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"Andy is a proven leader with significant operations experience. Successfully navigating the complex policies and reforms will require a clear vision and strong leadership. We look forward to advancing our practices even further under his direction."
Peoria, ILK (PRWEB) January 26, 2013
Dr. Andy Chiou elected President and Chief Executive Officer of Peoria Surgical Group, Ltd.
Peoria Surgical Group, Ltd (PSG) today announced that Andy C. Chiou, MD, MPH, RVT, FACS has been elected President and CEO by the PSG Shareholders. In this position, Dr. Chiou will be responsible for working with the PSG board of directors in developing and implementing the over-all corporate strategy and the coordination of all divisions within the expanding PSG corporate group.
Dr. Chiou replaces Dr. Thomas R. Rossi who recently completed his 4-year term as President.
"I'm delighted to announce Andy's election to this position to lead our practices," stated Eric T. Elwood, MD. "Andy is a proven leader with significant operations experience. Successfully navigating the complex policies and reforms will require a clear vision and strong leadership. We look forward to advancing our practices even further under his direction."
Dr. Chiou is currently director of the vascular and endovascular team at PSG, and director of the Peoria Vein Center. He received his medical degree and a Master's of Public Health in Health Care Administration from Boston University and completed his general residency at The New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City. He also completed a fellowship in vascular and endovascular surgery at Northwestern University in Chicago. Additionally, Dr. Chiou served with distinction as a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Air Force. Dr. Chiou's current Academic appointments include Assistant Professor of Clinical Radiology & Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine - Peoria and Adjunct Professor of Engineering and Technology at Bradley University, Peoria, IL.
Peoria Surgical Group, Ltd (PSG) has been providing state of the art, quality-focused and patient centered surgical services for over 60 years. Today, their group of over 25 board certified surgeons and mid-level providers, deliver advanced care in a variety of specialties: Cosmetic & Reconstructive, Bariatric/Weight Loss, Breast, Colon & Rectal, Endovascular, General Surgery, Surgical Oncology, Trauma & Surgical Critical Care, Thoracic, Varicose & Spider Vein Treatment, and Vascular Care.
PSG covers the central Illinois area as their physicians practice at a number of hospital and clinic sites. Additionally, their surgeons are on the faculty of the University of Illinois School of Medicine – Peoria, helping to train the next generation of surgeons for central Illinois and the world.


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This week I taught three 90 minutes sessions as part of our faculty iPad inservice week. I taught the Productivity session, where I got to teach QuickOffice, Evernote, and Diigo (using these tools on school laptops and iPads) to groups of 10-20 faculty members. There were 3 other classes being offered by other specialists: iPad Basics, eBook Options, and Classroom Possibilities. I had a lot of fun actually teaching from the iPad as I walked around the room. I could also switch off between projecting from my iPad and laptop. I would have loved it if the Smartboard worked with the iPad..maybe someday! The teachers had varying skills, but we all helped each other, and I had a great time. They loved it when I took their picture in an Evernote note, which was also very helpful for attendance. The most confusing parts to teach were adding Evernote's web clipper and Diigo's web highlighter to the iPads.
I am attending an ALA session about Professional Development, because I see a lot more of this in my future (Leading Professional Development that Matters…and Works Friday, June 22, 2012 | 12:30 p.m.–4:00 p.m. Presenters: Debbie Abilock, Kristin Fontichiaro, and Violet H. Harada). I am already planning our August inservice week, where I hope to be teaching Your iPad and the Library: Access, Collaboration, Participation. Or something like that.. Do you have favorite Apps or iPad uses you think I should highlight (or get) for the faculty? Please share!

