text:
By coincedence I've found myself explaining Cycling's Secret Sect to a couple of colleagues on two separate occasions over the past couple of months. Bicycle planners the both of them. Neither had heard of the group before and in both situations the discussion was whether or not countries like America and the UK would ever get on the bicycle bandwagon in any great numbers, as well as why they haven't done already.Especially considering the fact that so many cities and towns in Europe have rapidly and impressively increased the numbers of everyday cyclists of the course of two short years.
The secret sect I'm referring to is known in some circles as Vehicular Cyclists and is largely unknown in most international circles. I've had a draft of this article for a while but reading this post over at Crap Cycling in Waltham Forest yesterday made me dig it out.
I explained this Vehicular Cycling theory to my colleagues in brief. Saying that this group fight tooth and nail against virtually any form of separated bicycle infrastructure because their theory is based up on the premise that bicycles are 'vehicles' and therefore should act as the vehicles in the traffic, using the car lanes just like cars. The first colleague, upon hearing this explanation, merely said, "Do these people hit their children, too?"I couldn't confirm that they did, but I suggested that they made 'vroom vroom' sounds when cycling in traffic.Both agreed that this theory was quite far-fetched and I tend to agree. Since then I've asked some other colleagues at the Traffic Dept here in Copenhagen about Cycling's Secret Sect and the responses started with sighs and rolling of the eyes.After talking with so many bicycle advocates at Velo-City from around the world, I can understand that these Vehicular Cyclists are regarded in many areas as a frustrating deterrent to mainstreaming cycling. "A cold-sore that just won't go away", in the words of a German colleague. "Kinda like those vuvuzela horns at the World Cup", said his colleague.Goodness. What a lot of strong opinions about a relatively unknown group.It is a small, yet vocal, group that is male-dominated, testosterone-driven and that lacks basic understanding of human nature. They expect that everyone should be just like them - classic sub-cultural point of view - and that everyone should embrace cycling in traffic and pretending they are cars. They are apparently uninterested in seeing grandmothers, mothers or fathers with children or anyone who doesn't resemble then contributing to re-creating the foundations of liveable cities by reestablishing the bicycle as transport.Calling them a Sect is cheeky, sure. But so many aspects of this group resemble a sect. They have a Guru or two, whom they seem to worship. There's John Forester in the US and John Franklin, to a lesser extent, in the UK. Their numbers are few but they are noisy. They are aggressive. And their influence is destructive.The theory about Vehicular Cycling has been around for more than three decades. The reason that vehicular cycling can not be considered any more than a theory is quite simple.There is nowhere in the world where this theory has become practice and caused great numbers of citizens to take to the roads on a daily basis. It remains a theoretical manifesto for a fringe group of cyclists. They often refer to themselves as 'bicycle drivers'. Vroom Vroom.I asked a leading American bicycle advocate about vehicular cycling and he said, "They have had around 35 years to prove that it works. They haven't be able to. It's time to shelve the idea."Vehicular cycling, in the countries where the theory is popular, has done little for mainstreaming urban cycling and reestablishing the bicycle as a feasible, accepted and respected transport form, as it used to be.This is largely because the theory appeals to very few cycling enthusiasts who like to go fast. Going 'fast' is apparently important. This theory is also referred to as Effective Cycling and you can read that "Effective Cycling is Safer, Faster, and More Fun!" on the website of the theory's founder, John Forrester.
The group has a Wikipedia page that they guard fervently and where you can read about the theory. While we're linking to Wikipedia, here's a link to the Flat Earth Society.
The vast majority of Homo sapiens in countries without bicycle infrastructure share roads with cars by necessity, not choice. If we once again refer to the analogy of Ignoring the Bull, the vehicular cyclist crowd are the Pamplonans of cycling. They enjoy running with the bulls. Great for them. Completely and utterly useless for the rest of society, not to mention the Common Good, public health, liveable cities.
The group rejects bicycle infrastructure - it's not for them. Unfortunately, they often stand in the way of getting regular citizens onto bicycles. They come up with all manner of excuses when someone mentions Denmark or the Netherlands and the fact that infrastructure actually gets large numbers of people onto bicycles. "Won't work here", they say. They manipulate studies about the safety of infrastructure and actually spin it to the extreme, calling bicycle lanes 'dangerous'. They have a selective memory and never seem to mention all the bicycle infrastructure in the the early part of last century.They are unable to see that when you have a large percentage of the population riding bicycles, the benefits to society are overwhelmingly positive. They are also blind to the developments in Emerging Bicycle Cultures like French cities, Spanish cities and even cities like Dublin, Portland, New York, Philadelphia, etc etc. People are returning to the bicycle thanks to infrastructure and taming of the bull. All over the world.Their guru, John Forester, on a forum earlier this year, went so far as to cave in. Effectively giving up. It has been remarked on some of these lists that I, Forester, have given up with respect to governmental negotiation in bicycling affairs. That is not so. but I need to make my position clear. I have concluded that the political power of the bicycle advocates is so strong that we bicycle drivers are unable to prevent most of what these bicycle advocates advocate. Where they propose items that have many traffic-operational defects we may be able to prevent such items being approved and installed. Bike boxes seem to be the current candidates for this position. However, I am not optimistic about our ability to prevent even such monstrosities as bike boxes, given the political power pushing them.I have concluded that we bicycle drivers should concentrate our energy on revitalizing and preserving our right to operate as drivers of vehicles. I know that it sounds social to argue that those who desire incompetent and therefore dangerous bicycle transportation, on the basis that anti-motoring trumps cyclist safety and efficiency, ought to be allowed to have their way, since there is no practical way of stopping them. But that's the world as it is. We have tried for thirty five years now to change society to a bicycle driving policy, and society not only has defeated us at every turn but has developed more ways of preventing or discouraging bicycle driving. We must devote our efforts to both preserving what we still have, and reversing the legal (I don't bother about the social aspects) discriminations that work to prevent bicycle driving.Why don't I bother about the social aspects? First, hoping to change American social opinion against bicycle driving is hopeless. Second, we can live with the occasional nastiness from motorists; after all, that has been present since, probably, the 1930s. Yes, some of us think that American social opinion opposing bicycle driving is a deterrent to cycling in general, and should be opposed because it makes cycling unpopular. However, nothing that we do in that respect will make bicycle driving popular; it will only assist in making cyclist-inferiority cycling more popular, because that's what the public wants. And this consideration has the same reservation that all our political efforts have, that we haven't a hope in Hell of changing American public opinion away from opposing bicycle driving. Don't waste effort on what has to be futile; concentrate the effort where it is most necessary, preserving our right to operate as drivers of vehicles.
Infrastructure. That's what the public wants. Reading his text one is struck by the tone. Another example of the sect-like approach of the group. 'We' are right and yet 'we' are misunderstood. 'They' oppose us. Etcetera.On the Wikipedia page about Sects, the English sociologist Roy Wallis argues that a sect is characterized by "epistemological authoritarianism". According to Wallis, "sects lay a claim to possess unique and privileged access to the truth or salvation and "their committed adherents typically regard all those outside the confines of the collectivity as 'in error'".
The American sociologists Rodney Stark and William Sims Bainbridge assert that "sects claim to be an authentic, purged, refurbished version of the faith from which they split". They further assert that sects have, in contrast to churches, a high degree of tension with the surrounding society.Here's an interesting blogpost from a Citizen Cyclist in the UK battling with the Pretend you're a car theory.
Can we call these people bicycle advocates? I'm not sure. They're advocating a certain kind of cycling. Stamp collectors are 'communication advocates' but they don't rant against emails and text messages and other forms of mainstream communication that benefit the Common Good and human interaction.It's as though a group of race walkers are advocating pedestrianism. Telling everyone that it's all about Effective Walking and that it's Safer, Faster and More Fun! Insisting that the general population walks just like them.35 years is a long time. Especially without any results to back up this sub-cultural theory. How many Citizen Cyclists could have had their lives extended by being provided with safe infrastructure, or lived a life with fewer illnesses? How many overweight people could have had the chance to cycle happily to work on bike lanes and keep fit? The number of potential daily cyclists who have been restricted access to the bicycle must number in the tens of millions. All because of the ideology of a self-serving group.Let's not wait another 35 years and see yet another generation become obese and suffer a long line of lifestyle illnesses. Now, more than ever, it's time to get people onto bicycles. With theories that have been proven. With best practice that has been established.Let's get to work.


