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Right Wing Tea Party Koch Brothers Trying to Buy the LA Times and Other Papers
April 2nd 2013
As reported by Think Progress and others last month, the right wing Tea Party supporting billionaire Koch Brothers are exploring buying newspapers in an obvious attempt to use their fortune to get a mouthpiece to voters
Daily Kos and others have entered the fray by purchasing an ad in the LA Times, after initially being rejected. They did so by refiling the ad, linking their statements to articles printed in the LA Times that noted "the Koch Brothers bankrolled the Tea Party, denied global warming and bought politicians."
The Los Angeles Times advertising department has reversed its earlier decision to reject an advertisement from Daily Kos and the Courage Campaign urging the Chicago-based Tribune Company not to sell the 132-year-old Times to the billionaire Koch brothers. The ad will run in the main news section of Wednesday's edition of the Times….
Tribune, whose merger in 2000 with Times-Mirror Corp., the Times's owner at the time, made it the second largest newspaper publisher in the nation, has been reported to be considering selling the Times, the nation's fourth most widely read newspaper, to the ultra-right-wing Kochs.
The Hollywood Reporter first broke this story on March 13, 2013. The Tribune Company has recently emerged from bankruptcy proceedings and is looking for a buyer for their newspapers. As the Hollywood Reporter points out, the Koch Brothers represent right wing politics in the extreme. They are billionaires and own Koch Industries which is currently the second largest privately owned company in the US.
The Koch brothers have long dominated American industry; their holdings include Georgia Pacific paper products as well as major fertilizer, refinery and oil pipeline companies. More recently they have become known for their financial support of Republican candidates, especially those from the Tea Party, and the fight against regulations and legislation aimed at curbing climate change.
The Koch Brothers involvement in the Tea Party however goes far beyond just supporting them. As Brendan DeMille of the Huffington Post in February wrote in an article entitled,
"Study Confirms Tea Party was Created by Big Tobacco and Billionaire Koch Brothers":
"A new academic study confirms that front groups with longstanding ties to the tobacco industry and the billionaire Koch brothers planned the formation of the Tea Party movement more than a decade before it exploded onto the U.S. political scene.
Far from a genuine grassroots uprising, this astroturf effort was curated by wealthy industrialists years in advance. Many of the anti-science operatives who defended cigarettes are currently deploying their tobacco-inspired playbook internationally to evade accountability for the fossil fuel industry's role in driving climate disruption."
The Koch Brothers represent a threat to the free exchange of news and information and obviously have a history of trying to push their extreme right wing philosophy and politics at any cost and by any means. Their involvement and purchase in any newspaper or other media ownership poses a real threat to a free press, which we know is an ideal, yet special interests pushing their own extreme political biases over objectivity because they have the money and resources to own the media threatens our society and basic democratic values and principles in our country and the world.
Introduction: The Tea Party movement has garnered tremendous media attention, most of which has focused on superficiality–images of "the angry voter," false or misleading statements about Obama, and the assumption that somehow "they" are responsible for the discomfort felt by the adherents to the Party.
Introduction: The Tea Party movement has garnered tremendous media attention, most of which has focused on superficiality–images of "the angry voter," false or misleading statements about Obama, and the assumption that somehow "they" are responsible for the discomfort felt by the adherents to the Party.
What has not received much publicity until recently is the fact that what appears to be a broad-based, "populist", "grass-roots" movement is actually driven in considerable measure by institutions financed by the very wealthy and dedicated to advancing the interests of that element of society. That advance is at the considerable expense of Tea Party adherents, many of whom will succumb to the outgrowths of the philosophy they have embraced.
Epitomizing the political dualism embodied in the Tea Party movement is the political machine put together by the billionaire Koch brothers, David Koch in particular. (David Koch is pictured above, at right.) Son of one of the prime movers of the John Birch Society, David Koch was a driving force behind the genesis of the Libertarian Party in the early 1980's, running for Vice-President in 1980 against Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
The formidable array of think tanks and NGO's, journalists and political pundits who owe their careers to the brothers and their institutions, together constitute the machine termed "The Kochtopus."
The foundation of the Kochs political philosophy–embodied in the political realities underlying the Tea Party–is one of "corporatism" or "the Corporate State" as Mussolini put it. Indeed, Birch Society kingpin Fred Koch openly admired Mussolini's supposed "suppression" of the communists. (In fact, communism was already waning in Italy when Mussolini took over. SeeMiscellaneous Archive Show M42.)
In this context, one should never forget the inclusion of Nazis and fascists in the Republican Party at a fundamental level.
Indeed, Charles Koch has opined that America could be on the verge of "the greatest loss of liberty and prosperity since the 1930s." The reference is, of course, to the New Deal. Many of this country's top industrialists and financiers attempted tooverthrow Roosevelt in 1934, hoping to set up a dictatorship like Mussolini's. The Bush family appear to have been involved with the plotting of the '34 coup.
This translation of Corporatism into a broad-based political movement is a manifestation of classical fascism. Even former close friends and associates of the Kochs admit that the brothers have confused "freedom" with what will maximize their corporate profits.
Program Highlights Include: The Koch brothers' founding of the Mercatus Center–an archetypal Kochtopus element; the Mercatus Center's profound influence on Bush (II) administration policy; the Koch brothers manipulation of environmental regulations; the effect of that manipulation on regulation of formaldehyde–a carcinogen produced by Koch Industries; David Koch's role in financing cancer research–one of a number of roles that places him in a position of conflict of interest.
1. Despite their attempts at cultivating the image of patrons of the arts and benefactors to society, the Kochs are, in fact, at the epicenter of the anti-Obama movement. The brothers main commercial undertaking is Koch Industries, a conglomerate with major participation in the fossil-fuels and chemical industries, in particular.
. . . In Washington, Koch is best known as part of a family that has repeatedly funded stealth attacks on the federal government, and on the Obama Administration in particular.
With his brother Charles, who is seventy-four, David Koch owns virtually all of Koch Industries, a conglomerate, headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, whose annual revenues are estimated to be a hundred billion dollars. The company has grown spectacularly since their father, Fred, died, in 1967, and the brothers took charge. The Kochs operate oil refineries in Alaska, Texas, and Minnesota, and control some four thousand miles of pipeline. Koch Industries owns Brawny paper towels, Dixie cups, Georgia-Pacific lumber, Stainmaster carpet, and Lycra, among other products. Forbes ranks it as the second-largest private company in the country, after Cargill, and its consistent profitability has made David and Charles Koch—who, years ago, bought out two other brothers—among the richest men in America. Their combined fortune of thirty-five billion dollars is exceeded only by those of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. . . .
"Covert Operations" by Jane Mayer; The New Yorker; 8/30/2010.
2. As major polluters and members of the ultra-rich, the Kochs stand to benfit from a frustration of the Obama political agenda.
. . . The Kochs are longtime libertarians who believe in drastically lower personal and corporate taxes, minimal social services for the needy, and much less oversight of industry—especially environmental regulation. These views dovetail with the brothers' corporate interests. In a study released this spring, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute named Koch Industries one of the top ten air polluters in the United States. And Greenpeace issued a report identifying the company as a "kingpin of climate science denial." The report showed that, from 2005 to 2008, the Kochs vastly outdid ExxonMobil in giving money to organizations fighting legislation related to climate change, underwriting a huge network of foundations, think tanks, and political front groups. Indeed, the brothers have funded opposition campaigns against so many Obama Administration policies—from health-care reform to the economic-stimulus program—that, in political circles, their ideological network is known as the Kochtopus.
In a statement, Koch Industries said that the Greenpeace report "distorts the environmental record of our companies." And David Koch, in a recent, admiring article about him in New York, protested that the "radical press" had turned his family into "whipping boys," and had exaggerated its influence on American politics. But Charles Lewis, the founder of the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan watchdog group, said, "The Kochs are on a whole different level. There's no one else who has spent this much money. The sheer dimension of it is what sets them apart. They have a pattern of lawbreaking, political manipulation, and obfuscation. I've been in Washington since Watergate, and I've never seen anything like it. They are the Standard Oil of our times." . . .
3. As indicated above, the brothers learned their political philosophy from their father Fred Koch, a seminal member of the John Birch Society.
. . . . In 1958, Fred Koch became one of the original members of the John Birch Society, the arch-conservative group known, in part, for a highly skeptical view of governance and for spreading fears of a Communist takeover. Members considered President Dwight D. Eisenhower to be a Communist agent. In a self-published broadside, Koch claimed that "the Communists have infiltrated both the Democrat and Republican Parties." He wrote admiringly of Benito Mussolini's suppression of Communists in Italy, and disparagingly of the American civil-rights movement. "The colored man looms large in the Communist plan to take over America," he warned. Welfare was a secret plot to attract rural blacks to cities, where they would foment "a vicious race war." In a 1963 speech that prefigures the Tea Party's talk of a secret socialist plot, Koch predicted that Communists would "infiltrate the highest offices of government in the U.S. until the President is a Communist, unknown to the rest of us.". . .
4. Disclaimers to the contrary notwithstanding, the Tea Party movement is deeply involved with the Kochtopus.
A few weeks after the Lincoln Center gala, the advocacy wing of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation—an organization that David Koch started, in 2004—held a different kind of gathering. Over the July 4th weekend, a summit called Texas Defending the American Dream took place in a chilly hotel ballroom in Austin. Though Koch freely promotes his philanthropic ventures, he did not attend the summit, and his name was not in evidence. And on this occasion the audience was roused not by a dance performance but by a series of speakers denouncing President Barack Obama. Peggy Venable, the organizer of the summit, warned that Administration officials "have a socialist vision for this country."
Five hundred people attended the summit, which served, in part, as a training session for Tea Party activists in Texas. An advertisement cast the event as a populist uprising against vested corporate power. "Today, the voices of average Americans are being drowned out by lobbyists and special interests," it said. "But you can do something about it." The pitch made no mention of its corporate funders. The White House has expressed frustration that such sponsors have largely eluded public notice. David Axelrod, Obama's senior adviser, said, "What they don't say is that, in part, this is a grassroots citizens' movement brought to you by a bunch of oil billionaires."
In April, 2009, Melissa Cohlmia, a company spokesperson, denied that the Kochs had direct links to the Tea Party, saying that Americans for Prosperity is "an independent organization and Koch companies do not in any way direct their activities." Later, she issued a statement: "No funding has been provided by Koch companies, the Koch foundations, or Charles Koch or David Koch specifically to support the tea parties." David Koch told New York, "I've never been to a tea-party event. No one representing the tea party has ever even approached me."
At the lectern in Austin, however, Venable—a longtime political operative who draws a salary from Americans for Prosperity, and who has worked for Koch-funded political groups since 1994—spoke less warily. "We love what the Tea Parties are doing, because that's how we're going to take back America!" she declared, as the crowd cheered. In a subsequent interview, she described herself as an early member of the movement, joking, "I was part of the Tea Party before it was cool!" She explained that the role of Americans for Prosperity was to help "educate" Tea Party activists on policy details, and to give them "next-step training" after their rallies, so that their political energy could be channeled "more effectively." And she noted that Americans for Prosperity had provided Tea Party activists with lists of elected officials to target. She said of the Kochs, "They're certainly our people. David's the chairman of our board. I've certainly met with them, and I'm very appreciative of what they do."
