text:
The most popular historic home here in the Appalachian region is probably Biltmore House, the palatial Gilded Age mansion of George Washington Vanderbilt II in Asheville, NC. Some readers will be surprised that I qualified that statement with the word "probably." In terms of visitation, no historic house museum in Appalachia comes close. In fact, few historic homes in the entire country could compete with Biltmore's annual numbers, although offhand I'd guess that Mount Vernon and Monticello welcome more visitors. The reason I hedged is not because its popularity as a destination is in doubt, but because I'm not sure whether I'd consider it Biltmore a "historic house museum." It's difficult for me to associate Biltmore Estate with other historic sites.
Strictly speaking, I realize this seems a little ludicrous. It's a house, it's historic (or old, at least), and it's a museum. What's my problem here?
Consider the reasons why people visit Biltmore and what they get out of it. If we were to speak with guests as they stood in line to buy their tickets, how many of them would tell us that they're about to shell out money to learn about the past? I'd say it would be very few indeed.
Or perhaps we might ask them if they came to Biltmore to learn about its first resident, the man responsible for its construction. Here, too, I think affirmative answers would be few and far between. People go to Mount Vernon, Monticello, the Hermitage, and the Lincoln Home because of their former occupants, but I don't think this is the case with Biltmore. Quite a few Americans will probably recognize the name "Vanderbilt," but not George Washington Vanderbilt II in particular.
In fact, I think most Biltmore visitors would be hard pressed to identify any salient facts about Biltmore's first owner, or to name any notable accomplishments of his other than the fact that he built himself an awesome pad. An introverted younger sibling, George wasn't responsible for running the family's business affairs. Instead, he spent most of his free time (presumably he had a great deal of it) cultivating his own personal intellectual interests. A brief bio on Wikipedia notes that he was fluent in a number of foreign languages and managed some family property for a while; other than that, he "inherited $1 million from his grandfather and received another million on his 21st birthday from his father. Upon his father's death, he inherited $5 million more, as well as the income from a $5 million trust fund." Not a bad gig if you can get it, but it won't lead generations of children to memorize your speeches for their second grade recitals.
My point here is not to belittle G.W. Vanderbilt II, but to point out that neither a regard for history nor a familiarity with Biltmore's original occupant will explain the estate's astronomical attendance numbers. Instead, I submit that the overwhelming majority of visitors to Biltmore are exercising the same impulse that makes people watch TV shows where opulent houses are exposed to the cameras and to buy magazines with photographs of lavish interiors. They go there because want to see how the fabulously rich once lived, to vicariously experience what it must have been like to enjoy untold wealth in an age of elegance and opulence, and to appreciate majesty and beauty. Having talked to people who enjoy visiting Biltmore, and having visited myself on a number of occasions, I think most people go there just because they want to ooh and aah.
In and of itself, this is no big deal. Historic sites aren't necessarily any less historic just because visitors patronize them for reasons that have nothing to do with history. Lots of folks visit national historical parks for the fresh air, the hiking, and so on. The difference is this: What I've seen of interpretation during my visits to Biltmore, and what I've seen of the estate's promotional material, leads me to believe that oohing and aahing is pretty much all you're supposed to get out of the experience.
Now, before we rush to denounce this "lifestyles of the rich and famous" approach to historic interpretation, and to ask ourselves whether it constitutes historic interpretation at all, let me pose a consideration about historic house museums in general.
Perhaps historic house sites are inherently deceptive, in that they inadvertently perpetuate a very common and romanticized view of the past that I call the "frilly notion of history." When people think about how great it must have been to live in an earlier age, it's usually because they have a myopic view of what living in that earlier age was actually like. Many people have spoken to me about the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with a sort of wistful attitude, longing for the days when well-mannered ladies and gentlemen lived in gorgeous houses, wore frilly dresses, and danced the quadrille.
And yet the world of mansions, frilly gowns, and quadrilles wasn't necessarily how "people lived back then." That was how the affluent lived "back then." It reflects only a slice of human experience from the period in question. In the pre-modern world, most people's lives were anything but mannered and frilly.
Historic house museums, I think, can unwittingly perpetuate this notion of a comfy, genteel past, although it happens through no fault at all of the people who manage and interpret these sites. It's simply a by-product of the differential vagaries of time. The houses that last 150 or 200 years and transform into museums are generally the homes of the wealthy or notable. Places where ordinary schmoes lived are harder to come by; they get torn down, renovated beyond recognition, or cannibalized for building materials to make the homes of later ordinary schmoes. Thus when you visit some historic house, it was probably the home of someone who was comparatively well off.
Lest you think I'm knocking historic house museums, let me note that I spent a year of my life running one. It was pretty small as far as historic house museums go—just three rooms, a garret, and a kitchen joined to the main residence by a dogtrot—but it was pretty nice for the time and place of its construction. The occupant had been an officer in the militia, a statesman, and one of the largest slaveholders in his county. When visitors remarked that the house seemed awfully small, I reminded them that contemporaries of its original owner would have found it quite comfortable.
At the really big house museums, the discrepancy between what visitors see and how most people of the period lived is even greater. Most Revolutionary Virginians didn't live at places like Monticello, just as most Tennesseans of the Jacksonian era couldn't dream of living at a mansion like the Hermitage. We cherish these places because we're lucky that they've lasted to the present day and because of the remarkable men who inhabited them. They're worthy of our appreciation not because they're typical residences of typical people, but precisely because they and their owners were very special indeed.
So this brings us back to the question of whether visitors to historic house museums are getting a skewed view of the past. I suppose they are, but that's also true of visitors to any public history institution. No site can ever hope to encompass an entire era or place. People who restrict their heritage tourism to one type of site or field of interest—battlefields, for instance—will invariably miss out on many other aspects of historical interpretation. Perhaps people who visit Biltmore in order to vicariously experience the life of a Gilded Age millionaire are not so different from those who visit battlegrounds to vicariously live the experiences of common men and boys who left their mark on history with bombs and bullets rather than bricks.


text: Advertisement Advertisement Sun Magazine Readers' Choice Awards Mar 21, 2014 at 11:34 AM These aren't the critics' picks. No, these are the people's choices. We invited Sun readers to nominate their favorite restaurants, stores and more on baltimoresun.com. Then, based primarily on your suggestions, we presented online ballots in 50 contests. Thousands of you responded to support your favorites in categories spanning Food & Drink, Personalities, Shopping, Services and Arts & Attractions. The result: the inaugural edition of the Sun Magazine Readers' Choice Awards. Advertisement Advertisement

subset: commoncrawl


text:
I know most of my readers (all 2 of you) will probably stare blankly at me over this topic, (I guess this is mostly for the search engines) but IE continues to piss me off, and I need to tell SOMEONE.
Today's problem is IE7's math, and their implementation of kerning. (having wiki'd that, I see I may be talking about tracking, but who cares.)
In css, you use a parameter called letter-spacing to change kerning on things. As with all other css, you can specify the units you want to use as pixels, points, percentages, or em. (there are others.)
An em is essentially the width of a standard 'M' character in your font of choice. For IE's mathematical purposes, it's a percentage of the font size you specified elsewhere.
So if I have a font-size: 12px; for my entire document. I can make my headers: font-size: 1.5em; and they will be displayed 150% of 12px. (18px)
So.. an example.
if you're using any recent browser, that should look all spready...
Now.. I rarely need massive letter spacing like that... (though it does come up.) More often than not, I get handed a nice layout from a pro graphic designer that has text in it that is crammed together, ever so slightly, but it really does change the look of certain things.
in IE.. the best you can do for 'ever so slightly' is this:
that's not so bad in trebuchet or whatever the hell i'm using here, but in an italic serif font, it looks pretty tight. Now, IE can take any unit ABOVE .05.. (or 5%).. which.. in negative kerning terms.. isn't too useful.. but I sleep well at night knowing that I can always choose to do something like:
yeah... that's fabulous.. I'm sure that'll come in handy somewhere.
So, to summarize.. IE7 doesn't seem to know what to do with a negative kerning value below 5%. That may not seem like a big deal to you, but really, within that 5% is all of the most useful kerning you'd normally ever use.. the kerning between 'none' and 'just a bit'.
To break it down to my problem today.. I've got a 24px headline.. 5% of 24px is 1.2 pixels per character.. over 30 characters, that's 36pixels shorter than normal
there ya go.. (if you're using IE7.. the second one will be the same size as the last. those are 5%, 2%, and normal.)
I know most of you think it's a small thing, but this kinda crap is what design folk constantly hit standards nazis like myself with when I'm trying to use html and actual text instead of images to create their web designs.
Hi Aaron, just to let you know this issue really pisses me off too.
I too find this frustrating. Not nearly as frustrating as other IE quirks, but still. I am glad I found your page though... I thought IE was just ignoring all negative letter-spacing until I stumbled here via a search on "msie letter-spacing css". Now at least I know I can use -0.05em in an IE-specific style sheet to achieve almost the look I'm going for.
Those mother f... bastards browsers. To the hell with them. They made me crazy!!!! Specially when you design toward to be 'pixel perfect'
PD:I am really pissed off! See a workaround on
I just subscribe your anger and the rest of comments... I don't know how the MS staff are earning far more than me ;) and keep rolling those big craps x-( version after version, each on worse
Did any of you report this issue to Microsoft? I bet not. If you'd expend your energy reporting issues/bugs instead of ranting about them, there would like to be fewer issues to deal with!
, Lee
Actually IE 7 only works at -0.06em or more for me here. 'ep it sux.
InternetExploiter gives me headaches every day. It's so damm ilogically made that have lots and lots of nonsense special non compliant behaviours.
I'm with you too aaron.
did you try using px instead of em? like if .02em is .48px, maybe you could try .5px? does it work?
also, your first example of "i'm letter-spacing of -0.05 em... the quick brown fox.. yadda yadda" has a code error, a missing semi-colon in the "style" of the div, so the letter-spacing's just "normal" for that one, the style got ignored.
Do we still need to obsess about user font scaling? Fixed px or not most modern browsers can scale the whole page including images. I could be totally wrong but I don't see a point in wasting so much time with CSS browser bugs anymore. It's a major pain to get png transparency + bullet proof elastic design on IE6 and all other major browsers at the same time. I have done it and I regret wasting time with technology that is going to be obsolete as soon as users abandon the problem browsers. IE6 users must upgrade or put up with not being able to scale the font size easily.
I prefer to use my time with python, php, linux, javascript, graphic design, databases and skills that are going to be needed for a while.
I think the fact that you'd rather do 'python, php, linux, javascript, graphic design, databases' is evident in the fact you don't seem to care all that much about the bit people interact with.
I just wanted to throw out there that while Firefox renders this correctly. Google Chrome does not. Google apparently does the exact same thing as IE7. I would have thought Google would be more on top of things like that.
It seems IE7 rounds letter-spacing to whole pixels. So 0.5px become 1px and 0.4 becomes 0px. For other units the same thing happens after it have been converted to pixels. I believe Firefox also used to do this.
You can't blame Internet Explorer for this one. Firefox is the ONLY one who does this one right. Chrome, Safari, Opera and IE8 do it all wrong.
Hey, first of all, thanks for the useful info you shared.
Regarding the way browsers render sub-pixel units, I found the following examples quite concludent:
And as far as reporting to MS and getting things fixed, see:
(I don't have IE8 beta 2 to check, so ... no further comment)
IE 9 Beta, does the letter-spacing correct... the medium sized headlines come all in different lenghts.


