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GGT permanently cancels runs to save face
July 21, 2014 2 Comments
In answer to their ongoing driver shortage and attendant bus run cancellations, Golden Gate Transit (GGT) declared it would cancel 4 runs in the morning and 4 in the evening until the shortage is resolved. It's welcome, but not enough to restore faith in the agency.
The 4 cancelled southbound runs are:
- Route 4 – 7:16 am
- Route 24 – 6:46 am
- Route 24 – 7:17 am
- Route 54 – 6:40 am
The 4 cancelled northbound runs are:
- Route 4 – 4:56 pm
- Route 24 – 4:25 pm
- Route 24 – 4:57 pm
- Route 54 – 4:43 pm
GGT took this step because it had "higher than expected attrition rates" and so had to frequently cancel commuter trips throughout Marin. By permanently cancelling runs, it hopes they won't have to cancel them without prior notification.
There were substantial problems with how GGT handled the problem. Email and text notifications were only available by emailing email@example.com and weren't published through GGT's Twitter feed or the general route alerts. This was a dramatic disservice to riders. Indeed, the first word this problem was coming was from bus drivers giving voice announcements to full buses, and the story was broken online only by Daniel Skarka in a Google+ post. The on-bus announcements should have been supplemented by announcements on every social media and outreach channel GGT has.
More damning is the fact that GGT had knowledge of this problem before the quarterly schedule adjustment: Skarka's 54 driver announced it well before the release of the new schedule. Had GGT structured the new schedule to fit expected staffing levels, they would never have had to cancel runs in the first place. The wounds to GGT's reputation as a reliable service, which will likely last for a very long time, were entirely self-inflicted.
We've seen some good signs lately with GGT's ferry system – new docks at Sausalito, more consistent and numerous ferry runs at Larkspur – but the bus system continues to struggle with mismanagement. Even the inauguration of all-day Route 27 service doesn't work well, with arrival times at San Rafael nearly identical to Route 70.
GGT is moving towards becoming a more thoughtful and creative organization, but this #missingbus scandal shows it's still an agency struggling with its own ineptitude.
UPDATE: I neglected to mention: the cancelled runs will stop beginning July 29.


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Grand Theft Auto V Has Sold 29 Million Copies
We knew that GTA V had a great opening day and was the top seller for the month of September. Now, Take Two has revealed a more specific number of units sold: 29 million.
According to a press release detailing the financials, those outstanding sales bolstered Take Two's quarterly results, bringing second-quarter (July through September) net revenue to $1.27 billion.
It's noteworthy that GTA V hit sales like that in a little over a month, while its predecessor took years to move 25 million units – a good sign for months and years ahead. The press release also reaffirms the fact that the company still considers GTA V and GTA Online to be separate products, describing the latter as "the dynamic and persistent online game, which is free with every copy of Grand Theft Auto V."
Our Take
I can't say that I'm surprised that the game sold so well, but I am surprised that it only took a little over a month to eclipse the lifetime sales of Grand Theft Auto IV. If anyone thought that the popularity (and profitability) of this series has waned over time, they were just proven wrong.

subset: commoncrawl


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152 Items Tagged
Are Avocados On Their Way Out?
And what to expect next.
This Easy Keto Snack Will Make Your Skin Glow
Make them in under 20 minutes!
Are You Washing Your Avocados? You Should Be
A new report from the FDA shows that you should always be washing your avocados to prevent foodborne illness.
Science Says Avocado Seed Husks Could Save Your Life
In case you needed another reason to eat them.
7 Things You Need To Know Today (August 11, 2017)
All the wellness news you need to know including what an avocado a day will do for your heart health and why personal space is actually a science.
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This Ingredient Is The Secret To The World's Best Healthy Ice Pop
Vegan, sugar-free, and oh-so-delicious.
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We can't say we're not jealous.
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Your mouth (and your Insta-feed) will be very happy.
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All the wellness news from April 7, 2017, including the evolution of pop music, how one New York gym is handling bad news, and what brain scans are...
Avocado Lovers, Rejoice: You Can Now Get Your Favorite Toast-Topper At Your Local Starbucks
Juice, avocado—what's next? Adaptogens?
A Recipe To Take Your Avocado Toast Up A Notch
Learn to poach the perfect pasture-raised egg, and take your avocado toast to the next level—in both taste and nutrition.
The Superfood-Packed Guacamole You Never Knew You Needed
The guac you didn't know you needed.
There's An Avocado Shortage. Here's What To Put On Your Toast Instead
Who knew bread would get this trendy?
8 Things You Need To Know Today (October 25)
All the wellness news you need to know today including the avocado shortage, the truth about hunger, and the best and worst cities for vegetarians and...


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These are one of my favorite Christmas cookies. In fact, I like them so much I couldn't wait for Christmas! These skeleton cookies are made with a Wilton cookie cutter and premade icing for super easy cookie making. My advice is to follow the pictures and let each colour set for 10 minutes or so before adding another colour.
1 cup softened butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2-1/2 cups flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 teaspooon nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
What to do
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In large bowl, beat butter and sugars together until smooth about 3 minutes.
- Beat in egg and vanilla. Beat for an additional 2 minutes.
- In another bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt.
- Stir in dry ingredients into butter mixture in 2 additions.
- Flatten dough into a disk shape.
- Wrap disc in plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate for at least an hour.
- Roll out each disc into 1/8 inch thickness.
- Using 3 inch cookie cutters, cut out shapes and place on ungreased baking sheets.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, until edges are browned.
- Immediately move to cooling racks.
- Makes about 30 cookies.


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Yesterday was International Women's Day, and I spent it wondering how to write about it–without sounding like I'd been body-snatched by Debbie Downer.
(Why? Well, I'm not especially interested in beating a dead horse, but by now you know the score: we're paid less and underrepresented. Child care and health care are dismal. Our ranking in the World Economic Forum's international gender equality ratings is an appalling 31st. And, not to put too fine a point on it, but did you hear a single peep about it being International Women's Day? Did you know that in China, Russia, Vietnam, and Bulgaria, IWD is a HOLIDAY? I wouldn't have minded sleeping in. After all, sleep is a feminist issue!)
I think more than the inequities that still exist, though, what bothers me is the denial. The feeling that: We don't need a Women's Day in the United States! The women's movement? Been there, done that! Equality? We're so there. Because, obviously, we're not. Consider this, from a HuffPo piece written by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, co-founder and executive director of Momsrising.org:
A friend called me today, sharing her delight that her 10 year-old daughter came down to breakfast and wished her a "Happy International Women's Day!" We wondered how her daughter knew about this important day without her mom telling her, and shared some happy thoughts about our strong, growing, young daughters.
Then the conversation turned: We simultaneously realized that both of our daughters think of International Women's Day as something we celebrate for women in other countries, not our own.
We wondered, why?
My friend thinks it's because: "There's a real disconnect between our desire as parents to tell our girls that they can do anything they want to do in life, and the reality of the challenges that they will later face as women in our own nation."
This disconnect isn't unique to my friend and her daughter, it's a disconnect that we see with policy makers, news reporters, and business leaders as they fail to recognize inequality that women still face in the United States.
The problem is that without recognition, we can't get to solutions. And solutions are indeed needed.
They are indeed–and, as we've mentioned oh, once or twice before, it seems to me that the way in which we frame the issues for which solutions are needed is precisely why there aren't any. We make them personal (find your own work-life balance much? make time for sleep? follow this man's three steps to happiness?), and in doing so, we lighten the load, trivialize the deeper issues, and take the burdens off the institutions and put them squarely onto our own backs.
Oh, it was a sad sight. Eating toast (toast! the world's perfect food!) on the morn of the 100th International Women's Day, Debbie Downer was threatening to have me for breakfast. (Even despite the fact that, the night before, Kathryn Bigelow had just scored the Oscar's top two honors–becoming the first female to be named Best Director. The only one… In 82 years… Ack! Do you see how Debbie does it?) But then, a ray of sunlight, in the form of a tweet from Hollee Temple. She thought I'd like the guest post on her blog. And guess what? I did!
First, the intro:
Today we welcome Lisa Tannenbaum to our blog to discuss how she remodeled her job to fit her notions of motherhood — and managed to get promoted with her job-sharing partner. Inspiring!
And inspiring it is. For several reasons. Here's a taste:
Both Sandy (Tannenbaum's job-sharing other half) and I have young children; we wanted to maintain our careers with Deloitte, a company to which we are very loyal and from which we have felt that loyalty returned. Deloitte is consistently recognized as a fantastic work environment for women, initiating many creative and innovative work/life balance programs, many of which have become the industry standard… Since we began this endeavor [in 2004], we have become an internal role model for how people can be successful, and even continue to progress, in their careers with such an arrangement.
Did you say "progress"?
There were certainly skeptics… questions about whether our arrangement worked efficiently on all levels. At one point, we actually believed that this job-share may have been a roadblock in our ability to advance. Rather than abandoning the concept, we coordinated our resumes together, posted for jobs together, and even interviewed together. It took a very strong and proven performance history, respected advocates, and finally, as with any workplace innovation, a leap of faith from leaders at Deloitte, but, alas, the answer was ultimately that we could move up the hierarchy–together!
We were promoted in our job-share arrangement to a managerial position. Six months into this new role, things are going very well as we continue to prove ourselves capable of efficiency, imagination, leadership, and teamwork on a daily basis. Trailblazing this arrangement together to a new group of leaders, learning the unique skill set of job-share management, and creating a path for the next generation of career-oriented mothers in the organization is wildly exciting and fulfilling–both as an employee of Deloitte AND as a mom.
Consider Debbie down for the count! And consider this my wish for you, on this very special Day After International Women's Day: may you find personal success, and the internal strength and the external support you need to make the life you want to live possible. And may your success help to pave the way for the ladies that'll come after you.
And may your optimism render your own personal Debbie Downer toast.


