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Complaint Review: Grants Wooden Boat Works - Hartwell Georgia
- Grants Wooden Boat Works
277 Cleveland Ave
Hartwell, Georgia
United States of America
- Phone:
- Web:
- Category: Questionable Activities
Grants Wooden Boat Works WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT JIMMY GRANT Hartwell, Georgia
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marriage would not talk to her sons for approximately 2 years. She used to say All
they wanted was my money. Jane wanted to leave in her will that she wanted
nothing to go to her 2 sons but to her grandchildren. James and Charles Grant sued Jerome D Hoffman,
Janes 2nd marriage. And the court papers can be found in Probate Court Fulton County GA.
In Fulton County Court, in the Fall of 2012, Jane said to me in front of four witnesses who are the following: Michael Lambros Esq., Gary Spencer Esq, Betram Boley Jr, Esq. and Police Officer of the Court. They told me you were dead, I love you, come home like it used to be.
Jane invested with me for over 20 years. And loved my vision
and what I was trying to accomplish. Her sons were violently opposed to this.
As of today, as one knows and one will learn by reading various stories in the
Rip Off Report that a foundation for Jane in her name is being created with
assets coming from our business to the good people of Atlanta. And none of
these assets are going to her 2 sons.
They hired in one form or another, Eric Leavell to do the following which is part of this report.
A dear friend of Janes, by the name of Erin Aridonato whose
known her for some ten years said that these boys will burn in hell for what
they did to their mother. Putting her through litigation, bringing her into
court, hiring an attorney to represent them and the attorneys fees were paid by her estate.
The grand boys hired Ann Herrera to be the Conservator.
Ann Attorney Herrera whose specialty is Probate law. of the law firm Russell & Herrera, PC
,Atlanta GA the Conservator of my wife appointed by the Fulton County Probate Court Jane Grant did the following.
A $350,000 bill made up of 3 law firms was charged
against my wifes estate which Ann Herrera is the Conservator for up to this
date is a tremendous rip off and now I am going to say why. She Ann Herrera the
Conservator did not raise one question over the bills and agreed to the payment
of them. Her job is to protect the assets not squandering them. And did not question one billing item. In other
words, its a big club.
3 Law firms Michael Lambros Esq. Catherine Packwood, Esq of the Lambros firm
Emory Schwall Esq. Stephen Carley Esq. handled the probate activities. For some
unknown reason they created an irrevocable trust. I asked Steven Carley in
writing a dozen times what are the benefits, of an irrevocable trust. He never
answered once. Im to understand that Emory Schwall is the attorney that proposed
an irrevocable trust and thats his specialty.
An irrevocable trust can be gotten off the web from West
Law for 5 minutes of time. There was no reason for this bill to be rendered and
I stood up in court Jerome D Hoffman and told the judge that this is a rip off
and I would not have consented to signing the settlement agreement. After I
signed the settlement agreement which Emory Schwall helped prepared. In court,
I realize five minute later that there were paragraphs in there that should
have been taken out and he told me they were out. These three attorneys collectively, over the months fees
are being milked off the estate of Jane Grant.
It is estimated by other lawyers that this work should not have cost more than $15 to $20,000.
In fact, they did not even draw the trust agreement; they had an outside firm draw it and paid them $12,500.
Im the only one who has paid for my legal fees since May of 2012 in fighting this action.
Janes son Charles and James Grant of Hartwell, GA did not raise one question about the bills. If they would have, I believe that they would have been ostracized by this group. They hired Eric Leavell in one form or another to do the following:
Eric, were to understand, has been in-and-out of mental hospitals for the last ten years.
People that know him say that he is psychotic and potentially very dangerous. There are
two police investigations in Atlanta now taking place about Mr. Leavell.
I have been told that Eric Leavell has been in and out of mental institutions for a number of years..
I believe he is a sadist psychopath who put this on the Web.
He worked for our company in Atlanta for three months, and
he was paid in full, treated very well, spent a third of his time out of the
office doing therapy, and nothing was deducted for his time out.At the
beginning of the second month, we raised his pay from $30,000 to $50,000 a
year. He was later discharged for cause of indecent behavior. Whatever his
preference is, that is his business, it is not to be carried out in my office.
Our in-house attorney, Phil Craig, told everyone in the
office to be fearful of him because he thought he could be very dangerous. Eric has said to many people, I am the
meanest son of a b***h alive. He has stated many times that when he goes out, he will go out with a big bang,
whatever that means.
Eric has done this to other people as well, I have been
told, including an executive of Walmart. There are two police investigations
taking place in Atlanta over Eric Leavell at this time. Shortly there will be a very extensive report
published on the Web of his activities done by a private detective agency.
What this is all about, is that my wife, Jane Grant, for twenty-five years invested in my companies over the years. She has not talked to her sons, Charles and James Grant, for over two years, because she said, They are only after my money.
An agreement was made in Probate Court, Fulton County, Georgia,
that her sons would get none of the money from the investment in my company. Jane
and I have an agreement that we would give our share to a Foundation to the
good people of Atlanta, which could amount to Tens of Millions of Dollars or more.
Charles and James Grant, Janes sons, by her first marriage,
hired Eric Leavell in one form or another, to discredit me. Shortly, there will be on the Web, a two
thousand page document explaining in great detail with court papers this whole unfortunate incident.
One of Eric Leavells cohorts is Paul Rinko,attorney-at-law. I would like to quote
one of his e-mails to me, plus, three mails from Eric Leavell to me that will explain his psychotic behavior.
One can see that Eric has severe problems. Eric has done this to others, and they will
testify in Court when litigation begins.
Janes sons, Charles and Jimmy, put Eric Leavell up to this. We have a complete history of Eric Leavell,
from his fraudulent bankruptcy, and much more.
Creditors are prepared to testify about Mr. Leavell. We have some thirty e-mails from Mr. Leavell,
which I would like to print the text of three which will tell you his mental state.
Paul J. Rinko, a licensed attorney in the State of New
York, registration number 2365211, formerly with the Kiley Law Firm, Utica, New
York, has written me over seventy e-mails in the past three years, and is a
collaborator of Eric Leavell. I would like to quote from one of Paul Rinkos e-mails, and the others can be brought
up on this Website which is now being organized. some two thousand pages.
Note: We have not displayed email addresses due to the rules of the website. But the following
testimonials provide examples of events that have taken place. They all have been verified.
Testimonial 1
Convict: Get on your knees B**tard, I am your Master, you are my Slave. You will obey me. I will not let you become successful. I will hunt you down for the rest of your life. You will obey me. This is what you get for suing me.
If Mr. Rinko feels that this is not true, why doesnt he sue me?
He knows that there are about seventy similar e-mails. Mr. Rinko is an attorney now living in
Richmond, Virginia, working for his brothers firm, which is Colonial
Scientific, Inc., 2121 Hamilton Street, #1, Richmond, Virginia. He is vice president of the corporation. A copy of this e-mail was sent to his brother, his former law firm, and others.
I have sent all seventy of his e-mails to fifty State Bar
Associations, and asked if it is the proper behavior of an attorney who may wish to obtain a license in your state.
The response from the Bar Associations were astounding
that an attorney licensed in NY could send approximately 70 emails over a 3
year period that are sexually an d sadistically and masochistically phrased.
We are now going to present a number of e-mails from Eric
Leavell, which I believe will explain his mental state and our rebuttal.
Testimonial 2 Convict Hoffman You have no money except for about 700 a month in Social
Security. You signed Janes name to checks which is a felony for each check. You
exploited even more money from her by having her sign blank checks. You are looking
to serve about 50 years in jail.
I am the reason you lost today. I am the reason that the authorities
have the checks where you signed Janes name.
I am the reason you have no more access to Janes money. I am the reason FOX news was at the hearing today.
I am the reason East West Bank knows about your dealings and wont do business with
you. I am the reason your efforts to Chinese immigrants have failed to raise money.
I will be the reason you go to jail. I win. You lose. Jane is free of you forever. Erik .
This man is insane and having hallucinations. Let me
see one check on which I have signed Janes name, and he should take it to the authorities.
Testimonial 3
Jerold: After careful thought and serious
consideration, I am tendering my two week notice and resignation; my last day
with the company will be February 10, 2012.
I had every intention of making a career with GFH/Todays Market and still believe you will redefine the retail
food industry, however I can no longer be part of this company and your vision.
Unfortunately, the events of today compounded by the conversation tonight at 10:15pm lead me to one
conclusion; our boundaries became, at some point, so muddled that it
will only continue to erode our working relationship and I want to leave before that happens.
I will continue to fully perform my role for you during the next two weeks and assist
with the transition in any and all ways possible. If you wish for me to leave at an earlier date, then I will respect that request.
Please know that I am grateful for the opportunity you gave me; I
learned a tremendous amount from you in a short time. I was also thrilled with the 45% raise you
gave me in my first 30 days.
However, neither of those can overcome the increasingly derogatory and demeaning conversations that are becoming regular
interactions within the office. I am not sure if you ever listen to the words you say to me, but I find it offensive.
For example, you will ask me to hold off on sending an email and then go into a tirade an hour later about the email not
being sent or tell me to send one specific piece of information to a person and
then go into a tirade that other information should have been sent even though
you were specific that only one piece of information be sent and it is never
your practice to send supplemental information to individuals.
There was also the time you were reading a copy of a sent email that I typed from your dictation and stormed
into my office telling me that by inadvertently adding the
word then to a sentence that I am re-writing your entire email and that my
job should be replaced by someone more talented in New York.
