text:
The Internet- Roll (Burbank Funk)
By: Jimmie Sykes
It's always good to see some new work from The Internet.
No longer silent, here's a release from The Internet.
With the release of this track 'Roll', is it safe to say that we may be getting another album soon? Hopefully. Their last album Ego Death was stellar, and they received a Grammy nomination for it. It was big for the group.
The people love The Internet, the alternative hip-hop band that blends neo-soul, indie rock, and R&B. It's good see them back on the track together and production is fire in this latest track.
December 2023


text:
By Lambert Strether of Corrente
Readers, this too is a travel day for me, as my bus from Burlington to Montreal comes smack dab in the middle of the time I would usually write Water Cooler (and I collapsed into my bed after the Burlington meetup, which was really fun (report to come)).
So I'm going to do a quick post now, so as to meet the 2:00PM deadline and then, when I get to Montréal, sit down in a nice café somewhere and post some more (by which time the days statistics and business stories will have come out).
On the bus yesterday, I did a modest, seated happy dance when I read this article by Nate Cohn: "The Obama-Trump Voters Are Real. Here's What They Think," because the focus on voters in key states who flipped from Obama to Trump supports the thesis I expressed in "Political Misfortune: Anatomy of Democratic Party Failure in Clinton's Campaign 2016 (Part II)"; one difference being that Cohn wrote his story on August 15, and I wrote mine on March 7. (Voters who voted for Trump and flipped to Obama are especially interesting, since if racism were their main driver, they presumably would not have voted for Obama in the first place, no matter how much Democrat strategists and pollsters tap dance on this.)
Cohn's lead:
But postelection surveys, pre-election surveys, voter file data and the actual results all support the main story: The voters who switched from President Obama to Mr. Trump were decisive.
Yep. (I don't have time to lay what I wrote against what Cohn wrote, so please take "yep" as a signal that I agree, because that's what I wrote, although my argument is more complex and, though I say it, rigorous; see the matrix of failure.)
Cohn calls out reliance on the national polls by pundits like Dana Milbank:
Mr. Milbank's choice to use nationwide figures obscures the degree of the defection of white working-class voters from the Democrats to Mr. Trump. … But the national vote doesn't count, and Mrs. Clinton is not the president. She lost primarily because of the among white working-class voters who were overrepresented in decisive battleground states.
Yep. (I'd argue that "black working class voters" — oddly, or not, a category that is simply not visible to the press or identity politics-driven liberal Democrats — stayed home.)
And then there's this:
Just 74 percent of white Obama voters with a high school diploma or less backed Mrs. Clinton in the voter study group cited by Mr. Milbank.
Similarly, the Cooperative Congressional Election Study found that Mrs. .
(I would venture to predict that whichever candidate is the change candidate in 2020 — "Hope and change" and "Make America Great Again" both promised change, and neither candidate delivered* — will "lure" these voters. But that candidate will have to put some serious "skin in the game." After all, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.") More:
The Obama-Trump voters generally support Mr. Trump's key campaign pledges on immigration, police, infrastructure spending, trade and the environment.
Taken together, the data indicates that Mr. Trump had considerable and possibly appeal to an important slice of Democratic-leaning voters. Mr. Trump adopted a platform tailored to white working-class Democrats. In doing so, he neutralized many traditional Democratic lines of attack against typical Republicans like Mitt Romney. Many of these voters backed him in the primary and seemed to prefer his brand of populism, suggesting they probably would have backed Mr. Trump no matter which Democrat he faced.
("Unique" seems like an odd word; platforms are, to some extend, fungible. Not completely, of course; it's hard to imagine Cuomo running on Sanders' platform.)
Cohn's conclusion:
All considered, it does seem likely that at least a portion of the Obama-Trump vote can be lured back to the Democrats — especially against traditional Republican candidates who emphasize small government, free markets and social conservatism.
Whether that means it should be the crux of the Democrats' path to power is another question. But it will most likely be a part of it, and will probably need to be for Democrats to secure parts of the Rust Belt that continue to play an outsize role in American elections.
In other words, racking up votes in California and ignoring the Rust Belt won't work for Democrats in 2020 either, though that won't prevent Democrats from trying it, if they're allowed to. I also doubt very much that the weak tea the Better Dealers are pushing will win these voters over. I mean, tax credits and job training? They've seen all that before.
Of course, another approach Democrats could take would be to make expanding the electorate a core party function. Do it everywhere! In all 50 states! In the voter ID states, take 'em to the polls and buy 'em an ID! That would certainly cost less than the billion-and-a-half dollars the Clinton campaign stuffed down the toilet and flushed.** Of course, if that were going to happen, it would already have happened. You can get that whatever the Democrats comes up with on that front won't be universal, but narrowly tailored.
* But Lilly Ledbetter! But ObamaCare!! Please.
** To be fair, that money paid the college tuition for the kids of a lot of Democrat strategists. So there is a bright side.
And here is the promised, although abbreviated, Water Cooler:
"Officials from Mexico, Canada and the United States have yet to wrap up their opening round of talks to renegotiate NAFTA, but the next two are already on the books: Negotiators are expected to head to Mexico City for the second round from Sept. 1-5, and to Canada for the third round from Sept. 23-27, two sources close to the talks told Morning Trade" [Politico]. "The quick turnarounds — just 11 days will pass between the close of the first round and the start of the second — reflect the aggressive pace that all three countries have expressed interest in pursuing."
Readers, I collected a great deal of material today, but my method of gathering links from Twitter is to mail them to myself, from my iPad, to my laptop.Yahoo's (AABA) miserably inadequate iOS app has been unable to grant me the power to do this from Canada despite repeated Captchas, repeated verifications, repeated resetting of passwords, etc., and so their engineers and managers have cost me several hours of research that I am immodest enough to presume would have been of interest to you. I hereby curse Yahoo (AABA), and hope they lose a very great deal of money. May the God(ess)(e)(s) Of Your Choice, If Any, hear this imprecatory prayer. –lambert
Trump Transition
"Trump dumps Bannon, but White House wounds fester with little cure in sight" [MarketWatch]. That won't help Trump. Exactly as with the Flynn defenestration, it won't appease his enemies, and makes Trump look weak. Because it is weak. Exactly as defenestrating Bert Lance made Jimmy Carter look weak. Because it was weak. (For those who came in late, more detail.) Now we have to hope that Trump doesn't try to look strong by attacking somebody — though remember the universal applause that greeted Trump's strike on Syria? The Blob is perfectly happy with a Trump attack, so long as he attacks the right enemy in the right way.
"Icahn steps down as Trump's special adviser on regulation" [MarketWatch]. As above. It looks like the contradictions in the Republican Party between The Party of Business and The Party of A Big Tent That Includes Neo-Nazis are sharpening. It's worth remembering that George W. Bush governed with popularity figures comparable to Trump's. However, Bush never lost the support of The Party of Business. Trump is losing it. That suggests to me that Trump may not be long for this world. If he does, let's remember that the contradiction was sharpened on the ground in Charlottesville (see below) and not anywhere else. In particular, the contradiction was not sharpened at places like Neera Tanden's Center for American progress. In fact, I'm sure CAP, and many other liberals, would welcome it if Pence took over, since at last they'd have a rational interlocutor, someone they can do business with. It is, after all, important for the neoliberals to concentrate their forces and deal with the left…
Realignment and Legitimacy
Comment on Charlottesville:
One insufficiently appreciated universal material benefit, it has recently occurred to me, is "the right not to be killed," as the Clash put it. Clearly, the "Nazi Re-enactors" in Charlottesville don't believe that right is a universal one. So, let's ask ourselves who was present, in Charlottesville, defending that right. The local membership of #BlackLivesMatter. Antifa. DSA. Sanders supporters, including Heather Heyer. And now let's ask ourselves who was not there. Was Indivisible there? No. Were the pink pussy hats there? No. Were the co-opted bourgies of the national BLM there? No. That will not, of course, prevent liberal Democrats from rewriting history — in particular, erasing Heyer's Sanders support — and claiming credit — after all, we do what we're good at — but let's be clear on who put their bodies on the line, and who didn't.
"Cities Nationwide Brace for More Alt-Right Protests This Weekend" [Governing] "The Boston free speech rally is part of a coordinated nine-city protest against tech giant Google's decision to fire a software engineer after he circulated a controversial 3,300-word memo against diversity. Other protests are planned for this Saturday in Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Mountain View, Calif." Not sure why guys marching in uniforms with guns is "free speech," as opposed to "incitement to riot." I guess we'll see. In some ways, this is a test: Does the "Google memo" have the iconic power that Confederate monuments do? Or "Nazi re-enactor" torchlight parades? "At least two of the speakers originally booked for the Boston rally, Gavin McInnes and Augustus Invictus, also spoke in Charlottesville and are regulars at white nationalist events around the country. McInnes was a co-founder of Vice Media and founder of the Proud Boys, an alt-right fraternity. McInnes backed out of the Boston rally, and Invictus was uninvited. However, Joe Biggs, who once worked for Alex Jones' alt-right website InfoWars and promoted the 'Pizzagate' conspiracy, is reportedly planning to attend." Perhaps they'll be smart enough to stick to polo shirts and khaki pants…
"A Psychological Profile of the Alt-Right" [A Psychological Profile of the Alt-Right]. Not peer-reviewed. (Counter-poising some anecdotal data on dehumanization, here….)
"DSA died so that DSA could live" [Peter Frase]. "Yes, the name and the organizational structure continue on, but what DSA is–and who it is–has been radically transformed in a matter of months. Of the 800 delegates in Chicago, the vast majority are newcomers to the organization. At the convention banquet, the MC asked us to stand sequentially according to the period when we had become involved in DSA or its predecessors: the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s, the 2000s, the early 2010s, or since the beginning of 2016. Until that very last call, almost everyone was seated…." Note the following on a protest from the floor:
[T]he short version is this: after attempting, and failing, to add language about disability to our national priorities document, a protest broke out. Comrades scattered through the room began chanting "nothing about us without us." At that point the chair, Chris Riddiough–who, I want to emphasize, did a heroic and indispensable job presiding throughout the rest of the convention–made the unfortunate decision to call for the removal of the protesters.
This was an extremely fraught moment. The protest immediately divided the room, with some delegates furious at the chair, and others furious at the protesters. I confess that I myself wavered for a moment, and I was afraid that the entire proceeding was about to devolve into chaos. But I soon realized that what was at stake, at that moment, was far more politically significant than keeping to a schedule or voting on a few remaining resolutions. This was about whether we, as the assembled delegates of DSA, were going to show some flexibility in order to affirm our solidarity with our comrades with disabilities, and by extension with all those who may find themselves marginalized or excluded in DSA.
And I'm proud to say that we passed this test. , which we thankfully did before there could be any question of carrying out the disastrous option of forcefully removing protesters from the hall. After that, the original motion on disability language was affirmed by huge margins, order returned, and we proceeded with the agenda. That one moment isn't sufficient to address the larger issues raised by the protesting comrades, of course. But I'm hopeful that it was a sufficient display of solidarity to avoid permanently alienating some of our most committed members.
I remember vividly the dysfunction of Occupy's General Assemblies. The key point is this: Prefigurative though they may have been, the rules for GA did not respect people's time. That meant that if you had to go to work, you were discouraged from participating in the first place, and might have to leave the meeting prematurely even if you did participate. TL;dr: The GA did not put working class people first. Roberts Rules, because they are structured to respect people's time, can be made to do so.
Stats Watch
Industrial Production. July 2017: The Federal Reserve inadvertently released what is a weak July industrial production report about a 1/2 hour early this morning" [Econoday]. "A 3rd straight decline in motor vehicles, down 3.6 percent in July, held down the month's production. Excluding vehicles, manufacturing rose 0.2 percent. But also not helping were business equipment, down 0.5 percent in the month, and construction supplies, down 0.4 percent. On the plus side with small gains are consumer goods, materials, and non-industrial supplies. Outside of manufacturing, mining posted a 4th straight solid gain, at 0.4 percent, with utilities swinging higher with a 1.6 percent July increase. This report, which is the first definitive look at July's factory sector, is unexpectedly flat and puts an end to the run of recently strong economic data. ." Granted, for some definition of "real world," but I take the point. And but: "Worse than expected, but modest growth from depressed levels" [Mosler Economics]. Importantly: "Capacity utilization at 76.7% is 3.2% below the average from 1972 to 2015 and below the pre-recession level of 80.8% in December 2007" [Calculated Risk].
Consumer Sentiment, August 2017 (preliminary): "Consumer sentiment unexpectedly burst higher in the preliminary estimate for August but the results, warns the report, do not fully reflect the impact of the weekend's violence in Virginia" (!) [Econoday]. In a crisis, things correllate… More: "The index… is well over Econoday's high estimate and the strongest reading since the post-election surge in January. But the report said 'too few' interviews were conducted after the violence and that related fallout may reverse expectations especially for Republicans…. [A] step back for current conditions is not a favorable indication for consumer activity in the month of August. And: "The preliminary August University of Michigan consumer confidence index reading increased to 97.6 from the previous reading of 93.4. The figure was well above consensus forecasts of 94.0 and the highest reading since January" [Economic Calendar], whose coverage, interestingly, does not include the political angle. On the other hand: "The sharp rise in expectations in this preliminary version of the survey could be dashed if the turmoil in the Trump administration continues. The White House has promised a tax reform proposal that many businesses and individuals are still counting on, but the increasing alienation between the president and the Senate threatens to derail the proposal. The hope is that the long-standing unifying principle of lower taxes that animates the Republican Party will patch up the current rancor between the president and the Senate: [MarketWatch]. If one wishes to call it a "principle"…
Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey, August 2017 (yesterday): "Factory sentiment has nowhere been stronger this year than in the Mid-Atlantic where the Philly Fed report has drained the dictionary of superlatives" [Econinterect]. "Shipments are strong, the workweek is up, hiring is brisk, deliveries times are getting delayed, and inventories are being drained. At least they are among this report's respondents who number may number no more than 200 in any month. from the government which has also been moving higher but to a much more limited degree." C'est un scandale! Except not…
Employment Situation: From the BLS state survey: "Ten states have reached new all time lows since the end of the 2007 recession. These ten states are: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Maine, Mississippi, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington, and Wisconsin" [Calculated Risk]. One swing/Rust Belt state: Wisconsin.
Jobless Claims, week of August 12, 2017 (yesterday): "Seasonal layoffs from auto retooling have yet to skew jobless claims data this summer which remain comfortably at historic lows" [Econoday].
Housing Starts (Wednesday): "Lower than expected, and, as always starts are ultimately determined by permits, which have been slowing as per the chart, which also reflects the deceleration in mortgage lending over the last 6 months" [Mosler Economics].
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index, week of August 13, 2017: "The consumer comfort index held onto the bulk of its early August rebound" [Econoday].
E-Commerce Retail Sales. week of August 17, 2017: "Online shopping has been strong this year, rising a quarter-to-quarter 4.8 percent in the second quarter vs 4.1 percent in the first quarter. As a percentage of total retail sales, e-commerce continues to gain ground, up 4 tenths to 8.9 percent" [Econoday].
Real Estate: "'There are a little over 700,000[hotel] rooms under construction right now, most of which are in (Asia/Pacific) and the United States,' [Bobby Bowers, SVP of operations at STR, Hotel News Now's parent company] said. "You talk about the top 10 countries …. (it's) not surprising that the U.S. and China lead there" [Hotel News Notes]. "'The Federal Reserve conducts a quarterly survey of their lending institutions, and this (chart) is showing that a lot of folks out there at the banks say that the standards for construction and land development loans have been tightened a bit,' he said, 'and if you talk with some of the developers I've talked with over the last few days, … it's getting a little bit harder to get money to construct."
Commodities: "Copper price surges to 32-month high as hedge funds place $20 billion bet" [Mining.com].
Shipping: "Russia's largest air cargo terminal will start operations next month" [Lloyd's Loading List].
Leading Indicators, July 2017: "Low short-term interest rates and high consumer expectations continue to underpin the index of leading economic indicators which rose 0.3 percent in July following June's very strong 0.6 percent gain" [Econoday]. "Strength in the ISM's private survey of manufacturers [Oh, a survey! –lambert] also continues to be a major plus. Holding down the LEI in July was a move backward for building permits."
Political Risk: "After 10 years, policy makers still haven't learned the right lessons from the financial crisis" [Mohamed A. El-Erian, MarketWatch]. "Anyone who has experienced or studied developing-country financial crises will be painfully aware of their defining features. For starters, as the late Rüdiger Dornbusch argued, financial crises can take a long time to develop, but once they erupt, they tend to spread rapidly, widely, violently, and (seemingly) indiscriminately. In this process of cascading failures, overall financial conditions quickly flip from feast to famine." But the United States is not some kinda "developing" Third World– Oh, who am I kidding?
Five Horsemen (yesterday): "Is mighty Amazon losing its mojo?" [Hat tip, Jim Haygood].
Today's Fear & Greed Index: 17 Extreme Fear (previous close: 17, Extreme Fear) [CNN]. One week ago: 25 (Extreme Fear). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Aug 18 at 4:21pm. I would attribute this to Bannon's defenestration, but yesterday was extreme fear too, and since I've been on the road I've been out of touch with Mr. Market, to the extent I ever am in touch.
Class Warfare
"41,000 former for-profit college students could be eligible for student loan forgiveness" [MarketWatch]. Good. Great! So why not a Debt Jubilee for everyone? It's every biblically sanctioned! See, e..g, Deut 15.1.
Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, (c) how to send me a check if you are allegic to PayPal, and (d) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please put it in the subject line. Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. Today's plant (RW):
A note on donations: All readers who contributed to the very successful annual Water Cooler fundraiser — Water Cooler is a standalone entity, not supported by the Naked Capitalism fundraisers — have now been thanked, both PayPal donors and those who sent checks. Thank you again, and I'm sorry it took so long; I just worked away at the list until I finished.
However: Do feel free to use the dropdown and click the hat to make a contribution today or any day. Here is why: Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I'm on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of small donations helps me with expenses, and I factor that trickle in when setting fundraising goals. So if you see something you especially appreciate, do feel free to click the hat!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Would it be a little awkward to be able to Google your mom and find naked photos of her? Sure. But then again, your mom probably isn't one of the most famous reality stars of this generation. Following the backlash of Kim Kardashian's nude Paper Magazine spread, Kourtney decided to make the point that pregnancy and motherhood should not make women ashamed of their bodies or their sexuality.
Kourtney, 35, encouraged women to embrace their bodies: "To me, nudity is not something to be ashamed of. I'm not embarrassed of my body. I'm at my best when I'm pregnant. It's such an amazing feeling, the transformation that your body goes through. There's something about that that's so empowering and beautiful and I just really embrace it."
We hope we look half as a good as Kourtney does that pregnant. She and boyfriend Scott Disick announced their pregnancy in June of this past summer, so she is estimated to give birth any day now. This will be the third child for the couple who already gave birth to Mason, an unplanned birth and that brought the couple back together (the epitome of reality TV romance), and daughter Penelope. Although not confirmed, rumour has it they are pregnant with a baby boy. The Kardashians have enough women in their family so let's hope they are painting the nursery in their mansion blue.
When asked whether Kourtney would push the envelope as far as her sister with a full frontal photo shoot, she said she didn't think she would end up pulling the trigger: "I would never say never, but I don't think so, no. What appeals to me is celebrating the shape of my body being pregnant and capturing that time in my life," Kourtney said. "I wanted to do something that felt authentic to me rather than being pushed in a certain direction by somebody else. The appeal was to be involved in something I would say I had more control over than other photo shoots. No one telling me this is how you're going to look and how you're going to pose. It's a wonderful thing to be able to show my children these photographs one day and say, 'This was you inside.'"
Well given how fabulous Kourtney is looking in these pictures we think Scott is going to be angling for Irish twins. We hope for both their sake that her tata's stay just as they are after the baby comes. Congrats to the happy couple!
Do you think Kourtney proves that pregnant is sexy? Tweet at us! @sofeminineUK
This article was written by Dagney Pruner. Follow her on Twitter @dagneyp
You might also like:
10 Questions Every Woman Should Ask Before Cosmetic Surgery
5 Quick & Easy Hairstyles You Can Do In Under 10 Minutes
Happiness Quotes: 100 Ways To Think Yourself Happy


text:
100 Worst Intersections
Ryan S made this Official Information request to New Zealand Transport Agency
The request was successful.
From: Ryan S
Dear New Zealand Transport Agency,
You have previously published a record of the 100 high risk intersections, It is available in this link: http://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/resources...
On that list, each intersection got given one of 4 colours for ease of understanding (Green, Orange, Light Yellow, Red)
My local intersection was on that list under the orange category
Could you please provide an updated record of those 100 high risk intersections previously listed and what their new status is in regarding to whether work is completed, in planning, a plan is agreed to or no plan is yet in place
Yours faithfully,
Ryan S
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text:
Hospital Flower Delivery
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To help you find a Ozark, AL hospital or care facility, Matthews' Dale Florist & Gift lists all the hospitals they deliver flowers to.