text:
First, when we left Charleston we decided to drive up to NY. We wanted to change our airline tickets with US Airways, but the change fee cost more than the tickets had (!) so we took less money and rented a car one way. We didn't have to worry about luggage this way, and it gave us the ability to stop in Washington DC for a couple of nights and visits the museums and monuments.
Pio was feeling out of breath most of the time as we walked around and I was glad we had called ahead and made an appointment with the cardiologist he had when we lived in NY We were thinking he'd schedule him for a stress test. Wrong!
The cardiologist said that with Pio's symptoms (they were predictable, repeatable, etc.) he needed to go straight in for the cardiac cath. OK, then we started thinking that Pio might need a stent because he was often out of breath with little exertion--and it no longer seemed obvious that it was his asthma acting up.
Long story short--the catheterization showed four blockages--including one in the main descending artery (the "widow maker"--60% blocked) and he was scheduled for a bypass operation the following day, November 18. I must say the surgeon made it all sound easy and routine (for him!) and predicted that within one month he'd be able to fly home.
Well, Pio was an exception to the rule and has had a rough recovery. He spent 3.5 weeks post-op in intensive care because of respiratory distress brought on by a "strong inflammatory response". As they weaned him quickly off the steroids his lungs filled up with nearly two quarts of fluid--which required another 5-day intensive care hospitalization, leading us right up to Christmas Eve.
In mid-January he started cardiac rehabilitation while we lived with my sister in Pennsylvania. He has felt better quickly, building up stamina and muscle tone after having lost 40 pounds while in the hospital! He's put back on about 7 of those pounds and he is actually at his ideal weight now. (Let me say that some of what he lost, I managed to find.)
In any case, we're thrilled that we've finally been given the go ahead to go home to Italy. Pio is still on steroids, though at slowly-reducing levels, he needs his lungs x-rayed every two weeks to see if the fluid is returning, and he needs about six more weeks of rehab. We're confident we can get this all arranged in Italy.
Our six months in the States have been trying, scary and exhausting (4 weeks+ in intensive care, homeschool teaching) but also fun (Charleston, Washing DC, staying with family). It's been great to see family and be able to say, "We'll see you tomorrow"...or "in two weeks"...or "at the birthday party". It's been great to NOT have Dante in school six days a week, but rather make our own flexible schedule (getting him to write all the curriculum-required essays in English, however, is another story!!).
Living in Italy we are isolated from sisters and brothers and my father and cousins,nieces, nephews, kids and grandchildren. Being local to them all once again has been great. It's also been fun to catch up with friends over a cup of tea or a glass of wine...or even on the phone where the time-zone change is more easily managed if it exists at all. Here in America it's standard operating procedure to go out with girlfriends...but I've not been able to duplicate that in Italy and I miss it.
How goes the homeschooling you ask...and will it continue once we return to Italy? Stay tuned for another post--soon!


text:
May 1st: Graduation Pictures & Class Pictures
May 12th: Mother's Day Breakfast
May 14th: Mother's Day
May 9th: Family Night
May 19th: VPK Graduation
May 20th: Armed Forces Day
May 29th: Memorial Day. School closed
Family First Program
Be Sure to check out our Facebook page!
P.A. Geraci Child Development Center News
Remember that Mother's Day is Sunday May 14th. Make sure you make her day extra special.
A mother holds a special place in the hearts and minds of her children. Mother's Day is May 14th and there is no better way to celebrate than with the whole family.
We're sure sleeping in on Mother's Day sounds nice and that having some alone time can make for an enjoyable day. But doesn't it sound like a better idea to make this holiday a family day? We encourage you to get outside and spend some quality time with your kids and loved ones.
Friday, May 12th: Mother's Day Breakfast! Mom's please stop by and enjoy a bite to eat before heading out for your day. Thank you for all you do in your child's life. We love you Moms!
May 1st we are having our Graduation Pictures & Class Pictures. Students will be wering their Caps & Gowns.
Parents please join us on Friday May 19th in celebrating your child's accomplishments this school year. The celebration starts at 10:00am
May 8th - May 12th This week honors those hard working, patient and understanding people whom we entrust our children to. Teachers help shape our kids in a positive direction, and affect who they are and who they become.
Thank you teachers for all you do!
Looking for a noisemaker that's more musical than your typical preschooler's banging and clanging? Try this quick arts and crafts activity that will produce a homemade paper plate tambourine! It's easy to make with supplies you probably already have on hand, and it makes a great toy. No wonder it's a classic!Click to find similar content by grade or subject.
What You Need:
1. First peel the bananas and cut them into thirds.
2. Then dump some cereal onto your wax paper, smear the bananas in peanut butter, and roll the peanut butter bananas in the cereal. That's it! You're done!
Family and Friends are invited to our Family Night on May 9th. Refreshments will be served. We will have games, Outreach & Information Night.
Please ask your teacher for more details.
Monday, May 29th: The center will be CLOSED for Memorial Day.
"On Memorial Day we celebrate all American soldiers in a day of remembrance."
"Everything we do improves the lives of children."
Child Care of Southwest Florida 6831 Palisades Park Ct. Suite 6 Fort Myers, Florida 33912 You received this email because your child is enrolled at one of the Child Care Centers of Southwest Florida. Our 6 locations: The Children's Learning Center at FSW | Joseph H. Messina Child Care Center | P.A. Geraci Development Center | The Community Children's Center | Children's Garden of LaBelle | Harlem Academy Update your email preferences to choose the types of emails you receive. Unsubscribe from all future emails


text:
|Contacting US Chess
|October 24, 2007
The administrative office for US Chess is located in Crossville, Tennessee, which is in the central time zone.
For most inquiries regarding administrative matters, the fastest and best way to reach us is by using the Contact Form on this website. We are also available by telephone during our office hours, Monday - Friday, 8am-5pm (central), and by US mail.
Mailing address:
US Chess Federation
PO Box 3967
Crossville, TN 38557
Building location:
137 O'Brien Drive
Crossville, TN 38555
Phone: 1-931-787-1234
Fax: 1-931-787-1200
Email queries can also be sent to [email protected]
Specific staff members can be contacted directly; please see our Staff Directory or the masthead of Chess Life magazine for details.
In addition to the information and forms available on this web site, we offer a toll free telephone number in support of US Chess Membership and US Chess Tournaments:
Toll Free number: 1-800-903-USCF (8723)
Office hours: Monday - Friday, 8am-5pm (central).
For other hours we offer a voice mail option.
Chess Life Magazine
To change your mailing address for Chess Life magazine, please send your new address along with your US Chess ID number to [email protected]; you can choose the subject Change of Address in our Contact Form to submit this information.
Letters to the editor should be submitted to [email protected], or directly via our Contact Form.
Ordering Chess Products
Please visit US Chess Sales or call toll free 1-800-388-KING (388-5464).