Venable honored several Tea Party "citizen leaders" at the summit. The Texas branch of Americans for Prosperity gave its Blogger of the Year Award to a young woman named Sibyl West. On June 14th, West, writing on her site, described Obama as the "cokehead in chief." In an online thread, West speculated that the President was exhibiting symptoms of "demonic possession (aka schizophrenia, etc.)." The summit featured several paid speakers, including Janine Turner, the actress best known for her role on the television series "Northern Exposure." She declared, "They don't want our children to know about their rights. They don't want our children to know about a God!"
During a catered lunch, Venable introduced Ted Cruz, a former solicitor general of Texas, who told the crowd that Obama was "the most radical President ever to occupy the Oval Office," and had hidden from voters a secret agenda—"the government taking over our economy and our lives." Countering Obama, Cruz proclaimed, was "the epic fight of our generation!" As the crowd rose to its feet and cheered, he quoted the defiant words of a Texan at the Alamo: "Victory, or death!"
Americans for Prosperity has worked closely with the Tea Party since the movement's inception. In the weeks before the first Tax Day protests, in April, 2009, Americans for Prosperity hosted a Web site offering supporters "Tea Party Talking Points." The Arizona branch urged people to send tea bags to Obama; the Missouri branch urged members to sign up for "Taxpayer Tea Party Registration" and provided directions to nine protests. The group continues to stoke the rebellion. The North Carolina branch recently launched a "Tea Party Finder" Web site, advertised as "a hub for all the Tea Parties in North Carolina."
5. Epitomizing the construct of the Kochs' political apparatus is the Mercatus Center, established at a private university in Virginia. It has asserted tremendous influence on policy, particularly in the administration of George W. Bush, for whose election the Kochs worked very hard.
. . . In the mid-eighties, the Kochs provided millions of dollars to George Mason University, in Arlington, Virginia, to set up another think tank. Now known as the Mercatus Center, it promotes itself as "the world's premier university source for market-oriented ideas—bridging the gap between academic ideas and real-world problems." Financial records show that the Koch family foundations have contributed more than thirty million dollars to George Mason, much of which has gone to the Mercatus Center, a nonprofit organization. "It's ground zero for deregulation policy in Washington," Rob Stein, the Democratic strategist, said. It is an unusual arrangement. "George Mason is a public university, and receives public funds," Stein noted. "Virginia is hosting an institution that the Kochs practically control."
The founder of the Mercatus Center is Richard Fink, formerly an economist. Fink heads Koch Industries' lobbying operation in Washington. In addition, he is the president of the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation, the president of the Claude R. Lambe Charitable Foundation, a director of the Fred C. and Mary R. Koch Foundation, and a director and co-founder, with David Koch, of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation.
Fink, with his many titles, has become the central nervous system of the Kochtopus. He appears to have supplanted Ed Crane, the head of the Cato Institute, as the brothers' main political lieutenant. Though David remains on the board at Cato, Charles Koch has fallen out with Crane. Associates suggested to me that Crane had been insufficiently respectful of Charles's management philosophy, which he distilled into a book called "The Science of Success," and trademarked under the name Market-Based Management, or M.B.M. In the book, Charles recommends instilling a company's corporate culture with the competitiveness of the marketplace. Koch describes M.B.M. as a "holistic system" containing "five dimensions: vision, virtue and talents, knowledge processes, decision rights and incentives." A top Cato Institute official told me that Charles "thinks he's a genius. He's the emperor, and he's convinced he's wearing clothes." Fink, by contrast, has been far more embracing of Charles's ideas. (Fink, like the Kochs, declined to be interviewed.)
At a 1995 conference for philanthropists, Fink adopted the language of economics when speaking about the Mercatus Center's purpose. He said that grant-makers should use think tanks and political-action groups to convert intellectual raw materials into policy "products."
The Wall Street Journal has called the Mercatus Center "the most important think tank you've never heard of," and noted that fourteen of the twenty-three regulations that President George W. Bush placed on a "hit list" had been suggested first by Mercatus scholars. Fink told the paper that the Kochs have "other means of fighting [their] battles," and that the Mercatus Center does not actively promote the company's private interests. But Thomas McGarity, a law professor at the University of Texas, who specializes in environmental issues, told me that "Koch has been constantly in trouble with the E.P.A., and Mercatus has constantly hammered on the agency." An environmental lawyer who has clashed with the Mercatus Center called it "a means of laundering economic aims." The lawyer explained the strategy: "You take corporate money and give it to a neutral-sounding think tank," which "hires people with pedigrees and academic degrees who put out credible-seeming studies. But they all coincide perfectly with the economic interests of their funders." . . .
6. David Koch has spent millions to fund cancer research. With his industrial concerns producing known carcinogens, such as formaldehyde, this constitutes a conflict of interest–a type of conflict that often results in resolutions that satisfy the major donors.
. . . And he became a patron of cancer research, focusing on prostate cancer. In addition to his gifts to Sloan-Kettering, he gave fifteen million dollars to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a hundred and twenty-five million to M.I.T. for cancer research, twenty million to Johns Hopkins University, and twenty-five million to the M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, in Houston. In response to his generosity, Sloan-Kettering gave Koch its Excellence in Corporate Leadership Award. In 2004, President Bush named him to the National Cancer Advisory Board, which guides the National Cancer Institute.
Koch's corporate and political roles, however, may pose conflicts of interest. For example, at the same time that David Koch has been casting himself as a champion in the fight against cancer, Koch Industries has been lobbying to prevent the E.P.A. from classifying formaldehyde, which the company produces in great quantities, as a "known carcinogen" in humans.
Scientists have long known that formaldehyde causes cancer in rats, and several major scientific studies have concluded that formaldehyde causes cancer in human beings—including one published last year by the National Cancer Institute, on whose advisory board Koch sits. The study tracked twenty-five thousand patients for an average of forty years; subjects exposed to higher amounts of formaldehyde had significantly higher rates of leukemia. These results helped lead an expert panel within the National Institutes of Health to conclude that formaldehyde should be categorized as a known carcinogen, and be strictly controlled by the government. Corporations have resisted regulations on formaldehyde for decades, however, and Koch Industries has been a large funder of members of Congress who have stymied the E.P.A., requiring it to defer new regulations until more studies are completed.
Koch Industries became a major producer of the chemical in 2005, after it bought Georgia-Pacific, the paper and wood-products company, for twenty-one billion dollars. Georgia-Pacific manufactures formaldehyde in its chemical division, and uses it to produce various wood products, such as plywood and laminates. Its annual production capacity for formaldehyde is 2.2 billion pounds. Last December, Traylor Champion, Georgia-Pacific's vice-president of environmental affairs, sent a formal letter of protest to federal health authorities. He wrote that the company "strongly disagrees" with the N.I.H. panel's conclusion that formaldehyde should be treated as a known human carcinogen. David Koch did not recuse himself from the National Cancer Advisory Board, or divest himself of company stock, while his company was directly lobbying the government to keep formaldehyde on the market. (A board spokesperson said that the issue of formaldehyde had not come up.)
James Huff, an associate director at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, a division of the N.I.H., told me that it was "disgusting" for Koch to be serving on the National Cancer Advisory Board: "It's just not good for public health. Vested interests should not be on the board." He went on, "Those boards are very important. They're very influential as to whether N.C.I. goes into formaldehyde or not. Billions of dollars are involved in formaldehyde." . . .
7. When citizens have become sickened by pollutants produced by the Koch brothers and their ilk, they will have less chance of receiving adequate treatment if the Kochtopus has its way. The brothers have been implacable opponents of health care reform.
. . . Americans for Prosperity also created an offshoot, Patients United Now, which organized what Phillips has estimated to be more than three hundred rallies against health-care reform. At one rally, an effigy of a Democratic congressman was hung; at another, protesters unfurled a banner depicting corpses from Dachau. The group also helped organize the "Kill the Bill" protests outside the Capitol, in March, where Democratic supporters of health-care reform alleged that they were spat on and cursed at. Phillips was a featured speaker.
Americans for Prosperity has held at least eighty events targeting cap-and-trade legislation, which is aimed at making industries pay for the air pollution that they create. Speakers for the group claimed, with exaggeration, that even back-yard barbecues and kitchen stoves would be taxed. The group was also involved in the attacks on Obama's "green jobs" czar, Van Jones, and waged a crusade against international climate talks. Casting his group as a champion of ordinary workers who would be hurt by environmentalists, Phillips went to Copenhagen last year and staged a protest outside the United Nations conference on climate change, declaring, "We're a grassroots organization. . . . I think it's unfortunate when wealthy children of wealthy families . . . want to send unemployment rates in the United States up to twenty per cent."
Grover Norquist, who holds a weekly meeting for conservative leaders in Washington, including representatives from Americans for Prosperity, told me that last summer's raucous rallies were pivotal in undermining Obama's agenda. The Republican leadership in Congress, he said, "couldn't have done it without August, when people went out on the streets. It discouraged deal-makers"—Republicans who might otherwise have worked constructively with Obama. Moreover, the appearance of growing public opposition to Obama affected corporate donors on K Street. "K Street is a three-billion-dollar weathervane," Norquist said. "When Obama was strong, the Chamber of Commerce said, 'We can work with the Obama Administration.' But that changed when thousands of people went into the street and 'terrorized' congressmen. August is what changed it. Now that Obama is weak, people are getting tough."
As the first anniversary of Obama's election approached, David Koch came to the Washington area to attend a triumphant Americans for Prosperity gathering. Obama's poll numbers were falling fast. Not a single Republican senator was working with the Administration on health care, or much else. Pundits were writing about Obama's political ineptitude, and Tea Party groups were accusing the President of initiating "a government takeover." In a speech, Koch said, "Days like today bring to reality the vision of our board of directors when we started this organization, five years ago." He went on, "We envisioned a mass movement, a state-based one, but national in scope, of hundreds of thousands of American citizens from all walks of life standing up and fighting for the economic freedoms that made our nation the most prosperous society in history. . . . Thankfully, the stirrings from California to Virginia, and from Texas to Michigan, show that more and more of our fellow-citizens are beginning to see the same truths as we do."
While Koch didn't explicitly embrace the Tea Party movement that day, more recently he has come close to doing so, praising it for demonstrating the "powerful visceral hostility in the body politic against the massive increase in government power, the massive efforts to socialize this country." Charles Koch, in a newsletter sent to his seventy thousand employees, compared the Obama Administration to the regime of the Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chávez. The Kochs' sense of imperilment is somewhat puzzling. Income inequality in America is greater than it has been since the nineteen-twenties, and since the seventies the tax rates of the wealthiest have fallen more than those of the middle class. Yet the brothers' message has evidently resonated with voters: a recent poll found that fifty-five per cent of Americans agreed that Obama is a socialist. . . .


