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AUSTIN, Texas — Intersections of the future will not need stop lights or stop signs, but will look like a somewhat chaotic flow of driverless, autonomous cars slipping past one another as they are managed by a virtual traffic controller, says computer scientist Peter Stone.
"A future where sitting in the backseat of the car reading our newspaper while it drives us effortlessly through city streets and intersections is not that far away," says Stone, a professor of computer science at The University of Texas at Austin.
Stone's research focuses on creating artificially intelligent (AI) computing systems, and he is developing some of the systems that are needed to make autonomous driving a reality. For example, Stone and his students created an autonomous car, named Marvin, in cooperation with Austin Robot Technology that competed in the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge competition.
This week, Stone presents his research on autonomous intersection management at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia.
"Computers can already fly a passenger jet much like a trained human pilot, but people still face the dangerous task of driving automobiles," he says. "Vehicles are being developed that will be able to handle most of the driving tasks themselves. But once autonomous vehicles become popular, we need to coordinate those vehicles on the streets."
To that end, Stone is developing virtual intersection systems that will make auto travel safer and faster.
In his newest system, AI driver agents (the autonomous vehicles) "call ahead" and reserve space and a time at an intersection. Then an arbiter agent, called an "intersection manager," approves the request, and the vehicles move through. There is little stopped traffic. (Watch a simulation video: http://youtu.be/j0fYERuJ2vw)
For now, the action takes place mainly as a simulation on a computer, or with a single real car (for example, Marvin) interacting with many other simulated cars. But Stone says the day is near when we'll start seeing autonomous vehicles on the streets, and the benefits of controlling the cars – and traffic – will be realized.
Source: University of Texas at Austin

subset: commoncrawl


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Minutes Show Fed Supports Stimulus Through Midyear
A majority of Federal Reserve policymakers want to continue extraordinary bond purchases to help boost the U.S. economy at least through the middle of the year, according to minutes from the Fed's last meeting released Wednesday.
But many members indicated they want to slow and eventually end the program before the end of the year, as long as the job market and economy show sustained improvement. The Fed's purchases of about $85 billion a month in Treasury and mortgage bonds are intended to lower long-term interest rates and encourage more borrowing and spending.
The minutes of the Fed's March 19-20 meeting were released at 9 a.m. EDT – five hours earlier than planned – after the Fed said it inadvertently sent them a day earlier to congressional staffers and lobbyists. The more than 100 recipients also included employees at JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs Group, Wells Fargo and other large banks, according to a list of email addresses released later in the day by the Fed.
"One gets the sense that many Fed policymakers are anxious to start paring back the size of the … purchases as soon as the data allow," Dana Saporta, an economist at Credit Suisse, said in a note to clients.
Still, a weak employment report released Friday is likely to make policymakers even more supportive of keeping the measures in place for the foreseeable future.
The report showed employers added just 88,000 net jobs last month. That was the fewest in nine months and much lower than the average of 220,000 jobs a month created from November through February.
The unemployment rate dropped to a four-year low of 7.6 percent last month. However, the rate fell only because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.
In its statement after the last meeting, the Fed said the economy had strengthened but still needed its efforts to help lower high unemployment. In addition to continuing the bond purchases, the Fed stuck by its plan to keep short-term interest rates at record lows at least until unemployment falls to 6.5 percent.
The minutes indicated that many of the Fed's members want to see sustained improvement in the job market – from a wide range of economic indicators – before making any decision to reduce the pace of purchases.
Stocks rose sharply after the minutes were released. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 16 points to 1,585 in midday trading – above its all-time high of 1,576.09 set in October 2007. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 119 points to 14,792.
The Fed made minutes public earlier on Wednesday after learning that about 100 congressional staffers and lobbyists received them at 2 p.m. EDT on Tuesday. They had been scheduled to be released at 2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.
Fed spokesman David Skidmore said the Fed notified the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about the mishap. The Fed also asked its inspector general to investigate its procedures for releasing the minutes.
"At this time, we do not know if there was any trading related to the early distribution," Skidmore said. "Every indication at this time is that the early distribution of the minutes was entirely accidental."
John Nester, a spokesman for the SEC, declined to comment on the release of the minutes, beyond saying that the Fed contacted the SEC staff.
Several staff members of both the House Financial Services and Senate Banking committees were among those who received the minutes early.
The minutes showed a wide array of opinions and criteria for when to end the bond purchases, which have boosted the Fed's balance sheet to $3.2 trillion.
A few members want to end the bond-purchase program "relatively soon." Those members say the costs likely outweigh the benefits. A few others saw the risks as increasing quickly, and said the purchases would likely need to be reduced "before long."
Many members said an improved job market could lead them to slow purchases within a few months, and a few said economic conditions would likely justify continuing the program until late this year.
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text:
Dental Implants have been used successfully for many years. The implant itself is a post that is surgically placed in the jaw. A prosthesis (artificial tooth or teeth) is then attached to the post. Dental implants involve cooperation between an Oral Surgeon and our office. The surgical phase of treatment is completed by the Oral Surgeon, and the restorative phase is completed at our office.
There are two basic uses for Dental Implants:
With the exception of your natural teeth, nothing looks more natural than an implant. One important benefit of implants is that they slow the shrinking of bone and gum tissue from the area of the missing tooth, thus preventing premature aging.
The gum is gently folded back and a space is prepared for the implant to be placed.
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After the implant has had a chance to attach to the bone tissue, the temporary cap is removed from the anchor and a post is attached to the anchor.
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If you are considering a dental implant, contact us for an evaluation appointment. We will perform an evaluation to determine whether you are a good candidate for a dental implant. If you are a good candidate for an implant, we will provide you with further information to help you decide.


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Bryanna Clark Grogan's Vegan Feast Kitchen/ 21st Century Table: The kitchen journal of a vegan food writer.. I'm on Facebook and Twitter (see links in sidebar at right).
Thursday, November 1, 2012
7 comments:
- Adriana Robles said...
Oh man, I saw the word doughnuts on my timeline and I just had to click and see!
They look sooo delicious. :9
They're all very lucky! I love their costumes too!
Thank you for sharing the recipe by the way!
Feel free to check out &/ or follow my blog Vegetarian Courtesy any time you like. :)
VegCourtesy.blogspot.com - Thu Nov 01, 09:23:00 PM PDT
- Matt said...
I have so little luck with frying or deep frying, but gosh, I might have to give it another go after seeing these. They look incredible.
- Sat Nov 03, 09:49:00 PM PDT
- trina said...
What a great idea! I've made donuts before with mashed potatoes (excellent), but mashed sweet potatoes make these so perfectly autumnal! I love it.
- Tue Nov 06, 01:07:00 PM PST
- dgsquare said...
Any luck with baking instead of frying?
- Sat Nov 01, 07:12:00 PM PDT
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
dgsqure-- not with this recipes I have some baked doughnut recipes here:
- Sat Nov 01, 09:22:00 PM PDT
I make vegan doughnuts often and wanted to try a new recipe using mashed potato of some sort, so this recipe seemed great. However, the 12 cups of flour listed in the recipe seemed like a crazy amount of flour, and sure enough this dough turned out very dry and heavy for me. No amount of kneading or proofing could help it. I really think it would have been fine with the first 6 cups and an overnight stay in the fridge to make it easier to handle. But 12 cups? It honestly seems wrong given how very little liquids are in the recipe. Am I missing something??
- Sat Dec 06, 05:54:00 AM PST
- Bryanna Clark Grogan said...
Tara, I am so mortified!! And so glad you wrote! I couldn't believe I goofed that badly in writing the recipe (I am usually very meticulous). So I made the dough this morning (1/3 of the recipe, with very exact dividing of the measurements-- I only had a little sweet potato, which made exactly 1/3 of a cup mashed) and, as you said, it was very dry, when it should be a soft dough! So, I spent some time looking for my cooking notes from 2 years ago and finally found them for this recipe and, sure enough, I had 6 cups of flour written down, but did not say "divided", so somehow it got written down as 6 cups twice, in both the ingredients and the body of the recipe. I am so sorry that you wasted all that dough!! I have corrected it, thanks to you! Mea culpa, Bryanna
- Sat Dec 06, 02:14:00 PM PST


