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As Great Lakes plummet, towns try to save harbors
By JOHN FLESHER
AP Environmental Writer
ONEKAMA, Mich. (AP) — For more than a century, easy access to Lake Michigan has made Onekama a popular place for summer visitors and a refuge for boaters fleeing dangerous storms. Now the community itself needs a rescue, from slumping lake levels that threaten its precious link to open water.
The Great Lakes, the world's biggest freshwater system, are shrinking because of drought and rising temperatures, a trend that accelerated with this year's almost snowless winter and scorching summer. Water levels have fallen to near-record lows on Lakes Michigan and Huron, while Erie, Ontario and Superior are below their historical averages. The decline is causing heavy economic losses, with cargo freighters forced to lighten their loads, marinas too shallow for pleasure boats and weeds sprouting on exposed bottomlands, chasing away swimmers and sunbathers.
Some of the greatest suffering is in small tourist towns that lack the economic diversity of bigger port cities. Yet they are last in line for federal money to deepen channels and repair infrastructure to support the boating traffic that keeps them afloat.
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"How do you like our mud bog?" Township Supervisor Dave Meister asked on a recent afternoon, gesturing toward the shoreline of Portage Lake, part of a 2,500-acre inland waterway that connects Onekama to Lake Michigan. A wide expanse that normally would be submerged is now an ugly patchwork of puddles, muck and thick stands of head-high cattails. A grounded pontoon boat rested forlornly alongside a deserted dock.
The Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that about 30 small Great Lakes harbors will need attention in the next couple of years.
In bygone days, friendly members of Congress would slip money into the federal budget to dredge a harbor. But so-called earmarks have fallen out of favor, leaving business and civic leaders wondering where to turn. A desperate few are raising money locally for dredging but insist they can't afford it on a regular basis.
Tourism has sustained Onekama since the early 1900s, when northwestern Michigan coastal towns became popular with wealthy visitors from Chicago, Milwaukee and Detroit. On a typical summer day, the community's marinas are crowded with yachts, speedboats and fishing charters.
But the falling water levels are taking a toll, illustrating how extensively the health of the Great Lakes affects the economy of a region that is home to more than 30 million people extending from Minnesota to New York.
Lake Michigan's level at the end of October was more than 2 feet below its long-term average. The Corps of Engineers says without heavy snowfall this winter, the lake may decline to its lowest point since record-keeping began in 1918.
The channel that connects Portage Lake and Lake Michigan is now about 7 feet deep at best. When the water is choppy, some vessels can hit bottom. If things get much worse, Onekama may be effectively cut off from the big lake.
"Businesses would close. People would be laid off. It would be devastating," said Jim Mrozinski, owner of Onekama Marine Inc., which services and stores pleasure craft and draws customers from across the Upper Midwest. He owns three marinas, one now unusable because of shallow water. If he's lucky, the others will have enough depth to rent perhaps 10 of the 55 slips next spring.
Onekama's year-round population is less than 2,000. Much of its tax base comes from expensive waterfront homes owned by summer residents who come for the boating and fishing. Without the link to Lake Michigan, property values would plummet, hammering local government budgets, Meister said.
"You're talking about schools, 911 emergency, library, fire protection — everything," he said.
Many places around the Great Lakes are having similar problems. At least a dozen boats have run aground this year in Lake Ontario around the harbor in Orleans County, N.Y. The state of Wisconsin warned boaters to watch for stumps, boulders and other hazards lurking just beneath the water. Boat-towing services have done brisk business rescuing stranded craft in newly shallow stretches of Lake Erie.
What makes the situation particularly frustrating for small Great Lakes communities is that a fund for dredging and other harbor maintenance already exists. It's generated by a tax on freight shipped at U.S. ports and raises about $1.5 billion a year. But about half of the money is diverted to the treasury for other uses. Members of Congress from coastal states are pushing to change that policy.
Even if the effort succeeds, there's no guarantee that communities like Onekama will get a share of the cash. The Corps of Engineers gives top priority to large ports such as Duluth, Minn., Detroit and Cleveland. Whatever is left goes to medium-sized harbors that also accommodate cargo ships. The region's 112 small harbors, including 71 with only recreational traffic, have relied on budget earmarks since the 1990s.
"Many of these towns wouldn't exist if it wasn't for their ports," said Mike O'Bryan, chief of engineering and technical services for the Detroit district office.
The Great Lakes Small Harbors Coalition, led by Onekama retiree Chuck May, says $20 million a year would cover all those areas' dredging and maintenance costs, and rescue tourist communities that pump billions into the economy.
Farther up the coast near Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the village of Leland scraped together more than $100,000 from a local Indian tribe, businesses and government agencies this year to dredge a 13-foot-deep channel enabling charter fishing boats and pleasure craft to reach Lake Michigan. Harbormaster Russell Dzuba is already fundraising to dredge in 2013 but says that's no long-term solution.
"We have a moral obligation to keep this place open," he said. "We're the only safe harbor for a 75-mile stretch and Lake Michigan is a tempestuous beast. But the feds have cut us adrift."


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29 comments:
- Sherral said...
Adding my prayers to yours. These adorable hats will certainly show your love and concern. Best wishes for all!
- May 19, 2013 at 5:49 PM
- Suzanne said...
The embroidery is an extra special touch.
- May 19, 2013 at 6:04 PM
- joyceetta said...
Lovely Alana.....I'm sending prayers
- May 19, 2013 at 6:47 PM
- Megan said...
My niece was born at 24 weeks...she just celebrated her 26th birthday a few weeks ago. She also fit only into hand made items and then into doll clothes.
Some of the strongest people start out the tiniest. - May 19, 2013 at 8:03 PM
- Jen said...
Oh, bless their hearts. I've made a couple of preemie hats and was almost disheartened at how quickly they knit up--and I used sock yarn! I wish these tiny girls the best. I know their parents will appreciate the lovely little hats.
- May 19, 2013 at 8:28 PM
"Good things come in small packages."
These are beautiful. Is there a pattern for them? I make dolls for children at the hospital but I would love to try these little hats for them.
- May 19, 2013 at 9:27 PM
Oh how lovely those little hats are. I send my best wishes to the family too, having had twins myself, one of whom had a struggle at the start.
My heart goes out to the parents remembering those worrying times. - May 20, 2013 at 1:11 AM
- Yarn-Madness said...
These are adorable. Best of wished to them!
- May 20, 2013 at 1:55 AM
- Mereknits said...
Those hats are so gorgeous, you are a blessing.
Meredith - May 20, 2013 at 4:28 AM
- kristieinbc said...
Those tiny hats are lovely, and I'm sure the parents will feel cared for each time they look at their little daughter's wearing them.
- May 20, 2013 at 7:14 AM
- eileen-s said...
So tiny ... we have a friend whose twin boys were that small at birth. We just saw the boys recently - 16 and almost 6 ft tall! hoping for the same happy outcome for your friend.
- May 20, 2013 at 7:51 AM
- Greg said...
Those hats are beautiful. I'm sure they will be appreciated, especially with the extra touch of being personalized with their initials.
I'm the father of a preemie. Last May, my daughter was born at 30 weeks, tipping the scales at about 2.5 pounds. One of the most cherished memories I have from the NICU stay was the day a nurse came by with some handknit hats that were created and donated by volunteers. It was very touching, and as I looked at the hats, I decided that was something I could learn how to do for my daughter. That's when I became a knitter.
Preemie hats hold a special place in my heart.
-greg, drmellow on Ravelry - May 20, 2013 at 8:16 AM
- Suzanne said...
These tiny hats are so lovely. My heart goes out to this family.
- May 20, 2013 at 10:06 AM
oh my goodness. Sitting at 40 weeks, I can't imagine the parents' stress. Sending positive thoughts their way.
- May 20, 2013 at 11:24 AM
- Tully Family said...
Prayers for them! I'm expecting a little girl- 23 weeks long- so I can only imagine!
What pattern did you use for the hats? - May 20, 2013 at 1:12 PM
- Poethead said...
I wish my best energy and positive thoughts for your friend's babies. I lost twin grandsons ten years ago this way. My new grandson was born prematurely in August. He is doing just fine. I believe that now, there is so much they can do to save such tiny lives. Love to your friends.
- May 20, 2013 at 3:38 PM
- (lia) said...
Prayers for the little ones!
These hats are beautiful. I love the little heart. - May 20, 2013 at 6:32 PM
- Unknown said...
Knitting really does make everything better. Sending prayers to the little ones and their parents. Laura
- May 20, 2013 at 7:05 PM
- Bonnie said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- May 21, 2013 at 8:27 AM
- Bonnie said...
These are beautiful, and I'm sure the parents will love them! I think the applique is gorgeous.
- May 21, 2013 at 8:28 AM
- Cathi said...
Those are adorable, Alana. I'm sure they'll be truly appreciated.
- May 22, 2013 at 5:52 AM
- Julie said...
beautiful little hats, and what a lovely way to show you care. Like little prayer hats, instead of prayer shawls.
- May 22, 2013 at 1:46 PM
Wishing them all. :)
- May 23, 2013 at 2:23 AM
- CeltChick said...
Sending good thoughts to pack with those darling hats. BTW, my copy of Botanical Knits arrived yesterday, thank you!
- May 23, 2013 at 8:36 AM
- Devin said...
A good friend of mine had a son born at 24 weeks about a year ago. He is a healthy toddler right now. My prayers are with these babies.
- May 25, 2013 at 6:06 PM
- Unknown said...
This is a beatiful hat I love the touch you give at the end. AWESOME! http://www.learnhowtoknitascarf.com
- May 27, 2013 at 12:47 PM
- Beatrice said...
Oh my! I just visited my two tiny twin girl nieces in the hospital! They are doing very well. I however, am just not sure what to knit them- so many adorable options...
- May 28, 2013 at 5:52 PM
- KatKnits said...
that's so kind of you. I was a preemie also. I wish your friends babies the best.
- June 30, 2013 at 11:58 PM
- KatKnits said...
that is so kind. I wish your friends the best for their babies.
I was a preemie, too.
- July 1, 2013 at 12:00 AM

