text:
How CEO Rich Templeton is Reinventing Texas Instruments
He's betting big on a new direction for one of the world's leading semiconductor companies. Indications are that the wager is paying off.
Rich Templeton isn't much one to talk about himself. But unleash him in front of Congress on the topic of American innovation, or at the latest Goldman Sachs investor conference for a technology presentation, and he's in his element.
Learning of my quest to find out more about the man who leads Texas Instruments Inc., he adjusts his sport coat at his Dallas headquarters and jokes that the Goldman talk in January was "easy stuff" compared to this.
It's not that Templeton isn't personable, or knowledgeable, or that he has anything to hide. In fact his dry wit and easygoing demeanor make him instantly likeable, and he can explain the significance of semiconductors so clearly that even a child could understand. The truth is that Templeton, 53, is a savvy businessman and engineer all in one unique package. But he'd rather roll up his sleeves and get to work than talk about it.
"He's the real deal," says Brian Toohey, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Semiconductor Industry Association, where Templeton serves on the board. "He's an incredible executive, incredible communicator, and he has a terrific no-nonsense, straightforward way of explaining complicated technology issues to policymakers and to anyone. He's just an extraordinary mix of leadership and knowledge, but a terrific, humble person."
Thoughtful and carefully spoken, Templeton has spent his entire 32-year career at TI, the past eight as president and CEO. Since taking the helm he has been steadily reshaping the semiconductor manufacturer, moving it away from other technologies to focus on analog and embedded-processing growth, all while repositioning its wireless business in the smartphone market. Under Templeton, TI has bet the farm on analog chips, which process and convert "real world" signals—sound, temperature, electricity—into the 1's and 0's of the digital world.
The company has its work cut out for it. On average, 13 analog chips per person are sold each year for devices found in places like your car, kitchen appliances, air conditioner, notebook, and smartphone. The chips can make medical devices like ultrasounds portable. They're being used in intelligent thermostats that adjust to user habits and patterns, and they have vast applications for cloud computing and energy efficiencies not seen before.
The possibilities, Templeton says, seem endless. "Literally every piece of electronic equipment you have at work or home has at least one, if not multiple, analog chips," he says. "We have a chance to sell something to every customer in the world. The number of companies that can say that are pretty limited."
Aggressive Moves
The shift in focus represents a giant leap for a company that began selling tricked-out calculators 45 years ago. That segment, which remains important because of its impact on education, accounted for less than 4 percent of the company's $13.7 billion in revenue last year. With the $6.5 billion acquisition of Santa Clara, Calif.-based National Semiconductor in September, nearly half of TI's business now is in the analog space.
Some critics say TI paid too much for the struggling company—a whopping 78 percent premium per-share over the closing day's stock price. But others say if the integration of 5,600 employees and 12,000 analog products goes smoothly, TI could come to dominate the $309 billion analog market. It currently ranks third, behind Intel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co.
Templeton says that although the final chapter on the National Semiconductor deal has yet to be written, it was a "bold, correct move" given the economy, the opportunity, and his vision for the company.
"There's some confidence behind that," he says. "We're not afraid to make aggressive moves in down economies, while everybody is kind of scared and waiting out the fear of, 'Is the sun ever going to come up again?' We learned the lesson over time: Don't be afraid to make moves when they make sense.
"We saw an opportunity with National Semiconductor and it was absolutely in line with this vision of the world that we have, and we thought the numbers could work. As a result, so far, so good. We're pleased with the way the customers have responded, and pleased with the team out in California. We're going to be focused on converting that into great results."
Templeton isn't alone in his optimistic outlook. Betsy Van Hees, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, likes TI over all other big companies in the semiconductor sector. The Dallas firm is well-positioned to grow starting in the second quarter, she says, because of its market-share gains in analog and the increasing silicon content in mobile devices.
"We view the consolidation of the analog sector as a considerable positive for the industry," Van Hees says. "We believe TI made the right decision in acquiring National Semiconductor, because it increases TI's market share, manufacturing, and sales, as well as provides TI with a greater footprint across several end markets, particularly industrials, where National has been particularly strong."
Under Templeton and his predecessor, TI has taken an aggressive approach to buying or selling companies that don't fit in with its emphasis on analog and embedded processors. Since 1996, TI has acquired 33 companies and divested at least 18—from defense to liquid-crystal-display operations—that were not central to this razor focus. (See story on page 53.) Many of those sales and acquisitions were completed during Tom Engibous' tenure, which ran from 1996 to 2004. But Templeton, who served first as semiconductor group president and later as COO, shared a similar mindset with his mentor and colleague.
"Tom and I worked together well, and we really had a common view and very broad strokes of, 'Let's get our company into better businesses, which are analog and embedded processing today,' " he says. "We benefited from a great market that discovered us back in the '90s in the wireless business, and from not being afraid to make tradeoffs to get into better businesses."
MoneyGram CEO Pam Patsley, who has served on TI's board since 2004, says Templeton is willing to take measured risks based on many different perspectives—and a lot of data.
"It has been rewarding to see how he has continued to lead TI through some really challenging economic times," she says. "He's not afraid to make some hard decisions, but his sense of balance and fairness is right where it should be."
Although it might seem unusual that Templeton has spent three decades at TI, he says it's common for TI'ers (as the employees are called) to stick around for awhile. "It really is a case of a unique culture where we keep challenging people with more," he says. "The next thing you know it's 32 years later and you've enjoyed what you've worked on and who you've been able to work with."
CEO'S Impact
It didn't take Templeton long after finishing his schooling to join that "unique culture." One week after graduating with an electrical engineering degree from Union College in Schenectady, N.Y., in 1980, he moved to Texas to take a sales job in the semiconductor business at TI.
Growing up in a city outside Poughkeepsie, N.Y., the athletically inclined son of an IBM engineer and schoolteacher says he declared his major on "the first day of showing up" at Union College. It was there that Templeton met his future wife, Mary, a computer-science major. They lived on the same floor, became friends, and he helped her with calculus, she remembers. After they married, the couple settled down in Parker, a sprawling Collin County suburb, where they raised two sons and a daughter.
The early 1980s were a challenging time under then-chairman Mark Shepherd Jr. and president J. Fred Bucy, who was called abrasive and autocratic. TI recorded its first-ever revenue loss of $145 million in 1983, due, in part, to the recession and an unforecasted slump in demand for its home computer. The company was deemed the de facto seller of home computers, even hitting the 1 million mark in sales, but competition was heating up and, eventually, TI exited the business.
Some analysts call those the darker days for TI. But things brightened up in 1985, when Jerry Junkins was named president and CEO. Junkins is credited with loosening up the corporate culture and encouraging innovation, while helping reposition the company to better compete in the 1990s.
"We've learned, without exception, that whatever the CEO is like, it drifts incredibly quickly through the whole company," says KRLD business analyst David Johnson, who has followed TI for nearly three decades. "The personality of the CEO quickly permeates the company. Junkins did an overnight turnaround. This is the group that Templeton came from, the new wave. They had a laser-like focus on [digital signal processors]; that was going to be the great new thing, and they sold all of this great technology. That's the mold that Templeton came from."
Junkins died of a heart attack on a business trip in 1996, quickly thrusting Engibous, a 20-year TI veteran already serving in an executive role, into the spotlight as CEO. Another TI vet, Jim Adams, was tapped as chairman.
During "those transitions when faced with such emergencies, these guys did a terrific job," Templeton says. "The board made some wise decisions about the direction of the company and the choice of leaders."
For 15 years Templeton worked with Engibous, who's credited with transforming the company from a broad-based conglomerate to a semiconductor company focused on making chips for the signal-processing markets that have fed the wireless and Internet revolutions.
After years of grooming, Templeton stepped into the president and CEO roles in 2004, and was named board chairman in 2008.
It seems fitting that Templeton's name may someday adorn a Dallas building or two, much like TI founders Cecil H. Green, Patrick E. Haggerty, John Erik Jonsson, and Eugene McDermott. For now, however, his ambitions lie elsewhere.
"It all comes down to, how well is TI run?" Templeton says. "There is no greater assessment of how well you've done than, 'Do you leave the place stronger?' A lot of my time and energy and passion goes to that. The same philosophy carries into what you do in your personal life or organizations and groups that you're affiliated with. If you're going to invest the time and effort, do you leave it stronger than when you arrived?"
Setting the Tone
Clearly, Templeton practices what he preaches. It isn't every day, for example, that a CEO leads an internal United Way campaign. But Templeton has quietly taken on that role at TI for the last 10 years, garnering employee support and helping raise millions of dollars for the nonprofit. "Investing in the community that you operate in doesn't just make sense emotionally, but there's some pretty sound logic to it," he says.