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Federal Fleet Policy Council (FEDFLEET) Enrollment
The council consists of representatives and alternates from agencies or activities operating a federal motor vehicle fleet. If you would like to be a member of FEDFLEET and receive notices from GSA regarding council meetings and federal fleet policy initiatives, please complete the registration form.
If you have an interest in Federal Fleet management, but do not directly manage or operate a federal motor vehicle fleet, please register as an affiliate in the agency drop box below.
Note: If you indicate that you are the Agency/Department Fleet Manager at the headquarters level, you will also be invited to join the Motor Vehicle Executive Council (MVEC). MVEC's purpose is to establish a long-term strategic vision for the management of governmentwide motor vehicles and develop interagency planning within FEDFLEET.
For more information, please contact Connie Aaron at 202-208-7634.
Federal motor vehicle policy questions should be directed to firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Despite their huge popularity, iPods and other portable music players force people to walk around with wires coming out of their ears. That's an anachronism in an age when everything is going wireless. While there are some attachments for the iPod that allow the use of wireless headphones, both the attachments and the cordless headphones are bulky and ungainly.
The Oakley Thump 2 from Oakley Inc. scores points for style, but costs between $299 and $449 and has limited functionality.
But there's another approach to getting rid of the wires: make the music player wearable. This week, we tested just such a product — the Thump 2 from Oakley Inc., the same company known for its stylish and expensive sunglasses with the signature "O" imprinted near your temple. The Thump 2 is a pair of Oakley sunglasses with an MP3 player and earbuds built into its foldable arms, eliminating the messiness of dangling cords.
After trying out the Thump 2, we agree that the sunglasses/earbuds combination works pretty well, is comfortable to wear and operates rather easily — using a series of buttons on the top side of each sunglass arm. But it's very expensive and rather impractical.
The Thump 2 is an improved version of the original Thump that came out about a year ago. That first version was built on the thinner frames that you might conjure up when you picture a pair of Oakleys. This Thump uses shades that have a boxier look.
This gadget is very light, weighing only 2.1 ounces, and comes in three capacities — 256 and 512 megabytes, and one gigabyte, which would provide room for about 60, 120 and 240 songs, respectively.
Along with the designer look, all three versions of the Thump 2 have a designer price tag — $299, $349 and $449. To give you an idea of how that pricing compares with an iPod, made by Apple Computer Inc., the same $299 that you'd spend on the cheapest Thump 2 would buy you the second-most-expensive iPod, which comes with 30 gigabytes of memory, a color screen and video viewing capabilities, not to mention the other features that a regular iPod offers. Instead of 60 songs, that $299 iPod can hold 7,500 songs.
Oakley reminded us that the Thump sunglasses alone cost between $90 and $180, depending on the lenses, which makes the price seem a little less ridiculous, but the Thump's price tag is still a lot to pay to lose the wires.
Pricing aside, the Thump 2 is seriously lacking in practicality. First and foremost, it is built into sunglasses — meaning unless you want to look like a Secret Service agent, you can only use the product outside. Oakley suggests turning the Thump backward (resting on the back of your head) while indoors, but it was immediately obvious to us that this work-around isn't what the Thump is made to do. The adjustable earbuds still reached our ears, but the sunglasses didn't stay put — and we weren't even exercising, like many people do while listening to their music players.
Another issue with the Thump 2 is its lack of a screen. There's absolutely no way to view song information, nor can you see the contents of your music player without plugging it into a computer. No screen also means you won't see a battery indicator, like that on an iPod. Instead, you must listen for a special tone that sounds to indicate a low battery. A tiny indicator light also glows when you're low on battery, but this is poorly placed so far back on one glasses arm that you must take off the glasses to see it.
We easily copied music onto the Thump 2 by attaching an included USB cord to a small port on its right side and plugging it into one of our computers running Windows XP; it is also compatible with Macs. Our test Thump 2 — the one gigabyte, $449 version — was recognized on our computer like any USB thumb drive, and we simply dragged and dropped songs onto it. We dragged a handful of music files over, including MP3s from the pop band Fountains of Wayne, and a few AAC (iTunes format) Bob Marley tunes. The Thump can also handle WMA and WAV format files.
The speakers sounded rather good to us, and we liked being able to adjust the earbuds in five different directions to make sure they were comfortably snug. The earbuds were designed to be comfortable for long-term use, so they won't start hurting after a while. You can also crank up the volume and angle the earbuds away from your ears if you don't want to block other sounds out as much.
Two buttons on the left sunglass arm adjust volume (up and down), and three buttons on the right arm enable seeking forward or back and play/pause. We skipped through songs with ease, and were able to rewind or fast forward within songs to find certain spots. A combination of buttons can be pressed for other functions, such as skipping 10 songs ahead (by pressing Pause then the Next Song/Fast Forward button) or setting songs in shuffle mode (by holding the Next Song/Fast Forward button and immediately pressing the Previous Song/Rewind button once).
The Thump's battery is rechargeable by plugging into any computer, again using the USB cord, and the indicator light glows green when the three-hour charge is complete. After an hour, 80% of the battery is recharged, which is convenient. We ran our Thump 2 for about six and a half hours; Oakley says its battery will last for six hours.
We got a few stares while wearing the Thump 2 on the street, but for the most part, the earbuds weren't noticeable at a glance — especially when worn by someone with long hair that can hide the earbuds. If this gadget had earbuds that could fold into the sunglass arms, the shades themselves would be more versatile for use even when you're not operating the MP3 player. As is, the earbuds can be straightened out to run along the arm of the glasses, but they're never totally hidden away.
The Thump 2 would also benefit from a screen — perhaps even one that could flash on the lenses while you're wearing the device. But that kind of technology would probably push the price point even higher.
Unlike the iPod, which brilliantly combines stylish form with practical function, the Oakley Thump 2 is strictly a style item. Still, if you're already used to spending hundreds of dollars on sunglasses, the Thump 2 might seem like a deal. Everyone else would be better off suffering with wired earbuds for now.
- Email: firstname.lastname@example.com.


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D-backs place Aaron Hill on 15-day disabled list
Reinstate Didi Gregorius from 15-day disabled list
PHOENIX - The Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) announced they placed infielder Aaron Hill on the 15-day disabled list with a broken left hand and reinstated infielder Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) from the 15-day disabled list, according to D-backs' Executive Vice President & General Manager Kevin Towers.
"It is really unfortunate to lose not only a talented baseball player but a tremendous teammate in Aaron Hill for the near future," Towers said. "We are confident that the depth we have in the middle infield will serve us well while Aaron recovers."
Hill, 31, is hitting .306 (11-for-36) with 3 doubles, 2 home runs and 6 RBI in 10 games with Arizona this season. He originally suffered the injury after being hit by a James McDonald pitch on April 9 vs. Pittsburgh.
"I was very disappointed yesterday when I learned the extent of my hand injury," said Hill. "I am going to take some time off from baseball activities to let the break heal before starting the rehab process. I am committed to do everything in my power to return to the lineup as soon as possible."
Hill was the first D-backs infielder to earn a Silver Slugger Award® in 2012 after hitting a career-high .302 with 44 doubles, 6 triples, 26 home runs and 85 RBI in his first full season with Arizona. He established career-highs in slugging percentage (.552), OPS (.882) and extra-base hits (76) on his way to being selected as the D-backs' Most Valuable Player by the Arizona chapter of the BBWAA.
Gregorius, 23, batted .387 (12-for-31) with 2 doubles, 2 home runs and 2 RBI in 7 rehab games with Triple-A Reno. He was placed on the 15-day disabled list on March 31 with strained right elbow.
Gregorius was acquired by the D-backs with left-handed pitcher Tony Sipp and infielder Lars Anderson as part of a 3-team trade on Dec. 10. He entered the season ranked among Arizona's top prospects by MLB.com (No. 3) and Baseball America (No. 5).


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I had a couple of nice thrift store finds a few weeks ago. They seem to go well with the Vintage ABC quilt from last week.
Oh no! Someone opened the chocolates, smashed the walnut shells on the table, left out the newspaper and their blue sweater! Those pesky kids! What should she do?? (Are you glad no one expects you to wear a lovely dress, heels and pearls every day? Or do you wish you could?)
And last, but certainly not least, check out this baby that I found. I LOVE IT! I got it for $14. It's not in mint condition (has anyone ever seen a school desk that was?) But it looks good. I gave it a good Lysol job when it got home. I'm now trying to decide whether to spray paint the metal or leave the 'aged patina.' I wonder what the Keno brothers would tell me to do. They'd probably say leave it.


