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by Sue Ann Rybak
A recent walk in my backyard confirmed my worst fears – my plants and trees were under attack from fungi. Last year's mild winter coupled with an early soggy spring has resulted in an onslaught of plant diseases and pests. My once-delicate rose petals and shiny green leaves are being ravaged by a fine, powdery, slimy mildew. And they're not alone.
Ken LeRoy, a certified arborist who has worked at Morris Arboretum and teaches at Mt. Airy Learning Tree, said this year's unseasonably warm weather and a mild dry winter has resulted in an increase in insects and diseases in plants.
More than 80 percent of plant diseases are caused by fungi, and this year's record warm temperatures, high humidity and drenching rains are the perfect breeding ground for it.
"Usually a hard winter will decrease the insect population," LeRoy said. "Plant pathogens are able to survive the winter inside insects, plant debris and soil."
The result, he said, has been an increase in plant diseases.
Three of the most common plant diseases are anthracnose, white powdery mildew and rust.
"Fortunately, they are not killers," LeRoy said. "Usually, if the plant is healthy enough, it is able to grow through it."
Anthracnose disease causes dark sunken lesions on leaves, stems, flowers and fruits. It also attacks the twigs, branches and trunks of trees. It is particularly severe in sycamore, ash, oak, maple and dogwood trees. The disease is spread through microscopic spores that are carried by the wind or rain.
"The problem is by the time you see it, it's almost too late to do anything," LeRoy said. "It's difficult to control once symptoms appear.
While dry weather is the best control for this disease, LeRoy said there are some things you can do to combat the problem. Among these are raking and disposing of fallen leaves and other debris during the growing season and in the fall, pruning plants during the winter to increase air circulation and removing infected branches as they form to prevent trunk canker formation.
"The most important thing you don't want to do is apply a high nitrogen fertilizer," LeRoy said. "It will only stimulate succulent branching."
Powdery mildew is one of the most common plant diseases. Almost no plant is immune. The white or grey powdery substance can be seen on leaves, stems, flowers, buds and even fruit.
Rust is another common plant fungus characterized by reddish or brownish spots on leaves, stems, and other parts. Rust effects crabapple, apple, hawthorn and other ornamental plants in the rose family.
"Rust disease is a very sophisticated organism, and the conditions right now are perfect for rust," LeRoy said.
Rusts tend to be very host specific. For example, the rust that attacks antirrhinum is a different type from one affecting hawthorn. LeRoy said some rusts such as the cedar-hawthorn require two hosts to complete their life cycle.
He noted that cedar-hawthorn rust causes discoloring and yellow to nearly black spots on the leaves, fruit, petioles or new twigs. He said these spots contain black pimple-like fruiting bodies that produce spores that are carried by the wind and rain.
"You can interrupt the cycle in the late summer when it starts going back to the juniper," LeRoy said.
"I always keep neem oil in my bag of tricks.
Pure neem oil is derived from the seeds of the Indian neem tree. It is naturally biodegradable and is harmless to humans, animals and beneficial to insects such as lady beetles and bees. It is a botanical pesticide and fungicide. Unfortunately, it does not provide a quick fix nor does it permanently kill insect pests or fungal diseases.
The reality is that once anthracnose, powdery mildew or rust become established it is difficult to control with any fungicide. It is a good prevention tool when applied in the late fall and early winter once a month.
LeRoy said the key to any disease control program is proper plant placement, good plant "hygiene" and preventive maintenance.
Rust and other fungus diseases are a problem in areas where plants are exposed to moisture for long periods of time.
LeRoy said increasing air circulation around and through a plant would help it dry faster. Removing dead or infected leaves, branches or fruit will help decrease the spread of the disease. He said spraying the top and underside of the leaves and branches during the growing season would help to stop the spread of the disease and effectively treat the plant.
For more information about anthracnose, rust or other fungus diseases, LeRoy suggests contacting Penn State Extension at http://extension.psu.edu/.


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Oyster Roast
Oyster roasts are no-fuss coastal feasts that encourage group participation.
Oyster roasts have long been a seaside tradition. This no-fuss coastal feast encourages the fellowship of shellfish aficianados and rookies alike.
An oyster roast can be cooked on the grill and only takes a few minutes. Grilling oysters allows them to open naturally, so they are easier to enjoy. Oysters are traditionally served with cocktail sauce, melted butter, hot sauce, and saltine crackers.
Grilled Oysters
5 dozen fresh oysters in the shell, scrubbed
Place oysters on grill. Cook over medium-high heat (350º to 400º) 8 to 10 minutes or until shells open (about ¼ to ½ inch). Remove from grill. Pry open oysters using an oyster knife, discarding the empty half shells. Run knife under meat of oyster to release. Arrange oysters on a platter, and serve with dipping sauce. Makes 5 servings or 12 appetizers.
Try this tangy and tasty dipping sauce that can be created while the grill is heating.
Cilantro-Lime Dipping Sauce
¾ cup water
¼ cup sugar
½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped
¼ cup green onion, chopped
¼ cup dry white wine
¼ cup fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Stir together ¾ cup water and sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cool. Stir in cilantro and next 4 ingredients. Serve with oysters.
(Adapted from The Coastal Living Cookbook, p. 182 and p. 292)