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Bob Sullivan
NBC News
June 21, 2013
The National Security Agency has spent years demanding that companies turn over their data. Now, the spy agency finds the shoe is on the other foot. A defendant in a Florida murder trial says telephone records collected by the NSA as part of its surveillance programs hold evidence that would help prove his innocence, and his lawyer has demanded that prosecutors produce those records.
On Wednesday, the federal government filed a motion saying it would refuse, citing national security. But experts say the novel legal argument could encourage other lawyers to fight for access to the newly disclosed NSA surveillance database.
"What's good for the goose is good for the gander, I guess," said George Washington University privacy law expert Dan Solove. "In a way, it's kind of ironic."
Defendant Terrance Brown is accused of participating in the 2010 murder of a Brinks security truck driver. Brown maintains his innocence, and claims cellphone location records would show he wasn't at the scene of the crime. Brown's cellphone provider — MetroPCS — couldn't produce those records during discovery because it had deleted the data already.
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subset: commoncrawl


text: Pubdate: Wed, 20 Mar 2013 Source: Martinsburg Journal (WV) Copyright: 2013 Martinsburg Journal Contact: http://journal-news.net/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2005 Author: Rachel Molenda BILL WOULD ALLOW MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN W.VA. CHARLESTON - Legislation was proposed Tuesday that could add West Virginia to the list of 18 other states and the District of Columbia that have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons. The Compassionate Medical Marijuana Act of 2013 would impact patients suffering from debilitating diseases such as cancer, glaucoma and those that produce severe pain, according to the bill. Delegate Mike Manypenny, D-Taylor, has introduced this legislation twice before. This year is the first he has had co-sponsors, which he suggests is due to medicinal marijuana becoming a less controversial topic. Legislation was proposed Tuesday that could add West Virginia to the list of 18 other states and the District of Columbia that have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons. "I have proven that it isn't as controversial of an issue as everyone has thought it has been in the past," Manypenny said. "I have worked to educate them and let them know the reasons why I introduced this and have made this a cause of mine." Eastern Panhandle Delegate Larry D. Kump, R-Berkeley, is one of nine lawmakers who have signed onto the bill. Kump said his reasons for sponsoring the proposed legislation are both personal and a matter of principle. Diagnosed with terminal cancer three times, Kump said he has dealt with the side effects of chemotherapy, such as nausea and vomiting. Doctors once suggested to him to use marijuana to relieve such issues, but medicinal marijuana wasn't legal in any part of the country at the time. "That convinced me early on about the medical benefits of marijuana," Kump said, though he added he has never smoked marijuana. Kump said he supports the legislation because of his strong belief in the Tenth Amendment. "I believe that the states have the right to regulate marijuana, since that right is not specifically given to the federal government in the constitution," Kump said. The proposed legislation would provide protection for those who use medical marijuana and their caregivers, but it would also require that both parties be registered. It would create what the bill calls "compassion centers," which are dispensaries, Manypenny said. Manypenny said he believes the legalization of medicinal marijuana would decrease the amount of prescription drug abuse in the state. Sales tax from marijuana would be put into a drug abuse prevention fund, according to the legislation. "We lose lives every day to opiate addiction and overdose, and most of those are due to accidental overdose," Manypenny said. "People have a lot of pain, and they're trying to control that. ... So they take more than they're supposed to and the result is it shuts down their autonomous nervous system. Marijuana cannot do that." Manypenny said he has not yet gotten feedback from the pharmaceutical industry, but several medical professionals have expressed support for the proposed legislation. Law enforcement officers, while unable to comment publicly, have said they will "uphold the law as it is written," Manypenny said. The proposed legislation has been sent to the House committee on health and human resources. Committee chairman Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, said he had a few concerns regarding the bill, most notably smoking - the method by which marijuana is primarily consumed. Perdue said he could not speak to the future of the bill, though he did recognize the growing trend of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes. "It may well be that we'll try to position (the bill) as such so they can at least have a hearing on it," Perdue said. "Beyond that, I can't promise anything." - --- MAP posted-by: Matt


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Fox has handed out pilot orders to two comedies, including one from Cougar Town co-creator Kevin Biegel.
Enlisted, based on Biegel's relationship with his siblings, tells the story of three very different brothers working together in the Army at a small base in Florida. Biegel will write and executive-produce alongside Mike Royce.
Get the latest pilot news here
In Two Wrongs, two star-crossed lovers, Nick and Jenny, must contend with Nick's family's strong dislike of Jenny, which is made more difficult because Jenny left Nick at the altar 7 years before. Michelle Morgan will write and executive-produce with Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope, Aaron Kaplan and Sean Perrone.
Do either of these projects sound fun to you?


