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Framework: VF009 – vf009_0500_v3
5 - Primary or Horizontal Divisions
1 - Secondary or Vertical Divisions
Part of series: VF009 Vertical Flow 009 – Boxes with Arrow
Series Keywords: upward flow, downward flow, many to one, combine, coalesce, unite, result, takeaway
This series is a great many-to-one flow layout to illustrate multiple objects contributing to, affecting, or becoming one object. The graphics are drawn so that there are many ways to format or size the graphic fields. The boxes are all individual fields so that they can be colored differently if you wish, and the arrow is an individual field which can receive its own sizing and formatting. The series example shows a layout with the arrow sized down. The arrow field is particularly effective when a gradient is applied. The arrow is large enough that overlaying text can be applied to describe the flow process if you wish.
There are from one to six boxes in this series. The boxes become pretty small when using seven or more boxes. It's probably better to use a horizontally oriented many-to-one flow layout for those.
The set of variations with one block can either be used as a one-to-one layout, or the many items within the block can still be used as a many-to-one layout. The reason that there are both upward- and downward-pointing layouts is because importing photographs into layouts that have been flipped in PowerPoint 2007 make the photograph appear upside down: download the correct layout for what you need to convey, and avoid flipping the layouts if you plan to import photos.
Refer to the series tutorial for ways additional uses and formatting ideas.
Key search words: upward flow, downward flow, many to one, combine, coalesce, unite, result, takeaway


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The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission approved a resolution to add non-human primates to the list of potentially dangerous wild quadrupeds at their April 6 meeting.
The resolution addresses concerns of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) that possession of certain potentially dangerous primate pose hazards to public safety and health. Size and strength of non-human primates coupled with their unpredictable, predatory nature could result in severe injury or death in the event of attack on humans. Additionally, there is no approved rabies vaccine for non-human primates.
The approved rules would make it illegal to possess, purchase, sell or import non-human primates within Louisiana.
Some exemptions to these rules include zoos accredited by the American Zoological Association (AZA), research facilities as defined in the Animal Welfare Act including but not limited to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Primate Center, Tulane National Primate Research Center and Chimp Haven Inc. located in Shreveport.
Animal sanctuaries accredited by AZA can apply for an exemption from LDWF. Permitted sanctuaries are prohibited from breeding or selling non-human primates. The permit period will be one year and must be renewed annually.
By applying for and receiving a permit from LDWF, disabled people who use trained non-human primates can have one monkey and people that legally possessed non-human primates prior to rule ratification may continue to keep those animals.
Permit holders are required to keep their non-human primates in such a manner as to prevent public contact and must report any escapes within 24 hours to LDWF. They are also prohibited from transporting their animals to any public places that includes among other places schools, malls and hospitals.
EDITORS: For more information, contact Maria Davidson at 225-765-2835 or firstname.lastname@example.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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Since subscribing I have been looking closer at the tutorials and find that the printing one has disappeared.
Can you please advise when it will return as I presume that it is being updated. I am keen to see if I can learn more particularly in networking from Ubuntu.
Thanking you in anticipation


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"We've made tremendous progress this spring and summer," said Rich Rovang, project director. "As of the end of July, the Central Corridor project reached 68 percent completion. At this pace, we should reach our goal to be 75 percent done by the year's end."
The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project will link downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis along Washington and University avenues. Construction began in late 2010 on the planned 11-mile Central Corridor line and service will begin in 2014. The line will connect with the Hiawatha LRT line at the Metrodome station in Minneapolis and the Northstar commuter rail line at Target Field Station.


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A very bad day for Spurs fans, and a mixed day for some West Ham United fans. Although why? The Hammers managed a 3-0 win against their London rivals.
What happened at the game I hear you ask?
Repeated warnings came throughout the week from the Football Association, West Ham Supporter's Trust, Tottenham Hotspur Supporter's Trust and the Met Police all about using the word 'yid'.
'Yid' is a very controversial word, with the word being slang for a Jewish individual. It is usually used as a derogatory term towards people of that religion.
Clarke Carlisle, chairman of the Footballers Association previously said that any fan that used the word should be banned, however Prime Minister David Cameron disagreed with his idea, saying fans should not be prosecuted unless they use the word insultingly.
The Tottenham Supporter's Trust said on Friday that they believed that no Spurs fan "uses the term 'yid' in an offensive or insulting way". West Ham Supporter's Trust also warned their fans on using the word.
Officers were seen at the game speaking with fans before they entered the stadium, warning them about using the language.
But all warnings were ignored by the Spurs supporters, with many chanting "We'll sing what we want" and "Yid Army" during the match.
The Met Police had previously warned fans about using the term, saying that arrests would follow if anyone was caught. One fan was arrested at half-time.
Tottenham have a strong Jewish following, with many opposition fans targeting them for abuse, however they also face abuse from some of their own fans who use the term in an act of defiance.
West Ham won the game 3-0 thanks to goals from Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te and Ravel Morrison.
Their fans appeared to behave well, and their were no reports of chanting from the away crowd.
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Uptown Lexington, Inc. will host a class to become a certified barbecue judge from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 16 in advance of the Third Annual BBQ Capital Cook-off in April.
Uptown Lexington, Inc. will host a class to become a certified barbecue judge from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Feb. 16 in advance of the Third Annual BBQ Capital Cook-off in April.
Graduates of the class can become a certified Kansas City Barbecue Society judge. Those with the certification can travel the world tasting a wide variety of chicken, brisket, ribs and pork, according to an Uptown Lexington press release.
A Kansas City Barbecue Society representative will teach class participants about the blind judging process and what to look for in the areas of taste, texture, appearance and presentation.
"Taking the judging class not only allows you to apply to be a judge at any KCBS-sanctioned contest in the world, but if you are a competing team you learn what the judges are looking for at an event," said Chad Hodges, chairman of the BBQ Capital Cook-off. "Several of our teams who have competed also took our judge's class. With what they learned, they said they greatly improved their placement in the contests they competed in."
The Third Annual BBQ Capital Cook-off, sanctioned by KCBS, will take place April 26-27 in uptown Lexington. All judges chosen for this event will be certified KCBS judges.
The class size is limited and costs $100 for non-KCBS members (the registration includes a one year membership and a subscription to the Bull Sheet which lists all upcoming contests) and $65 for KCBS members.
For more information, call ULI's office at 249-0383 or visit www.uptownlexington.com and click on BBQ Capital Cook-off.


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Max Eliot leads the Crimson with four goals this season (Gil Talbot).
The Crimson men's water polo team heads south to Princeton, N.J., for four games in the two-day Princeton Invitational Sept 10-11. Harvard will square off against George Washington and No. 17 Princeton on Saturday before facing Johns Hopkins and Fordham on Sunday.
Sept. 10
12:45 p.m. vs. George Washington
5:45 p.m. at No. 17 Princeton
Sept. 11
9:10 a.m. vs. Johns Hopkins
12:40 p.m. vs. Fordham
Complete Princeton Invitational Schedule
Popp – Player of the Week
Senior Alexandre Popp was named the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Northern Division Defensive Player of the Week Sept. 6 after leading the Crimson to a 1-1 record at the MIT Invitational. Popp made 18 saves during the two-game invitational, including 13 against Cal Baptist.
Click here for the full release on Popp's Player of the Week award.
The Crimson went 1-1 at last weekend's MIT Invitational. The squad opened the year with a win over the host Engineers, 13-5. In game two, the Crimson lost to No. 17 Cal Baptist, 13-9.
Harvard went 1-2 at the tournament in 2010 and is 4-10 since 2002.
Junior Max Eliot leads the team with four goals while sophomore William Roller and senior Luka Babic have chipped in three apiece.
About George Washington
Harvard will open the Princeton Invitational with a George Washington team that is riding a three game winning streak. After losing to No. 20 Concordia (Calif.) to start the year, GW rebounded with wins over Penn State Behrend, Notre Dame (Ohio) and Fordham at the Navy Labor Day Open. The 3-1 start is the team's best since 2006.
The Colonials' Daniel Tyner scored 14 goals on just 18 shots last weekend.
About Princeton
The Tigers were ranked No. 16 in the CWPA preseason poll but fell to No. 17 after being idle through the first week of the season. Princeton returns its top four goal scorers from 2010 when the Tigers finished 19-8 overall and were CWPA Southern Division champions.
Princeton will be without returner Jeff Cole for the 2011 season as the co-captain is suffering from a reoccurring shoulder injury.
About Johns Hopkins
Like George Washington, the Blue Jays opened 2011 with a 3-1 record at the Navy Labor Day Open with their only loss coming to No. 20 Concordia (Calif.). Johns Hopkins recorded wins over Vanguard, Diablo Valley and Iona at the tournament.
Kielan Crow had 11 goals and Alex Whittman and Ross Schofield added 10 to lead the Blue Jays.
About Fordham
The Rams are 2-2 on the season after splitting four games at the Navy Labor Day Open. Fordham picked up wins against Mt. St. Antonio and Penn State Behrend while falling to Mercyhurst and George Washington.
Freshman Eric Minowitz was named the CWPA's Northern Division Rookie of the Week after tallying six goals and five steals in four games. Minowitz's six goals are one behind team leader Jack Bakas' seven.
Up Next
Harvard will travel to Annapolis, Md. for the North vs. South tournament Sept. 16-17. The Crimson is set for two challenging matches on Friday against No. 16 Bucknell at 1:30 p.m. and No. 15 Navy at 7:30 p.m. The team will finish the tournament with Gannon at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.


