is programmed using the same software environment as the machine controls.
It is critical to partner with a knowledgeable safety expert who understands safety and machine controls. If there is one "best answer," it would be for companies to take action now and prepare their organization to become compliant with the applicable safety standards. This is to protect employees and ensure corporate responsibility for any manufacturing company.
– Tony Rigoni is regional sales manager and safety specialist, Beckhoff Automation. Edited by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, CFE Media, Control Engineering and Plant Engineering, email@example.com.
Key concepts
- Develop an internal panel to discuss machine safety.
- Consultants and safety experts can help.
- Use original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to implement and deliver safe machines.
Consider this
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Canadian-born Alice Munro, a world-class writer whose name comes up on lists of potential Nobel literature candidates, is writing at the peak of her powers in "Dear Life." Her 14 stories are so fluid and close to the mystery of life that reading them is like being inside the mind of a writer as she creates, shaping language within her spacious imagination, suffusing words with empathy, darting in unexpected directions before she reveals a final mysterious truth.
Munro begins her stories in surprising places, usually in the midst of the action. It is a measure of the restless energy of these tales that several start on trains. "To Reach Japan," the story of an interrupted love resumed almost by accident, begins as a husband puts his wife and preschool daughter on a train to Toronto, and ends when the two reach their destination with the bond between them transformed.
"Amundsen" opens with a young woman on a train heading from wartime Toronto to a new job as a teacher at an isolated tuberculosis sanitarium. There she is drawn into a strange affair with the sanitarium's austere doctor that will instruct her in love and haunt her for decades.
"Train" begins abruptly: "This is a slow train anyway, and it has slowed some more for the curve." Jackson, a nervous, scrawny soldier coming home from World War II, heaves his bag and leaps onto the tracks within walking distance of his hometown, where he's expected at midnight. But he walks in the opposite direction, encountering Belle, a woman living alone in an aging farmhouse with a horse and buggy for transportation. One impulsive leap, and he's shifted the direction of his life. He stays in the house for years, repairing, improving, and treating Belle like an older sister. In 1962, when she has surgery for a lump in her breast in Toronto, a chance meeting sends him on yet another path toward an encounter that explains his past. What is astonishing is not so much what happens to Jackson, but the strange ways in which it happens, and the delicious ways in which Munro delves into layers of memory to explore the reasons for his disconnection from the women he might love.
The spiral of memory also is at play in the stunning story "Gravel," which traces the ways in which two young sisters are affected by their mother's affair with a dope-smoking actor. They move with her and their dog from their large house with its spacious lawn to a trailer beside a gravel pit. What happens between the sisters one afternoon in that gravel pit leaves the younger one scarred for life; the final image concludes the story with a shock of truth.
As in her previous 12 collections, Munro writes about ordinary people dealing with confusions, failures, and sustained visions of what might have been; she skewers the narrow-minded and creates lasting portraits of the neglected and forlorn, unveiling their secrets with delicate grace. In a concluding section she calls "Finale," she includes four "not quite stories" that are autobiographical in feeling, if not exactly fact. "I believe they are the first and last — and the closest — things I have to say about my own life," she writes of these precious clues to the origins of her art.
This suite of four stories begins with a birth and ends with a funeral. In the first, "The Eye," Munro gives us her earliest memories of her mother filling the house with "her footsteps her voice her powdery yet ominous smell." When she was five, her brother was born; her younger sister came the following year. "Up until the time of the first baby I had not been aware of ever feeling different from the way my mother said I felt," she writes. After her brother's birth, she begins to accept "how largely my mother's notions about me might differ from my own."
By the fourth, the title story, "Dear Life," she is "full of resentment and quarrelsome remarks. 'Talking back,' it was called." And, we as readers know, she is coming close to discovering the powerful inner voice that will sustain her as a writer. Her mother's health is in decline, with early-onset Parkinson's, and her father is going broke. She is reading big novels borrowed from the town library — "Remembrance of Things Past," "The Magic Mountain.'' And she believes herself a lucky person. "You would think that this was just too much. The business gone, my mother's health going. It wouldn't do in fiction. But the strange thing is that I don't remember that time as unhappy."
In the final devastating paragraph, after her mother has died, Munro delivers yet another enigmatic revelation: "We say of some things that they can't be forgiven, or that we will never forgive ourselves. But we do — we do it all the time." Like so much of Munro's work it is a simple statement, wise and unforgettable. "Dear Life'' is a wondrous gift; a reminder of why Munro's work endures.
Jane Ciabattari, who has contributed to the New York Times Book Review, NPR.org,The Daily Beast, and others, is a former president of the National Book Critics Circle and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Latest Article|September 3, 2020|Free
::Making Grown Men Cry Since 1992
3 min read
Chris Walsh is the guitarist for Red Light Cameras—a Burque rock 'n' soul four piece. On Saturday, Oct. 15, the band releases its self-titled debut album at the Launchpad (618 Central SW) with the support of Techtonic Movement, The Great Depression, RAWRR! and Shoulder Voices. The 21-and-over show is $5. In the meantime, we asked Walsh to set his digital music library to random—get a feel for the band's inspirations below.
1) "Month of May" • Arcade Fire • The Suburbs "I'll love Arcade Fire even after they are cool. You can tell that they really mean what they say. I saw them when they came to Santa Fe and found they are truly dedicated to their live show. I think about them every time I play live."
2) "Anybody Seen My Baby?" • The Rolling Stones • Bridges to Babylon "Let's face it, The Rolling Stones is the most ridiculous band ever. Mick Jagger is one of the ugliest/sexiest rockers alive. Keith Richards should be dead a hundred times over. And the band has been together for almost 50 years. Ridiculous."