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The CalWORKs Program at City College of San Francisco supports students who are currently on or in transition off of cash aid/welfare. We provide coordinated services to eligible students and eligibilty documentation is requested before service is provided.
We Serve 4 CalWORKs Student Groups:
1. County Referred CalWORKs (Non-Sip)
2. Self Referred CalWORKS/Self-Initiated Program (SIP)
3. Post-Employment Participants
4. Exempt Participants
County Referred CalWORKs Participants (Non-SIP)
Non-SIP CalWORKs participants are students who are currently receiving TANF cash aid and are referred to the college as part of their welfare-to-work plan.
Self-Initiated Participants (SIP)
Self-Initiated Program (SIP) participants are TANF recipients who enrolled in a community college prior to receiving an appraisal by the county welfare department. This status must be confirmed by the county welfare department. The law allows SIPs far greater flexibility in achieving their educational goals.
Post-Employment Students
Post Employment students are former welfare recipients who left TANF cash aid within the past two years, are currently employed, and need assistance in the areas of upgrading skills, job retention, and job advancement.


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For Energy Efficiency and Environmental Benefit, Consider the Source
Site (point-of-use) measure of energy consumption reflects the use of electricity, natural gas, propane, and/or fuel oil by an appliance at the site where the appliance is operated, based on specified test procedures.
Source (extended site) measure of energy consumption includes, in addition to site energy use, the energy losses that occur in the fuel supply chains for an appliance. For appliances powered by electricity, source energy consumption would include losses in the generation, transmission, and distribution of the generated electricity. For appliances fueled by natural gas, propane, or oil, etc., source energy consumption would include the fuel losses experienced in the transportation and distribution of the fuel.
Full-fuel-cycle measure of energy consumption includes, in addition to site energy use, the energy consumed in the extraction, processing, and transportation of primary fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas; energy losses in thermal combustion in power-generation plants; and energy losses in transmission and distribution to homes and commercial buildings.
How Site Energy Measurement Fails to Capture the Full Impact of Energy Use
Although the site measure of energy consumption allows easy comparison of the operating efficiency of one appliance over another in isolation, it gives only a partial picture of total energy use because it omits the energy needed to mine, process, and transport the primary fuel to a generating plant; the energy used at the generating plant; and the energy used in delivering electricity or fuel to the site of operation of an appliance. For example, based on their site energy consumption, an electric storage water heater might operate with 90 percent efficiency and a natural gas water heater with 70 percent efficiency. But for the electric storage water heater, energy losses of about 70 to 75 percent occur in acquiring the primary fuel and in the generation, transmission, and distribution of the electricity, yielding an overall energy efficiency for the electric storage water heater of about 27 percent. This figure is much lower than the gas-fired storage water heater's overall energy efficiency of about 64 percent, when full-fuel-cycle energy consumption is the measure employed (Jaramillo et al., 2007, 2008). In general, energy losses in heating applications with electric resistance heaters are greater than in heating applications with natural gas when the measure is full-fuel-cycle energy use (Review of Site [Point-of-Use] and Full-Fuel-Cycle Measurement Approaches to DOE/EERE Building Appliance Energy-Efficient Standards page 6). Therefore, full-fuel-cycle measurement provides consumers with more complete information on energy use and environmental impacts especially greenhouse gas emissions.
- National Academy of Sciences report "Review of Site (Point-of-Use) and Full-Fuel-Cycle Measurement Approaches to DOE/EERE Building Appliance Energy Efficient Standards" May 15, 2009
Resources and Tools
Direct Use of Natural Gas: Natural Gas Results in Less Total Energy Consumption and Fewer Carbon Emissions. This American Gas Foundation study found that increased direct use of natural gas in R&C applications can increase the productivity of available energy supplies, reduce overall energy cost, and reduce related CO2 emissions. The energy efficiency advantage of using natural gas directly in homes and businesses stems from the fact that natural gas retains about 90 percent of its usable energy from the point of production to the burner tip in the home.
AGA-NRDC Joint Statement on Full-Fuel-Cycle Measurement for Energy Efficiency Standards. AGA has released a joint statement with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) supporting the recommendations of the National Academies that the Department of Energy (DOE) move toward the use of a full-fuel-cycle measurement of energy consumption for assessment of national and environmental impacts, especially levels of greenhouse gas emissions.


text: >In general, normal scuba activity requires a full range of motion in both the hips and shoulders. Since you are expected to perform self-rescue in the open ocean, a minor physical impairment may be magnified in such circumstances. There is also the risk of confusing the aches and pains associated with your injury with a case of decompression sickness should you experience symptoms after your dive. When your physician feels your injury has stabilized and your rehabilitation therapy is completed, you may wish to discuss the work of diving and the risk of reinjury with your doctor.


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This ROBBIE WILLIAMS ON TOUR IN IRELAND 2001 photo canvas print from our Music Photo Prints gallery captures a moment of rock and pop historical nostalgia. All our prints are ready to hang and delivered free to any UK address. We ship worldwide too and international delivery shipping is heavily discounted.
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Nancy Medina
New Monthly Online Classes and Daffodils on Violet
Contact Me
My Websites
The Joyful Brush - Online Classes
About This Painting
My new monthly classes are blooming - The Joyful Brush is now open!
How to Purchase Paintings
You may purchase artwork and learn about my online classes at www.nancymedina.com
About Nancy Medina
Nancy is a master signature artist and instructor with over 1000 online students from around the world. She has worked with Disney, served on the art faculty of the Dallas Arboretum, and teaches workshops in France, Italy and across the US.


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Bad Travel Clichés
Travel clichés abound everywhere, but some are worse than others. And I'm not talking about cliché places to visit, either. The Eiffel Tower, in all sincerity, is definitely worth a visit. Instead, here's a list of travel clichés that, in my opinion, have come to the end of their journey.


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Thinking small seems an unlikely way to get ahead in the nightclub business. But to hear brothers R.J. and Jerrod Melman talk, the cozy confines of Sub 51, the hip and eclectic reservations-only nightspot they run downstairs from their popular Hub 51 restaurant in Chicago, is a veritable blessing. In truth, that's just one of several ways the budding hospitality impresarios are marching to their own beat.
"We're lucky that it's small," says 26-year-old Jerrod Melman. Sub 51 occupies just 1,500 square feet, room enough for 12 tables, a DJ booth with a state-of-the-art sound system, a bar and 100-odd guests rocking away Thursday through Saturday. "It makes it that much more exclusive. And that also makes it a place where really great DJs want to come and play, because it's so small they can really relate to every guest in the place."
Brothers Jerrod (left) and R.J. Melman follow in their father's hospitality footsteps, but add their own spark.
"Playing a 100-person room is a lot different from playing a 5,000-person room," notes R.J. Melman, age 26.
Just past its first anniversary, the Hub 51/Sub 51 tandem is a business and critical success. Trendy 20- and 30-somethings pack the club, with professional athletes and entertainment celebrities often in attendance. Upstairs in the restaurant, the crowd is varied. Chicago doctors, lawyers and advertising execs are lunch and dinner guests, while happy hour sees young professionals sharing sushi in the bar and families often visit for weekend brunch.
Success has something to do with bloodlines as well as hard work, concede the brothers, who follow the footsteps of their famous father, Richard Melman, founder and chairman of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises (LEYE) in Chicago. Melman pere is the creator of scores of innovative restaurant concepts, ranging from R.J. Grunts, the whimsical, hippie-themed casual eatery still going strong after nearly four decades, to concepts that broke new culinary ground in casual dining, such as the Spanish tapas eatery Café Ba Ba Reeba and the innovative Mexican cuisine spot Hat Dance. "There is no illusion that a lot of the opportunities we have are not because of him," says Jerrod. Adds R.J., "We're thankful for the coaching he has given us."
The small size of Sub 51, located below Hub 51, gives the nightclub an exclusive vibe.
Thus, it is no surprise that a hospitality attitude pervades Sub 51. "We have the mindset of restaurant people," says Jerrod, who, like his brother, cut his teeth as a LEYE restaurant manager. "Our inclination is to say 'yes' to guests. In a lot of clubs, the tendency is to say 'no.' Our staff wants to take care of people and be gracious."
Still, R.J. and Jerrod agree that the nightclub business is a continual learning experience. Take the concept of bottle service, for example. Initially, it struck them as unnecessary and pricey. Although Sub 51 opened without bottle service, after receiving numerous requests in the first few weeks, the brothers relented and instituted it.
"When you have a room full of 100 people dancing, it's difficult to get to the bar and order a cocktail, or to order 10 different drinks from your server," says Jerrod.
Spirits range in price from $225 to $300 by the bottle, with vodka the predominant choice. "What most people look for is priced at $225 to $250," says R.J. "I think that's pretty reasonable compared to other clubs around town."
"We try to do things with the guests in mind," says Jerrod. "Not that we never make mistakes. But we think about how we would like to be treated when we go out." NCB