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Charles Robertson, a leading emerging markets specialist, is Renaissance Capital's Global Chief Economist and Head of the Firm's Macro-strategy Unit. Mr. Robertson covers the global economic themes having the greatest impact on emerging markets. Over the past decade, the scope of Mr. Robertson's work has covered, among other topics: quantifying political risk in emerging markets; how the retirement age rising to 67 reflects deep-rooted problems in the West and great opportunities in emerging markets; the revolutionary nature of growth in countries with non-democratic governments; the fact that Africa's economies are now returning some of the highest growth rates on Earth, and how this trend is set to play out; the impact of terrorism and natural disasters on economies; the effects of falling agricultural stocks on food prices and inflation; and how emerging-markets banks may have the best growth potential over the coming years. Mr. Robertson is the lead author of The Fastest Billion: The Story Behind Africa's Economic Revolution (www.fastestbillion.com), published in October 2012. Mr. Robertson was ranked the number-one economics and macro analyst for emerging Europe, the Middle East and Africa in the Extel survey in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In addition, the team he led was ranked the best macro team in Extel's 2010 survey of equity investors. Mr. Robertson graduated from the London School of Economics in 1993, and worked at a UK parliamentary defence think-tank and a research boutique until joining the financial services industry in 1998.
Yvonne Mhango is Renaissance Capital's Sub-Saharan Africa Economist. Prior to joining Renaissance Capital in November 2010, Yvonne headed up the Sub-Sahara Africa (SSA; ex. SA) Economic Research Desk at Standard Bank of South Africa. She has worked as an SSA economist for five years, producing macroeconomic research and political analysis on several SSA countries, including Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Yvonne graduated from the University of Cape Town with a Masters degree in Business Science, majoring in Economics.
Michael Moran is Editor-in-Chief of Renaissance Insights, Renaissance Capital's thought leadership division, offering access to leading policymakers, academics and financial thinkers for the bank's platinum and gold clients. A veteran foreign policy commentator who spent two decades as a foreign correspondent for some of the world's leading news organisations, Moran is author of The Reckoning: Debt, Democracy and the Future of American Power (2012 Palgrave Macmillan), and has a column on the US online magazine, Slate. From 2009 to 2011, he served as vice president, executive editor and senior geostrategy analyst at Roubini Global Economics, the macro/strategy consultancy founded by economist Nouriel Roubini. Before that, from 2005 to 2009, he was Executive Editor of the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations, radically overhauling the institution's media strategy, writing analysis on technology and defence issues and winning several honours, including three Emmy awards for documentary work, for his role as executive producer of Crisis Guides on the Darfur conflict and the global financial crisis. Moran also spent a decade as an adjunct professor of journalism at Bard College in New York. His journalism career included periods at major US and British media outlets: senior producer, International News and Special Reports, MSNBC.com (Seattle and New York, 1996-2003); U.S. affairs analyst, BBC World Service (London, 1993-1996); senior editor, Radio Free Europe (Munich, 1990-1993). In 2003, Moran served as Hearst New Media Fellow at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, The Economist, The Spectator (UK) and The Guardian; and he has appeared frequently on BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC and other leading broadcast networks.
Arnold Meyer is CEO of Rendeavour, a developer of more than 10,000 ha (25,000 acres) of eco-friendly residential and commercial satellite cities in Africa, which will be home to more than 300,000 residents. Rendeavour's portfolio includes Tatu City in Nairobi, Kenya; King City and Appolonia, in Ghana; Kiswishi, in Lubumbashi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo; and Roma Park, in Lusaka, Zambia. Previously, Mr. Meyer was managing director of London & Regional Properties Africa, primarily responsible for the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town; and CEO of Broll Property Group, the largest property services provider in Africa.
Nothando Ndebele is Renaissance Capital's Head of African Research. She has extensive experience in financial services, with a strong focus on investment research, analysis, valuation and portfolio management. Mrs Ndebele's in-depth knowledge of the African market has been gained through senior roles at organisations including Afena Capital (formerly known as Renaissance Specialist Fund Managers), which she jointly founded and attained assets under management of $350mn within three years. She acted as Head of Research and a portfolio manager focusing on financial and industrial stocks in South Africa. She has also held positions at Investec Asset Managers (Cape Town), Goldman Sachs (London) and Deutsche Securities (Johannesburg). Mrs Ndebele has degrees from Harvard University and Oxford University, an MBA from Said Business School and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. She is widely published on matters relating to Sub-Saharan Africa
John Arron has been analysing South African industrial stocks since 1994, with top ratings achieved in Engineering, Electricals and Construction. He has also been rated in Technology, Diamonds and Diversified industrials. After 14 years in the Oil & Gas and Mining industries, John started his career in investments at HSBC and later Renaissance Capital. John holds an M.Sc. in Exploration Geophysics (Imperial College) and an MBA.
Johan Snyman started as an equity analyst in 1992, and since 1994 has been rated as a top-five analyst in the Telecoms, Technology and Electronics sectors in South Africa. The Financial Mail again rated Johan as the top Electronics analyst in 2005 to 2009. Previous top-three ratings include Telecoms, Media, Engineering and Building & Construction. Johan is viewed in the market as a leading analyst with outstanding knowledge and insight into the ICT sector, having written numerous reports and performed many presentations about the ICT industry. Prior to his career as an analyst, Johan was a management consultant at Deloitte & Touche, and was part of the team that consulted with Telkom SA on its corporatisation in the early 1990s. His other previous assignments include investigations into the establishment of an alternative pay-TV platform to Multichoice, the creation of a business plan for a GSM network operator in Botswana and advisory for a leading BEE group with respect to the acquisition of a leading mobile network operator in Africa. Johan has B Eng (Electronics & Electrical) and M Com (Business Management) degrees from RAU, now known as the University of Johannesburg (UJ).
Jim is a metals and mining sector analyst at Renaissance Capital, with a focus on companies with development-staged projects in Africa across the commodity spectrum. Jim has over 20 years' financial markets experience, and joined Renaissance in May 2010 from Canaccord Adams, prior to which he worked for firms including Old Mutual Securities and Yorkton Securities. His industry experience includes operational and technical roles at mines in South Africa, Chile and Ghana. Jim graduated from the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College with an Honours degree in Mining Engineering.
Dragan Trajkov is a former Renaissance Capital equity research analyst covering the oil & gas industry. He started his research career at Genuity Capital Markets and also worked with Salman Partners Inc. He holds an MSc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Kansas, USA. He is a CFA charterholder.
Mr Richter joined Renaissance Asset Managers in January 2011, as Head of Frontier Markets after successful careers in frontier markets at Franklin Templeton Investments (1995-2010) and Standard Bank of South Africa (1987-1994). Mr Richter has spent over 15 years investing in emerging markets. At Templeton, he was responsible for research coverage for the Africa region and commodities sector. He co-developed the IT systems that are still used today as a core part of the research process. During the later stages of his career at Templeton, he launched and ran two of the firm's Frontier Market Strategies.
Bradley Way is a former oil&gas research analyst at Renaissance Capital. Previously based in Beijing, Mr. Way worked for BNP Paribas in China, where he was Associate Director and Head of Asia Energy Research. Prior to that, he worked as an Investment Banking Associate with a focus on the energy sector, and as a Research Associate in Energy, Utilities and Materials for the US-China Business Council, in Beijing.
From the vantage point of many in the West, Africa remains a continent of woe – a place stalked by ethnic conflict, corrupt dictatorships, religious strife, war and famine. But today, at last, the flawed mythology that treats Africa as a homogenous disaster area is being challenged by investors, economists, fund managers and academics. Age is not often associated with speed; but Africa, the cradle of civilisation, now has more of the world's fastest-growing economies than any other. After a generation of relative stagnation in the late 20th Century, many in Africa have begun the long-awaited period of catch-up with the developed world. The bottom billion is becoming the fastest billion. This book, the work of a group of African economists and highly respected analysts from Renaissance Capital, the leading emerging markets investment bank, aims to accelerate the world's realisation that Africa has no intention of allowing the coming decades to add up to an "Asian Century". Africa's day has arrived.


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The major estrogen secreted by the ovary is 17β-estradiol; this is converted to estrone in the blood. Estriol is the principal estrogen formed by the placenta during pregnancy. These three compounds, 17β-estradiol, estrone, and estriol, account for most of the estrogenic activity in humans.
The ability of estrogens to suppress secretion of follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) by the pituitary gland and thereby inhibit ovulation makes estrogen and estrogenlike compounds major components in oral contraceptives. Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) uses synthetic estrogen (e.g., Premarin), typically given with progestins (e.g., Provera) to treat the physical changes of menopause, including hot flashes and vaginal dryness. ERT also retards the development of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women but increases the risk of breast cancer, heart attack (see infarction), stroke, and, when not given with progestins, uterine cancer. Estrogens are also used to treat prostate cancer.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Biochemistry