text:
Event Information
Date and Time
Platform Networking- Women's Business Networking in Sheffield.
"Step up for success"
Women who wish to be both proactive and supportive business networkers, meeting every other week.
The group will be made up of a majority of experienced networkers who want to do business together but who are also keen to welcome, support and advise those new to networking in a friendly atmosphere.
Venue costs on the day are £3 for members and £5 for non-members, free tea and coffee will be provided.
Please note
We thank everyone who is interested in joining our meetings. However, we support a non competitive environment for our members which means we cannot allow guests who provide similar products or services to attend meetings.
If you book a place and your business is similar or overlaps with one of our members we will contact you by email. We are very happy to keep your information on file if you wish us to contact you if the situation changes.
You can view our current members products and services on our website here
Tickets are strictly on a first come, first served basis and admits one person. Tickets are non-transferable. If you are unable to attend please let the organiser know as soon as possible.
What are my transport/parking options getting to the event?
The venue has excellent free car parking. There is a bus service from the city centre.
What can/can't I bring to the event?
Please bring your business cards and/or brochures
For more information, please check out our website at www.platformnetworking.co.uk

subset: commoncrawl


text:
This example shows how to convert a USGS DEM into a regular latitude-longitude grid having comparable spatial resolution. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) 30-meter Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) are regular grids (raster data) that use the UTM coordinate system. Using such DEMs in applications may require reprojecting and resampling them. You can readily apply the approach show here to projected map coordinate systems other than UTM and to other DEMs and most types of regular data grids.
This example uses a USGS DEM for a quadrangle 7.5-arc-minutes square located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, USA. The data set is stored in the Spatial Data Transfer Standard (STDS) format and is located in the folder
This folder is on the MATLAB® path if the Mapping Toolbox™ is installed, so it suffices to refer to the data set by filename alone.
stdsfilename = '9129CATD.ddf';
You can use the
sdtsinfo command to obtain basic metadata about the DEM.
info = sdtsinfo(stdsfilename)
info = struct with fields: Filename: '9129CATD.DDF' Title: 'MOUNT WASHINGTON, NH - 24000' ProfileID: 'SDTS RASTER PROFILE' ProfileVersion: 'DRAFT VERSION JULY 1997' MapDate: '' DataCreationDate: '19980811' HorizontalDatum: 'North American 1927' MapRefSystem: 'UTM' ZoneNumber: 19 XResolution: 30 YResolution: 30 NumberOfRows: 472 NumberOfCols: 345 HorizontalUnits: 'METERS' VerticalUnits: 'METERS' MinElevation: 367 MaxElevation: 1909
and you can use
sdtsdemread to import the DEM into a 2-D MATLAB array (
Z), along with its referencing matrix (
refmat), a 3-by-2 matrix that maps the row and column subscripts of
Z to map x and y (UTM "eastings" and "northings" in this case).
[Z,refmat] = sdtsdemread(stdsfilename);
You can convert
refmat to a map raster reference object, which provides a more complete and self-documenting way of encoding spatial referencing information.
currentFormat = get(0,'format'); format long g R = refmatToMapRasterReference(refmat, size(Z))
R = MapCellsReference with properties: XWorldLimits: [310380.84375 320730.84375] YWorldLimits: [4901891.5 4916051.5] RasterSize: [472 345] RasterInterpretation: 'cells' ColumnsStartFrom: 'north' RowsStartFrom: 'west' CellExtentInWorldX: 30 CellExtentInWorldY: 30 RasterExtentInWorldX: 10350 RasterExtentInWorldY: 14160 XIntrinsicLimits: [0.5 345.5] YIntrinsicLimits: [0.5 472.5] TransformationType: 'rectilinear' CoordinateSystemType: 'planar'
The value of
ans = 'North American 1927'
indicates use of the North American Datum of 1927. The Clarke 1866 ellipsoid is the standard reference ellipsoid for this datum.
ellipsoidName = 'clarke66';
You can also check the value of the
HorizontalUnits field,
mapUnits = info.HorizontalUnits;
which indicates that the horizontal coordinates of the DEM are in units of meters, and use both pieces of information to construct a
clarke66 = referenceEllipsoid(ellipsoidName, mapUnits)
clarke66 = referenceEllipsoid with defining properties: Code: 7008 Name: 'Clarke 1866' LengthUnit: 'meter' SemimajorAxis: 6378206.4 SemiminorAxis: 6356583.8 InverseFlattening: 294.978698213898 Eccentricity: 0.0822718542230038 and additional properties: Flattening ThirdFlattening MeanRadius SurfaceArea Volume
From the
MapRefSystem field in the SDTS info structure,
ans = 'UTM'
you can tell that the DEM is gridded in a Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system.
ZoneNumber field
ans = 19
indicates which longitudinal UTM zone was used. The Mapping Toolbox
utm function, however, also requires a latitudinal zone; this is not provided in the metadata, but you can derive it from the referencing matrix and grid dimensions.
UTM comprises 60 longitudinal zones each spanning 6 degrees of longitude and 20 latitudinal zones ranging from 80 degrees South to 84 degrees North. Longitudinal zones are designated by numbers ranging from 1 to 60. Latitudinal zones are designated by letters ranging from C to X (omitting I and O). In a given hemisphere (Southern or Northern), all the latitudinal zones occupy a shared coordinate system. Aside from determining the hemisphere, the toolbox merely uses latitudinal zone to help set the default map limits.
So, you can start by using the first latitudinal zone in the Northern Hemisphere, zone N (for latitudes between zero and 8 degrees North) as a provisional zone.
longitudinalZone = sprintf('%d',info.ZoneNumber); provisionalLatitudinalZone = 'N'; provisionalZone = [longitudinalZone provisionalLatitudinalZone]
provisionalZone = '19N'
Then, construct a UTM axes based on this provisional zone
figure axesm('mapprojection','utm','zone',provisionalZone,'geoid',clarke66) axis off gridm mlabel on plabel on framem on
To find the actual zone, you can locate the center of the DEM in UTM coordinates,
[M,N] = size(Z); xCenterIntrinsic = (1 + N)/2; yCenterIntrinsic = (1 + M)/2; [xCenter, yCenter] = intrinsicToWorld(R,xCenterIntrinsic,yCenterIntrinsic)
xCenter = 315555.84375 yCenter = 4908971.5
then convert latitude-longitude, taking advantage of the fact that
xCenter and
yCenter will be the same in zone 19N as they are into the actual zone.
[latCenter, lonCenter] = minvtran(xCenter,yCenter)
latCenter = 44.3125403747455 lonCenter = -71.3126367639007
Then, with the
utmzone function, you can use the latitude-longitude coordinates to determine the actual UTM zone for the DEM.
actualZone = utmzone(latCenter,lonCenter)
actualZone = '19T'
Finally, use the result to reset the zone of the axes constructed earlier.
Note: if you can visually place the approximately location of New Hampshire on a world map, then you can confirm this result with the
utmzoneui GUI.
mapshow (rather than
geoshow or
meshm) to display the DEM on the map axes because the data are gridded in map (x-y) coordinates.
mapshow(Z,R,'DisplayType','texturemap') demcmap(Z)
The DEM covers such a small part of this map that it may be hard to see (look between 44 and 44 degrees North and 72 and 71 degrees West), because the map limits are set to cover the entire UTM zone. You can reset them (as well as the map grid and label parameters) to get a closer look.
setm(gca,'MapLatLimit',[44.2 44.4],'MapLonLimit',[-71.4 -71.2]) setm(gca,'MLabelLocation',0.05,'MLabelRound',-2) setm(gca,'PLabelLocation',0.05,'PLabelRound',-2) setm(gca,'PLineLocation',0.025,'MLineLocation',0.025)
When it is viewed at this larger scale, narrow wedge-shaped areas of uniform color appear along the edge of the grid. These are places where
Z contains the value NaN, which indicates the absence of actual data. By default they receive the first color in the color table, which in this case is dark green. These null-data areas arise because although the DEM is gridded in UTM coordinates, its data limits are defined by a latitude-longitude quadrangle. The narrow angle of each wedge corresponds to the non-zero "grid declination" of the UTM coordinate system in this part of the zone. (Lines of constant x run precisely north-south only along the central meridian of the zone. Elsewhere, they follow a slight angle relative to the local meridians.)
The next step is to define a regularly-spaced set of grid points in latitude-longitude that covers the area within the DEM at about the same spatial resolution as the original data set.
First, you need to determine how the latitude changes between rows in the input DEM (i.e., by moving northward by 30 meters).
rng = info.YResolution; % In meters, consistent with clarke66 latcrad = deg2rad(latCenter); % latCenter in radians % Change in latitude, in degrees dLat = rad2deg(meridianfwd(latcrad,rng,clarke66) - latcrad)
dLat = 0.000269984934404749
The actual spacing can be rounded slightly to define the grid spacing to be used for the output (latitude-longitude) grid.
gridSpacing = 1/4000; % In other words, 4000 samples per degree
To set the extent of the output (latitude-longitude) grid, start by finding the corners of the DEM in UTM map coordinates.
xCorners = R.XWorldLimits([1 1 2 2])' yCorners = R.YWorldLimits([1 2 2 1])'
xCorners = 310380.84375 310380.84375 320730.84375 320730.84375 yCorners = 4901891.5 4916051.5 4916051.5 4901891.5
Then convert the corners to latitude-longitude. Display the latitude-longitude corners on the map (via the UTM projection) to check that the results are reasonable.
[latCorners, lonCorners] = minvtran(xCorners, yCorners) hCorners = geoshow(latCorners,lonCorners,'DisplayType','polygon',... 'FaceColor','none','EdgeColor','red');
latCorners = 44.2475212269387 44.3748952132925 44.3775277222457 44.2501421324565 lonCorners = -71.374900167689 -71.3800449718219 -71.2502372050341 -71.2453724066789
Next, round outward to define an output latitude-longitude quadrangle that fully encloses the DEM and aligns with multiples of the grid spacing.
latSouth = gridSpacing * floor(min(latCorners)/gridSpacing) lonWest = gridSpacing * floor(min(lonCorners)/gridSpacing) latNorth = gridSpacing * ceil( max(latCorners)/gridSpacing) lonEast = gridSpacing * ceil( max(lonCorners)/gridSpacing) qlatlim = [latSouth latNorth]; qlonlim = [lonWest lonEast]; dlat = 100*gridSpacing; dlon = 100*gridSpacing; [latquad, lonquad] = outlinegeoquad(qlatlim, qlonlim, dlat, dlon); hquad = geoshow(latquad, lonquad, ... 'DisplayType','polygon','FaceColor','none','EdgeColor','blue'); snapnow;
latSouth = 44.2475 lonWest = -71.38025 latNorth = 44.37775 lonEast = -71.24525
Finally, construct a geographic raster referencing object for the output grid. It supports transformations between latitude-longitude and the row and column subscripts. In this case, use of a world file matrix, W, enables exact specification of the grid spacing.
W = [gridSpacing 0 lonWest + gridSpacing/2; ...
0 gridSpacing latSouth + gridSpacing/2]
nRows = round((latNorth - latSouth) / gridSpacing) nCols = round(wrapTo360(lonEast - lonWest) / gridSpacing)
nRows = 521 nCols = 540
Rlatlon = georasterref(W,[nRows nCols],'cells')
Rlatlon = GeographicCellsReference with properties: LatitudeLimits: [44.2475 44.37775] LongitudeLimits: [-71.38025 -71.24525] RasterSize: [521 540] RasterInterpretation: 'cells' ColumnsStartFrom: 'south' RowsStartFrom: 'west' CellExtentInLatitude: 1/4000 CellExtentInLongitude: 1/4000 RasterExtentInLatitude: 0.13025 RasterExtentInLongitude: 0.135 XIntrinsicLimits: [0.5 540.5] YIntrinsicLimits: [0.5 521.5] CoordinateSystemType: 'geographic' AngleUnit: 'degree'
Rlatlon fully defines the number and location of each cell in the output grid.
Finally, you're ready to make use of the map projection, applying it to the location of each point in the output grid. First compute the latitudes and longitudes of those points, stored in 2-D arrays.
[rows,cols] = ndgrid(1:nRows, 1:nCols); [lat,lon] = intrinsicToGeographic(Rlatlon,cols,rows);
Then apply the projection to each latitude-longitude pair, arrays of UTM x-y locations having the same shape and size as the latitude-longitude arrays.
[XI,YI] = mfwdtran(lat,lon);
At this point,
XI(i,j) and
YI(i,j) specify the UTM coordinate of the grid point corresponding to the i-th row and j-th column of the output grid.
The final step is to use the MATLAB
interp2 function to perform bilinear resampling.
At this stage, the value of projecting from the latitude-longitude grid into the UTM map coordinate system becomes evident: it means that the resampling can take place in the regular X-Y grid, making
interp2 applicable. The reverse approach, unprojecting each (X,Y) point into latitude-longitude, might seem more intuitive but it would result in an irregular array of points to be interpolated -- a much harder task, requiring use of the far more costly
griddata function or some rough equivalent.
[rows,cols] = ndgrid(1:M,1:N);
[X,Y] = intrinsicToWorld(R,cols,rows);
method = 'bilinear';
extrapval = NaN;
Zlatlon = interp2(X,Y,Z,XI,YI,method,extrapval);
View the result in the projected axes using
geoshow, which will re-project it on the fly. Notice that it fills the blue rectangle, which is aligned with lines of latitude and longitude. (In contrast, the red rectangle, which outlines the original DEM, aligns with UTM x and y.) Also notice NaN-filled regions along the edges of the grid. The boundaries of these regions appear slightly jagged, at the level of a single grid spacing, due to round-off effects during interpolation. Move the red quadrilateral and blue quadrangle to the top, to ensure that they are not hidden by the raster display.
geoshow(Zlatlon,Rlatlon,'DisplayType','texturemap') uistack([hCorners hquad],'top')
9129CATD.ddf (and supporting files):
United States Geological Survey (USGS) 7.5-minute Digital Elevation Model (DEM) in Spatial Data Transfer Standard (SDTS) format for the Mt. Washington quadrangle, with elevation in meters. http://edc.usgs.gov/products/elevation/dem.html
For more information, run:
>> type 9129.txt
demcmap |
georasterref |
intrinsicToGeographic |
intrinsicToWorld |