text:
Service Notice: DC10 Data Recording Advisory
Please be advised that if a specific sequence of steps is performed on certain Canon DC10 DVD camcorders an error in data recording may occur and some images may not play back. The error may occur if, after recording, the DC10 camcorder is, in sequence, switched from OFF to PLAY mode and the DVD is ejected in less than five seconds
Your DC10 DVD camcorder may require service only if it meets the following two conditions. You may also contact Canon for assistance in determining whether these conditions have been met.
- The seventh digit in the serial number is "0" or "1"
The serial number may be found beneath the bar code inside the battery compartment. See photo
below. - A black dot mark does not appear on the inside of the DC In terminal cover.
The DC In terminal cover may be found on the rear of the camcorder next to the eject switch OPEN.
See photo below.
We have set up a plan to assist our customers and service the DC10 camcorders that may malfunction due to this situation. Repair service will be done free of charge.
Contact Information for Inquiries
Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Customer Support Center
Phone: 1-800-OK-CANON (toll free)
TTD: 1-866-251-3752 (toll free)
Email: email@example.com
Support options and hours of operation: www.usa.canon.com/support
This information is for residents of the United States of America and Puerto Rico only. If you do not reside in the USA or Puerto Rico, please contact the Canon Customer Support Center in your region.
We sincerely apologize for an inconvenience caused by this issue, and appreciate your understanding in this matter. Thank you for your support and patronage of Canon products.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Yellow Dog® Linux
What is Yellow Dog Linux?
An open source, Linux operating system for home, office, server, and cluster users. Built upon the RHEL/CentOS core, Fixstars has since the spring of 1999 developed and maintained YDL for the Power architecture family of CPUs. This focus and dedication has lead to the world's leading Linux for the Power architecture.
What is included?
Yellow Dog Linux combines a no non-sense graphical installer with support for a wide range of Power hardware, leading (but not bleeding) edge kernels and stable, functional compilers for code development. And of course, the foundation applications and servers expected for web, database, email, and network services. Greater than 2000 packages are included on the Install DVD.
A history of dedication and innovation.
YDL v6.1 brings to close a decade of support for the Power architecture by Terra Soft while introducing Fixstars' first release. What's more, YDL v6.1 expands support for Cell development with the introduction of the IBM Cell SDK v3.1, Barcelona Superscalar, and a suite of updated developer tools while maintaining the E17 desktop for a rich, dynamic, and powerful end user experience.


text:
College Football kicks off tonight: And I couldn't be more excited. Sure, LSU shouldn't be challenged by
40 35.
(2) "We're All Hokies Fans": Virginia Tech is already an overdone story, which is a shame, because it's the team story of the season. It'll get even better when the Hokies win at LSU, then sit staring at a table-running remainder of their schedule and a date with the BCS title game -- and destiny. (Again: This will be the most overwraught, maudlin storyline of the year.)
(3) Offensive Innovation: I'm not saying Florida created a new template for a championship team, but if the defense was fast and furious, the offense was eclectic and electric: The two-QB system, the lack of a traditional lead RB, the deployment of the best players, like Percy Harvin, anywhere (and everywhere) on the field.
Between the Gators in the South, West Virginia in the East, Michigan in the North, Louisville in the heartland, Cal and Boise State out West and Hawaii WAY out West, I think we'll see offensive Xs and Os that will change the future of the game.
(4) Defensive Dominance: Despite all of the offensive firepower that will generate most of the headlines and highlights, the reason the consensus Top 2 teams -- USC and LSU -- are where they are is because of their sick defenses. Meanwhile, the reason I picked Virginia Tech as my national champ was because the defense will be so dominant. Yet one more reason the VT-LSU game is the Game of the Year.
The Yankees and Mariners are tied for the AL Wild Card after
The Indians own Johan Santana: They beat him for the 4th time this season (they are the only team to beat him even 3 times). That, and
MLB Stud: Ben Sheets, who came off the DL to lead the Brewers to a near-must-win over the Cubs. (Ryan Braun also is coming very close to locking up the NL ROY, contributing a double with the bases loaded.)
NFL Get-Tough Policy: It's selective. Apparently, missing palimony payments doesn't rise to the level of triggering punishment through the league's personal conduct policy. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?!?!
Florida football might be effed: Speaking of CFB projecting, not to put too fine a point on it, but Florida lost their most important and valuable player: All-America candidate, senior captain and left tackle Phil Trautwein, who has a stress fracture in his right foot. He will certainly miss the first few weeks and could miss the entire season.
People can talk about Tebow, about Harvin, about Harvey or about any of the Gators' other weapons, but it was the potential of the O-line – led by Trautwein -- that anchored the promise of this offense to be spectacular (and making up for an inexperience, if speedy, D).
More CFB: Facebook breaks the news that the mainstream media couldn't -- Notre Dame's starting QB. Charlie Weis is powerful, but not more powerful than social media! (h/t EDSBS)
US Open: 6-foot-9 American sensation John Isner vs. Roger Federer in the next round might just be the most intriguing match-up of the men's tournament this year. Isner will get crushed, but as the Next Great American Hope, it'll be fascinating to see how he stacks up against the Best Ever. (Federer played last night in all-black, which was a badass look for the most dominant athlete in the world.)
Beckham Watch: Right knee sprained in SuperLiga final! What does this mean for his future this season?
NCAA Idiocy: Oh, for cripes sake: Just grant the waiver to let a booster pay for a recruit's funeral. This is a case of rules overriding reason.
Bernard Lagat: Wins 1500m for the
R.I.P. Richard Jewell, who in 1996 was put through a publicity hell most of us wouldn't wish on anyone.
CFB Picks: In a preview of tomorrow's Top 25 predictions (a weekly tradition carried over from last season):
Rutgers over
Boise St over Weber St.


text: Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. This story starts as a business transaction in West Haven, Connecticut. A man ordered coffee at a drive-thru Dunkin Donuts. Then, according to NBC Connecticut, he announced a robbery and tried to climb through the window. Luckily, his hot coffee was ready so the clerk threw it in his face. She followed that with a whole pot. The man fled and the clerk recalled the Dunkin Donuts slogan: Go run on Dunkin, she called after him. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
Do you still have to get pelvic exams even though you've had an HPV vaccination?
– Georgia*
You might need to get a pelvic exam, but it depends on how old you are and if you're having problems. People don't usually get their first pelvic exam until they are in their twenties, unless they're having problems like lower belly pain, abnormal discharge, or period trouble.
Doctors recommend that girls start seeing a gynecologist between ages 13 and 15. Most of the time, teen gyn visits don't involve a pelvic exam. The doctor or nurse practitioner will decide if you need one based on your medical history and physical health. Everyone's different.
If you've ever had sex, you shouldbe tested for sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) — even if you've had the full series of HPV shots. That's because the HPV vaccine only protects against HPV, not other STDs. People can have STDs like chlamydia and gonorrhea without knowing it.
STD tests don't always require a pelvic exam. Depending on what test you're getting, your doctor may be able to use a urine sample, blood sample, or a vaginal swab. Usually doctors only do a pelvic exam if there are specific symptoms that indicate a problem.
If your doctor or nurse practitioner recommends one, a pelvic exam can prevent any problems from getting worse.
If you have sex, including oral or anal sex, always use condoms to help prevent STDs.
*Names have been changed to protect user privacy.
Reviewed by: Christina M. Shultz, MD, Taina A. Trevino, MD
Date Reviewed: Jan 1, 2021
By using this site, you consent to our use of cookies. To learn more, read our privacy policy.


text:
At 3PM on Sunday on the Workshops stage, artist Jason Hadley will subject himself to the skilled ministrations of his own children, Ruby and Arlo, as they make an Alginate life-cast of his face. Jason has been making multimedia sculpture using life-casts of friends and family for years; now they get even. Dad won't be able speak while they smother his face in that gooey, quick drying stuff that dentists use to make spookily accurate molds.
Other workshops include hacking up your Gameboy so that it makes music (Making Music on Your Handheld Console with Little Piggy Tracker"); "PLARN" (learning to upcycle plastic shopping bags into yarn); and Bonsai with the past president of the East Bay Bonsai Society, Bill Castellon
All good stuff that can't be learned fully at a booth in the midst of a crowd. Check the full lineup.