text:
Palestinian scholar of the fourth century; always quoted by the single name "Jeremiah," though sometimes that name is used for Jeremiah b. Abba. A Babylonian by birth, he passed his youth in his native land without giving much promise of gaining celebrity as a scholar (Ket. 75a). He emigrated to Cæsarea, in Palestine, where he made rapid progress in his studies. Among his teachers were Abbahu (B. M. 16b); Samuel b. Isaac, whose homilies he very frequently reports (Yer. Peah i. 16b; Yer. Meg. i. 70d; Yer. Ḥag. i. 76c); and Assi II. (Giṭ. 44a; Ḥul. 21a); but his principal teacher was his countryman Ze'era. Both Ze'era and Abbahu loved the young scholar as a son (M. Ḳ. 4a; B. M. 16b). Ammi employed Jeremiah as tutor to his son (Yer. Beẓah v. 63a). Once while Ze'era and his pupil were engaged in some halakic investigation the hour of prayer arrived, and Jeremiah began to betray impatience at being detained. Ze'era, noticing it, reproved him with the words, "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination" (Prov. xxviii. 9; Shab. 10a).
His Over-Subtlety.Jeremiah developed such industrious habits as to evoke from his teacher the remark that since the death of Ben 'Azzai and Ben Zoma, with whom industry ended, there had not been so zealous a student as Jeremiah (Yer. Ned. viii. 40d; comp. Soṭah ix. 15). But in his anxiety to acquire knowledge and accuracy he developed extreme captiousness. He frequently provoked the laughter of the college, except of his teacher (Niddah 23a); and ultimately his ultra-subtleties became insufferable. His considerate preceptor time and again warned him against pursuing his arguments beyond the bounds of the Halakah (R. H. 13a; Soṭah 16b), but it proved of no avail. At last his colleagues gave vent to their displeasure. The college was seriously discussing a point of law, when Jeremiah broke in with what appeared to be a ridiculous objection, whereupon he was ordered out of the academy (B. B. 23b). It happened that after the death of the great teachers a legal problem vexed the minds of the scholars, and there was none to solve it. It was submitted to Jeremiah, who returned it with the solution, which he prefaced with the humble words: "Although I am not worthy [to be consulted by you], your pupil's opinion inclines this way." On receipt of this, which was taken as an apology for the past, his colleagues reinstated him (B. B. 165b).
Thenceforth Jeremiah was the undisputed head of the scholastic circle at Tiberias (Yer. Shab. i. 3d, iii. 6c; comp. ib. vi. 8a), and questions were addressed to him from different parts of Palestine. Nor was his fame limited by the boundaries of his adopted country. In Babylonia also his opinions carried great weight, and when a contemporary or later Babylonian scholar introduced a statement by the phrase "It is said in the West," it was generally assumed that that statement emanated from Jeremiah (Sanh. 17b). The reverence in which he was held by his former countrymen appears from the following colloquy between his younger contemporaries Abaye and Raba: Said the former: "One Palestinian scholar is worth two of ours"; whereupon the other remarked: "And yet when one of ours emigrates to Palestine he is worth two of the natives. Take, for example, Jeremiah; although while he was here he could not comprehend our teachers, since emigrating to Palestine he has risen to such eminence as to look upon us as 'stupid Babylonians'" (Ket. 75a). Indeed, not only did Jeremiah repeatedly apply this epithet to Babylonian scholars, but he spoke disdainfully of his nativeland as well. Whenever an opinion by a Babylonian scholar met with his disapprobation, he would say: "Those Babylonian simpletons! they dwell in a land of darkness and advance opinions of darkness" (Pes. 34b; Yoma 57a; Bek. 25b).
Active Life.With the leadership of the scholastic circle the management of public affairs was entrusted to him. He considered this occupation as paramount to engaging in the study of the Law (Yer. Ber. v. 8d); but it sometimes occasioned him unpleasantness. On one occasion some serious trouble threatened the Jews of Tiberias, and much treasure was required to avert it. Jeremiah was called upon to assess the people, and in discharging this duty he displeased his older colleague Jacob b. Bun. Jeremiah had called on Jacob for a considerable contribution, whereupon he remarked, "Jeremiah is still at his tricks: he deserves excommunication." The feeling between them became so bitter that they excommunicated each other, though they soon revoked their decrees and became reconciled (Yer. M. Ḳ. iii. 81d).
Jeremiah had many pupils, among them Jonah and Hezekiah II., who stood in the front rank of the scholars of the next generation. His name is frequently found in the departments of the Halakah and the Haggadah, in the Babylonian as well as in the Palestinian Gemara, and in the Midrashim. He left the following directions for his interment: "Clothe me in white garments with sleeves, put stockings and shoes on my feet, place a staff in my hand, and lay me down on my side. Thus equipped, when the Messiah comes I shall be ready to follow him" (Yer. Kil. ix. 32b; Yer. Ket. xii. 35a).
- Bacher, Ag. Pal. Amor. iii. 95;
- Frankel, Mebo, p. 107b;
- Halevy, Dorot ha-Rishonim, ii. 356;
- Weiss, Dor, iii. 107.


