text:
Rooibos tea has gained popularity in America in recent years, as many want to take advantage of its ability to prevent serious illnesses. The tea comes from the shrub Aspalathus Linearis, which is only found on the slopes of Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. While locals have been drinking this tea for hundreds of years, it only began being commercially traded in 1904. It has a mild and aromatic taste; however, most drink it for its plethora of health benefits.
It's quite popular in Japan, Germany, Holland and England. According to WebMD, the tea has 50 times more antioxidants than green tea. These antioxidants are known to thwart free radicals in the body that can damage cells and cause cancer. It's also rich in Vitamin C, low in tannins and is used to ease digestive problems. Other studies have shown the tea helps strengthen the bones and teeth preventing osteoporosis, fractures and other related illnesses. Many women in Japan drink this tea for its positive effect on the skin and hair. It has been known to aid in clearing the skin of acne and thwarting wrinkles. Because it's caffeine free, it may be consumed without limit and won't affect sleep cycles or cause insomnia as with some other popular teas. Finally, locals have even used it as a substitute for milk in colicky babies.
While the early tea-drinking Dutch settlers of South Africa popularized the brewing of rooibos in the 1700s as an alternative to the more expensive, imported black tea of the time, rooibos as a commercial tea crop didn't evolve until the 1930s. This young, up-and-coming herbal tea-producing plant continues to evolve. In the late 1990s, green rooibos was created, which is a less oxidized version of the more recognizable red rooibos. And in the early 2000s, the industry developed powdered rooibos for cooking, concentrated rooibos for a tea-like "espresso" beverage, and rooibos extract to use as food flavoring and as a cosmetics product additive.
The health benefits of red rooibos tea include its use as a cure for nagging headaches, insomnia, asthma, eczema, bone weakness, hypertension, allergies, and premature aging. The tea is absolutely free from caffeine content and is also low in tannins. You can enjoy the refreshing beverage all day long with no possible side effects. Drinking rooibos tea can further ease severe stomach cramps, as well as bring relief to asthma and other related conditions. It also boosts the immune system of the human body.
The health benefits of red rooibos tea, as you can see above, are abundant. Its medicinal attributes have been confirmed by The US Department of Agriculture in Washington, DC, which has affirmed that red rooibos tea is capable of reducing cancer, heart disease, premature aging and other serious conditions.
Rooibos is unique because it is indigenous to South Africa's mountainous region of Cederberg (just north of Cape Town), where it still thrives today. One of the most bio-diverse areas of the country, Cederberg boasts a World Heritage protected wildlife area, 500-million-year-old sandstone formations and a 6,000-year-old rock art legacy left by the San people, or Bushmen, who originally inhabited the area.
Locals have been harvesting and brewing the naturally growing rooibos in the Cederberg region for hundreds of years. While farmers still harvest the wild growing rooibos in this region, some of the commercially grown rooibos has been transplanted to other regions of South Africa. In fact, South Africa is the only country in the world producing rooibos, boasting upwards of 450 growers who produce up to 15,000 tons of rooibos annually. About 7,000 tons of South Africa's rooibos is exported to more than 30 countries around the world. Germany, the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States are currently the biggest importers of the herb but that may soon change as the amazing benefits this plant has to offer are recognized by other countries around the globe.
The rooibos plant, Aspalathus linearis, is a member of the legume family of plants that flourish in dry, mountainous regions with periods of significant rainfall. The linearis description of the plant comes from its linear growing structure, which creates long, needle-like leaves. The plant blooms in early spring with yellow-colored flowers. Each flower produces a legume with a single seed inside that pops out when ripe and lands on the dry ground around the plant. The early gatherers of wild rooibos discovered that ants harvested these seeds, so they typically hunted anthills for the seeds needed to repopulate rooibos plants. Today, farmers sift the sandy soil around the rooibos plant to gather the fresh seeds that start the new crops each spring. Rooibos plants take about 18 months to go from seedling to harvest-ready and are typically harvested during South Africa's summer months.
Rooibos is harvested and processed in a similar fashion to the Camillia sinensis tea plant.
When harvested, the bushy rooibos plant is cut by hand and its stems and leaves are bound into bundles. The bundles are sorted and then cut or bruised to encourage oxidation. Oxidation, or exposure to oxygen, is what brings out the plant's essential oils and helps the leaves develop their rich color and flavor. The more oxidized the rooibos, the redder in color and sweeter and richer in flavor it becomes. This is the version we know as red rooibos. A less oxidized rooibos is steamed and dried immediately instead of oxidized, so it remains slightly green in color and retains a grassy, mineral-like flavor. This less oxidized version is called green rooibos.
Rooibos is also graded like tea from the Camellia sinensis plant, where the grade depends on the leaf to stem content ratio. Higher grades of rooibos contain more flavorful leaves and less stem and dust.
Like any other tea or herbal infusion, rooibos is steeped in hot water to produce a tea-like beverage. Because it's an herb, rooibos is completely caffeine free. Which is why it is becoming a rather popular alternative to traditional caffeinated beverages like tea or coffee. Smoky, sweet, woody, grassy, vanilla, floral, geranium, honey, herbal and caramel are just a handful of the words that can describe the flavor spectrum of sipping a rooibos tea.
I like Rooibos tea just as it is brewed, adding nothing to it because it is delicious sipped on its own, but it also holds up to a splash of milk and a little sugar or honey, which is the traditional South African way to sip rooibos.
Rooibos is becoming a popular herb outside the teacup as well:
- Rooibos is often made into premium, flavored beverages, like lattes, ready-to-drink iced teas and modern cocktails.
- The flavor of rooibos, whether steeped or ground, pairs well with food. One rooibos tea company partnered with South African chefs to produce a cookbook full of rooibos-infused dishes like Rooibos Chicken Pot Pie, Mussels in Rooibos-Pernod Cream Sauce and Rooibos & Apple Chutney.
- The reported nutritional and health benefits of rooibos have led to its use as a popular ingredient (as an extract, powder or tincture) in health-oriented and anti-aging cosmetic products.
- The deep amber red color of brewed red rooibos makes it a great natural dying agent for hair color, Easter eggs or fabric for crafts.
Here are a few general tips for brewing a great cup of rooibos:
- Use fresh, pure, cold filtered water. Spring water is best.
- Rooibos is generally steeped in just boiled water at a temperature similar to a black tea or herbal infusion, around 200 to 212 degrees.
- If you don't have an electric kettle with temperature control, just remember that at sea level water simmers at 190 degrees and boils at 212 degrees. The boiling temperature drops about a degree for every 100 feet in altitude increase.
- If your rooibos came with specific recommendations for brewing, use those. But using about 2 grams of loose leaf herb per 8 oz. cup of water is a safe bet.
- Cover your rooibos while it's infusing to keep all the heat in the steeping vessel.
- Taste the brewed rooibos after the recommended infusion time and then decide if you'd like it to go a little longer (I steep my Teatulia brand rooibos for 4 to 5 minutes, but my Twinning's brand I only steep for 3 to four minutes). Unlike a traditional black or green tea, rooibos won't get more astringent and bitter the longer it's infused in hot water; it will just get stronger and more flavorful.
- Good quality loose leaf rooibos can typically be infused a couple of times.
- Rooibos is nice on its own, but just like a traditional black tea, rooibos is often enjoyed with milk or cream and a little sweetener. Many tea companies are using rooibos as a base for flavored tea blends with complementary spices like vanilla, chocolate or citrus.
Rooibos, just like any other tea or herb, should be stored properly so it remains as fresh as possible on your shelf. It won't ever really go "bad" but it can get stale. When rooibos is stale, it can taste weak, dusty or musty. And nobody likes a musty cup of tea.
Be sure and buy rooibos from a reputable company that can tell you when and how the tea was processed and packaged. Most herbs have the best flavor when brewed and enjoyed as soon as possible after their processing date. Since rooibos is oxidized in a similar fashion to black tea, it is more shelf stable than some teas and herbs and can technically stay fresh and drinkable for up to two years. To ensure your rooibos stays as fresh as possible as long as possible, take care to store it in a cool, dark place, away from light, oxygen, moisture and fragrant pantry companions like coffee or spices.
Red rooibos tea has no oxalic acid and therefore, it can be consumed by people who have kidney stones. Rooibos tea is rich in many mineral contents such as iron, calcium, potassium, copper, manganese, zinc, magnesium and alpha hydroxy acid. It also contains antioxidants like aspalathin and nothofagin, and the extremely potent and versatile phenolic compounds.
Red rooibos tea is one of the best health drinks or beverages for those who care about their health and fitness. Some of the beneficial factors that have been positively correlated with red rooibos tea can be found below.
Polyphenols: Rooibos contains polyphenols that have anti-inflammatory, antiviral and antimutagenic qualities. Polyphenols are organic chemicals that are most often praised for their antioxidant capabilities. Rooibos tea has many phenolic compounds within it, and polyphenols are some of the most important. They act as scavengers of free radicals throughout the body, which are detrimental byproducts of cell metabolism that can cause diseases like cancer and heart disease. Aspalathin and nothofagin are two other vital antioxidants that rooibos tea contains, making this a great beverage to boost your immune system and protect your body against all types of diseases and conditions.
No Caffeine: Rooibos tea is completely caffeine-free, therefore it is recommended by doctors for patients suffering from insomnia. A cup of rooibos beverage just before going to bed can help you sleep better, and by removing caffeine from your diet, you can also improve your stress levels, mood, and heart health. Being dependent on caffeine is the most common addiction throughout the world, but people don't realize the dangers that it can pose. Rooibos tea gives you the energy and health benefits, without the dangerously addictive substance.
Hypertension: Rooibos tea is known to relieve stress, nervous tension and hypertensive conditions. Hypertension is more commonly known as high blood pressure, and rooibos tea is known as a brochodilator, which not only relieves respiratory conditions, but generally reduces blood pressure, which can lead to dangerous cardiovascular diseases like heart attacks and atherosclerosis.
Bone Health: Red rooibos tea is rich in calcium, manganese and fluoride minerals that assist in maintaining good bone structure and stronger teeth. By increasing the bio-availability of minerals in your system, you can reduce your chances of developing conditions like arthritis, osteoporosis, and chronic joint pain. Manganese actually works on an even deeper level, and stimulates the enzymes which are required top build new bones and repair damage. Flouride is related more commonly to dental health, which is why flouride compounds are so often found in mouthwashes and toothpastes. Whether it is teeth or bone structure, red rooibos tea gives you an advantage!
Cardiovascular Health: Quercetin, another powerful antioxidant found in rooibos tea, has been linked to preventing a wide variety of heart conditions. It is anti-inflammatory, which reduces blood pressure, and it also scavenges free radicals like other antioxidants. It promotes an increase in HDL cholesterol (good cholesterol) and inhibits the LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) from binding to the walls of arteries and blood vessels. This means added protection against various heart conditions, including atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and strokes.
Infant Health: Rooibos tea can be useful for small children who suffer from colic or stomach pains. You may add some sweetened milk to the tea to improve the flavor and make it more palatable. This is actually what first began rooibos tea as a well-known health aid. Various South African women claimed that this plant was very soothing for their colicky infant. Word began to spread and rooibos tea was suddenly being thrown at any number of health issues to see what else it could help. 50 years later, the world knows all about this powerful little herb! The exact mechanism by which it soothes colic and stomach pain is unknown, but the general anti-inflammatory properties of the herb are most likely responsible.
Diabetes: Aspalathin is one of the rare antioxidants that are found in rooibos tea, and it has a number of unique qualities. It can help to balance blood sugar, improve insulin resistance, improve the glucose absorption by muscles, and boosts the insulin secretion from the pancreas. This all results in an ideal defensive shield against developing type II Diabetes, one of the most widespread and dangerous conditions that is currently sweeping the world. By balancing blood sugar, rooibos tea can also protect people that already have diabetes by preventing the spikes and drops of blood sugar that are so detrimental to their overall health.
Good for Skin: The alpha hydroxy acid and zinc content of red tea are very good for the skin. You can also try applying some red tea powder directly to the skin to relieve acne, pimples, sunburns or related skin conditions. Alpha-hydroxy acids are not found naturally from too many sources, but in terms of cosmetic products, it has become very popular, particularly because it can reduce the signs of wrinkles and other premature aging symptoms. Also, they are commonly found in chemical peels, which revitalize the skin and leave it fresh and invigorated with a healthy glow. However, there has been some controversy about commercial uses of alpha hydroxy acid, so it is always better to get it from a natural source, like red rooibos tea!
Kidney Stones: Even people with kidney stone problems can drink as much red rooibos tea as they want as there is no oxalic acid in the beverage. Many times, people with kidney stones are discouraged from drinking too much tea of other varieties because of that exacerbating ingredient. Oxalic acid is a crystal-forming substance, so it can make the presence of calcium stones or other painful growths in the kidney even worse by making them larger. That won't be a problem with rooibos tea!
Antispasmodic properties: The tea is rich in antispasmodic agents, which can ease severe stomach cramps and abdominal pains. This is mainly due to the activation of K+ (potassium ions) in the body without antagonizing the activities of Calcium. Together, this can reduce the presence of hyperactivity in the gastrointestinal tract, preventing diarrhea and other intestinal issues.
Allergies: In many parts of South Africa, red tea is used as an effective curative to treat allergies like eczema, hay fever and allergy-related bronchitis. It has anti-inflammatory qualities, thanks to its phenolic content, and this is why it is also prescribed for asthma and topical allergic reactions of various types throughout the body.
Premature Aging: The antioxidants present in rooibos tea slow down the human aging process and they also boost the strength of the immune system. Antioxidants seek out the free radicals that damage skin, hair, bones, and other organ systems by making them vulnerable to disease and degeneration. Rooibos tea is one of the most potent beverages in terms of antioxidant content. It also has anti-aging effects in terms of cognitive ability, because it reduces the impact of oxidative byproducts in neural pathways, stimulating concentration and focus!
Great beverage: Red rooibos tea is an excellent thirst quencher and does wonders for active people like professional athletes, hyperactive children and those who travel often, whether for pleasure or business. Most people prefer to drink rooibos tea in its natural form without any sweeteners, and those who simply want a refreshing drink without a caffeine boost, rooibos is the ideal choice.
Rare nutrients: Rooibos tea is said to contain rare nutrients like Quercetin and Bioflavanoids that assists in good blood circulation and obstructs hemorrhaging.
A Few Words of Caution: Despite all of these health benefits of rooibos tea, there can be a downside for some people. Since rooibos is so powerful, it can interfere with treatments for various conditions, including chemotherapy for cancer patients. Also, rooibos has shown estrogenic activities in certain studies, so it might not be a good idea to use if you have a hormone-sensitive cancer like breast cancer. Finally, if you have existing kidney or liver conditions, rooibos might be more harmful than helpful. It should be used as a preventative measure for these conditions, not a cure. Make sure you speak to your doctor before adding any new dietary elements or beverages to your normal routine, particularly one as powerful as rooibos tea!
Want more info on tea and being healthy? Check out the good folks over at BeHealthy: https://behealthy.today/red-tea-weight-loss/


