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In case you didn't know, Ron Paul is a US Congressman who currently heads the House Financial Services Committee's subcommittee on monetary policy. I assume that this gives him some power to mobilize forces to implement his ideas. Paul is of course a vocal critic of the Fed. If there was good science backing up Ron Paul's ideas, and if the ideas were tight and well-reasoned, that would be great. Unfortunately, End the Fed which I take to be the best Paul can do in marshaling his thoughts, is for the most part bad science, consisting of flimsy arguments and some utter nonsense.
Now, to start, you should understand where I am coming from. I was not born in the United States, though I am currently a US citizen. For Canadians, coming to the United States and working here is relatively painless. For example, I look and sound like I could be from Minnesota, or the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (those people are essentially Canadian anyway - they even know how to hold hockey sticks). Sometimes I feel badly for some of my fellow immigrants, including the ones from Asia who have to struggle with the language, or those from Mexico who have to deal with this guy, but I digress. I got my first year-round job at the Bank of Canada in 1979, when I was 24. Since then I have worked full-time at the Minneapolis Fed (2 years), and have been a visiting academic at the Federal Reserve Banks of Richmond, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Kansas City, Atlanta, and New York. I currently spend an average of something less than one day per week at the St. Louis Fed, in my hometown, where my full-time job is at Washington University in St. Louis. My title at the St. Louis Fed is "Research Fellow," and I have an office over there (no window unfortunately) with my name on the door. I also know some powerful people. I went to graduate school with 2 Fed Presidents, know 4 Fed Presidents well (Narayana Kocherlakota is a rather aggressive poker player; Dean Corbae is not), and am an acquaintance of Ben Bernanke's from back in the day (e.g. we both belonged to Glenn Hubbard's NBER group for a time).
I'm not trying to boast here. As everyone knows, Canadians are trained not to do it (there are some exceptions - my friend Randy Wright has never been accused of excessive modesty). I may be slow at times, but surely after all this time hanging out with central bankers and working on the inside of their institutions I have some understanding of how central bankers think and how well they do their jobs. I also like to think of myself as an independent thinker. In this blog, I'll sometimes criticize people in the Fed when I think they need it. Some of that is in the spirit of this. Whether my ideas have any impact on how these people think about policy is a mystery to me.
Now, what is End the Fed about? The first paragraph of Chapter 10 (page 141) sums it up:
The Federal Reserve should be abolished because it is immoral, unconstitutional, impractical, promotes bad economics, and undermines liberty. It's destructive nature makes it a tool of tyrannical government.Now, I'm sure that to some of you this sounds like a rant, but let's give the poor guy a chance, and consider the pieces of his argument.
1. The Fed is immoral. The idea here has to do with what Paul calls "printing money out of thin air." We have a government, and the government is a tyrant. The tyrant must confiscate resources in order to keep itself alive. To confiscate the resources, the tyrant can tax, issue interest-bearing debt, and also issue money, through the tyrant's central bank. When the tyrant taxes us, we can see what is going on. The thief is taking our stuff, but he or she is being pretty up-front about the whole thing. If the government borrows in order to acquire resources, then this is more indirect. The government debt issued to finance the tyrant's spending could actually just be deferred taxation (the government taxes us in the future to pay off the debt), and maybe we can figure that out, which is what Ricardian equivalance is all about. But if the tyrant simply uses its monopoly over the printing press to issue money in order to acquire goods and services, then the theft is even more indirect. As private citizens we are deprived of resources by the tyrant because the extra money issued by the tyrant drives up prices and makes our money worth less in terms of goods and services. Now, instead of a thief with the gall to steal our stuff in broad daylight, we have an underhanded, conspiratorial thief who walks off with our stuff in the dead of night. Not only that, but the thief is in league with rich bankers. Even worse.
Is the Fed immoral? Ron Paul wants you to think that what the Fed is doing is mysterious, secretive, and underhanded. We have all been hoodwinked but, according to him, he has figured it out, and will proceed to enlighten us. You can forgive Paul somewhat for the "printing money out of thin air" idea, as this is part of what is conveyed in conventional money and banking undergraduate courses. Indeed, Paul's exposure to formal economics training appears to be confined to a single undergraduate course, in which he seems to have been exposed to the money multiplier, probably the most misleading idea propagated in monetary economics. As discussed here, a central bank is best viewed as just another financial intermediary, the unique characteristic of which is that it has a monopoly on the issue of some class of liabilities. The Fed creates liabilities out of "thin air" to purchase the assets in its portfolio. A bank creates deposit liabilities out of thin air to purchase the assets in its portfolio. General Motors can create equity claims out of thin air to finance the purchase of new plant and equipment. Further, the fact that the liabilities of the Fed do not represent specific claims to anything in the future is neither here nor there. In private markets, in which Paul puts much trust, we have developed arrangements by which private firms issue claims (stock) which are not specific promises to pay anything specific in the future (dividends are discretionary). Further, private firms make no commitments about their future plans to issue more stock, or to buy back stocks, decisions which will affect the value of stock held by existing shareholders, just as decisions by the Fed affect the value of the existing stock of money outstanding. Nothing mysterious here at all.
Now, Paul seems very focused on inflation, and the resources extracted from the private sector by way of the inflation tax. It would help here to do some back-of-the-envelope calculations to get an idea of the magnitude of resource extraction. From fourth-quarter 2010 NIPA numbers, GDP was about $14.9 trillion, and total expenditures (by all levels of government) were about $3 trillion, at annual rates (seasonally adjusted), so the tyrant was extracting about 20.1% of GDP (this is all levels of government). Now, inflation has been hovering around 1% per year recently, but suppose it were 2%, which is the Fed's stated inflation target (not officially, but Bernanke says as much in public). What is seignorage, i.e. the implicit revenue the government collects, through the Fed, from the inflation tax? To calculate this, we need to know what the tax base is. Let's think of the current stock of reserves as essentially T-bills, which the Fed plans to retire in good time (to take it at its word). Then, the remainder of outstanding Fed liabilities is essentially currency (which certainly corresponds to Paul's language) which is just short of $1 trillion, so let's call it $1 trillion just for argument's sake. Then, with 2% inflation, the revenue from the inflation tax is about $20 billion per year, or 0.7% of government spending, or 0.14% of GDP. Small potatoes, and certainly not enough to justify an armed mob outside the Fed in Washington screaming "end the fed," as Paul seems to envision.
What is missing from Paul's arguments is some statement of principles about what the government should be doing. The best we get is this, on page 192:
When government grows, liberty suffers. This happens no matter what justification is given for the government programs financed.Suppose I take this literally. Paul thinks liberty is good. More government means less liberty, therefore the optimal state of the world is one with zero government. But Paul also appears to be offended by theft, so surely he recognizes that there might be some problem in leaving policing to the private sector. Maybe he thinks that an army might be useful, if not for pursuing exploits abroad, then at least for defending us from invading Canadians. Once we recognize that there is some role for government, we are going to have to finance this government, and that will require contributions from all of us. There is then a whole branch of economics - public finance - that deals with the issue of how those contributions can and should be made, and the consequences of alternative means of resource extraction for the government. In primitive economies, where the costs of collecting taxes are high and financial markets undeveloped, it can be economically efficient for the government to generate much of its revenue with the inflation tax. In modern economies, we think not. We recognize that inflation is costly, and modern disciplined central banks keep inflation rates low.
2. The Fed is unconstitutional. I'm not a constitutional expert, by any means, but this argument seems to be coming from the same place as this, which does not quite say that the income tax is unconstitutional, but comes close. I know the idea is floating around. Get serious.