There have also been incidents when you tell me that if I use a particular job board again that
I will be fired and then spend 10 minutes belittling me when I ask you if you want to use that job board after you were
clear to never use it again.
In no way do I claim to be perfect you helped
show me many ways that I could do a task in a better way I simply dont have
the fortitude to keep enduring this treatment.
There is no waiting job for me. I tender this resignation will enter
the unemployed masses; I will remain unemployed for however long it takes to find another job.
In fact, there is a good chance that I will make less in my next job, but some things are not about
money and, this is one of those times.
I will let you tell whomever in whatever timeline you wish about my departure. I will not discuss this with work
colleagues. I copied Phil on this email so he may prepare whatever exist paperwork you wish for me to review and sign prior to my last day.
Obviously, I will respect the terms of the Confidentiality Agreement and have nothing disparaging to say
about the company or anyone associated with it so will have no issue signing
additional paperwork to that effect. It was a hard decision to say goodbye to this opportunity, but in my heart I knew it would be harder for me to stay.
Best of luck with Todays Market.
It was on January 27, that I found Eric Leavell having oral sex in the office and told him this could not
continue. What is his preference is his business, but not in the company office.
Testimonial 4 Convict Hoffman-
It is my understanding that the Marshall served you with a summons at Janes house (not your home since you
never contribute any money to the home as you are a loser and financial
failure) to appear on May 21, 2012, in Fulton County Courtfor the Criminal Warrant Hearing with regard to the matter I reported and your statement to me that you were going to get me Stacie confirms that the summons is at the house.
Also I wanted to share with you that I contacted the Chinese Embassy, reported your outstanding warrant
number, sent over a copy of the police report itemizing your theft as well as the US Court of Appeals verdict holding you personally liable for more than $500,000 in claims so that you could not get a visa to talk with Chinese investors.
Since you only have 600 a month to live on
from Social Security what a joke I didnt think it was fair for you to
waste a visa application fee for no reason.
You are a model to the world in how to avoid failure by doing the exact opposite of whatever choice you
make. Maybe that is your one purpose and contribution to life. Anyone can put anything on the web. In your case its all true.
Warmest Regards, Erik
PS I also sent over the excerpt from your deposition in the appeal in which you state the business has
no money and no credit line therefore violating the two key provisions forhaving a business visa to solicit investors. Ha!
Eric Leavell is insane. Let him show one document to verify any of these allegations.
I repeat, Eric Leavell is insane, let him show one document to verify any of these e-mails to me, including the AppealsCourt Record, etc.
James and Charlie Grant, Janes children by her first marriage, who will receive no money
from my and Janes companies, put Eric Leavell up to this.
I also believe that Michael Lambros and Patricia Packwood, attorneys for the Grant
boys, helped to facilitate this enormous fabrication that Eric Leavell put on the Web.
I have been physically threatened twice by Michael Lambros, Esq., on two different
occasions. On the first occasion, Steve Carly, Esq., Janes attorney, was present and had to step in between Mr.
Lambros and I, when he was ready to strike me.
This incident took place in the Honorable Judge Pinkie Toomers Court Room in Probate Court,
Fulton County, Georgia. at the Hearing for Settlement Agreement about two years ago.
The second incident was when I was in Court on the 19th of October, 2012 and
there were four witnesses, Gary Spencer, Esq., Bertram Boley, Jr., Esq., Jane
Grant, and the Court Officer who I do not know by name.
The Court Officer had to physically step-in between Mr. Lambros and me because he was
ready to attack me and raised his hand to strike my face. This is the attorney for James and Charles Grant.
At that time, my wife was in the Court Room, and she said to me, They told me you were dead. I love you, come home like it used to be.The warrant that Eric refers to is that he swore out a warrant for my arrest that I
threatened his life and had a witness to verify this by the name of Thomas Mattas, who worked in our office.
At the Court Hearing Thomas Mattas, did not show up, the judge read some of the above and
dismissed the case, and the warrant was for a misdemeanor, not a felony. Gary Spencer, of Atlanta, Georgia, was my
attorney of record at the Hearing.
A two-thousandpage report that will shortly be on the Web will treat with this rebuttal. I urge anyone interested to see the complete report that will give you a comprehensive view of what has taken place.
Fox News, owned by News Corp. did two stories on me. One was done
three years ago, when I had a physical fight with the anchor man, Randy Travis,
which is on tape, facilitated by Paul Rinko. Mr. Travis tried to break-in to our office forcing the door open and I
kicked him in the groin.
He had no right to come on to our property and force the door open. Court records, Cobb County Superior
Court, Georgia, will verify the incident and I sued Fox News for invasion of privacy. For some strange reason, whenthe trial date was to take place our attorney did not show up, and the case was dismissed.
And the other story, a few months ago, which Eric Leavell helped facilitate, which is described in his
e-mail to me quoted in this document. At that time, I had another physical encounter with Randy Travis, the reporter on
Fox News, who swore out a warrant for my arrest.
Mr. Travis is some thirtyyears younger than me. I might point out that this was a misdemeanor under Georgia law and not a criminal act. He reported on the news that I was a fugitive.
Randy Travis stalked me with a cameraman for over two hundred yards when I was going to a garage to pick up
my care, he stated in Court that I broke his camera.
The reason I am stating these two incidents of Fox News is that they are famous for this type of reporting in
this country and abroad. The scandal of London is now the scandal in the USA.
Rupert Murdoch, President of News Corporation, which owns Fox News, I believe is a decent and fair man, and
he is set about cleaning up the scandal reporting that has taken place in his organization.
As you may know, one hundred reporters have been arrested in London over accepting bribes, bribing Scotland
Yard, tapping the Queens phones, and closing one of the oldest newspapers in London, The Sunday Times.
The scandal is now coming to the States. He has promised to clean this up, and the reporting of his other companies in America.
An Index of every document will be listed on the Website and its origin of which will allow interested
parties to digitally search for any information about this case. In reading these documents, it will give you
a more comprehensive background of this unfortunate episode.
This is a public document.
In answering these allegations by Eric Leavell, let it be known that a foundation in the name of
Jane Grant is now being established.
Our company is building stores throughout the nation. For every
store we build, a Half-Million Dollars of hers and my share will go to her
foundation in her name, and will be given to the good citizens of greater Atlanta.
Now please explore the website.
This document will be furnished to the media.
It is a shame and tragic that in todays world anybody can put anything on the web.
All complaints were written by the same people in this memorandum.
They are Eric Leavell and Paul Rinko.
This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 04/27/2013 11:53 AM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/grants-wooden-boat-works/hartwell-georgia-30643/grants-wooden-boat-works-what-you-should-know-about-jimmy-grant-hartwell-georgia-1046683. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content
If you would like to see more Rip-off Reports on this company/individual, search here:
#1 REBUTTAL Individual responds
The Real Story
AUTHOR: grant - ()
SUBMITTED: Sunday, November 10, 2013
John Wilson is really Jerome Hoffman. He stole over half a million dollars from my mother who has Alzhiemers and now he's trying to get revenge by bad mouthing us on this web site. Please click on the news story links to see the real story.
(((links redacted)))
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Message Board
Edward Keyes Message Board
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Author Keyes's Book Reviews
Tony Farrell owes the mob, and the only way to pay off his debt is to work for them. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, Tony "crosses over" - discovering in himself a natural talent for the criminal life. But Roy Thomas and the FBI's JUST criminal task force want Tony to turn rat - to help them catch the big boss, the Giant, himself. Turning rat means a chance at a new life - it also means risking his life if the Giant finds out. Roy Thomas swears he'll help ...

subset: commoncrawl


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Coronary angiography is a procedure that uses a special dye (contrast material) and x-rays to see how blood flows through the arteries in your heart.
Alternative Names
Cardiac angiography; Angiography – heart; Angiogram – coronary
How the test is performed
Coronary angiography is usually done along with cardiac catheterization.
Before the test starts, you will be given a mild sedative to help you relax.
An area of your body, usually the arm or groin, is cleaned and numbed with a local numbing medicine (anesthetic). The cardiologist passes a thin hollow tube, called a catheter, through an artery and carefully moves it up into the heart. X-ray images help the doctor position the catheter.
Once the catheter is in place, dye (contrast material) is injected into the catheter. X-ray images are taken to see how the dye moves through the artery. The dye helps highlight any blockages in blood flow.
The procedure may last 30 to 60 minutes.
How to prepare for the test
You should not eat or drink anything for 8 hours before the test starts. You may need to stay in the hospital the night before the test. Otherwise, you will check in to the hospital the morning of the test.
You will wear a hospital gown. You must sign a consent form before the test. Your healthcare provider will explain the procedure and its risks.
Tell your doctor if you are allergic to seafood, if you have had a bad reaction to contrast material in the past, if you are taking Viagra, or if you might be pregnant.
How the test will feel
You will usually be awake during the test. You may feel some pressure at the site where the catheter is placed.
You may feel a flushing or warm sensation after the dye is injected.
After the test, the catheter is removed. You might feel a firm pressure at the insertion site, used to prevent bleeding. If the catheter is placed in your groin, you will usually be asked to lie flat on your back for a few hours after the test to avoid bleeding. This may cause some mild back discomfort.
Why the test is performed
Coronary angiography may be done if you have:
- Angina for the first time
- Angina that is becoming worse, not going away as fast, occurring more often, or happening at rest (called unstable angina)
- Aortic stenosis
- Atypical chest pain, when other tests are normal
- Had an abnormal heart stress test
- To have surgery on your heart and you are at high risk for coronary artery disease
- Heart failure
- Recent heart attack
Normal Values
There is a normal supply of blood to the heart and no blockages.
