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Archived User
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Henci Goer
A friend of mine just had her baby. The baby was born with the amnio sac intact (homebirth with midwife). I thought this was great and healthy for the baby. When I asked my doctor about this, he said that he does not like this since there is a risk to a prolapsed cord. I know that care givers have different views on birth practices. What is your view on this? Also, I have read that it is best not to cut the cord until it stops pulsating while breastfeeding the baby (Bradley). It seems like doctors rush the process and go and get the placenta right away. One friend of mine had hemmoraging after that. She felt that it might have been from the doctor going in and manually taking out the placenta. What is your view on that? Thank you so much for answering my questions.
Let's take this point by point.
- Umbilical cord prolapse: (For background's sake, umbilical cord prolapse is when the umbilical cord comes down ahead of the baby. The concern is that with prolapse, the cord can get pinched between the baby's head and the mother's pelvis during contractions.) The umbilical cord is inside the amniotic sac. If the bag is intact, there is no risk of cord prolapse. The only time there is a risk is when membranes are ruptured and the head is still high in the pelvis. Once the head settles against the pelvic opening, it is like an egg in an egg cup. The cord cannot get past it. In other words, this doctor has it exactly backwards. The real risk is when someone breaks the bag of waters early in labor before the head has descended.
- Early cord clamping: I don't know as you have to have the baby at the breast before clamping and cutting the umbilical cord, but clamping the cord before circulation through it stops can deprive the baby of as much as 40% of its blood supply by trapping it in the placenta. Studies show this can cause short- and long-term (months) complications, some of them serious. (See end of post for references.) It's a testament to how well the birth process is designed that most babies manage to tolerate this. If you think about it rationally for a moment you will see that early cord clamping interferes with a natural sequence that happens with all mammals when they give birth and that for this reason, routine early clamping has to be bad. That goes double for a baby who is slow to start breathing. So long as the cord is pulsing, baby is getting oxygen from the mother.
- Umbilical cord traction/manual placental removal: It has become common practice to pull on the umbilical cord to remove the placenta once it thought to have detached in the belief that doing so reduces bleeding. This is part of a package of routine interventions with this goal in mind called Active Management of Third Stage--a package, by the way, that does not include early cord clamping. I don't have time to go into all the problems with this approach. I've written a whole chapter on it for the new edition of Obstetric Myths Vs. Research Realities, but suffice it to say that one potential problem is the impatient OB who thinks "Why hang around waiting? Let's just get the thing out" who then causes a hemorrhage because the placenta wasn't ready to detach. Of course, when a woman is already bleeding heavily, the doc will want to get the placenta out so that the uterus can clamp down. Your friend, quite understandably under the circumstances, may have gotten the sequence reversed.
-- Henci
Hutton EK, Hassan ES. Late vs early clamping of the umbilical cord in full-term neonates: systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled trials. Jama 2007;297(11):1241-52.
CONTEXT: With few exceptions, the umbilical cord of every newborn is clamped and cut at birth, yet the optimal timing for this intervention remains controversial. OBJECTIVE: To compare the potential benefits and harms of late vs early cord clamping in term infants. DATA SOURCES: Search of 6 electronic databases (on November 15, 2006, starting from the beginning of each): the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register, the Cochrane Neonatal Group trials register, the Cochrane library, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and CINHAL; hand search of secondary references in relevant studies; and contact of investigators about relevant published research. STUDY SELECTION: Controlled trials comparing late vs early cord clamping following birth in infants born at 37 or more weeks' gestation. DATA EXTRACTION: Two reviewers independently assessed eligibility and quality of trials and extracted data for outcomes of interest: infant hematologic status; iron status; and risk of adverse events such as jaundice, polycythemia, and respiratory distress. DATA SYNTHESIS: The meta-analysis included 15 controlled trials (1912 newborns). Late cord clamping was delayed for at least 2 minutes (n = 1001 newborns), while early clamping in most trials (n = 911 newborns) was performed immediately after birth. Benefits over ages 2 to 6 months associated with late cord clamping include improved hematologic status measured as hematocrit (weighted mean difference [WMD], 3.70%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.00%-5.40%); iron status as measured by ferritin concentration (WMD, 17.89; 95% CI, 16.58-19.21) and stored iron (WMD, 19.90; 95% CI, 7.67-32.13); and a clinically important reduction in the risk of anemia (relative risk (RR), 0.53; 95% CI, 0.40-0.70). Neonates with late clamping were at increased risk of experiencing asymptomatic polycythemia (7 studies [403 neonates]: RR, 3.82; 95% CI, 1.11-13.21; 2 high-quality studies only [281 infants]: RR, 3.91; 95% CI, 1.00-15.36). CONCLUSIONS: Delaying clamping of the umbilical cord in full-term neonates for a minimum of 2 minutes following birth is beneficial to the newborn, extending into infancy. Although there was an increase in polycythemia among infants in whom cord clamping was delayed, this condition appeared to be benign.
Rabe H, Reynolds G, Diaz-Rossello J. A systematic review and meta-analysis of a brief delay in clamping the umbilical cord of preterm infants. Neonatology 2007;93(2):138-44.
BACKGROUND: The optimal timing of clamping the umbilical cord in preterm infants at birth is the subject of continuing debate. Objective: To investigate the effects of a brief delay in cord clamping on the outcome of babies born prematurely. METHODS: A retrospective meta-analysis of randomised trials in preterm infants was conducted. Data were collected from published studies identified by a structured literature search in EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library. All infants born below 37 weeks gestation and enrolled into a randomised study of delayed cord clamping (30 s or more) versus immediate cord clamping (less than 20 s) after birth were included. Systematic search and analysis of the data were done according to the methodology of the Cochrane collaboration. RESULTS: Ten studies describing a total of 454 preterm infants were identified which met the inclusion and assessment criteria. Major benefits of the intervention were higher circulating blood volume during the first 24 h of life, less need for blood transfusions (p = 0.004) and less incidence of intraventricular hemorrhage (p = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: The procedure of a delayed cord clamping time of at least 30 s is safe to use and does not compromise the preterm infant in the initial post-partum adaptation phase. (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel
Henci Goer
I just saw my doctor again and he said that he likes to break the bag of waters early incase there is maconium and to reduce risk to baby. I asked him at how many cm's he likes to do that. He said around 3-4 cm. My first daughter, my bag of waters did not break until 10 cm. I told that doctor my concern was risk of infection and being GBS positive. He felt that the antibiotics were strong enough to prevent that. He said that since I don't want the bag of waters ruptured early, he won't do it. At least he is willing to offer that, but I am not too crazy about his ideas. What do you think about his view on this?
I'm sorry, but I think he isn't making any sense. The usual rationale for routine early amniotomy (breaking the bag of water also called artificial rupture of membranes or AROM) is that it will speed up labor, which will supposedly reduce the cesarean surgery rate. This has been shot down by the reseaerch. Amniotomy has little, if any, effect on labor progress and looks like it may increase the cesarean rate. (See below.) In any case, it certainly doesn't decrease it.
In so far as meconium goes, some studies suggest that amniotomy increases the incidence of abnormal fetal heart rate episodes. In other words, rupturing might cause sufficient distress that it could precipitate meconium passage. And some obstetricians are sufficiently concerned about undiluted, thick meconium that when membranes are ruptured and there is meconium, they will insert a catheter into the womb and run in saline solution.
Early amniotomy also opens the door for umbilical cord prolapse and infection. This brings us to your ob's argument that rupturing membranes is OK because any increased risk of infection will be counterbalanced by taking antibiotics. This is absurd. Why on earth would he want to increase the baby's risk in the first place by performing a procedure that has no benefits?
It sounds to me like you are dealing with a case of "You can always find a reason to do something you want to do," which raises the issue of what other questionable procedures and practices does your ob engage in? I recommend you download a copy of "Having a Baby? Ten Questions to Ask" off the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services website and check your ob out further. If you don't like what you hear, go to "Choosing a Caregiver" on the Childbirth Connection website and see if you can find someone whose philosophy and practices are more in line with what the research evidence says is optimal care.
-- Henci
Smyth R, Alldred S, Markham C. Amniotomy for shortening spontaneous labour. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2007(4):CD006167.
BACKGROUND: Intentional artificial rupture of the amniotic membranes during labour, sometimes called amniotomy or 'breaking of the waters', is one of the most commonly performed procedures in modern obstetric and midwifery practice. The primary aim of amniotomy is to speed up contractions and, therefore, shorten the length of labour. However, there are concerns regarding unintended adverse effects on the woman and baby. OBJECTIVES: To determine the effectiveness and safety of amniotomy alone for (1) routinely shortening all labours that start spontaneously, and (2) shortening labours that have started spontaneously, but have become prolonged. SEARCH STRATEGY: We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group's Trials Register (30 March 2007). SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomised controlled trials comparing amniotomy alone versus intention to preserve the membranes. We excluded quasi-randomised trials. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two authors assessed identified studies for inclusion. Both authors extracted data. Primary analysis was by intention to treat. MAIN RESULTS: We have included 14 studies in this review, involving 4893 women. There was no evidence of any statistical difference in length of first stage of labour (weighted mean difference -20.43 minutes, 95% confidence interval (CI) -95.93 to 55.06), maternal satisfaction with childbirth experience (standardised mean difference 0.27, 95% CI -0.49 to 1.04) or low Apgar score less than seven at five minutes (RR 0.55, 95% CI 0.29 to 1.05). Amniotomy was associated with an increased risk of delivery by caesarean section compared to women in the control group, although the difference was not statistically significant (RR 1.26, 95% CI 0.98 to 1.62).There was no consistency between papers regarding the timing of amniotomy during labour in terms of cervical dilatation. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of the findings of this review, we cannot recommend that amniotomy should be introduced routinely as part of standard labour management and care. We do recommend that the evidence presented in this review should be made available to women offered an amniotomy and may be useful as a foundation for discussion and any resulting decisions made between women and their caregivers.