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A space compass
A space compass is a multimedia lesson on rotational mechanics for upper secondary students (17-19 years old) focused on the rotational motion of rigid bodies and gyroscopic effects in a weightless environment. The lesson contains embedded video clips recorded on board the ISS and on ground.
You can download the zipped lesson [Format: Power Point presentation (10.9 MB)] by clicking here.


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Book News: James Patterson Is Giving $1 Million To Indie Bookstores
Janette Pellegrini/Getty Images for Disney Publishing
The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.
- Novelist James Patterson, whose mysteries, thrillers, children's books and romances have sold hundreds of millions of copies, is donating $1 million of his personal fortune to independent bookstores across the country. In a statement released by his publisher, Patterson said, "Every day, booksellers are out there saving our country's literature. The work they do to support schools and the rest of their communities leaves a lasting love of reading in children and adults. I believe their work is vital to our future as a country. What are we if we don't have our own literature? I couldn't be happier to, very humbly, support booksellers in their mission. Maybe that's because it's my mission as well." So far, he's selected 55 stores to receive donations totaling $267,000. In an interview with Morning Edition's Renee Montagne, Patterson said he hopes to highlight the situation faced by independent booksellers. "The government has stepped in to help banks, automobiles, anything where money is concerned, but nobody seems to care about books and our bookstores," he said. "And I'm telling you, American literature is in jeopardy."
- Liu Xia, poet and wife of Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo, has been hospitalized for heart problems, Agence France-Presse reports. Although she has not been charged with a crime, she has lived under house arrest since 2010. A friend and human rights lawyer, Mo Shaoping, told AFP that Liu Xia is at a hospital in Beijing. Mo added, "Of course, it would be better if she could go abroad to see a doctor. The problem is whether or not they will let her go. They won't let her decide for herself."
- Finalists for the L.A. Times Book Prizes were announced on Wednesday, with 50 books in 10 categories. Two writers will receive special recognition: novelist Susan Straight, the winner of the Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement, and YA writer John Green, the winner of the Innovators Award "for his dynamic use of online media to entertain and engage." Katie Freeman, Straight's former editor and publicist at Pantheon (now at Riverhead), wrote in an email to NPR, "I cannot think of a writer who deserves this recognition more. She is an exceptional, honest, searingly beautiful writer and a remarkable, memorable person." The prizes will be awarded in April.
- Harper Lee has settled a lawsuit she brought against a museum in her Alabama hometown for selling To Kill a Mockingbird souvenirs. Lee said the Monroe County Heritage Museum in Monroeville sold products related to her bestselling book without asking or compensating her.
- The Carla Furstenberg Cohen Literary Prize — a new prize named in honor of the co-founder of Politics & Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C. — was awarded to Anthony Marra for the novel A Constellation of Vital Phenomena and David Finkel for his nonfiction book Thank You for Your Service. According to a press release, the prize is worth $5,000 and will be awarded in May. Cohen's husband and the chair of the prize, David, said in the release, "Two talented writers exemplify a new generation of probing, resilient and compassionate writing. Anthony Marra and David Finkel have an uncommon understanding and feel of courage and building lives under continuing adversity.
- Dr. Seuss's hat collection is going on tour. For NPR, Lauren Katz reports: "An exhibit called Hats Off to Dr. Seuss!, which debuted at the New York Public Library in January last year, will stop in six states over the next seven months. The exhibit features 26 unique and historic hats from Dr. Seuss's collection, along with his original artwork inspired by the collection."


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Former Lackland trainer receives 1-year sentence
A jury Wednesday evening handed a boot camp instructor 12 months in prison, reduction in rank to airman and a bad-conduct discharge after he pleaded guilty to having sex with a recruit under his command.
Betraying no emotion while standing, his hands clasped, Staff Sgt. Kwinton Estacio quickly left the courtroom after the trial ended. Neither his attorneys nor prosecutors would comment.
One of 17 basic training instructors who have been investigated for having illicit sexual contact with female trainees, he pleaded guilty to charges that could have landed him in a lockup for 13 years.
Things could have been much worse.
A jury earlier Wednesday found him not guilty of sexually assaulting a young female trainee identified as Airman 1, sparing him from facing another year of prison time. The charge was downgraded from sexual assault, which carried a maximum 30-year sentence.
If Estacio had been convicted of sexual assault or wrongful sexual contact, the Air Force would have been required to notify state officials so he could be placed on a sex-offender registry, said Lt. Col. Mark Hoover, an Air Force training command attorney.
Shortly after the verdict was read, Estacio gave a brief, emotional unsworn statement. He did not testify, and the defense called no witnesses.
"I wanted to apologize to the Air Force, to the MTI corps, my family and also to Airman (1)," he said, choking back tears. "I ask for your mercy. I know you don't have to give it, but I ask for it."
The trial was the fourth at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland since the Air Force late last year revealed a sex scandal on the base involving basic training instructors and recruits.
Only one of the instructors, Staff Sgt. Luis A. Walker, got a lengthy sentence. He was given 20 years earlier this summer for raping one trainee and having sexual contact with nine others. One other trainer went to jail for 30 days and another three months.
The Air Force so far has identified 39 trainees, all of them women, as victims in the scandal. There had been 43 as the week began, but the number fell after investigators determined that some had received text messages or phone calls that were not sexual in nature.
Estacio began the trial facing three charges and several specifications, the most serious of which alleged he sexually assaulted Airman 1 in a darkened supply room last October. The military judge, Lt. Col. Matthew Van Dalen, found him not guilty on that charge Tuesday after finding there wasn't enough evidence to support it.
The judge accepted the lesser charge of wrongful sexual contact, and jurors deliberated nearly five hours before finding him not guilty — a major victory for victory for the defense, which sought to show their client believed the woman consented to have sex.
Estacio pleaded guilty to violating an Air Education and Training Command rule prohibiting trainers from having personal relationships with trainees. He also admitted to meeting with two other trainers under investigation in violation of orders, and obstructing an Air Force investigation.
Defense attorney Mark O'Neil, an Air Force captain, opened his plea for a light sentence by conceding the end of Estacio's three-day trial "was not a good day for anyone." But he argued the government's call to send Estacio to prison for four years and give him a dishonorable discharge, was too extreme.
That sentence would have branded Estacio among "the worst offenders" when there was a "whole person" to consider, one who had spent a decade in uniform, deployed three times and been a top-rated instructor with a family, O'Neil said.
"He is a federal convict for what he did," O'Neil said. "He is a federal convict right now and will be for the rest of his life."
But a prosecutor, Maj. Shaun Speranza, countered that prison time and a dishonorable discharge were fitting for Estacio, who lured the woman and a fellow airman to the supply room, where he and another trainer waited for them.
Estacio performed oral sex on Airman 1 while the other trainer, Staff Sgt. Craig LeBlanc, is accused of having intercourse. He goes on trial next month.
"He took full advantage of his position to use one of his trainees as a sex toy and he thought it was OK," Speranza said, adding that Estacio "didn't think twice" about obstructing investigators.
Calling Estacio "selfish" and "dishonorable," he said the ex-instructor failed to grasp that what he did was wrong, as shown by the fact that he told other accused instructors that he felt betrayed by the social isolation he faced after charges surfaced.
"He feels betrayed," Speranza said, "because he got caught."


