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Got more Lifehacker leftovers at the end of the week than you know what to do with? Get only the best fixings with our top stories feed or our once-a-week highlights feed. This week's best posts include:
Gmail Product Manager on IMAP and Greasemonkey
Hear what Gmail's Product Manager has to say about IMAP, LDAP, Greasemonkey, the iPhone, and other third party Gmail clients, apps, and development.
Set Custom "Ringtones" for Your Email Inbox
Custom ringtones on our phones have been making it easy to tell who's calling without looking at our phones for years now, so why aren't we doing the same thing with our incoming email?
12 Healthy Foods That Aren't
Just because a product heralds itself as fat-free doesn't mean it's good for you, and Men's Health tackles 12 unhealthy foods consumers often mistake for nutritious.
Master Your DSLR Camera, Part 1: Program Mode
You ponied up for a digital SLR camera because you hated the shutter lag on your little point-and-shoot. The good news: Your photos have improved! The bad news? You know they could be even better.
Ditch Your Taskbar for Minimized Thumbnails with miniMize
Freeware application miniMize creates thumbnail images of your minimized application on your desktop.
Boost Your Wi-Fi Antenna for Less than a Dollar
After taking apart a $30 "extender" Wi-Fi router antenna, one intrepid video blogger posted a guide to making the same thing with remarkably cheap stuff.
Carve Your Thanksgiving Turkey Like a Butcher
If the crown of family turkey-carver is weighing heavy on your head this Thanksgiving, the New York Times gets advice on how to carve the perfect turkey.
The Hearty Thanksgiving Roundup
If you're looking for that one special Thanksgiving tip to ease your holiday, we've got you covered.


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Encouraging you to thrive and grow
My blog has been created to deliver useful insights, information, and stories that can be applied to spark new ideas within companies or careers. Within it, I provide articles to read on topics like diversity, inclusion and belonging. I'm excited to share with you the practical applications of my process, the observations I've made about our current culture, and how to best discover your strengths and to apply them to better your life.
Join me as I share my stories, provide resources and knowledge to help you — be bold, be brave, be kind, and keep wishing out loud.
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The voices of Wei Wei and Lisa!
Reports are that there are over 23 million Asian Americans living in the United States. Other reports are that there are at least 4000 reports of various forms of harassment over the past year, including assaults directed against Asian Americans in the United States. And tragically, during recent shootings in Georgia, eight lives were snuffed out, among them six Asian women. These are the facts.
So I begin this by introducing you to incredible Asian American women – Wei Wei Jeang and Lisa M. Ong – long-time friends of mine during the years I lived in Texas. Not only did I want to check in on the well-being of Wei Wei and Lisa, both outspoken and strong advocates of equality and fairness, but I also wanted to get their thoughts on what's been happening to Asian Americans over recent years. I'll begin with a little bit about their backgrounds.
Wei Wei Jeang is a member of Grable Martin Fulton PLLC, a law firm. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a Juris Doctorate degree from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Lisa M. Ong, a diversity and inclusion strategy consultant, was formally a national diversity director at PwC, an HR director, and a financial audit senior manager. She earned her BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas in Austin and her MS in Management from the University of Texas at Dallas.
Following are some questions I posed to them and their answers:
First, given the extreme nature of all the violence directed at Asian Americans, what measures have you taken to protect yourself?
Wei Wei: I feel fortunate to be mostly isolated from the anti-Asian sentiment and actions in my professional and personal life. But it pains me that Asian Americans are being targeted by this kind of violence and actions to the point of losing their lives. But I'm always mentally prepared to ready myself for potential verbal and physical assaults when I go out since the beginning of the pandemic. The anti-Asian American mentality just adds more burden to our psyche that's already on-edge and on-guard. I am always on alert.
Lisa: I still wear my mask with a hat or visor and sunglasses and am highly aware of my surroundings when out and driving alone. I sadly realize this attempt to "cover" is fruitless. I do not walk around alone and only go for walks with my husband or a neighbor or friends.
How do you explain why many Asian Americans may be reluctant to report acts of hate towards them?
Lisa: Often English language barriers, undocumented refugee status, immigrant fears, cultural norms, fear of the police or retaliation, lack of any action or legal support all mean that the numbers of attacks in the Asian community often go underreported. I also feel that the "model minority" label placed on Asians – "don't make waves" – has been a factor as well.
Wei Wei: I'm especially pained at the reality of Asian women being targeted for hate, probably because they are most vulnerable and less likely to speak up. But the fact is that we have a voice and have been speaking up more and more during these times. We also have learned from and been trying to support our friends in the Black community who have been at this civil rights movement before us.
What in your opinion has been missing from media accounts of what many Asian Americans have been experiencing before and during the pandemic?
Lisa: Many TV news reporters are not pronouncing the victim's names correctly in the news reports. In doing so, it infuriates and makes the Asian community hurt even more for the victims and their families. Understand that tears are flowing throughout the Asian community.
Wei Wei: For the last year, Trump elevated racist dialog to the national level. For the most part, at least from my perspective of a user of left-leaning or neutral news outlets, care and attention have been used to point out Trump's use of inflammatory and divisive language. However, this practice is not universal and certainly not by "news" outlets that still support Trump. I am especially frustrated and angered by Republican lawmakers who continue to fawn over or tolerate Trump's racist use of the "China virus."
Can you cite a few examples – microaggressions perhaps – that you personally experienced over the years?
Wei Wei: I grew up with taunts about my appearance, name, and language. Those things happened so often that they do not take up any space in my mind, and I chalk them up as just part of growing up in America as a minority and always seen as a foreigner. A common question upon meeting someone is always: "where are you from?" And they don't mean California, Florida, or Illinois, where I have lived before settling down in Texas over thirty years ago. Just a few years ago, I was on an American Airlines flight; a flight attendant effusively praised how fluently and without any foreign accent I was able to speak English.
Lisa: Like Wei Wei, I also experienced taunts about my eyes in kindergarten. However, I was taught to not complain, not cry, and toughen up and show no emotion or they will taunt you even more and only make it worse. Suffering in silence was common because you did not want to bring trouble or shame on your family. I still often experience the "where are you really from?" or "What kind of Asian are you? "questions. And when you call them out on it, many well-meaning people say, "Oh, I am just being curious."
What advice would you offer to allies desiring to be supportive?
Wei Wei: It is even more important now for everyone to add their voices to denounce any kind of anti-Asian language and action as well as any kind of violence against anyone of any color. Always be ready to step in to help if someone is being attacked verbally or physically. Write your elected public officials and hold them accountable for their discriminatory and inflammatory words and actions. This question brings to mind the recent story where members of a California neighborhood took turns to stand guard to protect an Asian American family that was continually harassed and robbed of their peace in their home. I hope all of us can recognize when injustice is being perpetuated Instead of the groups being pitted against one another,
Lisa: I am seeing allies coming together from both marginalized and oppressed groups and the majority too. They are using their power, platform, influence, and privilege for action. They are mobilizing people to register and vote or run for office, highlighting personal stories that increase awareness, and denouncing bias and bullying when they see and hear it. They are texting hearts and prayers to let others know they care and that they are not alone and are willing to be an ally and stand up to oppression.
Any parting comments or thoughts would you like to pass along?
Lisa: Many of us in the Asian American & Pacific Islander community saw the bullying, intimidation, and increasing violence attacks rising but were not heard. I was heartbroken and mad that it took a mass shooting to get more national media coverage. It shows why allies amplifying voices and coming together united in solidarity is so important. I hope that we all realize now that we all need to speak up against microaggressions, biases, bullying, violence, social media trolls, and stalkers.
Wei Wei: Violence and injustice of any kind targeting anyone should not be tolerated. We need to strongly denounce language that foments violence and injustice. Racism and injustice targeting any group is a deadly virus among us that will weaken all of us as a community. All of us must work hard to keep politicians who incorporate racism and oppression of minority groups as part of their platform from being elected to any position of power.
I end with these words of wisdom from Lisa M. Ong:
"The world needs more beacons of light to shine brighter together to promote hope, healing and peace!"
© Terry Howard is an award-winning writer, a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The American Diversity Report, The Atlanta Business Journal, The BlackMarket.com, co-founder of the "26 Tiny Paint Brushes" writers' guild, and recipient of the 2019 Dr. Martin Luther King Leadership Award. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com
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Michael Madsen's Lake of Discontent
Michael Madsen plays seedy characters so convincingly, it comes as no surprise that he's been accused of being one in real life. Last year, the gruff-voiced actor accepted $25,000 to consider starring in writer-producer Peter Tsadilas's first film, Lake Success, and agreed to return the sum if, after reading the screenplay, he declined the role. Now a fed-up Tsadilas says he intends to file a suit against the thespian in order to get him to refund the money. But did Madsen actually turn down the part? Madsen's lawyer, Harmon Kaslow, refuses to give back the cash, saying Madsen hasn't nixed the project but is awaiting a new version of the script. Kaslow adds that Madsen sent a letter of intent and it's now up to Tsadilas to negotiate the financing. Tsadilas's attorney, Mark Stumer, retaliates: "How can my client expect to attract backers by saying that Madsen is kind of interested in the picture?" And as to the script, Stumer claims, "We sent Madsen numerous copies of the rewrite and have yet to hear a response. All he's done is delay the progress of this film. If he won't refund the money out of court, I'll sue him and get it that way."
Who Wants to Beat on a Millionaire?
Oddball bachelor Rick Rockwell has finally discovered his true calling – getting kicked around by a woman. Now that Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire? is but an irksome memory, Rockwell is stepping into the kickboxing ring with a very lucky contest winner. Aspiring actress Marni Rosenthal, 23, will face off against Rockwell at Crunch on Lafayette Street this September 23 after winning the honor over 160,000 other hopefuls in an online contest sponsored by the fitness center and DiMassimo Brand Advertising. "He seems like an okay guy, but he would obviously benefit from a good ass-whupping," Rosenthal tells us. The starlet has been in an intensive kickboxing class for the past year and a half and says that years of dance training have given her "a lot of strength in my legs." For his trouble, Rockwell will receive $20,000 to donate to the charity of his choice. Rosenthal won't get any money, but her reward is clearly priceless.
Dance-Hall Daze: Copa Eyes Studio 54
The party could soon be over at the Copacabana: the Latin dance club is losing its lease at 617 West 57th Street. The real-estate giant Durst Organization is planning to tear down every structure on the block to put up a telco hotel and two commercial towers; company honcho Douglas Durst tells us he hopes to start the project within the next year. But Copa owner John Juliano isn't giving up his cash cow so easily. Reps for the club are frantically searching for a new locale and have set their eyes on none other than Studio 54, hoping to rent the historic nightclub after the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Cabaret closes up shop. A source close to Studio 54 confirmed that scouts from the Copa have "come in and looked at the place," but added that the Roundabout has the option to keep the space even after Cabaret closes. Is Juliano worried? "Yeah," he says. "It couldn't have happened at a worse time."
Puffy Makes the Scene – Again
Our nominee for most supportive mogul of the week? Puff Daddy, of course. With the entire Bad Boy Entertainment clan out at the Hamptons' Synergy Spa for a five-day retreat, a source tells us, R&B vocalist Carl Thomas was feeling a little left out on the night of his breakout concert at Madison Square Garden last Saturday. So Bad Boy boss Puffy made an impromptu break from the retreat and hopped a helicopter back to Manhattan to play cheerleader at Thomas's show. It was a busy day for the hip-hop entrepreneur, who had led his troops through a mandatory morning session of drill-sergeant-style aerobics (where he barked commands and wore fatigues) and then, after jetting back that night, put on a freestyle show of his own. You mean he can rap, too?
Man Ray To Emigrate
The space that once housed hot-for-a-moment 147 – the Chelsea eatery set in an old firehouse on West 15th Street – has recently been leased to the hip folks behind Man Ray, the Parisian restaurant backed by Johnny Depp, Sean Penn, John Malkovich, and Simply Red front man Mick Hucknall. According to Thierry Klemeniuk, an owner of the Paris spot, the restaurant (not to be confused with the late Eighth Avenue restaurant of the same name) will open in November and serve French and Japanese cuisine in "an Algerian Art Deco décor." Hucknall has already signed on to help finance the venture, but whether the boldface investors on the other side of the Atlantic will join remains to be seen. "I can't tell you for another two weeks," says Klemeniuk.
Additional reporting by David Amsden.
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SSO with other SAML Providers
Generic guide for configuring SAML Providers.
Don't you hate remembering all of your passwords? With OpsLevel's Single Sign-On integration all of your microservice data is seconds away without the need for another long and secure password.
With single sign-on, you get:
- Automatic user provisioning: OpsLevel will create a user for you as long as the employee has access to the OpsLevel application in your identity provider.
- Revoke user access: Removing a user's access from OpsLevel is as simple as revoking their access in your identity provider.
Using Google, Auth0 or Okta?
Checkout our guides on how to configure Google, Auth0 or Okta alongside OpsLevel!
Setting up Single Sign-On with SAML
The following metadata URL can be used to help automate the configuration of SAML within your identity provider. Note: You will need your
provider_key, located in your Account Settings under Authentication Method
Required Identity Provider Attributes
- Destination: Sometimes labeled as
Recipient URLor
Single Sign-On URL. This will be the URL OpsLevel will receive the SAML response to. This value is located in your Account Settings under Authentication Method:
- Audience: Sometimes labeled as
Audience Restrictionor
SAML Audience. This field should be configured to:
- Email: The user's email address. This is expected as an attribute with a
namevalue of
Ensure that you use SHA1 token encryption
Note: OpsLevel supports SHA1 token encryption for SAML tokens. Configure your SAML provider to use SHA1 token encryption during your SSO/SAML setup.
Auto-Provisioning Attributes
In order to have users auto-provisioned when they first sign in, we require the following optional attributes:
first_name: The given name of the user.
last_name: The family name of the user.
OpsLevel Configuration
admin user on your OpsLevel account may configure the SAML single sign-on settings by:
- Navigating to the Authentication Method section of the Account Settings page.
- Selecting
Editat the bottom of the card.
- Clicking on the option labeled
- Specifying the corporate email domain used by your company under:
Email Domain
- Pasting in the X.509 Certificate from the SAML configuration in your identity provider.
- Pasting in the Single Sign-on URL from the SAML configuration in your identity provider.
- (Optional) De-selecting
Allow authentication via email / passwordonce your configuration has been verified as operational.
Log in via Single Sign-on
- Navigate to the OpsLevel Sign In Page.
- Select
Log in with SSO
- Enter the email address associated with your company.
- Click
Log in with SSO
- If prompted, sign into your identity provider to complete the authentication request.
If you are having trouble setting up your single sign-on in any way, send us an email at [email protected] and we'll be happy to help debug and diagnose any issues.
Updated 5 months ago