Archived User
Henci Goer
You can have GBS and have a home birth. You just need a midwife who can give you the IV antibiotics.
But to answer your question, one big problem with IV antibiotics is thrush, a yeast infection. You can get this vaginally or on your nipples, in which case it can be passed to the baby. Some recommend taking probiotics to reduce this probability. Thrush of the nipples makes them very sore and bright red as if they were sunburned. A lactation consultant should be able to diagnose it and tell you what to do next.
Also, prophylactic antibiotics are not perfect. Even with IV antibiotics, if I were you, I would refuse any procedure that increased the risk of exposing the baby to the microbe. This would include stripping membranes, breaking the bag of waters, and internal monitoring, and I would keep vaginal exams to a minimum. The glove may be sterile, but the examining fingers sweep the microbe from the vaginal opening where it mostly lives (it originates in the intestines) and deposit it on the cervix. Since the likelihood of GBS is related to time from exposure, I certainly wouldn't have any vaginal exams until I was well established in an active labor pattern.
Finally, if you are worried about having an avoidable c/section, you really should download "Having a baby? Ten questions to ask" from the CIMS website. If nothing else, find out your ob's cesarean rate. If it is much higher than 15%, then staying with this doctor means you are rolling dice that are loaded against you. Numerous studies have shown that rates lower than this can be achieved safely in the general population of women. Yes, it is difficult to find another provider this late if the one you have doesn't measure up, but you don't know what can be done until you try. The doulas and childbirth educators are likely to know who are the doctors and midwives (hospital or home) who practice physiologic care.
If you really are stuck with your care provider, then avoid induction of labor and epidural analgesia. Both of these are major triggers in the cascade of interventions. Insist on intermittent monitoring of the fetal heart rate, not continuous electronic monitoring. Stay up and around in labor. Hire a doula for the emotional and physical support. Except in case of emergency, find out the advantages and disadvantages of any proposed medical intervention and the pros and cons of all your other options, including doing nothing. Insist, too, on time alone with your partner to consider what you want to do. You don't want to have a chip on your shoulder, and you can catch more flies with honey, but also remember that it is your birth, your body, and your baby and that you are paying your doctor and the hospital staff to care for you.
-- Henci
Archived User
Henci Goer
I cannot advise you about probiotics other than to say that some midwives recommend them when taking antibiotics. My feeling is they are unlikely to do harm and might be of some help and aren't unreasonably expensive, so why not? I do not know whether you should start them beforehand. Perhaps the store where you buy them can tell you.You are correct that to reach peak effectiveness, you should have a dose of intravenous antibiotic at least 4 hrs before birth.
-- Henci
Archived User
FWIW, there is a LOT you can do to prevent GBS and antibiotics.
This was compiled from different sources so forgive me if someone here is quoted!
GBS= Group B Streptococcus, a bacteria found in the genital, urinary,
and/or digestive tracts of some women. It comes and goes.
This 'germ' is one of several related species, including strains of
Group A Strep that is the germ usually responsible for what we
commonly call 'Strep Throat'.
A woman can be a carrier of Group B Strep without having any
symptoms. The concern with this bug is that when baby passes through
vagina during birth, s/he will be exposed to it, and could possibly
get an infection. Because babies have such immature immune systems,
the fear is that newborns are at risk to die from this infection--and
this does happen very occasionally.
Because of that risk, docs like to treat women with antibiotics to
kill the GBS: some give antibiotic pills during the final weeks of
pregnancy, then also give IV antibiotics during labor. There are
variations on this theme--and there are 2 problems with this: one is
that the antibiotics do not always work; some babies get infected
anyway. The other is that due to all this antibiotic use, docs are
creating supergerms that are resistant to antibiotics. Yes, there
are now fewer GBS infections in newborns, but now there are MORE
infections with antibiotic-resistant strains of e.coli. There are
also long term negative effects of antibiotics on the health of
mothers and babies both, including thrush/yeast, GERD and other
digestive issues, other things.
If your baby is at least 37wks along, and/or at least 5lbs, and is
otherwise healthy in general, the risk of infection is very low.
VERY VERY LOW. And we will never eliminate risk in birth or life; if
you intend to UC then you had better be prepared to face life and
death decisions. In my opinion, GBS testing and especially the use
of antibiotics is solely a way that docs try to reduce one risk only
to create a few more risks. Yes, GBS may kill a few babies per
10,000. FAr better that, than to create more superbugs who will kill
a high % of those who come in contact with them!
Extremely few full term otherwise normal/healthy babies (37wks or more) who weigh more than 5lbs will get an infection, EVEN if the mother is a GBS or e. coli carrier, and even if mom did not take antibiotics. Even fewer babies who are born at home will get infected (with a healthy mom and a planned homebirth), than those born in the hospital--well, duh, home is just healthier for the family in so many ways. However, if your baby has any symptoms then do get medical help since GBS is known at times to kill newborns in just a matter of hours without antibiotics.
There are numerous reasons to avoid antibiotics for any condition, and any person no matter what their age, etc! Tons of research on the dangers of antibiotic overuse is now out there--they are so dangerous to us and to life! However, tho I do not recommend antibiotics for pregnant women with GBS, it is true that for women who get abx (antibiotics), there are fewer babies who get infected w/GBS. Just to correct an assumption--I have only just been updating my research on this for my client info files. Some babies get infected even if mom had abx during labor; and of those w/no abx for mom, no more babies die than when the mom did get abx. Just so you also know that if you don't take abx, your baby has no greater chance of dying from the infection, just a slightly higher chance of getting an infection in the first place...still, we are talking extremely low numbers here.
The approach to reducing or eliminating GBS (or E. coli, yeast, or gardnerella....) in your vagina is 2-fold: one is to try to kill the unwanted critturs; the other is to make your system UNfriendly to pathogens and VERY friendly to beneficial organisms. So, we can use herbs, abx, other stuff to try to kill some of the pathogens...but they will just come back if we don't also re-introduce the beneficials and make our bodies more acceptable to their health. Remember that what you think of as 'your own body' is actually composed of countless types and numbers of other microscopic organisms--some are needed for our bodies to function, some are more or less 'neutral', some hurt us if they get too numerous.
The vagina and urinary tract in a healthy woman is fairly acid by nature, whereas the blood, for instance, is just about neutral pH...and the digestive tract is even more acidic...we have varying 'pH environments' within our bodies. And guess what, the beneficial organisms thrive in an acidic environment. You've heard of ACIDOPHILUS...ACID ophilus...yep, this is a brew of freeze-dried ACID loving and acid CREATING organisms mainly in the lactobacillus family that also grows in yogurt, tempeh, some other cultured foods. Interestingly and sensibly enough, acid loving organisms give off acidic by-products, which helps them to create and maintain a sufficiently acid environment to thrive.
GBS, e. coli, yeast, gardnerella on the other hand, are ALKALINE ('base') loving critturs. It is believed by an increasing number of 'natural health oriented practitioners' that it is our widespread over consumption of sugars and refined carbs (white rice, white flour, etc) that has helped promote more alkaline conditions in the urinary tracts and vaginas of women. Along with this, is the vast overuse of antibiotics, which kill off the pathogens AND the beneficials in our bodies...harming digestion and absorption of nutrients, changing pH, other stuff. This in turn has made it easier for the alkaline loving organisms to thrive, harder for the acid lovers to thrive.
So, while it can be helpful to use such things as goldenseal to kill the pathogens, and echinacea to boost the immune system, these things will not help unless we also replace the beneficials and then help them to live by re-establishing the properly acidic pH of vagina and urinary tract. And so:
Acidophilus tabs inserted nightly, high into the vagina can help, as can eating PLAIN, high quality yogurt every day (a tablespoonful or 2, a couple times a day is sufficient). Or yogurt sex, yep, use plain yogurt as a 'lube' on your insertable 'toy' of choice...and have fun! I personally like Dannon because it has no seaweed or other thickeners; it's just milk, milk powder, and lactobacillus orgs. Even the organic brands contain lots of additives--they may be 'natural additives' but for this purpose, you want the yogurt very plain.
Drinking vinegar... eating unsweetened pickles, vinegar and oil salad dressing, or just a tablespoon or 2, a couple times a day will help acidify generally BUT, vinegar is among the few acid substances that remains acid in the body. Citrus fruits, etc, only make the body produce alkaline for digestion...neutralizing the acidic property of those foods. Mild vinegar douching can also help--1/4 cup in a quart of water, gentle douche.
Reduce intake of sugars and refined carbs--this means ALL sugars, not just 'table sugar'...dextrose, maltose, corn syrup, maple syrup, dried fruits...read labels. If you have a strong sugar craving then you may be protein deficient, mildly depressed, and/or you may have a lot of yeast/other pathogens in there, demanding their favorite feast!
You can also take one clove of garlic as due date approaches, and peel it; insert into vagina at night, take it out in the morning. this helps kill pathogens without harming beneficials. Do this every other night for about 2weeks. Can be alternated w/acidophilus.
Get a cranberry extract pill: cranberries have a substance whose name I forget that actually prevents pathogens from attaching to our mucus membranes. Also, eating cranberries, blueberries, raspberries, will help this way as well.
You can even do a gentle douche of plain sterile water in early labor, if waters are intact. It has been studied--this 'plain rinsing' can wash out colonies of the undesirables, thus reducing the chance of GBS transmission to your baby. The more colonies of pathogens inside you, the greater the chance your baby will pick it up on the way out; the fewer the colonies in there, the less chances.
Signs of neonatal GBS infection:
Respiratory distress: grunting with each breath (not 'humming', as some babes normally do, but definite grunts with every breath). Breathing is effortful, not easy, rate of breaths per minute will likely be greater than 60. Retractions: you will see the baby's belly retract (like when you suck in your gut) deeply enough for his/her ribs to stick out, also with every breath. It is normal for some babies to have little variations in their breathing that pass momentarily or pretty soon--we are talking about constant things here. Some newborns also breathe fairly rapidly for the first few days (transient tachypnea of newborns)...this is fine if they have none of the above symptoms, JUST a breathing rate above 60per minute. But that should resolve to 40-60per min within a few days, or it could indicate some problem even if not GBS.