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As Congress continues working toward a deal that could avoid the fiscal cliff, consumers may want to consider what going over it could mean for their wallets. See full story.
Who's to blame for fiscal cliff? You are
Hold up the mirror to find out who's responsible for taking the nation past a precipice of tax hikes and spending cuts, writes Steve Goldstein. See full story.
What a fiscal-cliff plunge would cost you
Here's a breakdown of what the potential tax hikes that a fiscal-cliff plunge would create would mean for you — and the Joneses. See full story.
Senate leaders pursue fiscal-cliff deal
Senate leaders say they are trying to come up with a deal to avert the fiscal cliff of tax increases and spending cuts, emerging optimistic from a White House meeting after U.S. stocks took a sharp dive. See full story.
U.S. stocks sink with hopes for cliff deal
Stocks extend losses into a fifth session on worries that talks between the White House and Congress may not yield a break in the U.S. budget impasse. See full story.
The fiscal cliff is a misleading metaphor, writes Rex Nutting. The tax and spending laws will change on that day, it's true, but the impact will be spread out over many, many months. We're already feeling the pain. See full story.
These not-so-obvious conditions may mean you're headed for danger See full story.


text: Hi, I'm on cPanel. I was following the documentation of litespeed to make custom php.ini works on the server : http://www.litespeedtech.com/suppor...speed_wiki:per_user_ini_in_control_panel_lsws But when i check $VH_ROOT is redirecting to : /opt/lsws/admin/ and not /home/username/ and i see LSWS was using Apache VHost. PHP_suEXEC is enabled Have you any solution for me? Thanks.


text: A car exploded at the parking lot of BJ's Wholesale Club in Stoneham on Sunday afternoon, according to Massachusetts State Police. State Police Lieutenant Daniel Richard said no one was injured in the explosion, which occurred at about 3:40 p.m. at the parking lot of the store, located on Cedar Street. State troopers from the Medford barracks responded, well as the State Police Bomb Squad, and Stoneham fire and police. State Fire Marshal Stephen Coan reported that the explosion was caused by a remote key that, when hit, caused vapors in the car to ignite. The vapors, he said, were present due to plumbing equipment the owner was storing in the car. Several other vehicles in the parking lot were also damaged.Alli Knothe can be reached at email@example.com.


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(Registered members may comment here)
Beauty & The Geek 3 Recap (1/24) The Beauty Is The Beast
Well, Im starting to sound like a broken record! (For those of you who are too young to know what a broken record even is let alone what it sounds like, a record is the old, vinyl disc that we used to listen to music on back in the day, and when they were scratched or broken, the same line would repeat over and over but enough of the technology history lesson.) Ive said it before, and Im going to keep saying it until Cecille is gone from the show the queen of the blondes this season sucks! She is ruining this season for me. This show is not about forming High School-like cliques and fulfilling stereotypes, its about the exact opposite breaking down stereotypes and fostering inclusion of everyone, no matter what random group they may belong to. Cecille, and to some extent Megan, is not even trying to help the geeks or learn how to be a better person herself. Instead, they are perpetuating the stereotype of the bitchy, non-inclusive, dumb blonde. And I hate that.
Back From The Brink
Last week Nate and Cecille eliminated Matt and Andrea from the game. Who knew Cecille would get both of her questions right while Andrea would get neither of hers? So Nate and Cecille returned to the rest of the couples upstairs, and were greeted enthusiastically. Jennylee was truly happy that her crush, Nate, was still in the game for her to flirt with, and Niels was also happy that his good friend Nate was still around. Still, Niels was not happy that Cecille was still around. That bitch is ruthless! Even Niels can see that she is the queen of some sort of high school clique, and this isnt High School Reunion. Almost immediately, Cecille started to spout her venom. She cant wait to give some payback to the team that put her up for elimination. Its funny to me, because what did the blondes expect? Andrea was the last brunette, and in the end this is a game two teams must go up for elimination. Either way, a blonde was going to have to put up another blonde its how it works.
Its Always Sunny In San Diego
The next morning, everyones favorite, nameless host got to explain each groups tasks for the next week with a twist. Mike told them all that they have been working hard for awhile now, so they all are going to get to have some fun in the sun in beautiful San Diego!! Megan was very excited, since she was so stressed out from so much learning, thinking, and actually having to use her brain for once. Unbelievable! I think she likely used her last brain cell to come up with the word learning. San Diegos not going to be all fun and games, though, since the producers are going to be sending the beauties and the geeks to the beach with some homework assignments. For the beauties, they are going to have to study up on radio waves, currents, and circuitselectronics for those of you that arent using a computer right this minute (bad um bum). Megan wants to tell us what her favorite electronic is, but she cant say it on a broadcast network. The editors were kind enough to give us an aural hint a sound bite of your cell phone when its on vibrate and it rings and Im not talking about a cell phone. For the geeks, they are going to learn about fitness and exercise. Each geek will have to come up with a short fitness routine and lead a group through the routine on the beach. Drew is not sure what to make of this task, since the last time he worked out was when Bill Clinton was the President, and Star Trek was cool. Based on the second part of that exclamation, I would think he has never worked out, since I have always watched Star Trek, and I dont remember it ever being considered cool.
As the group arrived, the sun broke out of the clouds and they knew it was going to be a great trip to the beach. Their hotel overlooked the ocean, and also looked like it was really close to the beach. After everyone settled into their rooms, the couples all took turns down in the hotels fitness room so each beauty could give their geek some pointers on what to include in their quick fitness routine. Nate basically goofed around with the weights and made jokes about people thinking he is Californias governor. Yeah, doubt it. Megan really helped Scooter out in an effort to actually win a challenge. Apparently fitness is the one thing she actually knows something about, well, besides posing naked for Playboy. Obviously Mario rarely works out. He just acted like a little kid down in the fitness room, bouncing the giant fitness ball like an 8 year old with ADD. He kept going back to bouncing the ball, much to Nadias dismay. Niels and Jennylee both realize that they will need to win one of the challenges that day, or else they were going up on the block. These two are really at odds with each other, and they are really going to have to learn to work together in order to stay in the game.
A Beauty Of A Boat Ride
At the end of the day, the teams were all rewarded with a surprise sunset cruise on San Diego Bay. Everyone was happy to just relax and have fun for once. Cecille and Megan did what they do bestthat is, drink and be blonde. Scooter and Nate did some weird martial arts re-enactment on the bow of the boat. Others just danced and sang obviously fueled by alcohol. Erin, who probably had a little too much to drink, got extra adventurous by dancing sexily on the bow of the boat in her high heels. Yes, imitating what she has seen numerous times in music videos (Tawny Kitaen, anyone??), Erin pranced around the bow of the boat, hung from a pole with her heels locked into the railing, and just generally made all the guys nervous that she was going to fall flat on her face or into the water. No, she wasnt drunk!
Erin wasnt the only beauty that was drinking too much Cecille set her lips loose after she went overboard on the booze. It started to become really apparent that Cecille was none too happy that she and Nate were put up for possible elimination in the last round. Since she was so spurned by Niels, she drunkenly attacked him with her mouth, telling him he was scared of her, and that she would put his team up in an instant. Later, back at the hotel, Cecilles ranting continued. She blabbed on to Jennylee about how nobody respects someone who cries at nominations, and what a brat Niels is. She even called him a piece of junk, and berated the fact that he lives and goes to school in Berkley. After her verbal bashing, pretty much every remaining contestant did a confessional telling us how they all dont trust Cecille, and think shes a witch for her unrelenting attacks on Niels. Even her buddy Megan strained her brain to call Cecille manipulative. Whatever. Cecille is a bitch. I hope she doesnt win, because she is the least deserving beauty left.
Body By Geek
It is the next morning, and its time for the challenges to start. First up, the geeks get to lead a group in a fitness routine down on the beach. Is it a random group of people on the beach? Hell no! Its the beauties!! Each geek will lead all 5 beauties through their 10 minute routine, and they will be judged by two fitness experts. They will be judged on originality and effectiveness of the workout. First up, Drew. He lead the girls in what looked like a pretty fun routine, if not a goofy one. He did basic moves such as jumping jacks and marching in place while he sang When The Saints Go Marching. Next up was Scooter, and he warmed the girls up with some jumping jacks, and then led them in some squats. He told them all to get in the ballet 3rd position which led Megan to ask in confessional Is Scooter gay? Mario led the fitness group next with his routine If I can do it, anyone can. Niels went next, and his ideal workout is one in which you throw up afterwards. Yeah, try marketing that one. He had the girls jogging in a circle, and then asked them to do a bear crawl, at which everyone looked at him as if he was insane. Finally, Nate came out in colorful 70s stretch pants and shorts, and led the girls in his Geekercise, but mostly he just talked for 10 minutes. In the end, the girls had an hour workout, and the judges decided that Scooter had the best routine.
Beauties Stranded With Metal Detectors
After their workouts, it was the beauties turn for a challenge, and Mike gave them their instructions. First, the geeks were sent across the harbor to another shore, and the beauties were stranded on the other beach. Luckily for them, they were each given a metal detector, with which they had to find metal boxes buried in the sand. Most of the boxes contained the parts for a walkie talkie. The beauties needed to find a talkie, radio their partner for a code to a lock, use the code to unlock a kayak, and kayak across the harbor to their geek. First girl across the harbor wins. Now, none of the girls was happy with the fact that they would have to do more physical work after having just worked out, but when Mike yelled Go!, they all started scurrying around the beach looking for boxes. Megan found the first box, but it was empty. Erin was just as lucky, as was Jennylee. Megan finally found a box with walkie talkie parts, and put it together. But she just didnt seem to know how to work the radio. Instead of releasing the button after she talked, she kept holding onto the button, so Scooter couldnt talk back to her to give her a code. Soon Cecille found a walkie, and was successful in putting it together. She called Nate, got her code, and had her kayak unlocked pretty quickly, all the with Nadia hot on her tail. Cecilles lead was too big, though, since she was in the water first, and didnt seem to have any trouble paddling. Cecille won the challenge, and Jennylee knew her and Niels would be up for elimination.
Vacations Over Elimination Isnt
Back at the mansion a day later, Niels and Jennylee were hitting the books really hard since they knew that Cecille would put them up for elimination out of spite. You see, Cecille likes Jennylee, but its Niels she wants out of the house. Everyone knows it. Unfortunately for her partner, Nate, that means he and Jennylee wont get to flirt with each other anymore if they dont win the elimination round. Once the staircase ceremony begins, the only question is who will Scooter and Megan choose to go against Niels and Jennylee? Actually, there is one other question why are Cecille and Megan wearing the exact same dress, but with different colors? Wheres the fashion police when you need them? Anyway, Scooter answers the first question quickly he chooses Erin and Drew to face off against Niels and Jennylee in the elimination round.
When the elimination round starts, the women are up first as always. Erin picks first, and she is asked who makes the Xbox 360? She has no clue, and answers Sony, when she should have said Microsoft. Jennylees first question is What is the method of communication created in the mid 1830s that uses dots and dashes to represent letters and numbers? She answers Morse Code, and is correct. Erins second question asks her to identify what LCD stands for in relation to screens and monitors. She struggles, and everyone upstairs thinks she should know the answer, but she cant come up with the correct answer of Liquid Crystal Display. Finally, Jennylee can give Niels a commanding lead if she answers correctly. Her question...Spell antenna. What? This is a spelling bee? Whatever. She claims to be the worst speller ever, but she rips out the correct spelling, and gives Niels a 2-0 lead.
For the geeks, Drew goes first, and he must get his question correct in order to stay in the game. He is asked What is the name of the 1977 bodybuilding movie that featured Arnold Schwarzenegger? He thought for a second before answering Lets Pump Iron. Its the wrong answer but close. The movie is actually Pumping Iron. Niels and Jennylee win!
After hugging it out with their opponents, Drew and Erin were asked to leave the mansion. Drew is happy for his experience, and believes he is an entirely new man after the show. He used to have no fashion sense, and even less sense about women, and now he thinks he has the looks and the talk to pull off dates with confidence. Erin thinks she hit the jackpot just by being on the show. She is going to miss Drew a lot, and feels like he taught her a lot. Even though he is a new man, Drew closes the show by spouting some Trekker speak he is going to put his life into Warp 8, and basically Engage!
Next week: Will Nate make his move on Jennylee? And of course, a twist that Nadia doesnt understand.
Im totally Warp 8ing it to the Death Star to score me some stellar love! firstname.lastname@example.com