text:
How to pair a Bluetooth speaker with a source device.
This page introduces instructions for pairing your Bluetooth speaker with a source device such as a Walkman, smartphone, computer, or Sony TV.
Before you start the pairing operation, please confirm the following:
- Refer to the operating instructions, or help guide for model-specific information.
- Place the source device within 1 m (3 feet) of the Bluetooth speaker.
- Make sure the Bluetooth speaker and source device are both sufficiently charged.
Bluetooth Speaker pairing procedure
Once Bluetooth devices are paired, there is no need to pair them again, except in the following cases:
- Turn on the speaker. The (power) indicator will light up or/and the (Bluetooth) indicator begins to flash.
NOTES:- When you turn on the speaker for the first time after purchase, the (Bluetooth) indicator will begin to flash quickly and the speaker automatically enters pairing mode. Proceed to step 3.
- When you turn on the speaker, the speaker tries to make a Bluetooth connection with the last connected Bluetooth device. If that device is nearby and its BLUETOOTH function is on, the BLUETOOTH connection will be established automatically and the (Bluetooth) indicator will stay lit. When you want to connect another Bluetooth device, terminate the current Bluetooth connection first, by operating the currently connected Bluetooth source device.
- Press and hold the (power) PAIRING button until you hear the voice guidance and the (Bluetooth) indicator begins to flash quickly. The speaker enters pairing mode.
- Perform the pairing procedure on the Bluetooth source device to detect the speaker.
NOTE: Complete pairing operations of the source device within 5 minutes. The pairing mode of the speaker ends after 5 minutes. If pairing mode ends, you must start pairing operations for the speaker over from the beginning.
Bluetooth source device pairing procedure:- Walkman
- Walkman device (NWZA Series, NWZE Series, NWZS Series, NWZX Series)
- Android device (smartphone, tablet)
- iOS device (iPhone, iPad)
- Windows 8.1 or 10
- Windows 7
- Mac
- Sony Android TVs
NOTE: Not all Sony Android TVs can be use with Bluetooth headphones or speakers, please verify that your TV model is in the list.
- Check that the (Bluetooth) indicator has switched from flashing to a steady light. When the speaker is successfully connected to the source device, the (Bluetooth) indicator will stay lit.
Helpful information on Bluetooth pairing
- When the speaker is restored to factory settings, all pairing information is deleted.
- Pairing information might be deleted after a repair, etc.
- If you exceed the maximum number of Bluetooth devices that can be paired (approx. 8), the oldest pairing information will be overwritten and replaced by any new pairing information.
- When the pairing information for the speaker has been deleted from the Bluetooth source device.


text:
My investigative reporting colleague Chris Hamby at the Center for Public Integrity has a compelling and troubling follow-up to our jointly-reported series last year on the resurgence of the deadly coal miners' disease black lung.
Hamby has spent the last year investigating the system that awards compensation to miners stricken with the disease. He found that miners face a concerted industry effort to deny compensation payments, which includes industry-hired lawyers withholding evidence favorable to miners and doctors at a major university "helping to defeat the claims of sick miners."
The series "Breathless and Burdened" began Tuesday with a detailed look at the "cutthroat approach" of the industry's "go-to law firm" for fighting black lung claims. Wednesday stories on the CPI website and ABC's World News and Nightline focus on the role of doctors at one of the nation's top-ranked university hospitals in rejecting claims. Friday, Hamby's series concludes with reports on the "the latest industry effort to defuse emerging scientific evidence and contain its liabilities."
In the first installment Tuesday, Hamby writes that "the role of lawyers in orchestrating sophisticated legal strategies to defeat claims for benefits is just the first chapter in the story of a system in which well-paid specialists thrive as miners struggle..."
In a "behind the story" sidebar, Hamby says, "it is difficult to imagine someone more voiceless or whose suffering is more silent than the Appalachian coal miner."
He found that black lung victims and their advocates had a widespread sense "that the deck was stacked against them. Many simply stopped bothering with what they considered a system gone horribly awry."
The reports are exhaustive, drawing on legal documents, hundreds of thousands of pages of medical records, and spreadsheets Hamby created to track and analyze thousands of cases.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
'Bath salts' ban: Many drugs remain legal
By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- People are inventing so many new ways to get high that lawmakers can't seem to keep up.
Over the past two years, the U.S. has seen a surge in the use of synthetic drugs made of legal chemicals that mimic the dangerous effects of cocaine, amphetamines and other illegal stimulants.
The drugs are often sold at small, independent stores in misleading packaging that suggests common household items like bath salts, incense and plant food. But the substances inside are powerful, mind-altering drugs that have been linked to bizarre and violent behavior across the country. Law enforcement officials refer to the drugs collectively as "bath salts," though they have nothing in common with the fragrant toiletries used to moisturize skin.
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President Barack Obama signed a bill into law earlier this month that bans the sale, production and possession of more than two dozen of the most common bath salt drugs. But health professionals say lawmakers cannot keep pace with bath salt producers, who constantly adjust their chemical formulations to come up with new synthetic drugs that aren't covered by new laws. Experts who have studied the problem estimate there are more than 100 different bath salt chemicals in circulation.
"The moment you start to regulate one of them, they'll come out with a variant that sometimes is even more potent," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
There are no back alleys or crack houses in America's latest drug epidemic. The problem involves potent substances that amateur chemists make, package and sell in stores under brands like "Ivory Wave," "Vanilla Sky" and "Bliss" for as little as $15. Emergencies related to the drugs have surged: The American Association of Poison Control Centers received more than 6,100 calls about bath salt drugs in 2011 _ up from just 304 the year before _ and more than 1,700 calls in the first half of 2012.
The problem for lawmakers is that it's difficult to crack down on the drugs. U.S. laws prohibit the sale or possession of all substances that mimic illegal drugs, but only if federal prosecutors can show that they are intended for human use. People who make bath salts and similar drugs work around this by printing "not for human consumption" on virtually every packet.
Barbara Carreno, a spokeswoman for the Drug Enforcement Agency, said the intended use for bath salts is clear.
"Everyone knows these are drugs to get high, including the sellers," she said.
Many states have banned some of the most common bath salts, which are typically sold by small businesses like convenience stores, tobacco shops and adult book stores. For instance, West Virginia legislators banned the bath salt drug MDPV last year, making it a misdemeanor to sell, buy or possess the synthetic drug. Conviction means up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Stephanie Mitchell, assistant manager of The Den, a tobacco and paraphernalia shop in Morgantown, W.Va., said the store hasn't sold bath salts in the six months that she's worked there. But strung-out users still come in and ask for them.
"They're pretty ... cracked out, I guess would be a good word," said Mitchell, 21, a student at West Virginia University. "They're just kind of not all there. They're kind of sketchy people."
Mitchell says she wouldn't sell bath salts even if she had them, "because it's horrible, and I could get in trouble for it."
Despite the bans, bath salts producers are constantly tweaking their recipes to come up with new drugs that aren't covered by local laws. In fact, Mark Ryan, director of the Louisiana Poison Center, says there are so many different drugs out there that it's almost impossible to know what people have ingested, or how long the effects will last.
"Cocaine is cocaine and meth is meth. We know what these things do," he said. "But with these new drugs, every time the chemist alters the chemical structure, all bets are off."
The most common bath salt drugs, like MDPV and mephedrone, were first developed in pharmaceutical research laboratories, though they were never approved for medical use. During the last decade they became popular as party drugs at European raves and dance clubs. As law enforcement began cracking down on the problem there, the drugs spread across the Atlantic Ocean.
Poison control centers in the U.S. began tracking use of the drugs in 2010. The majority of the early reports of drug use were clustered in Southern states like Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky. But the problem soon spread across the country.
The financial lure for small-time drugmakers is enticing. The drugs can be cheaply imported from China or India, and then easily packaged under local brands. For example, bath salts sold in Louisiana carry regional names like Hurricane Charlie or Bayou.
The widespread availability of the drugs in stores is equally alluring for drug users: they can get a cheap high similar to that of illegal drugs by walking to a corner store.
The most dangerous synthetic drugs are stimulants that affect levels of both dopamine and serotonin, brain chemicals that affect mood and perception. Users, who typically smoke or snort the powder-based drugs, may experience a surge in energy, fever and delusions of invincibility.
Use of these drugs has spread across the country with reports stretching from Maine to California. There are no official federal estimates on deaths connected with the drugs, many of which do not show up on typical drug tests. But police reports have implicated the drugs in several cases.
Packets of "Lady Bubbles" bath salts, for instance, were found on Sgt. David Franklyn Stewart last April after the solider shot and killed his wife and himself during a car chase with law enforcement near Olympia, Wash.
The chase began when Stewart sped past a police patrol car at 6 a.m. The police trooper pursued for 10 miles and reported seeing the driver raise a hand to his head, then heard a shot and saw the driver slump over. The next day police found the couple's 5-year-old son dead in their home; he had been suffocated with a plastic bag at least 24 hours earlier.
Another death involving bath salts played out in Covington, La. Police reported that Dickie Sanders, 21, shot himself in the head Nov. 11, 2010 while his parents were asleep.
His father, Dr. Richard Sanders, said his son had snorted "Cloud 9" bath salts and endured three days of intermittent delirium, at one point attempting to cut his own throat. As he continued to have visions, his physician father tried to calm him. But the elder Sanders said that as he slept, his son went into another room and shot himself.
Hospital emergency rooms, doctors and law enforcement agencies across the country have struggled to control bath salt drug users who often are feverish and paranoid that they are being attacked. Doctors say users often turn up naked because bath salts raise their body temperature so much that they strip off their clothing.
Cookeville Regional Medical Center in Tennessee has treated 160 people suspected of taking bath salts since 2010. Dr. Sullivan Smith, who works there, said people on the drugs become combative, and it can take four or five health professionals to subdue them. In some cases, he said, doctors have to use prescription sedatives that are typically reserved for surgery.
Smith recalls one man who had been running for more than 24 hours because he believed the devil was chasing him with an ax. By the time police brought him to the hospital, he was dehydrated and covered in blood from running through thorny underbrush.
"We're seeing extreme agitation, hallucinations that are very vivid, paranoia and some really violent behavior, so it's a real crisis for us," Smith said. "We sedate the living daylights out of them. And we're talking doses on the order of 10 or 20 times what you would give for a painful procedure."
To control the spread of the problem, the Drug Enforcement Agency issued a temporary ban in October on three of the most common drugs _ mephedrone, methylone and MDPV. That ban became permanent under the bill signed by Obama on July 10.
Under the law, anyone convicted of selling, making or possessing 28 synthetic drugs, including bath salts, will face penalties similar to those for dealing traditional drugs like cocaine and heroin.
Those on the front lines say the legislation is a good start. But they don't expect new laws to dramatically curb use of bath salts in the near term.
"The problem is these drugs are changing and I'm sure they're going to find some that are a little bit different chemically so they don't fall under the law," said Dr. Smith, the Tennessee doctor. "Is it adequate to name five or 10 or even 20? The answer is no, they're changing too fast."
Associated Press Writer Vicki Smith contributed to this report from Morgantown, W.Va