text:
Coffee Table Books for Lovers of Art, Design, and Fast Cars
From Formula One racing to cuisine and midcentury design, these books are certain...
June 8, 2018 was a hard day for millions of people around the world, even if they didn't find themselves directly connected to Anthony Bourdain. The celebrity had the gift of reaching so people experiencing all different walks of life through his work reviewing restaurants, filming his travels, and speaking—very candidly—about his own life and battles with addiction. Saying that the world is less animated, bright, and connected without him is a true understatement. But a new book, Anthony Bourdain Remembered, is helping us all keep the man who once taught President Obama how to slurp Vietnamese noodles in a particularly entertaining episode of his show, Parts Unknown close to our hearts.
The book is a collection of quotes, photos, stories, and other memories from people who knew, worked with, and loved Bourdain. The book was compiled by CNN, so there are plenty of moments from his shows, as well as tales from President Barack Obama, chef Eric Ripert, Questlove, and more. The book is physical evidence of the impact Bourdain left behind.
Related: Introducing the Book Club That Brings the World Right to Your Door
The book fills a simple—and much needed—role: Remember all he brought to the world through the words of others. Consider it a constant reminder that there's more to see, more to eat, and more people to connect with out there. The book page says it best: "The tributes spoke to his legacy: That the world is much smaller than we imagine and people are more alike than they are different."
For more information on the book and how to buy it, head on over to Amazon.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco
|I'm stunned. I've just seen something astonishingly beautiful and unexpected. I came upon a half-hidden trail overlooking the bay, and followed it down through a dense eucalyptus forest leading to a small beach. A fisherman there told me, Few know about this place, but it's like nowhere else in the world. As he spoke, a dense fog lifted, and before me stood the majestic arch of the Golden Gate Bridge.
|San Francisco
|Release Date: November, 1995
|Title: Golden Gate Bridge, SF
|Image Size: 24" x 36"
|Available in the Classic Collection
|Classic Size 12" X 18"


text:
Operation MONTGOMERY RENDEZVOUS
101st Airborne Division operation on Route 547 and the A Shau Valley in Thua Thien Province, I Corps to provide security for Engineer units constructing Route 547 into the a Shau Valley. It ran from 8 Jun 1969 to 15 Aug 1969. One big project of this operation was the building of a new airstrip near Ta Bat.
You are visitor # since 5/21/06


text:
Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese
Product Details
The ultimate comfort food, Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese makes a convenient and savory side dish. Great for adults as well as kids, Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese is easily prepared in the microwave - just heat it and eat! The 20-ounce pack serves 2-3 people and contains no artificial preservatives or artificial colors. A wholesome meal with homemade taste, Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese is a good source of calcium and made with real cheddar cheese.
- Includes one, 20 oz pack of Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese
- Ready to eat in minutes, Bob Evans refrigerated dinner sides are easy to prepare and microwaveable
- Bob Evans Mac and Cheese delivers the rich, comforting, delicious cheddar cheese taste you'd expect from a homemade side dish
- Made with real cheddar cheese, and no artificial colors or flavors
- A wholesome side dish, Bob Evans Macaroni and Cheese is a good source of calcium
Nutritional Information
Cooked Enriched Pasta (Water, Elbow Macaroni [Semolina (Wheat), Niacin, Iron (Ferrous Sulfate), Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid]), Milk, Water, Pasteurized Process Cheese Spread (American Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes], Water, Whey, Sodium Phosphate, Contains Less than 2% of Milkfat, Salt, Sodium-Alginate, Lactic Acid, Apo-Carotenal (Color)), Cheddar Club Cheese (Cheddar Cheese [Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes], Water, Salt, Apo-Carotenal (Color)), Margarine (Soybean Oil, Water, Salt, Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Soy Lecithin, Vegetable Mono and Diglycerides, Artificial Flavor, Vitamin A Palmitate), Modified Food Starch, Salt, Cultured Nonfat Dry Milk.
Allergen Info
Contains Wheat and Their Derivatives,Soybean and its Derivatives,Milk and its derivates. May contain Eggs and their derivates.
Actual product packaging and materials may contain additional and/or different ingredient, nutritional, or proper usage information than the information displayed on our website. ...
Ratings and Reviews
Fred Meyer is not responsible for the content provided in customer ratings and reviews. For more information, visit our Terms and Conditions.
ReviewsAverage Customer Rating4.63(19)5(15)4(2)3(1)2(1)1(0)


text: Back in about 2007 or something I got this tiny little blank canvas. So I could make a tiny painting. But I figured; a tiny painting needs a tiny painter, so I sculpted a frog with paper mache, holding a tiny paint brush. A few days ago (12 years later) I decided a zbrush version would be nice. So there!