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Nuttall has expressed sympathy with the conspiracy theory that climate change is "a money led scam" pushed by vested interests. He has repeatedly used his personal website to (falsely) push the idea that the world is not in fact warming.
"Figures used to 'support' the idea of climate change have been shown to be false and manipulated to meet a pre-made conclusion in order to secure funding," he wrote.
"I think we all need to be assured about the credibility and motivation of scientists onboard the global warming wagon."
http://www.politics.co.uk/blogs/2016/11 ... ul-nuttall


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Too Much Trust in God
Quiet reigns in the Salaheddine quarter, if only for a few hours. Here and there, sporadic shots can be heard. Some of the residents use the opportunity to search for belongings in the rubble of their destroyed homes. Drones and combat aircraft circle overhead, but for once do not launch an attack.
The silence lying over the city of Aleppo, the focus of heated battles for the last three weeks, is unusual. The rebels use the breather to bring new fighters into position and to replenish their dwindling stores of ammunition.
The goal of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is to win back lost territory. The regime troops of President Bashar Assad have pushed the rebels to the outskirts of Salaheddine. "Strangely, they didn't advance any further though", says Ahmed, an activist in the opposition. "Instead, they positioned snipers in buildings and on rooftops. They can therefore survey and control the area."
The district in the south-western part of Syria's business metropolis has great strategic as well as symbolic importance. When the FSA occupied parts of Aleppo on 20 July, the various rebel militias came together in Salaheddine. They founded the "Union of Unity" and concentrated most of their fighters there.
It's no wonder, then, that the Syrian army has pinpointed this neighbourhood for its offensive. For them, it is the lynchpin for taking back the industrial city of Aleppo from the hands of the "terrorists and foreign fighters".
Constantly in the line of fire
At first only a menacing buzz is heard, and a swirling brown dot is seen approaching in the sky. Then comes a deep roar as the plane tilts its nose downward and swoops past at low altitude. A few seconds later the Russian-made Sukhoi ground attack aircraft fires a round out of its 23 mm cannons and ascends into the sky again. The ammunition, which explodes on impact, rips off the facade of a shop and destroys the living quarters on the first floor.
"The bombing attacks by the Syrian air force are the hardest part for us", says Abu Ali, a rebel commander who fought with his battalion in Salaheddine for days on end. The 25-year-old is now recovering in Azaz, approximately 45 kilometres from Aleppo.
Azaz is one of towns along Syria's border with Turkey that is now in the hands of the insurgents. Abu Ali has an injured leg, caused by a fragment from an armour-piercing shell. But that's the least reason why he is now at home. Although he can only walk with the help of crutches, he plans to soon return to the front to lead his battalion with a handheld radio.
Certain of victory – with or without weapons
In his home town of Azaz, the young commander is a hero who is joyously welcomed and kissed by all. One notices how much the 25-year-old identifies with and enjoys this role. "We don't need more fighters", Abu Ali asserts, "we need more weapons to win the war. Anti-tank weapons, to take apart the T-82, but above all anti-aircraft artillery to ward off the planes and helicopters." Then the rebels would without doubt win the war, he says.
For most of the inhabitants of Azaz and other towns and villages in rebel territory, it goes without saying that the insurgents will prevail in the end. With or without new weapons. "We can only win," shouts a woman who has lost her three sons as martyrs to the civil war. "We have Islam on our side and the regime has no religion." For her, that means losing is impossible.
In this arch-conservative region, Islam plays an important role in the revolution. Their trust in God provides motivation for the fighters, and religion presents a positive counter-model to the demonic Assad regime. "I don't need a bullet-proof vest", says Diab, a young FSA man, and beats his fist against his chest several times. "Allah will repel the bullets. And when my time comes, I will go to paradise as a martyr."
Deserted by God
As he says this, Diab spreads both hands and raises them to the sky. One might say that the rebels trust in God a bit too much when they go to the front as if they were invulnerable. Like Abulabed for example, who drove a taxi before he joined the revolution. He plants himself in the middle of the road and points a finger up at the sky, shouting: "No problem!" But a ground attack aircraft is circling above his head, the rebel headquarters of Aleppo in its sights.
It can descend and start firing at any moment. This time, everything goes well. Abulabed smiles: "God is on our side." The next day, however, Allah deserts him. Abulabed is shot dead.
On the Turkish side of the border, there are rumours that heavy modern artillery has arrived. "It is only a matter of time before they are used in Syria", assures Abu Zaid, an opposition activist in Antakya.
The ancient Roman city once known as Antioch is an FSA base. From here, the supply of ammunition and fighters to Aleppo is organised, the wounded are treated in secret hospitals, and fighters take holidays from the war. Turkey gives the FSA license to do as it pleases, and the country's intelligence service even helps smuggle weapons across the border.
Saudi support
A command centre has been set up in Adana – in cooperation with Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The two Gulf States are the main sponsors of the insurgents, supporting them both financially and with arms deliveries. Not all of the money and weapons end up in the hands of the FSA, however.
"The Saudis prefer to give their money to the Muslim Brotherhood", says a rebel who wishes to remain unnamed because he is entrusted with the task of acquiring weapons and funding. "And the Muslim Brothers are not participating at all in the fight against Assad." They have sleeper battalions, he says, which they will only call into action once the revolution is over. "Then they will fight against us, the FSA."
The region around Antakya is the destination of thousands of new refugees from Aleppo. In the first two weeks after the rebel occupation, hardly anyone left the city. Now that the regime forces have stepped up their offensive, however, people throughout the city are packing to go. Families try to load all their belongings onto the platforms of small trucks. Lamps, furniture, carpets, crockery, mattresses and even the gas canisters from the kitchen cooker.
Those who have no wheels available drag heavy bags around with them. The father staggering under the weight of his load, the mother holding a baby in her arms and grasping her child's hand. Looking for a bus taxi that will take them away from here as quickly as possible.
In the wake of the war
Since the beginning of the 17-month civil war, the residents of Aleppo had largely been able to lead a normal life. There were only a few small street protests. The industrial city was regarded as a bastion of the regime in Damascus.
But the peaceful interlude came to an abrupt end when the FSA invaded the town. Food became scarce and went up to five times the former price. People now have to queue up for hours for a loaf of bread, power outages are frequent, and petrol is only available on the black market, at exorbitant prices. Many people are angry at the FSA and the war they brought to Aleppo. "Of course I want freedom, but not in this way", explains an older shop owner. He is one of the few whose shop is still open these days.
The brief respite in Aleppo is suddenly over. Salaheddine sees more heavy combat. The Syrian army shells the neighbouring district of Saif al-Dawla with heavy artillery, along with the Bustan al-Qasr and Al-Masharaqa neighbourhoods to the west.
"The army is trying with all the means at its disposal to drive us out of this part of Aleppo", says Abu Ali, the wounded commander from Azaz. He evidently won't be staying home for long. Soon he will be standing in Salaheddine again on his crutches and giving instructions his battalion over the radio.
Peter Steinbach
© Qantara.de 2012
Translated from the German by Jennifer Taylor
Editor: Lewis Gropp/Qantara.de