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The Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival in Tryon will celebrate its 20th anniversary next weekend, and Harry Denton has been a big part of its successful run.
Harry Denton pulled back some aluminum foil to reveal a rack of ribs.
As he inspected the food, he began talking about what it takes to prepare the ribs and other barbecue dishes that have made him so well-known in Polk County.
The Blue Ridge BBQ and Music Festival in Tryon will celebrate its 20th anniversary next weekend, and Denton has been a big part of its successful run. He's twice won first place — once in chicken and once in brisket — and he's been the most successful local cooker in the competition.
Denton was a competitor for 14 consecutive years, but for the past two years, he's been a volunteer. He now inspects the meats entered in the competition.
At 70, Denton is considered a barbecue scholar, and he got his education through 16 years of trial and error.
A former maintenance manager for Simkins Industries, Denton started cooking barbecue on a whim. He loved the food and decided to make it his hobby. But he was also determined that if he was going to do it, he would do it right.
He enrolled in a Kansas City Barbecue Society cooking class and also took a KCBS judging class. After that instruction, Denton hit the ground running, and he didn't waste any time stepping out onto his home turf with his cooking skills. Friends nudged him forward, and Denton, a Columbus resident, entered the festival in 1997.
Denton and his A-Team didn't perform like rookies when they ventured into the competitive world of barbecue. In his first time out, he placed in the top 10 in all three categories — brisket, pork and chicken — at the barbecue festival.
After getting his feet wet in Tryon, the A-Team traveled to Shelby for the Hog Happnin' Festival, where he was crowned Reserve Grand Champion in 1997.
"You just try to do the best you can do and, luckily, we've done pretty good," Denton said.
Now Denton is meticulous. After he entered the barbecue world, he traveled through North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee to educate himself on different techniques and different barbecue flavors.
"I'm always working on my taste," he said.
His interest in barbecue hasn't been limited to the competition circuit. He also caters. He's got a trailer that folds out into a barbecuing kitchen, so he can cook no matter where he is. He sets up shop at many of the Polk County festivals.
The business side, however, doesn't compare to the competitions. Denton remembers not sleeping the nights before the Tryon festival. He'd show up at midnight on Friday.
"As quick as they inspect my meat, I put my dry rub on," he said.
Denton would get his pork and brisket going first, and then around 5 a.m., he'd start his chicken and ribs. The process is painstaking, Denton said, but he doesn't hesitate to identify his favorite part.
"Preparing it and getting it ready is really enjoyable," he said. "Even before you cook it, it makes you hungry."
When that process is complete and it's time for the judging, Denton admits that he would get "uptight and nervous."
"You want everything beautiful when you turn it in," he said. His wife, Judy, helped the A-Team with appearances, decorating the boxes in which the barbecue was served.
A successful competitor has to have great-tasting food and a top-notch presentation.
Denton is sympathetic to the stress the cookers arriving in Tryon this week will be feeling. While they might be anxious, the environment at Harmon Field provides a serene backdrop, he said. Denton has competed all over the Carolinas, but he says the festival in Tryon can't be beat.
"I love to cook here more than anywhere else IForm'd go," he said. "Mother Nature makes it beautiful."
He would pull up his mobile kitchen to the banks of the North Pacolet River, fire up his grill and go to work.
"I love to cook beside the water," he said.
These days, however, he has no intention of getting back into the competition. The circuit is expensive, he said, and Denton gave that up when he retired in 2011.
Instead of competing, now he takes time to enjoy the festival. He'll be walking around and talking to cookers and just "meeting old friends."
"I like to go around, eat the barbecue and talk to them," Denton said.
Some of his friends aren't from out of town. Shane Blackwell, owner of Mountain View Deli and BBQ in Columbus, is an admirer of the local legend.
"Harry's a good guy," Blackwell said. "It's awesome that he's volunteering and giving back to the community."
Denton loves to volunteer at the festival, but when he's out there mixing it up with the other cookers, he can't help but miss his days of competition.
"I do miss it," he said. "It was tough (to give it up)."
Nonetheless, he's happy that Polk County hosts an event that he loves and thousands of people come from all over the country to eat the barbecue, listen to the music and enjoy the local businesses.
"We're lucky to have it here in Polk County," Denton said. "People love to come down here."


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The festivities start Saturday, with "A Child's Christmas on the Prairie" from 1 to 3 p.m. At this program, families will enjoy viewing the beautiful decorations while participating in a variety of pioneer Christmas activities, including cookie decorating, caroling in the old church, story time and more.
In addition, all children age 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. No reservations are required.
The museum will also be opening its doors after hours for its annual "Christmas on the Prairie" open house later in December. This year's open house will be held on three consecutive nights, Dec. 18-20, from 5 to 7 p.m.
Bundle up and enjoy the decorations, carolers and even roasted chestnuts in the museum's courtyard. Tour the village buildings, then warm up with refreshments in the High Plains Education Building.
The open house is free and open to anyone who wishes to attend.
Call the museum at (970) 522-3895 for more details.


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New Slow Loris Species Discovered in Borneo
Researchers have discovered a new slow loris species in the jungles of Borneo, according to findings published this week in the American Journal of Primatology.
Known for its toxic bite, the slow loris -- a nocturnal primate found across Southeast Asia -- is closely related to a lemur and is characterized by unique fur coloration on its face and body.
An international team of scientists pinpointed the new species, found in Borneo's central-east highland area, by studying the distinctive colorings of the faces of the animals.
"Differences among these facemasks resulted in recognition of four species of Borneaon and Philippine lorises," the statement said. "Of these, Nycticebus kayan is a new group unrecognized before as distinct."
The team's analysis also recognized two other species, previously considered as possible sub-species, as unique.
"In the first study to quantify facial mask differences, we have recognized three new species of slow iris, two of which were recognized as subspecies at some point in the past, but are now elevated to species status, and one previously unrecognized group," said Rachel Munds of the University of Missouri - Columbia.
"This finding will assist in conservation efforts for these enigmatic primates, although survey work in Borneo suggests the new species are either very difficult to locate or their numbers may be very small."