3) "A Girl Named Sandoz" • Smashing Pumpkins • Pisces Iscariot "The Smashing Pumpkins cover The Animals' B-side, and then put it on their album of B-sides. Sounds raw, messy and so old-school pumpkins. Billy Corgan taught me guitar."
4) "Ledwerx" • I is for Ida • Storybook "I got this album at their CD release show and was magically transported to a magical world of good vibes watching them perform."
5) "All Apologies [acoustic]" • Nirvana • With the Lights Out "Kurt Cobain was a teenage angst god, and his albums were the bible which I studied from. Looking back, I realize that underneath Kurt's brooding, anti-music industry facade was a really good pop songwriter."


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- McCartney's touring schedule has been reduced to shorter, intense bursts in recent years
- McCartney: "I love what I do so much that I don't really want to stop"
- "The band's hot, I'm really enjoying myself, still singing like I sang," he says
(Rolling Stone) -- Twenty years ago, when Paul McCartney turned 50, he remembers his then-manager pushing the idea of retirement.
"It's only right," he was told. "You really don't want to go beyond 50, it's going to get embarrassing." In June, McCartney will be 70 ("I'm never going to believe I'm 70, I don't care what you say," he says. "There's a little cell in my brain that's never going to believe that"), and he still has no plans to stop touring or recording.
"You get the argument 'Make way for the young kids,' " he says. "And you think, 'F*** that, let them make way for themselves. If they're better than me, they'll beat me.' Foo Fighters don't have a problem, they're good. They'll do their thing.
"If you're enjoying it, why do something else? And what would you do? Well, a good answer is 'Take more holidays,' which is definitely on the cards, but I don't seem to do that. I love what I do so much that I don't really want to stop. I'm just kind of casually keeping an eye on how I feel, and onstage, it feels like it's always felt. So for the time being, the band's hot, I'm really enjoying myself, still singing like I sang, not experiencing, touch wood, any sort of problems to speak of. If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
It doesn't hurt that his touring schedule has been reduced to shorter, intense bursts in recent years, largely because of his shared-custody arrangement for his 8-year-old, Beatrice.
"We don't do the big sloggo tour, we don't do the big U2-Stones go-out-forever thing, and get a bit fed up with it," says McCartney, who's planning some dates for later this year. "What we do now is events and selective dates. Because of my custody situation, I can only do that. At first, we thought, 'Oh, God, is this going to be a problem?' and it's actually turned out to be some kind of a blessing."
He can see himself rocking well into his eighties.
Bobby Brown Pays Tribute to Ex-Wife Whitney Houston During Concert
"I can imagine it," he says. "As to whether my imagination will come true, I don't know. The last couple of years, I've gotten into guitar -- so there's all sorts of little things that crop up that entice you forward, and you go, 'Hmm, I'd like that.'"
I broach the idea of actually dying onstage -- would he be into it? He recoils slightly, then smiles.
"What kind of question is that? I must say, that's not in my imagination. Rocking on until a grand old age... the only thing would be when it's not pleasant anymore, then it would be 'That's a good time to stop.' But it's way too pleasant at the moment. And it pays. Good gig, man. But I know exactly where you're coming from, though. How long can this go on...?"
To read the rest of this cover story, pick up the March issue of Rolling Stone February 17.
Copyright © 2011 Rolling Stone.


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The Bahamas Real Estate Association is not responsible for the accuracy of the information listed above. The data relating to real estate for sale or lease on this web site comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange Program (IDX) and the Bahamas MLS, and is provided here for consumer's personal, noncommercial use. It may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing or leasing. Real Estate listings held in brokerage firms other than the office owning this website are marked with the IDX Logo on the short inquiry. Data provided is deemed reliable but not guaranteed. This information is protected by copyright and all rights are reserved. This property is shown courtesy of The Bahamas MLS


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Carol Award winning writer, Melissa Jagears, is a homeschooling mom who writes Christian Historical Romance into the wee hours of the night. She's the author of the Unexpected Brides Series with Bethany House. The prequel ebook novella, Love by the Letter, is her ACFW Carol Award winning novella and is free to try.
You can learn more about her, her books, and where she hangs out online at www.melissajagears.com
Welcome back to the blog, Melissa. I'm so happy to have you here today. Congratulations on your upcoming release, A Heart Most Certain. Love this cover! 🙂
I love the cover too, and what's really cool is I sent them a mockup of the idea I wanted and they followed it! Meaning I'm totally flattered that Bethany's art department (which rocks!) thought my idea was a good one! The cover they sent me first was almost exactly how it looks now except it was just green grasses and bushes and a plain white dress. It was missing color, so I asked them to color the dress, but when they decided to add the flowers and the multi-colored sky I was in love.
That is SO cool! I love comparing the two. The final cover is just perfect! 😉 Can you tell us what you love most about your hero and heroine in this story?
I love Lydia King's obsession with books. Being a bookworm myself, I have trouble keeping every single one of my heroine's from being bookworms, but I played up the bookworm characteristic with Lydia for all it was worth.
I love that Nicholas Lowe is my most Darcy-esque hero I've written. I always have my college roommate (who I turned into a Christian romance reader almost two decades ago—I take pride in that) read a draft and this was her comment on Nicholas: He's like a burned marshmallow. Dark and crusty on the outside; mushy and sweet on the inside. 🙂
Haha! Love it! 😉 Any plans for how you're going to celebrate your latest book release?