3. The Fed is impractical. Paul seems to think that the Fed is the wrong tool for getting the job done. What's the job that we want done? Apparently we want price stability, so let's take that as given. What is Paul's alternative to the Fed? He wants to go back to the good old days of the gold standard. So what's wrong with that? I discussed some of the issues here. Basically, if price stability is the goal, any commodity standard is incapable of delivering it. Here is what Paul appears to have in mind, though he is pretty vague about the whole arrangement. One of Paul's Austrian-economics heroes is Murray Rothbard, who wrote this. Rothbard thought the gold standard was a good idea, and also had a problem with fractional reserve banking. Basically, what Rothbard his in mind is some combination of the gold standard and Friedman's 100% reserve requirement on any transactions medium. Any liability used in transactions must be backed 100% by gold. Now, the key problem with this arrangement, aside from the usual difficulties with the fluctuating relative price of gold, is that there is not provision for "currency elasticity," a term written into the Federal Reserve Act of 1913. Currency elasticity is a concept you can teach to students in homework problems. Roughly, the demand for money will fluctuate due to fluctuations in various exogenous factors (time of day, day of the week, month of the year, productivity, transactions technologies, etc.). If the money supply does not accommodate these shocks, prices will fluctuate as well, and we will not have price stability. If all media of exchange are backed one-for-one with gold, then you get some elasticity due to the fact that gold can be diverted from other uses (and dug out of the ground) to use as backing for transactions media. But this necessarily implies that the relative price of gold is fluctuating and, by implication, there is no price stability. Further, restricting private financial intermediation with a 100% reserve requirement, while un-Libertarian and inconsistent with what Paul seems to stand for, is also economically inefficient - it works like a tax on financial intermediation. Theft, as it were.
4. The Fed promotes bad economics. How do you tell good economics from bad economics? Sometimes the profession gives prizes to people. There's the John Bates Clark Medal. There's the Nobel Prize. Two Nobel Prize winners were Ed Prescott and Robert Lucas, Jr. Prescott has had a long and fruitful relationship with the Minneapolis Fed, and Lucas has been a frequent visitor there. The collaboration between University of Minnesota economists and researchers working at the Minneapolis Fed produced some of the most important breakthroughs in 20th century macroeconomics. New Keynesian Economics was developed by people like Mike Woodford and Mark Gertler, who have ties to the New York Fed, and to other central banks in the world, including the ECB. Currently, there is first-rate research being done at all of the Federal Reserve Banks in the system, and at the Board of Governors in D.C., and some of those research groups would easily rank among the top 20 among working groups of macroeconomists in the world. Bad economics! What an insult! To do its job, the Fed needs to be on top of economic science, and I think it does a good job of that. A particular strength of the Federal Reserve System is its decentralization. A regional Fed President is appointed by the Board of Directors of the individual regional Fed (though the appointment must be approved by the Board of Governors), and regional Feds develop their own idiosyncratic views, with a healthy competition in ideas among the regional Feds, and between the regional Feds and the people in Washington D.C. No central bank in the world appears to be organized in a way that promotes this degree of diversity in ideas.
5. The Fed undermines liberty. What's that about? Summary:
Remember that the people who run the Fed are just regular people, as flawed as anyone else. The only difference is that they have massive power to break civilization. Any institution that can do this is by nature tyrannical and is specifically what the Constitution was trying to prevent.I'm sure that Ben Bernanke does not look in the mirror in the morning and think of the guy he sees as being capable of breaking civilization. Central bankers may be powerful, but there's no need to go overboard here.
I have sometimes contemplated, in published papers, what the world would look like without a central bank, and how private arrangements might substitute for what the central bank does. It is important to question the existence of central banks, to put central bankers on the hot seat about their methods, and to work to improve central banking practice. However, I am convinced that, given what we know, getting rid of the Fed would be foolhardy. The science of economics is no different from any other science. Our understanding of central banking is imperfect, just as our understanding of cancer and global warming are imperfect. We have a pretty good idea about the broad outlines of what a central bank is good for, but about the details we are not sure. My judgment is that the world would be a much more unstable place without the Federal Reserve System than with it. Instability is a threat to our freedom, as events of the last 10 years should make clear. While Ron Paul might be able to convince me that we should end the Fed, my best guess is that he is not up to it.

subset: commoncrawl


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Sunday, September 26, 2010
Sweet Pickles - Blue Monday
From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've done a lot of experimenting with pickles this summer and was really happy with the outcome. I did, however, have one last recipe to try before the season ended, so I was delighted delighted to find that Kirby cucumbers were still available at my favorite farm stand. The refrigerator dill pickles I made earlier in the season were terrific. I had a recipe for sweet pickles, developed by Tyler Florence, that I also wanted to try before moving on to pumpkins and squash. Today was the day and I'm really happy to report that his recipe is also a keeper. His pickles are very easy to make , but you should plan on a wait time of 5 hours before they are ready to eat. While you can use garden variety cucumbers to make this pickle, their seeds and a slightly bitter skin that makes them less than ideal for pickling. I prefer to use Kirby or English (hot house) cucumbers whenever possible. Refrigerator pickles have a color and crispness that I find irresistible. I hope you will too. Here's the recipe.
Sweet Pickles...from the kitchen of one Perfect Bite, courtesy of Tyler Florence
6 Kirby cucumbers or 2 regular cucumbers
1/4 cup kosher salt
1 cup water
1 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon coriander seed
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 tablespoon whole allspice berries
1 cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
1 bay leaf
1) Wash and dry cucumbers. Using a sharp knife or a mandolin, slice cucumbers thinly and place in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and toss to coat. Place colander over a bowl and allow it to sit, covered, for about 1 hour. Rinse off salt and dry cucumber slices well. Place them into a sterilized quart jar.
2) Place water, vinegar, sugar, coriander seed, mustard seed, allspice berries, cinnamon stick, whole cloves and bay leaf in a small saucepan. Set over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar, and bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and allow to cool. Pour brine over cucumbers in jar. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Will keep, refrigerated, for about 2 weeks. Yield: 1 quart sweet pickles.
You might also enjoy these recipes:
Canned Dill Pickles - Pantry Eats
Smokin' Hot Pickled Okra - Coconut and Lime
Pickled Okra - Never Enough Thyme
Zucchini Pickles - Andrea Meyers
Refrigerator Dill Pickles - One Perfect Bite
Dill and Garlic Freezer Pickles - The Other Side of Fifty
Jalapeno Bread and Butter Pickles - Simply Recipes
This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday
49 comments :
- Momo said...
lovely addition of cinnamon and cloves!
- September 26, 2010 at 1:31 AM
- aipi said...
Indian pickles normally have a mixture of complex spices and are made through a very elaborate process..this style of making pickle has always had my curiosity..now that I see your recipe will give them a shot sometime :)
Have a great day!
US Masala - September 26, 2010 at 1:32 AM
- kitchen flavours said...
This is great! I'm trying this one out. I love cucumbers and I think the Japanese cucumber would be great for pickling. Thanks for sharing this!
- September 26, 2010 at 1:36 AM
- GLENDA CHILDERS said...
I've been out of town, with no internet access, so am doing a little blog reading tonight. Fun to see your pickle recipe and the beautiful jar of pickles with the blue lid. Hope your enjoying a lovely weekend, Mary.
Glenda - September 26, 2010 at 1:36 AM
- Sushma Mallya said...
So beautiful and so easy to make as well...
- September 26, 2010 at 2:22 AM
- Katerina said...
This is the perfect way to enjoy these veggies throughout the year. They look very vivid in this jar.
- September 26, 2010 at 2:27 AM
- Allie and Pattie said...
I just bought some sweet pickles yesterday as I was out of my own Mary- what perfect timing! I'll be on the lookout for Kirbys today
xoxo Pattie - September 26, 2010 at 6:00 AM
- From the Kitchen said...
I think these will be delicious at our table and dress up the refrigerator beautifully! Thanks.
Bonnie - September 26, 2010 at 6:49 AM
- T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...