subset: commoncrawl


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Smoking on Deadline
In his ninth-floor office overlooking the Hudson River, Morley Safer can draw on Dutch cigars or Romeo y Julietas and allow the smoke to waft out into the labyrinthine corridors. "No one really complains because it's useless," he smiles. Twenty-five years in front of 30 million people every Sunday--and enough Emmys to fill a refrigerator carton--give a man the pull to blow smoke whenever he chooses.
"I was first a cigarette smoker; they were more convenient to carry around," he explains, recalling his work in the field as a Vietnam correspondent for CBS News in 1965. "You could carry 20 of them without all the paraphernalia. Try carrying 20 Romeo y Julietas," he smiles. Then he took up small Dutch cigars like Schimmelpennincks. "In Vietnam, in the field, one tried to have some contact with a more comfortable life. I always carried something, like a couple of cigars. For a time there was a grocery store, a little French grocery store in Saigon where you could get canned Beaujolais. So apart from my canteen and C ration I always carried a couple of cans of Beaujolais. Believe me, at the end of the day, regardless of the heat, a can of Beaujolais and a Romeo y Julieta is not too bad. There are worse ways to take part in war."
For reporters and editors, cigars are at once a diversion, a celebration and a savoring. Whatever the reasons, a cigar fits a writer just as chewing tobacco fits a ballplayer or a pipe suits a philosophy professor. Perhaps because so many reporters find themselves in extreme situations, they long for the comforts of a cigar. Many still don't like to talk about their smoking habits and refused to submit to this reporter's inquiries. Others were simply too hard to track down, always on the road, savoring a smoke in another waiting room, another tiny hotel outpost or in some godforsaken hot spot where they barely speak the language and are apt to be putting their lives on the line. But however dire the circumstances, a cigar can be a diverting companion.
The camaraderie of a good smoke carries over into Safer's everyday life when he isn't in New York with his wife, Jane, and their daughter, Sarah. At their Connecticut home, he likes to smoke on his tractor. It's not a farm, mind you. He just enjoys restructuring the land there. One pictures Safer astride the tractor, outside the city in a wide-open expanse, adrift in philosophical reverie. The meditation has carried over to this morning.
"It occurred to me when I was coming over this morning, this whole stupidity of the White House," says Safer. "I don't resent them choosing not to smoke," he says, his voice as effortlessly resonant as a Hemingway sentence, framing those words he chooses. "And they can be as public as they want about them not smoking. But to make the White House a smoke-free White House is so stupid as to be beyond...that a grown-up politician can be that stupid!
"For example, if--we're in 1994, and if Winston Churchill was the prime minister of Britain and, if he made a state visit to America--which would be extremely likely--and if he was staying in the White House--which he would--and if there was a state dinner, what would they do? How stupid can you be? Or Mao Tse-tung, who was a cigarette smoker. Or the president of Italy, who probably smokes three packs a day. Or France, or Bulgaria--I don't know. But to make the White House smoke-free!" Safer's eyes are easily expressive, widening with surprise at the gall of the edict coming from the nation's capital.
"They're trying to just invest themselves with some kind of purer-than-thou demeanor. The White House has nothing to do with them; [the president] doesn't get it! He just happens to be a tenant. He says the Clintons are nonsmokers; that's fine. And if he says they're only going to hire nonsmokers; that's fine. But to say 'this house is going to be nonsmoking' is an insult to those who smoke, not just Americans but foreigners." If they want to be what they want to be and if they want to say, 'when you come to our home in Arkansas you can't smoke,' that's fine. But for them to make some national policy in a building where they are temporary tenants--without even a lease! They're there at the pleasure of the rest of us."
Whatever the policies on Pennsylvania Avenue, Safer keeps smoking his dark Brasil cigar in his office. "These are lovely," he says, blowing the smoke toward the window. "Mild without being a joke." But how do his "60 Minutes" mates like it? "Mike [Wallace] comes in and says, 'it stinks in here.' [Steve] Kroft smokes occasionally. [Ed] Bradley smokes the odd cigar, closes his door." Safer smiles. His door stays open. This is not Pennsylvania Avenue.
Ask Harry Smith and a lot of key players on the "CBS This Morning" program. Smith and Paula Zahn look out on the set of "CBS This Morning." Standing in the center of the set is a skyscraper of cards--made of 60,000 playing cards--and its giddy architect pulls one, dismantling the entire paper edifice. The control room--replete with dozens of televisions and about 15 people laughing at them (who says work is hard to find?)--convulses with oohs and aahs, while Smith and Zahn narrate this Guinness slice of history.
"I can't smoke at home," says Smith, the affable host of the show since its inception in 1987. "I'm always interested in maintaining peace and tranquility on the home front." The home front includes two sons and his wife, Andrea Joyce, a studio host and reporter for CBS Sports and HBO.
"If we're on the road working stories, we have a couple of cigars in the morning, like when we spent three weeks in the Midwest covering the floods, working 20-hour days, with just a couple of hours' sleep.
"My smoking preferences change around. I smoke Macanudos and Partagas. Since we travel internationally, I'm always being asked to bring them back from exotic locations." Just then Paula Zahn intercedes, smiling: "Make sure Harry tells you the story of how many cigars he's run out of Cuba."
Smith readily admits it. "Bill Cosby came on the show several years ago, but in the middle of a spectacular story, we had to cut him off; we had a time problem. We invited him to come back a year or so later and had our couriers bring back a wonderful, fresh supply of Cubans--all was forgiven."
A producer of the show, Max McClellan, also enjoys a wide assortment of smoking flavors. "I smoke Davidoff, Dunhill, Montecristo No. 1's. At the end of a day, while relaxing and winding down, my buddies and I go to the Oak Bar at the Plaza or Elaine's. In those places it's not only accepted, but encouraged. We go there and have a beer or two and smoke a few, fine Cubans. Usually we go in a celebratory mode; we make up anything to celebrate.
"I like the Montecristo and Romeo y Julieta because of a full sort of experience, a great taste, a full taste, without an aftertaste. It's the quality of taste that sets [the great ones] apart from the lesser ones."
Ted Savaglio, the executive producer, also smokes Montecristo No. 1's. It's nine o'clock, and the two-hour show is over. Savaglio appears with hair tousled and clothes rumpled, looking like an anarchist after a palace coup.
"Of course, as you know, we can't smoke cigars in America in the house, in the car, in the office. I smoke on the street, one a day. I was in a cranky mood yesterday so people said, 'see what happens when he runs out of cigars.' I buy a handful at a time at De La Concha, this little store between 56th and 57th streets on Sixth Avenue.
"When I went to the summit between Reagan and Gorbachev in Iceland--this was an opportunity. We're going overseas; you can buy Cuban cigars--so I had the camera crew from France buy me a box of Montecristo No. 1's and bring them to Iceland. So here I am in Iceland in the newsroom. Bill Moyers was working for us at the time and Bill likes a cigar. So we're swapping cigars.
"The Sunday that Reagan and Gorbachev were in that little room, everybody was standing outside the door for hours with cameras. I'm standing with my Montecristo No. 1, my arms folded, just staring, staring, staring. All of a sudden I smell something that is not the smoke of cigars. My cigar has burned a hole all the way through Bill Moyer's suit--through the suit, through the lining. I mean there's a hole there as big as a nickel! The nice, gracious Bill Moyers says, 'oh, no no, don't worry. Please don't worry. My wife has a tailor, he's a real weave genius; it'll be no problem.' I said, 'right, I've burned a hole the size of nickel in your $1,000 suit, and you're telling me not to worry, it'll be rewoven.'"
Across town at ABC, commentator Jeff Greenfield can't resist a handful of cigars a week. "I smoke when the care of the day is done; after dinner, with a book, with a friend. My wife, Karen Gannett, likes the smoke. I'll smoke when we're on vacation. It's done when taking your ease. It belongs with good music. I don't ever recall smoking while I worked.
"I've been smoking for about 30 years, but with regularity only for the last 20. My friends will tell you that I don't spend a lot on clothes or on stereos, but I will spend on cigars. I love Cohiba Robustos and I like La Gloria Cubanas and Onyx. I just like the taste of them. Most people like the Montecristo No. 2's, but I like the Montecristo No. 1's, I guess that makes me weird."
Greenfield, however, doesn't see himself as a crusading cigar smoker. "I don't have sympathy for cigar smokers; they're not the equivalent of sharecroppers," says Greenfield. "My take on cigars is more whimsical; they're one of life's pleasures.
"I wish something could be done about our image, though. If you want to make a villain of someone in movies, put a cigar in his mouth. Yet look at the people who've smoked! Winston Churchill saved the world. Then there's Mark Twain. The great comedians--George Burns, Groucho Marx, Cosby, Letterman--all smoke. So the cigar symbolizes laughter. Red Auerbach had his victory cigar. Cigars are not the evil weed. When smoked in moderation, it's like wine--not harmful.
"There used to be the expression in World War Two: 'There are no atheists in foxholes.' Well, there are no anticommunists in a humidor. Whether it's William Buckley or Rush Limbaugh, if someone happens to have access to a good cigar, it doesn't matter that it comes from a communist country."
While the origin of the cigars may not matter to anyone, the places one works in a journalism career today seem to have an impact on whether or not someone smokes.
A family habit drew Bob Rivard, deputy editor at the San Antonio Express News, to smoke. "The cigar gene was identified in me early, when my grandfather took me to the Saratoga racetrack and he smoked nickel Roi-Tans," Rivard recalls. "He was a workingman and that was the best he could afford."
Rivard's correspondence work in Central America reinforced his love of cigars. "I moved to El Salvador and fell in with a couple of guys whom I remain good friends with, including Chris Dickey, who was with The Washington Post at the time and now is with Newsweek. At the time we were living in Latin America and buying Nicaraguan and Honduran cigars for a song, risking our lives for a story about the civil war in El Salvador. There were a lot of bad times, but also a lot of good times. I was Newsweek's El Salvador bureau chief at the time. I was smoking good Cohibas and Davidoffs, having gotten them in Europe."
Like many who enjoy cigars, Rivard's smoking habit has become ritualized. "I like to smoke on Saturday night when I edit the Sunday paper, which requires the most attention." And then there are the fights. "I smoked three Cohibas for the (Julio Caesar) Chavez fight [in May]." For lesser fights, Rivard buys domestically available brands. "There is a place in San Antonio called the Humidor. They hold the magazine in high esteem there; they paste the ratings below the cigars."