text:
- Home
- Principals
- Portfolio Management
- Co-Fiduciary Services
- Resources
- Account Access
- Form CRS
- Contact Us
If you have friends or family members who need unbiased advice, please feel free to have them contact us.
We are available to provide an objective complimentary investment analysis of their current situation.
MidAtlantic Capital Management, Inc.
11448 Robious Road
Richmond, VA 23235
Phone 804-272-9200
© 2023 MidAtlantic Capital Management, Inc. All rights reserved.


text:
Injection Drug Use and Wound Botulism
People who inject illicit drugs have a risk for getting wound botulism ("BOT-choo-liz-um"), a serious illness that can be life-threatening. Your risk of getting wound botulism increases if you inject illicit drugs, especially black tar heroin, under your skin ("skin popping") or into your muscle ("muscle popping" or "muscling").
Wound botulism is a rare but serious illness that happens when a germ called Clostridium botulinum gets into a wound and makes a toxin. This toxin attacks your body's nerves, which can make it hard to breathe and can cause muscle weakness and even death. If you get wound botulism, you will need medicine called antitoxin. The antitoxin can stop the toxin from causing more harm, but it can't undo the damage already done. Even after receiving antitoxin, you might need to stay in the hospital for several weeks or even months before you recover enough to go home.
If you get wound botulism and don't get medical treatment, you might die. If you have symptoms of wound botulism, see a doctor or go to an emergency room immediately.
What to Watch For
Symptoms of wound botulism usually appear several days after injecting contaminated drugs rather than immediately. That's because it takes several days, or even a couple of weeks, for the germs to multiply in the body and produce the toxin.
Some of the symptoms you might have are:
- Double vision
- Blurred vision
- Drooping eyelids
- Slurred speech
- Difficulty swallowing
- A thick-feeling tongue
- Dry mouth
- Muscle weakness
As the disease gets worse, you may develop more symptoms, such as:
- Difficulty breathing
- Paralysis
You can get wound botulism even if the injection site doesn't look infected.
If you or someone you know has symptoms of botulism, see a doctor or go to the emergency room immediately. If you do not, your symptoms may continue to get worse and can even be life-threatening. It is important to get medical care as quickly as possible, because the antitoxin and other treatments work better the earlier they are given.
Some symptoms of wound botulism can look like symptoms of opioid overdose, such as slurred speech or inability to talk, weakness, and trouble breathing. Opioids are painkilling drugs, such as oxycodone ("OxyContin"), oxymorphone ("Opana"), hydrocodone (as in Vicodin), and hydromorphone ("Dilaudid"), as well as heroin.
Naloxone, also known as Narcan®, can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose if given in time, but it will not reverse the symptoms of botulism. If you or someone you know gets treatment with Naloxone, but still has symptoms of botulism, see a doctor or go to the emergency room immediately.
When you seek medical care, be direct and honest with your medical providers. Tell them about any drugs you have used in the past two weeks and how you used them. It can be easy to mistake wound botulism for other, more common illnesses. Your doctor needs to know if you use injection drugs, so you can be diagnosed and treated quickly and correctly.
How injecting heroin can give you botulism
Every year in the United States, about 20 people are diagnosed with wound botulism. Most get it from skin popping or muscle popping black tar heroin. We don't know how black tar heroin gets contaminated with the germ that causes botulism. Because the germ lives in soil, it might get into heroin when the drug is produced or transported, when it is cut or mixed with other substances, when it is prepared for use, or through some other way. Drug-use equipment ("works") used to prepare or inject contaminated drugs might also spread the botulism germs to anyone who uses it.
Key facts:
- You cannot see the germ that causes botulism. Contaminated drugs do not look different from non-contaminated drugs. Lab testing is the only way to tell if your drugs are contaminated with the germ that causes botulism.
- Heating ("cooking") heroin will not kill the botulism germ. It takes special conditions to kill this germ.
- You cannot get botulism from another person. It is not contagious. But if you share contaminated heroin or equipment ("works") with another person, both of you might get botulism.
How to Stay Safe
You can prevent wound botulism by not injecting illicit drugs. If you are ready to quit using, there are resources to help you succeed:
- Call the national help line 24/7 at 1-800-662-HELP (1-800-662-4357)
- Find a treatment center near you
- Find a doctor experienced in treating drug addiction. They may discuss different options that can help you quit, such as counseling, peer support groups, and medicine called buprenorphine.
If you can't or don't want to stop using right now, don't share needles or works. Always use safe injection practices. CDC's HIV Risk Reduction Tool provides information on the safe injection practices you can do to protect yourself and others if you use needles.
We don't know if using safe injection practices can prevent botulism, but injecting safely can prevent many other infections, such as HIV and hepatitis C virus infection. Reduce your chance of getting a serious illness by using clean needles and equipment and cleaning your skin before you inject.


text:
Popular Guitar Heads
- OrangeAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 17 from A$309.94
- Multiple FinishesMarshall
Studio Vintage SV20H "MK II" 20-Watt Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 6 from A$1,322.18
- Orange
Terror Stamp 20-Watt Hybrid Guitar Amp PedalAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 17 from A$249
- Orange
MT20 Micro Terror 20-Watt Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 18 from A$190
- Orange
OR15H 15-Watt Tube Guitar Head, Orange TolexAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 14 from A$887.14
MT 15 Mark Tremonti Signature 2-Channel 15-Watt Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 3 from A$744.52
- Multiple FinishesOrange
Super Crush 100 2-Channel 100-Watt Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 9 from A$799
- Orange
Rocker 15 Terror 2-Channel 15-Watt Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 16 from A$745
- Orange
DA15H Dark Terror 15-Watt High-Gain Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 14 from A$847
- Seymour Duncan
PowerStage 200 200-Watt Pedalboard Guitar AmpAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 6 from A$759.19
- Multiple FinishesMarshall
Origin ORIGIN20H 20-Watt Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 8 from A$680.71
- Marshall
DSL20HR 2-Channel 20-Watt Guitar Amp HeadAmpsGuitar HeadsCompare 2 from A$557.88
Used Guitar Heads
- Hughes & Kettner Vortex 4x12 Speaker Cabinet Pre-OwnedUsed – Very GoodA$437
- NEC MINI AMP, MA-812Used – Very GoodA$436.93
- Quilter Toneblock 202 200W Guitar Amp Head UsedUsed – Very GoodA$951.72
- BOSS WAZA 75 W/ Amp Head BOSS 75 WATT WAZA AMP HEAD 2 - BlackUsed – ExcellentA$2,701.05
- Kemper Amps Profiler PowerHead 600-Watt Modeling Guitar Amp HeadOn SaleUsed – ExcellentOriginally A$2,764.61, now A$2,349.92 (15% Off)
- Jet City 100HDMUsed – ExcellentA$1,499
New Guitar Heads
Deals and Steals
Price Drops on Guitar Amp Heads
Recent Listings
Guitar Heads For Sale on Reverb
Your guitar is only one piece of your tone. A guitar amp head accounts for a huge component of your sound and your search, for the perfect rig should never be limited. Whether you're looking for the classic breakup of a '60s Fender or the British top-end of a Vox, browse new, used and vintage guitar amp heads from classic manufacturers like Orange, Marshall, Fender, Vox and more.
What Is an Amp Head?
An amp head is an amplifier without a speaker -- aka the power amp. It takes the output from your guitar's pickups and amplifies the electrical signal. In tube guitar heads, the sound is amplified via vacuum tubes (also called valves). Solid state amp heads use transistor circuits to convert your pickup signal into an audio wave and amplify it.
Amp heads often have gain, volume, and equalization controls. Some may also have a built-in reverb or tremolo unit. Amp heads aren't exclusive to electric guitars either -- you can find a selection of acoustic amp heads on Reverb.com.
Can You Use an Amp Head Without a Cabinet?
No, you typically cannot use most amp heads without a cabinet. And you shouldn't try it. In some cases, you can fry the output transformer of your amp head. Even if that doesn't happen, without a speaker cabinet attached, there's no way to turn the signal from your guitar into audible sound.
In some instances, a guitar head will have an output jack for headphones, or potentially a balanced XLR output, but these aren't considered common features for guitar amp heads.
How Can I Find a Cabinet for My Guitar Head?
You can find a cabinet for your guitar head anywhere guitar cabinets are found!
As far as choosing a speaker cab for your guitar amp head, you'll want to find a cabinet with a speaker that matches both the impedance (ohms) and wattage of your guitar amp. Look to the back of your guitar amp head for that information, or reach out to your manufacturer. From there, you can choose whichever speaker and configuration sounds best to your ears.
For more information on matching your amp head to a guitar cabinet, click here.
What Is a Mini Amp Head?
A mini guitar head is exactly what the name implies: It's a guitar amp head that's much smaller than normal. But don't let the name fool you—mini amp heads can pack a punch. Their output and features depend on the brand. For example, the Blackstar HT-1RH MKII has just one watt, while the Orange Micro Terror can deliver a 20 watt output.
In addition to their size (they can fit easily in a Mono M80 Tick or a backpack), mini amp heads often have headphone outputs for quiet practice, or can plug directly into a DAW, like Laney's Lionheart L5 Studio offers with its T-USB connectivity.
Guitar Heads Near Me
To exclusively browse guitar heads near you, reference the list of top cities and countries available on Reverb to search within a desired location. You also can review shipping details within an item's "Shop Policies" section.