What fun. I've always adored pickles, and actually had some success two summers ago in making them myself. The thought of sweet pickles makes my mouth water!
- September 26, 2010 at 7:11 AM
- Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...
This makes me wish I had more jars Mary:D
- September 26, 2010 at 7:54 AM
- Carol at Serendipity said...
I think my middle name is pickle. I have saved this recipe and the dill recipe for Florida. I am trying to empty the refrigerator now! Thanks for sharing.
Carol - September 26, 2010 at 8:01 AM
- Diane said...
This is very similar to the recipe that I have used this year and it is really yummy. Diane
- September 26, 2010 at 8:40 AM
- La Table De Nana said...
So cute w/ the blue lid!
- September 26, 2010 at 8:54 AM
- Martha said...
I loe refrigerator pickles and these look really good!
- September 26, 2010 at 8:57 AM
- Jeannie said...
I love pickles but have not made any with cucumbers before...I should try it soon, but I have lots of green papayas which got uprooted in the thunderstorm today, in my backyard so maybe I'll pickle that first! Thanks for sharing your recipe Mary:D
- September 26, 2010 at 8:58 AM
This is similar to my grandmother's recipe!
- September 26, 2010 at 9:13 AM
- Joanne said...
I actually like sweeter pickled goods best of all! These sound delicious and I really hope I can find kirby cucumbers at the market so I can try them! If not, there's always next year...
- September 26, 2010 at 9:19 AM
- Satya said...
wow what a tempting n beautiful looking pickle ..i totally agree with aipi ...ur version of pickle is very interesting
- September 26, 2010 at 9:31 AM
- Little Inbox said...
This pickle looks refreshing.
- September 26, 2010 at 9:57 AM
- Bakericious said...
I love pickles, this looks nice too.
- September 26, 2010 at 10:16 AM
- Ginny Hartzler said...
These look delightfully crisp! When you say Kirby, or English cucumbers, doo you mean the long, thin ones without the seeds? I have been thinking that there are only two kinds of cucumbers, the regular and the English?
- September 26, 2010 at 10:58 AM
- Unknown said...
I really have to try this! Tyler's recipes I find in general are keepers! Beautiful and fresh! Thanks Mary!
- September 26, 2010 at 11:05 AM
- Cathy said...
Homemade pickles are a special treat. Love the flavorings you've used, Mary, especially the cloves and cinnamon.
- September 26, 2010 at 11:20 AM
- StephenC said...
When I was young my mother or my grandmother would make sweet pickles and sweet pickle relish. I have lost my fondness for sweet ones, but remember making a comment on your dills, which I love. While I guess I would not make them for myself, I sure would enjoy a little taste of yours.
- September 26, 2010 at 12:08 PM
- Rachana said...
I love homemade pickles and this cucumber pickle looks mouthwatering.
- September 26, 2010 at 12:34 PM
- Faith said...
I love the use of allspice berries, cinnamon, and cloves! I bet they lend a really lovely flavor. My mother adores sweet pickles so I'm going to share this post with her! :)
- September 26, 2010 at 12:43 PM
- Lisa said...
This sounds like a pickle recipe that even I can't mess up! Looking forward to giving it a try.
Thanks Mary! - September 26, 2010 at 1:25 PM
- Pam said...
Great pickle recipe, Mary! I've been experimenting with pickles also this summer. Thanks for the recipe!
- September 26, 2010 at 2:52 PM
- Unknown said...
Homemade pickles always remind me of my grandma. She used to make her own when I was growing up, I remember them sitting in the basement just waiting to be opened! These sound wonderful and pretty simple too!
- September 26, 2010 at 3:04 PM
- Carol said...
Great looking pickles! Easy enough to try one day. They look excellent with the blue lid against the vivid green of the pickle. Great shot!
- September 26, 2010 at 3:49 PM
- Tasha said...
I grew up eating my grandma's delicious crisp, sweet pickles. It's been many years since I've had them and sadly, I don't think anyone in my family has her recipe. I'd love to try this version, as I'm sure it would bring back wonderful memories.
- September 26, 2010 at 5:01 PM
- Adelina said...
a brilliant green you have in that jar! love homemade pickles and your recipe is so different!
- September 26, 2010 at 6:42 PM
- scrambledhenfruit said...
I love the idea of making sweet pickles in small batches like this- so much easier than canning. These sound wonderful!
- September 26, 2010 at 9:08 PM
- Monet said...
This does seem like a great way to do pickles! I love how quickly that these come together too! Thanks for sharing a great recipe with us...as always, you impress!
- September 26, 2010 at 10:21 PM
- Biren said...
Homemade pickled cucumbers are the best as store bought ones are either too sweet or too tart. love the color too!
- September 26, 2010 at 11:24 PM
- We Are Not Martha said...
First plums and now sweet pickles... And another thing I need to add to my list!! :)
Sues - September 26, 2010 at 11:27 PM
- A SPICY PERSPECTIVE said...
Yep, this sounds like grandma's old recipe--love it!
- September 27, 2010 at 12:29 AM
- sophia said...
Wouldn't I just LOVE this in a grilled cheese sandwich!!
- September 27, 2010 at 12:38 AM
- Rue said...
Thanks for this - I was just mourning the last jar of Mom's pickles and wondering what to do. Now I'm going back to the market next Sat to pick up some cukes I saw!
- September 27, 2010 at 1:38 AM
- Lucie said...
When I first read your post, I ran to the fridge to get some pickles--but I'm sure yours are even more delicious, Mary!
- September 27, 2010 at 1:57 AM
- chriesi said...
Sounds so good! I might prepare it this week!
- September 27, 2010 at 2:08 AM
- Deb in Hawaii said...
You have me craving pickles now--I like the flavors in this one. ;-)
- September 27, 2010 at 3:10 AM
- penny aka jeroxie said...
Homemade pickles are the best!
- September 27, 2010 at 3:29 AM
- Glennis said...
Oh, I'll try these! And watermelon rind pickles - I just had some in a salad at a restaurant, and they were amazing. thank you for the wonderful recipes, Mary!
- September 27, 2010 at 12:58 PM
- Unknown said...
The colors look great in your pics! Super yummy! :)
- September 27, 2010 at 1:07 PM
- SmilingSally said...
Umm, I'd love to have one of your pickles, Mary.
Happy Blue Monday! - September 27, 2010 at 1:35 PM
- Donnie said...
That looks really good. Happy Blue Monday.
- September 27, 2010 at 3:04 PM
- Sherry said...
I'm confused about the pouring of brine over the pickles; after the jar is full?
Sherry - July 2, 2012 at 6:54 PM
- Mary Bergfeld said...
Sherry, I couldn't find an active blog on which to answer you, so I'll have to do it here. The jars are filled with the cucumbers and then the brine is poured over them. Have a great day. Blessings...Mary
- July 2, 2012 at 7:40 PM


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TransCaribe Frieght Ferry Dock
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Cozumel Butterfly Sanctuary Tour & PalMar Snorkel Beach Club
Visit Cozumel's only Butterfly Sanctuary! Merged in 2018 with the Cozumel Butterflies & Botanical Gardens, see multitudes of colors, learn about butterfly habits and the miracle of metamorphosis. Take photos and then stay to enjoy snorkeling and the other ammenities of the PalMar Snorkel Beach Club. Great family fun & excellent value!
Starting at US $8.00!
Cozumel Dolphin Royal Swim
If "Action" and "Speed" are what you seek in excursions then the Royal Swim is for you! Action and Speed pretty much describe this popular dolphin program! Get a handshake, a kiss and then you give them one. Feel the strength of your new friends as they push you across the water from the bottom of your feet in the thrilling foot-push. It is "the experience of a lifetime!"
US $159 Adults / US $89 Kids / Infants FREE!