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- Prayer and Worship
- Beliefs and Teachings
- Issues and Action
- Media
- Bible
- Catholic Giving
- About USCCB
1Would that you were a brother to me,
nursed at my mother's breasts!
If I met you out of doors, I would kiss you
and none would despise me.
2a I would lead you, bring you to my mother's house,
where you would teach me,
Where I would give you to drink
spiced wine, my pomegranate* juice.
3b His left hand is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me.
4c I adjure you, Daughters of Jerusalem,
do not awaken or stir up love
until it is ready!
5D?d Who is this coming up from the desert,
leaning upon her lover?
W Beneath the apple tree I awakened you;*
there your mother conceived you;
there she who bore you conceived.
6Set me as a seal* upon your heart,
as a seal upon your arm;
For Love is strong as Death,
longing is fierce as Sheol.
Its arrows are arrows of fire,
flames of the divine.
7e Deep waters* cannot quench love,
nor rivers sweep it away.
Were one to offer all the wealth of his house for love,
he would be utterly despised.
8W "We have a little sister;*
she has no breasts as yet.
What shall we do for our sister
on the day she is spoken for?
9If she is a wall,
we will build upon her a silver turret;
But if she is a door,
we will board her up with cedar planks."
10I am a wall,*
and my breasts are like towers.
I became in his eyes
as one who brings peace.
11M? Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon;*
he gave over the vineyard to caretakers.
For its fruit one would have to pay
a thousand silver pieces.
12My vineyard is at my own disposal;
the thousand pieces are for you, Solomon,
and two hundred for the caretakers of its fruit.
13M You who dwell in the gardens,*
my companions are listening for your voice—
let me hear it!
14Wf Swiftly, my lover,
be like a gazelle or a young stag
upon the mountains of spices.
* [8:2] Wine…pomegranate: sexual connotations are implied, since the root "drink" (shaqah) is a wordplay on "kiss" (nashaq) in v. 1; cf. 1:2.
* [8:5] Awakened you: the speakers in this verse are difficult to identify. Someone (the poet? Daughters?) hails the couple in v. 5a. According to the Masoretic vocalization, the woman is the speaker in v. 5b.
* [8:6] Seal: this could be worn bound to the arm, as here, or suspended at the neck, or as a ring (Jer 22:24). It was used for identification and signatures. Strong…fierce: in human experience, Death and Sheol are inevitable, unrelenting; in the end they always triumph. Love, which is just as certain of its victory, matches its strength against the natural enemies of life; waters cannot extinguish it nor floods carry it away. It is more priceless than all riches. Flames of the divine: the Hebrew is difficult: the short form (-Yah) of the divine name Yhwh found here may associate love with the Lord, or it may be acting as a superlative—i.e., god-sized flames.
* [8:7] Deep waters: often used to designate chaos (Ps 93:4; 144:7; Is 17:12–13; Hb 3:15). The fires of love cannot be extinguished, even by waters of chaos. Wealth: love cannot be bought.
* [8:8–9] The woman quotes the course of action her elder brothers had decided on. While she is yet immature, they will shelter her in view of eventual marriage. Wall…door: if she is virtuous, she will be honored; if she is not, she will be kept under strict vigilance. Silver turret: a precious ornament.
* [8:10] In reply to the officious and meddling attitude of the brothers, she answers with their terms: she is mature ("wall," "towers"). Brings peace: or, "finds peace."
* [8:11–12] These enigmatic verses have been variously interpreted, depending on who is taken to be the speaker. In v. 11, if the woman, she boasts that she is a vineyard of great value. If the man, he boasts over his possession of her.
* [8:13–14] As in 2:14, her lover asks for a word or a song and she replies in words similar to those found in 2:17.
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If you eat chicken, heads up! Consumer Reports' tests of more than 300 raw chicken breasts purchased at stores across the country found potentially harmful bacteria in nearly all the samples. You can read its full investigation here.
Consumer Reports tested the chicken for six bacteria, including salmonella and campylobacter, which are common causes of food poisoning and E. coli and enterococcus, which are typical measures of fecal contamination.
More than half of the chicken breasts were tainted with E. coli and enterococcus.
And all the major brands tested — Perdue, Tyson, Sanderson Farms, and Pilgrims — contained worrisome bacteria, as did smaller brands and packages labeled "organic" or "no antibiotics."
Most troubling, when Consumer Reports looked at all of the chicken breasts tested, about half harbored at least one bacterium that was resistant to three or more common families of antibiotics.
The Food and Drug Administration has just issued voluntary new guidelines that would limit the way farmers can use antibiotics in chicken. Consumer Report says it's a good first step but much more needs to be done.
Consumer Reports says when it comes to preparing chicken, you can't be too careful.
The tests did not reveal any better choice, despite some differences among brands and types. You really want to make sure to cook chicken until it reaches 165 degrees in the center. It's also important to wash your hands well after handling raw chicken.
And don't wash raw chicken under the faucet – that can spread bacteria and increase your risk of getting sick.


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What is Positive Discipline?Positive Discipline is a program designed to teach young people to become responsible, respectful and resourceful members of their communities. Based on the best selling Positive Discipline books by Dr. Jane Nelsen, Lynn Lott, Cheryl Erwin and others, it teaches important social and life skills in a manner that is deeply respectful and encouraging for both children and adults (including parents, teachers, childcare providers, youth workers, and others).
Recent research tells us that children are "hardwired" from birth to connect with others, and that children who feel a sense of connection to their community, family, and school are less likely to misbehave. To be successful, contributing members of their community, children must learn necessary social and life skills. Positive Discipline is based on the understanding that discipline must be taught and that discipline also teaches.
POSITIVE DISCIPLINE TOOLSThe Positive Discipline Parenting and Classroom Management models are aimed at developing mutually respectful relationships. Positive Discipline teaches adults to employ kindness and firmness at the same time, and is neither punitive nor permissive. The tools and concepts of Positive Discipline include:
Unique Characteristics of the Positive Discipline Model also include:
A HISTORY OF POSITIVE DISCIPLINEThe Positive Discipline Parenting and Classroom Management Model is based on the work of Alfred Adler and Rudolf Dreikurs. Dr. Adler first introduced the idea of parenting education to United States audiences in the 1920s. He advocated treating children respectfully, but also argued that spoiling and pampering children was not encouraging to them and resulted in social and behavioral problems. The classroom techniques, which were initially introduced in Vienna in the early 1920s, were brought to the United States by Dr. Dreikurs in the late 1930s. Dreikurs and Adler refer to the kind and firm approach to teaching and parenting as "democratic."
In the 1980s, Lynn Lott and Jane Nelsen attended a workshop facilitated by John Taylor. Lynn began training interns to teach experientially and wrote (with the help of her interns) the first Teaching Parenting Manual. Jane was the director of Project ACCEPT (Adlerian Counseling Concepts for Encouraging Parents and Teachers), a federally funded project that had received exemplary status while in its developmental phase. Jane wrote and self-published the book, Positive Discipline, in 1981. It was published by Ballantine in 1987. In 1988, Jane and Lynn decided to collaborate on the book which is now titled, Positive Discipline for Teenagers, and began to teach parenting and classroom management skills experientially. Lynn and Jane also wrote Positive Discipline in the Classroom and developed a manual filled with experiential activities for teachers and their students.
In the years since, the Positive Discipline series has grown to include titles that address different age groups, family settings, and special situations. Positive Discipline is taught to schools, parents, and parent educators by Certified Positive Discipline Trainers. Community members, parents, and teachers are encouraged to become trained facilitators and to share the concepts of Positive Discipline with their own groups.
Positive Discipline parent education classes are taught across the country, and Positive Discipline is successfully used as the classroom management model in private, religious, and public elementary schools. A demonstration school program was developed and is steadily expanding.
Formal evaluation comparing Positive Discipline Schools with schools using other discipline programs is just beginning. However, studies of implementation of Positive Discipline techniques have shown that Positive Discipline tools do produce significant results.
A study of school-wide implementation of classroom meetings in a lower-income Sacramento elementary school over a four-year period showed that suspensions decreased (from 64 annually to 4 annually), vandalism decreased (from 24 episodes to 2) and teachers reported improvement in classroom atmosphere, behavior, attitudes and academic performance. (Platt, 1979)
A study of parent and teacher education programs directed at parents and teachers of students with "maladaptive" behavior that implemented Positive Discipline tools showed a statistically significant improvement in the behavior of students in the program schools when compared to control schools. (Nelsen, 1979)
Smaller studies examining the impacts of specific Positive Discipline tools have also shown positive results. (Browning, 2000; Potter, 1999; Esquivel)
Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that a student's perception of being part of the school community (being "connected" to school) decreases the incidence of socially risky behavior (such as emotional distress and suicidal thoughts / attempts, cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use; violent behavior) and increases academic performance. (Resnick et al, 1997; Battistich, 1999; Goodenow, 1993)
There is also significant evidence that teaching younger students social skills has a protective effect that lasts into adolescence. Students that have been taught social skills are more likely to succeed in school and less likely to engage in problem behaviors. (Kellam et al, 1998; Battistich, 1999) Although specific studies of the Positive Discipline parenting program are in the early stages, programs similar to Positive Discipline have been studied and shown to be effective in changing parent behavior. In a study of Adlerian parent education classes for parents of teens, Stanley (1978) found that parents did more problem solving with their teens and were less autocratic in decision making.
Positive Discipline teaches parents the skills to be both kind and firm at the same time. Numerous studies show that teens who perceive their parents as both kind (responsive) and firm (demanding) are at lower risk for smoking, use of marijuana, use of alcohol, or being violent, and have a later onset of sexual activity. (Aquilino, 2001; Baumrind, 1991; Jackson et al, 1998; Simons, Morton et al, 2001)
Other studies have correlated the teen's perception of parenting style (kind and firm versus autocratic or permissive) with improved academic performance. (Cohen, 1997; Deslandes, 1997; Dornbusch et al, 1987; Lam, 1997).
The Positive Discipline Association receives a 5% donation for all purchases made at www.positivediscipline.com.