text:
The Internal Revenue Service has paid more than $2.8 million in bonuses to employees with recent disciplinary problems
(Copyright ©2014 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has paid more than $2.8 million in bonuses to employees with recent disciplinary problems, including $1 million to workers who owed back taxes, a government investigator said Tuesday.
More than 2,800 workers got bonuses despite facing a disciplinary action in the previous year, including 1,150 who owed back taxes, said a report by J. Russell George, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration. The bonuses were awarded from October 2010 through December 2012.
George's report said the bonus program doesn't violate federal regulations, but it's inconsistent with the IRS mission to enforce tax laws.
"These awards are designed to recognize and reward IRS employees for a job well done, and that is appropriate, because the IRS should encourage good performance," George said. "However, while not prohibited, providing awards to employees who have been disciplined for failing to pay federal taxes appears to create a conflict with the IRS's charge of ensuring the integrity of the system of tax administration."
Other examples of misconduct by workers getting bonuses included misusing government credit cards for travel, drug use, violent threats and fraudulently claiming unemployment benefits.
The IRS said it has developed a new policy linking conduct and performance bonuses for executives and senior level employees.
"Even without a formal policy in place over the past four years, the IRS has not issued awards to any executives that were subject to a disciplinary action," the IRS said in a statement. "We are also considering a similar policy for the entire IRS workforce, which would be subject to negotiations with the National Treasury Employees Union."
The IRS had about 100,000 workers during the period under review.
In the 2011 budget year, more than 70,000 IRS workers got cash bonuses totaling $92 million, the report said. In the 2012 budget year, nearly 68,000 workers got cash bonuses totaling $86 million.
The report said the IRS considers prior conduct before awarding permanent pay increases. "However, IRS officials stated that the IRS generally does not consider conduct issues when administering other types of awards," the report said.
There are no government-wide policies on providing bonuses to employees with conduct issues, the report said. However, a 1998 law calls for removing IRS employees who are found to have intentionally committed certain acts of misconduct, including willful failure to pay federal taxes.
Tax compliance at the IRS is generally better than at other federal agencies.
In 2011, 3.2 percent of federal workers owed back taxes, according to IRS statistics. The Treasury Department, which includes the IRS, had the lowest delinquency rate, at 1.1 percent.
The delinquency rate for the general public was 8.2 percent.
(Copyright ©2014 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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This training is designed for staff who have regular contact with children and/or families, including those working within adult services. This course takes a more in depth look at the different types of abuse and neglect, as well as giving participants information about managing disclosures and handling sensitive situations.
What can I expect from this training?
By the end of this training, staff should:
•Be able to identify types of abuse and neglect
•Recognise specific vulnerabilities in children and young people
•Be confident in sharing concerns about children
•Know their roles and responsibilities in relation to child protection
Who should attend?
All staff who have regular contact with children and young people and/or their family members should attend this training.
In particular those staff who:
• Have regular contact with vulnerable children and families
• Carry out direct work with children and families
• Contribute to assessments of children, including assessment of risk
• May be required to support the development and delivery of the Child's Plan
• Have specific responsibilities in regard to child protection
This event is fully booked.


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There hasn't been a new entry for several days because the turn of the year always brings out the teenage poet in me. And I hate that. Nobody should ever visit this page only to be confronted by sentences like
Anyhow, the ball dropped in Times Square, and I'm back to normal. Or what passes for it around here.
If you blog, New Year's means you can do one of two things: write about your resolutions, or write about how you never do anything so jejune as make resolutions. You already know I'm jejune, so what have I got to lose?
Here we go.
- I will do my utmost to expand my earring wardrobe.
- I will polish my imitation of Etta James singing "Stormy Weather" to a high lustre.
- Ditto my Frank Sinatra singing "Come Fly With Me."
- Those stubborn mildew stains on the grout in the shower? History.
- More Vegetable Biryani.
- I will stop pretending I've never watched "Family Guy."
- When at work, no use of the phrase "Fuck off and die" before 10:30 a.m.
- I will lighten up on Lindsay Lohan. (Hilary Duff, Fergie, and Ryan Seacrest will remain dead to me.)
- Investigate career avenues in porn. You never know.
- Floss.