Color--may or may not be an indicator, but any blueness that goes beyond fingertips/nailbeds (which can be normal) is a suspicious, if baby seems to be warm enough. Yes, possibly pallor (looking white/pale) but color doesn't always change w/infection in any way.
Lethargy--too sleepy to eat, nursing poorly/weakly. Some newborns might sleep 4-6 hrs or so in the first 12-24hrs of life. Never let them sleep more than 6hrs; wake em up thoroughly to nurse, to avoid low blood sugar. And this need should pass off soon, with baby waking to nurse every 1-4hrs normally...some babies might sleep as much as 4-6hrs ONCE in 24hrs even in earliest days/weeks, but most will want to nurse every 1-3 hrs, even if they immediately go back to sleep again.
Fever--esp above 100 (farenheit..not sure what that is, in celcius). Any temp (even below 100) that does not resolve in 24hrs is suspect. or, temp below 97.
Also, check this research
Archived User
I ended up having my baby on 6/23. I got to the hospital when I was 7 cm. The doctor wanted me to have my bag of waters broken, but I declined that. The sac remained completely intact. The baby would have been born in the bag of waters, but the doctor ruptured it as the baby was coming out. I had about 3 hrs. of IV Penicillin. When baby was born, he suckled very poorly. Even in the hospital, he suckled very poorly. My milk was definitely present. Baby never expressed right and I got engorged and baby got dehydrated losing 12% of his weight. I didn't get the right lactation help and as a result, my milk supply really dropped. I should have been expressing at engorgement to preserve my milk supply. Now I am supplementing with a SNS tube and pumping around the clock trying to get my supply back up until hopefully baby will suckle more consistently. It has been very hisheartening. I so wanted to normal breastfeed this baby. I nursed my first two children with no problems. My twins prior to this baby had a simliar problem which never ironed out and I nursed them for 2 yrs. on the SNS due to them being hooked on it.
My question is, could the IV antibiotics could have weakened the baby to where he could not suck consistently? I was very weak myself after birth. With my twins, I had only 1 hr. of antibiotic. I didn't feel as much weakness, and my twins seemed to suck better than this baby. I did not have antibiotic with my two pregnancies where I had successful nursing. If IV antibiotics could have caused this problem, if you know of the journal article stating that, I would like that link. Also, if you know of a link to a journal article regarding the risks of breaking the bag of waters to prevent meconium problems, I would like that.
Thank you so much!
Archived User
Henci Goer
I ended up having my baby on 6/23. I got to the hospital when I was 7 cm. The doctor wanted me to have my bag of waters broken, but I declined that. The sac remained completely intact. The baby would have been born in the bag of waters, but the doctor ruptured it as the baby was coming out. I had about 3 hrs. of IV Penicillin. When baby was born, he suckled very poorly. Even in the hospital, he suckled very poorly. My milk was definitely present. Baby never expressed right and I got engorged and baby got dehydrated losing 12% of his weight. I didn't get the right lactation help and as a result, my milk supply really dropped. I should have been expressing at engorgement to preserve my milk supply. Now I am supplementing with a SNS tube and pumping around the clock trying to get my supply back up until hopefully baby will suckle more consistently. It has been very hisheartening. I so wanted to normal breastfeed this baby. I nursed my first two children with no problems. My twins prior to this baby had a simliar problem which never ironed out and I nursed them for 2 yrs. on the SNS due to them being hooked on it.
My question is, could the IV antibiotics could have weakened the baby to where he could not suck consistently? I was very weak myself after birth. With my twins, I had only 1 hr. of antibiotic. I didn't feel as much weakness, and my twins seemed to suck better than this baby. I did not have antibiotic with my two pregnancies where I had successful nursing. If IV antibiotics could have caused this problem, if you know of the journal article stating that, I would like that link. Also, if you know of a link to a journal article regarding the risks of breaking the bag of waters to prevent meconium problems, I would like that.
Thank you so much!
I'm happy that the birth went well and sorry that you are having breastfeeding difficulties. I am not aware of any reason why antibiotics would lead to poor suck unless the baby developed thrush, which feels like you have burned your mouth on pizza. It's a common problem because the antibiotics kill off the harmless bacteria too, allowing for things like thrush (is thrush a yeast or a fungal infection?) to set up housekeeping. But if that was the case, you would probably have thrush in your nipples, and you would know it because it makes nipples very sore and tender. The other possibility is that your baby was given bottles and is bottle hooked. Are you working with a lactation consultant? She should be able to help you diagnose feeding problems and suggest remedies. And as frustrating as it must be, the bottom line is you know you can make this work because you did it with the twins.
Turning to your second question, breaking the bag of waters isn't to prevent meconium problems; it's to see if there is meconium in the amniotic fluid. But rupturing membranes for this purpose doesn't do any good and may do harm. On the one hand, research has established that there are no benefits to suctioning out meconium at birth in a vigorous baby. (We don't have any trials looking at it in nonvigorous newborns, so for all we know, it doesn't help them either.) Meanwhile, some studies have looked at running a tube into the uterus and infusing saline in women with meconium and ruptured membranes in hopes of diluting the meconium. This raises the interesting picture of a dr in one room rupturing membranes to see if there is meconium while next door another dr is infusing saline to try and put the fluid back. As for harms, rupturing membranes opens a route for infection, not something you want to do in a GBS+ mom if you can help it. Welcome to the Alice Through the Looking Glass logic of conventional obstetric management!
Vain NE, Szyld EG, Prudent LM, et al. Oropharyngeal and nasopharyngeal suctioning of meconium-stained neonates before delivery of their shoulders: Multicentre, randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2004;364(9434):597-602.
-- Henci
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This is the time of year I proclaim and encourage everyone to plant trees. Our state Legislature designated Florida's Arbor Day as the third Friday in January, falling on Jan. 18 this year. For those who have not read any of my articles over the years, this is the only holiday that looks forward to the future and you are planting hope. National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April.
Once upon a time, (in 1854), there was a vast empty plain in the middle of the United States called "The Nebraska Territory." Into this wide expanse of openness moved Julius Sterling Morton and his wife from Detroit. They set about planting their beloved trees, orchards, shrubs and flowers. He became the editor of Nebraska's first newspaper, enthusiastically promoting trees and agriculture. Nebraska joined the Union on March 1, 1867, as our 37th state. In 1872, he went before the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture, proposing the idea that everyone plant a tree, stressing trees were needed as windbreakers, to keep the soil in place, for fuel, building materials and shade. The lack of trees was an obstacle to the settlement of Nebraska's rich farmland. April 10, 1872, became a tree planting day. His newspaper kept it before its readers. More than a million trees were planted that day, and Nebraska was a shadeless state no more.
In 1874, Nebraska's governor proclaimed it a legal holiday officially starting in 1875. In 1885, Morton's birthday, April 22, was designated as Arbor Day, a legal holiday, nationally. That day is now designated as Earth Day. President Nixon, in 1970, proclaimed Arbor Day as the last Friday in April. J Sterling Morton later became the Secretary of Agriculture for the United States of America. President Teddy Roosevelt dedicated Arbor Day to the youth of our nation and called our youth, "Stewards of the Land," and it was observed in the schools for many years.
For Arbor Day this year the Fort Myers/Lee County Garden Council is donating $68 to the "Pennies for Pines," a Florida Federated Garden Club drive to help reforestation in Florida's most damaged national and state forests. It is a nationwide drive, with Florida raising funds to purchase and plant their trees specifically in Osceola National and John Bethea State Forest, which have had over 11,000 acres destroyed by the Okefenokee fires in 2010 and 2011. The U.S. Forest Service is trying to reforest 250 to 500 acres per year to replace trees destroyed in these fires. We are collecting monies in increments of $68, as often as you like, that is presented to the U.S. Forest Service periodically in a lump sum, to allow them to order and plant trees in the fall of 2012 and winter of 2013. Trees planted will be those native to the forest and areas, including the endangered longleaf pine. Seedlings are planted as replacement trees native to that particular area, but not necessarily of the pine variety.
There is an Arbor Day Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit conservation and educational organization. It offers 10 new seedlings for every $10 six month memberships, ($15 for a year). You also receive a free subscription to its bimonthly newsletter, plus a free "The Tree Book," a guide to planting and caring for trees. Years ago I sent several times for these 10 free trees. They are shipped and arrive at the right time for planting, with planting instructions, bare rooted in a baggy. Some survived, not because of my expertise, but their hardiness. I was happy enough and recommended it to my friends and readers.
BUT, I just googled Arbor Day Foundation, and there is movement about, calling this a scam. Some subscribers have been disappointed receivers that lacked the ability to keep these 6-inch to 12-inch seedlings growing. There is a guarantee to grow or they will be replaced free of charge. There are many happy people to counteract the doubters. If you're interested, go to arborday.org, and for $10, receive your choice of 10 live oak - or 10 bald cypress-or five crape myrtle seedlings. Their message is a good one - "we inspire people to plant, nurture and celebrate trees."
The foundation. in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters, encourages communities across the nation to become TREE CITYs USA, creating a framework for action, education, a positive public image and citizen pride. In 2012, there were 165 Tree Cities in Florida Cape Coral and Fort Myers have been Tree Cities for 20 years, Punta Gorda 18 years, and Fort Myers Beach for 7 years.
Anyone traveling to Nebraska City, Neb., will find the 260 acres Arbor Day Farm that has a rich history as the original estate of the J. Sterling Morton Farm in the Arbor Lodge State Historical Park. The Arbor Day Farm is an amusement/theme park in basically an apple orchard. Open year round, the greatest time to visit is in the fall for the Applejack Festival in September, where you get everything from pies to wine from its winery. It has miles of hiking trails, the Lied Greenhouse where thousands of tree seedlings get their start and you receive a free tree seedling, and its 50-foot treehouse is just a ladder to a platform in the tree.