What abnormal results mean
An abnormal result may mean you have a blocked artery. The test can show how many coronary arteries are blocked, where they are blocked, and the severity of the blockages.
What the risks are
Cardiac catheterization carries a slightly increased risk when compared with other heart tests. However, the test is very safe when performed by an experienced team.
Generally the risk of serious complications ranges from 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 500. Risks of the procedure include the following:
Cardiac tamponade
Irregular heart beats
Injury to a heart artery
Low blood pressure
Allergic reaction to contrast dye
Heart attack
Considerations associated with any type of catheterization include the following:
- In general, there is a risk of bleeding, infection, and pain at the IV site.
- There is always a very small risk that the soft plastic catheters could actually damage the blood vessels.
- Blood clots could form on the catheters and later block blood vessels elsewhere in the body.
- The contrast dye could damage the kidneys (particularly in patients with diabetes).
Special considerations
If a blockage is found, your healthcare provider may perform a percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) to open the blockage. This can be done during the same procedure, but may be delayed for various reasons.


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2014 Preseason WNIT Field Announced
May 28, 2014 - The 16-team field for the 2014 Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament was announced today.
Nine of the 16 teams are coming off postseason appearances including five teams in the NCAA Tournament and four in the WNIT. The field features Albany, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Colorado, Eastern Kentucky, Jackson State, Mercer, Mississippi State, North Dakota, Penn State, Rider, Seton Hall, St. Francis Brooklyn, Towson, West Virginia, and Western Kentucky.
Six teams in this year's field are making their first appearance in the Preseason WNIT (Albany, Central Arkansas, Mercer, North Dakota, Rider and St. Francis Brooklyn). Western Kentucky is in the field for the fourth time (2007, 2003, 1997), and it's the third appearance for Arkansas State (1998, 1994) and Colorado (2001, 1995). It's the second appearance for Eastern Kentucky (2001), Jackson State (2003), Mississippi State (2002), Penn State (2002 – Runners-Up), Seton Hall (1994), Towson (2009), and West Virginia (2009).
The Preseason WNIT is formatted to give all teams a three-game guarantee. The event opens Nov. 14-15 with Round One. Round Two will be played Nov. 16-17; Semifinals will be Nov. 19-20; and the championship is set for Sunday, Nov. 23 at 3 p.m. ET. The championship game will be nationally televised live in HD on CBS Sports Network.
Teams that lose in the first two rounds will play consolation games on Nov. 21-22. All games are hosted by participating schools. The official tournament bracket with first-round opponents, game dates, and times will be announced in June.
Last year, No. 5 Louisville claimed the Preseason WNIT title knocking off the Oklahoma Sooners 97-92 in a thrilling overtime game at the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Okla. In 2012, North Carolina came away with the title after a 77-64 victory over host Iowa. The 2011 event featured the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country as Brittney Griner led Baylor to a 94-81 win over Notre Dame in Waco, Texas.
About the WNIT
The Preseason WNIT began in its modern form in 1994. Since its inception, over 200 teams representing all 32 conferences have competed in the tournament. The UConn Huskies have won the championship a record three times. It is organized and produced by Triple Crown Sports, a national sports event company based in Fort Collins, Colo. For more information on the WNIT please visit: www.womensnit.com.
Tournament Field
Albany made its third consecutive NCCA appearance in 2013-14 and finished with an impressive 28-5 overall record. The Great Danes season ended with a 76-61 loss to West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament First Round. Albany won the America East Conference title for the third-straight year and finished league play with a 15-1 record. America East Player of the Year Shereesha Richards returns to the squad for her junior season. Richards finished the regular season ranked first in the conference in scoring, rebounding, and field goal percentage.
Arkansas State concluded one of its best seasons in program history with a berth in the Postseason WNIT. The Red Wolves finished the 2013-14 season with a 22-12 overall record and claimed its first ever out-right Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship and advanced to the SBC title game for just the second time in program history. Arkansas State narrowly missed out on securing its first NCAA Tournament berth after falling to Western Kentucky by one point in the SBC championship game. The Red Wolves welcome back three starters, including Sun Belt Player of the Year Aundrea Gamble.
Central Arkansas returns 10 players from the 2013-14 season including Southland Conference Freshman of the Year Brianna Mullins along with teammate Maggie Proffitt, one of the league's top shooters as a freshman this past season. The Sugar Bears concluded the season with an 18-12 record, losing in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament to McNeese State.
Colorado finished the 2013-14 season with a 19-15 record, logging its fourth-straight winning season and postseason tournament trip. The Buffaloes survived a bumpy Pac-12 Conference schedule, tying for ninth at 6-12, to make a run to the third round of the Postseason WNIT before losing to UTEP. Colorado is making its third appearance in the Preseason WNIT and first since 2001. The Buffaloes won the tournament in 1995.
Eastern Kentucky made its first trip to the Ohio Valley Conference tournament semifinals since 2005 before bowing out to regular-season champion UT Martin. The Lady Colonels finished the season 17-13 and return three starters for the 2014-15 season including junior Shelly Harper who led the team in rebounds (6.2 rpg) and is the returning leading scorer (10.4 ppg).
Jackson State was knocked out of the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament semifinals in OT by Texas Southern. The Tigers finished the 2013-14 campaign with a 15-15 overall record and 12-6 in conference play. It was their best season since 2008 when they won 18 games during the regular season and won SWAC championship. The team returns its top three scorers from last season including Ayann Hardy-Fuller who averaged 11.5 ppg and also led the team in rebounding with an average of 7.0 rpg.
Mercer is coming off a 17-14 (9-9 A-Sun) season in 2013-14 that saw the team advance to the semifinal round of the Atlantic Sun tournament. The Bears will make their debut in the Southern Conference in 2014-15 and are set to return four of their top five scorers from a season ago. Senior Precious Bridges returns for Mercer after leading the team in scoring with 14.8 ppg.
Mississippi State ended its second season under head coach Vic Schaefer with a 22-14 record and a run to the quarterfinals of the WNIT in its first postseason appearance since 2009-10. The Dawgs claimed the fourth-most wins in program history and earned three postseason victories for the first time. The Bulldogs finished the year 12th in the nation in turnover margin (+5.3), set new school records for points scored (2,551) and rebounds (1,410). The Dawgs return four of their five starters for the 2013-14 season including leading scorer Martha Alwal (14.9 ppg), and their incoming freshman class is ranked 20th in the nation by espnW HoopGurlz.
North Dakota finished the 2013-14 season as the Big Sky Conference regular season co-champs and won the conference tournament to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. UND fell to Texas A&M in the opening round, but finished a successful season with a 22-10 overall record, doubling its win total from 2012-13. UND loses leading scorer Madi Buck (16.0 ppg), but returns junior Mia Loyd who led the team with an average of 9.0 rpg and 13.6 ppg.
Penn State reached the NCAA Regional Semifinals for the 13th time in program history and second time in the past three years. The Lady Lions (24-8, 13-3) suffered a loss to No. 2 seed and host Stanford to end their 2013-14 season. The loss marked the end of the career of Penn State's superb senior class, which was just the third class in school history to top 100 wins. Penn State claimed its third consecutive conference title and the eighth Big Ten Championship in program history, which is tied for third among conference programs. The Lady Lions lose four seniors, but have a talented crop of sophomores and new recruits ready to step in. They will look for leadership from last year's only returning starter in senior Tori Waldner along with junior Candice Agee who played solid minutes coming off the bench.
Rider battled through an injury-riddled season, three starters went down with season ending injuries, to finish with a 15-17 overall record. The Broncs advanced to the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference semifinals before losing to eight-time defending MAAC champion Marist College. Rider loses leading scorer MyNeshia McKenzie to graduation, but returns a talented bunch including Mikal Johnson (10.5 ppg), Emily Fazzini (9.8 ppg), and Lashay Banks (8.5 ppg).
Seton Hall is coming off one of its most successful seasons in program history which saw the Pirates qualify for postseason play for the first time since 2007. Under first-year coach Tony Bozzella, SHU finished the 2013-14 campaign with a 20-14 record and advanced to the third round of the Postseason WNIT for the first time ever. The Pirates fell to eventual champion Rutgers in Round Three of the WNIT in a thrilling double OT game. SHU returns two outstanding players in point guard Ka-Deidre Simmons and junior swing player Tabatha Richardson-Smith. Both players led the team in scoring and Simmons was named First-Team All-BIG EAST, the first for the program since 1996.
St. Francis Brooklyn concluded the 2013-14 season with the most wins (19-11) in 36 years of the program. The Terriers finished with a program-best 10 wins in the Northeast Conference and finished first in many team statistical categories including holding opponents to a league-best 62.1 ppg. The Terriers return their top three scorers from a season ago including seniors Eilidh Simpson (14.0 ppg), Sarah Benedetti (11.4 ppg), and Jaymee Veney (10.7 ppg).
Towson returns three starters from a squad that finished 2013-14 with a 13-17 record. The Tigers' season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament after falling to College of Charleston, 70-64. Towson loses leading scorer Tanisha McTiller (19.4 ppg) to graduation, but returns LaTorri Hines-Allen (14.1 ppg) and Dominique Johnson (10.3 ppg).
West Virginia is coming off its first Big 12 Conference regular season title in program history and a trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers closed out the 2013-14 season with a 30-5 overall record (16-2 Big 12), the most wins in a single season in program history, and a No. 7 ranking in the postseason polls. WVU losses five seniors, but returns its leading scorer in junior Bria Holmes (15.2 ppg). Holmes, a unanimous All-Big 12 First Team selection, became the 14th player in Mountaineer women's basketball history to have 500 points in a season with 516.