text:
And to the network for which it stands, one nation, indivisible…
Well, not so indivisible. Showtime's decided to ax the half-hour show "United States of Tara," a comedy about a mother (Toni Collette) who has multiple-personality disorder.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show started strong (it didn't hurt to have buzzy names like Diablo Cody and Steven Spielberg behind the scenes), but lost viewers as the seasons progressed.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
Toni Collette won an Emmy (2009) and a Golden Globe (2010) for her frenetic, manifold portrayal, switching between a 1950's housewife, a punky teenager, a male yokel, and herself. Other personalities were added on in the latest season.
But, for those who like Showtime's quirky sense of humor, fear not! The lovable but flawed "Nurse Jackie" (played by Edie Falco) will be back for a 4th season.


text:
The battle over new taxes for public education has ratcheted up yet another step.
Led by wealthy civil rights attorney Molly Munger, Proposition 38 advocates are now airing ads touting their proposal as the best way to solve California's education funding shortfall. Implicit in the message is a criticism of the way Gov. Jerry Brown has managed the issue -- particularly in terms of his intention to slice three weeks off the public school year if his proposal, Proposition 30, fails to pass.
This is a war that should have never happened.
Propositions 30 and 38 both seek to provide desperately needed funds for California's schools, where per-student spending now ranks 47th among the 50 states, according to a Education Week report.
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
The two propositions' means to acquire the new revenues are slightly different.
Brown hopes to capture $8 billion annually through higher income taxes on wealthy Californians, along with a quarter-cent uptick in the sales taxes, with the increases expiring in seven years. Munger has proposed higher income taxes for almost all Californians, with $10 billion raised over 12 years.
There are a few other minor differences, but at their cores, these two propositions have a lot in common. Yet the fact they are both on the ballot jeopardizes each measure.
Voters have a hard enough time deciphering ballot propositions. Put two similar ballot proposals on the same ballot and voters take on a dazed look similar to a deer staring at headlights. The fear is that the confusion will translate into "no" votes for both measures on Nov. 6.
In fact, the latest Field polls show that both of the propositions are in trouble.
Brown's initiative currently has a small margin of support, with 51 percent saying they'll vote "yes" and 36 percent saying they'll vote "no" (PDF).
Although only a simple majority is required for passage, most experts believe that tax-based initiatives need support closer to 60 percent going into the election to accommodate tentative "yes" voters who change their minds about additional taxes.
Munger's proposition is in even more trouble, according to the Field results from Sept. 20. Currently, Proposition 38 is failing, with 41 percent supporting the initiative and 44 percent opposed.
Meanwhile, campaign fundraising has been fast and furious.
To date, Prop 30 proponents have accumulated more than $38 million, well beyond Brown's goal of $30 million. The Yes on Proposition 38 campaign has raised a bit more than $28 million, almost all of which has come via Munger's hefty checkbook, which shows no sign of running out of money.
Lost in the political food fight among traditional allies is the glee of the anti-tax groups, who have spent little energy fighting both initiatives. And why should they, when the camps for the two competing propositions are wreaking havoc and causing doubts among the voters.
There you have it: two groups basically on the same side of the same issue. But because of fierce competition and voter confusion, both sides may well lose, leaving the state's beleaguered and underfunded public education system sinking to new lows.
Only in California.


text:
The terror suspect accused of plotting a New York attack had a senior-level contact in the al-Qaida organization, sources said Monday as Najibullah Zazi faces charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The New Yorker went on the CIA's alert after one of the government agency's sources tipped them off about his terrorist activities a source close to the investigation said. The government believes Zazi is part of a larger, international terrorist case, the source said.
The fact that the case was handled by the CIA is another method of proof that Zazi was part of a larger scheme, the source said -- most unique domestic terrorism cases are handled by the FBI.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
Zazi was cuffed last month along with his father and another co-conspirator for lying to federal investigators, but was later charged with the higher terror charge. Investigators believe Zazi, who received explosives training at an al-Qaida camp, was plotting to attack the city's subway system around the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
He remains held without bail in New York.
Get more: MSNBC


text:
- Description
Product Info
The Vancore is part of Shark's "urban" range. The Vancore takes the open-face design of Shark's Raw / Drak helmet to the next level. This helmet may look like it boosts a modular design, it however features a solid chinbar which protects you in case of an accident. The helmet comes with separate goggles that bikers might appreciate.
The Vancore is a surprisingly light helmet. Made out of thermoplastic this helmet weighs in at an incredible 1250 grams meaning it will definitely not put a strain on your neck and shoulders. The shape of Shark's Vancore, is more rounded when compared to the shapes of other helmets. According to Shark the purpose of this design feature was to make the shape of the shell match more closely to the human head in order to fit better. As said the Vancore's chin bar is fixed and doesn't flip up, this is a feature that helps contribute to the helmet's ECE 22.05 homologation. The quick release ratchet on the chin strap replaces the conventional double D-ring as the retention system of choice. The lens that comes standard with the Vancore is an anti-scratch, anti-fog lens designed by Carl-Zeiss. If the lens that comes with your Vancore is not completely to your liking, no worries. The lens can be taken out of the goggle-frame in seconds, so in this way you can easily customize the helmet to your personal taste. The internal lining of this helmet is made out of anti-bacterial bamboo fiber material. This lining which is used in almost all Shark helmets is removable and washable, ensuring maximum hygiene. The wearing comfort of this helmet is further enhanced through the application of Shark's very own EasyFit system in the design of this helmet. This system ensures a perfect fit, even for those wearing glasses. As if these features were not enough, Shark has built in space for its own communication-device, making this helmet Sharktooth-ready. Concluding we can say that the Shark Vancore has an amazing design and boosts a great number of amazing features.
Special features
- Shell: Thermoplastic resin
- Visor:Removable visor with padded inside for added comfort
- Retention system: Micrometrical strap
- Homologation: ECE 22.05
- Additional Information
Additional Information
Brand Shark Helmet Series Vancore Helmet type Full face Helmet fit Intermediate Helmet material Polycarbonate Chin strap buckle Micrometric Pinlock No Main Color White Sub Colors Black, Grey Paint finish Gloss Riding Style Urban/Street Detachable parts Cheek pads, Goggles, Internal lining Sun Visor No Homologation ECE 22.05 Helmet design Graphic
- Size Chart
Size XS S M L XL CM 53-54 55-56 57-58 59-60 61-62 Inch 21-21.3 21.7-22 22.4-22.8 23.3-23.6 24-24.4
- Reviews


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Gunfire erupts outside Ohio State's hotel in Oakland
Jesse Yomtov
USA TODAY Sports
Gunshots were fired Friday afternoon outside of the Oakland hotel that Ohio State is staying in ahead of today's game against Cal.
According to ABC 7, the shots rang out about 3 p.m. PT, outside the Marriott Hotel at Broadway and 11th.
Two men were engaged in a gun fight and a cab driver was struck by a stray bullet while he was standing at the hotel's taxi stand.
Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch was on the scene and said he heard at least eight shots, while another witness said he heard between three and five.
ABC 7 reports that a man was detained after officers saw him running from the scene, but he was released shortly after.