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Next, I turned to The Martha Stewart Cookbook, and there I found a recipe that actually made me giggle. Martha is so great, she really is, but this particular recipe required a few ingredients that weren't just suggestions or options. They were less than completely common things, but they seemed to be required. The list included red currant vinegar (or other fruit vinegar), pimiento oil (with a suggestion to make your own if you don't find it at a gourmet shop), and purple basil. Why red currant vinegar? Now, I do love hunting down out-of-the-ordinary ingredients, and I'm willing to place online orders for things like fennel pollen. But, usually when such ingredients are suggested, there's a note about what easier-to-find, common items could be substituted or a note about why the specific ingredient is used. Here, there was no explanation for why this specific vinegar was necessary or that any fresh basil would be fine. That struck me as funny given that the book was published 14 years ago when those things would have been even more difficult to locate. It just so happens that I have a purple basil plant, and I would have been willing to make some pimiento oil and shop for red currant vinegar, but this was ultimately a pasta salad and not exactly what I wanted to make. Just for fun, I looked at Whole Foods, and they had no red currant vinegar. Raspberry was the only fruit vinegar.
With nothing but a memory of a sauce with shallots, I left the books behind and whipped up my own version of a pasta primavera. I realize that the vegetables I used here are just as specific as that vinegar and basil, but I'll explain that substitutions are fine. I had red and yellow carrots, red and yellow small, pear-shaped tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash, and green beans. Any carrots and any tomatoes will be delicious. I had overheard a farmer telling a customer that the red carrots were best when roasted, so I thought of roasting everything. By starting with the carrots and adding other vegetables in increments during the roasting time, each would spend the appropriate amount of time in the oven. That seemed simpler than several separate steps for blanching and sauteeing. I did blanch the green beans because I thought they would be crisper that way, but they could have been roasted too. For a sauce, I sauteed shallots and garlic, added wine which was reduced, finished with a little butter and lemon, and combined that with the vegetables and some linguine. Shards of parmigiano reggiano, some lemon zest, and yes, my purple basil completed the dish. It wasn't exactly what I remembered from the restaurant last year, but it was its own lovely kind of thing. The shallot, wine, and lemon sauce provided just the flavor I wanted for this, and the vegetables couldn't have been better. Next time, I'll most likely find different vegetables or they'll taste a little different or I'll add mushrooms or forget the squash or use penne instead of linguine. This dish is never the same thing twice, but it's always a great mix of fresh ingredients.
My Version of Pasta Primavera as I Made It This Time
1 medium zucchini, chopped into large chunks
1 medium yellow summer squash, chopped into large chunks
4 red carrots, scrubbed and hairy root fibers removed but not peeled because only the outer layer is red and if you peel them they'll be orange, chopped
4 yellow carrots, peeled and chopped
1 c small, yellow pear tomatoes, halved
1 c red, grape tomatoes, halved
2 c green beans, cleaned and stems removed, cut into one-inch pieces
1 lb. linguine
3 T olive oil
2 shallots, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Juice and zest of one lemon
1 c dry, white wine
2 T cold butter, cut into eight or so pieces
3 T fresh, flat leaf parsley, chopped or curly parsley or leave it out if you don't have it on hand
Fresh basil, chopped or cut into chiffonade, and do use purple basil if you have it
Parmigiano reggiano
Olive oil for roasting vegetables
Salt and pepper to taste
-pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F; place chopped carrots on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper; toss to coat with olive oil; place in oven and roast for 10 minutes
-in a mixing bowl, toss zucchini and squash chunks with olive oil, salt, and pepper; remove baking sheet from oven; using a spatula, slice carrots to side of sheet while turning them; add zucchini and squash to baking sheet keeping in mind that the sheet is hot; return baking sheet to oven and roast for 10 minutes more
-in same mixing bowl, toss tomatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper; remove baking sheet from oven; using spatula, make room for tomatoes while turning carrots, zucchini, and squash, add tomatoes to sheet; return baking sheet to oven and roast for 10 minutes more
-meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil; also bring a small saucepan of salted water to a boil; in small saucepan, boil green beans for five minutes and then shock them in cold water and drain
-in a medium saute pan, heat three tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat; add shallots and saute for three minutes; add garlic and saute until shallots are translucent; pour in one cup of wine and simmer until wine is reduced by half; whisk in one piece of butter at a time, whisking until butter is melted and incorporated before adding next piece; once all butter is incorporated into sauce, season to taste with salt and pepper, remove from heat and whisk in lemon juice
-cook pasta according to package instructions while preparing sauce
-in a large mixing bowl, could be the same one used for tossing vegetables with oil, combine roasted vegetables, drained green beans, cooked and drained pasta, shallot wine lemon sauce, lemon zest, parsley, and most but not all of the basil; taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed
-serve with shards of parmigiano reggiano and sprinkle remaining basil lovingly over top of each serving