subset: commoncrawl


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Big adventures for little guests - 7 overnight stays for 3 adults in the apartment Amsel 2 bedded room apartment Nr. 3 in Saas-Fee
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Building a Java ME CDC Application Using the SavaJe Phone
If you were at JavaOne this year, you couldn't have missed the new all-Java mobile phone platform announced by SavaJe. Along with the platform, they made available a developer's edition of a new phone based on SavaJe, called the Jasper S20. The phone was named "device of the show" for JavaOne 2006.
Of course, for a Java developer, the most interesting aspect of the device is that nearly all of the platform is itself written in Java. Because all of the phone's services, applications, and APIs are in Java, it is that much easier to write compelling applications that take advantage of the device's capabilities and provide features that users expect.
Java Micro Edition JSR Soup
Java ME has been running on phones for quite some time now, starting with hardware that was barely capable and evolving as technology improved. With each new step in platform capabilities, there were JSRs to specify the corresponding Java APIs. The SavaJe platform is no slouch, and implements so many of these JSRs that I can only list a few.
The more limited collection of APIs that most phones implement revolve around the Connected Limited Device Configuration (CLDC) and the MIDP profile, with Midlets being the unit of application deployment. SavaJe implements the following JSRs in CLDC mode, primarily defined by JSR-185:
Java Technology for the Wireless Industry (JSR-185):
- CLDC 1.1 () (JSR-139) defines language, networking, and utility APIs
- MIDP 2.0 (JSR-118) defines midlets...
- J2ME Wireless Messaging API 2.0 (JSR-205, JSR-120)
- MMAPI 1.1 (JSR-135) mobile media API
- Mobile 3D Graphics for J2ME (JSR-184)
- The PDA optional packages for Personal Information Management (PIM) and file access (JSR-75)
- J2ME Bluetooth (JSR-82) javax.bluetooth APIs only (not javax.obex)
Now, even more interesting is the Connected Device Configuration (CDC), with Swing Xlets being the unit of application deployment. SavaJe is unique as a phone platform in providing so much functionality to Java developers. Just take a look at all these goodies!
- J2ME Mobile 3D Graphics (JSR-184)
- J2ME Wireless Messaging 2.0 (JSR-205, JSR-120)
- J2ME Mobile Media (JSR-135)
- XML Parsing option from Web Services (JSR-172)
- The javax.microedition.xlet package from Personal Basis Profile 1.1 (JSR-185)
- J2ME PDA optional packages for Personal Information Management (PIM) and file access (JSR-75)
- J2ME Bluetooth/OBEX (JSR-82)
- Advanced Graphics and User Interface (AGUI) Package for J2ME (JSR-209)
- J2ME updates for J2SE 1.4 compatibility: Personal Basis Profile 1.1 (JSR-217), J2ME CDC 1.1 (JSR-218), and J2ME Foundation Profile 1.1 (JSR-219)
- Application Protocol Data Units (APDU) support from J2ME Security and Trust Services (JSR-177)
- J2ME JAIN Presence and Instant Messaging (JSR-186, JSR-187)
- J2ME Advanced Multimedia (JSR-234)
This article will focus on Xlets and AGUI. Xlets will give you the means of deploying your application and controlling its lifecycle; AGUI will give you the APIs to create a snazzy look.
Java ME CDC Tools
The most conventional approach to developing Java ME is to use a phone platform emulator combined with plugins for an IDE. For SavaJe as well as any other CDC device, Sun provides a CDC Toolkit that contains the emulators and libraries, along with the Mobility Pack for CDC for NetBeans 5.5. This is a nice package, and provides a turnkey development cycle.
Unfortunately, Sun's CDC Toolkit is only available on Windows, which is a problem for me because I have only Mac and Linux machines available. Although it is possible to pull pieces out of the toolkit and assemble a working environment, I chose to drop down to the metal, creating the necessary bundles by hand and developing in my preferred IDE: Eclipse. Yes, I can hear the Sun engineers gnashing their teeth, but you can't knock an approach that works, and until the CDC Toolkit works on Mac or Linux, this is the best option.
About the Application
I hunted around awhile, trying to think of an interesting killer application to write for the SavaJe. There are so many possibilities given the rich APIs, but in the end I thought I'd pick something small, fun, and easy to get started. I've been hooked on the puzzle game Sudoku recently, and thought the phone display and keyboard would make perfect interfaces. (And allow me to sneak in play time almost anywhere.) The application that you'll build is a simple Sudoku playing GUI that allows predefined puzzles to be solved using the phone's joystick and number keys.
The display, living in a desktop testing frame, looks like this:
and is implemented using a simple JPanel and Java 2D methods. The yellow square indicates the selection where numbers are entered using the number pad, and is moved using the joystick that sends arrow key events.
Adding puzzle generation, fancier game play, and wizzy graphics is something I'll have to leave to a future time. In this article, I'll keep it simple and focus on the details of getting Xlets running on the phone. All of the source code for this application is available as open source on Google Code. Follow the directions there to check out the project source.
Setting Up the Development Environment
The first thing you'll need to get started is Eclipse. You can download Eclipse 3.2.1 for your OS. Versions are readily available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Install it in the default location with default settings. No special plugins are required, but one easy way to get the project source is to use the Subclipse plugin that can be found at http://subclipse.tigris.org/.
The next thing you'll need is the SavaJe libraries, bundled into the one: jar SavaJeDeveloper.jar. These are provided on the developer CD that comes with the phone, or can be downloaded from saveje.com once you've registered as a developer.
Organizing the Projects
To simplify development, and make testing easier, I have broken the application down into four small projects:
- sudoku-eng: The "engine" that knows how to load and save games
- sudoku-ui: The core UI written using portable Swing/Java 2D. Depends on sudoku-eng.
- sudoku-se: A Java SE-based main and frame to help with testing. Depends on sudoku-ui.
- sudoku-xlet: The Xlet-based application and frame for the phone. Depends on sudoku-ui.
This is how they look in the Eclipse project pane.
Building and running sudoku-se runs the Java SE application main() that creates a Swing frame for testing. This is a quick and easy way to try out new game features on the desktop without the overhead of deploying to the phone.
Building sudoku-xlet creates all of the Java binaries needed to run on the phone. The last few Xlet bundling steps are done by using a shell script to zip up the classes from the three projects into a jar, and copy it and other files into the right layout for deployment.
Each of the projects has a src folder for the Java and other sources. Here, you can see the two additional files needed for Xlets: bundle.jnlp, which controls the bundle contents and startup class; and bundle.policy, which requests security permissions for the bundle. I chose to name the Java packages to match the project names to make things easier to remember, but this is not critical.
One thing that is crucial, though, and all too easy to overlook, is that the phone only supports Java 1.4.2.
Note: If you build against Java 1.5 libraries or use the Java 5 compiler setting, really bad things will happen and your Xlet will mysteriously refuse to start. You must set the compiler to 1.4.2 and select the 1.4.2 JRE to build against.
A Bundle of Xlets
The building, bundling, and deploying of an Xlet for SavaJe is refreshingly simple. The first step is to create an Xlet bundles directory on the phone's SD memory card. The next step is to create a sub directory under that for each Xlet. When the SD card is inserted into the phone, all of these Xlets will become available under the "My Applications" section of the phone's menu. In your case, the tree looks like this:
/savaJe/bundles/ Sudoku/ bundle.jnlp bundle.policy lib/ classes.jar
The bundle.jnlp file is an XML file with a few interesting values that must be defined. For this application, the file looks like this:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> <jnlp codebase="sb:///Sudoku/"> <resources> <j2se version="1.4+"/> <jar href="lib/classes.jar"/> </resources> <information> <title>Sudoku</title> <vendor>Carl</vendor> <description>Sudoku Puzzle</description> </information> <application-desc main-class="org.quinn.sudoku.xlet.SudokuXlet"> </application-desc> </jnlp>
The codebase attribute defines a URI that is cross-referenced in the policy file. The two uses must match, but are otherwise unimportant. The resources elements describe which JRE the application needs and where its jar lives. It can be left with the default values shown above for most applications. The information elements should be filled in for your application and are pretty self-explanatory. These may be shown to the user when browsing installed Xlets. Finally, the application-desc element indicates which class in the jar is the actual Xlet to launch.
The bundle.policy file is a standard Java policy file for the Xlet. For this application, you simply request full permissions for all classes in the jar.
grant codeBase "sb:///Sudoku/lib/classes.jar" { permission java.security.AllPermission; };
The classes.jar file is a plain Java jar containing all the Xlet's classes built using the regular tools. No special manifest is needed.
For my environment, I put together a simple shell script to build the bundle tree and place it under a dist directory:
# dist is where we'll build our complete distribution image rm -rf dist mkdir -p dist/lib # staging is where we merge the class tree to build the jar rm -rf staging mkdir -p staging/org/quinn cp -R classes/org/quinn/* staging/org/quinn cp -R ../sudoku-ui/classes/org/quinn/* staging/org/quinn cp -R ../sudoku-eng/classes/org/quinn/* staging/org/quinn cd staging zip -0 -r ../dist/lib/classes.jar * cd .. cp src/bundle.* dist
You can see where you first aggregate all of the classes under staging so that they can be zipped together into classes.jar. The jar plus the two bundle files then get copied into the dist tree. The final step of deploying to the phone is to simply copy this tree to the phone's SD card. I use this one-liner:
cp -R dist/* /Volumes/PHONESD/savaJe/bundles/Sudoku/
You'll likely need to adjust the paths to fit your system setup and the volume name of your SD card.
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UNWTO AGORA: an open forum to share opinions and concept papers.
If you want to publish a text please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com
Disclaimer: Information, documents or articles or any other form of written statement published on this page do not necessarily represent the official views of the World Tourism Organization, its Member States or its Affiliate Members. The Organization is not responsible for possible violations of copyright resulting from the posting of any written material on this page.
Investigating the effects of tangible and intangible factors on customers' perceived service quality and loyalty in hotel industry in Al-Ladhiqiyah, Syria
Service quality in tourism industry has been examined in many different types of business enterprise. Aspects of service quality can be divided into two: tangible and intangible. Tangible aspects of...
|Wed 08 Jan 2014
The Impact of Physical Environment Factors in Hotels on Arab Customers' Loyalty
The study reported in this paper reports the results of examining the effects of physical factors at hotels (i.e., exterior design, equipments, and ambient conditions) on customer loyalty. Employing...
|Wed 08 Jan 2014
A Study of the Effects of Factors in the Physical Environment of Hotels on Customers' Perceptions of Service Quality and Loyalty
Service quality can be considered to be the customers' judgment about an entity's overall excellence and superiority of service (Clow, Kurtz, Ozment, & Ong, 1997; Zeithaml, 1988). The most...
|Wed 08 Jan 2014
Tourism development in coastal areas in Africa: promoting sustainability through governance and management mechanisms
Coastal areas have a high potential for tourism development in large parts of Africa. Governments and tourism enterprises should pay due attention to sustainability principles for tourism to serve as...
|Wed 30 Oct 2013
Integrated Tourism Circuit. Bengal
The Project entitled – "Developing an Integrated Tourism Circuit in Gar Mandaran-Kamarpukur-Joyrambati in the State of West Bengal" has been prepared on behalf of the Ramakrishna Math & Mission,...
|Thu 06 Jun 2013
LDC Export Diversification, Employment Generation and the "Green Economy": What roles for tourism linkages?
"Pro-poor" tourism is arguably one of the best green options for addressing LDC poverty, employment and economic diversification initiatives. Although often neglected as a serious policy option — and...
|Thu 30 May 2013
A Futuristic Perspective on West Bengal's Tourism Industry
The state of West Bengal is unique in terms of tourism, given the fact that it is the only state in India, which has all the three vital ingredients – sea (The Bay of Bengal), mountains (The Eastern...
|Wed 09 Jan 2013
About Hotel Classification Systems
The matter of the classification of tourism accommodations is particularly difficult for at least two reasons: First of all, due to the large diversity of types of tourism accommodations, a...
|Wed 09 Jan 2013
Resurrecting Kalyani Through Tourism - A World War II US Army Base
This Tourism Plan entitled – "Resurrecting Kalyani through Tourism – A Case Study" deals exclusively with the pros and cons of Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Tourism in the township of Kalyani and the...
|Wed 12 Dec 2012
Domestic Tourism Study Overview
The domestic tourism study in Asia and the Pacific was initiated in 2011 and will be finalised by UNWTO in 2012. The responses to the call for contributions to the domestic tourism study, based on a...
|Fri 14 Sep 2012


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OK, the Mets lost last night in a game they could have won. In the grand scheme of things, it's still a loss, but as the game progressed there was a different feeling than most times this young season. That's because Oliver Perez was pitching well, giving the Mets two strong-pitched games in a row.
There's a different feel defensively when a team gets a well-pitched game, and the Mets were indeed crisp in the field.
Today it's Johan Santana, who always gives the Mets a chance to win, even when the offense takes a pass as it has most games already this season.
It's the same story with the Mets offense, which is to say they aren't hitting with runners in scoring position. Chris Carpenter pitched a good game last night, but still the Mets had a chance to put the game away before it was turned over to the bullpen.
The Mets are on national TV this afternoon. I hope you tune in and also drop by here with your thoughts.


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A Natural Defense to "Red Bugs" in the Reef Aquarium
A tiny parasitic amphipod has recently been discovered that seems to only affect certain species of Acropora corals. This parasite has not been scientifically identified but has been explained by experts as being a micro-amphipod about 1/2 millimeter in length and yellow with a red abdomen. They have been dubbed "Red Bugs." Infested colonies will typically lose color, stop extending their polyps, and slowly waste away until the entire colony is lost.
Our Aquatic Experts have experimented with many different species of gobies, wrasses, clingfish, as well as other species to find a natural solution for this parasite. Fortunately, we have found an answer - the Dragonface Pipefish (Corythoichthys haematopterus). Once acclimated and comfortable in their new environment, you will find this interesting fish perched near infected corals, methodically consuming bug after bug.