For homeowners, Arbor Day is a great opportunity to survey your property and see if you need a little more shade. Inspect the trees you have for broken branches, diseases or insect damage. Think about how new trees would improve things. Survey your neighborhood and see if a tree might improve an area. Get permission first before planting an area not your own, or have neighbors pitch in, too.
Plant hope for the future and show your faith.
Are you breathing? Thank a tree. Trees make oxygen. Trees eat our CO2. Be kind to trees.
Joyce Comingore is a Master Gardener, hibiscus enthusiast, Federated Garden Council Arbor Day chairman and a member of the Garden Club of Cape Coral.

subset: commoncrawl


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WESTCHESTER – April Padalik wanted to be a police officer as much as any toy gun-wielding little boy, but when she became one, that didn't really matter.
Padalik grew up in Chicago and Berwyn watching cop shows like Hill Street Blues and Police Woman. The oldest of six children, she took her role seriously.
"I was always told as the oldest that I was the protector … and that was ingrained heavily in my upbringing," she said.
By 18, she was a security guard and undercover investigator at a mall in North Riverside where she blended in well with young shoppers, helping her catch quite a few shoplifters. Soon, she landed at the Chicago Police Academy, where she was one of about five women in a class of 30.
On weekends, she was assigned to the city's Austin district. When she reported, her commander looked at her like she was insane. Later that night, she ran down two men who had tried to steal a vehicle in an alley. She wasn't wearing a uniform, and when backup officers arrived, they thought she was one of the suspects.
"Already, I had a reputation when I came to Westchester," Padalik said.
That was in 1983, the start of a 30-year career in the village. In 2010, Padalik became Westchester's first female chief of police, decades after becoming its first female officer.
"It was definitely the good old boy network," said Padalik, who retired June 30. "The chief I had at the time was an old school product of the '40s and '50s and an ex-Marine. It was an experience. It was culture shock.
"I think a lot of people were waiting for me to fall on my face."
That never happened. Padalik collected about 20 awards over her career and played a role in several high-profile cases, including the conviction of Omar Johnson in the 1996 murder of Dorothy Jewula at a KFC restaurant in Westchester.
"She held her own," said Westchester Village President Sam Pulia, who was a fellow officer of Padalik's for 20 years. "I can recall a time she was in a traffic stop and the offender actually roundhoused her and knocked her to the ground. She got right back up and proceeded to use the necessary force to effect the arrest, pretty much all by her own."
Most female police officers, though, don't work for the full thirty years – when pension maximizes – that Padalik did, she said. Only 2 percent of female police officers nationwide become chiefs, and Padalik was one of about five in Illinois, including Western Springs' Pam Church.
"I think women start out in the profession and as we progress, [we] become mothers and marry and try to have a family," Padalik said. "It's a difficult career for anyone … to balance the schedule."
Padalik, 53, would now like to work in the corporate world, possibly a management role in retail security. But for now, she's taking some time to catch her breath and get some things done at her Lemont home.
"I am very action-oriented. I am a very hyper person," she said. "I don't sit still long, even in my older years."


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Tuscaloosa City Board of Education District 4 incumbent Kelly Horwitz filed suit in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court today contesting the results of the Aug. 27 municipal elections. Horwitz, who has been on the school board for four years, lost to political newcomer Cason Kirby by 87 votes.
Kelly Horwitz, the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education District 4 incumbent, filed a lawsuit Friday in Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court contesting her loss in the Aug. 27 school board election.
"My complaint alleges that a large number of votes cast in District 4 were cast by individuals who were ineligible to vote in that district," Horwitz said in a written statement.
"I also believe that many votes violated Alabama election law because they were cast in exchange for the promise of alcohol or other things of value, and are subject to disqualification," she said.
Horwitz lost the District 4 race to Cason Kirby, a recent University of Alabama School of Law graduate. Kirby had 416 votes to 329 for Horwitz — a difference of 87 votes.
The district mainly covers residents who live in neighborhoods surrounding the University of Alabama campus.
In a written statement released Thursday afternoon, Andy Campbell, Kirby's attorney, said the reasons listed in the contest are vague and false.
"Cason Kirby is a good and honest person who will make an outstanding public servant," Campbell stated. "While the complaint is purposely vague, we intend to show this was a free and proper election and there are no grounds that the plaintiff may prove to set aside the election.
"Many of the allegations made in the aftermath of the vote are simply untrue and truly unfortunate for the university community, which will be shown by the evidence."
The statement of contest was filed by Horwitz's attorney, James Anderson, who is a former chairman of the Alabama Ethics Commission.
In addition to the allegations of illegal votes and bribery, the statement of contest claims that Kirby was not eligible to hold office in District 4.
"In one of my many conversations with Kelly, it was questioned whether he was a resident of the district," Anderson said. "If he was ineligible at the time, that would cause a vacancy and Kelly would have won. I've had cases where candidates were not in the district but thought they were."
Anderson said he doesn't know when the case will go to trial, but once a challenge is filed, the assigned judge must consider it above any civil or criminal case pending before the court.
If the judge rules there is enough evidence for a trial, the verdict does not require a jury. The case can be ruled and determined by the judge in a bench trial, although witnesses can be subpoenaed and testimony or depositions can be heard or filed.
Anderson said he will know who to subpoena because he will have the voter list and can determine who voted, which address they used and who registered to vote at the last minute. The election results were close in District 4 and in the board chair race.
Board chair candidate Denise Hills and Horwitz said they weren't going to concede until the election's results were certified and the provisional ballots were counted.
On Sept. 3, the results were certified by the City Council. Garrison and Kirby's leads over Hills and Horwitz widened. Two days later, Hills decided not to challenge the election results and conceded.
Today I filed suit in the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court, formally challenging the results of the election for District Four's seat on the Tuscaloosa City Board of Education.
The reason I challenged the election is simple. My complaint alleges that a large number of votes cast in District Four were cast by individuals who were ineligible to vote in that district. Perhaps inadvertently in many instances, and deliberately in other cases, individuals voted in the district despite the fact that they had not resided in the district for the legally required length of time, or registered at addresses at which they did not live. I believe that these votes were wrongly cast, wrongly constituted a margin of victory for my opponent, and wrongly disenfranchised the legitimate voters of District Four, including both students and longtime residents of Tuscaloosa's downtown neighborhoods. I also believe that many votes violated Alabama election law because they were cast in exchange for the promise of alcohol or other things of value, and are subject to disqualification.
This is a simple election challenge. The court will examine individual votes and voters to ensure that they voted in accordance with the law and will disqualify them if they did not.
Other individuals have raised broader concerns about this election and some of the conduct that took place. It seems likely that no matter what happens with this legal challenge, those concerns will continue to be voiced in other forums. But my concern is a simple, legal one: that elections be free and fair, and that all votes counted be lawfully cast votes. We will follow the evidence wherever it leads.
My only concern is to ensure that this election was fairly conducted. If my opponent is shown to have legally received the requisite number of votes, I will gladly step aside. But I am sure that he and I, and all legal voters and residents of District Four, agree that it would be harmful to the interests of District Four residents to "move on" until we have—properly and through evidence taken under oath—addressed the serious concerns that this election was determined based on improperly cast votes, and thus disenfranchised legitimate voters.
I am grateful to the many University of Alabama students who cast legal, thoughtful votes in this election, no matter who they voted for. I am not making blanket allegations against any individual or group on campus, although if any evidence raises those concerns it will be fully and publicly aired. This challenge will be based primarily on individual evidence taken under oath from individual voters. I have, of course, heard from many individual students, including members of the University's Greek houses, whose consciences were troubled by conduct they witnessed during the election. They are encouraged to contact my attorney with their concerns. Anyone possessing relevant information, documents, or testimony should be aware of their legal obligation to preserve and report such evidence.
Any further inquiries should be directed to my attorney, James H. Anderson, of Jackson, Anderson & Patty, P.C., at (334) 834-5311.
Reach the Jamon Smith at email@example.com or 205-722-0204.
Tuscaloosa News coverage on Facebook
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Giant Sheen still haunting US coastal waters
A looming and menacing presence is terrorising the West Coast of America. A 46-year old scuba-diver has become the latest person to fight off repeated attacks by a 6ft Great White Charlie Sheen. The diver struck Sheen on the nose with a speargun until he swam away [read...]


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Two weeks after Hurricane Sandy barreled up the East Coast, devastating parts of densely populated New York and New Jersey, the full costs of the megastorm are still being assessed. The "once-a-century" storm left more than 8 million homes and businesses without power, shutting down everything from oil refineries to transportation to the stock market. The disruption could shave a half percentage point off of GDP.
Behind those statistics are millions of businesses, big and small, grappling with new questions disaster preparedness in an age of extreme weather. And, increasingly, they are concluding that the answers may lie in the cloud.
Take Springboard Public Relations in Marlboro, N.J., about 10 miles from the coast. The firm lost power on Monday night before Sandy even made landfall. The power was finally restored on Sunday, only to go down again when a Nor'easter dumped a foot of heavy snow on the storm-tossed area three days later.
Like many firms, Springboard maintains its own servers on-site, running key applications like corporate email and accounting. So, without power, employees were unable to access corporate email and payroll checks could not be cut. The firm's eight employees managed to cobble together a communications system using Gmail, Twitter and text messages.
"That was an anxious time," says Domenick Cilea, Springboard's president. "You don't know what business inquiries or media opportunities you're missing. If they don't know how to reach you on Gmail, your SOL."
The New Normal
Hurricane Sandy is but the latest reminder of the increasingly frequent extreme weather events – from tornadoes to drought-fueled wild fires - that have the potential to disrupt business and shut down operations. And it's prompting more businesses to look to the cloud.