Sleeping and zoning out watching North & South? Oh wait, that's to celebrate the deadline I have to meet right before that happens. I'm trying to think up something really cool for readers. If anyone wants to leave a comment on a cool celebration they've seen other authors do that they enjoyed, let me know in the comments. I might try to work it in for this book or the next.
What book(s) are you in the middle of reading right now?
When I'm behind on deadline I don't dare touch my fiction TBR pile, since I am not one of those people who can read a chapter and put it down, I consume them. If there's a book I'm not ignoring responsibilities for, then I'm probably not enjoying it. But! I do work on other people's fiction and read non-fiction.
Right now, I'm editing the next novel in the Eagle Harbor Series by Naomi Rawlings. I don't know when it will release, but you meet the hero and heroine in Love's Sure Dawn. I think Love's Sure Dawn is my favorite because I love a redeemed antagonist. I don't understand readers who are hesitant to read a book where the previous bad boy becomes the hero. Maybe that's because when I met my husband he was NOT Christian Romance Hero material, but he is now.
I'm almost done reading Is God a Moral Monster? by Paul Copan. Almost done with that and it's good and meaty.
I'm also reading Big Truths for Young Hearts by Bruce A. Ware with my 9 year old. It's for children in upper elementary/middle school/junior high age. I heard about it on Christian radio as I was driving one day and the moment someone said it was like a systematic theology for kids I went home and ordered it. It's actually a very good read aloud, there's a lot of sentences that sort of repeat the same idea but said in a different way, but that's probably really good for the one listening, especially when you're trying to get a child to really grasp what the Trinity is since it's not something we completely understand.
That's wonderful. I'll have to look those up!
I read that you homeschool you kids. I think that's great! I was homeschooled as well. 😉 What is one of your greatest blessings of homeschooling your children? And what's your greatest challenge?
The greatest blessing is spending time with my children, getting to really know them, figuring them out, and adjusting their schooling to meet their needs, so they can be the best they can be.
Greatest challenge…..spending time with my kids! Ha. They're obviously great, but when I take personality tests, the scale showing how introverted you are is WAY up there for me. I don't really get a break from 'people' anymore since they're with me almost all the time. And when my husband comes home, he wants to spend time with me and sometimes by that point I'm like, "Can I please go hide in the closet or shed or garage or somewhere first? I just need to be alone staring at a wall for awhile or I might pop."
If you could go back in time to any place and meet anyone, where would you go and who would it be?
I'm going to skip answering Jesus, because that's a given, right? So I'd love to listen to a great theological thinker. Maybe C.S. Lewis. OH! I'd go to 1930/40s England and sit in on a Inklings meeting with him and Tolkien in attendance. Since there were no females in the group, I'd probably hide under the table so I could just listen, and then hope to join him on his walk home and simply ask him what he was thinking about theologically that day.
Aww, I LOVE that idea. How incredible would that be. 🙂 Thank you so much for joining us today, Melissa! I'm excited to read your next book!
Melissa has graciously offered to give away a signed copy of A Heart Most Certain to one lucky reader! (International readers will receive an e-copy) Enter below and it could be YOU!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for entering! Signed copy is for US residents only. International winner will receive an e-copy. Contest ends August 30, 2016. The winner will be notified by email. Happy Reading, everybody!


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Based on the popular RTR Savage 25 (#835), HPI Racing has worked closely with Kawasaki to produce a fully licensed RC Kawasaki KFX 700 Monster ATV that will be available for the holiday season - adding a whole new perspective to the Savage monster truck! |
Approximately 1/5th the size of a real Kawasaki KFX 700 Quad, this bright green monster will come complete with a miniature ATV Rider for a realistic look. The legs of the rider are tethered to the body so that it can move around over jumps just like a real ATV rider. Extra strength and flexibility have been added to the rider material, making it durable enough to handle extreme R/C driving...with no broken bones! Everyone that sees the ATV rider moving around while driving is instantly drawn to it, commenting on the scale realism. Drivers will find that the rider adds excitement over jumps and stunt driving, a definite boost to the "fun factor" of R/C driving.
The RC KFX 700 Monster ATV is based on the famous HPI Savage 25
RTR. So it has got the same proven tough chassis layout and all the
great features that made the Savage the most popular big block
monster truck in the world. It is powered by the HPI Nitro Star S-25 engine, a proven performer that is ideally suited to off-road driving. A 2 speed transmission is standard equipment for quick acceleration and high top speed. For convenience, the popular Roto Start System is included - a press of the button makes the engine roar to life! A new dual stage air filter is now standard equipment for added engine protection and extended time between maintenance intervals! As the RC Kawasaki KFX 700 Monster ATV is based on the extremely popular HPI Savage 25 truck, spare parts are already in stock at hobby shops, and a wide variety of factory option parts and aftermarket upgrades are readily available. For more details about the Savage 25 see its kitpage. |
The new RC Kawasaki KFX 700 comes completely factory assembled; everything is done for you - even the tires are glued to the wheels. In less than 15 minutes you can be driving your Monster ATV! To top it off, we gave the KFX 700 the famous bright green Kawasaki paint, making it instantly recognizable to ATV enthusiasts. The entire body is completely ready to go right out of the box... painted, decaled, trimmed and mounted. Both a complete Instruction Manual that covers the entire assembly/disassembly process and a HPI RC Cars DVD are included!
Factory assembled RC KFX 700
Monster ATV with pre-painted, pre-cut, pre-decaled bodyshell.
Includes radio gear and HPI S-25 engine equipped with roto
start. |
Kawasaki, KFX 700 Are Trademarks Licensed By Kawasaki Motors Corp., U.S.A., Which Does Not Manufacture Or Distribute This Product. Consumer Inquiries Should Be Directed To Your Local Distributor.
