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Just read the New Yorker profile ($) on Diane Ravitch (who I've known for more than a decade). The article is easy to caricature . It's set against a Detroit backdrop, a place where parents are running for the exits – and few New Yorker readers would send their own kids. But a few thoughts on the article, some issues it raises, and my basic question about Ravitch.
First, the good. The writer, David Denby, a film critic for The New Yorker, provides some context that I think gets lost in all the back and forth about Ravitch. I don't, for instance, think she's wrong that the hysteria about international test scores is overblown (though Ravitch at one time flamed that herself). And whether traveling with the right or the left she's long been an important champion for a content rich education and a view of education that goes beyond purely private, utilitarian, or vocational purposes. You can find some of what she's saying now objectionable, inconsistent, or ridiculous but there are some common, and serious, threads that run through her work over the years. The idea that she's done a 180 on everything overstates what's happening here.
The big winner in the profile? New York finance whiz Whitney Tilson! I know Whitney, too, and he's done great work for KIPP and is a passionate and tireless (literally tireless as best I can tell) advocate for better schools. But when Denby writes that reform has been championed by a "variety of entrepreneurs and fund managers including, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, and Whitney Tilson," well, that is quite a promotion for Whitney! It's also sort of a weird trio to choose, too, and one that sounds more talking point oriented than analytical. Whitney doesn't have $100 million to donate, at least as far as I know, but he's more involved in education reform than Zuckerberg, who is still finding his way into philanthropy in general and education philanthropy in particular. And there are others, California education reform advocate and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings comes immediately to mind, with more history on this issue than Tilson and more activism than Zuckerberg. There is Julian Roberston, too, of course. Or the Fishers. On charter schools the Walton's, especially the late John Walton. The point here: The Zuckerberg-Gates-Tilson axis is a superficial way to look at what is not a recent phenomenon – rather two decades plus – and a more complicated one than the article lets on.
The absence of nuance like that – Denby clearly went for the greatest hits version of all this rather than the original albums – is out of character for the magazine and undermines the piece for all but the casual reader. But why mince words: A film critic? Denby wrote an interesting book on the Western canon but he's not a policy writer or an education writer. You're left wondering, there wasn't an actual, you know, education writer with some content knowledge available, anywhere? Lemann, Ripley, Tough, McWhorter, even Bueller? Ravitch's work is no longer historical, she's a policy advocate and some understanding of policy is key to evaluating all this. (I know, alas, if only someone with some policy, education, and writing chops had time to really do their homework and look at these questions…)
The result is shallow. The analysis of the research on charter schools is superficial and the same tired canards about unions in Southern states (they have a lot of political power there) are repeated uncritically. Denby notes that Common Core requires teachers to teach Macbeth and Grapes of Wrath. Well, actually it doesn't. Those texts are mentioned only in the standards as suggestive illustrative examples. Ironically, part of the debate about the Common Core English/Language Arts standards right now hinges on whether they are too non-fiction based. And many educators are worried that the standards – which are not a curriculum – will be implemented without sufficient curricular support for teachers. You know who knows a lot about those issues? Diane Ravitch! Denby flirts with this briefly mentioning that Ravitch is "cautious" about the standards, but readers probably aren't going to come away with the idea (warning nuance ahead) that both national teachers unions support them and are working to help support teachers implementing them. This [standards] is a cornerstone issue of her career. He notes that she's more for revolt these days, OK, but that's not a policy position. What is she for? Spoiler alert: You won't find out here.
Denby also mischaracterizes the No Child law – both in terms of its support in the reform community (hardly universal in 2001 or now) and also what the law actually requires. The article repeats the point that no nation has ever tried for 100 percent student proficiency. True, yes, and you can include the United States among those that haven't tried because it's not what the law actually requires. More like 92 percent proficiency on tests over a decade-plus timetable on tests most observers agree are not especially demanding. Details, yes, but details matter in policy.
Finally, the elephant in the room. Whether or not you think that Ravitch's personal life played a role in her change of heart on education (I think it's irrelevant to examining the quality of the arguments she makes these days) it's nonetheless surprising that The New Yorker publishes a piece about Ravitch and features her opposition to former New York schools chancellor and current News Corp education executive Joel Klein, suggests that Klein's work in New York informs her thinking and doesn't mention that Klein's team did fire Ravitch's partner from a job in the New York City schools. Forget her overall take on public policy, and forget that education reform is much larger than Joel Klein, seems relevant history in this context.
So the lingering Ravitch question I'm still left with, after reading this and other profiles, is when Ravitch ever parted ways with her fellow travelers at some point in time? When she was with the conservatives she did not take issue with their excess – she stood with people not just criticizing public schools but denigrating the entire enterprise. Now that she's on the educational left I have yet to see her denounce the outrageous things that come from that side – on the contrary she feverishly retweets them on Twitter while going ad hominem on those with opposing views. Meanwhile, the comment section on her blog often lapses into the noxious. This summer the Anti Defamation League sent a note to her about the use of the term "Nazi" – to describe education reformers, natch – by her blog commenters. Denby merely writes glowingly about her website stats – which aren't unusually impressive anyway. Echo chamber anyone?
In the article, Ravitch demurs when asked about teacher pension reform by Denby. And that's an issue that even union leaders (privately) acknowledge is a fiscal problem. You can disagree about the remedies and even the causes but as our political leaders like to say, when it comes to the problem it's "math." It's illustrative. Sidestepping what upsets one's base is not well-considered reticence and it's not the mark of a public intellectual. It's what the politician does. And it's indicative of tribalism. Whether you think our schools need dramatic improvements or incremental change or whatever your views on various issues are it should be clear that the last thing education needs more of right now is tribalism, or easy celebration of its tribalists.


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Retail Nursery Hours
Fall/Winter: 9am - 4pm (Nov. 1st - Jan. 31st)
Spring/Summer: 9am - 5pm (Feb. 1st - Oct. 31st)
Heirlooms, natives, annuals, perennials, shrubs, old roses, trees and an incredible number of edibles - we've got it all! Get inspired - stroll our beautiful, ever changing display gardens and sample pots filled with plenty of rare and easy to grow exotic treasures in bloom!
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"This is a gardener's mecca, heaven, paradise, holy land sort of in the middle of nowhere. Love that it's super kid-friendly, too, with toys to keep active toddlers engaged while you peruse. Lots of hard-to-find plants and really knowledgeable staff. There are also family-friendly events I have yet to attend that seem fun." - Kimi via Yelp.
This is a destination nursery! If you have any interest in beautiful, blooming plants, or unusual plants, or plants you have never laid eyes on before...you will love it! I went for a Mother's Day gala and enjoyed music, free pastries and a mosaic exhibit. The astounding array of plants will entice the plant lover to browse for hours. Don't let the "annuals" in the name mislead you. Annie's has a great variety of other plants, too. - Cindy via Yelp.

subset: commoncrawl


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Silent Epidemic, by award winning film director Gary Null, is the first documentary to investigate thoroughly the true medical record and the historical evidence about vaccine marvels. Conventional medicine has herald the invention of vaccines as a miracle of modern science. It claims that vaccines have been proven to prevent and eradicate infectious diseases.
We are told that vaccines are safe and effective, and that "herd immunity" can be achieved if a high percentage of a population is vaccinated. However, does the science support these claims?
Gary Null Youtube Channel Here


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*Majority of proceeds go to the student-athlete(s).
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Bad news for anyone hoping Apple would blow up the TV industry this year.
Adam Satariano and Alex Sherman at Bloomberg report, "Apple won't be releasing a new TV product this year," citing "a person familiar with the company's plans."
Apple is struggling to reach deals with the cable companies and the content companies who are negotiating from a position of strength. In the past, Apple was able to negotiate with a weakened music industry, as well as a highly competitive wireless industry. Cable providers are basically monopolies who are making a lot of money. There's some jostling between cable, satellite, and carriers, but it's nothing like AT&T versus Verizon versus Sprint and T-Mobile.
Satariano and Sherman report, "In recent negotiations, the main stumbling blocks with cable companies have included a tussle for control over the software that determines the screen interface -- the look and feel of the viewer's experience, said people familiar with the discussions."
Further, the report suggests Apple wants to sell a set-top box, not a full blown television, but cable companies want to be able to lease the box to consumers while Apple wants to sell it directly to consumers.
They also report Apple has been working on doing something in the TV space since 2005, but has hit snags repeatedly.
Before he died, Steve Jobs reportedly told top Apple executives that unless Apple could get more content, in particular live content, then Apple's TV efforts wouldn't be revolutionary enough. Eddy Cue is now in charge of negotiations for Apple.
While it all seems like a lost cause, Satariano and Sherman say Apple is close to a deal with Time Warner Cable, and it could be the pilot company just like AT&T took a chance on the iPhone.
Robert Marcus, the COO of Time Warner Cable, while not commenting on Apple specifically did tell Bloomberg, "Unlike other distributors, we are not religiously wedded to absolutely controlling the user interface."
Don't Miss: The State Of The iPhone: Our Exclusive Report On What People Want From The iPhone 5