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2007 Football
McCullough named Player of the Week
Sam McCullough named Player of the Week in Don Hansen's Football Gazette
November 2, 2007
GREENWOOD , Ind. - Bluffton University's Sam McCullough (Bluffton, Ohio/H.S.), Hanover College's Michael Spillman (Franklin, Ind./H.S.), and Anderson University running back Denny Kimmel (Markleville, Ind./ Pendleton Heights) have been named Players of the Week in national publications for their performances last weekend. McCullough and Kimmel were two of 15 Division-III players selected to Don Hansen's National Weekly Football Gazette National Players of the Week list, while Spillman earned a spot on the D3football.com Team of the Week.
Bluffton senior linebacker Sam McCullough continued his sensational senior season in a last second 24-21 loss to Hanover. McCullough led the Beavers with 19 tackles, including seven solos, in the loss to the Panthers. The senior also added two sacks and a fumble recovery against Hanover. The Bluffton linebacker leads the HCAC with 14.9 tackles per game this fall and ranks second nationally in that category. Bluffton (0-8, 0-5 HCAC) will welcome Mount St. Joseph to town Saturday.
Kimmel, a senior tailback for the Ravens, was the standout performer on special teams for Anderson in a 33-15 loss to Rose-Hulman. Kimmel set three new Anderson school records for special teams in the loss. The senior returned four kickoffs for 179 yards, including a 79-yard touchdown and a 75-yard return that set up another score. The AU standout finished with 272 all-purpose yards on the day and broke a 20-year old record for most kickoff return yards in a season with 757. He also broke a 35-year old record for highest kickoff return average in a season at 25.5 yards per game and the single game record for kickoff return yards in a game. Anderson (2-6, 1-4 HCAC) will look for their second conference win against Hanover this weekend.
Hanover freshman linebacker Michael Spillman turned in a big game for the Panthers in a 24-21 win over Bluffton. The freshman recorded eight solo tackles and 14 total tackles on the day and also added two sacks for 16 yards lost. Spillman ranks second on the Panthers with 59 tackles this season and has a total of 6.5 tackles for loss on the year. Hanover (2-6, 2-3 HCAC) will travel to Anderson Saturday.


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This guy gets paid to do what 4chaners happily do for free and he complains about needing therapy.
This guy gets paid to do what 4chaners happily do for free and he complains about needing therapy.
You'd hire a 4channer to figure out what is objectionable?
Captcha: suicide
You'd hire a 4channer to figure out what is objectionable?
Sure, you just measure the time taken to view the image. If it's long enough to masturbate, it's objectionable.
Bestiality not beastiality.
Bestiality not beastiality.
I doubt that there's anything "best" about it.
An unnamed police department in the United States had a policy for child pornography investigators:
* You could only do it for a few months then it was someone else's turn
* You had mandatory psychological help
Oh, and you had to be trained ahead of time.
Actual *investigating* would be a far cry than just looking at images fly past your face.
In those cases the police get up and personal with what is going on, sometimes for months on end, the children and the offenders. They get involved. This is why they are effected.
I used to be a content moderator and then a trainer for content moderators, and I can tell you that it's slightly different. Child pornography investigators will spend a lot of time over a small amount of images, all of which are horrific. Content moderation is all about getting through a large amount of material quickly, most of which will turn out to be false positives.
Two months isn't an option. It takes a month to get up to an acceptable speed, and about three months to really hit your stride. You have
Here [nytimes.com] is a 2010 New York Times article on the same subject. Seems like not much has changed. Apparently a bunch of it is outsourced, which in addition to the nature of the work, leads to questions about content privacy, especially when some of the images being reviewed are non-public (e.g. stuff you've sent through Facebook messages).
This is one of those sick-o jobs that messes with your brain so much that it's in your boss's and employer's best legal interest to NOT know what you did.
Can you imagine the lawsuits if Google DID have these guys on the payroll and, 5 years later, ONE of them went nuts-o and harmed another employee, and that employee was NOT aware of the attacker's previous job description? Google might win in the long run but they'd have to fight an uphill battle.
By making sure the person is never on the payroll and relying on the standard practice of only verifying employment dates, job titles/job descriptions, and eligibility for rehire to future employers, they've pretty much immunized themselves if one of there censors goes nuts and kills someone 5 years down the road.
Well, they have, EXCEPT legal theories of liability change over time and those changes have a way of biting you ex-post-facto.
Can you imagine the lawsuits if Google DID have these guys on the payroll and, 5 years later, ONE of them went nuts-o and harmed another employee, and that employee was NOT aware of the attacker's previous job description?
The risk is not employee on employee violence, it is risk of suicide.
isn't that employee on employee violence?
Not if they're contractors!
Porn only effects people when contraception fails
Is that a spelling error or not? As 'effect' is quite accurate in this case...
Wow, I figure if anybody had to do that for a year, they should be given a pension, a quiet place to get away from things, and a LOT of therapy.
I can't imagine being the poor bastard that has to look at the worst stuff on the internet. I've glimpsed enough to know that I wouldn't want to see any more of it. I'm frequently appalled at some of the things people choose to see.
I think even the law enforcement guys can get fucked up from this, and they understand the need for support systems. Your first job our of school? That would ruin you forever.
Maybe, just maybe not.
Agreed with a little help afterwards, you could pull ahead of it such that "nothing can shock you ever again". They do it in the Military all the time, though in a more physical style.
Agreed with a little help afterwards, you could pull ahead of it such that "nothing can shock you ever again". They do it in the Military all the time, though in a more physical style.
I would argue that if you take the most bad-assed military, police, or what have you
Unless you really want your military made up of vicious sadists, I completely fail to see how this kind of thing wouldn't cause lasting damage -- or at least the need for some heavy duty counseling and support.
That much exposure to every single horrible thing that ever gets filmed is bound to wear down anybody. And anybody it doesn't, likely scores in the very scary end of humanity.
Agreed with a little help afterwards, you could pull ahead of it such that "nothing can shock you ever again". They do it in the Military all the time, though in a more physical style.
The U.S. Army Reports Record High Suicide Rates for July [huffingtonpost.com]
Experts: Vets' PTSD, violence a growing problem [cnn.com]
Maybe not.
It's unfortunate google doesn't take better care of the people they hire for this work, given the job as described it's not really surprising it fucks a lot of people up. You'd kinda think there should be a fairly extensive training programme first, and then a coping programme after, if nothing else because you really need to weed out the ones who are there because they enjoy it.
You also need to have regular screenings so that you can see how it is changing people over time... and pull the plug on them sooner rather than later. I see the scenario as being more one of: contract for 1 year; screen at hiring, at start of job, after 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year. If at any point, their psych profile shifts in a statistically meaningful way, pull them off frontline work and get them doing any of the other jobs required in that department, at least until their profile stabilizes
Sounds pretty crappy. My first thought was, "It's basically being paid to look at the very worst threads on
They better have paid well, because while I consider myself pretty desensitized to a lot of things there's some stuff that still gets me (mainly involving permanent bodily harm like the Lamborghini Tool Pull from Jackass 3D).
In the end, he needed therapy, and since he was a contractor, he was let go instead of being hired as a full time employee.
Since Google doesn't do bad things, it was obviously his fault.
Although I could understand if he had to read the new Digg.
I worked for a very large company and analysed data from network packet capture devices that would sift through data and find interesting items. It was quite a head job after awhile. So many people doing dumb things at work and getting caught. Reasonable seeming people looking at fucked up porn (men and women coworkers), people hooking up with random strangers in public restrooms (facilitating this online on their work computers, it happens alot), people having groupsex and viewing the photos at work (via web email), total perverts preying on teenagers (stockholm syndrome in full effect), really anything wrenched or nasty you hear about in the news is like the tip of the iceberg when given a large enough sample size of the general able populous. It may have tweaked my view of people in retrospect, basically it was a really long course in human psychology. I wouldn't ever do that shit again, or anything close to it, but I have respect for people who do.
This is the problem. We want to hide ourselves from what humanity truly is but at the same time we want to act like we want to be open and accepting and to actually study humanity. You cannot ignore the fact that the vast majority of people on this planet if not all people on this planet have some really ugly behavior. If we are ever going to truly know ourselves we have to know not just the good side but the dark side as well. So the fear of the darkside actually hinders us in understanding our species.
> It may have tweaked my view of people in retrospect, basically it was a really long course in human psychology.
The fact that you think that, I view, as evidence that it may have tweaked your view of people.
One of the most interesting drug policy debates that I ever had was with a toxicologist at a major hospital. I don't remember the meat of the debate so much as the ending, her view was just...so dark. Thats when it hit me.... her only experience in this area, is in seeing the worst of the worst. She doesn't see the guy who gets stoned and eats some munchies. She sees the guy who tried to kill himself. She sees the guy who injected himself with an unknown dose of an unknown white powder in a bag, produced by god knows who, and is now having a life threatening reaction.
In short, the sample size that she has may be large, but, its all highly biased towards the absolute worst. A large portion of her professional career is dealing with people having serious issues beyond what even most drug users ever experience.
It is like you are looking at information thats coming through a filter. Its like sitting behind a big red gel filter...all you ever get is red light. Everything is shades of red. Its a distillation process....and you are sitting in the condenser. You make the boiling pot bigger and bigger, fill it with more of the same.... and what happens to the output? It goes up. The more you put in to distill, the more distillate you get out.... even if the overall rate of it is the same as it was before.
It doesn't say anything about the population as a whole except to help define the extremes in excruciating detail.... but the vast majority of "people" is not the extremes at all. Though, in many real ways, this is hardly unique. News is all rare events. Multiple murders, heinous crimes, anything that happens rarely for the size of our population. In fact, there is almost an inverse relationship to how many people are effected by something and how big of a story it can be.
I have to imagine that I am far from the only one that is disappointed in Google. Perhaps I expect too much, but they are one company I would think better of than to do pull something like that. I normally have a lot of respect for them in most things.
A few years back I worked at an early TV-over-the-internet company (this was pre-Netflix and the company didn't really catch on as it required set-top boxes).
While my job was fairly mundane (mostly setting up new storage filers), I often had to go into the recording room: studios would send us a bunch of movies, TV shows, etc. on non-copy-protected DVDs and a bunch of staffers would spend all day ripping these DVDs to our storage system. Each staffer had to ensure that the ripping was going well by reviewing all the content on a bank of 24 (6 rows of 4 monitors) small monitors.
About 10% of the content the company hosted (which was responsible for about 90% of its income) was porn. All pretty standard fare, really, particularly for the internet: the worst they had was some mild kink/S&M stuff -- all stuff you could buy at your neighborhood adult shop.
On its own and viewed in moderation, not really a big deal...but the staffers got a little warped after a year in the recording room, particularly when they'd have several monitors of porn, a few monitors of kids movies (e.g. Disney stuff), a few of various movies, etc. It wasn't so much that porn was bad, it was just that the juxtaposition of porn and all the other stuff is a bit off-putting, or so they said. I believe it.
I can't imagine the horrors seen by the content-review people on sites where media is uploaded by the public. Poor bastards.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/technology/19screen.html [nytimes.com]
The 2-year old article I linked also explains that all Google content reviewers are on one-year contract because of the nature of the work and have access to counseling. From TFA it seems many of these reviewers got the false impression that they would be hired fulltime after completing the one year. Considering that Google seem to have pretty tough hiring process, I'm not surprised that very few of these reviewers get hired fulltime. Their managers must be filthy liars though.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/19/technology/19screen.html [nytimes.com]
The 2-year old article I linked also explains that all Google content reviewers are on one-year contract because of the nature of the work and have access to counseling. From TFA it seems many of these reviewers got the false impression that they would be hired fulltime after completing the one year. Considering that Google seem to have pretty tough hiring process, I'm not surprised that very few of these reviewers get hired fulltime. Their managers must be filthy liars though.
Not getting hired full time would probably piss me off more than anything else. If I had to sacrifice doing a job like that and got duped then I would be pissed.
I guess that means I have empathy for the employees.
Spare a thought for all those poor people at Comedy Central who have to watch Fox News all day in search of comedy material for Jon Stewart.
The IRS has pretty clear guidelines about who is a "contractor" versus who is an "employee".
The IRS auditors are understaffed and overloaded. Google has deep enough pockets to hire enough attorneys and auditors to make them wish that they hadn't bothered. No, the IRS is going to spend their limited time and money on softer and easier targets that are more likely to pay up quickly, not a large and politically well connected company like Google.
The story makes it sound like Google only uses contractors for this job because they know nobody could hold it down for more than a year. But it sounds more like Google is misusing contractors the way I've seen happen at many high-tech companies. Bad managers don't have it together well enough to come up with a proper plan for expanding their departments, so whenever they have a new project that needs heads they don't have, they hire some contractors. These are always hired under a time limit, to avoid a repeat of the Vizcaino v Microsoft [findlaw.com] lawsuit.
This ties in with one of my pet peeve with Google: they only seem to hire really brilliant people with great academic credentials who are never expected to bother themselves with scutwork. On the rare occasions when they realize that the scutwork can't be avoided (like manual crap filtering) they hire temps. Thus scutwork either doesn't get done or is done by people who aren't really a part of the employee community, and don't coordinate well with the real employees. That's why so many of their commercial products die on the vine, why so many of their products stay in beta mode for years, and why they have such abysmal documentation and tech support.
They did two things right: they came up with the best search engine ever, and they figured out how to make it generate huge tons of money. This allows the rest of the company to be run wastefully and ineffectively. The shareholders don't care for this, but the voting stock is controlled by a small cadre of insiders.
This is why companies love independent contractors for this sort of job.
There are plenty of studies that show us just how very little self-awareness and self-control the typical person actually has. Virtually everybody thinks they're made of stronger mettle than the other guy; virtually everybody thinks they can handle pretty much anything life could throw at them. Nobody wants to believe that they're the person who'd crack under pressure; nobody wants to believe that they're the person who would keep walking past a mugging. People tend to think that the flaws and limitations of the human race are things that apply primarily to other people.
Successful companies know this; manipulating people is a key part of how a company becomes successful in the first place. Google knows that this kind of work will eventually destroy the mental health of the person performing the work. Why would they shoulder the responsibility for dealing with this fallout when they have a nigh limitless supply of perfectly unremarkable human beings who think they're strong enough to hack it?
Note that I don't condone this behavior in the least; I find it reprehensible. But we live in a world where personal responsibility, level playing fields, and common sense are sacrosanct, and that's not likely to change anytime soon. Everybody thinks they're David; nobody ever considers the odds that they're one of the countless schmucks Goliath laid out before his ultimate fight.
This is why Tech needs unions so we don't have this contractor abuse as least obamacare gives them health care.
One word: OSHA. Much as Google may not like it, they're not exempt from workplace health and safety regulations. If those truly are the working conditions, the contractors need to have a good sit-down with one of the local OSHA inspectors complete with show-and-tell. Note: being a contractor doesn't change things, the regulations apply to the workplace and not just the employees.
Air is water with holes in it.