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DENVER — Colleges in Colorado would lose their unusual status of allowing concealed weapons under a bill that cleared a Colorado Senate committee Monday after hours of emotional testimony.
Democratic Sen. Angela Giron of Pueblo choked back tears as she cast the deciding vote on a 3-2 tally sending the bill to the full Senate. The bill says that concealed weapons would not be allowed on public college campuses. It has already cleared the House.
Several victims of rape on college campuses and two survivors of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre testified against the measure. They said that students are vulnerable in areas where law-abiding citizens can't carry concealed weapons.
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text:
"If you don't believe it in yourself from the beginning, you've kind of already dug your own grave." - Travis Browne
Inside the cage, Travis Browne is a dangerous mix of size, speed, power, and athleticism – an unbeaten heavyweight on the fringe of contention, ready to take the next step in his career.
Outside of the cage, the 30-year-old Hawaiian is affable and talkative, critical of his own performances, and humble to the point that he clarifies every confident statement that might be misconstrued as cockiness.
On the eve of squaring off with Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in the main event of the fifth UFC on FX fight card, Browne is a six-foot-seven-inch bundle of energy, excited to be stepping back into the cage for the first time since UFC 145 in April, when he needed only the first half of the first round to dispatch Strikeforce veteran Chad Griggs via arm triangle choke.
He was supposed to get back in the cage three months ago, but his opponent for the August FOX event in Los Angeles, Ben Rothwell, was forced to withdraw at the 11th hour.
"Coming in and out of that camp, it was a little frustrating," admits Browne. "I had already put in seven good weeks of my camp; all I had was that one week left before the fight. But like with everything else – one door closes, another door opens, and I got this fight with Bigfoot."
"The difference in training camps wasn't too much either. Rothwell is a big boy; he has to cut to make 265. Silva is a big boy; he has to cut to make 265. In a lot of ways, they're similar in the way that they fight; they like to stand up and bang, but then they'll also shoot that double and take you down. I kind of look at it like I got an extended camp for this fight."
In addition to getting an extended camp, the undefeated heavyweight prospect got both a step up in competition and a chance to step into the spotlight.
Friday's bout with Silva marks the first time in his UFC career that Browne will compete in the final fight of the evening, and while the heavy-handed Brazilian has dropped his last two outings, he's been a fixture in the divisional top ten for the last two years, and boasts the most impressive resume of anyone Browne has faced to date.
While some in his position may get caught up in the whirlwind of increased media attention and hype that accompanies a main event assignment, Browne is taking it all in stride. Though it's a new experience for him, headlining an event for the biggest organization in the business is something he knew he'd eventually be doing.
"I think when the UFC announced they were starting something up with FOX, I knew it was going to give a lot of guys the chance to headline shows that normally you wouldn't see headline a pay-per-view event. We started to see it with the Fight Nights; you'd see some of the up-and-comers start headlining shows, but even then, you didn't get the opportunity to have some young fighters like myself come up and headline them.
"As soon as they announced that and how many shows they were going to start doing, I knew that gave us a chance to step up into the limelight, and really show what we're capable of doing. At that point, I knew that if I kept being successful in the cage, eventually I was going to get a headline fight. Maybe not this year, but I knew that it was going to come eventually."
Browne has 11 finishes in his 13 wins, including three in the UFC, but it's his two bouts in the Octagon that went the distance that had helped carry him to this point in his career more than anything.
After earning a first-round stoppage win over James McSweeney in his UFC debut, Browne took a sizable step up in competition three months later when he faced off with perennial gatekeeper Cheick Kongo. A third-round point deduction against Kongo resulted in the fight being scored a draw, and slowed Browne's momentum.
Last September, following a stunning knockout win over Stefan Struve at UFC 130, "Hapa" took home a one-sided decision win over Rob Broughton in a sluggish affair fought in Denver, Colorado. Though he's since rebounded in impressive fashion against Griggs, it's his showings against Kongo and Broughton that remain Browne's focus.
"When I fought Cheick Kongo and Rob Broughton, they went the distance, and I wasn't very impressed with my own performance; neither was anybody else, really," he adds with a laugh. "But I think those were my reality check, like `You're not doing enough to be a champion right now.' So when I'd go back into the gym, (those fights) taught me how to work harder and do stuff that I'd never done before.
"When I do stuff that I've never done before, there's a good chance that my opponent hasn't done it either, and that's something that I pride myself on – that I do stuff that other fighters won't, and work harder than they work. I really believe that's what makes a champion."
Every fighter who takes a serious run at a career as a mixed martial artist envisions the day they become a UFC champion, but not everyone gets the opportunity to fight on the sport's biggest stage, yet alone compete for championship gold. With four wins and a draw under his belt, Browne has already proven that he has what it takes to survive in the treacherous waters of the UFC heavyweight division, and if he keeps posting impressive wins like he did against Griggs and the now-surging Struve, a chance to challenge for the heavyweight title may not be too far off.
Like headlining an event, being considered amongst the top heavyweights in the sport is something Browne believed he was capable of from Day One, and sees his current standing as one of the top up-and-comers in the division as a testament to the hard work and commitment to his career.
"If you don't believe it in yourself from the beginning, you've kind of already dug your own grave. In the beginning, I believed (that I could compete with the best in the world and be world champion), and throughout my career, it has just become more of a reality. Instead of sitting there thinking `One day I'm going to be…' it's coming up fairly quick. Next year, I could be the champion.
"It shows how much I dedicate to this sport, and how much I'm willing to sacrifice in order to be here. You don't get here by chance," he continued. "You don't go undefeated by chance; this is something that I've worked hard for. Being at this point, it's definitely something I expected. Me and my first manager, when we decided that I was going to have my first pro fight, he said, `With your athletic abilities, and your abilities in general, you're going to shoot up there quick,' so it was definitely something – not to sound cocky – that we expected, as long as I kept putting in the hard work."
Browne knows there are some who may question his standing as a potential contender alongside names like Velasquez, Overeem, and Werdum. Despite his unbeaten record, he is aware that some people still aren't convinced he's as good as he looked against Griggs or Struve or McSweeney. That's another reason he's excited to step into the cage and the spotlight opposite Silva at the Target Center.
"I think I'm kind of in that gray area with people about whether or not they should believe in me, and this is the fight that will really cement their belief in me," he states, fully understanding the hesitancy, and happy for the opportunity to turn doubters into believers.
"Like I said before, I've had a couple lackluster performances, and I think people hold me to those. When you do something great, somebody might tell one person. When you do something bad, that one person is going to tell a hundred, you know what I mean? So people really kind of hang on to those bad performances, and really judge me off of those performances alone, but I think this will be a fight that really gives me another opportunity to really show what I'm capable of doing."


text: Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep. People in Beirut are sick of political protests across the country. Protesters have been blocking highways with burning tires. So there was only one thing to do. Yesterday, they held a protest using tires against protests using tires. Instead of burning the tires in the street, they painted the tires many colors. The protesters held up signs reading: We are tired. And a police officer refused to ticket them, saying, their tires are pretty. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


text:
"When you disparage, demean, trivialize, mock, or patronize the parenting of fathers, whether from afar or in the very act of their parenting, you are resuscitating the stilling world of damaged gender role stereotyping that ought to vanish into history. Ma'am, respect male parents as parents, refrain from the cheap humour made available by our cultural immersion in sitcom fatherhood, or in exchange you must not only accept the diminished role you will see fathers take in the lives of their children, with all of the attendant costs associated with that absence, but you must also remain silent in the face of those workplace jokes about your "emotional" nature. Because that is the world you are endorsing. Is it worth it? Is it right?"
A lot of the world can be contained in, and expressed by, an inflection.
Erin climbed the jungle gym reserved for 5-12 year olds with her usual derring-do, and I followed close behind. She charged past the two emaciated adult forms at the top on her way to the 10-foot slide. If they weren't at a park at the top of a jungle gym I might have taken them for a starving homeless couple. But given our geography, the time of day, and the presence of three miniature versions of themselves I hastily concluded that they were yippies (hippies who owe their yuppie income to the organic food/alt. lifestyle pop culture movement rooted in the Bay Area).
Erin crouched and moved her legs into position to begin her ride down to her smiling mother's open, encouraging arms. A small ridge at the top of the slide impeded a smooth transition from a crouching position to a seated one, and Erin started moving forward with her feet slightly beneath her as her shoes caught this ridge. Her awkward pose quickly turned into a more elegant but less slide-appropriate kneeling position, which in turn transformed into a full belly-flop as she gained momentum traveling down the ten feet to the bottom. Her mother caught her in case her inertia would have carried her face-first off the end of the slide onto the wood chips carpeting the ground.
Unnerved by her unanticipated Olympic Skeleton qualifier and poked in the face a little while being rescued at high speed Erin expressed her discontent with some pathetic wails as her mother consoled her.
And from the yippie mom standing next to me at the top of the jungle gym came a startling "Da-ad." It was a mixture of disapproval and humour, both an assignment of blame and an attempt to soften the blow with a joke. I was supposed to be in on the "da-ad", and recognize my role as the bumbling, unaware male who was incautious and slightly incompetent; I was supposed to be an enlightened token of a ridiculous stereotype: a sitcom dad who was aware of the nature of the sitcom and who was invested in the success of the show.
I was embarrassed that I hadn't seen Erin catch her foot on the top of the slide in time to stop her from tumbling. I was embarrassed as a parent. But it wasn't until I heard "Da-ad" that I realized I was supposed to be embarrassed because I was a father. That is, it wasn't the fact that Erin had tumbled and I hadn't caught her that was of concern; nor was it the fact that as a parent I had given her the headway to take on her own challenges; it was the fact that I was a father and, per stereotype, the expectations for me were lower and I had met them. And having met them I could be boxed up and delivered back to my wife, her surrogate-in-momhood at the top of the slide having done her part.
I am more embarrassed at my response than I was at Erin's fall. I slipped all-too-easily into the role of a sitcom dad. Instead of letting myself show any distress at all that my daughter had just gone face first down a slide and might not feel that great about it I let the "Da-ad" admonition corral my genuine feelings and I offered up a sterilized model to the world. Or I let it goad me into being unfeeling so that it wouldn't look like I cared what the yippie had to say, so that I wouldn't let her win. I'm not sure which is the truth. But I let Emily do the comforting while I grinned a defeated rictus grin from the top of the slide and asked Erin if she wanted to go again while she sobbed on her mother's shoulder.
I seethed. I seethed at this woman's ignorant inflection. I seethed at my own response. I seethed at the playground equipment designer who had included a tripping ridge at the top of the slide. I seethed out of irrational embarrassment and out of righteous indignation. And while I seethed I wrote a speech in my head.
I never did deliver it. I decided that I was reading a lot into an inflection and that maybe with the benefit of the doubt "Da-ad" might have simply been the interjection of a friendly do-gooder park parent; maybe she would have offered an equally disapproving but humourous "Mo-om" if Emily had been the one at the top of the stairs. And while this might mean that she deserved some kind of reply I only had the one speech written. So I shelved it.
And Erin climbed the stairs and slid down the slide for 5-12 year olds over and over again while the yippie kids played around her.


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Since this is the first time I am trying out the recipe from the book so I am not sure how good they are so I decided to half the original recipe.
300 grm bao flour or Hong Kong flour
5 grm baking powder
6 grm yeast
55 grm sugar
1 tbsp of shortening
115 ml water (I need about 145 ml)
Lotus Paste or red bean paste
* Few drop of red food coloring
1. In a mixing bowl, mix all the dried ingredients until well combined. Slowly add in the water (you might need more or less and it all depend on the flour) until it form into a dough. Then add in the shortening. Mix until smooth.
2. In the meantime, take a tbsp of the lotus or bean paste and roll it into a ball. Make about 12-13 pieces.
3. Cover the dough and let it rest at a warm place for 2 hours. After 2 hours. Divide the dough into 12-13 pieces. Roll the dough into round balls and wrap in the fillings.
Carlos shaping the prickles
4. Shape the dough into oval shape. Using a sharp scissors snip the top part of the dough to form prickles to shape as a porcupine. Put two red dots at the head of the porcupine to form the eyes. Put the bun on top of the greaseproof paper and set aside to proof for 20 minutes.
5. Prepare a steamer with rapid boiling water, add a few drop of white vinegar to the water and steam the buns for 8 minutes. Serve warm.
Note: If you can't find bao flour or Hong Kong flour you can always replace it with regular all purpose flour.