Cozumel - Punta Sur Ecopark, Lighthouse & Snorkeling
Cozumel's largest natural eco-park featuring a lighthouse to climb, Mayan ruins to see, coves to snorkel, a nautical museum, sea turtle nesting areas, a crocodile sanctuary, an enormous mangrove lagoon where spoonbill flamingos nest and white egrets go hunting daily along with a multitude of other animal species that call the park home. Experience Cozumel's wildlife up close and personal during this unique tour excursion activity!
US $125 Adults / US $115 Kids
Cozumel Isla de Pasion Trip Charters
Take a relaxing cruise aboard our Charter boats across the crystal clear waters of Cozumel to beautiful and remote Isla de Pasion. Passion Island is Cozumel's own little island!
US $ 75 Per Person / $500 Min. Private Charter
Cozumel Dive Paradise Dive Trips
Experience the thrill of scuba diving in one of the top dive destinations in the world with Cozumel's leading dive shop ~ Dive Paradise!
Per Person US $35 (1 Tank) to US $79 (2 Tanks)
Cozumel Country Club & Golf Course
Since its opening in 2001, the Cozumel Country Club, Nicklaus Design Group 18-hole golf course has been steadily attracting more travelers to Cozumel.
Tee Time Rates From US $99 for 18 Holes
Cozumel's Complete, Private Island Jeep & Snorkel Tour
You'll see more in one day than others see in a lifetime!!!
Starting at US $75 Adults / US $60 Kids
PalMar Snorkel Beach Club
Bring your group and spend the day at our PalMar small, private beach facility and enjoy a day of snorkeling at Cozumel's premier beach entry snorkel spot! No crowds here and gates close daily with a maximum of 50 people on site!
US $19 Adults / US $8 Kids - Includes FREE Drinks!
Rentadora ISiS Car Rentals Cozumel - Compact (Manual) 5 PAX
Compact Class - Volkswagen (VW) Gol has a manual transmission, A/C, five (5) door hatchback and will hold a maximum of five (5) passengers.
US $50 Daily (Max = 5 pax)
Rentadora ISiS Car Rentals Cozumel - Convertible (Manual) 4 PAX
Convertible Economy Class - Chevrolet (Chevy) Pop Convertible has a manual transmission, comes in a two (2) or four (4) door option, no A/C and will hold a maximum of four (4) passengers.
US $45 Daily (Max = 4 pax)
Rentadora ISiS Car Rentals Cozumel - Economy (Manual) 4 PAX
Economy Class - Chevrolet (Chevy) Matiz has a manual transmission, comes in a five (5) door hatchback, with air conditioning (A/C) and will hold a maximum of four (4) passengers.
US $45 Daily (Max = 4 pax)
Rentadora ISiS Car Rentals Cozumel - Subcompact (Manual) 5 PAX
Subcompact Class - Both Chevrolet (Chevy) Aveo or Nissan Tiida have a manual transmission, comes in a four (4) door sedan, with air conditioning (A/C) and will hold a maximum of five (5) passengers.
US $55 Daily (Max = 5 pax)
PalMar Snorkel Beach Club
Cozumel's Complete, Private Island Jeep & Snorkel Tour
PalMar Snorkel Beach Club
Cozumel Country Club & Golf Course
Cozumel Dive Paradise Dive Trips
Cozumel - Punta Sur Ecopark, Lighthouse & Snorkeling
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Blue Jays - 000 000 002 - 2 6 0 Red Sox - 021 000 00x - 3 7 0Lester (4-0-0-1-5, 50) left the game with a left lat strain. Early reports are that he will miss two weeks.
The Sox won the game on what looked like a blown call at the plate, one of several in the top of the ninth from plate umpire Brian Knight. What will go into the history books, though, is that after Jonathan Papelbon allowed a lead off single to Corey Patterson and a two-run dong to Jose Bautista, he then allowed a one-out single to Edwin Encarnacion and a two-out walk to J.P. Arencibia, before giving up a line drive single to John McDonald, a line drive to left that Darnell McDonald charged and then launched a perfect throw to home plate, where Jason Varitek blocked the plate and tagged out Encarnacion to end the game, and give Papelbon one of the least-deserved saves of his entire life.
What seems to have happened, however, is that when Encarnacion slid into Varitek's left leg, he got spun around and may have been able to drag his right foot across the plate before the tag. McDonald's throw was there in plenty of time, but Varitek was slow in putting the glove on the base runner. Knight was standing almost directly over Varitek, however, so he certainly had a good look at everything. I was watching the Jays feed and did not get see a super-slow replay where you could look at more than one spot during the play.
Knight blew at least three ball-strike calls in the inning. He failed to call strike three on the leadoff batter, Patterson, and the next pitch was hit into center field for a single.
Knight also missed two strikes in Arencibia's at-bat.
So if Knight also blew the call at the plate, that's four wrong calls in one half-inning. Once again, we have clear evidence that subpar umpiring affected the outcome of this game in a very direct way.
If Papelbon struck out Patterson and/or Arencibia, I want him to get credit for the out(s). And if Encarnacion got his foot on the plate before he was tagged, then I want his run to count.
The main reason why I want an extensive expansion of instant replay? I don't want what the players do on the field to be negated or altered by the imperfect observations of a non-player.
Brett Cecil / Jon Lester
Cecil had a 6.86 ERA in four April starts (including April 15 against Boston) and was demoted to Las Vegas (AAA). He returned on June 30 and allowed six runs in 6.1 innings, upping his ERA to a Lackeyesque 7.24.
After going 9-for-51 (.176) from June 15-29, Jacoby Ellsbury has gotten hot again, batting .555 in the last four games (10-for-18). ... Jose Bautista has hit safely in 61 of his 78 games this season, reaching base via a hit or walk in 73 of 78 games. (In 10 games against Boston this year, he's hitting .211/.302/.395.)
AL East: Yankees/Spiders at 7 PM and Rays/Twins at 8 PM.


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c. f. martin & co., inc.'s online privacy and security statement
c. f. martin & co., inc.'s online privacy and security statement
At C. F. Martin & Co., Inc. ("Martin") we take the privacy of our customers and the security of their Personal Information very seriously. We believe that protecting your privacy is an integral part of the customer service we provide to you. This is Martin's Online Privacy and Security Statement (the "Statement") that applies to Martin's website located at www.martinguitar.com. This Statement only applies to the www.martinguitar.com website.
How we protect and use customer personal information
We are committed to protecting the security and integrity of customer personal information through procedures and technology designed for this purpose.
- C. F. Martin & Co., Inc. ("Martin") has implemented a variety of encryption and security technologies and procedures to protect information stored in our computer systems from unauthorized access. We also maintain procedural safeguards that restrict access to your Personal Information to employees (or people working on our behalf and under confidentiality agreements) who need to know your Personal Information in order to provide the products and services that you request. "Personal Information" may include your name, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, and credit or debit card numbers.
- Martin uses Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to keep others from intercepting your information while it is being transmitted across the Internet. SSL technology is the industry standard method of communicating secure online transactions and is built into most major browsers. Information, once on our server(s), is protected from unintended external access or intrusions. Only Martin employees who require your Personal Information to serve you have access to your data. Martin employees who have access to Personal Information are trained in the privacy and security practices of this Statement.
- We may provide links to third party websites outside of www.martinguitar.com as an added convenience to our users. Martin is not responsible for the privacy, terms of use, or other policies of any other website or their management of information which you may provide to those websites. We encourage you to investigate and review the privacy policies and practices of any third party websites to which you may provide any of your information.
- Transaction Security- Secured communications on the web involve the elements of authentication, encryption and data integrity. All three are addressed by the SSL protocol used by Martin.
- Authentication is the process of establishing that you are communicating with our web server, as opposed to another server assuming our identity. We have obtained a VeriSign digital security certificate for www.martinguitar.com. VeriSign Authentication Services from Symantec Corporation is an independent third party that authenticates the identity of others on the Internet. The VeriSign certificate confirms that we are the recipients of your communication.