text:
When our robot overlords arrive, will they decide to kill us or cooperate with us?
New research from DeepMind, Alphabet Inc.'s London-based artificial intelligence unit could ultimately shed light on this fundamental question.
They have been investigating the conditions in which reward-optimizing beings, whether human or robot, would choose to cooperate, rather than compete. The answer could have implications for how computer intelligence may eventually be deployed to manage complex systems such as an economy, city traffic flows, or environmental policy.
Joel Leibo, the lead author of a paper DeepMind published online Thursday, said in an e-mail that his team's research indicates that whether agents learn to cooperate or compete depends strongly on the environment in which they operate.
While the research has no immediate real-world application, it would help DeepMind design artificial intelligence agents that can work together in environments with imperfect information. In the future, such work could help such agents navigate a world full of intelligent entities—both human and machine—whether in transport networks or stock markets.
Apples, Wolves
DeepMind's paper describes how researchers used two different games to investigate how software agents learn to compete or cooperate.
In the first, two of these agents had to maximize the number of apples they could gather in a two-dimensional digital environment. Researchers could vary how frequently apples appeared.
The researchers found that when apples were scarce, the agents quickly learned to attack one another—zapping or "tagging" their opponent with a ray that temporarily immobilized them. When apples were abundant, the agents preferred to co-exist more peacefully.
Rather chillingly, however, the researchers found when they tried this same game with more intelligent agents that drew on larger neural networks—a kind of machine intelligence designed to mimic how certain parts of the human brain work—they would "try to tag the other agent more frequently, i.e. behave less cooperatively, no matter how we vary the scarcity of apples," they wrote in a blog post on DeepMind's website.
In a second game, called Wolfpack, the AI agents played wolves that had to learn to capture "prey." Success resulted in a reward not just for the wolf making the capture, but for all wolves present within a certain radius of the capture. The more wolves present in this capture radius, the more points all the wolves would receive.
In this game, the agents generally learned to cooperate. Unlike in the apple-gathering game, in Wolfpack, the more cognitively advanced the agent was, the better it learned to cooperate. The researchers postulate that this is because in the apple-gathering game, the zapping behavior was more complex—it required aiming the beam at the opponent; while in the Wolfpack game, cooperation was the more complex behavior.
The researchers speculated that because the less sophisticated artificial intelligence systems had more difficulty mastering these complex behaviors, the more simple AI couldn't learn to use them effectively.
DeepMind, which Google purchased in 2014, is best known for having created an artificial intelligence that can beat the world's top human players in the ancient Asian strategy game Go. In November, DeepMind announced it was working with Blizzard Entertainment Inc., the division of Activision Blizzard that makes the video game Starcraft II, to turn that game into a platform for AI research.
Leibo said that the agents used in the apple-gathering and Wolfpack experiments had no short-term memory, and as a result, could not make any inferences about the intent of the other agent. "Going forward it would be interesting to equip agents with the ability to reason about other agents' beliefs and goals," he said.
In the meantime, it might be wise to keep a few spare apples around.