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Chad Billingsley (15-10, 3.22) vs. Wade LeBlanc (1-1. 5.63).
COMMENTS: Six games to go, magic number at five--the same number as the interstate that links tonight's two teams. It's crunch time, and the Dodgers will need to get some mojo back after dropping the series to the Giants, courtesy of limp bats in two of the three games. Billingsley is coming off a rough start in Pittsburgh, giving up six earned runs and two HRs to Adam LaRoche; he is 0-2 against the Padres this year. LeBlanc got pummeled by us on Sept 3, but pitched six innings of one-run ball against us in his next start, so perhaps he has figured our lineup out. I don't want to say this is a must-win game--every game is must-win, until we are fortunate enough to clinch--but I can't envision a homestand-ending series getting much more important than this.


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Today I'm starting my new series "Handmade Nursery". Mostly everything in here is handmade or refurbished or thrifted in someway. Here's a sneak peak at the whole nursery, in later posts, I'll divulge on all the how-to details of each project. I wanted this nursery to be super neutral with pops of pink. The color on the walls are Crisp Linen White and Water Chestnut from Glidden.
I love this corner of the room. The only thing purchased here was the rocking chair, which I was told was a must with a new baby :) So, I had to go get one. I've probably will be using it more when the baby actually starts sleeping in here, but the couple of times I have got a chance to use it, it was totally worth the $100 splurge. The hanging balls are in this tutorial found here (click). The lamp was taken from the guest room. The mirror was something I have had from years back at my moms house, and the dresser was given to me (makeover post found here).
The ladder in this corner was a DIY project along with the hanging frames (tutorial here). The dresser was my old childhood dresser that I painted and updated. The crib was a gift from my mom. I love the curve detail. The room definitely needed it because of the straight lines and angles of the board and batten.
This lamp was a find I got on clearance from Home Depot back during the summer. Its just been sitting in the garage. I brought it to the nursery just to see what it looked like, and fell in love with the look. It's totally non-functional, but I don't care :)
The curtains are from Ikea. $5 for two panels, they look like the tulle I used for the crib skirt (which you can't see in the pictures, sorry). The rugs were also from Ikea.
I love this little dresser. The bear was also from my childhood. I love reusing some of my old things and giving it to my daughter.
The amount I spent on this nursery (not including gifts, etc):
Board and batten: approx $70
Glider: $100 (walmart)
Curtains: $10 (ikea)
Rugs: $40 (ikea)
+ other supplies for crib skirt, ladder, hanging art: approx. $15
Total cost on my part bought specifically for the nursery: $235.
For other costs, the crib was $180, the Home Depot lamp was $20. I think that's about it.
Hopefully I'll start getting a little bit more time to get some more posts up soon!
30 comments
- MandolynJanuary 18, 2013 at 3:09 PM
Congratulations!!! The nursery is adorable and I'm sure she is too!
ReplyDelete - AnonymousJanuary 18, 2013 at 4:15 PM
Congratulations on your little princess:) Her nursery is absolutely dahling!! Love all your special touches. Best of luck in all aspects!
P.S. Do you have a tutorial for the adorable ladder? Looks great! this is exactly what I plan on doing; keep it neuatral so you can swap out colour accessories etc. Plus I like the clean feeling of neutral and white colours.
Congrats on the little girl! Bet she will grow up being just as craft as Mommy. :DI'm so ecstatic for you! This room is stunning and congrats on your new precious baby girl!!
ReplyDelete- AnonymousJanuary 18, 2013 at 7:16 PM
So happy for you! Congratulations on your little blessing and we look forward to your next posts, whenever you have time!
Tina Matteson
singin(at)compuserve(dot)com Congrats! Your nursery is absolutely beautiful. I love that street lamp - it's so random but I think it totally makes the room. Being a Mom really is more work then you think it's go to be, isn't it? I remember going into knowing it was going to be tough - but I don't think I was ready for how much energy it took. It's still worth it though - in the end......when you get to sleep....
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your sweet bundle of joy! How wonderful. Her nursery is so lovely and soft! Enjoy it, and her!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your babygirl - wish the best for the both of you. Her nusery is very very lovely.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous! Lucky baby for sure! Is the Water Chestnut the color you have on all of your main living areas?
ReplyDeleteHi Alicia,
I've been a follower of yours for about 12 months, and I love all of your projects. All of your baby related ones I was especially interested in, as I'm currently about 6 months pregnant with my first too! This room is just stunning - so peaceful, serebe, sweet and perfect. It's made even more special by the fact that so many of it's contents were made with move by you :) I'm hoping to do something similar with my little boy - but it will be more of daddy's childhood things featuring there rather than mine :)
Congratulations on your wonderful addition, and the roo is stunning - you couldn't have made it any lovlier!
PS. Can't wait to see pics (if you'll be posting them).
Lots of love and best wishes,
Laura- AnonymousJanuary 22, 2013 at 12:20 PM
Congratulations, Alicia, to you and your husband on the arrival of your little girl. May your daughter rest well in her beautiful bedroom. Best wishes to you all. From a blog fan, Ardith
ReplyDelete Congratulations! Such a sweet nursery! I love that you put the crib in the center of the room. So often people just line the walls with furniture but I love how this looks in a nursery. :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Your nursery is so perfect and I bet your new baby is too. New babies do take up a lot of time, but it will get easier. Enjoy every minute; it's true that they grow up much too fast.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your new bundle! I won't lie, I miss your posts and projects, but I understand your family needs your time more than the blog world. Having a baby is hard and time consuming, I have 7, but having your 1st....now that's another story. Your world changes in one day. Don't forget to take time for yourself, get rest, take lots of pics and enjoy your new addition. It goes by so fast. hugs
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful baby room!
I am so inspired!
Thank you and congrats!
Water Damage Raleigh NCAdorable! My baby's a year and I'm just now finishing her nursery : / You did a beautiful job!
ReplyDeletebeautiful nursery. congrads on the arrival of the baby! she's a lucky litttle lady to have you as a mom!
ReplyDeleteLovely and congratulations!! Come share this at my linky party What to Do Weekends.... Linda
http://www.craftsalamode.com/2013/02/what-to-do-weekends-5.htmlWhat a beautiful, no perfect nursery! I am in love! I am going to have to take notes from your when I am doing mine! Thank you SO much for sharing at the inspiration gallery! I just pinned this to our feature board!
Jaime from Crafty Scrappy HappyWow this is so pretty! The light colors, paneling. You did amazing!
I would love if you link this to my link party Monday morning!
http://lechateaudesfleurs.blogspot.com/- AnonymousFebruary 19, 2013 at 8:08 AM
Congrats on the arrival of your baby girl... her nursery is truly lovely!
ReplyDelete I adore this space! We are working on our nursery - come on by if you're bored. Love your blog!
Www.simcoestreet.blogspot.comCongratulations:) Wish you and your family a lot of joy in the future. Love the nursery and all handmade touches. Great work:)
ReplyDeleteMassive congratulations - the nursery is simply gorgeous!
I would absolutely love for you to link up at the Friday Baby Shower, the new linky party for all things pregnancy and new baby – Alice @ Mums Make Lists xxx