Western Kentucky reached the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time in program history and first since 2008 after securing the Sun Belt Conference's automatic bid. The Lady Toppers finished the season with a 24-9 overall record and 13-5 record in conference play after losing to Baylor in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Chastity Gooch returns for her senior year to lead WKU in 2014-15 in their first season in Conference USA. Gooch averaged a team-high 18.4 ppg and 9.03 rpg as a junior for the Lady Toppers.
January 2019


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Most children who are born with a hearing loss can be diagnosed through a hearing screening. In other cases, hearing loss in children is caused by factors like infections or trauma, and the problem doesn't emerge until later. At Nemours, we take a team approach to caring for your child, using the most innovative pediatric assessment techniques to determine a child's hearing needs.
Early identification and management of hearing loss in children is crucial to minimizing delays in speech, language and cognitive development. Team members from different specialties across Nemours collaborate to create solutions to treat and meet your child's needs.
Health professionals who may be involved with diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss in children include:
- audiologists
- ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctors
- speech and language pathologists
- behavioral health experts
- deaf educators
- neurologists (doctors who treat problems of the nervous system)
- geneticists
We also strive to make things as easy and convenient as possible for you and your child. For example, because our doctors and therapists are all under one roof, your child can often have multiple appointments scheduled in one day.
Locations & Doctors
FloridaHospitalSpecialty Care
Nemours Children's Specialty Care, Jacksonville
807 Children's Way
Jacksonville, FL 32207
Get Map & Directions »
For Appointments: (904) 697-3707
- Christine Cook MS, CCC-A
- Lauren Corn AuD, CCC-A
- Anne Mull AuD, CCC-A
- Sharon Nazemi AuD, CCC-A
- M. Rita Newby AuD, CCC-A
- Stacy Payne MA, CCC-A
- Lauren Stack AuD, CCC-A
- photo ID
- medical and pharmacy insurance cards
- preferred pharmacy name and phone number
- names and dosage of all medications, including over-the-counter medication, your child is currently taking
- guardianship and custody papers, if a legal guardian rather than a parent accompanies your child
New Patients
- Patient Registration (PDF)
Returning Patients
New Patient Forms
- Patient Registration (PDF)
Returning Patient Forms
- Release of Information (PDF)
English | Spanish
- Patient Presents Without Legal Guardian (PDF)
English | Spanish
Note: A parent or legal guardian must be with a child for a first visit.
Resources for Patients & Families
- Insurance We Accept: See accepted insurance, listed by location.
- Pay Your Bill: Use online bill pay or send by mail.
- Financial Assistance: Get help with your child's health care expenses.
- MyNemours: Access your child's medical record online.
A child with hearing loss or impairment may be able to hear some sounds or nothing at all. Impairment means something is not working correctly or as well as it should. People also may use the words deaf, deafness, or hard of hearing when they're talking about hearing loss in children. At Nemours, we have board-certified audiologists who are specially trained to perform evaluations on children with hearing, balance and other ear-related problems.
Signs of Hearing Loss in Children
Hearing screening should begin at birth. Even if your newborn passes his or her first hearing screening, it's important to track hearing milestones your child should reach in the first year of life:
- most newborn infants startle or "jump" to sudden loud noises
- by 3 months, a baby usually recognizes a parent's voice
- by 6 months, an infant can usually turn his or her eyes or head toward a sound
- by 12 months, a child can usually imitate some sounds and produce a few words, such as "Mama" or "bye-bye"
As your baby grows into a toddler, signs of a hearing loss may include:
- limited, poor, or no speech
- frequently inattentive
- difficulty learning
- often increases the volume on the TV
- fails to respond to conversation-level speech, or answering inappropriately to speech
Nemours audiologists will assess a child's hearing by doing different types of tests. If it's found that a child has hearing loss, the audiologist will recommend treatment and suggest the family work with a special team. This team will figure out the best way for a child with hearing loss or impairment to learn and communicate.
How Hearing Loss May Affect a Child's Speech Development
It's important to remember that we speak because --and as-- we hear. Even a mild hearing loss in a child can cause speech and language development to be affected. Proper care and management of hearing loss is critical to providing your child with the most optimal listening capability. Most children will perform to the best of their ability when they can understand and can communicate.
Types of Hearing Loss
Conductive Hearing Loss occurs when sound is blocked from traveling through the hearing pathway, from problems such as middle ear fluid or wax build-up. Generally, this type of hearing loss is temporary. Common causes of conductive hearing loss include otitis media with effusion (i.e., fluid), "congestion" in the middle ear space (i.e. Eustachian Tube Dysfunction), wax build-up, or a structural problem such as very narrow or closed ear canals or a hole in the eardrum.
When your child has a hearing evaluation that shows conductive hearing loss, a medical evaluation should be conducted by a physician to determine the cause and appropriate treatment. In most cases, if and when the problem is resolved (i.e. middle ear fluid dissolves, wax is removed, etc) the child's hearing will return to normal. This should be verified by repeating the hearing evaluation. In some cases, conductive hearing loss in children may be permanent, and careful monitoring by the audiologist is necessary. Depending on the child and the hearing loss, amplification may be recommended.
Conductive hearing loss in children typically ranges from mild to moderate degree, and this can fluctuate from day to day as well. When communicating with your child that has a conductive hearing loss, it may be helpful to reduce background noise as much as possible and allow for facial cues to help get the message across (i.e. talking from "room-to-room" should be avoided when possible). Keep in mind that speech sounds may be muffled or inaudible to your child at times, and therefore using the above mentioned communication strategies, as well as gaining the child's attention, and keeping good eye contact, will likely help improve communication. It is important to follow the recommendations given by the Physician, including any medications or instructions.
Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SNHL) occurs when there is damage to the inner ear, or the pathways from the inner ear to the brain. There are no medical or surgical treatments for SNHL, and typically, this type of hearing loss is permanent. Common causes of sensorineural hearing loss in children include hereditary factors, ear trauma, noise-induced, syndrome-related, or from certain illnesses.
When your child has a hearing evaluation that shows sensorineural hearing loss, a medical evaluation should be conducted by an Ear, Nose, and Throat (ENT) physician to determine the cause and appropriate treatment. In addition to the ENT evaluation, imaging of the ear to look for structural problems and a genetics evaluation may also be requested. Close monitoring by the Audiologist is necessary, and serial appointments are critical to determine if the hearing loss is stable or progressive (worsening). Depending on the child and the hearing loss, amplification may be recommended. It is important to diagnose and treat hearing loss in children as early as possible, as it can affect speech and language development, general learning skills, and overall well-being.
SNHL hearing loss in children typically ranges from a mild to profound degree. Even with appropriate amplification, sounds may sometimes still be difficult to understand for the child. When communicating with your child that has SNHL, it may be helpful to reduce background noise as much as possible and allow for facial cues to help get the message across (i.e. talking from "room-to-room" should be avoided when possible). Keep in mind that speech sounds may be muffled or inaudible to your child at times, and therefore using the above mentioned communication strategies, as well as gaining the child's attention, and keeping good eye contact, will likely help improve communication.
Mixed Hearing Loss occurs when both conductive and sensorineural hearing loss are present at the same time. In most cases, a permanent sensorineural hearing loss is present, and then a temporary conductive overlay that is typically short-lived (such as an ear infection) may appear, causing the hearing loss to be worse. Once the conductive issue is resolved, the hearing typically goes back to the baseline point.
Noise Induced Hearing Loss is the result of exposure to loud sounds over a period of time or to an extremely loud blast. The damage occurs to the tiny hair cells in our inner ear, and can create sensorineural hearing loss in children. This concept is important because there are no signs of damage while the damage is being done. Therefore we must use education as our tool to parents and children, to prevent the damaging effects of noise to their ears.
Children often do not know how to safely use their technology, such as iPods, mp3 players, gaming devices, etc., and can harm their hearing as a result. On a survey commissioned by the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA), more than half of the high school students polled reported at least one symptom of hearing loss. Another study showed that children's use of entertainment media is on the rise and listening time is growing each day.
Children can enjoy their devices while protecting their delicate ears.
The three main rules are:
- Limit the daily listening time, and include listening breaks for quiet time
- Turn down the volume (half volume is recommended)
- Be a good role model to others by modeling safe listening habits
(Central) Auditory Processing Disorder (CAPD) can involve many different symptoms and behaviors at home and in the classroom. The most common complaints involve difficulty listening or focusing when there is background noise, and difficulty quickly and accurately understanding and responding to what was said orally. Some children with CAPD many experience challenges with attention, reading or writing, or expressive and receptive language skills. Screening tests may be performed at your child's school or doctor's office, but only an Audiologist can diagnose a Central Auditory Processing Disorder.
If CAPD is diagnosed in your child, recommendations or therapy options will be made that relate to the specific area of disorder that was seen during testing. At this time, CAPD is not categorized as a legally recognized learning disability. This means that your child's school may or may not be able to provide specific therapy or interventions with a speech pathologist or learning specialist for your child based solely on a diagnosis of CAPD. You will, however, be encouraged to work with your child's school to ensure that your child has access to the type of listening environment and listening strategies that will be most helpful for your child.
How We Treat Hearing Loss in Children
If your child is diagnosed with hearing loss or other hearing impairment, our audiologists will make appropriate recommendations based on each individual child and his/her impairment.