For Cilea, it's not a question of if the firm will move to the cloud, but how. "Should we move to a professionally managed data center, where there is a better chance of having it be operational, or go to a completely hosted solution and not have to worry about it at all?" asks Cilea. While he mulls that issue, he is issuing more iPads and tablets with 3G and wi-fi capabilities to boost chances that employees will be able to communicate in the event of another disruption.
Businesses have been moving to the cloud in varying degrees, first for digital media and collaboration, and more recently for key business applications, IT functions and all things mobile, says Rick Vilars, Vice President, Datacenter & Cloud at research firm IDC. But Sandy, he says, could act as a "trigger event" to accelerate that move.
In a Nov. 7 research note, Villars and a colleague explained the cost benefit analysis that will favor the cloud: "Datacenter teams can no longer plan for just the 'worst case' scenario but the 'I can't believe that would ever happen' scenario as well. … The real question is how many organizations have the capital and time to make these types of recalculations and changes. More than ever, they will be looking to service providers (collocation, hosting, and cloud) to take the lead in providing more robust datacenter environments."
Of course, the cloud alone is not a panacea. Some third party data centers experienced outages – notably some in lower Manhattan that were flooded, causing media outlets that used them, including The Huffington Post and Gawker, to go dark. But, as Villars points out, the bigger hosting services can better afford to provide backup power and redundancy across geographic locations, lessening the risk of an outage.
"To me, the cloud is where businesses need to be for continuity and disaster recovery," says Jim Bourke, a partner at Withum Smith & Brown, a CPA firm based in Princeton, N.J. There are many strategies companies can take to back up and protect critical data and applications, he says, but "the cloud just simplifies the process."
Bourke, who oversees Withum's IT operations, began moving mission critical applications to the web around seven years ago. Today, the firm's tax applications and client files all reside in the cloud, hosted by a service provider that has full redundancy and backup. So, although many of the firm's offices scattered across New Jersey and elsewhere lost power, its 450 employees were able to access client data from other locations. As a result, they were fully functional, and the firm lost no revenue. "Not all my partners were big believers in the cloud when we migrated," says Bourke. "But today they are."
The contents or opinions in this feature are independent and do not necessarily represent the views of Cisco. They are offered in an effort to encourage continuing conversations on a broad range of innovative technology subjects. We welcome your comments and engagement.
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Abstract: Between Hittites and Mycenaeans: the Bronze Age Archaeology of the Marmara Lake Basin in Central Western Anatolia
The Bronze Age archaeology of central western Anatolia has traditionally suffered from a lack of attention, in part because of the allure of the better known monumental remains and/or the rich textual sources of its more illustrious neighbors to the west, in the Mycenaean Aegean, to the north, at Troy, and to the east, in Hittite central Anatolia. Although this situation – sandwiched between the Mycenaeans and the Hittites, in particular – reflects well the geopolitical position of central western Anatolia according to Hittite archives, recent archaeological investigations have brought to light the remains of an indigenous kingdom that physically rivals its contemporary peers. This lecture presents a selection of recent Bronze Age discoveries made by the Central Lydia Archaeological Survey in the Marmara Lake Basin as well as their significance for understanding the geopolitical situation of central western Anatolia during the Late Bronze Age, between Hittites and Mycenaeans.
Short bibliography and/or website on lecture topic:
Website: www.bu.edu/clas
Luke, C., and C. H. Roosevelt. In press. "Memory and Meaning in Bin Tepe, the Lydian Cemetery of a "Thousand Mounds." In Tumulus as Sema: Proceedings of an International Conference on Space, Politics, Culture, and Religion in the First Millennium BC, edited by O. Henry and U. Kelp. TOPOI Excellence Cluster series. Berlin: De Gruyter.
Roosevelt, C. H. 2010. "Lydia Before the Lydians." In The Lydians and Their World. Catalogue of an Exhibit at the Yapı Kredi Vedat Nedim Tör Museum, İstanbul, edited by N. D. Cahill, 37–73. İstanbul: Yapı Kredi Culture, Art, and Publishing.
Luke, C., and C. H. Roosevelt. 2009. "The Central Lydia Archaeological Survey: Documenting the Prehistoric through Iron Age Periods." In Tree-Rings, Kings, and Old World Archaeology and Environment: Papers Presented in Honor of Peter Ian Kuniholm, edited by S.W. Manning and M.J. Bruce, 199–218. Oxford: Oxbow Books.
AIA Tours


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In the opening scene of Gangster Squad, a heavily prostheticized Sean Penn oversees the execution of a man whose hands and feet are tied to two separate cars that then speed off in opposite directions, leaving the victim's body in two bloody halves. It's a shocking and ingenious way to open a movie; unfortunately, it's the only creative moment in Gangster Squad.
Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s answers to one man: Mickey Cohen (Penn), a ruthless former boxer from New York whose crime reach extends from whorehouses to protection rackets. He's got almost every cop in his pocket, so gruff police chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) commissions try-hard detective John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to helm an off-the-books guerilla assault on Cohen's operation.
The team is simple enough to remember, since you don't need to learn any new names. There's Anthony Mackie as the knife guy, Giovanni Ribisi as the technical guy, Robert Patrick as the sharpshooter and Michael Pena as his clumsy Hispanic protégé. Oh, and Mackie's character hates Burbank.
That's about all the characterization you're going to get for these guys, who never transcend the roles assigned to them. Sure, it's cool to watch T-1000 throw up a coke can and shoot it eight times while it's coming down, but he doesn't have much else going on in terms of motivation.
The only one who gets a bit of a dramatic story is Ryan Gosling as the risk-taking Jerry Wooters, but even his role is limited -- he basically spends the whole movie murmuring in a mousy Woody Allen accent to a very boring, non-femme fatalé Emma Stone.
Hovering over the rest of the proceedings is Penn, whose character is the biggest cliché of them all: The screaming psychopath who will stop at nothing to rule a certain area, in this case L.A. He certainly tries hard to make Cohen memorable, slamming his fists and referring to women in unflattering metonyms. But he doesn't make Cohen, someone who seems like the toast of the town, the least bit charming, and he becomes tiresome to watch as a result.
Director Ruben Fleischer puts together some stylish action pieces, notably the one in Chinatown and the climax (which seemingly has no basis in the real-life story). The squad and its surroundings definitely look cool, though the sleekness and bright color suffers from digital over-saturation. You can even forgive the squad's uncanny invincibility, despite the team seeming like a fair match for The Expendables.
But with a flimsy plot and cop movie tropes telegraphed from a mile away (e.g., the collateral damage that eventually befalls the crew is beyond predictable), Gangster Squad, as its villain Cohen unmemorably says, "is like a dog with rabies" -- you just have to let it die.
Follow Pete McQuaid on Twitter @sweetestpete.


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History suggests 2016 will be a bad year for Democrats
With the help of David Leip's Atlas of Presidential Elections, I have compiled the popular vote and percentage of the total vote the presidential candidate of the party which would govern for each of nine electoral "cycles" going from 1912 through 2008. (Available below the jump.)
By electoral cycle, I mean a series of the three elections starting with the one which caused a shift in partisan control of the White House, i.e., in 1912, the partisan control shifted from Republican (William Howard Taft) to Democratic (Woodrow Wilson). Sometimes, in the third election in the cycle, partisan control would switch back as it did in 1920, 1960, 1968, 2000 & 2008. Other times, the incumbent party would retain the White House as happened in 1928, 1940 and 1988.
In each case, a distinct pattern emerges. The party which comes to power in the first election will gain votes and increase its percentage of the vote in the second, then see a decline, sometimes substantial, in the third.
There are, however, only two exceptions.
In the second election in the 1920s cycle, 1924, Calvin Coolidge won fewer votes (and a smaller percentage of the vote) than he did his erstwhile running mate Warren G. Harding four years previously. Four years later, Herbert Hoover would get more votes than either of his two partisan predecessors, but a lower percentage than did Harding. That said, the pattern holds if we begin the cycle in 1924 and end it in 1932. Increase from 1924 to 1928, decline in 1932.
In the 1990s cycle, Al Gore got more votes in 2000 than Bill Clinton had in 1992 or 1996, but, in the first two elections in that cycle, there had been a major third party candidate, Ross Perot. The pattern does hold when you calculate the dominant party's percentage of the two-party vote.
One minor exception: In 1920 (third election of the 1910s cycle), Democrat James Cox got more votes than did Woodrow Wilson in 1912 and 1916, but that's because 1920 was the first election when women were allowed to vote.
So, why I am sharing all this with you? To show that there is historical pattern here which suggests that Republicans stand in good stead for 2016. No president, until this week, has ever won reelection with fewer votes than he had in his initial election. And save for 1928*, his party has always seen a drop-off (usually quite significant) from the second to third election in the cycle.
Obama didn't get that popular vote bump that Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, Lyndon Johnson (running as Kennedy's successor), Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush got. His party is likely to see a further decline in 2016, though the example of Herbert Hoover in 1928 does provide some hope that they might break the pattern.
Below, I provide the presidential election year, the number of votes the candidate of the dominant party (for the cycle) received and his percentage of the popular vote.
1912 (6,296,284; 41.84%) 1916 (9,126,868; 49.24%) 1920 (9,139,661; 34.15%)
1920 (16,144,093; 60.32%); 1924 (15,723,789; 54.04%); 1928 (21,427,123; 58.21%); 1932 (22,821,277; 39.65%)
1932 (22,821,277; 57.41%) 1936 (27,752,648; 60.80%) 1940 (27,313,945; 54.74%)
1952 (34,075,529; 55.18%), 1956 (35,579,180; 57.37%); 1960 (34,108,157; 49.55%)
1960 (34,220,984; 49.72%); 1964 (43,127,041, 61.05%) 1968 (31,271,839; 42.72%)
1968 (31,783,783; 43.42%); 1972 (47,168,710; 60.67%); 1976 (39,148,634; 48.02%)
1980 (43,903,230; 50.75%); 1984 (54,455,472; 58.77%); 1988 (48,886,597; 53.37%)
1992 (44,909,806; 43.01%)*; 1996 (47,400,125; 49.23%)*; 2000 (51,003,926; 48.38%)
2000 (50,460,110; 47.87%); 2004 (62,040,610; 50.73%); 2008 (59,950,323; 45.60%)
*You could also say 2000, but there was a third party presence in 1996. If we look at the dominant party's percentage of the two-party vote in 1996 (54.73%), then the pattern holds. (And if you go by two-party percentages, Wilson actually saw a decline from 1912 to 1916 no matter which major party you count as the second major one in 1912.)