text:
There is no "one size fits all" method for achieving effective breastfeeding with a high-risk baby, because each baby and each situation is different. Give your high-risk baby extra time to learn to breastfeed, and let the baby set the pace for learning. Learning to breastfeed effectively is a process that may take days or weeks for premature and many other high-risk babies. However, you and your baby can become a breastfeeding team if you are patient, persistent, and maintain a healthy perspective.
Signs a baby is getting ready for breastfeedings:
Let the physician and your baby's nurses know that you would like to breastfeed as soon as your baby is ready to begin feeding by mouth. In general, a baby must be able to suck-swallow-breathe in a coordinated way to take food by mouth. Some of the signs that a baby is getting ready to do this include the following:
- physical stability
A baby's condition should be stable so the baby can physically handle an "in arms" feeding.
- nonnutritive sucking
A baby first displays rhythmic sucking on a pacifier, feeding tube, etc., in brief bursts of more than one suck per second.
- gestational age
At about 32 weeks gestation, a baby will begin to display bursts of sucking, and around 34 weeks a rhythmic suck-swallow-breathe pattern develops.
- wakeful state
A baby must remain awake – from drowsy to quiet alert to active – for brief periods, to feed by mouth.
- oral reflexes
A baby must be able to tolerate touch to the mouth area and demonstrate the reflexes needed for oral feeding, such as rooting, sucking, cough, and gag reflexes.
Breastfeeding is usually less stressful for a high-risk infant, because the baby sets the pace – both for an individual feeding and for the process of learning to feed effectively. A baby's heart and respiratory rates, oxygen saturation level, and body temperature tend to remain more stable, and often improve, during breastfeeding. This stability of physical systems means breastfeeding takes less energy and it is less "work" for the high-risk baby. Of course, a baby must actually latch-on and actively suck to get milk during breastfeeding, and this may take time for a baby to learn. When bottle-feeding, milk drips in the baby's mouth and a baby must swallow it, ready or not.
Stages in breastfeeding progression:
The stages listed below, which describe a baby's progression to direct breastfeeding, are meant only as a guideline. Progress varies among high-risk babies. A baby might move quickly from one stage to another, or skip a stage altogether. On the other hand, a baby may sometimes seem to get "stuck" at one stage for a few days or weeks.
- practice feedings
During the early stages of learning to breastfeed, your high-risk baby may not take much, if any, milk during breastfeeding. The baby is only practicing the motions. Neither you nor your baby should ever feel any pressure to perform.
- skin-to-skin contact (Kangaroo Care)
A baby is likely to begin rooting or nuzzling at the breast, and may actually latch-on, when held skin-to-skin.
- "empty breast" feeding
A mother may want to pump before skin-to-skin holding sessions once rooting and nuzzling are noted. Then, the baby can latch-on and practice without being overwhelmed by the milk "let-down" and lots of milk at once. Being overwhelmed can affect a baby's physical state, and your mental state.
- progressive non-nutritive sucking sessions
A baby will advance at the breast from latching-on, to sucking in bursts, to occasionally coordinating suck-swallow-breathe. As your baby shows more ability, you will want to see what he/she can do with more milk in the breast. Pump until the let-down flow slows and then offer the breast. This prevents large amounts of milk that often come with let-down from overwhelming the baby, yet leaves plenty of milk in the breast for a feeding.
Helpful hints for beginning to breastfeed:
- Expressing some milk onto your nipple or the baby's mouth may encourage licking, latch-on, and sucking.
- The "football" hold (clutch hold) is often the easiest to use when breastfeeding a premature baby.
- If your baby latches on but keeps letting go, or if the baby's suck is weak, you may find the "dancer's hand" hold to be helpful. A nurse or a lactation consultant (IBCLC) can show you how to support the baby's chin under the breast in one hand.
- If your baby is gavage-fed (tube-fed), it may be possible to practice breastfeeding as the baby receives food through the tube.
- You may find certain breastfeeding devices help your baby make progress at the breast. Since most devices also have disadvantages, they should be used with guidance from a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) or your feeding team. Devices that may be helpful include:
- A thin silicone or latex nipple shield, which is centered over the nipple and areola, has been shown to encourage a better latch, more effective sucking pattern, and better milk intake during breastfeeding, for many premature babies, and other high-risk babies, too.
- A feeding-tube system may be taped to the breast in such a way that a baby receives additional milk through the tube when the baby sucks. By attaching a syringe of milk to a gavage feeding tube and taping it to the breast, you or a helper can gently press the plunger to deliver a few drops of milk in the baby's mouth if the baby "forgets" to suck. Commercial feeding-tube systems are also available.
- Your baby probably will do better for some feedings. Do not be discouraged if he/she seems to "forget" how to suck from feeding to feeding, or if he/she is too sleepy for more.
- Some feedings will last longer than others, and your baby may need time to "get going" at the breast for some feeds.
- Try to be available to breastfeed for as many feedings as possible, especially when feedings must be kept brief to prevent your baby from overtiring. Frequent, brief feedings can be very helpful.
- Continue to pump your breasts regularly during the baby's learning process. Milk removal is not the purpose of these "practice feedings," and milk production will fall if you are not removing milk in some manner.
- Ask the NICU staff if there are other mothers who are expressing milk and learning to breastfeed their high-risk babies on the unit. It can help to talk to other mothers who understand your experiences.
What are nutritive feedings?
Nutritive feeding means your baby is able to effectively remove milk from the breast and swallow enough for continued growth and development. This requires nutritive sucking. During nutritive sucking, a baby consistently coordinates suck-swallow-breathe. If you watch, you should notice your baby is sucking at a rate of one suck per second, with a pause for a breath after every few sucks. To take in enough milk, the baby must be able to continue with this pattern for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Quite likely, you will hear your baby swallowing milk, which sounds like a "k" sound in the back of his/her throat, for at least part of the feeding.
In addition to nutritive sucking, a breastfeeding baby must wake and cue to feed 8 to 12 times in 24 hours if nutritive feeding is to be accomplished. Usually, there is a progression of feeding cues and the baby's seems more and more tense until food is offered. Some feeding cues include the following:
- early feeding cues:
- licking
- rooting
- making sucking motions
- bringing the arms and hands to face or mouth
- later feeding cues:
- squawking
- more intense crying
Your high-risk baby may need extra time to learn cueing when ready to feed. Many mothers find their high-risk babies are too sleepy and sometimes do not seem to know that they need to eat frequently.
Getting ready for discharge:
Usually a baby is doing more nutritive sucking for hospital discharge to be considered. When your baby is getting close to discharge, you may want to breastfeed for several feedings in a row. (Many mothers "room in" for 24 hours the day before discharge.) After observing several breastfeedings, the NICU staff should have a better sense of the baby's ability to cue for feedings and sustain nutritive sucking, and his/her response to milk "let-down." They can chart the effect that breastfeeding has on the baby's diaper wet and dirty diaper count. You may be asked questions about signs of milk "let-down" during feedings and whether your breasts feel any softer after feedings. They might also suggest using the opportunity to get several feeding test weights.
What is test weighing?
Test weighing allows the NICU staff to monitor the amount of milk your baby takes during a breastfeeding. The baby is weighed immediately before and after the feeding using an electronic scale that can measure very small amounts (one to five grams) of weight. Your baby will be weighed fully clothed, and no clothing is changed until after the baby is weighed after the feeding, as any change could affect the result. Babies do not take the same amount of milk in at every breastfeeding, and test weighing gives the staff a good idea of how much milk the baby takes in over a period of time.
What is involved in a discharge breastfeeding plan?
Your baby still may not be able to consistently demonstrate feeding cues or breastfeed effectively at discharge, but after observing feedings for 8 to 24 hours, the NICU staff will be able to work with you to develop a better discharge breastfeeding plan. Since you and your baby are unique, your discharge plan should be designed with your situation in mind, but it may include all, or some, of the following:
- waking the baby to breastfeed every few hours if he/she has not yet mastered feeding cues
- monitoring latch-on, nutritive versus non-nutritive sucking pattern before, during, and after milk let-down, and the length of feedings
- charting the number, amount, and color of urine and stools for wet and dirty diapers on a daily record
- test-weighing before and after one or more daily feedings
- using breastfeeding devices to encourage nutritive sucking or to provide your baby with additional nutrition during the learning to breastfeed process
- offering additional expressed breast milk or a prescribed infant formula, which should be based on baby's progress at breast and changed as sucking ability improves
- introducing alternative feeding methods that ensure your baby gets enough food, yet are least likely to interfere with long-term breastfeeding. These may include the following:
- a feeding tube system taped to a breast or a finger (finger feeding)
- cup feeding
- syringe feeding
- bottle feeding with slower flow bottle nipples
- bottle feeding with faster flow nipples
- continuing pumping for milk removal until you and the baby's physician are satisfied that your baby no longer needs additional expressed breast milk or formula via an alternative feeding method, although the number of pumping sessions may vary as your baby's ability to breastfeed (remove milk) effectively improves
- follow-up care by the baby's physician, nurse, or a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC), to help you monitor breastfeeding progress and revise the plan as needed
Helpful hints for breastfeeding at home:
- Skin-to-skin contact is not just something you do with your baby in the NICU. It continues to be beneficial once you are home. Many mothers report that it seems to help babies get to the breast more effectively sooner, and it helps them maintain milk production. Plus, it just feels good to cuddle this way.
- If your baby sometimes chokes during breastfeeding, he/she may be having difficulty controlling the milk flow during let-down. Most babies do learn to handle let-down as they mature. Until then, you might try pumping through the let-down immediately before a feeding. Another option is to take the baby off the breast until the milk flow slows. Some mothers find it helps to position the baby so that the back of his/her throat is higher than the nipple. The milk then travels "uphill" during a let-down, which slows the flow.
- When your baby has the basic idea of nutritive sucking but cannot seem to do it consistently, try pumping one breast while nursing your baby on the other.
- You may want to halt a breastfeeding if you or your baby gets too frustrated or when feedings are taking more than 40 to 45 minutes. It is not uncommon for the high-risk baby to latch-on and then let go of the breast repeatedly, or for a mother to have to keep waking a baby who quickly falls asleep after sucking for two or three minutes. By stopping when frustrated, or limiting the time of feedings, you will have more time to pump and remove milk effectively, and you may find it is easier to remain patient through the learning process.
- You may want to let your baby's father or other family members and friends handle alternative feedings, so you do not become overwhelmed. This frees you to concentrate on the breastfeedings, maintain pumping sessions, and enjoy periods of cuddling skin-to-skin with your baby.
- Plan to continue to pump your milk for several weeks. How often or how long you will need to pump varies; it depends on how quickly your baby learns to breastfeed effectively.
- Do not throw away any breastfeeding device or an alternative feeding method because you did not like it or it did not work when first suggested. The device or method that did not help one week may work great next week, and vice versa.
- Stay in touch with a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) who can describe and demonstrate alternative feeding methods, and help you figure out which one to try. He/she can also help you revise your breastfeeding plan as often as needed as your baby's nutritive sucking continues to improve.
- If your baby is growing and developing properly, and the nutritive sucking ability is improving, ask your baby's physician when you might eliminate test weighing. Ask when you can stop waking your baby for feedings and begin to wait to see if there are feeding cues. You will also want to know when it is safe to start decreasing supplementary breast milk or formula.
- Keep thinking positive. It is normal to get frustrated and think your high-risk baby will never learn to breastfeed effectively. It is normal if some days seem an eternity of breastfeeding practice, alternative feedings, and breast pumping sessions. It is normal for your confidence to rise and fall.
- Try to maintain perspective by having a sense of humor. You will have lots of good stories to share about your experience. Think about how far your baby and you have come since his/her birth rather than how far you still may have to go.
- Get support. In addition to staying in touch with a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC), contact a representative of a breastfeeding support organization.
When can a mother relax?
You can relax and breastfeed without pumps, devices, or alternative feeding methods when your baby consistently demonstrates the nutritive sucking associated with effective breastfeeding. Your baby should be doing well and getting enough from only breastfeeding when your baby:
- wakes and cues to breastfeed at least 8, and up to 12, times in 24 hours.
- produces six or more soaking wet diapers in 24 hours.
- passes at least two or three stools a day until several weeks beyond what would be the baby's age if full term, with a possible decrease in frequency after this time.
- gains at least 1/2 ounce (28 grams) every 24 hours or at least four to eight ounces (120 to 240 grams) each week for the first three to four months, adjusted for age if full term.