Specification may be subject to change


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A partnership with the University of Maryland is not unique. In fact, DPR partnered with the university in the construction of the Clarice Smith Performance Arts Center in 1994. The Department continues to look for opportunities to establish and further partnerships with public and private entities to provide recreation amenities to residents.
Existing partnerships include The Gardens Icehouse, Prince George's Stadium, and the Junior Tennis Champions Center. The proposed partnership with the University of Maryland to reimagine the Paint Branch Complex is an opportunity to provide programming and community access to a collegiate-level track and field facility. Furthermore, a partnership with the University brings additional financial and staffing resources to the site.
Show All Answers
• University of Maryland Golf Course
• Henson Creek Golf Course
• Enterprise Golf Course
• Gunpowder Golf Course
The proposed reduction in the number of golf course holes is to allow space for the replacement of the existing Driving Range that will be used to enhance the "Learn to Golf" experience. The reduced course could be used by DPR to provide training for new golfers.
Additionally, with holes of varying lengths, more experienced golfers will have an opportunity to work on their short, mid-range, and long-range games. We believe that a redesigned course as envisioned would complement the existing golf performance center and new Driving Range.
The existing Driving Range is an integral part of the training experience and provides revenue. The proposed modifications and additions are opportunities to bring in new golfers, support DPR's growing First Tee program, while also diversifying the onsite activities to meet the needs of a growing community.
Our goal is to always keep the play price affordable for Prince George's County residents.
We expect the current golf course to remain intact until the summer of 2022. Once approved, the University anticipates starting construction of the Track and Field facility during the Summer of 2022 and complete the facility during the Summer of 2023. We will make all efforts to maintain the golf course during this construction period. A timeline for the other proposed amenities has not been developed.
We do not envision any reductions in the number of employees currently assigned to operate the golf facility. In fact, the reimaged golf course when completed would require an increase in staffing. As envisioned, the reimaged Paint Branch Complex includes golf and other recreational amenities on the 66+ acres, along with a Track and Field on the 8 acres that currently is the site of the driving range. The vision is for the new Driving Range, Performance Training Center, Clubhouse, and three to six holes of golf.
We want your feedback on the additional amenities for the complex. Some of the ideas include batting cages, a miniature golf facility, rectangular ball fields, in addition to a replacement Driving Range. DPR will host a variety of public sessions and provide continuous opportunities to receive feedback from the community.
The costs of using any future amenities on the site have not been determined.
The current Paint Branch Trail should have few to limited interruptions due to this project. Improving the safety of the trail crossing at the entry to the Paint Branch facility is of special interest and will be studied further during the conceptual design process. DPR will explore opportunities to bring new trail connections to the Paint Branch site, possibly including a connection to the Autoville community, while enhancing the existing trail.
New lighting will be evaluated.
It offers an opportunity for DPR to offer healthy lifestyle programming, track and field training, and local events on-site. The track will complement other on-site recreational activities, allowing users to walk or jog as a warm-up or cool down to other activities. The small field area at the center of the track could allow for exercise classes such as yoga, Tai Chi, or exercise boot camps; for small-sized soccer practices, or running (football, soccer, lacrosse, etc.) drills.
The Track and Field facility, including the small playing field area, will be available for programming by the Department and available to the community to use during the midday, evening, and weekend hours while not in use by the University of Maryland Track and Field team. (Team practices are typically about four hours a day, during the Fall and Spring seasons, concentrated in the morning and late afternoon hours. The University intends to host approximately five competitive track meets during the Spring on weekends.)
Yes. The Department of Parks and Recreation will share more information on how to access the University of Maryland's Driving Range as we move forward.
The Track and Field amenity will be funded completely by the University of Maryland. The University will also contribute to the development of the replacement Driving Range.
The University of Maryland will be responsible for the maintenance of the Track and Field facility. The Department of Parks and Recreation will maintain other amenities at Paint Branch.
The Department will have discussions with the University of Maryland about the establishment of new senior rates.
The impact of the Phase 1 project on adjacent communities should be limited.
The intent is to redevelop within the existing footprint of the golf course and to limit the removal of trees. Phase II will include site analysis and design, and an evaluation of the environmental and noise impacts on-site and in the surrounding neighborhoods.
On-site parking will be increased; however, there will be limited parking allowed for track and field events. Any large events will be serviced by shuttles from the main campus. A traffic analysis will be conducted to investigate parking needs, entry and exit access points to the site (including safe pedestrian and bicycle access), along impacts on University Boulevard and surrounding roadways.


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Parliament and Politics from George I to the Reform Act of 1832
The accession of George I in 1714 marked a change in the ruling house of Great Britain, bringing to the throne the elector of the north German state of Hanover. This transition, the Hanoverian succession, caused a collapse in the political fortunes of the Tory government of Lord Oxford and a revival for their opponents, the Whigs. The Court Whigs, as the ruling oligarchy was known, dominated successive administrations for most of the next century. But Parliament, which had met in annual session uninterruptedly for the previous 25 years, continued to play an authoritative role under the Hanoverian kings.
Under Robert Walpole and Henry Pelham, who occupied the position of first or 'prime' minister for a total of 30 years between 1722 and 1754, Britain enjoyed a long period of internal stability and economic prosperity, in marked contrast to the partisan politics and European wars of the 30 years to 1715. Apart from the bursting of the South Sea bubble, a speculative financial crisis, in 1720, the economy expanded, with the development of a national market and the expansion of overseas trade. Foreign entanglements could not be entirely avoided, and Walpole's fall from power (losing the confidence of the 1741 Parliament) was largely owing to war with Spain, while the Jacobite invasion of 1745 demonstrated that the Stuart threat had not been entirely eradicated. Yet Britain now became a major power in international politics.