text:
Comments (Dan Mashal)
- Marcus, sounds like you care. Please file bugs so we can track these issues properly.
Dan Mashal 14:08, 10 October 2012 (UTC)
Comments (Marcus Moeller)
- lightdm is missing a theme on a default DVD install with MATE selected during installation
- Nice to have packages: mate-volume-control / mate-power-manager / mate-screensaver/ mate-file-archiver (with Caja 'Extract to' extension).
- caja seems to be started with the --no-desktop option. If no desktop icons should be shown, i would suggest to disable the /apps/caja/preferences/show_desktop mateconf value instead.
Thanks - Marcus Moeller 5:39, 17 October 2012 (UTC)
Comments (Marcus Moeller)
- Filed a bug on the background image problem #867053
- Going to re-check the installation (update: works fine now, but mate-themes is not installed by default. Should mate-themes perhaps be added as Requires to mate-session-manager? 20121017)
- xscreensaver does not work correctly. (update: /usr/libexec/xscreensaver-autostart seems to be set as startup application, but does not seem to launch xscreensaver. Maybe switch to mate-screensaver instead. 20121017)
Thanks - Marcus Moeller 16:00, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
Comments (Dan Mashal)
- TC4 is already old.
- Please try the newest smoke build. Ask in #fedora-qa.
- File a bug against the appropriate package (mate-backgrounds in this case).
- Also it works for me.
Dan Mashal 15:05, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
Comments (Marcus Moeller)
- When I change the background image, it is not applied directly. It is displayed after re-login.
- I have selected MATE Desktop environment during installation of the Beta TC4 images, but it results in a LightDM/Openbox setup. The 'MATE desktop' package group is not installed.
Marcus Moeller 15:00, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
Comments (Dan Mashal)
Thanks -- Dan 19:33, 22 July 2012 (UTC)
Comments (Feature Wrangler)
- a mistake in a summary "and provides an provides an"
- I'm not sure mentioning link with Linus makes a good karma (as some people could understand it as Gnome 3 offence)
- for scope - please create a list of packages being imported to Fedora with status of how far the import is (packages, under review - with #bz etc.)
- I'd rephrase User Experience section and use different words
- please, provide more details in Release Notes section (does not have to be final text)
- email address does not work
Thanks --Jaroslav 12:49, 20 July 2012 (UTC)
Comments (Dan Mashal)
Marcus, please open a bug against mate-backgrounds. I do not have this issue.
added to release notes
I've added this to the F18 release notes. Immanetize (talk) 23:19, 22 October 2012 (UTC)


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In more and more podcasts and presentations I hear sentences such as this one:
That is our strategy going forward.
What meaning does going forward add to the sentence? That is, how is it different than saying:
That is our strategy.
(I listened to two software podcasts recently: in the first going forward was used once, and in the second it was used twice and moving forward once. I have to say it connotes a slight sense of we have a team working hard on this, lots of motion, lots of action, but it could have been dropped in all four cases and no meaning would have been lost. In any case, people currently really love to use it!)


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What are 4K pass-through and 4K upscaling?
The 4K pass-through feature allows data to pass through the system without compromising image quality, and it is HDCP 2.2 compatible.
The AV receiver with the 4K pass-through feature reproduces on a screen 4K signals from video equipment such as 4K-compatible TVs or projectors while maintaining the 4K quality.
The 4K upscaling feature allows low-resolution data to be upscaled to high resolution 4K signals.
The AV receiver with the 4K upscaling feature lets you enjoy video signals input by HDMI as smoother video with depth.
1: 4K pass-through
2: 4K upscaling
A: 4K-compatible video source
B: 4K-compatible Projector/TV
C: Image source
D: HDMI cable
E: 4K images
F: Full HD images
- HDCP 2.2 is a content protection standard required to play copyright-protected 4K content.
- To enjoy these functions, you need to connect the device using an High Speed HDMI cable.
- Refer to the operating manual supplied with each device for details such as restrictions on individual functions.


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I've been running UNR on my eee 1000 pretty much since it came out over a year ago (I was using easy-peasy before that), but I'm curious about the new Kubuntu netbook edition. Ultimately, KDE is better looking, and has some really friendly software, but I'm worried about performance - that display has got to be a processor hog (and by association, battery!), no?
How much does Kubuntu netbook edition impact battery life?


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How the Ubiquity of Big Data is Dramatically Changing Marketing
"Big Data" has been a popular buzzword in business circles for the past several years, but when most people hear the term, if they know what it means at all, they picture tech-savvy analysts using highly specialized tools to handle unimaginably huge datasets to deliver arcane business intelligence.
Few think about the ways data is permeating all aspects of our lives, but increasingly, this is the new reality, and the trend is accelerating. Businesses that get out in front of the trend can gain a competitive advantage by serving customers better.
Today, it's no longer just about Big Data and how it's used by tech wizards to benefit big businesses - it's about ever-present data that can be generated from almost any action and analyzed by just about anyone to yield insights that go far beyond traditional business use.
With the proliferation of smartphones and other mobile devices, people are increasingly connected all the time. Consumers use their devices as alarm clocks, exercise monitors, shopping carts, communication platforms, entertainment venues, travel guides, traffic update dashboards and thousands of other uses. Developers launch new applications every day.
What are the implications of this endless cataloguing and application of information? In the near future, it's likely that physicians will plug into their patients' device-generated health data (heart rate, exercise duration, blood sugar levels, etc.) to monitor their conditions. Dieters and the fitness conscious are already using smartphone apps to scan food product barcodes and track nutritional intake: It's a short leap from that to an app that allows healthcare providers to deliver additional guidance to continuously improve wellness.
Other possible future applications may improve senior citizen housing with smart sensors. For example, sensors embedded in a home's carpet could monitor seniors' gait and movements to quickly detect patterns that indicate a problem, tapping into other data to ensure that senior citizens who are living alone can remain independent while staying safe. Such a system could alert caregivers if data patterns suggest an issue.
These are the types of everyday data uses that are on the horizon as people become increasingly connected and the "Internet of Things" - the vast network of interconnected devices and data streams - evolves. Consumers are already used to companies like Amazon using their past purchases to recommend new products, but new data generation and analysis capabilities are making more precise targeting possible - and integrating data from even more sources.
Soon, shopping and consumer behavior analysis will routinely drill down to deeper levels, taking into account consumer interactions online, via mobile phones, brick-and-mortar store visits, TV ad-driven contact and much more. Data will be correlated in real time to present consumers with more relevant offers and alert them to events that will resonate with them based on reasonable inferences from past actions.
Emerging technology will soon make it possible to deliver better customer service: New capabilities will include the ability to analyze a caller's voice, assess their interaction history, evaluate social media behavior, influencers and demographics to route the call to the best call center agent for that customer. In a millisecond, the agent will receive a custom script and recommendations about offers and solutions for the specific caller.
Many of these new capabilities raise important privacy concerns, but to date, consumers have demonstrated their willingness to share information in exchange for services that they value. As data analytics move beyond traditional big-business intelligence gathering and analysis into everyday life, consumers will have to adjust their comfort level with information sharing, and businesses will have to change their strategies accordingly.
It's no longer a question of IF these types of scenarios will become mainstream: It's happening now, and emerging technology that takes deep analytics out of the hands of specialists and makes them a part of everyday business and consumer life will become a reality sooner rather than later. For businesses that are prepared to respond in a way that delivers value to customers, these new capabilities can provide an unstoppable competitive advantage.
Theis contributed article was written by Niraj Pant, Senior VP of Engineering, I.Predictus.