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The InterviewBy CIOinsight
Thinking Out Loud: Hasbro's CIO and CMO
The Interview
CIO Doug Schwinn and CMO Ed Kriete were hired within months of each other, but it wasn't until they had to share a car ride to an industry conference that they realized they could make no progress unless they found a way to work together in unprecedented ways. Writer Anne Field recently chatted with both men about what Schwinn has dubbed their "necessary alliance," a model for IT-business alignment at Hasbro.
CIO Insight: You couldn't have created Hasbro's new Web strategy without each other.
SCHWINN: Absolutely. This has been a collaborative effort that would not have succeeded without both of us working in tandem with each other.
KRIETE: Our predecessors were trying to do these things before without collaborating, but it just wasn't working.
Business and IT were in separate camps before you both arrived at the company in 1999?
SCHWINN: Everybody did their own thing, and the product that was delivered was high-cost and low-value.
KRIETE: And these weren't bad people. You have to remember the environment. When the Internet sprang up, there was the drive to just go out and do it. It was driven by the need for speed. You had to be there first to gain market advantage. We came in and said that the need for speed had been replaced with the need for greed. The only way that this is going to work is by working together and integrating the Internet into our overall marketing strategies and our sales strategies and our IT strategies.
SCHWINN: Also key was that we sat down and asked ourselves, "What is it that we as a toy manufacturer need to do on the Internet?" We actually sat down and looked at every component and said, "If I need this, what am I going to do to make funds available to develop that?" Without that interaction between the two of us, we couldn't have come up with a way to get things done.
KRIETE: Just as important, the relationship that Doug and I have forged has also served as a very strong model for our teams. Our business guys and our IT guys are in constant contact every day, so that our Web site producers, the guy who is in charge of the Internet and the people in our database marketing area work with their colleagues in IS very, very closely. That's been an outgrowth of this relationship.
So the two of you sat down one day and said, "Okay, let's overhaul the Web strategy."
KRIETE: Top management wanted more sophisticated stuff from the Web. At the same time, they wanted deep cost-cutting all the way around. The only way we could have that happen is if Doug and I worked together. We agreed that the Internet strategy needed an overhaul. We also knew there would be practically no new money kicking around to do it. But we kept talking.
SCHWINN: We figured out a way to have this pay for itself.
KRIETE: We started shutting down Web sites. We had to take down the old house and completely rebuild it. Now we're spending half as much for three or four times the impact.
How did you sell the idea to top management?
KRIETE: We pulled together a project team to look at our Internet strategy and evaluate ways to change it. We had to involve marketing, sales, IS and key business heads, so people could feel they had input. And we involved the middle managers, not just the top. There weren't just a bunch of chiefs on this committee; we also had the Indians who were going to be charged with implementation.
SCHWINN: The other key here is that this committee had an audience on a regular basis with the senior management team, so the strategy was developing right in front of their eyes. There never was a surprise. Ed and I would attend all their meetings, with everybody there, all the presidents of the divisions, and would talk for 10 to 15 minutes to give them all an Internet strategy update. Now this is being done regularly, but when we first started, those kinds of IT briefings were not happening at senior management meetings.
KRIETE: A lot of companies have been talking about Web strategy for five years. But you don't see a lot of them really doing it effectively. That's not just the toy business, that's across the board. I think one of the big reasons they can't is because their CIOs don't really work that closely with the marketing people, at least they haven't figured out a way to collaborate between IS and marketing. Our collaboration happened by chance, but the cost-cutting mandate forced us to push ahead in tandem with a plan that might not have otherwise gone forward. There was no other way it could be done.
Before, there was no cross-company CMO job and no national CIO, is that right?
SCHWINN: There were VPs of IS in each division and systems at every location. Now, the IT organizations throughout the world report to me, and that is a major change. We now look at investments in IT as investments across the entire corporation versus investments in specific divisions or specific countries.
KRIETE: My position was new when I got here. We have a brand group for each brand. There's a G.I. Joe group, there's a Playskool group, but my role crosses those groups and is involved with all of them. When I took the job, Hasbro didn't have any e-commerce capabilities.
's Background">
's Background">


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Listen to this webinar to learn about customers' first experiences with QIAGEN's new STR Plus chemistry. The webinar shows data from the validation and field testing of the Investigator ESSplex Plus Kit. This kit has the fastest workflow in the new Eurpoean Standard Set (ESS) format. Its performance was externally validated at 10 different sites in Europe before its launch.
QIAGEN is pleased to host Stefan Kutranov of LGC UK, who talks about his field test experiences with the kit and looks at the way the generated data compare to those from other commercially available kits. QIAGEN's own Dr. Lars Bochmann, Global Product Manager of the human identity and forensics assay portfolio, gives an overview of QIAGEN's internal validation processes for the Investigator STR assays.
This webinar:


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Pasadena TX
Pasadena, Texas City Page
Pasadena is well known as a family-friendly city but has no shortage of offerings for four-legged family members as well. The city boasts many pet-friendly parks and green spaces to allow for plenty of adventure. In addition to all the outdoor fun it brings, Pasadena has a nice selection of businesses that cater to pets. Pet owners in need of a Pasadena-based pet sitting company, professional dog trainer, or another service can rely onLocalDogWalker.com to connect them with the best pet service professionals in the city.
Pasadena Pet Sitters
For overnight, pet-free trips, a caring and professional pet sitting company is invaluable. Pet sitting is the most commonly sought service for pets, and there are several Pasadena dog sitters and cat sitters in the city who provide excellent care for your beloved pet while you're gone.LocalDogWalker.com has a citywide network of elite Pasadena pet sitters who provide our customers with insured and bonded services for worry-free travel.
Dog Training in Pasadena
Because they are responsible for shaping your dog's behavior, a dog trainer should be carefully selected with many important factors in mind. If you need help training your dog or selecting a dog training company in Pasadena,LocalDogWalker.com can help. We maintain a statewide network of skilled professional dog training providers who use a variety of dog training tools and home dog training methods to fully develop your dog's obedience.
Pasadena Pet Boarding
Most pet owners know that the need to spend some overnight time away from a pet is unavoidable.LocalDogWalker.com has partnered with the best Pasadena pet boarding companies to make the selection of a long-term care facility easy. Choose a dog boarding or pet boarding facility from the vast citywide network built byLocalDogWalker.com, and you can leave town feeling assured that your adored pet will be cared for properly and thoroughly.
Dog Walkers in Pasadena
Exercise is important to the maintenance of a dog's healthy lifestyle, but is oftentimes neglected when owners do not have time to follow their pet's daily routine.LocalDogWalker.com's online match service makes finding a professional dog walker in Pasadena an easy process. Each Pasadena dog walking business in our network offers a variety of fitness services for your beloved pet. Whether you're looking for part time dog walking services, an uptown dog walker or a multiple-dog walker, we can assist you in finding the ideal provider.
Pasadena Pet Grooming
Whether through a routine bath or full-service grooming, pets should be groomed periodically to maintain their health and beauty. AtLocalDogWalker.com, we have built a top-notch network of Pasadena's best pet grooming professionals who have solid references and are well established in the dog grooming and pet grooming industries. Our contracted Pasadena pet grooming companies provide various general services such as a shampoo and condition, cut and blow dry, and cuticle and dental services, as well as some specialized services for grooming your dog or other beloved pet.
Pasadena Pet Waste Removal
When you bring your freshly groomed pet home, ensure that they stay clean by keeping your yard free of pet waste throughLocalDogWalker.com's network of Pasadena's best pet waste removal companies. Our dog poop scoop service providers specialize in the removal of dog waste and the waste of other outdoor pets, keeping your yard clean and comfortable.
Doggie Daycare in Pasadena
While their owners are busy at work, pets can still receive essential care such as meals, walking and playtime through one of Pasadena's many doggie daycare facilities. Much like daycare centers for children, dog daycares provide only daytime care for pets.LocalDogWalker.com's citywide network of elite Pasadena dog daycare providers makes it easy to choose a cozy and loving daily care facility for your pup.
Find Help Now!
To find a professional pet care company in Pasadena, please fill out the pet services form on the top right of this page. It takes just a few minutes and is always completely free of charge.


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9/Jun/17 MoDem Festival show on Triplag
Information about Live & scheduled events on TRIPLAG radio ~ times, schedules, line ups, comments & feedback!
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9/Jun/17 MoDem Festival show on Triplag
We would like to present you 3rd MoDem festival shows on Triplag radio. In this edition you will hear music by Diksha https://www.facebook.com/DIKSHA.MUSIC/
and 5th compliation of Modem Festival
All to get ready for the 6th installment of MoDem Festival which take place in Croatia on 24th -30th of July
Web: http://www.modemfestival.com/
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There are three Eichler sub-divisions in Concord with a great Eichler-enthusiast community. Many sensitively renovated homes here! Eichler neighbors can participate in monthly speghetti dinners, holiday events, July 4th parade, welcome to the neighborhood parties. After looking for an Eichler for 3 years in the SF Bay Area, we settled on Concord not only for the price, but the peace & quiet and how accessible it is to SF via BART. Houses come up here every so often, check listings daily because they go fast in the SF Bay Area market. (I'm an Eichler owner and Eichler blogger, not a real estate agent).
We've had a number of houses come up for sale lately! More info on the neighborhoods, locations, etc. http://www.redneckmodern.com/2013/04/concord-eichlers-101.html


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Tom Welling & Jamie White Divorce After 10 Years of Marriage
Tom Welling and his wife Jamie White have reportedly gone their separate ways, according to TMZ.
The 36-year-old actor's wife filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences."
PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Tom Welling
According to the divorce papers, Tom and Jamie separated in December last year after being married for 10 years.
Though the couple did not have any children, Jamie is asking for spousal support.
Tom and Jamie lived in Vancouver until 2011, when they relocated to L.A.
ARE YOU SURPRISED that Tom Welling and wife Jamie White are getting divorced?