Ministerial instability was a feature of the last years of George II and of the first decade of the reign of his grandson George III, who became king in 1760. The government headed by the elder Pitt claimed the credit for military and naval victories in the Seven Years War (1756-63), especially in North America, but he and the duke of Newcastle's 'old corps' Whigs fell from office in the early 1760s, the victims of the new king's determination to choose his own ministers. It was not until 1770 that he found a premier, in the form of Lord North, who could both retain his trust and remain in control of the Commons.
By then colonial issues were coming to dominate parliamentary debates: the military defeat by America (in conjunction with France and Spain) led to North's eventual resignation in 1782; the India bill crisis was the means by which George III freed himself from the Fox-North coalition late the following year. The long first administration of William Pitt the younger, whose oratorical authority in the Commons was rivalled only by Charles James Fox, failed to yield the benefits of his mildly reformist ambitions, not least because of the outbreak of war with revolutionary France in 1793 and the perceived threat of domestic radicalism. Following the Irish rebellion in 1798, Ireland was incorporated with Britain in the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801.
By the early 19th century, Britain had been transformed by the effects of population growth, industrialization and the expansion of urban society. The Napoleonic Wars, which took a heavy toll in economic and social terms, ended in 1815 and, although the slave trade had been made illegal by the 'Talents' ministry in 1807, few popular demands for reforms had been met. As prince regent (during the 1810s) and as king (from 1820), George IV stood by Pitt's Tory successors, of whom Lord Liverpool, appointed after the assassination of Spencer Perceval, was another long serving prime minister. The re-emergence of party politics after the revolutionary crisis of the mid-1790s (when the Portland Whigs joined Pitt's wartime government) gave greater impetus to Whig calls for key constitutional changes and, following the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts in 1828 and the granting of Catholic emancipation in 1829, it was Lord Grey's Whig government which carried the Great Reform Act in 1832. This act was a watershed in the representative history of the United Kingdom.


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Iris has been challenged by Opelucid Gym Leader Drayden, and she's back in town to battle him! But as soon as she arrives (with Ash and Cilan in tow), a crisis of confidence sends her scurrying up a tall metal tower for some fresh air and solitude. Her retreat doesn't last long, though—Officer Jenny is quickly on the scene to order her back to the ground, and she makes Iris promise never to do that again. It seems the aspiring Dragon Master has a bit of a history here...
Upon running into her former dorm advisor Martha, Iris reveals that she used to be a student at Opelucid Academy, one of the most famous schools of Pokémon knowledge in the Unova region—led by none other than Gym Leader Drayden as the academy president. It seemed the perfect opportunity for her to make an intensive study of Dragon-type Pokémon, but the free-spirited Iris had trouble fitting in with the other students, and soon became homesick and lonely. She first climbed the tower in an attempt to get a glimpse of home, and the fresh air reminded her of her beloved Village of Dragons, so the top of the tower became her favorite retreat. After a battle against one of her classmates went wrong and she got a stern talking-to from Drayden about connecting with her Pokémon, she decided the academy just wasn't for her, and returned home before setting out on her journey with Axew.
Now it's time for Iris to prove to Drayden how much she and her Pokémon have grown together! The battle begins with Drayden's Haxorus up against Iris's Excadrill—it's a rematch of the battle they had in the Village of Dragons when Iris was younger! This time, it ends in a draw, as Excadrill and Haxorus manage to knock each other out at the same time. Next up, Drayden calls out his Druddigon, and Iris turns to her Dragonite. She initially plans to attack from the air because Druddigon can't fly, but quickly remembers that Dragonite prefers an even playing field, and shifts her strategy to match her Pokémon's wishes. The two seem evenly matched, and Druddigon eventually comes out on top.
Iris is defeated, but the battle has served its purpose, and Drayden is satisfied with her potential and the strength she's shown. He advises her to keep training and getting stronger, and asks her to come back and visit when she's ready. As he leaves, Martha reveals that it was actually Drayden who suggested to the Village Elder that Iris go on a journey...and that he's been planning for her to take over as the Opelucid Gym Leader when he retires!
Iris is stunned by this news, and asks for some time to consider her decision while she continues her journey. Next stop: Vertress City and the Unova League!


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About ME
Unwritten is a website for millennials written and run by millennials. It is because of this that we are an extremely relatable publication for our generation. We are the website you can turn to when your friends or family don't have the answers or conversation you are looking for. We're committed to giving Generation-Y the discussion they need – whether it be a source of news, a much needed laugh, a comforting shoulder to cry on, or a place to have their own stories heard. You can think of Unwritten as family who is always here when you need us the most.


text: Blue Bloods 3x13 "Inside Jobs" - When a man with multiple rat bites is thrown from a moving car, Danny works the case to find out why and who was trying to send a message. Meanwhile, Frank must be diplomatic when dealing with a bigoted radio host who will be broadcasting from New York City, on BLUE BLOODS, Friday, February 1st on CBS. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio guest stars as Sophia, a charitable benefactress, and Mark Moses guest stars as a bigoted radio host.


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You will need:
- a 5 inch square of cotton fabric for the outside of your cookie
- a 5 inch square of felt for the inside
- a circle to trace, one with a diameter of about 4.5 inches (I use an old paint can)
- pinking shears
- a slip of paper, about .5" by 2.5" for your fortune
Cut both circles out.