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Wait a second... aren't those two actual scientists white guys? |
Showing no fear, they allowed me to pet them before playfully swimming away. I tried to swim after them, but upon passing the second sandbar I stopped. Trying to stay above water (as the tide bobbed me up and down) to fully capture their majestic departure, I finally relented and swam back to the shore.
That memory came flooding back to me as I watched the trailer for Dolphin Tale. Debuting in theaters on September 23, Dolphin Tale is the extraordinary "true" story of the dolphin, Winter, the star attraction of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium.
Tragically, Winter lost her tail in a crab trap back in 2005. Heroically, two employees of Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics, Kevin Carroll and Dan Strzempka, were moved by Winter's story and motivated to develop an artificial tale for the dolphin. It should be noted here that both Carroll and Strzempka are white; in the film Dolphins Tale, the roles of the two white guys who actually invented the artificial dolphin tale have been lumped into a character named "Dr. McCarthy", played naturally by the numinous negro himself, Morgan Freeman:
Morgan Freeman … From Easy Reader on PBS' The Electric Company to the voice of VISA in television commericals to the Academy Award-winning actor he is today, Morgan Freeman brings a wealth of experience to his role as Dr. McCarthy in Dolphin Tale. But when he first read the script, he wondered who or what would play Winter.Now you might be asking yourself: why does it matter that Hollywood has decided to put a Blackface on the actually inventors of the artificial dolphin tale, designed by two white guys, that save Winter's life? It's just a movie, which happens to be produced by the same people who brought us 2009's surprise hit The Blind Side.
"I wondered how they were going to do the dolphin. Where are you going to find a dolphin without a tail? I didn't know about Winter at all."
Once on set, Morgan got to know more about Winter's tale while portraying an eccentric doctor who creates prosthetics for war veterans at a VA hospital.
It's important because a lot of people are going to see this film, and because most people believe what they see on television and in films, they'll come away thinking that a Black guy actually invented this prosthetic tail that helped saved Winter's life. I wrote a whole book on what I call "Black Fictional Images", entitled Hollywood in Blackface. Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Will Smith are the go-to Black actors for creating positive images of Black people via portraying fictional Black scientists, inventors, doctors, and people who routinely save the world.
If you haven't picked a copy of it up yet, I highly recommend it.
That the casting director and script writer for Dolphin Tale would find it necessary to amalgamate the two white scientists who actually invented the artificial tail for Winter into a "Black Fictional Image" that could only be played by Freeman is one of the more egregious examples of Hollywood's policy of Blackfacing true events for the purposes of inculcation.
There was no "Dr. McCarthy"; this is a Black Fictional Image created with the expressed desire of convincing moviegoers that a Black person was involved in the tale of saving Winter the Dolphin. In this case, the artificial tail was invented and developed by a Black guy. People believe what they are told, what they see.
But the truth is always just below the surface. So who are the real inventors of the artificial dolphin tail that saved Winter's life and inspired the film?:
In December 2005, a three-month-old bottlenose dolphin found herself tangled in the ropes of a crab trap near Cape Canaveral, Florida. Fortunately, fisherman Jim Savage heard her cry and was able to free the little dolphin from the rope that was wrapped tightly around her tail and mouth. After making some calls, a rescue team came to help and she was taken to the Florida Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA). The team at CMA worked night and day to help Winter recover from the injuries and she began to make steady improvement. However, her tail was badly damaged and as the team feared, she lost her tail.But what about Dr. McCarthy? What about the character that Morgan Freeman will portray in Dolphin Tale? Didn't a septuagenarian Black male invent the prosthetic that save Winter's life? No. It was two white guys, members of that unappreciated race who invented (and sustain) practically everything that keeps modern society moving forward.
In 2006, Kevin Carroll, an expert prosthetist and vice president of prosthetics at Hanger heard her story and offered to fit her with an artificial tail. "My heart went out to her, and I thought I could probably put a tail on her."
It took about a year and a half for Carroll and Hanger's Sarasota, Florida Practice Manager, Dan Strzempka to develop the new tail for Winter. It was a more difficult task than Carroll originally anticipated. "When we fit a socket on a person, we have one long, solid bone and the socket isn't moving in every direction. With a dolphin, it needs to move along with her full spine." One of the biggest challenges they faced was figuring out how to keep the tail from sliding off and how to propel a 400-pound dolphin 10 feet into the air. Carroll and Strzempka have since volunteered their nights and weekends to the CMA fabricating a series of tails, creating special liners, and developing new materials for her very delicate skin.
The only invention that can be created to a Black person is the Super Soaker, and even that is just an improved device for delivering concentrated blasts of water in a playful, weaponized stream of fun.
Two white guys and their contributions to the Winter story have been lumped together into the creation of palatable Black Fictional Image in Dr. McCarthy, played by the ubiquitous Morgan Freeman. The rest of the cast is hideously white, like Super 8 or I am Number Four. Ashley Judd and Harry Connick Jr. also star in Dolphin Tale, rounding out a cast full of other white people. The insertion of a Black Fictional Image of Dr. McCarthy, played by Morgan Freeman, was perhaps necessary for this film to get green-lighted.
Having too many white faces would have potentially made the movie un-filmable. USA Today ran a story on the actual white guys who invented the artificial tail for Winter, and how techniques used in the invention of the prosthetic device for the dolphin have been used to help humans:
When an animal is hurt in the wild, humans will come to its rescue if possible. With TLC, the animal is able to return to the wild, its lasting effect on humans limited to some warm memories.The case of Winter, the bottlenose dolphin, is decidedly different. Winter lost her tail after being caught in a crab trap near Cape Canaveral in 2005. She was just 3 months old and 75 pounds, a rope was tied around her mouth, and she was losing circulation to her tail when a fisherman found her and called Florida's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution.
Now, Winter is getting an artificial tail that will let her swim much like she used to. The high-tech work also has made life better for an Iraq war veteran who lost his legs to an explosion.The link between dolphin and war veteran is Kevin Carroll, vice president of Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics in Bethesda, Md., a dolphin lover who first heard about Winter's desperate situation on the radio. Winter had stunned her handlers when she used her flippers, typically reserved for navigation, to swim.
Again, the "Dr. McCarthy" you will see in Dolphin Tale doesn't exist; a Black guy - even one played by the charming Morgan Freeman - had nothing whatsoever to do with the creation of Winter's artificial tail. It was two white scientists who invented Winter's artificial tail, but including this inconvenient truth in Dolphin Tale would make the movie too white.Carroll knew that if the dolphin continued to swim in this unnatural way without her tail, she probably would develop further problems in her spinal cord.
Carroll, who usually works with human patients, offered his services to Florida's Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where Winter has been receiving treatment.
Carroll's company began creating a flexible, silicon-based prosthetic tail. He planned to place the tail over a gel-like substance to hold it in place while protecting the dolphin's sensitive skin. Carroll says he tried several substances until he found a commercially available one that suited Winter.
About a year later, he again experimented, this time on a human.
Brian Kolfage lost both legs and his right hand in a mortar attack Sept. 11, 2004, while serving with the Air Force in Balad, Iraq.
Kolfage, 22 at the time, received two leg prosthetics but continued to have a severe skin reaction. Carroll decided to experiment with the gel-like substance he had developed for Winter, using it to pad the irritated area between Kolfage's new left leg and pelvic area.
In what Carroll calls a "big breakthrough," the substance relieved Kolfage's discomfort.
Kolfage, now 25 and working a desk job for Air Force security in Tucson, began walking again. "I really didn't think it would work … but it was like the difference between night and day," Kolfage says. "It was perfect."
Carroll always expected to be able to apply some technology discovered with Winter to a human case, but he says the success of such applications is rare.
As for Winter, the 20-month-old dolphin has boosted aquarium attendance 15% to 25% and inspired corporate sponsorships and donations to the aquarium.
Winter's progress is slow and steady. Carroll released a prototype of a prosthetic tail in April but has not permanently attached it to Winter, who cannot swim normally without it.
Trainers, most of them volunteers, work with Winter up to six hours a day to acclimate her to the gel material. Carroll hopes to attach the socket-tail device in about a month and the full prosthetic in six months.
Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics is paying for the entire project. Carroll and practitioner Dan Strzempka have been donating their free evenings and weekends to complete research and visit the dolphin at the non-profit aquarium where she will remain for the rest of her life.
"I didn't realize it would take so long," Carroll says. "But I've committed for the long haul."
So before some Black Web site like Thegrio.com, Theroot.com, or Newsone.com tries to claim yet another fictional Black invention, let's remember that "Dr. McCarthy" is not real; it's just two white scientists rolled into one numinous negro to elicit the necessary cinematic Black Fictional Image effect upon moviegoers.
Hollywood in Blackface, in action.