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- Dos Passos, John
▪ American novelistin full John Roderigo Dos Passosborn Jan. 14, 1896, Chicago, Ill., U.S.died Sept. 28, 1970, Baltimore, Md.American writer, one of the major novelists of the post-World War I "lost generation," whose reputation as a social historian and as a radical critic of the quality of American life rests primarily on his trilogy U.S.A.The son of a wealthy lawyer of Portuguese descent, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard University (1916) and volunteered as an ambulance driver in World War I. His early works were basically portraits of the artist recoiling from the shock of his encounter with a brutal world. Among these was the bitter antiwar novel Three Soldiers (1921).Extensive travel in Spain and other countries while working as a newspaper correspondent in the postwar years enlarged his sense of history, sharpened his social perception, and confirmed his radical sympathies. Gradually, his early subjectivism was subordinated to a larger and tougher objective realism. His novel Manhattan Transfer (1925) is a rapid-transit rider's view of the metropolis. The narrative shuttles back and forth between the lives of more than a dozen characters in nervous, jerky, impressionistic flashes.The execution of the Anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti in 1927 profoundly affected Dos Passos, who had participated in the losing battle to win their pardon. The crisis crystallized his image of the United States as "two nations"—one of the rich and privileged and one of the poor and powerless. U.S.A. is the portrait of these two nations. It consists of The 42nd Parallel (1930), covering the period from 1900 up to the war; 1919 (1932), dealing with the war and the critical year of the Treaty of Versailles; and The Big Money (1936), which races headlong through the boom of the '20s to the bust of the '30s. Dos Passos reinforces the histories of his fictional characters with a sense of real history conveyed by the interpolated devices of "newsreels," artfully selected montages of actual newspaper headlines and popular songs of the day. He also interpolates biographies of such representative members of the establishment as the automobile maker Henry Ford, the inventor Thomas Edison, President Woodrow Wilson, and the financier J.P. Morgan. He further presents members of that "other nation" such as the Socialist Eugene V. Debs, the economist Thorstein Veblen, the labour organizer Joe Hill, and the Unknown Soldier of World War I. Yet another dimension is provided by his "camera-eye" technique: brief, poetic, personal reminiscences.U.S.A. was followed by a less ambitious trilogy, District of Columbia (Adventures of a Young Man, 1939; Number One, 1943; The Grand Design, 1949), which chronicles Dos Passos' further disillusion with the labour movement, radical politics, and New Deal liberalism. The decline of his creative energy and the increasing political conservatism evident in these works became even more pronounced in subsequent works. At his death at 74, his books scarcely received critical attention.
* * *
Universalium. 2010.


text:
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text:
Though he died a year ago, the circumstances surrounding the death of Michael Jackson are still a mix of mystery and contradictions. CNN anchor Don Lemon unspools the confusing reports still swirling around his death in Michael Jackson – The Final Days debuting Friday, June 25, at 8:00pm ET and PT. Following Lemon's report, a special Larry King Live tribute program highlighting the music milestones Michael Jackson achieved during his lifetime will air at 9:00pm ET and 6:00pm PT.
Lemon's revealing hour allows viewers to hear directly from Tito and Jermaine Jackson about their last contact with their brother and, how they first learned of their brother's collapse and death.
Lemon begins by pressing music producer Rodney Jerkins about reports that Jackson was too physically frail to fulfill his nine month, 50-performance THIS IS IT! engagement in London . Lemon also confirms with concert promoter Randy Phillips, CEO of AEG Live, that Jackson had missed several rehearsals in the run up to the tour.
Though they had some doubts about Jackson's ability to manage the grueling rehearsal and performance schedule, musical director Michael Bearden, and concert tour choreographer Travis Payne, insist Jackson's dancing and voice were both strong, that his mood was optimistic – and that Jackson's stamina surpassed that of the dancers preparing to tour with him, many of whom were half his age.
Jermaine Jackson, who says he was unaware of the extent of his brother's alleged drug use that other family members and friends have described, tells Lemon that there was a conspiracy to kill his brother. When Lemon asks Jermaine Jackson directly about the culpability of Michael Jackson's last physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, who is currently standing trial accused of involuntary manslaughter, Jermaine Jackson responds with:
"I think he [Dr. Murray] know[s] the players. And I think if you squeeze his hand hard enough, he would say."
Celebrity biographer J. Randy Tamborelli tells Lemon that Jackson may have been using the anesthetic drug Propofol as long as 5 or 6 years ago. "Acute propofol intoxication," among other conditions, is indicated as the immediate cause of death on the medical report from the Los Angeles Coroner's Department. Jackson friend Dr. Deepak Chopra has confirmed knowledge of Jackson 's extended use of prescription drugs.
Lemon's documentary ends with intimate reflections from Tito and Jermaine Jackson on the family's mourning of the loss of their beloved brother, son, and friend. Viewers can also remember Michael Jackson's life at www.cnn.com/michaeljackson, where they can find a photo archive and follow developments in the ongoing probe into his death.


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War has been declared on the Galactic Space Federation Council by the Federation of Empria. The whole galaxy has come to a halt and fear is in the air. The 10 councils have met to try to discuss the Empira situation, but nothing can stop the battle ahead. Now, recruitment notices are popping up all over the airwaves -- will you join the fight?
This futuristic, next-generation MMO is by Solar System Studios.
Release Region: United States
Release Date: TBA
Publisher: TBA
Release Region: United Kingdom
Release Date: Released
Publisher: TBA
Also available on: Xbox 360
Ancient World Online at IGN
Ancient World Online at GameSpy
Ancient World Online at GameStats


text:
20 God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.
21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.
23 And the evening and morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.
25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.
27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.
29 And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:
30 And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.
31 And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.
2:1 So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
3 And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth:
4 For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded.
5 What is man that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that thou visitest him?
6 Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour:
7 And hast set him over the works of thy hands.
8 Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen: moreover the beasts also of the fields.
9 The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea.
1 And there assembled together unto him the Pharisees and some of the scribes, coming from Jerusalem.
2 And when they had seen some of his disciples eat bread with common, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews eat not without often washing their hands, holding the tradition of the ancients:
4 And when they come from the market, unless they be washed, they eat not: and many other things there are that have been delivered to them to observe, the washings of cups and of pots, and of brazen vessels, and of beds.
5 And the Pharisees and scribes asked him: Why do not thy disciples walk according to the tradition of the ancients, but they eat bread with common hands?
6 But he answering, said to them: Well did Isaias prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
7 And in vain do they worship me, teaching doctrines and precepts of men.
8 For leaving the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, the washing of pots and of cups: and many other things you do like to these.
9 And he said to them: Well do you make void the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.
10 For Moses said: Honour thy father and thy mother; and He that shall curse father or mother, dying let him die.
11 But you say: If a man shall say to his father or mother, Corban, (which is a gift,) whatsoever is from me, shall profit thee.
12 And further you suffer him not to do any thing for his father or mother,
13 Making void the word of God by your own tradition, which you have given forth. And many other such like things you do.


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News Statement
February 1, 2012
Reference: Bernadette Ellorin, Chairperson, BAYAN USA
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Aquino Aligns with US Military Build-Up in Asia-Pacific, a Threat to Peace in the Region
Filipino-Americans across the US, under the banner of BAYAN USA, express condemnation and disgust over the efforts of Philippine President Benigno Simeon "Noy-Noy" Aquino III to accommodate the "new" US defense strategy that entails a so-called "rebalance to Asia", including an increase in US military presence in the Philippines. BAYAN USA also denounces the US government's Cold War-style media offensive against economic rival China as a pretext to justify its gross expansion of US military powers in the Asia-Pacific in order to increase US economic, political, and military investments in the region.
Under neoliberalism, the US economy is largely dependent on the Pacific Rim, particularly because of its export position. In 2010, the 21 economies that make up the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum accounted for 61% of US exports ($775 billion) and 37% of private services exports ($205 billion). The US economy's export position in the region accounts for nearly 5 million US jobs. But for countries such as the Philippines, the US investment and export position is at the heart of deepening crisis and poverty due to lack of sovereign claim to natural resources and territory. In line with their national interests, countries like the Philippines must wage fierce struggles against US interventionism in order to assert their right to chart their own economic and political paths.
With China's economic growth threatening US dominion over the region, and with Obama's push for a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement that would outline a US-dominated free trade zone in the region, the US government has announced it will shift its military focus away from Iraq and Afghanistan and renew its commitment to assert it's position in Asia-Pacific. It has found a reliable stooge in the Aquino government. Recent negotiations framed as a Strategic Dialogue between top Washington security and defense officials and the Aquino administration have laid the ground work for the consolidation of the Philippines as a key US military base location, serving as a permanent staging ground for US military offensives, storage space for surveillance drones, resupply and refueling station for US warships and aircrafts, as well as rest and recreational facility for US servicemen.
In addition to violating Philippine national sovereignty, Aquino's compliance in accommodating US saber-rattling seeks to undo the 1991 landmark decision of the Philippine Senate to reject the US bases treaty that essentially shutdown permanent US military bases Subic Naval and Clark Air Field, by once again opening these ports for indefinite and "rotational" basing of US troops and throughout the archipelago.
Aquino Positions the Philippines in the Crossfire
Not only does Aquino government reach an all-time high in the barometer of US puppetry with these negotiations, it is aligning the Philippines with a military scheme that will threaten peace in the entire Asia-Pacific region. The US government, driven by its war-dependent economy, is expanding its military presence in Asia-Pacific region under rhetoric of security in the South China Sea and in particular the territorial dispute over the Spratly Islands, when in fact it seeks an excuse to provoke military aggression and create a war-like situation against China that will boost up it military-industrial complex at the expense of the surrounding countries. Such compliance on the Aquino government's part will surely position the Filipino people in the middle of the crossfire.
Starting with the Philippine-American War of 1899, which marked the advent of US imperialism onto the global stage at the turn of the 20th century, 113 years US geopolitical strategy in region has left the Philippines with a tragic history and ongoing reality of US military infestation whose social costs have burdened its people with untold pain and misery. From hosting the largest US permanent foreign military bases to succumbing to the onerous US-RP Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT)– the mother of all unequal military treaties and agreements– to the virtually permanent Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), over one century of US military presence in the country has been directly linked to the indiscriminate killings, rape and other sexual offenses, massive displacement of rural communities, waste, disease, and other forms of human rights abuses.
Call for Resistance & Solidarity
As Filipinos in the US, BAYAN USA sees concretely how both the Aquino and Obama governments– guardians of financial oligarchy– are acting in betrayal of the broad interest of the Filipino and American peoples. Just as the poor grow poorer in the Philippines under Aquino's failed economic policies, so are working people in the US forced to carry the heavy burden of paying for a debt crisis they did not create. As peoples resistance to the intolerable 1% escalates amidst the crisis, BAYAN USA joins the call for greater solidarity between people in the US struggling against the US military-industrial complex and for economic equality and the Filipino people's ongoing struggle for genuine national independence and democracy. This must translate to greater efforts to expose and oppose the US geopolitical strategy in the Asia-Pacific region as a scheme of the purveyors of crisis and war to maintain tight control over the region's wealth. Peoples resistance and firm solidarity are key in our efforts to frustrate US interventionism in the region!