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Lawyers for the now 16-year-old severely disabled youth walked into a north Florida courthouse and filed suit against the Special Olympics of Florida.
The suit charges the organization was sloppy when it approved George Tommy Toole to be a volunteer. Toole is now serving a 30-year prison sentence for abusing the boy.
The boy's attorney is Dean Le Boeuf.
"This organization hasn't stepped up to the plate to ensure that the volunteers that they place with these children have thorough screening and background checks," says Dean.
Toole was allowed to stay alone with the boy in a Tampa hotel room while attending the state competition two years ago.
At a news conference, lawyer Scott Gwartney displayed volunteer forms used by the Special Olympics. In Toole's case, staff initialed that a background check had been completed the same day the application was filled out.
"We don't know what background checks they did, but we know that it's virtually impossible to do a full criminal background check that same day," Gwartney says.
The organization uses the same application Thursday.
Experts say criminal background checks aren't enough. They say organizations like Special Olympics must dig deeper. Special Olympics expressed shock when told they were being sued.
And with summer camp season just around the corner, parents are being urged to ask the right questions, including what are the procedures for checking counselors and their mental state.
Again, experts say criminal checks aren't enough, but that organizations must use personality assessment tests.


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Testimony of James P. Evans MD, PhD
Hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, July 20, 2010
Thank you very much for inviting me to testify. I am a physician and scientist who specializes in medical genetics. My research involves the use of emerging technologies to analyze the human genome for genes involved in cancer predisposition and the ways in which people use genetic information. I am the Editor-in-Chief of Genetics in Medicine, the official journal of the American College of Medical Genetics. But first and foremost I am a physician. I am a board certified internist who has a general medical practice. I am also board certified in Clinical Medical Genetics and in Molecular Genetic Diagnostics in which capacity I see and test patients who have, or are at risk of having, genetic disorders such as predisposition to cancer.
The breathtaking pace of discovery in the field of genetics is providing new opportunities for rapidly and inexpensively analyzing the human genome. We are now able to routinely query an individual's genome at over 1 million sites and the "$1,000 genome", in which access to one's entire genetic code will be feasible for many individuals, will soon be a reality.
Such advances in technology have great promise to revolutionize medicine and usher in a new era of genomic medicine. These advances will lead to great progress in our basic understanding of disease, improved diagnostic abilities, new therapies and personalized prescription of drugs.
But the rapid pace of technological progress has left us understandably impatient for immediate application to patient care. Like scientists and doctors, the public is curious and hopeful about genetics and has demonstrated an interest in analyzing and understanding their own genome. Indeed, we may be approaching an era in which much, if not most, genetic testing could be done outside the confines of the traditional doctor's office or medical setting.
In part to meet this burgeoning interest, a wide range of direct to consumer (DTC) genetic testing entities has arisen, a potentially positive development for both patients and the public. We should encourage individuals to be involved in, and be the primary directors of, their own healthcare. Truly participatory, individualized medicine is a worthy goal and one we should strive for. People should have access to the information contained in their own genome.
But it is also critical that they be assured that the information they receive is of high quality, that they have recourse to disinterested advice about the meaning of that information, that their privacy be protected and that claims made by the purveyors of such testing comport with reality.
Unfortunately this is not always the case at present. The most egregious problem – and the most remediable – is the distinct gap between claims made by the providers of such services and the value of the information actually imparted. Most of the purveyors of DTC genetic testing appeal both implicitly and explicitly to the purported medical value of the genetic tests in question. We hear claims that scanning your genome for genetic variants provides a "road map to better health", allows one to "take control of your health future" or that "knowledge is power" with regard to disease. Indeed, these are the central advertising logos of the three most prominent players in the genomic DTC arena. Yet on each page of every report provided to patients by these companies, some variant of the following disclaimer is made: "Information provided is not intended as, nor does it provide, medical advice, treatment, diagnosis, or treatment guidelines." The explicit health claims and the accompanying disclaimer (in tiny font) cannot both be true. And indeed they are not. The disclaimer is correct. Such information, by and large, utterly lacks medical significance. This would be true even if we understood how to interpret such tests, which, as clearly demonstrated by scrutiny of the literature and the recent GAO investigation, we do not.
It is often submitted by boosters of such technology that mere knowledge of one's risks will be of benefit to an individual. Yet, little evidence suggests that this is the case. Statistics about risk are tricky. I know, to a first approximation, what you, the reader of this document, will likely die of…cardiovascular disease or cancer. These maladies are not called "common diseases" for nothing. They are exceedingly common and one is at considerable risk for them regardless of whether one happens to be at a relatively increased or decreased risk when compared with the average individual in the population. Thus, even for those at decreased relative risk, the chances are that they too will die of one of these common diseases. Thus, finding out that you're at double or half the "average" risk of a common disease is simply not medically meaningful.
Likewise, for rare diseases, what does defining your risk really mean? The risk of a US citizen developing Crohns disease, a disease of the GI tract, is about 1/1000. In what way is it useful to know that I'm instead at a 1/500 risk or a 1/2000 risk?
It is instructive to examine how we use risk information in pursuit of better health. Your doctor doesn't measure your cholesterol and blood pressure because simple knowledge of that risk information is beneficial to your health. Rather, she measures it because we have ways of altering your blood pressure or cholesterol. As a physician, I simply don't know what to do with the knowledge that I or my patient is at, say, a 40% increased risk for prostate cancer. We have no interventions that make that information useful.
Some claim that knowledge of an increased risk will motivate people to live more healthy life styles. Yet there is no good data thus far that genetic information has any special qualities that will motivate individuals any more effectively than do our current admonitions.
But what if I'm wrong? What if there really is something inherently special about genetic information that will induce behavioral change? I sincerely doubt that this will be the case but let's grant that dubious proposition for a minute. If so, we have an even bigger problem. Because for everyone I find to be at increased risk of, say, heart disease, I am mathematically guaranteed to find another at decreased risk. If genetic information has magical abilities to affect behavior then we run the inevitable risk that such information will induce adverse behavior in the other half of the population, to their ultimate detriment. The bottom line is that whether you are at increased risk or decreased risk of disease, a healthy lifestyle will benefit you and there is little to be gained from finely parsing that risk. The gap between claims and reality should be closed. And it doesn't even require new regulations, just enforcement of existing standards that are, at least in part, promulgated and promoted by the FTC.
Another important issue before us is what sources of information the public has about the meaning of their results. I would argue that the vast majority of test results provided by most DTC genetic companies are simply of entertainment, not medical value. As such I see little potential for harm and see no problem with the public having full access to such information - as long as it is not oversold in the way I've just been describing.
But mixed in with trivial and fun tests (that, for example, assay your likelihood of having thick earwax or liking Brussels sprouts) are a few tests offered by such companies that have very serious medical consequences. For example, one major purveyor's panel of DTC tests include, along with trivial matters, a test for specific mutations which result in an exceedingly high risk of breast and ovarian cancer. Thus, having signed up for innocuous information about one's ancestry and possible food preferences, women may also find out via the company's website that they should perhaps consider bilateral mastectomies and removal of their ovaries. Startlingly, the recipients of such information have no recourse to even talk with a qualified professional about their result and its implications. I think that people should be free to get medical tests on their own terms. But if one takes on the responsibility of informing someone that they have tested positive for a mutation that could well lead to very serious – indeed life changing - consequences, then one should ensure that the individual can at least pick up a phone and talk with someone knowledgeable about its implications for them and for their loved ones. I don't leave my patients in the lurch when I discover devastating information about their health and doing so should not become a new standard of the internet age.
Ensuring quality testing is also of paramount importance as we try to realize the potential of genomic information. Simply put, if such information has true medical value, then its quality should be ensured like any other medical test. This is not too much to ask. I applaud the recent move of the FDA to take a risk-calibrated approach to the regulation of such testing. Their action is especially timely given the recent mix up of 87 samples which occurred from a major purveyor of DTC genomics. In formulating appropriate regulations it is important to keep in mind that risk calibration is possible. There is no reason that each test must be regulated to the same degree. Rather, the seriousness of the implications of a given test can guide the degree to which it must be regulated.
Protecting the public's privacy is critical. A tiny sample of your DNA can serve to differentiate you from every other human who has ever lived. Thus, it seems reasonable that the public should be assured that their samples and their genomic information are protected. What do we do when a company goes bankrupt and ownership of your uniquely identifying genetic information suddenly may become the property of a venture capital firm? We need clear and enforceable guidelines for how such information is handled by its (likely numerous) owners.
As we seek to employ genomic information in healthcare it's critical and sometimes difficult to remember that medicine and science are very different pursuits. Unfortunately good ideas are insufficient to guide the practice of medicine. We've learned that we must demand evidence of efficacy and safety before we translate what seem like good ideas into medical care. If we do not it is our patients who will inevitably pay the price.
No one is more excited about the future of genomics than I am, nor feels more strongly that it has the potential to usher in a new era of medicine that will benefit us all. I welcome the entry of quality-minded and responsible entrepreneurs into the field. Medicine is often validly criticized for being too slow to change and I think we have plenty to learn from innovative cutting edge companies, some of the representatives of which are also testifying today.
But as a physician who deals these issues daily I do not feel that it is paternalistic to ask that the public not be deceived by exaggerated claims, that their privacy be protected, that tests be of high quality and that they have recourse to unbiased information about the meaning of their results. Regulation does not mean proscription. We can embrace an exciting future in which the public has access to its genomic information but we should do so in a responsible manner and risk-calibrated regulation is part of the answer. Indeed, it seems obvious to me that the interests of companies and the public are actually fully aligned since both their long-term business interests and public's health will thrive only when tests and the claims made for those tests are trusted.
I believe that the public deserves access to the information contained in their own genomes. But they also deserve an honest accounting of what such information means and the assurance that it is derived in a manner that ensures quality, reliability and confidentiality.


text: We just tried out the new Cir*kis from Hasbro. Much like the strategy game Blokus (originally with Educational Insights but now distributed by Mattel), Cir*kis has a grid platform and you play with plastic pieces. Blokus is much more straightforward and fun to play. See our full review. Cir*kis is more complicated–you're not blocking your opponent but making your own circles and stars and keeping track with pegs. It's just not as elegant a game.