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Thursday, July 2, 2009
A cold beer on a hot day
Look, I'm not quite ready to throw dirt on the barely lukewarm corpses of Vernon Wells and Alex Rios yet (but probably only because I love the god damned Blue Jays too much), but I will admit to growing, um, weary (let's say, for the sake of being polite) of Cito's strategy of letting this season's two massive underachievers work their shit out in prominent lineup slots.
For example.....if I had told you on April 1 that in three months time, Adam Lind would be hitting over .300 with 39 extra base hits and 50 ribbies, you'd say "hit that goofy bastard in the 3 spot!". And if I had also mentioned that Scott Rolen would be raking to the tune of a .330 average and on pace for 40+ doubles, you'd say "well, obviously, because he is awesome.....but let's get him as many AB's as possible." Am I right? I won't recount the conversations we would have had involving Vernon, because, like I said, it hurts me to do it. For another time.
Today's lineup aside, I'm not on the best of terms with The Cito at the moment
Let's just say that the decision to push Doc back to Monday didn't go over well with the Ack and his traveling party of Jays fans, in town for the weekend set against the Phillies. To hell with what's "best for the team"!
And let's just say that showing up to the ballpark on Saturday to see the names Millar (who provided some of the worst swings in modern baseball history in the series, by the way), Bautista, Chavez, and McDonald ALL in the starting lineup (special late guest appearance - Rusty Adams!) - with shaky rookie Brad Mills on the mound - amounted to a full groin kick. Hey Cito, mail it in much?
And let's just say that we may have met a few decent traveling Phillies phans (that's what they like to be called - honest) over the weekend, but for the most part, it was a tidal wave of douchebaggery that I imagine the Skydome (that's right) hasn't seen since "the Nation" last visited.
Oh wait, that last point has nothing to do with Cito. Still, it needed to be said.
8 comments:
Its time to give Randy Ruiz a run (.322, 15 HR 70 RBI in Vegas). Why the hell not
happy Canada day my friends
-Neal (lonely metro NY Jays fan)
enjoy Colton Orr leaf fans
- July 2, 2009 at 10:58 AM
Ack you douche, if you anything about this team that you follow, then you would have known for at least a week that Doc was going to be pitching on Monday.
- July 2, 2009 at 11:28 AM
- The Ack said...
^^ Dude, flights/hotels/etc were booked, like, months ago. And the decision to bump him back to Monday came on, I think, Wednesday or Thursday of that week.
In any even, I jest. You douche.
- July 2, 2009 at 11:42 AM
- Stedron said...
Messin with Knudson!
- July 2, 2009 at 1:13 PM
Cold beer on hot summer day. Or hot blow job on a cold winter's day.
- July 2, 2009 at 1:33 PM
- Torgen said...
Ruiz's MLE OPS against LHP is .666. Brian Dopirak's is .927. I know which guy I'd rather replace Millar with.
- July 2, 2009 at 2:53 PM
- Navin Vaswani (@eyebleaf) said...
For once, Gay Jays Fan does not shut down the thread.
Ack, your comment in reply was fucking hilarious.
Ruiz, Dopirak, Coats, whoever. Anyone but fucking Millar.
I'm giddy with anticipation to see tomorrow afternoon's lineup.
- July 2, 2009 at 5:22 PM
- Darren Priest said...
Damn, Ack, I just missed you. I was there for Monday's game. Had a great time despite the outcome.
- July 2, 2009 at 7:29 PM


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Hypothyroidism means a reduced level of thyroid hormone (thyroxine). This can cause various symptoms, the most common being: tiredness, weight gain, constipation, aches, dry skin, lifeless hair and feeling cold. Treatment is usually easy by taking a tablet each day to replace the missing thyroxine. Treatment usually works well and symptoms usually go.
What is hypothyroidism
Thyroxine is a hormone (body chemical) made by the thyroid gland in the neck. It is carried round the body in the bloodstream. It helps to keep the body's functions (the metabolism) working at the correct pace. Many cells and tissues in the body need thyroxine to keep them going correctly.
Hypothyroidism means that the thyroid gland does not make enough thyroxine. It is often called an underactive thyroid. This causes many of the body's functions to slow down.
(In contrast, if you have hyperthyroidism, you make too much thyroxine. This causes many of the body's functions to speed up.)
What are the symptoms of hypothyroidism?
Many symptoms can be caused by a low level of thyroxine. Basically, many body functions slow down. Not all symptoms develop in all cases.
1) Symptoms that commonly occur include: tiredness, weight gain, constipation, aches, feeling cold, dry skin, lifeless hair, fluid retention, mental slowing, and depression.
2) Less common symptoms include: a hoarse voice, irregular or heavy menstrual periods in women, infertility, loss of sex drive, carpal tunnel syndrome (which causes pains and numbness in the hand), and memory loss or confusion in the elderly.
However, all these symptoms can be caused by other conditions, and sometimes the diagnosis is not obvious. Symptoms usually develop slowly, and gradually become worse over months or years as the level of thyroxine in the body gradually falls.
What are the possible complications of hypothyroidism?
If you have untreated hypothyroidism:
1) You have an increased risk of developing heart disease. This is because a low thyroxine level causes the blood lipids (cholesterol, etc) to rise.
2) If you are pregnant, you have an increased risk of developing some pregnancy complications. For example: pre-eclampsia, anaemia, premature labour, low birthweight, stillbirth, and serious bleeding after the birth.
3) Hypothyroid coma (myxoedema coma) is a very rare complication.
However, with treatment, the outlook is excellent. With treatment, symptoms usually go, and you are very unlikely to develop any complications.
Who gets hypothyroidism?
About 1 in 50 women, and about 1 in 1,000 men develop hypothyroidism at some time in their life. It most commonly develops in adult women, and becomes more common with increasing age. However, it can occur at any age and can affect anyone.
What causes hypothyroidism?
Autoimmune thyroiditis - the common cause in the UK
The most common cause is due to an autoimmune disease called autoimmune thyroiditis. The immune system normally makes antibodies to attack bacteria, viruses, and other germs. If you have an autoimmune disease, the immune system makes antibodies against certain tissues of your body.
With autoimmune thyroiditis, you make antibodies that attach to your own thyroid gland which affect the gland's function. The thyroid gland is then not able to make enough thyroxine, and hypothyroidism gradually develops. It is thought that something triggers the immune system to make antibodies against the thyroid. The trigger is not known.
Autoimmune thyroiditis is more common than usual in people with:
1) A family history of hypothyroidism caused by autoimmune thyroiditis.
2) Down's syndrome. Hypothyroidism develops in 1 in 3 people with Down's syndrome before the age of 25 years. Symptoms of hypothyroidism may be missed more easily in people with Down's syndrome. Therefore, some doctors recommend that all people with Down's syndrome should have an annual blood test to screen for hypothyroidism.
3) Turner's syndrome. Again, an annual blood test to screen for hypothyroidism is usually advised for people with this condition.
4) An enlarged thyroid gland (diffuse goitre).
5) A past history of Graves' disease, or thyroiditis following childbirth.
6) A personal or family history of other autoimmune disorders. For example, vitiligo, pernicious anaemia, Addison's disease, type 1 diabetes, premature ovarian failure, coeliac disease, Sjögren's syndrome.
Some people with autoimmune thyroiditis also develop a swollen thyroid gland (goitre). Autoimmune thyroiditis with a goitre is called Hashimoto's disease. Also, people with autoimmune thyroiditis have a small increased risk of developing other autoimmune conditions such as vitiligo, pernicious anaemia, etc.
Surgery or radioactive treatment to the thyroid gland
These are common causes of hypothyroidism in the UK due to increasing use of these treatments for other thyroid conditions.
Other causes
Other causes of hypothyroidism are less common and include:
1) Worldwide, iodine deficiency is the most common cause of hypothyroidism but it is a rare cause in the UK. (Your body needs iodine to make thyroxine. However, it is rare for a diet in western countries to lack sufficient iodine.)
2) A side-effect to some medicines. For example, amiodarone and lithium.
3) Other types of thyroiditis (thyroid inflammation) caused by various rare conditions.
4) A pituitary gland problem is a rare cause. The pituitary gland that lies just under the brain makes a hormone called thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). This stimulates the thyroid gland to make thyroxine. If the pituitary does not make TSH, then the thyroid cannot make enough thyroxine.
5) Some children are born with an underactive thyroid gland (congenital hypothyroidism).
How is hypothyroidism diagnosed?
A blood test can diagnose hypothyroidism. A normal blood test will also rule it out if symptoms suggest that it may be a possible diagnosis. One or both of the following may be measured:
1) Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). This hormone is made in the pituitary gland. It is released into the bloodstream. It stimulates the thyroid gland to make thyroxine. If the level of thyroxine in the blood is low, then the pituitary releases more TSH to try to stimulate the thyroid gland to make more thyroxine. Therefore, a raised level of TSH means the thyroid gland is underactive and is not making enough thyroxine.
2) Thyroxine (T4). A low level of T4 confirms hypothyroidism.
Note: some people have a raised TSH but have a normal T4. This means that you are making enough thyroxine but the thyroid gland is needing extra stimulation from TSH to make the required amount of thyroxine. In this situation you have an increased risk of developing hypothyroidism in the future. Your doctor may advise a repeat blood test every so often to see if you do eventually develop hypothyroidism.
Other tests are not usually necessary unless a rare cause of hypothyroidism is suspected. For example, tests of the pituitary gland may be done if both the TSH and T4 are low.
How is hypothyroidism treated?
The treatment is to take levothyroxine (thyroxine) tablets each day. This replaces the thyroxine which your thyroid gland is not making. Most people feel much better soon after starting treatment. Ideally, take the tablet on an empty stomach (before breakfast). This is because some foods rich in calcium or iron may interfere with the absorption of levothyroxine from the gut. (For the same reason, don't take levothyroxine tablets at the same time of day as calcium or iron tablets.)
What is the dose of levothyroxine?
Most adults need between 50 and 150 micrograms daily. A low dose is sometimes prescribed at first, especially in those aged over 60 or with heart problems, and is then gradually increased over a period of time. Blood tests are usually taken every 2-3 months, and the dose may be adjusted accordingly. The blood test measures TSH (see above). Once the blood TSH level is normal it means you are taking the correct amount of levothyroxine. It is then common practice to check the TSH blood level once a year. The dose may need adjustment in the early stages of pregnancy. Also, as you get into late middle age and older, you may need a reduced dose of levothyroxine.
Missed a tablet?
Everyone forgets to take their tablets from time to time. Don't worry as it is not dangerous to miss the odd forgotten levothyroxine tablet. You can take any missed doses as soon as you remember. However, you should try to take levothyroxine regularly each morning for maximum benefit.
How long is the treatment for?
For most people, treatment is for life. Occasionally, the disease process reverses. This is uncommon, apart from the following:
1) Children. Sometimes hypothyroidism is a temporary condition in older children. (This is not so for children who are born with an underactive thyroid.)
2) Pregnancy. Some women develop thyroid imbalance after having a baby. If it occurs, it typically happens about three to six months after the birth. Often this lasts just a few months and corrects itself. Treatment is needed only in a small number of cases. However, afterwards it is wise to have a yearly blood test as there is an increased risk of developing autoimmune thyroiditis and long-term hypothyroidism in the future.
Are there any side-effects or problems from treatment?
Usually not. Levothyroxine tablets replace the body's natural hormone, so side-effects are uncommon. However, if you have angina, you may find that your angina pains become worse when you first start levothyroxine. Tell a doctor if this happens.
If you take too much levothyroxine it can lead to symptoms and problems of an overactive thyroid - for example, palpitations, diarrhoea, irritability, and sweating - and increase the risk of developing osteoporosis. This is why you need blood tests to check that you are taking the correct dose.
Other medicines may interfere with the action of levothyroxine. For example, carbamazepine, iron tablets, phenytoin, and rifampicin. If you start any of these medicines, or change the dose, then you may need to alter the dose of the levothyroxine. Your doctor will advise. Also, if you take warfarin, the dose may need to be altered if you have a change in your dose of levothyroxine.
Free prescriptions
If you have hypothyroidism, you are entitled to free prescriptions. This is for all your medicines, whether related to the hypothyroidism or not. Ask at your GP surgery for a form to fill in (form FP92A) to claim this benefit.
In summary
1) Hypothyroidism is common.
2) Symptoms develop gradually. They may be confused with other conditions.
3) Treatment with levothyroxine tablets is usually easy and effective.
4) Treatment is usually for life.
5) Have a blood test once a year if you take levothyroxine tablets once your dose has become stabilised.
Further help and advice
British Thyroid Foundation
2nd Floor, 3 Devonshire Place, Harrogate, HG1 4AA
Tel: 01423 709 707 and 01423 709 448 Web: http://www.btf-thyroid.org