FROM THE COMMENTS: David offers an instructive critique of my optimistic assessment:
Learning from the past is good but thinking that it somehow reflects the future is misguided. Republicans won't win again until they recognize and correct the reasons why a large portion of their base stayed home and didn't vote in one of the most polarizing elections of the last 30 years.
I'll quibble with the first sentence and agree with the second. Republicans do need figure out why a huge chunk of our base stayed home this year. In a subsequent post, I will be suggesting that the national and state parties do focus groups, identifying GOP voters who shoed up in '08, but not '12.
23 Comments
But…something weird happened in this election.
The left learned this time that it can win an election at will on election day.
There was all sorts of chicanery pulled by the leftists radicals this election and they managed to pull Obama out from certain defeat.
They weren't afraid of being caught because Holder had their backs and the unions had Obama watching their backs.
This is a new animal that has just arrived on the scene that can't be compared to anything before it.
You have touch screen voting with it's hackable software.
You have same day voter registration.
You have no I.D. to vote voting.
You have the complicit media 100% in the tank for one party swaying the elctorate with propaganda over four years
You have a sizable number of minorities that wasn't around forty or fifty years ago and will be even larger in four more years.
So,don't count on this cyclical theory being applicable to the next election.
Comment by ebayer — November 9, 2012 @ 4:42 am - November 9, 2012
After watching a good, honest, decent man who loves his country get torn down and defeated by an opponent who lied openly and constantly, who had nothing to offer but smears, hate, and demonization, I find it quite impossible to be optimistic about any future election.
Comment by V the K — November 9, 2012 @ 6:03 am - November 9, 2012
Learning from the past is good but thinking that it somehow reflects the future is misguided. Republicans won't win again until they recognize and correct the reasons why a large portion of their base stayed home and didn't vote in one of the most polarizing elections of the last 30 years.
Comment by David — November 9, 2012 @ 6:24 am - November 9, 2012
But…something weird happened in this election.
So,don't count on this cyclical theory being applicable to the next election.
Whoa, whoa, whoa…before we get all black helicopters and mind-control-drugs-administered-through-jet-trails paranoid, let's point out a few facts:
1) Not every precinct has touch-screen voting, and in the cases I've read this year where vote irregularities have occurred, the problems reported by voters have been unable to be duplicated by authorities. That's not to say there aren't potential issues, but it's like casting voting machine maker Diebold (better known to most for ATM & banking hardware) as a Republican stooge designed to turn out votes for the GOP candidate [since that worked out so well in 2008 & 2012, perhaps George Soros should buy the company].
2) Same-day registration has been going on a long time. When the National Voter Registration Act of 1993—commonly known as the "Motor Voter Act"—came into full effect, all states were required to offer voter registration services via DMV offices. Six states, however, received exemptions, with two (including my state) granted an exemption in exchange for at-the-polls registration. It's not an ideal system, but it doesn't seem to be a major problem, unless it's coupled with ineffective purge and cross-reference operations.
3) No-ID voting has been the norm; it's only been in recent years that a push for at-the-polls positive voter identification has been prevalent. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, but allegations of voter fraud have occurred for decades and may have already swung a presidential election (see 1960). So again, it's not a new phenomenon.
4) Minority voting is on the increase, to be sure; but is it really any different, in many respects than when women received the right to vote? As Dan mentioned, it likely did have an impact on the next presidential election of the time; but that has only increased throughout the years so that that minority has now become the majority in many instances.
I know that a Perfect Storm argument is trying to be made here, but I'm not sure it's quite as simple as that. You can have perfect compliance with all the laws and no hanky-panky going on and still have a superior GOTV effort, as appears to be the case with the 2012 election.
(Yes, you can have both, too; but it's a little harder to achieve, with such diminished enthusiasm.)
Comment by RSG — November 9, 2012 @ 6:49 am - November 9, 2012
Well if the democrats run a white guy on the ballot, I am not convinced 99% of voters in Phillie are going to vote for him. I am also not convinced they will show up in those numbers.
That said, I think states right now who want voter ID should start writing their laws now. They should also all use the NH model as their model, because Holder signed off on that one.
Part of the problem with the voter ID movement is states waited too long and things were tied up in courts to the point that there wasn't time.
I am also pretty certain PA's ID law will be in effect for the next election cycle.
Comment by Just Me — November 9, 2012 @ 7:00 am - November 9, 2012
I am really not sure that I want to hear theories about how great the GOP is going to do 4 years from now.
They once again offered a losing candidate whose primary qualifications were 1) it was his turn, and 2) electability.
In fact, it was his turn to lose and he lost to the worst President in the history of the nation.
It is a little bit too early to start making such assertions. Four years is an eternity and with four more years of Obama, it is an eternity of nightmares.
Even if the GOP should take control in 2016, they are likely to offer such corrupt and inept "leaders" like Boehner and McConnell and Romney with no spine and no vision which means we get four more years of ever-increasing government from the GOP. That is not change to look forward to.
Comment by WarEagle82 — November 9, 2012 @ 7:23 am - November 9, 2012
Gutter politics will continue as long as gutter politicians are rewarded.
Comment by V the K — November 9, 2012 @ 8:23 am - November 9, 2012
for all the scorn that the soviet union and communist thugocracies received I have to say NONE of those saw something like 99% of the vote for a candidate.
Even real dictators are somewhat reasonable in their cheating
Comment by susan — November 9, 2012 @ 8:47 am - November 9, 2012
Politics is the gutter. 'Our side' better learn that and get in and start playing their game. I've been saying that for awhile and all I hear is 'we can't stoop to their level'. McCain was an ace at that to the point of not even defending his own running mate, but defending Obama more.
Why couldn't Romney go on the View with those hags? Or Jon Stewart? Hire the guy who wrote your speech at that Catholic black tie event, for those appearances. Or even talk radio, national and local? Oh we can't do that because we don't want them thinking Rush is going to give us talking points.
Comment by Annie — November 9, 2012 @ 9:26 am - November 9, 2012
Annie the people are right when they say 'we cannot stoop at their level. We are different, we are better, they are subhumans. To them it is natural to call Ann Romney a f**** C*** B*** W**** (fill in with all the lowest insults you can possibly find).
The most our side can do is call that broad cow Michelle Antoniette.
The only way to go is cut all ties with those subhumans. Imagine all conservative churches stop volunteering for certain segments of the population that are actively calling us racists every minute. That will leave a mark.
Help only when you are 300% sure you are helping a conservative, possibly one that also votes.
Comment by susan — November 9, 2012 @ 9:45 am - November 9, 2012
I agree, mostly, with Susan. We are better people, we need to be. That people like Richard believe that nothing should come between a man and his base impulses, doesn't mean we should just give up and act on ours.
The Doctor: If we fight like animals, we die like animals!
Comment by The_Livewire — November 9, 2012 @ 9:49 am - November 9, 2012
Dante (the divine comedy, Inferno) used to write
Ye were not made to live like unto brutes, But for pursuit of virtue and of knowledge.
Obama voters are brutes (or animals), they live their lives being a plague for others and parasiting (never concept has been more apt for them) on other living creatures.
The way to go is to stop giving 'blood' to those creatures, and enjoy what happens when you deprive a parasite of its food.
Comment by susan — November 9, 2012 @ 10:08 am - November 9, 2012
No president, until this week, has ever won reelection with fewer votes than he had in his initial election.
Yup. Obama lost support. Large amounts. It bodes very ill for him and his party.
We're hearing a lot about the GOP needing to fix its minority outreach. That's true. Know what else? Democrats need even more badly, to fix their majority outreach.
There was all sorts of chicanery pulled by the leftists radicals this election and they managed to pull Obama out from certain defeat.
They weren't afraid of being caught because Holder had their backs and the unions had Obama watching their backs.
Then we'd better get to work on exposing/stopping that.
Republicans won't win again until they recognize and correct the reasons why a large portion of their base stayed home
It's looking like the ones who stayed home were Republican-leaning marginal voters; people whose turnout Obama intended to depress with all the "Romney will give your wife cancer" ads, that Romney barely bothered to defend himself against. Let that be a lesson to future nominees.
The Left is drawing the wrong lessons from this election, as we speak. They think that negative and "small" campaigning, aimed at voter-microtargeting and driving down voter turnout, works. Because it just did. But it won't forever. And in the meanwhile, it makes them even more the bad guys.
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — November 9, 2012 @ 10:26 am - November 9, 2012
I find it quite impossible to be optimistic about any future election.
"Then the Emperor has already won."
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — November 9, 2012 @ 10:30 am - November 9, 2012
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Pingback by Bookworm Room » Not everybody is weeping and wailing — November 9, 2012 @ 10:59 am - November 9, 2012
In Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development most Democrat voters are in the "preconventional/premoral" stage of arrested moral development.
They have an "egocentric deference to superior power or prestige."
They employ "objective responsibility" and have a "relativism of values to each actor's needs and perspectives."
"Right action is that which is instrumental in satisfying the self's needs and occasionally other's" (needs).
They display a "naive egalitarianism, orientation to exchange and reciprocity."
These people are manipulated and led by employing the "Role Conformity" stage in which "action is evaluated in terms of intention" and the authority rewards "good-boy/good-girl orientation."
So, in these terms, the Democrats organize the sheeple and drive them to the polls. The sheeple go willingly and enthusiastically because they perceive and feel gratification both at the personal level and as a member of the cult/"community"/commune.