Lay the cotton on top of the felt, right side up, and line up the edges. Sew a half inch seam around the entire circle. I use my walking foot for this but you don't have to.
Use your pinking shears to trim the raw edge all the way around the circle, leaving about a quarter inch of fabric.
Fold the circle in half with the cotton side together, felt on the outside. Sew about an inch seam down the middle, not sewing to the edge of either side of the half circle. Be sure to back stitch a few times.
Flip the cookie open and adjust the folds until it looks right.
Before you give it to someone be sure to write a fortune on a slip of paper and stick it inside. I like to use pretty origami paper that is blank on the back.
You can also string a piece of ribbon through the center of the cookie and tie it to a gift, like so.
Ok, the end, happy cookie making!


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Welcome, SCSD Alumni!
The Fine Arts Department wants to know what you're up to!
We are in the process of creating a database of SCSD graduates who are still active in the arts. We'd like to post some pictures and biographies on this page. Additionally, if you're active in the arts and would like to share your work and experiences with our students, we'd like to know that too!
Please send the following information to Kate Beck ([email protected]) and feel free to include a photo if you'd like:
Year of graduation from SCSD
College attended, major, degree received (if applicable)
Current involvement in the arts
What you loved about the arts in SCSD
Whether you'd be interested in coming to visit some classrooms to share your experiences with students
If you'd prefer that we not publish the information above on the Alumni Connections page and would like to only be included in our database, please let us know.


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It's a measure of how bad things have become for the scandal-plagued Legionaries of Christ that the first question a journalist feels obliged to ask the religious order's new leader is, "Have you ever sexually abused anyone?"
For the record, the answer of Father Eduardo Robles Gil Orvañanos was, "I can promise, swear, whatever you want, that I haven't. . . it would make no sense at all for us to put someone in a leadership position with something to hide."
Robles spoke in a Feb. 14 interview with the Globe, his first with an English-language news outlet.
The Legionaries not so long ago were a Catholic powerhouse, a body of gung-ho priests enjoying the support of Pope John Paul II and other Vatican heavyweights and wielding vast political and financial muscle. The order fell from grace after revelations that its founder had lived a shocking double life, including having relationships with two women and fathering up to six children, as well as sexual abuse of young seminarians and, reportedly, even two of his own children.
The founder, Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, died in 2008. The bombshell about his misconduct, along with scandals involving other prominent Legionaries, makes the order the most polarizing symbol of the broader sexual abuse crisis in Catholicism. A recent Associated Press report described the Legionaries as "one of the most egregious examples of how . . . church leaders put the interests of the institution above those of the victims."
Some critics, including some of the order's former members, called for it to be abolished. Benedict XVI instead placed it under papal receivership in 2010, installing a papal delegate to promote reform. That process concluded with the Jan. 20 election of Robles, a 61-year-old priest and formerly the top Legionaries official in Mexico.
Given that history, it's obviously relevant to wonder if Maciel's successor has any skeletons in his own closet.
In his Globe interview, Robles insisted there aren't. He also claimed he wasn't in on the coverup regarding Maciel, saying that he's spent his career in the field, mostly in Latin America, and that he only learned the truth in 2008 when one of the order's officials told him.
Robles pledged that the Legionaries are now committed to zero tolerance for sexual abuse, including a rigorous commitment to transparency.
"We're fully committed to creating a safe environment in all of our schools and in everything we do," he told the Globe.
Whatever one makes of Robles's guarantees, one point is crystal clear: The Legionaries are Pope Francis' problem now.
Heretofore, one could fault Pope John Paul II for not taking the charges against Maciel seriously, or blame Benedict XVI for appointing a delegate, Italian Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, who has, in the eyes of critics, produced reforms that are more cosmetic than substantive. In any event, none of it could be laid in Francis' lap.
Now, however, Francis has placed his fingerprints on the order's future.
In May, he sent a letter offering "a word of encouragement," and in August he named a prominent member of the Legionaries to the number two position in the Vatican City State. By ratifying the results of the recent elections, he's signaled that the Legionaries are ready to get back to business, so from here on, it's his reputation on the line.
Robles said Francis passed on a "very warm" message about his election, and that the Legionaries feel "totally supported" by the pope.
If the Legionaries are seen to have genuinely turned over a new leaf, relaxing their internal controls, collaborating more effectively with the rest of the church, and telling the full truth both about their past and their present, Francis will get deserved credit for engineering real change.
However, if the take-away is that the Legionaries remain mired in the old ways , that they haven't absorbed the lessons of the Maciel debacle, then Francis has nowhere to deflect the blame.
In his own recent interview with the Globe, Boston's Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who enjoys a reputation as a reformer on the sex abuse front, insisted that Francis is "certainly aware of how serious this issue is."
If so, the pope's awareness had better include a keen grasp of how the future workings of the Legionaries of Christ looms as an acid test of his commitment. If anything could put a damper on Francis-mania, a perception that he's half-hearted about recovery from the church's child abuse scandals might be it.
Creative tension between Francis and his doctrinal czar
Archbishop Gerhard Müller, the Vatican's doctrinal czar who will become a cardinal on Feb. 22, was in Milan on Thursday to deliver a lecture marking the opening of the academic year at the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy. If you closed your eyes and drifted back in time, you might have thought you were listening to another German doctrinal prefect — Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict XVI.
Müller touched on many of Ratzinger's favorite themes, particularly the danger of Catholic theology being skewed by "media pressure" and "mentalities incompatible with the authentic content of the faith."