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Female justices issue searing dissent over new contraceptive case
The fierce disagreements dividing the Supreme Court over this week's Hobby Lobby decision were laid bare Thursday in a searing dissent from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who said the justices' decision in a separate contraceptive case "undermines confidence in this institution." The dissent was signed by all three female justices.
"Those who are bound by our decisions usually believe they can take us at our word," wrote Sotomayor. "Not so today."The dissent was in an order to grant an emergency request from Wheaton College, an evangelical college in Illinois, on a temporary basis until its appeal goes forward. At issue is the "accommodation" the Obama administration worked out for religiously-identified non-profits: Sign a form certifying your objection, and the insurer will provide the coverage directly, without the objecting organization having to pay. As of now, 122 non-profits have sued, claiming that signing the opt-out form for someone to get contraception violates their religious liberty. (An attorney for the plaintiffs has repeatedly referred to it as a "permission slip for abortion," even though it does not actually cover abortion.)
In fact, that accommodation was one of the reasons Justice Samuel Alito cited to justify his Hobby Lobby decision – words Sotomayor threw back at him in the dissent. Under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the government has to show it has pursued the least restrictive means to accomplish its goal. Alito claimed that because the nonprofit accommodation exists, that means the government has other ways to get women access to contraception that respects religious liberty. Yet only a few days later, he ruled that the nonprofit accommodation – again, signing a form – is also a violation of religious liberty.
"Let me be absolutely clear: I do not doubt that Wheaton genuinely believes that signing the self-certification form is contrary to its religious beliefs," Sotomayor wrote. "But thinking one's religious beliefs are substantially burdened … does not make it so." She added, "Not every sincerely felt 'burden' is a 'substantial' one, and it is for courts, not litigants, to identify which are."
What the plaintiffs in the nonprofit cases are seeking is to be treated like churches – no contraception for anyone. But the majority claims that "nothing in this interim order affects the ability of the applicant's employees and students to obtain, without cost, the full range of FDA approved contraceptives," because the government already knows about their objection from the lawsuit and can tell the insurer itself. But without the form, Sotomayor argues, how could the administration "ever identify the organizations eligible for the accommodation and perform the administrative tasks necessary to make the accommodation work?"
She added, "The Court's actions in this case create unnecessary costs and layers of bureaucracy, and they ignore a simple truth: The Government must be allowed to handle the basic tasks of public administration in a manner that comports with common sense."
Sotomayor also pointed out that the facts of the case hardly met the Court's high standard for such an emergency injunction. The dissent was co-signed by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Justice Elena Kagan, but not Justice Stephen Breyer, who also dissented with them in Hobby Lobby.


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Tag: hr consulting ottawa
Human Resources are a department within a company or organization that is responsible for maintaining communication between the employers and their employees. They are in charge of regulating federal guidelines regarding discrimination and in charge of hiring and firing employees. The ottawa hr consultants are professionals who work within this department and perform a variety of duties relating to keeping communications open and managing staff.
HR consultants Ottawa hold a position of authority among other HR professionals and supervise those under them. Their duties include a wide range of responsibilities; advanced and specialized administrative duties, provide high level support in administration resources program, interpret human resources policy and provide advice on how a company should implement it in their day-to-day business. They will answer questions on those policies and present training sessions on the more complex HR procedures. The HR consultants are responsible for a company complying with human resources policy.
There are many uses and benefits to having HR consulting part of your business:
Through communication between the employer and the employee they can arrive at solutions to work for both parties. At salopekconsulting.com we can help you achieve your company's and employees goals as well.


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Somehow through the end of last semester, a few measures every weekend, I also managed to finish my piece for pianist Sarah Cahill's "A Sweeter Music" project, a series of anti-war pieces that she'll be premiering through the year, which has been getting a lot of attention at New Music Box. The composers, besides me, are Meredith Monk, Frederic Rzewski, Terry Riley, Yoko Ono, Bernice Johnson Reagon, Pauline Oliveros, Peter Garland, Paul Dresher, Carl Stone, Ingram Marshall, Jerome Kitzke, Phil Kline, Mamoru Fujieda, Larry Polansky, Michael Byron, The Residents, and Preben Antonsen. Terry told Sarah he wouldn't write an anti-war piece, but he'd write a pro-peace piece. In response, I told her I'd be happy to write a piece titled "Dick Cheney Is A Lying Asshole."
But I didn't. Instead, it's called War Is Just a Racket. Brian McLaren, to whom I am deeply grateful for it, sent me a wonderful text by General Smedley Butler. Butler (pictured) was a popular general who, in 1933, was approached by a bunch of plutocrats (including apparently Prescott Bush, the outgoing pResident's grandfather) who wanted to stage a quiet coup, reducing FDR to a figurehead and setting up a government friendlier to Hitler and Mussolini. It was an attempt at a fascist takeover, and they thought with Butler on their side, the army would play along. Butler feigned interest for awhile, but after he'd gotten enough information, he marched straight to Congress and turned the bastards in. No one seems sure exactly what happened, but apparently FDR agreed not to jail them all if they'd stand out of the way of the New Deal – and that's what it took to get the New Deal through the first time (of which we now need another one).
Anyway, that's the background, with plenty of relevance to what's been going on in recent years. The text itself is just a 1933 speech Butler gave in retirement detailing his disillusionment with the purposes for which the U.S. Government uses its armed forces. I believe in political music, but I've come to think that it's really only effective with text, and Sarah wanted a solo piece. So I rather borrowed the device that Christian Wolff used in his 1971 Accompaniments for Frederic Rzewski, whereby the pianist speaks the text at a normal pace, and chords associated with certain syllables are played along with the words, in a speech-determined rhythm. (My Custer piece was also indebted to Accompaniments, which seems to remain a pretty well-known work, even though Christian later disavowed its Maoist politics and it's never come out on CD.) Writing this for a pianist took me way out of my comfort zone, because playing the piano and speaking are two things I've never been able to do at the same time – when I try to do it in class, I get all tongue-tied and clumsy. (One uses the right brain and one the left, and I have a theory about how my brain hemispheres are more disconnected than average.) But Sarah says she can do it, and I tried to make it graceful. She premieres it March 12 in New York. It strikes me as peculiar that this is the second time I've set to music words by a general.
Anyway, here's the Smedley Butler text, and thanks, Brian. And Sarah.
War is just a racket. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of people. Only a small inside group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few at the expense of the masses. I believe in adequate defense at the coastline and nothing else. If a nation comes over here to fight, then we'll fight. The trouble with America is that when the dollar only earns 6 percent over here, then it gets restless and goes overseas to get 100 percent. Then the flag follows the dollar and the soldiers follow the flag. I wouldn't go to war again as I have done to protect some lousy investment of the bankers. There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket.
There isn't a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its "finger men" to point out enemies, its "muscle men" to destroy enemies, its "brain men" to plan war preparations, and a "Big Boss" Super-Nationalistic-Capitalism. It may seem odd for me, a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to. I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups. This is typical with everyone in the military service. I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. In China I helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested.
During those years, I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket. Looking back on it, I feel that I could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents.
By the way, I notice I'm getting advertisers over on the right lately. Be sure to click on 'em, and thank you.


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It seems there is no limit to the outrageous proposals issued by current science czar and neo-Malthusian miscreant John P. Holdren.
August 21, 2009
|John P. Holdren
During a keynote address before a gathering of Goldman Sachs luminaries on 'Energy, Environment and the Financial Markets' in 2007, Holdren proposed several options to "combat climate change". The most remarkable of which include (page 43) ""Scrub" greenhouse gases from the atmosphere technologically" and ""Geo-engineering" to create cooling effects offsetting greenhouse heating."
As we know, it is not the first time Holdren proposed spraying the atmosphere. The interesting thing regarding his PowerPoint presentation before the international bankers, is that it preceded his statements in favour of geo-engineering in 2009 and the subsequent outrage, which ultimately caused him to back-pedal on his proposals. Despite the controversy, Holdren maintained at a MIT-seminar that the geo-engineering option should not be discarded. The elitist Counsel on Foreign Relations wholeheartedly agrees with him. In the course of 2008, the CFR held several workshops dedicated to 'Planetary Scale Geoenigineering' efforts after painting the environmental situation as being direr than the facts suggest.
Holdren's participation in the Goldman Sachs conference was no incidental occurrence. In September of 2006, when Holdren was still director of the Woods Hole Research Center, he teamed up with the representative of the Goldman Sachs Center for Environmental Management. This partnership would supposedly "enable the Woods Hole Research Center to broaden and deepen its efforts to understand the ways that tropical forests contribute to human well-being (…)". Initiator of the partnership was the eugenics liaison front of the Global Clinton Initiative, which donated generously to stimulate the partnership. As Holdren explained: "It's particularly gratifying that we developed this project with Goldman Sachs as part of the Clinton Global Initiative- a farsighted effort of the former President to stimulate new partnerships among businesses, researchers, and public-interest organizations to address the great challenges in global health, environment, and economic development".
Besides the fact that we learn of more and more Obama people being extremely tight to Goldman Sachs, the 2007 PowerPoint presentation proves that the geo-engineering-option was already on Holdren's mind before he assumed the function of science czar. His presentation also clearly shows that Mr. Holdren is the favourite mad scientist employed by the New World Order.
In the first months of the Obama presidency, Holdren alluded that the subject had come up during White House discussions. Later, when the Associated Press reported on it, Holdren hastily back-pedalled on the subject, saying: "we have to look at the possibilities and understand them because if we get desperate enough it will be considered. I also made clear that this my personal view, not Administration policy."
Regardless, we have to place Holdren's actions and statements within a well-documented eugenics context. In 2007 Holdren did not suffer the burden of public office. This allowed him to be quite frank about his ideas, just as he was in 1977, when he warmed to the idea of a "planetary regime" to scale back the human population. He also proposed, putting chemicals in the water supply to ensure decline in fertility and chipping people to control their reproductive capabilities. His long and sordid track record speaks for itself.
Source: Infowars