text:
Camco Screen Room Divider 45664[45664]
About this product...
Manufacturer's Number: 45664Calculate Shipping
WARNING: This product may contain one or more chemicals known in the State of California to cause cancer and/or birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information, visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov
Gain extra privacy in your screen room with the screen room divider. Creates a room within a room.
- Made of tough, lightweight polybond material
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- Universal Fit
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- Made in USA.
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Article Text
Background: Subtelomeric regions of the human genome are gene rich, with a high level of sequence polymorphism. A number of clinical conditions, including learning disability, have been attributed to subtelomeric deletions or duplications, but screening for deletion in these regions using conventional cytogenetic methods and fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) is laborious. Here we report that a new method, multiplex amplifiable probe hybridisation (MAPH), can be used to screen for copy number at subtelomeric regions.
Methods: We have constructed a set of MAPH probes with each subtelomeric region represented at least once, so that one gel lane can assay copy number at all chromosome ends in one person. Each probe has been sequenced and, where possible, its position relative to the telomere determined by comparison with mapped clones.
Results: The sensitivity of the probes has been characterised on a series of cytogenetically verified positive controls and 83 normal controls were used to assess the frequency of polymorphic copy number with no apparent phenotypic effect. We have also used MAPH to test a cohort of 37 people selected from males referred for fragile X syndrome testing and found six changes that were confirmed by dosage PCR.
Conclusions: MAPH can be used to screen subtelomeric regions of chromosomes for deletions and duplications before confirmation by FISH or dosage PCR. The high throughput nature of this technique allows it to be used for large scale screening of subtelomeric copy number, before confirmation by FISH. In practice, the availability of a rapid and efficient screen may allow subtelomeric analysis to be applied to a wider selection of patients than is currently possible using FISH alone.
- subtelomeric DNA
- learning disability
- copy number
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Subtelomeric regions of human chromosomes are highly polymorphic and have the highest gene density in the genome.1,2 They are of clinical interest because chromosome rearrangements involving subtelomeric regions have been shown to cause several conditions including learning disability,3,4 haematological malignancies, and recurrent miscarriages.5,6
Conventional cytogenetics using Giemsa banding of metaphase chromosomes has not been very successful in identifying deletions or duplications of the subtelomeric regions of chromosomes, because most terminal bands are Giemsa negative. A set of clones that map to the subtelomeric regions of all human chromosomes, except the p ends of acrocentric chromosomes, has been developed for fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH).7–9 These allowed many telomeric rearrangements and deletions to be identified,10 but also detected several polymorphisms with no apparent phenotypic effect.11
An alternative approach is to assay directly for DNA copy number changes at each subtelomeric region. Here we apply multiplex amplifiable probe hybridisation (MAPH)12,13 to measure copy number changes at the subtelomeric regions of human chromosomes. MAPH relies on the fact that short probes can be recovered quantitatively and amplified after hybridisation to genomic DNA immobilised on a nylon filter. It has been used to identify a deletion of nearly the entire TBX5 gene as a cause of Holt-Oram syndrome,14 and as a screen for deletions in the DMD,15, PMP22, and BRCA1 genes (unpublished results). It has also been used in a preliminary study to examine the subtelomeric DNA of patients referred with idiopathic learning disability in Cyprus16 and confirm a deletion in one patient whose subtelomeric copy number was known a priori from FISH analysis. In this paper, we present a complete quantitative approach to MAPH analysis, using a new second generation probe set that can screen all chromosome ends in the human karyotype at once, except the p ends of acrocentric chromosomes. We have characterised this probe set on DNA samples from 83 unrelated controls to screen for copy number polymorphism with no phenotypic effect, on a number of subjects with subtelomeric DNA copy number changes previously detected by cytogenetic studies, and on a cohort of 37 subjects referred to the Clinical Molecular Genetics Laboratory at Nottingham for diagnostic testing of fragile X syndrome (MIM 309550, Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Omim). We have also adapted the MAPH technique to use gel electrophoresis equipment with fluorescence based detection. Finally, we show how appropriate statistical treatment of MAPH results can be used to screen large numbers of samples to identify those warranting investigation by further MAPH analysis, dosage multiplex PCR,17 or FISH analysis.
DNA samples
DNA from a cohort of unrelated subjects, mostly Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire residents, and anonymous males selected from those referred to the Nottingham Clinical Molecular Genetics Laboratory for Fragile X DNA testing, was prepared using standard techniques. DNA samples with known subtelomeric imbalance were obtained from several sources: from University of Nijmegen Department of Medical Genetics at Nijmegen, The Netherlands (DMGN), as part of their clinical screening programme, from the Coriell Cell Repository (CCR) at Camden, New Jersey, USA, from the European Collection of Animal Cell Cultures (ECACC) at Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK, and from Sheffield Children's Hospital, Sheffield, UK. All samples were collected under the appropriate ethical guidelines and ethics committee approval of each country.
MAPH probes
Probes for subtelomeric MAPH were prepared as previously described12 by subcloning fragments of PACs or cosmids mapped to subtelomeric regions, or direct cloning of specific amplicons. After cloning, each probe was sequenced using the BigDye terminator cycle sequencing kit and an ABI 377 Genetic Analyser, and any sequences not represented in the Genbank database were submitted (accession numbers AY061937-AY061940, see laboratory website for all probe sequences, http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~pdzjala/maph/maph.html). Maximum distances of each probe from the telomere were estimated by noting the size of the half YACs from which each probe was ultimately derived,9 and linking the half YAC sequence to a physical map which included the BAC containing the probe sequence, as identified by BLAST. For nine chromosome ends (1p, 2p, 9q, 7p, 15q, 16q, 18p, 18q, and 19q), the distance between the probe and the telomere is represented by partially sequenced BACs, which may lead to an incomplete genome assembly and hence inaccurate estimates of distance.
MAPH was carried out using 1 μg genomic DNA, with fluorescent detection of amplification products using ABI Prism technology with an ABI 377 DNA analyser, or with Amersham Pharmacia ALFexpress technology. Hybridisation and generation of a first round amplification product were performed as described previously.12
The first round amplification product was used to seed a further 20 μl amplification using 5' FAM labelled PZA primer or 5' Cy5 labelled PZA primer for detection by the ABI 377 and Pharmacia ALF respectively. After ethanol precipitation (for the ABI machine only) and addition of a formamide based loading buffer, amplification products were separated using PAGE LongRanger gels on the ABI 377, and bands quantified using GeneScan™. An arbitrary threshold of 1000 relative fluorescent units was set, so that if the average of the top two and bottom two bands was above that threshold, the result for that sample was deemed technically satisfactory. On the Amersham Pharmacia ALFexpress equipment, the amplification products were run on a ReproGel High resolution gel, and bands quantified using the packaged software.
Data processing and univariate analysis
Normalised ratios of signal strength, setting diploid dosage at 1.0, were calculated as previously described.12 Briefly, each band intensity was quantified by measuring the area under the peak, and that value was divided by the sum of the four nearest band intensities within that lane. This value represents band intensity relative to neighbouring bands, and, in the absence of copy number changes, was reproducible across samples. Dividing each relative band intensity value by the mean for that probe allowed a normalised ratio to be calculated with a mean of 1.0, equivalent to a dosage of two copies per diploid cell. Calculation of the standard deviation of the normalised ratios allowed each sample/probe combination to be represented by a Z value, corresponding to the number of standard deviations away from the mean of 1.0.
Bivariate analysis
For observations in duplicate (x,y), the correlation coeffiecient rxy , was calculated and a test statistic T(x,y) calculated for each value and compared with Cα , a value, unique to the data set from each probe, which describes the confidence ellipse of that data at a significance level of α.18 Details on calculating T(x,y) and Cα are available from the laboratory website. Where performed, all corrections to significance values to allow for multiple tests used the Dunn-idák method: α' = 1 − ( 1 – α )k where α is the p value for a given result, and α' is the p value for the given result, corrected for k tests.
All sample/probe combinations giving significant deviations using this analysis were examined in detail. Firstly, the gel tracking was checked and the peak allocation value was also checked to confirm that the software had recognised the equivalent peak to other lanes. The value was renormalised against a different set of bands within the same lane to ensure that variation in a neighbouring band, usually used for normalisation, was not causing the positive result. Finally, if the chromosome end had two representative probes in the probe set, the results from these were compared. For the analysis of patient samples, sample/probe combinations reported as retests were screened as above as well.
Dosage PCR
Fluorescent multiplex dosage PCR primers were designed to amplify the same subtelomeric segments that hybridise with the MAPH probes. One primer of each pair was labelled with 6-FAM fluorescent dye; 20 ng of genomic DNA was amplified in 20 μl reactions with 10 pmol of each of the appropriate primers. The cycling conditions were 95°C for one minute, 56°C for one minute, and 72°C for one minute, for 25 cycles using a Perkin Elmer 480 Thermal Cycler. A total of 1 μl of the amplification was loaded on an ABI 377 DNA sequencer with formamide based loading buffer and ROX500 size marker, and the bands quantified using GeneScan™ software. The sequences of all primers used are available from the laboratory website (http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~pdzjala/maph/maph.html). Normalised band areas which differed from the mean with a one tailed significance of greater than 90% (p<0.1) were reported as positive.
We have applied multiplex amplifiable probe hybridisation (MAPH) to analyse DNA for subtelomeric copy number changes in one gel lane per sample. MAPH is a method that detects copy number changes by hybridising specific probes corresponding to the sequence of interest to immobilised genomic DNA, followed by quantitative recovery and amplification of these probes.12 All probes have shared primer binding sites for amplification, but the different sizes (between 100 and 600 bp) allow each probe, and hence each locus, to be resolved, identified, and quantified on a polyacrylamide gel. Normalisation of a probe of interest against probes with an expected dosage of two (in a diploid cell) allows relative dosage to be determined.
A probe set consisting of 47 probes was constructed with all chromosome ends represented by at least one probe, except the p ends of acrocentric chromosomes. Six ends are covered by more than one probe: XpYp, because each probe was known to detect independent but infrequent polymorphic deletions (unpublished work), 22q 19p, 12q, 19q, and 1p. Each probe was initially characterised on a small cohort of normal subjects using MAPH with radioisotopic detection, and sequenced before being incorporated in the final probe set. A table of the properties of each probe in the set is available at the laboratory website.
The probable distances of the probes from their respective telomeres was deduced by previous physical mapping (Human telomere mapping and sequencing project, University of Pennsylvania, http://www.wistar.upenn.edu/Riethman/, Joint Genome Institute chromosome 19 physical map, http://www.jgi.doe.gov), and from the human genome draft assembly (University of California, Santa Cruz Working Draft Human Genome Assembly http://genome.cse.ucsc.edu). Inconsistencies between the physical map and the assembly, and indeed between different assemblies, indicate that the human genome working draft contains extensive misassemblies at the ends of chromosomes. As the physical mapping and sequencing of the telomeres proceeds, replacement of these probes with sequences of known physical distance will be a priority for construction of the next subtelomeric probe set.