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September 26, 2007
EASD: Why the OGTT Fails to Predict Heart Attack and Why this Harms People
Before you conclude that this study "proves" that post-meal spikes are not what cause heart attacks, it is worth considering how the OGTT works and why it does NOT mimic the way your body responds to high carb meals.
The OGTT involves sucking down 70-75 grams of pure glucose and then testing blood sugar at various intervals to see what happens. It is a convention of medical research to use the OGTT value to diagnose "Impaired glucose tolerance" when the 2 hour result is over 140 mg/dl (7.7 mmol/L) and to diagnose diabetes when the 2 hour result is over 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/L).
However, glucose is the one form of sugar that does not require any digestion. It goes directly into the bloodstream within 15 minutes, unlike starch or sucrose which must be broken down in the stomach and may take up to an hour to reach the blood.
So the 75 grams of glucose you swill during an OGTT hit the blood in 15 minutes. In most people with the kinds of blood sugar control likely to result in a 5.5% A1c (the level Dr. Riet's study showed to correlate with heart attack)this initial very high blood sugar spike provokes reactive hypoglyecmia.
So what typically happens is that the person with marginal blood sugar control--the 5.5% A1c that marks a higher risk of heart attack--will get a very high blood sugar reading at 1 hour only to have the blood sugar plummet in the second hour. it is quite possible to have a normal or even a low blood sugar two hours after taking an OGTT where the one hour value was over 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/L). But this study only looked at that second hour response in diagnosing "impaired glucose tolerance."
However, look what happens when these same people with the 5.5% A1cs and "normal" two hour OGTT values eat the same number of grams of carbohydrate that are used in the OGTT in the form of real food.
That hamburger bun and order of fries with the 75 grams of carbohydrate digest more slowly, thanks to the carbohydrate they contain being combined with fat and protein. So if you have an A1c of 5.5% and test your blood sugar after eating 75 grams of carb in real food you are more likely to see something like 180 mg/dl (10 mmol/L) at one hour after eating and 160 (8.9 mmol/L) at two hours. By 3 hours your blood sugar may have dropped to 120 mg/dl, but until it does you have spend a couple hours with blood sugar levels that are known to be high enough to damage the organs!
It is a shame that almost no medical authorities test people for meal tolerance rather than using pure glucose syrup for the OGTT. The meal tolerance test, where a meal containing real food with a known carb count is served and blood sugar measured at one and two hours, would give doctors a much better idea of what is happening in the patient's body day in and day out. It would also be very likely to show a very tight correlation between exposure to elevated blood sugars after meals and increased incidence of heart attack.
Instead, the researchers here, who clearly have NEVER MEASURED THEIR OWN BLOOD SUGARS and do not understand that a "normal" two hour results on an OGTT may not indicate normal blood sugar response to meals day in and day out, look at that 2 hour OGTT results and conclude that, since the OGTT results don't correlate with heart attack incidence, blood sugar is not causing heart attack. Instead they hypothesize that the A1c is only "a marker" and elevated blood sugars is NOT the cause of heart disease.
This is tragic. Because lowering blood sugar after meals is probably the single most powerful tool available to us to avoid heart disease!
But sadly, the researchers in this case conclude that doctors should not attempt to lower A1c but should just keep treating cardiac risk factors with expensive drugs.
I am sure you will hear doctors citing this study as a reason to avoid testing after meals or reducing blood sugar spikes since "clearly" the study shows that spikes don't correlate with heart disease.
But those of us who do control our blood sugar and avoid post-meal blood sugar spikes know that controlling spikes so that they don't go over 140 mg/dl (7.7 mmol/L) lowers blood pressure, lowers triglycerides and LDL and raises HDL without the need for expensive drugs. Which suggests that elevated post-meal blood sugars are what raise the risk factors and that normalizing blood sugar could prevent heart disease.
Sadly, bad science in the form of over-reliance on the OGTT will keep most people from ever learning this.
8 comments:
- Anonymous said...
"So what typically happens is that the person with marginal blood sugar control--the 5.5% A1c that marks a higher risk of heart attack--will get a very high blood sugar reading at 1 hour only to have the blood sugar plummet in the second hour. it is quite possible to have a normal or even a low blood sugar two hours after taking an OGTT where the one hour value was over 200 mg/dl (11.1 mmol/L)."
This is *exactly* what happened to me for years, resulting in leaving the doctor's office being told there's absolutely nothing wrong with me (my two-hour lows were always under 60).
Now, of course, I know that it's insulin resistance, and I know what to do about it - but I can't help feeling like I'd like those ten or so years of my life back when I was told I was "perfectly normal" but felt sick all the time and passed out from low blood sugar occasionally after all those high-carb, low-fat meals. Sigh. - 1:09 PM, September 26, 2007
- Jenny said...
Chez Shoes (love the shoes!),
It's never too late to get back in control. And you can reverse almost all of the early damage caused by high blood sugars.
I had a very similar situation except that I actually tested "pre-diabetic" in my 20s but doctors told me that because I was thin it "was nothing" and to ignore it. I was eating the old "healthy whole grains" hippie diet full of rice and fruit. Sigh, indeed. - 1:56 PM, September 26, 2007
- Lili said...
What? They only looked at the two hour number? I've heard that the spike is usually at one hour until you're diabetic, when it changes to two hours, and that was certainly true for me.
- 8:39 PM, September 26, 2007
- Jenny said...
By the ADA's definition, Impaired glucose tolerance is defined by a 2 hour OGTT result over 140 mg/dl.
Anything under that is treated as "normal." It is only now that we are getting the continuous glucose monitor studies that we are starting to have some understanding of what normal is.
But because for almost 30 years they have been using that 2 hour value for diagnosis researchers keep using it to keep their results consistent with earlier studies.
As a result, we get a lot of data that is confusing--like this study since most of us don't start to get high 2 hour numbers until many years after we are getting diabetic readings at 1 hour. - 9:16 PM, September 26, 2007
- paul said...
I think you are slightly misunderstanding the researchers. They do say they think that HbA1C is probably a marker (as you say) but in the same sentence they say that they think glucose is probably a mediator. Also this page makes their position clear
"The clinical meaning of this is that, even in subjects without diabetes, it is very important to maintain optimal glycemic control," van 't Riet told heartwire.
I would agree that when they say that other things (statins etc) give bigger bang-for-the-buck for heart disease, it seems like unsupported musings, not science. - 10:24 AM, September 27, 2007
- Anna said...
Have you had a chance to pick up a copy of GAry Taubes' new book, Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Nutrition, and Disease? It's on bookshelves now. It's right up your alley!
I'm thinking about sending a copy to both my primary care doctor as well as my endocrinologist.
Taubes is an award winning free-lance journalist with post graduate training in science, so his book is not just another diet book. He thoroughly examines what the science does and does not say about the roles of diet, nutrition, and disease. I'm hoping it is a catalyst for some major changes. - 2:53 PM, September 27, 2007
- Jenny said...
I plan to read the Taubes book. I'm familiar with his "what if it's all been a big fat lie" article. - 3:47 PM, September 27, 2007
- Unknown said...
I'm going through this right now, I went to the doctor, feeling I have insulin resistence. I'm clocking my sugar readings from 120 up to 170 2 hours after eating carb meals. I'm pretty careful about not eating high empty sugar.
My doctor runs an A1C, not a OGTT, or even a fasting sugar which isn't going to show one way or another about the insulin resistence. (it was 5.7 up .1 from last time).
I loved your site, I'm working on this week keeping carbs under 30 per meal 100/day then going to re-test my levels to see if they come down.
The attitude from doctors that "oh you are in the normal range", when in reality you are not and can be at risk for heart disease and more just is almost criminal. I'm trying so hard to lose weight, and watching every calorie and carb I eat, exercising and the weight isn't coming off. I'll just keep lowering the carbs until I see results, since this is all I can do right now. - 10:31 PM, October 01, 2007