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Post-game breakdown, video: Seton Hall
Maybe it's time to start thinking about UConn junior Shabazz Napier as a worthy Big East player-of-the-year candidate.
Napier has an uncanny ability to deliver whenever his team needs him. And his teammates respond to him.
"They feed off him and feed off his energy," coach Kevin Ollie said.
Napier did it again Sunday in a 78-67 win over Seton Hall, scoring 18 of his 22 points in the second half and also finished with nine assists, a career-high six steals and four rebounds while playing 39 minutes.
"He realizes when we need him and he just steps up," R.J. Evans ofSalemsaid.
UConn improved to 16-6 overall and 6-4 in the Big East. The Huskies are one of four teams with four league losses.
Marquette(8-2), Syracuse(8-2) and Georgetown(7-3) are ahead of the pack.
Here's a post-game breakdown:
-- Evans, a Norwich Free Academy graduate, had one of his best Big East games. He provided a spark off the bench, finishing with six points and two rebounds in 13 minutes.
He hadn't had more than four points since scoring nine against Fordham on Dec. 21.
"Coach Ollie just gave me confidence and told me to attack," Evans said. "He put confidence in me and I just took what the defense gave me."
Ollie appreciated the fact that Evans attacked the basket.
"R.J. does a great job," Ollie said. "I put the word professional around his name because he's always ready to play… He did a remarkable job attacking the rim and got some easy baskets for us."
-- In the days leading up to the game, Ollie complained about the high number of three-pointers that his team has taken in the last two games. The Huskies attempted 45.
Against Seton Hall, they took 14, making five.
-- UConn out-scored Seton Hall from the foul line, 21-6. The Huskies converted 21 of 23 and the Pirates just 6-for-17.
"We had the right people taking them," Ollie said.
Sophomore Ryan Boatright made all 10 attempts from the line. Napier went 5-for-6.
-- The road trip's most valuable player might be Scott Kirkpatrick.
Who's Kirkpatrick?
He's the UConn team bus driver. He had to maneuver through the snow to get the Huskies to New Jersey on Saturday night. The trip took five hours and they finally arrived about 1 a.m.
At one point, the bus got stuck in a hotel parking lot in Hartford. The Huskies enjoyed their down time, playing in the snow.
"We had a little fun," Evans said. "Then coach said to get back on the bus before you do something stupid."
Napier and freshman Omar Calhoun wrestled in the snow. Napier declared himself the winner of the bout.
"I snuck up on Omar…," Napier said. "Then he tried to slam me and it wasn't happening."
-- For the first time, Napier talked about sitting out the first six plus minutes of the loss at St. Johns Wednesday. He was punished for an undisclosed violation of team rules.
It was a communication issue, according to Napier.
"I felt like I let the team down," Napier said.
Napier more than made up for his mistake with Sunday's terrific performance.
-- The game featured two big runs.
The Pirates had a 16-0 spurt that helped erase a 13-point deficit late the first half.
The Huskies took the lead for good with a 28-8 run.
-- An active and opportunistic defense sparked the Huskies in the second half. They forced 16 turnovers overall, including 10 after intermission.
The backcourt of Napier and Boatright combined for 10 of the team's 13 steals.
Seton Hall shot 44 percent after intermission.
-- Napier and Boatright combined for the play of the game.
On a breakaway, Napier tossed the ball off the backboard and a trailing Boatright dunked it home.
When asked if Ollie approved of the showboat play, Boatright replied: "He's okay with what we do as long as we complete the play."
Ollie said: "It's something I wouldn't do, but I'm fine with it."
-- The Huskies improved to 5-0 against Big East teams with losing records.
-- UConn had 16 turnovers, one shy of tying the season high.
-- Up next: UConn hosts Syracuse on Wednesday in Hartford.
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This chapter describes the technique of preparing GIS-ready data and shows how to map that data and conduct basic analyses using a geographic information system (GIS). First, the user will download and format near real-time and historical earthquake... (View More) data from the USGS. Using latitude and longitude fields, they will then plot these data in a GIS. Next, they will analyze patterns by querying records and overlaying datasets. Finally, they will examine earthquake distributions, monitor current earthquake activity, and try to predict where the next big earthquake will occur on Earth. Includes teaching notes, step-by-step instructions, case study, tools and data, and going further. This chapter is part of the Earth Exploration Toolbook, which provides teachers and/or students with direct practice for using scientific tools to analyze Earth science data. Students should begin on the Case Study page. (View Less)
Materials Cost: Free


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Readers, I have a thrilling giveaway this week. ghd is famous for their flat irons, and while I don't use heat to style my hair, other reviewers have convinced me that ghd tools are the cream of the crop. (For what it's worth, I did really like their hair care products, though the ones I used have been discontinued.)
Anyway, ghd's latest (limited edition) offering is their Peacock Collection, three Gold Classic flat irons with plates, accents, and carrying pouch in jewel-tone green, blue, or purple. And they're letting me give one away (!!).
One winner will receive a Peacock Collection flat iron (plus plate guard, heat-resistant carrying pouch, and a roll-mat — so you can safely set down your curler while you're using it). The retail value of this prize is $225.
If you don't win the contest, these curlers are available (with free shipping, of course) from Sephora.com and ghdhair.com.
To enter, please leave a comment on this post and tell me:
- What country you're in.
- Your favorite hairstyle from ghd's hairstyle inspiration page (post the link), and whether or not you feel confident you could recreate that look yourself.
Here are some of my faves:
This contest is open to readers in the U.S. and Canada. One winner will be selected at random from valid entries. ghd cannot ship the prize to a P.O. box.
This contest begins now and ends at midnight (Central Time) on Wednesday, June 6, 2012. You may enter once per day, additional entries will be discarded.
Winners will be contacted by email, so please use an email address you check (addresses will be hidden, and will not be used for any purpose other than contacting the winner). No purchase or payment is necessary to enter or win this contest. A purchase or payment will not increase your chances of winning. Void where prohibited.
Good luck!


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Winter suddenly arrived over here so that means it's time for a switch in products:
1. Perfume
Perhaps you remember talking about the By Killian Beyond Love over here, and I haven't used it that much during the summer, but I think it's time to reach for a headier perfume with some warmer floral notes. I also like the muskier L'artisan Parfumeur L'été en Douce even though the name suggest that it's a summer perfume only. I actually think that it's muskier component is perfect for wearing it on its own for the autumn/winter season, or layer it with other perfumes for more musky sensuality.
2. Hands
People with colder seasons know how awful it feels like when your hands get cracks or little tears in it, especially with the cuticles. I love this Kose Happy Bath Day hand essence for the sheer reason that it is quite thin and I can take it on travel and to work without being afraid I will grease up everything I touch afterwards. Thicker and more emolient creams are wonderful too, but more as a treatment at night or to wear with gloves when at home. My only gripe is that they don't sell it anymore: why? So I'll be looking for a serum-like alternative for the time this one runs out.
3. Lips
Perhaps something for all seasons but a switch in coldness means something that is more balmy than your fluffier summer balms. The Nuxe Reve de Miel (english for 'dream of honey') is a staple among makeupartist for the reason it moisturizes, has that perfect thickness & is matte enough for a base for lipsticks afterwards.
By Killian favourites hand products Kose Happy Bath Day l'artisan parfumeur lipbalm niche nuxe perfume winter