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In my garden.
I'm very happy with Nemophila menziesii growing under Verbena lilacina. The camera doesn't know what to focus on, so the pictures are blurry. Better to enjoy them small.
The camera has a hard time focusing on Phacelia campanularia too--I suspect because of the color. Most pictures I take of it do not turn out well.
Sometimes that's okay.
The Heracleum lanatum flower is opening about six feet up. This is eye-level for me.
It looks a little less otherworldly from above.
At first I thought this was Watsonia foliage, but these are Camassia flowers, aren't they?
I planted C. quamash and C. leichtlinii bulbs all over. I can no longer recall exactly where. I have just a few Watsonia.
Three different things that look kind of similar: Echium wildpretii, Lupinus albifrons, Lilium sp.
Some of the tulips opened pink.
I can't stand to see the yellow ones juxtaposed with the Ceanothus flowers. It's just a bad color combination. Reminds me of Cal Berkeley school colors.
I think I would hate it less if the Ceanothus flowers were a little darker, or even more purple.
Speaking of purple...the Cobaea scandens flowers start out yellow-white, then turn dark purple.
The flower's decline begins with a complete collapse of the sex parts.
Every year I say I'm going to stop growing sweet peas (too much visual chaos), but I keep growing them.
Can't decide which picture to use.
Cerinthe major. People call it Cerinthe major 'Purpurascens' even though it's always grown from seed. I'm a little confused about when it's "okay" to grow cultivars from seed. Supposedly cultivars are only propagated vegetatively..?
Speaking of growing things from seed, I have all these plants I need to do something with. Like, soon.
These Penstemon palmeri started off slow, but now I have dozens of strapping seedlings.
Did you see the article about penstemon in the new issue of Garden Design? This species is mentioned. It has three special features: the inflorescence is uncommonly tall for penstemon (five feet), the flowers are fragrant (penstemon is mostly scentless), and, accustomed to desert conditions, it's very drought tolerant (more than 10 inches of water a year will kill it).
I have it growing next to Delphinium cardinale (five feet tall inflorescences of red flowers), and Symphyotrichum chilensis (formerly Aster chilensis, four feet tall sprays of blue, aster-type flowers). My summer garden will have some serious vertical interest this year.
I decided to sow a whole second flat of Gilia tricolor.
And I started again with Linanthus. Slugs devastated the first round.
I still have some Madia elegans to plant. I'm not sure how many I've already planted. I can only find a few in the garden.
I'm a little late with vegetables this year. I just planted out some tomatoes and squash yesterday. Last year, I had everything in place by March 15. Everyone was selling the Mexican Sour Gherkin seeds this year (Melothria scabra)--does everyone sell it every year? I thought the fruit looked cute in pictures. I'm a little apprehensive about the taste. 75% germination.
I've been thinking that I might have enough annuals in my garden this year; this South African Heliophila coronopifolia might work better at my client's house. I planted a South African bed in her front yard, including Chondropetalum tectorum, Psoralea pinnata, Pelargonium tomentosum, a yellow-flowering leucadendron, and I allowed a hebe that was already there to remain. The heliophila's little blue flowers might be a nice addition.
I've been trying to think of what to replace this year's foxglove with after it dies. I have several huckleberry seedlings that will enjoy the same shady conditions, but they're very small and will be small for a few years. I decided to try Meconopsis betonicifolia (Himalayan Blue Poppy). Germination was easy. They should do well in San Francisco's cool-ish summers.
Meanwhile, the foxglove basal rosettes are getting huge.
21 comments:
Glad you're back - and feeling better. The photos are great and I have serious seedling envy now. I have been a madwoman this winter putting wildflower seed (ummm, rather thickly) everywhere. But in this dry spell, I have been trying to keep them all happy as it warms here. Last year was a perfect year for wildflowers here and I have many reseeders. Wish it would rain a tiny bit more.
- March 22, 2008 at 7:28 PM
- chuck b. said...
Yes, I would also very much like to have some April showers.
- March 22, 2008 at 7:32 PM
- Christopher C. NC said...
It is hard to imagine that my spindly little Digitalis seedlings have the possibility to turn into such lush plants. I plan to pot some of them up into bigger pots tomorrow so I can adequately fertilize them and plant their splindly root stems a bit deeper.
- March 22, 2008 at 8:28 PM
OMG, I hate the Cal colors too. That Ceanothus and Tulip combo is bad, but not as bad. Just pastel bad.
I'll be very interested to follow your progress with the Meconopsis -- I think Annie's is no longer selling it, but I don't know what that means. Also P. palmeri. If more than 10 inches is really going to kill it, how are you planning to keep it alive?
- March 22, 2008 at 11:10 PM
Your echium has gone wild!
- March 22, 2008 at 11:22 PM
- Frances, said...
Glad to see your garden looking so full of life. Your seedlings are strong, do you fertilize them now or wait until they go in the ground, or not at all? I wanted to ask you about the dierama, too. I have three or four leafy looking things in the same pot they were sown in, looking like skinny irises. When can they go in the ground, and where should they go? Can they be moved or do they dislike that? We still have frost possibiliies until mid April, so not until then will they are any of the seedlings go into the ground. Any ideas, oh guru of seedlings?
- March 23, 2008 at 4:49 AM
- chuck b. said...
Frances, I do fertilize some seedlings sometimes--with half-strength Miracle Gro or half-strength fish emulsion. I never fertilize before the second pair of true leaves have emerged. Sometimes I don't do it at all. Whenever I feel in my gut that a seedling needs fertilizer, I do it, but just once or twice.
Re Dierma: you and I both are on new ground here! I started all mine in one four inch pot. I finally divided them just a week ago. I put 3-4 each in several more 4" pots with fresh container mix--that's actual planting mix, not the sterile peat. They need to get soil nutrients now. I plan to maintain them in successively larger pots until the roots look good and ready for planting out, even if that means waiting another year. In San Francisco, they want full sun, and regular water especially when young. It gets warmer where you are...they might grow faster.
Pam, It really has, especially that one. The other one seems more self-possessed. It grows, but seems less wild.
Alex, the penstemon will flower the first year. If it flowers once, and dies by next January, oh well. Who knows--it might live for two years, and then die. Also, my garden is densely planted, so maybe the soil dries out faster than the same soil in nature where competing roots are farther away. On the other hand, my soil is not sandy at all so that's a problem for P. palmeri too.
I think I'm going to snip the yellow tulips.
- March 23, 2008 at 8:06 AM
- chuck b. said...
Christopher, I suspect your digitalis will take off with the first summer heat.
- March 23, 2008 at 8:10 AM
- JvA said...
I don't hate the blue and yellow, though blue and orange, or purple and yellow, would be better.
- March 23, 2008 at 11:37 AM
- chuck b. said...
Some bright green might tie the light blue and yellow together better.
- March 23, 2008 at 2:52 PM
- Unknown said...
That Cobaea scandens completely knocks me out--gorgeous. And no wonder you can't stop growing sweet peas, since they look so cool against those reddish succulents.
The blue and yellow don't bother me too much... not as much as that pink, as you can imagine! *grin*
- March 23, 2008 at 9:00 PM
- Gardener of La Mancha said...
Great shot of the heracleum (the otherworldy one). Someone told me you can get a skin rash from handling Heracleum, have you heard anything about this or experienced it yourself? Either way, it's a very cool plant. I recently read Piet Oudolf's Designing with Plants (finally) and I think he'd like Heracleum, since it's so bold and tall.
Your other verticals sound good too. I grew palmer's penstemon in Flagstaff (lot's of sun, excellent drainage) and I'm a big fan of CA's red delphiniums.
- March 23, 2008 at 9:09 PM
- chuck b. said...
There are some deadly Heracleums. Must be careful with that genus.
I haven't heard anything bad about H. lanatum...and no rash from handling it here or at the Botanical Garden where I've had more exposure to it.
- March 23, 2008 at 9:12 PM
- chuck b. said...
Kim, the cobaea flower is so big... It actually seemed kind of vulgar to me at first. Like obscene vulgar. But I'm getting used to it. I'll like it more when flowers cover the deck railing.
- March 23, 2008 at 9:14 PM
The digitalis (and EVEYTHING) looks great. It seems to me that digitalis don't really "take off" until they are in the ground. I've looked at their roots and believe that they must be sent down quite deep before the plant really "commits" (if you know I mean). They do ok going from seedling cup to pot to larger pot... but put 'em in the ground when the soil is warm and they just go mad.
Like yours.
- March 25, 2008 at 9:23 AM
- chuck b. said...
I've had to edit out a few and I was surprised by the extent of the root system, which is very fibrous.
- March 25, 2008 at 9:31 AM
- Chris Kreussling (Flatbush Gardener) said...
"The flower's decline begins with a complete collapse of the sex parts."
As for us all.
- March 25, 2008 at 11:13 AM
- Annie in Austin said...
Am I the only one who likes the blue and yellow together, Chuck? I didn't know the California Berkeley school colors - had to look them up and find out about the Yale Blue and California Gold.
Dark grayed-blue with gold doesn't seem that close to the gorgeous Ceanothus and the yellow tulips.
With no tulips here I don't even mind the pink ones.
Is 4606 an orchid?
It's been dry here, too - wildflowers not doing much except where irrigated.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
- March 27, 2008 at 9:37 AM
- chuck b. said...
Well, it reminds me of the Cal blue and gold. Which btw were also my high school colors--probably the real reason I don't like them together.
4606 is an orchid family plant. It's called Pleione formosana. Sorry I didn't label it. Or anything else! BAD.
- March 27, 2008 at 2:29 PM
- lisa said...
What a riot of color! Thanks for showing the flowering progression of the Cobaea...very cool.
- March 28, 2008 at 10:19 AM
I'm glad you got the blue himalayan going. How's it coming along?
Rick Lucha, firstname.lastname@example.com
- March 19, 2009 at 4:30 PM