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Our felted wool shoes feature a completely unique combination of the good warm properties of natural wool and the superb comfort and shock absorption of EnergySole™.
The wool is hand-felted in Nepal, where the production of our wool slippers takes place. The wool is gently felted in warm soapy water. This helps to preserve the wool's high lanolin content, ensuring that the wool isn't scratchy and is easy to keep clean. Normal maintenance is carried out by brushing and airing the shoes, but they can easily withstand a wash. All production of course takes place without the use of chemicals or synthetic substances, and production provides work for a large number of women in Nepal, an impoverished mountainous country.
Each pair is marked with an embroidered signature so that you can see who felted your new woollen shoes.
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Thoughts on Van Life: Time to Build a Bed?
Now past the 2 year mark since transitioning into the van, we find ourselves rethinking our bed. It has been extremely convenient to simply turn the middle seat around making a common living space and each take a bench for sleeping, but it's reached a point of separation anxiety in our marriage. No matter how comforting it is to slip into our minimal vandwelling lifestyle, our marriage has to take precedence.
Simply living in close quarters with another person can bring tension to any kind of relationship. Since we are a couple who slept in the same bed for years and enjoyed the simple touch of the other person while drifting into dream state, we split ourselves apart in the attempt to be minimal. It was a successful attempt, but with a side affect. It seems to have added distance to the tense situations. Read more


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A hybrid inverter (or "smart inverter") functions as both a battery-based and a grid-tie inverter. In a solar power system, a hybrid inverter provides the benefits of grid interconnection (like net metering to keep those bills from the power company low) without its drawbacks (like losing power when the grid goes down). A hybrid solar inverter is able to do this by intelligently sensing when the grid goes down and then powering critical loads in the house with a connected battery bank.
Some hybrid inverters - like the Schneider Conext XW models - even have a second AC input, which is commonly hooked up to a generator that can keep your battery bank charged while the grid is out. A hybrid inverter manages all these transitions automatically so that your critical loads never lose power - no wonder a hybrid inverter is also known as a "smart inverter"!
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The American Presidents Series
By Zachary Karabell
Published by Times Books
hardcover Publication date: 6/1/2004 ISBN: 0805069518
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The Gilded Age bon vivant who became America's unlikeliest chief executive -- and who presided over a sweeping reform of the system that nurtured him.
Chester Alan Arthur never dreamed that one day he would be president of the United States. A successful lawyer, Arthur had been forced out as the head of the Custom House of the Port of New York in 1877 in a power struggle between the two wings of the Republican Party. He became such a celebrity that he was nominated for vice president in 1880 -- despite his never having run for office before.
Elected alongside James A. Garfield, Arthur found his life transformed just four months into his term, when an assassin shot and killed Garfield, catapulting Arthur into the presidency. The assassin was a deranged man who thought he deserved a federal job through the increasingly corrupt "spoils system." To the surprise of many, Arthur, a longtime beneficiary of that system, saw that the time had come for reform. His opportunity came in the winter of 1882-83, when he pushed through the Pendleton Act, which created a professional civil service and set America on a course toward greater reforms in the decades to come.
Chester Arthur may be largely forgotten today, but Zachary Karabell eloquently shows how this unexpected president -- of whom so little was expected -- rose to the occasion when fate placed him in the White House.
Chester Alan Arthur is available at all fine bookstores. Here are some links to help you.
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Looking at International Arrivals of Heathrow airport's Terminal 5. Designed by architects Richard Rogers Partnership the controversial building opened with chaotic scenes on 27/3/08. British Airways passengers faced baggage disruption after a 6 year construction project that has seen the British public divided over the role of commercial aviation. At a cost of £4.3bn, the project was Britain's longest planning inquiry which lasted four years but finally employing a total of 60,000 workers. 30,000 square metres of glass in walls; 80,000 tonnes of steel were used - 17,000 in the roof alone; 5,000 doors, 800 toilets, 20,000 power sockets and 1,700 miles of cable; 60 new aircraft stands, including 14 for the Airbus A380; 13km of tunnels were bored for the state-of-the-art baggage handling to handle 12,000 bags per hour.
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By Nomaan Merchant
Associated Press
DALLAS — A Dallas woman whose 10-year-old stepson died after she denied him water, even as temperatures soared over 100 degrees, was sentenced Tuesday to 85 years in prison.
Tina Marie Alberson did not react as her sentence was announced. She was convicted last week of reckless injury to a child, a second-degree felony, in the July 2011 death of Jonathan James.
Jonathan's mother, Krista Bishop, and other relatives said they were pleased with the verdict.
"We got what we needed," Bishop told reporters outside the court.
Police had thought Jonathan's death was heat-related until the medical examiner's report indicated otherwise.
Alberson, who testified in her own defense, told jurors that she limited Jonathan's water intake a few times as punishment for misbehaving, and that she saw him drinking water when he wasn't in "time-out." She said she saw no sign that he was in medical distress.
The boy's twin brother, now 12, testified that Jonathan repeatedly asked for water and pretended to use the bathroom so that he could sneak a drink from the faucet before their stepmother ordered him out.
Joseph James told jurors he was concerned for his brother's health but was too afraid of Alberson to do anything.
During the sentencing phase, the twins' maternal grandmother, Sue Shotwell, testified that they didn't like to go to Alberson's house and that Jonathan couldn't understand why he was always in trouble with his stepmother.
"There was a time he came home with a red mark around his neck and we asked him what happened and he said, 'Tina,'" Shotwell said Tuesday.
"We trusted you with our baby," she said in a statement to the court after the sentence was handed down. "If I could speak for Jonathan right now, I would know — you would know — that he still loves you."
Alberson is expected to be eligible for parole after serving one-quarter of her sentence, or a little more than 20 years, according to Debbie Denmon, spokeswoman for the Dallas County District Attorney's office. Alberson's attorney, Bill Fay, said he planned to appeal the conviction and sentence, but wouldn't say on what grounds.
"I can't comment about a case that's still pending," Fay said.
The boy's father, Michael Ray James, testified against Alberson because he said he wanted to see "that justice gets done." James, 43, will be tried for felony injury to a child next month.
Shotwell said she's forgiven Alberson but many members of the family, including Jonathan's mother, have not. She said they remember Jonathan as an active little boy who wanted to wake up before dawn so he could ride his bike.
"I had to remind him that everyone else was asleep but us, and that he had to be very quiet outside, which he couldn't do," Shotwell said.
While in jail, Denmon said, Alberson became friends with an inmate involved in a high-profile child injury case: Elizabeth Escalona, who was sentenced to 99 years in prison last year for gluing her toddler's hands to a wall and attacking her over potty training problems.


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Almost a week after the tabloids splashed sensational headlines about Deepti Naval's verbal altercation with her housing society members over television interviews being conducted in the privacy of her flat, the traumatized actress is contemplating the legal route.
As a more viable redress, Deepti intends to appear on trusted television channels to talk about how the truth was distorted in a section of the media while she was venting a genuine grievance about being humiliated in front of guests by self-appointed guardians of morality in her housing society.
"I have to take action. Because what has been done is incorrect and damaging. I spoke out of a genuine sense of distress to a journalist-friend about how my housing society didn't allow me to conduct television interviews. I didn't give the journalist an interview. The next morning a tabloid carried a headline mentioning a "prostitution racket". Now the new report has been distorted on websites to the extent that that it appears as though I was being ousted from my home for running a prostitution racket. It is demeaning and mortifying. And also an indication of how a section of the media can twist the truth," the actress said.
Deepti will now go on television to fight her case. "I can have my say on television without the fear of my words being distorted. It is important for me to clear my stance on the matter. In all these years in the film industry, I've never felt more let down and humiliated," she said.
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by authors, news service providers on this page do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Hill Post. Any views or opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company, or individual.
Hill Post makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site page.