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Terry Francona is taking a curious route to Progressive Field.
The Cleveland Indians manager rides in the back seat of a Honda Civic as it meanders through downtown on a brisk January day. He's just wrapped up a town hall meeting with almost 150 season-ticket holders at PlayhouseSquare, and his 79-year-old father, Tito, is riding in the passenger seat up front.
As they head down Euclid Avenue, the father and son share in Francona's new, old hometown — the city where Tito played in the '60s and where Terry spent the first six years of his life.
They don't get far before Francona spies the Wyndham Hotel and wonders aloud what happened to the Bond Court Hotel on East Ninth Street. In the '70s and '80s, Bond Court was the place to be, hosting rock stars and even a president.
When the car passes East Fourth Street, Francona makes a special effort to lean forward toward his father. He points to the left, past The Corner Alley, Lola and the CLE Clothing Co. store with its T-shirts proclaiming city pride in Browns, Cavs and Indians colors.
"There, Dad — just up there is where I'm living," Francona says. "There's some really nice places up there."
He's the first manager anyone in the Indians front office can remember living downtown.
RELATED: Thank you, Tito: Francona Gave Cleveland Baseball Relevance Again
"I like to be around and get to know people," he explains, well aware his bald head and thin-rimmed glasses make him easily recognizable. "I might want to have a beer or something after a game, and this way I can walk home. Plus, I get to the ballpark so early I can just get up and walk there."
Near Public Square, Francona points out the Higbee Building, former home to one of the city's finest department stores and now adorned with black awnings sporting the gold logo of the new tenant, the Horseshoe Casino. As the ride continues toward the library, someone mentions that old Municipal Stadium was north, on the lake.
"I loved that place," Francona says. "Loved everything about it."
And he means everything: the cavernous feel, the dank locker rooms, the wood-plank seats. Francona played for the Indians in 1988, when he was 29 years old. He was nearing the end of a career short-circuited by injury, playing for another bad Cleveland team in an era of bad Cleveland baseball.
That Indians team had a bunch of guys like him, he recalls, a group thrown together in a tough situation, some hanging on, some growing up, all struggling to win.
"It was great," he says, even though those Indians were in the midst of 12 losing seasons in 14 years. Francona appreciates winning, but he loves baseball in good times and bad.
It's fitting Francona chose to live downtown, where many fans heading to the April 8 home opener will wander through the CLE Clothing shop, housed in a former Woolworth's and a block from the Higbee's-turned-casino. A short walk away, the former Bond Court building is getting a sleek, $64 million makeover into a Westin Hotel.
The Indians and their fans now look to the man living on a reinvented street as the guy who can revitalize the franchise. Francona brings the best hope for an Indians renaissance since the glory years of the '90s. He arrives with two World Series rings and cache unmatched in recent Cleveland sports history.
His hire has already sparked an offseason like few in memory. In the past, players treated Cleveland the way a dog treats a fire hydrant, but this winter they chose the Indians. Former Yankee Nick Swisher and Gold Glove center fielder Michael Bourn signed as free agents, part of a lineup makeover. A few short months after a crushingly disappointing 2012 season, Francona brings new energy and a new vibe.
"He knows what it takes," says Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis. "It's what we need right now."
• • • • •
Earlier in the day, Terry and Tito Francona sit on tall stools on a 90.3 ideastream stage. Tito wears a sport coat and tie, Terry a long-sleeved, gray, crew-neck shirt and jeans. Boom cameras swing around and over him as Francona answers questions from the crowd about baseball strategy.
But now that his father has joined the set, the tone changes and the duo begin swapping stories.
Tito was a line-drive hitter who played for the Indians from 1959 to '64; he hit .363 that first year. Cleveland acquired him in a trade for Larry Doby, the first African-American player in the American League.
The elder Francona tells how he walked into his hotel room after the trade and found someone in the bed. He looked, saw it was Doby, tapped him on the shoulder and said: "Wake up. I was just traded for you."
In 1963, Tito took part in baseball history, as Woodie Held, pitcher Pedro Ramos, Tito and Larry Brown all homered in consecutive at-bats against the Angels. They became the second group ever to accomplish that feat. He asks if anyone knows what the fifth guy tried to do.
When nobody answers, he leans over and says: "He tried to bunt." As the laughter subsides, Tito puts his free hand in a fist and says: "We wanted to kill him."
Terry was born the year his father was traded to Cleveland. He went along on his dad's baseball journey to St. Louis, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Oakland and Milwaukee. When he was 8, he started tagging along to the clubhouse on a daily basis — with one caveat: If he misbehaved at home, he couldn't come.
He only had to stay home once.
"I think it hurt him as much as it hurt me," Terry recalls.
Tito never pushed his son to play baseball, never even coached him. But he saw what was happening. He tells the story of the day in 1970 when his 11-year-old son was sitting behind the backstop. As a pitcher threw, Terry rested his chin on his hands and watched intently.
"He came to me later and said, 'That pitcher has the best curveball I've ever seen,' " Tito says. "It was [Hall of Famer] Bert Blyleven."
The younger Francona's name is Terry, but he also goes by Tito. Calling him by his father's moniker is reserved for those close to him, as if it's an honor. Francona grew up wanting to be like his dad, to the point of imitating his hitting stance, left-handed, bat at a 45-degree angle on the shoulder, elbow cocked. His recently released book Francona: The Red Sox Years is dedicated to his father.
RELATED: A Celebration of Terry Francona
"He'll always be the person I look up to more than anything," he says. "That'll never change. Just the way he carried himself. He grew up in a major league clubhouse. I grew up in a major league clubhouse.
"And I don't ever remember hearing my dad curse. It was something I always respected. I don't care if he did; I do all the time. He just wouldn't in front of me or my mom. And I think that was pretty cool."
Francona won college baseball's Golden Spikes Award at Arizona in 1980. Drafted in the first round by Montreal, he was hitting .321 for the Expos and playing every day in 1982 when his spike caught in the warning track as he jumped to catch a ball in St. Louis. Francona tore his anterior cruciate ligament.
Two years later, he hurt his other knee running the bases, when he was hitting .346. An injury-plagued career followed.
"I got hurt so early that my goals kind of drastically changed," he says. "I wanted to be a hotshot hitter and lead the league in hitting, [then] suddenly just [wanted to] be good enough to make a team."
His baseball travels took him through the major and minor leagues, from the Memphis Chicks, Denver Bears and Colorado Springs Sky Sox to the Expos, Indians, Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. He spent his final full season in the minors with the Triple-A Louisville Redbirds. A grizzled manager with a bad arm would show up early to throw extra batting practice to Francona, a guy with bad knees trying to hang on in his 11th year.
"I loved it there," Francona says. "My body was failing me and I wasn't a very good player, but I loved it because I'd show up at the ballpark and I knew I was going to play."
With every stop he discusses, Francona brings up something he loves about the game: the manager in Louisville, the group of guys at rookie camp for Chicago, jumping on the pile in Birmingham after winning a minor league title — an experience he says was just as good as seeing his players in Boston celebrate the World Series.
"I never felt like I was dealt a bad hand," he says.
He now has two artificial knees and a road map of scars. He has to pause when asked about the number of surgeries he's had, then says he's had 22 on his knees alone, six to treat a staph infection in 2002 that put his life in danger and nearly cost him his right leg. Complications from staph led to blood clots and internal bleeding and a pulmonary embolism on each side of his lungs.
"It aged me," he says. "It's not gonna kill me, but what it does is kind of piss me off. It's aggravating."
Because he has to manage his activity carefully, Francona wears extra clothes to help his circulation, including tights on his legs. Blood thinners make him cold all the time, which is why he wears a cover-up over his baseball jersey. He has issues with his hip, and his leg sometimes swells. He swims every day to help his circulation. When he doesn't, he notices.
Asked if playing the game was worth the pain and struggle, Francona pauses, then smiles.
"Yeeeaaaah," he says. "I loved playing."
• • • • •
Francona peers over the green railing in a disbelieving visitor's dugout at Jacobs Field in 2007.
Arms folded, he watches the Red Sox go meekly in the ninth inning of a 7-3 Indians victory in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series.
To the manager's right, Dustin Pedroia stands, arms hanging limp over the dugout rail. To Francona's left, Julio Lugo slouches on the ground in front of the dugout screen, his helmet upside down like his team.
Outside the dugout, the Cleveland crowd roars at every strike to a Boston hitter, stands when any count gets to strike two and reaches a crescendo at each out. When former Indian Coco Crisp lines out to Victor Martinez to end the game at 11:34 p.m. on Oct. 16, the Indians hold a commanding 3-1 series lead.
For 20 hours before that Game 4, critics and the media in Boston had suggested that Francona juggle his rotation and move his best pitcher, Josh Beckett, up a game to pitch on less rest than normal. But Francona resisted, preferring to stay with the way he'd done things all season and throw knuckleballer Tim Wakefield instead.
"I tried to remind people our goal wasn't to win the next game," Francona says. "Our goal was to win the series."
He understood that a Game 4 loss meant Boston was staring C.C. Sabathia and elimination squarely in the 19-game winner's crooked bill.
"I don't remember walking around thinking we were in trouble," Francona recalls. "During the season is not the best time to be completely realistic."
In Game 5, already trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Cleveland put two on with no outs against Beckett. Travis Hafner stepped to the plate, but he hit a weak grounder up the middle. Lugo fielded it, stepped on second and completed a double play. And that was that.
A fully rested Beckett got stronger every inning as the city's deepest fears spread through the muffled ballpark. Boston won 7-1.
The Red Sox outscored the Indians 23-4 the final two games in Fenway, and Francona went on to win his second World Series. The Indians went on to trade two Cy Young winners, Sabathia and Cliff Lee, and suffer 447 losses over five seasons.
Francona says the thing he remembers most about that series is sticking with Beckett. It supports one of his bedrock beliefs about managing: Be consistent.
"Players may not go to Ivy League schools, but they're smart," he says. "They see when you're not being yourself. I try to do what's right and try to do that all the time."
It's a lesson written in scar tissue and back roads. Francona says his injuries helped him become a better manager because he got to watch so many different ones.
In Colorado Springs, Francona's manager was Steve Swisher, the father of the Indians free agent signee. Francona was playing on borrowed time, on knees that would have sidelined others. But Swisher "was relentless," Francona says, "the most intense guy I've ever been around."
Swisher pushed Francona constantly, driving him forward to two more years in the big leagues.
"When Francona played for me, you could tell he was different," Swisher says. "He would never let anything stop him. I knew his knees were bothering him. But I'd say, 'You can do more.' And he did. He never gave up."
When Francona retired, he didn't do much — until his wife asked if he was going to spend the rest of his life watching Gilligan's Island reruns. So he took a real estate class.
Halfway through, Buddy Bell, a friend and former Indians third baseman, called to ask if Francona wanted to get into coaching. It didn't take long to say yes; Francona flew to Sarasota to work with White Sox minor leaguers. He made little money but savored the chance to return to the game.
By 1994, Francona was in his second season managing the Birmingham Barons, when the most famous athlete in the world gave up basketball to try baseball.
Francona first approached Michael Jordan in the outfield during a spring training workout.
"He saw me coming and I could see him thinking, Here's another guy that wants to be my coach," Francona says. "I told him, 'I'm going to be your manager, but for the next four or five days I'm going to leave you alone.' I could see him exhale and relax."
They talked more in Birmingham, and Jordan's first question — Do we fly? — had Francona smiling inwardly at the long bus rides.
"You have to respect what we're doing here for this to work," Francona remembers telling him. "And from day one he did."
Eventually Jordan came to enjoy the bus rides — they helped him get away from the constant media attention on his career change. And Francona came to enjoy and respect Jordan's competitive drive.
The experience led to another of his main beliefs about managing: "You have to have the ability to connect with everybody," he says.
Francona got his first major league job with Philadelphia, where he never won more than he lost. He was let go after four seasons, but resurfaced four years later in Boston. That season he guided the Red Sox to their first World Series title since 1918, erasing a 3-0 deficit to the hated Yankees in the ALCS en route and earning Francona an endorsement deal with Metamucil.
But the 2011 season ended in collapse. On Sept. 3, Francona's Red Sox had an almost insurmountable nine-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays for the wild card playoff slot. Yet, Boston gave up two runs in the ninth inning on the final game of the season to complete a 7-19 finish, sinking its postseason hopes.
Two weeks after the season, a Boston Globe report fueled by anonymous quotes blamed Francona. Reports that players were drinking beer and eating fried chicken during games implied the manager had lost control. The story even brought up Francona's ongoing divorce, though he says he did all he could to keep that private to protect his family and the team.
The anonymous newspaper quotes seemed like management's attempt to justify getting rid of a successful and popular manager, and it may have had something to do with Francona writing his book.
"When it ends, it's hard," Francona says. "It was hard when I left Philadelphia when I was fired. I spent eight years in Boston, and when it comes to an end it's hard to understand.
"All of a sudden two days later you're defending things — some that are true, some that aren't true, some that are exaggerated. Regardless, it was still very public and it was hard, and somebody went out of their way to hurt me.
"So yeah, it was tough. Real tough."
• • • • •
It's mid-February in Goodyear, Ariz., and Indians spring training is still young.
Players are lined up for calisthenics as assistant trainer Michael Salazar parades in front of the group wearing a T-shirt, tennis shoes, black fanny pack ... and a crimson Speedo.
Salazar lost a bet on the BCS National Championship game, and as payoff he has to wear the skimpy swimwear all day. Francona does a double take, then yells amid much laughter, "Go put that cottage cheese in," a not-so-subtle reference to Salazar's stocky and untanned legs.
Francona clearly is back in his element — uniform on, a glove hanging off the bat in his hands, smiling as he revels in the give and take with the guys. Francona spent the 2012 season away from managing with ESPN and had no intention of leaving the network until he heard from Indians general manager Chris Antonetti and president Mark Shapiro.
Francona had worked for the Indians as a special front office assistant in 2001, and his friendship with Shapiro and Antonetti never wavered.
He joins a team with a far different set of financial circumstances than he had in Boston. The Red Sox reside in The Ritz of the baseball world. Cleveland has a Motel 6 budget.
"I understand what's involved," he says. "I'm not arrogant enough to think there's not going to be challenges, but I'm new enough and have enough energy to want to tackle those challenges."
Lower budgets provide no soft landings, he says.
"You can't cover mistakes," he adds. "Soooo, let's not make them."
But this offseason the Indians shocked baseball by spending, almost freely. Buoyed by new national and local TV deals, the Indians invested in players who took notice of Francona's hiring. Swisher, the Ohio native and Buckeye grad, brings his enthusiasm and 20-plus home runs in each of the past eight years. Former Oriole first baseman Mark Reynolds is a needed right-handed power hitter but prone to strikeouts. Pitcher Brett Myers, a first round pick of Philadelphia when Francona was manager, signed a one-year deal.
The Indians even gave spring training looks to familiar-but-aging names Daisuke Matzusaka, Jason Giambi and Scott Kazmir. (Giambi took a personal call from Francona, and Kazmir said he joined Cleveland because of the manager.) Trades brought outfielder Drew Stubbs and up-and-coming pitcher Trevor Bauer.
Bourn's signing just before spring shocked Indians fans and baseball experts alike.
"The Indians suddenly are a must-see team," wrote national pundit Ken Rosenthal. The fans responded by selling out the home opener against the Yankees in six minutes.
The team joined in the fun, dropping prices of hot dogs to $3 and beer to $4. Despite a ticket price increase, sales are up. Fans who have suffered through three 90-loss seasons in the past four are ... well ... actually excited about what's to come starting April 2 in Toronto.
"We're supposed to win," Francona says. "That's our goal. And I don't care about the rest."
Yet he is well aware of recent Cleveland history. "I'm not happy [fans are] frustrated," he says, "but I understand the passion." He's no different. As a longtime basketball season-ticket holder at Arizona, his alma mater, Francona's done his share of screaming at games, even at the Wildcats' legendary former coach Lute Olsen. "I'm a fan, man," Francona says. "That's just the way it is."
Francona says his goal is to develop a "we" attitude where everybody cares more about winning than about their stats. He knows what it meant to him when managers helped him, so he says it's important to treat everyone like they're special.
He consulted with Swisher after he signed to see where he was comfortable hitting. When Bourn signed, Francona spoke with Michael Brantley and Drew Stubbs — both center fielders as well — and explained why Bourn would be in center, Brantley in left and Stubbs in right.
He says he'll communicate directly with players and never make a decision about a guy's place in the lineup before talking to him.
"To be a great manager there are some things you have to do," Steve Swisher says. "You have to communicate, you have to educate, you have to motivate. When I was a kid they'd tell you to run through a wall and you'd get off your butt and do it. Now they have to give you a reason to get on the other side.
"[Francona] can do all that."
• • • • •
Back on that cold January day, after the Honda finally finishes its circuitous trip through downtown and pulls into the players lot at Progressive Field, Francona greets the security guard by his first name and heads down the concrete steps to the field-level concourse.
Maintenance carts line the halls, with signs pointing to the locker rooms and interview room.
Francona heads past the Indians clubhouse and into his office, where the wood desk is bare. The tan walls are empty.
He explains that the team plans to decorate it for him while he's at spring training.
"Pictures of me and my dad," he says.
He admits he choked back tears when he called his father to tell him he had been hired by Cleveland, the team his father calls his "home team."
Tito never went to a game in Boston, but promises he'll make the 100-mile trek to Cleveland from New Brighton, Pa.
Down the hall from the manager's office, the clubhouse is silent, uniforms hanging in yet-to-be-used lockers. The fact that Francona has yet to meet his players is the stone in his shoe. He texts and calls; does anything he can in the offseason to be in touch.
But it's not the same.
When the first official day of spring training finally rolls around in early February, Francona is like that 8-year-old kid in the clubhouse again.
"I love doing this," he says after that first full-squad practice. And he means all of it: The three-hour meeting the night before, the day spent chatting with the players, and especially the moment he put on his No. 17 Indians uniform for the first time.
For more, read Pat McManamon's extended interview (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4) with Terry Francona for this story on FOX Sports Ohio.