For the big fights Rivard digs into a dwindling stash of Cohibas that were acquired during his years as chief of correspondents for Newsweek, a job that required frequent overseas trips to visit the magazine's bureaus. "I had half a box of Cohibas for the [Chavez] fight; one guy paid for the [pay-per-view] fight, another brought food, another brought beverages....There will be other occasions."
No doubt. And Rivard will supply the Cohibas.
Across the Atlantic, cigars burn brighter. Says Alan Riding, The New York Times Paris bureau chief, "All the people I know seem to apologize for cigars. I always hear people say things like 'I had to smoke in the garage where it's 20 degrees.' Europe is far more stogie-friendly than the United States. Some Englishman wrote, 'one gets the idea that Americans are afraid of living and afraid of dying.' In America there is more of a desire to interfere in other people's lives. Americans are much more assertive about their area of individual rights." He pauses. "But Americans could teach something to Europeans about openness."
Riding, whose biographical description is very understated--"I'm British, 50 years old and have one son and one wife"--has worked full-time for The New York Times since 1978 and has been bureau chief in Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Rome and Paris.
"I started smoking as a foreign correspondent at the United Nations in the late 1960s," says Riding. "I thought it made me look like a foreign correspondent. Diplomats would smoke Don Diegos in the lounge there. Now you can't get within 100 yards of the building with a cigar," he says with dry sarcasm.
"A lot of correspondents considered it part of their uniform to smoke cigars in Central America. Cigar smokers wore khaki there. In Central America, you were never quite sure where you were going to land anyway; if the pilot opened the door of the cockpit you couldn't see the window with all the smoke. I smoked Joya de Nicaragua--Honduras had good cigars--sometimes Mexican cigars from Veracruz, sometimes Dominican cigars and Jamaicans.
"When I came to Europe the choices were more limited. You could sometimes get what you want, sometimes not. The acceptable alternative cigars weren't there. There were some Dominicana cigars. Now I smoke Partagas, the Romeo y Julieta [No. 2]; the Cubans are better made. The Montecristos are up and down."
And Riding offers a surprising observation to those who think that cigar smoke is the most noisome of smells. "Women often like the smell of cigars because of some uncle or grandfather who smoked. It's sort of Pavlovian.
"I actually have the bad habit of smoking while writing, but [the cigars] go out a lot. An apocryphal rule says that a cigar goes out after it's half smoked. Maybe if I cut down on the writing, then I'd cut down on the cigars. I smoke three a day."
Despite smoking during intellectual pursuits, Riding is hardly pretentious about cigars, laughing at the folly of thinking that cigar smoking indicates a great level of intellect and urbanity. "We're nowhere near as deep as pipe smokers," he deadpans. "They are much deeper, furrow their brows and say profound things." This is modesty on Riding's part. His book about Mexico, Distant Neighbors, is still available 10 years after its first printing.
Stephen Kinzer, The New York Times bureau chief in Berlin, spent 13 years covering Latin America for various newspapers, including five years as Managua bureau chief for the Times. "When I transferred from Central America to Germany, many of my friends asked me what the two places could possibly have in common. I wondered then, but now I know the answer: both places fail to recognize public cigar smoking as a felony.
"I had dabbled in cigar smoking as a young man, but did not graduate to quality goods until 1979 during the chaos of the Sandinista-led revolution in Nicaragua. In those days, the excellent Joya de Nicaragua cigars were being sold by looters and escaping profiteers for almost nothing. These were fine cigars, grown along the Honduran border with seed brought from Cuba.
"Most of the growers were either Cuban exiles or rightist supporters of the Somoza dictatorship and some had been given land that was forcibly "cleansed" of peasants who had been living there for generations. These planters fled after the Sandinista takeover, which may have been good for Nicaragua but was certainly bad for cigar production. My beloved Joyas became very unpredictable; you could still buy a box of great ones, but the next box might be awful.
"One of my cigar gurus, Manuel Gamero, editor of the Honduran newspaper Tiempo, introduced me to various Central American alternatives, including one which was so potent that I literally had to struggle to keep from collapsing onto the sofa in his office during a morning interview."
Now Kinzer suppresses his habit during office hours. He smokes the Zino Mouton-Cadet, widely available in Germany. It's become his favorite. And it doesn't make him collapse on the sofa.
Stephen Smith, former Washington bureau chief for Knight-Ridder newspapers, and editor of a new magazine called Civilization, believes that cigars are best when accompanying some cerebral pursuit. "A book and a cigar are the ideal combination; there's nothing better than a Churchill biography for a cigar smoker--for obvious reasons. In halcyon days, I enjoyed [cigars] while working on deadlines and I found them a relaxing point of pleasure in my leisure time as well.
"I like Partagas. But my pride and joy are some Romeo y Julietas in a humidor in New York. There I have two boxes of pre-Castro Cubans that I bought from a friend. They were made before 1959 and burn down perfectly. They have this wonderful capacity to regenerate if you keep them in a humidor. They are the mildest, most even-smoking cigar that I've ever had. They still have the pre-Castro Batista pack stamp under the ring. The boxes are water stained. Whenever I feel cause for celebration or am feeling sorry for myself I have one.
"They are wonderfully mild and unlike the Cubans today, which are harsh. Even though journalism is heavily populated with cigar smokers, it is now politically incorrect to smoke. My problem at home is my 10-year-old, David, who is thoroughly indoctrinated by right-thinking schoolteachers. I have to wait to light one up; I do it in my study.
Smith, who was nation editor of Time until 1986 and executive editor of Newsweek until 1991, muses about a solution to the problems of cigar smokers. "If only the world had more brave men like Churchill. I don't think Winston would have been overly concerned with the office voting to stop smoking; he would have just continued." Indeed. Just imagine the signs: Free-fire zones for all. Any complaints? Dial the Prime Minister.
"In the journalistic world, Time Inc. was the apotheosis of cigar smoking--after lunches, in private dining rooms people would pass the cigar box. It was part of the luncheon ritual when we had outside guests or managing-editor luncheons.
"There was smoking everywhere. I always keyed off of Henry Grunwald, the editor-in-chief. If he lit up first, then it was a free-fire zone. Call it protocol.
"The free-fire zone was also protected by other editors at Time. Executive Editor Richard Duncan has wooden boxes of cigars in his office; when I ran short I could go to him."
"I started smoking back in the early 1960s," says Dick Duncan, a "four-star general" in those legendary free-fire zones at Time. "I was covering Latin America and was a reporter and correspondent and Caribbean bureau chief.
"I'm not good with cigar talk. With wine, you can say 'it has the hint of blackberry.' Right now I buy De La Concha's house brand. I like a full taste; they're well-made and smoke evenly. I also smoke Partagas. Customs at Time have changed in the last 30 years though. If I smoke while concentrating on work, I have to close the office door; it also keeps people out and thus serves a double purpose. As executive editor, I edit all the essays.
"In 1980, we went to Cuba to interview Fidel Castro and Fidel gave us a couple of his favorite Cohibas. Henry Grunwald was looking for Montecristos, but Cuba was shipping all the good ones out. Our guide noticed this and bought us a box of Montecristos. I had never heard of them. It was a huge cigar. It was absolute perfection, the finest made. The only problem was that it took three hours to smoke. Whenever you wanted to have one, you'd need three spare hours. I've talked to people in cigar stores about them, but they don't know of them. It was an incredibly rich, complicated smoke--a true Havana smoke with a distinctive flavor and aroma that others don't have."
While Duncan may have to chase that ideal Cuban smoke for the rest of his days, he still enjoys cigars from De La Concha, usually Partagas, two per day at the office. Door closed, of course.
On the left coast, David Shaw of the Los Angeles Times encountered cigar censorship whenever he went to Chavez Ravine, the open-air home of the Dodgers. (Smoking is now banned at Dodger Stadium.) "Just taking the cigar out at Dodger Stadium causes trouble." Shaw remains undeterred. Indeed it was an odd circumstance that led the Times' media critic for the past 20 years to embrace cigars in the first place. "My late wife loved an espresso after dinner and would sit with it for three or four hours. While doing this one day, she asked: 'Why don't you smoke a cigar?' This makes me the only one who ever smoked because his wife suggested it.
"My father learned of the smoking and said he would tear off both my arms and beat me to death with them. So I went to my doctor, who said three cigars a day is about the same as zero a day."
As a reporter at the Los Angeles Times in 1973, Shaw wrote a popular and playful bio on Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain: Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7-Foot, Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door. Some of his more serious work has exposed systematic partiality and unethical practices in the print media. One of Shaw's stories was about reporters' biases, which generally favor liberal causes, while another showed journalists at some major newspapers plagiarizing at will.
Shaw tries not to let important work infringe on his cigar time. "It defeats the whole purpose if I'm smoking while looking at a computer screen," Shaw says. "I smoke cigars when I'm relaxed and happy.
"My favorites are the Cohiba and the Davidoff. I just like the way they taste." Yet the epicurean delight of cigars would be unknown to Shaw had it not been for his late wife's proposal. "I only did it because she suggested it," he says.
Back at the West Side CBS studios in New York, Morley Safer appears in no particular hurry. Perhaps it takes one who's been in the media to understand the pleasure of slowing life's pace to a standstill and enriching it with a smoke. "Certainly the travel at this time of year starts to get me down. The knees get pretty stiff. I still want to do it, so in theory as long as the brain and body hold out I can still hold on. And I still want to." So Safer, with a 1,001 niggling things to do on a day he departs for the stifling heat of Florida, appears in no rush.
Why hurry? He's got a Brasil to enjoy and, judging by the past 1,300-odd Sundays, his work will get done--on deadline and on time.
Ken Shouler, a free-lance writer based in White Plains, New York, is a frequent contributor to Cigar Aficionado.