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Achieve A Natural Complexion For Spring 2013
You might already have plenty of makeup and Dermablend concealer for spring, but who says you need to use it all to look fabulous? More celebrities and models alike are being seen with little cosmetics on their faces as they try to accentuate their natural features. That being said, you can easily join the club by using your makeup to highlight your beautiful complexion.
First, Real Simple magazine claims that it's critical to start with a clean palette. This means exfoliating your skin and gently cleaning your pores to ensure that makeup adheres seamlessly to your face once its applied.
Next, even out your skin tone with a tinted moisturizer. This can help you hide any pimples or blemishes that might be getting in the way of achieving a flawless complexion. Then, opt for a bit of concealer to give your face the finishing touch.
If you can't go without a little bit of eye makeup, Prevention magazine recommends taking advantage of a subtle mascara to use on your lashes or a nude eyeshadow for your lids. In the end, you can use these tactics to achieve a natural look worthy of a red carpet appearance!


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Quick tech specs
- architecture
- Compatable with variety of manufactures such as Microsoft Samsung Apple Lenovo HP Dell Amazon Asus Acer and many others
- Show & Stow technology tilting tablet trays make loading and unloadeing devices simple
- Low profile design protrudes less th
- Designed to work with Microsoft Surface Android iPad and Chromebooks with screens up to 12" in size
- Smooth sliding door provides easy access to devices
- Pull trays out to load or unload and they will automatically retract
Know your gear
Power up! This slim storage enclosure is perfect for charging and securing up to 12 tablets and chromebooks. It's designed to be compatible with a wide cariety of manufacturers like Microsoft, Samsung, Apple, Lenovo, HP, Dell, Amazon, Asus, Acer and many others. Features include a space - saving profile and easy device access with Show and Stow™ technology.
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Feds consider adding wolverines to endangered list
Status Review is a result of a lawsuit
Wolverines are very rare in the Lower 48 but there have been a few notable confirmations of them in Colorado where there is one being tracked by a gps collar and another in California which has been photographed with a remote camera for three consecutive years. They also inhabit Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon, and Washington but are under threat from winter disturbance by snowmobiling, and trapping in Montana.
Feds consider adding wolverines to endangered list
By JUDITH KOHLER Associated Press Writer
Ken Cole
Ken Cole is a 5th generation Idahoan, an avid fly fisherman, wildlife enthusiast, and photographer. He is the interim Idaho Director for Western Watersheds Project. We do not accept unsolicited "guest" authors or advertising.
37 Responses to Feds consider adding wolverines to endangered list
william huard says:
Montana once again shows their incompetence. I talked to the head of trapping in Montana 6 months ago, who told me point blank that they weren't sure how many wolverines there are in montana. I questioned how they could set an arbitrary quota of 6 if they didn't know how many there were. His response was to tell me that they had already hit the quota! These people like him and Carolyn "We didn't realize that wolves would be so sensitive to firearms harvest" Sime are an embarrassment.
Mike says:
…and what about the wolverines caught in traps we don't know about? Not everyone dutifully reports their catch or catches exactly what they intend to . I wonder how many dens have been abandoned from all the snowmobiling high-liners too.
jon says:
They basically could have killed off the whole population in that state if there were indeed 6 wolverines left. If you don't know how many animals are left, there shouldn't be a trapping season. Why anyone would kill a wolverine is beyond me.
Jon Way says:
North Dakota also allows hunting mountain lions having no idea how many there are in the state and calls it experimental…
william huard says:
That has to be one of the most irresponsible decisions you could find. I have heard numbers of 50 or so in the state, and the shear randomness of trapping that can't discriminate male from female, so if 3 of the six harvested wolverines are female, with their slow reproductive cycle, the species is doomed. That's wildlife management for you, but what do you expect from a state that has a livestock agency manage wild bison populations!
JB says:
Frankly, the feds should have listed them the last time around. Their new (since ~2000) method of dealing with listing petitions seems to be to deny everything the first time around and only list after they've lost a lawsuit. It must be extremely discouraging to work on listing petitions at FWS.
WM says:
Maybe if they get this wolf delisting issue behind them, they can concentrate on species that really are in trouble. I kind of find it disingenuous that groups like Defenders have pushed wolverines to the sidelines. I guess they don't look cute on a wall calendar, like a wolf.
Ken Cole says:
If you read the press release related to fishers you will notice that David Gilliard, who I met last summer, from DOW is involved with them. He also works on wolverine issues as well.
WM says:
The DOW, et al, v. FWS settlement of the 2008 suit is definitely a start. A decision whether to list wolverines is due by end of 2010, and I bet FWS does it. However, my intent was to say Defenders, which I think is the only national organization in the plaintiff group (except maybe CBD) doesn't seem to spend much time talking up the wolverine issue in their publications or campaigns.
I am also uncertain why the states don't talk it up either. What is the down side, other than the nominal trapping in MT?
I have only seen one wolverine, and that was in MT in the Bob, maybe 30 years ago. I have seen probably three fishers at separate times in ID and MT, again many years ago. I look forward to seeing one of those just released to Olympic NP, two years ago, I think.
jon says:
WM, wolves are in trouble. Idaho's ultimate goal is reduce wolf #s down to under 200. There are probably more than 1000 wolves in Idaho right now. That is hundreds and hundreds of wolves killed. At this very point in time though, wolverines should be looked at more for protection than wolves. Wolverines need protection and the hunting and trapping of them should be banned.
JB says:
I think your opinion on the wolf issue may be obscuring your vision regarding Defenders' role in endangered species-related issues. I have plenty of criticism for DOW, but their actions in ESA-related lawsuits are the reason we are listing any species at all. They were lead plaintiff in the flat-tailed horned lizard case (hardly a warm fuzzy) that ultimately led to the listing of the lynx (and other species). They have been extremely strategic, and groups like WWP are now reaping the benefits.
WM says:
Actually, JB, it is more an issue of allocating scarce resources. When I first became involved in the wolf reintroduction issue some years back, I kept asking the question why so much effort was directed to it, while other equally or maybe even more important species were subservient to this interest. Of course, historically, politically and culturally I do understand why. My passion was not directed against the attention the wolves were getting at that time, but the lack of attention the other species were getting. The problem, as I see it, is that it still seems to be going on.
I had a pretty empassioned telephone conversation with the ESA section head at FWS in DC about three years ago on this very topic. Her name escapes me at the moment.
For what it is worth, notwithstanding my criticisms of DOW on the wolf issue, I do appreciate their efforts in conjunction with Earthjustice (Sierra Club legal arm), for many causes they take on. It is very important work and much slower than many of us would like. And yes, my wife is a member and we do contibute financially.
JB says:
"When I first became involved in the wolf reintroduction issue some years back, I kept asking the question why so much effort was directed to it, while other equally or maybe even more important species were subservient to this interest."
(1) Wolves once ranged throughout the U.S. Protecting wolves under the ESA has [or had] the potential to protect a lot of the resources (and species) in one fail swoop.
(2) High interest (and controversy) regarding wolves means that (a) groups like Defenders can raise money via the wolf issue, which help them to protect other species that are less well-known to J.Q. Public, and (b) wolves serve as a "test case" for nailing down policy.
(3) Many saw the return of the wolf to the west as a way of "rewilding" ecosystems that had largely been subjugated to human uses.
If you can't succeed with restoration of the arguably the most charismatic species of wildlife in the U.S., then why even bother?
JB says:
Just re-read my last post. Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound "preachy". Personally, I think Defenders has done a fabulous job in the courtroom, and this will pay dividends over the long term for LOTS of species.
WM says:
You forgot:
(4) They're just so gosh darn cute, especially the pups. Makes those wealthy socialite widows living in the high-rises lining NY's Central Park add an extra zero to every charitable donation check they write.
(5) There would be no lingering mystery whether the Defenders logo was a wolf or a coyote.
…work at this long enough and we could probably come up with a "10 best reasons." LOL
william huard says:
JB– as you probably already know, things got so bad in the USFWS that the biological opinion that was a protective mechanism built into the ESA was farmed out to the developers themselves, who got a template that they had to fill out, talk about the fox guarding the henhouse! Kempthorne in Interior was too busy designing his new bathroom rather than focus on ESA listings like the jaguar, wolverine and sage grouse. What a dark time for the environmental movement
JB says:
It seems no matter who is in the White House, they are only interested in catering to the wished of extractive users. Congress and the Executive have done everything they can to minimize the effect of this law. Their actions–in my opinion–are a travesty.
william huard says:
I agree, however the Obama administration is trying, unlike the Bush admin to restore protections, wasn't it last week that they restored the ESA protection of two independent consultations relating to environmental impact? Whether it's coal, oil, livestock, healthcare, these are powerful interests. These conservatives that want freedom and no regulation puts our economy in the ditch, gets coal miners dead, these people are crying about taxes when taxes are as low as they have been in 50 years!! This country is so uninformed it's pathetic
JB says:
There are things that I like about Obama (e.g. his pragmatism, and willingness to tackle hard issues with input from all sides). However, I think his record on the environments is middle of the road, at best. For the Obama Administration it has been all about energy, with little attention paid to other issues (many of which we discuss here). Frankly, I'm still upset about the appointment of Ken Salazar to Interior.
william huard says:
With this political climate all you will get is middle of the road. The health care bill was very centrist, and look at the disaster that was. I don't know Salazar very well, but my impression is that after the BLM corruption and Julie Mcdonald stuff at Interior that Obama was looking for someone straight laced and disciplined that would restore a sense of order to that department. I don't think they have handled the Whaling situation right.
pointswest says:
What can I do (besides fork over money) to help get them on the endangered species list?
william huard says:
Wasn't it Montana last year or possibly the year before where the Park Service I think had to ask the state of Montana to decrease the number of traps because many study wolverines were getting killed in the traps? Trapping is this "19th century form of animal harvest, and they are the LAST group to change- it's status quo all the way with these people- they don't want any animal protection, no regs, no mandatory trapline checks- it's really disturbing the destruction that they cause
jon says:
William, isn't Montana about to ban public trapping? I heard that somewhere. Any truth to it?
Save bears says:
No they are not about to, there is a citizens bill on the agenda for a vote this fall, but that does not guarantee passage, it will be up the citizens of the state if they wish to ban trapping, there is nothing in the state legislature pending.
Elk275 says:
I do not think that they have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot yet. I doubt that it will pass in the general election if it makes the ballot.
Save bears says:
I agree Elk,
I, after reviewing the bill as well as how it is going, don't think it has any chance..
jon says:
I meant trapping on public lands.
jon says:
I also want to bring up a good point, when people's pets get trapped in hunter's traps and die from being trapped, trappers will tell pet owners to watch their pets carefully, but when a hunter loses hound dogs in the woods to wolves where they know wolves run rampant, it is the wolves fault and they should be killed for it in the hunter's mind. Notice the hypocrisy here?
Kayla says:
Well, if the Feds do add the Wolverine to the Endangered
list then good – finally. In my opinion this should of been
done years and years ago.
Nancy says:
Montanans for Trap-Free Public Lands (MTFPL) http://www.mttrapfree.org (for information on I-160)
or visit http://www.footloosemontana.org
WM says:
Further to my earlier point about spending too much federal $$$ on one species at the peril of others:
From Ken's thread article on the 4-17 N. Cascade grizzley sightings (Wenatchee World newspaper).
"A final plan to recover the grizzly bear in the North Cascades has been at a standstill for many years, due to lack of funds to conduct an environmental impact statement that would look at alternatives for recovering the bear."
While I have no scientific basis for the lenght of time, my guess is it will taken twenty or more years to get a couple dozen bears to inhabit the N. Cascades, AFTER the chosen alternative from an EIS review begins implementation. Wolverines, and fisher may take just as long for reintroduction once listed because of their low reproduction rates and habitat requirements. And we continue to pour federal money, time and energy into the wolf fiasco.
william huard says:
This ballot initiative in Montana shows how trappers see this ban on public land trapping as an outright threat to their outdated heritage of access to their natural renewable resource, at the expense of dozens of other species, including pets, endangered species etc You know the numbers of unintended victims never see the light of day. But like everything, trappers need to be forced to change. People will need to vote, and I'm sure there are more people that favor the ban than oppose it. If i'm not mistaken we are talking 35 % public land compared to 65% private.
jon says:
Myth: Trapping is a necessary wildlife management tool.
Trappers and wildlife managers claim that trapping prevents species from overpopulating and destroying their habitat by removing "surplus" animals from the wild. This simplistic argument, however, belies the dynamics of wildlife populations. First, the term "surplus" as used by trappers is an ecological fallacy — every animal, alive or dead, plays an important role in its ecosystem as either predator or prey. Second, available habitat and food resources generally limit the size of wildlife populations. When a wildlife population approaches the limit that the habitat can sustain — the "carrying capacity" — reproduction and survival decrease because less food is available to each individual, and the population begins to decline. In this way, nature has been regulating itself for millennia without our help.
Trapping generally removes healthy individuals from the population rather than the sick, aged, infirm, or very young animals most often subjected to natural selection. It would be "blind luck" if a trapper were to trap an animal that would have otherwise died of starvation or any other natural cause, so trapping actually works against nature's selection process.
In truth, trappers are mainly interested in manipulating wildlife populations for their own benefit. State wildlife agencies actively manage populations of furbearers to ensure that there are enough animals for trappers to kill, not to prevent biological
jon says:
not to prevent biological overpopulation.
jon says:
Myth: Only abundant species are trapped.
Historically, unregulated trapping almost wiped out beaver, sea otter, lynx, wolverine, and other species in many areas of the U.S. Today, some state wildlife management agencies continue to allow the trapping of highly sensitive species, including wolverine, fisher, marten, kit fox, and lynx. For example, while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) considered listing the Canada lynx under the Endangered Species Act, Montana continued to allow lynx to be commercially trapped — even when a 1999 U.S. Forest Service report concluded, "Lynx appear to be extremely susceptible to trapping, and where trapping is permitted it can be (and has been) a significant source of mortality."15 Unfortunately, because population modeling and furbearer data collection are so poor in many states, we do not know the impact trapping has on sensitive species — often until it is too late.
Mike says:
We can only hope that the Feds list the wolverine and pull the rug out from under the hacks in Montana.
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Lianne Paul had to empty her RRSP in September.
Not because she's retiring – far from it: The mother of three is in her 40s. And a year after crippling health issues, including PTSD, forced her out of her job, she's still unemployed. Openings for the same administrative work she'd been doing for years require skills that didn't exist during her original diploma program.
Before she could qualify for income assistance to help her get by while she looks for a job, Paul had to liquidate all her savings – including the retirement nest egg to which she contributed for a decade.
Factoring in the tax penalties for withdrawing from her RRSP early, those funds barely lasted six months.
As politicians wring their hands over Canadians' lack of retirement savings, figures obtained by Global News from years of tax filings indicate a significant jump in the number of Canadians making early withdrawals from their RRSPs – not for housing or education, but simply to make ends meet.
Read the series
- Canadians want to work. Why have so many stopped looking?
- Instability trap: When you're income rich, but asset-poor
- Chequed out: Inside the payday loan cycle
- Your Stories
The biggest increase was from 2007 to 2009, when 1.86 million Canadians took out RRSP cash early. That figure dipped slightly by 2012, to 1.82 across Canada, but remains about 7 per cent above 2007 levels nationally, 12 per cent above 2007 levels in Quebec and almost 10 per cent above in comparatively wealthy Alberta.
READ MORE: How to withdraw money early from your RRSP without getting penalized
Government response: What the feds had to say about Canadians' labour instability trap
"People withdraw money from RRSPs before retirement because they need it – why would you voluntarily put a tax break at risk?" asks financial consultant and researcher Hugh Mackenzie.
At the same time, Mackenzie said, fewer Canadian workers than ever are enrolled in private employers' pension plans – fewer still in pension plans with defined benefits.
"Improvement of the Canada pension plan in some form is really the only viable solution to the retirement income issue that we're facing now," he said.
"Anything that's based on the premise that employers are suddenly going to put up their hands and offer pension plans, I think, is just crazy."
Tell us your story: Have you had to make premature withdrawals from your RRSP for reasons other than the condoned education or home-buying purposes? We'd love to hear from you.
Note: We may use your response in this or other stories. While we may give you a shout to follow up we won't publish your contact info.