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Your dream finally came true . . . it was announced on the radio and on TV . . . it's a snow day! School's closed for the whole day, and that means it's time for one thing: going outside to have fun in the snow. Or maybe you're getting ready go on a family skiing trip.
Whatever the case, winter is a really fun time of year — it's great to have snowball fights, build snowmen, and construct igloos.
But while you're out having fun, you have to know how to be safe. When it's cold outside and you're not prepared, you can feel uncomfortable or even downright rotten. Lucky for you, learning how to stay safe is a breeze — even when puddles start to freeze!
Dressing in layers is the best way to stay warm and toasty in the cold, because you can start out with lots of clothes to keep you warm and then peel them off once you start to heat up.
Depending on where you live and how cold it is, some kids may need more layers, some less. But if you're in doubt, go for more layers to start — they can always come off later. (Whatever you do, always leave your coat on — that's one layer that should stay!)
For your top half, start by putting on a long-sleeved undershirt (thermal or woolen). Then put on a turtleneck, one or two shirts, a sweater, and a coat. If you can, pick out clothes that are made of fabrics other than cotton, because cotton doesn't keep you very warm.
For your bottom half, put on long underwear first (thermal or woolen), then pull on a pair of heavy pants. Try to avoid jeans or light cotton pants (like khakis), because they won't keep you very warm. They will actually make your legs and behind colder if you fall down and get wet. Waterproof pants (like ski pants) are best.
Finish up with heavy socks and waterproof boots. If you're going to be doing a lot of trekking around, you'll want to wear boots that have good treads for keeping you steady on snowy and icy areas.
You're all bundled up and ready to go, but are you forgetting something? Pull a hat onto your head! You'll stay much warmer with a hat than without one — tons of body heat escapes right from your head. Scarves, facemasks, and earmuffs are also great at covering you up so you'll stay comfortable longer.
And don't forget mittens or gloves — the waterproof kind are best if you know you'll be playing around a lot in the snow. Keeping your hands warm and dry is important because fingers are very sensitive to the cold.
Sounds like advice for hot weather, not cold weather, right? Well, the truth is that it's good advice for both kinds of weather. When you're outside in the cold and breathing hard, you lose a lot of your body's water through your breath. And the best way to get that water back is to drink up!
Warm drinks and soups keep you hydrated and heat up your insides when it's cold outside. Plus, stopping to have something warm to drink has two other bonuses: first, it makes you go inside and get warm for a few minutes while you're drinking; and second, it makes you go inside and get warm for a few minutes while you're using the bathroom later!
Sometimes if you're out having fun, it's easy to forget to pay attention to your body. But if your body temperature drops even 4 or 5 degrees while you're outside, it can make you feel crummy.
That's why you need to be alert to your body's signals. If you're starting to shiver or your teeth are chattering, it's a message from your body that you need to head inside. And if you ever feel dizzy or weak, those are sure signs that you have to take it easy indoors for a while.
Keeping an eye on other kids can help make things safe. If it looks like a friend is shivering and really cold, suggest that you take a break inside together. You can both warm up while playing a game or watching TV and then head back outside for more fun.
If you're outside on a very cold day and you're not wearing enough protective clothing, you could be in danger of getting frostbite. Frostbite is when the body's tissues freeze, and it usually happens to skin that is exposed (like your face or your ears) or to parts of the body like your fingers or toes.
If you're playing it safe in the cold — by wearing heavy clothes, socks, and mittens, and by taking breaks inside when you think you need them — you probably won't have any problem with frostbite.
But if you're ever outside and you can't feel your fingers, toes, cheeks, ears, or nose, it may be a sign of frostbite. (Even if it's not frostbite, it's a sign that you should head inside anyway.) Sometimes frostbite can make these body parts hurt or feel hard when you touch them; it can also make the skin on these parts look glossy (shiny) or pale. If you think even for a second that you might have frostbite, go indoors and tell an adult right away.
Once you're inside, an adult should call your doctor. In the meantime, wiggle the part as much as you can — this will make more blood go to the area. If it's possible, hold the part against another area of your body that's warm — like holding your fingers on your stomach, for example.
Finally, if you ever think you have frostbite, never stick the frostbitten part in hot water or hold something hot against it. Putting the part in warm water is OK — just be sure you have an adult check the temperature first.
Keeping safe in the winter is easy to do, once you know how. You want your snow day and other cold days to be the most fun they can be, so put on those layers, wear your hat and gloves, have something warm to drink, and head out for the biggest snowball championship ever!
Reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD
Date Reviewed: Jan 7, 2016
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Congress to investigate Benghazi 'talking points'
WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers want to know who had a hand in creating the Obama administration's now-discredited "talking points" about the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Lawmakers want to know who had a hand in creating the Obama administration's now-discredited "talking points" about the Sept. 11 attack on a U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi, Libya, and why a final draft omitted the CIA's early conclusion that terrorists were involved.
The answers could explain why President Barack Obama and top aides, including U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, described the attack for days afterward as a protest against an anti-Islam video that spontaneously turned violent and why they played down any potential link to al-Qaida, despite evidence to the contrary.
Administration officials have defended the portrayal of the attack as relying on the best information available at the time that didn't compromise classified intelligence. Democrats say CIA and other intelligence officials signed off on the final talking points.
Republicans have alleged a Watergate-like cover up, accusing White House aides of hiding the terrorism link in the run-up to the Nov. 6 presidential election so voters wouldn't question Obama's claim that al-Qaida's power had diminished.
"I know the narrative was wrong and the intelligence was right. … We're going to get to the bottom of how that happened," Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, said Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press."
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who heads the Senate Intelligence Committee, said she doesn't believe the White House altered the document for political reasons. But she said she has lingering concerns about how the talking points were created when it was clear early on that the military-style assault wasn't a simple protest gone awry.
She said Congress has asked the administration to provide a detailed explanation.
"We gave the direction yesterday that this whole process is going to be checked out," Feinstein, D-Calif., said on "Meet the Press." "We're going to find out who made changes in the original statement. Until, we do I really think it's unwarranted to make accusations."
The inquiry comes on the heels of closed testimony to the committees last week by former CIA Director David Petraeus. According to lawmakers who attended the meetings, Petraeus said the reference to al-Qaida was removed from the final version of talking points, although he wasn't sure who or which federal agency deleted it.
A senior U.S. official familiar with the document, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the process publicly, said the al-Qaida reference was deleted because the information came from classified sources and the links were tenuous. The administration also did not want to prejudice a criminal investigation in its early stages, that official said.
Feinstein confirmed that intelligence officials told her in closed briefings that they were reluctant to name any particular terrorist group without being certain. But, she added, it was clear very soon after the attack that the violence didn't stem from a political demonstration.
Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, told reporters traveling with the president to Asia that any substantive edits to the talking points would have come from intelligence agencies themselves. The only change the White House made, he said, was to correct a reference to the facility in Benghazi as a "diplomatic facility," instead of a "consulate."
"Other than that we were guided by the points that were provided by the intelligence community. So I can't speak to any other edits that may have been made," he said.
AP Intelligence Writer Kimberly Dozier contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.


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Lindsay Lohan is suing the makers of the "Grand Theft Auto" video games. The actress says the latest installment used her image and created a character based on her without her permission.
Lohan's lawsuit was filed Wednesday in a Manhattan court. "Grand Theft Auto V" game maker Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. and subsidiary Rockstar Games declined to comment.
"Grand Theft Auto V" was released in September. Sales topped $800 million on its first day.
Lohan's suit says a character named Lacey Jonas is an "unequivocal" reference to the "Mean Girls" and "Freaky Friday" star.
The suit says Lohan's image, voice and styles from her clothing line are depicted. It says the game features West Hollywood's Chateau Marmont hotel, where Lohan once lived.
The character also seeks help skirting paparazzi.