Taking up the sensus fidelium, a Latin phrase referring to the idea that teaching ought to reflect the beliefs of the church's grass roots, Müller said it doesn't mean determining truth by opinion polls or plebiscites. He insisted that the correct formula is sensus fidelium in Ecclesia, meaning that popular belief must be rooted in the "insuperable and indispensable" sources of the faith in Scripture, tradition, and the official teaching authority of the church.
Müller urged "critical rigor" in Catholic theology, as opposed to the "carelessness" that arises from taking one's cues from the media and public pressure over issues such as "women in the priesthood . . . and access to the sacraments for those who are not in full communion with the church."
That last point was a way of confirming Müller's opposition to allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments, a position he already expressed in October.
Müller also seemed to question the value of a recent survey of Catholics around the world in advance of October's Synod of Bishops on the Family, the results of which have been released by some bishops' conferences and which show substantial numbers of Catholics breaking with official teaching on matters such as contraception and premarital cohabitation.
"There's no one who can't see the mistake and the myopia of using e-mail to indiscriminately sound out everyone's opinions on the Internet," he said.
In sum, Müller used this speech, delivered in the presence of Cardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, another heavy-hitter in the Catholic world, to draw some lines in the sand.
It may seem puzzling why a pope such as Francis, who seems to embody a fairly moderate doctrinal stance, confirmed Müller as the Vatican's theologian-in-chief last September. Isn't there a contradiction between Francis' penchant for opening doors, and Müller's apparent determination to slam them shut?
The same question used to arise under Pope John Paul II, particularly during the 1990s when he had a strong progressive organizing his own liturgies and an archconservative heading the Vatican department that set the rules for Catholic worship. Then, too, many observers saw that juxtaposition as mere incoherence.
Yet there's another way of looking at things, inspired by an adage of Pope John XXIII who once said, "I have to be pope both for those with their foot on the gas and those with their foot on the brake."
In his day, John Paul II wanted to push the envelope in his own liturgical celebrations, especially when he went on the road and tried to blend in elements of local worship in whatever society he was visiting. For precisely that reason, he wanted a hard-liner back in Rome making sure that the church didn't throw the baby out with the liturgical bathwater.
This wasn't incoherence, in other words. In John Paul's mind, at least, it was a creative tension.
Something similar may be going on today vis-à-vis Francis and his doctrinal chief.
This pope knows that his spontaneous, shoot-from-the-hip style is occasionally going to shake things up, and that his emphasis on mercy will raise hard questions about whether traditional Catholic judgments still stand. He's not going to rein himself in, but he may also want somebody to pull in the other direction, hoping for a sort of "Heraclitus effect" — stability through the balancing of opposing forces.
If that's indeed the logic, so far Müller seems to be playing his part awfully well.
Nostalgia for Pope Benedict XVI
If proof were needed that some Catholic conservatives are feeling a bit nostalgic for Pope Benedict XVI, it came on Feb. 11, the one-year anniversary of his resignation announcement. Two striking essays from high-profile Italian writers, both of whom have a significant following in Catholic circles, make the point.
In a Feb. 12 piece in the Italian paper Libero, Antonio Socci floated the question of whether Benedict's resignation was actually valid under church law — hinting that in the eyes of God, anyway, Benedict may still be the pope. At the same time, Robert de Mattei posted a piece on the website of his Lepanto foundation asserting that developments since the election of Francis, including his famous "Who am I to judge?" sound bite about gays, risk "a road that leads to schism and heresy."
De Mattei also points to the Franciscans of the Immaculate, a traditionalist religious order devoted to the older Latin Mass whose leadership was deposed in December by Francis, as a case in which the pope's emphasis on mercy is basically a sham.
Neither Socci nor de Mattei, to be clear, is a crackpot. On the contrary, they're veteran voices in Catholic affairs who speak for important constituencies in the church.
Socci is associated with the powerful lay movement Communion and Liberation, probably the most important grouping of more conservative-minded Catholics in Italy. He's worked for the state television network RAI, and is the author of best-selling books on topics such as John Paul II, the Capuchin stigmatic Padre Pio, and the reputed revelations of the Virgin Mary at Fatima. De Mattei is a leading figure in neoconservative circles in Europe and a former adviser to the Italian government under ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Socci and de Mattei would be considered fairly far to the right, perhaps, but definitely not the lunatic fringe. The fact that both are voicing misgivings about the new pope indicates that despite Francis' astronomic approval levels, he may have some work to do in bringing along the stragglers in his own flock.
Socci's piece is especially interesting for its attempt to resurrect Benedict XVI as a rallying point for the discontented.
Church law requires that for a papal resignation to be valid, it must be "made freely." Socci speculates that Vatican mandarins may have twisted the pope's arm to step aside in the wake of the spectacular leaks scandal of 2012, meaning that it may not have been a truly free act. Socci also asks if Benedict may have resigned only in "exterior" fashion, meaning that in his heart he still regards himself as the pontiff.
For sure, Benedict XVI has done nothing to stoke such a reaction. On the contrary, he's kept himself out of the spotlight while privately signaling his affection and support for Francis.
Nonetheless, the Socci essay points to a plausible trajectory if right-wing backlash to Francis continues to mount. The church could end up with a majority of "Francis Catholics" and an influential minority of "Benedict Catholics." That may not quite add up to a schism, but it's still something to think about.
The 'Italian problem' in Vatican financial reform
A recent European Union study found that the price tag for corruption in the 28 member states each year is 120 million euros, of which 60 million comes in Italy. Another way of phrasing that result is that Italy, all by itself, accounts for half the corruption in the entire European Union.
The study found that 97 percent of Italians believe corruption is widespread in their country. Eighty-eight percent of Italians also said they personally have found that sometimes paying a bribe is the easiest way, if not the only way, to obtain public services.