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The race is on to persuade Americans that Obamacare is either the worst idea since Prohibition or the best idea since Social Security or Medicare.
A great, hyper-partisan public relations war is now under way that will continue through the 2014 if not the 2016 elections.
So far, from September 2013 through May 2014, I count 10 battles in the PR Informational War.
Next comes a TV, radio, print and Internet ad campaign and propaganda war going through the November 2014 midterm elections if not beyond to sway and manipulate voters. That ad war has already begun in the states of vulnerable incumbent Democrats. In January, they began to face a $20 million barrage of negative ads from Americans for Prosperity, funded in part by the billionaire Koch brothers. Patriot Majority USA, a progressive group, is firing back with ads attacking the Koch brothers and likely Republican nominees, though the PAC has not yet begun to match the AFP's ad buy.
It's not clear yet whether or when Democratic candidates themselves will respond aggressively and tout the successes of the Affordable Care Act. Yet they do have increasingly positive data to trumpet.
Like most complex legislation in the real world, Obamacare is shaping up to be three steps forward and one step backward -- a net plus, but with some real downsides.
Latest Rounds in the Perceptions War, Back to the First
* Round Ten: Fox News Predicts Most Employer-Provided Insurance Will Disappear By 2020. Call it blue smoke and mirrors, but conservative propagandists, frustrated that their predictions of immediate doom for Obamacare in 2014 have not come true, are now projecting that the employer-based health insurance system will collapse by 2020. "The research firm S&P IQ predicts less than 10 percent of those who get insurance at work will still get it there ten years from now," reports Jim Angle of Fox News. Kaiser Health News counters that a wholesale shift away from employer-sponsored plans is unlikely. They analyse the question without Fox's hyperpartisan spin. In some cases, it would be to the advantage of employees, who would receive $2000 or more from the employer for health care, and to employers who would have a fixed cost for employee health care.
* Round Nine: Projections on Obamacare Participation Longterm. By the end of 2016, Robert Laszewski, president of Health Policy and Strategy Associates, projects that 20 million people should be enrolled "for a sustainable pool," with a mix of healthy and sick people. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects that by 2017, Obamacare will slash the number of uninsured. Some 28 million Americans will enroll in health insurance, down from 57 million in 2013.
After 2017, the remaining uninsured would consist of 30 percent undocumented immigrants, 20 percent -- those eligible for Medicaid but choose not to enroll; five percent ineligible for Medicaid because their state has chosen not to expand coverage, and 45 percent who choose not to purchase insurance through their employer or on the individual market. CBO report (pdf).
Nearly six million poor Americans will be deprived coverage because (currently) 25 states refuse to provide Medicaid insurance coverage for them. After 2017, nearly 30 million will remain uninsured, the CBO estimates. That number could continue to decrease if local health insurance markets expand, offer more competition or consolidate and offer more efficient services, if states that have so far opted out of Medicaid expansion agree to do so, and if Congress passes immigration reform allowing undocumented immigrants a path to citizenship with health insurance.
Somewhat less than four million consumers (see below) may, in the first year of Obamacare, find health care policies too expensive in their local marketplace, deductibles higher, or their employers pressuring workers to work part-time in order to avoid paying insurance benefits. A chunk of these consumers may simply prefer to pay a penalty for non-compliance with the law. Market reforms may eventually reach them.
Since more than 13% of American motorists did not have legally required auto insurance in 2011, during the Great Recession, despite serious financial penalties and even the threat of jail in some states, it's unlikely that the US will ever reach 100% compliance and complete universal coverage without a single payer system that pays all health care costs and taxes all citizens a relatively small amount for providing health care, as Canada and many European nations provide.
* Round Eight: Obamacare's Impact on Growth in Federal Health Care Spending and the Deficit, Short-term and Long-term Projections. A CBO study estimates that federal health care spending for 2012 is coming in at 15% below initial estimates, and that hundreds of billions of dollars are being saved in Medicare and Medicaid. For the fourth straight year, the rate of growth in health care spending has declined, and the CBO attributes "a significant part" of the savings to health care restructuring resulting from Obamacare, according to Forbes.com.
As for the cost of emergency room visits, studies conflict on the impact of Obamacare. A years-long study in Massachusetts found an eight percent decrease in emergency department visits with the enactment of Romneycare, the model for Obamacare. But an Oregon study indicated a 40 percent increase in emergency room visits when Medicaid was expanded. Initially, it seems emergency rooms will be over-burdened and under-staffed, but if they learn how to better manage patients and set up more clinics for routine and preventive care, costs could decline, wait times could shorten and care could improve.
* Round Seven: Obamacare's Impact on US Employment, Short-term and Long-term: Opponents and supporters of Obamacare rushed to put a spin a CBO projection about the workforce impact of Obamacare through 2021. Joseph Rago of The Wall Street Journal editorial page published a flattering portrait of Casey Mulligan, the University of Chicago professor who "exposed the job losses in Obamacare" and convinced the CBO to revise its earlier numbers.
Thom Tillis, a Republican US Senate candidate in North Carolina, immediately accused incumbent Democratic Senator Kay Hagan of causing the loss of two million jobs by supporting Obamacare.
Supporters countered that, actually, two million people over eight years would experience more economic freedom, decide not to work, or work less, or become entrepreneurs and consultants, because they were no longer dependent on their employer for affordable health insurance.
Factcheck.org called out Tillis and other Republicans for misusing the CBO report, and quoted the author of the CBO study to explain how some Republicans were distorting the analysis.
Round Six: Government Bailout or Reasonable Assistance to Insurance Companies? Opponents of Obamacare say that it amounts to a taxpayer-funded bailout of the insurance industry, to the tune of $450 million for one insurer alone, Humana. Supporters reply that no, it's a reasonable feature of the law, a built-in shock absorber that will stabilize the insurance market "while carriers adjust to new regulations that prohibit them from denying coverage, withholding benefits,or charging higher premiums to people with pre-existing medical conditions." Unless you're an ideological zealot, it's really premature to come to any conclusions about this. This debate will go on until at least 2017.
* Round Five: More than eight million signed up before deadline to avoid $100 tax penalty. The Obama administration announced that more than eight million Americans enrolled in health care through the exchanges by the March 31st open enrollment deadline to avoid a tax penalty of $100 for lack of coverage. This number is AHEAD of the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office's projections. And the Gallup Poll reported that the number of uninsured has declined from a peak of 18% in 2013 to 15.6 percent in the first quarter of 2013, the lowest level since before the recession began in 2008.
Obamacare opponents remain skeptical of the numbers. They gleefully predicted that sign-ups would fall so far short that the system would collapse, in an "adverse selection death spiral." But even Obamacare critic Avid Roy of Forbes.com wrote a column headlined, "Sorry, Conservatives, But Based On the Latest Sign-Up Figures, There Won't Be an Obamacare Death Spiral."
* Round Four: Obama Administration's PR Comeback. The front end of the website was mostly fixed by December 1, 2013 and Americans started enrolling in force. More than two million Americans signed up for Obamacare by the third week in December, more than 3.3 million by the end of January 2014, and more than 4.2 million in February.
Journalist Andrew Sullivan declared "a new era of freedom begins now" for those Americans newly enrolled in affordable health insurance, no longer discriminated against because of pre-existing conditions. Their most common expression? "Relief." Plus, "peace of mind, security and health,' Sullivan wrote, citing his own experience as an HIV-positive entrepreneur and the experiences of others.
More than four million poor Americans signed up for expanded Medicaid under Obamacare, to begin receiving health care coverage January 1, 2014. As Ezra Klein wrote on Bloomberg.com, "If the point of health-care reform is covering people who need health insurance, the expansion in Medicaid coverage should be a huge win. The people qualifying for Medicaid are, on average, poorer, sicker and more desperate than the people signing up for private insurance."
* Round Three: Insurance Cancellations for About Four Million Americans: The Associated Press estimated in December that 4.7 million Americans received cancellation notices from insurance companies because their plans did not meet Obamacare's higher standards. Obama offered temporary fixes -- allowing insurance companies to keep consumers on substandard plans until the end of 2014, and waiving the individual mandate for the first year for consumers' whose plans were cancelled -- are likely to reduce that number. But states and insurers ultimately decide how broadly the waivers apply, and the AP offered a state-by-state breakdown of waivers.
If this group, somewhat fewer than four million people, don't find better insurance for a reasonable price, they could feel worse off, especially if they make too much money ($46,000 for individuals; $96,000 for families) to qualify for a significant subsidy and don't find satisfactory health plans in their marketplace.
This group of less than four million could deeply resent Obamacare and see it as a sham. They could resent the $100 tax penalty for refusing to garner insurance this year. Some independent contractors, small businessmen, or freelancers who do not have employer-based insurance may lose financially from Obamacare. They may be required to pay more for new policies -- up to eight percent of their income. These policies should offer more comprehensive coverage, but could cost more. Some will be satisfied to find more comprehensive insurance, even if it costs more. But probably a majority of the four million will not be happy, and could even be outraged.