To characterise the probe set, DNA from 83 normal subjects was analysed in duplicate using the ABI 377 DNA Analyser. We tested each sample in duplicate to reduce the number of false positives and false negatives, and hence give more statistical power to the results. Our initial approach for analysing the data was to average the two normalised ratios for each sample/probe combination and plot these values as a histogram (fig 1). The mean and standard deviation of the distribution shown in the histogram were calculated, and the expected normal distribution using these calculated parameters is also shown in fig 1. It is clear that the data fit the normal curve reasonably well, but there is a slight skew resulting in conservative estimates of significance for deletions but more accurate estimates of significance for duplications. Several outliers were identified (fig 1), and dosage PCR confirmed the presence of an XqYq duplication (p=5.4 × 10-6) and a 1q duplication (p=3.2 × 10-9). The XpYp deletion is one of a range of XpYp polymorphisms found using MAPH (data not shown) and is only detected with one XpYp probe, ST17H1C, so was not confirmed by dosage PCR. Dosage PCR was used to verify these changes in preference to FISH as copy number changes involving small (<10 kb) segments, such as found in alleles at XpYp (unpublished work), would not be detected by large FISH probes.
Control samples with known subtelomeric copy number changes were used to verify the dosage response of 14 probes (table 1). These positive controls had been phenotyped by FISH using the subtelomeric probe set available (Cytocell), except the DNA from CCR and ECACC where only G banded karyotypes were available. Table 1 shows the probes for which positive controls were available, together with the p values of each observation. Fig 2 shows analysis of an unbalanced 3p−;16q+ translocation carrier as a positive control, together with a normal negative control.
The analysis method described above is only suitable when the probe/sample values are independent of each other every time they are tested in independent experiments. To determine whether duplicate values for a specific sample were independent of each other, the correlation statistic r was calculated for each probe from the 83 pairs of observations of the normal subjects. This statistic was significantly different from 0 (H0, no correlation, p<0.05) for 34 of the 47 probes. Because duplicate results are not completely independent, hypothesis testing using the average of two values, as shown in fig 1, is not a valid method for further data analysis.
We therefore applied a bivariate statistical analysis approach to the data from the 83 normal subjects to correct for this observed correlation effect. The duplicate results for each probe were plotted on a scatter graph, and an ellipse calculated for a specific confidence limit around (1.0,1.0) (for the normal values), (0.5,0.5) (for any deleted values), and (1.5,1.5) (for any duplicated values). If the value was outside all ellipses, or in the intersection of two ellipses, it was reported as a "retest". If the value is inside the duplication or deletion ellipse only, then it is reported as a "positive". If the value is within the normal ellipse only, it is reported as "normal". Further statistical methods are available from the laboratory web site. An appropriate confidence limit for the normal ellipse (which is equivalent to the false positive rate) was calculated by iteration to minimise the number of retests reported by the analysis. This value was found to be 1.7 × 10-5 per probe per sample, equivalent to 0.0008 (0.08%) when corrected for multiple probes, and resulted in a total of 6.37% of observations being reported as positives or retests. Any "positive" samples were then tested by dosage PCR. A false negative rate was set at 1% for deletions and 1% for duplications. The outliers identified in the univariate analysis were classed as retests by the bivariate analysis.
We used the methods developed above to screen patients with learning disability to examine whether MAPH could detect copy number changes in subjects whose subtelomeric DNA would not normally be analysed. Thirty-seven DNA samples from patients referred to the Nottingham Clinical Molecular Genetics Laboratory for diagnostic testing for the fragile X syndrome, but who had no FRAXA repeat expansion, were tested in duplicate using the ABI 377 and in duplicate by ALFexpress technology. The results were assembled to give 74 results in duplicate. These were then analysed using the same false negative and false positive parameters used for the analysis of the 83 normal controls, with the results classified into normal, retest, and positive results. If one analysis was reported as a positive, and the other as a retest, the sample was classified as a positive. Two samples had very high results for the 9q probe owing to a gel artefact, which caused all samples to be reported as retests. Therefore, the 9q probe produced no reliable data and was excluded from further analysis. All positives and retests were then tested by dosage PCR. To conform to local ethical guidelines, these DNA samples were collected and tested anonymously, making it impossible to collect cells for cytogenetic diagnosis or to identify the proband's parents.
There were 65 sample/probe combinations (out of a possible 1480) that were classed as a retest in both the ALF and ABI data sets, and four loci that were classed as a positive in the ALF/ABI and a retest in the other. All "positive" results and retests were tested by dosage PCR (table 2) and six (three deletions and three duplications) were confirmed as true positives. The corresponding overall false positive rate was 3.99%. Among the confirmed positives, the 7q− and 16q− deletions not only gave the lowest p values in both MAPH tests, but were also identified as a genuine positive instead of a retest in one of those MAPH experiments. Terminal 7q deletion has been reported to be associated with holoprosencephaly 3, which has learning disability as a symptom (MIM 142945).19 This was later shown to be the result of deletion of the SHH gene,20 but we have not determined the extent of the 7q deletion in this person. Similarly, 4p terminal deletions (as identified in sample A16) have been associated with the closely related Pitt and Wolf-Hirschhorn syndromes (MIM 262350, 194190), both conditions that have learning disability as a clinical phenotype. The 16q− deletion in sample B1 is accompanied by 3p duplication, suggesting that this may be an unbalanced translocation. However, for all of these observations, only FISH analysis could act as definitive confirmation of these subtelomeric changes.
We have shown that a new technique, MAPH, can be used to identify copy number changes in subtelomeric DNA. It has several advantages over FISH based methods, in that it does not require metaphase chromosomes, can analyse all unique chromosome ends simultaneously, and one polyacrylamide gel can analyse 45 samples. These combine to give the technique a very high throughput with a much lower cost per sample compared to FISH. In addition, repeat testing is straightforward and strengthens statistical analysis of the results. MAPH compares favourably with other techniques used for subtelomeric DNA screening. Inheritance at short tandem repeat polymorphisms (STRPs) has been used to detect copy number changes at subtelomeric regions,21–23 but this technique depends on the informativeness of the STRPs used, needs DNA samples from parents, may miss duplications, and requires multiple PCRs to screen each karyotype. A recent paper applied array comparative genomic hybridisation (array-CGH) to screen for subtelomeric copy number changes.24 Using the published data, we calculate that triplicate testing of each sample should result in a false positive rate of 4.6%, assuming independence between results. However, the authors routinely removed noisy data, so the unselected false positive rate may be closer to that using MAPH. Array-CGH also requires expensive equipment and consumables, an important fact when high throughput screening is proposed. Multiplex ligation dependent probe amplification (MLPA) is a method similar to MAPH that could be applied to detect subtelomeric DNA copy number changes, but there are no published data on subtelomeric screening.25
We have applied MAPH to study a cohort of patients, and have identified six subtelomeric copy number changes in five patients that were confirmed by fluorescent dosage PCR (13.5% of the total number of patients screened). In a diagnostic setting, the technique is best suited as a screening method for the many samples for which current analyses are uneconomical, and using FISH analysis of reported samples as a "gold standard" of diagnosis. Because of the many loci that are analysed simultaneously, the fairly high false positive rates can cause a significant number of loci to be reported, especially if many different samples are analysed together. Nevertheless, the method can still be very useful in reducing the FISH workload by 96% and focusing on the 4% of loci that are likely to show a copy number change. The false negative rate is important for such a situation. By using appropriate confidence thresholds for calling deletions and duplications in bivariate or univariate analysis, we can adjust the expected false negative rate. In this study we have set this false negative rate (the probability of a genuine copy number change not being detected) at 2%. The impact of this value depends on the frequency of genuine copy number changes expected in the cohort that is analysed. The frequency of subtelomeric rearrangements in subjects with idiopathic learning disability has been reported to be around 6%,3 which would result in about 0.012% of a cohort of mentally retarded patients being wrongly reported as having no subtelomeric copy changes. This assumes that subtelomeric rearrangements are copy number changes; since MAPH can only detect net copy number changes it cannot detect balanced translocations or inversions where no net loss or gain of DNA has occurred. More recent studies find different frequencies of subtelomeric rearrangements in patients with learning disability. Using a combination of G band cytogenetics and subtelomeric FISH, Vorsanova et al26 reported that 3.8% of patients with learning disability have subtelomeric rearrangements, although a more recent study suggests that the value may be as high as 9%.27 Knight et al28 emphasised the importance of patient selection when conducting studies of this type. By dividing patients into two classes, mild learning disability and moderate to severe learning disability, the frequency of subtelomeric rearrangements in the two groups was 0.5% and 7.4%, respectively. Another report has suggested that subtelomeric rearrangement is not a significant cause of learning disability, and may be found at polymorphic frequencies in the general population.29 A recent review of published data30 suggests that the initial study by Flint et al3 reporting an overall frequency of 6% may be about right. To obtain an accurate assessment of the frequency of subtelomeric rearrangements, a very large sample of patients selected using the same clinical criteria must be assayed. Using FISH alone, this would be extremely laborious and time consuming, but the ability of MAPH to act as a screen before FISH makes this approach practical. It is also likely that, by using MAPH, smaller subtelomeric copy number changes, previously undetected by cytogenetic methods, will be reported.
As the human genome project generates a more accurate assembly of sequence near the telomere of each chromosome, it will be possible to design single copy probes that are as near the telomere as possible. The position of these will be a compromise between proximity to the telomere and ability to recognise single copy sequences, since on most chromosome ends the subtelomeric DNA consists of multicopy sequences shared between chromosomes immediately after the telomeric repeat, followed by the gene rich single copy DNA.1 A third generation set of probes will ideally have several probes at each chromosome end so an estimate of the extent and position of each copy number change could be determined.
We would like to thank Ingrid Davies for the ABI GeneScan™ gel runs, John Brookfield, William Brown, Jonathan Flint, Colin Armstrong, and Anita Mistry for useful discussions, and Johan den Dunnen at the Leiden University Medical Centre for making the authors aware of their work before publication. DNA samples were provided by Jackie Langdon at the University of Nottingham, Carolina Sismani and Philippos Patsalis at the Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Erik Sistermans at the University of Nijmegen, and Nora Shannon at the Sheffield Children's Hospital. We would also like to thank James Cavey and Abid Sharif for technical assistance. This work was funded by a Wellcome Trust grant (number 060578) to JALA. Supplementary information relating to this study can be found at http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~pdzjala/maph/maph.html