- Encryption is the process of scrambling data to prohibit any unintended recipient from understanding it if they intercept the data while being transferred from your browser to our server(s).
- Data Integrity ensures the data passed between your browser and our server is not being tampered with while in transit. SSL protects information en route to us, and the VeriSign certificate confirms that we are the recipients of this information. Although Martin strives to protect all data received, no data transmission over the Internet or any wireless network can be guaranteed to be secure. Therefore, we do not warrant or ensure the security of any information sent to us online. To ensure you are in SSL or secure mode for your transactions, look at the address of the page. Secure pages will usually appear with an address that begins with https:// rather than the standard http://.
We collect and maintain customer information as part of servicing your product purchases and your customer relationship.
- We maintain only the Personal Information you voluntarily provide to us or that is given to us by affiliated entities or third parties that have your permission to share your Personal Information with us.
- If you choose to place an order from our site, you must provide the following information: your name, shipping and/or mailing addresses, telephone number or email address (in case our customer service personnel need to reach you about your order) and credit or debit card account number.
How You Can Control the Use of Your Personal Information- We give you choices and
control over the collection and use of your Personal Information. If you would like to change your
Personal Information in our records or remove your name from our mailing list, please contact us by:
- contacting us via email here: Contact Us
- calling: 1-610-759-2837
- writing: C. F. Martin & Co. Inc., Customer Service Department, P. O. Box 329, Nazareth, PA 18064-0329; include your name, mailing or email address, or telephone number.
- Opt-in, Opt-Out Features- Martin puts control over email communications in the users' hands. Electronic correspondences are sent only to people who have chosen to receive them (to opt-in). Each communication contains simple access to update profile/email address and unsubscribe (opt-out) with instant removal from the Martin email
The customer personal information we collect is used to service your product purchases, warranty your product, and meet your product information needs.
- When you place an order, submit an instrument warranty registration or any other type of electronic
form, or request product information, your Personal Information is required and may be used. All of
these services are optional; if you do not wish to provide Personal Information you may simply decline
to take advantage of that service.
- Martin will use your Personal Information to respond to and fulfill your orders and/or requests, including through (a) online purchases, (b) online warranty registration, (c) email communications, and (d) customer service requests.
- Our Use of Cookies- We use technology to collect anonymous, non-Personal Information that indicates how visitors use our site. Such technology, called "cookies" are small files containing text that your web browser software transfers from our website to your computer when you visit our site. Cookies make it easier for you to use our site and help us to customize your online experience.
- Cookies also allow us to personalize your shopping experience and speed the checkout process. Because we rely on cookies to make the shopping experience easier and more tailored to your needs, your browser must be set to accept cookies before you can place an order at www.martinguitar.com/1833Shop. If you would like more information about how cookies work, go to http://www.cookiecentral.com
- Our Policies Regarding Children- Martin does not knowingly collect Personal Information about any person under 13 years of age. We do not sell products for purchase by children; however, we do sell children's products for purchase by adults. If you are under 18 years of age, please do not submit any information without the express consent and participation of a parent or guardian.
We do not share customer personal information with outside parties who may wish to market their products to you.
- Martin does not rent or sell your Personal Information to outside third parties.
- Martin requires contractual agreements with all agencies, service providers and business partners whom require Personal Information to complete a transaction that you specifically request. We may share, transfer or release segments of your Personal Information to process credit card orders, for order fulfillment purposes or specialized services necessary to complete a transaction that you specifically request or for use in making our business more responsive to your needs.
- The companies with which we may share Personal Information are contractually prohibited from using such information obtained from Martin for any purpose other than that for which it was provided and are required to have appropriate safeguards in place to protect that information.
- Disclosure Under Legal Duty- If compelled to do so by valid subpoena or court order or other governmental process, we may disclose your Personal Information, as we are legally required to do.
Important information for current customers.
- Updates to this Statement- We reserve the right to make changes, revisions, or amendments at any time to our online policies and/or alter the look and functionality of our website. However, if we change how we maintain or use your Personal Information, we will post the policy change notification on the website and update this Statement accordingly. We encourage you to periodically review this Statement for the latest information on our online privacy and security policies.
- This Statement is effective as of June 3, 2011.
- If you have further questions regarding this Statement, please contact us by:
- Contacting us via email here: Contact Us
- Calling: 610-759-2837
- Writing: C.F. Martin & Co., Customer Service Department, P.O. Box 329, Nazareth, PA 18064-0329; include your name, mailing or email address, or telephone number.


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Nokia Lumia 520 and 720 Windows Phones evidently exist and are coming soon
With Mobile World Congress 2013 just around the corner, it makes sense that we start hearing about some new phones from Nokia. Up on the list are the Lumia 520 and Lumia 720, expected sequels to the current Lumia 510 and Lumia 710 series but with OS upgrades and more refined specifications.
The news come via recent filing with Indonesia's equivalent to the FCC, lending heavy credence to their existence (that and we are expecting a 710-follow up with Windows Phone 8). The Lumia 720 (RM-885), listed as manufactured in China, could be destined for many markets including T-Mobile US where the Flame was recently outed. Likewise, the Lumia 510 (RM-914) is also listed on the Indonesia filing.
The document does not give any details, but an unknown and evidently non-confirmed source reportedly gave the specifications of both devices to MyNokia Blog. Because of that, we have to take these with an extreme amount of caution, seeing as this could easily be made up. Having said that, let's not kid ourselves—the 520 and 720 are entry level and mid-range phones, so their features shouldn't be too extravagant.
- Lumia 720 (aka "Fame"): 4.3-inch ClearBlack Display, 1Ghz Dual-core processor, 512Mb RAM, 8GB storage, HSPA+, microSD, 6MP camera and 2MP front camera.
- Lumia 520 (aka "Zeal"): 4-inch Super Sensitive screen, 1Ghz Dual-core processor, 512Mb RAM, 8GB storage, microSD, 5MP rear camera and no front camera.
The anonymous sources were sure to point out the word "devices," when they said that there would be five of them unveiled at MWC. This denotes that we may see what has been a long-anticipated tablet from the Finnish manufacturer.
Our rumor rating on the Lumia 520 and 720 existing:
Our rumor rating on the above specs being accurate:
Also expected is further word on the rumored 41MP EOS Windows Phone.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
We'll be feeding you more info as we get it, including when we are live at Mobile World Congress.
Source: Indonesia Directorate Post & Telecommunication; MyNokiaBlog; Via: PhoneArena


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"How many chickens do you have now?" asked my foodie mom, who thoroughly enjoyed some breakfasts of fresh fried eggs on toasted Farmhouse White during her recent holiday visit.
"Seventeen? How'd you get so many?"
"They just keep hatching!"
"Oh, that's right—you have a rooster now."
I've been raising chickens for 10 years, and our eggs have always been brown or white. The white hens lay white eggs, the brown hens lay brown eggs, and the black hens lay brown eggs, though Joe says he's had white hens who laid brown eggs.
Back in June 2007, when little old Whitey got her motherly wish and was given a dozen fertilized eggs to sit on, three of those eggs were green (scroll down the page on the above link to see them)—and at least one of them produced a chick. Several of the seven chicks that Whitey hatched turned out to be roosters, and none of the hens lays green eggs.
But the six hens born last April, who are all related to Whitey's original chicks, have recently started laying (which means we're now averaging 49 eggs a week!), and one of them is giving us green eggs. The other five are laying brown eggs of various shades, even though one of the hens is white. I think the green egg layer is the gorgeous black and white one you can see in the top of this photo, but I don't know for sure.