text: The scanning electron microscope has become one of the most powerful scientific visualization tools available, giving us incredible close-up views of anything from volcanic ash to snowflakes to bacteria. The microscope works by scanning a focused beam of electrons across an object. The electrons interact with the atoms at the surface of the object, revealing the texture and structure with a depth of field that makes for a great three-dimensional sense of the target. Some of the most intriguing images are those of insects and other animals. On this day in 1940, the first transmission (stationary) electron microscope, predecessor to the scanning electron microscope, was demonstrated in the United States. To celebrate the amazing contribution these microscopes have made to science, we asked scientists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City to share some of their favorite SEM images with us. Here are the beautiful and creepy images of scorpions, wasps, sharks, bees and spiders they sent us. Solitary Bee The American Museum of Natural History houses perhaps the most complete collection of bee eggs, larvae and pupae in the world. The image above is of the larva of a ground-nesting solitary bee from Turkey. This is the last instar larval stage, which describes the times between each molt (after an insect sheds its exoskeleton in order to grow) until the insect reaches sexual maturity. Though many scientists study bees, curator Jerome Rozen is one of the few who studies solitary species and their parasites (seen on the last slide). Image: Hoplitis monstrabilis (Rozen, J.G., Jr., H. Özbek, J.S. Ascher, M.G. Rightmyer. 2009. American Museum Novitates 3645)Scorpion Scorpions have unique sensory combs, called pectines, on their ventral sides. The combs sense textures of surfaces and detect chemical traces of their own species. Scientists also use them to distinguish males, which have larger pectines with more teeth, from females. Work on these scorpions was done by American Museum of Natural History curator Lorenzo Prendini and postdoctoral researcher Carsten Kamenz. The images above and below highlight different aspects of the pectines of various scorpion species. Above: The teeth of a sensory comb with an array of chemosensory sensilla. Above: The margin of the sensilla array on a scorpion's sensory comb. Above: The "fulcrum" on a scorpion's sensory comb. Above: The teeth of a scorpion's sensory comb. Images: Carsten KamenzGoblin Spider The spiders pictured here from a new species of South American goblin spiders from the family Oonopidae. It is believed that the 459 described species of goblin spiders are only about 20 percent of the total species. American Museum of Natural History curator emeritus Norm Platnick and Nadine Dupérré are studying and will soon be publishing descriptions of the new species as part of an effort to collect, image and describe the hundreds of remaining goblin spider species. The results will all be cataloged online. Above: Goblin-spider tarsal claw. Above: Male goblin-spider ventral mouthpiece. Images: Nadine DupérréHover Wasp These images are of the head and antennae (left) and metasomal segments I and II of Chalogaster spatulata, a species of hover wasp from Southeast Asia recently described by American Museum of Natural History curator James Carpenter and Christopher Starr of the University of the West Indies. Images: James M. Carpenter/AMNHBull Shark This image is of the skin of the bull shark, an aggressive species that can tolerate fresh water and is thought to be responsible for many near-shore attacks. Shark skin is made of tiny scales known as dermal denticles that can be seen here. The scales give shark skin a very rough, sandpaper-like texture, make it very strong. The scales help streamline the shark by moving water through the grooves in the scales to reduce turbulence. Image: AMNH Microscopy and Imaging Facility manager Rebecca Rudolph.Plant Bug These images are of Pseudosthenarus rozeni, a legume-feeding plant bug from the Namaqualand region of South Africa. This is one of more than a dozen species of Pseudosthenarus that occur in Namaqualand, and nowhere else. American Museum of Natural History curator Randall Schuh named the species for the museum's curator of bees Jerome Rozen. Images: Randall SchuhSaxon Wasp The image above shows the mandibular teeth of the wasp Dolichovespula saxonica, described in 2006 by American Museum of Natural History curator James Carpenter and colleague Estelle Perera. The saxon wasp plays host to the social parasitic yellowjacket Dolichovespula adulterina (right). Images: James M. Carpenter/AMNHCleptoparasitic Bee The mature bee larva pictured above is from a species that attacks the larvae of other bee species, removes them from the nest, and takes their place to be raised by the unknowing host mother. This behavior is known as cleptoparasitism. The species pictured here, known as Stelis ater, was almost entirely unknown before a study was published last month by American Museum of Natural History curator Jerome Rozen and his colleague Glenn Hall of the University of Florida. The images below are of the host species, the solitary bee Osmia chalybea, whose biology and nesting behavior hadn't been described before this study. Above: Salivary lips showing parallel ridges of inner surface of lower lip, last larval instar of Osmia chalybea. Above: The gas-exchange area for cocoons of Osmia chalybea. Images: Osmia chalybea and its cleptoparasite Stelis ater*. (Jerome Rozen and Glenn Hall, 2011.* American Museum Novitates 3707).See Also:Top 20 Microscope Photos of the Year35 Years of the World's Best Microscope PhotographySnowflakes Under an Electron MicroscopeTiny Spheres Turn Regular Microscopes Into Nanoscopes


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Copyright As Censorship: Birth Blogger Fight Goes Legal Over DMCA Abuse
from the wtf deptWe've talked in the past about DMCA abuse to silence criticism, but it appears that a blogger, who felt wronged by someone who slightly mocked her, took DMCA abuse to new levels and is now facing a lawsuit in response. This case is interesting (and crazy) on a whole bunch of levels, which we'll try to illustrate here. Jackie points us to GetOffMyInternets, which has a pretty good summary of the long series of events that resulted in the lawsuit. Let's start with that summary, and then dig in on a variety of levels. The dispute involves two bloggers who appear to absolutely hate one another, Amy Tuteur and Gina Crosley-Corcoran:
Phew! That's a lot of stuff. You can see the actual lawsuit here if you'd like (and it's also embedded below). I will say that prior to getting this, I'd never heard of either of these women, and I have no idea what the real crux of their dispute is about -- though it's quite clear that there's a much bigger history going on between these two women prior to the events listed above. In the post showing the middle finger picture, Gina describes a long history (in, um, snarky terms). Either way, one or both of these women may have wronged the other at some point. I have no idea, nor does it really matter concerning the specific events above.
OK, so Gina wrote this post about how she's learned soooooooooo much after being a doula at 20 births.
Dr. Amy responded with this post, basically saying, "If you've learned this much after 20, what do you think you'd learn after a few thousand?" It really wasn't terribly mean, by Dr. Amy standards.
Gina then responded with a photo of herself flipping Dr. Amy the bird, and saying, "I don't want to leave you without something you can take back to your blog and obsess over, so here's a picture of me."
Dr. Amy then wrote about it (and included the photo, which is now gone) in this post.
Gina THEN proceeded to scream "Copyright infringement!!!!" and send Dr. Amy a letter demanding money, which she wrote about in this post. (The letter was originally posted but later deleted.)
Dr. Amy's husband, who is a very big-deal lawyer, wrote back to Gina and told her she didn't have a case. Gina then repeatedly filed DMCA takedown notices to Dr. Amy's host (and then her new one, after she switched hosts), which she detailed here. She also started a legal fund so she could go after Amy. It was VERY clearly an attempt to abuse DMCA in order to shut Amy up. Gina was also encouraging other people to fill out forms saying that Amy had "stolen" (aka quoted, with proper citation) their stories.
Then, Dr. Amy countered with this suit…
Reading the blog posts back and forth (which isn't as easy as clicking on the original GOMI links, because Gina has blocked any traffic coming from that site with a message listing two possible reasons you're getting the blocked message -- with the first one being the likely issue: "you clicked on a link to my site from a really, seriously effed up place on the internet, in which case, for real? Why are you hanging around such places? Nevermind, ick, I don't wanna know.") I'm obviously not going to get into the long term fight the two are having over birthing methods or education -- but on the copyright issues, it seems fair to weigh in.
It's pretty clear that Gina way, way, way over-claimed things in her original blog post alleging infringement. She makes it sound as if Dr. Amy is guilty and must pay up, solely based on the accusation. She also claims that because her host has been contacted, they have to take down the content. Neither claim is true or accurate (it's possible she got questionable legal advice here):
By law, Amy now owes me $750 per incident, and up to $30,000. Think twice before stealing things off people's blogs. In case you're wondering, that is a VERY serious offense.... Her host has also been contacted, and by law, they must remove the content.No, by law, Amy is not required to pay up until a court decides she has to. Also, copyright infringement is not stealing, but that's a whole different fight. As for the host being contact, they do not have to remove the content by law, though there are very strong incentives for them to remove it. Of course, those incentives apply solely to the content in question, and not the rest of her content. However, the host (apparently Bluehost) ridiculously killed the entire account, which Gina celebrated. Celebrating outright censorship through abuse of the DMCA doesn't seem wise. Amusingly, in cheering it on, Gina posted a screenshot of the blog being down, with a giant "protected by DMCA.com" sticker on it -- which is highly questionable. She really does appear to be claiming a copyright over a screenshot of someone else's website (even one that's been taken down). That's also highly questionable -- especially for someone who was just arguing that you shouldn't be "stealing things off people's blogs." And yet, she has no problem taking a screenshot of someone else's blog? Hmm...
As for the use by Amy of Gina's photo... it would appear that she would have a very, very strong fair use claim. She did not just use the photo, but provided significant commentary (again, whose commentary you agree with is meaningless here). Also, as claimed in the lawsuit, Amy argues that Gina's claim that she posted the photo for Amy to "take back to your blog and obsess over" is actually an invitation to repost the image. That last part may be a stretch, but not a completely ridiculous stretch. It just feels like the fair use claims are a lot stronger.
In fact, Gina later talks about her real goal in all of this is to use the threat of a DMCA action to silence Amy. I'm not sure who Gina's lawyer is, but you'd think he or she would tell Gina that flat out admitting publicly that you're seeking to use the DMCA to silence someone who is criticizing you and others is an abuse of the DMCA:
She could owe me statutory damages, but because I'm a fair and reasonable human being, my attorney and I felt it was best to discuss a non-monetary settlement with Amy and her lawyer. I'm not looking to be greedy — I simply wanted a resolution. In exchange for me not pursuing the damages, we wanted Amy to agree to stop personally attacking me. It was that simple.That is, Gina flat out admits that she used the DMCA as a tool to seek to silence Amy's criticisms. That's not going to go over well in court. And, that's where some of this is playing out.
The lawsuit reveals even more info, including the claim that part of the "settlement" offer was that both Gina and Amy would agree never to discuss each other again in blog posts. It also states that Gina's own attorney admitted during a phone call that there was no legitimate copyright claim, and that they would not be pursuing any actual legal action. Furthermore, it reveals that after Bluehost had received the initial notice, Amy had filed a proper DMCA counternotice.
Next, she notes that in the most recent blog post on this, Gina not only solicited money for a "legal fund" to fight Amy (despite her lawyer apparently already saying they had no legal claim), but also encouraged her readers to "report" other instances of believed "copyright infringement" by Amy. A few days later, Amy got another takedown notice from Gina, directed at her new host, DaringHost (whom Amy had moved her blog to in the middle of all of this). Amy submitted a second counternotice.
Following that, Gina started posting on Facebook excitedly, implying that she was "spending" the "legal fund" to takedown Amy's site on the new host. Furthermore, she noted: "if she keeps on doing what she's doing, this will keep happening," which could certainly be read as a threat to keep sending DMCA notices over and over again.
So.... what's the lawsuit actually about? Amy argues that Gina runs afoul of the infamously weak "misrepresentation" clause in the DMCA (also known as 512(f)). We've discussed just how weak this part of the DMCA is, but if anyone has a case of someone falling on the wrong side of 512(f), this might be the case -- which makes it especially interesting. The filing is pretty clear on how and why Gina's takedown notices were a clear misrepresentation, and that Gina knew or should have known, that they were being filed in bad faith (her own admissions on the blog seem to admit that).
Separately, the filing argues tortious interference with contracts concerning the two hosting companies. The argument is that since the DMCA notices were filed in bad faith, it rises to the level of tortious interference.
If this case actually goes forward, Gina may regret jumping so eagerly into the claims of copyright infringement as the weapon she tried to use to silence a critic. It certainly looks like Amy has a pretty strong argument, given Gina's own statements. Oh, and if you want to see the picture with the middle finger, despite Gina's aggressive claims of "copyright," the image itself was (obviously) included in the actual filing, so it's now a matter of the public record, which you can see below.
Again, I don't care much about the initial and ongoing argument the two are having over birthing methods. I don't know or care who is right (though, it's quite interesting to see the different tones and argument styles used by the two). But, on the copyright front, this one seems like a pretty clear cut case of trying to abuse copyright law to silence a critic, and that's a big no no.
Filed Under: birth bloggers, censorship, copyright, dmca, dr. amy, fair use