text:
May 29, 2013
WASHINGTON: A record number of American women are now the sole or primary breadwinners in their families, a sign of the rising influence of working mothers, a new study finds. Mothers now keep finances afloat in 40 percent of households with children, up from just 11 percent in 1960.
May 29, 2013
WASHINGTON: A record number of American women are now the sole or primary breadwinners in their families, a sign of the rising influence of working mothers, a new study finds. Mothers now keep finances afloat in 40 percent of households with children, up from just 11 percent in 1960.
Roughly 3 in 4 adults said the increasing number of women working for pay has made it harder for parents to raise children.
While most of these families are headed by single mothers, a growing number are married mothers who bring in more income than their husbands, according to a study released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center.
As the numbers have shifted, however, public attitudes have remained mixed regarding the impact of working mothers on families. People are not at all sure that it's a good thing.
Demographers say the change is all but irreversible and is likely to bring added attention to child-care policies as well as government safety nets for vulnerable families.
"This change is just another milestone in the dramatic transformation we have seen in family structure and family dynamics over the past 50 years or so," said Kim Parker, associate director with the Pew Social & Demographic Trends Project. "Women's roles have changed, marriage rates have declined — the family looks a lot different than it used to. The rise of breadwinner moms highlights the fact that, not only are more mothers balancing work and family these days, but the economic contributions mothers are making to their households have grown immensely."
The trend is being driven mostly by long-term demographic changes, including higher rates of education and labor force participation dating back to the 1960s women's movement. Today, women are more likely than men to hold bachelor's degrees, and they make up nearly half — 47 percent — of the American workforce.
But recent changes in the economy, too, have played a part. Big job losses in manufacturing and construction, fields that used to provide high pay to a mostly male workforce, have lifted the relative earnings of married women, even among those in mid-level positions such as teachers, nurses or administrators. The jump in working women has been especially prominent among those who are mothers — from 37 percent in 1968 to 65 percent in 2011 — reflecting in part increases for those who went looking for jobs to lift sagging family income after the recent recession.
At the same time, marriage rates have fallen to record lows. Forty percent of births now occur out of wedlock, leading to a rise in single-mother households. Many of these mothers are low-income with low education, and more likely to be black or Hispanic.
In all, 13.7 million US households with children under age 18 now include mothers who are the main breadwinners. Of those, 5.1 million, or 37 percent, are married, while 8.6 million, or 63 percent are single. The income gap between the families is large — $80,000 in median family income for married couples vs. $23,000 for single mothers.
Both groups of breadwinner moms — married and unmarried — have grown sharply.
Among all US households with children, the share of married breadwinner moms has jumped from 4 percent in 1960 to 15 percent in 2011. For single mothers, the share has increased from 7 percent to 25 percent.
How does the general public feel about that?
While roughly 79 percent of Americans reject the notion that women should return to their traditional roles, only 21 percent of those polled said the trend of more mothers of young children working outside the home is a good thing for society, according to the Pew survey.
Roughly 3 in 4 adults said the increasing number of women working for pay has made it harder for parents to raise children.
Andrew Cherlin, a professor of sociology and public policy at Johns Hopkins University, said that to his surprise public attitudes toward working mothers have changed very little over the years. He predicts the growing numbers will lead to a growing constituency among women in favor of family-friendly work policies such as paid family leave, as well as safety net policies such as food stamps or child care support for single mothers.
"Many of our workplaces and schools still follow a male-breadwinner model, assuming that the wives are at home to take care of child care needs," he said. "Until we realize that the breadwinner-homemaker marriage will never again be the norm, we won't provide working parents with the support they need."
The Pew study is based on an analysis of census data as of 2011, the latest available, as well as interviews with 1,003 adults by cellphone or landline from April 25 to 28. The Pew poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Courtesy: AP


text:
_ Imagine a world in which any intellectual property holder can, without ever appearing before a judge or setting foot in a courtroom, shut down any website's online advertising programs and block access to credit card payments. The credit card processors and the advertising networks would be required to take quick action against the named website; only the filing of a "counter notification" by the website could get service restored. It's the world envisioned by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) in today's introduction of the Stop Online Piracy Act in the US House of Representatives. This isn't some off-the-wall piece of legislation with no chance of passing, either; it's the House equivalent to the Senate's PROTECT IP Act, which would officially bring Internet censorship to the US as a matter of law. Calling its plan a "market-based system to protect US customers and prevent US funding of sites dedicated to theft of US property," the new bill gives broad powers to private actors. Any holder of intellectual property rights could simply send a letter to ad network operators like Google and to payment processors like MasterCard, Visa, and PayPal, demanding these companies cut off access to any site the IP holder names as an infringer. The scheme is much like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's (DMCA) "takedown notices," in which a copyright holder can demand some piece of content be removed from sites like YouTube with a letter. The content will be removed unless the person who posted the content objects; at that point, the copyright holder can decide if it wants to take the person to court over the issue. Here, though, the stakes are higher. Rather than requesting the takedown of certain hosted material, intellectual property owners can go directly for the jugular: marketing and revenue for the entire site. So long as the intellectual property holders include some "specific facts" supporting their infringement claim, ad networks and payment processors will have five days to cut off contact with the website in question. The scheme is largely targeted at foreign websites which do not recognize US law, and which therefore will often refuse to comply with takedown requests. But the potential for abuse—even inadvertent abuse—here is astonishing, given the terrifically outsized stick with which content owners can now beat on suspected infringers. Blockade One thing private actors can't do under the new bill is actually block a site from the Internet, though it hardly matters, because the government has agreed to do it for them. The bill gives government lawyers the power to go to court and obtain an injunction against any foreign website based on a generally single-sided presentation to a judge. Once that happens, Internet providers have 5 days to "prevent access by its subscribers located within the United States to the foreign infringing site." The government can also go after anyone who builds a tool designed for the "circumvention or bypassing" of the Internet block. Such tools already exist as a result of the US government's ongoing campaign to seize Internet domain names it believes host infringing content; they can redirect visitors who enter the site's address to its new location. The government has already asked Web browser makers like Mozilla to remove access to these sorts of tools. Mozilla refused, so the new bill just tries to ban such tools completely. (Pointing your computer's browser to a foreign DNS server in order to view a less-censored Internet still appears to be legal.) Search engines, too, are affected, with the duty to prevent the site in question "from being served as a direct hypertext link." Payment processors and ad networks would also have to cut off the site. Finally, and for good measure, Internet service providers and payment processors get the green light to simply block access to sites on their own volition—no content owner notification even needed. So long as they believe the site is "dedicated to the theft of US property," Internet providers and payment processors can't be sued. "Industry norms" The House bill is shockingly sympathetic to a narrow subsection of business interests. For instance, buried deep in the back of the >70-page document is a requirement that the US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator prepare a study for Congress. That study should analyze "notorious foreign infringers" and attempt to quantify the "significant harm inflicted by notorious foreign infringers." (Talk about assuming your conclusions before you start.) The report, which is specifically charged to give weight to the views of content owners, requests a set of specific policy recommendations that might "encourage foreign businesses to adopt industry norms to promote the protection of intellectual property globally." Should the bill pass, the US government would be explicitly charged with promoting private "industry norms"—not actual laws or treaties—around the world. In the request for the report, we can also see the IP maximalist lobby preparing for its next move: shutting off access to US capital markets and preventing companies from "offering stock for sale to the public" in the US. Call it what it is Not all censorship is bad—but we need to have an honest discussion about when and how to deploy it, rather than wrapping an unprecedented set of censorship tools in meaningless terms like "rogue site," or by calling a key section of the new bill the "E-PARASITE Act." You don't have to support piracy—and we don't—to see the many problems with this new approach. Just today, the RIAA submitted to the US government a list of "notorious markets." As part of that list, the RIAA included "cyberlockers" like MegaUpload, which are "notorious services" that "thumb their noses at international laws, all while pocketing significant advertising revenues from trafficking in free, unlicensed copyrighted materials." It's not hard to imagine how long it would take before such sites--which certainly do host plenty of user-uploaded infringing content--are targeted under the new law. Yet they have a host of legal uses, and cyberlockers like RapidShare have been declared legal by both US and European courts. Not surprisingly, the new bill is getting pushback from groups like NetCoalition, which counts Google, Yahoo, and small ISPs among its members. "As leading brands of the Internet, we strongly oppose offshore 'rogue' websites and share policymakers' goal of combating online infringement of copyrights and trademarks," said executive director Markham Erickson in a statement. "However, we do not believe that the solution lies in regulating the Internet and comprising its stability and security. We do not believe that it is worth overturning a decade of settled law that has formed the legal foundation for all social media. And finally, we do not believe that it is worth restricting free speech or providing comfort to totalitarian regimes that seek to control and restrict the Internet freedoms of their own citizens." Dozens of law professors have also claimed the original PROTECT IP Act, which contains most of the same ideas, is unconstitutional. But the drumbeat for some sort of censorship is growing louder. Photograph by Tyler Menezes Further reading
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10/7/2013 03:23:39 pm
House takes Senate's bad Internet censorship bill, tries making it worse By Nate Anderson very useful and efficient material thank you for discussing.keep discussing material like this later on.
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May 2019
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During the guided tour of the HSG, you will see that the University is more than a seat of learning and science. You can find out more about vision, facts and history. You can marvel at the architecture and discover significant works of art. We offer special Campus Tours for prospective students. Further information and the registration form can be found here.
The presentation of the works of art on our premises is not even remotely reminiscent of museums. The works of art are integrated in the architecture and in everyday student life. Thus almost all the works were specially created by the artists for their respective locations rather than only being placed there at a later stage. This results in a dialogue between art and architecture which pervades all the HSG buildings.
approx. 1 hour to max. 1 1/2 hours: Tour Main Campus / CHF 140 (Main- and Library Buildings)
The guided tour of the HSG will be conducted with a minimum of 10 participants in German, English or additional languages on request. You can register online through our registration form.
University of St.Gallen
Dufourstrasse 50
CH-9000 St.Gallen
+41 71 224 23 34


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Apple has chosen to build a new data center in North Carolina that will inject a local economy with new jobs and excitement, as the company prepares for its first east coast data center. The Cupertino-based company will likely invest more than $1 billion towards the new data center through 2018.
"North Carolina continues to be a prime location for growing and expanding global technology companies," Perdue said in a statement. "We welcome Apple to North Carolina and look forward to working with the company as it begins providing a significant economic boost to local communities and the state."
The announcement follows Perdue's signing of a new North Carolina bill that alters corporate income tax liability, which will give Apple a $46 million state tax credit.
The Apple North Carolina facility will have up to 50 full-time employees once construction has been completed, the press release said. Several locations are under consideration, with construction expected to begin immediately after Apple is able to find a suitable location.
In an agreement between Apple and the county, the average wage of employees at the facility must be higher than the standard wage in the county. A $1 billion investment over nine years could help 3,000 jobs in the area, as construction contractors receive plans for the data center.
Cleveland and Catawba counties have been rumored as potential locations for the site, though Apple and state officials have remained silent. The actual use of the data center and its size also remains a mystery, and probably won't be disclosed until construction begins.
Apple already has a 107,000 square-foot facility located in Newark, California.