What I do know is that I've always loved green eggs. Some people say the color doesn't affect the flavor, but it's always seemed to me that the green ones taste just a little bit better. Whether they really do or not, I'm thrilled to finally have some.
Chickens and eggs that came before:
7/1/07: On Loving Lettuce and Eggs on Salad for Breakfast
4/20/08: Chick Days Are Here! (Hatching Photos)
11/11/08: Farm Fresh Eggs, They're What's for Breakfast
3/7/09: Cluck! Cluck! Cluck! Ouch.
10/25/09: Egg Layers, the Next Generation
Links to lots more chick pics
© Copyright 2010 FarmgirlFare.com, the ready for Easter foodie farm blog where all we need now is some ham.


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Small Business Web Design – Enhance Online Presence
With an efficiently designed website, small business dealers can create a good impression and attract more people to their business. Small business web design services are now provided by leading companies in the field which aim at enhancing the online presence of their clients, thereby bringing more visitors to these websites.
Small business web design companies utilize the services of web developers and talented SEO professionals. Depending on the business owners' needs, they carry out any sort of web design including data driven, custom, multimedia, flash, and E commerce. These providers can also redesign your existing website for a better look.
With creatively designed websites, proper communication with the website visitors can be attained. An ideal designer highlights the company products and information, appropriately blending graphics and advertising tools. Web designers take care of all aspects involved such as planning, designing, page layout and final finishing touches.
Besides having search engine optimized content, websites have to be effectively designed if you want to attract the right people to your business. To draw more customers, web designers normally utilize effective web design tools. Java, Flash, Video, Audio, CSS based and fast loadable websites are designed by the professionals. Incorporating innovative technology programs such as XML, MySQL, XHTML, PHP, and Javascript, they provide attractive website designs.
Professional website designing is available for all kinds of websites such as those dealing with real estate, finance, E-commerce, education, medicine, family, teens and more. Nowadays these services are available at economical rates to meet the needs of small businesses and home based businesses.
A perfectly designed website will be search engine friendly, meta tag optimized and properly linked with the other pages. So, if you wish to redesign your existing website or are planning to design a new one for your small business, ensure that you associate with a reliable and experienced web design service provider.


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Optimization is a common form of decision making, and is ubiquitous in our society. Its applications range from solving Sudoku puzzles to arranging seating in a wedding banquet. The same technology can schedule planes and their crews, coordinate the production of steel, and organize the transportation of iron ore from the mines to the ports. Good decisions in manpower and material resources management also allow corporations to improve profit by millions of dollars. Similar problems also underpin much of our daily lives and are part of determining daily delivery routes for packages, making school timetables, and delivering power to our homes. Despite their fundamental importance, all of these problems are a nightmare to solve using traditional undergraduate computer science methods.
This course is intended for students interested in tackling all facets of optimization applications. You will learn an entirely new way to think about solving these challenging problems by stating the problem in a state-of-the-art high level modeling language, and letting library constraint solving software do the rest. This will allow you to unlock the power of industrial solving technologies, which have been perfected over decades by hundreds of PhD researchers. With access to this advanced technology, problems that are considered inconceivable to solve before will suddenly become easy.
Watch the course promotional video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc3cBvtrem0&t=8s


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Immediate Support: 1-847-639-3817
Funerals fill an important role for those mourning the loss of a loved one. By providing surviving family and friends with an atmosphere of care and support in which to share thoughts and feelings about death, funerals are the first step in the healing process. It is the traditional way to recognize the finality of death. Funerals are recognized rituals for the living to show their respect for the dead and to help survivors begin the grieving process.
You can have a full funeral service even for those choosing cremation. Planning a personalized ceremony or service will help begin the healing process. Overcoming the pain is never easy, but a meaningful funeral or tribute will help.
The funeral home will help coordinate arrangements with the cemetery.
If you request immediate assistance, yes. If the family wishes to spend a short time with the deceased to say good-bye, that's perfectly acceptable. Your funeral director will come when your time is right.
Burial in a casket is the most common method of disposing of remains in the United States, although entombment also occurs. Cremation is increasingly selected because it can be less expensive and allows for the memorial service to be held at a more convenient time in the future when relatives and friends can come together.
A funeral service followed by cremation need not be any different from a funeral service followed by a burial. Usually, cremated remains are placed in urn before being committed to a final resting place. The urn may be buried, placed in an indoor or outdoor mausoleum or columbarium, or interred in a special urn garden that many cemeteries provide for cremated remains. The remains may also be scattered, according to state law.
Viewing is a part of many cultural and ethnic traditions. Many grief specialists believe that viewing aids the grief process by helping the bereaved recognize the reality of death. Viewing is encouraged for children, as long as the process is explained and the activity is voluntary.
Embalming sanitizes and preserves the body. Embalming makes it possible to lengthen the time between death and the final disposition, allowing family members time to arrange and participate in the type of service most comforting to them.
The Federal Trade Commission says, "Except in certain special cases, embalming is not required by law. Embalming may be necessary, however, if you select certain funeral arrangements, such as a funeral with viewing. If you do not want embalming, you usually have the right to choose an arrangement that does not require you to pay for it, such as direct cremation or immediate burial."
When compared to other major life events like births and weddings, funerals are not expensive. A wedding costs at least three times as much; but because it is a happy event, wedding costs are rarely criticized. A funeral home is a 24-hour, labor-intensive business, with extensive facilities (viewing rooms, chapels, limousines, hearses, etc.), these expenses must be factored into the cost of a funeral.
Additionally, the cost of a funeral includes not only merchandise, like caskets, but the services of a funeral director in making arrangements; filing appropriate forms; dealing with doctors, ministers, florists, newspapers and others; and seeing to all the necessary details. Funeral directors look upon their profession as a service, but it is also a business. Like any business, funeral homes must make a profit to exist.
It really depends entirely on how you wish to commemorate a life. One of the advantages of cremation is that it provides you with increased flexibility when you make your funeral and cemetery arrangements. You might, for example, choose to have a funeral service before the cremation; a memorial service at the time of cremation or after the cremation with the urn present; or a committal service at the final disposition of cremated remains. Funeral or memorial services can be held in a place of worship, a funeral home or in a crematory chapel.
With cremation, your options are numerous. The cremains can be interred in a cemetery plot, i.e., earth burial, retained by a family member, usually in an urn, scattered on private property, or at a place that was significant to the deceased. (It would always be advisable to check for local regulations regarding scattering in a public place-your funeral director can help you with this.)
Today, there are many different types of memorial options from which to choose. Memorialization is a time-honored tradition that has been practiced for centuries. A memorial serves as a tribute to a life lived and provides a focal point for remembrance, as well as a record for future generations. The type of memorial you choose is a personal decision.
You might choose ground burial of the urn. If so, you may usually choose either a bronze memorial or monument. Cremation niches in columbariums are also available at many cemeteries. They offer the beauty of a mausoleum setting with the benefits of above ground placement of remains. Many cemeteries also offer scattering gardens. This area of a cemetery offers the peacefulness of a serene garden where family and friends can come and reflect.
If you wish to have your ashes scattered somewhere, it is important to discuss your wishes to be scattered ahead of time with the person or persons who will actually have to do the cremation ashes scattering ceremony, as they might want to let your funeral professional assist in the scattering ceremony. Funeral directors can also be very helpful in creating a meaningful and personal ash scattering ceremony that they will customize to fit your families specific desires. The services can be as formal or informal as you like. Scattering services can also be public or private. Again, it is advisable to check for local regulations regarding scattering in a public place-your funeral director can help you with this.
Yes — Depending upon the cemetery's policy, you may be able to save a grave space by having the cremains buried on top of the casketed remains of your spouse, or utilize the space provided next to him/her. Many cemeteries allow for multiple cremated remains to be interred in a single grave space.