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Chris Tashjian, M.D., has been a family physician for the past 25 years and has spent most of his career practicing in a paper-driven medical environment. In that paper-based world, Tashjian says he was forced to practice reactive medicine, responding to the needs and concerns of his patients rather than proactively managing and delivering care.
Then, in 2010, Tashjian's small two-physician practice in Ellsworth, Wis., adopted an electronic health record (EHR) system, which eventually made it much easier for the practice to capture and analyze patient data and use that data as a means to reach out and manage patient care on a proactive basis.
"In the paper world, we reacted -- we waited for the patient to get sick and then reacted to it," said Tashjian in an interview with AAFP News Now. "In the electronic world, we can practice proactive medicine. We can actually try and reach out to patients before they get sick and before they have bad sequelae that come with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
"It changes the way we look at the patient," he added.
Tashjian's experience is an example of how technology is transforming the practice of medicine. In 2009, the federal government enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which made major investments in health information technology and created financial incentives for physicians and other health care providers in the Medicare and Medicaid programs who achieve meaningful use of EHRs.
As a result of the ARRA, the percentage of physicians in the country with EHRs jumped from about 15 percent in 2009 to more than 50 percent today, thus ushering in a new electronic era in medicine. The rate of EHR adoption among family physicians reached 68 percent in 2011, double the percentage in 2005, according to a recent study in the Annals of Family Medicine. Researchers for the study, "The Rise of Electronic Health Record Adoption Among Family Physicians(annfammed.org)," predicted that the EHR adoption rate for family physicians likely would surpass 80 percent by the end of 2013.
By having EHRs, physicians, at least in theory, have the ability to capture and use patient data to inform medical decisions, thereby improving efficiencies and outcomes.
Tashjian said after adopting an EHR system, his practice, the Ellsworth Medical Clinic, was able to hire a care coordinator to help manage the care of patients with chronic diseases. The care coordinator analyzes clinical data from the EHR on a monthly basis and reaches out to patients who may need a follow-up visit.
"Rather than waiting for the chronically ill to get worse, we can actively and pre-emptively strike and say, 'Mrs. Jones, we see you haven't had your A1c done in the last six months, and the last time we checked, it was kind of high,'" said Tashjian, laying out a common scenario. "We will say, 'Let's (test) it again and redress it.'"
The practice follows a similar approach with other conditions, such as heart disease and hypertension.
"Before the EHR, we were lucky if we could do this twice a year," said Tashjian. "It was very expensive. We had to go into our practice management system and get a list of the charts of those diagnoses and then pull the charts. Then someone had to look through the charts, gather the data and assemble it."
With the EHR, the practice also is able to chart its progress in managing chronic conditions and diseases. For example, the hypertension control rate among patients in the practice has climbed from about 70 percent to more than 90 percent during the past few years. At the same time, the practice has recorded similar improvements with diabetes and other diseases, said Tashjian. "This means better care for patients. It means prevention of things like heart attacks and strokes and blindness and amputations resulting from diabetes."
EHR Adoption Can Include Struggles
This is not to say that the adoption of EHRs is a panacea that will solve medicine's most pressing issues and concerns. In many cases, physicians have struggled to adopt and implement EHR systems, and, in some practices, physicians complain that EHRs are impeding and even undermining the provision of patient care. In other situations, physicians cite payment delays resulting from problems with the billing software.
"Most EHR systems today have been designed to create a billable note rather than efficiently collecting and analyzing clinical administrative data to support shared clinical decision-making," said Jason Mitchell, M.D., director of the AAFP's Center for Health IT. "To get these systems to support the proactive patient care that Dr. Tashjian and his team are delivering takes vision, customization and an ongoing commitment to continuous quality improvement."
But as Mitchell pointed out, "That doesn't come in the box with the EHR."
"EHRs are absolutely necessary," said family physician Shaun Grannis, M.D., M.S., a biomedical informatics research scientist with the Regenstrief Institute, a supporting organization of Indiana University. "However, we risk mischaracterizing their role in the health data-sharing ecosystem."
According to Grannis, "research and practical experience tell us that patients receive care in many clinical settings." This means that a patient's data are not just within a single EHR. "Consequently, to maximize the value of health information technology investments, disparate and highly variable clinical data must be standardized and integrated," said Grannis. "While EHRs supply an important functionality, they don't provide all the pieces necessary for a learning health care system. They do not focus on standardizing and integrating data from disparate sources, and their ability to transmit or exchange data is limited."
Some Inherent Inefficiencies Exist
In some respects, EHRs are inherently inefficient because they require a certain amount of manual data entry, said Grannis, who also is an associate professor of family medicine at the Indiana School of Medicine and the director of the Indiana Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics.
"I observe other physicians, including my wife, who also is a family physician, spending an increasing amount of time entering data into the EHR," said Grannis.
In some practices, EHRs risk transforming physicians into part-time "data entry clerks," he added.
"Their benefits notwithstanding, until information technology supports near human-like responsiveness and interactivity, EHR users will continue to face workflow inefficiencies," said Grannis.
Although the enactment of meaningful use incentives has led to a dramatic increase in the number of EHR systems, Grannis is convinced that some physicians are implementing EHRs primarily to obtain meaningful use incentives, and not necessarily to improve patient care.
"Many rightly claim that meaningful use incentivizes (entities) to deploy EHRs, but given the pressing need to integrate and standardize, are we sufficiently incenting efficient data movement across organizations and systems?" Grannis asked.
Moreover, the implementation of EHRs requires a certain amount of pain and disruption even among practices that succeed in implementing such a system. It is not uncommon for a practice to lose at least one staff member when making a transition from paper records to an EHR system because of their discomfort with the technology, said John Bender, M.D., CEO and medical director of Miramont Family Medicine in Fort Collins, Colo., and a past president of the Colorado AFP.
"For the first six months, I hated my EHR," said Bender. "But I would never go back to (paper) now."
EHRs Are Critical Health Care System Component
Bender and others are convinced that EHRs represent a critical part of the emerging health care system. Miramont Family Medicine, which is made up of five practices, adopted an EHR system five years ago, greatly enhancing the capabilities of the practice.
"Eight years ago, if someone asked how many diabetic patients I had at Miramont, I would say, 'I don't know,'" Bender said. "And if someone came back and said, 'How many patients have A1c levels less than 10 percent?' I would say, 'I have no idea.'"
With the EHR system, Miramont now has ready access to this type of information, putting the practice in a much stronger position to participate in accountable care organizations and other types of practice arrangements that hold physicians accountable for patient care and outcomes.
"This allows us to externally report metrics to payers so we can justify the care-coordination fees and the pay-for-performance bonuses," said Bender. "It also allows us to participate in gain-sharing contracts that we would not be able to participate in in years past because we did not have the data."
Tashjian, meanwhile, credits his EHR for making medicine much more enjoyable and fun. And he is convinced EHRs will continue to evolve and improve in a way that paper never could.
"It is more fun because we prevent people getting ill rather than trying to fix them after they get ill," he said. "We now put so much more emphasis on keeping patients healthy rather than fixing illnesses. And that is much more rewarding."
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By Alfred Mele
A famous experiment on the behavior of bystanders was inspired by an electrifying episode in New York City in 1964 when Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in the middle of a street. According to newspaper reports, although many people witnessed the early morning attack from their apartment windows when they heard screams, no one tried to stop the assault, and no one even called the police.
John Darley and Bibb Latané (1968) conducted an influential experiment in the wake of the Genovese murder. Participants were told that they would be talking about personal problems associated with being a college student. Each was in a room alone, thinking that he or she was talking to other students over a microphone. Sometimes participants were led to believe that there was only one other participant (group A), sometimes that there were two others (group B), and sometimes that there were five others (group C). In fact, the voices they heard were recordings. Participants were told that while one person was talking, the microphone arrangement would not let anyone else talk. At some point, the participant would hear a person – the "victim" – say that he felt like he was about to have a seizure. The victim would ask for help, ramble a bit, say that he was afraid he might die, and so on. His voice would be abruptly cut off after he talked for 125 seconds, just after he made choking sounds.
The percentage figures for participants who left the cubicle to help before the voice was cut off are striking: group A 85%, group B 62%, group C 31%. Also, all the participants in group A eventually reported the emergency, whereas only 62% of the participants in group C did this. Clearly, participants' beliefs about how many other people could hear the voice – none, one, or four – had an effect on their behavior.
According to a pessimistic view, findings of this kind suggest that we have very little control over our behavior – that human behavior is largely driven by the situations in which we find ourselves and the effects these situations have on unconscious, automatic behavior-producing processes. I'm not so pessimistic. Obviously, there's a difference between not doing something and not being able to do it. Even in group C, about a third of the participants went out to get help. My guess is that most of the others could have done the same – that it was to some extent up to them whether they did or didn't help. Are we to believe that it was simply impossible for the non-helpers to behave like the helpers?
A pessimist may claim that everything we do is completely determined by the situations in which we find ourselves, that we have no control at all over how we respond to these situations, and that the non-helpers therefore couldn't have helped. The claim is off base. If situations really did completely determine behavior, then everyone in the same situation would act the same way. But only 69% of the people in group C refrained from helping; the others helped. This pessimistic view of decisions isn't true to the facts.
What can we do to get potential non-helpers to help? Lots of people find striking "news" about human behavior interesting; articles claiming that neuroscientists have shown that free will is an illusion, for example. The classic situationist experiments aren't news now, of course, but they continue to be cited in new studies on situationism or automaticity. One way to spin news about these studies is pessimistic: for example, being in a group that witnesses an emergency has an enormous effect on your behavior, and there is nothing you can do about it. Another way to spin the news is not: now that you know about the bystander effect, do you have a better chance of resisting your inclination to remain passive the next time you find yourself in a group that witnesses an emergency? Here we see two very different takes on the same findings.
There are plenty of self-help books on self-control. People learn techniques for resisting or avoiding temptation with a view to making their lives better. People who read such books know what they want to avoid – binge eating, uncontrolled gambling, excessive drinking, or whatever it may be – and they try to learn how to avoid it. When a cause of harmful behavior flies under everyone's radar, not much can be done about it. But once a cause of harmful action or inaction is brought to light, prospects for amelioration may become brighter. A public that is educated about the bystander effect is less likely to display it. For a discussion of some indirect evidence of this, see A. Mele and J. Shepherd, "Situationism and Agency."
Keep in mind that even if you're never a subject in a scientific experiment, being in a bystander situation is a realistic possibility. So, if you saw a young woman being assaulted on a busy street or an old man slip and fall in a crowded mall, would it be up to you to some extent whether you tried to help? The situationist experimental findings fall far short of proving that it wouldn't be. And knowing what you do about the bystander effect, you might make a special effort to step up to the plate and take control of the situation. Knowledge is power. Forewarned is forearmed.
Alfred Mele is the William H. and Lucyle T. Werkmeister Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University. He was director of the $4.4 million Big Questions in Free Will Project (2010-13) and is the author of ten books, including Effective Intentions (2009), Backsliding (2012), and A Dialogue on Free Will and Science (2014). His book Free will be published soon by Oxford University Press.
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|Search This Title:
These records certify the completion of the process of Naturalizing, or becoming a citizen, filed with the Adams County Clerk's Office, 1890-1906.
The records are the Orders of the Court regarding applications for citizenship and are typically the last of the categories of Naturalization paperwork filed.
Learn about the documentation of Naturalization in Washington and what information is found in the various record types by selecting the tab that says "About this Collection"here.
Adams County government was created in 1883 and was formed from Whitman County.
All records are in English.
These records are open for research.
Indexed by volunteers from the Historical Records Project.
Preferred Citation: [Identification of item], Adams County Clerk, Register of Orders of Naturalization, 1890-1906, Office of the Secretary of State, Washington State Archives, Digital Archives, http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/, [date accessed].
Source: Washington State Archives, Eastern Region Branch. Adams County Government, Clerk, Register of Orders of Naturalization, 1890-1906. EA301-3-0-52.
For more information or to learn about related records, contact the Eastern Regional Branch at (509) 235-7508 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com.