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Generalized breast lumpiness is known under many different names, such as "fibrocystic disease" and "fibroid breasts." Many of these are misnomers since physicians and researchers now believe that these are just part of the breast changes which many women undergo throughout the various stages of their lives. Many physicians feel that this term has become a catchphrase for general breast lumpiness.
Fibrocystic lumpiness is also described as "ropy" or "granular" and seems to become more obvious as a woman approaches middle age and the milk producing glandular tissue gives way to softer, fatty tissue. However, women with lumpy breasts may experience many other benign breast conditions.
Lumpiness in the breasts may make actual lumps harder to distinguish. Thus, it is important that women with lumpy breasts perform regular breast self-examinations (BSEs) and have regular physical examinations, including mammography as indicated by the National Cancer Institute or American Cancer Society (ACS) guidelines. Knowing the normal shape and feel of your own breasts is important, especially when performing examinations to detect any unusual breast changes.
The ACS says BSEs are an option for women older than age 20 as a means of familiarizing themselves with their breasts so they can notice changes more easily. Talking with your health care provider about the benefits and limitations can help you decide if you should start performing BSEs.
Click here to view theOnline Resources of Women's Health


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When I was a kid I enjoyed eating granola cereal with milk for breakfast. I really liked the crunchy texture and all of the goodies that were mixed in with the granola. I had not had granola in a long time and I wanted to try making some for myself. Last weekend I finally got around to doing it. Granola is basically rolled oats, nuts and honey that is baked until crispy. You can add other goodies to granola such as more grains, dried fruits, or even chocolate. I wanted to keep my first granola pretty simple and I was thinking that it had to contain both maple syrup and pecans. I quickly found this recipe for maple pecan granola which was just what I was looking for. The granola was super simple to make; You just mix the ingredients and bake stirring the granola a few times to ensure that it remains loose and that it does not stick together too much. The maple pecan granola turned out really well! It was nice and crunchy and it had just the right amount of sweetness. I found that I was grabbing just one more handful to snack on each time I passed it. Since the granola was so easy to make I am now looking forward to experimenting with different combinations of ingredients.
Maple Pecan Granola
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1/2 cup pecans (chopped)
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 pinch salt
- Mix everything in a large bowl.
- Spread the mixture onto a baking pan.
- Bake in a preheated 300F/150C oven for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes.
Maple Pecan Shortbread


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Shipping & Returns
Delivery Information
Important Notice - COVID-19 and Shipping delays. Click here for details
Simpli Home offers standard free shipping everyday on every order when shipping to the lower 48 states no matter how big or small. This free shipping offer excludes Alaska and Hawaii, P.O. Box or APO/FPO/DPO, Canada and International orders.
- Each Simpli Home product normally ship within 1-2 business days from time of standard order, plus 4-5 business days in transit for delivery.
- Large parcel orders such as Bathroom Vanities and Dining Sets normally ship within 2-3 business days, plus 10-12 business days in transit for delivery.
Note: Over-sized parcels are Curbside Delivery, which means your order is delivered to the curb or end of driveway of the delivery address and you are responsible for the package beyond that point. An adult must be present and signature is required upon delivery. For Vanities, we strongly recommend you to open the parcel in front of the driver and inspect for any top damages. It is very important that you notate on the POD (Proof of Delivery) if it is damaged. There is never a charge for signature on the POD or inspection from the customer.
We have selected the shipping method for each product on our site to ensure that you receive the fastest, safest and most reliable delivery service that is possible. Note however that deliveries are typically not made on Saturdays or Sundays and that we cannot ship to PO Boxes or Military APOs. Also if you live in a non-contiguous US state or territory – in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Alaska, or the US Virgin Islands, additional fees and shipping restrictions will apply.
Please note: Currently we do not ship to Canada. To purchase items in Canada, please visit any of our Canadian Retail Partner sites.
For details, please view our complete Shipping Information
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We take great pride in the quality and craftsmanship of each and every Simpli Home product and we hope you love your purchase. If for any reason you do not, you can initiate a return for new and unopened items with a restocking fee within 30 days of receiving your item. You must return items in new or unused condition with all original materials included with the shipment. Refund will be issued after deducting eligible restocking fee.
For more information view our complete Returns & Refund


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Material: Nite Glo Self Adhesive Vinyl Class B
Size HxW mm: 150×450
All Safety Sign UK products are manufactured in-house using waterproof, fade resistant inks, suitable for use in areas under direct sunlight.
We offer a 5 year guarantee against fading!
We offer our products in a variety of materials:
- Self Adhesive – A vinyl printed sticker
- Plastic – 1mm Rigid polypropylene plastic
- Self Adhesive Plastic – 1.2mm Rigid Polypropylene with an Adhesive Backing
- Photoluminescen (Night Glow) – Glow in the dark
Aluminium – 3mm Aluminium-Plated Composite


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About this Collection
This collection presents 470 interview excerpts and 3882 photographs from the Working in Paterson Folklife Project of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The four-month study of occupational culture in Paterson, New Jersey, was conducted in 1994. The documentary materials presented in this online collection explore how Paterson's industrial heritage expresses itself in Paterson: in its work sites, work processes, and memories of workers. Included are interpretive essays exploring such topics as work in the African American community, local foodways, the ethnography of a single work place (Watson Machine International), business life along a single street in Paterson (21st Avenue), and narratives told by retired workers.
Paterson, New Jersey, was founded in 1791 by the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), a group that had U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton as an advocate. The basis for Paterson's manufacturing potential was the Great Falls on the Passaic River. Paterson went on to become the largest silk manufacturing center in the nation as well as a leader in the manufacture of many other products, from railroad locomotives to firearms.
The Paterson Folklife Project resulted in approximately 97 hours of recorded interviews (90 cassette and digital audio tapes) with people in their homes and places of work; 6,192 still photographs (3,420 35-mm color slides and 2,772 black-and-white images) documenting informants, work processes, work sites, industrial and commercial architecture, and other visible elements of occupational culture, including historic photos, documents, and memorabilia; and 1,004 manuscript pages of documentation, including 700 pages of audio and photo logs, and 314 pages of fieldnotes, in addition to administrative correspondence, maps, publications, and ephemera. These materials constitute the primary archival collection, the Working in Paterson Folklife Project collection (AFC 1995/028) which is available to researchers in the American Folklife Center's Folklife Reading Room. A duplicate copy of many of these materials is held by the National Park Service, which co-sponsored the project.
David A. Taylor from the American Folklife Center directed the Paterson Folklife Project. He and members of his research team interviewed active and retired workers in the textile and other important local industries, photographed workers and work-related events, and documented other aspects of Paterson's occupational heritage. In addition to Taylor, the research team consisted of documentary photographer Martha Cooper and folklorists Tom Carroll (a native of Paterson), Susan Levitas, Timothy Lloyd, and Robert McCarl.
The study was part of the federal Urban History Initiative (UHI) program sponsored in Congress by U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg and administered by the National Park Service Mid-Atlantic Regional Office. The study focused on the ways in which community life and values are shaped by work and how the theme of work intersects with other themes, namely family, ethnicity, gender, neighborhood, and change over time. Senator Lautenberg and Representative William J. Pascrell, Jr., (the Mayor of Paterson when field research for the project was conducted), kindly agreed to be interviewed about Paterson, their home town. Mia Dell, Representative Pascrell's legislative director, provided support.