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ronanmca necesitaba un nuevo diseño de impreso o envases y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 45 diseños de 9 diseñadores freelance.
The Glenside - Hotel : Restaurant : Weddings
The Glenside is a hotel that specializes mainly in parties and other celebrations. The hotel is renowned for excellent food and fine wines in a top class restaurant, events such as weddings, christenings, birthday and retirement parties, informal lunches served in the bar, exhibitions including wedding fairs etc.
Hotel Contact Details:
The Glenside Hotel
Dublin Road,
Tel: 041 982 9185
The age profile is from 25 to 65.
We require a folder and insert pages for our offerings on celebrations and private parties.
We require 2 things:
A Folder (with flaps) to hold A5 Inserts. The folder is the most important part of this project.
The design should be stylish and elegant with an emphasis on good food and drink in a wonderful, exciting atmosphere. The design should evoke a sense of occasion and an opportunity to get dressed up to be seen.
The front cover of the folder should include the text:
"Celebrations at
The Glenside"
The inside front cover will have some copywriting that we will supply. The inside folder should have some design (e.g. a pattern or something better - you'll have better ideas on this than us).
3 X insert pages - these should be 3 background templates on which we will put information on the various packages that we offer, (see a, b & c below for our packages). The inserts can be as simple as a complimentary/relevant image at the top of the page and should leave room for us to add the details. Each of the inserts should have a theme relevant to the information on the insert, for example the party enhancements insert could have balloons, a party bus etc, or the set dinner menu insert could present food, champagne etc. The inserts are for:
insert 1 - for set dinner menu choices.
insert 2 - for party enhancements e.g. a party bus to bring you to the venue etc. There will be a list of enhancements
insert 3 - for buffet/finger food options
See the download files for details of what goes onto these inserts.
You can use Edwardian Script for headlines and Optima for other text. Otherwise, please include screen/printer fonts in the files submitted.
Stock Photography
We will pay additional costs of any stock photography used in the winning design.
When considering your design, particular consideration will be given to your choice of fonts, colors and images and the overall effect.
The design must appeal across a broad spectrum, from young to old, casual to formal.
You can use any color combination that you think works, but keep in mind it should be lively and stylish etc.
We do NOT want you to use any images from the hotel website. Also, we do not want to promote any other aspect of the hotel (e.g. accommodation or weddings etc.).
Files Required
We will need the files for the folder and 3 inserts in print ready CMYK Illustrator format (version 10 - CS3).


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In a perfect world, she would have lived.
She would have been one of the most famous movie stars of our generation. She would have won an Oscar. She would have been the hottest pop star on the music charts. She would have married. She would have had adorable little celebrity babies.
Would have.
I'm the interpreter. I'm the one who takes your words and brings them to life. I was trained to sing and dance and laugh, and that's what I want to do.
Being female, you're raised to be a good, sweet girl and not flip out. So, I had to give myself permission to be mean and evil. It's tough. But I've always been drawn to the darker side of things.
All I can do is leave it in God's hands and hope that my fans feel where I'm coming from.
Keep working hard and you can get anything that you want. If God gave you the talent, you should go for it. But don't think it's going to be easy. It's hard!
I don't want to abandon one work for the other, and I don't think I need to sacrifice anything to put my all into either one of them.
I know that people think I'm sexy and I am looked at as that. It is cool with me. It's wonderful to have sexy appeal. If you embrace it, it can be a very beautiful thing.
You have to love what you do to want to do it everyday.
I stay true to myself and my style, and I am always pushing myself to be aware of that and be original. There are times I can't even figure myself out.
I think it's important to take a break, you know, from the public eye for a while, and give people a chance to miss you. I want longevity. I don't want to get out there and run myself ragged and spread myself thin.
I want people to remember me as a full on entertainer and a good person.


text:
Read more: 'Hidden surge' could lead to single party Fine Gael Irish government says new poll
Hundreds of students marched on the Fine Gael party headquarters on Monday to protest party leader Enda Kenny's proposal to make the Irish language an optional subject for final high school exams in Ireland.
Earlier this month Fine Gael announced its strategy to make Irish optional for the leaving certificate, giving students the option to drop the core subject after their junior certificate.
The demonstrators staged a silent sit-down protest outside the Irish Parliament on their way to the Fine Gael headquarters. Symbolically protesters covered their mouths with red tape.
Aodhán Ó Déa, Irish language officer with the Union of Students in Ireland (USI), then handed in a petition with 15,000 signatures opposing the measure to the party headquarters.
He said, "We are angry about this and we won't vote for Fine Gael if they continue with this policy. Enda Kenny is not happy to meet with us and we're telling him that if you're not happy to meet us Enda, we're going to come and meet you and that is why we are handing in this petition to Fine Gael headquarters today."
A Trinity College Dublin student, Jen Ní Mhathúna, said that the policy was simply a way for Fine Gael to avoid the issue. She said, "It's a lot easier in the short term to just do away with it and not have to deal with what the difficulties in teaching Irish are. In the long term it is absolutely detrimental to the language and the future of the language."
Cillian Hanaphy, another Trinity student said, "There's no evidence anywhere in the world that says you can restore a language by reducing its social status. It's an absolute cop-out. The language will die out eventually if this happens because students won't pick it. The curriculum needs to be changed - you can't just get rid of a language."
A telephone poll in Ireland, carried out by MRBI, should that 61 percent of Irish people are in favor of compulsory Irish being taught in schools. The poll questioned 1,000 people aged 16 and over. Two-thirds of these felt most subjects in elementary school should be taught through Irish so that children get used to using the language.
This survey was carried out last July for Irish teachers associations (Comhar na Muinteoiri Gaeilge, Conradh na Gaeilge, Gael Linn, Gael-scoileanna agus Comhdhail Naisiunta na Gaeilge). They delayed the publication until Fine Gael had released its proposal.
Read more: 'Hidden surge' could lead to single party Fine Gael Irish government says new poll