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The Justice in Conflict blog has recently posted an excellent post about how international criminal justice suffers due to the uneven application of law owing to a highly politicized referral system of the UN Security Council.
Something similar to what I have argued in my paper titled "A Synergistic Failure between the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court".
This paper is divided into three parts – Part I deals with the provisions relating to the relationship between the UNSC and the ICC as has been envisaged in the Rome Statute of the ICC; Part II deals with the practical situations when the
relationship has been tested or powers have been exercised by the UNSC in respect of international peace and security vis-a-vis the ICC; Part III examines the successes or failures of the relationship between the two international bodies and will explore the possibility of whether the synergy between the bodies can be enhanced and made more effective.


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Boletín de la Sociedad Chilena de Química
versión impresa ISSN 0366-1644
Bol. Soc. Chil. Quím. v.47 n.4 Concepción dic. 2002
THE PHOTODEPOSITION OF Pd/Ni OXIDES THIN FILMS.
1 Instituto de Química, Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso (Chile)
2 Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valparaíso, Valparaíso (Chile)
3 Department of Chemistry, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C. (Canada)
(Received: April 25, 2002 - Accepted: August 9, 2002)
Irradiation of thin films of a polyketonate Pd/Ni heteronuclear complex, PdNi(DBA)2 [DBA = dibenzoylacetone)], produced uniform films containing Pd and Ni as shown by EDAX analysis. The X-ray powder diffraction spectrum showed peaks associated with elemental Pd and NiO. The morphology of the films was examined by SEM measurements showing a uniform granular surface with particle sizes of 100 nm or less. The XPS results show that the ratio of Pd/Ni (1:17) present in the film does reflect the stoichiometry in the starting complex. The large amount of carbon (52 %) detected on the surface of the film may be due to the presence of phenyl rings in the precursor complex.
KEY WORDS: thin films, palladium, nickel oxide, photodeposition.
La irradiación de películas delgadas de un complejo heteronuclear policetonato de Pd/Ni, PdNi(DBA)2 [DBA = dibenzoilacetona)], produjo películas uniformes conteniendo Pd y Ni como lo demostraron los análisis EDAX. El espectro de difracción de rayos-X mostró peaks asociados con Pd elemental y NiO. La morfología de los films fue examinada por SEM, mostrando una superficie granular con tamaño de partículas igual o menores a 100 nm. Los resultados de análisis por XPS demuestran que la relación Pd/Ni (1:17) refleja la estequiometría del complejo precursor. El alto porcentaje de carbono (52%) detectado en la superficie de las películas puede deberse a la presencia de grupos fenilos en el complejo precursor.
PALABRAS CLAVES: películas delgadas, paladio, óxido de níquel, fotodeposición.
Palladium and Pd-based alloys are extensively used in electronics, inorganic membranes for H2 gas separation, and as catalysts and gas sensors. Most of the hydrogen sensors use palladium to trap hydrogen1) . However, it has been found that palladium alloys are more suitable than palladium alone for use in hydrogen gas sensor devices, due to their greater mechanical strength and resistance to poisoning by other chemical species2) . Many of the published works on Pd-Ni alloy thin films have shown that the films give durable and quickly reversible detection of hydrogen at concentrations between 0.1 and 100% H2 3). For this reason, there has been much interest in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of Pd alloy films, especially on porous substrates which has wide applications in inorganic membranes H2 gas separation and membrane reactor4-6) . The typical approach in CVD of binary materials is based on individual molecular sources which carry the particular constituents of the final thin film. The composition of the film is then controlled by the precise adjustment and optimization of the process parameters. This includes the relation of the molar fractions of the precursor molecules in the gas phase, as well as the total pressure and the substrate temperature. Using this approach, Pd-Ni thin films have recently been prepared by metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) using metal-organic b -diketonate mixed precursors7) . The use of single source precursors for the preparation of binary metal alloys and oxides has drawn much attention in recent years due to their potential to simplify engineering procedures8) . Theoretically, a single source precursor should contain the same stoichiometric metal content as in the final binary metal film. However, in most cases, films have metal ratios different from the precursor, probably due to the relatively high temperatures required in CVD (and laser assisted depositions) which may cause decomposition of the precursor into individual metal fragments during the deposition process9-11) .
Previously, we have reported that photolysis of thin films of coordination complexes of transition metals, can lead to the formation of pure metal oxide films. By this technique, we have been able to deposit thin films of CuO, NiO and UO3, among others12,13) . In these studies, the entire process could be conducted at room temperature in air. We expected that, by using the appropiate precursors this method could also be applied to making binary metal oxides. This would immensely broaden the scope of potential materials that could be deposited by our technique.
Herein, we report the use of a Pd/Ni heteronuclear polyketonate complex, PdNi(DBA)2, 1, (DBA = dibenzoylacetone) as a single source precursor for the photodeposition of Pd/Ni oxide thin films.
The Si wafers were obtained from WaferNet, San Diego, Ca. The Si(100) surface was used in these studies and the wafers were p-type silicon with tolerances and specifications as per SEMI Standard M1.1STD.5 cut to the approximate dimensions of 1cm x 1cm. Prior to use the wafers were cleaned successively with ether, methylene chloride, ethanol, aqueous HF (50:1) for 30 seconds and finally with deionized water. They were dried in an oven at 110oC and stored in glass containers.
The FT-IR spectra were obtained with 4 cm-1 resolution in a Perkin-Elmer 1605 FT-IR spectrophotometer. UV spectra were obtained in a Hewlett-Packard 8452-A diode-array spectrophotometer. SEM analysis were performed on a JEOL 5410 scanning electron microscope equipped with EDX spectrometer, in the Electronic Microscopy Laboratory, Departamento de Ingeniería Metalúrgica, Universidad de Santiago de Chile. Grazing incidence X-ray diffraction patterns were obtained using a Siemens D5000 X-ray diffractometer, Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University. The X-ray source was a CuKa (1.54Å ) beam. The film thickness was determined using a Leitz Laborlux 12 ME S with an interference attachment. X-ray photoelectron spectra were obtained using a (PHI) Physical Electronics double pass CMA (cylindrical minor analyses) at 0.85 eV resolution at the Surface Physics Laboratory, Department of Physics, Simon Fraser University. Elemental analyses were performed on a Perkin-Elmer 2400 CHN elemental analyzer at the Microanalysis Laboratory at Simon Fraser University.
For photodeposition experiments the irradiation source was a 200 W high pressure Hg-Xe lamp in a Photon Technologies Inc. housing equipped with condenser lenses and filtered through a 10 cm water filter with quartz optics..
Solvents were Merck (p.a. grade) and were distilled and dried before use. Benzoylacetone, sodium hydride, monoglyme, NiCl2 and Pd(II) nitrate were obtained from Aldrich and used as received.
Ligand Synthesis.
The ligand 1,5-diphenyl-1,3,5-pentanetrione (H2DBA) was prepared by the method of Miles, Harris and Hauser14) . This method involves the condensation of a 1,3-diketone (benzoylacetone) with an appropiate ester (methyl benzoate) using NaH in refluxing monoglyme. The triketone was characterized by FT-IR and mass spectrometry.
Synthesis of Ni(HDBA)2(H2O)2 :
To a solution containing H2DBA (3.3 mmol, 880 mg) and KOH (150 mg) in methanol (10 ml), was added NiCl2 (1.66 mmol, 396 mg) in water (5 ml). Immediately after mixing, a yellow green solid was formed. The mixture was left stirring for 30 min and after vaccum filtration the solid was washed several times with water and cold methanol, and then dried in a vacuum dessicator. The crude product was purified by recrystallization from ethanol to give Ni(HDBA)2(H2O)2 as a green yellowish powder (401 mg, 68 %). IR: (NaCl, cm-1) 1681.4 (m, unchelated C=O), 1521.5 (s), 1455.0 (s), 1396.3 (s) , Analysis: Calcd., C 65.31, H 4.84; Found., C 65.46, H 4.79.
Synthesis of PdNi(DBA)2(H2O)4 , 1:
To a solution of Ni(HDBA)2(H2O)2 (0.2 mmol, 125 mg) in methanol (200 ml) under nitrogen atmosphere, was added Pd(II) nitrate (0.2 mmol, 47 mg), after which the mixture was left under nitrogen, with stirring at room temperature for 8 h. After solvent evaporation under reduced pressure, a black shiny solid was obtained (137 mg). Recrystallization from ethanol produced fine needles of 1 (106 mg, 82 % yield). IR (NaCl, cm-1) 1594.2 (s), 1566.1 (s), 1517.9 (s). Analysis. Calcd: C 63.20, H 3.79; Found: C 63.29, H 3.67.
Preparation of amorphous thin films.
Thin films of the precursor complex were prepared by the following procedure: A silicon chip was placed on a spin coater and rotated at a speed of 1500 RPM. A portion (0.5 ml) of a solution of complex 1 in CHCl3 was dipensed onto the silicon chip and allowed to spread. The motor was then stopped and a thin film of the complex remained on the chip. The quality of the films was examined by optical microscopy and in some cases by SEM.
Photolysis of complex 1 as a film on Si surfaces.
All photolysis experiments were done following the same procedure. Here is the description of a typical experiment. A film of PdNi(DBA)2 was deposited on p-type Si(100) by spin-coating from a CHCl3 solution. This resulted in the formation of a smooth, uniform coating on the chip. The FT-IR spectrum of the starting film was first obtained. The chip was then placed on a brass sample holder in an optical bench equipped with an illumination system as described above. The 200 W Hg-Xe lamp was placed 40 cm from the film and a small cooling fan was used to keep the temperature of the sample below 30 oC during irradiation. After the IR spectrum showed no evidence of the starting material, the chip was rinsed several times first with hexane and then with dry acetone to remove any organic products remaining on the surface, prior to analysis.
The precursor complex 1, PdNi(DBA)2, was synthesized by reacting the mononuclear bis(1,5-diphenyl-1,3,5-pentanetrionato)niquel(II) complex with palladium(II) nitrate. Although both metal ions can form mononuclear complexes with the triketonate ligand, it has been reported that mononuclear bis(1,3,5-triketonate)palladium(II) complexes behave entirely differently from the analogous Ni(II) complexes, because they possess a trans configuration15) . Mononuclear Ni(II) complexes having a cis configuration are capable of binding a second metal ion, while clearly an inert trans isomer is not capable of forming a molecular binuclear complex.
Complex 1 can be spin-coated from chloroform onto a substrate such as borosilicate glass or a Si(100) chip, forming amorphous films showing no sign of crystallization on examination under an optical microscope up to 1000x magnification. In addition, 1 is highly photoreactive in solution upon irradiation with a mercury lamp (254 nm).
Irradiation of a thin film (~ 400 nm) of PdNi(DBA)2 under air atmosphere, led to the disappearance of the absorptions associated with the ligand, as shown by the FT-IR monitoring of the reaction. At the end of the photolysis there are no detectable absorptions in the infrared spectrum. These results suggest that the triketonate groups on the precursor are photodissociated on the surface forming volatile products which are readily desorbed from the surface. The morphology of the films was examined by SEM measurements. Figure 1 shows top view SEM micrographs of a film photodeposited on Si(100). This show the formation of a uniform film which consists of white grains with particle sizes around 100 nm or less, deposited on a smooth dark surface.
|Fig. 1. SEM Micrographs (top view) of a film produced by the irradiation for 3 h of a thin film (450 nm) of PdNi(DBA)2(H2O)4 on Si(100) substrate. a) 5K magnification; b) 10K magnification; c) 50K magnification.
EDAX analysis showed that both Pd and Ni were present in the film, and metal mapping indicated that both elements were reasonably evenly distributed throughout the film. EDS mapping also indicated that the white grains on the surface of the film were most likely NiO phases, while the dark smooth surface consists mainly of elemental Pd. This was confirmed by XRD measurements which showed signals due to elemental Pd at 2q of 40.2, 46.8, 68 and 82º 16). Small intensities peaks due to NiO at 2q of 37.2, 43.3 and 63º could also be distinguished from the XRD pattern17) . X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was carried out to examine the elemental composition of the film and the extent of C contamination (Table 1). The XPS results show that the ratio of Pd/Ni (1:17) present in the film surface does not reflect the stoichiometry in the starting compound. Generally, attempts to prepare mixed transition-metal films by CVD of single-source precursors have always resulted in fragmentation of the complexes so that the films contain metal ratios different from the precursors9,10,18) . Since temperature should not be a factor in our purely photochemical method, a possible explanation for the slightly higher Pd content found in the final film may have to do with the photoreactivity of the starting complex. Irradiation of this heteronuclear complex may preferentially generate in a primary photochemical process a volatile metal-containing intermediate, leaving one of the metals on the surface. In fact, we have found in our laboratory, that Pd-diketonates are far more reactive than Ni-diketonates when irradiated as solid films on glass substrates, the former producing elemental Pd films, while the latter forms NiO films. The large amount of carbon (52 %) detected on the surface of the film may be due to the presence of phenyl rings in the precursor, which often introduces carbon impurities in MOCVD of other metals8,19). However, Ar ion sputtering of the films for 3 min in the XPS experiments, indicates that the films contain carbon from the surface to the interface (Table 1).
Table 1. Atomic Purities of the Photodeposited Films Determined by XPS Analysis
Ar+ sputtering
This work has demonstrated that homogeneous Pd/Ni oxide films can be prepared by the photochemical deposition of Pd/Ni heteronuclear poliketonate complexes. To our knowledge, this is the first report on the use of single source precursors for the preparation of binary metal oxides films. This technique should in principle be extendable to heteronuclear complexes of various metal compositions so as to give a wide range of metal and oxide phases. Experiments under inert conditions are underway for the photodeposition of binary alloys films from single-source precursors.
We would like to thank FONDECYT, Chile (Project No. 1980317) and DGIP-UCV (Project No. 125.797) for financial support.
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B. Chadwick, T. Tann, M. Brungs and M. Gal, Sens. Actuators B 17, 215 (1994). [ Links ]
R.C. Hughes and W.K. Schubert, J. Appl. Phys., 71, 542 (1992). [ Links ]
S.C. Yan, H. Maeda, K. Kusakabe and S. Morooka, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 33, 616 (1994). [ Links ]
L. Huang, C.S. Chen, Z.H. He, D.K. Peng and G.Y. Meng, Thin Solid Films, 302, 98 (1997). [ Links ]
G.Y. Meng, L. Huang, M. Pan, C.S. Chen and D.K. Peng, Mater. Res. Bull, 32, 385 (1997). [ Links ]
L. Huang, H. Gong, D. Peng and G. Meng, Thin Solid Films, 345, 217 (1999). [ Links ]
- T.T. Kodas, M.J. Hampden-Smith, The Chemistry of Metal CVD; VCH, New York, 1994. [ Links ]
R.A. Fisher, M. Kleine, O. Lehmann and M. Stuke, Chem. Mater., 7, 1863 (1995). [ Links ]
P. Doppelt and T.H. Baum, Chem. Mater., 7, 2217 (1995). [ Links ]
F. Maury, L. Brandt and H.D. Kaesz, J. Organomet. Chem., 449, 159 (1993). [ Links ]
G.E. Buono-Core, M. Tejos, J. Lara, F. Aros and R.H. Hill, Mat. Res. Bull., 34, 14 (1999). [ Links ]
G.E. Buono-Core, M. Tejos, G. Alveal and R.H. Hill, J. Mat. Sci., 35, 4873 (2000). [ Links ]
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Editor: Administrator
Category: Kultur
Uploaded: 30 May 2016
Length: 0:24:58 (filler)
First broadcast: July 2, 2020, 11:10 a.m.
Random Aussies - Teamworth
Telling stories, one Aussie at a time
We all know that every man and woman has got their own story, and that every town has a tale ready to be told.
This notion is what sparked the concept behind Random Aussies, where we take to exploring the many unique cities and towns throughout Australia and learning a few things along the way.
With our trusty team and reliable Ford, we will be bringing you new content weekly, in the hopes that you'll follow us around via your computer or mobile device as we get to know the real Australia!