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Following up on our NFC Championship game post 2 weeks ago for the Seahawks, we decided to go a little broader this time and create these two "Road to the Big Game" Power Map tours to show how the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Bronco's made it to Super Bowl XLVIII.
Please enjoy them below and stay tuned for this Sunday's big game! Also, if you're curious to learn more about Seahawks and Broncos fans, don't miss these additional great data visualizations on Super Bowl Search Trends with Power BI.


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What's a summery, light, lovely meal with exciting, surprising flavor? Look no further. This is it. This is a gold medal summer meal. The first taste of this brought on the (eye-popping, smiling while chewing, can't talk yet, but when I can I'll start waxing poetic about this) look that I get when I know some food thing has worked out really well. It's the simple things that always really impress. Perhaps that's because they catch me off-guard.
This comes from the salt and pepper chapter of Donna Hay's Flavors. I used some really fresh and perfect, wild caught, gulf, white shrimp at a U10-15 size. Szechwan peppercorns, cyprus flake sea salt, and rice flour were pulverized together in a spice grinder. The cleaned shrimp were then dusted with the mixture. They spent a scant couple of minutes in hot oil and came out just beautiful with a very thin, crisp coating. The stir fried bean sprouts went just as quickly in and out of a sauté pan along with sesame oil, savoy cabbage, chiles, lime juice, and soy sauce.
I'm still thinking about the flavors as they came together. The sweetness of the shrimp played off that of the cabbage. The mild piquancy of the Szechwan pepper didn't overwhelm, and the chiles in the stir fry were a nice additional touch of heat. And, somewhere in the shrimp, there was a very subtle note of lemon. I've read that some sea salts offer hints of citrus, but I didn't notice that when I tasted the cyprus sea salt by itself. It came forward though when combined with the pepper and the shrimp. A lot of the credit does belong to the shrimp because it was so fresh and plump and exactly like it should be. Well, there I go with the musings. Try this meal, and you'll be musing too.
If you're wondering: what beverage would you pair with a meal like this? You're in luck, because we conducted another wheat beer tasting and found one to be a very good match for this. This time, we tasted Ommegang Witte Ale which was crisp and refreshing with a touch of acidity. I happen to enjoy crisp beers with shrimp, and this one was extremely quaffable. It scored very high marks, and we may have to ponder a change to our top three favorites. This could appear as a tie for number two after further consideration.


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Search Thermo Fisher Scientific
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We've been a driving force behind the recent advances in production animal diagnostics, and are now one of the leading suppliers of modern diagnostic tools to veterinary laboratories around the world.
In keeping with our continued commitment to next-generation molecular tools, the VetMAX™-Gold Trich Detection Kit is now available—the only USDA-licensed, real-time PCR test for the detection of Tritrichomonas foetus (T. foetus) in cattle.
T. foetus is a sexually transmitted disease that causes embryonic loss and infertility, resulting in significant economic loss within the cattle industry due to open (nonpregnant) and late-calving cows.
Bulls are the carrier of T. foetus and show no outward signs of this untreatable infection. In order to effectively manage this disease, it's crucial for bulls to undergo diagnostic testing before females are exposed to the bulls.
The approval of the VetMAX™-Gold Trich Detection Kit is based on the successful completion of the USDA's stringent review process, which confirms both the effectiveness of our real-time PCR test and the compliance of the production and quality systems within our manufacturing site.
Veterinary diagnosticians have relied on our molecular reagents and instrumentation to detect and control disease, and now with our VetMAX™-Gold Trich product they have a federally approved diagnostic test for T.foetus containing all the necessary reagents and controls in a single detection kit.
Confidence in results
Our PCR solution accurately confirms a negative result with one sample, compared to the three samples required by culture testing.
Faster results
The simplified test workflow enables fast, accurate results—helping cattle producers accelerate the speed of commerce.
Greater cost savings
Real-time PCR sensitivity and specificity allow for sampling pooling, enabling greater costs efficiencies of tests.
Culture-based testing for T.foetus requires the collection of up to three cultures during a three-week period. This demands a considerable investment of time into a process that can potentially impact accuracy, the bottom line, and the welfare of an animal.
An alternative to the culture testing method, VetMAX™-Gold Trich Detection Kits use a real-time PCR technology that only requires a single sample to arrive at a rapid result.
The test process:
We hosted an event attended by state veterinarian to discuss the harmonization of regulations and the diagnostic testing standardization of Tritrichomonas foetus. See below to view presentations provided by the speaker panel.*
Dr. Kathy Simmons
Chief Veterinarian
National Cattlemen's Beef Association
Why standardization is important ›
Dr. Bill Brown
Animal Health Commissioner
Kansas Department of Agriculture
How Kansas implemented regulations and testing methods ›
Dr. Jeremy VanBoening
Republican Valley Medical Center
How standardization benefits vets and their clients ›
Life Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: LIFE) today announced the availability of the only USDA-licensed, real-time PCR test to detect Tritrichomonas foetus (T. foetus) – a sexually transmitted disease in cattle that leads to early embryonic losses and infertility, resulting in significant economic impact to the cattle industry due to open (non-pregnant) and late-calving cows.
* These presentations do not constitute or imply an endorsement or recommendation of Life Technologies products or services by the authors. Life Technologies and its affiliates are not endorsing, recommending, or promoting any use or application of Life Technologies products presented by third parties, and information and materials presented or provided by third parties are provided as-is and without warranty of any kind, including regarding intellectual property rights and reported results. Parties presenting images, text and material represent they have the rights to do so.
Our vision is to provide comprehensive solutions to help diagnose farm animal health issues more quickly and accurately than ever before—and so enhance animal health and productivity. To learn more about our VetMAX™-Gold Trich Detection Kit, please download our product flyer.


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Creation Entertainment has announced their guest list for the Official Twilight Convention that will take place in Los Angeles Nov. 4-6, 2011. Rob Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner are scheduled to appear Saturday as well as all the Cullens minus Kellan Lutz. We assume this is due to Kellan's filming schedule which has him out of the country. Julia Jones and Booboo Stewart, whose roles will be bigger in Breaking Dawn as part of Jacob's pack, are also announced. This will be the only guaranteed ticketed opportunity fans will have to see all of these celebrities in one place.
Gary Berman, Co-CEO of Creation Entertainment, had this to say, "This is a great day for Twilight fans! When you think about it, what other property has delivered for their fans the way that Summit Entertainment has. In the 40 years that I've been doing this sort of business, I've never seen a company provide this kind of an opportunity for fans to get this up close and personal with the stars." He also said, "We want to top what we did last year. It was so electric in the room when we had Rob, Kristen, and Taylor on stage. We hope to really create some special memories this year. Plus, since the convention takes place just before the movie releases, it gives fans such a unique opportunity to see their favorite celebrities and then go see the film." Ever aware of the fan base, Burman concluded by saying, "This convention has become a social gathering for the fans where you sit in a room with thousands of other people who share your passion for this franchise. What makes this so special is that you can get the face-to-face interaction with other fans that you can't get from on-line communities and social media."
Tickets are on sale at Creation's Website. We assume they will go very, very quickly!