text:
Another 16 December is here and I don't think much lessons are learned from a disaster which could have made any nation with some conscience to think over its strategies. Still our military establishment is involved in dirty politics, working for imperialist agenda and busy in securing their business agenda. Our establishment and politicians have not learned much lessons and are still busy in following unjust practices, suppression and killing of own people to please their masters and fulfil their greed.
"Indiscriminate killing and looting could only serve the cause of the enemies of Pakistan. In the harshness, we lost the support of the silent majority of the people of East Pakistan." — Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report on 1971
Recommendations below are taken from the Supplementary report issued by Hamood ur Rehman Commission which was setup to investigate the events in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
There are parts which are missing as the report is never officially released and it was published by some indian media.
Full Supplementary Report can be downloaded from here :
In the concluding portion of our Main Report, submitted in 1972, we had made a number of
recommendations based on our study of the various aspects of the causes of the debacle of
1971. Some of these recommendations need to be modified, or amplified, in the light of the fresh
evidence, which we have now recorded: while the need for the others has only been further
emphasised, we believe that the object of setting up this Commission would be fully realised
only if appropriate and early action is taken by the Government on these recommendations.2.
consider that it would be appropriate if all our recommendations are now finally set out at one
place, for facility of reference and action. Detailed reasons and justification for these
recommendations will be found in the relevant Chapters of the Main Report as well as this
Supplementary Report. We are aware that some of these recommendations have already been
implemented, but this would not appear to be a reason for not including them in this final
summing up.Trials
Commanders who have brought disgrace and defeat to Pakistan by their subversion of the
Constitution, usurpation of political power by criminal conspiracy, their professional
incompetence, culpable negligence and wilful neglect in the performance of their duties and
physical and moral cowardice in abandoning the fight when they had the capability and
resources to resist the enemy. Firm and proper action would not only satisfy the nation's
demand for punishment where it is deserved, but would also ensure against any future
recurrence of the kind of shameful conduct displayed during the 1971 war. We accordingly
recommend that the following trials be undertaken without delay.
(I) That General Yahya Khan, General Abdul Hamid Khan, Lt. Gen. S.G.M.M. Pirzada, Lt. Gen.
Gul Hasan, Maj. Gen. Umar and Maj Gen Mitha should be publicly tried for being party to a
criminal conspiracy to illegally usurp power from F.M. Mohammad Ayub Khan in power if
necessary by the use of force. In furtherance of their common purpose they did actually try to
influence political parties by threats, inducements and even bribes to support their designs both
for bringing about a particular kind of result during the elections of 1970, and later persuading
some of the political parties and the elected members of the National Assembly to refuse to
attend the session of the National Assembly scheduled to be held at Dacca on the 3rd of
March, 1971. They, furthermore, in agreement with each other brought about a situation in East
Pakistan which led to a civil disobedience movement, armed revolt by the Awami League and
subsequently to the surrender of our troops in East Pakistan and the dismemberment of
(ii) That the Officers mentioned in No. (I) above should also be tried for criminal neglect of duty in
the conduct of war both in East Pakistan and West Pakistan. The details of this neglect would
be found in the Chapters dealing with the military aspect of the war
(iii) That Lt. Gen. Irshad Ahmad Khan, former Commander 1 Corps, be tried for criminal and
wilful neglect of duty in conducting the operations of his Corps in such a manner that nearly 500
villages of the Shakargarh tehsil of Sialkot district in West Pakistan were surrendered to the
enemy without a light and as a consequence the Army offensive in the south was seriously
(iv) That Maj Gen Abid Zahid, former GOC 15 Div, be tried for wilful neglect of duty and shameful
surrender of a large area comprising nearly 98 villages in the phuklian salient in the Sialkot
district of West Pakistan, which surrender also posed a standing threat to the safety of Marala
Headworks by bringing the Indian forces within nearly 1500 yards thereof. He also kept the GHQ
in the dark about Indian occupation of the Phuklian salient until the loss was discovered after
the war.
(v) That Maj. Gen B.M. Mustafa, former GOC 18 Division, be tried for wilful neglect of duty in that
his offensive plan aimed at the capture of the Indian position of Ramgarh in the Rajasthan area
(Western Front) was militarily unsound and haphazardly planned, and its execution resulted in
severe loss of vehicles and equipment in the desert.
(vi) That Lt. Gen. A.A.K. Niazi, former Commander, Eastern Command, be court-martialled on
15 charges as set out in Chapter III of part V of the Supplementary Report regarding his wilful
neglect in the performance of his professional and military duties connected with the defence of
East Pakistan and the shameful surrender of his forces to the Indians at a juncture when he still
had the capability and resources to offer resistance.
(vii) That Maj Gen Mohammad Jamshed, former GOC 36 (ad-hoc) Division, Dacca, be tried by
court martial on five charges listed against him, in the aforementioned part of the Supplementary
Report, for wilful neglect of his duty in the preparation of plans for the defence of Dacca and
showing complete Jack of courage and will to fight, in acquiescing in the decision of the
Commander, Eastern Command, to surrender to the Indian forces when it was still possible to
put up resistance for a period of two weeks or so, and also for wilfully neglecting to inform the
authorities concerned, on repatriation to Pakistan, about the fact of distribution of Rs.50,000 by
him out of Pakistan currency notes and toher funds at his disposal or under his control in East
(viii) That Maj Gen M. Rahim Khan, former GOC 39 (ad-hoc) Division, Chandpur, in East
Pakistan, be tried by court martial on five charges listed against him in this Report for showing
undue regard for his personal safety in abandoning his Division, his Divisional troops and area of
responsibility and Vacating his Divisional Headquarters from Chandpur on the 8th of December,
1971; for his wilful insistence on moving by day owing to fear of Mukti Bahini and thus causing
the death of fourteen Naval ratings and four Officers of his own HQ, besides injuries to himself
and several others, due to strafing by Indian aircraft; for his abandoning valuable signal
equipment at Chandpur; for spreading despondency and alarm by certain conversation on the
12th of December, 1971, at Dacca; and for wilfully avoiding submitting a debriefing report to
GHQ on being specially evacuated to West Pakistan in early 1971 so as to conceal the
circumstances of his desertion from him Divisional Headquarters at Chandpur.
(ix) That Brig. G.M. Baquir Siddiqui, former GOS, Eastern Command, Dacca, be tried by court
martial on nine charges as formulated in this Report, for his wilful neglect of duty in advising the
Commander, Eastern Command, as regards the concept and formulation of defence plans,
appreciation of the Indian threat, execution of denial plans, abrupt changes in command,
friendliness with he Indian during captivity and attempts to influence formation Commanders by
threats and inducements to present a co-ordinated story before the GHQ and the Commission
of Inquiry in regard to the events leading to surrender in East Pakistan.
(x) That Brig Mohammad Hayat, former Commander 107 Brigade, 9 Division, East Pakistan, be
tried by court martial on four charges for displaying wilful neglect in not formulating a sound plan
for the defence of the fortress of Jesore; for failing to properly plan and command the brigade
counter-attack at Gharibpur, for shamefully abandoning the fortress of Jessor and delivering
intact to the enemy all supplies and ammunition dumps; and disobeying the orders of the GOC
9 Divison, to withdraw to Magura in the event of a forced withdrawal from Jessore;
(xi) That Brig Mohammad Aslam Niazi, former commander 53 Brigade, 39 (ad-hoc) Division,
East Pakistan, be tried by court martial on six charges for displaying culpable lack of initiative,
determination and planning ability in that he failed to occupy and prepare defences at
Mudafarganj as ordered by his GOC on the 4th of December, 1971; for failing to eject the enemy
from Mudafarganj as ordered on the 6th of December, 1971; for shamefully abandoning the
fortress of Laksham on or about the 9th of December, 1971; for wilful neglect in failing to
properly organise oxfiltration of his troops from the fortress of Laksham to Comilla on the 9th of
December, 1971, thus resulting in heavy casualties and capture of several elements of his
troops on the way; for showing callous disregard of military ethics in abandoning at Laksham
124 sick and wounded with two Medical Officers without informing them about the proposed
vacation of the fortress; and for abandoning intact at Laksham all heavy weapons, stocks of
ammunition and supplies for the use of the enemy;
II. Inquiry and Trials for Alleged AtrocitiesThat as recommended in Paragraph 7 of Chapter III of Part V of the Main Report and in
Paragraph 39 of Chapter II of Part V of this Supplementary Report, a high-powered Court or
Commission of Inquiry be set up to investigate into persistent allegations of atrocities said to
have been committed by the Pakistan Army in East Pakistan during its operations from March
to December, 1971, and to hold trials of those who indulged in these atrocities, brought a bad
name to the Pakistan Army and alienated the sympathies of the local population by their acts of
wanton cruelty and immorality against our own people. The composition of the Court of Inquiry,
if not its proceedings, should be publicly announced so as to satisfy national conscience and
international opinion. The Commission feels that sufficient evidence is now available in Pakistan
for a fruitful inquiry to be undertaken in this regard. As the Government of Bangladesh has since
been recognised by Pakistan, it may also be feasible to request the Dacca authorities to
forward to this Court of Inquiry whatever evidence may be available with them.
III. Other Inquiries(I) That allegations of personal immorality, drunkenness and indulgence in corrupt practices
against General Yahya Khan, General Abdul Hamid Khan and Maj. Gen Khuda Dad Khan be
properly investigated as there is prima facie evidence to show that their moral degeneration
resulted in indecision, cowardice and professional incompetence. In the light of the result of this
inquiry suitable charges may be added against these Officers, during the trials we have already
recommended earlier. The details of the allegations and the evidence relating thereto will be
found in Chapter I of Part V of the Main Report.
(ii) That similar allegations of personal immorality, acquiring a notorious reputation in this behalf
at Sialkot, Lahore and Dacca, and indulgence in the smuggling of Pan from East to West
Pakistan made against Lt. Gen Niazi should also be inquired into and, if necessary, made the
subject matter of additional charges at the trial earlier recommended in respect of the
performance of his professional duties in East Pakistan. The details of these allegations and
the evidence relating thereto will be found in Chapter I of Part V of the Main Report and in
Chapter I of part V of this supplementary Report.
(iii) That an inquiry is also indicated into the disposal of Rs.50, 000 said to have been distributed
by Maj. Gen. Mohammad Jamshed, former GOC 39 (ad-hoc) Division and Director General,
East Pakistan Civil Armed Forces immediately before the surrender on the 16th of December
1971. Details of this matter including the General's explanation would be found in Paras 21 to
23 of Chapter I of Part V of the Supplementary Report. We have already recommended that this
Officer be tried by a court martial on several charges including his wilful failure to disclose any
facts at all about his sum Rs.50,000. That charge does not necessarily imply any dishonest
practice on his part. The inquiry now suggested can form a part of the charges already
(iv) That allegations of indulging in large-scale looting of property in East Pakistan including theft
of Rs.1, 35,00,000 from the National Bank Treasury at Siraj Ganj persistently made against
Brig. Jehanazeb Arbab, former Commander 57 Brigade, Lt Col (now Brig) Muzaffar Ali Zahid,
former CO 31 Field Regiment, Lt. Col Basharat Ahmad, former CO 18 Punjab, Lt. Col
Mohammad Taj, former CO 32 Punjab, Lt Col Mohammad Tufail, former CO 55 Field Regiment
and Major Madad Hussain Shah of 18 Punjab, as set out in Paras 24 and 25 of Chapter I of part
V of the Supplementary Report, should be thoroughly inquired into and suitable action taken in
the light of the proved facts.
(v) That an inquiry be held into the allegation, noticed by us in Para 36 of Chapter 1 of Part V of
the Main Report, that while serving in the Martial Law Administration at Multan, Maj. Gen.
Jahanzeb, presumably a Brigadier at that time, demanded a bribe of Rs. one lac from a PCS
Officer posted as Chairman of the Municipal Committee of Multan, on pain of proceeding against
him for corruption under martial Law, as a consequence of which demand the said PCS Officer
is said to have committed suicide leaving behind a letter saying that although he had made only
Rs.15,000 he was being required to pay Rs. one lac to the Martial Law officers. The allegation
was made before the Commission by Brig. Mohammad Abbas Beg (Witness No.9)
(vi) That in inquiry is also necessary into the allegation made against Brig. Hayatullah that he
entertained some wom en in his bunker in the Maqbulpur sector (West Pakistan) on the night of
the 11th or 12th of December, 1971, when Indian shells were falling on his troops. The
allegation was contained in an anonymous letter addressed to the Commission and supported
in evidence before us by the Brigadier Hayatullah's brigade, Major, namely, Major Munawar
Khan (Witness No.42).
(vii) That it is necessary to investigate into the allegations, as set out in Paragraphs 9 to 14 of
Chapter 1 of Part V of the Main Report, to the effect that senior Army Commanders grossly
abused their official position and powers under the Martial Law to acquire large allotments of
land, and obtained substantial house buildings loans on extremely generous terms from certain
banking institutions with which they deposited large amounts from departmental funds entrusted
to their care. Those found guilty of corrupt practices should receive the punishment they
deserve under the military law or the ordinary criminal law of the land as the case may be.
(viii) That a thorough investigation be conducted into the suspicion created in the mind of the
Commission, during the recording of additional evidence of Officers repatriated form India, that
there may be some complicity or collusion between the Commander, Easter Command (Lt Gen
A.A.K. Niazi) and his Chief of Staff (Brig G.M. Baqir Saddiqui) on the one hand and the Indian
authorities on the other in the matter of the failure of the Pakistan Armed Forces to carry out