text:
The ten year long siege of Veii (405-396 B.C.) was the main event of the Third Veientine War and saw the Romans finally conquer their nearest rival, the Etruscan city of Veii. The two cities were only a few miles apart - Rome on the eastern bank of the Tiber and Veii about ten miles away to the west of the river. The rivals had already fought two wars in the fifth century B.C., and in 407 B.C. the truce agreed after the Second Veientine War expired. After some internal wrangling in Rome war was declared in 405 B.C., and the long siege began. Our knowledge of the events of the siege comes from histories written centuries later, the most important of which was that of Livy. The accuracy of Livy's work is at best uncertain - even in the text Livy himself admits that there are many uncertainties. Here we will give a summary of Livy's account of the siege.
The exact nature of the siege is unclear. Given its length it can not have been a close blockade, and in some years Livy reports that nothing significant happened around Veii. The Roman Republic was ruled by annually elected magistrates (three or more consular tribunes during the siege of Veii), and so each year a different set of individuals, with different ideas, were in charge of the war. The Romans were also fighting a number of other enemies at the same time, and so in some years their attention was elsewhere. For much of the time the 'siege' must have been no more than a loose blockade, with fortified Roman camps close to Veii.
War was declared just after the Senate had decided to pay soldiers for the first time. Service in the Roman army was a duty owed by every Roman citizen, and until this point they had served at their own cost. As a result of this change the Consular Tribunes for 405 were able to lead a large army to Veii, where they conducted a vigorous but unsuccessful siege. At the end of the campaigning season this siege ended, and the Romans returned home. The same was true in 404 B.C., when the siege was conducted less vigorously because of events elsewhere.
A key change came in 403 B.C. Eight consular tribunes had been elected, more than in any previous year. As the summer came towards an end they decided to build winter quarters at Veii and conduct a continuous siege. This caused a political crisis at Rome that was only ended by a disaster in the siege works. The Romans had built a great ramp that had reached the city walls, and their vineae were about to be placed in contact in with the walls, in preparation for an assault. One night the defenders of Veii sortied from the city, took advantage of lax Roman precautions, and burnt down the siege engines and the ramp. The Romans united in the face of this defeat, and renewed the siege.
In 402 B.C. the arguments spread to the Roman army. M. Sergius Fidenas and L. Verginius Tricostus Esquilinus, two of the six consular tribunes for the year, detested each other. This might not have mattered if the Veientines had not found allies. The Capenates and Faliscans, two Latin speaking peoples who lived to the north of Veii and were part of the Etruscan world, feared that if Veii fell then the Romans would turn on them next, and decided to come to the aid of their neighbours. Their combined army attacked the part of the Roman trenches commanded by Sergius. At the same time the defenders of the city attacked the trenches from the opposite side. The main Roman camp was commanded by Verginius, who refused to help unless Sergius asked for help. Sergius was too proud to do that, and was eventually forced to retreat back to Rome.
In the aftermath of this disaster both men were dismissed from their posts. A series of temporary appointments filled the gap until the election of the next set of consular tribunes, who concentrated on recapturing the lost siege works (401 B.C.). According to Livy nothing of importance happened in the next year at Veii, but in 399 B.C. the Capenates and Faliscans made a second relief attempt. This time the Romans cooperated, and while the allies were attacking the Roman trenches they were in turn attacked from the rear and forced to flee. Those of the defenders of the Veii who had sortied were trapped outside the city walls when the gates were closed to prevent the Romans from breaking in, while the Capenates and Faliscans suffered a second defeat when they ran into a Roman raiding party while returning home.
398 and 397 were quiet years around Veii, but 396 was to be the final year of the siege. After two of the consular tribunes for the year suffered a defeat at the hands of the Capenates and Faliscans M. Furius Camillus was appointed as dictator. He raised a new army, which for the first time included Latin and Hernican elements. After vowing to restore the temple of Matuta the Mother if Veii fell he left the city. His new army won a victory over the Capenates and Faliscans in the territory of Nepete (some way to the north of Veii), and then returned south to conduct the siege.
Camillus conducted a more organised siege than his predecessors. The siege works were improved, and more forts were built in the lines around Veii, suggesting that the previous siege had been a fairly loose blockade. He stopped the random skirmishes that had been going on between the two lines, and made sure that no fighting took place unless he ordered it.
According to Livy Camillus also ordered the construction of a tunnel into the citadel at Veii. This is normally dismissed as being a erroneous repetition of a similar incident during the siege of Fidenae (435 or 426 B.C.), but could just as easily reflect the truth - Camillus might have been inspired by the success of that very attack.
With the tunnel close to completion (or the city about to fall for some other unknown reason) Camillus was faced with the problem of how to divide the booty - how much was to go to the army and how much to the city treasury. He decided to ask the Senate what he should do, and the Senate decided that the loot should go to the army. This careful approach didn't save Camillus from being prosecuted after the war, and when the Gauls threatened Rome a few years later he was in exile.
According to Livy the city fell when the Romans in the tunnel broke into the Temple of Juno, which was inside the citadel of Veii. The defenders inside the citadel were overwhelmed, and the Romans were able to open the gates in the city walls. Eventually Camillus allowed unarmed Veientines to surrender, and the fighting died down.
The fall of Veii greatly increased the potential strength of Rome. It nearly doubled the land directly controlled by the city. Although the surviving inhabitants of Veii itself were sold into slavery the rural population was probably left alone, increasing the Republic's manpower. This great increase in power was soon to be temporarily overshadowed by a great disaster, for only six years later the city was captured and sacked by the Gauls under Brennus.