text:
IGN has uploaded thirteen minutes of the gorgeous Studio Ghibli-themed game Baldo. The upcoming game is described as an action RPG full of puzzles and adventure and it is heading to the Nintendo Switch system. Naps Team, the developers behind Baldo: The Guardian Owls, previously announced that the game will launch first for the Switch, however an actual release date has yet to be announced.
"A profecy came true, a pure heart child is born . The no heart creature sealed in the underworld by the wise owls is about to rise again. A journey into a magical land full of mysteries to discover. Baldo is an action adventure rpg, full of puzzles and intricate dungeons to solve. Travelling around the world, Baldo will interact with many weird and funny characters scattered everywhere, to complete the main story quest and many other sidequests. You'll travel into an open world map discovering new towns and people, fighting enemies , locating hidden temples and collecting objects to get new weapons or items to use."Nintendo.com


text:
|Nothing But Fixations
The Chicago cold keeps everyone shut in this time
of the year. Employment,
Ive heard, is beginning its upward arc, but Ive not yet been called out to
start my ascent. Considering this, theres nothing but fixations to keep me
busy and warm. Some credit should be given to my unwieldy furnace, but thats
more of a curse than a blessing, to tell the truth.
Fixations. In the viewable world, Ive been leaning on the English. The films of Mike Leigh. The stories of Glen Duncan and Alan Sillitoe. The darkness of that trio has been floodlights shone into a place that will never be mine. Thanks er gents.
Stereo-wise, Ive been sticking stateside.
Sub-Pop has a long history of releasing records of historical importance. I lost my youth wandering the vaults of its early catalog. Coming of age in the early 90s, it was almost an inevitability. But somewhere along the line they seemed to drop the proverbial ball as far as I was concerned. They began releasing records that couldnt sustain the spastic twitches of my teenage attention span.
Was it two years ago? Maybe it was slightly less that my ears started to perk up again and take notice of what Sub Pop was spitting out into the scene. Iron and Wines filmic minimalism. The Postal Services seamless melding of electronics and lovelorn lore. The contained raw power of The Constantines. Christ, they even took on Trembling Blue Stars. Suddenly there was so much to be excited about. So many new classics scaling the skyscraping heights of the Nirvanas, the Mudhoneys, the Beat Happenings.
So right now Im fixating on Sub Pop. Again and anew. A friend recently relayed pair of new Sub Pop CDs to my foyer: All Night Radios Spirit Stereo Frequency and The Electeds Me First. May she have eternal life.
All Night Radio is the duo of Dave Scher and Jimi Hey, restless Beachwood Sparks affiliates who apparently spend their free time dabbling in dope and listening to records by Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, Sebadoh and, oh I dunno, Iron Butterfly. Its an experiment in new century psych that runs the gamut from sighing, laid-back sunshine pop of Oh, When? to the woozy cosmic shake-up of Fall Down 7. At times the trip that All Night Radio guides you through breaks down in patches of barren landscape, but for the most part, it keeps moving right along; it's a pleasant jaunt of a record that makes for a peppy silence-canceller. A nice listen for laundry day.
In another example of musicians biding their main bands downtime, The Elected is the solo effort of Rilo Kileys Blake Sennett. You know those painfully forced bummer male vocalist tracks on RKs The Execution of All Things? Thats Mr. Sennett. Luckily, in distancing himself (somewhat, as RK members contribute to several tracks on Me First), Sennett is able to proveand even almost outdohimself. He takes a deep breath; the open air of solitude suits him well.
Reference points are easy: Bright Eyes (minus the manic, falling off the edge of your seat neurosis), Elliot Smith (sans the, well, not-of-this-world-anymore-ness) and Gram Parsons (ditto). The ground he treads has been tread before, sure, but he treads it in refreshing ways: lightly, innocently; plainspoken and unpretentious. Candor like a slap in the face. If you see me down at the liquor store, dont tell my dad. And if you see my dad down at the liquor store, dont tell me anything at all. (7 September 2003) Harmonicas and slide guitars aplenty (courtesy of the Saddle Creek studio crew), an electronic garnish (the work of Jimmy Tamborello) and those lyrics! work together to produce a timeless record that easily blankets Sennetts main project sins. Redemption, pure and sweet.
Dear Sub Pop: with these releases, youve made an intriguing and classy entry into 2004. So let the fixation-fodder keep on rolling! Come summer, I want to be swimming in it.
© 2004 Michael Seidel


text:
Sentinel GPS BHC-1a WM Basic Humidity Controller (Wall Mount)
The BHC-1a Basic Humidity Controller is designed to control fans, dehumidifier, humidifiers, misters and other ventilation equipment in gardens, greenhouses, grow rooms or other environments. The BHC-1a can operate in either dehumidification or humidification modes. The BHC-1a features a readily visible switch to alternate between dehumidify and humidify settings. The easy to read dials make programming daytime and nighttime settings uncomplicated. The (3) function LEDs let users know if the controller has main power, if the controller is in operation, as well as whether the controller is sensing day or night.


text:
'Excavation' digs up memories of an illicit child-teacher relationship
When she was just 13, Wendy Ortiz began to learn important lessons about love, honesty and human depravity. She was a precocious eighth-grader, and she was about to fall under the spell of her 28-year-old English teacher.
"Jeff Ivers," as the teacher is known in Ortiz's new memoir (it's not his real name), was at once charming and manipulative. Almost immediately, he seized on his student's desire to be a writer — she'd already produced a handwritten novel — to get closer to her.
"Mr. Ivers wants you to call him at home," a classmate tells her. "Here's his phone number. So you guys can talk about your book."
"I didn't question why my friend had my teacher's phone number," Ortiz writes. "All I could think about was when."
"Excavation: A Memoir" (Future Tense, $15 paperback) is Ortiz's account of the events that unfolded after she called Jeff back. Ortiz, now 41, is a San Fernando Valley-raised poet, essayist and literary activist. "Excavation" is her first book. It's a work of unfettered emotions and explicit descriptions that explores her troubled youth and teenage struggles to understand her budding sexuality.
Not long after she called Jeff back, he began to try to seduce her. It was a crime, but as a 13-year-old she didn't see herself as a victim. Young Wendy thought she was in love. In "Excavation," Ortiz the writer makes it clear that there are no easy explanations for what transpired in Jeff's apartment and the other places they met.
"I'm writing about something that people prefer to see as black and white," Ortiz says in the West Adams home she shares with her girlfriend, Sandy Lee, and their 3-year-old daughter. "But I really want to expose the grays."
In "Excavation," Ortiz shares passages from her teenage journals. The book covers the four years Wendy spent seeing Jeff, a relationship that ended before she turned 18 and that she kept secret from the adults who might have stopped it.
"I didn't want to be average," Ortiz writes in a chapter titled "Why I Didn't Tell." "I didn't want it to end. I was comfortable keeping secrets. I was afraid of being blamed. I felt responsible for his acts. I was numb…"
Honesty is a hallmark of Ortiz's work. As a poet and essayist, she has mined her own life again and again. "Ortiz writes with a raw, wrenching, vulnerable truth that is refreshing, grounding, and full of life-sustaining filaments," Jessica Dewberry wrote in a critical essay in the Los Angeles Review of Books in April. "When I read her work I feel exposed, aired-out, and satisfied."
Sitting at a long table in her living room, with her daughter's toys and chalkboard nearby, Ortiz summed up what drives her to write. "I want to be really committed to going to some of the darkest places and taking that and making it art," she said. "I want to work with things that are uncomfortable and scary."
In a 2012 essay for the New York Times' "Modern Love" column, Ortiz described an episode that unfolded some years earlier — falling in love with another woman as she prepared to marry her husband. The affair that inevitably followed ended her marriage but forced Ortiz to sort out who she really was.
Now Ortiz is becoming a therapist. In addition to a growing resume as a writer, she has a master's degree in clinical psychology and is working at a Los Angeles clinic, finishing the final intern hours she needs to get her license. The work she does in private sessions with her clients mirrors her own journey. "It's been a constant process of trying to understand the arc of my life, and what it all means," she said.
At the same time, Ortiz is curating the Rhapsodomancy reading series she started in 2004. During its first decade, it's hosted an all-star cast of Los Angeles writers, including Chris Abani, Bernard Cooper, Dana Johnson and Nina Revoyr.
Her own writing is often witty and self-effacing, as with her column on the marijuana dispensary culture for McSweeney's. She's 12,000 words into a memoir based on her "Modern Love" essay and her failed 2007 marriage and confesses to being stuck. "I think it takes me at least 10 years to digest an experience before writing about it," she said. Another memoir, "Hollywood Notebook," tackles her move to that L.A. neighborhood and is due out in November.
As Ortiz worked to transform her experience with "Jeff" into a book, she was inspired by two memoirs that tackle themes of sexual identity, she said: "The Chronology of Water" by Lidia Yuknavitch and "Firebird" by Mark Doty.
Ortiz said she wanted to offer a full portrait of the man who entered her life when she was still a child. In "Excavation," Jeff comes off as an exceedingly immature, needy and creepy 28-year-old. Thanks to Megan's Law, Ortiz said, she has since discovered Jeff is a registered sex offender who's been convicted of a lewd act with another minor.
Ortiz showed her manuscript to several literary agents who've contacted her as her career has blossomed. But none, she said, took on the task of trying to sell her memoir. "I kept hearing the same comments from them," she said. Her book was "beautiful," they told her, but also "dark" and "difficult." Eventually, she sold "Excavation" to editor Kevin Sampsell at a small Portland publisher, Future Tense Books.
"It's real and honest and not heavy-handed or moralistic," Sampsell said of Ortiz's book. "Other less-finessed writers would probably have gone in those directions. She seemed to have a lot of control over her subject matter."
Ortiz's mother is among those who may soon learn for the first time what Wendy went through as a middle-schooler. Even as "Excavation" was published this month, Ortiz had yet to tell her mother the full truth about her English teacher. Her mother is frail and doesn't read much, Ortiz said. And she lives in the same Valley house where Ortiz grew up.
"I've been afraid for people to see this," Ortiz said of the story "Excavation" tells. "For some this might be a new concept: that a victim might have some agency in the situation she's trying to navigate. And that she might make decisions some people on the outside might not understand."
Follow me on Twitter: @TobarWriter
Sign up for our Book Club newsletter
Get the latest news, events and more from the Los Angeles Times Book Club, and help us get L.A. reading and talking.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.