execution of denial plans immediately before the surrender inspite of instructions issued in this
behalf by GHQ on the 10th of December, 1971. We have already included relevant charges in
this behalf against these two Officers, but we consider that it would be in the public interest to
depute a specialized agency to probe into the matter further. On the material available to us we
cannot put the matter higher than suspicion, but we have not been able to find any reasonable,
or even plausible explanation for the orders issued by the Easter Command to stop the
execution of denial plans, particularly in Dacc and Chittagong, thus ensuring the delivery intact
to the Indians of large amounts of war materials and other equipment. Details of these deliveries
will be found in our Chapter VII of Part IV dealing with the aftermath of surrender.
(ix) That an inquiry be held into the circumstances under which Commander Gul Zareen of the
Pakistan Navy was carried from Khulna to Singapore on the 7th of December, 1971, by a
French ship called M.V. Fortescue, thus abandoning his duties at PNS Titumir Naval Base,
Khulna. The case of this Officer was dealt with by us in Paras 12 and 13 of Chapter III of Part V
of the Main Report.
IV. Cases Requiring Departmental ActionWhile examining the course of events and the conduct of war in East Pakistan, we formed a
poor opinion about the performance and capabilities of Brig. S.A.Ansari, ex-Commander 23
Brigade, Brig. Manzoor Ahmad, ex -Commander 57 Brigade, 9 Division, and Brig Abdul Qadir
Khan, ex -Commander 94 brigade, 36 (ad hoc) Division. We consider that their further retention
in service is not in the public interest and they may accordingly be retired.
V. Performance and Conduct of Junior OfficersIn the very nature of things the Commission was not in a position to examine at any length
the conduct and performance of officers below the brigade level, although some case
necessarily came to our notice where the performance of these Officers had a direct bearing on
the fate of important battles or where their conduct transgressed the norms of discipline. Such
cases have been mentioned by us at their proper place, but by and large cases of junior Officers
must be dealt with by the respective service headquarters who have obtained detailed debriefing
reports from all of them and are also in possession of the assessment of their performance by
their immediate superiors.
VI. Measures for Moral Reform in the Armed ForcesWhile dealing at some length with the moral aspect of the 1971 debacle, in Chapter I of Part
V of the Main Report as well as in the corresponding Chapter of the present Supplementary
Report, we have expressed the opinion that there is indeed substance in the widespread
allegation, rather belief, that due to corruption arising out of the performance of Martial Law
duties, lust for wine and women, and greed for lands and houses a large number of senior Army
Officers, particularly those occupying the highest positions, had not only lost the will to fight but
also the professional competence necessary for taking the vital and critical decisions demanded
of them for the successful prosecution of the war. Accordingly, we recommend that: –
(I) The Government should call upon all Officers of the Armed Forces to submit declarations of
their assets, both moveable and immovable, and those acquired in the names of their relations
and dependents during the last ten years (they were exempted from submitting such
declarations during the last two periods of martial Law). If on examination of such declarations
any Officer is found to have acquired assets beyond this known means, then appropriate action
should be taken against him
(ii) The Armed Services should devise ways and means to ensure: –
(a) That moral values are not allowed to be compromised by infamous behaviour particularly at
higher levels
(b) That moral rectitude is given due weight along with professional qualities in the matter of
promotion to higher ranks;
(c) That syllabi of academic studies at the military academics and other Service Institutions
should include courses designed to inculcate in the young minds respect for religious
democratic and political institutions
(d) That use of alcoholic drinks should be banned in military messes and functions
(e) That serious notice should be taken of notorious sexual behaviour and other corrupt
VII. Discipline and Terms and Conditions of Service9.
reasons given therein we make the following recommendations: –
(I) An inter-services study should be undertaken of the operative terms and conditions of service
and amenities available to Officers, JCOs and other ranks of the Services so as to remove
disparities existing in this behalf and causing discontentment among the junior officers and
other ranks of various Services
(ii) The GHQ should consider the advisability of adopting recommendations contained in the
report submitted by the Discipline Committee headed by the late Maj Gen Iftikhar Khan Janjua
(iii) Th e Navy and Air Force might also appoint their own Discipline Committees to consider the
peculiar problems of their Services, such measure to be in addition to the inter-services study
recommended above.
VIII. Improvement and Modernizations of the Pakistan Navy10.
VIII of Part IV of the Main Report, and supplemented by further details of its operations in East
Pakistan is set out in this Supplementary Report, it seems to us that the following steps are
urgently called for to improve our naval capability: –
(I) That immediate attention should be given to he basic requirements for the modernizations of
the Pakistan Navy in order to make it capable of protecting the only sea port of Pakistan and of
keeping the life-lines of the nation open. The Navy has been sadly neglected ever since the first
Martial Law regime, for in the concept of Army Commander the Navy was not expected to play
much of a role. The folly of this theory was fully demonstrated during this war. The Pakistan
Navy, we strongly recommend, should have its own air arm of suitable aircraft for the purpose of
reconnaissance and for defence against missile boats. This is the only way in which the threat
posed by the growing Indian Navy and her missible boats can be countered.
(ii) There is urgent need for developing a separate harbour for the Navy away from Karachi, from
where the Navy can protect the approaches to Karachi more effectively
(iii) In view of the serious handicaps which were posed by the late conveyance of the D-day and
the H-hour to the Pakistan Navy and its total exclusion from he planning for war, the need for
making the Navy a fully operative member in he joint Chiefs of Staff Organization is imperative.
IX. Improvement in the Role of P.A.F.11. In Section (C) of Chapter VIII of Part IV of the Main Report as well as in a separate Chapter
of the present supplement (viz Chapter X of Part III), we have discussed at length the role and
performance of the P.A.F. in the 1971 war. In the light of that discussion, we recommend as
follows: –
(I) We are not convinced that a more forward-looking posture cannot be adopted by eh Air Force
having regard to the peculiar needs of the country. We recommend, therefore, that Pakistan
should have more forward air fields located at such places from where it might be in a position to
give more protection to our vital line of communication as well as to major centres of industry.
The adoption of such a fo rward strategy would also increase the striking capabilities of our
(ii) There is need also to improve the working of our early warning system. The time lag
between the observation of an enemy aircraft by the first line of Mobile Observer Units and the
final collation of that information in the Air Operation Centre takes unduly long because of the
draftory system of reporting adopted. Training exercises to coordinate the working of the various
agencies employed for the operation of the early warning system should be held periodically to
keep them at a high pitch of efficiency.
(iii) The Karachi Port should also be provided as soon as possible, with a low level seawardlooking
radar which it seriously lacks and due to the want of which it suffered many handicaps
during the last war.
(iv) That with the increased Indian capability of blockading Karachi with missile boats the air
defence of Karachi should be attached greater importance. Leaving the defence of Karachi to be
tackled only by one squadron of fighters and a half squadron of bombers was extremely unwise.
X. Re-organization of Air Defence of Pakistan12. The subject of air defence has been discussed by us at some length in section (13) of
Chapter VIII of Part IV of the Main Report. In the light of that discussion, we make the following
recommendations: –
(a) Since it will not be possible for us to enlarge our Air Force to any appreciable extent in the
near future, we strongly recommend that we should strengthen our air defence programmes by
at least doubling our holdings of anti-craft guns by the end of 1972 and ultimately raising it under
a phased programme to 342 Batteries as suggested by the Air Force.
(b) Efforts should also be made to procure ground to air missiles for a more effective air defence
of the country.
(c) If ground-to-air missiles are not available, then efforts should also be made to get radar
controlled medium HAA guns from China.
XI. Recommendations with Regard to Civil Defence Measures13.
consider that the following measures are called for to improve the civil defence aspects in
Pakistan: –
(a) The civil defence arrangements should be placed under the Ministry of Defence, and not be
made the responsibility of the Ministry of Interior or other individual departments. The Central
Government should accept the responsibility for the overall control and organization of the civil
defence of the country, as Provincial Governments have not been able to shoulder this
responsibility effectively in the past.
(b) Steps should be taken to improve the fire-fighting facilities in the country, particularly in ports
and industrial areas.
(c) Industrialists keeping inflammable materials near lines of communications and other
vulnerable points should be induce, or in fact obliged under the law, to accept responsibility for
the protection of their materials, and make effective arrangements for fire-fighting in their
(d) Provision should be made for storing large quantitative of petrol and other fuels underground.
XII. Higher Direction of War14.
Chapter XI of Part IV of the Main Report, and in the light of that discussion, we proposed the
following measures: –
(a) The three Service Headquarters should be located at one place along with the Ministry of
(b) The posts of Commander-in-Chiefs should be replaced by Chiefs of Staff of the respective
services (This, we understand, has already been done by the Government)/
(c) The Defence Committee of the Cabinet should be re-activated and it should be ensured that
its meetings are held regularly. A positive direction should be added in its Charter to give the
Cabinet Division the right to initiate proceedings for the convening of its meetings should be held
even in the absence of the President or the Prime Minister under the Chairmanship of the senior
most minister present.
(d) There should also be a Defence Ministers Committee and the Ministry of Defence should
assume its rightful position as a policy-making body and incorporating policy, decisions into
defence programmes after consultations with the three services. This should ensure the
preparations of realistic plans for the national defence with in the agreed framework of …….
allocations. It should meet under the chairmanship of the Defence Minister and comprise the
Defence Secretary, the three service chiefs, the financial advi ser for defence, the Director
General of Civil Defence, the Director General of munitions production, the Director General of
Defence Procurement, the Director General of inter-services Intelligence Directorate, the
Defence Scientific Adviser and any other Central Secretary or Service officer who may be
required for a particular item on agenda. If the defence portfolio is held by the President or the
Prime Minister then its meeting may be presided over by a Deputy Minister for or by the
Minister in charge of Defence Production (illegible) Minister is available, the Defence Secretary
should preside, irrespective of any considerations of protocol or (illegible)
(e) The Secretaries Coordination Committee as at present constituted, should continue
(f) (illegible) The three services should share (illegible) joint responsibility for national defence
and that all plans and programmes for the development of the (illegible) forces should be based
on joint (illegible) objectives, it is necessary. Therefore, that the three services Chief should
(illegible) As Joint Chiefs of Staff and not merely as individual Heads of their respective Services.
This Joint Chiefs or Staff should constitute a corporate body with collective responsibility having
its own (illegible) staff for evolving joint plans and its own Headquarters located on one place.
The (illegible) of chairman of this Joint Chiefs of Staff must be held by rotation, irrespective of the
personal ranks enjoyed by the three service chiefs. The duration of the tenure should be one
year at a time and the chairmanship should commence with the (illegible) Service, mainly, the
Army. A detailed Chapter of duties for this Joint Chiefs of Staff has been suggested in Annexure
'I' of Chapter XI of Part IV of the Main report.
(g) Under the Joint Chiefs of Staff Organisation there will not only by a Secretariat but also a
joint planning staff drawn from all the three Services. It might be designed as the Joint
Secretariat and Planning Staff. It will be responsible not only for providing the necessary
secretarial assistance (illegible) Also for evolving the joint defence plans and (illegible) studies
of processing of all matters of inter-(illegible) The Joint Chief of Staff may also have other Joint
Common to assist them on such matters, as it may consider necessary.
(h) The weakness, in the (illegible) of the armed forces, which have been brought by light,
(illegible) feel that there is need for an institution like the America" (illegible) General' which
should be a body changed was the duty of carrying out surprise inspection and calling area the
formations and (illegible) concerned to demonstrate that the (illegible)
(this para not readable)
(i) We have also felt the (illegible) for in Institute of Strategic Studies, preferably as a part of a
University Programme. The need for such an (illegible) has been highlighted by the weakness in
our joint strategic panning by the three Services. We are of the opinion that such an Institute will
go a long way in producing studies of value for examination by the other defence organizations.
XIII National Security CouncilHaving examined the working of the National Security Council in Chapter XI of Part IV of the
Main Report we are of the opinion that there is no need for super-(illegible) such an organization
on the Directorate of Intelligence Bureau and the Directorate of Inter-services Intelligence. The
Security Council should therefore be abolished.
XIV. The Farman Ali incidentIn view of the fresh evidence examined by us regarding the role of Maj Gen Farman Ali,
which we have discussed in the concluding portion of Chapter III of Part V of the Supplementary
Report, recommendation No. 7 made in the Main Report has now become (illegible); as we have
found that in delivering a message to Mr. Paul Mare Henry, Assistant Secretary General of the
United Nations. Maj Gen Farman Ali, acted under the instructions of the Governor of East
Pakistan, who in turn had been authorised by the then President of Pakistan to make certain
proposals for settlement in East Pakistan at the critical juncture.