If hearing aids are necessary, Nemours audiologists are qualified and experienced in the fitting of hearing aids for children of all ages, including young babies. Our program is designed to closely monitor each and every child with their hearing loss and hearing aid care.
Hearing aids are the primary nonmedical treatment for hearing loss in children. The most common type of hearing loss involves cochlear dysfunction and hearing aids allow an amplification of sound to overcome this problem. A hearing aid's basic components are the microphone, amplifier, and receiver.
Types of Hearing Aids
There are several hearing aid styles; although the most common for children are behind-the-ear hearing aids. There is no single style or manufacturer that is best. Hearing aid selection is based on the child's individual needs. If a child has bilateral (both ears) hearing loss, two hearing aids are usually worn.
There are few styles of hearing aids. They include:
- Behind-the-Ear (BTE): These hearing aids are most often used with children because of their flexibility for ear growth and they can be used for all degrees of hearing loss from slight to profound
- In-the-Ear (ITE): ITE hearing aids are custom made to fit into the concha, or bowl of the ear, and the ear canal
- In-the-Canal (ITC): ITC hearing aids are custom made to fit in the canal only
As a general rule, ITE and ITC hearing aids are typically not fit on children due to their growing and changing ears.
Benefits of Hearing Aids
Hearing aids can provide access to hearing speech and nonspeech sounds that might not be heard without them. Hearing speech as well as environmental sounds will provide increased safety for your child. Without hearing aids, your child may not be able to hear sounds such as smoke alarms, cars approaching, car horns, or other safety warnings.
Hearing the sounds of the world, including speech, will also likely improve your child's speech and language development.
All children with hearing loss should be seen by an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) physician. A doctor will need to provide "medical clearance" for hearing aid use, making sure there is no medical reason why your child should not wear hearing aids. There are several reasons why a device should not or cannot be placed in the ear. In these cases, there are alternative amplification systems.
For some children with hearing loss or hearing impairment, background noises and distance can interfere with hearing and understanding. FM amplification systems can be used by children with hearing aids as well as those children who are not candidates for hearing aids.
FM amplification systems (also called auditory trainers) increase the Signal Noise Ratio (SNR) by bringing the speaker's voice directly to child's ear, enabling the speaker's voice to be heard above the level of background noise, regardless of the speaker's distance from the child.
FM systems consist of a microphone, a transmitter (or mic-transmitter combination), a receiver, and some method of routing sounds from the receiver to the child's ear.
An FM system may be recommended for use in a child's school classroom in order to improve hearing in group or noisy environments. It can also be fitted for personal or home use.
We offer two implantable hearing devices for children — age 5 years and older — with conductive or mixed hearing loss. These devices can also benefit children with single-sided deafness, and both devices can be worn in a softband prior to age 5 years or if implantation is not desired.
BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aid)
The BAHA is a surgically implanted system that works through direct bone conduction. The system works by enhancing natural bone transmission as a pathway for sound to travel directly to the inner ear, bypassing the outer and middle ear. The implant is placed during a short surgical procedure. The implant integrates with the skull bone over time, usually 3-6 months, depending on the age of the child. Once integrated, the processor is worn on the external abutment and transmits sound vibrations via the abutment to the implant. The implant vibrates, sending vibrations within the skull and inner ear. Hair cells within the inner ear stimulate nerve fibers, allowing hearing to occur.
Sophono Bone Conduction Hearing System
The Sophono is an innovative, new abutment-free device. This system eliminates the need for a protruding abutment by utilizing a magnetic titanium implant, which securely holds the external processor in place through intact skin and hair via an external spacer magnet. The Sophono is implanted in a short, single-stage procedure. The processor can be fitted for the patient in about four weeks after surgery or once the incision has healed. Like the BAHA, direct stimulation to the cochlea via vibrations allows for hearing to occur.
A cochlear implant provides a recipient with improved hearing perception so that they can acquire speech and language but it does not restore hearing. The cochlear implant transmits sound information past the damaged cochlea directly to the nerve of hearing. It is intended for children with severe-profound hearing loss who receive little to no benefit from hearing aids.
Nemours Children's Clinic has developed a comprehensive multidisciplinary cochlear implant program for children between the ages of 12 months and 17 years. Cochlear implants provide many children with the assistance they need to hear conversation and environmental sounds so that they can obtain hearing and spoken language abilities.
Our implant team, which is comprised of experienced medical and clinical professionals, conducts evaluations, provides surgery and pre- and post-implant care including programming and rehabilitation. The Nemours Cochlear Implant Team is dedicated to providing the best care for recipients and their families.
For many children diagnosed with hearing impairments, speech-language therapy or auditory based therapy is recommended to help them develop their hearing and speaking skills. Auditory based therapy is a specialized type of therapy designed to teach a child to use the hearing provided by a hearing aid or a cochlear implant for understanding speech and learning to talk. Therapists at Nemours Children's Clinic are specially trained Speech Pathologists who teach the child to develop hearing as an active sense so that listening becomes automatic. The goal is for active hearing and active listening to become an integral part of communication, recreation, socialization, education, and work.


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The thing I will take most from this series is the thought of missing the Houston Astros in the future even though the Mets might not. The Astros are moving to the American League, a move I don't agree with on any level.
The Astros were born the same year as the Mets and have a 50-year tradition in the National League. If any NL team should move to the AL, it has to be the Milwaukee Brewers who originally switched from the AL. The Brewers have a AL history and should move back. They switched because when Bud Selig owned the team he wanted the Cubs to come to his park for the draw. Connect the dots.


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Heston Blumenthal's new brasserie is hidden in a rather scruffy hut among 700 beached gin palaces but perseverance pays.
For over 20 years I have been reading Caterer & Hotelkeeper, the UK restaurant trade weekly magazine, without ever getting excited by anything it has covered. The magazine is apparently one of the parent company's most profitable because of its extensive classified ad section but it never seems to invest that income in new journalists, first-class photography or extensive coverage of anything outside the UK.
And then last week came a breakthrough. Over a double-page spread the magazine highlighted the recent opening of a new restaurant, The Riverside Brasserie, by Heston Blumenthal, the inspirational chef at The Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, a chef who loves to push back the boundaries of flavours and textures by using science to understand just what the cooking process involves.
I happen to love The Fat Duck but it is a one-off and so any recommendation has to be qualified by a comment that it may not be to everyone's liking - it is, like a trip to Mark Veyrat at Auberge de l'Eridan near Annecy, France (tel +39 4 50 60 24 00) or Ferran Adria at El Bulli outside Rosas (tel +34 972150457) in Spain - a restaurant for the adventurous eater rather than the faint-hearted.
The article alluded to the fact that this new opening would be more mainstream, more appealing to the local market, and so one dark December Sunday we set off with our 17- and 10-year-old children to discover just what Blumenthal and his team are up to.
When you do head there - and our family's recommendation for The Riverside Brasserie is wholeheartedly unanimous - do not follow the signs for the village of Bray itself but look for the left turn a mile further along the road towards Windsor (if, that is, you are coming off the M4 at junction 8/9 from London) for Bray Marina and Bray Water Treatment Works. Follow the main road towards the Marina office, but if you do go there over the next three months prepare yourself for a shock.
As you enter the Marina you come face to face with hundreds of beached gin-palaces. These are the large motor cruisers which from spring to autumn ply up and down the Thames but during the winter are hauled out of the winter to be tarted up for the following season. Drive past this stationary herd and you come face to face with the main Marina office in which the restaurant is housed.
Although the Marina office itself has not been refurbished, the restaurant, which has a good view of the Thames, has been. But most importantly there is also a large outdoor area that has been completely decked out with tables and chairs and will be a lovely area for eating and drinking when the sun returns. When we were there it was so cold that we just ran from the car to the restaurant.
The decor is pretty simple, bright and modern but the attraction here, as at The Fat Duck, is the cooking which combines several of Blumenthal's signature dishes with excellent renditions of what will appeal to families and, presumably, boat-owners.
Three terrific first courses included an artistically layered terrine of chicken and duck; two pequillo peppers delicately stuffed with a mackerel rillette on a salad of french beans whose dressing added a vital bite of acidity and vinegar and, best of all, a featherlight boudin blanc made from pheasant meat and foie gras on lentils and winter vegetables. The other (untried by us) first courses were a white bean velouté with truffle oil and an escabeche of red mullet, saffron and carrots.
There were six main courses: roast gilthead bream with couscous; braised lamb shank with haricots blancs; grilled salmon with fennel; spaghettini with marinated anchovies, cockles, chilli and garlic; jambonneau of duck, green coffee sauce and pommes purée; and by far the most popular dish (from what I witnessed over 50 per cent of those in the restaurant ordered this) a rib-eye steak with french beans, chips and a bone marrow sauce.
But even this was first class, or so our children reported as they tucked in. My duck had been slow cooked and gently and conveniently fell off its thigh bone whilst the spaghettini, cooked in fish stock, packed far more flavour than most pasta dishes in traditional Italian restaurants. The dessert list reads simply - lemon tart, creme brulée, chocolate tart and pears cooked in red wine - but once again showed an exemplary level of execution.
As we were finishing lunch we were spotted by Nigel Sutcliffe, The Fat Duck's highly personable general manager, who came over and rather anxiously asked us what we were doing there as they were not seeking any publicity for several months (bad luck, Nigel). I explained how I had discovered the restaurants and that I would not be writing about it for the FT but that we had had an excellent meal.
According to Sutcliffe, 'The Marina is going to move its offices to a new building closer to the gate so that we will be able to take over the whole building and expand along the entire frontage that faces the river. It is still going to stay simple - our main market will always be the boat owners and those who live nearby - but in a year's time it will look and feel a lot nicer.'