Granted, the EU study noted that given the vagaries of reporting on corruption in the member states, estimates of its cost are no more than a guess. Still, it's hard not to conclude that Italy's got a real problem.
That's worth remembering as Pope Francis prepares next week for his third meeting with his "G8" council of cardinal advisers, where Vatican financial reform is at the top of the agenda.
In my experience, many developments reported in the international press as Vatican stories are, when you drill down, really Italian stories — episodes in which Vatican officials are simply following the same playbook as their counterparts in Italy. That's especially true when it comes to money management.
Here's an example.
In 2010, Italian prosecutors announced that Italian Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe was the target of an anticorruption probe related to his term from 2001 to 2006 as head of the Vatican's powerful missionary office, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Prosecutors suspect that Sepe gave Italian politicians sweetheart deals on apartments owned by the Vatican at the same time millions of euros in state funds were being allocated for remodeling projects at his congregation.
Even if the scenario prosecutors describe is correct, Sepe may not have understood himself to be doing anything wrong. Rather, he simply may have been doing what Italian power brokers of his generation thought they were supposed to do, i.e., taking care of their buddies.
This observation underscores the deep challenge to Francis's financial glasnost, which is more cultural than legal or political.
The easy part will be preventing the sort of flagrant corruption, even by Italian standards, revealed in the recent cause célèbre surrounding Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, a former Vatican accountant charged with participating in a John le Carré-esque plot to smuggle millions in cash into Italy from Switzerland on behalf of a family of Italian shipping magnates. The scheme allegedly involved a private jet and a former agent of Italy's equivalent of the CIA.
Scarano earned a modest Vatican salary of roughly 40,000 euros per year, yet he reportedly owned a network of expensive properties in his native Salerno and had a private art collection featuring originals by Chagall and Van Gogh. He was known in Rome as "Monsignor 500 euro" for his habit of flashing large banknotes. In this case, Scarano had to know he was playing fast and loose with the rules.
The deeper challenge is to change a culture in which many forms of corruption aren't even perceived as such. Steering a contract to one's friends despite an allegedly competitive bidding process, for instance, or not asking hard questions about where a senior churchman got the money he wants to deposit in the Vatican bank, are behaviors that many old-timers wouldn't regard as corrupt but simply as time-honored ways of keeping things "in the family."
One test of whether the reform measures adopted by Pope Francis are for real, therefore, is this: Will he promote a rapid internationalization of the Vatican's financial personnel, breaking with the old guard?
At the top of the food chain, that process is underway. The president of the Vatican bank today is a German, the head of the Vatican's antimoney-laundering watchdog is Swiss, and so on. The question is whether those changes at the top will breed a more international culture of transparency among middle management and the worker bees, or whether the day-to-day reality in the Vatican will continue to parallel the sometimes opaque patterns of il bel paese, the "beautiful country" of Italy.


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Teaching your children or students about letters means a lot of things. Teaching to recognize and name letters, to know the sound the letters make, and how to make the shape of the letter in its upper and lowercase forms. It takes time, and finding different dynamic ways to do this can make learning letters a ton of fun. This simple letter craft helps us do that. We made upper-case button letters, and while we made them, we tried to think of all the words we could that started with the same sounds. This is part of our Alphabet For Starters series; the goal for this series is to provide hands-on ways to explore letters while also developing other areas like fine motor development, math skills, and more.
How to Make An Alphabet Letter Craft for Kids
Gather your materials. You will need some construction paper, a pencil, white glue, and many colorful buttons.
Start by having your child choose a letter and write it on paper. If they are still learning how to make the letter write it for them. They will get a chance to work on the formation with the next step of this letter craft.
Now grab the glue and trace the letter with it. I showed her how to do it with my letter A; then she did hers. I did glue tracing letters with my son a few years ago and plan to do the same with my daughter soon since she is showing a desire to write and form letters.
Add the buttons! Of course, you could craft alphabet letters with anything, not just buttons. Check out our sequin or gem letter crafts for kids here. Encourage your students to take time to notice the colors, shapes, and sizes of the buttons you are using to make this letter craft for kids.
Talk about the letter sounds of your students or child is at that stage of learning letters. If not just focus on what they are interested in. The goal of this letter craft for kids is to have fun with letters. Don't worry about planning topics with this activity beyond the letter sounds but be ready to jump on the topics that naturally arise. I had her estimate how many buttons it would take for her to finish the letter, and she was right. She was also very happy about being right!


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Michell Engineering Gyro Dec
Michell Engineering Gyro Dec hos Lefflers Ljud & Bildupplevelser i Norrköping!
Pris inkl tonarmsplatta standard
Gyro Dec, The classic Michell turntable, continuously refined during many years of development to the current level of performance. The Michell GyroDec is a three-point spring-suspended turntable of medium mass, which is compatible with most quality tone arms in existence. Earlier GyroDecs can always be brought up to present spec, and every modern GyroDec can be upgraded to almost the status of the mighty Orbe.
Single acrylic chassis, aluminium suspended subchassis with stabilized operation and internally isolated suspension turrets
Impedance-matched acrylic/vinyl platter, with brass weights for high inertia
Record clamp
Oil-pumping inverted bearing
Custom arm boards available for most tonearms
High-quality standalone DC motor
Optional HR power supply
Optional upgrade to Orbe-style platter and clamp
Finished in clear acrylic with aluminium metal parts or with black acrylic plinth with all black or black/gold anodised metal parts
Weight 14 kg
Dimensions 53 (w) x 41 (d) x 19 (h) cms
With lid fully opened 53 (w) x 49 (d) x 55 (h) cms