text:
Featured Products
Red Luxury Bonding Pouch
Comfy Black & Tan Sleeping Basket
The perfect place to cuddle into after a long day playing and eating.
Sales price: R80.00
The Comfy Sleeping Basket is really enjoyed by fuzzies and don't be surprised if everyone tries to pile in to share the fun. Whether they lay over or on top of it - the Comfy is a sure winner.
- Fleece interior, Bull Denim exterior with inner lining of batting for extra comfort
- Recommended for: Rats, Ferrets, Small Monkeys, Mice, Hamsters, Guinea Pigs, Gerbils


text:
Fenda Extenda fender extensions are manufactured by Pyramid Plastics and attach to your bike's original fender by drilling four holes in the guard and using the screws provided. They fit neatly onto the mudguard to provide extra protection for the radiator and engine from road grit and gravel kicked up by the front tire.
How to fit a Fenda Extenda
|Manufacturer #


text:
3 restaurant owners sentenced on immigration charges
The U.S. Attorney's Office says three Iowa restaurant owners have been sentenced on immigration-related charges.
The office announced Wednesday the final person was sentenced Friday after convictions for harboring people in the country illegally and filing false statement on tax returns.
Each received two years of probation and must pay more than $15,000 to the Internal Revenue Service.
In the last case, Chief Judge James Gritzner sentenced 60-year-old Ali Bayram, of Oskaloosa. On Aug. 15, Gritzner sentenced 59-year-old Fikret Bayram, of Monmouth, Ill.
On Aug. 9, Judge Ronald Longstaff sentenced 44-year-old Ali Sengul, of Pella.
Ali Bayram and Fikret Bayram, who operated the Oskaloosa Family Restaurant, also must pay $10,000 fines.
Sengul operated the Tulip Garden Restaurant in Pella.
They hired people in the country illegally and provided housing.


text:
I've returned from the great adventure I call "LP-SPAN" and here are my thoughts on the technical side of the issue. It is my hope that we can take this and build on it to make the next round of LNC insanity even better in terms of the broadcast quality. All suggestions are definitely appreciated. This is most definitely a work in progress.
The equipment:
I was using a Microsoft LifeCam either attached to a clip on the top of my laptop or on its independent pole. The camera allows pan and zoom IF you use the Microsoft software. However, the Justin.tv feed doesn't allow that. No idea if Ustream does. I also had trouble with lighting issues in the room, especially the projector screen glare.
For future, I'd recommend a real videocam on a tripod, which should be able to create a better view and video quality. Personal experience suggests a bird-watching scope tripod over a camera tripod for lightness and ease of use. Plus mine has super-high elevation so it could pan over the crowd. Background lighting
The laptop was sitting on a tray table I had brought along since the room didn't have any tables except for catering or the meeting table. It caused shaking of the cam at times when I tweeted, and the hunchover caused havoc on my back over time. I was hurting badly until Rachel gave me a much-needed back rub. "Bitchin'!" J
I'd recommend not having the camera attached to the laptop or at least set up in a way that it doesn't shake. That and having a good setup so the laptop is the proper height to the user.
I'd also recommend a good omnidirectional microphone set up where everything can be caught well. The mic built into the webcam also caught my comments and occasional whispers, and a lot of extra noise. At SD the board table was in a cube with an open center, and the mic in there would have been best. I didn't have that and it would have been a big help.
The testing:
I made sure that I understood how it all tied together and I did some test runs at home to make sure. That made a big difference come show time. However, the differences between my den and the meeting room were vast. I'd recommend testing in the meeting room if at all possible, because of the acoustics and lighting.
I tried the Justin.tv feed with the laptop's webcam, then the external one recording, then with outside people and trying to embed.
Embedding the live feed was also a challenge. I had Todd Barnett on the phone helping to troubleshoot on his end. It helps to have someone on the receiving end to evaluate the reception. Ditto during the meeting. The justin.tv feed had a chat room built into each feed window, and that made getting the feedback easy, which came in handy when the connection got bad. Justin.tv does NOT work with WordPress well, unless Todd and I just missed something, which is certainly possible. I got it to embed at blogger/blogspot just fine. Other embedding notes are appreciated.
We also encountered a horrible screeching when we were testing, until we figured out that it was caused by the laptop speakers output being picked up by the webcam mic and creating a nasty feedback loop. The solution was to mute the speakers. Wear headphones when adjusting the microphone volume.
The Feed:
First, I was on the hotel's wireless connection, which at times was very slow. The more people that were logged into the network, the slower it got. If you can, use a wired connection to ensure the connection rate stays consistent.
Second, it is extremely important to have someone on the other end provide feedback on the reception. On my end, the display on the popout window was far different than the one in the main window. Here the chat box was invaluable, and I was lucky to have multiple people giving me feedback.
Third, Justin.tv gave me the option to record as we broadcast. Do it. It saves off the pieces online for later download. I'd suggest stopping and restarting the recording at various spots to break it up into manageable segments instead of one long one. I always made sure to check the bandwidth between recordings because of the wireless, but I don't think that may be necessary on a wired connection.
The twitter:
It's a great tool to do this live. Yes, the 140 character limit can be an issue at times. I'd recommend two tweets, both in the gallery rather than on the board, who should focus on what is going on anyway. Plus, it removes any issue about "decorum" or "executive session", but the tweets should be as neutral as possible. The advantage of two is that one can pick up what the other missed, which is an area I had trouble with at times. I'd also suggest that if you can't get on a wired connection, then see if the tweet can be done on a Blackberry. The wireless connection problems that plagued the feed connection also slowed down the tweets. It may be advisable to have whomever is tweeting be different from the camera operations.
All in all, my rig was a little crude, but it was something. I don't see this as too difficult, just taking a little getting used to. If you test beforehand and practice, it goes better.