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Unigine supports GNU/Linux game development with engine license giveaway
Have you ever wanted to develop your dream game with the excellent Unigine engine but didn't have the money to acquire the license ? now is your chance !
Tomsk, Russia – November 25, 2010 – Unigine Corp. announced a competition to support Linux game development. It will give a free license for its top-notch Unigine engine to an experienced team willing to work on a Linux native game.
Competition Rules
A team is welcomed to participate in the competition if it meets the following criteria:
1. It has released a 3D game or has one in development
2. Team members are experienced in Linux software development
3. It is ready to develop a native Linux 3D game
Submissions (with links to released games, team background info and contacts) are to be sent to firstname.lastname@example.com. The competition comes to a close on December, 10.
The winner team will get a free binary license on Unigine engine for a single project on PC platform (Windows / Linux) with full access to technical support and updates.
The teams that will take the 2nd and the 3rd place are granted huge discounts on licensing Unigine.
The Idea
"I have been using Linux for over than 10 years now and find it a really great platform with a steadily growing market share on desktops. What we see, however, is though this niche market is open to conquer, it severely lacks high-quality 3D games with up-to-date visuals. We are eager to contribute to filling in the gap and boost up Linux game development.
From the very beginning Unigine engine aimed and has been supporting Linux, not to mention our CTO (Alexander Zaprjagaev) is also an experienced Linux developer. Moreover, our internal team is currently working on a cross-platform OilRush game that natively supports Linux. On top of it, we have a bunch of benchmarks (Heaven, Tropics, Sanctuary) released previously for this platform.
That being said, we want to help the seasoned and skillful team to jump-start a Linux game project by providing them with world-class technology completely for free", commented Denis Shergin, CEO of Unigine Corp.
Unigine Engine
Unigine is a cross-platform (Windows / Linux / PlayStation 3) real-time 3D engine, which unleashes the ultimate power for creating interactive virtual worlds (both modern games and virtual reality systems).
The engine is a complete out-of-the box solution:
- Photorealistic 3D render
- Powerful physics module
- Object-oriented scripting system
- Full-featured GUI module
- Sound subsystem
- A set of flexible tools
High scalability of Unigine engine is ensured by the efficient and well-architected framework supporting multi-core systems. It allows to successfully develop various VR projects and multi-platform games of various genres on its base.
Unigine engine also powers a well-known Heaven Benchmark, which made a big name by showcasing the hottest DirectX 11 technologies with the breathtaking art content.
PS: Xmas season is drawing near so we are slashing all the base prices for licensing Unigine engine: see the updated pricelist.
About Unigine Corp.
Unigine Corp. is an international company focused on top-notch real-time 3D solutions. The development studio is located in Tomsk, Russia. Main activity of Unigine Corp. is development of Unigine™, a cross-platform engine for virtual 3D worlds. Since the project start in 2004, it attracts attention of different companies and groups of independent developers, because Unigine is always on the cutting edge of real-time 3D visualization and physics simulation technologies.
Unigine Corp. is a registered developer of Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (previously ATI Technologies Inc.), NVIDIA Corporation and Creative Labs Inc. Being a registered developer the company works closely with hardware vendors in order to provide the best level of performance and stability of its products. The company also has a license to develop tools and middleware for PLAYSTATION®3 platform.
Also Unigine Corp. reports that the development of their upcoming Oil Rush game is going well, but no release date given. (I assume sometime in 2011).
Thanks Reto Schneider, one of the editors of Holarse-Linuxgaming and the owner of the GNU/Linux Fun4Tux gaming shop for the great news.


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If you came up as a rail-thin indie kid in the '90s listening to aggressively confusing guitar rock and are now a bit fatter and wondering why nobody is ripping the fuck out anymore, then 1) I probably already know you, so hey, and 2) holy shit, have you heard Talbot Tagora? This Seattle wunderkind trio's debut full-length arrives like a freaky reward from a cosmos that has watched us persevere through 15 years of tightening jeans, steadily ramping foppism, and the crushingly beige influence of adult-contempo alt-country. Imagine No Age with a hell of a lot more breathing room — or Pterodactyl with a lot less. Chris Ando's guitars roll around in dirty pools of reverb, sprint off like solos with their heads cut off, and pratfall into shimmering sheets of noise; Mark Greshowak's sure-footed bass stands guard against art-punk tendencies toward bottomless treble skronk; Ani Ricci's drums dash across each song like a frenetic tumbling routine. "Perception Stick" comes off like the connective tissue between the Mekons and the Thermals; "Ichthus Hop" is a zigzagging line between Brainiac and (recent Talbot tourmates) Abe Vigoda. Despite the little mixtape I've drafted up here, it's not a matter of Talbot Tagora's lifting anything in particular — think of Lessons in the Woods or a City as a disrupted mission resumed. Oldsters, listen to the kids: get those bands back together and get back to work.
See all articles by: MICHAEL BRODEUR
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text: Oh no, it's the first day of spring. I am not a spring person. I have barely got over it being winter. In fact, if I'm honest, I have barely come to terms with it being winter. I am not ready to extract myself from hibernation. So don't try and drag me outside to enjoy it. I like having the heating turned up high and the blinds down, keeping out the miserable sight of the grey oppressive sky hanging there like a reminder of something half-done. I like getting into my fleecy jammies at 4 o'clock when it starts to get dark, hunkering down in my candle-lit cave to greet the night. I don't like all this flagrant early sunlight which promises but rarely delivers warmth outdoors. It's all a bit too bright, too soon. My grandmother was a wise woman who taught me certain irrefutable truths, like for example it being bad luck to reverse a garment you'd inadvertently put on inside out or back to front. Every year at the first sign of bulbs pushing their snouts above the soil she used to say: "Ne'er cast a clout till May be out," and I've taken her at her word ever since. Whether or not we understand 'May' to refer to the month or the Hawthorn blossom of the same name, it comes to the same thing. March is not the time to be stripping off your many layers of clouts. Maybe one layer, or even two on a particularly unseasonably warm day (and with the whole climate change thing there have been a few of those lately to fool us into false hope) but please – leave it there. There is nothing so demoralising for someone who feels the cold even in the middle of summer as the sight of young foolhardy fashion aficionados strutting their skimpy vests and bare legs along the street, while I'm still debating whether I need a sweater and a coat. And possibly a woolly hat and gloves. You can't be too careful. When I was at nursery school we used to have a big poster on the wall, telling you exactly what to expect throughout the year in terms of weather. "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers" it proclaimed. And beneath that the chilling verse: "The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow, and what will poor robin do then, poor thing?" So don't talk to me about cute little lambs and daffodils. It's bloody freezing out there on the hills and in the fields, and I'm glad I didn't incarnate as a sheep. Or a daffodil. Or indeed a robin. By the time Easter arrives towards the end of April, I might feel more grudgingly accepting of the fact that summer is bound to happen. Round about the end of May I start to get the hang of it. By then I've got stuck in with the hay fever that inevitably gets kicked off by the combination of all that pollen from the Hawthorn blossom and the reckless shedding of clouts. I am not an outdoorsy sort of person. I was one of those unfortunate babies under the dubious regime of Dr Spock. We had no option about being bundled up and stuck outside in our prams in all weathers to "get the benefit" of the bracing air. As soon as I was old enough to exercise some choice in the matter I decided I'd had enough of all that, thank you. So Vernal Equinox or not I won't be fired up with enthusiasm about reclaiming my garden from the deathly arms of winter (and please stop sending me seed catalogues and cheery emails reminding me when I should be planting things.) The trees are still bare, the March wind doth blow quite aggressively down my chimney as I write, and my cat is still spending most of his 18 hour sleeping day either snuggled in his own duvet or mine (I don't know why I still bother to make a distinction.) I will decide when spring has sprung, and it hasn't happened yet.


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VIMS alumna leads strategic planning team at NOAA
Shelby Walker knows how to plan ahead. In fact, she's made a career of it.
A 2003 alumna of the Ph.D. program at William & Mary's Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Walker is now the Strategic Planning Team Lead for the Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation within NOAA's Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Only 8 years after graduating, Walker has managed to acquire a wealth of experience and expertise in strategically planning future research initiatives.
"I deal primarily with planning NOAA's research line," says Walker. "My job requires me to look at what is currently being done research-wise, and take that information to plan future research for the years to come."
Walker is no stranger to the planning and management of groundbreaking research. Since her departure from VIMS, she has continued to add one prestigious position after another to her résumé.
Before joining NOAA in 2009, Walker served as the Associate Program Director for the National Science Foundation's Ocean Technology and Interdisciplinary Coordination Program, where she worked on launching NSF's Ocean Observatory Initiative—a project that she fondly recalls as the biggest accomplishment in her professional career. "Moving the OOI from the planning stage to actually getting it approved and ultimately getting it launched was huge for me," says Walker.
Prior to her work at NSF, Walker served as Project Manager for the Joint Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology (JSOST)—a body of 25 federal agencies that is responsible for creating a national strategy for ocean research, and for developing the technology needed to do move that research forward.
Before working at JSOST, Walker completed a National Research Council post-doctoral research associateship at the Naval Research Laboratory—a position she began following her service as a John A. Knauss Fellow in Washington D.C.
"I'm extremely supportive of the Knauss Fellowship," says Walker. "Even if I'd decided to go back to doing research instead of what I'm doing now, the fellowship would've still served me well because I got to see the other side of the equation in respect to grants and the decision-making process."
As a Knauss Fellow, Walker was placed in NSF's Division of Ocean Science where she was able to attend House and Senate briefings as well as meetings of the Ocean Research Leadership Council. It was during her time at NSF that she was initially exposed to the Ocean Observatory Initiative. "The Knauss Fellowship opened so many doors for me and it's something I think everyone should do if they have the opportunity."
While at VIMS, Walker studied organic contaminants in highly industrialized urban estuaries. Having recently served on a detail to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force as one of the Science Coordination Team Leads following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010, her knowledge of environmental contaminants was put to work.
One of Walker's fondest memories from VIMS was when her advisor, the late professor of marine science Rebecca Dickhut, invited her down to Antarctica to serve as an extra pair of hands in one of Dickhut's research ventures. "That trip is one of my most vivid memories," she says. "To be able to go to the bottom of the world and have the experience that I did was one of the greatest opportunities that VIMS could have offered me."
Walker and Dickhut's research mainly focused on the geochemistry of organic contaminants, which led them to collaborate on a number of publications while Walker pursued her doctorate. "Even though Rebecca is gone, she was a huge influence on my work and my ability to grow as a scientist," says Walker.
Originally from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, Walker developed a love for marine science by growing up in such close proximity to the ocean. After graduating from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, she spent 3 years working in environmental consulting, where she acquired the interest in environmental contaminants that eventually brought her to VIMS.
"I could feel that VIMS was the right fit for me to pursue graduate school," says Walker, who ended up bypassing her Master's degree and going straight for her Ph.D. "I liked the dynamic at VIMS. Everyone was very welcoming, so I knew it would be the right place for me."
Though she admits it wasn't always easy, Walker is glad she picked VIMS. "My education at VIMS was tremendous, despite the fact that my dissertation made me crazy at times," she laughs. "The faculty, the research, and the caliber of the institution made it all worth it."