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BIOL398-03/S13:Week 11
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This journal entry is due on Thursday, April 4 at midnight PDT (Wednesday night/Thursday morning). NOTE new due date and that the server records the time as Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Therefore, midnight will register as 03:00.
Individual Journal Assignment
- Store this journal entry as "username Week 11" (i.e., this is the text to place between the square brackets when you link to this page).
- Create the following set of links. (HINT: you can do all of this easily by adding them to your template and then using the template on your pages.)
- Link to your journal entry from your user page.
- Link back from your journal entry to your user page.
- Link to this assignment from your journal entry.
- Don't forget to add the "BIOL398-03/S13" category to the end of your wiki page.
The class will make a Journal Club Presentation on the following article:
- Tai et al. (2007) Acclimation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to Low Temperature: A Chemostat-based Transcriptome Analysis. Molecular Biology of the Cell 18: 5100–5112.
- Link to PDF version of article: Use for reading/printing and for capturing tables for your PowerPoint slide.
- Link to full text in HTML: Use for inserting figures/images into your PowerPoint slide.
Background Reading on Cold Stress
Review articles on cold stress that may be helpful:
- Thieringer, H.A., Jones, P.G., and Inouye, M. (1998) Cold shock and adaptation. BioEssays 20: 49–57.
- Aguilera, J., Randez-Gil, F., and Prieto, J.A. (2007) Cold Response in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: New Functions for Old Mechanisms. FEMS Microbiological Reviews 31: 327–341.
- Al-Fageeh, M.B. and Smales, C.M. (2006) Control and Regulation of the Cellular Responses to Cold Shock: the Responses in Yeast and Mammalian Systems. Biochemical Journal 397: 247–259.
Preparation for Journal Club 2
- Make a list of at least 10 biological terms for which you did not know the definitions when you first read the article. Define each of the terms. You can use the glossary in any molecular biology, cell biology, or genetics text book as a source for definitions, or you can use one of many available online biological dictionaries (links below). List the citation(s) for the dictionary(s) you use, providing a URL to the page is fine.
- Write an outline of the article. The length should be the equivalent of 2 pages of standard 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper (you can check this by clicking on "Print preview" in your browser). Your outline can be in any form you choose, but you should utilize the wiki syntax of headers and either numbered or bulleted lists to create it. The text of the outline does not have to be complete sentences, but it should answer the questions listed below and have enough information so that others can follow it. However, your outline should be in YOUR OWN WORDS, not copied straight from the article.
- What is the main result presented in this paper?
- What is the importance or significance of this work?
- How did they treat the cells (what experiment were they doing?)
- What strain(s) of yeast did they use? Was the strain haploid or diploid?
- What media did they grow them in? Under what conditions and temperatures?
- What controls did they use?
- How many replicates did they perform per condition?
- What mathematical/statistical method did they use to analyze the data?
- What transcription factors did they talk about?
- Briefly state the result shown in each of the figures and tables.
- Each student will be assigned one figure or table from the paper to explain in class. You will prepare one PowerPoint slide about your figure. Your slide must contain the figure from the paper, a title that describes the main message of the figure, and any other information required to explain your slide (legend information, summary information, etc.) Upload your slide file and link to it on your individual journal page and on this page here.
- Table 1: Tony Table 1 Slide
- Figure 1: Laura Figure 1 ppt slide
- Figure 2: Ashley Figure 2 Slide
- Table 2: ElizabethTable 2 Slide
- Table 3A: Helena Table 3 Slide
- Table 3B: Kasey Table 3B slide
- Figure 3: Kevinfigure 3 slide
- Figure 4: Jim Figure 4 Slide
- Figure 5: PaulFigure 5 slide
- Figure 6A: Matt Figure 6A Slide
- Fibure 6B: SalmanFigure 6B slide
Tips for your PowerPoint Slide
- When putting the figures into your PowerPoint slide, do the following:
- First download the image as a file to your computer's hard drive from the HTML version of the article. (Right-clicking the image in most web browsers will open a menu with "Save image as" as one of the options.
- Then in PowerPoint, select "Insert image from file" and browse to your file. If you just copy/paste the image, this could lead to problems when showing a PowerPoint presentation made on a Mac on a Windows PC.
- When enlarging images, be careful to not change the aspect ratio of the image.
- You may choose to crop large figures into smaller pieces to facilitate your presentation; in this casse it would be acceptable to submit two or even three slides if you need to do this. Each slide needs to have a descriptive title and summary information on the slide.
- Save your file as a .ppt compatible with Microsoft Office 97-2003 instead of .pptx.
- When putting the tables into your PowerPoint slide, do the following:
- Capture the image from the PDF version of the article. In the full version of Adobe Acrobat (available on most LMU lab computers) use the "camera" icon to draw a marquee around the table. This will capture the table to your computers's clipboard. You can then paste this into the PowerPoint slide.
- When enlarging or reducing the table to fit the slide, be careful to not change the aspect ratio.
- You may choose to crop large tables into smaller pieces to facilitate your presentation; in this casse it would be acceptable to submit two or even three slides if you need to do this. Each slide needs to have a descriptive title and summary information on the slide.
Online Biological Dictionaries
- Store your journal entry in the shared Class Journal Week 11 page. If this page does not exist yet, go ahead and create it (congratulations on getting in first :) )
- Link to your journal entry from your user page.
- Link back from the journal entry to your user page.
- Sign your portion of the journal with the standard wiki signature shortcut (
). - Add the "BIOL398-03/S13" category to the end of the wiki page (if someone has not already done so).
Critically evaluate the Tai et al. (2007) paper.
- Overall, do you think this paper was clearly written? Why or why not?
- Based on what is written in the methods section, do you think you could reproduce their experiments and data analysis?
- What else would you like to know about their methods, results, and future directions?


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Without question, Paul Storr can be considered among history's finest smiths and he will long be remembered for perfecting the works, styles and designs of the Regency period.
Storr pursued a career in silversmithing at an early age, apprenticing to Swedish-born smith Andrew Fogleberg when he was only 14. Fogleberg's interest in the neo-classical style greatly influenced his student, and in the young Paul Storr, he had found a most avid and accomplished protege.
Storr entered his first mark in 1792, which reflects his short-lived partnership with William Frisbee. Soon after, he began to use his PS mark, which he maintained for the duration of his career with only minor changes. Though he held no official title, Storr enjoyed patronage from many important and powerful figures of the period, including King George III. His first major work was a gold font commissioned by the Duke of Portland in 1797 and in 1799 he created the "Battle of the Nile Cup" for Lord Nelson.
Much of Storr's success was partly due to the influence of Phillip Rundell, of the popular silver retailing firm of Rundell, Bridge and Rundell. Rundell's firm nearly monopolized the early 19th century market for superior silver and obtained the Royal Warrant in 1806. This shrewd businessman realized the talent of Paul Storr and began pursuing him in 1803, but it wasn't until after declining many offers that Storr finally joined the firm in 1806.
After many years of working for Rundell, Storr realized he had lost much of his artistic freedom and by 1819 he left the firm to open his own shop, turning his attentions towards more naturalistic designs and soon began enjoying the patronage he desired.
After only a few years of independence, Storr realized he needed a centralized retail location and partnered with John Mortimer, founding Storr and Mortimer in 1822 on Bond Street. By 1838, his latest collaboration became riddled with complications, mostly due to Mortimer's poor management of the business. Storr retired from silversmithing and at the age of 68 he and his wife, Elizabeth, moved to Tooting in 1839. Storr died just five years later.
Paul Storr's legacy is a remarkable body of work with far-reaching influences. Neo-classical pieces, and exuberant, ornate vessels, Storr imparted a level of craftsmanship and superior quality that has seldom been seen since. His efforts were not reserved for his more prestigious pieces. In fact, every piece of Storr silver was given the same superior level of quality, receiving the benefit of being created from the finest high-gauge silver.


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This year I started my holiday baking with a different take on my favourite cookie from last year, the chocolate and maraschino cherry shortbread cookies, except that this time I used the same cherry and chocolate flavour combo in chocolate chip cookies! You really just cannot go wrong with chocolate chip cookies and throwing cherries into the mix will only make things better since the chocolate and cherry combo is a fabulous one! One of the best things about homemade chocolate chip cookies, other than the fact that they are so ridiculously addictively good, is that they are so easy to make. You literally just need to spend about 5 minutes combining ingredients and then you throw them in the oven. The hardest part about making them is waiting for them to finish baking, and that 10 minutes of bake time will seem like an eternity as your kitchen starts to fill up with the aroma of fresh baked cookies, and then you have to wait for them to cool, but then again that burnt tongue might just be worth it! For these maraschino cherry chocolate chip cookies you will also have to chop up some cherries but that only takes a few more minutes and it is definitely worth the effort!
Perfect with a tall glass of milk!
Maraschino Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies
Chocolate chip cookies never had it any better than with the addition of maraschino cherries!
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
- Mix the butter and sugars in a bowl, beat in the egg followed by the vanilla extract.
- Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in another bowl.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet until they are just incorporated.
- Mix in the chocolate and the maraschino cherries.
- Place the dough onto a parchment paper lined cookie sheet one tablespoon at a time and bake in a preheated 350F/180C oven until just lightly golden brown around the edges, about 8-10 minutes, let cool on sheet for 2 minutes and transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.
Chocolate and Maraschino Cherry Shortbread Cookies
Peppermint White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Orange Cookies Dipped in Chocolate
Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
Peanut Butter Cookies
Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chunk Peanut Butter Cookies
Lemon Curd White Chocolate Chip Cookies
S'mores Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pumpkin White Chocolate Chip Cookies
Soft and Chewy Banana Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chunks and Bacon
Peppermint Candy Cane Chocolate Chip Cookies in a Jar
Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars
Butter Pecan Cookies
Coconut Lime White Chocolate Chip Cookies