Uncertainty about income tax issues can add to the stress experienced from the death of a spouse. You should meet with your family attorney and/or tax advisor as soon as possible to review your particular tax and estate circumstances. Bring a detailed list of your questions to the meeting. If you do not have an attorney or tax advisor, call the IRS toll-free at 800-829-1040 for answers to specific tax questions.
There are a number of options available, including:


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The Travel Career in nursing and it is Advantages
There are quite a bit of profession prospects accessible to nurses today. Nurses can be found in various medical areas a variety of medical establishments for instance hospitals, schools, government, medical clinics, nursing homes, administration, plus more. One sort of nursing job that may be now being chosen by more nurses because several positive aspects will be the travel career in nursing.
A travel nurse is usually a nurse who goes toward areas everywhere over the nation and works for a medical facility for any set specific time. These nurses are replacement workers for nurses who're away for reasons like if they're on the holiday to have an extended period of time. Since the nursing positions are temporary, the employer will be expecting a nurse who does not have for being trained or supervised.
As a travel nurse, you require some important qualifications. You will need to be considered a licensed nurse that completed the nursing program from a certified school for nursing. It's also advisable to been employed by being a nurse for the year or higher. Employers rely on travel nurses to be prepared to leap into work can be with the necessity for supervision or much training. To obtain a job as a travel nurse, most nurses will join a nurse recruiting agency.
A nurse recruiting company assists employers in the healthcare industry hire travel nurses to temporarily replace nurse on leave. Upon joining a staffing company, every one of the specifics of the nurse such as qualifications is set up a database. When an employer requests a nurse for the short term job vacancy, the agency will quickly realize the proper nurse to complete the job. The agency will help make a phone interview between the employer and nurse, assist the nurse with pay for it for travel, get the right nursing licenses, and help with finding suitable housing. A nursing staffing company could also offer courses to help keep nursing skills and knowledge on issues within the medical industry.
You can find nurse staffing agencies that provide nurses to employers needing temporary workers. As effectively, a travel nurse in most cases obtain compensation for travel relates expenses. There can also be a housing compensation and medical insurance benefits. Using a travel nursing career, flexibility is really a benefit as a nurse can choose the type of work assignment that meets the requirements and preferences. They even have a holiday between work assignments. As nicely, this can be a fun and lucrative way to see the country. If a nurse isn't ready for any full-time career available as one place, travel nursing is a superb choice.
Nursing travel jobs tends to make a lucrative income because these nurses need to be experienced and ready to travel and begin work competently the first day. For nurses trying to travel as well as a great living, the travel nursing profession may be the solution. They also receive the good thing about working in different medical environments and experience new places. When nurses attempt this kind of career, they soon discover travel nursing is often a rewarding and lucrative career.


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Medical Library
Pick a Body Area
Scoliosis is a lateral curvature of the spine. There may be one curve ("C" curve) present or two curves ("S" curve). Scoliosis is technically defined as a lateral curve of the spine greater than 10 degrees. Ten to 20 degrees of curvature is called mild scoliosis, 20-40 degrees is a moderate scoliosis, and greater than 40 degrees of curvature is a severe scoliosis.
Approximately 2-3 million people have scoliosis and there is no cure for the problem. In most cases (approximately 80%), the scoliosis is idiopathic in nature meaning there is no apparent cause. It affects all age groups and males as often as females. Infantile scoliosis affects children at birth. Juvenile scoliosis affect children between age 4 and puberty, adolescent scoliosis affects kids from puberty to adulthood, and there is also a classification of adult onset scoliosis. Female scoliosis patients are more likely to experience a progression of the disease.
Symptoms may include pain and fatigue and in severe cases difficulty with breathing, digestion, and walking.
Treatment typically consists of bracing for moderate curves and surgery for severe curves. Although there is little medical literature to prove the effectiveness of exercise for correction/improvement of a scoliosis curve, physical therapists are your best choice if you are looking for a customized exercise program for your scoliosis. Recommended exercises can decrease pain, stretch tight muscles, and strengthen the core spine/abdominal muscles.Possible Treatments
- Aerobic/Endurance Exercise Video
- Core Strengthening Video
- Electrotherapeutic Modalities
- Heat Pack Video
- Low Back Active Range of Motion Video
- Low Back Joint Mobilization Video
- Low Back Passive Range of Motion Video
- Low Back Resistive Range of Motion Video
- Posture Training Video
- Physical Agents
- Soft Tissue Mobilization Video
- Stretching/Flexibility Exercise Video
- Aerobic/Endurance Exercise
Possible Treatment Goals
- Improve Fitness
- Improve Function
- Optimize Joint Alignment
- Improve Muscle Strength and Power
- Improve Proprioception
- Improve Range of Motion
- Improve Relaxation
- Self-care of Symptoms
- Improve Safety
- Improve Tolerance for Prolonged Activities
Additional Resources
The information in this medical library is intended for informational and educational purposes only and in no way should be taken to be the provision or practice of physical therapy, medical, or professional healthcare advice or services. The information should not be considered complete or exhaustive and should not be used for diagnostic or treatment purposes without first consulting with your physical therapist, occupational therapist, physician or other healthcare provider. The owners of this website accept no responsibility for the misuse of information contained within this website.


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"We're two of the top bantamweights in the world, we put on exciting
fights, and between the two of us we're in double digits in bonuses, and
we're both going in there for a victory." - Scott Jorgensen
Scott Jorgensen has heard it all before his Saturday main event battle against Urijah Faber in Las Vegas. He's answered questions about being called in on short notice for the fight, about fighting his good buddy Faber, and anything you could possibly ask a headliner before the most important fight of his UFC career.
So did we miss anything?
Jorgensen laughs, saying that no one has asked him what he was wearing or about his plans for the summer. Well, we'll leave the clothes question for the fashionistas to ponder. But what about those summer plans?
"I've got this fight," he said. "Then I gotta make up a trip to Hawaii that was supposed to happen, and I'd like to go back down to Brazil to get some training in with my jiu-jitsu coach and my team, Team Moraes. But the first thing after this fight, we're gonna come home and I've got my son's wrestling season to finish up. Three weeks after my fight he's got his first State tournament, and we'll see how he does there, and then if he wants, we'll take him to Regionals in June. So my summer's gonna be revolving around my son and just enjoying time with my family until the next phone call comes. I learned that you don't plan things in this sport."
And Jorgensen definitely didn't plan Saturday's scrap with Faber, but when Demetrious Johnson was forced out of his UFC flyweight title defense against John Moraga due to injury, the former training partners got the call, and both accepted to headline the TUF 17 Finale show at Mandalay Bay.
"I'm always ready to fight, always ready to go, so six weeks isn't that short for me, especially against a guy who's my buddy like Urijah," he said. "I've watched almost every one of his fights live, he's probably been to every one of my fights, so it doesn't really change a whole lot for me. I just go in there, bust my butt in training camp, and be ready to fight."
The five round non-title bout was immediately embraced by fans and the media, simply because as an action fight, it can't miss. And when you add in the dynamic of the two bantamweight contenders being good friends, it just added fuel to the fire in terms of intrigue.
"This is a fight that I'm very, very excited for, and I think the fans should be because this is the first time that I know of in the history of the UFC that two friends who have trained together closely and shared management are fighting. It's an interesting dynamic, but at the same time, we're two of the top bantamweights in the world, we put on exciting fights, and between the two of us we're in double digits in bonuses, and we're both going in there for a victory. So when you get that mix, I think the fans are in for a treat."
Of course, the whole friendship angle has dominated the pre-fight build up, but according to Jorgensen, the idea of fighting Faber wasn't something that came out of the blue. As soon as Faber, the former WEC featherweight champion, announced that he was dropping to the bantamweight division in late 2010, they both knew a fight wasn't just possible, but inevitable.