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Tuesday, January 1
Vote for Your Favorite Cookie to Win the Cookbook!
Now it's up to you to decide the winner. Please cast one vote for the cookie that you think is most "wow!" (original), "I could I go for one of those" (edible), and "Santa would love these" (festive). The poll closes in one week.
The winner will just have to email her name and address so I can send her a copy of Sherry Yard's delicious new cookbook, Desserts by the Yard.
Here are the 10 finalists in no particular order. The survey is on the sidebar to the right of the post.
Gattina of Kitchen Unplugged from Barcelona, Spain. Like everything Gattina creates, her Fig Christmas Wreaths are stunning. Though I could eat these cookies any time of the year, Christmas seems particularly appropriate for such festive treats made with figs, orange zest, chocolate, almonds, and anise seeds. Make sure to visit Gattina's site to see her recipe and tutorial on how to make the cookies. Be warned: you'll likely spend a lot more time there admiring her fabulous culinary creations.
Mansi of Fun Food from California, USA. Mansi shares a recipe for Peppermint and Vanilla Butter Cookies. Flavored with aromatic vanilla and a hint of peppermint extract, these merriest of cookies will please everyone at your Christmas table.
Vibi of Le casserole carre from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Vibi shares her recipe for Florentins which are baked with colorful dried fruit and rich dark chocolate. Vibi's remarkably chewy, satisfyingly sweet Florentins would be a delicious and elegant addition to any Christmas feast.
Ann of Redacted Recipes from Brooklyn, New York, USA. Ann and I have mutual friends: Bing, Rosemary, Vera, and Danny. We see them every December, and remarkably, they always look the same. If you haven't seen Irving Berlin's White Christmas, then go rent it today. It's an absolute delight. And make a batch of Ann's White Christmas Cookies to nibble on while viewing.
Arfi of Homemades from New Zealand. Arfi's delightfully named Zebra Cookies are as elegant as they are scrumptious. Chocolate-y, buttery cookies are dipped in rich, dark chocolate and drizzled with royal icing. Oh, my.
Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen from Kochi, India. Aparna shares a typical Christmas food enjoyed in Kerala, India: Achappam (Rose Cookies). "Achu" refers to the iron mold used to shape the cookies, and "appam" refers to the batter that is fried or steamed. Aparna's Achappam are a lovely cross between a rose and a snowflake and would be a beautiful addition to your Christmas table no matter where you live.
Ronell of Myfrenchkitchen from France. Making lemon squares always evokes memories for Ronell--of her sister Trudie. Hence, the recipe for her aptly named Trudie's Lemon Squares. This no-bake cookie is a cherished treat in Ronell's family, and it will be in yours as well once you make them. They're refreshingly sweet and zesty and are lovely for Christmas, tea parties, or any special occasion.
Michelle of Culinography from Raleigh, North Carolina, USA. My father always told me never to procrastinate. If something has got to be done, then it should be done now. Fortunately, Michelle did not heed that advice. Since many of the cookies she had intended to bake were already submitted, Michelle had to find a new one. Her beautiful lace-like Swedish Almond Wafers are thin, light, and pleasingly buttery. Clearly, it does pay to wait.
Lisa of Homesick Texan from New York, USA. What would life be without mom's homemade cookies? Fortunately, Lisa doesn't have to find out because her sweet mom mails them to her. Mom's Raspberry Bars made from raspberry preserves, sliced almonds, and vanilla chips are so beautiful, they'll make make you want to sing (like Lisa). Always a hit with her guests, these bars were described as "pure heavenly decadence," by one eater. Need I say more?
Mandy of Fresh From the Oven from St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Mandy recently baked her first Christmas cookies of the season. I think she's going to run into a problem: How will she ever top these two cookies? Mandy's first mouth-watering recipe is for Hot Chocolate Cookies. Not only are they made with Godiva hot chocolate cocoa mix, but they are also topped with a pillowy marshmallow and drizzled with chocolate. Oh, my.
24 comments:
- Mishmash ! said...
Susan, wishing you and Jeff a beautiful and lovely year ahead :) Have lots of fun :)
- January 1, 2008 at 6:41 PM
- Lydia said...
Happy new year, Susan, and thank you for a wonderful cookie event!
- January 1, 2008 at 6:47 PM
- Chris said...
Happy New Year, Susan!! These are a great 10 finalists. Lots to ponder!
- January 1, 2008 at 7:15 PM
- Beth G. said...
They all look DELICIOUS!! What a fabulous event!! Thanks:O)
- January 1, 2008 at 7:23 PM
- Becca said...
What beautiful cookies! How to choose!
- January 1, 2008 at 7:42 PM
- Scribbit said...
And I feel like I've won big to be able to take some great recipes like these home! Thanks.
- January 1, 2008 at 9:59 PM
- Mansi Desai said...
wow, I'm so happy to just see my beautiful cookies here Susan! and these were the ones we shared with a charity for kids, so I'm really really happy these made it to the finals!
Thanks for organizing such a fab event Susan!
- January 1, 2008 at 10:11 PM
- David Hall said...
Far too difficult a job Susan!
Have a superb 2008.
All the best
- January 2, 2008 at 12:45 AM
You did such a great job of organizing this event! I'm honored to be amongst the finalists.
- January 2, 2008 at 5:09 AM
- Asha said...
Happy new year Susan. Finally, holiday season is here over!:)
All the cookies look yum to me, hard to choose!!
- January 2, 2008 at 5:18 AM
- Sig said...
Happy New Year Susan! All the cookies look fabulous! That is a tough job to pic one!
- January 2, 2008 at 8:51 AM
- sugarlaws said...
they all look wonderful!
- January 2, 2008 at 9:36 AM
- michelle said...
This was such a great event to participate in, Susan! Making the top ten is just icing on the cake... err... cookie! ;)
Happy New Year!
- January 2, 2008 at 12:19 PM
- janelle said...
Yum, these cookies are gorgeous! And what a wonderful way to add some new cookie recipes to our list of favorites. Am I allowed to vote without making them all? I can guarantee that I will love: the lemon squares and raspberry bars...
New Year's Resolution: try a new cookie recipe every month! Cheers!
- January 2, 2008 at 4:53 PM
- Mandy said...
happy new year Susan, you did a marvellous job organizing the Christmas cookies event. I am honored to be among the finalists. Everyone's cookies look so yummy!
- January 2, 2008 at 10:09 PM
- Dhanggit said...
happy new year to you susan!! thank you for organizing this event :-)
ps, i love your fruit "therapy" salad..really great to control all those acquired calories of the holidays
- January 3, 2008 at 4:32 AM
- Homesick Texan said...
Wow! What a stunning display of cookies! Thanks for creating such a fun event. Happy new year, Susan!
- January 3, 2008 at 5:44 AM
- Emiline said...
All of the cookies look wonderful. It was hard to choose my favorite.
- January 3, 2008 at 12:51 PM
- Gattina said...
*headache headache* It is already my third time of coming, but I still can't decide. It must be very difficult for the judges to pick the finialists since everyone's cookies is stupendous!!!
So can't imagine I've made to the final (thanks to the judges)! But now, about which one I will vote to...mmm... mmm... really difficult!!!
- January 3, 2008 at 8:30 PM
- Suzana said...
Susan, thanks for organizing the event - it was great fun. I had a hard time choosing a favorite, as they're all stunning!
Happy New Year!
- January 4, 2008 at 3:49 AM
- nicisme said...
What a fabulous finish to the cookie extravaganza! I voted but it was really hard to choose!
- January 4, 2008 at 4:14 AM
- Susan from Food Blogga said...
Hi Everybody,
I agree with your sentiments: they are all so beautiful, it really is hard to choose just one. Thank you so much for taking the time to vote and for leaving your thoughtful comments. The finalists and I appreciate it.
I hope 2008 is everything you want it to be!
- January 4, 2008 at 9:15 AM
- Happy cook said...
Happy Newyear susan.
What a wonderful cookies.
Really difficult to vote.
I would love to have all of them ;-)))
- January 6, 2008 at 2:35 AM
- Elle said...
Tough to choose, but do we vote here? If so, for Original Ronell's Cookies called Trudie's Lemon Squares are a winner. For Edible I love Vivi's Florentines. For Festive Mamsi's Peppermint and Vanilla Butter Cookies look just perfect.
All ten are wonderful and just imagine a dessert try with some of each! Fabulous!!
- January 6, 2008 at 8:36 PM


text:
Freedom of Speech Except When It Comes to Israel
It would be funny if it wasn't so creepy. An author or journalist can write anything he wants about the United States -- or, in fact, about any foreign country -- without causing legions of critics to question the propriety of his doing so. That is, unless the subject of the author's work is Israel.
Think about it. Books have accused FDR of having advance knowledge of Pearl Harbor while others argue that the U.S. government -- in the form of the FBI, CIA or even Vice President Lyndon Johnson -- had President Kennedy killed. In other words, books that accuse U.S. presidents and U.S. government agencies of high treason are okay. This is America, and authors, journalists and bloggers can write what they like. (So long as it isn't libelous.)
But Israel is in a class of its own. This is not to say that it is impossible to get a book critical of Israel's policies published without setting off a firestorm among virtually the entire "pro-Israel" establishment. That isn't quite true.


text:
Barnstable Marine Service operating out of Barnstable Harbor is being sued by the Conservation Law Foundation under the federal Clean Water Act.
David Still II photo deborah Normal 0 0 1 442 2520 The Barnstable Patriot 21 5 3094 11.1282 0 0 0SUED AS POLLUTER – Barnstable Marine Service was sued under the federal Clean Water Act by the Conservation Law Foundation Oct. 5 for allegedly discharging polluted stormwater into Maraspin Creek and Barnstable Harbor. CLF alleges contaminated runoff polluting harbor
Barnstable Marine Service operating out of Barnstable Harbor is being sued by the Conservation Law Foundation under the federal Clean Water Act.
As detailed in the complaint, CLF alleges that Barnstable Marine has not met the permitting or treatment requirements under the Clean Water Act for stormwater runoff generated on its property. As a result, CLF claims that polluted run-off is being discharged into Maraspin Creek and Barnstable Harbor, which is identified as an impaired water body by the EPA. Contaminants from its activities, including power washing, boat sanding, painting and fueling, among others, are alleged to be carried into the harbor by the stormwater runoff.
It was one of two suits filed by CLF Oct. 5 against private marine operators in Massachusetts, the other being Beverly Port Marine. In that case, CLF alleges that untreated stormwater discharges into Beverly Harbor and Salem Bay, which are also on the EPA's list of impaired waters.
Barnstable Marine and Barnstable Marine Management, Inc. were first served noticed of CLF's intent to sue on July 31. On Aug. 8, the company filed a notice of intent with the EPA, according to the complaint, but CLF deems it incomplete and/or inaccurate.
Barnstable Marine President Christopher VanDuzer was not available to comment on the suit as of this posting.
CLF has filed more than a dozen similar suits in Massachusetts and Connecticut since April focusing on alleged contamination of stormwater in violation of the Clean Water Act. Auto salvage and body shops were a primary focus of the earlier suits.
For damages, CLF is looking for civil penalties to be assessed at $32,500 per day, per violation occurring after March 15, 2004 and $37,500 per violation, per day for all violations occurring after Jan. 12, 2009.
Based on a single violation a day for the period referenced in the suit (since at least Oct. 1, 2007), the requested civil penalty is in excess of $66 million. There is a five-year statute of limitations for penalties under the Clean Water Act.
Typically, cases that settle result in far lesser payments.
In a similar case against a Massachusetts scrap metal company accused of polluting the Mystic River in 2010, the parties settled with payment of $46,000 to an environmental fund and $44,000 for CLF attorneys' fees. In addition, the company paid for the creation and implementation of new stormwater management practices.
Another similar case settled earlier this year with a Massachusetts company paying $66,000 to an environmental fund and $50,000 in CLF attorneys' fees. That also centered on the Mystic River.
Barnstable Marine has 30 days to respond to the suit.