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Day 16-19: The Days Gone By
THE DAYS GONE BY: My favorite thing about this month so far is getting to see my friends and family more. It has also made me very busy! This is my catch up post.
Day 16: Circuit training with Todd
Day 17: I took it off but I'll make it up. Tomorrow is a 10K.
Day 18: Run, Rock, and Roll 10K Denver with my cousin, neice, sister, and her neighbors. Really fun!
Day 19: More circuit training with Todd. Also started a stretching series badly needed.
I also spent a good part of the weekend cooking my International meal for week 1 of Food Feuds 2015! Can't talk about it though since we aren't supposed to know who made what. Wish me luck!
Starting weight: 148
Weight: 142.5
Competition weight: 138


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Rambler jacket, $240
Iron & Resin was founded in Ventura, California—a beach town where surfing and motorcycles reign supreme—when a group of friends decided to go into business together, weaving their passions and experiences into a new brand of clothing. The end result was classic Americana imbued with the raw, rugged blue-collar attitude that pulsates through their hometown. The first thing you notice when walking into Iron & Resin's flagship shop is the comfortable, masculine design and the overall atmosphere, which is steeped with 1960s motorcycle culture. Enclosed by sturdy brick walls, the shop gives the feeling you took a motorcycle road trip with your buddies and made a pit stop at an antique mom and pop store to pick up some supplies. It's filled with organic, hand crafted goods—vintage leather jackets, rugged boots, leather-bound journals, raw denim and some badass knives to name a few. It's clear that authenticity and their attention to quality and detail are paramount to their mission, having all of their clothing and goods made here in the US. The brand just turned a year old, so we sat down with co-founder Thom Hill to talk shop.
Without getting too corny here, we try to share the exhilaration and inspiration one gets while immersed in some devotional pursuit. For us, that happens to be when we're gliding along on a wave, carving a back country rode on our motorbike, or standing atop some remote peak watching the sun sink into the ocean. It's an intangible thing that hopefully everyone gets to experience every once in a while.
Jackson and I both love to surf and are into vintage motorcycles. We also draw inspiration from both of our backgrounds, whether it's music we love, shit we did as kids or the stuff we're still out doing. All of it is drawn from our collective consciousness.
I've spent most of my life in Cali, but I was born in North Carolina and spent a good part of my childhood there. My grandfathers were avid outdoorsmen and instilled a deep appreciation for living outdoors. One was a classic American Picker. We'd hit the flea markets in search of buried treasure and I'd come home with all sorts of things from the mountains of Virginia and North Carolina—antique toys, civil war artifacts, you name it. To this day, I love hitting the flea markets. My wife is convinced I'm a hoarder. Of course surfing and riding motorcycles are in the picture as well, so weekends were spent either on my board or on my first bike (a Honda Trail 70).
Trailblazer shirt, $42
I think people will always look to the past for guidance in the future. Whether it be fashion, politics, style, whatever. I know for us, as life gets more complicated and fast-paced, we like to look back on what we imagine were simpler times. A lot of the elements we put into our product are a nod to the past. They're comfortable and familiar in a way that makes us feel good in some way.
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Ok, you have a written a really cool perl program and you would like to use if from MSExcel or MSWord or from a WSH or VB script. Perhaps it is an interface to DBI or some other really great perl module. How do you do it?
This short tutorial for Win32 users explains how and give examples of how to share perl $scalars, @arrays and %hashes using a WSC - Windows Scripting Component to local and networked users. The documentation shows much more info. This tutorial is a just a quick and dirty how to get it working along with some stuff I have learned that is NOT in the documentation like how to do hashes( mimicked ) This tutorial also assumes that you know some VBA and how to open up the VB Editor in Excel. Helpful links: The process is fairly simple.
After you create the above file on your system. Then you just need to Register it with windows. In windows this is simple.
**You may also notice the "Generate Type Library" and wonder what it does. If it worked, it would help open up the api to your COM object and things like autocomplete in the VB editor would work for you. It kind of works in that if you were to create the typelib and then go to Excel and create a refrence to it, things would seem to work. But at run time when the COM object gets created, it is always the wrong type (Variant/Object) vs the Object that you created. So, don't even bother. Microsoft knows about this error and just hasn't fixed the documentation.
Ok, we have Registered our COM object. Now, we need to use it! Here's how using Excel: Make sure that you have References to "Microsoft Scriptlet Library" and "Microsoft Scripting Runtime" selected. Call the subs and that's it for the fast track intro. I will elaborate more below on DCOM and a few more selected details. What about DCOM? Why use it?
If you tried this, it would fail on your friends computer because you have to first register your object on his machine AND you need to give him permission to use that object from your computer. How to register your COM object on his computer
Now, you just can use this file to add the needed information to his registry. Copy the file to your friends computer and Merge the file with his registry. ( You can do that with a Right-click and select Merge ) You are 1/2 way there. Now, you need to give him permission to access the object on your machine. You do that with "dcomcnfg.exe". This utility has a different interface for W2K and XP, so I will let you figure this part out. Basically, after you add the remotable entry, you will need to re-register the pcom.WSC file again, then open dcomcnfg.exe (on your machine) and browse the the pcom object and set the permissions for that object as appropriate. See the documentation for more details on how to run the object with different credentials. You can set security on the objects and more with the utility! What about debugging? Well, that's it. Hope it will open the world of amazing things perl can do with great ease and power to spread sheets and and other Windows applications for you. Cheers, In reply to Creating COM and DCOM objects with Perl by JamesNC
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- Home
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- Nelson Police Department
- Public Info
- Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests
Freedom of Information (FOI) Requests
Freedom of Information requests are required to access police file information. You may attain a Freedom of Information Request Form online or pick up a form at Nelson Police Department at 606 Stanley Street. Once you have completed all applicable sections of the form, the original form can be email to firstname.lastname@example.com or mailed to our office or dropped off at the front counter during regular office hours. You will be notified via telephone when your request has been processed and is ready for pick up. You are required to attend the office in person, with identification, in order to obtain a copy of your request.
Information That Will Not Be Provided
If the record you requested contains personal information about someone else, and it would be an unreasonable invasion of that person's personal privacy to provide that personal information, access to that information will not be granted without written consent or a Court Order.
If you are an insurance company, law firm, or other service provider seeking records involving your client, you may submit your request in letter form and enclosing a written authorization from your client for us to release information. We will not begin processing your request until all of these items have been received.
In accordance with FOIPPA, Nelson Police Department charges reasonable fees for the release of records. There is no charge for an individual to request their own personal information.
Delivery of Response
We will mail your response to your address as indicated on the request form. Alternatively, upon request, we will phone you to pick up your response at our office. We do not fax or email responses out of concern for personal privacy.
Time for Response
All requests are processed in the order in which they are received. Pursuant to FOIPPA, we have up to thirty business days to respond to your request, unless an extension for a further thirty days is granted by reason of the number of records requested, the regular time limit is not sufficient to locate the records, or the Nelson Police Department must consult with third parties before access can be granted. Usually we respond well within the initial 30 day period.
When you receive your response, you may notice that certain information has been blacked out or severed. The Nelson Police Department must comply with the strict guidelines for the release of information as set out in FOIPPA. For example, we must withhold the personal information of third parties, and may withhold information that could harm a law enforcement matter or information that we have received from another government agency. Other information may be severed depending on the nature of the request. Of course, if we sever information, we will explain our reasons for doing so.
Nelson Police Department
Phone: 250-354-3919Fax: 250-354-4179Emergency Phone: 911