text:
The sun was shining, temperature was warm, and I was on my way to the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) to use their library, by way of several detours. First was to the Massachusetts State House (aka Capitol), to take additional photos of my ancestor, Simon Bradstreet. Right away, I couldn't locate him, and had to ask an employee. He tried to find the location, but he and nobody knew where it was. Where could he have gone, I was just there a few months ago. I really thought I'd have a quiet day in the building, but no, there were so many people, listening to live Christmas music, and lots of school tours of the building were being given. Hum, I'll go back in January.
Second detour was to tour the Beacon Hill area (super wealthy) of Boston, with all the steep hills and cobblestones. I thought the Christmas decorations on the old townhouses would make for nice pictures. Not so fast...it was trash day. Bags and bags of trash on the sidewalks and every once in a while, I'd see the dump trucks. To make it worse, most doorsteps had the day's newspaper/s on the steps and many had notices from UPS or FedExpress telling the owners that a package was ready to be picked up. My two hour walk to NEHGS left me exhausted to say the least.
Once at the library, I had had it, there wasn't any energy left. I spent a half an hour chatting with three employees, and then left. Can you imagine not having energy to do some simple research? It was a first. I took the subway back to North Station, a television there changed my entire day.
I decided to share some happy photos of yesterday. John Kerry's town house, the house where Louisa May Alcott died, Boston Public Gardens (it looked like spring), some Christmas decorations, and a surprise for your young children, it seems appropriate.
Massachusetts State House.
Stately mansion on Mt. Vernon Street.
John Kerry's house (with flag) taken December 15, 2012.
Home of Louisa May Alcott, this is where she died. John Kerry lives across the street.
Boston Public Gardens, looks like spring.
House along the way, decorated for Christmas.
Acorn Street, Beacon Hill.
For the children. I have seen them many times, but for some reason, I decided to take the picture.
For fun, a YouTube video of Beautiful Boston by Little Big World.


text:
What type of automation do you use to build your software?
Do any of you have experience with makefiles or dealing with the gnu toolset (autoconf, automake, libtools)? Nant? Ant? Bash or other shell code? Perl?
Any implemented build verification tests and what kind?
This type of stuff may be useful for our less experienced users. I'll be writing some quick mini-tutorials on the subject soon. Any suggestions would be appreciated.


text:
Your download basket
contains 0 pictures
04.01.2019, Innsbruck, Austria (AUT):
Ryoyu Kobayashi (JPN) - FIS world cup ski jumping, four hills tournament, individual HS130, Innsbruck (AUT). www.nordicfocus.com. © Rauschendorfer/NordicFocus. Every downloaded picture is fee-liable.
Dimensions3511x2340 pixels
Picture size23.5 MBytes
HeadlineFIS world cup ski jumping, four hills tournament, individual HS130, Innsbruck (AUT)
LocationInnsbruck, Austria
Date4 Jan 2019
All content and pictures on this internet site are copyrighted material and owned by their respective creators or owners. Publication, copying, broadcasting, or retransmission of the content or pictures in whole or partially without the written permission of the copyright holder is prohibited.
© Copyright 2020 - NordicFocus


text:
When Bob Carpenter and Roger Ralph, partners in Eastern Athletic Clubs, opened their Hockessin Athletic Club in Hockessin, DE, last year, they didn't follow the traditional route of using a chlorine system for the club's four pools. Instead, they chose a salt water system because they determined it would be less expensive and easier to maintain.
So far, the choice has meant less of a chlorine smell in the building, a softer feel to the water, less skin irritation and less eye irritation because the water's salt content is similar to that of human tears, says Tito Rosa, the club's ground/pool manager.
Lauren Suleski, aquatics director of the Hockessin Athletic Club, expects the salt water system will help the club save on maintenance costs.
"The salt water system is a hefty investment for any facility to make, but once the system is in place and properly maintained, savings will start to show within a given amount of time — one to three years depending on the size of the facility and number of pools," she says.
Until recently, operators of pools have had little choice but to use chlorine disinfection systems. Even though chlorine remains the water disinfectant of choice for most club owners, alternative treatments, such as salt water and ultraviolet light systems, are gaining popularity. However, no water disinfection system is foolproof, and state regulations often require chlorine to be used in pools even if they are salt water or use ultraviolet light.
Hockessin's salt water system uses low-voltage electrical systems to convert salt into chlorine. Chlorine generator systems contain electric cells that — because of salt being added to the water — generate chlorine continually, Rosa says. After the chlorine has done its job, it reverts back to salt to be reused again, thus allowing free chlorine to be produced and allowing it to react just as liquid chlorine would from a bucket.
Connie Centrella, program director for the online Aquatic Engineering Program at Keiser University eCampus, a division of the Fort Lauderdale, FL, campus, says that salt water systems are gaining in popularity for a couple of reasons, including reduced handling of chemicals by staff and potential savings.
"The initial installation of a chlorine generator is more than the traditional chlorine erosion feeder," she says. "However, the process continually makes chlorine without manually adding additional tablets to a feeder. So while the initial cost is more, over a period of time they will notice a reduction in not only the cost of the trichlor tabs or hypochlorite tabs but also in the transportation costs and storage costs involved."
The Case for Chlorine
Despite their growing popularity, not everyone is a fan of salt water systems. When the owners of La Camarilla Racquet, Fitness & Swim Club in Scottsdale, AZ, built a 25-meter outdoor swimming pool about five years ago, they opted to go with a salt water system. Initially, the decision seemed like a wise one. However, over time, maintenance requirements became a problem, particularly keeping the water chemistry balanced.
"Salt water is cheaper to operate, but the upkeep was the more costly factor," says Roger Furman, general manager of the club. "Salt systems require much more maintenance than you are led to believe. They are much harder to regulate and keep within limits."
Furman stopped using the salt water system about two years ago and switched to chlorine.
Rosa says he has experienced only one problem with the salt water system at Hockessin: holding the minimum salt level below a certain level tends to overwork the equipment.
Mick Nelson, club facilities development director for USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming based in Colorado Springs, CO, says that chlorine produced from salt is extremely unstable and burns off quickly — especially when exposed to sunlight. Also, pools using salt-generated chlorine systems have to be stabilized, as pH levels tend to bounce, and maintaining proper salt content is critical.
The Maricopa County (AZ) Health Department is responsible for regulating La Camarilla's pool. Its chemical standards, listed under the Maricopa Environmental Health Code, state that "whenever chlorine, or a chlorine compound is employed for pool disinfection, the amount of free chlorine residual in the water shall not be less than 1.0 ppm (parts per million) or more than 5.0 ppm for public and semipublic swimming pools."
In most cases, Nelson says, a state's department of public health is the primary regulatory agency for commercial pools. In some isolated cases, the state's Environmental Protection Agency is involved, and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention works closely with these entities to ensure best practices. Regulations vary by state.
"Each state is different in their regulations for the amount of free chlorine and total chlorine, and they each require a different ppm, but most levels are between 1.0 ppm and 5.0 ppm," Suleski says. "There is no regulation difference at this point for the amount of chlorine required for the different systems. They are all the same and require the same amount."
Seeing the Light
The use of ultraviolet light systems for water disinfection also is growing in popularity. To mitigate the odor and irritants associated with chlorine, management at the YWCA of Minneapolis is considering retrofitting one of its pools with ultraviolet light next year. Currently, the Minneapolis YW uses chlorine gas in each of its nine pools. The gas form of chlorine is acidic, with a pH close to muriatic acid, so the YW uses a base of soda ash and sodium bicarbonate to make it easier and less risky to handle.
Gas chlorine is the most effective per unit of any chlorine or halogen sanitizer, says Jason Burmeister, product coordinator for aquatics at the YW.
"It is 100 percent chlorine as compared to pellets at 65 percent and liquid at 12 percent," he says.
The ultraviolet water system is attractive to the YW, Burmeister says, because it would be easy to add on to the current system and has minimal maintenance requirements. In addition, it would reduce the number of super chlorination sessions and help combat germs such as crypto, which infects a swimming pool through fecal matter coming into contact with water. Using ultraviolet light in conjunction with chlorine would eliminate the presence of chloramines, a chlorine compound that is more stable in the water system than chlorine and does not burn off in the water.
Chloramines smell like ammonia and can cause eye irritation and respiratory problems for swimmers and staff. High levels of chloramines can also cause corrosion issues to metal components of the pool, including ladders, handrails and a building's heating, ventilating and air conditioning system.
Indoor pools have been adversely affected by municipal water companies adding chloramines in excess of 1.5 ppm to drinking water supplies, a practice that Nelson says causes "terrific problems for indoor pools and air quality." He says that properly designed ultraviolet water treatment systems, along with installing an activated carbon filter on the city water line that fills the pool, provides the best remedy for fighting chloramines.
One factor preventing some club owners from making the switch to ultraviolet systems is budgetary concerns.
"Funding is always an issue, and the pool stuff doesn't always register on the top priority list of the many other issues that need to be dealt with," Burmeister says.
According to Nelson, the price tag for a medium pressure ultraviolet unit in a 25-yard, six-lane pool can range from $20,000 to $35,000. For a 50-meter pool, the price ranges from $32,000 to $70,000.
Making the Switch
Ultraviolet light systems, when used in conjunction with chlorination, lower the amount of chlorine and other chemicals while preventing harmful effects on a pool's pH balance. Not only does this technique improve the pool environment and water quality, but it also destroys chloramines and other toxic byproducts of chlorine, thus effectively eliminating the strong odor associated with chlorine, according to Patrick Wolf, facilities coordinator for the Baylor Tom Landry Fitness Center.
A persistent odor was the driving force behind why management at the Landry Fitness Center switched from a traditional chlorine disinfection system to an ultraviolet light water treatment system for its two pools. The facility, which consists of three floors, had been permeated with the distinctive aroma of chlorine.
"It used to be when you walked in the building, you could automatically tell there was a pool in the building," Wolf says.
Prior to switching to the ultraviolet system in 2002, the center had used a chemical chlorine enhancer in an attempt to eliminate the smell in the building. However, the enhancer caused people's skin to itch. One of the primary benefits of an ultraviolet system, Wolf says, is that swimmers' skin does not become irritated. The Landry Fitness Center, located in Dallas, uses the minimal amount of chlorine required by Texas state law: 1.2 ppm.
In addition to being easier on a swimmer's nostrils and skin, ultraviolet light provides substantial benefits to the fitness center in the form of reduced expenditures. Wolf estimates that the ultraviolet light system cuts costs for chemicals by two-thirds while maintaining ideal water chemistry levels.
The system cost the Landry Fitness Center approximately $30,000 to install. The average annual maintenance cost, which includes replacing pressure bulbs that go out about once a year, is roughly $2,000, a figure Wolf characterizes as "relatively nothing in the pool industry."
Although both ultraviolet systems and salt-generated chlorine systems combat chlorine odor and reduce irritation to swimmers, Nelson favors the ultraviolet system for a number of reasons, including its ease of maintenance and ability to fight chloramines.
In the future, Nelson expects more public pools to transition to ultraviolet light.
"I don't think they will really have a choice if they want breathable air indoors," Nelson says. "The municipalities and their chlorination of source [city] water make this a necessity."
How to Choose The Best Treatment
Traditional chlorine disinfection systems, salt-generated chlorine systems and ultraviolet light systems each have their proponents. So what's best for your facility? It depends on a number of factors.
"When looking at new types of sanitation, you can't just base it on the number of gallons in the pool. You need to base it on the environment: Is it indoors or outdoors? What is the water temperature? How many people use the facility?" says Connie Centrella, program director for the online Aquatic Engineering Program at Keiser University eCampus, a division of the Fort Lauderdale, FL, campus.
Before choosing a pool system, club owners should research and consider all options.
"Evaluate your specific pool and water needs," says Lauren Suleski, aquatics director of the Hockessin Athletic Club in Hockessin, DE. "Gather information from facilities that use the various types of sanitizers, and see which one is best for your budget and the needs of your patrons."
The most important factor to consider? The safety of swimmers.
"The primary goal of every aquatic facility manager is to provide a safe environment for those who get in the water, to prevent recreational water illnesses and contamination, and to maintain a water condition that will ensure user comfort," Centrella says.
Roger Furman, general manager at La Camarilla Racquet, Fitness & Swim Club in Scottsdale, AZ, adds, "What works for you and keeps you open and safe is the way to go."