"Fats" Waller sang some telling lyrics in Ain't Misbehavin': "Find out what they like and how they like it and let 'em have it just that way."
The clear message is basic marketing. Identify your target audience, find out what they want (or think they want) and give it to them.
Now, in politics, you can't often deliver immediately in a campaign. But you can easily feed the sheeple group a continuous dose of what they want to hear.
It is not a positive notion that many people want to hear their sense of victimhood being validated, but it is entirely true. For the most part, blacks have a built in sixth sense for signs of discrimination, rejection based on race and probable racism. When a black hears over and over and over again that a candidate or party or group is racially insensitive or worse, it is a very natural reaction to be wary or that candidate or party or group.
The same wariness model can be applied to liberal women, various Hispanic groups, gays, unions, economic classes, geographic regions, etc.
Understand and never forget Saul Alinsky's Rules for Radicals. There are two lists of rules. The first is the practical guide for herding the sheeple. The second set of rules deal with the "ethics" of herding the sheeple. The first set of rules is how to demagogue and the second set is how to play "innocent" to demagoguing.
Rules for Power Tactics:
1. Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have.
2. Never go outside the experience of your people.
3. Whenever possible, go outside of the experience of the enemy.
4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
5. Ridicule is man's most potent weapon.
6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.
7. A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag.
8. Keep the pressure on with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.
9. The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.
10. The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition.
11. If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counterside.
12. The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.
13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.
Rules to test whether power tactics are ethical:
1. One's concern with the ethics of means and ends varies inversely with one's personal interest in the issue.
2. The judgment of the ethics of means is dependent upon the political position of those sitting in judgment.
3. In war the end justifies almost any means.
4. Judgment must be made in the context of the times in which the action occurred and not from any other chronological vantage point.
5. Concern with ethics increases with the number of means available and vice versa.
6. The less important the end to be desired, the more one can afford to engage in ethical evaluations of means.
7. Generally, success or failure is a mighty determinant of ethics.
8. The morality of means depends upon whether the means is being employed at a time of imminent defeat or imminent victory.
9. Any effective means is automatically judged by the opposition to be unethical.
10. You do what you can with what you have and clothe it in moral garments.
11. Goals must be phrased in general terms like "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," "Of the Common Welfare," "Pursuit of Happiness," or "Bread and Peace."
If we plan to beat the Democrats at this game, we must come down to this level and forgo our moral development understandings in exchange for fighting dirtier than the enemy. It is trench and gas warfare. It is cultural terrorism. It is divide and conquer.
Comment by heliotrope — November 9, 2012 @ 11:08 am - November 9, 2012
The right could go down the alinksy path, but I don't think they are willing to go there.
Example: Under Obamacare, women/teenagers will have the right to subsidized birth control. This includes tubal ligation. If a nefarious rightist wanted to split the feminist and underclass coalition, they could go into underclass neighborhoods and offer a bunch of 18 years olds a grand or two in cash to go get sterilized (on the taxpayers dime). The outcry would be ferocious. Would the right be willing to go down in gutter that far? In my estimation, not yet.
Comment by Stirner — November 9, 2012 @ 11:35 am - November 9, 2012
I agree.
For the first time this morning, I told someone who wanted sympathy for their situation that they needed to go to Obama to find it.
The look on their face was absolutely priceless.
They voted for a gutter politician. Let the gutter politician give them their sympathy and help.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — November 9, 2012 @ 11:41 am - November 9, 2012
"The look on their face was absolutely priceless."
Comment by susan — November 9, 2012 @ 12:26 pm - November 9, 2012
NDT, that is what I mean by fighting back. In small ways and big.
My point in my above comment, was that the GOP doesn't even fight. Period. Everytime Bush took a breath, Reid and Pelosi, were in front of cameras pounding lied day in and day out. Where is the GOP on this regarding what Barry has done? You don't have to give up your morals to point out in LOUD COLORFUL attention getting language, day in and day out, in fighting back.
What do have instead? Sniveling misreading spineless politicians, on our side. Boehner needs to go. He should be primaried out.
Comment by Annie — November 9, 2012 @ 12:40 pm - November 9, 2012
The right could go down the alinksy path, but I don't think they are willing to go there.
Totally agree.
The "right" is "burdened" with higher moral development and far stronger code of ethics. We can all revert, when necessary, to the primitive, but not because we prefer it. I have fuel, ammunition, a water supply system, food and medical supplies stored for a possible period of protracted crisis. I have liquor and cigarettes to trade to the hoi polloi. Gold and silver will be useful for trade with other levels prepared to weather a crisis.
If some miracle resolution to our financial mess heads off Armageddon, what have I lost for the preparation? I sure don't want to depend on the FEMA arm of government for my safety and security.
I do not want to be a primitive, but I may not have the choice. Arriving at an intersection and being killed in a crash is no time to start talking about getting there a little bit later or a little bit earlier in order to have cheated reality.
Most honorable people do not want to associate themselves with Alinsky or Democrat practices. To meet them head on and out do them is really quite unthinkable.
Until the Republicans will put the Democrats on the constant defensive for the trash they throw, the Republicans will stay on the constant defensive receiving the trash the Democrats throw.
My long comment @ #16 lays out the entire Democrat game plan. If you know and understand the game plan, you really should be able to check their every move. And you should be able to do it without resorting to their tactics. But first, you have to finally stand up their demagoguing and face them down every time they try to let a snake loose.
Jessie Jackson made a fortune shaking down selected big corporations with his rent-a-mob racist tactics. Somewhere, sometime it becomes necessary to grow a spine and face down the grifters and political conmen.
Comment by heliotrope — November 9, 2012 @ 12:44 pm - November 9, 2012
I think you are making too much out of the voting. A real indicator or precursor is to look at the makeup of the legislature. In the 62nd Congress, (Taft´s last) The Democrats seized control of the House from the Republicans in 61st Dems 172 to 228. The Senate remained Republican with 51 but the Dems added 3 more with the admission of Arizona and New Mexico into statehood. In 1914 the Dems controlled both houses of the legislature. In 1918 the 66th Congress (Wilson´s last) both houses turned Republican with 220 representatives and 49 senators, an increase of 7. Harding, Coolidge, and Hoover enjoyed having both houses Republican during the roaring 20´s. In 1930, the House went Democrat going from 167 seats to 220 while the Republicans had a one vote majority in the Senate, 48 to 47 and one Independent. All during Roosevelt´s lifetime the Democrats controlled both houses. That´s how the Supreme Court got stacked with progressive jurists. Any reason to believe Obama won´t do the same. After WWII, Truman had to deal with a Republican legislature in the 80th Congress, which flipped back to Democrat in 1948. The 83rd Congress gave Eisenhower the luxury of Republicans controlling the legislature. The House made massive gains going from 119 seats to 221, while the advantage in the Senate was slight 48,47, and 1 Independent. The Democrats controlled the House all the way until Newt Gingrich and his Contract With America. Reagan had coattails to gain a majority in the Senate the 97th Congress until the 100th Neither GHW Bush nor Nixon ever enjoyed having his party in control. If Nixon had, maybe he would have finished out his second term. Does anybody in their right mind think that Dems in the Benghazi and now the Iran attempt on the drone coverup would ever tell Obama that there is a cancer on the presidency and that he should resign? I doubt it. I don´t think Democrats have any integrity.
Comment by Roberto — November 9, 2012 @ 2:08 pm - November 9, 2012
Roberto I agree. Democrats have no integrity, although they expect the GOP to have it (and as a voter I want the GOP to have integrity).
I think the democrat leaders tend to be elitist and they often lack real compassion-they can fake it well, but they generally operate personally in a selfish manner.
How many lavish vacations has Michelle Obama taken in the last 4 years? I haven't taken a single, real vacation, because I can't afford to go somewhere, put up the travel, hotel, and attraction fees.
No Bush took vacations but his vacations were to his properties, Michelle just spends a butt ton of money and my tax dollars are paying for her secret service detail.
Comment by Just Me — November 9, 2012 @ 3:55 pm - November 9, 2012
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text:
Emmanuel Adebayor claims he is yet to receive assurances from Andre Villas-Boas that he is fine with the striker playing in the African Nations Cup.
Adebayor had initially refused to play in the African Nations Cup due to a row over team security and unpaid bonuses, but following talks with the country's president the Tottenham striker now has his heart set on taking part in the tournament.
Yet Adebayor hinted in an interview with africatopsports.com - published on the Togo Football Federation's website - that despite Villas-Boas' public declaration of support, the Portuguese may not be happy with the 28-year-old's participation in the tournament.
Copyright (c) PA Sport 2013, All Rights Reserved.
Do YOU want to write for GiveMeSport? Get started today by signing-up and submitting an article HERE: https://www.givemesport.com/writeforgms


text:
KS Skënderbeu had to overcome a degree of adversity to win Albanian titles in 2010/11 and 2011/12, but look set to take a third successive crown at a canter – thus matching KF Tirana's three-in-a-row triumphs of 2002–05. With Mirel Josa's men ten points clear at the top of the table at the winter break, and still unbeaten after 13 Super League games, it has almost been too easy.
"This team is by far the most talented I have seen this season," coach Josa told UEFA.com. "With the addition of some key players, we became stronger and it will be very hard for any team to overtake us. We have been very consistent and have kept our composure throughout the first half of the season. If we stay focused and don't worry about the other sides, we will be fine."
Statistics certainly justify that attitude. The division's 24-goal leading scorers, Skënderbeu also boast the league's top marksman in towering Croatian Pero Perić, who has ten to date. Moreover, having conceded only five times (on average, a goal every 234 minutes), they have one of the best defensive records in any 2012/13 European top flight: only FC Bayern München and Montenegro's FK Grbalj can better them.
"It's tough to stay sharp when there is nobody to challenge us," admitted Josa, 49, who rejoined the Korce-based club this summer having led Skënderbeu in 2005/06 and 2010/11. "The players have done exactly what I have asked them in training and during matches. They know the small margin between success and failure – consistent preparation and a positive approach are what make the difference."