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That Time Duane Brown of the Houston Texans Got Really Excited About Gotye [INTERVIEW]
Duane Brown of the Houston Texans isn't a household name, but thanks to his superb work in the trenches as an All-Pro offensive lineman, he helped lead his team to the playoffs by anchoring a line that garnered the Texans a 1,000-yard rusher for a third consecutive season. That running back, Arian Foster, demonstrated his appreciation for the offensive line's hard work by purchasing Segways for Brown and the other members of the o-line for Christmas.
While Brown had hoped to be in New Orleans as a Super Bowl competitor, the fifth-year veteran out of Virginia Tech enjoyed spending time in the Big Easy before the Big Game after returning from Hawaii where he made his first career Pro Bowl appearance.
Brown took a few minutes at the NFLPA Legends Brunch on Sunday morning before the game to talk about his Grammy-winning guilty pleasure song, Houston native Beyoncé and his take on the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year and MVP awards.
What's it like to be here in New Orleans as a fan?
Duane Brown: It's awesome. The city of New Orleans is just so joyful. The fans and people here have really embraced the atmosphere of the Super Bowl and just seeing the excitement throughout the week has really been a great experience.
Peyton Manning won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year and Adrian Peterson won the NFL MVP. What do you think?
Duane Brown: I think they got it right. Peyton Manning sitting out of the league for a year and coming back and accomplishing what he was able to do he's very deserving of that award. Looking at what Adrian Peterson accomplished coming off such a vicious knee injury and being able to come nine yards short of the single season record I think that's amazing and I think he carried his team more so than Peyton did, so I think he's deserving of it.
What famous woman do you hope is watching the Texans on Sundays?
Duane Brown: Beyoncé. She's a Houston native so it would be great to know that she tunes into our games every now and then.
What was your first big purchase once you had some money in the bank?
Duane Brown: My first car. Well, not my first car but the first car I really wanted for a year. So heading into the league it was a Dodge Challenger. Love that car to death. Still my favorite car to this day.
What's your guilty pleasure song on your iPod?
Duane Brown: I've got a lot of those! 'Somebody that I Used to Know' by Gotye. That's an awesome song.
The original or the remix?
Duane Brown: The original. I don't like the techno version [laughs].
UPDATE: Thanks to a reader for sending THIS to us.


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Lexington Medical Center Welcomes Will Floyd MD, MPH, to Occupational Health Program
Lexington Medical Center is proud to welcome Will Floyd, MD, MPH, into the hospital's network of care. Dr. Floyd has joined Alice Barker, MD, and Dana Rawl, MD as a practicing physician at Occupational Health, a Lexington Medical Center physician practice.
Dr. Floyd will provide health care services ranging from pre-placement assessments to comprehensive treatment of workers' compensation injuries. With the addition of Dr. Floyd, Lexington Medical Center is now home to the only occupational health program in South Carolina with three physicians who are board certified in occupational medicine.
"I'm very excited about joining Lexington Medical Center and look forward to meeting the occupational health needs of the Midlands' business and industrial community," said Dr. Floyd.
Dr. Floyd graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Medicine and completed his Internal Medicine residency at Palmetto Health. During his residency, he also pursued a master's degree in Public Health from USC with a focus on Occupational Health. He followed this education with a Preventive Medicine residency at the USC Department of Family & Preventive Medicine. A South Carolina native who has practiced in Columbia since 1999, he is board certified in Occupational, Preventive and Internal Medicine.
Dr. Floyd's training and experience have provided him with an extensive understanding of occupational and preventive health. He is highly respected by local businesses for his hard work and partnerships to improve health in the workplace. He is a member of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the South Carolina Medical Association, currently serving as chair of its Occupational Medicine Committee.
Occupational Health is located at 300 West Dunbar in West Columbia. To schedule an appointment, call (803) 755-3337 or visit http://occupationalhealthlexington.com.


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Beat the Streak Report: Wednesday, August 17
Current leader jturner trucked ahead to 36 games last night thanks to a 3-for-4 effort from Rangers third baseman Michael Young. Interview questions have been sent out, so hopefully we can all find out a little more about the mystery man tomorrow morning. Foreshadowing! Dun-dun-dunnnnn
Elsewhere, mjb22nml (33 games) and ctjohnson84 (31 games) have crept up the leaderboard in turner's shadow. Just 33 Streakers have broken the 30-game threshold this season, so that accomplishment is certainly nothing to snort and/or sneeze at.
Enjoy Wednesday's answer key below. The Rays and Red Sox kick things off at 1:35.
Wednesday's picks:
(Make a BTS pick)
Oh, hello there…
Albert Pujols: .583 (21-for-36) since '06 vs. Pirates starter Paul Maholm
Ian Kinsler: .425 (17-for-40) since '06 vs. Angels starter Ervin Santana
Elvis Andrus: .407 (11-for-27) since '06 vs. Angels starter Ervin Santana
Mark Teixeira: .545 (6-for-11) since '06 vs. Royals starter Bruce Chen
Paul Konerko: .467 (7-for-15) since '06 vs. Indians starter Fausto Carmona
Feeling kinda spicy?
Seth Smith: .400 (4-for-10) since '06 vs. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco
Shin-Soo Choo: .379 (11-for-29) since '06 vs. White Sox starter Mark Buehrle
You'll thank me later
Carlos Gonzalez: .100 (1-for-10) since '06 vs. Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco
Matt Holliday: .136 (3-for-22) since '06 vs. Pirates starter Paul Maholm
Carlos Beltran: .182 (4-for-22) since '06 vs. Braves starter Jair Jurrjens
Dan Uggla: .200 (3-for-15) since '06 vs. Giants starter Matt Cain
Top MLB streakers
Mike Carp: 16 games
Miguel Cabrera: 14 games
Torii Hunter: 14 games
Paul Konerko: 12 games
Home Run Beat the Streak pick:
Mark Teixeira: 32 home runs vs. Royals starter Bruce Chen
2 Comments
LaV's List
Wednesday's Top Picks of the current Top2500,
154 Batters picked overall
Batter, Times Picked, Percentage
Albert Pujols 346 13.98 (4TH)
Miguel Cabrera 173 6.99 (1RST)
Paul Konerko 135 5.45
Robinson Cano 119 4.81
Derek Jeter 117 4.73
Mark Teixeira 89 3.60
Curtis Grndrson 65 2.63
Troy Tulowitzki 64 2.59 (2ND)
Todd Helton 62 2.51
Jason Kubel 55 2.22
Casey Kotchman 54 2.18
Michael Young 54 2.18
Adrian Gonzalez 53 2.14
Dustin Pedroia 53 2.14
No Selection 53 2.14
Ryan Braun 32 1.29 (3RD)
Highest "No Selection" 😛 pg# 4 with streak of 19 back to zero.
Yesterday's Top2500 Reset rate was 19.16% with A-GONE reseting the most.
There was also 4.43% PPD due to players not playing, These streakers do not reset, but did not increase either,
2.42% —> 60 picks of these were intentional DL/inj picks.
Got Pinched OR 1/2 AB Wonders
TOP2500 saved or reset by PHA (going to include any pinch hitters and/or double switch, 2 AB or Less)
J Damon TB, RESET 1 10 GAMER
E Alonso COL, RESET 1 12 GAMER
Bloggers Group Top2500
UserName, Streak, Page#, Rank, Pick, (Times picked in top2500)
Backrubs, 14, pg 19, 439, PUJOLS (PICKED 346X)
Gurpsing, 10, pg 49, 1201, JETER (PICKED 117X)
00LIber, 9, pg 63, 1449, JENNINGS (PICKED 21X)
Dragbunt104, 8, pg 93, 2042, VICTORINO (PICKED 26X)
Bloggers Reset Yesterday
GL to all
Those with 20 or more. The breakdown looks like this: Pujols 13, Cabrera 7, Konerko 5, Tulowitzki 4, Granderson 3, Castro 3.
Braun, Ellsbury, Pence, Teixeira, Bonifacio, VMartinez, Kubel, Victorino, Peralta, Helton all chose TWICE
72 people have streaks over 20 with another 25 at 19