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Stainless Steel Tube
SS Electropolished
Electrochemical process to give Stainless Steel extra protection against corrosion.
SS Brushed
Stainless steel, better known as Inox. is an iron alloy in which the resistance to corrosion is increased through the addition of chrome and nickel.


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Is this My Good Side?
This young but adult bull moose was resting in that tall swamp grass you see around him in October at Sprague Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The Sprague Lake walking path has a long wooden bridge over the swamp grass and this bull moose was resting, amicably watching the tourists walk over. Being fully aware of his size and potentially grumpy demeanor, I carefully walked along the path, watching him. He attracted quite a crowd and then decided to stand up. All of us stepped back! Then he merely stood, slowly moving his head from side to side looking at us, apparently enjoying the attention.
These elk were putting on quite a show for me as I left Rocky Mountain National Park one night. They were right next to the road and wrestled, putting on quite a show for those of us leaving that night.
Sprague Lake Winter Wonderland
On a wonderful morning at RMNP I was worried about the clouds that dropped off the lovely snow cover on the trees would obscure the Continental Divide Peaks at dawn. However, I had the great good fortune to watch the clouds blow off to the south, revealing the peaks and the peaks' reflection, one at a time.
Sprague Lake Winter Wonderland Dawn
Just about 30 minutes after the previous photo the full glory of the Continental Divide was revealed with spectacular dawn sunlight. I enjoy the illumination of some of the lake shore trees while others remain in shadow. I particularly enjoy the reflection of the mountains in the lake.
Sprague Lake Winter Wonderland Dawn Monochrome
A monochrome rendition of the previous photo.
Dawn on the Continental Divide
The gentle dawn glow illuminates two of the Continental Divide peaks (Hallett on the left, Flattop on the right) and the canyon between them above Sprague lake.
Sprague Lake with Hallett and Flattop Peaks at Dawn
The dawn view of Hallett and Flattop, reflected in Sprague lake with the gentle dawn light warming the scene.
Sprague Lake with Hallett and Flattop Peaks at Dawn Monochrome
The monochrome version of the previous photo, I like the contrast between the white peaks and the dark trees along the shore of the lake.
A different take on Bierstadt Moraine Winter Wonderland
Like the companion photo in my gallery, this scene was shot on the same brilliant winter wonderland morning that dawned cold and white. However, the clouds blew away, revealing the white mountains, dark green confers, and yellow aspens, with a light dusting of white snow.
Bierstadt Moraine Winter Wonderland
This wonderful morning dawned cloudy and white, but the clouds blew away, revealing this wonderful scene of mountains and yellow aspens and dark green conifers, with a light dusting of white snow. What a wonderful morning.
Moraine Park Morning
The clouds that smothered the sunrise started to break as the sun rose higher, giving this neat dappled view of the whole of Moraine Park.
Sprague Lake's Glory
The dawn photos are neat, but I really enjoy this photo for the clouds in the sky and the lake, reflecting the Continental Divide peaks in the background. I like the yellow aspens in the trees and lake too.
Among the Aspens
This September photo of aspens and their environment was found up a steep hillside in strongly overcast light. The combination of yellow leaves at the top, orange leaves at the bottom, and black and white trunks make this one of my favorite photos.
Among the Apens Monochrome
Removing the color from the previous photo makes for a study in contrast and patterns. This September photo of aspens and their environment was found up a steep hillside in strongly overcast light.
The Boss Bugling
This enormous bull elk, the boss of a herd of at least a dozen females, is bugling in response to a challenge from an unseen rival. The tall grass of the moraine contrasts against his dark hair, and his rack stands is stark relief against the distant background.
Peace Along a Stream
This peaceful scene, captured on an overcast morning, brings to my mind the peace of the less-explored reaches of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The Colors Below
I found this colorful scene, frosted from the cold night, one more in Kawuneechee valley. I like the intimate details and brilliant colors of this scene, set of by the frost.
Colorado River in the Mist
The Kawuneechee valley on the west side of Rocky Mountain National Park contains the headwaters of the Colorado River, the same river the carved the Grand Canyon and that supplies so much of the Southwest. In Rocky Mountain National Park in the fall it's no more than a big stream, but a scenic stream. On this morning I was able to get nice dawn light illuminating the Never Summer Mountains in the background with frost on the tall grasses in the foreground, and mist in the trees.
Colorado River in the Mist Monochrome
A monochrome rendering of the previous photo, in this scene the textures of the layers pop, producing a different feel.