text:
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Our troubleshooting tool should tell you what type of repair needs to be done, but you'll want to be certain you have the right parts number for your equipment before starting any lawn mower repair. So, when you know what's wrong with your machine, check with your Operator?s Manual to find the parts number you need. If you've misplaced your manual, visit our Owner's Center and enter your brand, model number and serial number to find a free, downloadable MTD mower manual. You can also order a printed version from our Customer Service Department for around $20.
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text: Finally, some real stakes in the Jay Leno - Conan O'Brien dispute -- and you can decide how it all shakes out. It's the super-awesomely fun Conan O'Brien Contract Game.All you gotta do is make Conan catch his ever-changing contract --without letting Jay's big head get in your way. Good luck!


text:
When Halloween is near, Cyclocross is raced in costume. At Sprinker Rec Center, SCX 4 this weekend, Sandpit Frau and Honey Stinger were popular. So were Marvin the Martian, White Trash, and the Centurion seen on G+ and Flickr.
Honey Stinger
Sand Pit Frau
Replacement Ref
Cowbell fashion was also seen. When hip-hop artists start wearing 'em, know that the cowbell bling started here first.
Bluejeans and Brass Cowbells, like the cover of a country LP
That cowbell feels like a midget is hanging from my necklace


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Google and Fox are teaming up to make the movie selection on Google Play much better. That is to say, better in the way of 600 new titles added to the storefront.
In the next few weeks, new shows and movies like Family Guy, New Girl, Black Swan, X-Men, and hundreds of others will arrive on Google Play. Starting today you can rent or buy Ridley Scott's epic Prometheus, three weeks ahead of its official release. Amazon Prime has really been beefing up its content lately, and of course Google, which is sort of the step child of streaming video, has had to step it up a bit. Honestly, the most surprising thing about this deal is that it took so long. [Google via Verge]


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Fourth-seeded Lady Bulldogs fall short against eventual district champ Jefferson City.
One of the finest seasons in years for the Rolla High School volleyball squad came to an end on Tuesday, as the fourth-seeded Lady Bulldogs were swept by top-seeded Jefferson City 25-14, 25-13 in the semifinals of the Missouri Class 4 District 10 Tournament at the RHS gym.
Third-seeded Waynesville clipped second-seeded Willard in three games in the other semifinal match to set up what turned out to be a thrilling district finals.
In the championship match the upstart Waynesville Lady Tigers took the Jefferson City Lady Jays to the brink before the top-seeded squad finally prevailed in three games, 27-25, 22-25, 25-13.
The Lady Bulldogs end their season with a 24-12 mark.
On Tuesday Rolla couldn't keep up with the hard-hitting Lady Jays.
"We really didn't pass well enough to give ourselves a chance to perform," said RHS head coach Julie Carver. "When we are playing a top-notch team like Jefferson City we have to come out and perform the fundamentals so that we have an opportunity to compete and (Tuesday) that didn't happen.
"Regardless, I am extremely proud of the season that these girls have put together this year. We have had a really good year and have seen a lot of improvement over the course of the season. We had two great seniors in Gabe (Otte) and Emily (Dodge) that led us through some battles. We will miss them tremendously."
District Finals
In the district championship match Waynesville stayed close to the Lady Jays and had the score tied 20-20 in the first game. The Lady Tigers then reeled off four unanswered points to take a 24-20 lead. However, WHS couldn't get the next point to win the game, as Jefferson City tied things up at 24. The game was again tied at 25 before the Lady Jays finally won 27-25.
Waynesville held a slim lead most of the second game before the Lady Jays went on a 7-3 run to take a 21-20 advantage. Waynesville countered with four unanswered points and eventually pulled out the 25-22 win.
However, the Lady Jays scored the first four points of the third game and led throughout. It was 16-6 at one point and later 20-10 before Jefferson City finally won.
Waynesville finishes with a 25-7 record.
Jefferson City (22-11-2) will play the District 11 champion Saturday in Class 2 Sectional competition. The winner of that sectional match takes on either the District 9 or District 12 champion in quarterfinal play on Saturday.
Rolla Stats
Emily Dodge: 2 kills, 2 blocks.
Kelsi James: 1 kill, 9 assists, 2 digs, 1 block.
Vasilisa Shamina: 1 kill, 3 digs.
Aarika Froehlich: 4 kills, 1 dig, 2 blocks.
Sofie Luna: 1 assist, 1 dig.
Gabe Otte: 2 kill, 3 digs.
Jessi Kaczmarek: 6 digs.
Aideen McEnaney: 1 kill.


text:
Featured News - Current News - Archived News - News Categories
Hometown Pride USA and Tragic Hero Productions have teamed up to produce a new series. "Hometown Pride USA" is an Internet television series scheduled to premiere this fall.
An advance screening of "Hometown Pride: Youngstown, NY" will be in Youngstown on Sept. 28. The pilot episode of the documentary Web series will be hosted by Director of Marketing Sean Gilgore. It will feature a brief presentation and introduction, a viewing of the full episode, and a Q-and-A session with host and producer Jason Stickney, director Daniel James, and the production crew.
The series explores small villages and towns throughout the U.S. that share the common aspects of history, hospitality and tourism. Each episode will feature interviews with business owners and historians, and showcase the village as a place to visit and live. The pilot episode will focus on Youngstown, a village famous for Fort Niagara, located 12 miles north of Niagara Falls.
The world premiere of the pilot will take place at the Old Red Brick Schoolhouse located at 240 Lockport Road in Youngstown. Tickets will be available at Anchor Wine and Spirits, The Dory Trading Co. and at the door.
The screening will be at 6. Doors will open at 5:30 p.m. with food for purchase from Bandanas Bar and Grill. Proceeds from food purchases will benefit Fort Niagara.


text:
Oracle StorageTek solutions for enterprises and service providers extend data protection and long-term data retention from on premises to the cloud.
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StorageTek storage resource management, tape device software and robust solutions for data encryption and key management ensure simplicity and security across your tape infrastructure.
Oracle StorageTek solutions for archiving and data protection combine solution components from Oracle and participating third parties to solve industry-specific and cross-industry IT challenges. These reference architectures and implementation best practices help speed on premises, cloud, and hybrid deployments and accelerate time to productivity.
Oracle's StorageTek Virtual Storage Manager 7 System Provides Mainframe and Heterogeneous Storage with a Fully Integrated Cloud Strategy.
Steve Zivanic, Oracle VP Converged Infrastructure, Storage, and Holger Mueller, Constellation Research VP and Principal Analyst, discuss Oracle's VSM 7 and its role in bringing cloud storage to the mainframe environment.
Tape isn't a dinosaur, nor is it dead -- it continues to evolve with higher capacity and ever-faster performance. Find out how to extend the understood benefits of tape, and innovate in ways that make tape more valuable than it's ever been.


text:
Anstellgut on Ploetzblog
I've recently discovered the Ploetzblog website. I've been baking with sourdough starters for awhile and have both firm and thin. I see that many of his recipes start like this (recipes are different, this is just an example):
100 g rye flour
100 g water
15 g Anstellgut
Mix and let rest overnight.
Another recipe might call for 58 g, 58 g, and 28 g. Still another called for 35 g Anstellgut-100% hydration.
My German is good enough to read recipes fine. My question is about the Anstellgut. Any ideas about the hydration he usually means? I'm thinking unless it says, it likely means a firm starter.
Any thoughts on this?