text:
In December Greek society was shaken by a huge revolt of the youth that erupted after the killing of a young school student by the police. Between December 7 and Christmas almost every 2-3 days there were youth demonstrations and clashes with the police. Now one month later, we can draw up a political balance sheet taking into account all the elements.
The first question that we must look at is the concrete character of this movement. This is an important issue given that within the Greek Left there is much confusion on this question. For the present right-wing reformist leadership of the PASOK this movement was simply a "blind protest" against an incident of police violence. For the Stalinist leaders of the KKE there was no movement, no uprising, but a "petit bourgeois youth" protest. The SYRIZA leaders gave to the movement the title of "general insurrection of the youth". Some sectarian left groups and the anarchists spoke of a "popular insurrection". Of course all these definitions reflect more the subjective view of these political tendencies rather than the reality of the movement.
Many times in attempting to describe social phenomena it is not possible to find a simple one word definition. This is not a scholastic question but it is also not a question that you can answer with general abstract formulas. The truth is that this movement was a youth uprising with its main basis among the school students. The movement had a semi-insurrectionary element, above all with a very militant and self-sacrificing spirit and also a strong willingness to confront the core of the state, the Greek police forces, physically.
Of course this was not a "petit bourgeois" protest as the Stalinists have tried to portray it. The extreme majority of the young students that participated in the movement were from poor working class families and all these students created their own independent forms of coordination during the struggle.
On the other hand, there is no truth in the characterization of the movement as a "popular insurrection". As usual the sects and the anarchists that use these formulas, once again have demonstrated that for them there are only two "colours", black and white. For them society is either facing "black" reaction or a general "insurrection", with no other shades in between.
In reality the mass of workers showed only their sympathy to the movement but they did not participate actively in it. The exception was the 24-hour general strike of December 10, during the days of the youth movement. However, we also have to remember that the general strike had been programmed before the movement started and although with their massive participation the workers expressed their solidarity towards the students, after this, they did not participate massively in other demonstrations or rallies of the movement. That explains why, except for the massive students demonstrations outside of the police stations all over Greece on December 8 and 9, the main demonstrations of the movement were not so massive, with the biggest demonstration reaching around 40-45,000 people.
Of course those who hold the main responsibility for this are the leaders of both the left parties and the trade unions. Had they built on the general strike in December the potential was there for a much bigger movement involving the working class as a whole. Given this reality, it was clear that the working people did not express actively any "insurrectionary intentions" as the sectarians have been trying to convince themselves and their unfortunate audience. For the moment the workers have let their sons and daughters speak with a dynamic language which they themselves will inevitably take up in the near future. In reality, we cannot even say that we had a general "youth insurrection", as the SYRIZA leaders state, because the main basis of the movement was the school students. The university students did not move decisively and only a small minority of active young workers participated in the demonstrations.
A Betrayed movement
So what we can say is that the December movement had a semi-insurrectionary element to it, but which only partially achieved a mass expression and was of a short duration. The two demonstrations after the Christmas holidays were small, with the participation of 3-4,000 mainly University students mobilised by the ultra-left youth fronts and SYRIZA. The main reason for the early end of the movement was the betrayal of the leaderships of the traditional mass organizations, both political and trade union.
For the first time at the last 20 years we saw how the youth movement came up against huge hostility of the leadership of the two main workers' parties. The PASOK leadership openly called on the students "to return to their classes", while the KKE leaders identified the movement with the petit bourgeois adventurist actions of the anarchists and refused not only to participate in the movement but also to recognize that there was any real movement. Also, the SYRIZA leadership ‑ although it supported and participated in the movement ‑ after the attacks of the bourgeois adopted pathetic tactics and refused to support actively the need to escalate the movement and to better coordinate it with the struggle of the workers. All this reflects the complete bankruptcy of the Social Democratic and the Stalinists leaders which will be more obvious to the masses once the class struggle heats up.
As a result of this betrayal on the part of the traditional leaderships, during the few days of the movement the vacuum of leadership was filled by the anarchists and the ultra-left sects. Under their usual abstract and chaotic slogans, such as "Beauty is in the streets" or "Let's occupy every square" and so on, and without proposing any clear political aims or demands, the anarchists and their loyal followers, the sectarians, guided the movement into an impasse and pushed the mass of students very quickly into confusion and disappointment. On top of the hostility of the leadership of workers' party, this was the second reason for why the movement was so short-lived.
A third factor, and not the least important, was the role of state terror. As we write this article, 68 young people are in prison. Most of them did not participate at all at conflicts with the police and they have been arrested simply because they have long hair or are immigrants. The tragedy is that these young people are facing the accusation of carrying out acts of terrorism and some of them face the prospect of 5 to 8-year prison sentences!
The action of the individual terrorist organization "Revolutionary Struggle" came in very useful to the state in carrying its campaign of terror towards the students. On January 6 they seriously wounded a policemen, and this was used to whip up feelings of sympathy for the police among the wider population, and was used as an alibi for more police brutality, thus instilling more fear among the youth and stopping them from participating in the demonstrations.
The explosive social situation and perspectives
The December movement was only the prelude for big class battles in the immediate future. The crisis of Greek capitalism is deepening and the mood in society continues to be explosive. Shortly after the December youth movement, between January 18 and 28 we witnessed massive mobilisations of the poor peasants all over Greece. Twenty-two thousand tractors blockaded the national roads in a very militant struggle against the low prices offered to the peasants for their products by the major food companies and the insensibility of the right-wing government to the plight of the small peasants as they succumb under the pressure of the present crisis. The struggle of the peasants saw a massive participation and the weak ND government was forced to come up with 500 million Euros in subsidies as the only way of avoiding a new big round of social explosion.
This mobilisation of the peasants marks three years in which most sections of society have mobilised against the government and the attacks of the capitalists on living standards. We have seen the workers participate in one general strike after the other, the university and the school students mobilising repeatedly, the shop keepers, and even professional people and now the peasants. Here we have a clear example of the revolutionary potential which exists at every level of society. With the right-wing government in a deep and permanent crisis and the two bourgeois parties ("New Democracy" and the small "Popular Orthodox Alert" or LAOS as it is known) standing at less than 33% it the opinion polls, if the workers' parties had a revolutionary socialist policy, the taking of power in Greece could - without any exaggeration - be a question of some months.
However, the absence of the revolutionary subjective factor complicates the situation. Inevitably, in the immediate coming period the ND government will pass into history under the hammer blows of the serious economic crisis and the growing class struggle. The pressure on the leadership of the Greek Confederation of Workers (GSEE) to organise one more general strike is mounting, this time against the wave of sackings in industry. The workers will inevitably pass through the experience of much bigger struggles and of one more reformist government of the PASOK, or possibly of a PASOK-SYRIZA coalition.
Their class instinct will inevitably guide them in the coming period towards the most revolutionary and effective ideas, the ideas of Marxism. That is why the only real political solution is to be found in the patient day-to-day struggle for the building of a massive Marxist tendency with deep roots within the Greek labour movement and youth as the necessary tool for the decisive victory of the working class against the reactionary Greek bourgeoisie and the building of a genuine socialist society with no exploitation. To this task is dedicated the Greek section of the IMT which produces the paper "Marxistiki Foni".
See also:
- Revolutionary ferment in Greece – a taste of what is to come for the whole of Europe by Fred Weston (January 12, 2009)
- Greece: teenager uprising, big general strike, but the left parties refuse to give a political solution by editorial board of Marxistiki Foni (December 11, 2008)
- Greece: massive school student attack against police stations all over the country! by editorial board of Marxistiki Foni (December 10, 2008)
- The Greek police kill school student – big wave of mobilisations all over Greece by editorial board of Marxistiki Foni (December 8, 2008)
- Greece: Another important general strike – right-wing government in deep crisis by editorial board of Marxistiki Foni (October 24, 2008)
- Another massive general strike in Greece by editorial board of Marxistiki Foni (March 20, 2008)


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Blast targets self-proclaimed E. Ukraine leader's vehicle, 2 killed
The minivan belonging to self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk (DNR) leader Denis Pushilin was blown up late on Thursday. Two people were reportedly killed and two others were injured in the blast.
Those wounded include security guards and Pushilin's aid, known only as Richard, RIA Novosti reported. All the injured remain in critical condition.
DNR said on Twitter that two people died after being injured.
"The explosion came from the car beside the minivan. The car lined up right next to the minivan for the purpose of blowing it up," Pushilin told RT.
Pushilin was not wounded in the explosion, as he was out of town at the time.
The minivan blew up almost as soon as it started moving, eyewitnesses stated. As the security guards jumped out of the vehicle, unidentified armed men started shooting at them.
Just last week, Pushilin's aid, Maksim Petrukhin, was shot dead. A week before that, unidentified men targeted another DNR leader.
Pushilin blamed the explosion on his political rivals."Discussing who was behind it all would be just a guess. Our political opponents are well known. Of course all the suspicion falls on Kiev,"RIA Novosti quoted him as saying. He added that the attackers acted like professionals.