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The future clipart background
You can get acquainted with the presented collection of The future clipart background to choose suitable ideas for your business or design interface.
Today we have 23 cliparts and vectors for this category.
Advice on how to make a good presentation
The facts will not be boring if we present them in the form of infographics
Let's get one thing clear: presentations are boring by default. This means, it's on you to make them less boring. And you can perfectly work with infographics to make your presentation all the more interesting. Let's see why infographics are good in presentations:
- Because visual information is more comprehensive than text
- Did you know that people actually understand an infographic way faster than a text?
- An infographic can overly expressive and in the same time it saves you tons of time by not having to write down, bullet and explain text to your audience
- Websites and blogs using infographics are way more popular than those who don't.
- You can educate and entertain with infographics in the same time
Loose Watercolor Forms Clipart - Colorful Watercolor Clip Art - PNG with Transparent Background - Watercolor
Vector Stock - Abstract cloud technology in the future background, vector illustration. Clipart Illustration gg86467497


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Canadians can be excused for being confused about the amount of crime in their society. Last year produced horrific scenes of people being murdered and their bodies dismembered, several executions in public places in Toronto, and the media reporting that shootings and stabbings in different cities are on the increase.
These headlines contradicted all of the articles that 'crime is falling' published after the release of Statistics Canada's recent annual Juristat survey of crime. What is a person to think?
Some of the answers are to be found in the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's just-released review of the Juristat reports. Many people think that measuring crime is a straightforward exercise, but it is not.
The first question is simply, how do you count crime? Besides its survey of police-reported crime, Statistics Canada also conducts a survey of whether Canadians were a victim of crime. These results for 2009 show a huge discrepancy with the amount of crime reported to police. In 2009, 7.4 million Canadians reported they were the victim of at least one of the eight specific crimes covered by the survey, compared with the police count of only two million total crimes.
This discrepancy mostly reflects that people say they report only 31% of crimes to the police. The public is reluctant to report crime to the police, partly out of fear of retribution from criminals and partly out of frustration with falling rates of crime being solved by the police. For example, over the past four decades, the solve rate for murders has fallen from 95% to 75%, and is less than 50% for gang-related killings. This growing reluctance to report crime to police leads to erroneous headlines that 'crime is down'. The real headline should read "Canadians' reporting of crime hits an all-time low".
There are other questions about how to count crime. Is a crime spree one crime or several? Statistics Canada selects only the most severe crime, but police services across the country increasingly are adopting the 'all violations' method of counting. It is also important to note that Statistics Canada excludes the 113,100 drug crimes committed in 2011 from its overall crime count, which reduces the crime total.
There is also the question of whether to measure crime in absolute terms, or as a rate relative to the population. Crime rates could fall just because the population is growing faster than crime itself, which could still be rising in absolute terms. The latter is what the public experiences and perceives as the true volume of crime.
The next question is what is the severity of crime? Statistics Canada has concocted a subjective Crime Severity Index that weights crime by the sentence handed down by the judge. The problem with this measure is that more lenient sentences by judges could falsely lead to a drop in this measure of severity. This is not a hypothetical scenario. Parliament itself is increasingly legislating mandatory minimum sentences for some crimes. Additionally, if the sentence handed down is reduced by awarding credit for pre-trial custody, then the reported severity of the sentence may be reduced as well.
Finally, society must ask who commits the crime? It is known in the justice system that a small number of repeat offenders commit much of the crime in this country, yet Statistics Canada fails to present statistics on this phenomenon. Collecting data on how many crimes were committed by persons with extensive criminal records or who were on bail or parole, or who were already subject to deportation for past crimes, would be a powerful accountability measurement for the justice system and could inform policy reforms to reduce crime.
Recent Juristat reports ignore the long-term trend in crime, and focus more on the change from the previous year. The long-term trends are alarming. For example, the rate of violent crime in Canada has soared from 221 to 1,231 per 100,000 people over the past 40 years. It is this upward trend that is most relevant to Canadians, not whether crime is up or down a few percentage points from the previous year.
Understanding crime is itself a tool to enhance public safety. That is why Statistics Canada, in association with the Canadian Association of Police Chiefs and other interested bodies, should review and improve its collection and reporting of crime statistics.
Scott Newark is a former crown prosecutor and executive officer of the Canadian Police Association. He is the author of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute's recent study Police-reported Crime Statistics in Canada: Still More Questions than Answers. His column is distributed through www.troymedia.com.


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Yii 1.1 Application Development Cookbook
When Alex told me he was about to write a Yii cookbook about a year ago, I was wondering how original it would be, considering the fact that there was already an online user-contributed cookbook (aka. Yii wiki). It turned out Alex produced a book that is not only full of wisdom about how to use Yii effectively, but also presented in such a systematic way that it can be taken as an essential companion book to the definitive guide to Yii. In fact, Alex has successfully intrigued the interest of every member in the Yii developer team when he asked for review and comments on his newly finished book chapters.
Qiang Xue
Yii framework is a rapidly growing PHP5 MVC framework often referred to as Rails for PHP. It has become a solid base for many exciting web applications such as Stay.com and Russia Today's meetfriends.rt.com and can be a good base for your developments. Yii is an object-oriented, high-performance, component-based PHP web application framework. Yii is pronounced as Yee and is an acronym for "Yes It Is!".
Familiar with Yii and want to exploit it to its full potential, but do not know how to go about it? Yii 1.1 Application Development Cookbook will show you how to use Yii efficiently. You will learn about implementing shortcuts using core features, creating your own reusable code base, using test-driven development, and many more topics that will escalate your knowledge in no time at all!
Yii 1.1 Application Development Cookbook will help you learn more about Yii framework and application development practices in general with demonstrations of shortcuts and information about dangerous things you should not do.
Grouped in 13 chapters, the recipes will assist you to write your applications exploiting Yii core functionality to its full potential. The chapters are generally independent of each other and you can start reading from the chapter you need most, whether it is "AJAX and jQuery", "Database, Active Record and Model Tricks" or "Extending Yii". The most interesting topics include Yii application deployment, a guide to writing your own extensions, advanced error handling, debugging and logging, application security, and performance tuning.
Yii 1.1 Application Development Cookbook will help you utilize Yii functionalities completely and efficiently.
|Page Count
|Course Length
|11 hours 45 minutes
|Date Of Publication
|24 Aug 2011