text:
A single sentence buried among 7000 pages of documents recently released by the Pentagon might well be the needle in the haystack that conclusively proves the U.S. military stored toxic herbicides, including Agent Orange, on Okinawa during the Vietnam War. American veterans have long claimed that large volumes of these chemicals were present on the island and hundreds of them are suffering from serious illnesses they believe were triggered by their exposure. But the U.S. government has repeatedly denied their allegations, insisting it has no records related to the issue.1
Editor's note: YMC Veterans Service Officer Michelle Gatz has become one of the key contributors in a growing coalition of individuals pushing American and Japanese governments to come clean on the use of Agent Orange in Okinawa. Her work piecing together a paper trail that included a ship's logbook, army deployment orders and declassified government records that detail how classified cargo, that she believes to be Agent Orange, was shipped from the U.S. to Okinawa has been the subject of both newspaper articles and television documentaries. On April 1, 2012 she was interviewed for television documentary produced by Japan's largest television network, TV Asahi. Below is a recent article by Jon Mitchell (This is his second featuring Gatz. The first ran in the A/T's June 28, 2012 issue ) that cites major developments that Gatz was the first to notice. It was featured in the January 14 issue of The Asia-Pacific Journal.
A single sentence buried among 7000 pages of documents recently released by the Pentagon might well be the needle in the haystack that conclusively proves the U.S. military stored toxic herbicides, including Agent Orange, on Okinawa during the Vietnam War. American veterans have long claimed that large volumes of these chemicals were present on the island and hundreds of them are suffering from serious illnesses they believe were triggered by their exposure. But the U.S. government has repeatedly denied their allegations, insisting it has no records related to the issue.1
Now it seems the Pentagon's denials might not have been entirely correct.
In September 1971, U.S. Army Fort Detrick, Maryland, the center for the Pentagon's bio-chemical weapons research, produced a report titled "Historical, logistical, political and technical aspects of the herbicide/defoliant program." The document summarized the military's usage of these chemicals during the Vietnam War and among the locations cited is a reference to "Herbicide stockpiles elsewhere in PACOM-US (Pacific Command) government restricted materials Thailand and Okinawa (Kadena)."
The U.S. government already admits that it stored military herbicides in Thailand during the Vietnam War but it denies their presence on Okinawa.2 At the time, Kadena Air Base (located near present-day Okinawa City) served as the Pentagon's key supply hub through which weapons and ammunition were flown to the conflict in Southeast Asia.
The Fort Detrick report was among a cache of U.S. Army documents declassified in October 2012 under the Freedom of Information Act at the request of Steve House, one of the veterans at the center of the 2011 investigation into the burial of Agent Orange in South Korea. House discovered the reference to Kadena along with Michelle Gatz, a Minnesota-based veterans services officer who has been researching herbicide usage on Okinawa.
"While I am sure the U.S. government will try to discredit the report, it will help to prove veterans' claims that they were exposed to herbicides on Okinawa," Gatz said. "It might even be enough proof for them to receive government benefits for the health problems they're suffering."
Fort Detrick drew up the report in response to a 1970 Washington ban on the military's usage of Agent Orange due to evidence that the defoliants the Air Force had been spraying in Vietnam for almost a decade caused birth defects.
The Fort Detrick report chronicles the military's confusion as to how best to dispose of its surplus stocks of millions of liters of herbicides following their prohibition. Some of the proposals floated in the report include using the toxic defoliants in "undeveloped nations" under the auspices of U.S. aid programs or "burial in soil pits or settling ponds." The latter suggestion will be of particular concern to Okinawa residents since U.S. veterans stationed on the island have claimed such burials of unwanted herbicides took place on Futenma Air Station3 and on former military land in Chatan Town.4
According to experts, the dioxins contained in the U.S. military's herbicides can contaminate the ground for decades and cause serious harm to people living nearby. In Vietnam, the land where the U.S. military stored Agent Orange during the war remains dangerously polluted and the Vietnamese Red Cross estimates that approximately 3 million people are suffering from the effects of exposure to these chemicals.5
The discovery of the Fort Detrick document comes soon after the release of another American military report implicating the Air Force in the storage of Agent Orange on Okinawa. "An Ecological Assessment of Johnston Atoll", stated the U.S. Air Force transported 25,000 barrels of Agent Orange from Okinawa to Johnston Island in the North Pacific for disposal in 1972.6
When confronted with the Johnston Island report in September 2012, Washington was quick to distance itself from the contents. It told the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs that it had reinvestigated its own records and come to the conclusion that "the description that '[Herbicide Orange] was stored in Okinawa' is inaccurate and contradicts with the facts that the U.S. government acknowledges." In reply, the Japanese government stated it believed the U.S. explanation and it has been reluctant to pursue the matter further.
Kawamura Masami, Environmental Justice Director of Citizens' Network for Biodiversity in Okinawa, the NGO calling for a full investigation into Agent Orange usage on the island, is unconvinced by Washington's reply to Tokyo.
"For many years, the U.S. government had been saying there were no documents related to herbicides on Okinawa. But in August the Johnston Island ecological assessment turned up and their reaction was to call it inaccurate. Now this new report has been uncovered. Will they try to say it is inaccurate, too?" Kawamura said.7
When asked for comment for this article, Lieutenant Colonel David Honchul, Director of Public Affairs at United States Forces Japan reiterated the Department of Defense's commitment to investigate allegations of Agent Orange on Okinawa.
As to the latest Kadena allegations, he declined to comment in detail about the Fort Detrick report but concluded, "It doesn't change our position that there is no documentary evidence that Agent Orange or similar herbicides were ever used in, stored on, or shipped through Okinawa."
Kadena Air Base remains the largest U.S. Air Force installation in the Pacific – home to approximately 22,000 service members, their families and civilian contractors. 180,000 people live in the surrounding municipalities of Chatan, Kadena and Okinawa City.
Compounding fears that Kadena Air Base and its environs may still be contaminated by dioxin is the frequency with which it has been tied to allegations of Agent Orange usage. In August 1966, a team of U.S. military technicians visited the installation to train service members and Okinawan base personnel in the use of herbicides. In 1970, C-123 aircraft, the planes specially adapted to spray Agent Orange in Vietnam, were brought to Kadena to undergo cleaning and maintenance.8
Records obtained from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency tasked with assisting former service members sickened in the line of duty, contain numerous assertions of exposure to Agent Orange at Kadena in the 1960s and '70s. In 2011, for example, a former Air Force mechanic stated that during the Vietnam War, there were 100 barrels of Agent Orange and other herbicides on the base where they were also sprayed "freely and broadly." The veteran claimed that he was suffering from illnesses related to his exposure but the VA denied him assistance citing "the Department of Defense reported Agent Orange was not used, tested, stored, or transported in Okinawa." 9
Jon Mitchell is a Welsh-born writer based in Japan and an Asia-Pacific Journal associate. In November 2012, "Defoliated Island", a TV documentary based upon his research into the U.S. military's usage of Agent Orange on Okinawa was awarded a commendation for excellence by Japan's National Association of Commercial Broadcasters. The English version can be watched here. An earlier version of this article appeared in The Japan Times on January 12, 2013.


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New Study Reports Large-scale
Salinity Changes in the Oceans
Saltier tropical oceans and fresher ocean waters near the poles are further signs of global warming's impacts on the planet
Tropical ocean waters have become dramatically saltier over the past 40 years, while oceans closer to Earth's poles have become fresher, scientists reported today in the journal Nature. Earth's warming surface may be intensifying evaporation over oceans in the low latitudes--raising salinity concentrations there--and transporting more fresh water vapor via the atmosphere toward Earth's poles.
These large-scale, relatively rapid oceanic changes suggest that recent climate changes, including global warming, may be altering the fundamental planetary system that regulates evaporation and precipitation and cycles fresh water around the globe.
The study was conducted by Ruth Curry, a research specialist in the WHOI Physical Oceanography Department, Bob Dickson of the Centre for Environment, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Science in Lowestoft, United Kingdom , and Igor Yashayaev of the Bedford Institute of Oceanography in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada.
An acceleration of Earth's global water cycle can potentially affect global precipitation patterns that govern the distribution, severity, and frequency of droughts, floods, and storms. It would exacerbate global warming by rapidly adding more water vapor--itself a potent, heat-trapping greenhouse gas--to the atmosphere. It could also continue to freshen northern North Atlantic Ocean waters -- to a point that could disrupt ocean circulation and trigger further climate changes.
The oceans and atmosphere continually exchange fresh water. Evaporation over warm, tropical and subtropical oceans transfers water vapor to the atmosphere, which transports it toward both poles. At higher latitudes, that water vapor precipitates as rain or snow and ultimately returns to the oceans, which complete the cycle by circulating fresh water back toward the equator. The process maintains a balanced distribution of water around our planet.
The oceans contain 96% of the Earth's water, experience 86% of planetary evaporation, and receive 78% of planetary precipitation, and thus represent a key element of the global water cycle for study, the scientists said. Since evaporation concentrates salt in the surface ocean, increasing evaporation rates cause detectable spikes in surface ocean salinity levels. In contrast, salinity decreases generally reflect the addition of fresh water to the ocean through precipitation and runoff from the continents.
Curry, Dickson, and Yashayaev analyzed a wealth of salinity measurements collected over recent decades along a key transect in the Atlantic Ocean, from the tip of Greenland to the tip of South America. Their analysis showed that "the properties of Atlantic water masses have been changing--in some cases radically--over the five decades for which reliable and systematic records of ocean measurements are available."
The scientists observed that surface waters in tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean regions became markedly more saline. Simultaneously, much of the water column in the high latitudes of the North and South Atlantic became fresher.
This trend appears to have accelerated since 1990--when ten of the warmest years since records began in 1861 have occurred. The scientists estimated that net evaporation rates over the tropical Atlantic have increased by 5% to 10% over the last four decades.
"These results indicate that fresh water has been lost from the low latitudes and added at high latitudes, at a pace exceeding the ocean circulation's ability to compensate," the authors said. Taken together with other recent studies revealing parallel salinity changes in the Mediterranean, Pacific, and Indian Oceans, a growing body of evidence suggests that the global hydrologic cycle has revved up in recent decades.
Among other possible climate impacts, an accelerated evaporation /precipitation cycle would continue to freshen northern North Atlantic waters--a linchpin and potential Achilles' heel in Earth's climate system. The North Atlantic is one of the few places on Earth where surface waters become dense enough to sink to the abyss. The plunge of this great mass of cold, salty waters helps drive a global ocean circulation system, often called the Ocean Conveyor. This Conveyor helps draw warm Gulf Stream waters northward in the Atlantic, pumping heat into the northern regions that significantly moderates wintertime air temperatures, especially in Europe.
If the North Atlantic becomes too fresh, its waters would stop sinking, and the Conveyor could slow down. Analyses of ice cores, deep-sea sediment cores, and other geologic evidence have clearly demonstrated that the Conveyor has abruptly slowed down or halted many times in Earth's history. That has caused the North Atlantic region to cool significantly and brought long-term drought conditions to other areas of the Northern Hemisphere-- over time spans as short as years to decades.
Melting glaciers and Arctic sea ice, another consequence of global warming, are one source of additional fresh water to the North Atlantic. An accelerated water cycle also appears to be increasing precipitation in higher latitudes, contributing to the freshening of North Atlantic waters and increasing the possibility of slowing the Conveyor.
A cooling of the North Atlantic region would slow the melting process, curtail the influx of fresh water to the North Atlantic, and the Conveyor would again begin to circulate ocean waters. However, global warming and an accelerated water cycle would continue to bring fresh water to high latitudes--possibly enough to maintain a cap on the Conveyor even if the Arctic melting ceased. Monitoring Earth's hydrological cycle is critical, the scientists said, because of its potential near-term impacts on Earth's climate.The research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Framework V Programme of the European Community, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Consortium on the Ocean's Role in Climate, and the Ocean and Climate Change Institute at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
WHOI is a private, independent marine research and engineering, and higher education organization located in Falmouth, MA. Its primary mission is to understand the oceans and their interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, the Institution is organized into five departments, interdisciplinary institutes and a marine policy center, and conducts a joint graduate education program with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.