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Photo credit: Trey Ratcliff
Google+ is a year old today. I was in on the late alpha and, man, that went by quickly.
This time last year, the majority of this staff was working on another edit staff. We were helping a big publishing company re-launch BYTE, a prominent tech magazine popular in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. I was its editor and the relaunch team had a staffer — groovypost.com's Steve Krause — who focused almost exclusively on Google's third try at the social market.
On Leo Laporte's This Week in Tech a couple of weeks later, the comment that Google+ was all about animated GIFs and odd error messages came from one of the guests. This was true at the time. Yet over days and weeks — perhaps because Google is incenting its legions of employees on the success of the product — the error messages began disappearing. And the geeks came out to play. Three months later, it was clear this was no Google Wave.
Love it or leave it — and there is no question that Google+ is a polarizing platform — the Google+ social net turned out to be quite a different animal than Facebook, Twitter and the rest. I prefer the animal. Not everyone does. Post your comments below and I'll work them into this piece.
And most interesting, it created its own stars. One of our favorite sites, MediaTapper, today issued awards to some of those new Google+ celebrities. One of them is our own featured photographer, +Trey Ratcliff. Another is a newer addition to aNewDomain.net, +Mike Elgan.
Here's an excerpt of the awards and winners … find the whole story from Media Tapper here.
Category #1 Photographer with under 50K followers
1st Place: Rinus Bakker
2nd Place: Billy Wilson
3rd Place: Lee Daniels
Category #2 Photographer with more than 50K followers
1st Place: Trey Ratcliff
2nd Place: Mike Shaw
3rd Place: Thomas Hawk
Category #3 Hangout user
1st Place: Amanda Blain
2nd Place: Daria Musk
3rd Place: Matthew Rappaport


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When it comes to satisfy my hunger, I prefer one or two chapatis (whole wheat flat bread) with any vegetables mix. But sometimes for a change and newness, I make these bell peppers stuffed with broken wheat (daliya). It serves me the same as chapati and sabji (vegetables mix). Broken wheat, as the name suggests, are broken berries of wheat. It has all the benefits of whole wheat flour, plus even more as it contains the outer bran and the wheat germ also, hence more fibres! This whole grain food is rich in magnesium and helps to control weight, diabetes and heart problems. The stuffing also has o cottage cheese and other vegetables, making it a healthy and satisfying treat.
Using every coloured bell pepper not only makes the platter looks attractive but also interesting, as they have their own unique taste. For a bell pepper lover, like me, its a feast!! The broken wheat gives this recipe a very nutty chewy texture and blends great with rest of the ingredients. And Parmesan cheese gives a nice cheesy kick to it! So if you like it, then try it AND always cook the natural way!!!
You need5-6 bell peppers ( any or of all colours)
1 and 1/2 cup broken wheat
1 cup cottage cheese (paneer) (How to make homemade Paneer?)
1/2 cup boiled peas
3 medium-sized potatoes (boiled)
2 garlic cloves
1/2 inch long ginger (grated)
2 teaspoon dried basil
1 tablespoon amchur (dried mango powder)
1 teaspoon pepper powder
1 teaspoon garam masala (optional)
salt to taste
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon raisins (optional)
1 tablespoon oil
Method1. Cook broken wheat in 3-4 cups of water till done. (Discard excess water, if there)
2. In a large bowl, mash together potatoes, peas, paneer (cottage cheese), ginger and garlic .
3. Add broken wheat, basil, amchur, garam masala (if using), salt and pepper. Mix well. Keep aside.
4. Prepare bell peppers-- Cut the stem off and cut the bell peppers in halves. Discard seeds and the pith. Lightly grease them with a little oil. Stuff the peppers with the prepared mixture.
5. Grease a baking try with the remaining oil. Arrange the peppers on the tray and sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top.
6. Bake at 200 C for 15-20 minutes. If you wish you can add some raisins during the last 5 minutes. Serve hot!
Serves 4


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Contact and Directions
Located In
Denali Park
Our Tour Office is located on the Denali Boardwalk at Mile 238.6 Parks Hwy, 1/2 mile north of the Denali National Park entrance & across the highway from the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge.
Join us on an ATV riding tour during your vacation in Denali. We look forward to seeing you!
Driving Directions
- 238 miles
- North on the Parks Highway
- 5 hours travel time
- 152 miles
- North on the Parks Highway
- 3 hours travel time
- 110 miles
- South on the Parks Highway
- 2 hours travel time
Planning a trip to Denali? We have a Shuttle Pick-Up
We offer complementary transportation to and from most Denali area accommodations. See our SHUTTLE SCHEDULE for locations and pick-up times. Also, parking is available at our Tour Office.
Book Now


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Generac Power Systems has granted GTA-based Platinum Electrical Contractors (PEC) the status of Generac Premier Dealer, one of the top honors that can be awarded to Generac dealers. The new status reflects the high service levels that PEC has always maintained and gives customers confidence in the performance and reliability of the company going forward. PEC provides, installs and services Generac generators throughout the GTA and across Ontario.
Companies that receive the status of Generac Premier Dealer have to satisfy several Generac conditions before being considered for this top status. Premier Dealer criteria include:
- High Customer Satisfaction. Before being awarded Premier status, dealers must have maintained a high level of customer satisfaction and must keep the satisfaction level high while operating as a Generac Premier Dealer.
- Expert Technical Support. Dealers qualifying for Premier status must have a team (minimum of 4) of factory-trained technicians on staff to offer customers technical support and carry out service, repairs, & warranty work.
- Large Inclusive Inventory. Generac Premier Dealers must keep an inventory of Generac generators and parts large enough to satisfy customer needs without delays.
Customers choosing a Generac Premier Dealer can be sure their needs will be met quickly and competently. The top dealer status means it's easier for customers to select a dealer that will deliver exceptional service, professional support and rapid repairs.
"In recent years, the need to control our power has only increased. The importance of our electronics, wifi and other technology to continue uninterrupted has become more and more important, especially with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic pushing remote work to unprecedented levels. Our team has outdone themselves handling this incredible increase in demand and has helped push PEC to achieving our new Premier Dealer status with Generac and we couldn't be more excited", stated Adam Watchel, PEC's owner.
Platinum Electrical Contractors offers Generac generator models with power ratings from 7.5 kW to 150+ kW. The company sells, installs and services generators for home, commercial and industrial use and is a leading supplier of backup generators in Ontario.
Generac home backup generators can power the whole house, selected circuits or only essential needs. They let customers continue to lead their normal lives even during an extended power outage. The generators can run on propane, natural gas or other fuels, and they can be monitored through an app on a smartphone.
Commercial Generac standby generators can support business establishments such as offices, convenience stores and restaurants. Depending on the load size, they can be single phase or three phase and can keep critical business functions such as payment processing in operation.
Industrial Generac standby generators are industrial-grade units running on natural gas, propane or diesel, with bi-fuel models and models for longer run times also available. PEC industrial standby generators are ideal for applications in data centers, health care facilities, municipal utilities and factories and can keep industrial operations running reliably.
PEC carries out sales, installation, inspection, service and maintenance for all models and has an experienced team available to address problems quickly and competently. Service can be scheduled regularly or can be carried out on service calls as needed. Emergency service is available 24/7 and includes rapid response repairs for customers across Ontario.
"With our new Generac Premier Dealer designation, Platinum Electrical Contractors plans to focus on further improving our ability to satisfy customer needs and meet and exceed their expectations", stated Adam.
Generac Power Systems is a top supplier of backup generator power systems for homes, businesses and industrial applications. For more information, visit Generac.com. Platinum Electrical Contractors is a leading Generac Premier Dealer covering the Greater Toronto Area and the province of Ontario. For more information, visit Generatorexperts.ca or call 844-443-6776.