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When I think back to my first introduction to the mountains, I remember watching our mountain guide and wondering how he was so confident to lead all of us clients. Then I learned how he had grown up in the Alps and learned from various experienced mountain guides, and from his own experiences. Several years later, when I started immersing myself in the mountains I reflected on his mountain education and understood its merits.
In those early days, my excitement would easily overcome my knowledge and I knew I had to learn some mountain sense, otherwise I would not last long. Luckily for me, there were many courses available, and I jumped into these with enthusiasm.
Greg Hill sharing his mountain knowledge.
I took my Canadian avalanche course, a 7-day intensive, that sorrowfully ended in us being part of a rescue. A sad day that re-affirmed my need for more knowledge. This near miss taught me so much and made me vow to learn as much as I could. To keep myself safe as well as those I skied with.
I searched out ways that I could spend time with more experienced people. Sponging up their thoughts and skills as best I could. I can honestly say that "always ski from the top" told to me in a Swiss accent has saved my life countless times… plus many other tricks and techniques for traveling through hazardous mountain terrain. This knowledge and its value became very clear a few weeks after learning it.
I was out skiing solo in the mountains near Whistler. I had worked my way up and safely into the alpine and all seemed stable. As I neared the summit I was fatigued and ready to head down. I was still about 100 m below the summit but from where I was I could edge my way out and onto the face and head back to the car. Doing this would mean I was undercutting the top 100 m pitch but stability had looked good. As I wondered about this action, his wise words echoed in my head. Realizing what I was about to do, I toured up to the summit of Vantage peak. Easing onto the summit face I felt better knowing there was no snow hanging perilously above me. The second turn in I triggered the whole slope and watched a class 3 avalanche thunder to the valley floor. Looking down below my skis I realized how close I had come to having cut below this slope and had it drag me to the valley below.
"Somehow, somewhere I gathered enough wisdom from others, and as much knowledge from the mountains to be in a position where I am now a mentor," says Greg Hill.
Each of us learns differently and looks at the world in our own unique way, so my mentorship process had to have several aspects to it. It had to involve many different mentors so that I could create my own mountain sense. It also seemed that time spent taking the skills and I had learned and testing them in the mountains was as worthwhile. That the mountains could be as much of a mentor as the guides I was learning from. Without those words of advice from experienced people, I could not have gone out and learned even more from the mountains.
Once my base was solid enough, I spent as much time out and touring around as possible. Watchful and listening; the mountains taught me a lot. Being self-critical I tried to always analyze my actions and see if they were the appropriate ones. Even if nothing went wrong, I would constantly question my skin tracks, and wonder if my actions were the right ones. Mountains often give you false positives, where you think you did the right thing, but really you just got lucky. By examining my actions and discussing with my friends the education continued.
Many years later and I find myself on the other end of the stick. Somehow, somewhere I gathered enough wisdom from others, and as much knowledge from the mountains to be in a position where I am now a mentor. Not that my own learning is over, it never will be, but I have enough tricks and techniques that I can pass this on to others. Ideally giving them the tricks that keep them from making mistakes in the mountains.
All images ©Bruno Long Photography / Suunto


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Reparations offender and historical racial terrorist Carolyn Bryant, the primary culprit behind the lie that lead the murder of fourteen year old Emmett Till, has never expressed remorse for her actions. Born in 1934, the daughter of a racist plantation manager and a nurse, many are surprised to know that she is still alive and, reportedly, still living in the same area where the heinous race crime took place.
While reportedly in the minds of many African Americans, they (Carolyn Bryant, Roy Bryant [husband] and J. W. Milam [Roy's half brother]) will go down in history as the trio that got away, with the spirits of billions of denied to human rights while living African Americans now released from their divine tombs – and Emmett Till's spirit allegedly being among them, how many lives of whites will they demand be witnessed to to suffice for the restitution for their racial atrocities the generations of today's whites failed make?
"While the return of our ancestors' spirits to this realm could have been a celebration, had these – the descendants of those who dehumanized and racially terrorized our ancestors for centuries – taken responsibility and made restitution for their crimes, but instead (in their return) they are tasked with returning unto whites all the evil and vile works they committed against them; and, this retribution, according to the laws of the universe, will not be done without the due interest that has now been accrued for those race crimes."


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An 88-member women's skydiving team in Russia broke a world record this week when they completed a red, white and blue flower-formation dive, which, judging by how pretty it looks, was really, really, hard. It was so hard, in fact, that it took the Pearls of Russia three attempts because everyone in the group has to have a near-perfect jump for the formation to work. The previous record was held by a group of 84 German women who now have to deal with only being pretty hardcore, not the most hardcore.
Russian female skydivers set parachute record after falling in flower formation [NYDN]
Women Skydivers From Russia Break A World Record [The Mary Sue]


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Wolf River Resort and Marina is located just six miles southeast of Albany, Kentucky, at the end of Highway 738. It offers many diverse accommodations for the fisherman, houseboater, camper and water sportsman, or for vacationers who simply want to enjoy the beauty of Dale Hollow Lake and the hills of Kentucky and Tennessee. Houseboats are available for rent by the day, week, month or summer. Sizes vary and cater to family groups with water slides, diving platforms, sun decks, kitchen facilities, and as many as six bedrooms and two baths. Smaller boats are also available.
Pontoon Boats provide a delightful day in the sun for you and your family and/or friends. Picnic on the beautiful waters of Dale Hollow Lake or tie up along the shore. Either way its a great way to relax, fish or swim.
Cabins with two or three bedrooms, living room with fireplace, kitchen and porches are located throughout the resort. This can be a home for a wonderful summer long vacation or a weekend getaway. All cabins are equipped for light housekeeping, air conditioned, have cable TV hookups, and overlook Dale Hollow Lake.
Camping sites are located along the lake shore and have either full service hookups (water, sewer, electric, and cable TV) of without hookups for rustic camping. The lakefront picnic area contains tables and grills.
Motel accomodations overlook Dale Hollow Lake and each room opens at ground level. The motel is within walking distance of Dale Hollow Lake.
Mon - Sun
9am - 5pm
Mon - Sun
7am - 7pm


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CHICAGO (AP) -- University of Illinois trustees have agreed to a deal in which New York Yankees star Curtis Granderson will pay for most of a new baseball stadium at his alma mater, the University of Illinois-Chicago.
Trustees voted Wednesday to name the new stadium after Granderson, who announced in February that he will donate $5 million to the project. The total cost is projected to be $7 million
The open-air, brick-and-stone stadium will seat 1,200 and is expected to open in 2015. The plan calls for using the field for Flames games and events for Chicago Public Schools and youth organizations.


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At this core energy technology incubator, energy policy is created as renewable energy technologies and science move swiftly from white boards and white papers to testing, refinement and implementation.
The Vision
Mendocino Energy is located on the Mendocino coast, three plus hours north of San Francisco/Silicon Valley. On the waterfront of Fort Bragg, utilizing a portion of the now-defunct Georgia-Pacific Mill Site to innovate in best practices, cost-efficient, safe renewable and sustainable energy development – wind, wave, solar, bioremediation, green-ag/algae, smart grid and grid technologies, et al.
The process is collaborative in creating, identifying and engineering optimum, commercial-scale, sustainable, renewable energy solutions with acumen.
Start-ups, utility companies, universities (e.g. Precourt Institute for Energy at Stanford), EPRI, the federal government (FERC, DOE, DOI) and the world's greatest minds gathering at this fast-tracked, unique coming-together of a green work force and the U.S. government, creating responsible, safe renewable energy technologies to quickly identify best commercialization candidates and build-outs.
The campus is quickly constructed on healthy areas of the Mill Site as in the past, this waterfront, 400+ acre industry created contaminated areas where mushroom bioremediation is underway.
Determining best sitings for projects in solar thermal, wind turbines and mills, algae farming, bioremediation; taking the important first steps towards establishing U.S. leadership in renewable energy and the global green economy.