In the interim if you fancy a drive out of London, this is a hot tip that you won't read about in the papers for a while with any luck. There is first-class cooking, willing if as yet fairly rudimentary service and a wine list carefully chosen and fairly marked up from Berkmann Wine Cellars.
Riverside Brasserie, Bray Marina, Monkey Island Lane, Bray, Berkshire SL6 2EB (tel 01628 780553). Open lunch and dinner Tuesday-Sunday, approx £25 for three courses without wine.
The Fat Duck, High Street, Bray, Berkshire SL6 2AQ (tel 01628 580333). Closed Sunday night and Monday.
For those who want to pursue the scientific angle of cooking do get hold of a copy of Dr Peter Barham's The Science of Cooking, 244 pp, published by Springer (www.springer.de) Barham teaches at Bristol University where he and Blumenthal plan to open a small department researching flavour in autumn 2002, funds willing.


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US providing support in African-led Mali effort
By JOHN VANDIVER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: December 6, 2012
STUTTGART, Germany — U.S. military experts are providing key planning support to regional militaries on a strategy for an African-led intervention in northern Mali, which has become a safe haven for al-Qaida and other terrorist organizations, U.S. defense officials said Wednesday.
"The broad strategic concept for that deployment is sound; more specific planning is under way to address operational shortfalls," Amanda Dory, deputy assistant secretary of defense for African Affairs, said during a Senate hearing.
There is no plan to send U.S. troops to take part in the intervention, but support could come in other forms, including training for the African forces that would be taking part in the operations.
Dory, in testimony submitted to the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs, said U.S. military advice will be a key part to the mission being headed up by the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS.
"Failure to provide robust support to local partners at this stage could allow the threat to grow to a point where regional states could no longer address it," Dory said. "This is very much an African-led process, and our efforts are aimed at making our partners more capable, both at combating the terrorist threat in their territories and at providing better security for their people generally."
U.S. Africa Command is actively supporting the military planning effort, she said.
Mali, an impoverished west African country, has been in disarray following a military coup in March. In the country's north, insurgent organizations and terror groups have been able to take advantage of the unrest, which has resulted in a security vacuum.
Though the security situation has steadily grown worse, U.S. officials have cautioned against a speedy response.
A badly planned attack would likely fail, making the situation worse, according to AFRICOM's leader, Gen. Carter Ham.
"Negotiation is the best way; military intervention may be a necessary component," Ham said during an appearance Monday at George Washington University's Homeland Security Policy Institute. "But if there is to be military intervention, it has to be successful. It cannot be done prematurely."
ECOWAS, along with the United Nations Security Council and African Union, are working on an action plan for Mali.
On Wednesday, African Union officials appealed to the U.N. for funding support for the planned intervention, which could take place in 2013. That appeal was in response to a Nov. 29 Security Council report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who recommended approving a 3,200 ECOWAS force, but without U.N. funding.
Ban, in a written statement, said funding for the initial combat-related military operations "could be through voluntary or bilateral contributions." African officials have expressed doubts that such a funding plan could work.
Antonio Tete, African Union observer at the U.N., said during a meeting Wednesday that U.N. funding support would be needed, citing problems with missions in Darfur and Somalia that relied on voluntary donations.
"Mali is at a crossroads," said Tete, according to a U.N. account of the meeting. "Time is of [the] essence. We need to act fast and to send a clear and strong message on the resolve of the international community and its support to the African-led efforts."
As for U.S. plan for support, it is likely to resemble the kind of assistance that has been provided in recent years to Somalia, where the insurgent group al-Shabab once threatened to overtake the country but now stands severely weakened.
Johnnie Carson, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, has said Somalia could serve as a model for how to operate in Mali.
The U.S. approach in Somalia has centered on training and equipping African Union forces, who, in turn, have pushed al-Shabab out of Somalia's capital city and other major cities.
"We look to try to have the same kind of both regional and international cooperation on Mali," Carson said in October.
Al-Qaida in the Maghreb has a history of terrorist attacks across the Sahel region, but has not demonstrated an ability to attack targets in the United States. Still, AQIM has expressed an intent to target Europe, Dory said.
For that reason, the European Union also is planning a support effort focused on training security forces in Mali.


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European GP 2010
Saturday Press Conference
1. Sebastian VETTEL (Red Bull), 1m37.587s
2. Mark WEBBER (Red Bull), 1m37.662s
3. Lewis HAMILTON (McLaren), 1m37.969s
Q: Sebastian, congratulations. Fastest man in final practice, quickest man in Q1, Q2 and when it counts, in Q3. And as the team said on the radio 'Welcome Back'.
Sebastian VETTEL: Yeah, it is good. The last couple of races we didn't have a very smooth run. Saturdays usually we were quite okay but then Sundays sometimes was a bit rough but it is good. Those types of circuits, Canada the last time and then here again Valencia in Spain, usually shouldn't be our strongest but it is good that we are able to put the car on pole and I think our pace is looking good. It was a tight qualifying session in the end. Not much between us all. I had two runs. In the first run I had a huge moment in the first sector and I knew I had to put everything in the second run and it worked and yeah, I am on pole and very happy for today. I think it was a very tough one here especially as we re-introduced the F-duct and a lot of other things to the car and I think some of the mechanics had maybe one hour or two hours this night to sleep, so it is good to say thank you that way and put the cars on one and two.
Q: On the subject of the F-duct, just how much difference did it make? Was that the difference between third or fourth and pole?
Vettel: I think it isn't that big probably but we feel the difference. We can see how much you can gain with these guys. I think they are using it pretty much to the optimum but we are just learning every single lap, every run, and yesterday we were not quite happy but I think we did another step overnight, so everyone here at the track and people at the factory were basically all the time in front of the monitors trying to see how we can fine tune it and make it better and I think today it worked better, so also due to that we are in a very good position to start tomorrow's race.
Q: Mark, I think it is the fourth time this season that Red Bull have had a one-two and locked out the front row. So little in it between you and Sebastian. Are you happy to be alongside him or not?
Mark WEBBER: Well, I would like it to be the other way around, but you can't do it all the time, so very happy to be on the front row with Seb. It is a credit to the team. Everyone came here and said Red Bull are this, Red Bull are that, but today we have had a good day. It is not one of our strongest circuits. If you think where you would have a race against your opposition we probably wouldn't choose this one but let's see how tomorrow goes. I am very optimistic that we are going to have a good race. Could have gone one place better but I wasn't quick enough today. I am not going to roll-out a shopping list of excuses. I just wasn't good enough, so second is all I could do.
Q: Does it take some of the pressure off when you come to a race maybe not as the favourites but people saying McLaren and Ferrari are going to be stronger? Do you feel less pressure when you go out?
Webber: No, but there is actually more pressure on those guys as they expect to be winning World Championships. For us guys it is new territory but it is normal for those teams, Ferrari and McLaren, to be pushing very hard and saying they are going to do this and do that which is what they have done. McLaren have been sensational the last two races. Two dominant one-twos, so the fight is healthy. There is no more pressure on our team than anyone else, so just focussing on getting the job done.
Q: Lewis, third on the grid. Talk us through that final lap. You were in contention but not for all of it.
Lewis HAMILTON: I tell you that I am really happy to be here. I feel so fortunate. This weekend we knew that everyone else, a few people, were going to be bringing updates and we saw from practice that we were quite a way behind, so a little bit cautious going into...., obviously pushing on the limit, but we didn't realise we were so far up. My first lap was good. The second lap I was doing at the end I was up about a tenth-and-a-half I think through the first sector and then I lost it all into turn 12, locked up the rears and locked up the rears again later in the lap. Initially I thought 'jees, for sure I am going to drop back quite far here' but I was really surprised when I came out and I was third, so really, really happy.
Q: With the race pace which tends to be quite good for McLaren is a top two possible? Can you go on and win from here?
Hamiltion: I think definitely it is going to be an interesting race tomorrow. It is going to be interesting how we manage the tyres and how they behave. I think they will behave a little bit better than the last race. But I think anything is possible from there. We are all in hopefully a good position to start. I cannot complain where we are starting from. Pit stops will be crucial. Hopefully we will get some good pit stops and the first corner and the first few laps will be crucial for position. Anything is possible tomorrow and we will be pushing as hard as we can to win it.
Q: Sebastian, a lot of people will be watching the start with interest. Not just turn one but the tight right hander at turn two. Your team-mate could be right alongside you. It could be absolutely imperative to get through that unscathed.
Vettel: Yeah, there is a good escape road at turn two but obviously you are not very keen on using that. Pole is the best place to start from. It is also on the clean side, so I think that was quite important but still I think all of the cars have been recently quite consistent with good starts, so it is probably easier to get it wrong rather than get it right. But so far our starts have been very good. I am looking forward and hopefully defend the first position, the first corner, the first lap, and many more, so we will see.
Q: Sebastian, I get the feeling from all three of you that you were really expecting to be here. It wasn't really meant to be your circuit. It was damage limitation to some extend for McLaren. Was that the case? Were you expecting others to perhaps be more competitive here?
Vettel: Well, I think the most important is that we are here. People were talking a lot about the last race that this would probably be a difficult venue for us. I think we proved them wrong in Canada and here. I think our pace looks very good. Canada on Sunday was quite an entertaining race from the inside and outside, so it is good to be here. As I said I think we have proven yesterday and all day today that the car has got the pace. We were really a bit surprised that the McLarens were struggling yesterday but as we have seen things can change last minute and in the end they are not too far away and it will be a tough battle tomorrow. But I think we can win the race and score a lot of points for the team.