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2012 Class Day Remarks
Steve Carell
June 4, 2012 — As Prepared
Faculty, parents, friends, family, graduates.
I am extremely honored to be here today. As some of you may know, Princeton is one of the world's great universities. A place of intellectual and artistic excellence, a bastion of knowledge, a football powerhouse.
I don't aspire to change the world with my words this morning.
I think that we all can agree that most of these Class Day speeches are forgotten almost as soon as they are delivered. Witness Brooke Shields, Katie Couric and especially Stephen Colbert. He is the worst.
I can only hope that THIS address will resonate for generations to come. That your children, and your children's children, will continue to reap the benefits of what I have sown here today.
I would like you all to do something for me: Turn, and look at the person on your left. Now turn, and look at the person on your right.
What do we learn from this exercise? We learn that nobody looks each other in the eyes anymore.
As human beings, we should naturally crave contact with one another. But sadly, as the world grows more and more technologically advanced, we lose our ability to connect as human beings.
The Internet, texting, tweeting, iMail, email, Gmail, iChat, Facebook, FaceTime, LOL, TMI, BFF, NSFW, OMFG ... LMFAO.
When I was in college, I wouldn't "text" a girl to ask her out on a date. I would ask her, in person. One human being to another. And when she said "No," which she always did, I would suffer the humiliation and self-loathing that a young man needs for his, or her, personal growth.
A text does nothing more than protect us. It protexts us ... if you will. It keeps us safe. It is like a warm blanket that insulates us from the truth — the truth of how unappealing I was to Amy Miller. Well, look at me now, Amy. Princeton Class Day speaker. Suck on that.
My point is, I suffered. You should have to suffer, too.
When I was in college, we had libraries, with actual books. I had a library card, with which I could borrow a book, take that book home, read that book, eventually forget that I had that book, and then never return that book.
Unlike a Kindle or an iPad, books had a certain smell. A certain feel. They had their own fascinating history. Countless readers before me had touched that book, breathed on it, stuck their gum between the pages. Maybe left Dorito fingerprints. A book was perspiration, and flakes of dead skin, and dandruff. It was the DNA of generations of college students before me. (And, like bowling shoes, it's best not to think about it too much.) Books were magical then.
When I was in college, if we didn't know something, we didn't GOOGLE it, we just made an educated guess, or we made it up. We pretended that we knew, and that was good enough.
If a person believed that they were right, it was just as good as actually being right. And if you weren't right, you could leave before anyone had time to check your facts. Those days are gone now. Everybody knows everything.
I "Googled" myself this morning. Yes, I know that sounds like a euphemism for something gross … and it should, I suppose, because it too is an exercise in self-love.
So I Googled myself, looked up my name, curious to see what others might be saying about me ... and you know what I found? Lies. Conjecture. Half-truths. Then I went on Facebook: More of the same Internet mendacity: groundless accusations, blatant falsehood, gross inaccuracies, hurtful slander. So hurtful, in fact, that I had to take the painful, but necessary, step of un-friending my 86-year-old mother.
What is her problem?
When I was in college we didn't have cell phones. We had one dormitory landline. We didn't call home very much. It was expensive and inconvenient.
These days, the modes of communication are many and varied. Kids and their parents are in constant contact.
When I was in college, I would call my parents for three reasons: When I needed money, when I was thinking about changing my major, and when I got a person pregnant.
Today, parents are much more attuned to their children's college experience. But I wonder: "Is this right?" Isn't college supposed to be the time when you go from hating your parents to just simply not caring about them?
When I was in college, we didn't have Facebook, we had the phone book. And we did not use Twitter. We used good old-fashioned gossip. If you wanted to talk about someone, you could do it face to face, right behind their back.
Have we forgotten the beauty of a handwritten letter, lovingly delivered three to six weeks later? Do we no longer need the encyclopedia? Almost 300 pounds of readily accessible knowledge?
We have lost touch with our simpler selves, and by "we" I mean you. You are young ... and because of that, you are wrong.
Could we, for just a moment, embrace our analog past? Is it possible to escape the constant barrage of electronic information? Wouldn't it be nice to not receive 17 emails a day from Michael Yaroshefsky?
A few years ago, I bought a tiny, 150-year-old general store in Massachusetts. A Norman Rockwell study. Here, kids buy penny candy and ice cream, their parents drop by for a cup of coffee, and to say hello to their neighbors. It is a place of community. A place of true human connection and kinship. When it came up for sale, there was a real danger that this wonderful piece of history would cease to exist, so I bought it. But I didn't buy it for financial gain. God knows, there's not a lot of money in penny candy. And I didn't buy it to preserve it as a local landmark.
I bought this quaint little anachronism because I wanted people to think I was a really nice guy.
A kind, generous, giving man, who cares about history, and about the people in this little Massachusetts town. I am not that man, but fortunately, people think that I am.
And that's what we need more of these days: "perceived heroes."
Heroism is not about doing heroic things, heroism is about how heroic other people believe you to be. I could go visit some sick children in the hospital ... but if there aren't any cameras there, did it really happen? Who would I really be helping aside from those in need? If a tree falls in the woods, and no one is there, does the tree get credit? What does it do for the tree?
Doug Davis is a hero. He scored a buzzer-beating shot to defeat Harvard and win the Ivy League. Do we need to examine Doug Davis' motivations in winning that game? Does Doug Davis strive for excellence selflessly? Or, does he do great things for the recognition, the accolades and the reverence, like a normal human being? I can't answer that, because I don't know Doug Davis. Doug Davis doesn't even sound like a real name. But I would venture to guess that Doug Davis seeks the love of others, because he has not yet learned to love himself.
But that, of course, is purely conjecture.
(But I digress.)
When I was about to graduate from college, I was preparing to enter law school. I remember that I was filling out my application to Stanford, and I came to the essay question, which was: "Why do you want to be an attorney?" I really had no idea. It sounded good. My parents had worked extraordinarily hard to give me a great education, and I felt that I owed them some sort of valid career choice. So I sat down with my folks, and asked them what they thought, and they proceeded to give me the best advice that I had ever received, or would ever receive. Their words were profound, wise, and they completely altered the rest of my life.
They said ... something like "blah, blah blah, follow your dreams, blah blah blah." I don't remember exactly what it was, but I didn't go to law school.
Ultimately that was the right choice for me. I wouldn't have been happy as an attorney, and they knew it. They also understood that it was my future, my life. They very wisely advised me to do what I knew I already wanted to do. As Harry Truman once said, "The best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want, and then advise them to do it."
In conclusion, I would like to leave you with a few random thoughts. Not advice per se, but some helpful hints.
Show up on time. Because to be late is to show disrespect.
Remember that the words "regime" and "regimen" are not interchangeable.
Get a dog, because cats are lame.
Only use a "That's what she said" joke if you absolutely cannot resist.
Never try to explain a "That's what she said" joke to your parents.
When out to eat, tip on the entire check. Do not subtract the tax first.
And every once in a while, put something positive into the world.
We have become so cynical these days. And by we I mean us.
So do something kind, make someone laugh, and don't take yourself too seriously.


text:
Funko Pop!
Overall Condition: 7 out of 10
All individual 4-inch Pops with a purchase price of $40 or more will automatically be shipped in a PopShield protector at no additional cost. 4-inch Pops with a price of $300 or more (with the exception of Signature Series Pops) will automatically be shipping in a PopShield Armor hard protector at no extra cost* (This applies only to the price of individual Pops, not the cost of the entire order)
*There will be some exceptions, such as if the Pop doesn't fit inside an Armor or if we are out of stock. When this is the case, an Armor will not be included with your order.
** A note about condition: We try our best to grade our Pops accurately so you know what to expect your Pop and its box to look like. Pops listed as an 8 out of 10 or better can be expected to have at the worst very minor shelf wear, and at best be perfectly mint. Grading is subjective and not everybody will see things the same way which is why we have a no questions asked return policy on all Pops. Please consult our Condition Guide if you have any questions regarding how we grade our Pops
*** Sticker Disclaimer: We try our best to use accurate stock photos, meaning if the pic shows an exclusive sticker then the Pop you receive will also have the exclusive sticker. If there is no sticker in the pic then you should purchase with the understanding that the Pop you receive will have no sticker. All Pops that we sell without stickers are still 100% legitimate and authentic, but were sourced from overseas sellers located in places such as Europe and Australia where store exclusives are handled differently.
**** Legal disclaimer: All Pops were purchased by us on the secondary market and not directly through Funko. Therefore they are being sold as used.