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We are excited to announce that ALUCA's Life Insurance Excellence Award nominations are now open. There is a category for everyone – whether you enter as a team, or an individual – are a life insurer, reinsurer or a service provider to the life insurance industry. In addition this year we have also included the "Hero" award for one of our many deserving ALUCA volunteers.
2018 ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Award Winners
We have been looking at how we can tap into the wonderful network of ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Award winners or the Triple A's as we are calling them ALUCA Award Alumni Winners. First up we would like to profile each of the winners in this edition and our next ReB edition and are looking at some follow up activities to involve them more.
ALUCA Life Insurance Excellence Award Winner – Leader of the Year: Tina Beilby, Chief Underwriter, Zurich
A day in the life of Tina Beilby starts with a very early morning walk along the bay watching the spectacular sunrise and cruise ships coming into the port. Work then begins with emails on the tram, plane or whatever's going that day before attending to meetings or phone calls ranging from underwriting operations, sales, technical signoffs or 'peopling' stuff – anything goes! The excitement of the unknown keeps me on my toes and it's a miracle if I ever get through my to-do list – yes I still attempt one each day. I must admit though, the diversity of my role and the people I interact with day to day is what I love the most.
How and why did you get into a career in Life Insurance. Honestly, it was purely driven as a teenager wanting my financial independence to earn my keep and fund my adventures! My sister was working for National Mutual at the time and arranged an interview with her boss. I worked in new business, calculations, corporate super and even worked in the disability department – yep, they had their own department back then! Underwriting was something that fascinated me which I experimented with for a while but didn't think there was any future in it for an Adelaide girl (if only I knew!) so I gave it up to work in the sales team at Prudential before getting back into the underwriting world. The rest is history as they say!
What makes my job interesting…the diversity, the people and the constant learning and development. Every day is a school day and I love to learn and experience new things.
My role's greatest challenge… is managing multiple priorities in a world where the most valuable currency is speed!
What excites me the most about working at Zurich…the opportunities to be involved in global projects or work overseas as well as the local opportunities in a constantly evolving business.
Four words to describe me.. driven, committed, focused and fun
Who has been the biggest influence on my career and why…Andrew McPherson who inspired me to get back into underwriting after seeing the massive value he added to the business. Lindy Rule who took a chance on me many years ago in little ol' Adelaide town, John Leonard for realizing my ambition of working interstate and Peter Tilocca – my mentor throughout my career in underwriting, reinsurance and leadership and still my mentor today.
And last but not least, my husband who always believes in me even when I don't believe in myself.
The most valuable skill an underwriter can possess is…being open-mined and creative. Anyone can stamp a 'book' decision on a case but the real value in an underwriter is someone who understands how pricing, underwriting & claims experience all correlate and utilizes this unique skill set to find solutions a URE or guideline can't. Of course communication is key and it goes without saying that being approachable and easy to communicate with will go a long way to the value you add. All of this is the reason many adviser surveys rate underwriting so highly as a key driver of overall satisfaction.
My best advice for young underwriters or claims and rehab managers…Firstly always put yourself in the customer or advisers shoes – they don't know what we know so it's our responsibility to demystify the insurance lingo into something real for them and make the insurance journey as painless as possible for them.
Secondly, never pass up the opportunity to attend any training offered by your employer. I've had the privilege of attending many internal and external courses which have taught me so much about myself as a person, a peer and a leader. And lastly, invest in your own development – we're very fortunate to be working in an industry that values continuous learning but don't always rely on your employer to provide this. Read books or blogs, listen to podcasts, join associations like Toastmasters or Business Chicks to network with interesting people and learn different perspectives outside the industry we work in. You'll be surprised at how many light bulb moments you have when you mix in different circles.
What made you want to enter ALUCA's Life Insurance Excellence Awards? We submitted many nominations across the different categories because we're so proud of being part of such an amazing team with amazing individuals in it – this in itself deserves celebrating! The leadership award was a very pleasant surprise for me.
What did winning ALUCA's Life Insurance Excellence Leadership award mean to you as a leader? I felt so honoured to be nominated by my team I figured I must be doing something right – I can't think of a prouder moment in my career. And being recognised by industry peers was just awesome! I highly recommend it!
A parting word of advice or tips to ALUCA members looking at entering ALUCA's Life Insurance Excellence Awards? We're quite a modest bunch of technical professionals and often don't recognize the massive contribution we make to peoples lives every day so don't take for granted the difference you and your peers make and nominate away!