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Santiago, Chile
Most assets left unmanaged will fail to produce an investment return. The virtuous farmland that Buffett extols in his hypothetical example does not magically spawn corn, nurture it, harvest it, sell it, and deposit the proceeds into its owners' pockets. Our farmland here in Chile certainly does not.
No, it takes a lot of work, a lot of experienced people, a lot of know-how, and a little bit of luck. All of this has to be managed.
Even the baseball field that Buffett references (when trying to give his investors an idea of the scale of all the gold in the world) is an asset. Simply left sitting there, a baseball field will soon be overtaken by erosion, weeds, and the dilapidation that comes with neglect.
Maintained and well-managed, however, a savvy owner of a baseball field can lease it out to the local little league. Or pull a Kevin Costner and turn it into a tourist attraction. None of this happens without appropriately managing the asset.
Even Exxon Mobil, with all of its royalties and intellectual property, requires tens of thousands of employees to manage the company's assets, collect the profits, and ensure shareholders get paid.
Likewise, a huge cube of gold left alone in a baseball infield will fail to produce any investment return. When managed, however, gold is like any other asset– it can be leased, traded, loaned out, used as collateral, etc.
More importantly, though, the reason that many gold investors purchase the metal to begin with is because physical gold carries no counterparty risk.
Unlike paper currencies which are issued at will by corrupt central banks, or even Exxon Mobil, whose success depends heavily on the management team's goodwill and diligence, a one ounce gold coin in your pocket will still be a one ounce gold coin tomorrow. This is the entire premise behind money as a store of value.
As my friend Tim Price told me over drinks in London several months ago, fiat currency is simply an abstraction of the concept of money; paper money conjured out of thin air cannot be real money, it's merely an idea based on confidence and collusion.
Curiously, only a tiny percentage of worldwide money supply is actually physical paper– most 'money' is in digital form, simply entries in a computer… a few bits of code which constitute your net worth. In this way, our currency is actually an abstraction of an abstraction of the concept of money.
To this I would add that the entire financial system is underpinned by a complex network of hypothecated debt and derivative instruments whose notional total exceeds (by many multiples) the entirety of world GDP. In this manner, we are talking about abstractions of abstractions of abstractions.
Gold is real. It exists. And it scarcity dictates that it is a reasonable store of value, particularly in a world of abstract money.
There's a lot of talk right now, for example, about rising oil prices which have created uncomfortably high gasoline prices. In gold terms, however, gasoline prices are in a deflationary spiral. The chart below shows unleaded gasoline prices in grams of gold since January 1976:
and for the last five years:
Priced in grams of gold, gasoline is near an all-time low. [In fact, there's a great siterun by my friend Charles V. that shows this trend with a variety of commodities and retail goods.]Buffett (and others) argue strongly that investors should be in stocks… that a company like Coca Cola or productive farmland is a better long-term investment than a useless hunk of metal.He's probably right. Except that the useless hunk of metal isn't really an investment. It's an anti-currency… appropriate for those who want to sit out of the market and be in cash without having to be in cash.


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An overwhelming 98% of new iPad owners are either "very satisfied" (82%) or "somewhat satisfied" (16%) with their Apple tablets, a recent survey conducted by ChangeWave has determined. This is hardly a surprise, and BGR called the slate not one but two steps ahead of its competition when we reviewed the new iPad in March. Also not surprising is the fact that the majority of iPad owners don't seem to care very much about the supposed heat issues that constantly pop up in the media's coverage of the tablet. When ChangeWave polled 200 new iPad owners and asked what they disliked most about the third-generation Apple tablet, 7% listed excessive heat. A majority named the cost of the device as their biggest dislike (26%), and the cost of wireless data plans (23%) was the second-most disliked thing about the iPad. Despite being widely praised for its battery performance, 6% of those polled said short battery life was their most significant dislike. ChangeWave's full press release follows below.
New iPad Owners Weigh in on the Latest Apple Tablet
BETHESDA, MD – April 2, 2012 – Two weeks ago, the new iPad hit the market with a bang. But now that the Apple tablet is in the hands of consumers, what is their initial reaction towards the new device?
A March 22-28 survey of 200 new owners looked at their impressions of the new Apple iPad, including overall satisfaction with the device, key likes and dislikes, and the impact of the heat issue. ChangeWave Research is a service of 451 Research.
Customer Satisfaction
User satisfaction with the new iPad is even higher than previous iPad ratings from a February 2012 ChangeWave survey. More than four-out-of-five new iPad owners (82%) say they are Very Satisfied with the device. Another 16% say they're Somewhat Satisfied.
Here is a head-to-head comparison of the new iPad user survey results with previous iPad user results from the February 2012 ChangeWave survey.
Top iPad Likes and Dislikes
We also queried new iPad owners on the specific features they liked best and disliked most:
What do you like best about the new iPad? (Choose No More Than Three)
By a landslide, the High-Resolution "Retina" Display (75%) is what new iPad owners report they like best about the device. Long Battery Life (22%) comes in a distant second, followed by 4G LTE Capability (21%) and the Faster Processor (20%)
New iPad Dislikes
When asked what they dislike most about their new iPad, users cited the Cost of the Device (26%) and the Cost of the Wireless Data Plan (23%) as their two biggest gripes.
And what do you dislike most about the new iPad? (Choose No More Than Three)
Two other issues were each cited by 8% of owners – the iPad's Size/Weight and its Amount of Flash Memory Storage.
Additional dislikes mentioned include its Integration with Other Devices (7%), Excessive Heat Coming From the Device (7%) and Battery Life (6%). No other issue was cited by more than 5% of new owners.
A Closer Look At The iPad 'Heat' Issue
In a recent release, Consumer Reports stated that the new iPad can heat up to as much as 116 degrees Fahrenheit when plugged in and continually running a game. While the consumer publication considered this to be "very warm," they said it wasn't especially uncomfortable if held for brief periods and they didn't consider it to be a safety concern.
To gauge new iPad owner reaction to the heat issue, we presented respondents with a brief summary of the Consumer Reports findings on the new iPad and asked how much of a problem the issue of excessive heat was for them.


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The 4th annual Creations for Charity fundraising event is now accepting donations of Lego creations. Creations for Charity raises money by selling these donated creations to buy Lego sets for underprivileged children. Anyone can donate a Lego creation from now until November 15. All you have to do is fill out a form and be prepared to ship the creation directly to the buyer. Starting this year, you can choose to be reimbursed for the cost of making your creation, so it's easier to part with your bricks!
If this is your first time participating, you can learn more about Creations for Charity or read the FAQs on their website.
This year Creations for Charity will be donating the Lego sets to multiple cities in the US as well as in Croatia and Chile as part of our ongoing effort to expand our donations. To refresh your memory, take a look at all the Lego sets donated last year!


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I'm developing a program using a library made by another programmer (he works in the same company). Recently I discovered a leak in the library, which happens under certain network conditions after a few hours of running. I filed a bug with description of conditions to make this leak happen. That developer answered that "this is not enough", "it's not his responsibility to reproduce bugs" and I have to create unit test to reproduce this bug, otherwise he doesn't do anything.
- Is he right?
- What I can do in this situation? Creating unit test is impossible, because it depends on some random network timings.