text:
The Cincinnati Bengals announced on Wednesday, largely to generate probable interest, that thousands of tickets remain for the season finale against the Baltimore Ravens on December 30, which could determine the AFC North championship depending on how this weekend goes for both teams.
"Sales have remained steady this week, but we are still several thousand short of a sellout," said ticket sales manager Andrew Brown. "The upside for fans at this point is that a number of seating options remain for what promises to be a very significant game. As we've said, we are giving our utmost to the goal of achieving a sellout and local television coverage, but more steady progress is going to be needed."
If the New York Giants beat the Baltimore Ravens and the Bengals secure a postseason berth with a victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, the regular season finale turns into the championship game for the division. We figure in that scenario it probably sells out, but I guess fans want to make sure that they're only coming if the game actually means something. But then I've given up looking into reasons why people refuse to go to Bengals games.


text:
Chris Matthews hosted the Republican Presidential Debates. Gaggle recaps the highlights.
I'm looking forward to debates with fewer debaters. There wasn't enough time for this many. I'd also entertain the idea of having a different moderator, but it's not necessary. All the candidates had to deal with the same inane questions.


text:
Cross-posted from Truthdig
Portrait of Thomas Paine
(Image by Auguste Millière (1880).) Details DMCA
Sunday's event will be about Thomas Paine, the author of "Common Sense," "The Rights of Man" and "The Age of Reason" -- the most widely read political essays of the 18th century, works that established the standards by which rebellion is morally and legally permissible. We will ask whether the conditions for revolt set by Paine have been met with the rise of the corporate state. Should Paine's call for the overthrow of British tyranny inspire our own call for revolution? And if it should, to echo Vladimir Lenin, what must be done?
Thomas Paine is America's one great revolutionary theorist. We have produced a slew of admirable anarchists -- Alexander Berkman, Emma Goldman, Dorothy Day and Noam Chomsky--and radical leaders have arisen out of oppressed groups -- Sitting Bull, Frederick Douglass, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Fannie Lou Hamer, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Cornel West and bell hooks -- but we don't have a tradition of revolutionists. This makes Paine unique.
Paine's brilliance as a writer -- his essay "Common Sense" is one of the finest pieces of rhetorical writing in the English language -- is matched by his clear and unsentimental understanding of British imperial power. No revolutionist can challenge power if he or she does not grasp how power works. This makes Sheldon Wolin's book "Democracy Incorporated" and his concept of "inverted totalitarianism" as important to us today as Paine's writings on the nature of the British monarchy were in 1776.
There were numerous American leaders, including Benjamin Franklin, who hoped to work out an accommodation with the British crown to keep America a British colony, just as many now believe they can work through traditional mechanisms of power, including electoral politics and the judicial system, to reform corporate power. Paine, partly because he did not come to America from England until he was 37, understood that the British crown had no interest in accommodation; today, the corporate state similarly has no interest in granting any concessions. It became Paine's job to explain to his American audience the reality of British power and what effective resistance would entail. Paine knew that the British monarchy, which wielded the global imperial power that American wields today, was blinded by its hubris and military prowess. It had lost the ability to listen and as a result had lost the ability to make rational choices. The inhabitants of New York would discover this when British warships and mercenary troops besieged the city.
Paine created a new political language. He wrote in crystalline prose. "Common Sense" was read by hundreds of thousands. It was the first political essay in Enlightenment Europe to call for a separation between civil society and the state, terms that many writers had considered interchangeable. Civil society, Paine argued, must always act as a counterweight against the state in a democracy. Power, he warned, even in a democracy, carries within it the seeds of tyranny.
Paine, as George Orwell and James Baldwin did later, used his pen as a weapon. It was a weapon deeply feared by the monarchies in Europe, as well as the Jacobins in France, who imprisoned Paine and planned to execute him for denouncing the Reign of Terror. He spoke an undeniable truth. He called his readers to act upon that truth. "My motive and object in all my political works, beginning with Common Sense," Paine remembered in 1806, ..."have been to rescue man from tyranny and false systems and false principles of government, and enable him to be free."
"Where liberty is, there is my country," Benjamin Franklin once said to Paine. "Where liberty is not, there is my country," Paine replied. For Paine, the role of a citizen extended beyond national borders. The fight of those living under any system of tyranny was his fight. "When it shall be said in any country in the world 'My poor are happy; neither ignorance nor distress is to be found among them; my jails are empty of prisoners, my streets of beggars; the aged are not in want, the taxes are not oppressive; the rational world is my friend, because I am a friend of happiness': when these things can be said," Paine wrote, "then may that country boast of its constitution and its government."
The key to social change, as Eric Foner pointed out in "Tom Paine and Revolutionary America," is "a change in the nature of language itself, both in the emergence of new words and in old words taking on new meanings." The call for revolution that was advanced by Paine, as by writers such as Jean-Jacques Rousseau, came through the new language of secular rationalism, rather than the older language of traditional religion. But Paine, unlike Rousseau and other philosophers, wrote in the everyday language of working people. He drew from their experiences. And he was the first writer to extend political debate beyond the refined salons to the taverns. He hated the erudite, florid prose of philosophers such as Edmund Burke, calling that type of philosophical and academic language "Bastilles of the word." He saw liberty as being intimately connected with language. And he knew that those who seek to monopolize power always retreat into arcane language that is inaccessible to the masses.
Paine's clarity will have to be replicated. We too will have to invent a new language. We will have to articulate our reality through communitarianism in an age of diminishing resources rather than the language of capitalism. And we will have to do this in a form that is accessible. Foner cites this as one of Paine's most important achievements:
"Paine was one of the creators of this secular language of revolution, a language in which timeless discontents, millennial aspirations and popular traditions were expressed in a strikingly new vocabulary. The very slogans and rallying cries we associate with the revolutions of the late eighteenth century come from Paine's writings: the 'rights of man,' the 'age of reason,' the 'age of revolution' and the 'times that try men's souls.' Paine helped to transform the meaning of the key words of political discourse. In Common Sense he was among the first writers to use 'republic' in a positive rather than derogatory sense; in The Rights of Man he abandoned the old classical definition of 'democracy,' as a state where each citizen participated directly in government, and created its far broader, far more favorable modern meaning. Even the word 'revolution' was transformed in his writing, from a term derived from the motion of planets and implying a cyclical view of history to one signifying vast and irreversible social and political change."
Paine also understood what despotic regimes do to the soul. Despotic regimes -- and here the corporate state serves as a contemporary example -- make war on reason and rational thought. They circumscribe free speech and free assembly. They marginalize and silence critics. They make all institutions subservient to despotism, or in our case corporate power. They employ relentless propaganda to rob people of the language to describe their daily reality. They render them politically alienated. Those who live under despotic regimes, Paine noted, finally lose the ability to communicate their most basic concerns and grievances. And this suppression, Paine understood, has consequences. "Let men communicate their thoughts with freedom," Paine wrote, "and their indignation fly off like a fire spread on the surface; like gunpowder scattered, they kindle, they communicate; but the explosion is neither loud nor dangerous -- keep them under restraint, it is subterranean fire, whose agitation is unseen till it bursts into earthquake or volcano." Finally, Paine understood that war is always the preferred activity of despotic states, for, as he wrote, war is essentially "the art of conquering at home."
Paine, who refused to profit off his writings, suffered for his courage. When he returned to England, where he wrote "The Rights of Man," he was persecuted, as he would later be persecuted in France and in America upon his final return. John Keane in his biography "Tom Paine: A Political Life" describes some of what Paine endured as a radical in late 18th century England.
"Government spies tailed him constantly on London's streets, sending back a stream of reports to the Home Secretary's office. Those parts of the press that functioned as government mouthpieces pelted him with abuse. 'It is earnestly recommended to Mad Tom,' snarled the Times, 'that he should embark for France, and there be naturalized into the regular confusion of a democracy.' Broadsheets containing 'intercepted correspondence from Satan to Citizen Paine' pictured him as a three-hearted, fire-breathing monster, named 'Tom Stich.' Open letters, often identically worded but signed with different pen names, were circulated through taverns and alehouses. 'Brother Weavers and Artificers,' thundered 'a gentleman' to the inhabitants of Manchester and Salford, 'Do not let us be humbugged by Mr. Paine, who tells us a great many Truths, in his book, in order to shove off his Lies.' Dozens of sermons and satires directed at Paine were published, many of them written anonymously for commoners by upper-class foes masquerading as commoners."
The power of Paine, as in the case of Orwell or Baldwin, was that he refused to be anyone's propagandist. He may have embraced the American Revolution, as he embraced the French Revolution, but he was a fierce abolitionist and a foe of the use of terror as a political tool, a stance for which he was eventually imprisoned in revolutionary France. He asked the American revolutionaries "with what consistency, or decency" they "could complain so loudly of attempts to enslave them, while they hold so many hundred thousand in slavery."
He stood up in the National Convention in France, where he was one of two foreigners allowed to be elected and sit as a delegate, to denounce the calls in the chamber to execute the king, Louis XVI. "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression," Paine said. "For if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself." Unchecked legislatures, he warned, could be as despotic as unchecked monarchs. He hated the pomp and arrogance of power and privilege, retaining his loyalty to the working class in which he was raised.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).


text:
Moisturizing Face Cream | with black chaga
- Multi-solution moisturising face cream visibly improves condition and elasticity of the skin
- Main active ingredient, black chaga, detoxifies exhausted skin, while making it smooth and preventing skin irritations.
- The moisturising face cream contains nut oils and berry wax that lubricate the skin and prevent the epidermis from dehydrating, even in extreme conditions
- Use for AM and PM routines and as a face mask once a week. Use it as a final step in your skincare routine.
80 ml (€34.94 / 100 ml)
A multi-solution moisturizing face cream for men with black chaga extract. Visibly improves the skin condition and elasticity. Effectively nourishes, provides long-lasting, deep hydration and regeneration of the facial skin. Thanks to the rich content of over a dozen organic ingredients, it evens the skin surface and has an anti-aging effect. The light, quickly-absorbing formula does not clog pores and lets the skin breathe. Pleasant masculine, tree- spicy fragrance with notes of bergamot, clove, vanilla and sandalwood.
What is the cream composed of and how does it work?
Extract from black chaga has a strong antioxidant and protective effect, it also soothes skin irritations.
Argan oil, coconut oil, sweet almond oil and shea butter guarantee moisturised, soothed and thoroughly regenerated skin. Coconut oil improves condition of the skin: it protects and restores the skin, makes it moisturised and increases the amount of lipids on its surface. Sweet almond oil regenerates the skin and accelerates repair of epidermis, it soothes burning and irritation. Argan oil contains enormous amounts of vitamin E and antioxidants, so it replenishes the deficit of indispensable fatty acids and protects the skin from dehydration. Shea butter effectively regenerates, strengthens and protects the skin against external factors.
Berry wax lubricates the skin and prevents epidermis from dehydrating.
Baobab oil makes the skin supple and nourished.
Hemp oil protects the skin against negative impact of free radicals. It has strong regenerating, anti-ageing, antioxidant and antiseptic effects.