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Oil companies are making money and gas prices are going up. Will the consumer revolt and stop buying gas to teach the oil companies a lesson?The implication there: "It's the damn oil companies gouging us, let's rally around the flag and punish them Rah! Rah! Rah!" Meanwhile Ben Bernanke slides another trillion dollars of printed money into the economy. If you look at oil and gasoline prices in terms of gold and silver prices they haven't changed much in the last 40 years. Here is a LINK to a Forbes article that should raise your awareness level a tad.
In actuality, the purchasing power of the dollar has fallen 50 percent in the last four years, gas hasn't doubled in price. Put another way, this was a tax on people with money in the bank; their money lost half of its purchasing power. The Democrats want to tax the rich; I think they are doing an excellent job at it right now. It now takes two billion dollars to buy what one billion bought four years ago. And of course if anyone complains, it's those damn oil companies gouging us. Plus those rich people weren't using that second billion anyways, so they'll never miss it. If you're rich and retired, just call it "Tough Love." Our government needs those printed dollars to pay the bills when tax receipts are just not enough to cover expenditures.
Printing dollars, taxes the people with money in the bank invisibly. There are no forms to fill out, everything just costs more. The average person on the street has no concept of printed dollars creating inflation. They want to blame someone for the increased prices, and who do they point to, the supplier of the product, the bankers, and Wall Street.
Some of us know what is going on. The real evil is government printing; they are taxing those that decided to save for retirement. If you have no savings, you have lost none of your wealth. If you work, everything cost more, and without a pay raise, your standard of living suffers.
With interest rates so low, there is no incentive to save. The present increase in consumption is a common sense reflex to very poor interest rates, coupled with inflation. Why wait to buy? It will cost more later! The economy isn't turning around; this is the last breath before the long pause and downward plunge.
Is the stock market going up because the economy is getting better, or is it because stocks are the only game left in town? There is a big surge into dividend stocks, I wonder why????
Gasoline prices just went up another 25 cents over this weekend. Will Congress do to the oil companies what they did to the Post Office (limit price hikes to inflation)? Instead of the refiners shipping half of their production overseas, they'll ship all of it. No pay, no play.
When we tax by inflation, we do unquestionable tax the rich. But ask yourself a few questions about this hue and cry to "Tax the rich." Are there many rich people between the ages of 1 to 20? Are there a lot between the ages of 20 and 40? How about between the ages of 40 and 50? Probably most of them fall between 50 and 65 just about at the age people start to get ready for retirement. How did they get rich? They saved for a lifetime. Now Bernanke is going to punish them for being rich---zero interest on their savings and inflation beyond their wildest dreams.
Inflation is kind of like sawing a quarter inch off of grandpa's walking cane each month. He'll know something is not right, but he won't have the foggiest clue as to what the problem is.


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New 260,000-Gallon Coral Reef Ecosystem Features More Than 700 Animals from 65 Species of Marine Life, 3,000 Pieces of Coral and a 500+ Pound Sea Turtle
BALTIMORE (July 30, 2013) – Sleek, fast-moving blacktip reef sharks will today dive into their new home at the Blacktip Reef exhibit in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Ten sharks will swarm into the exhibit throughout the day to join their brothers and sisters that began entering yesterday, completing the full pack of 20 blacktip reef sharks that will take up permanent residence in the National Aquarium's new centerpiece attraction.
Just as they are a vital element to coral reef ecosystems found in nature, the blacktip reef sharks are one of the final and most important pieces to the new exhibit, which came to life throughout July. Their introduction today marks the creation of one of the most comprehensive recreations of an Indo-Pacific coral reef in the country.
"A coral reef like this would take hundreds of years to develop in nature, and it has likewise been a major undertaking to create an Indo-Pacific reef for these blacktip reef sharks to call home," said John Racanelli, National Aquarium CEO. "The result tells the same story here in the aquarium as it does in nature – that coral reefs are stunningly beautiful but incredibly fragile ecosystems that need our care."
Known for their distinctive and prominent black tips on their fins, the sharks, along with 65 other major marine life species, have been fully integrated into the self-contained 260,000-gallon ecosystem, making the exhibit the closest way to experience an environment of sharks and an endangered coral ecosystem without traveling thousands of miles or getting wet.
The $12.5 million coral reef exhibit is the first stage of a project to renew and refresh National Aquarium, which draws more than 1.4 million visitors each year. Several upgrades have been made to the aquarium to improve visitors' ability to get close to the animals of the Blacktip Reef exhibit, including a 27-foot viewing window that curves four feet into the underwater reef itself, and daily diver presentations and feedings. On the upper level, visitors are able to look down onto the reef from viewing platforms, while the entire exhibit can be viewed on three sides.
The exhibit's attractions include 5-foot wide whiprays, camouflaged ornate wobbegong sharks, aquarium favorites such as Calypso, the 500+-pound green sea turtle, and the beloved zebra sharks Zeke and Zoe.


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Getting a new TV series to hit with audiences can be a horse race, but with a team like director Michael Mann ("Heat," "Boardwalk Empire"), creator David Milch ("NYPD Blue," "Deadwood") and stars Dustin Hoffman and Nick Nolte, the odds are definitely stacked in the favor of HBO's "Luck."
The series – which follows the otherwise unlikely intersection of the lives in the world of professional horse racing, particularly as they revolve around recently released inmate and inveterate gambler Ace Bernstein (Hoffman), who becomes a horse owner as a front for his crime boss – springs from veteran TV producer Milch's longtime involvement with betting the ponies. But he admits his personal knowledge of that world only informs the stories he's telling, and doesn't provide the basis.
"To the extent that there's an autobiographical connection, you know, that becomes secondary pretty quick," says Milch. "You're there, one hopes, as an artist and trying to execute the materials in that connection." Milch says that by teaming with another auteur-minded creation in Mann – who created "Miami Vice" and helmed classic crime films such as "Thief," "Heat" and "Collateral" – their unique visions would result in a intensely compelling environment for viewer to be quickly immersed in. "It's an act of faith. And I think your fundamental responsibility is to stay true to the deepest nature and intention of the materials. And that's what we did, and I have to say that Michael's work in creating an atmosphere which generated an entire second level continuously of dialogue took a tremendous amount of the burden off of the demystifying of the world."
U.S. & World
Mann says that Milch's long association with horse racing and his prodigious skill as a storyteller makes it easy to access the horseracing world. "One of the big complexities ‑‑ because like Dustin, I know nothing about gambling and David knows everything about this world ‑‑ was how to communicate to a mass audience what, for example, the 'pick six' is," says Mann. "If they could understand the one thing that a man's made a one‑out‑six selection, one horse, and they just had that concept that that No. 5 horse was going to be good news for them. So we went into a simple graphic comprehension. To this day, I don't think I know how to bet a pick six."
After a long and storied career filled with Academy Award nominated film performances, Hoffman says the decision to commit to a television series on a pay cable network was easier than one might expect, for a simple reason. "It's very hard to do your best work but you want a shot at it," says the actor. "And you cannot get a shot of doing your best work within the studio system. You can't. There's committees; there's meetings; they're on the set – You don't have to do that. They get involved in a kind of quasi- ‑‑ at least I think it is ‑‑ creative way, but they buck heads with people that they shouldn't be bucking heads with. And with HBO, once they give a go, there is no committee. There are no meetings. These guys are allowed to try to do their best work, and they then give it to us."
"I was expecting 20 pages a day," Hoffman adds. "I was expecting an atmosphere that it was like making movies on cocaine or something – you know, on speed, and it's the opposite. We did the best we could with as much time that we had, and we came back the next day. Michael hired all film directors ‑‑ not to disparage TV directors ‑‑ but to me, there was no difference of making a movie. Except he did it digitally and we had three cameras, which actors love because you don't have to repeat in coverage. But we are given the shot to do our best work, and I'm very thankful for that."
Central to the success of the show is whether the creative luck that characterized it's origins will hold. Many of the players – Milch, Mann, Hoffman and Nolte among them – certainly have reputations for not always playing nice with their colleagues ("A prick," laughs Hoffman, brushing aside diplomacy). But Mann says that while he and Milch in particular are used to being the ultimate chiefs of their own creative tribes, the desire to work together helped them emerge as true collaborators
"We had to figure out a way for us to work together," says Mann. "We both wanted to work together. We both admire each other's work, and we both thought it would be pretty stupid if we couldn't figure that out. And I suppose it was apparent that there can only be one captain of a ship, and the writing must be David's. David and myself, Eric Roth, we all confer on the writing and have long, very humorous sessions. But ultimately, it has to be David's decision about the words on the page. I'm talking about in our roles as executive producers. And then, in terms of the casting and who the directors are and everything else in filming it and music and editing, then that's what I do."
"We were all praying they'd get along," chuckles Nolte. And so far, they've stayed ahead of any conflicts by a nose.
"Luck" premieres Sunday, January 29th at 9 PM ET on HBO