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Rule of quantity or price by group (min max multiple)
Create rules for orders to a minimum, maximum or multiple for price or quantity by categories and products for customers groups. Your customers can not complete their order if they have not reached the limit that you set.
Merchant Benefits
This module will allow you to manage the order amount of price or quantity by minimum, maximum, corresponding to a multiple or a list of value for products in a category, for as many products and categories you want. So your customers can not complete their order if they havn't reached the minimum or above the maximum you set.
Example: You sell vegetables and wine bottles. If a customer only takes a carrot and a bottle will not be profitable for you to take his order. So you're going to set a minimum order amount for vegetables so that the command is profitable and multiple quantity of 6 bottles of wine to facilitates the delivery package. Or you sell subscriptions, dematerialized products or service, you want to limit the subscription to one per order, you can impose such a limit order.
Obviously products of other categories do not come to change the behavior. You set that to order, you must reach a minimum and / or does not exceed a maximum of X € or quantity by product and category selected.
As long as the minimum amounts are not reached or exceeded maximum, a message informs the customer that he should be ordering for X € to finalize the order. This message is customizable according to rules and languages. Meanwhile the button to continue his order disappears into the control mode in five steps or payment possibilities disappear in a step control mode. You can also add messages, or a general message if there are several, in the cart block to notify the customer before finalizing the order.
Moreover these rules are applied independently for different client groups allowing you to be more or less flexible depending on the degree of loyalty or restrict certain product for particular group, the default group applying for offline clients .
This module is of utmost importance to better manage orders and profitability by optimizing their packaging, so increase your profits!
- Set the amounts and / or quantities for minimum, maximum and / or corresponding to a multiple or a value list for a command.
- This is for all desired categories and / or products.
- Applies for categories and subcategories.
- Possibility to combine even a rule for several categories / separate products.
- Can not finalize his order if the minimum amount or quantity is not reached
- Can not finalize its order if the maximum amount or quantity is exceeded
- Can not finalize his order if the amount is not a multiple of the number specified or not belonging to a value list.
- Ability to limit a rule to certain customer groups (default group if not connected)
- Customizable alert messages according to each rule and language with variables.
- The messages are displayed in the order process but possibility to display them in the cart block.
- For the message of the cart block, ability to hide or not the order button, different customize messages or display a general alert message if there are many constraints.
- Do not change anything for the rest of the process
- Works both for the ordering process with one and five step
- Supports multi-boutique
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Slider for supplier pages
WhatsApp and social sharing module
It is sometimes necessary to intervene in an emergency agency to make changes to your Prestashop store. With the intervention ticket, Ether Creation, Prestashop solution expert, is committed to working on your shop during the day.
Installation and / or modification of a module, Adaptation of a theme, correction of graphic bugs, Graphic creation, Creation of an option or a feature, Training in the use of Prestashop, Etc.


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From Booklist
Three lovable little dragons from the Dutton Easy Readers series that began with Good Night, Good Knight (2000) now appear in a large-format picture book. When a friendly old wizard asks them to watch his cats while he is gone, they readily agree. Later, unable to read his instructions, the preliterate dragons are baffled but still game. They pore over his illustrated message, guess at the words, and use clues from the pictures he has drawn, but they wildly mistake his meanings. In one case, they imagine that a pool of water means "take the cats swimming" rather than "give the cats fresh water." Well suited to reading aloud, the story is written with a keen ear for language and a good understanding of what makes young children laugh. Meisel's ink-and-watercolor illustrations, full of lively details, are as entertaining as the story. Sure to please the not-reading-quite-yet set as well as the many fans of the previous books. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


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Can we learn to live with floods?
Interview with
It's predicted that climate-driven extreme weather events, such as flooding, are going to become more common and more severe around the globe. The big question is what can we do about it? How are we going to protect ourselves into the future? Dr Ilan Kelman, a researcher for Risk and Disaster Reduction at the Institute for Global Health at UCL, spoke to Kat Arney about how we can reduce the risk...
IIan - The first thing that we can do is actually learn from our past. So, flooding has always happened and humans have been dealing with it for 10,000 years, sometimes better, sometimes worse. So, let's look at what went wrong, what went right, and try and implement that. We can do that at the very small level, at the household level, so people can make decisions in their open properties to use flood resistant finishes, flood resistant materials. But there's much wider issues in terms of planning, urban governance, dealing with people's streets, houses, infrastructures, and that means planning, living with rivers, living with coasts. A flood plain is called that for a reason...
Kat - That's the bit that floods?
IIlan - That's the bit that floods. It has a job to do, so maybe we should think about the way we live, how we live, where we live, and let the flood plain do its job.
Kat - So where are some parts of the world that are doing this well, that are coping with flooding and flood plains?
IIan - Well, I grew up in Toronto, Canada and I always enjoyed the ravine system which was wonderful recreational pathways, wildlife, cycling, walking. Then when I got into this as a profession I realised, in fact, it came from flooding. So 1954, a devastating hurricane went through Toronto - Hurricane Hazel. It killed about 83 people and, in response, the government said "well, we're going to let the ravines, the rivers be flood plains, which is what they are meant to be being beside a river." So they designated it to be green areas, greenways, recreational pathways and building is now forbidden there.
Kat - Now, as the global population does increase though, building is encroaching on flood plains. I've lived in East London which is basically a swamp and they are building all kinds of things right next to the river. And is this risky, not just in London but in other parts of the world? Should we just not be building there at all? Can it be possible to build safely in these areas?
IIan - Wherever we build there is going to be some risks. Therefore, we have to ensure that we have the knowledge and work with the people in the areas to determine what risks they do want; what risks they don't want. If we avoided all flood plains in all of the risky areas we wouldn't be able to build anywhere. That's where we decide - well maybe at the local level, maybe at the household level. What we have to do is accept that some houses, some buildings are going to be flooded at times but, construct them in such a way that it's easy to wash them out, clean them afterwards and then go back and live there.
Kat - And presumably tell people to store stuff in waterproof boxes?
IIan - Well, part of it is ensuring there are not valuables on the ground floor; part of it ensuring we do have an adequate warning system; part of it is people knowing they are in the flood plain and therefore being able to respond and react when warnings are issued.
Kat - Tell me a bit more about some of the kinds of strategies that we can use to enable us to build on flood plains because, for example, just building urbanisation increases the risk of flooding. Are there ways, for example, planning or housing could help to mitigate some of those risks.
IIan - This is a lot of the challenge that people do need a place to live, we do need the infrastructure. As soon as you pave something over that increases run off but there are ways to reduce that so we can use, for example porous material on the roads. That means it will rain on the road and go straight through, rather than necessarily giving driveways, rather than necessarily paving over front gardens. It would be possible to keep them as plants. And also, a lot of it is simply the layout and the planning to ensure that when it does rain the water does go into the river, and that the river has a capacity to take that water rather than bursting it's banks.
Kat - Is there a risk of kind of over-engineering this? How often would these kind of events happen? Would it make it worth it in financial terms to build all this kind of stuff in?
IIan - Well, certainly at the moment in places in the UK, we are over-engineering anyway and a lot of the over-engineering is an attempt to separate people from the water. That makes a lot of sense, no-one wants to be flooded. It does keep us dry. On the other hand then, when it does rain and as the rainfall patterns change, when flooding happens it seems unusual - people are not ready for it. So, what we have to do is actually work with people, and ourselves to try and determine what balance are we seeking. How often will we accept being flooded or do we want to completely separate ourselves from the water, recognising that maybe every 50 years, maybe every 100 years, there's going to be a massive flood. There's no quick fix, there's not silver bullet. We simply need to recognise there's a whole variety of solutions we can take and it really depends on how much we are going to accept being flooded, to what degree, and how frequently.
Kat - And we've just heard from Claire earlier about the vulnerability of developing countries that are poorer. How can they cope with these kinds of risks?
IIan - Everyone, whether they are in Myanmar as Claire mentioned, whether they are in East London where you live, everyone has some form of knowledge but, they also have gaps in their knowledge. That's where it's not about going in and bestowing our wonderful aid and wonderful ideas on these poor people, it's actually about ensuring we work with the people, we use their knowledge, recognise what they don't know and work together to avoid the risk of flooding.


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Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTM) is a not-so-new trend in the management of adhesions and scar tissue formation. Adhesions develop between layers of muscle, ligaments and fascia and can be visualized as inflammation hardening after a period of about 4 weeks. Scar tissue formation can occur after surgery, traumatic injury or repetitive use. Our doctors are certified to use the Graston Technique® and RockBlades to diagnose and treat adhesions, scar tissue and areas of painful muscle, ligament, and joint injuries.
Am I a candidate for the Graston Technique?
Many repetitive stress or chronic injuries such as carpal tunnel, tennis elbow, tendonitis, shin splints, shoulder impingement and plantar fasciitis respond to the Graston Technique within just a few treatments. The Graston Technique has been shown to speed and direct healing of acute and traumatic injuries including sprains and strains.
How it works
Graston Technique® helps the doctor detect fibrosis under the skin within layers of muscle, ligament and fascia
Treatment includes either gently or vigorously 'scraping' the 45 degree beveled edge of stainless steel instruments on the skin. Additionally we use a lubricant of beeswax emollient or pain-relieving gel to help the instrument glide
Pressure ranges from light to deep depending on the area of the body and severity of the injury
Treatment lasts about 3-5 minutes in each area
The Graston Technique benefits the patient by:
Decreasing overall time of treatment
Fostering faster rehabilitation/recovery
Reducing the need for anti-inflammatory medication
Resolving chronic conditions thought to be permanent
Continuing to engage in everyday activities
How many treatments can I expect?
We try to keep the number of IASTM treatments to about 4-6. Many patients will experience relief after just one session. When treating a new or chronic injury within a short period of time (2-3 weeks) we notice diminishing returns when treating more than 6 times. When treating an area to prevent recurrence, we recommend a session about every 4-6 weeks.
Combined Treatments
Combining IASTM with Adjustments, RockTape and/or Infrared Laser can speed healing even more. Additionally, the NormaTec Pulse Compression System is a great add-on to heal faster.
Recent Blogs
Before you get surgery, check the evidence: Less invasive treatments work better - Article featured in the Washington Post
For more information on the Graston Technique including anatomical representation of therapeutic benefits please visit www.grastontechnique.com. Please call Washington Park Chiropractic today to schedule a consultation at 303-744-7100.