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Amarind's Thai Restaurant | Oak Park | $$
If Arun Sampanthavivat's posh restaurant doesn't fit your budget, try this serene Thai eatery owned by chef Rangsan Sutcharit, a nine-year veteran of Arun's. The room is simple, but the menu, elegant plating, and painstakingly artistic garnishes are hard to beat at these prices. Fluffy chive dumplings are light as a cloud and served with a black soy dipping sauce redolent of molasses. The crab rolls are also intriguing: cylinders of ground crabmeat and chicken are rolled in tofu skin, briefly fried, then cut on the bias into one-inch-thick slices and set off by a sweet but piquant apricot honey sauce. Soup and noodle dishes are tasty, especially the house noodles—a large serving of delicate homemade spinach noodles with shrimp, crab, and bean sprouts tossed in a ground-chile-and-tamarind sauce. An entree not to be missed is the beef panang curry; the satiny sauce was otherworldly. —Laura Levy Shatkin 6822 W. North, 773-889-9999, amarinds.com. Lunch: Tue-Sat;. Dinner: Sun, Tue-Sat.
Aroy Thai | Ravenswood | $
I'd long ago written off Aroy Thai as just another boring, treacly sweet AmeriThai noodle slinger, but thanks to the persistent endorsement of our pals at LTHForum, I've become obsessed with its Thai Classics menu, which puts it on equal footing with Spoon, TAC Quick, and Sticky Rice in the city's pantheon of great Thai restaurants. Compared to the lighter, sweeter fare at TAC, chef-owner Sudjai Nakyaem has a richer, funkier style all her own with dishes like the sour, rich, blistering tom yam beef ball and tendon soup, a thick omelet topped with a Bolognese-like mountain of coconut milk-braised ground pig (chou-chi ground pork), or a bracing stir-fried Chinese broccoli with salty preserved fish. Best of all, with enough advance notice Nakyaem's son, Tee Kowcharoen, is often willing to take orders for off-menu dishes such as a spicy but refreshingly cool roasted eggplant and shrimp salad that lowers the mercury on a sweltering night. BYO. —Mike Sula 4656 N. Damen, 773-275-8360. Lunch, dinner: daily.
The Elephant | Forest Glen | $
It was big news when Apinya "Ann" Leevathana opened the Elephant along a busy but culinarily humdrum stretch of Devon back in 2004—there still isn't another Thai restaurant for miles. Though Leevathana is from Bangkok and wears an apron covered with pictures of red chiles, she isn't pushing aggressively spicy dishes on her unsuspecting neighbors, but her interpretations of the usual suspects are well above average. Her egg rolls are crunchy and plump with glass noodles and garnished with large, fresh leaves of Thai basil. Chive dumplings, which can so easily deliquesce into soggy blobs, come out of her kitchen crisp and hot. Her hand-cut papaya salad gives a slow burn that shouldn't scare off anyone (ask for it with dried shrimp, which is how Thais usually eat it). Leevathana really shines on the specials board: I had a salmon fillet, dressed in slivered ginger, that was cooked perfectly, moist and medium rare. She can be prodded to ramp up the heat to—the larb chicken and tom yum goong provided the burning ecstatic high I jones for. For dessert she has a few different bubble teas, another anomaly this far northwest of Argyle and Chinatown, but maybe the sweetest finish is when she bestows free fruit upon her customers, with a salt, sugar, and chile mixture to dredge it in, or plain fresh pears from her own tree. BYO. —Mike Sula 5348 W. Devon, 773-467-1168. Lunch, dinner: Mon-Sat.
Me Dee Cafe | Ravenswood | $
Me Dee Cafe is an odd little place, a mere six tables squeezed in amid a wall of Thai snacks, a freezer full of mochi, and walls decorated with squabbling cartoon brats and wide-eyed, troubled-looking cows. The main dishes are inexpensive but decorously presented Ameri-Thai standards with hints of fusiony gimmickry—a noodle dish tossed with fat disks of Polish sausage, or grilled mushrooms with chihuahua cheese, or entrees garnished with raspberry and blackberry gumdrops. But Me Dee has far more to offer than that. First, there's an unusually wide assortment of sweets—in addition to jellies and teas, there are cheesecakes and mochi; a tangle of deep-fried banana, taro, and sweet potato slices; and frozen desserts including a smooth, creamy lemongrass-green tea ice cream. But I was most excited about the half-dozen varieties of Lay's brand Thai potato chips for sale (sadly, they're not in stock at the moment). Extra barbecue and Mexican barbecue don't taste radically different from their U.S. counterparts, and nori seaweed doesn't really distinguish itself. But seafood flavors like chile squid are a bit sweet and not unpleasantly fishy, and my favorite, sweet basil, builds to an incendiary burn. On top of that, Me Dee offers a late-night menu of congee with traditional sides available after 9 PM; options include a Thai omelet, stir-fried water spinach, and a spicy clam stir-fry. BYO. —Mike Sula 4805 N. Damen, 773-989-4444, medeecafe.com. Daily 4 PM-1:30 AM.
Spoon Thai | Lincoln Square | $
It's not like there's been a revolution against boring Thai food in Chicago, but there's certainly a healthy resistance, and it was born in Chai and Vanna Gumtrontip's little Lincoln Square restaurant. Spoon was the first place in the city willing to serve authentic, fully flavored Thai food to non-Thais. It began in the summer of '03 with the discovery of the Thai-language "secret menu" by a handful of obsessive chowhounds, who had it translated and began plumbing the depths of its aggressive, brilliantly seasoned dishes. Word spread, and though waitstaff sometimes had a hard time believing that non-Thais had the stomach for the real stuff (some servers still do), eventually they stopped blinking and began relinquishing funky Issan sausage, rich boat noodles, banana blossom salad, one-bite salad, incendiary papaya salad sprinkled with dried shrimp or pickled crab, and the miraculous Thai-style fried chicken (kai thawt), deeply penetrated with lemongrassy, peppery flavors and served with a tamarind dipping sauce. I'm a long way from navigating the depths of this vast repertoire, but so far some of my favorite items are naem khao thawt, a tangy, crispy fried rice salad with peanuts, cilantro, and pressed ham; phat phrik sa-taw muu sap, minced pork and bitter beans; and Issan-style minced duck salad. BYO. —Mike Sula 4608 N. Western, 773-769-1173, spoonthai.com. Lunch, dinner: seven days.
Sticky Rice Thai | North Center | $
The first time I went to the northern-Thai-focused Sticky Rice it was by chance. The half-dozen return visits in the next month? Those were intentional. A wonder cabinet of Thai food, Sticky Rice, run by a charming and very patient staff, is endlessly interesting and cheap enough to serve as your substitute kitchen. Their standard English-language menu would be novel enough, with things like deep-fried quail and shrimp on sugarcane, but thanks to a translation of the lengthy Thai-language menu, the options are almost inexhaustible. I've only excavated a tiny quadrant of both menus, but among the standouts are banana blossom salad, Burmese-style curry, duck curry with lychees, and northern Thai larb (made with ground pork and intestine). The only real problem with Sticky Rice is that it's so hard to relinquish these known pleasures for unknowns. But be bold: you can't spend your whole life eating jellyfish salad, after all. Also, with dishes like fried worms and ant-egg omelet, Sticky Rice is your Chicagoland insect-eating destination. BYO. —Nicholas Day 4018 N. Western, 773-588-0133, stickyricethai.com. Lunch, dinner: daily. Open late: Mon-Sat till 11.
TAC Quick | Wrigleyville | $
Andy Aroonrasameruang, formerly of Banana Leaf, and his likable staff probably make it easier than anywhere else to get traditional stuff the way it's eaten in Thailand. Aside from the regular menu there's a clearly translated Thai menu available by request with almost 40 items you're not likely to encounter elsewhere without a working knowledge of the language—like a salad of shrimp, cashews, and fish maw, sort of a fishy pork rind that soaks up the flavor of the sauce like a crouton. Some were surprisingly rich and luscious for Thai cuisine, like minced chicken sweetened with thick soy sauce, garnished with crispy fried basil leaves, and served over quartered preserved duck eggs. TAC, which stands for Thai Authentic Cuisine, doesn't do breakfast, but they serve an omelet topped with pieces of chicken breast and doused with green curry that I would love to wake up to. Pad thai—which in many places has turned into the worst kind of bland, oversweetened mush—takes on another life when it's folded into an omelet. Aroonrasameruang pushes some excellent things on his specials boards too, including a tender grilled pork neck that approaches the narcotic succulence of the best barbecue. He also does a wild-boar curry with green Thai eggplant and meaty chunks of swine rimmed with thick rinds of gorgeous fat. It would take a good week of dedicated eating to work through all the interesting things on the menu. BYO. —Mike Sula 3930 N. Sheridan, 773-327-5253, tacquick.net. Lunch, dinner: Sun-Mon, Wed-Satur.
Thai Pastry | Uptown | $
A display case at the front of this cheerful room presents exquisite pastries created by chef-owner Aumphai ("Add") Kusub: pink-and-green rice vermicelli served with a sweet coconut-milk sauce, jewel-toned mini gelatin molds, and a variety of beautiful cakes. The menu is just as enticing, full of offerings like baby egg rolls with minced shrimp; mee krob, crispy vermicelli in a sweet plum sauce; and kuchai, pillows of freshly rolled rice noodles stuffed with chive greens in a sweet and spicy vinegar sauce. A showstopper from the back of the menu is the clam curry—lots of perfectly steamed shelled clams with long, flat strips of sour bamboo in a red curry coconut-milk broth served in a hot ceramic pot. There's also an array of whole fish like red snapper. BYO. —Laura Levy Shatkin 4925 N. Broadway, 773-784-5399, thaipastry.com. Lunch, dinner: daily. Open late: Fri & Sat till 11.