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Insurance and HD
Healthcare reform has been a hot topic in the United States in recent years, and many important changes are continually being made. In this article, we will take a look at some alterations that are particularly relevant to HD patients and their families. The first half of the article discusses the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), and how it impacts insurance and employment for individuals who are at-risk for genetic conditions like HD, as well as those who are considering a genetic test. Next, this article covers the new Affordable Care Act, and changes to insurance policies for patients with pre-existing conditions, such as HD.
GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act)^
In May of 2008, the updated Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) was signed into federal law. All of its contents came into effect by May 21, 2010.
What does GINA cover?^
GINA is meant to prohibit health insurers and employers from discriminating against anyone based on genetic information. This means that no one can be denied insurance or charged a higher premium based on genetic information, and that health insurance companies cannot request genetic information from any person or their family members. In addition, employers cannot make decisions about hiring, firing, or promotion based on genetic information.
What qualifies as genetic information?^
- Any genetic tests of an individual, including those done in a research study. A genetic test is formally defined as "an analysis of human DNA, RNA, chromosomes, proteins, or metabolites that detects genotypes, mutations, or chromosomal changes."
- Results of a genetic test or record of participation in services such as genetic testing, genetic research, and genetic counseling for an individual's family members, up to 4th degree relatives
- Genetic tests of a fetus or embryo, including those conceived through IVF
- Family history of any genetic diseases or disorders
What is not covered by GINA?^
GINA does not apply to life insurance, disability insurance, long-term care insurance, and employers with fewer than 15 employees.
It is also important to note that GINA is not retroactive, meaning that any decisions made before the law came into effect cannot be challenged. However, any employer or insurer who holds genetic information can no longer use it, even if the information was obtained before GINA existed.
Once someone exhibits symptoms of a genetic disease or disorder, that individual is not covered by GINA. In this case, any insurance or employment decisions made based on the existing condition are legal. For patients at this stage of disease, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 may be relevant.
Affordable Care Act ^
What is the Affordable Care Act?^
Signed in March of 2010, the Affordable Care Act introduces a wide variety of changes to health insurance policies and costs in the United States. Its various components are being implemented independently, so pay attention to when each change becomes law!
What if I have HD and don't have insurance right now? ^
Under the Affordable Care Act, adults with existing disabilities and mental or physical illnesses cannot be denied health insurance coverage as of January 1, 2014. The same rule has been in place for children since September 23, 2010.
If you are an HD patient, one current option for coverage is the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) in your state. Some states are choosing to operate their own PCIPs, while others are offering federally-run plans.
All legal U.S. residents who have been without insurance for at least six months may apply for PCIP coverage. This also applies to those who have been denied insurance or charged an unaffordable premium in the past due to their condition. Eligibility is not based on income. PCIP covers primary and specialty care, hospital care, and prescription drugs, including any services needed to treat or manage a pre-existing condition. Note, however, that a positive genetic test for HD cannot be considered a pre-existing condition, so individuals with a positive gene test can and should apply for regular insurance programs instead of PCIP.
Currently, because PCIP premium amounts vary from state to state, some patients may need to apply for Medicaid or other assistance programs if PCIP costs are too high. In these cases, all terms and conditions for Medicaid eligibility must be met, regardless of any pre-existing conditions. Gaining better coverage for low-income or unemployed individuals is an ongoing effort, but there has not been significant progress on this front.
What if I have HD and already have insurance?^
If you have had health insurance coverage since September 23, 2010, your insurer cannot unfairly cancel coverage, deny services, or raise premiums, even if your condition worsens and demands expensive treatments or medications. This applies even if you accidentally forgot to mention a symptom experienced or treatment received when submitting your insurance application. Note, however, that intentional omissions, untrue information, and late payments can still be used as reasons to cancel coverage or refuse services.
Lifetime dollar amount limits on essential services have also been illegal since September 23, 2010, and annual limits will be banned for many services after January 1, 2014. If financial hardship or another extenuating circumstance causes you to lose coverage, insurers must provide a 30-day warning before terminating your policy. You will be eligible to apply for PCIP 6 months after the termination.
A new Healthcare Exchange program is currently in the works, and may provide better coverage or lower premium options for patients with pre-existing conditions, such as HD. Many changes have been discussed and considered in Congress over the past few years, so staying informed about the latest developments in healthcare reform is necessary and helpful.
For Further Reading:^
The government's official guide to the Affordable Care Act
Full text of the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act of 2008
Kaiser Family Foundation's Guide to Health Reform (very up-to-date)
S. Liou, 8/30/2011


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Wood I-Beam Tips
DEAR TIM: I'm getting ready to build a large room addition that needs a beam to support the floor joists. I've been told that a wood beam will work, but I've always seen steel I-beams in other houses. Is it possible for wood to do the job? What are some of the pros and cons of wood I beams vs. steel? If you were building, would you use wood or steel? I don't want to make a mistake on such a critical structural element. Peter L., White Plains, NY
DEAR PETER: Oh gosh, there's no easy answer for you. The long and short of it is both wood and steel can make fabulous load carrying beams. I've used both materials for decades in all sorts of situations. In fact, you may not realize this, but you can mix the two making a hybrid beam of wood and steel.
First let me tell you that I'm not a structural engineer, but I've worked with many and installed the beams they've designed. The good news is both wood and steel can be used to carry tremendous concentrated loads.
In the last house I built, I had two wood beams in one wall that supported tons and tons of weight. In the basement of the same house, I had large steel I-beams that spanned nearly 16 feet supporting enormous loads as well. The use of steel allowed me to create wide-open spaces with minimal support columns.
That's one advantage of steel over wood when you're working with materials that are roughly the same size. Steel is so much stronger than wood pound for pound.
What's fascinating is to see the evolution of engineered wood beams over the past forty years. Laminated beams, microlams, etc. are very common now, but I clearly remember when they were brand new to the block. It's not uncommon to find laminated beams on an ordinary residential home in today's marketplace.
Go back in time and look at old barn's and other buildings built using the post and beam method and you'll see wood beams made from one solid piece of timber. Perhaps the strongest wood beams made this way are Douglas Fir. There may be a stronger wood, but I'm not aware of it.
Today, lumber mills make beams like they make plywood. They basically use layers of solid wood that are glued together to make incredibly strong structural engineered timbers.
Keep in mind there are few cons to either of the materials. I say this because you can usually have an engineer come up with a wood beam that can replace a steel one. It's all a matter of cost and the finished dimensions of the material.
If you want to think of worst-case scenarios, think about the things that attack and weaken the beams. Water can rust steel and rot wood. You can paint the steel beams with a metal primer and finish coat of paint to build water resistance. You can also have steel beams galvanized. Wood beams can be treated with borate chemicals to minimize wood rot and prevent infestation by wood-destroying insects that can't harm steel.
If you want to fasten something to a steel beam, it's a little bit of a challenge. You can easily nail into a wood beam or drill through it properly to install a bolt.
Fire is a danger to both materials. You can wrap a wood beam with fire-resistant drywall to protect it and commercial fire protectants can be sprayed on steel I-beams. You can also wrap a steel beam with the special drywall to buy time in a fire. Heat from a fire can weaken a steel beam turning it into soft taffy.
Keep in mind you can create a hybrid beam using a steel flitch plate that's sandwiched between two regular pieces of wood framing material. The flat steel plate usually has staggered holes punched in it and you bolt the wood and steel together to create a super-strong beam that might carry a load 4 or 5 times greater than what the wood have done in the same space.
Homeowners or DIY'rs that are not familiar with working with beams often underestimate the weight of the beam and the importance of the support columns. Lifting a beam is often the work of two or three people and the combined weight of the workers and the beam can collapse ordinary step ladders resulting in serious injuries. The columns that support the beams must be rated to hold the weight and they must be connected properly to the beams.
What's more, you need solid bearing from the bottom of the column to the earth. This pathway can be two or more stories in a house and over a hundred stories in a commercial building. At some point, the weight of the beams and the weight on the beam must be transferred to solid ground.
You can watch a wood beam video and read past columns about different structural issues. Just type "wood beam video" into the AsktheBuilder.com search engine.
Column 924