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Oregano Oil Easily Removes Skin Tags
Author: Megan H.
Date: 12-31-2008
Views: 6,826
Word Count: 61
Questions Received: Not available for contact
Testimonial ID: 3283-OR
Brand Neutral: Yes
Scientific Studies: 1
Note: Not all essential oil brands are the same, and you get what you pay for. If you expect to achieve results similar to those described in this testimonial, then ensure that you are using oils from pesticide-free plants. Also, the brand should use 100% pure, high-quality essential oils that do not contain any synthetic additives. Do your own research or ask a trusted friend to find a brand that is reputable. Buyer beware.
I had a medium sized skin tag on my torso.
I put a drop of Oregano oil on a band-aid and covered it for about 3 days.
I couldn't believe when I took the band-aid off it was just a black lump that slid right off!
My husband was grossed out by it but I think it's wonderful! The skin tag is completely gone.
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Supporting Scientific Study | |
skin-tags-/-fibromas - "Local application of frankincense essential oil may provide a non-surgical treatment alternative, with no or minimal side effect for carcinoma in situ, minimally invasive carcinoma and pre-cancerous conditions such as actinic keratosis." | Link |
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My Items
Shipping and Delivery is the charge for Internet order processing, item selection, packaging, transport and handling. Delivery times are not guaranteed, but are our best approximation and will vary with specific requests. Shipments and deliveries only occur on weekdays. Shipping and Delivery is subject to change and will be determined at the time of order. Please contact customer service before placing orders to be shipped Express (Overnight, 2 day), to ensure product is in stock.
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Orders shipped by Ground (FedEx/UPS), to residential addresses will be delivered without a signature requirement unless the total dollar amount exceeds $250. If signature is required for residential delivery, contact HomePro sales. Additional charges will apply for signature requirement at residential addresses. Customers must ensure that deliveries will be able to be delivered to a secure location. For residential deliveries to apartments/condos or other unsecure delivery sites, customers should consider alternate delivery destination. HomePro will not be responsible for packages delivered to unreliable delivery sites. Indirect signature is service default for shipments to business/commercial addresses. If direct signature is required, please contact HomePro Sales dept. Additional shipping charges will apply. Estimated delivery time assumes orders are placed before 12:00 noon (MST). Orders placed late on Friday or on Saturday will not be processed until Monday. Additional charges may accrue on Priority, Overnight and International shipping if multiple attempts are made for delivery. FedEx will not deliver to Post Office Boxes. USPS must be selected as shipping method for PO Box delivery.


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Technically speaking, the anatomical structure the consultant was looking at was the abdomen, which is schematically divided by doctors into a three-by-three grid. From top right to bottom left the squares are named: right upper quadrant, epigastric, left upper quadrant, right flank, umbilicus, left flank, right iliac fossa, hypogastric, left iliac fossa. The organs are clustered in each square – the liver and the gallbladder reside in RUQ, for example. When a patient has RIF pain, you know to think of appendicitis.
But what doctors in England haven't quite solved yet is how I should ask you to show me this space. The medical word, "abdomen", is not used by many people. But "stomach" is factually wrong. (Your stomach – LUQ – is the springy bag in which your food first lands to be churned before it continues on through your intestine; most "stomach ache" is felt nowhere near the real stomach – what most people point to is their umbilicus, underneath which lies the small bowel.) "Belly" is American. "Tummy" is a nursery term, but English doctors use it in parallel with the anatomical terms. You learn to say "poo" for faeces, too. But if questions such as "Have you had your bowels open?" and "Have you passed any stool?" are met with blankness, there is not much alternative.
Belly is American? That didn't sit right with me, as if a doctor asked me to show her my belly, I'd find it very strange--though I might suspect that the doctor spoke a different dialect from mine. I use tummy (or the anatomically-incorrect stomach). To me, belly particularly signals a round tummy--hence (orig. AmE) beer belly. Babies have bellies, Buddha statues have bellies, I have a belly--but let's not go there. One also hears people saying, typically while pinching more than an inch, I'm getting a belly. In all these uses, it's not the same as tummy or non-technical stomach. It describes a paunch (which, incidentally, used to just mean 'abdomen', without the negative connotations), but with rounder connotations.
The doctor writing in the magazine is not alone in this assumption that belly is American. In fact, this amateur (and very defensive about it, while not trying very hard*) BrE/AmE word-lister assumes that tummy is exclusively BrE.
But, while I had my doubts about the BrE/AmE tummy/belly divide, I've often heard tummy-button in the UK (though mostly from antipodean yoga/Pilates instructors), and never in the US. So, I decided to check it out.
First, the history. Belly goes all the way back to Old English, where it originally meant a bag, but from at least as early as the 13th century, it's used to mean a human or animal stomach and from at least the 14th century, it's used for the abdomen. So, it certainly did not originate in AmE. Tummy (a baby-talk simplification of stomach), in contrast, is only seen in print from the 19th century.
Next, the usage. I looked up stomach, belly, and tummy in British and American corpora of writing and speech, and calculated the percentage of the total number of instances of any of those words that was represented by any one of those words. Here are my results:
corpus | stomach | belly | tummy |
BNC BrE | 70% | 20% | 10% |
COCA AmE | 63% | 33% | 4% |
From this we can tell (a) belly is used quite a bit in BrE as well as AmE, and tummy is more frequent in BrE than AmE. I don't think this can just be due to differences in formality across the corpora, since if the AmE corpus had more formal writing in it, we'd expect the stomach percentage to be higher.
Now, within belly in either corpus, many instances do not refer literally to human abdomens. There are lots of instances of idioms like in the belly of the beast or a fire in one's belly. There are also lots of belly-dancing. To see whether the AmE bellies might be more specifically fat tummies, I looked at paunch, to see if AmE didn't need it as much--but that's not the case. In both corpora, paunch occurs between 5 and 6 times per million words.
As for the hypothesis that belly is more 'round', I note that I and my UK friends do say I'm getting/I've got a bit of a tummy, but looking in the corpora, there are a couple of instances of get/getting/got a belly in each corpus but tummy only occurs in that context in the AmE corpus. So, in BrE, belly is used for the 'rounded abdomen' meaning, just as in AmE, and AmE uses tummy in that context too.
What about bellybutton and tummy-button? OED has the former dated to the 19th century, but the latter only in the mid-20th century. COCA has zero instances of tummy-button, tummybutton, or tummy button. BNC has just one. Belly(-)button seems to be the default colloquialism for 'navel' in either dialect. In a strange turn of orthography, the joined-up bellybutton is by far the most common spelling in the BNC, but two-word belly button is very strongly the favo(u)red spelling in COCA. This is in contrast to another observation that I've made here, that AmE joins up compound words in writing more readily than BrE does. In that post, I noted that the Shorter Oxford Dictionary recommends pot belly, while the American Heritage Dictionary likes potbelly.
I'm writing this in the Helsinki airport, so am limited to dialect resources that are on-line--and I'm not finding them to be helpful at the moment. While the evidence does show American English using belly much more than modern British English, I still have the feeling that there is some regional variation at work here, since it's not a word that I would use for a human abdomen outside the 'paunchy' and 'baby' experiences. But that's my western New York State perspective. How would you feel if your doctor asked to look at your belly? (Don't forget to tell us where you're from!)
*In discouraging corrections to his list, he says 'life is too short to worry'--about accuracy, presumably. Life is also too short to spend on writing word lists without caring to do it right, I'd say.


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Trend , Trend Hand Made & Trend Rough is a font made of layers, taking as a basis a sans anda slab font.
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HP Smart Array P420/2GB FBWC 6GB 2-Port SAS Controller (631671-B21)
Vendor: HP
The HP Smart Array P420 Controller is a low profile, 6 Gb/s, PCIe 3.0, Serial Attached SCSI (SAS) RAID controller that provides enterprise class, second generation storage performance and data protection for select HP ProLiant Gen8 rack servers and tower servers. It features eight internal SAS ports and delivers increased server uptime by providing advanced storage functionality, including online RAID level migration (between any RAID levels) with flash back write cache, global online spare, and pre-failure warning. Data compatibility between HP Smart Array Controllers means customers can easily upgrade to future Smart Array Controllers. HP Smart Array Advanced Pack 2.0 firmware makes it easier for customers to protect their data with advanced functionality for this next generation of Smart Array controllers, including features such as RAID 1 ADM (Advanced Data Mirroring).