text:
Mourid Barghouti: 'It Is Not a Prize Designed to Give Incentives to Young Writers'
The chair of judges for the 2015 International Prize for Arabic Fiction, Mourid Barghouti, spoke from the following speech at tonight's awards ceremony. The translation was provided by International Prize for Arabic Fiction organizers:
"I prefer silence to speech. But now I must speak, since it is part of the prize cycle of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and, by the way, I have the half-serious, half-mischievous idea, that the prize has moved on both in years and experience and no longer needs one of the words of its long name, the word "international". Is it enough just to call it "The Prize for Arabic Fiction"? The expression "international" has for us become a symbol of something lacking, not an addition. Naguib Mahfouz needs it, whilst Hemingway, Szymborska or Shakespeare, for example, do not. Omar Sharif needs it, but Peter O'Toole, Marlon Brando or Marilyn Monroe do not. I hope I have not gone beyond my remit, but going beyond one's remit is the job of the writer, is it not?
"Before naming the winning novel, I would like to describe some of the factors and conditions which influenced us, the judges, and of course they were not written down, nor was there an artistic prescription, but they crystallised during lengthy discussions and debates which were enjoyable and agonising in turn. The following is just a summary, given because so many people have requested it:
"1) This is not a prize designed to give incentives to young writers, nor is it a prize celebrating established writers' achievements.
"2) The judging panel judges novels, not novelists.
"3) Awe of an artistic achievement must not be transformed into fear of going beyond it. Rules of classic style were made to be broken and one must experiment in order to go forward. The panel does not value one style above another.
"4) However biting, problematic or even nightmarish its world may be, the novel must give the reader pleasure.
"5) Weak style, superficiality and tedious digressions undermine artistry, and this is not just limited to language. Characters, plot, images and dialogue can suffer from the same pitfalls.
"6) Too much explanation negates the role of the reader. More than that, it is an insult to him/her.
"7) Hackneyed formulas used by a novelist are always easy to see through, however shimmering on the surface of the text, and are a burden on the work, adding nothing to it.
"8) We read the novels democratically, surrendering ourselves to the writer's style and narrative choices, until we end up where he/she wants us to be. But each novel has to justify its components: its style, plot, length, language, rhythm and character development.
"9) We have embraced novelty in both content and form, however shocking or out of the norm, while insisting that artistic efficacy must lie within both and in any predetermined readerly sensibility.
"10) We are not interested in considerations of geography, nationality or age and we are not issuing judgments on the literary status of countries which may by chance appear on the longlist and shortlist each year. We are not issuing judgments on the literary past or future of the country. History is what it is and our task was limited to deliberating over a finite number of submissions in a single year.
"11) The decision was taken firstly by aiming at consensus, and if that failed, by voting, and then the result was binding.
"Then I want to say the following:
"About the Judging Panel
"It was not easy to reach consensus when choosing the lists. There were conflicts between different tastes, visions and methods. Some of us lost their arguments while others on the panel won them. We aimed at consensus before having to resort to voting. While the creative process is hardly the result of random acts, the selection of members of the judging panel has a certain measure of randomness to it. Some writers may feel they had bad luck because we were on the panel this year. Others may think they were lucky that we were there and that if there was another panel, things would be different. Both are right.
"About the Novels
"It is always the same and this year was no exception: the novels which did not win had enduring value and those which did had their share of weaknesses. There is a measure of relativity at work. The novelists here, both male and female, need to know that they are all worthy of the prize.
"About the Publishers
"The judging panel noted that there were nominations from publishing houses which it seemed had been established for the purpose of submitting to the prize. We hear that there are publishing houses which obtain money from authors by various means. This knowledge protected the panel from ready assumptions such as that the publisher's agreement to publish the novel necessarily must mean that there is some quality in it. We found that some of the novels which were not selected were not really novels; they were "folk chattering".
"But the most important thing is the absence of the literary editor. Publishers in our countries need to appoint an editor who can discuss the manuscript with an author and suggest a primary artistic revision. We are not talking here about a copy editor. An editor intervenes in the techniques, texture, structure, rhythm and dialogue of the novel. He suggests additions and deletions. He alerts the author when the text slips into being an article or thesis. This is an attempt to rescue the work from slipping into bad practice or being flabby or overstated, or writing the ending before its time, or after its time. Thus the novel arrives at its printed form, safe from falling into these traps.
"I would like to express my admiration for my esteemed colleagues in the judging panel and I think that both our calm and our heated discussions were the only way to reach agreement which did not offend our consciences. Responsible discussion enriches those who differ. I would like to express my admiration for the Trustees of the prize, who were careful to respect the panel's complete independence. Their role was limited to administrative matters facilitating our work, travel and accommodation. Here we applaud the team managing the daily work of the prize: Fleur Montanaro, Katy MacMillan-Scott and Lizzie Grumbach, who managed the difficult combination of cheerfulness and efficiency. I mean, being firm and good-humoured. I thank the Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority, for their keen and generous support, and before everyone I wish to record my admiration for the female and male novelists, absent and present, those in the longlist and shortlist and those absent from them. They have enriched our personal worlds with their artistic experiments, even those who achieved the least. There is always a flash of artistry or wonder in every attempt at perfection. We have read you in an expectant spirit, with anticipation given to any new text; we have not read you as school examiners. In writing, all of us make attempts and no-one claims that he has arrived. We have come out of this experience with a greater desire to learn and ask questions and with a greater humility. Greetings to the creative writers and thanks to you all in this hall for doing me the honour of listening.
"And now
"The winning novel of the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for this prize cycle, of 2015, is "The Italian" by Shukri al-Mabkout. Congratulations."


text:
This week I'm joined by an Apple connoisseur, the editor of iMore, and alongside many others, the podcaster of Vector, a daily podcast which goes into everything Apple.
A fun time where we went through his history with Apple and writing, how he got to iMore, and of course, what iPad he uses.
The Outpost Show on Apple Podcasts
Support The Outpost Show on Patreon.
A new Homepage for the podcast.
Federico Viticci inventing the 'Sexy Times' Siri Shortcut.
RSS Feed


text:
A French petition calling for the so-called right to be forgotten for HIV sufferers has attracted over 100 signatures, some of whom are HIV-positive but non-infectious.
The right to be forgotten allows people to request the deletion or removal of personal data — usually from Google search results — where there is no compelling reason for it to remain.
Among those who have signed the petition are two former French health ministers, French politician Roselyne Bachelot and the Nobel Prize for medicine winner, Francoise Barre-Sinoussi.
The right to demand information that could be detrimental to someone be removed from search results already exists for individuals who have suffered and been cured from cancer.
At the heart of the manifesto is Camille Genton, a successful entrepreneur who is about to open his tenth restaurant, whilst also living with Aids.
Genton spoke recently to French news platform FranceInfo about the "double punishment" himself and other HIV positive individuals suffer on a daily basis.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below formBy GlobalData
From having to pay higher levels of insurance to being prohibited from joining a number of professions such as the police force or the fire service, Genton hopes to eliminate the prejudice against people who are HIV positive.
Seven years ago when Genton tried to open his first restaurant, he was told by a banker that he was "not eligible to obtain a loan" and therefore unable to the restaurant.
Genton said:
It's sneaky because they never say no because you are HIV positive, you are never refused a loan because you are HIV positive, they find other reasons.
Genton believes that science has progressed far more rapidly than the views of society, explaining that he can lead a perfectly normal healthy live in France, with his illness having little to no effect on his long-term relationship as well.
However he still faces higher premiums from insurers and is often refused treatment from dentists and some doctors.
A stigma still exists around HIV, but according to Genton, these prejudices are largely down to ignorance.
Treatment in France "costs nothing" and a treated patient has the same life expectancy as a typical healthy French citizen.
Genton, who has had unprotected sex with his partner for seven years and with no risk towards her, hopes that the petition and surrounding publicity will raise awareness and educate others on the issue "we must not trivialise it, but we must not stigmatise it either".