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Didn't have the time or interest in reading all 86 of the news-making tweets Kanye West sent out last night? Here are some of the highlights straight from Roc4Life…
He's launching a new design company
"I have started a new company and I'm so excited about the name…. it's got the best name ever of all companies of all time!!!….The name of the company is DONDA.
"DONDA is a design company which will galvanize amazing thinkers and put them in a creative space to bounce there dreams and ideas. I am assembling a team of architects, graphic designers, directors musicians, producers, AnRs, writers, publicist, social media experts, app guys, managers, car designers, clothing designers, DJs, video game designers, publishers, tech guys, lawyers, bankers, nutritionist … (email email@example.com if you're interested)"
Kanye West Launching Design Company Named After Late Mother
He feels conflicted about those Grammy nods
"I appreciate having the most nominations at the Grammies but I feel so conflicted by the fact that award shows sometimes are completely…illogical.
Woman Gets Kanye West Tattooed On Backside [PHOTO]
"Good logic tells me smile Kanye… the world likes you again… red or blue pill? … aaaaand Swallow lol I wouldn't have the prestige I have if it wasn't partially for the Grammies validation and I honor that."
How To Get Jay-Z & Kanye West To Perform For You
The name of his fashion line is Kanye West, not Dw
"The name of the line is Kanye West not DW… The Dw was a design element placed on the invite in homage to my mom : ) I really appreciate the fake DW twitter page but since it's not official I can't co sign any information on it."
Kanye West & Lil Wayne Spend Christmas With The Lakers [PHOTOS]
He funded the Kanye West clothing line out of pocket
"You guys might think I have some type of backing for my line but I don't. I did the first fashion show out of my own pocket and used the money I made touring to follow my passion."
Kanye West Debuts As A DJ, Plays His New Music
He moved to Japan after the VMA controversy
"I moved to Japan for one month after that and designed every night in my room… I had this opportunity to intern at Fendi and was also offered a position to at Versace wich I could not take due to my contract with LV which was for 2 years…"
Are Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy 2's The Hottest Kicks Of 2012?
Check out the rest of the list right here.


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View more
D13 Fr1G0t
Gtf off ms..... Now!!!
feegits erywhere
nope..am deed
what have i told you about dead prostitutes before, you need to give that up
best gif i've seen in some time! I'm good mate, just takin care of business and grinding away at my passions.... seems to be working out lately, which is nice. How are things for you?
Thanks, Hugs!
I didn't create that title - Kamal did. I said "Future MS Member in 50 Years."
find that quite disturbing m8
Fresh Peossy
DUDERZ get a life!!!
I got some N64 Games Yo!!
Getting warmed up
A pretty fn good milkshake
Platinum Poster
Double hoodie beer monster


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Robots need some very specific instructions in order to successfully accomplish tasks. If you want a robot to bring you a beer while you recline on the couch, it needs to know what a beer is, that a beer is in a refrigerator, what a refrigerator looks like, how to open said fridge, and so on. It's tedious!
Humans can't possibly provide all this context with a simple verbal request, so Ashutosh Saxena and researchers at Cornell University's Robot Learning Lab aim to help bridge this communication gap with a project called "Tell Me Dave."
Saxena's robot, equipped with a 3-D camera, scans its environment and identifies the objects in it, using computer vision software previously developed in Saxena's lab. The robot has been trained to associate objects with their capabilities: A pan can be poured into or poured from; stoves can have other objects set on them, and can heat things. So the robot can identify the pan, locate the water faucet and stove and incorporate that information into its procedure. If you tell it to "heat water" it can use the stove or the microwave, depending on which is available. And it can carry out the same actions tomorrow if you've moved the pan, or even moved the robot to a different kitchen.
Put another way, instead of hard-coding numerous processes that are effortless for a human but quite elaborate for robots (like grabbing a beer from the fridge), Saxena and crew have taught their PR2 bot to recognize various objects after being taught their traits. A microwave can be used to heat things, a bowl can hold water, a tap dispenses water, and so on.
A quick verbal request to heat up a bowl of water, let's say, is now completely within a robot's purview despite the usually robot-beating lack of info associated with such a statement — a robot now "knows" how to fill in the steps missing from the request.
As a demonstration of this ability, the video above demonstrates a robot filling a rather open-ended ice cream order: "Take some coffee in a cup. Add ice cream of your choice. Finally, add raspberry syrup to the mixture." This is more or less how we imagine we'd speak to a robot in a sci-fi movie. It takes the robot some time, but soon enough: affogato!


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A lace marathon, or that's how it felt to me.
I think the best thing I can do is get straight down to pictures, don't you?
So that's the lace dress with a fabric dress underneath.
I'll be telling you about the fabric dress I'm wearing underneath the knitted dress, next week, it's something I'm really pleased with, and want to share with you.
The next day, I wore my lace dress over jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt, for a slightly different look.
I think I prefer the dress underneath, I love the colour contrast.
I'm not sure whether I enjoyed knitting this dress, the experience is a bit hazy. Because I had to concentrate when knitting it, I had to knit in fits and starts, a few rows here, a few rows there, when I had a quiet moment, and it seemed endless. I loved watching the lace pattern develop, that was wonderful. And I like the colour of the yarn, which I'd describe as burnt orange, but everyone else sees as red.
I would knit a lace garment again, despite the frustration and pain, purely because it seems like magic knitting. With a few yarn overs and knitting togethers and so-on, you get lace! MAGIC.
This pattern is called the "Alpaka Tunic", and it's by Deborah Newton. It's available to buy on-line from Interweave, as a single pattern, here.
There are some lovely photos of a beautiful lady wearing a grey version of the dress here.
I used 4 mm nedles to knit this, because the general consensus when looking at people's Alpaka Tunics on Ravelry, was that it comes out quite big if the 5.5 mm needles are used.
The yarn I used was "Scappa" DK, which is 100% wool, spun and hand dyed in Scotland. After washing, this yarn softened up.
My major modification to this dress was to not knit the sleeves, I felt it looked nicer with out them.
I started this dress 28th October 2011, as evidenced in this blog post. It was finished and blocked on 14th April 2012, so length of time to knit it? About five and a half months.
Thank you very much to Hugo for patiently taking the photos of me, he did a great job.
I'm going to go and put this on my ravelry page, here. On Ravelry I'm vanessahc, you can see all my other knitting projects here.
Righty-ho, I'd better be going, things to do, you know how it is.
Have a wonderful weekend.


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I took these photos for a friend, Jacque, who is expecting a baby girl any day now. Mateo & I spent the morning with her, our friend Angela, and Rome (the biggest & most handsome dog ever). I was a little nervous about taking on a "maternity shoot" because I know how meaningful photo documentation is. I really wanted to capture the beauty she is and what a special moment in time this is. There was nothing to be nervous about. Jacque is the most down-to-earth, naturally ethereal mama. It was a relaxed morning. Mateo may have eaten a few too many chocolates and watched a couple extra episodes of Curious George on an ipad. But it was a relaxed morning. :)
Isn't Jacque beautiful? And Rome! That dog is something! :) He was taller than Mateo! But really, he was a gentle giant. He'll be an excellent big brother. ;)
You'll love this — that little sweater that Jacque is holding up in one of the photos is what she wore home from the hospital as a newborn! I love that. It's so special that she can wrap her own baby girl in the same cozy, little top!
I love that I can give Jacque these photos. And I'm thankful to my friend Angela who connected me to Jacque and always pushes me to use my talents. I tend to focus on what I lack in talent, but you need to use what you have to move forward. I do know that. I may never be "ready" but sitting on talent is a waste. For everyone. It really did mean a lot to me to be able to document the end of Jacque's pregnancy for her. That motivates me. And while I did have to experiment a bit and make poor 38-week-pregnant Jacque move around, we figured it out. And I learned so much. I still don't think of myself as a "photographer," but title aside, I'm finding myself more and more drawn to photography. If I could have any wish, I'd probably wish that my eyes could take photos. (And for Mateo's health and happiness, etcetera, etcetera…sure). :) It wasn't ever my plan to start taking commissioned photos, but I'm starting to think about branching out and pushing myself in that direction.
I remember (so badly) wanting to be able to capture light-filled images during my pregnancy and just not being able to figure out how. I still have that same camera, but I've learned so much more about how to use it. It was through becoming a mom, needing a creative outlet, and wanting to document Mateo — that I started playing around with my camera. This blog in particular has pushed me. I just want to learn more.