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September 2007
Providing transportation effectively
No Child Left Behind requires districts to pay for or provide transportation to students transferring to a new school under public school choice. As more and more students exercise choice and attend schools at various locations in the district, providing transportation for all students may become more of a challenge. Below are some considerations for districts in devising transparent and efficient transportation plans or systems.
Using a transportation Web site. As concerns over transportation may cause parents to be hesitant about exercising choice, a district should consider making information about its transportation plan readily available to parents via the Internet as well as by e-mail and other means. A district could provide information about how it will pay for or provide transportation and include bus routes, stops, and rosters, etc. By making this information available on a Web site, the district can easily make changes to the plan and ensure that parents have the most up-to-date information.
Districts could also consider setting up electronic portals through which parents, principals, and others could ask questions and make transportation requests.
Coordinating busing across schools: Using a system of hubs and shared routes. Establishing a coordinated transportation system across schools is another step that a district could take to address transportation challenges when providing public school choice. In such a system, certain schools in the district could, for instance, serve as busing hubs that receive students from various schools across the district and then transport them home. Based on area of residence—not school of attendance—transportation systems such as these may allow schools to share routes and thus can help avoid the need to transport only a small number of students from one school long distances across the district.
Defining transportation zones. To further facilitate providing transportation, some larger districts have opted to set up defined transportation zones based on geographic location, and offer transportation to families exercising public school choice only in schools within a certain zone or zones. Parents may still be able to choose a school for their child that is outside the designated zone(s), although the district may not provide transportation directly for that student, or may choose to defray only a portion of the costs associated with transporting the student to and from the school.
In defining zones, districts should make decisions based on genuine issues of distance, and should strive to include in each zone a range of transfer options that is as diverse as possible.


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Back in 1989, I went to a La Leche League meeting to make some new friends and to get some support for my breastfeeding adventure. Within an hour or so I had made friends with another new mom of a baby boy. As we chatted I discovered that her birth experience was almost identical to mine. She had entered the hospital, had her membranes ruptured, pitocin started, and an epidural. The baby was shortly thereafter in fetal distress and an "emergency" C-section (that took an hour before they could get her into an operating room) ensued with delivery of a robust and healthy infant with great APGARs. It was wonderful to find someone else who would speak openly about her experience. She confirmed for me that I was not a terrible, crazy person for not being "just grateful" that I had a healthy baby, and that wishing for a better atraumatic birth experience experience didn't make me neurotic! This mom felt everything that I felt and soon we were both in tears recalling our birth traumas.
Then my new-found friend said something that I will never forget. She stood there with her teeth and fists clenched and said, "They will never do that to me again. I will never EVER have another baby."
I never saw her again after that. I have often thought about her though. I wonder if she ever decided to have more children, or if the trauma of her first experience kept her away from her original dream of having a large family.
Over the years I have participated in many discussions and forums about Catholics being open to new life. The discussions have pretty much centered around NFP vs. artificial birth control, or what was a grave or serious reason to be using NFP. But I have never read or been in a discussion where the trauma of a previous birth was a reason for not having or postponing another pregnancy.
Kimberly Hahn, author, speaker, homeschooler and wife of Professor Scott Hahn, had six Cesareans. She talked a lot about her birth experiences on some of her taped talks to Catholic audiences. On one tape in particular she talked about the fear, dread and sorrow she experienced the night before one of her scheduled C-section and how alone she felt. The rest of her family was so excited about the new baby that would be coming the next day, but she knew the physical and medical hardships she alone was going to face to bring that new baby into the world. She knew what was coming, because she had done it before.
In her book, Life Giving Love, Mrs. Hahn also wrote about a mother who was brought into the hospital with an infant in extreme fetal distress and her emergency Cesarean was performed before her anesthetic could take effect. Her husband held her body down while she was being cut open.
I personally know a few Catholic homeschool moms who had all of their children by Cesarean. All of these women had husbands in jobs with great health insurance. I wonder if more VBACs would have been encouraged if all of the medical expenses would have been out of pocket.
I mention these examples, because while the practices surrounding birth in this country are sadly not the best, there are Catholic women who overcome them to continue to have children, even if it means multiple surgeries. But what of women like my La Leche League friend who are so traumatized by what they experienced in childbirth that they cannot or will not bring themselves to ever go through childbirth again? Is part of what today's moms face in a standard hospital birth partly to blame for why Catholic women practice strict NFP or even artificial birth control?
The catechism is clear about the gift of children in marriage:
1652 "By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is in them that it finds its crowning glory."
Children are the supreme gift of marriage and contribute greatly to the good of the parents themselves. God himself said: "It is not good that man should be alone," and "from the beginning [he] made them male and female"; wishing to associate them in a special way in his own creative work, God blessed man and woman with the words: "Be fruitful and multiply." Hence, true married love and the whole structure of family life which results from it, without diminishment of the other ends of marriage, are directed to disposing the spouses to cooperate valiantly with the love of the Creator and Savior, who through them will increase and enrich his family from day to day.
The catechism also says:
2366 Fecundity is a gift, an end of marriage, for conjugal love naturally tends to be fruitful.
I don't think this "natural" term of "fruitful" is an accident. It is natural for children to be conceived and born. Just like a rich field, a woman's body can be fruitful when it is carefully cared for. A field that utilizes too much of the wrong modern technology quickly burns itself out and fails to produce a rich harvest. In the same way I believe that the overuse and abuse of modern technology has perhaps subtly and significantly caused women to protect themselves by bearing fewer children. Having a typical hospital birth experience (the only kind that is available to most women in this country) is expensive and even threatening. Is it any wonder then that most Catholic families even with NFP opt for smaller family sizes? And who can blame a woman for not wanting to suffer those type of birth experiences every time she has a baby.
While I can find all types of comments and birth experiences related to this on VBAC and childbirth boards, I have never read anything about this from a Catholic perspective. I did once correspond with Kimberly Hahn about this. She was upset that some of the Catholic moms she knew were touting homebirth as "THE CATHOLIC WAY" to give birth. While I would never go that far, shouldn't Catholics be concerned about medical practices and procedures that discourage women from having children? Shouldn't dignity and respect during birth be as much a Social Justice issue as any other that looks out for the dignity of the person?
I think it's the big elephant in the room that never gets acknowledgement. Until we can look at the way women are forced to birth in this country and put out some alternatives to assembly line prenatal care and births, talking up "openness to new life" may be a hard sell.
Copyright 2014 Elena LaVictoire
About the Author
Elena LaVictoire
Elena LaVictoire is a graduate of Baker College and a retired medical transcriptionist. She is married and homeschooled six children. Elena is a public speaker on the topics of marriage, homeschooling, and confirmation preparation. She was also a contributing author to The Catholic Mom's Prayer Companion. Elena practices and performs with her flute and records with the Peace Together Choir. She blogs at MyDomesticChurch.com.


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The motivation for movie villains can vary from revenge, lust for power or sometimes they are just plain crazy. But for some bad guys, it's nothing personal - it's just business. And if you happen to fall on the wrong side of the balance sheet, well that's your problem. With the opening of Prometheus this weekend, a film about a corporation's questionable mission to a distant planet, we thought we would take a look some of the evilest corporations from sci-fi movies.
Movies.com, the ultimate source for everything movies, is your destination for new movie trailers, reviews, photos, times, tickets + more! Stay in the know with the latest movie news and cast interviews at Movies.com.
Copyright © 2020 FANDANGO MOVIES.