text:
Shamanism is a type of religion in which all social control is cantraized in a single control structure.
In a small hunter-gatherer society religion was almost exclusively represented by a single person, named differently in different societies shaman or kahuna, for instance. Such a religious leader often exerted all types of social control. So a single person was responsible for health care, education, rituals, division of labor, and many many others.
Of note, the adaptation of culture in such a system was either through the shaman's cognitive functions or by means of replacing the shaman by someone else.
Tags: Control Religion
Categories: Psychology Sociology
(c) Mato Nagel, Weißwasser 2004-2023, Disclaimer


text:
On Tuesday in the House of Commons, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, announced that the UK would adopt the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee and shift the economy towards ambitious 2030 carbon reductions. Specifically, Huhne announced a 4th Carbon Budget of 1950 Mt CO2 for the period 2023-2027 which is aligned with an indicative 2030 target to reduce emissions by 60% relative to 1990 levels (46% relative to 2009 levels). The government did deviate from the recommendations in one important area in that it accepted the need to keep carbon trading options open – "to maintain maximum flexibility, and minimise costs in the medium-long term".
But there is an important caveat to this ambition – namely the need to ensure alignment with the EU. While the UK may well be an island and even one with its own currency inside the EU, at least for carbon it is joined at the hip to the EU by the emissions trading system. A UK power generator and emitter handles exactly the same allowances as a continental EU one and sees, at least for now, exactly the same carbon price. If the UK happens to embark on its own reduction pathway independent of that prescribed by the EU then the result will be 100% carbon leakage into the EU via allowance trade. As such, the announcement by the Secretary of State included the following;
Under the Climate Change Act, emissions reductions by the UK's industrial and power sectors are determined by the UK's share of the EU Emissions Trading System cap. This protects UK industrial and power sectors from exceeding EU requirements. However if the EU ETS cap is insufficiently ambitious, this could mean placing disproportionate strain on other sectors outside the EU ETS such as transport.
To overcome this and to provide clearer signals for businesses and investors, government will review progress towards the EU emissions goal in early 2014. If at that point our domestic commitments place us on a different emissions trajectory than the Emissions Trading System trajectory agreed by the EU, we will, as appropriate, revise up our budget to align it with the actual EU trajectory.
At least in terms of the power sector, the future differences appear stark. In recent months the EU has released its Low Carbon Roadmap for 2050 which sees an EU wide reduction of some 40% by 2030 compared to 1990. This equates to a reduction in the power sector of around 60% by 2030 (or 54% for the EU-26), in contrast to the proposal of the 4th Carbon Budget which sees a nearly 90% reduction.
Although the time period is short, the UK and EU power sectors appear to have followed more aligned pathways since the start of the EU-ETS, as would be expected given the underlying trade in allowances. Between 2005 and 2008, both have been relatively flat.
A sustained, more aggressive pathway for the UK is not possible unless supplementary domestic policies are introduced to force the direction. As noted in previous postings, this will drive up the cost for UK consumers relative to the EU and potentially impact UK competitiveness. So the challenge now sits with the UK to force the issue in Europe, rather than focus on domestic energy policies to meet its goals. To date there has been an almost singular focus on the EU 2020 target (i.e. the 20% or 30% debate), but the reality is that 2020 emissions are now largely defined by major projects already in planning, car designs on the drawing boards and the current building codes. This means that the UK needs to get the EU to turn its attention to Phase IV of the EU-ETS and open up the discussion regarding its structure and ambition (i.e. the 2030 target).
The current EU legislation would see the post-2020 ETS continue to deliver reductions of 1.74% per annum (absolute percentage points, not percent relative to the previous year), which means about 35% between now and 2030. This is far short of the recommendations of the 4th Carbon Budget proposal for the UK.
The UK government has quite a challenge ahead.


text:
The DocPoint Documentary Film Festival in Helsinki, Finland, has just announced that French filmmaker, Nicolas Philibert and Polish filmmaker, Marcel Lozinski, will be attending the festival as its honored guests and Master Filmmakers. The 9th edition of the festival will take place on the 26th through the 31st of January 2010.
The program will include a comprehensive retrospective of Lozinski's work; he's been making films since 1972. His oeuvre highlights portrayals of people living under a socialist system and his works often question the prevailing conditions of his own society. He lectures at the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, influencing and inspiring several generations of young Polish filmmakers. There is a shocking amount of great nonfiction work coming out of this country.
French filmmaker, Nicolas Philibert will also be honored with a small retrospective of his work, which will include his new film about a 40-year-old orangutan raised in captivity named Nénette. His wonderful cinéma vérité piece, To Be and To Have (Etre et Avoir) (2002) garnered a huge amount of success around the world.
Also, as part of this year's program, carrying on the tradition of visiting a country in a themed way, DocPoint will present a selection of short and feature-length American films called "The Family Chronicles," co-curated by yours truly. I'm very excited to be bringing these films to Finnish audiences. More details soon on the program and other special Yankee guests.
In preparation for my work with them this year, I was invited as a guest of the festival last year. Read my coverage here, here, here, here and here. More news from Helsinki in the coming weeks.


text:
Kenny Ladler
Position: Safety
Size: 6'1", 205 lbs.
Recruit Ranking: A three-star recruit at defensive back.
2013 Statistics: 91 tackles (led team), five interceptions (led team), five forced fumbles (led team), nine passes defensed, four pass breakups.
Relevant Awards:
• 2013 First Team All-SEC Defensive Back (Coaches)
• 2013 Second Team All-SEC Safety (Associated Press)
• 2013 All-SEC Safety (Phil Steele & Athlons)
• 2010 SEC All-Freshman team
Strengths: Ladler was the most reliable Commodore defender in 2013, sniffing out big plays and making clutch tackles that helped lead his team to a second-straight nine-win season. He is the latest in a long line of quality Vandy defensive backs that includes NFL veterans like Casey Hayward, D.J. Moore, and Reshard Langford.
Vanderbilt often relied on Ladler's tackling ability to prevent big plays, and the senior came through in a major way over his final two seasons. He tallied 181 tackles - 125 solo - over 26 games as the team's last line of defense in the secondary. He also proved that he can elevate to the line of scrimmage and provide support on third-and-short situations. On top of that, Kenny doesn't just hit ballcarriers - he wallops them.
Ladler was very durable as a Commodore and played in every game of his collegiate career. That's especially impressive when you consider how many plays he had a role in as a junior and senior. He can play both safety positions thanks to a combination of ball skills, coverage capability, and tackling prowess. He set a proper example at Vanderbilt by sticking to his defensive assignments before providing help up front, limiting the success of opponents' play-action passes.
Most importantly, he finds a way to sniff out the ball and create turnovers. Ladler is the kind of safety who can read a quarterback and get into position to make an interception. He also has a great sense for stripping runners on the fly. His right arm becomes a football-mining pickaxe when he identifies a ballcarrier running down the middle of the field.
Weaknesses: Ladler isn't a supreme athlete, and his lack of top-end speed and acceleration could cause him to drop during the Draft. His game was predicated on his aggressive play against SEC opponents, but that kind of style may not be as effective against NFL receivers and quarterbacks. That could limit his chances to play free safety at the next level.
Vanderbilt's shoddy play at linebacker in 2013 helped inflate his tackle count, and while Ladler proved to be an excellent last line of defense, his impressive numbers will be difficult to duplicate at the next level. He hasn't really been asked to shadow tight ends or slot receivers near the line of scrimmage, and that's something that coordinators may want to see more of in an increasingly pass-happy NFL.
Projection: A third to fifth round pick. Ladler's play isn't quantifiable in numbers or statistics. His uncanny ability to sniff out plays and create havoc is not something that can be taught. Kenny grew into a dynamite all-around player once he developed his skills as a tackler to meet that preternatural football sense. He will leave Vanderbilt as one of the best safeties this team has ever had.
Like teammate Jordan Matthews, Ladler is earning a pre-draft reputation as a player who can contribute immediately but also as a player with limited room to grow in comparison to his peers. He has the intelligence and skill to turn heads in training camp, but his average Combine numbers will give some teams all the reasoning they'll need not to select him on the Draft's second day. That's a shame, because they'll be missing out on a player who will be a significant bargain if he continues to grow like he did at Vanderbilt.