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|Will the Commission listen to stakeholders' call for a "fitness check" of CAP?
|BirdLife International
|21 Sep 2016
|Agriculture & Food, Climate & Environment
|Will the Commission let the WEEE and RoHS proposals undermine its European Economic Recovery Plan?
|27 Nov 2008
|Climate & Environment
|Will Europe avoid another "Copenhagen fiasco"?
|BirdLife International
|07 Jul 2010
|Health & Consumers, Climate & Environment
|Will Environment Ministers put biodiversity back on its way to recovery?
|BirdLife International
|15 Mar 2010
|Climate & Environment, Health & Consumers
|Why data analytics in agriculture is critical to the Green Deal
|14 Apr 2022
|Climate & Environment
|What role for everyday people in the climate crisis? ENERGISE Living Labs achieve energy reductions by challenging social norms in the home
|21 Oct 2019
|Energy, InfoSociety, Climate & Environment
|Wetland aliens cause bird extinction
|BirdLife International
|26 May 2010
|Climate & Environment, Health & Consumers, Sustainable Dev.
|Wer zahlt für den Klimaschutz? Klimagerechtigkeit jetzt!
|DIE LINKE. im Europaparlament
|14 Sep 2021
|Climate & Environment
|Welcoming Member States' positive signal for tackling deforestation and stepping up market transformation
|FEDIOL - Federation for European Oil and Proteinmeal Industry
|17 Dec 2019
|Agriculture & Food, Climate & Environment
|Welcoming group tourism by coach is good for the environment and good for the economy
|IRU - International Road Transport Union
|27 Apr 2011
|Climate & Environment, Transport
|Weekly preview of the Greens/EFA group - 5-9 September 2011
|05 Sep 2011
|Climate & Environment
|WEEE recast – Is the glass half full or half empty?
|04 Feb 2011
|Climate & Environment, Euro & Finance
|WEEE Directive revision: Policy makers decide but important loophole remains
|APPLiA - Home Appliance Europe
|12 Jan 2012
|Climate & Environment
|WEEE - Main Comments on Commission Recast Proposal for Directive 2002/96/EC (WEEE)
|18 Mar 2009
|Climate & Environment
|We need green, knowledge-based social market economy - which turns the focus back to the people, say S&D MEPs
|S&D - Socialists and Democrats
|21 Apr 2016
|Social Europe & Jobs, Climate & Environment, Trade & Society
|We must strengthen protection against natural disasters in Europe, say S&Ds
|S&D - Socialists and Democrats
|17 May 2018
|Climate & Environment
|We expect non-EU airlines to contribute to the fight against climate change, including the UK, say S&Ds
|S&D - Socialists and Democrats
|13 Sep 2017
|Transport, Climate & Environment
|We can all contribute to achieving the Paris goals, say S&D MEPs attending the COP 23 in Bonn
|S&D - Socialists and Democrats
|13 Nov 2017
|Sustainable Dev., Climate & Environment
|Water – a priority for the European Paper Industry
|CEPI - Confederation of European Paper Industries
|05 May 2009
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|Water utilities support water reuse
|EurEau - European Federation of National Associations of Water & Waste Water Services
|23 Mar 2011
|Sustainable Dev., Climate & Environment
|Water insecurity: time for action
|16 Dec 2011
|Sustainable Dev., Climate & Environment
|Water Footprint & Water Stewardship
|EWP - European Water Partnership
|03 Sep 2010
|Climate & Environment, Sustainable Dev.
|Waste-to-Energy has still a place in the EU Taxonomy
|ESWET - European Suppliers of Waste to Energy Technology
|26 Apr 2021
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|Waste electric and electronic goods (WEEE) Tougher EU rules a step closer after EP vote
|04 Oct 2011
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|Wake up call for policymakers as China overtakes EU on wind installations
|10 Feb 2016
|Energy, Sustainable Dev., Climate & Environment
|VW: EPP Group expects Verheugen to shed light on scandal
|EPP Group in the European Parliament
|12 Jul 2016
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|Voting recommendations on the draft report of Rapporteur Caroline Jackson on the proposal for a Waste Directive
|15 Apr 2008
|Sustainable Dev., Climate & Environment
|Vote on CO2 limit compensation postponed "Use this opportunity to promote European climate protection technologies!"
|VDMA - Mechanical Engineering Industry
|14 Jun 2022
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|Voluntary agreement between ENEL and the Italian Ministry of the environment
|10 Jul 2009
|Climate & Environment
|Vogelgrippe: NABU bemängelt Ursachenforschung zur Virenverbreitung
|NABU - Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union
|16 Nov 2016
|Climate & Environment


text:
Edward Buthusiem, Cheray Sieminski, and Gary Miller led the full-day workshop "Transparency Reporting for Dental/Medical Manufacturers and Distributors." The forum brought together industry professionals from over 20 of the largest dental companies to collaborate on the regulatory and legal landscape.
BRG and the Dental Trade Alliance co-hosted the workshop, which provided up-to-date information on transparency reporting laws, practical guidance on how to handle reporting requirements, and strategies on preparing for additional risks and potential scrutiny the published transparency data will likely create.
Visit the event site for more information.


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From Charlie Todd of Improv Everywhere:
Harry Potter In Real Life – Movies In Real Life (Episode 8)
For this week's episode of Movies In Real Life we sent an 11-year-old actor dressed as Harry Potter into New York's Pennsylvania Station to search for Platform 9 3/4. Harry wandered the station with a caged owl and a luggage cart and asked both strangers and transit employees how to get to the Hogwarts Express.
This project is part of our new series, Movies in Real Life. Every Tuesday, we"™re releasing a new video that brings an iconic movie moment to life in the real world.
Created and Directed by Charlie Todd / Produced by: Deverge / Music by Tyler Walker
For more of the story and photos, visit here.


text: Our stories Magic Blog Wow Wahaca what a morning! 21 October 2019 What a way to start the day! On Thursday a group of lucky children from Lawdale Primary in London were invited to Wahaca, Oxford Circus to learn all about Mexican cooking, and the next day it was the turn of pupils from Oasis Academy Johanna and Henry Fawcett Primary School who met up at Wahaca in Waterloo. The staff had gone to a lot of trouble at both restaurants, producing fabulous Magic Breakfast activity mats and arranging for chefs to give the children an amazing hands-on lesson on what goes into their delicious Mexican-style street food. The children had a go at making guacamole with a giant pestle and mortar and learnt about the key ingredients used in traditional Mexican cuisine. Lots of the children were able to try foods and flavours they'd never had before. Quesadillas for breakfast got a big thumbs up! Thank you so much to Wahaca for making everyone so welcome and to its co-founder, Thomasina Miers, for her fantastic support. Manage Cookie Preferences


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B1X1NF Crystal Clear No Flap Bags – 1 ½" x 1 9/16"
Our B1X1NF Crystal Clear No Flap Bag measures 1 ½" x 1 9/16" with the opening of the bag on the 1 ½" side and offers a perfect fit for 1" x 1" stamps or flat products up to about 1 1/4" square. You might like this bag for charms, coins, stickers, and collectible items. Our Crystal Clear No Flap Bags work best when an adhesive closure is not needed or preferred.
Availability: In stock
|Part No.
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|(Qty) 25
|38mm x 40mm 1 1/2" x 1 9/16"
Larger orders, please contact us for pricing.
Product Details
The B1X1NF is made of 1.6 mil BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene), which offers exceptional clarity and durability while also being food safe and acid-free archival safe. Crystal Clear No Flap Bags are the same style and quality as traditional Crystal Clear Bags except that they do not have a flap or an adhesive closure. The constant opening allows for quick and easy removal of items. Bag sizes list the opening of the bag as the first dimension. Bag dimensions have +/- 1/16" size tolerance.
- Colour:
- Thickness: 1.6
- Material: BOPP (Biaxially Oriented Polypropylene)
- Closure: Open-Ended
- Opening Dimension: 1.5
Features & Benefits
Uses: Most popular use is for 1" x 1" stamps or flat products up to about 1 1/4" square. This product also works well with the following:
- Stickers
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Write Your Own Review


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About JAKWEB 04.07.2021 2031
We have received great Feedback about the new Cloud Desk 3 release a couple of days ago but it had also a few bugs that we quickly fixed.
Please login with your account and head to our support area.
Are you interested in building your very own Live Support and Chat Business? Cloud Desk 3 will provide you with everything you need! Included is a complete administration panel for managing your clients, a sign up page the same as here: Cloud Desk 3 / Sign Up - Demo (can be customised of course, pure HTML), the complete Cloud Desk 3 with payment integration, subscriptions and membership control plus world class support access. IOS and Android Apps native app access straight from the App and Google Play Store.
Contact us, start a chat to discuss the details, or purchase your complete license with our partner Envato: Cloud Desk 3 today.
Thank you very much for your patience and lots of feedbacks. We whish you a successful business with Cloud Desk 3.
We would like to thank you once again for the great feedback and enjoy the latest release for the most complete support solution available.