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Welcome to Happiness Guide
Forgiveness Is The Key To Happiness Article
For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
22 Things God Taught Me About Gratitudefrom: Guest Author - Steve Wickham
HERE below is a developed list of attributes God gave me to understand gratitude better:
1. There is therapy in work - don't resent it. Find the purpose in work. It's good for us. It's good to be grateful for the work we've been given.
2. Gratitude is a process - it's not as simple as it sounds, which is why I have committed to finding 10,000 reasons for my heart to find why God is good.
3. Expectations are important in the process of gratitude - the higher the expectations, the more difficult the process of gratitude. Humility works with low expectations, of others especially.
4. Grief's burden is lightened by gratitude - gratitude is a key practice to be nurtured from as early in the grief process as possible. Particularly regarding finding ways to serve. Serving puts our mental emphases on others in a season (of grief) where there is already plenty of mental emphasis on the things we're dealing with. Emphasis on others is light relief. Serving others grows us in many different ways.
5. Gratitude sown reaps patience. Powerful, is that not? From patience comes a whole heap of other virtue.
6. It simply must become a habit - making a list of 100 things per day means I am forced to look for items to be grateful about. Engaging in the practice for 100 days facilitates the formation of a habit.
7. Fear creeps in insidiously - the good thing is the inbuilt gratitude monitor puts out early alerts. Check what the fear is about. Attend to it, then get back on with the gratitude list.
8. 10,000 Reasons is forcing me to look, to see, to discover, to find - there comes to be a craving to discover. A positive compulsion.
9. Gratitude helps me realise life's a challenge for all people - that life for every single person is a faith journey. Life is easy for nobody.
10. Gratitude alleviates negative emotions - each person has anxieties to manage and emotions to contain and express.
11. Seeing failure through a different lens - I'm glad of my failures, because without them I wouldn't have seen my responses.
12. Being grateful works best when it's stimulated - it helps if we do something or interact with someone, which causes us to be grateful.
13. Gratitude is forward-focused - we don't need to look back anymore if I don't want to.
14. Waiting invites patience - delays are good. They train us in waiting, and in considering what we can do or think about while we wait, even to practice stillness and contemplation.
15. The power of ONE - in a world in love with numbers, gratitude is perfectly content in anonymity. It needs to prove nothing to nobody.
16. An antidote to frustration is gratitude - it is never good being overwhelmed on a regular basis. The more gratitude, the less frustration.
17. Busyness facilitates frustration - when efficiency blurs into busyness, frustration is never too far away.
18. Patience reminds us to slow down - this fruit of the Spirit causes us to do what we need to do to remain grateful; to slow down and remain under control.
19. Gratitude is the antidote to many ills - start in this positive area and realise many spinoffs, including better mental health outcomes.
20. Gratitude wards against worry - it seems impossible to be worried and grateful at the same time.
21. Gratitude rewires the brain appreciatively - especially through the practice of finding 100 things per day to be grateful for.
22. Realising that to seek is to take the journey forward positively - to capture the present and keep looking in the recent past through reflection for anything to appreciate propels the present positively.
Steve Wickham holds Degrees in Science, Divinity, and Counselling. Steve writes at: http://epitemnein-epitomic.blogspot.com.au/ and http://tribework.blogspot.com.au/
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Steve_Wickham/145110


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Demi Lovato stunned her fans when she opened up about her battle with an eating disorder, and now Lovato is opening up about why she inflicted self-harm to deal with body issues, People reported.
In the August edition of "Self Magazine," the former Disney star discussed how cutting herself helped take her mind off emotional and physical issues.
"There were times I felt so anxious, almost like I was crawling out of my skin – that if I didn't do something physical to match the way I felt inside, I would explode," the 19-year-old told the magazine. I cut myself to take my mind off that. I just didn't care what happened. I had no fear."
U.S. & World
News from around the country and around the globe
In 2010 while on tour with the Jonas Brothers, the "X Factor" judge had a high profile meltdown in which she punched back-up dancer Alex Welch. Lovato dropped out of the tour and took her health into her own hands by checking into a treatment center for "emotional and physical issues.
Now, Lovato has incorporated changes into her lifestyle to help her stay balanced, from meditating to limiting her cell phone use.
"I make time for myself and meditate," she says. "I've spent the past two years getting over an eating disorder and issues like self-harming and bipolar disorder. I have to work on this stuff every day.
Selected Reading: People, Daily Mail UK


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Garth Brooks 2014 Comeback Tour Adds More Atlanta Shows
When Garth Brooks' Atlanta show sold out before anyone could blink, he did what every fan was hoping he'd do: he added more shows.
The tickets for Brooks' Sept. 19 concert at the Philips Arena went on sale Friday (Aug. 8) at 10AM ET, and once that show sold out, the country music legend added a second show for 10:30PM ... and then a third for Sept. 20. So far, Atlanta can expect a triple play of Brooks concerts in 2014 -- who knows, if the tickets keep flying off the shelves, there could be more still to come.
When Brooks' first Chicago concerts sold out, he added six more dates to his schedule, so it's no huge surprise that the star is also offering the special treatment down south.
Supply and demand is certainly skewed right now, with more fans than there are tickets, but it sounds like Brooks' team is working to provide as many opportunities as possible for loyal fans to see the man of the year. The singer is committed to treating his fans well, too, even trying to keep his ticket prices low.
The 52-year-old is planning on a possibly 3-year tour in celebration of his return from a lengthy hiatus. In addition to his return to the stage -- where his talented wife, Trisha Yearwood, will join him as tour opener -- Brooks is working on an upcoming record.
Garth Brooks Comeback Cheat Sheet


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New York has been a global leader in the fight against Big Tobacco. Both New York City and State have enacted laws and policies that lead to reduced rates of smoking, protect all New Yorkers from secondhand smoke and tobacco marketing, and discourage youth from ever starting the deadly habit.
In addition to legislation and policy initiatives, cigarette tax increases at the city, state, and federal level over the past ten years have made the cost of a pack of cigarettes in New York City the highest in the United States, which has been a major contributor to the smoking rate falling to a record low.
See below for highlights of existing tobacco control laws in New York City, New York State, and nationwide.
Existing New York City Legislation
This law requires is an amendment to the Smoke-Free Air Act prohibitin all establishments from serving non-tobacco shisha unless they have a permit to operate as a non-tobacco hookah establishment. Click here for guidance on Hookah in NYC.
Smoking Disclosure (Local Law 147)
This law requires rental apartment buildings, as well as co-op and condo buildings, to create a smoking policy for the building. It would not dictate the contents of this policy. This policy would be required to be provided annually to tenants, and incorporated into leases and purchase agreements. Click here for Smoking Disclosure guidance and Sample Policy.
Extension of Smoke-Free Air Act (Intro 1210-2013)
The New York City Council passed a law that extends the NYC Smoke-Free Air Act to include e-cigarettes.
The New York City Council passed a law that makes New York City the first major city or state in the United States to have a minimum purchase age of 21 for tobacco products.
2013 Sensible Tobacco Enforcement Policies (Intro-1021)
At the request of Mayor Bloomberg, Manhattan Council Member and Chair of the Health Committee Maria del Carmen Arroyo introduced legislation known as "Sensible Tobacco Enforcement Policies" (STEP) that will combat illegal cigarette smuggling. The bill increases penalties for retailers who evade tobacco taxes or sell tobacco without a license; prohibits retailers from redeeming coupons or honoring other price discounts for tobacco products; creates a minimum price for cigarettes and little cigars, which are virtually identical, at $10.50 per pack; requires that cheap cigars and cigarillos be sold in packages of at least four, and little cigars be sold in packages of at least 20. Cigars that cost more than $3 each are exempt from the packaging rule.
The New York City Council most recently passed legislation making all New York City parks, beaches and pedestrian plazas smoke-free. The bill passed 36-12 and was signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg on February 22, 2011.
2009 SFAA Amendment Prohibiting Smoking On and Around Hospital Grounds (Intro 642)
The New York City Council passed a law to prohibit smoking on hospital grounds and within fifteen feet of any hospital entrance or exit. The bill passed the City Council unanimously and was signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg on August 13, 2009.
2009 NYC Ban on Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products (Intro 433)
The City Council voted 47 to 1 to stop the sale of 'flavored' tobacco products in New York City. The bill was signed into law by Mayor Bloomberg on October 28, 2009.
2002 NYC Smoke-Free Air Act (SFAA)
The Smoke Free Air Act (SFAA), which went into effect on March 30, 2003, prohibited smoking in virtually all workplaces and indoor recreational venues. An amendment to the City's 1995 Smoke-Free Air Act, the new law extended rules on smoking to cover all restaurants and most bars regardless of seating and size. The law also restricts smoking in some outdoor restaurant and bar seating areas.
Existing New York State Legislation
2003 Regulation of Smoking in Public and Work Places
Following the lead of New York City, New York State passed legislation in July 2003 updating and extending its clean indoor air laws to bars, restaurants, and other public places.
2011 Smoke-Free Metro North and Long Island Railroad Platforms
Signed into law on August 15, 2011, this bill prohibits smoking on platforms of the Long Island and Metro North railroads.
2012 Smoke-Free School Entryways
On September 5, 2012, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law that prohibits smoking within one-hundred feet of public or private school entryways.
2012 Restricting the Sale of E-Cigarette to Minors
A bill restricting the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of eighteen was signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on September 5, 2012.
A comprehensive list of tobacco control policies is available at the New York State Department of Health website.
Existing Federal Tobacco Legislation
1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA)
New York City and New York State joined 46 state attorneys general in suing the four major tobacco companies to recoup the millions of health care dollars spent treating people made ill by smoking. The negotiated agreement includes financial restitution to government and restrictions on tobacco industry marketing and promotions aimed at youth. Under the agreement, tobacco advertising on billboards, print ads in magazines with 15% or more youth readership, use of cartoon characters such a Joe Camel, and public distribution of promotional gear are also prohibited by tobacco companies.
Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R.1256)
On June 22, 2009, President Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, authorizing the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco. This is a federal law that gives the FDA authority to regulate tobacco. Highlights of the bill include: a crack down on tobacco marketing and sales to kids (i.e. ban on flavored cigarettes and outdoor tobacco advertising near schools); requirement for stronger health warnings on tobacco products; disclosure of the contents of tobacco products, as well as changes in products and research about their health effects; ban on use of terms such as "light" and "low-tar"; strict regulation of health-related claims about tobacco products; permission granted to the FDA to reduce the nicotine in cigarettes and to make changes in tobacco products.
Stay up to date with the latest developments.


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So lately I've been making up small batches of my own roasted coffee in refillable nespresso pods. A few of my online coffee friends have been turning their nose up at this "heresy" but I'd like to take a moment to defend my actions if it should please the court. My defence is as follows:
- It's just another brewing method
- You get reasonable temperature consistency (for the money) in many of the machines
- The machines themselves are "wife-friendly" unlike my commercial 1 group
- The water pressure is high enough for an "espresso like" drink
- My Italian friends swear by them (should be the only proof I need)
How does it taste? Well like any brewing method, it depends on the coffee you use, I've definitely found single origins and blends that work well for espresso or aeropauses work well here.
The defence rests, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.