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Professional product at a sensible price.
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Download fully functional demo first, then buy.
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** RAID option maybe required
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A full demo can be downloaded and installed for evaluation and will display all files that are on the media, but the demo will not actually copy any recoverable files to the hard drive. Digital photos are displayed as a picture, other files are displayed as a hexadecimal dump. Once happy that the product will work as required, you may purchase on line. To get an idea of how the program works, please look at User Manual.
In many respects CnW Recovery, data software is a toolbox to enable lost, deleted and corrupted data and images to be recovered and restored. What will it do? for more details. There are simple tools to do a recovery, and other tools to allow any restoration to be customized to try and overcome different failure modes. Comprehensive logs will aid any forensic investigator recovering data from a damaged disk, and these include MD5 hashing of all files, as well as a log of sector values for the start of each file restored. Slack and unallocated data may also be extracted and saved. Even some fragmented files may be reconstructed from data carving scan.
This Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8 data recovery software product is used daily as part of CnW data services. It can be purchased online and can be used to recover camera memory chips, CD-ROMs, ISO9660, and UDF, and also FAT16, FAT32 hard disk drives. There is full support for NTFS, included compression, and HFS+ (Mac) drives, XFS and Reiser FS.
Disks and CDs fail in many ways. Some are predictable, but many fail for obscure reasons. Due to this, there is no single approach to data recovery that works for all types of failure. CnW data recovery software therefore has many different tools built into the program to assist in different methods of examining the media and extracting files in the most useful way. Sometimes it may be necessary to use several different approaches to obtain as many files as possible. For common failures, the software tries to assist as much as possible. With many formats it will do an initial analysis of the disk to recommend the best way forward. At other times, the user can enter, or manually change critical parameters and work, sometimes by trial and error, to restore a large percentage of the original files. Built in analysis routines assist at every stage.
It is probably impossible to generate a program to automatically recover all types of data corruption and failure, but CnW Recovery gives many different options that can be tried. The wizard will follow many standard approaches, and the manual has case studies of different methods that can be taken for different types of failure - and this list grows on a regular basis, as do built in tools and documentation to assist.
CnW forensic software has been designed with forensic investigation and forensic data recovery as an important application. There are many logs to aid investigation and help analyze data that has been recovered from the file system, or unallocated areas of the disk. The logs can be sorted, exported and generally reviewed. The logs also contain lists of errors encountered on the disk, including logical problems that could stop a disk being read by the native operating system. For case examination, an XML based report can be generated to form the basis forensic report report, and will assist in continuity of evidence. All reports are being enhanced and developed on a continuous basis. Another forensic tool is the ability to do multiple, simultaneous string searches on a disk image, or within recovered files. Encase compatible E01 files can be read (with forensic option).
Most video camera record data on a memory chip, but this video is not recorded in sequence. When a video is deleted (probably by mistake) the location of the video sections is typically lost. CnW Recovery software performs complex recovery routines to recover videos that very few software programs can. A very popular camera is the GoPro Hero range.
Online purchase with PayPal. Once purchased the data recovery software license code will be e-mailed within minutes of payment being received. Free updates included with every purchase (30 day license excepted).
Browse this web site for more information about CnW Recovery. If you have any queries or would like to ask CnW Recovery any questions, please e-mail us at email@example.com. To see some customer feedback click here.
At CnW Recovery, the customer's data always comes first.
CnW Recovery Developments Ltd, 14 King Henry's Road, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1BT UK
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Last updated June 2020


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Monday, March 9, 2009
"Extra!" Art
The original art from Amazing Spider-Man: Extra! #2 is up for sale at Splash Page Art. Also, starting now, original art purchases come with a signed 11 x 17 Mythos Collection Cover Print.
Posted by Paolo Rivera at 9:20:00 PM
Labels: Sequential, Spider-Man
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Infusion Business Software - Gold Course
23 Oct 2020 - 23 Oct 2020 , 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Infusion GOLD Training
The GOLD Training course is designed for administration staff, business owners and managers. The course builds on the processing of transactions and information in the previous BRONZE and SILVER courses.
The course covers the key Administration, Cashbook and Financials sections of the software providing users with the knowledge to read and understand the key financial reports.
The course is a practical course covering a wide range of "Practical What if?" situations.
In addition to the Cashbook / Financials, the course also covers advanced set up and configuration of the system together with Stocktake, Management and Reporting.
The aim of the course is to teach staff, owners and managers how to prepare and review timely monthly financial and Management Reports and send the completed data to the accountant at the end of the year.
Understanding the Chart of Accounts
Transaction Journals
Budget Maintenance and Reporting
Cash Flow Forecasting
Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet Reporting
Sending Data to the Accountant
Payments Receipts and Bank Transfers
POS Cash up Balancing and Variances
Customer Payments and Daily Banking
Direct Credits
Downloading Transactions from the Bank
Bank Reconciliation
GST Reconciliation
Preparing and processing regular rolling stocktakes
Year End Stocktake
Bin Locations
Investigation of Product Variances
Stocktake Scanning to improve accuracy and efficiency
Advanced Administration
System Reports
Reindex Data Files
Import Routines
Other Functions including Audit Trail
Layout Changes and Basic Report Writer
Manage Menu Groups
Staff Security Management
Month and Year End Processing
Processing and Reporting for the End of each Month
Providing your accountant with timely accurate information
System Defaults and Settings
Defaults, Settings and Configuration Menus - Turning Features and Functions On and Off.
Pricing & Venue
Infusion Business Software Office - Tower Junction


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this is a closeup of the block. See how the colors are arranged. ? Was hard to get all the blocks correct. One was not but it's in the quilt anyway. You can see how I quilted it.. m Also in the second picture how different the blocks are.
Finally I think I have the pictures right thanks to Kim. It seems that I wasn't able to move the pictures around like they should have been. It all froze up on me. Next time I'm going to move the pictures first and then do the writing. Live and learn and this is an ongoing learning job.
Just a personal note to Anne in Texas. Thanks for the picture Christmas card. It's been neat learning to know your Mom and her blog. I know that a number of my relatives so is a good way to keep in touch.
My son and family got home last night so the kids are all back and hopefully have a little time to relax before going back to work.
Hope I can get back before New Years but if not Hope all have a Happy and safe New Years. It will be quiet in Boonsboro. Thanks to all for the Christmas greetings. I love the comments


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NEW YORK, N.Y. (March 30, 2014) – Today is the day thousands of aspiring young soccer players around the nation have been waiting for. Online registration is now open for Sueño MLS 2014 – Presented by Allstate, the premier nationally-televised search for the best undiscovered soccer talent in North America.
Hopefuls are now able to register at www.SuenoMLS.com for an opportunity to participate in one of the three open tryouts across the United States. The competition will be chronicled in a unique "reality show within a show" format by Univision Network's popular weekly sports entertainment program, República Deportiva (Sports Republic). Co-hosted by popular sportscasters Fernando Fiore, Félix Fernández and Lindsay Casinelli, República Deportiva airs every Sunday.
Now in its eighth year, Sueño MLS 2014 – Presented by Allstate will be staged by three Major League Soccer teams, including first-time host New York Red Bulls, as well as returning hosts Colorado Rapids and LA Galaxy. Up to 500 tryout spots will be made available in each city on a first-come, first-serve basis. In past years, spots have filled up in only a few hours following the start of registration. A waiting list will be available once all the spots have been filled.
In each city, field players will be battling for one of five invitations to a week-long trial with their respective youth development host club and a trip to the exciting five-day National Finals in the greater Los Angeles area that will be hosted by Sueño MLS Ambassador and Colombian soccer great, Carlos "El Pibe" Valderrama. The finals will include training sessions, scrimmages, guest celebrity scouts and an opportunity to meet some of the League's biggest stars. The Sueño MLS 2014 – Presented by Allstate winner will be crowned on Sunday, May 18, live on República Deportiva (see calendar below for more information).
In addition, the Allstate "Good Hands®" top goalkeeper award - El Portero Allstate - will be presented for the fourth consecutive year. One goalkeeper at each of the three local tryouts will be selected as a local goalkeeper finalist and will compete in the National Finals for the opportunity to be named El Portero Allstate. El Portero Allstate will be selected in conjunction with the winner of Sueño MLS 2014 – Presented by Allstate, and will be mentored by Mexican goalkeeping legend Martin "El Pulpo" Zuñiga.
Both winners will be invited to join a youth-level team at the MLS club represented at the national finals.
"Sueño MLS is such an inspiring program because it's about giving young players the opportunity to achieve their soccer dreams," said Pam Hollander, senior director of marketing for Allstate Insurance Company. "Allstate is proud to support Sueño MLS and wishes all the participants the best of luck on the field, and particularly those vying for El Portero Allstate."
Since its inception in 2007, Sueño MLS has given more than 12,000 talented young athletes an opportunity to showcase their skills and impress scouts. The inaugural winner, forward Jorge Villafaña (formerly Jorge Flores), of Anaheim, Calif., is now in his eighth season in MLS, currently with the Portland Timbers. The 2008 FC Dallas Sueño MLS winner, Gabriel Funes Mori, played with the FC Dallas Juniors U-18 team before moving to Argentina's legendary team River Plate before being transferred to SL Benfica in Portugal. Many participants have gone on to play for MLS academy teams and professionally around the world. Last year's winner, 14 year-old Alexander Soto, was called up in 2013 to the United States U-15 national team camp.
MLS partners participating in Sueño MLS 2014 – Presented by Allstate include adidas, Gatorade, Volkswagen and Wells Fargo.
Sueño MLS 2013 – Presented by Allstate Timeline:
March 30: Live announcement on Univision Network's República Deportiva
April 19-20: Local market tryouts in the Denver area, hosted by Colorado Rapids
April 26-27: Local market tryouts in Los Angeles area, hosted by LA Galaxy
May 3-4: Local market tryouts in New York area, hosted by New York Red Bulls
May 13-18: National Finals at the StubHub Center in the Los Angeles area
May 18: Live announcement of winner on República Deportiva
Eligible players must be males between the ages of 14 and 18 years old (born between January 1, 1997 – April 18, 2000) with appropriate identification and have retained their amateur status. Current collegiate student-athletes will not be permitted to attend the National Finals in Carson, Calif. Sueño MLS participants will be responsible for all personal expenses associated with the local market tryout, including travel to local tryouts, lodging, food, soccer equipment (shoes, training gear, etc.), etc. Program sponsors will cover all expenses for eighteen (18) participants selected to attend the National Finals in Carson, Calif. For more information, please visit www.SuenoMLS.com. Participation in the event is free. Players may not register for more than one city.