text:
Two days ago I commented on a questionable item in the 10th grade TAKS mathematics test, for which scores were revised. The associated TEA press release refers also to a controversy over some science test items, and states that, upon review, these items were found to be correct. It is fascinating to see the items and to see how they are judged to be correct. The TEA (Texas Education Authority) put out an Additional Information Regarding Released Science Items for the spring 2003 testing cycle. Four controversial items are discussed.
Grade 5 Science, Item 13. Item 13 asked students which two planets are closest to Earth. Among the possible answers: Mercury and Venus, and Mars and Venus. The correct answer varies over time, and the question is plainly wrong or crazy. To add insult to injury: the intended answer was Mars and Venus, but on the day the test was given the correct answer was Mercury and Venus. Nevertheless, the TEA insists that for the purpose of the 5th grade test the question had only one correct answer - to wit, the wrong answer.
Grade 10 Science, Item 50. Item 50 looks crazy to me - they seem to be testing in a most convoluted way that the student knows that the element symbol K stands for Potassium. The TEA discussion indicates that the item is factually wrong to boot, but they insist that it is valid just the same.
Grade 11 Science, Items 11 and 45. Question 11 asks for the force exerted by a jumping frog on a leaf. The force has two components: one due to the weight of the frog and the other due to its acceleration. These are to be added vectorially, but the direction of the jump is not given. The TEA insists that therefore the correct treatment of the question must ignore the weight of the frog. Obviously the question is wrong and the TEA is wrong to insist that it is correct. Question 45 concerns a hypothetical situation in which a force is exerted on an object but no work is done. The question asks what can be concluded, and the intended answer is that the object is and remains at rest. This is wrong; the force may be perpendicular to the direction of motion. The TEA insists in effect that students don't know that, and that therefore the TEA's intended answer is, for the purpose of the test, the unambiguously correct answer.
The TEA has a bit of a quality control problem, obviously. In connection with the earlier 10th grade Math test problem Kimberly Swygert asked if the pre-testing might not have found the error. The same question could be asked for these science test items, but I think that it is too much to ask of the psychometric process that it correct for blunders of this kind.
I suspect that for many patently wrong questions students will nevertheless do what the TEA expects of them. The pernicious effect of the bad test items is indirect. It creates among the students and the public an impression (a correct impression) that the TEA doesn't have its house in order; that questions can't be read to mean what they mean; and that one should always be prepared to second-guess the clear meaning of a question.
A closing remark: the New York State Regents testing division has similar quality control problems. I remind the reader of the earlier discussion about the June 2003 Regents Math A exam, and my related Critique of the New York State Regents Mathematics A Exam
As reported in the Houston Chronicle the Texas Educational Authority yesterday announced a revision of the scores of the 10th grade TAKS exam that was given this spring, because of an error in one of the questions.
Readers with some knowledge of high school trigonometry may find it interesting to see the problem. The question is reproduced in the Houston Chronicle, or one can see the TEA original (look at question 8). The question shows a drawing of a regular octagon, indicating the inscribed radius as being 4.0cm and the circumscribed radius as being 4.6cm. The question is what is the perimeter of the octagon to the nearest cm. The choices are 41cm, 36cm, 27cm, and 18cm.
The data are contradictory: an octagon with inscribed radius 4.0cm has circumscribed radius about 4.33cm. Taking the 4.0cm and 4.6cm at face value a student might reason that the perimeter of the octagon is somewhere between 2*pi*4.0cm and 2*pi*4.6cm, and this leads to the answer 27cm in the multiple choice format. Or the student could apply trigonometry and obtain perimeter 26.5cm by starting from the given inscribed radius or 28.2cm by starting from the given circumscribed radius. A fourth approach is to use Pythagoras's theorem on a right triangle that has hypothenuse 4.6cm and one right side 4.0cm; then one finds that the circumference of the octagon must be 36.3cm. That (or rather, 36cm) was the intended answer.
According to the TEA press release, "item eight on the 10th grade math test could have been read in such a way that the question had more than one correct answer". That is putting a very kind spin on their blunder - there is in fact no reading of the question under which it has just one correct answer. It is amazing that the TEA would have this test composed and reviewed by people that fail to recognize that one cannot arbitrarily specify both the inscribed and the circumscribed radius of a regular polygon. According to the TEA press release: "Each test item goes through a rigorous review process that includes a field test of the items and two separate review sessions by professional educators who have subject-area and grade-level expertise and who are recommended by their district." The TEA didn't mean that as an explanation, but for me the "professional educators" part goes a long way just the same.
[Addendum, Aug 09. Please see the figure accompanying question 8 in the exam. The line segments that I described as inner and outer radii are not, in fact, identified as such in the figure or in the question. They meet at a point that certainly appears to be the center of the octagon, but that is not labelled either. There is, therefore, a reading of the question under which it has a single correct answer. Under that reading the given data are all correct, the special point is not meant to be the center of the octagon, and the figure is simply distorted in what happens to be a highly misleading way.]
Here is a sensible Op-Ed on California's decision to delay the high school exit exam requirement: Why the exit exam got held back instead of failing kids, by Daniel Weintraub (SacBee, Sun Jul 20 2003).
The California Board of Education's recent decision to delay the impact of the state's new high school exit exam was a disappointing but necessary tactical retreat that should ultimately advance the long-term goal of accountability in the public schools. If the ed board hadn't backed off, the legal dogs would have sued the state on behalf of thousands of students in the class of 2004 who would have been denied diplomas after failing the test. Their argument: These kids never got a fair opportunity to learn the material on which they were tested. Unfortunately, they are probably right.
The issue continues to play in New York State as well. The difficulty of the June 17 instance of the Regents Math A exam was misjudged and the exam had an unexpected high failure rate. Commissioner of Education Richard Mills might have responded by lowering the passing score, but instead he tossed the exam entirely. It must have given him great relief to get it off his back and not have anyone fail the Math portion this year, because he went a step further and extended the good news to juniors as well: any junior that sat the exam in June has it waived as a graduation requirement. The Board of Education has now named a panel to investigate the Regents Math A exam and respond to 9 specific questions. My take on the exam is in this critique of the Regents Math A.
In other news on high school exit exams, the Boston Herald has this:
STIRRING STORY: Tracey Newhart, an aspiring chef who has Down syndrome, failed her MCAS test, which could keep her from studying cooking at Johnson and Wales University.
The original is pay-per-view at the Herald. The story is also here in the Cape Cod times. How long ago was it that a grade school diploma, or at most an eighth grade education, would be the normal requirement for studying cooking?
Which brings me to this news item from Australia. Drop-outs can be successful, by Farrah Tomazin (The Age (AU), July 21, 2003).
A study tracking nearly 8000 students has found that many teenagers who do not finish year 12 earn more money and have higher job stability than those who stay but do not go on to university. Geoff Masters, chief executive of the Australian Council for Educational Research, which released the study, said the findings contradict the common belief that early school leavers tended to struggle after dropping out. 'It's often believed that students who leave school before the end of year 12 are at risk of not making a successful transition from school into the workforce,' Professor Masters said. 'But when you compare them with students who finish year 12 but don't go on to university, the early leavers are more likely to be working full-time, have a degree of job stability and be in a job that they like.'
It sounds plausible to me. The trend to demand a high school diploma for everything and look down on those that leave high school without a degree mainly reflects a steady lowering of standards for the eighth grade education.
New York State Education Commissioner Richard Mills is under much pressure because of the high failure rate on the recent (June 17) New York Regents Math A exam. The latest and earlier instances of the exam and the associated scoring keys and conversion tables are posted on the Regents Examinations Web site, under the link to Mathematics A. Procedural information related to the exam is posted at the State Assessment site under High School General Information. I know of two reviews of the exam on the Web. There is my own Critique of the New York State Regents Mathematics A Exam, and there is an Analysis of the June, 2003, Administration of Physics and Math A Regents done by the New York State Council of School Supervisors (NYSCOSS).
In connection with the Math A flack the director of the testing division at the NYS Education Department was reassigned and chose to resign, but this is not presented as a cure for any problem. The State Assembly and Senate will hold hearings, according to a report in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle:
[State Assemblyman Steven Sanders, D-Manhattan], who chairs the Assembly education committee, and Sen. Stephen M. Saland, R-Poughkeepsie, who chairs the Senate education committee, plan to hold public hearings for people to express their feelings about high-stakes testing in light of an estimated 37 percent passing rate on the June 17 Math A Regents exam. Those hearing dates have not yet been set, but Sanders said Rochester, Albany and New York City might be host cities.
Of course there are plenty of calls on editorial pages for the State to abandon its plan to require students to pass five Regents exams for graduation starting in 2004. However, according to an article in the Albany Times Union, Voided math test said to reveal systemic ills, the Regents and Commissioner Mills remain supportive of that plan.
Asked whether he and other Regents still stood behind Mills, board member Saul Cohen responded, "Sure," but added, "That doesn't mean we can't press him to do certain things as we did. We pressed him to nullify the results of the Math A, and I'm continuing to press him to re-examine the physics exam. But that doesn't mean we're not backing him."
A somewhat different take on the exam trouble is found in an article by Karen Arenson in the New York Times, Math Failures Are Raising Concerns About Curriculum.
But some explanations [of the high failure rate] touch on deeper issues, including whether the Math A curriculum is too broad, how much harder it is for students to solve problems than to manipulate equations, and whether unqualified teachers are even less likely to succeed in preparing students than they were with the old math curriculum.
[...] The shift from rote learning to a greater emphasis on mastery of concepts is welcomed by some college professors in math and science, who have been trying to accomplish the same shift. They say that although mastery of some facts is critical, students who focus on memorization may do well in a course but remember little of it six months later.
[...] Some educators say teaching students to be problem solvers takes more skill on the part of teachers, a challenge when there is a shortage of qualified math teachers.
"Teachers are not really prepared to prepare kids for this test properly," said Alfred S. Posamentier, dean of the School of Education, City College of New York, and the author of books on problem solving. "There is very little training for teachers in problem solving; it's assumed they will get it along the way."
My take on it is different. The low passing rate is a complicated affair in any case, and it isn't entirely clear from the data to what extent the exam was really more difficult than earlier instances. Students can take the exam three times per year over multiple years, in August, January, and June, and the character of the test taking population may vary greatly between the months. Many of last year's seniors may still have graduated on the basis of the easier Mathematics I exam. It is surprising that Commissioner Mills does not have the data to say anything more authoritative about the relative difficulty of the latest exam.
The main thing that can be learned from the low passing rate is that, in many cases, New York State high schools are failing to make up for the failures of elementary and middle school education. An eighth grader in a high performing country, say Singapore, or in a U.S. state that has high level content standards, say California, would be well placed to pass this exam. I find ony two kinds of questions that would probably be unfamiliar to such a student. One are the counting questions that require students to know something about permutations and combinations. The other are the very basic trigonometry questions: students must know the ratios in a right triangle that correspond to the sine, cosine, and tangent.
It does appear to me that the June, 2003, instance of the exam had a somewhat more difficult and less "standard" flavor than earlier instances, and in the open response section the June, 2003, exam tilts a bit more towards a test of aptitude rather than a test of school learning, relative to the previous two instances of the exam. This is not to say, however, that all the questions in August 2002 and January 2003 were of a standard and predictable form, and it is not to say that the June 2003 exam is plainly a test of aptitude and the earlier ones plainly a test of school learning.
The unintended shift in the character of the exam should be seen as a failure of the Regents testing division. In addition there are many mathematical flaws in the questions and dubious points in the scoring keys, as described in more detail in the Critique of the New York State Regents Mathematics A Exam and the Analysis of the June, 2003, Administration of Physics and Math A Regents, both mentioned earlier.


text:
Start your watch, here we go. Slice Mind focuses on building and launching services that combine artificial intelligence, machine learning and behavioral science. We've been accumulating experience using AI and data to launch digital insurance products with our partners on our ICS platform. From this experience we've developed a range of expertise, models and unique approaches to data that are applicable to a wide range of industry problems.
The Slice Mind difference is our combination of AI and behavioral science, which allows us to answer the question: 'what can we actually do with this model?' Behavioral science provides many answers and opportunities. For instance, if you've predicted something you don't want to happen, you can provide a well-timed nudge to try and avoid it. If on the other hand, you predicted something great, you can reward, celebrate or help other people follow that same path.Taking the claims context as an example, we have the ability to transcribe audio and video in real time or in bulk, in a variety of languages. Our natural-language understanding models then determine loss type and exclusions (if any). This process augments claims data for manual assessment or as a component in an auto-settlement pipeline.
Slice Mind uses data and AI to make predictions and then adds behavioral science to connect these predictions to real life. At Slice, we see huge innovation potential and we're excited to use AI and behavioral science to solve real problems.