Q: Although you have been in the top three for every single race was it a little frustrating that you weren't on pole position since China?
Vettel: No, I wouldn't say frustrating. I would say it is more if you know you have got it in you and you know that you have got it in the car, then if you don't get it right maybe last minute, maybe for this or that reason, then there is nothing you can do or I can do, but I think that's life. It goes up and down as this championship. I think from the outside it is very entertaining. We have got a lot of cars on more or less the same points. Obviously it looks a bit more spread with the new points' system but it is looking very interesting and very tight between the cars and the teams, so there is not a lot of room for errors, so you always need to be there. In the end also a fourth or fifth position can be very valuable on a Sunday. We have to keep pushing as we do and as I said, this is probably not the best circuit for us but nevertheless we are here in the front, so in the end we are, so it could not be much better.
Q: Is there a clean and a dirty side here? What's the condition of the grid?
Vettel: Not really. There is a clean and a dirty side. Usually the pole on the right hand side is on the clean side but on the other some cars go wider before turn one and some enter a tighter line. I think it is not really a big difference. Also the way down to turn one is not that long, so we will see. But surely if you have got a McLaren behind you they are very quick on the straight as we know. Ferrari as well, so we need a good start and a good couple of corners where we ideally can pull away.
Q: Mark, you haven't qualified lower than second since Bahrain. You're always there, so especially on this circuit, as you say, perhaps you were not expecting to be there.
Webber: Yeah, it's not one of my best circuits. I've had a shit run here in the past, so in the end, I'm happy to be second, to be honest. Seb was strong in the previous years here and also so far this weekend but I was surprised that I could be on a similar pace, so it was good for me, happy to be here and it's very good for me to be starting from here tomorrow, sensational day for the team, really good for those guys. People might say we keep going on about it but if you look at their eyes, and how hard they have worked, it's a credit to them. Yes, they're not the only team to be working hard, I realise that, but both Seb and I wouldn't be here without their toil and their hard work. We are the guys who do a little bit of driving but they're the guys who obviously put the cars together for us, so we're very thankful for them. It was a pretty good uneventful qualifying session. Obviously the first lap went OK, second one not too bad, so here we are.
Q: How important is qualifying here?
Webber: I think we've had some races here in the past when people have struggled to stay awake, so I think we will see how it is tomorrow. I think we're going to have... not like Canada in terms of a Grand Prix like we saw there, but let's see how it goes. I think the first few guys are pretty quick on pace and it's going to be a good fight but we have some very good ammunition in the Grand Prix tomorrow where we're quicker.
Q: Both Red Bull drivers using the F-duct?
Webber: Yup.
Q: Track conditions: they varied yesterday, did they change today?
Webber: Yes, the track has improved to a point where I don't think there's a huge amount left in it. Obviously there's a bigger ramping effect on Friday and maybe a little bit early Saturday but there's obviously been no rain and the track is a street circuit and so it improves a lot up to this point. We also saw that the difference between the tyres is not as big as previous events, so that's also an interesting one for all the teams. We had to get a feel for that and then the track was pretty consistent.
Q: Lewis, you seem to be very happy to be there, but it does seem to have been a bit of a damage limitation weekend?
Hamiltion: Well, that was what we thought but I guess it's not really, considering we're third. That's definitely not a damage limitation weekend. I think for us, just going into practice yesterday, we were quite quick in the first session and then in the second and third the car felt good, we just weren't fast enough, simple as that, but the others were so far ahead, we knew that they had had some upgrades, so initially going into qualifying the thought was OK, we have to get absolutely every ounce out of the car, every little bit we can possibly get and a little bit more if possible, just to gain that one more spot even if it means going from seventh to sixth. I really didn't feel we would be this high up, but through the session the car was feeling great, we made some good set-up changes in P3. Into qualifying the car was very, very strong, we got good gaps, put together good laps. The last lap I did I locked up the rears, obviously pushing as hard as we could. We definitely didn't have half a second in our pocket. I think we may have had a tenth but then unfortunately I lost it. Initially I thought everyone would go faster but they didn't and I was really very, very surprised and shocked when I came in and found I was third. I was very happy.
Q: And of course you have been second here in the two races we've had so far.
Hamiltion: Yeah, this track has generally been good to me in the past. I'm hoping that it will continue that way. Like I said, we really feel that we haven't made a step forward since the last race for a good couple of races; we're still waiting on our update and we know that Ferrari have brought their update package this weekend. All of a sudden they're blistering quick as were the Red Bulls. They still have an advantage as I've always told you, straight up, that they still have a bit of an advantage on us but we're still there and we're still pushing and optimising the package that we have.
Q: (Livio Oricchio - O Estado de Sao Paulo) Sebastian and Mark, I don't want to go into politics but you are maybe going to fight for victory into the first corner after the start. What's your comment on it, considering what happened at the last races?
Vettel: Well, I think fighting for position is what racing drivers do. If you look at the job description that's what we are. Obviously we've been through this many times but I'm not afraid that something similar will happen. You can never say never, but surely I think we've learned our bit and we're looking forward. Yeah, not a lot of interest in the history.
Webber: Obviously if there's a chance to overtake we will go for it. If not, then I don't. Nothing's really changed in the last... my whole career. Obviously if something's there we go, if not, we wait a bit longer.
Q: (Asen Stoyanov - Monitor Daily) Sebastian, can you tell us exactly how much you gain from the F-duct system per lap?
Vettel: It's difficult to say. As I said earlier, we were not 100 percent happy yesterday. I think we made a step forward today but I don't want to go into too much detail. We have it on the car, so we believe it gives us an advantage. Obviously we see from other teams how much it can be worth, probably around 0.4s - 0.5s per lap if you really manage to work well with it and you get the wing settings right and so on. For us, at this stage, I think it is less than this, but it's an advantage.
Q: (Oleg Karpov - Klaxon) For all of you, are you surprised by Mercedes's qualifying performance, 12th and 15th?
Vettel: Bit surprised, as you said, 12th and 15th. In first qualifying, it was Michael, I think, who right at the end managed to get into Q2. They looked very competitive yesterday. I don't know what went wrong or what happened but they definitely looked stronger yesterday and this morning than they were this afternoon, so it looked a bit odd but obviously it's the same for all of us, you've got a lot of things to do in qualifying and focus on your own, so apart from the result you don't know much more.
Q: (Ivan Martin - La Gaceta) To Mark and Sebastian, with the introduction of the F-duct, have you found your car less competitive in the corners, have you lost some of the downforce because of the F-duct?
Webber: Good question. It's a very complicated system. McLaren, we know, have had quite a long period of time with it and teams are trying to close the gap to a point where it's sensible but we are realistic; we're never going to have the system probably as nicely integrated into the car and everything as McLaren have, because they designed the car with it. So we've had to adapt something a little bit different and try to make the system work. We are not losing in the corners with the F-duct. We're confident the car is behaving well. We're confident it's a bit quicker, so that's why we elected to race it. In Turkey that was not the case and we had some small problems with it there, which, to be honest - we had our eyes wide open - we expected to probably have some problems because it's not easy. We're learning. Even this morning in P3 we were trying different specs between the cars to try and get it even better. Let's hope for Silverstone and future events we can get it even better.
Vettel: As Mark said, it's not a very easy system. If you get it right, then you can really get an advantage, but it's not that easy to set it up and it very easily gets distracted. I think we've found a very good compromise for here. I think we still have to improve it for the future.
Q: (Ivan Martin - La Gaceta) Lewis, these guys are always ahead of the rest or normally, but you are still ahead of Ferrari, without any special innovations. You're waiting for the next step at Silverstone, so what do you expect from the next race, to be closer to the Red Bulls? Are you confident about the gap to Ferrari?
Hamiltion: I think it's really, really hard to say because, for example, as I said, in P3 myself and Jenson were ninth and tenth and they were good laps, but everyone else - the fast guys - were eight tenths ahead of us. So taking from that, we thought, OK, our update needs to be very special, but I think we're still working on it. I don't think it's going to be a huge step. Hopefully it's going to be something we can work on and develop over the next few races but definitely the more downforce you get, the better it goes, so I'm hoping that we'll close the gap to the Red Bulls and we'll have more of a fighting chance to qualify ahead of them because generally we qualify behind them, normally, and that always makes the race a lot harder. So we'll see.


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It's a little unfair that every time an amateur athlete compensation lawsuit is filed or a new concussion story goes up, we trot out the same finger-wagging thinkpieces designed to help us figure out how to feel less guilty about loving football.
While half the country is writhing in ecstasy over the result of the SEC Championship or maybe one of its minor satellite tournaments and the other half is turning on the RedZone Channel 3 hours early, let's get a head start on the next temporary moral outrage.
- Remember this brutal out of bounds cart shot on Henry Josey? ESPN doesn't!
Five, count 'em, five stories on the game last night and no one mentions Josey's senseless injury. Well, at least it wasn't a second harrowing injury sustained by the extraordinarily talented running back on a national stage. Oh!
- Fitting, though, that we'd ignore a ridiculously unsafe play on a day that we continued to embrace the military mythos surrounding a children's game. "He was a warrior today," Malzahn said of the young man who carried a football a bunch. "This is a responsible way to talk about fucking football." Maybe he was in some kind of post-game trance.