They could be more vocal and politically powerful than the 14 million who are likely to be better off. Discontent causes anger and tends to spur political action, while contentment may simply cause complacency and passivity -- even non-voting in the midterm elections -- rather than gratitude and a desire to reward the political party that improved your status.
* Round Two: Embarrassing Obamacare Website Debacle. President Obama and the Democrats clearly lost Round Two when they acknowledged that the Obamacare rollout was a disaster, the website didn't work and Obama was forced to admit he misled the American people when he said everyone who liked their current insurance plan would be able to keep it. As it turns out, not everyone, only the vast majority who like their current insurance plans, will be able to keep them. Somewhat less than three percent of the population, mostly those who buy insurance independent of an employer on the private market, if their insurance policies are substandard and do not meet mimimal government requirements, will not be able to keep their health plans even if they like them.
Call this Obama exaggerating or "lying," if you must be hysterical, but strategically it was essential for Obama as the proposal's chief salesman to assure the nation that the ACA would be not be disruptive to those who are already insured. Telling Americans they would "probably" be able to keep their current coverage would not have clinched the deal.
* Round One: Government Shutdown. Republicans are widely perceived to have lost Round One when they shut down the federal government, hurt the economy and got nothing in return for their antics. They conveniently forgot history: the models for Obamacare were a) originally a conservative Heritgage Foundation think tank proposal; and b) Romneycare in Massachusetts. They conveniently forget that social Security in the 1930s, Medicare in the 1960s, and the Medicare prescription drug benefit (Part D), championed by President Bush, all got off to rocky starts, but are now solidly popular programs with the vast majority of Americans. Some of the same Republicans who defended the Bush administration's snafu-ridden rollout of Medicare Part D now excoriate the Obama Administration for its introduction of the Affordable Care Act.
Skirmishes Over Executive Branch Authority to Delay Mandates in Congressional Legislation
In the summer of 2013, when the Obama administration announced that it was delaying the implementation of the tax penalty/mandate on small-to-medium-size businesses to 2015, and again in February 2014 when the Treasury Department announced that the mandate tax was going to be delayed again until 2016, Obamacare opponents howled with outrage that this was an impeachable offense. The President and the Executive Branch do not have the authority to decide what laws passed by Congress they are going to obey and disobey, or wantonly revise, they contend.
Since these opponents generally did not accept the US Supreme Court decision in 2012 declaring most of Obamacare constitutional, it's unlikely they will gain standing to challenge the administration's actions. And since most of the opponents are hard-right partisans who revere Ronald Reagan, a president who repeatedly defied congressional mandates and aided the anti-communist Nicaraguan contras despite a congressional ban on such aid, their double standards are obvious and their credibility is lacking. One does have to admire the principled opposition of a Washington Post editorial against presidential over-reach in delaying the mandate. At least they don't have different standards for presidents depending on political party.
But as I advised my conservative friends on Facebook, lawsuits forcing the Obama administration to immediately impose employer and employee mandates aren't likely to succeed. Pushing for Obama's impeachment will be self-destructive on Republicans' part. The public would see them as zealots grasping desperately at every straw imaginable. As difficult as it may be, they might as well accept that Obama is president until 2017, he's not going to be impeached, Obamacare is not going to be repealed even if Democrats lose the Senate in November 2014 (Obama will still have veto power), and btw, the Confederacy lost the civil war. Yes, I know: "Fergit? Hell no!"
Battle of Anecdotes
Several PR rounds will be fought throughout 2014 spotlighting miraculously positive and horrifyingly negative anecdotes, with no certainty as to how representative or fully accurate these stories actually are. Let the public beware of such propaganda.
Impact of Midterm Elections on Obamacare
Voters may render another verdict on Obamacare in November 2014, possibly by turning the Senate over to the Republicans -- throwing out six Democratic senators (current ratio, 55 Democrats, 45 Republicans). I think that's unlikely, even though an incumbent president's party usually loses congressional seats in the last midterm election of second terms. After the 2014 elections, I suspect the pattern of a divided legislative branch will continue. This New York Times analysis reached the same conclusion.
Obamacare Winners and Losers
So, who are the winners and losers under Obamacare? It depends on who's doing the calculations, but in 2014, at least 14 million people are likely to be better off, according to the Congressional Budget Office, if you add the seven million projected Obamacare sign-ups to seven million new Medicaid enrollees. About five to seven million people will qualify for subsidies that will pay most of the cost of comprehensive plans.
Eventually, the $100 tax penalty or fine will increase to as much as eight percent of income. (If you can't find a health insurance policy for less than eight percent of your income, you're exempt from the penalty.)
Public Opinion of Obamacare Depends on Economy's Performance
If unemployment rises or does not decline below 7.2% by the 2014 mid-term elections, and certainly by the 2016 general elections, Obamacare's perceived drag on employment could indeed hurt Democrats.
If unemployment declines to six percent or lower in 2014, and the public clearly feels the country is in economic expansion mode, opposition to Obamacare could hurt those Republicans who voted to shut down the government and classified Obamacare as an unmitigated disaster when it actually helped far more of their constituents than it hurt, with a minimal negative impact on business growth.
Obamacare, at least initially, greatly expands demand for doctors and nurses, with shortages approaching 20 percent at many hospitals, according to Forbes.com, as potentially millions of new patients start utilizing new insurance coverage. Because of changes in the structure of health care, many doctors are leaving independent practice to take salaried positions on hospital staffs, the New York Times reports.
Medical and nursing schools may be under increasing pressure to graduate students quicker to fill demand, or to allow students to work part-time in clinics and emergency rooms experiencing high demand.
Obamacare's Impact on the Urban and Rural Poor Unknown
Health care is a complex industry. Even before Obamacare was enacted, many hospitals, especially those in poor and rural neighborhoods, were struggling financially. An epidemic of hospital closures has occurred since 2000. "All across the country, nonprofit hospitals dedicated to serving the poor and uninsured in exchange for tax breaks and federal subsidies are closing money-losing facilities and setting up in more affluent communities where patients are more likely to have health insurance," US News reported.
Obamacare is set to reduce federal subsidies to hospitals, especially non-profit hospitals in poor neighborhoods where it is presumed far more patients will have insurance. But that's a gamble that may not work out financially for some hospitals, especially in states that don't expand Medicaid. The USNews report on hospitals of the present and future is worth a read.
Are employers limiting workers' hours, to avoid paying workers health insurance?
Administration economists have said they don't see evidence this is happening on a large scale and the Congressional Budget Office came to the exact same conclusion. But anecdotes of such decisions have been all over the media. Jed Graham of Investor's Business Daily has been tracking them.(Hat tip: AndrewSullivan.com.)
Economists will continue to debate the impact of Obamacare on employment, probably for years to come, based on their own ideological inclinations:
- ObamaCare Will Drive Up Unemployment and Health Care Costs (Forbes.com)
- Employers Plan to Hire More Full-Time Workers As Obamacare Rolls Out (ThinkProgress)
Some leaders of small-to-medium-size businesseses (with 50 or more employees) complain that they could hire more workers if they didn't have to pay employees' health insurance or the $2,000 to $3,000 penalty per worker for not providing it. The penalty for small-to-medium size businesses has been delayed until 2016. Of course, these businesses could also hire more workers if they didn't have to pay minimum wage, unemployment insurance, pay into workers' social security, or provide any benefits whatsoever. A strong argument could be made that these businesses are freeloaders. They want to enjoy the fruits of workers' labor, but don't want to pay the fair cost of hiring workers, and instead seek to shift the cost onto the government or society.
This debate is ideological -- libertarian vs. communitarian -- and will not be settled by economic progress reports any time soon. But the future growth of the economy in the near future will probably determine which ideology gets the upper hand with the public before the 2014 and 2016 elections.
Consider New Legislation in 2017
Jonathan Gruber, an architect of the Massachusetts plan (RomneyCare), predicts it will take three years for the full impact of Obamacare to take hold, as it took three years for RomneyCare to take hold. Offering a litany of improvements for millions of Americans that have already been implemented by Obamacare, Gruber notes that "we won't be able to draw final and firm conclusions until late in 2016."
Jonathan Cohn in The New Republic summed up Obamacare's impact best:
"People tend to talk about Obamacare as if it's going to be a ringing success or a total catastrophe. In reality, it's likely to be a mix of good and bad news, with lots of variation from state to state, and with lots of unanswered questions that linger for months and even years."
At that point, in 2017, Congress may want to consider improvements to Obamacare.It's certainly not the last word or final reformation of America's extremely complex health care system.