text:
You ask when I first "met" tea. Well, when I was a youngin' in the mid- to late 1970s, my mom would take my bro and me to the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Inside was a tea house, where kimono-clad women would serve green tea, rice crackers, and fortune cookies.
(That's right — fortune cookies. It may seem incongruous now, but it didn't then, and now it turns out the Tea Garden served the first fortune cookies of which there is evidence in the U.S.)
At home in those days, I had no interest in the black tea that my parents' occasionally drank, but for some reason, I would drink the Tea Garden's green tea. Perhaps because of the fancy presentation ... or because it was the only beverage my mother ordered.
I remember the tea's wonderful green color and clean, subtle flavor, with a nutty aroma. (I'm pretty sure the green tea served was genmaicha. Or I at least drank genmaicha there a couple of time.)
The tea house was open on the sides, so you could look out onto the garden and the pond as you sipped your tea [see photo]. Even then, I realized that the garden was a special place. And my bro and I had a blast climbing the high-arched moon bridge, too.
Thirty years later, I am absolutely hooked on tea, and I'm convinced that my experiences at the Tea Garden got me started on the right foot.
Today, I am enjoying your green tea immensely. It really takes me back to those fond days. Thanks for the great tea, and for the memories!
You are most welcome, Peter. I'm glad that tea garden path eventually led you to us.
—Mellow Monk
blog feed, facebook, reviews, steepster, teas, tweets, videos


text:
When consumer electronics products are opened up to third party developers, it's a certainly a good thing for makers. In the Ford booth, they're demonstrating the Sync AppLink API and The Ford Developer Program. The AppLink API lets you create mobile apps for iOS or Android and have them interface with Ford's Sync voice controlled interface inside the car. While it's mostly aimed at developers that want to bring their applications to market, the API is entirely open and approval is only needed if you wish to make your app available to the public.
Another developer program just launched by Ford is OpenXC. According to the company, "OpenXC is focused on the future as an open-source hardware and software platform developed by Ford Research and Innovation to unleash the power of the open-source hacker community to explore what can be done with vehicle data." Their press release offers more details:
The OpenXC kit includes a vehicle interface module based on the popular Arduino platform developers can use to read data from the vehicle's internal communications network. The hardware module provides real-time access to parameters like the vehicle sensors, GPS receiver and vehicle speed. The hardware module is connected to a smartphone or tablet on which apps can be written to consume and use these data.
The read-only system is designed to keep everything isolated from the vehicle control systems. The OpenXC website also provides schematics, documentation and code for open-source hardware modules, including the wireless solar-powered heads-up display developed by OpenXC co-founder Bug Labs.
While I'm not a car owner myself, I see huge potential in this for makers. With the unfettered access to protocols and documentation, we can do even more to connect technology in creative ways. Here's hoping this is only the start of a larger trend in the automotive industry.


text:
Avis Australia excl NT/NWWA (On-Airport)
Vehicle Type:
Group F - Full Size Wagon - Holden SV6, 6 cylinder or similar 5 Door Wagon Automatic.
Pickup Date:
Pickup Time:
Dropoff Date:
Dropoff Time:
(0 - 12):
Children older than 12 are costed as Adults.
Children older than 12 are costed as Adults.
Child Ages:
Specify child ages as at time of travel
Pickup Depot:
Dropoff Depot:
Note: For drop offs at a location other than those listed above,
please call our reservation centre to process your booking.
Special Requests:
(240 Char Limit)
Note: Flight Details are mandatory for airport pickups and dropoffs.
Special requests generate directly to the service provider and cannot be guaranteed.
For Your Information
Please refer to terms and conditions for depot opening hours and car group location restrictions.
Car rental requirements. Please refer to Supplier Important Information for further details.
Terms Conditions:
I agree with the Terms & Conditions for this rental.
Important Info:
I have read and agree to the important notes.
Note: Additional options such as accident waiver
insurance can be purchased at the time of pickup.
1300 730 039contact details
Great Aussie Holidays
operated by Sunlover Holidays Pty Ltd
ABN 23 113 463 415 T/A Licence Qld 3095715


text:
Four weeks from now I will be landing in Glasgow ahead of this year's Genealogy Research Trip in Edinburgh. Having finalized the details for the tour participants, it is now time to finalize my own "to do" list.
While in Glasgow, I hope to once again tap into my taphophilia by visiting a few cemeteries. One in particular that I hope to get to this year is the Bent Cemetery in Hamilton, where my Carrick ancestors are buried. My 3x great grandfather is buried there along with his son. The two were killed together in a mining accident. Although there is no grave marker, I would like to visit the cemetery itself. The tragedy often plays on my mind and I hope to gain some perspective once viewing their final resting place.
My "to do" list also contains a number of archives I would like to visit in order to get some more of the social history details of my ancestors.
As a group, we will be attending the SAFHS conference in Galashiels so our "free time" to visit distant or ancestral lands will be on the Sunday and Monday. Having regularly paid visits to the Borders region, I find the northwest once again calling me. Fort William where my grandfather died? Mallaig? The Small Isles? Who knows what those two days will hold.
And of course, I am looking forward to seeing the progress that has taken place in Quartermile since last year's visit. To walking through Grassmarket and enjoying the rich history of that area of Edinburgh. And most of all, the peace that comes with being "home" - if only for a short time.


text:
This nice apartment is located within walking distance to the beach and near the centre of the village Nes.
The apartment is located on the ground floor and has a large South facing terrace where you can enjoy the sun or a nice meal.
The apartment is decorated stylishly. The French doors to the terrace and the high ceiling give this apartment a lovely open and light feel. The open kitchen is spacious and equipped with modern equipment.
The bedrooms are also located on the ground floor and have boxspring beds and one of the bedrooms has a flatscreen TV. The bathroom has a bath and separate shower. There is also a separate toilet available.
To conclude a lovely and modern apartment in a central location.
This apartment is suitable for up to 5 people.
For more information or questions, please feel free to contact us.
Metz verhuur & beheerStrandweg 219163 GK Nes Ameland
+31 (0)519 543 436