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Welcome to the VCU
Department of History Site
It is a privilege to welcome you to the VCU Department of History, located in the midst of historic Richmond, Virginia. The department's two dozen talented teachers and scholars offer diverse courses on the human making of our world. VCU History majors investigate the past across boundaries of time and place and apply their knowledge and skills in capstone courses... Read More.
News & Events
June 26, 2020
A Day in The Life: Documentary Editing
June 24, 2020


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Miley Cyrus dropped some big news on social media Wednesday afternoon, saying she will hold the title of key adviser for the show's upcoming season.
"Lickin @xtina buttonz!" Cyrus shared on both Instagram and Facebook while on the set of NBC's popular series. "@nbcthevoice #keyadviser #season10."
In her role, the "We Can't Stop" singer will help mentor contestants from Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Adam Levine and Pharrell Williams' respective teams. In past seasons, the key adviser has also helped contestants during the competitive knockout rounds.
U.S. & World
Taylor Swift, Rihanna and Chris Martin have all held the title in recent seasons. "When Miley speaks everyone pays attention. Our artists are very lucky to have the benefit of her instincts and wisdom," Paul Telegdy, NBC Entertainment president, alternative and late night programming, said in a statement, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
PHOTOS: Singers performing live
Rumors have also been circulating that Gwen Stefani could be returning to the series in some capacity for Season 10.
Just last month, NBC presidents Bob Greenblatt and Paul Telegdy hinted that the lead singer of No Doubt wouldn't be gone for too long. When asked if she could serve as an adviser for one of the coaches, Greenblatt responded with a "maybe."
"We're announcing those advisers in the next couple of weeks but she's very close to the show," he said. Telegdy added, "We'd love to see Gwen back. She's a great friend of this network, we love her, the audience loves her, lots of people love her."
Season 10 of "The Voice" returns Monday, Feb. 29 at 8 p.m. only on NBC.
(E!, NBC and NBC Owned Television Stations are part of the NBCUniversal family)


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Ask a sample report, please email to:
Report Summary
The Global And China Optical Polyester Film Deep Market Research Report 2017 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Optical Polyester Film industry.
Firstly, the report provides a basic overview of the industry including definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain structure. The Optical Polyester Film market analysis is provided for the international market including development history, competitive landscape analysis, and major regions' development status.
Secondly, development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures. This report also states import/export, supply and consumption figures as well as cost, price, revenue and gross margin by regions (United States, EU, China and Japan), and other regions can be added.
Then, the report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification, capacity, production, price, cost, revenue and contact information. Upstream raw materials, equipment and downstream consumers analysis is also carried out. What's more, the Optical Polyester Film industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed.
Finally, the feasibility of new investment projects is assessed, and overall research conclusions are offered.
This report studies Optical Polyester Film in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, covering
Mitsubishi Polyester Film
Teijin Limited
Kolon Industries
Hefei Lucky Science& Technology Industry Company Ltd.
Market Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Optical Polyester Film in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), like
North America
Southeast Asia
Split by Product Types, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into
Split by applications, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Optical Polyester Film in each application, can be divided into
Consumer Electronics
In a word, the report provides major statistics on the state of the industry and is a valuable source of guidance and direction for companies and individuals interested in the market.
Ask a sample or any question, please email to:
email@example.com or email@example.com
Key Topics Covered:
Chapter One Industry Overview of Optical Polyester Film. To describe Optical Polyester Film Definition, Classification, Applications, Industry Chain Structure, market overview, Industry Policy Analysis, Industry News Analysis;
Chapter Two Top Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Optical Polyester Film. To analyze Raw Material, Equipment, Labor, Manufacturing and other Cost Structure Analysis and Manufacturing Process Analysis of Optical Polyester Film
Chapter Three Technical Data and Top Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Optical Polyester Film.To show Capacity ,Commercial Production Date, Manufacturing Plants Distribution, R&D Status and Technology Source, Raw Materials Sources of Global Optical Polyester Film Top Manufacturers in 2015
Chapter Four To Show Capacity, Production and Revenue Analysis of Optical Polyester Film by Regions, by Types and by Manufacturers from 2011 to 2016.
Chapter Five To Analysis Price, Cost, Gross and Gross Margin Analysis of Optical Polyester Film by Regions, by Types and by Manufacturers from 2011 to 2016.
Chapter Six To Analysis Consumption Volume, Consumption Value and Sale Price Analysis of Optical Polyester Film by Regions, by Types and by Applications from 2011 to 2016.
Chapter Seven Supply, Import, Export and Consumption Analysis of Optical Polyester Film. To Analysis Global and Key Country, with Capacity, Production, Price, Cost, Revenue, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption from 2011 to 2016
Chapter Eight Major Manufacturers Analysis of Optical Polyester Film. To analyze the top manufacturers of Optical Polyester Film, with Capacity, Sales, Price, Cost, Gross and Revenue;
Chapter Nine Marketing Trader or Distributor Analysis of Optical Polyester Film
Chapter Ten Industry Chain Analysis of Optical Polyester Film. Including Upstream Major Raw Materials Suppliers, Major Equipment Suppliers, Downstream Major Consumers, Supply Chain Relationship Analysis of Optical Polyester Film
Chapter Eleven Development Trend of Analysis of Optical Polyester Film. To Analysis Global and Key Country market forecast, by regions, by type and by application, with Consumption Value and Consumption revenue, Growth Rate, Supply, Import, Export and Consumption from 2017 to 2021
Chapter Twelve New Project Investment Feasibility Analysis of Optical Polyester Film
Chapter Thirteen Conclusion of the Global Optical Polyester Film Industry 2017 Market Report
Note:We also offer Countries/Regions or Customized Versions Respectively
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Brian Taylor
Professor & Chair, DeparTment of Art & Art History
(408) 924-4322
Master of Fine Arts in Photography and Art History, University of New Mexico, NM
Master of Arts in Art Education, Stanford University, CA
Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts, University of California-San Diego, CA
Brian Taylor was born in Tucson, Arizona. He received his BA Degree in Visual Arts from the University of California-San Diego, an MA from Stanford University, and his MFA from the University of New Mexico. Taylor is known for his innovative explorations of alternative photographic processes including historic non-silver printing techniques, mixed media, and hand made books.
Brian has been a recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Polaroid Corporation. His work has been exhibited nationally and abroad in numerous solo and group shows and is included in the permanent collections of the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and the International Museum of Photography at the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. His work has been published in American Photographer, Photo Asia, and most recently, Exploring Color Photography.


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Late Night Ranting. (Should be constructing next paper.)
by, 09-15-2017 at 03:48 PM (14198 Views)
normally at this time of the night, I'm asleep but it's alluding me on this day. I'm five days from my next paper being due and I've reached a crossroad. I think my muses have finally quit as I struggle to compose my latest assignment. Instead, I'm sitting at my desktop whom I call beastly, typing this out. I am procrastinating but I can not bring myself to care at this precise moment. I am on vacation for the next couple of days from work, (holiday planning has gone wrong) except it has become a staycation instead.
^ I feel this has become my life, I do not abhor the idea of being glued to my desktop for the next few days, I simply wish my muse would return and grant me the peace of mind I desperately seek. I have made it a goal to receive high marks in this class but I feel that may not happen if I do not put 100 percent into the task assigned. Right now the sound of silence plays in the background as I try and calm my racing mind.
Writing posts for the games I am in here helps me center so the urge to write something other than whats expected.


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Continuing Education Courses for Insurance Professionals
The Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management
Saint Joseph's University, Philadelphia
The Haub School of Business has earned recognition as one of the nation's outstanding business schools by The Princeton Review. Haub School of Business is accredited by AACSB – International, higher education's most prestigious and rigorous accrediting body in business, stressing academic excellence and a commitment to continuous improvement.
The Continuing Education Program brings together local leaders in the field of insurance to provide engaging and relevant insurance continuing education for insurance professionals. We have set ourselves apart by offering uniquely targeted content in half-day courses, allowing insurance professionals to fulfill their continuing education requirements in a convenient way.
Continuing Education Credits will be filed for PA, NJ, and DE Resident Licenses only. We will not be able to award CE credits for those non-resident license holders. However, if you are interested in the topic for professional development and enrichment, you are welcome to attend for non-credit.
Cost / Payment / Registration
For those receiving CE credits – the cost of credit is included with registration. Payment by credit card through a secure site can be accessed through the registration page.
Refund Policy
We must receive written notification, either in letter or email form, of your intention to withdraw your application from an educational offering at least five (5) days prior to the date of that offering for a refund to be issued. A non-refundable processing fee of $20.00 will be deducted from all credits/refunds and requests for class changes. Please click here to access this form.
The classes will be conducted at:
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Philadelphia, PA 19131
(SE Corner of 54th Street and City Avenue)
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The Maguire Academy of Insurance and Risk Management hrough the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph's University is an approved provider for Continuing Education Credits (CEs) for PA, NJ, and DE Professionals, and Pre-Licensing Certification for PA Professionals.