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"Before the discovery of insulin in 1922, diabetes was often a fatal disease."
Local MSP David Stewart, Labour, is keen to nominate John Macleod for the new Bank of England £50 note which will feature a scientist.
David Stewart who is a Diabetes Champion in the Scottish Parliament said:
" I would like to nominate the late scientist John Macleod, an Aberdonian, who shared the 1923 Nobel Prize with Frederick Banting, a young Canadian physician, for their discovery of insulin at the University of Toronto in 1921–1922
"On 8 November 1920, John, the educated Professor of Physiology at the University of Toronto, met for the first time a young Canadian physician, Frederick Banting. Banting hoped Macleod would help him try out a research idea aimed at isolating the internal secretion of the pancreas. Macleod agreed to take Banting into his department and together they worked on a research plan along with their Assistants.
"On 3 May 1922, John Macleod read a paper to the American Association of Physicians, co-authored by Banting and called 'The Effect Produced on Diabetes by Extracts of Pancreas'. The audience, which included America's leading diabetologists, gave him a standing ovation for the work they had done in isolating the pancreatic hormone that controlled metabolism, which they named 'insulin'.
"In October 1923 it was announced in Stockholm that Frederick Banting and John Macleod would share the 1923 Nobel Prize for their discovery.
"As some will be aware Insulin is a hormone made by the pancreas that allows your body to use sugar (glucose) from carbohydrates in the food that you eat for energy or to store glucose for future use. The cells in your body need sugar for energy.
"Before the discovery of insulin in 1922, diabetes was often a fatal disease.
"Alarmingly one in 20 people in Scotland have diabetes which is now effectively treated by Insulin.
"As Parliamentary Diabetes Champion this is an issue close to my heart and I think the late John MacLeod, a forgotten medical hero is the perfect nominee to appear on the front of the new £50"
Categories: Uncategorized


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The Los Angeles Lakers' new head coach Mike D'Antoni is expected to contact Nate McMillan about potentially becoming his defensive assistant coach, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com.
Adding the defensive-minded McMillan to the Lakers' staff could potentially shore up some of the concerns about D'Antoni's shortcomings as a defensive coach. Known primarily for their tempo-pushing Seven Seconds or Less offense and masterful execution of the pick and roll, D'Antoni's squads have been criticized for their struggles defensively. McMillan and D'Antoni both served as assistant coaches on the 2008 U.S. national team.
The 48-year-old McMillan spent 2000-2005 as the head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, and the following six and a half seasons as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. He was fired by the Blazers in March of 2012 and later served as an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski for the U.S. national team during the 2012 London Summer Olympics.
This story was originally published on SBNation.com.


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Manteca and Oakdale visited East Union Thursday to open the Valley Oak League season, and while the Mustangs swept, the Buffaloes and Lancers split with the East Union boys claiming an 83-35 win, and the Manteca girls winning 66-55.
On the boys' side, East Union's Daniel Martz claimed first in the 1600, while Ryan Somphithack captured gold in the 100-meter dash and the triple jump.
Tim Mora finished first in the discus and Aaron Dyke won the 800.
For Manteca, Brad Hatfield took third in the high jump (5-feet, 5-inches), while Cameron Lucas was third in the 400-meter and second in the 200-meter.
"The boys did an awesome job," EU head coach Anne Anthony said. "It was a good meet all around."
On the girls' side, Manteca's Briana Lucas took second in the 200-meter and won the 400-meter, while Juliana Flores took second in the 100-meter.
"It was Briana's first varsity meet and she performed well," Buffaloes head coach Sean Hogan said. "She did a wonderful job."
Janiece Villanueva took first in the 1600 and second in the 800 for East Union, and Veronica Villanueva claimed gold in the 3200.
Jenna Fields, meanwhile won both the shot put and discus events, and Kati Davi claimed the high jump crown.
Oakdale downed East Union 107-28 on the boys' side and 92-43 on the girls'.
Sierra 114, Central Valley 20 (B)
The Timberwolves kicked off the VOL season with a pair of wins over the Hawks.
Among the highlights on the boys' side, Bryan Smith finished first in the 110-meter high hurdles (17.01 seconds), and Matt Greer won the pole vault (11-feet).
Zeke Knapps claimed first in the 200-meter with a time of 23.62 seconds, and Jeremy Vargas was first overall in the 3200 (11:32).
John Bowers won both the 800 (2:12), and 1600 (4:57), Michael Garcia won the 300 hurdles (44:39), and Richard Lopez took home gold in the 400-meter (56:84).
For the girls, Courtney Whitlock won both the 110 and 300 hurdles with times of 17.14 and 51.31 seconds, respectively, while sister Becca finished second in the 110 (18.30) and third in the 300 (56.24).
Jessica Montiel won the 1600 (6:19), Taylor-Renee Wilson claimed the 400 in 1-minute, 6-seconds, Laurie Hoffman won the pole vault (7-6), and Jena Anderson was best in the triple jump (30-.5).
Christina Westover won both the discus (104-2) and the shot put (35-3), and Shenadra Pitts won the 200 with a time of 26.90 seconds.
"It was a good start to league," Sierra head coach Anthony Chapman said. "The kids were anxious for it, and it was good to run against other schools."
Next week, Sierra travels to Oakdale for a meet that has become the annual clash for VOL supremacy.
"We wanted them focused this week," Chapman said, "because we have a monster next week. It's always close when we face Oakdale, no matter who wins, it's never a blowout. We're hoping to be competitive."
In the foothills, what was supposed to be a double-dual was scored as a tri-meet by Sonora, and, as a result, Weston Ranch head coach Rick Cuevas voiced his concerns with the VOL representative on hand.
The scoring will be worked out this week with the league.
The Cougars had a number of highlights, however, including solid performances from all of the usual suspects.
Roberto Alvarez took first in the 3200 and the 1600, finished second in the 800, and ran the anchor for the winning 4x400 team.
Kobie Good was outstanding, finishing first in the 100 and the 200 and was a part of the winning 4x100 team, while Angell Mayfield only ran the 110 hurdles, finishing first.
Mayfield is currently ranked No. 3 in California in the 300 hurdles, but rested a sore hamstring in the event Wednesday.
In the throwing events, Kendrick Parker claimed gold in the shot put and finished runner-up in the discus.
"We had a lot of second places," Cuevas said. "It was a good meet for us, despite the scoring problems."
The Cougars swept the 100 and 200's and finished first, second and third in the 400's.
Weston Ranch travels to Manteca next week for a double-dual – presumably – with Manteca and Lathrop.


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Living in Britain you very quickly get used to Christmas = mince pies. No gathering at this time of year seems complete without a just-out-of-the-oven tray of warm and crumbly mince pies. Some are spectacularly boozey, others more wholesome with chunks of fresh fruit in with the dried. You can also make them a bit 'skinnier' (it is all relative) by using phyllo pastry instead of the usual shortcrust.
Very much a British thing, mincemeat – the filling of mince pies – is not actual minced meat but instead a heady compote of dried fruits, some kind of fat (often suet), nuts, sugar, sometimes booze, and plenty of warm spice. It used to be made with meat, but thankfully this is no longer the case or I doubt very much whether it would be as popular a pie filling as it is.
It is not desperately healthy, especially as it is traditionally encased in crumbly buttery pastry, but homemade versions ensure that even if this is not a waist-friendly sweet treat it will at least be made with good ingredients.
To be honest I'm not overly fond of bought mince pies, the filling tending towards the overly sweet and the pastry often a bit flabby, but I am also too lazy to make my own. All of that rolling and stamping out makes me want to break out in a not very festive sweat. So instead of turning out diddy wee pies that a 7-year old would be ashamed to serve, this year I have opted for the lazy baker's friend, the galette: French, free-form and fruity.
There is just enough fruit in this pear, mincemeat and cranberry galette to make it onto food to glow. But only just. Slice yourself a small piece and serve it with a creamy spoonful of coconut yogurt or crème fraiche. Sure it is a bit decadent, so do share. A slice of Britain, via France, by an ex-pat American. A happy fusion, I think.
Pear, Mincemeat and Cranberry Galette
– based on my Fig and Plum Galette –
No mincemeat? Perhaps make it make it with cranberry sauce mixed with raisins and chopped nuts, and generous pinches of cinnamon, ginger, allspice and clove. Or go in another direction and just use the fruit (adding a bit more), a generous drizzle of the syrup from a jar of preserved ginger, and some extra crushed nuts to keep the pastry from getting a soggy bottom.
140g (1 cup) white spelt flour OR unbleached plain/AP flour
50g (1/2 cup) + 3 tbsp almonds– blitzed in a food processor to make a slightly coarse flour
¾ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp fine salt
100g (1 stick, minus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter OR vegan margarine/coconut oil – very cold and diced
1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
4 tbsp ice-cold water
3 tbsp ground almonds
12 tbsp best quality mincemeat (bought or homemade) – more as needed to spread on pastry
2 smallish pears or eating apples, thinly spiced
50g (1/2 cup) cranberries
To finish
1 egg yolk OR non-dairy milk
2 tbsp raw demerera or other chunky sugar
1 tbsp warmed honey, ginger syrup or maple syrup – optional
1. You really need a food processor to get the best dough, but you can also use a pastry cutter or knife – but no fingers: too warm. Pop the flour, 50 grams ground almonds, ginger and cinnamon, the salt and chilled butter/coconut oil in the bowl of the processor. Process until you get floury 'gravel' then slowly pour in the water and vinegar (I put them together beforehand), pulsing or stop-starting your machine until the dough just starts to form a ball. This should take just a few seconds. Turn the dough out onto a flour or polenta dusted surface and pat gently into a disc. Wrap in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least half an hour. Overnight is fine.
2. Remove the chilled dough and roll it out on a sheet of baking parchment that you have lightly dusted with flour or polenta. Roll it out to between a quarter and an eighth of an inch (3 mm), but you don't need to be precise. At all.
3. Leaving a 2 inch border or thereabouts, sprinkle on the remaining ground almonds and top with the mincemeat. Use a damp palette knife to spread the mincemeat. It doesn't need to be neat as now you top the galette with the fruit.
4. With the side of your hands, gently fold the dough over the fruit. Don't try and make it tidy as it will fold in soft pleats around the fruit. These pleats taste the best!
5. Brush the exposed dough with egg or milk, and sprinkle with sugar. Slide the galette and parchment onto a baking tray and bake at 180C/350F for about 30-35 minutes – depends on your oven. The crust will be very golden. You may want to brush on warmed honey, ginger syrup or maple syrup onto the exposed fruit as the galette comes out of the oven.
Serve with coconut yogurt, crème fraiche or ice cream. The galette keeps for another day in a cool room, but just eat it at room temperature for best results.
Apricot, Mincemeat and Hazelnut Rugelach via Franglais Kitchen
Christmas Tart (with mincemeat) via Botanical Baker
Christmas Soda Bread via Fab Food 4 All
Wholemeal Cranberry and Courgette Loaf via My Custard Pie
Chocolate Chestnut Truffle Cake via food to glow
Hint of Mint Cocoa Brownies via food to glow
Sticky Gingerbread with Vanilla-Apple Compote via food to glow