One of six teams still undefeated in a European premier division this season – alongside FC Barcelona, FC Porto, SL Benfica, Olympiacos FC and Anorthosis Famagusta FC – Skënderbeu's progress has contrasted starkly with a tough campaign for many of their rivals, marked by instability on and off the pitch. However, the pacesetters had their share of problems earlier in the term.
Josa took charge a few weeks after club president Agim Zeqo and Czech coach Stanislav Levý departed in the wake of a UEFA Champions League second qualifying round exit to Hungarian champions Debreceni VSC. New president Ardjan Takaj brought in Josa, perhaps mindful he played a role in Tirana's championship treble of the last decade, steering the capital club to the 2003/04 title.
Certainly, it is hard to imagine the side named after national hero George Kastrioti Skanderbeg losing their way, and with a double on the cards, Josa has reason to look forward to 2013. "It will be special," he said. "This team is very strong and is on a roll, as we have beaten all our rivals – Tirana, Teuta, Kukësi and Flamurtari – by at least two goals. Right now, we can beat anybody. We can only lose to ourselves."
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Here is my .1015 Based hybrid that some have been waiting for. As always make sure you do a clean wipe before installing.
1. Install OS 18.104.22.1685
2. Download JAHMv2.0 to your desktop or personal folder
3. Unzip JAHM (Just Another Hybrid Maker) using a program like WinRaR (32 bit).
4. Open My Computer: C:/Program Files/Common Files/Research In Motion/Apploader... Delete the Vendor.xml file. Go back and then proceed to the Shared Folder and open the Loader Files/9550 folder.
5. Replace the java folder that you unzipped with the java folder located inside of the 9550 folder.
6. Perform a clean wipe on your device using BBSAK before installing.
7. Enjoy and Report Back your Findings.


text:
A Pensacola developer has made Panama City commissioners an offer they apparently can't refuse. He's offered to do a $100,000 feasibility study on redeveloping downtown Panama City...for free. Commissioners and downtown business owners are anxious to see what the study will reveal. Panama City's downtown business owners believe the area has the potential to be something special.
"We love it, we're not going anywhere," said Robin Atamian, owner of The Place. "So we're patient, but please hurry." They're excited about a Pensacola developers offer to help them realize that potential. Dan Gilmore of RGB Development is offering to do a feasibility study for the city at no charge. Gilmore is asking for 4 months, in exchange for the city's guarantee it will not start any new public-private partnerships.
"He sees Panama City as a diamond in the rough that we have a lot of great potential," said Panama City commissioner Mike Nichols, "we're doing a lot of great stuff with the marina so he wants to be on that ground floor to be a part of this, this new beginning"
And Gilmore has a track record. He played an integral role in helping to revitalize downtown Pensacola. Local business owners believe concrete improvements to the downtown area will create opportunities to attract more people.
"Bringing those types of events to our downtown will actually bring more family friendly situations, will bring more people in, and show that they can return," said Jane Lindsey, owner of Elegant Endeavors, "and if our business fronts are empty and if our businesses are leased out to all things that aren't retail that's not going to help us."
Gilmore's proposal would not affect any public-private partnership plans by businesses that own their own property.
Commissioners plan to discuss the contract at their November 13th meeting.


text:
"Greetings and Salutations from the folks here at MGame!!
To begin, we would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all our players who participated in our beta tests. The Second Closed Beta began on January 22nd and we have tested many things with the cooperation from our many players
Although it was only a week, we could see the interest of our players and we truly view our recent Closed Beta as a big success. It was a great opportunity for us to see not only the systems within the game, but also where the expectations and standards of our players lies.
We are currently in preparation for our upcoming Third Beta, and are looking to compensate our players accordingly. That having been said, we would like to introduce the current plans/test targets of our Third Beta opening Wednesday January 31st, 2007:
-Player vs. Player:
Find out whos the strongest player in PvP via the PvP systems available in Scions of Fate!!
-Buy it all
Normally, the merchants and townspeople in Scions of Fate are known for their steep prices and low re-sale value. BUT for the next few days, the prices will be beyond comparison.
-GM Events
Players will have the chance to meet and greet the Scions of Fate GMs AS WELL AS participate in GM-run events.
-Item Application
Tired of grinding? Does it take too long to level?
Now you can earn extra Exp using an item! Quicker leveling and strengthening!
Player can now traverse the maps with the help of pets!! Level up and gain Exp while your pets become stronger and stronger!
-Premium Shop
Players will have a chance to test our premium shop and premium items during the Third Closed Beta.
We ask for our players cooperation in testing the aforementioned systems during this Closed Beta, and look forward to seeing them in-game. We promise to provide our best in both cust**** care and support since our games are powered by our users.
Once again, thank you for your participation and cooperation in the Scions of Fate Beta phases! "
Also, you will need no beta keys to activate to get in.
Free for all!!!


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The Jasper County School District Teacher of the Year will be announced at 6 p.m. Thursday during the Night of Honor event in the Multi-Purpose Room at Ridgeland Elementary School. Other awards will also be presented, including Rookie Teacher of the Year and Classified Employee of the Year as well as others.
The following teachers were voted 2013 Teachers of the Year for their respective schools and are the nominees for the District Teacher of the Year:
• Shelia White of Ridgeland Elementary School
• Brandon Hutson of Hardeeville Elementary School
• Ingrid Scott of Hardeeville-Ridgeville Middle School
• Susie Ingram of Ridgeland-Hardeeville High School


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When I finished university, I was excited to try and get a creative internship or work as an assistant - it's a really great way to see how real companies work, to learn from creatives who have advanced a lot in their field. I was lucky to find an internship that sounded cool quite quickly, after a couple of weeks of looking - and the best part, is that it was paid! I really needed a job at that point.
My usual day would mostly be around 9 hours of retouching of their product shots. Sometimes of things that I've shot myself for their social media, which I would do once or twice a week. I would spend a lot of time color matching the swatches/product imagery and I'd feel a bit blind after that, it gets hard to tell colors after hours of doing it. But I loved retouching, so if I can retouch all day and get paid for it, that sounds like a great deal to me!
- When shooting images for a company's social media, blogs, website, to keep as collateral imagery - you always have to think if it's on brand, that's one of the most important things. You need to think about every setting - does it scream the brand's name? Is it the ideal style, background, colors you could use? It's okay to experiment, but if the answer to these questions is not a confident yes, it's very likely that the images won't be used, so you're just wasting your time and in turn - the company's money. I think I only really learned this at the very end of my internship, but to be fair, I felt like the main brand wasn't as well defined at that time, and I was never totally sure which colors/textures/backgrounds is definitely fitting. As an intern, I was never part of any meetings that would have helped me more with that, but I would definitely advise my past self now to have more in depth talks with the other creatives there about why something fits the brand well and why something isn't working.
- I haven't done such in depth product/nails/make up retouching before, and since I had to retouch a lot of that during the internship, I learned techniques I never knew about before or at least didn't think of using because I didn't find them very useful.
- Everyone from different departments were sitting nearby, so I'd hear a lot about what was going on in the company and I'd see how different parts of it work, which was really interesting as I didn't really have a clue before. I saw how they choose shades, how they name them, we all participated in trying the new products/ nail polishes and would give feedback about it (so yes, sometimes I was just doing my nails at/for work...)
- When I started working there, we bought a few studio lights to have a small in house studio. I never worked much in a studio, except when I studied in the university, so during my internship I could experiment a lot and see what works best, I also worked a lot more with products and still life/flat lays, which I don't really do normally.
- How to prepare, organize images and upload them to FTP servers. It might sound boring, but I didn't mind it much and it's useful to know.
- When I started, I didn't know anything about make up or nails (I always only had the most basic beauty products and would only buy new ones once something ran out), but after dealing with make up each day, I became a lot more interested in it - I started to watch some youtube videos and started to care for my skin more, I use a bit more products now (though it's still very basic).
Extra things that were awesome:
- The office was really cute and colorful, I was greeted through a big arch of flowery hedge (hedges were around the room everywhere). They had a London red phone box inside, their lunch area was a park - not a real one, but the fake grass, the wooden benches and tables made it feel like that.
- Almost everyone in the office was a girl around my age and they were the sort of people who would gather around to celebrate a dog's birthday (meaning, there were some great people there).
- Each Friday we would have snacks and drinks at the end of the day, sometimes we would also go out and that was fun too.
- Free samples! I'm still using their lip products and nail polishes.
Things that weren't that great:
- Sometimes I needed to re-do things multiple times until it was approved - an obvious annoying thing when you're working for someone else. Especially, when you don't really agree with some decisions sometimes, but still have to do it again.
- My perfectionism is not that great when I'm working not just for myself. I would take longer than I needed working on something to make it perfect, when in any company it's all about delivering results quickly. And I usually still wouldn't like it in the end, which is probably because I still didn't consider what I was working on there my area.
But I wouldn't end on a negative note - it was great six months!
One of my favorite days was when Lottie was doing a takeover of Superdrug's instagram, so I took a lot of images for that with the team:
Temporary tattoos shoot
If you made it to the end of seriously the longest blog post that I've ever written, I can't believe it - thank you! And if you have any questions, ask me below (or if you'd just like to let me know you found this interesting at all, that would be great to hear, as I don't normally share things like that).


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Logan County District Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Marianne Marcum after she failed to appear for a disposition hearing Thursday.
She faces 15 counts of identity theft over two cases and forgery in a third case. She has also been arrested for failing to appear in relation to these and other misdemeanor cases since June.
Public Defender Damon Brune said he'd had no contact with her, and Judge Michael Singer noted a complaint had been filed for bond revocation.
Singer then increased the bond in her cases to $30,000 overall and stayed her arrest warrant for 24 hours. However, he noted, Marcum had a statewide warrant for her arrest out, as well.