- But the hyperbole doesn't stop there! Fans are jubilant, the game was miraculous, it restored honor to the University. My god, remember those dark years since Auburn's last title? Think of the shamed professors and students, shuffling gloomily to their classes, dreaming of the halcyon days of championship football and university pride that had been absent for nearly 4 full semesters. It's hard to overstate, really. But we surely fucking try.
Enjoy the games.


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+1 million
More than 1.2 million U.S. students drop out of school every year.
1 in 10
Of the 13 million children growing up in poverty today, only 1 in 10 will graduate from college.
Nearly 50%
Close to 50 percent of students in low-income communities will not graduate from high school by the time they're 18 years old.


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Nokia is building a Windows 8 tablet. While plenty of other companies will likely follow suit, the Finnish company's position is unique. In smartphones, Nokia is the only vendor that even has a chance of taking the fight to the iPhone using the Windows Phone platform. So it only follows that it's also the only vendor to take the tablet fight in the same direction by adopting Windows 8. Most of the usual suspects for Windows tablets are also likely to be pushing Android alternatives, so Nokia may be the company funneling all its efforts into Windows 8.
Since we actually don't know anything about the product, let's imagine what it would take to build a winning Windows 8 ARM tablet.
Windows 8
As just a tablet, or a more traditional ARM notebook on steroids, I doubt this product would be very interesting. But as a transforming product, one that had a detachable keyboard like the Asus Transformer Prime, it would have some intrigue. You see, even though the ARM version of the product will not run Windows 7 programs, it will ship with an embedded version of the key Office applications rewritten for ARM. This means, unlike the x86 version, no changing interfaces and an experience much closer to the iOS and Android today, but with far better productivity built in. That means you could actually live on this product with a keyboard.
AMOLED or Mirasol transflective display
Samsung has already stated shipping its AMOLED display tablet in a 7.7-inch form factor, but that size is best for readers and entertainment. Apple has taken its Retina display to the iPad, and the only thing in market better is the AMOLED technology. Even next to the amazing Retina display, AMOLED should make the Retina display look dull because it has vastly deeper blacks, causing the images to really pop. The only thing that could be better than AMOLED would be transflective color displays like the Qualcomm Mirasol display. It uses ambient light to massively conserve battery life in natural light, and work outdoors nearly as well as e-paper. A smaller 7-inch transflective product could be a great reader as well as a productivity tool, giving the Kindle a run for its money.
More than 10 hours of battery life
One of the difficulties those of us using smartphones and tablets encounter — particularly Apple's – is that you can't have a spare battery. You can buy a number of battery extenders and mobile chargers, but the issue is that we often don't remember to charge our "precious," and when it dies we're left feeling like Gollum after he lost the ring. Worse really, because we end up disconnected. That can be a big issue if you are calling for a ride or help, suddenly find you can't respond to an email or instant message timely, or even worse, you're just bored and your damn e-book won't fire up.
I'm particularly fond of the Asus Transformer Prime's approach of putting a second battery in the keyboard because you're likely to have it with you, and that spare battery is a life saver. But less than 10 hours would be a problem, and some kind of a built-in way to boost the time you can power it would be a big plus.
4G option or bundled with a tethered 4G phone
3G just won't cut it by the end of the year, and I'm an even bigger fan of embedded tethering. Only the BlackBerry PlayBook seemed to grasp this concept, but then RIM didn't really sell it. Having multiple data plans is a waste since you can't really browse on your smartphone while you are browsing on your tablet, so why not one plan that covers both devices? Set it up so the tablet automatically tethers with the phone when you buy them together. Better yet, have them able to talk to each other so you simply put both devices in tether mode, hit connect, and be permanently done. Tablets were meant to be constantly connected, but no one has truly done a great job of getting that done inexpensively.
Brilliant design
Making another iPad clone would be better than building an ugly box, but the goal would be to build something substantially better. Something like the carbon-fiber-wrapped TAG Heuer phone could play well, and a theme tied to racing or technology might be interesting if the result was thin. But it needs to be something that folks would be proud to say isn't an iPad. (Granted, Samsung did prove you could create a better-looking iPad with the Galaxy Tab, which is why I think it was so successful and why it pissed off Steve Jobs as much as it did, but that is just the bar.) Nokia should strive for something more than being a better copy.
Complete user experience
The problem with most companies building both Windows and Android products is that they typically don't assure the user experience. They have a tendency to agree it sucks, and then blame Microsoft or Google for the suckiness (technical term). Apple OS X actually started with BSD UNIX, but looks more finished than competitors. If one company can improve something 90 percent, everyone else should be able to improve it 10 percent. Nokia has been given unique permissions to alter the user experience with Microsoft products, and should do whatever it takes to make its Windows tablet more complete than the iPad. The iPad isn't perfect — if it were we would have all stopped buying after the first one. The newer iPad will be better than the new iPad, after all (OK, I hate what Apple is doing with naming: the iPad 4 will be better than the iPad 3). Figure out what the iPad 4 will be in terms of total user experience and build it first.
Taking a market
Apple was never able to take the PC market away from Microsoft, and Microsoft was never able to build a better iPod. Apple is effectively winning PC market share with the iPad by side stepping and creating something that is both different and compelling. In the end, that is likely the best path for Nokia: Not a better iPad, but a device that is orthogonal. It should do what the iPad does, but approach the problem differently, much like the iPad does on a portability vector. However, that kind of a move requires a willingness to take risk and massive innovation. I'm not sure the team at Nokia has that in them. I'm not dissing Nokia — I'm not even sure Apple has that in Apple anymore now that Steve is gone. But that would be the gold ring: not a better iPad, but what Microsoft should have done with Zune, a better whatever is next. (Microsoft should have done a phone and beat Apple to the iPhone rather than chase the iPod). Interestingly, Windows 8 (which is a PC OS), is likely where Apple is going as it adds capabilities to iOS and eventually replace the Mac OS with it. Getting there first with a complete solution is possible, now Microsoft and Nokia just have to step up.
Guest contributor Rob Enderle is the founder and principal analyst for the Enderle Group, and one of the most frequently quoted tech pundits in the world. Opinion pieces denote the opinions of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views of Digital Trends.
The views expressed here are solely those of the author and do not reflect the beliefs of Digital Trends.


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While some of us are head down searching for first flowers, others are alert to life higher up: Wildlife gardener, Daniel Osborne, who often spots some of the Wildlife Garden's less common sightings shares his winter observations:
"For those prepared to venture out in the cold, observing birds in winter has a charm all its own. While many of the enigmatic summer species will have migrated south, and none of the spring breeding displays or nesting behaviour will be in evidence, birds in winter are no less engaging.
There are still many species around. Blackbirds, robins, finches (including colourful flocks of goldfinches), tits, wrens, dunnocks and many corvids are common in gardens throughout winter. They are more or less non-migratory, but movement within these species does occur - from the colder north, and even from the countryside into cities.
One of our resident robins (Erithacus rubecula)
© Mark Humphries
Some species, such as fieldfares and redwings, are encountered only in winter when they leave their summer breeding grounds in Scandinavia and Siberia. Redwings have been recorded in the Garden this year, as in previous years, and a pair of mistle thrush have chosen to make the Garden their home this winter, as reported in our December post.
Redwing (Turdus iliacus) have been spotted in the Garden during the past month
© Phil Hurst
Due to the scarcity of food, many different species will flock together in winter feeding parties. Excellent viewing opportunities are afforded by the absence of foliage on the deciduous trees.
A great tit (Parus major) in the Wildlife Garden
© Derek Adams
And birds are increasingly willing to visit garden bird feeders.
European greenfinch (Carduelis chloris) and blue tit (Parus caeruleus) on our garden bird feeder
© Derek Adams
Our resident moorhens (Gallinula chloropis) ensure nothing is left to waste below the feeders...
© Derek Adams
... Though some can get left behind.
© Mark Humphries
The feeders in the Garden are usually in regular need of refilling during the winter months, although not too much this winter so far. The relatively mild temperatures appear to be offering a continued availability of natural food, and it is interesting to note that the blackbirds only recently started feeding on the rowan berries that they usually pluck in August with precise bursts of hummingbird-like hovering.
Blackbirds (Turdus merula) feed off rowan berries most summers ... but not last summer
© Derek Adams
Blackbirds are seen frequently at all times of year in the Garden. They are common, and easily identified, the males a uniform black with a bright orange bill and eye, the females a diffuse brown as seen above and further below.
Male blackbird in the Wildlife Garden
© Mark Humphries
They have the habit of cackling noisily when they take off and slowly bringing their tails up to the vertical when they land, making them identifiable even at distance.
Female blackbird
© Derek Adams
The males are territorial and will often proclaim their territory from the same branch. It's my estimate that the Garden is the site of at least three different male blackbird territories. One male has a spot in the apple tree in the orchard area from which he can regularly be heard singing. At this time of year they will be re-establishing their territories and, like all birds, looking for enough food to survive.
Winter is undoubtedly a time of great hardship for birds. Severe or extended cold has disastrous effects on bird numbers. But it can also be a time of unrivaled avian spectacle. Starling murmurations are among the most celebrated natural phenomena and reach a peak during winter, when the birds roost most communally.
Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) - sadly uncommon in the Wildlife Garden - our last sighting was in 2009
© Tim Munsey
Some parts of Britain entertain huge influxes of swans and geese. Waders and wildfowl flock in huge numbers on the coastlines. And for me, in London, there is always the hope of seeing, in my opinion, the most beautiful of birds, waxwings."
Thank you Daniel!
A waxwing (Bombycilla garrulus) - one that is definitely on our Garden wish-list!
© Phil Hurst
We'll be sharing more of our bird sightings with you later in the year