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A judge in New Zealand today ordered that Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom (a.k.a. Kim Schmitz) and three others remain in custody at least until a bail hearing on Monday as the legal process of possibly extraditing them to the U.S. to face copyright infringement and conspiracy charges got underway.
As we reported Thursday, the U.S. Justice Department seized the popular file sharing site's domain yesterday, charging that it has helped millions of people share and see pirated movies, music and TV programs.
Now, though it has no domain name, Megaupload appears to be trying to get back on the Web. It has one page here, with the message that "This is the NEW MEGAUPLOAD SITE! we are working to be back full again."
Meanwhile, Thursday's "counterstrike" by Anonymous hackers — who overwhelmed the websites of the Justice Department and some other organizations after Megaupload's domain was seized — has once again raised the question of how such "denial of service" attacks can happen to supposedly secure federal agencies.
According to The Washington Post's Federal Eye blog, we probably shouldn't be that surprised:
"The U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, a component of [the Department of Homeland Security], is responsible for monitoring major cybersecurity threats for the federal government and the private sector, but each federal agency is responsible for its own information technology security — leading to a disparate, unorganized system of protocols and protections that costs taxpayers billions of dollars annually."
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Your baby's finally here, and you're thrilled — but you're also exhausted, uncomfortable, on an emotional roller coaster, and wondering whether you'll ever fit into your jeans again. Childbirth classes helped prepare you for giving birth, but you weren't prepared for all of this!
After your baby arrives, you'll notice some changes — both physical and emotional.
Physically, you might experience:
Emotionally, you may be feeling:
Also, when it comes to intimacy, you and your partner may be on completely different pages. Your partner may be ready to pick up where you left off before baby's arrival, whereas you may not feel comfortable enough — physically or emotionally — and might crave nothing more than a good night's sleep. Doctors often ask women to wait a few weeks before having sex to allow them to heal.
It took your body months to prepare to give birth, and it takes time to recover. If you've had a cesarean section (C-section), it can take even longer because surgery requires a longer healing time. If unexpected, it may have also raised emotional issues.
Pain is greatest the first few days after the surgery and should gradually subside. Your doctor will advise you on precautions to take after surgery, and give you directions for bathing and how to begin gentle exercises to speed recovery and help avoid constipation.
Things to know:
You can become pregnant again before your first postpartum period. Even though this is less likely if you are exclusively breastfeeding (day and night, no solids, no bottles, at least 8 times a day, never going more than 4 hours during the day or 6 hours at night without feeding), have not had a period, and your baby is younger than 6 months old, it is still possible.
If you want to protect against pregnancy, discuss your options with your doctor. This may include barrier methods (like condoms or diaphragms), an IUD, pills, a patch, an implantable device, or shots.
You need plenty of sleep, lots of fluids, and good nutrition, especially if you're breastfeeding. An easy way to stay on top of drinking enough fluids is to have a glass of water whenever your baby nurses. At least until your milk supply is well established, try to avoid caffeine, which causes loss of fluid through urine and sometimes makes babies wakeful and fussy.
If you have any breastfeeding problems, talk to your doctor, midwife, or a lactation specialist. Your clinic or hospital lactation specialist can advise you on how to deal with any breastfeeding problems. Relieve clogged milk ducts with breast massage, frequent nursing, feeding after a warm shower, and warm moist compresses applied throughout the day.
If you develop a fever or chills or your breast becomes tender or red, you may have an infection (mastitis) and need antibiotics. Call your doctor if this happens. Continue nursing or pumping from both breasts, though, and drink plenty of fluids.
Engorged breasts will feel better as your breastfeeding pattern becomes established or, if you're not breastfeeding, when your body stops producing milk — usually within a few days.
Continue sitz baths (sitting in just a few inches of water and covering the buttocks, up to the hips, in the water) using cool water for the first few days, then warm water after that. Squeeze the cheeks of your bottom together when you sit to avoid pulling painfully on the stitches. Sitting on a pillow may be more comfortable than sitting on a hard surface.
Use a squirt bottle with warm water to wash the area with water when you use the toilet; gently pat dry. After a bowel movement, wipe from front to back to avoid infection. Reduce swelling with ice packs or chilled witch hazel pads. Local anesthetic sprays also can be helpful.
Talk to your doctor about taking an anti-inflammatory drug like ibuprofen to help with the pain and swelling.
Exercise as soon as you've been cleared by your doctor to help restore your strength and pre-pregnancy body, increase your energy and sense of well-being, and reduce constipation. Begin slowly and increase gradually. Walking and swimming are excellent choices.
Alternating warm sitz baths and cold packs can help with hemorrhoids. It also can help to sit on an inflatable donut cushion.
Ask your doctor about a stool softener. Don't use laxatives, suppositories, or enemas without your doctor's OK. Increase your intake of fluids and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. After your doctor has cleared it, exercise can be very helpful.
Your body needs time to heal. Doctors usually recommend waiting 4-6 weeks to have sex to reduce the risk of infection, increased bleeding, or re-opening healing tissue.
Begin slowly, with kissing, cuddling, and other intimate activities. You'll probably notice reduced vaginal lubrication (this is due to hormones and usually is temporary), so a water-based lubricant might be useful. Try to find positions that put less pressure on sore areas and are most comfortable for you. Tell your partner if you're sore or frightened about pain during sexual activity — talking it over can help both of you to feel less anxious and more secure about resuming your sex life.
Urinary or fecal incontinence often eases gradually as your body returns to its normal prepregnancy state. Encourage the process with Kegel exercises, which help strengthen the pelvic floor muscles. To find the correct muscles, pretend you're trying to stop peeing. Squeeze those muscles for a few seconds, then relax (your doctor can check to be sure you're doing them correctly).
Wear a sanitary pad for protection, and let the doctor know about any incontinence you have.
You'll get greater enjoyment in your new role as mom — and it will be much easier — if you care for both yourself and your new baby. For example:
Remember, Wonder Woman is fiction. Ask your partner, friends, and family for help. Jot down small, helpful things people can do as they occur to you. When people offer to help, check the list. For example:
You should call your doctor about your postpartum health if you:
While recovering from delivery can be a lot to handle, things will get easier. Before you know it, you will be able to fully focus on enjoying your new baby.
Reviewed by: Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, MD
Date Reviewed: Jun 1, 2018
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Studied Homeopathic Remedies
- Baryta carbonica
- Aurum
- Lachesis
Most people don't feel symptoms when their blood pressure is high, which is why hypertension is called the "silent killer." In this case, what you don't know can hurt you. Elevated blood pressure can lead to a greatly increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and many other serious illnesses. Along with high cholesterol and smoking, hypertension is one of the primary causes of atherosclerosis. In turn, atherosclerosis causes heart attacks, strokes, and other diseases of impaired circulation.
Note: High blood pressure, if not brought down with all deliberate speed, is a dangerous condition. Medical supervision is strongly advised.
Scientific Evaluations of Homeopathic Remedies for Hypertension
Researchers have completed two studies of homeopathic remedies for treating hypertension. However, neither study provided encouraging results.
A 4-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolling 32 participants evaluated the possible efficacy of Baryta carbonica 15c in the treatment of hypertension. 1 This study found no statistically significant difference between the treatment and control groups.
A very small, double-blind, crossover study enrolled 10 people with essential hypertension and compared individualized homeopathic treatment to standard drug therapy. 2 These participants were examined on a weekly basis for 16 weeks. Homeopathic treatment proved ineffective.
Traditional Homeopathic Treatments for Hypertension
In classical homeopathy , there are many possible homeopathic treatments for hypertension, to be chosen based on various specific details of the person seeking treatment. Baryta carbonica is traditionally used for people with hypertension who are extremely shy, lack concentration, and often display immature behavior. The symptom picture of this remedy includes high blood pressure that is made worse by exertion or lying on the left side, along with a tendency toward gripping pains in the stomach that improve by the person lying on the stomach.
Aurum is often recommended for people whose high blood pressure is caused by slow-burning, long-term stress, often associated with career or ambition.
Lachesis may be used for a person with high blood pressure who has a flushed look to the face, overactive behavior, and a tendency for compulsive talking, as if an inner boiler were always about to explode.
Other Natural Options
For herbs, supplements, and other alternative treatments that may be useful for this condition, see the Hypertension article.
For a thorough explanation of homeopathy, including dilution of therapies, see the Homeopathy Overview .
REF1 Bignamini M, Bertoli A, Consolandi AM, et al. Contolled double blind trial with Baryta carbonic 15CH versus placebo in a group of hypertensive subjects confined to bed in old people's home. Br Homeopath J . 1987;76:114–119.
REF2 Hitzenberger G, Korn A, Dorcsi M, et al. Controlled randomized double blind study for the comparison of the treatment of patients with essential hypertension with homeopathic and pharmacologically effective drugs [abstract only]. Wein Klin Wochenschr . 1982;94:665–670.