text: /* * powerp-bin.h - Model specific data/definitions for CyberPower text/binary * protocol UPSes * * Copyright (C) * 2007 Doug Reynolds <firstname.lastname@example.com> * 2007-2008 Arjen de Korte <email@example.com> * * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or * (at your option) any later version. * * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the * GNU General Public License for more details. * * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA */ #ifndef POWERP_BIN_H #define POWERP_BIN_H #include "powerpanel.h" extern subdriver_t powpan_binary; #endif /* POWERP_BIN_H */


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Hello guys! A bit late in the week with another fan favorite, Filmation Teela V3, This one was made using a Battleground Teela as a base, and a Green Goddess tunic. The collar was sculpted this time instead of the styrene I made for the old one. Also, The head was sculpted first in wax then cast in resin so I have a teela head whenever I need one. The figure was then repackaged in the battleground Teela box with a copy of the regular teela insert.
I made no video of her cause there is not much difference from v2 save for the modifications described above (the old one was made using the stock head with a resculpted hair in aves apoxie)
Oh and by the way....ILLUMINA AND CAT PLEEEEAAASEEEE!!!
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Originally published on September 18, 2012 12:03 pm
Leo Manzano became the first American since 1968 to win an Olympic medal in the men's 1500 meter run in the London Games this summer. But he got a lot of criticism for carrying both Mexican and American flags during his victory lap. For Hispanic Heritage Month, Manzano speaks with host Michel Martin.


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Executive recruitment firm to assist search committee for UH Manoa athletic director positionUniversity of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
External Affairs & University Relations
Kristen Cabral, (808) 956-5039
Public Information Officer
The University of Hawaiʻi has hired Eastman & Beaudine, Inc., to assist in the search for a new UH Manoa athletic director. The Dallas-based executive recruitment firm was selected from a list of ten companies who submitted proposals to the university's search committee. The company will be involved in assembling a pool of qualified candidates for the committee to consider and will conduct background checks on candidates as requested.
"Eastman & Beaudine is one of the preeminent executive search firms in collegiate sports," said committee chair David McClain, dean of the UH College of Business Administration. "The quality of their networks in the industry will be instrumental in bringing the best candidates for the job to the attention of the search committee. We're especially pleased that the company's ceo — Robert Beaudine — is personally handling this assignment for us."
According to a company profile, Eastman & Beaudine, Inc., has in the last several years conducted recruiting for collegiate athletic directors at the U.S. Naval Academy and at West Point, Duke University, Fresno State, San Jose State, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech, TCU, SMU, Vanderbilt, Miami University and the Universities of Louisville, Houston and Oklahoma. The firm also regularly recruits for major professional sport leagues and teams across the country.
In keeping with industry standard, Eastman & Beaudine will be paid 25 percent of the new athletic director's first-year compensation. The search committee has indicated that it hopes to have a recommendation for the position during the summer.