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The New York Jets' decision to extend the contract of Mark Sanchez was met with derision by many, but like the plot of a Spanish soap opera, it takes time to figure out what's going on.
Sanchez signed a three-year extension with the team on Friday, but he wasn't significantly richer or more secure when he woke up on Monday morning.
In 2012, Sanchez will make the same money ($11.75 million) he was set to earn before the extension. The difference is how it pays out: According to NationalFootballPost.com, Sanchez will now receive an $8 million signing bonus and a $3.25 million guaranteed salary, along with an offseason workout bonus of $500,000. The bonus is spread over the five remaining years of the deal, saving $6.4 million against the Jets' cap.
In 2013, Sanchez goes from a non-guaranteed $6 million to a guaranteed $8.75 million. The guarantee is nice, though it would have taken an epically bad season (think Blaine Gabbert, only more abject terror) for the Jets not to bring him back in the final year of his original deal.
All told, Sanchez will get $20.5 million guaranteed compared to $17.75 million of non-guaranteed money over the next two years. It's a "measly" raise of $2.75 million.
Finally, there's a surreal aspect to the extension in the form of an escalator that can reach a cool $10 million if Sanchez leads the Jets to four Super Bowl titles in the next five seasons.
Of course, the Jets haven't been to aSuper Bowl -- let alone won the damn game -- in 43 years. If Sanchez led the charge on a four-peat, the world would collapse into itself before the final check changed hands. The Jets are geniuses.


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Each year Dispatches From The Edge gives awards to individuals, companies, and governments that make following the news a daily adventure. Here are the awards for 2015:
The First Amendment Award to U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter for issuing a new Law Of War manual that defines reporters as "unprivileged belligerents" who will lose their "privileged" status by "the relaying of information" which "could constitute taking a direct part in hostilities." Translation? If you report you are in the same class as members of al-Qaeda.
A Pentagon spokesperson said that the military "supports and respects the vital work that journalists perform." Just so long as they keep what they see, hear, and discover to themselves? Professor of constitutional law Heidi Kitrosser called the language "alarming."
Runner up is the U.S. Military College at West Point for hiring Assistant Professor of Law William C. Bradford, who argues that the military should target "legal scholars" who are critical of the "war on terrorism." Such critics are "treasonous", he says. Bradford proposes going after "law school facilities, scholars' home offices and media outlets where they give interviews." Bradford also favors attacking "Islamic holy sites," even if that means "great destruction, innumerable enemy casualties, and civilian collateral damage."
The Little Bo Peep Award for losing track of things goes to the U.S. Defense Department for being unable to account for $35 billion in construction aid to Afghanistan, which is about $14 billion more than the country's GDP. The U.S. has spent $107.5 billion on reconstruction in Afghanistan, more than the Marshall Plan. Most of it went to private contractors.
The Pentagon response to the report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan on the missing funds was to declare that all such information was now classified, because it might provide "sensitive information for those that threaten our forces and Afghan forces." It has since partially backed off that declaration.
While it is only pocket change compared to Afghanistan, the Pentagon also could not account for more than $500 million in military aid to Yemen. The U.S. is currently aiding Saudi Arabia and a number of other Gulf monarchies that are bombing Houthi rebels battling the Yemeni government. Much of that aid was supposed to go for fighting Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), against which the U.S. is also waging a drone war. The most effective foes of AQAP are the Shiite Houthis. So we are supporting the Saudis and their allies against the Houthis, while fighting Al-Qaeda in Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq.
If the reader is confused, Dispatches suggests taking a strong painkiller and lying down.
The George Orwell Award For Language goes to the intelligence gathering organizations of the "Five Eyes" surveillance alliance – the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand – who changed the words "mass surveillance" to "bulk collection." The linguistic gymnastics allows the Five to claim that they are not violating Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In the 2000 decision of Amann v. Switzerland, the Court found that it was illegal to store information on an individual's private life.
As investigative journalist Glen Greenwald points out, the name switch is similar to replacing the word "torture" with "enhanced interrogation techniques." The first is illegal, the second vague enough for interrogators to claim they are not violating the International Convention Against Torture.
A runner up is the U.S. Defense Department, which changed the scary title of "Air Sea Battle" to describe the U.S.'s current military doctrine vis-à-vis China, to "Joint Concept for Access and Maneuver in the Global Commons." The Air Sea Battle doctrine calls for bottling up China's navy, launching missile attacks to destroy command centers, and landing troops on the Chinese mainland. It includes scenarios for the use of nuclear weapons. "Global Commons," on the other hand, sounds like a picnic on the lawn.
The Lassie Come Home Award to the U.S. Marine Corps for creating a 160-pound robot dog that will "enhance the Marine Corps war-fighting capabilities," according to Captain James Pineiro. Pineiro heads up the Corps's Warfighting Laboratory at Quantico, Virginia. "We see it as a great potential for the future dismounted infantry."
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is also designing an autonomous fighting robot. Can the Terminator be far off?
The Golden Lemon Award goes to Lockheed Martin, the biggest arms manufacturer in the world, which has managed to produce two stunningly expensive weapons systems that don't work.
The F-35 Lightning II is the single most expensive weapons system in U.S. history: $1.5 trillion. It is supposed to replace all other fighter-bomber aircraft in the American arsenal, including the F-15, F-16 and F-18, and will begin deployment in 2016.
Slight problem.
In dogfights with the three-decade-old F-16, the F-35 routinely lost. Because it is heavy and underpowered, it is extremely difficult to turn the plane during air-to-air combat. It has a fancy 25-MM Gatling gun that gets off 3,000 rounds a minute – but the plane can only carry 180 rounds. As one Air Force official put it, "Hope you don't miss." Oh, and the software for the gun won't be out until 2019.
And that's not the only glitch.
The F-35 has stealth technology, but its Identification Friend or Foe system is so bad that pilots are required to get a visual confirmation of their target. Not a good idea when the other guys have long-range air-to-air missiles. The $600,000 high-tech helmet the pilot uses to see everything around him often doesn't work very well, and there isn't enough room in the cockpit to turn your head. If the helmet goes out, there is no backup landing system, so maybe you had better eject? Bad idea. The fatality rate for small pilots (those under 139 pounds) at low speeds is 98 percent, not good odds. Larger pilots do better but the changes of a broken neck are still distressingly high.
But it is not just Lockheed Martin's airplanes that don't work, neither do its ships.
The company's new Littoral Combat Ship (LCS), The Milwaukee, broke down during its recent East Coast tour and had to be towed to Virginia Beach. The LCSs are designed to fight in shallow waters, but a recent Pentagon analysis says the ships would "not be survivable in a hostile combat situation." The LCSs have been plagued with engine problems and spend more than 50 percent of their time in port being repaired. The program costs $37 billion.
And Lockheed Martin, along with Northrop Grumman and Boeing, just got a $58.2 billion contract to build the next generation Long Range Strike Bomber. Sigh.
The Great Moments In Democracy Award goes to Jyrki Katainen, Finnish vice-president of the European Commission, the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union. When Greece's anti-austerity Syriza Party was elected, he commented, "We don't change policies depending on elections." So, why is it that people have elections?
A close runner up in this category is German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble, who denounced Athens' government for not cracking down on Greeks who can't pay their taxes. The biggest tax dodger in Greece? That would be the huge German construction company Hochtief, which has not paid the Value Added Tax for 20 years, nor made its required contributions to social security. Estimates are that the company owes Greece one billion euros.
The Ty-D-Bowl Cleanup Award to the U.S. State Department for finally agreeing to clean up plutonium contamination, the residue from three hydrogen bombs that fell near the Andalusia town of Palomares in southern Spain in 1966. The bombs were released when a B-52 collided with an air tanker. While the bombs did not explode – Palomares and a significant section of southern Spain would not exist if they had – they broke open, spreading seven pounds of highly toxic plutonium 239 over the area. Plutonium has a half-life of 24,000 years.
While there was an initial cleanup, Francisco Franco's fascist government covered up the incident and played down the dangers of plutonium. But recent studies indicate that there is still contamination, and some of the radioactive materials are degrading into americium, a producer of dangerous gamma radiation.
When Spain re-raised the issue in 2011, the U.S. stonewalled Madrid. So why is Washington coming to an agreement now? Quid pro quo: the U.S. wants to base some of its navy at Rota in southern Spain, and the Marines are setting up a permanent base at Moron de la Frontera.
As for nukes, the U.S. is deploying its new B61-12 guided nuclear bomb in Europe. At $11 billion it is the most expensive nuke in the U.S. arsenal. The U.S. will base the B61-12 in Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy and Turkey, a violation of Articles I and II of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Those two articles ban transferring nukes from a nuclear weapon state to a non-nuclear weapon state.
Dispatches assumes they will also bring lots of mops and buckets.
Buyer Beware Award to the purchasing arm of the U.S. Defense Department that sent dozens of MD-530 attack helicopters to Afghanistan to build up the Afghan Air Force. Except the McDonnell Douglas-made choppers can't operate above 8,000 feet, which means they can't clear many of the mountains that ring Kabul. The Afghan capital is at 6,000 feet. It also doesn't have the range to reach Taliban-controlled areas and, according to the pilots, its guns jam all the time. The Pentagon also paid more than $400 million to give Afghanistan 16 transport planes that were in such bad condition they couldn't fly. The planes ended up being sold as scrap for $32,000.
The Pogo Possum "We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us" Award goes to the Defense Intelligence Agency for warning Congress that "Chinese and Russian military leaders … were developing capabilities to deny [the] U.S. use of space in the event of a conflict." Indeed, U.S. military satellites were jammed 261 times in 2015 – by the United States. Asked how many times China and Russia had jammed U.S. signals, Gen. John Hyten, head of the Air Force Space Command, replied, "I don't really know. My guess is zero."
This article originally appeared in Conn Hallinan's blog Dispatches From the Edge.
Photo: Niklas Hellerstedt/Flickr/CC