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Wall Street will tell you stocks are still a good investment because they are reasonably valued when compared with last year's earnings, using the "trailing price-earnings ratio."
Wall Street will tell you stocks are still a good investment because they are reasonably valued compared with next year's forecast earnings, using the "forward price-earnings ratio."
Wall Street will tell you stocks still offer good value because the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates on bonds and bank deposits so low—what we might call the "Quantitative Easing" argument.
Wall Street will tell you stocks must be a good investment because they have done so well over the past thirty years.
Wall Street is spinning you a line.
None of these is a good measure of whether or not stocks are a good investment.
As new research from Smithers & Co., a London-based financial consultancy, shows, most of these metrics are useless.
Andrew Smithers, the chairman of Smithers & Co., is the co-author, with London University finance professor Stephen Wright, of "Valuing Wall Street." The book, published in early 2000, broke with the Wall Street consensus and warned about the crash to come. Wall Street called Smithers a fool. The stock market then fell about 50%. Wall Street blamed Enron, WorldCom, the Fed, the government, and the man in the moon.
From 2005 through 2008, Smithers again broke with the Wall Street consensus and warned that stocks were increasingly overvalued (arguments he reiterated in "Wall Street Revalued," which was published in 2009).Wall Street called him a fool. But in 2008 the stock market collapsed again. Wall Street blamed Barney Frank, Fannie Mae, ethnic minorities, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and the man in the moon again.
Smithers' latest research paper, "Hindsight Value: U.S. Equities," takes a critical look at all the measures being trumpeted around the Street today to bolster the argument that stocks still offer good value.
And he asks a simple question: Have these measures worked reliably in the past? Have they in previous decades told you when to get in to the market and when to get out?
And the answer is, in a word: No.
It should be added, before we go any further, that none of this relates to what the stock market will do this year or next. No one has ever been able to reliably forecast the direction of the stock market over short periods. Periods of up to 10 years are actually quite random, and a grossly overvalued stock market can go up and up a long way before coming back down.
All we know is that, if the past is any guide at all, it will come back down, sooner or later.
Overvalued stock markets produce dismal returns over the subsequent 10 to 30 years, and undervalued ones produce excellent returns. The difference for any long-term investor is night and day (or, as they say in England, "chalk and cheese").
Smithers looked at the U.S. stock market for every year going back to 1899, and then looked at each of the measures being touted on Wall Street today.
Then he looked at the inflation-adjusted, or "real," returns, that investors earned over the following one, two, three, four, five and all the way up to 30 years. The average of those returns he calls "hindsight value."
What did he find?
The very worst arguments of all are the "Quantitive Easing" arguments—the arguments being used perhaps most aggressively by brokers today.
Smithers found that in the past, investing in stocks because cash or bonds were yielding even less was a terrible strategy. You might just as well have flipped a coin.
In technical language, the "coefficient of determination" between these measures and subsequent investment returns, known as the "R-squared," was between 0.11 and 0.15. (An R-squared of 1 means perfect correlation, and R-squared of minus-1 means perfect inverse correlation. Zero means there is no relationship. An R-squared of 0.11 or 0.15 is very close to zero.)
In layman's terms, this means there is almost no correlation at all. It doesn't matter that stocks today yield more than bonds. It doesn't matter than they yield more than bank deposits. Anything can happen in the short term, but in the longer term those observations are completely useless in determining whether it's a good time to own stocks. "There has been no past relationship" between the subsequent return on stocks and short-term interest rates, Smithers concludes.
What if you buy stocks when they are "cheap" by historic standards compared with last year's per-share earnings, or when compared with next year's per-share earnings—and avoid stocks when they are expensive on either of these measures?
The good news is that these approaches have done better than flipping a coin or relying on "Quantitatve Easing" arguments. The bad news is that they are still flawed.
They have given some absolutely disastrous "buy" and "sell" signals in the past. Someone comparing stock prices to last year's or next year's earnings alone would have bought stocks in 1916—and got hosed when stocks slumped. He or she would have avoided stocks in 1921 and 1932, two of the great buying opportunities in history. In retrospect, the 1950s proved a great time to have invested everything in stocks, and the late 1960s proved a great time to get out. These measures gave some indication of those inflection points, but nothing as clear as one would have expected.
Overall, says Smithers, these measures had R-squareds to subsequent returns of between 0.22 and 0.25—still fairly weak correlations.
If all of these measures are so unreliable, which measures, if any, are any good?
Smithers finds three, of which two are particularly important because they are readily accessible to any ordinary investor today.
(The third, which Smithers calls the "Pseudo-Indicator," is a proprietary and complex measure developed by Smithers and professor Wright. It is based on the stock market's previous returns—and basically says that long periods of excellent returns are generally followed by long periods of dismal ones. It implies that, because the last 30 years have seen very good returns, there is a disturbingly high chance that the next 30 years may see poor returns — the exact opposite of what Wall Street would have you believe.)
None of these three is perfect. But all three have proven very good indicators of subsequent returns for over a century.
Of the two accessible measures, one is the "Cyclically-Adjusted Price-to-Earnings Ratio," or CAPE, which compares stock prices to the average earnings of the past decade. It is now best known as the Shiller PE, after Yale finance professor and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller, who has popularized it.
The other, and by far the most successful measure, is called the "Tobin's q," after the late Nobel laureate James Tobin. This compares the price of stocks with companies' net assets, adjusted for inflation. In layman's terms, if I wanted to go into the widgets business, would it be cheaper for me to buy up all the stock in Hypothetical Widgets, Inc., at today's stock prices, or to build my own widgets factory, equipment, trucks and so on from scratch? Historically, the stock market has traded on an average "q" ratio of 0.6, meaning in theory a takeover of Hypothetical Widgets, Inc. would be 40% cheaper than building a competitor from scratch.
When the q ratio has risen well above that, subsequent investment returns have almost always been poor. When the q ratio has fallen below, they've been excellent.
Smithers found that over the past century the Shiller PE had an R-squared to subsequent returns of 0.52, the "Pseudo-Indicator" one of 0.61, and the q an astounding 0.79.
So if the past is any guide, if you want to get a good estimate of the future returns from today's stock market you should completely ignore the low yields on cash, certificates of deposit, or bonds. You should pay more attention to the Shiller PE, and you should pay the most attention to the Tobin's q.
And what do these tell you? "As at the 31st December, 2013," says Smithers, the "q indicated that U.S. non-financial equities were overvalued by 73% and CAPE indicated an overvaluation of 76% for equities, including financials."
In other words, today stocks look like good values only according to measures which have absolutely no track record of predicting future returns. And according to the measures which do have such a track record, they look wildly overvalued. Make of it what you will.
More from Brett Arends:
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