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Leed's Fun Gifts
Sort By:
The ultimate goal of most marketing campaigns is to advertise your brand name and when you choose to market your company with Leed's fun gifts you give a playful and engaging product that recipients are sure to enjoy. From tricky puzzles to stress relieving building blocks, these products are sure to impress any target audience. When you give your clients an interactive gift, you give a product that they will not only keep on their desk, but you give something that they will pick up periodically throughout the day, week and year. While any product or gift can demonstrate your appreciation for your employees, when you give fun gifts from Leed's, you take your acknowledgment a step beyond the typical "thank you." A custom game gives your employees a momentary distraction from the daily grind and positive reminder of your business.


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MWC 15 Special
While Samsung's latest hero and focus device at the current Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is the company's new Note 8.0, Samsung is also showing its new HomeSync media hub solution which plays - well, as expected - quite nice with Samsung's own Galaxy smartphones. HomeSync, which runs on Android Jelly Bean, comes with a 1 TB drive that allows users to sync with multiple devices (from phones to tablets to PCs) and providing a shared and private storage space for all kind of content. It supports eight separate accounts to cover a whole family, and allows each user to upload and download content from multiple devices and instantly share with other family members.
While the Samsung HomeSync isn't a Google TV according to Google's specifications, it's nevertheless also running Android (in an even later version than Google's own Google TV) which allows to download apps, games, movies, TV shows and streaming content into the living room. In terms of apps, HomeSync also features NFC and therefore it connects to NFC compatible Samsung smartphones. This means that users don't have to download all the favorite apps to the Samsung HomeSync again but HomeSync recognizes which apps are installed on the smartphone and automatically downlod these apps to the box itself - straight from Google's Play Market.
Last but not least, HomeSync features a mirror mode which allows to display Galaxy screens on the family home TV; and while it doesn't come with a dedicated hardware remote control, it's controlled from any compatible Android smartphone - via WiFi for sure.
HomeSync will be available from April 2013 in select countries and continue to expand globally.
Cheers ~ Arne
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Republicans to hold Walker recall anniversary rally
Republican governor survived recall election on June 5, 2012
Wisconsin Republicans plan to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Gov. Scott Walker's victory in the historic recall election with a rally Wednesday evening in Pewaukee.
The "Moving Wisconsin Forward" rally will start at 7 p.m. at the County Springs Hotel. The doors will open at 6:15 p.m. Walker will speak at the rally, along with Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who also survived the recall.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin is staging the rally, describing it in a news release as a chance to "talk about where we've been and where we're headed as a state."
Walker won the June 5, 2012, recall election by nearly seven points over his Democratic challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. Walker and Barrett had first squared off in the November 2010 election for governor, which Walker won by almost six points.
Kleefisch ran as a separate candidate in the recall election, defeating her Democratic opponent, Mahlon Mitchell, president of the Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin, the state's firefighters union.
The recall election capped a bitter, nearly year and a half-long fight over Walker's signature law, which stripped most public workers of their collective bargaining rights. The collective bargaining battle gripped the state, and much of the nation, for weeks as thousands of angry protesters flocked to the Capitol and Senate Democrats fled the state in an unsuccessful attempt to block the law's passage.
The collective bargaining saga also saw a series of recall elections for state senators -- several Republicans who voted for the law, and some Democrats who left the state in the effort to block it. Democrats succeeded in winning control of the state Senate through the recalls, only to lose control again in the November 2012 election.
Since the collective bargaining battle and his recall victory, Walker has developed a following among conservatives nationally. He frequently speaks to conservative gatherings around the country, and is writing a book about his experiences.
Walker is often mentioned as a possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate, but he downplayed that speculation in an interview Sunday with "UpFront" host Mike Gousha.
"In my case, I really haven't seriously thought about it," Walker told Gousha. "Everybody else seems to be thinking about it for me."


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Left Out in Turkey
"In Turkey we have no minorities," the leading official in a poor district in one of the poorest provinces of eastern Turkey told me in April. The official was in his late twenties; he had studied public administration at a Turkish university, then received training in Ankara and spent a few months at a language institute in England's West Country. He enthusiastically practiced his English on me. There was not much use for it in his district, where most people speak one of two Kurdish tongues, Kirmanji or Zaza, and many of the old people do not know Turkish.
The Kirmanji speakers in the district are Sunni Kurds, of which there are at least 10 million in Turkey. The Zaza speakers are members of Turkey's roughly 12-million-strong Alevi community, heterodox Shiites of Turkmen and Kurdish lineage. Neither of these groups, the official went on, should be called a minority; that would imply that there is discrimination against them, which is not the case. He told me this with the assurance of someone who knows that he, and his view of the world, enjoy the sanction of a large and powerful state. You can find young men like him throughout Turkey sitting in government offices, where a cast of the death mask of Kemal Atatürk, the republic's founder, is hanging on the wall behind them.
The Turkish Republic's attitude toward minorities only makes sense if you have an idea of the contribution that the nationalism of those minorities made to the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Starting in the eighteenth century, Europe's Christian powers assumed the role of protectors of their coreligionists in the empire. By the nineteenth century, they were promoting nationalist movements among them and protecting the newly independent states that had been created from former Ottoman territories, such as Greece, Serbia, and Romania. The process of making new nations was lethal for the empire and very often for those Muslims who were caught up in it; millions of Muslims were forced out of those newly independent states (besides the new autonomous territory of Bulgaria) and fled to Anatolia, the empire's heartland. By the eve of World War I, Anatolia had become a refuge for dispossessed Muslims from the Bal- kans and from the Caucasian territories that Russia had won during the Russian–Ottoman War of 1877–1878.
But Anatolia also had large non-Muslim minorities, including the Orthodox Greeks and mostly Gregorian Christian Armenians. These minorities looked to outside Christian powers for protection, especially to Greece (in the case of the Greek Orthodox) and Russia (in the case of the Armenians). Many of them were uneasy about the Ottoman decision during World War I to side with Germany against their own protectors, while the Ottomans viewed them as potential fifth columnists.
In 1915, following severe military defeat at the hands of the Russians and an Armenian uprising in the eastern city of Van, the Ottomans ordered the deportation of Armenians from Anatolia. Well over one million are thought to…
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100 Days Of Scouting: Day #78stevejb68 on April 26, 2011 in Cub Scout No Comments »
I went to Cub Scout Pack 68's pack meeting tonight. At least, I thought it was a pack meeting night. You could say it was more of a den meeting involving the whole pack.
The pack meets at the meeting room at the city firehall. Two volunteer firemen were there to give the Cub Scouts a tour of the firehall and show them the various fire trucks. The boys' attention spans were short tonight so we quickly moved from one truck to the next. The tour ended with a chance for the boys to sit in a couple of the trucks. They really enjoyed that.
The second part of the meeting paired the boys were their fathers (or one of the fathers if their own was not able to make it.) The groups were given uncooked spaghetti and large marshmallows and told to create towers. It was like playing with a cheap tinker toy set. The dad's help the boys to understand the need for diagonal bracing to create stronger "structures". Some teams created tall towers while others creates strong structures that could carry nearly a pound of rocks before collapsing.
To tell the truth, I think the dads had just as much fun as the Cub Scouts.


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How do I determine how much of physical memory is NOT being used on an AIX machine? Yes, a "bootinfo -r" tells me how much is physically available. And an "ipcs -a" shows me how much of shared memory is being used by the databases on it. I suppose I can add up values from v$sesstat to determine PGA areas (for dedicated server) as well. All that is a given.
But how do I tell how much is not being used at the moment? I know that a "vmstat 1" doesn't tell you that either. The FRE column is not indicative of free memory.


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Have hotel rewards points? Donate them to military heroes
Program lets military members, families relieve stress through trips
If you're into making charitable contributions during the holidays and happen to have lots of hotel rewards points, you may want to consider donating them to military veterans.
Army Spc. Tim Hall and his father visited Baltimore after he was awarded a Purple Heart for his service overseas. Hall, 23, a native of Hawthorne, Nev., had both of his legs amputated in June 2010 after being injured by a mortar attack in Afghanistan, according to the website homesforourtroops.org.
Hall and his father stayed at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel for free using a program called Hotels for Heroes in which anyone can donate their hotel rewards points to be used by injured or ill military members and their families.
"The fact that these folks sacrifice so much and give up so much to protect us – it's just a great initiative to get behind," said Bob Allen of the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel.
By all accounts, Hall and his father had a great time in Baltimore.
"The city donated a harbor pass, and they went and enjoyed all of the attractions around the city. They enjoyed a speed boat tour of the harbor, and they enjoyed a wonderful day down at Camden Yards when the Orioles played the Nationals," Allen said, showing off photos of Hall and his father getting to meet some team members on the field.
Military members get to use the points through a nonprofit group called the Fisher House, and they can book a stay at any hotel worldwide.
Rob Bailey said he knows the value of the program. As a Department of Defense employee, he's getting ready to deploy as a civilian to Afghanistan, and he works closely with the military.
"It's an opportunity to help folks in dire times -- in stressful times -- to take some stress off their shoulders so they can stay somewhere comfortably while their family member is healing," Bailey said.
He said he is donating his points to the program and is encouraging others to do the same.
"They'll be contributing to that military member's healing and to that military member's family's lifestyle and improvement," Allen said.
People who have points can donate them online or contact their hotel rewards program over the phone.