"We both knew, and it's because of our wrestling background," said Jorgensen. "We grew up wrestling, and when he dropped to 135, I'm at the top of the division, he's at the top of the division, and we knew what was gonna happen one day. So we've talked about it, and we always wanted it to be for a title fight. Unfortunately that's not the case now, but it's a big fight, it's a main event, it's five rounds, and we're gonna go out there and light it up."
Jorgensen is coming into the fight on a high note, having snapped a two fight losing streak with a win over John Albert last December that earned him Submission and Fight of the Night bonuses. The victory put Idaho's "Young Guns" back on the bantamweight fast track, and it helped him recapture the mojo he seemed to have misplaced in his listless February 2012 loss to Renan Barao. The 30-year-old would lose his next fight as well against Eddie Wineland, but in a much different fashion, as he went to war with his foe in a Fight of the Night bout. Against Albert though, he put things all together once again.
"The mind is a beautiful thing, and perception is everything in this sport for a fighter," he said. "How you perceive someone you're gonna fight, how you perceive your situation and your current standing with the UFC, and where you sit in the big picture of things. I know I'm one of the best at 135 pounds, and the pressure for me wasn't necessarily go win because they're gonna cut me. It was my personal drive and I don't like to lose. I love to win and I hate to lose. So to win in a certain emphatic fashion was all from my inner drive. That's what I want, and I like to perform and be exciting because I started fighting because I loved watching the sport, and there's one thing I never liked, and that was a boring fight. So I go out there and put my heart on my sleeve and go to work. It's paid off and it's bit me in the butt, but at the end of the day, you live and die by what you make your mind up to do, and that's what it comes down to with that fight with Albert. I made my mind up that I was gonna go out there, I was gonna win, I was gonna impress myself and my coaches, and I did all those things. And the byproduct of that are happy fans."
Odds are they're going to be happy again this Saturday night, regardless of the end result. That's something that makes Jorgensen smile, but he'll be even happier if he does what he went to Vegas for, and that's win.
"It's a decision I've made, and it literally boils down to anything you decide to do in your life, whether it's a fight, a job, going to school, anything," he said. "You make that choice. And I've made that choice and I've made it in the past, but things happen. You run into tough guys and things don't always work out your way but you make a choice, and I made a choice. I'm gonna do everything in my power to win."


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A valued education can be obtained at East Central University and incoming freshmen from Pottawatomie County can receive help with a $500 fee waiver for the 2013-14 school term.
The fee waiver covers $250 each semester, beginning with the fall of 2013 and ending with the spring of 2014. This scholarship would be in addition to any other smaller waivers that may be offered by ECU.
The criteria for the special scholarship are that the applicants must reside in Pottawatomie County, must be enrolled fulltime and must be freshmen, traditional or non-traditional, who are enrolling at ECU for the first time.
"We have heard from students in Pottawatomie County who have had an enjoyable experience at ECU," said B.J. Echard, interim director of ECU's Enrollment Management. "We want to encourage prospective students to make ECU a destination for higher education and this will make it financially more accessible for them."
Pottawatomie County encompasses communities and school districts such as Shawnee, Tecumseh, McLoud, Bethel, Dale, Earlsboro, Macomb, Asher, Wanette and Maud.


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When Christian Stanfield couldn't get officials at his Pennsylvania school to protect him, when even his mom expressed skepticism about the severity of the bullying, he turned to his iPad.
On Feb. 11, the 15-year-old shy and quiet boy recorded classmates taunting him in crude, sexual language so vile that his lawyer would later hesitate to share it with reporters. His mom, Shea Love, was stunned. She transcribed the recording and sent him to school with the audio to show the principal at South Fayette High School, which is near Pittsburgh, how bad it was. She figured school officials would finally have to do something.
They did.
Principal Scott Milburn called the learning-disabled boy a criminal and pressured him into erasing the recording. He called in the police, and Lt. Robert Kurta of South Fayette Township Police interrogated the boy as the associate principal and the dean of students looked on.
At first, Stanfield was threatened with a felony wiretapping charge. In the end, he was charged with "disorderly conduct," and he was convicted by a judge in court and ordered to pay a $25 fine.
"This was the district's response to his cry for help," says Jonathan Steele, a local attorney who represents disabled kids. Steele appealed the conviction, and under local legal and national media pressure, all charges were dropped on April 16.
Although the charges were dropped, serious damage had already been done to Stanfield, Steele says. A boy who had never missed a day of school and never had even gone home early was now fearful.
He feels he has no adult support at school, and the idea of school now causes severe stress, including stomach pains. "With all the abuse Christian got from his classmates, he never reacted like this," Steele said.
Steele said he has been contacted by the American Civil Liberties Union, and he is now weighing the options for civil litigation. The school he says, has failed to create a safe environment and has long ignored and suppressed such concerns.
After the story broke, Steele said, other parents came forward with similar stories. Meanwhile, the case has implications for bullied children and their parents, as well as for school administrators.
Both sides have to figure out how ubiquitous technology may, for better and worse, unsettle the schoolyard and classroom.
Bullying law
"It's very hard for outsiders to know what goes on in school all day," Steele said. "They tend to be very closed off. Recordings like this give us a window, which is why the school administrators here were so quick to pressure him to delete the recording."
Bullying law is still just developing, Steele said, but its trajectory so far closely tracks sexual harassment and discrimination law. One core element of this legal space, he added, is that an institution becomes liable when it is aware of a hostile environment and does nothing to remedy it.
"Districts have an obligation to act once they have been put on notice about bullying," Steele said. In this case, he argues, school administrators had long notice, had received many complaints including emails from various parents, and had done nothing.
The South Fayette Township School District declined to comment.
A weak case
The wiretapping charge was dubious from the outset, says Eugene Volokh, a UCLA law professor and Washington Post civil liberties blogger.
While Pennsylvania is one of a few states that does requires both parties to know when a conversation is being recorded, Volokh notes that the state supreme court decided in 1998 that this requirement could only hold where there was a "justifiable expectation of privacy."
"If you are talking to one other person, especially in a secluded place, the statute might apply," Volokh said. "But in classroom with a teacher and classmates all around, it's hard to see how you can see a reasonable expectation of privacy."
Dropping the charges against Stanfield to a disorderly conduct misdemeanor didn't really improve the district's case, Volokh added.
State law defines disorderly conduct as "engaging in fighting, threatening or violent behavior, making unreasonable noise, using obscene language or gestures, or creating a physically hazardous condition that serves no legitimate purpose."
Not a single one of these criterion applies to the case, Volokh noted. "I have a feeling that given all this coverage, someone will volunteer to work on this guy's appeal," Volokh said in an interview, speaking before the charges were dropped.
"But you need a local lawyer. Nor do I think it would be difficult case. Should be an open and shut matter."
Using his Washington Post megaphone, where he co-authors a blog with several other law professors, Volokh would later write twice on the matter.
Not done yet
The case was open and shut enough that the District Attorney's Office, in dropping the charges on April 16, also aggressively distanced itself from the affair. The statement released by the DA stated, "No one in our office who is authorized to give advice on wiretap issues or school conduct issues was ever contacted in this matter. We have made multiple attempts to contact the officer who wrote the citation and the results have been unsuccessful."
And this is where the school would very much like the matter end, but Steele does not sound like someone who is ready to do that. He is currently weighing options on a civil lawsuit. The school, he argues, had long since been put on notice about the bullying, and had failed to make any effort to remedy it.
Steele said that if his clients sue, and he expects they will, they will be aiming not for monetary damages but for "injunctive relief," which means they want the court to order the school district to change its policies and practices. "We've heard outcry from other families," Steele said.
"We are more focused on correcting the culture. The closed-door policy will have to change."
For his part, Christian Stanfield seems to have risen to the challenge. Initially frightened and alone, Steele said, "the national news coverage has given him strength and helped him realize that he did nothing wrong."