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I think, I'm scared. I think, there's so much going on. My cheek is on the surface of the desk, like a lot of things: a roll of toilet paper, a lighter, a nail file, two stones from Northern Michigan, a stick of deodorant, a hard drive. My lawyer's business card. My Vocabulary Did This To Me: The Collective Poetry of Jack Spicer.
In the morning I walk to the kitchen. I consider the kitchen. I want coffee. I look at Natalie's coffee but there doesn't seem to be enough. I wash a spoon. I move other clean utensils around to fit the spoon in. I put a few forks away and get out a plate to eat food on top of. I look in the refrigerator but there's no food and I have no pants on.
I put on pants. That's one step. I find two more links for the daily fix and open at least two windows with 3-4 tabs apiece. I feel very successful when I can close a six-tab window. Are you sure? Yes, I'm sure, I want to close all six of those motherfucking tabs! I am DONE with all six of that shit. Fuck you gmail, fuck you action method, goodbye netflix i am not watching skins right now, twitter wtf, oh gmail again you sneaky bastard. autostraddle, autotstraddle. I'm sure.
In two or ten minutes I'm already od'ing on new tabs already. I close my laptop and put on a shirt. I look at myself in the mirror but I don't like it.
I think it might be time to go to the gym, eat a meal, or take my medication. The third option is quickest, so I do that first. I put on gym pants, which is 10% of the process to get me out the door. I debate finishing the Fix before or after the gym. I like to return from the gym with all fixes completed or published, so that when I return I can start on tomorrow's editorial projects, catch up on emails or other administrative shit.
I think, I need to eat. But also I need to write emails. I have no pants on. I need coffee the most. So then I get clothes on and put on my glasses and hoodie and go to the deli for a bagel and an iced coffee while I look at emails and start preparing my heart to spend the next 10 hours in overdrive. I am a car on a track, it's easy as that. Or I am a conductor of an orchestra, and everyone's chewing gum.
It's been an hour and finally I am onto something. i've picked the story and now I am investigating or writing words about it. The investigating is fun, I feel like a real journalist, I put on my best Lois Lane impression of Lois Lane couldn't ever leave her office except when Superman picked her up.
Sometimes at night I get scared listening to music in the smoky dark. I get scared that the part of my brain where I store feelings I have no space for (it's like a storage closet, but more plushy because of the brain tissue) is reaching maximum capacity, like thinking about how this thing is too big to fail but too big to go on this way, and how I'm not sure what I can do to make it better, which is why I work so much every day to make it better, and do my job better than I've done anything, and even when it's not good, it's my best.
I love you all so much; I love you like the game where you hold the parachute up it in the air and then all go collapse inside of it. You make me feel like nonsense and I love you, children.
That there are monsters in my hair
People who never knew me this way (as autowin)
Now take to autowin like detectives or supervisors
which feels like my tentative, elongated hands, hovering over the keyboard like
i'm in the fucking Matrix
I get scared that my friends are monsters
I am scared because my friends are monsters
I am scared because I love my friends
I am scared because I do not do enough for my friends
I am scared because I am behind
I am scared because we need to sell ads
I am scared because this is a video game where nobody gets points, but they lose energy, and what do we do when we've sucked everybody's energy?
I am scared because we can't always get what we want
I am scared because nothing belongs to me anymore
I am scared of doing the same things over and over again but with different actors playing the same role, in a different scene
I want to eat everyone I love. I want to get everyone I love into a house together. We can eat dinner and afterwards collapse into each other like simple animals. There will be peace in the morning. Rain or shine.
I'll draw back the curtains, unafraid. See I like the curtains. I like the darkness and the light. I'll like darkness and the light then, too.


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Getting off the beaten path and traversing the world's wild landscapes is a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially via off-road transportation. Revel in natural beauty and extraordinary wildlife on a premium Peregrine safari.
Africa may reign as the quintessential safari destination, but there are amazing safari experiences to be had elsewhere too. Follow your curiosity through wild African plains, aboard a camel trek on endless sands, or in the Far East spotting leopards in a comfortable jeep vehicle , all with an expert local guide. From the Serengeti to Nepal's Chitwan National Park, the Sahara and Thar deserts to the exotic Yala National Park in Sri Lanka, awe-inspiring moments await.
Or why not try an icy safari?
Explore the unspoiled Canadian Arctic spotting polar bears and beluga whales.


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- Description
Truly an industry standard both live and in the studio, Remo Coated Ambassador Drumheads are used the world over by countless drummers including Neil Peart of Rush and Ronnie Vannucci of The Killers.
Single ply 10 mil Mylar is the material of choice for the Remo Coated Ambassador Drumheads, which outputs a very open and resonant sound that's still warm. Some of the brightest sounding drumheads on the market, the sound of these heads adds a significant shine and sustain to any drum kit, improving the sound several times over.
As previously mentioned, many notable artists use Remo Coated Ambassador Drumheads including Mike Mangini of Dream Theater, Neil Peart of Rush and Rick Allen of Def Leppard. You'll probably have heard these heads live and in recordings many times, appealing to many players thanks to the long sustain, bright tone and durability.
This batter model is for snare and tom drums, although Remo do also make bass drum versions of the Coated Ambassador Drumheads, which are just as famed and popular.
- Specification
Manufacturer Remo Model Ambassador Coated Drum Head - 13 Inch Item Number BA-0113-00 Diameter 13-inches EAN 0757242144619
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- Reviews
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Managing Director & Senior Partner
San Francisco - Bay Area
Jim Hemerling is a BCG fellow with a focus on transforming organizations to deliver and sustain breakthrough performance. He is a leader in BCG's People & Organization and Transformation practices, as well as the firm's behavior and culture topic.
With over 25 years of experience as a senior advisor, Jim has widespread experience leading large scale transformation programs and cultivating high performing cultures. His work goes beyond short term results to bring holistic, sustainable performance to organizations. Jim's approach to transformation—putting people first—focuses on energizing and empowering employees while enabling leaders to be both directive and inclusive. Jim's experience includes working with clients around the world in technology, consumer, financial, and manufacturing industries.
Jim has co-authored numerous publications on transformation, organization effectiveness, and culture including: TRANSFORMATION: Delivering and Sustaining Breakthrough Performance and Globality: Competing with Everyone from Everywhere for Everything. His work has been featured in Bloomberg, Businessweek, Fortune, Forbes, the Economist, Manager Magazine, and on CNBC.
TRANSFORMATION is a synthesis of BCG's latest thinking on transformation, based on our research and our experience working with our clients on hundreds of transformation programs. The book includes many real-world examples and lessons throughout, and it traces three overarching themes: the value of a comprehensive approach, the need to think of transformation as a journey, and the power of putting people first.Learn more


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15 Creative Steampunk Gadgets and Designs.
Steampunk Laptop: It may look like a Victorian music box, but inside this handcrafted wooden case is a HP ZT1000 laptop.
Steampunk Headset: This fun and cool looking piece of art is called "mechanical aural communication device".
Steampunk R2-D2: R2-D2 sculpture by Amoebabloke from Deviant Art.
Steampunk iPhone Case: Cool iPhone case handmade from real wood and brass.
Steampunk Keyboard: This beautiful retro keyboard is fully functional.
Steampunk Xbox 360 Casemod: This unusual Xbox 360 casemod takes its inspiration from Steampunk genre.
Steampunk USB Drive: Handmade from used parts from around 6 different pocket watches, this 16GB USB drive glows green from underneath the gears.
Steampunk iPad:
Steampunk Desk: Designed by Dale Mathis, this desk features numerous gears of different sizes that all sync together and keep turning.
Steampunk Glasses: Cool pair of glasses styled in a steampunk fashion.
Steampunk Mini Mac:
Steampunk Lamp:
Steampunk Ring:
Steampunk Salt and Pepper Shaker:
Steampunk Whale Necklace:
More Interesting Posts:
18 Creative and Cool Camera Earrings.
12 More Creative and Cool Headphones.
18 Creative and Cool Graters and Peelers.
Creative and Alternative Uses of Plastic Cups.
18 Creative and Cool Burger Inspired Gadgets and Designs.


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If you've ever searched for apartments, you know that the term "chef's kitchen" is used loosely. But for a few city-sized kitchens, those that actually belong to real chefs, it can't even be said at all. The New York Times has a photo of super-chef Anita Lo, the owner and chef of the critically-beloved restaurant Annisa, and a contestant of Top Chef Masters, in her small and mediocre home kitchen, which she says contains "booze, water and condiments." To be fair, Lo does have a lavish kitchen somewhere, at her weekend home in Long Island. Her kitchen explanation is similar to Tom Colicchio's, who also has a no-frills fridge in the city, but a fierce kitchen situation in the North Fork.
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